**Chapter 306: Wangcai Makes a Contribution**
Chu Han's sudden, frantic movements were too obvious and too abnormal. The entire group behind him froze in stunned silence. Ding Siyao, in particular, stood there completely dazed, watching Chu Han bustle about like a man possessed.
"Chu Han, what's wrong with Aunt Yuan?" Ding Siyao hurried forward a step, panic rising—had his mission failed after all?
"My mom isn't dead—she's alive!" Chu Han's voice cracked with raw, explosive excitement and joy, as though he wanted to scream the news to the entire world. He still couldn't wrap his head around how a hopeless, dying situation had suddenly flipped into this miracle.
Alive… not dead? Ding Siyao went rigid. He knew Yuan Xiye's condition better than anyone—he had seen the cruel remnants of those two IV tubes with his own eyes, carried her out on his back, felt her life force slipping away with every step, teetering on the brink of death.
How could she suddenly improve like this? Li Yi and Wei An were equally shell-shocked; they had guarded her for hours without noticing any change.
Shang Jiudi halted in pure disbelief. She had already prepared herself for the worst, even mentally rehearsing words of comfort, but now they were useless. What in the world was happening? Even Bai Yun'er—the ice-cold girl who had gone seventeen years without ever cracking her composure—stood frozen in rare, genuine astonishment.
The reversal left everyone dumbfounded, including the distant military personnel watching the scene unfold. Jiang Tianqing, who had observed everything from the shadows of the alley, had his heart pounding at over 200 beats per minute. From the helicopters' arrival to this moment, the twists had come one after another like a thick novel: the axe slamming into the ground, China's youngest female Major General throwing herself at Chu Han, the universally revered ice beauty Bai Yun'er doing the same, and now Chu Han's dying mother suddenly coming back from the edge.
Each moment felt like pure, impossible drama—bordering on outright miracles.
Jiang Tianqing burst out of the alley, sprinting to Chu Han's side. His eyes widened with emotion as he stared at Yuan Xiye, now propped up in Chu Han's arms, her face flushed with returning life: "Aunt Yuan… you're okay?"
His sudden appearance startled everyone—especially the soldiers, who shot him wary, suspicious glances.
"She's not dead." Chu Han replied, voice trembling with joy. He shook his mother's shoulders vigorously: "Mom, wake up! Mom!"
He called out desperately again and again, but her eyes stayed closed. Finally, Wangcai—still tucked in his pocket—couldn't stand it anymore and tugged at his clothes. A voice rang in Chu Han's mind, laced with exasperated superiority: "Stop yelling. She's in a vegetative state right now."
Vegetative. The word hit Chu Han like a bucket of ice water. Unconscious, senseless, trapped in eternal sleep—it was no different from death.
Chu Han blinked in confusion: "How do you know?"
"When you rushed out to slaughter everything, I used the second Rebirth Fragment to save her. Otherwise, what you're holding now would be a corpse." Wangcai spoke slowly, tone full of mystery.
"Rebirth Fragment?" Chu Han's eyes widened in shock. "It was you?"
The one who had pulled his mother back from the brink was Wangcai himself.
"Now you see how vital the Rebirth Fragments are, don't you?" Wangcai snorted coldly, about to launch into a lecture, but Chu Han cut him off sharply.
"When will my mom wake up? I don't care about the fragments—I just need her out of this state!" Chu Han's concern burned hotter than any curiosity about the mechanics.
"One fragment only suppresses the toxins in her body and keeps her alive for a while. To fully recover, she'll need two more." Wangcai's tone turned grave, all teasing gone.
Chu Han's eyes flashed with fierce hope: "You mean she can completely heal?"
"Yes."
The single word sent Chu Han's heart hammering wildly. Gratitude and emotion surged through him—he almost wanted to hug Wangcai and plant a kiss on his furry head. But he pressed on urgently: "How long does one fragment sustain her? How much time do I have to get the others safely?"
"The second one lasts at least six months," Wangcai warned sternly. "Exceed that, and the toxins will overwhelm her again. She'll be in danger."
Chu Han clenched his fists until his knuckles whitened. Now he understood—he had to tackle the third-tier assessment stone wall next, find another dimensional space point, and secure the third Rebirth Fragment. He was certain he could do it.
His only worry: he had no idea where that third-dimensional space point even was.
"Three fragments in total?" Chu Han latched onto the number. "Don't we already have two? You said you used the second one we just got—so where's the first?"
He had obtained fragments twice before; logically, one more should be enough.
"Ahem." Wangcai coughed awkwardly. "I used it."
Chu Han's face darkened instantly. Before he could explode, Wangcai hurriedly defended: "This isn't my fault! How else could I be talking to you right now?"
Chu Han paused, then nodded slowly. "Fair enough."
It really wasn't Wangcai's fault. The first fragment had appeared unexpectedly, and without him using it, Chu Han might never have even learned how to save his mother.
"Wangcai, you've earned your merit this time!" Chu Han suppressed his wild joy, slinging his mother carefully onto his back. Now that he knew the path forward, he needed to settle her somewhere safe and head to Qi Chen as soon as possible.
"I-I-I… what do we do now?" Li Yi and Wei An called out as Chu Han turned to leave.
He stopped, then spun around. His blazing eyes swept over the group: Li Yi, Wei An, Ding Siyao, Jiang Tianqing, Shang Jiudi, Bai Yun'er. The military soldiers were beyond his reach for now, but with his mother salvageable and his father safe, Chu Han's mindset had completely shifted.
He wasn't alone anymore. In the Beijing survivor base, Ye Mo's underground manor, Nandu's outpost, Yu Family Village's haven, the budding Hunter Alliance, even that riverboat—many owed him loyalty, many were ready to follow.
For the first time, Chu Han seriously considered his future path. After weaving this net across China to protect his parents, what came next? This life was different from his previous one—no more aimless drifting, no more isolation. Now he had comrades at his back, parents to shield, a girl he wanted to marry, and an ambition to crush the evil forces once and for all.
He could go all in.
His gaze hardened in an instant as he fixed it on the group: "Follow me—how about it?"