Upon successfully capturing Matthew, Elijah's smile remained unchanged, but he secretly switched to the abilities of a strength-type zombie.
With lightning speed, his other hand struck toward Matthew's head.
Matthew, who had been feeling triumphant, was completely unprepared for Elijah's sudden attack.
However, his reaction was incredibly quick, either due to mimicking some speed-enhancing ability or sheer instinct.
He swiftly ducked, narrowly avoiding Elijah's punch!
Yet Elijah, having undergone combat training with Charlotte, had a wealth of experience in close-quarters combat.
The moment Matthew ducked, Elijah's knee shot upward.
Matthew's chin collided intimately with Elijah's knee, making it seem as if Matthew had delivered himself to Elijah.
A dull thud resounded as a coppery sheen spread over Matthew's skin. Elijah felt as if he had struck a solid wall of copper.
"Defense-type second-tier ability, copper skin! This cunning scoundrel is so afraid of death that he always has his defense ability activated!" This thought flashed through Elijah's mind.
But Elijah's knee wasn't something that could be blocked by a mere second-tier defense ability.
Knowing that Matthew might have his defense ability constantly active, Elijah chose the second-tier strength ability for a surprise attack.
If the outer defense couldn't be broken easily, then he would use internal force to strike!
Receiving a knee strike from Elijah, Matthew's chubby face rippled like waves, and his entire body was propelled upward.
Elijah's fist followed suit, swinging downward.
Another dull thud rang out as Elijah's punch connected with the top of Matthew's head. Matthew's eyes bulged, blood oozing from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose.
He was immediately knocked senseless, devoid of any resistance, collapsing to the ground like a heap of mud.
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All of this happened in a flash. It was only after the fight ended that Wendy and Kylie reacted.
Wendy immediately drew a knife but did not act rashly.
Instead, Kylie, eyes flashing with a chilling light, rushed forward with a roar.
Under Kylie's influence, Wendy instantly became dazed, her face filled with terror.
"Mind stun! And it's a second-tier ability!"
Elijah's head felt heavy for a moment, but he quickly regained his clarity.
Especially after Kylie's husband died and she remained unmarried, Kylie's beauty seemed to bloom even more with age.
Her mature charm, combined with a noble and elegant aura, made Matthew's heart itch, leading him to display certain sycophantic behaviors.
When the zombie virus outbreak occurred, Matthew received a call from Kylie, summoning him to her office.
Matthew thought his flattery had finally paid off, but to his surprise, he found the company's top executives present upon his arrival.
What followed was an exposé and a criticism session, accusing him of coercing distributors, demanding money and favors from clients for years, and placing his relatives in company positions.
They intended to hand him over to the authorities right away.
In the end, considering their years of working together and his contributions to the company's development, Kylie decided to let him off the hook as long as he repaid the embezzled funds.
Most of the money Matthew had embezzled over the years had been squandered on revelry and women, leaving him incapable of repaying the deficit.
Just as he was consumed by despair and resentment, the zombie virus outbreak threw the company into chaos.
Despite his corpulent appearance, Matthew was brave, meticulous, and surprisingly agile.
Fueled by despair and rage, he fought his way out with a fire axe, miraculously surviving the chaos.
Unable to let go of his goddess, he fought his way back to the CEO's office.
The place was in shambles, with those who had once judged him turned into zombies, tearing each other apart, giving him a bitter sense of satisfaction.
Not finding Kylie among them, Matthew suspected she was hiding in the inner office rest area.
When he opened the rest area door, Wendy, who had been hiding in a cabinet, tried to warn him not to open it.
It was too late; Matthew was ambushed and bitten by the already zombified Kylie. As the saying goes, "the good die young, while the wicked live on."
Instead of turning into a zombie, Matthew found himself blessed with a peculiar ability after being bitten by Kylie.
Using this newfound power, he controlled Kylie and finally achieved his long-held desire, albeit with a lifeless shell.
Leveraging his ability, he controlled other zombies and, along with Wendy, fought their way out of the company, eventually settling in a luxurious hotel near a water source, where they began to gather survivors.
Some of the survivors who joined them noticed Matthew's ability to control zombies and his obsession with playing with Kylie, the zombie.
Though they said nothing, they secretly despised him.
Matthew, perhaps influenced by the virus or his inner obsession, couldn't tolerate anyone looking down on Kylie.
He decided to control everyone using his ability, implanting in them the notion that playing with zombies was enjoyable.
By leading them to take pleasure in playing with zombies, he ensured that if everyone did it, he wouldn't be seen as an outcast.