Zerra nimbly jumped away before a zombie could scratch her. The zombie virus had no effect on her, but she didn’t want this Serena girl to find fault with her later.

The few bodyguards were surrounded by the zombies, their pained shrieks echoed amidst the loud roars of the zombies. They were biting and chewing on the bodyguards.

Serena had fear in her eyes. She was fortunate enough that a bodyguard near her had dragged her far enough or else she would have the same fate as these bodyguards.

Noticing Cassias presence and her dusty appearance because she had rolled on the ground, she bit her lip and looked away. Zerra snorted, briefly locking eyes with Cassias.

The number of zombies was overwhelming and it wasn’t something a small team like theirs could handle. They slowly retreated, killing any zombies they could.

Coupled with Zerra controlling them and the quick speed, they finally could escape safely.

"The others..." Serena stuttered, glancing at Cassias from the corner of her eyes. She was observing his reactions. A brokenhearted look crossed her face. "We... they... are gone."

She sniffed a little. There was only one ability user left by her side. His face also didn’t look good.

Mateo and others finally reunited with them halfway. "We heard a lot of footsteps from your direction. Are you all alright?"

Serena, who was finally filled with irritation at Cassias’ lack of response at her attempt to gain his attention, snapped at Mateo. "Of course we are not alright! A lot of us died! Why didn’t all of you come sooner?"

The remaining ability user at her side was a little stunned. He knew that the reason they could escape unscathed was actually because of the pair of a man and woman.

If they tore their cordiality with them, what if they were abandoned here? He knew a bit of gossip about the group of newcomers; they were pretty quiet and rarely interacted with others. As if they didn’t plan to stay in the base for a long time.

So, he was worried that they would abandon the base mission and leave directly if the base leader’s daughter offended them.

"I am sorry, Miss Serena is still a little shocked by the zombies. She didn’t mean to get angry at you." He immediately apologized to Mateo and others.

Serena snapped to her senses, realizing she had lost control of herself. Although she was unhappy, she no longer opened her mouth.

Zerra curled up her lips. Who told them to scheme against her? Not only they didn’t succeed, they even lost their army.

A displeased look crossed over Mateo’s face, but he maintained a neutral face. After he made sure Zerra and Cassias were alright, he still offered some words of concern to the base leader’s daughter. "I am really sorry for your loss, Miss Serena."

Seeing that they didn’t make things difficult for her despite her outburst, Serena’s expression also became better. "Yeah..."

She cast a discreet glance at Cassias, but the man still hadn’t uttered a word. Instead, he approached Zerra and linked his hand with hers.

"Let’s go back. We have enough crystal cores," Zerra told the others.

Serena pursed her lips, a little displeased. She wanted to say something, but the last ability user on her side beat her into it. "Yes, let’s go back. It’s no longer safe here."

She was a little resentful, secretly glaring at him. The man was a little helpless. Next time, he definitely wouldn’t take such a job again! The base leader’s daughter truly had such a difficult personality.

The team finally returned to the base.

Zerra couldn’t help but sigh silently, because she had missed a chance to try the intelligent zombie’s power further.

As if he could read her mind, Cassias leaned down to her height and whispered to her ears. "Do you want to go back there?"

They had just finished handing in the crystal cores they had gotten from the zombies. There were many people around, and Serena also happened to witness their closeness.

A cold light flashed in her eyes. She seemed to think of something and hurriedly ran to her father’s place.

Zerra stared at him, then whispered back, tiptoeing to reach his ears. "What if you change back halfway?"

The man was rather speechless by her question. She still hadn’t let go of it. Ultimately, he sighed. "I won’t."

"Really?" Her eyes twinkled. "How can you be so sure?"

There was a mischievous glint in her eyes, waiting for the little dragon to expose his pretense. Even her parents could finally stay awake for half a day now.

If not for her worrying they might accidentally turn into foxes when they were mixing with others, she would have brought them into the base.

Cassias’ lip twitched, and an exasperated look finally appeared on his face. "I... just can feel it."

Zerra hummed. "Ohh, so you won’t suddenly turn into a little dragon again in the future again, right?"

The two were almost lost in their own little world if not for Azir calling them both. The two finally realized where they were and decided to go back.

Once the night came, two figures, one a little dragon and the other a small fox, slipped into the darkness. The small fox was sitting on the baby dragon’s back as he flew into the sky.

With the combined power of the two, they didn’t make any ripples as they landed. Even the zombies around acted like they didn’t notice the two figures.

Zerra shifted back to her human form, followed by Cassias. This time, they were determined to kill the intelligent zombie.

Her eyes searched the figure, and she found the zombie among the others. However, the zombie was a little strange. Its action was unlike other zombies who were purely driven out of instinct—they would occasionally let out beast-like sounds—this zombie was too quiet.

It was sitting on a chair. If not for its rotten appearance, it almost resembled a human. However, the zombies couldn’t revert back to humans because they were dead.

Zerra had made sure of it. Except for a few experimental subjects, zombies didn’t possess any souls. Even the souls in the experimental subjects wouldn’t last so long. They would dissipate little by little as time passed.

"Let’s kill and inspect that thing." She muttered.

Soon, the two of them made their presence known. The intelligent zombie’s vacant eyes snapped at them. It suddenly roared, commanding the zombies around to attack the two of them.

Zerra had eaten a few more crystal cores before she arrived in this place, so she was currently brimming with a lot of energy.

The five illusory tails behind her swayed, and there was a faint sign of the sixth tail forming.

She was a little excited as she tried to take the intelligent zombie’s control from it, slowly advancing toward the special zombie. Cassias stayed with her the whole time, killing any zombies they passed by.

As the two became closer to the intelligent zombie, the zombies around parted, giving a way to the couple. They were like fish on the chopping block for Cassias.

The special zombie might not have a mind like a human yet, but it gradually noticed the seriousness of the situation. The zombie vanished from the sight, mingling around other zombies.

Previously, it had stayed away from other zombies. Even Zerra didn’t know why it showed such odd behavior.

"The special zombie vanished." Zerra muttered.

"I am sure you can locate it." Cassias smiled softly. His hand never stopped moving for a second.

Zerra suddenly thought of something. "You stay here."

With that, she left his side before he could respond, disappearing into the sea of zombies. Cassias was helpless, but he didn’t stop her. The girl was so noticeable among the rotten zombies. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Zerra chased after the special zombies. She wanted to feel what a direct clash between the two of them would be like. Earlier, they could only control the zombies nearest to each other.

"Why are you running away? Show yourself?" She tried to provoke it.

However, no matter how she provoked the zombie, it never responded to her.

She arrived at a broken building. A few zombies had followed, but it didn’t attack her. Her eyes narrowed, and she jumped inside the room.

A thin zombie already waited inside, baring its teeth and launched itself toward her, like a tiger who was protecting its territory. Zerra could determine that the zombie was quite territorial.

Her blood boiled a little. She didn’t give up trying to control the special zombie despite the increasing stabbing pain in her brain. The challenge made her very excited!

As she advanced toward the intelligent zombie, it roared ferociously at her, clutching its head and bared its teeth. Suddenly, the zombie was a few inches away from her. It opened its mouth, sinking its teeth on her leg after she kicked it.

"Zizi!" Cassias broke into the room. His pupils constricted when he saw the scene inside.

Albeit her leg was bitten, Zerra didn’t seem to care, she still tried to control the intelligent zombie.