Chapter 386 – Wild Run at Sunset

With a female zombie clearing the path, Ling Mo and his group made their way smoothly into the factory area.

The dilapidated buildings looked like silent monsters squatting by the road, watching them; from the black crevices, zombies could pounce at any moment.

In this place, the wind sounded like a woman’s whimper, chilling to the bone.

Here, the authority of a leader level zombie didn’t work; it actually made things worse.

The zombies hiding in the corners, intimidated by the presence of a leader level zombie, wouldn’t show themselves at first. But as soon as Ling Mo passed by, they would uncontrollably burst out.

“Here we go again,” Ling Mo rubbed his temples as he looked at a zombie corpse that had fallen in front of him. “More mental probing, more attacking, the mental power drain is significant…”

“Ling Mo… are… are you okay?” Ye Lian leaned close to Ling Mo, asking with concern.

“I’m fine. I can handle this level of exhaustion for about another hour or so.” Ling Mo smiled at her and affectionately ruffled her hair before turning to Ban Yue, “The guy you mentioned is at the aluminum factory, right?”

Ban Yue nodded, “He had some connection to this place when he was human, and he did tell grandma that he was coming here before leaving City A… probably to do something, I guess…”

“Let’s talk about him before we run into him,” Ling Mo prompted.

Ban Yue frowned in thought, “Grandma said… he should be about as strong as her, probably…”

“Drop the ‘probably’…”

“But that’s exactly what she said. She mentioned that his strength could be comparable to hers, probably…” Ban Yue insisted earnestly.

Ling Mo said, “How ‘comparable’ is that exactly? Using both ‘could’ and ‘probably’ at the same time, how uncertain and casual can grandma be! But…”

He sighed, “Assuming that a dominant level zombie still doesn’t lie, that means grandma never truly fought with him head-on? Without precise information, we’ll have to prepare for the worst.”

The strength of the old lady zombie left a deep impression on Ling Mo. Even though he was accompanied by female zombies and their strength was not to be underestimated, Ling Mo still felt a hint of tension.

It was the severe injury of the maid girl that unsettled Ling Mo; he couldn’t bear the thought of Ye Lian and the others being so grievously hurt.

Ye Lian seemed to sense the change in Ling Mo’s breathing. She quietly reached out and tugged at his sleeve, then gave him a sweet smile.

“About ‘comparable’… it’s… it’s…”

Ban Yue was still troubled by this question, her face reflecting her headache. Suddenly, she stomped her foot, and her ample chest quivered: “Didn’t you humans invent this word? Why ask me!”

“At times like this, ignoring the blood on your body, those bizarre sunglasses on your face, and the female zombie you’re dragging along, you do look quite human…” Ling Mo muttered to himself.

Xia Na turned to speak, “It’s surprisingly easy to ignore so many things…”

“…Have you guys noticed that there seem to be fewer zombies around here all of a sudden?”

As they were chatting and walking, they gradually noticed that the number of zombies suddenly popping out from the shadows was decreasing.

In the two minutes before Ling Mo spoke, he hadn’t encountered another zombie attack.

This was undoubtedly unusual, as they were nearing the factory area where, logically, there should be more zombies, not fewer.

“Could it be…”

Just as Ling Mo was turning his head, a massive shadow pounced towards his head.

His mental detection didn’t even have time to react, which spoke volumes about the speed of the shadow.

“Damn!”

Having faced many sudden attacks, Ling Mo, although startled with a jolt in his heart, didn’t panic. He was, however, extremely shocked by the size of this ambusher.

As it pounced, his vision was engulfed in darkness, accompanied by an immense pressure. Had his will not been so firm, he might have felt a sense of dread.

In just a fraction of a second, several streaks of cold light appeared before his face.

Had they connected, Ling Mo’s head would likely have been reduced to mush.

Mental Strangulation!

The formidable shadow emitted a mournful cry as its paw was deflected mid-attack, a gust of wind grazing Ling Mo’s cheek.

Before it could land, Ling Mo positioned himself as if about to kick a soccer ball and lashed out fiercely.

Along with his kick, several mental Tentacles shot out towards the shadow’s belly.

A direct hit!

The shadow howled in agony, tumbling heavily to the ground.

“Phew!” In that instant, Ling Mo experienced a thrill akin to a roller coaster ride, his heart nearly skipping a beat.

After calming his heartbeat, Ling Mo looked towards his assailant.

The shadow lay on the ground, as large as a small car, a sight that was indeed spine-chilling.

Needle-like hair, a massive body, powerful limbs, knife-like claws, and teeth shimmering with a cold light…

“Ah! Cool Wind Giant Dog!”

It was a Mutated Wolfhound! No wonder it had managed to ambush Ling Mo; such creatures were natural-born hunters.

