What?! I Became the Zombie Beauty in the Villain’s Arms – CH49

Chapter 49: Greed

Pei Xiqing found the director’s sales pitch incredibly bizarre.

The technological architecture of this fortress had advanced to a hyper-cybernetic tier, yet the elite combat assets were still relying on standard swords? Compared to the automated laser grids and aerospace dreadnoughts anchoring the base, didn’t deploying a primitive blade feel utterly redundant and archaic?

“The alloy Dao is the absolute pinnacle of high-demand weaponry within the inner ring!” the store director countered smoothly, tapping the glass showcase. “Miss, your registry has only been embedded inside the fortress for a brief window, correct? These specific blades represent the absolute latest generation of combat gear synthesized by our bio-labs. They aren’t standard steel; they are meticulously engineered with an internal crystallization chamber designed to harbor and drain the raw kinetic energy of crystal cores. Provided your cell secures a high-tier core, you simply slot the matrix into the hilt, and the cybernetic system automatically prioritizes and mobilizes the elemental energy body trapped within the core. A massive demographic of high-tier girls aggressively demand that their combat boyfriends scavenge the hot zones to harvest elite cores for their blades. Once the energy initializes, wild zombies and alpha variants are systematically neutralized on contact.”

Pei Xiqing let out a dry, clinical scoff. “Director, your narrative is drifting further into the realm of pure fantasy. Run the realistic numbers on this blade—it possesses nothing but the raw weight required to chop down frontier timber. If the migratory mutant swarms were truly that easily broken by a piece of magnetized iron, why are your display racks so overstocked with unsold units? Furthermore, tracking the structural density of this alloy, the crystallization chamber looks entirely incompatible with anything higher than a low-grade core. I run a high probability calculation that an asset would experience severe structural failure if they even attempted to use this to fell a tree.”

The director’s hyper-enthusiastic smile faltered, a deep, awkward flush coloring his jawline. “Ah… it appears your baseline carries a highly sophisticated understanding of weapon physics, miss. My apologies for running a low-tier marketing script. Let’s adjust our coordinates back to the ballistics alcove to audit the unreleased firearms.”

Pei Xiqing shook her head firmly.

She was the one holding the omniscient plot data of this universe.

She had zero intention of letting her credits be plundered by shiny toys engineered exclusively to deceive naive, wealthy girls inside the walls.

She executed a graceful pivot, casting a meaningful, sharp wink toward the man standing in her shadow. Turning back to the counter, she stated, “Bury the inventory, Director. My line is strictly focused on securing high-priority survival apparel today. We hold zero utility for these weapon systems at this stage of the deployment.”

Ling Lang’s vanguard unit operated under the sovereign authority of the highest military command; their tactical loadouts and weaponry were consistently optimized with top-of-the-line black-budget gear. They required absolutely zero auxiliary purchases from a commercial marketplace.

The director cleared his throat, adjusting his pitch to retain the transaction. “If your target parameter is standard logistics, my vault maintains an immense allocation. We command every single asset your unit requires to sustain a deployment—ranging from reinforced, climate-controlled combat uniforms for frontline sweeps to functional multi-layered apparel synthesized from experimental fabrics. Tents, filtered hydration cells, and every conceivable resource tracking under food, clothing, shelter, or transit.”

Pei Xiqing methodically ran her hands through the racks, isolating a sequence of heavy-duty combat uniforms engineered to withstand prolonged exposure in high-risk wilderness zones, alongside multiple sets of reinforced tactical boots and field apparel.

The structural quality was genuinely magnificent.

A single manual inspection confirmed the fabric was fully optimized to repel weaponized rain, endure high-intensity rock scaling, and absorb kinetic impacts during close-quarters combat.

She authorized the electronic swipe of Long Yan’s titanium card to finalize the invoice. Just as she prepared to step out into the street, Duan Xiaolin’s long fingers smoothly intercepted the titanium card from the terminal, transferring the asset back into her palm. “Secure your line’s allocation…” he murmured.

Pei Xiqing accepted the card, her fingers brushing his. Before her vocal receptors could formulate a reply, the administrator seamlessly took possession of the heavy, reinforced equipment crates from her hands, striding out to deposit the cargo straight into the trunk of a military transport parked flush against the curb.

The armored window of the vehicle slid down with a sharp click, and Long Yan’s face appeared within the frame, waving her hand cheerfully. “Coordinates synchronized. I’m anchoring the perimeter here.”

Pei Xiqing stepped to the curb, helping hoist the heavy supply crates into the secure storage compartments of the transport. “Sister Long Yan, I systematically selected the absolute largest dimensions available on the racks, but my database lacks the precise physical layout of the squad members, so I cannot guarantee a flawless fit. The director logged an administrative promise confirming we are cleared to execute an exchange if the metrics fail.”

“The maximum dimension is the only logical calculation; otherwise, the hyper-enhanced muscle masses of the men in our cell would violently rip the seams apart,” Long Yan laughed, shifting the gears. “You executed the procurement flawlessly, Xiqing. Retain the division card in your personal pouch; deploy the remaining financial reserves to secure your own personal wardrobe. Do not maintain a formal boundary with my ledger.”

