Chapter 7

The expected fighting scene did not appear, and what appeared before my eyes was a dog.

This is a Meteorite Border Collie, knee-high. Its blue-gray fur is a bit messy, but that doesn't hide its spirited nature. Its overall appearance is similar to its original, with the only difference being its glowing blue eyes. Its eyeballs are covered in a layer of fine hair that emits a faint glow, so from a distance it appears as if its eyes are actually glowing blue.

Eyes that truly glow.

Xu Zhou didn't bother to be amazed. He pulled Xunchun back, away from the small slope they had just stepped on. He reached out to brush off the dust on it, and didn't care whether the Border Collie could understand him or not. He apologized to it as he retreated.

By the way, take the time to comfort Xunchun and let him calm down.

Xunchun tried to understand Xu Zhou's words. His small and poor brain tried hard to digest her words. Although he didn't understand them very well, he whispered a few words to respond to her.

The child is teachable.

Seeing this, Xu Zhou was very satisfied and patted the back of his hand as encouragement.

system:……

I don't really understand the fun they have in playing the lute to a cow.

But respect.

The danger was over and the Border Collie stopped barking.

It walked out of the grass, walked around the small hill a few times, swept the dust around it with its tail, called out to Xu Zhou, and then lay down beside the small hill.

Its head rests on its front legs, and its tail slaps the ground once or twice, lazily and casually.

It lay there quietly, not caring what they were doing.

Xu Zhou pulled Xun Chun back to the car. She knew he hadn't played enough today and wouldn't calm down. If she forced him to stay quiet, she would be the one to suffer that night. Having already had a painful experience, Xu Zhou comforted him, telling him to play nearby and not to disturb the Border Collie.

Xunchun agreed. He didn't realize there was any danger here and ran away happily.

Seeing Xunchun leave, Xu Zhou opened the car door, sat sideways in the passenger seat, put his feet on the door sill, and looked at the Border Collie.

It is said that Border Collies have high IQs and can understand human language, and she has witnessed this today.

"System, how do you know what it's saying?"

"I have a dog language translator," the system said. "I don't know which system secretly hid it in my database, but it was probably shared from the communication center."

“Can all the system data be shared?”

"Part of it is possible. This is a sharing function enabled by the main system to improve the task completion rate." The system also mentioned some system work benefits, including vacations, bonuses, and no penalties for task failures. The only difference is that the treatment is not as good as that of the head system.

"That's great," Xu Zhou envied. "Is your system still hiring?"

“Yes, but not recruiting people.”

"Can't we take the back door?" Xu Zhou didn't give up.

"You can't even get through the door. People have different paths, and the flood of data will crush you first." The system poured cold water on her thoughts.

The system center is not fixed, but it is constantly surrounded by a torrent of data, similar to the eye of a tornado. At the same time, the data torrent is extremely destructive, comparable to a strangling machine.

The safety factor is really high, but I don't know if this data torrent can resist the infection of viruses when placed around the earth. I don't know, so Xu Zhou put aside this idea and turned to other things.

"Can't you understand Xunchun's words?"

"No, I don't have a zombie language translator."

"Border Collie isn't a zombie?" Xu Zhou was shocked. But wasn't it also infected with the virus and mutated?

"no."

System explanation.

Zombies and mutant animals are two different species. Mutated animals still fall into the category of animals, but zombies do not fall into the category of humans. They only resemble humans in appearance, but their lifestyle and survival methods are different from humans. They are not human in essence.

Mutated animals are different. They are still animals in essence, but they are infected by a virus that enters their bodies and persists there, causing some aspects of their bodies to be modified, causing them to mutate.

Take the Border Collie for example. Its mutation resulted in glowing eyes. Other mutated animals might have mutated hair, tails, noses, limbs, and so on. These are all partial mutations. The virus is able to survive in their bodies thanks to these mutations.

Zombies are different. All the human parts of them have been destroyed by the virus, and they rely on the virus to survive.

Xu Zhou understood.

But she felt a little disappointed. It would be great if she could understand what Xunchun was saying.

"So, Xunchun can't chat with Bian Mu."

"Of course not," the system said in a tone that asked, "What are you talking about? Otherwise, why didn't they just yell at you? If they could chat, they would have pulled you away from the small mound and wouldn't have been so stubborn and stood there the whole time."

Xu Zhou looked up at the sky and the ground, muttering, "I thought they were just arguing and swearing at each other."

So everyone has their own opinion.

"How else could they have been arguing for so long?" the system complained.

Xu Zhou didn't respond, and instead asked something else: "Then how can he understand what I say?"

"His consciousness is recovering, don't you know that?" the system answered as a matter of course.

"Oh, yes." Xu Zhou stopped talking.

In the distance, Xunchun was like a naughty child, leaping and hopping in the grass. He plucked leaves, crumpled them into a ball, and flung them like darts. This was a new trick he'd recently discovered, and he'd been obsessed with it for a day or two, enjoying it over and over again.

Seeing Xu Zhou looking at him, he waved and invited her to play with him.

She waved her hand, politely declining.

Turning back to the sight, the Border Collie was getting up, shaking off the dust.

