The First Follower

"Bone armor!"

The boy leader was horrified as three zombies circled around him so he promptly utilized his special ability. White bone spurs about two inches long packed tightly all over him immediately protruded from the surface of his skin and tore his pores apart as bright red blood seeped from the wounds made by the bone spurs. 

His body was encased in intimidating bone spurs in a blink of eyes like an angry porcupine!

The three zombies growled in ecstasy and lunged at him without any hesitation, sinking their teeth into him despite the bone spurs stabbing them. They let the protrusion happen as they felt no pain and continued chowing down at the flesh under the bone spurs.

Soon enough, skin and flesh were wrenched from the boy as his blood pooled on the floor.

"No, Yu, we can kill him together, noo…" the boy leader moaned in affliction as he rolled about the room.

The girl dressed in black gown glanced at him derisively before she approached Lin Chao and rubbed her barely grown chest against Lin Chao's arm, speaking softly, "You can see my sincerity now, right?"

"What sincerity?" Lin Chao asked as he tilted his head to look at her.

The girl was taken aback with dread sitting at the pit of her stomach. "I listened to you and killed him. I told you... I'll do anything you want me to, as long as you let me go."

"Do you think I'm testing you? I just didn't want to move a muscle. Killing humans should be a breeze to a zombie like you. Even if it didn't happen here today, you'd still kill him and eat his flesh and blood when you mature," Lin Chao replied indifferently.

"You…" The girl was upset, feeling that she was tricked.

"Don't worry. I won't kill you. You're still useful to me." Lin Chao continued. He thought that it would be an immense pity if he were to kill a Zombie Whisperer just like this when it was so difficult to come across one of them. They were dictatorial creatures later during the apocalypse and would be a great help to him if he had cultivated the creature well.

Of course, the only risk was that it could retaliate anytime!

Nevertheless, it was a worthy attempt in comparison to the advantages it would bring. Early-stage Zombie Whisperers were not aggressive as they depended largely on the zombies they controlled. As long as they did not have access to a large number of special zombies, it would pose no threat to Lin Chao.

When it fully matured and a Loyalty Treaty from Ancient Babylon was acquired, it could be completely manipulated into total submission!

The black gowned girl's eyes shone when she heard Lin Chao's words. "What do you want me to do?"

"Obey me," Lin Chao stated calmly, "I can grant you a certain extent of freedom but you must follow two rules. One — obey my orders. You mustn't defy anything! Two — you must make sure everything you do prioritizes me."

"No problem," the girl promised without thinking.

She had expected this since the beginning. She believed that people would try their best to tame her and use her ability to rule the world.

Hmph, as long as we get nice delicious humans, my babies will evolve quickly. I can kill you easily with another evolution. Enslave me? How naïve! The girl smirked inwardly.

The conversation ended with both of them entertaining their own thoughts.

Pressed to the floor and masticated to a bloodied mass by the zombies, the boy leader roared in agony when he heard the girl, "Yu! Why are you doing this to me – why!"

The girl squatted down and glared at his bleeding face contemptuously. "Why? Don't you understand? I'm not the Fan Xiangyu you know. That weak pathetic girl died during the pandemic. I'm the new consciousness birthed from her brain. Although I've absorbed parts of her memory, the girl's hypocritical personality is revolting. If it weren't for your special ability, I'd have eaten you from the start!"

The boy was stumped.

"F-fan Xiangyu died…" His mind was buzzing, the words an echo that ricocheted inside.

When a zombie's claws dug into his internal organ, the violent pain threw him out of his trance. He glowered at the girl after an angry roar, "I wish upon you a horrible death!"

The girl only snickered.

The three zombies devoured the boy's throat, heart, and other parts swiftly. Although the boy had defended most of himself using the bone armor, the massive loss of blood and lethal injuries still tormented him to death.

His bone armor retained its appearance after his death as he was quickly chowed down to a frame of his former self. If someone had come across this frame, they would never have assumed that it belonged to a human for it looked more animal than man.

Lin Chao watched the girl control the three zombies quietly as they nibbled every inch of the boy's flesh before asking out of the blue, "How long till their next evolution?"

"Soon, a few more humans will do…" the black-dressed girl subconsciously answered and halted herself midsentence. She turned around and smiled weakly with her pale face, saying, "Do-on't worry. I'm utmost loyal to you!"

Without showing an expression, Lin Chao asked, "How many zombies can you control at most? Normal ones, I mean."

"Zombies – these monsters? About ten normal ones. Probably three for those that evolved and have special abilities. That's why I'm training these three," Fan Xiangyu replied cautiously.

"How weak." Lin Chao frowned.

Ten normal zombies were not exactly useful to him as he could easily kill them while the three special zombies could possibly be of some help despite not being that much of an upgrade.

Fan Xiangyu almost choked on her rage.

Weak?

She could easily wipe out an assembly site of over a hundred people with ten controlled zombies! The zombies that she manipulated had totally different combat abilities from those that were not controlled, those that were left only with their instincts. Hers could jump and avoid things, so a gun was nothing to be afraid of as well.

After all, no one could shoot their target's head precisely, especially when it moved quickly!

Weak?

She fumed silently but did not show even a hint of her anger. In fact, she had withheld the truth. She could manipulate twenty normal zombies and at least five special zombies. Hearing what Lin Chao said, she thought quickly and feigned unease as she believed Lin Chao would definitely think she was being honest when he saw an expression like this.

I'll eat you for sure when my babies evolve!

Fan Xiangyu was secretly pleased with herself. Picturing the shock and hopelessness on Lin Chao when he saw how powerful she would be, a small gradient could be seen from the corners of her lips.

Lin Chao glanced at her and said, "Let's go. You're not allowed to feed on mankind without my permission in the future."

Fan Xiangyu tensed. "Then what do we eat?"

"Rice," Lin Chao answered unperturbed.

Fan Xiangyu nearly bit her tongue.

Rice? You're asking zombies to eat rice?