Chapter 255: Decision

In the early morning hours, the sky began to lighten.

At the other side of the hospital gate, the large crowd of corpses that had gathered suddenly dispersed, returning to the hospital like ants returning to their nest.

Lin An's figure flashed, and in an instant he rushed to Mo Ling's side and scooped her up in one motion.

"Is this little zombie your sister?"

He glanced curiously at the small zombie beside Mo Ling, while Gao Tian quickly used rope to bind the little zombie's hands and feet, and stuffed a piece of medical gauze into its mouth.

"Yeah, she... is Mo Yu."

Mo Ling clung to Lin An like a koala, her eyes complex as she watched the little zombie flailing its claws.

Joy, excitement, yet tinged with an inexplicable sorrow.

Lin An looked at the bound zombie Mo Yu with a hint of sentiment, and couldn't help but think of AnXia.

As long as he brought Mo Yu back to the base and injected her with the antitoxin serum, his promise to Mo Ling would be fulfilled.

But, his promise to AnXia...

If his strength had been greater back then, or if he had moved AnXia to a safer place when leaving, would she not have suffered the pain of becoming a mutant?

Is AnXia now at the base, happily together with Jing Tian, awaiting his return?

Gao Tian saw that his mood was somewhat low, and couldn't help but want to comfort him with a few words.

He had heard Zhang Tie talk about AnXia's situation.

Lin An suppressed his sorrowful emotions and forced a smile:

"It's fine, don't worry about me."

Having said that, he hesitated a moment, somewhat doubtful, and spoke to Mo Ling:

"Mo Ling, I plan to return to the base and inject Mo Yu with the antitoxin serum."

"First, the base is relatively safe; if Mo Yu now turns back into a human, her body will be very weak, and we still need to travel."

"Second, I want to conduct an experiment."

"You know about AnXia's matter..."

Mo Ling suddenly lifted her head, staring at him blankly:

"I know what you want to do."

"You want to simulate the scene of AnXia injecting the serum back then, right?"

"You want to test whether AnXia became a stronger mutant because she only received half the serum."

"And by the way, experiment: if Mo Yu also turns into a mutant after half a dose, could giving her the other half save her?"

"I know what you're afraid of..."

"Just do it if you want to."

"Actually, I'm also thinking about something."

Mo Ling, unusually burdened with thoughts, rested her head on Lin An's chest, a flicker of fear crossing her eyes.

"Lin An..."

"I'm wondering, is it really good to turn Mo Yu back into a human..."

"Mo Yu is just an ordinary person; can she really survive in this apocalypse?"

"She's just a little girl who knows nothing..."

"I don't know how she would face this cruel world after turning back into a human."

"Sometimes I feel that being alive as a human is more painful than being dead."

"I want her to turn back into a human to stay with me; am I being too selfish..."

Lin An was startled by her words, hesitated a moment, then slightly tightened his hold on Mo Ling, feeling her fear trembling slightly:

"We..."

"We can protect her, as long as I'm alive one day. Mo Yu can likewise live happily and safely at the base..."

"There, no one will harm her; Jing Tian will treat her like another sister, and Zhang Tie will also look after her."

"Isn't our hard work to build our own safety zone precisely to protect the people we cherish most?"

Mo Ling fell silent for a moment, her gaze turning to the oblivious Mo Yu:

"But..."

"What if one day I die? What if you die? Then no one would be able to protect her anymore."

"If something happens to us, we might turn into monsters..."

"Then wouldn't she have to endure that despair all over again? How could she survive in this man-eating apocalypse..."

"Even if she doesn't die at human hands, she'll still become a zombie and suffer the torment of zombification again..."

Lin An remained silent, letting out a soft sigh.

"Believe me, that day will never come."

How could he not have thought of this?

In the apocalypse, zombies and mutants, in a sense, live longer and more freely than humans.

There is no scheming and deceit between people.

Living in a daze, one also doesn't have to face various calculations and betrayals.

If one is a mutant, perhaps they could even become Third Stage or Fourth Stage...

When a mutant reaches Third Stage, it is actually another kind of rebirth.

And for them, the apocalypse will no longer be an apocalypse, but rather a playground.

