TL: Moonlit
Mi Yan was about to vomit, looking at Wen Qingling in horror. “Are you crazy? You encounter a Level 6 evolved creature and instead of running, you’re chasing after it?!”
Excitement flickered in Wen Qingling’s eyes as his spiritual power locked onto the ‘Leader’ hidden within the horde of zombies. “It’s a male ‘Leader,’ looks mature, and should be more reliable than the sisters and blood zombies. It’s the one.”
Mi Yan felt dizzy and bewildered. “You can tell a zombie’s maturity from its face? I admit you’re the dad.”
Wen Qingling pushed aside the surging zombies, and the ‘Leader,’ sensing Wen Qingling’s intention, turned around and ran.
Wen Qingling continued the pursuit, with the off-road vehicle following closely behind the ‘Leader.’ As he chased, Wen Qingling shouted, “Let’s discuss something! Please become a corpse general, a high-ranking official!”
The ‘Leader’ ran swiftly, turning back and roaring, a chain hanging around its neck forming an elegant arc.
Wen Qingling pleaded, “Don’t run, follow me, and I’ll ensure you live a life of luxury.”
The ‘Leader’ kept sprinting, “Roar, roar, roar!”
Wen Qingling accelerated further, determined to surpass the ‘Leader,’ racing with all four wheels like in a long-distance run.
“Boom!”
A female zombie fell from the sky, crashing onto the hood of the off-road vehicle. The glass shattered, and the female zombie’s sharp claws attacked Wen Qingling inside the car. Wen Qingling grabbed the female zombie’s wrist, about to break it…
“Don’t hurt her!” Mi Yan widened his eyes and firmly grabbed Wen Qingling’s arm.
Wen Qingling paused, giving the female zombie an opportunity. With no way to kill her and nowhere to hide, Wen Qingling could only step on the brake, sending the female zombie flying.
Ignoring the approaching horde of zombies behind them, Mi Yan hastily got out of the car and went to see the female zombie.
The female zombie climbed up from the ground and roared, launching herself once again. Wen Qingling appeared in front of Mi Yan, kicking the female zombie away.
Mi Yan shouted, “Be gentler, Dad!”
Wen Qingling responded, “Teach me how to be gentle with zombies.”
He did want to be gentle, but faced with a zombie covered in corpse stench relentlessly attacking, how could he be gentle?!
The ignorant and unaware female zombie jumped up once more.
Wen Qingling kicked her away again.
Mi Yan’s eyes turned red. “This might be my mom!”
Wen Qingling had a face full of black lines. “You can recognize her like this? Are you using telepathy for family identification?”
Mi Yan pointed at the female zombie approaching again. “The necklace around her neck, that tacky heart-shaped pendant, was specially customized by my dad for my 18th birthday. Each member of our family has one, and there’s a family photo inside the pendant.”
Mi Yan pulled out the necklace from around his own neck, which looked similar to the one on the female zombie’s neck. Well, it was hard to say ‘similar’ since the female zombie’s necklace was covered in dark bloodstains and rotting flesh, only the shape of the pendant could be recognized. Of course, heart-shaped pendants were too common.
Wen Qingling hesitated in kicking the female zombie, not feeling ethical to kick his own wife in front of his son. He produced a wooden stake and used it to fend off the female zombie’s claws.
Mi Yan cried and laughed, “Both my mom and I despised my dad’s taste, so we never wore them. After the apocalypse, when I fled from home, I put on this necklace. I never expected… I never expected my mom would wear it too.”
Wen Qingling: “…”
Wen Qingling: “It’s possible that not only your mom wears it, but your dad does too.”
“Roar!”Mi Yan turned around and came face to face with a male zombie charging towards him, the necklace around its neck swinging in the air. Wasn’t that the familiar tacky necklace he knew?!
Vines emerged from the ground, entangling the two crazed zombies, awaiting their disciplinary education.
