It took ng Wuji almost a month to clear all the zombie corpses around the base. Luckily, as a Level 4 Evolver, he was arguably the most invincible being... Perhaps.
He suspected the Level 3 Mutated Zombie that Wang Linchi had previously sent was created by Wang Linchi himself. After all, Wang Linchi was the source of the zombies, so possessing such power wasn't too surprising.
Even now, he still couldn't figure out what Wang Linchi was truly up to.
But as ti passed, he paid less attention to these matters. However, after that battle, quite a few problems had arisen with his own body. For instance, Am I turning into a zombie?
His injuries had healed, but his skin color remained as ghastly pale as a zombie's. His eyeballs were no longer clearly black and white; they seed stained with fresh blood, turning them a blood red.
His emotions had also undergone many changes, such as the fading of certain desires. Before, he harbored inappropriate thoughts about his first love, but after that battle, those thoughts had shifted.
Previously, he found her scent alluring in a psychological sense; now, it was appealing in a literal, olfactory way. Sotis, he even felt the urge to bite her neck and taste her blood, but he managed to restrain himself.
It was these changes that made him realize he was undergoing zombification.
But theoretically, this shouldn't be happening to him. His abilities were sufficient to grant immunity to the Level 4 Zombie Virus, and he could even resist a Level 5 Zombie Virus.
Yet, the changes occurred without any warning.
Therefore, he suspected that the virus from Wang Linchi, the source of the zombies, was of such a high level that his own abilities couldn't fully resist it.
However, this raised another question. If Wang Linchi's virus was indeed of the highest level, how could his own abilities have allowed him to hold out for a whole month? The changes, while significant, weren't entirely overwhelming, as his human consciousness still remained.
Another month went by, and he began hunting zombies to enhance his abilities.
However, he discovered that when he swallowed Mutated Zombie Crystal Cores, he could actually inherit a portion of that Mutated Zombie's abilities, causing further changes in himself.
He now possessed so characteristics of Mutated Zombies.
Mutated Zombies were easily distinguishable from ordinary ones because ordinary zombies always retained a human-like form. Mutated Zombies, however, were different; they would develop various distinct features due to their unique abilities.
For instance, so Mutated Zombies with six arms might possess abilities like Mighty, Jumbo Strength, ntal Impact, or Telekinesis Burst.
It wasn't that possessing these abilities caused these characteristic changes; rather, to possess these abilities, one had to have these features, as they were necessary to support such powers.
At first, ng Wuji didn't actually know he had this capacity. When he first started consuming the cores, the abilities and mutated features didn't manifest imdiately. These features and abilities developed slowly, and by the ti he realized what was happening, it was too late. He could only stop hunting.
However, this wasn't necessarily a good thing. He found that not only had he gained mutated features and abilities, but his zombification had also beco more severe.
By the third month, he discovered sothing horrifying. In his sleep, he had devoured his first love. He only found out when he woke up in the morning and checked the surveillance footage.
It wasn't the mouth on his face that had done the eating, but a huge mouth that occupied most of his back.
In the surveillance footage, he only saw the large mouth on his back extend a long, barbed tongue, which wrapped around the person and pulled them in. Then the mouth closed. He heard the sound of sharp teeth chewing, followed by a swallowing motion that ended it all. He had no idea where she had been swallowed to.
ng Wuji had expected to go mad, or feel fear, regret, and other such emotions. Instead, he was remarkably calm, as if he were watching himself eat a small piece of bread.
"Have I turned into a conscious zombie?" ng Wuji murmured.
Now, he seed to understand Wang Linchi a little better—why Wang Linchi had been so strange. If it were , he thought, perhaps to maintain my human self, I would also beco that frenzied and ultimately seek death as a release.
No, my situation might be even more miserable than Wang Linchi's. Wang Linchi was the source of the zombies. I seem to have been infected by the progenitor zombie virus from him. However, I am not Wang Linchi, after all. So the effects I'm experiencing are completely different from his. This ans my problems are different from his too.
