Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty

Xiao Fu eyed Shen Xiuzhe suspiciously. Although the dog couldn't understand what he was saying, from its perspective, it was this man who was bullying its master.

Since their first meeting, Xiao Fu remembered several instances where Shen Xiuzhe had made the master cry and even intimidated it!

Protective Xiao Fu bared its teeth at Shen Xiuzhe, looking fiercely aggressive.

"Hmm?" Shen Xiuzhe's brows furrowed slightly in confusion, his eyes unwittingly taking on a sharpness. Although unintentional, his menacing expression successfully intimidated the dog.

Xiao Fu: Silently shifted its gaze away, resting its head beside its master for comfort.

He was extremely timid.

Lin An, still holding the photo frame and crying, resisted Shen Xiuzhe's feigned attempt to take it away. The little zombie clutched the frame tightly to its chest. Although not fully lucid, it instinctively knew this was its treasure.

After a long time, the little zombie raised its head, tearful eyes looking hazily at the person in front, its mouth trembling slightly as if trying to speak.

Shen Xiuzhe: "Is this a sign of recovery?"

Lin An struggled to speak, trying to articulate the sole thought deeply etched in his mind.

"I want... Dad, Mom."

He was like a lost child, stubbornly seeking to find his parents.

Shen Xiuzhe: "...That's a bit challenging."

Where could he possibly find them? From the nonsense Jiang Laixu had spouted, it was clear that Lin An's parents were no longer alive.

Receiving no response, Lin An slowly shifted his gaze, looking around the RV.

Even though he had cleaned every corner of the RV in the past few days and should be the most familiar with its interior, Lin An looked utterly lost; he wasn't just observing the RV, he was searching for someone.

The person he was looking for wasn't in the RV. The glimmer of hope that had just appeared in Lin An's eyes faded, and he slowly lowered his eyes, his reddened eyelids no longer brimming with tears.

"Do you remember who I am?" Shen Xiuzhe asked, unable to discern whether Lin An had recovered his memory or not. Clearly, the photo of his parents had a profound impact on him.

Lin An remained silent, his memories shrouded in a mist, vague and elusive.

He recalled a blurry image of a man and woman telling him to wait for them, but despite his long wait, he ended up with nothing.

He also remembered having a dog named Xiao Fu, obedient and adorable.

The rest of his memories remained dormant, or perhaps, he simply didn't want to recall them.

"I'm Shen Xiuzhe. Does that ring a bell?"

The person in front of him kept talking. Although Lin An faintly felt this person was familiar, he did not recognize him. Shen Xiuzhe's strong presence, coupled with his disdainful phoenix eyes, made even his attempts at appearing gentle somewhat ineffective.

He was the type of person that ordinary people would avoid on the street, let alone Lin An, who was already socially anxious; such individuals were typically the ones he'd instinctively steer clear of.

Lin An instinctively shrank away to the side.

Next to him was Xiao Fu, both master and dog huddled together, appearing equally timid.

Shen Xiu Ze felt this scene seemed familiar; when he recalled the meteorite being consumed by Lin An, they were in the same position as now.

“Don't you remember? You took me home when I was injured, my head was even bleeding, and you almost ate me,” Shen Xiuzhe started recounting past events, even exaggerating his condition, “My head still aches occasionally because of that.”

Lin An was indeed recovering somewhat. Stimulated by the photo, he who previously understood only a few words, could now roughly comprehend what Shen Xiuzhe was saying.

But understanding was one thing; his brain couldn't keep up. He still looked like a zombie and could smell the scent on Shen Xiuzhe. Moreover, as some of his senses returned, the instinctive desire to eat was also rekindled.

"Yes, sorry..." Lin An thought hard before mumbling an apology.

"Alright, I forgive you. But you need to remember my name; I'm Shen Xiuzhe. Come on, repeat after me." Shen Xiuzhe persisted in his attempt to be the first to teach Lin An his name.

Lin An slowly pondered what he was saying. His brain, eroded by the zombie virus, wasn't easily fully recoverable, and he ended up just repeating another apology.

But Shen Xiuzhe wasn't looking for apologies. He rolled up his sleeves and repeatedly taught Lin An his name.

“Shen.”

Like a timid bride caught by a bully, Lin An was taught many times until he finally managed to say one word. He lowered his head in fear and trepidation, as if expecting to be punished by the dissatisfied bully the next second.

Instead of punishment, his hair was vigorously ruffled. "You're quite impressive. Even as a zombie, you're recovering. Now you've even learned to say my surname. Wait till they return, I'll have to show them this."

