Chapter 547 – The Eternal Shelf Life of a Loli
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Ling Mo and his companions followed Lucy to the new base of Team F, which indeed caused quite a stir.
The members of Team F were already quite familiar with this survivor.
It all started when Ling Mo and the Air Force Corps unexpectedly clashed, pulling Team F into the vortex as well, even receiving threats from the Air Force’s envoys.
At that time, many were somewhat dissatisfied with Ling Mo.
After all, being caught in the crossfire is never comfortable for anyone, even if Ling Mo was actually the victim.
Despite their dissatisfaction, none of them partic.i.p.ated in the manhunt for Ling Mo.
This was not necessarily because they were principled, but rather out of consideration for Lucy’s feelings.
Back then, no one knew that Lucy and Ling Mo had parted ways, so in their eyes, to pursue Ling Mo was to go after Lucy as well.
This was something they simply couldn’t do, even if not for the sake of Lucy.
Just like with Zhen Zhiyuan and his trio, once they committed such an act, even if they won, the other members would never trust them again.
Besides, apart from Zhen Zhiyuan’s group, there weren’t many who were confident they could take down Ling Mo.
Why stick your neck out to be cannon fodder when it won’t win you any favors?
Although they didn’t partic.i.p.ate, they still didn’t hold out much hope for Ling Mo, because the power of one individual is truly limited.
But to everyone’s surprise, the situation took a sudden and shocking one-eighty-degree turn.
The Air Force Corps was defeated, inexplicably and thoroughly.
On the surface, the Falcon seemed like the biggest winner of this incident, but everyone knew that the real beneficiary was this seemingly lazy survivor.
Now, no one in Team F dared to underestimate him, and some even regarded him with trepidation.
Upon reflection, none among them felt capable of achieving what Ling Mo had.
“Why is he here too!”
“Shh, dare you still call him that? At least you should call him Mr. Ling, right?”
“Give it a rest, who are you kidding…”
“Hey? Where’s Jian Qi?”
Murmurs and discussions continually rippled through the crowd.
Lucy glanced at Ling Mo, and for some reason, although he hadn’t said much, his calm and even somewhat listless expression gave her a sense of reliability.
However, as mostly an outsider, Ling Mo could only corroborate the situation, unable to directly partic.i.p.ate in the discussion or influence the course of events.
This matter was not easy to explain and would definitely face many questions.
Team F was not a disciplined and organized collective, but more like a temporary group that had come together spontaneously, which, at moments like this, was a significant disadvantage…
“Everybody, listen to me…” Lucy took a deep breath and resolutely stood out.
As Lucy spoke, Ling Mo was also observing the expressions of the members within Team F.
Although from Jian Qi’s memories, there were no allies of his in Team F, it was better to err on the side of caution.
Fortunately, after looking around, there were expressions of shock and bewilderment, but none that seemed to suggest a collusion with Jian Qi.
Ling Mo paid special attention and quietly probed to see if there were any unusual fluctuations in their Mental Spheres, but still discovered nothing.
It seemed that if he wanted to draw out the people from Niepan, he would really have to stay here for a while.
“Lucy, are you kidding me? We’re being used as lab rats? Can this get any more ridiculous?” A Psychic was the first to regain his composure and exclaimed.
“Exactly! Who would be that foolis.h.!.+ Jian Qi wouldn’t really treat us like brainless lab mice, right?” another person shouted.
“Then tell me, what could Jian Qi do alone?” someone else stood up to question, though in a more moderate tone.
The crowd was buzzing with many voices, and although Lucy wanted to argue a few points, her words were quickly drowned out by the noise.
“Ladies and gentlemen…”
At this moment, Ling Mo suddenly spoke up.
As soon as he spoke, the surrounding area quieted down.
“Do I have a built-in silence skill?” Ling Mo mused to himself with an inward roll of his eyes.
He knew that these people had a somewhat special view of him, and such a reaction was not surprising, so he didn’t care.
Seeing that all eyes were focused on him, Ling Mo smiled and reached into his pocket.
“What are you doing!”
Some people’s nerves immediately tensed up, and they prepared to respond.
However, what Ling Mo fished out after some rummaging was a medicine bottle: “Do you recognize this?”
