Chapter 26

As Meng Jie spoke, Zhang Ye, Li Zitong, and Zhang Ye’s sister, Zhang Chengcheng, were all completely focused, hanging on every word.

When Meng Jie finished speaking, the three of them fell into deep thought.

A moment later, Zhang Ye said, “So, Dr. Meng, what you mean is that zombies can evolve by devouring the flesh and blood of ordinary people or Awakened ones, and Awakened and ordinary people can also advance to a higher level through corpse crystals.”

As expected, as an Awakened, Zhang Ye’s focus was identical to Wang Xiong’s.

The three of them did not pay much attention to the tower, the mystery factor, or cell integration.

What they were most concerned about was the evolution of the zombies and the evolution conditions of the Awakened.

Noticing Zhang Ye’s interest, Meng Jie hurriedly added, “These are all speculations and haven’t been proven through experiments.”

Instead, Zhang Ye smiled politely. “Speculations are enough.”

With that, he turned to look at Zhang Chengcheng and said, “Go and bring all the corpse crystals we’ve collected.”

…

For now, he defined zombies as Level 0 zombies.

Then the giant zombies would be called Level 1 zombies.

From Wang Xiong’s incident, it could be seen that Awakened individuals are highly attracted to giant zombies.

There were a total of three Awakened in the Zhang’s Safety Zone.

This was a big cake for the giant zombies.

Coupled with the recent evolution of ordinary zombies into giant zombies, the Zhang family safe zone had been attacked by at least ten giant zombies recently.

Fortunately, the wall was sturdy, and Zhang Ye handled the situation well. The giant corpse had not evolved to the extent of hunting in groups.

This allowed the Zhang family Safety Zone to stand firm, and allowed Zhang Ye to collect about 10 transparent Level 1 zombie crystals.

Zhang Chengcheng quickly brought the corpse crystals over.

More than 10 corpse crystals were placed on the table, shimmering and sparkling in the sunlight.

Zhang Ye picked up one of the corpse crystals, thought for a moment, and stuffed it into his mouth.

This shocked Wang Xiong, Meng Jie, and the others!

“What are you doing?!”

“Brother Zhang, you’re too impulsive!”

“What I just said was only speculation and has not been experimentally proven at all. Now you’re playing with your life!”

However, Zhang Ye had already done it and it was useless to say anything else.

After a few remarks from the others, and seeing that Zhang Ye showed no response, they quieted down.

Wang Xiong and the other two Awakened ones surrounded Zhang Ye in the middle to prevent him from turning into a zombie. Zhang Lixin stepped back a few steps and positioned himself near the corner, protecting Meng Jie, who had a serious expression as she recorded and observed.

Soon, Zhang Ye made a move.

He twisted his neck slightly and turned to look at Meng Jie, saying, “No taste, melts in your mouth. I waited for about three minutes, but there was no abnormal reaction.”

The so-called abnormal reaction referred to no physical or mental discomfort, and no signs of becoming stronger.

Meng Jie thought for a moment and said, “The quantity is not enough.”

Zhāng Yě nodded. “That’s what I think too.”

With that, he picked up another corpse crystal.

He was about to stuff the corpse crystal into his mouth when he was stopped by Wang Xiong, Zhang Cheng, and Li Zitong.

Wang Xiong said, “Brother, think it through. Don’t be rash.”

Zhang Chengcheng sounded like she was about to cry. “Brother, what will happen to our colony if you’re gone?”

His sister’s words made Zhang Ye hesitate and sigh.

He smiled bitterly and said, “Actually, I’m not an impulsive person. It’s always been my principle in life to think twice before acting.”

“Unfortunately, we don’t have time…”

“Little Brother Wang Xiong might not know, but Zitong and Cheng Cheng should know that the frequency of zombie attacks has been increasing recently, and the frequency of giant zombies appearing has also increased. According to Dr. Meng’s theory, such a large gathering place like ours is destined to attract zombies or even giant zombies. Brother Wang Xiong’s participation has indeed supplemented ours, but I’m worried that it won’t be long before higher-level zombies will appear.”

“At that time, our colony will be gone.”

As he spoke, Li Zitong and Zhang Chengcheng had already let go of him.

They were also in deep thought—because what Zhang Ye said was completely true.

Holding the corpse crystal, Zhang Ye said solemnly, “Now that Dr. Meng has proposed a possible path for the evolution of the Awakened, to be honest, I also want a 100% safe advancement path, but the conditions aren’t there. And our current situation doesn’t allow us to continue waiting or dilly-dallying…”

“I thought that since I have to carry out live experiments to verify Dr. Meng’s hypothesis… Then why don’t I be the lab rat!

At this point, Zhang Ye smiled carefreely. “If anything unexpected happens to me, I’ll leave this to you.”

With that, he forcefully broke free from Wang Xiong’s hand and swallowed the second corpse crystal.

This time, no one said anything.

…

After swallowing each corpse crystal, Zhang Ye would wait for five minutes.

After swallowing the second one, there was no reaction.

The third one.

The fourth one…

It was not until the tenth one that Zhang Ye’s expression changed.

“Dr. Meng, I have a reaction.”

Meng Jie couldn’t help but walk forward and carefully observe Zhang Ye’s condition.

Zhang Ye said, “I feel a burning sensation in my body, as if there’s a ball of fire in my heart… No, it’s not just my heart. My whole body feels very hot.”

There was no need for Zhang Ye to say much.

This was because everyone present could see that Zhang Ye’s skin was rapidly turning red, and hot air was emanating from his pores.

At this moment, his body temperature was estimated to be at least 43 degrees Celsius!

Meng Jie asked nervously, “What about other sensations? Especially your consciousness and your brain! Do you feel dizzy or have a headache?”

Zhang Ye shook his head. “No. I’m clear-headed, just very hot.”

Then he thought for a moment and added, “But it’s very comfortable.”

As soon as he said the word ‘comfortable’, Meng Jie immediately heaved a sigh of relief. “If it’s comfortable, there shouldn’t be a problem.”

The human body is very wonderful.

When something is wrong, it will definitely feel uncomfortable.

If it is comfortable, then there is a high probability that there is no problem.

After waiting for a while, everyone saw that Zhang Ye’s skin was slowly returning to normal. There was the faint sound of bones cracking in his body, but his appearance did not change much.

After about twenty minutes, Jang Ye sighed with satisfaction. He slowly stood up and flexed his limbs as he said, “It’s over.”

“The initial reaction was a hot sensation, but it was very comfortable. The state lasted for about 20 minutes before it subsided.”

“The heat is gone now, but I can feel that my whole body is full of strength!”

As he spoke, Zhang Ye reached out and grabbed the corner of the table. With a sudden force, there was a crack. A corner of the mahogany table was broken by Zhang Ye on the spot.

“My physical fitness has increased greatly. At the same time, I seem to have acquired a new ability…”

With that, he looked at the nervous crowd and immediately smiled brightly.

“Let’s go out and try it. Let’s see how different I am as a Level 2 Awakened compared to before!”