Chapter 97: Beginning
Joanna was getting happier and happier. She even felt that it was a good thing she hadn't acted directly just now.
Otherwise, how else could she see this old fellow's face changing back and forth? It was interesting, truly interesting.
Doug was silent for more than ten seconds, the expression on his face changing constantly.
Things had reached this point, and it indeed exceeded his expectations.
However, he wasn't truly afraid, because in a sense, the body in front of him wasn't his real body to begin with.
Doug Brightbill was just an identity and a puppet he had used for a very long time.
Even if something really went wrong and Lin Mo and Joanna dragged this body away right now,
or even killed it, it wouldn't be a completely unbearable loss to his plan, as long as his true self wasn't exposed and his main body remained safe.
It was just a body; if he discarded it, he discarded it. He would still have a chance to start over in the future.
But the problem was... Doug lowered his head and glanced at his still-youthful hands.
He had used this body for a very long time.
He had also operated the identity of the dean of Godolkin University for many years.
Relationships, resources, connections, authority, and experimental data—these things couldn't be reacquired the next day just by changing bodies; they were all obtained through his painstaking efforts.
If he were to give them up so directly, the losses would be too great. Unless it was the absolute last resort, he didn't want to go down that path.
So...
Were there any other ways?
Doug raised his head again and looked at Lin Mo.
Since threats wouldn't work and benefits wouldn't work either, he could only change his approach.
The next second, the faint dominance that had previously existed on his face completely vanished, and even his tone softened.
"Alright."
"Since you don't like these, I won't say anymore."
He submitted. Wasn't capitulating enough?
Maeve was slightly stunned, and Joanna also raised an eyebrow.
What? Starting to beg for mercy?
Doug took a deep breath.
"Lin Mo, I indeed handled this matter incorrectly this time."
Lin Mo didn't speak, just continued to look at him.
Doug paused for a moment, seeming to have finally made some kind of decision.
"I can guarantee that similar things won't happen again in the future, and I can rehandle the matter of those students."
"If you think there was a problem with my previous approach—"
"I can change."
Even Maeve was a bit surprised at this. Just a moment ago, he was going on and on about the strong eliminating the weak.
Now he was suddenly going to change? You're changing much too fast, aren't you?
Yet Doug acted as if he completely hadn't noticed her expression; right now, he only looked at Lin Mo.
Because he was very clear that the person here who could truly decide the direction of things was never Maeve, nor even Joanna, but Lin Mo.
"So—"
Doug's voice became even softer, carrying an obvious submissive undertone.
"This time, consider that I owe you a favor."
"Cut me some slack. In Godolkin from now on, no matter what you need, as long as I can do it, I will fully support you."
Following Doug's utterance of cutting him some slack, the office fell into a dead silence.
"Hehe."
But soon, the silence was broken by Lin Mo's laughter—he simply couldn't keep a straight face. This Doug was quite slick, but unfortunately, it was completely useless.
"Director Cypher."
Doug frowned slightly.
Lin Mo leaned back in his chair and quickly reined in his laughter. Looking at Doug, he couldn't help but shake his head.
"Your speed at changing faces is quite fast."
Bro, did you actually start begging for mercy just to survive? I despise you. If you had kept that stinky face all along, he would have thought a bit more of Doug.
Doug's expression stiffened, and Maeve beside him was also taken aback.
Lin Mo continued.
"At the very beginning—"
"You told us this was to screen for excellent people, and that the weak had no value and deserved to be eliminated."
"You said this was the rules, the way this world operated, and you even felt you were doing a righteous thing."
Lin Mo reached out and pointed at him.
"Then, finding that threats were useless, you started talking to me about The Seven."
"Talking about ratings and Vought resources, only to find that I didn't want any of these things either."
Saying this, the smile in his eyes became a bit more pronounced.
"And now you're starting to say—"
"That you can change, that you owe me a favor, and asking me to let you off the hook."
Lin Mo shook his head.
"Director Cypher, isn't your face-changing a bit too frequent? Or rather, as expected of a soldier brought up by Vought."
Doug's expression became somewhat ugly.
But he didn't refute it.
Because everything Lin Mo said was the absolute truth. He really had been constantly changing his attitude just now. Having lived for so many years, it was his first time seeing someone as impervious to reason and unyielding as Lin Mo.
If it were an ordinary student, they probably would have been led around by the nose by him long ago.
But the problem was that the person in front of him was by no means an ordinary student; he couldn't even influence the other party with what he excelled at most.
However, watching this scene from the side, Maeve's heart suddenly tightened.
Wait, Lin Mo was mocking him right now—did that mean he hadn't agreed yet?
But if Doug was truly willing to bow his head...
Would Lin Mo...
Maeve couldn't help glancing at Lin Mo. A rather bad thought suddenly popped up in her mind. Although she knew Lin Mo and Joanna were clearly on her side,
the problem was that what Doug said wasn't completely without appeal.
