Apocalyptic Crazy Kitty

Chapter 19: Should I Cook for You Guys?

The appearance of the man and the cat immediately caught the attention of everyone present—and the zombies. What… is going on here? Just as everyone stood there in stunned silence, the Orange Cat darted forward like a streak of orange lightning, lunging at the armored zombie. While still in midair, its hind paws extended slender, bony claws a full meter long, slamming down hard on the zombie’s neck and decapitating it in an instant! “Roar—” The armored zombie, as if facing a formidable enemy, roared and swung both arms to strike the Orange Cat in midair. If that blow had landed squarely, it could have cracked steel plates. But the Orange Cat reached out with its front paw, hooking onto the armored zombie’s left arm. In an instant, it scrambled up the arm to the shoulder, then lashed out with its tail—with a “thud”—stabbing it straight into the zombie’s eye. “Gulp… gulp…” A sound like sucking on jelly echoed through the air. The previously invincible armored zombie froze in place, letting out a growl that gradually faded until it was barely audible; its arm went limp. Then, it actually collapsed to the ground like a corpse! And that orange-yellow shadow leapt out in an instant, like a cluster of deadly light, darting back and forth among the dozen or so remaining zombies. With every landing, a zombie was either beheaded or sliced clean in half! Meanwhile, the human with the head of yellow hair stood nearby, occasionally pulling the trigger to provide supporting fire. A group of humans stood there in a daze, as if in a dream. In just a moment, all the zombies had been wiped out. The Orange Cat landed nearby, standing on two legs like a human, its front paws crossed over its chest. “Roar—” Ma Dong let out a growl and lunged at the Orange Cat. His eyes were bloodshot—the filthy blood that had splashed into them moments ago had already turned him into a zombie! “Thud…” With a soft sound, the Orange Cat’s tail pierced Ma Dong’s Temple of the Sun, killing him instantly before being withdrawn. “Are you bandits from the Four Directions?” the Orange Cat asked in a childlike voice—though to the remaining few, it sounded as if it had come straight from hell. “Beast… beast… beast… Beast King!” one of the bandits stammered, his already trembling legs now on the verge of collapsing to the ground. The only mutated zombie beast capable of speech was the Beast King! Erzi furrowed his brow and said, “The Great King is asking you a question. Are you members of the Wasteland Bandits?” “Y-yes… y-yes… we’re members of the Wasteland Bandits. I’m Bai Biao, captain of the Third Squad. May I ask… who is this… this Beast King?” Bai Biao, the bandit leader, replied immediately. Whether they were the rulers of this neighborhood or man-eating demons, at that moment they all felt like completely harmless little bunnies. Standing before them was the Beast King—a figure reputed to be a walking nuclear bomb! No matter how harmless the Orange Cat might look, they were all scared out of their wits—especially since he’d just taken down that powerful armored zombie in the blink of an eye. By now, Zuo Chen had fully absorbed the mutated abilities of that armored zombie. This particular zombie was arguably the weakest mutated zombie he’d ever encountered—it must have been in the very early stages of mutation, as its armor wasn’t particularly sturdy, and since it overlapped with the Chef Zombie’s defensive bone armor, it wasn’t of much use to him anyway. What actually pleased him were the bandits standing before him—his plan was finally coming to fruition. “Are you guys hungry? Want me to cook something for you?” Orange Cat asked, his star-like eyes wide open. Hungry? Cook? Hearing this, the bandits all widened their eyes in sheer terror. Could it be that the Beast King before them was already hungry and intended to devour them all? They might not fear death, but being eaten alive was far more gruesome than death itself! “No, no, no, Your Majesty the Beast King, we still have many brothers at the base. I’ll take you to see them right now!” Bai Biao said immediately. Brothers, I’m sorry—I have no choice. I really don’t want to be eaten alive by this beast… Zuo Chen paused, realizing the other had misunderstood something. Not bothering to explain, he nodded and said, “All right, take me to your headquarters.” With that, he leaped straight onto Bai Biao’s head. Only then did these bandits realize there was another familiar face outside the door—Xiaohei. They’d assumed Xiaohei had died out there, but never expected him to have been captured by this Beast King. Xiaohei stepped forward to exchange a few pleasantries and delivered even more shocking news. The powerful mutated zombie that had been holed up in the Bihai Grand Hotel had already been killed by the Beast King standing before them… The group didn’t dare say much; they simply led Zuo Chen through several alleys and arrived at the former upscale residential complex, “Jinxiu Community.” After climbing over several hidden doors and barbed wire fences, they emerged in a warehouse within the complex—the very stronghold of the Wasteland Bandits. Seeing that it was Bai Biao and his group returning, the people inside the warehouse didn’t think twice; they simply opened the gate and let them in. There were more than twenty people inside; together with the Wild Bandits, the group totaled over thirty—all of them young men. Upon seeing Bai Biao and the others return, a middle-aged man with a scar across his face smiled and said, “Back so soon? Looks like you’ve made quite a haul—even a live cat. We’ll be having cat meat for dinner tonight.” Bai Biao’s face went pale. He quickly gave the scarred man a discreet nod and respectfully pointed to the Orange Cat perched on his head, saying, “Brother Scar, this… this is His Majesty the Beast King. He said he wanted to meet… the brothers, so I brought him back…” The Beast King! The other bandits present felt the hairs on the back of their necks stand on end, as if they’d been plunged into an ice cellar. That Orange Cat, which looked like a house cat, was a powerful