“Creak…”
On their way to the distribution room, Ling Mo and the others passed through several more eerily dark and narrow passages. The floors were similarly cluttered with debris from the ongoing renovations, with various tools discarded along the way, creating numerous small obstacles that considerably slowed their progress.
“There aren’t many corpses here, and even bloodstains are scarce,” Ling Mo observed as he walked, murmuring to himself. “Probably because when the disaster broke out, only construction workers were in this building…”
“Stop worrying about these pointless details…” Tang Hao rolled his eyes from behind.
“Moving so slowly, aren’t we just giving those behind us time to catch up? Speaking of which, that masked woman who left earlier should be back with her group by now, right? Shouldn’t we wait for them?”
Tang Hao’s mind was a chaotic whirl of thoughts, his eyes darting around the floor.
Even though he wasn’t the one leading the group anymore, being carried around like this by Xiao Bai made him too wary to try any mischief.
As they drew closer to the distribution room, an increasing sense of unease settled in Tang Hao’s chest…
“Huh? There’s writing here…” Ling Mo suddenly stopped at a corner.
He leaned in, squinting to make out the faint text in the dim light. “Caution: Danger…”
“Probably left behind by earlier survivors. We didn’t even notice this before,” Tang Hao chimed in.
“Is that so…” Ling Mo nodded noncommittally, then added, “But wouldn’t a warning like this typically be written in a more obvious spot? Not to mention, this location is already pretty obscure. And look at the angle and the way the words are written-it seems odd…”
As Ling Mo spoke, he raised his hand and mimicked the motion of holding a pen, gesturing against the wall. “If this place is indeed as dangerous as the warning implies, then the person leaving this message must’ve been panicked. If not panicked, then they were likely in a state of despair or exhaustion. That kind of mindset would typically produce erratic writing or an inconsistent choice of placement-something more like this. But this writing is so clear and tidy, and even deliberately placed in the inner corner of the wall… It’s hard to imagine what kind of mental state the writer must’ve been in when they left this.”
“Damn it…” Tang Hao’s expression began to grow uneasy…
“But if it was left as a half-hearted joke or a casual marker, then it’s much easier to explain.” Ling Mo casually added.
“Well… who knows?”
Tang Hao’s eye twitched involuntarily. If their roles were reversed, he knew he could never be as meticulous or cautious as Ling Mo. While it might be attributed to the unique keen observational skills of a mental ability superhuman, analyzing things to this extent felt borderline obsessive!
Perhaps for Ling Mo, he couldn’t immediately catch every clue at first glance, but with such a painstakingly thorough investigation, he would never miss even the smallest detail. Anything that seemed even slightly out of place to him would inevitably receive his full attention.
“So, no matter what he does, it always comes with careful consideration…” A subtle chill crept over Tang Hao.
And for some unknown reason, ever since the confrontation with Butterfly, Tang Hao felt that Ling Mo’s demeanor had shifted slightly. He seemed calmer, sharper… While it was impossible to discern much from his actions, those brief moments where their eyes met revealed a faint glimmer of excitement.
But what exactly was he excited about?
“Close the door before entering… letting his allies go in after him… showing specific interest in the distribution room… What’s he planning? How much does he already know? What is he trying to achieve?”
“By the way.” Ling Mo’s voice interrupted Tang Hao’s spiraling thoughts, “Tell me more about the purpose of this place.”
“Well…” Tang Hao, still unable to guess what Ling Mo was scheming, reluctantly replied, “After luring your group here, we planned to attract a large number of zombies to this spot. Because the upper floors of this building are packed with residential units, you’d presumably last for a while inside… Then, as long as you drew away enough zombies, we could seize the opportunity to infiltrate Rosen Company. In other words, we intended to use your group to create a temporary vacuum of safety in the area.” ṛáŊŎBĚS̩
“Hmm, clever plan…” Ling Mo said, though a peculiar smile suddenly appeared on his lips.
Tapping the wall where the writing appeared, he remarked, “But if this place was already inherently dangerous to begin with, wouldn’t that mean your plan had the potential for a complete failure?”
Tang Hao froze for a moment, then fought the urge to slam his head against the wall. “He’s got me again!”
“Hah… It’s strange, really. You spent so much time preparing, yet you managed to make such a low-level mistake.” Ling Mo glanced at him with an almost mocking tone.
Tang Hao instinctively clenched his fists, and in just those few sentences, cold sweat had already drenched his palms.
It was almost inconceivable that such an unremarkable detail could spark so much suspicion in Ling Mo… and even more astonishing was how he managed to confirm his doubts through this method. Though he hadn’t directly interrogated Tang Hao, by this point, any response from Tang Hao was completely irrelevant.
“Stay calm! Stay calm! There’s still a chance, still…” Tang Hao repeated to himself over and over in his mind, trying to latch onto the faintest shred of hope.
“The distribution room… we’re almost there, aren’t we?”
As Tang Hao was tortured by his own thoughts, Ling Mo finally shifted his gaze away and turned to continue walking forward.
And by then, the crucial time was almost upon them…
At the same time, less than one corridor away from Ling Mo’s group, two figures were sprinting ahead at full speed.
“Bloodstains!”
One of them suddenly pointed to a spot ahead of them, exclaiming.
“That’s odd. Why would there be an injured person headed this way? And in this direction no less… Oh, do you remember from our initial recon?” the person alongside them asked.
“Yeah, of course.” The other responded, a little confused.
“Back then, wasn’t there something strange? The mutated zombies in this building… they all seemed to have gathered in the distribution room,” the first person said with a furrowed brow.
“Used it as a lair?”
“That shouldn’t be the case. This whole place is dark enough as it is.”
“Do you think it’s possible that…” The person’s voice grew noticeably quieter and heavier.
“No way. We’ve already found the entrance. Besides, if there really were an issue, we’d have noticed it long ago, wouldn’t we? Relax. This is perfect-they’re heading right into it. It’ll be like catching turtles in a jar,” the other said with a sneering laugh, a flicker of cold calculation flashing in their eyes.
“We’re close!”
Letting out a low growl, their pace quickened sharply.
At the same time, the two shadows racing along the walls suddenly began to transform mid-sprint…