Chapter 72 – The Zombie Nest

The warehouse was quite well-organized inside. Although it was dark, it wasn’t damp.

Ling Mo asked Ye Lian to release Shi Bin, and then he unceremoniously sat down on the only single bed in the room.

His eyes were still burning and painful. Without some rest, he doubted he could feel any better anytime soon. “Thanks to your pepper spray, I need to rest here for a while and figure out how you’re going to compensate me for my losses.”

“Haven’t you already beaten up Shi Bin enough? It looks like it was more than once. What more do you want for compensation…” The girl’s tone was somewhat helpless, but Ling Mo and his group’s strength was overwhelming. In the face of such power, her objections were naturally ineffective.

She was right. Shi Bin had indeed been beaten more than once. After being released, not only did his arm movements look strange, but he also walked with a noticeable limp.

Shi Bin warily eyed Ling Mo, then slowly walked towards the girl. Although he brushed past Ye Lian and Xia Na, he seemed to have lost the will to resist. These two seemingly delicate girls were beyond his ability to contend with.

Moreover, his Sharpening Stick was still in Ling Mo’s hand. Without his weapon, he was essentially defenseless.

However, when Shi Bin reached out to help the girl up, she shook her head and refused. Shi Bin didn’t insist, indicating his familiarity with her personality. Ling Mo watched coldly and vaguely understood that this girl was likely very resilient and strong-willed. But when she spoke, her tone was gentle, completely different from her demeanor when she was fighting. Once she hid her sharpness, it was impossible to tell she was a superhuman.

Ling Mo had initially been able to block her first attack completely thanks to Ye Lian’s unusual reaction, which had given him advance warning. Even so, he had barely managed to avoid being hit, demonstrating that if this girl could recover, her strength would be formidable.

The girl struggled to support herself as she stood up. Without hesitation, she slowly walked over to Ling Mo and sat down on the edge of the bed. “You don’t mind, do you? As you can see, I’m not in good health.”

“Not at all,” Ling Mo thought to himself. If she doesn’t mind, why should I? After all, it’s not me who’s unable to resist…

Shi Bin quickly followed, glaring angrily at Ling Mo. However, having learned from his previous experience, he didn’t dare get too close nor show too much hostility.

Seeing Shi Bin’s discomfort, Ling Mo couldn’t help but find it amusing.

From their earlier skirmish, Ling Mo had already realized that while Shi Bin was good at sneak attacks and cautious by nature, he would likely struggle out on the streets facing hordes of zombies.

The food Shi Bin had collected indicated his lack of capability. The girl’s health also prevented her from going out, suggesting that they’d been barely making do. In the apocalypse, falling ill was incredibly dangerous due to the lack of doctors and the difficulty in finding appropriate medicine. Without the ability to search for medicine, survival often depended on luck. Judging by her condition, this girl wouldn’t last long on her own.

Ling Mo, however, felt that Shi Bin’s reaction was somewhat over the top, likely related to the “incident” he mentioned earlier.

“Actually, I think I remember her,” the girl suddenly said, pointing at Ye Lian.

Ling Mo was taken aback and gave the girl a closer look. “You’re from X City University too?”

“Yeah. I remember she was the campus belle, right?” The girl smiled faintly. “My name is Lin Luanqiu. I’m a first-year in the English Department. Shi Bin is in the Physical Education Department. Don’t blame him; he’s actually a good person. Just a bit paranoid.”

Far from being angered by Lin Luanqiu’s words, Shi Bin responded vehemently, “It’s not paranoia. It’s because of those people last time…”

From Shi Bin’s repeated mentions, Ling Mo could guess a bit. It seemed the girl had encountered people like the bald man before.

If that were the case, it was understandable why Shi Bin viewed other survivors, especially men, with such extreme caution.

In the apocalypse, nearly everyone has a taut string in their heart. Especially at the beginning, even Ling Mo was filled with confusion, stumbling through each day like a rat, barely surviving. There might be a few people with strong mental fortitude, but they are definitely a minority. Ling Mo managed to get through it because he had Ye Lian in his heart. Some people, unable to cross this hurdle, end up with twisted minds.

Most people might appear normal on the surface, but once that internal string is plucked, they can descend into hysteria.

Shi Bin seemed to be one of those people, while Lin Luanqiu had clearly crossed that hurdle.

“I’ve already told you they’re not like that… By the way, how did you guys end up here? Did you also escape from X City University?” Lin Luanqiu asked again. Her tone was calm, showing no concern that Ling Mo might do anything untoward.

Ling Mo shook his head. “No, I plan to go to X City University. So, you escaped from there?”

