Afterward, the two communicated for a while longer. Luffy learned that the girl’s name was Lin Qiaoni—a very feminine name.
When the apocalypse broke out, only she and her father were at home. Under her father’s protection, even though life wasn’t the same as before, she at least hadn’t gone hungry.
But five days ago, her father was injured and infected with the virus. With tears in his eyes, he had locked himself inside the bedroom.
From that moment on, Lin Qiaoni’s nightmare had begun.
Lin Qiaoni also learned Luffy’s name and expressed her sincere gratitude. Resourceful and quick-witted, she had already naturally started calling him "Brother." She knew that to survive, she might truly have to rely on him. Coupled with the growing fondness in her heart, the title sounded completely natural.
Once they agreed on the details of their communication, Luffy dialed the satellite phone and handed it to Lin Qiaoni.
The call connected instantly.
"Fei, is that you?" His mother, An Lan’s voice came through the receiver.
Lin Qiaoni glanced at the message Luffy had typed on his phone and read aloud, "Mom, it’s Luffy!"
"Ah!" An Lan gasped in surprise from the other end.
Luffy scratched his head. Lin Qiaoni hurriedly clarified, "Mrs. Lu, no, I’m Luffy’s friend! He’s right next to me. He can’t speak right now due to some reasons, so he asked me to relay his messages!"
"GRUNT!" Luffy nodded.
"Mrs. Lu, Luffy says to let Mr. Lu speak!"
Luffy decisively cut straight to the chase.
"You brat, what do you want from your old man?"
Luffy could hear a hint of exhaustion in his father’s tone. In the apocalypse, just staying alive was truly not easy.
"Mr. Lu, please wait a moment!" Lin Qiaoni said immediately. By now, she had already adapted to her role as a mouthpiece. After checking the new content typed on Luffy’s phone, she continued, "Mr. Lu, is it convenient for you to talk right now?"
Since he was Luffy’s father, she subconsciously used a respectful tone.
"Yeah, it’s just me and Luffy’s mom."
Lin Qiaoni continued, "Mr. Lu, Luffy says that what he’s about to tell you is extremely important. You must keep it in mind and take it seriously!"
"Alright, I’m listening!" Lu Dali’s voice also turned serious.
After another brief silence, Lin Qiaoni looked at the phone and said, "Mr. Lu, Luffy says that there is a chance for something called a Corpse Pouch to form inside a Zombie’s head. If you gather ten of them, swallow them, and then actively let yourself be infected by the Zombie virus, you will have a ninety percent chance of becoming an Evolver."
"An Evolver?" Lu Dali asked in astonishment.
Lin Qiaoni glanced at Luffy, who continued typing.
"As the name implies, it’s like those Ability Users mentioned in TV shows or novels. Luffy hasn’t had the time to investigate the specific data yet, but they are definitely much stronger than ordinary people. As long as you become an Evolver, your chances of surviving in the apocalypse will increase significantly!"
After she finished speaking, Lin Qiaoni looked at Luffy. Since they had different perspectives, she needed to reorganize the content Luffy typed before relaying it to his parents. Therefore, she needed Luffy to confirm whether she had phrased it correctly.
Luffy nodded and lowered his head again to type what he wanted to say next.
Lu Dali fell silent on his end as well; they were digesting what Luffy had just shared.
Lin Qiaoni’s mind was also reeling. She thought, "So he’s an Evolver. No wonder he was able to make it over from the building across the street and even bring food! If I become an Evolver too, I wouldn’t have to rely on anyone else, and I could even avenge my dad..."
The wound on her father’s body hadn’t been a Zombie bite. It was caused by a sharp weapon—one tainted with the Zombie virus.
As she pondered this, her train of thought was interrupted by Luffy finishing his next message.
"Mr. Lu, Luffy says that a ninety percent chance is worth a try! He looks forward to the day you reunite in this apocalypse, which will require both his and your mutual efforts."
"Ninety percent is indeed worth a gamble. Alright, I got it!" Lu Dali said.
Once upon a time, if there was even a thirty percent chance, Lu Dali would have dared to risk his life for it. Now, a ninety percent probability was no different from a hundred percent in his eyes.
