Two days had passed. The sky was covered in gray clouds, and the rain continued to fall in thick drops, soaking everything in its path.
The dilapidated road was covered in puddles.
Footsteps echoed with each step, but nothing stopped Matthew and the three zombie dogs leading the way.
"This time I won't stop at small, ruined houses. I'll try to reach a city."
Matthew gripped a sharpened bone sword in one hand, ready for any sudden attack.
He had already seen different kinds of zombies and suspected that what he had seen was just the tip of the iceberg.
Step by step, the minutes ticked by. The rain lessened, but showed no signs of stopping.
A Rank E- zombie was walking along the side of the road.
Matthew had his Rank E+ zombie dog attack the Rank E- zombie.
The Rank E+ zombie dog, in whose jaws the zombie's head was, approached Matthew and dropped the zombie's body.
"Good boy. Keep exploring."
Matthew sat on the ground and slowly devoured the zombie's body. First, he devoured the fingers of the arm, then he tore off the skin, flesh, and bones of the forearm, chewing them into a disgusting bolus that he swallowed shortly after.
...
A few hours later, after finishing his meal, he continued onward into the darkness of the rainy night.
That night he didn't arrive anywhere, and they had to walk thousands and thousands of steps, perhaps more, to reach a city almost in ruins but still standing, with a Renaissance architectural style.
It was daytime; the rain had barely stopped an hour before, so the surroundings were still damp. The three Rank E zombie dogs entered the city first.
Through his zombie dogs, Matthew could sense the scattered remains of zombies on the outer edge of the city—arms, legs, and heads that would have been dried out if they hadn't been wet.
"This seems like a dangerous place. But I have a 'monster' pill. In three seconds, I'll kill any powerful zombie or anything that threatens me."
Matthew entered the city along the same paths the three zombie dogs had taken.
He saw some rats and resisted the urge to hunt and devour them.
Sometimes he entered buildings and explored them.
As he continued onward, Matthew sensed a singular presence through one of his dogs, but then his "E-" rank zombie dog disappeared.
Matthew created a second "bone sword" and ordered his zombie dogs to return while they kept watch on the area where the zombie dog had vanished.
At that moment, the E rank dog leaped to dodge a 2.30-meter-tall, skeletal humanoid zombie.
The zombie opened its mouth grotesquely and let out a chilling scream.
The dogs ran into an alley; the E+ rank zombie dog leaped to dodge as well. The bony zombie kept screaming as it chased the two zombie dogs that had entered the alley, walking on all fours.
The skeletal zombie leaped into the alley and dug its claws into one of the walls, walking easily along them until two bone swords suddenly embedded themselves in its arms, causing it to fall from the wall.
The zombie dogs returned to the attack, each grabbing one of the zombie's arms. Matthew, who had also started running, leaped forward and stabbed the C+ rank skeletal zombie in the forehead with a bone sword.
In the same alley, while the zombie dogs stood guard, Matthew devoured the skin, entrails, bones, and every other part of the zombie without wasting a single bit.
[Your joints and muscles have strengthened]
[The muscles and nails of your hands and feet have strengthened]
[Your teeth have strengthened]
[Your vocal cords have been replaced]
[Zombie: Rank C]
[Coins: 6 brains]
Where the zombie's body had been, only dark blood remained, but Matthew paid no attention to the residual blood and continued exploring the city, where not many zombies were visible despite the presence of zombie remains everywhere.
...
The exploration continued, now Matthew also looking for an opportunity to find some ideal zombies to control.
With the increased power within the C-rank, Matthew felt he could now control a larger number of zombies, but he still needed to confirm it.
"Ever since I devoured that one, I have a strange, instinctive feeling of dread when I look toward the central area of this city. Also, my body is in better condition; but that zombie, if I hadn't let my guard down entering the alley, wouldn't have died so easily. And yet I still felt dread for what's in the central area of this city. That means this is a dangerous place, but also a breeding ground for me. I just have to be prudent in my actions."
Matthew decided to remain vigilant, using one building and sometimes another.
"Sometimes he ate some rats that he and his zombie dogs caught."
The rain had returned and only stopped three days later.