Chapter 873: Chapter 637: What Is Chest Assault? This Is Self-Defense!

“Ugh ugh ugh…”

Number 1 was still unconscious, its mouth pried open, struggling instinctively a couple of times before going still.

Ling Mo crouched in front of it, first pulling out a translucent red crystal from his pocket, then he took out a bottle of water.

“Virus Nest?” Li Ya Lin sniffed, her eyes shining.

“Shh.” Ling Mo looked back at Xu Shuhan, saw she still had her eyes closed, then turned his head to quietly drop the crystal into the water, whispering, “Let’s test this.”

Li Ya Lin, imitating Ling Mo’s stealthy manner, took a sneaky glance and then asked in a hushed tone, “Test what?”

Not just her, Ye Lian and Shana also showed looks of curiosity.

“Just watch.”

Ling Mo gently shook the bottle, then sniffed at the opening, “It’s ready.”

He carefully aimed the bottle at Number 1’s wide-open mouth, pouring the water slowly from a height of more than ten centimeters.

After about half the bottle was poured, Number 1 coughed a few times but seemed to have no reaction.

Ling Mo waited patiently for several dozen seconds, then took out another Virus Nest.

This time, he revealed a spoil of war he had obtained not long ago from a dominant level Zombie.

The moment the dominant level Virus Nest hit the water, a viral scent wafted out.

“Let’s try this one.” Ling Mo shook the bottle again and poured the virus-infused water into Number 1’s mouth once more.

Previously, he used a leader level Virus Nest, but soaking it in water like this seemed ineffectual.

In fact, judging solely by the level, Number 1 appeared to be at most between a mutated level and an advanced level.

Its strength was largely due to its former identity as a Psychic.

However, in Ling Mo’s view, although it could still use some of its psychic abilities, in its confused state of consciousness, it couldn’t unleash the true power of those abilities.

Yet compared to an ordinary Psychic, its recklessly fearless spirit was quite formidable…

As for the viral concentration within its body, it was far behind that of a dominant level Zombie, and even compared to a leader level, there was a significant gap.

If Ling Mo had stuffed that leader level Virus Nest directly into its mouth, Number 1 would have surely reacted, but that would have been a waste for Ling Mo.

“This should work now.”

After pouring the liquid, Ling Mo began to observe Number 1’s reaction. As a zombie, it was influenced by the virus much faster than a normal person would be upon initial infection.

Just over a minute passed, and Number 1, who had been unresponsive, suddenly arched its upper body, its blood-red eyes wide, letting out a guttural roar.

The muscles on its body seemed to bulge as if pulsating, and its bones kept making cracking sounds.

“Ah!”

It had just leaped up when it seemed to hit an invisible rope and collapsed straight to the ground.

Before it could get up, its mouth was forced open wide, and streams of black blood gushed from its throat.

After convulsing a few times, Number 1 was completely still.

“Good thing I was prepared,” Ling Mo exhaled, rubbing his forehead.

He took out another bottle of water and dropped the dominant level Virus Nest into it.

This time he only shook it twice before quickly fishing out the Virus Nest and walking over to Xu Shuhan.

“Come on, get up.” He helped Xu Shuhan to sit up, and the girl barely lifted her eyelids, then weakly nodded.

Her eyes were almost completely red, and her expression was becoming vacant.

In at most three minutes, she would be completely overtaken by the virus, and her body would rapidly begin to decay.

During this process, paradoxically, she would become very lucid.

This was even more terrifying than a standard mutation…

“Drink this.” Ling Mo held the bottle to Xu Shuhan’s lips, she moved her lips, but after just one swallow, she began to cough violently.

“Are you okay?” Ling Mo asked anxiously.

After coughing, Xu Shuhan weakly fell back into Ling Mo’s arms and gently shook her head.

Although Ling Mo had not gone through the exact same process, he had been affected by the virus before.

At this moment, Xu Shuhan’s body was probably undergoing a trial by fire and ice, wasn’t it?

On one hand, Xu Shuhan felt her blood boiling inside her, while on the other, she was completely powerless, unable to control her own body…

After struggling for quite some time, Xu Shuhan finally managed to drink all the water, but before she could swallow the last mouthful, her eyes suddenly widened.

“Ah…”

She couldn’t help but let out a piercing scream, her hands desperately clutching the sofa as her body arched upward.

Her eyes, now full of blood vessels, were also being closely observed by Ling Mo; her Mental Sphere was experiencing violent fluctuations.

Mu Chen, who was standing guard outside, turned back several times to look, but ultimately held himself back.

In this situation, he really couldn’t help…

“What’s happening?” Shana asked.

Ling Mo kept his eyes fixed on Xu Shuhan and answered, “The virus is waging war inside her.”

