Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Admittedly, even though they were only the size of medium-sized dogs, the sight of all those rabbits turning their glowing red eyes towards him in unison in the darkness was still downright creepy.

On the ground around the fence, there were smears of fresh blood and rabbit fur. Lu Wei surmised that these mutated rabbits were likely raised in captivity to serve as food for the zombies.

Lu Wei found this situation puzzling.

Although he himself appeared to be a zombie, in his mind, zombies were mindless horrors that had lost all reason, only knowing to chase after fresh flesh and blood by instinct. But was this act of raising livestock for food a product of reason or a remnant of instinct?

Lu Wei was very hungry, but he didn't immediately head into the pen to provoke those mutated rabbits. Instead, he stood outside the fence and waited.

He hadn't waited long before he saw two zombies shambling over.

One was a woman somewhere in her forties or fifties, and the other was a young man who looked to be under twenty.

The woman seemed to have been a housewife in her previous life. Her features were regular, her body and face were stocky and solidly built, and she still wore a dirty, tattered apron. The young man's features closely resembled the woman's; he had the gangly build of a teenage boy. Judging by their age and appearance, they were probably mother and son.

The young man walked to the side of the fence and pulled out an iron pipe, creating a small gap. He then sidled through the gap and staggered into the midst of the mutated rabbits.

The rabbits were remarkably dull. Apart from their large size, they were actually even more sluggish than ordinary rabbits and displayed no aggression.

The young man quickly caught a rabbit. Holding the struggling rabbit in one hand and the iron pipe in the other, he shambled back out the same way, casually plugging the iron pipe back into its original place.

Immediately after, the housewife and her son tore into and devoured the rabbit on the spot. Once the two zombies had eaten their fill, they left.

They ate very cleanly. Little was left behind except for a small amount of blood and fine rabbit fuzz. Amidst the blood and fuzz, a fingertip-sized crystal flickered with a faint red glow in the night.

For some reason, that red crystal exerted a powerful pull on Lu Wei.

Almost without thinking, he stepped forward, picked up the crystal, and studied it closely in the palm of his right hand.

However, before he could figure anything out, the crystal began to melt in his palm like a snowflake in the sun, disappearing completely.

As the crystal vanished, Lu Wei felt a rush of warmth flow throughout his entire body. He no longer felt hungry, and the soreness and pain from releasing his potential earlier also faded away.

Even more miraculously, his right hand had originally been missing a finger. Right before his eyes, from the stump where his finger was missing, a nub of a finger slowly began to grow.

Lu Wei stood in place, lost in thought for a moment. Then he walked to the spot where the young man had entered earlier, mimicked his actions by pulling out the iron pipe, went inside the fence, and caught a rabbit.

Not to eat it. Since he wasn't hungry, he was actually squeamish about the idea of eating a bloody, raw animal.

After strangling the rabbit, Lu Wei used his claws to dig into the rabbit's body, searching inch by inch. Finally, within the rabbit's brain, he found an identical crystal.

As the crystal disappeared in his palm, his missing finger grew to half its original length.

So that was it... But then, why didn't the mother and son absorb the crystal earlier?

As Lu Wei was mulling this over, a child zombie came into view.

It was a little boy, only four or five years old, wearing a tattered sailor suit. Although his skin was mottled with purple, one could still tell he had been quite cute in life.

The little zombie clearly didn't possess the ability to enter the fence and catch a rabbit. He staggered to a spot not far from Lu Wei, dropped to his hands and knees, and began licking a small puddle of blood on the ground.

This little zombie was about the same age as Xiao Zhou, and Xiao Zhou also had an almost identical sailor suit.

Thinking of his child from his original world, Lu Wei's heart ached. He lifted the rabbit he held, walked over to the little zombie, and placed it down in front of him.

The little zombie pounced on the rabbit in an instant, hugging it and ravenously tearing into it. It was clear he had been starving for a long time, usually surviving only on scraps left behind by other zombies.

While the little zombie was eating, Lu Wei went back into the fence, caught another mutated rabbit, and retrieved the crystal from its brain.

This time, Lu Wei didn't touch the crystal. Instead, he used a scrap of cloth to pick it up and then placed it in the little zombie's palm.

The little zombie was now sated. He stared blankly at the crystal grain Lu Wei had placed in his palm. After a long while, he suddenly flicked his hand, tossed it aside uninterestedly, and then turned back to continue gnawing on the mutated rabbit.

Lu Wei bent down and picked up the crystal grain the little zombie had discarded on the ground.

The moment his fingertip touched the crystal grain, it began to melt like a snowflake. Immediately, the missing half of his right-hand finger grew back completely intact.

