Chapter 3

"The end times have begun."

The Butler trembled alongside Xiao Huang. Xiao Huang's animal instincts needed no explanation; the Butler, on the other hand, was fully aware that the entire household had landed in an apocalyptic world.

Just as it was about to fulfill its duties as an intelligent butler and scrape together some words of comfort, it watched Lin Tu pull back the curtains and look around, then draw out a crowbar and push a handcart loaded with a large crate of goods.

And then, with such elegance, she opened the door.

"N-No...!" the Butler yelped in sheer panic.

The moment the door swung open, the cold wind of the northern plains, mixed with ice and snow, rushed in. Whether from psychological suggestion or not, the air carried a stench of rotting earth and metallic blood, enough to send a chill down anyone's spine.

"These things will spoil if they sit indoors all night. I'm putting them outside," Lin Tu explained, then instructed, "Don't let Xiao Huang run around while I'm out."

She then raised a flashlight and crowbar, making a cautious circuit around the area. She knew this terrain inside and out, having scouted it thoroughly before. The good news was that, as she'd anticipated, the steep terrain meant no one else had settled nearby, making it safe for the time being.

After confirming there was no danger, Lin Tu began moving the crates from the handcart one by one into the snow outside, sweating profusely.

When she finished, she scooped a bucket of snow from the nearby ground and pulled out a freshly slaughtered whole duck. Dragging the sled of snow with one hand and carrying the duck with the other, she trudged back inside, dusted with snow from head to toe.

"Let's celebrate." Lin Tu set out a large pot to melt the snow for washing, and used a hand-pump water dispenser to draw some clean water for rinsing the duck and blanching it.

"Celebrate?" The Butler didn't understand the move, but Xiao Huang did. All its earlier fear evaporated, and it wagged its tail as it bounded over to Lin Tu.

"Celebrating a smooth entry into the disaster world. Stewing some sour radish and old duck soup."

The Butler: What did you say? Who wants to drink sour radish and old duck soup?

As she spoke, Lin Tu rinsed her hands in the basin. Though she lacked her own homemade pickled radishes, she'd prepared a large crate of various soup bases. The hefty sour radish chunks in the sour radish and old duck soup mix were particularly satisfying to her; she'd deliberately bought extra packets of it.

But she didn't rush to pour the soup base into the pot. She wouldn't be the only one sharing this soup, and pickled radishes are especially high in salt—not suitable for dogs.

She stuffed the blanched whole duck into the stew pot, added only clean water and a few slices of ginger, then hung it a safe distance away from the fireplace.

Lin Tu wiped her hands and patted Xiao Huang's head. "If you get up early tomorrow, there's a duck leg waiting for you."

Then, to the Butler: "Keep an eye on the pot tonight. If it boils dry or overflows, wake me. If it's just steaming, don't bother. If all goes well, wake me at 8:30 in the morning."

The Butler was utterly dumbfounded.

It felt like its mechanical voice would crack, its pitch soaring to an almost unbelievable register.

Lin Tu saw its eyebrows climbing higher and higher and laughed. "I have to celebrate some of my own holidays in retirement, keep some of my own rituals. Obviously..." She spread her hands. "Right now, the only thing worth celebrating is getting into the disaster world smoothly."

There was logic to that. Having rituals meant her master loved life. The Butler understood. The Butler was enlightened.

An occasional lively celebration, then. Its mood immediately leveled out. But then, things escalated to a whole new level over the next few days—this extravagant, meat-laden celebration lasted a full half month!?

Lin Tu would wake up early to exercise, running around the house and using binoculars to survey the area. As it turned out, she'd been far too prescient—there wasn't a single human figure in sight, not even a mosquito.

After her workout, she'd cook a big bowl of noodles or porridge for breakfast, take Xiao Huang out to play, then go back for a nap.

