Chapter 554 – The Overthrown Infection Source
....
The day after Ling Mo officially took over as the regimental commander of Team F, Lucy found him again.
“I need a favor from you,” Lucy said straightforwardly. She glanced around the room, feeling somewhat relieved that she had chosen a time when Ye Lian and the others were not around.
Had they been there, she probably would have had to hold back what she wanted to say.
“What is it?” Ling Mo asked without looking up, his attention still on a booklet in his hands.
For the past few days, aside from being exploited by his senior, most of Ling Mo’s time was devoted to studying the notes found in a package from Jian Qi.
Though the members of Team F had destroyed the potions, this booklet, which recorded many experimental results, had been left aside.
After becoming the regimental commander, all Ling Mo had to do was mention it, and someone would naturally find such material for him.
However, what he really wanted to see wasn’t the dense array of symbols and formulas, but some information about Niepan.
He had been with Team F for about a week, but Niepan’s people had not yet come, which made him feel a bit restless.
Were they not planning to come? Or were they, with their capabilities, still unable to locate the relocated Team F?
If that was the case, should he consider lying in wait at Team F’s old location?
This thought made Ling Mo laugh at himself.
He used to avoid trouble whenever possible, but now he was eagerly waiting for it to come knocking at his door, even considering seeking it out himself… How impatient must he be!
“Hey…”
Lucy was somewhat dissatisfied with Ling Mo’s att.i.tude. Wasn’t he taking this too lightly?
However, Ling Mo’s posture and expression today were different from usual. He typically appeared very relaxed, reclining in his chair as if he might fall asleep at any moment.
But today, he sat upright, his gaze intently on the booklet, and the tea on the small side table beside him had gone cold.
“You seem very focused…” Lucy muttered to herself, dragging a chair over to sit opposite Ling Mo.
Somehow, the fact that Ling Mo wasn’t looking at her made her feel more at ease.
If he had been watching her, she might not have been able to say what was on her mind.
“I…” Lucy pursed her lips, sneaking another glance at Ling Mo, then propped her chin on her hands and cleared her throat.
“There’s some water,” Ling Mo said, still fixated on the booklet as he turned another page.
“No, thanks,” Lucy shook her head, sniffled, and suddenly asked, “Do you know why I wanted to connect you with Team F?”
“I have an idea,” Ling Mo nodded.
Lucy was taken aback, then forced a smile, “No… What you see is just the surface. I am also quite selfish… I protect Team F, and I do everything I can for Team F, just so that those who stay by my side can keep staying… so they won’t suddenly leave me, won’t suddenly attack me… Funny, isn’t it?”
Continuing on, Lucy shook her head with a bitter smile, “But as silly as it sounds, it’s really just because of a bad memory. I never thought I’d change so much, nor did I imagine I’d become what I am today. Some experiences really do affect a person for a long time… Of course, every survivor probably has a past they’d rather not look back on. I’m not special in that regard…”
“Mm…” Ling Mo answered, his eyes still on the booklet, but his mind wandered back to the days when he didn’t know whether Ye Lian was alive or dead.
Though it was a short period, it had felt like an eternity.
He didn’t ask Lucy about her painful past; she probably, like him, didn’t want to revisit those memories.
“Anyway… I suddenly realized that I’m becoming the very thing from those memories… the source of my pain. It’s unbelievable… haha, I can’t believe I’ve become like them.” Lucy suddenly bowed her head, burying her face in her hands.
Ling Mo sighed, slowly put down the booklet, and reached out to touch the top of Lucy’s head, “Tell me, Lulu, what do you want me to do for you?”
“I… ” Lucy still had her head down but reached out and grabbed Ling Mo’s hand, “I think I might deserve to die… but… but…”
Her voice suddenly became m.u.f.fled, “I don’t want to die yet…”
At the same time, she tightly grasped two of Ling Mo’s fingers.
Ling Mo could feel her body slightly shaking and let out a long breath, “Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.”
“You don’t need to comfort me…”
“I’m serious.”
“You don’t know anything!” Lucy suddenly shouted, lifting her head sharply.
The Iceberg woman’s face was pale, her eyes red, and there seemed to be traces of moisture in them.
“It’s just an infection, right?” Ling Mo said.
Just… an infection?!
Lucy’s eyes widened in shock, her mind frozen for a moment.
After three or four seconds, she suddenly let out a scream and pounced on Ling Mo like a mother cat, “Quiet… No! Quick, how did you find out? How did you know? How long have you known?”
“Hey… help… help me!” Ling Mo kicked his legs and struggled fiercely.
After two minutes of turmoil, Lucy finally calmed down from her frenzy.
She climbed off Ling Mo, gasping for breath, her eyes fixed on him as if afraid he might slip away from her sight.
Ling Mo, his clothes in disarray, leaned back on the couch, hands covering his neck, “Were you trying to kill me?”
“Just answer the question!” Lucy roared.
“Don’t be so hasty.” Ling Mo shook the booklet in his hand, “Actually, I did notice your problem, but you’re not going to fully Mutate, don’t worry.”
“But I’m now…”
Lucy started to say something but suddenly paused.
Ling Mo’s heartbeat… was very steady.
This meant he wasn’t lying…
“Your body has mostly stabilized from the Mutation; you’re only mildly infected, having been exposed to a very small amount of the virus. It’s probably already parasitizing your cells… Uh, there’s no need to open your mouth that wide,” Ling Mo said.
“But… they will multiply! It’s **, right?! They’ll keep growing and fill up my body!” Lucy exclaimed frantically.
“Yes, by now they’ve nearly completed that process. But why do you think zombies Mutate? Just because of the virus? No, it’s because once the virus parasitizes their cells, it undergoes a Mutation. It’s that kind of zombification Mutation that causes them to change. But for you, the virus that entered your body has undergone a different kind of Mutation. It will transform your body but won’t affect your Mental power… Huh?”
Ling Mo stopped mid-sentence, suddenly frozen.
The words he had just said… why did they sound so familiar?
A different kind of Mutation? Transforming the body without affecting the Mental power?
“d.a.m.n! That’s me, isn’t it?!”
Ling Mo looked at Lucy in shock, his thoughts in disarray.
Fragments of his memory began to replay in his mind—any interaction with Lucy, especially those he hadn’t noticed before, all became the focus of his recollection.
In a single day, a person sees and hears a lot, but most will usually only remember what they’re interested in or what made a strong impression.
Details like how many streetlights were pa.s.sed, what pattern the tiles in the flower beds were, or what every person who pa.s.sed by looked like… these “useless pieces of information” are automatically cla.s.sified as junk by the brain and archived.
However, after the enhancement of Ling Mo’s Mental power, it was like a CPU upgrade, enabling him to process much more information at once.
The biggest change was first his strength, and second, it manifested in his memory.
He could now recall many memories, those fragments flas.h.i.+ng through his mind like slides in rapid succession.
Ding!
The image froze at the moment he was lying on top of Lucy.
Then, in slow motion, Ling Mo saw a drop of his blood falling from his mouth onto Lucy’s lips.
And then she… slightly opened her mouth…
“d.a.m.n! No way! No way! No way!!”
Ling Mo’s fist clenched instantly.
The infection source… was it him?!