Not every zombie could absorb the crystals that grew inside mutated animals.

Besides mutated rabbits, did other mutated animals also contain such crystals? And what about zombies, or even ability users—did their bodies harbor such crystals as well?

Lu Wei had no intention of continuing to kill mutated rabbits to obtain crystals. Instead, he turned around, intending to leave this place.

There were still many things about this zombie city he hadn't fathomed. Being overly greedy from the start was definitely not a good thing.

However, he hadn't taken more than a couple of steps before he felt a pair of small hands clutch his leg.

Lu Wei lowered his gaze and saw the little zombie rubbing his cheek against Lu Wei's leg, emitting pitiful whimpers from his throat.

"Little Thing, do you want me to take you with me?" Lu Wei bent down, reached out his hand, and stroked the little zombie's dirty, stiff hair.

It was clear the little zombie was mindless. He couldn't understand Lu Wei's words and didn't know how to respond. He just kept rubbing his cheek against Lu Wei, whimpering like a helpless creature seeking a protector.

Lu Wei sighed, lifted the little zombie up, and sat him on his shoulder.

The little zombie went quietly. He let himself be lifted without resistance and then sat motionless on Lu Wei's shoulder.

"Well then, let's go together."

...

After living in this zombie city for a full half a year with the little zombie he named "Little Thing," Lu Wei finally figured out the lay of the land.

In many places within the city, large numbers of docile mutated animals were kept in pens, such as mutated rabbits, sheep, and deer.

These animals had been herbivores before mutation and continued to feed on mutated plants after mutation. Their temperaments were relatively mild and harmless, making them easily kept in captivity. Inside their brains were crystals of varying sizes and colors.

Most zombies also lacked consciousness, including "Little Thing." In half a year, Lu Wei had never successfully communicated with a single zombie.

But surprisingly, these mindless zombies could, as if following instinct, raise mutated animals in captivity and seemed to follow a tacit set of rules.

Rules like no wasting food; they would go to the city's outskirts to find mutated plants for feed when supplies dwindled; promptly repairing any damage to the fences—these were all accepted rules that no zombie would violate.

The seemingly chaotic zombie world had its own unique survival order.

Zombies could be divided into two types: ordinary zombies and awakened zombies with special abilities. Ordinary zombies made up the vast majority. On average, out of every hundred or two ordinary zombies, one awakened zombie would appear, with tiers ranging from 3S level down to F level.

Ordinary zombies fed on flesh and blood. Awakened zombies, besides using flesh and blood to stave off hunger, could also absorb the crystals from mutated animals to enhance their own abilities.

Like mutated animals, zombies also had crystals inside their brains. Moreover, compared to animals, the crystals in zombies' brains were much larger and their energy was purer.

These crystals held no attraction for ordinary zombies, ordinary humans, or ability users, but they were coveted by awakened zombies.

Lu Wei discovered that ordinary zombies and low-grade awakened zombies fed on captive mutated animals and their crystals; however, high-grade awakened zombies of B-rank and above fed on the crystals inside zombies' brains.

It was like a food chain: ordinary zombies raised mutated animals for food, and awakened zombies raised ordinary zombies for food.

Due to the vast number of ordinary zombies and the scarcity of B-rank or higher special ability zombies, coupled with the fact that absorbing a crystal from a zombie's brain takes at least half a month, there has been no widespread slaughter of ordinary zombies by high-level ones. In fact, the atmosphere among zombies throughout the city appears quite peaceful.

By absorbing crystals, Lu Wei can confirm that he possesses the constitution of a special ability zombie, but he has never been able to determine what his specific ability is.

For over half a year, he has continuously collected and absorbed the crystals from the brains of mutated animals. However, aside from repairing his disfigured and ugly body, making him look more and more like a "human," these crystals have shown no other significant effects.

On this day, the first light snow of winter fell.

Lu Wei walked along the artificial lake in the park, his boots crunching softly through the thin layer of snow, producing a faint, crisp sound beneath his feet.

The little one, dressed in blue overalls and brand-name kids' sneakers, looked clean and well-groomed, a stark contrast to his filthy appearance from over half a year ago, and sat obediently on Lu Wei's shoulder.

The artificial lake, fed by flowing water, remained clear and unfrozen, reflecting Lu Wei's image distinctly.

As a zombie, he did not fear the cold. This winter, he wore only a thin jacket scavenged from an abandoned shopping mall and a pair of dark blue jeans.

He stood upright, with broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and strong, slender legs.

His hair, dark as crow feathers and untrimmed for over half a year, hung to his shoulders, occasionally swaying in the gentle breeze by the lakeside.