People in the stands burst into cheers and exclamations, laughter and curses, one after another. They couldn't believe that Li Lang, an ordinary zombie, could still undergo transformations. Judging by the appearance, he seemed to be at least a Level 3 zombie, and even a Level 3 mutated zombie.
"My friends, I believe you must be very interested in this battle. So, who will emerge victorious, the mutated zombie or Zombie No. 9? For those interested, please pick up your betting devices..." the host opportunistically said. Immediately, there was a flurry of clicking sounds in the arena.
Li Lang and Zombie No. 9 in the field paid no attention to what the humans above were doing. Zombie No. 9 was surrounded by anger, preparing for another deadly strike, while Li Lang's mind was racing, calculating various gains and losses. He had already come up with a way to escape from here, with one major premise already established, and a minor premise to minimize damage that needed assurance. With this in mind, Li Lang transmitted a mental signal to his back, and immediately heard a "chirp" sound as a giant bone knife grew out of his back, standing tall like the back armor of an ancient sword dragon!
"Amazing!" Just as the whole audience erupted in astonishment and screams, Luo Haide, sitting next to Qian Sen, jumped up from his seat, shouting as if he had seen a pervert. At this moment, his gaze towards Li Lang was unexpectedly filled with tenderness, making even Qian Sen feel somewhat uncomfortable. And with Zombie No. 9's roar, Luo Haide revealed a worried expression, clearly not wanting Li Lang, his new toy, to be damaged by Zombie No. 9.
Li Lang had been keeping an eye on Luo Haide from the corner of his eye. When he saw Luo Haide exclaim and jump up, he knew his objective had been achieved! He then stood there quietly, waiting for Zombie No. 9's attack.
As expected, Zombie Number Nine lived up to expectations. After observing for a while, he charged towards Li Lang. He charged in a straight line, with his tail raised high, ensuring that even if Li Lang jumped in the air, he would be intercepted by the tail of Zombie Number Nine. However, Li Lang squatted down and slightly veered to the right, charging towards Zombie Number Nine.
It was a direct and forceful collision!
A muffled sound followed, as Li Lang was sent flying by the impact of Zombie Number Nine. His cone arm and split-tooth arm pierced the face armor of Zombie Number Nine, but had no effect whatsoever. The worst part was that Zombie Number Nine's chin spike picked open the skull of Li Lang, shattering half of his skull from the eyes upwards!
Instant kill!
This strike seemed incredibly powerful. Zombie Number Nine took a few more steps forward before coming to a stop, while Li Lang's body flew straight back for about half the distance of the arena before rolling and coming to a motionless halt. He appeared lifeless, completely devoid of vitality.
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"Ohh..." The entire crowd let out a sound of either regret or disappointment, followed by the ecstatic cheers of those who bet on Zombie Number Nine and the enraged curses of those who lost. They hadn't expected that this seemingly formidable mutant zombie would be all bark and no bite, easily taken down by Zombie Number Nine with a single blow.
Zombie Number Nine ran towards the motionless Li Lang, seemingly ready to savor the taste of victory.
"General!" Since the moment Li Lang's head was shattered, Luo Haide's face turned dark as if he had lost his own father. Now, seeing Zombie Number Nine about to devour his precious creation, he immediately disregarded everything and turned to Qian Sen for help.
"Very well," Qian Sen signaled Luo Haide to calm down and then ordered, "Stop it and send that mutant zombie to Dr. Luo's lab."
His subordinates immediately operated the control panel, and four large metal fences rose up around Li Lang, isolating him inside. Seeing this, Zombie Number Nine could only roar in frustration before turning around and heading towards Zombie Number Four and Zombie Number Five.
Meanwhile, Li Lang was transported by the mechanical guards through a track to Luo Haide's research facility, where he was placed in the basement alongside the stored experimental corpses. The remaining people continued to watch the match, and the personnel in the research facility enjoyed the spectacle through holographic television. However, no one could have anticipated what was about to unfold – the decapitated Li Lang slowly stood up in the cold storage room.
At that moment, his mind was in complete darkness, but his body still experienced intense pain. If someone were to enter the storage room at that time, they would witness an incredibly eerie scene: a body without its upper half of the head standing there. As time passed, his head visibly repaired and regenerated at a rapid pace!
After a short while, Li Lang's wounds were completely healed, except for the absence of his once short hair. He touched the patch of fuzz on his head, took a deep breath, and exhaustedly sat down. During the fusion of his mutation ability, he had realized that his consciousness resided entirely within the gelatinous mass inside his body. Therefore, even if his head was damaged, it wasn't a fatal blow. As long as the gelatinous mass existed and had sufficient energy, he could repair himself. However, he hadn't expected that the process of regenerating his head and brain (if he still had one) would consume so much energy. It left him feeling physically and mentally drained, accompanied by a strong sense of hunger, which was on par with the hunger he experienced when regenerating his limbs. Fortunately, he had been thrown into the storage room, which housed numerous decapitated zombies for research purposes. There were hundreds of corpses stored there
Estimating that it would take at least another hour for Luo Haide to return, Li Lang had plenty of time to accomplish many things. He calmly began examining the corpses of the dead zombies.
After searching for a while, he finally found a corpse that appeared cleaner, with smoother skin and an overall tidier appearance. It was time for a pleasant meal...
Once he had finished eating, Li Lang surveyed his tattered clothes (which were practically in shreds) and his blood-stained body. He immediately found some chunks of ice and gave himself a thorough cleansing. Afterward, he looked at his reflection in the metallic wall. He appeared as a strong and powerful young man. Perhaps due to the gelatinous mass within him, his previously decaying flesh had become dense, dry, and compact. From the surface, he looked like an ordinary human, with no trace of a zombie. Only when he used his mutation ability would the terrifying evolved limbs instantly manifest. Of course, if someone were to place their hand on Li Lang's chest, they would realize that he had no heartbeat...
After finishing his cleaning, Li Lang air-dried his body and put on a relatively intact tracksuit that he had stripped from one of the corpses. His next task was to conceal himself like a venomous snake and await Luo Haide's arrival...