Chapter 105: The Proud Officer and the Zombie Ji Yun

The advanced zombies finally appeared—two of them.

Except for Taozi and Du Yun, everyone present felt a sudden chill run down their spines. One advanced zombie, even with the combined strength of all, might still leave a sliver of hope for survival. But two advanced zombies working together meant only one outcome: death.

Yet, in this perilous moment, because Du Yun and Taozi were standing so close to the zombies, no one dared to fire a shot. The team held back out of respect—Du Yun was the leader’s sister-in-law—and the survivors hesitated because Taozi was the daughter of Dong Tiechui.

The scene became deadlocked. The two zombies clashed in the center, while Du Yun supported Taozi as they slowly retreated. The others could only watch helplessly, unable to intervene.

But in the eyes of Du Yun and Taozi, their thoughts diverged sharply from those around them. Du Yun looked suspiciously at the zombie known as “Little Ox,” who was fighting fiercely against the officer zombie to protect Taozi. Taozi, on the other hand, looked at Little Ox with complete trust.

“Little Ox! Little Ox! Keep it up!” Taozi’s eyes sparkled brightly, as if she had forgotten the danger surrounding them, happily waving to cheer him on.

“Did Little Ox recognize you?” Du Yun’s heart stirred with a faint doubt. Both zombies were advanced, yet why did they not attack them? Instead, they fought each other.

“Yes, he recognized Taozi!” Taozi’s large eyes fluttered with joy. Innocent as she was, she barely understood the difference between humans and zombies, so seeing Little Ox still being Little Ox filled her with happiness and excitement.

“That can’t be! Zombies don’t recognize people!” A sudden flash of insight struck Du Yun’s mind. From the start, something had felt off.

Dou Zhi had told her earlier that first- and second-level zombies were driven purely by blind instinct. Third- and fourth-level zombies regained some intelligence, but only to the level of a toddler.

The Little Ox and the officer zombie before her seemed to be around fourth level—able to recover some intellect, but not enough to recall all their human memories.

That Little Ox could see Taozi, control his instincts, knock her out gently, and bring her back to Dong Tiechui—that indicated he had developed protective feelings for humans, which no mere fourth-level zombie should possess. Such emotions would require a level six or seven at least.

“Dou Zhi, don’t you find this situation strange?” Du Yun asked quietly in her mind.

“Yes, this is unusual. Only eighth-level zombies or higher show such human-like emotions restored. Their levels are too low—it’s abnormal,” Dou Zhi’s voice sounded tense, as if equally unsettled.

“What exactly is going on?” Du Yun, now holding Taozi, slowly withdrew from the fighting circle of the two zombies. The leader raised his hands high in readiness, weapons primed, ready to unleash heavy fire on command.

The battle was on the verge of erupting; everyone was taut with tension.

“Wait!” Du Yun whispered urgently beside the leader, halting him. “The one called Little Ox seems to have regained human emotions.”

“What?” The leader was startled, but before he could react further, the two fighting zombies abruptly separated.

“Hold on!” The officer zombie spoke first, his uniform torn wide open, blood trickling faintly. “Let’s make a deal. I won’t eat the little girl if you don’t stop me from killing others. How about that?” He looked toward Little Ox, negotiating.

“Are you sure you won’t eat Taozi?” Little Ox stiffened, eyes glaring as he reconfirmed. Then he shook his head. “You wanted to eat her before. If I hadn’t fought you, Taozi would have been yours! You don’t keep your word!”

Anyone who had seen them hours ago would note how much more articulate their speech had become compared to before when they barely spoke clearly.

“No, no!” The officer zombie said dejectedly, surprised that after roaming the zombie world for so long, he still couldn’t defeat this bull-headed kid.

“Hmm.” Little Ox pretended to ponder, showing that Taozi was truly the only one who mattered to him.

“Don’t eat my dad, my brother, Sister Du Yun, or Brother Bingkuai either!” Taozi, hiding in Du Yun’s arms, suddenly popped out when she heard their conversation, loudly shouting at the two zombies.

Everyone’s hearts clenched sharply. Would such an outburst enrage the zombies? If angered, would they kill everyone in a rage? No one dared to be sure.

“Okay, a total of one-two-five people, fine!” Unexpectedly, the officer zombie counted on his fingers like a child, glanced around at the dozen or so people present, and agreed to spare five of them. It wasn’t a bad deal.

“Wait!” Seeing the two advanced zombies nearing an agreement, Du Yun hurried to intervene. Her own life might be safe for now, but she couldn’t watch the others be devoured.

“What? It’s you!” For some reason, after Du Yun’s call, the officer zombie actually paused. Turning to look at her, he seemed to recognize her and lifted his head arrogantly. “You’re strong enough to talk to me!”

Who could explain what kind of zombie this was?! Du Yun silently cursed inwardly at his haughty demeanor.

“What’s your name?” With death looming, this was hardly the time for sarcasm. Du Yun carefully chose her words, trying to get close to the officer zombie and negotiate conditions, fearful that one wrong move might doom them all.

“My name’s Ji Yun!” The officer zombie seemed pleased by the question, proudly glancing at Little Ox, as if asserting his name was far superior.

“Ji Yun, can we make a deal? Can you not eat us?” Du Yun’s fear lessened somewhat as she spoke cautiously to the officer zombie, who resembled a mischievous, spoiled child.

“Why not?” Ji Yun’s eyes widened fiercely, his expression menacing—ready to devour them all at the slightest provocation.

The tension snapped tight once more.