Chapter 31 – Awakening

In the bedroom, Xia Na was still unconscious, while Ye Lian sat by the bed, her unusually bright eyes fixed intently on Xia Na.

Ye Lian naturally didn’t eat regular food, and Ling Mo’s actions were merely a cover. But since he had said he was bringing in food, he had to stay for a while to make it look convincing. Taking advantage of this time, Ling Mo walked over to Xia Na and carefully observed her reactions.

For someone who had ingested two pieces of Virus Gel consecutively, Xia Na’s reaction was surprisingly calm. Her breathing was steady, her complexion normal, and there wasn’t the slightest hint of pain on her face. However, it was certain that beneath this calm exterior, a storm of the virus was raging within her. But no one knew what would be left of Xia Na after the storm subsided.

After observing Xia Na for a good ten minutes, Ling Mo finally returned to the living room. By this time, dusk had begun to fall. For safety, Ling Mo fully closed the curtains on the balcony and blocked the door with furniture. This way, even if an accident occurred, they could hold out for a while.

Wang Cheng and Liu Yuhao also became tense. Spending a night in such a completely unfamiliar, uncleaned environment was a bit too stimulating for them. Who knew when a zombie might pass by outside the door?

“Don’t make too much noise,” Ling Mo said calmly, merely giving this simple instruction.

“So, how do we arrange the watch tonight?” Liu Yuhao, evidently taking Ling Mo as the backbone of their group, nodded and immediately asked.

After thinking for a moment, Ling Mo said, “Each person will take a three-hour shift. Ye Lian will stay with Xia Na, and I’ll check on them during my watch.”

“No, Wang Cheng and I will take turns,” Liu Yuhao shook his head slowly and said, “You and Ye Lian should stay with Xia Na. It’s too exhausting for you to both keep watch and look after her. Wang Cheng and I don’t have much else to do right now, so this is something we can handle.”

Wang Cheng nodded in agreement, indicating he had no objection. Seeing their insistence, Ling Mo had no choice but to reluctantly agree.

In reality, keeping watch was no easy task!

As night fell, the once silent building began to emit various sounds, and occasionally, sounds could even be heard from above! Not to mention the noises coming from outside. Sitting alone in a pitch-dark room, listening to faint sounds from all directions, the fear in one’s heart gradually intensified, becoming a form of chronic torture.

Whenever a louder noise occurred, the person on watch would jump up like a startled bird, nervously trying to discern how far the sound was from their location and whether it posed any danger.

Even Wang Cheng felt that, despite the fear of being alone in the living room, it was better than staying with the current Xia Na. As a result, he not only volunteered to take the first half of the night watch but also moved a chair closer to the door to avoid missing any sounds. After all, if something went wrong, he would likely be the first to die.

Although Liu Yuhao had a lot on his mind, he was utterly exhausted from the day’s activities. Soon, he lay on the sofa and drifted off into a hazy sleep.

Ling Mo, on the other hand, moved an armchair into the room and sat in the farthest corner, closing his eyes to rest. He was also extremely tired from the day. Unlike zombies, Ling Mo needed to rest to regain his strength. In the apocalypse, not resting properly was a critical mistake. While fighting a few zombies was manageable, facing a horde required speed and stamina.

Though not truly asleep, Ling Mo periodically entered short yet deep sleep phases, waking up quickly after a few minutes. This method of sleep was likely mastered by many struggling to survive in the apocalypse, but Ling Mo was particularly adept at it. The reason was his special ability, Puppet Control. More importantly, his psychic power was stronger than that of ordinary people and had even undergone an evolution.

To Ling Mo, psychic power seemed to be a general term for concentration, observation, and similar abilities. His Puppet Control Ability allowed him to partition a portion of his psychic power to control zombies, which lacked rationality and acted purely on instinct. Multi-tasking was no simple feat, especially in combat. Life-and-death battles required rapid neural and physical responses. How could one keep up with a zombie’s movements if they weren’t fully focused?

Initially, Ling Mo relied on his Zombie Puppet to fight while he stayed in the background. Only later, under the puppet’s cover, did he start engaging in battles himself. It wasn’t until he controlled Ye Lian that Ling Mo began to master fighting alongside his puppet. Throughout this process, Ling Mo’s psychic power received extensive training. Consequently, when Ye Lian evolved, Ling Mo’s psychic power was also enhanced, further evolving when he attempted to control two Mutation Zombies simultaneously.

The evolution of psychic power was a somewhat ambiguous concept, understood only by Ling Mo himself. Simply put, when he controlled Ye Lian—especially during combat—he had to be extremely focused; otherwise, Ye Lian would easily slip from his control. Although Ling Mo’s mental response was quick, Ye Lian’s feedback tended to be slightly delayed when receiving his commands. If Ling Mo were likened to a command center, his psychic power would be the connecting hub. During data transmission, this hub’s insufficient strength caused delays.

However, after evolving, this connection hub was significantly upgraded, making command transmission more stable and rapid.

For instance, at this moment, Ye Lian felt like an extension of Ling Mo, seamlessly controlled. Of course, Ling Mo didn’t genuinely consider her an extension. In fact, during battles, Ling Mo consciously developed his own abilities rather than relying entirely on Ye Lian. Most of the time, he took the lead while Ye Lian supported him. Although there was a substantial difference between humans and zombies, it wasn’t so great that they couldn’t be countered at all.

The reason zombies instilled fear was their relentless attacks upon discovering prey, never retreating even when gravely injured. Ordinary people, on the other hand, were cautious, fearing injury, and often lost their nerve at the mere sight of zombies, immediately losing the psychological battle. However, for Ling Mo, who had been dealing with zombies constantly and even living in the same room with them, zombies weren’t as terrifying!

Setting aside the advantage of zombie hordes, ordinary people actually had the upper hand when encountering a lone zombie. Zombies acted purely on instinct, making them appear frenzied and terrifying, but this was also their weakness. Ordinary people, on the other hand, used techniques in combat and did not attack blindly.

Ling Mo knew, though, that this was easier said than done. Most people had to stick together to barely survive because in a large city like this, the sheer number of zombies was overwhelming. A single madman might not be scary, but what about a horde of them? Millions of bloodthirsty lunatics wandering the city—that was a truly terrifying sight!

Even Ling Mo, despite his Puppet Control Ability and having Ye Lian, a Mutation Zombie, by his side, had no choice but to flee when facing a large number of zombies. Just like at the revolving door in the shopping mall earlier, even with the advantage of the terrain, their group still suffered casualties while fending off the zombies. Ling Mo doubted he and Ye Lian could have managed alone in that situation. If not for the fiercely fighting Xia Na…

“Huh?”

A peculiar sensation suddenly jolted Ling Mo fully awake. He threw off the blanket and stood up, turning to look at Xia Na, who was lying on the bed.

Just a moment ago, Xia Na, who had been under Ye Lian’s watchful gaze, had eerily opened her eyes…