Cloud Raising Little Zombies: Chapter 33

ZOMBIE EMPEROR CULTIVATION

33. [New World] S-Level Necromancy Talent

On top of a tall building, Wan Zhengqi, a metal-elemental ability user, set up a sniper rifle formed by his powers.

From his high vantage point, he had a clear view of the scene inside the “cage” of rose vines.

The Zombie King of Y City was already dead, and the psychic-plant dual-powered Zombie King had just swallowed the crystal nuclei. This was the moment when his energy would be the most unstable.

This was Wan Zhengqi’s only chance.

He aimed at the center of the Zombie King’s forehead and pulled the trigger.

At the moment his finger pressed down, Wan Zhengqi suddenly felt an intense itch in his nose.

“Achoo—!” Despite trying his best to hold it in, Wan Zhengqi let out a loud sneeze.

A single red rose petal fluttered away with the sneeze, drifting off the high-rise.

Wan Zhengqi blinked in confusion, lifting his hand to his nose, only to touch something cool and layered.

It was a fully bloomed rose.

When… did this happen?

Wan Zhengqi’s eyes widened in shock, and his body collapsed forward, powerless.

On the other side, Su Zi’an sensed a surge of energy heading rapidly toward Ye You.

Without thinking, he lunged forward, trying to use his body to shield him.

Faster, he had to move faster, or else… there would be no chance.

Su Zi’an wasn’t sure why such a strong sense of foreboding arose within him. He only knew he needed to reach his brother, to hold him, to protect him.

He saw Ye You raise his hand toward him—an action his brother often did when he wanted to pat his head.

The bullet was almost there.

With Lin Yinyin in his arms, Su Zi’an threw himself at Ye You, trying to shield both of them with his body.

Underneath them was soft, lush grass, and the air was filled with the scent of roses, but… there was no sign of Ye You.

Had he missed?

Though Su Zi’an’s arms protected her, Lin Yinyin’s back still hit the ground. Of course, this level of impact wasn’t much for an ability user.

Lin Yinyin opened her eyes, not crying or fussing, and simply watched Su Zi’an as he rose and looked around in confusion.

Not far behind him, Su Zi’an spotted a rose standing upright. The rose was in full bloom, and a bullet fell from its blossom.

His brother had caught the bullet with his powers. But… where was he?

“…Ge?”

Su Zi’an called out, but the surroundings were silent, the only sound being the wind rustling through the rose bushes.

He could no longer sense his brother’s energy.

His heart pounded rapidly, overwhelmed by a powerful wave of fear and unease.

Just as Su Zi’an was on the verge of breaking down, he caught a glint of something reflecting light on the grass.

He froze.

It was a transparent card. It looked familiar.

With trembling fingers, Su Zi’an picked up the card.

Infinite World: Apocalypse Realm

Challenger: Ji Xuelin  

Status: Deceased

Cleared Levels: 0

It was the card they had picked up from Ji Xuelin’s corpse, the one his brother had been carrying all along.

The card was here. So where had his brother gone?

Su Zi’an’s fingers gripped the card so tightly that they turned white.

Energy surged within him, wild and unrestrained, as if eager to vent.

A strand of this out-of-control energy flowed into the card.

Su Zi’an watched as the numbers on the card gradually faded, disappearing completely.

In the next moment, new text appeared.

Infinite World: Apocalypse Realm

Challenger: Su Zi’an

…

Darkness, seemingly endless darkness, with only a faint glow from a single screen illuminating the space.

Ye You stood before the screen. The moment the countdown ended, he had been transported here.

The boundless darkness didn’t frighten him at all. He turned his gaze to the screen.

The live broadcast room was now completely dark, but Ye You could still see text floating across it.

People were asking if there was a technical issue with the stream or if the host had logged off.

At the top of the stream, the message “Settling…” was displayed, and the entire interface was unresponsive.

Taking advantage of the screen’s inactivity, Ye You checked the items he carried with him.

The mutated plant leaves in his pocket were still plentiful.

Mutated morning glories, mutated pothos, mutated oleanders…

It’s just that the leaves of the mutated roses had been used up when they were in Y City, and there wasn’t time to replenish them.

