2: Chapter 2 Sequence Eyes

Chen Mo tested his new ability while driving.

He called it "Pupil of the Sequence" because whenever he concentrated, his right eye would glow with that pale golden light, and information about his targets would emerge in his field of vision.

It wasn't complete information, but rather fragmented, keyword-style hints, like notes someone had scribbled in a hurry.

He discovered a pattern: Pupil of the Sequence was basically ineffective against "non-living objects," but it was exceptionally sensitive to things that were "problematic."

For example, that seemingly ordinary traffic warning sign by the side of the road.

Under the perspective of Pupil of the Sequence, the four characters for "Roadwork Ahead" on the sign were slowly oozing blood, and drops of blood dripped down the metal frame, pooling into a line of small text on the asphalt: "Stop, come here."

Chen Mo did not stop, nor did he go over.

He accelerated past it, and in the rearview mirror, the warning sign trembled violently as if enraged.

Then it suddenly collapsed, emitting a wail that didn't sound like metal, but rather like some kind of animal.

Not long after.

He discovered a second pattern: Pupil of the Sequence would consume his "mental energy."

That feeling of exhaustion after overusing one's brain.

After using Pupil of the Sequence twelve times in a row, his temples began to throb.

Tiny black spots appeared at the edge of his vision, like floaters.

He had to stop to rest.

He turned off the engine, rolled up the windows, and rummaged through the glove compartment for the map.

The red line on the map had changed.

Originally just a simple straight line, it now had branches. One branch pointed to the service area he had just passed, with a line of small text next to it: "Trading Post (Elementary) · Risk: Medium."

Another branch continued forward, marked: "Fog Village Road · Risk: High · Recommend Detour."

There was also a thinner line that branched off from the main road, leading to a blank area, marked as: "??? · Risk: Unknown."

Chen Mo's finger paused on "Fog Village Road."

The System's countdown had four hours and twenty-one minutes remaining; he needed a safe place to spend that so-called "Ghost Night."

The Trading Post was an option, but that Ghost Shadow with the lantern made him wary.

He wouldn't consider the unknown area.

In situations with insufficient intelligence, "unknown" often meant "death."

He chose to continue forward but remained vigilant, ready to turn around at any moment.

Fog suddenly descended from the sky.

It wasn't ordinary white fog.

The fog was gray, feeling thick enough to be grabbed by hand.

Moreover, it only spread on the road; the fields by the roadside and the sky remained clearly visible.

It was as if an invisible hand had precisely poured the fog onto this road.

Chen Mo slowed down to twenty kilometers per hour.

The headlights were almost useless in this fog; the beams were swallowed within three meters.

He had to open the car window and rely on his hearing to judge the road conditions—the sound of tires against asphalt, and the strange noises occasionally coming from the distance, sounding like wind or perhaps breathing.

Pupil of the Sequence was suppressed in this environment.

His golden field of vision was compressed to only one-third of its normal range, and those golden lines became blurry, like an old television screen with a bad signal.

But he still "saw" it.

About fifty meters ahead, a flipped truck was stopped in the middle of the road, its cargo bed overturned, and goods scattered everywhere.

Under the perspective of Pupil of the Sequence, those goods were all entwined with thick golden lines, and the lines were wriggling, like living things.

Chen Mo stepped on the brakes and stopped thirty meters away from the truck.

He did not turn off the engine; the low roar of the engine seemed exceptionally loud in this silence.

The fog grew thicker.

It was so thick that he began to doubt whether that truck was real or just some kind of hallucination.

Then, he heard a sound.

"Help... help me..."

It was a woman's voice, weak and tearful, coming from the direction of the truck.

"Is anyone there... save me... I'm stuck..."

Chen Mo did not move.

His right hand gripped the rusty wrench in the glove compartment; the coldness of the metal kept him clear-headed.

"Please... my leg is broken... it's so cold..."

The voice was closer, as if it had moved from beside the truck to the middle of the road.

Chen Mo's Pupil of the Sequence focused desperately, and finally captured a silhouette in the thick fog.

A humanoid figure, lying on the ground, was crawling toward him.

Golden lines.

Thick enough to be blinding.

Not human.

"I know you're there..."

The voice suddenly changed, becoming clear and joyful.

"I smell it... fresh..."

Chen Mo slammed the car into gear and reversed.

Almost at the same instant, the "woman" lunged at the spot where he had just been parked.

Pupil of the Sequence captured its true form at the last moment:

A face without skin, muscle fibers exposed directly to the air, a mouth split to the ears, and inside, instead of teeth, were dense, wriggling golden threads.