The dean of Godolkin University, internal Vought connections, and future resources of The Seven.
If Lin Mo truly felt there was no need to blow things out of proportion and accepted Doug's conditions...
What would happen to her?
Maeve suddenly panicked a bit, because she had directly exposed the dean's bottom line just now.
If Lin Mo said the next second, "Forget it."
then she felt she might really be done for.
Thinking of this, Maeve couldn't help secretly looking at Lin Mo.
But right now she only dared to pray silently in her heart.
Please don't switch sides at the last moment. I just investigated him right alongside you.
You can't sell me out right now, can you?
Of course, she only dared to think such thoughts in her heart.
After all, asking Lin Mo directly—
"You wouldn't hand me out for benefits, would you?"
Such words were truly impossible for her to say out loud.
On the other side, Doug was clearly also waiting for Lin Mo's answer. He knew that the only chance he could grasp right now was to make Lin Mo feel that there was no need to pursue the matter further.
After all, he didn't believe that a truly smart person would blow things up to an irrecoverable extent over the issue of a few students.
However, the next second, Lin Mo spoke.
"However, did you misunderstand something?"
The expression on Doug's face had already returned to that unperturbed look.
Lin Mo looked at him.
"The reason I laughed just now—"
"Wasn't because I thought your proposal was good."
Doug's gaze changed slightly.
Lin Mo continued.
"Nor was it because I thought you bowed your head, so the matter is over."
"You've been given too much face."
Chapter 98: Mind Reading
A simple sentence completely wiped the smile off Doug's face.
Maeve also breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness he hadn't.
Lin Mo didn't continue speaking and just looked at Doug.
"I let you say so much not because I was considering whether to let you off."
"I just wanted to see if you could still maintain that ugly expression."
The air grew quiet, and along with it, Doug's gaze truly turned a bit colder. This was the first time someone dared to speak to him like that.
Doug didn't answer because he knew Lin Mo still had more to say.
Sure enough, Lin Mo leaned forward slightly and stared into his eyes.
"However."
"I'm a little curious, do you think..."
"Anyway, this current body isn't yours to begin with."
Doug's expression froze for a split second—very subtle, but given Lin Mo's strength, he could instantly detect even a simple accelerated heartbeat. No matter how much Doug tried to hide it, it was useless.
"So, you actually don't care that much at all, right?"
The air in the office seemed to freeze instantly.
Maeve froze, and Joanna also cast her gaze toward Lin Mo. Various degrees of confusion appeared on both of their faces.
What kind of ghost was this? What did it mean that the body wasn't his? In the end, why was she understanding less and less?
Despite having numerous questions, Joanna still suppressed the curiosity in her heart. Regardless, Lin Mowould definitely tell her later.
As for Maeve, seeing that even Joanna seemed completely clueless, she suddenly felt like she had gotten herself involved in something incredible.
They weren't going to silence her next, were they?!
As for Doug, the expression on his face finally underwent a true change. He certainly didn't think Lin Mo's words were just a guess.
Lin Mo looked at him and continued, "It's just a body."
"If you lose it and replace it, it's not unacceptable to you either."
"That's why you've been so calm just now, because you knew that the worst possible outcome would merely be losing your current identity."
"Right?"
Doug didn't speak, but his silence seemed to explain everything.
Doug's silence didn't last long.
On his gentle yet slightly aged face, an extremely complex look finally emerged.
There was shock, scrutiny, and a hint of almost imperceptible dread.
He slowly raised his head, his gaze locked firmly onto Lin Mo.
"How did you know?"
Doug's voice no longer hid its disguise, carrying a chilling texture within its hoarseness.
Countless thoughts flashed through his mind instantly. Could Lin Mo's ability be more than just physical invincibility?
This guy... could he possess some kind of superpower capable of prying into memories or telepathy?
Impossible. His trump cards were hidden extremely deeply. Even the upper management of Vought Internationalabsolutely did not know the truth about the mind control or that his true self was someone else. How could anyone in this world directly see through his biggest secret based on just a few encounters?
Unless... Lin Mo could read minds.
The moment this absurd guess popped up, Doug even felt a chill down his spine.
His physique was as strong as a monster's, able to blow up a tester with a single punch, and yet his mental power could also read minds?
How is anyone supposed to play this game? No wonder Edgar asked him to pay close attention to Lin Mo; wasn't this kicking a steel plate?
Before Doug could recover from this absurd shock, Lin Mo's next words completely shattered his psychological defenses.
"How I knew doesn't matter."
Lin Mo leaned back against the back of his chair, his tone as calm as if he were talking about a trivial matter.
"I'm just a bit curious."
"The so-called screening you went through all the trouble to carry out at Godolkin University doesn't seem to have much use."
Lin Mo paused slightly and spat out a name.
"Where is Marie right now?"
Boom!
The instant he heard this name, Doug's pupils shrank violently, and his entire body abruptly stood up from the chair.
