Chapter 56: The Lord's Traits (Part 2)

Volume 1 “Year of Calamity”

Although An Sheng couldn’t harm the Mutant Zombie for the time being, he successfully entangled it, preventing it from breaking away to pursue Nie Chong and the others. This already achieved his objective. He never expected to kill it anyway – after all, this was a Quasi-Lord, and even severely injured, An Sheng wasn’t arrogant enough to think he could eliminate it. His original plan was to retreat once Nie Chong and the others had escaped.

Seeing that pursuit was hopeless, the Mutant Zombie grew extremely furious. Moreover, it couldn’t understand why An Sheng hadn’t immediately chosen to retreat upon seeing it, as all other Mutants confronting it had done so before. Little did it know that An Sheng was an anomaly even among Mutants, completely unrestrained by Rank suppression. Even when encountering the true Lord Medusa, he only feared her due to the power gap, without submitting like other Mutants.

Enraged, the Flying Zombie suddenly retreated rapidly, then erupted with intense black light around its body. The next moment, dozens of oversized Black Energy Balls materialized above An Sheng’s head, crashing down like meteors. This time, An Sheng truly felt threatened. Without hesitation, he activated his Rapid State, his body flashing as he dashed sideways.

Though An Sheng could use his Deification Factor ability to metalize his body, this ability wasn’t omnipotent and consumed tremendous physical strength. Moreover, his powerful Mutant sixth sense warned him that these energy balls were different from the smaller ones before – their destructive power could potentially threaten him, so he chose to evade immediately.

But could An Sheng really dodge just because he wanted to? The answer was obviously no. While An Sheng’s Rapid State reached subsonic speeds, at such velocity he couldn’t control his body properly. He shot out like a cannonball, only stopping after crashing into a nearby mountain. When he looked back, several massive Black Energy Balls had already appeared above his head.

How could the Mutant Zombie let its attack miss? Knowing An Sheng’s speed could evade its assault, it never intended to launch all its Black Energy Balls at once. Instead, it held half in reserve as backup, waiting for the opponent to dodge before seizing the opportunity for a secondary attack.

“I’m done for!” were the only three words that flashed through An Sheng’s mind before violent explosions engulfed him completely.

Watching the mushroom cloud-like dust plume rising in the distance, the Mutant Zombie’s single Blood Eye flashed with cruelty. Though its intelligence only matched that of a ten-year-old human, when it came to combat control, even a battle-hardened Martial Artist like Xun Lili would undoubtedly be inferior. It was confident this single strike would render its horned counterpart combat-ineffective.But as the explosion’s dust slowly cleared, it was horrified to discover that a person had appeared at the site of the blast! It was a beautiful woman covered in cyan scales, with dozens of snakes floating above her head. An overwhelming pressure, along with a primal fear ingrained in its genes, made the Mutant Zombie immediately kneel on the ground upon seeing this female Mutant!

An Sheng stared in disbelief at Medusa standing before him. He couldn’t understand why this perverted woman had suddenly appeared and saved him. In his perception, Medusa was completely a terrifying and perverse monster, yet here she was, genuinely saving him.

“Little one, feeling grateful? Actually, it’s my fault for misjudging this guy’s strength and overestimating you. Had I known you were so terrible at utilizing your physical abilities, I wouldn’t have let you come pick a fight with this fellow.”

Medusa turned around and looked at An Sheng with playful eyes, her voice like a lark’s song making him feel inexplicably refreshed. However, An Sheng quickly regained his vigilance. He was deeply afraid of this perverted woman before him – in his view, she was completely an old monster who devoured people without spitting out bones!

“Hey, I just saved you, and you can’t even say thank you? How rude!”

Seeing An Sheng remain silent, Medusa raised her beautiful eyebrows and questioned him with some anger. Though angry, paired with her stunning appearance, it created a unique charm. Had there been other men present, they would have been captivated by Medusa’s beauty and immediately fallen under her spell. Unfortunately, An Sheng knew this woman’s true power all too well and didn’t dare look directly into her eyes.

“Thank you, Queen Sister.”

As if by reflex, the sharp Aura from his battle with the Mutant Zombie vanished completely, immediately replaced by that fawning lackey expression.

Medusa felt somewhat disgusted seeing An Sheng’s sickeningly servile appearance, as if he were about to beg and wag his tail before her. But she knew this guy was just putting on an act, so she didn’t truly get angry. However, she wasn’t going to let him off that easily – she still wanted to scare him a bit.

“You know, seeing you like this makes me want to kill you!” As she said this, Medusa didn’t forget to release an icy coldness reminiscent of Antarctic glaciers.

This sudden Killing Intent made An Sheng’s hair stand on end instantly. He reflexively leaped back dozens of meters, completely dropping the servile act as he warily watched Medusa, returning to his pre-battle state.

“That’s more like it! How could I be with a man who acts like a servant all day? Remember, never show me that expression again, or I’ll really kill you!”

The icy Killing Intent vanished as quickly as it appeared. The next moment, Medusa resumed her charming demeanor, speaking with a smile, though the threat hidden between her words made An Sheng’s hair stand on end again. This woman was truly terrifying. Wait!? What did she just say? The man she likes? Being together? Could she be talking about me?”What’s that expression on your face? Don’t believe what I’m saying? From our first meeting I told you, if you hadn’t acted so brilliantly with that convincing servant demeanor, I would have executed you on the spot. But sister has changed her mind now. Since you’re my man, you must become stronger than me. So until you surpass me, I’m not planning to be with you yet. However, as Medusa’s future man, sister will give you a gift today.”

