This is not the first time that outsiders have entered the town and encountered a series of supernatural events. Whether they're groups of travelers, outsiders who wandered in by mistake, or simply passersby, the evil spirit uses his possession technique and lies to watch them investigate relentlessly, flee in panic, or angrily turn upon each other in the town.
For a ghost who can perfectly manipulate others' bodies and even access their memories, deceiving ordinary people is all too easy. His abilities are so strong that deceiving people is convenient, which is why he never bothered to train his deceit skills.
Even if some wise individuals harbor suspicions, the evil spirit can accurately recount the memories of the possessed individuals. Subtle movements are mimicked so ingeniously that not even intimate partners can tell. So why bother delving into deeper techniques?
Moreover, the political figures are well aware of the tragedy that happened back then. After the local councilors rose to higher positions, they worked even harder to cover up the news. The existence of the town was almost entirely erased, so naturally, no expert teams came to investigate, nor even semi-professional individuals were allowed to approach. So, the only ones coming were tourists.
These people have no professional knowledge and are completely unguarded, making it easy to fool them one by one. There's no need for hypnotism; simply controlling a companion's body for ambush suffices.
This led to the evil spirit freely swimming in a "fish pond game" over the years. Forget elite agents and special forces; he hadn't even encountered a septuagenarian law enforcement officer. Simply put, he has no experience dealing with non-ordinary individuals.
And the players entering this level, although their bodies are indeed restricted to that of ordinary people and they lack strong mental abilities, their personalities set them apart.
As the saying goes, who'd want to be a superhero without a few screws loose?
Moreover, those here aren't just some rookies fresh to the scene. They've long surpassed the age of self-exploration and are now at the prime age for using their worldviews and methodologies to transform the world. They have a coherent set of logic that justifies itself, and for the most part in their lives, they can perfectly implement this logic and execute their ideas well.
In this context, they mostly tend to be somewhat stubborn because their powerful abilities allow them to realize what they adhere to, which solidifies and strengthens their personalities. To put it bluntly, it makes them stubborn.
Many people, when interacting with some successful individuals, feel that those individuals have some very obvious shortcomings, shortcomings that an average person can detect and that aren't difficult to change. Clearly, changing would make them better people, so why don't they change?
The answer is because they're successful. The set of principles they adhere to has been repeatedly tested in their lives, making them more successful. So, they keep using the same method, even though mixed in with many obvious flaws, they won't change. This is the proverbial "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" or rather, path dependence.
This may cause some individuals to fall behind the times, but it's actually quite a stable and safe approach if their doctrines don't have limitations of the times. It's beneficial for mental health too.
What superheroes adhere to clearly has no temporal limitations. Rescuing the weak, fighting crime, and upholding justice have been constant throughout the ages, with merely different methods employed.
Confronting individuals who have adhered to such logic for years and achieved considerable success, changing them is very difficult. Making these individuals blur the line between right and wrong, good and evil, is as tough as making a sinner turn over a new leaf, if not harder.
Evildoers at least are partially restrained by social morals, but heroes perfectly satisfy social moral expectations and meet the hopes of most people in this world. Changing such individuals is as difficult as climbing Mount Everest.
Even without their superpowers, their personalities aren't restricted. Simply put, this evil spirit's brainwashing ability is utterly insufficient to change this stubborn bunch, not even enough to influence them.
Keep in mind that this level is filled with experts. Shiller's personality goes beyond simply being stubborn; it could be considered eerie. Shadow Spider-man has stood his ground alone for years, a left-wing revolutionary hidden within American society; just that identity carries significant value. Batman and Batwoman need no further discussion; none of the Batman Family are pushovers. The only seemingly simple target would be Superman, but even he is a rare breed—one who stubbornly confronts Batman head-on.
This bunch entering the same level makes the evil spirit's seemingly divine infinite possession and deceit abilities appear so feeble. In a series of movies, what could play as the final behind-the-scenes manipulator of an evil spirit, with them, it's a repeated, loud lesson in what it means to "know your limits".
Even after Kent left, the evil spirit was still angry, but after pondering, he felt uneasy. He genuinely feared Kent uncovering past events and dragging everything out into the open. Though now a ghost, unafraid of the law's judgment, he worried too many people might be drawn to the town, causing unforeseen consequences.
