NOVEL NEXT Ch. 113
Chapter 113: Giant Zombie with a Big Belly
Gu Fan felt a bit of a toothache and simultaneously patted his head.
“Wait a moment, let me take a breather.”
“So, what you're saying is, what's inside that Giant Zombie’s belly is its child?”
Nurse Xia Yan interjected:
“Or rather, the product it has been nurturing.”
“Call it whatever you want, what I want to know is—how did this thing get pregnant? Zombies can get pregnant? They can still, uh, do that?”
As Gu Fan spoke, he made a gesture with his hand, causing Nurse Xia Yan’s face to flush slightly.
“We’re not sure yet, but all the Zombies inside those mucous membranes are connected to the mother body by something resembling umbilical cords. That’s the only reason we concluded it’s a reproductive relationship.”
Gu Fan paused for a moment, then laughed and said:
“That’s actually quite interesting. The evolution path of Zombies has finally turned up something curious.”
Then he turned to Nurse Xia Yan and asked:
“Did you manage to capture a sample?”
“There is one, locked up over at the southern Security Base. We’ve been monitoring it slowly from there.”
Gu Fan stood up and patted his butt.
“Let’s go! Come with me and take a look!”
He didn’t wait for Nurse Xia Yan to respond. One hand rested on her shoulder, and in an instant, both of them vanished from the spot.
Nurse Xia Yan only felt her vision blur, and within a few seconds, the familiar Shelter appeared before her eyes.
“This... only took a few seconds?”
Gu Fan chuckled.
“Cultivate properly. This sort of thing isn’t difficult.”
Hearing this, Nurse Xia Yan pouted a little, feeling somewhat helpless.
During this period, she had been using Spirit Stones for cultivation, but she had only just reached the second layer of the Qi Gathering Realm.
When it came to sheer combat strength, she still wasn’t stronger than her current Level 5 Evolver ability.
But one thing was undeniable—cultivation brought many wonders that evolution didn’t.
For example, even though she had only just begun, she clearly felt her skin becoming firmer, her figure becoming increasingly perfect.
She no longer looked like someone in her twenties. Instead, she resembled a young girl who had just entered college.
Of course, that was only if one ignored her mature and commanding aura.
The two of them entered the Security Base one after the other. This place used to be under Huang Quan’s control. After he brought about his own downfall and was dealt with by Gu Fan, it was designated by Gu Fan as the second-largest base besides the Hospital Shelter.
The guards here were quite diligent. Upon seeing the two of them, they initially stepped forward to inspect them.
But upon recognizing who they were, they quickly turned back and called for Chi Manman.
“Boss, Sister Xia?”
Chi Manman exclaimed in surprise, then stepped forward to lead them inside.
“Heard you caught a big one?”
Chi Manman immediately understood.
“Yes, Boss. That thing—we originally intended to keep it in the basement, but it was too large. So we had no choice but to temporarily confine it above ground.”
As she spoke, she turned a corner and pointed ahead.
Even from a distance, Gu Fan saw a figure the size of a massive freight truck. Around it, steel bars as thick as arms were embedded into the ground.
On top of it sat a nearly half-meter-thick slab of reinforced concrete.
Apparently, the Zombie had already tried to escape once and failed, and had since given up resisting.
Gu Fan walked up to the cage in a few steps. The Zombie seemed to sense someone approaching. Its enormous head slowly leaned toward Gu Fan. Its gray-white eyes appeared almost sentient, remaining completely still.
“How’s its intelligence?”
Chi Manman glanced at Nurse Xia Yan, then replied:
“We’ve conducted some experiments. This type of Zombie isn’t very aggressive under normal circumstances. It only goes berserk when it feels its safety or belly is threatened!”
“In fact, the last time we were attacked, it was because we unintentionally stepped into its alert zone, which triggered its assault.”
Gu Fan sucked in a cold breath.
Hearing it put that way, this thing had evolved emotions?
What Chi Manman just described—wasn’t that classic behavior of protecting one’s offspring?
This kind of behavior existed in some other animals too.
For example, some female dogs would become extremely aggressive before giving birth.
Even their own owners could be at risk of being attacked.
Humans as well—mothers could unleash unimaginable strength for the sake of their children.
Everyone said motherhood makes one strong, but in truth, it was just the instinct to protect one’s young.
But he couldn’t figure out how on earth a Zombie could develop such behavior.
It was utterly absurd!
The two women noticed the look on Gu Fan’s face but couldn’t offer an explanation.
They could only make reasonable guesses.
“Could it be an extremely rare case?”
“No. From our Hospital Shelter to here, it’s just over ten kilometers. In such a small area, two of them already showed up.”
Gu Fan nodded. “What Xia Yan said is correct. The proportion might not be high, but it’s definitely not a singular case.”
“You have to know, in this area—despite our regular clean-up efforts—the Zombie density has already dropped significantly. Now that we’ve got one here, it’s entirely possible that other urban areas already had similar cases.”
“If we don’t intervene and let this thing go on, can it really give birth?”
Gu Fan asked in a strange tone.
Chi Manman looked a little embarrassed.
“We were curious too. Based on partial examinations, this Zombie was male before mutating.”
Nurse Xia Yan raised an eyebrow and continued after Chi Manman:
“That means it doesn’t have the capability for female reproduction. So how is it going to release the Zombies inside its body?”
Gu Fan was curious about that too.
Logically, reproduction shouldn’t be possible without the corresponding organs, but then again, this Zombie didn’t even have that and still managed to get pregnant—there was no point dwelling on it.
Just then, Nurse Xia Yan cried out in alarm!
“Boss! Manman! Be careful!”
Gu Fan instinctively looked toward the Zombie, only to see that the Zombie, which had been sitting on the ground, was now slowly standing up.
Then it began roaring continuously, its expression looking utterly deranged.
“Just like that! Boss, Sister Yan—it was exactly like this when we first caught it!”
Chi Manman gave an explanation.
The Giant Zombie began slamming itself against the cage repeatedly, producing loud crashing sounds.
Gu Fan raised his hand and pointed. Countless strands of Spiritual Energy wrapped around the Zombie, restraining its movements.
But although the Zombie’s actions were restrained, its belly kept swelling!
At first, the three didn’t notice. Given its already massive size, they didn’t think much when its belly started bulging.
Not until the Zombie’s abdominal skin began inflating into a semi-transparent state, revealing what seemed to be a gelatinous fluid inside.
Nurse Xia Yan and Chi Manman took a disgusted step back upon seeing this scene. Gu Fan, however, didn’t mind—his curiosity had now been thoroughly piqued.
Moreover, this world was his post-apocalyptic garden. Rationally speaking, any unstable factor should be thoroughly understood by him.
He didn’t want to return one day only to find the world turned upside down.
“Roar roar!!”
The Zombie appeared to be in pain too. If its size were a bit smaller, the scene would truly resemble a human giving birth.
“Boss, is this thing about to give birth?”
Gu Fan rubbed his nose.
“How would I know? Besides, if that belly swells any more, it might just explode!”