"Where did you come from?"
"A small village at the foot of the mountain?"
"Has anything major happened lately?"
"Anything major?"
The girl's brows furrowed slightly. Already bewildered, she looked even more confused.
"I mean, has anything strange happened lately? Or..."
Struggling to put together his mental words, Yu Ziyu tried to make the woman understand what he meant.
The mist!
It was truly remarkable. Because it could influence people's minds, Yu Ziyu could use the mist to convey his thoughts to the woman very clearly.
Of course, this was also because Yu Ziyu could understand the woman's language.
As such, there was no language barrier.
In other words, Yu Ziyu seemed able to converse with humans.
However, this was only possible within the mist.
"Anything major?"
Her brows, which had relaxed, furrowed again. The woman seemed to be thinking.
A moment later, as though something had occurred to her, she suddenly spoke.
"The Theory of the Rise of the Supernatural has been really popular lately. I heard Spiritual Energy has revived."
"Also, a cruise ship and a plane seem to have been swallowed by monsters."
"And..."
As she slowly recounted things, the woman seemed to organize her thoughts, and she spoke faster and faster.
Just then, an unusual note suddenly entered her voice, seemingly one of confusion.
"What else did you think of?"
Slowly loosening the branches constricting the woman, Yu Ziyu asked softly through the mist.
"The village seems to be relocating. According to the village official, the country wants to develop new towns, so all the small villages deep in the mountains have to move out. Also, the military seems to be expanding its recruitment. Quite a few people from our village have been called up by the state lately."
"Are they taking precautions?"
His heart sinking slightly, Yu Ziyu was somewhat surprised by how quickly the state had reacted.
After all, a machine like the state was usually slow to react.
Yet now, for it to respond so quickly, what must they have already confirmed?
In other words, was the supernatural era very likely truly upon them?
Murmuring inwardly, Yu Ziyu asked the last question on his mind.
"Have you humans noticed any changes in your bodies?"
"Changes?"
After hesitating for a moment, the woman said, "I was watching television a while ago, and someone seemed able to lift a one-ton boulder. Also, there was someone running down the street enveloped in flames."
At this point, the woman paused briefly, then pondered for a long time before adding:
"But they all seem to have disappeared."
"Is that so?"
Yu Ziyu chuckled, finding that somewhat understandable.
If his guess was correct, those were the elites among humans who had been the first to awaken abilities.
Unfortunately, faced with the machine that was the state, what awaited them was inevitably conscription.
From then on, darkness would be their company, and slaughter their companion.
Of course, the specifics would depend on the progress of the supernatural.
If one day they stepped into the public eye, then a glorious era should be upon them as well.
Still, from the woman's account, Yu Ziyu could make a preliminary judgment that humans probably had little affinity with Spiritual Energy.
After all, among the beasts, there were already war machines like the giant golden eagle and the mutated wild boar.
Although Yu Ziyu had killed them, their combat strength alone was by no means weak.
By Yu Ziyu's estimation, the golden eagle at full strength could contend with a fighter jet. As for the mutated wild boar, it should have been capable of playing around with a human tank.
Thinking of it this way, humans probably were not evolving as quickly as ordinary animals, much less a monster like him who had already truly stepped into the supernatural.
Somewhat reassured, Yu Ziyu nevertheless did not disperse the mist.
Of these two women, one was named He Qing'er, and the other He Ling'er.
By enveloping them in the mist and inducing hallucinations, Yu Ziyu had more or less seen that these two were very unreliable.
After all, when he questioned the younger sister, He Ling'er, the woman had said, "I need to go back and report the strange phenomena here to the village official."
A slight chill settled in his heart, and even Yu Ziyu's branches could not help trembling.
"You're asking for death."
As he murmured, Yu Ziyu's branches slowly tightened around the necks of the two women, whose consciousnesses were still very hazy.
Slender, tender branches slowly wound around their snow-white necks.
With just a thought, their lives would end.
But a moment later, as though something had occurred to him, Yu Ziyu slowly loosened his branches.
"System, I want to upgrade the Hallucination Ability again."
Ding! Confirm upgrade?
"Yes."
Nodding, Yu Ziyu lost another ten evolution points.
Upgrading these special abilities consumed varying numbers of evolution points.
An ability like the Hallucination Ability consumed quite a lot-a full ten points.
As for the others, the lowest cost five points. Innate Talent: Regeneration cost the most, a full fifty points.
Although Yu Ziyu had plenty of evolution points, he really could not withstand this sort of expenditure.
However, upgrading the Hallucination Ability was necessary.
Because right now, Yu Ziyu had an ingenious use for it.
"Hmph."
As though giving a cold laugh, Yu Ziyu could already feel his body beginning to change again.
Things seemed both real and unreal, hazy and indistinct.
Faintly, a peculiar fragrance even permeated the air.
"That fast?"
Letting out an exclamation, Yu Ziyu could not help marveling at the power of evolution points.
In just a few breaths, his Hallucination Ability had truly grown considerably stronger.
[Hallucination Ability (Lv2)-Could greatly influence the minds of animals and even humans, and even alter their perceptions. (Required a great deal of energy and time.)]
"Not bad."
Nodding, Yu Ziyu was very satisfied with his current Hallucination Ability.
As for energy and time, those should be what he lacked least.
There was another point here worth his attention: the Lv2 following the Hallucination Ability. That should indicate the ability's strength.
If Yu Ziyu's guess was correct, it very likely corresponded to the first and second tiers.
If that really was the case, there might even be Lv9 abilities later on.
"Tsk, tsk. If there really is a Lv9 Hallucination Ability, I'm afraid a single thought could weave a false world on the mental plane and enslave others."
At this thought, Yu Ziyu could not help recalling a terrifying ability from an anime-Infinite Tsukuyomi.
That should represent one pinnacle of illusion abilities.
Without further ado, thank you to reader Taijiu for the generous donation. Crimson was overwhelmed and added an extra update especially for you.
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(Event period: June 12 to June 14.)
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