Chapter 386: Stagnation

Not good! Lu Mian was both a "Hunter" and a "Dancer," possessing extremely strong control over his body. Once an abnormality he didn't understand occurred, he would immediately realize that something was wrong.

Almost simultaneously, he felt his own thinking become stagnant, his mind as if shrouded in thick fog, every thought stuttering, needing great effort to become clear:

"Encountered an attack...

"'Loki' really, came...

"Is this, the manifestation of, 'Marionettist' ability?

"When it reaches the end, I'm completely, unable to think, will I, become his, puppet?

"My danger intuition, has been blinded...

"Damn, Termi, boros, it's impossible, you didn't notice, the change in my fate, and you didn't, remind me at all...

"He previously, deliberately told me, 'Loki' almost, followed me, just to, let me do it again?

"Me becoming 'Loki's', puppet, is it helpful, for him to escape, the seal?

"Can't just, wait, must try my best to resist...

"'Loki' will be, where..."

Amidst such a series of subconscious thoughts flashing intermittently, Lu Mian reached a hand into his pocket with some difficulty and looked around stiffly.

He had discussed the situation of "Marionettist" with Franca before, and they agreed that the ability to "kill people silently" must have some limitations. Otherwise, it would clearly exceed the strength of Sequence 5, and only a Saint who had opened the Gate of Divinity could achieve it; the Sequence 5s of the other pathways Franca knew couldn't contend with it at all.

The two believed that this ability either required some kind of medium to be realized, or it had to be performed at a very close distance, just like the "Spirit Pierce" of the "Ring of Discipline," which only had an effect when the distance between the two parties was within five meters.

At this very moment, Lu Mian, combining his own encounter, suspected that "Loki" was hiding in the crowd around him, and the distance from him wouldn't exceed ten meters.

What entered his eyes were street vendors and pedestrians either stopping or passing by in a hurry. Some had familiar faces, some were very strange, and there was no difference from the usual situation.

In his haste, Lu Mian couldn't distinguish "Loki" from these people at all. Moreover, this was a "Faceless" who was good at changing and disguising!

In the process of searching for "Loki," he let a ball of crimson flame emerge from his left palm.

This was firstly to see if burning himself and creating pain could counter the control and erosion of the "Marionettist," and secondly to use this to "set a question" to see how "Loki" would "answer," and from his reaction, peek into his specific location and where the weakness of his puppet-making ability lay.

The familiar pain had just rushed into his mind when Lu Mian heard the sound of a "snap."

The crimson flame in his palm instantly collapsed, turning into streamers of light, unable to form anything that could explode.

Lu Mian turned around abruptly, trying to look at where the snap came from.

But his joints had been wrapped by viscous "glue," and his movements became increasingly stiff, stuttering.

This caused his speed of turning around to be a full second slower than expected. In the target area reflected in his eyes, everyone was normal, and it was impossible to tell who had snapped their fingers.

"'Marionettist', can indeed, manipulate fire...

"Pain, for my, gradually slowing thoughts, the stiffness of my body, the dullness, didn't help much, only improved, a little, reaction speed...

"Can't, in, this aspect, waste time, currently, the most important, is to find 'Loki', otherwise, whether it is, using, 'Hum-Ha Technique', or, summoning Mr. K, or waiting, for Franca to come and save, cannot, effectively change, the status quo...

"Don't know, 'Spirit World Travel', can it, be used, if, the next, two or three attempts, fail, I will, try, if I can, 'teleport' out, of the 'Marionettist's', ability range..."

Lu Mian's thoughts were becoming more and more stuttering and stagnant, but they hadn't reached the point where he couldn't think, couldn't react, and couldn't avoid attacks.

Soon, he, whose combat experience could already be called rich, had ideas and methods:

"From the current, situation, 'Marionettist', indeed has to be at, close range, to be able to, gradually turn, the target, into, a puppet...

"Since, that's the case, then I, will let ten meters, range, have no people, and animals, exist!

"Whoever, still lingers, in the fire hell, whoever is, 'Loki'!"

As soon as Lu Mian figured out the current situation, he immediately opened his mouth and shouted loudly:

"Fire, is, burning!"

Accompanied by these words full of stuttering, streams of crimson flames surged out from Lu Mian's body.

They took his feet as the center and spread to the surroundings, crackling and burning the fruit peels and other garbage on the ground.

The nearby street vendors and passing pedestrians had been warned beforehand. Seeing the flames rise, they reacted quickly, taking their own items and running wildly toward both ends of Chaos Street.

Seeing such a scene, Lu Mian revealed a delayed smile:

Yes, you can manipulate fire, but I'm not doing any fine operations now. My only action is to constantly ignite the things around me, increasing all kinds of fire sources!

Moreover, this will sooner or later attract the attention of official Beyonders!

