CHAPTER 553: CHAPTER 553: RITUAL

He frowned, clearly confused, but after a moment, he reached up and plucked out a single hair. "Alright... here."

Su Jiyai took it and then pulled one of her own. She held both strands in her hand and closed her eyes.

"System," she said silently in her mind, "run a DNA test."

Jake watched as the two hairs in her hand suddenly vanished into thin air, like they’d been sucked into nothing.

His eyes widened. "What was that?"

Su Jiyai shook her head and gave him a small smile. "Nothing. Just a little trick."

Jake looked like he wanted to ask more, but before he could speak, a ding sounded in her mind. The DNA results were already back.

Her heart beat a little faster as she read them... and then slowly sank.

5%.

Just 5% compatibility.

Su Jiyai let out a breath. So... Jake wasn’t related to her after all. No family bond. No secret connection.

It had all been in her head.

She knew the 5% was only because she had some vampire blood in her body. That was it. Nothing more.

But reality was different.

Still, her curiosity wasn’t gone. She asked out loud, "What would happen if someone had half vampire and half werewolf blood?"

Jake raised an eyebrow. "That’s a strange question," he said, but he didn’t brush it off.

He thought for a long moment before answering,

"Well... that person would probably have a really long life. Maybe even live over a thousand years. Two thousand, even."

Su Jiyai’s eyes widened. "Two thousand?!"

She coughed, hiding her shock. She hadn’t even thought about living that long. The idea felt... weird. Who wanted to live for two thousand years?

Trying to keep calm, she asked another question. "Can someone be turned into a vampire?"

Jake gave her a sharp look. "Why? Are you planning to turn someone?"

Su Jiyai quickly shook her head. "No, no. Just wondering."

He stared at her for a second before answering.

"Turning someone into a vampire isn’t easy. It takes a lot of effort... and rituals. Even I don’t remember how to do it anymore. My memory’s a mess after all these years."

Su Jiyai nodded, even though she was a little disappointed. She wanted to know, just in case, but she didn’t push him.

"Good to know," she said softly.

Then Jake asked something that made her pause again. "So... when are you planning to open a portal to the vampire world?"

Su Jiyai looked at him, eyes thoughtful. "Soon," she said. But the truth was... she didn’t really know. The portal selection was random. She couldn’t control it yet.

But maybe... just maybe... she could change that.

She suddenly remembered the crystal she’d found before, the one given by Yuan Xin.

Maybe if she absorbed it, it would trigger something. Maybe it could help open the vampire world again.

With that idea in mind, she stood up. "I need to go," she said to Jake.

He gave her a small nod, but his eyes followed her carefully. She didn’t say goodbye. She just left, calm and quiet.

.......................

Back in her underground room, Su Jiyai didn’t take out the crystal right away.

Instead, she pulled on her training clothes and started her usual workout.

Punch. Kick. Dash. Dodge. Over and over.

After finishing her workout, she started to train in her martial arts and cultivated, before feeling tired.

She lay there, staring at the ceiling, planning to nap for just a little while...

But then... ding!

[Notification: The half-zombie in your base is about to break through his first cultivation stage.]

Su Jiyai sat up fast, her tiredness forgotten.

"What? Already?" she said, surprised.

The only half-zombie in the entire Hope Base was the child of Rui Wang and Fu Lin, a couple who had joined about a year ago.

Su Jiyai blinked in surprise. ’How could a baby this small already reach the first stage of cultivation? It didn’t make any sense.’

She took a deep breath and called out to the system, "System, take me to the half-zombie’s location."

With a soft flash, she teleported into a small, cozy room where Rui Wang and Fu Lin stood near a baby crib.

The couple looked exhausted and helpless as they stared at their glowing son, who was laughing and kicking his tiny feet, as if nothing was wrong.

"Leader Su!" Rui Wang stood up quickly, her face pale.

Fu Lin bowed deeply. "We didn’t mean to cause trouble..."

