Chapter 547 – The Loli with a Perpetual Shelf Life

Ling Mo and his group followed Lucy and her team to the new base of the F Team, causing quite a stir.

The members of the F Team were quite familiar with this Survivor.

Initially, it was the sudden conflict between Ling Mo and the Air Force Corps that dragged them into this vortex, even leading to threats from the Air Force Corps.

At that time, many were actually a bit displeased with Ling Mo.

After all, nobody likes getting caught in the crossfire, even if Ling Mo was the victim.

However, despite their discontent, none of them participated in the hunt for Ling Mo.

It wasn’t necessarily due to any strong principles but rather out of respect for Lucy.

Back then, no one knew that Lucy and Ling Mo had parted ways, so in their eyes, hunting Ling Mo would be equivalent to hunting Lucy as well.

They couldn’t do that, not even for reasons unrelated to Lucy.

Just like Zhen Zhiyuan and his group if they did such a thing, even if they succeeded, the other members wouldn’t trust them anymore.

Moreover, aside from Zhen Zhiyuan and his crew, not many were confident they could take down Ling Mo.

Since there was no benefit from any angle, why step up and become cannon fodder?

Although they didn’t participate, they also didn’t think highly of Ling Mo, believing that one person’s power was too limited.

But no one expected the situation to take a complete 180-degree turn, shocking everyone.

The Air Force Corps was defeated, and quite inexplicably and thoroughly at that.

On the surface, it seemed like Falcon was the biggest winner of this incident. But everyone knew that the real beneficiary was this seemingly lazy Survivor.

Now, no one in the F Team dared to underestimate him; in fact, they were somewhat apprehensive of him.

In all honesty, none of them could have achieved what Ling Mo did.

“Why is he here too!”

“Shh, how can you call him that? At least call him Mr. Ling, right?”

“Give it a rest, not everyone thinks like you…”

“Hey? Where’s Jianqi?”

Amidst the crowd, whispers of discussion continued to buzz.

Lucy glanced at Ling Mo. For some reason, even though Ling Mo hadn’t said much, his calm, almost lethargic expression made her feel reassured.

However, as someone who was mostly an outsider, Ling Mo could only provide corroboration and couldn’t directly participate in the discussion or influence its direction.

This matter was not easy to explain and was bound to face many questions.

The F Team wasn’t a disciplined, organized collective but rather a makeshift team that had come together spontaneously, and this became a glaring weakness at times like this…

“Everyone, listen to me…” Lucy took a deep breath and stepped forward resolutely.

While Lucy spoke, Ling Mo observed the expressions of the F Team members.

Although from Jianqi’s memory fragments he could see that there were no accomplices of his within the F Team, it never hurt to be cautious.

Fortunately, after scanning the group, he saw faces filled with shock and confusion, but no one who seemed to be an accomplice of Jianqi.

Ling Mo even carefully explored the psychic light clusters of the members to check for any unusual fluctuations, but found nothing.

It seemed that if they wanted to draw out the people from Niepan, they would have to stay here for a while.

“Lucy, you can’t be serious? We’re being used as Experimental Subjects? Could it be any more far-fetched?” a superhuman exclaimed, being the first to recover.

“Exactly! Who’s that stupid? Jianqi wouldn’t really treat us like lab rats with no intelligence, right?” another person shouted.

“Why don’t you tell us what Jianqi could do alone?” yet another person stood up to question, though their tone was somewhat gentler.

The crowd erupted in a cacophony of voices. Although Lucy wanted to argue her point, her words were quickly drowned out by the noise.

“Everyone…”

At this moment, Ling Mo suddenly spoke up.

As soon as he started talking, the surrounding area fell silent.

“Do I have a natural silence skill?” Ling Mo thought to himself, rolling his eyes inwardly.

He knew that this group had a somewhat special view of him, so this reaction wasn’t surprising, and he didn’t mind.

Seeing all eyes on him, Ling Mo smiled and reached into his pocket.

“What are you doing?”

Someone’s nerves immediately became taut, and they all prepared themselves for any sudden action.