The small pouch Su Zi’an gave him was still there, containing about half a bag of B and C-level crystal nuclei.

Nothing was missing.

Originally, there should have also been Ji Xuelin’s identity card, but in the last moment of the countdown, Ye You had thrown that card out of his pocket.

Ye You wasn’t sure what he was thinking at the time—maybe he just wanted to give Su Zi’an a keepsake.

As he was pondering this, the results of the mission came in.

Text appeared on the glowing screen in front of Ye You.

Infinite Worlds: Apocalyptic World

Challenger: Ye You

Rating: S

Reward: 10,000 points

[Points Mall is now open.] [Live stream room activation and deactivation permissions unlocked.] [Entering the next world in 3 hours. Please prepare accordingly, Challenger.]

Ye You looked at the upper right corner of the screen, and sure enough, he saw the “Mall” icon under the points total.

Three hours seemed like plenty of time.

Ye You didn’t rush to check out the “Points Mall.” Instead, he asked aloud, “What are you?”

The screen remained still.

Ye You switched to a more basic, non-intrusive question: “How many points do I have?”

The screen remained just as silent, as if it couldn’t hear him.

No voice interaction, then?

Ye You raised his hand and tapped all over the screen with his fingers.

He discovered that the screen could only be used for live streaming and issuing tasks—it wasn’t capable of communication.

It seemed that, for the moment, there was no way to figure out the origin of the screen.

Shifting his focus, Ye You opened the “Points Mall.”

The mall offered crystal nuclei of various levels and attributes, guns, clothes, cars, and even mutated animals, plants, and zombies.

There were too many items in the mall.

Ye You used the search bar and after looking around, he realized the only thing the mall didn’t sell was humans.

After deleting the search term “Su Zi’an,” Ye You began seriously selecting the items he needed.

He didn’t know what the next world would be like, nor whether he could still use the “Points Mall” after entering it.

This made his choices a bit uncertain.

“A set of clothes costs 1 point, a handgun costs 20 points, and an A-level crystal nucleus costs 5,000 points…”

Ye You glanced at the points total in the top right corner of the screen. He had 27,000 points in total.

10,000 were the reward from the apocalyptic world, and the remaining 17,000 were likely leftover tips from the live stream audience.

Now that he knew his total points, Ye You immediately excluded crystal nuclei from his shopping list.

A-level crystal nuclei were too expensive, and he still had B and C-level cores in his pouch. There was no need to waste points on more.

Clothing and weapons were also unnecessary.

With his current physical condition, even if the next world had temperatures dropping to minus 100 degrees Celsius, he would still be able to move freely.

As for human weapons, Ye You trusted his abilities far more.

After filtering out item after item, only a few special tools remained on the screen.

Name: Spatial Bracelet  

Description: Contains 100 cubic meters of storage space (PS: Cannot store living things)  

Price: 2,000 points

Name: Spiritual Spring Space  

Description: A spring, a bamboo house, and a field of one mu. Soul-bound, not a physical item.  

Price: 20,000 points

Ye You’s gaze fixed on the three words “one mu of field” in the description of the Spiritual Spring Space.

With farmland, if he added mutated plants, he could cultivate crystal nuclei.

Furthermore, such a space would definitely allow living people to enter.

No matter how dangerous the next world might be, Ye You would have a place to rest temporarily.

Without any more hesitation, Ye You clicked “purchase.”

The moment he pressed “confirm,” Ye You felt himself establish a connection with a space.

With just a thought, he entered the space.

The surrounding darkness receded, and what came into view was a very simple one-story bamboo house. Next to the bamboo house was a clear spring, and in front of it was a plot of land overgrown with weeds.

As the description had stated: a spiritual spring, a bamboo house, and one mu of land.

The glowing screen was still floating nearby, and Ye You continued shopping from the “Points Mall.”

This time, he spent 5,000 points to buy an A-level mutated rose plant.

A mutated rose plant appeared out of thin air, landing in front of Ye You.

He planted the mutated rose in the field, which would become his source of crystal nuclei in the next world.

With the remaining 2,000 points, Ye You decided to buy a red-eyed crow.

The Points Mall described it as: a zombie crow with a physical strength reaching A-level and an ability level of B-level.

