Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Twenty-Nine

The sharp, elongated arrow whistled towards the Rocktop Bird and instantly struck its backside.

"Caw!"

A harsh cry echoed through the sky as the enormous Rocktop Bird instantly released its grip.

Ouyang Dong fell from mid-air, and before Shen Xiuzhe and Xufang could use their abilities to save him, he activated his own power, spurring the growth of a massive wild plant on the ground. The ordinarily frail leaves grew exponentially in size, cushioning Ouyang Dong’s fall, but the recoil from the heavy impact bounced him off to the hard ground below.

Though the arrow pained the Rocktop Bird, it was a mere prick compared to its vast body, and ultimately, the bird flew away awkwardly.

"You alright?" Xufang ran over, calling out to Ouyang Dong.

Ouyang Dong sat on the ground, grimacing. His back was scratched from the bird's claws, and the fall to the ground had also left his backside in pain.

Seeing that Ouyang Dong was relatively unscathed, Xufang couldn't help but laugh, "What's with you, huh? Told you not to move, and you had to make a fuss. Got yourself caught, didn't you? If the boss hadn't saved you, you'd have eloped with the Rocktop Bird by now."

Ouyang Dong, ignoring the motor-mouthed baldy, sat on the ground, questioning his life choices.

"Why? Just why? I didn't move at all, so why target me?"

Xufang reached out to help him up, expressing his surprise, "You didn't move?"

Ouyang Dong struggled to his feet, his face etched with grievance, "I didn't! And it's always like this, even with the spotted hyenas, they all attack me. Why is that?"

Shen Xiuzhe, standing aside, his gaze on the giant wild grass, noted Ouyang Dong's significant progress; he could now spur the growth of vegetation from a distance. Yet, he remained immersed in his personal conundrum of being the only one hurt in this world, not even preoccupied with the large wild grass he had conjured.

Back in the RV, Ouyang Dong lay on the couch while Xufang cleaned and dressed the wounds on his back.

Shen Xiuzhe, driving, couldn't worry about other Rocktop Birds for the time being. The injured one that fled would surely seek revenge; they had to speed up in hopes of outrunning any pursuit.

It wasn't that they couldn't defeat such birds. However, in the wilderness, unless seeking food or provoked, adventurers generally refrained from killing, avoiding battles whenever possible.

After all, many animals live in groups, and killing one could incite a vengeful frenzy among its kind.

Now that Rocktop Bird was off to rally its flock—no, birds. With a wingspan of three to four meters each, a few more, and they could flip the RV.

There lay Ouyang Dong, still muttering his whys.

Wu Shuangxue stroked her chin, musing, "Maybe it fancied your physique."

Wu Duo, face lined with exasperation, said, "Grandma, that's a weird way to put it."

"The situation in the wilderness is probably severe now. Many animals have turned into zombies, and the others can't find food. They see something meaty, whether it moves or not, they'll surely want to take it away."

Grandma Wu's explanation left Ouyang Dong somewhat stunned, "But why did those zombified beasts also chase after me?"

"Same reason, my boy. Your build is substantial, one of you is worth two others; you'd be the first choice."

"Grandma, Rocktop Birds are herbivores," Wu Duo interjected, unable to resist. "Their diet consists of fruits with hard shells, so it's unlikely they snatched Brother Dong for his meat."

Caught by her granddaughter, Wu Shuangxue laughed and patted her back before addressing Ouyang Dong, "I suspect your plant-based ability might be a factor. Plant abilities likely have a high affinity with all vegetation, and in the eyes of herbivorous animals, you might seem like a tasty plant."

Xufang chimed in, "What about the zombified beasts, then?"

"I wasn't joking earlier. Some animals target the old, weak, or sick when hunting, while others, to ensure a rich meal, will go for those with more flesh. Zombie beasts probably operate on the same principle, focusing their attack on you for that reason."

Ouyang Dong: "..."

His eyes lost their sparkle momentarily as he plunged into the couch, mumbling dejectedly: "I feel like the entire world is against me."

