Right across from the steakhouse is a casual bookstore cafe. Tang Cheng pushed open the door and walked in. "Perhaps I should find something to eat first. I'm a bit peckish after that sprint," he thought.
"Hey brother Zhang Pi, the Zombie kid just went into the shop across!" Li Dan alerted warily, watching Tang Cheng enter the shop next door.
"Never mind, as long as he doesn't come in here," Zhang Pi nonchalantly waved his bludgeon in the air, posturing, "when he turns into a Zombie, I'll smash his skull with one hit!"
Meanwhile, Tang Wanyue stood by the door, her eyes full of guilt while watching the young man walk into the shop opposite.
"What are you lingering around for? Take your medical kit!" Zhang Pi impatiently handed the medical box to Tang Wanyue who was still standing by the door.
"Oh...okay," Tang Wanyue sheepishly took the medical kit and hurried inside.
"Little lady, hand over the medical box."
Upon receiving the medical box from Tang Wanyue, the female vet noticed the variety of blood type bags and AB antigen serum inside.
"This kid sure is thorough - prepared all these AB serum for blood type testing. I was just wondering about the patient's blood type."
She couldn’t help but compliment Tang Cheng, as she began to clean the glasses-wearing man's wounds, remove shrapnel, bandage him up, and set up blood transfusion— performing critical first aid post-shock.
The vet, called Wu Mei, was a pet doctor, who typically only administers vaccines for sick dogs.
"Will...will he survive?" Tang Wanyue anxiously looked at the dying man.
"That's really up to him. But most likely...he won't have much hope," Wu Mei glumly looked at the man, now unconscious. Food and water were hard to come by already, hence a severe wound like this was usually beyond help.
Tang Wanyue's eyes were filled with guilt as she cared for the unconscious man.
When the zombie outbreak occurred, Tang Wanyue was shopping in this mall for some props needed by the student council. Both her classmates who went with her were already dead. She hid herself in this second-floor steakhouse and miraculously survived.
The female vet and five others also sought refuge here. This steakhouse has a kitchen storage with bottled water and some food, allowing them to survive an entire week.
Just today, two escaped inmates broke in and began to lust after the beautiful Tang Wanyue. To save her, the man with glasses was shot in the right leg by one of the prisoners and fell into a pool of blood.
Then, there was the moment of heroism from Tang Cheng.
"I wonder who that guy is..." Tang Wanyue also glanced at the shop across, recalling Tang Cheng's appearance.
She didn't dare to gaze at Tang Cheng's face earlier because the left half of it was terrifying, so much so that it scared her.
Meanwhile, Tang Cheng was rather at ease in the shop across. It was a high-end book-cafe, and he found plenty of coffee beans, tea leaves, and snacks stored in the back fridge. So, Tang Cheng leisurely started brewing coffee. However, since there was no access to tap water, he had to use bottled mineral water to heat up.
"Even if in the end, I become a Zombie, I should at least enjoy a cup of coffee, taste some bread, and savor the feel of being rich!"
With coffee ready, Tang Cheng crossed his legs and casually picked up a comic book from the shelf.
As this was a bookstore cafe, various types of books from classics to science and many comics were displayed on the shelves surrounding the seating area.
"Wow, this is the latest issue of 'Becoming a Slave to the Exiled Alien Princess' series!"
It was updated precisely one week ago.
"Sigh, I wonder if the author, Xiao Xing, was bitten by a Zombie..."
While worrying about the author's fate, Tang Cheng excitedly flipped open the comic book. It was the climax where the main character uses his ultimate magic - Ice-Explosion Give Up Slash!
"What?"
"The male lead unexpectedly was smothered to death in the bosom of Her Highness..."
"Is the author developing a taste for tragic ends?" Just as Tang Cheng was about to turn the page, a heated argument broke out in the steakhouse across the street, and the sound of a falling chair reached his ears.
"What's with the noise! Can't a person appreciate the bosom properly? Ah, no... I mean, can't a person read in peace?"
Outraged, Tang Cheng walked out of the bookstore.
Inside the steakhouse, two young men were brutally beating an older man with receding hair, using sticks.
"Ah! Don't beat me, please don't beat me..." The middle-aged man cowered on the ground, pleading with his arms protecting his head.
"Dare to snatch water with us, from now on, we will distribute the water here," Zhang Pi pointed to the half bucket of bottled water beside him, shouting like a tyrant at the crowd.
"Starting now, the last bit of water is under our control!" Li Dan wielded his stick, threatening the people.
"On what basis is it under your control? We can only drink so little, yet you two hold more than half a bucket of water, why is that?" A woman who had just lost her husband held a bottle with only a tiny amount of water left, speaking out in extreme dissatisfaction.
