QT: The Rescue Of The Miserable Bigshots

"Thank you for saving us. What's your name?"

As Ling Zhuang spoke, the others finally snapped out of their stunned daze, still shaken by fear and awe.

Xiao Jinfeng, as captain of the Gale Squad, stepped forward first. "Yeah. Thank you. What's your name?"

He studied the boy. Clearly powerful. But… alone?

The apocalypse wasn't kind to loners. Surviving solo was nearly impossible.

If someone like him could be brought back to the A City base, better yet, into the Gale Squad… But at that thought, Xiao Jinfeng hesitated.

If this person joined... could he even keep his position as captain?

This young man had killed, in one strike, the zombie his lightning couldn't even scratch.

What kind of power level was that?

"Jiang Jiamian."

Jiang Jiamian replied without pause.

He didn't know the original body's name. But after traveling through so many worlds as part of the Miserable Bigshots Rescue Team, one thing had become clear: Every body he had entered had been named Jiang Jiamian.

Even if he'd gotten unlucky this time and the name didn't match, it didn't matter.

This was the apocalypse. Odds were high anyone who knew the original owner was already dead or wouldn't recognize him anyway. His face, aura… everything had changed.

He was himself now.

But what Jiang Jiamian didn't expect was the flicker in Ling Zhuang's eyes the moment he said the name, a flash of sharp, unreadable light.

His heart clenched.

Did Ling Zhuang actually know the original owner?

This could be bad.

He had no memory of the past. If Ling Zhuang questioned him directly, he would be exposed instantly.

"Jiang Jiamian." Xiao Jinfeng repeated slowly. "Nice name. You seem to be alone. We're headed to the A City base, if you don't mind, would you like to come with us?"

He was still unsure about recruiting him into the squad, but it would be a shame not to bring someone like this back to the base.

Besides, Xiao Jinfeng had noticed that although Jiang Jiamian was powerful, he carried no supplies.

Without a space ability user, lone wanderers couldn't haul much.

Looks like the Gale Squad finally had something to tempt him with.

While the others were still stunned, Chen Ran stood there in utter disbelief.

Because in his last life, the apocalypse's future, he had never heard of someone this strong. Not even close.

Where had Jiang Jiamian come from?

Was he reborn too?

Did he time travel?

His eyes drifted to the silver sword in Jiang Jiamian's hand. He frowned in thought.

But no, rebirth made more sense. Time travel felt far-fetched. And if it were time travel, then the Jiang Jiamian from the past would still have existed.

Rebirth was the only explanation that fit someone as strong as this, who hadn't existed before.

Or he had existed, and just died early.

Looking at him now… alone, independent. It wouldn't be surprising.

Maybe back then, before all the powerful players had risen, he died. Just faded away unnoticed.

Chen Ran's thoughts shifted. He couldn't let that happen again.

He needed to recruit this man.

"Yes, come with us." Chen Ran said, eyes steady. "There's too much danger out here to go alone."

Jiang Jiamian gave a faint smile and glanced briefly at Ling Zhuang, his gaze unreadable, then looked back. "Coincidentally, I was planning to head to A City Base anyway. If you don't mind, let's go together."

"Of course not!" Chen Ran said quickly, almost too eagerly.

To the others, Xiao Jinfeng, Xue Fang, Shen Hao, and Zheng Shuqiu, Chen Ran's excitement felt... a little too familiar.

Especially to Xiao Jinfeng.

This wasn't the first time.

Chen Ran had greeted him just like this once. Warm, enthusiastic, sincere.

He had thought he was special. That their bond was unique.

Then came Xue Fang.

Then Zheng Shuqiu.

Then Shen Hao.

Chen Ran hadn't treated him any differently from the rest.

And now Jiang Jiamian had arrived.

Someone clearly stronger than any of them.

Chen Ran added quickly, "By the way, we're heading into the mall to search for supplies. I've got space ability, it makes carrying things easier. If you come with us, it'll save some hassle."

No matter how powerful someone was, there would be times they had to run. Times they couldn't carry anything.

But with a space user as a companion, things changed.

Chen Ran sighed inwardly. Maybe, in his previous life, Jiang Jiamian died because of something like this. A lack of supplies, an ambush, starvation.

Such power was wasted, forgotten.

Jiang Jiamian had no idea that Chen Ran was imagining his death already.

Hearing his words, he casually spread his hands. "No need. There's nothing inside."

Xiao Jinfeng frowned. "You came out from there?"

Had someone already cleared the place?

Not surprising. It had been nearly twenty days since the outbreak. Most easily accessible spots had long been picked clean.

"Yeah!" Jiang Jiamian said. "But don't get me wrong. I'm not saying it was empty when I arrived."

The group blinked, confused.

"I cleared it out."

And right then, in front of their stunned faces, he flipped his fingers…

The silver sword disappeared into thin air.

Everyone froze.

Chen Ran gaped. "You have a space ability too?!"

Ling Zhuang narrowed his eyes.

Something wasn't right.

Something was very wrong.

Jiang Jiamian had been watching Ling Zhuang closely, every flicker of expression, even the smallest micro-reaction behind the glasses.

So of course, he noticed it immediately, the sharp flicker of surprise, the confusion that flashed across Ling Zhuang's face the moment he revealed his space ability.

That sealed it.

Ling Zhuang must have had some kind of relationship with the original owner.

And it wasn't a simple one.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have reacted so strongly. He wouldn't have been so certain that the original couldn't possibly have a space ability.

Troublesome.

Very troublesome.

If Ling Zhuang had really been close to the original owner… Then with zero memory to fall back on, no hints, no baseline, how the hell was he supposed to play this role?

He wouldn't even have a chance to fake it.