While his sense of self was still very clear and his emotions remained under control, he began to contemplate his next steps.
There are only two paths before now, he thought.
The first path is to stop hunting zombies, stop trying to beco stronger. I would spend the rest of my life aimlessly in the base, hidden from people, just surviving day by day until I die. With this path, I can see the end. Life would likely be peaceful; no one would bother . At least in the short term, no Level 4 zombies or Level 4 Evolvers are likely to appear. There are risks, though. Because my current appearance is more akin to a zombie, I absolutely cannot let anyone find out. Otherwise, it would inevitably lead to disaster.
The other path is simpler: hunt zombies. It wouldn't matter what level they are, whether ordinary or Mutated Zombies. As long as I can dig out their Crystal Cores and devour them, I'll keep getting stronger. Even if I eventually beco sothing other than human, I could still survive and potentially beco the ruler of this entire world. However, this process might be accompanied by the loss of emotions, the loss of self, and other unforeseeable consequences.
After a long silence, the crimson glow in his eyes intensified.
"Since I've already started down this path, I might as well see it through to the very end, into the darkness." ng Wuji knew he no longer had any way to turn back.
Only now did he understand sothing: why Wang Linchi had said he possessed foresight of the future, rather than being soone reborn.
This ans I was soone's pawn. These mories are false; they were implanted in my mind to make believe I was reborn. After re-examining his mories, he indeed found many inconsistencies. But it doesn't matter anymore. After Wang Linchi's death, I broke free from the control of that hidden manipulator.
Wang Linchi must have been in the sa situation, ng Wuji thought. Except he couldn't break free from that control, so in the end, he could only choose to help .
At this mont, ng Wuji was completely certain that Wang Linchi was dead.
"In that case, the base..." ng Wuji murmured, looking at his base with a hint of reluctance.
Compared to his first love, the base was clearly more important to him.
If I take this path, I'll have to abandon the base. I can't possibly take the entire base with ... No, wait. It seems I actually can take it with ! ng Wuji suddenly realized. He still had his Spatial Ability. If things went smoothly, uprooting the entire base wasn't out of the question.
To him, it was all worth it. Even if it ant death, he had to take it with him.
This base was the culmination of all his efforts.
As for my first love... well, I'm carrying her with too, aren't I? Albeit in a rather strange way. But in the end, we've beco one.
「...」
"It's done." Wang Linchi watched as ng Wuji took his entire survival base away. He knew that ng Wuji, having chosen this path, was no longer the protagonist. He had beco a zombie, effectively joining the side of the Sin-force.
Naturally, his interference played a part in this. Otherwise, under the watchful eyes of this world, how could a protagonist possibly defect to the enemy on his own?
Regarding the Fate carried by an individual like ng Wuji, Wang Linchi mused, without a sufficiently powerful external force to intervene, even if one were to intercept their destined opportunities, they would still eventually return to their original path. Their trajectory wouldn't change simply due to such ddling. On the contrary, interferers lacking sufficient strength—such as those who rely snatch opportunities—would instead face corresponding repulsion, punishnt, and the like from the world.
Next, let's see how you, World, will respond, Wang Linchi thought. He had simultaneously plunged the world into despair and offered it a sliver of hope.
ng Wuji wasn't dead yet, but his current state was no different from death. Having beco a zombie, he was now one of the Living Dead.
Based on Wang Linchi's judgnt, there was a high probability that the world would seek help from other worlds, especially as it watched ng Wuji gradually slip from its control and move towards opposition. Moreover, Wang Linchi, the supposed mastermind, was no longer in the picture.
His 'death' had been confird, after all.
I don't need to worry about being found either, Wang Linchi thought. The world couldn't detect even when it was at its peak, let alone now when it's on the brink of death, barely hanging on by a thread.
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