On the desolate streets, a zombie wandered aimlessly.

With a slight grin, a string of saliva hung at the corner of his mouth, and a chilling cold light shone from his bloodshot eyes.

Not far ahead of him was an abandoned convenience store. The glass door was splattered with brownish bloodstains, and through the open door, one could vaguely see the toppled shelves inside and some scattered food items around.

Behind the door of the supermarket, another middle-aged male zombie was slowly moving. Judging by his clothing, he seemed to be an employee of the supermarket.

This zombie slowly approached the supermarket, and as he brushed past the middle-aged male zombie, he suddenly pulled out a Bone-cutting Knife from his bosom and forcefully decapitated the other's neck.

Blood splattered everywhere, and the headless corpse immediately fell to the ground.

The oddly behaving zombie then quickly grabbed a shopping bag from behind the counter and started swiftly gathering food inside the supermarket...

"Phew... I'm exhausted…"

Inside a dimly lit apartment, Ling Mo, drenched in sweat, looked at the bag brimming with food and various daily necessities with satisfaction.

In front of him sat the zombie that had appeared in the small supermarket. However, the way this zombie looked at Ling Mo held no malice; the gaze was even somewhat vacant.

"I've improved a lot compared to a few days ago; now I can control them more flexibly."

Ling Mo turned his gaze towards the zombie, a smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

Half a month ago, the outbreak of a new virus turned the world instantly into a gruesome slaughterhouse.

Countless humans became zombies... or more precisely, crazed monsters who lost their self-awareness after being infected by the virus and only knew to kill...

And the surviving humans had no choice but to hide in the corners of the cities like rats, struggling to survive.

But Ling Mo, who was just an ordinary person, discovered that he could control zombies after the apocalypse began.

He could sense a faint Spiritual Connection between himself and the zombies. The zombies with empty heads were like thoughtless puppets, and he could inject his thoughts into them to control the zombies' actions.

However, his initial attempts were extremely difficult; zombies would often suddenly break free from his control midway and even brought him close to death several times.

With more practice, Ling Mo finally mastered some tricks, which not only allowed him to maintain control over the zombies continuously but also enabled him to manipulate the zombies to move around and collect food and other necessities for himself.

Nevertheless, the distance between them always had to be kept short, which somewhat frustrated Ling Mo.

He felt like a zombie controller whose strings were not long enough, and his manipulation techniques were not yet proficient.

But being able to use zombies for safer survival already made Ling Mo very satisfied with this ability. He referred to the zombie he controlled as a Corpse Puppet.

During the process of controlling the Corpse Puppet, Ling Mo also vaguely felt that while he was manipulating the other party, a violent sensation was also affecting himself.

Whether this influence was good or bad, he couldn't tell at the moment…

These days, Ling Mo had also gained some understanding of the zombies' habits. Unlike the typical zombies, these were not the living dead but living people infected by the virus.

However, although their bodies were still alive, they were completely monstrous in spirit. They attacked uninfected survivors, tore at their flesh, and possessed incredible strength, much stronger than that of ordinary people.

The virus had completely destroyed their rationality, dominated their minds, and turned them into executioners driven by the instinct to kill.

In Ling Mo's eyes, these zombies were more terrifying than the ones he had seen in games and movies because they retained their senses. Both sounds and smells could attract their attention.

"The sun is about to set; let's head back for today."

This residential house was not exactly safe, simply a temporary dwelling for Ling Mo when controlling Corpse Puppets.

After stuffing all the resources he had gathered today into his backpack, Ling Mo shook his somewhat aching head and controlled the Corpse Puppet to stand up.

Seeing this Corpse Puppet standing face to face with him at close range still felt somewhat bizarre to Ling Mo.

Although it did not emit a rotting stench like in the movies, there was still a heavy scent of blood coming from the zombie. The virus had turned its face pale and bloodless, with eyes emitting a red glow. Through its slightly opened mouth, remnants of red flesh on its teeth could be seen.

Without a doubt, these were remnants from a previous human meal...

The appearance of this zombie wasn't bad; it was roughly a teenager of 17 or 18 years of age, but now it looked like nothing more than a ghastly ghost.

"Let's go, let's go..."

Ling Mo suppressed his nausea and controlled the Corpse Puppet to walk downstairs.

Having the Corpse Puppet to lead the way did not equate to safety for oneself. Ling Mo held a sharp boning knife in his hands, following cautiously behind the Corpse Puppet.

To get to his temporary shelter from here, he needed to cross a major street. When he came over in the morning, Ling Mo used some firecrackers to cause disturbances in the opposite direction, attracting most of the zombies on this street over. Even so, there were still zombies wandering on the street.

Having reached the intersection without incident, Ling Mo noticed trouble ahead.

Two zombies were blocking the path, and it was unclear where they had wandered over from, their bodies splattered with fresh blood. One of them was holding half of an arm, chewing ferociously.

In this provincial city of almost ten million inhabitants, every day survivors perished in search of food, with death being nothing unusual.

However, the sight of that arm still evoked a feeling of shared fate in Ling Mo. It was precisely because he had the ability that he possessed the capital to live better; he could not afford to be careless and end up as a meal for these monsters.

Ling Mo carefully controlled his Corpse Puppet to approach them, raising his Bone-cutting Knife ready to strike one of them.

As the other zombie turned its attention to the noise made, Ling Mo rushed from behind, plunging the knife into the back of its head.

The two zombies perished almost simultaneously. After forcefully removing the Knife, Ling Mo kicked over the body in front of him.

Ling Mo would never miss an opportunity to act as long as he had the chance. Although controlling Corpse Puppets was useful, he needed to be capable of self-protection.

Moreover, Ling Mo faintly felt that when he killed zombies, a sense of violent pleasure was lurking within him, and at the moment he pulled out the knife, he even experienced a hint of pleasure.

"The virus wouldn't be transmitted through Spiritual Connection, right… If it could be transmitted like that, I would have mutated long ago… If it's not the virus's influence, then what could it be..."

Ling Mo paid close attention to such subtle changes, but for now, he had no clue.

However, being able to kill zombies cleanly and effectively, with his skills becoming more and more adept, was a boon for Ling Mo.

Before the apocalypse, he was just an ordinary person. The first time he killed a zombie, not only was the process fraught with danger, but it also left him trembling with fear and somewhat dazed afterward.

But to survive, he had to improve his combat skills.

And in Ling Mo's heart, there was always one person on his mind. Improving quickly at controlling zombies and gathering as many resources as possible were all for the purpose of crossing this area to find her...

PS: New author, new book, please support generously!