Sylas ignored Wendy for the moment; she was already his, and they could talk later. First, he needed to address the other women.
There were still seven or eight women in the thugs' gang. They were all emaciated, filthy, and looked like beggars. It was clear that their living conditions were terrible.
Sylas looked at these women and said, "My name is Sylas. I've established a survivor base. If you want, you can come with me to my base."
The women didn't respond, their faces filled with fear towards Sylas.
"If you don't want to, that's fine," Sylas continued. "Here's some food for you. Take care of yourselves."
He didn't try to persuade them further or explain anything. After all, their fate was in their own hands. If they chose not to trust Sylas, there was nothing more to say.
Sylas showed his goodwill by taking out a box of instant noodles from his dimensional space. As for how they would live in the future, that was no longer his concern.
"Wendy, let's go," Sylas said to her.
"Okay," Wendy quickly agreed.
Sylas turned to leave, and Wendy hurried to follow him. As she walked behind Sylas, she whispered, "Thank you for saving me."
Sylas smiled and glanced back at Wendy. She was very beautiful, and the more he looked at her, the more he liked her. Especially since Wendy had brought him the teleportation ability, Sylas liked her even more.
"From now on, we're on the same team. You don't need to be so formal with me," Sylas said. "When we get back, Clarissa and the others will explain the rules to you, so I won't waste time talking about them now."
"But you should know one thing: you belong to me. I will protect you, but you must not betray me. The consequence of betrayal is death."
Wendy quickly replied, "I will not betray you."
"That's for the best. I don't have many rules, but the most important one is not to betray me."
As Sylas spoke, he held Wendy's delicate hand, finding it soft and pleasant to hold. Wendy felt a bit uncomfortable but complied with Sylas's actions. She was already deeply moved that Sylas had come to rescue her, so she could tolerate some of his behaviors.
"What about those abilities I have?" Wendy asked softly.
Sylas explained, "That is your reward for becoming my slave. Although everything about you belongs to me now, in return, you gain extraordinary abilities."
"You need to quickly familiarize yourself with your abilities. In the future, you'll need to rely on them for combat."
Sylas's abilities could be shared with his slaves. However, shared abilities were usually weakened, except for each slave's unique ability, which could be fully acquired.
For example, Clarissa's full ability was dimensional space, Sydney's was telekinesis, Hayden's was fire manipulation, and Lillian's was Innate Strength. Wendy's unique ability was teleportation.
Although they all had their unique abilities, they were still not as powerful as Sylas due to their lower overall strength.
Sylas shared this knowledge with Wendy, who then understood the origin of her abilities and that her unique ability was teleportation.
"Actually, your ability is well-suited for being an assassin or a sniper. As an assassin, you can teleport close to your target for a close-quarters attack."
"As a sniper, you can attack from a distance, and if the enemy gets too close, you can teleport away."
"Of course, I'm not forcing you to choose any specific role. You can try different approaches and determine your combat style."
"Yes, I'll try," Wendy said earnestly.
Wendy was smart and didn't even think to ask if she could avoid fighting. In this era, what use was a woman who couldn't fight? To live a better life, she had to learn to fight and take control of her destiny. She didn't want to be just a pretty face.
Sylas was very pleased with Wendy's response. He had never expected these women to be the cornerstone of his combat force. However, if they could develop strong combat abilities, it would benefit his team immensely.
Not only was Wendy's appearance to Sylas's liking, but her personality and mindset also impressed him. Sylas decided he wanted to secure Wendy's loyalty quickly.
"How are we going to leave?" Wendy asked, looking down at the densely packed zombies on the street, feeling a wave of fear. There were so many zombies that a normal person would have no chance of escaping.
"Don't worry, I'll carry you out," Sylas said with a smile.
He crouched down in front of Wendy, indicating that she should climb onto his back. Wendy bit her lip shyly but then climbed onto Sylas's back.
"Hold on tight, we're leaving now," Sylas said with a smile.
"I'm back," Sylas said with a smile as he returned to the villa.
Upon hearing Sylas's voice, Clarissa and the others came out of the villa. Seeing Wendy beside Sylas, Clarissa and the others were not surprised. After all, it was Clarissa who had sent Wendy's information to Sylas.
"You must be Wendy."
