Chapter 346: Strange Monster

This was not because Joo Joowon was afraid of being discovered and had deliberately held back.

This kind of transformation depended somewhat on luck, so it was not strange for there to be a day or two when nothing succeeded. He was not the kind of person who would deliberately leave some behind.

It was just that when he followed the Elite Zombies back, some zombies had already returned before the one he had been tracking. In addition, they had traveled in all different directions, so Joo Joowon naturally had no chance to collect the aura of every ordinary zombie.

Therefore, it was completely normal for some successful zombies to slip through the net.

However, Joo Joowon estimated that even without his interference, there should not have been too many individuals that successfully completed the transformation. Of course, there definitely should not have been this few either.

After all, the "materials" had been deliberately searched out by the red mist. Their success rate should certainly be somewhat higher than that of other zombies.

Moreover, as long as the number being transformed became large enough, even if the majority failed, there would still be quite a few successful ones. At the very least, there would not be a situation where every single one failed.

Perhaps because the number of Elite Zombies transformed by the red mist had continued to increase, it had rarely encountered a situation where only one zombie successfully completed the transformation.

The red mist churned furiously, looking as though the heavens themselves had become enraged.

Under this display from the red mist, even those Elite Zombies that looked dull and foolish could not help but squeeze together into a group and tremble in fear.

Joo Joowon also became even more cautious about concealing his presence. Without blinking, he stared into the depths of the red mist.

"Roar!"

Following that roar, the red mist suddenly contracted.

A group of Elite Zombies seemed as though they had received a pardon from the heavens, and they all rushed toward the outside. Soon, the entire nature reserve began to become "lively," with the roars of zombies occasionally echoing through the area.

The contracted red mist, however, did not go outside with the Elite Zombies this time. It remained behind.

Joo Joowon finally saw clearly what was inside the depths of the red mist.

On a barren stretch of land, there was a small hill made of piled-up bones, and on top of it sat a zombie whose original species could no longer be identified.

Thick red mist floated around its head, eyes, mouth, and elbows. It was already almost impossible to see any characteristics of a zombie on it. Instead, it looked more like a powerful mutated creature.

It seemed to be drawing the red mist into its body and nurturing it inside itself. As for the Elite Zombies that had gone outside, were they searching for flesh and blood food or for zombies?

Joo Joowon silently picked Hwi up and retreated. He did not try to Detect the creature’s level because he was afraid of being locked onto by it. Instead, he chose a place where he had heard a sound and followed it to take a look. He discovered that the Elite Zombies were hunting Mutated Beasts.

Most of the flesh and blood food absorbed by the red mist before had been ordinary animals. Otherwise, those animals would not have been infected simply because they were scratched or killed.

Therefore, that previous hunting expedition should have been gathering the energy needed for the red mist to transform the zombies.

This time, however, it was probably the monster’s feeding time. In other words, did it feed in the early hours of the morning?

And was nighttime the time when it transformed zombies and filled out its ranks?

Joo Joowon did not continue watching. At this point, he had already decided that he would not stay any longer.

First, he had already explored everything he needed to explore. Staying any longer would not give him anything useful.

Second, after the several battles earlier, Hwi had already been almost completely exhausted. Joo Joowon himself had also consumed a great deal of energy while interfering with the ordinary zombies just now. He could not afford to face another Elite Zombie that could continuously resurrect.

As flesh-and-blood bodies, they could not remain tireless. After fighting battle after battle, their condition was already far worse than it had been before. If they did not leave now, were they supposed to wait around to become food on the enemy’s plate?

Following the route he had explored and mapped out when he came here, Joo Joowon quickly retraced his steps with Hwi. Along the way, he casually pulled up the fruit tree and took it with him.

...

After traveling over mountains and across rivers, Joo Joowon finally returned to his territory when the sky had completely brightened.

"Meow!"

Byeol immediately rushed toward Joo Joowon and could not help circling around him and sniffing him.

Only after confirming that there was no smell of blood on him and that he did not look injured did Byeol finally relax.

It had scared him to death. He had thought the guy who cleaned his litter box was never coming back!

Joo Joowon patted him and casually handed him the fruits. Byeol sniffed them but did not show much interest. Instead, he turned around and asked about Hwi.

"Meow meow?"

Why were you gone for so long?

Actually, this was already a fairly normal amount of time for an outing.

It was important to know that many cats would not return home on the same day after going outside. There were even cats that would stay away for ten days or half a month before coming home.

However, in Byeol’s memories, Joo Joowon’s hunting time was almost fixed. He would return home on time every day, and only occasionally would something unexpected happen.

"Meow meow!"

Hwi could not wait to share everything with Byeol.