Chapter 133: Scamming The Zombie King
Another coincidence. Lily Hart’s head was throbbing. Were all the things that had happened recently just a damn coincidence?
The little boy, the Zombie King, Stan Sterling.
She didn’t really buy it, but she didn’t have many clues to go on...
Her head ached. Lily Hart wore a pained expression as countless thoughts churned in her mind. Something would flash past, but she could never quite grasp it.
"Stop thinking about it. We’re still here for you. We can face whatever comes our way together, right?"
Frost Shaw rested his head on one hand, tilting it to look at her. It was as if his boyish air had vanished overnight, replaced by a newfound maturity.
Lily Hart nodded and tilted her head to look back at him, casually sizing him up.
"..." Frost Shaw grew a little uncomfortable under her gaze. His body stiffened, and he didn’t dare to move, simply letting her look.
’Strange. After this kid reached the Eighth Rank, his whole aura has changed. Before, he was just a boy. Now, he’s somewhere between a boy and a man. It’s a different feeling.’
’How should I put it... He’s more charming.’
"Not bad," Lily Hart praised.
"What’s... not bad?" Frost Shaw’s throat tightened as he asked nervously. He unconsciously sat up straighter, his hands dropping to his sides. He suddenly didn’t know what to do with his limbs.
"You," Lily Hart said succinctly. The corners of her mouth curled up as she tugged at the old t-shirt he’d been wearing for ages. "Dress a little nicer from now on. You’re one of my people, after all. You can’t embarrass me."
Ever since the convenience store opened, Frost Shaw rarely wore that black cloak of his, unless he was heading out on business.
"Okay." The tips of Frost Shaw’s ears quietly turned red as he agreed to her request.
’My person... my person... I’m Boss Hart’s person?’ The two words echoed in Frost Shaw’s mind. He let out a soft, unconscious laugh. The thought was simply too delightful.
Lily Hart gave him a strange look but didn’t pay it much mind. ’People are just weird,’ she thought.
It wasn’t that she was afraid of the Zombie King; it was the uncertainty of the situation that made her anxious.
As evening approached, the Zombie King swaggered in, walking around as if he owned the place. Lily Hart wasn’t worried about him attacking her, but there were other customers in the store...
The Zombie King ignored the other customers and walked straight toward Lily Hart, not deviating from his path in the slightest.
His eyes seemed to be disguised; they weren’t their usual scarlet but a faint black. He kept his unsteady gaze fixed on her, not even looking where he was going.
’In normal times, a tall, handsome guy walking so resolutely toward her might make her heart flutter. But not in the apocalypse. This was the Zombie King... here to eat you...’
Lily Hart constantly reminded herself of this fact.
The Zombie King was tall and burly, so it only took him a few steps to cross the distance and arrive in front of Lily Hart.
"Boss Hart, long time no see." The Zombie King greeted her with a completely straight face, standing ramrod straight and even giving a symbolic little wave with his right hand.
"..." Lily Hart was not amused. ’What does this person—no, this corpse—want now?’
She quickly sized him up and was surprised to find that it wasn’t just his eyes that had changed. His fingernails were also very short, trimmed neatly and cleanly.
His once wild and arrogant mop of hair was now smooth and orderly. The clothes he wore, which he must have scrounged from somewhere, didn’t quite fit, but overall, he at least looked somewhat "human."
"What are you here for?" Lily Hart’s expression and tone were both unfriendly.
The Zombie King froze, clearly not knowing how to answer. But his mouth was faster than his brain. "To eat you," the three words blurted out. The moment he said it, his eyes filled with panic.
"?" Lily Hart tilted her head slightly and glared at him. ’Are you serious, buddy?’
The Zombie King waved his hands frantically. "No, I mean, I’m here for the scratch-off tickets." With that, he made a clumsy attempt to cover his slip-up by grabbing a ticket at random. As it happened, it was from the most expensive tier.
