Chapter 166. (Patreon)

Author Note: Chapter 165 has been edited, particularly the end.  Essentially Zac now took out one of his cars while he transformed in the last chapter, and was driving when he chanced upon the Tiger and the trio. The trio's car broke down, and the following exchange happened: 

“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.

“… It’s fine, you just need to eat this root first,” Zac said as he took out the minty root from a backpack. 

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“Excuse me?” John said, looking down at the small root in Zac’s hand.

“It seems the rumors haven’t reached the border towns yet. One of the incursions contains shapeshifters. They have probably infiltrated both the government and many strong forces. However, this root is deadly to them while it is harmless to us humans,” Zac said and ate a large chunk of it to prove he was speaking the truth.

“It’s called Springroot, and is available for purchase in the General Store. Nowadays people take a bite of it to prove they’re not a shapeshifter where I come from,” Zac continued.

The three looked confused at each other, until Ling took the piece of root and looked it over. Her eyes shone with some mysterious luster for a second, telling Zac she was using some sort of ocular skill. Perhaps her main role in the group was scouting.

“No poison,” she said and the other two nodded with some relief.

With a shrug of his shoulders John broke off a piece and ate it.

“Not bad, minty. It might double as a mouthwash,” John said. “These shapeshifters, what do they look like?”

“I heard they’re lizard-people,” Zac said with a shake of his head. “Apparently they are part of some multi-verse cult.”

“Lizard-people cultists, just what we need,” John spat on the ground, while the other two seemed to agree with the sentiment as they ate the root.

Zac wasn’t really worried about the three being infiltrators. While there likely were a few hundred out there, they had quite a bit of ground to cover. They might have some unknown means for reaching various settlements but they shouldn’t be able to use the teleporters, meaning it should take some time to spread over the planet.

Besides, Zac hadn’t even heard anything about the Church’s Incursion, meaning they might be extremely far away. Ogras believed that it was out there, only that the government was keeping it secret.

It would be easy to motivate within the government ranks. Just call it a secret government resource to train their elite, and even the actual government officials would keep it secret. Meanwhile, the infiltrators could slowly ensconce themselves within the government.

The reason Zac made the three eat the root was rather to get an excuse to tell the story. He hoped that doing this would create rumors to spread like ripples on the water. Zac alone doing it wouldn’t cut it, but he was determined to have his whole force spread the knowledge as soon as he was back with Kenzie.

Soon the four were sitting in Zacs modified car, pushing through the wilderness. It might be a bit weird for some loner to allow 3 strangers into his car in these uncertain times, but Zac didn’t really care about that. It would give him an opportunity to gather some intelligence as he drove, which would save some time.

“Who’s in charge of the frontier town?” Zac asked as he drove, occasionally avoiding the huge potholes that had formed over the past months.

“Eastern Hills is run by a man calling himself Ling Tian. It sort of means ‘Rise above the Heavens’. Kind of stupid, but quite a few around these parts have taken these Dao monikers, thinking they are the main characters of some story,” John said with a snort.

“It’s kind of weird that the System uses Dao while it was a concept in Asia even before the integration,” Zac noted.

It was something he still didn’t quite understand. Was it a coincidence, or was it something to it? That wasn’t the only thing as there was also the issue of the demons. It made Zac wonder just what happened on earth thousands of years ago. Perhaps the old stories of mages and dragons were more than just stories?

“Yeah, I’ve wondered about that myself,” John said.  “The general belief is that the old masters of Daoism managed to peek through the veil, so-to-speak, and learn some aspects of the Dao. Who knows, perhaps there was Cosmic Energy on earth back in the day, but it ran out?”

“The old masters have lit the way for our people. I believe that’s why the System gave us the hardest challenge,” Hung said from the back seat.

“So, Ling Tian?” Zac prodded, not commenting on the harshness of challenges. While the undead horde was a pain, he didn’t feel it beat having to close a whole incursion on your own.

“He’s a bit annoying, but one of the better leaders. That’s why we stay there. He doesn’t do anything untoward, and he is usually out fighting Zombies,” John said.

“Annoying how?” Zac asked with some interest.

“Well, he’s imagining himself to be the savior of mankind or something. He keeps trying to gather together the townspeople to launch crusades at the core of the incursion. But you know, few people are that crazy. Charging the core of the Dead Zone is a suicide mission,” John said with a shake of his head.

“Chuunibyou,” Ling muttered from the back.

Zac didn’t comment, but he felt a bit hopeless inside. He didn’t know whether this leader of the frontier town was delusional or not, but the whole situation in these border towns was problematic. There seemed to be quite a few strong warriors here, but people mainly fought to empower and enrich themselves.

Perhaps this situation would have been okay if the undead were weak. If that was the case then sooner or later the zombies would be hunted into extinction. However, Zac knew reality wasn't so convenient. As soon as the leaders like the Corpse Lord started their crusades these border towns would get deserted in the blink of an eye.

There was no organization and no order. There would be no real resistance against the invaders when they started their conquest in earnest. People like these three would just move somewhere else, if they even survived. 

Zac had been thinking of what to do about these Incursions since he finally became a Lord. He felt that his quest had given him the greatest clue what to do from here. He needed to kill the leaders of the incursions, and the rest would solve itself out. A force without powerhouses to protect and lead the ranks was just prey in the end.

