"Until one day, I saw you, and saw that it had feelings, I knew it was under your control, showing absolute loyalty to you! I thought, as long as I continued to control Mi’er, her feelings for me would come back, but in the end, they did not!"
Xu Haishui’s desolate expression again became hideous, filled with coldness.
"So, I was angry, I began to torture her, with a knife, a gun, my hands, even my tongue!"
As he spoke, he opened his mouth and his tongue came out, divided into four, and waved in front of Tang Ye, but quickly withdrew it.
"From the day I controlled her, she turned into a puppet, without a shred of affection like that big guy, not at all!"
Upon hearing this, Tang Ye realized, understood what Xu Haishui was talking about the deal, and also understood his statement that he wouldn’t disappoint him.
"You mean, make her like Ah Fu, or like you?" Tang Ye brushed up a little spirit, but the look in his eyes was truly unpredictable.
Xu Haishui also replies quickly: "I crave feelings more than Mi’er does, so I would be as loyal as it is, and what I need, you can do it with just a flick of your wrist."
He initially thought this bargaining chip would entice Tang Ye, but unexpectedly, Tang Ye shook his head.
"Hahaha, your loyalty? Is that all? So far, I haven’t discovered where your abilities lie."
Ah Fu’s massive body can serve as a meat shield, exhibiting extremely high defensive power, and his strength far exceeds Tang Ye’s when he was at Level 4. He can even be used as a mount for mobility. But this Xu Haishui, apart from his barely passable Level 4 scale armor, his strength and speed are merely at Level 2, and his mind control can’t even control Ah Fu.
Tang Ye really can’t figure out, where his confidence comes from.
"No, no, no, my abilities are much more than that. I can control zombies..."
"Wait." Tang Ye cuts him off.
"Control zombies, you can’t even control zombies of the same level as you. You can only control some Level 3 zombies. I can do the same, although I don’t have that kind of compulsion."
"No, you got it wrong. I can control Level 4 zombies, and even control Level 5 zombies like you!" Xu Haishui hurriedly explained, his voice kept changing.
"Really? How do you explain Ah Fu and me?"
"You and Ah Fu are different." Each time Tang Ye spoke the name Ah Fu, Xu Haishui changed his tone accordingly.
"I don’t know what’s the reason, but you’re a bit...special! You saw Mi’er too, I believe you can feel she’s a Level 4 zombie, but she’s under my control, you saw it, she could resist, but she didn’t! She willingly accepted it!"
Tang Ye sneered, immediately refuting: "Okay, let’s assume this is your power for now. But controlling a Level 5 zombie, have you really done it?"
"I’ve only encountered one Level 5 zombie so far, which is you, but I can prove myself that I can definitely control zombies one level higher than me!"
"Oh, and how will you prove it?" Tang Ye tauntingly asked.
Xu Haishui didn’t speak further, fixating his gaze on Tang Ye’s eyes. After a moment, Ah Fu roared outside the door. Tang Ye raised an eyebrow, commanding Ah Fu to clear the way. Then, two Level 3 zombies walked in.
Xu Haishui said: "These are under my control. There were originally four, haha... you killed two, but it’s okay, I can still prove myself!"
A touch of pain flashed across his face, for the zombie that could secrete zombie parasites. Such zombies were his best weapons to torture other dominators, but they were unceremoniously killed by Tang Ye!
Such zombies were hard to come by.
"These two have followed me for a long time since I controlled them at Level 2. After I moved in here, they have been here all the time, unable to evolve without food. But, Tang Ye, you must believe me, I could control Level 3 zombies at Level 2, it’s impossible that I can’t control Level 5 zombies at Level 4!"
Closing his eyes and opening them quickly, Tang Ye stood up from the chair, facing Xu Haishui. With his hopeful eyes, Tang Ye slowly stated: "You said you need feelings. Since feelings derive from memories, and you also mentioned that once someone’s memories are in your possession, they belong to you and there is no division between others and yourself. But have you ever thought about killing me directly and seizing my evolution crystal?"
A bitter smile appeared on Xu Haishui’s face. Faced with Tang Ye’s question, he answered frankly: "I’ve thought about it. But I know my limitations, I can’t defeat you. You can fly, and I don’t have the confidence to win, let alone attracting your attention. If I had the opportunity at that point, you would definitely be tortured to death by me, just like how you tortured others!"
His tone was particularly cold, exactly like Tang Ye’s, seemingly the unique way of speaking for zombies. Tang Ye, however, laughed, saying: "Unfortunately, now, I can torture you to death, heh heh."
After that, Tang Ye sat down on the chair again, watching Xu Haishui. With a broad smile and a bizarre grin, he kept his eyes on him, and the latter also met his gaze.
After ten minutes, the standoff between both parties finally came to a halt. This time, Tang Ye lost. Xu Haishui was smart. He knew he was very lonely, thus concluded that Tang Ye wouldn’t kill him. He felt reassured about it!
Tang Ye also understood this. He needed someone who shared his experiences to dispel the loneliness. Such loneliness was hard for anyone to understand until they reached Tang Ye’s predicament.
Despite several attempts, Tang Ye had been tempted to go against logic, kill Xu Haishui, and shatter his confidence. But he just couldn’t raise his hand.
Loneliness is like a beast, constantly devouring people, magnifying countless negative emotions. Faced with getting a "soulmate" and a loyal subordinate as a bargaining chip, Tang Ye was tempted.
"So... is the deal on?"
Tang Ye was in a dilemma. Honestly, he had no idea how Ah Fu, this inexplicable little brother, was controlled by him. To make Xu Haishui become like Ah Fu and be controlled by him, such a skill was passive, not active!
Seeing Tang Ye’s troubled expression, Xu Haishui seemed to guess something. Opening his mouth, he let out a "cackle" of weird laughter.
"I know what you’re thinking. You don’t know how to do it, right? But I do, so follow me."
Xu Haishui led Tang Ye out the door, to the room of the Level 4 female zombie.
"Alright, let’s conduct the deal here."