Lu Chuan didn't spend the night in the apocalypse even though he knew that the biochemical plant was safe.
He returned to his rented apartment in modern times. Outside, it was indeed dusk, a faint red hue on the horizon.
"As expected, time is synchronized."
Uncle Zombie hadn't moved since Lu Chuan left; he was still straight as a rod.
Ever since he returned, Lu Chuan had been deep in thought.
Inside the rented apartment, the young and old pair sat in silence. One was like a wooden carving, and the other had a facial expression that constantly changed, probably as he tried to rationalize all those problems that had been troubling him.
Grr… grr grr…
Hunger dragged Lu Chuan out of his thoughts.
Standing up, Lu Chuan stretched and smiled.
"I'm really hungry." Lu Chuan touched his stomach. Ever since the incident on the long-distance bus, he had been running and jumping around. He was starving.
Setting his thoughts aside, Lu Chuan grabbed his wallet and went out.
Single dogs didn't have a habit of cooking for themselves.
Plus, it was too late now. Lu Chuan glanced up at the time; it was already 7:30 in the evening.
Unsurprisingly, Uncle Zombie was following behind him again, never leaving his sight.
The advantage of an old residential area was its liveliness, which came from the low-level citizens.
At 7:30, the night market stalls in the streets and alleys were already open for business and there were people everywhere. All kinds of aromas floated through the streets and alleys. He wasn't sure how many people who ended work late would decide to fill their tummies in these small snack stalls.
"…"
Looking at the heads of the large crowd, Lu Chuan recalled the scene he saw in the apocalypse.
Many people meant that there were many zombies. If a disaster occurred, heavily populated countries like China and India would definitely be hit the worst.
Lu Chuan found a familiar stall and sat down. He shouted, "Uncle Luo, the usual."
"Five minutes." Uncle Luo was a thin middle-aged man. After replying to Lu Chuan, he skillfully fed the fire. If the fire was too big, it would swallow the pot, and with just a small spoonful of oil, the entire pot would become a sea of flames.
Uncle Luo's family had been operating here for more than ten years. They were very popular and business was good.
Uncle Luo was the chef, and Auntie Luo was responsible for cutting and garnishing vegetables.
Uncle Luo's son was in college, and his daughter, Luo Juan, was in her third year of high school. Every night, she would help at the stalls, serving drinks and the delicacies that her father had cooked.
Well, it was basically the role of a waitress.
"Lu Chuan, you haven't come in a while, are you okay?" Aunt Luo raised her head and addressed him with concern.
Uncle Zombie stood beside him stoically, and under Lu Chuan's command, he sat on the opposite side rigidly with his usual stiffness.
"Lu Chuan, have some drinks."
Two cups of tea were placed in front of Lu Chuan and Uncle Zombie. Luo Juan flicked her hair and returned to the chair she had just gotten up from. It was obvious that she wasn't interested in Lu Chuan's absence for the past few days.
Lu Chuan usually had dinner here, and after a year, he became a familiar face.
Normally, Lu Chuan would tease Luo Juan, but today, Lu Chuan's mind was occupied with the biochemical plant, so naturally he didn't have this thought.
Lu Chuan smiled and said, "Auntie, I went back to my hometown."
Auntie Luo smiled. "It's good to go back. Visit your parents often."
Uncle Luo had excellent timing. He said five minutes and in five minutes, he placed a plate of fried noodles in front of Lu Chuan.
The starving Lu Chuan wasn't shy but after having a few mouthfuls, he seemed to remember something. He looked up and saw Uncle Zombie sitting upright without any expression on his face.
"Oh."
Lu Chuan hit his forehead. He had been so engrossed in his thoughts he had forgotten about him.
Previously, Lu Chuan had been curious about whether zombies had to eat in modern times. From the looks of it, it seems like a problem that Lu Chuan had to pay attention to. There was no way to guarantee the living expenses of two people with his salary.
"Do you want one?" Lu Chuan asked.
Uncle Zombie looked at Lu Chuan blankly, his hollow eyes unwavering.
Lu Chuan: "…"
It was a one-sided conversation, but Lu Chuan still pushed the plate of fried noodles he had just eaten in front of Uncle Zombie and commanded, "Eat."
Uncle Zombie stretched out his hand mechanically and grabbed the fried noodles.
"Chopsticks," Lu Chuan said in a deep voice.
