Both new sprouts, the Assassin Sprout and the Phantom Sprout, were now fully grown and standing silently on the wall beside Vikram.

"So, that’s how they appeared," Sana said softly, eyes wide.

Kavya, Ayesha, Neha, Deepak, Vikrant and Rohit had also gathered around. They were completely mesmerized watching two completely different-looking plant beings take form right in front of them on the stone wall.

Even Carol had walked over, clearly impressed by the scene.

"Did you have many seeds like that?" she asked Vikram directly, without any hesitation.

Hearing the question, Vikram became instantly alert. He looked at Carol, she was beautiful, seductive, and powerful. Like any other man, a strong desire rose in him: the urge to make her his, to shape her in mare, and ride her while she moaned his name with love.

But that was only a desire.

Although he was an orphan and didn’t receive full formal education, he had gained some knowledge from books and movies. One thing history repeatedly showed was undeniable — a single woman could bring down many kings and destroy entire kingdoms.

He didn’t want to become an example of that.

He quickly shook his head and denied it, "No, no. I don’t have any more seeds. These are all I have. If I had extra, I would have planted them here instead of wasting them."

"Tch, liar," Carol said, making a cute pouty face like a girlfriend who had just caught her boyfriend cheating.

After all, she was the Empress of Desires. She knew exactly how to control people. If Vikram wasn’t Isha’s nephew, and also her relative, something Vikram still didn’t know, she would have already tried to control him.

She knew he had extra seeds, but since he clearly didn’t want to give them, she didn’t press further.

"So, what can they do?" she asked instead, changing the topic smoothly.

Hearing this, Vikram looked at the two new sprouts and opened their panels in his mind.

---

[Assassin Sprout (Blue)]

Type: Close-Range Stealth / Burst Assassin

Status: Level 1

Growth Potential: Very High

Upgradeable: Yes

Daily Plant Essence Generation: +12

Physique:

Strength: 15

Speed: 25

Stamina: 15

Reaction: 25

Level Up Requirement: Combat / Kill Experience ×10

Upgrade Requirement: Plant Essence ×120 + Combat Experience ≥50

Description:

A stealth-oriented plant warrior born from the Plant Life System, designed for assassination and precision elimination. Its body is compact and lightweight, formed from dense bark plating layered over flexible vine-muscle fibers, allowing explosive speed and silent movement.

Abilities:

• Silent Step — Suppresses sound, presence, and vibration while moving. Allows near-invisible movement to enemies lacking high perception. Ideal for flanking, infiltration, and sudden execution.

• Leaf Blade Strike — Forms ultra-sharp energy-infused leaf blades on both arms. Delivers fast, precise slashes targeting vital points such as neck, joints, and eyes. High critical damage potential.

• Territory Regeneration — Inside the Host’s territory, regeneration speed is increased. Also enhances stealth stability and reduces energy consumption during movement.

Role: Primary close-range assassin and burst damage dealer. Specializes in silent infiltration, quick eliminations of high-value targets, and supporting the team from the shadows. Excels in surprise attacks and finishing weakened enemies.

---

[Phantom Sprout (Purple)]

Type: Stealth / Illusion / Burst Assassin

Status: Level 1

Growth Potential: Very High

Upgradeable: Yes

Daily Plant Essence Generation: +30

Physique:

Strength: 22

Speed: 38

Stamina: 20

Reaction: 36

Level Up Requirement: Combat / Kill Experience ×100

Upgrade Requirement: Plant Essence ×1500 + Combat Experience ≥1000 + Level 10

Description:

A mysterious high-tier plant entity born from the Plant Life System, specializing in stealth, illusion, and instant elimination. Unlike standard sprouts, the Phantom Sprout exists partially between physical and shadow states, allowing it to distort presence and perception.

Abilities:

• Phantom Step — Dissolves into shadow and instantly relocates to a target position. Cannot be targeted during movement. Ideal for infiltration, repositioning, and ambush.

• Shadow Assassinate — Strikes from darkness, targeting vital points with extreme precision. Deals massive critical damage when the enemy is unaware or distracted.

• Mist Clones — Creates shadow clones that mimic movement and confuse enemies. Clones explode into dark mist on contact, causing disruption and minor damage.

• Phantom Veil — Converts body into mist form for a short duration. Greatly increases evasion, movement speed, and allows passage through attacks or narrow spaces.

• Territory Regeneration — Inside the Host’s territory, regeneration speed is increased. Also restores energy faster and stabilizes stealth-based abilities.

