Chapter 77: Evolution Successful
「Please retain your evolution」
「1、【Robust Lv.1 (Gray): Makes the host’s body more robust】」
「2、【Bite Lv.1 (White): Strengthens your bite muscles, teeth, and claws】」
「3、【Hunting Instinct Lv.1 (Purple): You cannot resist your hunting urges and are always in optimal hunting condition】」
Hunting Instinct?
Unable to resist hunting urges, always in a hunting state?
Lin Jiayao hesitated briefly and then dismissed the purple skill.
The skills available here were those possessed by the logged-in zombie.
This meant the Lv.1 Hunting Instinct must have been evolved by the fourth zombie before it despawned.
She hadn’t sensed any such ability while controlling it.
Had it evolved after she switched back to her main body?
But how? She was no longer controlling it.
Suddenly, something occurred to her.
She hadn’t tested the state of a zombie after extraction.
She had assumed they entered a system-controlled defensive mode, automatically avoiding danger.
Could it be that after she switched back, the system took over the zombie?
「Do you wish to view the [Playback]?」
A system prompt appeared, as if reading her mind.
So there was an autopilot mode? And she could watch a playback?
“Yes,” she responded mentally.
「Warning」
「Warning」
「Host has not unlocked the [Playback] function. System [Playback] failed.」
Two red warning messages flashed, followed by a “Playback Failed” screen.
“Why ask if it can’t be played?” Lin Jiayao tilted her head, puzzled by the system’s behavior.
This time, she received no response.
Lin Jiayao: “…”
She felt a surge of inexplicable irritation… probably just her imagination.
Ignoring the strange system, she closed the warning screen and returned to the evolution options.
Looking at the three evolutions, without hesitation, Lin Jiayao chose the first: Lv.1 Robust.
The second, Bite, might transform her teeth into sharp fangs.
Recalling the gruesome teeth of the Biters, covered in blood and gore, she immediately dismissed that option.
Besides, she had bone spikes; she didn’t intend to bite her way through the apocalypse – who was the zombie here?
And the third, Lv.1 Hunting Instinct, was even less appealing.
Although it was a purple evolution, it was only suitable for lone wolves… no, for tireless zombies.
She hadn’t experienced this ability firsthand; she didn’t know if it would cause her to attack indiscriminately.
And she couldn’t hunt day and night; her human body needed rest.
It was an evolution suited for zombies, not humans.
So, of the three, Lv.1 Robust was the most suitable.
After selecting the evolution, Lin Jiayao felt a warmth spreading through her body.
But this time, besides the warmth, there was also a tingling sensation.
She briefly felt a sensation in her legs, but it quickly faded.
She tried moving her lower body, but besides shifting her waist and causing a twinge of pain in her chest, nothing happened.
But she felt less weak, her grip stronger.
She touched her flat stomach and looked down.
Although it was still soft, she could now see the faint outline of abs.
Before, due to lack of exercise, although she was thin, her stomach had still been slightly soft.
Now it seemed more toned… she could even feel the slight firmness of muscle.
Abs?!
Lin Jiayao’s eyes lit up.
She had tried exercising when she was bored at home.
But without feeling in her legs, even sit-ups were difficult, and she’d always been frail, getting out of breath after just two, unable to continue.
This Robust evolution seemed to be fulfilling her dream of having abs.
Remembering her sister’s toned abs and obliques, Lin Jiayao swallowed hard.
What girl didn’t envy such a perfect physique?
A few more Robust evolutions, and perhaps she, too, could have them.
If she continued to evolve muscle-type zombies, and the extractions were successful, she could continue to gain the Robust evolution, right?
This thought cheered her up.
Feeling optimistic, she opened the login interface, curious about the current state of her fourth zombie, the MVP.
The lack of an asset transfer screen, skipping straight to the evolution retention screen, meant the zombie likely had nothing of value left, perhaps not even clothes.
