Creak, creak, snap...
The sound of soles treading on snow and snapping dry branches echoed through the woods as Lu Heng and his companions walked.
The entire forest was eerily quiet, with only this sound and the whistling of the northwest wind through the branches.
Accompanying Lu Heng's breaths, white mist constantly appeared before his face.
Lin Xue looked at Lu Heng with curiosity. It did not breathe, and having no temperature, it could not emit heat from within.
"Master, could I also exhale this white gas before?"
"Yes, when it's cold, humans can exhale this gas," Lu Heng stopped and looked at the little girl, whose height barely reached his waist.
At this moment, snowflakes had accumulated a thick layer on Lin Xue's shoulders. Lu Heng raised his hand and brushed away the snow from Lin Xue, "Perhaps if we discover the reason for the zombies' appearance, your virus might be curable. You see, you are much better than other zombies. The external injuries on your body can heal themselves. Perhaps we can also find a way to cure the internal virus."
Lin Xue seemed to understand, tilting her head and nodding, but her vacant eyes gazed unfocused in another direction.
"There."
"Okay."
Picking up Lin Xue, Lu Heng mobilized the energy within him and quickly moved in one direction. In a single breath, Lu Heng vanished from his previous position, his four footprints gradually being covered by falling snowflakes.
...
Screech, creak, creak, creak...
A sound of tearing and chewing arose. Lu Heng held his breath, standing on the trunk of a tall tree, observing the scene not far away.
A zombie was趴ing on the ground, gnawing on the body of another zombie. The zombie on the ground was still wriggling, but with its limbs missing, its body could only writhe in place. Scattered around them were many shredded body tissues.
The zombie being bitten felt no pain; it merely twitched habitually, trying to move with instinct.
Around them stood another complete zombie, wandering aimlessly. After bumping into a nearby tree trunk, it turned and continued its aimless wandering.
However, no matter how it changed direction, in the dense forest, it would bump into things and not go far. Before long, it would return to the zombie that was tearing at its companion.
The biting zombie seemed to have finally eaten its fill. After a few more bites of its fellow creature, it raised its head and looked at the head of the other zombie.
It tilted its own head as if contemplating, staring intently at the wriggling zombie.
Just as Lu Heng thought it wouldn't make any further moves, the zombie that had been eating its companion suddenly extended its arm and punched the head of the zombie on the ground.
The struck zombie immediately stopped wriggling. Its skull cracked, and red and white matter splattered everywhere.
After the pressure in the cranial cavity disappeared, the red and white substances began to flow towards the ground under gravity, seeping from the shattered skull.
The zombie that had just killed its companion grabbed the exploded skull with both hands, pried it open forcefully, and then reached a hand into the half-cracked skull, fumbling around.
After rummaging for a while, the zombie seemed to have finally found what it was looking for. It made a hissing sound and quickly pulled its hand out of the skull.
Immediately, a level three crystal emitting a faint glow appeared in its hand.
The zombie looked at the crystal in its hand, unhesitatingly put it into its mouth. After a moment of silence, it stood up somewhat excitedly and let out a loud roar into the sky.
Lu Heng squinted and looked down. He also felt the change in that zombie. It had been a level four zombie, and after consuming the crystal, it had evolved to level five.
Lin Xue couldn't see, but it could feel. Now, knowing there was a zombie nearby, it used its thoughts to communicate with Lu Heng, "One less, the level four one is gone too, but there's a new level five."
"Mm."
So this was how zombies evolved. Lu Heng was still somewhat shocked after witnessing it firsthand. These zombies were almost like humans; they could also absorb energy from crystals to help themselves increase their level.
However, this was likely something these zombies only realized after evolving to a certain level.
Before they evolved from level one to level two or three, perhaps, as Lin Xue had said, they gained higher-level evolutions by eating the flesh and blood of living creatures or by accidentally consuming crystals.
But as their intelligence grew, in addition to relying on instinct and consuming the flesh and blood of living creatures, they would also realize the energy within crystals and thus accelerate their leveling speed by merging with their fellow zombies' crystals.
Higher-level zombies could command lower-level zombies. These lifeless and emotionless zombies, when driven by higher-level zombies, were easily killed by their own kind to accelerate their acquisition of crystal energy for leveling.
If higher-level zombies wanted to level up, it should be much easier than for humans. This meant that zombies with intelligence after level five would evolve faster than humans in the future.
Thinking of this, Lu Heng felt a cold sweat break out on his back. If this were the case, in this lifetime, without his unexpected appearance, humanity's ultimate fate would be complete annihilation by zombies.
With this thought, a fierce glint appeared in Lu Heng's eyes. He couldn't let these zombies evolve beyond humans. Since there was a variable like him in this life, he wanted to change everything and accelerate the pace of human evolution.
With a thought, Lu Heng gathered two ice cones and quickly struck them towards the zombie below. The zombie was still roaring at the sky, showcasing its upgrade, when the ice cones pierced their heads.
The ice cones shot out, taking the crystals from the zombie's brain with them. Then, Lu Heng waved his hand and collected the crystals on the ground into his spatial storage.
"Let's go." Picking up Lin Xue, Lu Heng channeled his energy and moved rapidly through the forest. Soon, they arrived at the outskirts of the woods.
...
Without searching for more high-level zombies, Lu Heng commanded the eagle-beaked beast to return to Nameless City.
Inside the city, apart from a few traders from other bases, most of the survivors in Nameless City were hiding in their homes. In this cold weather, their movements outside would be restricted, and their reactions would be slower than usual, making it unsuitable for fighting zombies outdoors.
Fortunately, during the period when the city's residents moved to Nameless City, they had a good period of rest and recuperation. Everyone was no longer struggling with both supplies and zombies.
Their main task now was killing zombies. By using the crystals obtained from zombies, they could also exchange them for the supplies they needed within the base.
Any surplus crystals could also be used to improve their own levels. Of course, if a team was strong enough, they would also bring back some supplies.
"Golden Eagle, go find Lin Yu and tell him to come back. I have some things to discuss with him," Lu Heng communicated with Golden Eagle using his thoughts. What had just happened made him realize that some plans needed to be changed.