They didn’t find the medicine they needed in Yunan Town, so Yun Huacen and the cat decided to head to the city center, specifically, the old district overrun by zombies. The old district had already been designated as a mandatory control zone. Getting out of the old district was difficult, and getting back in was even harder. To avoid unnecessary trouble, heading to the old district was the best choice.
With the cat around, the journey went smoothly, and they found a fairly large pharmacy on the edge of the old district. Yun Huacen parked at the entrance and entered the pharmacy with the cat. After the experience with the potatoes and the cabbage, Yun Huacen had become very cautious, completely losing his earlier curiosity. Whether encountering animals or plants, he kept a safe distance to avoid any unexpected mishaps.
Yun Huacen pushed open the pharmacy door, cautiously drew his pistol, avoided the lucky bamboo by the entrance, and surveyed the pharmacy to ensure it was safe before searching for medicine. The cat hopped onto the shelves in a few quick leaps, overlooking the entire pharmacy, and soon spotted a zombie lying on the ground. Yun Huacen approached carefully and found that the zombie had been shot in the head. Soon, they discovered another zombie behind the counter, also killed with a shot to the head.
Yun Huacen examined the zombies and quickly concluded, “Someone’s been here, and their aim is excellent, one shot, one kill. It’s probably military or police.”
The cat nodded.
Yun Huacen glanced at the shelves and said, “Some of the medicine here has been taken too. Maybe they were injured, or maybe there are survivors here.”
The cat meowed, signaling him to hurry up and find the medicine.
Yun Huacen didn’t say more. He tucked the pistol back into his waistband and began searching seriously. After a long while, he finally found the medicine that met the requirements, but he didn’t leave immediately. Instead, he continued searching nearby. The outside was too dangerous, they couldn’t carefully examine the drug ingredients or know whether any components would conflict with the formula he was preparing. He could only grab several options and check them slowly back at the lab. Additionally, he picked up some medicines needed for preparing the formula so he could make more.
Suddenly, the sound of a car engine came from outside. Yun Huacen paused mid-search and looked up at the glass door, while the cat had already reached the entrance ahead of him, checking the situation outside. What pulled up was a modified police car with the words “Armed Police” written in large characters. Yun Huacen froze for a moment, recalling the people who had chased them last time when they went to Yunan Town for medicine.
Yun Huacen frowned deeply, muttering to himself, “It can’t be that much of a coincidence.”
“Let’s go, now.”
Yun Huacen opened the glass door, and the cat darted out first, leaping onto the car roof in a few quick bounds. Yun Huacen got in right after, placed the box on the passenger seat, and started the engine, ready to leave.
The people in the police car noticed his intention and sped up to close the distance while shouting, “You up ahead, listen up! We’re the Armed Police, also part of the rescue team. Stop the car immediately!”
Yun Huacen floored the gas pedal, and the car shot forward.
The people in the police car were none other than Li Hailing’s rescue team. Whether it was fate or coincidence, they had run into each other again.
“Captain, this guy’s acting suspicious. We’ve already identified ourselves, and he still won’t stop.”
Ling Yun spoke up, “This is a quarantine control zone. It’s normal for him not to stop. They’re already spooked, they have to watch out not just for zombies, but for other survivors too.”
The sound of the engines had already alerted the surrounding zombies, and with the people in the police car shouting loudly, the zombie horde began to stir and quickly surged toward them.
Yun Huacen glanced at the police car that was still in hot pursuit and frowned deeply. The reason these people were chasing him was probably because they’d seen him moving freely through the zombies and wanted to figure out why. If they caught up, it would be hard to escape without exposing his ability. And then there was the cat on the roof, if they found out it was a mutant zombie, he wouldn’t be able to talk his way out of it even with eight mouths. Besides, there were two people back at the lab waiting for him to save their lives. He really didn’t have time to waste on these people.
The cat used the same trick again, summoning zombies to chase the police car. Having learned from last time, Li Hailing was prepared. A drone took off from the car roof, blasting agitated music in an attempt to lure the zombie horde away. But the plan failed, not only were the zombies not lured away, they kept gathering in greater numbers.
“Captain, something’s wrong! The zombie horde isn’t being lured away!”
“What’s going on? This trick worked every time before. Why did it suddenly stop working?”
Li Hailing said nothing, keeping his car locked onto Yun Huacen’s. The man carried too many secrets, if they could unravel them, maybe they could resolve this crisis sooner. So they had to catch him.
Bam. A zombie charged forward fearlessly and was sent flying by the police car, leaving a splatter of dark green blood on the windshield. Bam. Another zombie charged and was knocked away. This happened repeatedly. Though it didn’t cause much damage to the police car, it successfully slowed it down, giving Yun Huacen the chance to widen the gap between them.
Yun Huacen looked at the rearview mirror and couldn’t help but let out a long breath. He was about to speed up when he suddenly spotted a zombie approaching the police car at an extremely fast pace. In the blink of an eye, it had caught up and even leaped onto the roof of the police car. It then raised its fist, slammed it down, and tore a piece of metal plating right off the roof.
