Chapter 745: This Is the Truly High-End Capture Method
With the Zombie Snake incident as a precedent, Ling Mo’s perspective on these rooms changed immediately. These places seemed like they were just filled with clutter, but something strange could emerge from them at any moment. And once these hidden things suddenly appeared, they could potentially bring unexpected trouble. You can’t always count on running into “purely ornamental” creatures like the Zombie Snake, right? There must be some practical guys on this floor…
“Where did it go…”
After checking three rooms in a row, Ling Mo still hadn’t found anything.
However, since he was constantly following the master ball, he hadn’t encountered any problems.
Even though the master ball kept b.u.mping into walls and doors, and its Perception had decreased quite a bit, it still provided an extra layer of protection…
“If I really can’t find anything, I might as well start collecting doc.u.ments. If I’m discovered, I’ve got a backup plan ready…”
As Ling Mo pondered this, he stepped into another room.
The master ball had already circled the Ceiling here and seemed to have found nothing.
But just as Ling Mo took a few steps into the room, the master ball suddenly twitched: “Snap!”
Ling Mo’s heart tightened, and he immediately turned around.
Unfortunately, due to the Interference, Ling Mo’s “immediate” still got delayed by a second… It took a full second for the command to be issued from his main body to the Zombie Puppet to react.
By the time he completed the turning motion, he caught a glimpse of a Dark Shadow flas.h.i.+ng past the window in his peripheral vision.
Ling Mo immediately took off in pursuit, but just as he reached the door, a soft “clang” came from the window behind him.
This time he was prepared, and he turned much faster than before.
Behind the grimy window stood a blurry figure, its knuckle marks leaving a white dot on the gla.s.s.
The figure wasn’t very tall; just looking at the silhouette, you couldn’t tell the gender, nor could you tell if it was human or a zombie…
Before Ling Mo could get a good look, the figure quickly darted away.
“Trying to get away?!”
This figure was clearly toying with him, which made Ling Mo instantly furious.
It was obvious that the other party was using their familiarity with the environment to play hide-and-seek with Ling Mo.
These rooms had windows at the front and back, allowing easy traversal between the two Corridors by climbing through the windows.
If this shadowy figure had only lingered around the front window and doorway, Ling Mo might not have thought so much about it.
But it had insisted on running to the back, completely exposing its intentions.
“Master ball, go!”
Ling Mo wasn’t familiar enough with the environment and didn’t dare to move through these rooms recklessly, but he had the master ball with him.
The master ball kept its eye on the front while Ling Mo stood in front of the window, using the shadows for cover as he peered outside.
A few seconds later, a shadow indeed appeared within Ling Mo’s line of sight.
The shadow stealthily emerged from a room on the other side of the Corridor. After looking around, it quickly moved to a window.
Just as it started climbing in, Ling Mo pushed open the window and leaped outside.
Caught off guard, the shadow hesitated for a moment and then continued to climb in.
Before it could get all the way inside, a red sphere suddenly flew at it from the front, hitting it right on the forehead.
The shadow instantly fell backward and landed on the ground. In that brief moment, Ling Mo’s Zombie Puppet also rushed up.
Ling Mo was furious, and knowing his reflexes were a bit slow at that moment, he decided not to stop. He ran straight up and stomped down.
His foot hit the figure squarely in the lower body just as it was trying to get up, knocking it back to the ground.
Now that he was closer, Ling Mo could see the figure more clearly. It had a slender build, standing just over five feet tall. It wore a dark gray hoodie with the hood covering its head completely.
As Ling Mo’s foot came down, the figure let out a pained “mmph.”
But that m.u.f.fled sound made Ling Mo pause for a moment. That voice… It was a woman! And she could talk!
In that brief moment of surprise, Ling Mo immediately felt a powerful force pus.h.i.+ng against his foot, causing him to lose balance slightly.
In a swift move, the shadow darted out from under his foot like an agile cat.
“Still trying to escape?!”
Ling Mo dashed forward, with the master ball sticking to the Ceiling closely behind.
The shadow figure ran straight through the Corridor and turned into another dark hallway.
The structure here was a bit different from the floor below, and Ling Mo hadn’t expected there to be another path.
But that didn’t stop him from continuing the chase. However, during the pursuit, Ling Mo couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.
This shadow figure… was running faster than him!
Seeing the figure charging ahead crazily, Ling Mo gritted his teeth and sped up. Just as he was closely pursuing the figure past a window, a pair of arms suddenly reached out from within and grabbed Ling Mo’s neck.
