"Xiao Xi, I know you resent me..."

Lin's father looked helpless, turned his head slightly, and looked at his hands.

Lin Xi then noticed that he was holding another person's hand, with slender knuckles and long fingers.

A figure slowly walked out from behind the door, with gentle and delicate features—a face that Lin Xi knew all too well.

"..." She still couldn't control her physiological twitching; she opened her mouth, but it was as if she had lost her voice.

No...that's not right!

This isn't Mom, it's a mid-level zombie!

No, no, no, that's not right either.

This is the mother who has become a mid-level zombie.

My cheeks felt numb and I couldn't feel anything at all.

Sensing the awkward atmosphere, Chen Jin subtly pulled Jiang Chuan outside. Jiang Chuan frowned, somewhat puzzled, "What's wrong?"

Chen Jin lowered his voice, "They're having a family reunion, let's go out for a stroll and not disturb them."

Jiang Chuan shook off his hand, "I didn't bring my knife."

"Why bring that? Don't you think you're conspicuous enough already?"

Recalling the miserable state of being chased before, Jiang Chuan couldn't help but tremble. After careful consideration, he finally nodded, "Okay... let's go."

...

After calming down for a while.

"You saw your mother's condition. On the first day of the zombie outbreak, I rushed to H City overnight to look for her, but it was too late."

"You're not coming back to find us because you're afraid Mom won't be able to control herself and will hurt us, right?"

“Back then, no one had awakened any superpowers. Your mother was very aggressive. Even though I tied her up tightly with strips of cloth every day, she would often break free and bite people when I wasn’t paying attention.”

When Lin's father talked about these past events, he was very calm, as if the suffering he had endured in the past had been wiped away by the winds of time and vanished into thin air.

“Your mother is already like this, I can’t bear to leave her, and I can’t bear to let her hurt you, so I didn’t go back to find you.”

"I saw Uncle Luo." Lin Xi's eyes were still red, but she had calmed down a lot. "I know you asked him to look for us, Dad, but why didn't you let us know you were safe?"

Lin's father had a complicated expression. "In that situation, I was afraid I would eventually suffer the same fate. Wouldn't the result be the same anyway?"

The tears she had just held back started falling again. Lin Xi looked at her mother, who had turned into a zombie, and hesitated, "And then? Why did Mom..."

“It’s a superpower. When I was almost in despair, with the will to die with your mother, I awakened a superpower.” Lin’s father smiled and stroked Lin Xi’s head as he always did. “Thanks to this superpower, I was able to live until now and bring your mother to see you.”

Seeing her mother's excessive obedience to her father, Lin Xi couldn't help but ask curiously, "What is it?"

"Mental magic, puppetry."

[It is a top-tier mental ability, second only to Soul Searching.]

The system exclaimed in surprise.

Lin Xi was taken aback.

Suddenly, I remembered the zombie dormitory building where I first found traces of my father.

The older sister looked wary when she mentioned him.

"If I so choose, the will of any living creature within a ten-meter radius of my feet will submit to me."

"In other words, essentially, Mom's mindset is still that of a zombie. If she leaves you, she might lose control and attack humans?"

Although I'm reluctant to admit it, it's true. "Even though I used puppetry to control her, the fact that your mother reacts when she sees photos of you and your brother means that she still retains a sliver of her former consciousness, and there's still hope that your mother will get better."

"Then why didn't you let me know after you awakened your superpower and became safe?"

He looked helpless. "Before I awakened my superpowers, your mother lost control and destroyed all my communication devices."

Lin Xi looked at the stubbornness in her father's eyes and felt a little sorry for him.

--system.

[For zombies that have already formed a crystal core in their brains, the crystal core must first be dissolved before using the zombie-specific medicine. The higher the level of the crystal core, the higher the mortality rate.]

What is the mortality rate for mid-tier zombies?

Eighty percent.

The mortality rate is too high. If something unexpected happens, it's better to maintain the status quo.

Lin Xi instinctively rejected the idea; it was far too risky.

She looked up at Lin's father and asked, "You've found a way?"

He didn't answer directly, but said, "I'll figure something out. Just listen to me, leave after you finish the beginner's rounds, and don't come back."

"And what about you?" Lin Xi stared at him intently.

"Once things are settled, your mother and I will naturally come back to find you."

Lin Xi lowered her head, her voice calm, "What exactly did you agree to?"

Looking at his once obedient daughter's sharp demeanor, he sighed and smiled reassuringly at her, "You don't need to worry too much about me. My superpower is level six, which is enough for me to escape unscathed."

"You're lying."

Lin's father was taken aback, then said, "Why would I lie to you? I really do have a level six superpower."

Lin Xi interrupted him and asked directly, "What leverage did you give them?"

"No, we are just cooperating normally."

Lin Xi guessed, "They said they could save Mom, right?"

"Is she a healing-type ability user?"

Lin's father remained silent, which was tantamount to acquiescence.

Lin Xi shattered his illusions with her words, "They're lying."

Lin's father frowned. "This is an adult matter; you shouldn't interfere."

"I've heard of top-tier healing ability users. It's true that this ability can save a life, but it can't revive people who have been dead for too long, let alone zombies whose brains have already formed mid-level zombie crystal cores."

After a long silence, Lin's father said, "Not only are there top-tier superhumans, but also a top-tier team of medical experts here. This is your mother's only hope of reviving."

A sudden thought struck Lin Xi, and she looked up at her father again. She asked incredulously, "How did Uncle Luo know you were coming to the capital? Did he send you? No, did he tell you about some top-tier healing ability user and a top-tier medical expert team in the capital?"

"Several of your Uncle Luo's former colleagues are here. One of them has awakened a top-tier healing ability. He told me that there might be hope here, but also said that the hope is not very high."

Lin Xi shook her head. "No, since his friend is here, he must know what's going on here. If he really cared about you, he wouldn't have revealed this information!"

Seeing her father's calm expression, Lin Xi realized what was going on. "You knew all along? If you knew it was a trap, why did you jump in?"

Lin's father held Lin Xi's mother's hands tightly, "If your mother doesn't come back to life, how lonely she will be there all by herself. I have to go and be with her."

"Then aren't my brother and me important?"

He was still smiling when he said, "You've all grown up."