Chapter 704 - Stray into the Ranch
Black Silk followed the road while Xiao Bai traced the green belt, each searching in different directions.
Given the almost absence of zombies in the vicinity, their speed was relatively impressive.
In just two minutes, Black Silk found a helicopter that had crashed into a building on the other end of the street.
Despite the collision and explosion, some parts of the helicopter remained relatively intact. Controlling Yu s.h.i.+ran’s body, Black Silk easily climbed the building’s ruins and quickly reached the top.
Thanks to her small frame, she swiftly crawled into the wreckage and began searching through the charred debris.
The strong scent left from the explosion completely masked any potential bloodstains in the cabin, making the smell of corpses undetectable.
However, Black Silk’s intelligence was indeed remarkable. Instead of relying on scent, she moved directly to the front of the helicopter and kicked away some blackened metal fragments blocking her path.
The c.o.c.kpit was mostly buried under the building debris, filled nearly to the brim with concrete fragments and other rubble.
Others might have given up seeing this, but the body Black Silk was using belonged to a Leader-Level Zombie, allowing her to easily toss these obstacles aside.
The sharp edges that could injure an ordinary person posed little threat to the skin of a Leader-Level Zombie.
“This Black Silk is really not holding back when using Yu s.h.i.+ran’s body…” Ling Mo thought with some amazement.
Thanks to her efficient and swift search, Black Silk soon discovered a relatively intact corpse.
It seemed the body was buried in the rubble, which prevented it from being charred.
Upon inspecting the head, Black Silk quickly identified two bullet wounds.
The bullets had entered from the hindbrain and exited through the face.
“Just as expected…”
The injuries on the deceased confirmed Ling Mo’s a.n.a.lysis.
The other corpses likely bore various wounds from mutual slaughter, but there was no need to examine them one by one.
“Given the situation, the Air Force Corps must have suffered severe damage while probing here, which is why they cla.s.sified Cuihu as a high-risk level area. They must have identified the presence of a King level Zombie and stayed here for quite some time, likely flying low with the cabin doors open as usual… The loud noise alone can attract a lot of danger, and this invisible threat seems to be the reason they fell into trouble…”
Though the exact scenario couldn’t be recreated, this rough a.s.sessment seemed quite plausible.
“It’s the virus…”
The current viruses no longer spread through the air, but that Hallucinogenic Virus could.
However, this virus was different from the earlier one that caused infection. Inhaling it briefly would only cause hallucinations and wouldn’t result in immediate infection and mutation.
There would certainly be some impact, but as long as there was no infection, it wasn’t a major issue.
The rampant virus that could send people into a berserk state likely posed a similar situation…
In terms of lethality and diffusion intensity, the rampant virus would definitely outs.h.i.+ne the Hallucinogenic Virus.
Additionally, it seemed the airborne concentration of the rampant virus would increase over time, eventually making escape difficult even for a helicopter.
“We’ve truly come to a deadly place… High-risk level? More like a death zone!” Ling Mo thought angrily.
The spread of the rampant virus caused creatures in the area to slaughter each other. After the effects subsided, the ma.s.s of corpses would attract another wave of zombies.
As long as zombies continued to proliferate in Cuihu, the cycle would persist.
Whatever monster produced the rampant virus didn’t seem to feed very frequently, otherwise, there wouldn’t be any zombies left here.
And this monster… was evidently within this mall!
“We didn’t immediately alert it when we came in, yet danger arrived precisely when I fell into a hallucination… That Hallucinogenic Virus has this additional effect as well…”
Ling Mo seethed with anger. Not only had the opponent trapped them here, but it also awakened this dangerous monster.
Great, now it needed to feed…
The mutual slaughter among the zombies was evidently part of its hunting process. Since it didn’t feed frequently, it must require high-quality prey.
By forcing its kind to kill each other in a short period, it was deliberately cultivating Senior Zombies as food.
“Selecting the best to eat…”
This place was basically a ranch!
Once the cultivation started, creatures with lower psychic power would be affected quicker.
The zombies went berserk first, and Mu Chen, upon waking up in poor mental shape, succ.u.mbed immediately.
Ye Lian and the others could hold on, but Xu Shuhan was in great danger.
Even though she retained her humanity, her psychic power was similar to an ordinary person’s, and her mental state was poor…
With the dual stimulation of battle scenes and the scent of blood, losing control could result in mutation…
Ling Mo, having the highest psychic strength, sensed the danger early on and had the strongest resistance…
But the most dangerous situation was for Ye Lian and the others!
This monster deliberately cultivated Senior Zombies as food and wouldn’t miss out on them as high-level prey!
Considering the Bird Zombie encountered earlier, whether it was the one discovered by the Air Force Corps or one that evolved later, it… escaped!
This at least indicated one thing: this production machine for the rampage virus was stronger than the Bird Zombie!
And its bizarre mutation was evidently caused by this rampage virus!
“d.a.m.n…”
Ling Mo s.h.i.+vered all over and immediately issued a command to Black Silk.
Just back on the street, Black Silk quickly pulled out several pieces of virus gel and scattered them on the street.
It then hid behind a car, holding its breath.
A few seconds later, it peeked out and saw that only a few nearby zombies were lured in.
Seeing this through Black Silk’s vision, Ling Mo was speechless.
Sure enough, only living creatures could attract a large number of zombies…
And not just any living creatures; they had to be Senior Zombies…
This tendency was already evident in the zombies they encountered upon entering the city.
Since the rampage virus spreads through the air, its occurrence causes slight effects even on zombies in distant areas.
Over time, it can lead to some unique mutations.
The behavior of the zombies here is different from those in other regions, and this is the reason why.
“No, I can’t let Ye Lian and the others be the decoys…”
Ling Mo’s concern grew more evident.
The increasing sense of unease indicated that the virus concentration was also rising-time was running out!
But where was the Monster?
Initially, he thought the Monster was likely in Zone B, but now he noticed that most of the zombies were gathering toward Zone A, indicating his previous a.s.sumption was wrong…
Ling Mo had sensed he missed something crucial but couldn’t pinpoint it.
He glanced around, deep in thought.
“That’s it!”
Ling Mo’s eyes lit up: “I checked the bas.e.m.e.nt but didn’t inspect the ceiling!”
When he first entered the Mall, he found a body in the ceiling panel. Though it puzzled him at the time, he didn’t think much of it.
Acting on a hunch, his Little Zombie Puppet dashed down the Corridor and quickly found the body.
Pulling the corpse down, Ling Mo had a sudden realization.
Indeed, the hindbrain was empty…
He shot a glance upwards, where an extremely dangerous creature must be hiding…
Finding the danger above nerved him instantly.
The corpse’s position showed that the creature could drag people up there.
As for its attack strength… Ling Mo figured it safer to a.s.sume it was substantial.
He quietly moved to the wall and pulled Mu Chen over.
Though Mu Chen got caught in the Hallucinogen immediately upon waking, Ling Mo couldn’t let him die cluelessly here-he still hoped Mu Chen would work off his debt.
“Previously, the psychic probe didn’t locate it, likely because it’s powerful and deliberately hidden. But now it’s ‘attacking,’ it should be detectable!”
Ling Mo focused intently on the ceiling and glanced at the Little Zombie Puppet that had returned to him.
“I’m human, and the Little Zombie Puppet is only at a common zombie level… Comparatively, it’s less likely to attract the Monster’s attention…”
As for Yu s.h.i.+ran and Black Silk, Ling Mo had them waiting outside for support.
There’s also a “production machine” for the Hallucinogen, lurking in the shadows…