Chapter 631 - 604: Corpse-man

All sorts of details about High Level Shooting Skill ran through Lin Xinghai’s mind, but his hands never stopped moving, swiftly gunning down one Abyssalal Creature after another.

In just a few dozen seconds, he had killed another 400 Abyssalal Creatures.

Soon, the Abyssalal Creatures in the entrance area were all dead, and Lin Xinghai led a group of soldiers to fight their way out.

After Lin Xinghai had killed nearly 500 Abyssalal Creatures, they no longer dared to advance. They exchanged low roars and, to his surprise, turned and fled.

A look of surprise appeared on Lin Xinghai’s face.

After all, he had only killed about 2,000 Abyssalal Creatures in total. Even counting the ones killed by the Xinghai Squad and the outpost soldiers, the grand total likely didn’t exceed 3,000.

A typical Zombie horde would never have been able to assess the situation and retreat when the tide turned. They would have fought relentlessly until they realized few of their comrades were left, and only then would they perhaps flee.

By that point, only a few hundred Zombies would be left at most.

But these Abyssalal Creatures were clearly far more rational. What was even more terrifying was that this rationality didn’t diminish their ferocity when they attacked.

’It won’t be so easy to kill these Abyssalal Creatures on a large scale from now on,’ Lin Xinghai couldn’t help but reflect.

Meanwhile, the soldiers in Outpost No. 231 watched the retreating Abyssalal Creatures and erupted in excited cheers, the relief of having survived the ordeal clear on every face.

"Captain, I don’t believe I caught your name. Thank you so much for coming to our rescue." Just then, Ding Mao walked over with a few others, thanking him once again.

"I’m Lin Xinghai. There’s no need to be so formal. We’re all contributing to the country, and I’m just carrying out a mission, same as you. There’s nothing to be thankful for," Lin Xinghai said, waving a dismissive hand.

As he spoke, his gaze involuntarily drifted to two young men standing off to the side.

"Director Ding, could you introduce these two?" Lin Xinghai asked, his curiosity piqued.

The ones Lin Xinghai was asking about were, of course, the two Corpse-men, Fei Yuan and Wei Ganghao.

In fact, the moment he entered the outpost, he had instantly detected an unusual presence about the two of them.

It was a presence he had only ever felt from Zombies. At the same time, when his Perception Power swept over them, he had also noticed keratinous layers and corpse spots on some concealed parts of their bodies.

He had his suspicions about their identities, which was why he had asked.

"Haha, of course. This is Fei Yuan, and this is Wei Ganghao," Ding Mao introduced, then continued, "Since you’re asking, Captain Lin, you must have noticed something. These two are heroes who participated in the nation’s Corpse-man Plan."

"They’ve been deployed to the front lines here, partly to hone their combat skills, and partly to help them better master their Zombification ability during combat."

Seeing that his suspicions were correct, Lin Xinghai grew even more interested.

"I’m very interested in the nation’s Corpse-man Plan, especially the abilities that you Corpse-men possess. Would you be able to tell me about them? Of course, if it’s classified, just pretend I didn’t ask," Lin Xinghai inquired immediately.

Hearing this, Fei Yuan and Wei Ganghao glanced at each other. Finally, Fei Yuan spoke up. "If you just want to know about our abilities, there’s no harm in telling you."

"As Corpse-men, our Physique is massively enhanced. Generally speaking, it’s a great deal higher than a Martial Artist of the same rank. For example, even though we are only the Optimized who have broken Three Genetic Locks, our Physique is already on par with that of an average Blood Qi Realm Early Stage Martial Artist."

"On top of that, we now possess the rapid recovery abilities of Zombies. If we’re supplied with a large amount of meat, even a severed hand can regrow in five hours at most. As for regular wounds, the recovery speed is much faster. Especially when combined with modern Healing Medicine, as long as the injury isn’t too severe, it can heal completely in ten to twenty minutes."

"Furthermore, we can enter a Zombification state, which is a bit like a Transformation Ability. We can rapidly grow a keratinous layer on our skin, along with fangs and Sharp Claws. At the same time, our Physique is also massively boosted."

"For example, our current close-combat capabilities are equivalent to the Blood Qi Realm Early Stage. If we enter a Zombification state, we can even defeat a Blood Qi Realm Middle Stage Martial Artist. After all, we aren’t afraid of injury, so we can adopt a fighting style where we trade blow for blow."

"However, we become exceptionally bloodthirsty after entering the Zombification state, and it can even impair our judgment. We were sent to the front lines precisely to overcome these issues that arise after Zombification."

"Only when we can maintain sufficient rationality for extended periods while Zombified will we be allowed to enter the Abyssal Plane to carry out missions." In one long breath, Fei Yuan laid out almost all the characteristics of a Corpse-man.

Although Lin Xinghai had made various guesses, he still looked surprised upon hearing the description.

An Optimized becoming comparable to a Blood Qi Realm Middle Stage warrior after Zombification... The magnitude of this boost was extraordinary. Even most geniuses would have a hard time matching them.

"Does becoming a Corpse-man affect your Cultivation?" Lin Xinghai asked.

"No research has shown that it affects our Cultivation. On the contrary, because our Physique is so greatly enhanced, we’re said to have certain advantages. For example, it’s supposedly easier to cultivate the Divine Demon Body."

"However, according to the researchers, our Zombification ability and the enhancement from the Divine Demon Body have overlapping effects. So, the further we progress, the smaller the boost from Zombification will become."

"But even so, if we manage to break through to the Divine Demon Realm, the Zombie’s incredibly fast self-healing ability will remain, even though the boost to our Physique will become negligible."

"In other words, if we successfully advance to the Divine Demon Realm, we’ll definitely be stronger than an average person at that realm, because we can fight recklessly without any hesitation," Fei Yuan said, his eyes filled with anticipation.

This was, in fact, why so many people applied for the Corpse-man Plan, even knowing it meant facing almost certain death.

After all, if they succeeded in becoming a Corpse-man, they would gain the power to fight above their rank from an early stage, have an edge in Cultivation, and possess a Zombie’s monstrous self-healing ability for life.

With so many advantages stacked together, even someone with mediocre talent could become a genius upon success.

"Tsk! If it weren’t for the minor Zombie-like features you get after becoming a Corpse-man, I’d be tempted to become one myself," Lin Xinghai remarked with a sigh.

Of course, he added a silent amendment: ’If my system didn’t have the High Level Self-Healing function, that is.’

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Busy day today, so this Chapter is a bit short. My apologies!