"Chapter 001: Advanced Zombie"

"Zhang Qian, why must you leave me? Why must you divorce me?"

"Because I can't endure this any longer. I've had enough of this slum, this filthy food, and of you!"

"Am I not working tirelessly every day, from dawn until dusk, to support you and our beloved daughter?"

"And what of it? Your so-called job is nothing more than menial labor at a blacksmith's shop, barely earning enough to buy basic food, let alone give us a chance to escape this wretched slum and move to the affluent district. Do you expect me and Xiaoguo to suffer alongside you for a lifetime? Young Master Liu has offered me a chance to leave this place and live a life of luxury in Zhuque City. I've decided to take Xiaoguo and leave with him."

"No—you can leave, I won't stop you. I've always known you never truly loved me, but you can't take my precious daughter away!"

Chen Ning let out a roar, lunging towards his wife, desperate to reclaim his daughter, who was clinging to her mother's hand.

But just as he moved towards Zhang Qian, the decrepit door of the house was violently kicked open, and several warriors in black uniforms streamed in. Though there were only a few, each had a cold, menacing demeanor, exuding a palpable air of violence. Their armbands bore the image of a battle axe, with the letters "LIU" beneath it. The residents of the slums knew this emblem well—it was the crest of the Liu family's merchant caravan.

After the guards entered, a handsome young man with slicked-back hair, dressed in a white shirt, black trousers, and polished boots, followed suit.

Chen Ning stared in shock at this nobleman, recognizing him as Young Master Liu Ming from Zhuque City's affluent district.

Holding a white handkerchief, Liu Ming instinctively covered his nose as he caught a whiff of the room's foul stench. He glanced briefly at Chen Ning, then disregarded him entirely, turning his gaze to Zhang Qian, who was beautiful despite her worn and dirty clothes. His eyes roved shamelessly over her curvaceous figure before he calmly spoke, "Miss Zhang Qian, my caravan is ready to depart. Have you considered my proposal from last night?"

Zhang Qian looked at the elegantly dressed, distinguished Liu Ming with a burning gaze, without a trace of hesitation. "I'll go with you, but I have one small request."

Liu Ming frowned slightly. "Let's hear it."

Though Zhang Qian was plain-faced and poorly dressed, Liu Ming, with his keen eye, could tell she was a rare beauty. A bit of grooming would transform her into a stunning woman. In these apocalyptic times, especially in a lawless place like the slums, Liu Ming could easily have forced Zhang Qian to come with him without facing any consequences.

But Liu Ming preferred women to come to him willingly. Force was only a last resort when persuasion failed.

Thus, he had revealed his identity as the third son of the prestigious Liu family in Zhuque City, offering Zhang Qian a life of luxury if she would join him.

After the global outbreak of the zombie virus centuries ago, many towns and cities fell, turning into slums, while the wealthy erected high walls and electric fences around large cities, creating affluent districts.

Living in these affluent districts was the dream of most slum dwellers, but the harsh reality was that 95% of them would never get the chance, no matter how hard they worked. They would toil in the slums their whole lives, endlessly supplying resources to the wealthy, who regarded them as nothing more than beasts of burden.

As if the grinding poverty weren't enough, the threat of zombie attacks loomed constantly over the slums, which had little in the way of defenses. A few stray zombies were manageable, but a horde of thousands could easily overwhelm and destroy a slum.

Zhang Qian had initially married Chen Ning because she had no other choice. A woman alone couldn't survive in the slums during these desperate times.

But when Liu Ming appeared and offered to take her to the affluent district, she was tempted.

After a night of contemplation, she decided to confront Chen Ning and tell him she was leaving him and taking their three-year-old daughter, Xiaoguo, to Zhuque City with Liu Ming.

Zhang Qian made her demand. "Young Master Liu, I will go with you and be your woman, but I want to bring my daughter, Xiaoguo, with us to Zhuque City."

Liu Ming glanced at the timid three-year-old girl holding Zhang Qian's hand. Though her face was dirty, her features hinted at the stunning beauty she would one day become. Liu Ming's lips curled into a slight smile. "Fine, let's go."

"Thank you, Young Master Liu!"

Zhang Qian, pulling her daughter Xiaoguo, was ready to leave without a backward glance at the filthy, dilapidated home or her husband, Chen Ning.

Chen Ning, who had been too intimidated by Liu Ming and his men to act, was horrified to see Zhang Qian taking his daughter away. His face contorted with rage, and he could no longer contain himself. He growled through gritted teeth, "You go, but you can't take my daughter with you!"

