Chapter 57: The Mutant Catgirl?
"Tch, rich and powerful fucks always have it good—even in the fucking apocalypse, they get a natural leg up!" Xiao Yi spat in disgust, then asked, "I've heard some rumors about the Crown Prince Gang. Supposedly, it's full of spoiled second-gen brats riding their daddies' coattails, terrorizing Jiang City like they own the place. Untouchable before the end times—not many dared to cross them. You with the Crown Prince Gang?"
"Uh... I'm the boss of the Crown Prince Gang..." Ma Chenbin shivered involuntarily. He could tell from Xiao Yi's tone that the man had zero respect for his gang.
"Well, shit! Who would've thought? You're the big boss of the Crown Prince Gang? Black society kingpin? How fucking impressive!" Xiao Yi slapped Ma Chenbin hard across the face twice. "Feels goddamn amazing slapping around the Crown Prince Gang's boss!"
Thinking back to the Crown Prince Gang's reign of terror in Jiang City, Xiao Yi felt a rush of vindictive satisfaction with every smack.
Rumors at school said that when the gang's boss was a student at Jiang City University, the entire campus was under his thumb—no guy there wasn't scared shitless of this punk-ass rich kid!
Hell, the bastard had even slapped the university president across the face.
Now, as Xiao Yi's palm cracked against Ma Chenbin's cheek, a faint sense of accomplishment washed over him.
"Who's left inside Bai He New City? What weapons do they have?" Xiao Yi pressed on.
"Mostly the original residents now—rich merchants and execs, each with their own bodyguards. The Crown Prince Gang had the biggest crew in there, plus a shitload of guns and ammo, so they all listened to me and my dad before. But that was just for security and scavenging runs. Otherwise, everyone did their own thing."
Ma Chenbin recalled, "We took most of the weapons when we came out. The few gang guys left inside probably don't have much firepower now, but I don't know about the others."
So they weren't a monolith—just a loose alliance that teamed up when it suited them.
Much easier to crush that way, Xiao Yi thought.
"How'd you even find my city?" Xiao Yi asked the question that had been nagging at him.
In a zombie-infested apocalypse, these Bai He New City holdouts had zero reason to venture all the way to Jiang City University.
Ma Chenbin squirmed, his face twisting from the mental torment. "We had no idea you existed. My sister and the guy you shot—they were just out grabbing mutants on orders. Taking 'em back for Dr. Zhu and his crew to research an antidote to the zombie virus. Stumbling on you was pure coincidence."
"Mutants?!" Xiao Yi jolted, frowning in surprise. "What's a mutant?"
The term caught him off guard—enough to make him wary.
If others could evolve like him, gaining superhuman strength and abilities, they'd be a massive threat.
"People who get infected by the zombie virus but don't turn. We caught one once. After studying it, we found their skin turns a bit greenish, pupils change color, and they're way stronger than normal humans."
"Plus, regular zombies don't attack them on sight!" Here, Ma Chenbin shot Xiao Yi a fearful glance.
He still vividly remembered the zombies recoiling from Xiao Yi earlier. Now he strongly suspected Xiao Yi was some freakishly powerful super-mutant!
"One more thing—that mutant kept human intelligence but lost a ton of memories. IQ seemed a bit... off too."
Xiao Yi exhaled slightly in relief.
At least these new mutants didn't sound like heavy hitters.
More like dim-witted oddities.
"So how'd your mutant hunt lead you to me?" Xiao Yi asked, puzzled.
"One of our guys spotted a female mutant. Different from the one we caught—this one fused with cat genes. Cat ears, cat tail, cat-like agility."
Catgirl?
Xiao Yi felt a bead of sweat form inwardly.
Human shape, furry ears and tail, feline agility...
This was straight out of anime—a goddamn catgirl!
Or Catwoman, Hollywood-style?
Xiao Yi's mind wandered to dirtier thoughts: "I wonder if this catgirl's hot..."
Ma Chenbin continued, "We saw her wandering around, scavenging food, no real direction."
"We tried luring her at first, but she was too wary—no openings."
"Got desperate, so we tried boxing her in. But she was insanely agile, fast as a cat. Couldn't catch her. We chased her trail all the way here, then she vanished."
"That's why I sent my sister to patrol the area—hoping to snag that mutant."
Xiao Yi nodded. So mutants weren't all uniform—some fused with animal genes.
But overall, they were still primitive.
And rare as hell.