(1) Formation of the Zombie Ball (1)

"Big brother, what was he here for?"

Quan Hao watched the vehicle speeding away into the distance, somewhat unable to understand. He had arrived in a rush, directly knelt to big brother, and then there was no follow-up, just leaving reluctantly with a bottle of iced Coca-Cola.

"A lack of information caused a small misunderstanding."

Lam Pham explained; it was just an issue of information lag.

"Oh."

Quan Hao nodded, half-understanding.

Vuong Khai's sly eyes looked at Quan Hao. This "Big brother" was called so naturally.

At this moment.

The children, led by PE teacher Khau Bang, were jogging on the street. Physical exercise was very important, especially in the apocalypse; a healthy body was even more crucial. It wasn't like the old days; children were very susceptible to illness now. Once sick, it became quite troublesome.

So having a healthy body was exceptionally important.

"Teacher Khau, exercising?" Lam Pham asked with a smile.

Khau Bang smiled and said, "Yes, morning exercise jogging."

At the front of the line was Co Tu Thanh, the oldest among the children. "Uncle Lam, good morning!"

"Good morning," Lam Pham said with a faint smile.

Second in line was Phi Phi, who calmly asked, "Uncle Lam, morning."

"Morning."

Dinh Dinh giggled and said, "Uncle Lam, morning."

"Morning."

...

The children cheerfully greeted Lam Pham. In the hearts of the children at Duong Quang Residential Area, Lam Pham's status was very high; he was the idol in the hearts of this group of children.

This situation was largely due to Phi Phi and Dinh Dinh constantly brainwashing the children.

For example, Dinh Dinh would say, "Uncle Lam likes me the most."

And Phi Phi definitely wouldn't admit defeat, tilting her head up, "Nonsense, Uncle Lam likes me the most. I was the first child Uncle Lam saved."

It created a sentiment among the other children: we must work hard to also become Uncle Lam's favorite child.

Lam Pham looked at this group of children jogging around the shop-lined street, the smile on his face never fading. He liked this kind of peaceful atmosphere, liked seeing the children reveal their innocent smiles.

Quan Hao also watched, sighing, "Big brother, what you do really makes people admire you. Even though it's the apocalypse now, you still provide these children with a peaceful life, protecting them from the ravages of the end times."

"Not at all, it's just doing what little I can. What I do is extremely insignificant. What truly makes this place better still relies on your mutual help." Lam Pham didn't take all the credit himself but attributed the beauty of this place to everyone.

Quan Hao said, "Under big brother's leadership, we are moving towards a future full of hope. If it weren't for big brother's guidance, we could only advance in darkness, unable to see any hope. It is precisely because of big brother that we can be better."

Lam Pham smiled faintly and said no more. The road had to be walked by oneself; he was merely guiding them a little.

Vuong Khai looked at Quan Hao tightly hugging Brother Lam's thigh and sighed inwardly, really not hoping for new strong rivals to appear.

A Hai and Quan Hao were very strong in his eyes.

And Van Kiet, whom Tu Trach Duong had told him was a hidden simp, also couldn't be underestimated.

"Today is just beginning. I need to go out and clean the environment. You all busy yourselves with your things."

Lam Pham thought about the things he needed to do; he was particularly busy. He had to speed up his work and definitely clear out all the zombies in Hoang City.

Quan Hao and Vuong Khai watched that retreating figure.

Quan Hao sighed, "With big brother around, I feel very much at ease. If my Brother Sieu could have stayed here, he would probably be enjoying a quiet life like me, instead of wandering outside."

Vuong Khai said, "Have you ever eaten dog food?"

"No," Quan Hao shook his head.

Vuong Khai recalled the past, "When I was at the water plant, I was with my dog. That period, for me, was always an unforgettable experience. I never thought that one day I would be eating dog food with my dog. Eating it made me want to vomit."

Quan Hao patted Vuong Khai's shoulder, "Brother Khai, you are fortunate."

"Mm, I am fortunate." Vuong Khai thought about it and agreed; being rescued by Brother Lam was truly fortunate.

