Chapter 47: Zombie Apocalypse (V)

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Chapter 47: Zombie Apocalypse (V)

∇ Capture Target Yue Yingying Favorability: 40.

∇ Due to her memories of the original story, the target begins with an exceptionally high level of favorability toward you. Please proceed with caution and avoid causing her favorability to decrease.

As he gently stroked Miao Nianling’s slender back, Miao Lichen met Yue Yingying’s gaze. Her eyes shone with admiration for her idol, yet there wasn’t the slightest hint of impropriety or overfamiliarity. Instead, she looked at him with the respect a junior would show an esteemed elder. Recalling the events of the original story, he immediately understood why.

“Miao Lichen” was a man who cared about nothing except his research. Not even his own life. A true savior hidden beneath the protagonist’s spotlight, he was someone others couldn’t help but admire if they knew the truth.

Miao Lichen’s expression remained unchanged as his gaze swept over the men standing protectively around Yue Yingying. His brows furrowed ever so slightly before he looked away. What happened to these people was none of his concern.

At the moment, they were deeply grateful to Yue Yingying, but what would happen if they ever learned the truth of her ability? People inevitably viewed everything through the lens of their own self-interest, even when someone had once helped them.

Yue Yingying’s and Miao Nianling’s powers stood in complete opposition to one another. No wonder Ling’er instinctively loathed the transmigrator.

Following his gaze, Yue Yingying looked toward the men at her side. They regarded Miao Lichen and Zhang Yang with guarded caution, while openly looking down on Miao Nianling. She let out a quiet sigh. How could they possibly know that this seemingly harmless little girl was even more terrifying than the protagonist himself? She was a taboo that even Yue Yingying dared not provoke.

Miao Nianling, the professor’s greatest creation and the culmination of everything he had accomplished, would one day become second only to Zhang Yang in terms of supernatural abilities. She was destined to become an SSS-rank ability user, a level beyond the imagination of the current generation of ability users. Although she had yet to reach her complete form, she was the protagonist’s greatest cheat during the early stages of the apocalypse. Without her, the professor would most likely have perished in a zombie horde long before he could become humanity’s savior.

Miao Nianling was the only person the professor truly held close to his heart. In his eyes, no one could ever compare to her; not even the protagonist with all of his overwhelming cheats. Yue Yingying had once wondered whether the professor had eventually relinquished the role of humanity’s savior because Miao Nianling had become Zhang Yang’s woman.

But after giving it more thought, she realized that couldn’t be the reason. The professor simply wasn’t the sort of man who would give up something he truly wanted for his daughter. More importantly, he had never cared about fame or recognition. Otherwise, the moment he succeeded in creating a fully independent artificial human like Miao Nianling, his name would already have been immortalized in the history of science.

Yue Yingying slowly let out a breath, feeling the weight on her heart lighten considerably. She almost reached up to pat her cheeks before stopping herself. As long as being with Zhang Yang wouldn’t earn the professor’s displeasure, everything would be fine.

Her favorite character in the novel was naturally the protagonist, Zhang Yang. A walking contradiction. Pure to his core, yet darker and more ruthless than anyone else. But the one who had truly captivated her had always been the professor. He barely spoke from beginning to end, but simply standing there made him impossible to ignore.

Unlike the protagonists of countless fantasy novels who fell in love with one beauty after another before sharing one bed with all of them, Zhang Yang had no understanding of love whatsoever. To him, a woman’s value lay in whether she could be of use. Someone like that clearly lacked love. Once he found someone he truly loved, he would undoubtedly devote himself to that person wholeheartedly. And Yue Yingying believed that, knowing everything about his past, she could be the one to pull him out of that endless abyss.

That was why she had come to this world. As a fellow orphan, no one understood the longing for warmth better than she did. The thought filled her heart with quiet sweetness. When she looked at Miao Lichen again, all traces of hesitation had disappeared from her eyes. Her resolve remained as firm as ever, while her admiration for the professor had not diminished in the slightest.

A man who had devoted his entire life to science deserved nothing but respect. No one had the right to disturb him. That was precisely why she had chosen the protagonist instead. She lacked the confidence to move the professor’s heart, and there was no way she could compete with mountains of research data, experimental cells, and endless piles of scientific reports.

∇ Capture Target Yue Yingying Favorability: 45.

Her gaze drifted toward Miao Nianling, and Yue Yingying felt her smile stiffen.

That little girl seemed to be one of her romantic rivals. Was she really going to have to compete not only with women her own age, but also with eighty-year-old grandmothers and five-year-old little girls for the protagonist’s affection? Suddenly, the seemingly innocent professor felt far easier to pursue. What was she supposed to do?

‘The revolution had yet to succeed—Comrade, you must remain steadfast!’