Uncle Zombie stopped his arm and grabbed the chopsticks mechanically to pick up the noodles, looking like a kid who was learning to eat. The way he held the chopsticks made Lu Chuan look away, pretending he didn't recognize him.
It was embarrassing. The way he used the chopsticks was definitely impaired.
The table was littered with fried noodles while Uncle Zombie stuffed himself with each mouthful.
Uncle Zombie was disguised, but he was essentially still a zombie. Zombies were monsters; they could eat but it wasn't necessary.
However, looking at Uncle Zombie who had finished off most of the fried noodles, Lu Chuan started to doubt whether he was actually a human.
Who would have thought that zombies ate fried noodles?
"It seems like they really have to eat?"
Lu Chuan wasn't certain and it would take a while to verify. For instance, he could leave him hungry for three to five days.
"Uncle Luo, five barbecue lamb skewers."
Ten minutes later, five barbecue lamb skewers were placed in front of Lu Chuan. For the first time, Lu Chuan noticed a reaction in Uncle Zombie's eyes. They had actually moved.
In five minutes, Uncle Zombie finished off the five barbecue lamb skewers.
Barbecue again.
Twenty skewers.
Thirty skewers.
Ten chicken drumsticks and another five fried noodles.
Uncle Zombie's stomach was like a bottomless pit. Lu Chuan could feel a breakdown coming on. He ate a bucket of rice and thirty lamb skewers—a portion for ten people.
Lu Chuan felt a sense of crisis.
He had a savings of less than 10,000 yuan. WIth his speed and appetite, it would be half a month before he couldn't afford to eat anymore.
His meager salary wasn't enough for Uncle Zombie's meals.
Luo Juan had been paying attention to Lu Chuan. At this moment, she was looking at the bones piled up on the table like a tiny hill and the tower of plates. Her mouth opened wide; this was the first time she had seen someone with such a huge appetite.
Lu Chuan could feel his heart bleeding as he settled the bill.
...
Back in the rental, Uncle Zombie sat back in the chair as straightly as ever.
Lu Chuan noticed that Uncle Zombie didn't have a bulging stomach and stopped thinking about this worrying problem. Anyway, the next thing was to see what happened if Uncle Zombie didn't eat for a few days.
There were still two days left of his leave; it was perfect for him to study the zombie.
Lu Chuan turned on the laptop he used while he was in college. He ignored Uncle Zombie and searched up zombies on BaiNiang.
...
Lu Chuan didn't sleep the entire night, and his eyes were bloodshot from exhaustion.
Lu Chuan looked up the zombies mentioned by the biochemical plant. There was information about some of the zombies mentioned at the start but nothing about those that had been mentioned after.
For example, what sort of zombies are Meat Shields?
He didn't have to think to know they weren't simple.
But Lu Chuan didn't know how complicated they were and what abilities they possessed. Before the biochemical plant was unlocked, there wasn't any specific information available and he could only guess.
The products from the biochemical plant came from the apocalypse.
Which meant that the zombies in the biochemical plant would exist in the apocalypse.
The danger of the apocalypse seemed ordinary.
Zombies like the Meat Shields and Maternal Bodies were still too far away. He could think about those at a later time.
Lu Chuan didn't pay much attention to the late-stage zombies; instead, he was focusing on the ones in front of him.
Aside from researching information, Lu Chuan had also searched up methods to hunt and kill zombies that keyboard warriors had posted. These methods were strange, but some of them seemed relatively reliable.
After spending a night trying to understand a zombie's habits, Lu Chuan had confidence.
Unfortunately, when Lu Chuan teleported to the apocalypse, he wasn't able to bring anything other than his clothes. Everything else would be removed automatically.
Otherwise, with modern-day tools, he could have easily killed off three zombies.
"Storage space can only be used after the biochemical plant is activated." Lu Chuan shook his head, upset that he still couldn't use this extremely exciting function.
Since he couldn't bring anything, he would have to find a solution in the apocalypse.
With caution and planning, Lu Chuan had confidence. Lu Chuan also thought of a backup plan. The biochemical plant was safe unless he unluckily provoked zombies like the Tyrant; ordinary zombies wouldn't be able to break through the alloy walls that surrounded it. If anything went wrong, he could just hide in the biochemical plant.
And if that didn't work, he could return to modern times.