Chapter 361 Customer Above All

A few seconds of silence enveloped the scene.

Mainly because Xia Xinyan and the others hadn’t figured out how to respond.

The only thing this guy had in common with “human” was that he walked on two legs and wore clothes. His appearance, covered in bulging lumps, was even more grotesque than a zombie—like the fat guy thought, at least zombies didn’t invoke trypophobia.

But this guy spoke human words—though not quite right and a tad slurred, his words were understandable.

That meant, he should be a person.

At least he used to be.

Realizing this, everyone recalled what Xia Xinyan had said before—infected ability users.

When infected by demonic power, a person’s appearance changes, gradually resembling that of a demon. Some deluded folks even call it “evolution”—like those from the demon cult. However, in contrast, their intelligence and rationality quickly degrade. Although they retain a portion, most people believe that those who are completely infected are no longer the person they once were.

No matter how gentle or cultured someone was, complete infection would evoke bloodthirsty instincts, making them an absolute danger—no exceptions.

Ordinary people could also be infected by this power, but their unaltered bodies couldn’t withstand it, leading to their collapse and death in the early stages of infection. This means that only ability users could evolve to the final stage of infection, so in the previous life, infected ability users were directly referred to as the infected. As for ordinary folks… it wasn’t much different from a terminal illness, and thus they generally weren’t part of the discussion.

Therefore, the guy in front of them was evidently an infected ability user.

But it seemed he still retained some semblance of rationality?

Exchanging glances, Ling Mo stepped forward and stood before the lump, kindly saying, “Hey there, handsome, we’re here to address an issue in this area. Do you happen to know what’s going on?”

“An issue?” Upon hearing this, the lump guy became agitated, “This is… my home… where’s the… issue?! What do you want…?!”

At the same time, the lumps on his body swelled even more, ripping through his pajamas and nearly doubling his size.

Clearly, Ling Mo’s words had touched a nerve.

So, Ling Mo quickly changed his wording: “Calm down, calm down! We’re here to fix the water meter—the company said there’s a household here with a broken meter, and we’ve come to handle it.”

“At this hour… fix the water meter?”

“Because we’re dedicated, customer above all.”

“Fixing the water meter… with so many people?”

“More people means higher efficiency, faster repairs.”

The lump guy really seemed to buy it, muttering as he stared at them for a moment before waving his hand: “You all… be quieter… we’re trying to… sleep.”

“Sure, no problem,” Ling Mo smiled slightly, then asked, “Could you tell us where you all are resting? We’ll be mindful when we work.”

The lump guy was silent for a moment, digesting what Ling Mo said. After a while, he responded, turning to point towards the back mountain: “We’re… over there.”

Just as those words fell, Ling Mo’s mecha carefully stepped into the gap between houses and made it to the center of the village, finally allowing the lump guy to see this big iron behemoth.

He exploded: “So it’s… you! You made… my brother cry… I’ll… report…”

—He really did explode, literally.

He couldn’t even finish his sentence before the lumps on him detonated like a bomb, splattering a large amount of liquid everywhere, accompanied by a corrosive sound.

The mecha instantly stepped forward, extending its arm to deploy a ion shield, protecting everyone on the ground behind it to prevent them from being splattered.

Ling Mo instinctively shielded Xia Xinyan: “Be careful.”

Others also instinctively took several steps back, and the fat guy even yelled, “What the hell, is that concentrated sulfuric acid in his veins?!”

What kind of godly thing was this?!

As the mist from the explosion dissipated, everyone saw the current state of the lump guy—he had inflated several times, even surpassing half the height of the mecha, with his entire body still covered in lumps, as if the law of conservation of mass had been stomped into the ground.

“Looks like we have to fight him,” Ling Mo frowned slightly, “You all stay put, I’ll handle this.”

As he spoke, the cockpit of the mecha opened again, and Ling Mo quickly jumped into the mecha to take control. He then turned and gently lifted everyone except Xia Xinyan, using one hand to hold Xia Xinyan and placing everyone safely on the roof of a nearby house, before facing the lump guy.

The lump guy was fierce, letting out a low roar as he charged straight at the mecha, which was twice his height. The lumps on his stomach exploded, spraying corrosive liquid. Ling Mo swiftly deployed the shield again, his expression shifting: “Pretty strong!”

The corrosive liquid actually depleted the mecha’s shield energy, proving its destructive power.

[Combat Suggestion: Maintain distance from the opponent, open spaces are more suitable for battle.]

Tianji timely suggested, coinciding perfectly with Ling Mo’s thoughts. He immediately activated all thrusters on his back, propelling the mecha toward the nearby fields at maximum power, smashing down with a heavy thud that even made Xia Xinyan and the others on the rooftop feel the tremor.

Then, Ling Mo turned, giving the lump guy the middle finger.

This immediately topped off the lump guy’s hatred, and abandoning the people on the rooftop, he charged straight at Ling Mo. Any buildings in his path were instantly sprayed down, with the liquid potentially dissolving entire houses in a flash. Whatever structures remained standing crumbled into ruins upon his impact.

The fat guy gasped: “Wow, if that stuff hit you, you’d probably turn to ash.”

Bai Yu was also tense: “How’s Ling Mo planning to deal with this guy? Close combat is impossible, right?”

Xia Xinyan said nothing.

She already guessed what Ling Mo intended to do—

Sure enough, as Ling Mo glanced at the charging lump guy without panic, he leisurely pulled out the mecha’s grenade launcher: “Introducing the water meter-fixing device, ultra-large yield, customer above all.”

He originally didn’t want to be the one causing explosions, considering this was someone else’s home, and even destroying one house could be a devastating blow to a family.

But now… it seemed he didn’t have that concern anymore.

This village was nearly wrecked already.

So, it wouldn’t matter if he caused a little more chaos, right?

The next moment, Xia Xinyan and the others on the rooftop were treated to a grand fireworks display just before dawn.

It was just loud enough to hurt their ears.

Watching this unfold, Xia Xinyan felt oddly complex.

She had to admit, this time around, Ling Mo was definitely better at playing than she was in her previous life.

In every aspect.