Chapter 52

Amidst the distant ruins, Suyu had no idea what a profound shock his appearance had just dealt to the two snipers far away. At that moment, he was being held tightly in the arms of a young zombie. Although the muscles on the zombie's face were too stiff to form any expression, anyone witnessing this scene could clearly perceive the tension and utmost care radiating from the creature's entire body.

"Ah... ah..."

The little zombie holding the toddler opened his mouth, trying to say something to him, but the hoarse sounds rattling in his throat only served to demonstrate his helplessness.

Little Suyu had initially been feeling sad because of the silence of this world, but after hearing the zombie's hoarse cries, the little fellow finally raised his head to take a look at his new friend.

With a hint of hesitation, he reached out and touched the little zombie's neck, asking carefully, "...Is your throat hurting? Can't you speak?"

The little zombie finally got a reaction from the "food" in his arms, but he could not provide any meaningful response. As a result, the tiny Zombie King began to feel anxious and frustrated by his inability to reply.

He opened his mouth and kept emitting a "hissing" sound, trying to control his voice and language just like the "food" before him. However, although his body—long since completely zombified—could move freely, there were always subtle areas beyond his control.

Take voice and language, for instance: even after evolving into a Zombie King, he still could not produce various meaningful sounds the way those "food" creatures did.

Though little Suyu could not understand the meaning behind his new friend's hissing, he could perceive the unhappiness hidden within those sounds.

Thus, Suyu reached out with his tiny hand and gently touched the spot at his new friend's throat—

In truth, while this spot would be a dangerously near-fatal vulnerability for a human, it posed almost no threat to a zombie. Yet perhaps because zombies were ultimately transformed from humans, the throat had never been an area the little zombie would allow a human to touch.

No, or rather, no matter which part of his body it was, he would never let a living "food" touch it.

***

Yet now, he was allowing the "food" before him to touch his throat with seemingly powerless little hands, and even couldn't help but let out those meaningless "hissing" sounds again because of the touch.

Only, compared to the previous noises, the little zombie's low growls now clearly lacked their initial anxiety and frustration, and a trace of something resembling pleasure even faintly emerged within them.

However, this sound of gratification had barely lasted for a few seconds before the hoarse roars squeezed from the little zombie's throat once again turned restless and heavily guarded.

At that exact same moment, Wang Jing and his superior Chen Guangshan, who had been stealthily closing in, also realized they had been exposed.

"Damn it, Boss, the scent-masking agent failed—we're still nearly three hundred meters away from that Zombie King, and didn't the big shots at the research institute say it would hold up to at least one hundred meters?!"

Although Wang Jing and Chen Guangshan knew it would be quite difficult for just the two of them to snatch the toddler from the Zombie King's clutches, this C32 sector wasn't too close to their safe zone. They were terrified that by the time they returned to the base to fetch reinforcements, the Zombie King right before them might crush this toddler—who was practically the hope of all humanity—with a single swipe of its claws.

Heaven knows how nervous they had felt all the way as they sneaked to within three hundred meters of the Zombie King. When they saw the toddler actually reaching out to touch the Zombie King's throat, Chen Guangshan and Wang Jing felt like their souls had nearly flown out of their bodies. Yet for reasons unknown, the heart-pounding disasters they had worried about along the way did not happen—the toddler was still alive and well, except that the Zombie King held him as if cradling a doll of about the same height, utterly refusing to let go.

And now, the Zombie King had clearly detected their presence and likely guessed their purpose here. Instead of fleeing or attacking them immediately, it grabbed the toddler tight and struck a posture of taking him away.

"Huh? What is it?"

Suyu naturally noticed his "new friend's" movements and vigilance as well. Turning his head to look back along his "new friend's" line of sight, his pretty, turquoise-green eyes instantly widened: "Oh? People!"

Not long ago, the little one had thought there was no one else left in this world; the overwhelming quietness had reminded him of his former "home."

And now, the two humans suddenly appearing before him were clearly telling him that although this world was quiet, vitality had not yet been extinguished; humans still existed in this world, and other lives remained.

Even though the tiny toddler did not understand such profound logic, he instinctively felt happy to see members of his own kind.

He even waved at the two humans: "Hello there!"

The little toddler looked soft and round, dressed in a pretty and clean little outfit, fair and tender all over, giving the impression that he was very well protected. There was not a trace of gloom or defense in his beautiful turquoise eyes.

Simply...

Simply like the toddlers Chen Guangshan and Wang Jing had seen in the video archives left over from the pre-apocalyptic era—no, the toddler before them was even cuter and more innocent than any toddler they had ever seen.

Wang Jing and Chen Guangshan longed to rush forward immediately and embrace this toddler, pulling him away from the dangerous Zombie King. But the reality was that this adorable toddler was currently encircled in the Zombie King's arms, and the Zombie King was standing right behind the toddler, baring its teeth and glaring fiercely at them. If not for holding the toddler, this Zombie King would likely have already launched a ruthless attack against them.

The reason Chen Guangshan and Wang Jing had appeared in this C32 sector today was actually because they had accepted a reconnaissance mission issued by the base: to observe the five-star dangerous Zombie King residing in this area along with other hazardous creatures nearby—of course, sniping it if the opportunity arose would be best, but such an idealized outcome could only remain an ideal.

They simply had not anticipated that while secretly observing the Zombie King from a distance, they would accidentally discover this living hope for humanity. Consequently, without time for more meticulous preparations, they had acted on a hot-headed impulse and rushed to their current position. And now, looking at the adorable toddler three hundred meters away and the Zombie King behind him, Chen Guangshan and Wang Jing felt a chill running down their spines, caught in a terrible dilemma of whether to advance or retreat.

Suyu still did not understand why the adults who had suddenly appeared had stopped moving. Tilting his head in curiosity, he wanted to wave and greet them again, but suddenly felt his new friend holding him tighter, making it difficult to raise his hand once more.

Looking back at his new friend in puzzlement, the little one saw his new friend holding him expressionlessly while staring fixedly at the two humans three hundred meters away.

If Suyu could read the language of zombies, he probably would have heard a single sentence echoing from the Zombie King's roars:

"Go away! Food is mine!"