Wen Qingling’s spiritual power swept over, soothing the horde of zombies controlled by the “Leader.”
Mi Yan, using his amputated arm, carefully inspected the necks of the male and female zombies, and indeed, there were very tacky family portraits embedded inside. Mi Yan laughed heartily but tears flowed down fiercely.
Wen Qingling kicked him, saying, “Your parents are still alive, why are you crying?”
Mi Yan replied, “Aren’t you the one who made me cry with joy?”
Wen Qingling returned to the car and took out the backpack he brought, pulling out two blood anemones and handing them to the two zombies.
It was a bitter tear to think that he believed he wouldn’t need to carry a backpack anymore since he had storage space. But it turned out that blood anemones couldn’t be placed inside the storage space, so he still had to bring the backpack with him. However, everything except for the blood anemones could be stored inside.
Mi Yan looked at the two zombies holding the blood anemones and gnawing on them, completely shocked. “What is this?”
Wen Qingling replied, “Something that will turn your parents into humans.”
Mi Yan said, “No, you said it was a potion, right?”
He wasn’t blind. No matter how you looked at it, it didn’t resemble a potion.
Wen Qingling said gravely, “Considering that your parents are a ‘Leader’ and a Level 3 evolved zombie, I gave them something more powerful. After the transformation into humans, their abilities will remain and become even stronger.”
Mi Yan knew that Wen Qingling wouldn’t harm them; otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone through all the trouble of chasing them all the way here. He was just curious because he thought Wen Qingling’s judgment had gone astray, mistaking people for dogs and potions for balls.
Fortunately, although Wen Qingling’s behavior was peculiar, his mind was still intact.
Mi Yan watched as his zombie parents transformed from two unrecognizable zombies back into their familiar appearance.
Mi Yan burst into tears, crying particularly fiercely.
Wen Qingling released the two transformed civilized zombies and let them cry as a family for a while.
Wen Qingling moved a bit further away, giving them some time to calm down.
Wen Qingling and Da Bai were eating their share of the meat. One bite for each of them. Soon, they finished all the cured meat they had brought. Meanwhile, the family of three finally calmed down.
Mi Shanglin, along with his son and wife, came to thank Wen Qingling.
Wen Qingling looked at them with a complex expression. After all, Mi Shanglin was the CEO, and even if he had turned into a zombie, he was still the ‘leader’ of the zombie world.
Mi Yan’s mother was also a CEO, and when her husband turned into a “Leader,” she became a Level 3 evolved zombie, following him and charging into battle at any moment.
Impressive, Mr. and Mrs. Mi.
Wen Qingling said, “You don’t need to thank me. You have already sold yourselves to the civilized city. From now on, Mr. Mi will serve as the Commander of the Northward Zombies, and Mrs. Mi will serve as the Lord of the Northward City. Is that alright?”
Mi Shanglin readily agreed, saying, “No problem.”
Since everything belongs to him, what other problems could there be?
Although Wen Qingling didn’t know what Mrs. Mi’s identity was, from her temperament, she was definitely not an ordinary person.
Even if Mrs. Mi couldn’t bear the heavy responsibility of being the Lord of the Northward City, they still had Mr. Mi as the Zombie Commander. It was their family’s matter after all, so they should help and support each other.
Wen Qingling quietly asked Mi Yan, “What did your mother do before?”
Mi Yan chuckled and said in a low voice, “Don’t worry, my mom will handle the position of the Lord of the Northward City just fine.”Wen Qingling raised an eyebrow.
Mi Yan whispered, “She was Ms. Jiao Meixiang, the chairwoman of our province’s Women’s Federation. She’s quite formidable. The future prosperity of the civilized city might still rely on my mother’s expertise.”
Wen Qingling: “…”
Indeed, he hadn’t mistaken the person.
Before leaving, Wen Qingling asked Mi Shanglin where he planned to take these zombies.
