Chapter 157: Crash Test Zakos
After getting the idea of finally getting a chocolate milkshake in this crazy mumbo jumbo world out of his head, Zhen Liu brought his attention back to the zakos. (Un)surprisingly, they just sorta stood there without blinking or moving.
They were breathing, but Zhen Liu wasn’t sure if the zakos actually needed to breath or it was just a default motion for them, like an idle animation.
“So how do I get them to do things,{like each other}?”
‘Alright…’ [Stick out your left arm.]
The zakos shuddered for a moment before sticking their left arms out. They weren’t perfectly coordinated in the action, raising one after the other, but they moved with enough coordination that it reminded Zhen Liu of proper foot soldiers giving off a salute.
[Arms to your side.]
The zakos immediately dropped their arms to the side.
[Lift up your right leg.]
[Put it down.]
[Now jump.]
The zakos did exactly as Zhen Liu commanded down to the letter, all without complaining or even making any faces…not that they had any to begin with. It was mildly disturbing to see, but also strangely fascinating. It was like watching a music video of dancing monsters…being lead by a certain red jacketed one…
Out of curiosity, Zhen Liu decided to give a detrimental command.
[Bonk your heads.]
Bonk, bonk, bonk, clang.
All four zakos proceeded to knock a fist against their heads without uttering a peep.
“That’s…okay then.”
With the general movement tests out of the way, Zhen Liu decided to move on to the number crunching bits.
“Question: Can I use that status window thing on the zakos?”
“Fair enough, but I might as well, {whip it out.}”
Zhen Liu lifted his left hand towards the metallic zako on the far right and began to cycle aether through the ring and seal before finally the zako itself. Just like the voice in his head told him, the details were vague at best.
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Zako Type: Metal(Money)
Combat Strength: Novice
Abilities: Heavy Punch
Description:
A foot soldier created from the nascent [Greed] found in all currencies. It’s abilities and strength are determined by the monetary value of the coin used to make it.
Evolution chance: 5%
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“That makes too much sense. Also implies there are variants to this.” {A fetish for everyone.}
“Fair enough.”
With the metal man addressed, Zhen Liu turned towards the bone boys in the middle.
“Are these guys the same type of zako or different types?”
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Zako Type: Bone (Feline/Reptile)
Combat Strength: Novice
Abilities:
Claws(Feline), Agility(Feline)
Scales(Reptile), Venom (Reptile)
Description:
Foot soldiers made from bones and the nascent [Wrath] found in all life. Abilities determined by subject bones are acquired from.
Evolution chance: 10%
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“Alright there’s a thing in the bottom of these descriptors I need to ask about later, but there are two things want to ask right now.”
“Why are all the zakos so weak? Also, what’s with this ‘nascent’ stuff? They sound…oddly familiar.”
“So offshoot logic and…emotional pollution, I guess. Okay, back to the zakos then…”
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Zako Type: Plant (wood) – Femme
Combat Strength: Novice
Abilities:
Growth, Toughness
Description:
An uncommon female variant of foot soldiers created by the nascent [Lust] found in plants. Abilities dependent on the type of plant seed used.
Evolution chance: 20%
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“Things to test later: Vegetable troopers…but to get back to my question: What’s with the [Evolution Chance] thing? Will these guys suddenly turn into kaijin out of nowhere? In the middle of combat?”
“But…” As soon as Zhen Liu heard the words, “evolution chance”, his face immediately went: =x=. “…” “What happens if the evolution fails? Is it more explosions?” “That’s not encouraging. What happens?” On the surface that didn’t sound too bad, just a wasted chance at a new kaijin as it were. However, Zhen Liu wasn’t entirely sure if the zakos weren’t sentient, let alone alive, so he felt it was…ethically questionable, to suddenly create a life just to have it robbed away in an instant on the off chance of it becoming…”better” life… Plus, finding and condensing cores of desires turned out to be a lot more difficult than anticipated. Strong desire was a “rare commodity” as it were. One would assume that a world that ran on “might makes right” would have a lot more determined avengers and bloodthirsty greedy bastards, but they were the exception rather than the norm on the frontier. Maybe they were more common in the more civilized parts of the world, but Zhen Liu wasn’t sure. “Wait a minute, you mentioned external factors affects evolution chance What kind of external factors are we talking about?”
