A grade-3 zombie’s opened skull hit the ground. Unaffected by its death, another zombie stepped up and met the same end.
The ants dragged its body away for Saturn to process it. New materials were generated, along with some familiar ones.
Meanwhile, Blaze sat on his throne, prying heads open.
[Subject J#117’s evolution rate increased to 17%].
[Subject J#117’s evolution rate increased to 19.2%].
[Subject J#117’s evolution rate increased to 23.12%].
Notifications kept flashing before his eyes as he consumed nuclei like M&M’s. Each nucleus had a distinct taste and texture.
Some were tasty, and some made him want to puke. Thankfully, he would wash off their taste with human blood. Another perk of having prisoners.
It would be even better if they started reproducing soon.
That way, Blaze could have a taste of a newborn’s flesh. But it was more so because he wanted to study what happens when two chosen mate.
Will they bring about a stronger life form? Or will it be an ordinary creature who’d end up on Blaze’s plate?
However, there was a slight issue there.
They can’t reproduce on their own because I paralyzed them. Hopefully, Marrow can restore their necessary bodily functions soon.
Blaze shook his head, focusing on the beverage in his hand. It was Monica’s blood. Well, not just hers because he didn’t want her dead.
He had collected their blood and sent the samples to the lab so his father and Voss could try to decipher why these humans were immune to blightspore.
"Let’s forget about that and enjoy this feast for now," he said, before gesturing for the next grade-3 zombie to get close.
The claws of Necrophage extended, slicing off the zombie’s head in one swing. While the arm feasted on its body to replenish itself, Blaze had Fester look for the nucleus.
One would ask why Blaze was sacrificing so many grade-3s. It was because he could create them from scratch via [Auto Assembly]. They could be weaker, but they’d work without a nucleus.
In other words, by consuming their nucleus, Blaze had nothing to lose and everything to gain.
"My evolution comes, hm... this one tastes nice," he said. "Fester, divide its brain among yourselves. Save some for Raven, too. That musclehead won’t focus on his evolution otherwise."
While working towards his evolution, Blaze was also thinking about the Spawner.
At level one, it would only produce walkers and dribblers. Honestly, they weren’t of much use to him, considering they wouldn’t last long against the humans.
The solution was simple. He’d need to upgrade them.
That’s where the problem arose.
"Why does it need a grade-3 mutant nucleus to create grade-2 zombies?"
To put things into perspective, Cheetah was a grade-2 mutant. Yes, a grade-2 mutant had killed several grade-2 and grade-3 zombies.
First, Blaze didn’t think a grade-3 mutant even existed. That was saying something, considering he was in a zoo. A place where such mutants would evolve first... at least if he didn’t trap them in strange cages.
Second, even if such mutants existed, defeating them would be no child’s play. A cheetah had evolved to cast lightning. Blaze could only wonder what other abilities they’d have.
Honestly, if it weren’t for Cheetah, Blaze would have put his evolution on the back burner. After all, the humans weren’t a challenge to him anymore. So he thought he’d focus on making blightspore deadlier and build a better lair.
Just like an omelet, his plans flipped.
[Subject J#117’s evolution rate increased to 79.2%].
Twenty more nuclei later, Blaze was inching closer to his evolution.
"An average of two percent increase per nucleus... this is bad."
At first, Blaze thought consuming thirty grade-3 nuclei would be sufficient for his evolution. But after forty, he was still quite a distance away from his target.
While he was lost in thought, a commotion erupted near the zoo’s entrance.
He wouldn’t have paid any attention to it if it had happened prior to him installing the spire. As the zombies used to fight amongst themselves a lot.
However, under the spire’s control, they couldn’t do that anymore.
"Breaker, go see what’s happening there."
Breaker jumped over the walls, landing near the gates.
"Hm... I didn’t know you could do that."
As Breaker disappeared, Blaze went back to consuming nuclei. He was about to eat another when the zombie appeared before him, this time carrying someone by their nape.
Blaze looked at Breaker, then at the low-grade zombie it was carrying.
"What’s this?" he asked.
"Grr! Grrr..." Breaker replied, shaking the zombie.
"I said, let go! Why won’t you listen to me? Why won’t anyone listen to me!?"
Fester, Saturn, along with the rest of the zombies froze, staring back and forth between Blaze and the zombie... which spoke.
Blaze forgot all about the nucleus, staring at the zombie dangling in Breaker’s arms. He got off the throne, approaching the walker-like zombie.
Unlike other zombies, this one’s face looked more human. Other than the black veins all around his face and his slightly pale color, he could pass off as a human.
It was his smell that perplexed Blaze. The zombie didn’t smell of rot, nor did he smell like a human. It was something in between the two. It was strange. Truly, strange.
"You can... talk?" Blaze asked.
"I’m telling you to drop me!"
The guy ignored Blaze completely and continued yelling at Breaker. The giant looked at its master, who nodded. He was more interested in who this zombie-human hybrid creature was.
"Ha! Finally, you’re obeying me," the zombie sighed, patting Breaker’s forearm. "You’ll make an excellent guard dog."
Saying so, he began looking around the place like he owned it.
"Hm... decent fortifications," he said. "I can turn it into my space. Oh! A throne!"
The zombie rushed towards the throne, but Blaze shot a tendril towards him. The tendril wrapped around the zombie’s legs and hung him upside down.
"What is your problem?" the zombie asked, rolling his eyes. "I’m telling you to put me down. On second thought, give me that suit too."
Blaze tilted his head, wondering if the hybrid creature before him had hit his head somewhere.