After the figure retreated into the shop, Ling Mo’s cold eyes appeared again through the empty crack in the curtain. He stared at the shop for a while, then scanned the surrounding street before pulling the curtain shut.
From downstairs came the sound of a slight commotion. Ling Mo walked over to the staircase and listened for a while, feeling both amused and exasperated.
As soon as Ye Kai heard someone had been watching them from outside, his fiery temper immediately flared up.
“Seriously? This screams sneaky and suspicious! Captain, what’s the plan? Should we strike first?” He swiftly drew the two sharp knives strapped to him, ready for action.
Skinny Monkey grabbed him by the arm and urged, “At least let someone finish explaining…”
Gu Shuangshuang timidly chimed in, “Yeah, and besides, everyone out there is a survivor-it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re here to fight us…”
“We’ve got guns, food, and women. Give me one reason they wouldn’t make a move on us,” Ye Kai stated bluntly.
Gu Shuangshuang’s face instantly turned red. She lowered her head and scurried to Xu Shuhan’s side, shaking her arm. “Xu-Jie, listen to what he’s saying…”
Over the past few days, Gu Shuangshuang had been clinging to Xu Shuhan frequently, as though they had grown quite close.
But Ling Mo was utterly baffled. The others might not know, but how could he not? Xu Shuhan didn’t harm people because she was timid-not because she was warm or approachable!
For example, when Gu Shuangshuang grabbed her just now, Xu Shuhan let out an audible “Ah,” as if someone had just stepped on a wild cat’s tail.
Simply standing there and listening to Gu Shuangshuang talk was probably a form of mental torment for her…
“He’s always like this…” Gu Shuangshuang complained.
“I’m just stating the truth,” Ye Kai muttered under his breath, although he looked somewhat wary of Xu Shuhan.
“Ling Mo said to hold our positions,” Yuwen Xuan interjected at the right moment.
“Huh?” Everyone fell silent at once.
After a brief pause, Ye Kai asked in a hushed voice, “Why? If they’ve been watching us for so long, wouldn’t it make more sense to act first? If we don’t kill them by surprise now, are we going to wait until they make the first move?”
Zhang Xincheng nodded in agreement, adding, “I’m with him. The longer we wait, the higher the chances they’ll figure something out. If they act first, we’ll lose the upper hand.”
Compared to the others, these two had a markedly different attitude towards Ling Mo…
It wasn’t that they didn’t trust Ling Mo; rather, they were more rational. Even with Ling Mo’s decisions, they wouldn’t hesitate to challenge and refute them. Mu Chen and his companion, however, were different-they had spent more time with Ling Mo and shared more experiences…
“I don’t know the reason, but since Ling Mo has said so, there must be sound logic behind it. It’s pointless to overthink here; we might as well just do as he says. You might not feel it deeply, but ever since I’ve been working with Ling Mo, I’ve come to know his quirks. No point in asking too many questions or overthinking; just don’t worry about failing, worry more about whether you might suddenly fall into one of his traps. In the end, I care more about when I’ll fall into his trap than whether we succeed or fail in our task…”
Mu Chen spoke with the tone of someone who had been through it all, somewhat lamentably.
Seeing Ye Kai about to say something, Mu Chen quickly waved his hand impatiently. “Enough, enough, I really don’t know.”
How could he understand the reasons? He hadn’t even understood the explanation Ling Mo had given!
It sounded reasonable at first, but on closer thought, that damn guy had just ambiguously muddled through again!
Ye Kai and Zhang Xincheng exchanged helpless glances, both becoming somewhat silent.
After a while, Ye Kai sheathed his Sharp Knife and sat down with a thud, saying, “Alright then, let’s follow the captain’s lead.”
“I guess I still lack sufficient authority, having not interacted with them much,” Ling Mo thought with a wry smile.
Fortunately, the two finally compromised, otherwise he really wouldn’t know how to explain.
“Black Silk!” Ling Mo closed his eyes again, suddenly focusing his attention on one of the psychic tentacles.
At that moment, his consciousness felt as if it were diving into a long telephone wire, and soon a clear, monotonous voice came from the other end: “You really think you can summon me and dismiss me at your whim?” ŘÄ𐌽𝐨𐌱Ěś
Ling Mo frowned and immediately pressed his Temple: “Damn.”
True to form for a mutation creature with formidable psychic power, Black Silk’s “roar” was practically a psychic shock. It was like a fluctuation suddenly occurring within the telephone wire, each wave stronger than the last. Being in the midst of it, Ling Mo bore the brunt and naturally wouldn’t feel good.
“Hmph!” Black Silk hummed proudly, asking, “What do you want? Got something else you need me to analyze?”
“Where are you right now?” Ling Mo asked irritably.
“Wait a minute.” Black Silk’s voice paused, and then a simplistic image immediately appeared in Ling Mo’s mind.