At noon, she'd either set up a small stove to simmer soup or enjoy a hotpot with fatty beef and fish fillets, or stir-fry salted egg yolk potato shreds, pan-sear steak, and steam some sweet potatoes. On a whim, she might even barbecue or bake an apple pie. In the afternoon, she'd practice boxing as usual, then sit by the fireplace with her notebook, nibbling on fruits, desserts, and snacks while scribbling away. In the evening, she'd cook a pack of river snail rice noodles or use the leftover soup from lunch to warm up some more bites.

Calling this a retirement life was already an understatement—this was a life of being pampered like a pig.

The Butler watched Lin Tu's gaunt frame fill out, and her tired, haggard face, worn from years of overtime and late nights, gain color. It was practically a miracle, a masterstroke of rejuvenation (not).

If it weren't for Lin Tu returning early from her morning exercise that day, a departure from her usual leisurely demeanor, her face serious as she shut the door and pulled the curtains, the Butler would've thought this life could go on forever.

"I spotted five or six people. They're covered in brownish-black grime and walking abnormally. Probably zombies, heading our way."

In truth, those "people" were far more disgusting and terrifying than Lin Tu described.

They still wore decent clothes, but their bodies and garments were mostly torn and mangled by bites and rips. Bare skin was riddled with festering wounds and bite marks, and beneath the stringy strands of greenish flesh hung filthy bones and entrails. The victims' blood had sprayed wildly across their cheeks and chests, long since turned to foul, brownish-black stains.

Their eyeballs, frozen into gooey hard candies, held no soul—only madness.

They inhaled the air in twisted postures, creeping toward Lin Tu like maggots clinging to bone.

As she spoke, Lin Tu took off her gold-rimmed glasses, wiped them clean, and placed them in their case. After a moment's thought, she strapped cycling chest, knee, and elbow guards over her fleece jacket, pulled on a down coat, motorcycle gloves, and a helmet, slung an axe across her back, and finally grabbed a lightweight crowbar.

If the Butler had a heartbeat, it would've leapt right out of the screen.

"They're probably coming straight for us. I'll go check what's going on. Good thing we've holed up long enough—they've been frozen for at least ten days, so they're slow." Seeing the Butler's hilariously humanized, terrified machine face, Lin Tu sighed and comforted it, adding, "Keep an eye on Xiao Huang. Don't let it make too much noise. I'm worried there are more zombies nearby."

The Butler agreed, and Lin Tu pulled off her gloves to pat Xiao Huang's fluffy head before turning and heading out the door.

Lin Tu planned to face these zombies head-on, using the opportunity to test their vision, hearing, and sense of smell.

Hiding in the house and surviving was indeed comfortable, but watching supplies dwindle day after day, knowing full well her balance couldn't even support her through the next disaster, let alone retirement—that was anxiety-inducing.

Lin Tu needed to earn more points, which meant simply surviving the three-month mission wasn't enough. She had to kill zombies.

To do that, it was either she took out the zombies, or they took her out. There was no other option. Lin Tu was fully aware of this and had already worked hard to give herself the greatest advantage possible. Now, it was time to prove it.

Making her way down along the ridge, Lin Tu gradually closed in on the zombies.

First, she waved at the edge of their vision from a distance. In this snow-blanketed world, the zombies should have seen her quickly, but they didn't react—poor eyesight.

Next, she jogged around to their backs. Along the way, she noticed the zombies occasionally lifting their heads to sniff the air. When she got closer, they sometimes turned, nearly detecting her—relatively keen sense of smell.

Finally, Lin Tu stopped behind them, pulled out her phone, and cranked the volume to max, playing a random song. By coincidence, the only song downloaded on her phone was the Young Pioneers' Anthem.

"Carry forward the glorious tradition of revolutionary forebears, love the motherland, love the people, the bright red scarf flutters on our chests, fear no difficulty, fear no enemies, study tenaciously, struggle resolutely..."

The jarring brass anthem blared, and in an instant the zombies whipped around. The soaring chorus pierced the sky, and the strange sound waves seemed to give them direction and momentum.

They were like the teachers and students staring at her from below the flagpole during her elementary school leading of the pledge, making Lin Tu's heart jump with nervousness.

Within a few blinks, they were charging at her.