She pointed a gloved finger toward the opposite side of the broad paved avenue. “Directly across this transit sector lies the premier lifestyle quadrant engineered for female residents. Refrain from wasting your credits on the loose, sterile uniforms these commercial merchants manufacture for the frontline infantry.”

She leaned her elbow against the frame, her eyes dancing with mischief. “Harvest a few high-end pieces tailored for a woman’s profile, and ensure your deployment secures two specific sets for my station as well. I require a flowing, ankle-length maxi dress—the absolute deepest black configuration—alongside a crisp set of minimalist casual wear. My vocabulary lacks the specific style codes, but my system harbors absolute trust in your aesthetic calibration. Run the selection for me.”

“Huh?” Pei Xiqing blinked, her mind stalling. “But my database is entirely missing your precise sizing parameters, Sister Long Yan.”

“Large format. Standard L-tier classification.”

“Hold the line for a second—”

“My shift log is initializing; the lab directors are demanding my presence at the central research sector immediately. Representative Duan appears to have broken away from the transport grid as well… absolute chaos tonight. We will synchronize our data packets later. Moving out now, bye!”

The armored transport surged forward, its tires biting the asphalt as it vanished down the secure transit corridor with the vanguard’s logistics.

Pei Xiqing turned her torso, her eyes analyzing the brilliant, shimmering neon displays scoring the high-end boutique facades across the avenue.

She quietly gathered the collar of her heavy windbreaker tighter around her throat.

Duan Xiaolin stepped into her immediate perimeter, a subtle, probing glint behind his lenses. “Does the local merchandise fail to match your internal parameters?”

Pei Xiqing shook her head quickly, her long hair brushing her shoulders. “Negative… the data is fine. I shall execute the procurement within this quadrant.”

Although the hyper-feminine, delicate silk dresses displayed in those glass cases were immensely popular among the high-status women anchoring their timelines inside the inner ring, her current biological reality as a mutating zombie made wearing them a mathematical absurdity.

She adjusted her windbreaker. “Let’s prioritize Sister Long Yan’s allocation first.”

Duan Xiaolin seamlessly decoded the underlying anxiety governing her choice, choosing to quietly respect the boundaries of her internal calculation.

“The alignment is authorized,” he murmured.

Ultimately, Pei Xiqing utilized her sharp aesthetic eye to harvest a breathtaking, floor-length black maxi dress adorned with an incredibly elegant, low-contrast floral print for Long Yan, alongside an ultra-clean, athletic casual set optimized for high-mobility comfort.

For her own wardrobe, she bypassed the delicate displays entirely, randomly isolating two matching sets of minimalist casual jackets and heavy-duty utility trousers designed to serve as a clean rotation for the weathered gear she was currently wearing.

She rounded out the invoice by securing two spare sets of seamless athletic undergarments.

At the end of the day, her survival parameters required a total purge of the fabrics touching her skin.

By the time the transaction cleared the register, the final traces of twilight had been completely swallowed by the deep night cycle.

Pei Xiqing and Duan Xiaolin initialized the march back to the North Courtyard, their boots ticking evenly against the clean pavement. As their profiles brushed past the central communal courtyard of the high-rise compound, the dense crowd of neighboring civilian families couldn’t resist violently training their visual sensors onto their coordinates.

“Good god… are those the fresh assets who locked the registry for the primary villa?”

“The data indicates the individual matches the supreme administrative authority commanding the front sector. Jesus Christ… what unvarnished, terrifying lineage does that man carry to override the high command’s zoning laws?”

The ambient illumination was heavily compressed by the night shadows, rendering their physical features almost entirely unreadable to the crowd’s scanning angle. Pei Xiqing ignored the low-frequency murmurs, stepping through the secure perimeter of the villa.

The exact millisecond the digital override clicked and the heavy metal blast door slid open, Xiaobai’s massive, armored silhouette violently erupted from the foyer. The sheer kinetic momentum of the reanimated Husky was impossible to buffer; Pei Xiqing’s motor functions failed to hold the line, forcing her to stumble backward step by step until her spine crashed directly into the man’s broad chest behind her.

His dense muscle mass was as rigid and unyielding as a reinforced alloy bulkhead, the impact sending a sharp, grounding throb through her back. She frantically brought her hands down, firmly slapping the canine’s K9 ballistic vest. “Deactivate the aggression, Xiaobai! Your weight metrics are going to violently collapse both of our frames onto the floorboards in a second!”

Sensing the sharp verbal warning from her vocal receptors, combined with the freezing, lethal pressure radiating from the towering administrator anchoring her spine, the reanimated Husky instantly stabilized its parameters, dropping its skull to her boots in absolute compliance.

She reached out, engaging the ambient light grid before igniting the kitchen’s thermal induction units.

The man smoothly deposited the heavy supply parcels onto the counter, his deep voice slicing through the quiet room. “The logistics courier should have successfully transferred a clean allocation of protein to the external drop-box. Retrieve the asset.”

