The news about the destruction of Hope Base in Z District had spread in the whole country. The sad news about the Z District Base had sent fear towards the other bases especially when they heard that the cause of its demise was a hidden infection that caused the zombie virus to spread.
There is also news about bases being attacked by a zombie siege made up of millions. Because of this kind of news, lots of small bases split and decided to join with others in preparations for the last day.
Few smart ones took some cars and headed to the other end of the country. Despite the news of Z District falling, some still didn't give up and headed to the north. They wanted to struggle more for their lives to last.
District Z is their last hope of humanity. This is because they heard a floating rumor that in the north there's a hidden paradise that may be able to become the last sanctuary in this apocalypse. The paradise is called the Ximen Mountain.
---
On the other hand at District N.
The zombies had conquered the lands from districts A to N. Within these districts all humans and living things were considered extinct. They were either turned into undead beings or eaten alive.
The zombie king and queen had reached the level of 10. It is undeniable that they are now at the top of the food chain with half of the current populations of living things having come to an end thanks to their existence.
Reaching the N District, the sounds of screams and agony continue to echo. These are few humans who didn't leave the district with General Cao at that time. They were living peacefully in some warehouses until this siege hit their district. As expected no one was spared and all lives were hunted.
Zombie King, Ye Yan, and Zombie Queen, Hei Suya, left all the cleaning up tasks to their generals. They were now the strongest among the undead race. Those four zombie generals had to listen to their commands without question.
The king and queen were now at the same seaside villa which Ximen Xueya used to own. It was the same place where Cao Junye and the rest stayed when they came over to this district.
The interior of the villa is covered in dust but the things left inside were still there. The cups and plates, teacups and utensils, pillows and blankets in the bedroom, and even some picture frames with Ximen Xueya and Ximen Chino on it. This villa hasn't been ransacked by other survivors nor ordinary zombies would enter the house as there aren't any living beings in the place.
At this moment, Ye Yan and Hei Suya had occupied the place. They've even enjoyed the left behind tea leaves by the house cupboard and made some for them. Now that they are high leveled Zombies, human food can be consumed. Except for their strength which is beyond normal beings, their outer appearance had returned to being that of a human.
Their skins were no longer bloodless instead it was pinkish and glowing as if to show their body's healthy state. The black veins had faded leaving only a state of softness and good shape of physical condition, the same thing happened with their black nails. It could be retracted anytime they wanted. At their current state, no one would realize that they were not human beings, mingling with other humans is also possible.
In the villa's living room, the whole place was cleaned up by the zombie generals before the zombie king and queen occupied that place. Now the zombie queen, Hei Suya, is enjoying a cup of tea while Ye Yan is holding a photo album they found at the master's bedroom.
There is a sound of something being flipped every minute. Ye Yan is looking through the album full of photos. Most of it shows pictures shared by three people: Ximen Xueya, Ximen Chino, and Cao Junye. This is a photo album the old butler Wu had made when the family of three were still living in the capital. The good scene of peace before the world ended had arrived.
Hei Suya spoke, "A'Yan what are you looking at? Is that a family photo album? Whose?"
"The target and his family," replied Ye Yan.
"Seriously!? Let me see what the target looks like!" said Hei Suya who hurriedly occupied the space beside the zombie king.
Within the photo album, Hei Suya saw many happy pictures of two adult men and a child. In most of the photos, all three of them were smiling, especially the child. It's a photo portraying a perfect and happy family.
Hei Suya stares at the photo but is unable to point out which of the two adult men is their target for the mission. "So, which of the two?" the zombie queen asked.
Ye Yan didn't reply with words, instead using his index finger he pointed at Ximen Xueya's figure in the photo.
"This one." The zombie king pointed at Xueya's photo who is looking at his son and husband with a small smile on his family, his eyes softening while staring at his loved ones.
The zombie queen slyly hooked up her lips, "He's quite handsome and... has a cold temperament."
Ye Yan appraised their target for the mission. Only to notice the disparity of the original residents of this world to him.
"Not only that. His gestures and poise..."
