Chapter 273 – Intimidation

Inside the International Building.

Ling Mo squeezed through the deformed door gap, frowning at the sight of zombie corpses strewn across the lobby floor.

Some of these corpses had no external wounds and their expressions were eerily normal, indicating that they were at least Mutation Zombies.

“These must have been killed by superhumans, right? Su Qianrou said this team is very strong, and it seems she was right.”

Ling Mo stepped over two bodies and looked further into the lobby.

“Click.”

The faint sound of a rifle bolt being pulled suddenly reached his ears. Ling Mo immediately looked up toward the second floor.

Behind the corridor railing, a figure in camouflage stood up, aiming a rifle at Ling Mo’s head.

A sense of danger instantly washed over Ling Mo, and his expression turned grim.

This person was actually pointing a gun at him…

His Psychic Tentacle shot out, wrapping around the person’s Psychic Light Cluster and giving it a hard twist.

The person immediately let out a muffled groan, their body going limp, and the rifle clattered to the ground.

Ling Mo leapt forward, swiftly rushing to the railing and catching the rifle in mid-air.

The person wobbled for a few seconds before regaining their balance. But as soon as they reached the railing, they saw Ling Mo aiming the rifle right at their head.

After a brief moment of eye contact, Ling Mo gave a faint smile and lowered the gun.

“I’m Ling Mo. Chief of Staff Su sent me to join up with you.”

A few minutes later, Ling Mo and his group were led to a large office on the fourth floor.

Several people were organizing their backpacks while others were laying sofa cushions in the corners.

Two individuals were sitting on the sofa. Upon seeing Ling Mo and his group, they immediately stood up.

One of them, a woman in a tracksuit with a hood covering most of her face, extended a slender hand towards Ling Mo and said, “You arrived faster than I expected. We only got here five minutes ago. Hello, I’m captain Xia Zhining.”

Clearing an entire building in just five minutes? Impressive speed…

Ling Mo was astonished but maintained a calm exterior as he shook her hand. “Hello, I’m Ling Mo.”

Another young man with dark circles under his eyes extended his hand as well. “I’m Vice Captain Chen Youdong. I hope we have a successful collaboration.”

As he spoke, his eyes shifted to the rifle in Ling Mo’s hand, then he glanced disapprovingly at the team member standing nearby.

The team member looked embarrassed and said sheepishly, “Well… I just didn’t see clearly…”

The other team members in the room had already turned their attention to them, looking quite surprised.

Knowing to stop while ahead, Ling Mo turned and tossed the rifle back to the team member, saying, “A loaded gun is very dangerous.”

The team member caught it and gave Ling Mo a wary look.

“These three must be your companions, right? So, these two are the survivors we’re taking back with us?” Xia Zhining asked, looking past Ling Mo.

The striking appearance of Ye Lian and the three girls caught many eyes, but these were warriors used to living on the edge of death. At most, they gave them a couple of surprised glances.

Beauty has its allure, but these girls were following a superhuman, one capable of disarming a team member.

With just this brief incident, Ling Mo had shown enough to command respect.

While some still harbored doubts about Ling Mo’s strength, none would openly challenge him now.

Zhang Er pulled Li Wei and stepped forward, saying loudly, “Yes, that’s us!”

“Good spirit,” Xia Zhining said indifferently, then turned and waved to a middle-aged man.

The man had one arm in a sling around his neck, with a rifle tucked awkwardly under his arm.

“This man and five other injured members will return to the camp tomorrow with the supplies we’ve gathered. You two will go with them,” Xia Zhining said, addressing Li Wei and Zhang Er, but her slender eyes were fixed on Ling Mo, as if seeking his approval.

Ling Mo nodded, indicating he had no objections.

Although these people were injured, the fact that Xia Zhining entrusted the supplies to them showed they had enough strength to safely return to the camp.

The middle-aged man frowned at Li Wei and Zhang Er, his voice gruff as he said, “Keep up tomorrow, don’t fall behind.”

“We won’t!” Zhang Er replied, lifting his chin confidently.

“You’ve got guts, kid. Come with me. I’ll brief you on the route we’re taking tomorrow and some precautions, so we don’t run into any unnecessary trouble,” the man said, patting Zhang Er on the shoulder.

Li Wei glanced back at Ling Mo nervously before following along.

“Come sit over here. While we still have time, I’ll go over tomorrow’s mission with you,” Xia Zhining said, walking over and pulling a map out of her backpack.

“This location,” she pointed to the warehouse of a pharmaceutical company, then traced her finger toward the city center and finally stopped near a hospital, “Team Tom went missing around this area.”

“This is in line with the Gaoxin Development Zone,” Chen Youdong added. “Another team lost contact entirely in the Gaoxin Development Zone.”

Xia Zhining nodded and continued, “After that team went missing, the Liaison Officer contacted our two teams. Given that Team Tom was closer, they were ordered to investigate. Unfortunately, they quickly found themselves in danger. I haven’t informed the team about the exact nature of the danger yet, but based on the information we have, it’s likely a horde of Zombies that have undergone secondary mutations.”

“Are there a lot of them?” Ling Mo asked, frowning at the map.

A hint of gravity flashed in Chen Youdong’s eyes as he replied, “We can’t estimate the number. But to take out two Search and Rescue Squads consecutively, it’s likely not just a matter of quantity. Chief of Staff Su warned that these Zombies might have significant individual combat strength, and we can’t use the usual tactics against them.”

“Can’t you give a rough estimate?” Ling Mo pressed.

Xia Zhining thought for a moment, tapping her fingers before saying, “Roughly… a few hundred, perhaps.”

“Hundreds of them… That’s no small number. Variation Zombies,” Ling Mo mused. “If their physical characteristics have changed, they’re likely variation zombies.”

“That’s indeed the case,” Xia Zhining nodded, looking somewhat surprised at Ling Mo. “It seems you’ve encountered these… variation zombies before?”

“Yeah, I have. I saw them at a biological research facility. It seemed like the Virus mutated after merging with all sorts of things, creating these monsters. Their combat strength is indeed formidable, almost comparable to Advanced Zombies. However, their Intelligence is much lower, which is probably their biggest weakness,” Ling Mo explained.

There was no need to hide this information. The danger posed by variation zombies is significant; for ordinary Survivors, it’s akin to a secondary disaster.

“If their intelligence is low, that’s somewhat reassuring. But from the reports, it seems they’re acting under some kind of directive,” Chen Youdong said hesitantly, glancing at Ling Mo. “However, this information isn’t confirmed. Sun Zeya, who was responsible for the report, lost contact with the Camp halfway through. She might have already…”

“Sun Zeya…”

The image of a bathtub scene with Sun Zeya flashed in Ling Mo’s mind. Although he didn’t have a deep connection with her, hearing that she might have perished left him feeling uneasy.

“Regardless, we need to check it out first. Acting rashly might cost us all,” Xia Zhining said, giving Ling Mo a deep look. “Vice Captain Sun has a high regard for your abilities. While this cooperation will be led by us with you assisting, I hope that during our collaboration, both sides will consider each other’s opinions and not act unilaterally.”

“That’s what I wanted to say as well,” Ling Mo replied with a slight smile.

Xia Zhining nodded and added, “Rest here for tonight, gather your strength, and we’ll set out tomorrow!”