However, just as Lilith was preparing to leap from the high-rise to begin her hunt, an extremely subtle sense of abnormality brushed past her sharp perception.
She closed her four eyes and fully released her super senses. Ultrasound swept through the blocks below like invisible ripples, while Thermal Sensing outlined the cold cores of the Zombies and a nearly imperceptible, discordant rhythm.
Some Zombies, especially those in slightly larger groups, exhibited an indescribable coordination in their movement, turning, and even the rhythm of their roars.
It was like marionettes being subtly pulled by strings.
This didn't seem like the biological instinct caused by the t-virus; it felt more like some kind of external interference.
"Something else is influencing this place..."
This thought flashed through Lilith's mind. Was it another Hunter? Or a Mutation generated by the Dungeon World itself? Or perhaps a Balancer had appeared in this instance?
There were a total of 12 participants this time. Excluding the two five-person teams of Reincarnators, besides herself, there was one Soloist left. This Soloist clearly couldn't be a Reincarnator.
After all, the original intention of Reincarnators was to huddle together and cooperate.
A Hunter, on the other hand, was a complete lone wolf. So in this Dungeon World, including herself, there were two Hunters in total.
Of course, the other one could also be a Balancer.
Balancer, based on the information she currently possessed, were even rarer than Hunters.
Their sole purpose was to balance any anomalies that appeared throughout the Dungeon World, even raising or lowering the difficulty of the instance.
Through this, they maintained the combat power balance point in the instance and preserved the direction of the plot.
Lilith hadn't encountered any Balancer yet, so her understanding of them was only based on some partial descriptions.
Lilith made a note of this alertness, but it didn't affect her actions.
In the next moment, Lilith moved.
No gliding, no cushioning.
She leapt directly from the roof of the dozens-of-stories-high building!
Her massive body sliced through the curtain of rain, falling vertically with terrifying acceleration!
"Boom—!!!"
The ground shook violently. The concrete road cracked like a spider web centered on Lilith's landing point, with gravel splashing along with the rainwater.
Several nearby Zombies were directly knocked over by the shockwave.
Before the dust could settle, a black shadow had already shot out from the crater!
The hunt begins!
claws slashed through the rainy night, bringing a dull sound of breaking wind.
The head of a Zombie in a security uniform exploded like a rotten watermelon. Before the headless corpse could hit the ground, it was devoured by Lilith in one bite.
Her movements were efficient, precise, and ruthless, without the slightest redundancy.
Devouring these human-looking Zombies didn't cause Lilith even a hint of discomfort!
Her Tail Whip was like a viper flicking its tongue, easily piercing the chest of a Zombie perched on a car roof preparing to pounce. She flicked it into the air, opened her massive maw, and swallowed it whole.
[Devoured ordinary Zombie, obtained t-virus gene fragment +1]
[Devoured ordinary Zombie, obtained t-virus gene fragment +1]
A series of notification sounds quickly rang out in Lilith's mind.
Ultrasound and Thermal Sensing were like a holographic tactical map spread out before her.
Where Zombies were dense, where the faster Lickers were lurking, where the terrain was narrow and she might be cornered—everything was crystal clear.
She no longer needed to hide, because in this City, she herself was the top predator, a mobile natural disaster.
Lilith shuttled through the dilapidated streets, crashed through glass curtain walls into silent malls, and tore open fire shutters to enter underground parking lots.
Zombies were harvested in swathes before her, like wheat being mown down.
Ordinary walking Zombies provided the least progress; those that ran swiftly or had mutated parts of their bodies provided significantly more.
She even specifically sought out and hunted several Lickers. They provided the highest percentage of fragments, but compared to her massive requirement, it was still a drop in the bucket.
However, compared to the hundred thousand humans turned into Zombies in Raccoon City, these requirements were nothing.
Devouring, digesting—though the progress of acquiring t-virus gene fragments was slow, it was steadily advancing.
Amidst the efficient slaughter, Lilith always kept a sliver of attention on that eerie coordination.
She found that the closer she got to certain areas of the City, the more obvious the feeling of being pulled by invisible strings became.
Some Zombies even performed simple tactical movements like patrolling or ambushing, which were definitely not behaviors their chaotic brains could generate on their own.
"Is it mind control? Or is someone manipulating these Zombies?"
Lilith's memory of Resident Evil 2 was already blurred, but in her memory, there did seem to be Zombies that could be controlled in Resident Evil, though they shouldn't appear in the current timeline.
Could it be that a Balancer really balanced the plot development here because of her strength?
Lilith only conjectured for a moment before ignoring it.
No matter what it was, as long as it posed no threat to her, Lilith didn't care to bother. Even if these ordinary Zombies could really be controlled or even use weapons, they ultimately posed no threat to her.
She, on the other hand, only needed to be wary of the other Soloist.
Time passed during the hunt.
Rain washed away the bloodstains, but it couldn't wash away the pervading breath of death.
Lilith was like a tireless killing machine, clearing block after block.
Advancing from the outskirts toward the City center.
Finally, after crushing and devouring a group of Zombies clustered at a street corner for the umpteenth time, a pleasant notification sound rang in her mind.
[t-virus gene fragments (100%) collected. Begin Mutation?]
"No!"
Lilith was in no hurry to begin Mutation. Instead, she fixed her gaze on the tall, Unfinished Building in the distance.
Spreading her Bat Wings with a 19-meter wingspan, Lilith took a step forward. Her claws pressed into the ground, and as the ground became riddled with cracks, a powerful air current directly blew away the raindrops around her.
The heavy rain continued to fall, but the area around Lilith had become a vacuum zone for the rain.
Under this powerful air current, Lilith's body also soared instantly, flying rapidly toward the distant Unfinished Building.
Only after Lilith's body had left did the rain fall once more.
Lilith's speed was very fast; in a short time, she reached the roof of the Unfinished Building.
Her claws gripped the reinforced concrete pillars of the building, and her body moved flexibly through it. Soon, she found a safe spot sheltered from the wind and rain.
Lilith pulled up the Blue Light Screen and looked at the t-virus gene on it.
After devouring over ten thousand Zombies, the t-virus gene fragments had finally synthesized a complete t-virus, and it was the kind that was far more powerful and perfect than the one developed by the Umbrella Corporation.
Compared to other genes, the Mutation and fusion of the t-virus gene were more simple and direct, requiring no massive amount of time to remodel the body!
So Lilith planned to fuse the t-virus right here. As long as her strength increased, even if anomalies occurred in this instance, her confidence in handling them would improve.
"Fuse the t-virus gene!"