Chapter 637: Improvement and Eyes in the Dark

With Harding's help, the backlash of the Shadow Snake in Dean's body was pressed back bit by bit.

Just as things were progressing smoothly, Harding's brow furrowed.

Just a moment ago, he perceived a feeling that made him unpleasant.

That feeling was very subtle... like something crawling across the surface of his skin, extremely light, extremely fast.

If he weren't in a highly sensitive state at the moment, he wouldn't have noticed it at all.

It was a kind of near-instinctive "discomfort."

Like walking in a dark alley, suddenly feeling someone watching you, but you turn your head and see nothing.

Harding's hand paused, his gaze sweeping over his body.

But there was nothing.

Dean also felt it.

He opened his eyes, a hint of confusion appearing on his pale face: "Old Ha, did you feel it?"

"Hmm." Harding didn't say much, continuing to transport energy, "Maybe it's the aftermath of the Shadow Snake, don't get distracted."

Dean didn't pursue the question, but he knew in his heart it wasn't.

He had experienced the backlash of the Shadow Snake many times, and never had this feeling of "being touched from outside the skin."

It was more like... something had attached itself to him, and then left.

But he couldn't say what it was.

Outside the factory, on the loading tower, Gao Jie Ming's gaze withdrew from Harding and Dean, his brow furrowing slightly.

"It seems that the Glimmer Eye still needs further improvement."

The reaction of the two confirmed the problem Gao Jie Ming had discovered earlier.

He had discovered something wrong when he put the Glimmer Eye on the black-market intermediary earlier.

Every time the black-market intermediary came to deliver goods, Gao Jie Ming would check the status of the Glimmer Eye.

The result was no surprise; the black-market intermediary had never discovered anything extra on his body.

But every time the Glimmer Eye attached itself to him, he would have an inadvertent, subconscious action, such as scratching that position, or unconsciously patting it with his hand.

Gao Jie Ming realized the problem at that time.

The black-market intermediary could mix in the underground black market, so he naturally couldn't be an ordinary person.

Although the energy fluctuation of the Glimmer Eye was disguised as an anomaly, its "frequency" did not match the power of the occultists who had anomalies sealed in their bodies. When two different frequencies of anomalous power came into contact, a subtle repulsive reaction would occur.

Although not enough to be detected, it was enough to make the host have an instinctive feeling that "something is wrong."

Just like just now, Harding and Dean felt uncomfortable at the same time.

The anomalies in their bodies and the power of the Glimmer Eye clashed, triggering a natural reaction similar to "bristling."

Gao Jie Ming noted this problem in his heart.

So the subsequent improvement of the Glimmer Eye would either be to adjust the energy frequency so that it could be "compatible" with the aura of most anomalies; or to further reduce the energy fluctuation, so weak that even this instinctive reaction would not be triggered.

But those were things for later.

Right now, he had more important things to do.

Gao Jie Ming's figure faded on the loading tower and chased in the direction where the Shadow-Stealer escaped.

After the Shadow-Stealer escaped from the gap in the sealing magic array, it slid rapidly along the ground of the abandoned industrial zone.

Its shadow membrane was completely invisible in the darkness, and the power fluctuation was completely dispersed in the surrounding environment, theoretically impossible to track and capture.

But Gao Jie Ming had placed more than one Glimmer Eye on the Shadow-Stealer, and even the shark monster had one, so there was no need to worry about losing track. Gao Jie Ming's choice was to chase the Shadow-Stealer first.

The technology displayed on the fusion anomaly was indeed very interesting to him, but the Shadow-Stealer was also a very precious material.

Although there were a large number of anomalies in this plane, this level of anomaly was still not something one could encounter casually.

Gao Jie Ming's figure moved silently through the night, darting toward the direction where the Eye of Shimmer had sent back its signal.

At the same time, inside the abandoned factory.

Harding finally pressed the backlash of the Shadow Snake in Dean's body back.

Dean's face changed from pale to pallid; although still very weak, at least there was no life danger.

He leaned against the wall, breathing heavily, sweat soaking a large area of his uniform collar.

The emergency treatment for the Shadow Snake didn't actually take much time; just as the resealing was completed, chaotic footsteps and metal collisions came from outside the factory. The two elites on the east side—that man-and-woman combination, as well as the elites leading the capture team from the other two directions, walked into the factory almost at the same time.

They all carried traces of battle.

Especially the people in the capture team; almost everyone's uniform had bullet holes and scratches, and some even had dust and blood on their faces. Fortunately, it seemed no one was injured.

