Chapter 22: The Invincible Gaha
At the critical moment, one of the transplanted stalks of bamboo burst through the earth. Its lush leaves whipped forward, violently knocking the Zombie King back before its roots safely burrowed themselves back into the soil.
“Gaha!” The woman in white gave the bamboo a decisive thumbs-up.
Song Yuqing’s eyes lit up. She had found a total treasure!
Sensing her excitement, Little Meat Bun suddenly felt a twinge of insecurity, as if he were about to be replaced as the favorite companion.
With the Zombie King forcibly repelled by the supernatural bamboo, the tightly knit zombie horde began to fracture, their coordination breaking down as they wandered away aimlessly.
Song Yuqing opened the front door. She marched right past the threshold and gave a massive hug to the brave bamboo stalk that had thrown the Zombie King back, before turning her attention to the woman in white.
“Gah… thank you.”
Meeting Song Yuqing’s warm smile, the woman in white lowered her head shyly. She seemed entirely content to accept “Gaha” as her new name.
Song Yuqing tentatively reached out to touch Gaha’s arm. It was ice-cold, carrying absolutely none of the warmth of a living person.
“Gaha, gaha, gaha…” Gaha suddenly snapped her head up, chattering frantically.
Before the world ended, Gaha had been a premier zombie hunter stationed at Base No. 10. Though she hadn’t awakened any elemental superpowers, she possessed exceptional martial arts skills, capable of single-handedly taking down two walkers at once with her bare hands. Her fate took a dark turn two weeks ago when she was bitten during a raid, her wounds becoming severely infected by the zombie fluids. Gaha clearly remembered the agonizingly slow process of her metamorphosis. Determined not to turn on her comrades, she had quietly deserted Base No. 10 to wander the wasteland alone. Though her human memories had faded into a fog, she had miraculously retained her human cognitive reasoning.
“Gaha, Gaha…” What she was desperately trying to articulate was that the moment she saw Song Yuqing, she had felt a profound sense of familiarity and simply wanted to follow her. She felt incredibly guilty for terrifying Song Yuqing during their earlier encounters.
Unfortunately, because she kept vigorously shaking her head while making her odd noises, Song Yuqing was left completely bewildered.
“Alright, alright. Gaha, why don’t you come inside and sit for a bit?” Song Yuqing said gently, patting her head. Gaha beamed with joy, nodding rapidly like an eager kitten.
Watching from the doorway, Little Meat Bun crossed his arms in deep disdain.
Why the hell are we naming a zombie? he grumbled internally. Naming it just breeds emotional attachments. If she gets attached to a zombie, what’s going to happen to my status?
Gaha bounded into God’s Supermarket, her curious eyes darting left and right. She carried herself exactly like a young teenage girl. Setting aside her pale skin and graying pupils, she looked completely human.
Huo Bin quietly pulled Song Yuqing into a corner, lowering his voice to fill her in on Gaha’s background prior to her infection. A wave of sorrow washed over Song Yuqing’s face. It was universally devastating to see a human heroine reduced to a member of the undead.
“Gaha, are you hungry? Do you want a bowl of instant noodles?” Song Yuqing asked, having noticed the girl staring intently at the food displays.
“Gaha.” Gaha shook her head. She didn’t feel any physical hunger, nor did she have a desire to eat.
“I’m hungry! I want to eat!” Huo Bin chimed in softly from the counter. He had been coveting those instant noodles for a full month, but the storefront restrictions had kept him from lifting a single package.
Beside him, Little Meat Bun puffed out his massive chest, doing his absolute best to draw his provider’s attention.
“I know, I know. Little Meat Bun wants noodles too,” Song Yuqing smiled, reaching up to scratch behind his ears, causing the bear to let out a thoroughly satisfied hum.
Song Yuqing prepared three bowls of instant noodles. She, Huo Bin, and the giant panda gathered around the small window table to eat, while Gaha contentedly wandered through the freshly planted bamboo grove outside.
The zombie girl took a deep breath of the crisp air. Ah, the scent of bamboo leaves is incredible!
