Thinking about finding his parents once he got stronger in the future, Luffy figured that zombies could definitely become stronger. Otherwise, it would be a total waste of their incredibly powerful digestive systems that only ate but never excreted. He would still need to verify this later.
For a full day and two nights, Luffy pondered how he should forge his future path as a zombie.
Right now, he felt like a pioneer. He mapped out various possibilities in his mind and waited to verify them, taking it one step at a time and feeling his way forward. Over the course of this time, Luffy’s first theory was verified. Zombies did not actually feel hunger. They only experienced starvation and an endless craving for flesh when their brains finally issued the command.
This also proved that zombies would not starve to death. If zombies could truly starve, humanity would only need to wait out the apocalypse. If a week or two wasn’t enough, they could just wait half a year or more. Once the zombies starved to death, the surviving humans would easily emerge victorious. However, this was clearly impossible.
"Since this theory has been verified, I should move on to the second one!" he thought. "Once I’m full, will I be able to resist the temptation of living flesh?"
When considering a zombie’s natural food source, Luffy’s first thought was the flesh of the living. However, he had already ruled this out entirely. He would never eat human flesh. Not in this lifetime.
His next thought naturally drifted to raw beef, mutton, and pork. These were heavily stocked in major supermarkets. He wasn’t sure if the meat stored there had spoiled yet, but that wouldn’t stop him from investigating.
There was a hydroelectric power station located not too far from LZ City. Even if all the workers there had turned into zombies, the facility could still continuously supply power to the city for a period of time. The power transmitted from the station to the city was high-voltage, and high-voltage lines were unlikely to be built along roadsides where pedestrians could easily damage or touch them. Because of this, many areas in LZ City still hadn’t lost power, even after undergoing half a month of the apocalyptic baptism.
This was proven every single night. Lights could still be seen flickering across LZ City after dark. Even the hotel he had just left hadn’t lost its electricity. He remembered that right next to the hotel was a large shopping mall, and its basement level housed a massive supermarket. That was why Luffy set his primary target on the supermarket’s raw meat storage.
Before setting off, Luffy made a few specific preparations. A screwdriver was a must-have weapon, which he carefully concealed in his pants pocket. He didn’t intend to use it to kill zombies; it was specifically reserved for the living. He felt that the main danger he faced right now came from human survivors. If he were to encounter two or more survivors by himself, he would undoubtedly die.
Since a zombie’s fatal weak point was the head, he occasionally wondered if he should find a helmet to wear. However, upon further consideration, he scrapped the idea. It wasn’t that zombies with helmets didn’t exist, but it would just be far too conspicuous. Even if he mingled within a horde of zombies, he would stick out like a sore thumb. That completely contradicted his established strategy of keeping a low profile.
His next preparation involved the five mobile phones he had fully charged last night. They had belonged to the zombies that died in the clinic, and he stuffed all of them into his pockets. As for what the phones would be used for... Luffy glanced in the direction of the hotel.
"Once I overcome the temptation of living flesh, I’ll let you all experience true despair!"
He slowly opened the clinic door and observed the outside area before slipping out. He hobbled down the street. Although he could control his body and force himself to walk faster, he chose not to do so. This shambling gait was the proper way for a zombie to walk. He appeared to be wandering aimlessly, all while slowly making his way forward.
Even if someone saw him, they would never be able to distinguish him from any of the other zombies on the street. Heaven only knew how many survivors were hiding in the high-rise buildings on either side of the street, observing the dead below through their windows. Although Luffy knew they likely couldn’t pose an immediate threat from up there, he absolutely could not afford to take a single risk. He couldn’t let anyone notice anything unusual about him and make him a target. Sometimes, the smallest details decided life or death.
Mingling among the horde of zombies on the street, Luffy felt a profound sense of being hidden in plain sight.
For a short distance of less than a kilometer, Luffy deliberately wandered for nearly twenty minutes. He completely ignored the hotel as he passed it, heading straight for an area just outside his target shopping mall. Once there, he began to shamble aimlessly alongside the nearby zombies. If someone were observing closely, they would notice that one particular zombie in the horde was continuously glancing inside the mall.
