Through the bound zombie's viewpoint, Ark Brook glimpsed the inside of the bus.

The interior was dark, filled with obscure, resting figures. The front and rear doors were jammed from the impact, and several windows were cracked, making it possible to break one and climb in. Ark controlled the bound zombie to break a window and climb inside.

The stench was overwhelming, even through the bound zombie. The mixture of blood and rotting flesh made Ark feel nauseous.

As the bound zombie stepped further into the bus, it stepped on a dead body. Glancing down, Ark was immediately startled. Even though the corpse was rotten, its swollen face still had a pair of red eyes. It was clear that before dying, this person had become infected—a zombie.

"No one escaped, and no one entered. Did the infected die of starvation, or perhaps decomposition?" Ark wondered, holding back his theory until he could thoroughly check the bus. He controlled the bound zombie to continue toward the end of the bus.

He soon realized something was wrong. The compartment was covered in large bloodstains, chunks of rotten flesh, and more dead bodies similar to the one he found.

Someone had started a slaughter after the mutation, but the odd thing was that all the dead were infected zombies, and the back of their heads were cut open.

"Who did this?!"

Ark felt a sudden horror. While he was dumbfounded, a shadow suddenly jumped out from one of the seats. Nimble as a cheetah, it leaped onto the back of his bound zombie.

The shadow moved silently and extremely agilely. By the time Ark realized, the shadow had already poked its hand into the bound zombie's back head.

Stunned, Ark instinctively controlled the bound zombie to dodge and fall back, forcefully bringing the shadow to the ground. But the bound zombie's head had been scratched, and blood was gushing out.

"Holy crap... their hand is like a razor!"

It was tough enough to groom this young bound zombie. Ark felt distressed but also extremely aware of this shadow.

He used the zombie's elbow to clutch the shadow's neck while using the other hand to clutch its wrist, preventing movement.

As soon as he rose, the shadow used its other hand to poke into the bound zombie's abdomen. Although the zombie felt no pain, Ark's face still became completely perplexed.

At the moment the shadow prepared to strike, Ark, who was ready to counter, instantly halted when he saw the shadow's true appearance.

"Yu.... Yu Lian...."

Lying below, the shadow, whose hand poked into the bound zombie's belly, was one of his wife's students at the Academy, Yu Lian.

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Ark had made many theories and assumptions, but he never expected to find Yu Lian in this situation.

After mutation, Yu Lian's beautiful big eyes turned bloody red. But her looks were not twisted like normal infected; she still looked cool and composed. Despite being undead, this "Star" student of the Academy still shone like a witch.

For a moment, Ark hesitated, but when Yu Lian took out her hand full with bound zombie's gut, Ark was suddenly awake and almost believe he felt the same pain.

Yu Lian's small hands looked no different than before, but her nails was sharp and it's hardness was unusual, her claw-like hands were powerful enough to slash and pierce the flesh. This clearly showcased her difference to other normal zombies that he encountered so far.

Reflecting on his initial theory that a normal zombie wouldn't attack an already infected one, Ark understood something as he looked around the compartment full of zombie corpses and then look back at Yu Lian again.

After ordinary people were either eaten or mutated, driven by instinctual hunger, the remaining zombies became cannibals and ate each other. The last zombie survivor, Yu Lian, had developed some bizarre mutation.

Ark was intrigued by this discovery, a sample of survival of the fittest as a means to evolve, just as Charles Darwin wrote about.

While Ark was dumbfounded, his bound zombie's intestine had been pulled out, blood gushing out and splashing on her body.

Stimulated by the smell of fresh blood, her crimson eyes seemed to get sharper and bloodier, and her strength seemed to increase. She grabbed the bound zombie's arm and flipped him to one side.

As the bound zombie landed upright, Yu Lian rushed and placed her hands directly on the bound zombie's neck.

Her movements were much more agile and flexible than the average zombie, catching Ark off guard.

With the feeling of suffocation, the bound zombie's natural instinct was unleashed, and Ark felt waves of emptiness in his head. When this feeling emerged, it meant the binding was weakening, and the zombie was about to get out of his control due to rage.

Recovering from the shock of reuniting with one of his wife's students, Ark's resolve sharpened as his natural instinct countered the zombie's control.

"Yu Lian turned into this; to some extent, it is also my own responsibility...my failure to my wife..."

Ark gritted his teeth, trying his best to find a weakness. Suddenly, he had a bold idea. Zombies are just living humans affected by the virus, and judging by Yu Lian's appearance, her virus had probably evolved. In this case, there might be a way to normalize her.

Even though the theory was vague, Ark wanted to risk it. As soon as he found the weakness, Ark immediately controlled the bound zombie to initiate body lock techniques and stared hard into Yu Lian's crimson eyes. Concentrating his [Zombie Bind] ability, in his eyes, Yu Lian's head soon turned into a ball of light.

However, the color of this spirit was different from the average zombies. Infected by the virus, hosts lost their minds, acting purely on instinct. Therefore, the spiritual color that represented their minds was usually bland and distorted. Yet Yu Lian's spiritual color was obviously colorful, brighter, with faint traces of red.

"What is that all about? This is definitely intriguing!"

Ark wanted to delve deeper into understanding but didn't have enough time to maneuver. He aimed his focus on the spiritual connection to Yu Lian and tried to bind deeper.

Normally, average zombies were easy to bind with his ability, but Yu Lian was different. Ark felt resistance, quite a contrast from binding with other zombies. Although weak, Ark's heartbeat suddenly skipped a beat.

Is it possible that Yu Lian regained some consciousness? Was this the same consciousness of Yu Lian, or had something new formed?

When Ark finally managed to bind his connection to Yu Lian, his entire body was already covered in sweat.

His connection to the young bound zombie was cut off as it was completely choked to death during the process.

But when Ark was carefully controlling Yu Lian to stand up, he suddenly felt a longing. This desire came from Yu Lian's spiritual connection, related to the virus.

During his prior experience with bound zombies, Ark never felt any emotion from them, as only natural instincts and basic desires weren't existed.

But this time, he felt something from Yu Lian, vaguely yet intriguingly. If the mutation of the virus could produce desire, then perhaps she could regain her emotions.

Thinking of this, Ark used Yu Lian to poke through the head of the bound zombie. Yu Lian's desire quickly pulled out a small piece of gel-like object from the head.

It was like a part of the brain tissue after infection, a little red, like an elastic rubber pill when held in hand. After tossing and turning the object while enduring the nausea, Ark let Yu Lian swallow the gel pill.

A heat wave immediately rose from her stomach, quickly circulating through her body. Yu Lian's body seemed to receive some physical supplement.

Never thought this disgusting gel could have this effect. Perhaps Yu Lian's mutation was caused by eating this...

Manipulating Yu Lian to jump out of the bus and walk to his hiding spot, Ark finally saw Yu Lian face-to-face for the first time since he was fired from the Academy.

Watching Yu Lian's bloodstained body, pale cheeks, and those crimson, almost eerie eyes, Ark was moved by a mixture of feelings. Even though Yu Lian's spirit was stable for now, giving off an expression of danger as if a chilly air formed beside her, her familiar face still left Ark a little dazed.

He couldn't help but stretch out his hand, wiping Yu Lian's bloodstains from her face. "Don't worry, your father will find a way for you to live normally."