“Cousin, let’s hurry back. It’s too dangerous to stay here any longer. The smell of these zombies is making me sick.” Zhang Qiang stole a glance at Miao Lichen, her cheeks flushing faintly. Her gaze flickered between him and Zhang Yang as though she were weighing something in her mind, her hurried footsteps betraying her impatience. She had witnessed the seemingly frail man’s terrifyingly powerful ice arrows with her own eyes. Surely her family wouldn’t object to a powerful ability user like him.

By the time Yue Yingying realized what had happened, she had already been ushered into a different vehicle from both her beloved protagonist and the professor she so admired. Silently adjusting her posture, she straightened her back and wore an even more refined, elegant smile.

Zhang Yang nodded without a word before climbing into the Land Rover, waiting for the others to clear the road ahead. The seven of them traveled in three vehicles. The other two cars were inevitably stained with blood and bore far more damage than the Land Rover. It lacked the sleek curves of a fashionable sports car and could even be called old-fashioned, something many young people would have dismissed as unfashionable. But when it came to durability, it far surpassed an ordinary vehicle. The other men couldn’t help looking at it with unconcealed greed.

Zhang Yang narrowed his eyes. The apocalypse truly had a way of dragging people’s darkest thoughts into the open. Little by little, it changed them without them even noticing. He could tell these men hadn’t been bad people before the apocalypse. Yet now, they treated robbery and plunder as though they were perfectly ordinary. How tragic. And in the days to come, there would only be more people like them.

A smile of genuine delight spread across Zhang Yang’s face. He had always known he wasn’t a good person. The only difference was that he had never crossed the line too far. Now? Even if he did, no one would care anymore. After all, no matter what he did, there would always be someone worse. Compared to them, he could practically pass for a model citizen. It really was amusing. An undeniably wicked man could become the very picture of truth and goodness simply through comparison.

“Dad. Mom. We’re back. We brought back lots of food.” Zhang Qiang called happily as she directed the five men to carry the supplies they’d gathered from the shopping mall into the house. The couple inside hurried out to greet them. Although the apocalypse had left their hair messy and unkempt, their relatively healthy complexions made it obvious that they hadn’t suffered much over the past ten days.

Zhang Yang parted his lips, yet the words “Uncle” and “Aunt” refused to come out. His gaze slowly swept across the familiar walls. This house had once belonged to him. Being tricked into signing it away had been entirely his own fault. It had been his own stupidity. Even so, seeing it with his own eyes still left a bitter taste in his mouth. His former self was so naïve and so foolish. He almost wished he could travel back in time and stab himself twice.

A cool touch suddenly brushed the back of his hand, instantly calming the turmoil in his heart. Holding hands wasn’t anything new to Zhang Yang. His first girlfriend had done almost everything with him except take the final step. Yet now, merely recalling the warmth and softness of her skin filled him with disgust.

Compared to that, the coolness of Miao Lichen’s palm was infinitely more comforting. Like a clear mountain stream, it washed away the irritation clouding his mind and restored his composure in an instant. Suddenly, those two forms of address didn’t seem so difficult to say anymore. They were only words, after all.

∇ Capture Target Zhang Yang Favorability: 40. Please continue working hard, Challenger.

“Uncle. Aunt.” Zhang Yang greeted them with a bright, sunny smile, looking every bit the cheerful young man. The smiles on Zhang Yingming and Yuan Shuang’s faces instantly stiffened, as though they’d just swallowed flies. Although three or four years had passed, Zhang Yang’s appearance had hardly changed. Even before the apocalypse, neither of them had been happy to see this nephew. Now that food was scarce and every extra person meant another mouth to feed, they wanted him here even less. Their expressions darkened almost immediately.

“Qiangqiang, Yingying, what’s the meaning of this?” Yuan Shuang snapped, pointing toward the five men. “They’re staying because they can help us gather food. But what about those two?” She jabbed a finger toward Zhang Yang and Miao Lichen. “They don’t look like they could carry a thing. Are we supposed to feed them like honored guests?”

“Auntie,” Yue Yingying said gently, the perfect trace of helplessness entering her voice without making it sound forced, “Qiangqiang’s cousin is a very powerful ability user. If it weren’t for him and his friend, none of us would have made it back alive.” Her voice remained so soft and pleasant that it was impossible to find fault with it. But only being able to refer to the protagonist as “Qiangqiang’s cousin” was simply too cruel.

‘Please introduce yourself already!’

“That’s right!” Zhang Qiang hurriedly agreed. “Cousin and his friend are both powerful ability users. They have plenty of food of their own, they don’t need ours at all. If they stay here, our safety will be guaranteed. Who knows how long this damned apocalypse is going to last?” As she spoke, she couldn’t stop stealing shy glances at Miao Lichen. Her feelings were written so plainly across her face that only a fool could have missed them.

Yue Yingying felt as though a herd of mythical beasts was stampeding through her mind. She had never imagined Zhang Qiang would actually fall for the professor. In the original novel, Zhang Qiang had met him too. So why hadn’t this happened back then? What was going on?

