Chapter 1 – Zombie Puppet

On the desolate street, a zombie was mindlessly wandering.

His mouth was slightly ajar, a string of saliva hanging from his lips, and his bloodshot eyes radiated a chilling gleam.

Not far ahead of him was an abandoned small supermarket. The glass doors were splattered with brownish blood stains, and through the open doors, one could vaguely see the tilted shelves inside and some scattered food items around.

Behind the supermarket door, another middle-aged male zombie was slowly moving. Judging by his clothes, he seemed to be a staff member of the supermarket.

This zombie slowly approached the supermarket, and after brushing past the middle-aged male zombie, he suddenly pulled out a boning knife from his coat and forcefully severed the other’s neck.

Blood splattered everywhere, and the headless body immediately fell to the ground.

The oddly behaving zombie then quickly grabbed a shopping bag from the counter and started swiftly gathering food inside the supermarket…

“Whew… I’m exhausted…”

In a dimly lit apartment, a sweat-soaked Ling Mo was contentedly looking at the bag full of food and various supplies in his hands.

In front of him sat the zombie that had appeared in the small supermarket. But this zombie looked at Ling Mo without any malice, its gaze even somewhat vacant.

“You’ve improved so much compared to a few days ago. Now you can finally be controlled with more flexibility.”

Ling Mo shifted his gaze to the zombie, a slight smile forming at the corner of his mouth.

Half a month ago, the outbreak of a new type of virus had turned the world into a horrific slaughterhouse overnight.

Countless humans turned into zombies… To be precise, they were infected by the virus, losing their self-awareness and becoming frenzied monsters driven only by the urge to kill…

The survivors who remained had to live like rats, hiding in the corners of the city to survive.

But Ling Mo, who was originally just an ordinary person, discovered after the apocalypse began that he could actually control zombies.

He could feel a subtle connection between himself and the zombies. The zombies, with their empty minds, were like puppets without thoughts, and he could inject his thoughts into them to control their actions.

However, the initial attempts were extremely challenging. The zombies often broke free from his control midway, even putting him in life-threatening situations several times.

With more attempts, Ling Mo finally grasped some key techniques. This not only allowed him to maintain control over the zombie but also enabled him to maneuver the zombie around, helping him gather food and other necessities.

However, the distance between them could never be too far, which frustrated Ling Mo a bit.

He felt like a zombie puppeteer whose strings were not long enough, and his manipulation skills were still not very proficient.

But being able to use zombies to survive more safely already made Ling Mo very satisfied with this ability. He called the zombie he controlled a Zombie Puppet.

During the process of controlling the Zombie Puppet, Ling Mo also vaguely felt that a sense of frenzy was affecting him as he controlled it.

Whether this influence was good or bad, he couldn’t tell yet…

In recent days, Ling Mo had also gained some understanding of the zombies’ nature. Unlike the typical concept of zombies, these zombies were not undead but were living humans infected by the virus.

Although their bodies were still living, their minds had completely turned into monsters. They attacked uninfected survivors, tearing at their flesh, and their strength was astonishingly great, much stronger than ordinary humans.

That virus completely destroyed their rationality, dominated their thoughts, and turned them into executioners driven by the instinct to kill.

In Ling Mo’s view, these zombies were more terrifying than the ones he had seen in games and movies because they retained their five senses. Both sound and scent could attract their attention.

“The sun is about to set. Let’s head back for today.”

This apartment wasn’t particularly safe; it was just a temporary place where Ling Mo stayed while controlling the Zombie Puppet.

After stuffing the supplies he had gathered today into his backpack, Ling Mo shook his slightly aching head and controlled the Zombie Puppet to stand up.

Standing face to face with the Zombie Puppet at such a close distance still felt somewhat eerie to Ling Mo.

Although it didn’t emit the rotten stench like in the movies, the zombie still had a strong smell of blood. The virus infection had made its face pale and bloodless, and its eyes glowed red. Through its slightly open mouth, you could see bits of flesh stuck to its teeth.

No doubt, these were remnants from its previous human meals…

This zombie had a decent appearance, roughly a seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy, but in its current state, it looked like nothing short of a demon.

“Let’s go…”

Ling Mo suppressed his nausea and controlled the Zombie Puppet to walk downstairs.

Although the Zombie Puppet was clearing the path, it didn’t mean Ling Mo was completely safe. He held a sharp boning knife in his hand and cautiously followed behind the Zombie Puppet.

From here to his temporary shelter, he needed to cross a main street. When he came over in the morning, Ling Mo had set off some firecrackers in the opposite direction to create a distraction, luring most of the zombies away from the street. Even so, there were still some zombies wandering around.

After reaching the street corner uneventfully, Ling Mo realized trouble was ahead.

Two zombies were blocking the corner. He had no idea where they had wandered from, but fresh blood splattered their bodies. One of them was holding half an arm, gnawing on it ferociously.

In this provincial capital with a population of tens of millions, it was not uncommon for survivors to die every day while searching for food. Seeing dead bodies wasn’t rare.

However, seeing the remnants of that arm still gave Ling Mo a pang of empathy. It was his ability that allowed him to have a better chance at survival, and he couldn’t afford to become these monsters’ meal due to a moment’s carelessness.

Ling Mo carefully controlled the Zombie Puppet to approach them. When he got close to one of the zombies, he raised the boning knife.

As the other zombie got distracted by the noise made, Ling Mo charged behind it, stabbing it in the hindbrain with the knife.

Both zombies died almost simultaneously. Ling Mo forcefully pulled out the knife and kicked the body in front of him.

Whenever he had the chance to act, Ling Mo didn’t miss it. While controlling the Zombie Puppet was useful, he needed to have the ability to protect himself.

Moreover, Ling Mo faintly felt that the sense of frenzy inside him was stirred whenever he killed zombies. In the moment he pulled out the knife, he even felt a slight thrill.

“The virus can’t possibly be transmitted through the psychic link… If that were the case, I would’ve mutated long ago… If it’s not the virus, then what is it…”

Ling Mo was very concerned about this subtle change, but he had no leads for now.

However, being able to kill zombies swiftly and cleanly, and getting more skilled at it, was a good thing for Ling Mo.

Before the apocalypse, he was just an ordinary person. The first time he killed a zombie, it was not only a thrilling process but also left him feeling a bit scared and dizzy afterward.

But to survive, he had to improve his combat skills.

Moreover, there was always someone on Ling Mo’s mind. Quickly mastering the control of zombies and gathering as many supplies as possible were all for the purpose of crossing this area to find her…