Chapter 385 – Harmless yet Thrilling Puppets

A small truck came to a halt at the entrance of the industrial park. With a clang, the cargo door swung open, and two people dressed in bear mascot costumes jumped out.

One bear wore a smiley face, the other a crying face; their matted fur was stained with subtly colored marks, which made them look not cute at all but rather unsettling.

After getting out, they turned around to drag out three gleaming homemade spears and an axe from the truck.

Another mascot squeezed out from the driver’s cabin, taking the form of a giant wolf.

“Here.” The crying bear handed one of the spears to the giant wolf, then steadied their wobbly mascot head.

The giant wolf asked in a muffled voice, “Did you take off your head again to play with it? Sister Rabbit will blow a fuse if she finds out. Speaking of which, where is she? Her scent gets hard to track at this spot. I hate places like this… it’s so uncomfortable…”

Before he could finish, a thud was heard, and the vengeful rabbit had already positioned herself atop the truck, then nimbly leaped down.

“Sister Rabbit!” The giant wolf quickly ceased his complaints and inquired, “What’s the situation now? We didn’t make any rash moves after hearing your signal. But there’s only one man among them; the rest are all women and even children. Why have us follow them here? There are loads of zombies around; isn’t it inconvenient to move?”

There was a tone of deference in the giant wolf’s voice. Even though his expression was hidden, it was clear from his humble intonation that he held a deep fear of the rabbit.

The rabbit shook her head and took the axe from the smiley bear, weighing it in her hand: “Huh? Big stupid wolf, are you questioning my judgment? Don’t forget who you owe your life to!”

Her tone was now far from the nervousness and fear she exhibited in front of Ling Mo and the others; instead, it was fierce, and even her gestures were domineering.

“No… I didn’t mean that…” the giant wolf said, bowing his head.

“Thump!”

With a swift motion, the rabbit slammed the axe into the ground, her other hand passing close to the giant wolf’s neck, smacking the side of the truck. The rabbit’s head was nearly knocking against the wolf’s: “Dragging around you weaklings is killing me! If I wasn’t so bored on my own, I’d have fed you all to the zombies already!”

“I’m… I’m sorry…”

“It’s not like everything depends on me now! Even for scouting, I have to do it myself! Can’t you be a little bit useful?” the rabbit continued to roar.

The giant wolf and the two bears hung their heads low, their voices barely audible, “We’re truly sorry for holding you back.”

“Tsk, claiming to be psychics awakened to powers, but in reality, psychics with useless abilities are a dime a dozen…” the rabbit muttered to herself, “And they dare to look down on them… even that kid could wipe the floor with you weaklings. Without my protective suit, you’d have died a hundred times over by now, or would have been infected long ago…”

As the rabbit harshly scolded them again in a clear voice, without lowering her tone, the three could only hang their heads in silence, not uttering a single word.

“Listen up, Big Stupid Wolf, they’ve got my scent on them. It’s your job to track them down,” said the Rabbit. “Mess up and lose the trail, and I’ll cut off your nose! You two bears know what to do. That woman who looks like she’s mixed, and that…,” she paused for a moment, her tone suddenly filled with resentment, “that tall and pretty woman, they’re mine! One stepped on me, the other dared to kick me…”

The Rabbit ground her teeth in frustration for a while before continuing, “In a nutshell, you all know what I’m capable of. Go off on your own and it won’t just be your own lives you’re risking, but mine as well! They’re carrying several backpacks, so they must have a good amount of supplies. Plus, that man has a distinct City X accent, which could be very useful for us since we’re planning to head there. Ha, they thought they could use me as a guide, but they had no idea I was onto them the moment they entered the city.”

“Hehehe…” The Rabbit’s laughter echoed intermittly from within her mascot head, sending chills down the spine against the eerie backdrop of the industrial district ruins.

The two bears exchanged a glance, while the Giant Wolf couldn’t wait and sniffed loudly.

If it couldn’t find the scent the Rabbit had left on them in the industrial park, it would be in for a rough time…

“This is their wrecked car.” About ten minutes later, the four terrifying mascots arrived at the location where Ling Mo and his group had abandoned their vehicle.

After they moved past the container truck, they came upon a section of the highway splattered with blood and littered with bones.

Many zombies were still wandering on the road, but since the four mascots were covered in old bloodstains and wrapped tightly in their mascot suits, they could pass safely, as long as the common zombies weren’t hungry and they didn’t make any sudden movements that might provoke an attack.

However, this approach was risky. A loud sneeze or a fart that released some kind of pollutant could trigger a mobbing, instantly surrounding them with zombies. Moreover, high-level zombies might find them very interesting…

But overall, in such a place, this method was still the most convenient for getting around.

“This…”

Smiley Bear’s voice was gloomy, not matching his appearance at all. To avoid attracting zombie attention, his voice was almost inaudible: “Their strength seems to be more than just decent… it’s… extremely strong.”

“Damn, were they hiding their real power when they were with me? I’m just a harmless and timid little Rabbit, and even I have to be cautious?” the Rabbit murmured while stepping over the disgusting remains, “This means we need to be even more careful.”

“Should we… just forget it? Let’s just go to City X on our own. We’ll just be extra careful,” Crying Bear suggested.

“Getting cold feet without even meeting them? If they’re strong, we don’t necessarily have to confront them head-on. There are so many zombies here; let them do the killing up front while we follow easily behind, grinding them down. Besides, we’ll adapt as needed. Once we reach City X, we might not be able to gather as much anyway. A single adventure is better than living on the edge every day, so let’s think this through!”

The rabbit hoisted the axe onto his shoulder, striding nonchalantly over the bloody fragments on the ground.

Some zombies sniffed the air and swayed their heads slowly, but ultimately did nothing.

Meanwhile, on a small path behind the factory, Ling Mo walked in the middle of the group, using his mental tentacles to probe the situation ahead.

Ban Yue was pulling a flatbed trailer that carried the maid girl, the sound of its rolling wheels piercingly sharp in the silent environment.

Xia Na and Yu Shiran were leading the group, about a hundred meters ahead of Ling Mo and the others.

“Roar!”

Upon seeing a few zombies wandering ahead, Yu Shiran casually approached them and suddenly let out a low growl.

The zombies scattered away in fear.

“Hehe, this method is really good,” Yu Shiran said excitedly, watching the zombies disappear into the factory, chuckling.

Xia Na glanced at her, touching the tips of her long hair, and commented, “Ignorance truly is bliss. Using a loud roar to display dominance and scare off lower beings… it’s a trick often used by certain monkeys. When Ling Mo says something like that, you should realize his suggestion is probably not well-intentioned.”

“…” Yu Shiran looked confused, clearly not understanding, but she quickly retorted, “Then why did you come?”

“That’s different,” Xia Na said with a slight smile, flipping her hair and moving to the front.

Her thoughts seemed to drift to that enchanting night, her smile widening into an unprecedentedly bright one.

But no one saw that expression…

The aluminum factory was the largest enterprise in this industrial park, evident from the many large trucks parked alongside the road.

Those vehicles had been waiting to load goods, but none of their drivers could have imagined that their fate would be completely rewritten while they waited.

By the time Ling Mo and his group arrived, this large factory had already turned into a playground for zombies and a graveyard for machines and humans after half a year of shutdown.

Wind blew through the gullies, echoing through the empty factory, with signs of explosions or fires visible everywhere.

Here lay a thorough and utter wasteland of death.