Chapter 1: Zombie Puppet
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
In a desolate street, a zombie wandered around unconsciously.
His mouth was slightly parted with saliva dripping down his lips. A pair of terrifying red eyes glinted icily.
There was a small, abandoned supermarket not far from where he was. The glass door was splattered with brown blood stains, fallen shelves and packages of food scattered all over the floor could be faintly seen through the opened door.
Behind the door, a middle-aged zombie moved slowly. Judging from his clothes, he used to be a staff member there.
The zombie approached the supermarket slowly and as he brushed past the middle-aged zombie, he suddenly took out a cleaver, turned around, and chopped off the middle-aged zombie’s head with all his might.
Fresh blood gushed out and the headless corpse instantly fell to the ground.
The strange zombie then grabbed a shopping bag from behind the sales counter and began to rapidly collect food from the supermarket…
“Haa… It sure is tiring…”
In a dimly lit house, Ling Mo’s face was dripping with sweat as he looked at the bag full of goods and necessities with satisfaction.
Opposite him sat the zombie that appeared in the supermarket. However, the zombie’s look towards Ling Mo wasn’t filled with evil intentions, but instead an empty expression.
“This is so much better than compared to a few days ago. I can finally control them more flexibly now.”
Ling Mo shifted his gaze to the zombie and let loose a small smile.
Half a month ago, a new type of virus had appeared, turning the world into a tragic slaughterhouse in the blink of an eye.
Countless humans became zombies… or more accurately, after they were infected by the virus, they lost their self-consciousness and became crazy monsters with only slaughter in mind.
Those who survived had to hide in the dark corners of the city like mice.
Originally an ordinary person, Ling Mo, realized that he could control zombies after the apocalypse occured.
He could feel a faint connection between zombies and himself. The zombies’ brains were empty like a doll’s, and he could pour his consciousness into the zombies to control their actions.
However, it was extremely difficult at first. For quite a few days, zombies would often suddenly break free from his control, putting him in danger.
As Ling Mo continued to test his ability, he finally figured out some tricks. Not only could it allow him to keep stable control over the zombies, but it let him also control a zombie around to collect food and necessities for him.
However, he couldn’t be too far from the zombie which saddened him.
Ling Mo felt like he was a zombie puppeteer, but the thread in his hands wasn’t long enough and his technique lacked practice.
Despite this, he was rather satisfied with his powers since he could utilize zombies in order to live safely. He even named the zombie he controlled as the zombie puppet.
When controlling the zombie, Ling Mo faintly felt a sense of franticness which impacted him as he controlled it.
He couldn’t tell whether this sensation was good or bad yet.
For the past few days, Ling Mo had learned quite a lot about the zombies’ properties. What was different from the stereotypical zombie was that these zombies weren’t undead, but were rather living humans infected by the virus.
Despite their bodies still being alive, their minds had completely turned monstrous. They attacked uninfected survivors and tore their flesh out. They were also strong, much stronger than regular humans.
This type of virus completely destroyed their intellect, took over their rational thinking, and turned them into slaughterers who were driven by their killing instinct.
To Ling Mo, these zombies were much more terrifying than the zombies he had seen in games and movies because they retained their five senses. Whether by sound or smell, anything could easily catch their attention.
“The sun’s setting soon, let’s go back for today.”
This house wasn’t safe and was just a temporary place for Ling Mo to stay while controlling his zombie puppet.
He shoved all the supplies collected today into his backpack, shook his aching head, and made the zombie puppet stand up.
Ling Mo stared at the zombie standing right in front of him and felt something strange.
Although he didn’t emit a disgustingly rotten smell, the smell of blood was still exceptionally heavy. The virus made his face look pale without blood and his eyes shone red. Through his slightly parted lips, he could see strands of red flesh stuck on his teeth.
Needless to say, it must be the remains of the person he had devoured…
The zombie didn’t look too bad. He was a teenager around seventeen or eighteen years old. However, his current condition made him look like a sinister devil.
“Come on, let’s go…”
Ling Mo swallowed the sense of disgust in his heart and controlled the zombie down the stairs.
Although he had a zombie puppet to open up a path for him, it didn’t mean that he was safe. Ling Mo held the sharp cleaver in his hands and followed behind the zombie puppet carefully.
He needed to cross a wide street from here to his temporary shelter. When he had come here in the morning, he had found some firecrackers and made some sound in the opposite direction to lure the majority of the zombies there. Even so, there were still some zombies wandering about on the street.
After he safely arrived at the crossroad, Ling Mo realized that trouble was coming.
There were two zombies blocking the crossing. He didn’t know where they came from but their bodies were stained with fresh blood. One of them gnawed on an arm that he held in his hands.
In a city with a population of over ten million, survivors died for food supplies every single day. Death wasn’t strange at all.
But when Ling Mo saw the remains of the arm, he still felt sad. Because he had special powers, he was better off than others. He would not let himself become these zombies’ food due to negligence.
Ling Mo carefully controlled the zombie puppet and approached them carefully, raising the cleaver when he came close to one of them.
While the other zombie was distracted by the noise, Ling Mo dashed behind him with the blade in hand and stabbed the knife right in the back of his head.
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Both of the zombies lost their lives at almost the exact same time. After pulling the knife out, Ling Mo kicked aside the dead body in front of him.
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He didn’t let any chance slip by where he could kill zombies himself. Although controlling zombies was useful, he had to be strong enough to protect himself.
Ling Mo felt a frantic sensation while he was killing the zombies. The moment he pulled the knife out, he even felt a sense of pleasure.
“The virus can’t possibly spread through a spiritual connection… If that’s the case I would’ve been infected and mutated a long time ago… If this isn’t from the virus, what could it be?”
Ling Mo cared about these subtle changes very much but he didn’t have any clues for the time being.
However, it was a good thing that he could kill zombies cleanly and that he was becoming more and more skilled.
Before the apocalypse, he was merely an ordinary person. His first time killing a zombie was extremely dangerous. Lingering fear haunted him and his mind stayed blank for a while afterwards.
In order to survive, he must strengthen his combat ability.
There was one person who was always on Ling Mo’s mind. Familiarizing himself with controlling zombies and collecting as many supplies as possible were all for the purpose of crossing this area in order to find her…