Chapter Five: Gaining a Follower

Beep beep beep!

At that moment, Lin Dong’s phone rang—a message on WeChat. He picked it up and saw it was from Xu Shan.

“Honey! Are you okay? There are zombies everywhere. I’m so scared, and I’m really worried about you. Are you still alive?”

“I’m still alive,” Lin Dong replied.

Once Xu Shan realized he was still alive, she hurried to continue.

“I’m trapped in the dorm, and I don’t have much food left. You have a lot of supplies in your supermarket, right? Can you bring some to me?”

“Alright, hang in there. I’ll come for you in a while.”

A strange, chilling smile curled at Lin Dong’s lips. Because he’d become a zombie, his smile was unnatural, almost eerie.

Xu Shan was, after all, a living stockpile he’d saved for himself.

Of course he’d have to collect her!

But it was still too dangerous outside. Even though Lin Dong had eaten a lot of meat and was far stronger than an ordinary person, he wanted to lay low for a few more days—wait until he grew even stronger before venturing out, to be absolutely safe.

Xu Shan, of course, had no idea that the one chatting with her now was a zombie.

“Honey, you must come save me. I’ll wait for you! Love you~~~”

Lin Dong didn’t reply.

Because at that very moment, Xu Shan was with three men in her dorm, doing things that couldn’t even be written in a censored novel—yet she still professed her love for him.

And at a time like this, she only sent a message on WeChat.

It probably wasn’t convenient to call...

Meanwhile, the building’s residents’ group chat was also buzzing with messages, most of them pleas for help.

“Neighbors, there are zombies right in our stairwell, banging on my door. What should I do?”

“Block your doors, whatever you do! Don’t let the zombies break in!”

“I’m running out of food at home—can’t hold out much longer!”

“Don’t panic, everyone! Zombies aren’t that strong. I just killed one with a shovel! If you’ve killed a zombie, speak up. We need to stick together and go out to look for supplies...”

“......”

Lin Dong stared at the chat, lost in thought.

Although he was a zombie, he had no intention of attacking his neighbors. Human flesh didn’t taste good, and the energy it contained was far less than beef.

Eating beef made him evolve faster.

He still had plenty of supplies stockpiled, so there was no need to hunt living people.

Of course... if someone was blind enough to provoke him, Lin Dong would show them true cruelty!

And if humans could unite, so could zombies.

A powerful Zombie King could command legions of zombies, working together to hunt prey.

So Lin Dong decided to recruit a few zombie underlings.

He wasn’t doing this for hunting. Mainly, he wanted someone to watch the door and keep him from being disturbed.

Picking up his keys, Lin Dong stepped out of his apartment. Growls echoed down the corridor—clearly, zombies were roaming nearby.

He didn’t plan to go far—just pick a few underlings from this very building. His requirements weren’t high; cleanliness would suffice.

He reached the stairwell, descended a flight, and at the corner saw a figure.

“Hrrr... hrrr... hrrr...”

A girl stood there, making guttural noises.

As one of the undead, she wouldn’t attack Lin Dong. In fact, her gaze held a trace of fear.

She seemed to sense that Lin Dong outranked her—a natural suppression, like a hungry wolf meeting a tiger.

Lin Dong remembered her—a downstairs neighbor who’d been a provincial high jump athlete.

Because of long years of training, her legs were straight and powerful. Even after becoming a zombie, she wasn’t stiff or sluggish; her speed matched an ordinary person’s.

And this was before she’d even tasted flesh!

So zombies could have natural talent, retaining some qualities from their former lives.

Lin Dong felt this girl had potential. With training, she could definitely become an agile Zombie Queen.

She wore a white T-shirt, shorts, and her hair was tied in a ponytail. She looked clean and fresh.

“She’ll do...”

With a wave, Lin Dong tossed her a bag of frozen beef steaks.

The girl zombie was instantly drawn to the scent of blood and meat. She dropped to her knees, tore open the package with her teeth, and devoured the meat in chunks.

After finishing, she still seemed unsatisfied. Her eyes fixed on Lin Dong—not just fearful now, but filled with longing and respect.

“Follow me... and you’ll have meat to eat.”

Lin Dong sent her a mental signal, a sort of brainwave communication unique to Zombie Kings.

She seemed to understand, uttering a low “hrrr” and bowing her head.

Among zombies, this meant submission.

Just like that, Lin Dong gained his first underling.

He led the girl zombie through the corridor, soon finding two more promising zombies.

One had been a fitness coach in life; his physique spoke for itself—bulging muscles, the very model of a power-type zombie.

The other had no particular physical advantage—he’d been a top doctoral student.

Lin Dong recruited him because there was a spark of intelligence in his eyes, a gleam of wisdom.

If ordinary zombies had the intelligence of dogs, this doctoral zombie was at least border collie level.

Aside from these two, Lin Dong dismissed the rest.

He brought the three zombies back to his apartment door.

Sizing them up, Lin Dong was satisfied—they all had potential. But as things stood, they still couldn’t defeat armed humans.

“If only you knew how to use weapons...” Lin Dong mused.

But then inspiration struck—zombies weren’t necessarily incapable of wielding weapons. They just hadn’t been trained.

With a flourish, he drew three machetes from his storage space and tossed them to the ground.

The clatter of steel captured the zombies’ attention. They stared, but didn’t know what to do.

Lin Dong immediately issued a command: pick up the knives.

This time, all three obeyed—especially the fitness coach, who eagerly grabbed a blade by its edge.

Blood welled from his palm, but with his dulled pain sense, he didn’t even flinch. In fact, he looked proudly at Lin Dong, as if to say he was the most obedient.

“Idiot!” Lin Dong smacked his forehead in exasperation.

“Are you going to hack someone with the blade?”

But the doctoral zombie was clever. Following Lin Dong’s instructions, he gripped the handle, gave it a few swings, and quickly understood its purpose.

Lin Dong was genuinely pleased.

He then told the other two to learn from him.

With the demonstration, the other two soon caught on and switched to holding the knives by the handle.

Clearly, zombies could be trained.

But only a stronger Zombie King was qualified to do it.

...