Zombie Puppet

In a desolate street, a zombie puppet was aimlessly wandering. Its mouth was slightly open, a string of saliva hanging from its lips, and a chilling light shone through its reddened eyes.

Not far ahead, there was an abandoned small supermarket. The glass door was splattered with brown bloodstains, and through the open door, one could vaguely see the crooked shelves inside and some scattered food items around.

Behind the supermarket door, there was another middle-aged male zombie puppet slowly moving. Judging from his attire, he seemed to be a staff member of the supermarket.

The zombie puppet slowly approached the supermarket. After passing by the middle-aged male zombie puppet, it suddenly drew a bone-cutting knife from its pocket, turned around, and forcefully severed the other's neck.

Blood splattered, and the headless body immediately fell to the ground.

The zombie puppet then quickly grabbed a shopping bag from behind the counter and began swiftly gathering food inside the supermarket.

"Huff… I'm exhausted…"

In a dimly lit residential room, Ling Mo, sweating profusely, was looking satisfied at the bag full of food and various daily necessities in his hands.

Sitting in front of him was the zombie puppet that had appeared in the small supermarket. However, the zombie puppet's gaze towards Ling Mo did not carry any malice, but rather seemed vacant.

"I've improved a lot compared to a few days ago. Now I can finally manipulate more flexibly," Ling Mo said, turning his gaze towards the zombie puppet, a faint smile appearing on his lips.

Half a month ago, the emergence of a new virus had turned this world into a brutal slaughterhouse.

Countless humans turned into zombies… or more accurately, after being infected by the virus, they lost their self-awareness and became crazed monsters driven only by the urge to kill.

The surviving survivors had to hide in the corners of the city like mice to survive.

However, Ling Mo, who was just an ordinary person, discovered that he could manipulate zombies after the apocalypse arrived.

He could feel a faint connection between himself and the zombies. The empty-headed zombies were like thoughtless puppets, and he could inject his thoughts into them, thus controlling their actions.

But the initial attempts were very difficult. The zombies often suddenly broke free from his control, even putting him in life-threatening situations several times.

With more attempts, Ling Mo finally mastered some tricks. This not only allowed him to maintain control over the zombies but also to manipulate them to move around and help him gather food and other necessities.

However, the distance he could control them was limited, which frustrated Ling Mo.

He felt like a puppeteer of zombies, with a control string that was not long enough and an unskilled manipulation technique.

But being able to survive more safely using zombies had made Ling Mo very satisfied with this ability. He called the zombie he controlled a "zombie puppet."

During the process of controlling the zombie puppet, Ling Mo also vaguely felt that while controlling the other, a sense of frenzy was also affecting him.

Whether this influence was good or bad, he couldn't say for sure at the moment…

In recent days, Ling Mo had also gained some understanding of the habits of the zombies. Unlike the typical zombies, these zombies were not undead but infected living people.

However, although they were still living people, they were completely monstrous in spirit. They attacked uninfected survivors, tearing at their flesh, and their strength was astonishingly greater than that of ordinary people.

The virus completely destroyed their rationality, dominated their thoughts, and turned them into executioners driven by the instinct to kill.

In Ling Mo's view, these zombies were even more terrifying than the ones he had seen in games or movies because they retained their five senses. Any sound or smell would attract their attention.

"The sun is setting. Let's head back for today."

This residential room was not safe; it was just a temporary place where Ling Mo controlled the zombie puppet.

After stuffing all the items he had collected today into his backpack, Ling Mo, feeling a bit dizzy, controlled the zombie puppet to stand up.

Looking at the zombie puppet standing in front of him, Ling Mo still felt somewhat strange.

Although it didn't emit the rotten stench as seen in movies, the zombie still had a strong smell of blood. The virus infection had made its face pale and bloodless, its eyes glowing red. Through its slightly open mouth, one could see shreds of red flesh stuck to its teeth.

Without a doubt, these were remnants from its previous meal…

The zombie puppet had a decent appearance, resembling a seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy. However, its current appearance made it seem like a demon.

"Let's go…"

Ling Mo suppressed the feeling of nausea and controlled the zombie puppet to walk downstairs.

Although the zombie puppet cleared the way, it didn't mean that Ling Mo was safe. He held a sharp bone-cutting knife in his hand and carefully followed behind the zombie puppet.

To get to his temporary residence from here, they needed to cross a main street. In the morning, Ling Mo had found some firecrackers and used them to create some noise in the opposite direction, attracting most of the zombies on the street over there. Even so, there were still some zombies wandering around.

After reaching the intersection without incident, Ling Mo realized that trouble was brewing.

Two zombies were blocking the intersection, covered in fresh bloodstains. One of them was holding half an arm and gnawing on it.

In this provincial capital with a population of millions, survivors died every day while searching for food, so seeing the arm remnants made Ling Mo feel a bit despondent. Because of his ability, he had the capital to live better and couldn't afford to become a meal for these monsters due to a moment of carelessness.

Ling Mo carefully controlled the zombie puppet to approach them. When he got close to one of them, he raised the bone-cutting knife. At the same time, when the other zombie was distracted by a noise, Ling Mo swiftly rushed behind it and stabbed it in the back of the head.

The two zombies almost simultaneously perished. After pulling out the knife with force, Ling Mo kicked the body in front of him.

Whenever he had the opportunity to act, Ling Mo wouldn't miss it. While controlling the zombie puppet was useful, he also needed to have the ability to protect himself.

Moreover, Ling Mo vaguely felt that when he killed the zombies, that sense of frenzy was subtly affecting him. The moment he pulled out the knife, he even faintly felt a sense of pleasure.

"The virus shouldn't be transmitted through mental contact, right? If it could, I would have mutated long ago… If it's not the virus's influence, then what is it…" Ling Mo was very concerned about this subtle change, but for now, he had no clue.

However, being able to cleanly kill zombies and becoming more proficient in his techniques was also a good thing for Ling Mo.

Before the apocalypse, he was just an ordinary person. The first time he killed a zombie was not only thrilling but also left him feeling scared afterward, even feeling a bit dazed.

But to survive, his combat abilities had to improve.

And in Ling Mo's mind, he was always thinking about one person. The rapid improvement in his proficiency in controlling zombies and gathering as many supplies as possible was all for the purpose of crossing this area to find her…