Chapter 618 – The Professional Survivor

Ever since that bizarre roar was heard, Ling Mo had a hunch—

The three people from Niepan Branch must have been concealing some facts about Dongming City.

This thought, however, seemed to excite him.

He initially came for the virus research and Number 0, but it looked like there might be some hidden surprises waiting for him as well.

Truly worthy of Niepan…

But if he were to ask Mu Chen and the others directly, he knew it would be fruitless.

The more they behaved this way, the more Ling Mo felt that traveling by night was a viable option.

Come nightfall, Mu Chen, who had taken them on such an obvious detour, might begin to have his own reservations, right?

On the other hand, this would give Ling Mo a chance to investigate. With them accompanying him, the danger should significantly decrease…

In fact, Ling Mo was aware of the anxiety that Mu Chen and the others were feeling.

But merely taking detours was, at most, a trivial stalling tactic.

Yes, just a delay…

Being watched by Ling Mo, Mu Chen suddenly felt a sense of panic.

That look in his eyes a moment ago… could he have realized something?

The thought made Mu Chen’s mouth go dry, but he quickly regained his composure.

Impossible, he couldn’t know…

If he did, even if he didn’t confront us, what about those girls with him?

That naive-looking pretty girl aside, what about the dangerous aura exuding from the mixed-blood and the long-haired girl?

Especially the long-haired girl…

Mu Chen stole a glance at Shana and couldn’t help but envision some horrific scenes.

For instance, how during their travels, the girl would slice zombies in half with a smile on her face…

“Cold as the harshest winter…” Mu Chen shivered and defined it in his mind.

This reassured him a bit more, though.

Once the plan succeeded, the thought of increased survival rates made the potential “punishment” seem less daunting…

“No… it’s still hard to accept,” Mu Chen hesitated, then shook his head inwardly.

“Think positively; having two hostages instead of three might be a decrease in number, but an increase in value. They shouldn’t act rashly, they should…”

“That’s the decision then,” Ling Mo stated.

Mu Chen snapped back to reality, exclaiming, “You’re even using affirmative sentences now!”

Ling Mo nodded, “You are a captive, after all.”

“…Thanks for the reminder! But even though we all clearly understand the situation, could you at least pretend a little longer?” Mu Chen complained.

Mu Chen wanted to say more about traveling at night but suddenly caught a glimpse of Xia Zhi standing slightly behind Ling Mo.

Although Xia Zhi had always been low-key, at this moment, as he was making faces as if he had a facial cramp, Mu Chen couldn’t ignore him…

Seeing Mu Chen looking his way, Xia Zhi immediately shook his head slightly and then quickly reverted to an expressionless face.

“Uh…”

Mu Chen paused, then somewhat conflicted, said to Ling Mo, “If you’re looking to get killed, then do as you say!”

“Hey…”

Xu Shuhan, standing to the side clutching her gun, looked somewhat dejected.

She too was trying hard to signal Mu Chen with her eyes, but by the time Mu Chen noticed, she was already rolling her eyes.

Xu Shuhan’s intention was clear; she was hoping Mu Chen could persuade Ling Mo to change his mind.

But instead of voicing any further objections, Mu Chen subtly shook his head at her while talking to Ling Mo.

Now Xu Shuhan also seemed helpless, frowning and grinding her teeth as she glared at Mu Chen.

Mu Chen just shrugged his shoulders and turned his head, pretending not to notice.

When he looked at Xia Zhi again, hoping for some hint, he found that Xia Zhi had returned to acting like a “wooden figure.”

“Damn it!”

Mu Chen cursed inwardly.

He suddenly furrowed his brows, realizing another problem: “Why does it feel like things are still out of my control?”

…

Dongming City, although not very large in terms of area, had a highly developed pharmaceutical and medical equipment manufacturing industry. This brought an excessively dense array of urban buildings and a large population to the city.

The two aspects that once symbolized whether a city was prosperous have now become the criteria for assessing its level of danger.

Were one to rate Dongming City, Ling Mo would undoubtedly deem it “quite dangerous.”

“The Air Force Corps doesn’t have any information about this place?” Ling Mo recalled with some confusion.

Exploring areas like this used to be a task for the old Air Force Corps, but whether anyone at Falcon Second Camp still knew the situation was uncertain to Ling Mo.

His first thought was of that madman Xuan, but upon taking out his Communicator, he found that there was no signal in this area.

“They told me it was an enhanced version…” Ling Mo sighed and put the Communicator back in his bag.

Since it was impossible to obtain information from a third party, they would have to see for themselves.

The routes Mu Chen led them on were all through the city center, which, aside from delaying time, clearly also served to drain the physical and mental power of Ling Mo and his companions.

What else to do when tired? Rest, of course.

Mu Chen had a good plan, but he hadn’t anticipated Ling Mo’s ability to take detours.

As an unaffiliated solo survivor, Ling Mo’s urban survival skills were definitely strong.

Sneaking through alleys, winding through buildings, hopping windows to enter shops—whatever it took to avoid zombies, that’s what he would do.

And most terrifyingly, he made no mistakes!

Ordinary people would need to tread carefully, making cautious judgments, because no one knows what they might encounter ahead.

But Ling Mo just went ahead without hesitation.

Even for a mental ability user, this level of judgment was impressive!

As a result, it was Mu Chen who ended up being tortured. He had to constantly think on his feet, wracking his brain for the longest possible route and places where they could further detour.

However, even so, there came a time when there was no more room to detour.

Even for ability users, fighting a group of zombies required a lot of time and energy.

But Ling Mo’s approach changed drastically from his detouring ways, becoming straightforward and aggressive in an instant.

He would find a nearby building and then hide in a corner, positioning himself behind the three girls.

If Mu Chen and his companions were meeting Ling Mo for the first time, they would have certainly looked down upon his behavior with disdain.

However, at this moment, they were all keenly aware that although Ling Mo wasn’t charging at the forefront, his role within the small team was irreplaceable.

He acted like the control center, the vital link coordinating the three girls to work together seamlessly.

And the battle between this small team and the zombies was not only swift but also incredibly efficient!

Standing at the rear, Ling Mo would use his mental power to create various disturbances on the battlefield. Although it was hard to discern what he was doing, the sudden anomalies that appeared among the zombies gave some clues.

The girl with the sniper rifle stood in front of Ling Mo, picking off high-level zombies that appeared within the horde. As long as a target entered her field of vision, even for just a fleeting second, she could seize the opportunity to shoot quickly.

Xu Shuhan, also a gunner and a psychic, believed she could achieve this level of accuracy maybe once or twice if she tried her hardest.

But the real difference was that Ye Lian did this effortlessly, with a success rate that was astonishingly high.

She wasn’t aiming for a kill shot every time, but the powerful sniper rifle bullets, even if they only hit a toe, could instantly incapacitate the target.

Moreover, a wounded zombie became even more dangerous, which was true for survivors and for other zombies alike.

Leading the charge was Shana, with her scythe moving as if it were a sharp blade dancing gracefully, spinning through the throng and reaping the lives of those around her, splashing copious amounts of blood.

And if Mu Chen and his companions focused hard enough, they could almost discern one or many Li Ya Lins within those sprays of blood.

Her targets were the zombies lingering on the outskirts, waiting for an opportunity to rush in.

Seeing zombies that had initially dodged bullets and scythe suddenly stagger and then lose their heads without warning, Mu Chen and his companions couldn’t help but feel a chill run down their necks.

It was all too clean and efficient!