Chapter 87: Zombie King x Ex-Girlfriend (9)

As Lyra took deliberate steps toward her, Seraphina’s gentle face paled even further. The golden-haired girl kept taking timid steps backward, her wide hazel eyes trembling under Lyra’s overwhelming, dominant aura.

Suddenly, Seraphina’s heel caught on the edge of an overturned wooden supply crate! With a quiet gasp, she lost her balance completely and tumbled backward-

SWOOP!

In a flash of reflexes, Lyra reached out her right arm, catching Seraphina firmly by her slender waist! With a smooth pull, Lyra yanked the golden-haired girl right back toward herself, bringing Seraphina’s face inches from her own.

Lyra leaned in, her dark eyes flashing with a dangerous glint as her voice dropped into a wicked, raspy whisper against Seraphina’s ear:

"Your sweet talks won’t work on me, Seraphina..."

Lyra pulled back slightly, a breathtaking smirk curling her rosy lips as she released her grip.

Seraphina gulped heavily, her cheeks flushing a bright, burning red as she clutched her white healing robes, completely rendered speechless!

"What is going on here?"

A cold voice suddenly cut through the silence of the atrium.

Senior Sister Claire stepped into the room, her tall frame towering near the archway. Her sharp eyes swept across the gathered crowds, landing briefly on Seraphina before instantly moving past her without wasting a single second to acknowledge the golden-haired girl.

Claire’s cold gaze locked directly dead onto Lyra.

"You, Lyra!" Claire chided, her eyebrows furrowing into an annoyed scowl. "Don’t tell me you are causing trouble again right after leaving the infirmary?! Should I report this to the Captain?"

The moment the word "Captain" echoed in the air, Lyra’s ears perked up instantly like a alert kitten’s!

Her sharp, villainess posture completely vanished! She instantly jogged right over to Claire’s side, flashing a bright, innocent, and angelic smile as she tilted her head up. "No, no! I wasn’t causing trouble at all, Sister! I was just here offering to help everyone with the base chores!"

Claire looked down at the petite girl standing beside her hip. She knew better than anyone in this library what the old, spoiled Lyra Vance loved to do on campus. Her eyes flicked over Lyra’s clean, vibrant black vanguard outfit, and then cast a quick, judgment glance over the dusty, filthy clothes of the surrounding student council members.

Before Claire could ponder it any further, she turned her sharp head toward the atrium crowds, her voice ringing out like an absolute command:

"Everyone get back to work immediately!"

The surrounding students scattered in an instant, hurrying back to their designated supply crates.

Claire then turned back, looking down at Lyra’s sparkling dark eyes. "And you, Lyra... follow me right now. We are heading out to Base B."

"Huh?" Lyra’s dark eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she hurried to match Claire’s long strides. "Why are we going all the way to Base B?"

"We need to haul extra medical supplies and heavy ammunition crates back," Claire replied flatly, checking the tactical pistol strapped to her thigh.

Lyra glanced around the quiet corridor, leaning in slightly. "What about Ka- I mean, Captain Kael? Is he coming with us?"

Claire gave her a brief, cold sideways glance, her voice remaining completely devoid of emotion. "He is busy. That’s all you need to know."

Lyra nodded submissively, though inside her mind she was grumbling intensely. Tsk! She’s not even telling me basic information about him! How on earth am I supposed to win over that crazy Zombie King and save my soul if I can’t even stay attached to his side?!

As they walked down the stone steps toward the armored transport vehicles parked at the library gate, Lyra tapped her chin in deep thought.

System, Lyra called out inside her head. Transfer the full script details of Seraphina Gold’s original storyline to me right now.

Ding!

[ SURE THING, HOST! ] the System’s blue panel materialized brightly, streaming digital text across her vision.

[ ORIGINAL FEMALE LEAD TIMELINE: ]

[ Seraphina Gold was a transfer student who arrived at Royal University right after the original host publicly dumped Kael Noctis. One afternoon near the campus fountain, she noticed Kael’s hand was bleeding from a sharp glass scrape and kindly wrapped it in a clean handkerchief. Even though that single small gesture wasn’t enough to melt his frozen, bitter heart, Kael subtly remembered the gentle touch of her warm hand. ]

[ THE OUTBREAK & DESTINY: ]

[ They didn’t have much direct interaction after that, until the zombie apocalypse officially broke out two weeks later! During the upcoming chaotic outbreak events, Seraphina was destined to accidentally discover Kael’s secret identity as the supreme, mutating Zombie King! But instead of fearing him or exposing him to the army, she selflessly chose to keep his secret, protect his dark truth, and heal his wounds! ]

Lyra sneered inwardly, rolling her dark eyes toward the truck ceiling as they climbed inside the armored vehicle. Help him keep his secret?! Wasn’t she just standing in the atrium two minutes ago, preaching to me about not bullying those ’innocent’ classmates?! But the second she finds out the Male Lead is secretly slaughtering those exact same classmates, she decides to become his accomplice?! Talk about absolute double standards!

