Chapter 533 – Humans Are Terrifying

The video clips continued to play.

However, many of the following scenes were mangled by No.0, making them quite disjointed. After carefully examining these incomplete segments, Ling Mo came to a summary of the information.

Niepan—this was the name of the organization.

From what Jianqi had gathered, this was a vast organization that essentially covered X City, F City, and the surrounding three provinces.

These three provinces were the most industrially and commercially developed and densely populated regions in the southwest.

Before the Cataclysm, having a business presence across three provinces wouldn’t have been particularly shocking. But after the Cataclysm, for an organization that could extend its reach to cover three provinces, Ling Mo could only sincerely say: Impressive!

Niepan’s method of expanding its influence was not complicated. Their members were active in different areas within these three provinces. For instance, the type Jianqi encountered was called the Hunting Squad, which specialized in hunting various representative Zombies and mutation beasts, and even collecting plant specimens. Another group was responsible for gathering special materials, such as pharmaceuticals. There was also a group that handled intelligence gathering. This last group was the most mysterious; Jianqi had only heard about them but had never encountered any of them.

When these members were active, if they encountered suitable superhumans or survivors with potential, they would recruit them as the lowest tier members.

Jianqi was one such case. Within Niepan, he was merely a Low-Level, Level 9 member.

Regardless of their rank, there was only one way for members to climb higher… Points!

Whether it was collecting supplies, recruiting new members, or providing new intelligence… In short, as long as they made contributions useful to Niepan, they could earn Points.

Once Points reached a certain level, their rank could rise, and the resources and connections they gained would increase accordingly.

Jianqi only knew the benefits of advancing from Level 9 to Level 8.

When he was still at Level 9, although he could gather some intelligence from Niepan and receive some support… For instance, when he and others joined F Team, the veteran members who threatened his status and secrecy were taken away by people sent by Niepan with his coordination. After that, F Team was essentially under his control.

New members, like Lucy, had no idea who Jianqi really was and were completely unaware of the danger they were in.

Jianqi acted with extreme caution and wore a convincing mask. If it weren’t for falling into Ling Mo’s hands this time, he probably would have completed his mission.

However, in Niepan, his situation was just the lowest level of treatment.

Once he climbed to Level 8, he could become the superior of several Level 9 members and have priority access to more intelligence.

But Jianqi was not content with climbing step by step, so he took a more extreme approach.

He joined Niepan’s research on the virus origin and used all the superhumans gathered in Fire as his experimental subjects…

This was all the intelligence Ling Mo had obtained for now.

Although he didn’t have a direct understanding of the virus origin, it was impossible for Niepan to have no achievements when researching a topic with such a vast network.

For example, the reason Jianqi could develop this elixir was because of some support he received from Niepan.

But all the detailed intelligence in this area had been chewed up by No.0.

It seemed that No.0’s chewing was quite targeted. Ling Mo couldn’t help but feel a surge of anger and wanted to crush it on the spot.

Since this intelligence was summarized from fragmented memories, Ling Mo could only guess some details.

For example, the Points system… It was probably similar to performance metrics. In peacetime, it wouldn’t be difficult to keep track, but in this paralyzed era, tracking the Points of Niepan members scattered across three provinces seemed impossible.

But… Niepan had No.0!

If No.0 could leave an Anti-betrayal Device in Jianqi’s mind, it could naturally do the same in other members’ minds.

Moreover, this device’s function was not only to prevent betrayal but also to establish contact with the members.

Points tracking was likely also handled by No.0.

What truly shocked Ling Mo was that, under normal circumstances, even if ten mental ability superhumans combined their efforts, they wouldn’t be able to accomplish such a colossal task!

“If it were me…”

Ling Mo compared his total psychic power with No.0’s and then gloomily realized that if he had No.0’s ability, he could manage at most 500 people simultaneously. Moreover, he wouldn’t be able to handle receiving feedback from too many people at once. This level of consumption would only last for about a week before his brain would crash…

After feeling frustrated, Ling Mo couldn’t help but show a hint of a longing smile: “So, No.0 is quite interesting… If I could absorb No.0…”

Thinking about this, Ling Mo’s heartbeat suddenly quickened!

If he absorbed No.0, his psychic power could reach an unimaginable level!

Not to mention controlling twenty Zombies simultaneously, even controlling a hundred wouldn’t be a problem!

However, the premise is that Ling Mo could send so many psychic commands simultaneously without driving himself crazy…

But in any case, having super-strong mental energy means incredible endurance, which also means Ling Mo could last longer in battles!

Just the thought was exciting!

