“What… what do you mean…” The Monster suddenly lunged forward fiercely, only to be stomped back into the silt by Xu Shuhan. Despite the ferocity in its demeanor, the hint of panic in its eyes revealed that Ling Mo had likely hit the nail on the head.
“Although your mannerisms and thought patterns are already quite close to humans… you must have learned these from humans, right? But just by interacting with a few people, you dream of becoming truly human, which is a bit naive. Even with the addition of human memories, you’re just a rookie carrying an 18g hard drive without any experience…” Ling Mo casually took a step back, delivering his words mercilessly. Xu Shuhan nodded in agreement at the beginning, but when Ling Mo reached the latter part…
“Hey!”
“…In summary, you’re still a bit green.”
Ling Mo’s words clearly struck a nerve with the Monster, which attempted to struggle again: “Who are you calling a rookie…”
However, after struggling twice, it began drooling at Ling Mo… the aftereffects of excessive energy consumption were already manifesting…
“Yeah, it can’t resist anymore…” Ling Mo nodded in satisfaction.
“But it won’t cooperate either!” Xu Shuhan continued to pin the Monster down, exclaiming, “Forget cooperation, it’ll bring new trouble! Didn’t you say it has companions or something… But, compared to Casterway, I’d rather deal with more of these half-baked ones… No, let’s not talk about that for now. What should we do?”
“Ugh…” The Monster grunted in protest.
Ling Mo pondered for a moment and said, “I’m afraid your hope will be dashed… There are clearly more Casterways here, and finished products like it should be in the minority. In the long run, these self-proclaimed ‘Giant God Warriors’ indeed have more potential than Casterway. Casterway is only troublesome in this underground environment, but the threat of ‘Giant God Warriors’ becomes apparent in human crowds. Remember what it said? After transforming into me, it would go to the surface and enter human gathering areas… If these Monsters actually achieve this, the consequences would be unimaginable.”
“That’s true…” Xu Shuhan listened, feeling a jolt of fear. Although she was no longer human, it was clear these Monsters weren’t their allies either. If these Monsters reached the surface and leveraged their transformation ability to gain an advantage over Zombies, life would become even more difficult for both humans and Zombies.
“As for what to do now…” Ling Mo glanced at the Monster and suddenly asked, “Such a special ‘creation,’ if you were the Progenitor, would you let it fall into enemy hands? Even if you could, what about food like us? Don’t forget. It could deploy ‘Giant God Warriors’ for us; would it just watch us leave at this point?”
Xu Shuhan paused, then showed a look of realization: “You mean…”
“That’s exactly what I mean,” Ling Mo used Tentacles to bind the Monster’s limbs. Then, with a casual “tug,” he said, “We can fish in reverse. Whether we catch Monsters or the Progenitor depends on our luck. But either way, these decoys might help us find Yuwen Xuan. If all else fails…”
For Ling Mo, the best approach was Control and Devour. But the former wasn’t convenient to do in front of Xu Shuhan, and judging by the Monster’s psychic power condition, controlling it wouldn’t be easy. Instead of expending a lot of psychic power to control it, it was better to take a more cautious approach. After all, this was the enemy’s lair, and conserving energy meant more security.
As for Devour, it was even less feasible… It concerned Yuwen Xuan, and if Devouring only yielded some scattered memories, it would be too disappointing…
After much deliberation, Ling Mo made his decision. First, reduce the Monster’s threat level, then use it as a decoy… This method was essentially using the enemy’s tactics against them, though the logic wasn’t as simple as Ling Mo’s words suggested.
He had a strong feeling… the existence of this “Giant God Warrior” might be the key connecting all the questions. Mastering it could gradually unravel the mystery hidden beneath the city’s underground. While most people were unaware, a greater crisis was brewing beneath their feet…
“So, do we just wait?” Xu Shuhan’s question interrupted Ling Mo’s thoughts.
Ling Mo snapped back to reality and said, “Of course not, fishing requires a place to cast the rod. Want to check it out? A hundred meters ahead.”
“There? But the Monster said…” Xu Shuhan said hesitantly. However, she understood that there must be something special there; otherwise, the Monster wouldn’t desperately try to lure them over. But clues also meant risk, and not a small one… ȒâꞐꝋΒΕŜ
“We’ll let it go.” Ling Mo “tugged” the Tentacle again and said.
Seconds later, Ling Mo and Xu Shuhan dragged the Monster to a spot just ten meters away from the target location. Although they hadn’t stepped into the “trap” area, the surrounding silence and darkness still gave them a very oppressive feeling. Especially when they looked deeper… the passage seemed like a gaping black mouth, and even when they opened their hands slightly to uncover the Flashlight, it still couldn’t illuminate.
“Maybe there’s something absorbing light…” Xu Shuhan said, glaring with red eyes.
“Can you see clearly?” Ling Mo asked. His vision was already sharp among humans, but he couldn’t even make out a blurry outline. As Xu Shuhan said, the passage seemed to devour light… everything within ten meters was normal, beyond that was another world. If Ling Mo hadn’t exposed the Monster’s identity, they might have already fallen into this absolute darkness…
“A little.” Xu Shuhan blinked and said, “It feels like… there’s a layer of fog over my eyes. Anyway, it’s very strange there; we shouldn’t approach recklessly. Maybe you’ll really fish out something strange…”
“Then let’s wait and see.” Ling Mo said, pulling out an item from his pocket-a Mobile Phone.
Although not used much, overall, this gadget was quite simple and practical. So before setting out, Zhang Yu from Miracle Base equipped everyone with one. Ling Mo was also accustomed to carrying it. He hadn’t expected it to come in handy at this moment…
“Are you going to take a picture?” Xu Shuhan asked, thinking Ling Mo wanted to save a record…
“Not for now. And with Old Lan around, it’s better to bring back a corpse…” Ling Mo replied.
“Then what are you doing?”
“Filming, or rather, sneaky filming…” Ling Mo set up the Mobile Phone and raised it above the Monster’s head.
The red dot on the screen blinked rhythmically, while the image in the lens appeared very blurry…
“Better prepare a camera next time…” Xu Shuhan couldn’t help but suggest.
“Don’t usually need it… can’t just randomly film an 18g or something…”
“Are you done yet! You’re still stuck on the 18g, aren’t you!”
“Didn’t expect you to be so clear on it, as expected from someone in the circle…”
“Who’s in the circle! Get to work!”
Actually, Ling Mo didn’t have much to do… After placing the Mobile Phone less than thirty centimeters above the Monster’s head, he slowly released his hand. As Ling Mo’s palm left, the Mobile Phone eerily hovered in the air.
“I suddenly think you could have an English name like David or something…” Xu Shuhan exclaimed. Despite Ling Mo’s focused gaze and seemingly careful control, the peculiar scene still felt quite novel to Xu Shuhan…
“Alright, let’s go.” Ling Mo kicked the Monster’s rear and whispered.
