In the past, Bai Zemin had once asked Lilith about zombies.
What kind of path did they follow? How did they evolve?
Her answer was very simple but extremely clear and without leaving any misunderstanding: "Zombies evolve by devouring other living beings. But they can also absorb mana from the world."
The problem was that when evolving by forcibly absorbing mana from the world, the evolution could not be chosen by oneself just as when absorbing Soul Power from another existence. This meant that the evolution was almost 100% of the time countless instances weaker and a Second Order existence that had evolved incorrectly did not necessarily possess the power of a true First Order existence.
It was a similar case to the First Order Blood Sucking Bee that Bai Zemin had killed after setting fire to the mutant forest; due to its bad evolution after absorbing the mana that the Mana Embryo expelled, the Blood Sucking Bee had lost all mobility except for its wings due to its disproportionate body.
However, this did not overshadow the fact that the zombies evolved relentlessly; which was incredibly frightening considering they were creatures that never slept and possessed seemingly infinite Stamina.
While the zombies and other creatures were evolving, most humans were hiding in some corner and only the vast minority actually had the courage to come out and fight.
...
Bai Zemin noticed that the girl's hands were trembling slightly as she gripped the sword with all her heart. He walked over and calmed her down, praising her for her good work.
"See, this is your skill." He pointed to the skill scroll that had fallen next to the slain zombie's body.
"My... My skill...?" Luo Ning followed his glance and her eyes shone. The girl seemed to forget her fears as she clutched Bai Zemin's shirt tightly and said cheerfully, "That's my skill? Just like big brother Bai, I can also have a cool skill?"
Bai Zemin chuckled and nodded, "That's right. It's yours. Let me pick it up for you."
"Hurry up, big brother. Hurry up!" The little girl jumped like a rabbit all over the place as she pushed him forward. She still didn't dare to pick up something that was so close to the zombie's bloodied and messed up body after all.
After picking up the scroll under Luo Ning's anxious eyes, the contents of the skill flashed in his retina.
[Summon Shadow Cat (First Order active skill) level 2: Spend 5 Mana points to summon a Shadow Cat and consume 2 Mana points for every 5 seconds. The Shadow Cat can blend in and camouflage itself with the darkness to become almost undetectable to the enemy's eyes, making it a perfect beast for surprise attacks. The skill is currently limited to 1 Shadow Cat]
Bai Zemin raised an eyebrow and handed the skill to the little girl.
Little Luo Ning's eyes shone with joy and under Bai Zemin's guidance, the white scroll with dark speckles turned into particles of light that soon disappeared inside her body.
"Luo Ning, let's continue to raise your level to increase your Mana as much as possible, and later we can see what your skill can do." Bai Zemin gently ruffled her hair and the girl nodded excitedly before dashing forward like a little tigress, decapitating zombie after zombie.
In fact, Luo Ning was so happy that she ignored the pool of blood that had formed around her and seemed unaware that her Minnie and Mickey cartoon boots had been dyed red.
Because she had received Bai Zemin's help, Luo Ning only rose to level 1 after killing 3 levels 5 zombies, which was noticeably lower than Bai Zemin.
At that time he had directly risen to level 1 after killing the level 5 Big Bee. This meant that due to his assistance, Luo Ning was receiving about 1/3 of the Soul Power she could have gained if she had killed the zombies by herself.
Seven more zombies took her to level 2.
Fifteen more zombies took her directly to level 3.
Luo Ning needed to decapitate thirty-one zombies of level five more to finally reach level 4. Under Bai Zemin's guidance, the eight status points she had gained were used to boost her Mana stat only as her skill consumed large amounts of mana to work.
With only about twenty zombies remaining, he and she knew that it was impossible to gain enough Soul Power to level up to level 5 so Bai Zemin decided to do something else.
When Bai Zemin led Luo Ning back to where the troops were stationed, the girl ran to Luo Cheng to tell him the news.
As for Bai Zemin himself, he looked at the militants and said in a deep voice, "Now I am giving you the opportunity to evolve almost without risk!"
Everyone looked at him carefully and he pointed at the zombies in the distance as he said, "Approximately twenty zombies were disabled by me, so that means a total of seven people can go up 1 level and gain status points to become stronger. Are any of you interested?... Let me warn you in advance, those who step forward will have to fight with swords and blades without relying on firearms frequently from this day forward!"
The thirty armed men looked each other in the eye. Most hesitated but in the end did not want to move forward. Fighting from long range was fine, but risking to die in a melee battle was still hard to accept. Although they were ashamed as they looked at the nine-year-old girl who had dared to fight, shame could not overcome the fear of death.
However, there were several brave ones who stepped forward without hesitation.
Bai Zemin looked at the twelve men who stood out from the rest and nodded in satisfaction as he silently thought: 'After all, these people went through many hardships. In thirty of them more than a third have the determination to fight while among hundreds of well-fed and protected students only a few dared'.
"Since we are currently short of zombies, only seven of you will be able to level up. But don't worry! You will all be raised by me and turned into an elite troop!" Bai Zemin promised honestly and saw the eyes of the twelve men glitter with fervor as they looked at him, Chen He. Fu Xuefeng, and Kang Lan.
They all had seen the power that each of them had and those who were hot-blooded naturally hoped that they could acquire similar strength. Many present had lost their families during the course of the apocalypse and hated zombies and mutated beasts to the bone marrow.
Now that someone had given them a chance for revenge, these men were naturally more than grateful and gladly stepped forward.
Blades, iron pipes, wooden sticks, even with the butt of the gun they had; seven of the twelve men who had stood out advanced, and after making sure that the only remaining danger in the zombies was their teeth, they began to bash their heads into a bloody mess.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
After killing three levels 5 zombies each, all seven men received the same message in their retinas:
[You have leveled up to level 1. You have acquired two status points to distribute freely].
A few meters away, Bai Zemin smiled slightly.
Little by little, an elite troop was forming under his flag and there would come a time in the future when just hearing its name would be enough to terrify any being.