Chapter 4: The Foraging Plan

Xia Tong held her breath, her glazed, cat-like eyes locked onto the eerie procession of zombies.

The massive figure at the lead radiated an overwhelming sense of oppression, far surpassing any ordinary zombie she had encountered. It cast a shadow over her heart; this was absolutely not a threat she, a First-Order, One-Star entity, could easily provoke.

Its strength likely reached the Second-Order level. She could not afford a head-on confrontation.

Well... a soft approach wouldn't work either.

Just as she was concentrating fully, attempting to discern the purpose of this zombie horde...

"Gurgle..."

A clear, yet dreadfully ill-timed growl erupted, shattering the deathly silence of the ruined street. It wasn't loud, but in such an uncanny environment, it sounded jarringly piercing.

"..." Xia Tong’s body froze instantly.

In that moment, she wished she could just disappear.

Oh, no!

Almost the instant the sound rang out, the dozen or so shambling mutant zombies stopped in unison.

Their hollow, turbid eye sockets, as if receiving a command, whipped around in unison toward the shadowy corner where Xia Tong was hiding!

Being stared at by a dozen lifeless eyes—even knowing they were merely low-level infected—sent a chill of malice down her spine, making the fur on her back stand on end.

What terrified her even more was that even the massive, twisted figure at the front seemed affected. Its heavy footsteps faltered slightly, and its gargantuan head turned slowly, inch by agonizing inch, toward her direction.

"Shh... big guy, don't turn around!"

"This is a disaster!"

Alarm bells rang in Xia Tong’s mind. She could no longer afford to observe; her survival instinct took over.

With a rapid shift in focus, her body transformed into a stream of clear water in a flash. Without a moment's hesitation, she clung to the ground and slid silently along the shadows of the wall, moving at top speed in the direction she had come.

However, the anticipated pursuit did not occur.

The ordinary zombies merely turned their heads toward the source of the noise, "looking" blankly for a few seconds as if confirming something.

But soon, as if they had lost their target, they refocused their attention on the massive leader ahead, resuming their shambling gait and following it forward.

Even the massive, distorted creature only paused briefly before turning its head back and continuing its slow, steady pace, as if the minor episode wasn't worth a moment of its distraction.

Having escaped some distance away and reformed her body behind a broken wall, Xia Tong poked her head out slightly. Seeing this, her glazed cat eyes were filled with confusion.

"...What is going on?" she muttered to herself. "They didn't chase after hearing a noise?"

This completely contradicted everything she had learned at the Academy for Ability Users.

Unless... they were being controlled by a high-order mental-manipulation zombie, and were now "mechanically" executing a "mission."

This was the only explanation Xia Tong could think of; otherwise, it made no sense. Most zombies possessed a near-maniacal obsession with sound and flesh; it was impossible for them to remain still after hearing a noise.

It was too abnormal.

"So, where exactly are they going?"

"And who is 'controlling' them from behind the scenes?"

Xia Tong was filled with doubts, but she forcibly suppressed the urge to follow and find out. Her intuition told her that something truly terrifying lay ahead.

Moreover...

"Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle~~~"

Her stomach growled again, this time louder, accompanied by an intense wave of hunger.

Since yesterday, she had only absorbed two small gray crystals. That bit of energy was a mere drop in the bucket for maintaining her bodily functions and the energy consumption of her abilities.

Besides, she had not yet reached the stage where she could survive on energy alone. That was still a long way off; even in her past life, she had only reached the Fourth-Order, and she still required food to satiate her hunger.

"Forget it. Better to fill my stomach first."

Her life came first. Curiosity could wait until she was stronger.

Having made up her mind, Xia Tong ignored the departing horde of strange zombies, turned around, and slipped into a relatively narrow alleyway nearby.

Her primary goal now was food.

As a cat, hunting the mutated small animals in the wasteland might be feasible, but it was inefficient and the risks were unknown.

Besides, she couldn't bring herself to eat those things. In contrast, the ruins of the human city might hold unexpected surprises.

Thirty years after the apocalypse, these ruined cities still contained edible provisions. Most "wanderers" in the wasteland relied on such things for survival.

Many foods from the Old Era utilized effective preservation technologies, such as canned goods, compressed biscuits, and vacuum-packed jerky...

As long as the packaging remained intact, they were often edible in the wasteland, even well past their so-called "expiration dates."

All she needed to do now was find a place that might store these items, such as a deserted supermarket, a convenience store, or the storage rooms of residential buildings.

Xia Tong walked with light, agile steps, weaving through the outskirts of the urban ruins.

Her form nimbly avoided the scattered rubble and debris, her ears vigilantly capturing every movement, her glazed cat eyes scanning every broken building.

...

In her past life as a "Healer," she had never experienced this kind of hunger. Even when busy, she always had access to energy replenishment fluids or nutritional meals.

But now, she was just a small, mutated stray cat in the wasteland, and she had to fight for everything herself.

Up ahead, a partially collapsed building caught her attention. It appeared to be a small market; the sign was broken and decrepit, but one could vaguely make out blurred letters, and dense vines covered the entire wall.

She turned into a stream of water and slipped through a gap.

"Hope there's something edible inside," Xia Tong thought, suppressing the gnawing hunger as she explored cautiously.

The store was pitch-black, with even the thin sunlight unable to penetrate inside, but that didn't affect her vision as a cat.

However, when Xia Tong's eyes adjusted to the darkness and she saw the scene before her, she couldn't help but pause.

Unlike the chaotic mess of the streets outside, the interior of this small market... was remarkably tidy?

There was no moldy, rotting stench in the air. Although many shelves were empty, there was no miscellaneous debris or rubble on the floor, and even the overturned shelves seemed to have been neatly placed to the side.

"...?" A flicker of confusion crossed her cat eyes.

Tidy? Clean? In this ruined city?

"Unless..." A thought flashed through her mind. "...there are wanderers stationed here!"

Or perhaps, someone had been here recently and stayed for a while?

"Never mind that for now." Xia Tong licked her lips. She needed to eat first.

She reached out a paw and picked out a can of meat.