Chapter 114: Chapter 108 Skeletal Corpse
Wan Yuzhou wanted to contract the Flesh Corpse Nest as his second Angel Envoy and use its characteristics to breed his own monster legion.
It was indeed a very ambitious idea and it had a certain chance of success.
However, the strength, growth potential, and controllability of the monsters bred from the Flesh Corpse Nest were still unknown factors.
Especially in terms of control, absolute control and group control were completely different concepts.
If it were like the Angel Envoy, under absolute control, it would undoubtedly be a very terrifying legion, fearless and possessing absolute execution ability.
On the other hand, even a control similar to that of the Zerg would be absolutely horrifying.
But if it were only like the control over the Half-Fish Monster community, then their combat effectiveness would be greatly reduced, though it would still be a formidable force.
The abilities of the Flesh Corpse Nest piqued Su Han's curiosity, prompting him to activate the Tree-born Worm skill of the Ancient Worm Tree.
After reaching LV2, the range of the Tree-born Worms not only increased to 1000 meters but also the quantity of worm eggs increased by 100.
However, he had just advanced in skills and immediately faced the incident of Zhou Ji ambushing Old Zhu, so he had no time to breed new worms, and now was the perfect time to use them.
While using his skills, Su Han consumed a large amount of energy to accelerate the breeding of the Tree-born Worms, and then swarms of them began attacking the monsters within their activity area.
One by one, monster corpses were brought back by the Tree-born Worms, becoming sustenance for the Ancient Worm Tree, while the remaining monster corpses became food for the Flesh Corpse Nest.
According to Zhou Ji and Cao Yu, only after consuming a large amount of flesh and blood would the Flesh Corpse Nest reproduce monsters.
Over three days, Su Han did not rush to hunt more monsters or collect more metals; instead, he observed the feeding changes of the Flesh Corpse Nest.
He observed that the Flesh Corpse Nest, after consuming a large amount of food, did not use much energy to maintain its vital signs; the excess flesh was used for reproduction, and he could visibly see subtle changes in the giant maw.
During these three days, the operation of the entire camp also gradually stabilized.
The newcomers at the camp breathed a sigh of relief, for they found that the order at the Shanhu Villa Camp was completely different from Wan Yuzhou's camp.
There was no slave class, and even though there were divisions such as search teams and patrol teams that were similar to combat personnel, the underlying principles were different.
The core of the order was not based on terror, but on Contribution Value and resources.
Contribution allowed for more resources, not just basic resources like living and medical supplies, but also resources for becoming stronger.
Evolved Kind fish, injectables, and the qualification and opportunity to contract monsters—all required contribution.
And all the resources were controlled by Su Han; he was the core of everything.
After understanding the situation at Shanhu Villa District, their worries gradually subsided, replaced by a desire to earn Contribution Value and become stronger.
Naturally, they gradually integrated into Su Han's camp.
During these three days, Zhu Xiong did not lead anyone to further search for other materials but instead worked with Zhang Dahai to establish a warehouse.
Houses in the villa district were for living, which was not a problem, but to store large quantities of materials, the space utilization was completely inadequate.
Especially for food items like rice and flour, if they were not properly stored, the loss rate would not be low.
Eventually, an area was demarcated, and Zhang Dahai organized people to build a warehouse, using cement and other materials from the construction site and the wilted trees from the entire villa district as materials.
Three days passed and the basic form was already up.
On the fourth day, the Flesh Corpse Nest finally changed.
Su Han stood in front of the cage of the Flesh Corpse Nest, where the belly of the Flesh Corpse Nest had begun to bulge and was continuously moving, and its giant maw, normally for devouring flesh and blood, was constantly opening and closing.
Gurgle...gurgle...
Strange muffled sounds emerged from the body of the Flesh Corpse Nest, then a flesh egg-like object was spit out from its throat.
It hit the ground with a thud, covered in mucus and a thin membrane, standing about seventy or eighty centimeters tall; the membrane kept expanding and deforming as if something was tampering inside it.
The flesh membrane was quickly torn open, and a hideous monster broke through it.
Its head was grotesque, its face like a skeletal corpse, barely showing any flesh, and extremely horrific. The head was nearly a third the size of its entire body, with a blood basin-sized mouth nearly reaching its ears, filled with chaotic, sharp teeth.
Its body was hunched, crawling on the ground, and its skin was ashen. Its hands and feet were like sharp claws, with backward-pointing nails over ten centimeters long.
Upon its emergence, it voraciously devoured its own placenta-like flesh membrane and then lay prostrate in front of the Flesh Corpse Nest.
'Active submissiveness, it seems not merely a community anymore, but it is worth a try,' thought Su Han.
With a thought from Su Han, the vines of the nearby Ancient Worm Tree moved, extending toward the cage.
"Roar"
The Flesh Corpse Nest let out a low growl. It sensed a threat, and as it growled, the little monster immediately turned around to face the vines.
As soon as the vine approached, it lunged forward, but the next moment, it was knocked to the ground by the vine and then tied up.
The little monster struggled continuously, its sharp shrieks echoing, and its sharp claws tried to scratch at the vine, but left only a white mark.
[Detected a live creature for Fusion: Skeletal Corpse. Proceed with Fusion?]
Skeletal Corpse?
