Chapter 203

“…”

After hearing Leon’s answer, although no one around still spoke, the tense atmosphere that had just been present suddenly eased.

As for the middle-aged man who had already begun to doubt Leon’s identity, even though the suspicion in his eyes hadn’t faded, his expression did soften slightly, and he smiled, saying: “The answer is correct… Xiaoba Jin, I hope you won’t blame me for being suspicious. After all, I am the leader and must be responsible for everyone’s safety.

You were just an ordinary person yesterday, but after catching a bit of a night breeze, you suddenly awakened with abnormal abilities. This change has been too fast, so as a precaution, we still need to conduct necessary tests.”

“You’re absolutely right.”

Realizing there was no point arguing about such matters with the middle-aged man, Leon calmly nodded and gave a perfunctory response, then acted as if nothing had happened and directly asked:

“Leader大人, as you said earlier, I was only an ordinary member until yesterday, unfamiliar with everyone here. Could you please introduce us?”

“Of course.”

The middle-aged man nodded, then looked toward the burn-scarred man sitting next to Leon and slowly said: “The one sitting beside you is Tiger; you two have already met. Then there’s Luke, Oliver, Phoebe, and Lucy…”

After briefly stating everyone’s names and finishing what could be considered the most rudimentary introduction ever, the middle-aged man smiled and said: “As for everyone’s abilities and other situations, explaining them one by one would be quite troublesome. Plus, we will soon discuss something very important, so let’s skip it for now. You can find out more from them later.”

“….”

Find out more later…

These people don’t seem to mostly stay in the valley, each having other hidden identities. Where am I supposed to go find them? All this introduction amounted to was getting some names whose authenticity I can’t even confirm. As Leon stared at him with an expressionless face, the middle-aged man changed the subject and introduced to everyone: “Everyone, this is Xiaoba Jin. He was originally responsible for material procurement within the organization, but after awakening abnormal abilities yesterday, he has become one of us…

By the way, Xiaoba Jin, what are your abilities like? Can you tell us?”

…

So, not only did I gain no intelligence by sneaking in through all these efforts, but I ended up being the one interrogated first? Looking at the middle-aged man who was clearly already on guard against him, Leon couldn’t help but narrow his eyes slightly, then, amidst the curious gazes of the rebels, nodded and revealed himself: “Sure, my ability is actually very simple. As long as the conditions are met, I can make anyone bow to me.”

Make anyone bow to you? What kind of crazy ability is this?

After hearing Leon’s words, including the middle-aged man who was deliberately probing, everyone unconsciously paused. After waiting a while and seeing no follow-up, the middle-aged man couldn’t help but ask:

“And then?”

“That’s it.”

Leon shook his head slightly and said with apparent sincerity: “Just that… or at least that’s all I’ve discovered so far.”

“…”

This…

Looking at the seemingly sincere “Xiaoba Jin,” after confirming he wasn’t joking around, the group of rebels inside the room exchanged glances, unsure of what to say.

“Your ability… is rather unique…”

After giving “Xiaoba Jin” a skeptical look, the middle-aged man thought for a moment before continuing to ask:

“So how long does your ability last? How far away can it work? And what’s the interval between uses?”

Ah, right! There’s those details! Upon hearing the middle-aged man’s questions, the previously disappointed group of rebels immediately became interested again.

Forcing someone to bow might sound useless, but if it works several kilometers away, forcing someone to bow all day, or making them bow repeatedly, it wouldn’t be completely useless.

Given the right circumstances and proper use, this seemingly useless anomaly might also have surprising effects at critical moments!

“Regarding duration…”

Amidst the expectant gazes of the rebels, Leon thought for a moment before answering:

“Probably just that one bow, and then it ends.”

“….”

“The range must be face-to-face, roughly a bit larger than this room. Beyond that, it doesn’t work.”

“….”

“There’s no specific interval, but the ability requires convincing the other party through speech. If they can prevent me from finishing my sentence, they won’t have to bow.”