The chair scraped a harsh screeching sound across the floor.
"Who on earth are you?!"
Doug could no longer maintain that calm and breezy dean facade, his aged face slightly distorted due to shock.
He stared fixedly at Lin Mo, his voice even carrying a hint of out-of-control questioning.
"How could you possibly know Marie?! Do you also have mind-reading abilities?"
Come on bro, it's one thing for your body to be this strong, but nobody cheats like this.
As a result, not only could he see through his puppet identity, but he was even crystal clear on the name Marie?
If he knew Marie, he must know what Marie represented.
This was no longer a matter of an intelligence network; it was simply as if his entire body had been stripped bare and seen through by the other party, leaving not even his underwear behind!
Could it be that Lin Mo really knew mind reading?
The air pressure in the office instantly dropped to freezing point.
Maeve, standing to the side, was completely dumbfounded by this point.
She opened her mouth, her gaze shifting back and forth between Doug and Lin Mo, her brain's CPU practically burning out.
Wait, was Doug's reaction an admission of guilt?
What did it mean that this body wasn't his?
What did it mean that it didn't matter if he lost it and changed to another?
Also, who on earth was Marie? Judging by the Dean's reaction, this name seemed to touch upon his biggest secret!
Most importantly... Maeve suddenly shivered all over and violently gasped a breath of cold air.
Wait, wait a minute.
Lin Mo could even know this kind of deeply hidden secret; did he really have mind-reading abilities?
Then all those messy thoughts she had just been crazily complaining about in her heart, even imagining whether Lin Mo would sell her out or switch sides at the last moment...
Wouldn't they all have been heard crystal clear by Lin Mo?!
The moment Maeve thought of this, her pretty face instantly turned pale, and her whole body froze in place, her breathing almost stopping.
Right now, she had only one thought in her mind.
It's over, it's really over. Those messy thoughts just now...
Wouldn't they really have all been known by Lin Mo? There were even some even more outrageous complaints.
If all of these were heard, Maeve felt like she had lost all face for the rest of her life. Just as she was already starting to consider whether she should find a crack in the ground to crawl into...
Lin Mo suddenly spoke up.
"Rest assured."
Maeve's body stiffened. It's coming, it really is coming, he really knows!
The next second, Lin Mo looked toward her, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly.
"It's not what you're thinking."
Maeve: "???"
She froze for a moment, and then her entire body instantly breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, fortunately, it turns out it wasn't mind reading, she was just scaring herself earlier?
But... the next second.
Lin Mo added another sentence.
"However, you really did think about quite a few things just now."
The air seemed to fall silent.
Maeve's expression froze instantly.
"...Wait a minute."
She slowly raised her head and looked at Lin Mo.
"What did you just say?"
Lin Mo put on an innocent face.
"I said, you're overthinking it."
Maeve felt like her intelligence was being insulted.
"No, aren't you directly admitting it right here?"
Her voice even raised a bit, and she anxiously gestured with her hands along with it.
"You said I was overthinking it, and then you said I really did think about quite a few things—then how on earth did you know?"
Chapter 99 She's in His Heart
Maeve was completely breaking down.
At that exact moment, she even began to reconsider whether she would be able to speak normally in front of Lin Mo in the future.
After all, if someone could really read minds...
That would be way too terrifying; wouldn't she not even dare to rant in the future?
Seeing her reaction, Lin Mo couldn't help but chuckle. The current Maeve was still so energetic, completely unlike that lifeless look she had later on.
"Rest assured."
"I'm not that perverted."
No, listen to yourself—why did that sentence sound even weirder?
Lin Mo didn't continue teasing her, because if he kept teasing, that newly established teammate camaraderie would probably develop cracks.
"I was just guessing; your expression was too obvious."
Maeve was slightly stunned.
"Expression?"
Lin Mo nodded with a matter-of-fact look.
"Yeah."
"Just now, you looked at me first, then looked at Doug, and suddenly your face turned pale. Any normal person would think you were worried about something."
Maeve opened her mouth, only to find that she had no way to refute it, because her behavior just now had indeed been too obvious.
However, she still felt a bit socially embarrassed, especially since she had imagined so many things in her head.
And yet Lin Mo was just relying on observation?
"You should've said so earlier."
Maeve muttered under her breath.
"It almost made me think I'd have to be careful even when just thinking in the future."
Lin Mo smiled.
"Rest assured."
"If I really had that ability, you'd be the first person I'd tell."
Maeve suddenly didn't dare to speak anymore; she felt that Lin Mo's words weren't very reassuring either.
On the other side, Joanna hadn't had much of a reaction since just now.
She first glanced at Lin Mo, then looked at Maeve, and finally raised her eyebrows slightly.
Mind reading?
She actually thought it was fine; if Lin Mo really had this kind of ability...
So what?
Thinking of this, Joanna even felt a little happy, because if Lin Mo truly knew all her thoughts...
