Apocalypse: Zombie King is the Female Lead's Younger Sister-Chapter 254: Third Year

Jasmine and the man looked at her strangely. Zerra didn’t care. She kept staring at Jasmine, waiting impatiently for her explanation.

"It’s the third year."

Just as she guessed. A heavy weight couldn’t help but settle on her chest. The third year? It meant that she had gone over a year already.

Her initial estimation was wrong. It wasn’t just a few months like the whale had told her. Something just didn’t feel right here. Even if the whale gave her a rough estimation, it should have been too far off.

Considering there had been oddities around some places about inconsistent time flow–like the forest she and Derek had fallen into–it made sense they might have passed such a place.

"Tell me about the animal characteristics." She frowned, remembering yet another odd point.

Jasmine took a deep breath, already resigned to her fate. The previous arrogance was gone. It was clear. Despite her strange questions, she was still stronger than both of them, who were merely at the fourth level.

"Damien’s transformation is the most complete among the people in this village." She began. "Some people only grow animal characteristics on some parts of their bodies, like a hand turning into claws or their eyes resembling animals’."

So, whether they gained additional abilities depended on their luck.

"Not all ability users have such power. On top of the abilities they gained from the awakening because of the apocalypse, they also gained another power according to the animal they transformed into."

Zerra’s brows were knitted together. She pressed, "Since not all ability users gain the transformation power, are there such cases of ordinary people awakening such transformation?"

She suspected they might have a spiritual beast bloodline. It wasn’t a rare case some humans in the Celestial Realm sometimes have spiritual beast bloodlines in their family roots.

Some spiritual beasts who could transform into human form already, often mingle with the human race. Of course, considering the relationship between the two races, it only happened in some regions.

It was such an irony. Having relationships with a different race was frowned upon, but they would still accept any bloodline power from the spiritual beast.

Some of these humans might have migrated to this world, or spiritual beasts existed here a long time ago.

Since it had to do with bloodline, even if they didn’t awaken an ability, they could still stimulate the hidden bloodline.

"There are such cases, but incredibly rare." It was the man who answered. "After years of apocalypse, ordinary people are severely malnourished. Even if they awaken such a bloodline, it’s dangerous for them."

"Their bodies cannot bear the strong transformation power. Most of them ended up dead."

Zerra pursed her lips. Seeing her deep in thought, they didn’t disturb her. The room fell into silence filled with tension.

Daniel’s figure flashed in her eyes. She remembered his oddity in controlling dogs. Could it be that he had a hidden dog spiritual beast bloodline?

He didn’t awaken an ability, but when he awakened his bloodline power, he was still healthy and not malnourished. Hence, the higher chance of successful transformation.

The last time they met, he had such a grotesque appearance. Whatever the lunatic scientists were doing to him, it seemed to help his bloodline awakening further.

The world had changed greatly.

Zerra put the matter of the spiritual beast bloodline behind her. Now, she needed to address the most important issue.

"I have mentioned making a deal with the two of you," she told them. "Don’t worry, I won’t let you suffer a loss if you two agree to a deal with me. As long as you don’t betray me."

She glanced at the puddle of blood on the floor. "I have to remind you that the antidote I have given you is temporary. Every few hours, you need to take another one."

Her words made the two bound people on the ground tremble, and they no longer dared to entertain any thoughts of betrayal. Zerra’s lips curled up into a satisfied smile.

She had coated the chip with the antidote powder, which was from a special plant grown using Cassias’ spring water. It gave the medicinal herbs miraculous healing properties.

As for the poison, she created it from the mutated mushroom as the key ingredient, then a few drops of snake venom and man-eating flower’s digestive fluids. The effect was surprisingly potent.

***

When the sun slowly appeared from the east, marking the new day, three people had already disappeared from the tent.

They were currently on a trip toward the nearest city.

"Miss, the city is a dead city..." Jasmine knew she had no way of persuading Zerra to give up her goal, so she could only remind her. "There are dangers everywhere. Some years ago, it was indeed possible to travel far, but lately, zombies have been more cunning."

"Cunning? Tell me more." Zerra raised her eyebrows. The sky was no longer as dark as some hours before.

In order to make it as fast as possible to the city, she had forced the two of them to consume crystal cores to replenish their energy.

During the time she spent on the ocean, she had experienced some upgrades to her power. She just didn’t have the time to inspect it yet.

"They seem more organized." Jasmine swallowed in fear. Seeing Jasmine struggling to answer, Collin, her companion, helped her.

"The way zombies fight previously seems like they were just doing it individually, attacking as they wished, but lately, they seem more organized. They knew how to besiege us," Collin muttered.

He took a deep breath. "There was this one time that they knew how to make sure their prey didn’t escape. They had more self-control. When a few zombies attacked, a few others stayed put, but they made sure that the person wouldn’t run."

"And the Tidebreaker City we are heading to now is filled with such zombies. They can also use elemental powers like us..."

Zerra frowned. She wondered whether she could still control such zombies now.

In a day, they finally arrived at their destination.