TL: Moonlit

Someone asked Wen Qingling, “Is the ‘General’ dead?”

Wen Qingling looked at the person strangely. How could the “General,” who was such a formidable presence, easily die in a place like Ling City, which was a “zombie paradise” with over 20 million zombies in the past two years?

The chances of zombie evolution were extremely high. They didn’t need to gradually evolve from low-level to high-level. For example, the Level 8 evolved zombie, the “General,” was already at that level from the beginning of its evolution. During the evolution process, it attracted numerous evolved zombies to come close and protect it. Just like the Level 7 evolved zombie, the “Turret,” nobody knew how it completed its evolution, and there was no scientific basis for it, but the “Turret” existed.

Undoubtedly, the “General” was the strongest among the zombies that Wen Qingling had encountered. However, it was not easy for the “General” to kill Wen Qingling. Every time Wen Qingling died, he would automatically absorb the energy of other zombies and resurrect himself. Regardless of whether the absorbed zombies volunteered or not, the more times Wen Qingling died, the stronger he would become. The loss of zombie minions would also be greater. Even if his neck was twisted or his head was severed, it would be useless as he could always regenerate.

The “General” got fed up and finally realized that Wen Qingling was an even more terrifying presence than itself. After a night of battle without any result, Wen Qingling became increasingly powerful while the “General” had no choice but to leave in anger.

If you can’t provoke someone, you can always avoid them.

So the “General” ran away from home, and no one knew where it went.

Xiao Hen: “…”

Ji Rong: “…”

If the “General” ran away from home, who would suffer in the end?

Of course, it would be the human survivors’ base!

Ji Rong sincerely advised, “Dr. Wen, next time we can’t do such things. All these terrifying beings ‘running away from home’ one by one will lead to chaos in the outside world, even if Ling City is safe.”

Wen Qingling leisurely said, “Children have to leave home eventually. It’s no good for them to stay at home all day. If they’re zombies, they should go out and explore!”

Ji Rong: “…”

Xiao Hen: “…”

Wen Qingling sent people to clean up the battlefield. After this battle, all the zombie crystals belonged to Wen Qingling. He even had people retrieve the remaining blood anemones, and even the soil with his bloodstains was also shoveled back.

Having experienced the horrors of blood corpses, Wen Qingling had to be more cautious.

He generously waived the debt of 300 ordinary crystals owed by Song Youyuan as compensation for his participation in the battle. Right after the battle, Song Youyuan was sent back to Rong City to guard the training base there on behalf of Wen Qingling.

As for Xiao Hen, being alive was the greatest compensation given to him by Wen Qingling.

Xiao Hen’s neck had been bitten by the “General,” and the wound had already healed. It had also been treated with blood anemone, but the toxins had not been completely eliminated. There was still a dark green mark, resembling an ice flower, on the left side of Xiao Hen’s neck. If he used blood anemone to detoxify, the dark green mark would disappear, but it would reappear shortly after, and as time passed, the mark would grow larger until it spread throughout his body.

Wen Qingling was studying this stubborn dark green ice flower, while Ji Rong mourned with a gloomy face beside him. “Dr. Wen, can you say something? Can our boss still be saved?”

Wen Qingling replied calmly, “As long as there is blood anemone, he can’t die for the time being.”

Ji Rong exclaimed in horror, “But if there’s no blood anemone, won’t he turn into a zombie in minutes?!”

Wen Qingling glanced at him.

Xiao Hen also felt powerless. “Is blood anemone ineffective against Level 8 evolved zombies’ virus?”

Wen Qingling corrected him, “It’s not ineffective, but it can’t completely eliminate them… In simple terms, it still depends on my strength. As long as I can surpass the Level 8 evolved zombies, clearing the toxins they leave behind is a matter of minutes.”

Xiao Hen asked, “When will you surpass the Level 8 evolved zombies, then?”

Wen Qingling shrugged, “I don’t know. I’ll go with the flow.”

Ji Rong exclaimed miserably, “Don’t just go with the flow! It’s our boss’s life. How can we just go with the flow?!”

Wen Qingling looked at him directly, “Since you don’t want me to go with the flow, can you provide me with enough nuclei? I need a lot of nuclei to level up. Do you have any?”Ji Rong: “…”

Indeed, they didn’t have any. They were broke!

Xiao Hen understood and finally realized why Wen Qingling cared so much about nuclei. It was directly linked to his strength.

