Chapter 108: The Zombie Tiger

The zombie underling crunched the numbers: MAX equals 50, and the Boss's combat power is also 50. By conversion, the Boss is equivalent to MAX, and just as formidable.

"Incredible! As expected of the Boss!"

The large-eared zombie ignored his underling and ran out into the street, where plenty of blood had been spilled during the recent battle. He crouched down, dipped his finger into the pool of blood, and stuck it directly into his mouth.

"Don't let it go to waste..."

...

At this moment, the cyborg was fleeing at high speed, its movements agile and precise. Within its brain, it had already calculated the optimal escape route.

With a powerful leap of its legs, it landed on the wall of a skyscraper, pushed off with a surge of force, and flipped onto the roof.

"Escaping via the rooftop increases success probability by 22.435%."

It continued to calculate.

But it had barely taken two steps on the roof when a slender figure appeared in the darkness ahead, gazing at it with cold, indifferent eyes.

"Zeroing out..."

The cyborg stood frozen. Faced with this situation, it had no data; it was impossible to calculate.

[Initiating combat test.]

A scorching heat radiated from its palms as two fireballs began to coalesce.

Seeing this, Lin Dong understood.

This cyborg had been implanted with two awakened abilities—previously ice, now fire. In short, it could wield both...

The two fireballs grew increasingly intense, dispelling the surrounding darkness, before being hurled violently at Lin Dong. Thanks to precise calculations, the attack trajectory was perfectly accurate.

However, it was useless against Lin Dong.

He didn't bother to dodge. He unleashed the Zombie King Domain, the crushing pressure swatting the fireballs aside. At the same time, his figure flickered, and in the blink of an eye, he was right in front of the cyborg.

"Ice Wall!"

The cyborg felt no fear; even in a desperate situation, it continued to fight.

Frost condensed in front of it, instantly forming a wall in an attempt to intercept Lin Dong.

But a long blade pierced through the ice wall, slashing downward. It shattered the barrier and sliced right through the cyborg's skull.

Its eyes instantly went dim.

Yet, the recording components within its body continued to function.

[Combat failure.]

[Combat data transmitted to cloud database.]

[Shutting down...]

...

All artificial intelligences shared a single database. If other cyborgs encountered such a situation in the future, they could extract this data for analysis.

In effect, this increased their combat experience.

It was clear that the progress of the artificial intelligence was terrifying; it was akin to a "Master Brain" controlling many avatars, with each one constantly learning.

"This thing is quite sophisticated..."

Lin Dong inspected the remains and found that within the cyborg's mangled body were many metallic parts, along with two crystal cores—one for ice and one for fire.

However, they weren't embedded in the skull, but rather in the left and right sides of the chest.

Lin Dong didn't dwell on it; he simply gathered the corpse and the crystal cores.

Afterward, he returned to the street to deal with the severely injured mutant tiger.

"Greetings, Boss!"

Seeing Lin Dong return, the large-eared zombie greeted him hurriedly, putting on a fawning, sycophantic display.

With the cyborg dead, the ice spikes that had trapped the tiger had dissipated. Yet, the tiger remained prone on the ground, its fur matted with blood, its breathing ragged. Its life force was fading rapidly; it was on the brink of death.

"Woo-woo..."

It let out a whimper. Seeing Lin Dong approach, a faint light flickered in its eyes, as if in a final moment of clarity, holding a trace of gratitude.

All living things have spirit; the white tiger was thanking him for killing those hateful humans, allowing it to die with closure.

Lin Dong looked down and noticed that the tiger possessed a sense of intelligence; it was clearly of good stock. It would be a pity to let it die and just be consumed as a lump of meat.

He could consider taking it in; it would surely become a major asset in the future.

And so, Lin Dong slowly raised his hand, used his fingernail to prick the tip of his thumb, and a single drop of crimson blood fell.

The drop of Zombie King blood landed precisely on the tiger's wound.

"Roar!"

The tiger let out a low growl, as if scorched by flames, as the pure energy of the Zombie King's blood surged into its body.

The white tiger began to convulse violently, its bones snapping and popping.

It was clearly the precursor to zombification.

The wounds on its body began to heal rapidly, and within the blink of an eye, it had recovered completely.

Then, it flipped over and stood up from the ground.

"ROAR—!"

A fierce, bestial roar exploded into the night sky, causing the glass of the surrounding buildings to shatter instantly.

The tiger already possessed the aura of a king; now, having absorbed a drop of the Zombie King's blood, it became even more domineering.

The ferocity of a tiger, combined with the madness of a zombie.

It had become a new species: a Zombie Tiger!

Its body had been completely altered, yet its physique remained powerful. Its strength level had not dropped; rather, it had risen significantly, from B-rank to B+ rank.

If an ordinary creature were infected by a zombie, it would only become a low-level, fodder-grade D zombie, starting everything over from scratch.

But this was different.

Lin Dong's Zombie King blood contained pure energy, and the tiger was of high quality.

Having just turned into a zombie, it was already B+ rank, which showed the infinite potential of the Zombie Tiger—there was no telling what it might evolve into later.

Subsequently, after the white tiger let out a long roar, it lowered its front limbs to the ground and bowed its head respectfully to Lin Dong, signifying absolute submission.

"Hmm, not bad."

Lin Dong was quite satisfied.

The large-eared zombie nearby watched in terror. The tiger was simply too fierce, and even just after turning into a zombie, its strength already surpassed his own as a Zombie King.

Was there no justice in this world?

"This world... is getting harder and harder to survive in," the large-eared zombie sighed to himself.

As the apocalypse progressed, other zombies were becoming stronger and stronger; eventually, he would surely end up as someone else's food.

With that thought, he looked at Lin Dong with a flattering gaze.

"Big Brother, why don't you... take me in too?"

"Why would I take you? To hang around my territory and wait for death?" Lin Dong felt his combat power was too weak; he probably couldn't even defeat the rank-and-file zombies of his own elite legion.

He was just seeking protection.

"I... I can help you find humans, Big Brother!"

The large-eared zombie hurriedly tried to prove his worth.

But Lin Dong replied, "If I don't take you in, wouldn't you still have to help me find them?"

"No, I..."

The large-eared zombie's eyes widened, momentarily speechless. It seemed he was destined to be taken advantage of indefinitely.

However, Lin Dong quickly changed his tune.

"We'll see how you perform. If you can find more humans and demonstrate enough value, I will consider it."

"You got it! I guarantee there won't be a problem!"

The large-eared zombie agreed immediately, as if invigorated by a stimulant.

Lin Dong nodded.

"If you find humans, you can come and tell me."

With that, he turned and left, followed by the incredibly imposing zombie tiger, and together they disappeared into the darkness.

The large-eared zombie watched his departing back and beckoned to his elite underlings.

"Listen to me, from now on, he is our Boss, understand? You lot better behave yourselves, and don't you dare embarrass me."

"But... what about the Zombie King across the river?"

"Don't worry about them," the large-eared zombie said decisively.

An elite underling tilted his head, feeling something was off... that wasn't what he had said before.

"Boss, didn't you say we should see who wins, and then help the winner?"

"Is there any need to look? I already know who won..."