Chapter 157: Return to the Mall

Walmart Mall

Near midnight, the group continued rushing and reached the highway entrance.

Zhang Tie looked excitedly at the mall in the darkness, a large cloth bag on his back making him look like a bear entering a village.

"Mo Ling, go lure away the zombies."

Lin An casually ordered Mo Ling, the highway entrance ahead already blocked by zombies.

Unlike last time with only two vehicles, this time the team had a full seven large trucks, plus four from the base.

It's not that Lin An is lazy to act.

Even if we went down now and spent some time clearing the zombies cleanly, the ground full of corpses wouldn't be convenient for so many trucks to come and go.

"Oh..."

Mo Ling yawned expressionlessly, wearing a rabbit pajama found somewhere, and limped out of the car.

Lin An saw this and was somewhat speechless.

He clearly remembered that after the girl finished absorbing the Spirit Energy Core, her injuries had already healed.

This limp, is she silently complaining about her own black heart?

Just as Mo Ling was about to get out of the car, Liang Shaoguang, sitting at the back, suddenly sprang up.

"Um, big sis! It's not okay to go down there! Downstairs is full of zombies!"

He then hurriedly looked at Lin An and the others:

"Um, brothers, let's go down and clear the zombies! I..."

Zhang Tie glanced at him and smirked; the faces of those in the car who knew Mo Ling's ability looked somewhat strange.

"It's fine, Old Liang. Just wait and see!"

Seeing that several people had no intention of getting out of the car, Liang Shaoguang's heart suddenly turned cold.

"What are you looking at!? Did you see this dainty little miss being eaten by zombies?"

"Are these people trying to lure zombies with human lives!?"

"No wonder, as soon as he got in the car he saw a little girl with a pale, helpless look."

He couldn't help but want to say something, but all he saw was Mo Ling, after getting out of the car, moving extremely fast and instantly jumping into the zombie horde.

"Ah!"

"Someone's been grabbed by a zombie!"

The drivers of the several trucks that followed were somewhat panicked.

They weren't Awakened Ones; they just saw a child-sized black shadow dart into the zombie horde, after which the zombies gathered together as if smelling meat.

Panic, chaos.

Continuous honking blared urgently; they thought Lin An and the others hadn't noticed, trying to remind them to rescue the person.

Suddenly.

Before these people could react, a soaring vortex of deathly energy suddenly appeared, extremely eye-catching even in the darkness.

Ten minutes later.

Liang Shaoguang and his companions stared blankly at Mo Ling, sound asleep on a "bed" of zombies, their shock no less than when they heard the two words "Lin Dui".

"My goodness..."

"Turns out she's another Awakened One, and the kind that can control zombies."

"The fright he received this afternoon exceeds anything he's experienced in his whole life."

For a moment, over thirty survivors in the service area looked at Lin An and the others with awe mixed with envy.

They are immensely powerful, with various Awakened Ones under them constantly emerging.

"Just that little girl's ability earlier could probably let her walk sideways through this apocalypse..."

Among the survivors, a group from the city direction still sat in their vehicles, unwilling to move.

"In their view, doing work is something they shouldn't have to do, and they lack the strength."

But after seeing this, a few quick-thinking people jumped out of their vehicles, ready to help together, acting more diligently.

"Boss Wang, let those country bumpkins do the work; what are we supposed to move?"

"Exactly, we just need to drive..."

In the car, a man in a suit puffed leisurely on a cigarette, couldn't help but poke his head out, and the few people beside him echoed his words.

The short, fat man who was the first to jump out of the car to haul things seemed not to have heard the voices behind him, a hint of mockery flashing in his eyes.

Nevertheless, his helpful movements with his hands became a bit more nimble.

At the mall entrance, a line of forty people, each pushing shopping carts and found freight carts, rushed in with excited expressions.

This time there are many vehicles, unlike last time.

Naturally, grab whatever you see; free stuff is the best!

Lin An stood at the front, holding the Spirit Energy Module (Rule Land), unfazed.

Even if many people liked "shopping" before the apocalypse, let alone now when one can brazenly take whatever they fancy.

Many survivors, when scavenging supplies after the apocalypse, are trembling with fear, afraid zombies might rush out from any corner.

Right now, Mo Ling has already lured all the zombies away; the whole mall is like an undefended young maiden, free for anyone to take.

Liang Shaoguang, leading seven or eight sturdy workers, looked at Lin An and the others with envy.

"Big... big brother, this isn't scavenging for supplies at all; this is practically shopping!"

Even before reaching the service area, they had gone hungry for several days; after all, even with Awakened Ones, it's impossible to be this picky.

Many base personnel had heard of Mo Ling's ability, so they dared to shop boldly, and many would still pick and choose.

