"Sir, you—you really want to go? That's awesome!" Warren Yuan nearly jumped up when he heard this.
"Alright, just remember to call me when it's time to go!" Ryan Ling nodded. Although he still felt freaked out by zombies, he was determined to finish the mission ASAP so he could get wild with Sophie Su. At this point, he didn't care about anything else.
Of course, the real reason was that he'd risked his neck several times already—he seriously needed a tough minion to beef up his team.
"Absolutely no problem, sir! With you around, I feel way more confident. You’re a legend in my eyes!" Warren Yuan was practically vibrating with excitement.
"Enough, quit calling me 'sir'—it's so awkward! Just call me Ryan Ling." Ryan thought Warren was getting more and more dramatic, giving him goosebumps all over.
But the moment Ryan said that, Warren waved his hands frantically: "No way, absolutely not! If I called you by your name, it’d be a huge insult. I’d rather die! I’m calling you 'sir' forever. I want to be your loyal little sidekick for life..."
"No one can kiss up like you, seriously. I'm exhausted—get lost, now!" Ryan cut him off quickly.
Warren just grinned, not offended at all—in fact, he seemed even more hyped: "Thanks for the praise, sir! I’m rolling out right now!"
He left like he'd just picked up a gold ingot, grinning from ear to ear.
Ryan was completely speechless.
But since he was about to face a zombie, Ryan Ling knew he had to prep like crazy. According to Warren Yuan’s loyal lackey report, the West Mountain zombie had been dug up at a construction site—it looked insanely scary and was vicious as hell. It killed a fat, big-eared supervisor and bit several cops, and bullets didn’t even work on it. That’s why they had to bring in someone like Warren. The weird thing was, the zombie seemed obsessed with that site and never left.
This zombie sounded hardcore. Ryan started thinking about all the zombie-fighting gadgets from those old Uncle Nine movies—peachwood swords, ink cords, sticky rice... With a mission this dangerous, he definitely had to gear up!
But just as he was running through all that in his head, the System suddenly yawned: "Bro, with your current status, fighting zombies doesn’t need to be so complicated!"
"You got a good plan?" Ryan grinned instantly.
"Of course I do. But you know the deal—anything you get from me costs money!" the System said bluntly.
"You’re such a money grubber!" Ryan shot the System a glare. But honestly, without its help he was toast, so he quickly snapped, "Spit it out—how much are you ripping me off for this time?"
"We’re bros, so I won’t charge much. Bro price—ten thousand yuan, guaranteed to handle the zombie!" As the System spoke, a fancy box flickered in its item list. It looked like some kind of treasure.
"Fine, scam me one more time. Just give me the thing!" Ryan gritted his teeth and agreed.
"Deal—take it!" The System replied, and the item instantly dropped into Ryan’s hand. Then the System vanished into thin air.
"Running off so fast—afraid of getting smacked?" Ryan muttered, opening the fancy box. The next second, he totally lost it.
This wasn’t some powerful artifact—it was literally just a regular Netherworld Staff Employment Form.
"System, get your butt back here! I swear I won’t kill you!" Ryan started cursing. Last time he paid a thousand for a needle, now it was ten grand for a piece of paper—the System was the ancestor of all scammers.
"Bro, chill out! Official Netherworld slots are super rare these days. Getting this form took me a ton of effort. For that zombie, it’s a huge deal—he’ll be so thrilled he’ll surrender instantly, no fighting needed!" The System paused, then added, "Oh right, since you bought the position, I’ll throw this in as a bonus. Don’t get mad, it’s bad for your health!"
As soon as the System finished, something that looked exactly like poop dropped into Ryan’s hand.
Ryan nearly exploded. Ten grand for a dumb piece of paper, and now a bonus turd? Was the System planning a revolt or something?
"Bro, don’t get the wrong idea. That’s Zombie Mud. Eat it and you’ll be able to talk to zombies. Hopefully your silver tongue will work and you’ll recruit the zombie without a fight!"
