Chapter 287 Collaborating With Their Own Human Puppetry
William stared at the Red-haired Iron Corpse, feeling all sorts of emotions.
The Red-haired Iron Corpse didn't seem to notice William's knife. It struggled to speak in human language, "I-I h-hate it."
With a firm and stubborn tone, the Red-haired Iron Corpse glared at the Iron Corpse next to William, clearly hostile.
William slowly lowered his knife, stunned by this talking Red-haired Iron Corpse that seemed to have its own thoughts.
The corners of the Red-haired Iron Corpse's mouth twitched slightly, almost like it was pleased by William's action, but its stiff facial muscles didn't quite form a smile.
The Red-haired Iron Corpse even blinked.
William had never noticed before that a Red-haired Iron Corpse could blink.
Suddenly, the Red-haired Iron Corpse bypassed William, grabbed the Iron Corpse, and bit its neck.
William moved but didn't stop it.
As the Red-haired Iron Corpse started sucking the male Iron Corpse's blood, the connection between William and the Red-haired Iron Corpse suddenly snapped back, just like when it was first created. Their bond even formed a bridge to some mysterious spiritual world. But this time, it was an equal connection and there was no master or servant.
The Iron Corpse quickly shriveled up. The Red-haired Iron Corpse pushed it, and it fell into the blood pool it was born from.
"I... don't... like... it," the Red-haired Iron Corpse repeated, sounding like a kid wanting attention. "But it... can... give... me... power."
This sentence came out a bit smoother, like it was getting used to talking.
William noticed the Red-haired Iron Corpse's hair had grown longer, now past its waist.
He also felt that the Red-haired Iron Corpse's strength had indeed increased a bit. The Iron Corpses he made seemed to be its nourishment.
"You saved me." These three words from the Red-haired Iron Corpse were surprisingly fluent, catching William off guard. Clearly, it was referring to when he pulled it out from a pile of dead bodies and made it into a Human Puppet, letting it get its revenge.
Unexpectedly, the Red-haired Iron Corpse not only had developed intelligence but also had memory.
"Thank... you." The Red-haired Iron Corpse handed something over.
It was a bottle of three-star Evolution Elixir.
If anyone knew that a once-lost puppet, an Iron Corpse not even considered human, was holding a bottle of three-star Evolution Elixir that everyone in Accraville City would kill for, just to thank its former master, their faces would be priceless.
Seeing that William didn't take it immediately, the Red-haired Iron Corpse seemed puzzled, wondering if William didn't like the elixir.
The Red-haired Iron Corpse moved closer to William, carrying a faint, not unpleasant scent of blood, and said word by word, "I like... you, don't like it, this... for you, not for it."
Saying this, the Red-haired Iron Corpse pointed to the male Iron Corpse it had killed, stirring something in William.
"Thank you, too," William said, taking the three-star Evolution Elixir.
The corners of the Red-haired Iron Corpse's mouth lifted again, clearly smiling.
For the first time, William really looked at the Red-haired Iron Corpse.
She was undeniably gorgeous. Her age was hard to determine now due to her near-rebirth experience, but back at Hope Base, William had seen her alive, and she seemed to be in her early twenties.
But now, this woman had become something William couldn't quite identify, and he didn't know if it was her fortune or misfortune.
"Do you... remember things from before?" William asked, curious. Was the current state of the Red-haired Iron Corpse due to memories from when she was human, or were they more like zombie memories?
The Red-haired Iron Corpse frowned, clearly not getting what William was asking.
"I want... round, big plate, red," She said, straightforward as ever. Not understanding the question, she just went straight to why she was there.
William quickly caught on. The Blood of Evolution had an effect on the Red-haired Iron Corpse too.
"I saw you with the witch, the gray-haired zombie," William said.
The Red-haired Iron Corpse thought for a moment and nodded, "It... cooperate, want red one, I hate it. want to eat it. I... don't want... eat you, I... like you."
Hearing "I like you" from something that might not even be human or monster, even if it wasn't meant that way, made William feel a bit uneasy.
He thought back to the situation with the three major monster factions he saw today. He figured the witch and the Red-haired Iron Corpse sensed the effect of The Blood of Evolution on them. Both had strong mental power and were communicating with several level-four Zombie Kings. The Zombie Kings were willing to take them in to strengthen their faction.
But today's alliance between Yangos and Mouse King, and the retreat of the Zombie King, left the two very unhappy, so they started looking to team up with William.
The witch and the Red-haired Iron Corpse were pretty smart.
William found a spot to sit and think.
Letting those mutated beings spin the wheel was fine, but after spinning, they'd be hunted. They weren't afraid of humans knowing their plan because the wheel's allure was too tempting. Like moths to a flame, these mutated beings could not only consume high-quality human Evolving persons but also get The Blood of Evolution.
Each spin of the wheel produced a drop of the Blood of Evolution. Mouse King and Yangos probably decided to team up, pushing the zombie faction out to share this treasure.
If that happened, the Red-haired Iron Corpse and the witch would completely lose their chance to get The Blood of Evolution, as the other two factions wouldn't accept outsiders.
After zombies evolved to a high level, their intelligence surpassed that of other beings. They likely feared the consequences of waging war against both factions at once, so they chose to stay quiet.
With intelligence came drawbacks, as seen now. If the Zombie King were only level three, it might have already started fighting the other two factions.
The Red-haired Iron Corpse wanted William's help, just to cover for him while he spun the wheel, and then have William help them seize the Blood of Evolution.
The idea was good, but they miscalculated.
"Can you control a portion of the zombies?" While William was thinking, the Red-haired Iron Corpse stood quietly, just like when it was first created.
"No, I... can't. We... don't have... those... make obey."
The Red-haired Iron Corpse meant that it and the witch couldn't make zombies obey their commands in the presence of a Zombie King, no matter how strong their mental power was.
Strictly speaking, neither of them were pure zombie mutants. They had undergone some unknown, bizarre evolution. Even if they were on par with several Zombie Kings, they couldn't possess the innate dominance a Zombie King had over lower-level zombies.
William's eyes fell on the three-star Evolution Elixir, and they started to brighten. He looked up at the Red-haired Iron Corpse's almost human-like pretty face and asked, "If, when necessary, you could influence the zombie horde, causing them to fall into temporary chaos, could you do it?"
After William repeated it several times, the Red-haired Iron Corpse finally got it and nodded that it could.
William smiled and snapped his fingers. "Alright, let's get started!"
