Chapter 3: Call Me Daddy!
1934 Words
Although Lin Yuan was certain that the zombies outside wouldn't harm him, he still used his previous method and smashed the heads of the remaining two zombies.
After relaxing a bit, Shen Rong crouched in a corner, dry heaving. Her stomach spasmed continuously, but she only vomited some stomach acid. Her body curled up like a shrimp, trembling on the ground. Her face grew increasingly red, her breathing became more labored, and a choking, rasping sound came from her throat as her airway became severely obstructed, with her eyes rolling back.
"You're really trying to die, huh?"
Lin Yuan sighed and walked over, lifting Shen Rong up with one hand. It was clear she had something lodged in her airway, blocking her breath. If it wasn't dealt with quickly, she would soon suffocate to death.
He pressed her against the table, wrapping his arms around her abdomen and repeatedly thrusting upward.
The Heimlich maneuver was effective, and Lin Yuan could clearly feel the softness and elasticity under his hands. He couldn’t help but adjust his positioning, ensuring that while he was saving her life, he also took a bit of enjoyment from the situation.
After a few more thrusts, Shen Rong finally coughed up the foreign object with a loud retch and collapsed onto the table, breathing heavily.
"Thank you for saving me again."
Shen Rong’s eyes were filled with complex emotions. The first brush with death had left her paralyzed with fear, but this time, she truly felt the terror. Only after experiencing death firsthand did she realize just how helpless it felt.
"I wouldn’t mind performing that kind of rescue a few more times."
Lin Yuan didn’t care for her gratitude. People’s personalities don’t change easily. Perhaps her gratitude was genuine at the moment, but who knew if it would last once the crisis was over.
With the zombies outside now dealt with, Lin Yuan decided it was time to find a new safe house, somewhere he could rest without worry. He moved the desk aside, and the zombie wedged in the doorway rolled down, conveniently blocking the entrance.
Lin Yuan stepped on the female zombie’s chest, feeling the soft, springy sensation underfoot as he casually walked out.
Inside the office, Shen Rong was about to call out, but remembering Lin Yuan's words, she instinctively shut her mouth. The small office, now containing four corpses, filled her with an indescribable fear, making her tremble uncontrollably.
"Wait, wait for me!"
She couldn’t bear to stay in the room any longer and hurried to catch up. But as she reached the door, the three bodies blocked her path. If she wanted to get through, she'd have to step on the corpses.
As Lin Yuan’s figure grew farther away, Shen Rong realized that if she hesitated any longer, she might really die here. So she gritted her teeth and took a small, resolute step forward.
Just as she reached the hallway, she heard a thud. A zombie fell to the ground, and Lin Yuan was casually shaking off the brain matter stuck to his axe.
"Let me follow you. I can help carry things!"
Shen Rong was a decisive person; otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to start her own company at such a young age. Rather than hiding in the office waiting to die, she figured following Lin Yuan might give her a chance at survival.
She could tell that Lin Yuan was different from others. His ease in killing zombies and his decisiveness were qualities that others lacked. Although she had suffered quite a bit earlier, even getting bitten, none of that mattered. As long as she could stay alive, she was willing to endure some losses.
Lin Yuan needed someone to draw the attention of the zombies. Although he knew that he had now become one of them, he couldn't be sure that all zombies wouldn’t attack him. Having a living person around might actually increase his own chances of survival.
As they walked down the hallway, the floor was a mess, stained with dark red blood. The next office was where Lin Yuan used to work, but it had already been looted, with nothing of value left.
At the end of the hallway was the office where Jiang Yaojin and the others were hiding—Lin Yuan's next target.
“Are we really going back there?”
Shen Rong hesitated.
Over the past few days, she had seen Jiang Yaojin’s true nature clearly. If she went back, she would eventually fall into his trap.
"You just said that Jiang Yaojin pushed you, which caused both of us to get caught up in this. I won't be able to sleep tonight if we don't settle this," Lin Yuan said, now completely indifferent to moral restraint after acquiring the Zombie Evolution System. It was as if, without any worries, he could now do whatever he wanted. If it were before, he would have likely swallowed his anger, finding excuses like "for the sake of the team's harmony," "the boss didn’t do it on purpose," or "he was just scared."
"They have more people than us, we can’t win against them. Just bear with it for now," Shen Rong said, as if genuinely concerned for Lin Yuan’s well-being. Her plan was to endure until the rescue team arrived.
"Bear with it? Bear your f***ing patience!"
Hearing Lin Yuan’s crude language, Shen Rong was taken aback, a hint of hurt flashing in her eyes. She had been thinking of his well-being, so why was he scolding her?
When they reached the office door, Lin Yuan politely knocked three times. There was a formalism to it—Jiang Yaojin loved these little power plays, like knocking three times and requesting permission before speaking.
"Who’s there?"
A cautious voice came from inside, even though everyone knew that zombies wouldn’t knock like that.
