A purple syringe appeared in Liang Dong's sight.
Under the light, the purple liquid shimmered with breathtaking beauty.
Lei Xiangchen stepped to his side, lifted the injector and held it before Liang Dong. "Come on, inject it, become a Monster and unleash your power."
Liang Dong reached out and took it. He had already steeled himself before arriving; uncapping the syringe, he plunged it straight into his left arm.
As the purple serum was pushed into his vein, Liang Dong's body began to convulse uncontrollably, his frame stretching ten centimetres taller.
Two lumps of flesh bulged on his forehead, lengthening and turning blue until they became one-metre-long, two-centimetre-thick tentacles.
From each tip sprouted three more blue tentacle-fingers, seven or eight centimetres long. Their ends swelled into ovals that split horizontally, revealing six golden-whited, purple-pupilled eyes.
"This is—!" When the transformation halted, Liang Dong experienced his new ability in shock.
Six extra fields of vision opened in his mind—views utterly unlike normal sight.
The world appeared pitch-black; nothing could be seen except living beings, each tinted a distinct colour.
Beside him, the Bodyguard's flesh vanished, leaving only a pulsing green human-shaped silhouette.
The instant he saw that green shape, two words surfaced naturally in his mind.
Soul!
His six new eyes darted everywhere, taking in everyone's souls.
Lei Xiangchen's was green; the red-haired man's was special—countless crimson specks that were separate yet clumped together.
The dishevelled, chicken-nest-haired youth's soul was even stranger: a green flame whose threads of light stretched into the void. He had no idea what it meant.
Next, his six eyes turned to Jiang Yan ahead, wanting to see how the president differed from the rest.
One glance and his brows drew together.
In his sight, Jiang Yan's spot was empty.
"No—his soul is black, merging with the surrounding darkness." Staring longer, Liang Dong still caught a faint difference.
There, a mass of viscous black fluid slowly flowed; after a few more seconds his head began to swim.
His footing faltered, and he was forcibly ejected from that perspective.
Clack-clack! Everyone watched as Liang Dong, who had been swivelling his eyes, staggered after merely a few seconds of looking at Jiang Yan and instinctively stepped back.
Lei Xiangchen quickly reached out to steady him.
Seeing this, Jiang Yan asked curiously, "What's wrong—did you see something terrifying on me?"
Liang Dong shook his head; the six eyes above dared not look at Jiang Yan again. Still shaken, he described everything he had just seen: "I can see souls."
Moments later, everyone was seated on sofas. Listening to Liang Dong, Jiang Yan had his own guess about his soul—it must be linked to the pearl of the abyss.
With that thought, he looked at Liang Dong. "After an Awakened One undergoes Monsterization, they usually gain a brand-new ability; rarely, an original one is strengthened. You've clearly acquired a new one—but can it only view souls?"
"Yes, but if I combine it with my Consciousness-Shift ability, the effect should be different." Liang Dong answered honestly.
In this world, current research equates consciousness with soul; soul is consciousness.
Shifting consciousness equals shifting the soul. Now able to see souls, he no longer had to rely on vague intuition for the transfer—he might be able to move the entire soul.
"Go with Xiangchen to the lab and work with Supervisor Dong to fully map out your ability." Jiang Yan told Liang Dong.
Because using the ability shortens his lifespan, Liang Dong had explored it little; surprises might still be developed… Nanwu Country, in a neighbouring nation to the right, lies the small country of Fengyue, population barely ten million.
At this moment, outside a bar in its third-largest city, numerous law-enforcement vehicles blocked the entrance.
The city's Inspector Bureau chief entered the bar with an ugly expression; everywhere he looked was blood, clothing, and bone.
A pungent reek of gore assailed his brain.
"Chief, it's the same as the previous cases—every camera wrecked, no trace of the culprit." A veteran Inspector in his forties stepped up to report.
"Lao Deng, this is the third case this month. Our missing persons alone have topped a thousand. Let's report up!" Behind him, a middle-aged female Inspector said gravely.
Deng Guangyuan sighed at their words. "Report it—let the Awakened Ones handle it."
When the first case occurred, he had wondered if the Monster Association was active again.
But the scene's traces and the pre-emptively destroyed cameras showed it wasn't the work of Monsters.
Monsters usually strike openly, killing in the streets—not hiding like this.
Outside the bar, Inspectors had cordoned the area; onlookers crowded behind the tape.
In the crowd, a plainly dressed, one-metre-ninety youth in a black hoodie watched the scene expressionlessly.
'Useless lot—thinking you can solve the case? Once I break through, you'll be the first I wipe out.' He Xuelin's eyes flickered with quiet hatred.
Five years earlier he'd had a wife and daughter, living happily, utterly unaware of Awakened Ones.
One day after work he came home to find his house gone—the entire nine-storey building reduced to rubble.
Those who arrived weren't Inspectors but personnel in special crimson uniforms.
They stood aloof; facing the bereaved families' fury they only tossed out, "One hundred thousand blue star coins per death," then left.
As for the culprit, they never found a lead. The families could only investigate on their own, yet years passed without news, leaving him the sole survivor of those who had sought justice.
Just as despair consumed him, everything changed recently when posts exposing Awakened Ones flooded the internet.
Even crimes committed by Awakened Ones appeared online; he learned that the destroyed building five years ago had been collateral damage from a clash between two Fourth-level Awakeners of Fengyue Country.
Both were still alive and well—one the nation's Grand General, the other the hidden power behind its top financial group.
When despair at their strength crushed him, a man from the Monster Association found him and granted him the power for revenge.
"Just wait—I'll make you pay the blood debt!" He Xuelin murmured, then turned and left.
He had to grow stronger; the recent city incidents were his doing, staged to lure Awakened Ones out so he could devour them.