Chapter 722: Zombie Puppet

In fact, it wasn't a Lich. It was a dead human instead. Even though Liches were also dead, there were significant differences between them.

It was a corpse of a young lady laid who appeared to be 17 years old and with an adorable face. It seemed as though due to malnourishment, she had become sickly in appearance and her ashen, stiff body proved that she was dead for a long time. Strangely enough, she didn't rot and her corpse was still in perfect condition. At this moment, everyone crowded around and was astonished.

"Sir Overlord, is this a... Lich?"

Serena asked hesitantly. It wasn't surprising for her to raise this doubt because Undead Creatures were mostly fleshless and only structured with skeletons. Apart from the Abominations, the Undead Creatures were basically bones and this was no exception to the Liches. It could also be said that as a magical body, Liches had removed all their flesh and even stronger-tiered Liches didn't even need a human body as they roamed about in their naked, skeleton body. On the other hand, apart from appearing a little malnourished, this corpse seemed like an ordinary human.

"Should we kill her?"

Frederick scratched his head and said in uncertainty. He thought that a Lich was a terrifying-looking creature, but felt that something was wrong after witnessing a young lady. Rhode shook his head slightly.

"No, she's already dead. It was only her corpse that was fighting us."

Rhode knelt down and stripped her clothes in a single tug. Serena shrieked, but before she said anything, she was stumped. A black crystal was embedded in the middle of her chest. Blood vines-like presences were deeply rooted into her skin and spread around it. The black crystal was lifeless and dull like an unremarkable stone.

"What a pity."

Gillian skipped toward Rhode from the other side. She knelt down and poked the corpse's cheek.

"Ah, it is so hard and cold, Master. Do you want me to heat it up for you to have a go?"

"What are you talking about? Do you think that I'm such a person?"

Rhode shot a look at her.

"You must at least clean and disinfect her first."

"I knew it. Master, you're always attentive to the details."

"Alright, cut the crap."

Rhode accepted Gillian's 'praise', stood up, and scanned the corpse with puckered brows. If he wasn't mistaken, this corpse should be a 'Zombie Puppet', which was a manipulation technique that the Liches had come up with. Simply speaking, the Liches used the 'Life Rock' to connect their spirits with the corpses before manipulating them as puppets. However, this wasn't all that rare because there were countless manipulation spells that the Liches were capable of.

Not only could the 'Zombie Puppets' serve as 'scouts', but they could also inherit and utilize all the Lich's abilities within a short period of time like clones with similar powers. When the clone was destroyed, the Lich wouldn't be harmed because the Lich had targeted the clone to receive all damages on their behalf.

"How cruel."

Serena knitted her brows.

"Why must the evil Undead Creatures use such a method?"

"Even though they're the Undead Creatures, they aren't truly 'undead'. It is the same even for Liches who possess a phylactery."

Rhode spread his arms apart.

"Indeed. If we don't destroy the actual Vampire and Lich, they could revive, albeit requiring processes and some time. Besides, no matter what, they will also be hurt from battles and the damages are on a spiritual level, which won't fade quickly. On the other hand, the Undead Creatures don't only have us as their enemies. I guess you're aware of this, Miss Serena. The internal struggles for authority among the Undead Creatures has always been serious. If any of the Liches are killed by us, perhaps their positions will be snatched instantly while they used the phylactery powers to revive themselves. This is why they created the 'Zombie Puppet'. They choose the victims who have the closest spiritual undulations with them as vessels and carve the 'Life Rock' on them. This way, the victims will become their clone and they can manipulate it to release its powers. Whereas for being attacked..." Rhode gestured. "... Just like this. The Lich can use the victim's spirit as a shield while it remains in its sanctuary. When this happens, it will simply lose a puppet while ensuring that its safety, which is a reasonable trade to the Undead Creatures."

If Rhode recalled correctly, it was during the late game when the Zombie Puppets first appeared. Back then, the Battle Angels and players held similar techniques to directly deal damage to the spirits of the troublesome Liches and other presences, which eventually prompted the Undead Creatures to create this 'Zombie Puppet' technique. Players were disgusted because Zombie Puppets could possess all the Lich's powers in a short period of time. Therefore, many players met these creatures when they headed into the underground city. They held the powers of the BOSS, but didn't drop equally outstanding equipment. Moreover, every Liches raised several Zombie Puppets to harass and annoy the players.

But no matter how disgusting they were, they weren't comparable to the despicable and shameless players. The only flaw that the Zombie Puppets had was that when they were activated, the Lich's spirit had to be inside their bodies. Even though the Zombie Puppets possessed the Lich's strength, they lacked the magical and physical resistance which the Lich had. During this process, the Lich was unconscious, which was why the players didn't bother to fight the Zombie Puppets. They simply cast entrapment spells like the ice cage to capture the Lich's consciousness inside the Zombie Puppet. Then, if they were lucky, they would charge their way to the Lich and slaughter it before it broke out from the entrapment spell and regained its conscious. Even though the Lich might regain its conscious before the players arrived, the latter merely treated it as an ordinary BOSS fight. After all, no matter how godly the Lich was, it couldn't possibly manipulate Zombie Puppets and resist the players simultaneously.

Rhode let out a sigh of regret. He had rich experiences dealing with Zombie Puppets. But, he didn't expect that the Zombie Puppet that would emerge only in the late game actually turned up now. He only treated it as an ordinary Lich and if he were aware of the truth, he would have ordered Lize to cast the 'Spirit Imprisonment' spell and captured it. The Lich had perhaps detected that its spirit was extracted and instantly abandoned this vessel. It was no wonder that the system described the spirit as an 'Undead Spirit' and not a 'Lich'.

But judging from the state of this 'Life Rock', this Zombie Puppet didn't seem as experienced as the ones that he had faced in the game. Perhaps this was only in the testing phase?

Rhode let out a snort. If he didn't guess it wrongly, the manipulator of this Zombie Puppet would be the inventor and it was apparent that the inventor had used this chance to experiment. Based on this situation, Rhode and his men had become its perfect testers, but it was fine too since the Lich would continue its development after being successful this round. Of course. It wasn't aware that Rhode had ways to deal with its genius invention and he wouldn't mind teaching it a lifelong lesson.

"What should we do now, Mr. Rhode?"

Lize was bewildered. She revealed uncertainties in her expression. Rhode shook his head and threw his thoughts to the back of his head temporarily. He looked at everyone and said.

"Bring her back with us."

"B-Bring her...?"

Frederick shrieked and stared at Rhode with widened eyes.

"But, Sir Overlord, she's... already dead, isn't it?"

"That's right."

Rhode nodded.

"Sometimes, the things that we can get from the dead aren't anywhere less than from those alive."