Knowing how much she liked him, knowing that she wanted to stay with him every day, knowing that she would be unhappy when she saw others getting close to him, yet he was still willing to take her along—
Wouldn't that show even more...
That she was in Lin Mo's heart?
The more Joanna thought about it, the more reasonable it felt, and the corners of her mouth couldn't help curving upward.
Maeve noticed her rather jubilant expression and was somewhat speechless.
"Aren't you worried at all?"
Joanna turned back to look at her.
"Worried about what?"
"That he knows what I'm thinking?"
She tilted her head.
"Isn't that pretty good?"
Maeve: "???"
"What's good about it?"
Joanna said matter-of-factly.
"Because he knows."
"Knowing that I like him, knowing that I want to be with him, knowing that I want to stick by him every day."
Saying this, she even wore a matter-of-fact expression.
"Yet he still lets me stay by his side."
See, isn't this a good thing?
Maeve fell into deep thought once again, suddenly not knowing how to refute it.
It seemed... to actually make some sense.
This woman's thought process was sometimes truly outrageous, yet it happened to fit her personality very well.
No, why did she feel like she had been eating dog food all the way along? It was infuriating.
Joanna didn't continue discussing this issue with Maeve.
She looked back at Doug, her previous smiling face instantly disappearing, replaced by an undisguised sense of oppression.
"Hey! Where is Mary?"
Doug didn't know what best to say; he looked at Joannawith a complex gaze.
"You know who Mary is?"
Joanna paused, placed her hands on her hips, and then said very calmly:
"I don't know."
The office suddenly fell into an eerie silence.
Yet Joanna didn't feel like anything was wrong at all.
"But Lin Mo asked where she is."
"So I'm asking too."
She spoke as a matter of course, as if this were the most normal thing in the world.
"Is there a problem?"
For the first time, Doug felt that his thinking couldn't quite keep up.
What on earth was this woman's logic?
But the next second, he suddenly realized something.
Regardless of whether Joanna knew Mary or not, her attitude actually explained everything—she completely trusted Lin Mo, to the extent that she didn't even need to know the reason.
As a product of the Odessa Project, shouldn't she be treated like a good commodity to be sold? Why was her trust in Lin Mo so high?
Unfortunately, no one could clear up his doubts right now.
Meanwhile, Lin Mo sat there, looking at Doug without rushing him, yet that intangible pressure weighing down on Doug grew heavier and heavier.
Seeing Doug looking as if he were facing a formidable enemy, Lin Mo generously spread his hands.
"Don't think too much."
"I'm not that awesome yet."
Doug's eyes flickered slightly.
Lin Mo continued:
"Mind reading, reading memories—I don't have abilities like that right now."
Saying this, he paused, and then the corners of his mouth curved up slightly.
"Of course."
"Whether I'll have them in the future is hard to say."
Maybe one day while basking in the sun, he would suddenly get this ability? Even if not, the system mall had all sorts of messy things. Not having it now didn't mean he couldn't redeem one in the future, which was very reasonable.
Doug suddenly felt that he had asked for nothing.
No, you totally didn't need to say that last sentence.
Meanwhile, Maeve's heart, which had just settled down a little bit, instantly jumped back up.
What do you mean by "hard to say in the future"? Can you learn and buy abilities on the spot like that?
However, even though Doug heard Lin Mo personally deny mind reading and memory reading, the vigilance on his face didn't decrease by even a little bit.
At a time like this, whoever believed him was a fool.
Especially since the person opposite him had been precisely poking at his most untouchable spots ever since a moment ago.
Each sentence was more accurate than the last, and more outrageous than the last.
And now he was suddenly telling him: "Don't worry, I won't read minds."
How could Doug possibly truly rest easy?
However, after his initial vigilance, he quickly caught onto a problem.
Wait, Doug suddenly reacted.
What Lin Mo asked just now was where Mary currently was, not whether Mary was there. The fact that he was asking meant Lin Mo didn't know.
Thinking of this, Doug's eyes flickered slightly. If Lin Motruly possessed the ability to read memories or minds...
Then he wouldn't need to ask him at all, because where Mary was, he knew better than anyone else.
Since Lin Mo still needed to ask, it meant he knew some things, but didn't know them completely.
Doug's brain spun rapidly.
Pushing it further, if he didn't even know where Mary currently was, wouldn't that also mean Lin Mo likewise didn't know where the real him was?
The moment this thought appeared, the string in Doug's heart that had been taut since just finally relaxed just a little bit.
Yes, it should be like this.
Lin Mo knew that his current body wasn't his true body.
He even knew about Mary, but he didn't know everything.
As long as his true self hadn't been exposed yet, things hadn't reached the worst-case scenario.
At least, his life was still in his own hands.
Chapter 100 You Can't Do Anything About Me
Thinking of this, Doug's feeling of being almost suffocated by Lin Mo suddenly eased quite a bit.
He was still safe.