From this perspective, Wen Qingling didn’t seem like a zombie. Instead, he resembled a human with special abilities because human ability users also needed nuclei to enhance their abilities.

Wen Qingling waved his hand, “Broke people don’t have the right to speak. You can shut up now.”

The virus left by the Level 8 evolved zombie was undoubtedly a mockery towards Wen Qingling. Without Xiao Hen and Ji Rong saying anything, Wen Qingling would still find a way to deal with the virus. Otherwise, wouldn’t he be telling all the zombies that he couldn’t measure up to the “General”?

Since ordinary blood anemones didn’t work, Wen Qingling called Kui Bao and had it treat Xiao Hen.

Xiao Hen endured being repeatedly stabbed by Kui Bao’s tentacles, and Ji Rong watched with fear and trembling. It was really painful!

After the Kui Bao finished its feeding, Wen Qingling lightly wiped the wound, and it immediately healed. The dark green ice flower zombie virus disappeared once again, but this time, it took a long time before the dark green ice flower reappeared.

Wen Qingling rubbed his chin. “Hmm, Kui Bao won’t work either. Then let Kui Mu give it a try.”

Ji Rong was shocked and terrified. “Dr. Wen, Brother Wen, we can’t do this. Look at our boss’s complexion. He can’t withstand continuous blood loss!”

Indeed, the zombie virus was being drawn out, but at the same time, Xiao Hen’s blood was continuously being drained.

Wen Qingling stared at Xiao Hen’s face for a moment. “He does look a bit pale, but it’s okay. Let my mom cook something delicious to replenish him. It’s just blood; he can always replenish it.”

Ji Rong: “…”

Ji Rong looked at his boss and saw a smile forming at the corner of his mouth. This… was he under some kind of spell?

Ji Rong held his head, feeling extremely weak. “I feel like I’m also lacking blood. Can Auntie give me a replenishment too?”

Wen Qingling glanced at Ji Rong. “It depends on your fate. My mom prefers handsome guys. If you don’t fit her taste, you might not get to taste her cooking.”

Ji Rong: “…”

Ji Rong touched his own face and compared it to his boss’s face. Suddenly, he felt a sense of despair. Even in this post-apocalyptic world, it was still the era of looks! Unfair!

Wen Qingling brought the two of them and Kui Bao back home. The base had just experienced war, and the wooden city walls had been repaired. However, the buildings and facilities within the base suffered significant damage and required time for repairs and restoration. Chaos was everywhere, and people were busy.

In this battle, the civilized zombies lost nearly 200 people. This made Wen Qingling extremely angry. The civilized zombies did have a connection to him through their blood. Having the ability to self-heal and improve their strength along with him was already remarkable. It was almost impossible for them to possess the ability to resurrect like him. So when they died, they were really gone.

The previous ease was no longer present. The base was filled with a serious and tense atmosphere, neither sad nor sorrowful. They had probably lost even these two emotions. They were on high alert, waiting for any future wars to erupt, determined to avenge their deceased loved ones and friends.

They were all people who had turned into zombies, with strong hearts. Each person was carrying out their tasks in an orderly manner.

Xiao Hen and Ji Rong walked along, observing everything. Their mental states were much better than they had imagined.

It was Ji Rong’s first time visiting Wen Qingling’s home, and he had heard that Wen Qingling’s parents were still alive. He suddenly became nervous about the visit.

Ji Rong rubbed his hands and asked Xiao Hen in a low voice, “Boss, it’s your first time visiting Dr. Wen’s house. Did you bring a gift?”

Xiao Hen had a question mark on his face. “Do we need to bring a gift?”

Ji Rong anxiously said, “When visiting someone’s home, isn’t it customary to bring a gift?”

Xiao Hen had a puzzled expression. He had eaten at Wen Qingling’s house countless times and had never brought a gift. Was that too impolite?

Xiao Hen’s face turned serious. “You’re right, but I’ve never brought one.”

Ji Rong slapped Xiao Hen’s shoulder. “That’s where you’re wrong. You’ve been eating free meals for so long. Luckily, Dr. Wen has a good temper. If it were someone else, they would definitely ask you to pay for your share.”

Xiao Hen stopped in his tracks, and Ji Rong followed suit.

Wen Qingling, with his good temper, looked at them strangely. “What’s wrong?”Xiao Hen turned around and walked back. “I’ll go out for a moment and be back soon.”

Ji Rong hurriedly caught up. “Wait for me. I’ll go with you.”

