He didn’t answer him; William Carter let out a breath.

It seemed his guess was right—anyone who had contact with a Mirror Person, whether the possession succeeded or not, would experience some degree of physical mutation!

However, if the mirror image wasn’t killed by oneself, one couldn’t inherit the full power of the Mirror Person, so the effect was weaker.

Roughly about three times the physique of an ordinary person.

So much power was divided among him, and after being electrocuted so many times, plus the damage from crossing the mirror, under these circumstances, even David Bolton’s mirror image almost killed him...

And this is a “Destruction-level” mission worth only one merit point?

The lowest-level mission?

Seriously... what a scam!

William Carter was speechless.

Earlier, after taking the body-tempering serum, he could lift a coffee table with one hand and thought he’d become Superman, ready to dominate the world. Turns out, he was still far from Destruction-level.

He was just at the very bottom of the mutation hierarchy...

So frustrating!

“Tell me, what exactly happened?”

Seeing he wasn’t speaking, David Bolton grew a bit anxious.

“You’ve probably mutated...” William Carter recounted the news he’d seen online, but didn’t mention his own experiences or suspicions.

“Mutated?”

Once he understood what was going on, David Bolton’s eyes lit up with excitement. He jumped up and down several times, and only calmed down after more than ten minutes. He slapped William Carter on the shoulder, his voice full of brotherly loyalty: “Don’t worry, even if I mutate, you’ll always be my best buddy! Stick with me—if anyone dares to mess with you, I’ll beat them so bad they’ll be picking up their teeth off the floor!”

William Carter couldn’t help but laugh.

He had to admit, this guy really was good to him.

Three years as desk mates, two kids with somewhat withdrawn personalities, like lone wolves on the prairie, caring for each other and growing together—they’d long since become the best of friends.

It was precisely because of this bond that, when he received the mission to capture his friend’s mirror image, he didn’t refuse, even knowing how dangerous it was.

He didn’t want his friend of so many years to be possessed and turned into a stranger he didn’t even recognize.

Chapter 12: The School Beauty

Hospital office.

Captain Miller looked at the file in his hand, his brows tightly furrowed. “According to the information we have so far, and the intel from above, there are only two ways for someone who’s been possessed to wake up: first, by killing the other in a dream; second, by being killed by the other... So why was this David Bolton able to wake up without killing the other, and even act like nothing happened?”

Although the Mirror Incident had only happened a day ago, as the official special operations team, they already had access to a lot of information unknown to ordinary people.

A young man in camouflage beside him guessed, “Could it be that the Mirror Person who possessed him is still hiding somewhere?”

Captain Miller shook his head. “We know too little about the Mirror People. I can’t be sure. Here’s what we’ll do: Matthew Reed, go observe David Bolton yourself, and pay close attention to any changes. If anything seems off, use the taser immediately! Also, pull up all the surveillance footage of William Carter since he arrived at the hospital—I want to review it personally!”

“Understood!”

Matthew Reed turned and left. Not long after, a video was sent over.

Andrew Miller opened it.

From the moment the boy entered the hospital to when he arrived at the ward, everything seemed normal.

“I’ve watched it—there’s nothing wrong!” said Matthew Reed.

After watching it several times, Andrew Miller shook his head. “With mutants appearing, the more normal things seem, the more abnormal they probably are. We can’t use old ways of thinking anymore. Just looking at this video, I noticed two things that don’t add up.”

Matthew Reed was puzzled.

He’d watched it from start to finish and really hadn’t noticed anything.

Captain Andrew Miller didn’t keep him guessing and explained, “First, ever since this William Carter entered the ward, he’s had his back to the camera the whole time—not even a second of his face on camera! If it was just one camera, maybe, but both inside and outside the ward are like this... That’s enough to raise suspicion!”

Matthew Reed was stunned.

He wouldn’t have noticed if the captain hadn’t pointed it out, but now that he mentioned it, it did seem odd.

From the moment the boy entered the ward until the alarm sounded—about five minutes—he stood by the bed tidying up the covers and the patient’s clothes, calling out... and the spot he stood in was right in the blind spot between the two cameras, so only his back was visible, never his face.

Andrew Miller continued, “Second, from 4:30 to 4:41 in the video, for a full 11 seconds, this William Carter stood completely still. Judging by his back, his right arm was extended, as if exerting force. What was he doing? Then, after moving again for 10 seconds, David Bolton woke up. Coincidence, or something else? Both are suspicious!”

“Yes, sir!” Matthew Reed’s eyes grew serious, and he looked at the captain with admiration.

To spot problems so quickly—he really was a stickler for details...

“All right then!”

Tapping his fingers on the table and thinking for a moment, Andrew Miller said, “Send someone to keep an eye on David Bolton. You personally follow William Carter. If anything seems off, report to me immediately!”

“Yes, sir!” Matthew Reed nodded.

After he left, Andrew Miller rubbed his brow, recalling the boy’s timid appearance, and felt a bit conflicted. “I hope I’m just overthinking it.”

...

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