The sound of Xiong Ji pursuing from behind echoed like a rolling iron ball, carrying immense momentum. The gestation pods flanking him emitted incessant hissing noises, making the corridor seem overrun with venomous snakes. Ling Mo and Li Yalin, sprinting with all their might, headed straight for the elevator without a moment’s pause.
“This guy’s insanely tough. If we fight him here, there’s a good chance we’ll attract those gestation pods from the canteen. If that happens, we’ll be in serious trouble… At times like this, we need to conserve our strength. It’s not just them we need to guard against but also the potential dangers lurking in the building and others like us waiting and watching outside…” Ling Mo said between heavy breaths as he ran. His zombie puppet body was heavily injured and had drained a lot of energy, but the thought of all that had yet to be done kept him gritting his teeth and pushing forward.
“Zombie puppet, keep going…”
Li Yalin, though unclear on what he meant, nodded lightly. Suddenly, she raised her hand and pointed into the darkness ahead. “Look! It’s over there!”
“What’s the situation like?” Ling Mo squinted into the shadows and asked.
“It’s pretty inconspicuous; there’s this little gap, and Xia Na mentioned there’s a hole above it… Also, this is exactly where Xiong Ji spotted me,” Li Yalin replied after a brief moment of thought.
Ling Mo mentally calculated their next move and said, “Here’s the plan: you go in first, and I’ll lure him over bit by bit. Once he steps into the elevator, I’ll block the door, and then you can strike from above. If we synchronize properly, we should be able to actually hurt him. After that, all we’ll need to do is identify his weakness and find a way to take him down for good.”
“Shouldn’t I be the one to handle that?” Li Yalin asked hesitantly.
“No. My attacks lack strength; having me go into hiding would be a waste of strategy,” Ling Mo replied, shaking his head.
“But what about those little ones?” Li Yalin added nervously.
“Exactly, which is why we have to rely on speed. The biggest weakness of those gestation pods is their relatively slow movement. Not only are they slower than Xiong Ji, but even a common zombie can outrun them. Just listen to the sound of Xiong Ji’s footsteps-you can tell he’s running at full speed. That means the gestation pods have already fallen behind him by some distance. But, realistically, it’s probably less than a ten-second gap. That gives us only ten seconds to act! It’s perfect timing anyway, since my arms are almost useless now. Before they completely stop working, we’ll finish off Xiong Ji!” Ling Mo said, clenching his fists with determination.
Li Yalin glanced at him for a moment and suddenly said, “I get it, it’s because you’re a zombie puppet…”
“Don’t underestimate zombie puppets…”
“But you’re being so dramatic-it’s making me nervous too…”
“Who’s being dramatic? And, wait, you’re actually feeling nervous?”
“Hehe, maybe… Oh, we’re here!”
A pitch-dark elevator quickly came into view, just as Li Yalin had described. The elevator had been left with only a tiny gap, its surroundings splattered with blood. Pieces of torn clothing were even stuck in the crevice. Just witnessing such a scene would make any typical survivor steer clear, let alone venture inside to investigate. And as for climbing up the emergency exit like Xia Na had done, that was something only a zombie would dare attempt.
Still, Xia Na’s disappearance after heading up there stirred a chaotic jumble of unease in Ling Mo’s mind.
“Our psychic link is still intact, which means Xia Na’s situation is relatively safe-she hasn’t encountered any life-threatening danger. But knowing Nana’s rationality, if she didn’t discover something up there, she would’ve returned immediately. What exactly is up above the elevator? If it’s just the elevator shaft, it shouldn’t be hiding anything significant, unless it’s occupied by ‘crawling creatures’ like those gestation pods… But even that wouldn’t be enough to explain the creepy atmosphere of this building. Still, I’ve searched every other suspicious area inside the building, and this is the only spot left that stands out. Could it be that this is the target of that group as well?”
“Ling Mo, I’m heading in first,” Li Yalin suddenly said, snapping Ling Mo out of his thoughts.
He nodded quickly and replied, “Alright, be careful. Just climb up there and wait-don’t act on your own under any circumstances. There has to be something in that elevator shaft; otherwise, it wouldn’t be able to shield itself from my psychic probe. Just… be cautious.”
“Got it,” Li Yalin replied with a smile. With a light leap forward, her figure disappeared into the narrow gap almost instantly.
As Ling Mo watched her slip through, he stopped in his tracks, taking a moment to adjust his breathing before turning to face the corridor once more.
“Thud, thud, thud!”
Xiong Ji’s footsteps quickly grew louder and clearer. Even without seeing him, it was as if a massive iron ball was barreling down the corridor, rolling closer and closer with unstoppable momentum. 𐍂Α₦o͍฿Еꞩ
His speed was incredible, his power overwhelming. Staying here would undoubtedly get him crushed!
A primal fear surged through Ling Mo like a tidal wave, but he only exhaled lightly. His gaze remained fixed and unwavering on the darkness ahead.
