C26 A Lot of Zombies!

The area was teeming with zombies, and all of them were female! Jiang Loong scrutinized the scene through the eyes of a Level 8 zombie and noticed that many of the female zombies were motionless, some even had their heads overgrown with vegetation. Only a handful of female zombies roamed without purpose.

But these stationary zombies weren't dead. Jiang Loong directed his Level 8 zombie to prod one of them, and it reacted. With this knowledge, he sent the same zombie to scout the interior of the Red Castle.

The castle had an eerie aura. Except for the ground, every structure was constructed from red bricks, all bathed in a blood-red hue that evoked a sense of oppression and mystery.

The Level 8 zombie swiftly navigated through the zombie-packed plaza, weaving through the red, medieval fortress.

Female zombies were everywhere within the Red Castle, appearing dazed. Some aimlessly wandered, others stood still, and a few would walk a bit before halting. Jiang Loong guessed there might be several thousand of them.

"Fantastic!" he exclaimed, unable to contain his excitement. He tenderly held Ke'er's delicate face and kissed her. After the affectionate gesture, he noticed Tongtong gazing at him blankly. He embraced her and gave her a kiss as well.

Refocusing on the perspective of the Level 8 zombie, he observed thousands of female zombies in the plaza alone, suggesting the possibility of tens of thousands within the castle walls.

Jiang Loong eagerly anticipated advancing Tongtong and Ke'er to Rank 4 or even Rank 5!

"The castle's flora is peculiar, and it's exclusively inhabited by female zombies—no males in sight. But wasn't this place overrun by zombies a century ago? Could all the invading zombies have been female? How could that be?" Jiang Loong pondered.

His spiritual perception had significantly improved after opening four treasure chests, allowing him to quickly piece together previously overlooked details.

The Level 8 zombie he had dispatched to explore the Red Castle was, in fact, a female zombie.

"I mustn't rush. Stay calm," Jiang Loong reminded himself. "Understanding the situation comes first."

He dispatched his Rank 1 female zombie to Red Castle, followed by releasing a Level 7 male zombie. He commanded both zombies to make a beeline for the fortress.

Without delay, he deployed two mutant male zombies, one of Rank 2 and the other of Rank 3. He instructed these mutated undead to infiltrate the forest and rally the other zombies.

The forest was teeming with zombies, and Jiang Loong suspected these were the same ones that had previously overrun the castle.

Now, Jiang Loong was resolute in his determination to claim these zombies, including the Red Castle itself.

Regardless of the peculiarities, he was undeterred.

Jiang Loong, accompanied by Tongtong and Ke'er, arrived at the base of the great mountain.

From the mountain's base to halfway up its slope, the trees were of normal size, ranging from twenty to forty meters tall, with fifty-meter trees being a rare sight. However, the trees within the central mountain soared to at least a hundred meters.

Jiang Loong directed the two mutant male zombies to amass the undead within the mountain, while he kept a vigilant watch at the base, ever alert to the activity below.

Before him materialized five glowing screens, arranged in two rows, each displaying the perspective of the five zombies he had dispatched. Jiang Loong's gaze darted across the screens, tracking their movements.

To anyone else, these screens were invisible, as was the Synthetic Space Jiang Loong wielded. To onlookers, Jiang Loong appeared unfocused, seemingly lost in a trance as he concentrated on the scenes before him.

The Rank 1 mutant female zombie and the Level 7 male zombie Jiang Loong had sent out later arrived at the central mountain after about an hour.

Subsequently, the two zombies ventured into the forest from different locations.

Initially, their entrance into the woods seemed uneventful.

But as they neared Red Castle, an eerie incident occurred.

From the colossal trees surrounding the castle, which stood hundreds of meters tall, a vine emerged and lashed out, striking the Level 7 male zombie with such force that it was hurled through the air and violently smashed into the ground, its body shattering into innumerable fragments.

However, the Rank 1 mutant female zombie remained unharmed.

"This Red Castle truly forbids men from entering! It's not just living men, but male zombies are barred as well!"

At the base of the mountain, Jiang Loong gazed at the shimmering void screen before him, stroking his chin in contemplation.

The new information sparked his imagination, conjuring up elaborate tales of romance.

Perhaps the creator of the Red Castle had once been betrayed by a man, fueling her disdain for the opposite sex. It could be that she constructed this fortress in the secluded mountains as a sanctuary for women, only for it to be eventually overrun by zombies.

But this was all speculation on Jiang Loong's part.

What Jiang Loong could ascertain was that there was definitely something amiss with the forest. He suspected that the castle's architect possessed a Nature-based extraordinary talent, giving her the power to manipulate the vegetation.

After a moment's thought, Jiang Loong decided to allow the Rank 1 mutant female zombie to enter the Red Castle.

The zombie made her way up the vines and into the square, where she encountered a gathering of female zombies.

Drawn to the Rank 1 mutant, the previously still female zombies started to converge on her.

"This strategy is actually effective!"

A smile of satisfaction spread across Jiang Loong's face.

"It seems that rounding up these zombies might be easier than expected!"

The situation took Jiang Loong by surprise. He wondered, "Could it be that there are no other mutated zombies inside the Red Castle?"

He found it hard to believe that the Red Castle lacked mutated zombies. The most plausible explanation was that they were lurking in the inner recesses of the fortress!

With this in mind, Jiang Loong directed the Level 8 female zombie, who had been the first to breach the castle's walls, to delve further into its depths.

So far, his search had yielded no new discoveries.

The castle was just as he had initially observed – entirely populated by female zombies.