“….”

You… are really useless…

Though prepared mentally, after hearing this ability which could only be described as utterly useless, the faces of the rebels still showed extreme exasperation.

Honestly speaking, Xiaoba Jin’s broken ability seems less effective than a nail gun.

Not only does it require being face-to-face, but its effect is merely that one bow. Wouldn’t it be faster to just pull out a gun and shoot them? And what does ‘convincing through speech’ even mean?

…

“It means exactly that.”

After the middle-aged man, representing the group of rebels, asked this question, Leon “honestly” lied: “For example, if I want all of you to bow to me, I would first have to persuade you, making you genuinely agree with my viewpoint, only then will you enter my ability range and bow according to my request.”

“….”

Ah, this… Are you serious? Upon hearing this absurd activation condition, even the burn-scarred man who had always believed Leon was “not simple” found it hard to keep a straight face.

Honestly speaking, requiring a face-to-face bow is already pretty useless, but needing to convince the other party first to make them bow? Is this thing you call an abnormal ability even real?

“Are you pulling our leg?”

After stroking her bald head, the straightforward bald woman stood up first, full of disbelief, questioning:

“Alright, even if it’s weak, how come there are so many restrictions? You have to convince others first? Can this even be called an abnormal ability? I could force someone to bow by pointing a nail gun at their head much faster!”

“Perhaps… it may indeed be somewhat useless, but I can guarantee that the manifestation of this ability is definitely beyond normal means. It’s undoubtedly an abnormal ability. If you don’t believe me…”

Blinking a few times with difficulty, Leon suggested:

“Then why don’t we try it out?”

“Try it and…”

“Hold on!”

Stopping the bald woman who wanted to personally experience it, the middle-aged man narrowed his eyes, looking at Leon, and slowly asked:

“So, can I assume that the true nature of your ability isn’t bowing, but instead involves control, peeping into inner secrets, and perhaps even making people obey you without question?”

?!?! Hearing the middle-aged man’s words, the group of rebels inside the room couldn’t help but stiffen their expressions, and their gaze towards Leon became dangerous.

That’s right! How could there be such a boring ability that makes people bow? His statement was probably just to lower our guard, and due to curiosity, we’d willingly cooperate and fall into his ability range!

If things are as Nathan suspected, we might all end up as his puppets in the future!

“Leader大人, you misunderstood.”

Feeling the unfriendly stares from the group of rebels, Leon wisely raised both hands in a surrender gesture and tried to explain:

“It’s not as you imagine. My ability really is only to make people bow. The test I proposed earlier doesn’t require any cooperation from you. Just listening to one sentence from me is enough.

If listening to just one sentence would lead to control, wouldn’t you already be under my control since you’ve heard so much from me already?”

…

That’s true…

After hearing Xiaoba Jin’s defense, the group of rebels privately mulled it over and realized he did have a point. Meanwhile, the burn-scarred man next to Leon impatiently stood up, waving his hand dismissively:

“If you want to try, stay and listen. If you’re scared, block your ears, or just leave and wait outside! Why hesitate over such a simple matter?”

After firing his “cannon” at the group of rebels, the burn-scarred man sniffed again, then turned to Leon and said: “Come on! Test it on me first! Let’s see how you can make me bow with just one sentence!”

“Okay.”

Hearing the burn-scarred man’s words, Leon didn’t immediately speak but looked around, seriously reminding everyone:

“Everyone, one last reminder. My ability is activated through speech, so if anyone is still worried about being controlled, please cover your ears tightly. It’s best to temporarily leave.”

“…”

After hearing Xiaoba Jin’s warning, the group of rebels in the room fell silent again, but no one chose to leave. Not even the middle-aged man sitting in the main seat moved after hesitating for a while.