Mi Shanglin was a bit confused and couldn’t explain clearly. He just felt that there was something attracting him in that direction, and he instinctively wanted to submit and follow. In a dazed state, he led the army of zombies to seek refuge there.
Wen Qingling looked in that direction and had a guess in his heart.
Now they had four people, with only Mi Yan being a true human. Mi Yan’s father and mother had already become like this, and Mi Yan didn’t intend to continue guessing. He pulled Wen Qingling aside and hesitated before speaking, “You, actually, aren’t human, right?”
Wen Qingling stared at him. “I reasonably suspect that you’re indirectly insulting me.”
Mi Yan’s expression turned serious. “Throughout the journey, as long as I’m with you, the zombies ignore me. When you just left, the zombies attacked me. And your attitude towards the zombies doesn’t have the fear and dread that humans should have.”
“I am a zombie.” Wen Qingling was very frank.
Mi Yan’s pupils trembled, and his voice choked up a bit. “W-When did it happen?”
Wen Qingling thought for a moment. “It’s been a while.”
His eyes turned red again, and Mi Yan held back his tears. “Was it… the ambush that time?”
Wen Qingling nodded. “Yes.”
It seemed that Luo Fengjeu had already told Mi Yan a lot about his situation, including the ambush and his time in the southern city. Otherwise, Mi Yan wouldn’t have known.
Mi Yan choked up, “How did you become like this?”
“I mutated,” Wen Qingling tapped his head. “Why are you crying? I think being a zombie is great. I’m no longer afraid of zombies, and instead, it’s humans who fear us. Besides, I’m the boss. Whether it’s humans or zombies, they all have to listen to me.”
Mi Yan couldn’t help but laugh at his audacity. “You’ve become quite arrogant.”
Wen Qingling sniffed. “Why don’t you tell me if I’m arrogant or not?”
Mi Yan cried and laughed, “You’re arrogant, really arrogant.”
Mi Yan opened his arms and hugged Wen Qingling. “Don’t worry, I won’t reject you, whether you’re a human or a dog.”
Wen Qingling: “…”
Since you’re crying so miserably, I’ll let it slide for now.
After Mi Yan regained his composure, the group of one person and three zombies set off. Instead of returning, they followed Ms. Jiao Meixiang’s lead to the research institute in the provincial capital, where they would take all the researchers from the institute with them.
As for how to distinguish the researchers, Wen Qingling waved his hand and said there was no need to distinguish. They would take anyone wearing a research uniform. Cast a wide net, and they would surely catch a few remarkable fish.
When they set out, Wen Qingling brought out a considerable amount of potions. Now that he had storage space, he could bring as much as he wanted. He fed the transformation potion to the zombie researchers in the lab coats. Once they regained consciousness and became new humans, he found several talented individuals among them. Through their testimonies, he obtained information about the research institutes that had the researchers Wen Qingling needed. The group continued their search.
In this manner, like a greedy snake, one string connected to another, and countless strings connected to numerous strings. Wen Qingling began targeting all the zombie researchers, determined to bring back all the stranded zombie researchers to the civilized city.
From the initial two people, by the time they returned, they had already formed a sizable team.
Xiao Hen had always been thinking of finding capable researchers for Wen Qingling. As a result, he was still busy in Central Mega City, while Wen Qingling had already resolved this matter on his own, and he resolved it comprehensively. Researchers from various fields were brought back by him.
Only in this way could the research progress faster, and the development of the civilized city could be more rapid.
Compared to Wen Qingling’s busy schedule, Xiao Hen was not at ease either.
Since returning to the Central Mega City, Xiao Hen had been working on persuading the survivors, informing them of the benefits of leaving the city. He spoke eloquently, but there were still many survivors unwilling to leave the Central Mega City, and time was being consumed.
Before finishing his persuasion work, there was another problem at the virus research institute—the blood samples containing antibodies against the zombie virus were stolen.