Having no intentions to keep it a secret from Ayame, Winston replied, "From what my father had told me, zombies who have evolved and reached E-rank will have an evolution crystal inside their brain. It is the condensation of pure viral energy and with this, it can be consumed by a human to evolve and reach higher ranks of power."
"However, it's not omnipotent as just consuming one evolution crystal won't guarantee the evolution of a human. Furthermore, consuming an evolution crystal will risk being infected by the viral energy contained within it."
"You players should have the humanity percentage stat, right? As long as that attribute reaches below 50%, you will become a zombie. However, maintaining it at 50% and above will allow you to become an awakener, assuming you consumed an evolution crystal and it worked."
"The number of evolution crystals needed to evolve per person varies so just this one E-rank evolution crystal might not be enough."
"Those who have successfully awakened will have powers beyond the human limits and it varies as well from person to person. Some might just have the power to temporarily increase their physical stats, while some might have elemental-based powers."
Hearing Winston's explanation, Ayame didn't inquire about the reason for Winston's father having the knowledge of the evolution crystal when it only existed a week after the start of the game.
Ayame had already known that Winston's father was part of the military but after hearing that even Winston's father could know about this, then Winston's father should be within the upper echelons of the military.
Unless Winston himself was willing to tell her about it, Ayame wasn't nosy enough to ask about it.
Ayame asked Winston, "Other E-rank zombies should have an evolution crystal, right?"
In response, Winston nodded his head, "Yes. It has a guaranteed 100% drop rate."
"And as you can see, E-rank zombies are already powerful enough to breach the mansion's gate. If we want to survive longer, we can't always remain hiding in the mansion."
"Our next course of action is to eliminate those E-rank zombies and harvest their E-rank evolution crystals."
Hearing Winston's plan, Ayame wasn't against it.
In fact, Ayame anticipated this course of events as she was also starting to get bored staying in the mansion.
Even if this was a death game, Ayame became a game streamer since it was her hobby and she loved playing games. This game might cost her life, but Ayame wanted to make the most of it and enjoy it while she still could.
And if she happened to be one of the top three survivors or winners of Zombie Survival Online, Ayame speculated that her rewards might be dependent on what she had attained in the game.
Even if she survived long enough, Ayame felt that if she wasn't strong and just survived due to luck, the rewards she received might not be that great.
Of course, that was just Ayame's speculation, and whether it was true or not, Ayame wasn't certain yet. But she didn't disagree with Winston's plan of farming for E-rank evolution crystals.
"Winston, can I have the E-rank evolution crystal? I'll test my luck and see if I can become an awakener."
Ayame tried her luck by asking Winston for the E-rank evolution crystal.
Although Ayame stalled the E-rank muscular zombie, she didn't kill it and it was Winston who killed the E-rank muscular zombie.
And even when she was stalling it, the E-rank muscular zombie was already injured by Winston which made it easier for Ayame to stall the E-rank muscular zombie.
So, Winston would have more shares over the E-rank evolution crystal and if Winston decided to take it for himself, Ayame wouldn't disagree with it.
However, she still tried her luck and asked Winston for it. If she couldn't get it, Ayame wouldn't force Winston since there were still other E-rank zombies outside.
The muscular zombie wasn't the only E-rank zombie in Zombie Survival Online and Ayame knew that so she didn't want to ruin her alliance with Winston just for one E-rank evolution crystal.
In response to Ayame's question, Winston casually threw the evolution crystal toward Ayame, causing Ayame to catch and receive the E-rank evolution crystal.
"Kayden has his C-grade special event item while I have my E-grade special event item. You don't have any special event item so I don't mind you being the first awakener in our group."
'Furthermore, you are my sister.'
The last thought wasn't told to Ayame by Weiss. After all, he had no intentions of revealing his true identity to Ayame.
Even if Ayame was his sister, Weiss wouldn't reveal his identity as Aspro nor reveal the existence of the God-Level Game Developer System to anyone.
The only one who knew about the existence of the system aside from Weiss was Alice.
When Ayame heard Winston's words, she didn't act hypocritical and received the E-rank evolution crystal from him. "Thank you, Winston."
"But how do I consume this? Do I clean and disinfect the evolution crystal or swallow it directly? Or do I have to hammer this into powder and mix it with my food?"