“We have fresh meat?!”

“The delivery was finalized a moment ago.”

“Excellent!” Pei Xiqing’s face lit up with unvarnished excitement. She sprinted back through the threshold, Xiaobai trotting happily at her heel.

Framed within the secure titanium drop-chamber beside the blast door was a pristine, vacuum-sealed package of high-grade fresh beef.

She scratched the matted fur behind the hound’s ears. “The metabolic meters are hitting optimal tonight, dog. We have real protein to process.”

Drowning in extreme hunger, she marched straight into the kitchen, fully intending to deploy her own culinary skills to prep the meal, but the sleek edge of the titanium chef’s knife was smoothly intercepted by the man’s long, slender fingers.

He pinned the freshly rinsed field greens against the block with his fingertips, his wrist executing a sequence of hyper-precise, lightning-fast cuts that systematically reduced the ingredients into flawless segments within the blink of an eye.

The categorization of the spices, the thermal modulation of the pans, and the aesthetic plating of the courses were all executed under an absolute, flawless algorithm of efficiency.

He was a hyper-disciplined, clinical machine.

The golden, amber warmth radiating from the under-cabinet lighting grid subtly softened the harsh, statuesque lines of his prominent brows, though the terrifying, freezing depth of his true emotions remained completely masked behind his lenses.

Pei Xiqing found her vocal receptors entirely paralyzed as she watched him operate—captivated by the surreal sight of a supreme global tyrant keeping his head lowered, entirely focused on carefully dicing rations for her plate.

Her pulse hammered uncomfortably against her ribs.

During their frontier transit, his presence had consistently projected a terrifying, god-like isolation—rendering it mathematically impossible for her mind to categorize his biology as a normal, flesh-and-blood human entity, viewing him instead as an organic computer designed exclusively to execute cold-blooded judgments.

Pei Xiqing stared at the crisp line of his shoulders for a long moment, before the rich, intoxicating aroma of seared beef violently breached her olfactory receptors, forcing her to drift a step closer to his station.

Duan Xiaolin maintained his hyper-precise execution, meticulously partitioning an exotic spice array across the plate. Detecting her shadow entering his immediate sector, he slowly raised his heavy eyelids, his green eyes locking onto her face. “Mhm?”

“My own processor holds the necessary data to execute a meal script,” she murmured, a soft smile tugging her lips. “Does your board desire to run a comparative audit on my cooking skills later?”

“The option is logged for a future shift,” he replied, his voice a smooth purr. “My office commands the kitchen tonight.”

Pei Xiqing let out a quiet, amused laugh. “Very well, Chef.”

“We can configure a wider coordination protocol later—inviting the remaining assets of the unit to synchronize their schedules for a communal dinner inside these quarters.”

“The remaining assets?” Duan Xiaolin’s hand paused, his voice dropping by an octave. “Specify the exact targets your mind is isolating.”

“Naturally, I am referencing Sister Long Yan, Ling Lang, and the core vanguard operatives…”

The exact second the name of the captain left her lips, she felt the ambient temperature in the kitchen violently plummet to zero. The administrator fixed a chilling, profoundly dark look straight across her profile, his expression heavily clouded with an unvarnished displeasure.

Pei Xiqing’s eyelids twitched violently, her survival instincts flagging the danger zone.

The data is clear, she realized with a jolt of insight. Duan Xiaolin runs a highly volatile, possessive parameter whenever Ling Lang’s timeline brushes against mine.

Is the friction rooted in the reality that the captain is his biological younger brother?

She quickly calibrated her response to stabilize his board. “My system maximizes all calculations to avoid active bickering and friction whenever I am forced to interact with Ling Lang.”

The man’s thin lips parted, his voice a monument of level, glacial calm. “My judicial framework runs a zero-interest index regarding your petty arguments with the captain.”

Pei Xiqing finally decoded the true nature of his possessiveness. A small, brilliant smile broke across her face, and she stepped directly into his personal space. “He holds zero emotional preference for my biology, and my internal receptors harbor an absolute zero index of affection for his character. My system exclusively prioritizes you.”

The more shifts she spent locked within his immediate matrix, the more her psychological terror of his authority dissolved—replaced by a sophisticated understanding of how to actively leverage his reactions. She even allowed her tone to drop into a soft, breathy whine, her fingers lightly catching the hem of his vest. “Accelerate the thermal cycle, Representative. My metabolic reserves are entirely spent; I am genuinely starving~”

Duan Xiaolin remained perfectly motionless in the amber light, his unblinking green eyes silently dissecting the clear, brilliant curve of her brows before descending to track the soft contour of her mouth. His gaze lingered on the edge of her jaw, before permanently anchoring against the elegant, exposed vulnerability of her slender neck—fixated entirely on the rhythmic, delicate pulse of the veins throbbing beneath her thin epidermis.

The ancient, bottomless greed and absolute possessiveness of his core remained tightly cloaked in the shadows behind his glasses.

“The protocol is initializing,” he murmured. “Sit.”

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