Chapter 175.1 – Key (18)

◎ Kill or Relocate? ◎

The sound of the broken dry branches being stepped on was extremely subtle, but the Zombie King’s senses seemed unusually sharp, instantly locking onto Fan Peng’s hiding place.

The piercing howl tore through the night sky, and through night vision goggles, countless living dead rushed towards them. The hills were filled with ghostly green shadows, and the terrifying number was enough to engulf Song Ke and the others in a matter of seconds.

Lu Xiaoyu reacted the fastest. Six mechanical arms rotated and extended, sweeping away the first wave.

“Go!” Song Ke took the lead, Su Cha guarded the rear, and the others swiftly retreated. However, as they turned to run, their footsteps suddenly stopped. The movements of these zombies were incredibly fast, and they had already surrounded them from behind.

No way to retreat!

Duanmu Qiraised both hands, and dozens of thick thorns emerged from the ground, not attacking the horde of zombies from all directions, but instead enveloping the group, forming a huge cocoon, temporarily isolating them from external attacks.

The slender hands and feet of the zombies kept hitting, angrily tearing and pulling. After a while, dents appeared on the surface of the cocoon.

“No, there are too many, Aqi cannot hold them alone!” Xiao Chen roared.

Just as he spoke, bang! A bloody hand reached in, wildly grabbing left and right, quickly digging out a bowl-sized hole. Song Ke looked through the faint crack and locked eyes with the Zombie King on high ground.

“Hey! Can we sit down and talk?” Song Ke’s gaze flickered. Based on past experience, fallen ones had a clear consciousness and could communicate with humans.

“We mean no harm!” Lin Youyou also shouted, “Please, give us a chance!”

The Zombie King stared at Song Ke, standing straight at nearly three meters tall, thin and narrow, like a lonely street lamp. Its eyes were full of vigilance and hostility, completely ignoring their negotiation requests, emitting a few short and sharp screams, making the zombie horde even more restless, desperately destroying the thorns.

“No, there’s no way to communicate.” Song Ke sighed, it seemed that the grudge between this Zombie King and humans was deep.

Bang! Duanmu Qicouldn’t bear the pressure, and the cocoon shattered into pieces. The group was exposed under the night sky.

Song Ke reluctantly drew his sword. “Prepare for battle.”

Xu Xing used his ability while moving around, rolling in the mud several times. His famous brand sunglasses and sun hat were long gone. Seeing Fang Zhixu’s leg being grabbed by a zombie and falling to the ground, he rarely didn’t laugh at him, bravely rushing over and using an ice wall to block the fatal blow.

The obstructed zombie’s facial features twisted together, the expression blurry, emitting hoarse howls from its throat.

“Ahhh—?”

Xu Xing was stunned for a moment, as if guided by some inexplicable force, he inexplicably imitated the zombie’s appearance, making some strange sounds from his throat. Due to the application of his awakened energy, his clear voice echoed in the dim valley for a long time.

Song Ke sensed that something was wrong and quickly turned her head, “Xiao Xing, what are you—”

She wanted to say, “Didn’t you cure your fear of zombies a long time ago? Why are you making such weird noises? And why use awakened energy? Isn’t that more stimulating to the zombies?” But the next moment, the scene in front of her left her completely speechless.

As if a spell of stillness had fallen, all the zombies, as if by agreement, stopped attacking, showing a hint of confusion in their movements.

Xu Xing, with a dirty face, persistently continued to shout at the zombies, “Ah ah ah ow!”

Song Ke: “?”

The horde of zombies suddenly woke up, and once again approached. Several small creatures hid behind, showing their teeth, not fierce, but rather cute.

Xu Xing scratched his head and muttered with lack of confidence, “Did I get it wrong?”

He changed his way of shouting, “Ah! Ah ah!”

Song Ke was baffled.

Lin Youyou and the others also looked at each other. After a moment of realization, they suddenly understood. Could this be… the language of the Fallen?

After all, Xu Xing had mastered the strange communication technique with zombies!

The spacious valley fell into complete silence.

The Zombie King propped itself up with both hands, lightly jumping onto a rock. The strange horde respectfully made way for it, and it landed silently. Slowly approaching Xu Xing, its slender figure cast a long shadow, completely covering the petite Xu Xing.

