Chapter Thirty-Three: Feeding the Zombies

“Having a meal?”
Lin Dong’s tone was calm, as if he were chatting casually with friends.
But Xiao Ba and Tank sprang up from where they had been squatting by the wall, backs ramrod straight like schoolchildren being punished. In the meantime, Tank slyly reached behind himself and tossed the insect he’d been holding onto the ground.
With a goofy grin, he said,
“Heh heh heh, Boss, it was all Xiao Ba’s idea. I really didn’t want to eat it at all…”
“Hm???”
Xiao Ba shot him a look, speechless and a little annoyed. With a swift movement, his sharp nails dug into Tank’s waist.
He cursed inwardly… Are you for real?
But Tank’s skin was thick and his flesh tough; he didn’t even flinch, as if he were immune to pain, grinning all the while.
Lin Dong, however, didn’t seem particularly upset.
“I’m heading out for a bit. You two keep an eye on the place.”
“Oh, okay…”
Tank and Xiao Ba both agreed in quick succession, but couldn’t help being a little curious—what was the boss going out to do? If he was going hunting, could he take them along?
But having just been caught misbehaving, neither dared ask.
Lin Dong glanced at his two zombie underlings.
“You two like eating bugs, don’t you? Before I return, clear out all the insects around the building. I don’t want to see a single one.”
“Mm-hmm.”
The two zombies nodded repeatedly, like pecking chicks.
...
Lin Dong left the building.
He had already absorbed all five of his soul crystals, so he wanted to see if he could find another “lucky one” to hunt a few more.
Besides that, he intended to investigate the recent rat attacks and the disturbances from other zombies.
Since the details were still unclear, Lin Dong chose not to bring along his thousands of zombie underlings. He could move more stealthily alone, and if he encountered danger, his corpse domain would allow him to attack or retreat at will.
His underlings, however, were not so lucky. If they ran into a pack of mutant beasts or a larger hostile zombie horde, they’d be easy prey…
In that case, Lin Dong would end up alone again.
As for the rat attacks and zombie disturbances, Lin Dong had his suspicions—they were likely coming from nearby, probably that zombie faction he’d encountered in the park the other day.
So, he headed in the direction of the park.
After a month of apocalypse, the abandoned vehicles on the street were rusted and decayed. Once-bustling roads had begun to sprout weeds.
The entire city was desolate and ruined.
The only active beings were zombies, sometimes standing still, sometimes wandering aimlessly. Yet at the slightest disturbance, they sprang to life and rushed over, as if activated by some unseen force.
Those terrifying faces, the low growls from their throats, the bloodthirsty gleam in their eyes—all revealed their insatiable hunger for flesh.
Wild zombies who encountered Lin Dong didn’t attack him. In fact, they instinctively feared him and made way for him.
As Lin Dong continued forward, the number of wild zombies dwindled.
Corpses began to appear on the street—zombies mangled as if crushed by a heavy truck, flattened into “meat patties.”
But this wasn’t the work of humans. It was the result of a massive zombie horde trampling its own.
Low-level zombies lacked intelligence and, in the frenzy, trampled each other to death.
The larger the horde, the more casualties there were from such accidents.
Countless flies swarmed around the putrid bodies. In the apocalypse, even the green bottle flies had grown to the size of a thumb, their droning buzz irritating to the nerves.
Lin Dong had now entered the territory of another zombie king.
The street was strewn with tufts of fur and black, pellet-like rat droppings—utterly revolting.
He could easily imagine the sewers beneath his feet crawling with thousands of rats, still keeping to their nocturnal habits, emerging only at night to forage.
Off in the distance, a flock of jet-black crows circled a tall building, cawing noisily.
Crows were omens of death and misfortune.
It was as if something inside that building had attracted them, and they couldn’t wait to get in.
“Could there be survivors?”
Lin Dong speculated, heading toward the high-rise.
As he drew near, his suspicions were confirmed—the scent of blood was thick in the air, and there were indeed living humans inside.
But what surprised him was that, alongside the scent of humans, he also detected zombies. It seemed as if they were living together in the same room.
“What’s going on?”
Lin Dong immediately activated his corpse domain, slipping into stealth, and passed through the walls, heading for the upper floors.
Concealed in the void, he was completely invisible to others.
In this perilous, post-apocalyptic world, invisibility was a godlike ability—but it came with a drawback: he couldn’t attack while hidden. If he tried, his true form would be exposed.
Lin Dong reached the eighteenth floor.
He sensed that the room ahead contained four humans and one zombie.
Curious, he phased through the wall.
He emerged into a cramped bedroom. The scene was shocking—bloodstains covered the walls and floor.
A heavy stench filled the air.
The clinking of iron chains echoed in his ears.
Lin Dong turned to see a female zombie chained to the bed, her hands bound, snarling and straining to break free.
Opposite her sat a man with beady eyes and thick lips, gazing at her with a besotted expression.
“Yingying, my goddess, even though you’ve become a zombie, I’ll still keep my promise and take care of you for the rest of my life.”
“Remember? I once said, no matter what you become, my love for you will never change.”
The female zombie growled menacingly at him, saliva stringing from her mouth.
Thick Lips seemed used to it, squinting and smiling.
“You’re still the same as ever, always so fierce with me. I chased you from middle school through college, ten years of bringing you breakfast every morning. When you moved in with your boyfriend, I brought two portions, but you never so much as glanced at me, always scolding me like this…”
Good grief!
Lin Dong marveled inwardly—there really were people this devoted?
Even Fei Yangyang would offer him a cigarette.
Yet Thick Lips spoke with a look of pure sweetness.
“But now, we’re finally together. I can protect you always, even if it’s the end of the world. Yingying, darling, you must be hungry. I’ll go make you something to eat…”
With that, he turned and left the room.
Lin Dong quickly followed.
Invisible, the man didn’t notice a thing.
Lin Dong could sense that Thick Lips was brimming with vitality, far surpassing ordinary people—he was an awakened one.
Thick Lips entered another room.
Inside were three more men, their hands and feet tightly bound, mouths sealed with duct tape, able only to make muffled sounds.
When they saw Thick Lips, terror blazed in their eyes as they struggled frantically.
But their bonds were too secure; it was useless.
Thick Lips squinted and smiled, inspecting them one by one.
“Le