Chapter 72: Chapter 72: We Are Truly the Same Kind

The zombie’s words caused Li Xingye’s nonchalant expression to vanish, his gaze instantly turning grim.

He subconsciously wanted to shut her out, but in the end, he allowed Chi Wan to witness it all.

The zombie saw the look on Li Xingye’s face and was secretly delighted. "No one knows how zombies appeared, just as it’s impossible to verify where the abilities of superpower users come from. But as you said, the two are definitely related.

"Most importantly, you must be curious about your own superpower, aren’t you? I’ve never seen a superpower user like you, one who can directly absorb the power from a zombie’s body. I’m guessing... you can absorb energy from not just zombies, but from other superpower users as well, can’t you?

"Don’t you want to understand what your superpower truly is? Come to think of it, your method of acquiring energy is more like ours than that of other superpower users...

"If you keep me alive, I can provide you with more information. I can even help you cover your tracks with the Imperial City. Just... just tell me what revelation you received when you broke through to the Ninth Rank."

The zombie was still chattering on, but Li Xingye’s gaze involuntarily rested on the Crystal Core in the center of its forehead.

"Have you ever absorbed a ’sequence’ from other superpower users? Or is it that people who lose their sequence become like you?" he suddenly asked. "If I let you have my sequence, could you become human?"

The zombie, pinned to the ground, was stunned for a moment, then became ecstatic. It struggled to suppress its excitement. "Not much, just a little... I can feel it. The sequence you carry is completely different from the others. It’s a better match for me.

"Zombies, superpower users... perhaps we’re all just different manifestations of these sequences. Li Xingye, have you ever considered that maybe we are the ones who are truly alike? If you want the truth, just give me a piece of your sequence. Let me advance to the next rank, and I’ll be able to..."

SHINK—

The zombie’s eyes widened in disbelief. It never imagined that Li Xingye, who had been engaging in a friendly conversation just a moment ago, would suddenly strike.

But its gaze only fell on the vine that had just burst from the center of its forehead.

The zombie stared blankly at the dash of green at the very tip of the vine—a color that seemed so out of place in this post-apocalyptic world. The grayish-black vine was rooted in its body, and one by one, a chain of flowers larger than any before bloomed, completely obscuring its vision.

Faint glimmers of light pulsed along the vine, which seemed to have become a conduit, constantly siphoning something from the zombie’s body.

The look of joy on the zombie’s face froze. Feeling the energy drain from its body, it cursed venomously, "You and I... are no different... Sooner or later... you’ll also..."

But as the vine gouged the Crystal Core from its forehead, it lost the chance to ever speak again.

Li Xingye looked at the Crystal Core in his hand, so pure black it seemed to swallow all light. He whispered, "No grudge between us? Then how did the people from the Imperial City know where we were?"

’Including the previous zombie horde outside the base and the constant probing from High-level Zombies. This one didn’t want to coexist peacefully; it just hadn’t yet found a surefire way to defeat me.’

’From beginning to end, all it wanted was my so-called sequence.’

’But what it didn’t know was that I’ve never sensed any such thing. I just bluffed it into revealing the existence of "sequences."’

’I’ve never had a so-called "level-up" experience with my superpower. My abilities simply grow stronger in proportion to the energy I absorb.’ 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

The zombie’s eyes remained wide open, but it could only watch as its body began to disintegrate.

Li Xingye felt little joy on his face after killing the enemy that had been secretly watching him.

He closed his eyes, feeling the perpetually full well of energy within him. "Wanwan," he said softly, "it was right, you know. Sometimes I can’t tell what I am anymore. I’m clearly a human, but my methods are no different from a zombie’s..."

Chi Wan snapped out of her daze from their conversation and said instinctively, "Brother Xingye, what are you talking about? Of course you’re human! You don’t go around chasing and biting people!"

Li Xingye gave a bitter laugh. Drawing on the energy he had just absorbed from the Eighth-tier Zombie, he wiped out all the surrounding zombies in one fell swoop, but his face remained etched with a faint, world-weary expression.

Seeing Li Xingye like this, Chi Wan felt an inexplicable sense of unease.

She didn’t know the full extent of Li Xingye’s situation, or why that zombie had claimed he was one of them.

But it was clear Li Xingye had taken its words to heart, which explained his expression of self-loathing.

’Thinking back on the recent scenes, with their all-too-obvious implications... perhaps Xingye deliberately let me see them. He wasn’t planning on hiding his "abnormality" from me.’

After a moment’s hesitation, Chi Wan ventured, "Brother Xingye... your superpower isn’t just a Wood Ability, is it? There’s also... devouring, right?"

Chi Wan’s question was met with a long silence from Li Xingye.

Just as Chi Wan thought he didn’t want to talk about it and was about to change the subject, he finally began to speak slowly. "Actually, the first superpower I awakened was devouring. Even my Wood Ability... I acquired that by devouring it by mistake.

"Anyone who dies by my hand, whether they’re a zombie or a superpower user... I can clearly feel the energy from their bodies flowing into mine. That zombie was right. No other superpower user gets stronger by absorbing the power of their own kind."

As long as he continued to kill zombies or superpower users with his vines, he would have an endless supply of energy.

Sometimes, even he didn’t know where his superpower came from or what its true nature was.

Back then, though, he could tell himself that the stronger his superpower grew, the better he could protect the people at the base.

But the Eighth-tier Zombie he encountered today was a sudden wake-up call. If he couldn’t get stronger from Zombie Crystal Cores, and could instead absorb energy from other superpower users just like a zombie...

...then was he truly human, or just a High-level Zombie in disguise?

Li Xingye had actively sought out this Eighth-tier Zombie, hoping it could help him verify his theories about superpowers and the energy within Crystal Cores.

He had hoped to find that the energy within Crystal Cores, zombies, and superpower users all stemmed from the same source, and that his method of obtaining it was simply different.

Unfortunately, the zombie’s words had shattered that wishful thinking.

Listening to Li Xingye’s somber tone, Chi Wan wanted to say something, but her thoughts were a jumbled mess. She didn’t fully understand his situation and had no idea how to comfort him.

Li Xingye let out a low, sardonic laugh. "Wanwan, I despise those who prey on their own kind. But like this... what’s the difference between me and them?

"If I don’t consciously control it, any superpower user who dies by my hand will have everything, even their flesh and blood, completely drained. Sometimes, the speed at which my superpower grows terrifies me.

"If my power spirals out of control one day, what kind of monster will I become? Will I just drain everyone and everything around me dry, human and zombie alike?"