Duanmu Qi and the other three’s expressions changed dramatically, just about to defend themselves, but Song Ke stopped them.

She gripped her twin blades, her gaze fixed on the Zombie King, wanting to see what it was going to do.

The Zombie King circled Xu Xing, suddenly leaned its head close, and the uneven facial features pressed against him. It gently sniffed, shook its head, lifted its foot to observe for a second round, looking somewhat uncertain.

Xu Xing pressed his hands against the seams of his pants, nervously frozen, and everyone held their breath.

After a few seconds, Xu Xing gathered courage and tentatively repeated, “Ah ah?”

The Zombie King’s hesitant movements abruptly stopped, and then a tearing sound rang out, “Who are you?”

Damn! The zombie can talk!! The expressions on everyone’s faces were diverse, revealing their individual thoughts.

Xu Xing struggled to recall and awkwardly called two more times.

This was what Braided Head taught him before they parted in Haimen. It roughly meant “friend.”

“Have you seen… our kind?” The Zombie King’s every utterance was difficult, with lips barely visible, sounding more like it came from the abdomen.

Xu Xing shook his head first, then hesitated and nodded. Did Braided Head count as one of their kind? But Braided Head looked much better than the zombie in front of him, more human in appearance. However, since they could understand what Braided Head taught him, they should… count?

Explaining the past with Braided Head would be too complicated for Xu Xing, who was just starting to learn “zombie language.” So, he could only switch to human language and enthusiastically recounted the story, using gestures to praise Braided Head and her brother’s “handsome” appearance, particularly the dirty chin.

V587 remained calm, as if this situation was nothing unusual.

“Three Grandsons and One Grandpa” was in shock, and Duanmu Qi’s eyelids twitched. He had almost thought he was on the brink of death just now. He could never have imagined that things would take such a turn, with this kid chatting with zombies. Who would believe it if word got out!

After Xu Xing finished speaking, he looked expectantly at the Zombie King.

“Leave… don’t appear again.” The Zombie King fell silent for a moment, issuing a vague warning. It turned around, uttered a few indistinct sounds, and the surrounding zombie horde shifted, creating a narrow passage.

Including Song Ke, everyone displayed surprise. The Zombie King wasn’t planning to attack? Just letting them go like this?

Under numerous watchful eyes, the group cautiously left the valley.

It wasn’t until they had walked a considerable distance, confirmed that the zombie horde didn’t follow, that Fang Zhixu rubbed Xu Xing’s furry head with a lingering fear, “Stinky kid, not bad, mastering a foreign language.”

“This time, thanks to you, Xiao Xing.” Song Ke also didn’t hesitate to praise.

“Hehe.” Xu Xing proudly straightened his chest.

The group found another open space, set up a campfire, and rested. Song Ke looked at everyone and took the initiative to speak:

“As for whether to continue the commission, let’s vote by raising our hands.”

Xu Xing spoke first, “I object! Ada is not a bad guy!”

Lin Youyou puzzledly exclaimed, “Who is Ada?”

“Ada is the Zombie King,” Xu Xing said matter-of-factly.

“…You’re really casual, giving people nicknames.” Lin Youyou felt speechless. “I also vote against it because of Lin Xiu. I now unconditionally accept the diversity of intelligent species. I can’t treat the fallen ones as just zombies.”

Su Cha glanced at her and succinctly said, “I’m with you.”

Lu Xiaoyu shrugged indifferently, “Abstain.”

Fang Zhixu, having treated his wounds, lowered his pants, “I’m with Xiao Xing.”

V587 had a unanimous opinion. It was just an A-level commission, even if they couldn’t complete it, there were other ways to climb the rankings.

When it came to “Three Grandsons and One Grandpa,” conflicting opinions arose.

Xiao Chen’s tone was low, “I support continuing the commission. Sorry, but the points are too important to us.”

Fan Peng and Qiong Mingcheng expressed, “We’ll listen to Aqi.”

Duanmu Qi looked at Song Ke, “Even if I vote in favor, it won’t change the final result, right?”

Currently, the votes were tied at four to four.

Lu Xiaoyu made a disapproving sound, succumbing to his old habit of disliking losing, “Change my vote, I’m voting against.”

Four to five, this time they won, right?