Chapter 667: Retractable

The Mutation Panda’s tremors were like its body had suddenly been equipped with a more powerful engine that it couldn’t yet handle.

However, under the invasion of the Virus, its body was self-adjusting, gradually syncing with this new engine.

Ling Mo watched Xiao Bai intently, afraid to miss any detail.

Crack, crack, crack…

A series of sounds, as if bones were deforming, came from all over Xiao Bai’s body.

Xiao Bai’s whimpers grew more pained, and its body’s shaking became more violent.

“Is it because it’s evolving while simultaneously being infected by the mutation that it’s having such a strong reaction?” Ling Mo touched Xiao Bai’s fine hair, then looked at the sweat in his palm, pondering.

Another burst of rapid popping sounds rang out, and at the same time, the muscles on Xiao Bai’s body bulged.

Its already massive frame now looked even larger.

“Although I don’t want you to become tiny, please don’t get any bigger…” Ling Mo sighed.

If it grew any larger, it would become too conspicuous.

Even if they kept a distance, there was a risk of being discovered by others.

But there was nothing he could do now!

He could only try to soothe Xiao Bai as much as possible to alleviate its pain.

On the other hand, the more pain Xiao Bai felt, the stronger the impact on Ling Mo. Several times, he almost lost his connection but managed to pull it back just in time.

After the intense physical reactions, Xiao Bai’s Psychic Fluctuation also showed some changes.

However, this was actually a normal response. Each evolution not only brought physical changes but also certain intellectual improvements.

But Ling Mo’s understanding of Mutation Beasts didn’t match his knowledge of Zombies, so he could only watch.

Time passed by slowly, and Xiao Bai’s trembling evolved from sporadic to continuous.

The strange sounds from its bones didn’t stop, and Ling Mo feared it might suddenly grow even larger.

But unexpectedly, with a final crack, the Mutation Panda shrank one size, returning to its previous form.

“Eh?”

Ling Mo rubbed his eyes, thinking he might have seen wrong.

To his surprise, Xiao Bai repeated the process a few seconds later.

Ling Mo was stunned—so it was retractable!

The mysteries of animals were already numerous, but after being altered by the Virus, the results of evolution were even more unpredictable.

After several attempts, Xiao Bai’s body seemed to gradually adapt to this change.

It struggled to stand up, and then its body began to inflate bit by bit, like a balloon.

When it had doubled in size, Xiao Bai let out a “MeGu” sound, showing a pained expression before suddenly deflating back to its original size with a “pop.”

Ling Mo widened his eyes and waited for a minute, finally confirming that Xiao Bai indeed had no tendency to shrink further.

“If it can grow larger, it can definitely better utilize its advantages.”

Ling Mo thought of the Panda Fall, a killer move of this Mutation Panda.

Not only that, Ling Mo noticed some changes in Xiao Bai’s fur.

For instance, the fur around its eyes had darkened, making it look much more like a normal panda. If it weren’t for its conspicuously red eyes, its appearance would be nearly identical to an ordinary panda.

However, its size was still very noticeable!

When Xiao Bai raised its paw to scratch its head, Ling Mo noticed that the changes in its body weren’t limited to just this.

Its sharp claws now looked even fiercer and were more concealed.

Although the changes weren’t drastic, even these small improvements were enough to significantly enhance Xiao Bai’s strength.

And this result made Ling Mo quite satisfied…

“MeGu!”

Xiao Bai whimpered while shaking its head vigorously.

Ling Mo was watching, puzzled, when suddenly a look of horror crossed his face.

Xiao Bai… disappeared!

Although it was right in front of him, for an instant, he couldn’t sense it at all!

Their Psychic Link was still intact, but he couldn’t detect Xiao Bai’s location at all.

It felt similar to when Xiao Bai and Yu Shiran were in the watery corpses’ underground layer, where their psychic connection had been completely blocked.

At that moment, the feeling was so intense that Ling Mo nearly thought his Psychic Link with Xiao Bai had inexplicably broken.

Fortunately, the sensation quickly vanished, and Xiao Bai returned to normal behavior.

It shook its body, flicked off some sweat, and gradually seemed to recover completely.

Ling Mo stood dazed for a good ten seconds before realizing that Xiao Bai had indeed undergone a mutation…

But its mutation seemed to share a common trait with those watery corpses.

They could block the detection of Psychic Power…

Upon careful consideration, Ling Mo realized that he felt the effect so strongly because of the Psychic Link he had with Xiao Bai, which caught him off guard…

In fact, when Xiao Bai’s “ability” disappeared, Ling Mo noticed that its blocking effect was still significantly less potent than the combined effect of many watery corpses.

However, if used unexpectedly in a fight against someone with mental abilities, it could certainly have a surprising effect.

By now, it had been almost two hours since Xiao Bai first showed signs of evolution. Gel was scattered around Ling Mo’s vicinity, and a few female Zombies, after glancing from afar, silently left to continue their hunt.

For Zombies, evolving peers and Mutation Beasts were extremely attractive.

Especially since during such times, Ling Mo’s control over Xiao Bai was at its lowest, and the influence he received through their Psychic Link was also reduced.

Even Yu Shiran only took a few distant glances before waving her small fist at Ling Mo and reluctantly leaving, looking back every few steps.

“She should be satisfied now,” Ling Mo thought.

But he was most satisfied himself. He had been worried that Xiao Bai might evolve into some bizarre form, but it turned out that Black Silk was just a unique case…

“But what exactly did you secrete to have this effect?”

Ling Mo carefully observed Xiao Bai for a while and, after several attempts, finally concluded: “Sweat…”

This result made Ling Mo break out in a sweat. Did this mean that every time Xiao Bai wanted to use this “ability,” it would have to run in place like crazy for a while before it could take effect?

Ling Mo glanced at Xiao Bai with a bit of a headache and suddenly said meaningfully, “Hard work…”

“MeGu!”

Excited, Xiao Bai tried to turn in place, but the moment it turned around, a streetlight pole it had bumped into let out a groan. Then, right before their eyes and in sync with Xiao Bai’s awkward turning motion, the pole began to warp…

“Me…Gu…”

Unwilling to give up, Xiao Bai kept squeezing.

Ling Mo couldn’t help but sigh, “Give it up…”

…

While Xiao Bai was evolving, Li Yalin also experienced something unusual.

As she passed through more places, those inexplicable flashes of memory in her mind increased.

At first, Li Yalin didn’t quite understand what these meant, but as the frequency increased, she began to realize that she might be remembering something…

These memories were clearly unrelated to her Zombie life but rather occurred when she was human; otherwise, they wouldn’t be deemed “useless.”

But should she delve deeper into these memories, or… should she tell Ling Mo?

Li Yalin was unsure. Her cognitive abilities weren’t sufficient to figure out such “complex” matters.

“Should I… or shouldn’t I?”

Li Yalin pondered, counting on her fingers.

“Think about it, otherwise it’ll keep bothering me.” Li Yalin was quite annoyed by the constant emergence of these memories, which prompted her to make this decision.

But just mulling it over wasn’t enough, because there were no hints!

“Ah, right!”

A sudden flash of inspiration hit Li Yalin: “That ponytail!”

The only clue she had unearthed was the blurry silhouette of a Ponytail Girl.

But who that was and what their relationship was with her, Li Yalin had no idea.

It felt like possessing a brand-new book without a table of contents; unless she flipped to a specific page, she couldn’t guess the contents.

This was exactly Li Yalin’s situation. To recall more, she needed to find more clues.