Li Qun looked at the woman before him—a woman with a radiant and charming face whose behavior nevertheless completely transcended the boundaries of humanity—and burst into tears.
Without Lin Luyao needing to press him, he poured everything out like beans spilling from a broken bag, detailing Du Huo's intentions.
"The guy surnamed Du refused to leave that building, but the zombies downstairs were gathering in greater and greater numbers, and several of them had already learned how to climb stairs. He knew he wouldn't last much longer, so he came up with those wicked tricks, hoping to make you soft-hearted enough to help us. But that had nothing to do with me! I was forced into it! Later, when he saw you wouldn't take the bait, he forced me to lure all the zombies away, threw me downstairs in this state, and I had no choice but to run..."
"I've already reached stage two of the zombie virus! When I hit stage three, I'll be dead! I really don't want to die! Please, save me!"
Li Qun pleaded, not forgetting to heavily emphasize the misdeeds of Du Huo, who had forced him to lure away the zombies while continuing to hole up in that two-story building himself.
"Is that so..."
Lin Luyao looked at the fellow before her, completely baffled.
"You want me to save you?"
"Right! Do you have any medicine?! I'm infected with the zombie virus, and my health bar is about to be wiped out! Once it hits zero, I'll turn into a zombie, and I'll be beyond saving!"
Li Qun grew agitated.
The woman in front of him could command so many NPCs; she definitely had trump cards. To someone like her, medicine surely wasn't a scarce item! She must be able to save him!
Lin Luyao simply shook her head. "I don't have any medicine."
As those words fell, Li Qun felt anger and panic threaten to completely engulf him, failing to notice that his sanity value had unconsciously plummeted to single digits amidst the continuous wave of fright and upheaval.
"How can you not have medicine?! I already told you, I was forced into this! It wasn't me trying to plot against you, it was that bastard Du Huo! Did you hear me?!"
Li Qun's roar directly cut off Lin Luyao's unfinished words. As if suddenly thinking of something, he abruptly leaped up, preparing to throw himself at Lin Luyao.
"Give me medicine! Or we all die together!"
He was already infected with the zombie virus, which meant he could naturally infect someone else. Once this woman was infected, he refused to believe she wouldn't pull out some medicine to cure him!
The sudden change happened in the blink of an eye. This kind of desperate, mutual destruction came completely unawares.
Gu Xinghe acted swiftly. Before the Pig-driving Spear in Lin Luyao's hand could sweep across, he had already kicked Li Qun right in the knee, forcing the already exhausted man to crash onto the ground.
"What do you think you're doing?!"
The NPCs, who had been eating with great relish, finally deigned to lift their faces from their giant bowls. Upon seeing this human inexplicably committing violence—and against the very chef who cooked for them, no less—they surged with extraordinary fury.
Mop Dog was the closest, and immediately prepared to bite this fellow's head clean off.
"Wait."
The Zombie King spoke up just in time to stop him.
"You don't need to break the rules yourself. He's already dead."
At those words, everyone froze.
Immediately afterward, they watched as the crazed Li Qun raised his head once more.
His eyes, previously filled with burst blood vessels, had somehow contracted until their pupils were the size of pinpricks. His voice, already hoarse from shouting for so long, now squeezed out low, halting, inhuman roars.
The blood flowing from his arms was no longer bright red; instead, it possessed a bizarre bluish-purple hue.
"Get out."
The Zombie King spoke softly.
Afflicted with [Zombie Virus Infection (Stage Three)], Li Qun acted like a robot that had received its command. After struggling several times to stand and failing, he simply used his hands to half-crawl and half-drag his stiff body out of the dining hall.
"...Does everyone who gets infected with the zombie virus end up like this? Is there still any saving them?"
Thinking of Zhou Xu and Mao Ruigang, who still hadn't rendezvoused with them, Chen Caidie asked with a trembling voice.
The Zombie King bent down to gather the bedding and clothes from beside the table into his arms, and replied offhandedly.
"It depends on the time."
The enhanced zombie virus contracted within a zombie instance was fundamentally incurable. However, as long as they left the instance before entering stage three of the infection, the virus would become curable.
Lin Luyao watched Li Qun's crawling figure, her emotions largely unaffected by the sight. Setting aside the fact that she had no fondness for someone who had plotted against her, her goodwill toward strangers was limited; naturally, she wouldn't feel sorrow for someone whose death was already sealed.