“Gah—”
Before Gaha could even finish enjoying her peaceful stroll, a massive silhouette violently materialized from the shadows. The Zombie King had returned, launching a brutal kick that sent her flying.
“Gaha!”
She crashed heavily onto the pavement, ten meters away from the storefront’s defensive line. The Zombie King lunged forward instantly, locking her into a vicious, close-quarters wrestle.
Because ten meters was well beyond the operational range of the transplanted bamboo roots, the stalks remained entirely motionless.
Dropping their chopsticks, Song Yuqing and Little Meat Bun bolted out of the shop. The giant panda took the lead, violently slamming into the Zombie King to lock him in a brutal, bare-knuckle brawl. Song Yuqing followed closely behind, rushing to check on Gaha’s condition.
But they were a fraction of a second too late. The Zombie King’s razor-sharp claws had already torn right through Gaha’s chest, and thick, gray blood was spilling onto the concrete.
Before Song Yuqing could even process the grief, the low groans of a secondary wave of walkers echoed down the street as a massive horde rushed their position.
Huddled in the doorway of God’s Supermarket, Huo Bin watched the unfolding chaos with wide, terrified eye sockets. He desperately wanted to charge out and fight alongside Song Yuqing and the bear, but his cowardice held him frozen.
“You can do this,” Master Fu’s voice crackled softly over the sound system, offering a rare note of gentle encouragement. “Your gold-type ability didn’t vanish with your flesh. If you clear your mind and focus, you can still channel it.”
Huo Bin shook his skull frantically. I can’t… I just can’t do it…
Down in the street, Little Meat Bun was completely pinned down by the Zombie King, unable to free up any energy to shield his provider. Fortunately, Song Yuqing’s parallel-world protective wear held strong, keeping the snapping jaws from tearing into her skin.
“Hiss!”
The Zombie King let out a deafening roar, forcibly kicking the giant panda away. An instant later, dozens of lower-tier walkers swarmed the bear, pinning his heavy limbs to the ground. Baring his fangs in a vicious grin, the Zombie King turned and lunged straight for Song Yuqing.
Sensing immediate, catastrophic danger, Song Yuqing triggered her power, vanishing into her spatial vault. But the absolute terror of leaving Little Meat Bun and Gaha behind to be slaughtered tore at her conscience. A split second later, she materialized right back onto the asphalt.
The Zombie King was mid-strike, violently pounding the ground in frustration at her disappearance, when she suddenly materialized. She hurled a heavy kitchen knife with everything she had, the steel burying itself deep into the monster’s shoulder. But the high-tier variant didn’t even flinch. Snarling, he used his raw strength to violently wrench the blade out of his flesh and hurl it straight back at her throat.
“Gaha!”
Gaha lunged from the pavement, throwing her body directly into the path of the flying steel to shield Song Yuqing.
Thud.
The kitchen knife buried itself squarely into the center of Gaha’s forehead.
A sudden wave of intense familiarity washed over the zombie girl. She raised a pale hand to touch the hilt, thinking to herself: Well, it’s fine. It’s definitely not the first time I’ve taken a knife to the skull.
Suddenly, a brilliant, blinding white light erupted from Gaha’s body. The sheer concussive force of the energy blast caused every single zombie in the lane to freeze dead in their tracks.
Seizing the absolute window, Little Meat Bun violently tore himself free from the horde, lunged forward, and ripped the Zombie King clean in half. A glowing, deep red crystal core clattered out from the bifurcated corpse, rolling across the pavement.
Gaha stood firm, her brow furrowed in intense concentration as she channeled the last of her energy to telepathically force the remaining walkers to retreat, driving them completely out of the storefront’s sector.
Finally, absolute peace returned to the alley.
Song Yuqing stepped forward, gently sliding the kitchen knife out of Gaha’s forehead. She then dragged the dead Zombie King and the scattered lower-tier corpses over to the security gate, letting the electrical field systematically dissolve the haul.
Ding~ Advanced zombie.
Ding~ Primary zombie.
Ding~ Intermediate zombie.
