Chapter 9

"Combatants" was far more gruesome than anyone could have imagined. It looked as though it had been mercilessly ransacked—blood splattered across the floor, walls, and ceiling. Human limbs lay piled and arranged in all sorts of grotesque positions. If not for the shapes being vaguely similar to their own, and the clusters of curly hair, no one would have believed these had once belonged to a person or a group of people.

Even the outlanders, who had seen their fair share of big scenes, were nearly knocked over by the sudden impact of the bloody imagery, almost retching from the shock.

"No guns on the counter," Zhang Zisheng said, suppressing his nausea and forcing himself to search the shop.

"Local looters probably cleaned it out. Pretty normal," Luo Yongzhi replied perfunctorily. He was staring at the tracker in his hand, caring less about supplies than about his captain.

"The marker's already overlapped with ours, so why haven't we seen anyone yet? Could he be gone..." His face paled as he swept his gaze over the corpses on the counter, terrified of spotting something familiar.

"He won't be," Dong Huadan reassured him. "The signal's still moving. Looks like this place has more than one floor."

Carefully, the group picked their way past the dismembered remains and pushed deeper inside. In the middle of the shop, a door led to a narrow room furnished with a sofa and a wine rack—clearly an employee lounge.

"They kept dogs here too. Wonder what breed. Speaking of which, I haven't seen a single animal in this frozen wasteland. You think these dogs might turn into zombies..." Han Yu stepped over a few overturned metal bowls, dog food scattered all over the floor.

"Is now really the time to talk about dogs?" Zheng Yangyang snapped impatiently, still bothered by Han Yu's earlier comment. "We need to find the captain, fast!"

Luo Yongzhi nodded in agreement. "Yangyang's right."

Han Yu had a retort ready but swallowed it, deciding to keep his mouth shut.

Luo Yongzhi's anxiety was warranted—"Combatants" was only a single story. They had checked the roof before entering, and there was nothing up there. If the captain's signal overlapped with theirs, then there should be a basement somewhere. But aside from a door leading back to the shop floor and another to the bathroom, there was no other way in.

Dong Huadan was growing anxious too. That dog bowl gave her an uneasy feeling, and caution never hurt. She was just about to warn the others when a shout interrupted her.

"Is it here?!"

Tian Jingjing excitedly pointed at a cabinet against the wall. Faint scrape marks on the floor suggested it had been dragged there recently. "There's a passage behind this!"

"No kidding!" The rest of them exclaimed in delight.

Luo Yongzhi, being the strongest, rushed over. He wrapped his arms around the cabinet, planted his feet, and let out a heavy grunt as he hoisted the massive piece of furniture up.

Behind the cabinet, where there should have been nothing but darkness and cobwebs, a sliver of faint light seeped through. A dog leash that had been caught mid-air dropped to the floor, and the gap revealed a glimpse of something beyond—

There really was a passage back there!

"The captain must be down there!" Tian Jingjing said, thrilled.

Zhang Zisheng clenched his fists. "And if I'm right, the armory is down there too!"

Luo Yongzhi took a deep breath, ready to move the cabinet again, when he suddenly felt it tremble. A low, terrifying whine echoed from the gap, followed by a stench so foul it smelled like rotting meat festering into shit. Just a whiff of it made everyone shudder, nearly gagging.

"Careful!" Dong Huadan shouted.

The others were still frozen in confusion when Luo Yongzhi instinctively braced himself against the cabinet. At that same moment, something behind it slammed into the wood with tremendous force.

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

"Dogs! It's dogs!" Han Yu screamed.

Worse, there was likely more than one dog back there. One after another, they were roused, their impact growing stronger with each hit until the entire cabinet threatened to splinter apart.

Even Luo Yongzhi, a burly man of over two hundred pounds, felt his footing give. It seemed like any second now, he and the cabinet would be sent flying together.

"Hold it!" Dong Huadan yelled, and the others scrambled forward to press against the cabinet—but that wasn't a viable solution.

"Can't... can't hold it!" Luo Yongzhi forced the words out through gritted teeth, using every ounce of strength he had.

Forget whether the people could hold out—the cabinet itself was creaking and groaning so badly it probably wouldn't last five minutes. Hell, maybe not even three.

But letting go and running was out of the question, too. The moment they backed off, the cabinet would topple, and facing down a pack of large dogs head-on...

"Get your weapons ready!" Luo Yongzhi barked, steeling himself.

He was the first to release the cabinet, pulling a glowing ticket from his backpack—

[Unbreakable Canned Meat: A can that cannot be opened by any means. Hungry to the point of dizziness, but unable to get at the food inside no matter what—that must be torturous, right? This can has passed through the hands of countless apocalypse wanderers, never once opened. In their final moments, with their last ounce of strength, they stared at the beautiful, tantalizing photo of braised pork on the label. Forever... forever... staring at... braised pork...

Effect: Consume this can of braised pork to gain the trait of attracting the attention of hungry creatures; while also possessing the trait of being undamaged no matter how those creatures attack you.