Xu Fang patted his back: "You could look at it differently. Many people nowadays struggle for food and clothing. With your physique, you'd be the envy of many. To animals, you're quite attractive too. In that sense, aren't you a heartthrob?"

Ouyang Dong lifted his head, tears glimmering in his eyes, and snapped: "Would you want to be this kind of heartthrob? And hey, you hit my wound!"

As Ouyang Dong bandaged his wounds, Lin An wandered nearby, circling the couch slowly. He would lower his head when noticed, but the moment he wasn’t observed, the little zombie sneakily peeked at Ouyang Dong’s injuries.

His gaze was not subtle. Usually, Lin An was either spaced out or cleaning around. His interest in something was indeed a rare sight.

Ouyang Dong, overwhelmed with sadness, noticed Lin An's repeated circling and peeking at his wounds, and couldn't help but feel touched: "At least An has a conscience. He seems to be recovering fast, even showing concern for others now, unlike you, baldy, always rubbing salt in my wounds."

Xu Fang: "...Yeah, as long as you're happy."

It was hard to admit, but An Ge wasn't just concerned about him; he also had his eyes on him as a plump source of food.

Later, Ouyang Dong declared he would start dieting, but gave up within hours, catalyzing a huge watermelon to munch on, rationalizing it as a treat for the injured, claiming that eating more would heal the wounds faster.

"He even joked that he gains weight just by drinking water, so losing it would be impossible. He'd rather focus on enhancing his special abilities, confident that once powerful enough, he could handle any number of zombie beasts."

Displaying a blindly optimistic attitude.

Unsure if it was because the injured rock pigeon flew slower or their notorious reputation for attacking pigeons spread, they encountered no more rock pigeons today, and the injured one didn't return for revenge.

"In the evening, everyone tried to teach Lin An to speak, but he kept his head down and didn’t cooperate at all."

Wu Duo, somewhat anxious about his overly long bangs, as a young girl who herself had short hair, found it hard to resist the urge to tidy up such disheveled hair.

Truthfully, she didn't even know what An Ge looked like; his hair was too long. Initially too unfamiliar to comment, she now really wanted to help him tie up those bangs.

Grandma Wu, amused by the girl's dilemma, simply suggested she ask Lin An himself.

Wu Duo: He probably won't understand, right?

Nevertheless, the girl washed her hands, grabbed a hair tie, and sat in front of Lin An with a seriousness as if she was about to bow to him any moment.

"An Ge, I'll tie up your bangs for you. If you don't like it, just make a sound."

Lin An did not react.

"I'll tie it up then, but please don't send me flying with a water tornado," she said, clearly remembering the formidable power Lin An had displayed while fighting zombified beasts.

Lin An remained unresponsive.

The young girl gently lifted the lock of hair in front of Lin An's eyes, secured it with a black elastic band, and pinned it back with a hair clip, finally revealing his smooth forehead.

Throughout the process, he kept his head down and his eyes slightly closed, neither retreating nor cradling his head, simply letting the young girl tie his hair into a small ponytail.

"My, Lin An actually looks like this," exclaimed Grandma Wu in surprise, seeing the little zombie without his fringe for the first time.

His red eyes were like jewels with contact lenses, clear and not at all like the bloody murkiness typical of ordinary zombies.

Udo was astonished; who could have imagined that although An Ge had become a zombie, he looked nothing like the typical kind, almost as if he were a completely different species.

Ouyang Dong was extremely curious; he was still lying on the sofa and couldn't resist the urge to turn his head to see, despite pulling at his wound and grimacing in pain, but he stubbornly did so anyway.

"Could Lin An have been a celebrity before? I've never seen him."

"If he were a celebrity, I'm sure I would remember."

While Udo and Ouyang Dong speculated whether he was a celebrity, Grandma Wu didn’t care for such matters, decreeing that unless they were in a crowded place, it was better to keep his hair tied up - how pleasant and mood-lifting it was to see him like this.

Ouyang Dong watched speechlessly as Grandma Wu became overly enthusiastic about Lin An's appearance, eventually frightening the little zombie into hiding.

"Could Grandma Wu be..."

Udo confirmed, "Mmm, Grandma is indeed a sucker for good looks."

