A sudden sense of unease that came over Ling Mo in the early morning hours jolted him awake.
When he opened his eyes, he saw Ye Lian still sitting in the corner.
After cleaning herself up and changing into clean clothes, Ye Lian looked no different from before… The only difference was the eerie red glow in her eyes…
The abnormal feeling Ling Mo had just experienced came from Ye Lian's primal cravings. If Ye Lian could speak, the first thing she would probably say is: "I'm hungry."
And the food she craved was the special gel in the brains of zombies.
From Ye Lian's behavior, it was clear that the special gel could cause the virus in her body to mutate further, and the effect was obvious. Since she had this craving, he would of course need to satisfy it.
It really was a complicated feeling when he thought about it. Ordinary survivors tried to avoid zombies, yet here he was, actively seeking out zombies because of Ye Lian. What's more, he had a mutated zombie by his side.
After packing some food, Ling Mo took out a brand new sharp knife from his backpack. The boning knife he had been using was getting worn down, which would affect him in combat, so he couldn't use it anymore.
He tried feeding Ye Lian a piece of ham, but found that she had no interest in it at all. The only food she seemed to want was that gel.
"Let's go, I'll take you out to find some food," said Ling Mo as he pulled Ye Lian to her feet and headed downstairs with her.
The city was now completely dead and barren, with shortages of everything except zombies. Still, places with large gatherings of zombies were very dangerous for Ling Mo, so he could only take Ye Lian to look for lone ones.
As they carefully searched the area, Ling Mo couldn't help thinking about a question. For the zombies wandering around outside now, their only food source was the surviving humans who dared to go out searching for supplies, putting their own lives at risk. And with enough caution, most survivors could barely gather much food yet still survive.
So would these hungry zombies start attacking each other and cannibalizing like Ye Lian? Perhaps in some places, mutated zombies like Ye Lian already existed.
This would be adding insult to injury for the survivors…
With the mental connection strengthened, controlling Ye Lian was noticeably easier for Ling Mo than yesterday. After fumbling around throughout the night, he had also grasped the knack of controlling her.
Unlike ordinary zombies, in addition to instinct, Ye Lian also had a strong desire to attack, and could convey her needs to Ling Mo. Given her considerable abilities, total control would only restrain her potential and provoke rebellion from her. So at this point, Ling Mo merely maintained the mental connection with Ye Lian, ensuring she wouldn't attack him, without limiting her freedom of action.
Because of the mental link between them, even though Ye Lian could act independently, she still stayed within Ling Mo's line of sight, even sticking close to him.
Fortunately, this was a suburban area with a population that was originally sparse. Ling Mo quickly found several zombies wandering around a road intersection.
As soon as Ye Lian saw these zombies, she impatiently pounced on them, moving extremely fast and attacking fiercely. After a brief pause, Ling Mo also rushed over gripping his sharp knife.
In just a minute, these zombies were finished off, and Ye Lian, who had consumed their brain gel, had even more spirited eyes.
At the same time, Ling Mo also felt his own mental power grow stronger and his strength increase slightly. Although the change wasn't significant, it was still a welcome improvement for him.
As Ye Lian battled, the sense of frenzy he could feel from her became more and more distinct.
Hunting around the vicinity with Ye Lian for the whole morning, they had killed dozens of zombies before her needs were finally met.
But to Ling Mo's surprise, after consuming dozens of zombies' brain gel, Ye Lian was actually very fatigued, with highly unstable emotions. If it wasn't for the increasingly tight mental connection between them during this process, she might have even broken free of his control.
Seeing the precarious situation, Ling Mo hurriedly found a residential building and brought Ye Lian into one of the unoccupied units.
By now Ye Lian was already irritably clenching her fists, yet her body seemed to have no strength at all, completely limp. Ling Mo carried her to the bed, only then feeling that her body seemed to be burning up, with an alarmingly high temperature.
Could it be that because she ingested too much at once, the virus became unstable?
Just as Ling Mo was worried, a burst of frenzy also suddenly swept over his mind and vision, as if a layer of blood colored everything he saw.
Clearly, the changes in the virus within Ye Lian were also affecting him through their mental connection.
Such agony… At this time, severing the mental connection could of course free him from the frenzy, but the uncontrolled Ye Lian would inevitably lash out and hurt people. Ling Mo could only grit his teeth and endure.
His body felt increasingly hot, his head drenched in cold sweat, as if his whole being would explode. Especially in his head, where he felt waves of swelling, as if something was trying to burst out from inside. If it wasn't for Ling Mo's extremely resolute willpower built up from controlling zombie puppets these past days, he might have already passed out from the pain.
Ye Lian was panting rapidly with her mouth open, and faint red flush appearing on her originally pale cheeks. The crimson in her eyes grew brighter and brighter under Ling Mo's gaze until she finally closed her eyes without a sound and collapsed on the bed.
Ling Mo was startled at first, then calmed down. He had no understanding whatsoever of this special virus, let alone its mutations. Even if anxious, there was little he could do to help. At least through his mental connection with Ye Lian, he could feel her vital signs were still normal. It was just that with the increasing power brewing inside her, her body temporarily could not endure it, thus initiating a self-protection mechanism that caused her to black out.
As he waited for Ye Lian to wake up, Ling Mo persisted through the physical torment…
Until several hours later, Ling Mo finally felt the heat course through his entire body, then subside. The power that remained in him seemed to permeate every cell, leaving his whole being feeling refreshed and invigorated. Ling Mo clenched his fist, sensing that he was noticeably stronger than before. As for other changes, he would probably only experience them in combat.
By now, Ye Lian had also slowly opened her eyes. But what made Ling Mo freeze in shock was that after this mutation, Ye Lian's eyes had actually reverted to normal human appearance!
To be precise, the eerie blood-red color had turned into a clear jet black, not only deeper but also making her whole being seem colder. However, the dangerous aura was concealed, so if one didn't know her abilities, they would probably assume she was just an ordinary surviving girl, never imagining she was actually a mutated zombie!
The viral mutation that had occurred in her was more akin to the virus evolving! Evolving by consuming others of its kind!