Chapter 7 Happy cooperation!

Turning around, Chen Du caught sight of a figure trailing thirty to forty meters behind—it was Xie Li. Her presence sent a flicker of curiosity through him. Lowering his gun, he turned and began walking back toward her.

When Xie Li realized Chen Du had spotted her, she hesitated briefly before pretending to retreat, her steps faltering as if unsure whether to flee or stay close.

Unable to decipher her intentions, Chen Du chose not to confront her directly, instead allowing her to shadow him from a distance. This peculiar dynamic continued for half a day, neither breaking the silence nor altering their pace.

By noon, during their rest stop for supplies, Chen Du suddenly heard a piercing scream from behind. He spun around and hurried back to find Xie Li.

She had endured hours of following, her legs aching with fatigue. Yet stopping meant falling far behind, so she forced herself to keep moving despite the discomfort. Finally, when Chen Du sat down to rest, Xie Li collapsed beside him, relieved.

But no sooner had she settled than a zombie staggered into view, its grotesque form swaying erratically.

Panic seized Xie Li, and she bolted forward—straight into Chen Du, who had rushed back to investigate.

Without hesitation, Chen Du raised his gun and fired a clean headshot, the echo of the suppressed bullet slicing through the air. More zombies appeared, drawn by the faint sound, but Chen Du swiftly eliminated them with precise bursts of gunfire.

Once the threat was neutralized, Xie Li attempted to slip away, only to have Chen Du grab her arm. His expression softened into one of mild exasperation.

"You've been tailing me all this time," he said wryly. "How long do you intend to keep this up? Come on, let's eat lunch together."

And so, the two perched on a pile of grass, quietly sharing their meal. Watching Xie Li eat slowly and deliberately—a stark contrast to her earlier ravenous behavior—Chen Du finally broke the silence. "Dr. Xie, why have you been following me? You were fortunate today; there weren't many zombies. But next time, if we encounter a horde, I won't be able to protect you."

Xie Li avoided answering directly. Instead, she asked cautiously, "Do your earlier words still hold true?"

"What words?"

"The ones where you promised to protect me and provide three meals a day if I joined you. Are you going back on your promise?"

Chen Du chuckled softly. "Weren't you dead set against joining me before? Now you're following me just for that?"

Xie Li arched an eyebrow, a hint of embarrassment coloring her cheeks. "So… does it count or not?"

Shrugging, Chen Du extended a party invitation and a contract request to her. "Of course it counts."

[Party successfully formed!]

[Master-Servant Contract successfully established!]

The instant the party was created, their personal details unfolded like pages of a book before each other. Within the system, players gained access to shared locations, voice chat capabilities, and selective experience transfers. They could no longer harm one another.

However, the Master-Servant Contract added an unyielding clause:

If the master dies, the servant dies.

If the master lives, the servant lives.

Only the master possessed the authority to dissolve the bond.

Chen Du smirked at Xie Li. "Dr. Xie, how about calling me 'Master'?"

Xie Li shot him a glare laced with irritation. Those two syllables felt impossible to utter, her pride wrestling with her predicament.

…

After finishing their meal, the pair resumed their journey. Moving cautiously, they navigated the desolate corridors without encountering significant threats.

Three sharp cracks split the air as Chen Du dispatched three zombies with expert precision. He signaled for Xie Li to follow, and she jogged over nervously.

"How much farther?" she whispered, her voice tinged with anxiety. Following Chen Du had been a harrowing experience, leaving her longing for the relative safety of the small supermarket they'd abandoned.

Chen Du, however, remained focused. "Be quiet," he murmured. "There are more than just these three zombies in the building. Keep your voice down!"

Even with a suppressor attached to his weapon, the faint echoes of gunfire lingered in the deathly silent hallway, drawing unwanted attention. Truthfully, the suppressor itself was subpar—a cheap model that emitted a slight hissing noise reminiscent of an air rifle.

Chen Du was painfully aware of his limitations. His sole reliable weapon was an M9 pistol, holding a mere fifteen rounds.

With such limited ammunition, hitting a stationary target was challenging enough; against moving foes, his odds plummeted.

Though he had just taken down three zombies, they had been clustered closely together and immobile—an ideal scenario unlikely to repeat itself.

"I need to practice my aim," Chen Du resolved silently. "At least bullets are infinite here." He vowed to clear the surrounding area of zombies once they reached the villa district, using the opportunity to scavenge supplies.

His decision to navigate through the narrow hallways rather than the main streets stemmed from careful observation.

Before departing, he had used a traded telescope to survey the area. The streets teemed with zombies, their sheer numbers enough to send shivers down anyone's spine. With only fifteen bullets in his M9, even taking down two zombies would strain his resources to the limit.

Against moving targets, success seemed almost miraculous.

When the apocalypse first struck, everyone had been transported here, bewildered and disoriented.

Some charged recklessly into danger, others clung to denial, and many fled into the streets, inadvertently luring zombies out of buildings.

Thus, Chen Du estimated that the number of zombies inside the structures should remain relatively low. Additionally, the confined spaces of the hallways prevented large groups from overwhelming them at once.

Though the zombies moved at human speed and never tired—a relentless threat—the narrow passageways paradoxically offered Chen Du a tactical advantage.

He and Xie Li crept along the walls, ears straining to detect any movement.

These mindless creatures often froze in place when deprived of a target, though occasionally they wandered aimlessly, driven by an insatiable hunger for living flesh.

On high alert, Chen Du gripped his gun tightly and exchanged a meaningful glance with Xie Li. "Go open the door."

Her face paled, and her voice trembled. "L-Let's just leave!"

Chen Du frowned. This foolish woman—why was she faltering now?