13 Evolution Tree

With the Colossal Rat's death, the swarm of Cyclops Rats descended into anarchy. They either clawed at each other in an attempt to escape or slinked away into the shadows, taking shelter in whatever crevice, corner or hole they could find. Now that their leader was slain, their courage had been broken and the morale shattered, and they lapsed into instinctive behavior.

Much like a certain alien species that relied on synapse creatures to guide them along the will of the Hive Mind.

That didn't mean we could let our guard down, though. A few of the Cyclops Rats remained aggressive enough to attack us, but they were quickly mowed down by my teammates. Their numbers no longer being what they were, they were easily picked off one at a time.

"Not bad, Zhi Ming!" Lei Shu was staring at the carcass of the Colossal Rat, impressed. "I didn't think you would actually be able to defeat a warrior-category mutant! Your strength has really surpassed our imaginations!"

"Wouldn't this put you at moon glow rank? You're at least on par with the instructors, if not more powerful." Lou Qian was amazed. "You're definitely above me and Qi Ren, who are at starlight rank."

"I don't know about ranks, but now's not the time to discuss them," I said, dragging myself toward the rest of the group. I felt drained and exhausted, but that was only natural. I had such a tough fight against the Colossal Rat. Quite frankly, I was surprised that I was somehow able to win. I didn't expect to have triumphed over it. Heaving, I looked at Pang Fei, who was still crouched behind Nian Qing, wind gathering between his palms. "Fei, you done?"

"Yeah! I think I've collected enough methane to blow this entire place sky high!"

"Excellent. Let's get out of here, guys. Nian Qing, you'll have to lead the way. You left wood trails along the corridor like I told you, right?"

"I did," Nian Qing confirmed with a thumb's up. "I know the route back up to the surface. Follow me, guys!"

He took off without any other urging, and we followed him. Cyclops Rats scampered out of the way, only for a few of them to be hacked apart by Lou Qian's scythe. Lei Shu followed up with lightning bolts from his staff, but I held him back, wincing from the static electricity flowing along his shoulder. Damn, that caused my fingers to go numb.

"Don't chase them. Let them hide in the sewer for now. We're going to get all of them in one go. For now, focus on getting out."

"Roger that, boss!"

"I'm not your boss."

We sprinted through the damp, filthy tunnels of the sewer, encountering relatively few Cyclops Rats. Even though they had lost the brain of their diseased horde, they weren't stupid. They knew to get in our way was suicide, and so they avoided us like the plague. Only a few were reckless enough to spring at us, desperate or ravenous, and I shot a couple of them down with my pistols. Beside me, ice and lightning blasted from Lou Qian and Lei Shu, clearing a path. Right in front of us, Nian Qing continued running, following his trail of wood, but he wasn't simply leading us. He also conjured wood to block off other corridors and prevent more Cyclops Rats from flanking us or pursuing us from behind.

All the while, Pang Fei continued to blow more methane into the tunnel with his technique.

Eventually we burst out of the sewer, clambering up rusty rungs and scrambling out of the manhole one at a time. Once all of us were outside, I waved Lei Shu over.

"Can you create a spark with your lightning? Ignite a fire?"

"That's a simple task."

"Please do it." I pointed toward the manhole, where methane wafted out. Lei Shu grinned and rubbed his hands together, generating electricity. Sparks began to fly out of those currents and rained into the entrance.

The moment the methane caught fire, the whole sewer went up in flames. An inferno erupted out of the manhole like a volcano, forcing my team to dive for cover, almost scalded by the heat. The flames triggered a chain reaction, causing the whole sewer to go aflame, the fire spreading across the sewage system and consuming the methane hungrily. Cyclops Rats shrieked as they were devoured by the ravenous inferno. Their fur caught fire and burned away, revealing flaking flesh and muscle that were incinerated almost instantly. Then their charred skeletons crumbled away into ash, leaving no trace that they ever existed.

The ground shook beneath our feet as multiple explosions rocked the subterranean passageways and blew out walls, ledges and shafts. Buildings around us shuddered, more debris falling along the surface of their decaying structures. The concrete heated up under the soles of our shoes, turning red-hot momentarily from the sheer heat.

Contained within an enclosed space, the force of the explosion was magnified, causing more violent shockwaves. In the distance, I could see fiery geysers erupting from other manholes, orange spikes of flames that billowed toward the sky.

It took a few minutes before the tremors finally halted. Steadying myself, I checked on the members of my team.

"Everyone all right? Is anyone hurt?"

"Nope. I'm fine."

"All good here."

"I'm uninjured."

"That was incredible! I can't believe it all went according to plan!" Lei Shu pumped his fist into the air, looking overjoyed. I nodded, half-relieved and half in disbelief that I managed to pull off yet another gigantic explosion.

"You're going to gain a reputation for blowing things up," Pang Fei remarked, turning toward me with a grin. "This is like the second time in a week."

