Chapter 43: The Classification of Potential and Zombies

“Yes, if zombies, like humans, had strengths and weaknesses, and even—” Even if they could learn and improve as humans do, Du Yun hesitated to finish her sentence, for the words that followed felt almost too terrifying to speak aloud.

“If zombies, like humans, could develop both mental power and physical strength, then we really would be in serious trouble,” the leader picked up where Du Yun left off, his expression growing grim.

“Exactly. If there were zombies with the same potential for mental and physical power as the boss here—a real monster among humans—then in the zombie world, they might not even need spaceships to roam the stars freely,” Skinny Monkey said as he crouched, inspecting a zombie corpse. At this, he staggered, a cold shiver running down his spine.

Listening to their conversation, Du Yun’s mind filled with questions. Human potential is divided into mental power and physical strength? How is that determined? What level am I? But she didn’t voice these questions, nor did she have time to ask Smart Buddy, because something even more astonishing happened.

Da Zhuang wanted to test the zombie’s claws. He used a stick to lift the sharp fingers of the little zombie, letting them fall across a piece of rusty iron. The iron split in two, as if it were tofu cut by a knife—there was not even a sound.

For a moment, the group fell silent, staring at the neatly cleaved, rather thick piece of iron, wondering if it was merely the rust that made it so brittle.

“Even if you don’t have the boss’s level of mental and physical potential, there’s no way you’d get such terrifying attack power,” Da Zhuang said dumbly, tapping the iron with his stick. The iron didn’t crumble at a touch; instead, it rang out with a metallic clang.

“This is unbelievable!” Skinny Monkey exclaimed, nearly jumping up. He widened his eyes and drew out a boning knife he’d found in a shop, hacking at the rusty iron with considerable force. Only a small groove was carved into the metal after much effort.

Seeing this, everyone was stunned, their gaze fixed on the zombie’s claws. This was no longer the body of a human—it was a humanoid killing machine.

“My god…” Du Yun’s eyes rounded at the comparison. She rushed over to the little zombie’s corpse, reaching out to pick up its claw for a closer look.

“Don’t touch it!” the leader quickly pulled Du Yun into his arms. “You might get infected if you’re not careful.”

“Don’t move! This is a naturally second-tier zombie. Its claws are extremely sharp and could cut you!” Smart Buddy’s voice shouted anxiously in Du Yun’s mind.

“Second-tier zombie?” Du Yun was immediately drawn to the term. “You’re saying this is a second-tier zombie, so zombies, like humans, have an ability classification system we can trace?”

“Yes. My database contains information on the classification of zombie levels,” Smart Buddy replied. Realizing there was already a second-tier zombie in this small town and knowing Du Yun was still heading to the city, he judged the road ahead was perilous. He didn’t dare hold anything back and immediately transmitted the information to Du Yun.

“So zombies are actually divided into eight tiers based on their potential at the time of infection…” Du Yun quickly scanned the data. The classification was laid out clearly.

In Smart Buddy’s original world, the zombie scourge had lasted for decades, and humanity had fought them for just as long, so their understanding of zombies far surpassed that of the current group.

According to Smart Buddy’s records, zombies are divided into eight tiers, depending on their potential and the virus concentration at the time of infection. First-tier zombies are the most numerous and weakest, making up the vast majority. Second-tier zombies are much stronger than first-tier, third-tier stronger than second, and so on, with eighth-tier zombies being the most powerful.

To put it in terms of combat power: a first-tier zombie might not even be a match for an ordinary man. A second-tier zombie could easily slaughter dozens of ordinary men. A third-tier zombie could destroy a whole town on its own. A fourth-tier zombie could annihilate an entire city without modern defensive weapons.

Reading this, Du Yun’s hair stood on end. Even when facing a group of first-tier zombies, they’d been helpless. If they encountered a group of second-tier zombies, the outcome would be decided in an instant—struggling would be utterly pointless.

“Fortunately, this time it was only a second-tier zombie with potential but still a child,” Du Yun thought with a shiver. If it had been a mature second-tier zombie, the four corpses lying on the ground might not have belonged to zombies at all.

No, if they had died, there wouldn’t even be bodies left, Du Yun realized with a sense of despair. Still, she couldn’t help but keep reading.

A fifth-tier zombie could rule a planet. A sixth-tier zombie could cross the vacuum of space unaided; only large-scale laser weapons or starships could rival it. There were no detailed analogies for seventh and eighth tiers—just a stark line in the data: of the two zombies ever found above seventh-tier, the planets they passed through never showed signs of life again.

Just how much destructive power was that? The shock in Du Yun’s heart could no longer be put into words. If they ever encountered such high-level zombies, being wiped out in an instant would be inevitable. Du Yun’s mind went completely blank.

“Du Yun! Du Yun!” The leader saw her face turn deathly pale, thinking she’d been frightened by the zombie’s monstrous abilities, and called out in concern.

“I—I’m fine,” Du Yun replied weakly, her body limp and drained of all strength, though inside she was boiling with turmoil.

“What kind of savior am I supposed to be? With enemies this strong, being a savior just means getting killed in seconds. Where’s the point in struggling?” Du Yun felt utterly disheartened.

“Don’t say that, Master,” Smart Buddy hurried to encourage her, sensing her despair. “Zombies have tiers, but so do humans! Back then, our weapons managed to defeat sixth-tier zombies, and the mightiest humans could match seventh-tier zombies!”

“Match? How could they match them? I have trouble just killing a first-tier zombie,” Du Yun said gloomily.

“Once a zombie reaches second-tier or above, a crystal of energy will form in its chest. If you extract the crystal and absorb it with your mental power, you can raise your own level!” Smart Buddy eagerly revealed the great secret humanity had discovered only after years of hard struggle.

“An energy crystal?” At this, Du Yun’s eyes involuntarily shifted to the little zombie on the ground. “Is there really such a miraculous thing?”