Fynn nodded, “My first thought was that your brother-in-law’s pressure had destroyed it, but then I started to think. If the Fluxer and the Blazer had also been hit with a dart, why is it that we were unable to find the dart?”
“Right before the Fluxer went berserk,” Levi opened his golden mouth, “he had slapped his neck as if he had been bitten by a mosquito.”
Noah nodded, “Right! He must have felt the dart prick him, and instinctively slapped his neck!”
After chewing off the majority of the chicken drumstick, Fynn took a bite of a buffalo wing, “The Fluxer is taking longer to regain consciousness than the Blazer, so I still couldn’t get his statement. However, I went back to talk to the Blazer.”
Fynn stopped to chew and swallow, “After mentioning a prick, he suddenly remembered. He said that he did feel a prick before the power rampage, but he didn’t think much of it at the time, so he had completely forgotten about it.”
Noah’s amber eyes narrowed, “So all three had been hit by a dart, but afterward, there was no dart left on the scene…”
Fynn continued, “That’s why I was thinking, perhaps the dart isn’t injecting the substance, but…” Fynn’s eyes locked with Noah’s, who with a jolt, finished his unspoken half of the sentence:
“The dart IS the substance!!”
Noah’s palm smacked against the table, “We couldn’t find the dart because it had already been absorbed!”
“Exactly,” Fynn nodded, “No dart, no evidence of the crime. Without the dart, the only proof that the incidents are premeditated is the sniper. Thus, if you hadn’t noticed the sniper at the scene of the first incident, the case might have ended up as a dead-end.”
Noah lowered his head to ponder, “Do you think they are holding a grudge against me for ruining their plans from day 1? And that’s why the power rampages keep happening around me?”
“Who knows,” Fynn shrugged, “But their attacks are clearly premeditated, and considering that you have been involved in all three incidents, I think they are definitely targeting either you, your brother-in-law or both. This got me thinking about their real goals.”
Fynn picked up the Caesar salad bowl, “They are obviously targeting specific people, but they clearly also want to implicate civilians to cause chaos and terror.”
After filling up his plate, Fynn returned the bowl back, “But, wait… since causing a power rampage is as simple as hitting someone with a dart, why only execute a single attack per day? Why not execute multiple attacks at the same time? Not only would the peacekeepers and paramedics be unable to keep up, but you, an SS-ranked Soother, can only stop one incident at a time. Regardless of which one you end up going for, the remaining ones would likely succeed in causing casualties. Wouldn’t this be a better plan of action?”
Noah’s eyebrows furrowed, “It… indeed sounds like a better plan… Do you think… it’s not that they don’t want to execute multiple attacks, but they can’t?”
Fynn’s eyes lit up, “Indeed. That’s the conclusion I came to as well. Which brings up the question, why can’t they execute multiple attacks? Do they lack resources to perform more attacks? Is it that they lack Shooters capable enough to shoot the targets with the darts and get away with it unscathed, or is it that they have limited quantities of the substance they are using to cause power rampages?”
Noah leaned forwards on his elbows, making Levi’s hand in his hair slide towards his scalp, “Did you have a breakthrough? Don’t keep us in suspense.”
Fynn raised his hand as if to say ‘patience’ and slowly chewed on the vibrantly green leaves of the salad, “I have no way of knowing whether it is a problem with the limited quantities of the substance. Without the dart, we can’t even identify the substance, let alone investigate its source.”
Before Fynn could continue with his deduction, Noah interrupted, “I think I know what the substance is.”
Fynn stopped mid-chew, his eyes darting towards Noah. Levi’s heated gaze also locked on the little one next to him.
“When I was soothing brother, I felt that his mental power had been invaded by a large quantity of foreign mental power. This foreign mental power caused an intense rejection from brother’s mental power, which led to…” Noah paused, “Well… it lead to what happened today…”
With all eyes on him, Noah continued, “I suspect that the dart is made out of mental power. The dart doesn’t just disappear; it mingles into the target’s own mental power causing an intense rejection leading to a power rampage. This is also why blood tests and Shaw’s scans are unable to pick anything up. It’s not in the blood, there is nothing it can pick up.”
Fynn’s breathing sped up, and he dropped the fork he was holding, “The dart was made out of mental power?! So you are saying that the dart isn’t a drug but a manifestation of someone’s power?”
