Chapter 413 – Tentacle Monster, Evolve!

The side door of the Department Store was situated in an Alley, where aside from a few rusty bicycles, there were no signs of any Zombies.

The side door was already in a dilapidated state, swaying precariously as if it might fall off at any moment.

Just as Ling Mo turned the corner, pulling Ye Lian along, he saw a figure slip through the side door.

“Xia Na?”

Long black hair, a fitted white blouse and skirt, black stockings paired with black leather shoes…

Even with poor eyesight, Ling Mo couldn’t possibly mistake someone with such a distinctive appearance.

“Come to think of it, this outfit was my idea.”

After a brief pause, he grabbed Ye Lian and dashed towards the door.

Although Xia Na ignored them, considering that everyone was under the influence of hallucinations, it was normal not to see others.

Upon entering through the side door, they found themselves in a long employee corridor.

Lockers were scattered haphazardly on the ground, a strong stench emanated from them, and dim lighting and half-open doors gave the place a creepy atmosphere.

“Thankfully, this Department Store is big enough; otherwise, it would be swarming with Zombies. This Ambusher went to great lengths to make their Superpower effective, didn’t they? What a hassle.”

Frowning, Ling Mo held Ye Lian’s hand and walked cautiously inside.

In reality, he didn’t need to hold her hand; Ye Lian wouldn’t willingly let go of his sleeve anyway.

“Xia Na? Is that you?”

Ling Mo called out softly. In the empty corridor, even his deliberately lowered voice sounded loud enough to startle himself.

Seeing no response, Ling Mo glanced around for a moment before continuing onward.

However, as he turned another corner, he saw that familiar figure again, fleeting before his eyes and running straight into the employee Restroom.

This time, being closer, Ling Mo saw clearly that the figure’s half body was stained with blood!

An arm hung limply at her side, seemingly heavily injured…

“Xia Na!”

Ling Mo quickened his pace and followed her into the Restroom.

Just as Ling Mo pushed the door open, a flash of cold light slashed down from above his head.

However, there wasn’t even a hint of surprise on Ling Mo’s face.

He shielded Ye Lian behind him, a mocking smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

“Bang!”

An invisible psychic tentacle blocked the attack, while countless other tentacles shot out, entangling the figure that resembled Xia Na.

“Let… let me go… I didn’t mean it, I thought it was…”

“Xia Na” shouted anxiously, struggling desperately, “Let me go quickly, there’s a Monster behind, there’s…”

“Hey, are you so committed because you want me to give you an Oscar?”

Ling Mo couldn’t stand the lousy performance any longer…

Under the pressure of his psychic power, the figure gradually deformed, revealing its true appearance.

A long-haired youth, roughly twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, who was wearing a shirt with the chest deliberately left open to reveal a not-so-muscular chest, a pair of brightly colored beach shorts, and boots. Although post-Cataclysm, fashion was no longer a priority, it was still the first time Ling Mo had seen someone dressed so bizarrely.

Overall, this person looked like the type who would harass onlookers under the guise of being an “artist”…

“Heh, so vigilant even with your own companions?” the long-haired youth asked with a smile. “How did you figure it out? Because my performance wasn’t convincing enough? Well, pretending to be a girl isn’t my strong suit…”

“Stop making excuses. I knew you weren’t her the moment I saw the figure,” Ling Mo sneered.

If the disguise had been Lucy or Liu Baodong, he might have taken more time to identify them. But to choose someone like Xia Na, with whom he had a psychic link…

“From that moment? Heh, looks like you deserve the award; you acted quite convincingly. I almost thought you were fooled. Seems I underestimated you; I originally thought you were just an ordinary superhuman…”

The Long-haired Youth was completely restrained by the invisible psychic tentacles, but even in this situation, he flirtatiously tossed his hair. “But even if you turned the tables on me, it doesn’t mean much. As a fellow mental ability superhuman, you should have realized by now, I’m just a…”

“Hmph, just a spiritual body…” Ling Mo replied with a frown.

The Long-haired Youth restrained here was merely a Phantom.

It wasn’t something created out of thin air; it was an illusion affecting Ling Mo, making him “see” this Phantom.

The Phantom of the Long-haired Youth grinned sinisterly. “Not bad! But if I can completely influence you, it means your ability is inferior to mine. Honestly, your psychic power might be about the same as mine, maybe even stronger. But unfortunately, our abilities are different. In this world, there are people you can never catch up to, and that’s the genius… Hahaha…”

Ling Mo frowned slightly. Even knowing it was just a Phantom, the narcissism and arrogance made him want to punch him.

“Through this probe, I’ve gained a preliminary understanding of your superpower. Next, I’ll let you see the gap between us…”

As the Phantom spoke, it began to fade, a provocative smile on its face.

“You really think a bit of trickery will let you walk away so easily?”

Ling Mo snorted coldly, and the psychic tentacles twisted violently.

“What else can you… Ah!”

The Phantom of the Long-haired Youth convulsed in agony as if his whole body was on fire, screaming in pain.

Ling Mo remained unmoved, smiling. “The fact that this spiritual body can converse with me means it’s not an independent piece of mental energy but is connected to you. If I destroy it, you won’t be feeling too good either.”

“You’re insane, do you realize how much psychic power this will consume?” The Phantom began to howl like a slaughtered pig.

“Doesn’t matter.” Ling Mo shrugged. He was telling the truth; there were two recovery methods he could use, as long as his psychic power didn’t run out.

“Ruthless, aren’t you? Just you wait… Ah!”

The Phantom’s voice became choppy like a broken tape, and finally, with a scream, it collapsed and vanished without a trace.

“No need to wait; I’ll come find you.”

Ling Mo thought the mental energy had been extinguished, but just as he was about to turn and leave, he sensed something amiss.

As the Long-haired Youth had said, he should have consumed a significant amount of psychic power for this…

But in reality, not only did he not feel a massive drain of mental energy, he actually felt more clear-headed!

His psychic power had somehow recovered a bit during the strangulation process!

“Huh? What’s going on?”

Ling Mo was momentarily stunned, then he extended a psychic tentacle in front of him to examine it closely.

As a product he had materialized, the length, size, and even shape of the psychic tentacle were entirely controlled by his will.

But now he noticed, at some point, suckers had appeared on the tentacle…

Being composed purely of mental energy, the blood-red tentacle didn’t look horrifying; instead, it had a mysterious beauty.

“But these suckers look so familiar… Ah, right!”

Ling Mo immediately thought of the Spider Queen, who had threatened to return and take him. Her tentacles—or rather, her webs—had the ability to absorb blood due to these suckers.

Having consumed potions made from the Spider Queen’s diluted blood over a long period, it seemed he had been subtly influenced…

“Not ‘seemed,’ I was definitely influenced!”

Looking at the suckers, Ling Mo felt a bit puzzled.

Could the suckers on the tentacles have absorbed the other’s psychic power during the strangulation of that pure spiritual body?

He quickly focused his senses, and indeed, he found a small cluster of white psychic power within his own psychic light cluster.

However, in that blood-red mental world, it was quickly being assimilated…

“Holy crap! It really did absorb it!”

This discovery made Ling Mo overjoyed. Although his psychic tentacles had become more like actual tentacles, the ability to absorb an enemy’s psychic power was an incredible evolution!