“Waging war?” Ye Lian repeated in confusion.

“Yes,” Ling Mo nodded, “Remember the theory of the virus’s common origin? There are now three types of viruses inside her. Although they come from the same source, their evolutionary paths are completely different. The part of the virus that could turn her into a Psychic is clearly not able to withstand Number 1, but Number 1 is suppressed by the dominant level virus. Basically, it’s internal competition… Of course, the mutation direction of that dominant level virus is a bit tricky, but it has been diluted, so there shouldn’t be a problem…”

“That sounds terrible… Are you trying to reach a balance between the three viruses?” Shana quickly grasped the key point.

Ling Mo glanced at her and said, “That’s not it. I’ve also thought about the concept of a perfect body. The Psychic virus in my body is basically in balance with the zombie virus, right? Even if it’s not entirely equivalent, there’s no absolute suppression, which is why I can stay conscious and at the same time enhance my physical condition. But that’s from long-term absorption of small amounts. It’s not suitable for her.”

“So, what exactly do you want to do?” Li Ya Lin also leaned in curiously.

“To have Number 1 and this dominant level virus reach a balance would be barely enough. This way, she should be able to temporarily remain between being infected and not infected,” Ling Mo said, pinching his chin.

After a brief moment of thought, Shana suddenly came to a realization, “It’s like what happened to me at the beginning…”

“Yes, something like that,” Ling Mo nodded.

However, his thoughts back then were not as comprehensive, and the process was much more complicated.

Thinking this, Ling Mo looked at Shana with a hint of apology.

Just then, Shana was looking at him too. Their eyes met, and after a moment of surprise, Shana smiled.

“Cough cough…”

Ling Mo turned his attention back to Xu Shuhan, who was clearly beyond listening to anyone at the moment. She was engulfed in a frenzied state.

Just by looking at her fingernails deeply embedded in the sofa, one could tell how intense her struggle was.

However, her body hadn’t shown any signs of rot, which was a good sign.

“Ah ah ah!”

She kept screaming, her body twisting continuously as if something inside was desperately trying to burst out.

In the midst of this, Ling Mo forcefully fed her the virus-infused water two more times. After about five or six minutes of struggle, her body finally went limp, collapsing onto the sofa.

“Is it a success?” Ling Mo approached cautiously, shaking Xu Shuhan’s shoulder.

Xu Shuhan’s eyes were wide open, her body drenched in sweat, her hair sticking to her cheeks, exposing the fine beads of sweat on her chest.

The thin blouse under her jacket clung to her skin, outlining the contours of her underwear.

Her jacket was a mess from the struggle, even revealing her shoulder.

“Ah…” Xu Shuhan’s lips moved, and a hoarse whisper came from her throat.

“Are you conscious?” Ling Mo waved his finger in front of Xu Shuhan.

Her bloodshot eyes followed his finger for a moment, then slowly turned towards him, “Ah… flesh…”

With that, she grabbed Ling Mo’s wrist and yanked him down forcefully.

Ling Mo, though prepared, didn’t expect her to have such strength, and he involuntarily cried out as his face collided with two soft mounds.

“Wait!”

Xu Shuhan opened her mouth, but before she could bite down, two mental tentacles had already pinned her down.

Ling Mo scrambled to his feet, but in the process, his palm inadvertently pressed against one of the peaks.

This triggered a reaction from Xu Shuhan, who let out a reflexive scream, glaring with bloodshot eyes and growling unclearly, “Wha… what are you doing!”

“Seems particularly sensitive to this kind of situation…” Ling Mo quickly raised his hands in innocence, but couldn’t help commenting.

The conversation of the female zombies in the background followed —

“What does ‘this kind of situation’ mean?”

“It means being violated…”

“Or being touched this way or that…”

“It’s neither!” Ling Mo turned his head and shouted, “I was just defending myself!”

Nevertheless, the stimulation from the chest assault did indeed divert Xu Shuhan’s attention away from Ling Mo, the human. She looked around with a bewildered expression.

“Is she… completely infected now?” Shana leaned in to take a closer look and asked.

“Let’s wait a bit longer to know for sure, but she can’t keep this up for much longer, she’ll lose consciousness completely sooner or later.” Ling Mo discreetly reached out to tidy up her disheveled jacket.

“What should we do then?” Li Ya Lin asked, driven by curiosity rather than concern for Xu Shuhan’s fate.

It seemed like Shana’s reaction made Ling Mo feel she might be feeling a sense of empathy… although she probably wasn’t aware of it herself.

Ling Mo pulled out the phone he had gotten from Shen Le and pressed the power button, saying, “Didn’t they say there’s an experimental team at Niepan headquarters?”