"Daddy—"

Xiaoguo, though too young to understand what was happening, sensed something was wrong. She adored her father, who had always doted on her, even more than her mother. Now, frightened by his outburst, she cried out for him, trying to break free from Zhang Qian's grasp.

But Zhang Qian held her daughter's hand tightly, refusing to let her go.

Chen Ning knew his wife had never truly loved him, but his daughter meant everything to him. She was the reason he had kept going in this wretched world. Seeing Zhang Qian holding onto Xiaoguo, he was furious and desperate to reclaim her.

But as he lunged at Zhang Qian, one of Liu Ming's guards, a burly man with a scruffy beard, stepped in front of him. Before Chen Ning could react, the guard delivered a powerful kick to his chest, sending him flying backward and crashing into an old, broken table.

Xiaoguo screamed when she saw her father being attacked, crying hysterically, but Zhang Qian's face remained cold as she held her daughter's hand tightly.

Chen Ning felt as if his bones had been shattered by the kick, his chest throbbing with pain as if struck by a sledgehammer. Struggling to his feet, he coughed up a mouthful of blood and clutched his chest. His defiant gaze locked onto Liu Ming and Zhang Qian as he staggered forward once more, gritting his teeth. "Give me back my daughter!"

The bearded guard was surprised to see Chen Ning still standing after such a blow. He was both impressed by the man's resilience and angered by his persistence. Fearing that Liu Ming might think him incompetent, he decided to end this quickly.

With a deadly glint in his eye, he reached for the shotgun at his waist—a weapon meant for close combat with zombies or bandits in the wilderness—but now he intended to use it to finish off Chen Ning.

Zhang Qian noticed the guard's hand on the shotgun and quickly spoke up. "Don't kill him."

But the guard ignored her. He only took orders from Liu Ming.

Zhang Qian turned to Liu Ming, pleading, "Please, don't kill him. I don't want my daughter to be traumatized by seeing her father murdered in front of her."

By this time, Chen Ning was rushing forward with reckless abandon. The guard drew his shotgun, the dark barrel aimed squarely at Chen Ning.

But before he could pull the trigger, Liu Ming spoke. "Liu Lei, leave him alive."

The guard, Liu Lei, hesitated for a moment but then swung the shotgun's stock at Chen Ning's head with brutal force.

With a sickening thud, blood splattered from Chen Ning's face, and he crumpled to the ground.

Chen Ning lay in a pool of his own blood, his vision fading. Yet his eyes remained fixed on his daughter, his voice hoarse as he gasped, "Give her back to me... give me back my daughter..."

Liu Ming glanced at his ornate pocket watch and said indifferently, "We've wasted enough time here. Let's go."

Zhang Qian picked up her wailing daughter and followed Liu Ming and his men out of the house.

"No... don't take my daughter..."

Chen Ning tried to get up and chase after them, but his injuries were too severe. Overcome by pain and despair, he blacked out.

When he regained consciousness, he found himself lying in bed, an old man dressed in rags standing over him. "Chen Ning, you're awake. I thought you weren't going to make it!"

The old man was Chen Ning's neighbor, Zhao Xing, who worked with him at the Bull Blacksmith Shop in the slums of Heishui Town. Zhao Xing was a crafty old man, but he had always been on good terms with Chen Ning.

It was Zhao Xing who had found Chen Ning and brought him home, saving his life.

Chen Ning struggled to sit up and grabbed Zhao Xing's hand, asking urgently, "Old Zhao, where are my wife and daughter?"

Zhao Xing looked at Chen Ning with pity and sighed. "Chen Ning, Zhang Qian took your daughter and left with Young Master Liu's caravan. I've known for a long time, though I never had the heart to tell you, that she wasn't the type to endure a hard life.

Chen Ning heard that Zhang Qian had already left with their daughter to live the life she had always dreamed of in the big city of Zhuque. He couldn't help but feel a wave of despair and hopelessness, and he lay back down, powerless.

Old Chen brought over a bowl of wild vegetable soup with a few drops of oil floating on the surface and placed it by Chen Ning's bedside. He said, "Chen Ning, even though your wife and daughter are gone, you still have to keep living. What else can we do in this mocking world besides trying our best to survive? Drink this bowl of soup. You've been unconscious for two days and haven't gone to work at the blacksmith shop. The boss, Tian Li Niu, is already angry. He said if you don't show up at work tomorrow, you don't need to come back at all. You understand, if you lose this job, you'll starve to death."

