Ye Lian's decision to stay behind puzzled Xia Na, but she couldn't deny that Ling Mo's calm and smiling face upon their evacuation had given her quite a shock.
As for the thoughts of others, they varied...
Nevertheless, Ling Mo taking the great risk to volunteer had touched many. Some even secretly felt ashamed and regretted their previous exclusionary attitude towards him.
Yet, at this moment, Ling Mo, remaining at the spot, didn't give any thought to these things. For him, the opinions of others, especially the irrelevant ones, were ignorable. What mattered was that he had done what he wanted with a clear conscience.
Of course, the crucial question was whether this matter posed a danger to Ling Mo's life?
Naturally, the answer was no! Ling Mo was not one to knowingly leap into a tiger's den and court death. Even if he were consumed by a heroic complex, it wouldn't make him so lightheaded as to throw his life away for nothing.
After Xia Na and the others had completely vanished from sight, Ling Mo nonchalantly touched his nose, strolling into a nearby mobile phone store as if he were window-shopping.
When he first arrived, several zombies inside were alerted by the noise and rushed out, only to be slashed down by Xia Na, their bodies now sprawled across the entrance. Ling Mo had left Ye Lian outside while he stepped over the corpses to enter the shop.
Since the outbreak of the apocalypse, all public facilities had ceased operation, including communication. However, Ling Mo was not looking for an ordinary mobile phone, but a powerful counterfeit one that could rival a portable speaker!
Fortunately, this phone store was not a brand specialty store, selling all kinds of off-brand phones. Ling Mo rummaged through the messy counter and found a few fully charged mobile phones, leaving contentedly.
Now that he had the speakers, simply throwing them on the ground would indeed attract some zombies, but to draw the entire street's worth was a stretch. Plus, it was quite risky. Just imagine: as soon as the sound played, zombies from all directions would converge. Ye Lian might stand unharmed among the corpse pile, but where could he run?
Moreover, since he had taken the initiative, why not strive for the best? Otherwise, wouldn't the abilities at his disposal be wasted?
Indeed, what seemed like a 90% lethal mission for the average person was somewhat trivial for Ling Mo...
He cautiously moved closer to the street and, using his Puppet Control Ability, he took control of three zombies.
However, to avoid being spotted by Xia Na and others who might be lurking in unknown places, Ling Mo specifically chose a blind spot before allowing the three zombies to approach him.
"Here, one for each."
Ling Mo distributed the mobile phones to the zombies with an eerie grin.
He purposefully chose young and strong zombies so that they could move faster later on.
After glancing at the street situation, Ling Mo controlled the zombies holding the mobile phones and returned to the street. Meanwhile, he and Ye Lian concealed themselves in the blind spot, calculating the distance between themselves and the Corpse Puppets.
Controlling three zombies at once should theoretically reduce the distance of control, but after Evolution, Ling Mo's spiritual power had become immensely stronger.
Thirty meters... fifty meters... one hundred meters... one hundred and fifty... three hundred!
Frowning and pale, Ling Mo wiped the cold sweat from his forehead: "The limit is three hundred meters... and even then, they're on the verge of losing control, but it's enough."
Ling Mo then turned his eyes toward the hospital not far away, and an idea immediately formed in his mind.
The straight-line distance between him and the hospital was at most a hundred meters...
"Let's begin!"
Ling Mo had two zombies walk as far to the other end of the street as possible, only stopping when his head nearly exploded from the pressure. The moment one of the zombies pressed the play button, Ling Mo felt like he was about to faint.
In those days, there was one song that was sure to be found on counterfeit phones, loud and with booming vocals!
After the play button was pressed, there was a brief silence, followed by an ear-splitting sound that immediately filled the air: "Seven sticks swirling around, are we getting it on, getting it on!? Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!"
As the music blasted, the zombie immediately dashed out like an arrow from the string, heading straight towards the hospital gate.
The zombies loitering on the street almost instantly turned their attention to this humanoid walking speaker, and soon a meaningless roar erupted from their throats, and they lunged forward.
