Chapter 771: Exposing the Love for Playing Ball
In terms of familiarity with the environment, these Niepan Members definitely outcla.s.s Ling Mo and his group’s capabilities.
However, at this moment, the guard leading the team was hoping that Ling Mo’s party would be more familiar with the surroundings, ideally having a detailed map ready beforehand.
In his mind, he was even thinking, “The sooner you guys get out, the sooner I can relax…”
But he was also aware that if he deliberately led the team away from danger, who knew if there might be someone in the group directly reporting to the senior management?
If someone reported him, he would be in big trouble…
“Captain?” someone tentatively called out.
The guard snapped back to reality, his face turning solemn. He muttered under his breath, “Do you want this captain role?”
However, outwardly, he maintained his composure and turned his head to call, “Xiao Pan.”
A chubby guy shuffled out of the group, responding in a m.u.f.fled voice, “Here.”
The guard glanced at him with a troubled look, then sighed, “Confirm the direction again.”
Xiao Pan didn’t say a word, placing his knife on the ground and closing his eyes.
Team Members around him also stopped and turned to watch him.
Xiao Pan extended his neck, inhaling deeply while stretching out his hand, trying to capture something in the air.
Every time he grasped a handful of air, he would immediately bring it to his nose, showing an expression of utmost delight.
Not only that, he also extended the sound “Oh…” from time to time. The sound wasn’t loud, but in the stillness of the night, it was enough for everyone to hear it clearly.
“Cough, cough…” A Team Member finally couldn’t hold it any longer. After a fake cough, he turned away, his mouth twitching.
A few Team Members found it amusing, but the guard couldn’t laugh at all.
He irritably murmured, “What’s so funny? Xiao Pan is doing this to improve accuracy.”
“If I remember correctly, he’s from the mutation system, right?”
“Yeah, nasal mutation or olfactory mutation, something like that?”
“But judging by his expression, it’s clear that the part he truly wants to mutate is his p.e.n.i.s.”
“What can you do with that mutation, drive nails?”
“Maybe his battle cry could be ‘Taste my mighty d.i.c.k!’ That would be pretty epic to think about…”
“Epic? Just imagine the combatants stripping their pants first…”
“Enough. You guys are getting more ridiculous. Once he finds the correct direction, we still have to bet our lives on it,” the guard said with a frown.
Hearing this, everyone’s expressions became serious, and the chatter slowly died down.
Even Xiao Pan’s “Oh, oh” sounds didn’t seem so funny anymore…
Two minutes later, Xiao Pan finally lowered his hand, and his expression reverted to its former rigid state.
He opened his eyes, bent down to pick up his knife, and said unhurriedly, “They’re going in circles.”
“What does that mean?” the guard anxiously asked.
Xiao Pan explained, “It means that they are purposely trying to avoid people like me.”
“Yeah, by circling around, the traces and smells they leave are scattered, making them hard to track,” someone nodded in agreement.
“Yes, so I can only determine a very vague direction,” Xiao Pan continued, “Also, I smell the scent of a mutation beast here. It’s possible they might have intentionally lured it in.”
Everyone gasped together, and the guard quickly asked, “What kind of mutation beast? How many?”
“It’s not one of the heavily-scented ones. It’s just frequent activity that made me detect it. As for the number, I can’t say for sure,” Xiao Pan sniffed again, then shook his head. “Based on the smells, these mutation beasts are everywhere, but that’s obviously not realistic. However, given the natural habits of mutation beasts, they wouldn’t roam around randomly…”
“Can you get to the point?” a Team Member timidly interrupted Xiao Pan.
Xiao Pan let out an “Oh” and said, “I think… there are probably more than five. And I can’t tell which kind of mutation beast it is.”
“Five?!”
From the moment they heard that number, n.o.body paid attention to anything Xiao Pan said afterward.
Everyone immediately looked around nervously. The already eerie trees and person-high gra.s.s now seemed even more sinister and terrifying.
It was as if pairs of cold, blood-red eyes were lurking in the gra.s.s.
Mutation beasts were not Zombies; they were more powerful and far more threatening.
“Mutation beasts…,” the guard felt a wave of anxiety, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he rasped, “We still need to find… at least determine which direction they escaped to.”
He then called out another name, “Zhou Laoba, go and notify them.”
Zhou Laoba’s face turned pale when he realized he was being called out.
“If you won’t go, I’ll go back myself,” the guard said.
“I’ll go, I’ll go…” Zhou Laoba replied quickly, then turned and ran towards the Niepan headquarters.
The remaining people stood in place, looking at each other, while the guard bitterly smiled and said, “Let’s go.”
