Chapter 25: Crispy Roasted Pork Belly

After a long silence, Su Su finally found her voice. "...Let's head back down first."

"Okay."

Pang Cancan jumped back to the ground obediently, though her gaze remained vacant and her legs felt as if they were no longer listening to her.

Once Su Su descended, Pang Cancan immediately crowded around her. "Sister Su Su, what on earth is going on with them? Why are they so insistent on surrounding the stadium? Surely they didn't follow us here, did they?"

That was absurd. There were only a handful of them. On the road leading into X City, they had already passed dozens of survivor squads. If those zombies were truly hunting for fresh flesh, they wouldn't be fixated on their group of barely a dozen people!

Su Su was equally baffled; everything felt deeply ominous.

"We need to tell the others."

Right now, everyone in the stadium was in the same boat. If those zombies truly swarmed the facility wave after wave, their only fate would be to wait for death. In such a critical moment, Pang Cancan no longer cared about those few bastards who had betrayed her.

"Right! Let's get back immediately!"

The two of them and the snake moved quickly. Just before passing through the corridor, Su Su, clutching the lazy, motionless Little Black, suddenly glanced back.

She looked at the last lounge. From the beginning, there had been no movement from that room. Only the empty doorway stood as evidence that someone had once come out.

Pang Cancan asked, confused, "What is it?"

"Something isn't right."

"What's not right about it?"

Su Su couldn't put it into words. It was purely an intuition—a sixth sense urging her to turn back, open the door, and take a look.

After a two-second hesitation, her feet honestly changed direction. As she walked, she said, "Cancan, do you remember how we searched every lounge when we first got here?"

Pang Cancan hurried to follow. "Yeah, aside from that boy, there wasn't a single other survivor."

Su Su pursed her lips. Fragmented images flashed through her mind—different lounges. The layout of every room was identical. At the very back, there was a waist-high window. Some were firmly shut, while others seemed to have a gap... or perhaps they were closed but not latched?

"No! We have to go in and check!"

As she spoke, she was already at the lounge door, signaling to Pang Cancan. The latter flashed an "OK" sign, took a few steps back, then sprinted forward and delivered a roundhouse kick, forcing the tightly shut door to fly open!

No matter how many times she saw it, a hidden sense of envy and indescribable shame would stir within Su Su. She was four years older than Pang Cancan, yet she was the one who was so physically inept and dragging everyone down.

But soon, the sight inside the room left no room for self-reproach.

Outside the waist-high window, zombies were packed together, shoulder to shoulder. A small, second-order zombie with strangely flexible fingers and agility had somehow discovered that the window wasn't latched and had silently pushed open a gap wide enough for it to pass through. It had squeezed in through this opening. The other zombies wanted to enter as well, but their fingers and bodies were too stiff, and the gap was too narrow, so they could only wander around outside.

The second-order zombie that had squeezed in was currently pressed against a thin barrier of ice, frantically clawing at it to reach the fresh flesh behind.

The boy they had seen in the restroom earlier was huddled in the corner, with only this ice barrier standing between him and the zombies. It couldn't hold much longer, and no one could say which second it might shatter. He dared not call for help; the sound wouldn't reach the stadium floor, the zombies outside were already prowling like tigers, and any noise would only excite them further—perhaps even causing them to crash through the window and pour in. And besides... no one would come to save him.

The boy's gaunt face was flushed red from crying. His tears had long since soaked through most of his T-shirt, and his arms, straining to maintain his ability, were trembling.

When he heard the door kick open and saw Su Su, a desperate, intense desire for survival erupted in his eyes!

"Help... please save me..."

It seemed he hadn't spoken in such a long time that his voice was incredibly hoarse, clumsy, and thick with tears.

The zombie standing before him, upon smelling two other living people, immediately shifted its target and lunged toward them.

"Roar!!!"

"Little Black."

The black snake, hiding in its human's embrace, lazily opened its eyes. A small cluster of blue flames instantly incinerated the second-order zombie just as it was about to pounce.

With the zombie dead, the struggling ice barrier shattered. The boy collapsed to the floor, sobbing quietly at first, then breaking into a wail.

Su Su’s gaze swept the room and landed on the empty bowl sitting by his feet. The food was long gone, and the residue had been washed away clean. Her emotions became incredibly complicated.

She should be thankful for that bowl. She had assumed that once the boy finished eating, he would return the bowl to the door. Since so much time had passed with no movement in the room, either she had overthought it, or the boy hadn't thought about it at all. Regardless, it had been enough to save his life in the nick of time.

