"Bone Armor!"
Surrounded by three corrupted corpses, the boy leader's face filled with terror as he immediately activated his special ability. Sharp white bone spikes swiftly erupted from the pores on his skin, about two inches long, densely covering his body. The pores were torn open, and blood oozed from the edges of the spikes.
In the blink of an eye, his body was encased in these ferocious bone spikes, resembling an angry hedgehog!
The three corrupted corpses growled excitedly, without hesitation or doubt, and pounced on his body, quickly beginning to tear and bite. Though these vicious bone spikes pierced the corpses' bodies, they had no sense of pain and allowed the bone spikes to embed in their flesh as they continued to fiercely gnaw at the blood and flesh beneath.
Soon, large chunks of skin and flesh were torn from the boy leader's body, and blood poured out onto the ground.
"Don't, Xiao Yu, we can kill him together! Please, no!" The boy leader rolled around on the ground, crying out in agony.
The girl in the black dress glanced at him with disdain before moving closer to Chen Chao's side, rubbing her newly developed chest against his arm. She whispered, "Now, do you believe my sincerity?"
Chen Chao tilted his head and looked at her, "What sincerity?"
The girl in the black dress froze for a moment, a feeling of unease rising in her chest. "I'll do what you say, just kill him, I promised you. I'll do anything as long as you let me go."
Chen Chao replied indifferently, "You think I'm testing you? I'm just too lazy to do it myself. Killing someone is easy for a corpse like you. Even if I'm not here today, once you grow stronger, you'll still end up killing him, eating his flesh and cells."
"You..." The girl in the black dress felt anger rise within her; she felt completely played.
Chen Chao's tone remained cold, "Don't worry. I won't kill you. You still have some use to me." It was rare to come across a corpse controller like her. If he killed her now, it would be a waste. In the future, she could become a powerful being, and with proper training, she could be a great help!
Of course, the only risk was that she could turn against him at any time!
But compared to the benefits she could bring, the risk was worth trying. Besides, an early-stage corpse controller didn't have much offensive power and was entirely reliant on the corpses they controlled. As long as he didn't let her gain control over many special corpses, she wouldn't pose a real threat.
Once she grew stronger, if he could get his hands on a "Babylonian Relic" [Loyalty Contract], he could fully control her, making her completely obedient!
Hearing Chen Chao's words, the girl in the black dress immediately brightened. "What do you want me to do?"
"Follow me," Chen Chao said calmly. "I can give you some freedom, but you must follow two rules: First, listen to my orders without question. Second, everything you do must prioritize my interests."
The girl in the black dress didn't hesitate and quickly agreed, "No problem."
She had expected this from the start. She believed that with her special ability, anyone would try to tame her, using her powers to dominate the world.
"Hmph, as long as I get good human flesh, my babies will evolve quickly. Once they evolve again, they can easily kill you. You want to enslave me? How naive!" The girl in the black dress sneered inwardly.
Both of them held their own thoughts as the conversation ended.
The boy leader, pinned to the ground by the corrupted corpses, had been torn apart, his body bloody and mangled. Hearing the girl in the black dress's words, he howled in despair, "Xiao Yu, why are you doing this to me? Why?!"
The girl in the black dress crouched down, disgustedly looking at his blood-soaked face. "Why? Don't you understand? I'm not the same person you knew—Fan Xiangyu, the weak, useless girl who died during the virus outbreak. I am a new consciousness that emerged from her brain. Although I absorbed some of her memories, her hypocritical nature disgusted me. If it weren't for your special ability, I would've eaten you from the start!"
The boy leader was stunned.
"Fan... Fan Xiangyu is dead..." The words kept ringing in his mind, his thoughts spinning in confusion.
When a corrupted corpse's claw finally reached his intestines, the intense pain brought him back to reality. He let out a furious scream, glaring at the girl in the black dress, "I curse you to die horribly!!"
The girl in the black dress laughed contemptuously.
Soon, the three corrupted corpses had devoured the boy leader's throat, heart, and other vital parts. Although the boy leader had protected most of his body with the "Bone Armor," he was still tortured to death by heavy blood loss and fatal wounds.
After his death, his bone armor remained intact for a while before it was devoured, leaving only a skeleton. If anyone saw it, they wouldn't believe it was human. It looked more like an animal skeleton that no one had ever seen before.
Chen Chao quietly observed as the girl in the black dress controlled the three corrupted corpses, meticulously consuming every bit of the boy leader's flesh. Then, without warning, he suddenly asked, "How long until they evolve?"
"They'll evolve soon. A few more humans, and they'll be ready..." The girl in the black dress almost instinctively answered, but then froze mid-sentence. She turned back to him, her face pale and twisted into a bitter smile. "You... you can rest assured, I'm absolutely loyal to you!"
Chen Chao looked at her expressionlessly. "How many corrupted corpses can you control at most? I mean regular ones."
"Corrupted corpses, these monsters? I can control about ten of the normal ones. For evolved ones, the ones with special abilities, I can control three. That's why I cultivated these three," Fan Xiangyu answered cautiously.
Chen Chao furrowed his brow. "That's so weak."
Ten regular corrupted corpses didn't pose much of a threat to him; they were easy to eliminate. As for three evolved corrupted corpses, they might offer some help, but it wouldn't make a huge difference.
Hearing Chen Chao's words, Fan Xiangyu nearly spat blood in frustration. Weak? If she could control ten corrupted corpses, she could easily wipe out a settlement of over a hundred people! These controlled corpses were vastly different from the mindless, instinct-driven ones. They could leap and dodge, and even if the enemy had guns, they would show no fear.
After all, very few people could hit a moving target at high speed!
Weak? She silently fumed, but didn't show any anger. In truth, she hadn't told the full truth. She could actually control twenty normal corrupted corpses, and at least five special evolved ones. Hearing Chen Chao's words, her mind quickly spun, and she immediately displayed a nervous and pitiful expression, believing that Chen Chao would surely believe her if he saw her acting like this.
"Wait until my babies evolve, I'll make sure to eat you!" Fan Xiangyu thought darkly, imagining how Chen Chao would look when he was shocked and desperate upon witnessing her power. A small smile curled at the corners of her lips.
Chen Chao glanced at her and said, "Let's go. From now on, don't eat anyone without my permission."
Fan Xiangyu's heart tightened. She quickly asked, "Then what should we eat?"
"Food," Chen Chao replied calmly.
Fan Xiangyu almost bit her tongue. "Food? You want the corrupted corpses to eat food??"