"No." Eric shook his head. He asked, "If war is the last resort, do you think we can build diplomacy or what not against zombies?"
Gregorio was taken aback. He lowered his gaze and replied in a gloomy tone, "No."
"That's right." Eric nodded. "That's why you have to be ready. You must know the war and tactics used in the past, so we could make use of it in the present. Say, do you remember them?"
Gregorio nodded and then shook his head. "Not all of them. Although I read them all, I forgot some of them."
"Alright. Try to give me fifty famous war events in history."
Gregorio was surprised. He rolled his eyes upward, trying to recall as he said, "One of the earliest recorded battles is the battle of Kadesh in the Bronze Age, and then the Battle of Marathon, between Greeks and Persians. The famous Battle of Thermopylae, to which the Spartan was known as one of the greatest warriors in history. The Battle of Salamis…"
He continued until his eyes lit up.
"That's ten for Ancient and Classical Warfare. In Medieval and Feudal Warfare, there is the Battle of Tours, 732 AD. Siege of Jerusalem…"
He continued and even included the date. The more he stated the battles, the more his mind continued to remind him of the famous warfare in the past, even forming a scene of the battle tactics and strategy used. He included the Early Modern Warfare, the 19th Century Warfare, and the 20th and 21st Century War.
Until he exactly told the fifty wars he knew to Eric, even though there were still more on his mind.
Eric smiled.
"You might not know it, but you have already mutated. Those mindless zombies, they are failed mutations. Don't you notice you have become smart, able to easily recall, and your body has improved physically…"
Eric spent half an hour, explaining the energy, the evolution, the Evolution Crystal, his vision and mission as long as he was alive.
Eric felt it was necessary since he asked the system about their loyalty, and it totalled to sixty-five, frustrating him. Hence, he had to convince them. His speech, showing his abilities, mission and vision elevated them to eighty percent, at least.
After half an hour, everyone was enlightened, except their feet and legs were growing numb from standing. Furthermore, the dawn already broke on the horizon and they were filled with sweat under the bask of the sun.
Eric did not seem to care as he turned to Zoe on her right and raised her open palm.
He said, "One dark red crystal and four grey crystals."
Zoe was surprised. She glanced at Gregorio and said nothing, taking out the crystals the Emperor asked.
Eric threw the crystals one by one and, as expected, threw the dark red crystal to Gregorio.
Eric thought. If he ate the dark red crystal, he might get lucky to awaken a powerful ability. Although mine is not different to Jasper and others, its quality and quantity enable me to form a powerful energy core, eventually easing the evolution to the next stage.
In fact, Eric just wanted to experiment and Gregorio was perfect for it. Since he awakened an S- grade potential, that means his mutation was far ahead than others.
At first, Eric planned to ask them to eat the crystals only after they master the breathing technique he would provide. Unfortunately, everyone in the first line has D+ grade or above attribute points, so they were more than ready to eat it.
He said, "You, on the first line," sweeping his eyes on them and landed it on Gregorio and continued, "are more than ready to eat the crystals. The crystals will awaken your abilities, like mine, Pyromancy, enabling me to summon and manipulate fire."
Eric turned to Zoe and said, "For Zoe, she awakened Beast Affinity."
Zoe snapped her fingers and a mutated quail flew from the crown of trees not far from them and landed on Zoe's shoulder.
Aside from Zoe, there was Samantha on his left. There were only two of them present since others woke up early in the morning to collect all the food and water the Emperor gathered in the living room of every house he raided.
He turned to Samantha and said, "For Samantha, It's Bio-Terrain Adaptation. It enables her body to adapt to extreme conditions. She even developed minor resistance to toxins."
Samantha felt awkward since unlike Zoe, she could not show off her abilities. However, Eric touched her arm and ignited a flame, to which her skin reacted, turning brown at most, but it did not sizzle.
Eric smiled. He continued until Samantha's face twitched and part of her skin finally burned, leaving a fingerprint scar. After Eric pulled his hand, the skin actually repaired itself.
Eric praised. "Your ability improved because you have been training a lot in your breathing session." He glanced at her and smiled. "Even now, you're executing the breathing technique to rapidly heal your skin."
Samantha glanced at him and smiled forcibly. After all, she immersed herself to her breathing technique as her skin magically repaired its burned skin, leaving only a brown color in a hand print.
"I'm sorry for that."
"N-No! It's fine. On the contrary, I benefited since this is the first time I have used my breathing technique, telling me my ability is still useful, nonetheless."
"Since when is it not?"
Eric shook his head and turned to the people in front, who were flabbergasted, staring at Samantha in shock.
They thought simultaneously. How loyal is she? Is she brainwashed?!
Of course, this was unlikely. Nevertheless, the people on the first line wanted to awaken such abilities, so they did not hesitate to eat the crystals.
Gregorio was the first to gulp it down and suddenly, his body convulsed, causing him to fall on all fours.
Eric said, "Observe, Samantha. Tell me if he will mutate or evolve."
After all, Samantha's title has effect, Mutagenic Awareness. Eric speculated that the girl's successful evolutions despite having D- attribute points was because of Samantha. She might have motivated them and whatever she did just for their evolution to be successful, but it should be related to the effect.
Samantha nodded, staring intently at the five people, who dropped to their knees, convulsing, seemingly trying to split out what they had eaten…