Chapter 3

When I woke up again, I found myself being held high by zombies. They seemed orderly, as if constantly moving toward some destination. "Do zombies actually have free will? Are they following the arrangements of higher-level zombies?"

Memory #600 revived in my mind: "Sometimes, zombies don't immediately eat their victims. They first perform some kind of mysterious ritual." Memory #601 also gradually became clear.

Since I couldn't escape being carried, I might as well calm down and analyze the current situation.

I closed my eyes. The memories of the previous 1,000 rebirths flooded my mind.

I had to slowly sort out the information I needed most right now.

"Guys, where are you taking me? To your boss? The Zombie King, Dr. Edgar?" I asked pointlessly. These zombies could only make "wah woo" sounds and couldn't say anything else.

The sky darkened. The zombies brought me into the shadows. I could feel that I seemed to have entered indoors, but I couldn't see anything clearly.

They snatched away my flashlight and roughly threw me into a prison made of bones, then moved a huge rock to block the door.

The smell inside was terrible. I thought hard—why were the zombies doing this?

"Zombies actually aren't aggressive! They have their own civilization!" Memory #900 reminded me.

"It's a scam! All a scam! We've been deceived!" Memory #908 didn't provide any useful information.

While I was thinking, a shout interrupted my thoughts. "You! You're human too?" Something was poking me in the pitch-black cell.

"Stop it. If I weren't alive, would I be dead?" I laughed helplessly, feeling something was off—why did this voice sound so familiar?

"Dick!" the figure in the darkness shouted. "Old Butt!" I was too excited to confirm. "Hahaha! It really is you!" We hugged excitedly.

My good friend "Old Butt" had been fired from the garbage cannon a month ago for stealing the boss's liquor. I hadn't expected him to still be alive and well.

"You idiot! I heard your laughter! I thought I was hallucinating!" Old Butt's breath immediately carried a putrid smell—he'd probably been locked up here with no way to brush his teeth.

"Don't mention it! I got fired too!" I excitedly recounted my recent experiences. Since he'd been driven away, I couldn't find anyone to drink with after work!

We chatted until we fell asleep. This time, the memories of my previous rebirths were incredibly clear. They pieced together in my mind like a puzzle, and I seemed to have already assembled the full picture of some events.

Fifty years ago, a strange zombie virus swept across the globe overnight. All infected humans mutated into bloodthirsty walking corpses, and civilization collapsed in an instant.

Survivors built four apocalyptic fortresses around the world to resist zombies and save human civilization. But as time passed, the other three fortresses fell one after another. The last pure land on Earth was only—Ace Pharmaceutical Research Institute, the fortress where I was born.

Ace Pharmaceutical Research Institute had three iron rules that no one could violate: 1. All newborns in the shelter must be injected with zombie vaccine; unvaccinated children would be dealt with along with their parents. 2. Any contact with zombies was strictly forbidden; if a zombie horde was discovered within 10 meters, they must be shot immediately. 3. Unconditionally obey all the boss's instructions and follow assigned arrangements.

It was precisely these rules that protected our shelter and allowed it to survive to the end, becoming humanity's last pure land. Everyone believed this deeply.

Regarding my background, I had no memory whatsoever. Related files were tightly sealed, but through technical means, I still found some related materials that hadn't been destroyed in time—[My mother had intimate special contact with a zombie before giving birth to me. I might be the offspring born from the union of a zombie and a human.]

After receiving the zombie vaccine, my body developed a disease mutation—whenever I became emotionally excited, I would laugh uncontrollably. So I had no other expressions and was always giggling all day long.

I was treated as a freak, bullied from childhood to adulthood. But my talent in genetic engineering was almost undeniable. After the previous boss died, his son Mr. G officially took over the shelter. Mr. G recruited me into his research team, working day and night for him to research the "zombie virus antidote."

It was also at this time that I discovered I actually possessed a rebirth ability that others didn't have. But I had already understood that this world always ostracized geniuses. I never told anyone about this, silently keeping this secret...

The sun came out, and warm rays of light shone through the ceiling onto my face. I groggily opened my eyes. "Zombie!" I jumped up, all drowsiness gone. In the empty cell, "Old Butt" was nowhere to be found. I was locked up with an ugly zombie.