“When faced with a powerful opponent, zombies have this instinct to emit an intimidating aura, using their overwhelming strength to suppress their enemies. My zombie puppet might not be physically strong, but it has my psychic power as its backbone!” As his psychic energy continued to pour in, the previously wavering zombie puppet stabilized once more. Ling Mo twisted his neck and shook his arms a couple of times.
The massive arms now looked shriveled and battered, drenched in blood to the point of being dyed entirely red. They looked absolutely horrendous. Yet the raw strength from their earlier swelling was still present. The immense amounts of the virus flowing through him, triggered by his psychic infusion, were surging toward those arms, pushed along by his blood. Rapid regeneration coupled with a constant influx of power gave Ling Mo the means to hold his ground against Xiong Ji. But this artificially stimulated energy wouldn’t last long-perhaps no more than three seconds!
“Yalin is already in position. Now, it’s up to me to lure Xiong Ji into the elevator in three seconds… And above all, I can’t afford to fall during those three seconds!”
The faster he acted, the more time Li Yalin would have to prepare. But just listening to the thunderous approach of Xiong Ji’s footsteps was enough to weigh heavily on him. After their previous brief clash, Xiong Ji had clearly become even more aggressive. For this zombie puppet, fighting Xiong Ji felt like challenging an adversary it would have never dared approach in the past-a head zombie among a group of the undead.
“Stop overthinking. I’ve faced the Progenitor in this building-it doesn’t get scarier than that. What’s one head zombie compared to a…”
“BANG!”
A deafening crash erupted from the darkness, and in the next instant, a massive dark shadow charged straight at Ling Mo.
For a split second, Ling Mo felt as if he were standing on train tracks, staring down the front of an oncoming locomotive, ready to plow through him.
“Holy crap! I didn’t feel it as strongly before… but this guy’s ramming force is insane!”
He raised both arms, eyes locked on Xiong Ji as the monster charged toward him with astonishing speed.
The distance seemed short, yet to Ling Mo, it felt like an eternity…
First second!
Ling Mo abruptly crouched low, then leapt high into the air just as Xiong Ji was about to collide with him.
While still mid-air, Xiong Ji had already raised one massive hand, reaching for the zombie puppet’s leg.
“This guy is unexpectedly nimble!” Ling Mo cursed silently.
Yet, just as Xiong Ji’s claws were about to grab hold of him, Ling Mo’s arms thrust sharply upward, embedding themselves into the ceiling panel above. Using the brief moment of resistance as leverage, he twisted his body and lashed out with a powerful kick.
“Smack!”
Both feet connected directly with the back of Xiong Ji’s hindbrain. Though his massive body swayed under the impact, Ling Mo swung himself forward, landing gracefully ahead of him again.
Second second!
“ROAR!”
Xiong Ji let out an enraged bellow, wildly swinging his arms. He seemed momentarily stunned, confused by this agile and seemingly low-level opponent’s unorthodox attacks. Yet, just as he shook his head to regain focus, Ling Mo had already lunged toward the elevator.
“ROAR! ROAR!”
The thunderous sound of footsteps followed closely behind him. Ling Mo frowned, his gaze locked on the narrow gap ahead.
Landing a hit on Xiong Ji would only fuel his blind rage, urging him to pursue. But just enraging him wouldn’t be enough… The real challenge was figuring out how to draw him into the elevator!
Mad with fury, Xiong Ji chased relentlessly. His speed was slightly higher than Ling Mo’s, and if it weren’t for that earlier kick that created some distance, he might have already caught him by now.
Third second!
The gap was right ahead!
By now, the distance between Ling Mo and Xiong Ji was less than three meters-barely a step for a zombie of his size.
The timing-there was no room for error!
“Roar!”
Xiong Ji stretched out his claws, his roar dripping with hatred. He was ready to tear this infuriating foe apart. How dare this low-level zombie taunt him repeatedly…
Bam!
Without hesitation, Ling Mo jumped forward, kicking off the edge of the elevator gap with both feet and propelling himself upward once again.
At that very moment, Xiong Ji’s claws narrowly grazed past Ling Mo’s body, plunging into the narrow elevator gap.
Momentum carried Xiong Ji’s upper body forward, partially into the gap, while his feet barely skidded to a halt at the edge of the entrance.
“Damn it!”
Ling Mo cursed aloud. As he landed, he turned without hesitation, already clenching his fist tightly. With all his remaining strength, he slammed his fist into Xiong Ji’s back.
“Thud!”
The impact was deafening. Xiong Ji was forcefully shoved forward, his massive body wedged entirely into the gap.
At the same time, Ling Mo’s arms gave a sickening crunch, accompanied by a spray of blood as they instantly withered. His now-useless arms hung limp at his sides, but there was no time to assess the damage.
Ling Mo immediately braced his injured arms against the gap, blocking it as best he could.
A surge of immense force came from within. An enraged howl tore through the air from inside the elevator.
“Roar!”
Ling Mo’s entire body trembled violently, and his shoulder sockets gave a series of alarming cracking noises.
“Stay in there and rot!”
Ling Mo growled through gritted teeth, his voice filled with a touch of madness. Instead of retreating, he rammed himself against the gap with all his remaining energy.
In the distance, the gestation pods had appeared in his field of vision…