The shadow moved fast. Unless they looked closely, ordinary people would only see a black blur flash past, lingering on their retinas for no more than a second, perhaps even less.
It swept across the land at tremendous speed and arrived at a small town shrouded in red clouds.
On the town's streets, despondent residents sat by the roadside with cigarettes between their lips. Countless cigarette butts littered the ground, and their eyes were vacant, as though some emotion was gnawing at them from within.
Ke Meng noticed that the pitch-black shadow did not choose anyone in particular. It plunged straight into the nearest person's shadow.
The smoker fell into a momentary daze. He turned his head to look around, trying to see what had happened.
But before he could look for even two seconds, he fell unconscious, his face contorting in a violent struggle.
The Group Owner's shadow was different from those of the Shadow Stream Deacons. It was denser, its entire form brimming with aggression.
Others might need a week to digest and settle after invading a shadow, but it could very likely shorten that process.
Time waited for no one. Ke Meng took a deep breath, quickly memorized the surrounding scenery, then immediately used synesthesia on himself and left the dream.
Ke Meng opened his eyes and returned to reality.
The moment he returned, he heard his companion muttering, "No, I need to apply for permission to sleep on a Sweet-Dream Pillow for fifteen minutes."
Ke Meng did not quite follow. "What did you say?"
"Ah, nothing. I was talking about the side effects of that new video." Luo Yuan waved a hand.
Ke Meng nodded, then tapped away at his keyboard, typing a request to his superiors for an immediate strike on a remote town in