Enforcer Manual
Chapter 734 - 732: A Thousand Faces as One_1

Chapter 734: Chapter 732: A Thousand Faces as One_1

Early the next morning, Jasmine brought back an uninvited guest.

From a distance, Song Lan noticed her presence, because the girl was crying so sadly that she seemed on the verge of collapsing.

As he approached, he immediately recognized her.

The little assistant from the fortune-telling office, whose ability was to make her sleeves grow longer, didn’t seem like anything powerful.

The distressed girl was tearfully recounting her encounter in the middle of the previous night to Jasmine.

Their office had been visited by a terrifying masked figure, who arrogantly demanded a reading from the boss, mockingly referring to him as the weakest candidate among the Six Stars.

Just when she thought her boss would show the masked figure his true power, he was rapidly defeated. The speed of his defeat was so astonishing that she barely had time to react. In the critical moment, he told his assistant to escape through the office’s secret passage and contact Jasmine after securing her own safety, to inform them of the previous night’s events.

The little assistant was extremely upset.

Not just because her boss had been kidnapped, but also because it seemed the assailant wasn’t wrong; her boss was indeed the weakest among the Six Stars candidates.

Her boss had always been the most formidable person in her eyes, so much so that even the Chairperson of the Council found himself acting politely on a visit to their office. Now, that invincible image had crumbled.

"Waaah, my boss was defeated by some random person who came out of nowhere."

The assistant’s elongated sleeves served as tissues while she cried her eyes out.

This was a sad piece of news, yet somehow, it felt comically absurd.

Jasmine gently patted the little assistant’s head, while Yaku, who had woken up and been brought back to the Galaxy Transport Company by Angela, was also comforting the little assistant together with her.

"It’s true we don’t know where they came from," Yaku confessed, "but those masked people are no simple matter. Even I fell for their tricks."

This attempt at consolation plunged Jasmine into silence for a while.

She felt it was nothing to boast about that, as a Six Stars candidate, she had been nearly driven to a dead end by an ordinary person—especially considering that if one were to rank the Six Stars candidates, Comrade Yaku would undoubtedly be one of the bottom three.

Full of youthful vigor and impulsiveness, his only advantage was being much younger than the other candidates.

"He’s right, the ones who took your boss aren’t ordinary folks," she said. "Based on your description, they must be the Keepers."

Lu Xiang stepped forward and took initiative in the conversation.

"The Keepers? Weren’t they wiped out already?"

Jasmine was taken aback. The word triggered some unpleasant memories for her. She had lived through the dark era, and in the decade following, the United Government had embarked on a decade-long "Witch Hunt Movement," reminiscent of the Middle Ages, executing those suspected to be Psychic Ability Users.

What started as a grassroots movement persisted for over a decade largely due to covert support from high-level figures within the United Government.

Jasmine had personally participated in the war to eradicate the Keepers, whose leader was confirmed dead many years ago.

"It seems they’ve simply gone into hiding."

Lu Xiang also started consoling the assistant, explaining, "The Keepers are an organization that specializes in hunting Psychic Ability Users. They have vast experience in dealing with psychics, and your boss was defeated because someone leaked information about his abilities."

During her studies at the Morning Star Academy, she was a standout in the course "How to Kill a Psychic Ability User," and if one were to consider lineage, the Keepers would be akin to revered ancestors for them.

She understood the Keepers’ methods. The true challenge for them was gathering intelligence, followed by the preparation work. To ambush a known psychic, they might meticulously plan an attack for days or even months to achieve a swift kill.

The High-level Parliament hiring them skipped the most difficult step for them.

"Though they were not around for long, they had an enormous impact on future generations. It’s precisely because of their actions that the United Government strengthened the confidentiality protocols for the Six Stars rescuers," Lu Xiang explained.

"So, you’re saying, they are very formidable people?"

The sobbing of the little assistant subsided a bit as she locked her teary, wide eyes on Lu Xiang.

"They are experts at dealing with Psychic Ability Users. More dangerous than the Keepers themselves is the person providing them with information," she added.

With help from the High-level Parliament, the Keepers could significantly reduce their preparatory phase.

"I trust my comrades; after all, they are the Six Stars rescuers candidates!"

Yaku felt the need to speak up for his colleagues, believing that if even he could defeat the Keepers, those stronger than him should have no problem.

"That’s not necessarily the case; I must get in touch with them as soon as possible."

Jasmine shook her head. The emergence of the Keepers completely changed the nature of the case. "You’ve never dealt with them. Underestimating the Keepers can cost dearly."