Su Su walked forward and crouched down in front of him. "Don't cry. It's okay now."

The soothing voice of an older woman finally allowed the boy to let down his guard, and he threw himself into her arms.

"...I thought I was going to die!"

He wept uncontrollably, his tears soaking Su Su's collar, and her heart softened instantly.

Only the black snake, caught unexpectedly in the middle, was furious. Just as it was about to bite, its tail tip was pinched by a soft palm.

*Don't bite people!*

The black snake shut its mouth, aggrieved. No matter how it looked at it, it was deeply annoyed by this young human clinging to its servant's chest. In its mind, that was its designated spot!

"Hiss!"

The black snake flicked its tail, pushing the human cub a few dozen centimeters away.

The boy, pushed away, looked at the giant python inches from his face with red, swollen eyes. Surprisingly, there was no fear in his gaze—only confusion and shock.

"A snake? Where did the snake come from?"

Su Su, afraid of frightening him, hugged Little Black closer. "This is... my pet. Don't be afraid, it's very obedient."

Raising a giant python as a pet—what a niche hobby! For any other adult, they would be trembling with fear, let alone a twelve or thirteen-year-old boy... Wait, Su Su noticed with surprise that even after realizing what it was, the boy didn't seem afraid.

He simply maintained a distance in a daze, his fingers quietly tugging at the corner of her shirt.

"Sister, thank you for saving me."

What a sensible, polite little boy. Even Pang Cancan, who usually detested adolescent boys, crouched down kindly. "My name is Pang Cancan, and this is Sister Su Su. What's your name?"

"My name is Le Rui."

Pang Cancan: "Huh? That's a rare surname. I've only heard it once in all these years."

Su Su fell silent. "How old are you, exactly?"

"Now there's an even smaller one." Pang Cancan forced a friendly smile. "How did you end up staying in the stadium all by yourself?"

Le Rui paused. Once the first sentence was out, the rest flowed without obstruction.

"When the zombie outbreak happened, my grandfather and I were passing through here. He brought me inside to hide."

"Later, he would often go out to fight zombies and bring back supplies... until two months ago, when he never came back."

Speaking of the disappearance of his only kin, Le Rui tried hard to hold back his tears, though the sobbing tone became more evident.

"Every time he went out, he told me never to leave the stadium, to keep the front and back doors locked. Even if other survivors found this place, I shouldn't open the door for them easily."

"So... so I wasn't ignoring you on purpose just now..."

The more she listened, the more Su Su’s heart ached. She thought of her own parents, who had gone out to find supplies at the beginning of the apocalypse and never returned. In such situations, how could they possibly come back? Perhaps not seeing them again was the best outcome.

"There are many zombies surrounding the place outside. Come stay with us for now."

Le Rui nodded, wiping the tears off his face.

Su Su stood up and reached out to hold his hand, but as soon as her arm extended, it was struck hard by a thick snake tail. A large red mark instantly bloomed on her fair skin.

The black snake: "..."

Its tail tip stiffened instantly. After a long while, it guiltily swept back and forth over the red mark, as if trying to erase the evidence of its "crime." How could humans be so weak? It hadn't even used any force, yet it turned red?

Su Su gasped in pain but didn't pay it much mind, merely shaking her hand. "Little Black, you're getting stronger."

And more bad-tempered, too.

She didn't insist on holding Le Rui's hand, instead bouncing the heavy Little Black, locking the window, and turning to leave.

"Let's go. We have to tell the others about this."

They had arrived as two people and one snake, but they were returning as three people and one snake. Aside from the cold-blooded animal, the others were either small or weak, appearing to be the most vulnerable group in the entire apocalypse.

"Little one, do you want me to hold your hand?"

Faced with Pang Cancan's kindness, Le Rui shook his head vigorously, following closely behind Su Su. However, whenever he caught sight of the snake head poking out from beside the sister’s neck, he would retreat two steps in awe.

The group returned to the empty stadium floor. Before they could report the situation outside, they saw the two rival ability squads gathering near the metal gate with grave expressions.

*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*

The sound of the metal gate being struck, the clanking of iron chains, and the earth-shattering roars of the zombie horde echoed through the vast stadium.

The previous calm was completely shattered. As if obeying an invisible command, the zombies were no longer suppressing their instincts. They surged forward in wave after wave, packed like sardines in a tin, and began crazily slamming against the metal door.

Now, without Su Su needing to say a word, everyone knew—the zombie horde hadn't left. They had specifically stopped, abnormally congregating outside this massive stadium.

Lin Weiran’s expression was grim. "Why are they surrounding us?!"