"Don't they say that mutated animals will attack humans?" Xu Zhou thought of something.

"Yes, that's right."

"Then why doesn't it attack me?"

"Because you..."

Before the system could finish its words, the Border Collie pounced on her. Xu Zhou instinctively stretched out her arms to catch the Border Collie, and it threw itself upon her. She didn't hear the rest of the system's words. But she didn't pay much attention to them; her attention was now entirely focused on the Border Collie.

The Border Collie nuzzled against her chest for a moment before getting down. Xu Zhou then got down from the passenger seat and stood there, stroking the dog's head. It wagged its tail, nibbled at the corner of her clothes, paced in place, whimpering, and moved its head, as if it wanted to take her somewhere.

"Are you taking me somewhere else?" Xu Zhou was uncertain.

The Border Collie walked around behind her and gently pushed her, his voice very low, as if asking.

Xu Zhou hesitated for a while and couldn't resist Bian Mu's attack. She closed the car door and decided to go with Bian Mu. Before leaving, she called Xunchun.

Xunchun, who was having fun, was suddenly summoned and started yelling ineffectively at the Border Collie who was the culprit.

Xu Zhou slapped him on the shoulder and said, "Don't mention Border Collie. It's going to take us to a good place."

Xunchun lowered his head and shouted a few times in dissatisfaction, grabbed the corner of Xu Zhou's clothes and rubbed it, muttering to himself.

The Border Collie next to him didn't understand what he said, so he ignored it and continued to follow Xu Zhou, barking as he led the way.

"What is Border Collie saying?" Xu Zhou, who couldn't understand, decisively asked for help from the dog language translation system.

"It was bragging about its secret base, and in the middle, it also told a few stories about it and its owner." The system listened for a while and summarized.

"What secret base?"

"You'll know when you get there," the system said, maintaining Border Collie's surprise. "For now, keep it a little mysterious. Don't worry, it won't harm you."

Then the system told her the story of the Border Collie and its owner.

The Border Collie was adopted by its owner after being a wanderer for a year.

One night, starving, it was rummaging through a trash can for food. A drunk passed by and kicked it. It tried to get up and leave, but too hungry to move, the drunk chased it and kicked it again. The drunk's kick was so heavy it felt like its ribs were about to break. In its confusion, it saw the drunk approaching and tried to kick him again.

At the critical moment, its owner appeared.

A girl raised her cell phone and stood in front of it. It didn't know what magic she used, but she stopped the drunk with just a few words.

The drunk man sobered up and walked away cursing.

The girl held it, feeling warm and shivering.

From then on, it had a home.

For it, home is synonymous with warmth.

Its favorite thing is to wait for its owner to come home from get off work.

It can hear its owner's footsteps coming up the stairs, and every time it hears them, it stands at the doorway, wagging its tail. It won't be long before a "click" sound comes from outside, and then its owner opens the door, hugs it, kisses it, and says how much they love it. Every time its owner's nagging is heard, it's much more pleasant than the sounds it hears while wandering.

It feels like life will always go on like this.

Until the end of the world.

Many people have changed, they have become more violent than drunkards.

The owner told them to be quiet and not to bark, as that would keep it safe. The owner took it with him, following the others, heading east. It felt like returning to the days of wandering, yet different, because the owner was still by its side.

It can't figure it out, so it stops thinking about it.

It has learned about such days and can take good care of its owner.

Until one night.

The owner ran with it on the deserted road.

She said it could bark whatever it wanted now.

So it was very happy and barked many times around its owner.

Afterwards, the owner sat on the ground, holding it. She said a lot of things, but it didn't understand, but it would respond from time to time. It could sense that its owner was a little sad, and it comforted her that it was okay and that it was used to this day.

It was almost dawn and the owner dug a hole.

She sat in it, touched its head and looked up at the sky.

At daybreak, those who had gone before them arrived and drove it away.

The owner smiled at it and waved to it.

The owner became very fierce and they buried him.

In fact, it wants to say that it’s okay if the owner becomes aggressive.

But the master couldn't hear it.

It doesn't matter, it will live here.

After hearing this, Xu Zhou felt sad. She reached out and touched Bian Mu's head, and Bian Mu rubbed her back softly.

In the evening, the sunset glows into the horizon.

The path that the Border Collie leads is a winding path, and you can vaguely see traces of people walking on it. Although vegetation has grown, it is still a bit sparse compared to the surrounding vegetation. It can be seen at a glance that it has grown quietly after the end of the world.

When the Border Collie leads the way, he does not forget to look back to see if anyone is lost, just like a qualified tour guide.

Continue daytime sigh.

This was the first time in such a long time that she let a dog lead the way. She had never had this experience before.

"System, please play a song to commemorate this." She arranged the system in her mind.

"Okay," the system said politely. "Hi, the system is at your service. What song would you like to play?"

"You are so smart, can't you choose for me?" The main reason was that she couldn't think of any song at the moment.

"Okay, I've automatically played the playlist from last time for you."

After the system finished speaking, a lullaby sounded.

Continued daytime: ...

She remembered that she had asked the system to put her to sleep yesterday.