Hei Suya immediately noticed the things her lover pointed out. She is someone from a noble clan as well. Someone whose family is from the upper realms which are above the other worlds. She could easily identify the core with just a few words from her lover.
"It's a bit too ingrained into him. As if he is someone who is born in some noble clan. Formality and elegance are already second to his nature. I couldn't even have this kind of presence."
"This is the demeanor of someone not of this kind of era. He is not an original resident and must be a foreign soul like us."
The zombie queen's eyes widened in astonishment. If the words of her lover, Ye Yan are true then this mission target is not an ordinary soul as she thought. Like the zombie king had said before there is something wrong with their prey.
"I had Bee investigate this person ahead of time. If there is no problem, he should be on his way back," said Ye Yan.
Hei Suya responded worriedly, "What if Bee got caught? If the target is indeed a foreign soul like us, it means that he should possess his own system. A world hopper undergoing a mission in a C rank world like this but didn't panic even after the world had upgraded to an A rank one after we got involved is not an ordinary person. There is no way he wouldn't receive a system prompt of this world's rank being upgraded."
"The heavenly will of this star had blocked the whole world, preventing insiders from leaving and outsiders from entering. He either wasn't able to leave or... he chose to stay. If it is the former then we won't have any problem with this mission. But if it's the latter then... we have to kill him without holding back. Once things get out of hand, we won't be able to leave this place as well.
Let the plans progress faster. Command the zombies to attack all the bases from District M to Y as soon as possible. The target might be staying in the Z District in the north." said Ye Yan.
The zombie queen, Hei Suya, used her mental ability to order all the zombies. She passes Ye Yan's command through her mind to the mind of the four zombie generals under their control.
{Kill all living things from district M to district Y. Leave nothing alive!}
As soon as the command was passed, the sound of growling zombies could be heard collectively just outside the villa. The four zombie generals had split their groups and started attacking the districts consecutively. It wouldn't take long for the zombies to conquer the whole country at this pace.
---
At the forest.
The group spent a week within the jungle. They had gathered enough materials to elevate the survival of their base. Thanks to Ximen Xueya's help, the group had also tamed a few mutated animals living inside the forest. These mutated animals were like Oreo, they had intelligence but most of them couldn't directly speak. The mutated animals could mostly convey their thoughts with their masters as long the taming is done.
The soldiers were able to tame a wolf pack with the wolf king being tamed by Wang Lei. Baize helped his host tame a white tiger which the two now share as their mount. Shi Moye and Su Liye had grabbed some lions for their wife and took some pythons with them as well. The three rode on the lions while the pythons were told to shrink at the size where they could wrap themselves around Su Liye and Shi Moye's wrists or waist.
The mutated animals can control their size after reaching level 6 and above. Normally it would be impossible to tame beasts of this kind, not only their levels are high paired with some intelligence, they would never attach themselves to human beings. But who made Ximen Xueya too godly, with a little bit of coercion from him, those mutated beasts felt their lives were at stake if they didn't listen to him. Thus the taming of this beast becomes easier with Xueya around.
Cao Junye also tamed some animals but unlike the rest, he didn't choose land-based beasts like lions, tigers, or such. He instead chooses something that is invincible in the air. The mutated animal the general had chosen is the phoenix from before.
Few hours ago. At lunch before leaving the forest.
During the whole process of taming, Xueya didn't help Junye at all. Why would he help? His husband had enough strength to contend even with the old willow if he wanted to. So when Cao Junye jumped off the cliff except for Ximen Xueya and the curious little bun Chino, almost everyone in their group was frightened and shocked.
Wang Lei only frowned while waiting by the cliff together with Ximen Xueya and his young master. Baize remained calm as he knew what kind of man reigned the whole Nether System. Rumors about that Lord God of Nether had never been good especially for prisoners or sinners like him. His host, Xu Lin, was panicking with his face all pale. He couldn't believe someone would jump off a cliff much less meet those mythical beings without a plan.
Yun Suisen on the other hand acted normal. He sat beside Ximen Xueya and enjoyed eating snacks with his nephew. His lovers were not with him as Cao Junye brought them over with him. Wang Lei and Baize were left behind as they were in charge of the overall protection of the group. After all, Junye doesn't expect his wife to protect everyone unless it's necessary. The latter would even watch the group destroyed as long as Chino is safe.
