Chapter 9: I’ll Just Stay a Few More Days
“A human puppy?”
Shi Changyuan smiled, not minding the little zombie’s “great disrespect.” He simply retorted, “Then what is Lingling? A cat cub baring its teeth and claws?”
“I am not baring my teeth and claws.”
The little zombie was indignant, but he couldn’t find the words to refute it. After all, zombies did use their fangs to assimilate humans.
“You cunning human.”
Lin Ling, as if he had discovered something, shot back, “You could have made the nutritional supplement not disgusting. You did it on purpose.”
“Mm.”
Shi Changyuan’s reply was exceptionally matter-of-fact and righteous. “I was afraid Lingling wouldn’t drink it.”
“After all, Lingling doesn’t look like he can handle any hardship.”
The great Zombie Emperor felt that he was being underestimated. Just as he was thinking of a comeback, the lab’s doorbell rang. Someone was requesting entry.
The applicant was Miao Xue.
“Very free recently?”
Shi Changyuan had the same unwelcoming expression as always.
“Official business. Old Duan’s experiment isn’t going well. He wants your help.” Miao Xue spread her hands, indicating she was just a messenger.
“That’s a base project.”
Lin Ling heard a new name and immediately perked up his ears, ready to receive new information.
“If you don’t help and let him continue like this, your research institute is going to have an explosion.”
An explosion?!!
The little zombie was so startled he stumbled. He hadn’t realized that the lab was actually quite dangerous.
But Shi Changyuan had no reaction at all. He was even in the mood to find a heart-shaped straw and stick it in Lin Ling’s nutritional supplement.
The little zombie and Miao Xue both stared at the heart-shaped straw, momentarily at a loss for words.
“If it explodes, I’ll just build a new one. A bigger one.”
“Alright, stop joking. It’s not for free. Old Duan said he’ll owe you a favor.”
Miao Xue had no desire to deal with these two and quickly laid out the terms.
“Let’s go, let’s go. Little Lin Ling, you come too.”
Shi Changyuan saw that Lin Ling had already put down his nutritional supplement and was ready to follow them out. After a moment’s thought, he agreed.
“Ugh, what kind of job is this?”
Miao Xue, watching Shi Changyuan walk ahead, secretly complained to Lin Ling in a low voice.
“What’s wrong?”
The little zombie had been playing with the interns recently and had developed an extremely keen sense of smell for gossip.
“Little Lin Ling, you don’t know, but I was recently transferred to Professor Duan’s lab. This Professor Duan is the strangest person in the entire institute. He’s stubborn and has a terrible temper.”
“Only what your man says can get through to him a little.”
Lin Ling blinked as he listened to Miao Xue.
A cranky old professor? No matter how cranky he is, can he be crankier than the old man who guarded the gate and read the newspaper in our courtyard?
“But cranky as he is, he’s also really brilliant. He had already retired, but then the apocalypse happened. He was lucky enough to be able to return to the lab.”
“Lucky?”
For some reason, the little zombie was extremely curious about this Professor Duan. Maybe it was because he was the second person he had met, besides Shi Changyuan, to be called a professor?
“Yeah, lucky.”
“When the apocalypse broke out, Old Duan happened to be at a military lecture and was evacuated directly. Otherwise, in a disaster like this, an old man of his age would never have…”
As Miao Xue spoke, her mood instantly dropped. But she adjusted within a second and changed the topic with a smile.
But the following topics were not what the little zombie was interested in. He mechanically followed behind Shi Changyuan and Miao Xue, walking through corridor after corridor, staring blankly at the sunlight filtering through the glass walkways.
“Alright, we’re here.”
Miao Xue stopped at a large door and swiped her ID card.
“Beep—Identity verification successful.”
Old Duan’s lab, like Shi Changyuan’s, had a three-door setup, but the space inside was much larger than Shi Changyuan’s lab.
To their left was a thick glass window. They couldn’t hear the sounds from inside, but they could vaguely see large sparks flashing from time to time.
“This is as far as we can go.”
Miao Xue looked at Lin Ling beside her and said with a smile, “If we go any further, we’ll have to wear protective suits. Little Lin Ling probably wouldn’t like that.”
“I’m not going in?”
The little zombie looked at Shi Changyuan for confirmation.
Shi Changyuan glanced at the situation inside the lab, thought for a moment, and nodded slightly.
“Lingling, just wait here for me to come out.”
“It might be a while.”
“Alright.”
This was the first time since Lin Ling had arrived that Shi Changyuan was going somewhere without taking him along.
Even if it was just on the other side of a glass window.
Through this window, Lin Ling could clearly see Shi Changyuan putting on a thick protective suit.
“Is it very dangerous?”
Lin Ling seemed to react a beat too late and asked Miao Xue.
“Not dangerous.”
Miao Xue seemed to sense the young man’s nervousness. She smiled and explained patiently, “There are just high concentrations of chemicals inside, so some protective measures are needed.”
“Mainly, the experimental materials this time are extremely scarce. With the current equipment, it would probably take ten years to extract the same weight again, so Old Duan is a bit aggressive.”
“Besides, I’m here too. I’m a defense-type ability user.”
The little zombie’s eyes widened.
So this is an ability user?
My first time seeing one!!
“Shh.”
