Qing County, Xinyuan Plaza.
"I hope to find a live fish and some pickled vegetables. Xiaojie said she wants to eat pickled fish."
Duan Tianhe muttered to himself as he walked towards the supermarket on the first floor.
He wore a pair of big sunglasses, carried a gleaming saber, and had a large backpack.
The pale-faced, ragged zombies around him paid him no mind.
Entering the disheveled supermarket, Duan Tianhe went straight to the seafood section.
Seeing several live grass carp swimming in the fish tank, a long-lost smile appeared on his face. "Great, these fish actually escaped the clutches of the zombies."
He then found canned pickled vegetables and some seasonings on the shelves, and the pickled fish was complete.
Duan Tianhe packed some supplies into his backpack, then returned to the fish display.
He reached out and scooped out a grass carp weighing five to six catties.
He didn't notice that as he was taking out the grass carp, the surrounding zombies twitched their noses and slowly shuffled towards him.
As Duan Tianhe was gutting the grass carp, the surrounding zombies went into a frenzy, roaring and charging.
"Roar!" Duan Tianhe looked up and roared, "Get away from me! Don't disturb me making pickled fish for Xiaojie."
Hearing his roar, the zombies showed expressions of fear and turned to flee into the distance.
However, a hulking zombie, over two meters tall, ran too fast and couldn't stop, ending up within a meter of Duan Tianhe.
Duan Tianhe raised his leg and kicked, sending the zombie flying over ten meters away. He said with disgust, "You stink, don't get too close to me."
After preparing the grass carp, he took several bags and wrapped the fish meat layer by layer, so the fishy smell wouldn't attract zombies on the way.
When he walked out of the supermarket, he found that most of the zombies inside had moved to the plaza outside.
And outside the plaza, a group of colossal elephants were rampaging, slaughtering zombies.
Upon seeing the herd of mammoth elephants, Duan Tianhe's blood heated up. "If I could tame these elephants, Xiaojie would be safe."
As soon as he thought of it, Duan Tianhe immediately walked towards the elephant herd, taking out a Contract Scroll as he went.
"Sir, this is my pet. You should consider carefully whether you still want to tear open that Contract Scroll."
Qin Shilei's stern voice came from behind the elephant herd.
"It has an owner?"
Duan Tianhe froze for a moment, then excitedly looked behind the elephant herd. "You're human?"
"Of course, I'm human," Qin Shilei retorted. "Are you human or a zombie?"
The person opposite him was strange. His attire and way of speaking were very human-like. Yet, a zombie had passed by him without attacking.
"Of course, I'm human too..."
As Duan Tianhe spoke, his tone became subdued, and he became vigilant.
Zhang Xiaoli approached Qin Shilei and whispered, "Brother Qin, do you think he might be an intelligent mutated zombie?"
"Very likely."
After saying that, Qin Shilei teleported to Duan Tianhe's side and threw a punch at him.
"You're really unreasonable," Duan Tianhe said angrily. "What did I do to you? You attack me without a word."
He also clenched his fist and met Qin Shilei's punch.
"Hmph!" Qin Shilei looked at Duan Tianhe, who had only taken half a step back, with some surprise.
Not only could the opponent block his sudden punch, but his strength was only three points weaker than his own.
He became even more suspicious that the opponent was a zombie.
However, to be safe, he still didn't draw his sword, continuing to exert more force, hoping to defeat the opponent with his fists.
Duan Tianhe, who was being pushed back, raised his long saber in anger.
Just then, a vine silently wrapped around his feet, instantly binding him like a zongzi.
Qin Shilei seized the opportunity and punched Duan Tianhe's wrist, sending his saber flying.
Then, Duan Tianhe's momentum surged, and a ball of black flame erupted from his body, instantly burning through the vines binding him.
Just as he was about to use his flames to turn Qin Shilei to ashes, he felt a chill on his neck. A blood-red long sword was already at his throat.
"You despicable cowards!" Duan Tianhe cursed. "You're ganging up on me."
"Heh." Qin Shilei reached out and took off the man's glasses. "There's no need for honor when dealing with zombies."
Beneath the sunglasses, his eyes were blood-red, clearly indicating an intelligent zombie.
With a thought, he intended to swing his Blood Soul and sever the opponent's head.
"Wait," Duan Tianhe quickly called out. "I really am human."
"Who are you kidding?" Qin Shilei sneered. "Then what's with your eyes? Don't tell me you just have conjunctivitis. And why don't the zombies attack you?"
"I..." Duan Tianhe tried to explain, "I was just bitten by a zombie and mutated. Or you can think of me as a human who perfectly evolved after being infected by a virus, like in the movies."
"Alice?" Qin Shilei hesitated.
"What Alice?" Zhang Xiaoli said. "Brother Qin, this is clearly a rather intelligent zombie. It's safer to kill it."
"Why should you kill me?" Duan Tianhe said angrily. "I've never killed a human. Apart from my red eyes, how am I different from a human?"
"You really haven't eaten people or drunk blood?" Qin Shilei asked with a frown.
If the opponent truly hadn't killed anyone, it would be difficult for him to kill him with a single sword.
"Of course. Although I did have bloodlust at the beginning, I endured it with all my might for fear of displeasing my girlfriend." Duan Tianhe said sincerely.
"Your girlfriend, is she human or was she bitten by a zombie like you?" Qin Shilei asked again.
"A genuine human," Duan Tianhe replied affirmatively.
Qin Shilei was momentarily unsure how to deal with this mutated zombie.
The opponent's strength was at least around Silver Rank 2 or 3, and this place was only a hundred kilometers from Hope City. If he let the opponent live, it would be a hidden danger to Hope City.
Qin Shilei asked again, "Can you control the zombies in the city?"
"I can control them, but Xiaojie dislikes zombies, so I rarely control them," Duan Tianhe explained.
"How many can you control?"
"A thousand or two, I haven't tried more."
"Take me to see your girlfriend. If she is truly human as you say, and you haven't killed anyone, I will let you go."
"Okay."
Duan Tianhe quickly led Qin Shilei to find his girlfriend, Yang Jie, a very delicate girl.
Qin Shilei thought for a moment and said, "You help me lure the zombies. Once all the zombies in Qing County are cleared out, I will let you go."
He ultimately decided to let the man go.
He also wanted to see what kind of evolution this mutated zombie would undergo.