But the destruction caused by the Machina wasn’t the only thing on Jason’s mind at that moment. Jason turned to his left, where Varon, the Machina leader, was standing, and Jason frowned at him in annoyance. Jason had been speaking to Varon about this attack, and Jason was trying to figure out the Machina’s objectives and plans for the attack, but Jason hadn’t been able to get anything out of Varon. The reason for this wasn’t because Varon was disloyal or rebellious! In fact, Varon was extremely apologetic, and Jason could feel Varon’s regret pouring out from him at this moment! Instead, the reason why Jason hadn’t been able to get anything out of Varon was simply because Varon did not remember!
Varon’s memories of this attack, as well as the plans they made, did not exist in his mind, and no matter how hard Varon tried to recall those memories, they just wouldn’t come forward! According to Varon, the last thing he remembered was returning to his world after the trial at the Stone Catacombs! It felt like Varon had fallen asleep after that trial, and it was only now that Varon was waking up again!
Jason knew that there could be many reasons for something like this to happen! Amnesia wasn’t something that Jason had ever faced before in any of his subordinates! Just to verify if Varon was telling the truth or not, Jason had resurrected some of the other dead Machina and asked them the same question, and just like Varon, they also confirmed that they didn’t remember the plan or what their mission was! It was as if they had all been under some sort of mass hypnosis, and now that they were dead, all the memories of their time under the hypnosis were gone!
But Jason knew that there had to be something going on. Jason’s instincts were screaming at him that there was more to this attack than just some petty revenge, and Jason had sworn to always trust his instincts! Right now, Jason had multiple low-level subordinates scouring the length and breadth of the Earth for any sign of danger! The Machina were attacking the major cities and causing enough destruction to draw in all the powerful superhumans in the world, but something like this could just be a distraction! It was just too organised!
’How did they know that I was in Texas visiting the family? The only people who knew about that were the higher executives. How did they know what the major cities were on Earth? This is too well planned for it to just be some revenge plot. There are two things that I’m certain of. The first is that someone or something has affected the minds of the Machina and altered their memories. And the second thing is that someone from Earth is working with the enemy. That is the only way they’ll know exactly where to attack to cause the most damage. I already have an idea who the traitor might be, so I’ll deal with them later. But I need to figure out what the endgame is here. I need to know what is happening.’
’You should try using Qi to search their bodies.’
Jason hummed curiously as Esdath’s voice came through, and Jason asked Esdath what he was talking about.
’There’s a technique called Qi Analysis. I already taught you how to do it on your own body a long time ago. But with your level of control, I’m sure you can take the technique to the next level now. If you spread your Qi out from your core and inject it into the mind of one of the Machina, you can find out whether there is any foreign energy within them. If someone is controlling the Machina, you can use this method to find out.’
Jason hummed in understanding this time, and Jason quickly sent a message to the Skrill and told it to go and capture a Machina.
’Bring them to me alive. Make sure you don’t damage their heads.’
SCREECH!
The Skrill let out a cry as it received the order, and it took off from the Eiffel Tower and dived back into the city! Jason waited patiently while using [Eye of the King] to follow the various subordinates that were searching across the world for any stray Machina, and it only took five minutes for the Skrill to throw the body of a Machina towards the Eiffel Tower! The Machina slammed into the tower, and he dug his metal arm into the ground to cancel his momentum before he quickly got to his feet and raised his hand to fire a cannon blast at the Skrill!
DOON!
"Urk!"
But the Machina felt a surge of fear pass through his body as Jason’s mana suddenly slammed into him! Jason unleashed enough mana to overwhelm the Machina, and the Machina’s eyes rolled to the back of his head before he fell to the ground and passed out! Jason walked over to the Machina calmly, and he lifted him off the ground before calling on his Qi. Jason had developed the skill [Qi Analysis] a long time ago as a way to analyse his own brain when he had been fighting against Evon and the [Land of Lost Shadows], but now, Jason needed to use the same principle to search through the Machina’s brain. Jason still remembered how he had almost damaged his brain when he used this skill on himself, so Jason knew he had to be careful while doing this.
Jason put his hand against the Machina’s head, and Jason’s Qi slowly flowed through his core and through his arm. The Qi surrounded the Machina’s skull, and Jason had to push slightly to make the Qi flow into the Machina’s body. Jason closed his eyes, and he felt his consciousness traveling together with his Qi as he filtered it into the Machina’s brain. This Machina had never trained his Qi before, but just like every other living thing, there was still some Qi inside the Machina, and Jason was able to use the Machina’s Qi as a guide to know which way to go. Jason filtered through the different Qi Meridians in the Machina’s brain as he travelled through the Machina’s consciousness. Memories, feelings, and ideas washed over Jason as Jason viewed the Machina’s life! Images of a wife and children, and a life in the military! Hatred for Jason and a desire for revenge. That image of a man with pure white hair wearing a pure white robe –
’Wait, who the fuck is that – shit!’
Jason cursed as he felt the Machina’s Qi recoil aggressively, and Jason was suddenly thrust out of the Machina’s mind! Jason grit his teeth as he sent his Qi back into the Machina’s body, and he sped forward to try and reach the memory again, but Jason was shocked when he found his consciousness floating within a sea of darkness! The memories that Jason had seen! The feelings, emotions, and ideas! They were all gone! Where there should be meridians and Qi, Jason could only see darkness!
’His mind is gone. It’s been erased.’
Jason pulled back from the Machina’s mind, and he looked at the man’s face! And Jason was shocked to see the man staring out into space with a line of drool falling from the side of his mouth! It was as if someone had completely erased everything from his mind! The Machina was still alive, but he was no different from a fucking vegetable! What the hell is this? Jason couldn’t even wrap his mind around it! Jason knew that he wasn’t at fault for this! Jason might’ve forced his way into the man’s mind, but Jason had used the Machina’s Qi as the catalyst to move, so none of the things Jason did was dangerous enough to cause the man’s mind to break like this! Jason immediately knew that the person responsible for this was the same one behind this attack!