Chapter 317: Time (1)

Mechguard units were very stiff and inflexible, but they certainly weren't to be underestimated. In particular, the land-based units were constructed entirely from alloys, and they were extremely formidable in both attack and defense.

Even if this mansion were a bona fide fortress, 32 Mechguard units would've certainly been enough to bring it down.

Adam led the Mechguard units to the mansion on the hill, and he was following the rules this time, so he naturally couldn't just instruct the Mechguard units to bombard the place. Instead, he pressed on the doorbell.

According to the regulations, if he rang the doorbell three times with no response, then he could instruct the flying Mechguard units to activate their infrared scanners to check if there were people inside. If there was no one inside, he would be able to apply for a level two search warrant. If there were people inside, but they refused to open the door, then he would be entitled to force his way into the building after three verbal warnings.

This was something that Adam had only learned in the past couple of days.

After being warned by the Dataist Union, he didn't dare to act recklessly anymore.

Inside the mansion...

Through the surveillance footage, the dozen or so security guards inside had already grasped the situation outside and passed on this information to the "Lamp Keeper".

"We've been completely surrounded, Boss. What do we do?"

The man who was being referred to as "Boss" was the man depicted in the image attached to the message that Adam had received, and his brows were furrowed tightly as he watched the surveillance footage as he weighed up his option, which was either to try and escape or face the Mechguard unit's head-on.

In the end, he arrived at a decision.

"Open the door..."

"But..."

"If we fight them, even if we win, it'll be very difficult for us to escape from the other Mechguard units in the area. Hence, it's better to meet him and see what he wants. I've heard of this Adam guy, he was the one who brought down the Compassion Company. I've been notified by the higher-ups not to touch him for now because he's very popular in the news, but seeing as he's come to me, there's certainly no reason for me to cower and hide."

"What are you planning to do?"

"I'm going to kill him."

"In front of all of those Mechguard units?"

"The programming of those Mechguard units doesn't have many configurations related to the psychic world. As long as we're not completely still and idle for a long period of time while under their scrutiny, they won't be able to determine anything. Even if that Adam dies, it'll be very difficult for the judge to make a clear ruling. As long as I can take this to court, everything will be fine."

Every single "Lamp Keeper" was an extremely important figure in the Guild of Immortality, and not only were they all extremely powerful, they also had close and inseverable ties to their higher-ups, so generally speaking, they wouldn't be abandoned or cut off.

As long as he could take this case to court, he would be able to slip safely off the hook.

𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Thus, the only problem was the situation that he was currently facing.

"There are safer ways to deal with this situation, Boss." The butler beside him clearly didn't think that a direct confrontation was the best option here. "We can report this to the higher-ups, and after that, all we have to do is wait. That Adam was able to get away from Hebi no Miko, so he's definitely not weak. We..."

"He's not that strong. I've seen footage of his fights, I can take care of him within 10 seconds."

Right as the Lamp Keeper opened the door of the room, Adam was already delivering verbal warnings.

"This is your second warning! Come out and comply with the authorities. Otherwise, we have the right to break in by force!"

"This is your third warning..."

Before Adam had a chance to finish his third warning, the metal gate of the mansion slowly opened, and a stocky middle-aged man emerged from within, accompanied by a group of security guards.

The middle-aged man made his way down the slope from the mansion to the gate, and as he approached Adam, he put on a surprised expression as he said, "My goodness, I didn't expect to be surrounded by Mechguard units out of the blue like this. May I ask what law I've broken, officer? By the way, you're Adam, that police officer that's frequently been on television recently, right? It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Herman Glenn."

Herman extended a hand forward as he spoke, looking as if he were offering Adam a handshake.

The gesture appeared to be quite a friendly one, but Adam could sense a hint of provocation through his telegnosis.

"What are you doing?" Adam asked, even though he already knew the answer.

He was certain that this man was an adapter.

However, the mansion was completely surrounded by Mechguard units, and even if Herman were to invade his psychic world, Adam was confident that he would at least be able to last several minutes in a psychic battle.

After that, the Mechguard would be certain that a psychic invasion had taken place, and Herman would be shot down on the spot.

"You must be extremely confident if you think you can take me down within a few minutes!"

Adam couldn't help but burst into laughter. At his current level of power, even if he were facing Hebi no Miko, he was confident that he would be able to last the three to five minutes required for the nearby Mechguard units to react to the situation.

Adam didn't know how many adapters of Hebi no Miko's caliber there were in this world, but he was certain that Herman wasn't one such adapter.

Adam was just as confident as Herman was, so he willingly accepted the handshake being offered to him.

After that, Adam invaded Herman's psychic world, and the latter put up no resistance, allowing Adam to do what he wanted.

Let me see what secrets you're hiding...

The correct procedure was to arrest Herman, then escort him to the nearest Mechguard branch for him to be prosecuted in the legal system. However, this process was too complicated and involved too many people. Herman definitely had extremely powerful backers, so the best choice was to glean Herman's secrets now before making the arrest.

Adam was confident in his own abilities, but he wasn't arrogant. As soon as he entered Herman's psychic world, he immediately invoked Sludge with the intention of fusing with it.

However, as soon as this intention rose up in his mind, and a ray of light split off from his body before landing on the ground, the entire surrounding area suddenly became extremely viscous.

Normally, invoking one of his anomalies was something that he could do in the blink of an eye, but here, everything was moving in slow motion, as if he were wading through treacle.

He wanted to struggle and resist, but it was as if his entire body had fallen into quicksand, and it was taking several times more effort than what was normally required for him to move.

He inspected his surroundings with a surprised expression to find that he had appeared in the exact same setting as the one in the real world. At the moment, he was standing on a hill, surrounded by Mechguard units and Herman's underlings.

However, these people and machines seemed to have also fallen into the same predicament that he was in, leading to extremely slow movements.

In this world, it seemed like the only thing that could function at a normal speed were one's thoughts, which were completely uninhibited.

Even though this location was identical to the one in the real world, Herman was nowhere to be seen.

Adam wanted to search for Herman, but even turning his head had turned into an extremely difficult task. While he was still searching for his opponent, a cold sensation suddenly struck the back of his neck, and a sharp blade had already pierced through his skin.

The transmission of pain wasn't slowed down in his body, so he was able to immediately feel it. At the same time, he could also feel the blade piercing toward his cervical spine at a rate of around one centimeter per second.

If he didn't do anything, then he was going to be decapitated in less than 20 seconds.

In this dire situation, Adam had no choice but to lean forward in an attempt to avoid the blade. At the same time, he called out to Distortion, who was constantly lurking in his shadow, asking it for help.

Several transparent tendrils slowly rose up from Adam's shadow on the ground before latching onto the ankles of Adam's assailant.

However, Distortion's movements were also being significantly slowed down, and by the time it latched onto the assailant's ankles, the blade had already pierced three centimeters into the back of Adam's neck. He could even hear the sound of his own cervical spine being fractured.