"Hello Wendy, I'm Clarissa. It's nice to meet you," Clarissa greeted warmly.
The others also greeted Wendy enthusiastically. At this point, having an additional companion was a good thing. Moreover, beautiful women were always welcome. Clarissa and the others also appreciated good looks. If an unattractive woman had joined, they wouldn't have been as pleased. But since Wendy was beautiful, they were more accepting.
"Teach her the rules and take care of the rest. I need to go out; there's still unfinished business," Sylas said to Clarissa.
Among Sylas's women, Clarissa was the oldest and the first to become his slave. Therefore, Sylas had entrusted her with managing his group of women.
"Yes, Master. I'll handle it," Clarissa said easily. By now, she was quite adept at this task.
Sylas nodded and left the villa without further ado.
The neighborhood was dimly lit, but there were female warriors stationed as guards along the main roads. These female warriors took turns guarding to ensure someone could raise an alarm if anything went wrong.
Quickly, Sylas exited the neighborhood. Once outside, he didn't linger and picked up his pace, heading out.
There were no mutated zombies around anymore. Sylas needed to travel farther to find them. He also needed to test his newly acquired teleportation ability. Carrying Wendy earlier had made it inconvenient to test teleportation. Now that Wendy wasn't with him, it was much easier to conduct his tests.
The teleportation ability proved to be very useful. After a few tests, Sylas had fully mastered it. The visual lock method was the simplest to use. Mental lock was slightly more challenging, but once familiarized with it, it became easy to use as well.
With teleportation, killing mutated zombies became much easier. Sylas only needed to get within a hundred meters of a mutated zombie, teleport behind it, and then decapitate it with a single strike. Killing a mutated zombie became effortless.
In the city, the sheer number of zombies meant there were also a staggering number of mutated zombies. Sylas felt like he had an endless supply of mutated zombies to kill.
Thanks to his efforts, he could now upgrade a second ability to level 2. Sylas chose to upgrade telekinesis. While telekinesis wasn't very strong in direct combat, its utility in supportive roles was extremely valuable. This was why Sylas chose to upgrade telekinesis to level 2.
Telekinesis was upgraded to level 2.
In an instant, another surge of power flowed into Sylas's body. However, compared to the first time he upgraded his fire manipulation, the effect of this upgrade was noticeably weaker.
Sylas understood that although each time he upgraded an ability to level 2, it would enhance his own capabilities, the first upgrade provided the most significant boost. Subsequent upgrades would have diminishing effects. However, even with the diminished effects, there would still be improvements.
Sylas could feel his body getting slightly stronger and his mental strength significantly enhanced. The enhancement of mental strength was crucial because all his abilities—fire manipulation, teleportation, and telekinesis—were related to it. The stronger his mental power, the more effective these abilities became.
Sylas quickly familiarized himself with the level 2 telekinesis ability. After upgrading, the telekinesis ability saw comprehensive improvements.
First, the strength of the telekinesis became much greater. Now, it could exert a force equivalent to three thousand pounds, a significant and terrifying boost. The level 2 telekinesis, in terms of sheer power, was already comparable to the level 1 Innate Strength.
Next, the range of telekinesis expanded. It could now affect objects within a hundred-meter radius. While a hundred meters might not seem much at first glance, it was a substantial range.
Telekinesis also gained a second feature. It could now be used in a dispersed manner. Previously, telekinesis could only act on a single object, like controlling a single katana. Now, Sylas could use telekinesis to control multiple objects simultaneously.
Sylas found that he could control up to seven weapons at once with his current proficiency. As he became more skilled, the number of weapons he could control would likely increase.
It was already very late, and the night's battles had consumed much of Sylas's energy. He decided not to continue and headed home.
With a thought, Sylas wrapped himself in telekinesis and flew towards the villa. After upgrading telekinesis to level 2, the increased power allowed him to fly much faster. However, Sylas also noticed that since the telekinesis emanated from his own body, when it was used to fly, his speed was still limited.
Currently, Sylas's flight speed was akin to a normal person running. For Sylas, this was far too slow. The only benefit was that he could ignore the terrain while flying and didn't have to worry about zombies on the ground causing trouble.
But the speed was just too slow.
Sylas sighed in frustration.