God's Eyes

From the provided intel, Jason figured that there were at least a few hundred Kianan that had already entered the Ninad beast realm.

This was quite a huge number of infiltrators, meaning that one particular portal to the Ninad beast realm had been widened and stabilized with the use of Soa crystals.

In fact, this would require a mountain of Soa crystals, as maintaining a portal was no small feat. 

It could also be the reason why the Soul Monarch's Guard had attacked Liun using himself as bait while sending out the untraceable chameleons.

While recalling the incidents before he and Jennifer had gone into the isolation room, and even the quiet atmosphere inside it, Jason couldn't help but think that everything made sense by now.

It was still not certain, and quite complicated if he were, to be honest.

Nevertheless, it was quite important for him to figure out the situation at hand, which was why he wanted to approach Elder Ben in order to be certain about the things he was concluding in his mind.

Yet, before he could do so, a middle-aged man appeared next to him all of a sudden, looking through the notes of the mission.

This didn't bother Jason, but when the middle-aged man saw the note he was holding, he grew appalled.

"Youngster, don't accept this mission… The rewards might be enticing, but too many people took this mission with self-confidence, yet the mission hall lost contact with all of them.

And that happened after only a single day of them going to complete the mission!!" 

Losing contact had a different meaning in terms of the mission hall.

Instead of being unreachable, it had a deeper meaning as the mission notes had a specific function.

They were able to sense the life force of the beings that accepted the mission.

In return, this meant that the notes would be able to inform the mission hall authorities if Jason died during a mission or not.

Thus, having lost contact meant that all of them either died, or they had suddenly thrown their mission note away, leaving it behind somewhere.

Assuming that the latter had happened would be the best for the given circumstances.

However, if one were to think just a little bit about it, the answer was quite obvious.

As such, Jason couldn't help but look up, staring straight into the middle-aged man's eyes that seemed to be filled with all kinds of emotions.

The middle-aged man was a powerhouse at the Specta stage which was easily perceptible for Jason as he stared at the bright gray-greenish eyes swept with vigor.

He held Jason's gaze and gave him a subtle compliment,

Your eyes and that stigma of yours are really beautiful!"

Afterward, the middle-aged man straightened his back.

Having selected a mission, he turned back before walking to the receptionist who was loaded with work.

Glancing at the retreating figure of the middle-aged man, Jason couldn't help but feel a little bit weird.

He knew for sure that he had never seen the middle-aged man.

Nevertheless, Jason couldn't help but feel odd about the warning.

After all, the notice of the mission was not even a day old.

At the same time, the information of the Kianan race must be rather new too.

Thus, it was near impossible for this strange person to know so much.

After all, a being belonging to the Kianan race was last spotted at a place that was a trip several days away for a Mid Ascendion stage being, and at least twelve hours of flight for a powerhouse at the Specta stage.

Because of that, Jason couldn't help but ignore the middle-aged man's warning as he approached the counter.

Seeing Jason, the young receptionist looked at him in confusion as he had believed that Jason would have left already.

Yet, seeing the mission in his hand, he smiled lightly, before receiving a peculiar question from him.

"Are you allowed to tell me how many people died on this mission? I know it's a rather depressive topic, but the mission hall shouldn't be forbidden to provide such information, right? I just want to know the number, after all!" 

Jason knew most regulations of the mission hall.

As such, he was also fully aware of the fact that he was not supposed to ask such questions as they were answeres likely to be restricted for a deeper reason.

However, when the young receptionist looked from Jason to the mission note he had placed on the counter, there was not even a need for the young receptionist to think about the answer.

"I placed that mission on the board less than an hour ago. How is someone supposed to die within one hour? To be precise, you are the first one to pick up the mission!"

Hearing the answer to his doubt, Jason just nodded his head before turning around.

Meanwhile, Jennifer was unable to control her expressions as her eyes widened in astonishment.

Quickly following Jason, who had already stepped away from the desk without a word, she couldn't avert her eyes from him anymore, noticeably demanding an answer.

Yet, even after Jason had put back the mission note, he didn't give her an answer, irking her even more as she finally blurted out.

"JASON!! Can you tell me what the hell is going on, PLEASE!? Why did that middle-aged man lie to us?? There is no reason to do so, or is there?"

He let Jennifer yell at him and when she had calmed down a little, he could only sigh deeply as he indicated to her to stay quiet.

There was no need to inform the entire mission hall that something had just happened.

Taking a deep breath, Jason sorted the jumbled mess of thoughts as he voiced out the doubt he had in mind.

"To be honest, I thought that it was too much of a coincidence to encounter the middle-aged man. He just appeared next to me out of nowhere and the timing was weird. 

That's why I asked the receptionist, but I really don't like the answer!

Either the middle-aged man had a premonition and just wanted to help…or the young girl's wild prediction about the Soul Monarch and his Guards being able to transform into a Yinar, has just been proven correct….

Unfortunately, the latter would mean that we just encountered one of them!"

Jennifer had figured out a part of his reasoning to conclude the situation.

However, the latter part was something that seemed far-fetched.

Yet, after giving it some more thought, Jennifer was slowly unveiling the truth or at least a part of it.

"You believe it's the latter, don't you?"

Speaking in a barely audible voice, Jennifer felt goosebumps erupt on her skin, even though it was her who had asked the question.

Nonetheless, her own words had weirded her out because she didn't want to believe this. 

As she looked at Jason nervously, he replied,

"To be honest, It's more likely for us to encounter a shapeshifting Guard of the Soul Monarch than to have such a weird coincidence.

I was unable to get a good look at him, but if I encounter him once again, I will definitely figure out more about him!!"

By using his Emperor Eyes with divine energy and both stigma and Celestia aura to amplify his eyesight and other function of his unique eyes, Jason was quite confident of unveiling the truth.

Yet, considering that he was still not confident enough to tell the truth from the false made him feel oddly uncomfortable.

'Why is everything always so complicated and secretive…can't they just attack if they want to achieve something?!'