Zombie Cat's Ingratitude

The door to the third-floor stairwell was pushed open for the first time since the apocalypse began.

And the third floor, a place that had long since devolved into a living hell, was finally revealed to Lin Zhiluo.

The moment he opened the door, an incredibly thick stench of blood assaulted his nostrils.

There wasn't a single living creature left in the entire corridor, not even a zombie.

Countless corpses lay strewn across the hallway.

Some were human, others were zombies.

Their states of death were exceptionally gruesome.

Their skulls had all been violently smashed open, looking just like shattered watermelons.

A red and white mixture of blood and brain matter flowed across the floor and splattered against the walls.

Furthermore, because it was an office area, the entire third floor was covered in thick carpeting.

Now, these soft carpets were littered with severed limbs, broken arms, and various human body parts.

Almost the entire surface of the corridor walls was covered in congealed blood.

Only through a few scattered gaps could one tell that this had originally been a white wall.

Amidst the piles of human flesh, one could even spot fragments like brain matter, teeth, and eyeballs.

A single glance at this hellish scene would be enough to make anyone with a slightly timid heart break down and flee on the spot.

Lin Zhiluo, however, felt nothing.

He had seen scenes a thousand times more terrifying than this.

Nevertheless, he simultaneously heightened his vigilance.

This was different from what he had anticipated.

Although he knew from prior intelligence that a Silver Treasure Chest would be here, he had no idea what had actually transpired.

Ordinary zombies would not cause such a horrific scene.

They would usually just bite a human a few times and wait for them to turn into one of their own.

Only in a state of extreme frenzy would they choose to devour humans and consume their brains.

As for this habit of wantonly dismembering human and zombie corpses, and the preference for sucking out brains to create such a gruesome spectacle—

There were only two possibilities.

One was the appearance of a Boss among the zombies.

A Boss would possess far greater strength than an ordinary zombie of the same level.

But at the same time, they preferred to treat humans as food and rations.

In the absence of humans, they would even consume their own kind to satisfy their hunger.

The second possibility was a zombie-fied animal.

The probability of animals turning into zombies was relatively low; otherwise, humanity would have long been wiped out by the tens of billions of zombie animals.

Generally speaking, the stronger the animal, the easier it was for it to become a zombie.

As for the weaker ones—take mosquitoes, flies, or caterpillars, for example?

It was estimated that only one in a million, or perhaps ten million or even a trillion, would successfully turn into a zombie.

Zombie-fied animals had a particular fondness for humans; what they loved most was sucking out human brain marrow, though they wouldn't spare zombies either.

With his wealth of experience, Lin Zhiluo analyzed the culprit behind this hellish scene at a single glance.

Zombie Cat!

By observing the claw marks on the walls, the wounds on the corpses, and the incisions on the severed limbs, Lin Zhiluo could be certain that all of this was caused by a Zombie Cat.

And the animal he loathed most was the Zombie Cat!

Lin Zhiluo took a step forward.

He truly stepped inside from the stairwell entrance.

The Boots of Gale on his feet didn't feel soft against the carpet; instead, it felt like stepping into mud.

This was because the carpet beneath his feet had long been soaked through with blood and bits of pulverized flesh.

Lin Zhiluo did not rush forward.

The Zombie Cat possessed keen hearing and sensory abilities; it definitely already knew of his arrival.

Now, it was just a matter of whether the Zombie Cat intended to ambush him or slaughter him head-on.

It did not disappoint Lin Zhiluo.

The apocalypse had just begun, and the Zombie Cat, possessing low intelligence and an already inflated ego, chose to appear directly in front of him!

A shrill, mournful cat screech rang out.

A Zombie Cat roughly the size of a cheetah emerged from the storage room at the end of the hallway.

The Zombie Cat's body had grown several times larger, and the larger the size, the stronger its power.

Although the silhouette of a cat could still be discerned from its appearance.

Every part of its body had undergone significant changes.

The Zombie Cat's eyes were blood-red, and its unique feline pupils, shrouded in that crimson hue, looked exceptionally eerie.

Its originally furry paws now revealed three sharp claws glinting with a cold light.

Even a light brush against the carpet would tear through it, leaving deep gouges in the floor beneath.

Lin Zhiluo remained expressionless as he directly checked the Zombie Cat's attributes.

When checking the attributes of zombies and other creatures, if they are more than five levels higher than one's own, only the name is displayed, and the specific attributes cannot be seen.

Fortunately, the Zombie Cat's level did not exceed his by too much, allowing Lin Zhiluo to view all of its attributes.

[Sharp Claw Zombie Cat] (Bronze-level BOSS)

Level: 9

Base Attributes: Strength: 21, Spirit: 10, Constitution: 9, Agility: 20

Talent: Sharp Claws: After damaging an enemy, the wound enters a lacerated state, reducing healing speed by 40% and increasing bleeding speed by 40%.

Skills: Afterimage Pounce: Instantly increases speed by 30%, pouncing on the enemy to deal 120% of its Strength attribute as damage. During this time, the body enters an afterimage state, reducing incoming damage by 50%.

Cat Eye Gaze: Can pull an enemy into a terrifying illusion created by the cat's eyes, inflicting a "Fear" status that causes the target's overall attributes to drop by 20%. The effect continues to impact the target's combat state.

Powerful!

Any zombie animal with a prefix represents a BOSS-level existence.

And this Sharp Claws talent was truly terrifying!

Reducing healing speed and increasing bleeding speed.

This meant that once an opponent took a single hit, that body part would essentially be unable to heal for the duration of the fight.

Likewise, the Zombie Cat's level and attributes were exceptionally strong.

It surpassed Lin Zhiluo in both Strength and Agility.

It was worthy of being a zombie animal endowed with a BOSS template.

Such BOSSes were naturally imbued with high levels from the start.

However, no matter how high the Zombie Cat's level, how high its attributes, or how strong its abilities were.

Lin Zhiluo's expression never changed from beginning to end.

He had sufficient confidence to kill the Zombie Cat!

This was a full confidence in his own combat ability!

So what if there was a slight disadvantage in attributes?

Then he would use his terrifying combat experience to slaughter it.

[Player "Yazi" has been detected encountering the Bronze-level BOSS "Sharp Claw Zombie Cat", triggering the quest "Kill the Zombie Cat"]

[Zombie Cat's Ingratitude]

Quest Description: A stray cat with a special talent had always been a regular at the third floor of the gymnasium, and people who loved cats would bring it delicious cat food every day.

But after the apocalypse descended, the cat, infected by the zombie virus, began its slaughter immediately.

Its sharp claws tore through the humans who had helped it, causing them to lose their lives in agony.

Quest Requirement: Kill the Zombie Cat

Quest Rewards: 100 Reputation, 200 Gold Coins, 100 Experience, one Bronze-level item

Quest Time Limit: 8 hours

Quest Penalty: Level minus one, all attributes permanently minus one (abandoning the quest is equivalent to failure)

"Ding, Golden Finger System has detected that the host has activated the quest 'Zombie Cat's Ingratitude', and is currently optimizing quest-related issues."