"Whirrr!"
The drill spun incessantly, its whine reaching Tang's ears along with a clang beneath his feet.
He immediately felt his footing give way and toppled backward onto the ground.
A scarlet beam raced over his head and struck the ground a short distance behind him.
Tang looked at the shallow hole beneath his feet and immediately realized No. 17 had dug it just in time.
With no time to offer thanks, he forced himself upright and plucked his strings, flinging out a glob of amber syrup.
It briefly suppressed the zombies' rotten stench, bursting into a fluorescent mist amid the horde. The zombies shambling through it made hoarse, rattling chuckles with their already putrefied vocal organs-
They seemed to be laughing, though that could only vaguely be discerned from the way they clutched their stomachs.
Their steps grew erratic, veering left and right, and they failed to bite Tang as the Beholder directed.
That also gave No. 17 a chance to raise the drill:
"Power adjusted to 100%. Simulating Warrior combat technique [Improved Critical]."
As one of the first mass-produced Prototypes, No. 17 often took pride in the experience accumulated over a long life. And so No. 17 often heard these words-
"If you were a human adventurer, you would most likely be a human Warrior."
That did not merely mean they were ordinary and unassuming.
It also attested to one crucial trait.
Adaptability.
Human adaptability allowed them to fit into any group and take up any profession.
And their enormous population always produced a few exceptionally creative individuals, allowing them to excel in every field.
That adaptability and creativity were also reflected in this most unassuming profession.
People often called seasoned Warriors who had mastered and employed a variety of combat techniques [Battle Masters].
Wrestling, provocation, disruption-they would