82 Chapter 82 Replacement

The small arms erupted with enough strength to strangle an adult.

The man, suffocated to death, lay beside the bed with a look of horror and confusion frozen on his face.

Little Dina, who strangled him to death, and the woman holding an ashtray, stood aside and looked down at the man's lifeless body.

They wore smiles on their faces, and their natural demeanor seemed out of place in the apparent 'murder scene'.

In their consciousness, it seemed as if the brutal reality of attacking her husband with an ashtray or strangling her father with her small arms did not exist.

This is a typical manifestation of Manipulation-Type Nen ability.

Depending on the Manipulation-Type ability, the memories and consciousness of the manipulated target would be deleted or altered to some extent under the influence of the ability.

Moses, who had returned to his room at this time, witnessed all these scenes through his shadow.

'Is it a Manipulation-Type ability?'

Moses's eyes narrowed slightly.

'But I didn't see any Nen…'

The strange and peculiar scene left Moses with many questions.

How could a seemingly ordinary little girl under six years old possess the strength to strangle an adult?

Unless she was being controlled by someone with Nen ability, which amplified her strength beyond natural limits.

The problem, however, was that the little girl did not exhibit any signs of Nen while strangling the man.

Moses remained skeptical.

Immediately afterwards, he witnessed an astonishing scene through the shadow's shared vision ability, causing his pupils to contract abruptly.

At this moment…

Inside the family of three's room…

A burst of extremely dazzling lightning suddenly erupted from the man's corpse, but disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving only a dark human-shaped scorch mark in its place.

And the man, who was originally suffocated to death, now stood alive next to the scorch mark.

He turned around and walked towards the bathroom again, saying casually as he walked: "Dear, it's already very late. Hurry up and let Little Dina go to bed."

"Okay."

The woman responded, preparing to put the daughter to bed when she suddenly exclaimed, "Why am I holding an ashtray?"

She looked at the heavy ashtray she had held in her hand in confusion, furrowed her brows, and said, "It's so heavy."

After saying that, she quickly held up the ashtray with both hands, making it appear less strenuous.

However, she had no recollection of when she had picked up the ashtray.

"Mom, I want to hear the story of the Snow White."

Little Dina climbed onto the bed, her little face full of anticipation.

"Only once, okay?"

Hearing Little Dina's words, the woman placed the ashtray back on the table and sat down by the bedside.

Little Dina nodded obediently.

Neither they nor the man who had just walked into the bathroom seemed to have seen the conspicuous scorch mark on the floor beside the bed. It seemed as if nothing had happened just now.

At this moment, Moses already had a look of shock on his face.

"Swamp Man…"

Seeing what transpired in the room, Moses immediately thought of the book 'Swamp Man'.

Lightning strikes, human-shaped scorch marks.

And person replicated exactly like the original.

All of this was a scenario straight out of the book 'Swamp Man', but now. it is actually unfolding before Moses's eyes.

"To think that such a thing exists…"

Moses couldn't conceal his astonishment.

He had indeed considered the possibility of the Swamp Man's phenomenon occurring in the real world, but those thoughts were more inclined towards unrealistic fantasies.

Even though there's Nen, the power that can materialize imagination into reality, there is always a limit.

It is really hard to imagine how a phenomenon with unlimited spread of abilities like Swamp Man could become a reality.

Amidst his amazement, Moses suddenly thought of the man in a suit who was in a hurry he met at the Swardani City Airport.

Now that he thought about it, he was the first Swamp Man he met.

'No—'

'If the content in Swamp Man's book is taken as the criterion, only the male protagonist who was accidentally struck by lightning in the swamp and 'reborn' is called Swamp Man, while other replicated human is referred to as Swamp People or Bog People.

The man in the suit at the airport was the first Swamp People Moses encountered, and those two days happened to be the 'Swamp Man' book signing event...

'Then, is Davidson, the author of Swamp Man, a Nen User?'

'Did he use the contents of the book 'Swamp Man' as the foundation for his abilities, and then spread this seemingly Manipulation-Type ability phenomenon?'

There is also another important question…

"Why do I have the ability to 'identify' Swamp People?"

Moses rubbed his forehead, muttering to himself: "Is it because of my Soul Echo ability?"

For a transmigrator with knowledge of Nen abilities, the usual course of action was to master the Nen techniques step by step, test one's attributes, and then start developing corresponding Nen abilities.

But because of the existence of the book 'Swamp Man', Moses, who was still in the foundational stage, had a thought that naturally awakened his Nen ability, much like those naturally awakened individuals who hadn't mastered Hatsu.

In other words—

The birth of the ability of Soul Echo is, in a sense, was linked to the book 'Swamp Man'.

It wasn't clear if this was the reason why Moses could identify Swamp People, or perhaps...

"It's because I am..."

Moses stopped speaking at this point.

As a transmigrator who replaced the original, in a sense, wasn't he also a Swamp Man?

Was it this special nature from his identity that gave him the ability to identify Swamp People?

Moses let go of his thoughts, frowning deeply.

After a moment…

He shook his head, no longer pondering his own uniqueness, and returned his attention on the family of three.

'The moment the lightning appeared, I did see the fluctuation of Nen.'

Moses thought about the sudden events that had occurred moments ago.

The dazzling lightning only lasted less than a second, but in that fleeting moment, Nen was indeed present.

However, after the lightning disappeared, so did the fluctuation of Nen.

And on the family of three, who had already turned into Swamp People, there was no trace of Nen.

In addition to this, Moses also noticed that…

The bloodstains on the ashtray and on the floor disappeared after the lightning disappeared.

There is also the reaction of the female Swamp People to being confused about holding an ashtray, which shows that under the effect of some ability, the female Swamp People's memory has been deleted or tampered with.

As for the conspicuous human-shaped scorch mark on the floor, the fact that these three Swamp People completely ignored it suggests that even their conscious awareness has also been altered to some extent.

This phenomenon leans more towards Manipulation-Type ability.

But what is even more unsettling is—

The assimilation ability of the Swamp People to 'rob' their identity through 'killing'. Moreover, after replacing the identity, they fully inherit the thoughts and memories of the robbed individual.

'So... should I consider them humans or Swamp People?'

Moses's face showed a contemplative expression.

'Not to mention the core concept of 'Am I still me?' in the book 'Swamp Man'...'

'Nen has the ability to influence others, and naturally, there is also the possibility of removing it.'

The next day.

Moses met the family of three in the corridor.

Like yesterday, they were still harmonious, exuding an enviable sense of happiness.

However, as Moses passed by them in the corridor, he could clearly sense the 'kindred spirit' aura emanating from them.

"…"

Moses remained expressionless.

At the same time…

The shadow clone sneaked into the room of the family of three.