Slowly reaching up, Lin An touched his tousled hair in confusion. He sat there thinking for a long time, a faint blush coloring his pale, grey face.

The little zombie was shy.

Meanwhile, Xu Fang and his group finally arrived at Central Street.

Here, Central Street was not a commercial center, but a series of independent two-story villas. The circular city's central area was a garden, with the residential areas spreading outward in layers from the garden towards the east, west, north, and south.

The innermost residential area was surrounded by supermarkets and shops on the first layer, leisure and entertainment on the third, with the outer layers dedicated to various mechanical sales. Before the apocalypse, each layer, apart from the commercial areas, had many residents. Now, all the survivors had been moved to Central Street, making it a safe base.

They had initially thought Central Street would be filled with robots, but upon arrival, they found it was not as orderly as they had imagined.

There were destroyed robots everywhere, and the surrounding buildings were covered in words painted with oil.

“Death to all robots!”

“This is a city for humans, not a slave land for robots.”

"Opposition to robot control, opposition to Professor Lin."

Blinding words of dissent were everywhere, revealing the deep hatred for robots. Some people were sitting quietly on the streets, where undamaged robots repeatedly urged them to go home, warning of danger.

The group felt uneasy, being outsiders to the Mechanical City and unaware of the locals' plight, yet wishing they had such robots in Dawn City to fend off zombies.

"Return home? Home is the most dangerous place. How many have disappeared in these months staying at home? You think we don’t know?"

"Exactly, the entire family next door to me disappeared yesterday. The only ones who have free access to our homes are the robots. It must be Professor Lin taking those missing people!"

"Is Professor Lin using those people for experiments? Maybe he's the one who developed the zombie virus!"

The protestors grew more indignant, even resorting to physically assaulting the advising robots, who did not retaliate but kept urging them to return home.

Standing there, Wu Shuangxue seemed to be recalling something, and after a long pause, she said, "The Professor Lin they mentioned, I think I know him."

The group immediately turned their attention to Wu Shuangxue.

"Lin Huai is famous for developing robots in Mechanical City, and he's probably about my age now," Grandma Wu said, reminiscing. "But that guy is a complete novice in life, good for nothing but tinkering with machines. I'm not too sure, though."

Xu Fang clapped his hands: "That's easy, I'll go ask around."

The bald man, who could strike up a conversation with anyone, had already gone to inquire among those sitting quietly.

"I found out – Professor Lin's full name is Lin Huai," Xu Fang ran back and reported.

Wu Shuangxue looked at the residents who were so angry they were about to fight the robots, and sighed, "It's no wonder this situation arose. Entrusting a person, who knows nothing but machines, to manage the survivors, and moreover, someone who doesn’t like to talk about what he does, is bound to cause problems. But I can assure you, he definitely wouldn't use people for research."

Hearing the people's conversation, Ouyang Dong couldn't help asking, "What about those missing people then? Is it like a haunting?"

Xu Fang said nonchalantly, "Isn't it obvious? If it's not Professor Lin, then who else but zombies could cause such a commotion?"

The group fell silent for a moment, then all eyes turned to Xu Fang.

The bald man, under everyone's gaze, exclaimed, "Exactly! Think about the zombies in Chuxi City - they jump from buildings, open doors, climb windows, and there's even one like Lin An. It's quite normal for a few people in Mechanical City to be snatched from inside buildings."

It seemed, indeed, there was some logic to it.

But for now, they had no evidence to prove it was the work of zombies.

Wu Shuangxue's purpose in leaving Chuxi City was to find a livable city. Now it seemed Mechanical City wasn't suitable, so she had to continue searching for another. However, she wanted to meet Lin Huai, as they hadn't seen each other in decades. Both still alive, she thought that if she left today, there might never be another chance to meet.

Xu Fang wanted to buy weapons, a task specifically assigned by the boss. Upon hearing that Grandma Wu knew Professor Lin, he immediately thought of purchasing through the professor, hoping for a possible discount.

They inquired about Professor Lin's residence and discovered that he didn't live on Central Street, but in his own research lab.

Lin Huai's lab was quite a distance from here; he had lived there before the apocalypse and hadn't moved since.

After walking for a while, Grandma Wu began to lead the way, sharing that Lin Huai had been working here for decades, and surprisingly, he was still in the same place.

The so-called research lab looked more like a dilapidated factory.

There were no robots guarding the entrance, and inside, the factory floor was littered with broken robots.

