Chapter 209
Chapter 209
Oliver felt his hair stand on end in an instant. It was creepy to think about how there were people he knew nothing about scheming and trying to make him fall into a trap. Of course, this was not necessarily the case. Now, it was only a hazy hunch for Oliver.
“Sienna! Sienna…” Oliver stared at Sienna again and whispered, but the latter remained expressionless and indifferent and continued to ask him for cost estimates. This felt as if she had been brainwashed. At the thought of the word “brainwashed,” Oliver’s heart clenched. Sienna was this way, and so was Yancy, but Yancy’s situation was far more severe compared to Sienna’s. It was like Sienna’s mind was being controlled while Yancy’s was changed to a different one. “Brainwashed? Mind exchange?” Oliver seemed to have a vague idea, but it seemed that there was another layer of fog in his mind that made him uncertain of his guesses. “I saw a movie once. It was this film by that one director called… ‘Hypnosis Master’!” Oliver instantly remembered the term for someone who did things like this—the person was a hypnotist. When Oliver watched the movie, he felt horrible and scared but thought it was a nonsensical fictional story. Now that he recalled this, it felt like lightning flashed in his mind and lit it up with ideas. As for Sienna’s current condition, it seemed one could consider her to be “hypnotized.”
According to the explanation in the movie, hypnosis would usually require an object of focus, such as a swinging pendulum. The hypnotized person could be loaded with new memories or have a portion of their memories erased.
Suddenly, Oliver thought, “Yancy… Could her memories have been erased and then replaced with others’ memories?” Oliver instantly felt his face turn warm, and his heartbeat quickened. The more he thought about it, the more it felt like it was possible. Yet, “Hypnosis Master” was a movie, and he had never seen such a person in real life. Besides, Yancy’s situation only suggests that if she were truly
hypnotized by someone, she was hypnotized by someone even more skilled than the lead hypnotist in the movie.
After her bout of confusion, Sienna seemed to become very tired and fell asleep on the bed shortly after.
Oliver inspected her again. The Book of Immortality’s aura was coursing through her body, but it found nothing peculiar, much like in the situation with Yancy. Oliver was sitting by the bedside and thinking silently, “This man is so horrible. If he set such a far-reaching malicious plan, targeting Yancy previously and now Sienna, does his plan include my parents and Joanna in the future?”
Oliver immediately broke into a cold sweat. He took out his phone and called Fabian, asking the latter to arrange for personnel to protect his family. He also told Fabian not to arrange for personnel to act alone. It did not matter to Oliver if he earned less money for the time being.
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Fabian had never seen Oliver tell him something in such a grim and serious way, so he quickly agreed.
Putting down the phone, Oliver still felt uneasy. He did not know how Wayne’s and Simon’s search for Howard was going. Hence, he wanted to give them a call, but he was also worried that calling them suddenly would disturb them.
Although Oliver had never done scouting or spy work, he knew that there were often such episodes in movies. In the midst of danger, the hidden secret agent would unexpectedly get exposed due to the ringing of his mobile phone.
Although such a low-level mistake was unlikely to occur with a real agent, he did not dare deny that there was no possibility of such, so he dared not call or send a
message.
Just as he began to become a little restless, he received a text message on his phone with a ding.
Oliver picked up his phone and saw that it was from Wayne, so he hurriedly unlocked his phone and checked it.
[Mr. Eastwood, the target has been found and locked. The target is located at 292 Jussipi East Road, Pearl Complex, 27th floor. Wayne.]
“It’s Wayne,” Oliver thought. Oliver was relieved that Howard was finally under their surveillance as he got up and left.
However, after thinking for a while, he called for bodyguards and asked them to move some chairs over and stand guard at the elevator. Anyway, he contracted this whole floor, so there was no need to worry about others finding his actions
strange.
Only once he had finished the arrangements did he go out feeling relieved and secure. This was a time when he could not afford to take one wrong step.
He went out alone since he was not that worried about himself. Firstly, he had the greatest support from the Book of Immortality’s aura, and secondly, his skills were better than Wayne’s and Simon’s, although this secret was unknown to outsiders. If someone really planned to target him, nobody could say that he would not be giving them a “surprise” instead.
Oliver was not familiar with the place Wayne mentioned in the text. After all, this was not a small city they were in, and the former used to be poor and cowardly. He had never been to any high-end places before and was not able to, so he could not integrate into that class of people.
Although he was super rich now, it was an explosive wealth that occurred to him in a very short period of time. Thus, his fortune and power were hardly known by people in this circle.
Oliver’s strength and reputation were far more unknown than those in the places. he had visited abroad, such as Shark’s place and Prince Fermin’s super circle.
After he reached the roadside, he hitched a ride and was extremely careful on the
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way.
He should not be watched by anyone, not at least until he reached the sides of Pearl Complex. After getting out of the car, Oliver paid special attention to the direction where he came from.
No car followed.
The square around Pearl Complex was very large and had many shops. The foot traffic was high here. Many people were coming from and going into this high-density area.
With Oliver’s current sensory observation ability, few people could hide from him.
After wandering around the square for a while, Oliver went to Pearl Complex after making sure that no one was following him.
Pearl Complex had an underground parking garage and lifestyle supermarket, commercial levels on the first to seventh floors, a photography studio on the eighth floor, and an independent office building above the eighth floor. Elevators in the office building were not shared with the that of the shopping mall. They were separate.
Oliver went in through the elevator lobby of the office building next to the gate of Pearl Complex. Many people, all dressed in professional clothes, were waiting for the four elevators facing each other.
An elevator came down, and Oliver followed a group of men and women in. After pressing the 27th- floor elevator button, he found that everyone else was stopping below the 22nd floor.
The elevator was not slow, and the rise could be felt in the elevator itself, just like when an airplane flew.
Watching them go out of the elevator one by one, only Oliver was left in the elevator after the 22nd floor.
He reached the 27th floor soon after.
As the elevator doors opened, Oliver took a quick look before stepping out. There was only one entrance on the right side of this floor, and there was a sign at the entrance that read: [Sorcery and divination research center].
There was a reception desk after the entrance door. A girl in her twenties, roughly 24 to 25 years old, young and beautiful, was stationed there.
However, Wayne and Simon were not in sight,
r
There was no entrance anywhere else. This was the only one.
Oliver paused for a moment before going inside.
The girl at the front desk looked up at him and asked him politely, “Sir, do you have an appointment?” Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.
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Oliver hesitated for a moment and then explained, “I’m looking for Howard. I have relatives who have talked to him before.”
The receptionist said, “Okay.” Then, she pointed to the right and said, “Go right. Mr. Xanthos’ office will be the first one in front of you.”
Oliver nodded and took a few steps before noticing that the receptionist did not follow him. Only then did he start to scan what was in the direction in front of him.