The evil spirit gritted his teeth and pursued. If only he weren't trapped in a body, he might find a sly way to ambush that big guy. But now, as an ordinary person, the disparity in scale made him hesitate to act rashly.
During the chase, the evil spirit cursed in its heart. It hadn't forgotten that when it previously manipulated Peter's body, the owner of this body, Agent, had charged at it full speed, knocking it down. How powerful that force was—did the evil spirit not know? And at that time, it wasn't restricted, yet it still got pinned down and beaten by the other.
Now it's its turn to take over the body. The evil spirit was initially a bit smug, thinking it could wield that same strength, only to be dumbfounded upon arrival. This body, in terms of both body type and muscle mass, was impossible to unleash such force. So how did he do it?!
Moreover, back then, this guy was also under the curse; his left arm shouldn't have been usable at all. But watching him wield guns with both hands, jumping up and down, he seemed so agile, with no sign of having been cursed. It thought the ambush back then had failed.
But then it got in, and guess what? Not only did it work, but it also doubled in strength.
When Agent skipped through plot sequences saying all those out-of-character lines, it caused a loss of health. While the system is a soul tracker, Agent's soul was still in his body then, and the way to lose health was by accelerating the curse's spread. But the curse spread within his body, causing no harm to his soul. Now that his soul had left, leaving the body to the evil spirit, could it be any worse?
Now the evil spirit's not only got its left arm turned entirely black, but the curse hasn't stopped spreading; it's contaminated the entire left half of its body. Now its entire left side is somewhat numb.
When possessing a human, an evil spirit can ignore physical damage. Whether shot or stabbed, it doesn't matter to the evil spirit; after all, it can even control a corpse. But there's one thing it can't ignore, and that's being hit by black magic. It can't withstand black magic attacks.
In this town, barely ten people exist, and only the evil spirit knows black magic. And it successfully hit itself with its own concocted black magic, albeit a system-enhanced version.
The evil spirit is quite puzzled. It remembers the black magic it developed wasn't this powerful. Necrotizing an entire arm was already unexpected. How could it look like it was spreading across the whole body without an energy source? "Did I do this? No way, right?"
But it doesn't have time to worry about this now. After all, it can't change bodies and can only make do with this one. But because this body is already corroded by black magic, it's harder to control, leading to a delay. Kent has already found Linda, and they're chatting away.
Even if the evil spirit were a fool, it knows that showing up now would alert Kent that something's wrong. So it crouched behind the window, trying to listen to what they were saying.
"...I know you're a small-town girl, but don't worry, I'm from a small town too. I'm from Kansas State, from a town so small you've probably never heard of it. My family are all farmers; no one ever made it big. I completely understand what it's like living in such a small town."
"When you encounter some problems, you can't call the police as people in big cities do. Your whole family depends on the police for a living. If you offend the sheriff, who knows when he'll trip you up, causing a huge loss, or even make you leave the town."
"You have to follow many unspoken rules. Some rules seem bizarre and make you feel insulted and uncomfortable. But if you dare to break them, you'll be shunned by everyone and won't survive here either."
"So I'm not here to ask why you didn't call the police or why you didn't move away. I know that's hard to do. A small-town person who's left home is nothing. Going to a big city only gets you chewed up and spat out. It's better to stay at home."
"But that doesn't mean we should give up on the basic principles of humanity. Some rules are meant to unite the townsfolk, as only unity can bring more profit; some rules are to prevent crime, even if troublesome, they're for everyone's safety; even some exclusionary rules are because outsiders once committed crimes, and we had to defend against that. For many unreasonable federal laws, people turn a blind eye, not enforcing strictly."
"But certain events in this town do not fall into this category. These acts of cruelty reach the limits of human nature, and cannot be tolerated. Even though much time has passed, you are still alive after all. Even if you were to die, it doesn't mean past evils fade away. Upholding justice is not just about the present, but the future. How many such small towns are there in the Federation, and how many small-town girls like you?"
Linda, standing at the workbench, suddenly stopped her motion. When she straightened up, Kent saw she had been sharpening a sharp wooden stake. Now the stake was exceedingly sharp.
She turned around, her face dark and staring at Kent. "What exactly do you want?"
"I want to know the truth from back then. What you experienced and how it all happened. I swear, I will make everyone pay the price they deserve."