Global Evolution: I Became A Zombie!

"A zombie with a fleet of spaceships," Blaze chuckled as the flagship descended next to the lair. "Who would have thought such a thing would be possible?"

Alaric's hand immediately shot up, but as usual, Blaze ignored him unless he needed his father's expertise for something.

"Demolition was successful, sir," Lo Da replied. "Shall we proceed with docking maneuvers?"

Blaze nodded, waving the alien away. He was more interested in seeing the ships to his heart's content.

At some distance, entire buildings and countless squares were demolished for the ships to land.

Even Cyclops's swamp wasn't spared. The tree wasn't happy about its loss of domain, but what other choice did it have?

Blaze wanted space for the ships to land. Hence, the swamp was cleared, leaving only the farmland.

While others were in awe, Blaze instructed the new slaves to be brought in front of the spire. He was short on time and needed people to control the ships like born experts for the next battle.

The quickest way to do that was to learn everything himself. However, traditional learning methods would take too long. And time was one thing Blaze didn't have.

Fortunately, he had other ways to learn things.

The aliens uninfected by [Contagion Chain] were brought forth. They were defiant as ever, wondering what these little ants could do to them. Little did they know that there was a lot Blaze could do to them.

With a swipe of Necrophage, their heads went flying. Those who remained were shocked to see it.

Killing a Collective member was akin to seeking death.

That's why they thought Blaze wouldn't dare to harm them. What they didn't know was that the zombie was on a path of destruction.

"Whether I kill you or not, the collective would be here regardless," Blaze said, lifting one of the alien's heads. "Might as well make good use of you while I can."

The aliens shivered, wondering what was wrong with their bodies. A long-lost emotion had taken hold of them once again.

Fear.

They had been dominating species left and right to the point they forgot about fear. For them, only excitement existed, which, strangely enough, was evident in Blaze's eyes instead.

One after another, those who could resist the contagion had their heads severed and implanted into the spire. From there, Blaze said on his throne, absorbing all of their skills and knowledge for himself.

How to control the ships, what strategies to use, when to use them, general formations—everything the Collective knew about space warfare was at Blaze's fingertips.

Within seconds, Blaze felt like he had lived and died countless times in the space. It wasn't just the spaceships or the weapons they carried, but bits and pieces of the Collective's authoritarian secrets were revealed to him as well.

A few moments later, everything he knew was uploaded into the minds of every single zombie under his command.

The next second, a walker snatched the weapon from Lo Da's hands and fired it at an ant with unmatched precision. The ant was turned into dust within a second, leaving nothing behind.

"I can't believe this," Lo Da mumbled absentmindedly. "How can it use it with such precision?"

Blaze smiled, taking the weapon for himself. He didn't explain anything to Lo Da, but the latter knew it was the true horror Blaze's horde was capable of.

"We are one," he whispered, understanding the meaning behind it.

Anything one of them learns, the other can learn it as well. They were one in mind, and different in body. The effects of the [Hive Mind] trait, after evolving into the [Central Intelligence], were truly horrifying.

Couple that with Blightlord's [Transcendence] and I'm truly immortal.

With that thought, he threw the weapon into his domain before stretching after a long day.

"Form teams and put your newfound knowledge into action," Blaze said, casually stepping onto a teleportation circle. "When I return, I'd better be seeing all the ships in the sky."

"Where are you—?"

Neha wanted to ask, but Blaze was already gone.

***

A flash erupted in the dark room, followed by Blaze's arrival. Metal clanked as he stood in Anur's spaceship.

"Skree!"

A familiar screech rang out in the ship as Fester jumped onto Blaze's shoulder, rubbing its head on his.

"Yeah, I missed you too," Blaze replied, patting Fester's head.

"You're here," she said, not even bothering to look at him.

Anur had left the planet, only in the eyes of the Collective spies. Instead, she had made herself undiscoverable to everyone. Only Blaze knew her whereabouts, and Fester, since the little one was staying on the ship.

"That I am," Blaze replied, walking next to her. "So, what's next?"

Without a word, Anur slammed a large, transparent capsule in front of him.

"What am I looking at?" Blaze said, lifting the capsule.

"You absorb it," Anur replied, still working on something else. "And gain immortality in the conventional sense."

Blaze nodded, turning the capsule in all directions to see what he had to absorb. The only problem was… There wasn't anything inside the capsule.

"Sorry to trouble you again, but—"

Before he could continue, Anur took what she was working on and slapped it on his eyes. It was a strangely shaped mechanical eyewear. Anur was wearing the same thing herself.

"My eyes are just fine—woah, what is that?"

Suddenly, the empty capsule wasn't empty anymore. A misty thing swirled and slammed against the glass body, desperately trying to break out of captivity.

Anur smiled and took the capsule. The moment, whatever the thing was, saw her face, it immediately turned docile. Not like a pet, but more like a slave who had been warned what would happen if it ever disobeyed.

"This," she said, shaking the capsule vigorously. "Is the cause of your erratic behavior."

"This little thing?" Blaze asked, still confused. "What even is it? Some kind of invasive creature?"

"That's one way to think about it. But I have a better term. It's what you earthlings know as a soul."