Beast King? Scar’s eye twitched. He suddenly drew the pistol from his waist and fired at Zuo Chen, cursing, “Fuck the Beast King! You’re fucking crazy!” In his view, Bai Biao was clearly trying to seize the leader’s position—that’s why he’d brought back a cat like this to intimidate everyone—and he was likely about to make his move right then and there. “Bang!” A gunshot rang out, and the bullet struck the Orange Cat’s forehead, causing its round head to snap back sharply as it let out a shrill “Meow!” But to everyone’s astonishment, the Orange Cat turned its head back, rubbed its forehead with a paw, and snapped angrily, “That hurts a little, meow!” Scar was taken aback. Just as he was about to fire again, the Orange Cat had already appeared right in front of him, its slender bony claws slashing directly at his neck, severing his arteries and cervical vertebrae! “Thud…” Scar’s head rolled to the side, and his headless body collapsed to the ground. Until his dying breath, he never saw how he met his end. “Pfft! You’re such a bad guy—you’d even go after a kitty!” Zuo Chen stood up on his hind legs, shook the blood off his bony claws, and said, “Obey my orders, you three. If you behave, you’ll get a meal.” “The Great King said, if you obey and behave, we won’t kill you—and if you behave well, you’ll get a meal,” Erzi translated immediately. Looking at Scar’s corpse, the remaining bandits dared not make a move, their faces etched with fear. This was actually a Beast King! However, Zuo Chen’s next words had a very soothing effect. Food? Could there really be such a good deal? “Great King, you… what exactly do you want us to do?” Bai Biao finally steeled himself, gritted his teeth, and asked Zuo Chen. This whole situation was far too bizarre—a powerful Beast King had suddenly appeared, killed their leader, and subdued them, a band of outlaws. Was he planning to become their new leader? But what on earth was his motive? They’d only survived by sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer sheer Could it be that the Orange Cat Beast King intended to keep humans in captivity, treating them as fresh food? He had to get to the bottom of this. “We’ll eat first. Once you’re full, follow me to the Biological Research Institute and wipe out the mutated zombies there. The institute has supplies and guns. Disobey, and you die,” Zuo Chen said. “After we’ve eaten our fill, follow the Great King to the Biological Research Institute to kill the mutated zombies. There’s food and guns inside. Anyone who disobeys will die,” the loyal translator, Erzi, said quickly. Regardless of what these bandits thought, Zuo Chen pulled out a large pot, set it over the fire, and began cooking right there on the spot. Seeing the pot that had appeared out of thin air along with all sorts of ingredients, the bandits felt as if their brains were about to short-circuit; they stood there dumbfounded, drooling. Pork! It was actually frozen pork! But what shocked them even more than the pork were a few large eggplants! Fresh eggplants! Looking at the purple sheen of the eggplants, the bandits felt as if their own eyes were about to glow purple. And when cooking oil, soy sauce, cooking wine, Sichuan peppercorns, scallions, garlic, and other seasonings appeared next, the bandits weren’t sure if they were even awake. Many even pinched themselves hard a few times to make sure they weren’t dreaming. “Swish, swish, swish!” Zuo Chen sliced the eggplants into strips and sprinkled them with a little salt to draw out the moisture. Meanwhile, he had already minced the meat into a paste and marinated it with light soy sauce and cooking wine. He then took a small bowl, filled it halfway with water, and added cornstarch, vinegar, salt, sugar, light soy sauce, and dark soy sauce, stirring it into a sauce. Today he was going to make minced pork with eggplant! Erzi, standing nearby, had already thoughtfully set up the steamer and started steaming rice. All that could be heard around them was the sound of people swallowing—"gulp… gulp… gulp…". These bandits had originally thought of running away, but now not a single one was moving—they all craned their necks to watch the stove, from which a delicious aroma was beginning to waft. They watched as the Orange Cat—the Beast King—magically produced a bucket of peanut oil out of thin air, then poured a generous amount into the pot with a “thud, thud, thud.” “Sizzle!” The marinated eggplants hit the oil and began frying, and the aroma immediately wafted out into the air. The bandits all inhaled deeply, trying to draw as much of the aroma into their stomachs as possible. Zuo Chen skillfully scooped out the fried eggplant, drained off some of the oil, and added scallions, ginger, and garlic to the pan to sauté until fragrant, then stirred in the bean paste. For those starving bandits, it was nothing short of a heavenly aroma! Next, the marinated ground meat was added to the pan, and the rich aroma of the meat burst forth! The fried eggplant was returned to the pan and stir-fried together with the ground meat. Finally, Zuo Chen poured the prepared sauce into the pot, covered it, and let it simmer. The rich flavors of the various sauces blended with the savory aromas of the eggplant and ground meat, and warm steam filled the entire warehouse. Erzi was steaming rice nearby, watching the wok with anticipation while glancing at the bandits around him. They noticed that the guy named Bai Biao was drooling so heavily that a long string of saliva dripped all the way to the floor… and quite a few of the bandits had large wet patches on the front of their shirts… The death of their leader, Scar, seemed to have been quickly forgotten. After all, for these people who had survived in the post-apocalyptic world for so long, life, death, and parting were all too common. Right now, their minds were focused solely on the minced meat and eggplant in the pot! Many of them were already going crazy with hunger; if they were given even a single bite right then, they’d be willing to go out and fight the zombies to the death! Finally, after another stir, the minced pork and eggplant dish was ready!