The powerful zombie virus dissolved into its purest form—evolutionary points—and merged seamlessly into Novak's body.
At the same time, the Blacklight Virus within him stirred, greedily absorbing the new essence and extracting two exclusive evolutionary points of its own.
As expected—this world was his perfect hunting ground.
Novak's eyes gleamed with excitement.
Across the long-abandoned streets and within the towering steel jungle, faint silhouettes began to emerge—zombies.
At first, they staggered clumsily, their movements stiff and disjointed.
But then—
They caught the scent.
The thick, metallic fragrance of blood—a scent they had long been deprived of.
And the unmistakable presence of living flesh.
A long-dormant hunting instinct ignited within them.
Their rigid bodies trembled—then began to move faster.
And then—they charged.
At a glance, there were a dozen or so zombies rushing toward him.
Most of them were weaker than the one he had just killed, but their speed and strength were still enough to pose a serious threat to an ordinary evolutionary who had only recently changed professions.
But to Novak—
They were nothing.
In fact, their numbers were too low.
If he wanted to complete the advancement for "Biochemical Disaster", he needed to slaughter 100,000 zombies.
This biochemical zombie world was undoubtedly filled with countless undead.
Unlike the Kepler zombies, which thrived in abundance, these zombies had suffered from food scarcity—resulting in cannibalism, bodily shrinkage, and slower reproduction rates.
Even so—
There were more than enough to meet Novak's evolution requirements.
What mattered now was—
How many of them were mutants?
The zombie he had just slain possessed multiple enhancements, yet it still wasn't classified as a mutant boss.
What Novak truly needed—were powerful mutants.
Moving lightning-fast through the sand-covered ruins, Novak observed the remnants of human civilization.
Some of the remaining inscriptions and signs bore characters similar to Kepler's languages, further confirming his suspicions.
This world's technological advancements were clearly superior to Kepler's—
Yet in the end, it still fell to the zombie apocalypse.
Had the same zombie virus appeared on Kepler, without the intervention of the God and Devil Trial Field—
Its fate would have been no different.
In Novak's hand—
A bucket of fresh blood.
The perfect bait.
He poured it out.
Instantly, the pungent stench filled the air, carried by the warm desert winds.
Within moments, zombies hidden within the crumbling buildings began to stir.
Under the dim glow of the sun and stars, they emerged—
Their grotesque, decomposed figures bathed in eerie light.
Novak remained calm.
Normal zombies were too slow to catch up to him—
But barely two minutes had passed before he felt it—
Something was approaching.
Something different.
A figure in white moved through the streets.
Unlike the others, whose bodies were covered in hardened, dull pigmentation—
This one looked like a corpse that had been soaked in water and then frozen solid.
Its skin was deathly pale—completely devoid of blood.
Yet the moment it appeared—
A wave of cold washed over the city, dropping the temperature despite the desert heat.
Novak took note of its presence—
Then ignored it.
He had more pressing matters.
Though smaller than De M-anila, this city was still large enough that luring out all the zombies would take some time.
But that didn't matter—
Because his speed was the fastest.
Weaving through the streets, he moved like a phantom, leaving behind only the echo of his passage.
Then—
The silence shattered.
A city that had lain dormant for years—
Exploded into chaos.
Zombies poured out onto the streets, responding to the blood's call.
Not just the ordinary ones—
But mutated creatures as well.
From the shattered ruins, figures like Lickers scrambled over broken walls, their clawed limbs digging into the concrete as they climbed in pursuit.
And among them—
One figure stood out.
A massive, grotesque monstrosity.
A zombie conglomeration—a grotesque fusion of countless undead flesh, forming an abomination of writhing limbs and twisted bodies.
Novak's eyes narrowed.
The first mutant boss of his rebirth—
Roshan.
The massive meat mountain lumbered forward, its bloated, grotesque form moving slowly compared to the rest.
Its pursuit was sluggish, but speed was never its greatest weapon.
Like the others, it was tracking by scent alone—but of the countless zombies swarming through the city, only four had managed to truly keep pace with Novak, who had intentionally slowed down to observe them.
The first was the frost-infused zombie.
Its entire body emanated a bone-chilling aura, and the surrounding air visibly froze in its wake.
The second was a short, hunched zombie.
Unlike the first, it lacked any special elemental abilities, but what it did have was blinding speed.
Instead of normal hands, it had two elongated, mutated bone blades, honed for rapid slashing attacks.
The third was something far worse.
A giant spider—with a human face.
Its twisted, malformed expression was a horrifying mix of greed, excitement, and eternal suffering.
And the fourth?
It wasn't a zombie at all.
A mutated eagle soared high above, its predatory gaze locked onto Novak.
Unlike the others, which were all zombie-based mutants, this eagle was a pure animal mutation.
Yet, despite that, it was the fastest among them all.
With the advantage of flight, it had no obstacles in its path.
A smirk tugged at the corner of Novak's lips.
Including the meat mountain, that made five mutants in this city alone.
A promising number.
Perhaps not overwhelming—but in this biochemical zombie world, there was one crucial advantage.
The Cosmic Will of this realm granted evolutionaries the ability to spend gold coins to move freely between cities after a successful hunt.
And these mutants?
They were only the ones he had seen so far.
Who knew how many more were lurking in the shadows?
There was only one way to find out.
Novak raced back to the very edge of the yellow sand—the same place where he had first arrived.
Behind him, the city was no longer silent.
Countless zombies poured out from the depths of Sandworm City, driven into a frenzy by the bucket of fresh blood he had left behind.
A perfect lure.
And now, the ones sprinting toward him?
They were the true prey.
It was time to begin the real harvest.
In battles against zombies, wide-area destruction abilities were the most efficient way to eliminate massive numbers at once.
But at this stage of evolution—very few had such large-scale abilities.
But Novak did.
Because the Scourge of Life itself—
Was an ability defying the heavens.
Taking in a slow breath, he gazed at the bloodthirsty horde barreling toward him.
Then—
A faint green light flickered at his fingertips.
It pulsed—growing larger and larger, expanding like an inflating balloon.
And then—
Above the ruined city of Sandworm City, a dark green sun ignited in the sky.
A sun of plague!
A Disaster of Life!