Act 2: Figlia, Daughter

Foreword:

Unwavering love for friends and indelible hatred for enemies—this is the greatness of morality.

--Gotthold Evrem Lessing

Oscar was attacked by Soul Power, which caused panic among the transport teams in the settlement.

Before midnight, Commander Havana summoned everyone to conduct a Spirit Calamity index test on each of them.

In Havana's eyes, the matter was not that complicated, because there were only a few unfamiliar faces in Saladin this year, while the workers and scholars of the transport team were all familiar faces, and the remaining criminals became the prime suspects.

The three survival experts from the hunting party instructed the people to split into three lines and begin the test simultaneously. Jiang Xueming, Oscar, Havana, and Benni were not in the test line—they had already been questioned multiple times during the in-depth interrogation of the Saint Josh serial murder case before setting off, and Benni's spirit was incomplete, so there was no need to waste time on it.

After a full round of testing, it was found that, apart from the four brothers from the War Gang, the concentration of Spirit Calamity /intracranial contraband in the other people was normal.

Havana said impatiently, "Is there any need to think? It must have been these criminals! How dare they harm the VIPs of Saladin Town! These bastards have some nerve! You keep an eye on them, I'm going to get a gun and shoot them one by one."

The interrogator made no attempt to conceal her murderous intent; in this desolate place far removed from civilization, no one would dare to hold her accountable for using vigilante justice against criminals.

"Wait a minute." Wolf Brother raised his hand and called out, "Wait a minute."

The people who had completed the Spirit Calamity test had not yet dispersed; they were all gathered in the dining hall.

Havana asked impatiently, "What are you waiting for? These bastards want to kill you! Your esteemed VIP!"

Big B and A Jie squatted shakily beside the cafeteria table, their hands covering their heads, too afraid to speak. Schopenhauer was injured and couldn't squat down, while Andro's face was serious, his brows furrowed, unwilling to confess—he had done nothing wrong, so what was there to confess about?

"Let's test it again." Oscar didn't rush to a conclusion. "Havana, are you sure everyone is here?"

Ms. Havana once again invoked the settlement's radio, summoning everyone and issuing orders to the broadcasting systems in the eight dormitory rooms. According to the surveillance video from the base's multimedia center, there was no longer any sign of human activity in these empty rooms.

"They're all here. I'm sure everyone in the transport team is here."

She counted them one by one—

"--Me, Koren, Pepper, Lewis."

"Ailun and Yunya from the engineering project department."

"Geological team."

"Warehouse"

"Field work"

"Including the priest, there are these four criminals, Jamie and Benni."

"There are thirty people in total, all of whom are old acquaintances from town."

Suddenly, a chilling terror enveloped Wolf Brother.

"No, Havana! This is completely wrong!"

Wolf Brother is extremely sensitive to numbers. His soul power can detect the specific properties of matter, especially the toxicity and pharmacology related to biological proteases. For him, the dosage of poisons and drugs is crucial. He is also proficient in many of the minor languages of the monsters. These strange sounds usually require very strong mathematical knowledge to master, as it requires distinguishing the pauses between syllables and the number of times they are uttered.

"You just said there are only thirty of us, right?"

Seeing the VIP's nervousness, Havana was also affected by the emotion, and cold sweat began to bead on her forehead. "Yes."

"But why is the line so neatly arranged? You, me, Zhang Congfeng, and Benni are not in the line."

"There are only twenty-six people in line now, so why are there three rows of nine people each?"

"There's someone else right under our noses? Why?!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Xueming immediately glanced at the bustling queue. Three rows of people stood perfectly aligned, not one more, not one less. Judging from the number of people Havana had been calling out in turn, there was indeed one extra person.

--How dare this guy openly appear among the transport team?

"The enemy who attacked me is in the ranks!" Oscar shouted.

Havana immediately looked at her three colleagues in charge of the test. "Hey! Did you see any unfamiliar faces during the test just now?"

The members of the first hunting party shook their heads, then immediately changed their tune. "How could I possibly recognize all of you?"

"Yes, everyone in Saladin sees each other every day, and once you get to know each other, you don't bother asking each other's names," one of the testers added.

The last tester replied slowly, "Commander Havana, a person's social circle is only so big in a lifetime. Being able to find fifty friends is already considered a social genius—I can't remember that many people."

Unable to get a clear answer, Havana simply went to look through the test documents. The three assistants used the Spirit Calamity Probe to examine the objects and wrote the results on a form.

When Havana received the three documents, there were only twenty-six data entries.

