Chapter 618 – The Professional Survivor

From the moment he heard the strange roar, Ling Mo had a vague feeling—

These three people from the Niepan branch must have hidden something about the situation in Dongming.

But thinking this way actually made Ling Mo a little excited.

Originally, he was going to Dongming for virus research and No.0, but now it seemed there might be some hidden surprises waiting for him.

As expected of Niepan…

However, if he directly asked Mu Chen and the others, he knew it would not yield any results.

But the more they acted this way, the more Ling Mo felt that traveling at night might be a feasible plan.

By nightfall, this Mu Chen, who was taking them on these obvious detours, might start to feel a bit uneasy himself.

On the other hand, Ling Mo could seize the opportunity to investigate. Having them along would certainly reduce the risk significantly…

In fact, Ling Mo had noticed Mu Chen and the others’ anxiety.

But simply taking detours was at most just a boring delay.

Yes, merely a delay…

Under Ling Mo’s gaze, Mu Chen suddenly felt a bit uneasy.

In that moment, his eyes… Could it be that he had figured something out?

This thought made Mu Chen feel his lips and tongue go dry, but he quickly calmed down.

No, he couldn’t have known…

If he already knew, even if he didn’t turn hostile, what about those girls around him?

Let’s not talk about that dazed yet beautiful girl for now, but what about the other one with an ever-dangerous aura and the long-haired girl?

Especially that long-haired girl…

Mu Chen glanced at Xia Na and couldn’t help but think of some terrifying scenes.

Like while they were on the road, how that girl would smile and slice the zombies in front of her cleanly in half…

“Cold as winter…” Mu Chen shuddered and drew a conclusion in his heart.

But in a way, this also set his mind at ease.

If the plan succeeded, the increased chances of survival would make any potential “punishments” seem much more acceptable…

“No… still too hard to accept,” Mu Chen hesitated, then shook his head to himself.

“On the bright side, having two hostages instead of three might reduce the number, but their value increases. They shouldn’t act too recklessly… they shouldn’t.”

“So that’s decided then,” Ling Mo said.

Mu Chen snapped back to reality and exclaimed, “You even used a definitive statement!”

Ling Mo nodded. “You’re a prisoner, after all.”

“…Thanks for the reminder! But seriously, even though we all know it, could you at least keep pretending?”

Mu Chen wanted to discuss the night operation further but suddenly noticed Xia Zhi standing slightly behind Ling Mo.

Though this guy usually went unnoticed, his exaggerated winking and twitching expressions were impossible to ignore at the moment…

Seeing Mu Chen’s glance, Xia Zhi quickly shook his head slightly and, within seconds, returned to his expressionless state.

“Uh…”

Mu Chen was momentarily taken aback and then said to Ling Mo somewhat awkwardly, “If you all want to die, then let’s do it your way!”

“Hey…”

Xu Shuhan, standing nearby with her gun, looked a bit frustrated.

She was also trying hard to signal Mu Chen with her eyes, but by the time he noticed, she had already rolled her eyes in exasperation.

Xu Shuhan’s intent was clear too; she hoped Mu Chen would persuade Ling Mo to change his mind.

But instead of voicing further objections, Mu Chen subtly shook his head at her while talking to Ling Mo.

Xu Shuhan felt helpless, frowning and glaring at Mu Chen with gritted teeth.

Mu Chen shrugged and turned away, acting as if he hadn’t seen her.

When he looked back at Xia Zhi, expecting some sort of hint, he saw that Xia Zhi had resumed playing the “wooden man.”

“Damn it!”

Mu Chen cursed inwardly.

He suddenly furrowed his brows as another thought crossed his mind: “How come things still seem out of my control?”

…

Dongming may not be large in terms of area, but its developed pharmaceutical and medical equipment manufacturing brought about overly dense urban structures and a large population.

These factors were once symbols of a city’s prosperity and development, but now they served as indicators of the level of danger.

If Ling Mo had to rate Dongming, he would definitely categorize it as “highly dangerous.”

“The Air Force Corps actually doesn’t have any information on this place,” Ling Mo recalled, finding it puzzling.

However, exploring areas used to be the Air Force Corps’ job; now, whether anyone at Falcon Second Camp even knew about the situation was uncertain for Ling Mo.

His first thought was of Yuwen Xuan, but when he took out the communicator, he found that there was no signal in this area.

“And they told me it’s an upgraded version…” Ling Mo sighed and shoved the communicator back into his bag.

Since he couldn’t get intelligence from a third party, he would have to gather it himself.

The routes Mu Chen took them through were all in the city center, which not only delayed their progress but also clearly aimed to exhaust Ling Mo and his group both physically and mentally.

What do tired people do? Rest.

Mu Chen’s plan was clever, but he didn’t anticipate that Ling Mo and his group were so adept at taking detours.

As a lone survivor without an organized group, Ling Mo’s city survival skills were top-notch.

Sneaking through alleys, winding through buildings, leaping through windows into shops—whatever it took to avoid zombies, he did.

And the scariest part was, he never made a mistake!

For most people, traversing this way required utmost caution and constant careful judgment, as no one knew what lay ahead.

But Ling Mo walked as if he had no hesitation.

Even for a mental ability superhuman, such judgment skills were astonishing!

As a result, the one who ended up struggling was Mu Chen. He had to keep racking his brains, constantly thinking about which route was the farthest or where they could go next for another detour.

Despite these efforts, there came a point when there were no more detour options left.

Even for superhumans, fighting a group of zombies would require considerable time and energy.

However, Ling Mo’s approach to combat was a complete shift from his strategic detours—it became simple and straightforward in an instant.

Finding a nearby building, Ling Mo would then hide in a corner, positioning himself behind the three girls.

If this was their first time meeting Ling Mo, Mu Chen and his companions would have definitely despised such behavior.

But at this moment, they all clearly understood that although Ling Mo didn’t charge to the front, his role in that small team was irreplaceable.

He was like the control center, the vital link that coordinated the perfect cooperation among the three girls.

The battles between this small team and the zombies were not only swift but also very concise!

From his position at the back, Ling Mo used his psychic power to create various disruptions on the battlefield. Though it was hard to see exactly what he was doing, the sudden anomalies displayed by the zombies provided some clues.

Standing right in front of Ling Mo was the girl with the sniper rifle. She targeted only the senior zombies within the horde, and as long as they appeared in her line of sight—even if it was just for a split second—she seized the opportunity to fire quickly.

As another firearm user and a superhuman, Xu Shuhan believed that with all her might, she could probably achieve this level of accuracy and speed a couple of times.

But the real gap was that Ye Lian did this completely effortlessly, with an astonishingly high success rate.

She didn’t aim for instant kills, but the powerful sniper bullets, even when hitting just a toe, could instantly incapacitate the target.

Moreover, zombies became even more dangerous when injured. This held true for both survivors and the zombies’ own kind.

At the front was Xia Na, wielding a scythe that danced like a sharp blade in a beautiful performance. She spun through the battlefield, harvesting the lives of the surrounding creatures, splashing blood everywhere.

If Mu Chen and his team focused enough, they could faintly make out one or multiple Li Yalins amid the bloodshed.

Her targets were those zombies lurking on the periphery, waiting for a chance to break in.

When they saw zombies that had dodged bullets and the scythe suddenly lurching and bleeding from their necks, Mu Chen and his companions couldn’t help but feel a chill down their own necks.

It was so clean and efficient!