Yun Xiuzhi didn't refuse any further and absorbed the Intangible Characteristic.

She flapped her wings and flew into the air. The sound generated during flight was nearly nonexistent;

without listening carefully, it was impossible to notice, and her presence was greatly reduced.

Li Xuan absorbed the Fusion Characteristic. This was a characteristic with an extremely high ceiling. It not only allowed him to possess other creatures but also fuse with various substances to remodel his own body.

For example, the Giant Beast transformation could fuse with steel, undergoing a complete metamorphosis to truly possess a body of steel, making it difficult for ordinary missiles to seriously injure him.

He now roughly guessed the reason for the zombie horde's appearance.

A few days ago, when he transformed into the Giant Beast and killed the mutated zombie with the Burst characteristic, he was probably discovered by the Mutated Zombie Infant Monkey.

Then, when he killed the Mutated Zombie Golden Eagle, the Mutated Zombie Infant Monkey pinpointed his location and, using the Mutated Big-Headed Zombie, jointly launched the zombie horde to find an opportunity to possess him.

After successfully absorbing the Fusion Characteristic, Li Xuan felt a sensation: he could choose a substance to fuse with at any time—concrete, soil, steel, etc., were all possible—but he could only choose one. The more substance fused, the greater the changes to his body.

Fusing with ten tons of steel would only make the Giant Beast's scales steel-like. Fusing with several hundred tons of steel could turn the Giant Beast's body into steel. Fusing even more could remodel even the internal organs into steel.

Alternatively, he could fuse with a living creature. The more complete the creature, the more thorough the fusion would be.

If he chose to fuse with a certain dinosaur fossil, only certain parts of his body might change.

If he switched to a living, complete creature, he could completely possess the other's genes, fuse them with his own genes, and form an entirely new creature.

It was similar to how his Giant Beast transformation fused the genes of three giant creatures: the Blue Whale, Tyrannosaurus Rex, and Quetzalcoatlus.

The Fusion Characteristic had limitless possibilities!

Countless ideas flashed through Li Xuan's mind. A steel giant beast? A silver giant beast? Or a rock giant beast? A glacier giant beast?

Characteristics like Strength and Speed gave the Giant Beast stronger combat power, but essentially, the Giant Beast hadn't fully stepped into the supernatural realm yet. It relied on powerful individual attributes that, when stacked, resulted in super destructive power.

The Fusion Characteristic, however, could allow the Giant Beast to truly step into the supernatural realm!

Whether it was a steel giant beast or a rock giant beast, neither were normal creatures!

The infinite possibilities of the Fusion Characteristic also made Li Xuan realize one thing: first-version abilities aren't necessarily weaker than subsequent version abilities. The foundation is often the most important!

First-version supernatural characteristics merely have an upper limit and slow evolution speed;

it doesn't mean the abilities are mediocre. There are monster-level abilities among supernatural characteristics!

Li Xuan suddenly remembered the incomplete Devouring Ability mentioned in the intelligence about the Deep Sea King.

The Devouring Ability allowed the Killer Whale King to become the deep-sea overlord during the Ability version. By the Martial Arts version, if the Devouring Ability fell into human hands, it would definitely be greatly useful!

For example, humans practicing martial arts need to absorb nutrients, consume rare treasures to strengthen themselves, and promote martial arts progress. Relying solely on the stomach to digest rare treasures would certainly be slower than using the Devouring Ability.

The same ability produces different effects in the hands of different creatures. Perhaps this ability is weak when used by zombies, but it could be very powerful in the hands of a specific person.

Compatibility is crucial!

Even if the Killer Whale King survived until the third version, it couldn't dominate the ocean with the Devouring Ability because it wasn't human and couldn't practice martial arts.

It would have to wait until the Spiritual Energy Revival version, the birth of demons, and the ascension of heaven and earth for its Devouring Ability to shine brightly again. It might not compare to the top-tier golden fingers of the Spiritual Energy Revival version, but it would certainly be many times stronger than creatures with nothing!

'It seems I need to find a way to obtain the Devouring Ability,' Li Xuan thought to himself.

Roar!

The Giant Beast roared, sound waves spreading out. The surrounding houses shook slightly, dust rose, glass windows shattered—it already had some of the imposing manner of monsters from monster movies.

The morale of the soldiers at the Black Bear Survivor Base greatly increased.

Xia Xuebing raised her hand. "Everyone, hold on! The Boss won! None of us will die!"

The soldiers showed smiles on their faces and resisted the zombies even more diligently.

Several hours later, the zombie horde dispersed. The area outside the base was piled high with corpses, and a putrid smell was everywhere.

The surviving soldiers slumped to the ground, grinning foolishly at the sky. "We survived, we won!"

A soldier nearby smiled bitterly. "I really don't know what sin I committed in my previous life to be born in this apocalypse."

"Brother, cheer up. At least we survived. Staying alive is more important than anything," another soldier comforted.

The discouraged soldier rolled up his sleeve, revealing an injured arm. The wound was purplish-black, with black blood vessels bulging out, looking very sinister.

"You keep living. I'll go die first."

"You... when were you scratched?!"

"Just now, near the end. I got carried away, was careless, and got scratched. Just my bad luck." The scratched soldier gasped for breath. He felt his consciousness fading, his body stiffening, and his heartbeat slowing down.

"Brother! Don't fall asleep! Hang on a bit! I'll go find the Boss! The Boss must have a way to save you!" the soldier shouted.

"I have two credits saved with the Minor Celebrity. Remember to go for me, don't waste them."

The scratched soldier shook his head, used his last bit of strength to pick up the chipped Large Machete, then put it down again. He staggered to his feet and slammed his head onto the spikes of a cheval de frise.

Crack!

His skull shattered, the spike piercing into his brain.

The soldier's body convulsed once, and he died on the spot. The zombification of his body also stopped because of this.

Xia Xuebing witnessed everything. The other party was very rational, knowing that infection with the zombie virus meant certain death, so he didn't believe he could be saved and decisively gave himself a dignified end.

Dying as a human, in the context of the apocalypse, could already be considered dignified.

She scanned the area with determined eyes. "Is anyone else injured? Leave your last words and go on your own way. Don't make it difficult for your brothers. If any of you have wives and children, you can entrust them to trustworthy comrades. The base won't let your families starve to death."

A small number of people in the crowd had flickering gazes. People came forward one after another, leaving various last words. Some entrusted their comrades to take care of their wives;

others urged their comrades not to casually throw their bodies outside, afraid their corpses would be eaten by zombies...

In the blink of an eye, five more people were gone.

Then Xia Xuebing ordered the soldiers to maintain distance from those around them and stay alert on the spot.

After a short while, three people turned into zombies and were killed on the spot by the prepared soldiers.

Some people faced death calmly, while others were unwilling to die, wanting to gamble—what if the zombie virus couldn't infect them? What if they retained their sanity even after turning into zombies?

Unfortunately, no such 'what if' had been discovered so far.

Transformers with the Adaptation supernatural characteristic could only barely resist the zombie virus. Once invaded by a large amount of zombie virus, even Transformers with the Adaptation characteristic would turn into zombies.