"You're not even dead, so how could the Monkey be dead?" Zhao Yin demanded.

The words were harsh, but they were his truest thoughts at that moment.

"Waaah... Little Monkey, Little Monkey did it all to protect me... waaah...!" The moment Song Xiaodao saw Zhao Yin, it was as if she had found someone to lean on. She cried so hard she could barely catch her breath.

"Master, there were too many zombies. We almost didn't make it back either. The Monkey activated its Berserk ability and charged with us all the way to the edge of the Industrial Park, but it ran out of strength and... drew the horde away for us..."

Old Bull's mental voice was heavy with dejection.

Zhao Yin hadn't expected that monkey to have such a spirit of self-sacrifice.

"Did you see it die?"

"N-no... I didn't!" Song Xiaodao shook her head frantically.

"Master, although I didn't see it either, the Monkey had already run out of supplies by then. It was just one monkey, facing the horde alone. I'm afraid it would be very hard for it to survive..."

Zhao Yin calmed himself and suddenly thought of something. He closed his eyes and reached out with his mind toward the Contract Soul.

After a long moment, Zhao Yin opened his eyes and said with certainty, "The Monkey isn't dead yet!"

In his mind, that faint trace of presence belonging to Little Monkey was still there.

In his previous life, Lin Tianfeng had once mentioned that a contractor and their Contract Beast could sense each other's life and death.

It had simply been too long ago. Zhao Yin had almost forgotten, and he had never paid attention to it recently.

"Really?" Song Xiaodao immediately stopped crying and lifted her tear-streaked face.

Old Bull perked up as well, raising its head to look at Zhao Yin.

Although they hadn't been with Little Monkey for long, they had gone through life and death together.

Nothing deepened bonds more than sharing life and death.

"Come eat something. Once Old Bull's injuries recover, we'll go look for the Monkey," Zhao Yin said.

Several hours had passed. Since Little Monkey wasn't dead, it should have already gotten away from the horde.

Right now, the only strong fighting force by Zhao Yin's side was Old Bull. If it didn't recover first, rashly approaching the horde would be dangerous.

Zhao Yin took out the Chestnut Leaves and piled them in front of Old Bull. It immediately lowered its head and began eating.

The Chestnuts in the pot had already been boiled into mush.

Zhao Yin pulled out two large bowls from Old Bull's back, filled one, and handed it to Song Xiaodao. "Eat."

Song Xiaodao wiped her tears and took the bowl, but she stared blankly at the campfire without taking a single bite.

Zhao Yin filled a bowl for himself and left all the remaining chestnut mush for Old Bull.

The seventy or eighty roasted Chestnuts were already fully cooked. Zhao Yin gave Song Xiaodao three, kept five for himself, and split the rest into two portions-half for Old Bull, and half... he saved for Little Monkey.

"An E-rank mutant beast has a huge appetite. I wonder if that monkey is hungry," Zhao Yin muttered to himself.

Shaking his head, he lowered it and started eating.

"Zhao Yin, I can't eat," Song Xiaodao said after a long while.

"If you can't eat, then don't. If we get surrounded by the horde again and you don't have the strength to run, don't expect me to save you," Zhao Yin said, his words muffled by the mush in his mouth.

"If we run into danger again, will you still abandon us and run off by yourself?" Song Xiaodao asked, her voice tinged with resentment.

"You want me to die with you?" Zhao Yin replied.

"..."

Song Xiaodao fell silent and lowered her head to drink the chestnut mush.

After the meal, Old Bull's injuries were mostly healed. The Chestnut Leaves weren't as effective as Filled Bread, but Old Bull's wounds weren't fatal to begin with.

Zhao Yin still had one piece of Filled Bread left, but he planned to save it for Little Monkey.

"Let's go. Back to the Industrial Park." Zhao Yin had no intention of resting.

Even though he hadn't slept for two days and one night.

...

Three hours earlier.

Amid the endless tide of zombies, Little Monkey watched the retreating figure of Old Bull carrying Song Xiaodao away. A trace of humanlike sorrow appeared on its monkey face.

A zombie bit into Little Monkey's neck, instantly tearing off a large chunk of flesh.

It threw back its head and roared in agony, forcing out the last of its potential to maintain its Berserk ability. It swung its club and smashed all the nearby zombies away.