"Yeah, well…" I took a deep breath and looked around. Everyone looked exhausted, which was only natural. We had sprinted as swiftly as we could to get out of the sewer earlier. A sheen of perspiration clung to us, and we were practically bent over, trying to catch our breath. After ensuring that there was no enemy in the vicinity, I swept my gaze across everyone. "Let's rest for fifteen minutes. Drink up, consume whatever rations you need to. Once we've caught our breath and relaxed a little, we can return to District 4."

"Long live the leader!" Pang Fei raised a hand and cheered.

"Hah! You should be in charge, not Qi Ren!" Nian Qing agreed, though I had a sense that it was because he hated Qi Ren and not necessarily because he approved of my leadership. Given how the bully had often looked down on him and almost caused his death a week ago, I could understand his grudge.

"I'm not the leader. Lou Qian is."

"Not for this mission," she countered and raised a finger. "And after this mission, I concur. You actually make a better leader than me. Blowing up the sewer was your plan, and you were the one who figured out where the Colossal Rat was."

…I mean, wasn't it obvious? The location of the nest and thus where the Colossal Rat would be. Anyone could have figured it out. It was nothing so surprising or difficult.

"Anyway, let's take a break." I exhaled wearily and settled down on a ledge, my eyes partially closed. When my heartbeat finally calmed down, I raised a finger to call up the Kill Count screen.

On my way out, I had killed a couple more Cyclops Rats, which brought my Kill Count up to 76. That was the final figure. I was hoping it would jump by a hundred when the sewer was blown to hell by the methane and sparks, but it didn't, remaining at 76. I supposed that, unlike the incident with the grotesque, the kills belonged to Lei Shu. He was the one who ignited the methane and triggered the colossal explosions, after all. It felt a little aggravating that I didn't receive credit for the kills, but at least the system was fair.

But 76 was still a good number, especially since I earned such an amount over the course of a single day. I would take that. First, I deducted 66 points from my Kill Count to add them to my Ability, bringing it to 100.

The screen glowed and my Ability was finally unlocked. I watched the screen with anticipation, wondering what new Ability I could use. Would it be an elemental ability like my teammates? Would I finally be able to unleash fire? Shoot lightning bolts? Freeze my foes?

Surprisingly enough, the Ability that I unlocked wasn't something very specific. Instead, an Evolution Tree appeared in front of me.

"Evolution Tree? What the hell is an Evolution Tree?"

I scratched my head, staring at the diagram. It resembled a tree, like its name said, with a single base trunk in the center. However, the top then spread and expanded into multiple branches, all of them hidden away by a lock icon. Apparently I would need to unlock each of them with Kill Count points, judging from the various values hanging over them.

"Which Ability would you like to unlock?"

The holographic screen presented a question of its own. I didn't quite understand what was going on at first, but when I studied the Evolution Tree, I noticed that my 100 points were still available to me. At the base of each branch, right where they were connected to the main trunk, was a basic Ability. I realized that I had to choose a single branch and then work my way along that branch, unlocking the more advanced abilities that followed.

Damn, wouldn't this be one of the most important choices I had to make? Would I be locked into a single ability path once I decided on a branch?

"You will be able to unlock any branch as long as you possess the required amount of Kill Count points."

The Evolution Tree was kind enough to explain it to me. I breathed a sigh of relief. So I didn't have to worry about giving up all the different abilities. That said, it was impractical to unlock every single one of them. I doubted I would be able to kill enough zombies to unlock each and every one of them. There appeared to be thousands of branches, each with their own evolutionary paths. I couldn't imagine how many millions of points I would need to unlock every single one of them.

A few caught my eye. Regeneration. When I hovered my finger around it, I saw that it would speed up my regenerative abilities, allowing me to heal from the most grievous of wounds within seconds as long as I had the Evolution Energy. By the way, I realized that the amount of Evolution Energy I had was dependent on my Willpower and Spirit.

"Hmm, this seems useful. At the very least, it'll keep me alive. But I prefer a more offensive ability."

There were elemental abilities, of course, but now that I had so many choices, they felt mundane. I might as well choose something more unique, something that was rare but useful.

"Reinforcement?" There was Physical Reinforcement, which was similar to what Qi Ren used to enhance his physique. Apparently this one gave buffs to my Strength, allowing me to augment my physical attacks. The basic Physical Reinforcement gave additional 50% buffs to my Strength and Endurance. That might be useful.

Then there was Blade Mastery, which allowed me to wield a blade with optimal efficiency and unrivaled power. That looked interesting. I always dreamed of being a sword master.

Additionally, there were stuff like Comet Punches, which looked more like a martial arts technique than an actual evolutionary trait. Or Hurricane Kick, which not only bestowed upon me devastating kicks, but strengthened my legs to the point I could jump pretty high and far, as well as buffed my Agility passively by 75%.

There was even Mental Manipulation, which buffed my Willpower by 50%, and allowed me to control low-ranking mutants and zombies. Intriguing. Basically I could do a necromancer build if I chose that one.

So many choices…so little points. Which should I pick?

Taking a deep breath, I considered my favorites, and then finally came to a decision.