Chapter 6: What’s Wrong with Keeping a Zombie?
“Awake?”
Lin Ling was still trying to process the situation when the apartment door beeped twice, announcing the return of the culprit.
The culprit glanced at the dining table, where a three-person portion of steak had been devoured completely, leaving only the broccoli that had been picked out. Then his gaze fell on the lab coat already in Lin Ling’s hands, and he smiled.
“Let’s go.”
“I’m not going.”
The little zombie crumpled the brand-new work uniform into a ball, stuffed it back onto the tray, and pushed the work ID under the clothes, adopting an “out of sight, out of mind” attitude.
“But if Lingling doesn’t work, there will be no more meat to eat.”
The evil human professor seemed to have anticipated that the young man wouldn’t obey so easily. He walked over with a smile and fished out the work ID again.
“Meat is a scarce resource after the apocalypse.”
“Then let me starve!”
After saying this, the little zombie turned and ran into the bedroom, flopped onto Shi Changyuan’s bed, and clung tightly to the quilt and mattress.
While throwing his tantrum, he loudly criticized the other man. “You can’t even afford to feed me meat, so why keep a pet! You’re incompetent! You might as well just let me go back!”
“When I get so hungry that I’m seeing stars and can’t tell meat from vegetables, I’ll crawl out in the middle of the night and chew on your head!”
Shi Changyuan watched the little zombie, who looked as if he would rather die than be separated from the bed. He walked over, knelt by the bedside to be level with Lin Ling’s eyes, and said with deliberate malice, “Then there’s no other way.”
“I’ll just have to lock Lingling back in the cage, open an exhibition, and charge admission to pay off the debt.”
“That way, Lingling won’t have to work.”
Lin Ling: ?!!!
Hearing this, the little zombie, who had been on his last legs, shot up as if jolted back to life, suddenly full of motivation. He snatched the work ID from the human’s hand and hung it around his neck.
“First, tell me my job description.”
Although the little zombie was being forced to become a working zombie, there was still a difference between a working zombie and a beast of burden.
“Let’s get this straight. This Zombie Emperor does not accept any form of overtime.”
“And if any human tries to bully me using this job as an excuse, this Zombie Emperor will punch him into the wall so hard he can’t be pulled out.”
Hearing Lin Ling’s words, the corners of Shi Changyuan’s lips curved up. He asked with apparent curiosity, “What if I’m the one who bullies Lingling?”
“Then I’ll punch you into the wall too!!!”
Hearing the same answer, the smile in Shi Changyuan’s eyes instantly faded, and he looked quite disappointed.
“Lingling’s job is just to stay by my side. If I ask Lingling to do anything extra, that will cost extra.”
“In other words, you don’t actually have to work. You get paid for free.”
“Really?”
Hearing this, the little zombie’s eyes instantly lit up.
“Mm.”
The human looked so sincere that the little zombie believed him just like that.
He needed to get on good terms with this human anyway, so he was already looking for an excuse to stick close to him.
Besides, there was no one else in Shi Changyuan’s lab. If it was just a matter of following him around, then it really was no big deal!
With his little abacus clicking away in his mind, the little zombie followed Shi Changyuan downstairs.
But the moment he stepped out of the elevator, his sharp ears caught the sound of three or five people gathered not far away, seemingly discussing Shi Changyuan.
It seemed they were even arguing over “whether a kept man counts as a pet.”
Lin Ling nervously pressed his lips together.
…Why are there suddenly so many people? Yesterday, I only ran into one human in the entire corridor.
“Scared?”
Shi Changyuan looked at the little zombie, whose steps had suddenly become heavy.
“Of course not.” Lin Ling immediately retorted. “I just don’t know them!”
With that, he took a large step forward to walk beside Shi Changyuan.
When Shi Changyuan and Lin Ling appeared in the corridor, the chatter instantly vanished, becoming almost too quiet.
This eerie silence made the little zombie unconsciously lean closer to Shi Changyuan, which was immediately followed by a collective gasp.
These humans are so weird!
The little zombie didn’t understand. His eyes wide, he quickened his pace, hoping to get through this crowd as soon as possible.
But he hadn’t expected that the number of humans in the corridor ahead would only increase!
It was almost getting congested.
Lin Ling couldn’t stand this strange scene and the faint, probing gazes any longer.
He walked directly in front of Shi Changyuan and, without any guidance, took all the correct turns at every fork, arriving back at the lab one step ahead of him.
The three sets of doors blocked out all the inquisitive stares.
The little zombie finally let out a sigh of relief.
He patted the thick door with satisfaction. “Good thing I didn’t break all of you yesterday.”
“Good memory.”
Shi Changyuan followed him into the lab and praised him.
The little zombie blinked, taking a few slow seconds to recover his energy.
“Hmph, of course. I am the Zombie Emperor, after all.” Lin Ling lifted his chin proudly, with an expression that said, “That was nothing, just a piece of cake.”
“Let me tell you, this Zombie Emperor is very capable. If you can offer me a satisfactory salary, I don’t mind letting you see what I can do!”
Seeing the little zombie instantly come back to life the moment he returned to the lab, a hint of a smile appeared in Shi Changyuan’s eyes. He played along. “I’ll consider it.”
