Chapter 572 – Watch My Flying Knife
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At the corner of a street, several figures were covertly hidden.
The wreckage of a car just ahead provided perfect cover in the shadows, and less than twenty meters away, numerous zombies were wandering aimlessly.
“Twenty-seven,” Xia Na glanced outside and turned to report.
“How did you count them?” Mu Chen, who was squinting and observing carefully, was surprised by her comment and couldn’t help but ask.
She had only looked for a second. Even with her strong mental fort.i.tude, treating counting zombies like counting cabbages, it’s not easy. The zombies all looked more or less the same and were constantly moving. It would usually take some time to count them accurately.
However, Xia Na just gave him a sideways glance and said no more.
Zombies’ vision and memory aren’t something you could understand… Tsk.
Ling Mo could clearly interpret the meaning behind Xia Na’s gaze.
“She’s… good at it,” Ling Mo scratched his head and said.
“Oh, is that so…” Mu Chen nodded, half-convinced.
“What do we do now… Why did we even come here?” Skinny Monkey was cowering behind the group, looking as if he wished he could turn invisible, his face a portrait of tangled nerves and tension.
Ye Kai gave him a disdainful look and said, “You’ve got that constipated face every time you step out the door. Growing a backbone won’t kill you.”
“It’s growing a backbone that’ll get me killed…” Skinny Monkey murmured in defense, only to be silenced by Ye Kai’s stern glare, causing him to s.h.i.+ver and shut his mouth immediately.
“Monkey, just pay attention to the sounds around us. If there’s anything unusual, speak up. Stay as close to us as possible, and you’ll be fine,” Ling Mo rea.s.sured him. Internally, he sighed, recognizing that the man was too timid to be of much use. Although he possessed an impressive special ability, he couldn’t leverage it properly.
But on second thought, his ability only became valuable when acknowledged by others. Normally, he was just like any other person, yet he mingled with psychics, facing dangers far greater than those around him. The discrimination and inferiority he felt were probably beyond others’ comprehension.
His personality having such issues wasn’t surprising.
Truth be told, Ling Mo was somewhat astonished that Skinny Monkey had managed to not fall apart or turn tail and run…
What Ling Mo didn’t know was that the idea had crossed Skinny Monkey’s mind countless times. However, they were still a significant distance from the TV station, and zombies were everywhere. Leaving Ling Mo’s side meant a quicker death.
Mu Chen saw Skinny Monkey nodding obediently and slapped him on the shoulder, then said with a grin, “Just follow my lead and don’t let your emotions cloud your judgment, or you’ll die faster than anyone. But if you listen to the team’s commands, I guarantee you’ll survive. Of course, that’s a.s.suming we’re not on some suicide mission…”
Skinny Monkey went pale. Was this supposed to be comforting? It sounded more like a threat!
“Ha, don’t give me that look. Even if it is a suicide mission, with the role you play in the team, you won’t be the first to die.”
Mu Chen’s tone became much more serious towards the end of his speech: “Teamwork is about everyone standing in their rightful place, doing what they need to do. As long as each person shoulders their own responsibility, there isn’t really such a thing as a suicide mission, understand? But to ensure a higher survival rate, you can’t just worry about your own safety; you need to pay more attention to your teammates around you.”
“To put it bluntly, you’re all linked together like gra.s.shoppers on a string; if one part has a problem, it affects the whole. Coordination and rapport take time to build, but you need to start developing that awareness now. Take Skinny Monkey, for example, your close combat skills are weak, but you’re the ears of the team. You should focus all your attention on reconnaissance, not just worry about your own life and death. If you do your job well, your teammates will naturally protect you.”
“…Um…” Skinny Monkey was momentarily stunned, then nodded his head.
Ling Mo looked at Mu Chen with a hint of surprise, then a knowing smile appeared on his face.
Indeed, this “instructor” was quite capable, at least he had managed to stabilize the most unstable element in the team in just a few words. This mix of coaxing and intimidating was perfect for dealing with someone like Skinny Monkey. Moreover, it was a subtle way of also giving Ye Kai and Zhang Xincheng a light rap on the knuckles.
In the recent drills, both of them had indeed fallen short in some areas. Skinny Monkey was so frightened partly because these two hadn’t paid enough attention to him.
Following behind alone, he naturally felt like he was walking on thin ice, as if dancing on the edge of a knife.
This time, the three of them came together, and as Ling Mo expected, they demonstrated a strength greater than the sum of their parts.
If any one of them were removed, the other two wouldn’t be able to clear a path, especially not without sustaining any damage.
But this drill also exposed all three of their weaknesses.
Zhang Xincheng’s abilities were somewhat one-dimensional and could easily lead to problems without support.
Ye Kai had the same issue; strong in combat and possessing special abilities, but he relied entirely on Zhang Xincheng and Skinny Monkey for reconnaissance.
And Skinny Monkey, who should have played the most significant role as the Wind Listener, was ignored by his two teammates due to his excessive timidity and fearfulness…
When they reported back earlier, although Zhang Xincheng mentioned him, it was clear that they hadn’t really consulted Skinny Monkey at all.
“This time it’s for real, I hope you all learn from this.”
Ling Mo glanced outside again and then waved his hand.
They could easily get through this situation with the help of the three female zombies, or by Ling Mo himself, but that wasn’t why he was here.
He wanted to see what these three could achieve, to see if they could become a real force under his command.
“Go.”
Ye Kai’s expression suddenly turned serious. He pulled out a knife and crouched down, moving towards the abandoned car.
“Whew!”
Skinny Monkey took a quick breath, pressed himself against the wall, and closed his eyes.
If you looked closely, you would notice Skinny Monkey’s ears twitching slightly. Beads of sweat quickly formed on his forehead, whether from nervousness or the exertion of using his abilities was unclear.
“Nine o’clock direction, one is approaching you,” whispered Skinny Monkey.
The two weren’t far apart, and his words reached the fully focused Ye Kai’s ears clearly.
From Ye Kai’s position, if he tried to confirm the direction visually, he would surely be spotted by the zombies.
At times like this, only by following Skinny Monkey’s guidance could he complete his mission without being exposed.
Ye Kai didn’t have much trust in Skinny Monkey and hesitated for a moment, thinking about looking back at Ling Mo.
But then he remembered, wasn’t the reason Ling Mo and the others weren’t intervening to see how they would perform?
With that in mind…
Ye Kai gritted his teeth and the knife in his hand suddenly flew out, accurately toward the nine o’clock direction.
His flying knife was silent and very fast. Ling Mo noticed that when Ye Kai released it, his wrist turned with a wide range, and his mental power seemed to become very focused instantly.
An ordinary person could achieve what he did in the beginning with enough practice, but what happened next was beyond the control of a normal person.
If the flying knife had flown straight out, it would have hit a pole ahead. However, after leaving his hand, the knife traced a half-moon arc over the car’s roof, spinning rapidly towards the approaching zombie.
The zombie, facing the side of the car wreckage, saw a flash of light whisk past without noticing the flying knife, which then flew straight into the opposite alley.
“Clang!”
A crisp sound echoed from deep within the alley.
The flash didn’t attract much attention from the zombies, but the small noise, like a thunderclap out of the blue, immediately drew the majority of the zombies’ attention.
“Whoos.h.!.+”
The flying knife made a full circle and, as if descending from the heavens, landed perfectly back in Ye Kai’s hand.
He exhaled a sigh of relief, then turned back and gave Ling Mo and the others an “OK” sign.
Skinny Monkey, leaning against the wall, also seemed to relax all at once…