A zombie’s physical perception of danger operates even faster than its own thoughts. As the chilling gleam flashed by, Huaisi’s body rapidly recoiled, narrowly evading the fatal blow. Yet the cold light was unstoppable; even though he dodged the lethal strike, the path of the blade instantly sheared away half the flesh from his cheek! It exposed the deep, bare bone of his left cheekbone, clinging to distorted facial muscles and blood vessels, continuously gushing blood. Even half of his lips were sliced off, revealing red gums and white teeth, while the other half of his face remained completely intact.
Huaisi felt a searing, agonizing pain tear across his face, piercing straight into his cranial nerves and causing his pupils to twitch erratically from side to side. But before he could even react to the agony, the man in the gold-rimmed glasses reappeared right at his side! It was as if he had cast some sort of magic; his movements were so fast that it was impossible to track his form.
It felt as though he had simply materialized out of thin air. Yet Huaisi clearly sensed that the man hadn’t even moved! In the blink of an eye, however, the man would effortlessly stand right before him and calmly execute a lethal strike.
Provoking the latent potential of this zombie body, Huaisi rapidly retreated several times to narrowly dodge the fatal blows. But the man’s figure would abruptly close the distance out of nowhere. No matter how fast he sprinted away, in the span of a breath he would find himself right back in front of the man, as if tied to him by an invisible rope. He suffered several cuts across his body, and finally managed to get a clear look at the weapon the man was holding.
It was a blade emitting an eerie, shimmering blue light, a few inches longer than a dagger with a slightly pointed tip, though the hilt was remarkably short. Held in the man’s large hand, only the blade was visible. The man possessed exceptional combat prowess; wielding the weapon with a fluid series of pursuits and blade techniques, his sturdy physique, cold expression, and unhurried composure easily drove Huaisi into a desperate corner.
Fresh blood continuously welled from multiple wounds across Huaisi’s body. Especially rich in blood vessels, his face even though his blood no longer circulated like a living human’s now that he was a zombie constantly seeped bright red blood from the mutilated half-cheek, completely dyeing his golden slit pupils crimson. When he lifted his head, his pale face, vibrant blood, jagged bone, exposed gums, and single remaining refined, handsome half-face presented a bizarre juxtaposition.
He looked like a hybrid of a human and a malevolent ghost!
During his attacks, the man noticed that the blood continuously welling from the youth’s face was bright red. Glancing at the remaining intact half of the handsome face, the man arched an eyebrow slightly, a flash of surprise crossing his eyes behind the lenses. Pondering briefly, he slowed the pace of his lethal strikes, backing Huaisi into a dead end. Behind him lay a pile of refuse and debris that had rotted away for goodness knows how long; as if unable to stand any longer, Huaisi stumbled and collapsed backward onto it.
Yet the man halted right in front of Huaisi, stopping precisely two steps away from the garbage. He habitually adjusted his glasses, his rolled-up sleeves exposing a section of sturdy, muscular arms. Holding the blade in his other hand, he looked down with a detached, towering gaze at the cornered young mutant zombie. The youth raised his head to look at him, his entire body bathed in blood. The intact half of his cheek and those slit pupils simply stared up at him; his golden, slit-pupil eyes, shrouded in a mist of blood, were as shattered as broken glass, brimming with sheer bewilderment.
The eyes behind the lenses were consistently cold, but right then, they showed a hint of loosening. A strange, uncanny sense of familiarity washed over the man, though the looseness in his gaze lasted only a fleeting moment. Rapidly evaluating the young mutant zombie before him, he decided that capturing this creature alive was a viable option. He mentally categorized everything in his sight into a string of analytical metrics.
After all, such mutations were exceedingly rare; capturing it alive would hold immense value for the central base’s scientific experiments.
Capturing this kind of mutant zombie alive was far more valuable than simply killing it just to extract its crystal core and head back.
“Switch to live capture.”
The man quickly made his new decision. Just as he was about to make his next move, the young mutant zombie who had been collapsing against the garbage slowly staggered to his feet. Keeping his head slightly lowered, his blood-drenched black hair framing glowing golden-red pupils, he stared straight at the man. With his hands hanging loosely at his sides, droplets of blood gathered at his pale, colorless fingertips. But when they fell, instead of obeying gravity and dropping to the ground, they curved through the air and shot toward the man like bullets!
A flash of surprise crossed the man’s eyes, and his figure shifted. Yet the blood droplets had already arrived behind him, followed instantly by a barrage of blood projectiles converging from all directions, firing at him with bullet-like velocity!
Then, in a fraction of a second, the man stood completely motionless. Right as the blood droplets reached him even threatening to pierce his temples he unhurriedly waved his hand. In an instant, every single droplet of blood surrounding him took a bizarre turn toward a different direction, while the man himself was already standing safely outside the perimeter of the blood-droplet barrage.
Watching Huaisi, a probing look inevitably crept into the man’s eyes. This was the first time he had ever witnessed a mutant zombie with an esper ability.
This likewise meant that this zombie possessed exceptionally high value.
The man’s eyes behind his lenses finally grew a bit more serious. It seemed his trip out today had yielded some solid rewards; aside from Xie Shouhan, there appeared to be another unexpected bonus.
However, the moment he prepared to strike again, the Huaisi from a moment before had already sprinted far away, looking as though he was about to escape the narrow, elongated alleyway with no intention of continuing the fight.
Yet, since the man had already set his mind on capturing Huaisi alive, he wasn’t about to let him slip away easily. But right as he activated his ability, while Huaisi used “Blood Spikes” to harass him and attempt to delay his movements, a multitude of zombies unexpectedly emerged from all around him without warning. Guided by some unseen instinct, some even dragged their tongues along the blood-stained pavement as they lunged toward the man, swarming in from all directions like a breached ant colony.
Only then did the man’s expression change. Watching the deformed zombies surge forward like squirming worms, his brows furrowed slightly. Obviously unconcerned for his own safety, he casually disposed of several zombies. Their crystal cores popped out from their skulls, but he didn’t even bother to glance at them.
Huaisi’s movements at this moment drew even greater focus from him. Seeing that Huaisi was about to slip away escaping the encirclement with effortless ease the man instantly prepared to give chase. However, his legs suddenly felt heavy; a group of refugees had lunged forward, desperately clinging to his legs and begging for their lives.
Perhaps the instinct for survival made them realize that they had to cling to this man right now, otherwise, surrounded by so many zombies, not even their corpses would be left behind.
“Save us… Please… Save us… Don’t leave…”