While waiting for their general to arrive, the soldiers were tasked to light some fire once again. It was Xueya's orders. This is in preparation for lunch.
As they waited for the soldiers to make the fire, Yun Suisen while holding a macaroon in his hand looked down as the deep trench under the cliff. He could still remember the feeling of falling from this height in his original world as Tuzi.
"Woa~ They've really jumped. Is there a river below?" says Yun Suisen as he peers at the cliff.
Beside him the sound of sound slurping loudly on his drinks can be heard.
Slurps~
It is Ximen Chino sipping on his daddy's cup of strawberry shake. This is a drink his father made for his daddy. He had finished drinking his own cup and took the liberties of drinking his daddy's part. Chino is now sitting on his daddy's lap.
Ximen Xueya wipes the excess juice on the corner of his son's mouth before nonchalantly replying to Yun Suisen's question.
"There's no river. But Moye is a wind ability user, they won't fall to their deaths."
"Hm~ that is also true. Xuexue I want some milkshake too~" said Yun Suiden before teasing his nephew at the same time. "How about sharing some to Shushu Baby Chino?"
The little bun pouted and faced his uncle with his fat butt. "No! This is Chi-chan's~"
"Come on~ that's your daddy's... Not yours!"
"It's Chino's... Mine. Daddy~ this drink is Chino's right? ~" said the little bun while looking up to his daddy who was smiling at him.
Struck by the little baby's adorable big eyes, the adults around him felt their hearts were directly struck with overload cuteness. They were even more speechless when they heard Xueya chuckles out of nowhere.
Kissing his son's forehead with a doting smile on his beautiful face, "Mm. Daddy gave it to you. So it's baby's drink. Your shushu is just teasing you." replied Xueya.
The little bun happily grinned after hearing his daddy's words especially when he suddenly got a kiss. Lately, his daddy had been giving him lots of kisses and hugs. The same with his father, Cao Junye, they were both given kisses and hugs by Ximen Xueya ever since this morning.
Ximen Xueya said, "Sui, don't tease the child anymore. Here's your drink."
He didn't forget to bring a few pitchers of mango shake for everyone from his space. Yun Suisen joyously took the first cup of it.
"Hmm~ cold and sweet~" said Yun Suisen.
Afterwards a soldier reported that the fire was made. Hearing this Xueya called for Zhi Yue and had him materialized in his human form while out of anyone's sight. He left his son, Chino, to him while he and Yun Suisen began cooking for lunch. Xu Lin also joined the two with cooking.
A feast was prepared under the work of three people. Xueya ordered Yun Suisen and Xu Lin with the whole process of cooking. Seeing how Xueya did all the cooking preparations and procedure, Xu Lin was shocked as this was the first time he had witnessed Xueya's godly skills in cooking.
Yun Suisen is used to this and did his part without any problems. While Xu Lin was left standing, staring in shock and amazement. The feast Xueya made is something that can only be served in luxurious 5 five restaurants. His drool could be held back during the process.
Drooling~
Dazed Xu Lin, "It smells so... Delicious!!"
"Wipe your drool. Be careful not to swallow your tongue as well. I know it smells heavenly but we won't be able to eat it unless the boss returns. If you can't really bear to hold back, cover your nose. Xuexue would definitely not serve the lunch until his husband returns." said Yun Suisen.
Ignoring everyone's eyes on him, Xueya continues cooking. No one dared to steal as they were afraid of angering the cook and losing their own part for lunch. Except for the little bun who was feed full after running towards his daddy, the rest finally experience what is it like to be torture by the scent of heavenly delicacies yet unable to eat.
Only when Cao Junye returned riding on the back to a phoenix followed by Shi Moye and Su Liye who were on the back of two golden eagles that everyone else had been able to eat the lunch feast Xueya had made for everyone.
They were more excited about the lunch than the mythical creature their general had brought back. Everyone enjoyed the lunch peacefully at this moment. Afterwards, everyone else made preparations to leave the forest and return back to the base. Without them knowing what kind of situation would welcome them once they've returned.