The wide street outside the mall now exuded an overwhelming sense of desolation.
The street was clogged with abandoned cars, and signs of car accidents and even explosions were occasionally visible among them.
Through the dust-covered windows, one could see blood splatters inside the vehicles, and even some mangled bones.
Many zombies shuffled slowly through the gaps between these vehicles, their arms hanging limply, heads tilted at bizarre angles, mouths slightly agape. Their blood-red eyes seemed devoid of any spirit.
But the occasional flash of ferocity in their eyes reminded others that they were all dangerous beasts.
On the other side of the street, there was a park and greenbelt overgrown with wild grass.
The plants, once meticulously trimmed, now looked like monstrous creatures with clawing branches.
The branches were covered in thorns, and even the leaves had serrated edgesâ¦
Upon closer inspection, one could see a path temporarily cleared through the greenbelt next to the mall.
However, the trampled weeds quickly regained their vitality and were slowly starting to lift their heads again.
Soon, there would be no trace of anyone having passed through.
Rustle, rustleâ¦
Suddenly, the dense foliage parted, and a figure emerged from the greenbelt.
He had red eyes and stared blankly at the tracks on the grass.
Sniffing the air, the zombieâs gaze gradually lifted, finally resting on a nearby iron door.
The iron door was tightly shut, but there was a clear handprint on the door handle.
âCluck, cluckâ¦â
He opened his mouth and made a harsh sound.
It sounded like laughter, but it was extremely gratingâ¦
As this zombie slowly walked towards the iron door, in the basement level of the mall, the little zombie under Ling Moâs control continued to explore in the darkness.
âClick, click, clickâ¦â
In the darkness, faint sounds could be heard from time to time, as if something was hidden in every corner, whispering secrets.
The little zombie occasionally turned its head to look around. The red glows that were easily visible represented dozens, if not hundreds, of âkindredâ that were also slowly moving on this floor.
âRoar!â
Suddenly, a roar echoed, followed by a series of muffled thuds.
The scent of blood quickly spread, immediately causing a stir around.
The little zombie deftly leaped onto a table, then jumped behind another counter, hiding there.
The sounds of collision persisted, and the smell of blood became increasingly pungent.
The little zombie covered its nose with one hand, completely concealing its presence.
âWhat was that sound?â Xu Shuhan emerged from behind a shelf and asked.
âShh, the zombies below,â Ling Mo pointed to the ground.
Xu Shuhanâs scalp tingled momentarily, but seeing Ling Moâs calm demeanor, she gradually relaxed.
âArenât you used to this by now?â Xu Shuhan asked as she adjusted her clothes.
âUsed to what?â Ling Mo retorted.
His Zombie Puppet was avoiding the temporary skirmish below. In such relatively enclosed environments, it was normal for zombies to fight each other. However, the fact that there were still so many zombies after all this time⦠it was unimaginable how many zombies must have been crammed in there when the disaster first struck.
Of course, the zombiesâ extremely low energy consumption when not in combat was one reason for their sustained numbers.
And then thereâs reproductionâ¦
But he hadnât found the source on the basement floor, which surprised Ling Mo.
Logically, any strange occurrence would usually be found in such dark places.
Although zombies werenât afraid of light, Senior Zombies often chose relatively enclosed spaces as their short-term nests. They would only leave once there were no suitable prey around.
Wait a minute!
Ling Mo suddenly realized something.
According to records, enhanced zombies, meaning King level zombies, were supposed to appear in Cuihu City, but he encountered one in Xinlan Town.
Xinlan had plenty of suitable prey, but so did Cuihu City!
Moreover, the zombies in Cuihu City were of higher quality and greater in number.
In other words, they should taste betterâ¦
So why leave Cuihu City and head to Xinlan?
What caused this change in Cuihu City?
âNot afraid of zombies, huh.â Xu Shuhanâs words pulled Ling Mo out of his thoughts.
Ordinary people wouldnât dare to leisurely change clothes knowing zombies were beneath their feetâ¦
She even had a crazy thought: could Ling Mo have an immunity to the Virus?
If that were the case, any faction or powerful survivor who found out would definitely capture him.
Xu Shuhan suddenly understood the reason for Ling Moâs deep concealment. Firstly, humans hated zombies, but secondly, Ling Mo himself was like a precious commodityâ¦
âOf course Iâm afraid, but for now, weâre within the safe zone,â Ling Mo said.
His Psychic Link could measure distance, and since his Zombie Puppet hadnât discovered anything, as long as they didnât alarm the zombies, they were safe.