Seeing that Chen Ning seemed somewhat disheartened, Old Chen's eyes shifted, and he added, "If you die, you'll never see your daughter again. But as long as you're alive, there's a chance you could go to Zhuque City and see her again!"

Hearing this, Chen Ning suddenly opened his eyes. The despair in his gaze was replaced with a glimmer of hope.

That's right, as long as he stayed alive, there was a chance to see his daughter again, a chance to win her back!

Chen Ning struggled to sit up without hesitation, grabbed the bowl of wild vegetable soup, and gulped it down hurriedly. He drank so fast that he choked, bringing tears to his eyes.

The next day, Chen Ning returned to the only blacksmith shop in Heishui Town, the Bull Blacksmith Shop.

Tian Li Niu, the owner, was a bald, middle-aged man weighing over 200 pounds, and he was considered a person of some status in Heishui Town.

He had dozens of workers under him, and his blacksmith shop primarily forged common swords and weapons. Of course, they also took on side jobs, like repairing firearms. While they weren't equipped to handle complex firearm repairs, they could certainly manage issues like fixing damaged wooden rifle stocks.

Every day, before the workers began their tasks, Tian Li Niu liked to give them a pep talk. This morning, he spotted Chen Ning among the workers and sneered, "Chen Ning, I thought you weren't coming back to work here. You skipped two days, so I'll be docking half a month's pay from you this month. No objections, right?"

The people around looked at Chen Ning with pity. Tian Li Niu was notorious for being stingy, always finding various reasons to dock his workers' pay. Chen Ning, having missed two days of work, was unlucky to lose half a month's wages.

Chen Ning bit his lip and quietly said he had no objections, but his heart sank. It wasn't the loss of half a month's wages that troubled him; it was the sudden realization that even if he worked tirelessly in this slum blacksmith shop for his entire life, he would never save enough money to go to the wealthy district to see his daughter, let alone challenge the Liu family in Zhuque City and win her back.

He knew he had to make a change!

Just as Chen Ning was thinking this, a deafening explosion suddenly erupted outside, causing the very ground to tremble.

Everyone's expressions changed, and they began to ask in alarm, "What happened? Where did that explosion come from? Could it be a zombie horde attacking Heishui Town?"

Chen Ning, along with Tian Li Niu and the others, rushed out of the blacksmith shop in confusion and fear, only to discover that the makeshift gate used to defend the town against zombie invasions had been blown open with explosives. Several military trucks rumbled into the town, followed by a large cargo truck. Welded onto the cargo truck was an iron cage, and inside the cage was a terrifyingly massive zombie, standing over two meters tall, bound in iron chains.

Behind the truck carrying the zombie were several more military trucks, each packed with soldiers—soldiers from the Southern Province of the Huaxia Empire.

It turned out that these arrogant imperial soldiers, frustrated by the town's gate not being opened promptly, had simply blown it apart.

Standing next to Chen Ning, Tian Li Niu, who was well-informed and experienced, couldn't help but exclaim in shock when he saw the zombie inside the iron cage on the truck: "My God, that's a Level Four zombie, a Predator!"

Chen Ning was startled by Tian Li Niu's words and took a closer look at the imposing zombie in the iron cage on the truck. The zombie had a rotting head and a greenish hue all over its body, but its muscles appeared exceptionally robust, especially its arms, which looked disproportionately thick compared to the rest of its body.

Chen Ning had heard that zombies could evolve and that there were different levels of zombies. The lowest level was the ordinary Level One zombie—slow-moving, unresponsive, and with strength comparable to that of a normal person, depending on individual differences.

The second level of zombies is called a "Zombie." Evolved from Level One zombies, these creatures have stiff muscles and are extremely powerful, with strength twice that of a normal person, though their movement is somewhat slow.

The third level is the "Attacker," evolved from ordinary zombies. They have similar strength to humans but move much faster, making them more terrifying and more lethal than Zombies.

The fourth level is the "Predator," like the one in front of them. This type combines the brute strength of a Zombie with the speed of an Attacker, making it a terrifying mix of power and speed. Predators are considered high-level zombies, relatively rare, and are a significant threat even to regular imperial soldiers.

Above the Predator are even more formidable zombies, such as the Level Five Hellhound Zombie. These zombies have significantly diverged from human form, displaying clear beast-like traits. They attack with sharp claws and teeth.

The Level Six Frieza Zombie evolves from the Hellhound Zombie and is a hybrid of human and beast traits. It possesses a strong tail and a certain level of intelligence, allowing it to gather wandering zombies into small groups.

