Chapter 201: Surprise!
The smooth porcelain floor didn’t just crack. It exploded, shattering like a dinner plate hit by a sledgehammer.
A spiderweb of fractures shot out in every direction!
But the floor wasn’t shattered by the direct impact. It was crushed by the immense pressure Wilbur channeled into the ground, the force transmitted through his body as he crossed his arms to block that terrifying downward smash at the last possible second.
Snap!
The subtle sound of bone breaking was lost in the deafening crash.
Wilbur’s figure flashed like a phantom through the dust and debris!
The crab-claw-like limb lifted immediately. Below it, there was only a crater of shattered tiles and swirling dust.
There was no body. No mangled remains. Nothing like what was expected.
The creature didn’t seem surprised.
Its turbid eyes, filmed over with a deathly gray cataract and void of any spark of life, lifted along with its “claw.”
It didn’t look at the ground.
It locked onto the figure that had just stabilized himself several paces away.
“What the...”
“...hell is this?!”
Wilbur stared at the “plush toy.” No, that wasn’t a worn-out toy. It was a mutated zombie hiding inside a plush suit.
A mutated zombie with a body that could only be described as “grotesquely obese.”
Its main outline vaguely resembled a massively fat human man. But the level of obesity had long since passed any natural limit. The accumulated fat and overgrown tissue, looking ready to slide off at any moment, made its torso look like an over-inflated, partially melted tumor.
Its facial features had been twisted and swallowed by the grotesque swelling, fusing together until they were indistinguishable, like a face pinched from melted wax and slapped on haphazardly.
And its right arm…
The mutation was horrifying.
From the shoulder down, the skin had completely lost its human texture, transforming into a dark, rough chitin covered in fine grooves and sharp protrusions. The overall shape was a massive, disproportionately large “crab claw”!
It was this “claw,” having just torn through the plush toy’s skin, that had launched the sneak attack.
There was no doubt about it.
This was a Third-Rank zombie.
A Third-Rank mutated zombie with terrifying destructive power.
Forced to bear the full brunt of that attack in a panic, Wilbur looked wrecked.
He’d blocked it, yes. He hadn’t died on the spot.
But in that lightning-fast instant, he’d only managed to mobilize a fraction of his Third-Rank power for defense.
Now, his right arm, sheathed in his own yellow-green pus, was effectively destroyed.
Even with the pus absorbing most of the impact, the terrifying blow had mangled the entire arm until there was barely any intact flesh left. From elbow to wrist, it was a bloody mess. Skin and muscle had been torn and crushed by the sheer blunt force, mixing with shattered chitin fragments and pus into a nauseating, pulpy ruin.
The bone was completely shattered, a mess of comminuted fractures.
Even the source of his power, the extraordinary glands hidden in the flesh of his arm that secreted his special pus, had been heavily damaged, sending waves of burning agony through him.
Facing this sudden, violent turn, Wilbur’s eyes still held a trace of shock that hadn’t faded.
But he quickly forced it down, his gaze turning cold and grave.
In his bloodshot eyes, the reflection of the massive, ferocious Third-Rank zombie—now shed of its disguise and exposed in the dim light—loomed large.
The creature’s twisted face muscles and melted features twitched and bunched, forming a bizarre, distorted expression that looked almost like a “smile.”
Then, it swung that massive “crab claw,” now stained with Wilbur’s pus and blood, and lunged at him again with a heavy whistle of displaced air!
..................
On the second floor of the mall, behind a broken railing that offered a clear view of the family activity area below, Pandora stood silently, watching everything unfold through the gaps.
She didn’t look surprised. Not in the slightest.
This zombie…
This was exactly what she’d meant when she told Nicole about “her method.”
Even though Wilbur wasn’t a top-tier Third-Rank, and his strength was diminished by the internal injuries from his failed advancement…
He was still, without a doubt, a Third-Rank.
Relying on Pandora alone, with her current Second-Rank strength and Elsa’s support, the odds of killing a Third-Rank in anything close to peak condition were slim to none.
They needed a “helper.” A powerful one.
And with Nicole’s sister’s special ability…
Zombies became an option for this “helper.”
Perhaps even the best, most “reliable” option available.
At the very least, a zombie wouldn’t stop to worry about Aldrich or Ascension Road’s retaliation after killing Wilbur.
Originally, Pandora had figured Nicole would arrange something like the setup near their home: a “combo” of several Second-Rank zombies.
She hadn’t expected…
that they would actually find a true Third-Rank zombie this time!
From the looks of it…
even if she couldn’t control it with the near-perfect precision she had over her Second-Rank groups, Nicole’s sister could influence, or even guide, the Third-Rank zombie’s actions to a significant degree.
For instance…
luring it to this pre-set battlefield.
But then again…
The corner of Pandora’s mouth twitched.
This zombie was just…
too wretched.
She rarely used the word “wretched” to describe a zombie.
But right now, it felt perfect.
She had never seen a zombie, especially one that was so obviously a strength-based mutant, use a cute plush suit as a disguise!
Despite having a massive body and an exaggerated mutated limb—a clear “tank” or “brute” type…
it decided to play the contrast card.
A disguised ambush? Really?
If she hadn’t known in advance about Nicole’s “arrangements” in this mall…
If her mental power hadn’t far surpassed her peers, giving her exceptionally sharp perception…
even she might not have noticed the malicious intent lurking inside that seemingly harmless, dilapidated toy.
It was no wonder Wilbur had been caught completely by surprise.