Ever since he was bitten, Luffy had deliberately avoided survivors.
On one hand, he had turned into a Zombie. From then on, a chasm existed between him and humanity; humans and Zombies were natural mortal enemies, locked in a never-ending struggle.
However, he still retained his human consciousness. Deep down, he held a certain reverence for the human survivors and didn’t want them to go extinct.
On the other hand, he was afraid of being killed by the survivors. Compared to them, he felt that mindless Zombies were much safer. Humans had minds; they could use all sorts of schemes and stab you in the back with a smile on their faces. Luffy worried he couldn’t outsmart them.
Therefore, even though he felt empty, lonely, and cold every night, desperately needing someone to talk to—after all, as philosophers said, man cannot live outside of society—he still avoided contact with survivors.
But now, it seemed that was no longer an option. He needed a survivor to help him pass on messages. At first, he thought a phone could read out messages for him, but that required downloading the appropriate software. Since the internet was already cut off, downloading voice recognition programs was impossible, so he had to give up on that idea. He also needed a living person to talk to, to relieve the depression and loneliness that had plagued him for the past month.
It was another boring night. Luffy rested through it, no longer exploring or training, simply lying in bed with his eyes closed to conserve his energy. After becoming a Zombie, his body never felt tired, but he was mentally exhausted.
Before dawn the next day.
After making some preparations, Luffy left the villa. Various firearms were essential, followed by an assortment of tools. If he encountered survivors, he could use the tools to pry open doors; he didn’t believe any survivor would willingly open a door for him nowadays.
Then there were a few cans of beef and a couple of bottles of mineral water. These were easy for him to get, but to survivors, they were absolute delicacies—lifesaving food. Luffy believed that with just these few cans, he could make some people kneel and lick his boots.
Of course, a Zombie bodyguard was also indispensable. Luffy was terrified of dying. It would be a complete tragedy if he got himself killed before he could even save a single person.
Lying flat on the roof of a duplex in City Garden, Luffy continuously scanned the area with a pair of binoculars.
As an Intelligent Zombie, his highest principle was to lay low whenever possible. If laying low wasn’t an option, the golden rule was to look before leaping. First, he needed to investigate the general situation in the residential area: how many survivors were there, and where were they holed up? Which survivors posed a threat, and which were harmless? Then, he would observe his targets to see if they were worth saving.
Luffy sighed inwardly. The protagonists in TV shows and novels always encountered beautiful women wherever they went—gorgeous girls with pure, kind hearts. But now that it was his turn, why wasn’t it working out?
After observing for a few hours, it wasn’t that there were no survivors in the duplexes of the residential area, it was just...
Truth be told, Luffy had decided in his heart that the survivor he chose had to be a beautiful woman. Moreover, she had to be young, around his age, and preferably a virgin. Luffy didn’t think his thoughts were sleazy or dirty; any normal man would think the same way. Even if he just looked at a beautiful woman, it was still pleasing to the eyes.
However, things didn’t go as planned.
"Holy crap! This..."
In the building opposite, a young, beautiful woman with fair skin and a voluptuous figure slowly drew back the curtains and stretched lazily in front of the floor-to-ceiling window.
"Not bad, this girl is not bad," Luffy thought to himself. Adjusting the focus of his binoculars, he got a clear view of the woman’s face. She appeared to be about twenty years old, wearing a tank top and denim shorts. Both her figure and her face were top-tier—she was easily a nine out of ten.
"Maybe I should pick her?"
The woman walked away from the French window, and Luffy adjusted the direction of his binoculars. Through the window of the adjacent bedroom, he spotted her again. However, the scene behind the woman prompted his earlier exclamation.
"Damn it!" Even Luffy, who never claimed to be a good person, couldn’t bring himself to do such a thing. This was also why he avoided survivors—he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to resist eating people.
Fortunately, he was now a Tier One Zombie. Although he craved it, he was able to Control himself.
Luffy aimed the muzzle of his gun at the woman’s forehead. "Since you’re so vicious, I’ll use you for target practice! I definitely won’t feel guilty about killing you!"
He shifted his posture, gripping the sniper rifle even more steadily. The crosshairs in the high-powered scope were aimed squarely at the woman’s head.
"I should be able to hit her, right?" Luffy thought, and pulled the trigger.
"PEW!"
A muffled sound echoed. Through the high-powered scope, Luffy saw the woman drop to the floor. The recoil of the rifle had shifted the muzzle, so Luffy couldn’t see if he had hit her in the head. But he didn’t see her get back up, so he figured it was a hit.
"Hehe, looks like I have quite a strong talent for shooting!"
Luffy felt a brief flash of pride.
Then, looking through the scope again, he continued his observation. The man was tied up with BDSM leather straps, binding his neck and limbs. Luffy had dabbled in this before, so he naturally recognized the gear. However, he had always been the dominant one with women and had never experienced being tied up himself, as he was no masochist. As for being a sadist, well, he might have had a slight inclination.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have recognized this stuff.
Luffy sighed inwardly. The man was covered in wounds. Although he was alive, he was already showing signs of severe dehydration. Even if someone freed him right now, he probably wouldn’t survive. Besides, Luffy’s time was incredibly precious. There was no way he would waste it saving a loser who had let a woman torture him to this state.
Most importantly, this completely contradicted his original intention of finding a beautiful girl. It seemed the only thing he could do right now was to put the man out of his misery.
With that in mind, he racked the bolt, aimed the muzzle at the man’s head, and pulled the trigger.
"PEW!"
After the shot, Luffy peered through the high-powered scope.
"Uh, I’m sorry!"
The shot had missed the man’s head and hit his thigh instead. The sniper rifle was so powerful that it completely severed the man’s left leg, sending blood splattering and then gushing everywhere. The man stared with wide eyes, an expression of sheer disbelief on his face.
"Hmm, I just didn’t Control my body well enough. Let’s try again!"
"PEW!"
Looking through the scope this time, Luffy was extremely satisfied. The man was dead! Although he had aimed for the head, it seemed he had hit the heart instead.