Su Changxing’s method is also quite simple and brutal. He didn’t bother checking where there were Extraordinary Creatures and where there weren’t but directly used a large number of zombies to surround an area and then proceeded with the cleansing.
He controlled over forty thousand zombies to simultaneously surround five blocks, compressing bit by bit, leaving no stone unturned, including within houses, in the ruins, and even in sewers or some underground passageways.
Not long after the encirclement began, an Extraordinary Creature, resembling a spider, was startled and rushed out from a building, colliding headfirst into the Undead Tide, seemingly trying to force its way out.
Its figure was quite tall, and just with its 8 white spider legs, it was already twice the height of an ordinary zombie.
Theoretically, it could indeed move flexibly within the Undead Tide, given its long legs; if it encountered a normal Undead Tide, it might have really broken through. Unfortunately, it encountered a fortified Undead Tide.
The zombies in the Undead Tide were faster and more agile; when it was halfway through, more than ten zombies climbed along its slender spider legs onto its body, biting off pieces of flesh with their mouths.
Even though its spider legs could instantly penetrate a zombie’s head and kill it, it was still dragged into the Undead Tide and couldn’t move, eventually falling helplessly, its eight spider legs torn off, and its body dismembered.
Of course, this was not the only Extraordinary Creature; there were many more, hiding within buildings or ruins, and without meticulous searching, they were really difficult to find.
Several Tier Eight Extraordinary Creatures attempted to break out of the Undead Tide, only to fall despairingly within it, while some ran inward towards the encirclement, which was, of course, a dead-end strategy. As the encirclement continuously shrunk, trying to escape from the Undead Tide became increasingly difficult.
As for some flying Extraordinary Creatures, what could the Undead Tide do to them? After all, ordinary zombies cannot fly, nor do they have any long-range attack methods.
During this process, Su Changxing also discovered three ordinary Extraordinary Zombies, which were easily assimilated by the Undead Tide, converting them into members of it and, under the influence of the Frenzy Aura, becoming even more powerful.
This is where his ability changed the most, able to control even the most ordinary Tier Nine Extraordinary Zombies with the Undead Tide.
With the addition of these Extraordinary Zombies, the combat power of the Undead Tide would undoubtedly increase tremendously.
The encirclement operation lasted an entire day, and more than a dozen blocks were completely cleared by Su Changxing, obtaining over thirty Tier Eight Extraordinary Crystals and hundreds of Tier Nine Extraordinary Crystals, and integrating over ten Extraordinary Zombies into the Undead Tide, whose size became even more massive.
On this day, Su Changxing also absorbed nineteen Extraordinary Crystals, though advancing less than ten percent in the Extraordinary Process. This was partly due to the Divine Inheritance requiring more energy to advance and partly because the Frenzy, this Divinization Ability, absorbed a large portion of the energy from the Extraordinary Crystals.
The second reason was the main reason.
This was also something Su Changxing hadn’t anticipated. He thought he needed the Divine Inheritance to enhance the Frenzy, but it turned out it could be strengthened by ordinary methods, though it didn’t gain any new abilities but could instead strengthen one small ability within it.
Nineteen Extraordinary Crystals were just enough for one enhancement.
And this enhancement, he could actively choose, and without much hesitation, he chose to enhance the Marching Speed.
He felt being tougher was certainly better; that a more agile Undead Tide might become stronger, capable of adapting to various situations.
Marching Speed v1—Marching Speed v2
[Frenzy V1 (Divinization): The Undead Tide controlled by you will undergo incredible changes, with each zombie being strengthened and gaining some measure of Extraordinary Resistance.
Truth: Every zombie within the Undead Tide will gain Extraordinary Resistance, reducing the degree to which they’re affected by Extraordinary Power.
Thick-skinned V1: Each zombie within the Undead Tide gains enhanced life force, increasing Resistance by 20%, Anti-Puncture Ability by 20%, and Impact Resistance by 20%.
Marching Speed v2: The Undead Tide moves faster, with each zombie’s speed increased by 15%, agility enhanced by 15%, and resilience improved by 15%.
Note: This ability can continually grow.]
"For the next enhancement, more Tier Eight Crystals will be needed, probably around over 20 pieces."
He contemplated, realizing that he might be able to improve at an astonishing speed since he could now control the Undead Tide for wide-scale encirclement and consistently acquire Extraordinary Crystals.
On the other side.
The Tentacle Monster, possibly because it had lost a tentacle, became extremely savage, rampaging through the city, wantonly destroying, devouring any creatures it encountered, including zombies.
The scenario Su Changxing feared didn’t happen, the Tentacle Monster did not charge towards the Undead Tide, seemingly oblivious, likely influenced by certain guiding forces before that made it rush directly towards the gathering place.
This situation persisted until nightfall when the Tentacle Monster finally quieted down, for despite having more than ten tentacles, losing one was not a major problem.
As for those Extraordinaries, they never showed up, presumably hiding somewhere in the city, licking their wounds. After all, so many had died that it would be difficult to trouble the Tentacle Monster again in the short term.
However.
Su Changxing remained exceptionally vigilant, constantly monitoring the situation around the Undead Tide, worrying that those Extraordinaries would rather come after him than deal with the Tentacle Monster, feeling guilty for essentially stealing their spoils. Revenge wasn’t entirely unexpected.
Having obtained the Divine Inheritance, he secluded himself thoroughly in this spot, becoming a shut-in zombie, and hadn’t stepped outside this room since, even having the Extraordinary Crystals brought to him by a Big Horn from outside the safety zone.
Primarily because there was no need, he felt very safe within the Undead Tide. Going outside would instead expose him to danger, something entirely unnecessary. In essence, he was still a very cautious zombie.
On the afternoon of the second day, he further absorbed twenty-three Tier Eight Extraordinary Crystals, advancing the Extraordinary Process to about 18%, and was able to enhance again, once more choosing to empower Marching Speed.
Marching Speed v2—Marching Speed v3.
[Frenzy V1 (Divinization): The Undead Tide controlled by you will undergo incredible changes, with each zombie being strengthened and gaining some measure of Extraordinary Resistance.
Truth: Every zombie within the Undead Tide will gain Extraordinary Resistance, reducing the degree to which they’re affected by Extraordinary Power.
Thick-skinned V1: Each zombie within the Undead Tide gains enhanced life force, increasing Resistance by 20%, Anti-Puncture Ability by 20%, and Impact Resistance by 20%.
Marching Speed v3: The Undead Tide moves faster, with each zombie’s speed increased by 20%, agility enhanced by 20%, and resilience improved by 20%.
Note: This ability can continually grow.]
With the enhancement of Marching Speed v3, the Undead Tide visibly changed, exuding an air of both clumsiness and swiftness, akin to an agile fat person, a galloping sow, or a running cripple.
This speed is comparable to some ordinary Tier Nine Extraordinaries, and on this foundation, zombies have theoretically unlimited stamina, maintaining this speed consistently unless their feet break from running.
With greater speed, executing encirclement plans became easier and allowed for more tactical maneuvers, like flanking or even herding.
More importantly, this enhancement becomes even more pronounced on Extraordinary Zombies, allowing them to achieve speeds akin to Tier Eight Extraordinary Creatures, practically flying.
Among them was a particularly special Extraordinary Zombie, a Giant, possessing greater power than the average zombie but moving relatively slowly.
For an individual, slow speed is inherently a fatal flaw, masking all other advantages.
But within the Undead Tide, the Giant could become a pillar of strength. As the Undead Tide traps a target, the Giant could employ its immense power against it. Even a Tier Eight Extraordinary Creature couldn’t withstand more than two blows from the Giant before being smashed to pulp.