Chapter 165: A Thousand Faces

Chapter 165: A Thousand Faces

Zac rushed toward southeast along a derelict road. The town Bernard managed, Aubrey Hills, was north of the Dead Zone, and he needed to get to the eastern part. Zac knew there were border towns closer to the incursion from his conversation with Bernard during the Auction.

They were right at the edge of what was considered the undead influence. Those kinds of towns werent under government control but were rather chaotic places under the control of the one with the largest fists.

Its population generally consisted of anyone who wanted to use the incursion as a spot for gaining levels and wealth. Zombies were quite stupid and not overly strong, which made for perfect target practice. Besides, due to the huge populations of China and India, there was almost an endless source of Zombies to hunt.

However, Zac knew that the good times of these border towns were limited. The concentration of miasma at the edge of the incursion should be limited, so it was normal that there werent too strong zombies there.

But as the zombie hunters depopulated any closeby towns from zombies they would need to venture further and further into the incursion, where the miasma was denser. The risk of meeting evolved Zombies and other strong beasts was going to get higher and higher.

Zombies werent the only thing to worry about in the huge Zone the Undead Empire controlled. The wildlife that had lived inside for almost half a year would have evolved like over the rest of the world. With the additional effect of the miasma the beasts should be completely insane due to the corruption.

But for now, the towns were havens for those who lived in the area and didnt mind the risk. It was like a macabre gold rush were every walking corpse was a small gold nugget. Zac didnt bother to learn the towns names since they were peppered along the incursion, and most of them were essentially the same.

There were also rumors of there being settlements even further inside the incursion, though Zac didnt have the coordinates for any place like that. But Zac had no desire to go there in any case, as his goal was clear.

Hed find a border town and get himself oriented. The fact that the government seemed to have made him a target wasnt a surprise, but he needed to find out the extent the enmity reached.

Besides, his information about the undead was from the information crystals back at Port Atwood, rather than more detailed information from the locals. They might have figured out various things that could be beneficial to know.

As he moved forward his wound unceasingly kept pounding, but by now it barely registered in Zacs mind. His increased Vitality and evolved seed were a great improvement compared to before, as he didnt need to keep his Dao active at all times to keep the spread of corruption at bay.

However, the wound was barely healing even when he kept using his Dao, and at this speed it would likely take years before he was completely cured. That was another reason he wanted to stop in the frontier town. Perhaps some people there had attained classes that gave skills targeted at combating miasma.

Zac kept going until the suns were starting to show, and quickly stopped at a what once seemed to have been a rest stop along the highway. The area was completely overgrown by now, and Zac didnt expect to find anything useful. He walked up to a parked trailer and took out a large mirror, placing it against the vehicle.

Next, he placed a thick cloak rimmed with wolf pelt over his shoulders, and his arm got thick leather vambraces. He even put on two pairs of sturdy shoes. He actually also had a pair of shoes that only had a few straps instead of soles, allowing him to freely use his [Loamwalker] skill while wearing shoes, but he didnt dare to use those after remembering the state of Fort Roger.

Zac gave a quick spin, happy with the transformation hed undergone. He felt he almost looked like a barbarian, with wolf pelts covering much of his back. He also put a large high-quality two-handed battleaxe on his back. It was a nasty piece of equipment, and something hed found up on the monkey mountain amongst the corpses.

He needed a weapon to use that wasnt the same as the one-handed axe hed shown off at a few occasions. But even if he was going undercover he didnt want to use a sword or something else, afraid it would hamper his future skill choices.

Next, he focused his Cosmic Energy in his scalp and was amazed to see his hair grow out with speed visible to his eyes. Soon it was long enough that he put it in a bun with a leather string.

Not only that, but he also grew out a beard, covering the somewhat distinct scar on his mouth that still wasnt gone.

[Miasmic Bengal Tiger Undead. Level 43 Endurance]

Zac getting the skill had caused his reputation to take somewhat of a hit, and rumors of him being a peeping tom started to spread. But he had finished his quest in just a few days by using [Eye of Discernment] on almost everyone in the town, much to the citizen's annoyance.

The new and improved version was still F-ranked, but much more useful. It now also displayed what was the highest attribute of the one he spied on, which would give a hint of their battle style. It also could discern the grades of many resources, which was a good way to learn if something he found was useful or not.

With a fluid motion Zac took the large two-handed axe from his back and joined the fray. Naturally, he would have been able to kill the beast in a simple swing, but he only used a bit of his power in order to not stand out.

The intense battle kept going for a few minutes, and Zac was a large contributor to the victory, as every swing of his contained quite a punch that maimed the animal. He purposely made himself seem slighlty stronger than the trio, so that they wouldn't get any ideas after the fight finished.

Finally, they felled the beast, and with a groan, it thumped down on the ground.

Thank you, friend. Thats some swing you have there. I dont recognize you, are you new to the area? the blonde man said between pants.

I came here to get stronger. Im heading to a frontier town now, Zac said with a hoarse voice. Whats that beast core you mentioned?

Oh so youre not from around here, the man nodded. The animals that live deep in the dead zone have started to get these crystals in their heads. We call them Beast Cores. They are filled with tons of miasma. They are useful for various things. You can even use them for cultivation, but I wouldnt recommend that. Fries your brain after a while.

The other two, who seemed to be siblings at closer scrutiny, nodded at that.

General Stores buys them for a pretty penny, so they are like gold here. Some Zombies have them as well, especially the stronger ones. The stores pay by the gram, and finding these have become more profitable than just grinding low level Zombies," the Asian man who spotted him earlier added.

It seemed they werent real beast cores after all, but rather something created by the miasma. Still, Zac curiously looked on as the Asian girl took out a large knife and started cutting into the head of the tiger.

Im John, by the way. I was an expat in Hong Kong before all this, John said with an expansive gesture This is Ling and Hung.

Im David, Zac said, using the first name that came to his mind. How did this thing get all the way out here? From what I gathered before coming these types of beasts stay further in the Dead Zone?

Ah, well, thats sort of our mistake. We accidentally enraged it and it followed us for more than a day. We got off-track while trying to shake it off, John said.

Got it, Ling said with a melodious voice as she took out a greyish crystal from the head of the tiger. She quickly wiped it off with a rag and displayed it in front of them.

Wow, its a big one. Should be worth over thirty thousand, John said with a whistle.

So, uh... Do you think we can catch a ride? Our poor Betty seems to have given her last breath, John said as he looked at the overturned jeep that had smoke coming out of it.

Its fine, you just need to eat this root first, Zac said as he took out the minty root from a backpack.