Ch 131: TGCIR

The mimicry equipment only lasts for 24 hours, so Li Weilan had to blend into the zombie horde as quickly as possible. Every minute was precious.

The area around the camp had already been mostly cleared of zombies, so Li Weilan had to drive for an hour to get close to the horde. If anyone had seen this, they would have been terrified, thinking zombies had learned to drive! What chance would humanity have then?

After hiding the car, Li Weilan, disguised as a zombie with his head slightly tilted and his eyes vacant, slowly walked into the zombie horde.

Perhaps it was because they hadn’t seen a relatively ‘intact’ zombie like him before, or maybe they sensed his ‘familiarity,’ but two zombies on the outer edge of the horde made guttural noises and squeezed in from either side, sticking close to Li Weilan.

The zombie on the left had only one eye. Its rotting grey eye and nose seemed to be sniffing Li Weilan’s scent.

Other zombies nearby began to slowly gather around.

Shen Cheng’s heart was in her throat.

Although the mimicry equipment was a system item, it was the first time either of them had used it, so they didn’t know how effective it would be. Watching her boyfriend slowly walk into a horde of tens of thousands of zombies, she was extremely worried that one might see through the disguise or notice something unusual. If that happened, there would be nowhere to run.

As the two zombies brought their heads closer, Li Weilan’s throat tightened. He could see maggots crawling in the first zombie’s skull.

Fat maggots wriggled between the bones, flies buzzed around, and with the breeze, a stomach-churning stench filled the air.

Although he was mentally prepared for this mission, the summer heat made the smell of decay even more intense. The putrid odor of unwashed, rotting flesh carried by the wind was overpowering, and Li Weilan’s face gradually turned green.

Shen Cheng saw Li Weilan’s reaction.

She could see the ‘stomach’ icon over Li Weilan’s head, which was swelling and deflating, showing that his nausea had reached its limit.

He even saw his throat convulsing several times, but he forcibly suppressed it.

What was going on?

It was the first time Shen Cheng had seen this icon.

Looking around, she suddenly guessed the cause: it must be because of the nearby zombies!

Pulling the camera back, she saw something and suddenly told Li Weilan, “Hit them!”

“?” Li Weilan was puzzled.

Shen Cheng quickly explained as she noticed his throat convulsing again, “Just don’t use any abilities. Just hit them!”

The zombie that was causing Li Weilan the most discomfort was the one with its head close to his.

Trusting Shen Cheng completely, he chopped at it. The zombie didn’t even react before its hand, which had been resting on Li Weilan’s shoulder, rolled to the ground.

The zombie looked blankly at its severed limb on the ground.

With another chop from Li Weilan, the zombie closest to him, which had been borrowing its position, toppled over. It looked up in confusion but showed no intention of retaliating. Instead, the surrounding zombies, which had been closing in, backed off a bit, and then suddenly, they dispersed to mind their own business.

Shen Cheng saw the stomach icon over Li Weilan’s head fade away and said, “I saw another cluster on the other side earlier. In a zombie horde, strength rules. If you need to hit, just hit. Don’t hold back.”

It was clear to see that zombies were ruthless when dealing with lower-ranked ones. That probing zombie had been thoroughly dismantled without any mercy. Knowing this precedent, Shen Cheng felt confident enough to suggest Li Weilan hit them.

At that moment, the entire zombie horde suddenly raised their heads.

A hoarse “caw,” “caw,” “caw” echoed, and Shen Cheng adjusted her camera to look in the direction all the zombies were facing. A pitch-black crow with silver-grey eyes was flying overhead.

Its feathers were ragged, with some parts already skeletal, but its flight was swift. It circled above the zombie horde, scanning them with its grey eyes, emitting unpleasant sounds. Shen Cheng watched the screen, noticing invisible sound waves radiating outward with each caw.

All the zombies around Li Weilan had their heads raised, listening intently.

Seeing their reaction, it was clear they understood the crow’s message.

Li Weilan, the only fake zombie among them, had to play dumb and remain stiff.

The crow circled for about a minute, then cawed a few more times before flying away.

The zombies on the ground seemed to resume their activities as if someone had pressed a “start” button. Those that had been sniffing around Li Weilan lost interest and regrouped into a circle. A relatively strong zombie jumped into the center before Li Weilan and roared.

What message had that crow delivered?

Li Weilan keenly sensed that he was the only ‘zombie’ here who didn’t understand the language of his kind. Stunned, he saw the zombies turn their attention to him. While he was still processing, the zombie opposite him suddenly lunged at him with a headbutt!