The Level Seven Titan Zombie is typically formed from a mass of fused corpses. It stands over three meters tall and weighs more than a ton. Lacking a head but covered in numerous eyes, it has an enormous body and unmatched strength, capable of destroying ordinary city walls and other defensive structures.

In reality, there are even higher-level zombies, but the ordinary people in the slums, like Chen Ning, are unaware of them.

The imperial army present here is clearly elite, and it's likely that their mission is to capture high-level zombies for scientific research. Humans need to continuously study these advanced zombies to understand them better, which is essential for developing effective combat strategies and potentially eradicating them completely.

Once the military trucks and the cargo truck carrying the Predator Zombie entered Heishui Town, they came to a halt.

The door of the first truck opened, and a bald officer with a gleaming head nimbly jumped down from the driver's cabin.

The soldiers from the other trucks also disembarked in an orderly fashion, making a clattering sound, but there was no conversation among them.

Chen Ning and the other townspeople looked on in shock at these imperial soldiers, who were clearly elite, the best of the best.

The bald officer surveyed the frightened residents with a cold expression and asked in a stern voice, "Who is the highest-ranking officer here?"

"It's me!"

A middle-aged man dressed appropriately, accompanied by two aides, hurriedly approached. He was Xu Liang, the town mayor of Heishui.

Xu Liang glanced at the bald officer's insignia and said with a fawning tone, "Hello, Major. I am Xu Liang, the mayor of this town. How may I assist you?"

The bald Major pointed to his soldiers and said, "Prepare lunch for a hundred people, and make it quick."

Xu Liang looked troubled at the request. In these times, even landlords have scarce supplies. Although he could manage to arrange a meal for a hundred people, he would have to use food from his own reserves. In the apocalyptic era, food was incredibly precious, and Xu Liang was reluctant to part with it.

However, these experienced imperial soldiers were used to fighting zombies and had certainly killed their share of them; they were equally capable of taking lives without hesitation. Xu Liang weighed the pros and cons and, gritting his teeth, ordered his aides, "Go to the kitchen immediately and prepare lunch for a hundred people as quickly as possible."

After giving the order, Xu Liang turned to the bald Major with a fawning expression and said, "Major, please come to my home and have a seat for a while."

But the Major didn't even glance at Xu Liang. Instead, he looked towards the sign of Chen Ning's Bull Blacksmith Shop and strode over, demanding, "Who is the owner here?"

Tian Li Niu, with a flattering smile, approached and said, "Major, I am. I am."

The bald Major replied coldly, "My troops have suffered significant weapon damage while clearing out a batch of zombies. Do you have standard weapons here? Axes or machetes will do."

Tian Li Niu, realizing this was a business opportunity, beamed and replied that they had standard axes and daggers.

Despite the fearsome and arrogant demeanor of the imperial soldiers, they frequently hunted zombies and received substantial rewards from their superiors. They were wealthy patrons, particularly willing to spend money on weapons.

The bald Major said, "Fifty axes and fifty daggers

each. The price can be negotiated, but the

quality must be guaranteed. If the products are substandard, I'll use these weapons to chop off your head."

Tian Li Niu quickly reassured him, "Major, you

can rest assured. The weapons from Bull

Blacksmith Shop are of the highest quality."

The Major then asked, "Can you repair rifles? We

have about ten rifles with damaged stocks."

Tian Li Niu replied, "Yes, we can. We'll make sure

to repair them properly for you."

The bald Major turned and instructed his subordinate, "Hand over the damaged rifles to them. I want to see the repaired rifles within an hour, or there will be consequences."

Tian Li Niu, sweating nervously, bowed repeatedly and assured, "We will repair them, we will repair them."

In Heishui Town, the mayor, Xu Liang, and the owner of Bull Blacksmith Shop, Tian Li Niu, were the two most powerful figures—one with authority, the other with wealth.

Yet, at this moment, Chen Ning watched as these influential figures groveled before the bald Major, behaving like obsequious lackeys.

Chen Ning had already realized that staying in the slums meant he would never have the opportunity to challenge Liu Ming of the Liu family in Zhuque City or reclaim his daughter. He knew he needed to make a significant change in his life.

He wasn't sure how to achieve that change until he saw the cold and commanding bald Major. At that moment, a powerful desire took hold of him. He wanted to join the imperial army and become a commanding officer like the Major, who had the power over others' lives and deaths. He envisioned himself reclaiming his precious daughter and making Liu Ming and Zhang Qian, those who had wronged him, beg at his feet for mercy.