Chapter 1184: Touch Me, and They Die

The noise inside the mansion was spotted by the guards outside almost immediately. Before long, a protection detail made up of Tier 7 Enhanced stormed in.

The moment they saw the scene—especially Leonard being held in midair like a chicken by the throat—their faces changed.

"Stop!"

"Put Colonel Hale down!"

Leonard’s face had already turned a dark purplish red. His legs bicycled uselessly in the air, and both hands clawed at Ethan’s wrist, trying to pry it off.

In front of Ethan’s strength, the struggle was pathetic. Meaningless.

Ethan glanced at the guards and said flatly, "Get out. This doesn’t involve you."

"...!"

The whole squad went speechless.

Our job is literally to protect Colonel Hale,

their expressions seemed to say.

You’re about to choke him to death and you’re telling us it’s none of our business?

But with Leonard in Ethan’s hand, none of them dared make a move.

The captain of the detail forced his voice down. "Sirs... we can talk this out. Can you please put Colonel Hale down first?"

"Get out."

"Y-yes, sir—right away!" The captain didn’t hesitate. Terrified Ethan would actually kill Leonard, he waved his people back and withdrew.

The instant they were outside, he snapped to someone at his side. "Call it in. Get every high-Tier Enhanced in the compound over here. Now."

"Got it!"

Inside the mansion, Skinny Pete shut the door behind them and walked up to Ethan.

"Ethan... maybe let him go first?" Skinny Pete said, eyeing Leonard’s face. "Keep squeezing and he’s gonna die."

"Uh... right. Sorry. I forgot." Ethan loosened his grip and tossed Leonard onto the floor.

"Cough—cough!" Leonard hacked violently, sucking in air like a drowning man who’d just surfaced.

"You—!"

"Enough." Ethan’s voice cut like a blade. "Don’t talk. I ask, you answer. Where are the two people we came for?"

"We... we found

those

two," Leonard rasped. "I didn’t know they were impersonators. Don’t worry—I’ll have people search again immediately. We’ll find them."

"So you still don’t want to tell the truth."

Ethan’s eyes shifted slightly. "Skinny Pete."

"Say less." Skinny Pete stepped in, locked onto Leonard’s eyes, and activated

[Enthrallment]

.

But to Ethan’s surprise, Leonard’s face kept twisting and fighting. His gaze shook, but it never went fully blank.

Skinny Pete’s jaw tightened. "Boss, this one’s resisting hard. If I force it, there’s a good chance I’ll turn him into a vegetable."

That result surprised Ethan.

He hadn’t expected Leonard to be this tough-minded.

"Fine. Don’t control him yet." Ethan jerked his chin toward the floor. "There’s another one right there."

He meant Lucas.

If Leonard was playing games, Lucas definitely knew plenty.

"Alright." Skinny Pete released Leonard and turned to Lucas.

The moment Skinny Pete stepped away, Leonard’s eyes cleared. He watched Skinny Pete like he was watching death walk closer—pure fear.

That ability was terrifying.

Lucas, still on the ground from the slap, started scrambling backward as Skinny Pete approached.

"What are you going to do?" Lucas’s voice shook.

"Nothing crazy," Skinny Pete said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. "Relax. It won’t hurt."

He kept his gaze fixed on Lucas.

Not even a second later, Lucas’s eyes began to glaze over.

His expression went dull.

Just then, Leonard—still sprawled on the floor—shot a look at his bodyguard, the one who’d been smashed down by the coffee table.

The bodyguard understood immediately and quietly started to crawl back up.

Over here, Skinny Pete saw that Lucas was successfully enthralled. A satisfied smile flickered across his face as he asked, "Where are the two people?"

At that exact moment, a figure lunged in, a black-energy dagger in his hand—aimed straight for Lucas’s head.

"Hmph." Ethan snorted.

A dagger on the floor snapped up under

Telekinesis

, moving even faster—striking second but landing first. It punched into the attacker’s throat and blasted him backward.

Leonard’s expression changed.

He’d handpicked that bodyguard from the best in the compound. Loyal, strong, reliable.

And Ethan had killed him like it was nothing.

Leonard didn’t even get time to be angry.

Smack!

A hard slap cracked across his face, spinning his head to the side.

Leonard stared up at Ethan, disbelief written all over him. His cheek burned.

All his life, he’d been the one slapping other people.

He’d never imagined a day where someone would slap

him

.

Humiliation surged up so hard it nearly knocked him dizzy.

Smack!

Another slap.

The anger that had just rushed to his head got knocked right back down, leaving him stunned and ringing.

Ethan’s voice dropped, cold and sharp. "Try that little trick in front of me again, and I’ll kill you."

Clearly, Ethan had seen the signal Leonard gave the bodyguard.

Leonard was boiling inside. But he forced it down with everything he had—so hard he even managed to squeeze out a smile.

"I wouldn’t dare."

Ethan was mildly surprised. Even now, Leonard could still keep his emotions under control.

Yeah... this guy can’t be left alive,

Ethan thought.

"Alright," Ethan said. "Skinny Pete. Keep going."

"Mm." Skinny Pete looked back at Lucas. "You

did

find those two people, right?"

"Yes." Lucas nodded dully.

Ethan felt Leonard’s body tense beside him—as if he was still looking for an opening.

Not happening. Ethan had been watching him the whole time. Leonard wasn’t going to pull anything in front of him.

Skinny Pete exhaled, relief flashing across his face, and pressed on. "Then where are they?"

"I don’t know," Lucas said woodenly. "This morning, they were still in that room. But when I went to bring them just now, only those two were there. They said... they said Colonel Hale arranged for them to pretend to be the two people."

The instant Lucas said it, Ethan and Skinny Pete both turned to Leonard.

Leonard knew the game was up. He stopped pretending and let out a cold laugh.

"Yeah. That’s right. I moved them." His eyes were hard. "And if you dare touch me, they’ll be buried with me."

Both of them frowned. Skinny Pete’s whole body tightened, and he looked at Ethan, anxiety spilling into his eyes.

Ethan gave him a calm, reassuring look, then turned back to Leonard.

"You really think two people we have nothing to do with can protect your life?"

Leonard laughed like Ethan had told a joke. "Nothing to do with you? Hah. At first I didn’t understand why General Cross would pay a Tier 8 crystal core for two people like that."

"Then I saw

you

."

He leaned forward slightly, eyes bright with a cruel kind of certainty.

"He did it to suck up to you. That’s all. You’ve been acting like you don’t care about those two, but I saw it in your eyes—urgency, tension. People only look like that when it’s someone important."

"And you only told me your partner’s nickname—Skinny Pete—because you were afraid I’d connect the dots as soon as I heard his real name." Leonard’s grin widened. "Too bad. You’re still young. The moment I saw him, I knew. Those two are his parents."

Leonard’s voice turned vicious. "Touch me, and his mom and dad die before I do."

"You—!" Skinny Pete’s face darkened.

Ethan wasn’t that surprised. He just looked at Leonard with faint confusion. "You’re not stupid. That’s what I don’t get. You saw our strength, and instead of making peace, you kept playing games."

"What’s your goal?"

"Don’t tell me this is about avenging Conrad." Ethan’s tone sharpened with contempt. "A guy like you doesn’t give a damn about a subordinate’s life."