"Where's the other person? Why are there only twenty-six data entries? Why!" Havana panicked completely. She checked the names one by one, but her memory became increasingly hazy.

Regarding this, it wasn't that the Soul Power was at play. The interrogator was also limited by the limitations of the human brain. Imagine if you were asked to immediately recall the names of thirty colleagues or classmates, matching their appearances, voices, and habits one by one. This is an extremely difficult task, requiring rich imagination and very strong brainpower.

Even gunsmiths often forget the exact names of their companions on expeditions. The names of some languages and races are complex and difficult to pronounce, making them inherently very hard to remember. Jiang Xueming had fought alongside at least a thousand people on his expedition, and remembering them all would be an impossible task.

Oscar, unconvinced, said to Havana, "Hey Blackie, forget about that stupid list. Get the guys together, and you call out names one by one. Those whose names are called, step forward and move to the other side—the one left is the extra one, isn't it?"

"Okay," Havana, putting down the list and then starting the roll call.

When people are gathered together, it becomes impossible to tell the exact number of people. Havana called out names one by one, and as she called out names, people left. By the last few names, her voice became increasingly trembling, and she was almost in tears.

"The second to last, Andro."

Andro strode away from the left side of the line and walked to the right.

"The last one, Schopenhauer."

Schopenhauer also moved to the right side, leaving the left side empty.

Havana finished counting the people, and there were indeed twenty-six—the extra one had disappeared, vanished right under their noses.

"Line up! I'll call your name one more time! Let me call your name one more time!" Havana was agitated and couldn't accept this fact.

When the three lines were once again divided into rows of nine, becoming neat and orderly, the interrogator felt as if he had been handcuffed to an electric chair by the devil, suffering extreme mental torture.

"It's twenty-seven again? Why? Why is it twenty-seven again?!"

Oscar remained unconvinced. "Don't panic, Commander Havana. Go and check them one by one. If they stand still and don't change positions, you'll definitely find them."

Havana nervously swallowed, scrutinizing each name on the roster.

I walked past the first row and repeatedly checked the appearance and names of the nine people one by one.

After passing the second row, Havana gradually felt at ease, because she was certain that there were no mistakes this time. The number of people in the last row would not increase or decrease, nor would there be any inexplicable shifting.

As she reached the third row, Havana nearly lost her mind, uttering a name that did not exist in the group of twenty-six.

"The last one on the roster."

She walked up to the twenty-seventh person.

"Jordi John'D."

Immediately afterwards, Havana's eyes glazed over, as did Oscar and Jiang Xueming, who seemed not to have heard the phrase at all.

"Why are there only twenty-six names?" Havana forgot what she had just said, scratching her head frantically at the list of twenty-six people. "Why?"

She looked around, her eyes wide with terror, almost standing right in front of Jody, completely ignoring the person in front of her.

Xue Ming was also completely confused. No matter how hard he tried to recall, he couldn't hear the roll call being repeated. However, it seemed that Commander Havana only called out twenty-six names before counting the twenty-seven people.

Havana completely lost her mind. She ran to the sink in the cafeteria and grabbed the dishes.

"Thirty-one sets!"

She then ran to the shoe cabinet and took out everyone's work shoes.

Thirty-one pairs!

She ran to the monitoring room to retrieve the video footage. From the video's perspective, people got out of their cars one by one, chatting and laughing as they entered their dormitories to settle their luggage. Then they walked out of the dormitories to the conference room to receive Havana's instructions and head to their respective work posts.

Thirty-one people?!

But no matter what, her mind kept repeating the same message—only thirty people had come to Spinach Heights, only thirty people had participated in this transport mission.

Jody remained absolutely silent, hidden in the group, like a barely transparent person. Compared to the restless crowd around him, he was so different, yet he failed to attract the attention of the VIPs and the interrogators.

This is his Soul Power—the special ability of [Return To Innocence].

Cameras or other audio-visual tools can capture his image, but as soon as he activates his soul power, all of this content will disappear. Even if Homo sapiens see these audio-visual images, their brains will find it difficult to form a concrete impression and will automatically ignore him.

He seemed like a ghost detached from the material world. Ants cannot sense "height." In the ant's world, there is only a two-dimensional plane, and they can never see the giant in front of them.

For Jody, the fact that Homo sapiens could never understand his true form made him a deity, protecting him for over two thousand years.

"Could it be haunted?" Oscar didn't understand; there were previous instances of spirits causing trouble that could achieve this effect.