“Wait, wait…”

Ling Mo gradually calmed down. Not to mention that he currently had no way of finding No.0, even if he could find it, could he eliminate No.0? Even if he did, with his current capacity, where would he store all that mental energy? Besides blowing his own head off, there seemed to be no other way…

“Got carried away thinking too far ahead. I should focus on what’s right in front of me first…”

Ling Mo opened his eyes, which he had just closed, and looked at Jianqi: “What should we do with this guy?”

Strictly speaking, Jianqi wasn’t dead… he had just become an utterly empty shell.

Lucy looked at Jianqi with a complicated expression and asked, “Can I take him? I need to let everyone know about this.”

“Sure.” Having someone to help clean up was exactly what Ling Mo wanted. Killing Jianqi here and disposing of the body would be a hassle.

“Thank you,” Lucy said.

“Uh… you’re welcome.” Ling Mo felt a bit awkward. With Jianqi still at their feet, being thanked felt rather strange.

“If you hadn’t told me, who knows… Maybe Jianqi was right, I am too naive,” Lucy said with a hint of melancholy. Unlike Ling Mo, she hadn’t gleaned as much intelligence from this incident. To her, it was just a mission to clear out a traitor. The experience wasn’t exactly satisfying; it was somewhat saddening.

However, Ling Mo’s help had saved the lives of everyone in F Team. Thinking about this, Lucy felt both fortunate and deeply moved.

“Ahem…”

“If you want to laugh, just laugh. I know I’m naive,” Lucy said with a mix of resentment and self-deprecation.

“I didn’t mean it that way,” Ling Mo replied.

“You were laughing earlier… You don’t have to console me. I know you think I’m naive too,” Lucy insisted.

Ling Mo felt exasperated. Why are human girls so complicated?

But as soon as this thought crossed his mind, Ling Mo quickly shook his head.

This isn’t right! I’m a human too; I can’t just back down like this!

“Um…” Ling Mo thought for a moment, then suddenly reached out and patted Lucy on the shoulder, saying sincerely, “You can still improve. Keep it up!”

Lucy was stunned at first, then stood there speechless for a moment, before suddenly lifting her foot and stomping hard on Ling Mo’s instep.

“Ow!”

“You… jerk!” Lucy cursed through gritted teeth. After taking a couple of steps, she remembered she had left Jianqi’s empty shell behind, so she gritted her teeth and went back.

She glared at Ling Mo, who was clutching his foot, and stomped on his other foot, letting out a heavy “Hmph!” before grabbing Jianqi and slowly walking down the hallway.

“Ah!!! What did I say wrong! You were the one forcing me to admit you were naive! I admitted it, and I even encouraged you! How could you stomp on me?”

Ling Mo hopped around in pain, then threw himself onto Ye Lian: “Ye Lian, you are so much better. Humans are terrifying… Ow! Don’t bite!”

However, no one noticed that around the corner at the end of the hallway, someone was leaning against the wall.

This person, upon hearing Ling Mo’s yelp, couldn’t help but smile slightly before uncrossing their arms and disappearing down the hallway…

“Ye Lian, let me tell you, don’t you want to regain your humanity?” Ling Mo was still holding onto Ye Lian. Although Ye Lian couldn’t help but feel the urge to bite whenever she saw his exposed neck, Ling Mo felt quite warm inside.

Ye Lian nodded and exchanged a glance with Xia Na behind Ling Mo… The long-haired girl was using her hand to measure Ling Mo’s butt and then brought her two fingers together…

“Warning you, idiot, if you try the ‘Thousand Years of Death’ on me again, we’re going to have a problem…” Ling Mo said, almost as if he had premonition. “Ye Lian, are you serious about your desire?”

“Che…” Xia Na reluctantly dropped her hand and then turned to look at Li Yalin’s perky butt, quietly reaching out her hand…

Ye Lian nodded again: “Mm… Mm. Because… when you look at me… you always… always seem to be reminiscing…”

“Reminiscing?”

Ling Mo was momentarily stunned, then he understood.

Indeed, he had many memories with Ye Lian. Sometimes looking at her, he couldn’t help but think about the past.

It’s not just that he was deeply attached to their shared past, but also because in this chaotic world, he often couldn’t help but recall those ordinary yet peaceful days.

Ling Mo thought about it, then hugged Ye Lian tightly and whispered, “I’m sorry…”

“It’s okay…” Ye Lian shook her head. “Humans say… sorry… when they treat someone badly… but Ling-Ge treats me… very well… I also want to be with you… reminiscing… I want to be like Nana, to feel what you… feel…”

“Ye Lian…”