Cloud Raising Little Zombies: Chapter 31

ZOMBIE EMPEROR CULTIVATION

31. 【You Zai is setting off! Our goal is – Twin Grapes】

In the dead of night, the base was shrouded in blood-red moonlight.

Su Zi’an walked briskly towards his room.

He opened the door and, upon seeing someone sitting on the chair beside the bed, blinked in confusion.

He immediately took a step back, looked at the two closely adjacent room doors, confirmed he hadn’t entered the wrong room, and then walked in with some delight.

“Ge, what brings you here?” Su Zi’an walked over and stood before Ye You.

Ye You didn’t answer but instead asked, “Did you deal with that ability user?”

“I did,” Su Zi’an said, sitting down by the bed with a smile.

“I had the enforcement team make a round in front of him, reminding him to get back to his accommodation quickly since it’s unsafe to be outside at night. Then I just walked past them.”

Seeing the smile bloom on Su Zi’an’s face, Ye You knew the matter wasn’t over. Sure enough, Su Zi’an continued.

“I went to get some tools. When they walked through an alley, I knocked out the ability user next to Wan Zhengqi in an instant. Before Wan Zhengqi could react, I put him in a sack and gave him a thorough beating.”

Su Zi’an couldn’t stop laughing at the thought of Wan Zhengqi being stuffed into a sack.

“You just gave him a beating?” Ye You asked, puzzled.

Earlier, seeing Su Zi’an and that ability user at odds, Ye You had thought they had an irreconcilable grudge.

Su Zi’an emphasized, “It was a thorough beating.”

Ye You couldn’t quite grasp the difference between the two descriptions.

In his mind, there were only two states: “alive” and “dead.”

Not understanding, he set it aside and said, “I’m planning to head to Y City Base tomorrow. Do you want to come with me?”

“Of course, I’ll go with you,” Su Zi’an replied without hesitation.

Ye You looked Su Zi’an up and down a few times, then extended his hand, saying, “I used up all my plant-based ability in the experimental field today. Help me recover my ability energy.”

“Huh? Okay!” Su Zi’an eagerly took Ye You’s hand and began to channel his own ability energy.

For a moment, he forgot that as an A-level ability user, he didn’t need to touch someone to restore their ability state.

His brother rarely asked him to help recover his energy.

Usually, Ye You would either consume crystal nuclei or rest for a while to let the energy recover naturally.

The few times Su Zi’an had acted as a “power bank” were when he had proactively helped his brother recover energy during battles with “peanuts” and “grapes.”

Since there was no danger around this time, Su Zi’an opted for a gentler method to channel his energy.

This way, he could restore more energy.

Three minutes later, Su Zi’an exhaled weakly, let go of Ye You’s hand, and collapsed onto the bed.

“Ge, I’m done. I don’t have a drop of energy left.”

Ye You moved his fingers, now warm from Su Zi’an’s touch, and felt the recovery state of the energy in the crystal nuclei.

Ye You slowly said, “My energy has only recovered one-third.”

Was it really necessary to be so blunt…

Su Zi’an: “…Ge, you’re just too strong.”

The gap was already significant at B-level, but even though they advanced to A-level around the same time, the gap seemed even wider now.

It’s like comparing apples to oranges.

“You’re just too weak,” Ye You answered mercilessly.

As he spoke, Ye You placed a box of crystal nuclei beside Su Zi’an and said, “Finish this box of crystal nuclei before we reach Y City Base.”

Su Zi’an turned his head and stared at the box, which was about the size of half his backpack, his breathing becoming uneven.

When he opened the box and saw it filled to the brim with crystal nuclei, Su Zi’an felt like every bone in his body was aching.

His brother didn’t feel pain, and crystal nuclei were like rice to him.

But Su Zi’an was different. With so many crystal nuclei, it was going to be excruciating.

Leaving tomorrow and finishing them before reaching the base…

“Ge, are we walking to Y City Base?” Su Zi’an asked with difficulty.

Ye You looked at him with an expression that said, “Are you stupid?”

“The base has helicopters, and my vine phoenix can also carry people,” Ye You ruthlessly shattered Su Zi’an’s hope.

“I understand…” Su Zi’an calculated the time. If they left tomorrow afternoon, they’d probably reach Y City Base in about a week.

Finishing a box of crystal nuclei within a week… Su Zi’an felt like life had lost its meaning.

Ye You stared at Su Zi’an without a hint of sympathy, “I’ll supervise you. Start eating now.”

It was like being forced to take medicine.

Su Zi’an had no choice. He carefully picked out the smallest crystal nucleus from a box filled with peanut and red bean-sized ones.

Just like taking medicine, he tilted his head back and swallowed it.

Before long, beads of cold sweat formed on Su Zi’an’s forehead, and the pain made him bite down on his arm.