Xu Fang and Shen Xiuzhe had known what Lin An looked like, so they didn’t react much to his change, but with his fringe up, Lin An's expressions were now clear, even though most of the time his eyes were lifeless and his gaze distant.

They were now close to the Mechanical City, and vehicles and zombies began to appear on the roads, seemingly having fled from the Mechanical City. Judging by the thick layer of dust on the cars, these were likely from the early days of the apocalypse.

They didn't stop for the night but kept driving forward until they reached the Mechanical City by dawn the next day.

In the distance, the vast expanse of white city walls encompassed the entire city. Compared to the towering and immense Chuxi City, Mechanical City was much smaller, but the two had distinctly different styles.

Due to its large population, Chuxi City was constantly expanding, from the original old city district outward, with walls being demolished and rebuilt, and skyscrapers standing densely packed, creating a crowded and bustling appearance.

Mechanical City, true to its name, had its various equipment and public facilities all planned out at the city's inception, arranged in an orderly fashion. Residents used intelligent devices and machinery they developed themselves, making life more convenient.

These were the scenes of the pre-apocalyptic Mechanical City; its current state remained unknown.

Xu Fang, with a telescope in hand, sat on the roof of the vehicle, observing Mechanical City. At the end of the road, near the city gates, he surprisingly saw guards.

Could the presence of guards indicate that the situation inside the city was relatively stable?

"When Shen Xiuzhe parked the car outside the city gates, Xu Fang prepared to get out first to scout the area and understand the situation."

"Having received permission from the boss, he jogged to the city gates, which were tightly shut with their silver-white color. To his surprise, the guards were two small robots."

"Chuxi City had robots purchased from Mechanical City, but they were exorbitantly priced, only affordable by a few wealthy individuals. Ordinary people rarely even saw them."

"Xu Fang, encountering robots up close for the first time, observed their white exteriors weathered and scarred. Their round heads had harmonious proportions with their bodies, and the eyes were black screens which lit up with two blue eyes as Xu Fang approached."

"'Hello, please proceed with the scan,' said the robot."

"After the mechanical voice spoke, the other robot emitted a white light from its eyes, scanning Xu Fang before turning off."

"'Identity confirmed as human. Do you wish to enter the city?'"

Xu Fang was astounded by the sight of robots, marveling at how advanced Mechanical City had become.

"He circled the robots several times, tapping their round heads a few times curiously."

"'Hello, please do not tease the robots. Do you wish to enter the city?'"

"Xu Fang ran back to report this to Shen Xiuzhe. With the scan at the gate, it meant An Ge couldn’t enter."

"Shen Xiuzhe’s visit to Mechanical City was partly because it was on the way, and partly to see if he could replenish their weapons. Whether he could enter wasn't a big concern for him."

"After discussion, everyone except Shen Xiuzhe and Lin An decided to go inside and take a look."

Initially, everyone wanted Ouyang Dong to stay behind due to his injury from the day before. Yet, driven by curiosity and never having visited Mechanical City, he insisted on going, especially since his wound had scabbed over and didn't hinder his movement.

"Nowadays, those with special abilities have strong physical constitutions; as long as the injuries are not fatal, they recover quickly."

"Udo, worried about her grandmother, also insisted on going in."

"The four of them arrived at the city gate and, after being scanned by the robots, Xu Fang immediately responded affirmatively when asked if they wished to enter the city."

The city gates didn't open immediately. Instead, a small window opened above, and a scruffy-bearded man peeked out, looking down at the group.

"'Where are you from? It's been a long time since anyone entered Mechanical City,' the man said, eyeing the four of them and then the camper parked not far away, confused."

"'We're from Chuxi City,' Xu Fang called out. 'Are there any zombies in your city?'"

"The man closed the window, and just when Xu Fang wondered if he had been too direct, a small door suddenly appeared in the city wall behind the robots, and the man walked out."

"He scrutinized them for a moment before asking, 'None of you are zombies, right? Do you have any zombie bites or are carrying zombies with you?'"

"How did he know they had a zombie with them?"

