Since he could remember,
Yi Chen had never experienced such clear visual imagery.
His eyes felt like an ultra-high-resolution imager, capturing every detail within the graveyard.
Even when the brightness of the kerosene lamp was turned to its lowest, he could still make out the general situation ten meters away.
[Sensory Leap]
The first time he touched an ability that 'Transcended Humanity',
Yi Chen's brain became abnormally excited, even stimulating his body to secrete a certain amount of adrenaline, further enhancing his concentration.
Confidence surged,
bold enough to battle the living dead.
Before acting, he had one last question,
trying to communicate with the meatball through consciousness,
"The living dead wandering around Cemetery No.4, how can it be completely killed? Decapitate it?"
"It seems you don't understand at all.
Your understanding of this world is still at the surface... These things can survive even without their heads or hearts; it would only affect their mobility.
The real reason he turned this way is that he became 'infected'."
To kill this living dead,
you must find and destroy the pathogen in his body; then, he will revert to a normal corpse state."
This guy is still in the early stages of infection,
the characteristics of the pathogen should be very obvious,
carefully observe his body for any bulges, swellings, or particularly dark spots, and it's very likely that these correspond to the subcutaneous pathogen.
And your "silver-plated hand axe" has quite a good lethality against pathogens.
As for what abilities this guy has, I have no idea... Good luck, and make sure not to die."
"Got it."
The battle began.
Yi Chen, staying close to the tombstone, cautiously peeked out and scanned the nearby area.
A slow-moving [shadow] appeared at the edge of his field of vision,
focusing field of vision,
the staggering living dead entered his sight.
The speed was very slow,
but the plant roots waving behind its back, resembling octopus tentacles, were chilling to behold,
as if once pierced, these roots would sap the fluids from its target.
Yi Chen took a deep breath, analyzing the situation in his mind,
"No time or tools to set traps.
The area is confined to Cemetery No.4, making it difficult to perform long-range flanking.
Direct confrontation is unavoidable, but before that… I need to pinpoint the exact position of the pathogen."
Refocusing his vision,
every part of the living dead's body, including the roots growing on its back, were clearly visible,
there were four noticeable bulges on its body, located on the neck, right shoulder, abdomen, and right thigh.
"Let's confirm..."
Yi Chen picked up some stones nearby that were the right size to fit in his hand.
In his younger days,
Yi Chen was always able to win at dodgeball games in the orphanage, he could guarantee to hit every playmate trying to dodge, even those several years older were no match for him.
Now, with enhanced vision, his throwing accuracy was further improved.
Whoosh~
Four stones were thrown, one second apart, aimed at the target.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Three of them hit accurately,
damaging the skin at the bulges and even oozing some disgusting fluid.
As the stone aimed at the waist was about to hit… Pop!
Just like the most basic biological irritability,
the roots on the back of the living dead suddenly lashed out, precisely hitting the surface of the incoming stone,
like a home run, the struck stone directly flew out of Cemetery No.4.
Not only that,
several more roots followed closely,
they coiled and clung to the bulge at the waist, forming a unique protective structure.
Following the direction from which the stone came,
the head of the living dead violently turned 135°, its eyes filled with fungal caps fiercely stared at the arch-shaped tombstone on the slope.
A sense of oppression surged,
although Yi Chen got the answer he wanted, cold sweat kept slipping down.
"At least my method was effective; the bulge at the waist must correspond to the pathogen. It also shows that the meatball wasn't deceiving me.
However, this guy's 'irritability' is too outrageous.
Stones shot out so suddenly, without any warning, and yet they were precisely deflected... and it even rapidly built a protective layer around the waist.
Whew!
To kill this living dead, I must sever all the roots on its back,
otherwise, any attack aimed at the vital points will be neutralized."
Pop~Pop~
The sound of footprints trampling the soil broke his train of thought.
The living dead were approaching,
pausing in front of the arched stele... whoosh! whoosh!
Suddenly,
two strong and powerful roots shot up into the air, criss-crossing fiercely and lashing out.
Crack!
The sturdy large stele was directly snapped in two,
and along with it destroyed,
was a deep grey coat still carrying the scent of a living person, its metal badge also falling to the ground, engraved with the name "William Behrens."
That was it,
only the stele and the coat were shattered; the young man hiding behind it had already 'shelled' in advance.
Just as the living dead was puzzled and hadn't yet retracted its roots,
a noise came from the corresponding mound of broken stelae,
and the shadow lurking behind suddenly leaped out,
the glint of silver in his hand extra dazzling,
Whir!
The silver light traced a perfect arc in the air,
landing exactly at the "intersection" of the two roots... whoosh~ dark green rotten fluid splashed out, and the two roots were completely severed.
Not only that,
due to the cutting by the silver-plated material, thick black smoke rose from the severed ends of the roots, which could not heal.
"Ah!!"
A rotten and decaying scream came from the dried, rotting vocal cords of the living dead, as if its vital vein had been severed.
Seeing this scene,
Yi Chen retracted his hand axe, took a stance, and excitedly whispered, "8 more to go!"
The screaming had not yet ended,
when those swaying roots on the back of the living dead, as if possessing self-awareness, had already locked on the 'attacker.'
They turned into sharp spears, piercing through.
[Field of View Capture]
At that moment, Yi Chen and the meatball's eyes widened like copper bells—focused on the scene before them.
Such straightforward piercing attacks, the trajectory of each root was completely visible.
At less than one meter distance,
a perfect lateral roll dodged all the piercing roots.
Not only that,
in the same moment he perfectly evaded,
Yi Chen managed to deliver a diagonal slash in a half-kneeling position,
severing the closest root mid-air,
rotten fluid splashing onto his face, yet unable to hide his smile as he silently counted:
"7 more to go!"
At this moment,
the black meatball rooted on Yi Chen's shoulder couldn't help but widen its pupils, finding the performance of this 'low-level labor' incredible.
"My judgment was indeed right... This guy is completely different from those ordinary 'meat pigs.'
In such a dangerously full situation, where a single mistake could lead to death, he adapted so quickly and even seemed to enjoy it to some extent.
Keep it up, young human!
If such a weak body can slay a pustule, it will definitely attract 'higher' attention... Perhaps I could also seize such an opportunity to gain the chance to go outside."
As the meatball indulged in its fantasy of freedom,
Oh! Another scream came.
However,
this time, the individual screaming was the very young man it had high hopes for.
Roots, unbeknownst from where, suddenly burrowed out from the ground,
piercing through the shoes and the entire foot,
the roots emerging from the back of the foot even bloomed flowers, sucking the blood between the toes and turning a bright red color.
At that moment,
the living dead was pressing its palms to the ground.
Obviously,
it was controlling the underground plants to execute such a bizarre attack, binding the target.
Click, click, click~
Sounds came from the twisting of the neck,
as the living dead turned its head and stared intently at the 'prey' now completely immobilized.
He was getting serious~
Changing from his previous slow walking,
he rushed over swiftly like a spider using the remaining roots on his back as legs.
His mouth was wide open,
exuding a large amount of mycelium from inside,
as if laughing heartily because the prey was about to be caught, or as if wanting to have a 'deep kiss' with Yi Chen, intending to connect the mycelium into the brain through the mouth and nostrils to drain the target dry.