Chapter 82

Small arms, yet they burst forth with the strength to strangle an adult.

The man suffocated to death, lying by the bed, his face frozen in a look of terror and confusion.

The little girl, Dodo, who had strangled him, and the woman holding an ashtray stood beside the man's corpse, looking down at it.

Their faces were filled with smiles, their natural demeanor and behavior starkly out of place with the "murder scene" before them.

It seemed that in their minds, there was no cruel reality of using an ashtray to attack a husband or using their arms to strangle a father.

This was a typical phenomenon of a manipulation-type ability.

Depending on the type of manipulation ability, the memory and consciousness of the controlled target would be deleted or altered to a certain extent under the influence of the ability.

Moyu, who had already returned to the room, saw this scene through the shadow.

"Is it a manipulation-type ability?"

Moyu's eyes narrowed slightly.

"But, I didn't see any psychic power..."

The bizarre and peculiar scene instantly raised many doubts in Moyu's mind.

How could an ordinary little girl, no more than six years old, possibly have the strength to strangle an adult?

Unless a manipulation-type psychic ability user controlled the little girl and then applied psychic power to her, giving her a strength far beyond her own.

But the problem was—

When the little girl was strangling the man, there was no sign of psychic power on her body.

Moyu kept his doubts.

Then, through the shadow's ability to share its field of vision, he saw a shocking scene, his pupils suddenly constricting.

At this moment.

Inside the room of the family of three.

A blinding flash of lightning suddenly erupted from the man's corpse, but it vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving behind only a black, human-shaped burn mark on the ground.

And the man, who had suffocated to death, was now standing alive and well beside the burn mark.

He turned and walked toward the bathroom, saying as he went, "Honey, it's late, get Dodo to bed quickly."

"Got it."

The woman responded, preparing to put her daughter to bed, but suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

"Why do I have an ashtray in my hand?"

She looked at the heavy ashtray in her hand, puzzled, and frowned. "It's so heavy."

She quickly used both hands to lift the ashtray, making it less strenuous.

But she had no memory of when she had picked up the ashtray.

"Mom, I want to hear the story of the mushroom house."

Dodo climbed onto the bed, her face full of anticipation.

"Only once, okay."

Hearing Dodo's words, the woman didn't think much of it, put the ashtray back on the table, and then sat down by the bed.

Dodo nodded obediently.

Neither they nor the man who had just walked into the bathroom seemed to notice the obvious human-shaped burn mark on the floor, as if nothing had happened.

At this moment, Moyu's face was filled with shock.

"Swamp Man..."

Seeing what happened in the room, Moyu immediately thought of the book "Swamp Man."

Lightning strike, human-shaped burn mark.

And the identical copy of a person.

These were all settings from the book "Swamp Man," now playing out in front of Moyu's eyes.

"Such a thing is actually possible..."

Moyu couldn't hide his shock.

He had indeed considered the possibility of the Swamp Man phenomenon occurring in the real world, but that idea was more of an unrealistic fantasy.

Even if the existence of "psychic power" could materialize imagination into reality, there was always a limit.

The ability phenomenon of Swamp Man, with its unlimited spreading characteristics, was hard to imagine how it could become reality.

Surprised, Moyu suddenly thought of the hurriedly dressed man in a suit he had encountered at the airport in Schwadani City.

Now that he thought about it, that was the first Swamp Man he had encountered.

No—

According to the content of the book "Swamp Man," only the protagonist who was struck by lightning in a swamp and "reborn" was called a Swamp Man, while the other human copies were called Swamp People or Swamps.

The man in the suit at the airport was the first Swamp Person Moyu had encountered, and those two days were the book signing event for "Swamp Man"...

So, was the author of Swamp Man, Davidson, a psychic ability user?

Did he use the content of the book "Swamp Man" as the basis for his ability and then spread this seemingly manipulation-type ability phenomenon?

There was another question...

"Why do I have the ability to 'identify' Swamp People?"

Moyu rubbed his forehead and muttered to himself, "Is it because of my 'Soul Resonance' ability?"

As a穿越者 (穿越者 means "穿越者" in Chinese, which can be translated as "穿越者" in English, but in this context, it means "a person who has traveled through time or dimensions") who understood information about psychic abilities, he would normally cultivate psychic abilities step by step, test his attributes, and then develop corresponding psychic abilities.

But because of the existence of the book "Swamp Man," Moyu, at a stage where he should have been laying a solid foundation, had a thought that sprouted, and like those who were naturally awakened, he naturally awakened his psychic ability without mastering the "release" technique.

In other words—

The birth of the Soul Resonance ability, in a certain sense, was related to the book "Swamp Man."

It might be the reason why Moyu could identify Swamp People, or perhaps...

"Or is it because I am..."

Moyu stopped speaking.

A穿越者 (穿越者) who had replaced the original body, in a certain sense, was also a replacement Swamp Man.

Was it this special identity that gave him the ability to identify Swamp People?

Moyu put down his hand, frowning deeply.

After a moment,

He shook his head, no longer thinking about his own uniqueness, and refocused his attention on the family of three.

"I did see psychic power when the lightning appeared."

Moyu recalled the sudden situation.

The blinding lightning lasted for less than a moment, but there was indeed a moment when psychic power was generated.

But after the lightning disappeared, the psychic power fluctuation also vanished.

There was no trace of psychic power on the bodies of the family of three, who had already become Swamp People.

In addition, Moyu noticed that—

The bloodstains on the ashtray and the bloodstains on the ground also disappeared after the lightning vanished.

The female Swamp Person's reaction to being puzzled about holding the ashtray indicated that under the effect of some ability, her memory had been deleted or altered.

The obvious human-shaped burn mark on the ground was ignored by the three Swamp People, indicating that their cognitive awareness had also been altered to a certain extent.

This phenomenon was more inclined to be a manipulation-type ability.

But what was most shocking was—

The Swamp People's ability to "steal" identities through "murder."

And after replacing the identity, they would completely inherit the thoughts and memories of the person they had stolen from.

"So... should I consider them as humans or Swamp People?"

Moyu's face showed a thoughtful expression.

The next day.

Moyu encountered the family of three in the corridor.

As usual, they were harmonious and exuded a happy aura that others envied.

But when Moyu passed by them, he could clearly sense the aura emanating from their bodies.

"..."

Moyu's face was expressionless.

At the same time.

The shadow clone infiltrated the room of the family of three.