"Time's up."
The Zombie King spoke once more.
Having their attention hijacked by Li Qun, the group only now noticed the silent changes taking place within the instance.
There was no time to say anything.
The NPCs, having emptied their bowls and plates, all instinctively lunged toward the supplies Lin Luyao had entrusted to them.
Following that came a disorienting, unpreventable dizzy spell.
"Ouch!"
"Is the zombie instance's teleportation mechanism always this trash?!"
A Fa couldn't help complaining.
Having played extra in so many instances before, he had never experienced such a wretched teleportation process. It felt as though he had been brutally tossed into a front-loading washing machine, and when they were finally spat out, all dozen-odd NPCs had swirly cartoon eyes.
The Zombie King staggered twice before barely managing to steady himself. Hearing A Fa's remark, his initial bewilderment melted into a measure of awkwardness. As the main BOSS of this zombie instance, he could only offer a dry response.
"It wasn't like this before."
He had no idea what had gone wrong. Even the most basic teleportation mechanism seemed to radiate a hint of annoyance and anger, as if it couldn't wait to fling this bunch of fellows out.
"Huh? Where's the chef?!"
The moment Mop Dog scrambled to his feet, he anxiously began inquiring about her. Only then did the rest realize the person they cared about most was nowhere in sight, and immediate panic set in.
"Chef!"
"Chef, where are you?!"
"......I'm right here."
A faint response echoed from among them.
The NPCs looked at each other in dismay, until Mop Dog finally fished her out from the thickest part of his own fur.
Lin Luyao took a moment to collect herself, barely managing to break free from the dizzying spell.
Before her eyes lay the settlement interface of the zombie instance.
[Congratulations to the player for successfully clearing the large-scale instance: Zombie Homecoming.]
[Rating: SSS (Leveraging external force, flawless clear)]
[Congratulations to the player for obtaining Bronze Treasure Chest x5, Mithril Treasure Chest x1, Gilded Treasure Chest x1, EXP x100, Credits x500, Upgrade Points x100, Treasure Map Fragment x1.]
[Congratulations to the player for leveling up to Lv. 5. Obtained Attribute Points x4. The official in-game trading platform has been unlocked; the World Channel (Sectors 10-20) has been unlocked.]
Lin Luyao glanced over the notifications briefly before scanning her surroundings.
A dozen-odd NPCs were looking at her with concerned expressions. As for her tricycle, it sat safe and sound by the roadside, its cargo bed still maintaining the makeshift stall configuration she had shaped before leaving.
Lin Luyao let out a breath of relief.
As long as her vehicle was fine, everything was good.
Only then did she notice the supplies scattered all over the ground. The lingering displeasure caused by her physical discomfort dissipated into thin air.
"Great! Everything really can be brought out!"
Lin Luyao lunged toward the bedding.
The recent bout of spatial spinning had torn open the outer packaging of the brand-new quilt, so it had inevitably picked up some dirt. But Lin Luyao didn't mind at all, happily rubbing her face against it.
"Thank you all so much for your hard work! I'm going to tidy things up first. Tomorrow at noon, I'll set up my stall at the entrance of the rest area, and I hope you all will come support me then. I'll give everyone a twenty percent discount, okay?!"
Lin Luyao's voice was bright and cheerful.
Having just eaten a simple meal, the NPCs had all recovered some of their sanity values. Seeing Lin Luyao so happy—and even arranging their next meal—they couldn't help chuckling foolishly, naturally agreeing to whatever she said.
To ensure they wouldn't have trouble finding the intersection where her next rest area would appear, Slime, who had been temporarily hired as her assistant, stayed behind to help Lin Luyao pack up her things and take charge of notifying everyone about the stall's location later.
The NPCs departed in high spirits.
Looking at the pile of supplies covering the ground, Lin Luyao was in an exceptionally good mood.
The NPCs had truly been a massive help this time, especially Bashe. Despite lacking limbs, its mouth acted like an entrance to another dimension, easily swallowing all the items Lin Luyao pointed to straight into its belly. Now, spitting them back out, the objects landed on the ground completely undamaged—not even a drop of saliva on them—making a tremendous contribution to expanding Lin Luyao's inventory.