A cluster of green plants grew closely together. Wei Xuan crouched by the roadside, carefully digging into the soil, laboriously extracting a bunch of small plants with their roots entangled.
Fortunately, these seedlings were still relatively small, with their root systems not too developed. They were mainly entangled with the surrounding plants, making it relatively easy to dig them out, although it was a slow and painstaking process. The initial planting had been too dense, and now Wei Xuan had to painstakingly remove them one by one from the soil.
Although Wei Xuan would have liked to delegate this task to his zombie minions, digging out recently grown seedlings from the ground was a delicate task. He abandoned the idea after attempting to dig a little soil, confirming that all these plants were tightly entwined.
He had no choice because these were planted by his own zombie minions, so he couldn’t expect them to help with the labor. They had planted the seeds closely together, and now Wei Xuan had to deal with the consequences.
What Wei Xuan didn’t expect was that after he painstakingly dug out and separated the densely growing plants, he discovered more densely growing seedlings the next day.
And so, day by day, with the weather getting warmer, plants continued to sprout from various places in the neighborhood, and their numbers grew, becoming increasingly dense. Wei Xuan found it increasingly difficult to find the time to transplant the ones he had dug out.
So, he decided to take matters into his own hands, bringing Du Hang and some of his zombie minions to an empty piece of land outside the neighborhood with soil, to demonstrate how to transplant these plants and the ideal spacing between them as an example.
With all the effort, he had been dealing with this from late March to early May. There were still many plants left to be transplanted, and a large area in his neighborhood was still densely packed with plants.
Luckily, the plants that were left could be transplanted into his own yard after being dug up, so he didn’t have to keep running outside every day.
The only thing that worried Wei Xuan a bit was that these plants consumed a lot of water. Although the types of plants that grew were diverse and not easily identifiable, now that they had successfully grown, Wei Xuan didn’t want them to die due to lack of water. So, the day after the first batch of plants was transplanted, he instructed his zombie minions to water them with pots and pans, using the water stored at home.
As a result, during this season when spring rain was scarce, Wei Xuan’s household water consumption had increased significantly. Even the ice stored in the underground ice cellar during the winter was gradually being used up.
Now, the only thing Wei Xuan was thankful for was that he had become a zombie. The group of zombie minions he led were also zombies. Otherwise, dealing with the water issue alone would have given him a headache.
“Is everyone notified?” Wei Xuan straightened up, rubbing his somewhat stiff waist. Although he didn’t feel any fatigue now, maintaining the same posture for a long time still felt uncomfortable, and these subconscious movements would occasionally emerge.
Du Hang nodded beside him, “Everyone has been notified.”
Wei Xuan sighed in relief and looked up at the sky, “It’s early May, time for the strange snow again…”
Recently, he had come up with the idea that the zombies from the little zombie girl’s family could roam the city freely to notify other zombies about certain things without being attacked.
Given the current situation, where there were no apparent conflicts between zombies (as far as he knew), and zombies were friendly and willing to listen to his suggestions, he sent his zombie minions to help spread the message that there would be strange snow around mid-May.
Although they said that spring rain was precious, it didn’t mean that it never rained in the spring. Those zombies living in the city and preparing various pots and containers had definitely collected plenty of rainwater during the previous two rounds of fine spring rain. If these guys didn’t know how to deal with the rainwater and simply waited for the strange snow to melt, they would definitely end up with a lot of diluted snowwater.
Wei Xuan wanted to help others as much as he could, so he instructed his zombie minions to not only inform about the impending strange snow but also to tell the zombies to clean up the containers and accumulated water.
At this moment, he imagined that zombies all over the city were probably pouring water from rooftops.
Indeed, things were just as Wei Xuan had suspected. What surprised him even more was that two drones, from two different directions, captured this scene and transmitted the information back to their base.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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So, for now, they could only try to capture as much footage of the city as possible and analyze various possibilities, and then slowly investigate and identify the most suspicious targets.
Now, what was the deal with all the zombies in the city pouring water like this? Was it some kind of water festival?
“They’re farming! The zombies are farming! Look, here, and here, you can faintly see green plants growing on the ground in these frames!” someone suddenly pointed at the paused screen and shouted loudly.
In the footage, one could indeed see clusters of green plants along the edges of streets and in former flowerbeds and tree pits.
These plants were indeed planted by Wei Xuan, but they were not the ones he had planted when clearing the excess plants in the neighborhood this time. He had taken the opportunity to plant potatoes and carrots all over the city during the early days of the apocalypse.
The nickname “Potato” wasn’t just for show!
After the apocalypse arrived, although most survivors in various bases quickly found plants they could cultivate, it was evident that even potatoes and carrots were not something you could easily find lying around. At least the people from the villa base had rarely seen these plants in the wilderness during their exploration.
