Ye Chen tossed the bottle to the Black Snail Worm; this single vial held enough to boost the strength of two individuals, with some left over.
The Black Snail Worm’s eyes brightened. It quickly accepted the bottle, its slender filaments delicately uncorking it before plunging inside to rapidly absorb the gene fluid. In moments, every drop of the liquid was gone.
“Such rich energy…”
The Black Snail Worm let out a contented moan, feeling a significant surge of power throughout its body.
Ye Chen smiled slightly. Food is paramount to the people; if you want a horse to run well, it must eat well—eating well builds a strong body and grants longevity. Poor sustenance leads to a body like kindling, emaciated and skeletal.
After ingesting the Gene Agent, the Black Snail Worm immediately felt every cell in its body become energized, giving it a sensation of floating on clouds, light as air. A smooth, flowing “power,” like a gentle stream, circulated within it, immensely satisfying.
A moment later, the sensation faded, and the Black Snail Worm’s strength increased from the power of ten men to the power of thirteen men.
“This should be enough now,” the Black Snail Worm thought, confidence blooming. It burrowed into the nose cavity of the Three-Tailed Silver Hound. Before long, the dead creature stirred, rising stiffly to its feet. It shook off the dirt, trotted obediently before Ye Chen, and licked his palm.
“This Three-Tailed Silver Hound is quite badly injured. How much of its power can you bring to bear?” Ye Chen patted the dog’s forehead as if soothing a docile pet, then frowned as he looked at its lacerated body and asked.
The Black Snail Worm paused, then reported, “Its internal structure is undamaged; those are only superficial wounds. Those zombie dogs couldn't inflict internal damage. The only true injury is from your axe blow, which severed three bones. The broken fragments are lodged in its chest, causing considerable inconvenience. If I can set those bones and bind the wounds, I can restore 80% of its former strength!”
“That means the power of one hundred men,” Ye Chen nodded. Calculating like this, he finally had control of his first super-fighter. With the agility of the Three-Tailed Silver Hound, hunting down zombies would be incredibly fast.
Subsequently, he swiftly attended to the wounds, cutting open the severed blood vessels to bind them, cleaning the minor cuts, which slowed the body's rate of decay, thus extending the duration of the Black Snail Worm’s control.
Although…
Boiling and consuming all the blood of one Three-Tailed Silver Hound could increase one’s strength by about ten men, no one would slaughter such a powerful asset just to gain a mere ten points of strength. Ye Chen would never commit the foolishness of killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.
After treating the Three-Tailed Silver Hound’s injuries, Ye Chen moved to the side and began cutting open the corpses of the other zombies, searching for Jī Huà. He roughly estimated there were at least four to five hundred zombies here, plus the five zombie dogs—a substantial haul!
In the end, Ye Chen collected 80 units of Level 1 Jī Huà and one unit of Level 6 Jī Huà.
The power of ten men constitutes one Level. Ordinary zombies possess the strength of six men, classifying them as Level 1 Jī Huà. Zombie dogs possess the strength of sixty men, classifying them as Level 6 Jī Huà.
One hundred men of power equals one Tier. One thousand men of power equals one Stage. Ten thousand men of power equals one Realm.
Therefore, the full designation would be Iron Realm, Stage 1, Tier 1, Level 1 Jī Huà. However, such complex nomenclature is only used later on; zombies that haven't reached the strength of one thousand men do not carry the "Stage" classification.
The power levels are categorized similarly! Ye Chen, with the strength of 32 men, is classified as a Level 3 New Human!
“One small Level 6 Jī Huà should increase my strength by three men!” Ye Chen speculated inwardly.
The size of Jī Huà varies, and in later stages, they are classified as Small, Medium, Large, and Special Grade! Generally speaking… A Small Grade Jī Huà is found in roughly one out of every ten zombies! A Medium Grade is found in only one out of every one hundred zombies! A Large Grade is found in one out of every one thousand zombies! A Special Grade is found in one out of every ten thousand zombies!
The grades refer to size: Small refers to the size of a thumb, Medium is fist-sized, Large is suitcase-sized, and Special Grade is as large as a dining table. Within human-type zombies, the largest found is only Medium Grade Jī Huà. Only in larger zombies like zombie dogs or zombie bulls is it possible to find Large or Special Grade Jī Huà.
Ye Chen collected all the Jī Huà into a plastic bag he carried, placing it in his coarse cloth backpack. He then turned and headed down the distant street, the Three-Tailed Silver Hound following closely behind, never leaving his side.
Roar!
Several zombies charged out of a narrow alley. Ye Chen stopped, watching them quietly, showing no intention of engaging. Just then, the Three-Tailed Silver Hound behind him suddenly flashed forward, striking the zombies with its claws, exploding the heads of several creatures, which then collapsed onto the ground.
Ye Chen walked over as if it were the most natural thing, dissected the zombie bodies, and searched for Jī Huà.
“Where to next?” the Black Snail Worm asked curiously. Its mental energy was overwhelmingly powerful, far surpassing other creatures, allowing it to communicate with Ye Chen directly through "consciousness" in his mind.
