Recruiting Underlings

Beep, beep, beep!

At that moment, Lin Dong's phone rang. Someone had sent him a WeChat message.

He picked it up and saw that it was Xu Shan.

"Honey! Are you okay? There are zombies everywhere. I'm so scared right now, and I'm worried about you too. Are you still alive?"

"I'm still alive."

Lin Dong replied.

When Xu Shan saw that he was alive, she hurriedly continued.

"I'm trapped in the dorm. There isn't much food left. You have a lot of supplies at the supermarket, right? Can you bring some over to find me?"

"Sure. Hold on for now. I'll come get you after a while."

The corners of Lin Dong's mouth curled up. Having become a zombie, his smile was anything but natural. Instead, it looked eerie and sinister.

Xu Shan was living supplies he had saved up.

Of course he had to go collect them!

But it was still too dangerous outside. Although Lin Dong had eaten a great deal of meat and was far stronger than an ordinary person, he still wanted to lie low for a few days and wait until he became even stronger before going out, ensuring nothing could go wrong.

Of course, Xu Shan had no idea that the one chatting with her was a zombie!

"Honey, you have to come save me. I'll wait for you! Love you~~~"

Lin Dong did not reply again.

That was because Xu Shan was in the dorm with three men, doing things too explicit to be written out, yet she still kept claiming that she loved him.

And even at a time like this, she only sent him WeChat messages.

Calling him probably wasn't very convenient...

Besides that, messages kept appearing in the residents' group chat, most of them cries for help.

"Neighbors, there are zombies in our hallway! One is smashing against my door right now. What do I do?"

"Block the door! Don't let the zombies rush in!"

"I don't have much food left. I can't hold on much longer!"

"Don't panic, everyone! Zombies aren't that strong. I just beat one to death with a shovel! Anyone who dares kill zombies, speak up. We need to band together and go out to look for supplies..."

Seeing those group messages, Lin Dong fell into thought.

Although he was a zombie, he had no intention of attacking his neighbors. Human flesh did not taste very good, and it did not contain as much energy as beef.

Eating beef let him evolve faster.

Lin Dong still had plenty of stockpiled supplies, so there was no need for him to hunt living people.

Of course... if anyone foolish enough came looking for trouble, Lin Dong would show them what cruelty truly meant!

And humans could band together, so zombies could do the same.

A powerful Zombie King could command countless zombies, coordinating them to hunt prey.

So Lin Dong planned to recruit a few Zombie Underlings.

It was not for hunting.

He mainly wanted them to guard his door so he would not be disturbed.

Picking up his keys, Lin Dong walked out of his apartment. Low growls came from the hallway, clearly indicating that zombies were wandering around nearby.

Lin Dong did not plan to go far. He would just pick a few underlings from this building. He did not have any high standards, as long as they were relatively clean...

He arrived at the stairwell. As soon as he went down one floor, he saw a figure around the corner of the hallway.

"Rrgh, rrgh, rrgh—"

A girl made the sound through her mouth.

As a fellow zombie, she naturally would not attack Lin Dong. There was even a trace of fear in her eyes.

The girl seemed able to sense that Lin Dong was a higher level than her.

It was like a hungry wolf encountering a fierce tiger, an innate bloodline suppression.

Lin Dong recognized the girl. She was a neighbor living downstairs. He remembered that before she died, she had been a provincial high jump athlete.

Because of her years of training, the girl's legs were straight, slender, and full of strength.

Even after becoming a zombie, she was neither stiff nor numb. Her speed was on par with an ordinary person's.

And that was without having eaten any flesh and blood!

"Looks like zombies have aptitude too. They retain some of their traits from before they died."

Lin Dong thought the Female Zombie had good aptitude. With proper training, she definitely had the potential to become an Agility-Type Zombie King.

The girl wore a white T-shirt and hot pants, with her hair tied into a ponytail. She looked fresh and clean.

"She'll do..."

With a wave of his hand, Lin Dong tossed out a bag of frozen steak.

The Female Zombie was immediately drawn in by the flesh. She dropped to her knees, bit through the packaging in one bite, then swallowed the chunks of meat whole.

After finishing the steak, the Female Zombie seemed unsatisfied.

She looked toward Lin Dong. Besides fear, her eyes now held a few traces of longing and respect.

"Follow me... and you'll have meat to eat."

Lin Dong sent her a signal, something akin to brainwave communication.

Zombie Kings controlled their underlings using this method.

The Female Zombie seemed to understand what he meant. She made a "rrgh, rrgh" sound, then slowly lowered her head.

Among zombies, this represented—submission!

Just like that, Lin Dong recruited his first underling.

He led the Female Zombie through the hallway. Before long, he found two more zombies with decent aptitude.

One of them had been a fitness coach before death. His strengths needed no explanation: he was burly and covered in knotted muscle, practically the model of a strength-type zombie.

The other had no physical advantages.

Before death, he had been a top student with a doctorate.

Lin Dong recruited him because he felt there was a trace of spirit in his eyes, glimmering with the light of intelligence.

If zombie intelligence were compared to dogs, then this Doctor Zombie was definitely at border collie level.

Apart from those two zombies, Lin Dong did not think much of the others.

He brought the three zombies back to the entrance of his apartment.

Lin Dong swept his gaze over them. All three had good aptitude, but at their current combat strength, they still could not defeat armed humans.

"It'd be great if you could use weapons too..."

Lin Dong pondered inwardly.

But then inspiration struck him. Zombies might not necessarily be incapable of using weapons, right?

The main issue was that no one had trained them...

Crash!

With a flick of his hand, Lin Dong took three machetes from his storage space and tossed them onto the ground.

The clanging of the blades immediately drew the zombies' attention.

But they only stared blankly at them, not understanding what they meant.

Lin Dong immediately issued an order.

He told them to pick up the machetes.

This time, the three zombies understood and immediately obeyed. The fitness coach in particular grabbed one directly by the blade.

Splat!

His palm was sliced open by the sharp edge, and blood dripped down.

Since zombies had a dulled sense of pain, he did not feel much. Instead, he looked rather pleased with himself, staring at Lin Dong as if to show that he was the most obedient.

"Idiot!"

Lin Dong slapped a hand against his forehead, completely speechless.

"You're supposed to use the handle to chop people, understand???"

The Doctor Zombie really was smart. Following Lin Dong's instructions, he picked the machete up by its handle and swung it through the air. He quickly figured out what it was for.

Lin Dong was quite pleased.

He then ordered the other two zombies to learn from him.

With an example to follow, the two zombies quickly understood Lin Dong's meaning and switched to gripping the handles.

This showed that zombies could be trained.

But only a more powerful Zombie King was qualified to train them!