Chapter 307: The Observer’s Eyes

“Huh?”

Lu Xin instantly went on alert the moment the Man in the suit’s shadow disappeared.

He had just guessed that the Man in the suit’s ability might be something like mind-reading or precognition which explained how he could always dodge his attacks just as they launched. That’s how he could anticipate his intentions or escape routes using bullets to pin him down forcing Lu Xin to rely on his Father’s power for protection to resolve the crisis.

But now he realized he’d actually guessed wrong…

If it wasn’t that kind of ability then how exactly did he predict his thoughts?

His own Shadow swept forward but only caught an afterimage. So where was the real him?

…

“Friend we really should have a proper chat…”

Directly ahead of Lu Xin that soft voice sounded again. The Man in the suit was slowly walking towards him.

Just moments ago this man was scurrying around like a rabbit chased by the Shadow. Unexpectedly he’d now grown bold. Not only did he stop fleeing but he slowed down adopting a pace that suggested he had complete control as he walked deliberately towards Lu Xin.

“?”

A flicker of doubt crossed Lu Xin’s mind and the Shadow instantly swept forward.

The Man in the suit was hit by the Shadow and vanished instantly. But the next second he reappeared elsewhere continuing softly, “I’ve had my ability identified many times before. But because mine is rather special those who figure it out not only can’t target me but actually make it easier for me to read their thoughts…”

Lu Xin frowned and walked forward.

Sister had caught that Hide-and-Seek guy so he didn’t need to keep guarding the doorway anymore.

If the Shadow couldn’t catch him before because he was standing still and restricted there was no reason it couldn’t catch him now.

As he moved the Shadow dispersed completely merging into the darkness hunting down the various figures.

“It would be a pity for an Ability User like you to die here…”

The Man in the suit’s voice suddenly came from nearby on the left. He was slowly raising his gun.

*Swish!*

As he spoke the Shadow had already swept over. He vanished instantly.

“Originally I planned to kill you but you’re so strange you’ve actually made me curious…”

The Man in the suit’s voice came from the right he already had Lu Xin in his sights.

The Shadow surged thrashing wildly. Father was clearly extremely agitated and impatient. With his temper how could he tolerate this game-like mockery? Lu Xin could feel Father’s fury steadily rising forcing him to concentrate intensely just to ensure he wouldn’t lash out wildly and attack even him. This in turn only made Lu Xin more agitated…

*Bang!*

An image of the Man in the suit appeared in front of Lu Xin and pulled the trigger.

But the bullet suddenly flew from behind Lu Xin an electrical arc flashing blue as it grazed past his shoulder.

Even though Lu Xin dodged with all his might his shoulder was still grazed.

A patch sizzled leaving the strange smell of burnt flesh.

*Shimmer…*

The Shadow beneath Lu Xin’s feet began to tremble like lake water during an earthquake.

Nearby Sister snapped her head up. Her responsibility was to watch the monster that could make people disappear but seeing Lu Xin hit by the bullet clearly angered her. Her sharp teeth ground together with a *keke* sound her eyes glowing.

Lu Xin glanced impassively at the wound on his left shoulder his expression blank.

“Don’t be angry.”

From the Man in the suit’s perspective he started talking to himself again.

“The stranger an ability seems perhaps the weaker it actually is because they rely on complicating things to win.”

He spoke slowly leaving the doorway and moving to a specific spot.

This was the exact spot where the Man in the suit had stood aiming at him before vanishing when the Shadow swept over.

Lu Xin reached the spot and observed it carefully completely ignoring the Man in the suit who reappeared several times and paying no mind to the bullets fired at him. His Shadow now dispersed and frenzied pulverized all incoming bullets.

As long as Lu Xin wished it this person actually couldn’t easily hurt him.

Father wasn’t skilled at protection like Mom but his sheer power ensured most threats reaching Lu Xin would be pulverized.

But right now the pressure Lu Xin felt also came from Father.

The longer this dragged on the angrier Father became. Sooner or later there would be a moment when Father lost control and erupted completely.

He had to make use of this extremely short window of time.

