Chapter 66 Puppet

I haven't finished speaking yet!

Carmen thought instinctively, but the moment the idea arose, it dissolved into a sharp thrill of horror.

Evasion... no, there's no time!

Carmen cursed inwardly. When he spoke just now, he had infused his words with the psionic art [Affinity] simply to buy some time. He hadn't expected the other party to completely ignore the affinity and strike immediately!

There was no time left for hesitation.

A ruthless look flashed in Carmen's eyes. He forcefully twisted his body, raising his left arm to block the path of the monomolecular blade.

Then, accompanied by a crisp clang, like a hot knife through butter, his expensive alloy prosthetic arm was severed directly into two halves! Hydraulic fluid and coolant sprayed wildly, and various components burst out with a crackling noise!

Almost at the exact same moment the blade was drawn and slashed, Song Shi raised his voice.

He is no longer Carmen! What is before us is a Second-Ring Consensus! Right now, Carmen is merely a puppet controlled by the other party!

The moment Carmen's appearance began to shift and he sensed the sudden surge of psionics from the other's body, Song Shi had already realized what was happening.

Psionics of the [Consensus] path generally chose either "Mind" or "Matter" as their priority before reaching the Third Ring, subsequently configuring their psionic arts accordingly. The former involved abilities like mind-reading and emotion-sensing, while the latter consisted of psychokinesis and reality distortion. Given the limited number of psionic arts one could hold, attempting to pursue both paths simultaneously in the early stages would only result in mastering neither, or rather, ending up weak and mediocre.

And now, Carmen's consciousness and body had clearly been forcibly taken over by a Consensus who possessed psionic arts like "Consciousness Usurpation" or "Puppet Control"!

No, more than that.

It was likely that Carmen had long been subtly and secretly influenced and dominated by this person. The adversary had made Carmen believe that everything was his own choice, while the entire betrayal was a meticulously orchestrated script! Even Carmen's own memories were probably unreliable!

Coupled with the mentions of "Emerald Pharmaceuticals" and "drawing them out"—

[Stargazer! Impact! Three shuttles are heading toward your location! They are carrying armed forces from Emerald Pharmaceuticals! Estimated time of arrival: three minutes!]

Tch! There really is a problem? Did they avoid laying an ambush directly at the scene because they were afraid of startling us in advance...

Hearing the hurried call from "Stargazer" echoing in his cochlea, Harold immediately responded: "Stargazer! Didn't we make preparations before coming here? Our contingency plan—"

[It has already been activated! Nearby surveillance cameras have been taken over and cleared! Next, I will silence the wide-area communications in your sector and attempt to jam the shuttles! Proceed with the evacuation according to the original plan!]

Wait—

[You can let him come along! Just retreat first!]

—Then there's no problem!

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

Just as Harold abruptly drew his paired long and short guns, he happened to witness the mercenary severing Carmen's left arm.

Hmph! Want to leave?

At the cost of an arm, Carmen forcibly avoided the sharpest edge of the attack and violently retreated his entire body, breaking into a wild laugh: Ha, ha, ha! "Anti-corporation"?!

Through the tampering of Carmen's memories, the gland pump secretly implanted inside his body had already activated, injecting the hidden "Marsh Fiend" biological formulation into his bloodstream and organs.

With just four more breaths, the "Marsh Fiend" would catalyze this "puppet" to completion: large-scale muscular cancerous proliferation, enhanced self-healing, directed genetic mutation—this was the technology Emerald Pharmaceuticals took pride in, an unadulterated bioweapon.

Even the few drawbacks of "sanity degradation" and "loss of control" could be perfectly compensated for by himself, a Second-Ring Consensus.

One cost forty thousand credits.

Flawless.

In this instant.

—All of you, stay right here!

Glaring at the mercenary before him, Carmen grinned hideously as he raised his remaining right hand, and the glow of psionics began to flicker.

Psionic Art: [Vertigo]!

However, the roar of a flame jet forcibly interrupted the psionic energy just as it was about to erupt!

Watch out! The armed forces of Emerald Pharmaceuticals are rushing toward this side!

Seeing that this gunshot had merely grazed Carmen's waist without causing the anticipated massive tearing wound, leaving only a shallow mark instead, Harold frowned.

Complex bundles of scarlet muscle proliferated at a speed visible to the naked eye, wrapping around Carmen's body and causing his entire form to swell drastically. The next moment, the exposed outer layer rapidly solidified and scabbed over, forming a layer of grey chitinous armor. From the gaps in the armor, dark green, dense mucus oozed out, transforming into a "fluid dermal armor" enveloping his whole body.

Bloated, disgusting, yet exuding a sense of sheer violence.

