Chapter 209: Cognitive Manipulation

Kane's grip on Neo's hand grew stronger.

Neo could pull his hand away if he was serious but….

'The city is awake.'

He could sense the people inside the buildings waiting to jump out and hold Neo down if Neo planned to leave the city.

'I'll have to massacre them if I want to leave.'

'That is exactly opposite to my goal.'

Neo wanted to sigh.

'I'm starting to feel like shit.'

He clicked his tongue.

He looked at Kane and nodded.

"Got it. I won't leave the city."

"Yes, that's what you should do. Dangerous monsters come out at night. You'll be safe only if you are within the city."

Kane smiled and let go of his hold over Neo's hand.

Neo followed him back to the temporary residence.

The city council members, police, city's awakeners, and more were waiting for the two of them.

They thanked Neo for saving them.

The city's response had been slow in taking down the statue monsters.

If not for him, there would've been major damage.

Neo and Kane were given different temporary residences.

They were given jobs in the city's mayor's office the next day.

Neo noticed something peculiar.

'The mayor's office is empty.'

'I guess the man they hanged yesterday was the mayor.'

He questioned a coworker while on the job,

"When will the new mayor be elected?"

"Elected?" The coworker thought about his words. "We don't do elections. Instead, we choose the most outstanding citizen as the mayor."

The job hours ended in the evening.

Neo took a tour of the city in his free time.

The bustling city had busy streets, towering buildings, vibrant markets, public parks, and diverse communities living amidst modern conveniences.

It was a stark contrast to the image of apocalypse.

He noticed the damage left behind by the statue monsters was repaired completely.

"…"

He massaged the bridge of his nose.

"So that's how the city looked so beautiful.

"Anomaly #33 has the ability to restore the damage to the buildings."

An idea appeared in Neo's mind.

"I might be able to find the core of Anomaly #33 when it comes to repair the damage again.

"Should I destroy something intentionally?"

Thankfully, he didn't need to do that.

Six statue monsters, stronger than the previous ones, infiltrated the city at night.

Three monsters chased Neo.

Three went after Kane. S~eaʀᴄh the ηovelFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Neo took them down with relative ease.

"No one came to help again."

He pursed his lips.

"This confirms it. The statue monsters and Anomaly #33 are independent."

The statue monsters attacked anyone who saw their face. Explore more at m|v-l-NovelFire

Anomaly #33 didn't use any citizen to fight the statue monsters, since it would end up painting a target on its own back if any citizen saw the face of the statue monsters.

After analysing the situation, Neo got to other work.

He waited near the destroyed part of the city.

He wanted to see how Anomaly #33 would repair the damage.

Hours passed.

Nothing changed—

Neo blinked, and the repair was complete.

"…Fuck."

He massaged the bridge of his nose.

"There is no way the Anomaly #33 can repair the damage instantly.

"To do that, it has to use Time Stop, Time Jump, or something else combined with the Time element.

"I should've been able to sense it with my time affinity if it used the Time element.

"That means…."

Neo clicked his tongue.

"Cognitive manipulation.

"It repaired the city in front of my eyes, but I couldn't see it since it altered my senses."

Cognitive manipulation was easier than mind control.

Even if Anomaly #33 couldn't exert complete control over Neo's mind, it seemed capable of altering his senses.

"…"

Neo could analyze Anomaly #33's abilities thanks to everything he had learned in the academy.

If not for it, he would've been helpless in the current situation, unable to comprehend how Anomaly #33 was doing everything.

...

Neo could not find Anomaly #33's core in his subsequent investigations.

Searching for a phenomenon-type monster turned out to be a lot harder than Neo had imagined.

The situation with statue monsters repeated.

Their numbers increased each day by one, and they grew stronger.

Neo's circumstances worsened.

Anomaly #33's control over his mind was increasing.

He had to defeat the anomaly quickly, or his mind resistance would not be able to protect him anymore.

"Using citizens in front of statue monsters is useless."

During the past few days, Neo confirmed one thing.

Anomaly #33 avoided any confrontation with statue monsters, probably because it was weaker.

"The statue monsters should've targeted the Anomaly #33 if a citizen—under Anomaly #33's control—saw the statue monsters' face.

"But the Anomaly #33 lets go of the citizen's mind as soon as there is even a slight chance of the citizen looking at the monster's face."

Neo massaged his brows as he sat in the comfy chair.

Not everything remained the same.

He was now hailed as the city's hero.

It was all thanks to him defeating the statue monsters that invaded the city every night.

Kane approached Neo while he was busy with his job.

"Neo! I have good news!"

"…?"

"You've been selected as a mayor candidate! Everyone loves you because of how hard you've been working to protect the city!"

Kane was ecstatic.

He threw a party on Neo's behalf.

The other coworkers congratulated Neo—

"Congrats on becoming the mayor!"

Neo's eyes snapped open.

He was on stage, receiving the medal and certificate that signified his position as mayor.

His heart thrummed against his chest.

'How am I here?'

The stage was set in the heart of the city square, illuminated by hanging lanterns and spotlights.

The gathered crowd, a sea of excited faces, cheered and clapped as their new mayor — Neo — stepped onto the wooden platform.

Neo stood at the center, wearing tailored suit.

His posture remained both, poised and tense.

'The last thing I remember is Kane telling me I became a mayor candidate.'

'Now, I'm suddenly the mayor?'

Memories surged inside Neo's mind.

They showed him what he had been doing in the past few days.

Everything was normal in those memories.

He spent his time as he usually would.

But….

'Mind control.'

'Anomaly #33 had been controlling my mind for the past few days.'

A single glance at the memories was enough for Neo to understand the situation.

His mental resistance had been breached.

'Why did I suddenly break free of mind control?'

The question arose in Neo's mind.

'From my observations, only a shock to the mind can break the mind control.'

'So how did I wake up?'

'Wait….'

Watching the smiling citizens, Neo realized.

He hadn't woken up by himself.