Under the black rain of blood filling the sky, the giant monkey trembled all over.

After a brief moment to catch its breath, the horde closed in again.

Drawn by the bloody scent pouring from the monkey's body, the zombies grew even more frenzied.

At this point, the strength remaining in Little Monkey's body was enough for only a few more swings of the Spiked Club.

Boom!

The surrounding zombies were smashed away once more. Little Monkey's body shook even more violently. By now, it no longer dared hope it could escape alive. It only wished to hold on a few minutes longer.

It was only an F-rank mutant beast. The Berserk ability, pushed beyond its limits, was devouring and withering its internal organs, constantly draining its life force.

Just when Little Monkey thought it was about to die...

All of a sudden, every zombie around it fell silent.

At that moment, the whole world seemed to freeze.

All the zombies stood completely still, as if they had turned to stone.

Little Monkey had no idea what was happening. Just then, a hoarse, grating voice sounded by its ear.

"Why aren't you leaving?"

Little Monkey turned to look, but zombies were everywhere. There was no sign of any person.

Then the voice grew urgent: "Go, quickly...!"

How could Little Monkey dare hesitate? It spread its long legs and leaped seven or eight meters in a single stride, desperately charging out of the Industrial Park.

Without the zombies blocking its path, Little Monkey rushed out of the Industrial Park in less than a minute.

At that moment, its last bit of potential was finally exhausted. In the next instant, its massive body rapidly shrank.

Its originally thin frame, after forcibly activating a second ability, had been consumed until it became even thinner and smaller. From a distance, it looked like the blood-red skeleton of a child.

Little Monkey could no longer even lift the Spiked Club. The Heavy Armor weighed down on it like a mountain.

Roar! Roar! Roar!

At that moment, the horde behind it suddenly began moving again!

It was as though they had merely taken a nap. In an instant, every trace of air was filled with a terrifying, oppressive aura.

Little Monkey turned around and saw the zombies rushing at it like a swarm of ants.

It forced itself to stay alert, immediately threw away the Spiked Club, stripped off the Heavy Armor, and with difficulty moved its short little legs, desperately running forward.

In its panic, it didn't even know which direction it was going.

The horde had already been some distance away. The slower zombies gradually lost track of its scent. Combined with Little Monkey's tiny size and its habit of darting into cracks between ruins, as it fled onward, the zombies chasing behind it gradually fell away.

In the end, only a dozen or so zombies were still trailing behind.

Little Monkey didn't know how long it had run. Its eyes were half-closed with exhaustion. It wanted to keep going, but suddenly, everything went black.

Thud.

Little Monkey pitched headfirst to the ground.

By then, the sky was already bright, but its vision was blurry.

In this barren world, it did not know where the only human it could depend on was now.

It lay there on the ground, still bleeding, vaguely aware that it was about to die.

Little Monkey turned its face to the side, wanting to look at the world one more time, but a meteorite on the ground blocked all its view.

Suddenly, it missed Zhao Yin.

Somewhere deep inside, Little Monkey could feel that its master was still alive.

He was still alive. That was good.

Little Monkey slowly closed its eyes.

"Look, what's that thing up ahead?"

At some point, several people had come not far from Little Monkey. Four men and one woman, all dressed in rags, with black ash covering their faces so heavily that their age and appearance were almost impossible to make out.

"It's a child."

"No, it's a monkey!"

"It really is a monkey. How did it survive that meteor shower?"

"Who cares how it survived? Just take it back."

"Great. We haven't eaten meat in over a month. This monkey may be skinny, but there should still be enough for everyone to get a bite or two!"

"Can you even eat a monkey? Why does it feel almost like eating a person?" the woman said.

One of the middle-aged men stepped forward, grabbed Little Monkey by the tail, lifted it up, and said, "If you don't dare eat it, then the rest of us will each get a bigger share."

"It's the apocalypse already. Forget a monkey-even if it really were a child, I'd still dare to eat it," the woman said with a sudden laugh.

...

Zhao Yin arrived outside the Industrial Park. The horde had already thinned out considerably and had returned to aimless wandering.

"Old Bull, when you separated from the Monkey, was it here?" Zhao Yin asked through his thoughts.

"Master, it was inside the Industrial Park ahead," Old Bull replied.