Chapter Fourteen: The Coffin of Corpses

Half an hour later.

I kept the car at a steady pace—not too fast, not too slow—just enough for the horde of corpses trailing behind to keep up. Gradually, a legion of shamblers formed in my wake. In my eyes, these low-level zombies were nothing more than white, barcode-shaped gene values.

At least I’d stopped yelling, finally finding a moment of peace. But sitting in the passenger seat, securely strapped in, Lord Four seemed livelier than ever. Since the moment he got in, his barking hadn’t ceased.

“Ah, Lord Four, your energy is boundless. Barking for half an hour straight—I doubt any dog could match you.” I laughed, smoothing his fur, enjoying the warmth and softness. “You must have wandered all over ZM City, yet you’re not the least bit dirty. Do you have an owner who bathes you?”

“Woof woof woof…!”

“Alright, alright, I guess not. Otherwise, why would you stick to me?”

“Woof woof woof…!”

“So, do you or don’t you?”

“… …”

Man and dog stared at each other, but in the end Lord Four conceded with a couple of low whimpers, sitting disinterestedly in the passenger seat.

“I must be going mad, actually having such spirited conversations with a dog, when neither of us understands a word the other says.” I chuckled, shaking my head, and lit a cigarette, taking a deep drag.

The journey was astonishingly uneventful—no strange creatures, nothing out of the ordinary. Was fate really sending me gene values as a gift? The slug, the toad, the nightmare beast—all remained absent.

If so, then I, Cao, won’t hesitate to send these corpses on their way!

The entrance to the oil depot was blocked by corpses; I rammed straight through! Nudging the car left and right, I managed to reach the depot just before the fuel ran dry, knocking down several corpses and finishing them off with my blade.

As long as they don’t swarm, first-level corpses pose no threat to someone like me—they’re nothing but meat on a chopping block. Of course, if they gang up and ambush me, that’s another story.

The hierarchy of the corpses is shaped like a pyramid. The lower the grade, the more numerous; the higher, the rarer. Legendary fifth-level corpses are said to be unseen, while in a year, only a handful of fourth-level corpses have been eliminated by humans, each at a staggering cost.

The title “one corpse destroys a camp” is well earned.

Normally, corpses evolve by infecting humans—the more they infect, the higher their evolution.

But after more than a year, with humanity decimated, the corpses themselves have changed. Some even began to devour each other, gaining strength by consuming their own kind. Yet this only happens under certain conditions—how this pattern is triggered remains unknown. If all corpses turned cannibal, humans could simply hide until the corpses consumed themselves.

Having cleared out the wandering corpses in the oil depot, I saw the dark mass of pursuers gathering outside. I hurried to the main entrance and locked the depot’s iron gate.

I’d searched this depot for supplies before; there’s a back door. But if the place explodes, I’ll be caught in the blast. I must ensure I can escape and still detonate the depot.

On the wall, a warning in bold red paint: “OIL DEPOT—NO SMOKING, NO OPEN FLAMES!”

I glanced at my cigarette butt and flicked it through the iron gate.

Then, with practiced hands, I hefted a fuel canister to fill my car’s tank. I wouldn’t want to stall out on the road later.

“Bang! Bang!”

The zombies, pressed against the iron gate, grew ever more frenzied at the sight of fresh human flesh so close. The gate couldn’t hold much longer—with so many pushing, it might collapse any moment. I needed to hurry…

I filled the tank, then grabbed two more canisters, each nearly a hundred pounds, and struggled toward the back door.

If only I had a rifle with enough range, all this would be unnecessary.

Estimating the blast radius, I figured I’d need to ignite the depot from at least a hundred meters away, with cover for protection.

The scavenger team only carried pistols—no chance of puncturing a fuel tank from that distance.

Starting at the main entrance, I poured a trail of fuel—just enough to form a thick line. Two canisters were barely enough to connect the front and back doors.

The iron gate shuddered, battered relentlessly, but I stayed focused, moving quickly.

“Mm… mm…”

“Woof… woof woof woof…!”

Just as I was about to refill two more canisters and head out the back, Lord Four suddenly erupted in frantic barking, tugging at my trouser leg.

I squinted, scanning the darkness. Nothing seemed amiss, but Lord Four’s anxiety meant something was lurking nearby, perhaps watching, waiting to strike.

“Roar…”

The low, guttural growl did not escape my ears. I set down the canisters, flexed my aching arms, and unstrapped the Tang blade from my back, adopting a battle-ready stance.

In the darkness, I sensed a murderous intent and the eerie feeling of being hunted.

This time, the gene ecosystem’s warning didn’t trigger—probably because last time was the first activation, a sort of bonus. To fully unlock its alert function, I’d likely need to reach level two.

“Lord Four, stand back. Leave this to me.”

I glanced at the dog, worried he might get caught in the crossfire. But the heartless creature had already leapt into the car, hiding.

“I—%…&￥#”

“Bang!”

A slab of broken stone hurtled toward me from behind. My reflexes kicked in; sensing the rush of air behind my head, I dropped forward, flattening myself against the ground.

“Roar!! Hmph… hmph…”

I tumbled across the dirt, narrowly dodging a massive skull-crushing hammer that cratered the spot where I’d just been.

Holy hell—what manner of monster is this!

I scrambled to my feet, stunned by the giant corpse before me—over two meters tall, wielding a hammer as big as I was. It must have emerged from the depot’s workshop—no wonder I hadn’t seen it earlier; it was waiting to ambush me!

Damn it! There’s nothing about this thing in the survivor logs. What level is it—fourth? Surely not! Am I really that unlucky?

As I gaped in shock, the giant corpse swung its hammer down at my head once more, accompanied by a chilling gust.

I swallowed hard. I couldn’t take this head-on—only wit would win here. Though it’s powerful, all corpses share a weakness: their heads.

I had to lure it away from the fuel tanks. If it smashed those by accident, I’d be vaporized, sky-high in an instant!

With that in mind, I led the giant corpse in circles, keeping well away from the tanks before stopping.

Thankfully, despite its size, it moved sluggishly, giving me an opening.

I looked at the layers of corpses surrounding the depot and laughed aloud: “Ha ha ha! Damn it, a real man-versus-corpse arena! You low-level trash are just the spectators!”