In fact, it could be said that if green plants were found on the ground, there was no need to ask – they were almost certainly planted by someone!
And now, discovering relatively concentrated green plants in T City… what did that represent? Did they really need to ask?
The people watching immediately turned their heads back to carefully examine each frame of the video. Eventually, they came to a conclusion – these plants were all planted along the edges of buildings and streets, like green belts that people had planted before the apocalypse. How else could they explain it if it wasn’t for deliberate cultivation?
“Got it!” One person among the group watching the video suddenly jumped up, pounded the table, and shouted.
“What is it? What is it?” The others quickly turned to look at him.
He pointed excitedly at the paused and enlarged frame on the screen, “Zombies are farming, whether it’s for greening purposes, for food, or just out of habit. This citywide planting of plants must be led by the Zombie King. So, wouldn’t the plants around the area where the Zombie King lives be especially dense?”
The others were momentarily stunned, but then their eyes lit up with excitement and anticipation.
However, after one winter and one spring, as May approached with increasingly hot weather, almost all survivor bases were forced to enter a restructuring process.
The external threats from mutated animals, city-dwelling zombies, and mutated plants in the farmlands were all concerns from the outside world. However, all of these seemed less frightening than the internal chaos and unrest that began to brew.
At the beginning of the apocalypse, people gathered together and joined the bases established by the authorities solely to escape danger. However, as time passed and for various reasons, survivors ventured out of the bases, cautiously observed, and avoided the mutated threats. They realized that, although the outside world was terrifying, it wasn’t as terrifying as they had initially thought.
Mutated plants were stationary and not always aggressively hostile. The number of mutated animals, while significant, had their own territories and ecosystems. With enough caution, humans, being small in size, could avoid trouble and hunting certain harmless mutated animals with large, meaty bodies seemed easier than dealing with the larger challenges.
Though zombies went berserk upon seeing humans, they mostly remained within the boundaries of the former human metropolis. In the smaller towns and rural areas around the city, while there were zombies early on, they either died at the hands of mutated creatures or survivors who ventured out for missions and supplies.
Avoiding all of this, survivors began to realize that this world wasn’t as dangerous as they initially believed.
Some individuals only discovered this when they left their original bases and arrived in small towns and counties near the city. In many of these places, people had already settled in. Some had arrived there from the very beginning of the apocalypse, cleared out the zombies, and made these places their homes. Others had been companions on missions in the past, got separated, and ended up in these areas. Some were even kicked out of the larger bases during previous clear-outs.
While there were certainly ambitious individuals who sought revenge against their former bases and harbored resentment towards fellow survivors, the complex and perilous situation made most people cautious and unwilling to provoke conflicts with their own kind.
Most people, having adapted to this new way of life, lived peacefully in these areas. They began to rebuild human villages, true gathering places.
They cultivated the surrounding safe farmlands and open spaces, planting easy-to-grow crops like potatoes and carrots.
They carefully observed the mutated animals that roamed nearby, selecting the relatively mild-mannered ones that had strayed from their groups for hunting.
Even though dangers still lurked everywhere, even though life remained challenging, every survivor could now distinctly feel that the real crisis of the apocalypse had passed.
With their enhanced physical abilities, lowered body temperatures, and a closer connection to the world of zombies, these once-perceived dangers now seemed less threatening. Once they adapted to all of this, even if they had undergone the unimaginable transformation into zombies, what did it matter? They were still alive, with their own thoughts and beliefs, living in the present.
“Ah… another strange snowfall has passed.” When he regained his senses, Wei Xuan was greeted by the grayish sky, and the slight chill in the air made him feel exceptionally awake and energized.
He raised his hands, first brushing the snow off his forehead and face to avoid the risk of getting a face full of snow when he lowered his head. Then he turned eagerly to look at Du Hang.
Du Hang, less fussy than Wei Xuan, simply lowered his head and let the cold snow fall on him.
The sound of shuffling came from the zombies who had sensed the arrival of the strange snow and were either going out or standing by the windows, waiting for it to fall.
“Let’s get to work!” Wei Xuan’s voice wasn’t loud or booming, but the zombies in the buildings within a certain distance “heard” it, and they all started coming out in various postures, excitedly shouting slogans, “Let’s get to work! Let’s get to work! Let’s get to work!”
Starting from this year, Wei Xuan’s domesticated zombie buddies had all learned to speak human language. Even the few zombies who joined the group later, and were the last to be brought home, were the same. So, once they got excited, their voices became exceptionally loud and annoying.
Wei Xuan’s zombie buddies didn’t need any further instructions to collect the strange snow. They started working voluntarily and willingly.