The description was so familiar that Ye You couldn’t help but wonder if all the items sold in the Points Mall were things he had encountered in the apocalyptic world.

A black crow appeared in the sky above the bamboo house, circling in confusion. When its red eyes saw Ye You, its body froze.

The red-eyed crow suddenly swooped down towards Ye You, landing on his shoulder.

The red-eyed crow cawed on Ye You’s shoulder, “Ya ya—”

Woooo! Emperor, I’ve finally found you! You’ve been missing for a whole year, and no zombies have been feeding me crystal nuclei!

Ye You looked at the red-eyed crow in surprise.

He… seemed to be able to understand what the crow was saying.

“You’re saying I’ve been missing for a year?” Ye You asked.

The red-eyed crow paused for a moment, then, realizing Ye You could understand it, excitedly cawed, “Ya ya” repeatedly.

Yes! Emperor’s presence disappeared all of a sudden, and everyone’s been working hard to find you.

Ya Ya led the crow flock and searched every corner of Y City’s base.

Ya Ya is the first zombie to find you, and Ya Ya is the strongest of the zombie generals!

“Ya Ya” was a name Ye You had given the red-eyed crow in the past.

Since it always cawed like that, when Ye You was in a good mood, he’d call it “Ya Ya.”

As he listened to Ya Ya’s cawing, Ye You glanced at the 3-hour countdown on the glowing screen.

Exactly one hour had passed.

So, was the time flow here equivalent to one hour for every year in the apocalyptic world?

A whole year had already gone by.

Ye You gently stroked Ya Ya’s densely feathered black head and asked, “What’s the current situation in the apocalyptic world?”

“Ya ya—” Ya Ya flapped its wings happily.

Zombies have established bases everywhere.

The crystal nucleus cultivation in A City has already spread, and now every base is growing crystal nuclei. My crow flock has also planted many crystal nucleus plants.

But the humans are still in chaos.

Some human bases have developed brainwave translators, allowing them to communicate with zombies and mutated animals. They often visit zombie bases to exchange crystal core cultivation techniques.

Meanwhile, some human bases are still carrying out “Zombie Elimination” plans, fighting with nearby zombie bases every month.

In response, the nearby zombie bases have started organizing sieges, going on monthly “tours” of neighboring human bases.

…

While listening to Ya Ya’s storytelling, Ye You used his abilities to guide the growth of the mutated rose plants.

The roses spread throughout the field in the courtyard, and Ye You channeled his energy, condensing several crystal core prototypes on the mutated roses.

Afterward, Ye You used his mental power to form a bucket, filled it with water from the spiritual spring, and watered the mutated roses.

By the time everything was done, only two minutes remained.

As the countdown drew closer, Ye You suddenly asked Ya Ya, “What about Su Zi’an?”

Ya Ya had talked about so much, including how the zombie generals gathered to fight and how Lin Yinyin’s fourth birthday was celebrated, but had not mentioned Su Zi’an at all.

After a brief pause, Ya Ya responded, “Ya—”

Su Zi’an? After he returned to the A City base, he locked himself up and kept eating crystal cores.

He seemed like he’d gone mad. Ya Ya was really scared and didn’t dare to visit him.

By the third month, Ya Ya heard people say that he had disappeared. Some even said he went to look for the Emperor.

Ya Ya thought he had found the Emperor, but he’s not with you?

“Disappeared…” Ye You softly repeated those two words.

The next second, the glowing screen automatically moved in front of him.

【You are about to enter a new world. Please prepare yourself, 3, 2, 1…】

Darkness swept over him.

…

Blue Star, July 20th, 2033, 3 PM.

Chi Xin, the president of the “Ye You Fan Club,” was discussing with other fans in the group chat about the abrupt end of the streamer’s broadcast.

For a large-scale holographic game like “Infinite Livestream: Apocalypse World,” it definitely required a specialized gaming pod.

As long as there was enough nutrient solution and medical supervision, staying online for several months shouldn’t be an issue.

During this month of Zai Zai’s live broadcast, he had never gone offline. The sudden disconnection made the fans wonder if something had gone wrong with Zai Zai’s health.