Doug sat back down, even casually pulling the chair he had pushed away just now back to its original position, and his whole person recovered a bit of his original composure.
Seeing this scene, Maeve's brow instantly furrowed.
"What is wrong with this guy? Just a moment ago he looked like he had seen a ghost, why is he suddenly so calm again?"
Joanna was even more direct; she narrowed her eyes.
"What? Thinking you're capable again?"
And Lin Mo watched Doug sit back down without any change in his expression. Of course he knew what the other person was thinking; without needing mind-reading, he could guess it just by thinking.
Because right now he truly didn't know Mary's real location.
After Doug sat firmly, he indeed didn't rush to answer Mary's question anymore.
Instead, he raised his head and looked at Lin Mo again.
This time, his voice no longer had that obvious loss of control from just now.
"Good."
"Since you can't read minds, I'm even more curious instead."
Doug stared at him.
"Where on earth did you find out about these things?"
Saying this, his gaze sharpened bit by bit.
"I'm very sure that these things of mine have not been made public privately, not even Vought personnel are clear about them, and no one in the school knows."
"At least..."
Doug paused for a moment.
"Those who truly know should already have no way to speak again."
The air grew slightly quiet.
Maeve's gaze instantly turned cold. What did that sentence mean?
"Unable to speak again? Dead?"
And Doug didn't look at her at all; all of his attention right now
was placed on Lin Mo, because this was the problem he most wanted to figure out right now.
The matter of the forum, he could explain it all before.
Those students, he could hand them over.
Even to keep his identity as the dean, he had even lowered his head and backed down just now.
Yet the things Lin Mo knew now clearly exceeded this public opinion incident itself.
This was the place that truly concerned him. So, who on earth told him?
Lin Mo looked at Doug with not the slightest intention of answering.
A moment later, he only calmly said a sentence.
"As for this, you don't need to know."
Are you kidding? Could he possibly tell him
that he had time-traveled over, and had read the scripts of The Boys and V?
That would be better than directly telling him he knew telepathy; at least the latter sounded a bit more reliable.
Doug quietly looked at Lin Mo.
A few seconds later, instead, he smiled. He wasn't discouraged either; everyone had their own secrets, just like him, even though this secret had already been spoken out by Lin Mo.
"Fine, since you're unwilling to say, then I won't ask either."
Lin Mo didn't take up the conversation. Words are useless; it was better to see what kind of slick talk this old Godolkincould still pull off.
Doug continued speaking: "However, so what if you knew those things just now?"
His voice returned to calmness once more.
"Even if you know my secret, and know this isn't my body,"
"and even know Mary, so what?"
Doug spread his hands.
"Just as you said, you don't know my true body, nor do you know where Mary is right now."
"Therefore, you still can't do anything to me."
When he said these words, a trace of smugness even reappeared on his face.
Although today's conversation could be said to have been a complete defeat,
with his biggest secret having been exposed, now thinking carefully about it, the truly fatal thing was not known by Lin Mo.
Since that was the case, why should he continue to panic and flee in all directions?
Lin Mo couldn't trace him to find his true body, nor could he find Mary, so him knowing this intelligence
didn't have too much significance.
Reaching this point, Doug's whole person finally relaxed again, and his face even recovered a bit of the composure a proper dean should have.
The office quieted down once more.
Maeve stood to the side, her brows already knitted into a ball; naturally, she had also understood.
If what Doug said was true, then the one sitting here right now was fundamentally just a puppet.
So what if he was caught? Even if this dean were directly tied up or even killed right now, the true mastermind wouldn't suffer a fatal impact.
Thinking of this, a sense of powerlessness arose in Maeve's heart for the first time.
Having investigated here with such difficulty, it turned out they only found a body? What would they do next? Could it be that they would just watch helplessly as the other party continued to hide behind the scenes?
She subconsciously looked at Lin Mo.
Right now, it seemed only Lin Mo could think of a way.
On the other side, Joanna's mood clearly wasn't much better either.
She hated this kind of guy who hid in the back and wouldn't come out the most; even punching them, she wouldn't know where to hit.
Yet her X-ray vision, although it could see through walls, human bodies, and even many obstructions, after all, it wasn't X-ray vision for the human heart, nor could it directly find a person who didn't know where they were hiding.
Thinking of this, Joanna simply couldn't be bothered to keep glaring at Doug.
She turned around and walked over to Lin Mo's side in a few steps.
Then, under Maeve's somewhat helpless gaze, she very naturally hugged one of Lin Mo's arms and gently shook it.
"Lin Mo."
"Think of something, won't you?"
She didn't avoid the fact that there were others nearby at all, lifting her head to look at Lin Mo, her voice carrying a bit of a spoiled tone.
"This old thing is so annoying; we can't really let him keep hiding, right? You're so smart, you definitely still have a way, right?"
Since Joanna had spoken like this, what else could Lin Modo? Of course, he agreed to her.
