"Cats and dogs are naturally attuned to people. This one was clearly someone's pet before. Spent enough time around humans, then the mutation developed its brain further-so now it can understand some of what we say." Hu Wenliang offered his theory.

Yang Bin nodded in agreement. He fished a crystal from his pocket and waved it in front of the orange cat's eyes. The moment he saw that unmistakable hunger flash in its gaze, he felt a lot more confident.

He looked the cat dead in the eyes.

"Two choices. Either you follow us from now on and I feed you these every day, or you refuse and we kill you right here. Nod to follow. Shake your head to refuse."

The orange cat stared at him, something working behind those animal eyes.

A long moment passed.

Then it nodded. The ferocity drained from its gaze, replaced by something almost docile.

"Bin-ge, what if it's just playing along to survive? How can we trust it?" Hu Wenliang frowned.

"We test it. Doesn't work out, we kill it. But I don't think animals are as complicated as people. Probably not capable of that kind of deception."

"Lift your feet. Let's see what it does."

"Alright."

The two stepped off the cat, bodies tensed and ready to strike.

The orange cat flipped upright in one fluid motion. It didn't attack. Didn't run. It just stared at the crystal in Yang Bin's hand, eyes burning with want.

Yang Bin tossed the crystal over.

The cat snatched it out of the air and swallowed it whole. Its eyes half-closed in obvious pleasure.

A moment later, it padded over to Yang Bin's feet and rubbed its head against his leg, perfectly docile.

Yang Bin reached down and stroked its head.

The cat didn't flinch. If anything, it leaned into the touch.

Yang Bin smiled. "From now on, you're Little Orange."

"......"

"Bin-ge, that name..."

"What about it?"

"It's great," Hu Wenliang said, not meaning a single word.

"Heh. Obviously."

"Bin-ge, is this really going to work?" Chen Hao still looked uneasy.

"Can't say for sure yet. We'll observe for a while and see," Yang Bin said.

"If it actually works out though-having a pet like this would be a massive boost for us."

"Obviously. Why else would I go through all this trouble?"

"Let's go. That zombie's still out there."

"Yeah."

The three headed toward Yuxin Lake again. Little Orange trotted after them without hesitation.

Before long, they found the Tier-2 Zombie loitering by the lake.

"Little Orange-go!" Yang Bin said.

He wanted to see if this pet was actually useful. If not, better to put it down sooner rather than later.

The orange cat seemed to read his intent. It launched itself at the zombie like a bolt of fur and claws.

In a flash, it closed the distance and raked its claws across the Tier-2 Zombie's throat. Blood sprayed.

The Tier-2 Zombie roared and swiped at the cat.

Useless. The cat was too fast. No matter how the zombie flailed, it couldn't lay a finger on it.

Every strike targeted the neck. Again and again. Within moments, the zombie's throat was shredded clean through, and it toppled to the ground.

"That's vicious," Chen Hao said, impressed.

Yang Bin nodded. "Very."

"Come on. Crystal time."

By the time they walked over, the orange cat had already dispatched the other ordinary zombie too.

Seeing Yang Bin approach, Little Orange bounded over and sat in front of him, looking up with an unmistakable expression: praise me.

"Good work, Little Orange." Yang Bin scratched its head with a grin.

Chen Hao went straight to the corpse, cracked the skull open with his rod, and pried out the crystal inside.

"This one should go to Bin-ge first." Chen Hao glanced at Hu Wenliang.

"No question," Hu Wenliang nodded.

"Here, Bin-ge." Chen Hao handed the crystal over.

Yang Bin took it without argument. Both of them had already reached Tier 2. He was the one who needed to catch up.

He swallowed the crystal. Energy surged through his body, seeping into every limb and bone.

Feeling the boost settle in, Yang Bin muttered, "Figured. Once you hit Tier 2, only Tier-2 Crystals do anything for you."

"The next Tier-2 Zombie is near the Girls' Dormitory. That's the last one we can realistically fight-the rest are in massive groups. No way we can take those on."

"Bin-ge, once we handle this one, we're probably done for today, right? By tomorrow there should be new Tier-2 Zombies."

"Yeah. Let's move."

The group made their way toward the Girls' Dormitory. The moment they arrived in the area, all three pairs of eyes lit up.

Zombies were zombies-but these ones wore pajamas, and certain parts bounced with every lurching step. Considerably easier on the eyes than the male dormitory crowd.

"Man, we should've been killing zombies over here from the start," Hu Wenliang said.

"You sure killing zombies is what you came here for?" Yang Bin eyed him.

"He probably wants to check if anything's rotted under the pajamas," Chen Hao laughed.

"......"

"I can answer that for you. It hasn't," Yang Bin said flatly.

"How would you know?"

"I can see."

"......"

"Bin-ge, let's swap abilities. I'll never call yours low-tier again. How is that low-tier? That's a god-tier skill." Hu Wenliang's face was pure longing.

"Hah. Too bad swapping isn't an option."

"Let's go. Tier-2 Zombie."

Yang Bin recalled the zombie's position and led the other two toward a dormitory building.

But when they looked at what lay ahead, all three froze.

"Bin-Bin-ge, you're sure we can fight that?" Chen Hao swallowed hard.

"Can I just say... when I scouted it, there were only about twenty?" Yang Bin swallowed too.

The entire open area in front of them was packed with zombies. Conservative estimate-four to five hundred.

"Someone must have lured them here," Hu Wenliang said.

"Yeah. Fresh blood in the middle there. Some idiot probably screamed and pulled every zombie in the area."

"So can we still fight?"

"Fight what? Four to five hundred, with close to a hundred Tier-1 Zombies mixed in. If we get surrounded, we'd need wings to get out."

"Alright. Guess we wait until tomorrow."

"What about sending Little Orange in? It's fast enough. Maybe it can pick off the Tier-2 Zombie inside the horde."

The instant Chen Hao said it, Little Orange arched its back and fixed him with a wary glare.

It had clearly understood every word.

"Forget it. Too dangerous." Yang Bin shook his head. "One zombie isn't worth the risk. Let's head back and sleep. Tomorrow there'll be plenty of Tier-2 Zombies."

"Alright."

They turned to leave.

That was when countless frantic footsteps erupted behind them.

All three whipped around-and their faces went pale.

A group of girls was sprinting toward them in blind panic. Behind them surged a massive wave of zombies.

The girls spotted the trio. They ran harder, screaming for help at the top of their lungs.

"Fuck!"

All three said it at the same time.

Ahead of them, the four to five hundred zombies heard the commotion too. Heads snapped toward the noise. Then the entire horde lurched forward, rushing their way.

Just like that, the three of them were caught between two converging walls of undead.

"We should never have set foot near the Girls' Dormitory!" Hu Wenliang spat.