“The hospital!” Ye Chen stated calmly.
Ever since witnessing the Black Snail Worm control the Three-Tailed Silver Hound, Ye Chen had immediately thought of that hospital—where many more Black Snail Worms resided! If he could subdue all those Black Snail Worms and assign them monsters to control, he could build an immensely powerful monster army! The thought of having dozens of super-fighters hunting zombies for him daily—the speed of his advancement would be staggering!
The Black Snail Worm’s intellect was no less than a human’s, and it instantly grasped Ye Chen’s plan, asking strangely, “Are you sure you can subdue that many Black Snail Worms?”
Ye Chen glanced at the Three-Tailed Silver Hound. “Don’t I have you? I know that in your dark creature society, strength rules supreme. Your power surpasses that of an ordinary Black Snail Worm tenfold! You can be called the King of Black Snail Worms. With one command, wouldn't they obediently follow?”
“You are truly despicable!”
“Thank you for the compliment!”
The man and the beast arrived at the hospital where they had fought the day before. In the bright daylight, it still exuded a chilling, eerie atmosphere.
Ye Chen did not enter, lingering at the entrance, lazily stating, “I’m leaving the task of subduing your subordinates to you.”
“I’m not going!” the Black Snail Worm huffed, and the Three-Tailed Silver Hound lifted its head haughtily.
“Oh, I suddenly forgot where I put your antidote. What if you can’t find it…”
“You! Fine, you win!”
Ye Chen crossed his arms behind his head, his face breaking into a smug smile.
The Three-Tailed Silver Hound stomped its foot, let out a low growl, gave Ye Chen a resentful look, and turned to walk into the hospital entrance. It raised its head and let out a long cry, sending a mental wave deep into the building.
Not long after, numerous figures emerged from the hospital. Their faces were ashen, completely drained of color, their hair dishevelled—they looked like ghosts, dressed in dead people’s clothes or styled grotesquely like vengeful female spirits. Seeing this spectacle in broad daylight, even Ye Chen felt the surrounding temperature drop considerably.
The Three-Tailed Silver Hound approached these figures. The Black Snail Worm hidden in its skull transmitted spiritual fluctuations, communicating with the other Black Snail Worms. Moments later, these human figures collapsed onto the ground, and swarms of Black Snail Worms crawled out of their noses and ears.
These Black Snail Worms, like cockroaches, moved in masses toward the Three-Tailed Silver Hound, climbing up its legs and body, eventually hiding themselves in its silver mane.
“How many in total?” Ye Chen asked casually.
The Black Snail Worm snorted in response.
Ye Chen nodded. “Little Black, you are now responsible for the monsters these worms control. First, hunt some monsters fifty to seventy times stronger than the average, give those to them, and then hunt zombies and bring their corpses back to the research institute.”
“Damn it! I #￥#￥…”
“I forgot where I put the antidote again.”
“…Fine!”
Ye Chen checked the time and left alone, returning to the research institute. Little Black (the King Black Snail Worm) led a large group of Black Snail Worms out into the streets to search for monsters. Having injected Little Black with the antidote, Ye Chen wasn’t worried about it escaping, as the antidote remained in its possession.
Around noon, Bailong and the others had returned from hunting zombies outside.
Ye Chen entered the research institute, retrieved some water, and cleaned the ground outside, washing away any lingering scents that might attract keen-nosed monsters.
Then, he walked into the living room.
“Ugh, I’m exhausted today. That zombie almost grabbed my chest; that was close!”
“I guess this zombie has a chest fetish!”
“It must be because your chest is more appealing!”
“Scram!”
“Hahahaha…”
Laughter and banter drifted out; Bailong and Yue Heng were joking around. Ye Chen’s mouth curled into an almost imperceptible smile, gone in an instant. He walked into the living room with a placid expression. Seeing that everyone, including Bailong, was present, he breathed a slight sigh of relief, though his face remained unchanged. He asked casually, “How many did you hunt?”
“Hmm, eight units in total!” Bailong said proudly. Based on the 10:1 probability, they had killed seventy or eighty zombies that morning.
Ye Chen frowned slightly. “So few?”
“Damn it!” Bailong flipped him the middle finger. “Who do you think you are, some kind of freak like yourself?”
Ye Chen nodded. “That’s true.”
Bailong gave him a speechless look. “I represent the Moon in despising you!”
Ye Chen casually took the bag of Jī Huà from his waist and tossed it onto the table. “Take this, wash it, and give it to Mo Feng.”
Bailong looked at him suspiciously, walked over, and opened the bag. He immediately saw dozens of pieces of Jī Huà, smooth and white as mutton-fat jade. His eyes froze slightly.
…
I planned for four updates today, aren’t I awesome!! Unfortunately, the recommendation votes just won’t climb, stuck just a few votes behind the leaders!! We’re stuck because of just a few votes!! Unacceptable!! Brothers who forgot to vote, please help push this up in one surge!!!