After all, if just hearing one sentence could activate the ability, Xiaoba Jin would have had countless opportunities to activate the anomaly before revealing his ability. There would be no need to explain the rules first before using the ability…

“Since everyone is ready to try, I’ll start.”

Seeing no one leaving or covering their ears, Leon nodded satisfactorily and then held up two fingers.

“I believe that one plus one equals two. Those who agree with me, please stand up and bow now.”

“Swish swish swish swish!”

The moment Leon finished speaking, the sound of numerous chairs dragging across the floor rang out simultaneously. To their horror, the group of rebels discovered they had lost control over their bodies.

All the people in the room stood up from their chairs at the same time and bowed deeply to Xiaoba Jin in a fairly standard manner. Two relatively shorter individuals even bumped their heads on the table with a bang.

“Wow! It’s actually true!”

After picking up her hood that fell off onto the table, the bald woman touched her reddened forehead and exclaimed in surprise: “I just thought about it and agreed with what you said, and then I lost control of my body and bowed to you!

Goodness! You weren’t lying! There really is such an utterly useless abnormal ability where you just need to agree with what you say… uh… Leader?”

Looking at the only person still seated on the chair who didn’t get up to bow to Xiaoba Jin, the bald woman questioned curiously:

“This is just one plus one, right? Why didn’t you…”

“It’s because I didn’t activate the ability on him.”

When the bald woman started questioning the math skills of the middle-aged man with a puzzled look, Leon interrupted her:

“Nathan-sama is acknowledged as the leader by everyone, so it feels inappropriate to ask him to bow to me. When I used my ability just now, I didn’t choose him as the target.”

“Oh oh, that makes sense!”

After confirming that Xiaoba Jin wasn’t lying and had been telling the truth from the beginning, the bald woman’s attitude became much friendlier instantly, even laughing and teasing:

“Really… You should have said that earlier! I thought the leader didn’t even know one plus one!”

Heh, whether he knows one plus one or not, I don’t know, but I now know who he truly is! After giving the bald woman a gentle smile, Leon glanced at the golden [Travel Thrush Prince] badge shimmering on his slot, then turned to look at the frowning middle-aged man sitting in the main seat, his lips curling up involuntarily.

So it’s you!

…

Not using the ability on the leader was, of course, pure nonsense. According to the ability of [Travel Thrush Prince], all people with a “status” lower than this prince should have bowed immediately under the constraint of the badge.

The only possible exception would be someone with an identity equal to this “prince,” namely the prince who somehow returned from the future—Prince Joshua!

Who would have thought that the leader of the troublemakers everywhere would actually be the prince of the kingdom… This guy is definitely asking for it no matter how old he gets! After completing a meaningful look at the middle-aged man and noticing the concealer on his cheeks and faint features, Leon finally understood where the familiarity came from when he first met him.

Don’t ask, just ask and you’ll get slapped, and not just once either—it’s a classic acquaintance!

“Everyone!”

After moving his suddenly restless right wrist, Leon, having proven he wasn’t lying, sat back down and smiled while reminding everyone:

“I remember today there was an important meeting? Can we continue now?”

Right! We came here for a meeting today! After Leon’s reminder, those still studying the previous bow suddenly remembered and chimed in agreement:

“Yes! There is something very important!”

“Indeed, we should continue!”

“True, we’ve wasted quite some time!”

“…”

How come… the situation feels a little off? Looking at “Xiaoba Jin” at the end of the long table, who was resting his arms on the table with deep meaning in his eyes, the middle-aged man sitting in the main seat felt a strange discomfort in his heart, finding it increasingly uncomfortable to sit on his chair.

Whether the agreement from the rebel members around him or that reminder about starting the meeting, which should have come from him, seemed to subtly indicate something. It was as if with that strange bow just now, something that should have firmly remained in his grasp began to “flow.”

This intangible yet crucial strange thing was flowing along this old conference table, continuously draining from the person sitting in the main seat, slowly and inevitably heading toward the other end of the long table…

(End of Chapter)