Birth of a Tier 1 Zombie!

"The situation looks like it's going to last a while; I need to make the most of my time! The more, the better!" Maxwell thought.

He rapidly moved zombies around to complete eliminations. After many eliminations, his space quickly upgraded to Level 4, increasing the number of slots to a total of eighteen. The 24-hour newbie grace period that exempts upgrade requirements was extremely useful; without it, Maxwell would have actually needed to acquire a Level 4 zombie to complete the upgrade.

The eighteen slots in the space now gave him much more room to operate. Inside, zombies were continuously inserted by Maxwell, eliminated, and then fused into higher-level zombies.

In just over ten minutes, Maxwell fused another Level 9 female zombie, a Level 9 male zombie, as well as a Level 7 and a Level 8 male zombie.

"Finally, a Tier 1 zombie is about to be born!"

Maxwell combined the newly obtained Level 9 male zombie with the existing one to create a Level 10 male zombie. He then dragged the two male zombies together, and the number 11 appeared in the upper right corner of the slot.

While the difference between Level 10 and Level 11 might seem minor, it was actually enormous. Only at Level 11 could it truly be considered a mutant zombie.

Maxwell released the freshly fused Level 11 zombie and studied it closely. The glow in this zombie's eyes was blue, and it had an extra source crystal in its system. Although Eva was not the first to reach Tier 1, Maxwell was still genuinely pleased.

Now, with a Tier 1 mutant zombie in his hands, he had a solid ace up his sleeve.

"It looks like the zombies are starting to retreat. I also need to find a place to hide, or it'll be over if those mutant zombies spot me!" At that moment, Maxwell noticed that the zombies, led by the mutant ones, had begun to retreat.

Ordinary zombies don't know fear; if this area were filled only with such zombies, they would be drawn by sounds, lights, and such, blindly rushing forward, not knowing when to retreat even if it meant their demise.

But now, they are led by mutant zombies, who are capable of thought unlike the ordinary ones. With commands from mutant zombies, they know when to back off.

Realizing this, Maxwell felt a stroke of inspiration. He too had a mutant zombie under his control, which obeyed his commands and looked no different from other mutant zombies.

Could he possibly send his own mutant zombie into the horde to help him gather more zombies, and then lead them to another location for easier elimination? This would be much faster than capturing zombies himself and fusing them in his space.

Situations like today's are not common, and he wouldn't usually have such luck to stumble upon a scene like today's. Without such good fortune, Maxwell wouldn't dare to face a zombie horde led by mutant zombies directly. Moreover, he needed more time to train!

"This really is a good idea!" Maxwell was quite pleased with his realization.

However, what he needed to do now was to avoid the retreating zombie horde and be extra cautious to avoid encountering the leading mutant zombies.

Searching around, Maxwell discovered an abandoned house. His eyes lit up when he saw it, and he didn't think twice before dashing inside. The ground floor was clear of any danger, so he left the Tier 1 zombie at the stairwell and turned to go upstairs.

Since the zombie horde was unlikely to search such a house while retreating, and even less likely to venture upstairs, this place, while seemingly perilous and close to the zombie horde, was relatively the safest spot.

However, to Maxwell's surprise, when he reached the second floor, he immediately saw a person. This person was covered in blood and looked quite wretched and terrifying. 

This is... Maxwell thought he looked somewhat familiar. He squinted his eyes.

This was... the Evolver who had previously been chased by mutant zombies!

Maxwell looked at the Evolver with a bit of speechlessness but still had Eva stand at the staircase on the second floor while he approached. Closer inspection revealed that the Evolver's face already showed clear signs of zombification; these marks had spread across most of his face, looking quite horrific.

Could it be that this Evolver was about to turn into a zombie?

After all, the zombie virus is terrifying; even an Evolver, if bitten, can hardly withstand it. Higher-level Evolvers might still think of a way to cope, but lower-tier Evolvers who get bitten likely end up waiting to be infected by the virus, eventually turning into zombies!

However, their transformation into zombies takes relatively longer than it does for ordinary people.

Maxwell stood at a safe distance and asked the Evolver, "How are you?"

The Evolver moved slightly. Then, quickly, the necrotic patches on his face seemed to disappear, and he raised the weapon in his hand, pointing it in Maxwell's direction.

"Don't move!" the person said.

It was a female voice!

The Evolver was actually a woman!

Maxwell observed as the Evolver struggled to sit up halfway. This finally allowed Maxwell to see clearly that she was indeed a young woman. Moreover, this female Evolver was very young!

Judging by her appearance, she was probably only about fifteen or sixteen years old, still bearing the traces of youthful innocence.

However, no matter how young, she couldn't compare to Eva, who would forever remain in the appearance of an eight or nine-year-old.

Even if extremely weak, an Evolver would still have no trouble dealing with an ordinary person.

Maxwell was fully aware of the situation, so he obediently stayed still. However, covertly, he had called up the Tier 1 mutant zombie he had left at the bottom of the stairs to hide near the entrance on the second floor. After all, although the Evolver in front of him was very young and appeared close to death, Maxwell couldn't be sure if she was feigning her condition.

"Do you need help? I can offer assistance! The zombies are retreating now; I can help you get to the base city for help, or if you don't mind, I could carry you there for treatment," Maxwell said.

"No need!" the young female Evolver coldly responded.

As soon as she finished speaking, she suddenly groaned, and the necrotic patches on her face reappeared, quickly covering most of her face and making her once beautiful features grotesquely terrifying.

If it were just an ordinary person turning into a zombie, the transformation might not be so drastic. Like Eva, who, after becoming a zombie, had her skin turn yellow, blue, and purple with more pronounced veins on the surface, but her face still maintained a semblance of her former cuteness and charm.

But the girl in front of him was an Evolver! The energy of an Evolver inside her would contend with the zombie virus, and in this ongoing struggle, the zombification process could become much more intense.