Chapter 281: Corpse Hatchling Pill |
After filling his stomach, Bai Mu summoned Xiao Wei out and let her have something to eat as well, while explaining the situation of this world to her. Xiao Wei took a bite of the black bread and listened earnestly.
She didn't bite through the bread on her first try. When her teeth hit the bread's crust, her expression blanked for a moment, as if she hadn't expected the bread to be this hard. Bai Mu then poured a cup of hot water into the canteen lid and handed it to her.
"Soak it in water to soften it before eating," Bai Mu said. "Once we find a human town, we'll go buy some local food; it should taste a bit better than this kind of bread."
"Before that, just stay in the inventory. I'll summon you again when I need you."
"I understand, sir." Xiao Wei nodded and dipped a corner of the bread slice into the hot water. "However, even though this place is a snowy area, I actually feel very comfortable."
"The Blood of God doesn't dislike this place?" Bai Mu asked.
"Hmm, how should I put it... It feels like basking in the sun in spring." Xiao Wei put the bread into her mouth and took a bite of sausage along with it. Bai Mu opened Xiao Wei's status panel, checked the buffs on her, and found that her Mana recovery speed had increased by 50%, her maximum Mana had increased by 200 points, and the Mana cost of all her skills had decreased by 20%.
"Even in a snowy area, there are such high buffs. Is it because some element in the air constitutes an environment the Blood of God has affinity with?" Bai Mu pondered for a moment.
It was normal, though. After all, it was a world that could spawn that kind of monster. He estimated there might be quite a lot of mages in this place. He'd see if he could collect some more magic skill books later to let Xiao Wei learn them herself.
Tomorrow, he should still pick up the pace and see if he could walk out of the snowfield quicker.
After finishing dinner, Xiao Wei turned back into a doll and was put into the inventory by Bai Mu.
There was no need to extinguish the fire; the firewood would burn out on its own. He hadn't brought out much firewood to begin with. Being able to boil some water and warm himself by the fire was already very good. Before the firelight completely died out, he organized the items. He wrapped the black bread, jam jar, cheese, sausages, jerky, and berries in a clean cloth. He tied the liquor flask, dagger, and short-handled axe to his waist using a belt synthesized by the Book of the Witch. He thought these things might be able to be sold for money. The rest of the items weren't very useful, so he discarded them in a corner.
Before sleeping, he used 'Best Friend's Help' to summon the Witch out.
The Witch, hugging her rabbit doll backpack, appeared around the charcoal fire. She was as quiet as ever, silently looking at Bai Mu. The low temperature didn't seem to affect her at all.
Bai Mu took out the Corpse Hatchling Pill from his inventory. Since clearing the script, he had been busy buying weapons and mass-producing talismans and alchemical pills on an assembly line, so he hadn't had the spare time to use this item.
He had planned long ago to find a free moment to summon the Witch out and see if she would be interested in this pill. Of course, he wouldn't force the Witch to eat it. If she had no interest, he would just list it on the market when he returned to the Community.
But judging from the current situation before his eyes, he probably wouldn't need to consider pricing the Corpse Hatchling Pill.
After he took out this fist-sized, dark pill, the Witch exceptionally—and even before he gave an order—shifted her gaze to his hand and stared at the thing.
"Do you want it?" Bai Mu handed the Corpse Hatchling Pill over.
The Witch leaned in, smelled it, and then looked at Bai Mu's face.
"If you want it, take it," Bai Mu said. "It was originally saved for you anyway."
Upon getting permission, the Witch picked up the Corpse Hatchling Pill with the tips of her long fingernails. She observed it silently for a while, both smelling it and looking at it with her eyes.
Bai Mu didn't disturb her, but it could be seen that this thing held a certain attraction for her. The last time this situation occurred was when Bai Mu used the night vision camcorder to take photos of her.
At that time, the Witch had held her own photos and stared blankly for a while; those photos were currently still stored in the rabbit doll backpack in her arms. After about five minutes, the Witch finally opened her mouth and swallowed the Corpse Hatchling Pill.
Then she became quiet, like a sleepy kitten, finding a spot by Bai Mu's feet to curl up and close her eyes. She fell asleep. She didn't breathe, had no body temperature, and no heartbeat. She was as quiet as a rock.
Bai Mu saw some wondrous changes appear on her body. Fine white fluff grew out from the surface of her skin; it was obvious the Corpse Hatchling Pill was taking effect.
This thing could allow a player to directly gain the 'White Zombie' bloodline and become the lowest level of zombie, or it could be used to enhance 'undead' type bloodlines. The Witch herself was a high-level mutant after a viral infection. During the 'Journey of Death' script, Bai Mu had seen an item in the shop that granted a 'Special Infected' bloodline.
The Witch belonged to the 'zombie' category. Judging from the item description, the Corpse Hatchling Pill definitely could enhance her.
As for what aspect it would enhance, that naturally could be expected. This white fluff was the characteristic of a 'White Zombie', and her body was undergoing a transformation. "At least it should increase the Witch's defense," Bai Mu thought to himself.
Although the Witch's offensive capabilities were very strong, her physical body's toughness wasn't high. And one of the specialties of zombies was that their bodies were very tough; being invulnerable to swords and spears was their specialty.
Compared to the 'Special Infected' bloodline, the 'White Zombie' bloodline was much more high-level; the grades of the scripts that produced them were different. Moreover, the former had almost no future to speak of—once used, it was very hard to evolve further, and one could only think of ways to overwrite it with other bloodline items. But the 'White Zombie' was different; this was a bloodline with very strong potential.
Even that red-haired flying zombie wasn't the final form, and there was still plenty of room for improvement.
Not to mention letting the Witch evolve to the level of a flying zombie, even if she could transform to the level of a 'Black Zombie', her combat power would increase significantly. Bai Mu just silently guarded her like this, waiting for her evolution to complete. The white hair gradually covered her whole body, wrapping her up like some kind of mold. The color of her fingernails became darker and sharper. Her body emitted a cold, sinister aura that was different from the cold weather, feeling very similar to the 'malevolent aura' on the Shadow-Slayer Blade.
It was an aura that would make ordinary people feel ominous and terrified. Just being in the same space as her would make people with poor constitutions feel extremely uncomfortable.
But what surprised Bai Mu was that after more than an hour passed, a portion of the white hair on the Witch's body unexpectedly and slowly receded. Instead, a few strands of black hair appeared amidst her pale hair.
It seemed she had surpassed the 'White Zombie' stage and was continuing her evolution toward the 'Black Zombie' level.