Chapter 146 – The More Beautiful the Exterior, the More Dangerous the Interior

The night passed, and the fire had long been extinguished.

Since the nearby streets were lined with tall buildings, there weren’t many Zombies that noticed the firelight here.

Even so, when Ling Mo and his group stepped out of the building and looked towards the Mall, they saw that around a hundred or two Zombies were wandering at the street corner.

Seeing the remnants in the daylight brought a chilling sensation, running from their feet to the tops of their heads.

Inside there, there must be the bodies of thousands of Zombies… it could be called a massive crematorium!

Ling Mo paid special attention to that place partly out of curiosity and partly because he was still hoping to find some Gel inside.

While Luo Heng and his group cautiously began to gather supplies along the roadside, Ling Mo found an opportunity to approach the ruins and controlled a few Zombies, sending these Zombie Puppets into the debris to search for Gel.

Meanwhile, he and the three female Zombies were also searching the shops for some currently needed items.

However, Ling Mo didn’t notice the deep disappointment in Wang Lin’s eyes when she saw them walking away along the roadside without looking back.

“What’s wrong? Are you still reluctant to leave them?” Zhang Ning asked suddenly, her tone full of meaning. Supporting Wang Lin, she naturally noticed her unusual behavior.

Wang Lin’s expression changed slightly, then she snorted coldly, speaking in a disdainful tone, “Who’s reluctant to leave them! They’re just living a bit better now, but in the end, aren’t they still Survivors? Once we settle down in the countryside, they’ll be the ones envying me! How dare they say I’m weak and not even introduce me to others? Just wait… those who look down on me, one day I’ll make you see me in a new light! Xia Na… and… that Brother-in-law…”

As she muttered the last few words almost to herself, her fists clenched tightly.

But Zhang Ning, staring at her still somewhat childish face for a moment, couldn’t help but say, “Hey… Wang Lin, though your ambitions are commendable, we should find you a hat first.”

“Hmm? Why?”

“…The weather’s getting cold…”

Meanwhile, Ling Mo was controlling the Zombies to search for Virus Gel among the disgusting charred bodies, trying to distract himself by chatting. “Xia Na, if you want to say goodbye to Wang Lin, go ahead. This might be the last chance you get to see her. We’ll likely be staying here for a long time.”

Xia Na was holding a deformed milk pot over Ye Lian’s head, and upon hearing Ling Mo’s words, a strange look flashed in her eyes. Her tone was indifferent: “No need. Even though we’re blood-related and share many memories, she’s human after all.”

“Uh… aren’t I human too?” Ling Mo found Xia Na’s reasoning hard to understand. To be precise, he couldn’t keep up with the Zombies’ way of thinking.

Although he had essentially nurtured two Advanced Zombies himself, they had only recently regained a portion of their intelligence. Moreover, Xia Na was an exception among Zombies, and her situation was probably unique compared to other Zombies.

Ye Lian pushed the milk pot away from her head and turned to look at Ling Mo, her bright eyes shining like the night: “But… but Ling-Ge… is completely… different…”

“Then tell me, what exactly is different?” Ling Mo asked with a mischievous smile. “Could it be because we have some special connections, like we’ve seen each other naked or something?”

He was currently facing countless charred and stinking Zombie pieces through his other perspectives. If he didn’t lighten the mood with these two girls, he felt he might vomit from the disgust.

Li Yalin glared at Ling Mo before awkwardly interjecting, “Humans… are not… different…”

Ling Mo thought to himself that although Li Yalin and Ye Lian both seemed to search their memories for words when speaking, giving them a somewhat stuttered speech, their tones were entirely different.

Li Yalin was a pure Advanced Zombie. When she spoke to Ling Mo, there was a deep chill in her tone, and even a hint of hostility in her eyes. Of course, this was also because Ling Mo had only recently established a Psychic Link with her.

However, her attitude made it clear that Zombies and humans were indeed two inherently opposing species.

Despite reaching this level, Li Yalin no longer had a necessary craving for ordinary flesh, whether it was from Zombies or humans.

She could ignore the presence of these lower-level Zombies, but her desire to attack humans was still quite intense. Her ambush on Ling Mo during their first encounter said it all. If she hadn’t remembered him, she wouldn’t have attempted to talk the second time.

Ye Lian was different. She had established a Psychic Link with Ling Mo even before she gained consciousness as a Mutation Zombie. For her and Xia Na, Ling Mo was indeed different from ordinary humans.

So when Ling Mo asked the question, he already had an answer in mind. It had to be because of the deep Psychic Link. But to his surprise, Ye Lian shook her head and earnestly said: “The longer… the time, the more I feel… Ling-Ge’s… oh right, soul. Ling-Ge’s soul is… the same as ours.”

“Pfft!”

Ling Mo almost spat out his drink, but then Xia Na nodded in agreement: “Yes, although the taste is human, the soul is the same as ours.”

“That’s impossible…” However, before he could finish, Ling Mo thought of his Psychic Light Cluster, which indeed, like theirs, was a frenzied red color.

Moreover, as the two female Zombies continued to evolve, his Psychic Light Cluster became more and more like theirs.

Could his inner self really have become a Zombie? Ling Mo chuckled and shook his head, deciding not to dwell on the matter.

Whether his soul was a Zombie or not didn’t matter to him. Of course, he would never allow himself to become one of those mindless Zombies.

At this moment, Ling Mo’s Zombie Puppet had made a discovery. Amidst the charred bodies scattered across the ruins, they actually found a bit of Virus Gel.

When he said “a bit,” it was because it was truly just a tiny amount… A Zombie, bending low and slowly moving through the corpse pile, suddenly stopped. It reached out and picked a small, blood-red gel from the burnt-through skull of a charred body.

It was about the size of a grain of rice, but it was as vivid as blood. In the sunlight, it glowed like a gem, exuding a strange and eerie aura.

In peaceful times, someone might have mistaken this for a real gemstone. Who would have thought that such a beautiful thing could come from the brain of a grotesque, frenzied Zombie? And no one would have guessed that the terrifying Virus, when solidified, would look so dazzling.

Indeed, the more beautiful something is, the more dangerous it often proves to be. The saying that beauty can be a curse certainly applies… Although it was condensed into a tiny piece, it looked purer than the Virus Gel typically found in Mutation Zombies’ brains. Ling Mo felt a surge of joy and hurriedly controlled the Zombie to continue searching.

Meanwhile, he himself planned to keep looking for supplies in the shops. But before that, he grabbed Xia Na, who was about to walk further inside, and looked deeply into her eyes. He asked, “Did you really punish Ding Yu just because he made you angry? Wasn’t there even a little part of you that wanted to help Wang Lin?”

His question was sudden. Xia Na blinked and then curved her lips into a strange smile.

She didn’t say anything in response. Instead, just as Ling Mo was about to speak again, she stood on tiptoe and pressed her cold lips against his, her soft tongue slipping into his mouth, teasing his senses.

Ling Mo was initially stunned, but then a hint of amusement flashed in his eyes. He hadn’t expected Xia Na to use this method to shut him up. She perfectly illustrated the phrase “actions speak louder than words”… Since Xia Na was being proactive, Ling Mo certainly wouldn’t hold back. He wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her passionately.

However, Ling Mo didn’t notice that while their lips and tongues were entwined, Li Yalin was watching their every move intently…