With that, the System vanished in a flash.
Ryan was totally crushed. But at this point, he could only treat a dead horse like a live one and hope the zombie was reasonable enough to negotiate.
Two anxious days flew by. Ryan finally got a call from Warren Yuan—the zombie was getting even wilder, hurting more people, and the cops couldn’t cover it up any longer. If Ryan didn’t handle it fast, things would blow up big time.
Right then, a car was already waiting downstairs. Several people had come just to pick up the "Master."
Clearly, Warren Yuan had been hyping him up—everyone in the car seemed excited, eager to see the legendary 'Master' in action.
Ryan scratched his head. He’d been feeling pretty confident, but now, heading out with nothing but a dumb piece of paper to tame a zombie, it felt like he was marching straight to his death.
But at this point, it was too late to back out—the System had already accepted the zombie-recruitment mission. If Ryan chickened out, he’d probably get slammed with some brutal punishment. So he clenched his fists and took his first step toward a one-on-one zombie showdown.
"Everyone, this is Master Ryan Ling—the most impressive figure I’ve ever met! With him here, we’re guaranteed to subdue the zombie and protect the people!" Warren Yuan started shouting the moment they got in.
Ryan’s face was covered in awkward lines. He hadn’t expected the car to be full of weirdly dressed people—all clearly 'experts' in the field, each loaded with weapons. One tense Daoist had four or five bagua swords strapped to his back. Facing a zombie this scary, nobody was taking any chances.
With Warren’s introductions, Ryan greeted all the zombie-catchers one by one. They acted friendly enough, but their eyes showed doubt—and even a little disdain.
It was obvious that in this business, catching zombies was a job for seasoned Maoshan Daoists—at least forty-five and loaded with experience. A teenage kid calling himself a master? Hardly anyone was buying it.
"Alright, fellow experts, we’re all here—let’s get moving. But before we go, I suggest everyone double-check your gear. That zombie is seriously dangerous, so don’t throw your lives away!" The cop driving the car glanced suspiciously at the odd crowd, and when his eyes landed on Ryan, his doubts only grew.
The other pros immediately started gearing up, but Ryan didn’t budge an inch.
"Sir, what kind of magic tools did you bring? If they’re heavy, I’ll carry them for you!" Warren Yuan was as eager as ever.
"No need!" Ryan refused flatly, thinking, 'It’s just a dumb piece of paper—what’s there to carry?'
Soon the car set off. It was almost dusk, and Harbor City was a two-hour drive from West Mountain. By the time they arrived, it was already dark.
The corpse-qi in the area was thick. Nobody relaxed—they all started prepping right away. Even the usually jokey Warren Yuan looked serious, setting up ink cord barriers and slathering himself in anti-zombie liquid. The others went all out, suiting up in heavy armor. Clearly, this zombie was off-the-charts brutal, and protection was a must.
"Sir, aren’t you going to get some protection?" Warren looked at Ryan, puzzled by his lack of action.
"I—I..." Right now, Ryan really wanted to ask if he could borrow some of Warren’s gear.
But before he could get the words out, Warren suddenly shouted, "Oh right, I forgot—someone as mighty as you doesn’t need protection to deal with a little zombie. You could handle it with one hand tied behind your back!"
The other 'experts' stared at Ryan in awe, suddenly way more impressed.
Right then, Ryan seriously wanted to strangle this loudmouth idiot.
Just then, someone shouted, "The zombie's killing again! The foreman's eyes got gouged out—run for your lives!"
Damn, that’s terrifying—maybe I should just bail! Ryan was freaking out inside.
"Sir, everyone’s moving out—we gotta go too! You’re the one in charge of catching the zombie!" Warren said, dragging Ryan forward.
The experts up front stopped and motioned for Ryan—the 'Master'—to take the lead.
Ryan wanted to cry but had no tears. They were basically shoving him straight down the road to the underworld...