“I don’t know how it’s made,” Noah shook his head, “But I can tell you that it would require a large amount of mental power to make a single one. It is highly possible that the reason why they can cause only a single accident per day is because they can only make a single dart per day–” Noah halted mid-speech, “No, if they were aiming for lower-ranked power users, then they could probably execute multiple attacks per day using a smaller dart.”
“But they are not,” Fynn mused.
“Right,” Noah nodded, “They are targeting A-ranked and S-ranked power users who themselves have a high amount of mental power. They need the invading mental power to be large in quantity too; otherwise, they won’t succeed in causing a power rampage.”
“I see… But…” Fynn’s eyebrows shot up, “If it’s someone’s power, why would they need a Shooter to shoot it out? Wouldn’t its user be able to control his own power better?”
“Perhaps the owner is a bad shot?” Noah mulled over it, “Or creating the dart is too taxing, so they can’t control it properly after? Or they just don’t want to risk getting caught? The creator should be a precious resource, they wouldn’t want to risk losing them.”
The three shared a weary look, their shared conclusion obvious.
They needed to get their hands on that dart.
“What about the Shooter?” Noah reminded Fynn.
Fynn wetted his throat with a glass of water, “At the time, I had no information about the dart, so I could only consider the lack of human resources. I assumed they only have this one Shooter capable of performing the attacks. It seemed likely, since the man – or woman – has very high accuracy and is very proficient at… well… not getting caught. That made me think that this person might not just be a random member of the terrorist organization.”
“You suspect they have special training?” Levi’s deep voice sounded out.
“Yeah. That’s why I contacted several of my colleagues from different departments and had them send over some of their Scenters.”
Judging by the glint in Fynn’s eyes, Noah guessed, “Good news?”
“Indeed! One of their Scenters managed to recognize the scent of our Shooter! He is a hired hitman going by the codename Swiftrain. They have been trying to catch him for quite some time now.”
❗ Important News ❗
Recently Good Novel is doing a LGBT promotion and I noticed a sudden surge in subscriptions. Since there are now a couple hundred readers here instead of a handful, I'll resume posting SSC on Good Novel once more. (If you are wondering what this notice about, I moved SSC to other sites half a year ago because there were no SSC readers on Good Novel, which is why the date of the previous chapter is in December.)
P.S. I would be most grateful if you could leave a review on SSC to let others know that you enjoyed it and they too should give it a shot.
Noah’s tense posture relaxed, and he leaned back in his chair, “You are saying that the Shooter isn’t a member of the terrorists but hired help?”Fynn nodded, “It would also explain why not getting caught was more important to him than ensuring the power rampages went as planned. In the last power rampage incident, after starting the power rampage, if he shot another bullet to incapacitate or kill you…”Noah felt Levi’s hand in his hair stiffen unnaturally at the words “kill you”. He promptly shot Levi a comforting look and gently patted his thigh. For some reason, that action made Levi stiffen even more, and even Fynn choked on the water he was drinking, starting to cough violently.Noah attempted to get up to pat his back, but Fynn’s teary eyes widened, and he started to wave his hands as if to say ‘No need! You! Remain sitting!! Don’t come over!!’Seeing how insistent
After Fynn left to execute his part in the plan, Noah and Levi remained sitting alone in the dining room. “Why are you looking at me like that?” Noah side-eyed Levi. Noah might be misinterpreting most of Levi’s reactions, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t see them clearly. Over the last couple of hours, the more he spoke, the fierier Levi’s gaze became. At first, Noah had ignored it, but later on, he couldn’t help but seek solace from his black-hearted system, “Blackie… is it just me or brother-in-law's gaze seems a bit… too fervent?” “What’s wrong with admiring your wit? Your plan is really well-thought-out! Even I, this AI system which has seen many things, can’t help but feel admiration and respect for the level of your scheming,” Blackie very cheerfully praised his host, which, considering that he was usually a total jerk, should have been suspicious in itself, but Noah, whose attention had been preoccupied with Levi, missed it. “Is-is that s
