Chapter 14 What Has to Do With Mutated Rats?

"How is this still related to the mutated rat swarms?"

Duan Lei asked, a little puzzled.

Among everyone, aside from the unconscious Li Chenzhou, only Duan Lei and Zhang Hu were somewhat familiar with each other. Therefore, he was the only one to ask. Besides, Duan Lei had implicitly become the second-in-command of the group.

"Because I've been fighting them!"

Zhang Hu laughed.

"That day on the highway, Xiao Xue was captured, and you went to chase after them. Po Chuan and I stayed behind to hold off the zombies. Originally, we thought we had killed that enhanced zombie, and the smaller ones would be easier to deal with.

"But who knew, just as we were maneuvering around the vehicles to fight the zombies while trying to reduce their numbers, Da Ju suddenly rushed over. That's the orange cat I used to ride!"

Zhang Hu pointed to Da Ju outside the window.

"This guy wasn't this big back then, but it wasn't small either. And it was incredibly fast, charging straight at me. Po Chuan hurriedly fired, but missed!

"Then, I was picked up by this guy. And at that time, I had a feeling that Da Ju wasn't trying to kill me. It didn't seem to have any malicious intent towards me. So I shouted at Po Chuan not to shoot.

"Because of what I said, Po Chuan didn't dare shoot at Da Ju again. He couldn't catch up either, so he had to watch helplessly as Da Ju carried me away!"

At this point, Zhang Hu seemed to find it funny himself, and couldn't help but laugh a couple of times, looking at Duan Lei somewhat smugly.

"Do you know where Da Ju carried me to? An animal rescue station! I had been to that place before, I was dispatched there by the company. Actually, it wasn't supposed to be me going, but that idiot manager at our company didn't want to go himself, so he just made me go in his place!

"Our company was launching a new pet food product at the time, and to advertise and promote it, they found that rescue station, provided a truckload of cat food, and then sent me over to cooperate with the TV station to film a short clip, just as an advertisement.

"Da Ju was one of the cats at that rescue station. And when I went that day, it had just been sent there by two young girls, thirteen or fourteen years old, who had found it and brought it there.

"But the people at the rescue station, after seeing Da Ju, told them to take the cat away, because it was injured and couldn't be cured!

"I was standing nearby at the time, so I looked at Da Ju. Sure enough, it had a very deep wound on its body. I was a little curious, so I asked the people at the rescue station if it really couldn't be cured.

"The people at the rescue station said that it could be cured, but the cost was too high, and they couldn't afford it.

"When I heard that, I thought, what a great opportunity! That idiot manager made me replace him, so I'll just spend a little more money for him and see if he dares to show off in the future!

"So I took it upon myself to leave Da Ju there, saying that our company would bear all the treatment costs! With my promise, Da Ju was able to stay and was actually cured!

"But what annoyed me was that the rescue station actually posted about this and even included our company. As a result, the advertising effect was even better than what we had done before!

"So, my manager got promoted and got a raise, because in name, he was the one who did this. I was planning to screw him over, but instead, I made him even more awesome. I was so angry at the time, cursing that good deeds go unrewarded!

"Po Chuan knew about this and advised me at the time, saying that maybe the good things were yet to come. And it turned out… he was right!"

Speaking of this, Zhang Hu suddenly felt a little emotional. He turned to look at Da Ju outside the window.

"Actually… I don't like cats. I wasn't trying to save it back then. I just looked at its wound and said a few words to that person. I didn't even touch it, because this guy had a wound and was dirty and stinky!

"But who knew that Da Ju would remember my kindness to it so well. After the apocalypse came, I don't know how this guy became a mutated cat, and the first thing it thought of after mutating was to find me. And it actually found me!

"I had already forgotten about it. Even if it hadn't mutated, even if it was still the same as before, I wouldn't have recognized it if it had come to me, because I had never taken it to heart.

"After bringing me back, Da Ju led me and all the cats around to sweep the area. These guys were very powerful. Apart from their own kind, they ate all living creatures, including humans!"

Zhang Hu turned to look at Duan Lei.

"So, during the time you were rescuing people, I was watching them eat people. And these guys even knew how to divide the area to clear out the hiding people.

"I couldn't stop them at all. At that time, I couldn't even communicate with them. But watching them drag living people out of their houses and tear them apart and devour them, I really couldn't stand it. Especially… when they were dying, they would ask me for help, some would even think that I was directing them to eat people, cursing me and stuff. Most of them wouldn't let me go even as ghosts!

"So, I kept having nightmares, and then I prepared to leave. At that time, I already had some strength, because Da Ju would catch other mutated beasts and feed them to me first. When I couldn't eat anymore, they would divide them up and eat them!

"Da Ju wouldn't let me leave, but I insisted on leaving. Later, Da Ju must have been anxious, so it bit me, and that bite linked my life with its!"

Zhang Hu rolled up his sleeve. On his forearm, there was a very obvious bite mark.

"After that! I could communicate with Da Ju, and I even understood cat language. But this kind of connection doesn't mean that Da Ju would completely obey my commands. It's like a cat kept at home. If it doesn't like something, no matter how much you call it, it won't pay attention to you!

"Although I could communicate with all the cats, I still couldn't stop them from killing people and eating people. So, I started to change my approach. I encouraged them, saying, 'You guys are cats. Eating rats is what cats should do, and rat meat is quite delicious!'"

Zhang Hu put down his sleeve and continued.

"Maybe cats are more delicious. When they heard me say that rat meat was delicious, they were tempted. So, I led them to start leaving the city—since I couldn't stop them from killing people, I would take them away from the city.

"Maybe I was lucky, or maybe some of the people who were originally going to be eaten by them were lucky. After we got outside the city, we really encountered a mutated rat swarm! The one you encountered!"

"The one we encountered?"

Duan Lei looked at Zhang Hu in astonishment.

"So, those rats were driven here by you?"

"You could say that!"

Zhang Hu said.

"But you guys were quite lucky, because this is just one branch after the rat swarm split up, and it's the one without the Rat King. If the rat swarm you encountered was ruled by the Rat King, then… you might not have been able to hold out until I arrived!!!"