Inside the car, everyone gripped their heads in pain, their faces twisted in agony.
The worst off was the driver, Meng Yan.
As the only ordinary human in the car without awakened powers, his eyeballs were bloodshot, his lips purple, and it looked as if every second he might bleed from all seven orifices.
Lin Ran was about to knock him unconscious, but she saw that Zhou Wangye had already acted first.
Only then did she notice that it seemed Zhou Wangye was the only one in the car unaffected by the psychic zombie’s attack.
Could it be because he was a high-level (advanced) lightning-type ability user that he was immune to this attack?
But she and Gu Xiangwan were also high-level—yet they were experiencing splitting headaches and doubled over in pain.
And she herself, like the male lead, was a high-level lightning ability user.
Could it be that she was just weaker?
Now was not the time to analyze this.
Lin Ran quickly pulled cotton from her spatial pocket and stuffed it into her ears—but it did nothing.
The headache surged like a tide.
Apparently, this zombie didn’t attack via sound—it directly targeted their minds.
She regretted not paying more attention when reading the novel, skipping chapters just to watch the romance between the male and female leads.
Now she fully understood the weakness of this psychic zombie outside.
They might all die here.
Lost in thought, she noticed lightning explode outside—the cloaked zombie was now entangled with Zhou Wangye.
Electric arcs mixed with flying dust, and the fog made it nearly impossible to see the fight clearly.
But Lin Ran could feel it—when the cloaked zombie was restrained by Zhou Wangye, the excruciating brain-splitting pain weakened.
Not only for her, but the others in the car also showed slight relief.
“We have to help President Zhou!” Gu Xiangwan was the first to stand.
Everyone else followed suit—no one wanted to sit idly by while Zhou Wangye faced a powerful enemy alone.
Lin Ran moved to follow but was pressed back into her seat by He Sheng: “Miss, please stay inside the car.”
Lin Ran was speechless.
“Your boss is here now, you need to learn flexibility…”
Before he could finish, she noticed He Sheng’s unusual expression—his body trembled slightly, as if struggling against some invasive force inside him.
Outside, chaos reigned.
Secretary Wang, under the zombie’s control, lashed out at Gu Xiangwan with vines, forcing her to throw blocks from her spatial pocket in retaliation.
Even the armored business car was dented from repeated hits.
Every few seconds, Gu Xiangwan would briefly regain clarity, shouting evasively: “Secretary Wang! I’m Xiangwan!”
But the fully controlled Secretary Wang couldn’t hear her—the attacks didn’t stop.
“A high-level psychic zombie can control a group of ability users at once…”
Lin Ran was shocked.
This was no longer a simple psychic attack.
No wonder in later stages, this cloaked zombie, after becoming the Zombie King, had almost wiped out the entire Huaguo nation by consecutively attacking several bases.
He Sheng suddenly gripped his tiger pulse until it bled.
Using the pain to stay conscious, he quickly locked the car doors and turned to Lin Ran: “Miss, I’ll protect you.”
Lin Ran, clutching her head, cried, “You need to help Zhou Wangye more!”
He Sheng didn’t respond—he only obeyed the President.
Before leaving, the President had explicitly ordered: under any circumstances, prioritize the safety of the young lady, and ensure she returns safely to the villa.
He fixed his gaze on Lin Ran’s pale face, worried—if she were controlled by a mutated zombie, using her spatial power to attack with blocks, what would he do?
Could he even strike her?
Looking at her delicate neck, could he knock her unconscious?
The thought was immediately rejected.
Given her temper, she’d remember if he did.
So instead, he suddenly grabbed Lin Ran’s hand and firmly squeezed her tiger pulse.
“Ah—!!!”
Her scream pierced the car.
Lin Ran’s tears nearly came: “Stop, Brother He! I’m not controlled! It’s just the headache because I’m a high-level ability user… please don’t squeeze anymore!”
She really wasn’t controlled by the zombie—she had secretly drunk spirit spring water because she was a high-level spatial user.
She had even considered giving the water to everyone else but had no reason to.
At such a critical moment, she couldn’t just shout, “Come on, everyone, stop fighting and drink some water.”
That would have been too obvious.
With Zhou Wangye and Gu Xiangwan’s sharp perception, they would immediately notice something was off.
Outside, Secretary Wang and Gu Xiangwan continued their chaotic struggle, now targeting Zhou Wangye.
Gu Xiangwan was sometimes conscious, sometimes controlled by the cloaked zombie.
It was agonizing—she was hurting the person she cared for most.
When awake, she glared hatefully at Lin Ran hiding in the car, thinking: If you hadn’t insisted on taking the zombie core, I wouldn’t be doing this.
Yet she also trusted that the President had her best interest at heart.
During the few seconds she was controlled, she had hurt Zhou Wangye—but he only defended himself, clearly careful not to harm her.
The cloaked zombie’s withered mouth twitched, as if silently sneering.
A trace of pride flashed in its crimson eyes.
These foolish humans were destroying each other under its control.
The lightning ability user’s hand had already become its puppet.
With a little more effort, victory was near.
It greedily scanned each ability user on the battlefield.
These living cores would soon become its nourishment—especially that high-level lightning user’s core, containing such pure energy.
And in the car, there was also a delicious, unparalleled target—it could already smell the tempting aroma.
By devouring these cores, it could break through its bottleneck and become a level-four zombie feared by all.
Then the entire city would bow beneath its feet.
Just as it indulged in visions of its evolution, a chill ran down its spine.
Wait!
That lightning ability user—clearly had the chance to stop his hand from being controlled but never fully exerted himself.
He moved skillfully across the battlefield, seemingly protecting allies, but in reality…
He was draining the zombie’s psychic energy!
This realization made the cloaked zombie shudder.
It frantically tried to accelerate the control process, only to find itself stuck in an invisible quagmire.
The psychic tendrils it once controlled so effortlessly now moved sluggishly. Even the first male secretary it had dominated showed brief moments of clarity.
It had been tricked!
This man had been acting from the start, deliberately scattering its psychic energy to control more people.
Now, its psychic power was being depleted at a terrifying rate—it could barely sustain itself.
It panicked—it had worked so hard to become a mutated zombie, to reach high-level, only to die here.
At this moment, it could do nothing but lock its gaze on Zhou Wangye’s face.
It seared that cold, sharp profile into its mind—this human would pay.
Having memorized the face, it whipped off its cloak and prepared to leave.