Being able to multitask to this extent was something Ling Mo had thoroughly trained himself to do.
If someone else tried it suddenly, they would probably go insaneâ¦
âSure, sure, whatever you say.â Xu Shuhan shook her head.
She didnât believe things were as simple as Ling Mo made them out to be. Just like how this floor was cleared so quicklyâMu Chen thought it was because Xia Na and Li Yalin were strong, but she knew it was because they were zombies.
Anyway, Ling Mo was now shrouded in mystery in her eyes, and for some reason, she found the scent on Ling Mo particularly appealing.
But when she tried to savor it, it didnât smell like a zombieâ¦
However, compared to Mu Chenâs scent, it was also different.
Though she didnât want to admit it, Xu Shuhan indeed preferred staying close to Ling Mo.
âForget it, if you donât want to talk, I wonât ask. Besides⦠donât worry.â Xu Shuhan suddenly said. âI wonât say anything to anyone.â
âHuh?â Ling Mo was taken aback. After a few seconds, he waved his hand dismissively, âYouâre a zombie, where would you get the chance to tell anyoneâ¦â
âHeyâ¦â Xu Shuhan was speechless. At least show some gratitude for her promise to keep quiet!
And⦠canât you be a bit more tactful?
âIf you were the kind of person who would blab, I wouldnât have saved you,â Ling Mo added.
Xu Shuhan sighed. Was he complimenting her, or praising his own ability to judge people?
âI just feel like somethingâs off here,â Ling Mo suddenly changed the topic.
âHmm?â Xu Shuhan didnât catch on immediately.
âItâs too quiet,â Ling Mo continued.
âQuiet?â Xu Shuhanâs eye twitched. How was it quiet? The basement was in chaos.
Even though there was a floor between them, she could still hear faint noises. It was obvious that things were pretty intense down there.
âYeah, you see, even though itâs chaotic downstairs, the scale isnât that big,â Ling Mo said with a frown.
Xu Shuhan stared at the floor. She couldnât see through the thick layer to gauge any âscaleâ and had no idea how Ling Mo knewâ¦
âAnyway, once weâve replenished our supplies, letâs get out of here,â Xu Shuhan said, uneasily lifting her head.
The thought of zombies below gave her the creeps.
This feeling was hard to control. Just because she was mutating didnât mean she suddenly felt indifferent about zombies.
After all, she hadnât fully transformed yetâ¦
âAlright.â Ling Mo still felt uneasy but didnât want to waste time here either.
If he couldnât find anything, heâd have to accept that he was just being paranoidâ¦
But the sense of unease was so strong that Ling Mo even felt his Psychic Fluctuations becoming odd.
It was like he sensed some threat or was excited by some stimulus.
Most importantly, he could feel the suppressed rage inside him subtly resurfacingâ¦
This feeling usually only emerged when he was enhancing himself alongside the female zombies or when he was thoroughly provoked.
So why was it surfacing now out of nowhere�
To put it more mystically, Ling Mo felt like something was attracting him.
When he said the scale wasnât big, he had a basis for it. The little zombie peered out from behind the shelves and could clearly see a dozen zombies pouncing on and devouring another zombie.
Based on the scent of blood, the Virus concentration in that zombie was low, even lower than that of a typical zombie.
In a zombie horde, such weaklings are naturally marked for elimination.
Whatâs strange is, in this scenario, zombies on this floor would usually crowd around.
Then, due to unequal feeding, more zombies would start fighting, and the newly emerged weakest zombies would likely become the next victims.
Though many would die, the zombies that got a chance to evolve would increase.
Zombie hordes improve overall through such fierce competition.
The powerful zombies emerge bit by bit in this process.
But here, zombies farther away, seeing the body already surrounded, didnât come overâ¦
It was the same when Ling Mo and his group first encountered zombiesâ¦
In such a situation, they could completely abandon the body of an ordinary fellow.
And when the Big Guy was taken down, not all the zombies swarmed over.
These zombiesâ behavioral patterns⦠were indeed a bit odd.
Wouldnât their evolution be slow this way?
This doesnât fit the characteristics the Virus gave themâ¦
Seeing the distant zombies never intended to crowd over, the little zombie slowly came out again.
They had almost searched the entire basement; the sense of unease was always nearby, but when they actually looked, they found nothingâ¦
This situation was really a firstâ¦
âCreakâ¦â
The tightly closed iron door was slowly being pulled open, and a pair of red eyes suddenly peered through the crack, staring straight inside.