By the time Blaze and Fester crawled out of the hole, the night had taken over. With it came the dazzling sight above.
With the electronics fried, there was no light pollution. For the first time in many years, Blaze could see the Milky Way galaxy and countless new stars above.
It was a truly dazzling sight. A sight that almost made him want to make humans extinct so the stars would never have to be covered up again.
I don’t remember having seen so many of them before... the stars and the zombies.
A loud snarl brought Blaze’s attention back to Earth.
He looked in front only to see dozens of new undead surrounding the building. It was surprising, since Blaze had killed most undead before falling asleep.
So many undead had gathered there, and it could mean one thing.
Someone has brought them here.
Was it intentional or not?
The undead were right in time for him to test out his evolved traits.
You want to fight too?
I guess it’s fine. It’s been a while since we fought together, either way.
With that thought, Blaze cleared his throat. It was time to test the first trait.
The zombies stopped moving and turned towards the sentinel undead. The first of his kind.
They remained still for a moment before dropping flat on their stomachs. They weren’t dead, just obeying Blaze’s command.
Hivemind... this is more useful than I thought.
Blaze smirked as the undead obeyed him, showing no resistance. The Necrolink had evolved into the Hivemind skill, extending its reach and usability.
Even so, the trait wasn’t running optimally. It seemed he would have to create a new installation for it to work properly.
It was odd considering Hivemind was a trait that had no relation to Lair management. However, it seemed with each evolution, the traits would slowly unify into something stronger.
As for what the Hivemind could do, it could do everything Necrolink did and more. Most importantly, it was integrated with the mind plague skill.
After constructing the installation, Blaze wouldn’t just gain access to the memories of his prey, but he could store them. Though with his photographic memory, he wouldn’t need to revisit the memories.
That’s why such an installation was on his priority list. Unlike the Spawner.
I hope Marrow is looking for those elite mutant nuclei.
As he was lost in thought, a zombie stood back up. Blaze raised an eyebrow, staring at the undead. Then another stood up, and another.
Within seconds, all the undead were back on their feet.
For a moment, Blaze thought they’d attack him. To his surprise, they turned and ran away as if they feared him.
That’s when he felt it.
A strange force was pulling him ahead as if it wanted him to follow. The feeling was akin to a magnet pulling another from a short distance.
No? That’s... unexpected.
It was possible his senses had become sharpened following the evolution. Since Fester was still an elite, it couldn’t feel the world like Blaze did.
Follow me from under.
Blaze instructed, tapping the ground.
Whatever that pull was, Blaze didn’t want to confront it head-on. It was better to be cautious when confronting unknown creatures.
Fester jumped back into the hole and began digging as Blaze followed the source behind the pull.
He jumped over a fence and headed inside the research lab.
Whatever the creature was, it was outside. It helped Blaze, as he wanted to head to a vantage point first.
Know thy enemy and know yourself. Sun Tzu never misses.
Blaze wasn’t the only one inside the lab.
After escaping the zombies, Voss was trying to calm his nerves with beer. He was covered in dust and dirt and also... burns.
The journey had been eventful, to say the least. Unlike the safe environment he was expecting, Voss encountered small, acid-spitting spiders inside.
They had shiny black bodies and hissed as they shot green spit that melted metal like it was butter.
In the end, he had to toss away the tuna he was carrying to bait them and escape. Now he only had his beer, and acid-burned skin to accompany him.
"Can things get any worse?"
As if to answer him, a loud roar echoed from the outside. Followed by screeches from the zombies.
Voss’s neck snapped in the direction as he dove under a bench. The curious side of him had died. He no longer cared to look outside and see what was happening.
However, becoming a frilled shark didn’t mean that danger wouldn’t find him.
With a heavy thud, the building shook. Something massive must have hit the building for it to shake like it was made of legos.
Nothing happened for a moment, then another shakedown. Whatever the thing was, it was climbing the building.
Voss felt something land outside the wall. Not wanting to be noticed, he pressed his hands against his mouth and nose.
For a moment, it seemed the creature would continue on its way. Voss was seconds away from sighing in relief when something happened.
Several fleshy appendages broke through the wall, tearing it apart.
Voss saw the tentacles, and those were enough to make him run. At least try to and try he did.
The bench he was hiding under flipped over as he tried to run. However, the tentacles were faster.
Before he knew it, a tentacle had wrapped itself tightly around his leg.
"Let go!" Voss yelled as he tripped and fell over.
Soon, another tentacle grabbed his other leg. Voss grabbed his makeshift spear and began stabbing tentacles, but to his horror, it didn’t even flinch.
That’s when the creature made its appearance.
It was tall, easily over ten feet. Its head was upside down, and it was covered in bulging muscles. And those tentacles... they were coming out of its back.
Meanwhile, Voss kept stabbing away in despair as the tentacles lifted him off the ground. The zombie opened a mouth that could easily swallow a man whole.
Voss knew it was the end, and tears fell freely from his eyes as he begged for a miracle.
Just then, he felt a gust of wind and, the next thing he knew, he was on the floor.
The tentacles around his legs were nowhere to be seen, but Voss wasn’t looking at them, but at the suit-wearing stranger standing between him and the zombie from before.