…
At the same time, Ling Mo was speaking to the people around him, “If we keep going through the green belt, we’ll need another ten minutes to get out, right?”
Xia Na turned and blinked, replying, “Yes, time-wise it’s about that, but it has nothing to do with the route. It’s because we’re carrying some dead weight…”
“She means you,” Mu Chen seized the opportunity to kick the sungla.s.ses man.
Suddenly being targeted, the sungla.s.ses man didn’t even have the energy to groan.
Judging by his act of playing dead, he had clearly given up resisting.
Ever since Mu Chen took over dragging him, the sungla.s.ses man realized that compared to Mu Chen, Ling Mo’s treatment was actually quite lenient…
Unlike Ling Mo, who hardly paid attention to him, Mu Chen was constantly watching him!
Just after finis.h.i.+ng his kick, Mu Chen looked up and suddenly noticed that Xia Na was not looking at the sungla.s.ses man, but at Old Lan who was walking behind.
Old Lan stiffened under her gaze and then murmured, “I guess I’m quite the seasoned recluse… my stamina is indeed poor…”
“You even know that?” Ling Mo said, surprised.
Lan Lan proudly shook her head off to the side, “Of course, I told him all that. How about it? The dad I trained isn’t too bad, right?”
“You must have gotten something mixed up…” Mu Chen muttered.
But Ling Mo had already been pulled over by Xia Na and was now squeezed between her and Ye Lian.
“How do you think we did this time?” Xia Na asked with a grin.
“Need you even ask…” Ling Mo nodded, pinching Ye Lian’s cheek.
The female Zombie smiled dumbly as she ducked her head to the side.
“You all did better than I imagined,” Ling Mo said sincerely.
During their escape, aside from switching perspectives when necessary, he was mostly unaware of Ye Lian and the others’ detailed actions.
Ye Lian and the others not only mapped out their escape route in advance but also directed Xiao Bai and Yu s.h.i.+ran to intentionally take a different path.
As a mutation beast, Xiao Bai had already left its scent along the escape route. Choosing another path meant that it would naturally leave various marks along the way.
Thus, it was challenging for the pursuers to determine precisely where Ling Mo’s group had pa.s.sed or when they had left.
Reflecting on the command he had given at that time, Ling Mo couldn’t help but feel a bit sentimental.
He had only said, “Prepare a fallback.” Yet, these female Zombies had executed it to perfection!
As for earlier, leading the Experimental Subject, ambus.h.i.+ng the guards, and shooting-these tasks were handled meticulously as well.
For these elusive female Zombies, especially Black Silk, ambus.h.i.+ng guards and shooting were not really difficult tasks…
However, the real challenge lay in their tight coordination with Ling Mo. To achieve such flawless results in such a short time, only those genuinely connected with Ling Mo could pull it off.
“Your intelligence is certainly improving,” Ling Mo praised.
Xia Na gave a mysterious smile and said, “You might not believe me if I told you…” She suddenly stood on tiptoe and whispered into Ling Mo’s ear, “Black Silk also suddenly jumped in with some suggestions on the route.”
“It?” Ling Mo’s thoughts flashed to Black Silk’s sarcastic voice, and his expression turned a bit strange.
“Yes…yes…” Ye Lian confirmed, “I saw it too…”
“But how did it learn all this…” Ling Mo was still in disbelief.
Ever since Black Silk’s psychic light cl.u.s.ter intertwined with Yu s.h.i.+ran’s, its situation has only grown stranger…
Xia Na chuckled and said, “When s.h.i.+ran mutated, she was already eleven years old, wasn’t she? Ling-Ge, how much do you think a human can be exposed to in eleven years? Even if she didn’t pay attention, everything she saw was stored in her subconscious. Furthermore, Black Silk had its own memories, and after merging, its intelligence grew the fastest.”
“Abandoning its body, focusing entirely on evolving its intelligence…” Ling Mo nodded thoughtfully, “That explains why Black Silk is getting smarter while Yu s.h.i.+ran remains as clueless as ever…”
“But that little thing you’re carrying seems to be reaching a more advanced level, doesn’t it?” Xia Na suddenly remarked.
Ling Mo knew she was referring to the master ball and a small smile appeared on his face.
During this mission, the role of the master ball was undeniable…
“Oh, by the way, I gave it a name,” Ling Mo said.
“What… is it?” Ye Lian asked curiously.
Ling Mo cleared his throat and, filled with confidence, announced, “Master Ball! What do you think?”
“…Revealing your love for playing with b.a.l.l.s, aren’t you…” Xia Na nodded knowingly.
“Can you not ruin my childhood…” Ling Mo sighed exasperatedly.
At that moment, Mu Chen suddenly shouted from behind, “There’s no road ahead.”