Seeing that Su Zi’an obediently ate the crystal nucleus, Ye You averted his gaze and picked up the newly printed “New Century Weekly.”

This was a new weekly publication organized and edited by Su Zi’an, which hadn’t been released yet. He had said he wanted Ye You to review it first.

The cover featured the new base surrounded by fruit orchards and rice fields.

Zombies lined up to enter the city, while humans, carrying baskets on their backs, picked fruit in the orchards and harvested rice in the fields.

Opening the first page, Ye You saw a photo of himself.

It was a picture of him standing on the vine phoenix, soaring over the base, with the young man on the phoenix gazing deeply ahead.

He didn’t know when this photo was taken.

“It hurts… Ge, it hurts so much…”

Soft groans and gasps came from the side.

Ye You calmly glanced at Su Zi’an. Seeing that he hadn’t bitten off a chunk of his own arm, he ignored him.

He had seen Su Zi’an in real pain before—passing out from it, not like now, where he could still speak coherently.

Clearly, the pain was manageable.

When Su Zi’an realized Ye You wasn’t paying him any attention, he quieted down.

The pain was real, but after the initial sharp pain subsided, it wasn’t so bad.

Being an A-level ability user, his physical strength was formidable, and his tolerance for pain had also been honed.

But it didn’t take half a minute of silence before Su Zi’an started chattering again.

“Ge is always so indifferent. Ever since we were kids, whenever I got hurt, you never comforted me.”

Whenever Su Zi’an was around Ye You, he would talk endlessly, often losing track of time.

Though it was always him talking, and Ye You just listening.

Sometimes, when they were walking, Ye You would get annoyed and deliberately quicken his pace to leave Su Zi’an behind.

Maybe it had been a long time since they’d spent such a peaceful moment together, as a hint of nostalgia appeared in Su Zi’an’s eyes.

“Ge, do you remember the time I fell and scraped my knee? You carried me back and applied medicine. When you rubbed the medicine on with your hand, it hurt more than when I scraped my knee. I even thought you were trying to cripple my leg on purpose.”

“I don’t remember,” Ye You replied as he turned the page of the weekly, a rare response to Su Zi’an.

Su Zi’an paused for a moment, as if he had realized something, and quickly said, “Let’s not talk about the past, let’s talk about the future… uh, the future…”

“Why not talk about the past?”

Ye You closed the “New Century Weekly” in his hand, looking into Su Zi’an’s somewhat evasive eyes, and said,

“You should have already noticed that I’ve lost all my memories from before I turned into a zombie.”

Su Zi’an froze for a moment, then slowly nodded.

After spending half a month together, how could he not have noticed?

It was precisely because he had noticed that he tried to avoid mentioning the past, yet he couldn’t help but bring it up unintentionally.

In the past, his brother had seemed aloof, cold as ice, as if he didn’t care about anything.

But Su Zi’an knew his brother was kind and gentle. After their parents passed away, his brother had shouldered everything—his tuition, his living expenses.

Now, after his brother became a zombie, he appeared even more distant, but deep down, he was still that gentle person.

He would share valuable crystal nuclei with Su Zi’an, research crystal-core plants just because Su Zi’an had a thought, and lead everyone in building a home.

【I can’t take it anymore; what’s with this look in the “power bank’s” eyes? I’m drowning in affection.】

【I bet the younger brother is looking at You Zai through a forty-meter-thick filter.】

【My Zai Zai has a stunning beauty, 360 degrees with no dead angles. What filter do you need?】

Ye You thought that after revealing the truth, Su Zi’an would say something, like that he had changed and was no longer the same as before.

But instead, Su Zi’an just stared at him in a daze.

After thinking for a moment, Ye You reached out, picked the largest “peanut” from the open box, and said,

“You can absorb the next crystal nucleus now.” As he spoke, he pinched the “peanut” and fed it to Su Zi’an.

Because it was Ye You feeding him, Su Zi’an didn’t put up any defenses, and instinctively opened his mouth, letting the crystal nucleus fall in.

Only after it entered his mouth did he realize that the crystal nucleus was a bit too large.

Su Zi’an: “…” Is it too late to spit it out now?

A few seconds later, excruciating pain swept through Su Zi’an’s entire body.

Su Zi’an curled up, having lost all strength to speak.

His brother probably couldn’t remember the past and was deliberately tormenting him. Every time Su Zi’an began to recover a bit, his brother would shove a crystal nucleus into his mouth.

Su Zi’an swallowed with tears in his eyes.

He had been tossed and turned all night.

When the first rays of morning sunlight touched Su Zi’an’s face, he felt completely broken.

Ye You glanced at the sky and stopped forcing him to eat.

After instructing, “We leave in the afternoon. You have half a day to arrange things at the base,” Ye You got up and started to walk out.

