Chapter 549 – The Internal Structure of Zombies

As the two were still fussing, the Zombie Puppet that had been rolling on the ground finally showed some movement.

He suddenly extended his neck, and a strange sound came from his throat.

“Ugh~”

“Is he about to vomit?” Ling Mo placed Yu Shiran, who was hanging on his arm, back on the ground and curiously watched the Zombie Puppet.

The Zombie Puppet’s neck stretched longer and longer, and after a violent shake of his body, a series of muffled cracking sounds could be heard.

It felt like a rusty machine that hadn’t been oiled for a long time, with all its joints becoming extremely stiff.

Crack!

The Zombie Puppet’s waist lifted up, but his upper body and legs were still trembling on the ground.

Crack, crack, crack!

After a series of explosive muffled sounds, Ling Mo suddenly widened his eyes.

Wait…

If his eyes weren’t deceiving him, then this was truly happening right before his eyes.

He hadn’t seen Black Silk’s strange evolution.

He hadn’t seen Xiao Bai’s fur change color.

But this moment, he saw it all clearly.

The skin on the extended neck of the Zombie Puppet was being pushed up bit by bit, as if something inside was trying to get out.

As the skin stretched thinner and thinner, a Bone Spur actually poked through.

Moreover, his tailbone seemed to be changing too…

Under Ling Mo’s shocked gaze, the Zombie Puppet slowly transformed…

“Cluck, cluck, cluck…”

With a series of crisp sounds from his throat, the Zombie Puppet leaped up under Ling Mo’s control.

From his tail, a segment of bone protruded, looking like an extra tail had suddenly grown out.

As for his head… this thing could actually turn 360 degrees!

His cervical spine seemed to have become something that could move and assemble freely, not affecting his actions at all.

In this state, he could observe in every direction, instantly expanding his field of vision!

As for that tail…

Ling Mo controlled the Zombie Puppet to run a few steps and then jump, and immediately discovered the secret behind it.

With an extra tail, this zombie could maintain excellent balance even while sprinting at high speed. For instance, he could make sudden turns while running without losing his balance and falling.

Additionally, the tail acted like an extra limb, capable of delivering more powerful attacks.

However, the most terrifying aspect was his upper body’s ability to twist freely. The exact mechanics of this were difficult to understand without dissection.

Perhaps he had grown an extra bone segment, or there was some kind of internal variation…

During his jumps, the tail could whip around, helping him to change shape mid-air.

The most important part was that these bones could retract…

Once retracted, aside from the damaged skin and some bloodstains, there would be no visible abnormalities.

With continued evolution and refinement, the skin in those areas might grow to resemble zippers. When needed, they would open; when not, they would close, appearing only as scars on the surface.

“Really impressive… This is the fusion with a variation zombie…” Ling Mo remarked.

The variation zombie’s mutation was external, but the mutation of a regular zombie fused with a variation zombie was clearly internal.

From the outside, this new zombie looked identical to a regular zombie, but it possessed the mutation abilities of a variation zombie.

Stronger attacks, higher survival rates…

“The zombie species… are truly formidable.”

Ling Mo clenched his fist, then slowly spread his hand open in front of him.

The zombie’s evolution process had been fast-forwarded in front of him. He had seen it in advance, but in reality, it might take the group some more time to reach the stage of a Zombie Puppet.

Even knowing this outcome in advance, it couldn’t be prevented.

Ling Mo cared so much not just for survival, but also for Ye Lian and the others.

They would eventually mutate like this too, but what would they become? That was unpredictable.

After learning about the virus homology from Jianqi, Ling Mo couldn’t help but wonder about humans.

The evolution of superhumans indicated that the virus within them was also evolving, but what about ordinary people? Would they evolve too?

Some things are hard to think about until you understand them, but ever since Ling Mo learned that humans also have a virus in their bodies—albeit different from the zombie virus—he started to notice certain issues.

Although ordinary people neither mutated nor gained superpowers, they did get some benefits.

The harsh life after the Cataclysm and the lack of nutrition didn’t cause widespread outbreaks of certain diseases among ordinary people.

Even in environments filled with corpses and blood, no major epidemics broke out…

Their resistance had clearly increased, and even their physical strength and endurance had improved.

Most people didn’t notice this, attributing their growth to long-term exercise.

While exercise played a role, the gradual strengthening of their bodies was an undeniable fact.

But why was there no substantial evolution? It was probably because humans were still mostly on the defensive, unlike zombies who actively attacked.

Zombies evolved through battles, fighting not only humans but also mutation beasts, and their battles with each other were equally intense.

“Could it be… are humans really destined to be replaced?” Ling Mo’s heart grew heavy.

“No… no, that’s too pessimistic,” Ling Mo suddenly shook his head. “Falcon, the F Team, Niepan… all the various human organizations prove humanity’s strengths, don’t they? Cooperation, unity, using every available resource—that’s the true strength of humanity.”

“Ordinary people are the foundation of human survival, while superhumans are the warriors responsible for fighting and defending. The preserved artifacts of human civilization are our weapons… Thinking this way, humanity isn’t without resistance. While zombies are evolving, human strength is also gradually being unified, like the Air Force Corps switching allegiance…”

“Maybe I’m just worrying too much. But if the F Team could become a base that shelters a large number of ordinary people, wouldn’t it be even more effective? I should probably discuss this with Lucy.”

Ling Mo probably didn’t even realize that this line of thinking showed just how much he cared about the future of humanity.

Apart from the evolution of Ye Lian and the others, Ling Mo, as a member of the human race, also cared deeply about the survival of his species.

These two concerns weren’t contradictory; both were considerations for the people and things Ling Mo cared about.

“At least if I see it coming, I can prepare for it! No matter how you look at it, that’s a good thing, hahaha…”

Yu Shiran watched Ling Mo laughing foolishly and couldn’t help but touch the Black Silk around her neck, muttering, “What a strange human, frowning one moment and laughing the next, just like when he does weird things with Senior Sister, right, Black Silk?”

Zzz—

Ling Mo’s body instantly froze as if shocked by electricity, his expression fixed on his face.

A few seconds later, he stiffly turned his head to look at Yu Shiran. “You… you peeked?”

“No, I didn’t.” The zombie Loli quickly shook her head.

Ling Mo had just breathed a sigh of relief when she continued, “I was openly watching, fair and square. Don’t underestimate me, human!”

“What’s there to be proud of in that? Why do you say it so righteously? You’re only six or seven years away from adulthood; don’t be so ahead of your time. I can barely look at you straight!”

Ling Mo’s frustrated ranting only earned him a smug glance from Yu Shiran. “You can look at me sideways…”

“Damn it!!!”

Seeing that he couldn’t learn anything more from observation, Ling Mo dealt with the newly appeared zombie and had Black Silk drag the body away.

Although his tentacles could do the same, Black Silk’s silver thread only consumed physical strength and not psychic power…

Of course, the one expending energy was its symbiote, Yu Shiran…

Thus, a bizarre scene unfolded in a corner of this terrifying city.

A human walked ahead with his hands in his pockets, followed by a little Loli humming a tune. Not far behind the Loli, a zombie corpse slid slowly forward, dragged by her…

“Hey, human, I have a question for you…”

“Ask.”

“Why didn’t you wait until we got back to kill him?”

“… The weather’s nice today.”

“Stupid human…”