Fear stems from the unknown. The unknown is filled with mystery, and within that mystery lies a great terror beyond human comprehension.
Even after it's over.
Whenever he recalled it, the fading memories could still trigger that same fear, making the soul tremble and the body react as if it were wounded.
Lam Pham guided Hua Duong to a nearby bench. They sat side-by-side, and Lam Pham gently patted the other man's back, helping Hua Duong to breathe steadily, hoping he would relax and not be so tense.
He didn't ask questions in a rush.
He would wait until the man's face regained some color and his emotions had settled slightly. It would be better to ask then.
Time seemed to pass slowly. The surroundings were utterly silent.
Lam Pham could clearly hear the sound of Hua Duong's breathing, its rhythm uneven, as he still hadn't regained his composure.
Lam Pham looked at the sky. The deep blue expanse and the ruined apocalyptic city formed two stark contrasts.
One symbolized beauty.
The other symbolized disaster.
A moment later.
Hua Duong's breathing gradually evened out, and his face slowly regained its color.
"Feeling any better?" Lam Pham asked with a gentle smile.
Hua Duong looked at Lam Pham's smiling face, and his own expression trembled slightly. It was a smile he hadn't seen in a very long time. At least, since the apocalypse began, he had never seen a smile like this. The smiles displayed by the few survivors he had encountered always felt deceptive.
"Much better."
"It's okay. I can understand your nervousness. Have you been staying in this city the whole time?"
Lam Pham felt it was quite impossible. Regardless of why this city had no zombies now, at least in the early stages of the apocalypse, the number of zombies must have been terrifyingly high. The living environment would have been compressed to the extreme, and taking even a single step would have been a normal difficulty.
"Yes, I've always been here," Hua Duong nodded.
"How did you survive?" Lam Pham was shocked. Well now, he actually managed to live in the city. In all his searching for survivors in cities, he had never met anyone who could survive in a city teeming with zombies.
Hua Duong said, "Zombies can't swim. I've been living by the river's drainage outlet. Then the drainage outlet connects to many sewers..."
Hearing what the other party said.
Lam Pham could roughly understand. It was a life of great suffering and hardship. To have survived was a stroke of luck. Perhaps out of tens of thousands, he was the only one with such luck.
As for the early stages, some people hid at home or in sealed places, making no noise, thus temporarily surviving.
But such a life could not possibly last long.
There would inevitably come a time when they ran out of ammunition and food.
When that time truly came, the hidden people, under the influence of hunger, would have to risk going out to find supplies, and that would be the true beginning of death.
"Sigh, you've been through a lot." Lam Pham patted his shoulder. Indeed, people in desperate situations could erupt with an incredibly strong will to live in order to survive.
It's like they say, you never know how strong you are.
Hua Duong looked at Lam Pham, his expression one of utter misery, "Surviving is so hard. It's never been this hard."
Looking at his expression, it felt like he was on the verge of tears.
Lam Pham comforted him, "It's not hard. It's just that you haven't found the right place and haven't met the right people. If you meet the right people and go to the right place, you'll feel... wow, so life can be this simple."
Hua Duong: ...?
He stared blankly at Lam Pham and blinked, a faint sadness in his eyes.
He thought of the strength the other party had displayed.
The sorrows of different people are not shared.
"It's because you're very powerful, so you're not afraid of these things, right?" Hua Duong asked.
Lam Pham shook his head, "No, being powerful is only secondary. The real reason is that everyone lives together, forming a team, helping each other, thus making life more beautiful."
Although the reason the other party gave was very correct.
This did not conform to the thinking in the apocalypse. How could it be said that it was his reason alone? Even if it was... he could only quietly keep it in his heart.
Hua Duong blinked, a feeling of déjà vu.
He used to work within the system, and this art of speaking felt somewhat familiar.
But now was not the time to think about these things. The only thing he could be sure of was... the other party really wouldn't hurt him. That alone was enough.
For some reason, in Hua Duong's eyes, the person before him seemed to be radiating the glow of a powerful thigh to latch onto. If you were going to find a thigh, you had to find the biggest one. A medium-sized one could easily lead to trouble.
"Brother Lam, you're right." Hua Duong had even changed his form of address. Although he was likely older than Lam Pham, it didn't stop him from calling Lam Pham 'ca,' a term of respect.
"Can you tell me about the situation here? Where did all the zombies go?" Lam Pham asked.