Shi Bin snorted and replied, “Lin Luanqiu and I only escaped a few days ago.”

“I advise you not to go,” Lin Luanqiu said, her expression complicated. “With your strength, it shouldn’t be hard to take them to the outskirts. Find a secluded place, stockpile some food, and wait for the rescue teams. Although there are no rescue teams now and we’ve lost all contact with the outside world, I believe some form of order will eventually be restored.”

Lin Luanqiu was indeed a thoughtful girl, but she had no idea that Ye Lian and Xia Na, who were with Ling Mo, were zombies. Without gel, they couldn’t survive.

Although there were zombies in the outskirts, mutation zombies were rare, and higher-tier zombies were almost nonexistent.

So, despite Lin Luanqiu’s well-intentioned advice, Ling Mo could only shake his head and refuse. “I have something important to do, and I must go. Since you just escaped from there, can you tell me about the situation inside? The more detailed, the better. Consider it compensation.”

“Ah… cough, cough…” Lin Luanqiu started coughing again, her face flushing with an unhealthy red hue. Ling Mo couldn’t help but feel a twinge of worry, fearing she might cough herself to death.

Just now, Lin Luanqiu had exerted all her strength to save Shi Bin, possibly worsening her condition.

So when Lin Luanqiu started coughing, Shi Bin glared angrily at Ling Mo.

Ling Mo rolled his eyes inwardly, thinking if it weren’t for Shi Bin’s dishonesty, he wouldn’t have had to drag him in like this, and Lin Luanqiu wouldn’t have had to act…

Lin Luanqiu coughed for quite a while before catching her breath. Slowly, she said, “Alright, Shi Bin was wrong earlier, and I was also wrong for acting without understanding the situation.”

“You’re lucky. Lin Luanqiu was a key member of the X City University Rescue Team, so she knows the situation inside very well,” Shi Bin added, earning another glare from Lin Luanqiu.

Ling Mo thought to himself that while Shi Bin had decent physical abilities, his intelligence was lacking. Right now, they were at a disadvantage, and mentioning the “Rescue Team” like that wouldn’t fool anyone; it just exposed their cards.

Moreover, if they were still in contact with the Rescue Team, Lin Luanqiu wouldn’t be in her current state.

“Shi Bin is right. I used to be part of the Rescue Team. But the Rescue Team was just a temporary gathering of some students and teachers. After discovering I had a superpower, they pulled me into their so-called leadership. But I didn’t have as many plans as they did; I just wanted to hold out until rescue arrived,” Lin Luanqiu explained her background with a hint of helplessness.

In a large school, having a Rescue Team was normal. Ling Mo nodded and then asked, “Roughly how many survivors and zombies are left at X City University?”

Lin Luanqiu thought for a moment and said, “X City University initially had about 55,000 students. Considering some students were not on campus and others fled, the remaining survivors and zombies might total around 40,000.”

This number was quite alarming, but Ling Mo was satisfied. The more zombies there were, the greater the chances of encountering mutation zombies or even advanced zombies.

“I’m not sure about the exact number of zombies, but I estimate there are over 30,000. As for survivors, there are about 3,000,” Lin Luanqiu said after a moment of silence, providing a more precise figure.

30,000! Coming to X City University was the right decision! With so many zombies, how many mutation zombies could be among them?

Entering X City University meant stepping into a zombie nest. Although the danger was immense, the abundance of virus gel was also unparalleled!

“So, does your Rescue Team actually have 3,000 people?” Ling Mo couldn’t help but ask, even though he found it unlikely.

Lin Luanqiu smiled and shook her head. “Of course not. Having too many people would lead to chaos, and no one can manage such a large crowd. We are mostly scattered around the campus. My Rescue Team only had about 30 people. But as supplies became scarce on campus, I went out with some others to find a way out. Unfortunately, we encountered some accidents…”

At this point, a flash of pain crossed her eyes, indicating she didn’t want to elaborate further.

“So, you’re familiar with the routes?” Ling Mo’s eyes flickered with interest but then he quickly shook his head with a wry smile. Given Lin Luanqiu’s condition, asking her to lead the way would be too much.

Truthfully, Ling Mo did wish for someone to guide them. While he could control zombies to scout ahead, he was still groping his way through. Wandering aimlessly around such a large campus was highly inefficient.

He hadn’t expected to encounter survivors from X City University so soon, so he hadn’t considered this possibility.

But now, even though he had met Lin Luanqiu and Shi Bin, one had the brains but not the brawn, and the other had the brawn but not the brains…

In a way, these two were quite complementary… Ling Mo thought with a hint of malicious amusement.