Chapter 128 – Girls Shouldn’t Always Be Thinking About Brains

Seeing Li Yalin collapse, Ling Mo rubbed his hands together and walked over to check on her.

Xia Na had been quite forceful. Although she used the hilt of her knife, Li Yalin’s hindbrain was struck hard enough to bleed, which explained why she fainted without even a struggle.

As Ling Mo crouched in front of Li Yalin, Xia Na’s long knife flashed coldly, slicing through the air in front of him. The tip of the knife hovered over Li Yalin’s hindbrain. “Ling-Ge, let me dig out her brain…”

“Girls shouldn’t be thinking about digging out brains all the time,” Ling Mo said, exasperated, as he pushed Xia Na’s knife away. He then started searching Li Yalin’s body.

Ye Lian watched Ling Mo curiously. “Ling-Ge… what… what are you doing?”

“Seeing if she has anything on her,” Ling Mo replied casually. “Got it.”

He pulled a delicate leather wallet from Li Yalin’s pocket. Inside, along with her ID card, he found her X City University staff ID and a few bank cards.

These items were clearly stained with blood, indicating that after regaining some of her senses, Li Yalin had looked at them, and instead of discarding them, had kept them carefully.

It seemed she had no concept of what an ID card was, nor did she realize the person in the photo was her, or perhaps she couldn’t understand the text on it?

The nature of advanced zombies is hard to pinpoint… For some reason, seeing these items made Ling Mo feel a pang of sadness.

If it were just ordinary zombies with no intelligence at all, wandering the streets and attacking anything on sight, it wouldn’t be so bad.

But once a zombie reaches the level of an advanced zombie, regaining some of their intelligence, it’s inevitable that a thought might cross their mind: Who am I?

It’s not impossible. Imagine if a normal person lost their memory; the first thing they would probably do is desperately try to find out who they are. Although an Advanced Zombie’s newly born consciousness is fundamentally different in its thinking from humans, a zombie that has evolved into consciousness might also wonder who they are.

Ye Lian and Xia Na have always been by Ling Mo’s side, so they don’t have this problem. As for whether the two Advanced Zombies in the Theater had such thoughts, it’s unknown.

Li Yalin is the most intelligent Advanced Zombie Ling Mo has encountered. She clearly has a strong need for self-awareness, and Ling Mo’s appearance brought her a glimmer of hope.

Advanced Zombies, despite their strength, are extremely lonely in a small scope. They have no communication, no interaction, and don’t even know who they are. Of course, it’s rather ridiculous for humans to feel sympathy for zombies, but Ling Mo has two female zombies by his side, so his perspective on zombies is different from that of the average person.

Ordinary Survivors naturally see zombies as bloodthirsty monsters, but in Ling Mo’s eyes, they have actually transformed from normal humans into a new species. Moreover, they stand higher on the evolutionary food chain than humans… At this moment, Ling Mo found another photo in her wallet, and this photo made his eyes widen in shock.

No wonder Li Yalin had an impression of him… The photo was taken right outside the class Ling Mo attended. In the photo, Li Yalin and another girl are standing together, and a person is standing at the classroom door, seemingly just having walked out. That unremarkable face is none other than Ling Mo!

Although several years have passed, Ling Mo’s appearance hasn’t changed much, only becoming more mature… “I never thought it would be such a coincidence, an unintended group photo…” Ling Mo sighed deeply. After several years, who would have thought that not only people but the whole world would turn upside down?

Seeing that Li Yalin wouldn’t wake up anytime soon, Ling Mo hesitated on what to do with her.

After all, she was an acquaintance, and they had just chatted a bit. Ling Mo couldn’t bring himself to dig her brain out just like that.

Moreover, she wasn’t here to eat him; her motive wasn’t hateful.

Ling Mo indeed entertained the idea of controlling Li Yalin. Having a powerful Zombie Puppet like her would undoubtedly make his actions much safer and more convenient.

However, with his current level of Psychic Power, forcibly controlling an Advanced Zombie would likely have two severe consequences, even if he succeeded.

First, Ling Mo’s Psychic Power could be completely exhausted, potentially causing him to lose control over Ye Lian and Xia Na, severing their Psychic Link.

The second possibility was that Li Yalin’s consciousness could be entirely obliterated. While she wouldn’t regress to a mindless state, it wasn’t impossible that she could end up brain-dead.

But since Li Yalin was unconscious at the moment, it was worth a try.

Having made up his mind, Ling Mo decided to see if he could successfully control Li Yalin. If he failed, well, it would be her bad luck.

After all, just leaving her here wasn’t Ling Mo’s style… Who knows if she would come looking for trouble after waking up?

Although she might not have intended to eat Ling Mo before, after being ambushed by him, she might hold a grudge.

