The next day, it was still that same street on the outskirts of the city.
Luo Hou arrived early at the sloping hill where he had hidden the day before, only to be disappointed: his zombie spirit beast, already missing an arm—now lay torn to shreds in the grass, evidently devoured by some unknown beast. It was dead beyond any hope of recovery.
Shaking his head, Luo Hou, adhering to his principle of wasting nothing, drew his blade and split open the zombie's skull. After searching for a while, he was surprised to find that the crystal core, which should have been in the zombie's brain, had mysteriously vanished. What was going on? Luo Hou was completely baffled. In the end, he could only attribute this oddity to the Spirit Taming Ring.
Perhaps when the ring successfully tamed the zombie, it absorbed or dissolved the core's energy?
"Well, maybe it's just as well. That zombie had already lost most of its combat strength—it's time for a replacement anyway."
He walked along the street. The zombies Luo Hou had killed yesterday were now nothing more than piles of pale bones and shriveled skulls—their rotting flesh had clearly been torn clean by unknown scavengers.
Indeed, the night truly belonged to the beasts.
Thankfully, most monsters stayed confined to their own territory during the day. Otherwise, survivors in the settlements wouldn't dare venture out to search for resources.
Thanks to yesterday's sweep, the outer section of this street was now free of zombies. Only deeper into the city remained some hunched, staggering silhouettes, pacing back and forth in erratic patterns. They weren't many in number, but still more than Luo Hou could handle on his own.
He decided to check the nearby shops for anything of value—ideally salt or other supplies in high demand within the settlement. Otherwise, upgrading his Spirit Taming Ring, which required a thousand white crystals, would be far too slow relying solely on slaying zombies and beasts.
Having made up his mind, Luo Hou sprang into action, searching the stores lining both sides of the street one by one.
As expected, there were no surprises.
This stretch of road lay on the city's outskirts, rarely visited by high-level zombies. All valuable items had long been scavenged by other evolvers. What remained was either rotted, spoiled, or completely destroyed by the undead—entirely unusable.
Luo Hou didn't lose heart. He resolved to search deeper into the street. As long as he avoided zombies above Tier One, he believed he could stay safe with the help of his Spirit Taming Ring.
Using the wreckage of abandoned vehicles for cover, Luo Hou swiftly advanced toward the group of zombies wandering deeper in the street.
Crouching behind an old delivery truck, Luo Hou estimated that the nearest zombie was about ten meters away—and shambling straight toward him.
Fifteen meters… thirteen… eleven… ten!
"Unranked zombie detected. Attempt to tame as spirit pet?"
Of course! Luo Hou immediately selected "Yes."
A pulse of invisible energy shot from the Spirit Taming Ring and pierced into the zombie's body.
"Taming failed." Clearly, luck was not on Luo Hou's side—he had hit the dreaded 50% failure rate.
"Damn it! What rotten luck!"
Cursing under his breath, Luo Hou hunched low and retreated quickly behind the truck. With a thirty-minute cooldown before the next taming attempt, he had to create distance from the zombies to stay safe.
At the moment of failure, a fierce red glow flickered in the zombie's eyes. Its expression twisted into agitation as it scanned the area suspiciously. Finding nothing, it resumed its aimless shuffling.
That was close! Luo Hou wiped the cold sweat from his brow and cast a bitter glance at the Spirit Taming Ring on his pinky finger.
...
"Taming failed!"
"No way, again? Did I forget to check today's fortune or what?"
...
"Taming failed!"
"You've got to be kidding me! Three failures in a row? It's a fifty percent chance, not five!"
Only after another agonizing thirty-minute wait did Luo Hou's luck finally shift. He successfully tamed a zombie as his new spirit pet.
"Finally! Took nearly two hours just to tame one damn zombie!"
While mentally lamenting the difficulty of acquiring a zombie companion, Luo Hou directed his new undead servant to sneak up on the nearest zombie. The target was pacing slowly, unaware that a traitor among its kind was now approaching with deadly intent.
The moment the two zombies passed one another, Luo Hou's spirit beast struck.
Thwack!
The sound of flesh being torn from bone rang out. The target zombie's neck was violently ripped apart—its grotesque head thudded to the ground and rolled several meters away. The headless body collapsed in a heap, black blood pooling beneath it.
"One white crystal secured!"
Luo Hou clenched his fist in triumph and directed his undead servant toward the next target.
Through a series of ambushes, the tamed zombie eliminated more than a dozen wandering undead. Although some resisted in their final moments, the overall situation remained firmly in Luo Hou's control.
"Hahaha! This is amazing! Sixteen white crystals—just like that! One zombie pet, and the world is mine!" Luo Hou laughed heartily, gazing at the glittering little pile at his feet.
He glanced at his loyal but battered zombie servant, now covered in wounds and clearly spent.
To confirm his theory, Luo Hou severed the zombie's head with a swift stroke. As he split open the skull, he found it empty—just as he had suspected.
"So I was right… Once tamed, the energy of the crystal core is fully consumed to enhance combat strength. No wonder the spirit beasts are slightly stronger than their wild counterparts."
Pocketing the sixteen white crystals, Luo Hou resumed his search of the surrounding shops.
Once again, he came up empty-handed. Everything of value had either been taken long ago or rendered unusable. Not surprising—being on the edge of the city, this area was relatively low-risk and had likely been scavenged countless times.
Still, even if he returned now, the haul of sixteen white crystals already made this the most profitable day he'd ever had.
But with the Spirit Taming Ring in hand, Luo Hou was far from satisfied.
He decided to press on—deeper into the city!
But this time, he had to change tactics. Charging in with a zombie pet wasn't feasible. Not only might he run into high-tier zombies, but the sheer number deeper in the city made that plan suicidal.
Taming another zombie, Luo Hou advanced using the terrain for cover, coordinating closely with his spirit beast. When he saw a zombie, he avoided it. If evasion proved impossible, he had his pet quietly eliminate any threat.
Another hundred meters deeper into the city, Luo Hou was forced to stop—
Just ahead, some seventy meters away, sat a towering figure over two meters tall. Its bulging, dark-blue muscles rippled as it crouched atop an abandoned sedan, gnawing hungrily on a massive chunk of unidentifiable flesh.
This hulking brute was clearly an evolved zombie—at least Tier One.
If it spotted him, Luo Hou doubted he could escape alive.
He halted, holding his breath. With his zombie pet taking point, he cautiously slipped into a nearby alleyway.
No zombies here.
After several twists and turns, Luo Hou finally felt safe and ordered his spirit pet to stand guard.
"Phew… That was close. One wrong step, and I'd be done for."
Letting out a long breath, Luo Hou began to examine his surroundings. What he saw made his eyes light up.
Ahead, mounted on the wall of a small, squat building, hung a faded sign bearing three characters:
Southern Sundries Shop.
The shop's doors were shut tight—clearly untouched by either zombies or looters.