On the surface, most of the Keepers were civilians, with only light prosthetic implantation. They rarely relied on the power of their enhancements, yet these people, hardly taken seriously by Psychic Ability Users, managed to kill an unimaginable number of them over a span of ten years.

It was not so much a loss to the Keepers, but rather, a defeat by their own arrogance.

Jasmine immediately sprung into action.

However, as she made calls, her expression grew increasingly grim.

"Can’t reach them... can’t reach this one either. This is not good."

At that very moment, Military Intelligence Section Seven made new progress in their investigation.

After Yaku was brought back unconscious by Angela the previous night, Military Intelligence Section Seven began their inquiry. Yaku wasn’t the only candidate attacked that evening, but he was the only one who escaped from the Keepers. As for the others who were attacked, all had lost contact with their companies or families.

"Where were they taken?"

Jasmine pressed for an answer.

"We’re still investigating. Their movements are very covert, and someone is helping them cover their tracks."

"They must have been taken to the Holy Temple."

Another figure intruded into the conversation uninvited, ending the family dispute. Mr. Hog, who had hurried back to The First Region at the first opportunity, arrived at the Galaxy Transport Company, looking weary from his travels, "That’s where they worship."

He had briefly been a member of the fishing boat club, and he hadn’t been idle those few days, taking advantage of his identity to "catch up" on several lessons.

To his surprise, he found that the members of the fishing boat club had built a Holy Temple in The First Region without anyone else knowing, which they said was a bridge between the real world and the world of the gods.

But he hadn’t managed to figure out the location of the Holy Temple before being caught off-guard by "Dominate."

"We must find the location of the Holy Temple as soon as possible. They might want to sacrifice the abducted people to their gods!"

Hog was also ready to take the initiative.

He was no longer someone who needed protection; in his direct confrontations with the gods and "Dominate," his time-stopping ability could certainly be put to use.

"If the gods absorb their power, it will be too late."

"Mr. Hog."

The arrival of Hog had given people hope.

At least within the Galaxy Transport Company, no one saw Hog as a clown anymore; after all, he had repelled "Dominate" head-on.

"I’ve already sent people out to investigate, but the main forces of the Foster Family are not in The First Region."

Hog’s expression was grave, and an ominous premonition surfaced in his mind.

He didn’t know what kind of new agreement Jock and the others had reached with the gods, but it was clear that the gods had already started to encroach on this world.

This reminded him of the shrouded Seventeenth District, how the entire city had once escaped their control when the Void descended. What would happen to The First Region then?

Would it become a world completely dominated by plants?

Would people eventually be stored in the small chambers of plants, bound inside by vines, to become food reserves for those man-eating plants?

But no matter what, they had to start mobilizing anew.

............

Meanwhile, inside the Holy Temple.

Li Youqian sat in a cell made of vines and unidentified plants. Across from him was a restless alternate member, lamenting his misfortune of ending up here and incredulous that he had been defeated by an ordinary person.

But thanks to the restless person opposite him, he had gained a deeper understanding of the vines and thorns.

If your skin was cut by them, your Psychic Energy would be rapidly drained.

Without Psychic Energy, they wouldn’t be any different from ordinary people, and given their long-term reliance on Psychic Energy, they might fare worse than ordinary people when facing the current predicament.

In the past few hours, the person in the opposite cell had planned 3 escape attempts, all of which had failed without exception. He not only failed to make it even a step outside his cell but also had densely packed wounds on his arms and legs. The liquid secreted by the plants rapidly scabbed over the wounds, preventing him from bleeding to death.

However, from the current situation, these plants seemed to be merely preserving their food, so they wouldn’t die in their cells before being truly consumed.

"Li Youqian, why were you captured too?"

Seeing that any attempt to escape the cage was futile, the person across shouted at Li Youqian.

"For the same reason as you."

"No, it’s not the same. Since you claim you can foresee the future, why did you fall into their trap?"

"A future that’s been foreseen cannot be changed."

Li Youqian had lost count of how many times he had stressed this.

If he had foreseen a future of being captured, then even if he had Rose and Jasmine standing guard beside him, he would ultimately be brought here due to some irresistible factors.

That is "fate."

The only difference between him and these people was that he had long been prepared for "fate," so he calmly accepted his failure.

"You can still use your abilities, right? What will happen next?"

"I don’t know."

Li Youqian shook his head.

When he had been thrown into the cell, Li Youqian indeed broke the "limit" he had set for himself and peered into the trajectory of "fate," which told him what would happen to them, or rather, to the whole of The First Region next.

But he didn’t think it was the answer the others in the cell wanted to hear.

"Bad luck, that’s the direction our fortune is heading."