Su Han's mind stirred, "This monster indeed has a distinct appearance, but there are some differences from the Flesh Corpse Nest. If it's evolution, it's hardly likely; it is probably just a minion and not truly of the same kind."
He was intent on testing it. Suddenly, the vines extended and whipped against the Flesh Corpse Nest with considerable force.
The Flesh Corpse Nest was struck hard, emitting a painful roar; it struggled violently, much like the Skeletal Corpse, seemingly trying to rescue its progenitor.
Su Han kept the Skeletal Corpse in a cage on the side; the test needed some time, and he was not particularly in a rush.
The next day, Su Han did not only conduct the test himself but also had Bai Qilan help, and together they roughly reached a conclusion.
The strength of the Skeletal Corpse was approximately at the First Order Inferior, of the latter kind, slightly more formidable than the Half-Fish Monster, with the limitation being on land.
If adults were not frightened, they could defend against it as its individual combat strength was not strong.
However, they would act collectively and could be somewhat commanded by the Flesh Corpse Nest.
The extent of command did not reach full control; it had independent instincts, but under the Flesh Corpse Nest's control, it would fight fearlessly to the death, similar to the Tree-born Worm, but with weaker control.
As for the reproductive capacity of this Flesh Corpse Nest, as seen so far, it was not considered low since after feeding well the next day, it spawned another meat egg, birthing another Skeletal Corpse.
This might not be its limit, but this pace was already sufficient to rapidly produce a tribe.
It could be said that Wan Yuzhou's plan might actually be achievable.
Bai Qilan and Su Han completed the tests, recording the blood samples and data.
"Ji Mingyang, take these items back to the lab."
Bai Qilan instructed Ji Mingyang to take the items back, to which Ji Mingyang gave a pause, then nodded, saying, "I'll go right away."
After Ji Mingyang left, only Bai Qilan and Su Han remained.
Su Han looked at Bai Qilan and asked, "Did you send him away because there's something else you want to test?"
Bai Qilan nodded slightly, her eyes flickering as she said, "There's another important test, and it's related to injection enhancement."
Hearing this, Su Han showed a puzzled face and asked, "How are these two related? Are you planning to use the blood of the Skeletal Corpse to make the injection?"
The enhancement injection required a large amount of blood and tissue to purify substances within; if Skeletal Corpses could be cultivated in large numbers, they would also serve as a source of materials.
However, Su Han was rather reluctant to keep the Flesh Corpse Nest, as this thing always posed a hidden danger.
If Skeletal Corpses proliferated too much, they could easily incite a revolt by the Flesh Corpse Nest, whose capabilities he did not wish to fall into the hands of others in the camp.
No one capable of contracting a Second Angel Envoy had yet appeared, and newcomers were not worthy of this Second Order Low Grade creature, lacking the matching strength and qualifications.
"No," Bai Qilan shook her head, "Contract, I want to know how the Flesh Corpse Nest affects it if someone contracted the Skeletal Corpse; this is very important."
Su Han frowned, indeed this was something he hadn't considered.
He thought for a moment, then said, "I'll call someone, and you try it later."
In the camp, there were quite a few people who had accumulated enough Contribution Values and had good performances.
Upon mentioning it to Yan Meiyu, she provided a person, a male intern doctor saved from the hospital batch, exactly Zhou Ziqing's student, Cao Yubao's grandstudent, named Lu Yu.
"Boss Su Han."
He greeted Su Han and Bai Qilan with a restrained manner.
Su Han handed him a crossbow, then said, "Kill the Skeletal Corpse, contract the Angel Envoy, then assist with some tests. Your contributions from helping your teacher with treatments have also accumulated enough."
"Thank you, boss."
Lu Yu's face showed delight. Being able to contract was certainly a good thing, though it also involved testing, but he deeply understood that this was a rare opportunity.
The constitution after contracting differed quite significantly from that of an ordinary person; even just after contracting, one could possess a physique slightly stronger than that of a healthy adult.
He held the crossbow, aimed it at one of the Skeletal Corpses that was bounded by the vines, and with a puff, the crossbow arrow penetrated through the skeletal-like head.
The Skeletal Corpse was instantly killed, and the contract process immediately began.
The process wasn't complicated, and soon the Skeletal Corpse transformed into a red light entering Lu Yu's Book of Blood Spirit, becoming his Angel Envoy.
"Summon the Skeletal Corpse and then launch an attack on the Flesh Corpse Nest."
Bai Qilan's chilly voice came, which made Lu Yu pause, his gaze subconsciously turning towards Su Han.
For all incarcerated creatures, only Su Han had the ultimate decision-making power.
Su Han nodded and said, "Do as she said."
Only then did Lu Yu feel relieved, allowing the Skeletal Corpse to enter the Flesh Corpse Nest's cage and made it launch an attack.
The Flesh Corpse Nest roared in anger, but it had already been bound by the vines and could not attack its Angel Envoy Skeletal Corpse.
It had sharply sensed that the Skeletal Corpse was different now.
Lu Yu made a move, and immediately initiated an attack. The moment the Skeletal Corpse rushed towards the Flesh Corpse Nest, Su Han and Bai Qilan's expressions subtly changed.
The speed of the Skeletal Corpse had slowed down.