“I guarantee it’ll be worth it.”
While promoting himself, the little zombie lazily found a sofa to lie down on. He folded his hands on his stomach and squinted his eyes, looking utterly serene.
But this serenity didn’t last for more than a few minutes before an electronic voice came from the main door.
“Beep—Researcher No. 708, Miao Xue, requests entry to the lab. Reason for request: Submitting materials.”
The voice startled the little zombie into a sitting position. He hurriedly ran to Shi Changyuan’s side, picked up a notebook, and pretended to be “working.”
Shi Changyuan raised an eyebrow with a smile but said nothing.
“Enter.”
As the sound of high heels grew closer, Lin Ling quickly held up the notebook in his hands, hiding most of his face. But the pair of eyes peeking over the top were fixed curiously on the door.
“What do you want?”
The moment Shi Changyuan spoke, it sounded like an order to leave.
The little zombie’s eyes shifted to look at Shi Changyuan beside him.
Does he always talk like this? No wonder everyone’s afraid of him.
“Of course, I’m here to see the person Professor Shi brought back.”
Miao Xue was not deterred by Shi Changyuan’s cold expression. Her gaze swept across the lab and finally landed on the figure mostly hidden behind him.
She placed the documents on the lab bench and greeted Lin Ling warmly.
“Hello, my name is Miao Xue.”
Faced with the friendly greeting, the little zombie, who had been so chatty and boisterous yesterday, merely pressed his lips together, curved his eyes into a polite smile, and said nothing.
He even tensed up slightly and leaned closer to Shi Changyuan.
This small gesture, which was akin to “seeking protection,” instantly improved Shi Changyuan’s mood considerably.
“So, this is the reason you sent the entire team back first during the last field mission?”
Although Miao Xue could only see Lin Ling’s eyes, she still clicked her tongue twice, marveling at what a beauty he was.
“So scheming, hoarding such a beauty all to yourself.”
“I’ve never heard of this little guy before. He’s not from our base, is he? Did you pick him up from City A or City B?”
The little zombie listened to Miao Xue, automatically filtering out the compliments about his appearance.
Of course, I know I’m very good-looking!
The little zombie had been praised by his aunties since he was a child.
After filtering out the praise, Lin Ling immediately caught a wealth of information and perked up his ears.
City B was his home.
Seeing the young man constantly peeking over, looking very interested, Miao Xue’s floodgates opened.
“Oh, you have no idea how dangerous City B is. As the epicenter of the zombie virus outbreak, the zombie hordes there are ten times larger than anywhere else!”
“Just on the outskirts of the city, there’s a bunch of high-tier zombies. Even the base’s most elite ability user squad had a rough time.”
“It took the base two years just to be able to do a single sweep of the city center.”
“…Ability?” Lin Ling suddenly caught another keyword and subconsciously asked.
“Hm? The pretty boy doesn’t know?”
Miao Xue seemed surprised as well. “When the apocalypse broke out, many people awakened abilities one after another. That’s how the human bases were built so smoothly.”
The little zombie was taken aback by the question and quickly looked up at Shi Changyuan.
“S-Should I know?”
Seeing Lin Ling’s troubled expression, Shi Changyuan raised an eyebrow slightly. A simple “I haven’t told him” smoothly brushed the topic aside.
“Oh, let’s not talk about that. Let me tell you about your Professor Shi instead, pretty boy.”
“Did you know that ever since Professor Shi joined the institute, he’s always wanted to keep something? He said he wanted a pet, but his requirements were ridiculously high. He’d complain that animals shed, or that plants weren’t cute enough.”
“He even complained that those plants and animals couldn’t talk.” Miao Xue laughed heartily.
“Those who knew understood the professor was picking a pet. Those who didn’t would have thought he was picking a wife.”
The little zombie: “…”
So you don’t like plants, and you don’t like animals, which is why you’re using all your dirty tricks on a zombie?
Miao Xue told this as a joke, trying to amuse Lin Ling, but she found that the young man had no reaction at all.
“Huh? Not funny?”
Before Miao Xue could finish, she was kicked out of the lab.
The lab instantly fell silent.
No longer having to deal with humans, the little zombie let out a sigh of relief and lay back down on the sofa.
“If she knew you ended up keeping a zombie, she definitely wouldn’t be laughing.”
Lin Ling rolled over and, from a human’s perspective, condemned Shi Changyuan.
“You’re keeping a zombie in a human research institute. Is that really okay?”
“What’s not okay about it?”
Shi Changyuan picked up a data file, his tone unchanged. “It’s not like I’m the only one keeping a zombie. It’s just that mine is the prettiest and most obedient.”
“Besides, I built this research institute. Even the self-destruct authority is in my hands.”
Shi Changyuan smiled and looked at Lin Ling.
“I let them use the lab, helped them research ability-enhancing potions and a virus-suppressing serum.”
“What’s wrong with me keeping a zombie?”
Lin Ling: !!!
It sounds like I’ve been captured by a pretty incredible human!
***
Author’s Note:
Here! [Bunny ears]
Shi Changyuan: Casually showing off his abilities and family fortune in the most nonchalant way possible. [Sunglasses]
