Two creatures with unusually massive builds leaped out of a shop on the left side of the street. They turned their heads, staring coldly at Luffy’s group of people—no, his group of Zombies.
Luffy also spotted the two creatures. They possessed the same muscular, skinless appearance as he did, and one could vaguely tell that they had been two large dogs before the apocalypse. Now, calling them Zombie Dogs would perhaps be more fitting. They had likely consumed a lot of Corpse Pouches or living humans, allowing them to reach the level of Tier One Zombie Dogs, just like Luffy.
Baring teeth that were much sharper than before, the two Zombie Dogs drooled saliva mixed with black blood and instantly pounced toward Luffy and his group. To the dogs, Luffy’s group of Zombies were outsiders, invaders, and a source of food.
THUD!
In an instant, a Zombie Dog pinned one of the Zombies beside Luffy to the ground. It bit hard into the Zombie’s left arm and, with a violent thrash of its head, ripped the limb right off. Zombies possessed their own combat instincts; the pinned Zombie wrapped its remaining arm around the dog’s neck and retaliated with a bite of its own.
Unfortunately, the gap in Power between them was simply too vast. The Zombie Dog shook its head, breaking free from the Zombie’s bite. In the next moment, it opened its blood-stained maw, clamped its jaws around the Zombie’s neck, and thrashed its head again. A sickening CRACK echoed through the air as bones snapped.
"Fuck!" Luffy paled in shock. The other Zombie Dog had already locked its sights on him.
The beast’s speed was incredible, its attack arriving in the blink of an eye. Caught completely off guard, Luffy found the Zombie Dog’s two front paws slamming onto his shoulders. A tremendous surge of Power hit him. However, Luffy was much stronger than an ordinary Zombie. Furthermore, he possessed not only combat instincts but also adaptable fighting skills. Thus, under the immense pushing force of the beast, he did not fall; instead, he stepped back, riding the momentum of the Zombie Dog’s Power. Simultaneously, he tilted his head, dodging the sharp teeth snapping at his throat.
If he were an ordinary Zombie, that strike would have been fatal. But Luffy had not only evaded the attack—his hands weren’t idle either. A handgun, with the safety already flipped off, was now firmly gripped in his hand.
After its first failed attempt, the Zombie Dog opened its gaping maw to bite at Luffy’s throat once more. It seemed that despite mutating, it still retained its former combat instincts. For a dog, the sharpest method of attack was always tearing and biting with its mouth.
However, what met its sharp teeth was the hand in which Luffy held the gun. If the Zombie Dog possessed intelligence, it would have abandoned the bite. After all, even if it bit off his arm, the wound wouldn’t be fatal. But it lacked intelligence. Luffy thrust his gun-wielding hand straight into the beast’s massive mouth.
The very next moment, the Zombie Dog clamped its jaws down. Would Luffy give the beast a chance to bite him? No. The instant the muzzle entered its mouth, Luffy pulled the trigger.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
A series of muffled gunshots rang out. Its eyes wide open and its mouth unable to close in time, the Zombie Dog slowly crumpled to the ground.
Luffy tossed the handgun aside. He had just emptied the entire magazine in one breath. Every single bullet had traveled down the beast’s throat and pierced straight into its brain. Survival was impossible.
Having discarded the handgun, he immediately unslung the Shotgun from his back, a weapon commonly known as a scattergun and hailed as the ultimate close-quarters weapon. He aimed the muzzle at the second Zombie Dog, which had just given up on tearing apart the controlled Zombie and shifted its gaze toward him.
The gunshots and its companion’s tragic death had successfully drawn the second Zombie Dog’s attention. Without intelligence, it naturally couldn’t comprehend why its companion had died so gruesomely, nor did it consider how the enemy had killed it. It was simply drawn by the noise and the carnage. The next second, it leaped high into the air, lunging directly at Luffy.
BANG, CLACK! BANG, CLACK! BANG, CLACK!