Previously, Wei Xuan had noticed that although he had taught all the zombies in the city how to collect the strange snow, there were hardly any zombies within a kilometer radius of his home who came to occupy rooftops and collect the snow. Only a few wandering zombies who had been living in this area had cautiously taken pots and pans to collect the snow in some places nearby.
Wei Xuan knew that his zombie buddies’ efficiency in this task wouldn’t match that of the zombies who were fighting for territory. Besides, even if they didn’t collect the snow in time, it would naturally flow along the edges of the buildings and drain through the sewers without causing any damage.
At this moment, all the overgrown plants in his residential area had been neatly trimmed and transplanted into the surrounding neighborhoods and streets. The landscaping in the area looked very organized. Wei Xuan no longer had to worry about the crops. Two days ago, he had happily returned to his leisurely life of eating well and playing games.
While Wei Xuan and his zombie buddies were enthusiastically busy, he didn’t notice that, after the strange snow had passed, a small object flew high in the sky from a distance, hovered for a few circles, and then silently departed.
It wasn’t until the next day, while he was in the middle of his sleep, that he was awakened by Du Hang.
“What’s wrong?” Wei Xuan, still groggy from sleep, rubbed his eyes and asked Du Hang in confusion.
Du Hang pointed outside the window. “There’s something.”
“Yeah? What is it? Another mutant bird?” Wei Xuan asked because the area around his residential complex had a lot of green plants, and recently, the number of mutant birds trying to come down to eat grass had increased.
Although Wei Xuan had a big appetite, he found that the taste of bird meat was not that delicious. After catching one, he couldn’t be bothered to kill any more birds for meat. He only ordered his zombie buddies to chase the mutant birds away. Did they not understand that they were just coming to their deaths?
“No, it’s something strange, not alive,” Du Hang turned to look outside.
Wei Xuan was puzzled. “Something strange? Flying from the sky?”
He noticed that Du Hang was looking upwards at a slightly different angle than usual. This is why he thought of mutant birds when Du Hang mentioned something strange. “Where are you looking? Did it fly from the sky?”
Du Hang nodded in confirmation. “From the sky.” Although he didn’t understand why something that wasn’t alive could fly in the sky, the fact that such an object could fly in the sky felt strangely normal to him. That’s why he didn’t immediately jump up and use the shiny object that Wei Xuan declared as a weapon to throw at it.
Wei Xuan felt a sinking feeling in his chest. “Let’s go check it out.”
The two of them first went to the window. Wei Xuan picked up binoculars to confirm the target and his heart sank again. Although the zombies in the city didn’t recognize this thing, he did. It was a drone, a little gadget that had been flying around before the apocalypse and had then been banned in various places.
When Wei Xuan noticed that the drone adjusted its direction and seemed to have discovered their presence on the rooftop, it began hovering in place, refusing to leave. Wei Xuan could also see that there was something beneath it. Then, he took a deep breath, pulled Du Hang, and headed for the rooftop.
On the rooftop, the surroundings were clear blue skies with a few white clouds occasionally drifting by.
The small, silvery-gray drone slowly and tentatively approached. After confirming that the two figures on the rooftop, whether they were zombies or humans, had no hostile intentions, it gently descended. It placed a sealed metal box not far from them on the rooftop, then vibrated its propellers, took off, ascended, and left the area.
Wei Xuan took a step forward, cautiously opened the box, and found that there was only one letter inside, without any dangerous items. When he read the contents of the letter, his entire being was stunned. “…Zombie… King?”
After repeatedly checking the title and reading the letter from beginning to end several times, he looked at Du Hang with a puzzled expression and pointed to his own nose. “Do you think I look like a Zombie King?”
Du Hang looked at Wei Xuan, tilted his head in thought for a moment, then nodded.
“…You don’t even know what a Zombie King is, do you?” Wei Xuan was speechless, his lips twitching.
Then, he suddenly heard an unsettling sound from downstairs: “Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Your Majesty, our Majesty…”
The zombie buddies who had come out to watch the UFO flying overhead had gathered below.
All bow down before…wtf…hahahahahahahaha! Thanks for the update… on to the last one 😳
Thanks for the chapter! LOL His little friends have chosen, he’s doomed!
Awwww hahahaha well there’s no point denying it now 😂
Funny how he needed some unrelated people to tell him he is a zombie king.. in order to finally realize he is a zombie king 🤣 why else did he think the other leaders were reporting to him
The zombie king is finally self aware 😂
I’m suddenly reminded of another story, where the royal family draws lots to determine succession and the loser has to be the next emperor. Too much work, nobody wants the job.
Damnn that’s something I’d love to read drop the name bestie 😚🩶