Chapter 101: The Eye of Nightmares

Xie Liu suddenly opened his eyes and found himself standing before a door yet to be opened, his hand still resting on its surface, as if time itself had frozen at the moment he first entered the town.

His hand paused on the door, and from the opposite room came a heartrending scream. Frowning, Xie Liu turned to see a somewhat short man clutching his head as he burst out from a second-floor window across the street, shattering the balcony railing and tumbling down to the street behind Xie Liu. Still holding his head, the man rolled on the ground, wailing in agony.

"No, don't come any closer! Stay away!" the man cried, flailing desperately in an attempt to escape. Having fallen unexpectedly from the second floor, even with bodily enhancements, the impact was brutal enough that he could not rise for the moment.

Xie Liu withdrew his hand from the door and strode toward the man, who continued to writhe on the street until Xie Liu stopped beside him. Now, the man shook uncontrollably, terror-stricken.

"Did he just see the Grim Reaper?" Xie Liu noted the man's eyes, wide with terror, as if he were about to die of fright. "A member of the Nightmare Squad," Xie Liu thought, recognizing the insignia on the man's chest.

He drew the Desert Eagle from his hip and leveled it at the man's head. Before he could fire, movement in a room a hundred meters distant caught the corner of his eye.

Without hesitation, Xie Liu bolted for a nearby house, taking cover behind a wall just as a gunshot echoed from afar. He felt the ground behind him violently upended; a bullet plowed a several-meter-long furrow in the earth.

He had taken cover just in time, but the Nightmare Squad member sprawled on the ground was not so lucky. Swept by the bullet's shockwave, his body was torn in two.

Xie Liu clicked his tongue. "Such power, at least a level-four round." Clearly, their opponent was a ruthless sniper—a troublesome adversary indeed. As he pondered, the overhead broadcast announced Nightmare Squad's elimination; it seemed their last psychic had just been killed.

Xie Liu slung his sniper rifle from his back, loaded a fresh round, and saw his comrades running up the street. He waved sharply, "Go back!"

But it was too late. Ye Ling, at the forefront, was struck on the shoulder by a burst of white mist and fell to the ground.

"Damn it!" Xie Liu cursed, poking his rifle around the corner. In the darkness, he saw the distant sniper shift position after scoring a hit. Xie Liu fired instinctively; the man staggered and fell, but the bullet missed, grazing his back.

Swiftly, Xie Liu reloaded. He saw Gong Hou and the others hoist Ye Ling up and hurry to join him beneath the house.

"How is she?" Xie Liu risked a glance from behind cover; the sniper was nowhere to be seen. He quickly withdrew—staying put meant poking his head out would make him an easy target.

Lin Yang pressed on Ye Ling's wounded shoulder. "It's not critical. Ye Ling's own abilities are kicking in. She'll be fine in under two hours—nothing to worry about."

Curiously, though external bodies lacked some of the original's capabilities, their regenerative powers were unexpectedly robust.

The group slipped into the house from the side and laid Ye Ling on the sofa. Outside, the night was utterly black, without a hint of light. Lin Yang tended to Ye Ling, who, tough as she was, hadn't uttered a word of pain since being shot.

Ye Ling knew they were surrounded by enemies and dared not make a sound; steeling herself, she endured the cold sweat and searing pain in silence.

"You're lucky," Xie Liu analyzed, "He used a level-four round earlier, which should have overheated his barrel. He didn't dare fire another powerful shot, so the bullet that hit you was only level one, and the barrel's instability spared your life."

Indeed, Xie Liu was a qualified sniper. Coupled with his mutated eyes, he was a sharpshooter.

"But I've lost the enemy's position, and they seem to have infrared countermeasures. My level-four power can't pinpoint them. With level five, I could estimate their location, but not precisely." He sat with his sniper rifle on the balcony floor, his eyes glowing an eerie violet in the night.

"Xie Liu, what just happened? Your eyes turned purple—a new color I've never seen. Did something happen?" Lin Yang asked as he tended to Ye Ling.

Xie Liu paused, then shook his head. "Nothing much. I was attacked by a psychic, but my ability broke through. I don't know if this breakthrough will work outside."