“That brain…” Xia Na still held her Long Knife, her blood-red eyes fixated on Li Yalin’s hindbrain.

“Can we not obsess over brains? Let me try first,” Ling Mo said helplessly.

After releasing his Psychic Tentacles, Li Yalin’s condition changed in Ling Mo’s eyes.

A blood-red Psychic Light Cluster appeared before him. Although it still looked somewhat chaotic, it was clear that her consciousness had indeed recovered significantly.

However, once unconscious, the fluctuations in her spirit weakened considerably, making it a good opportunity to try.

Ling Mo carefully controlled his Psychic Tentacles to approach Li Yalin’s Psychic Light Cluster, meticulously searching for a weak point in the cluster, quietly waiting for an opening to appear.

Success or failure hinged on this moment! And there would be no second chance!

At this moment, Ling Mo’s Psychic Power reached a peak of concentration. His Psychic Tentacle, like a truly living appendage, cautiously probed the reactions of the Psychic Light Cluster.

Rebound… Rebound… The instinctual resistance from the depths of Li Yalin’s consciousness made Ling Mo’s control efforts extremely difficult. Within just a minute, his forehead was already covered in cold sweat!

Though Xia Na and Ye Lian didn’t fully understand what Ling Mo was doing, they noticed his increasingly pale face and the sweat pouring down, prompting them to move closer in concern.

After a moment of hesitation, Ye Lian even reached out with her sleeve to wipe the sweat from Ling Mo’s forehead.

Five minutes passed… Ling Mo felt as if his temples were about to burst. The intense headache made his scalp feel like it was being ripped apart.

However, the more intense the pain, the more Ling Mo’s determination was ignited!

If he couldn’t even control an unconscious Advanced Zombie, what was the point of all the effort he’d put into enhancing his Psychic Power?

It was like someone was stomping on his hard-earned progress and spitting on it!

Giving up easily? That wasn’t Ling Mo’s style!

Initially, Ling Mo had thought about resorting to extracting Li Yalin’s brain if he failed, but after this prolonged struggle, his fighting spirit was instead aroused!

Couldn’t find a weak point? Then concentrate the Psychic Power even more!

At this moment, Ling Mo was entirely focused. In his eyes and mind, there was only the Psychic Light Cluster!

Despite his high spirits, Ling Mo’s Psychic Tentacle remained cautious. Being daring didn’t mean being reckless and crazy!

This was perhaps Ling Mo’s biggest characteristic: He wasn’t short of adventurous spirit, but he was essentially careful.

But this cautiousness was forced upon him. To survive in the Apocalypse, one had to be careful. Yet his Superpower required him to take risks. At least when he first tried to control zombies, he took enormous risks!

After nearly ten minutes of grueling persistence, just as Ling Mo was about to reach his limit, his Psychic Tentacle finally found a point on Li Yalin’s Psychic Light Cluster where it could penetrate!

Ling Mo decisively controlled the Psychic Tentacle to probe in bit by bit, enduring the continuous resistance from Li Yalin’s instincts as he slowly delved deeper.

A few minutes later, Ling Mo let out a long breath and collapsed to the ground, completely exhausted.

Ye Lian and Xia Na quickly supported him, both of them hurriedly wiping the sweat from his face.

“Ling-Ge, are you okay?” Xia Na asked anxiously. Despite her bloodthirsty behavior after advancing, she still cared deeply for Ling Mo.

Ye Lian also looked at Ling Mo with unease. This was probably the first time they had seen his face so pale.

In reality, Ling Mo was on the verge of passing out. Forcibly controlling an Advanced Zombie was no easy feat.

But once successful, it meant he had gained an extremely powerful ally. After all, Li Yalin’s displayed strength was formidable.

For Ling Mo, this was also an opportunity to test the limits of his Psychic Power. Although the victory was hard-won, maintaining a high level of concentration and finely controlling the Psychic Tentacle gave him a new, subtle understanding of his abilities.

However, he had no time to ponder these insights now; all he wanted was a good sleep.

As for Li Yalin… once she woke up, she would naturally realize that a Psychic Link had been successfully established between her and Ling Mo.

Once such a link was formed, any attempt by the Zombie Puppet to resist would be extremely dangerous for them. Best case, they would suffer psychic trauma; worst case, they could become brain-dead.

Of course, if Ling Mo’s Psychic Power was insufficient, that would be a different story.

After helping Ling Mo up, Xia Na glanced at Li Yalin, who was still lying on the ground.

The moment Ling Mo successfully controlled Li Yalin, both she and Ye Lian felt a faint sense of familiarity from her.

“What should we do with her?” Xia Na asked.

Ling Mo rubbed his temples with difficulty and said, “As long as we don’t extract her brain, it’ll be fine…”

“Oh…” Xia Na’s tone was calm, but her gaze towards Li Yalin suddenly turned a bit eerie…