From the end of the world

Chapter 102 Shadow Changer 5
My idea was simple: to thermally tag everyone currently in that nightclub.

It doesn't have to be everyone. Considering that the broken hand of the Shadow Changer is a rough male hand, all those whose hand appearance does not meet the requirements can be screened out in advance. The Shadow Changer must be among the remaining people.

It doesn't matter if his real body is not in the nightclub now. Since he used to use the teleportation to enter and exit the nightclub in the past, there must be a human-shaped clone of him in the nightclub. I can also put my thermal energy mark on the clone. As long as he uses the teleportation at that time, I will know who the target is.

However, there may be a problem with this approach.

After listening to my explanation, Zhu Shi raised an objection: "Will your thermal mark be detected by the Shadow Changer? Since the thermal mark is essentially a piece of heat, if you rashly attach it to the target, it will be easily discovered by the target. Anyone with an abnormal temperature area on their body will feel something is wrong."

"I can set the thermal marker on the internal organs," I said. "The internal organs are warm in nature and are not as sensitive to slight changes in temperature as the skin. Normally, they will not be detected."

"How do you know?" Ma Zao was curious, "Have you used it on anyone before?"

"Hmm?" Zhu Shi seemed to realize something.

She glanced at Ma Zao, then at me, and her eyes suddenly became sharp.

I quickly changed the subject: "But I am still worried about this method. I don't know if it will be sensed by people who have mastered strange powers."

"...You're right." Zhu Shi let me go for now. "If the Shadow-Changer notices this, he might use the Shadow-Changer to transfer the cause and effect of the heat mark implanted in himself to his clone, and then escape without any burden."

"Wait, did I misunderstand before? Isn't the causal transfer effect of his Apparition ability only present when he is fatally injured and passively triggered?" I asked immediately.

"You are not mistaken. When he actively triggers that ability, it is just exchanging spatial positions with his clone. But we cannot rule out the possibility that he uses suicide to trigger the passive effect." she said.

Although I don't think the Shadowchanger would have thought of this use, it's not a bad habit to be cautious.

But this is a big problem. Shapeshifting itself is an extremely powerful ability to escape, and it can also trigger the effect of causality transfer on its own. Even if we really have a way to find it, there is no way to prevent it from escaping.

I was planning to try to catch him trying to escape when he activated his power later. If I succeeded, I might even be able to stop his ability to change shape. The problem is that this approach is only theoretical now, and it is difficult to expect the success rate before putting it into practice.

I asked Zhu Shi and Ma Zao if they had any way to deal with the ability of Apparition.

Ma Zao looked embarrassed.

Zhu Shi proposed his own plan: "In fact, I have thought about the specific tactics. That is, you will wrap the flames around the Shadow Changer first, and then no matter where the Shadow Changer moves, we will be able to track him. As long as he thinks that he cannot escape from our grasp and falls into despair, the Seed of Heart will leave his body.

"In that state, he should not be able to use the ability of shapeshifting. Then I will interrupt the process of the Heart Seed destroying the brain information, and I can bring his head to Lu Chan intact. The mission will be successful."

"Let's not talk about whether this method alone can make him fall into complete despair..." I said, "Even if I can entangle the flames on him, can't he use his ability to change shape and transfer my flames to his clone?"

"The causal relationships that are transferred when the Apparition ability is passively triggered are limited to those related to his death." She said, "As long as the person who caused the fatal injury to him is not you, but me and Mazao, or as long as you use the 'flame used to track him' and the 'flame that killed him' separately, the tracking flame will not be automatically transferred."

I understood what she meant.

Similarly, if he committed suicide because of my heat mark, the heat mark would be transferred because the heat mark was associated with his death.

And if we prevent him from committing suicide based on this motive, the heat signature will not be transferred. This is not difficult for me.

If you think about it carefully, this rule has been hinted at for a long time. Last night, Mazao cut off the palm of the shadow-changing monster, and after the latter exchanged with the clone, the cut-off palm did not disappear as a shadow that constituted the clone, but continued to exist as the flesh and blood left by the original body. This is because there is no sufficient correlation between Mazao's act of cutting off his palm and the fatal injury he suffered afterwards.

I managed to grasp the detailed operating logic of his supernatural powers, and was surprised by Zhu Shi's performance.

She actually saw through the Shadow Changer's ability to such an extent that even the Shadow Changer himself might not understand his own ability as well as she did. The power of "Buzhou Mountain" was truly beyond imagination.

"Zhu Shi, since you can see through the flaws of the Shadow Changer's ability, can you destroy the Shadow Changer's ability itself?"

I was just asking casually, but unexpectedly Zhu Shi hesitated.

"Ah? Really?" I was surprised.

"Of course I can..." she said, "but at my current level, I can only destroy the other party's supernatural power when they activate it, and this destructive effect is only temporary.