Another fierce gunshot rang out, and a specially alloyed bullet struck Carmen's flank, directly punching a huge hole through it—yet countless granulation tissues rapidly wriggled and extended from the wound, intertwining to attempt healing.

The armor and mucus drastically reduced the lethality of the bullet, turning its effect from "shattering the body" to mere "penetration." Such a penetrating wound looked terrifying, but for the enhanced self-healing power of the "Marsh Fiend," it was entirely survivable.

Leveraging the impact force carried by the bullet, Carmen once again blasted backward, while amidst the gaps of his head—wrapped in countless layers of interwoven red and white muscle fibers—one of his eyes abruptly flared with light!

Psionic Art: [Vertigo]!

This time, there was no obstruction. Invisible ripples swept through the surrounding area; even though he was exerting it indirectly through a remote-controlled "puppet" with somewhat diminished effects, it was still enough to dizzy these two ordinary people for a single breath.

As long as he held on until the "Marsh Fiend" completed its full catalysis and used it to pin them down, the corporate armed forces would naturally arrive to handle the cleanup!

Concentrate and resist! It's the psionic art of a "Consensus"!

Harold shook his head violently, enduring the dizziness as he fiercely squeezed the trigger and roared, "Careful! He's injected with the "Marsh Fiend"! Once his bodily mutation and reinforcement finish, it'll be very troublesome! Buy me some time! I'll—"

But the next instant, Song Shi's voice cut in abruptly.

—It won't take that long!

In less than a second, the "Flame of Forging" ignited within his body, rushing fiercely into his brain to burn away the dizziness entirely.

Immediately afterward, the flames surged into his limbs and bones, gathering inward as his entire body once again burned like "firewood."

Then, he stepped forward and slashed with his blade!

First strike.

Such a short dizziness duration? You're a psionist?!

Sensing his drastically different and increasingly powerful physique, Carmen used psionic energy to forcibly seize control of his body, which should have been suffering from aberrant loss of control. Seeing the other party slashing toward him once again, he stopped retreating for the first time and instead advanced! A fist howled as it smashed toward the enemy's head!

The Steel Crow collided with the muscular, deformed arm—the blade sank in by an inch before coming to a dead stop, emitting a dull, metallic clang.

—Still, you're courting death!

Seeing this, Carmen couldn't help laughing wildly.

Ha! I—

Before the words could leave his mouth, the Steel Crow was pulled out, and a second strike descended.

—Ignorant of life and death!

Carmen attempted to grab the enemy's monomolecular blade, but the Steel Crow flicked and twisted, evading the sweeping fingers and pressing the advantage instead, carving several huge gasps where flesh and blood burst open.

It doesn't matter! With this body's massive vitality! Even taking ten more blows wouldn't matter!

He only needed to seize a momentary opening to unleash his psionic art, and then—

Following closely behind, a cold radiance that nearly merged into a seamless sheet completely engulfed Carmen.

Song Shi vanished entirely, leaving only blurred shadows flickering and intersecting!

In the span of another snap of a finger.

Everything came to an abrupt halt.

Two breaths, nineteen slashes.

Ugh... You...

Carmen looked somewhat dazed.

He first looked at Song Shi, then looked down at himself—this body, standing over two meters tall, shuddered. Then, large chunks of flesh and blood peeled off and slid down with a wet sound, and vast pools of mixed fluids poured out, accumulating into a massive puddle on the ground and emitting a pungent odor.

He wanted to do something, but his entire body had lost all mobility.

A Second-Ring Consensus, and you chose the "Mind" route first.

Song Shi exhaled a breath of scorching hot air, first shaking off the mucus and plasma from the Steel Crow before looking at the other person: Of all things you could do, why insist on fighting a melee against a "Transcendence"?

Ah, no.

Immediately afterward, Song Shi shook his head and said indifferently: Even a "Transcendence" nowadays brings a few firearms and heavy cannons. You're being truly incomprehensible.

Y-You—

Hearing this, Carmen let out a furious roar, but his body swayed and he stumbled down onto one knee.

First ring? Second ring? Which path are you on?!

Carmen's body was on the verge of complete collapse. He forced his eyes wide open, staring fixedly at the mercenary. Perhaps due to the excruciating pain brought by the myriad wounds all over his body, his tone suddenly and inexplicably turned violently manic:

And those words from earlier! Ordinary wild psionists couldn't possibly know them! Whose side are you on? Are you certain you want to stand with the "Enlighteners"? Are you certain you want to make an enemy of us, "Emerald Pharmaceuticals"?!

The next moment, Carmen noticed the other person slowly wearing a strange look, sizing him up for a few seconds.

Then a flash of cold light swept past, and his entire field of vision went completely pitch black.

The instant before his head hit the ground, the final words rang in Carmen's ears.

Guess?