"Your attack was powerful."
"But I am more powerful." The special zombie resurrected from the minced flesh.
Tang Jingren retreated without hesitation, sensing that it had undergone some kind of change.
The most obvious sign was that even if he forcibly boosted his dual attributes again, he wouldn’t be able to reduce it to minced flesh—at most, he could only tear it apart.
"Evolution and resurrection-type abilities..." Tang Jingren’s expression was grim.
How on earth had it developed so many powers? A normal body couldn’t possibly bear them all.
With those two abilities working in tandem, the more he killed it, the stronger it would become—until it had completely surpassed him.
Then, it would be able to crush him with ease.
In that moment, Tang Jingren was overcome with jealousy. Couldn’t his predecessor have tried just a little harder?
The Source of Profound Virus sounded impressive, but it was really just a source of contamination.
’I can only stall for time. If I can just hold out until Violator Tianming arrives, there might be a sliver of hope.’ Tang Jingren knew that relying on his own power, victory was out of the question; whether he could even survive was another matter entirely.
Its resurrection speed was ridiculously fast, taking no more than a second.
Even if he managed to flee, he wouldn’t get far. Besides, it possessed a spatial ability, making it laughably easy to catch him.
The moment the thought surfaced, he turned and ran.
His definition of "stalling" certainly didn’t involve a head-on clash. After dying, resurrecting, and evolving again, its dual attributes were now equal to his own.
This immediately put him at a disadvantage. How was he supposed to fight that?
"Die!" The special zombie jumped through space. When it reappeared, a fissure split open its abdomen, and countless hollow tubes shot out from within.
Alarm bells shrieked in Tang Jingren’s mind. If those hollow tubes pierced his body, he was finished.
"Apocalypse Game, help me! You’ve seen my potential! I can absolutely be a huge help to you!"
At this point, he couldn’t care less about being a survivor or the rules of the Apocalypse Game; he just bellowed desperately.
He wasn’t as fast as the special zombie; it would catch him in fifteen seconds at most.
Yet the Apocalypse Game gave no response. It was no longer issuing him the kind of "mandatory quests" that were actually just helpful extra rewards.
His heart sank. ’Is this really it? Is this the end?’
[Warning: Violator is one kilometer away.]
The glaring notification flashed before his eyes. Instead of fear, Tang Jingren felt a surge of excitement.
He immediately used his energy manipulation and Virus Monarch abilities to unleash another explosive, overdrafting burst of power.
This time, however, his attributes didn’t rise to 9 points, only to 7.
But it was enough. He instantly put a great deal of distance between them.
But just as he was about to completely shake the special zombie and await Violator Tianming’s arrival, a violent premonition seized his heart.
He threw himself sideways in a desperate dive.
An instant later, a Dark Ray grazed past his body, missing by a razor’s edge.
It then struck the special zombie pursuing him.
Under the Dark Ray, the special zombie instantly disintegrated into what looked like carbonized flecks of flesh, which rained down to the ground.
He knew Violator Tianming had arrived, but he didn’t stop. He knew the special zombie could resurrect.
He had to use what was left of his five-second power burst to get as far away from here as possible.
Sure enough, the carbonized flecks of flesh began to stir with life.
Only, this resurrection wasn’t as fast as when he had turned it to pulp; it took a full ten seconds for it to reform.
Just as he thought he had shaken his pursuer, an Armored Man blocked his path of escape.
"After all the time we’ve spent together, you just run off without saying a word? That’s not very nice, is it?" Qi Suian said, looking at Tang Jingren.
He could sense that this was the consciousness of the Source of Profound Virus. He could also tell that the man had become a violator like himself, though likely one who had been recruited.
That made him different.
"Tianming, get out of my way! There’s something back there nastier than me," Tang Jingren said, his expression wary.
It wasn’t just the eleven Floating Cannons hovering around Qi Suian that unnerved him, but also the invisible force field around the man. That field was his natural enemy.
With his current constitution, if he were to step into that field, he would die instantly, without even a chance to react.
Qi Suian casually took a step forward. Tang Jingren took a step back.
"You’re the second pure zombie to sense the Divine Purification Force Field. The first was Chunyu Hu," Qi Suian stated calmly.
Those who underwent the Immortal Surgery don’t count as zombies, so among all zombies, it’s just been the two of you.
"Oh, and here comes the third." Qi Suian’s gaze fell upon the massive, deformed special zombie behind Tang Jingren.
The special zombie didn’t dare approach Qi Suian either, stopping a short distance away.
The special zombie could sense more than Tang Jingren. It knew that while it could still resurrect after dying inside that invisible force field, it would gain no evolution from it.
This meant if it got trapped inside, it would be caught in an endless cycle of death, resurrection, death, and resurrection again.
The Divine Purification Force Field was the bane and natural enemy of the Profound Virus. Even though the special zombie was the most unique of the three, it was not exempt so long as it carried the virus.
Of course, the special zombie had ranged attacks too, so it would be fine as long as it kept its distance.
"It resurrects, evolves, and has multiple powers."
"Let me think... You don’t have SSS-rank Devour and Evolve, do you?" Qi Suian noted the special zombie’s apprehension toward his Divine Purification Force Field.
He was actually cursing internally. When he’d headed over, he never expected Tang Jingren and the special zombie to be this powerful.
They weren’t as strong as Chunyu Hu, but they were definitely stronger than him.
The most troublesome one was the Mutated Zombie. He suspected it didn’t just have SSS-rank Devour and Evolve, but maybe also an SSS-rank resurrection power and an SSS-rank rapid evolution power.
What doesn’t kill it makes it stronger, and what *does* kill it makes it even stronger through resurrection.
It was a catch-22. If it died in enough varied ways, the special zombie could grow to become even more powerful than him, the Zombie Dominator.
However, because it lacked Destiny, it couldn’t maximize its potential, and its indiscriminate devouring had led to a deformed body.
The special zombie didn’t answer Qi Suian with words, but with a massive telekinetic blast.
Melee was out of the question, but the special zombie still had ranged powers.
The AI responded instantly. The muzzles of the Floating Cannons formed a Dark Energy Net that not only dissipated the telekinetic blast but also spread out to envelop the special zombie.
However, the one who bore the brunt of the attack was not the special zombie, but Tang Jingren, caught right between them.