【F-Class Ghost Shadow (Luring Type) · Weakness: Torso core exposed, unable to turn while moving at high speed】

【Threat Assessment: Medium (in current state)】

【Recommendation: Utilize vehicle mobility, avoid close combat】

The reversing lights illuminated the thing's face.

If that could still be called a face.

It did not pursue.

Instead, it tilted its head, "staring" at Chen Mo with those two lidless eyeballs, its mouth stretching into an exaggerated grin.

"Smart..."

Its voice sounded like it was being squeezed from its stomach.

"But... how much fuel do you have..."

Chen Mo did not answer. His attention was focused on the rearview mirror; he reversed, turned around, and then slammed on the gas pedal.

The engine roared as it surged forward, not to flee, but to—

Ram it.

The Ghost Shadow clearly had not expected this move.

Its luring strategy relied on the prey's fear and hesitation, but Chen Mo did not give it that chance.

The front of the Santana slammed heavily into it, emitting a dull, thunderous sound, followed by the sound of tearing metal.

Chen Mo felt the steering wheel jolt violently, as if he had hit a rock.

But he didn't let off the gas; instead, he continued to accelerate, dragging the thing forward for a dozen meters until he felt the resistance under the wheels disappear, and then he slammed on the brakes.

In the rearview mirror, the Ghost Shadow lay in the middle of the road, its body twisted at an impossible angle, and golden lines gushed out from its body like a punctured balloon.

But it was still laughing.

"Useless..."

Its voice became intermittent.

"In the fog... there isn't just me..."

Chen Mo stared at the rearview mirror, watching the thing's body gradually shrivel.

The golden lines converged into a fist-sized ball of light, then with a "whoosh," it pierced through the car window and sank into his chest.

There was no pain, only a strange sense of fulfillment, like drinking a cup of strong coffee.

【Killed F-Class Ghost Shadow (Luring Type)】

【Obtained: sequence fragment × 1 (F-Class)】

【Current fragments: 2 (F-Class)】

【Sequence evolution progress: 4%】

The text appeared, then vanished.

Chen Mo looked down at his hands; there was no change.

But he could feel something accumulating inside him, like coins in a piggy bank, waiting for that day when there would be enough.

In the distance, more sounds arrived.

Crawling sounds, whispers, and that harsh sound like fingernails scratching metal.

Chen Mo glanced at the fuel level: 24%.

He gripped the steering wheel tight, stepped on the gas, and surged deeper into the fog.

If there was more than one Ghost Shadow in the fog, then staying in place was waiting for death.

If the fog had an end, then moving was the only chance for survival.

If Pupil of the Sequence was suppressed in the fog, then he needed to find the boundary of the fog, or—

Create a boundary.

He remembered the label on the map: "Fog Village Road."

Village roads meant buildings, meant shelter, meant potentially existing enclosed spaces.

And enclosed spaces, during a chase, were often turning points.

Before long, he saw the first house.

It was a Farmhouse by the side of the road, with brick walls, an iron gate, and a window with a light on on the second floor.

The light was yellow, a normal yellow, like a warm star in the thick gray fog.

Chen Mo did not slow down.

His Pupil of the Sequence swept over that house; the golden lines indicated: Safe, no Ghost Shadow lurking.

But he still did not stop.

Because behind the window, a shadow was waving at him.

Chen Mo's headlights swept over a road sign in front of the Farmhouse, on which a line of text was written in red paint, the handwriting scrawled but clear:

"Don't stop, keep driving, there's a bridge ahead."

He memorized the location of that Farmhouse, then continued forward.

Immediately after, he saw the second house.

This time there was no light, but the door was open, and a red plastic basin filled with coins was placed at the doorway.

Pupil of the Sequence indicated: Trap.

Those coins were entwined with trigger-type golden lines; once touched, they would awaken something sleeping.

Chen Mo drove around it.

After driving for a while longer, a bridge appeared.

It wasn't a large bridge, but an old stone arch bridge, less than twenty meters across, with moss growing on the bridge railings.

On the other side of the bridge, the fog was noticeably thinner, and he could see road signs in the distance reflecting the light of his headlights.

On the bridge deck, a bus was parked.

It was that kind of old-fashioned bus from the 1990s, the paint on the body had peeled off, and all the window glass was shattered.

Chen Mo slowed down and stopped at this end of the bridge.

Pupil of the Sequence operated at full power, and a severe stinging pain came from his right eye, but he endured it.

The golden field of vision penetrated the shell of the bus and saw what was inside.

A bus full of Ghost Shadow.

At least twenty of them, all curled up on the seats, as if sleeping.

Their golden lines were intertwined, forming a complex network.

And at the center of the network was that thing in uniform in the driver's seat.

