Chapter 53

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Chen Guangshan and Wang Jing stood frozen, staring at the zombie king before them, whose fierce protective stance radiated a powerful aura of resistance. The oppressive pressure emanating from the zombie king was so intense that both men felt sweat soak their backs. Neither Chen Guangshan nor Wang Jing had ever faced the zombie king up close like this.

In this apocalyptic dimension, although surviving humans had gradually evolved supernatural abilities, no one had yet emerged who could confront a zombie king head-on—otherwise, Chen Guangshan and Wang Jing would not need to hide at a distance, trying to snipe and observe the zombie king. Now, standing about three hundred meters away, neither of them had believed it possible to face the zombie king at such close range and still survive.

Their rational minds urged them to retreat immediately—while the zombie king clung possessively to its offspring, they should quickly leave this perilous area, return to their base, and report the discovery of the human infant. Then, the higher-ups at the base could devise a plan to rescue the young one.

But looking at the infant before them, they found themselves unable to leave so abruptly. Though the zombie king unexpectedly seemed to regard the infant as its own possession and showed no immediate intent to harm it, who could guarantee the child's absolute safety?

After all, zombies lacked reason; to them, humans were mere food.

The zombie king was holding back its hunger now, but what about later?

Chen Guangshan and Wang Jing gazed at the infant and zombie king three hundred meters away. Should they stay or leave?

This complex dilemma left them momentarily paralyzed.

***

In the virtual broadcast room of the main universe’s “Ultra Soldier King Battle Royale,” both host Green-Skinned Macamaca and the spirit forms in the audience were screaming silently inside—

“Oh no, that terrifying zombie! Hurry, get away from the infant!”

“Isn’t anyone going to intervene? That’s a zombie!”

“This is too scary. Where is the Universal Infant Protection Association? Weren’t they just here? Didn’t you see the infant is in a dimension that might harbor the zombie virus?!”

The spirit audience in the main broadcast room tried to maintain some composure and dignity. Though they were screaming inside, as the broadcast progressed, they noticed the infant seemed safe for the moment.

Still…

This was a post-apocalyptic dimension infected with the zombie virus.

A terrifying virus capable of spreading into the main universe!

Had the Black Universe Group gone mad? They actually sent an infant into such a dimension. What were they thinking?!

In truth, the directors of the Black Universe Group’s Variety Department were also losing their minds—

“A post-apocalyptic dimension? I don’t recall our database having any record of that!”

“Where’s the AI? Didn’t we screen the database thoroughly before the show started? Keywords like apocalypse, zombies, virus were all repeatedly filtered. For the safety of sub-universe dimensions, we emphasized repeatedly that no dangerous dimensions were to be activated before the show.”

“So why is Candidate Soldier King 001 appearing in this post-apocalyptic zombie virus dimension?!”

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The variety show directors were all increasingly frustrated. Though their quarrels were loud, they knew their arguments were futile.

Even in the era of the great cosmos, they were just sorrowful wage slaves. Their pretentious bickering seemed like a performance of “This is none of my business.”

In fact, everyone present knew perfectly well this truly was none of their concern—according to the Black Universe Group’s hierarchical directives and the variety show’s AI control protocols, even if they wanted to activate the apocalypse dimension transmission qualification, they did not have the authority.

From their perspective, the other surviving soldier king candidates were currently in a challenge dimension completely different from Candidate 001’s.

Candidate 001’s sudden appearance in this zombie virus-ridden post-apocalyptic dimension after a long data blackout could not have been caused by any of the others—only the all-knowing brain entity, Saint Hilberg, who held the highest authority in the Black Universe Group, could have done this.

Though they did not understand why Saint Hilberg had made such a decision, Saint Hilberg surely had reasons. Meanwhile, these sorrowful wage slaves had only one task now: argue and shift blame more vigorously.