As she spoke, Medusa’s body lifted into the air and flew toward the Mutant Zombie. With just a snap of her fingers, the Mutant Zombie was imprisoned within a blood-red transparent sphere. Actually, Medusa’s action was completely unnecessary – she could simply have summoned the Mutant Zombie, and it wouldn’t have dared to show the slightest objection. She did this purely out of concern that this Advanced Mutant Zombie might lose control and harm An Sheng.

Flying back, Medusa made the sphere containing the Mutant Zombie land before An Sheng, saying seriously: “Eat it!”

“What!? Eat it!? Sister must be joking!” An Sheng thought he had misheard. Medusa actually wanted him to eat this Mutant Zombie. Impossible! Absolutely impossible! He’d rather die than do it! It’s too damn disgusting!

Medusa’s beautiful eyes narrowed as she scolded loudly: “Who’s joking with you? You possess many of a Lord’s characteristics yet remain so weak. Don’t you want to know what the problem is?”

Medusa’s words left An Sheng confused, so he asked: “A Lord’s characteristics? What characteristics?”

“Such a fool! Never mind, since I have nothing to do today, sister will give you a lesson. Listen carefully, a Lord…”

Medusa actually began teaching An Sheng like a proper teacher. Though in An Sheng’s mind emerged a rather erotic scene: Medusa in professional attire holding a pointer while standing at the podium, occasionally casting seductive glances at An Sheng in school uniform below. This kind of scene often appeared in certain island nation’s films!

An Sheng shook his head desperately, trying to shake the erotic image from his mind, and focused on listening to Medusa’s teaching.

The main characteristics of a Lord are: First, the ability to freely switch between human form and combat form; Second, gaining the ability called “Domination” to absolutely control Mutated Creatures of lower Rank; Third, and most importantly – Blood Eyes; Fourth, the restoration of intelligence and original human memories.

An Sheng was absolutely an anomaly among Mutated Creatures, or one could say exceptionally gifted. From the beginning of his mutation, he differed from both low-level and Advanced Mutants. Apart from lacking the Domination ability, he possessed almost all the characteristics of a Lord. This was the fundamental reason why Medusa had chosen him as her mate for reproduction upon their first meeting.So the question arises: if he’s so exceptionally gifted, why is he so weak? Forget about monsters like Medusa—even the mutants born from zombies were far stronger than him. This mutant zombie had only achieved its current state because An Sheng had lured massive hordes of zombies to Longjiang. If even the most insignificant zombie could evolve into a Quasi-Lord-level powerhouse in such a short time, why did the exceptionally gifted An Sheng remain so weak all along? An Sheng himself had no clue about the reason and could only raise his hand like an earnest student to ask.

“The answer is simple: your diet is the problem.” Medusa hit the nail on the head, pinpointing the crux of the issue.

She was right. The slow progress in An Sheng’s strength was largely due to his eating habits. Before Medusa advanced to Lord level, her diet consisted of either zombies or mutated creatures. Cannibalism among their kind was brutal, yet it was also a characteristic of the Red Tide Virus—or one could call it a key to evolution. By absorbing the genes of other organisms to strengthen their own, discarding the dross and retaining the essence, this was the greatest power of the Red Tide Virus.

Unfortunately, ever since An Sheng was infected with the virus and gained the ability to transform into a demon, the only powerful creature he had consumed was that Purifier named Chen Mu—and even that was shared with Xun Lili. If not for his exceptional talent, he wouldn’t even have his current abilities. As the saying goes, “The early bird catches the worm.” Reversing this proverb and applying it to An Sheng, he was the one who could have flown the fastest but nearly starved due to laziness.

“Eat it! It’ll do you good!” Medusa said sternly once more. This time, she wasn’t joking. If An Sheng still refused to eat this creature on his own, she would force-feed him this mutant zombie bit by bit—even if she had to pry his mouth open—until he finished it all.

Under Medusa’s coercion and persuasion, An Sheng reluctantly approached the nearly hopeless mutant zombie. Seeing the creature’s pleading yet helpless expression, for a moment, An Sheng actually felt pity for it. However, compared to the threat posed by that freakish old monster Medusa, no matter how pitifully the mutant zombie begged, An Sheng couldn’t spare it. Still, ending this creature by “eating” it made An Sheng hesitate, unsure how to begin.

“You have three seconds. If you don’t start eating, I’ll feed you myself. But before that, I’ll break all five of your limbs! I know your ability is cellular regeneration, but compared to losing arms and legs, I doubt losing your ‘third leg’ would feel any better!”

Medusa’s voice remained gentle and pleasant, but her words were sharp and laden with unmistakable threats. An Sheng fully believed she would follow through. So, steeling himself, he recalled the time he had sucked the Purifier’s blood and bit down on the mutant zombie’s neck.It wasn’t as disgusting as he had imagined. Though he was biting into a mutant zombie, its blood wasn’t nearly as foul-smelling as that of ordinary zombies; instead, it carried a hint of sweetness. An Sheng found himself swallowing it down in large gulps almost unconsciously. Meanwhile, the demon factor within his body was absorbing the fundamental elements contained in the mutant zombie’s blood, continuously filtering out useless impurities and assimilating the essence for itself.

Half an hour later, An Sheng stood up, feeling a sense of astonishment as he assessed his body. The mutant zombie before him had turned into a completely dried-out corpse, undoubtedly dead beyond any doubt. Meanwhile, An Sheng’s body was undergoing changes. First, something began to bulge on his back, causing intense pain. However, the pain didn’t last long. Soon, he felt something break through the skin on his back and grow out—a pair of bat-like demon wings. Even the demon horns on his head underwent a transformation. In the void between the two horns, a black flame ignited. At this moment, An Sheng’s appearance could truly be described as overwhelmingly imposing!