“A mutant zombie!” Yun Huacen stared in shock. Everything he’d seen before had been mutated animals or plants, he’d never encountered a humanoid mutant zombie.
Gunfire rang out, but the mutant zombie was so fast that no one could hit its vital spots. A rescue team member was yanked out of the vehicle and hurled into the zombie horde.
Yun Huacen shouted urgently, “Cat, don’t let the zombies bite him!”
The cat let out a meow in response.
Yun Huacen pulled the car over to the side, got out, drew his pistol, and aimed at the mutant zombie on the roof. He fired with a bang. Though he didn’t hit it, he successfully drew the mutant zombie’s attention.
Seeing the mutant zombie turn its gaze toward him, Yun Huacen swallowed hard and looked up at the cat on the roof. “Can you take him?”
The cat’s pitch-black eyes locked onto the mutant zombie, a continuous low growl rumbling from its throat. The mutant zombie also noticed the cat on the roof. It stopped attacking the armed police officer inside the vehicle and stood up, staring intently at the cat like a hunter spotting its prey.
The armed police officer who’d been thrown from the car was badly injured. He lay on the ground, unable to get up, staring in despair at the zombies surrounding him. His gun had fallen somewhere else when he was tossed out, leaving him with only a grenade and a knife. But he couldn’t move now, the knife was useless. The only thing he could do seemed to be pulling the pin on the grenade and taking the zombies down with him. Yet, the zombies didn’t pounce on him. It was as if they hadn’t even noticed him, walking straight past him. He was stunned, unable to understand what was happening.
Yun Huacen saw this and couldn’t help but call out, “What are you spacing out for? Find somewhere to hide, now!”
The officer snapped back to reality. A powerful will to survive drove him to his feet, and he staggered toward a nearby shop.
The mutant zombie leaped and charged straight at them. Yun Huacen’s heart tightened at the sight. On instinct, he got back in the car and floored the gas pedal, the vehicle lurching forward. The cat arched its back, its pitch-black eyes fixed on the approaching mutant zombie, ready to strike at any moment.
The people in the police car let out a long breath, and one of them couldn’t help but say, “Captain, what was that zombie just now? Its speed and strength are beyond anything we’ve seen. At that close range, it actually dodged the bullets.”
Li Hailing didn’t answer. Instead, he accelerated to catch up.
“Captain, Gao Han is still out there!”
“Don’t worry, he’s fine.” Li Hailing had been keeping an eye on Gao Han through the rearview mirror the whole time. He found it strange that the zombies weren’t attacking Gao Han, but this wasn’t the time to dwell on that. As long as Gao Han was safe, that was what mattered. “If he hadn’t drawn the zombies away from us just now, we’d all be dead by now. We can’t just abandon him.”
Ling Yun opened the radio. “Eagle, Eagle, this is Silver Fox. We’re in trouble, under attack by a mutant zombie. Its speed and strength are several times that of a normal person. Requesting backup, requesting backup!”
“Eagle received, Eagle received. Sending reinforcements immediately, sending reinforcements immediately!”
Yun Huacen drove while keeping an eye on the zombie through the rearview mirror. With the cat around, the ordinary zombies automatically cleared the way. The streets were now wide open, and his speed had already hit 150, yet the mutant zombie was still closing the distance. Yun Huacen smiled bitterly to himself and had no choice but to accelerate further. He shouted, “Block the police car behind us! Don’t let them get in the way!”
The cat let out a series of low growls, and the surrounding zombies immediately sprang into action, blocking the police car behind them. After several collisions, the police car’s speed dropped. With one side gaining and the other losing, it quickly fell behind. And just before they lost sight of Yun Huacen, the humanoid mutant zombie had already caught up to his car and was locked in combat with the cat on the roof.
The damaged roof actually made it easier for the rescue team members to attack the zombie, but the zombies swarming in far outnumbered those they could eliminate, and their ammunition was limited. One of them had to call out, “Captain, there are more and more zombies, we can’t catch up! Fall back, or we’re all done for here.”
Li Hailing’s face darkened as he looked at the zombie horde closing in. Reluctantly, he had no choice but to change course.
Ling Yun snapped out of his daze and said, “What was that on the roof of that car? A cat?”
“It’s a cat. A black cat.”
Recalling what he’d just witnessed, Ling Yun said in astonishment, “That cat was actually attacking the zombie.”
“That’s right, I saw it too.” Jin Siwen hesitated for a moment, then continued, “With that zombie’s strength and speed, they’re probably in serious trouble.”
“I don’t get it. We identified ourselves and told him to stop, and he acted like he didn’t hear us. But when the zombies attacked us, he stepped in to help. What is he thinking?”
“He didn’t stop the car because he didn’t trust us, but he stepped in to help because he didn’t want us to get killed. Just based on that alone, he can’t possibly be a bad person. It’s just a pity…”
“Jin, pull up the surrounding map.” Li Hailing commanded.
Jin Siwen was taken aback for a moment, then opened the micro-computer and searched for the surrounding map. “Captain, it’s up.”
“Find the nearest route to Yunan Town.”
Jin Siwen immediately searched for the route. “Found it, Captain.”
“He got into trouble because he was helping us, we can’t just ignore that!”