The mall’s main doors were wide open. Black blood had congealed on the ground both inside and outside, and a steady stream of zombies shambled in and out of the entrance.
"There shouldn’t be any living people left in there!"
Having confirmed it was safe, Luffy resumed his shambling gait and entered the mall. The interior was just another scene straight out of the apocalypse.
Upon entering, Luffy immediately spotted the entrance to the "Huarun Wan Family" supermarket. Just inside the entrance was an escalator leading down to the basement level. Though the escalator itself had stopped running, Luffy could see that the lights inside the supermarket were still on.
"My luck is pretty good! It really does still have power!"
After observing the area once more, he saw a massive number of zombies filling the supermarket at the bottom of the escalator. It looked just like a crowd of people casually shopping before the apocalypse. For him, the presence of other zombies meant safety. Relieved, Luffy walked down the halted escalator.
Inside the supermarket, some shelves remained neatly stocked, while others had been violently knocked over during the initial outbreak. Scattered merchandise on the floor was heavily mixed with blood and gory residue. Wandering zombies occasionally stepped on the fallen goods, creating a chaotic symphony of CRUNCHING and SHUFFLING sounds. It seemed the zombies had long since grown accustomed to this noise and no longer reacted to it.
Carefully maintaining his guise, Luffy blended into the horde and slowly made his way toward the meat section. However, he was quickly disappointed! From a distance, he could see that the glass lids of the meat storage freezers had all been completely shattered, and the insides were thoroughly empty.
The meat must have been devoured by the zombies. Upon closer inspection, his suspicions were confirmed.
But his excitement quickly returned. There was a dedicated fresh meat counter in the meat section. This area wasn’t self-service; it usually had dedicated butchers serving customers from behind the counter. Sitting securely behind it were two large commercial freezers. Their air compressors were still running, emitting a continuous HUMMING sound.
Thrilled by the discovery, he slipped behind the counter from the side and yanked open one of the freezers. A rich, meaty aroma wafted out. Inside, Luffy saw several thick strips of refrigerated raw pork. He immediately grabbed a strip and shoved it into his mouth. A wave of utter refreshment washed over him the moment he took a bite. Luffy felt as if every single cell in his body was transmitting an intense message of pure joy.
Because the meat was meant for daily sale, the freezer’s temperature wasn’t set too low. The pork hadn’t been frozen solid into icy lumps; it was merely kept cool enough to prevent spoilage.
However, the moment Luffy opened the freezer, the zombies wandering near the raw meat section went completely berserk. As if a bomb had gone off, they all whipped their heads around and aggressively lunged toward him.
"Fuck!"
Luffy cursed inwardly. He had completely miscalculated! He should have cleared out the nearby zombies before boldly opening the freezer.
"Ah, screw it! I’ll just eat first and worry about it later!"
Shoving those thoughts aside, he continued furiously stuffing the raw pork strips into his mouth. Following his zombification, Luffy noticed his bite force had dramatically increased. With a single chomp, he tore off a large chunk of the meat strip and swallowed it whole.
By the time the first frenzied zombie clambered over the counter, Luffy had already entirely polished off a thick cut of pork shoulder.
It wasn’t enough! He needed more!
Luffy snatched up another piece of meat and ravenously gulped it down. Beside him, a zombie hauled itself over the edge of the freezer and joined the feast. Then came a second, and a third... The freezer was rapidly swarmed, yet even more zombies were frantically scrambling and clawing their way behind the counter.
"Damn it!" Luffy groaned inwardly, feeling the space all around him growing rapidly more cramped. The zombie buddy right next to him had literally been squeezed headfirst into the deep freezer, yet remained completely oblivious to its predicament as it furiously shoved raw meat into its mouth.
"I need to eat too!"
After devouring about five large strips of raw pork, Luffy suddenly felt a faint, lingering signal transmitting from his brain.
"That’s enough. I can’t eat anymore!"
Only then did he suddenly realize that he was completely encircled by the ravenous horde, squeezed so tightly that he couldn’t move an inch. Worse yet, more zombies were still frantically shoving their way into the pile.
Panic set in. "I’m not going to be crushed to death, am I?!"