Chapter 11: The Stare of the Spider Demon

After about a few dozen seconds, Philip twisted his neck stiffly, his gaze becoming vacant as he stared at the two men. Tears and snot streamed out rapidly, his voice choked with sobs and cries, "Please...let me go... What kind of monsters are you? What did you stuff into my body... What do you want... I'll give it all to you."

Clearly, he was on the verge of collapse, terrified by the bizarre circumstances. His face and hands quickly smeared with copious tears and snot.

The smoking man in the mask snorted coldly through his nose and stood up, "Wrong answer, Mr. Walters. You've disappointed me."

As his words ended, Philip suddenly felt an intense pain erupting from every cell in his body, an indescribable agony almost making him wish to pass out. Yet, at that moment, he lost control over his body again, unable to make a sound or a move, not even able to faint.

The only thing he could feel was pain.

This horrific pain reached its peak suddenly and seemed to stay at its pinnacle perpetually. In an instant, Philip felt as if everything around him ceased to exist. Not only had he lost control over his body, but his hearing and vision vanished too, leaving him in a world where only pain existed.

In such a state, even the slightest pain was magnified, let alone this almost ultimate agony.

Philip had no sense of how much time had passed. His consciousness was muddled, only feeling the hellish pain recede suddenly like a receding tide. His entire body soaked in sweat as if he had just been fished out of water, his complexion deathly pale without a trace of blood, his throat emitting rough, labored breaths.

A pungent odor wafted through the air — Philip had been in so much pain that he lost control of his bladder.

"From now on, you are under our control, we are your masters. When we command you, you must obey. If we are dissatisfied with your performance, you will receive a small punishment like just now. Understand, Mr. Walters?" His hearing returned, and Philip forced his eyes open, seeing the man casually flicking his cigarette butt and warning him.

Philip felt all his strength and courage had been completely drained in that short time. The unimaginable pain instilled a deep fear in him, and he dared not speak, fearing more punishment from the terrifying man. He could only nod weakly.

"Good, it seems we are starting to understand each other," the man said, lightly clapping his hands as if to encourage him. "Remember, we will know all your actions. When you hear a command, don't hesitate, just do it. Don't even think about leaking our little secret by any means, that would make me very angry. Trust me, you don't want to know what true punishment is."

"What kind of command?" Philip regained a bit of energy, deciding to show some cooperation to avoid further terrifying pain. But when he heard his own voice, it startled him; it was dry and hoarse, like it was coming from a leaky, broken speaker.

"Just like that, when I say so, you'll do it." An ice-cold, unfamiliar voice suddenly appeared in Philip's mind, startling him. But he quickly realized the voice's owner — the monster who had brought him to this state. Fear flickered in his eyes as he sneaked a glance at the man, who seemed to be watching him, scaring him into lowering his head quickly.

How is this person speaking in my mind? Philip thought in terror.

"Your thoughts are now connected to me. From now on, I am your master, Clyde! And the person you've angered today is the supreme ruler, the untouchable big shot!"

So it was that nouveau riche! Images of the detestable Bruce flashed in Philip's mind, bringing with it an involuntary surge of intense hatred.

Just as this thought arose, the pain that he had just experienced invaded his body again, suddenly and unbearably horrific, overwhelming. Fortunately, this time it didn't last as long, but it was enough to make him suffer.

"Watch your words, scum!" The strange man's voice appeared again in Philip's mind, carrying a tinge of anger and disdain.

He can actually know what I'm thinking?! Philip fell into chaos again; all this was beyond his imagination.

"That's right, I can know everything about you. So remember to maintain humility and awe towards your superior, you ignorant scum!" The voice still echoed in his mind, filled with a sense of superiority.

Philip finally confirmed this fact, too overwhelmed to be surprised, he could only desperately plead in his mind.

"I believe you've heard the instructions, right? This voice is only for you, and everything about you, including your thoughts, is in our grasp. So, from now on, behave well, Mr. Walters," the smoking man said meaningfully. "If the superior is not satisfied, the little darling inside you will get very angry, it will slowly consume your heart, liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys... By then, even death will seem like a luxury."

"Understood?" He didn't give Philip a chance to think, asking again.

Caught in terror, Philip was startled by the question and reflexively nodded desperately. He tried to muster some words, but then saw the commanding man raise his arm and place his palm on the shoulder of the man called Clyde, and the two of them turned into a wisp of faint black smoke and disappeared into the air, as if they had never been there.

This unimaginable scene once again stunned Philip. He rubbed his eyes frantically, repeatedly confirming that the two men had indeed vanished from the room. A surge of energy suddenly rose in him, propelling him to leap out of bed and wildly wave his hands where the men disappeared, as if to confirm that nothing was left there.

Nothing.

After searching the entire apartment, Philip finally confirmed that the two strange men had vanished just as silently and tracelessly as they had appeared. After neurotically checking every nook and cranny, even the empty spaces in the refrigerator, Philip collapsed to the ground, boneless, the bizarre events feeling like a dream, leaving him dazed for a long time.

After a while, he finally regained some energy and crawled back to bed using his hands and feet.

Could that man still know what he was thinking?

Just as the thought crossed his mind, the voice rang out again, as expected.

"I am watching you."

This flat, emotionless voice sent chills down Philip's spine as he looked around the empty room and at Catherine beside him, breathing evenly, a cold shiver running down his back.

In a dark corner not far away, the two men who had vanished stood side by side, looking towards the apartment's light from a distance.

"My eggs can't be produced indefinitely. Using them on such a powerless waste might be a bit wasteful," the man who had identified himself as Clyde in front of Philip Walters said. He had an utterly ordinary face, except for his eyes, each containing four differently sized gray pupils.

"Human society is complex. We can't judge importance based on individual strength alone. Moreover, it's the superior's will; we just need to follow it," the other man turned his head, revealing himself to be Ray Stein, the Shadow Demon sent out by Bruce to organize a demon army.

"The superior's will is everything." Mentioning the powerful entity, a look of awe and excitement appeared on Clyde's face.

"Of course, the real show has just begun," Ray Stein patted Clyde's shoulder, and the two vanished into the night again.

Although not very smoothly, Ray Stein's search mission had begun to yield some results. Spider Demon Clyde was a new member of the legion, someone who could lay eggs inside a host and remotely control them through demon spiders. In a society like the human's, where individuals are fragile, his value was clearly extraordinary.