"Not everyone can have food. Some people, when they're desperately hungry, won't even pass up shit."

Quan Hao was actually telling the truth. The feeling of hunger was very painful. When hunger reached a certain degree, the brain would hallucinate. Never mind dog food; even if there was 82-year-old shit in front of you, you could eat it with relish. If there were enoki mushrooms, that would be like hitting the jackpot.

Vuong Khai: ...?

...

On the street.

Lam Pham looked at the surrounding environment. The horde of zombies he had killed lay quietly. After being exposed to the wind and sun, they were already developing into dried corpses. The smell of decay wafted, and the rank, fishy smell was already hard to detect.

Walk, walk.

There was a commotion ahead.

There were sounds in a shop. A truck was parked at the entrance, simply modified, its windows covered with iron mesh, precisely to resist zombie attacks.

"Hello."

Standing at the shop entrance, he greeted.

The two survivors in the shop heard the sound and were startled. The male among them was still holding an iron pipe. When he saw Lam Pham, he similarly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking it was a zombie.

It was just that for these two survivors, even knowing it wasn't a zombie, they still didn't let down their guard. Nowadays, living people could be more terrifying than zombies.

"Do you need something?" the man spoke.

He stared at the sword-carrying man before him, not knowing who the other party was. Appearing suddenly was often very scary.

"Nothing, just passing by and heard a commotion, so I came to take a look."

Lam Pham smiled, then heard a noise from the truck, turned his head, and saw it was a little fellow babbling, pressed against the glass, biting his fingers, and giggling.

A child, only about one or two years old, his bright eyes revealing curiosity about this world.

"Is this your child?" Lam Pham asked.

"Mm, it's our child."

The man meticulously observed Lam Pham, while tightly gripping the iron pipe in his hand. If the situation wasn't right, he would choose to fight the other party to the death.

"It's good to be alive."

Lam Pham sighed.

He could imagine how difficult it was for such a combination to survive in the apocalypse. Even surviving until now was an extremely miraculous thing.

The woman who was collecting supplies stood beside Lam Pham, her slightly haggard face full of vigilance.

Previously, they had taken their child on an outing to the suburbs during the Qingming Festival. Who would have thought zombies would actually appear? Having been washed by zombie movies, they were no strangers to zombies.

Clearly a fictional thing, but when it truly appeared before their eyes, it was very shocking.

Fortunately, he reacted quickly, took his wife and child, hid in the car, and drove the truck to escape the scene. When they reached the edge of the city, they found it was complete chaos. Zombies were everywhere, and citizens were being pounced on and devoured by zombies everywhere.

That scene thoroughly terrified him and his wife.

Finally, surviving in the apocalypse, they encountered a survivor team, but because they had a child, they were refused shelter. He understood that this kind of situation was unavoidable.

The child was still young, unable to control his own crying, and could easily cause danger.

Perhaps it was truly heaven's protection; collecting supplies so far had always been frightening but without real danger.

"What exactly do you want?" the man asked.

From beginning to end, he hadn't let down his guard. Anyone encountering this situation would act very nervous. A stranger suddenly appearing, and also carrying a sword, indicated the other party was a threat.

"Nothing, just passing by to take a look, that's all. Rest assured, I'm a good person, no ill intentions. I hope you don't need to be nervous." Lam Pham sensed the other party's vigilance towards him, which he could understand, could comprehend.

The man looked at Lam Pham with a strange expression. After a brief contact, he found that this person before him spoke strangely, and his communication style was a bit unrealistic.

In the current situation, who would say they were a good person, that they had no ill intentions?

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Lam Pham, living in Duong Quang Residential Area. It's very dangerous for you to be outside with a child. Duong Quang Residential Area over there is a hideout. If you have any thoughts, you can reside there."

Lam Pham could sense their pursuit of survival.

"Duong Quang Residential Area?" The man and his wife looked at each other. "My wife and I have a child."

He suspected this person before him might have some ulterior motive.

In that instant.

He thought of a possibility: women were more important to any hideout at this time. At least he and his wife had encountered a survivor team before.

At first, he didn't know. He thought everyone uniting together could jointly resist the apocalypse. But later, he found the situation wasn't right; that group was after women.