"A breakthrough just means you've acquired a new ability formula. Even for physical mutants, it's the same. I think you'll be able to use it outside, though you'll need time to adapt your body."

Xie Liu nodded, glancing at the faint light screen not far behind him. "We don't have much time. The next contraction of the battlefield will be deadly for us. How much time is left?"

Lin Yang looked at the ancient clock on the wall. "Not entirely sure. About an hour and a half."

"There are at least three enemies left in this town. More may have entered after nightfall. If we can't deal with them in this time, we won't be able to move forward."

"Can't we just ignore them?" Lin Yang asked.

Xie Liu shook his head. "If there wasn't a sniper among them, we could try to cross straight to the city. But now, would you dare expose yourself to a sniper?"

"Not until the end—I'd never risk running through the toxic field."

Xie Liu closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the violet light had faded; his eyes returned to normal.

Meanwhile, Gong Hou, Xu Xiong, and Li Shizhu came up from downstairs.

"We searched the nearby houses—got lucky, they hadn't been looted yet." Gong Hou hefted a large box. "Found a bunch of useful stuff and assembly materials."

"This is a kinetic grenade—rare to see. They say even a level-ten could be killed by it, though I don't know if that's true," Gong Hou mused, fiddling with a grenade the size of a human head.

Xie Liu snatched it away. "Careful! This thing's still in development; one mistake and we all go up in smoke. It really could kill a level-ten." He inspected it thoroughly, then carefully wrapped it in cloth and handed it back to Gong Hou.

"What else did you find?" Xie Liu asked.

Xu Xiong waved a laptop. "Found this notebook loaded with data."

"By the way, we checked up on your power," Xu Xiong said, opening the laptop. He entered Xie Liu's ability parameters and turned the screen.

"Your ability is called the Eye of Nightmares—a rather lackluster variant among level-six mutated eyes. Generally, mutated eye abilities develop between levels four and six." Xu Xiong looked up from the data.

"That's three consecutive low-level awakenings for you. Keep this up, and you'll be useless."

Xie Liu was unconcerned. "Just tell me the traits. Spare me the useless details."

Xu Xiong nodded and read from the screen. "Let's see. The Eye of Nightmares was first discovered one hundred and twenty-two years ago, originating in ocular mutants. It's generally believed to be an evolutionary response triggered by psychic attacks. It manifests at level four at lowest, level six at highest. A level-seven variant has been identified—the Phantasmal Eye.

"It's one of the few abilities that can further evolve. At level seven, the Eye of Nightmares can ascend once more." Xu Xiong nodded and continued reading.

"The Eye of Nightmares is a spiritual ability, turning the user's eyes silver-gray or violet. In violet mode, the user can activate other ocular abilities. The main effect is to disrupt an opponent's nervous and visual systems through eye contact.

"Usage: First, eye contact can induce false hallucinations. Second, it can leave persistent psychological effects, typically through dreams or subliminal suggestion. Third, extended eye contact may result in hypnosis.

"Defense: First, avoid direct eye contact. Second, use stimulants to break its influence. Third, seek high-level psychics to dispel its effects." Xu Xiong finished reading the description, and they saw the last line.

"The Eye of Nightmares is extremely dangerous. Its influence is rarely direct, instead subtly altering thoughts and minds, even turning foes into friends. In this aspect, it surpasses even level-ten abilities. However, its practical utility is limited, and as anti-intrusion technology advances, it has become less effective. Overall rating: D."

After Xu Xiong finished reading, Xie Liu sighed and shook his head with a wry smile. "Well, it's not especially strong, but it's better than nothing. Used right, can't it be as good as a level-ten power?"

"Right now, we should focus on dealing with the remaining enemies and getting out of here, shouldn't we?" Xie Liu wasn't upset that he'd awakened a so-called lackluster ability. His strength had never relied solely on ocular powers—they were merely supportive, and that was enough. Besides, acquiring this power was his own wish.

"There are more gadgets here—let's check them out, then discuss our escape plan," Xu Xiong said, laying out the rest of the gear before them.