Due to the Cleanser’s thorough cleansing of both their bodies and clothes earlier today, the two men only washed their teeth and left the shower for the morning after. Noah had found an extra toothbrush in his cupboard, and graciously offered it to Levi. Levi eyed the two toothbrushes standing side by side within the same cup and couldn’t help but feel extremely pleased by the image. Afterward, Noah, as usual, wore an oversized t-shirt to bed, and Levi… Noah averted his eyes from his brother-in-law’s naked torso, “Brother… I have several t-shirts here that should fit you–” “No need,” Levi interrupted, “It’s fine; I usually sleep like this.” Noah swallowed down the rest of his words. There… there was nothing strange with men only sleeping in their boxers… In his previous life on Cradle, he totally knew a lot of guys who slept only in their boxers… It’s just… it’s just… how come when his brother-in-law did it, he got a strange feeling? Like it wasn’t quite prop
Noah couldn’t help but once again remember the memories Blackie shared with him, and his two amber eyes moistened.Before he could register what he was doing, he grabbed Levi’s chin and made the other face him. “I won’t die,” Noah proclaimed solemnly. ‘I really won’t die. I have Blackie.’Blackie: (눈_눈) ‘Oh? Now you remember how useful this system is? Then how come I remember you constantly doubting this lord’s abilities and even asking for a mute button?’Noah didn’t have the chance to continue his pledge because as soon as he made the first move, it was as if all hell broke loose.As if a tight string had snapped within Levi, his previously motionless form abruptly enveloped Noah within his arms. His left arm wrapped around Noah’s waist and lower back, his hand stealthily gliding over Noah’s round bottom to rest on his hip. Meanwhile, his right arm slid
“Surv-surviving three… three times…” As Noah attempted to recover his train of thought, his voice came out shaky and broke in several places. Only after clearing his throat several times did he finally manage to piece together a relatively fluent sentence. “Surviving three times might… might look like a coincidence, but–but if my instincts told me I would die… would… would I not change my actions until I found a way to live?”Noah shrunk his pink neck, lowered his head, and stared at his own feet as if they were the most interesting of species. “From an outsider's perspective, these–these might look like… like close brushes with death. But from mine, they… they are just a multiple-choice question to which I already know the wrong answers.”Levi’s eyes had not once left his alluring baby. Letting go of him had already taken every drop of Levi’s will power; how wo
When Cordia daddy received the report from the butler, he nearly choked on his spit.This son-in-law is treating his little son’s room as his own!! Has he no shame?? So many rooms in the manor, including his fiancée’s place, yet he chooses to settle in his son’s bedroom?!?For goodness sake! His son’s room didn’t even have a sofa! There is only that one bed!!It took Concordia city lord a long while to finally manage to swallow down his indignation.Very well! Every problem has its solution. (ꐦ ◠‿◠)And thus, he passed down his orders – tomorrow, when the two boys left the bedroom, move another bed inside.Not enough room for another bed? Make room! Even if you have to replace the large bed with a smaller one, you shall do it!Can’t get that huge bed out of the room? Don’t care how you do it! Even if the only solution is to split the huge bed into two with a bloody laser cutter, y
No, it wasn’t the matter of his baby’s suitors! He, the dignified and the magnanimous ruler of Astarea, and his darling’s one and only future husband didn’t need to worry about some peasants stealing the goddess–ahem, the god of his heart!(︶^︶)ノAlright, fine! The actual truth was that he hadn’t gotten his hands on that list just yet… (≖ ‸ ≖)Apparently, getting a list of his love rivals involved a lot of research; getting accurate information within such a short time frame was unrealistic. Or at least that’s what his people had claimed with tears in their eyes.Hmph, since he had more pressing matters to attend to right now, he would let them off the hook this once.As for the mentioned pressing matters, they were naturally related to getting married to his baby. Back when he had decided to switch the bride of the arranged marriage to his baby, Levi had lamented how much easier it would all be if h
By the time the eldest Cordia sibling, Noah’s sister, handled all of the work assigned to her, the day had already turned into night. Her healing powers had been squeezed dry, leaving her utterly exhausted self, stumbling on her way to the employee lounge.Her glassy eyes lit up when she saw the vacant sofa as if seeing a great benefactor. Without further ado, she slumped into the comfy goodness, intending to briefly rest her tired body before hauling herself home. However, as soon as her head touched the sofa, she ended up inadvertently dozing off. When she finally snapped out of it, the time on the wall showed several hours had already passed.She sat up in a fluster, her abrupt actions making the quilt covering her slide off. In a daze, she gazed towards the soft blanket which she did not remember covering herself with.Ah, Shaw must have seen her embarrassing state and considerately fetched a blanket. What a mature, thoughtful gentleman! Tsk, unlike he