‘Miss! The professor only wants to be a quiet, handsome man! Please leave him alone!!’ She nearly blurted it out.

Taking a deep breath, Yue Yingying quickly composed herself. She had to be gentle and compassionate, like a treasured animal of the apocalypse. Only then would she be able to capture the protagonist’s attention. No matter what happened, she absolutely could not break character.

Actually, if you think about it carefully, even if Zhang Qiang had developed feelings for the professor, there was no way the professor would be interested in a woman whose only redeeming quality was her beauty. What Yue Yingying should really be worrying about was whether Zhang Yang would wipe out this entire family. At least she still had some value. Even if the protagonist killed everyone else, he would probably spare her. Right?

She wasn’t entirely convinced, but the thought eased her anxiety a little. She suddenly felt a pang of sadness. Now she had to rely on her usefulness just to earn the protagonist’s attention. But she wouldn’t give up, this was just the beginning. After all, optimists always chose to believe in the best possible outcome first.

Besides, Zhang Yang wouldn’t do anything too bloody just yet. He still needed to earn the trust of both the professor and the little girl. Even though the professor had awakened his ice ability earlier than in the original story, Yue Yingying didn’t believe that alone could cause such a drastic deviation from the plot. After all, Zhang Qiang was still destined to appear again later as a cannon fodder.

“No need. I only came back to retrieve something. Once I have it, I’ll be leaving.” Zhang Yang’s voice was calm and indifferent. He shot Zhang Qiang a cold glance before turning to his uncle and aunt. On the surface, he looked every bit the polite nephew. At the very least, appearances had to be maintained.

“Our house has something that belongs to you?” Zhang Yingming’s face immediately darkened. This was their home, how could there be something that belonged to Zhang Yang? To him, Zhang Yingjie—Zhang Yang’s father—had always been a thorn in his side, one he had desperately wanted to remove. That was why he had to take everything that had belonged to his older brother. And this house was proof of his victory.

“It’s only one of my parents’ belongings.” Zhang Yang’s lips curled into a faint smile. “You haven’t touched that room, have you?” The slight upward lilt at the end of his sentence carried an unmistakable hint of threat. The room he referred to was his parents’ master bedroom. Ever since several members of the family had died, Zhang Yingming had been convinced the room had bad feng shui and refused to move into it. More importantly, when Zhang Yang had signed over the deed, the contract had explicitly stipulated that no one was to touch that room. Otherwise, he would never have agreed to transfer ownership in the first place.

“Of course not.” Zhang Yingming snorted. “In fact, it’d be best if you took everything inside with you.” As though remembering something, his expression stiffened for a brief moment before returning to its usual domineering look.

Without another word, Zhang Yang pushed open the bedroom door. The moment he stepped inside, anger flickered across his face. The spotless room he remembered was gone. In its place was a dusty room draped in cobwebs. His parents’ belongings had been shoved carelessly into one corner, mixed together with all kinds of useless junk. Taking a slow, deep breath, he smiled. It was the kind of smile that revealed absolutely nothing of what he was truly thinking.

Walking over to the bed, he reached into a hidden compartment beneath the mattress and pulled out a jade pendant. It was exactly the same as the jade pendant illustrated in the cultivation manual. His fingers slowly brushed across its smooth surface and a faint scent of blood reached his nose. His smile widened ever so slightly while a trace of viciousness flashed through his eyes. Someone had touched it.

Without hesitation, he bit the tip of his finger until blood welled up, then smeared it across one of the dragon’s eyes carved into the pendant. The jade pendant instantly disappeared from his hand. This storage space could only be opened with the blood of someone cultivating the “Heaven-Supporting Art.”

“Be careful. Never let your guard down in the apocalypse.” Miao Lichen’s cool voice sounded from behind him. Almost casually, he flicked his wrist and an ice spike shot through the air, instantly freezing a rat that had been sneaking out from behind a pile of clutter. He reinforced the layer of ice with another wave of his hand. His flashy ice ability had some use in this case.

The cold note of reproach in Miao Lichen’s voice somehow eased the tension in Zhang Yang’s heart.

“Don’t I have you?” As soon as he spoke, Zhang Yang froze. Since when had he started trusting this man?

“Hm? Be careful. I might stab you in the back someday.”

“Go ahead. I trust my reflexes and judgment.”

“Excessive self-confidence becomes arrogance.”

“Does it?”

Zhang Yang glanced at the frozen rat. Encased in solid ice, it was still alive, its tiny eyes darting frantically in every direction. Without another glance, he stored all of his parents’ belongings inside the jade pendant’s storage space. Before leaving, he casually tossed several Grade One zombie crystal cores onto the floor. Then he turned and walked out of the room.

As for the zombie rat, he decided to leave it for the current owners of the house. There was no reason to clean up after them.

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