86: Chapter 86 Metamorphosis

The entrance to the "Weeping Valley" was like a twisted, grotesque giant maw, silently embedded at the edge of the Corpse Wasteland. Even before getting fully close, a chilling, putrid stench—ten times denser than that on the wilderness—assaulted the senses, almost tangible, enough to choke and dizzy anyone (or rather, anyone on the verge of death).

Zhang Hao dragged his nearly shattered, broken body, writhing through the cold mud and gravel like a true maggot. Every inch forward scraped his wounds against the rough ground, sending waves of excruciating pain. Severe blood loss made his vision darken intermittently, a cold chill relentlessly invading from his limbs, the shadow of death never clearer.

But he dared not stop.

In his mind, Lin Chen's icy voice echoed repeatedly, like the most venomous curse and the final lifeline.

"...Eliminate all Bizarre Monsters... I'll permit you to crawl back..."

"...Fail... and the suffering will be ten thousandfold..."

"Go back... I must go back... Even as a dog... I must live to go back!" This mad obsession was the only force keeping him from completely losing consciousness or giving up.

Simultaneously, that inexplicably surging, cold and deathly power within him seemed to become slightly more "docile" under this extreme will to survive and near-death state. Instinctively and clumsily, he tried to guide this power to envelop his ruined body, maximally isolating the alluring "living aura."

This allowed him to barely crawl near the valley entrance without being immediately torn apart by the Bizarre Monsters lurking there.

However, the Bizarre Monsters here were far from comparable to the mindless, gnawing corpses outside.

A faint, grey mist, as if formed from the weeping of countless wronged souls, permeated the valley mouth. Within the mist, several distorted figures swayed vaguely.

They seemed to sense the approach of some "foreign object" and grew restless.

The first to lunge out were two "Skinless Blood Corpses." They looked as if skinned alive, exposing writhing crimson muscle fibers and bluish-black blood vessels. Their eye sockets held no eyeballs, only two dancing wisps of ghostly green flame. Moving with extreme speed on all fours, they charged at Zhang Hao like hounds, their foul drool dripping onto the scorched earth, emitting a corrosive *hiss*.

Fear instantly seized Zhang Hao's heart!

He recognized these things! The Fortress's exploration team had encountered them from a distance before, barely repelling one at the cost of three lives! Now two came at once, targeting him, who could barely move!

It's over!

As this thought arose, his survival instinct drove him to react—he gathered all his remaining mental strength, frantically urging the cold power within, not for defense, but with an extreme intent of "repulsion" and "command," forcefully "pushing" it towards the two Skinless Blood Corpses!

"Get away!!!"

He roared silently in his mind!

*Hum—!*

An intangible, icy ripple erupted from him, spreading outwards!

The two Skinless Blood Corpses, already upon him with claws almost touching his face, suddenly froze! The ghostly green flames in their sockets flickered violently, as if encountering something that caused confusion and... a hint of fear at their very soul!

They emitted confused, agitated hisses, circling Zhang Hao, their crimson muscles twitching, claws raised and lowered, actually hesitating to deliver the killing bite!

It worked! It really worked!

Zhang Hao's heart surged with wild joy, like a drowning man clutching a floating log!

But before he could rejoice, an extreme emptiness washed over him from within. His head felt as if struck by a heavy hammer, his vision went black, and he nearly fainted on the spot. That single burst had almost drained his already feeble mental energy.

And that cold power rapidly weakened after the outburst.

The two Skinless Blood Corpses seemed to sense their prey's weakness and the fading of the discomforting aura. Confusion in their eyes was quickly replaced by brutal bloodlust. They issued threatening growls again, slowly closing in.

"No... not enough... power... I need more power!"

Zhang Hao looked around in despair, at the other restless, shadowy figures in the grey mist.

Suddenly, a mad thought flashed through his fear-and-pain-filled mind!

These Bizarre Monsters... seemed afraid of, or rather, were affected by, this power within him?

Then what if he... actively "reached out" to them? Using this power not to drive away, but to... communicate? Control?

Just like... just like how Lin Chen commanded those Yin Soldiers?

This thought spread like wildfire!

He fixed his gaze on one of the Skinless Blood Corpses nearest to him, still hesitating. Abandoning the idea of "repulsion," he carefully extended the last remaining sliver of cold power within him like a tentacle, imbued with a mix of "pacification" and "command," towards it.

This process was extremely perilous; his mental strength was like a candle in the wind, ready to extinguish at any moment.

That wisp of cold power touched the Skinless Blood Corpse's A berserk and chaotic consciousness (fierce and chaotic consciousness).

