Chapter 22: Zombie Grades

An armored vehicle barreled along the mountain trail, charging forward recklessly. As dusk began to settle, Ao Xin decided to park the vehicle by the roadside to rest for the night. Just as he rounded a bend at the foot of a hill, he suddenly spotted a flicker of light ahead.

"Light?"

Light meant people, but in the apocalypse, others were the least trustworthy of all. Should he kill the inhabitants just to secure a safe place to stay? Though he was ruthless, he was not the type to strike down the innocent. He parked the car by the roadside and, using the dim glow from the distance, decided to spend the night right there.

Exiting the vehicle, Ao Chen pulled a camping kit from the back—a large tent—and set it up on the spot. Despite the dangers of the apocalypse and the terrifying presence of zombies, under Ao Xin’s meticulous care, Ao Chen felt no fear; rather, she found it somewhat thrilling. Sitting on a straw mat, she looked up at the sky. The zombie virus had tainted the air, making the moon and stars appear hazy.

"Brother, tell me about your past life!"

Ever since she learned that Ao Xin was a reincarnator, Ao Chen had loved pestering him to tell her stories from before. To her, the experiences of a nobody struggling to survive in the apocalypse were fascinating.

"Alright."

Perhaps these were things he would only ever share with his sister. Having someone to listen to the secrets of his past was, in its own way, a form of happiness. He sat on the mat, placing his baseball bat within easy reach—a habit he had developed in his previous life. No matter the situation, he never let his weapon leave his side.

"The past life, you say..." His eyes, like stars, sank into distant memories.

Suddenly, a soul-piercing roar erupted, and he sprang to his feet.

"Brother, what is it?" Seeing him stand up so abruptly, Ao Chen grew tense. She hurriedly drew her long blade from her storage space and cautiously scanned the surroundings.

"It’s a corpse roar!" Ao Xin’s expression was grave. He gripped his baseball bat, his gaze fixed on the source of the light in the distance. The roar had come from there.

"A corpse roar?" Ao Chen was confused. What was that?

"A corpse roar is the cry of a zombie!" Ao Xin explained. "But tell me, have you ever heard a zombie make a sound before?"

Reminded, Ao Chen realized with a jolt that she had killed many zombies but had never once heard one make a sound, let alone a roar like that.

"A zombie’s body is decayed, and its vocal cords are rotted away, so they cannot make a sound. However, as a zombie evolves, its body gradually repairs itself and regains basic physiological functions, such as speech. But to be able to vocalize, a zombie must be at least a One-Star."

"One-Star?" Ao Chen was unfamiliar with the grading system.

Ao Xin continued, "A newly turned zombie is unranked, the lowest of the low. These low-level zombies are mere walking corpses; they stumble forward slowly, and besides the occasional lunge, they aren't hard to deal with. They have a bit more strength and harder bones, but even an ordinary person has a chance to kill one. When they finish repairing their bodies by consuming flesh and blood and no longer rot, they complete their first step of evolution. At this point, although they are covered in corpse spots and smell of decay, they can walk like normal people. They are faster and can use human-like combat moves, not just grabbing and biting. At this stage, they are One-Star zombies—also known as Flesh Corpses! A Flesh Corpse has a restored body, which is why it can roar. But to face a Flesh Corpse, one must reach the Copper Skin stage!"

"It’s no longer safe here," Ao Xin told her. "Get back into the car. I’m going to go ahead and take a look. If it’s just a Flesh Corpse, we’ll be fine, but if it’s a Two-Star Zombie, we’re in danger!"

He was only at the Copper Skin stage himself; to deal with a Two-Star zombie, he would need to reach the Iron Bone stage. But the apocalypse had only been going on for five or six days; zombies shouldn't be evolving this quickly.

After getting Ao Chen into the armored vehicle, he activated his Dragon Transformation, hoisted his iron rod, and headed toward the source of the roar. As he drew closer, he realized the source of the light was a dilapidated Taoist temple.

"Lei Zu Temple?" Hidden in the wilderness and so run-down, it certainly wasn't one of those commercialized tourist traps. Only here would one find real Taoist priests.

"Ah!!!" A man’s scream pierced the air, followed by a chaotic clatter of pots and pans being knocked over. The temple gates swung open, and a bald man rushed out in a panic. "Help! Help!" Even knowing that no one would be around to rescue him in the deep mountains, he shouted desperately.

As he ran out of the gates, he found himself face-to-face with a dragon-man wielding an iron rod. In the pitch-black night, under the faint moonlight, he was so terrified that he collapsed onto the ground, sobbing, "Monster! Monster!" Fear consumed him; he didn't even realize this was a power-user who had gained abilities from consuming a Azure Dragon Fruit found in a divine space. His mind shattered, and he began to lose control of his bowels, staring blankly while letting out a mindless, eerie laugh.

Ao Xin frowned in annoyance; for such a big man, his mental fortitude was pitiful. He was about to step into the temple when the crumbling wall of the main hall collapsed with a deafening crash. An old man with pitch-black skin and tattered Taoist robes was ravenously tearing into a man's body. On the ground lay several other corpses, chewed to shreds.

The old Taoist heard the commotion and looked up. The moment his eyes met Ao Xin’s, Ao Xin knew things had gone wrong. It wasn't a Flesh Corpse; it was a Zombie! The old Taoist stood with his limbs held unnaturally straight even while feeding. His withered hands were tipped with sharp, lethal claws, and from his mouth protruded four fangs dripping with blood. These were the unmistakable hallmarks of a Zombie!

Zombies were the result of a Flesh Corpse further evolving, using a massive amount of viral load to reinforce their bodies, leading to a state where the virus pooled in the body before being fully digested. This pooled virus made the zombie’s body stiff, but it also granted them a body of "Copper Skin and Iron Bone," making them extremely difficult to kill. Fortunately, their fatal weakness remained the head; as long as it was decapitated or crushed, they would die.

"Damn it! How could there be enough virus in such a remote place for it to evolve this far?" Ao Xin cursed under his breath. The zombie priest tossed aside the half-eaten corpse and leaped toward him. Despite the stiffness of its body, the jump was incredibly fast, landing it right in front of him.

Ao Xin hurriedly raised his baseball bat to block. The zombie bit down, leaving four deep indentations in the metal.

"Heat Breath!" A blast of superheated breath scorched the zombie’s face, burning away its hair and robes. While the skin charred, it suffered no significant damage.

"Roar!" The zombie priest bellowed and swiped its claws, attacking again.

"Thunderous Bagua!" Though he lacked the technique of advanced armament, the baseball bat, wreathed in crackling electricity, truly possessed the momentum of a thunderous strike!