Chapter 129: Advancement

The earlier phone call had been from Ling Lan. At the time, Yi Chen, fearing his mother or sister might discover his whereabouts, had hung up immediately. Later, after returning the call and learning that Liang Bing had regained consciousness, he hurried back to the Future Pharmaceuticals headquarters.

Before leaving, Yi Chen had positioned a few Lynx scouts near the City Central Hospital. If the Lurker were to launch a surprise attack, neither the Lynx nor the personnel arranged by Zhou Shiwen would be able to stop it. However, having clashed with the Lurker several times, Yi Chen understood its style and temperament well enough to believe it would not be so rash as to strike today.

The Lurker possessed intelligence, unlike other monsters or zombies. It could wait, and it could afford to play the long game; it would likely only initiate an action after meticulous planning. Currently, five of its infected subordinates had either been eliminated or had surrendered, representing a significant loss. Furthermore, Ouyang Hong was hardly fit for the battlefield. As a commander without an army, now was hardly the optimal time for it to take on a well-prepared Yi Chen and the Future Group.

"How is she?" Yi Chen asked upon arriving.

"You’re fast!" Ling Lan glanced at her watch, looking astonished. It felt like only a few minutes had passed since she hung up the phone.

Liang Bing was currently eating. Her appearance had not changed; she looked exactly as she had before. The two days she spent in a coma seemed, on the surface, to have been nothing more than a deep sleep. Ling Lan had recorded the fluctuations in her heart rate and blood pressure, and only these data points served as evidence that Liang Bing had returned from the brink of death.

"Liang Bing is lucky to be alive. If there had been even the slightest deviation, she likely would have exploded or turned into a zombie," Ling Lan said, still shaken.

Ouyang Hong had previously experimented on zombies and concluded that a body has a limited capacity; if the virus levels exceed that threshold, the host is destroyed. For infected individuals who narrowly avoided turning into zombies, an excess of the virus often led to death, reanimation as a zombie, or tissue damage resulting in the body rupturing.

Yi Chen fell silent for two seconds and was about to apologize when Ling Lan cut him off. "Don't you dare apologize. Liang Bing doesn't like to hear that. Let this matter pass; don't bring it up again."

"Sister Ling Lan, have you learned how to read minds?" Yi Chen’s mouth twitched.

"Do I need to read them? Whatever you're thinking is written all over your face," Ling Lan said, feigning disdain.

Liang Bing was out of danger now, and it was better to let the incident of her injury and infection be over and done with. Otherwise, if everyone started assigning blame, it wouldn't just be Yi Chen—Lu Yu, Xue Man, and Chang Qing would likely all feel burdened by it.

After a moment of reflection, Yi Chen understood Ling Lan's intent. He promptly changed the subject. "Has Liang Bing's ability improved or changed?"

Liang Bing's original ability was to predict a target's movements ten seconds in advance. This was already an incredibly powerful asset against zombies and common monsters, but it had its limitations. On one hand, ten seconds was a short window; if an opponent reacted quickly enough, they could still mount a defense. On the other hand, if the target was an intelligent creature—like an infected individual, a human, or the Lurker—they could adjust their state upon hearing her warning, making it difficult for her team to achieve their objectives based on her foresight.

"Of course there's an improvement. After suffering so much and nearly losing her life, it would be a shame if she didn't gain something from it!" Ling Zhe interjected.

"Can she predict further into the future now?" Yi Chen's eyes lit up.

"Want to know? Easy. Let her show you!" Ling Zhe said, keeping him in suspense.

"Stop being so cryptic..." Yi Chen laughed and looked at Liang Bing.

Liang Bing had just finished a cup of fresh blood, and a trace of color had returned to her face. Perhaps she had heard their conversation, as a faint smile appeared on her usually expressionless face. As their eyes met, Yi Chen suddenly heard her cold, clear voice echo directly in his mind.

"In eight seconds, Ling Zhe will go to close the door."

Yi Chen was startled; Liang Bing’s lips hadn't moved at all. She was speaking to him directly via telepathy! He glanced over; he had indeed rushed into the isolation room earlier and left the door open. Suppressing his surprise, he kept a neutral expression while silently counting the seconds.

"Why is the door still open? If someone walks by and hears what we're saying, that wouldn't be good..." Ling Lan frowned, noticing the open door.

"Sis, there are no outsiders on this floor. Besides, even if someone did walk by, we have so many people here who can sense them, so why worry?" Despite his retort, Ling Zhe walked toward the door.

With the click of the latch, Yi Chen couldn't help but blurt out, "Exactly eight seconds!"

"What eight seconds?" The others were kept in the dark, unaware of the instruction Liang Bing had just sent him.

"Liang Bing predicted Ling Zhe's action," Yi Chen explained. He wondered if Liang Bing had locked onto Ling Zhe as her target from the start. Was it a coincidence that she chose him and predicted he would go to close the door?

He soon had his answer.

"I can now identify who among a group of people is about to act, and that person becomes my priority target. However, I can still only lock onto one target at a time, and the maximum duration of the prediction hasn't changed," Liang Bing said, sounding somewhat dissatisfied.

"That's already quite impressive. If we face a group of enemies, we can seize the initiative!" Yi Chen gave a thumbs up. "And you can now communicate mentally with someone without having to call out. That way, even if the opponent is intelligent, they won't know our intentions!"

"This mental connection seems to be one-way," Liang Bing said after a thought. She could not receive thoughts back from the person she was signaling.

"That doesn't matter. We'll just follow your lead, and if we can't, we'll just shout," Ling Zhe shrugged, indicating it wasn't a problem.

After chatting for a while longer, Yi Chen asked about Lu Yu. Ling Lan had left him alone in the isolation room so he could practice controlling his new abilities.

"I've explained everyone's situation to him. The kid is like a curious baby who just pushed open the door to a new world; he’s very interested in the infected," Ling Lan said. As the eldest in the group, she viewed everyone as children. "Lu Yu is quite smart and physically fit, and he's progressing quickly. He can now control his electricity successfully eight or nine times out of ten, and he won't cause large-scale power outages like he did at the beginning."

With that, Ling Lan produced a set of data; meticulous as ever, she had already created a file for Lu Yu. "However, I've discovered in practice that using his ability too many times has certain side effects on his body. Even though the electricity is discharged externally, it still affects his muscles and tissues. Under current conditions, he needs to rest and adjust after four or five consecutive uses; he can't push himself too hard."