Just as Ling Mo had predicted, there were simply too many zombies on the street; the Corpse Puppet hadn't even made it halfway before it was knocked down, and the music quickly ceased.
But that was okay, Ling Mo had already relinquished his control over that zombie, and the very moment the music stopped, the second mobile phone started ringing.
The same music, the same movements, but they attracted more zombies from further away, and even those zombies wandering in the distance were brought up close.
In an instant, nearly a hundred meters away from Ling Mo, the area was densely packed with zombies!
As the third mobile phone began to play, the direction of the sound was not in the middle of these zombies, but at the hospital entrance!
While controlling those two zombies, Ling Mo had already directed the third to the hospital entrance, and the moment the second phone was destroyed, pressed the play button.
A huge wave of zombies suddenly charged towards the hospital—a spectacular scene that made Ling Mo, observing through the third zombie's perspective, shudder uncontrollably.
These zombies were nothing like the ones in movies; they were fast and fierce, and the shock of such a swarm rushing over was truly extraordinary!
However, upon seeing the assembled horde of zombies start to move, Ling Mo immediately controlled the third zombie to bolt into the hospital.
There were also many zombies inside the hospital. Despite Ling Mo's control allowing it to dodge left and right, the third zombie was ultimately stopped in the outpatient hall.
Living people probably would hardly ever experience being chased and intercepted by hundreds, nor would they know the feeling of countless hands reaching towards them, let alone the sensation of watching oneself being torn apart. But in order to delay as much as possible, Ling Mo had to endure this feeling.
Zombies don't feel pain, which is a silver lining amidst the misfortune...
And throughout this process, the mobile phone was nearly knocked to the ground several times. However, Ling Mo fully mobilized his spiritual power, continually switching his puppet controls, and strenuously dragged out several minutes!
A few minutes is short, but when you're surrounded by hundreds of zombies, a few minutes is enough to see hundreds of people torn apart instantly.
For Ling Mo, this was a great test of his spiritual power and mental response speed.
As for Xia Na and the others, the moment the captivating music played, they instantly became a mess!
"This is suicidal!" Xia Na gritted her teeth in frustration, wielding her long sword and dashing out from the temporarily hidden building, with others unable to stop her in time.
But when she saw the situation on the street from afar, she was stunned!
The sight of hundreds of zombies sprinting in one direction was something she'd seen only when the apocalypse first broke out, rarely encountered since... and it was hard to imagine it was man-made!
For a moment, Xia Na was both shocked and delighted, yet also filled with worry!
But now was not the time to worry… Swinging her sword to knock down a few zombies attracted by the sound from behind, Xia Na immediately ran upstairs: "It's clear, let's go!"
"So soon?"
"Can we really get through?"
"So annoying, he's risking his life to clear a path for us, let's hurry up!"
The streets weren't devoid of zombies because of this; on the contrary, some hidden zombies in dark places were lured out. However, Ling Mo's last act of leading the majority of the zombies into the hospital avoided attracting more concealed ones.
So, while not completely safe, the street was now much easier to pass through than before.
Xia Na led the group charging onto the street, only to find no sign of Ling Mo, but noticed that most of the zombies had rushed into the hospital.
Could it be that Ling Mo and Ye Lian had entered the hospital? That would be suicidal!
Xia Na stamped her feet in urgency, but she couldn't just abandon the group behind her. While in this dilemma, she saw a sweat-drenched Ling Mo rushing out of an alley with an expressionless Ye Lian.
"Quick! Run! I've reached my limit!"
As soon as Ling Mo's words fell, a loud bang came from the hospital, with countless pieces of glass and debris falling from the second floor, along with a dozen zombies. At the same time, the hospital's doors were completely smashed open, some zombies immediately noticed Xia Na and the others, and bolted straight towards them.
"Go!"
Xia Na no longer cared to ask any questions. In this situation, even without her urging, the group would desperately flee.
If they were caught, they would end up surrounded by hundreds of zombies—a truly desperate situation!