*Hum!*

Zhang Hao shuddered violently, as if instantly plunged into a sea of consciousness fragments filled with bloodshed, slaughter, and agonized screams! They were the remnants of the Skinless Blood Corpse's consciousness—the despairing memories of countless victims and its own pure desire for destruction!

"Urgh, aahhh—!" He couldn't help but let out a groan of agony. Dark red blood began to seep from his seven orifices, his appearance wretched as a malevolent ghost.

But at the same time, that Skinless Blood Corpse's movements completely froze!

The ghostly green flames in its sockets stopped flickering, becoming somewhat dull. Slowly, with extreme awkwardness, it turned to face its kin—the other Skinless Blood Corpse readying to pounce.

Then, under Zhang Hao's concentrated willpower—a silent roar he could only manifest as a *huffing* gasp—this preliminarily influenced Skinless Blood Corpse lunged at its companion!

"Roar—!"

The two monsters instantly tore into each other, crimson muscle fragments and foul blood splattering everywhere!

Success?!

As a sliver of wild joy rose in Zhang Hao's heart, his head felt as if about to explode. The tenuous connection with the influenced Skinless Blood Corpse became extremely unstable, ready to snap at any moment.

He jerked his head, looking at another wandering figure nearby—a gaunt, old-woman-like entity with long, black, sharp nails: a "Wailing Ghost."

All or nothing!

He repeated the process, forcibly diverting the last bit of usable cold power, sending a wisp stabbing towards that Wailing Ghost!

"Heh..." The Wailing Ghost emitted a teeth-grating weeping sound, its body trembling. Its long, black, sharp nails rose, not to claw at Zhang Hao, but to lurch crookedly towards another entity that had just emerged from the mist—a swollen, corpse-like "Drowned One"!

Chaos!

The valley entrance instantly descended into bizarre chaos!

Three, four... the low-level Bizarre Monsters weakly influenced by Zhang Hao's power began attacking each other, or mindlessly assaulting other nearby Bizarre Monsters!

As for Zhang Hao himself, he curled up at the center of the battlefield, body convulsing, dark blood continuously oozing from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, his consciousness teetering on the brink of collapse. He felt like a fragile container, forcibly stuffed with far more than it could bear—cold and raging thing (savage entities)—ready to shatter completely with a *bang* at any moment.

But he held on!

Propelled by his fear of Lin Chen, his desperate desire to return to the Fortress, his mad obsession with survival, he stubbornly endured this soul-rending agony!

The cold power within him, under this extreme strain and chaotic contact with the consciousnesses of numerous Bizarre Monsters, seemed like blunt iron being tempered. It began, in a slow and painful manner, to become more condensed. Its integration with his ruined body was also quietly improving.

He didn't know what this was.

Ghost taming? Corpse control? Or something else?

He only knew that with this method, he had... temporarily survived! And, in an exceedingly cruel way, seemed to be clearing out these Bizarre Monsters at the valley entrance!

Upon the Fortress ramparts, the massive screen before Lin Chen clearly displayed the chaotic and bizarre scene at the entrance of the "Weeping Valley."

Watching Zhang Hao convulse like an epileptic, yet stubbornly guiding several low-level Bizarre Monsters to slaughter each other, the corner of Lin Chen's mouth slowly curved into an expected, somewhat amused arc.

"As expected..." he murmured to himself, "after rolling around in the pile of Yin Soldier corpses, nearly being devoured by the Rotten Corpses, accumulating enough death aura and resentment... plus that bit of Netherworld Yin Malevolence I 'bestowed' upon him as a catalyst..."

"The worthless mud has finally managed to cling to the wall."

"Though, it's rather ugly and foul-smelling."

He raised a hand, lightly tapping the screen, recording and archiving all the anomalous changes in Zhang Hao's current physical data and mental fluctuations.

"Record: Test Subject 'Zhang Hao,' under extreme near-death conditions, has preliminarily awakened a 'Chaotic Domination' inclination. Can weakly influence the consciousnesses of low-level Bizarre Monsters, guiding them to devour each other. Potential... pending evaluation."

"Notify the medical team and the rune research lab to be on standby." Lin Chen instructed the shadow-like Yin Soldier Centurion behind him. "When he crawls back, don't let him actually die."

"Also, have Su Qingyu prepare a 'vicious dog contract.'"

"Understood."

The Yin Soldier Centurion acknowledged the order and silently withdrew.

Lin Chen turned his gaze back to the screen, watching Zhang Hao struggle to survive amidst the Bizarre Monster melee, his appearance wretched as a ghost. His eyes remained calm and unreadable.

"Let me see just how fiercely you, this vicious hound snatched from death's jaws, can... bite."