The Little Merman in the Apocalypse 9
No, he couldn’t be infected, not when the quest was still incomplete!
Thankfully, the disguise item was working, hiding any signs for now.
But Old Li’s lips were as pale as a lifeless corpse, and the world before his eyes quickly faded to black and white.
Xiao Mei witnessed this and was so shocked that she let out a muffled whimper.
The tape over her mouth wouldn’t come off, leaving her unable to speak.
The villa was too far away.
With the heavy snowfall blocking the view, no one noticed Xiao Mei’s expression.
Creak.
The door opened, and a figure entered, bringing the frost and snow with them.
“Old Li, what are you dawdling for?”
As they spoke, their gaze flickered to the plump little rabbit in the man’s hand.
Several hungry eyes were fixed on it, as it had been a long time since they had fresh meat.
Old Li didn’t respond, simply tossing the dead rabbit to someone else.
They asked in confusion, “What, aren’t you going to eat?”
Old Li pulled his hat down low to hide his bluish eyes.
He was bundled up tightly, taking a deep breath.
“Freezing my butt off for a lousy rabbit, I might have caught a cold. I’m going to sleep, don’t bother me.”
With that, the man staggered into an empty room, closed the door, and didn’t come out again.
The player holding the rabbit chuckled at Old Li.
“What an idiot, got himself sick for nothing, and now we get the meat.”
They efficiently skinned the rabbit and roasted it over a fire, the pure aroma of meat filling the air.
Even without seasoning, just a sprinkle of salt was enough to make mouths water.
Sister Zhao frowned and looked away.
Qi Yu wasn’t interested either.
Only a few people ate the rabbit meat.
A relentless wave of zombies attacked.
Seizing the moment when Chu Weilin was too preoccupied to notice him, Su Luo stumbled away without looking back.
The young man arrived outside a villa complex, hurriedly hiding in an empty security booth.
His legs had already transformed into a fishtail, and with only a thin cotton jacket, he curled up from the cold.
The sound of footsteps crunching in the snow approached from afar. Someone was coming.
Was it a zombie?
Su Luo’s heart raced, and he clumsily tried to hide behind a cabinet.
The door opened.
The young man found himself staring into the shocked eyes of Sister Zhao.
He seemed frightened, his eyes misty with a hint of unease.
Recognizing the light blue fishtail and the unforgettable beauty, the woman realized he was the little merman from the lab.
The boy’s lips, red like ripe cherries, seemed to invite a taste.
A voice called out from afar.
“Did you find any gasoline?”
Sister Zhao calmly replied, “No, I’ll check elsewhere.”
She exchanged a thick coat to cover the boy’s tail, helping him warm up a bit.
“Didn’t I tell you not to leave the base?”
Before Su Luo could answer, a sudden growl from his stomach interrupted.
At the same time, the boy’s flushed earlobes quivered slightly, as if embarrassed.
“Sister, I’m hungry.”
Fortunately, Sister Zhao had secretly stashed away some food. After giving him an apple, chocolate, and milk, Su Luo’s once flat stomach finally filled out a bit.
The boy poured out the grievances he suffered at the base, telling her everything in one breath.
“You don’t know, I cried, and they still…”
His silky light blue hair lay obediently by his neck.
Su Luo recounted his tale vividly, lifting the corner of the coat covering his tail to show the reddened scales, his tone pitiful.
“They’re all swollen…”
Sister Zhao’s breath caught for a moment. She quickly covered the little merman’s tail again, not looking too closely.
In the cramped security booth, the woman’s heart raced uncontrollably.
She frowned and asked, “Even without treatment, it should have healed by now.”
Su Luo felt even more wronged, counting on his fingers as he explained how he had just escaped the base only to encounter Chu Weilin.
“He’s worse, so bad I can’t even describe it…”
The woman seemed to guess something but didn’t interrupt, listening to the boy’s complaints.
Suppressing the subtle aggression in her eyes, she handed Su Luo an ointment for the swelling.
“You’re so kind, sister.”
The boy’s sweet voice was like a gentle caress, tugging at her heartstrings.
Sister Zhao’s heart skipped a beat once more.
She wiped the snowflakes from Su Luo’s face with a towel, avoiding his innocent gaze, her thoughts hidden.
The little merman’s striking appearance was too conspicuous, so he wore a white mask to cover his delicate face.
Sister Zhao also gave the boy a high-level item, allowing him to switch between human and merman forms at will.
After confirming everything was fine, she led him back to the villa.
They happened to encounter Qi Yu dragging a corpse out. The man’s voice was icy as he asked, “Who is he?”
Sister Zhao held Su Luo’s hand.
“Just a survivor. I’ll take care of him myself, he won’t be a burden.”
Qi Yu scrutinized the boy’s figure, finding it familiar but couldn’t place it.
His attitude was extremely indifferent.
“We’re already short on supplies, and you keep bringing back useless things.”
Su Luo clenched his fists, “How infuriating.”
His handsome brows furrowed, the mask hiding most of his expression.
In his heart, the boy quietly retorted, “I’m a person, not a thing.”
Qi Yu couldn’t be bothered with them, silently allowing Su Luo to join. His next words were already assigning the boy to go out and find supplies.
Sister Zhao whispered a reminder.
“Don’t wander off, stay with me.”
The boy nodded, “Okay, sister, I’ll be good.”
The two of them reached a convenience store a kilometer away.
The glass door was shattered.
In the flowerpot at the entrance, an unattended wisteria vine had grown along the wall to an incredible extent.
The vine’s branches twisted and intertwined, pulling each other along.
Its tendrils were like fine threads, flexible and stretching.
They passed through cracks, gripping every brick tightly.
“Let’s go in and take a look.”
The convenience store had been ransacked, leaving them to search for any overlooked food.
Su Luo’s luck was good; he found two packs of cookies on the top shelf.
He stood on tiptoe to reach them, just a little more, his fingertips almost touching the bag when…
Thin plant tendrils emerged from the floor cracks, grabbing his ankle and hanging the boy upside down in the air.
Sister Zhao heard his cry of surprise, not expecting the plants to mutate as well.
“Don’t move, I’ll save you.”
Without hesitation, the woman fired her gun, hitting the vine’s body. The green sap spilled on the ground, sprouting new branches.
The gun was useless against it, unable to kill it.
The boy’s eyes quickly reddened, his limbs immobilized by the vine’s grip.
“Sister…”
Sister Zhao’s heart ached unbearably at Su Luo’s call for help, lacking any sense of security.
Several vines wrapped tightly around the boy, as if trying to devour him.
One crisis followed another.
Outside, a terrifying bark echoed.
A zombie dog, taller than a human, appeared in a horrifying state of decay, emitting a suffocating stench.
Before the apocalypse, it must have been a fierce black dog.
It approached step by step, green foam dripping from its mouth, its saliva wet and disgusting.
The zombie dog’s attention shifted from Sister Zhao to the helplessly suspended beautiful boy.
It opened its gaping maw, revealing rotting gums and stark white bones.
Su Luo heard the sound and looked down in panic, his face as pale as paper.
“Sister, don’t worry about me, just run.”
The boy hadn’t realized that the zombie dog’s target wasn’t Sister Zhao, but him…