Chapter 153: Wild Zombies and Domesticated Zombies

"Dr. Hayes!"

Nathan Thorne lay on the bed, looking at Dr. Hayes with immense anxiety.

"You’re not actually going to dissect me for research, are you?"

Dr. Hayes’s face was originally expressionless, but after hearing Nathan’s words, their expression suddenly became cryptic.

"Well, if you want me to—"

"I don’t!" Nathan Thorne hurriedly shook his head. "I don’t want that at all!"

Dr. Hayes reverted to their deadpan expression. "It wouldn’t matter if you wanted to. I don’t have that particular... fetish. Though I could find someone for you—"

"No, thanks! No, thanks!" Nathan Thorne finally relaxed. "I don’t have that fetish either! I’m not done living yet!"

"Then shut up," Dr. Hayes said, a little impatiently. "I’m very busy. I don’t have time to listen to your nonsense."

Nathan Thorne, who had been chattering nonstop just a moment ago, immediately clamped his mouth shut.

’It’s not like I wanted to talk so much!’

’It’s because I was scared, wasn’t it?’

That was just his personality. The more scared he got, the more he talked.

But he wasn’t as scared now, so he could probably keep it down a bit.

General Aldridge stood outside the window. Although he couldn’t hear what was being said inside, just by watching the changes in their expressions, he knew Nathan Thorne had to be spouting nonsense. Otherwise, Dr. Hayes wouldn’t look so irritated.

He had known Dr. Hayes for a long time; he was all too familiar with the doctor’s personality.

Most of the time, Dr. Hayes was completely expressionless.

To Dr. Hayes, even making a facial expression was a waste of time.

If it weren’t for Nathan Thorne’s excessive blabbering, Dr. Hayes would never have made that kind of face.

’Getting an emotional reaction out of Dr. Hayes... Nathan Thorne is really something else!’

Thinking this, General Aldridge couldn’t help but chuckle.

’What an... interesting little guy!’

-

「The Cannery.」

After being reinforced time and time again by the Gold Ability Users, the warehouse had completely transformed.

Before, it had just looked like a normal warehouse.

But now, it looked more like some kind of steel behemoth.

Outside, sand and wind raged, plunging the world into a dusky gloom where nothing was visible.

Though it wasn’t as bright as day inside the warehouse, there were a few scattered lights dotting the space.

Because it couldn’t be ventilated, the air inside was stuffy and carried a faint smell of dust and sand.

But the people who lived here had gotten used to it over time.

In fact, they no longer even noticed the smell.

Human habituation isn’t always a good thing.

But in certain situations, it could be.

Inside the most comfortably furnished partitioned room, Autumn Lynch lay languidly in a man’s arms.

The man was shirtless, his muscular upper body completely exposed.

Autumn Lynch shifted onto her side, draping herself over the man, her slender, pale fingers lightly tracing circles on his chest.

"Felix, do you think we’ll just stay in this cannery forever?"

Felix Foley raised an eyebrow. "Why do you ask? Are you thinking of going back to the base? Want to find that lover of yours?"

"Felix! What are you saying! How could that loser possibly compare to you? What I meant was... staying at the cannery forever, we’re only just scraping by. Life isn’t exactly comfortable. If we could move somewhere else, maybe we could live better!"

Felix Foley let out a long sigh. "Who doesn’t want a more comfortable life! But you know the situation at the base better than I do. If we really went there, would we be able to live this comfortably?"

It was a bit dark, and life wasn’t very convenient, but at least they had plenty of space!

He couldn’t stand the thought of going to the base and being crammed into the same room with other people.

Besides, if they really went to the base, they’d have to listen to someone else’s orders.

Here, he was the boss. Everyone listened to him.

’Give up being the boss to go be someone’s lackey?’

’He wasn’t an idiot!’

Even before the apocalypse, life was full of trade-offs, let alone in the current situation.

He hadn’t gotten this far on luck alone!

He had a brain, too!

He had known for a long time that you can’t have your cake and eat it too.

Hearing Felix Foley’s words, Autumn Lynch understood his thinking, but she wasn’t ready to give up.

Her eyes darted, and Autumn Lynch spoke again. "If our Superpowers weren’t that strong, of course we’d have to be under someone else’s thumb. But what if our Superpowers were stronger than everyone else’s? Who would dare to boss us around then? This is the apocalypse now—the one with the strongest Superpower calls the shots! Right, Felix?"

"That’s easy for you to say, but leveling up a Superpower is no simple task."

To level up a Superpower, you need Crystal Cores.

But where were they supposed to get Crystal Cores so easily?

Every fight against an Aberrant Beast was a life-or-death gamble.

You never knew when your luck might run out.

Autumn Lynch lowered her gaze, a flash of contempt in her eyes.

’This man might as well have the words "cowardly and afraid of death" tattooed on his forehead.’

He was unwilling to do anything that involved danger.

"Felix, I’m not finished! Don’t be so hasty!"

Felix Foley looked at Autumn Lynch with renewed interest. "Then by all means, tell me."

Autumn Lynch gave him a seductive smile. "Killing Aberrant Beasts is hard, of course, and the risk is high. But what about killing zombies? Especially newly turned ones! Their Crystal Cores might be low-level, but we can make up for quality with quantity. As long as there are enough of them, won’t the effect be the same?"

"Easy for you to say!" Felix Foley scoffed. "And where am I supposed to find that many zombies? You think killing them is like slicing melons? That they’ll just stand there obediently and let you kill them?"

It wasn’t like he’d never fought zombies before.

Newly turned zombies weren’t very strong, true.

But give them a little time, and they would grow quickly, their attack power and lethality increasing dramatically.

Killing a lot of zombies was hardly any easier than killing an Aberrant Beast.

’This woman, Autumn Lynch, just stays in the safe warehouse all day. She has no idea how dangerous it is out there. She’s just talking big without a care in the world.’

Felix Foley was getting impatient. He pushed Autumn Lynch away, sat up, and started to get dressed.

Autumn Lynch didn’t seem to mind being pushed away. She just smiled and sidled up to him again. "Felix, wild zombies are hard to deal with, of course. But what about... domesticated ones?"

"It’s the middle of the day. Are you still dreaming?" Felix Foley frowned impatiently. "What domesticated—"

Before he could finish, Felix Foley’s eyes widened in disbelief.

He thought he understood what Autumn Lynch was implying!

Seeing his reaction, Autumn Lynch knew he understood. She hurried to say with a smile, "Felix, aren’t there still quite a few survivors in the residential area near the cannery? We’ve been supporting them for so long. Isn’t it about time they repaid us?"