At the corner of a street, several figures were covertly hidden.
The wreckage of a car just ahead provided perfect cover in the shadows, and less than twenty meters away, numerous zombies were wandering aimlessly.
âTwenty-seven,â Shana glanced outside and turned to report.
âHow did you count them?â Mu Chen, who was squinting and observing carefully, was surprised by her comment and couldnât help but ask.
She had only looked for a second. Even with her strong mental fortitude, treating counting zombies like counting cabbages, itâs not easy. The zombies all looked more or less the same and were constantly moving. It would usually take some time to count them accurately.
However, Shana just gave him a sideways glance and said no more.
Zombiesâ vision and memory arenât something you could understand⦠Tsk.
Ling Mo could clearly interpret the meaning behind Shanaâs gaze.
âSheâs⦠good at it,â Ling Mo scratched his head and said.
âOh, is that soâ¦â Mu Chen nodded, half-convinced.
âWhat do we do now⦠Why did we even come here?â Skinny Monkey was cowering behind the group, looking as if he wished he could turn invisible, his face a portrait of tangled nerves and tension.
Ye Kai gave him a disdainful look and said, âYouâve got that constipated face every time you step out the door. Growing a backbone wonât kill you.â
âItâs growing a backbone thatâll get me killedâ¦â Skinny Monkey murmured in defense, only to be silenced by Ye Kaiâs stern glare, causing him to shiver and shut his mouth immediately.
âMonkey, just pay attention to the sounds around us. If thereâs anything unusual, speak up. Stay as close to us as possible, and youâll be fine,â Ling Mo reassured him. Internally, he sighed, recognizing that the man was too timid to be of much use. Although he possessed an impressive special ability, he couldnât leverage it properly.
But on second thought, his ability only became valuable when acknowledged by others. Normally, he was just like any other person, yet he mingled with psychics, facing dangers far greater than those around him. The discrimination and inferiority he felt were probably beyond othersâ comprehension.
His personality having such issues wasnât surprising.
Truth be told, Ling Mo was somewhat astonished that Skinny Monkey had managed to not fall apart or turn tail and runâ¦
What Ling Mo didnât know was that the idea had crossed Skinny Monkeyâs mind countless times. However, they were still a significant distance from the TV station, and zombies were everywhere. Leaving Ling Moâs side meant a quicker death.
Mu Chen saw Skinny Monkey nodding obediently and slapped him on the shoulder, then said with a grin, âJust follow my lead and donât let your emotions cloud your judgment, or youâll die faster than anyone. But if you listen to the teamâs commands, I guarantee youâll survive. Of course, thatâs assuming weâre not on some suicide missionâ¦â
Skinny Monkey went pale. Was this supposed to be comforting? It sounded more like a threat!
âHa, donât give me that look. Even if it is a suicide mission, with the role you play in the team, you wonât be the first to die.â
Mu Chenâs tone became much more serious towards the end of his speech: âTeamwork is about everyone standing in their rightful place, doing what they need to do. As long as each person shoulders their own responsibility, there isnât really such a thing as a suicide mission, understand? But to ensure a higher survival rate, you canât just worry about your own safety; you need to pay more attention to your teammates around you.â
âTo put it bluntly, youâre all linked together like grasshoppers on a string; if one part has a problem, it affects the whole. Coordination and rapport take time to build, but you need to start developing that awareness now. Take Skinny Monkey, for example, your close combat skills are weak, but youâre the ears of the team. You should focus all your attention on reconnaissance, not just worry about your own life and death. If you do your job well, your teammates will naturally protect you.â
ââ¦Umâ¦â Skinny Monkey was momentarily stunned, then nodded his head.
Ling Mo looked at Mu Chen with a hint of surprise, then a knowing smile appeared on his face.
Indeed, this âinstructorâ was quite capable, at least he had managed to stabilize the most unstable element in the team in just a few words. This mix of coaxing and intimidating was perfect for dealing with someone like Skinny Monkey. Moreover, it was a subtle way of also giving Ye Kai and Zhang Xincheng a light rap on the knuckles.
In the recent drills, both of them had indeed fallen short in some areas. Skinny Monkey was so frightened partly because these two hadnât paid enough attention to him.
Following behind alone, he naturally felt like he was walking on thin ice, as if dancing on the edge of a knife.
This time, the three of them came together, and as Ling Mo expected, they demonstrated a strength greater than the sum of their parts.
If any one of them were removed, the other two wouldnât be able to clear a path, especially not without sustaining any damage.
But this drill also exposed all three of their weaknesses.
Zhang Xinchengâs abilities were somewhat one-dimensional and could easily lead to problems without support.
Ye Kai had the same issue; strong in combat and possessing special abilities, but he relied entirely on Zhang Xincheng and Skinny Monkey for reconnaissance.
And Skinny Monkey, who should have played the most significant role as the Wind Listener, was ignored by his two teammates due to his excessive timidity and fearfulnessâ¦
When they reported back earlier, although Zhang Xincheng mentioned him, it was clear that they hadnât really consulted Skinny Monkey at all.
âThis time itâs for real, I hope you all learn from this.â
Ling Mo glanced outside again and then waved his hand.
They could easily get through this situation with the help of the three female zombies, or by Ling Mo himself, but that wasnât why he was here.
He wanted to see what these three could achieve, to see if they could become a real force under his command.
âGo.â
Ye Kaiâs expression suddenly turned serious. He pulled out a knife and crouched down, moving towards the abandoned car.
âWhew!â
Skinny Monkey took a quick breath, pressed himself against the wall, and closed his eyes.
If you looked closely, you would notice Skinny Monkeyâs ears twitching slightly. Beads of sweat quickly formed on his forehead, whether from nervousness or the exertion of using his abilities was unclear.
âNine oâclock direction, one is approaching you,â whispered Skinny Monkey.
The two werenât far apart, and his words reached the fully focused Ye Kaiâs ears clearly.
From Ye Kaiâs position, if he tried to confirm the direction visually, he would surely be spotted by the zombies.
At times like this, only by following Skinny Monkeyâs guidance could he complete his mission without being exposed.
Ye Kai didnât have much trust in Skinny Monkey and hesitated for a moment, thinking about looking back at Ling Mo.
But then he remembered, wasnât the reason Ling Mo and the others werenât intervening to see how they would perform?
With that in mindâ¦
Ye Kai gritted his teeth and the knife in his hand suddenly flew out, accurately toward the nine oâclock direction.
His flying knife was silent and very fast. Ling Mo noticed that when Ye Kai released it, his wrist turned with a wide range, and his mental power seemed to become very focused instantly.
An ordinary person could achieve what he did in the beginning with enough practice, but what happened next was beyond the control of a normal person.
If the flying knife had flown straight out, it would have hit a pole ahead. However, after leaving his hand, the knife traced a half-moon arc over the carâs roof, spinning rapidly towards the approaching zombie.
The zombie, facing the side of the car wreckage, saw a flash of light whisk past without noticing the flying knife, which then flew straight into the opposite alley.
âClang!â
A crisp sound echoed from deep within the alley.
The flash didnât attract much attention from the zombies, but the small noise, like a thunderclap out of the blue, immediately drew the majority of the zombiesâ attention.
âWhoosh!â
The flying knife made a full circle and, as if descending from the heavens, landed perfectly back in Ye Kaiâs hand.
He exhaled a sigh of relief, then turned back and gave Ling Mo and the others an âOKâ sign.
Skinny Monkey, leaning against the wall, also seemed to relax all at onceâ¦