Early next morning, this unremarkable looking building immediately became busy.
Liu Yuhao evenly distributed the rations per person, giving some even to Ling Mo and Ye Lian.
Of course for Ling Mo with his fully packed backpack of food, the mere two bottles of mineral water and few snacks were of no use to him. As for Ye Lian, ordinary human food held no interest for her at all.
When the others received these pathetically meager rations and saw Ling Mo's indifferent attitude, their expressions turned unhappy.
Lu Xin, whose swollen cheeks had yet to subside, whispered to the person next to him, "He doesn't care about us at all, yet still takes our stuff!"
"Don't say anymore, do you want to get beat up again…" The bespectacled man frowned and scolded him with a low voice.
"It's because you guys are cowardly and afraid!" Lu Xin's face immediately flushed red as he cursed in a suppressed voice before abruptly closing his mouth shut.
Even though Ling Mo didn't even glance his way, when Lu Xin saw Ling Mo enter, he still kept that foul mouth of his shut.
Ling Mo couldn't care less about people like Lu Xin. He went straight to Liu Yuhao and asked, "What weapons do you all have?"
Liu Yuhao was rummaging through several large backpacks. Hearing this, he looked up somewhat embarrassedly and took out a fruit knife, "This is the best we've got."
In fact, with ordinary people's arm strength, it would be very difficult to hack off a zombie's head in one swing of the knife. To instantly cause a fatal blow and halt the zombie's movements, that probably wouldn't be easy either.
Moreover, close quarters combat, even with a weapon in hand, was an immense test of ordinary people's willpower and reactive capabilities. If it wasn't for the zombie puppet's assistance initially, Ling Mo would have also found it very difficult to gradually improve through combat.
Nonetheless, having a fruit knife in hand was better than being empty-handed.
"Best if everyone has one weapon. A single zombie is only a bit more formidable than the average person. With just a bit of courage, you won't be entirely without the ability to resist. In the end, the advantage of zombies lies in their numbers."
Ling Mo spoke somewhat casually. Facing a single ordinary zombie alone, a normal person did have some capability to fight. It was precisely because of this that Ling Mo looked down on this room full of able-bodied people relying on a little girl's maggots.
"Easier said than done!"
Although someone grumbled discontentedly, everyone still crowded around Liu Yuhao to take the weapons. Ling Mo and Ye Lian walked at the back.
The moment the door opened, the two zombie corpses lying horizontally outside immediately entered their line of sight. Several female students instantly let out shrieks.
"Don't make noise! It'll attract zombies!" Shana frowned and scolded.
Those girls immediately covered their mouths while the other boys' expressions weren't much better even if they didn't make a sound. Seeing this, Ling Mo shook his head to himself. After relying on maggots for so long, even ordinary survivors were inferior. By this time, probably not many survivors would be startled simply because of corpses.
"No. 3 Middle School is in this direction. Along the way we'll pass through three residential areas and two main streets, as well as a hospital. There are many zombies in between. You only need to help when I can't handle it." Shana turned and said to Ling Mo.
Ling Mo nodded lightly and expressionlessly took Ye Lian's hand. In actuality, there were many factors behind why he agreed to Shana's request. While sympathizing with and admiring this girl, Ling Mo also wanted to do something for Wang Lin. After all, this short blade was very handy. But Wang Lin had died already. He could only help her relative now…
On the other hand, this was also an opportunity for Ling Mo. Not only could he learn about the situation in the city, he could also hone his puppetry skills and gain combat experience through practice.
In fact, during his daily cooperation with Ye Lian, as well as yesterday's attempt at controlling multiple zombies simultaneously, Ling Mo faintly sensed that although his puppetry skills were becoming increasingly proficient, there seemed to be a barrier. This should be what is commonly referred to as a bottleneck…
He wondered what kind of realm he could reach after breaking through this bottleneck. The faster his own strength improved, the quicker he could also help Ye Lian evolve. Perhaps he could even swiftly restore her consciousness.
Ever since consuming the brain jelly of a variant zombie which sparked a glimmer of gaining consciousness, Ye Lian had lost interest in the brain jelly of ordinary zombies. Moreover, the effects after consumption were insignificant.
This signified that he had to bring Ye Lian to find more variant zombies…
Based on his two encounters with variant zombies, as well as his own analysis, Ling Mo felt that variant zombies generally appeared in relatively enclosed places with a certain number of people.
Hospitals and schools, especially boarding schools, all had a high possibility of variant zombies!
The moment he agreed to help Shana, Ling Mo had already decided that upon reaching the school gates, he would separate from Shana's group. They would go rescue people while he brought Ye Lian to search for variant zombies within the campus!
With a large group of liabilities in tow, Shana's group did not advance very quickly. However, seeing Shana's relaxed expression as she swung her blade casually to slay zombies, the fear in these people was greatly reduced. Although Liu Yuhao's combat capabilities were inferior to Shana's, he cooperated very well with her attacks. Whenever Shana drove back several zombies, he would seize the chance to dash out and take down one or two. After succeeding, he would promptly retreat behind Shana.
Looking at the others, they didn't even dare to lift their weapons…
After passing through the first residential area relatively smoothly, the first casualty finally occurred.
When they passed by a shop, a hand suddenly stretched out from the collapsed shelves and grabbed one of the boys.
This boy only managed a shriek before he was yanked into the shelves with a "bang".
By the time Ling Mo, who was closest, kicked the shelves aside, the boy's throat had already been ripped open by the 7-8 year old zombie child. His eyes were wide open as he gurgled blood, unable even to speak. In merely one second, a gaping hole had been torn in his neck, even exposing his trachea.
The little zombie's mouth was full of blood as it looked up at Ling Mo. Its filthy disheveled hair failed to obscure its sinister red eyes that stared at him like the dead. It pounced over in a flash.
Dealing with a single zombie was very easy for Ling Mo, especially after mastering the ability to influence them instantly with his puppetry skills.
The moment their eyes met, Ling Mo had already briefly controlled it. Even its pounce towards him was actually controlled by Ling Mo.
Seeing the little zombie about to crash into him as the people behind cried out in alarm, Ling Mo swung the short blade in his hand expressionlessly.
"Pfft!"
A spray of blood splashed onto the wall with Ling Mo's movement. The little zombie plummeted heavily from midair, falling at Ling Mo's feet.
"He's dead."
Ling Mo didn't even glance at the zombie corpse as he stepped over it and looked towards the boy bleeding out on the floor. He stated concisely.
Everyone instantly fell silent. A few seconds later, one of the girls suddenly burst into tears. But out of fear of zombies, she immediately covered her own mouth, stifling her cries into muffled whimpers.
The other girls looked on at the faintly convulsing corpse in utter horror, their eyes nearly red. The boys' reactions weren't much better.