“See the red circle on the map? That’s your current location. The blue circle is that building, and here… this crossed-out spot, that’s where Yu Shiran, Xiao Bai, and I are. It’s basically a triangle…” Black Silk explained.
Ling Mo nodded thoughtfully and then said, “Can you circle around from behind us? I think there must still be humans on this street. Find their location, then send us their movements, numbers, and some Intelligence. Be careful not to expose yourself, especially as you get closer to us.”
“People nearby?” Black Silk responded quickly.
Ling Mo was somewhat amused internally; Black Silk was indeed clever…
For some reason, Ling Mo always felt that this dog was increasingly resembling its original form… Not in appearance, but in its capabilities. Hiding inside others for surveillance, using a kind of “mental communication” similar to radio, evolving towards real-time camera feed with illusion projection… As these capabilities emerged one by one, Black Silk’s role also began to unconsciously shift towards that of a scout… Her original form was a police dog, after all!
“So, no matter how much evolution and mutation occur, they are still influenced by the original main body…”
Ling Mo’s wandering thoughts were soon interrupted by Black Silk’s voice: “Understood, I’ll keep an eye on them.”
“By the way,” Ling Mo quickly asked, his mind stirring, “You were previously reluctant to get close to Rosen Company, what about now? Does it still feel very dangerous to you?”
Black Silk seemed to hesitate for a moment before answering, “Yes, it’s the same. Master, be careful, the feeling it gives me is really not good…”
“Oh… has it evolved to the point of caring about people now… Hey?” Ling Mo had just expressed his reassurance when he realized the other end had gone silent. His consciousness withdrew from the phone line, and his eyes slowly opened.
“Sigh…” In an alley, a little Loli sitting dazedly on a wall suddenly shivered, and the fluffy “scarf” around her neck trembled as well.
The little Loli quickly hugged her arms, and a trace of anger appeared on her round, chubby face: “Black Silk, what are you doing?!”
A small head immediately popped out from the “scarf,” but the speaker was not it, but the little Loli.
As the little Loli spoke again, her expression changed dramatically. In a matter of moments, the anger on her face turned to one of utter disbelief and discomfort. What was even stranger was that her lip movements were perfectly synchronized with the small head sticking out from the “scarf.”
“Phew, that was close!” the “little Loli” exclaimed. “I almost got caught!”
“Caught doing what?” Two seconds later, her expression changed again, returning to her previous annoyed demeanor.
“Next time, you talk to him,” “she” said.
“Tch, no way.”
“Why not? If you talk to him a few more times, maybe you’ll get a sausage.”
“You think I’d fall for that?”
“Suit yourself. Besides, don’t you want to see Ban Yue?”
“I’d get to see Ban Yue just by talking to him?”
“You could convince him to go find her.”
The little Loli had a brief “conversation” with herself before propping her chin in her hand, swinging her pale legs as she mused aloud, “Hmm… that’s true. Ban Yue’s with me, so if I go looking for her… we could find her quickly together!”
“I’m so clever!” she declared proudly.
Suddenly, she leapt off the wall, and in an instant, a white blur darted underneath her, catching her mid-air. With a flash of white, the section beneath the wall became eerily empty.
Ling Mo shook his head and turned his attention back to Rosen Company. However, this time he left a sliver of his consciousness attuned to his surroundings, just in case something unexpected happened again.
“Black Silk and the others will likely need no more than ten minutes to scout,” Ling Mo thought to himself. “In that case, I’ll need to move quickly on my end. And there’s that person who left the building earlier to investigate-there’s a good chance they’ll take further action…”
As his thoughts churned, Ling Mo’s main “viewpoint” shifted to the Zombie Puppet inside the canteen.
Meanwhile, the second Zombie Puppet, carefully carrying two pieces of the mother hive, was slowly sneaking its way downstairs. Ling Mo’s original plan was to have it escape the building when the opportunity arose, but considering that the outside wasn’t just crawling with Zombies but also humans with unclear motives, he decided to have it hide in a safe spot nearby instead.
At that moment, however, a new idea suddenly popped into his mind.
“Ye Lian,” Ling Mo called out just as Ye Lian was about to head downstairs. “Don’t come down for now. Just stay upstairs and keep an eye out. This time, don’t focus on the building-pay more attention to the exterior. Watch for anyone approaching.”
Ye Lian, who had been carrying a Sniper Rifle while descending the stairs, immediately paused. She obediently nodded, “Alright…”
“And… be careful,” Ling Mo added hesitantly. “I kept an eye on the Zombies before, but this time it’s humans… and I’m not sure what their intentions are. One thing’s for sure, though-these people might be just as dangerous as Fang Ying, maybe even worse…” Ling Mo’s tone was uncertain, reflecting his true feelings. This group was disturbingly persistent, willing to sacrifice their comrades to achieve their goals. They might resort to any means necessary-this was why Ling Mo was being so cautious.
However, even more dangerous than these people was the building itself…