The others in the group weren’t the type to be easily swayed by a few words, let alone turn back immediately as the boy had urged.
“You need to listen to me! Leave now, or it’ll be too late! I’m not lying—if you stay, you’ll be in real danger!” the baby-faced boy pleaded, his voice rising in desperation as he glanced anxiously toward the figure descending the stairs.
Finally, the zombie came into view, entering Ruan Ning and the group’s line of sight.
Like all zombies, its once human-like appearance had been grotesquely transformed by the virus. Its skin was a sickly bluish-purple, and its once-light dress was so stained with blood that its original colour was indiscernible.
Catching the scent of fresh humans, its pale, cloudy eyes turned crimson, and it broke into a sprint toward them.
“Lili! Don’t hurt them!” the boy shouted desperately.
The zombie hesitated for a brief moment at the sound of its name but quickly resumed its aggressive approach, unaffected by his plea.
Lin Yang, positioned by the staircase on the first floor and closest to the zombie, reacted swiftly. With practiced ease, he drew his gun and fired several shots in rapid succession.
“Don’t shoot!” the boy cried, now panicking even more. He rushed toward the zombie, his face a mix of anxiety and anguish.
“Hey, kid! Don’t go near it! Bullets don’t care who you are, and neither do zombies. You’ll just get yourself killed!” Lin Yang warned, his tone exasperated. He could tell the boy knew this zombie, but it was already beyond saving. Once someone turned into a zombie, even the closest family member couldn’t stop their primal instinct to attack living humans.
“That’s not true! Lili still recognizes me!” the boy yelled back, his voice shaking with emotion.
Seeing the boy’s recklessness, Lin Yang sighed in frustration and yanked him off the stairs to prevent him from getting closer.
What happened next shocked everyone.
The bullets Lin Yang fired hit the zombie but had no effect. Some fell to the ground with metallic clinks, while others ricocheted off its body.
“What the hell?!” Lin Yang exclaimed, quickly using his ability to shield himself from the rebounding bullets. Meanwhile, the female zombie closed the distance and lunged at him.
The earth barrier Lin Yang erected managed to hold the zombie off for barely ten seconds before it shattered.
“Damn it! What level of zombie is this? Its destructive power is insane!” Lin Yang muttered, retreating quickly. His barrier had previously withstood attacks from a near-second-tier fire zombie, yet this one broke through it as if it were paper.
Before the zombie could grab Lin Yang, Gu Yicheng intervened with a streak of lightning, forcing it to halt its attack.
Though momentarily disrupted, the zombie caught the scent of a stronger, more enticing human presence—Gu Yicheng. Despite an instinctual hesitation toward his ability, its hunger won out, and it changed direction, charging toward him.
Realizing firearms were useless, Gu Yicheng relied solely on his ability.
Electric arcs crackled in the air as one after another struck the zombie. Unlike Lin Yang’s bullets, the lightning pierced its seemingly invulnerable skin, eliciting sizzling sounds and the acrid smell of burnt flesh.
The zombie let out an enraged screech. Its strength was monstrous; it grabbed a metal railing from the staircase, bending it out of shape. With frightening force, it tore the railing and its attached concrete base out of the structure and hurled it toward Gu Yicheng.
Chunks of concrete and debris flew through the air.
Everyone scrambled for cover. Those who couldn’t move in time suffered minor injuries from the flying debris, and the smell of fresh blood thickened in the air, further agitating the zombie. Its crimson eyes darkened with bloodlust.
Ruan Ning, reacting quickly, retrieved a table from her spatial storage and used it to shield herself and Su Yunjin, narrowly avoiding injury.
“This zombie is ridiculously strong,” Ruan Ning observed from the side-lines, her mind racing as she analysed the situation. “It’s like it has two abilities: its skin is impervious to weapons, similar to Xue Chen’s metal ability, and that raw strength—it’s like it’s strength-type as well.”
A zombie with both resilience and immense strength was a terrifying opponent. Ruan Ning doubted even Gu Yicheng could defeat it quickly.
Gu Yicheng seemed to realize this as well. Just as he prepared to intensify his attacks and end the fight quickly, the boy suddenly stepped between him and the zombie.
