Habits from When It Was Alive

Survivors?

Seeing the mangled bodies of Zombies in the stairwell, the thought flashed through his mind.

But upon closer inspection, he quickly dismissed it himself.

The Zombies' deaths did not look like human handiwork. They looked more like something had torn them to pieces.

There were claw marks on one of the apartment doors nearby, the paint scratched away.

It was as if there were some beast or monster lurking in the hallway.

"Damn it!"

Wu Heng cursed again.

The stairwell door had been left open yesterday, and now there was an unknown monster today.

After all that, his own unit had turned out to be the safest one.

Clang~ Clang~ Clang-clang!

Suddenly, the stair railing began to shake violently.

The sound quickly spread through the entire stairwell.

It was as if something downstairs was continuously hammering the metal railing.

A fresh wave of tension rose in Wu Heng's heart.

Gripping his weapon tightly, he said softly, "Let's go down."

Wu Heng walked in the middle as they headed downstairs together.

They headed downstairs together.

The sound of skeletal feet hitting the ground was drowned out by the violent banging against the railing.

They did not draw out any enemies.

Continuing downward, they came across several more mangled Zombie limbs scattered everywhere.

Wu Heng did not use Bone Manipulation Technique. He intended to first see what exactly was down there.

They made their way to the fourth-floor landing. He could tell that whatever was striking the railing was below.

After rearranging the Skeletons' positions, he stepped onto the landing and looked down toward the third floor.

A Golden Retriever Lion Zombie with patchy fur clutched the metal railing with its front paws, wildly thrusting its hips.

Like a beast in heat, it was venting its excessive energy against the railing.

"What is this?"

Animals could get infected too?

And why was there a lion in the stairwell?

As though it had sensed something, the lion stopped its frantic movements and turned its head toward Wu Heng as he stared in shock.

Its shriveled lips exposed sharp fangs, with bits of rotten flesh hanging from the corners of its mouth.

This was no lion.

It was the Teddy kept by one of the building's residents.

Its body had merely grown several times larger, and with all that yellow fur, it did not look much different from a lion.

Even after turning into a Zombie, it still could not break its habit of thrusting its hips everywhere.

Grrr~ Roar!

The Zombie Teddy let out a roar and charged upstairs.

Once he realized it was a Teddy, the tension in Wu Heng's heart eased considerably.

As the Zombie Teddy rushed toward them, Wu Heng took two steps back and ordered, "Kill it."

Crash!

The Skeleton Soldiers raised their blades and charged forward.

After sprinting two steps, the Zombie Teddy suddenly kicked off the ground and leaped up. It stepped against the wall for leverage, vaulting straight over the Skeletons charging below.

It landed on the corner landing in a single bound.

Its dog paws swung out, sending several Skeletons blocking its path flying. Then it opened its huge jaws, clamped down on one Skeleton's skull, and violently shook it.

Its powerful body rampaged across the landing, knocking down a whole group of Skeleton Warriors and sending them rolling down the stairs.

Then Teddy abruptly raised its head and looked at Wu Heng behind them.

It leaped again, pouncing directly at him.

Wu Heng's expression changed. He raised the Round Shield diagonally overhead, and in the next instant, a tremendous force slammed into it, sending his body flying backward out of control.

He crashed into the wall behind him, then rolled down the stairs step by step, his helmet clattering against the stairs.

The Zombie Teddy wanted to pursue him, but an Iron Sword came chopping down at its head, stopping it in its tracks.

At the same time, the surrounding Skeletons reacted in time. Four or five of them leaped onto Teddy's back, gripping its body tightly, while even more raised their cleavers and hacked down.

They did not care where they struck, chopping wildly as fur and flesh continuously fell away.

The lion-like Teddy began struggling with all its might, like a glutinous rice ball covered in white bones, crashing about in every direction.

Wu Heng quickly got to his feet and straightened his helmet.

With a wave of his hand, he immediately split off several Skeletons and had them stand in front of him again.

Bang~ Crash!

The Zombie Teddy slammed into the wall beside it, and the violent impact scattered the Skeletons clinging to its body.

Then it leaped again, still targeting Wu Heng.

"Damn it!"

Wu Heng cursed as he quickly dodged aside. At the same time, he lowered into a lunge, crouched, gathered strength, and thrust out the Iron Spear.

Short Spear Training still proved somewhat useful.

The Iron Spear struck Teddy's chest from the side, its blade sinking into the rotting body.

At the same time, a force jolted through his wrist, and the Iron Spear flew from his hand.

Teddy landed lightly. The Iron Spear still lodged in its chest struck the ground with a thud, piercing through its torso and coming out through its left foreleg.

Dark red, viscous blood flowed down from the wound.

Wu Heng leaped backward down an entire flight of steps and continued, "Don't stop. Get up there and kill it."

The Skeleton Warriors swarmed forward again.

Damage to its body was not fatal to the Zombie Teddy, but the Iron Spear piercing through its chest and foreleg still affected its movements.

Its left foreleg could no longer support its body, leaving it limping.

Teddy slowed down, but the Skeleton Warriors' attacks only grew fiercer.

They continuously surrounded and pressed it, covering its body in blade wounds.

When its entire body was buried beneath the Skeletons and the sound of chopping flesh became one continuous chorus, the System Prompt appeared immediately afterward.

Experience gained +42.

Summoned Creature—Skeleton Warrior, experience +20.

Wu Heng opened his visor. Ignoring the foul, rotten stench in the air, he gulped down breaths.

He had never imagined that a Teddy could turn into something like this.

Genetic mutation, or some kind of Atavistic Evolution?

That was how novels always described it, but he had no idea whether either explanation was true.

Either way, Teddy had turned into a lion.

It was only because it was trapped in the stairwell. Otherwise, with such a huge body running outside and wildly thrusting its hips everywhere, who knew how many species would be in for a disaster.

The Zombie Teddy's combat power definitely surpassed that of a Normal Zombie.

It could rampage through a Skeleton Horde. Its strength was certainly no joke.

The most terrifying thing was that it seemed to possess a certain degree of intelligence.

Otherwise, it would not have kept trying to pounce on him.

If Zombies possessed intelligence, could they still be called Zombies? Would they become an entirely new intelligent species instead?

He could not figure it out.

But that outcome would not be good for him.

This battle had also reminded him of something.

While accumulating more Skeletons, he needed to improve himself as well. Otherwise, if he was killed, no number of Skeletons would be of any use.

After catching his breath, he stepped forward and pulled the Iron Spear out of Teddy's body.

He used Bone Manipulation Technique.

A large beast Skeleton was something worth looking forward to.

Summoned Creature exceeds the summoner's ability range. Instability factor increased...

As he used Bone Manipulation Technique, a prompt appeared right after.

Before Wu Heng could react, he felt his Mental Power rapidly being drawn away.

Wu Heng's expression changed.

Ordinary corpses stood up instantly.

But the Zombie Teddy before him required far more Mental Power, and the instability mentioned in the prompt worried him.

Don't let it get summoned only to attack me instead.

That would be just my luck.

Very soon, the Teddy Corpse before him began to change.

Its flesh melted like hot wax, and a Canine Skeleton slowly rose to its feet.

Its pale bones were thicker and stronger, while strange Ghostly Blue Flame flickered within its hollow eye sockets.

Skeleton Hound (Level 5)