"Yukino, haven't you hugged him enough already?"

Utaha Kasumigaoka couldn't help herself. She lightly patted Sosuke Kitahara's shoulder, her voice laced with exasperation.

Only then did Yukino Yukinoshita come to her senses. She abruptly let go, then hastily covered her face with both hands. A visible blush seeped through her fingers. After wiping the corners of her eyes, she muttered indignantly, her face cold and stiff, "You were hugging him way longer earlier, and I didn't say a word. But now that it's just been a few seconds, suddenly you have a problem?"

"I've known Kitahara for nearly two years. How long have you two even known each other?"

Utaha rolled her eyes and pointed toward the dock with a frown. "Besides, is now really the time? Haven't any of you noticed that something's off over there?"

Everyone followed the direction she was pointing. Yukino grumbled inwardly about Utaha's blatant double standards, but she, too, had sensed something strange.

Logically speaking, the mindless zombies should've chased them and plunged straight into the sea. But now they were all lined up neatly at the edge of the dock, not moving an inch almost as if they knew the sea was dangerous.

"Could it be that zombie commander's doing?" Yukino murmured.

Leaning against the rail, the ocean wind brushed her dark hair aside. Her eyes involuntarily drifted toward Kitahara. In her heart, Sosuke had already become someone who could solve any problem. She hoped her theory would be confirmed by him.

"That's most likely it. When a Screecher is present, nearby zombies will instinctively act under its will," Kitahara replied calmly.

He didn't hide anything. Screechers were cautious, usually choosing a safe vantage point to emit their piercing calls and control lower-tier zombies. In the early days of the apocalypse, they were particularly troublesome.

But once survivors understood their behavior, Screechers weren't so hard to deal with. All it took was one good sniper shot.

In fact, Screechers were kind of stupid. They always stood alone at the highest point, howling dramatically toward the sky to issue commands basically painting a target on their backs. Any halfway decent marksman could take one down.

"A Screecher, huh? That's... a pretty fitting name."

Yukino blinked, then nodded. But suddenly her face turned pale as she seemed to realize something terrifying. She looked to Kitahara and asked, her voice trembling, "Do you think… the Screecher could command them to swim after us? Zombies don't get tired. Their bodies float pretty well too..."

"Don't say that! You're giving me chills," Utaha shivered, her pulse quickening. Even she was spooked by Yukino's imagination.

"It's not that extreme."

Kitahara picked up his SMG and glanced at the two girls, who were visibly shaken. He gave a helpless smile and gestured. "You two really aren't looking closely enough. Haven't you noticed there isn't a single zombie corpse floating in the water near the dock?"

The two exchanged glances. And their faces turned even paler.

They were both smart enough to instantly understand what he meant.

"Watch carefully."

Kitahara smirked, raised his submachine gun, and opened fire on the group of zombies lingering at the edge of the dock.

Ratatatat!

Yukino and Utaha turned instinctively. A few zombies toppled into the sea and flailed helplessly. Instead of being threatening, they looked absolutely ridiculous thrashing about like drunk swimmers, stirring the once-clear waters into a muddy mess.

But then, something happened.

Dozens of razor-thin white streaks suddenly shot upward from the water like arrows, slicing the sea into ribbons. It looked like a volley of thousands of arrows.

Before anyone could even react, the surface of the water erupted like boiling soup.

The white lines smashed straight into the zombies, whose heads snapped back violently before they collapsed onto the surface. White splashes exploded around them, and within the turbulent waves, black, eel-like creatures tore into the undead with a frenzy. Black liquid quickly began to stain the water all around them.

Everyone recognized that black ooze it was zombie blood.

"P-Piranhas? But… aren't piranhas freshwater fish?!"

Yukino lowered her binoculars, horrified, and turned to Kitahara.

He shrugged nonchalantly. "It's just a name. Piranha, flesh-eater, whatever. If you really want accuracy, call them 'corpsefish.'"

Meanwhile, the zombies that had fallen in were no longer struggling. Within seconds, clean white skeletons, still dripping with bits of shredded meat, floated to the surface.

"But… we're still at sea! Shouldn't we just dock somewhere and get off?!"

Utaha looked at the rippling waves, her voice full of panic. She hadn't expected this kind of horror from the ocean. What terrified her most was how quickly those zombies had been devoured ten seconds, maybe? Who knew how many of those monsters were still lurking beneath the surface?

"It's almost sundown. Wandering around on land at night isn't any safer," Kitahara said while checking the SMG's magazine, then handed it to Yukino. "That Screecher's probably already locked onto us. Going ashore now would be walking into a trap."

He pointed to a few boats still drifting in the distance. "Corpsefish rely on sight and smell, but only in water. As long as you don't provoke them, they won't go after the boat. Plus, you see those massive warships lined up like walls? They're still out there. Other boats are still floating. If it were really dangerous, there'd be no one left by now."

Truth be told, Kitahara wasn't that worried about the corpsefish.

What had his attention was the unexpected appearance of a Screecher.

According to survivor classifications from his past life, corpsefish were merely mutated beasts. Screechers, on the other hand, were officially classified as Tier-2 zombies.

And Tier-2 zombies weren't supposed to appear until about a month into the apocalypse.

But it had only been a week.

Kitahara found that surprising though only slightly.

After all, if there were humans awakening abilities early, it wasn't out of the question for one or two zombies to evolve ahead of schedule too. The reason no one had encountered them before... was probably because anyone who did, died.

"Anyway, enough guessing. Grab your weapons and sweep the yacht. Check every corner," he said, turning and heading toward the cabins.

More than ten minutes later, the three regrouped in the lounge.

The two girls collapsed onto the floor with relief. Utaha closed her eyes and sighed.

"Warm air… background music… it almost feels like we're back in the modern world. God, I miss this."

Kitahara gave a faint smile and was just about to reply when a sharp, urgent voice came from the yacht's speakers.

"Hey! You guys better get out here something's happening outside!" It was Haruno Yukinoshita.

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