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thINKer: In a zombie apocalypse, even cats want a bite đ
Yuyu: If I was in an apocalypse, I'd probably be unalived when the cat attacked cos I'll be too upset to kill my cat
Before Chen Liu could react, three searing scratches tore across his face. The pain burned like fire. A black blur shot past him, landing at the doorway to block his path. His attacker was his own burly, dark-brown Burmese cat, now turned against its master. The cat licked its bloodstained paw, its red eyes glowing brighter with malice.
Moments before Chen Liu entered, the cat and the female zombie had been locked in a tense standoff. His arrival shifted the dynamic, the two mutated creatures silently aligningâone in front, one behindâto trap him. A newly awakened Chen Liu might have panicked, but now he stayed focused. Ignoring the cat, he charged the zombie, knowing its strength posed the greater threat. The cat, though fierce, couldnât yet deliver a fatal blow. Itâs too fast to hit anyway, he thought, his expression hardening. Better to risk injury, eliminate the zombie, then deal with the cat.
Chen Liu moved swiftly, but the cat was faster. As he closed in on the zombie, the cat leapt at his back, claws bared. Slash, slashâhis clothes ripped like paper, six bloody gashes blooming across his back. The cunning cat darted away after the strike, crouching at a distance, and waiting for another opening. Chen Liu grimaced, pain shooting through him. Iâm not built for this, he thought, recalling childhood scrapes heâd shrugged off. Adulthood had softened him; even minor bumps left him wincing. Now, the agony in his back threw off his balance. His mallet swing missed, grazing the zombieâs side.
The zombie seized the moment, pouncing with shriveled limbs. Her claws dug into his flesh, her jaws snapping at his throatâa typical zombie attack. Simultaneously, the cat struck again, aiming for his neck, a vulnerable target that could mean death with one swipe. Iâm trapped, Chen Liu thought. In desperation, he dropped the mallet, gripped the zombieâs throat with both hands, and shoved her forward with raw strength, disrupting the catâs lunge. They stumbled into the coffee table.
Ignoring the catâs hungry stare, Chen Liu slammed the zombie onto the table. He grabbed a heavy ashtray and brought it down with force. Crackâthe zombieâs skull shattered, gore splattering across the wood. His eyes burned with a wild intensity, matching the undeadâs ferocity. The cat, undeterred, leapt again, tearing deeper into his back. Blood and shredded flesh coated his skin. âDamn it!â Chen Liu roared, pain and rage overwhelming him. He hurled the ashtray with all his might. Thudâby luck or fate, it struck the cat mid-air. MEEOWâthe cat shrieked and crashed to the ground.
Chen Liu lunged, pinning the stunned cat beneath his knees. Ignoring its thrashing claws, he grabbed its head and twisted. Crackâthe neck snapped, twisted fully around. The catâs red glow faded, its body still. Exhausted, Chen Liu collapsed to the floor. The fight, though brief, was his most perilous yet. Staring at the catâs corpse, he thought, Zombies are bad enough, with their brittle skulls, he thought. Mutated beasts are worse. He assumed that animals, with lower intelligence, either awakened fully or not at all, became brutal and unpredictable with unique abilities. This cat had turned bloodthirsty, showing no loyalty to its former master. Love turned to bloodlust, he thought darkly. Other beasts, more docile but intelligent, could pose an even greater threat in time. I can barely survive nowâhumanityâs fate is too big to worry about, he concluded.
Through gritted teeth, he collected the zombieâs cylindrical crystal and the catâs prism-shaped core. Mutated beast cores converted energy at twice the rate of zombie crystals, yielding a full strand of source energy per one-star core. With five zombie cores and the catâs core, Chen Liu absorbed them all, reaching 3.5 strands in his dantian. He thought excitedly, one more zombie core, and I hit Three Stars. Eight strands marked Three-Star status, but levelling wasnât simple. Beginner Awakened (one to three stars) doubled energy requirements per level; intermediate (four to six) quadrupled; advanced (seven to nine) multiplied by eight. A Nine-Star Awakened needed a whopping 262,144 strands.
His wounds had scabbed over, a perk of awakening. No instant healing, but no infections either, he thought, his face reflecting quiet relief. Minor injuries wouldnât hinder him. He stripped off his bloodied clothes and stepped into a hot shower. The warm water eased his tense nerves, a fleeting moment of calm. Soon, even this will be a luxury, he thought, his expression somber. The past dayâs chaos replayed in his mindâOld Wangâs transformation, the corpses, the cat. It felt like a lifetime ago. History had surged, overturning the civilized world overnight. Chaos and brutality loomed before a new order could emerge. Can humanity still rule Earth? he wondered, his face tightening. For now, survival was his only goal.
After the shower, Chen Liu dressed in a tracksuit and hiking boots, better suited for combat. Through these battles, heâd begun to forge a warriorâs mindset. He cut apart two leather travel bags, stitching them into crude armorâtwo cowhide slabs, one front, one back, secured with belts. Real leather, at least, he observed. It might blunt a catâs claws. His first piece of protective gear complete, he made a bucket of instant noodles, the warmth steadying him. He checked the sanatoriumâs group chat on Old Wangâs phone. Over 99 unread messages greeted him. Survivors, he thought, a flicker of relief softening his face. He wasnât alone.