"Mr. Lu, Luffy says not to let Mrs. Lu try it first. He suspects there might be an issue with this success rate, but he believes that if it’s you, you should be fine!"
"Alternatively!"
"Alternatively what?" Lu Dali asked.
Lin Qiaoni waited for a moment before speaking again. "Alternatively, you can prepare the Corpse Pouches as a backup. That way, if you ever get injured, you can use them immediately!"
Luffy had only learned the secret of the Corpse Pouch from the two men. He was quite puzzled about how they had arrived at that ninety percent figure. Such precise data would require a massive amount of experimentation, and Luffy simply didn’t believe that the men he had killed possessed the capability to conduct tests on such a large scale.
It was probably just a guess—pure blind luck.
Based on his own experience, he believed that after swallowing the Corpse Pouches, the key to becoming an Evolver lay within oneself. It depended on whether one had enough willpower to keep their body and consciousness from collapsing.
He believed his father had that level of perseverance, but as for his mother... honestly, it was hard to say.
Therefore, he came up with a compromise. If they were actually injured by a Zombie, they could use this method. Even if they ended up mutating into Zombies afterward, there would be no regrets.
"I understand. You brat, if that’s really the case, your old man has even more confidence in surviving now! There’s hope for our family to reunite!" Lu Dali said.
Luffy shook his head.
Lin Qiaoni relayed, "Mr. Lu, Luffy says that even if you become an Evolver, you must be extremely, extremely careful. Things aren’t like before. In the past, the worst that could happen was losing some money. Now, one careless mistake will cost you your life!"
"Got it. You brat, you’re just overly cautious. By the way, your mom wants me to ask you, what exactly happened to you? Why can’t you speak?"
Since Lin Qiaoni had asked this exact question earlier, she immediately answered, "Mr. Lu, Luffy was caught in a fire. His body was burned, and the smoke ruined his vocal cords!"
This was a complete lie fabricated by Luffy. Naturally, he wouldn’t tell anyone that he was currently a Zombie.
"Is he alright now?" An Lan’s voice came through, thick with deep concern.
"Mrs. Lu, he’s fine. Luffy is already an Evolver now!" This was entirely Lin Qiaoni’s own assumption. Anyone who could scrounge up food in these times had to be an Evolver, right?
After exchanging a few more words, both sides hung up. It was nighttime on the other side of the ocean, and his parents needed to rest well to face whatever dangers the next day would bring. They weren’t like Luffy, who could easily survive amidst a horde of Zombies.
Having successfully relayed the message to his parents, Luffy felt much more at ease. He took a bottle of mineral water out of his backpack and handed it to Lin Qiaoni. She had talked so much just now that her mouth was completely parched, and her already chapped lips were now bleeding.
Lin Qiaoni drank the water while keeping her head lowered in silence.
After a long while, she looked up and called out, "Brother, um, can I become an Evolver?"
Luffy froze for a moment before shaking his head. He typed on his phone: "For someone as frail as the wind and with absolute garbage willpower like you, I reckon your chances of turning into a Zombie are ninety percent!"
"Then what should I do?" Lin Qiaoni asked in disappointment.
"It’s simple. Train. Train your body and train your willpower. Wait until you’re qualified before you swallow the Corpse Pouches!"
His reasoning wasn’t without merit. Otherwise, if everyone could easily become an Evolver, how could one explain the ten percent failure rate mentioned by those two men?
Of course, the biggest reason was his fear that if Lin Qiaoni became an Evolver, she might break free from his Control or even turn around and kill him. Lu Dali was right; he was simply a coward.
Having already died once, Luffy felt it was better to be cautious. Being a coward was nothing to be ashamed of; staying alive was the ultimate goal.
He didn’t believe for a second that he possessed some protagonist’s halo or a kingly aura, where simply flexing his dominance would make thousands of maidens swoon and heroes from all sides bow in submission.
That was pure bullshit.
Therefore, he decided that until he reached a higher level of strength himself, he would not allow Lin Qiaoni to become an Evolver.