Chapter 659 – Always Carry Tools for Starting a Fire

At this moment, Mu Chen’s voice came from outside the door, sounding as if he had found some supplies.

Seeing Ye Lian and the others go to help, Ling Mo lowered his head again and began to read carefully from the beginning.

Judging by the dates noted in the journal, the earliest entry was from six months ago.

Back then, Ling Mo only had a rudimentary understanding of psychic power, but the notes already contained systematic theories.

What intrigued Ling Mo the most was that all the handwriting came from the same person…

Wasn’t the development of No.0 supposed to be accomplished by a team?

Regardless of how many people were involved, the more Ling Mo read, the more he felt that the true core of the project was this one person who wrote the notes.

Beyond studying psychic power, this person often jotted down some seemingly crazy theories in the margins.

“Psychic superhumans are merely the result of brain mutations. While ordinary people can’t become superhumans, if we fuse the psychic power of many individuals, wouldn’t it rival that of a superhuman? It’s worth a try.”

Ling Mo read this passage and realized this was the origin of No.0.

Just by saying “it’s worth a try,” research truly began.

This person must have had a significant status and reputation within Niepan at the time; otherwise, how could they have had such authority?

“Although the fusion was successful, the collective minds of many couldn’t compare to a single person’s. Why? If we could refine psychic power into pure energy and then inject it into one person’s brain, would it create an even stronger creature than No.0?”

“Psychic power is like a form of telekinesis but not as intangible. Unlike other superhumans who control their bodies, psychic superhumans control their minds. What if, while enhancing psychic power, we also train our minds? Wouldn’t this accelerate the enhancement? Methods for enhancing…”

Seeing the sloppy handwriting reach the bottom of the page, Ling Mo turned the page.

To his frustration, the top half of the second page was completely charred. Even touching it would cause it to crumble into dust.

“How exactly does one enhance it?” Ling Mo thought, furrowing his brow.

Indeed, he had always focused on increasing the strength of his psychic power but had never considered improving from a mental perspective.

When exerting psychic power, controlling mental energy mainly relies on high concentration and quick mental reaction. This reaction ability actually includes thinking.

But precisely how to train the mind, Ling Mo had no clue.

Common general methods were certainly not applicable, but the notes stopped here as well.

Unwilling to give up, Ling Mo flipped through several more pages, only to discover that the author of the notes did not seem to care much about this issue and never mentioned it again.

However, the fact that a simple idea led to the creation of No.0 made Ling Mo incredibly intrigued by this person.

With rich theoretical knowledge and the ability to realize terrifying ideas, this individual was indeed a dangerous member of Niepan.

Given this, it seemed this person had significant status within the Experimental Group at Niepan headquarters…

Unluckily, after flipping through the entire journal, he didn’t find a signature, leaving Ling Mo no choice but to close the notes.

“Captain.”

Mu Chen’s shout came from outside. Responding, Ling Mo carefully tucked the notes into his backpack.

“I found a lot of canned food and bottled water, along with some bullets, and gave them all to Ye Lian,” Mu Chen said as he opened the door.

He couldn’t help but glance in the direction of the incubator, a trace of fear appearing on his face, and then gave Ling Mo a puzzled look.

“Let me check these bottles,” Ling Mo said, grabbing a medicine bottle without hesitation.

“Oh, some of those were left by former experiment staff,” Mu Chen replied casually.

Ling Mo’s face showed a hint of surprise, so he opened the bottle and took a sniff.

These bottles emitted strange medicinal scents, but two of them had a familiar odor.

The virus!

Moreover, it was a viral solution from a Senior Zombie…

It seemed Niepan also had the idea of enhancing the human body using this diluted virus, but most likely, it was used here to inject into the vessel for No.0.

A small baby has limited energy. Although it could restrain No.0, it also confined No.0’s power.

But, with this potion, things would be different…

Through continuous stimulation, it could maximize the potential of this tiny body and might gradually change its constitution.

However, now that it’s already a corpse, it’s impossible to know if any changes occurred, and if so, to what extent.

The potion was useless now, but it would be perfect for Xu Shuhan, so Ling Mo stashed it in his bag.

Seeing this, Mu Chen couldn’t help but wonder why Ling Mo would need such a thing.

Noticing there was nothing else to take from the laboratory, Ling Mo gestured that it was time to leave.

Before leaving, Ling Mo pulled out a small bottle from his bag, poured it over a few wooden doors, and then tossed a lit match into the room.

Whoosh!

A flame instantly ignited, quickly turning the dry wooden doors into a wall of fire.

As the flames flickered on their faces, Mu Chen’s expression became complex.

This fire seemed to be burning away his past…

“However, you actually carry tools for starting a fire with you…” Mu Chen felt a sudden chill.

Ye Lian and the others also stared at the flames, though it was unclear what they were thinking.

At least, it was certain their thoughts were entirely different from Mu Chen’s.

Ye Lian’s gaze was especially vacant. Vaguely, she felt as though familiar yet strange scenes were flashing before her eyes.

The same flickering flames, but she was in a small room holding a ladle, slowly stirring a pot of soup.

“Ye Lian, I’m starving,” a familiar voice came from outside.

“It’ll be ready soon, just hang in there. See, this is what happens when you forget how to cook. If you keep this up, you will really starve…”

The scolding voice grew fainter and fuzzier.

“Ye Lian?”

A clearer voice suddenly echoed in her ears, causing Ye Lian’s pupils to contract. She immediately turned her gaze to Ling Mo.

Ling Mo looked at Ye Lian with some confusion and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Ye Lian stared at Ling Mo with her big eyes, then slowly shook her head without saying a word.

“Alright, let’s not linger. We need to get moving. Before heading to headquarters, we have to go to Cuihu first,” Ling Mo said.

“So, you haven’t forgotten about Cuihu…” Mu Chen said with some disappointment.

However, his opinion was once again ignored, receiving no response at all.

As Ling Mo and his team turned to leave, the old hospital behind them would soon be engulfed in flames, and the city of Dongming would completely become a ruined ghost town.

Just as Ling Mo’s group left Dongming, an off-road vehicle arrived.

The vehicle made a sudden sharp turn near the toll station and screeched to a halt beside the abandoned cars.

The car door opened, revealing a pair of feet clad in white sneakers stepping out, followed by a figure that appeared somewhat frail.

She adjusted the brim of her duckbill cap and walked over to a still relatively fresh pool of blood, squatting down to touch it.

“How is it?” a voice asked from inside the car.

“Judging by the scent, it should be no more than a couple of days old,” she replied.

“Can you continue sensing?” the person in the car asked.

At that moment, a zombie suddenly appeared from behind a vehicle and lunged at the girl from above.

However, the girl remained unfazed. As her figure moved, she confronted the zombie head-on. A flash of cold light glimmered in her hand, and the zombie, mid-air, had its abdomen burst open, spewing a gush of fresh blood.

“Thud!”

The zombie fell heavily to the ground, but its arm still reached for the girl’s leg.

Yet the girl seemed prepared. She jumped high and landed directly on the zombie’s back. With a swift motion, she plunged her knife into the back of its neck.

The person inside the car clapped their hands and said, “Your skills have gotten much better.”

The girl remained expressionless as she sheathed her gleaming knife at her waist and walked back towards the off-road vehicle. “Let’s go. We need to keep searching.”

“Sigh, such a hassle…” the man said, complaining.

“Quit the whining. Let’s go,” the girl said impatiently.

As the off-road vehicle started up again, the girl’s eyes, hidden beneath the brim of her cap, remained fixed on the bloodstain they had just left.

Ling Mo had been here…