59 Gluttonous Emerald Ghoul

Having engaged the outlying zombies, security was improved. There were no overnight attacks, which sometimes occurred, while the Rangers slept. They were all excited that he could face the undead, and convert them to his own troops.

Over time, they figured that he could weaken the lich that was causing the issue. Having his undead guard the camp, meant that they would hear the fighting if anything tried sneaking in. Sleeping soundly, everyone awoke the next morning.

Preparing breakfast together with the Rangers, they once again proceeded off with their permission. Heading to the Forbidden Coast, Zanir leads a combination of troops and zombies, stopping to prepare as they got out of sight.

Although he could keep luring the zombies over, he knew that it would take longer and longer, as they got closer to the lich. To save time, he decided to test out the second type of undead offered. Bringing up the selection, he saw several bodies he could use.

One that stood out and caught his attention, was an Emerald crab corpse. The system had found a mutation in its DNA, differing it from the rest. According to the information it had, this particular crab grew at an accelerated rate. He was at least twice the size of any other crab his age.

Going with the system recommendation, he created a Ghoul out the mutant crab corpse. Two hundred dimensional points coalesced into a dark cloud. Covering the crab, it seeped into the dead body, bringing it to life.

Transforming from a normal darker green, the corpse became a sickly bright green color. The muscles and sinew compacted, making the ghoul crab look gaunt and malnourished. Thankfully, there was an option to toggle the stench, which he quickly set to the off position.

Just looking at the ugly creature made people uncomfortable. It gave off an aura of death that was much stronger than the zombies. Even those who knew little about the undead could tell right away, that there was something different, about this particular creature.

Stepping around in a strange manner, the ghoul quickly adjusted to being alive again. Arriving before Zanir, it prostrated itself. Reaching out his thoughts, he could feel a connection with the ghoul. Its past life was just a dim, faint memory now. He could feel the ghoul's compulsion to kill, eat, and grow stronger.

Shaking the connection off, he gathered his men and zombies, proceeding forward. Letting the ghoul take the vanguard position, everyone followed closely behind. Even though it was undead, the ghoul was moving at almost the same pace it had while alive. It was slightly slower, due to the rigor mortis still wearing off, but the Emerald crabs had high speed, to begin with.

Without encountering anything, the group moved on to the source of the problem. Heading down the coast, they saw a small cave. There were several zombies wandering around the entrance, not to mention that the water washing out from the cave was dirty and black. It didn't take a genius to figure out that it was the source of corruption in the area.

Normally, the area was guarded by thick crowds of zombies. However, at this point, there were only a few dozen zombies wandering the area. Remembering that there were several buried zombies that tried to trick them, they let the ghoul approach this time, only intending to have him pull the crowds a little closer.

Immune to pain, the ghoul's cold eyes seemed to light up, as it got the order to aggro some zombies. The crazed looked made the guards shiver, as they watched the crab running into the crowd of zombies. What happened next, left everyone speechless.

With a high level of speed, the ghoul reached the zombies within moments. As soon as it got to the first zombie, it snapped both claws, simultaneously severing both legs, right above the ankles. Before it could even hit the ground, it had already moved a few steps over to the next approaching zombie.

Clipping the legs off the attacking zombies, the ghoul disabled them, rendering them almost defenseless. Sure, they kept trying to claw at the sand, inching closer, but such a desperate struggle meant that it would take ages before the zombies reached him and his men.

Several additional zombies rose out of the nearby sand, and a few more packs were starting to shamble out of the cave. Seems like they had prepared some kind of trap, probably hoping to ambush us when we tried to take more zombies out of the area.

Ignoring the oncoming attackers for now, since they were still far away, the ghoul turned back on the crowd of crawling zombies. They'd tried to crawl over the crab, hitting and scratching the shell, but the attacks just glanced off. Snipping its claws, the ghoul starting cutting the zombies into pieces and eating them.

Watching it happen, the men all looked on in horror. It was a grotesque sight because the zombies were already nasty, but the ghoul was undead, so it didn't chew. Ripping and slicing the zombies into mouth sized chunks, it simply shoveled them in, piece after piece.

Devouring the entire crowd, the men looked on in amazement. The only thing left on the beach was bloodstains and miscellaneous parts, too small to be accurately identified. It was truly a nightmarish creation since the Emerald crabs were known, ravenous eaters. Normally they'd get full, but a Ghoul could continue eating forever.

Finishing the last zombie off, the ghoul sat down strangely, tucking itself into a small ball. Zanir wondered what was going on, just before receiving a system prompt.

[Baby Emerald Crab (Ghoul/Mutant) is attempting to evolve, allow?]

Choosing to allow the evolution, he watched, curious as to what would happen. Once he approved it, the ghoul shuddered, as a loud crack could be heard. Splitting its own shell, the ghoul crab molted. Emerging from its former exoskeleton, the ghoul emerged slightly larger, as it was now a juvenile emerald crab.

Checking the link he had with the ghoul, Zanir confirmed that it would now be stronger and faster. Normally he'd give the crab some time recover after molting, but the zombies weren't even a threat at this point. Although the ghoul was only slightly larger, there were a few small changes, now that it had evolved.

The first change he noticed was the mouth itself. Having been a bottleneck, the default mouth was upgraded. Now the mouth was several times larger, looking unnaturally large. There were also several rows of teeth added, making it much more terrifying.

Looking at the claws, he noticed the second change. There was an extra pair of secondary claws, slightly smaller than the main pair, they rested below and could be tucked away for a surprise attack. Not only did it make the ghoul crab even scarier looking, it would now be able to carve bodies at twice the speed.

Gasping the men watched as the strange changes altered the creature into something foreign and alien. With ghoul taking a few steps around, it adjusted to its new body. Looking over, it saw that the oncoming zombies from earlier had finally arrived.

At this rate, he was in no hurry. He could hang around outside the cave, letting the ghoul crab eat the zombies. This way, we can weaken the lich inside, before we move in to complete the mission once the ghoul is strong enough.

Before we do that though, let's check out what the Shades can do.