Researching Zombie Treasure 2

The prison cell.

Several specially made whale-oil lamps illuminated the entire cell, making it as bright as day.

Zhang Ming carefully dissected the zombie's body.

He wanted to determine how a zombie resurrected from death differed physiologically from a human.

For instance, though it was clearly dead, what state were its internal organs in? Were they still functioning? How did they function? Did they operate the same way as those of ordinary people?

What about the blood vessels and blood within its body? How did its body's basic instinctive responses work?

And a whole series of other investigations.

Zhang Ming's curiosity was off the charts. He carefully dissected it, slicing bit by bit through the zombie's skin. Though it looked rotten to the naked eye, it was inexplicably hard and tough, like layers upon layers of resilient cowhide.

"Hmm?"

"Has the skin's toughness decreased?"

With a single cut, Zhang Ming discovered that the zombie body's defensive power had dropped considerably.

With the zombie's current defenses, the Strong Crossbows used by those Armored Soldiers a few hours ago would have been enough to pierce its body and inflict a certain amount of damage.

"Is it because the Long Spear lodged in its skull has jammed the body's functions?"

"Or..."

"Is it because it has no energy supply?"

"A zombie's energy supply should be blood? The soul? Or intense emotional fluctuations?"

Zhang Ming did not know.

But he picked up the paper and pen beside him and began making experimental records.

At the same time, Zhang Ming recorded the zombie's basic external features, including but not limited to its skin, eyes, palms, and other basic physiological differences from humans.

Or rather, according to standard experimental procedure, these things should have been the first step of the experiment.

Zhang Ming had simply been too curious earlier and forgotten in his impatience.

Fortunately.

Making these records did not take much time.

The preliminary results were quickly obtained.

After completing the examination of its external characteristics and concluding that, from the surface, it was merely a rotting corpse—

The next step was to study the interior of its body.

The specially made scalpel cut across the zombie's skin, revealing the body beneath its rotten, foul-smelling purple-black flesh before Zhang Ming's eyes.

"The blood is no longer flowing. The muscles have turned dead purple-black, and the body inside shows signs of decay."

"If I hadn't confirmed that this fellow had been alive and kicking a few hours ago, and had even killed more than a dozen servants, I truly wouldn't believe it could move."

Without pausing, Zhang Ming no longer confined his dissection to the torso and began cutting open its chest.

He wanted to see the condition of the human body's core internal organs.

Splash—

As the scalpel sliced open its chest, a mass of black liquid mixed with maggots erupted forth, corroding the ground with a sizzling sound.

Luckily, Zhang Ming had never lowered his guard and dodged in time.

"Looks like there's no need to look. Its internal organs have already rotted beyond recognition."

"In that case, this zombie corpse looks perfectly normal on the surface, but everything inside has long since become unrecognizable?

"Like an empty shell?"

"What a strange form of life."

Its blood had congealed, its muscles had died, and its internal organs had rotted and deteriorated into maggots and black water.

Yet the zombie could still display characteristics of being "alive"? It could still hop around and slaughter more than a dozen people?

Zhang Ming could not help marveling.

"Amazing, amazing!"

"This is far more interesting than martial arts."

"Martial arts cultivation can still be explained. It is a process of growing from weak to strong: Warrior, Postnatal Martial Artist, Innate Martial Artist, accumulating step by step."

"But this zombie is different. Before the Old Steward died, he was only an ordinary person."

"After dying and reviving as a zombie, he actually crossed several levels at once and reached the strength of a Postnatal Martial Artist."

"This was practically a Level Skip.

"Ah, no, it was an 'evolution,' wasn't it?"

"Agumon evolving into WarGreymon!"

"If this kind of 'evolution' could be deciphered, why would anyone still cultivate martial arts?"

As he spoke, Zhang Ming suddenly thought of something.

He gave a dumbfounded laugh.

"No, no. According to the logic of this world, I should be researching a powerful Zombie Skill."

"Just like a zombie, it would start out at the level of a Postnatal Martial Artist and possess all kinds of special traits."

