Is It Tasty?

"I should get my hands on a couple of human Awakened and see what they taste like."

Lin Dong pondered to himself, planning to go out for a stroll and test the power of his newly awakened ability, the Corpse Domain.

He wondered which "lucky one" would run into him.

So—

He got up and walked out the door.

Outside the building, the feral zombies along the street all lowered their heads when they saw Lin Dong.

The Zombie King marched forth, and ten thousand zombies submitted!

His three underlings had all gone off to roam freely and were nowhere nearby. Lin Dong had not planned to bring them along anyway.

Since he had no specific destination, Lin Dong did not drive.

He simply wandered along the street.

The ravaged street was littered with shattered glass and mottled bloodstains. Moss had already begun growing in some shadowy corners.

Every so often, rats squeaked strangely as they dragged half-eaten fingers into the sewers.

As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but desolation.

In this city of the apocalypse—

Lin Dong remained spotless and exceptionally relaxed, as though he were merely taking a walk.

After walking for around half an hour—

Lin Dong suddenly stopped.

He caught the scent of fresh blood. It was the scent of living creatures, something his heightened sense of smell could now easily detect.

He turned to look.

On a gate by the roadside, he saw three large characters: "Zoo."

What was strange was that the zoo was completely empty. There were no zombies inside, not even a single corpse on the ground—only dried, dark purplish bloodstains.

This place seemed to have become the territory of some creature.

Keep out, living people!

For ordinary people, this was undoubtedly an extremely dangerous place.

But Lin Dong did not care. He entered through the gate, and the zoo was deathly quiet, filled only with the rustling of leaves in the wind.

The cages that had once held animals were now all empty.

They, too, were covered in blood.

There were still clumps of animal fur and gnawed bone fragments inside, an utterly horrifying sight.

Clearly, something had eaten them all.

Lin Dong continued deeper inside and arrived at the keepers' work area. The building before him had its doors and windows tightly shut, all welded closed with steel bars.

Although there was no sound from within, Lin Dong could still hear human breathing.

Their breaths were hurried, as though they were extremely nervous.

"There are people..."

Lin Dong came to that conclusion, but he did not approach directly.

Because two men were also walking this way not far off, and their destination was the same building.

One of them was short and fat, with rough skin and a pockmarked face like the surface of the moon.

He was incredibly ugly.

The other man was tall and thin, dressed in a suit like some office worker. He looked refined and gentle.

Judging by their clothes, they were clearly not zoo employees.

They had probably come here to search for supplies.

Yet the two looked energetic and well-fed, as though they did not lack food. They strode with vigor, their blood brimming with vitality, and their physical condition far surpassed that of ordinary humans.

"Could they be human Awakened?"

Lin Dong analyzed the situation, feeling that he could crack open their heads and take a look...

When the two men saw that the building's doors and windows were tightly sealed, they immediately realized there were survivors inside.

"Heh, there are living people here."

The refined man smiled slightly.

The short, fat man nodded.

"Yeah, now this will be fun. I just wonder... whether there are any beauties inside."

"There definitely are. I remember the young female keepers here being quite pretty."

The refined man said.

Relying on the fact that they were Awakened, the two feared nothing in the apocalypse. Now that order had collapsed, they roamed everywhere looking for supplies and beautiful women. Whenever they found women... well, they did whatever they pleased.

"Don't rush later. First trick them into opening the door."

The refined man said.

Though their bodies were powerful, the building had been sealed up tight. Forcing their way in would still take some effort.

The short, fat man nodded, indicating that he was already well-practiced at this.

He then stepped forward and gently knocked on the door, telling a lie.

"Hello? Is anyone inside? We're an Awakened team from an official shelter. We came here to rescue survivors."

"Oh?"

The people inside heard that it was an official rescue team.

They became somewhat excited.

"Finally... someone has come to save us."

There were four people inside the building: three female keepers and an old zoo night watchman.

The old man held a hunting rifle loaded with tranquilizers.

The kind normally used by the zoo to subdue wild beasts.

"Shh! Keep your voices down. Don't draw that monster over here! And what if they're lying?"

"Then... should we open the door?"

One petite girl asked.

In this apocalypse, she was terrified as well.

Who knew whether the people outside were human or ghosts?

Another girl beside her said—

"I saw the official shelter's announcement. Some people really have evolved physically and formed Awakened teams that are rescuing people everywhere."

"Then... should we open the door?"

"Open it! Our food is almost gone anyway. If we don't open it, we'll die too!"

"Mm!"

"..."

After discussing it, they slowly opened the door.

The two men immediately slipped inside, their shifty eyes sweeping over the place.

There really were beautiful women...

Nice~~

"Are you the shelter's rescue team?" one of the girls asked.

"Of course."

The short, fat man nodded.

Another petite girl said—

"That's wonderful. Hurry up and take us away."

"Don't be in such a hurry. We can save you, but there's one condition. Heh heh heh."

"What condition?"

The girl asked curiously.

The short, fat man gave a lecherous grin.

"You have to... make me feel good first."

"Ah? Th-this..."

The girl understood what he meant, and her expression froze. But...

Another girl had already noticed something was wrong.

"Everyone, be careful! Judging by what they're wearing, they're not a rescue team at all!"

"You're pretty smart..."

In an instant, the short, fat man revealed a vicious expression. He grabbed the girl by the throat and lifted her up like a chick.

Her breath caught, and her feet kicked wildly.

But against his immense strength—

It was completely useless.

Seeing this, the old man raised his gun and fired. But the instant the tranquilizer dart flew out, the refined man caught it with his bare hand.

An Awakened's reaction speed was far beyond what ordinary people could achieve.

"Th-this..."

The others fell into despair. They had not died in the jaws of zombies and monsters, only to die at the hands of their own kind—and suffer torment first.

Thinking of it that way, they would have been better off dying to zombies.

At least that would have been quick!

"Help!"

One of the girls screamed. Even if she drew the monster here, she wanted to perish with them.

Bang!

But with a casual wave, the refined man knocked her to the ground.

"Fuck, you're asking to die!"

The short, fat man also prepared to indulge his beastly desires.

"It's the end of the world. Who could possibly save you? Besides, I'm an Awakened. The whole world belongs to me!"

Clearly, these two had already become Homelanders!

But right then—

A deep voice suddenly rang out.

"Are Awakened... tasty?"