Chapter 230: Mental Pollution
The murmurs from the depths of the universe made Robert and the others feel as if they were seeing the vast galaxy, seeing truths mankind had never understood and never witnessed.
Those truths made them feel the insignificance of all things.
They made everything they had experienced in the past seem utterly unworthy of mention.
Just as Robert, Jackson, and the others were sinking deeper—
The murmurs suddenly stopped.
In their place came the crisp sound of shattering glass. Clear and sharp, yet like an evening bell and morning drum, deafening as it exploded beside their ears.
Crack!!
The instant they heard that sound, the cloudiness in Robert's, Jackson's, and the others' eyes faded away, replaced by clarity.
Their blurred consciousness and thoughts returned. The men were like drowning people finally breaking through the water's surface, gasping frantically for air.
Some even could not help clutching their throats with one hand, bending over as they coughed violently.
The disgusting dizziness still echoed through their minds.
Robert was the most alert. Forcing down the nausea and vertigo, he raised his head and looked ahead.
The mysterious person they had seen earlier was now being held by the neck and lifted into the air.
The one holding him was a very pretty and delicate young Asian girl.
She wore a jacket, T-shirt, and jeans that looked completely out of place in this environment. On her hand was a black leather glove, with exquisitely beautiful patterns on it.
Beside her stood another pretty black-haired white girl.
"What exactly are you?"
Skye frowned as she looked at the man whose neck she was gripping. The sickening tentacles covering his face writhed incessantly, and an indescribable power emanating from his body made her deeply uncomfortable.
"The stars are aligning, and He shall awaken. The abyss whispers, and we shall break free from the shackles of soul and flesh." A hoarse, low voice, like that of an unconscious puppet, came from the other person's mouth.
Even while being strangled by the neck, he showed not the slightest fear. Or rather, its consciousness and thoughts had long since ceased to exist.
As he spoke, the spiritual fluctuations carried by those murmurs and whispers spread toward Skye and Jessica.
Both of their expressions changed.
They could feel their minds being eroded by some mysterious force. Or rather, an unseen power was trying to tear at their minds and drag them into the abyss.
That was not a power humans should possess.
It was a power from a higher dimension.
Even so, this force could not shake Skye's or Jessica's spirits.
The level of existence they had reached had long since surpassed the limits of ordinary humans.
Damn it!
Almost without hesitation, a ball of white light suddenly enveloped Skye's hand, filled with violent vibrational power.
The light expanded wildly, eventually engulfing the man's body. The surging force of the vibrations completely shattered him.
But even as his body was shattered, the man showed not the slightest change in expression. Instead, he gave Jessica and Skye a horrifying smile.
In the end, he completely broke apart—shattered at the molecular level until he vanished without a trace.
And that power did not spread to any other area.
This showed just how terrifying Skye's control had become over the Tremor-Tremor Fruit combined with her own shockwave energy.
Robert, Jackson, and the other small-town officers witnessed the entire scene with their own eyes, and their eyes nearly popped out.
If they were talking about horror, then this beautiful Asian girl in front of them seemed no less terrifying than that cultist with strange powers.
A living, breathing person had disappeared just like that.
They had seen it clearly—the man's flesh and body had split into countless tiny points before finally vanishing.
Skye had no time to pay attention to Robert and the others. Because she realized that she and Jessica had been surrounded.
Dense, unconcealed footsteps came from every direction.
Jessica swept out with Observation Haki and discovered that the number of people surrounding them had already exceeded three hundred.
And their speed was surprisingly fast.
Soon, even Robert and the others, who still did not understand what was happening, saw groups of figures slowly emerging from the dense forest.
Among them were quite a few people they knew. Most of them were residents of St. Elmo.
Their eyes were clouded, and their faces were covered with varying numbers of tentacles.
They stared fixedly at them.
Skye and Jessica's figures suddenly vanished from where they stood. One appeared in front, the other behind, shielding Robert and the others between them.
The clothes they wore burst into flames. Amid the fire, red windbreakers, white shirts, leather pants, and Martin boots emerged.
This outfit looked familiar to Robert and the others no matter how they looked at it.
Especially when they noticed the raven emblem carved onto the shoulders of the two women's red windbreakers, a thought flashed through their minds like lightning.
Raven soldiers.
Astartes and Raven—these two names were no longer unfamiliar across the world.
Especially after the Sokovia incident, the names of the three Warbands—Astartes, Raven, and Grey Knights—had already become known to more than two million people from top to bottom.
Once enough people knew something, it was no longer a secret.
Of course, as Emperor, Matthew did not mind the names of the three Warbandsspreading. Otherwise, if he wanted to keep it secret, a single order from him would be enough. No one in Terra, from top to bottom, would reveal even the slightest detail.
"You're Raven soldiers!" Robert cried out involuntarily.
"Hey, guys. Hello."
Jessica replied without turning her head.
"Skye?"
"Take them down."
"No!"
The moment Robert heard that, he immediately became nervous and hurriedly said, "Some of them are residents of our town. They were just bewitched."
"Yeah, we know. But we have to subdue them first. We're not good at removing abnormal statuses."
Jessica turned back and gave Robert and the others a reassuring look.
Then she abruptly vanished from where she stood.
Skye did the same. Like streaks of red lightning, the two figures wove through the snow-covered mountain forest. There were no screams, no wails.
Only the dull thuds of impact echoed through the forest as one expressionless figure after another collapsed to the ground.
In just a few seconds, all three hundred-plus people who had surrounded them had lost consciousness and lay sprawled across the ground.
It all happened so quickly that by the time Robert and the others came to their senses, it was already over.
"Wow. Now this is trouble. There are a bit too many people."
Jessica and Skye reappeared in front of Robert and the others. Jessica shook her hand, and the Armament Haki receded from her black leather glove.
Without Armament Haki, knocking them all out wouldn't have been so easy.
Those people had serious problems with their minds. After their spirits were polluted, she and Skye had to use the will impact of Armament Haki to shatter that strange mental pollution.
Otherwise, for these people, there was simply no such concept as fainting.
"We're not good at this part. We need to call someone."
Skye nodded and raised her wristwatch. "Contact the Grey Knights Commander and Instructor Mordo. We need them to come take a look."
"Connecting, please standby."
Half a minute later, a sparking portal materialized before the group.
...
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