Perhaps it really is selfish, as Mo Ling said.

Deep down, Lin An still longs for AnXia to return to his side, as a human.

After all, he is human.

He also wished that AnXia could stay by his side every day, chattering about her worries, laughing when happy, crying when sad.

He wished that AnXia would be a living, breathing AnXia, not a dazed, bloodthirsty monster.

As for the accident Mo Ling was worried about...

After a brief pause, Lin An took a deep breath and gave the answer he had previously thought of:

"If one day I am unable to protect the people I want to protect,"

"If one day I am about to die,"

"then I will kill everyone here before I die!"

"As long as I kill everyone, no one will threaten AnXia! No one will threaten Mo Yu!"

"I will prepare a refuge in advance."

"If AnXia and Mo Yu do not turn into zombies again in the accident, they can hide there and survive until the end."

"If we all die, become zombies, or even mutants..."

Lin An embraced Mo Ling expressionlessly and rushed back to the inn, his final answer dissipating in the howling wind.

"Then we will destroy this world as monsters and establish a new world of our own..."

On the panel, the pitch-black numbers jumped.

Fearful Body, current compatibility 19%

On the second floor of the inn, the crowd, faces full of terror, watched Gao Tian rush in carrying a zombie.

"What are you doing?!"

"Why bring a zombie inside?!"

"Quickly throw the zombie out! What if something goes wrong?"

Gao Tian ignored the angry crowd and carefully placed Mo Yu, who was on his back, on the ground.

Mo Yu, bound like a zongzi, writhed back and forth, frightening the crowd into stepping back two steps.

Wang Kun's face shifted between shock and uncertainty as he couldn't help wondering what Lin An and the others intended to do.

I had thought these outsiders had gone to the hospital to scavenge medicine, but where is the medicine? Where are the supplies?

They came back empty-handed, yet brought back a zombie?

In the crowd, a middle-aged person with a slung backpack saw that all of his side's Awakened Ones were present, shrank his head, and pointed at Mo Yu, shouting loudly:

"Brother Wang! Brother Li!"

"It's one thing that they're staying with us, but now they've brought back a zombie! What if something goes wrong?!"

Seeing that Lin An and the others gave no response, as if ignoring them, the crowd looked toward the right side of the breach, their boldness growing.

The female assistant wearing glasses stood behind Fan Bing, poked her head out, and gave a venomous glance:

"You didn't even mention breaking the windows we painstakingly sealed, and now you've brought in a zombie!"

"Brother Wang, I think this group of people is sneaky and definitely has no good intentions!"

Zhang Tie, who had nearly killed her earlier, was absent; observing their expressions, she also noticed that the faces of Li and Wang looked somewhat grim.

Now, among these outsiders, only two Awakened Ones remain, and the bald man who looked the strongest is gone.

What a great opportunity—I wonder what Wang Kun and the others are hesitating about?

The female assistant didn't dare mention her own matter, only speaking about bringing in the zombie.

This time, she felt she was in the right.

Surely Brother Wang and the others have long taken a dislike to these outsiders, right?

Now they've even brought a zombie in—aren't they trying to get everyone killed?

The crowd was agitated; when their own safety was threatened, they could no longer afford to be so fearful.

In their eyes, zombies are far more terrifying than people.

Li Lei seethed with anger, silently cursing Lin An and the others as utter fools.

Bringing in a zombie, no matter how well restrained, is like a time bomb—what on earth are these people scheming?

He had just opened his mouth to scold Lin An and the others to throw the zombie out, when Wang Kun suddenly grabbed him.

To everyone's surprise, Wang Kun put on an apologetic smile, stopped the crowd's condemnation, and gestured for Fan Bing behind him to step forward:

"This 'Chu An' brother, the crowd is a bit timid—please don't take offense."

Having said that, he gave Fan Bing a look, then stepped back.

Fan Bing's eyes flickered with conflict; just as she was about to speak, she noticed Lin An and the others suddenly turn their heads toward the right side of the breach.

"They're here."

Lin An's lips curled up as he heard Xiong Hanzi's loud shouting in the team's voice chat.