“Ge…” Su Zi’an called weakly.

Ye You, already at the doorway, stopped and looked back at him.

Su Zi’an forced a difficult smile. “The past is already gone. It doesn’t matter at all. We still have a beautifull future ahead of us.”

Ye You remained silent for a moment before saying, “If you still have the strength, eat another crystal nucleus.”

Su Zi’an: “……”

All the beautiful futures belong to others; he only has hell.

【As soon as I enter the live stream room, I see the power bank with a face that says, “I’m falling apart.” Can someone tell me what happened?】

【It’s a long story involving a series of “broken brotherly bonds” and “repeated torment.” Listen carefully as I explain…】

Leaving the Central Building, Ye You went to meet Director Lin and Lin Yinyin to inform them about his plan to head to Y City Base.

Director Lin’s family lived in a small bamboo grove outside the base.

The house was a bamboo hut that Ye You had constructed using his abilities, surrounded by multiple layers of mutated animals.

Director Lin and his family were responsible for the base’s mutated beasts.

They were in the process of forming a special enforcement team composed of ability users and mutated animals, and these days they had been extremely busy.

But upon hearing that Ye You intended to go to Y City, both of them insisted on coming along.

“I, along with Zhi Ma, will help Xiao You Gege fight zombies!” Lin Yinyin said, looking up with her small face.

The giant panda in the distance heard his name, turned around, and waved the half-length bamboo stick in his hand.

Director Lin rubbed his daughter’s head, indicating that he wanted to bring the mutated beast enforcement team along to practice outside.

Ye You agreed.

He only clarified that they would fly there this time, trying to bring smaller or flight-capable animals.

“Will you bring any zombies with you?” Director Lin asked cautiously.

After Ye You revealed his identity as the Zombie King, Director Lin always felt nervous around him.

His heart raced as fast as it did when he proposed to his wife years ago.

“I’ll bring a few high-level water and ice-type zombies. The rest will stay at the base,” Ye You replied.

The Zombie King at Y City Base was also a psychic type, extremely adept at controlling zombies.

Whether Ye You was bringing the zombie horde to confront that Zombie King or to add more subordinates wasn’t entirely clear.

Similarly, as long as his spiritual power was strong enough, he could command the zombies under that Zombie King.

Director Lin still felt uneasy.

With hundreds of thousands of zombies gathered near the base, Ye You could control them while he was around.

But now that Ye You, as the Zombie King, was leaving the A City Base, what would happen to these zombies?

Director Lin couldn’t help but voice his concerns.

Ye You said, “When I leave, they will still follow my commands.”

As the Zombie King, any commands he transmitted into the zombies’ minds would stay with them for life, unless one day their level surpassed Ye You’s.

After Ye You left, his residual spiritual power would continue to influence the zombies.

Under his command, the zombies would continue building the base and coexist harmoniously with humans.

With crystal nuclei to consume, the zombies had little interest in flesh and blood.

Just as humans in the base wouldn’t strip tree bark once they were well-fed with food.

Even if one day the crystal nuclei ran out, under Ye You’s command, the zombies would prioritize seeking out mutated plants or animals.

After finishing his explanation, Ye You left Director Lin’s residence and headed to the area where zombies were constructing the city.

The moment Ye You arrived at the zombie base, ten B-level zombies rushed towards him from all directions.

“Roar~”

The ice-type zombie let out a gentle roar, indicating that it had built an ice palace for the king.

Metal-type zombie: “Roar~~”

What’s so good about a pile of ice? I built a steel fortress for the king!

The remaining zombies were unwilling to be left behind and started roaring as well.

Ye You pretended to cover his ears.

He genuinely thought that when combined, their level of annoyance was as terrifying as five Su Zi’ans.

This is the downside of high-level zombies.

The higher the zombie’s level, the higher its intelligence.

Ordinary zombies would just chase after prey, but zombies with crystal nuclei knew how to find suitable hunting grounds and even rally lower-level zombies to assist in hunting.

Similarly, ordinary zombies would obediently complete the tasks assigned by Ye You, while high-level zombies would have their own ideas beyond just completing the tasks.

B-level zombies had the intelligence of a six to eight-year-old child.

This doesn’t mean they can solve elementary school math problems or play video games like human children, but their understanding and learning abilities are at that level.

These B-level zombies would come up with all sorts of peculiar ideas while still following Ye You’s orders.

From what Ye You knew, within just a few days, the B-level zombies had all self-proclaimed themselves as zombie generals.

They had even fought without using their abilities to rank themselves from first to tenth place.

And today, Ye You discovered that they had built palaces and castles in the base.

Ye You spread his mental power out.

Upon inspection, he found that not only had they built a castle and palace for him, but they had also constructed smaller residences for themselves.

