"Got any foresights to share?" Michael asked Neha.
The two had been spending every waking moment together.
It was to the point that Neha could freely use Michael’s name and make random changes around the base and no one would bat an eye.
Neha was present to hear everything Bono had shared. To be honest, she did not know what was happening there.
None of it had happened in her past life. That’s why she was confused.
However, she wasn’t a fool.
The only noticeable anomaly in this life was Blaze. She wasn’t sure how, but she knew he was involved in the mess.
I have to deal with him. But it would be difficult without the zombie king’s nucleus...
Neha thought even if Blaze had turned into a zombie, he couldn’t match the resourcefulness of the Navy. That’s why she was relaxed about facing the zombie king.
In a little over two weeks, the world would go through another reawakening.
This time, the flora would mutate, making things difficult for the chosen.
To compensate for it, a few among the chosen will have a second and last awakening.
Neha was waiting for that before attacking the zombie king. After all, despite being a returner, she didn’t have any other special abilities.
As long as she awakened again and got the nucleus, then she’d become invincible.
However, now she’d have to prepone her plans.
All because of that zombie menace.
"Neha, I asked you something."
Michael’s voice brought her out of her thoughts.
"Rodents," she said. "Mutated rodents are causing this attack."
"Rodents? Are you sure? Of course you are. It’s an old habit of asking for proof. I hope you won’t mind it."
"Of course not," Neha replied, throwing her arms around his neck. "It’s fine even if you doubt me. I don’t care."
"Lady, you might want to step back, or something might get out of control here."
Neha curled her toes as she forced a smile onto her face. Michael was strong, but he was one corny guy.
Everything that came out of his mouth made her cringe. It was the same with most guys. Be it Michael or Min.
Then again, she had been used to the man in her past life. A man of few words but of unparalleled authority and strength.
The only man she had killed in this life.
Only for him to come back from the dead.
She shook the memories out of her mind. After all, reminiscing about the past wouldn’t help her kill Blaze or the zombie king.
"We should move the zombie king expedition up," she whispered, resting her head on Michael’s shoulder.
"Because of the rodents?"
Honestly, she had no idea if the rodents had evolved to the extent of hunting humans, but Michael didn’t know that.
For him, whatever she said was the truth. And Neha wanted to exploit that trust as much as she could.
"We have to travel on foot, and it’ll take us about a day to reach the Valley with appropriate rest," she said. "It’s wise to act soon before the rodents realize the base is a food source and cause problems."
"Hm... alright," Michael nodded. "We’ll move out tomorrow. The rest of the plan remains unchanged. You will lead the operation, while I’ll stay back to hold the fort."
Meanwhile, somewhere unknown.
Blaze turned around, his claws drawn.
Strange... I thought someone had called my name.
He shook his head and stared at his reflection in the broken window. Despite being a zombie, he couldn’t deny he looked good in a suit.
A zombie dressed for a funeral. That ought to scare the humans away. Not like there will be any humans to scare.
While his horde was busy gathering materials for their evolution, Blaze was headed somewhere alone.
Namely, to set up a second lair of sorts.
Well, it wasn’t right to call it a second lair as it was just a research laboratory under UC San Diego’s control.
While playing around with the lair was fun and games, he wanted to dabble with something more familiar.
Rather than waiting for the humans to make a move, he wanted to use his time efficiently. Like setting up a lab to experiment on the zombie king after capturing it.
However, that wasn’t the only goal he had in mind.
As a researcher, Alaric had access to some of the greatest tools the university had to offer. Including various bacteria and fungi.
These were for research purposes, to cure existing diseases or improve human quality of life.
Perhaps the strangest research material among them was a fungus called Cordyceps.
It was much like the necroseed Blaze possessed. Only, it worked on insects. Well, at least before the creatures evolved.
The fungus was used in traditional Chinese medicine and was also said to have medicinal properties. Though the world went to shit before its potential was realized.
However, the behavior that excited Blaze the most was its interaction with insects. He had seen it happen with his own eyes.
By merely contacting the cordycep spores, the insect would have signed its death certificate.
The fungus would penetrate their exoskeletons and infect them, all the while replacing their insides on a cellular level. It would then take control over their movements before leading to the insect’s death and zombifying them.
Blaze had planned to use it to infect the ant colony, but then he created Marrow and plans changed. But now, he was going to use the fungus for a separate purpose.
If I can somehow merge it with necroseed, then... forget about ingesting or breathing the virus. Just getting into close contact would turn humans into undead... a new kind of undead.
So far, the collective’s way of infection was the only way to raise an undead. In other words, the collective indirectly controlled the rate of infection.
However, if Blaze was successful, he could create a new race of undead. One free from the collective’s control.
Undead couldn’t feel emotions, but at that moment, Blaze was smiling like a kid on christmas.