Chapter 2780: The Mysterious Man

Chapter 2780: Chapter 2780: The Mysterious Man

"You’re saying that after Lillian Tompson left Demarco Mount, she didn’t do anything at all—just walked straight to the riverbank, waited there for a while, and then suddenly fainted?"

Julius Reed pressed him with a question.

"I don’t have an answer yet, but that’s what the current deduction looks like."

Shadow Kims himself knew there was a sense of helplessness to this whole matter.

Because it was tied to whether that fake necklace had really been sent by Silvio Reed.

And it was also a scheme against Julius Reed and Longwu; Shadow Kims knew Lillian Tompson’s secret was extremely critical.

But after doing everything he could, the conclusion he’d reached was exactly what Julius Reed had just said.

"Mr. Reed, please trust me—I’m not wrong. Within a radius of dozens of kilometers, aside from our patrol unit, there are only traces of Hiddy. If you want to investigate, the only possible suspects are the patrol unit."

Shadow Kims pointed at those men. "But I’ve already checked all of them—no problems whatsoever."

He could do nothing more.

"I trust our own brothers. But Lillian Tompson fainting for no reason at all—do you really think that’s possible?"

Julius Reed waved his hand, and the patrol unit withdrew quickly.

Only Shadow Kims remained.

"Her soul has been lost." Julius Reed spoke in a low voice. "Without a soul, without Telekinesis, she’s basically a vegetable now."

"What? You mean the reason Lillian Tompson is in a coma... is that someone took her Telekinesis?" Shadow Kims was a martial arts scholar, and after spending so long with Julius Reed, he naturally understood this sort of thing.

If it really was like that.

Then the only explanation was that someone had stripped Lillian Tompson of her Telekinesis.

"I’ll re-investigate the patrol unit." He drew a deep breath. "My equipment is highly advanced. There is absolutely no way anyone else passed through that area. Mr. Reed, I can guarantee that."

"No. I listened to the hearts of the patrol men—none of them were lying."

Julius Reed shook his head as he spoke, looking down at the stack of data before him.

Lillian Tompson had undergone a full physical exam, but they hadn’t found any cause for the coma.

Her vital signs were gradually declining, but not severely.

That fit the symptoms of Telekinesis being stolen perfectly.

The examination report showed that Lillian Tompson didn’t even have any injuries.

Her body was completely intact.

Extremely healthy.

Her internal organs were all fine as well.

The only issue was that the experts couldn’t figure out why she had fallen into a coma.

"What’s the principle behind your devices?"

Julius Reed studied the photos above as he asked.

"As long as it’s a human being, they will breathe, and their body will shed tissue. My instruments are incredibly precise; they can detect any possible presence of objects infused with Spiritual Power in the vicinity."

Shadow Kims spoke with full confidence. "As long as someone walks, they leave traces on the ground, leave a scent. Anything humans possess, my instruments will detect."

"No one can move without leaving traces. Not even you. As long as you speak or breathe, bodily tissue will shed, Spiritual Power will leak, and traces will be left behind."

Shadow Kims pondered for a moment. "Why don’t you run a test?"

"What about werewolves?" Julius Reed trusted that Shadow Kims wouldn’t speak so boldly unless he was absolutely certain.

Suddenly, he thought of the werewolves from back then.

That special existence—werewolves weren’t human, yet they were stronger than humans.

Could it have been a werewolf?

"Impossible. Werewolves are also people of a kind; they possess Spiritual Power, and they lack human intelligence, making them even more prone to leaving traces."

Shadow Kims rejected the idea outright. "Absolutely impossible!"

"Then... what about water?"

Julius Reed pointed at the photos. "If that person was in the water, could you detect them?"

"This..." Shadow Kims was momentarily speechless. He suddenly slapped his forehead. "Right, how did I not think of that! Water is constantly flowing, so that Spiritual Power would be dispersed!"

He turned around, pulled out his phone, and immediately dialed a number.

"According to the report I left in the lab earlier, find the time I deduced for Lillian Tompson’s fainting. Follow the river downstream and calculate the water speed for me!"

"Right now, get people on planes, locate the approximate position, and for an hour before and after that time, you must collect water samples from there and analyze them! As soon as you have a report, inform me immediately!"

"Mr. Reed, I’ve already sent people out." Shadow Kims spoke with some embarrassment. "I neglected it. At the riverbank, I actually overlooked the most crucial thing—the water."

"It’s fine. As long as we can track it down, it’s not a problem."

Julius Reed glanced at his watch and asked, "How long will it take?"

"An hour at most."

Shadow Kims checked his own watch as well, then issued a strict order to his men.

After going over the report, Julius Reed still decided to head to the riverbank himself.

After all, that was the scene of the incident.

The spot where Lillian Tompson had fainted by the river was several dozen li from here.

Demarco Mount was enormous.

So finding Lillian Tompson had taken quite some time.

Standing at the riverbank, Julius Reed started a stopwatch, attempting to return to the moment in the past.

But he failed.

The time interval was too long; it would consume an immense amount of power.

And if that kind of power was mismanaged, it could cause a collapse of time itself.

Even Julius Reed didn’t know what the consequences of that would be.

"I’ve got news over here."

Shadow Kims picked up the phone in excitement, but after he answered, his expression turned very ugly.

"We’ve checked everything—hundreds of people deployed—but there’s not a single trace. I’ve ordered them to retreat upstream, and I’m sending another team further downstream. We’re checking every stretch along the way!"

Shadow Kims felt extremely frustrated.

He wanted to help, but he just couldn’t solve the problem.

"That’ll take too long, and it won’t get results." Julius Reed stood at the place where Lillian Tompson had fainted and tried to picture what things looked like when she had been standing here.

Then he simply leaped forward!

And plunged directly into the river!

Boom!

The calm surface exploded!

A man shot up instantly, a blade in his hand!

Clang! Clang!

Julius Reed’s Nine Provinces Crown King Sword met the other man’s weapon head-on!

The air filled with shockwaves and sparks.

"So you really were here! Hand over the Telekinesis!"

Julius Reed formed a one-handed seal!

He directly cast a Formation!

Boom!

A radiant grand array like the Celestial River descended from the sky like a great net!

It enveloped the man at its center!

"I’ll give you one last chance. If you don’t hand over that Telekinesis, I’ll annihilate you, body and soul!"

Julius Reed sneered. "You didn’t leave. You were waiting for me, weren’t you?"

"Correct. I was waiting for you. You’re very smart."

The man wore a bamboo hat, his face obscured, but the killing intent rolling off him was in no way inferior to those at the Emperor-tier.

The most crucial point: this man was not at the Emperor-tier.

"If you want to recover that fragmented soul, I need you to do something for me." The Swordsman spoke without expression. "Kill those Emperor-tier experts, inject their fragmented souls into the crown, and then hand the crown over to me."

"You’re very confident." Julius Reed smiled faintly. "She’s just an ordinary woman at my side."

"No. She has nothing to do with being a woman. This has to do with you."

The Swordsman swung his blade horizontally!

Boom!

The Formation shattered instantly!

The Swordsman departed in effortless style.

"Indeed, now he’s caught my interest."

Julius Reed narrowed his eyes, staring in the direction where the Swordsman had vanished.