However, the attacks from these large-headed zombies were relentless, giving Ling Mo and his group no chance to catch their breath.
Fortunately, Ye Lianâs sniping bought them a bit of time. With several screams echoing consecutively, a slight lull appeared in the sonic assault. Ling Mo seized this opportunity and led the group towards a corner.
The infant alpha zombie quickly noticed Ling Mo and the othersâ movement. It leapt back and forth on the rooftop, and its cries suddenly changed tone: âChirp chirp chirpâ¦â
âIt clearly canât speak, but it has so many ways to communicate!â Ling Mo said angrily.
Jason, panting beside him, remarked, âI heard that human infants have a special way of communicating too, called sign language⦠Itâs not surprising that these little monsters evolved vocal communicationâ¦â
Li Yalin, standing in front, suddenly looked intrigued and quickly turned to ask, âIs that so? Then I should be able to communicate with them too, right?â
âHuh? I⦠I suppose so, if you can mimic those sounds⦠But why would you want to communicate with these monsters?â
Jason showed a hint of surprise, but Xia Na interrupted him, âDid you just say you heard?â
âYes, I didâ¦â Jasonâs attention was quickly diverted, but as he replied, he couldnât help but glance at Li Yalin.
This scene allowed Ling Mo to breathe a sigh of relief, while also giving Xia Na a look of encouragement. Jasonâs character was surprisingly perceptive, with keen observation skills. Most people would take Senior Sisterâs question as a joke, but Jason noticed her expression even in these circumstances, which made him suspicious.
But that suspicion lasted only a moment, so when Xia Na spoke, he temporarily let the issue go.
No wonder Zhang Yu and Tom sent him instead of someone more familiar⦠But the more Ling Mo realized their thoughtful arrangement, the more he suspected that this situation might be worse than Jason describedâ¦
Xia Na blinked at Ling Mo, then continued, âSo, you have some prior interest in matters relating to infants? Considering the available channels of information, itâs unlikely you learned about this after the Cataclysm, so it was probably during peaceful times⦠But from your reaction, you donât seem to be burdened with grief or regret, so I can boldly guess that you didnât have marriage plans at that time, or maybe not even a girlfriendâ¦â
âAnd then we can conclude⦠this was all just your premature fantasy, and you actually investigated and planned for it,â Xia Na said with a hint of mischief.
Her words completely crushed Jasonâs curiosity about Senior Sister. From his helpless but constantly twitching expression, Ling Mo estimated that heâd be troubled by this for quite a whileâ¦
âNo wonder sheâs a master at cutting down fantasiesâ¦â
Ling Mo internally sympathized with Jason while also keeping an eye on the little alpha zombie.
Its cries lasted for a good ten seconds, and the barely suppressed zombie infants started showing unusual movements.
One particularly fast-moving zombie infant suddenly rushed to the side of an injured peer, then abruptly grabbed its arm. To Ling Moâs shock, the little zombie let out a sharp scream and violently threw the other zombie over.
âLike father, like son!â Ling Mo blurted out.
Heâd seen similar situations in A City before, though back then, it was the adults throwing the zombie infantsâ¦
âNo, the situation here is quite unique. Most zombie infants canât receive long-term care, because while theyâre not on the mutation beastâs menu, adult zombies are. So the zombie infants here are more ferocious than those in the city, with stronger attack capabilities!â Jason quickly explained.
âI seeâ¦â
But there was no time for Ling Mo to ponder further; although Ye Lian had shot the first zombie shell, more were coming from different directions.
Even the usually composed Ye Lian seemed a bit confused now. She looked at Ling Mo helplessly, her expression filled with innocence.
âItâs okay, itâs okayâ¦â Ling Mo quickly comforted.
Jason followed his gaze, glancing at Ye Lian, but ultimately just moved his lips without saying anything. Half of it was due to his own realization, and the other half was the apprehension towards Xia Na⦠n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
However, the fact that a girl, obviously without any military training, could handle a Sniper Rifle to this extent, hitting the fast-moving and constantly shifting zombie infants without missing a shot, was incredibly impressive.
Especially when compared to Ling Moâs marksmanship nearby, the impact was even stronger.
âEven if itâs a Superpower, this is just too strong⦠Every time she fires, the gun isnât aimed at the zombie infants directly, but at where theyâre about to be⦠Such predictive ability, itâs terrifying! But why does she have this kind of oblivious personality? The contrast is just too great!â Jason couldnât help but think.
