Chapter 324: Chapter 223: Tug-of-War
At this moment, Marcus Monroe was completely unaware of the outside world. A tug-of-war was raging inside his head!
He was well aware that his attacker was Sheldon Reid.
But even he hadn’t anticipated just how powerful the Spiritual Attack would be.
He had speculated about Sheldon Reid’s Superpower Attribute before and, based on his actions, had concluded that he was likely a Spiritual Ability User.
But it wasn’t until he experienced the attack firsthand that he truly understood how far his judgment was from the reality of the situation!
It was a powerful, formless force. Not an impact, but a devouring.
If he knew Chubby, he might have said their attack methods were strikingly similar.
The only difference was that one devoured flesh, while the other devoured the mind.
It didn’t just target the spiritual power born from his superpower, but every memory stored in his brain—his Thinking Power, his logical power, his Judgment, everything. Even a person’s basic instincts and desires. If his defenses faltered for even a moment, that force would devour it all!
It was terrifying, no doubt, but not without a counter.
Especially for him.
From a certain perspective, his ability to directly release the energy within his body as an attack could also be considered a type of Spiritual Ability.
This was because he used his spiritual power to control this internal energy.
Whether outside his body, or within it.
Over the years, he had mastered the method of control.
So, when he discovered he could command this energy to circulate within his body and continuously attack the hostile force in his mind, he did so without hesitation.
The attacks were effective.
The enemy’s power was weakening. Although it was only a little at a time, if he kept it up, it would devour less and less, and eventually be completely annihilated.
In this tug-of-war, he couldn’t stop, nor did he dare to. He had to use every last ounce of his strength to fight back!
This was, naturally, agonizing.
The brain was an extremely fragile and complex organ.
Two forces, whether attacking or defending, brought a tearing pain to his head.
But he couldn’t back down!
He cast aside all distracting thoughts. The only thing that remained was sheer persistence.
’Defeat it, and defeat myself!’
’A person’s greatest enemy is never another person, but themselves!’
’Weakness, cowardice, greed... there are so many. If I let any one of them take hold, there’s only one outcome for me: death!’
’So, I must win. I must win and survive!’
Paige Summers didn’t know the exact details, but she wasn’t far off the mark.
At the very least, she knew Marcus Monroe was currently engaged in a difficult battle—one far more arduous than a physical fight against a tangible enemy.
So, she couldn’t afford to be weak either.
She stood guard over him, but at the same time, she had to prepare for the moment he would wake up.
He would wake up. She firmly believed it!
"Sheldon Reid can’t use his superpower a second time in short succession after an attack. You all saw it—Marcus Monroe has the strongest superpower among us, and his spiritual power is the highest too, but he was still injured. This shows that Sheldon Reid’s superpower cannot be underestimated. We can’t just sit around and wait for him to recover. We have to take him out before that happens!"
Paige Summers gathered the remaining eleven members of the Orange Team to discuss a plan.
"But what if he’s already headed for Central City?" one of the members asked.
"He isn’t." Paige Summers shook her head. "I just came from Central City. If he were heading that way, he wouldn’t have escaped my notice." Especially since she had been in the air, with an incredibly wide field of view. It would have been impossible to miss him. "Alright, let’s use the process of elimination. As for his whereabouts, there are basically four options. One, return to Central City—we can rule that out. Two, go back Outside Norgate—that’s even less likely. He wouldn’t go there just to get himself killed. Three, head to The Dead City. That’s also unlikely. The Dead City is no place to be, and it wouldn’t help his situation at all. That leaves only one final possibility: he’s staying somewhere nearby."
Someone interjected, "That’s not a given. Maybe he’ll go further out, find a small base, or a relatively safe place to recover."
Paige Summers thought for a moment. "I considered that, but I still don’t think he’s gone far. His physical condition must be terrible right now. He was already poisoned, and while I don’t know what kind of poison it was, he couldn’t have purged it all so quickly. Now he’s used his superpower again, which must have taken a huge toll. Rather than finding a safe place to hide, I’m more inclined to believe he wants to restore himself to normal as quickly as possible."
Hearing her logical analysis, the members of the Orange Team nodded in agreement.
Paige Summers made her final conclusion. "Alright, here’s the plan. We’ll leave four people here to protect Marcus Monroe. The rest of us will spread out and search. We have to find our target as soon as possible!"
As for who would stay and who would go on the mission, Paige Summers didn’t get involved, letting them decide for themselves.
She and the Superpower Users of the Orange Team needed a process of mutual acceptance.
For now, they were listening to her not because of who she was, but because they believed her plan was the best available option.
As for Paige Summers, to be honest, she wasn’t sure about the extent of these Superpower Users’ abilities or their loyalty. So, she was observing them as well.
Just after the first search party set out, Paige Summers emerged from the cave.
By this time, Sean Raines had arrived.
However, the cave was so well-hidden that Sweetie hadn’t been able to find its exact location, and had only managed to lead Sean Raines to the general vicinity.
Paige Summers spotted them while the man and bird were wandering around.
There were too many trees here to fly, but if it went up into the sky, it wouldn’t be able to catch the scent. Sweetie had practically walked the whole way on its two legs.
It was incredibly aggrieved.
It had wings but couldn’t use them, forced to rely on its "delicate" little legs. How frustrating!
Its highly intelligent eyes clearly conveyed this sentiment.
Seeing it, no matter how bad her mood was, Paige Summers couldn’t help but let the corners of her mouth twitch into a small smile as she patted its head soothingly.
Sean Raines, however, was direct. "If you don’t feel like smiling, don’t force it. You look awful! Is it Marcus Monroe...?"
"Yeah. He’s injured and hasn’t woken up yet."
Sean Raines frowned. The situation was actually this serious!
"Take me to see him!"
Sean Raines could enter the cave without a problem, but Sweetie was another matter.
It was too big to even squeeze through the entrance.
But Paige Summers didn’t feel safe leaving it outside.
Fortunately, Eric Xen, the Wood Element Superpower User who had helped Paige into the cave earlier, was there. He used mutated plants to widen the entrance, having them silently carry away the dirt with their leaves. Thanks to him, Sweetie was able to enter without causing a commotion.
He stayed outside to rearrange the mutated plants, while Paige Summers led Sean Raines and Sweetie to see Marcus Monroe.
Compared to Paige Summers’s superficial knowledge, Sean Raines had a much more thorough understanding of the human body, including superpowers.
After confirming that Marcus Monroe could be touched but absolutely should not be moved, he quickly began to perform a more detailed examination.
Afterward, he made a suggestion.
