A Fake Holy Mother in the Zombie Apocalypse

The screams of the zombies below gradually faded away as wave after wave passed by. The sky slowly darkened.

The streetlights were still on, illuminating the usually bustling road. Now, it was eerily quiet, not a single car drove by. A few vehicles were left abandoned in the middle of the road, their positions haphazard.

The residential buildings in the distance were almost all dark. Even if there were people inside, no one dared to turn on the lights.

Countless residents of Ning City huddled in their homes, anxious and uneasy, hoping to survive the first night of the apocalypse.

Zombies had a keener sense of smell and hearing than sight, and the night streets were their domain.

Lu Xingchi picked up his crossbow. "Let's go."

The hotel was still brightly lit, but an unsettling silence hung in the air outside the heavy door of the presidential suite. The only elevator door remained tightly shut.

Lu Xingchi, Bei Nuan, and Du Ruo made their way to the emergency exit.

The three of them descended the spiraling staircase as quietly as possible.

As they neared the underground parking lot, they heard a commotion above.

It sounded like someone had opened the emergency exit door and was charging down the stairwell, groaning.

Before Bei Nuan and Du Ruo could react, Lu Xingchi swiftly looked up.

The metal handrail suddenly twisted and deformed, forming a barrier in front of the incoming zombie.

Caught completely off guard, the zombie tripped and tumbled through the gap in the middle of the staircase.

It plummeted three floors straight down.

It was a rather gruesome sight.

Startled by the sudden descent of the zombie, Bei Nuan exclaimed, "How did he jump down? Does he think he's a bird?"

Lu Xingchi glanced down. "He probably has some cognitive impairment after turning into a zombie."

He then proceeded to open the door leading to the underground garage.

The parking lot was almost empty. The three of them quickly got into the SUV and sped off.

The roar of the engine was particularly jarring in the silent city.

Groups of zombies, drawn by the sound, emerged from the shadows of the streets and chased after the SUV relentlessly.

Unfortunately for them, even the Usain Bolt of the zombie world couldn't outrun wheels on two legs. They were quickly left far behind.

Lu Xingchi expertly maneuvered the SUV around abandoned vehicles, speeding towards the outskirts of the city.

Bei Nuan couldn't help but think that if the system hadn't gone haywire, they wouldn't be able to drive this car out.

In the original novel, at this exact time and place, they were supposed to encounter another member of their team.

This person held a rather special significance to Bei Nuan.

He was her almost-boyfriend in the book.

Although they never officially confessed, their relationship was quite ambiguous and obvious.

His presence was a major reason why Lu Xingchi hadn't kicked Bei Nuan, who was constantly holding the team back, out of the group.

As expected, they reached the city outskirts, only to find their path blocked.

A large truck had collided with the railway bridge, causing the entire structure to collapse and block countless private cars. The cars were now empty, but the marks on the ground indicated a fierce battle had taken place.

Lu Xingchi told everyone to get out of the car and gestured to Bei Nuan.

Without needing any further instruction, Bei Nuan patted the SUV and swiftly stored it in her spatial pocket.

The three of them walked forward a short distance when they heard the groans of zombies and human screams. It was coming from a small farmhouse restaurant by the road, where a horde of zombies had gathered outside the wooden door.

The zombies desperately tried to squeeze inside while the people inside struggled to hold the door shut. Both sides were locked in a stalemate.

The gap in the doorway widened as the zombie team, united in their efforts, gained the upper hand.

The sound of Lu Xingchi's group approaching caught the attention of the zombies. Several of them abandoned their companions, who were still pushing against the door, and lunged at these three fresh, appetizing humans.

As expected, each zombie was met with a nail to the forehead.

Lu Xingchi, without lowering his crossbow, effortlessly took down all the door-pushing zombies.

With the sudden disappearance of the zombies, the people inside the restaurant cautiously peeked outside. They were startled to see the fallen zombies.

Lu Xingchi kicked the door open, crossbow in hand.

Bei Nuan remembered this scene from the original novel.

In the book, when Lu Xingchi's group discovered the collapsed railway bridge blocking their path, they also immediately abandoned their vehicle and proceeded on foot. It was then that they encountered the zombies.

The Lu Xingchi in the book was far less capable than the one standing before her now. He had fought and retreated, eventually managing to clear the zombies at the entrance of this restaurant and entering it.

Exhausted from battling the zombies, he had needed a short rest.

The current Lu Xingchi was so powerful that he could easily eliminate all the zombies on their way. Moreover, with Bei Nuan's spatial ability, they could retrieve the SUV after passing this blocked section of the road.

Yet, he still chose to enter this restaurant, just like in the original plot.

Bei Nuan couldn't comprehend the big boss's thought process, but she knew better than to question him. She simply followed his lead.

Inside the restaurant, there were already dozens of people, a mix of men, women, elderly, and children.

No one would come to a restaurant for a meal at a time like this. These people were all trying to escape the city but got stranded on the road. They had sought refuge in this restaurant to avoid the zombies.

Panic was etched on everyone's faces.

Upon entering, Lu Xingchi's first words were, "Where's the owner?"

Everyone exchanged confused glances; no one knew the owner's whereabouts.

Lu Xingchi instructed the others to continue guarding the door while he headed towards the back of the restaurant.

He had single-handedly cleared the zombies outside with just a crossbow. Coupled with his imposing aura, the able-bodied men who were guarding the door obediently followed his orders and resumed their posts.

A short while later, Lu Xingchi emerged from the kitchen, dragging a plump, middle-aged man with him.

He was literally dragging the man, who was trembling so badly that he couldn't stand.

"The key to the rolling shutter door." Lu Xingchi released the man and extended his hand.

