Chapter 655 – What’s The Point Of Trying To Act Tough?

“Not bad,” Ling Mo said with a smile.

“That wasn’t a compliment!” Mu Chen couldn’t help but grumble to himself nearby.

As an injured party, he hadn’t participated in the ambush, but now that only Song Jinsen was left, he stood in front of this Niepan headquarters member without any hesitation.

This was exactly what Ling Mo intended. According to Ling Mo, there was something that needed Mu Chen to do.

When Song Jinsen heard this, he was almost furious enough to vomit blood. His hand holding the gun couldn’t stop trembling.

There’s no denying that he had underestimated Ling Mo, and even more so, Ling Mo’s companions.

The moment Song Jinsen realized that Ling Mo had figured out how to deal with them from the moment he stepped out and had led them into a trap step by step, he felt a chill running down his spine.

“First, you came out alone without concealing the existence of your companions, deliberately giving us the illusion that only you were combat-ready, making us underestimate your companions. Next, through bizarre attack methods, you drew everyone’s attention, then used the opportunity to let your companions scatter around and hide, waiting for the right moment to ambush. I imagine that no matter whether I thought about dealing with your companions or not, you would have immediately stopped attacking and guided us to search around the area, right?”

Song Jinsen asked with a dark expression, still unwilling to accept it.

Ling Mo nodded, somewhat surprised, and said, “You see through it quite well, though it’s a bit late.”

Snap!

Song Jinsen clenched his jaw so tightly that the cigarette he was biting broke off and fell to the ground with ash.

“And then, capitalizing on our urge to kill you, plus the fact that this area isn’t very large, and given that preconceived notion, we easily walked into the trap you had set up… That was indeed your plan.”

This time, without Ling Mo’s nod, Song Jinsen knew he had analyzed it correctly.

Yet all he could do now was sigh deeply, just as Ling Mo had said, it was too late.

The plan leveraged their individual psychologies to perfection. Even though it was a plan that seemed easy to see through, it had utterly shattered his makeshift strangulation squad in an instant.

Even a ragtag group wouldn’t have fallen apart this quickly.

However, there was still one thing that Song Jinsen couldn’t wrap his head around, or perhaps… found hard to accept!

The formidable strength displayed by Ling Mo’s group was clearly enough to take them on head-to-head, so why use such a method instead?!

That was exactly what Song Jinsen thought, and that’s what he asked.

Ling Mo thought seriously and replied, “Minimized risk and minimized cost.”

Humiliation! Barefaced humiliation!

With the smallest effort, he managed to cause the greatest insult to Song Jinsen!

Hearing it explained like that, he felt like he had willingly jumped into Ling Mo’s trap, a trap covered with nothing more than a few strands of straw! Could there be anything more humiliating?

Such a simple thing, yet at the time it happened, he didn’t see it coming at all!

While Song Jinsen’s expression was understandably complex at this point, Mu Chen’s face didn’t look much better.

Ling Mo’s method was simple and effective, but like Song Jinsen, Mu Chen hadn’t seen it coming when it was happening.

It wasn’t until Ye Lian and Li Yalin suddenly spread out, and Xia Na took him and Xu Shuhan into hiding that Mu Chen finally realized what Ling Mo was up to.

And the ability Ling Mo had just displayed shocked Mu Chen deeply.

How long has it been, and Ling Mo’s power had already advanced again?

Although he hadn’t fully understood Ling Mo’s superpower before, he knew that Ling Mo’s strength was definitely not as formidable as it was now.

When did he advance?

But even more shocking to Mu Chen was the seamless teamwork.

No matter how Ling Mo communicated with them… Mu Chen absolutely refused to believe some dismissive nonsense like “telepathic communication.”

He knew that Ling Mo had plenty of strange aspects, like that transparent object that had absorbed the psychic seed from his brain-how could that possibly be something Ling Mo had developed…

But since asking would only yield insincere and obviously made-up answers, Mu Chen felt that for his own sake, it was better to restrain his curiosity.