"Xu Fang, being a friendly person, merely laughed and said, 'Look at us four, do we resemble zombies? And the robots have already scanned us. If we were bitten, would we still be standing here?'"

"The man showed no hostility towards them. Seeing no issues, he extended his hand to Xu Fang, 'I'm Li Xu, responsible for guarding the gate and also for checking the safety of those entering and leaving.'"

"Xu Fang shook his hand, 'I'm Xu Fang, but you can call me Baldy. These are my companions, also from Chuxi City. Brother Li, your place is quite advanced, using robots to check for zombies.'"

"Li Xu sighed, 'It's not as good as you think. If these robots could accurately detect, I wouldn't need to stand guard here.'"

"After saying this, he even kicked one of the robots nearby. The one-meter-tall little robot spun a few times before falling to the ground."

Although these robots were lifeless machines, seeing a round robot knocked over, Wu Duo couldn't help but step forward to pick it up.

The small robot displayed a cute expression on its screen.

"Thank you."

Noticing the girl's apparent disapproval of his previous action, Li Xu's expression momentarily complicated before he began to explain to the group at the city gate.

It turned out that Mechanical City, like Chuxi City, saw most of its inhabitants turn into zombies on that fateful night.

Chu Xi City fell into chaos with the death of its lord and senior officials, compounded by a large number of zombies and a lack of prominent figures to organize a response.

Although Mechanical City's lord and high officials also perished, an elderly professor specializing in robotics survived. He had nearly as much influence as the lord and promptly organized the survivors to a safe base, modifying all the city's robots to fight the zombies.

Robots were expensive in Chuxi City but were common in Mechanical City. Almost every household had domestic robots, and businesses extensively used them, resulting in a substantial number of robots throughout the city.

Zombies, unresponsive to lifeless robots, were relentlessly eradicated by the robotic army, eventually clearing out every last one, even those locked inside homes.

Eventually, all zombie corpses were removed from the city and incinerated to prevent the spread of disease.

Hearing this, everyone couldn't help but feel envious. If Chuxi City had a competent leader or a multitude of robots, perhaps many lives could have been saved.

"The robots are incredibly efficient, a perfect tool for exterminating zombies."

"So, what's the dissatisfaction?"

"They claimed to have eliminated all zombies, yet people still turn into zombies or mysteriously disappear from their homes. The city is in constant fear. Despite the robots patrolling day and night, forbidding people to leave their homes, it's ineffective. Do you know? The professor even plans to install cameras in every household, including bathrooms, violating privacy rights. It's chaotic inside, and some people are planning to break the robot blockade and protest on the streets. Be careful not to get accidentally injured by a robot."

"Injured by a robot?" Ouyang Dong asked, puzzled, "Aren't they programmed to only kill zombies?"

Li Xu's expression darkened, and after a brief pause, he said, "During the apocalypse, whether it was a flaw in the robots' settings, I don't know, but many people, despite being able to run and talk, were killed by the robots. My daughter was one of them."

"I'm so sorry," Ouyang Dong immediately apologized, wishing he could slap himself.

"It's alright, these robots are just following their programming; they're not alive. The issue is with the professor's settings, but he has also saved many lives. If it weren't for his robots fighting the zombies, everyone in Mech City would probably be dead by now. So, I don't even know who to blame for revenge."

Li Xu gave a bitter smile, chose not to continue, and simply directed the four people present, pointing them to the route. Currently, the only inhabited area in the city is the central district. If one wishes to shop or settle in the city, they must head to Central Street.

Mech City is structured in a circular layout, with Central Street located right in the middle. One just needs to walk straight towards the center; if lost, they can ask the robots on the streets for directions.

Li Xu led the group through a small gate, then left them to proceed on their own, as he needed to stay and guard the city gate. Sometimes, zombie beasts would approach from outside the city, and he had to report these incidents promptly.

"It seems the people here are somewhat better than those in Dawn City. There, everyone is always worried about what to eat next and whether they'll survive another day. Here, at least, people are already considering their privacy rights."

Xu Fang sighed, wondering when the apocalypse would end. Everywhere was unstable. Although Mech City seemed slightly better, it still had many problems.