The crimson flames swallowed and spread to the surroundings, like a bright ocean slowly submerging the earth.

Although Lu Mian's eye movement also showed obvious stuttering, he still saw a figure constantly flashing in the raging fire, unable to be captured, difficult to lock onto.

That figure had black hair and blue eyes, with ordinary features, plain and unremarkable, no different from many small clerks on the road.

After waving goodbye to Lu Mian, Franca walked toward White Coat Street.

Suddenly, she turned into an alley and hid in the shadows.

This "Pleasure Witch" began to sneak toward Chaos Street.

This was the agreement she and Lu Mian had made beforehand:

If the act of forcibly breaking into the "Different" cabaret failed to mobilize the Beyonders inside the "Alone" bar, or failed to expose their true figures, then after leaving Old Street, they would perform another "fishing" to see if they could "run into" the target.

Franca asking Lu Mian whether to perform counter-surveillance was actually asking whether to act according to the original plan, and Lu Mian gave a very affirmative answer.

During the process of approaching Chaos Street, Franca in the shadows took out a mirror.

That was a "Mirror Substitute" made from Lu Mian's blood and hair!

At this distance, the "Mirror Substitute" couldn't play the role of substituting death and taking damage, but it was related to the original owner's bloodline and had a strong occult connection, which could be used to observe Lu Mian's rough state.

Simply put, if this mirror suddenly shattered, it meant Lu Mian had died; if it had a few deep cracks, it meant the original owner had been seriously injured.

Similarly, Franca also placed a "Mirror Substitute" with Lu Mian, because they weren't sure which one "Loki" would choose as the target after they separated, so they could only have one hide in the dark, one act normally, and confirm each other's condition through the "Mirror Substitute," giving assistance in time.

This was a conclusion that couldn't be obtained by observing luck. "Loki," who had strong anti-divination capabilities, must have made fate undergo corresponding changes only after making a decision.

After sneaking for a while, Franca suddenly felt the mirror in her palm become ice-cold.

She used "Dark Vision" to penetrate the shadows and saw that the mirror had become gray and hazy, as if it had rusted, and as if it had been submerged at the bottom of an ice lake.

Was Charles attacked? Franca's heart tightened, and she accelerated.

When she rushed to Chaos Street, she happened to see flames spreading, a figure constantly flashing in the crimson, occasionally opening his mouth and making a "bang" sound.

This was very similar to a real gunshot, scaring the vendors and pedestrians to avoid it from afar, thinking that another gang was in a fierce firefight.

And Lu Mian was dodging with great difficulty. Twice he even failed, and air bullets grazed his body, leaving obvious wounds.

But it could be seen that the figure didn't want to truly injure him, seemingly worried that before a certain node arrived, such behavior would cause problems with the control itself.

Franca, seeing that Lu Mian was temporarily fine, breathed a silent sigh of relief, hid in the shadows, and while approaching the combat area, took out a mirror.

After closing the distance, she left the shadows, aimed the mirror at the clusters of flames, and let her right hand be covered with black flames that seemed to have no temperature.

Waiting until the figure flashed to the area illuminated by the mirror, Franca immediately wiped her right hand toward the mirror surface.

Silently, that figure ignited with pitch-black flames.

He quickly became thin and small, turning into a delicately cut paper figure.

In the crowd ten or twenty meters away, this man wearing a black formal suit with an unusually ordinary appearance manifested.

At this time, Lu Mian's thoughts were no longer stagnant, and his body also got rid of that kind of stiffness.

He suddenly disappeared, appearing at the side of the enemy suspected to be "Loki," the distance between the two sides not exceeding seven meters.

Lu Mian then made a sound:

"Hum!"

A white light shot out from his nostrils, heading straight for the black-haired, blue-eyed, plain-looking man.

At the same time, Franca very cooperatively condensed a transparent ice crystal spear and threw it at the area where the target was.

White frost spread rapidly from the ground pierced by the spear, making the people around feel cold, their bodies appearing with a certain stiffness.

Just at this moment, a passerby with a thin face, brown hair, and brown eyes blocked beside the man suspected to be "Loki," being hit by the white light created by Lu Mian.

He didn't faint; he was completely fine. He sang an aria with dull eyes:

"Oh, my sun!"

In an instant, it was as if a sun had risen in the minds of Lu Mian, Franca, and the others, shining so brightly that they couldn't even open their eyes, and their thoughts became less active.

The two instinctively made evasive maneuvers, either covering their bodies with crystalline and solid frost while hiding in the shadows, or rolling directly to the side of the road, and used "Nisse's Face" to change their appearance.

Waiting until the "sunlight" retreated, they saw that the man suspected to be "Loki" and the "passerby" who sang the aria had both disappeared without a trace.

The vendors and pedestrians in the distance looked toward this side in fear, while the people closer by kept their eyes closed, tears flowing.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 387 =====