Though he could see the aim of the gun, he couldnât notice Ye Lianâs eyes when âaiming,â with their constantly dilating and contracting pupils, occasionally flashing with a hint of redâ¦
âXia Na, Yalin!â
Ling Mo watched the incoming zombie shells with concern and shouted suddenly.
âHee hee.â
Xia Na waved her Scythe effortlessly, stepping up with a smile.
While Li Yalin seemed to stay in place, two seconds later, Jason was surprised to find that the figure, seemingly indistinguishable from a real person, rippled twice and then vanished⦠Meanwhile, the Yalin appearing at the front also disappeared one after another, leaving everyone only able to hear her excited laughter, without being able to determine which one was the real her.
âLooks like Yalin has improved quite a bit⦠Though the residual time of her figure hasnât increased, she managed to fool someone like Jasonâ¦â
Ling Mo had just mused to himself when he suddenly noticed Xia Na.
At that moment, Xia Na had released her spiritual body, Nana. Despite the zombie infantsâ cries causing interference, Nana, being relatively independent, could still emerge despite being affected.
Ling Mo was astonished to see that Nanaâs âlower halfâ was essentially still fused with Black Na, but her upper half had completely emerged. This time, her Hair and Scythe were enveloped in a layer of blood mist. Bits of it, like crimson petals, continuously separated from the mist, fluttering around Nana before merging back into her spiritual body.
âWhat potent psychic power! This must be a manifestation of psychic fluctuationsâ¦â
Ling Mo turned his gaze to the connection point between Nana and Black Na, thinking with a spark in his eyes: âIt appears sheâs left only a small amount of psychic power within her body, supporting Black Naâs activities and the foundation of Nanaâs existence⦠Black Na relies on her Zombie instincts, thus abandoning excessive psychic activity, leaving only combat-oriented will and bodily skillsâ¦â
âMeanwhile, the spiritual body Nana channels most emotions and strategic judgments back to Black Na through their shared foundation. They are essentially the same person, so the transmission speed is certainly synchronized⦠Besides that, Nanaâs abilities can be greatly enhanced, a win-win situation! However, the peculiar degree of their separation clearly shows this mutated ability isnât fully developed yetâ¦â
Just then, Ling Mo, having retreated with the others to a corner of the wall, suddenly realized a pressing issue.
âCrap! Whereâs Xu Shuhan!â
The female Zombie with the mask, who had been hiding behind him, was suddenly nowhere to be found!
At that moment, Xia Na and Senior Sister were already intercepting those shells, diminishing the noise significantly.
Ling Moâs anxious heart suddenly perked up, and a psychic tentacle immediately reached out.
However, before he could start searching for Xu Shuhan, an extremely urgent signal suddenly flashed in Ling Moâs mind.
Simultaneously, a picture gradually began to form in his âmind
Perhaps because Ling Moâs focus wasnât sufficiently sharp, the image appeared like static on a television, with lots of noise and looking somewhat blurry.
As the content slowly came into view, Black Silkâs voice began to break through intermittently: âYou all⦠around⦠me and Xiao Bai⦠hidingâ¦â
âWhat?â
Ling Mo didnât catch what Black Silk was saying, but he did see the drawing.
It was still a simple drawing, but it had changed significantly from before.
This time it was in colorâ¦
But thatâs not the main point; whatâs really noteworthy is the content expressed in the drawingâ¦
A large winged creature with a simple, blood-colored skull drawn below itâ¦
âUhâ¦â
Ling Mo stared at the creature for several moments and tentatively asked, âA very dangerous chicken?â
This guess was obviously a stretch, but you couldnât really blame him⦠Black Silkâs drawing skills were just terrible. This chubby bird really looked like a chicken!
A muffled sound came again from Black Silkâs side, but before Ling Mo could make sense of it, the infant alpha zombie suddenly let out a piercing scream.
Ling Mo felt a sharp pain in his head and only had time to shout, âBe careful!â
Yu Shiran and the others were in the wilderness, but with Black Silk and Xiao Bai present, ordinary mutation beasts couldnât get near them. Ling Mo planned to have these three hide in the Oil Depot once the helicopter took off, seizing the opportunity for them to rest.
He still hadnât figured out what Black Silk was trying to convey, but he couldnât ignore finding Xu Shuhan.
Grabbing Ye Lian by the arm, he asked, âCan you locate Host Xu?â