Chapter 116: The Appearance of the Brahma Tower
Seeing Jiang Li’s response, Luo Ying quickly steadied his breath, calming the sharp inhalations brought on by the intense movements just moments ago.
“I’ve always been wondering—what exactly happened in the ocean to give rise to the zombie virus? After years of gathering clues, I have a bold theory you might not believe.” Luo Ying paused. “The zombie virus might’ve come from another planet.”
Luo Ying’s planet hadn’t yet reached the stage of interstellar migration and had never encountered alien life. He didn’t know that within a single universe, there were many life-bearing planets.
His theory was bold, and not many accepted it. He figured Jiang Li wouldn’t believe it either.
“Oh.” Out of politeness, Jiang Li let out a nonchalant “Oh.”
Another planet? Totally normal. What’s there to be surprised about?
“I once visited a certain country’s space agency and found near-Earth surveillance data from just before the outbreak. I discovered what looked like the wreckage of an alien spaceship that had crashed into the ocean. That wreckage might’ve been what brought the zombie virus.”
Luo Ying led Jiang Li to the command center and brought out the data retrieved by a scouting team days ago.
“I sent ten fourth-tier Enhancers into the ocean to investigate. They found that the number of first- and second-tier zombies had drastically decreased, while third-tier and above increased sharply.”
“And the survivors also reported that normally, first- and second-tier zombies would rush at any living being—even fourth-tier Enhancers weren’t an exception. But this time, all the low-tier zombies seemed spooked and fled the moment they saw them.”
Luo Ying showed a few blurry photos. “These are pictures of zombies killing each other.”
Even though they were unclear, Jiang Li could still make out zombies like sharks, octopuses, and dolphins tearing into one another—gruesome and violent.
“Zombies usually target living creatures. It’s rare for them to attack their own kind unless they have a reason.”
“I once saw a zombie, three years ago, wipe out an entire town’s worth of first- and second-tier zombies just to evolve to Tier 3.”
Luo Ying said gravely, “I suspect the same thing is happening in the ocean. And it’s not just about reaching Tier 3.”
The ocean was teeming with life. Once zombified, those numbers would be astronomical. Now those zombies had all but vanished—so where did all those brain cores go?
The power stored in those cores could easily create multiple fifth-tier zombies, maybe even more.
Luo Ying concluded firmly, “The zombies are trying to create a sixth-tier zombie.”
Just as a sixth-tier Enhancer could bring an end to the zombie crisis, a sixth-tier zombie could wipe humanity off the map.
In the Nine Provinces, a sixth-tier being would equate to a Soul Formation Stage cultivator, but based on Jiang Li’s observation, Luo Ying’s world had a crude cultivation system. Even if they reached a level comparable to Soul Formation, their combat ability wouldn’t hold up—probably couldn’t even beat someone like Daoist Nun Xuan’ai.
As the strongest fifth-tier, Luo Ying could roughly sense the kind of energy needed to evolve to Tier 6. Conservatively, it would take the brain cores of fifteen fifth-tier zombies—not something humans could ever gather right now.
If they had the strength to kill fifteen fifth-tier zombies, they would’ve already ended the crisis.
Luo Ying pointed at a spot on the ocean on the map. “And those Tier 3, 4, and 5 zombies are all converging here. That location is close to where the alien wreckage fell.”
To Jiang Li, fifth- or sixth-tier zombies weren’t much different—they could all be wiped out with a flick. “If that’s the case, then I’ll head to the ocean and—hm?”
Jiang Li suddenly stopped mid-sentence. He snapped his head up and looked into the distance. He sensed a disturbance in space—a sign of something tearing through it.
…
Above the planet, countless discarded satellites floated silently. In the distorted space among them, a golden tower appeared—vague in form, as though it were separated from this world by several thin veils.
“There are more of your kind here too?”
The golden tower gazed down at the planet and asked casually.
Behind the tower, a space opened up, filled with radiant Buddhist light, solemn and sacred. Monks and novices sat in dignified rows, chanting sutras. The scene was grand—like another Mount Sumeru.
The golden tower was none other than the Brahma Tower.
“Yes, my lord. One of our kind piloted a ship to this planet. It’s been ten years—by now, the planet should be entirely ours.”
A monk in kasaya rose and replied, one palm pressed to his chest.
If any Enhancers had seen this scene, they would’ve been scared out of their wits. These weren’t monks or novices—this was a group of zombies!
And not just any zombies—high-tier ones. Most were Tier 4 and Tier 5, with even a Tier 6 among them!
“Amitabha…” The Brahma Tower swayed, its body trembling with helplessness at the immeasurable karmic burden caused by the zombies.
When it first arrived in this world, there was no life around it. No gods, ghosts, dragons, birds, beasts—none of the ten sentient species. Only zombies.
It had thought it had entered the wrong world—maybe even stumbled into the underworld. It searched for another life-bearing planet, but just like this one, all it found were zombies.
On this particular planet, there had only been one zombie—Tier 6. It had evolved after killing every living being and zombie on the planet.
Its intelligence had nearly reached human levels, albeit still infantile. As a Buddhist treasure, the Brahma Tower naturally followed the teachings of the Buddha and took it upon itself to enlighten the zombie.
And it actually worked.
The zombie was still in its learning stage, but under the Brahma Tower’s guidance, it had converted to Buddhism.
The Brahma Tower sensed its chaotic thoughts and knew it needed guidance. And Buddhist teachings were perfect for that—bringing clarity and wisdom. So it aimed to subdue the zombie and lead it.
Its plan was to create a Buddhist nation of zombies. It might even become the first Immortal Artifact to establish a kingdom. Even the Yin-Yang Heaven Seal couldn’t match its speed.
When the day came that the Immortal Artifacts gathered to overthrow the tyrannical Human Sovereign and establish the Spirit Treasure Empire, its achievements would speak for themselves.
But even if it didn’t build a Buddhist nation, it still had to subdue the zombies.
The Brahma Tower could see clearly how dangerous zombies were—they could wipe out entire planets. A sixth-tier zombie could even travel through space. Wherever it landed, that planet would fall.
According to the one sixth-tier zombie it had converted, there used to be another one—but it had already gone to a different planet.
Taking that sixth-tier zombie with it, the Brahma Tower had returned to its original planet, intending to enlighten the other zombies. But it realized that Tier 4 and 5 zombies were easier to convert. Anything below that would take enormous effort. Even those that were converted temporarily would relapse unless they continuously chanted sutras.
The Brahma Tower couldn’t just stay on one planet. With sixth-tier zombies spreading the virus across the stars, other planets might already be in crisis. There might be humans who needed saving.