Lin An glanced at the open ground piled high with food, and even many valuable watches and clothes.

He frowned slightly, and with mental power supporting him, he slowly spoke:

Only take food and medicine for supplies; discard everything else!

Non-essential items, each person can carry only one!

Just as his words fell, the survivors at the base let out disappointed cries.

Most of them were students.

Previously, when scavenging supplies, they didn't dare bring back useless items; now, following Lin An so readily, many naturally turned their thoughts to luxury goods.

Such as Armani, Gucci, Louis

They took plenty of brand-name clothes and shoes they couldn't afford before the apocalypse; some with girlfriends simply cleared out the cosmetics counters.

Upon hearing Lin An say they could only bring one item, they had no choice but to helplessly pick the most expensive one.

They didn't dare to defy Lin An's orders, after all those who had defied orders turned into fireworks.

Lin An didn't care about their emotions, merely holding the spiritual energy module and quickly scanning the supplies moved out of the mall.

Many items in the mall were infested with spider eggs; only after being cleared by the spiritual energy module could they be taken back.

Each clearing of spider eggs consumes a bit of spiritual energy; though small, it accumulates to a not insignificant amount.

Therefore, it's impossible to waste supplies on useless items.

If spider eggs remained on supplies and entered the base, the consequences would be unimaginable.

These things are too concealed; no one can detect them before they erupt, unless one actively probes with mental power.

From night until early morning, Mo Ling's side had also woken up.

"Lin An, I'm going back to the car to sleep..."

His tone was weary.

Under four hours of continuously summoning zombies, even if no mutants were summoned, it almost completely drained her mental power again.

Had it not been for her will increasing significantly after absorbing spiritual energy, she couldn't have lasted even four hours.

Lin An nodded, and his mental power spread out to notify everyone to return to the vehicle.

In this scavenging run, half of the mall was nearly emptied, and the truck behind was filled to two-thirds.

Even his ring was filled more than halfway.

At this rate, finding just one more grain and oil station would be enough to stock three months of food for the base.

"Here comes! Boss!"

Inside the mall, Zhang Tie shouted excitedly, rushing out carrying a package taller than himself.

All along it clinked, clearly cans.

Lin An helplessly gestured for him to throw the cans onto the spiritual energy module, and casually took the non-essential 'supplies' handed over by other trainees.

The package wasn't large, but it was full of various luxury goods and cosmetics.

He habitually probed with mental power; if there were no spider eggs, he'd just let these people take them away.

"Beep, detected spider egg count 1719."

Lin An frowned slightly, looking at the packaged bundle in his hand.

I don't know why, but the spider egg count on the supplies of the first and second floors is extremely high, even higher than on the food.

After using spiritual energy to clean it, Lin An handed the package back to the base members.

The wind howled, and fish-belly white appeared on the horizon.

He glanced at the mall before him; the bright glass facade before the apocalypse was shattered, and the signs, corroded by rain, were covered in rust, looking somewhat desolate.

"Has all the gasoline been sprayed out?"

Lin An casually asked Zhang Tie, this building must be burned down.

"Boss, we've sprayed it once!"

"We sprayed several tons!"

Zhang Tie felt a pang of distress, gritting his teeth, not knowing whether he regretted the fuel or the things in the mall.

Lin An nodded slightly, indicating that all fire-system Awakened Ones should begin releasing their skills.

If the spider eggs here aren't cleared clean in a day, he won't have peace of mind for a day.

Although there were still many supplies in the mall, compared to the danger, it was also worth discarding.

After receiving his signal, the three fire-system Awakened Ones of the base exchanged glances, then without hesitation bombarded the building.

"Lava Spray!"

"Fire Wall Technique!"

"Fire Gun!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Under extreme effort to release skills, six consecutive bursts of scorching flame skills heavily struck the mall's outer wall.

The flammable materials piled up in advance were instantly ignited.

Flames imbued with spiritual energy power blazed fiercely in an instant.

Different from ordinary flames.

Skills released by Awakened Ones can burn for a long time even without combustible material, until the spiritual energy is exhausted.

This is also why Lin An deliberately brought them here.

"Crackle-pop-"

Flames shot up into the sky; in no time the once-prosperous mall fell into a sea of fire, and from afar the entire building resembled a towering torch, lighting up half the sky.

Waves of heat came blowing in, oppressive.

The group sat in the vehicle with complex gazes, watching the creations of human civilization wail in the flames.

The exterior wall peeled off, the structure burned.

Amid the continuous rumbling, the building groaned like a dying giant.

"Let's go, to the next supply point."

Lin An spoke in a calm voice, issuing the order, his pupils reflecting the building engulfed in flames.

Just as he had seen before, Facing the River lay destroyed in the sea of fire.