Looking at the login interface, she first saw that Mask’s evolution was complete.
This is… Mask?
The 3D projection of Mask, after consuming the blood crystal and extracting, hovered in the first slot.
Perhaps because it had killed and consumed an Armored zombie, its appearance had completely changed.
Before, Mask had been just a head, using twenty meter-long bone spikes for mobility.
But now, the neck was gone.
Its bone spike jaw, split down the middle, extended on either side of its face, the teeth replaced by downward-angled bone spikes.
It looked like the lower half of its head had transformed into an upside-down white Venus flytrap.
And indeed, in the virtual projection, the “mouth” opened and closed like a flytrap.
And the former neck area had become the center of the “mouth.”
Six thick bone spikes, about 10cm wide and 2 meters long, each with only three joints, extended from the center, serving as legs.
And around these legs were countless smaller bone spikes, like flower buds.
These were the familiar thin bone spikes, now longer, about three meters, and with more joints, seemingly more flexible.
These longer spikes “floated” around the thicker legs, making it look like a land jellyfish.
Now, besides the upper half of its head, Mask was completely inhuman.
She could imagine how it would control other zombies now.
It could stand over smaller zombies, its six thick legs pinning them down, then bend down and crush their heads in its “mouth.”
The barbed bone plates on either side of its face would then clamp down, securing the head to the body, followed by the insertion of finer control spikes.
After this evolution, Mask no longer had to limit itself to humanoid zombies.
It could even control zombies larger than the Armored zombie…
I want to try…
But the situation wasn’t stable yet; her sister could return at any moment. She would test Mask’s new abilities later.
Lin Jiayao shifted her gaze from Mask, skipped over An Xiaoxi in the second slot and the unnamed Hive Zombie in the third, and looked at the fourth.
The fourth zombie seemed… slightly more normal.
But only slightly.
The previously ordinary Biter had completely transformed.
It looked like the “Hunter” zombie described on Survivor’s Light radio.
Tall and slender, thin limbs, a hunched posture, probably about three meters tall if it stood up straight.
According to Survivor’s Light, this type of zombie only evolved in environments with a high concentration of Biters and no mutated zombies, a special variant.
Its most distinctive features were the massive claws and the permanently exposed, shark-like teeth, its entire body radiating aggression.
This fourth zombie… seemed to have fully specialized in “biting.”
Perhaps because there were only ordinary Biters in that area? And it had killed too many of them?
Probably.
Without Lin Jiayao’s control, driven by Hunting Instinct, it would instinctively hunt any living creature.
And because of the system’s autopilot, it would continue hunting its way towards the extraction point.
The system’s autopilot and the zombie’s [Hunting Instinct] seemed to have created a… synergistic effect.
Automated leveling?
She could log into the fourth zombie before going to sleep, switch back to her main body, and then check on its progress and loot the next day.
Automatic leveling while she slept?
A system bug?
No, not a bug, but a combination of a system mechanic and a specific zombie evolution.
The system hadn’t issued any warnings or prohibitions; it was clearly an intended function.
Perhaps there would be more such combinations later, making evolution even easier.
Seeing that her sister wasn’t back yet, Lin Jiayao logged into the fourth zombie.
Even if she had to switch back later, she could let the fourth zombie continue hunting on its own.
As long as it didn’t encounter any particularly powerful opponents or humans, it should be able to slaughter its way to the extraction point.
After selecting the fourth zombie, Lin Jiayao’s consciousness plunged into darkness. Then, she slowly regained awareness, about to open her eyes.
But the moment her eyes opened, she was overwhelmed by an all-consuming bloodlust.
Although her eyes were open, she saw only darkness.
The only things visible, besides the extraction time and location, were red silhouettes of varying sizes.
Biters, highlighted in red, like thermal images in the night.
An overwhelming urge to hunt, almost as powerful as [Blood Rage Lv.1], consumed her thoughts.
