The situation changed too fast.

Perhaps enraged by the slaughter of its offspring, a mutated old monkey king went berserk.

Grabbing a railing, it shook it violently, screeching madly. But even that wasn’t enough to vent its fury—it lunged straight at Qin Luo, its mouth splitting open into a gaping, bloody maw. Those sharp fangs were enough to make anyone’s skin crawl.

The other monkeys also grew more frenzied, their collective screeches deafening, causing a piercing ringing in everyone’s ears.

It was excruciating.

Chen Xiaofei couldn’t help but curse, “Can’t win, so now they’re using sonic attacks?!”

Among everyone, Xu Duoduo was the calmest. After all, she had no scent of flesh and blood on her, and she wasn’t making any noise, so she didn’t attract the monkeys’ attention.

Wang Weihu also noticed something. He shouted at the survivors, telling them to stop screaming—the more they screamed, the more excited the monkey horde became. These creatures were inherently vicious, bullying the weak and fearing the strong was in their nature.

“If you’ve got anything in your hands, use it to fight back!”

He couldn’t protect everyone alone. His furious roar reached the survivors’ ears, and finally, a few of them realized they needed to resist.

The monkeys didn’t get off easy either.

But Xu Duoduo couldn’t stay safe forever. Soon, some of the monkeys locked onto her as a target.

Fortunately, she was more agile at night than during the day.

She dodged a crazed monkey pouncing at her with a quick roll.

Chen Xiaofei and Bai Shu both glanced her way—seeing that she still knew how to dodge, they sighed in relief and turned back to their own fights. They had to wipe out these monkeys. This was endless—where were they all coming from?

Other survivors voiced the same frustration.

Then someone mentioned that K City’s zoo had the most monkeys. No wonder so many had escaped.

The entire factory site was in chaos.

Xu Duoduo kept dodging, but as she rolled, her clothes got smeared with blood. The wet, sticky sensation clung to her, making her deeply uncomfortable.

At the same time, she noticed that her body had become much more agile. As she ran, she grabbed scattered cans and hurled them at the monkeys—her aim was surprisingly accurate.

Every throw hit its mark.

When a can directly exploded a mutated monkey’s head, Chen Xiaofei couldn’t help but cheer, “Damn, Squad Leader, that was badass! Just like Qin Ge’er!”

Xu Duoduo didn’t have time to bask in the praise—her defiance had put her on the monkeys’ radar. The number of mutated monkeys chasing her quickly grew from one to four or five.

Each one was huge, their mouths stretched to their ears, drool constantly dripping, mixed with blood and filth—it was disgusting.

Xu Duoduo frowned and ran into the fire escape, only to find it was a dead end. She could only lean against the wall and stare at the mutated monkeys across from her. Their blood-red eyes gleamed eerily under the emergency lights.

She steadied her nerves. The mutated monkeys didn’t give her much time to react—they lunged at her immediately.

In the next second, she pulled out a chainsaw and revved it with a loud whirrrr.

Her legs were shaking, but her grip on the chainsaw was steady. Her face showed no fear—though, to be fair, she wasn’t capable of making fearful expressions anymore.

…

By the time Chen Xiaofei and Bai Shu finished dealing with the mutated monkeys in the factory and rushed over to Xu Duoduo, they were struck speechless by the sight before them.

She was covered in blood and filth, clutching a chainsaw. The ceiling, floor, and walls were splattered with mutant monkey limbs and gore.

It was a scene straight out of a nightmare.

Both Chen Xiaofei and Bai Shu looked grim—Bai Shu even gripped his gun tighter.

“L-Little Squad Leader?”

Chen Xiaofei really didn’t want to face the fact that his old classmate might have completely lost her mind. The apocalypse had already taken away too many friends and family members. Having a familiar face around was precious.

Not to mention, she was genuinely a good person.

And she had a massive stockpile of canned food in her spatial ability—an incredibly valuable asset.

For both personal and practical reasons, he desperately hoped she was still herself.

Bai Shu felt the same. He was terrified that Xu Duoduo wouldn’t recognize them anymore.

Then, the little zombie girl in front of them nodded… and even let out a soft “Mm.”

Her tone was strangely cute.

The two men immediately let out a breath of relief.

“Damn, for a second, I thought you were completely gone.”

Xu Duoduo herself was confused. She was clearly a zombie now, but she still had her consciousness. She looked down at her blood-covered hands, feeling a bit lost.

The monkey attack had been brutal. Out of the hundred-plus survivors, only ninety-two remained. The survivors’ faces were blank, their spirits broken.

The psychological trauma was heavy.

Wang Weihu was tending to the wounded. When asked if they would mutate from their injuries, he had no definite answer.

Even the Prophet couldn’t foresee everything, and the Survival Handbook wasn’t omnipotent.

Despair hung over the group.

Wang Weihu could only tell them to stay strong—there was nothing else to say.

Meanwhile, Bai Shu and Chen Xiaofei were recording footage and data with their tablet. All of this would later be compiled into reports and uploaded. The information gathered from the frontlines was crucial to humanity’s future survival.

Xu Duoduo stood in silence, staring at the gory mess on the ground.

On the other side, Qin Luo had killed the monkey king. His hand was drenched in blood, clearly wounded, but he was holding a glowing green crystal.

Bai Shu and Chen Xiaofei stood up at once.

“Qin Ge’er, is your hand okay?”

“Is that… an Aberrant Core?”

Xu Duoduo caught the familiar term—it had been mentioned in the Apocalypse Survival Handbook. Aberrant Cores, formed inside mutated creatures.

They were valuable.

Bai Shu and Chen Xiaofei immediately started taking pictures of it. Qin Luo glanced over, making Xu Duoduo instinctively shrink back.

The first time she had peeked at him, his fierce gaze had scared her half to death.

This guy would kill her.

Him and his entire squad—if she ever truly lost herself and became a mindless monster, they would not hesitate to end her.

And in that case, she would rather die.

Better in their hands than to become a creature she couldn’t control.

The atmosphere grew awkward.

Chen Xiaofei tried to explain that Xu Duoduo was still conscious and was about to launch into a whole demonstration—

Then, a loud grrrooowl interrupted him.

Xu Duoduo was hungry.

For some reason, the Aberrant Core in Qin Luo’s hand smelled… delicious.

Like some kind of sweet, fruity aroma.

It made her crave it.

Bai Shu and Chen Xiaofei were stunned.

“Wait… Squad Leader, your stomach actually growls?!”

“She’s a zombie! How the hell is she still getting hungry?!”

They both turned to Qin Luo in shock.

He had already noticed how Xu Duoduo was staring at the Aberrant Core, practically drooling, yet stubbornly looking away to resist temptation.

“… You want it?” Qin Luo asked, holding the core out to her.

Xu Duoduo hesitated.

His expression was serious—he wasn’t joking.

She struggled, torn between nodding and shaking her head. Eating an Aberrant Core… it just felt wrong.

It would make her even less human. The mere thought was humiliating.

But…

She was so hungry.