"Besides, the time it takes for the Shadow-Changing Monster's supernatural power to unfold is only a split second. It is too difficult for me to grasp this opportunity right now. I only have a 10% chance of success at most." "I think this is outrageous enough..." Ma Zao couldn't help but hide behind me.

Zhu Shi seemed to be greatly shocked: "Hey, wait! Ma Zao, why are you distancing yourself from me?"

"Let's not talk about that for now. We now have a way to stop the Shadow Changer from escaping, but we haven't found him yet." I said, "Can I implant a thermal energy mark on you? Help me judge if it's the monster, can you feel the extra thermal energy mark on your body."

Hearing this, Zhu Shiqing couldn't help but look at me twice as if I were someone with ulterior motives, and then said, "Okay... Let's give it a try."

I tried to place thermal energy marks on the internal organs of both men.

Zhu Shi paused for a moment, then immediately responded: "I can sense the fluctuations in the mana of the thermal energy mark. The strategy you proposed earlier will not work."

"I can't feel anything." Ma Zao shook his head, "But my opinion cannot be used as a reference. My soul is still in a state of trauma, and my ability to perceive the fluctuations of mana is not as good as before."

"Really..." I looked disappointed on the surface, but I was relieved in my heart.

From Ma Zao's reaction, I can tell that the fact that I had previously set up thermal energy marks inside her body should not have been exposed.

"Zhuang Cheng, although people won't be able to sense the fluctuations of your magic power when you use your superpowers, the same is not true for the flames you disperse. You have to be careful next time." Zhu Shi warned.

"Mana fluctuations..."

Lu Youxun had mentioned this term once before. As the name suggests, it should refer to the impact caused by the use of strange powers, which can be sensed by demon hunters like Zhu Shi.

Immediately, I realized a problem: "What about my 'Firefly'? I let the 'Firefly' enter the nightclub earlier. Could it have been discovered by the Shadow Changer?"

"Don't worry about that. The mana fluctuations emitted by your 'fireflies' are very subtle. I have a very keen sense of perception, but it's still difficult for me to detect your 'fireflies'. I'm afraid it's even more difficult for a weirdo to detect." She shook her head, "This heat energy mark is actually very hidden. If it hadn't entered my body directly, I wouldn't have been able to detect it."

I have used Firefly to eavesdrop on her phone calls before, and she really didn't seem to notice.

However, I have never felt the "magic fluctuation" before. Now is not the time to ask for advice. I have to learn from Zhu Shi how to sense the so-called magic fluctuation.

Now let's focus on the problem at hand. Since implanting thermal energy markers on everyone in the nightclub doesn't work, we can only reorganize the previous clues and think about who the shadow-changing monster is.

Is it really necessary to study the narrative before Chang'an?

According to Ma Zao's suggestion, our unexpected encounter with Chang'an and the goldfish is likely to contain clues that are close to the core of the incident. Can I understand that in Chang'an's account of his own experience with the goldfish, there are clues that are enough for us to find the true identity of the shadow-changing monster?
Or is it that the shadow-changing monster is a "character" in Chang'an and Goldfish's experience?
In the experience being narrated, excluding Chang'an and Goldfish, there are three clear characters, namely Goldfish's father and mother, and the nightclub owner.

Considering that the Shadow Changer was inside the nightclub, I initially suspected that the Shadow Changer might be the owner of the nightclub, but this direction has been denied by the man in the black suit. The Shadow Changer is the "collaborator" of the nightclub owner, and the nightclub owner is a woman, so the rough male hand obviously cannot be hers. Similarly, the goldfish's mother should also be ruled out.

Then the only one left is Goldfish's father, who is not only a male, but also meets the condition of "frequenting that nightclub".

But is it really okay to just randomly choose a target by process of elimination? I know that Ma Zao's jinx physique is very outrageous, but isn't it absurd that he can easily pick up the key to solve the puzzle just by walking outside?

If we guess the wrong target, we will never be able to catch the Shadow Changer again. I must get more evidence...

I kept thinking about the experience of Chang'an and the goldfish.

Suddenly, I caught a huge doubt from it.

Why did I ignore this doubt before?

While feeling emotional, I was convinced that I had truly touched the true self of my target.

"Goldfish, you said that you chose to join the club because you found out that your father often went to that nightclub, and you wanted to frame him." I looked at Goldfish, "and after that, the boss just treated you as an ordinary employee and didn't provide you with any convenience."

"Yes..." the goldfish asked doubtfully, "Is there anything wrong with that?"

"It's a masquerade nightclub, where the guests all wear hoods and the workers all wear masks. Whether for fun or privacy, the guests' real social identities are hidden." I said, "Then how can you confirm that your father is still a guest there after you join the nightclub?"

(End of this chapter)