Chapter 511 – Second Stage

As Ling Mo turned around, a psychic tentacle suddenly pierced through Liu Baodong’s forehead.

A silent blood hole appeared, freezing Liu Baodong’s expression in time.

Was it regret, or venomous hatred? Ling Mo didn’t look back.

Hearing the “thud” of the body hitting the ground, Ling Mo gazed in the direction of the Air Force Corps and let out a long sigh.

…

The next morning, Yuwen Xuan and his group finally arrived near the Air Force Corps.

Their weary faces and bloodshot eyes showed that they had been desperately pushing forward, taking every shortcut they could find.

Although the paths they took through the fields were shorter and had fewer zombies, they couldn’t use any vehicles.

If the team hadn’t been made up of superhumans and soldiers, they would never have made it this fast.

The Air Force Corps member leading the way was already exhausted, but he didn’t dare mention the word “rest.”

Seeing Lucy’s dark and stormy expression made him feel a chill down his spine.

If Ling Mo was fine, it would be a relief. But if something had happened to him…

“Liu Baodong, you’ve really screwed me over…” the Air Force Corps member silently lamented.

Along the way, he had overheard the F Team members talking about the three who had gone after Ling Mo on their own. They were all quite formidable.

Especially the one with mental abilities. He was a scourge to anyone of the same type. Any mental ability user caught by him would be rendered powerless, no matter how strong.

The F Team members didn’t seem to have much faith in Ling Mo and his group…

Only Jianqi kept curiously asking Lucy questions, seemingly quite interested in Ling Mo.

But judging from most people’s expressions, Ling Mo and his team were in a dire situation.

“Hey, you…”

Yuwen Xuan, running at the front of the group, suddenly turned around and waved him over.

“Seriously, you’re just going to call me ‘hey, you’? You’ve decided not to bother asking my name, huh?”

Muttering his dissatisfaction under his breath, the Air Force Corps member still dragged his leaden legs, desperately picking up his pace to catch up to Yuwen Xuan…

The Air Force Corps member forced a flattering smile and asked, “Captain Yuwen, what can I do for you this time?”

“‘This time’… Hmm, it seems you’re quite displeased with me, aren’t you?” Yuwen Xuan said, scratching his head.

“Just get to the point, why nitpick over words!” The Air Force Corps member internally rolled his eyes but kept his smile unchanged. “I wouldn’t dare…”

“Captain, just get to the point,” Vice Captain Zhang Yu said, giving Yuwen Xuan a sidelong glance.

“Tch…”

“Tch what! There’s a time and place for messing with prisoners, you know!” Zhang Yu snapped. If he wasn’t well aware he couldn’t beat Yuwen Xuan, he would have already gone up and punched him…

“So, you’re saying it’s fine to mess with me at other times? You’re no saint either…”

The Air Force Corps member’s expression had already turned stiff.

Just then, he suddenly felt a shadow loom over him. Looking up, all his dissatisfaction instantly turned to fear.

Compared to the quirky Yuwen Xuan, he was far more terrified of the big guy who had tied him up…

Tom. It sounded like an ordinary name, but thinking about his adept tying skills and the strength to toss him around like a ragdoll made the Air Force Corps member’s scalp tingle.

“Although we’ve been moving quickly, the other side left before us. There’s a chance…” Tom said, not looking at him, but speaking with concern.

“Ahahaha, Tom, haven’t you worked with Ling Mo before? Don’t worry…” Yuwen Xuan laughed lightly, then turned to the Air Force Corps member. “By the way, I wanted to ask you, if I were to leave a team outside on standby, where would be a good spot? Oh, and one more thing…”

Under his messy hair, Yuwen Xuan’s expression looked sincere. “It needs to be a place where we can blow the Air Force Corps to the sky at any moment.”

“…”

“They’re here.”

Ling Mo retracted a psychic tentacle and turned to speak.

During the night, he had absorbed a third of the psychic power he had devoured. His depleted psychic power was fully restored, and his psychic light cluster seemed to be slowly compressing.

