Helen heard Alanna loosen up and jokingly said, "Hehe, then my life is in your hands, Alanna. This line carries significant weight. Back in the old world, Alanna used to hear it frequently. Those patients would say to her before surgery, ’Dr. Alanna, my life is in your hands.’"

Alanna nodded solemnly, saying, "Don’t worry, I’m here."

At that moment, Waldo approached, holding the ant in his hands as Helen controlled it to climb into his palm. Waldo looked at the two women with a serious expression and said, "Since that’s the case, let’s get ready to begin the experiment. Sit down and make all the necessary preparations. Squashing an ant is a matter of an instant, but if there’s a backlash, it won’t be a small matter. I don’t want any accidents."

Helen obediently sat down, took a deep breath, and adjusted her composure. Alanna sat beside her, her hand emitting a white glow, activating her "Healing" ability, ready to respond to any unexpected situations. All three of them were on high alert. When dealing with unknown situations, they had to be fully focused.

Waldo looked at Helen, observing her resolute expression, and asked, "Helen, are you ready? If you are, I’ll begin."

Helen smiled and replied, "I’m ready. Go ahead."

The little ant in Waldo’s palm looked up at him. He knew Helen was controlling it. Without hesitation, he closed his hand, and the ant died.

A sudden suffocation overwhelmed Helen’s chest. She felt as if something was tightly gripping her neck, and her brain felt like it was being pricked with needles. Then, her chest tightened, and she couldn’t help but cough up a mouthful of blood.

Such an intense reaction startled Waldo and Alanna. "Alanna, quickly, treat Helen!" Waldo didn’t need to say it; Alanna immediately began her treatment. The white glow in her hand shone brightly, and her "Healing" ability was fully activated. White particles gently infused into Helen’s body, repairing her injuries.

As Helen opened her eyes, Alanna asked with concern, "Helen, how do you feel? Are you better now?"

Helen had mostly recovered by the time she opened her eyes. She patted Alanna’s hand and looked up at Waldo. "I’m fine now. The backlash wasn’t as severe as you imagined."

Waldo blinked, somewhat skeptical. "Really? That statement doesn’t sound very convincing. You just spewed out a lot of blood."

Helen nodded seriously and said again, "Really. I’m the one who knows my condition best. I won’t pretend to be strong. The superpower did cause a backlash. At the moment you squashed the ant, my brain felt like it was pricked with needles, and I felt temporarily empty-headed. Then, I felt my chest tightening and my neck being constricted. But after coughing up the blood, I felt much better."

Waldo continued to inquire, "Are there any other internal injuries or anything else?"

Helen shook her head. She hadn’t noticed any other issues, but the superpower had entered a cooling-down period.

"Animal Domination - Cooldown time remaining: 23 hours, 57 minutes, 23 seconds."

Waldo was somewhat surprised; the cooldown period for this ability was unexpectedly long.

A whole day of cooldown period?! That’s a long time! They have to fight against zombies and survivors. Having to wait for a full day for the ability to cool down means they might miss many opportunities.

Alanna suddenly asked, "Helen, if the controlled animal isn’t killed, will your ability still go into cooldown?" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"That’s what I wanted to say," Helen replied. "Animals can be controlled for an extended period. The cooldown is happening now solely because the controlled animal was forcibly killed, triggering the cooldown."

"I see," Waldo exclaimed, realizing the potential usefulness of the ability. "So, as long as the controlled animal isn’t killed, this ability can be quite effective. The main drawback is that they have to protect the controlled animal. Also, this experiment was conducted on just an ant, which is too weak. If Helen can control mutated creatures, it would be different and could provide significant assistance."

Currently, zombies and mutated creatures are continually evolving. Survivors killed by mutated creatures are no less than those killed by zombies. This is exactly the offensive ability that Waldo has been hoping for! Initially, he thought "Animal Domination" was ordinary and had little use. But now, he realized that there are many ways to develop its potential.

"For example, controlling mutated insects to fly to enemy survivor bases and gather intelligence. This is much less risky than ’Stealth.’ Controlling mutated lions and tigers would provide powerful combat capabilities. However, there is one problem," Waldo asked, "Helen, you mentioned that ’Animal Domination’ involves controlling animals. Can you make them act autonomously?"

Helen nodded. "Of course, that’s the most basic command. Once the ’Animal Domination’ ability is successfully used to control an animal, I can give it orders to act based on its instincts without further instructions. It’s completely possible!"

Waldo was overjoyed. He never expected that they could control the actions of the animals based on their instincts. This made him wonder if Helen could assemble an army of mutated creatures. With one command, they could all attack together—a scene that excited him.

"Waldo, can I control multiple animals at once?" Waldo asked eagerly.

However, Helen’s reply dashed his plans. "For now, it’s not allowed. When I was controlling the ant, the system showed that I can only control one animal at a time. Perhaps it’s possible to gradually increase the number through further development."

Waldo thought for a moment and nodded. "True, if we could control a large number of mutated creatures right now, it would be incredibly powerful. We wouldn’t need to scavenge for supplies; we could just unleash the mutated creature army and crush everything in our path. Perhaps there will be a chance to build such a force in the future, but for now, let’s call it a day."

Finally grasping the basics of Helen’s "Animal Domination" ability, it seemed they needed to find suitable mutated creatures for Helen to control. However, today wasn’t the day for that; they would have to plan for another time.

Waldo shared his plan. "Helen, you need powerful mutated creatures to fully demonstrate the strength of this ability. We’ll catch a mutated creature for you another day. The most effective way to tame a mutated creature is to weaken it, render it unconscious, or catch it during a moment of weakness. Just like in the Pokémon anime we used to watch, where trainers needed to defeat wild Pokémon before throwing a Poké Ball to catch them. Helen’s ’Animal Domination’ works in a similar way."