Chapter 341: Disguise
Chapter 341: Disguise
Thilan took a glance at Thilan, then shook his head in response.
"I trust what he told me."
"As expected of someone who's destined for great things."
Thilan's approving voice rang out behind Adam, while the "Thilan" who had been knocked to the ground transformed into a mannequin, much like a magic trick.
"Judging from the appearance and brainless actions of your friend here, I'm assuming he's a psychic mutant, right?"
"I hate it when people call me brainless!"
Mole immediately flew into a rage at the mention of the word "brainless", and he transformed into a flash of lightning that set off in pursuit of Thilan, but Thilan was even faster than him. Furthermore, his body was like an insubstantial wraith, easily thwarting Mole's efforts to capture him.
"Come back, Boss. All of the cards are in their hands, and killing him won't do us any good. His companions are still outside, and they may already be right beside us in the real world."
"This is what things should be like! If you're going to cooperate with someone, then do it sincerely. I detest people who have no integrity and don't keep their promises. A lack of trust and integrity makes it impossible to do anything." Thilan pushed Mole away as he spoke before arriving by Adam's side. "Come, I'll take you to the anomaly you're looking for."
"You know where it is?"
"I'm not very good in battle, but I'm very good at scouting and running away." Thilan pointed at his own nose, then at his eyes as he said, "I can smell all abnormal scents, and I can see all traces left behind by anomalies in psychic worlds."
"You remind me of a friend of mine..."
Adam couldn't help but think of his former teammate, Hook.
With his bag of gadgets, Hook was always able to see psychic connections that were invisible to Adam. These connections were like thin threads that extended in all directions and could lead directly toward their target.
However, it was clear that Thilan's information-gathering abilities were far superior to Hook's.
In fact, he was even able to piece together the host's life from the traces and signs he saw in the psychic world.
"We're currently in the psychic world of someone who works in the finance department of the Psychic Church. She most likely had mental problems to begin, and during her work at the Psychic Church, she was constantly forced to endure the pain of seeing the symbols championed by the Psychic Church, thereby further exacerbating her mental problems."
"How are you able to see all of this? You're not just making this up, are you?" Rabbit asked with a skeptical expression.
"There are many tiny information streams in one's psychic world, so it's much easier to glean information in the psychic world than in the real world. Trust me, I'm a professional."
"There are so many adapters in the Psychic Church, haven't any of them noticed her mental condition?" Shae asked.
"This is an anomaly that's very good at self-concealment, so it would require a very capable adapter to identify her mental condition, and there aren't many capable adapters in the Psychic Church, just like in our special psychic police force."
Adam nodded in agreement to this sentiment. Indeed, most of the applicants who had applied to join the special psychic police force had been roughly on the same plane as level two anomalies.
"Those in the Psychic Church capable of identifying her mental condition are all lofty figures who wouldn't waste their time paying attention to an ordinary employee working in the finance department, and that's what allowed her... Oh, we're almost there."
Upon emerging from the hall of the Psychic Church branch, Adam saw many employees making their way through the corridor outside.
The Psychic Church had many different business operations, including psychotherapy clinics, academies, as well as all types of non-profit organizations and collaborative projects with the government.
Hence, it was far more lively and hectic in the corridor than in the hall of pain.
"You see that kid over there? That's the anomaly you're looking for," Thilan said as he pointed at a little boy who was walking along behind his father. "Fight him and show me how much more powerful you can become. Your potential is the foundation of our collaboration."
"Are you sure that's the anomaly?"
Adam couldn't sense any anomalic power from the boy.
If weren't for Thilan, even if he had scoured this entire psychic world, he wouldn't have ever identified the boy as an anomaly.
"Hold on, isn't the host a woman?" Shae asked.
"Who cares? Let's just kill that kid first! If that boy's not the anomaly, then that means that this Indian idiot's a fraud, and we'll kill him together!"
Mole vanished on the spot as a flash of lightning as he spoke, and by the time he reappeared, he had already arrived beside the boy. Lightning was crackling over his paws as he swatted his claws violently into the boy's head.
The boy's head was instantly shattered by the blow, sending brains and intracranial fluid splattering all over the ground.
"I knew he was a fucking fraud!" Mole declared as he turned to Thilan with vindictive glee. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
"Look out beneath you."
Mole reflexively looked down upon hearing this to find that the scattered brains of the boy were beginning to converge toward the center, while his body was also gradually expanding in size. It didn't take long before a tall and slender anomaly had appeared in the boy's place.
The anomaly resembled a harpy, but compared with the standard visage of a harpy, its entire body was deathly pale in color, and it also had a far more sinister appearance.
The first thing that the anomaly did after revealing its true form was to attack Mole in retaliation, aiming a vicious swipe at his head in an attempt to give him a taste of his own medicine.
However, Mole had a vast wealth of battle experience under his belt, as well as a speed advantage of the anomaly. In addition to that, he had received advanced warning from Thilan, so he was able to evade the attack amid a flash of lightning.
The anomaly spread its wings and set off in pursuit, displaying speed that wasn't much inferior to Mole's. Furthermore, as it was racing through the air, it abruptly vanished on the spot.
"Invisibility?"
Mole was dumbstruck by this turn of events, following which several bleeding gashes suddenly appeared on his body, and as soon as he turned around, another gash appeared on his neck.
"Get back, Boss!"
It was clear that this anomaly excelled in disguise and concealment, so it would be impossible to defeat it unless they could track it down first.
After hearing Adam's call, Mole immediately fled into the distance in a straight line. As long as his assailant couldn't match his absolute speed, he would be able to get away from anyone.
Sure enough, the anomaly was unable to match Mole in a contest of speed, and he didn't sustain any further injuries after running away.
"The anomaly's coming back, and this time, its target is... you!"
Adam was struck by a premonition of peril before Thilan had even finished his warning, and he immediately invoked Sludge before fusing with it. Halfway through the fusion process, a trail of sparks erupted from his cheek, and several claw marks had been scratched onto his face by the anomaly.
"That's some exceptional physical resistance," Thilan praised. "In terms of defensive ability alone, you're superior to the vast majority of high-level adapters. However, this form seems to be rather heavy and cumbersome."
After fusing with Sludge, Adam attempted to retaliate, swinging his massive arms haphazardly through the air in the hope that he would be able to land a lucky shot on the anomaly.
However, his random swings proved to be completely futile, doing nothing aside from toppling several of the stone pillars in the corridor.
Where is it?
After a string of blind swipes in the dark, Adam began to try and track down the anomaly using his telegnosis.
Even though the anomaly had concealed itself, there would definitely be some sound produced by its high-speed movement. After focusing for a while, Adam suddenly detected something beside him, and he immediately swung a palm through the air in that direction.