Chapter 328


Chapter 328 Contradictory Thoughts

Xia Xinyan felt that Ling Mo had a problem.

Or maybe she herself had the problem.

It seemed like she didn’t know when it started, but her feelings towards Ling Mo’s similar actions had transformed from unwilling resistance to… a tenacious struggle.

Now, when faced with Ling Mo’s sudden tests and inquiries, the first thought that popped into her mind was not dislike, but… she didn’t want him to continue having the upper hand.

  

She wanted to take control—this had actually been her thought all along, never changing, it was just that this thought had taken on a different flavor.

How to put it, even she had to admit that she had long gotten used to her current way of interacting with Ling Mo, and she could no longer speak of resistance regarding his affectionate gestures.

But to say it was a change in feelings? Maybe it was still a bit lacking.

Xia Xinyan’s psyche was actually quite contradictory; she had “memories from her previous life” and had lived a long time as “Ling Mo,” fighting until her last breath. Thus, part of her still saw herself as Ling Mo… or perhaps as the continuation of Ling Mo’s spirit from her previous life.

On the other hand, Monica had clearly explained to her the false nature of that memory. It was merely a fabrication that did not exist and had never happened—perhaps this explanation had soothed Xia Xinyan’s heart, allowing her to find some comfort in her body’s state that could no longer revert to its original form.

If she had been Xia Xinyan from the start, then there would be no talk of reverting back.

The only difference was that she had been implanted with “Ling Mo’s” memories during her first awakening.

But these two conflicting thoughts collided, creating an incredibly tangled psyche for Xia Xinyan.

Now, even she couldn’t clearly define what her feelings towards Ling Mo were.

Maybe it was like a boat reaching the bridge; she had mentally accepted their current relationship.

But the memories of “Ling Mo” in her mind still made her want to struggle a bit. At the very least, she couldn’t be the passive one—if pushed, she should at least be the one on top.

Fortunately, Ling Mo was still quite restrained at this stage, remaining in the phase of seeking her consent, which provided Xia Xinyan with a bit of a sense of security.

She felt that there was still hope.

And since she insisted on not needing rest at night, Ling Mo continued on the path, wielding his weapon and pushing forward.

The houses in the small town were quite close together, but residents had become accustomed to piling a heap of clutter on their roofs. After such a lengthy abandonment, some rooftops had become difficult to traverse.

For instance, they encountered a rooftop overgrown with vines half an hour later.

Through the gaps beneath the vines, they could barely see quite a few large pots where plants were being cultivated—Ling Mo remembered that many people in their hometown liked to use such abandoned pots to grow plants, and looking at them now… those plants had quite the vitality.

So much so that they were hard to step on.

After observing for a bit, Ling Mo turned to Xia Xinyan and instructed, “You wait here for a moment; I’ll go over and check the situation.”

Xia Xinyan paused for a second and nodded, “Mm, be careful.”

Ling Mo just smiled and then his battle armor’s back thrusters activated simultaneously, propelling him directly onto the adjacent rooftop, crashing into the tangle of vines.

In the next moment, several zombie howls echoed from beneath the vines.

Xia Xinyan was immediately startled: “Mo Mo?!”

What responded to her was a zombie that came flying out from the pile of vines.

Soon after, a few more followed.

Before long, the area where Ling Mo had fallen was engulfed in flames, incinerating the vines into ashes and revealing the scene beneath—

Ling Mo was standing in the middle, with one zombie clinging tightly to his right arm.

Unfortunately, the battle armor’s exterior was too hard; it couldn’t bite through.

Ling Mo directly gripped the zombie’s head, syncing with his armor to pull the zombie off, its teeth crashing to the ground, and then he hurled it away like a baseball, just like the previous flying zombies, landing on the street below, prompting a cacophony of howls from the zombie horde down there.

Ling Mo no longer concealed the noise, raising his right arm to unleash a massive burst of flames, burning away most of the vines, clearing a large area on the rooftop. Then, after a few quick steps, he easily jumped back to Xia Xinyan’s side: “Alright, that area is safe.”

“Are you okay?” Xia Xinyan checked his right arm closely.

“I’m fine,” Ling Mo shook his head, “A bit careless, but those zombies are just like that. Even if they had titanium alloy teeth, they couldn’t bite through this battle armor.”

Unless they went for his head—because he hadn’t put on the helmet, making it easier to interact with Xinyan.

And what sort of interaction was that? Those who understood would understand.

Besides, even if those zombies got smart enough to know to bite his head, this battle armor had at least fifty ways to kill a zombie before it even got the chance.

To put it plainly, even without his Abilities manifesting, this armor could temporarily turn him into Superman.

Why temporarily, you ask? …Because the consumable weapons within the armor needed to be reloaded.

However, the weakening here didn’t significantly impact the way he manifested these consumable weapons; at most, it just slowed down the reload time.

Xia Xinyan was naturally unaware of how many tricks this armor had, so she couldn’t help but feel a bit worried: “You should still be cautious; don’t be too careless just because of this armor.”

“Don’t worry, I’m being careful,” Ling Mo chuckled, wrapping his arm around her waist again, and then whispered softly in her ear, “I plan to live a good long life because I want to take care of Xinyan for life.”

If he died before Xinyan, and if he still had consciousness after death, he would definitely blame himself to the point of a second death.

He had said he would take care of Xinyan for life and protect her forever; it was never a joke.

Xia Xinyan was made uncomfortable by his words.

However, before she could respond, Ling Mo suddenly tightened his grip around her waist, directly leaping to the rooftop ahead.

Once he set her down safely, Ling Mo then quietly asked, “Does Xinyan think this battle armor is too clunky?”

When he designed this armor, he had taken into account wearing it for intimate interactions with Xinyan, so he had carefully selected the materials, trying to make the armor protective without being too rigid.

He had put in a lot of effort.

Xia Xinyan replied, “…It’s not clunky.”

She wasn’t that delicate, after all.

“That’s good.” Ling Mo sighed in relief and walked to the edge of the building, looking down, “It seems we startled those zombies just now…”

The zombies down below had clearly noticed them and were beginning to attempt their attack—also the most direct kind, forming a human ladder. A large number of zombies were congregated at the exterior wall of the building, stacking up to more than two layers high and getting close to rooftop level.

  

It was just the right opportunity to wipe them out.

But just as he prepared to act, a shout suddenly echoed from the nearby rooftop: “Hey!! Over here!! Quickly escape this way!!”

Turning his head, he saw another guy on a rooftop wildly waving a makeshift red flag.

Xia Xinyan raised an eyebrow: “Hmm, good luck.”

They had found survivors so quickly.