Chapter 431 – Zombie Variation

“No… don’t…”

As soon as Quinn spoke, a small hand reached out from behind her.

A protective membrane flashed into existence, and Quinn instinctively turned to flee.

Countless silver threads suddenly shot out from Yu Shiran’s neck, entangling Quinn completely.

These silver threads appeared fragile, but they held immense power.

No matter how Black Silk transformed, its Main Body was still a mutation beast, granting it significant strength.

This was the first time Ling Mo had seen it take such initiative in this form. The pull of those silver threads was comparable to steel cables, and surprisingly resilient.

Quinn’s rapidly depleting strength made her face grow increasingly pale.

“But since when did they become so coordinated?” Ling Mo wondered aloud, a hint of confusion in his expression.

“Don’t run away.”

Yu Shiran walked over slowly, extending her hand. She gradually pushed through the gaps in the silver threads, breaking through the protective membrane.

“No… no!”

Quinn’s eyes widened, her heavily made-up face contorting in terror.

“Hehe, where would you like me to start?” Yu Shiran asked with a smile.

Quinn shook her head vigorously but couldn’t stop Yu Shiran.

“Wild Zombies always love to toy with their prey…” Ling Mo sighed, sending a psychic tentacle toward them.

His psychic power concentrated intensely, amassing a significant amount of mental energy at a single point. He thrust it toward the center of Quinn’s forehead.

The nearly worn-out protective membrane shattered instantly, and Quinn’s expression froze.

As she fell backward, Yu Shiran’s mouth opened wide in surprise.

“Thud.” Quinn hit the ground, and Yu Shiran quickly turned her head back.

She looked like a small dog ready to pounce and bite, clenching her fists and glaring angrily at Ling Mo. “Human, you’ve really gone too far…”

“Ah-hem…”

Ling Mo cleared his throat, ignoring her.

As a Senior Zombie, Yu Shiran, like typical Wild Zombies, completely viewed humans as prey.

It’s like a cat toying with a rat; can you really call the cat cruel?

But Ling Mo, being human, at most saw the opponent as an enemy.

Quinn deserved to die, but there was no need to torture her slowly…

In this regard, Ye Lian and the others were very different from Yu Shiran.

No matter how much they said “you humans,” compared to Wild Zombies, they were much more restrained.

“This isn’t something that can be changed overnight. It will take time…” Ling Mo thought to himself.

Quinn’s death had a profound impact on the Tattooed Man, who was drenched in cold sweat.

When they were hidden and ambushing Ling Mo, it seemed like they had the upper hand.

But once they lost that advantage, they couldn’t even match Ling Mo in a face-to-face fight, let alone when Ling Mo ambushed them.

The Tattooed Man’s body was tightly bound by psychic tentacles, making escape impossible.

Seeing how cleanly Ling Mo finished off Quinn, the Tattooed Man realized that begging for mercy was futile.

Knowing this is one thing, but few can face death calmly when it comes.

“You…” The Tattooed Man forced a smile, his body trembling uncontrollably. “I… won’t accept this…”

A sudden bullet hole in his forehead silenced him forever.

At this moment, Ye Lian emerged from a nearby shop.

Her eyes were slowly returning from red to white, and behind her lay a corpse…

“Where is Ling-Ge…”

Ye Lian glanced in Ling Mo’s direction. Her previously cold eyes gradually softened…

In less than twenty minutes, Ling Mo and his group had completely dealt with their pursuers.

After regrouping, they found a place to rest for a while before setting off again.

“Our F City is really different from X City.”

Lucy walked beside Ling Mo, her head lowered. “Maybe it’s because of the lack of resources, but we’re very united. Almost all superhumans have chosen to join us. Ordinary survivors who are willing to help can also survive under our protection. X City, however, seems very harsh… Are we really doing the right thing by coming here?”

“Do you have any other options?” Ling Mo asked. “In the entire province, X City is the largest and has the most resources, right?”

“But here, aside from the small factions, there are the Air Force Corps and Falcon Camp,” Lucy said, her face full of concern. “The Air Force Corps is getting by selling information and probably won’t actively compete for anything in the future. But Falcon is another story… Even if they start with just a quarantine zone, as they grow stronger, there’s no guarantee they won’t have bigger ambitions. When that time comes, whether we can hold onto our territory is uncertain. And the biggest threat, the Zombies, who knows if they’ll keep getting stronger…”

She turned to look at Ling Mo, then glanced at Ye Lian and the others, lowering her voice. “Aren’t you drawing a lot of attention by bringing them with you?”

Her words carried a double meaning. Ling Mo glanced at her, but Lucy had already turned her head, her expression giving nothing away.

“If we’re strong enough, we have nothing to fear,” Ling Mo replied after a moment’s thought.

If she’d heard this when they first met, Lucy would have mocked him, saying he was overconfident or pretending to be tough.

But after the two ambushes, the strength Ling Mo’s group had shown left Lucy deeply impressed.

Unfortunately, despite her two attempts, Ling Mo still showed no interest in joining her group…

Over the next forty-plus hours, aside from traveling and exploring, they encountered no troubles other than Zombies.

The ubiquitous, numerous Zombies were no longer considered a problem; they were part of everyday life.

To survive, you had to constantly fight them…

However, when passing through more prosperous areas, Ling Mo noticed that the number of Zombies on the streets suddenly decreased.

These places should have been teeming with corpses, but as they passed, they encountered fewer Zombies than in other areas.

Moreover, there were significantly more bloodstains and corpses on the ground, many of which looked fresh…

“This isn’t normal at all…”

After walking through several such streets, Ling Mo couldn’t help but speak up.

Xia Na turned around, walking backward as she asked, “What’s not normal?”

“The number of Zombies and… their strength.”

Ling Mo rubbed his temples as he spoke.

The Zombies on these streets were noticeably stronger, almost all reaching the level of mutation zombies.

Although their numbers had significantly decreased, their increased strength posed a considerable burden on Ling Mo and his group.

If it weren’t for the increase in his psychic power and attack strength, getting through these areas would have taken much more time.

“You’re right, senior ones… the number of Senior Zombies seems much higher now.”

Li Yalin almost slipped up but corrected herself just in time.

Lucy didn’t catch it and responded, “Maybe it’s because of the large base number. We haven’t seen any Survivors around here. These Zombies, though their energy consumption is low, can go half a month or even a month without eating, like a Python. But they still need to eat eventually. Could it be due to excessive cannibalism?”

“We’ve seen cannibalism before, but…” Ling Mo still frowned.

Driven by instinct, Zombies were actually quite restrained.

The ones being killed were either the stronger ones or the weakest ones.

Ordinary people might not notice this pattern, but with several Zombies around him, Ling Mo naturally picked up on such details.

This was a form of competition within the Zombies, ensuring survival of the fittest and making evolution opportunities more equitable.

Evolved Senior Zombies were like wolf kings, facing challenges during their advancement.

If they weren’t strong enough, they would be devoured by other Zombies, becoming stepping stones to prevent resource waste.

But… the Zombies here seemed to be in a constant state of cannibalism.

“It feels like there’s some sort of change happening within the Zombie population…”

Ling Mo was puzzled but couldn’t figure it out, so he decided to let it go for now.

As they walked down the street, a figure stood on the top floor of a tall building in the distance, watching Ling Mo and his group like ants on the ground.