Their bodies rotting, mad, mindless, bloodthirsty, immeasurably strong, and sluggish in movement....
These symptoms are not unlike the zombies in Austin's memories, as if the zombies from the fantasy world of his past life have truly appeared before him, sending chills down his spine.
What left Austin even more silent was, to further confirm the situation, he subsequently instructed Rodney and others to catch a normal rabbit and simultaneously capture a mutated beastman.
But after the rabbit was scratched by the captured mutated beastman, it quickly began to have green eyes, growing green splotches on its skin and fur, its body started to rot, and it became insanely violent, trying to bite any living creature it saw, as though infected by a "zombie virus," becoming incredibly frenzied.
The behavior pattern of this thing was almost identical to the zombie virus from the entertainment works of Austin's previous life. However, due to some mysterious forces in the Extraordinary World, the real zombie virus seemed to show some differences.
There was no doubt that the erosion and infectious power of these eerie forces wreaked havoc among the Dragon Nest Beastmen.
"Where exactly did these zombie viruses come from?!"
Facing the impending dreadful crisis, Austin couldn't help but frown deeply.
If it truly is a zombie virus, how did they appear in this world, and for how long? If those extraordinary lives have also had their wisdom eroded, can it be confirmed that the upcoming crisis is indeed more terrifying?
A plethora of information was running and processing in his mind, from the initial migration of the beast herds. At least half a year had passed since the discovery of its clues, which meant these zombie viruses had existed for at least half a year.
No, that's not correct!
Before the Dragon Nest Tribe discovered the beast migration, Austin remembered Rodney, Quik, and others saying that a large tribe at the Bloody Border began frequently attacking the Border Great Wall a few years ago, with wars breaking out frequently between Beastmen and humans, and the chieftains of those large tribes seeming like madmen, refusing to stop until the Great Wall was captured. Follow current novels on NovᴇlFirᴇ(.)nᴇt
If everything is connected, could it be that those top super large Beastman tribes numbering in the hundreds of thousands had long discovered the inklings of a zombie virus and attacked the Bloody Great Wall at all costs?
"It's very likely that the Beastman tribes within the Kawa Great Forest are still in a primitive stage, lacking organized formation and professional Beastman armies, making them unable to effectively combat these zombie-like entities."
Without formations and without sharp metal weapons, if ordinary Beastmen get caught, they become infected and turn into zombies, consequently strengthening the enemy's forces. Only the elites within the Beastman tribes can barely resist, but against these zombie-like entities, even the elite Beastmen can only take down a few before potentially succumbing to the tide of corpses.
Fortunately, these zombie-like monsters have inherited the brainlessness flaw of zombies. Against a well-armed, well-trained Long Spear Array of the Dragon Nest Legion, they stand little chance even if they outnumber the troops several times over, especially since many Beastman Legions are already equipped with three-meter-long spears, armor, and Bronze Shields. Ordinary zombies are mere targets to be mowed down before them.
The tight armor and spear formations are best suited to deal with these enemies who charge forward with brute strength. As long as the zombie numbers do not exceed tenfold or even a hundredfold of their own, and as long as the Dragon Nest Legion does not get swallowed by the zombie tide, major issues are unlikely to arise.
"There's still a possibility to fight back..."
Gazing at the tide of corpses struggling to climb the mountain peaks from the plains below, Austin muttered to himself internally.
The zombie virus-like green force doesn't seem to spread through the air, at least since the Dragon Nest Beastmen have been here for some time without a single occurrence of infection, indicating that this eerie green force likely spreads through bite infection from infected individuals to uninfected ones.
"You all stay here, keep a good watch. I'm going to investigate."
After instructing Rodney and the others to stay put, Austin rose into the air before they could say anything and swiftly flew towards the infected land in the west.
Decay, desolation, large swaths of trees and underbrush vanished, rotting zombie beastmen, animals, and giant beasts wandering slowly through the forest, as though all life had been consumed clean, leaving no sign of vitality.
Flying above, Austin's eyes grew increasingly grave as he looked down on the scene of devastation.
The swirling smoke around him didn't alert his Sixth Sense, but the large zombie tide below undoubtedly presented a daunting challenge.
"With these things constantly spreading, to prevent them from affecting the Dragon Nest Tribe, they must be killed one by one. But their sheer numbers are absurd, with beastmen, wild beasts, and even magic beasts and giant beasts among them, what's the approach here?!"
This land is likely entirely overrun, with nothing left of normal organisms.
After pondering momentarily, Austin opened his mouth.
A mass of gigantic bluish flame roared intensely, spurting from his mouth, stretching into a fire pillar over ten meters long in the air, crashing into the center of the zombie tide, instantly igniting dozens of zombie beastmen, while the others instinctively avoided and fled.
The breath power of a Giant Dragon, something Austin rarely used, as previously the magic power within him was feeble, with the produced breath no bigger than a fist and just capable of kindling a small flame, holding little power.
But now, as his body grew, the breath of the Giant Dragon became stronger, making it a suitable method for probing attacks.
With one breath, amidst the intense howling and rolling of those dozen zombies ignited by the fire pillar, they swiftly reduced to ashes.
"A weak bunch, though their strength is one or two points above ordinary Beastmen."
Seeing how easily they were burned to death, Austin silently assessed in his mind.
With the Long Spear Array Forest of the Dragon Nest Tribe, they should be able to handle it...
Subsequently, Austin shifted his gaze onto the other elite zombies, while examining the corrupted magic beasts, searching for ways to deal with them.
After several probes, Austin understood.
Those elite zombies infected by extraordinary Beastmen, though their brute strength advanced, with their lack of intelligence and reliance on brute force alone—even a team of ordinary Beastmen could handle them with a few vine nets. The giant beasts, too, with neither consciousness nor wisdom, could easily be tripped by Dragon Nest Beastmen using ropes; as for magic beasts, due to their Talent Magic, they were indeed somewhat harder to deal with.