Some fans in the group asked if anyone had Ye You’s contact information, and Chi Xin, who went by “Stars in the Pond” as the group admin, was naturally the most @mentioned person.

Of course, Chi Xin didn’t have Ye You’s contact information.

She had previously asked JJ Livestream’s staff about it, only to be told that JJ Livestream had not signed a contract with Ye You and couldn’t reach him either.

A staff member who was friendly with Chi Xin even shared some gossip.

The staff said Ye You was a streamer with millions of followers, who had gone viral beyond the platform. Several streaming platforms were trying to sign him.

But no one could get in touch with this streamer, or even the game’s officials.

The staff speculated that both Ye You and the game officials had extremely mysterious backgrounds.

Chi Xin was deep in thought, speculating about Ye You’s identity when suddenly a push notification from the JJ platform popped up on her phone.

【The streamer you follow, “Ye You,” is now live. Come watch the stream~】

Chi Xin immediately straightened up, opened the JJ livestream app, and entered Ye You’s livestream room.

The screen in the livestream room was still dark, but there were already many bullet comments from those who had received the notification.

Chi Xin shared the news about Ye You’s upcoming stream in the fan group and then switched back to the livestream room to wait.

While waiting, Chi Xin glanced at the top left corner of the livestream page and noticed that the name of the livestream room had changed.

【Infinite World·Magic Realm】

【Streamer: Ye You】

A magic realm? Is this a new game or a new instance?

Is it another world as real and magical as the apocalypse world?

Gradually, the livestream screen began to show images.

Towering mountains, roaring dragons, magical beasts battling each other, a sprawling jungle, and on the other side of the jungle, a thriving human empire.

The long camera shot continued to move, revealing a mercenary group made up of muscular men, children running in lively streets, and a golden-haired girl in a complex gown getting into a carriage.

Suddenly, a spatial rift appeared in the square. Skeletons emerged from the rift, with blue-green flames of soul flickering inside their skulls.

Doves flew in panic, and screams and fleeing sounds filled the air.

Knights on white horses charged at the skeletons, and with each swing of their swords, skeletons were decapitated, heads separating from bodies.

A white-robed mage raised his staff, chanting a spell. White light enveloped the skeletons, extinguishing the soul flames and causing the skeletons to crumble.

Finally, the camera moved to the outside of a grand academy.

In front of the academy’s square, some youthful students were lined up, guided by teachers in mage robes, approaching the entrance of the academy.

“Young ones, your arrival here means your mental power has reached the qualification line for learning magic.

“Now we need to test your elemental talent, which will directly determine if you can enter the Empire’s top magic academy.

“Come, child, place your hand on the crystal ball.”

As Ye You woke from the darkness, he heard an old voice speaking to him.

Place your hand on the crystal ball?

Ye You quickly adjusted to the brightness, seeing a wooden table with a crystal ball floating on it.

There were many people around him.

Some had no energy fluctuations around them, seemingly ordinary people.

Others had energy levels of A-level or even S-level.

Is this the new world?

Ye You remained calm and placed his hand on the crystal ball.

The originally clear crystal ball gradually filled with green mist.

The vibrant green mist spread and occupied most of the crystal ball.

“Hmm, not bad. Wood element, elemental talent level A. You can join the Natural Sciences Department of the magic academy,” the elder behind the crystal ball said with a smile.

Around him, young voices expressed envy.

“A-level talent, amazing!”

“Which family is this person from? They’re dressed so plainly, and there’s no family emblem.”

“Let’s invite them into our club later.”

Just as Ye You was about to withdraw his hand, he noticed another color slowly appearing in the crystal ball that was previously filled with green mist.

The elder in charge of the test also saw this and quickly said, “Wait, don’t move. You have dual-element magic talent. Let me see your other element…”

Many teachers and students of the academy, upon hearing “dual-element magic,” gathered around in excitement.

They saw grayish mist spreading in the crystal ball.

“Hiss, gray, necromancy…” someone whispered, their voice lowered. The once excited and envious expressions turned to disgust and fear.

No one spoke. Everyone watched as the deathly gray mist spread, completely swallowing the vibrant green mist until it filled the entire crystal ball.

“Oh my God! S-level necromancy talent!” a student exclaimed in shock.

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