Everyone Can Hear My Thoughts, and Now They're Panicking

「A little over ten minutes earlier.」

"Honey, is it really okay for us to just leave like this?" the woman asked nervously.

Alan Wallace held his daughter as he walked. "What’s not okay? Didn’t I have someone pass on a message?"

"You know that’s not what I’m talking about..."

Alan Wallace stopped. "Even if you want to be a bleeding heart, you have to consider if you can even handle it. They were shouting and smashing things. What if they scared our daughter?"

The woman fell silent.

Alan Wallace continued, speaking as if to himself, "I know you think that Miss Lancaster is a good person, but the things she’s done are pretty terrifying... After all, she has two lives on her hands."

Whether it was a person’s life or a dog’s, it was still terribly unlucky.

"But Miss Lancaster said we’d face a bloody disaster tonight and that we needed them to escort us home safely," the woman said in a small voice.

Alan Wallace was dismissive. "You’re listening to her nonsense. Do you really think she’s some kind of master fortune-teller?"

After Ronald Hughes left, Jane Lancaster had casually mentioned she could read faces. She had a whole spiel, but he’d just let it go in one ear and out the other.

He hadn’t expected his wife to actually believe her. Honestly, she wasn’t wary at all.

He admitted that Jane Lancaster wasn’t a bad person. She had even spoken up for them, which was how he’d successfully connected with the Hughes Family in Solara.

Ronald Hughes had just told him that the Hughes Family in Solara had already arranged for a renowned doctor and that his family should bring their child to Solara for a consultation in half a month.

He couldn’t afford to offend anyone right now, so of course he couldn’t stay there and carelessly pick a side.

What if he offended Jim Jenson? Jenson was on good terms with the Hughes Family in Solara. What if he made one phone call and ruined the whole thing?

The couple walked to the parking lot, where an elderly woman waiting in the car called out anxiously, "Oh, you’re finally back!"

The two of them stopped talking, got into the car, and settled in. The engine started soon after.

Jasper Sterling had told his driver to be on standby, and now it was coming in handy.

The two of them got into the car, which sped off in the direction Alan Wallace and his wife had gone.

Jane Lancaster kept wondering if the vicious dog attack was a coincidence or an inevitability.

Was the victim specifically targeted, or was it a random choice by the perpetrator?

It was like the stabbing incident at the hospital before. On the surface, it seemed like Claire Sheffield had been randomly chosen by the attacker. After all, the police couldn’t find any connection between him and the assailant, and with the attacker dead, the case was a dead end.

But in reality, Claire Sheffield had been the specific target. The killer had been after him from the start.

Even if Claire Sheffield’s shift had been changed, another victim would have just appeared in his place. The incident wouldn’t have just been averted.

If she couldn’t figure out the motive, all her efforts would probably be for nothing.

The information from the novel was limited. It seemed that because no one died, or perhaps because the victim’s family wasn’t tragic enough, the incident wasn’t considered worthy of attention.

She knew the time, place, and people involved, but she couldn’t be sure if changing the time or place would prevent the incident from happening.

Now she had her confirmation: it was bound to happen no matter what.

About a kilometer down the road, they spotted a broken-down car on a small side street.

Alan Wallace had the hood open and was completely absorbed in trying to fix it.

Jane Lancaster rushed over and slapped him on the shoulder. "Where are your wife and child? Tell me! Now!"

Alan Wallace jumped, startled. He was first embarrassed, then felt a little offended.

’Why is she interrogating me like I’m a criminal? This is ridiculous!’

Jane grew impatient and grabbed him by the collar. "Where are your wife and child?"

"They—they went to find a bathroom! My daughter said her stomach hurt, so my wife took her somewhere to relieve herself!"

He’d even told his wife to go a little further in so no one would see them, which would look bad.

Jane dashed down the path he was pointing to.

Jasper Sterling, terrified something would happen to her, followed right behind.

His driver got out of the car as well. With his agile movements, he looked more like a bodyguard.

Alan Wallace noticed that all three of them were carrying weapons. To his shock, Jane Lancaster, who was at the front, was even holding a knife.

He was horrified, but then a realization hit him. Without even taking the time to wake the sleeping old woman, he grabbed a wrench and ran after them.

The woman carefully helped her child pull up her pants, then took her hand, ready to head back.

"WOOF!" Hearing a bark behind her, she glanced back. Three dogs were charging toward them from a distance, clearly excited.

She felt a little embarrassed. The dogs were probably rushing over because they’d smelled the poop.

Before she and her husband had their daughter, they’d also owned a dog. Whenever their neighbor’s kid pooped, the neighbor would deliberately call their dog over to eat it.

That silly dog would get filthy every time. Her husband would curse up a storm in anger while having to stomach his disgust and give the dog a bath.

Worried her child would be scared, she picked her up. But just as she was about to leave, she suddenly realized something was wrong.

The dogs were charging straight for her and her daughter.

Terrified, she clutched her daughter and ran for it, but how could a person outrun a dog?

The three dogs quickly caught up, taking turns attacking and biting. The woman frantically kicked at them. "Get away! Get away! Help! Help me!"

In the distance, a man in a leather jacket ran over, but he hesitated for a moment before turning and running away.

A flicker of hope had just sparked in the woman’s heart, only to be instantly extinguished.

In a moment of distraction, she was tackled to the ground. The next second, a searing pain tore through her thigh.

Seeing one of the dogs pounce toward her child, her heart shattered. "My baby!!"

Jane Lancaster arrived at that exact moment. She dove for the dog without hesitation. "Jasper, save the child!"

In the blink of an eye, the dog sank its teeth into Jane’s arm.

Jasper’s heart nearly stopped. He almost lost his composure, but he forced himself to think rationally, picking up the child first before helping the woman up from the ground.

Thankfully, the bodyguard arrived just in time and kicked away the dog that was attacking Jane.

Jane scrambled to her feet. She had deliberately worn a thick jacket over her dress, but the fabric was still torn by the dog’s sharp teeth.

System: [Iron Walls and Bronze Ramparts item is now active. Time remaining: 2 minutes. Countdown initiated.]

Jane sneered.

’You damn thing, you’re messing with me again.’

But the dog hadn’t gotten off easy. She had stabbed its front leg, hindering its movement.

Even so, the dog still bared its teeth viciously and lunged at her several more times.

’Still, two minutes should be enough time.’

Jane looked at the three dogs, which had only grown more ferocious after the initial clash. A murderous glint filled her eyes.

"Boss, these aren’t ordinary dogs!" the bodyguard said, using a club to beat back the lunging animals several times, but it seemed to have little effect.

"I can’t tell what breed they are, but they’re definitely aggressive. Who on earth raised these things?"

Jane replied, "What else could they be? They’re crossbreeds of several aggressive types. Of course you can’t tell what they are, but that just makes them even more vicious."

Jasper saw it too. "Not a single one of these dogs can be left alive."

He frowned. Holding the child and protecting the woman, his hands were tied. He was too constrained to join the fight.

Alan Wallace came stumbling over. When he saw the scene before him, he nearly fainted from fright.

"Honey!! My baby!!"

Jasper, however, was overjoyed to see him. He cleared a path for the man to rush in and shoved the child into his arms. "Protect your daughter!"