Chapter Thirty-One: Territory

That voice echoed like a summons from Death itself, chilling every soul to the bone and extinguishing all hope within their hearts. Ahead, a horde of terrifying zombies seemed to awaken, their mouths unleashing ferocious snarls, bloodlust flickering in their eyes.

The Tank, in particular, wore an expression of ecstatic excitement. Today, the boss had arranged a buffet—over two hundred dishes...

"Roar—"

With a guttural cry, the Tank charged forward, his underlings following, crashing into the crowd with reckless force. Screams and wails erupted as people fled in every direction, but the zombies hunted them down one by one, pinning them to the ground and tearing them apart.

Chaos reigned.

The moment the doors were opened, they had already stepped into the abyss.

Li Nan felt utter despair. His mental strength drained, he had no energy left to resist. Only now did he realize: it was this trained pack of zombies that had stormed the prison and killed Zhang Xiaoyuan.

Lin Dong had become a King of the Dead—a corpse king with a domain, an almost invincible being.

“How can humanity survive?”

That was Li Nan’s final thought before death. Agonizing pain surged through him; Xiao Ba had gutted him.

Once the people from TekCorp were all dead, the remaining ordinary survivors’ resistance was futile. They fell one after another, devoured by the zombies.

This was the true apocalypse: a world saturated with blood and slaughter, leaving all feeling helpless and lost.

It did not take long.

The screams faded away entirely, replaced by the sounds of zombies feasting and gnawing.

The entire mall was overrun; not a single survivor remained.

Lin Dong’s expression was indifferent as he strode out. Tank, Xiao Ba, and the others followed him obediently.

“It’s time to go home...”

...

After slaughtering Li Nan and his group, Lin Dong acquired five crystal cores. He consumed three, feeling his power surge, teetering once again on the edge of evolution.

Yet, the energy of three cores was immense and required time to absorb, so he set aside the remaining two for now.

On the way home, dawn broke faintly across the sky.

Before the apocalypse, this would have been a bright, hopeful morning.

Now, ruin stretched before him, corpses scattered everywhere.

The entire city had become a wasteland.

Passing through a park with his followers, Lin Dong saw bloodstains everywhere, and the air was thick with the stench of decay.

Scattered zombies lingered nearby, some still clinging to past habits.

An old man battered his back against a tree, as if exercising, his flesh split and bleeding, yet he persisted, leaving dark bloody marks across the cracked bark.

An elderly woman pushed a wheelchair, her movements stiff, pacing endlessly around the square, tireless and repetitive.

Lin Dong glanced over and saw that the wheelchair held a massive rat, clutching something in its claws, gnawing away contentedly.

Soon, several young zombies appeared ahead. Unlike the previous mindless creatures, these had clearly feasted on flesh.

"Roar—"

One zombie bared its sharp teeth and hissed at Lin Dong.

"Hmm?"

Lin Dong looked over, surprised that such a small zombie dared to challenge him.

But through its roar, a message was clear:

"This is my boss's territory, outsiders are not welcome..."

Apparently, it belonged to another domain; this area was claimed by another corpse king.

No wonder it dared to roar at him.

Lin Dong understood.

Tank, quick-tempered as ever, strode forward, grabbed the zombie by its neck like a chick, and smashed it hard against the ground.

Smack!

The little zombie splintered, blood splattering far and wide.

Tank treated it like a firecracker, but still dissatisfied, he pummeled the other zombies nearby, reducing them to pulp.

Returning to Lin Dong’s side, Tank wore a proud grin, as if asking for praise.

"Let’s go, time to head back," Lin Dong said, unfazed, leading his entourage away.

But, from a distant hillside in the park, a group of zombies watched.

Their leader was towering—two meters tall—with skin tinged a pale red. Black veins bulged across his face, etched in stark patterns, making him look monstrous.

Around his neck twisted a dark, furry thing, resembling a massive scarf.

"Your Majesty, the humans in the mall were hunted by them," a nearby zombie signaled, displaying remarkable intelligence.

Its intellect matched that of Xiao Ba.

The corpse king growled deep in his throat.

He regarded the mall as his domain, intending to slowly consume the humans inside. But now, other zombies had hunted them!

As the saying goes, two tigers cannot share a mountain. Killing was their instinct; zombies could devour each other's crystal cores and absorb their energy.

"It’s time... to expand my territory..."

The corpse king’s eyes glinted with bloodlust, viewing Lin Dong and his followers as prey.

If the zombie horde was to grow, he would have to hunt down other corpse kings.

Squeak—squeak, squeak—

The "scarf" around his neck suddenly shrieked. It was a massive rat, but more horrifying, it had a human head covered in fine black hair, its visage utterly grotesque.

...

Lin Dong returned home, soaked in a bath, then changed into clean clothes.

Su Xiaorou, nimble and efficient, cleaned the house until it sparkled, arranging everything meticulously, a perfection that would satisfy even the most obsessive.

For other servants, slacking meant a pay cut; for her, it meant risking her life.

Seeing Lin Dong’s discarded clothes, she immediately took them to wash.

Although Lin Dong had not directly touched anyone in the mall, his white shirt still carried traces of blood.

Su Xiaorou could smell it distinctly.

"Boss... did you go out for dinner again?"

"Mm, a buffet," Lin Dong replied casually.

Su Xiaorou shivered, guessing the scene must have been intense, but dared not ask more, hurrying to wash the clothes.

Lin Dong took out his phone to check online news.

His “big case” had just occurred; TekCorp had yet to notice.

Their official site still announced the “Hunter King Operation” was proceeding smoothly and about to begin.

The comments below were lively.

"If they can clear out the zombies, we can rebuild our homes. Hope this operation succeeds!"

"Pfft! TekCorp conducts human experiments—not for humanity, but for their own gain and selfish ambition."

"Who knows what will happen this time? Let’s just wait and see!"

...