Hook in Danger

Jing Yan discovered that his first divine power allowed him to manipulate the desires of others by looking at them, causing their emotional states to fluctuate.

Specifically, he could amplify the proportions of joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure within their minds.

Furthermore, he could heighten or diminish the intensity of their seven primary sins: pride, envy, wrath, sloth, greed, gluttony, and lust.

Jing Yan could make a person become arrogant or humble, envious or generous, wrathful or docile, lazy or motivated, greedy or content, and lecherous or indifferent.

Logically speaking, Jing Yan felt his Path was even broader than that of "Elation" Aha.

However, his current divine power was nowhere near as profound as theirs, so if he were to encounter them, he would still only face the fate of being devoured.

But if his divine power were to grow and strengthen, he could turn the tables and devour them instead.

Now that Jing Yan had confirmed he could manipulate the four emotions and seven desires of others, he began to experiment further.

He wanted to see if he could increase Natasha's favorability toward him by directly manipulating her desires, thereby boosting his progress in "conquering" her.

In doing so, he hoped to obtain system rewards to restore more of his divine power or acquire things beyond it.

For instance, devices or items that could shield him from the prying eyes of others, or perhaps some Curios.

At this moment, Jing Yan amplified Natasha's joy and lust toward him.

"Alright, Mr. Miner, your arm is bandaged. Just be careful not to get scratched by rusted iron again, and don't go running off to dangerous places like Rivet Town where there are so many Fragmentum creatures."

"Understood, thank you, Doctor Natasha."

The young miner thanked her and paid 100 Shield credits.

If this were in the Overworld, that amount would never be enough to cover a medical visit, but in this Underworld clinic, it was sufficient.

Afterward, Natasha turned back and looked at Jing Yan with eyes full of affection.

Her gaze seemed somewhat dazed and hazy as she stepped forward, drawing closer and closer to Jing Yan.

Under the dim light of the underground clinic, Natasha's cherry lips reflected a shimmering, pearlescent glow.

They looked exceptionally alluring.

Jing Yan hesitated in his heart.

Because his recent actions didn't seem to trigger any system rewards, it suggested that using divine power to "conquer" someone wasn't recognized, or perhaps he had released too much power, giving it the flavor of a "forced command."

This resulted in a mismatch with her true intentions.

But if it were used only as an aid, it might be recognized by the system.

After pondering for a while, he felt this was likely the case.

If his control over her was too heavy-handed, Natasha would surely feel a sense of abruptness and anomaly once she regained her senses.

Just as Jing Yan was thinking this, the clinic door was pushed open.

Several panicked children ran inside.

By now, Jing Yan had already retracted his divine power, and Natasha had snapped back to reality. Seeing the children, she paused and asked, "What's wrong, Julian, Alina? What happened? Why are you crying? Did you lose a bet over some Snowy Pop-Rocks again?"

Natasha asked with concern.

At this moment, another person rushed in, panting heavily. After glancing at the people inside, he said anxiously, "It's bad! There's a large-scale Fragmentum invasion. The lifeline in the Great Mine has been cut, and many people were injured protecting the ore. Plus, the seals near Rivet Town have loosened. I'm afraid it won't be long before Fragmentum creatures start appearing around Boulder Town."

"Where is Oleg?" Natasha inquired.

"You mean the 'Wildfire' folks? Some of them have already gone to help, but..."

Just as the messenger was reporting, Julian, the brown-haired boy who had been crying, suddenly looked up at Jing Yan and Natasha. "Sister Natasha, Brother Jing Yan, Hook—Lady Hook was trapped by Fragmentum creatures while we were playing hide-and-seek! She's still, she's still out there!"

"Lady Hook used a mechanical bomb to block a passage between the Great Mine and Boulder Town to stall those creatures, and then..."

Little Julian sobbed uncontrollably, while the little girl Alita patted his back to soothe him.

"Hook is surrounded by Fragmentum creatures?" Natasha's brows furrowed upon hearing the news.

She immediately realized the gravity of the situation.

"No worries, Seele from 'Wildfire' has already gone to save them. I reckon it won't be long before your Moles leader is rescued!"

A passerby who had walked into Natasha's clinic spoke up. The man was middle-aged with white hair and a capable air—it was Oleg, the public leader of the Wildfire organization.

Looking down at the weeping Julian, Oleg flashed a bright smile, ruffled the boy's hair, and gave him a manly thumbs-up.

"Lady Seele went?"

Among the wounded, someone who had overheard their conversation chimed in with a look of relief.

"In that case, it's surely foolproof."

Another patient added.

Hearing this, Natasha frowned slightly, resting her chin on her hand, appearing still somewhat worried.

"That child Seele has been escorting a wanted criminal from the Overworld for days and nights without sleep. Sending her now might lead to trouble."

"Jing Yan, why don't you go and help? Take some medicine with you. If there's a need for emergency treatment or if you see Miss Seele injured, help her bandage up."

Natasha said, looking at Jing Yan.

"Understood."

Jing Yan replied submissively.

Jing Yan immediately accepted the order and headed toward the secluded entrance between Boulder Town and the Great Mine that Julian had described.

"Big Brother Jing Yan, Lady Hook will be alright, won't she?" Julian asked, looking up.

"She'll be fine. You can return as soon as you reach the location, or if you're truly worried, you can wait from a distance," Jing Yan instructed.

He was no longer the man he once was.

Having recovered a portion of his divine power, he was confident that dealing with a few Fragmentum creatures would be a trivial matter.

Beyond using conventional physical means to shatter the Fragmentum creatures, Jing Yan also pondered whether he might use his divine power to manipulate their base desires, thereby restricting their movements.

The junction between Boulder Town and the Great Mine was a desolate place.

It had once served as a transport route, but as the ore veins in the Great Mine gradually depleted, some of the tunnels were abandoned, and consequently, the connection point between the Great Mine and Boulder Town fell into disuse.

The ground was littered with numerous steel pipes used for steam transport and the wreckage of transport robots.

In the distance, however, a flicker of purple light appeared.