CHAPTER 554: CHAPTER 554: KING LEVEL

He could feel the powerful glow from far away. It wasn’t just strong. It was special. Royal.

No... it was king-level.

Narak clenched his fists, his long claws digging into his palms. "Who is he?" he asked the wind. "Why does he have the aura of a ruler?"

His red eyes burned brighter. "That child... belongs to me."

Without another word, he leapt out of the cave in a flash. The ground cracked beneath his feet as he shot into the air, flying over the ruined wastelands like a shadow.

He didn’t care what it took. He had to reach that baby.

If the child grew up... if he fell into the hands of humans or worse, enemy zombies, it would be a disaster.

He had to take the child and raise him.

A zombie king raised by a true king, which would make him unbeatable.

But even though Narak was fast, he realized something terrible halfway through his journey.

The aura... was fading.

"No!" he shouted. "Don’t disappear!"

He ran faster, pushing his legs past their limit. But by the time he reached a wide crossroad near the edge of the human-controlled zone, the aura was gone.

Completely vanished.

He stood there, growling low, frustrated and angry.

Then, more figures appeared.

One by one, other zombie kings arrived. Each of them was tall, powerful, with glowing eyes and terrifying energy. There were five of them in total, including Narak.

They looked at one another, then started to speak in a low, gurgling language only zombies understood.

"I felt it too," hissed one with green smoke leaking from his mouth. "That aura... it was strong. King-like."

"He is one of us," said another with rotting wings folded behind his back. "But he’s also not one of us. He’s... different."

"Half-human," said Narak, his voice calm but deadly. "And powerful."

"That’s dangerous," the winged one hissed. "If he’s not raised right, he could destroy us all."

"Then what should we do?" asked the green-smoke zombie.

"We find him," Narak growled. "Before the humans hide him forever."

Another zombie king chuckled, his jaw cracked sideways. "Raise him, tame him, kill him, whatever it takes. He can’t be left alone."

All of them nodded slowly.

They had no idea who the child was, but they all knew the same thing...

He was a threat.

Or...

He was the key to becoming the true zombie ruler.

And none of them planned to give that power up easily.

Unaware of what was going on between the zombie kings, Su Jiyai was sitting quietly in her underground room, holding the now-glowing baby in her arms. She waited patiently until the strange aura around him slowly faded.

When it finally disappeared, she looked down and gasped softly.

The baby’s skin had changed.

It was no longer as green and gooey as before. In fact, it looked a little more human. The greenish tint was still there, but only faintly.

Su Jiyai blinked. "Is he... becoming human?" she whispered to herself.

As that thought passed through her mind, a sudden ding echoed in her head.

[New Mission Unlocked: Help the half-zombie baby reach Level 10. Reward: 10,000 mission points.]

Su Jiyai’s eyes lit up. 10,000 points?!

That was huge. With those points, she could buy all sorts of powerful items from the system store.

She looked at the baby again, smiling with determination. "Alright, little one. I’m gonna help you level up."

Once the aura fully disappeared, she teleported back to Rui Wang and Fu Lin’s room. The two parents were sitting there, worried, but stood up as soon as they saw her.

Su Jiyai gently handed them the baby.

"Going forward," she said seriously, "I’ll provide you with 1,000 crystals every day. Your only job is to let the baby absorb them."

Rui Wang and Fu Lin were shocked. Their eyes widened as they looked at each other, then back at her.

"Miss Su, this... this is too much," Rui Wang said quickly.

"You’ve already let us stay here after knowing the truth about our baby. That was more than enough. We can’t take more."

Su Jiyai shook her head with a soft smile. "It’s alright. I have my own reason. I want to sponsor this child."

She looked at the baby with gentle eyes.

"If he’s raised right, he might become a great help in the future, especially if war breaks out between humans and zombies again."

Rui Wang and Fu Lin’s faces turned serious at the mention of war. They nodded slowly, understanding what she meant.