"It’s me, Lin Yuan," he replied, suppressing his anger. Getting the door opened peacefully would be ideal.
"Are you okay? Were you scratched or bitten by a zombie?"
The office fell silent, and everyone gathered by the door, listening intently. Standing at the back, Jiang Yaojin’s face darkened. He pushed past the people in front of him and walked to the door.
"Lin Yuan, for the sake of everyone’s safety, I can’t let you in right now. We don’t know if you’ve been infected or not. Why don’t you find another office nearby to hide in for a while?" Jiang Yaojin’s voice was low and commanding, making it easy for people to feel pressured.
"Boss, Lin Yuan isn’t infected. Maybe we should let him in?" someone suggested. Lin Yuan had left a good impression on the group; most of the food and water in the past few days had been brought back by him.
"You believe him just because he said so? If we let him in and he’s infected, can you take responsibility for risking everyone’s lives? Can you bear that burden?"
With Jiang Yaojin’s "liability tactic," most people averted their eyes, and a few even returned to their corners to rest, showing no emotion.
Suddenly, there was a loud bang as the lock popped off the door, and who knew where it rolled. Then came another thud as the blade of an axe smashed through the door.
"What are you doing?! Stop!"
The door was their last line of defense. If it was broken, it would be like stripping them n***d and leaving them defenseless. In an instant, everyone was tense.
"Lin Yuan! Stop! Why are you smashing the door?!"
Even Jiang Yaojin began to panic. He wasn’t used to dealing with someone who acted so unpredictably, and his tone took on a pleading note. But the banging didn’t stop, and after just three hits, the lock fell off completely.
"Brother Yuan, don’t be rash, we can talk this out!"
A chorus of voices shouted in desperation as the door splintered and cracked, but no one dared approach to stop him.
"Don’t call me Brother Yuan. How about calling me Daddy Yuan?"
Lin Yuan realized that only by being aggressive could he assert dominance over the others. So, he decided to go all out, smashing the door to pieces.
With one last kick, the door flew open, and Lin Yuan, holding the fire axe, strode into the room.
"Hey! Lin Yuan, can’t we just talk this through? You’ve broken the door—what are we supposed to do if zombies come? What will we use to block them?"
A flicker of malice appeared in Jiang Yaojin’s eyes. This group was used to being cowards; as long as he maintained the majority’s support, he could oppress the troublemakers. And in his eyes, Lin Yuan was just that—a troublemaker.
"Boss Jiang, we risked our lives collecting supplies out there, and you locked us out. Wu Kai has already been bitten by a zombie. How are you going to compensate for his life?"
The bloodstains on the fire axe intimidated some of the group, and even those trying to calm things down didn’t dare come too close.
"Brother Yuan, everyone saw what just happened. The zombies almost got in. If it weren't for my brother-in-law shutting the door in time, we would all have been attacked by them. Maybe none of us would have survived. You must understand the choice between one person's safety and the safety of a whole group," said a young man wearing glasses behind Jiang Yaojin. He looked scholarly, speaking in a calm, reasonable tone.
"Yeah, it's obvious that losing one life is better than losing many. It was Boss Jiang who saved all of us, and besides, you all turned out fine, didn't you?"
The bespectacled man’s words began to shift the group's perspective, steering them towards a collective mentality. Suddenly, everyone had unified into one line of thought. What had initially been a problem with no relation to them now seemed to involve the entire group. But facing their accusations, Lin Yuan didn't back down. Instead, he began to chuckle coldly.
"F*** your logic!"
He took a step forward, and with a swift motion, his fire axe slashed a red line through the air, cutting across Jiang Yaojin's neck.
Most of his throat was torn open, his head tilting grotesquely to the side. Jiang Yaojin stumbled, trying to grasp the glasses-wearing man beside him, but the blood spurting from his neck made it impossible to control his body. He collapsed to the ground.
"Ah! Murder!"
The young man in glasses collapsed too, desperately kicking his legs in an attempt to get away. But Jiang Yaojin's hand gripped him tightly, refusing to let go.
The others in the room were frozen in shock. Some vomited, others started crying, and those with a bit more courage simply stared at Lin Yuan in terror. Even though the world had been thrown into chaos by the zombie outbreak, murder was still something most people found impossible to accept.
"I told you to call me Daddy Yuan. Why don’t you ever listen?"
Lin Yuan kicked the man in glasses aside, fighting back the disgust rising inside him, and stepped on Jiang Yaojin’s chest.
With one hand holding the severed head and the other gripping the blood-stained axe, Lin Yuan dragged a trail of blood across the floor. He walked to the bathroom, shoved Jiang Yaojin’s head into the toilet, and flushed it.
"Ah, that feels good!"
It wasn’t just his body that felt relaxed—his mind, too, felt a sense of release from all the built-up pressure.
[Mission completed: Life Perception awarded.]
- Writer