"Fine, fine, fine. I'll think of a way and won't let him hide."
As Lin Mo spoke, he let Joanna hug his arm and shake it.
Originally, he still wanted to see how long this old fellow could be smug, but since his own Joanna was anxious, there was no need to continue playing with him.
He couldn't really let the old thing in front of him cock its tail up to the sky again.
Hearing Lin Mo agree, Joanna instantly became satisfied. Her hand stopped shaking, but she still didn't let go, instead hugging him just like that, and made a grimace toward Maeve and Doug, looking like the matter had already been resolved.
Maeve instantly had a face full of question marks. No, aren't you trusting him a bit too much? Although she herself actually quite hoped Lin Mo really had some way right now.
Opposite them, Doug appeared much more composed.
He even looked at Lin Mo with a bit of casual interest.
"Oh? Then I'm really curious to see how you plan to find me."
Right now he truly wasn't in a hurry; Lin Mo knew his secret.
As long as he didn't know where the true body was, all of this didn't have any true sense of threat.
Could Lin Mo possibly turn the entire earth upside down?
Thinking of this, Doug even picked up the teacup on the table again, but before he could drink from it, he saw Lin Mo casually blow a breath.
The next second, a visible wave of white cold air instantly swept across the desktop.
The water cup in Doug's hand changed first, a layer of white frost rapidly condensing on the surface of the cup wall.
Immediately following, the water inside that was still slightly sloshing froze at an almost visible speed.
Crack, crack sounds echoed.
Fine ice crystals spread all the way along the rim of the cup, and in just the blink of an eye, the entire cup of water had completely frozen into an ice cube.
Chapter 101 My Super Brain tells me to use Super Smell
The composure on Doug's face instantly froze.
However, that wasn't the end of it; the chill continued downward along the water cup.
First his fingers, then his palm, and finally spreading all the way up his entire forearm.
Crack, crack, crack——
A crystal-clear layer of ice rapidly covered it.
In just a few seconds, the hand Doug was using to hold the water cup was completely frozen to the surface of the desk.
Inside the office, only the heavy breathing sounds of everyone remained.
Maeve stared blankly at this scene, then took a sharp breath in.
Joanna didn't react much; she stared with wide eyes, looking with keen interest at Doug, whose arm had been frozen into an icicle.
It was also the first time she had seen Lin Mo display his other abilities; she could only say... as expected of her Lin Mo.
But Doug was different; he lowered his head to look at his ice-sealed arm, and the smile that had originally been on his face completely vanished.
Even though the blood in his arm was also frozen, he couldn't feel any pain right now.
"This…"
He suddenly raised his head and said in disbelief, "You have this kind of ability too?"
Doug knew that Lin Mo was very strong; according to the information sent by the school and Vought, his danger level had already been placed in the school's highest tier currently.
Flight, super strength, super speed, extremely strong physical defense, suspected Heat Vision, and things like these.
Even if just one of them were taken out individually, it would be enough to cultivate an extremely outstanding superhero.
Yet Lin Mo happened to have all of them, and now, there was one more.
Low temperature? Freezing?
No.
Doug quickly realized something was wrong; just then, Lin Mo hadn't touched him at all, nor even raised his hand.
He just… blew a breath.
Doug's pupils contracted slightly.
"Breathing? You can create low temperatures through breathing?"
Maeve only reacted then, subconsciously looking towards Lin Mo.
Wait, was this in the previous tests?
There wasn't, right?
She remembered very clearly that the abilities Lin Mo had displayed were already outrageous enough, but definitely not this one.
In other words, he hadn't displayed all his abilities from the very beginning at all?
Thinking of this, Maeve suddenly felt her scalp go a bit numb. Why was the gap between people so huge? Any random ability of Lin Mo's could crush her, while she instead looked like an ordinary person in front of him.
Yet Lin Mo acted as if he had no idea what he had just done, glancing at Doug's frozen hand.
"Don't rush, I just suddenly thought of a way."
Doug frowned tightly, trying to move his arm slightly.
The layer of ice covering his arm emitted a slight cracking sound.
It can be broken free from—this thought instantly popped up in Doug's mind.
Lin Mo naturally noticed his small movements; his freezing breath had deliberately lowered the temperature energy; otherwise, under normal circumstances, not only could the temperature reach absolute zero, but as long as Doug's arm was frozen, a slight movement would cause the arm to directly shatter into pieces.
Doug's body was somewhat innocent; the real master inside the body wasn't dead yet, just being controlled by Doug.
Since they were innocent, it would be best if Lin Mo tried his best to preserve it.
And right now Doug didn't dare to move his arm anymore; now he had become well-behaved again.
But now he discovered another problem: why did Lin Mosuddenly display this ability?
And he also said he thought of a way.
An inexplicable bad premonition arose in Doug's heart, and he immediately questioned Lin Mo.
"What way?"