Ye You was using his mental power to survey the construction of the new base area.

The viewers in the live stream were also adjusting their cameras to see the base being built by zombies.

【It’s only been a few days, and the base is already taking shape.】

【Zombies are really useful; they have abilities and can work 24/7.】

【An ice palace, a steel fortress, a rose garden… and you’re telling me these things were built by zombies?】

Ye You had no intention of interfering with the zombies’ hobbies.

After checking the base, he told the water and ice-type zombies to follow him.

He then instructed the other B-level zombies to manage the lower-level zombies, build the base, and cultivate crystal nucleus plants.

The B-level zombies who had self-proclaimed themselves as generals all promised to manage the zombies well, build the king’s city, and await the king’s return.

Ye You’s last stop was the experimental field.

Before even reaching the field, Ye You saw the plant-type ability user he had met yesterday gazing at the plants in the distance, seemingly very interested.

Ye You remembered that these plants still needed to be experimented on by ability users, so he called the ability user to join him in the experimental field.

“King…” An Qing’s spirit was trembling, filled with both fear and anticipation.

This was the Zombie King, also the A-level plant-type powerhouse who had researched how to crystallize plants.

He could easily summon zombies from an entire province and could grow fruit trees and rice to feed 100,000 people.

Ye You reached out and touched a rose.

All the roses closed up, enveloping the energy inside that was about to crystallize into a core.

After a night had passed, the energy in the flower began to emit a faint green glow, transitioning from an intangible energy state to a crystalline form.

Ye You instructed the nearby ability user to channel energy into the rosebud according to the energy circulation within the flower.

An Qing obediently complied.

The Zombie King wanted her to pour all her energy into this flower, so she did so without hesitation, not even considering what might happen to her after exhausting all her energy.

After all, she was just a B-level plant-type user who could only farm. If the Zombie King really wanted to harm her, she wouldn’t last a single move even at her full strength.

“A crystal nucleus has formed!” An Qing exclaimed, having exhausted the last of her ability’s energy and had to stop.

Ye You had already “seen” the grain-sized crystal nucleus through his mental power.

He plucked the rose, peeled away the layers of petals, and a small green crystal, half-embedded in the flower’s center, was revealed.

Ye You removed the crystal nucleus and placed it in his mouth.

A faint rose fragrance spread in his mouth, and at the same time, Ye You felt the energy contained within the D-level crystal nucleus.

It was already a mature D-level crystal nucleus.

Ye You glanced at An Qing, who was beside him with a surprised expression, and said, “Not bad.”

An Qing didn’t know whether he was praising her for doing well or if he was saying that the crystal nucleus tasted good.

She couldn’t help but think, the Zombie King is really amazing, daring to eat a crystal nucleus directly like that. Isn’t he afraid of the pain?

In the end, when An Qing left the experimental field, she was in a daze, holding a document that identified her as the “Chief of the Crystal Nuclei Planting Project,” along with two pots of rose plants.

The King had instructed her to cultivate the land behind the base and fill it with crystal nucleus plants.

Although An Qing was just a B-level ability user who couldn’t fight, she was still the highest-ranked plant-type ability user in the base, apart from Ye You. Given her obsession with farming, Ye You entrusted her with the ongoing task of planting crystal nuclei.

As soon as An Qing left, Su Zi’an appeared before Ye You, carrying a backpack.

Su Zi’an spoke with a hint of jealousy, “Ge has never given me flowers before.”

Yet he gave that plant-type ability user two whole pots of flowers!

Ye You casually plucked an unopened rose and handed it to Su Zi’an, saying, “All the roses in this experimental field are yours.”

Su Zi’an was instantly appeased, holding the rosebud, which was the size of his palm, as he left with Ye You.

They walked together to the designated meeting point where Director Lin and the others were already waiting. Along with them were several ability users and a few flying mutant animals.

Among the mutant animals was the red-eyed crow, which was no longer bald.

Ye You then summoned two more water and ice-type B-level zombies, completing the team set to depart for Y City Base.

Instead of using the helicopters from the base, Ye You opted to use his abilities and the mutant animals for transportation.

The vine phoenix carried Ye You and Su Zi’an into the air.

The mutant animals also took Director Lin, his group, and a few enforcers into the sky.

Standing on the vine phoenix, Su Zi’an asked, “Ge, can these vines be woven into other things?”

“They can,” Ye You replied. “What do you want them to become?”

“A flying ship! Like the ones in those Xianxia dramas!” Su Zi’an exclaimed.

As soon as he finished speaking, he felt the vines beneath him rapidly growing in the air.

Rose vines sprouted and grew, joined by other plants like morning glory vines.

In just a moment, a plant-based flying ship, large enough to accommodate a hundred people, appeared in the sky.

【You Zai is setting off! Our goal is—Twin Grapes!】

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