“???” Gross, don’t touch me!

If Li Weilan could shout, he would have said that.

But that zombie was ferocious. Although Li Weilan didn’t have Fu Yanzhou’s cleanliness obsession, he didn’t want to touch the rotting corpse. He dodged the zombie’s aggressive attack with a quick maneuver, causing the zombie to tumble to the ground.

Unexpectedly, it didn’t get up to continue fighting. Given its durability, a fall like that wouldn’t even count as an injury unless its brain was damaged.

It just sat there.

Li Weilan looked around and noticed that several other pairs had similarly resolved their battles quickly.

The victors remained standing, while the defeated sat on the ground.

Li Weilan started to understand something.

Soon, another group finished their duel.

The victorious zombie from the nearby group lunged toward him.

Shen Cheng also realized what was happening—the zombies were not using any abilities or weapons against each other. Instead, they were engaging in what seemed to be almost a playful form of ‘dueling’ to determine a winner.

She felt a twinge of worry. It was unclear what powered the zombies, but they seemed tireless, never feeling fatigue, hunger, or thirst—almost like perpetual motion machines.

But Li Weilan, despite wearing the ‘disguise equipment,’ was still human, with flesh and blood. No matter how good the disguise, he needed food and rest.

Initially, she had only considered the 24-hour time limit, thinking they might find a place to hide and eat. But with these continuous duels testing his endurance, could Lanlan hold up?

Shen Cheng was quite worried, and Li Weilan seemed to realize this as well. He began to conserve his energy consciously.

After discovering that the key to these ‘zombie duels’ was making the opponent’s head touch the ground or ensuring they couldn’t stand up, he started thinking of various ways to disrupt the zombies’ balance. Soon, Shen Cheng saw him effortlessly knocking zombies down left and right.

Each fight ended quickly.

With each victory, Li Weilan gained some rest time. By the time he reached the final match, only he and a slightly frail-looking zombie remained. Shen Cheng realized that if her boyfriend won this last duel, he would be the champion of the event!

Should he win?

This question lingered in Shen Cheng’s mind.

Li Weilan also questioned himself.

If he won, would it attract too much attention and put him in danger?

As these thoughts raced through his mind, the seemingly frail but incredibly fast zombie turned its head and charged at him like lightning. Judging by its nearly phantom-like movements, it was a speed-type mutated zombie.

Against a speed-type zombie, if Li Weilan could use his spatial abilities, he could easily defeat it—whether by spatial slicing or instant teleportation to dodge. But since no zombie had used any special abilities during the brawls, he didn’t dare risk it. He focused all his attention, barely managing to catch the zombie’s trajectory and dodge its deadly claw at the last moment!

That was a close call!

Li Weilan dodged, and Shen Cheng was furious: she wasn’t mistaken, that zombie’s claw had aimed directly at his groin. If that claw had landed, she didn’t even want to think about the consequences.

Li Weilan was also getting angry.

This speed-type zombie was swift as lightning and thunderous in retreat, its movements becoming more erratic, circling around Li Weilan without engaging head-on.

After a few minutes of watching this evasive maneuvering, Shen Cheng noticed that Li Weilan was staying on the defensive, carefully protecting himself but unable to fully utilize his strength. She was worried and began to think: if abilities couldn’t be used, was there any way to help him?

Just as she was about to check the store, the battle in the field suddenly took a sharp turn within a few short seconds.

The zombie had just gotten close to Li Weilan when it let out a yelp and was suddenly pinned to the ground, struggling to lift its limbs, and then fell flat on the ground.

It looked utterly confused about its loss.

While the zombie couldn’t understand what had happened, Shen Cheng saw it clearly and felt relieved: Li Weilan had used a tenfold gravity field. A sudden massive weight had slammed onto the zombie, and how could it possibly lift itself under that pressure?

Li Weilan had controlled it very well, releasing the effect immediately. The zombie, although completely baffled about its loss and feeling quite wronged, couldn’t figure out what had gone wrong with its opponent after staring for a long time.

It had no choice but to scratch its head, baring its teeth as it grudgingly sat on the ground.

Admitting its defeat, Li Weilan instantly became the only ‘standing’ zombie, making him particularly noticeable.

Just as he was wondering what to do next, the entire zombie horde suddenly stood up, their eyes fixed on Li Weilan. Their stomping created a tremor on the ground.

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