Waking up.
Hope City saw more than twenty more cases of zombies killing people.
In the apocalypse, the vast Hope City lost people every day, sometimes one or two, sometimes thousands.
Most were killed outside by zombies or exotic beasts, a small number were due to infighting among humans.
With only twenty-odd deaths now, it shouldn't have been a big deal.
But Hope City became a place of unease.
Because in everyone's hearts, Hope City was an absolutely safe place; as long as you returned to the city, you could sleep soundly.
Now, with flesh-eating zombies appearing within the city, the residents felt as if they were back at the beginning of the apocalypse, their nerves tightening once more.
Zhang Cheng rushed over early in the morning and said:
"Shi Lei, rumors are spreading all over the city that you're keeping a zombie as a pet. The deaths in the city are because you're refining corpses. They're also saying that to cultivate a Zombie Emperor, you might need to sacrifice the entire population of Hope City."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Xiaoli immediately retorted angrily, "Are those people brainless pigs? Zombies are no match for anyone. Does Brother Qin still need to refine corpses?"
Qin Shi Lei's mind flashed back to the scene where he met Han Hongyu yesterday.
He thought to himself, "Could that Han Hongyu be so foolish as to frame me in this way?"
An Qian suddenly spoke, "Shi Lei, look at the chat channel. Someone is spreading rumors about you."
Qin Shi Lei opened the regional and national chat channels and found that people were indeed slandering him.
"Breaking news! The City Lord of Hope City is actually a successor of the Corpse Refining Sect."
"Qin Shi Lei's ability to always stay ahead of everyone is precisely because of his identity as a member of the Corpse Refining Sect. He has been refining a Corpse Emperor since the beginning of the apocalypse."
"He was able to quickly advance from the Black Iron realm to the Silver realm only because he possessed a Corpse Emperor Secret Codex."
"Qin Shi Lei's zombie pet has already gained sentience and is currently residing in Hope City, drinking the blood of hundreds of people daily."
"In the future, to allow his pet to advance into a true Zombie Emperor, Qin Shi Lei will definitely sacrifice the entire Hope City. Everyone, flee quickly."
Rumors were constantly being spread on the chat channels.
Because messages on the channel only displayed a numerical ID, making it impossible to identify the sender, those people were so unbridled.
Zhang Xiaoli's expression turned grim, and she said, "Brother Qin, someone posted a set of photos on the chat channel saying that Duan Tianhe is your zombie pet."
The photos included Duan Tianhe without his glasses, as well as photos of Qin Shi Lei and Duan Tianhe walking together.
Qin Shi Lei was already bothered by the matter of advancement, and now with this added trouble, his mood couldn't be any better.
He wished he could tear those rumor-mongers to shreds and electrocute that zombie hiding in the city into charcoal.
Qin Shi Lei said with a cold face, "I'll go see Duan Tianhe."
An Qian and the others said in unison, "We'll go too."
When he reached Duan Tianhe's residential complex, he found it surrounded by a large crowd.
As Qin Shi Lei walked through, the crowd involuntarily parted to the sides, leaving a passage more than a meter wide.
Reaching the center of the crowd, he saw that Duan Tianhe and his girlfriend were being surrounded as they prepared to go out.
"Gentlemen, could you please take off your glasses for us to see?"
"Everyone, be careful, he might suddenly attack."
"He wears glasses all day, it's obvious he's trying to hide his zombie features."
Although the surrounding people were discussing amongst themselves in a clamor, they still hadn't dared to make a move.
Duan Tianhe, upon seeing Qin Shi Lei arrive, exclaimed joyfully, "Boss, you're finally here. I feel like a monkey in a zoo."
Qin Shi Lei scanned the surroundings and said coldly, "Disperse, everyone."
A voice suddenly came from the crowd, "City Lord, are these two really your pets?"
Duan Tianhe retorted, "I'm not anyone's pet. I'm human, the boss's loyal subordinate."
Someone else exclaimed, "What a smart pet! Not only can it talk, but it speaks so fluently. It must be a Zombie King."
Someone chimed in, "It's a shame it has to eat people. Otherwise, having such a smart pet would be very interesting."
Duan Tianhe's veins bulged, and he said furiously, "You're the pets! Your whole family are pets! I am human, do you understand?"
"He must be the zombie that killed people in the city. For everyone's safety, let's all go and kill him."
A wave of clamor suddenly rose from the crowd.
"Finally found you."
Qin Shi Lei instantly teleported to the side of the speaker, grabbed him by the back of the neck, and lifted him up.
"Let me go quickly! We just want to kill the zombie hidden in the city, we're not targeting you. Could it be that this is really your pet, and the people in the city were ordered by him to kill?"
The man shouted while struggling.
"Speak, who instructed you to spread these rumors?" Qin Shi Lei asked coldly.
"What instruction? We only came to denounce this zombie hidden among the crowd for our own safety," the man argued.
"You court death!"
Qin Shi Lei threw him to the ground, drew Bloodlust with a clang.
"He's killing witnesses! The City Lord of Hope City is killing people to cover up his secret of raising zombies!"
Another clamor suddenly erupted from the crowd.
Qin Shi Lei teleported to the source of the voice again, only to find that it was coming from a small speaker on the ground.
The surrounding people quickly dodged away, fearing that Qin Shi Lei would mistake them for the owner of the speaker.
Qin Shi Lei stomped on the small speaker, crushing it, and then turned back to the man he had thrown on the ground.
However, another voice then came from a small speaker in the distance.
"Qin Shi Lei is a descendant of the Corpse Refining Sect. That person is his pet, a Zombie King. Otherwise, why wouldn't he dare to let him take off his glasses for everyone to verify the truth?"
"This is endless!"
Qin Shi Lei summoned Xiao Qiang, leaped onto its back, and then flew into the air, scanning his surroundings, hoping to find the person hiding in the dark.
However, there were too many people around, and the guy was hiding in an unknown corner, making it difficult to find him immediately.
"Defeat the insane Qin Shi Lei! To raise zombies, he actually plans to sacrifice the entire Hope City." The voice kept coming from the small speaker.
Qin Shi Lei waved his hand, sending a bolt of lightning to blast the small speaker.
Stirred by the continuous taunts, the crowd below also began to whisper and discuss.
"Do you think that could really be a Zombie King?"
"It's possible. Otherwise, why wouldn't the City Lord defend himself?"
"Is the City Lord really going to sacrifice the entire Hope City? What about us?"
"We can only run. Do you dare to attack the City Lord?"
"Why don't we all go up and kill such a deranged guy?"
"If you want to die, don't drag us down with you. You want to attack the City Lord? Your death anniversary will be tomorrow."
"That idiot must have only recently arrived in Hope City. He has no foresight."