Li Xuan quickly selected a position, placing Huo Lingling on the rooftop of a six-story western-style house, with his back turned to her.

Huo Lingling gripped the dagger and quickly located the scale that the Mutated Zombie Infant Monkey had fused with. As she got closer, a foul, putrid odor rushed into her nasal cavity. The smell released by the rotting flesh and shattered bones of the zombie was incredibly unpleasant, a hundred times more pungent than the stench of dead fish left in a shady spot.

Urk~

Huo Lingling's stomach churned. The food she had eaten a few hours ago surged up her throat, and she vomited directly.

While vomiting, she forced herself to move forward, getting closer to the target scale.

"Stop throwing up!" Huo Lingling shouted at herself, her voice somewhat hoarse. She had vomited too much, and the stomach acid had damaged her throat.

She stretched out her fair arm and stabbed the dagger into the gap between the scales.

Crack~

She used all her strength, but the dagger only penetrated a little. The Giant Beast's hide was simply too tough;

the dagger had difficulty breaking through the skin.

"Li Xuan! Your skin is too hard! Give me a piece of your claw! A smaller one! A thinner one!"

Hearing this, Li Xuan quickly used his left claw to cut off the tip of his right claw and placed it on the rooftop.

"So dirty." Huo Lingling looked at the claw fragment stained with zombie blood, complained briefly, then spread her hands and strained to lift the claw fragment. Her white dress was stained with the putrid black blood.

Aim for the scale gap!

Crack!

Huo Lingling stabbed with all her might, successfully piercing the scale. Crimson blood sprayed onto her face.

She didn't bother to wipe her face, struggling to manipulate the claw fragment to cut the scale.

Zzzz~

More and more blood covered Huo Lingling's body. It was her first time doing this kind of thing;

she was unskilled. To completely cut off the target scale, she cut a little extra.

Soon, the target scale was connected to Li Xuan's hide by only a thread.

Huo Lingling put down the claw fragment and used the dagger to cut the final connection.

After the target scale separated from Li Xuan's body, it vibrated violently. Huo Lingling hurriedly pressed the claw fragment onto the scale and found some other heavy objects to pile on top as well.

After several dozen seconds, the scale finally calmed down.

"Li Xuan! It's done!" Huo Lingling cupped her hands around her mouth like a megaphone and shouted loudly, her tone full of pride.

Li Xuan turned around, looked at the dirty Huo Lingling, and felt a warmth in his heart.

It was worth it, raising Huo Lingling with good food and drink.

At the critical moment, Huo Lingling didn't drop the ball and was quite reliable.

"Well done, I'll reward you with chocolate when we get back," Li Xuan said.

"But don't we have no chocolate left?"

"I'll find some for you!" Li Xuan promised.

"Li Xuan is the best." The corners of Huo Lingling's mouth turned up, revealing a sweet smile.

Yun Xiuzhi landed, stopping on top of Huo Lingling's head. "Quick battle, quick resolution. You have injuries on your back, be careful not to get infected!"

"Okay!"

Li Xuan looked at the scale on the rooftop, reached out his claw, and picked up the scale.

His scales were dark green, but this scale was a deeper color, almost black.

Wiping away the filthy blood on the surface of the black scale, he saw an image of the Mutated Zombie Infant Monkey on it.

"Strange ability."

Crack~

The Giant Beast exerted force, his claw piercing the scale.

A sharp sound emanated from the scale!

The Mutated Zombie Infant Monkey wasn't dead after all! It had actually learned to play dead!

Yun Xiuzhi's eyes showed shock. "This guy is too clever. It's hard to imagine what zombies will become later. Could they develop intelligence comparable to humans?"

Li Xuan answered Yun Xiuzhi's question in his heart.

Zombie intelligence increases with their level of evolution. However, first-version zombies cannot evolve intelligence comparable to humans;

that opportunity only comes in the second version.

But the second version is no longer dominated by zombies. Various supernatural abilities emerge one after another, and even if zombies have human-like intelligence, they cannot cause massive catastrophes like they did in the first version.

Li Xuan crushed the scale and found two Supernatural Characteristics within.

Unlike the Supernatural Characteristics he had obtained before, these two were very special. One was almost ethereal, appearing to be between substantial and illusory, very mysterious.

The other Supernatural Characteristic was pure black, without a trace of impurity, like a black hole devouring the surrounding light. Looking closely, it seemed quite ordinary, but with another glance, one would feel it was quite extraordinary.

The two peculiar Supernatural Characteristics vibrated slightly, resonating with the Supernatural Characteristics Li Xuan possessed. In an instant, Li Xuan learned the abilities and names of the two characteristics.

Intangible Characteristic! As long as the user is not seen, other creatures find it very difficult to detect them! Reduces the user's presence!

Fusion Characteristic!

Choose any object to fuse with, remodeling the user's body!

While Li Xuan was dizzy, the Mutated Zombie Infant Monkey had secretly climbed onto his back. The Intangible Characteristic made Li Xuan unable to detect the Mutated Zombie Infant Monkey, unaware of its presence.

Then the Mutated Zombie Infant Monkey activated the Fusion Characteristic, wanting to fuse with him. However, the size difference between the two was too great, so it appeared as if the Mutated Zombie Infant Monkey was fusing with his scale.

Initially, Li Xuan thought the Mutated Zombie Infant Monkey's goal was to infect him. He never expected it actually wanted to seize his Giant Beast body.

Li Xuan felt a wave of fear in his heart. If Huo Lingling hadn't helped, he wouldn't have been able to deal with the Mutated Zombie Infant Monkey himself. He would have been infected unknowingly, and his body taken over.

Afterwards, Li Xuan told Yun Xiuzhi and Huo Lingling about the abilities of the two characteristics.

"There are actually such Supernatural Characteristics in the world! They are completely on a different level compared to the ones you got before. With these two characteristics combined, plus the Mutated Zombie Infant Monkey's small body, it could seize possession of the vast majority of creatures in the world!" Yun Xiuzhi exclaimed in amazement.

Huo Lingling could hear the words but didn't understand their meaning. She nodded pretentiously and showed a smile to congratulate Li Xuan on being able to become stronger again.

Li Xuan picked out the Fusion Characteristic. "This characteristic has a high compatibility with me. Whether I fuse with steel or something else, it can double my combat power."

"As for the Intangible Characteristic, its compatibility with me is almost zero. My Giant Beast form is too large;

it's almost impossible to avoid enemy sightlines."

"Yun Xiuzhi, you absorb the Intangible Characteristic."

Yun Xiuzhi lifted a claw, pointing at herself. "Me? No, no. Huo Lingling made a great contribution this time. Huo Lingling should absorb it."

"You are more suitable for this characteristic than Huo Lingling. Later, I will find a suitable Supernatural Characteristic for Huo Lingling," Li Xuan said.