Chapter 482 – Betraying Teammates is Not a Threat

At this moment, in the basement of the mall.

Since this was the food section, it was inevitable to find signs of plundering.

The repeated searches by survivors had already turned this place into a total mess.

Almost all the shelves were knocked over, and various debris was scattered across the floor.

Except for a bit of light coming from the elevator shaft, the deeper part was completely dark.

There were some fresh bloodstains on the ground, leading into the darkness. It was obvious that these were left while the duckbill cap was being dragged.

“Hope you’re still holding on.”

Li Hao glanced at the bloodstains, then looked up at the pitch-black ahead.

The duckbill cap had been ambushed right under his nose, which was as if Ling Mo had walked up to him and slapped him in the face.

The loss was secondary; it was the humiliation that truly angered him.

Didn’t this guy have any honorable tactics?

At least leave some bold declaration of war when using the communicator, but instead, you show me this?

First, they were toyed with for two days, and then they were brought to this place…

This feeling of building up strength with nowhere to use it was really frustrating, almost like it could cause internal injuries!

Li Hao was furious, wishing he could drag Ling Mo out from the darkness right away.

“Ahhhhh!”

The scream of the duckbill cap echoed from afar, sounding particularly eerie in the deathly silent basement.

“This bastard! Let’s go!”

Li Hao pulled out his night vision goggles while running towards the direction of the scream with the raincoat man, following the bloodstains.

After running for a while, he suddenly realized that the gray-clad man hadn’t followed, and he stopped abruptly.

“Where did he go…”

Just as he turned his head and then looked back, Li Hao made a new discovery.

The raincoat man had also disappeared!

In less than ten seconds, it seemed like he was the only one left here.

Moreover, even the screams of the duckbill cap had suddenly vanished.

“Swish!”

Li Hao gripped his pistol tightly and drew a tactical knife.

He looked around and realized that things seemed to be spiraling out of control…

How did he go from being the captain to suddenly being all alone?!

The Raincoat Man, although not very obedient, would never run off the moment Li Hao turned his head!

In the darkness, Li Hao could only hear his own breathing.

The only thing guiding him was the traces left by the mental energy waves extending forward.

At the end of these traces, besides the likely dead duckbill cap, there was definitely Ling Mo.

Li Hao suddenly realized that Ling Mo’s “declaration of war” wasn’t about a direct confrontation, but about toying with them until they were dead.

“Could it be… his companions are hiding here, and Ling Mo came to meet up with them? But that doesn’t make sense; this place isn’t far from where he clashed with Old Tang… Wait, does this mean he left Old Tang behind on purpose to lure us here?”

While cautiously advancing, Li Hao racked his brain: “This means his companions probably lured them away… Damn it! Fooled again!”

“Just one survivor, and he’s this troublesome. If it weren’t for him shooting down the helicopter…”

He followed the mental energy waves slowly forward, thinking that regretting now was pointless.

Fortunately, they weren’t weak, and facing Ling Mo, who had already consumed a lot of psychic power, he might still have a chance.

Retreating now was too late. Losing another helicopter, plus the previous loss of Yin Jie’s squad, the 9th Squad had not only failed to achieve anything in this mission but had suffered heavy losses. If he reported this, he might lose his position as captain, and those old members might seize the opportunity to turn on him, leaving him with no place to bury his body.

“Even though I said not to underestimate him, I didn’t expect everyone to bring a rocket launcher! Deploying helicopters already made us look bad, and even that wasn’t enough!”

Li Hao tried to calm himself down. In this situation, continuing to be restless would mean game over.

While Li Hao was advancing alone, the Gray-clad Man had already reached the second floor.

Sunlight streamed through the broken windows, illuminating the smoke-blackened interior of the mall, which was littered with various debris.

A foul smell permeated the air, causing the Gray-clad Man to cover his nose instinctively.

He didn’t bother to hide—whoever that shadowy figure was, they probably wanted him to come up.

Since that was the case, hiding was pointless.

Although he was wary of Ling Mo, who had shot down the helicopter, Ling Mo’s companions were a different story…

“Come out!”

The Gray-clad Man flexed his wrist and swung the rebar in his hand.

The air immediately filled with a sharp “whoosh,” sounding extremely piercing.

The casual swing producing such a sound indicated the immense strength of the Gray-clad Man.

“Stop hiding and get out here!”

He shouted as he walked towards the center of the mall.

Suddenly, a pile of clothes on the ground moved, and he instantly directed his gaze there, alert.

“Come out!”

With his angry shout, a person crawled out from behind the pile of clothes.

It was a little girl with long hair, looking about eleven or twelve years old. Despite her youthful features, her delicate face was almost doll-like.

She wore a loose-fitting dress and hugged an oversized stuffed bear. As she stood up, she curiously stared at him with her large eyes.

“Uh…”

The Gray-clad Man was momentarily stunned but quickly regained his composure.

Was this the “adorable but terrifying loli who could twist a zombie’s head off with her bare hands” that Liu Baodong had mentioned?

The accuracy of the latter part was yet to be confirmed, but the former part was definitely an understatement!

What did they mean by “adorable”? This was super adorable!

“Even as an adult who doesn’t like loli, I’m moved…”

The Gray-clad Man stared at the loli, momentarily dumbfounded.

He had planned to rush at the figure as soon as they appeared, smashing their head with the rebar in his hand, or dismembering their limbs and dragging them off to threaten Ling Mo.

But this little girl was staring at him with such innocence, her eyes so clear and pure…

Damn, how could he bring himself to do it?

While there are those who could harm even children or infants without hesitation, they are few and far between…

She’s just a loli, what could she know? This situation called for a more cunning approach…

“Ahem…”

The Gray-clad Man thought that perhaps he could capture this seemingly not-so-bright loli without any violence, using his persuasive skills.

“Little sister, Uncle knows you’re a superhuman too, but Uncle is very powerful. But don’t worry, Uncle doesn’t want to hurt you, look…”

As he spoke, he reached into his bag and pulled out a few pieces of chocolate, slowly extending his hand towards her. “Uncle is offering you some treats, okay?”

The loli blinked, not saying a word.

The Gray-clad Man’s eyes lit up, and he asked, “Can you tell Uncle where your companions are? Are they all in this building?”

He was just probing, but to his surprise, the loli nodded: “Yes… but I can’t tell you! Ling Mo said not to reveal that his plan was to lure you all here.”

This is promising!

The Gray-clad Man realized this was an opportunity!

This loli was indeed harmless, even betraying her teammates!

As he was about to continue, the loli spoke again:

“Hmph, why would I tell you that the Sausage Humans are all downstairs? But I’m not the only one here.”

When he heard the first part, the Gray-clad Man smiled in delight, but by the second part, he was nervously looking around: “There’s someone else here, where?”

“There’s no one here…”

When he looked back at the loli, he saw that this porcelain doll had a pure, innocent smile.

Her pupils gradually turned blood-red, like the most translucent rubies: “Only a zombie and a mutation beast.”