However, Ling Mo simply pulled out a small vial: “Does anyone recognize this?”

The group collectively sighed in relief, then stared at the vial for a long time.

Finally, someone hesitantly said, “Isn’t this the elixir that Jianqi was researching?”

“I think I’ve seen it too, but it was only a prototype. How did it end up in your hands?”

Some people began to question again, suspecting that Lucy might have given it to Ling Mo.

“What does this even prove…” someone else muttered from the crowd.

Although their voices were low, indicating they didn’t want to offend Ling Mo too much, their suspicious glances were unmistakable.

Lucy looked somewhat frantic; she wasn’t good at handling such situations.

She could handle a few people, but facing the doubt of dozens left her flustered.

But in times like these, losing her temper wouldn’t solve anything.

Ling Mo didn’t say anything further. Instead, he turned his gaze toward the door.

A few seconds later, Xia Na walked in, holding a bird in her hands.

“What’s going on now?” The crowd immediately took notice and began pushing forward, eyeing Ling Mo’s actions with suspicion.

Ling Mo remained silent. He unscrewed the vial and poured the elixir into the bird’s beak.

Everyone craned their necks, whispering among themselves.

“What’s he doing now?”

“No idea…”

Even Lucy didn’t quite understand Ling Mo’s intention. She didn’t know what was in the elixir…

But since Ling Mo was doing this, he must have a reason.

Under the suspicious gazes of the crowd, the unfortunate bird suddenly began to thrash violently.

Xia Na immediately let it go, and they all watched as the bird shot off like a bullet.

Within seconds, it had crashed into the walls and ceiling several times. When it finally fell to the ground, exhausted, the surrounding crowd first gasped, then quickly closed in.

Everyone cautiously approached, carefully observing the bird.

Everyone was aware of Jianqi’s research; although not everyone knew the progress, they were undeniably interested in it.

Otherwise, how did Jianqi convince them to relocate to X City?

“I’ve seen it before; it just increases stamina and recovery, nothing special…” someone muttered.

“Yeah, what’s the point of this?” another person scoffed.

But suddenly, Lucy pointed at the bird and shouted, “Look at its eyes!”

“What’s with its eyes?”

Everyone’s attention immediately shifted to the bird’s eyes. Upon closer inspection, someone in the crowd gasped.

“It’s… it’s mutated!”

“No way! Is it really a mutation? Or was it always that color?”

“It was black just a moment ago! It’s blood-red now, just like a zombie’s!”

“Holy crap, what’s in that elixir? Quick, open all of Jianqi’s sealed boxes and catch more birds for testing!”

As the group descended into chaos, Ling Mo stood up, dusted himself off, and smiled at Lucy.

“In the future, when faced with situations like this, instead of arguing, just show them the facts,” Ling Mo said.

“…Got it!” Lucy nodded heavily, feeling relieved.

Some people in the crowd overheard this and broke into a cold sweat.

Lucy watched as Ling Mo and Xia Na slowly walked away. Suddenly, she snapped out of it and shouted, “You kept those facts from me too! What was I supposed to show them? Hey!”

Though she had suspected something, she never imagined the elixir could directly cause mutations…

However, this was actually a misunderstanding.

The dose was enough to mutate and quickly kill a bird, but it couldn’t immediately mutate an ordinary person.

But Ling Mo had no reservations about doing such things.

Who would dare experiment on themselves? With so many eyes watching each other, no one would suggest experimenting on others either…

After a few validations, Jianqi’s elixirs would likely be swiftly destroyed.

By then, this issue would be completely resolved…

At night, Ling Mo slipped out of the TV Station building, carefully avoiding the F Team members. He quietly made his way to another shopping mall not far from the station.

“MeGu!”

As soon as Ling Mo appeared, a large white blur lunged at him.

He nimbly jumped back, and a dull “thud” followed, kicking up a cloud of dust in front of him.

Ling Mo looked speechlessly at Xiao Bai, who was sprawled out on the ground, limbs splayed. The mutated panda rolled its eyes and stared at him dumbly, panting heavily.