Grandma Wu shouted out, and amidst the pile of robots, an old man in a blue denim jacket, covered in grease, looked up.

He looked more like a laborer than a professor, with no one to protect or assist him, alone in the spacious factory.

The bespectacled old man adjusted his glasses and observed the four people entering through the main gate.

"Xiaoxue?"

"Haha, stop calling that name. We're all nearly in our graves," Lin Huai, despite being of similar age as Wu Shuangxue, appeared much more frail and aged.

The old man smiled, casually wiping the grease off his jacket, and asked in a relaxed manner, "What brings you here?"

Xu Fang couldn't shake off the feeling of familiarity with the old man's expression. It took him a moment to realize that his smile resembled Jiang Laixu's, though Jiang's kind and tranquil smile was a facade, masking his disdain and distrust for others, making it seem insincere.

In contrast, the old man before them was genuinely amiable, his serene and peaceful demeanor, a result of years gone by, was something Jiang Laixu could never achieve.

Wu Shuangxue seemed in good spirits, walking towards the elder, "I heard you're now the manager of Mechanical City?"

The old man replied with a bitter smile and a shake of his head, "You know me, I'm not cut out for management; it's all been out of necessity."

Upon first sight, Ouyang Dong also felt a favorable impression, similar to when he met Grandma Wu.

While the two elders were reminiscing, deep underground in Mechanical City, in a sewer pipe running parallel to the surface structures, a massive creature was feasting.

When Shen Xiuzhe and his group arrived, they encountered a fused-type zombie in the vast, intricate underground network of Mechanical City, dragging its bloated body while incessantly searching for food.

It quickly identified its target.

Squeezing itself through an extremely narrow sewer pipe.

The shapeless, flesh-colored zombie entered a household through the drainage, gradually reconstituting itself in the bathroom, then lumbered out.

Inside the small villa, there was only one man, who was sitting at the dining table, complaining about the unpalatable food distributed by Professor Lin, wondering why it was only flatbread.

He had to eat it with water, finding it dry and coarse, utterly lacking in nutrition.

Suddenly, he heard a rustling noise from the corridor just beyond the wall. Assuming a robot had entered his home — as there had been notices about installing cameras in every household, including the bathrooms.

The man was infuriated, having never agreed to such an intrusion, and now a robot had brazenly entered his home.

He stood up, cursing loudly, and stormed out. But around the corner, instead of the expected robot, a horrifying, massive creature confronted him.

The man, with eyes wide in shock, didn't even have the chance to cry for help before the zombie swallowed him whole, merging him into its own mass.

Afterwards, the fused-type zombie slowly returned to the bathroom, retracing its path to the sewer. It had made this place its lair, retrieving the now-digested outer layer of its prey to continue feeding.

Nearby zombies and rat zombies, attracted by the scent, slowly approached, but dared not contest for the meal, only standing aside and howling, hoping to share a part.

The fused-type zombie ate, its chilling chewing sounds echoing through the dark, gloomy tunnels.

Suddenly, the chewing sound ceased.

The flesh-colored monster sprouted two rotating eyeballs from its body, gazing in the direction outside the city.

It sensed something even more delicious.

Discarding the half-eaten meal, the fused-type zombie found another exit, slowly moving towards the outskirts of the city.

*

Mechanical City was designed with a highly efficient sewer system, so intricate it could almost be called an underground world.

In the early days of the apocalypse, before Mechanical City had stabilized, some people fled into the sewers to escape surface dangers and never made it back out.

The zombies inside weren’t numerous, but there were several special types and rats that had lingered in the sewers for a long time, growing into giant rat zombies after turning.

Initially, they fed on those who entered the sewers, but as no one came later, the starving zombies couldn't leave either. Each sewer entrance was sealed, and iron grates separated the tunnels, leaving the brainless zombies clueless about where to exit.

Smelling the constant human scent above, the zombies in the sewers could only look up and howl.

But then, a fused-type zombie emerged among them.

This fused-type zombie made the sewers its lair, always bringing food back from outside, moving too covertly for even the robots to notice.

Now, this zombie wanted to venture out of the city in search of tastier prey, emerging from a household on Central Street and proceeding along the main road.

The massive flesh-red behemoth immediately caught the attention of the sitters.

"What is that thing?"

The openly acknowledged zombies of the Mechanical City were all dealt with by robots at the very start of the apocalypse.

Thus, these survivors had never seen a special type of zombie, even sitting there dumbfounded discussing what it was upon first sight.