Their running speed wasn't slow, but because of the grime and ice frozen to their clothes, they stumbled every few steps. So they weren't terrifyingly fast—roughly the pace of an unhealthy office worker.

Lin Tu immediately stripped off her gloves, wrapped the phone in them, and hurled it far to the side.

The zombies weren't smart. They barreled forward on inertia for two steps before belatedly veering toward the louder sound. At their closest, the zombies were only about a hundred meters from Lin Tu. One of them sniffed around but then, oblivious, continued running with the others.

"So they're most sensitive to sound, smell comes second, and their eyes are practically useless," Lin Tu concluded. "But whether they'd still chase only sound once they detect a human is up for debate."

She scanned the area to confirm her escape route, then crouched, packed a ball of snow, and hurled it hard at the slowest zombie in the back. "Hey!"

With the double stimulus, that zombie spun around, and the one next to it broke off with it, charging straight for Lin Tu at full tilt.

Lin Tu raised her crowbar. Despite having prepared herself mentally, her instincts still screamed with panic as they closed in.

The suffocating, rancid stench hit her. Lin Tu's stomach lurched; she bent over and nearly vomited the remnants of last night's meal. She spat the sour bile mixed with fear onto the ground and gripped the crowbar tighter.

The song continued: "Young Pioneers are our proud name, always ready, to build merits, to eliminate all enemies, for the ideal, march forward bravely, for the ideal, march forward bravely, forward..."

Perhaps the memory of leading the pledge under the red flag gave her courage. Lin Tu took a deep breath, stepped forward, and as the faster zombie lunged for her, she exhaled and swung the crowbar with all her might at its head.

It was her first time cracking open a "person's" skull, and she wasn't sure of her aim, but she could feel her muscles explode with power in that instant—more resolute than the bare force she'd use while shadowboxing.

"Thunk!"

The ice crust on its skin and the crowbar collided with a brief, crisp sound. Then the crowbar shattered the thin layer of frost, plunged into rotted flesh softened by the extreme temperature swings, and struck bone within moments. Because the corpses had been dead too long, their bones were brittle, and the crowbar's tip pierced through the skull, sinking into the brain.

The zombie thrashed and collapsed.

Lin Tu nearly dislocated her arm from exerting too much force.

To make matters worse, the crowbar wouldn't come free, and another zombie was charging at her with a grimace, its purple-black fingertips almost festering, nearly grabbing hold of her.

At the critical moment, Lin Tu remembered the axe on her back. She dropped the crowbar and threw herself to the ground. Her bare hands scraped across the icy surface, leaving trails of blood as gravel and ice shards embedded themselves in her flesh. Her arms and knees must've been injured too, just hidden from sight for now. She let out a sharp hiss of pain.

She rolled to her feet in one motion, drew the axe, and without hesitation swung it hard at the zombie.

With a wet squelch, the axe buried itself in the rotting head.

.

Three minutes later.

Lin Tu leaned on her knees, gasping for air, facing the last zombie lying before her.

The Young Pioneers' Anthem was still playing. Worried it might attract more zombies, she quickly shut off the music and slumped to the ground. Her whole body trembled—not just from the sudden exertion, but because she'd narrowly escaped death several times in those monsters' grasp.

After a moment, she let out a breath and steadied herself.

She opened her phone and, sure enough, saw on the [Anju] interface: Zombies Killed ×6. The total points and rewards hadn't been settled yet, but if she survived, she'd already earned six points—which, converted to RMB—

Sixty thousand yuan.

"Really... a month's overtime pay," Lin Tu murmured, and the corner of her mouth curled into a smile.

With a light heart, she patted the dust off and stood. After retrieving her things, seeing that there was still time, she strolled slowly in the direction the zombies had come from.

Those zombies couldn't have appeared out of thin air; they had to have a source, like a human settlement. As she walked up to a hillside with an open view, where the snow and trees no longer muffled sound, Lin Tu faintly heard frenzied roars. She raised her binoculars and, sure enough, spotted a small town in the distance.