Seeing the little friend’s sparkling eyes, Miao Xue placed a finger to her lips in a hushing gesture.
“No one else knows.”
This topic captured the little zombie’s full attention. He couldn’t help but want to get a little closer to observe more carefully.
Seeing the shy young man finally warming up to her after so many days, Miao Xue was moved to tears.
“…The legendary secret guard?”
For some reason, this term popped into the little zombie’s mind.
Miao Xue seemed to freeze for a moment, then smiled. “That’s right, a secret guard.”
“So cool. I like that title.”
Lin Ling’s eyes curved. He thought it was cool too.
The waiting time outside was hard to endure. Lin Ling waited obediently for a long, long time, until his feet went numb. Just as he was about to sit on the floor to rest, he suddenly realized that now seemed to be a good time to escape.
He looked at the glass window. The sparks inside seemed to be getting bigger. At the same time, the interns and assistants around Old Duan were also evacuated, making one worry if there really would be an explosion.
“Little Lin Ling, do you want to go outside and sit for a while?”
Miao Xue seemed to have realized this too and took the initiative. “Turn left out the main door, and there’s a lounge. It’s a beautiful balcony garden.”
“Aren’t you going?”
“Old Duan is my protection target. I can’t leave here.”
Lin Ling noticed Miao Xue’s choice of words. Even though there were two researchers inside who were very important to humanity, her protection target was only Old Duan.
“Why don’t you need to protect Shi Changyuan? Is he very powerful, an ability user too?”
Miao Xue shook her head. “Powerful, but not an ability user.”
“Professor Shi is an ordinary person.”
Seeing the thoughtful expression on the young man’s face, Miao Xue deliberately teased, “What, a little disappointed? Did you think Professor Shi must have an ability?”
“No.”
Lin Ling shook his head.
He just wanted to ask, since Shi Changyuan was also an ordinary person, why did no one protect him.
But the words died on his lips.
Forget it. Just based on the fact that this evil human dared to go to City B alone and kidnap me, it proves he doesn’t need protection at all!
“Then does Little Lin Ling want to go to the garden to rest? But it’s late now. Don’t fall asleep outside; you’ll catch a cold.”
The little zombie was very tempted.
He realized that there wouldn’t be a better opportunity to escape than today for many days to come.
“Th-Then I’ll go take a look?”
Lin Ling pressed his lips together, glanced inside through the glass window one last time, and then opened the main door.
In the instant that Shi Changyuan took a moment to look back, that figure was gone.
**
Professor Shi found the erroneous value, corrected the data, and the lab’s explosion crisis was averted.
“Good work.”
Old Duan, through his protective suit, smiled and patted Shi Changyuan’s shoulder. Just as he was about to ask what Shi Changyuan wanted, he saw the other man nod and prepare to leave.
“Is your wife running away? What’s the hurry?” The little old man was displeased and started grumbling.
When Shi Changyuan came out after taking off his protective suit, he had expected the little cat to have misbehaved and that he would have a hard time finding him. But the moment he stepped out the door, he found the little zombie sitting against the wall on the floor, dozing off.
He even knew to find a cushion.
“Why are you sleeping here?”
Shi Changyuan knelt down, looked at the young man, and reached out, wanting to pick him up.
But the moment he touched him, Lin Ling opened his eyes.
“Didn’t you tell me to wait for you right here?”
The little zombie let out a big yawn. “I promised. I won’t go back on my word.”
Miao Xue, unaware of the twists and turns, just felt a pang of jealousy, a jealousy that distorted her face.
“That’s right. Little Lin Ling just went to the balcony for a breath of fresh air and came right back. He even brought us food and water.”
Reminded by Miao Xue, Shi Changyuan noticed that she had a bottle of mineral water in her hand, and Lin Ling seemed to be clutching a test tube.
“…This is a nutritional supplement someone gave me in the little balcony garden.”
At this point, the little zombie seemed a bit confused. The person had stammered about wanting to be friends, then just shoved a nutritional supplement into his hand and ran off.
The human version of the nutritional supplement.
Completely different from the zombie version.
“It’s disgusting. You can have it.”
Shi Changyuan looked at the nutritional supplement that was also being shoved at him and chuckled softly.
“So good.”
After a long night of high-intensity work, unable to drink water in the protective suit and without a moment’s rest, Shi Changyuan’s voice was hoarse, but there was not a trace of fatigue in his eyes.
“Lingling is so good. Do you want me to carry you back?”
The great Zombie Emperor, who couldn’t handle any hardship, had waited for him until his feet went numb. He deserved some “compensation.”
Tired and sleepy, Lin Ling barely thought before nodding immediately.
Shi Changyuan offered this himself. I didn’t force him!
The moment Lin Ling found a comfortable position on Shi Changyuan’s back, he fell asleep again.
On the way back, as they passed the balcony garden again, Lin Ling heard Shi Changyuan seem to ask why he hadn’t left.
“…Are you talking about jumping from here? I’m not stupid.”
The little zombie was so sleepy he could barely open his eyes, but he still answered Shi Changyuan’s question.
“Alright, Lingling is the smartest.”
Lin Ling grumbled to himself.
Seeing as the human is a decent pet owner, I’ll stay with him a few more days and help him find a new pet before I leave. After all, if I don’t help such an unpopular guy find a new pet…
He’ll be all alone again.
