Apocalyptic Crazy Kitty

Chapter 6: I Think You’re Just Picking on Me, Fat Tiger!

“Meow… so comfy…” Inside the shopping mall, with flickering lights all around, the chubby Orange Cat slumped on the floor, his paws resting on his round belly, letting out a contented purr. The soup pot, which had been brimming just moments ago, was now completely empty—Zuo Chen had licked up every last drop of broth. Although he’d only eaten a normal meal’s worth, it gave him an unprecedented sense of mental satisfaction. This meal felt like it would keep him going for an extra hour. “This shopping mall really is a great place,” Zuo Chen sighed sincerely. By now, he had noticed that, seemingly after devouring the tentacled zombie, he had taken on its scent. The zombies here no longer attacked him proactively; in fact, some even subconsciously avoided him. As he walked toward the horde, many zombies let out low growls and then slowly backed away. Although he didn’t know exactly how these zombies distinguished their own kind, Zuo Chen could clearly sense that the zombie aura emanating from him had grown significantly stronger, and it seemed the other zombies were beginning to accept him. For him, this was truly a good thing. If the zombies truly came to regard him as one of their own, wouldn’t he be able to walk around with his head held high in this world overrun by zombies? With the warmth of the campfire, the contentment of a full stomach, and the zombies keeping their distance, Zuo Chen’s nerves—which had been on edge for so long—finally began to relax. Before long, the sound of snoring filled the air. The plump Orange Cat, curled up with its paws tucked under its belly, had fallen asleep by the campfire, drool trickling from its mouth and pooling on the ground. “Pop!” A spark flew from the nearly burned-out campfire, startling the sleeping Zuo Chen awake. He wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth, stood up straight, and stretched a big yawn, feeling more energetic than ever before. It had been a long time since he’d slept so soundly; now he felt as though his whole body was brimming with strength, just like a little warhammer. How long did I sleep? Hmm, probably two or three hours…… Because he was feeling hungry again. Zuo Chen added some wood to the campfire to stoke it back to life, then poured some water into the pot, preparing to make another pot of soup. But since he was out of instant noodles, he had no choice but to open a few cans and cook up a pot of soup with some vegetables and beef jerky. Although it wasn’t as good as the golden instant noodles from earlier, at least it was piping hot. After finishing his meal, he didn’t rest but began gathering all the food from the entire food area. There was indeed quite a bit of food scattered about here—a huge pile of various canned goods alone, not to mention plenty of candy and other small, sealed snacks. Although many of them had expired, that wasn’t a problem for him right now. It might seem like a lot, but given his appetite, it was barely enough. This food, combined with the fruits and vegetables, would last him about two days. Keep in mind that he now needs to eat once every two hours on average; two days’ worth of food actually amounts to twenty-four meals, which is quite a lot in itself. But there was nothing to be done—he simply had a huge appetite… They say nine out of ten Orange Cats are chubby, but even they don’t eat like this… The Orange Cat stood on its hind legs, propping its chin with its two front paws, lost in deep thought. You can’t live off your reserves forever—even the richest landowner doesn’t have endless supplies. He must keep going out to find food while there’s still enough left. But before that, he had to check out that meteorite crater at Yancheng University! Packing some of the food back into his backpack, Zuo Chen slung it over his shoulder and prepared to set off. Unlike the cautious approach he’d taken when sneaking in, this time Zuo Chen walked straight through the horde of zombies. Sure enough, as soon as the zombies sensed him, they all instinctively stepped aside, clearing a path for him! As he walked forward, he kept his eyes fixed on the zombies’ faces, observing the changes in their expressions. It seemed that the closer the zombies were to the food section, the more they feared him, while the farther out he went, the less afraid they were of him—in fact, they became somewhat agitated. Clearly, the main reason these zombies feared him was the shadow cast by that tentacled zombie. With that thought, Zuo Chen swished his tail; the furry tail instantly elongated, and the bony spike at its tip pierced a zombie’s brain with a “plop.” “Gulp…” The sound of liquid being drawn out echoed as the essence extracted from the zombie flowed down Zuo Chen’s tail and into his body. Boom… Countless memories surged into his mind like a floodgate opening! My name is Sun Peng. I was born into an ordinary white-collar family. I excelled in both academics and conduct from a young age and was always at the top of my class. I had originally planned to attend a university in Beijing, but due to a poor performance on the college entrance exam, I was assigned to Yancheng University. I’d been feeling down ever since—until the biohazard crisis broke out… Although he’d already experienced two memory surges, the simultaneous flood of countless memory fragments was proving too much for Zuo Chen to handle. His chubby face contorted as he struggled to filter out useless memories and extract useful information. In the end, however, he found there was nothing of value, so he had no choice but to block out all the information and completely dissolve and absorb the other person’s brain cells. After doing this, he immediately felt he’d expended a significant amount of