For "Father" Alex, it had indeed been "a long time" since he last saw Shang Jianyao. They had once encountered each other outside the Hunter's Guild in Wild Grass City, and he had even been advised by Shang Jianyao to get more rest and improve his sleep.
Who knew that, after so many twists and turns, the two of them would become opponents and formally meet.
At this moment, what "Father" Alex cared about most was not this issue, but the fact that he had clearly shaken off the trackers, avoided the high-altitude surveillance personnel, changed directions continuously, and changed his clothes, so why was he still blocked by Zhang Quibing.
This simply made no sense!
Could there be an Awakened ability that marks targets? "Father" Alex, who had heavy dark circles under his eyes, slightly bent his back and tensed his entire body.
At the same time, he blurted out:
"Why?
"Why would you know I would leave from this alley?"
Wearing sunglasses and tightly gripping his left hand, Shang Jianyao laughed in the echoing singing:
"'Father' sir, have you forgotten that we have an intelligent robot on our team?
"He can install modules, modify himself, and temporarily act as a small base station with a not-too-large coverage area. As long as we confirm that you are in Alpha Building, we can install cameras in several key locations in the surrounding area and connect them directly to his base station via wireless transmission, allowing him to review surveillance footage in a timely manner and find your escape route.
"You should know that robots have far superior computing power than us carbon-based humans. Even if they check the images frame by frame, it won't take much time.
"Before you entered this apartment building, we were already rushing over here. After discovering that you hadn't come out for a short time, we decided to divide our labor and guard an exit each.
"So, you just happened to run into me, rather than being discovered by chance."
"Father" Alex's expression changed slightly as he listened, feeling a fighting style that surpassed his own cognition, or rather, habits and experience.
Shang Jianyao then laughed:
"Times have changed, 'Father' sir.
"Technology changes lives.
"The only downside is that it costs a lot of money."
Seeing the not-so-tired "Father" remain silent, Shang Jianyao continued:
"Being too cautious is not necessarily a good thing; you were really too cautious, to the point that you missed the best chance to escape; so, remember this lesson in the future, if you have a future..."
Shang Jianyao paused before explaining his meaning:
"You shouldn't have looked for a chance to change clothes and disguise yourself. If you had rushed into the Red Wolf District in one breath from this alley and turned onto another street, we wouldn't have been able to catch up at all.
"At that time, we were still a long way from this apartment building, and this alley was already on the edge of the monitoring range of those cameras, at the limit of Old Ge's temporary base station. Once you walked out of here, we would have lost track of you.
"It's a pity that you were too cautious and wasted the most precious chance of escape on changing your attire."
Hearing this, "Father" Alex suddenly raised his head slightly and looked at Shang Jianyao's eyes behind the sunglasses.
As a not-so-pure Grayland person, he had deep black eyes and a Red River language name.
At this moment, in his dark pupils, as dark as the night, there were circles of tiny whirlpools, as if they could suck away the soul of the person who met his gaze.
Almost at the same time, he started walking, seemingly wanting to pass by Shang Jianyao.
In that instant, Shang Jianyao seemed to have turned into a clay sculpture, standing there, motionless.
"You are my servant." "Father" Alex's voice was deep and magnetic, with a strange penetrating quality, as if it could directly pierce the target's soul.
Seeing that he was about to get past the obstructer, "Father" Alex's outstretched arms suddenly stiffened, feeling like he didn't know how to coordinate with a fast walk.
His steps were already slightly unsteady, and he staggered for a moment, while the dazed Shang Jianyao had already turned his body, grabbed his shoulders, and slammed him towards his abruptly upward-thrusting knee.
With a thud, "Father" Alex opened his mouth, and his body bent into the shape of a shrimp.
Shang Jianyao immediately took off the sunglasses and showed the real "Father" the inside with the photo paper attached.
"Surprise?" he asked with a smile.
"Father" Alex's pupils dilated, unable to believe that he would make such a mistake.
He hadn't even noticed that there was no real eye contact!
He had started the action without even meeting the prerequisites for "hypnosis"!
"Ah, right, I forgot to tell you, I made you believe from the beginning that being cautious was not a good thing." Shang Jianyao had an exaggerated expression.
The phrase "Being too cautious is not necessarily a good thing" constituted a guided "Reasoning Clown"!
Just at this moment, everything in front of Shang Jianyao suddenly became illusory, like the reflections in the water that shattered and swayed with the impact of a pebble.
He returned to the moment of "long-awaited reunion" with the real "Father."
Everything that had just happened was just a play pre-enacted by "Father" Alex using a modified version of "Dreamlike Journey"!
Everything seemed to have returned to before, except that "Father" Alex had grasped all the responses that Shang Jianyao would make.
No, there was still one difference.
Shang Jianyao had a puzzled expression on his face behind his sunglasses, as if he didn't remember what he had come to this alley for, or who the human consciousness in front of him represented.
Seeing this, "Father" Alex's lips curled slightly.
His always-hanging right hand touched the glass bead ring on his left little finger.
This ring solidified the "Alter Memory" ability from "Shepherd" Bu Yong.
And this ability could produce an effect as long as it entered a ten-meter range, without the need for eye contact.
This was actually a repetition of "Father" Alex's own ability, but when he chose the reward, he still chose such a ring.
Because this allowed him to subtly alter the other party's memory while using "Dreamlike Journey," and the "Alter Memory" ability solidified by the ring had a range that was a full five meters greater than Alex's own.
In the battle of Awakened, let alone five meters, one meter could be the dividing line between victory and defeat.
Therefore, even if wearing this ring would add a state of abnormality to his self-awareness in a certain aspect, Alex always carried it with him.
At this moment of racing against time, he was using "Dreamlike Journey" not to pre-enact and fight another battle, but to conceal his true purpose—closing the distance, subtly altering Shang Jianyao's partial memory, and letting him directly "let" him leave!
While Shang Jianyao was puzzled, "Father" Alex had quickened his pace and headed straight for the exit of the alley.
He was now certain that as long as he escaped from here, he would completely get rid of the crisis.
Suddenly, he felt a move in his heart and suddenly threw himself to the side.
Bang!
Where he had been standing, stone chips flew, and bullet holes appeared.
Someone had fired a shot from afar!
This came from Jiang Baimian.
At the same time, the puzzled Shang Jianyao smiled.
He said to "Father":
"When did you get the illusion that I wasn't on guard?
"I've been quietly watching you tamper with my memories."
While saying this, he released his tightly clenched left hand, revealing the blue-green luminous pearl in his palm.
"Destiny Pearl," the "Destiny Pearl" from DiMarco!
Shang Jianyao had been using the power of this luminous pearl to monitor his memory, hiding some key content!
The rolling "Father" heard this, and his eyes suddenly froze.
Shang Jianyao continued to laugh:
"I cooperated with your performance to buy time and wait for my companions to arrive."
He then extended his right hand and said the line he had been looking forward to for a long time:
"'Father' sir, do you want a one-on-one fight or a group fight now?
"A one-on-one fight is you fighting us alone, a group fight is us beating you up."
At this time, the small speaker in a safe place was still playing that song:
"Hey, I really miss you..."
ps: Asking for monthly tickets at the beginning of the month~