Notes: 1. You only possess the above traits while the braised pork remains in your digestive system. Post-Disaster Reconstruction Hospital reminds you: since this can of braised pork is far past its expiration date, after eating it you won't be able to control the urge to blow—the specifics depend on your personal constitution.

2. Creatures not in a hungry state are unaffected.

3. In principle, we do not recommend consuming this braised pork. If your life is in danger, the canned goods company and Post-Disaster Reconstruction Hospital assume no responsibility.]

"Good thing I saved up points to buy this item before we left," Luo Yongzhi said with a bitter laugh. He tore the ticket along the perforated line, and a can of braised pork materialized in his hand.

When he opened it, the contents looked less than appetizing. "Hope this doesn't kill me..." He tilted his head back and dumped the entire contents into his mouth, barely even swallowing—just chugging it down in one go.

"Shit! I need to blow right now! You guys hurry up!" Luo Yongzhi shouted frantically.

The moment they let go of the cabinet, a dozen or so massive dogs, each nearly waist-high, poured out in a flood. Their sinewy bodies, far more agile than any human's, carried row upon row of vicious teeth. In an instant, they had closed the distance to Luo Yongzhi, jaws gaping wide.

"Holy shit! What the hell?!" The others froze, a beat slow, and only Dong Huadan raised her blade and charged forward, shouting, "Quick! This effect doesn't last long!"

Luo Yongzhi didn't dare move a muscle. Through tear-blurred eyes, he looked up at Dong Huadan, about to shoot her a grateful glance—when he saw one of the dogs break off from the pack, lunging savagely at Dong Huadan, who was closest behind him.

Its massive body leaped, dwarfing the woman's slender frame, its razor-sharp teeth closing in on her neck.

It was such a heart-stopping scene that time seemed to freeze.

In that brief instant, the others could already imagine the bloody outcome that would follow, but they were too far to do anything to stop it. All they could do was stare, eyes wide with horror.

Then—BANG! A gunshot rang out. A bullet tore through its skull, spraying blood in the air.

"No!" Only now did Luo Yongzhi let out a heartrending cry.

He didn't have time to wonder where the shot came from, or to look toward its origin. Because with a sharpness honed beyond his usual senses, he noticed that after his shout, two more zombie dogs had peeled away from the pack attacking him.

Luo Yongzhi shut his mouth in sorrow and curled up motionless on the spot, never having felt so... relaxed about his own life before.

"Get down!" A crisp shout rang out from the doorway.

Everyone turned to look—a woman in a motorcycle helmet stood at the entrance. She wore a pitch-black tactical jacket, with protective gear strapped around her joints, the form-fitting guards subtly outlining a slender yet nimble figure.

The only exposed part of her was her right hand—her knuckles and fingers hinted at an unhealthy pallor, especially resting as they were on the cold, intimidating trigger of her handgun.

Zhang Zisheng immediately tackled Tian Jingjing to the ground. Two more gunshots rang out, each bullet finding its mark in the zombie dogs mid-pounce. They hit the floor with a dull thud, twitching once before going still.

"Thanks!" Tian Jingjing grunted, then shouted.

The others had already grabbed their weapons and charged at the remaining dogs in formation. But zombie dogs far surpassed human physical limits in speed and agility, and taking them down quickly was no easy feat. Worse, they kept breaking free from the [Unbreakable Canned Meat]'s effect, one after another.

Lin Tu had only three bullets left, nowhere near enough to take out the dozen-plus zombie dogs. She holstered the gun and pulled out a hatchet instead.

"I'm out of ammo! Hold the line!" Instead of charging at the zombies, Lin Tu darted sideways, sprinting toward a coat rack not far away.

"What are you doing?!" Dong Huadan gasped.

Lin Tu had no time to answer.

Earlier, through the drone Tian Jingjing had been carrying, she had gotten a full view of the inside of "Combatants." The zombie bird had left too deep an impression on her—so much so that when the employee lounge appeared on screen, the first thing Lin Tu noticed wasn't the layout, but a whistle hanging diagonally on the coat rack beside the bathroom door—a dog whistle.

It reminded her of the zombie bird from yesterday. At the brink of death, it had suddenly lost all aggression, struggling instead to climb upstairs and drop rotting flesh into the crib.

That behavior had completely defied Lin Tu's understanding of zombies, but perhaps it wasn't without reason—

Maybe the zombie bird's owner had trained it to fetch things. After the baby was born, that training had evolved into carrying toys into the crib.

"Shit!" Several cries stacked on top of each other as things fell into chaos over there—three or four more dogs had broken free from the control.

Lin Tu snagged the dog whistle and turned—a dog was right on her tail, lunging straight at her face. This zombie dog didn't disappoint with its size; in the blink of an eye, it was right on top of her.

"Sister, watch out!" Dong Huadan glanced over, calling out in warning.

She stared at the whistle in Lin Tu's hand, wondering if she was seeing things. Surely Lin Tu hadn't risked all that just for a useless object?

Until Lin Tu brought the whistle to her lips and blew a sharp, piercing note.