energy; nearly half of the large pot of meat soup he’d just drunk had been digested. It seemed that as long as he devoured a zombie’s brain cells, he could acquire its memories and abilities—and this effect even worked on ordinary zombies. But the memories of ordinary zombies were completely useless to him—and could even drive him to schizophrenia. He’d have to be careful using this ability in the future. Still, these tentacle bone spines were incredibly convenient to use. And although the substance extracted from the zombies was disgusting, as long as he blocked the information extraction, it could at least somewhat alleviate his energy loss. If he really had nothing else to eat, he might consider it… Having figured all this out, Zuo Chen walked out of the shopping mall. It was midnight. The weather was absolutely perfect today; in this coastal city, now devoid of human activity, the air quality was always at its best. Moonlight streamed down, illuminating the nighttime world with brilliant clarity. A zombie on the street spotted Zuo Chen and lunged at him, roaring. Clearly, the tentacled zombie’s aura of intimidation was useless once it stepped outside. Zuo Chen swiped his tail, and the spines on the end plunged into the zombie’s head with a “thud,” pulverizing its brain and causing it to collapse on the spot. He then darted into the shadow of a car and crept quietly along the underside of it toward Yancheng University. Although he now had the tail spike as a weapon, if he got caught in a horde of zombies, it would inevitably be a grueling battle, and his life would still be in serious danger. Besides, who knew if there were any abnormally powerful mutant zombies out there? Using the cover of various vehicles and buildings, combined with his silent, stealthy movements, Zuo Chen quickly crossed the street and entered Yancheng University. At that moment, the campus was teeming with zombies wandering about. Many of them were still clutching graduate school entrance exam materials and cell phones—clearly, most were students from Yancheng University. There were even a few zombies—a man and a woman—wandering hand in hand; it seemed they had been a couple before they died. Many of the faces looked familiar to Zuo Chen—after all, they were all his fellow students and alumni. With no time for melancholy, Zuo Chen followed the school’s perimeter wall and soon reached the area near the artificial lake. On a building beside the artificial lake, the words “Humanities Building”—splattered with blood—reflected an eerie glow in the moonlight. In front of the building, where a sculpture should have stood, there was now a massive crater dozens of meters in diameter, filled with rubble and broken walls. Judging by the memories of the tentacled zombie, it must have mutated after falling into this massive pit. Zuo Chen climbed onto the roof of the Humanities Building, looked down at the deep pit from above, and fell into deep thought. He was no stranger to this massive pit; it had been created by a fireball that fell from the sky before the biohazard crisis had even erupted. At the time, the entire sky had been filled with a blinding shower of meteors—this fireball was just one of them. At first, everyone thought it was a meteor shower—some even suspected war had broken out—but they never imagined that, shortly afterward, countless people would turn into zombie monsters. No matter how you looked at it, this was nothing more than an ordinary meteor crater… After staring at it for a moment, Zuo Chen leaped off the rooftop, ready to go inside and take a look for himself. Whatever was inside, judging by the memories of the tentacled zombie, it shouldn’t pose much of a threat. “Meow?” Zuo Chen let out a cautious meow, glancing left and right as he made his way deeper into the massive crater. A few limb-less zombies were still wandering around inside; upon seeing Zuo Chen, they immediately lunged at him, but he dispatched them in just a few swift moves. “Department Chair?” After piercing a zombie’s Temple of the Sun, Zuo Chen looked at its face and couldn’t help but feel a bit surprised. Then he shrugged it off—it didn’t matter who was standing before him. Not here… not here either… Guided by the memories in his mind, Zuo Chen began searching inch by inch. However, the layout inside seemed to have changed again after the tentacled zombies had left, and for a moment, he couldn’t locate the glowing spot he remembered. Suddenly, the Orange Cat froze in its tracks. On a stone wall ahead, a tiny red glowing dot appeared! What… the hell is that…? The entire cat froze in an instant, as if it had turned into a rag doll. His entire body was taut, and an overwhelming urge surged uncontrollably within him. The next instant, the light shifted slightly to the left. The Orange Cat could no longer control himself and lunged toward it. “Meow!” Its soft paw slapped down on the light, but just then, the light shifted again. After landing, the Orange Cat leaped up again and lunged at the light. The light moved again, and the Orange Cat pounced once more! It moved again! Another pounce! It moved! Pounce! Move! Dive! In the blink of an eye, the specks of light had swirled into a chaotic mass, and Zuo Chen had already thrown himself against the stone wall more than a dozen times. The moment he hit the ground again, he snapped back to his senses, seething with rage. What the hell am I doing! Damn those light spots! He whipped his head around to look in the direction the light was coming from and saw a palm-sized metal fragment trapped under a brick, its surface flickering with light—that was the source of the light. Fueled by the anger of being toyed with, Zuo Chen immediately lunged at the metal fragment. I bet you’re doing this on purpose to make things hard for me, Fat Tiger!