So he suspected Lam Pham; this guy might very well be trying to trick them over and snatch his wife.

"It's okay, Duong Quang Residential Area houses many survivors, and also many children."

Lam Pham knew the other party was still suspicious of him.

Of course, he could naturally dust off his bottom and leave, thinking, "If you don't believe me, it's your loss." It was just that he felt there was no need to slap someone's face, thinking their regret would be built upon the other party's life.

Suspicion was a very normal thing.

Anyone with a bit of a brain would have a suspicious heart.

"Thank you for your kindness, our family of three can survive on our own," the man said.

Lam Pham smiled, didn't explain, but just said, "Do you see that there are no zombies around? I think when you came along, you saw many zombie corpses on the road, right? I cleared all of those."

The man and his wife looked at each other again.

Shock in their eyes.

They thought to themselves, isn't this guy's bragging a bit too much?

"I know you are suspicious of me, wondering if I have any bad intentions towards you. There's no need. Take a look at my strength, and I think you'll understand."

Lam Pham finished speaking, then under their shocked gazes, he lifted the truck with one hand, leaped up, soared into the air, and then landed steadily on the ground.

He walked into the shop.

The man and his wife's mouths hung open, dumbfounded as they looked at Lam Pham. What they had just seen, only one thought remained in their minds: is this really something a human can do?

Lam Pham understood that to dispel someone's suspicion and misunderstanding, the best way was to let them see with their own eyes, rather than wasting a lot of breath talking nonsense and explaining, which was useless.

Lam Pham said, "I am very formidable. If I wanted to harm you, you wouldn't have a chance to stand before me, right?"

The man swallowed, nodded, "Right."

"I still don't know your names," Lam Pham smiled.

"My name is Dao Vu, this is my wife Ha Gia Le." Dao Vu retracted his vigilance towards Lam Pham. The other party was right; if he wanted to harm them, there was no need to trick them.

Being able to communicate with the other party, Lam Pham was very satisfied. Indeed, only by showing one's own strength was the best way to eliminate vigilance.

The truck drove on.

Lam Pham took them towards Duong Quang Residential Area.

Chatting on the way back.

"You came from so far away?" Lam Pham was extremely surprised, not expecting the other party to have come from another part of Hoang City, quite far from here.

Dao Vu said, "No choice. The zombie situation over there is a bit strange. Have you ever seen a scene of them condensing into a zombie ball?"

"Zombie ball?"

"Yes, a zombie ball. The zombies there gathered together, condensed into a sphere, constantly moving forward slowly. I felt the situation wasn't right, so I brought my family here. I didn't expect there to be no zombies here, so I boldly got out of the car to collect supplies, and then I met you."

"Can you be more specific?"

Dao Vu thought of the image he had seen at that time and felt a chill without being cold. "When I saw it yesterday, the condensed zombie ball was already several stories high. Surrounding zombies were constantly approaching the zombie ball, as if attracted by something."

Lam Pham thought about the situation Dao Vu described.

Its height reached many stories; the meaning was very clear – any kind of building would likely find it hard to stop. Even the iron fence of Duong Quang Residential Area couldn't withstand the zombie ball's advance.

"This kind of danger must be nipped in the bud in time," Lam Pham muttered to himself.

Dao Vu heard Lam Pham's words, stared blankly, thinking in his head... Is he planning to go over there and eliminate the zombie ball?

But that zombie ball was truly very terrifying.

When he saw it yesterday, it was already so huge; now it must be even larger.

"Are you going to eliminate it?"

"Yes, eliminate it."

Hearing this with his own ears, Dao Vu didn't know what to say. He knew Lam Pham was no ordinary person, possessing strength unimaginable to others, but in his heart, zombies were still more terrifying.

Lam Pham turned his head to look at the babbling child and said with a smile, "Your child is really cute. When you get to Duong Quang Residential Area, you won't have to wander outside anymore."

Dao Vu and Ha Gia Le smiled faintly, expressing a kind of anticipation for Lam Pham's Duong Quang Residential Area. What exactly was that place like?