Su Jiyai stepped closer, her eyes on the glowing baby boy.

His skin had a faint greenish tint, not too strong, but enough to show his zombie side. Other than that, he looked... almost normal. Human, even. That alone was strange.

"What happened?" Su Jiyai asked, her voice calm but serious.

Rui Wang hesitated, then glanced at Fu Lin. He gave her a small nod, and she began to speak.

"It started a few days ago," Rui Wang said. "We noticed our crystals were disappearing. At first, we thought someone was stealing them."

"We were even about to file a complaint," Fu Lin added. "But then..."

"One day, I was holding a crystal in my hand," Rui Wang continued. "And it suddenly vanished. Right in front of my eyes. Then we heard... laughing."

Su Jiyai blinked. "Laughing?"

Rui Wang nodded slowly. "A soft baby giggle. That’s when we realized it was our son... he was the one absorbing the crystals."

"At first, we thought it was a good thing," Fu Lin said, scratching his head. "So we left it alone. But then... when we stopped leaving crystals in our room, our neighbors started losing theirs."

"We think he was reaching for them... even from far away," Rui Wang whispered.

"He’s only five months old, but he’s already pulling crystals from other rooms."

Su Jiyai stared at them, completely speechless.

’A five-month-old baby... absorbing energy through walls? That’s not normal.’

She looked down at the baby again. He was staring up at her now with wide, curious eyes. His little fingers reached toward her hair.

Su Jiyai sighed. "What triggered the evolution?"

Rui Wang and Fu Lin shook their heads.

"We don’t know," Fu Lin said. "We were just playing with him, holding him like usual, and then... he started to glow."

Su Jiyai narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. This wasn’t just a fluke. Something was happening. And she didn’t like not knowing what.

She leaned down and gently picked up the baby. He made a happy noise, not scared at all. In fact, he seemed... excited.

With the baby in her arms, Su Jiyai turned to Rui Wang and Fu Lin.

"I’ll take him for now. I need to run some checks," she said.

They both nodded quickly. "Please take care of him," Rui Wang said, her eyes full of worry.

"I will," Su Jiyai promised.

And then, with another soft flash of light, she teleported again, this time, deep into her personal underground room, far beneath the base.

As soon as she arrived, she placed the baby on a soft cushion and activated the room’s protective shield.

Last time, his birth had attracted various zombies to the base’s entrance. God knows what kind of trouble he will attract today.

She looked up at the monitor screens that showed the area outside the base.

Her eyes narrowed.

Just as she feared, a group of wandering zombies was starting to gather in the distance, slowly, quietly, but steadily moving toward the outer borders.

This baby... this half-zombie child... was attracting attention.

Su Jiyai stared at the child, who now looked like a healthy baby boy with a soft green glow around him. He yawned and curled up on the cushion like nothing was wrong.

’Looks can be deceiving,’ she thought.

She sat down cross-legged across from him and whispered to herself, "I need help."

And for the first time, she decided to do something new.

"I’m forming an investigation team," she said aloud. "From now on, I can’t handle every mystery alone."

The system chimed softly in her mind.

[New task created: Build an elite investigation unit to study rare evolutions, mutations, and anomalies.]

...............

Far away from Hope Base, deep inside the Forbidden Wastes, a dark cave pulsed with energy.

Inside that cave, the Zombie King, Narak, sat cross-legged on a bed of bones.

His skin was ash-gray, and his body glowed faintly with black mist. He had been cultivating for many days, gathering strength, focusing all his power into one goal, becoming the ruler of all zombies.

But suddenly... his eyes snapped open.

The air around him changed.

He stood up slowly, sniffing the wind. His sharp nose twitched. His glowing red eyes narrowed.

"What is this...?" he whispered in his gravelly voice.

He turned his head toward the east, the direction of Hope Base. Something had awakened. No, not just something. Someone.

A strange aura had appeared.

It was part zombie, but also part... human?

"Impossible," Narak growled under his breath. "A half-zombie child?"