The prison cell.
Several specially made whale-oil lamps lit up 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 had become of its internal organs? Were they still functioning? How did they function? Did they operate the same way as those of an ordinary person?
What about the blood vessels and blood within its body? How did its basic instinctive bodily responses work?
And a whole host of other research questions.
Zhang Ming's curiosity was off the charts. He carefully dissected it, slicing bit by bit through the Zombie's skin, which looked rotten to the naked eye yet was inexplicably hard and tough as layered cowhide.
"Hmm?"
"The skin's toughness seems to have dropped?"
With just one cut, Zhang Ming discovered that the Zombie body's defensive capabilities had weakened considerably.
With the Zombie's current defense, the Strong Crossbows wielded by those Armored Soldiers a few hours ago would have been enough to pierce its body and inflict a certain degree of damage.
"Is it because the long spear stuck in its skull has jammed the body's workings?"
"Or..."
"Is it because it has no energy supply?"
"A Zombie's energy supply should be blood? Its soul? Or intense emotional fluctuations?"
Zhang Ming did not know.
But he picked up the paper and pen beside him and began recording the experiment.
At the same time, Zhang Ming noted down some of the Zombie's basic physical characteristics, including but not limited to the differences between its skin, eyes, palms, and other basic physiological structures compared to those of humans.
Or rather, according to standard experimental procedure, these things should have been the first step of the experiment.
It was only because Zhang Ming had been too curious and too impatient earlier that he had forgotten them.
Fortunately.
Making these records did not take too long.
The preliminary results were quickly produced.
After completing the examination of its external features and concluding that, from the surface, this was nothing more than a rotting corpse—
The next step was to study the inside of its body.
A specially made scalpel cut across the Zombie's skin, revealing the body beneath the rotten, foul-smelling purplish-black flesh to Zhang Ming.
"The blood no longer flows. The muscles have become dead, purplish-black tissue, and the inner body shows signs of decay."
"If I hadn't confirmed that this thing was lively 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 limited his dissection to the torso and began cutting into its chest.
He wanted to see the condition of the human body's core internal organs.
Splash—
The scalpel sliced open the chest, and a mass of black liquid mixed with maggots burst forth, corroding the floor with a sizzling sound.
Fortunately, Zhang Ming had not let down his guard for even a moment and dodged in time.
"Looks like there's no need to examine them. The internal organs have already rotted beyond recognition."
"In that case, this Zombie corpse looks normal on the outside, but everything inside has long since become unrecognizable?
Like an empty shell?"
"What a peculiar form of life."
Its blood had coagulated, its muscles had died, and its internal organs had rotted and deteriorated into black water full of maggots.
Yet the Zombie could still display signs of being "alive"? It could still hop about and slaughter more than a dozen people in succession?
Zhang Ming could not help but marvel.
"Amazing, amazing!"
"This is far more interesting than Martial Dao."
"Martial Dao cultivation can still be explained. It is a process of going 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 had merely been an ordinary person."
"After reviving from death as a Zombie, he actually leapt across several levels and directly reached the strength of a Postnatal Martial Artist."
"This is practically a Level Skip.
Ah, no, it is an 'evolution'?"
"Agumon evolving into WarGreymon!"
"If I can crack this 'evolution,' why cultivate Martial Dao at all?"
As he spoke, Zhang Ming suddenly thought of something.
He gave a mute laugh.
"No, no. By this world's logic, I should be researching a powerful Zombie Skill."
"Like a Zombie, it would start at the level of a Postnatal Martial Artist and possess all kinds of special traits."
"Haha, how interesting, how interesting."
As wild visions filled his heart, the fire in Zhang Ming's eyes blazed ever higher.
"Unfortunately, I don't have many research instruments on hand. The difficulty of research has skyrocketed."
"I don't even have the most basic tool for biological research—a microscope."
With nothing in hand, any thought of conducting deeper research was wishful thinking.
What?
You mean the [Formless Witness Technique]?
Even with an optimistic estimate, it would take half a year to cultivate the [Formless Witness Technique] to the third layer.
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.
"According to this world's understanding of Martial Dao."
"They believe Martial Dao is composed of qi: the blood qi of Vital Energy, the demon qi of Demon Beasts."
"Zombies should have something called Corpse Qi?"
"Perhaps Corpse Qi is the root of why Zombies can display traits of being 'alive'?"
"If that's the case, perhaps I can use qi for research?"
"But... how?"
Zhang Ming's mind was blank, without the slightest clue.
No books on the market recorded anything whatsoever about research.
"Forget it. I'll wait a few days for [Ignite Comprehension] to come around."
"For the next few days, I'll first conduct some basic research on Zombies."
His gaze shifted, and Zhang Ming discovered that the small incision made by the specially crafted scalpel was slowly healing.
"What powerful recovery ability."
"With healing ability, there is 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 some of the upcoming research projects."
"First project: test how the passage of time weakens a Zombie after it has been pinned down."
"Second project: test the effects of fresh blood on a Zombie."
"Third project: test the effects of poisons humans cannot withstand on a Zombie."
"Fourth project: test the true effects of folk remedies such as Black Dog Blood and Willow Branches on Zombies."
"Fifth project: determine whether Corpse Poison can infect others."
"Sixth project... ninth project... twelfth project..."
At this moment, inspiration flooded Zhang Ming's mind, and one interesting idea after another surfaced.
A moment later.
Looking at the dozens of different projects in his hand, the flames in his eyes burned fiercely.
"Let's begin preparations."
"Starting with the first project, record the Zombie body's weakening after the long spear has 'jammed' it."
"While I'm at it, I'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 boiled New Mighty Bull Great Medicine, he silently listened to Wang Song, the captain of the estate guards, give his report.
"Young Master, we have already sent men to guard the Cemetery and forbidden all unrelated people from approaching. The entire area within several hundred meters of the Cemetery has been designated a restricted zone. No one is allowed near it."
Twisting his neck to ease his weary body, Zhang Ming yawned and nodded in satisfaction.
"Mm, I understand."
"I'll leave the Cemetery to you. Don't let anyone tamper with anything. 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."
Zhang Ming had stationed guards at the Cemetery for a very simple reason.
He wanted to try and see whether he could reproduce a new Zombie.
Had the Old Steward's transformation into a Zombie been an accident, or had it been inevitable?
Was the Old Steward himself special, or had he fulfilled certain conditions before or after death that caused him to become a Zombie?
Each of these questions required experimentation.
Exploring the birth of a peculiar "lifeform" was also a form of experimental research.
Therefore, the Cemetery had to remain untouched, waiting for new "test subjects" to answer Zhang Ming's questions.
Thinking of Zombies and the night's research, Zhang Ming's lips curled slightly upward.
"Zombies, Zombies, Zombies. What a peculiar form of life."
"Based on current research, Zombies possess traits such as extremely rapid growth, immense strength, astonishing speed, powerful self-healing, hardened skin, Life Sense, Corpse Poison, immunity to pain, and immunity to all poisons."
Before you continue