Chapter 193 – A Fresh Experience

The tentacle girl was still outside the door. Stella led the group to another side of the building, and after making a loop, they found themselves back in the room where they had previously met Zhao Zhi and others.

However, when she went to open the door, Stella suddenly shivered all over and then turned back with a look of despair.

“No… no…”

Seeing her expression, Old Wang hurried forward and tugged at the door.

“Locked.”

“It seems he doesn’t trust you after all but has decided to use you as Nutrient,” 2 said, touching his chin with a hint of a smile. “It looks like they’ve already sided together and decided to abandon you.”

“No… Mo Da Hai is supposed to help me, no!”

In her despair, Stella even blurted out a few words in English, which Ling Mo didn’t understand at all.

“Let me… let me try,” said Ye Lian suddenly, and everyone quickly stepped aside.

They watched as Ye Lian slowly inserted the blade of her Tiger Claw into the keyhole and began to twist it gently. Ling Mo couldn’t help but widen his eyes.

He didn’t expect Ye Lian’s Intelligence to have recovered to such an extent that she knew how to pick locks…

Wait a minute, this didn’t match his impression of Ye Lian at all. She shouldn’t have known how to pick locks before.

Ling Mo immediately turned his gaze to Xia Na, who, sure enough, had a slightly mischievous smile on her face.

This little troublemaker had been teaching Ye Lian bad things again…

Though Ye Lian initially failed a few times, as a Zombie, she was actually quite patient. It was similar to how zombies could single-mindedly chase their prey…

Ling Mo wanted to use his Telekinesis to see if he could unlock the door, but it turned out his Psychic Power wasn’t sufficient for such precise operations. He could only assist Ye Lian a bit.

Focusing his Psychic Power, Ling Mo’s Psychic Tentacle locked onto the handle behind the door. As Ye Lian turned the lock cylinder, it slowly twisted in unison.

But it was a tough job, and Ling Mo’s forehead soon became covered in cold sweat.

Just then, a “bang bang” noise came again from a distance. Ling Mo immediately frowned, “What’s going on? They’re chasing us again so soon!”

“The Toxic Monster was too weak to blow himself up without taking that woman down with him!” Xia Na grumbled in dissatisfaction. “What’s the point of self-destruction if it can’t even deal with a human-shaped Spider Lady?”

“But… but…”

Li Yalin, who had previously launched a surprise attack on the Toxic Monster with little effect, now puffed out her chest to defend herself upon hearing Xia Na’s critique. However, she couldn’t articulate her thoughts clearly enough to win the argument with Xia Na.

In Ling Mo’s view, the obese Toxic Monster was simply at a disadvantage because of the environment. Given its size, the corridor was too narrow.

Moreover, the group had firearms, crossbow bolts, and Ling Mo himself, a Psychic Type superhuman, who could remotely restrain it.

If they had been in another location, the fatty would definitely have been the most powerful one.

Ling Mo wondered whether the puddle of Venom on the ground would be absorbed by the Tentacle Monster girl. Her tentacles seemed to leave nothing untouched; she might even carry yet another variation of the Virus.

Although Ling Mo didn’t know much about Viruses, he knew that with their motley crew of abilities and conditions, the Toxic Monster or Spider Lady could be considered just one type of dominant Virus.

Their flesh likely contained enumerable unknown mutated Viruses.

These were truly composites of Viruses and human products. They were unintentionally born, but without Zhao Zhi’s nurturing, they would never have broken free and would have remained hidden forever.

“Madmen aren’t scary. What’s scary is a madman with knowledge. Even scarier is a knowledgeable madman with superpowers!” Ling Mo cursed inwardly.

“Click!”

Thanks to Ling Mo’s assistance, Ye Lian finally managed to pick the lock.

Yet the door was indeed very thick. Old Luo had said they would need explosives to break it open, and he wasn’t exaggerating.

Suddenly, a tentacle appeared at the door, only to be shot and forced to retreat by Old Wang, who had been aiming at it. “Bang!”

“Wasn’t her legs crippled? How is she so fast?” 2 exclaimed in shock.

Ling Mo observed that numerous tentacles had appeared at the doorway. Climbing walls using these tentacles was clearly not difficult for her.

It seemed that the mutated Zombie woman had indeed absorbed the Toxic Monster’s Virus, resulting in even more Tentacles…

She was hard to kill, and once her Tentacles spread out, who knows who inside here could get hurt.

Especially Meng Jiayu, she and Zhang Haoyu were the most vulnerable right now…

“Stella! Is there another way up from B3?” Ling Mo suddenly turned and asked.

Stella was still immersed in despair and the pain of being abandoned. Ling Mo grabbed her shoulders and shook her forcefully, “Stella!”

“There’s only this path… but with the power restored, they could use the elevator…” Startled by Ling Mo, Stella shuddered and almost instinctively answered.

“Good.”

A cold smile appeared at the corner of Ling Mo’s mouth.

“Everyone retreat, let the Tentacle… let the Zombie in!”

Old Wang hesitated for a moment but quickly stepped back.

Ling Mo directed everyone to temporarily hide in the Monitoring Room, leaving himself and 2 behind.

“Lead her down to the third floor…”

Before Ling Mo could finish, 2’s face lit up with excitement.

“You mean you want me to be the bait? How could you think of me for such a dangerous task? I could easily get tangled up by those Tentacles and be squeezed dry, bit by bit… But Ling Mo, you know me so well. How could I miss such a challenging job? To tell the truth, I’ve been bait countless times before, whether it was to distract doctors, nurses, police officers, or even girls who were guarding their underwear… But I’ve never lured a Zombie girl full of Tentacles before!”

