“Mine, mine, mine!”
1254 Words
The pharmacy was lined with shelves, and from the glass windows outside, several rows could already be seen stripped bare.
No need to guess why—it was because of the earlier outbreak of fever. People had rushed to snatch up all the relevant medicine.
As Xu Chi approached, his steps were slow. He carefully swept his gaze over every shelf in sight.
Other types of medicine remained. At least, the ones he needed should still be there.
Pho Noan Yi trailed right behind him, like a little shadow.
There was the faintest stir of movement inside the pharmacy.
Xu Chi didn’t hear it.
Pho Noan Yi did. She merely tilted her head for a glance, then lost interest. For a being like her, two guttural growls would be enough to drive away any other ugly things.
She didn’t care about such distractions. All she cared about was guarding her food.
When Xu Chi reached the glass door, he noticed it was ajar. Hanging from it was a fortune bell, jingling as though stirred by something unseen.
Clink, clink, clink—
A gust of wind swept in. Xu Chi’s vision darkened.
From within, a massive shape lunged out.
Its clawed fingers caught the sunlight, flashing with razor-sharp light, as they tore straight toward him.
Xu Chi was badly injured. His abilities had been drained dry by Pho Noan Yi. He was propping himself up with nothing but a steel bar.
His body couldn’t react as fast as his mind. All he had time for was the brief image of a zombie towering over him, riddled with b****y holes.
At once he understood: this had been an ability user, killed by others.
No doubt—this was an ability zombie.
Xu Chi twisted his body, trying to dodge the sudden strike.
But agony shot through his injured leg, throwing him off balance. He was about to fall when the zombie’s claws nearly grazed his face.
Pho Noan Yi moved.
She darted forward, shoving Xu Chi hard to the ground, while raising her other hand to block the descending claws.
The zombie was nearly two meters tall, like a paper effigy patched together with scraps, bones straining to burst through skin.
It wasn’t bulky—but tall, feral, monstrous.
Tiny Pho Noan Yi had to crane her neck just to meet its gaze.
Big against small.
To Xu Chi’s eyes, it was like a grasshopper trying to stop a cart.
He shouted in alarm, “Little zombie!”
Blood was already seeping from the wound on his back, torn open again from his earlier fall. The dried blood glued his back to his tracksuit.
The tracksuit had always been a little too small on his tall frame. Now it was nearly impossible to move in.
As he struggled up, Pho Noan Yi was holding one of the zombie’s claws at bay. But it still had another.
The towering zombie roared hoarsely, “Hungry—” and grabbed Pho Noan Yi’s frail shoulders, lifting her high into the air.
Xu Chi’s hand gripped the steel bar. He wanted to hurl it—but stopped. He couldn’t throw away his only weapon.
Grinding his teeth against the pain ripping through flesh and bone, he forced himself upright.
The zombie clearly had no patience for Pho Noan Yi’s resistance.
It hefted her up, ready to fling her aside.
But Pho Noan Yi twisted suddenly, seizing its wrist with her small hand. A sharp c***k—the joint snapped.
As she fell, she clung to its arm like a nimble monkey, climbing with startling speed.
Xu Chi froze mid-swing, staring.
Pho Noan Yi scrambled up to its shoulders, grasped its head with both hands, and gave a savage twist.
The zombie’s skull turned halfway around, its face now pointing backward, its nape exposed to her.
It wasn’t enough. The core inside still hadn’t been severed. It could still move.
Pho Noan Yi dropped lightly to the ground, her heavy pack not hindering her at all.
Landing before Xu Chi, she flung out an arm to shield him, growling hoarsely: “Back!”
Stunned, Xu Chi staggered backward.
A thought surfaced in his mind—an old internet saying from years ago:
Has anyone ever risked their life for you?
No. Never.
But now—this little zombie.
For him.
The twisted-headed zombie flailed, blinded and disoriented. It roared, claws swiping madly.
Xu Chi could only stare, dumbstruck, at the small figure shielding him.
So small—yet with one arm held out to block the world from him.
Something deep within his chest stirred, as though a nameless seed had been planted.
The soil trembled. The seed strained upward.
Pho Noan Yi moved again. She sprang forward, foot braced on its leg, scurrying up to its head.
A sharp blow landed—thud!
She slammed its skull down.
One knee pinned it against the ground as her hands gripped its head, pounding it against the cement again and again.
The floor cracked in a spiderweb pattern under her relentless assault.
Xu Chi could feel the seed in his chest pushing harder, struggling toward light.
Meanwhile, her inner voice echoed, soft yet obsessive:
【Mine. Mine. Mine. This is my food!】
The seed stilled.
Xu Chi’s throat bobbed.
So this was… her guarding her meal?
Pho Noan Yi’s blows shattered concrete. At last, the massive zombie went limp, its head crushed mercilessly by her tiny hands.
A metallic clink rang out. A pale blue core rolled free, sticky with black-gray fluid.
Still pressing the ruined head down, Pho Noan Yi tilted her head.
【Ah. It’s not moving anymore. Guess it can’t steal my food now.】
She just wanted to protect her precious meal.
But it was so hard.
She acted purely on instinct, unaware of how utterly she had stunned Xu Chi.
He swallowed again, throat moving stiffly.
Today, he finally understood—just how terrifyingly strong this little zombie was.
And yet, she hadn’t eaten him.
She was a zombie who didn’t eat humans.
In the sunlight, kneeling over the fallen giant, Pho Noan Yi slowly stood. A beam of light caught her thin frame.
Xu Chi’s lips curved, his eyes glinting with the same sunlight.
This—was his little zombie.
Pho Noan Yi turned, tilting her head at him.
As if inspecting whether her food had been damaged.
【Ah. Looks like it’s not broken. Still my sugar figurine. Good.】
Xu Chi didn’t know what a “sugar figurine” was.
But judging from her look, she was checking if he’d lost any weight or pieces.
Obligingly, he straightened up and spread his arms wide, letting her examine him.
“Yeah. I’m not broken.” His voice was hoarse but laced with laughter.
Her eyes lit up, sparkling with joy.
Xu Chi set down the steel bar, stifled his pain, and bent to pick up the blue core.
He wiped it against his clothes, then held out his palm toward her.
“Want to eat this?” he asked gently.
Zombie cores carried attributes. Ability users could absorb them—though only those matching their type, or neutral ones, and always with side effects.
But surely zombies would like them too?
Pho Noan Yi only stared, her gaze full of disdain.
【Who would eat something so filthy, dropped out of that ugly thing’s head?】
Xu Chi’s hand froze.
If her kind ever found out she called them “ugly things”...
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