Lin Mo smiled and didn't answer immediately, instead glancing at his frozen arm once more.
"Just a moment ago, you still felt that it was impossible for me to know this body wasn't yours."
"And the result?"
"I knew."
"You also felt that it was impossible for me to know Mary."
"And the result? I still knew."
Lin Mo spread his hands.
"So I'm a bit curious."
"Where on earth did you get the confidence to think that I definitely wouldn't be able to find your real body?"
Doug swallowed hard, but he quickly returned to normal. Perhaps this was just Lin Mo putting on a bluff, who knows? Things hadn't changed yet, so he still had a chance.
A moment later, he probed with a feigned nonchalant look.
"Then you can try."
"Of course."
Lin Mo nodded.
"I was just about to try."
After saying that, instead of getting up immediately, he thought about it seriously.
How to find it?
Actually, there were many ways.
For instance, flying straight out right now.
Starting first from Godolkin University, then the whole of New York, the whole United States, North America—about this distance, Godolkin couldn't possibly take Mary out of the old US borders.
And with his current speed, if he took it really seriously, running through most regions of the Earth within ten minutes didn't seem like a particularly difficult thing either.
Then, coordinating with Super Vision, Super Hearing, and Super Brain, he would screen region by region.
He would specifically look for those underground hospitals and laboratories, looking for those abnormal human bodies.
Theoretically speaking, he could find it quickly.
But the problem was that it was too troublesome.
Thinking of this, the corners of Lin Mo's mouth twitched slightly.
He wasn't here to go to work. Just to catch some little thing made by an old bastard, he would have to fly goodness knows how many circles around a good chunk of the Earth.
Wouldn't that be exhausting?
Besides, the target in front of him was already sitting right in front of him.
Why run all over the globe? Lin Mo's brain only turned slightly, and an even simpler method popped out.
He suddenly raised his head, looked at Doug, and then his nostrils moved very lightly.
Such a subtle action naturally wasn't noticed by Doug and Maeve, but Joanna was the most familiar with Lin Mo and saw his action.
She froze for a moment, then as if thinking of something, her eyes lit up slightly, looking at Lin Mo with even more anticipation.
Doug frowned.
"What are you doing?"
Lin Mo didn't answer, just continued to sniff.
Super Smell—he almost forgot about this. To what extent could a normal person's sense of smell reach?
Not even as good as a dog's.
But how much scent could a person carry on them?
Their own body odor, clothes, bathing and skincare products, and so on.
As well as people they had recently contacted and places they had been, and even trace chemicals that ordinary people simply couldn't detect.
Under the dual action of Lin Mo's Super Brain and Super Smell, all of it could be pulled apart and distinguished.
Then re-tracked. And this Doug right in front of him, although only a puppet body.
But according to the V generation plot, this body had been controlled by the real main body for a long time, and also undertook the task of taking care of the main body.
Then there would inevitably be the main body's unique scent on it, which could save him a lot of effort in searching from here on.
At this point, Lin Mo suddenly smiled.
For some reason, seeing this smile, the unease in Doug's heart from just now grew heavier again.
"What are you smiling at?"
Lin Mo still didn't answer, only raising his head to sniff carefully once more.
The next second, the scent belonging to Doug's body...
Began to be peeled away layer by layer in his perception: paper, office cleaner, disinfectant in the school hallway, and several kinds of medicine.
Besides these… there were also some very faint scents that clearly did not belong here.
Lin Mo's eyes narrowed slightly.
Found it. It's quite far away; this Godolkin doesn't even find it tiring.
Chapter 102: Do I Have to Go Too?
Even with body control, there would still be mental fatigue, and a person always has times when they need to sleep.
By then, the original consciousness of this body would wake up, so before Godolkin went to sleep, he would still have to control this body to lock it away—talk about being a hassle.
"Director Cipher."
"Or rather..."
Lin Mo looked at him, the smile on his face growing increasingly obvious.
"I should call you—"
"Principal Thomas Godolkin."
As these words fell, the entire office instantly fell silent, and even the air seemed to stall for a second.
The expression on Doug's face completely froze, and the composure he had just regained vanished, revealing undisguised shock.
He stared at Lin Mo without speaking for a long time.
Because this name represented far too many things.
Thomas Godolkin, the founder of Godolkin University and one of the earliest people in this world to study the superpower system.
More importantly, this identity should have been dead—dead for many years.
The one sitting here now was just Doug, a person managing the school on behalf of Vought.
Yet Lin Mo had now directly called out that name, not even guessing, but directly shouting out his identity.
Thinking of this, Doug's heart skipped a beat fiercely.
However, he quickly forced down the shock in his heart.
He couldn't panic; he absolutely couldn't panic right now. He didn't know how much Lin Mo actually knew.
But there was one thing he had to ensure: he couldn't let the other party see that he was truly panicked.
So a few seconds later, Doug smiled again.
Only this time, that smile was noticeably much stiffer than before.
