Hope for Carline's Recovery!

But soon, the king regretted his decision.

If the doubling continued as the minister suggested, by the thirty-sixth square, even emptying the entire national treasury of its stored grain would not be enough.

This sounded absurd.

Surely the system wouldn't make it so difficult for the host!

The requirement for zombie fusion in the Fusion space was not determined by the level of the zombies.

Understanding this, Maxwell felt incredibly relieved.

Feeling better, Maxwell noticed something else.

In the space, under the number 11 in the upper right corner of the grids where Eva and Carline were located, there was now an additional horizontal line.

And under the newly acquired level 31 zombie's number 31, there were three horizontal lines.

Initially, Maxwell hadn't paid much attention to the single line, thinking it was just a decoration to differentiate ordinary zombies, but now it was clear that this line was very significant.

One horizontal line represented one tier.

To test this idea, Maxwell merged a first-tier female zombie onto Eva, raising Eva to level 21, and indeed, under the number 21, there were two horizontal lines.

Now, Eva had become second-tier!

The second-tier Eva's eyes slightly moved, a small action that delighted Maxwell, as the previous Eva would not have done this.

Maxwell stared at the second-tier Eva for a long while, unsure if it was his imagination, but he felt that Eva's gaze seemed more lively than before.

"Eva?" Maxwell waved at Eva.

"Can you understand what I'm saying?"

Eva's eyes moved again, settling on him, but she did not respond further.

It seemed that being second-tier wasn't quite effective yet.

Maxwell still had two first-tier female zombies in his possession. After some thought, he decided against advancing Eva directly to the third tier. Instead, he chose to merge another first-tier female zombie with Carline, elevating Carline to the second tier as well.

Now both Eva and Carline were second-tier, which seemed fair!

The image of the young female evolver who had thrown her sword at him, curling her body in defiance and determination, still touched Maxwell deeply.

After Carline became a second-tier zombie, Maxwell noticed that a large patch of her livor mortis had disappeared, revealing a swath of snow-white skin.

This invigorated Maxwell!

It seemed that Carline's recovery in appearance was just around the corner!

Seeing the changes in Carline filled Maxwell with joy.

This discovery was incredibly surprising!

After all, he had not held such expectations before. The sudden upgrade from bronze to silver was exhilarating!

He took stock of the zombies currently in his possession.

For female zombies, both Eva and Carline were second-tier, and there was one first-tier female zombie. There were almost no high-level zombies below first-tier.

For male zombies, there was one third-tier, one first-tier male zombie, and no high-level male zombies below first-tier.

"This time, Carline and the others managed to bring back so many zombies, nearly eight thousand in total from both ventures combined. There must have been some disruption in the zombie tide," Maxwell mused as he stroked his chin.

"Moreover, in this wave of the zombie tide, I noticed that the leading mutated zombies included as many as five, with quite a few high-level zombies among them, and likely tens of thousands of other zombies."

Maxwell calculated carefully.

Then he looked again at the zombies in his possession. Currently, he had five mutated zombies, including one third-tier, and two second-tier zombies, making his force quite formidable!

"What do I have to be afraid of! Why not follow that zombie tide and see what's going on! And, if there's a chance, consuming those remaining ten thousand zombies wouldn't be a bad idea either!" Maxwell made up his mind.

Previously, he had planned to wait for Carline to return and give her a bath, as she was covered in blood and dirt, which wasn't very presentable. But now, action was more important!

The thought of consuming those ten thousand zombies made Maxwell quite excited. That was over ten thousand zombies! And among them, there were quite a few mutated zombies, which could allow Maxwell to create more first-tier zombies, potentially advancing Eva and Carline by two more levels each.

After deciding, Maxwell released all zombies above level 10 and directed them to search in several different directions. He needed to find the zombie tide first, then follow quietly and gradually consume it.

"Eva, Carline, you two stay close to me!" Maxwell kept Eva and Carline by his side as they chose another direction to pursue.

Maxwell wasn't sure in which direction the zombie tide had retreated; he could only search in this manner. Maxwell was in the middle, Eva on his left, and Carline on his right. He occasionally teased Eva, though she didn't respond. He also occasionally teased Carline, who likewise ignored him.

However, after advancing to the second tier, the livor mortis on Carline's face had completely disappeared, with only a slight trace visible near her ears, revealing her pretty appearance once again. Although there were probably still many livor mortis spots on her body, advancing one or two more tiers should completely restore her.

Maxwell couldn't help but let his gaze drift downward.

Impressive!

But Maxwell couldn't help but speculate whether Carline, as an evolver, had evolved in that aspect as well.

Carline felt Maxwell's gaze and turned her head, looking at him with clear, but unemotional eyes.

Maxwell couldn't help but sigh; he wondered when the strong young female evolver from before would return.

However, he now saw a glimmer of hope.

Maxwell silently encouraged himself, feeling highly motivated.

As they continued their journey, they soon left the small food town.

Although the distance between the base city and the small food town wasn't short, it wasn't considered a wilderness either.

Moreover, to maintain the safety of the food transport routes, teams of evolvers regularly cleared zombies along the way.

However, beyond this small food town lay the true, uninhabited wilderness!

In the wilderness, few had ventured over the centuries, including evolvers.

After all, the range of activity for an ordinary person in their lifetime is predictable, with the farthest distance likely being this small food town.

Only a very few ordinary people had ever visited other base cities.

Maxwell didn't have a map of this wilderness, but he wasn't too worried.

Looking around at the scenery, Maxwell couldn't help but exclaim, "These plants are really lush!"