[ Exactly, Host! ] the System chimed back. [ In the original script, after learning the truth, Seraphina vows to stay by his side. Instead of feeding her to his zombie horde, the Male Lead falls completely, obsessively in love with her holy light! He locks her away in his domain, refuses to ever let her go, and they live out their dark, twisted ’happily ever after’! ]

Lyra took a slow breath, her mind calculating the plot points. "So... since Seraphina is already stationed at our main library base right now, does that mean Kael has already started interacting with her?"

[ Not yet, Host! ] the System clarified, flashing a green checkmark. [ According to the original script trajectory, Kael is only supposed to notice her during the upcoming Base B supply mission! Seraphina was script-bound to recklessly throw herself in front of a mutated Level 3 zombie to save Kael’s life! Touched by her fearless sacrifice, instead of leaving her behind, Kael was supposed to personally carry her back to his private sanctuary! ]

Lyra’s dark eyebrows furrowed tightly into a confused, heavy knot.

Wait a second... Lyra thought, her brain short-circuiting as she scratched her head. Why does that exact rescue scene sound so ridiculously familiar...?! Isn’t that literally the EXACT SAME THING I just did on the library steps yesterday?!!

She had thrown herself in front of a Level 2 zombie, took a gunshot wound for him, and ended up being carried back to the base by Kael!

However, the System didn’t offer any further details, its screen flickering back into standby mode.

Lyra shook her dark head, tossing the bizarre thought to the back of her mind. Whatever! Since I’m just a background cannon-fodder trying to survive, as long as I stay alive and don’t get eaten, there shouldn’t be any major problems!

SCREECH-!

After a twenty-minute drive through the desolate, ruined city streets, the armored transport vehicle finally came to a smooth, sudden stop.

"We’re here. Base B," Claire announced, slinging her rifle over her shoulder and pushing open the armored door.

Lyra stepped out onto the concrete pavement, clutching her steel hunting dagger. But the very second her boots touched the ground, a strange, suffocating, and deeply unsettling sensation washed over her entire body!

She looked around the surrounding area.

Base B was a sprawling, multi-story industrial warehouse complex surrounded by high iron fences and concrete guard towers. However, something felt completely wrong. There were no armed guards standing on the high towers. No perimeter patrols were walking the fences. The entire plaza was drowned in a suffocating silence.

Lyra slowly raised her head, looking up toward the gloomy sky.

The blood-red hue in the atmosphere wasn’t fading- in fact, the deep, dark red fog was growing thicker by the second, swirling right above the warehouse roof like an ominous vortex!

Lyra gulped heavily, cold sweat breaking out across the back of her neck as she stuck closely to Claire’s tall frame.

"Sister..." Lyra whispered, her dark eyes darting back and forth across the shadowy alleyways. "This place... feels eerie."

Claire didn’t answer, her eyes scanning the high windows with a cautious, steady glint as she raised her rifle. "Keep your guard up."

They walked through the main iron gates into the central courtyard of the warehouse. A small group of five armed survivors dressed in grey tactical uniforms suddenly emerged from the inner doors, stepping forward with polite, welcoming smiles.

"Welcome, Senior Officer Claire!" the lead man greeted, bowing his head respectfully. "We have already gathered the requested medical crates and ammunition boxes in the secondary storage bay. Please, follow us inside."

Claire nodded curtly, leading Lyra into the dimly lit, cavernous warehouse.

As Claire stepped ahead to negotiate the supply manifests with the lead officer, Lyra stayed near the entrance, her dark eyes casually scanning the surrounding storage racks and high metal rafters.

Wait...

Lyra’s dark eyes narrowed into slits as her survival instincts screamed in absolute alarm!

Why were there dark, wet red drag marks trailing beneath every single supply crate?! Why were the tactical uniforms of these five Base B survivors completely spotless, yet smelled faintly of fresh, metallic blood?!

This whole setup feels ridiculously suspicious!

Panicking internally, Lyra quickly turned her head back toward the main warehouse entrance- and her breath caught dead in her throat!

CLANK! HEAVY THUD!

The massive, reinforced iron security gates of the warehouse were slowly sliding shut, locking with a heavy electronic click!

Lyra’s dark eyes widened in absolute horror. She whipped her head out the high side window toward the parking plaza-

The transport truck they had just arrived in was completely gone!

Her eyebrows knitted together in pure terror as her heart began to pound louder

WE WERE WALKING STRAIGHT INTO A TRAP!