Kept as livestock
Lu Heng stopped when the Mycelium reached the end of the ruins.
There's a building blocking the way.
The building's frame looked very new, and the wall structure was intact, without the mottled damage caused by years of wind and rain. However, the project was halted halfway through, and after completion, it was completely abandoned and never maintained.
The Silver Zombie disappeared inside the building.
The Bone Demon stopped beside him, its bone claws silently digging into the ground.
There was no sound coming from inside the building.
Lu Heng activated the Blood Taisui, and the Mycelium spread along the ground, entering through the cracks in the main entrance of the building. The Mycelium touched the first-floor lobby—empty, without any Zombie aura. But as it probed further in, the Mycelium touched a set of iron railings.
A cage.
There were more than a dozen living people in the cage, their breaths faint, but they were still alive.
Lu Heng's eyes darkened.
The Silver Zombie didn't flee in a panic; it came back for "supplies."
Without further hesitation, he stepped into the building.
The lobby on the first floor was dimly lit, but the floor was unusually clean, with very little dust. In the center of the room, inside a cage made of iron bars, huddled a dozen or so people, dressed in rags and emaciated.
The Silver Zombie was already standing in front of the cage.
The penetrating wound in its shoulder blade was still bleeding, dark red blood dripping onto the ground and rising into white smoke. But it didn't look at Lu Heng, or even turn its head. It reached out and grabbed the iron railing, pulling with brute force, twisting and deforming the steel bars, and forcibly prying open a gap.
The person in the cage moved.
It wasn't an escape. Like a swarm of disturbed insects, they desperately squeezed into the deepest part of the cage, their emaciated bodies pushing and trampling each other. Some were trampled to the ground, letting out suppressed whimpers, but no one dared to shout—as if they already knew that shouting would only make them be chosen faster.
The Silver Zombie reached into the cage, grabbed a woman by the hair, and dragged her out.
The woman finally screamed.
It wasn't the kind of hysterical howl you see in movies, but a short, broken squawk, like a chicken being choked. She kicked wildly, her fingernails scratching bloody marks on the clean floor, mumbling something indistinctly—whether it was a plea for mercy or a curse, it was hard to tell.
The Silver Zombie pinned her to the ground and lowered its head to bite through her throat.
The screams stopped abruptly.
Blood gushed out, splattering onto the iron bars beside them. The people inside the cage huddled together; some covered their mouths, some closed their eyes and trembled, while others stared wide-eyed, their expressions blank, as if watching a play that had nothing to do with them.
The Silver Zombie swallowed whole without chewing. Its throat writhed as it swallowed the flesh whole. Dark red lines spread from its wounds, flowing beneath its skin like living things, and the penetrating wound on its shoulder blade healed at a visible speed.
After finishing one, it reached its paw into the cage again.
This time, the person arrested was a man.
The man didn't scream. He collapsed to the ground, his crotch soaked, urine mixed with blood spreading across the surface. He looked up at the Silver Zombie, his lips trembling, uttering broken, incoherent sounds, as if he were chanting something.
The Silver Zombie lowered its head and bit through his neck.
The man's body twitched a few times, then remained still.
The person in the cage started to cry.
It wasn't loud crying, but a suppressed, intermittent sobbing, like a group of animals driven to the brink of despair. Some tried to shrink into the corner of the cage, some reached out to pull the people next to them to hide behind them, and some simply knelt down and kowtowed in the direction of the Silver Zombie, their foreheads hitting the iron bars with a dull thud.
The Silver Zombie remained unmoved.
It mechanically reaches out, grabs, bites, and swallows. With each swallow, its wounds heal a little, and the dark red glow beneath its skin brightens a little.
Lu Heng made a move.
The Bone Demon charged forward first, its bone claws aimed straight for the back of the Silver Zombie's neck.
But heavy footsteps came from the stairwell.
It wasn't the dragging, grinding sound of ordinary Zombie, but rather a stomping sound with a distinct sense of weight—each step causing the ground to tremble slightly.
Three Bronze Tier Mutant rushed down the stairs.
The first one was massive, with exceptionally thick arms, its skin covered in a layer of grayish-white keratinous armor, and sharp bone spurs protruding from its joints. It blocked the center of the passage, its fists clashing together, producing a dull thud.
The second one was slender, with disproportionately long limbs, and black bone blades extending half a foot from its fingertips. It moved almost skimming the ground, leaving a trail of afterimages as it went.
The third one didn't come down the stairs—it leaped directly from a gap in the railing of the second-floor corridor, landing on all fours with a low growl.
That was a Zombie tiger.