"But don’t worry," Su Jiyai added. "I won’t force him into anything. If, when he grows up, he chooses his own path, I’ll respect that."

Rui Wang’s eyes turned moist. She held Su Jiyai’s hand tightly and said, "You’re our savior. I don’t know how to repay you."

Su Jiyai smiled calmly. "There’s no need to repay me. Your thanks are more than enough."

What Rui Wang didn’t know, however, was that Su Jiyai had received a hidden reward, a temporary luck boost of +10, just from Rui Wang’s genuine gratitude.

She could already feel it. Her energy felt lighter. She was curious if she could use this extra luck for something important soon.

With a wave, she turned and left their room, heading back to her underground base.

Back in her quiet room, she sat down, ready to open the system shop to see what her new luck could get her.

But before she could, another notification popped up.

[Message from Qin Feng: Please come to my room. Urgent.]

She blinked. Qin Feng?

Sighing, she stood up and teleported to his place.

When she appeared, Qin Feng was sitting on his bed, holding something strange in his hand. It looked like a plate, but it shimmered with crystal light.

Su Jiyai stepped closer. "What’s that?"

Qin Feng handed it to her with a small smile. "It’s something I found while organizing storage. It originally belonged to you."

Su Jiyai raised an eyebrow. "To me?"

Qin Feng nodded.

"You had it long ago, but the Su family took it away. When I was clearing out the old Willow Army site after building my base, I found this among their supplies."

Su Jiyai stared at the plate, then looked at him. "How did the Willow Base fall, anyway?"

At this, Qin Feng’s face turned serious. He looked off into the distance.

"A massive herd of zombies suddenly rushed the base. They weren’t just attacking... they were frenzied."

Su Jiyai frowned. She had heard of that before.

Frenzied zombies were terrifying. Unlike normal ones, they acted like they had no fear—no brains, even. They attacked until everything was gone... including themselves.

Normal evolved zombies were clever and avoided danger, but in a frenzy, they didn’t care about death.

She looked at the plate again, deep in thought. "I always wondered what caused those frenzies... but now I think it’s not random. Maybe zombie kings or devils are controlling them."

Qin Feng nodded slowly. "It wouldn’t surprise me."

After a moment, he pointed at the plate. "Do you know what this is?"

Su Jiyai shook her head. "No clue. But I’ll keep it. Maybe someday I’ll figure it out."

She stored the item in her storage ring, then looked up at him with a smile.

Qin Feng smiled back. Then, his voice softened. "Have you thought about when we should get married?"

Su Jiyai’s face turned red. She looked down shyly before whispering, "Whenever you want. Even now."

Qin Feng grinned. "I love how decisive you are."

Su Jiyai laughed. "Too bad there’s no civil affairs bureau anymore, or we’d be married already."

Qin Feng chuckled and nodded. "True."

Just then, Su Jiyai remembered something. "Oh, right! My little brother left a task for me. We need to bring the food from the other dimension here."

She looked serious now. "That way, we can create jobs for disabled people and strengthen our base’s people."

Qin Feng gave her a thumbs-up. "Good idea. Let’s do it tomorrow."

The next day, the sun was barely up when Su Jiyai, Qin Feng, and Xi Ping stood in a quiet, hidden corner of the base.

Su Jiyai glanced at Xi Ping, who had been staring at her for a while. Raising an eyebrow, she asked, "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Xi Ping blinked, then looked away, clearly embarrassed. "I just... I never realized you were so beautiful."

Su Jiyai laughed lightly. "That’s all you wanted to say?"

Xi Ping shook her head, her face turning red. "No... there’s something else."

Su Jiyai tilted her head, curious. "Yeah?"

Xi Ping took a deep breath. "I want to apologize to you."

Su Jiyai’s smile faded a little as she studied Xi Ping’s serious expression. "Apologize? For what?"

"My brother," Xi Ping said quietly. "He told me everything. How he used to blindly blame you for things. How he said mean stuff, accused you, and even spread lies because he followed Li Yuan."