And the members of the elite group were each dragging or pushing one or two black-robed people.

Those black-robed people's hoods had been torn off, revealing faces that were young or old, fearful or numb.

Some were still struggling, but were bound by special binding straps by Association members, and struggling was just futile.

"How is the situation?" Harding stood up, his gaze sweeping over the elites who walked in.

"East side cleared," the female elite opened her mouth, her voice carrying a hint of exhaustion, "The five occultists resisted too fiercely, there was no way to leave them alive, all killed, remaining armed personnel eleven, captives three."

"North side is the same," another member of the elite group said, "They had fewer people than the east side, but they fought very fiercely. Not a single one retreated."

"South side..." the leader of the third elite group paused, "No enemies on the south side. Those guys were fiercer than we expected, and my power is not good at leaving people alive."

Harding's brow twisted.

"Bring the captives over," Harding said.

Several elites pushed the captives to the center of the factory.

Three black-robed people were pressed to kneel on the ground; there was no such fearless madness on their faces, more of confusion and fear. One person's lips were trembling, as if wanting to say something but not daring to.

Harding walked in front of him, looking down at him.

"Speak, who sent you? You should know, with occultists here, you can't hide secrets at all, better to confess now, and you can suffer less..."

That black-robed person opened his mouth, a dry swallowing sound came from his throat, and then... his eyes suddenly widened!

His pupils dilated in an instant, as if something had exploded from inside his body.

His body stiffened suddenly, and then like a log cut down, he fell straight forward, face down onto the concrete floor, emitting a dull thud.

The two black-robed people next to him happened at the same time.

Pupils dilated, body stiffened, and then they fell to the ground one after another.

Harding and the elite capture team members present saw this, their faces ugly.

Dean supported the wall and stood up, walked over and checked one of the bodies.

He touched the carotid artery, flipped open the eyelids to look at the pupils, and then looked up, his expression solemn.

"Dead."

"Yeah..." Harding's voice sank.

That female Association elite also came up to check again, her face ugly: "This method... is not something ordinary cults can do." Dean checked the dead's mouth, nasal cavity, and skin surface carefully, finding no external injuries.

Then he released a trace of the Shadow Snake's aura, probing into the dead's body.

A few seconds later, he withdrew the aura, his face becoming even uglier; it was clear he knew what had happened.

"The anomaly in their bodies... went out of control," Dean said, "It seems to be some kind of preset mechanism. Once they are captured, or leave a certain range, the seal in their bodies will automatically be lifted, and the anomaly will instantly devour the host's soul and flesh."

The factory went quiet.

It meant these black-robed people never intended to go back alive from the beginning.

Of course, having seen all kinds of cult brainwashing methods, they were not surprised by these people's awareness.

But just like that female elite member said, this kind of technology was not something everyone had.

"Can you find out the specific means used by the other party?" Harding's voice was not loud, but every word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth. "Not really," the female elite said, her tone carrying a hint of unwillingness, "The anomaly's destruction of the soul is too clean."

"It seems... the enemy has been watching here all along," the north side elite added.

Eight elites, three directions, the captives captured all died at the same time.

This was not a coincidence; someone must be monitoring all this remotely.

Harding stood in place, silent for a long time.

"Old Ha," Dean's voice came from the side, "What now?"

Harding glanced at him without speaking.

Dean continued: "From this attack, they knew our action time, knew our deployment positions, knew that attacking from the sea was the most effective direction, and even knew that we would deploy heavy troops on the east and north sides while ignoring the sea surface. These things cannot be obtained by observation alone." He didn't finish his words, but everyone present understood what he meant.

Such precise intelligence, such targeted deployment, meant that the other party was very familiar with the Association's mode of operation.

This was not intelligence that could be summarized by "observing a few times from the outside."

This meant that there was a mole from the other party inside the Association.

This thought, like a stone, pressed on everyone's heart.

Harding turned and walked toward the factory entrance.

His footsteps were steady, his back straight, and no emotional fluctuations could be seen.

"Regarding this... we'll talk about it later, let's clean up here first," his voice came from the entrance, calm as if saying the weather was good today. "The anomalies in these guys have gone out of control and will soon break through the seals in their bodies. Alright, restore the sealing barrier here first, and after resealing the anomalies in them, consider other problems."

"Also, remember to be gentle, the bodies will be brought back to headquarters later for the forensic team to do a detailed examination."

"Yes!" the elites responded in unison.

Harding walked into the night.

Dean looked at his back, opened his mouth, wanted to say something, but in the end, didn't speak. ===== CHAPTER 638 =====