Before she could even figure out where she was, she lunged at the nearest red silhouette.
“Thump—”
She hit something solid, a wall, the impact sending her stumbling back.
But she couldn’t see the wall; all she saw were the highlighted zombies.
“Thump—Thump—Thump—”
She pounded on the invisible wall, throwing anything she could find at it.
Finally, she started clawing at it.
Fortunately, it wasn’t a reinforced concrete wall; otherwise, she might have broken her hand before breaking through.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the wall gave way.
She lunged at the zombie silhouette, ripping its head apart with her claws, then tearing its body to shreds, blood spraying everywhere.
A tiny blood crystal, less than 1g, slowly materialized from the Biter’s remains.
Lin Jiayao devoured it, flesh, blood, and crystal, the metallic taste filling her mouth – Hunters could actually taste!
“Beep, beep—”
“Beep, beep—”
Several system notifications pulled her slightly out of her hunting frenzy.
The moment she regained some awareness, Lin Jiayao quickly switched back to her main body.
Before leaving, she glanced at the extraction point and time.
「Extraction Time 2:33:11」
【Extraction Point: 5km】
Two and a half hours, five kilometers… a true killing spree from one end of the street to the other.
Back in her body, Lin Jiayao saw her sister shaking her.
“Yao? What’s wrong, Yao? Don’t scare Sister!”
Lin Jiayao, still slightly disoriented, could still taste the rancid flesh and blood in her mouth.
The heightened senses of her human body amplified the nausea, and she retched.
“Ugh—”
Having not eaten anything substantial, she only vomited bile and saliva. The bitter taste filling her mouth finally brought her back to her senses.
Gasping for breath, she looked up at her sister, her face pale.
Seeing the worry in her sister’s eyes, she said, “I’m… I’m fine, Sis…”
But she immediately gagged again.
That taste… so disgusting…
Just the memory of it made her nauseous… Why did Hunter zombies even have taste buds…?
She had smelled blood, the stench of unwashed, rotting zombie flesh, seen countless corpses, and felt nothing.
But eating them… that was something she couldn’t handle.
“Yao… it’s okay, just breathe… I’ll get you some water, wait here, I’ll be quick!” Lin Xiwan patted her sister’s back, then, seeing her condition improve slightly, rushed out of the factory.
She seemed to have found where the Voodoo Cult stored their supplies.
Moments later, she returned with several bottles of water and some bread.
The bread was sealed, seemingly freshly baked, probably by the Voodoo Cult’s chef.
Like Survivor’s Light, the Voodoo Cult seemed to have their own farms and methods of cultivation.
Lin Xiwan opened a bottle of water and offered it to her sister.
Lin Jiayao grabbed the bottle and gulped down half of it.
Then, she lowered her head and exhaled deeply.
That’s better…
As her mind cleared, the nausea subsided, the taste fading.
“Yao, you scared me… what happened?” Lin Xiwan asked, gently patting her sister’s back, her voice full of concern.
Looking at her worried sister, Lin Jiayao sighed inwardly.
She couldn’t tell her she had just been biting chunks out of a zombie, could she?
Fresh, raw zombie flesh.
“I just felt… unwell… nauseous…” She decided to keep the gruesome details to herself.
“Is it… your period…? But it’s not time yet…?” Lin Xiwan checked her sister’s pants; there were no bloodstains.
But this was something she had to consider. They had clean tampons, but those were in the jeep, now lost to the horde. They no longer had these essential supplies.
Looking at the saliva on her sister’s thigh, Lin Xiwan put her arm around her shoulders.
“You even vomited on yourself… I found their stash of clean water. There’s plenty. Let’s get you cleaned up.”
She couldn’t carry all the water, and they couldn’t stay here long.
This was Voodoo Cult territory. Who knew when another group might arrive?
Better to use it while they could.
And she could also use this opportunity, under the pretense of checking for… period-related issues, to see if she had actually… done anything to her sister last night.
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