Chapter 46: Upgrade of the Right Eye

[Chapter 46: Upgrade of the Right Eye]

Outside the hospital, Gaskill anxiously waited. He hurried up to his wife when he saw her walk out.

Lena rushed into his arms, kissing her husband with teary eyes, "It was Ian who saved me, he saved me again."

"I know, babe. How is he now?" Gaskill asked.

Lena remained silent, looking back instead. Ian was seen coming out, draping his arm over Leyso's shoulder.

A few hospital security guards were approaching to restrain him when Ian quickly snatched the gun from Gaskill, pointing it at them, "Back off! He has laid down his weapon; you cannot arrest him!"

One security guard replied, "You have no right to..."

Bang!

Ian slammed the butt of the gun against the man's head and aimed the muzzle at his face, "If you have the guts, you should say this before I saved him, instead of trying to be a hero now!"

A doctor shouted, "We've called the police!"

Ian frowned, Leyso's expression changed tremendously, "I don't want to go to jail -- you promised me, Ian Carr!"

Lena anxiously added, "Gaskill, don't let him go to jail! Ian promised him some things, he doesn't want to break his word!"

Gaskill meaningfully glanced at Lena, then at Ian, nodding, "Alright, since you don't want it that way, let it be. Don't worry; I'll handle the police. But, Mr. Leyso, you can't just leave like this. You have to go to the station; I'll speak with Elik and make sure the hospital doesn't press charges against you."

Leyso looked at Ian, who smiled, "If Elik doesn't listen... I filmed everything! I will expose this, he can't handle that kind of reputation loss!"

Leyso looked gratefully at Ian, "Okay!"

A few minutes later, the police took Leyso away.

...

After confirming that Ian didn't want Leyso to go to jail, Gaskill went to talk with Elik.

Before long, Gaskill returned, saying, "He agreed; the police can bail him out."

"Great! Thank you!" Ian hugged Gaskill.

Gaskill chuckled, "I should thank you -- within 24 hours, you've saved us twice."

They shared a smile before Gaskill introduced Ian to Dr. Elik.

...

Dr. Elik was a somewhat chubby man with a kind face, expressing deep concern over Leyso's situation.

The ethics of doctors often contrasted starkly with their healthcare attitudes -- no matter how unscrupulous, they all seemed to have a heart for service.

They weren't just in the medical business; it was also a human care and end-of-life service industry!

Ian had seen enough monsters in human forms not to care; he quietly took note of his room's location and where he kept patient files.

Initially, Ian intended to report this incident, but since he needed to save Leyso, he deleted all camera footage in front of Dr. Elik as a trade-off.

After taking care of that, Gaskill mentioned he had some things to handle, so Ian left alone.

---

Back at the motel, Ian first checked the news.

Last night's motel shooting incident was still stirring up trouble, with early reports of sales skyrocketing.

This made Ian quite pleased.

He looked into the mirror, seeing himself in his right eye.

Influence Points had reached 999.

Finally, after a moment, it pulsed and jumped.

1000/1000.

With that number appearing, Ian noticed it suddenly changed to 0/8000.

What the heck!

Had experience points ramped up that significantly?

Simultaneously, Ian saw his right eye starting to show some strange threads of light.

"What the hell is this, growing tails now?" Ian wondered in surprise.

What was its purpose?

Ian focused his vision, feeling as if countless threads were intertwining around him.

Using these threads, he watched them fly out, passing through the window, connecting to the grass blades in the yard.

As he gently tugged, the grass bent slowly.

"Wow!" Ian exclaimed in astonishment.

So his right eye had evolved to the point of being able to use Telekinesis?

And it was... anything I could see could be moved?

Ian noticed that the threads penetrated through glass, restraining the grass blades, which meant that the threads had transference ability, deciding which object to influence based on his intent.

He tried to manipulate the invisible threads to connect to a distant tree, and the little tree began to slowly bend.