"Thomas Godolkin?"
"Interesting."
"You even know this."
He spread his hands.
"However."
"Knowing my past doesn't seem to be anything strange."
"After all, since you even know Marie, knowing the name Godolkin is nothing much."
Doug looked at Lin Mo, trying to pull the pace back under control.
"But the problem remains the same: you know these things."
"So what? You know my identity."
"You know this name, but you still don't know where my true body is."
"Isn't that right?"
Speaking of this, Doug even revealed a hint of a smile once more.
"Lin Mo, you really surprised me, but the current situation hasn't changed."
"You still haven't found me."
"Look, neither of us can do anything to the other right now. Why don't we just call it a day? What do you think?"
Meanwhile, Maeve was completely dumbfounded.
She now felt that the information inside her brain was severely overloaded.
What on earth happened today? First, she found out the director was manipulating students behind the scenes, and then she discovered that this director possessed the ability to control superpowered individuals.
And then she discovered...
Wait, this body wasn't his?
And then another Marie popped up.
And now she was being told that this director was actually... Thomas Godolkin?
Maeve widened her eyes.
"Wait."
She couldn't help speaking up.
"Thomas Godolkin? The founder of Godolkin University? Isn't he already dead?"
No one answered her, because everyone's attention was now focused on Lin Mo and Doug.
Maeve only felt that the information she had received in this single day was more than all the past few years combined. She even began to doubt whether she shouldn't have investigated this forum incident.
Why did it feel like the more she investigated, the closer she got straight to the dead founder of the school?
On the other side, Joanna wasn't as complicated as Maeve.
She just glanced at Doug, then looked at Lin Mo. She didn't care about any Thomas, any founder, or whether someone was dead or alive; whatever Lin Mo said he was, that's who he was—it was that simple.
"So."
Joanna frowned as she looked at Doug.
"You old thing have been hiding for so long."
"And yet you still got found?"
Doug couldn't help falling into silence, but there was no time to consider this issue now, because Lin Mo had already stood up.
"Alright."
"Cut the crap."
Doug was taken aback.
"What?"
Lin Mo loosened his shoulders.
"Since we know where he is."
"Then we can just go straight there."
Doug's expression changed slightly, and then he said: "Do you really already know?"
Lin Mo didn't answer. He got up and walked over to Joanna's side, very naturally reaching out to put his arm around her waist.
Joanna had almost no reaction, and even proactively leaned a little closer into his arms, looking completely used to it.
Seeing this scene, the corner of Maeve's mouth twitched.
What time is it, and the two of you are still showing off affection?
Lin Mo lowered his head to glance at Joanna.
"Ready?"
Joanna nodded immediately.
"Mhm."
She didn't ask where they were going, didn't ask why, and didn't even care who the target was. If Lin Mo said let's go, then they went.
Suddenly, Lin Mo looked back at Maeve.
"You're coming too."
Maeve froze slightly.
"Me?"
She raised her finger to point at herself, then glanced at Lin Mo's hand holding Joanna, suddenly coming up with a completely absurd thought.
Wait, no way?
Could it be that she had to too? Was she going to be held by Lin Mo right in front of Joanna? Was she sure she wouldn't be beaten to death by Joanna?
Maeve's expression gradually stiffened.
"Umm... Do I need to..."
"Be held by me?"
The air instantly fell silent.
The next second, the expression on Joanna's face changed directly.
"What are you thinking?"
No, Maeve was instantly bewildered. She was just making a reasonable guess just now!
After all, Lin Mo was currently holding Joanna and getting ready to fly; did she have to do the same?
Watching Maeve's increasingly awkward expression,
Lin Mo finally couldn't help laughing.
"Relax."
"You don't need to."
Maeve breathed a sigh of relief.
"That's good."
She had almost died of social embarrassment just now, but Lin Mo's next sentence made her freeze again.
"Stand still."
"I'll carry you over."
What? Maeve was instantly on the verge of tears. This carrying looked even worse than being held.
And watching this scene, Doug's expression finally darkened bit by bit.
The development of events seemed to have completely escaped his control.
This Lin Mo wasn't bluffing him; he had truly found the direction.
And right now, he was really preparing to go over.
The next second, Lin Mo couldn't be bothered to continue talking nonsense with Doug.
With a slight shift of his feet,
Boom—!
Accompanied by a sonic boom, the glass in the office shook violently. When Doug looked back over,
there was no trace of the three of them left; they were long gone.
Meanwhile, high up in the air, Maeve finally understood what Lin Mo's sentence "I'll carry you over" meant just now.
Because he was truly carrying her like that.
Lin Mo had one arm around Joanna, while his other hand casually grabbed the back of Maeve's collar.
Just like this... carrying her.
That's right, like carrying a little chick.
Maeve: "..."
She was having a bit of regret now.
If she had known it would be like this, she might as well have shamelessly let Lin Mo hold her earlier. At least that way she would have looked like a human being.