When the Zombie Dog was less than a meter away, Luffy opened fire. At such close range, combined with the Shotgun’s wide spread, it was harder to miss the beast than to hit it! Three Shotgun shells unleashed their full fury onto the Zombie Dog. The massive kinetic impact repelled the beast, sending it crashing into the ground over four meters away.
Its body and head were covered in horrific wounds left by the buckshot. A massive hole in its belly caused its useless internal organs to spill out entirely. The ultimate close-quarters weapon certainly lived up to its reputation.
Striking a cool pose, Luffy raised the muzzle, intending to blow away the wisps of blue smoke still rising from the barrel. A moment later, he remembered that he didn’t breathe and couldn’t blow any air out at all. He awkwardly dropped the idea.
The Zombie Dog struggled, trying to stand up, but its shattered skull could no longer maintain normal intracranial pressure. Its brain tissue burst forth through the fractured bone. The beast’s raised head slammed heavily onto the ground. It stopped moving.
Luffy was overjoyed. His decision to search for firearms had indeed been the right one. If it weren’t for the guns, tonight would have been a bitter struggle. Compared to him, the Zombie Dogs possessed equally sharp teeth and fierce claws. Animals inherently held certain natural advantages in combat. Even though he had human intelligence, the two factors would cancel each other out, resulting in a grueling stalemate. He would have definitely gotten injured, or worse, been bitten to death by the two beasts.
Sure enough, there was a reason humanity had dominated the Water Blue Star. The most important factor was their intelligence—their ability to utilize tools and weapons. Luffy immediately made up his mind that from now on, he would never fight in close combat if he could use weapons. After all, he was an intelligent creature, not some lower lifeform that only knew how to engage in mindless street brawls.
At this moment, the few porter Zombies around him had already been attracted by the flesh and blood of the Zombie Dogs. They were sprawled over the carcasses, tearing and swallowing the meat. Zombies from the surrounding streets were also drawn by the gunshots and began shuffling toward the area. This was where Luffy’s advantage as a Zombie shone through. If he were a normal human, even after killing the Zombie Dogs, he would have been surrounded and torn apart by the sea of corpses responding to the noise.
Luffy picked up the handgun he had tossed aside earlier, reloaded it with a fresh magazine, and tucked it into his pocket. By now, more and more Zombies were joining the feast. The Zombie Dogs were quickly gnawed down to bare skeletons.
One of the Zombies reached its hand into the shattered skull of the second Zombie Dog, scooped out a handful of dark red brain tissue, and shoved it into its mouth. Then, Luffy watched as the Zombie’s body began to tremble violently.
The skin on its face started to crack. He frowned, realizing this was exactly what he had experienced before. Was this Zombie about to evolve? Was it because of the Zombie Dog’s brain tissue, or something else?
ROAR!
Luffy watched as the Zombie completed its evolution and let out a roar. In unison, the surrounding Zombies took a half-step back. This was the natural Deterrent Ability a High-tier Zombie exerted over Low-tier Zombies.
Luffy felt that although this Zombie had evolved, its abilities didn’t seem as strong as his own. Its skin hadn’t shed yet, and the effect of its Deterrence wasn’t as potent.
ROAR!
Luffy unleashed a roar of his own at the newly evolved Zombie. The creature turned around and took two steps back in submission. Just now, Luffy had used his Deterrent Ability. Although the Zombie had evolved, its level of evolution wasn’t as high as his, meaning it was still suppressed by his Deterrence. He then tested his Control Ability and found it was still effective.
He decided to let it off the hook for now.
For a split second earlier, Luffy had wanted to draw his gun and kill this newly evolved Zombie. However, a voice deep inside his heart kept conveying a clear message: as fellow Zombies, they should not slaughter each other!
Luffy felt a bit speechless inwardly. To him, killing humans and killing Zombies both felt like butchering his own kind. He wondered which side he was supposed to lean toward. It felt like a rather difficult choice to make. After pondering for a long time without making any sense of it, he decided to forget it. He would simply kill whoever made an enemy of him, regardless of whether they were human or Zombie.