Being grabbed so abruptly during the forward rush, Ling Mo almost thought his Zombie Puppet would end up with a severed head-his head staying in those hands while his body continued to chase the figure…
Even though his neck didn’t break, Ling Mo’s vision went black, and he rolled his eyes.
His main body felt a sharp throb in the Temple, and his brows furrowed tightly.
The master ball immediately stopped, then silently and stealthily melted into the shadows.
It took two or three full seconds for Ling Mo’s Zombie Puppet to return to normal, and by this point, he had been lifted to the window by those arms.
The sensation of being lifted off the ground wasn’t pleasant, but that was the least of his concerns at the moment.
What really caught Ling Mo’s attention were those arms…
These arms… they were incredibly long!
Moreover, the bulging muscles and the ma.s.sive hands-none of these traits were normal for a Zombie!
The shadowy figure had also stopped not far away, her hands behind her back, observing Ling Mo.
With blood circulation to his head restricted, Ling Mo’s vision was blurry, but he could still vaguely make out the figure’s appearance.
Underneath the hoodie was the face of a normal human girl. Her complexion was as pale as a Zombie’s, with shoulder-length black hair, one side tucked behind her ear, giving her a serene appearance.
She looked very cute, seemingly around fifteen or sixteen years old, with a pet.i.te frame that suggested she had just started high school.
However, her eyes sparkled with curiosity and cunning. While they didn’t have the captivating charm of Xia Na’s eyes, they were nonetheless quite expressive.
Seeing her standing there with a smug expression, Ling Mo instantly understood.
This girl had lured him here on purpose… and those arms were a trap meant to capture him.
It was clear that the girl was very familiar with this place and knew how to exploit the limitations that slowed Zombies’ reactions.
The moment she pa.s.sed by, the owner of the arms had been alerted, but the arms only reacted when Ling Mo’s Zombie Puppet reached the window…
So, if one could grasp the positions and traits of all the Monsters on this floor, and be familiar enough with the limitations, even a normal person could move around easily here. But that was easier said than done. A slight delay or a moment of hesitation in judgment could be fatal.
In simple terms, it was a high-risk behavior akin to walking a tightrope. Unless someone was a thrill-seeker, Ling Mo couldn’t fathom why anyone would deliberately make their own habitat so perilous…
“It’s strange. My psychic tentacle is restricted, so why isn’t a normal human affected by the same limitation? Or does she have some special method?”
Ling Mo tried to struggle, but it was futile; the Arm was like a Pincer.
The girl stared at the Zombie Puppet for a while, then glanced around.
Ling Mo knew she was looking for the master ball, but she couldn’t have seen what it was in the heat of the moment…
Sure enough, after finding nothing, the girl tapped her chin thoughtfully, then turned on her heel… and walked away!
Seeing the girl leave, Ling Mo’s eyes widened.
“Wait! You’re just leaving?!”
Ling Mo shouted in his mind. He didn’t dare speak out loud, fearing it might draw unwanted attention from the girl…
Although he wasn’t clear on her ident.i.ty, he was certain she couldn’t be one of the Researchers.
A girl who would come and mess with a Zombie definitely wasn’t someone to be trifled with. Even if her academic proficiency matched, she didn’t look old enough to be a researcher capable of such extensive work.
“a.s.sistant? Student?”
Ling Mo watched helplessly as the girl skipped down the Corridor to the end, then fiddled with something by the door.
“Click!”
Along with the light sound, a beam of light suddenly appeared.
There was another door there!
The door only opened a crack, and the girl slipped inside.
The Corridor fell silent again, leaving only the gap through which the incandescent light shone.
The Arms gripping the Zombie Puppet were still exerting force, and the Zombie Puppet was on the verge of rolling its eyes again.
“You really think you can…”
Ling Mo glanced at the gap, then looked up at the Ceiling.
The master ball stealthily moved along the Ceiling until it was right above his head, then dropped onto the Zombie Puppet’s head with a soft “plop.”
Quickly, the master ball jumped onto the Arms and started climbing rapidly towards the main body.
“Oh master ball, walking this tightrope now, don’t fall…” Ling Mo muttered to himself.
But these Arms were indeed thick and strong, and the master ball, with a single determined effort, reached the main body’s torso.
As it neared the shoulder, the master ball made a small leap and pounced directly onto the main body’s face.
No matter what, the face was much broader than the Arms’ surface, so it wouldn’t miss…
“Roarrr…”
A hoa.r.s.e growl sounded from behind, and Ling Mo felt the grip on his neck gradually loosening…