Chapter 106: Japanese Ritual p2
Logging into zombies was profitable, of course, but the battles were dangerous and exhausting.
What’s better than getting paid without having to work?
Suddenly, fifty blood crystals seemed like a reasonable price.
But just to be safe, she asked the system.
“System, besides blood crystals, what other resources can I put in the [Zombie Loot Box]?”
「Anything besides living organisms」
“Even trash?”
「Yes」
So… anything inanimate counted as a resource?
“Then if I put in a can of cola, what kind of zombie would you assign?”
「The system will randomly assign a zombie based on the value of the resource」
“What about ten blood crystals?”
「The system will randomly assign a zombie based on the value of the resource」
This was a fifty-blood-crystal decision; she had to be thorough.
She rephrased her question.
“You wouldn’t assign a Biter for a hundred blood crystals, would you?”
This time, the system gave a different answer.
「Any offering of 10g of blood crystals or more guarantees a mutated zombie」
“And the retained evolution from the [Zombie Loot Box]… can it be a system upgrade, like a Safehouse upgrade?”
「Retained evolutions from the [Zombie Loot Box] are chosen from the assigned zombie’s extraction results.」
“Can I specify what resources I want the zombie to collect?”
「The loot obtained by the zombie is completely random」
“If a zombie, say, a Sprinter, has had all its evolutions extracted, what do I get if it extracts again?”
「Zombies that have had all their evolutions extracted will not be assigned. The same rule applies to newly logged-in zombies.」
“Then can I just keep giving you trash and get all the evolutions eventually?”
「Yes, but the extraction time is determined by the zombie’s strength and the value of the offered resources.」
「If you use a low-value resource to obtain a high-level zombie, the extraction time could be years.」
“Uh…”
Lin Jiayao abandoned the idea of exploiting the system.
She didn’t have years to wait.
Even the extraction times for ordinary Biters were quite long. By the time she acquired all the low-level evolutions, it would be too late.
“And if a zombie finds something valuable… will you… take a cut?” she asked, her final question.
She asked because the system seemed to really like blood crystals.
But the system remained silent.
Lin Jiayao considered the [Zombie Loot Box], whether it was worth fifty blood crystal stones.
That was a significant amount… enough to buy a small camp.
But the [Zombie Loot Box] was essentially an extra, automated login slot, a guaranteed successful extraction, with all rewards and evolutions hers.
Like paying the system to work for her.
It would almost double her evolution rate, even allowing her to extract while she slept.
All she had to do was wait and then open the box.
But due to its randomness, it wouldn’t be as efficient as logging in herself.
The zombie wouldn’t follow her instructions for gathering specific resources.
So, it was a supplementary method for acquiring evolutions, not a replacement for logging in.
And right now, she needed to evolve quickly. She couldn’t just feed all those crystals to a single zombie; there were cooldowns between evolutions.
It seemed the [Zombie Loot Box] was currently the fastest way to increase her power.
After a moment of hesitation, Lin Jiayao made up her mind and built it.
-50 blood crystals.
With a series of cheap, browser-game-like clinking and clanking sounds, the dust settled beside the Control Center, revealing a short pillar with a treasure chest on top.
Seeing her warehouse suddenly half empty made Lin Jiayao feel like she couldn’t breathe.
My blood crystals… my precious blood crystals…
Fighting back tears, she opened the Loot Box interface.
A simple interface, a single slot, and a larger square beside it for the holographic projection.
After a moment of hesitation, she took the bone necklace from the warehouse.
It had belonged to the B-rank Awakened; it must be valuable…
Too bad she wasn’t a control-type Awakened; it was useless to her.
Perfect for testing the [Zombie Loot Box].
She dragged the necklace to the slot.
A system prompt appeared.
「Use this item to open the [Zombie Loot Box]?」
“Yes.”
“Click—”
The bone necklace dissolved into a red, crystalline powder.
The powder, within the square beside the slot, slowly formed the shape of a zombie.
“Zzzt—”
A burst of static, and a zombie’s projection appeared.
This is…
Lin Jiayao stared at the image, puzzled.
What… the hell… is that?
A two-meter-tall zombie, dressed in a neat, seemingly new suit, its face a mass of tumors, no eyes or ears, just a mouth filled with sharp teeth.
Even with the suit, the tumors on its neck were clearly visible, the yellowish pus within pulsing with its breath.
It seemed to be a tall, humanoid zombie, its body covered in tumors, its face just a gaping maw.
