Global Evolution: I Became A Zombie!

"Another doomed world."

"I had hopes for this one."

"What was the predicted collapse cycle?"

"Two. It collapsed in mere 0.00002 cycles. It must be a record for global collapse."

"Hm… what was the dominant species called there? Human? Perhaps we overestimated them."

Electronic voices kept chattering one over the other. It was the Collective. Technically, they were civilizational representatives of the organization.

A group consisting of thousands of planets and trillions of beings classified under 78 species. They were the self-proclaimed heralds of the galaxy, with their primary purpose of creating a 'cure'.

The illness in question was of course the progenitor virus. The one that had consumed countless worlds, turning their populations into zombies.

Together, they were a civilization that could control stars, terraform desolate planets, and even turn the so-called tide of the cosmic ocean.

Even so, they weren't able to beat the test. Not for over hundreds of thousands of years. What was the test? To find the cure.

They figured that since the science they knew didn't have the answer, they'd find others to collaborate with.

The only issue was that not everyone was eager to sacrifice their people to be infected and studied in the name of a cure. So, the Collective forced the illness on backward planets.

Planets with basic technology, at least what was seen as basic for a pursuant type-3 civilization.

"Implement clause 718-A and proceed with complete erasure. Assimilate capable individuals into the lower ranks and wipe their memories. Those in favor."

No one was even paying attention to Earth anymore. The secretaries had to cast votes for the representatives. That was the attention span of the great heralds.

They found a new species, experimented on it, and tossed it out of their minds, moving on to the next target.

No wonder they had made many enemies. But what could those weaklings do to them?

There was a reason they only targeted budding civilizations, only type-0 and some type-1 species. The Collective didn't play with anyone above that. Earth was merely one such world among billions of others.

In the Collective's vision, humans should be glad they were being recruited as grunts, as meat shields for the species that truly mattered.

"Proceed with the next civilization. Hopefully, they'll entertain—I mean, help us find the cure."

Everyone noticed the slip of the tongue, but it only brought a smile to their faces.

***

At the same time, a strange phenomenon struck Earth. Every Chosen suddenly lost their 'systems'. They still had the physical abilities bestowed on them, but they couldn't 'chat' with the systems like they used to.

However, the people of Phoenix didn't get to witness that change. They were too occupied with trying to survive the cannibal onslaught.

The cannibals were much worse than the zombies in some aspects. They intentionally chipped their teeth to make it easier to bite and tear flesh off humans. It was the same with their long, sharp nails.

That's how they easily ripped through the humans.

"Get off!" a woman yelled as a cannibal lunged at her.

She began kicking the cannibal, forcing him to stay away. Unfortunately, resistance only made him want her more.

When she kicked again, the cannibal grabbed her leg, sinking his unclean teeth into it.

"Argh!"

The woman screamed in agony. The cannibal had torn a better part of her calf in a single bite before swallowing it in one gulp.

All the yelling and whimpering got the attention of other cannibals. More of them jumped the woman, consuming her alive.

Neha saw it all, and Blaze's whispers kept breaking her mind bit by bit until there was nothing left. She slumped to the ground, blankly staring ahead.

"I think you overdid it, my lord," Marrow mumbled, frowning at the sight of Neha's drooling mouth.

"Did I?" Blaze asked, shrugging. "She deserved it, even if I did. Restrain her and prepare for teleportation. Our work here is done."

"You bastard! What did you do to her?!"

"Right, I forgot you were here too," Blaze said, turning to see Min.

If the situation had occurred a couple of months ago, he would have turned Min into one of his soldiers. But now, he wasn't as unique or needed.

However, he was still useless… to some extent.

Min struggled against the zombies pushing him down. But it was all for nothing. The sporeforms weren't all that easy to fight against, especially with Marrow suppressing his powers.

"Chimera," Blaze mumbled as he walked away, dragging Neha along.

"Fucker! Get back here!"

Min yelled over and over, until he saw a shadow being cast over.

Chimera stood before him, a speedster in front of another. He leaned down, sniffing the nucleus within Min, and smirked.

"Reh!"

The human was a gift from the Master.

Chimera let out a roar as he swiped his claws at Min. The human tried to avert the strike, only to fail again. Min's headless corpse fell to the ground, while his head remained in Chimera's possession.

The sporeforms grabbed Min's corpse and tossed it inside the burning base. The cannibals noticed it and didn't let fresh meat go to waste.

Outside, Chimera didn't wait a moment before digging his claws into the skull. Blood and brain matter dripped down from his hand as he fished for Min's nucleus.

"Reh!"

Chimera let out a hearty roar, yanking the nucleus free and gulping it at once. A warm, fuzzy feeling coursed through his body. Filled with energy, he rushed into the base, killing everything and everyone in sight.

Cannibals, humans, and even a few cultists met their doom by his claws, which were faster than ever. Blaze watched on from outside, shaking his head.

"I should have kept the nucleus as a treat," he said, turning to Marrow. "Restrain him."

Marrow dropped Neha and flew off.

Now left alone, Blaze squatted next to her.

"That was an academy-worthy performance there," he said.

Neha kept staring in the distance, unresponsive. At least on the surface.

"Since you can't talk anymore, you're of no use to me. Fester, do what you want with her."

"Skree!"

Fester jumped out of Blaze's suit pocket, straight towards Neha's face. The blank expression disappeared as she jumped back, scared shitless.

"Imagine living through two lives and still being scared of rats," Blaze mumbled, letting Fester chase her more.