After all, Saint Hilberg’s decision remained a secret, and with the Universal Infant Protection Association nearly enraged, if these variety show directors did not quickly pass the blame, they might soon become the next targets of those fanatics!

***

Chaos continued in the main universe, while the infant trapped in the unknown post-apocalyptic dimension remained completely unaware of the turmoil outside.

The little one had just joyfully waved at the two humans in the distance, but his new friend held him tight, preventing him from approaching further to greet them.

Su You felt the two adults in the distance appeared very tense, as if there were monsters nearby.

The tiny child tilted his head in confusion, looking between the two adults and then behind him—but there was nothing there except him and his new friend.

When the little one turned back, he felt his friend was holding him a bit too tightly. So he reached out, gently grasped his friend’s hand, and softly asked with wide eyes, “Hello, could you hold me a little more gently? You’re squeezing too tightly, it hurts a bit.”

Nearby, Chen Guangshan and Wang Jing, who had been struggling under the zombie king’s oppressive aura just moments ago, suddenly heard this soft, gentle question carried on the wind.

It wasn’t that their hearing was extraordinary; their base had equipped them with special sound wave detectors for the mission. These devices could effectively capture human voices, zombie roars, and most mutated creatures’ sound waves within one kilometer, helping them carry out their exploration better.

Now, the special detector had successfully picked up a one-sided conversation between the infant and the zombie king—though the zombie king, of course, could not understand human speech.

Upon hearing the infant’s words, Chen Guangshan and Wang Jing’s anxiety intensified.

Was the zombie king suddenly squeezing the infant harder?

Why was the zombie king doing this?

Was it planning to harm the infant?

A cascade of dire possibilities raced through their minds. Both men braced themselves to risk their lives, resist the zombie king’s mental pressure, and seize the infant.

Then, the next second, the detector transmitted a sweet “Thank you.”

Chen Guangshan: ?

Wang Jing: ??

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Thank you?

Thank you for what?

The two men were dumbfounded for a full two seconds before realizing—the infant’s previous words asked the zombie king to loosen its grip. So that “thank you” must mean the zombie king… actually loosened its hold?!

No way.

Really?!

Their minds exploded in disbelief. After taking several deep breaths and seeing from afar that although the zombie king still appeared agitated, it had indeed released the infant, Chen Guangshan and Wang Jing exchanged a glance. Without hesitation any longer, they turned and sprinted madly toward the base.

Though they did not understand why, it seemed this infant was not only safe from being eaten by the zombie king but was even treasured by it. Given that, trying to snatch the infant away here was pure fantasy—and might provoke the zombie king’s fury. Instead of lingering and risking stirring it up, they decided to withdraw quickly and report back to the base, letting others think of a rescue plan.

However…

Before fully retreating, after running about five hundred meters back, Chen Guangshan suddenly stopped.

Wang Jing was startled, asking, “Boss, what are you doing?”

Chen Guangshan said nothing but quickly took from his backpack the food and water supplies issued by the base and placed them carefully on the clean ground.

Wang Jing immediately understood, slapping his forehead, “What was I thinking!”

They had just observed the surroundings. There was no way to find food nearby, and the infant certainly had none.

If they did not leave some proper human food, what if the infant, hungry and desperate, ate something and became infected, turning into a zombie…

Just thinking of this possibility made Wang Jing hurriedly unzip his backpack and frantically pull out food and drinking water. When that wasn’t enough, the two men stacked all the supplies together and finished packing quickly. Then, they shouted loudly toward the infant’s direction—

“You You, here’s some food!”

After shouting, Chen Guangshan and Wang Jing wasted no time and dashed toward their parked vehicle.

In the apocalypse, making noise in dangerous zones was the worst taboo. If it weren’t for the infant, these two seasoned survivors would never have taken such a risky action.

Yet now, not only had they emptied their food and water supplies, but to ensure the infant noticed, they even called out loudly…

It was madness. But for the sake of humanity’s last hope surviving—everything was worth it!