Hua Duong recalled the scene from before, a flicker of memory, and slowly began to speak: "At that time, San Thuong City had a lot of zombies. They were everywhere—on the streets, in the shops, you could see their figures everywhere. I saw a zombie discover a survivor hiding at home. Even though the window had security bars, the zombie was like a madman, squeezing, squeezing, even its head was crushed, but it still wanted to get in. Then the security bars were broken, the zombies smashed the glass, rushed in, and then... there were tragic screams. It was truly a chaotic mess..."
He hadn't gotten to the point.
But Lam Pham wasn't in a hurry. Everything needed a prelude.
In his eyes, Hua Duong needed a prelude to start, then immerse himself in it, and gradually unfold the story. This way, it would have more of a sense of ceremony.
"Brother Lam..."
"Hm? Go on."
He was now a listener.
"Have you ever seen a zombie that eats other zombies?" Hua Duong asked, his voice fiercely agitated, his eyes looking like they were about to pop out. It was a terrifying image, one that could be said to have reached the extreme of terror.
"Continue," Lam Pham said. He had seen zombies that ate their own kind, but that was just simple gnawing. To say that one had devoured all the zombies in a city was clearly impossible.
Hua Duong said, "I saw it. It was a giant cicada cocoon... no, that's not right, it wasn't a cicada cocoon, but a cocoon-shaped zombie made of flesh and blood! It opened its maw, it was huge, just like an abyss. Countless zombies surged towards that mouth. It was so, so terrifying! The blood was like a torrent, flowing all over the ground..."
Looking at him, Hua Duong's face was flushed as he spoke, his expression extremely excited. This wasn't excitement, but the kind of image that caused his adrenaline to spike.
Lam Pham pondered, thinking of a type of zombie he had encountered before.
[Larval Hybrid-type Zombie]
It was this type of zombie that would make surrounding zombies willingly deliver themselves into its mouth. Moreover, there were evolved forms. Before he knew about the stages of zombies, he had only felt it was somewhat scary.
Later, he learned that this type of hybrid zombie, even when it grew to its mature stage, only had a golden crystal. Where did it get such great power?
Thinking of this, he took out the "Zombie Illustrated Handbook" and flipped to the page with the record.
"See if it looks like this." Lam Pham pointed to the picture on it.
Hua Duong said doubtfully, "It looks a bit similar, but also different. The one I saw was much, much larger, and the surface of its flesh glowed with a red light. The surroundings were all illuminated in a crimson red, just like a world of blood."
Hearing this.
Lam Pham was a bit confused.
A bit similar.
But not entirely the same.
And it glowed with a red light. What on earth was this thing?
"Later, it devoured all the surrounding zombies, right?" Lam Pham asked.
Hua Duong nodded frantically, "Yes, that's right. Anyway, I only saw it once. After a long time, I found that the zombies in San Thuong City were pitifully few. It was hard to see any zombies around."
Lam Pham frowned. Logically speaking, the types of zombies had basically been finalized. Those that should have appeared had already appeared. Except for the "Creator" title which hadn't coincided, the others should all be finished.
"Do you know which way it went?"
He wanted to find this thing.
To be able to devour all the zombies in a city, it would definitely evolve into a very terrifying existence.
"I don't know," Hua Duong shook his head.
He felt that Brother Lam was really overestimating him. He couldn't even hide from it, how could he have the guts to follow it and see where it fled?
"It's okay. I'll take you back to Hoang City's Sunshine Shelter. Once you get there, you'll know that life is still so beautiful."
Lam Pham took Hua Duong back, and handed the subsequent matters over to Vuong Khai.
Afterward, he returned to San Thuong City, traveling through the city, searching for clues. But just as Hua Duong had said, the zombies in a city had been eaten clean. Even if a zombie occasionally appeared, he didn't know where it came from.
Now, it was very difficult to find it.
A long time had passed. As long as the creature was moving, it would be very hard to find its specific location.
Standing on a high-rise building in San Thuong City, he looked at the boundless distance.
"What kind of zombie is it? It's really strange."
Lam Pham didn't just give up. Although he didn't know which direction the mysterious zombie was heading, he used San Thuong City as the center and began to check the surrounding cities.
If it still wanted to eat zombies, it would absolutely not let go of the surrounding cities.
But it was a pity.
He didn't find any trace of the mysterious zombie in the surrounding cities. The zombies in those cities were still jumping around, limping and wandering on the streets.
After finding no trace.
Lam Pham gave up the search, took out his satellite phone, and called the Zombie Emperor, Vuong Tu Hien.
PS: I've been facing a lot of difficulties in my life lately. If you can, please support me a cup of coffee. Thank you very much.