Chương 85: The Mystery of Mutation and New Experiments

A miracle that cannot be replicated will, in the eyes of others, inevitably look like you are hiding some crucial information. Since he couldn't clearly explain it himself, nor could he replicate this power for others, it was better to simply avoid the issue altogether.

"What did this giant zombie look like when you guys first saw it?" Vince took the meat cleaver from Ben's hands. Expressionless, he began slicing along the fissures in the Giant-Armed Zombie's charred armor, systematically dissecting the entire corpse.

"Urgh... gag..." Watching Vince's practiced movements, which mirrored those of a seasoned butcher, and smelling the overwhelming stench of burnt flesh and rot, Ben dry-heaved in disgust. But hearing Vince's question, he wiped his mouth, recalled the memory, and answered:"... Its skin was this livid, bluish-black color, like... like the back of a giant carp. The skin was incredibly tough, exactly like thick leather. These steel spears couldn't even pierce it..."

"Its head... its head was the same color, but it didn't look like a human head at all. It looked more like a basin inverted onto its body, with two eyes growing on the sides... In the chaos, I don't even know whose spear accidentally gouged one of them..."

"And it had a mouth, right about here..." He pointed to the base of the protrusion on the corpse.

"Horizontal, massive, and it could stretch incredibly wide, but it's all burned to a crisp now..." Listening to Ben's description, Vince didn't stop his hands. The meat cleaver easily sliced open the charred, basin-like "head". Sure enough, exactly like the Banshee Zombie, the inside only contained the hollow cavity of its maw and some cartilaginous structures. Those so-called eyes were likely just sensory organs, similar to the Banshee Zombie's tentacles.

He guided the blade downward until the zombie's torso was completely sliced open. Deep within the chest cavity that had been blasted apart by the Sharpness energy, nestled inside a mass of deformed, rotting flesh, a hard shell bearing a seventy or eighty percent resemblance to a human skull was revealed. The crystal from earlier had been extracted right here. This was its true "head," or rather, its vital weak point.

Looking at this rotting flesh entirely devoid of conventional anatomical structure, if it weren't for this "shell" still retaining a partial resemblance to a human skull, Vince wouldn't even be sure if these so-called mutated zombies had evolved from humans... or rather, regular zombies. The physiological changes were far too extreme, too thorough. Furthermore, the fact that this mutation could spawn something like a Crystal possessing supernatural power was genuinely mind-boggling.

"... Vince, is there something wrong with this corpse?" Watching Vince dissect the body with complete, rapt attention, Ben stood to the side, feeling too awkward to leave but too nauseated to stay. Seeing him finally pause, he hurriedly asked.

"Ah... it's nothing. I'm done. You can get back to what you were doing..." Vince finally snapped out of his thoughts. He picked up his spear, hooked the dissected chunks of rotten meat off the ground, walked a few steps forward, and tossed them straight into the first floor of the burning building. After a moment's thought, he retrieved the Banshee Zombie's corpse and tossed it in as well, though into a different apartment.

With the battle concluding, the survivors in the two western buildings, under Ben's organization, began filing outside to carry away the normal zombie corpses, stacking them in a temporary pile off to the side. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

"This building is completely gutted by the fire. Don't let anyone go inside, in case it collapses... Once the fire dies down, just dump all the zombie corpses in here..." Vince walked over to Ben and advised, "Don't get cocky just because you killed a few regular zombies. Stay vigilant. There are still many things in this world that even I have to hide from..." Although he had no deep emotional attachment to this Ben, the man was a rare find—smart and obedient. It would be a waste for him to die so carelessly.

With that, Vince gathered his long and short spears and headed toward his apartment.... Ben and his men had clearly witnessed the entire battle between Vince and the Giant-Armed Zombie while hiding in the storefront. Thus, his reverence for the man before him deepened considerably. Vince possessed not only the superhuman speed and immense strength they had seen earlier, but also an incomprehensible, mystical power that defied all conventional logic.

Calling him a Cultivation Patriarch wasn't an exaggeration in the slightest. That spear acted as if it were packed with high explosives; the moment it pierced flesh, a massive chunk of meat would violently detonate! Furthermore, Ben had been standing right there during the explosion upstairs. A piece of red-hot shattered glass had scorched a burn mark onto his forehead, which was still throbbing in pain. But Vince? A literal halo of light had appeared over his body, bouncing the shattered glass right off... A halo!

Bouncing things off! If that wasn't Xianxia cultivation, then what the hell was it?! He didn't even dare act any differently than before, let alone take the initiative to ask. As long as this boss didn't bring it up himself, Ben would take this secret to his grave and hold onto this giant golden thigh for dear life. Watching Vince's receding back, Ben couldn't help but think silently to himself: This is an opportunity. A monumental, heaven-sent opportunity....

Arriving beneath the clinic, Vince waved to the people gathered at the upstairs window. A few moments later, the four of them appeared at the clinic entrance. Hank was also inside. Ever since Cody and the other boy had sprinted back in an absolute panic, he knew something terrible had happened, so he had stayed hidden inside Vince's clinic until now.

"Alarm lifted... The drill was a complete success... Good work, everyone..." Seeing their tense expressions, Vince playfully joked with them in a relaxed tone.

"Dage! What happened?! I saw fire—Ah!" Zoe was the first to run out, scurrying up to Vince and asking nervously. But as she turned her head and saw the burning building in the distance, she gasped in shock. Seeing that Zoe's hair had reverted to that familiar, static-frazzled rat's nest, Vince couldn't help but let out a knowing smile.

"Vince, are you okay..." Claire followed closely behind. She couldn't care less about the burning building; her only concern was whether Vince was hurt.

"I'm fine, I'm fine..." Vince instinctively reached out, but remembering he had just finished dissecting a corpse and his hands were covered in gore, he simply waved his hand, avoiding any intimate contact with Claire.

"There were two mutated zombies. Relax, they've been taken care of..."

"Dage! Wash your hands!" As if noticing Vince's awkward hesitation, Zoe grabbed a half-empty water bottle from the RV and poured it over Vince's hands, washing away most of the bloody grime. She then found a rag and wiped his hands clean. Her movements were so snappy and eager it looked as though she had a guilty conscience...

"Vince..." Cody finally stepped forward, avoiding Hank, and whispered into Vince's ear,"What about these..."

"Keep them. We'll talk about it when we get back..." Seeing the boy's hand resting inside his pocket, Vince immediately understood. He patted his shoulder and replied softly. The two mutated zombies had just dropped a few more Potions, and he already had plenty of Feral Potions to spare, so he decided to just leave them with the kids. However, once they were back upstairs, he would definitely need to brief them on the effects and potential risks.

Since this Hank was still here, Vince naturally wouldn't let this free labor off the hook. Walking over and patting Hank on the shoulder, Vince said with a beaming smile:"Hank, two cross-shaped spears, and two regular long spears. I'll be coming down to inspect them later..." He then turned his head to the trio of students:"You three, grab some food from the RV and stay here to help him out..."

"Claire, let's head up first..." With that, he grabbed his heavy spear—which Zoe had just wiped sparkling clean—in one hand, took Claire's hand in the other, and walked upstairs. The reason Vince had previously decided to keep his powers a secret was because ordinary people couldn't replicate them. But right at this moment, he suddenly thought of Claire. If the others were ordinary people, could Claire, with her 105 Max HP, still be considered an 'ordinary person'?

Therefore, he still had two experiments to conduct—though not that kind of experiment, but two others. First, the exact usage and effect of the Interface Module. Second, whether Claire's 105 HP could power a Crystal...