Chapter 26: Since you’ve finally made it back, why not have a drink before you go?

Li Xingyue lit another cigarette, walked up to the short man, and blew the smoke directly into his face.

"Laugh, why did you stop laughing? Don't you like to laugh anymore?"

"I kept telling you my boss was an eighth-tier Zombie King, but you just wouldn't believe me. What was I supposed to do?"

"You believe me now, don't you? My big brother really is an eighth-tier Zombie King. Hahahahaha!"

*Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!*

Li Xingyue landed five heavy slaps across the short man’s face, then turned to the muscular man and did the same, his own hand stinging from the force.

Both men’s faces swelled instantly, turning as red as a baboon’s backside, yet neither dared to move a muscle.

Li Xingyue then approached a young man with a face full of acne, who had been the loudest one earlier. Li Xingyue delivered another slap: "Keep shouting! You were quite the chatterbox a moment ago, weren't you?"

The young man covered his face, not daring to make a sound.

"Big brother, we didn't know you had such strong backing, otherwise we would never have..."

"That’s right, that’s right! We were blinded by greed, but we’re actually good people!"

"Exactly! Please, spare us. We don't even want our points anymore; we'll give them all to you!"

Once one person started, the others caught on and followed suit, kneeling on the ground and kowtowing incessantly, begging for mercy.

They were all snot and tears, their previous arrogance completely vanished. If a stranger saw this, they would certainly think these men were the victims and Li Xingyue was the villain.

"Oh? You'll give me all your points?" Li Xingyue asked, feigning confusion.

Hearing this, everyone saw a glimmer of hope and began nodding frantically.

"Yes, yes, all of them are yours! And our weapons and equipment, too!"

"That's right, we don't want anything! I have two mistresses back in the city—I'll give them to you as well!"

"Yes, just please spare our lives! We promise we will never go against you again!"

Li Xingyue cupped his chin in thought for a moment. "Alright, I'm a reasonable person. If you transfer your points over, I won't kill you."

The group was overjoyed, scrambling to transfer the points from their wristbands.

The short man not only transferred his points but also handed his gun to Li Xingyue, showering him with gratitude.

This was the first time Li Xingyue had ever touched a real gun. It felt quite different from the cheap plastic toys he’d bought for a few dollars as a kid; it was significantly heavier and far better crafted.

Li Xingyue caressed the frame of the gun and looked at the short man. "How do you use this thing?"

The short man immediately began explaining, "Just pull back the bolt, aim, and pull the trigger. It’s very simple!"

"Oh, is that so?" Li Xingyue pulled back the bolt and aimed it at the short man.

"Pew!"

*Bang!*

A gunshot rang out!

A bullet-sized hole appeared instantly in the short man’s head, and he collapsed backward.

The rest of the group watched in stunned silence. Weren't they promised they wouldn't be killed? What was going on?!

Li Xingyue looked entirely innocent. "Oops, it went off by accident."

*Damn it,* they thought, *only a fool would believe that!*

The group began to panic about their own fates.

Unexpectedly, Li Xingyue waved his hand. "You guys can go. I’m not killing you."

As he spoke, the zombies moved in unison to the sides, clearing a ten-meter-wide path that stretched far into the distance.

These words sounded like heaven to them. As if granted a pardon, they scrambled up and sprinted away.

The Tyrant handed him a beer and asked, puzzled, "I didn't think you were such a kind soul, letting them go just like that."

Li Xingyue took a sip of beer and looked equally puzzled. "When did I say I was letting them go? Why keep people who hurt their own kind alive?"

The Tyrant finally understood. He gave a faint smile and issued a command to the zombies. In the distance, a series of screams began to echo...

Seeing that the matter was settled, Li Xingyue was about to speak again when he noticed Yellow-Tooth move, as if about to wake up.

"He can't know about our relationship yet!"

Shura understood immediately and delivered a swift chop to Yellow-Tooth’s neck, knocking him unconscious again.

Li Xingyue gave Shura a thumbs-up.

Tyrant asked, "Since you finally came back, let’s have a drink before you go?"

Li Xingyue had assumed the Tyrant wanted to know what news he had gathered from the human side, but it turned out he just wanted to drink.

"Sure, these past few days have been miserable for me—bad food, no warm clothes. Let’s do it!"

The five of them took Yellow-Tooth and returned to a villa in Star Sea City.

They placed Yellow-Tooth on the floor, opened a crate of liquor, and began to eat and chat.

"What have you all been doing this whole time? Surely you haven't just been playing cards?" Li Xingyue asked, genuinely curious.

The Tyrant popped a peanut into his mouth. "We aren't like you; we don't have to kill zombies, so of course we’re just having fun."

Shura lit a cigarette and took a drag. "Hiss~, don't listen to him. We've been busy with a major project; no time to play!"

"A project? What kind of project could a zombie possibly have?" Li Xingyue found this baffling.

Blood Moon swallowed a mouthful of potato chips. "He got bored of playing cards and wanted to play on a game console, so he’s been trying to get the humans to restore the power."

After chatting for a while, Li Xingyue realized they were living quite the life. Compared to them, his own experiences over the past few days felt sub-human!

The Nun looked at Li Xingyue and remarked, "It seems you’ve made quite a lot of progress; you’ve become an Evolver."

That was the wrong thing to say. At the mention of it, Li Xingyue felt tears welling up. "Damn it, I almost died several times these past two days! Haven't you noticed all the gray hair I've got now?"

He picked up the Nun’s small mirror and looked at his reflection, discovering that his hair was nearly 20% gray. *Damn,* he thought, *this is terrible for my image. I have to dye it!*

Li Xingyue set down his bottle. "You guys keep drinking. I'm going to find some hair dye; I need to cover this up."

He walked out of the villa, found a bicycle in the neighborhood, and rode toward a nearby shopping mall.

After riding for twenty minutes, he found a large supermarket. He headed straight for the personal care section, searched for a long time, and finally found some black hair dye. He grabbed a shoe brush and headed back.

When he returned to the villa, the others were still drinking, and the room was thick with smoke.

"Shura, can't you smoke one at a time?" Li Xingyue set his things down and opened all the windows in the living room.

Shura curled his lip. "Pfft, you're such a lightweight. I’ll have you know I can smoke ten at once now!"

The Tyrant looked on with disdain. "That's nothing. Watch me finish ten bottles in one go!"

Li Xingyue looked down, tearing open the hair dye package without looking up. "I'm telling you two, smoking and drinking kill your sperm. Be careful—you don't want to find a pretty female zombie later and find out you can't perform."

After glancing at the instructions, Li Xingyue squeezed the dye onto the shoe brush and began applying it to his hair.