Just as he had suspected!

Doesn't that mean he had the ability to control objects?

While Ian was excited, he saw that a strand suddenly snapped, and pain shot through his right eye.

"Fuck!"

He clutched his eye, cursing, tears streaming down his face.

The broken thread felt like someone had jabbed him in the eye.

After waiting for a while, Ian's eye finally stopped hurting.

He tried again. After a few more snapping threads, which almost made him cry out in pain, he finally confirmed that he could release about a hundred invisible threads at once.

But each invisible thread had only about 50 grams of manipulable ability; exceeding that strength would break, causing severe pain in his eye and possibly leading to decreased vision.

Furthermore, the threads could join together, allowing control over 5 kilograms or 11 pounds; however, if they all snapped together, he could risk losing his eyesight.

Additionally, the threads could not affect living beings.

Damaged vision could gradually recover with upgrades, but going blind wasn't something he intended to try.

"To manipulate 5 kilograms of objects together is enough; at least it won't be a problem to place miniature cameras in the future." Ian mused to himself.

One of the most enduring headaches for Ian had been how to place miniature cameras in targeted areas, and now the threads had solved most of that trouble.

He tried using his x-ray vision again, but the effect hadn't improved.

In other words, after the eye upgrade, the original skills hadn't been increased; he had merely unlocked a new ability, so the current x-ray vision was at its limit?

This disappointed Ian.

Though the strain of his current x-ray vision had improved from before, it still couldn't last long.

---

During dusk after dinner, Ian stepped out of his room, planning to walk in the yard, only to find Gaskill already back.

He was sitting in a lounge chair in the yard, his face flickering between various emotions.

Ian approached, sitting beside Gaskill, pouring him a glass of wine, "You're back? Where's Lena?"

Gaskill replied, "She's sleeping; yesterday's incident scared her, she didn't sleep well last night, and now with this happening again, she needs to rest."

"You don't look so good either," Ian remarked.

Gaskill's complexion did appear somewhat off.

Gaskill chuckled wryly, "I'm not feeling unwell from lack of sleep; I've just encountered some troublesome matters that are on my mind."

"You can talk to me about it; it helps to share with someone," Ian offered.

Gaskill nodded, "Of course, but you better not report it."

Ian smiled, "I can't guarantee that."

Gaskill sighed, eventually continuing to speak.

As Gaskill elaborated, it aligned with what Ian had suspected; Gaskill had gone to Oakland Paints to meet with Chairman Iverson.

Despite Iverson appearing fine, experienced Gaskill noted that Iverson's health was off.

That hinted the rumors about his late-stage cancer might be true.

Gaskill sighed, "He's wearing a wig; I'm sure of it, but I can't get him to show me his hair."

Ian asked, "How long do you think he has left?"

Gaskill shook his head, "I'm not a doctor, and Elik won't tell me, but if it's true, his days are numbered."

"When is the loan due?"

"In six months."

Ian inquired, "Can it be called back early?"

Gaskill spread his hands, "In theory, yes, but it's difficult. Early repayment needs a legitimate reason, and Iverson's illness isn't a cause for calling back. All I can do is quickly sell off all stocks, but that wouldn't be much."

"What about short selling?" Ian countered.

Gaskill smiled, "You'd need to have his medical proof to show he indeed has cancer; otherwise, he could sue you."

This sort of maneuver wasn't something people couldn't think of; it was just something everyone found hard to do.

Ian thought seriously, "I can help you.

"Huh?" Gaskill looked at Ian in surprise.

Ian smiled slightly, "In no more than two days, I can help you find evidence."

Gaskill was taken aback, "But you're a journalist, not a spy. Even agents might not be able to do such things!"

Ian laughed, "Agents can't necessarily take out four gangsters from behind a door either."

With the invisible threads at his disposal, Ian's ability to acquire private information had become more accessible; he was now brimming with confidence.

*****

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