Chapter 44 – A Dark Night of Killing

Tonight, Ling Mo was in an exceptionally good mood!

He even popped open a beer to reward himself, courtesy of Liu Yuhao.

Sitting across from him were Ye Lian and Xia Na, two female Mutation Zombies. In Ling Mo’s opinion, Xia Na should be considered a Mutation Zombie as well, and she seemed to be undergoing some sort of evolution. However, her evolutionary path was entirely different from Ye Lian’s.

Ye Lian possessed immense strength. During her evolution, her rationality returned very slowly, but each stage of her evolution clearly enhanced her physical prowess.

Xia Na, on the other hand, was different. She had been infected a second time, and during her mutation, she never completely succumbed. The constant absorption of the Virus didn’t turn her into a full-fledged zombie; instead, it gradually restored some aspects of her humanity. As long as she didn’t feel threatened or her aggressive instincts weren’t triggered, Xia Na acted like a normal person, though her mind was a bit… slow.

However, when her zombie instincts kicked in, she would fight with the ferocity of a zombie, tireless and relentless.

Despite their appearances as delicate beauties, Ling Mo knew better than anyone that both Ye Lian and Xia Na were terrifying killing machines in human form.

Ling Mo’s goal was to gradually restore their rationality, to make them as human as possible. Xia Na’s “split personality” and the subtle changes in Ye Lian strengthened Ling Mo’s confidence.

No longer having to face Ye Lian’s cold, unfeeling eyes and hearing Xia Na occasionally say a few words—how could Ling Mo not be pleased with these developments?

Moreover, his own speed had significantly improved. While his strength hadn’t increased, having legs that could outrun zombies was quite a valuable asset!

Sipping his beer, Ling Mo turned and lifted a corner of the curtain to look outside.

The dark shapes moving across the Square were zombies. Compared to ordinary people, they had the upper hand at night. On nights like this, you would hardly see any Survivors on the streets.

Those zombies, when not attacking, moved sluggishly, their bodies swaying aimlessly. Most of the zombies wouldn’t leave the area unless attracted by Survivors.

However, zombies did get hungry. Although their energy consumption was much lower than that of ordinary humans, they still required a substantial amount of food when they ate.

This Square had an open layout, and there were no supermarkets or similar places nearby where food could be scavenged. Ling Mo concluded that no living humans—i.e., their prey—had been around for at least a few days.

Few people besides Ling Mo had the guts to hide in a small two-story building and quietly observe these zombies.

Ling Mo wasn’t randomly indulging his curiosity; he had heard some faint noises. Most importantly, the noise was coming from the shop on the ground floor of his building.

Right before Ling Mo’s eyes, a zombie suddenly burst out of the shop. In the moonlight, he could see she was covered in blood.

“Huh, did she eat the other one?” Ling Mo mused. It was quite possible since the faint noise earlier sounded like a stray dog gnawing on bones.

Indeed, it was a dark night for a killing! Not during the day, but in the middle of the night when visibility was low…

This was the first time Ling Mo had seen an ordinary zombie suddenly attack another. He had seen them eat the corpses of their kind but had never witnessed one take the first step towards Mutation Zombie status by attacking its own kind.

Ling Mo’s interest was piqued. He watched the middle-aged female zombie that had burst out of the shop, curious to see what she would do next.

After taking down her fellow zombie, she charged straight towards the nearest zombie in the Square.

That zombie, likely not hungry enough to attack its own kind, was completely unprepared. Without even a struggle, it had its head twisted off by the female zombie, who then started gnawing on the head. From a distance, Ling Mo couldn’t tell if she had scooped out and eaten the brain.

Watching a zombie eat human flesh—even if the victim was another zombie—still made Ling Mo’s scalp tingle. Although he had two Mutation Zombies beside him, neither had such gruesome eating habits…

These zombies were, in essence, living humans infected by the Virus, quite different from the reanimated dead in movies. However, given their propensity to attack and eat humans, no one saw them as people anymore.

There were not many zombies in the Square, and most were clustered on the other side, far from Ling Mo’s position. But the actions of this middle-aged female zombie immediately drew their attention.

A dozen agile figures quickly pounced. If one hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, it would be hard to believe that just a second ago, they were moving sluggishly.

These zombies weren’t attacking the middle-aged female zombie; they were coming to feed. The corpse of their kind was no different from a living human to them. When a large number of zombies moved in one direction simultaneously, some were inadvertently torn apart by others, or collided with obstacles, resulting in wounds that would then draw attention and lead to them being devoured.

“Zombies have it tough too…” Ling Mo thought suddenly.

But the overwhelming numbers were the crucial factor. Even if zombies died daily, what of it? Survivors were dwindling far faster than zombies!

Seeing other zombies coming to snatch her food, the middle-aged female zombie once again displayed an extremely ferocious side. She immediately lunged at the nearest zombie, but to Ling Mo’s surprise, this time she encountered resistance!

This zombie was apparently on the brink of a violent outburst. Normally, allowing it to eat a little would have kept it docile and slow-moving. But the middle-aged female zombie attacked it first.

The scent of blood, combined with the intense hunger that was triggered, drove this small-statured zombie into a frenzy.

Ling Mo had never seen ordinary zombies fight each other before. He watched with wide eyes, afraid to miss any detail.

While the two zombies wrestled like wild beasts, the other dozen or so zombies had already devoured the corpse. Their eating speed was truly terrifying…

However, it was clear that a single corpse wasn’t enough to satisfy them, and by then, both zombies locked in combat were already injured.

As Ling Mo noticed the other zombies turning their attention toward the fighting pair, he realized that a brutal battle was about to erupt in the Square…

Compared to ordinary people, zombies had superior speed, stamina, and strength. Their relentless, suicidal attacks would terrify any normal person.

As long as they still had a breath left, these zombies wouldn’t retreat, and their fights resembled more of a beastly brawl.

The middle-aged female zombie, likely having eaten the most, was the most frenzied. Ling Mo watched as she grabbed another zombie’s arm during the melee and tore it clean off.

The strength was horrifying. A single zombie rarely displayed such power, which is why they typically relied on biting. Their bite force was actually stronger than their grip strength.

The Square quickly turned into a scene of flying flesh and blood, with low growls emanating from the zombies’ throats. The sheer brutality was enough to make anyone nauseous at a glance.

Although Ling Mo was intrigued by the mutation and evolution of zombies, he could only endure watching for so long before he had enough. Just as he turned his head away, he noticed Xia Na standing up, staring blankly out the window.

Ling Mo couldn’t help but wonder what kind of impact this scene would have on Xia Na, who still retained some semblance of rationality.