Arriving at the spot where the Man in the suit had stood he confirmed something his eyes narrowing.

There was a layer of dusty floor here sprinkled earlier by the convoy members trying to catch the invisible monster. Anyone standing here would leave footprints but even though the Man in the suit had clearly appeared here just now there were no footprints on the dusty floor.

“So you were just a false shadow all along. You never really appeared here.”

Saying this Lu Xin walked to another spot the location from which the bullet that hit him had been fired. A quick scan revealed a set of footprints here but they disappeared after just a few short steps. These footprints clearly showed the Man in the suit had indeed stood here and shot at him.

Unfortunately there wasn’t enough dust to track continuous footprints.

“Is searching for these useful?”

The Man in the suit spoke coolly continuing to appear in various places and shoot at Lu Xin.

The strange shifting was as if countless versions of the Man in the suit had suddenly appeared all around. Each stared intently at him with that single eye on their head some seeming to sneer others looking gloomy still others bearing an indescribable mockery.

Lu Xin ignored him patiently continuing his search.

Finally he stopped at one spot looked towards a specific direction and focused his attention.

Then a massive eyeball appeared in his field of vision.

The eyeball was just three meters away quietly growing on the hood of a car.

Identical to the eye on the Man in the suit’s face its bloodshot surface bulged its pupil fixed directly on him.

It was this gaze that made Lu Xin feel distinctly uncomfortable.

His feet shifted slightly. He wanted to see if this eyeball was real or fake.

But immediately he noticed more gazes turning towards him.

Turning he saw that sometime unnoticed his surroundings had become overgrown with eyes.

Eye after eye bloodshot rolling their tightly constricted pupils filled the courtyard. Some grew on the walls some on the nearby cars others on the rooftops. From every angle they stared fixedly at him.

The uncomfortable feeling in Lu Xin intensified spreading throughout his entire body.

Being constantly watched tends to make one feel self-conscious or guilty.

Because it creates the feeling that others can see right through your thoughts.

Being seen by so many eyes generated the sensation that his every aspect was laid bare.

With eyes watching him from every angle no matter what he did it would be seen clearly. This was a state of being observed to the absolute extreme. At this point his every move every thought could not be hidden.

…

“So your ability isn’t mind-reading but observation?”

Slightly surprised Lu Xin looked up at the Man in the suit who had appeared nearby.

“Not just observation.”

He reappeared walking towards Lu Xin with a smile. The eye on his face curved slightly forming a crescent shape.

Lu Xin instinctively wanted to attack him but suddenly realized he seemed to have forgotten something.

After a moment he realized he had forgotten the intention to attack.

The countless bloodshot eyes staring intently at him seemed to possess some mysterious power. Watching him observing him from every angle without missing any flaw they were also influencing him.

Under the gaze of these eyes even the air seemed to distort slightly.

Lu Xin felt like countless ants were crawling on him. Each ant had its own power unconsciously burrowing into his body changing his thoughts devouring the impulse to attack the Man in the suit…

This felt very similar to his encounter with the Brain-like monster.

However that Brain-like monster had used violin music to forcefully overwhelm his will.

These surrounding eyes however could invade his will more subtly and were harder to resist.

Their power was like shackles locking onto a person’s body tightly binding his thoughts.

“Observation allows me to see through your actions and intentions!”

The Man in the suit was now walking slowly forward his voice emanating from the lower abdomen area beneath his suit. “Likewise when observation reaches its peak it can generate the power of control. So the moment you are seen by me you fall under my control. No matter how strong your power or what type your ability is observation is the best way to capture hearts and minds…”

As he spoke he continued to slowly approach Lu Xin.

However his movements seemed to slow down each stride becoming much longer.

At the same time his voice seemed to take on a strange mystical tone.

“So are you now planning to give up resisting and return our things?”

Lu Xin kept his head down. After a moment he slowly shook his head.

The Man in the suit watched him continuing to speak softly his voice ethereal and indistinct:

“So are you now planning to give up resisting and return our things?”

…

Lu Xin still shook his head but this time it was noticeably more sluggish.