The group let out a collective sigh of relief, then stared at it for a long time.
Finally, someone hesitantly spoke up, “This… isn’t this the Potion that Jian Qi was researching?”
“I think I’ve seen it too, but it wasn’t a finished product, how did it end up in your hands?”
Some people started to question again, wondering if it was Lucy who had given it to Ling Mo.
“What does this prove anyway…” someone in the crowd said, albeit in a low voice, clearly not daring to offend Ling Mo too much.
But their skeptical looks were unabashedly apparent.
Lucy seemed a bit frantic, not really knowing how to handle this kind of situation.
She could deal with a few people on her own, but faced with the skepticism of dozens, she quickly became agitated.
But getting angry wouldn’t solve any problems at this time.
Ling Mo didn’t say anything else, instead turning to look at the door.
A few seconds later, Xia Na walked in, holding a bird in her hand.
“What’s all this about?” someone in the noisy crowd immediately noticed the scene and moved forward, looking skeptically at Ling Mo’s actions.
Ling Mo remained silent. He unscrewed the cap and then poured the Potion into the bird’s mouth.
The crowd stretched their necks out long, still whispering to each other.
“What’s this for?”
“No idea…”
Even Lucy wasn’t quite sure of Ling Mo’s intention; she didn’t know what was in the Potion…
But since Ling Mo was doing it, there must be a reason for it.
Under the dubious gaze of the crowd, the unlucky bird suddenly began to flutter violently.
Xia Na immediately let it go, and then everyone saw the bird shoot out like a cannonball.
Within seconds, it had crashed into the walls and ceiling multiple times before falling to the ground, weak and exhausted. The surrounding crowd initially gasped in shock, then “whoosh,” everyone crowded around.
All of them cautiously approached and observed the bird closely.
Jian Qi’s research was known to everyone, although not everyone was clear on the progress, but they were undeniably interested in the research.
Otherwise, how did Jian Qi convince them to relocate to City X?
“I’ve seen this before, it’s just an increase in physical strength and recovery, nothing special…” one person muttered.
“Yeah, what’s the point of this?” another person said disdainfully.
However, at that moment, Lucy suddenly pointed at the bird and exclaimed, “Look at its eyes!”
“What’s with the eyes?”
Everyone’s attention immediately s.h.i.+fted to the bird’s eyes. Upon seeing them, someone in the crowd sharply inhaled.
“It’s… Mutated!”
“No way! Is this really a mutation? Could it just be sick? Or was it this color to begin with?”
“It was clearly black just now! And sickness can’t be this color, this is blood-red, just like the zombies!”
“d.a.m.n, what the h.e.l.l is up with that Potion? Go, go, go, open up Jian Qi’s sealed boxes and catch some birds to experiment with!”
As the crowd turned into a frenzy, Ling Mo patted the ground and stood up, then smiled at Lucy.
“Next time something like this happens, instead of arguing, just show them the facts,” Ling Mo said.
“…Yeah!” Lucy also seemed relieved and nodded vigorously.
Some people in the crowd also heard this and immediately began to sweat profusely.
Lucy watched as Ling Mo walked out slowly with Xia Na, then suddenly came back to her senses, “You were hiding this fact from me too! What could I show? Hey!”
Although she had guessed a little before, she never thought that the Potion could directly cause mutation…
However, this was actually a misunderstanding.
The amount of Potion that could cause a bird to mutate and quickly die would absolutely not cause an ordinary person to mutate on the spot.
But Ling Mo did this without any hesitation.
Who would dare to experiment on themselves with so many watchful eyes around? No one would suggest experimenting on others either…
It’s likely that after a few validations, Jian Qi’s Potions would be quickly destroyed.
By that time, this matter would be completely resolved…
…
In the evening, Ling Mo avoided Team F’s people, sneaked out of the TV station building, and ran to another commercial building not too far from the TV station.
“Meh!”
As soon as Ling Mo appeared, a large white figure pounced towards him.
He deftly jumped back and then heard a “thump” as dust rose in front of him.
Ling Mo looked speechlessly at Xiao Bai, who was sprawled out on the ground. This Mutated panda was flipping its eyelids and staring at him dully with hot breath.
