I! Cleaner!
Chapter 189 - 189: 0164 True·Heartbeat Moment_1

He neither attacked nor ran away? Quite cautious indeed.

Feeling the heartbeat on the main stage that was getting faster but still not moving and staying in place, an old man among the guests, dressed slightly shabbily and with a face full of pain, raised an eyebrow in surprise.

His ability temporarily "enhanced" the heart of everyone within range, accelerating their blood circulation.

If the opponent became overly tense or retreated immediately when sensing danger, the enhanced heart would receive double stimulation, causing the blood flow to surpass the body's limit, rendering them incapable of resisting.

In simple terms, the faster someone moved within his ability's range, the quicker they would fall, just like the two old men from the Ryan Family.

During the ten minutes his ability slowly took effect, they ran around, chatted with guests, and chased the target back and forth twice. Emotionally, they were continuously stimulated, combined with their poor health due to old age, so they collapsed even before his ability fully activated.

Yet the target on stage, although affected by his ability, had a heart less impacted than others, at about seventy percent. Combined with a physique slightly above an ordinary person's, he had not yet lost his ability to act...

"Seems I'll have to apply more pressure!"

*Apologizing to his companions internally,* the shabby old man applied pressure with his palm on his own chest, causing his frail body to tremble.

Simultaneously, the whole hall of people shivered along with him.

"No... I can't anymore..."

"Help... Help..."

"I don't want to die!"

Since everyone's physical strength varied, some could still lean against pillars or other objects to barely stand. However, under the sudden rush of blood to the brain, they all clutched their chests and fell, unable even to plea for help.

Now, Leon was the only one still standing in the entire hall.

...

Success!

Feeling the heart on stage racing towards its limit, the shabby old man couldn't help but smile subtly.

Even if you saw through my ability and knew the more you move, the quicker you fall, it did not matter. Whether you ran or not, you would still collapse from holding out!

"Step, step, step."

Hearing footsteps suddenly echoing from the stage, feeling the heart finally moving, the shabby old man smiled knowingly.

*"Finally losing composure?"*

Unfortunately, it's too late. Although my ability is highly limited, not only in small range, lengthy activation time, and indiscriminate of friend or foe, failing to escape immediately upon sensing abnormality means you've already lost!

"Tap."

Surprisingly, the footsteps on the stage didn't last long or even leave the main stage at all, stopping instead at a spot suitable for addressing everyone present.

"Ladies and gentlemen."

Glancing at the guests below, confirming they'd mostly lost mobility, Leon took a deep breath and loudly asked,

"Why don't you rise and salute the Prince?"

???

*Are you mad?*

Hearing Leon's question, the shabby old man hiding among the guests almost laughed aloud.

These people were under his ability, their hearts almost driven to death; how could they stand and salute now? At this moment, he thought only he who wielded the ability could...

Wait? Only I can stand now?!

Realizing something was amiss, the shabby old man trembled, eyes filled with terror, wishing he could go deaf.

But it was too late.

As Leon's words fell, the shabby old man, previously lying in pain, suddenly released the hand pressed to his heart, sprang up from the carpet, and respectfully bowed to the target he planned to assassinate, face full of fear.

"Greetings, Pr..."

"Bang!"

The shabby old man, just standing, seemed grabbed by an invisible giant hand and bent backward at a sharp angle, hitting his head with a "bang" and passing out.

...

"Seems it's him."

Feeling his heartbeat stabilize and confirming the anomalous object causing it to accelerate had stopped, Leon's frowning brow finally relaxed.

Beckoning to the fallen shabby old man with his fingers, he used the power of the Holy Spirit pendant to drag him over and searched his body, finally finding a hard metallic object near his heart.

[Name: Heartbeat Moment (Enhance, Synchronize)]

[Appearance: A pacemaker made from flexible brass embedded in the chest cavity of a patient, driven by high-concentration whale oil injections at regular intervals, with an extremely intricate internal structure.

If you listen closely, you should hear the hiss of a micro-steam engine operating and the meshing sound of dozens of micro-rods driving gears.]

[Ability: Heart Enhancement, Heartbeat Synchronization]

[Cost: None]

[File: A precision instrument smuggled from Croak, the City of Machinery, to help patients with congenital weak hearts maintain their heartbeat. Just the material cost is enough to buy a hundred-acre sugar cane plantation.

Due to its exorbitant cost, each user gains a healthy body and escapes death from a weak heart but cannot avoid the greed of marauders.]

[Evaluation: Although this anomalous object's ability is extremely concealed and nearly impossible to detect, if you don't have a heart several times weaker than normal, it's advised not to use it.]

[Contamination Value: 2.5]

[Through personal observation and summarization, you've gained a lot of intelligence on "Heartbeat Moment," activating the heterogeneous badge "Materialist Soul (Crimson)."

Understanding the activation rules of "Heartbeat Moment" greatly increased your resistance to this anomalous object, allowing you to block its deeper influences.]

...

*So... its ability is to first enhance its heart, then forcibly synchronize all hearts within range?*

Tearing open the shabby old man's shirt to look at the complex and intricate device, Leon hesitated but refrained from removing it. Instead, he took a rope and tied the unconscious man up.

Instructing the Black Goat to keep watch for abnormalities and to notify him immediately if anything arose, Leon took out the [Plague-Infected Blood Band] obtained from a female prisoner, first wrapping it around the man's leg to temporarily deprive him of leg health, then around the back of his head to heal his head injury.

"Ah! My... um?"

After his concussion healed, the groggy shabby old man felt sharp pain in his leg but couldn't scream as a salty old rag was stuffed into his mouth.

"I have a question for you."

Tossing the other sock into his portable mirror, Leon, with one shoe back on, looked at the despairing man and asked rapidly,

"Are your accomplices nearby?"

"Indeed, there are more... So including you, how many rebels possessing anomalous objects are around? One? Two? Three?"

"Only two people? Then..."