The Man in the suit’s eye seemed to brighten considerably and from this eye a light spread igniting all the surrounding eyes.

He spoke again, “…You… have already decided to give up resisting… and return the things… now.”

A strange feeling suddenly arose in Lu Xin’s heart.

Initially hearing the Man in the suit’s words he had found it laughable that the man still thought he could threaten him at this point.

He really should have taken this chance to put a bullet in his head!

But after hearing the phrase three times in a row the feeling changed.

Each time the Man in the suit repeated the words the impression deepened. At first it was him asking Lu Xin but by the second time the words resonated with his own thoughts making it hard to distinguish between the man’s words and his inner voice. By the third time he felt the words weren’t being asked by the other party but were arising from within himself.

Give up resisting and return the things to them—this thought now felt like his own.

Moreover once this thought took root all his other thoughts began to automatically construct justifications for it.

It was like when you really really want to do something you find every possible reason to convince yourself.

Whether it’s right or wrong becomes secondary. The important thing is the desire itself which then finds countless justifications.

Right then Lu Xin felt that giving up resistance and returning the items was the truly correct course of action…

Thus he slowly hesitantly began to speak, “Then…”

Observing his reaction the eye on the Man in the suit’s face narrowed slightly as if smiling.

Then he heard Lu Xin say seriously, “Let me discuss it with my Family first.”

…

The Man in the suit froze on the spot completely stunned.

The very next moment he saw Lu Xin open his eyes and give him a friendly smile.

His expression held a hint of schadenfreude.

Simultaneously the Shadow beneath his feet suddenly became ferocious and immense.

The Man in the suit reacted incredibly fast. Startled he instantly leaped several meters away.

Beneath the Red Moon his movements were sharp clean and as fast as a ghost.

But as his feet landed the Shadow was already beneath him. Because so many eyes were watching Lu Xin the Man in the suit could perfectly judge his intentions even his thoughts. He was certain he hadn’t detected any intent to attack from Lu Xin yet the Shadow still appeared under his feet faster than ever before.

*Pop pop pop pop…*

That was the sound of the eyeballs in the courtyard bursting one after another.

The black Shadow instantly spread throughout the entire courtyard covering everything.

This time Lu Xin didn’t try to find the Man in the suit nor did he try to control Father’s power. He simply gave Father freedom. And so in an extremely short time the Shadow spread out ruling the courtyard like a devil.

*Crack… Crack…*

The sound of bones cracking echoed from twenty meters to Lu Xin’s left.

The Man in the suit’s figure appeared within the black Shadow accompanied by the sound of flesh tearing. In just an instant his legs were ensnared by the black Shadow which tightened forcefully and crept upwards bit by bit along his legs.

Starting from his feet his flesh suddenly began to peel away inch by inch as if being sliced off by slow dismemberment.

“How is this possible? How could this happen?”

Amidst the Man in the suit’s agonized and terrified screams half of his body vanished instantly.

…

“His ability is terrifying…”

Hearing that guy’s screams Lu Xin thought back to his own predicament just moments ago and felt a chill.

“So this is how he controlled that plump Boss’s wife initially.”

His summarized thoughts slowly surfaced in his mind: “The core of his ability is Observation. Its initial application against enemies is using Observation to grasp their intentions and movements achieving an effect similar to mind-reading or precognition…”

“The next level is Influence causing visual disturbances making me unable to see his true location.”

“And the ultimate ability is Control.”

“Using Observation to generate power that influences the opponent until they are completely controlled.”

…

This was the first time he’d encountered such a bizarre ability. Not only could it achieve something like mind-reading allowing him to evade attacks in advance but it could also directly lock down his thoughts like the Brain Monster did turning him into helpless prey before him forgetting to attack forgetting principles becoming as docile as a sheep resigned to being bullied…

He had clearly been influenced by him just now.

However what this guy didn’t expect was that while influencing him he was actually helping Father.

The deeper the influence on him the weaker his restraint on Father became.

Father must be really grateful to the Man in the suit right now. You could tell just by listening to his sounds.

Look how much fun they’re having…”