Although it had run around with him for half the day, as exhausted as a dead dog, Xiao Bai was still full of energy and… showed no signs of slimming down.
Despite its terrifying size, Xiao Bai laid sprawled on the ground, its head level with Ling Mo’s waist.
“Ah… what’s the point of having such a big head if you’re that clumsy,” sighed Ling Mo, as he casually smacked a knock on Xiao Bai’s head.
“Meow…” the clumsy panda had taken a high fall and was probably still dizzy, just drooping its eyelids without resistance.
But just then, a dark shadow suddenly flashed behind Ling Mo.
The shadow seemed to hit an invisible gla.s.s wall, with the entire figure pressing up against it.
Ling Mo turned around and handed the zombie loli a knock on the head.
A second ago, Yu s.h.i.+ran’s face looked as if it was squashed against gla.s.s, but the next moment it returned to normal, though her forehead now bore the mark of the hit.
“Why… why did you do that…”
“Did you really think sacrificing Xiao Bai would distract me? Naive.”
“Hey!” the zombie loli burst out, “Don’t get too smug, human! It’s bad enough that you made us run all this way…”
While the zombie loli was complaining, she didn’t notice the odd look in Ling Mo’s eyes.
“I just realized something,” Ling Mo quickly changed the subject.
He curiously sized up Yu s.h.i.+ran and then said, “Your Black Silk keeps growing, but why hasn’t your height changed?”
“…” Yu s.h.i.+ran was silent for a few seconds before clenching her little fists and jumping up again, “I’ll destroy you! d.a.m.n human!”
“Height isn’t something you can hide by jumping…” Ling Mo continued.
“I’ll really destroy you!” Yu s.h.i.+ran roared on.
“Ah… so I actually guessed right. What’s this evolutionary direction? A lifetime loli body?” Ling Mo stroked his chin curiously as he circled around her, then patted her head comfortingly, “But at least your combat power has improved, don’t worry too much about height.”
Yu s.h.i.+ran glanced up at Ling Mo, then adjusted her gaze back to eye level…
“I’ll destroy you! The fact that I’m not growing taller is definitely Black Silk’s fault! It’s your fault!”
After several minutes of commotion, this zombie loli, who very likely extended her shelf life to permanent, finally calmed down.
But she still glared at Ling Mo furiously, clearly aware of her current state. Now that Ling Mo had pointed it out, she was as annoyed as could be…
Ling Mo had only just noticed her condition.
After all, they had only met for the first time a few months ago. How much could she have grown in such a short time?
But upon further thought, that’s a standard for humans. The loli in front of him was a zombie!
Especially after comparing with Black Silk, the issue of her height suddenly became glaring.
Why only grow in chest size and not height? It couldn’t be a partial mutation, she wasn’t a mutated zombie.
The only explanation is… her evolutionary direction determined her height and appearance…
And indeed, her strength growth and level improvement had a very direct response – just look at Black Silk to understand.
After realizing this, Ling Mo’s gaze towards Yu s.h.i.+ran became somewhat strange.
Compared to Yu s.h.i.+ran, those young-looking giants from before seemed weak!
“Human, your gaze is very odd…” Yu s.h.i.+ran muttered in a m.u.f.fled voice.
“Heh,” Ling Mo chuckled without responding.
“Right, I came to you for something important,” Ling Mo s.h.i.+fted the topic again, “Come with me to catch some zombies.”
The two pieces of the Virus Nest he had in his pocket were really bothering him.
Having pondered all afternoon, he felt that tonight would be the perfect time to test them out.
His purpose in joining Team F was to wait for someone from Niepan to appear, and they could show up at any moment.
At this moment, there was a lull, making it the most convenient time to carry out this task.
But taking Ye Lian and the others out might alert the people from Team F and would not be conducive to keeping watch.
Secondly, he needed Black Silk’s help for this task.
“Take a sniff.”
Ling Mo took out a piece of the Virus Nest from a mutated zombie and waved it in front of Yu s.h.i.+ran’s neck.
A little head immediately popped out from her fluffy scarf and then reached towards the Virus Nest.
Two seconds later, Ling Mo received a simple mental transmission from Black Silk, along with Yu s.h.i.+ran’s reluctant interpretation: “It’s memorized it.”