Chapter 922

Our reactions have slowed down?

Upon hearing Lyon’s words, the three already-dead cleaners instantly froze in shock; Alger snatched the nail gun away and fired another shot at his own foot, refusing to believe it.

“Puff!”

With mental preparation, this time his reaction was far better than before—before the nail even struck the ground, Alger’s right foot dissolved into countless threads, tightly entangling the projectile.

Yet Alger’s face did not brighten with triumph; instead, it darkened instantly.

“It’s truly slowed by a lot…”

Firing rapidly until the nail gun was empty, Alger stared at the two nails caught by the [Skin Threads] and the four that had pierced the ground, his face turning ashen:

“It’s less than one-eighth of what it used to be—even less. My reaction speed is now barely better than a normal person’s! Damn it! Why didn’t I notice this before?”

“I’m not entirely sure, but I suspect you’ve been subjected to some kind of technique that lowered your reaction speed’s upper limit.”

Looking at the four nails embedded in the ground, Lyon frowned deeply:

“The more frequently a cleaner carries and uses high-grade anomalies, the more they become tainted, their bodies gradually transforming toward ‘non-human’ resilience—but no matter how intense the transformation, it still rests upon the human physical foundation.”

In short, no matter how high your taint level, you still feel cold and heat, still get thirsty and hungry and injured—only your life force is far stronger, your reaction speed faster, your body tougher, your soul more vibrant, and you can use anomalies longer and more frequently.”

“But these changes aren’t usually obvious in daily life. Being much faster than a normal person doesn’t mean you see others move in slow motion—only that, when you need to react, you can reach a higher upper limit.”

Here, Lyon paused slightly, then pointed toward the pedestrians on the street:

“Like running versus walking: when a normal person is chased by a beast, they can sprint a hundred meters in ten seconds—but when strolling, they might take over a minute to cover the same distance, because walking doesn’t require speed.

It seems someone has locked your ‘running’ ability. When you’re just walking, you don’t notice the loss, because you don’t need speed. But when a beast lunges and you need to sprint, you suddenly realize you’ve lost the ability to run.”

So this is how we were taken down!

After Lyon’s test and explanation, the three cleaners finally understood the origin of those “rapid-fire cannons.” The female cleaner Mo Na cried out anxiously:

“If it’s just this, then let’s go find the Director immediately! If we tell him this secret, maybe he still has a chance…”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Before the female cleaner could finish, Lyon cut in sharply:

“You may have died too early—you didn’t see what came after. Nicole told me Director Edward’s body was blown apart halfway, and his soul was forcibly sealed inside the ruined flesh. There’s no way for them to recover.”

“But we can’t just…”

“I’m not abandoning them—I simply lack the ability to save them.”

Lyon shook his head, his tone final:

“The more critical the moment, the more cautious we must be. We don’t have enough information. Acting rashly won’t save anyone—it will only destroy our last hope and ruin everything completely.”

“Senior Mo Na, this may sound harsh, but I must say it: if your suggestion stems from rational judgment, I’ll take it seriously. But if it’s merely an emotional impulse, then please, calm down first.”

“I… I’m sorry… I panicked…”

After biting her lip hard, the female cleaner lowered her head and apologized, then asked:

“So what do we do now? Try to investigate the thing suppressing our reaction speed and help you and Alger break free from its effects?”

“We can investigate that—but it must be deprioritized.”

Lyon shook his head in response:

“Even if we find out how they did it, we may still lack the means to undo it. So we should focus first on more critical matters: the location of Wang Gong and Atifi-01’s core, and the current state of the royal family.”

“But how do we investigate?”

The female cleaner pressed urgently:

“The Krook Kingdom’s territory shifts too frequently. The Director and we spent nearly two weeks searching and only uncovered trivial details. We still have no leads on those two places, and the royal family has been reclusive for years—there’s literally no way to trace them.”

“Don’t worry—I already have a lead.”

Pulling out his identification card, Lyon casually twisted and discarded it, then extended his hand toward Alger, signaling him to hand over his own card for destruction, as he replied:

“Once we reach the embassy district, we’ll have a chance to get closer to those two locations. As for the royal family’s situation… Princess Filia, don’t you have anything to say?”

Lyon turned his gaze toward the emerald-eyed girl still pretending to be unconscious, his eyes half-lidded:

“Princess Filia, can you tell me why, when you heard we were in trouble, your emotion wasn’t panic—but delight?”

Damn!

Exposed, Princess Filia, who had been feigning unconsciousness, trembled violently, then opened her eyes, looking terrified:

“B-because… you’re kidnappers! I’ve been kidnapped by you—so of course when I heard you were in trouble, I couldn’t help feeling… a little happy…”

“Fine. You pass.”

Lyon nodded indifferently, then crushed the identification card Alger handed him, his expression calm as he asked:

“Second question: when we were discussing the technique that locked our reaction speed, I sensed clear ‘triumph’ in your soul. How do you explain that?”

“This…”

“If you can’t explain it, then I’ll have to guess myself.”

Watching Princess Filia, whose temples were beading with sweat, her large eyes darting nervously, never meeting his gaze, Lyon spoke without expression:

“The fact that you felt ‘triumph’ proves this technique is connected to you—possibly even one you proposed. Princess Filia, am I right?”

“….”

“If you won’t speak, I’ll take that as your silence of confirmation.”

After glancing at the girl’s agitated soul, Lyon sighed, then frowned and asked:

“Third question: besides you and Prince Andre, are there any other living members left in the Krook royal family?”