Chapter Fifty-Three: Making Amends for Past Mistakes

“Mm.”
Lin Dong responded, turning and walking toward the building.

Little Eight cocked his head, seeming quite puzzled. The boss actually had friends?

But soon, a wave of “food” aroma wafted over.

As Lin Dong walked away, he casually tossed out a heap of corpses, some still warm.

“Hehehehehe...”

Little Eight grinned, not thinking any further about it.

......

Cheng Luoyi and the others walked for a long time without encountering any zombies. Only after leaving Lin Dong’s territory did those terrifying figures begin to reappear.

But they were only low-level zombies, easily dealt with by ordinary people, let alone posing any threat to the Awakened.

“Luoyi, did you notice?” Chen Ming suddenly asked.

“What?”

Cheng Luoyi turned to look at him.

Chen Ming explained, “We only met zombies again after leaving the five-star nest, so it’s almost certain that your friend... is the king of that five-star zombie nest!”

“Oh.”

Cheng Luoyi nodded, showing no other expression.

“Huh? You...”

Chen Ming was taken aback, feeling things weren’t as he expected. Wasn’t she surprised?

Beside them, Sun Xiaoqiang scratched his head. He was simple-minded, but after all that had happened, he vaguely sensed something.

“Sister Cheng, do you think... Lin Dong is really a zombie?”

“Does it matter if he’s human or zombie?”

Cheng Luoyi paused, then continued, “As long as we know he’s Lin Dong, that’s enough.”

........

Near the building, the dying sun stained the sky a deep red, and a few pitch-black crows circled overhead, cawing harshly.

Amid the desolation of the apocalypse, several zombies gnawed at flesh and blood.

“Hehehehehe, the boss is great—goes out hunting and brings back food for us!”

Little Eight’s chin was smeared with blood.

The nearby zombies nodded repeatedly, expressing their agreement.

Unlike other nests, where the underlings hunted for the king, Lin Dong did the opposite, and Little Eight and the others were deeply moved by it.

The zombies ate heartily, except for Tank, who squatted off to the side, lost in thought, a hint of guilt in his eyes.

Because—

Tank had failed to notice humans hiding within his patrol territory. He felt derelict in his duty, yet Lin Dong had not blamed him, even bringing food back. This made Tank feel even worse.

Little Eight looked up at him.

“Not eating?”

“No appetite.”

Tank hugged his shoulders, turning away with a proud air, silently thinking he should hunt some humans to make it up to the boss.

Little Eight was smart, but not enough to guess his thoughts. He had no idea what Tank was pondering.

“If you don’t eat soon, there’ll be nothing left.”

“Oh...”

Tank glanced sidelong at the meat, his resolve wavering, and unconsciously licked his lips.

“I’ll have a bite or two...”

.......

In the days that followed, peace returned to the territory, and nothing much happened.

Lin Dong holed up at home, living leisurely—collecting intel, absorbing energy, and occasionally chatting online with Cheng Luoyi.

The hunger, slaughter, and danger outside seemed to have nothing to do with him.

This stretch of the city around the building became his personal paradise.

Lin Dong had considered that Cheng Luoyi and Sun Xiaoqiang, both strong and with plenty of food, could stay by his side. They’d be valuable help in a crisis.

But they were also the leading Awakened of Refuge #001 and #002, famous and bound to attract trouble.

It was clear their staying would bring nothing but unrest.

So Lin Dong gave up the idea, figuring it was fine for them to remain at the refuge and keep a cooperative relationship.

Downstairs, Little Eight and the other zombies wandered the streets, patrolling the territory, but there was never much to be found.

Tank, in particular, was the most dejected. With the intelligence of a child of seven or eight, he still brooded over his previous “failure.”

Now, his burly figure sat by the roadside, his back radiating loneliness.

“Where can I find some humans to kill? I have to make it up to the boss—bring back some prey as tribute, or I’ll never stop feeling guilty...”

Yet the main city had long since fallen, overrun by zombies. Not a single human remained; at most, he could catch a few huge rats from the sewers.

But Tank thought, if he brought a couple of big rats as tribute, the boss might just cripple him on the spot...

“What to do?”

Just as Tank was at his wit’s end, he heard the flapping of wings. A red-eyed crow alighted atop the nearby lamppost.

Under the blood-red sky, the crow’s beak was stained with blood, and it still clutched a human eyeball in its mouth.

The scene was truly grotesque.

“Huh?”

Tank paid no mind to anything else. His beady eyes immediately fixed on it, as if he’d discovered a new world.

Sensing his gaze, the crow craned its neck, hurriedly gulped down the eyeball, and shot Tank a look of disdain.

“Idiot...”

“........”

Tank was speechless and a bit annoyed, but with a favor to ask, he let it slide.

“Little black bird, do you know where there’s prey?”

“I do... of course I do...”

The crow’s red pupils blinked.

Tank grew excited. “Where? Tell me!”

“I’m not telling.”

The red-eyed crow replied.

“.......”

Tank scratched his head. This little black bird really held a grudge—just because he’d tried to catch it once when it first arrived? And he hadn’t even caught it...

“Where is it? Please tell me, I need to hunt prey for the boss.”

“Too dangerous... far too dangerous... If you go, you won’t come back.”

“Tch, impossible.”

Tank didn’t believe it. He was the famous corpse king of the nearby nests, and he knew who he was following. How could he not come back?

“Come on, tell me. If I catch anything, you get a share.”

The crow didn’t answer right away, its eyes spinning as it thought. After a moment, it flapped its wings and took off.

“Follow me... follow me...”

“Hehehehe.”

Seeing the crow agree, Tank grinned like a two-hundred-pound child, his hulking frame rising from the roadside.

The red-eyed crow flew down the street, muttering as it went.

“There’s treasure... there’s treasure...”

“Oh?”

Tank’s mouth formed an O. So there was not just prey, but treasure too.

He was undeniably curious.

What kind of treasure?

“Could it be... a prey with lots of meat?”

He immediately followed the crow.

The crow soared through the air, swift and agile. Yet Tank, nimble for his size, leaped among the buildings, scaling walls and rooftops like a giant, agile ape.

The chase carried them farther and farther away.

Clearly, the place the crow spoke of was already beyond Lin Dong’s territory...

......