"Fweee—" At the same time, Lin Tu raised her hatchet.

Dong Huadan watched in disbelief as the zombie dog's speed suddenly stalled—just for a second or two, but it was enough for Lin Tu to seize the opening.

Lin Tu swung the hatchet with all her might into the dog's body. Her aim was true—though the blow didn't kill it, it split open a large portion of its torso. She didn't have time to inspect further. Before she could even yank the hatchet free, the zombie dog writhed and twisted, struggling to lunge at her again. She dropped back into a seated position just in time.

Another whistle.

The frenzied zombie dog froze for a moment, then seemed to completely forget that it had just been hacked with an axe, stumbling and turning away.

"What?!" It wasn't just Dong Huadan—everyone else was dumbfounded too. The zombie dogs that had been overwhelming them in combat all stalled at those two whistles, as if struck with sudden dementia.

So animal-type zombies were still influenced by their pre-death instincts. This fatal weakness was probably why they were only worth 0.5 points. From a certain angle, [Infinite Calamity]'s rules made a degree of sense.

This was also why Lin Tu had decided to risk joining the fight in the first place, knowing full well the others couldn't handle the zombie dogs.

Lin Tu let out a breath of relief. She weighed the crowbar in her hand, then confidently drove it straight into the zombie dog's skull.

"Badass!" Zheng Yangyang shouted, staring at Lin Tu's composed handling of the situation like he'd seen a new world.

"Hey, sister—can you lend a hand?!" Dong Huadan exhaled in relief.

Lin Tu naturally didn't refuse. She pulled her crowbar and hatchet free from the dog's thoroughly dead body and joined the fray, blowing the dog whistle in a steady rhythm as she moved. Working together with the small team, they quickly finished off the remaining dozen or so zombie dogs.

"Thank you!" The group, panting heavily, lugged Luo Yongzhi into the bathroom before finally taking the time to express their gratitude.

"Seriously, thank you so much, big sis. You're amazing—wielding an axe and a crowbar like that. My thirty-point machete feels totally humiliated." Tian Jingjing sheepishly tucked her long blade behind her back. Compared to her sharpened weapon, Lin Tu's crowbar cost ten points per bundle. It went to show that what made a person strong wasn't the tool—it was the person themselves.

Lin Tu keenly caught the word "points," and her eyebrows shot up beneath her helmet—so these really were all players. She'd already suspected as much, ever since the video from the drone showed that can of braised pork.

"Especially using that whistle to mess with the zombie dogs—that was legendary, big shot!" Zheng Yangyang couldn't help but ask, "They're zombies, and the whistle still works on them? I can't imagine what kind of person would come up with such a genius idea. How did you know, big shot?"

"Don't pry," Dong Huadan grabbed him, even though his tone was full of curiosity and admiration. Between players, let alone ordinary people, having secrets was normal. "Sister, you don't have to explain if it's inconvenient. We really owe you one for this. Let me at least pay you back for those bullets—market price is four points each, so three bullets is twelve points. Can't have you taking a loss, right?"

With that, she pulled three banknotes from her wallet. The bills were a dusky gray-black—two lighter ones and one darker—each printed with a number and depicting roaring floods and a collapsing sky. She handed all three to Lin Tu.

Lin Tu: "?" Was she hearing things? Four points per bullet? She hadn't misheard, had she? At that rate, killing a zombie in this bullshit game would net you a loss of three, even three and a half points?! Was there any justice left in the world?!

She suppressed the urge to drop to her knees and bang her fists on the floor, then calmly removed her motorcycle helmet and hooked it onto her backpack. She reached for her wire-rimmed glasses, unfolded them with poise, and slid them on.

"Thanks," she said as she adjusted the glasses. "It's no big deal. The weakness of animal zombies isn't really a secret—I just happened to notice it."

Happened? How the hell do you "happen" to notice something like that? The others were baffled.

Lin Tu continued, "I'd seen zombie birds acting on their pre-death habits before, so I guessed zombie dogs might be affected by training too. I figured the dog whistle might be a breakthrough, so I took the gamble—worst case, I die in a dog's mouth, which is still better than dying at my desk. I just got lucky, that's all. Nothing genius about it."

Her soft, pale cheeks puffed slightly beneath the wire-rimmed glasses, her sharp eyes almost looking cute and innocent.

It was only then that the others snapped out of their shock at her incredible skill, realizing that she was a remarkably young and beautiful young woman. Her fair face held clear black-and-white eyes, rosy cheeks, and an overall glow that made her shine.

But... cute? Not even close!

Forget the fact that she'd spotted the zombie dogs' weakness and risked her life to kill them right in front of their eyes—just look at her. Sure, there were good-looking people in the apocalypse, but not many could keep themselves so healthy and clean. Even players who came prepared ended up grimy within three months in a disaster world.

Lin Tu looked like she woke up early, slept well, ate three square meals a day, and lived the good life. Add in those wire-rimmed glasses and that composed smile, and she gave off the illusion of living in a prosperous, civilized world. Honestly, wasn't that just absurd?!