Wen Qingling: “???”

Wen Qingling returned home, and Jiang Lan was preparing lunch. She heard a sound and walked out, only to find that her son had come back alone.

Jiang Lan looked outside but didn’t see anyone. “Where’s your friend?”

Wen Qingling replied, “I don’t know.”

After the intense battle, Wen Qingling was exhausted, and his mental energy was in a resting state. He didn’t have the energy to constantly project his thoughts.

Wen Zheng was sitting on the sofa, leisurely sipping his blood anemone tentacle tea. The cup was filled with a bright red color, giving the impression that he was drinking blood.

Wen Zheng patted the sofa, motioning for Wen Qingling to come and sit beside him.

Wen Qingling walked over and sat down, tilting his head to look at his father.

Wen Zheng asked, “What are your plans for the future?”

Wen Qingling pondered carefully. “Building a civilized base, would that be considered a plan?”

Wen Zheng slapped his thigh, excitedly causing the tea to spill on his pants. His instinctive reaction almost made him jump up. He scolded his disappointing son, “You’ve conquered the entire Ling City, and all you have in mind is a small civilized base? Can’t you have a grander ambition?”

Wen Qingling blinked. “How grand does it need to be to be considered an ambition?”

Wen Zheng straightened his back, pointing out the way forward. “At the very least, you should focus on the construction of the entire Ling City. That’s what I call ambition.”

Wen Qingling thought seriously. “But Ling City is too large, filled with decayed zombies. What’s the use of me building Ling City?”

Jiang Lan came out with a spatula in hand. “Son, I agree with your father. Just look at yesterday’s battle. If it weren’t for your strength, we would have been wiped out by that ‘General’! And that was just an internal conflict among our zombies. If humans discover our existence and can’t tolerate us, they will try to exterminate us. Do you think our base of only a thousand… no, now just over 800 civilized zombies can resist? We can’t rely on you alone to fight against the entire zombie world and humanity. If we want to survive, we must have our own power and not be at the mercy of anyone!”

Getting angry, Jiang Lan waved the spatula and cursed, “Last night, I was almost bitten by a damn ‘Ugly Monster’ on the neck. Fortunately, your father arrived in time, and the two of us teamed up to blow off that ‘Ugly Monster’s’ head!”

Wen Zheng patted his wife’s back to calm her down, and then he said to Wen Qingling, “You can’t fight the whole world alone. Only when our group becomes stronger do we have the qualifications to compete for our survival space.”

Speaking of sadness, Jiang Lan started wiping her tears, even though she had no tears to shed. “I heard that you died several times last night. Look at the blood anemones they brought back. I know the suffering you went through. I absolutely won’t allow such a thing to happen again! You must take over the entire Ling City, build it up, and make it your stronghold! Decayed zombies are nothing. Just turn them all into civilized zombies! Look at how many blood anemones they brought back. How much blood did you shed to grow so many blood anemones?! Stop wandering around aimlessly all the time. Did you hear me?!”

Wen Qingling was truly afraid of his parents. He quickly nodded obediently, “I heard you. I promise that such a thing won’t happen again.”

Jiang Lan held the spatula and pointed it at Wen Qingling. As long as Wen Qingling dared to say a word of disagreement, she would definitely smack him in the face with the spatula. “What else?!”

Wen Qingling had a helpless expression on his face. He raised his fist and declared a slogan, “Building the Ling City base starts with me.”

Jiang Lan finally showed a stiff smile. “That’s my precious baby!”

Jiang Lan rushed over and hugged her beloved son, kissing his cheeks.

Wen Zheng said, “What you’re cooking is burning.”

Jiang Lan hurriedly screamed and rushed into the kitchen.

Wen Qingling said, “Nothing’s burning at all. I didn’t smell anything.”

Wen Zheng said, “Don’t you feel embarrassed to let my wife kiss you?”

Wen Qingling replied, “She’s my mom.”

Wen Zheng retorted, “She’s my wife.”

The father and son stared at each other, neither giving in.

Suddenly, Wen Zheng said, “I’ll let your wife kiss me in the future and see how you react.”

Wen Qingling imagined the scene of his future wife kissing his dad, and he shivered. He quickly dispelled the thought. It was too terrifying and he couldn’t bear to think about it. It shattered his worldview.

Just then, there was a loud bang from outside the door, followed by the agonizing howl of a mutated bull.

oh wow, a father jealous of his son detected XD