The streets within Mech City were not deserted. Many robots wandered about, some cleaning, others patrolling. When they noticed Xu Fang and his companions, all the robots looked over, their inorganic blue eyes giving a somewhat eerie feeling.

Soon, after scanning, the robots turned back to their own tasks.

Wu Shuangxue narrowed her eyes, "Are those patrol robots holding chainsaws?"

"No wonder I felt a chill on my neck when they looked over. Are they really carrying chainsaws?"

Ouyang Dong envied them a bit, "Using chainsaws to kill zombies does sound convenient. After all, abilities and knives can't always guarantee a one-hit kill, but decapitating zombies with a chainsaw is much easier."

The streets were filled with robots, with almost no humans in sight, giving the impression that the city had been taken over by robots.

Following the direction Li Xu pointed out, the group gradually made their way towards Central Street.

Outside the city, although Li Xu saw their RV, he thought Xu Fang and his group were just passing through to resupply, so he left the vehicle outside and didn't bother with it.

Meanwhile, Shen Xiuzhe and Lin An stayed inside the RV, not stepping out.

Today, with everyone away, Shen Xiuzhe planned to use this opportunity to teach the little zombie his own name. Previously, everyone had been secretly trying to teach him, but Lin An hadn’t managed to learn a single one.

Today, I must teach him his own name.

Lin An sat on the sofa, his eyes downcast, motionless. Having finished cleaning, he had nothing else to do but sit in a daze.

“Lin An?” Shen Xiuzhe called out.

The little zombie, hearing his name, slowly lifted his head.

“Who is this?” Shen Xiuzhe asked, pointing at the small dog, Xiao Fu.

Xiao Fu, squatting nearby and wagging its tail, loved the game where its owner called its name. It always felt so happy when called upon.

Lin An looked at the dog beside him, its fluffy tail swaying back and forth, which made him feel a bit dizzy.

“Fu.”

Lin An understood this; everyone had been teaching him his name by first asking Xiao Fu’s name. Even if he didn’t understand, it had become a conditioned reflex.

He could now clearly say Xiao Fu’s name.

Xiao Fu, delighted, trotted around the RV, its steps light and proud, radiating a smug vibe.

Afterwards, Shen Xiu Ze tirelessly pointed at himself, urging Lin An to call him by his name.

But no matter how much he spoke, Lin An did not respond, as if he didn’t understand at all, his gaze vacantly fixed on the floor.

Shen Xiuzhe, looking at the unresponsive Lin An, furrowed his brows in thought for a moment, then suddenly strode to the other side and took something out of the RV’s cabinet.

It was a photo frame that had been placed on Lin An’s bedside before. It contained a picture of a young Lin An with his parents. It had also been packed along with the luggage.

If starting with familiar objects was necessary to stimulate interaction, then this photo frame should be one of those objects.

Shen Xiuzhe pointed at the people in the frame, teaching Lin An to say 'mom and dad.'

Shen Xiu Ze might not have done this if others were around, given his slight reservations, but with no one else present and out of earshot, he acted freely.

Pointing at the young, handsome couple in the frame, he patiently instructed Lin An to repeat after him, word by word.

Shen Xiuzhe had been repeating for quite a while, but Lin An still showed no response. Just when he thought this method was ineffective too, Lin An, sitting opposite him, slowly reached out his hand towards the photo frame.

Handing the frame over, the little zombie immediately clutched it tightly and drew back.

Gazing at the people in the frame, Lin An’s previously vacant eyes gradually focused.

Shen Xiuzhe kept his gaze fixed on Lin An, who in turn stared unwaveringly at the picture of the happy family of three.

After a long wait, the little zombie's eyes gradually reddened, and large tears fell from his eyes, dripping onto the photo frame.

“Mom and dad.”

Lin An spoke again.

Afterwards, he clung to the photo frame as if immersed in his own world, oblivious to Shen Xiuzhe's words and unaware of Xiao Fu protectively positioned in front of him, warily watching Shen Xiuzhe.

Shen Xiuzhe: "...This time, I really didn't make him cry."