Chapter Fifty-Four: The Zombie "Brother Huang"

Liang Jing let out a bitter smile, shook his head, and let the matter drop. He seemed to be a little too greedy. He was already far better off than everyone else; as long as he fully developed their abilities, there would be no comparison at all.

Yes, his ambitions were sky-high. After obtaining the system and the power of replication, that ambition had only grown more intense. With the benefits brought by those two extraordinary abilities, he believed he would surely become the most formidable of all. The attempt just now had merely been an experiment in making use of the power of replication. Since it could not be made to work, he could only abandon it for the time being and stop beating his head against a wall.

"Old Jia, how did the questioning go?"

Putting those thoughts aside, Liang Jing asked Jia Yujin beside him whether the two underlings had revealed anything useful, and whether their answers differed from what Yellow Brother had said. He would never truly believe that the other side had told the truth; only by comparing both sides could the real answer be found.

"Both of them are weaklings. A little scare and they spilled everything. Pretty much the same as what that Yellow Brother said earlier."

Jia Yujin shook his head. Clearly, he was displeased with those spineless cowards. He had not even exerted much effort before getting what he wanted, which left him with no sense of accomplishment.

"Good."

Liang Jing nodded. It seemed this Young Master Tu was nothing special either. One could tell from his subordinates alone: they were nothing more than bullies who feared the strong and preyed on the weak. Though such thoughts crossed his mind, he still did not let down his guard.

"Old Wu, kill those two men. Rat, Iron Pillar, help Old Wu."

Liang Jing glanced at the cook, Wu Aimin, who stood nearby with a somewhat evasive look in his eyes, and gave the order.

"Don't! Spare us, spare us! We told you everything..."

"You'll die a miserable death! Young Master Tu won't let you get away with this. Even as ghosts, we won't let you go..."

The two underlings were still conscious, though their faces had turned deathly pale. Hearing Liang Jing's words, they sprang up in terror, shouting, begging for mercy, and hurling curses. But they were quickly pinned to the ground by the others and left unable to move.

"Here, take it and start."

Rat handed the short blade in his hand to Wu Aimin. His tone was impatient, and he was not at all polite. With his eyes, he could tell that Wu Aimin had already been frightened by what Yellow Brother had said about the Tu family and Young Master Tu. He was probably already thinking about how to survive, and who knew what other plans he had hidden in his heart.

Indeed, Liang Jing had noticed his unsettled, evasive gaze and feared he might cause trouble. Letting him kill the two underlings now was merely a token of allegiance. That way, everyone would be content and things would be easier for all. If it had been possible, Liang Jing would not have wanted to waste these two underlings by having someone else kill them. He himself was badly depleted from the earlier scanning and felt hollow inside, urgently needing the source of life to replenish himself. But since Yellow Brother, the awakened one, was still present, Liang Jing simply had Wu Aimin kill the two underlings.

Wu Aimin took the incomparably sharp short blade. His hands trembled a little, and fear churned in his heart, but under the wolfish stares of the others, he knew there was no escaping it. Gritting his teeth, he thrust the blade into the immobilized, terrified underling before him. With a wet sound, the razor edge pierced through chest and back; after a few spasms, the body went stiff and died.

Watching Wu Aimin kill both underlings, his face now pale as paper, slumped on the ground and seeming close to retching, his hands shaking, Liang Jing at least gained a bit of trust in him.

"Not bad. Work hard from now on, and you won't be treated badly."

Liang Jing patted Wu Aimin on the shoulder in encouragement and comfort. Somehow, he suddenly thought of the words leaders loved to say most often: "I am very optimistic about you." A smile curled at the corner of his mouth. He had not expected that one day he would say something like it too.

Swoosh!

Liang Jing picked up the short blade and, with a flash of cold light, drove it through Yellow Brother's chest. Yellow Brother was already gravely wounded and unconscious, and though he was an awakened one with enhanced defensive abilities, his innate power had not yet been activated. Liang Jing easily split open his body...

"Aaah!"

Yellow Brother, who had been unconscious, suddenly let out a miserable scream and convulsed awake. Ignoring his injuries and restraints, he struggled violently. His innate skill activated at once, and his whole body swelled by a full circle. A brown keratin layer several centimeters thick covered his skin, while even the bull tendons binding his body stretched and thinned under the strain after his awakened power surged, as if they might snap at any moment.

