Chapter 554 – The Overpowered Infection Source

The day after Ling Mo officially took on the role of Regimental Commander of the F Team, Lucy came to find him again.

“I need your help with something,” Lucy said directly. She glanced around the room, relieved that Ye Lian and the others were not around.

If they had been there, she probably would have had to swallow her words once again.

“What’s up?” Ling Mo asked without looking up, still flipping through a booklet in his hands.

These past few days, aside from being under Li Yalin’s constant demands, Ling Mo had spent most of his time studying a notebook he had found in Jianqi’s pack.

Although the F Team members had destroyed those elixirs, this notebook, which contained many experimental results, had been left aside.

After Ling Mo became the Regimental Commander, he only needed to say a word, and naturally, someone would help him retrieve such a thing.

However, what he was interested in were not the densely packed symbols and formulas, but rather some information about Niepan.

He had already been with the F Team for about a week but had yet to see anyone from Niepan, which made him feel a bit anxious.

Could it be that they didn’t plan on coming? Or was it that, in their current state, they were unable to locate the relocated F Team?

If that were the case, should he consider going to the old F Team base to lie in wait?

Thinking about it, Ling Mo found it somewhat amusing.

He used to avoid trouble at all costs, but now he eagerly awaited it every day, even considering seeking it out himself… how desperately enthusiastic he had become!

“Hey…”

Lucy’s dissatisfaction with Ling Mo’s response grew. Was he being a bit too casual?

However, Ling Mo’s demeanor and expression today were different from usual. Typically, he would appear very relaxed, leaning back into his chair as if he could fall asleep at any moment.

But today, he was sitting upright, his eyes focused intently on the booklet in his hands, while the tea on the small side table next to him had already gone cold.

“He’s really engrossed,” Lucy muttered to herself. She pulled a chair and sat opposite Ling Mo.

Oddly enough, Ling Mo’s lack of attention actually made her feel a bit more comfortable.

If Ling Mo had been looking at her, she might not have been able to say what was on her mind.

“I…” Lucy pressed her lips together, stealing another glance at Ling Mo before resting her chin in her hands and clearing her throat twice.

“There’s water over there,” Ling Mo said, his eyes still fixed on the booklet as he turned another page.

“No need.” Lucy shook her head and sniffed, suddenly asking, “Do you know why I wanted to introduce you to the F Team?”

“I have a general idea,” Ling Mo nodded.

Lucy was taken aback, then she smirked slightly. “No… what you see is just the surface. I actually have a very selfish side… Protecting the F Team and doing whatever I can for them is just my way of keeping the people around me close… so they won’t suddenly leave me or attack me… Isn’t that kind of funny?”

With a bitter shake of her head, Lucy continued, “But, although it sounds silly, it’s really just because of a bad memory. I never thought I would change so much, or that I would become like this. Some experiences stay with you for a long time, and that saying is really no joke… Of course, everyone who’s survived probably has some awful memory they’d rather forget. I’m not that special… “

“Mm…” Ling Mo responded, his eyes still on the booklet, although his mind wandered back to those days when he didn’t know whether Ye Lian was alive or dead.

It wasn’t a long time, but it felt like an eternity.

However, he didn’t pry into Lucy’s painful past, assuming she, like him, didn’t want to bring it up again.

“In short… I suddenly realized that I am becoming like those people in my memories who caused me so much pain. I can’t believe it… it’s unbelievable that I would become just like them.” Lucy suddenly lowered her head, burying her face in her hands.

Ling Mo sighed, gently placed the booklet down, and reached out to touch the top of Lucy’s head. “Just tell me, Lulu, what do you need me to do?”

“I…” Lucy still kept her head down but freed one hand to grab Ling Mo’s. “I think I might be done for… But… But…”

Her voice suddenly became muffled. “I don’t want to die yet…”

At the same time, her grip tightened on Ling Mo’s fingers.

Ling Mo could feel her body trembling slightly and let out a long sigh. “Don’t worry, you’re going to be fine.”

“You don’t need to comfort me…”

“I’m serious.”

“You don’t know anything!” Lucy suddenly shouted, lifting her head abruptly.

At this moment, her face was pale, her eyes bloodshot, with traces of tear stains.

“It’s just an infection,” Ling Mo said.

Just an infection?!

Lucy’s eyes widened in disbelief, her mind going blank.

It took her a good three or four seconds to recover before she suddenly screeched like a frantic cat and lunged at Ling Mo. “Keep your voice down… No, wait! How do you know? How do you know about it? How long have you known?”

“Hey… Help… Help!” Ling Mo kicked and struggled.

After two minutes of turmoil, Lucy finally calmed down from her frenzy.

She climbed off Ling Mo, panting heavily, her eyes glued to him as if afraid he would vanish.

Ling Mo, with his clothes in disarray, leaned against the sofa, clutching his neck. “Are you trying to strangle me?”

“Answer my question!” Lucy shouted.

“Don’t be so hasty,” Ling Mo said, waving the booklet in his hand. “I actually figured out your problem. But don’t worry, you won’t fully mutate.”

“But I’m…”

Lucy tried to say something but suddenly paused.

Ling Mo’s heartbeat… It was steady.

This meant he wasn’t lying…

“Your body’s mutation has mostly stabilized. You’re actually only mildly infected; the amount of virus you were exposed to was very small. They might have parasitized your cells… Uh, you don’t need to open your mouth that wide,” Ling Mo explained.

“But… they’ll reproduce! They’ll reproduce! There will be more and more of them, filling my body!” Lucy yelled in frustration.

“Yes, they have almost completed this process now. But do you think zombies mutate just because of the virus? No, it’s because the virus parasitizes their cells and then undergoes another mutation. It’s this zombifying mutation that causes their transformation. However, the virus that entered your body underwent a different mutation. It will modify your body but won’t affect your mental state…”

Ling Mo suddenly paused midway.

Why does this sound so familiar?

Another type of mutation? Body modification? No effect on mental state?

“Holy crap! That’s me!”

Ling Mo glanced at Lucy in shock, his thoughts in turmoil.

Memory fragments began to replay in his mind, focusing on any interaction with Lucy, especially the bits he hadn’t paid much attention to at the time.

In a single day, people see and hear countless things, but most only remember what interests them or leaves a strong impression.

Details like how many streetlights there are, the pattern on the flowerbed tiles, or the faces of people passing by-these “useless” bits of information are automatically categorized as junk by the brain and stored.

But with Ling Mo’s enhanced psychic power, it was as though his mental processor had undergone an upgrade, allowing him to handle much more information simultaneously.

The most significant changes were in his strength, and secondly, his memory.

He could now recall many memories, and those fragments flashed through his mind like slideshows.

Ding!

The scene froze at the moment he was on top of Lucy.

Then, in slow motion, Ling Mo saw a drop of his blood drip from his mouth onto Lucy’s lips.

And then… she slightly opened her mouth…

“Damn it, damn it, damn it!!! No way! No way! No way!!”

Ling Mo’s fists clenched tightly.

The infection source… was him?!