【E-Class Ghost Shadow (Cluster Type) · Driver】

【Core Ability: Awaken Cluster, Vehicle Control】

【Weakness: Driver's seat is directly connected to the vehicle engine; destroying the engine can temporarily paralyze it】

【Threat Assessment: Extremely High】

【Recommendation: Retreat immediately, look for an alternative path】

Chen Mo's gaze shifted to the sides of the bridge.

There was no alternative path; under the bridge was a dried-up riverbed, covered in gravel, impassable for vehicles.

He glanced at the countdown: three hours and fifty-seven minutes.

Fuel level: 21%.

Retreating meant re-entering the thick fog, facing an unknown number.

Advancing meant waking up a bus full of Ghost Shadow, but at least there were clear targets and known weaknesses.

Chen Mo's right hand moved from the wrench to the gear shift.

He took a deep breath, then made a crazy decision—

He turned on the high beams, then honked the horn.

The shrill sound of the horn exploded in the silence, like throwing a boulder into a calm lake.

Inside the bus, those curled-up figures trembled simultaneously, and then, one by one, they lifted their heads.

The "Driver" in the driver's seat turned its head, looking in Chen Mo's direction.

It had no eyes, only two pitch-black hollows, but Chen Mo could feel its "stare."

That hair-raising feeling of being stared at by a starving beast.

Then, it smiled, its mouth stretching all the way to its ears.

"Passengers..."

Its voice sounded like it was coming from a radio, with static and electrical noise.

"Please board..."

The bus engine started, emitting a dull, thunderous roar, and the headlights turned on—two dim yellow lights, like rotten eyes.

Chen Mo stared at that vehicle, stared at its tires, stared at the point of contact between the bridge deck and the tires.

Pupil of the Sequence was operating frantically; in his right eye's field of vision, the golden lines were like boiling water.

He saw it: at the point of contact between the bus chassis and the bridge deck, there was a particularly thick golden line connecting the driver's seat and the four tires.

The Driver controlled the vehicle through that line, and the node of that line was at—

Chen Mo slammed the car into gear and floored the gas pedal.

The car was like an arrow released from a bow, charging straight toward the side of the bus.

In the last second before the collision, Chen Mo jerked the steering wheel; the car slid sideways, and the rear of the car whipped violently into the bus's rear wheel position.

A loud clang of metal collision.

Sparks flew everywhere.

Then came a shrill scream that didn't sound human.

The bus's rear wheels skidded on the bridge deck; the golden connecting line was struck by Chen Mo's car tail and briefly snapped.

The Driver's "control" was interrupted for a fraction of a second, and that fraction of a second was enough to make the bus lose its balance.

It rammed into the bridge railing, the railing broke, and the bus tilted.

Then, slowly, irreversibly, it flipped off the bridge.

The screams of more than twenty Ghost Shadow intertwined, like a symphony from Hell.

Then came the sound of impact, the sound of bones breaking, and the sound of some kind of liquid gushing out.

Chen Mo did not stop to check.

His car's rear was also severely deformed, but it could still drive.

He stepped on the gas, rushed across the stone bridge, and surged into the road where the fog was gradually thinning.

In the rearview mirror, the Driver crawled out of the bus wreckage, stood on the dried-up riverbed, and looked up, "watching" him.

Chen Mo's right hand was trembling.

He gripped his right wrist with his left hand, forcing it to steady itself.

【Assisted in destroying E-Class Ghost Shadow vehicle】

【Obtained: sequence fragment × 3 (F-Class)】

【Current fragments: 5 (F-Class)】

【Sequence evolution progress: 10%】

【Special Reward: Prediction (Elementary) — Can perceive fatal threats within the next 3 seconds】

The moment the text appeared, Chen Mo suddenly felt a wave of intense dizziness.

His right eye's field of vision split into two layers: one layer was the current road, and the other was... the road three seconds later?

On the road three seconds later, a piece of metal debris flying out from the bus wreckage was spinning toward him, targeting the window on his driver's side.

There was no time to think.

Chen Mo ducked suddenly while jerking the steering wheel to the right.

The reality and the predicted image overlapped.

The moment he ducked, the car window shattered with a "crash."

That piece of metal debris grazed his scalp and embedded itself in the passenger seat headrest.

If he hadn't ducked, that piece of debris would have hit him right in the temple.

Chen Mo kept driving until the bridge could no longer be seen in the rearview mirror, then slowly slowed down and stopped by the side of the road.

His hands were still shaking, but his mouth curled into a smile.

He confirmed that this godforsaken world had rules.

He also confirmed that his Golden Finger could evolve.

And furthermore—

He could survive.