The striped fur that should have covered its entire body had largely fallen off, revealing the bluish-gray, ulcerated muscle beneath. Its skeleton remained massive, nearly a meter tall at the shoulder, with protruding fangs and a dark red glow burning in its eye sockets. It lowered its body, letting out a threatening growl, and stared intently at Lu Heng.
The three Mutant have a clear division of labor.
Armored Zombie blocked the road from the front, bone-blade Zombie scurried around the flanks, and Zombie tigers sealed off Lu Heng's mobility.
The Bone Demon clashed with the heavily armored Zombie, its bone claws striking the armor and sparks flying. The two were similar in size and strength, and for a moment, neither could gain the upper hand.
The Bone Blade Zombie circled around to the flank, attempting to ambush the Bone Demon from behind, but was caught by the Mycelium flung out by Lu Heng, which yanked it and slammed it against the wall. However, it reacted extremely quickly, slashing its bone blade to cut the Mycelium. Upon landing, it immediately accelerated again, its figure flashing back and forth in the dimly lit hall, searching for an opening.
The Zombie tiger didn't pounce on the Bone Demon or Lu Heng —it circled around and charged directly towards the cage, but instead of attacking the Silver Zombie, it positioned itself between Lu Heng and the cage, crouching low, ready to pounce on anyone who tried to approach.
Lu Heng's eyes darkened.
These Mutant didn't just rush down randomly. They were pre-positioned in this building by the Silver Zombie, with only one purpose—the guys who were originally there to guard these humans have now become obstacles.
He glanced at the cage out of the corner of his eye.
The Silver Zombie had already swallowed its third one. The wound was nearly half healed, and the dark red lines under its skin were becoming increasingly bright. It still didn't turn around, but mechanically reached out, grabbed, bit through, and swallowed.
There are fewer than ten people left in the cage.
Lu Heng held back. Blood Taisui Mycelium erupted from his palm, no longer targeting just one, but simultaneously entangling both the Bone Blade Zombie and the Zombie Tiger. The Mycelium burrowed into the Bone Blade Zombie's eye sockets, shattering its skull from the inside. Its figure suddenly froze, and its bone blade drooped limply.
But the Zombie tiger was too fast.
It sidestepped most of the Mycelium, with only a few tangling around its hind legs. With a low growl, it strained its muscles and charged forward, dragging the Mycelium along with its sharp claws, aiming straight for Lu Heng's throat.
Lu Heng dodged to the side, Mycelium tightened, throwing the Zombie tiger towards the wall. But its limbs gripped the wall tightly, its claws carving five deep marks on the cement, stopping its retreat. After landing, it crouched down again, its dark red eyes fixed on Lu Heng.
This tiger is not easy to kill.
In that brief standoff, another swallowing sound came from the direction of the cage.
The Silver Zombie swallowed the fourth one. Its wounds had mostly healed.
On the armored Zombie's side, the Bone Demon finally found an opening—its bone claws pierced through the gaps in the armor, penetrating the zombie's chest cavity. The armored Zombie roared, its body stiffened, dark red blood gushed from its mouth, and it slowly collapsed to the ground.
But footsteps came from the stairwell next to the bone-blade Zombie's corpse.
Two new Bronze Tier Mutant are coming downstairs.
Lu Heng gritted his teeth.
We can't delay any longer.
He stopped trying to avoid the Zombie tiger and instead faced it head-on. The Mycelium condensed into a sharp bone spike in his palm, and as the Zombie tiger pounced, he sidestepped its claws, the bone spike piercing its eye socket and penetrating its skull.
The Zombie tiger's body convulsed violently, the dark red light in its eye sockets quickly went out, and its massive body crashed to the ground.
Lu Heng stepped over its corpse and rushed towards the cage.
The Bone Demon also dealt with the armored Zombie and turned to follow.
But the Silver Zombie finally raised its head.
Blood still clung to its mouth as it looked at Lu Heng. There was no anger or fear in its eyes, only a cold, condescending indifference.
It opened its mouth and let out a low growl from deep within its throat.
At the stairwell, the two Bronze Tier Mutant who had just come downstairs rushed towards them.
Lu Heng glanced at the cage. Five or six people were still alive, their breaths weak. The Silver Zombie stood beside the cage, its wounds already 70% healed, the dark red patterns on its body gleaming brightly.
The Bone Demon blocked his way, its bone claws slamming heavily into the ground.
The wind outside rushed in through the broken windows, carrying the smell of scorched earth and rotting corpses. Inside, the howls of Zombie rose and fell.
Lu Heng took a step forward.