Chapter 656 – Sometimes You Just Have to Take a Gamble

Song Jinsen immediately felt a weight lift off his chest, but his face quickly turned ashen.

He didn’t expect it to end this way…

Ling Mo’s words were harsh but true.

If he hadn’t put on airs, his situation would at least be better than it was now.

He had thoroughly angered Ling Mo and abandoned the last shred of dignity as a prisoner.

Benefit? At this moment, he couldn’t dare think of any benefits; just staying alive would be enough…

“I…” Song Jinsen’s expression darkened, and with a complex look he opened his mouth to speak.

“Did I give you permission to talk?” Ling Mo interrupted him unceremoniously.

The words made Song Jinsen’s face sink, but he obediently shut his mouth.

“Don’t move.” Ling Mo’s voice came again.

Song Jinsen, who was just about to turn his neck, immediately froze, his feet feeling like they were glued to the ground.

He didn’t dare to move; Ling Mo’s earlier outburst had left a deep impression on him, and he was filled with uneasy anxiety.

What is Ling Mo planning now…

In the brief silence, Song Jinsen remained motionless, cold sweat continuously streaming down from his forehead, dripping off his cheeks and chin.

But behind Song Jinsen, contrary to what he might have imagined, Ling Mo wasn’t standing there with a cold smile thinking of ways to deal with him. Instead, Ling Mo’s face was pale, and he was slowly massaging his temples, looking extremely fatigued.

By previously distracting them with that bizarre attack and then using that half-deceptive tactic on Song Jinsen, Ling Mo had exhausted his psychic power considerably.

After absorbing No.0’s psychic power, his total amount had indeed increased, but what he just used was something he had always intended to try but hadn’t had enough psychic power to support for casual use—a “high-consumption technique.”

For instance, that “harassment attack” which many couldn’t understand was, in essence, just the combination of psychic interference and an enhanced version of Skynet.

With the two combined, Ling Mo’s speed of movement not only became extremely fast but also ensured he wouldn’t be easily seen through.

Those attempting to track Ling Mo’s movements would be affected by his psychic interference.

And those trying to use psychic power to catch him would fail to keep up with his movement trajectory.

However, this technique has two drawbacks: it requires a large amount of psychic power, and it demands higher levels of concentration and reaction abilities, both mentally and physically.

Ling Mo’s current psychic strength could fully support the first condition, but the other two would need more training.

For Ling Mo to combine those two methods flawlessly to “hide” himself while occasionally attacking was already quite an impressive performance.

But even so, it still didn’t meet Ling Mo’s expectations.

As for the method he used on Song Jinsen earlier, “attacking with dozens of tentacles while hiding,” Ling Mo’s current abilities couldn’t really achieve that.

But creating a bluff to scare Song Jinsen wasn’t a problem.

Initially, Ling Mo thought that if Song Jinsen toughened up and faced the attack head-on, he would have to rush forward and fight until Song Jinsen was too exhausted to resist. However, he didn’t expect Song Jinsen to be so easily frightened…

It seems that saying the right things is one thing, but holding your ground in critical moments is quite another.

While Song Jinsen was shivering in his own fearful imaginations, the others had a clear view of Ling Mo’s current state.

Although Ye Lian and the others didn’t show much change in their expressions, their unblinking eyes were all fixed on Ling Mo.

This made Song Jinsen misunderstand even more, feeling like those icy eyes were staring at him, ready to attack all at once and turn him into a pincushion.

Xu Shuhan was still in a semi-conscious state, her manic expression unchanged, but Mu Chen’s eyes flashed with a hint of something new, and his perception of Ling Mo subtly shifted.

Sometimes, this guy really goes all out…

Finally, as a bit of color returned to his face, Ling Mo spoke, releasing Song Jinsen from his fear and tension.

“So, have you made up your mind?” Ling Mo asked.

Song Jinsen was immediately moved to tears. It turns out he was expected to decide for himself…

Song Jinsen stammered a couple of words, but Ling Mo impatiently cut him off and slowly shuffled in front of him. “Do you really want me to ask in another way?”

Although Ling Mo’s tone was rather calm, Song Jinsen could feel an unmistakable death threat from his unusually bright eyes. This enormous pressure made his entire body go cold.

“I’ll talk…” Song Jinsen gritted his teeth and started to speak.

But Ling Mo beckoned Mu Chen over with a wave, “You talk to him.”

Song Jinsen was a bit puzzled as he glanced at Mu Chen but didn’t dare to ask more questions. While carefully observing Ling Mo’s expression, he began to divulge everything he knew.

Being a senior member of Niepan’s headquarters, Song Jinsen’s information was far clearer than Mu Chen’s half-understood, subjective descriptions. Many details were entirely different from Ling Mo’s previous impressions of the headquarters.

According to Song Jinsen, Niepan headquarters wasn’t actually a mysterious underground organization. Fundamentally, it was also a Survivor Camp. But whether for someone like Ling Mo from X City or for the members of Niepan’s branches, the headquarters remained quite enigmatic.

The distinguishing feature lay primarily in Niepan headquarters’ strict hierarchical system and clear division of labor.

Members like Song Jinsen, who were called ordinary members, operated like worker bees, taking on most of the outer tasks such as searching for supplies, gathering information, and completing missions assigned by the headquarters.

These tasks weren’t forcibly assigned but were left to the members to accept voluntarily.

Based on their task completion, they would receive different levels of contribution points, which were effectively their personal Points, meticulously recorded in each person’s file.

When the Points reached a certain threshold, they would receive corresponding rank advancements.

“And what about the others?” Mu Chen asked after hearing some of the related details, prompting another question.

Song Jinsen glanced at Ling Mo, who remained silent, and continued, “We form the largest segment of the headquarters, but we’re only the base level, not the core. Another part of the headquarters consists of the Experimental Group. These people are responsible for various virus research projects. Many of the missions are submitted by them and then assigned to us. They don’t have to go on missions themselves and have a separate grading system.”

“There are also several miscellaneous departments, each with different tasks and various methods of earning contribution points. Overall, Niepan headquarters operates like a beehive…” Song Jinsen tried to use simple terms to make it appear that he was holding nothing back.

At this moment, Ling Mo finally asked, “Who exactly is your headquarters’ Boss?”

Mu Chen also showed a curious expression, clearly quite intrigued by this question.

“Considering how difficult the environment is, gathering so many people and expanding the influence to this extent is already impressive. The fact that it can run so efficiently, with such a strict discipline and a well-established reward and punishment system, is truly shocking,” Ling Mo said, his tone sounding genuinely interested.

But Song Jinsen’s expression turned troubled, “I… it’s not that I don’t want to tell you, it’s just… I don’t know!”

“Are you kidding me?” Mu Chen asked, visibly displeased.

Ling Mo also frowned slightly. This didn’t make sense…

“I’m telling the truth!” Song Jinsen said anxiously, “Believe me! I’ve told you so much already, what would I gain by hiding this? I don’t know, and no one I know does either. Whether anyone at the headquarters knows, I can’t say…”

“What’s the situation?” Ling Mo asked again.

“No one’s ever seen or heard from them. Whether it was built by one person or a group of people, that’s unclear too. We only know that shortly after the Cataclysm, the initial framework of Niepan started to take shape.”

Song Jinsen’s face was tense, but his explanation was fairly clear.

Ling Mo found the mystery troubling. Why all the secrecy?