“Please, stop fighting!” the boy pleaded, clutching a bleeding wound on his forehead caused by the debris. He hurriedly positioned himself in front of the zombie, his desperation evident. He wasn’t just trying to protect the zombie; he was also trying to protect the intruders from it.
Gu Yicheng, though he paused his attack, kept his hand raised, prepared to strike again if needed. His expression remained cold and unyielding.
The boy, sensing the hostility, turned to face the zombie. His voice softened as he said, “Lili, it’s me—your brother. Please calm down. Don’t let the zombie instincts control you.”
The zombie, drawn by the boy’s scent of blood, raised its clawed hand to strike. But just as its claws were about to slash his face, it stopped abruptly.
The red in its eyes began to fade, replaced by a look of struggle and pain. Clutching its head, it let out a guttural moan, crouching down as though fighting an internal battle.
Everyone froze, watching in shock as the scene unfolded.
The baby-faced boy didn’t hesitate to rush over and support the zombie as it crouched on the ground, writhing in apparent pain. “Lili, what’s wrong? Lili…” he called out anxiously.
Lin Yang, still shaken by the zombie’s earlier ferocity, exchanged a glance with Gu Yicheng and lowered his voice. “Gu-ge, do you think we should…” He made a slashing motion with his hand, signalling that they should deal with it while it was weakened.
If they didn’t subdue it now, it would be far more dangerous once it recovered its previous level of aggression.
Gu Yicheng’s sharp eyes stayed locked on the boy and the zombie. After a moment of contemplation, he said in a low voice, “Not yet. Let’s observe for a bit.”
—
Ten minutes passed.
Under the boy’s constant murmurs, the zombie’s agitated demeanour began to calm. Its head hung low as it sat motionless on the stairs. Despite being surrounded by living humans, it showed no further signs of aggression.
“What the hell is going on?” Lin Yang asked, utterly astonished. Just moments ago, this zombie was ready to rip them apart, and now it was sitting quietly among them? This was unprecedented.
Gu Yicheng’s expression didn’t change, though his narrowed eyes revealed he was deep in thought.
Even though the zombie had seemingly stopped its attacks, the Morning Light Team remained on high alert. Each member held a defensive or offensive stance, prepared for any sudden movement.
The boy stood up from the stairs, breaking the silence. “Thank you for stopping your attack earlier and giving me time to calm Lili down,” he said earnestly.
He glanced back at the zombie and then turned to the group with a strained smile. “I want to apologize on her behalf. She didn’t mean to hurt you. You might not understand my actions, but if you’ll let me explain, it might make sense.”
“My name is Chen Xu, and this is my sister, Chen Li. We’re twins and both students at B University. A month ago, during class, someone suddenly turned into a zombie and started attacking people. I realized something was wrong and dragged my sister out in the chaos…”
Chen Xu spent the next five minutes recounting their experiences during the past month of the apocalypse.
Five days ago, Chen Li turned into what she was now. That was when they came to the cafeteria. Before her transformation, Chen Li had been a metal ability user, which explained why her skin was impervious to weapons. Though she had become a zombie, a combination of their twin bond and her unique circumstances allowed her to occasionally regain a sliver of her consciousness in Chen Xu’s presence.
“She’s a third-tier zombie,” Gu Yicheng interjected, his voice calm but heavy.
Zombies advanced by consuming the flesh and blood of living creatures. For this one to have reached the third tier, it must have killed countless humans. It wasn’t hard to imagine that Chen Xu might have been complicit in some way.
The others quickly reached the same conclusion.
“You’re wrong! My sister hasn’t eaten anyone!” Chen Xu said defensively, noticing their accusatory expressions. “Lili is different from other zombies. She still has her own consciousness! I swear to you, we’ve been staying in this cafeteria all this time, and she’s never eaten a person. When she can’t suppress her hunger, she only eats raw meat from the cafeteria. She was terrified of even bugs before this—there’s no way she’d eat a person.”
“No one’s been eaten? Then she must’ve hurt someone, right?” Lin Yang scoffed, glancing at the injuries on their group. “We’re all beaten up thanks to her. You think the other survivors who came here fared any better?”
Chen Xu fell silent for a moment, guilt and self-reproach evident in his voice when he finally spoke. “…You’re right. There were a few times I couldn’t stop her in time. Lili almost tore someone’s arm off.”
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