Chapter 54 – Scouting

Ling Mo woke up just as dawn was breaking.

He had a lot to accomplish today, including hunting Mutation Zombies, replenishing his depleted Virus Gel supply, and… stocking up on food!

The food he had previously gathered was almost gone. Although he had found half a box of instant noodles yesterday, it wasn’t nearly enough for Ling Mo.

The constant battles, long walks, and the continuous drain on his Psychic Power had dramatically increased Ling Mo’s appetite.

Of course, a significant reason for this was that most of the food he could scavenge lacked nutritional value, meaning no matter how much he ate, it couldn’t replenish his physical energy.

Simply filling his stomach wasn’t enough.

Before heading out, Ling Mo always made a habit of preparing thoroughly. So, as soon as he got up, he started organizing his backpack.

Ling Mo was quite satisfied with this apartment building. It was very suitable as a hideout. Therefore, he had no immediate plans to leave.

Although his ultimate destination was X City University, this place was already very close. On his way here yesterday, Ling Mo had realized that navigating such a bustling area was extremely challenging.

The complex terrain, numerous buildings, and the astonishing number of zombies combined to make this area exceedingly dangerous.

Rather than plunging headfirst into the unknown conditions of X City University, Ling Mo preferred to use this place as a base and first scout out the surrounding area before making any further plans.

This was commonly known as “scouting,” though the workload was quite substantial. Of course, during the scouting process, he could also gather supplies. If he was lucky, he might even discover areas where Mutation Zombies might be present.

Considering that the number of zombies in this area was likely double that near No. 3 High School, Ling Mo planned to leave some unnecessary items in the apartment to lighten his load.

This place was relatively secluded, with zombies wandering around the parking lot and Construction Site. Even if Survivors came near, they probably wouldn’t think someone was living in this apartment building. So, hiding things here was relatively safe.

Ling Mo strapped a Short Knife and a Dagger to his waist. He stuffed the last few pieces of chocolate into his jacket pocket for an instant energy boost. Finally, he pulled out a military canteen and filled it to the brim with mineral water. The rest of the items were emptied from his backpack and piled into a box along with the instant noodles.

It had been a while since he went out with an empty backpack. Despite the heavy tasks ahead, Ling Mo couldn’t help but feel a bit lighter.

To be cautious, before heading out with Xia Na and Ye Lian, Ling Mo hid the items in the apartment under the bed. He messed up the bed to make it look like no one was living there and left the door wide open. Only then did he feel secure enough to leave.

This area, though not a main street, was a bustling part of the city. The number of Zombies was already overwhelming, and the surrounding shops were heavily damaged. Abandoned vehicles and remnants of explosions on the street created a terrifying scene. The coagulated blood on the ground was like a red carpet.

As soon as he stepped onto the street, Ling Mo’s expression grew serious. Even with Xia Na and Ye Lian, two Mutation Zombies, it was still highly stressful to gather supplies and hunt in such a dangerous place.

Any slight noise could attract a horde of Zombies. The previous method of using phone music to lure Zombies wouldn’t work here. There wasn’t enough space to contain the attracted Zombies, and the area had another deadly feature: interconnected roads and numerous Alleys.

If music played, Zombies would swarm from all directions. While Ling Mo could use his Zombie Puppet ability to avoid being overwhelmed by the horde, getting trapped here was inevitable. Ling Mo wasn’t about to dig his own grave.

The safest, albeit slowest, method was to kill Zombies bit by bit, trying not to attract the attention of those farther away.

These Zombies, while retaining all five senses, are not without weaknesses. When they haven’t detected prey, they mostly just shuffle around slowly within a small area. So, while there are many Zombies on the street, they aren’t packed tightly together. By navigating through the gaps between them, one can move effectively.

This would be difficult for an ordinary person, but with Ling Mo’s Zombie Puppet abilities, it wasn’t too hard to pull off.

First, under Xia Na’s cover, Ling Mo quietly slipped behind an abandoned vehicle, then controlled Ye Lian to approach a small group of Zombies from behind.

To avoid the blood attracting distant Zombies, Ling Mo didn’t have Ye Lian use her Curved Knife. Instead, she employed a more brutal method: snapping necks.

With Ye Lian’s strength, she could almost instantly snap a Zombie’s neck the moment she wrapped her arms around its head. A soft “crack” sounded, and she gently laid the Zombie’s corpse on the ground. Even such a slight noise immediately made the remaining Zombies turn their heads. However, ordinary Zombies, when not in a frenzy, wouldn’t attack their kind, so they merely turned their heads without attacking Ye Lian, who was right next to them.

At this moment, Ling Mo peeked out from behind the car. As soon as the Zombies spotted him, he used his Puppet Control Ability. Ling Mo also noticed that after his upgrade, his Puppet Control Ability seemed to have changed slightly. Previously, he needed eye contact to control a Zombie, but now, two Zombies that turned their heads a bit slower and didn’t make eye contact were still controlled by him.

But there was no time to ponder this now. As his Puppet Control Ability took effect, invisible threads instantly bound the Zombies tightly. With these Zombies successfully controlled, a sinister smile appeared on Ling Mo’s lips.

Once these Zombies were under his control, they immediately began to kill each other. Under Ling Mo’s meticulous control, they all died cleanly.

Using this cautious combat method, Ling Mo quickly fought his way to the entrance of a small supermarket.

The supermarket was small, but it still had a decent amount of supplies left. This wasn’t surprising, considering not all Survivors had the ability to search for food in such places.

Leaving Xia Na to stand guard at the door, Ling Mo and Ye Lian quickly searched the supermarket.

As their backpacks quickly filled with various foods, Ling Mo felt slightly more at ease.

In the Apocalypse, the greater the risk, the greater the reward.