Chapter 13: As Long as You Want It, You Can Have It All.…
Lin Ling hadn’t expected that having a family member status, besides being allocated a residence, would also grant him access to all the public routes.
This meant that he could now leave the research institute smoothly and without any obstacles.
This was a huge help to Lin Ling’s escape plan.
The little zombie carefully put away his access pass and continued his days as before.
“Hey, hey, I heard Little Lin Ling moved. Did you have a fight with Professor Shi?”
“I saw you two were fine yesterday. What happened?”
The moment he got off the elevator, Lin Ling was surrounded and questioned by many people, most of whom were just nodding acquaintances.
“We didn’t fight.”
Lin Ling quickly waved his hands and quickened his pace, trying to escape this place of gossip.
Miao Xue, who was beside him, couldn’t help but laugh a few times.
“Everyone is very concerned about you.”
The little zombie was actually a bit troubled by this kind of concern, but since it was everyone’s goodwill, Lin Ling could only say thank you.
“I know you don’t like it. I’ve already told them.”
Miao Xue had originally come to help Lin Ling move, but she found that he had so few things that he could move everything in one trip by himself. She wasn’t needed at all.
“I don’t know if Little Lin Ling likes the decoration of the new house. It’s all standardized. If you want to decorate your room yourself, I can go with you to the trading area to buy some things.”
“There are a lot of goods circulating there.”
“Ah? N-No, that’s okay.”
The little zombie was stunned for a moment and refused.
After all, there were too many people in the main city.
“Lingling wants to go out?”
After Miao Xue left, Shi Changyuan immediately saw through the little zombie’s pretense. “The desire to go out is written all over your eyes.”
“Aren’t you afraid…”
Shi Changyuan knew what the other wanted to say.
Letting a zombie into a human base would, by any measure, be an event that could cause city-wide panic.
He reached out and hooked the metal ring on Lin Ling’s neck, smiling. “I’m here.”
“Besides, Lingling has been in the research institute for so long, and nothing has happened.”
“Everyone likes Lingling very much.”
Shi Changyuan saw that Lin Ling, despite being a zombie, was subconsciously considering things from a human’s perspective. He raised an eyebrow with a smile and used a bit of reverse psychology.
“High-tier zombies can control themselves. Isn’t Lingling the Zombie Emperor?”
After hearing such a speech, what was there for Lin Ling to hesitate about?
He stood up, hands on his hips, and declared, “That’s right, I am the Zombie Emperor!”
“Let’s go! We’re going shopping!”
Once Lin Ling stopped hesitating, he immediately figured it out. It was good to go out and check the situation first, to avoid getting lost when it was time to escape.
And from his observations, Shi Changyuan’s authority was among the highest. He could move freely within the research institute. He wondered if he could also freely enter and exit the base’s main gate.
After making his decision, the little zombie dragged his human out the door.
Outside the elevator was a public hall, but not just anyone could enter. One had to go through security checks and routine questioning.
Outside the hall was a large, empty area, surrounded by high walls, with no visual obstructions. There was a checkpoint every few steps, with people constantly patrolling, and surveillance cameras covering every angle.
“The research institute is the core of humanity’s fight against the apocalypse, so this place, aside from the main gate, is the most heavily guarded.”
The little zombie nodded in shock.
He stood in the open space, looked back at the huge building, and suddenly saw the balcony garden from before.
It was on the fourth floor. Although there was a lawn below, if he really jumped from there, he would be caught on the spot by the patrolling guards in less than two seconds.
“Has your research institute always been here?”
“Mm.”
Seeing Lin Ling’s curiosity, Shi Changyuan explained patiently.
“In the beginning, this was a deserted place, far from the city, because we needed to conduct various experiments.”
“After the apocalypse, people kept fleeing here, and a base was gradually established.”
With this explanation, the little zombie understood.
This human base was practically built because of this research institute! And Shi Changyuan was the main force behind the institute’s various research and development projects. No wonder his authority was so high.
“Are the other bases like this too?”
“They’re all different.”
Shi Changyuan explained as he led Lin Ling through the last checkpoint of the research institute.
