Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night

Chapter 161: Undead Spearmen

Zane had no idea that the Horde Kings of the world were capable of communicating telepathically with one another. Nor the fact that at this very moment they were deciding on how to deal with him. He was very ignorant of the Dead and their machinations.

Rather, he was more focused on testing out his new skill. And because of this, he had taken the girls to the ruins of Old Reno, where hundreds of thousands of undead currently dwelled. Many of which were free for the taking.

Zane was, of course, powerful enough now to be able to deal with a large group of Walkers entirely on his own. But there were still so many Undead that he would have a hard time taking care of. Especially if they were to gang up on him.

Take, for example, Juggernauts, though Zane was now level 21, and was fairly confident in his ability to deal with such monstrosities. If more than one ganged up on him, he could find himself in serious trouble.

And though Zane didn't realize it, there were more sinister undead lurking within the city. Undead, he had yet to come across. Nor were they capable of dealing with via conventional means. If Zane were truly to encounter one of those spectral forces, he may find himself losing his life before he even realized how it happened.

Of course, Zane wasn't aware of the creatures, but even then he made sure to go out to Reno with a proper party. When Zane stepped out of the Humvee, he noticed that there was a group of undead wandering aimlessly through the gas station.

This was the same gas station they had stopped at shortly before making their initial journey to Carson. In the time since, more Undead had come to reclaim an area which Zane and the girls had personally cleared.

It was a rather disturbing thought. That if humanity did not constantly struggle for its own survival in this cruel new world, the undead would simply overwhelm whatever gains they had made. But Zane was not one to dwell on such haunting ideas, instead he decided to keep himself busy.

And he did this by immediately raising his right hand and casting the skill he had been granted by consuming the blood crystal of a horde king. Immediately, a purple sigil appeared on the back of Zane's right hand, glowing through his gauntlets as it seared itself upon his flesh.

It was an almost runic like symbol, one which marked him as a master over the dead. When the burning sensation finally faded, Zane was quick to unequip his gauntlets, revealing that there was now a black tattoo etched upon his flesh.

But what Zane had not seen was the fact that all of the undead in the area had undergone a change as well. Their eyes had glowed the same shade of purple that appeared on Zane's hand. And by the time it faded, they had fallen to a kneeling position. As if to respect their new king.

Zane was confused by this until he saw the system update him on what he had acquired.

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[New Undead Servant!]

[Horde Size: 25/300]

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The skill indeed worked how he had thought it would. Zane immediately entered the horde section of his system and found that all of his undead servants were listed below.

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[Horde:

Walker – Tier I – Level 1 x 25]

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Not only could Zane inspect each individual servant and their stats. But he could also equip gear to them much in the same way an awakened survivor could use. Fortunately Zane had come prepared, and with the bountiful harvest that he had gained from all the Undead in Eliza's horde, including the young Horde King herself. Zane had crafted dozens of sets of level 5 uncommon equipment.

He had distributed many of these sets to the newly awakened survivors of Gravestone. And had given a few sets to Elena, Olivia, and Angelica to hold them over until he could properly equip them with some gear that was similar to his and Madisons.

But after all of this, he still had several sets left over. Which Zane instantly gave to the Undead that were now beneath his command. Five of the Twenty five were fully geared armor and weapons. However, the moment he equipped these Undead with their new gear, their names changed.

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[Horde:

x5 Undead Spearman – Tier I – Level 1

x20 Walker – Tier I – Level 1]

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This information was shocking to Zane, who gazed upon the five walkers who looked almost as if they were a group of ancient Greek hoplites with confusion in his eyes. Undead Spearman? What was that? He had never come across such things before.

Was this a classification of undead unique to him? Or were the Horde Kings also capable of employing such servants? The more Zane explored this new feature, the more he became confused by it. To just what extent could he manipulate the undead? Could he control these spearmen to build a shield wall? Assuming he had enough of them to actually do so?

To Zane, this really was not a simple matter. In fact, if anything, he might have gotten a more powerful skill than he initially estimated it to be. Was this the power of so called Unique Skills granted by the system? Compared to his initial skill, Dead Man Walking, wasn't this a bit too OP?

One thing immediately became apparent to Zane. He would need to thoroughly test this new feature with more weapons combinations to see just how well organized his undead horde could become.

Because if his suspicions were correct, Zane would be able to create a true and organized army with this new feature. And not just a mindless horde like those he had come across in the wild.

If this were true, then even if his horde was vastly outnumbered by those that belonged to the Horde Kings, his ability to effectively organize his own Undead Servants and use historical tactics meant that he had a significant advantage over his undead rivals going forward.

With this in mind, Zane immediately issued a command to his new Undead Servants, lifting his hand and acting like a true monarch as he ordered his troops to enter formation.

"Shield Wall!"

Immediately upon hearing their king's orders, the five Undead Spearman formed ranks with their round shields, almost like a pre-Macedonian Phalanx. When Zane saw this, his lips formed into a cruel smirk as he announced his plans to his girls, who were watching the events unfold before their very eyes.

"Now… We have an army of our own!"