The Insect Trapped in the Cocoon

Xu Zhou had become acutely aware of just how powerful the anomaly contracted by Bai Zuo was.

As long as there were plenty of people around, the moment Bai Zuo let loose, his combat power was downright terrifying!

You could say that the more people Bai Zuo controlled, and the stronger they were, the more his own power seemed to have no limit.

Moreover, as long as they were intelligent beings—or, more specifically, human—it was hard to escape his control.

After all, mental and psychic manipulation was too bizarre. You knew he was controlling you, but you couldn't break free. All you could do was watch helplessly as someone else moved your body.

Just thinking about it was terrifying!

Xu Zhou quietly approached Ji Wu and asked in a low voice, "Brother Bai's anomaly is so powerful. Doesn't the Aberration Association worry that Bai Zuo will mark all its members?"

Ji Wu replied, "As long as the Chairman is alive, that won't be a problem."

"Why?"

"Maybe there's always something that can keep something else in check!" Ji Wu thought for a moment, then said, "It's because of the Chairman that those Contract Anomalists with their bizarre personalities obey the Aberration Association's rules."

"I've never met the Chairman. What kind of person is he?"

Xu Zhou couldn't imagine what kind of person could make even Brother Bai behave himself.

"The Chairman? He's incredibly powerful, understanding, and charismatic. You only joined recently, so it's normal that you haven't met him yet. You'll get the chance someday."

As they talked, the two of them fended off the few anomalies that slipped through.

The anomalies on the ground could barely put up a fight. With so many people and so few anomalies, the two soon found themselves just standing there, watching The One's controlled crowds crush the anomalies.

There were far more anomalies in places with fewer people.

Kong Yubo fled down from the rooftop in a sorry state.

Countless floating ghost flames surrounded him, attacking from all sides. Their blows weren't hard, but every time they touched him, their freezing flames left him injured.

Kong Yubo had no trouble accepting the feeling of being hunted by countless anomalies. He even felt that this was the right way to do things. The anomalies were strong and impossible to kill, but at least he still had the courage to run and could think about how to fight back.

Unlike that giant spider, which had made him lose all will to resist just by looking at it.

"Captain!"

Several teammates retreated as they fought.

Nearly all of them were injured.

"There are too many anomalies here! Let's get down to the street!"

Kong Yubo went to the window and saw that the streets below were almost completely covered by murky water. Many human heads floated in it, their mouths agape.

Monsters were everywhere!

It was much like what they had encountered at Huayuan Ridge. No, there were even more anomalies here than at Huayuan Ridge!

A teammate cried out, "Captain! Look over there!"

Kong Yubo looked to the left and saw a group of tourists charging at the anomalies in the water in bizarre postures. There were so many of them that as they surged forward all at once, it looked like zombies storming a city.

Hundreds, even thousands, of anomalies in the water were trampled beneath the feet of these strange people.

The members of the dispatch team could only stare, dumbfounded.

Were the people in this city all so fierce?

Did every one of them have the kind of physique you'd expect from a trained fighter?

Amid his shock, Kong Yubo noticed something strange. These people moved faster and were stronger than ordinary people. Only someone who had undergone intense training could have that kind of physical ability.

But they were all ordinary people. There was no way every one of them had been trained.

Besides, their movements were strangely unnatural. They were fast, but their joints seemed stiff in a way that was hard to describe, like puppets being controlled by strings.

For a moment, he thought he saw a thin white thread at each person's chest, so fine he could barely make it out.

The threads stretched all the way into the sky. What was up there?

The enormous spider that could cover the whole of Anyang Island!

Could it be... that the spider was controlling all these people?

For a moment, Kong Yubo couldn't tell whether the spider was good or evil.

The building restricted their movements, so the group soon covered one another as they retreated downstairs.

Once they reached the street, the ghost flames no longer approached, and the rampaging crowds dealt with the anomalies in the water.

The team members supported one another, but for the moment, there was nothing left for them to do.

Each of their faces wore an expression of shock that wouldn't fade.

This was the first time they had encountered an anomalous event so easily, without a single person dying.

Kong Yubo gave a bitter smile. "I know who that person is now."

"Captain, who are you talking about?"

"Which person?"

"Do you remember what Zhang Lin said? The demon who can manipulate people's hearts and must not be provoked—the other Contract Anomalist we've never been able to identify!"

Kong Yubo had always thought the demon who manipulated people's hearts referred to a brilliant strategist who could see through human nature, devise schemes, and manipulate others step by step through cunning.

Their intelligence was so extraordinary that their manipulation of people seemed almost inhuman, which was why they were called a demon.

He hadn't expected...

Kong Yubo looked at the enormous spider in the sky and remembered the shot he had fired at it.

It radiated a deep, concentrated malice, like an abyss, as if it contained every evil in the world. The giant spider seemed the very embodiment of a demon. It was the demon who manipulated people's hearts, the embodiment of malice!

No wonder it was someone they must never provoke. They must never provoke him!

"Could it be...?"

The teammates shared an unspoken understanding and immediately looked toward the Divine Altar.

Even from this distance, they could just make out three people standing atop the Divine Altar.

"The Holy Prince!"

"He's the Contract Anomalist!"

"Why did that person shoot at him earlier? Aren't they on the same side?"

"No wonder I thought there was something unusual about him when I saw him earlier."

Kong Yubo's heart grew heavy.

His thoughts were a mess. He kept thinking about the shot that person had fired, and the one he himself had fired.

Would the other man hold a grudge?

If he did, Kong Yubo hoped he would take it out on him alone and not involve the others.

Kong Yubo wasn't just imagining things. From the few things he had heard and the brief glimpses he'd had of the man, it was clear that his personality was extreme.

Someone with power and a nasty disposition wouldn't generously forgive a weakling who dared to offend him.

Instead, crushing the other person as casually as a person crushed an ant was exactly what someone like that would do.

"Ding! Character Perfection increased by 10%!"

"Anomaly Artifact unlocked: Information Cocoon."

"Details: When you are trapped in a 'cocoon' like a silkworm's, how do you break free and return to reality? Weave a piece of information (a lie) that makes people follow your lead without thinking for themselves, until they become insects trapped in a cocoon, forced to receive information."

"Ability: Can erase specific perceptions within a certain range, but the range is limited. The more complex the information you weave, the shorter its duration."