Liang Jing did not stop. He pulled the short blade out just as quickly. As expected of an awakened one in the physical enhancement category, even after his chest had been pierced and blood poured out in streams, it took several minutes before Yellow Brother finally died. During all this time, under the horrified gazes of the others, Liang Jing had utterly disfigured him.

At that point Liang Jing no longer cared about anything else and used Corpse Taming Technique. In an instant, the surrounding yin wind howled, filled with ghostly cries and wails. Earlier, he had already destroyed the mutated bull corpse and taken all the items from it. Since they were going to the migration crowd of more than a hundred thousand people, carrying such a huge zombie would be extremely inconvenient, and it would be troublesome under sunlight as well. Now that he had the corpse of this awakened one, things were different. After all, both were human, and it seemed that once the corpse of an awakened one became a zombie, it would no longer fear sunlight much. As long as it was wrapped in thick clothing to conceal it, that would be enough.

This one was an awakened one of the physical enhancement type, and at the moment of death his innate power was still active. Perhaps he would make a very good zombie henchman. Liang Jing wondered what he would become after being refined by Corpse Taming Technique.

Success!

As the wails of countless vengeful spirits faded and the yin wind dispersed, Yellow Brother's corpse, once huge from the use of his powers, slowly shrank a little, settling into an ordinary build. Yet he still looked powerfully robust. The brown keratin layer on his body had not disappeared; it had merely turned grayish black instead of brown, giving off a cold, hard sheen. Because his entire body was covered in a keratin shell several centimeters thick, his limbs looked nearly twice as thick as those of an ordinary person. The gray-black armor radiated a chilling aura and seemed to possess the strength to tear apart wolves, tigers, and leopards alike. He was fiercely formidable. Most notably, after becoming a zombie, both his hands and feet had grown thick, sharp black nails, making him even more dangerous-looking than before.

"Old Jia, go see how this zombie measures up."

Liang Jing wanted to see how different this zombie was from before.

Bang! Bang!

Jia Yujin did not waste words. Once again he transformed into a diamond-like form and charged the gray-black, powerfully built zombie. The zombie did not dawdle either. Under Liang Jing's control, it engaged Old Jia in battle, and for a while neither could gain the upper hand.

Against Jia Yujin's attacks, the zombie's defenses seemed considerably improved. Perhaps violent impacts had little effect on the inside of a zombie's body, since it showed no sign of being shaken at all. Indeed, the zombie's blows striking Jia Yujin sounded even more forceful than when it had been alive. The tremendous shock of that power made Jia Yujin's face repeatedly flush red. It was clear from this that the human body was still far more fragile. Even if the defense was tough and impenetrable, overwhelming force could still cause severe internal injuries, even death.

Fortunately, after transforming into diamond form, Jia Yujin's body had become solid and rigid beyond measure. He merely found the shaking a little uncomfortable and was not seriously harmed.

"All right!"

Seeing that Jia Yujin seemed intent on continuing the fight, Liang Jing had no choice but to call a halt. The two had battled for quite a while, and Liang Jing had already determined that this zombie was indeed impressive. Its agility might have been a little worse than before, but in a fight with Jia Yujin it was evenly matched and hard to separate. Still, zombies did not seem to tire, and no human would be foolish enough to trade blows with one head-on.

"So satisfying! So satisfying! Hahaha..."

"This zombie of yours is really good. Its body is much tougher than before, and its attack power is fierce. I could barely take it."

Jia Yujin rubbed the spot on his chest where the gray-black zombie had struck him, still sore, but he was laughing with genuine delight. Earlier, when Yellow Brother had suddenly erupted with power, Jia Yujin had coughed up a little blood, but it was nothing serious.

Hmm?

At that moment, Liang Jing suddenly seemed to sense something. With a thought, the keratin layer on the gray-black zombie's surface disappeared, leaving it looking much like it had when it was alive, only somewhat drier. Liang Jing then understood: the keratin layer on the zombie's body was not permanent. However, after becoming a zombie, the innate power had remained, and just as in life it still needed to be activated before use. Each time it was used, it consumed the energy within the body.

Now Liang Jing could control when the zombie used that innate power. Once again, he had gained a loyal awakened enforcer.