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In the underground lab beneath the castle, a zombie stood inside a cage, its eyes dull and lifeless.
A moment later, the heavy door creaked open.
Venom walked in quickly, holding a strange device, and set it down on the workbench.
He began assembling it with the equipment already there, snapping everything together into one seamless machine.
When it was finished, he turned toward the caged zombie and strode forward.
The zombie noticed him instantly and lunged at the bars, slamming against the metal.
But of course, it couldn't get out.
Venom walked right up to the cage, glanced at its outstretched arms, then calmly moved to the door and unlocked it.
The moment the cage opened, the zombie threw itself at him.
Venom didn't flinch. He simply grabbed its head mid-air, holding it aloft with one hand.
With a sharp motion, he smashed it to the ground and drove a fist into its spine, shattering it so the creature couldn't stand again.
When it finally quieted down, Venom carved a chunk of flesh from its body and carried it back to the workbench.
He set the bloody sample on the machine and began studying the cells intently.
Behind him, the crippled zombie clawed its way across the floor, dragging itself toward him.
Without even looking, Venom sensed it coming. He picked up a pistol from the table and fired casually.
Bang!
Blood sprayed, and a neat hole appeared in the zombie's forehead. It collapsed instantly.
Venom, eyes still fixed on the sample, set the pistol back down once he knew it was dead.
"So that's how it is."
He stood slowly, nodding in thought.
The virus in this world was like a stripped-down version of the T-virus—infecting humans into zombies in almost the exact same way.
It was incredibly stable, too. It could only turn people into ordinary zombies, never evolving into lickers or tyrants.
As for making a cure? That part was going to be easy.
He pushed that thought aside for now—there were more important things to deal with.
"System, how many Life Points do I have right now?"
Venom stood still and silently asked in his mind.
"The host currently possesses 920,000 Life Points."
Hearing that, Venom frowned at first, then slowly relaxed.
He had promised Saeko Busujima that they'd leave this world together, and that he wouldn't recklessly harm its people.
In three years, saving up ten thousand Survival Points had already been an achievement.
But the real problem now was that he was still eighty thousand short of his goal. And in this world, that was no easy task.
If he spent the one million to erase his weaknesses, then when would he ever get to leave this world?
Venom didn't have the power to freely travel between dimensions. One lottery spin cost two hundred thousand, and even then, who could guarantee he'd get the right prize?
After some thought, he decided—he'd gamble on the lottery first. If it failed, he'd figure something out in the next world.
While he was lost in thought, a mosquito buzzed past.
With a flash of a sword's edge, the mosquito split in half and dropped to the ground.
"Life too insignificant. No Life Points generated."
"Alright. Start the lottery."
Venom focused and commanded, hoping to pull a card that could let him travel between worlds.
"The system will now begin the lottery."
[Ding! Congratulations, host. You've obtained a Command Seal from Chaldea!]
As the system chimed, a crimson sigil appeared in the sky, glowing like fresh blood.
"A Command Seal? Seriously?!"
Venom twitched at the corner of his mouth, staring at the mark floating in the air.
What was he supposed to do with that?
Without a Servant, it was nothing more than a shiny tattoo—decorative and useless.
The floating Command Seal drifted down into his body, glowing faintly on his back. At the same time, knowledge about its use filled his mind.
Chaldea's Command Seal: A sigil composed of three marks, each representing one absolute order. Unlike ordinary Command Seals, this one regenerates a mark every twenty-four hours. Even if all three are spent, they'll fully recover with time.
The only problem? No Servant to command. Which made it, once again, nothing but an accessory.
"Sigh… fine. Start the second lottery."
He exhaled helplessly and willed the system to spin again, praying for something useful this time.
[Ding! Congratulations, host. You've obtained the Sublime Flying Thunder God Technique!]
The moment the words rang out, the knowledge of how to use the technique poured into his head.
Sublime Flying Thunder God Technique:A space-time ninjutsu originally developed by the Second Hokage and perfected by the Fourth Hokage, who pushed its speed to the extreme. By marking a target with the Flying Thunder God seal, the caster can instantly teleport to that location, no matter the distance.
"Hahahahahahaha…"
Venom laughed loudly, but his expression twisted between amusement and frustration.
Sure, the technique was ridiculously powerful. But there was one tiny problem—he didn't have any chakra.
What good was a god-tier move he couldn't even use?
He honestly didn't know whether his luck was amazing or just plain cruel.
"Fine. Start the third lottery."
"The system will now begin the lottery."
[Ding! Congratulations, host. You've obtained the Deluxe Shadow!]
"....."