Chapter 603 – A Test of Endurance

One only needed to look at the other watery corpses to confirm that upon infection, they immediately lost all ability to resist.

So many watery corpses, almost each with limbs intact, bore no signs of having fought desperately to the end.

Had they briefly regained consciousness while feeling extreme discomfort within, such a situation would certainly not have arisen.

A wounded zombie would destroy everything in its vicinity, becoming ten or a hundred times more ferocious than usual. They would tear at their own kind and even rip off their own injured limbs or eviscerate their damaged organs…

Zombies are such a bloodthirsty and brutal species, their horror is not only manifested in how they treat other living beings but also their own kind, and even themselves.

Xiao Bai, who clearly still had the strength to move, could not only cause some damage but also potentially destroy this entire parking lot if unleashed.

But as long as it didn’t go berserk or attempt to break free from Ling Mo’s mental link, it meant that it wasn’t in great danger.

Whether zombies or Mutated Beasts, both are incredibly sensitive to anomalies in their bodies.

“However… even if it’s a small amount, isn’t it still infected?” Ling Mo suddenly said, caught in a dilemma.

“But looking at the current amount, at least it won’t turn into a watery corpse, right? Oh, and there’s another thing,” Shana continued, “Are there any Mutated Beasts here?”

“Right…” Ling Mo nodded thoughtfully.

Indeed, they hadn’t encountered any Mutated Beasts here.

Although humans, zombies, or Mutated Beasts all contain homologous viruses, the virus has evolved so much that its properties are now completely different.

“But what if this sticky Mutated virus is compatible with the virus inside Xiao Bai… what would happen then?” Ling Mo asked with a frown.

Shana replied breezily, “It might undergo a bit of a mutation. As for how significant it would be, that’s hard to say.”

“…,” Ling Mo’s expression suddenly froze.

After a few seconds, Ling Mo clenched his fist in dismay, “No… it finally looks so cool…”

“But it’s not necessarily a bad thing,” Shana blinked, interrupting Ling Mo, “After all, it’s a Mutated Beast.”

She was right; without precedent, no one knew how Xiao Bai would turn out.

“See if you’ll still swallow things indiscriminately next time,” Ling Mo grumbled as he rubbed Xiao Bai’s head.

Xiao Bai seemed quite gloomy too, muttering a disgruntled, “Meh-go.”

“Eh, right… Since you were surrounded here, where are Yu Shiran and Black Silk?” Another figure popped into Ling Mo’s mind.

“Whoosh!”

Just then, a streak of red light flashed from behind Ling Mo, followed by a gust of wind.

Ling Mo’s reaction was quick, and having had the experience of zombies appearing suddenly behind him before, his nerves were always on edge.

He couldn’t see clearly in the dark, but listening to the noise, he swiftly leaped to the side.

A dark figure charged past, brushing against his body at an incredibly high speed.

As they brushed past each other, the distance between them was less than half a meter.

Ling Mo could even smell an odd scent, specifically a more intense smell of mucus…

This encounter was quite perilous for Ling Mo, but before he could feel relieved for having dodged a bullet, he realized that the shadow hadn’t stopped at all.

“No, wait…” Ling Mo suddenly snapped to attention, “Shana, watch out!”

The shadow’s target wasn’t him!

Its charge was merely a diversion, and Shana was the real target!

Sure enough, as the dark figure lunged at Shana, Li Ya Lin and Ye Lian were both heading toward Ling Mo.

Given the speed, they wouldn’t be able to assist Shana in time.

Although Li Ya Lin instantly used her Body Method “Flowers Abundantly,” creating multiple afterimages, she quickly revealed her true form, staggering slightly.

Seeing her somewhat vacant eyes and unsteady gait, Ling Mo immediately understood.

This was… a mental shock!

Ye Lian held her gun but couldn’t aim at the target in time to catch up for a smash.

Alerted by Ling Mo’s warning, Shana also realized the danger.

But she was still holding the half-conscious creature with one hand and could only use the other to place her scythe in front of her.