The only problem was that he didn’t even manage to kill the Corpse Lord, and Ogras believed that those who arrived at his island weren’t the highest-ranking members of respective Incursion. Still, it was a plan, and he still had some time before the limiters were completely removed.

After another two hours of driving, they finally reached their target, Eastern Hills. Zac was surprised by its size as he slowly drove through a huge gate. When he imagined the frontier towns he had thought that they would look like Fort Roger, but with stronger people.

However, reality differed quite a bit. The wall was a thick and sturdy combination of cement and stones, with armed soldiers walking along the wall walk. The town inside was somewhat clean and orderly, though Zac saw the people looked quite rough. 

To his surprise he saw that at least 80 percent of those on the streets were of asian heritage, with the rest being a random mix. He hadn't really thought along those lines before, but he realized that even if China had taken a huge hit by the incursion there should still be a great amount of survivors in the area.

And it was clear that these people weren't like the survivors in Fort Roger. Almost everyone was armed with some sort of weapon, mostly clubs or spears. Most looked to be in good condition, but there were also a few who looked pale and emitted a cold aura, making Zac frown.

“Miasma poisoning. You get like this if you absorb too many beast cores or stay in the Dead Zone too long,” John explained after noticing Zac’s frown.

A bestial roar suddenly erupted from nearby the main road they were driving along, and Zac stopped the car. 

“A transformation, this is a good lesson for you David,” John said as he jumped out of the car.

Zac curiously followed after taking out the keys. Just a hundred meters away a crowd was gathering some distance from a man who spasmed and growled erratically.

“This is the end for those who get too greedy,” John explained as he looked at the odd man without pity. “He’s absorbed too much miasma, and he’s lost control of it. He’s turning.”

“Turning? Is there nothing to do in a case like this?” Zac asked with some pity.

He sympathized a bit with the man, but honestly Zac was mainly thinking about himself. He had a wound filled with highly concentrated miasma, and this would have been his end if he didn’t possess the Dao of Trees.

“Perhaps with the help of a strong purifier, but I doubt they would risk getting close to someone who’s lost all reason,” John said with a shake of his head.

“Purifier? What’s that?” Zac asked curiously.

“Its what we call people who have skills and classes that can purify the miasma. Remember, don’t piss off a Purifier while you’re staying on the frontier. Getting their help can be the difference between life and death if you get wounded in the Dead Zone. Besides, many are desperate to curry their favor.

“So if you piss off a Purifier, don’t be surprised if you get mobbed by a bunch of Zombie Hunters who just want to form a relationship with them," John said with a low voice.

Zac’s heartbeat started to increase when hearing John’s explanation. It sounded like a purifier was exactly what he needed to take care of his wound.

“Who is the best purifier in this town?” Zac asked, trying to not sound too eager.

“You’re talking like they’re a dime a dozen. They’re extremely rare, and generally only reside in the larger towns on the edge of the Dead Zone,” John said with a shake of his head. “There is a purifier a few towns over, it would take almost a day to drive there.”

Zac frowned at that, unsure at what to do. Either he’d follow his original plan and push through the incursion to get to the eastern side, or he’d detour and try his luck with a purifier.

“Why are you asking?” John asked with some confusion. “Are you hurt somewhere? You don’t look to be suffering from miasma poisoning."

“Just orienting myself. Who knows what’ll happen in the future, seems like a good idea to know where the healers are,” Zac said with a nonchalant shrug.

“Aint that the truth. However, you shouldn’t think of the Purifiers as a backup plan. Their energy is limited, and they rarely see people off the streets. Look around, quite a few here have more miasma in their bodies than they’d like. If they could get that fixed most would. Oh, it seems time’s up.”

The sounds of bones cracking and grinding against each other made Zac refocus on the unfortunate man Zombiefying.

“This one belongs to the Frost Wolves,” a man with a badge resembling a howling wolf suddenly said as he stepped forward accompanied by three underlings.

“Fuck you, it belongs to whoever is the fastest,” another man with two shortswords retorted.

“What’s going on?” Zac asked with a subdued voice.

“These things are quite valuable after they turn, they’re like evolved Zombies. The kill gives a large amount of Cosmic Energy, and it is pretty much guaranteed to have a large Core. Poor bastard’s essentially become a walking treasure trove.”

“So why are they waiting?” Zac asked.

“The core is currently forming. When the transformation is complete, then the core is formed,” John explained, as he hesitantly looked over the spectators.

“We should back away, too many strong people are present,” he said as he distanced himself from the hubbub.

Zac didn’t really care about some miasma core, and he backed away as well, and together they saw the spectators rip the poor man into pieces like hungry hyenas.

The man with the two sword s triumphantly held up the decapitated head of the zombie after a few seconds, causing the others to swear and walk away, leaving the mangled corpse where it was.

“They’re just giving up?” Zac asked.

“Rules of the town. When the core's claimed the battle is over. However, that guy might need to watch his back, the Frost Wolf Mercenaries are a bit shady,” John said with a shrug as he jumped into Zac’s car again.

“You don’t have a place to stay, right? Why don’t you join us for the night? You can learn about how things work here in the wild east.”

“Sounds good,” Zac answered with a last glance at the corpse of the pitiful man, before jumping into the driver’s seat.