“Some bases were established attached to the military. Those bases have the strongest defenses and were the earliest to be established.”
“Some other bases were established because they controlled granaries and had abundant resources.”
The little zombie had a rough understanding of these things. After all, he had attended school in human society for a few years!
After leaving the research institute, they were on the main street.
The main street was very wide, almost wide enough for three large trucks to drive side by side. Similarly, there was a five-person checkpoint every hundred meters.
Every time a car passed, it would kick up a cloud of dust.
“Is all this necessary to defend against a zombie attack?”
Looking at the dense checkpoints, the little zombie’s expression was a bit strange.
Without the command of a high-tier zombie, the zombie hordes would never find this place. And the zombie hordes near the base had most likely been cleared out.
“This isn’t to defend against zombies.”
Shi Changyuan smiled, a hint of irony in his eyes. “This was to prevent internal conflicts in the early days.”
“The beginning of the apocalypse was a true hell on earth.”
“But most of it was caused by humans themselves.”
He didn’t go into detail about the ugliness of human nature with the young man. That was all in the past.
During the most terrifying period of the apocalypse, the self-proclaimed Zombie Emperor had never stepped out of the city ruins. He was surrounded only by mindless, wandering zombies who couldn’t even speak. Naturally, he had never seen these things.
The reason Lin Ling was so popular in the research institute was probably because of those eyes that had never seen such things.
Like they themselves were before the apocalypse.
“We’re here.”
As they spoke, the two had already arrived at the trading area, a designated zone in the base for concentrated trade and commerce. It was the main source of income for some people in the base.
Most of them sold a few things or their own handmade goods.
When the vendors saw the direction the two came from, they all enthusiastically promoted their products.
Lin Ling wandered around the trading area and found that there were really a lot of things here. He even saw many things that he had in his original room, like that little bear doll.
And the star-shaped lights.
He subconsciously walked over and picked up the little bear, giving it a squeeze.
It was probably sewn by the stall owner, a grandmother, based on a pre-apocalypse design.
“You like it?”
Shi Changyuan asked.
The little zombie was about to nod, but he lowered his eyes and was silent for a moment. In the end, he put the little bear back and picked up a completely different rabbit doll.
“I’ll buy this one instead.”
There was almost no change in Lin Ling’s tone, but this was already very telling.
“Alright.”
Shi Changyuan readily helped pay without any questions.
At every stall they stopped at after that, Shi Changyuan noticed that the young man would first let his gaze linger on a certain item, then shift it and buy another item of a completely different style.
At every stall that could attract the young man’s attention, there was always something he wanted but forced himself not to buy.
“Why not buy this one?”
After this happened a few times, Shi Changyuan had a pretty good idea.
“I can’t buy it.”
The little zombie wasn’t good at lying. After careful consideration, he gave this answer.
As expected.
Shi Changyuan looked at the young man’s back.
Buying small things to decorate a room should be a random process, based entirely on preference and what catches the eye. One would think about where to put things and how to arrange them.
But Lin Ling seemed to have a clear goal, as if he were imitating the layout of a certain room.
He didn’t want to decorate the room exactly like the one in his heart, but he subconsciously bought similar types of items.
Looking at those things, Shi Changyuan could almost imagine what Lin Ling’s original room looked like.
However, even rooms had substitutes for substitutes these days?
Shi Changyuan was so angry he almost laughed.
“I have something to buy too.”
He said.
“What do you want to buy?”
The little zombie’s arms were full of dolls and various small things.
There were no shopping bags after the apocalypse. People either carried their own baskets or brought a bag.
It was a mistake not to bring a backpack this time.
“A lot.”
Shi Changyuan first bought two backpacks, then retraced their steps.
He bought all the things that Lin Ling’s gaze had lingered on but hadn’t bought.
The little zombie: !!!
These things filled one backpack. Before Lin Ling could ask, Shi Changyuan bought many more things, filling the other bag.
This time, they were of a completely different style, completely different things.
“See if there’s anything Lingling likes.”
Shi Changyuan handed the full backpack to the young man. “If you like them all, you can take them all back.”
“You don’t have to hesitate over some things.”
“As long as you want it, you can have it all.”