The owner's lips trembled uncontrollably, his eyes unfocused. It took him a while to comprehend Lu Xingchi's words. He fumbled in his pockets for what seemed like an eternity before finally producing a key.

Lu Xingchi took the key from him and proceeded to pull down the rolling shutter door, securing it with a lock.

With the rolling shutter door in place, there was no longer a need to guard the door manually. The restaurant instantly felt much safer.

A collective sigh of relief swept through the room.

Bei Nuan thought to herself, 'Don't get too comfortable just yet.'

The only good thing about this restaurant was that it had plenty of seating. Du Ruo found an empty chair and nudged Bei Nuan, the designated logistics chief. "I'm hungry," he said, his eyes moist and pleading like a puppy that hadn't been fed on time.

Bei Nuan pulled out a bag of potato chips from her spatial pocket and handed it to him.

"Sweet and spicy flavor? My favorite." Du Ruo hugged the bag of chips, a look of contentment spreading across his face.

Before he could even tear open the bag, a frantic banging sounded from behind the rolling shutter door. It was so loud that the entire restaurant seemed to shake.

This was no zombie.

A muffled voice shouted from outside, "Open the door! Help! Someone please open the door!!"

Bei Nuan mentally blew a whistle.

'The boyfriend has arrived.'

'And I get to earn some Holy Mother points too. This is awesome!'

Bei Nuan tugged at Lu Xingchi's arm excitedly. "There's someone outside. Hurry up and open the door for them."

As if on cue, the "Wah-ha-ha-ha" sound rang out, and the little green bar representing her Holy Mother points happily inched forward.

Lu Xingchi glanced at her impassively.

Bei Nuan immediately clarified, "Remember the first rule of our agreement? I listen to you. You can open it if you want, or not. It's up to you."

Only then did Lu Xingchi stand up and walk towards the rolling shutter door with the key in hand.

Just as he inserted the key into the lock, he was stopped.

Several of the able-bodied men who had been guarding the door earlier surrounded Lu Xingchi, pushing him away from the entrance.

They were all shorter than Lu Xingchi and not as physically imposing. As a result, their tone was still somewhat respectful.

"Don't open the door. Who knows what kind of monsters are out there?"

"Let's not open it, okay? What if we let the zombies in?"

They had listened to Lu Xingchi earlier because he had a crossbow and could kill zombies, protecting them.

Now that the rolling shutter door was locked, the restaurant felt much safer, and Lu Xingchi's authority plummeted.

It dropped faster than the falling zombie from earlier.

Seeing that they were at an impasse, Bei Nuan ran to the door and shouted through the gap, "Are there any zombies out there right now?"

The people outside heard her and replied, "Not right now. Please, please open the door!"

Bei Nuan turned to the others inside and reported, "They said there are no zombies outside."

They had been out there for a while, and if they were still alive, there probably weren't any zombies around.

Du Ruo, munching on his chips, chimed in, "Just let them in quickly. In the time you've wasted arguing, we could have let ten people in."

Whether or not to open the door in a crisis was an eternal dilemma.

Du Ruo was clearly in the "open the door" camp.

"Even if there are no zombies outside, how do we know they haven't been bitten?" one man argued.

"Yeah, I heard that after being bitten, some people don't turn into zombies for a long time."

"What if we let one of those in? What will happen to all of us?"

"There are so many people here. What if we get infected? They should just stay out!"

Lu Xingchi's gaze swept across the room.

"I understand your concerns about them being bitten and not wanting to let them in. It makes sense," Lu Xingchi said.

"But if that's the standard we're going by, then I think everyone here should be checked. Anyone with injuries should leave voluntarily. How does that sound?"

Silence descended upon the restaurant.

In such chaotic times, everyone was lucky to be alive. No one could guarantee they were completely injury-free.

Even if they were, they couldn't say the same for their family and friends who were with them.

Du Ruo, with a cheerful smile, added, "This isn't your restaurant. We're all just passing through. It wouldn't be right for you to come in first, lock the door, and refuse to let anyone else in, would it? If we're going to decide whether or not to open the door, we should at least ask the owner, right, owner?"

There was no response. The owner of the restaurant had disappeared again, his hiding place unknown.

Suddenly, the rolling shutter door rattled open.

While they were busy arguing, Bei Nuan, without anyone noticing, had swiftly unlocked and opened the door just enough for a person to squeeze through.

This was exactly what the original Bei Nuan had done.

Bei Nuan followed suit perfectly.

As expected, the "Wah-ha-ha-ha" sound rang out, and her Holy Mother points shot up.

The man who had been arguing with Lu Xingchi was instantly enraged. He shoved Bei Nuan forcefully, yelling, "What are you doing, opening the door? Are you crazy?"

The shove sent Bei Nuan stumbling backward, crashing into the rolling shutter door.

In the next second, the man went flying, crashing into the wooden benches of the restaurant with a loud bang.

His body went limp, unable to move.

It wasn't just because he had been thrown with such force that he felt like he was falling apart; it was also because a gleaming metal nail was pressed against his temple, pinning him to the wooden bench. The nail vibrated ominously.

Lu Xingchi, holding the crossbow in one hand, spoke in a chillingly calm voice, "Try laying another hand on her."

In the few seconds that they had been arguing, three people had already slipped through the opening in the door.

Bei Nuan quickly lowered the rolling shutter door and locked it.

As the three newcomers stepped inside, silence fell over the entire restaurant.

The three men were dressed in identical blue work uniforms with reflective stripes on the front and back, resembling zebra crossings. Their hair was cropped short, revealing their scalps.

Their identities were immediately apparent.

They were convicts from prison.

One of them was being half-carried, half-dragged by the other two.

His eyes were closed, his forehead covered in blood, clearly seriously injured.

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