The sharkman's order detonated the camp into chaos.
Within minutes, pirates found the corpse Adam had hidden beneath the shadows near the fence.
Torches flared to life one after another. The entire camp was turned upside down—tents ripped open, crates kicked apart, sand dug up with boots and blades.
But no matter how hard they searched…
They found nothing else.
Security tightened immediately.
The sharkman ordered all pirates to gather around the central bonfire.
Until the situation was clear, clustering together was the safest option.
No one wanted to be picked off alone in the dark.
Outside the camp, Adam crouched silently among jagged reef rocks.
He examined the dwarf's corpse.
Aside from the wound inside the mouth, there were no obvious injuries. The puncture at the back of the skull was hidden beneath long, greasy hair.
Even the blood-soaked clothes had been washed nearly clean by the sea.
Adam nodded.
"Perfect."
He pried the corpse's mouth open.
From his pocket, he took out a small pill bottle and dropped one capsule inside.
Then he sliced his own palm lightly.
Dark blood welled up.
He let several drops fall into the corpse's throat.
The reaction was instant.
The dwarf's body convulsed violently.
A guttural snarl tore from his throat as he struggled toward the direction of the camp, jaws snapping open to reveal jagged fangs.
Adam pinned him down effortlessly.
"See? I told you," Yinling said proudly. "Corpses that ingest the blood of a sixth-generation vampire or higher turn straight into zombies. Father taught me that."
She tilted her head.
"But why give him Yu Jia's pills too?"
Adam smirked.
"You'll see."
Vampire blood came in two forms.
Essence blood—rare, voluntary, used to create new vampires. Its quantity and purity determined a vampire's power. It accumulated only over long years.
That was why higher vampires were reluctant to create offspring.
It was costly.
Precious.
The second type was common blood.
The kind spilled in battle.
It could be replenished simply by feeding.
If ingested by humans, it wouldn't turn them into vampires.
But if it entered a corpse…
It would animate it into a zombie—
Provided the blood came from a sixth-generation vampire or higher.
Perhaps that was one reason humans despised vampires so deeply.
In war, vampires sometimes created waves of zombies to overwhelm cities.
To humans, it was corpse desecration.
Zombies had no will.
No master.
They attacked only humans… driven purely by hunger.
Fortunately—
They had zero interest in vampire blood.
Adam watched the restless camp for a moment.
Then he released his grip.
The starving dwarf zombie bolted immediately.
Its speed wasn't impressive.
Even sprinting at full effort, it barely outpaced a walking human. On soft sand, it looked even slower.
But it kept running.
Relentless.
Toward the firelight.
Eventually, it reached the camp perimeter.
"Hey! Who's that?!" a new pirate on the watchtower shouted.
"It's the dwarf! Don't make a fuss," someone below yelled back.
The zombie didn't respond.
Head lowered.
Running.
It reached the first human pirate—
Grabbed his arm—
And bit down savagely.
"AAH! Are you insane?!"
Before the man could react, the zombie released him.
Two deep punctures bled from the palm.
Then it ran to the next.
One bite.
Release.
Next target.
It bit three pirates in rapid succession, then staggered toward the dense crowd gathered around the bonfire.
None of the victims realized what had happened yet.
By the time confusion set in…
The dwarf zombie had already slipped into the packed circle of bodies.
Screams erupted instantly.
Pirates formed a ring around the bonfire, all attention focused on the sharkman's speech.
The dwarf's small stature became the perfect camouflage.
He darted between legs, unseen.
Bite.
Release.
Move.
Like a rat in grain.
Yinling stared, stunned.
"I get it now… That's why you chose him."
Adam had predicted this outcome from the start.
Once alarmed, the pirates would cluster.
And in a dense crowd—
A dwarf zombie was a perfect infection vector.
"But why does he bite once and run?" Yinling asked.
"Yu Jia's drug."
Adam pulled the pill bottle from his belt and tossed it to her.
"It lets vampires consume non-blood substances. I read his lab notes back in the basement."
He chuckled.
"The core design principle? Blood aversion."
Yinling's eyes widened.
"So the zombie's instinct drives it to bite… but the moment it tastes blood, the drug triggers disgust. It releases… yet keeps attacking because of its nature…"
She exhaled slowly.
"That's… twisted."
Adam's smile sharpened.
"A beautifully twisted tactic."
He glanced at the chaos.
"If you hadn't told me vampire blood could make zombies… I'd never have thought to combine the two."
A massive shout erupted inside the camp.
The dwarf zombie had been subdued.
Three pirates pinned it to the ground.
The octopus-man strode over, cursing, grabbing the dwarf's hair and yanking its head up—
Then froze.
The face was purple.
Eyes rolled white.
Fangs bared.
Blood leaked faintly from the corners.
"What… is this…?"
Before he could finish—
The crowd exploded again.
"AAH! He bit me!"
"Let go!"
"What's happening?!"
"Someone's killing people!"
"Look at his eyes—they're like the dwarf's!!"
"Help! There's another one here!"
That was the second trait of zombies:
Anyone bitten—
Even if still alive—
Would soon turn.
Zombies weren't individually strong.
They attacked blindly.
But their true terror lay in transmission.
If left unchecked, an outbreak could erase an entire city.
Such tactics required at least sixth-generation vampire blood.
Panic spiraled out of control.
Some pirates fought.
Others fled.
The formation collapsed instantly.
"STAND YOUR GROUND!" the sharkman roared, cleaving a zombie in half.
But terror had already broken morale.
No one listened anymore.
Pirates quickly realized the worst part—
If bitten…
You became one of them.
Some who were wounded were beheaded by their own allies before transformation completed.
Mercy didn't exist here.
Escape became the only instinct.
Pirates scattered.
Some fled the camp.
Some barricaded indoors—
All except the fishmen.
Zombies ignored fishmen completely.
So the fishmen simply walked forward…
Raised blades…
And decapitated zombies methodically.
Clean.
Efficient.
If they had released ordinary zombies directly, as Yinling once suggested…
The result would've been nothing.
Fishmen alone could've contained it.
But now—
Infected pirates were multiplying from within.
Soon, the bonfire zone was a battlefield.
Dozens of zombies.
A dozen fishmen cutting them down.
Screams echoed from inside buildings—undoubtedly from infected pirates hiding their wounds.
Adam watched it all from the reef.
Firelight flickered across his face.
He clapped slowly… once.
"Phase Two of the hunt…"
He rose to his feet.
"…begins."