A type of zombie she had never seen before.
Perhaps a “specialty” from another country or region.
And below the image, a line of text:
[Extraction Time 5:59:55]
Six hours?
According to the system, longer extraction times meant stronger zombies.
Perhaps this… thing… would yield some interesting evolutions.
As for the loot… she wasn’t expecting much.
She was treating the [Zombie Loot Box] as an additional means of acquiring evolutions.
Seeing the system was working, Lin Jiayao exited the interface and then the Hideout, returning to the login screen.
「No.1: [Mask] (Available for login)」
「No.2: [Unnamed] (Available for login)」
「No.3: [Goldie] (Available for login)」
「No.4: [A4] (Available for login)」
「No.5: 🌐 (Available for login)」
「No.6: 🌐 (Available for login)」
She decided to follow her original plan: densely populated areas for high-level zombies.
Tokyo, Japan, was her top choice.
She would test the waters there. Even if it failed, and she ended up with an ordinary zombie, the cooldown was only six hours.
And during those six hours, she could log into the sixth slot, or Mask, or any of the others.
She felt that even twenty-four hours a day, with her limited mental strength, wasn’t enough.
If only humans didn’t need to sleep… then she could log in continuously.
Opening the map, she noticed that Chongyu City was now darkened, no longer available.
So, there had only been that one fungal zombie there… no wonder she had logged in right next to the Voodoo Cult Boss.
Without wasting any more time, Lin Jiayao shifted her gaze to the right, towards Japan.
Locating Tokyo, she selected the city.
“Gurgle—”
“Ugh—”
Before she could even open her eyes, her stomach growled loudly.
She slowly opened her eyes.
Is this… Tokyo…?
Although it was already afternoon, the sunlight was still harsh. Squinting against the glare, she tried to move her arms.
“Clang—”
A metallic rattling sound puzzled her.
She looked down and instantly realized something was wrong.
This zombie…
Holy shit—!
Even the usually calm and composed Lin Jiayao couldn’t help but curse inwardly.
Her skin was a dull purple, rough and textured, as if having absorbed all the sunlight, giving it a matte appearance.
Layers upon layers of flesh folded and overlapped on her massive body, the crevices filled with grime, and her legs, buried beneath the rolls of fat, were completely invisible from her perspective.
She could only tell her legs, like her arms, were bound by thick chains.
And judging by the distance… her head was at least ten meters above the ground…
She looked around. She seemed to be sitting on top of a temple on a hilltop, the half-destroyed structure behind her providing some shade, a small torii gate in front, too small for her massive body to pass through.
And beyond the gate, the dilapidated cityscape confirmed her location: the outskirts of Tokyo.
She seemed to be a massive, chained, purple, obese zombie.
“Jingle—”
A bell’s chime startled her.
It came from below the torii gate, from the path leading up the hill.
“Jingle—”
Another chime, and Lin Jiayao stared intently at the gate.
Two lanterns appeared, followed by a procession of people in kimonos, walking slowly up the path to the temple platform, arranging themselves on either side.
What’s going on… are these Japanese survivors?
What are they doing?
The scene had a distinctly religious feel, transporting her back to before the apocalypse.
If it weren’t for the ruined city in the background, she would have thought she had traveled through time.
The men and women in kimonos, holding various ritual objects, lined up on either side as a man in black robes slowly approached.
“偉大なる神さま伊野よ (Great God Ino).” (Idainaru Kami-sama Ino yo)
He stopped about twenty meters away from Lin Jiayao, chanted something reverently, and then knelt down.
Lin Jiayao: “?”
What?
What did he say?
She only understood the word “kami” (god).
Was he calling her… a god?
Then, the procession behind him brought a wooden plank, on which lay a woman, her body bound and covered in wounds.
The woman cried out, speaking something Lin Jiayao couldn’t understand, and then her legs were broken, her body thrown in front of Lin Jiayao.
The man in black robes bowed deeply, and the others followed.
They… seemed to be worshipping a zombie.
Then, they took a long bamboo pole, lifted it together, and reached towards Lin Jiayao, seemingly scraping something from the folds of her flesh.
Like ants using toothpicks to clean her teeth.
Lin Jiayao didn’t move. After scraping something from her body, they seemed excited, bowed again, and then left.
And in front of Lin Jiayao lay a low-rank Awakened woman, her legs broken, her body covered in wounds.
Seemingly an offering.
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