Moreover, this one was even larger than Black Silk before her bizarre transformation!

Despite his powerful kick, the Mutated Wolfhound quickly sprang back into action, so fast that Ling Mo hardly caught its movement before it pounced towards Ban Yue.

More precisely, it aimed for the flatbed trailer Ban Yue was pulling…

It seemed this terrifying creature possessed considerable intelligence. After being thwarted in its attack on Ling Mo, it turned to target what appeared to be the weakest creature, the maid girl.

“So in your judgment, I’m weaker than the motionless zombies, huh!” Realizing this, Ling Mo felt a moment of disarray.

Ban Yue’s eyes turned even redder, and with a grunt, she moved just as the shadow drew near, her motion a blur.

With her extreme speed over short distances, even Ling Mo struggled to fully capture her movements.

She and the Mutated Wolfhound appeared locked in an intense battle, with continuous “boom, boom, boom” sounds echoing through the air. Anyone getting closer could feel a terrifying pressure emanating from the fray.

Despite its enormous size, the Mutated Wolfhound moved with surprising agility, dodging from side to side.

Its belly was wounded, causing blood to splatter wildly, painting a gruesome scene.

However, at the height of their fierce fight, the Mutated Wolfhound’s head suddenly tilted, and then it was kicked fiercely, crashing heavily against a broken wall.

The beast struggled to lift its head, but it only managed to wobble before slumping down, utterly defeated.

Ban Yue still stood in an attack stance, looking at Ling Mo with a somewhat dazed expression.

The battle was fierce, and then suddenly, inexplicably, her opponent was taken down…

“Thanks for that, without you distracting it, my Mental Strangulation wouldn’t have been so effective,” Ling Mo said with a smile.

Stepping past a still-stunned Ban Yue, Ling Mo approached the fallen Mutated Wolfhound, clucking his tongue in awe, “I lost a Cool Wind Giant Dog once, but today I gained—Hey!”

Before he could finish, Yu Shiran charged over, her fist raised high, and with a powerful punch, she shattered the tough skull of the wolfhound, extracting a piece of Virus Gel.

This gel was clearly pure and probably would soon be transformed into a Virus Nest.

Ling Mo was caught completely off guard by Yu Shiran’s sudden attack on the Mutated Wolfhound, not even having a chance to intervene.

“It wasn’t me…” Yu Shiran clutched the piece of gel as if afraid Ling Mo would leap to snatch it away, quickly placing it near her neck.

Black Silk’s true form awakened once more, and a tiny head popped out, swallowing the piece of gel in one gulp.

“I didn’t eat it!” Yu Shiran’s face wore an expression of hurt innocence; she was completely controlled by an outside force, but everyone’s eyes were focused on her.

“You better evolve properly, at least make up for my loss of watching the Cool Wind Giant Dog slip away again!”

Ling Mo spoke with a hint of anger, “I was just imagining riding it, galloping under the sunset!”

“But you tore its insides out…” Li Ya Lin crouched down for a closer look, then raised her head to Ling Mo, “Its intestines would have fallen out while running.”

“And the organ fragments,” Xia Na added.

Nevertheless, securing a rare piece of Mutated Dog gel was an unexpected boon.

After Black Silk’s body absorbed the gel, it fell into a deep sleep again.

Recalling its mind-bending evolution process, Ling Mo couldn’t help but feel a sense of anticipation.

“The virus inside Black Silk is a real jumble of everything…” Ling Mo mused.

At that moment, Ban Yue snapped back to reality, ready to confront Ling Mo, only to hear his comment and snorted coldly, “Isn’t your senior sister just as much of a mixed bag?”

“What do you mean?” Ling Mo asked, puzzled.

“Reckless humans have introduced all sorts of messy viruses into her system, I could tell just by the smell,” Ban Yue said, crossing her arms in front of her. “Looking at your expression, it seems like you don’t think this is a big deal? At this stage, it might not be problematic, but when she’s ready to ascend to the dominant level, there could be serious hidden dangers. Grandma always told me not to eat things recklessly.”

“Hidden dangers?” Ling Mo’s expression turned stern in an instant.

Originally, Li Ya Lin was bitten by a mutant snake, and then she swallowed the snake’s gel, which laid the foundation for the presence of other viruses in her body.

Ling Mo had his doubts, but it seemed that there were no issues, judging from the results.

But hearing Ban Yue’s words, a trace of unease began to emerge in Ling Mo’s heart…

“At least we should let a certain type of virus gain the majority inside her,” Ban Yue added, then flicked her hair and turned her gaze towards Ye Lian.

To her frustration, Ye Lian’s attention was fixed solely on Ling Mo.

“Curse these humans…”