Chapter 22: The Strange Zombie

Lin Yi looked at the cleared corridor with satisfaction. With a flash, he appeared at the end of the hallway, next to Zhang Tie.

On a whim, after using Zhang Tie to smash a few zombies, Lin Yi decided to use him as a bowling ball. It was devastatingly effective. With Lin Yi's second-tier strength enhancement, Zhang Tie's two-ton body easily crushed the zombies along their path.

"How do you feel?" Lin Yi asked, pulling up the prone Zhang Tie during a lull in the action.

Zhang Tie remained silent, too afraid to speak but his eyes full of resentment. His entire body felt like it had been taken apart and reassembled. Anyone would feel awful after being used as a hammer and then kicked like a ball, especially by someone like Lin Yi.

Finally, Zhang Tie burst out, "I'll say it again! I'm not a damn ball!" He continued, nearly in tears, "Shouldn't we be looking for that 'Hand' thing right now? The zombies are about to surround us again!"

Zhang Tie's bear transformation had ended, leaving him in tattered clothes that barely covered him. Half of his helmet hung loosely on his head, and his body was covered in bloody debris.

At the other end of the corridor, a swarm of tireless zombies charged towards them.

Lin Yi seemed not to hear, his gaze fixed on a door to their left. "Second Orthopedics," he read from the clean, white-painted door. "I think I've found it."

Lin Yi's eyes flashed with an unusual light as he gently turned the unlocked doorknob. 

Inside, behind a desk, sat a figure in a white uniform, facing away from them. It looked like a doctor.

"Judgment Eye," Lin Yi muttered.

"Mutant: 0"

"Mutant: 1"

The numbers flickered as if uncertain. Confused, Lin Yi stepped into the room. The numbers on the screen stopped fluctuating, settling on 1.

His probing mental energy broke through a faint barrier, enveloping the "person."

"Zombie (First-tier mutant?):

This is an ordinary zombie, but it seems to have some mysterious power helping it surpass normal zombie limits."

"Strength: 13"

"Agility: 6"

"Constitution: 10"

"Will: 12"

Danger level: Medium.

Lin Yi felt relieved. The mutant detected by the Judgment Eye must be this zombie. It wasn't outside his sensing range or a powerful third-tier being, but rather one carrying the "Skull Crusher's Hand," using the equipment's inherent mental barrier to block his detection.

The 13 points of strength in its attributes, at level one (with mysterious power helping it break through zombie limits), was telling. Ordinary zombies typically had strength attributes of 6-8 points, so the additional 5 points must be provided by the "Skull Crusher's Hand."

"Come in and block the door," Lin Yi casually instructed Zhang Tie.

"Power Burst!" Lin Yi shouted softly, renewing his all-attribute +2 enhancement effect. The drug's effects hadn't worn off, keeping him at peak combat readiness.

Lin Yi didn't let his guard down despite the zombie's seemingly non-threatening attributes. The pristine examination room, the zombie sitting like a doctor with its back turned, not going berserk at the scent of living humans – all these anomalies kept Lin Yi on high alert.

As Zhang Tie slammed the door shut, the frenzied pounding from outside began almost immediately.

The white-coated zombie remained motionless, as if deaf to the commotion.

"Direct Thrust!" 

The door wouldn't hold the zombies for long. Whatever abnormalities were present, it was best to test the waters first!

Lin Yi's gaze sharpened as he lunged forward, his body taut. Though this was a probing attack, it was still powerful enough to pierce steel and instantly kill any zombie.

The bone spike whistled through the air.

"Don't... want..."

The voice was hoarse and labored, each word forced out of its throat.

Lin Yi's eyes constricted to pinpoints, his body turning cold. His attack, originally aimed at the doctor zombie's head, suddenly veered off course.

The voice had come from the "doctor."

"Boom!" The wall behind the zombie was pierced, revealing gray concrete.

Lin Yi stared in disbelief at the "doctor" trying to continue speaking.

A zombie. How could it possibly speak?

Lin Yi felt a chill run through his entire body. In his three years in the apocalyptic game of his previous life, he had never heard of anyone mentioning zombies that could speak.

Speech implied rationality. And intelligence!

Unlike Lin Yi's fear, Zhang Tie merely looked surprised at the "doctor."

The iron door behind them rattled violently, causing Zhang Tie to stumble.

"Boss Lin, what's this bird saying?" Zhang Tie asked.

Lin Yi didn't answer, just gripped his bone spike tightly.

It wasn't impossible for mutants to possess intelligence. As far as Lin Yi knew, third-tier and above mutants began to have varying degrees of intelligence.

But a first-tier zombie with intelligence? If it was due to equipment, it might be barely acceptable, given that apocalyptic gear often had special effects.

But if this zombie wasn't relying on apocalyptic equipment to retain intelligence... that would be terrifying.

Humans became the dominant species on Earth, at the top of the food chain, thanks to intelligence. If first-tier mutant zombies possessed intelligence, Lin Yi didn't know how humanity could stop them.

First-tier mutants weren't rare!

The apocalyptic game would turn from a fight against monsters into a war of survival between two "species."

With heavy steps, Lin Yi approached, his bone spike pressed against the "doctor's" head, ready to kill at the slightest provocation.

"What do you want to say?" Lin Yi asked, finding it absurd that he was talking to a zombie.

"Don't... kill... me..."

"Huh... Huh..."

As Lin Yi drew closer, the zombie doctor, seated in the chair, struggled to contain its instinctive craving for flesh.

It wheezed like a dying old man, repeatedly trying to stand up from the chair to lunge and bite. But reason suppressed instinct.

Lin Yi saw fear in its eyes. It tilted its head, trying to move away from the bone spike aimed at its brow.

"Give me one reason not to kill you," Lin Yi said, taking a deep breath. A zombie afraid of death, begging for its life?

"You... want... it..."

The doctor zombie fidgeted uneasily. It slowly raised its right hand.

On the right hand, where the skin had peeled away, was a glove. The glove was an eerie black, covered in dense, blood-colored patterns.

On the back of the glove was an empty socket, as if something had once been embedded there.

Lin Yi's heart skipped a beat, a flash of blue light in his eyes.

"Judgment Eye!"

"Ding, apocalyptic equipment detected. Level: Fine (Blue)"