Chapter 5: Virus Evolution
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Ling Mo was woken up by a strange sensation pounding in his heart around midnight.
He opened his eyes and saw Ye Lian who had been sitting in the corner all this time.
After having her body and clothes cleaned, she didn’t look that different from before… The only difference was her red eyes that shone eerily…
The strange sensation Ling Mo had felt was Ye Lian’s instinctive desire. If she could speak, then the first thing she would have said right now would be, “I’m hungry.”
The food that she needed was the special gel-like thing in the zombies’ heads.
Judging from her behaviour, it looked like the gel could further mutate the virus in her body, resulting in noticeable effects. Since she was so eager for them, he must of course satisfy her desire.
Ling Mo found it amusing. Ordinary survivors would hide as far as they could from the zombies, yet he had to go search for them himself. The most ridiculous thing was that there was a mutated zombie by his side!
Ling Mo packed some food and then took out a brand new knife from his bag. The cleaver he had been using was already blunt and he didn’t want to keep using it because it would negatively affect him during combat.
He tried to feed Ye Lian a sausage but she wasn’t interested at all. It seemed like the only sustenance she needed was the zombie gel.
“Let’s go find you some food.” Ling Mo got Ye Lian up and took her downstairs.
The city was lifeless and it lacked everything but zombies. However, areas crowded with zombies were still dangerous for Ling Mo so he could only go look for find the zombies that were “alone” with Ye Lian.
As he searched for lone zombies, he began to think of a question. The only food source for the zombies wandering around outside was the survivors who had to risk their lives to find food supplies. The majority of these survivors could keep themselves alive if they were careful enough, even without a lot of supplies.
Would zombies start to kill each other, like Ye Lian had done, if there wasn’t any food available? Perhaps some places had already bred mutated zombies like Ye Lian.
For the survivors, it was one disaster on top of another…
After the spiritual connection between them had strengthened, Ling Mo felt like it was much easier to control Ye Lian than it had been yesterday. After a night of experimentation, he had found the trick to controlling her.
Ye Lian was different from ordinary zombies. In addition to her basic instinct, she had a strong fighting desire and could also convey her needs to Ling Mo. Plus, she was extremely strong; controlling her would only restrict her power and make her rebel against him. Hence, Ling Mo only maintained the spiritual connection with her to ensure that she wouldn’t attack him and didn’t restrain her actions.
Because of the spiritual connection between them, Ye Lian didn’t leave Ling Mo’s field of view even though she was able to roam about freely. She even followed Ling Mo closely.
Luckily, they were in the suburbs which wasn’t too densely populated. Ling Mo soon found a few zombies wandering back and forth at the intersection.
As soon as Ye Lian saw them, she impatiently rushed at the zombies fiercely and quickly. Ling Mo stared for a second before joining the battle with his knife.
After merely a minute, the zombies were killed. Ye Lian’s eyes also appeared more alert after devouring the gel from the back of their heads.
At the same time, Ling Mo could feel his mental and physical strength increase. Although the change wasn’t too noticeable, Ling Mo was glad to see improvement.
When Ye Lian fought, he could also feel the bloodlust growing even stronger inside him.
With Ye Lian, he hunted for the whole morning and killed more than a dozen zombies before her desire was finally satisfied.
However, Ling Mo was surprised that after eating more than a dozen gels from the zombies’ heads, Ye Lian unexpectedly showed exhaustion and became emotionally unstable. If their spiritual connection hadn’t become tighter in the process, Ye Lian might have broken away from his control.
Noting the unfavorable situation, Ling Mo quickly found a residential building and brought Ye Lian into an uninhabited room.
Ye Lian clenched her fists irritably but it looked like she couldn’t use her strength at all and her body was limp. Ling Mo carried her onto the bed and felt her temperature. It felt like her body was burning up.
Did the virus become unstable because she ate too many gels in one go?
While Ling Mo was worrying, a sudden rush of bloodlust swept over his mind and his vision turned blood red.
Clearly, the virus mutating inside Ye Lian’s body also affected Ling Mo via their spiritual connection.
It was too painful… If he cut the spiritual connection right now, he could free himself from the pain, but the unrestrained Ye Lian might harm other people, so he could only clench his teeth and tolerate the pain.
Dripping with sweat, Ling Mo’s body grew hotter and hotter. He felt like he was going to explode. His head had it especially bad. The swelling sensation made him feel like something was going to burst out. If Ling Mo hadn’t practiced his willpower by controlling the zombie puppet for the past half a month, he would have passed out already.
Ye Lian panted heavily with relief. Her pale face filled lightly with color and the red in her eyes became even brighter. As Ling Mo watched, she finally closed her eyes and dropped on the bed without a word.
Ling Mo was shocked at first, but then calmed down. He didn’t know anything about this type of special virus, let alone its mutations. Even if he was worried, he couldn’t help Ye Lian at all. At the least, through their spiritual connection, he could feel that Ye Lian’s life wasn’t in danger, However, because she couldn’t withstand the growing power inside her body, her body had put herself to sleep temporarily as a self-defense mechanism.
As Ling Mo waited for Ye Lian to wake up, he continued to tolerate the pain in his body…
A few hours later, Ling Mo finally felt the heat inside him finish circulating throughout every part of his body and become still. The energy remaining in his body seemed to soak deep into every single cell, leaving him feeling refreshed. Ling Mo clenched his fists and felt himself much stronger than before. As for any other changes, he would probably only find them through combat.
Ye Lian opened her eyes slowly and Ling Mo froze. After the mutation, her eyes had actually returned to normal!
To be more accurate, the eerie blood red had turned to a bright black. They was deeper than before and made her look even more icy. However, her dangerous aura was concealed. If he didn’t know her true power, he would definitely think that she was an ordinary survivor, not a zombie!
The mutation of the virus in her body was more like an evolution! She evolved through devouring her own kind!