"A rankless zombie detected. Would you like to subjugate it as a spirit companion?"
The sudden surge of alien information flooded Rohou's mind like a tidal wave, leaving him dizzy and disoriented. What in the world was going on? He had just narrowly escaped certain death, only to find his strength suddenly surging, enabling him to sense the elemental energy of heaven and earth. One anomaly after another struck in rapid succession, throwing his thoughts into chaos and nearly overwhelming him.
But now was no time for confusion—he was still being chased by a pack of death-hungry monsters. Scrambling to his feet, Rohou spun around. The first of the pursuing zombies had already reached the top of the slope, now only a few steps away.
The incline was thick with tangled weeds, which severely hampered movement. He had already stumbled once, closing the distance between himself and the zombies. Escape now seemed unlikely.
Then so be it—battle it is!
Gripping the steel blade tightly in his hand, Rohou braced himself to charge, prepared for a brutal close-quarters confrontation. But before he could lunge forward, the same mysterious message echoed once again in his mind—
"A rankless zombie detected. Would you like to subjugate it as a spirit companion?"
Instinctively, without hesitation, Rohou replied mentally: "Yes."
An invisible surge of energy burst forth from the pinkie of his left hand, piercing into the oncoming zombie in an instant. What happened next left him utterly speechless—the creature came to a sudden halt, frozen in place as though ensnared by a paralysis spell. Its twisted face spasmed violently, as if it were struggling against some unseen force.
But the struggle was brief. Within seconds, the fury and pain melted from the zombie's face. Its eyes, once glowing with feral crimson, now dulled to a lifeless, human-like gray—soulless and vacant, devoid of any spark of consciousness.
Rohou slowly lowered the blade he had been about to swing, gazing at the zombie now standing motionless before him. A strange sense of connection surged between them, an unspoken bond that assured him: whatever command he gave, the creature would obey without question.
Recalling the mental prompts he'd just received, Rohou wondered: Could it be that this zombie has indeed become my spirit companion?
"Hrrraaahhh..."
A guttural snarl rose from below the slope—more zombies had arrived. The nearest of them was already clawing its way up toward him.
"No time to figure this out now—I'll deal with these first!""Go—kill it!"
Shaking off his astonishment, Rohou issued the order.
The results were immediate and stunning. His newly subjugated zombie spun around and pounced on the attacker, tearing half its throat open with a single swipe of its claw, instantly crippling it. The assaulted zombie didn't even have time to comprehend the betrayal before collapsing, lifeless.
The efficiency was staggering. Rohou's eyes widened with shock: not only had the creature followed his command without hesitation, but its combat prowess also seemed significantly enhanced. What did this imply?
Even the dullest mind could deduce the implications—Rohou would no longer need to engage in desperate melee combat to survive. With a formidable warrior at his command, his odds of survival had multiplied many times over. And with such assistance, his gains from future "monster hunts" would undoubtedly soar beyond anything he had previously achieved.
Working in tandem and exploiting the terrain, Rohou and his undead companion cut down the wave of ascending zombies one by one. The process was far from effortless, but the danger was kept in check. However, the zombie pet was not unscathed—one of its arms was ripped clean off, and its body bore numerous gashes, its fighting strength significantly diminished.
With the battle concluded, it was time to collect the spoils. To Rohou's surprise, the zombie companion proved useful once more—it could extract the crystal cores from the zombies' skulls. What had once been a grisly task was now effortless. A single thrust of its claw, and the creature would retrieve a small, pale-white crystal, clenched between its long, bony fingers.
Rohou would never again have to endure the nauseating task of prying open decomposing skulls with his bare hands. Though desensitized after a year of such horrors, he welcomed the relief.
In just a few minutes, he had acquired seven white crystals. Combined with the three he already had, the total reached ten—a remarkable haul. At his luckiest, Rohou's best previous effort had yielded only four or five crystals, and that had come with far more risk.
With the immediate threat neutralized, he instructed his zombie to stand guard while he sat down in the grass, finally taking a moment to contemplate the incredible series of events. From being infected by the zombie virus and surviving, to his abrupt strength boost, and now the mysterious energy from his left pinkie—all signs pointed toward that finger as the source of everything.
Raising his left hand, he noticed something different—something had definitely changed.
His gaze fell upon the jet-black ring encircling his pinkie. He remembered buying it from a curio shop when he first arrived in Weiyang, spending half a month's wages. The ring had an ancient, austere look, carved from an unknown material, engraved with tiny depictions of bizarre beasts.
He had been drawn to it immediately, thinking it an antique, only to later realize he'd been swindled. No such design matched anything in known history. He would have thrown it away—had it not cost him so dearly.
Now, though, the ring felt like it had fused with his very flesh, inseparable and alive.
"What exactly is this strange black ring?"
As the thought crossed his mind, another stream of information flooded in—
Ring of Dominion – Activated and Bound.Current Level: 0 (Next level requires absorption of 1,000 white crystals).Beast Command: Level 0. Can subjugate one rankless zombie or beast.Success rate: 50%. Range: 10 meters. Cooldown: 30 minutes.
So that was it! Rohou's heart surged with excitement. The mysterious black ring he once thought a scam was in fact a transcendent relic—one capable of turning the tide of fate itself. From this moment on, his path diverged from that of ordinary survivors; he was destined for a far more extraordinary journey.
Amid his exhilaration, a sliver of dread crept in—had the subjugation failed, with only a 50% success rate and a 30-minute cooldown, he would've surely died, torn apart by the approaching horde.
Fortunately, fate had smiled upon him. Success, on the very first attempt.
Even with its limitations, the ring's power more than compensated. He would simply have to use it wisely, with caution. More importantly, the ring could evolve. If it was this powerful at level zero—what heights might it reach in the future?
But as he pondered the cost of its evolution, a wave of exasperation struck—1,000 white crystals. That was no small sum for someone in his position.
"Still," he muttered with a wry smile, "compared to what this ring can do, the price is hardly unreasonable. With a spirit companion to take the lead in battle, a thousand crystals might not be so far out of reach after all."
He glanced at the zombie standing sentinel beside him, and something subtle began to shift within him. For the first time in a long while, a quiet but unmistakable sense of confidence began to take root.