"Haha, how interesting, how interesting."

As his thoughts ran wild, the flames in Zhang Ming's eyes burned ever brighter.

"Unfortunately, I don't have many research instruments on hand. The difficulty of research has skyrocketed."

"I don't even have a microscope, the most basic tool for biological research."

With nothing in hand, wanting to conduct in-depth research was nothing but a pipe dream.

What?

You mean the [Formless Witness Technique]?

Even with an optimistic estimate, cultivating the [Formless Witness Technique] to the Third Layer would take half a year.

How could Zhang Ming endure half a year without playing with Zombie Treasure?

"Wait, perhaps there's another way?" Zhang Ming suddenly thought of something.

"Based on this world's understanding of martial arts."

"They believe martial arts are composed of qi—the blood qi of Vital Energy, the demonic qi of Demon Beasts."

"Zombies should have something called Corpse Qi?"

"Perhaps Corpse Qi is the root of why zombies can display the characteristics of being 'alive'?"

"If so, perhaps qi could be used for research?"

"But... how?"

Zhang Ming's mind was blank, utterly without a clue.

No books on the market recorded anything about research.

"Forget it. I'll wait a few days until [Ignite Comprehension] is available again."

"For the next few days, I'll first conduct some basic research on zombies."

His gaze shifted, and Zhang Ming noticed that the small wound opened by the specially made scalpel was slowly healing.

"What powerful regenerative ability."

"With healing ability, there's much more research I can do."

When a "toy" had been played with until it broke but could repair itself, was there any better news for a player?

"Good. Let's prepare several upcoming research projects."

"Project one: test how the passage of time weakens a zombie after it has been pinned down."

"Project two: test the effects of fresh blood on a zombie."

"Project three: test the effects of poisons humans cannot withstand on a zombie."

"Project four: test the real effects of folk remedies such as Black Dog Blood and Willow Branches on a zombie."

"Project five: determine whether Corpse Poison can infect others."

"Project six... project nine... project twelve..."

At this moment, Zhang Ming's mind was bursting with inspiration, one interesting idea after another surfacing.

A moment later.

Looking at the dozens of different projects in his hand, the flames in his eyes blazed fiercely.

"Let's begin preparing."

"We'll start with project one and record the zombie's physical weakening after the Long Spear has 'jammed' it."

"While we're at it, we'll try removing the Long Spear and see whether the body's weakness can recover—and how it recovers."

The next day.

As Zhang Ming simmered the New Mighty Bull Great Medicine, he silently listened to the report from Wang Song, captain of the estate guards.

"Young Master, we have already sent men to guard the Cemetery and forbid all unrelated people from approaching. The entire area within several hundred meters of the Cemetery has been turned into a restricted zone. No one is allowed near."

Rolling his neck to ease his exhausted body, Zhang Ming yawned and nodded in satisfaction.

"Mm, I understand."

"I'll leave the Cemetery to you. Don't let anyone touch anything carelessly. If anything happens, report directly to me."

"Yes, Young Master."

"All right. You're still injured, so don't overwork yourself."

"Thank you for your concern, Young Master."

The reason Zhang Ming had stationed the estate guards at the Cemetery was simple.

He wanted to try and see whether he could replicate a new zombie.

Had the Old Steward turning into a zombie been an accident, or an inevitability?

Was the Old Steward himself special, or had he met certain conditions before or after death that caused him to become a zombie?

All of these things needed to be tested one by one.

Exploring the birth of a strange "life form" was also a kind of experimental research.

Therefore, the Cemetery had to remain untouched, waiting for new "test subjects" to resolve Zhang Ming's doubts.

Thinking of zombies, thinking of his night's worth of research, the corners of Zhang Ming's mouth curled up slightly.

"Zombies, zombies, zombies. What a strange form of life."

"Based on current research, zombies possess traits such as explosive growth, immense strength, astonishing speed, powerful self-healing, hardened skin, Life Sense, Corpse Poison, immunity to pain, and resistance to all poisons."