Gaha stared at the humming security gate with wide, curious eyes, shifting uncomfortably as a flicker of instinctual fear hit her.
“Congratulations, Manager Song Yuqing! Your total monthly metrics have officially exceeded three hundred zombie liquidations,” Master Fu’s voice boomed through the shop, sounding exactly like a corporate executive delivering a superficial, mandated performance review. “Milestone Rewards Unlocked: You are now granted a fully operational kitchen, staff dormitories, and a private restroom facility.”
Song Yuqing’s lips twitched. A reward? This was basic infrastructure the company should have provided from day one!
Flanked by Little Meat Bun and Gaha, Song Yuqing marched over to the pale green door at the back of the shop. She turned the handle, and the door swung open smoothly, revealing a sleek, minimalist modern kitchen. Huo Bin trailed at the back of the group, a deep pang of sorrow hitting him as he stared at the layout. He had lived in this exact building for nearly thirty years, always scraping by with a broken, primitive setup. He had never anticipated Master Fu possessed the capability to execute a high-end corporate renovation.
Passing through the kitchen, a clean hallway led to four single-occupancy dorm rooms. Though compact, each room was beautifully furnished with a solid wood frame bed, a workspace desk, and a plush sofa, radiating a simple, cozy warmth. Directly adjacent to the quarters lay a bright, pristine shared bathroom, featuring a separate wet-and-dry layout and a high-tech smart toilet. Song Yuqing was so overwhelmed she was practically on the verge of tears. She was finally free from the absolute nightmare of sneaking into the mutated house next door just to wash up!
She immediately began assigning the quarters: one room for herself, one for Little Meat Bun, one for Gaha, and…
Song Yuqing paused, turning her gaze toward the skeleton. She hadn’t forgotten that Huo Bin had stood frozen during the ambush, but at the very least, he had picked up a kitchen knife to show his moral support.
Huo Bin raised a bony finger, pointing weakly toward the final door. “Is… is that one mine?”
“For now,” Song Yuqing offered with a gentle smile.
While they were talking, Gaha had already sprinted into her designated room, happily rolling across the mattress. The moment her back hit the sheets, a glowing parchment contract materialized in the air before her face.
The girl grabbed the paper, running down the hall to present the indenture to Song Yuqing.
“Gah-hahahaha!”
Song Yuqing took the document, reading through the fine print carefully. This time, the AI hadn’t hidden a single clause in micro-text. The contract explicitly laid out the exact rights and obligations of an official clerk at God’s Supermarket: Follow the directives of Master Fu, obey the store manager, and work efficiently. Full food, accommodation, and personal safety guarantees are provided.
“Only registered employees of God’s Supermarket are legally permitted to occupy corporate staff housing,” Master Fu announced pointedly, directing the statement at Song Yuqing, Gaha, and very explicitly toward Huo Bin.
“Gaha! Gaha!” Gaha cheered. Without a second of hesitation, she bit her own pale finger and pressed a gray print of blood onto the bottom of the page to finalize the agreement.
Song Yuqing let out a soft sigh, a faint smile breaking across her face. She had never envisioned a reality where her primary retail staff consisted of a mutated, carnivorous giant panda and an evolved zombie possessing human consciousness.
Gaha proudly held up her finalized contract, and the parchment dissolved into a shower of light particles.
Song Yuqing and Little Meat Bun clapped enthusiastically. “Welcome to the team, Gaha!”
Amidst the celebratory cheering and laughter shared between Song Yuqing, the bear, and the zombie girl, Huo Bin stood entirely frozen, looking completely out of place. A profound sense of isolation washed over him. Turning on his heel, he dejectedly drifted out of the residential corridor, slipping past the shop counters and out into the empty street.
Deep down, the skeleton desperately hoped that Master Fu and Song Yuqing would notice his sudden absence—that through his departure, they would finally recognize his immense grief, loss, and silent resolve.
Song Yuqing noticed his departure and stepped forward to follow him, but Master Fu’s voice quietly stopped her.
“Let him go,” the AI murmured softly. “The kid needs to figure out how to stand on his own two feet.”