Jiang Xueming: "Possibly. This place is close to the Elf Holy Land. If environmental factors created a special spiritual entity, the Spirit Calamity probe wouldn't be able to distinguish its true form and would only mistake it for a stone."

Jody listened to these conclusions with satisfaction; he enjoyed seeing these high-and-mighty psychics looking completely bewildered.

Keep wondering, keep investigating, because you'll never find the right answer anyway.

Just as Jody was secretly pleased with herself, an outsider suddenly raised his hand.

"I have a way!" Little Benni shouted immediately, "It's not haunted! It's definitely not haunted! If it were haunted, this spirit would have already possessed me!"

Benni has extensive experience with possession. To natural spirits, she is like a black hole with extremely strong suction; no spirit can avoid Benni's physical body and continue to haunt her at such close range.

Jiang Xueming and Oscar immediately looked at Jamie and his daughter.

Havana was terrified, and at this moment her aggression was extremely high. "What is this little girl saying?! The VIP hasn't even spoken! Who gave you the right to offer advice! I'm not going to entrust my life to a lunatic!"

Commander Havana, Jiang Xueming, said sternly, "Apologize to Benni. You're a militia member; these are the people you're supposed to protect!"

In that instant, Havana seemed to have seen a ferocious beast. Zhang Congfeng's eyes held the fierce tiger ready to devour its prey, and just one sentence from him silenced her and made her tremble.

"Hmph?" Jody glanced at the strange priest. Although he could not sense any spiritual pressure, he felt a strange fear in his heart, which humiliated his pride.

He was talking to himself, completely unafraid of being overheard, since he was practically invisible.

"It was this guy who kept causing trouble. If he hadn't come along, [Return To Innocence] could have easily finished off that big wolf with a couple of punches, sending the beast to its death."

"A priest? Hah, I am the omnipresent God."

"If we can win him over, judging from the abundance of his primordial essence, this priest should be a good power vessel. With just one elixir, he can become an excellent pawn for the Immortals."

"In addition."

Jody looked at Benni.

"What exactly is this little girl trying to say? Does she have a plan? What plan could she possibly have? The gunsmith's logo is on her clothes; it's really unsettling."

"Find an opportunity to cut open her brain and taste its contents—perhaps that will lead to clues about Berloberg."

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Benni, though somewhat shy, offered a solution that was hardly a solution at all.

"Let's ring the bell first! Call the hunting party over! It'll take four days to drive here!"

Jody: "Foolish. The more people there are, the stronger my [Return To Innocence] will be, and the better the confusion will be."

Benni: "Let Lord Oscar tie us up! Tie us all up!"

Jody: "What?"

Benni: "Leave no one alive! Tie them all up! Let Oscar distribute the food and water, and he'll take care of our bodily needs!"

Oscar: "That's too disrespectful to wolves."

Benni: "That's it! When the hunting party arrives, we'll take sleeping pills a day in advance! After sleeping for 24 hours, when the hunting party picks us up and counts heads, we'll still be in our sleeping bags! No matter how powerful a psychic is, they can't summon their soul power in their dreams. The bad guys hiding in our group will definitely reveal themselves!"

Jody: "No way?"

Oscar seemed lost in thought.

"--That is indeed a solution."

Havana immediately retorted, "No way! What about these criminals! VIP! The dosage of medication used by the blood donation unit is different from that of ordinary Homo sapiens! Can ropes really restrain these wild beasts? Besides, we don't have any sleeping pills!"

"Yes, yes, that's right!" Jody whispered almost in Havana's ear, "You stupid woman, give them a good talking to."

"Hypnotic drugs can be extracted from the venom of balloon scorpions. Give me three hours, and I can get these drugs sorted out." Oscar muttered, seemingly preparing to execute this self-destructive plan. "Benni, how did you come up with this idea?"

Benni immediately replied--

"--We can't let this guy get away! He wants to kill you! Lord Oscar, you've made a huge contribution to Saladin Town and the entire District 18! The dog is good! The person who killed the dog is bad! So we absolutely cannot run away, we must take the initiative and attack!"

"Unwavering love for friends and indelible hatred for enemies—this is the greatness of morality! It is very important to distinguish between friend and foe!"

"The gunsmith once said, if the enemy is hiding in a crowd, beat them all up!"

Jody broke out in a cold sweat the size of soybeans. Benni's attack had indeed hit his sore spot. He had originally thought that attacking the VIP would anger Berloberg, causing him to reveal his true elven form, and then he could take the sword spirit and escape safely as planned.