This change was something Ling Mo hadn’t anticipated. It seemed that once mental energy reached a certain level, it wouldn’t just remain in the “total increase” stage.

However, he still didn’t know what the Second Stage entailed. Once he fully digested the psychic power he had devoured, he should have a clearer understanding…

“Will it be okay?” Xia Na asked.

“Yuwen Xuan knows his limits,” Ling Mo replied with a slight smile. Then, suddenly reaching out, he grabbed Li Yalin, who was trying to sneak away. “Senior Sister, you stay too.”

“Ugh…”

“After all, he’s your older cousin… Hey, don’t bite me! You really dislike him that much…”

At that moment, a group of figures appeared at the bend in the road.

When Ling Mo and his companions emerged from the tall grass, the group collectively froze for a moment.

“They’re okay!”

Someone shouted, and then Yuwen Xuan and a few others immediately quickened their pace.

Lucy, her eyes filled with excitement, rushed forward. But before she could reach Ling Mo, two figures dashed past her.

“Ahahaha, Ling Mo, did you miss me?”

Yuwen Xuan opened his arms wide, but just as he was about to reach Ling Mo, the latter swiftly sidestepped.

However, what Ling Mo didn’t expect was that just as he was showing a slight smile of “I was prepared,” in the next second, he was enveloped in a bear hug by a big guy.

Tom laughed heartily, slapping Ling Mo’s back with force. “Ling Mo, long time no see! Surviving in this world and meeting again, it’s truly not easy! But who would’ve thought, you’re actually the Deputy Chief of Staff’s younger sister’s husband! I knew you would eventually be one of us Falcons, hahaha…”

“Cough, cough…”

Finally managing to extricate himself from Tom’s grip, Ling Mo glared at him, though he couldn’t suppress the slight upward curve of his lips. “Why are you here?”

Just as Tom had said, meeting an old friend alive indeed felt quite nice…

“I’ve been temporarily assigned to the Deputy Chief of Staff’s special operations team!” Tom lowered his voice. “I didn’t expect to come with this ‘Rookie Killer,’ but it turns out he’s related to you! Haha!”

“I heard everything, you know…” Yuwen Xuan glared at Tom, then cleared his throat and turned his gaze to Li Yalin, who was standing behind Ling Mo.

The two exchanged glances but remained silent.

A complex expression flickered in Yuwen Xuan’s eyes. He had already begun to suspect Li Yalin and the others’ true identities…

If it were someone else, he would have already killed them. But the person standing before him was his only remaining family.

“If… she turned into a zombie, could I really bring myself to kill her?”

Yuwen Xuan suddenly thought of the girl who had resolutely rushed into the horde of zombies, and his eyebrows furrowed slightly.

For some reason, he suddenly felt a glimmer of hope.

Although so much time had passed, what if… what if she hadn’t died?

If she had turned into a zombie, could she have regained much of her intelligence? Would she recognize him?

…

Under Yuwen Xuan’s intensely complicated gaze, Li Yalin felt increasingly uncomfortable.

She slowly took two steps back, hiding next to Ye Lian.

She remembered Yuwen Xuan and was aware of their blood relation.

In fact, Li Yalin had already sorted out some of her memories.

But precisely because of this, every time she saw him, she wanted to turn and run away without looking back or simply find a place to hide.

This feeling was new and unfamiliar to Li Yalin, and she didn’t even know how to express it.

But one thing was clear: although this man couldn’t compare to Ling Mo and was different from Ye Lian and the others, he was still a special presence in her life.

Neither prey nor someone with too close a connection…

In an extremely short time, Yuwen Xuan had already considered many possibilities.

The risk of humans and zombies coexisting was enormous…

Ling Mo might have the ability, but just thinking about it, one could tell how much effort and cost it took for him to bring these girls, who were likely zombies, back to almost a human state.

On the other hand, it also seemed like he was playing with fire… Bringing zombies, who had almost destroyed humanity, into human society was enough for most people present to immediately see him as a mortal enemy.

“Why do I have to be the one to keep this secret… No wonder I always felt that Ling Mo looked at me with such brazen confidence!”