Role: Primary stealth assassin and infiltration specialist. Excels at eliminating high-value targets, disrupting enemy formations, and creating chaos through illusion and deception. Functions best in coordinated attacks, striking from shadows and retreating before retaliation is possible.

"They are Assassin Sprout and Phantom Sprout," Vikram said proudly.

Although the Assassin Sprout was currently weaker and needed more battle experience, he completely believed that the Phantom Sprout was a mass destroyer in the making.

While saying that, he wanted to send them to the battlefield, but when he turned to look, he realized they should wait for the next wave.

Because on the battlefield right now, almost all the normal, Elite, and Apex Zombies had already been killed. Only the two Wall Breakers remained.

Isha was fighting them alone. Their ammo was already exhausted. But this time, Isha was not struggling just like the previous wave.

Even with two of them, she was toying with them effortlessly. Pooja, Imran, Raghav, Arjun, and even Vikram’s Plant Team were simply watching her fight.

It looked like the 30% suppression from his title was working quite well. Isha was able to battle them with surprising ease.

There was no surprise when both Wall Breakers finally died.

After the fight ended, Isha and the others returned to the wall.

But the moment they came back, they were quite shocked to see two extra plant-like beings standing there.

"When did they appear?" Imran asked, surprised.

"Yeah, they weren’t here before," Raghav added.

Ignoring the boys, Kavya and Sana excitedly started explaining in detail how the two new sprouts had appeared. They described the full process, from tiny seeds to fully formed humanoid plant beings. It was a unique and amazing scene.

Hearing the explanation, the others looked at Vikram with amazed eyes.

If he kept growing his team like this, the day wasn’t far when he could conquer the whole world.

But for now, they controlled their thoughts and focused on the upcoming waves, wondering how many zombies and what types would appear this time.

---

As time passed and the eighth wave began, the portals stabilized once again. Zombies started pouring out.

One by one, they came, nearly 12,000 Normal Zombies, 2,000 Elite Zombies, 80 Apex Zombies, and 3 Boss Zombies.

There were multiple Wall Breakers (with further increased ammo this time). The Plague Bringer had already started spreading toxic clouds across the battlefield, when they came out.

And this time, a new unique threat appeared. These Zombies were just floating heads, but on top of each head was a small fan, exactly like the bamboo-copter from Doraemon’s anime, spinning rapidly to keep them airborne.

The moment those strange creatures appeared, everyone on the wall froze slightly. Floating heads with small spinning fans on top hovered in the air, making a sharp whirring sound.

"...What are they?" Imran frowned.

"They don’t look normal..." Neha said softly.

Even Isha narrowed her eyes, because this was the first time she had seen such zombies.

Before anyone could understand, Carol spoke while looking at them, "They are Flying Head Zombies." Even she looked slightly surprised. "These shouldn’t be here..."

But before anyone could process her words, James said coldly, "I don’t care what they are, I’ll kill them," and fired a bullet.

The shot pierced straight through one Flying Head Zombie, and its head dropped to the ground. For a moment, it looked like the game was over, but then the head moved again and rose back into the air, starting to fly once more.

Seeing this, everyone was shocked.

Because for them, destroying a zombie’s head was always the most effective and easiest way to kill it.

But these zombies didn’t die. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"Let me do it," Arjun said. He dashed forward, jumped high, and with a swift motion of his sword, cut one Flying Head Zombie into two halves.

Both halves fell to the ground, and it once again looked like the fight was over.

But then, the halves twitched, moved, and suddenly pulled back together, reattaching before rising into the air again.

"What the fuck?!" James shouted in shock.

Not only him, everyone was stunned because it was the first time they were seeing something like this.

"They don’t die...?" Raghav muttered.

"They’re already just heads..." Imran said slowly.

Even Isha’s expression turned serious as she looked at Carol and asked, "...What are they? How do we kill them?"

Since Carol had seen many types of enemies, she should know how to deal with them.

Carol observed them calmly and replied, "For killing them, you need to burn them completely until they turn into ash. Normal zombies die when their head is severed, but these are already just heads, so cutting won’t work."

Hearing that, Pooja stepped forward immediately as flames ignited in her hand. "Good," she said, and flicked her wrist, sending a fireball forward. The Flying Head Zombie was engulfed in flames, and within seconds it turned into ash and disappeared.

Seeing that, everyone’s tension dropped slightly.

"Alright," Isha said, her voice steady again, her earlier worry gone. "Let’s go and kill all the zombies."