"Three hours? Only three hours? You have to kill Oscar within three hours!"

Now, Jody faces two choices: either hide in the freezing wilderness or try to kill Oscar again, since only Oscar possesses the ability to make medicine. But Benni has spoken these words in front of everyone, meaning Oscar will be under tight protection for the next few hours.

Should we concede this round? Jody

"Think about it carefully, Jody."

"Think about it carefully."

"How will they tie me up? How will they feed me the medication?"

Jody felt relieved. Because of Soul Power, these foolish Homo sapiens seemed unaware of his presence; they hadn't discovered the special nature of [Return To Innocence].

"--So during the binding and drug-feeding process, they still forget about me."

"Benni! You did a great job! You did a great job!"

Jody was overjoyed, finally free from her tension and anxiety.

This terrible idea will not only fail to expose him, but will actually help him.

Throughout his long life, many people tried to find John D using various methods, and each meticulous search filled him with dread—like intense sunlight, making the holy blood in his veins boil repeatedly.

But he managed to evade it all. It felt like being a victim hiding in a closet in a horror movie, repeatedly stared at by a monster, but ultimately escaping unscathed.

Jody hated this feeling, yet he was also captivated by it. It made his heart race, and he repeatedly experienced the excitement and thrill it brought.

"Now I don't need to kill Oscar. The pig-headed scorpion venom he found will take down everyone in the transport team."

"But Miss Benni, and you too."

Jody looked at Zhang Congfeng, her eyes filled with resentment.

"You two are an eyesore, I'm going to find a way to get rid of you."

Just as Benni was proudly accepting the praise from her hunting brothers...

Oscar handed Jiang Xueming a bottle of insect juice.

Jiang Xueming: "Why are you giving me this? Do I need help summoning the Balloon Scorpion too?"

Oscar shook his head and remained silent.

Wolf Bro knew perfectly well that once he returned to the vicinity of the cold Elf Holy Land, his brain had long since returned to normal, transforming from the overheated state of a husky back into lapis lazuli.

The mole in the team must have overheard Benni's description of the suicide truck plan. If the mole didn't do something and just sat there waiting to die— Oscar thought it was just science fiction.

Jiang Xueming looked at the insect juice thoughtfully, then suddenly realized something.

Oscar: "Understood?"

Jiang Xueming: "I don't quite understand, I only understand a little bit, it seems to be related to insects."

Oscar: "I don't know if this guy can hear us. He's like a ghost, seemingly everywhere. I'll just say a few words to you, so feel free to listen in."

Jiang Xueming: "You trust me?"

Oscar: "You sent me back to the cafeteria for treatment. I only trust you. This bastard punched me, almost causing my child to lose its father, leaving my wife a widow with champagne, and my dead civil servant husband receiving a pension—I, Jun-ge, can't swallow this. I have to arrange something for this little rascal. I have a way, but you don't understand insect language—listen to me, follow me, and I'll do whatever I tell you to do."

Xue Ming fell silent. Although he didn't know what Oscar was planning to do, there was one ironclad rule that couldn't be broken.

He absolutely could not leave Oscar. No matter how powerful the enemy's soul force was, it still needed a physical body to support it. Oscar's physical body could only withstand one punch, which meant that the soul force's destructive power was extremely strong, and its range must be very limited. At this moment, the enemy's true form must be nearby.

His spiritual power can erase all concrete impressions in our minds, leaving only a vague "number". The more we try to imagine his existence, the harder it is to find any actual thing about him.

Jody naturally overheard the conversation; he was sitting at the cafeteria table next to Oscar.

"You seem to trust this priest a lot, but I'm right in front of you, and you can't even sense my presence."

"Oscar, Saladin's Shennong, the wolf mother's child, has become Red Stone People? How absurd!"

Jody was wary and dared not make a move in the cafeteria. After Oscar took a punch from him, everyone carried the Universal Elixir. Although his soul power was strong, it could not withstand a lot of blood. The victim's essence mixed with his spirit body became the best tracer.

"Once you leave this house and are out of everyone's sight, I will immediately kill this priest. What expression will you make then? Oscar? A distinguished VIP? Will you be bewildered? Or terrified? Let me have a taste."

"I'm afraid you won't even find a trace of me; all that will remain in your memory is a blurry phantom—"

Jody described it with great seriousness.

"--It seems like someone's following me? Oh dear, I don't remember?"

"Father! How did you die? Who was it? Who was it?"

"Who killed you?"