Lily Hart was speechless. ’You might as well have "I’m lying" tattooed on your forehead,’ she thought. ’Scratch-off tickets, my ass! I ought to scratch your zombie head off!’ She shot him a sidelong glance and blurted out, "Ten Crystal Cores."
"Crystal Cores?" A flicker of confusion crossed the Zombie King’s eyes, followed by a flash of anger as he looked at Lily Hart and then at the surrounding customers, who were pulling Crystal Cores from their pockets as casually as if they were pulling out lint.
’These were all dug out from the bodies of his kin. To them, it was an organ equivalent to a human heart, and these humans were using them so unscrupulously for trade?’
For a moment, the Zombie King didn’t know what to say. He felt an impulse to kill every customer in the store, then summon all the nearby zombies to come and feast!
Throw a massive zombie party!
The thought was fleeting. He met Lily Hart’s clear eyes and instantly suppressed it. ’Never mind. Boss Hart is too fragile. What if she sees a scene like that and faints from fright?’
"You don’t even have ten Crystal Cores? And you call yourself a king? If you don’t have them, then get lost. Don’t stand here affecting my business," Lily Hart said sarcastically, crossing her arms with a look of utter impatience.
The Zombie King felt a strange, inexplicable sense of shame at her words, but he still replied with brazen confidence, "I don’t have any. Will something else do?"
Lily Hart leaned on the countertop with both hands, slowly looking him up and down. "You?" she asked, her interest piqued. "What else could you possibly have to offer?"
The Zombie King fell silent. He just couldn’t bring himself to trade with Crystal Cores...
Silence was golden. Just as Lily Hart was impatiently about to tell him to leave, the Zombie King shot a furtive glance at a nearby resident who was scratching a ticket.
He turned to the side, carefully extended one of his fingernails, and then broke it off with a SNAP.
A zombie’s nails could grow back after being broken. They carried the virus that could infect humans and were incredibly sharp.
"Will this do?" The Zombie King really couldn’t think of anything else to use.
"Fine. Put it in," Lily Hart said, taking a step back and nodding her chin toward the Lucky Cat, indicating for him to put the nail inside.
’Got to be careful. What if I get scratched and turn into a zombie?’
The Zombie King, being rather dense, didn’t notice her apprehension and obediently put it in. A broadcast voice came from the Lucky Cat: "Owen Warren, eight hundred points."
"!" Lily Hart’s eyes flew wide. She vaguely remembered that the last zombie’s nail was only worth one hundred points?
’Is this the power of the Zombie King?’
The Zombie King looked at Lily Hart, not quite understanding what points were. He asked uncertainly, "Is that enough?"
"Enough, enough, enough!" Lily Hart’s mood soured. The smile vanished from her face as she snapped out the three words.
"I want one of these." The Zombie King picked up the scratch-off ticket he had chosen long ago.
Lily Hart pulled over a chair, sat down, and rested her chin on her hand to watch. She wanted to see what kind of trick he could possibly pull.
The first ticket was a dud. The Zombie King could still read, so he saw it was a losing ticket and tossed it aside.
He asked, with the air of a diligent student, "How many of these can eight hundred points buy?" He pointed to the most expensive tier of scratch-off tickets.
Lily Hart’s eyes darted. She really didn’t want to sell him any, but she couldn’t chase him away, and she definitely couldn’t beat him in a fight.
’Ripping him off isn’t a bad alternative,’ Lily Hart thought. She decided to quote an exorbitant price. "One," she said, her voice full of a confidence she didn’t feel.
The Zombie King had no concept of these things and didn’t know if that was expensive or cheap. For a moment, he failed to notice that other customers were buying two 50-point scratch-off tickets for a single Crystal Core.
He nodded, turned to the side to avoid prying eyes, and broke off all five of his fingernails, stuffing them into the Lucky Cat.
Lily Hart started to feel sorry for her little Fortune. It was always eating either Crystal Cores or zombie fingernails.
Sigh!