Seeing 2’s eager expression, Ling Mo couldn’t help but consider whether he should lock him up on the third floor afterward.

“I originally planned to go myself… but since you’re so enthusiastic, you go. Don’t worry, I’ll be there to support you. She’s likely to be stunned for a second or two; that’s when you can launch a Psychic Storm. Whether it works or not, run back immediately. I’ve already scanned the area, and there’s currently no one behind the door, but still, be cautious.”

Ling Mo finally sighed and gave his instructions.

Although 2 could be annoying, he always fought alongside Ling Mo’s team. Despite his curiosity as his main motivation, Ling Mo wasn’t heartless.

“Go!” Ling Mo instructed.

By now, the Tentacle Monster girl had fully appeared at the doorway. Even though they had been apart for just ten minutes, it seemed like meeting an entirely new person—one couldn’t help but be impressed.

Absorbing the Venom from the Toxic Monster, her Tentacles became even redder. As they snaked up the walls, they resembled countless blood threads slowly extending from the surface.

A peculiar beauty indeed!

Moreover, for some reason, Ling Mo sensed a sudden and significant increase in the Psychic Power fluctuation of Ye Lian and the three girls. It seemed they were subtly attracted to this Tentacle Monster girl.

Could it be that the Venom combined with her internal toxins caused a new variation?

What made Ling Mo’s skin crawl the most was realizing that he, too, was somehow responding to this strange allure!

Otherwise, how could he find those Tentacles beautiful?

Normal people wouldn’t think that way!

Thankfully, he had an abnormal person by his side. Borrowing Zhang Haoyu’s handgun, 2 aimed at the Tentacle Monster girl and started firing wildly: “Hahaha, come with me, girl, I’ll take you to see goldfish…”

“Careful, you might not keep your goldfish,” Ling Mo warned while discreetly retreating.

He had already prepared his Psychic Tentacles, ready to bind the Tentacle Monster girl at any moment to give 2 time to escape.

Although it would be more suitable for him to do this task since he was much more agile than 2…

Every glance at the Tentacle Monster girl made Ling Mo feel like rushing over to embrace her…

In contrast, Ye Lian and the three girls were slightly calmer, even though they were also intensely focused on those Tentacles.

“Why? Could it be because of the scent?”

The Tentacle Monster girl’s attention was successfully diverted towards 2. However, her combat abilities had indeed skyrocketed. Several Tentacles shielded her, breaking apart but still managing to block the bullets.

It seemed like it would really take the concentrated firepower of a dozen guns to take her down…

Some of the Tentacles also reached out towards them, but Ling Mo’s Psychic Tentacles diverted them all, leaving numerous small holes in the surrounding walls and floor.

Moreover, faint smoke began to rise from those holes!

“Holy crap!”

Ling Mo thought how lucky they were. This girl had truly become a real Tentacle Monster now, and her Tentacles were far stronger than his Psychic Tentacles.

Upgrading his Tentacles had become an urgent necessity, filling him with an immediate sense of crisis.

With only Ling Mo and 2 inside the room, the Tentacle Monster girl couldn’t utilize her full strength.

As 2 quickly retreated towards the door, the Tentacle Monster girl followed closely.

She seemed to have some interest in Ling Mo, but he had already moved into a corner of the room. Her Tentacles were diverted again by Ling Mo’s Psychic Tentacles.

“Bang!”

2 fired another shot, grabbed a flashlight, and then disappeared into the darkness, shouting loudly, “Ling Mo, don’t sell me out this time!”

“Just go, don’t worry.”

“Alright! Wait, why do I feel like something’s not right…”

The Tentacle Monster girl was finally hurt by 2. After all, too many of her Tentacles had been severed, and she had also been hit in the leg.

She hooked a Tentacle onto a light fixture, swung, and then disappeared behind the door.

From the darkness immediately came 2’s panicked shouts, gradually fading away. Ling Mo quickly ran to the door.

“It’s almost time!”

At a thousand meters out, Ling Mo’s Psychic Tentacles would be ineffective, and their effectiveness diminished with distance. In fact, at that range, they could hardly even detect anything.

The principal issue was that the Psychic Tentacles could only penetrate a limited number of obstacles, making long-distance horizontal, vertical, or downward detection currently impossible.

To reach that level, there was only one solution: increase his Psychic Power.

“Ling Mo!”

Guiding his Psychic Tentacles after two Psychic Fluctuations, the differences between the Zombie’s and the human’s Psychic Light Clusters were quite discernible.

Additionally, a small light dot was visible far ahead, but it seemed to disappear around a corner.

“Now’s the time!”

Ling Mo immediately activated his Psychic Tentacles, using all his strength to temporarily halt the Psychic Light Cluster belonging to the Tentacle Monster!

At the same time, a hurricane-like Psychic Storm also struck this Psychic Light Cluster, prolonging her moment of paralysis!

Quickly, a light point rushed over. Just two seconds later, Ling Mo’s Psychic Tentacles were shaken off, and the Tentacle Monster girl immediately pursued.

“Hurry up!”

2 dashed forward urgently. Just as the Tentacle Monster girl’s silhouette came into view within a mere twenty-meter distance, he sprinted the last stretch.

“Bang!”

The door was slammed shut instantly.

“Bang! Bang!”

A series of thudding noises echoed from behind the door, but within moments, everything went silent.

“Go play with your boss.”

Ling Mo staggered, nearly collapsing to the ground, but Ye Lian and Xia Na rushed over simultaneously to support him.

As for 2, having no one to help him, he simply fell to the ground, catching hold of a Tentacle with a grin: “Ah, a souvenir.”