At this moment.

Quan Hao waited on the shop's rooftop platform. Seeing a truck drive over, then seeing big brother appear with survivors, he was extremely surprised in his heart. Big brother's efficiency was really high; he had just gone out not long ago and already brought back survivors.

They were truly lucky.

He was truly happy that the number of survivors in the hideout was increasing. A place with people has the breath of life (atmosphere of smoke and fire from cooking). Surviving alone and desolate in the apocalypse, how long could one persist?

Days accompanied by danger and loneliness are very hard to endure.

He opened the gate and welcomed them.

"Big brother." Quan Hao greeted Lam Pham, then, towards the following survivors, revealed a friendly smile, "Welcome to the Duong Quang Residential Area hideout."

Dao Vu and his wife looked at the scene before them, their mouths agape in astonishment, not expecting it to be really as the other party had said. So many people living here, full of the breath of life.

Lam Pham nodded at Quan Hao, then looked at Dao Vu and said, "Rest assured, you'll be safe once you're here. He will arrange your accommodation properly. From now on, just live here as you would normally."

Dao Vu looked at Lam Pham gratefully.

"Thank you."

Lam Pham smiled faintly. He had heard many people say thank you to him. He had no other thoughts about this; he just felt he was doing what he should be doing.

It wasn't a big deal.

...

Hoang City, somewhere.

Rumble!

Rumble!

The earth shook and mountains moved.

A huge spherical shape was rolling. If one looked closely, they would be horrified to discover that this sphere was not something else, but a zombie ball condensed from individual zombies.

The zombie ball Dao Vu spoke of was only a few stories high, but now the zombie ball before them was not just a few stories high; it looked to be over ten stories high, a true colossal monster.

In a row of buildings, a group of survivors saw the zombie ball rolling towards them from the distance and were thoroughly terrified.

"Quick, hurry up and pack things to leave this place!"

A burly man shouted, urging other survivors to hurry up. When the zombie ball formed, it had already posed a serious threat to their hideout.

If the zombie ball was only a few stories high as before, it might not have been too dangerous; it would break apart upon hitting a wall. But in the current situation, it could completely devour everything; there was no way to stop it.

Rooftop.

Several survivors looked at the rolling zombie ball in the distance, standing there dumbfounded, already in a state of stupor.

"What the damn hell is that thing?"

A gust of wind blew, chilling them to the bone. The scene before them was terrifying to the extreme.

"Zombies condensed together, forming a rolling sphere. Have you noticed its speed seems to be getting faster and faster?"

"Damn it, our hard-developed hideout, are we just going to abandon it like this?"

They muttered to themselves.

They could hear the "groan groan" sound of zombies; it was the horde roaring. Even surrounding zombies were constantly closing in on the zombie ball. What on earth could cause such a monster to appear?

In their line of sight, they saw with their own eyes low-rise buildings being crushed by the zombie ball, instantly turning into ruins.

Immediately after.

They saw people running on the road, quite a number of them. They had seen them before, even interacted. In this area, there was also a small survivor team.

It was a survivor team composed of four people, unwilling to join their team, wanting only to develop as an independent team.

They occupied a small supermarket, which could ensure their supplies.

They had no vehicles. Facing the zombie ball, they could only run on the road. Then they watched with their own eyes as they were devoured by the zombie ball.

Clack!

The rooftop door was pushed open. A survivor was in a panic.

"What are you still standing there愣 (leng - dazed/stupidly) for? Why aren't you leaving quickly?"

Hearing their companion's voice.

They came back to their senses and hurriedly ran downstairs.

That's right.

Fleeing now was the wise choice.

Staying here was a dead end.

Downstairs, a modified bus. They took as many collected supplies as they could. In the apocalypse, without sufficient supplies to support them, the outcome was a dead end.

The burly man said, "Is everyone here?"

"All here."

"Get on the bus, leave this place!"

The burly man waved his hand. Although reluctant to leave this place, there was no other way. Such a terrifying zombie ball had suddenly appeared; staying here was ultimately a dead end.

He also didn't think this place could withstand that kind of terrifying zombie ball.