Chapter 132: Mimicry

"How am I responsible for you? And what do you mean by 'take responsibility'?"

Liu Baiyue felt bewildered, thinking he sounded like a disgruntled young wife.

"Luo Qian and the others are all dead!"

Ye Jian recounted the events in detail, leaving out nothing. Upon hearing this, Liu Baiyue was equally astonished. Luo Qian was dead? In her impression, Luo Qian was a shrewd individual with excellent survival instincts; even if a mission failed, she shouldn't have died. She never expected such a turn of events.

"Ahem! Director Ye, it was likely just an accident; they made a mistake."

"And what about the men I lost?" Ye Jian demanded.

"This..." Liu Baiyue didn't know how to respond. With her subordinates being primarily responsible for this 'accident,' she was indeed at a disadvantage. "Don't be so anxious. Failure is normal; who can guarantee a hundred percent success rate in every operation?"

"You expect me not to be anxious? The zombies will be at my doorstep any minute!" Ye Jian felt she was speaking from a position of comfort while he suffered. He continued, "If my company is wiped out and headquarters holds me accountable, you won't be able to escape either!"

In reality, they were both mere laborers for the Tek Corporation. If their performance was subpar, they would be replaced, and the consequences were often gruesome—usually involving human experimentation or direct biochemical modification.

Liu Baiyue thought it over, feeling a headache coming on; she had tried to steal a chicken only to end up losing the rice she used to lure it. "Don't worry, I still have A+-grade tri-system mutants I haven't deployed yet."

"Forget it, just don't deploy anyone else..." Clearly, Ye Jian no longer trusted her and felt he would have to discuss this matter with headquarters.

...

Elsewhere, Lin Dong was leading his minions to clear the battlefield. A swarm of zombies feasted on flesh; although they had suffered some damage in the recent battle, the gains in evolution were greater. The elite zombies had become stronger, and their numbers had increased. Lin Dong had acquired five A-grade cores and several B+-grade cores. There were too many—he couldn't even eat them all.

At this moment, Flap-Ears came running over from a distance, his large ears flapping. "Boss, there’s been a lot of human activity in the mountains on the edge of our territory. No idea what they're doing there."

"Oh..."

Lin Dong nodded. It was clear that not only the Tek Corporation had arrived, but other human factions were also stirring. It was likely the Black Scorpion organization, other survivors, or perhaps even the official shelters. But Lin Dong had no intention of interfering. For these scattered forces, he didn't need to lift a finger; he could leave them to his minions.

Soon after, Lin Dong returned home. However, one issue remained a hidden threat: the mutated fungi in the cemetery. They possessed the ability to mimic, which was highly eerie. If left to develop unchecked, there was no telling what they might evolve into. It was necessary to resolve this. More importantly, Lin Dong had an idea: he wanted to see if he could obtain another 'core seed' after destroying the fungi to create a sixth zombie king subordinate.

The situation with the Tek Corporation continued to ferment online. They had just released an announcement that the 'Hunter King Project' was being restarted.

"What exactly is going on? Why is there no news?"
"Did the Tek Corporation hunt down the Zombie King?"
"Who knows... there are no results yet."
"Didn't they say they would provide live updates? Why hasn't the announcement been updated?"

The awakeners in Jiangbei City were all closely following the matter. The number of comments below the announcement kept rising. Survivors kept asking questions, but just as the discussion was heating up, a few words suddenly appeared on the screen:

'The post you commented on has been deleted.'

"Huh?"
"What happened? Why was the post deleted?"
"Who knows..."

The survivors were all left bewildered.

...

A day of slaughter passed. As night fell, darkness shrouded the earth, and Lin Dong's territory returned to its usual calm. Only in the mountains at the edge of the territory could the occasional roar of a zombie be heard. Presumably, there were straggling humans trying to scout the situation, only to end up in the mouths of zombies.

Lin Dong sat on his sofa, swirling the crimson liquid in his goblet before downing it in one gulp. He had just absorbed an A-grade core and felt incredibly comfortable and energized. He slowly stood up, and his figure vanished into thin air.

Under the cover of night, the cemetery was pitch black. A night breeze blew, carrying wailing sounds. The branches in the forest behind swayed, rustling as if a demon were beckoning. Lin Dong’s slender figure appeared there; the darkness of the woods did not affect his vision.

"What exactly is in here?"

Lin Dong walked step by step toward the forest, simultaneously activating his concealment ability. His figure, having vanished from the spot, seemed to be swallowed by the darkness. The air in the woods was damp and even colder. Lin Dong moved silently, wandering through the trees. The surroundings were deathly still, not even a bug stirred. On some of the tree trunks, 'red tumors' were growing. Those tumors were dense, pulsing like hearts, as if they might come to life at any moment.

Where the tumors were thickest, there were piles of white bones and remains—some animal, some human—scattered about or heaped together, a shocking sight. Clearly, they had all died from fungal parasitism. This area had been completely occupied by the fungi, becoming a forbidden zone for other creatures.

Lin Dong was undeterred, continuing his steps deep into the dense forest. Gradually, a faint smell of blood reached his nostrils.

"Humans."

Lin Dong quickly rushed in that direction. Before long, he saw a female corpse lying on the ground, having died only recently. Her body was covered in red tumors of various sizes, turning her into a fungal petri dish. Even her face had two protruding tumors, looking incredibly gruesome. Yet, the woman's expression was not one of agony; she looked peaceful, as if she were merely sleeping. Clearly, she had not suffered when she died.

"A beautiful death, indeed..." Lin Dong muttered, feeling a flicker of curiosity. He wondered what she had experienced before she died. This human had likely been drawn by the battle involving the Tek Corporation and had wanted to come out and see what was happening, only to take a wrong turn, step into the fungal zone, and expire before reaching Lin Dong's territory. This could be considered stealing the food from his minions.

As he pondered, a 'rustling' sound suddenly came from ahead, as if something were squirming. Lin Dong looked up and saw several red tumors converging, vaguely taking on a human shape. As the humanoid figure stood up unsteadily, its body curves became clearer, its facial features became more defined, and it even mimicked the clothing she had been wearing.

A lifelike woman appeared before Lin Dong, and her physical features were identical to those of the corpse on the ground.