Despite running around all day and being exhausted, Xiao Bai was still full of energy and showed no signs of losing weight.

Its massive size was still intimidating, so much so that even lying flat on the ground, its head was level with Ling Mo’s waist.

“Sigh… what’s the use of having such a big head if you’re this clumsy.”

Ling Mo sighed, giving Xiao Bai’s head a light slap.

“MeGu…”

The clumsy panda, still dizzy from its fall, just drooped its eyelids without resisting.

But just then, a dark shadow flashed behind Ling Mo.

The shadow seemed to collide with an invisible barrier, plastering itself against it.

Ling Mo turned around and, without missing a beat, gave the zombie loli a firm flick on the forehead.

One second, Yu Shiran’s face was smooshed against the invisible barrier, looking comically flattened. The next second, it bounced back to normal, but she still got a solid knock on the head.

“Wh-why…”

“Did you really think sacrificing Xiao Bai would distract me? Naive.”

“Hey!” the zombie loli jumped up, “Don’t get too cocky, you mere human! Making us run all day is one thing…”

As the zombie loli ranted, she didn’t notice the strange look Ling Mo was giving her.

“I just realized something.” Ling Mo quickly changed the subject.

He curiously looked Yu Shiran up and down before saying, “Your chest keeps growing, but why hasn’t your height changed at all?”

“…” Yu Shiran was silent for a few seconds before clenching her small fists and jumping up again. “I’m going to destroy you! Stupid human!”

“Jumping won’t hide your height,” Ling Mo continued.

“I’m really going to destroy you!” Yu Shiran roared.

“Ah… I actually guessed right. What’s up with your evolution? Are you going to stay a loli forever?” Ling Mo rubbed his chin and curiously circled around her, then patted her head consolingly. “But at least your combat power has increased. Don’t worry too much about your height.”

Yu Shiran looked up at Ling Mo, then adjusted her gaze to level it…

“I’ll destroy you! I’ll destroy you! My height not increasing is definitely Black Silk’s fault! It’s your fault!”

After a few minutes of fussing, this zombie loli, who had likely extended her shelf life indefinitely, finally calmed down.

However, she continued to glare angrily at Ling Mo, clearly well aware of her situation. Now that Ling Mo had pointed it out, she was as annoyed as ever…

Ling Mo had only just noticed her situation.

After all, they had first met only a few months ago. How much could she have grown in such a short time?

But on second thought, that was a human standard, and this loli in front of him was a zombie!

Especially with her chest as a comparison, the height issue suddenly became glaringly obvious.

Why was only her chest growing and not her height? It couldn’t be a localized mutation; she wasn’t a variation zombie, after all.

The only explanation was that her evolution path determined her height and appearance…

Moreover, her increased power and level had a very obvious indicator markdown just look at her chest.

Realizing this, Ling Mo’s gaze towards Yu Shiran became somewhat strange.

Compared to Yu Shiran, those previously known as “loli with large breasts” were nothing!

“Human, your gaze is strange…” Yu Shiran said sullenly.

“Heh heh,” Ling Mo chuckled but didn’t respond.

“By the way, I have some business to discuss,” Ling Mo shifted the topic again. “Come with me to catch some zombies.”

The two pieces of the viral hive in his pocket had been on his mind all afternoon.

After much deliberation, he decided that tonight was the perfect time to test them.

His purpose for coming to the F Team was to wait for Niepan’s people to show up, and they could appear at any moment.

Right now happened to be a perfect lull. Doing this now was the most convenient option.

However, taking Ye Lian and the others out might alarm the F Team, and it wouldn’t be good for keeping watch.

Secondly, he needed Black Silk’s help with this task.

“Come and sniff this.”

Ling Mo took out a piece of the viral hive from a variation zombie and waved it in front of Yu Shiran’s neck.

A small head immediately popped out from the fluffy scarf and sniffed towards the viral hive.

Two seconds later, Ling Mo received a simple mental message from Black Silk, along with Yu Shiran’s reluctant translation: “It remembers.”