The key point was, leaving aside the mode of communication, Mu Chen valued the efficient action capabilities they exhibited and the absolute trust among them.

With these two elements, Ling Mo’s plans kept succeeding.

And the fundamental reason Song Jinsen’s team failed against Ling Mo was their lack of these two elements.

“If we could train a team like that… even if they only reach half their potential, it would substantially improve survival rates,” Mu Chen thought expectantly.

Snapping back to reality, Mu Chen suddenly realized that he had unknowingly already gotten into character…

“Damn! How spineless!” Mu Chen cursed under his breath, but couldn’t help showing a hint of longing. “But if that’s possible, maybe I, too, could find more meaningful goals, just like Ling Mo.”

Although somewhat unwilling, Mu Chen had to admit that Ling Mo possessed something more important than merely surviving.

Because of this, no matter how outrageous Ling Mo’s decisions were, Mu Chen’s instinctive skepticism would always be followed by an inexplicable compliance to Ling Mo’s instructions.

Like now, he knew nothing good would come of it, yet he remained standing still.

Come what may!

“Aren’t you going to make a move?” Song Jinsen spat out the remaining half of his cigarette and asked.

Even though his hands were uncontrollably trembling, he still tightly gripped his two pistols.  “Honestly, I thought I could overwhelm you with sheer numbers, but now it’s just me facing the five of you. The tables sure turned quickly.”

“Damn, this guy is still so annoying even now. He didn’t even count Xu Shuhan…” Mu Chen grumbled a bit, only to notice that Xia Na was frowning slightly at him.

He followed Xia Na’s gaze and found himself locking eyes with Xu Shuhan, whose expression was crazed.

Feeling a chill down his spine, Mu Chen suddenly snapped back to reality and erupted in anger, “Damn it, you think I’m not a person just because I’m a wounded soldier? I’ll still fight you to the death even if I can’t run!”

“You knew it all along,” Ling Mo said, his tone full of deeper meaning.

Song Jinsen hesitated with a conflicted expression for a moment, then shook his head. “I admit you’re strong, but don’t get too arrogant. Trying to extract intelligence from me? The troubles at headquarters are beyond your reach.”

“That’s not something for you to worry about,” Ling Mo calmly replied.

“But if you fail, it will be exposed that I betrayed Niepan. I don’t think I can escape the headquarters’ pursuit. I’m just one person—how far can I run? Rather than dying sooner or later at the hands of zombies or the headquarters, and suffering in the meantime, I might as well fight you now.” Despite his calm exterior, Song Jinsen’s inner turmoil was evident, as though he had truly decided to risk it all.

In reality, however, his palms were already sweating nervously.

He had lost, but he wanted to lose with dignity.

At the very least, he needed to get more promises and benefits from Ling Mo to avoid seeming cheap.

Judging by Ling Mo’s attitude, it seemed likely that he could regain at least some of his self-respect…

As Song Jinsen was thinking this, he saw Ling Mo nodding thoughtfully.

Feeling a surge of joy, he was about to speak when he suddenly sensed a gust of wind rushing straight towards his face.

Instinctively dodging to the side, Song Jinsen felt a sharp pain on his neck, followed by a warm trickle running down into his collar.

“Ah!”

Song Jinsen broke into a cold sweat instantly. Before he could retaliate, Ling Mo had already vanished from sight.

Just as he raised his gun to shoot, a spine-chilling sensation overcame him.

Simultaneously, dozens of gusts of wind surged at him from all directions!

No matter how he moved, there was no way to dodge them all.

If he fought desperately, he could perhaps switch his target and injure one or two of Ling Mo’s teammates, but doing so would seal his own fate…

“Wait! I surrender! Isn’t that enough?”

Song Jinsen shouted, raising his arms high.

The gusts of wind vanished instantly, and Ling Mo’s voice came from behind him once again: “You see, there was no need to put on an act. What’s the point of trying to act tough?”