At the same time, a flash of red light appeared as the spiritual body, Nana, separated from her.

However, as soon as Nana appeared, she seemed lethargic and her body flickered like television static, clearly out of sorts.

“I… I can’t move…” Nana’s voice was also intermittent, like a jammed tape.

Both Black Na and Ling Mo were taken aback, wondering what was going on.

But Ling Mo quickly figured it out; Nana was a pure spiritual body. Since even he was so heavily restricted, it was no surprise that Nana was affected even more.

She was like being subjected to severe electromagnetic interference, with her signal completely weakened.

Without the help of the spiritual body, Black Na alone facing this enemy with mental shock capabilities was definitely in great danger!

Judging by the speed alone, this shadow, even if not leader level, was not far off!

Considering that the adversary might be a mutated zombie, their strength assessment had to be doubled…

But… to attack Shana right under Ling Mo’s watch? Unthinkable!

Several mental Tentacles immediately chased after the figure, and the enemy was quick to react, sending a mental shock towards Ling Mo.

As both mental energies collided, Ling Mo found himself at a disadvantage.

In this environment, Ling Mo’s Mental power was severely limited, but the opponent was thriving.

In such an unfair situation, Ling Mo certainly couldn’t come out on top.

“Ah…”

A throbbing pain in his head made Ling Mo grunt in pain, but the thought of the shadow charging at Shana stirred a fervor within him.

“So you think you’re the only one who can do shocks?”

Ling Mo cursed inwardly, and the Mental Sphere inside him began to surge wildly.

These days, he had always been affected by the “little gifts” left by the Spider Queen, which caused his mental state to be less than ideal.

But in terms of fundamentals, he was definitely very solid.

Under the influence of his angry and tense emotions, the mental energy he summoned even formed a blood-red energy barrier around him.

This was a testament to his extreme proficiency in controlling Mental power; otherwise, it would be very difficult to control such a massive release of mental energy in an instant.

The finesse required here is akin to the control of physical strength: throwing a punch is easy, but to do so a hundred times with full force and only barely touch the opponent’s skin is a feat few can achieve.

Ling Mo’s control over his Mental power might not have reached that level, but at least he had gotten to the point where he wouldn’t cause the opponent pain.

The dark shadow that had been charging forward immediately felt this surge of Mental power but still did not change its course of action.

“Courting death!” Ling Mo thought furiously, as it seemed the foe intended to ignore him and continue targeting Shana!

They were treating him like he was invisible!

Countless mental Tentacles surged like a storm, one after the other — if one was blocked, a second and third would follow, hundreds of them!

These tentacles materialized as they neared the opponent, a sudden change that caught the dark shadow off guard, slowing its movement.

“It’s not over yet!”

Ling Mo could feel his Mental Sphere rapidly contracting as energy continued to disappear, but he had no intention of backing down.

At this moment, if he exerted his full strength, the effect would be at most a tenth of what it would normally be.

But this kind of consumption was now irrelevant to Ling Mo. He had previously been very cautious, but once any of the girls, including Ye Lian, were threatened, such caution became meaningless to him.

In other words, all the previous conservation and accumulation were for situations like this.

Ling Mo’s caution wasn’t just for his own sake, but more importantly, to protect Ye Lian and the others.

And now, it was time for that mental energy to be put to use.

“Consume!”

All the tangible tentacles that had been blocked suddenly became intangible again and dove headfirst into the mental energy the opponent had released to resist Ling Mo.

One tentacle vanished, but there were many more tentacles consuming!

“Let’s see who can last longer!”

Ling Mo’s eyes began to show a faint red hue, the rapid disappearance of mental energy made him sense danger, but the more he absorbed, the more exhilarating it felt!

“I’ll crush you with sheer volume!”

In this scenario, Ling Mo’s greatest advantage was his incredibly robust Mental power.

And this advantage, even when his Mental power was diminished, allowed him to maintain the upper hand in front of most mental ability users.

Even now, as he faced a mutated zombie.