The one who entered the study was a butler who had served Fockes for many years.
His name was Liner, and he was nearly sixty years old, considered quite old among the non-upper class of the Ashlands.
Liner's hair was already noticeably gray, and the wrinkles around his eyes, lips, and forehead were quite prominent, but he was physically fit and mentally sharp. His blue eyes held only the composure that came with age, not the weariness of failing strength.
"General, the bathwater is ready," Liner said with a bow.
Fockes' yellow eyes scanned the butler's face, and he nodded, saying:
"Good."
He slowly rose, leading the guards who were waiting at the door. He stroked the sculptures on the handrail as he went up to the second floor.
The guards remained at the bedroom door, with only two maids following him inside to help Fockes remove his general's uniform and enter the bathroom.
The general's habit was to take a bath in the evening and then go to sleep, with no one allowed to disturb him until he woke up on his own.
As usual, Fockes enjoyed a comfortable bath with a glass of red wine. After the maids tidied up the bathroom, he immediately went to the large bed and covered himself with a velvet blanket.
As an elderly man, the mattress on this bed had been replaced with a firmer type to help alleviate the pain in his lower back.
Whenever he felt the firm support of the mattress, Fockes would always reminisce about earlier years.
Back then, his bed was very soft, and he felt like he could sink right into it.
Back then, his wife was still alive.
As the curtains were drawn and the bedside lamp was turned off, the entire room was enveloped in deep darkness.
Fockes' breathing gradually became long and even.
Fifteen minutes passed, and the bedroom door quietly opened.
The guards, who were supposed to prevent anyone from disturbing the general's sleep, were either gone or turned a blind eye.
The person who entered the bedroom was of average height, wearing a black suit.
He walked in the dimly lit environment, step by step, until he reached Fockes' bedside.
Then, he took out a syringe from his pocket.
After pushing out a small amount of liquid, the person hidden in the shadows leaned down and aimed the needle at a vein on Fockes.
Snap!
The bedside lamp suddenly turned on, and the originally warm, yellowish light was quite dazzling to someone who had grown accustomed to the dim environment.
The person who was trying to inject Fockes with poison couldn't help but close his eyes, and he stood up in fear, stepping back.
After adjusting to the light, he reopened his eyes and saw that Fockes had sat up. His yellow eyes were coldly staring at him, and his entire demeanor was imposing and exceptionally dignified.
The person who had sneaked into the room subconsciously held his breath, as he had done every time he encountered a similar gaze over the years.
His hair was graying, and his wrinkles were prominent. It was Liner, Fockes' most trusted butler.
"Why?" Fockes asked in a deep voice.
He showed no sign of panic from the attack.
Liner overcame his inner fear, and the corners of his mouth turned up in a strange smile:
"Because I am 'Shepherd' Buyong."
"You?" Fockes chuckled but didn't say much else. He asked calmly, "Why would you choose such a non-opportunity to attack me? Have you also lost your intelligence?"
Liner laughed:
"The fact that you ask such a question proves that my speculation was correct.
"To deal with a seasoned 'Mind Corridor' level Awakened and a general who can command the entire city defense force, recklessness won't solve the problem. One must patiently observe details, carefully gather intelligence, find your weaknesses, and then wait for an opportunity like tonight when the city defense forces are guarding everywhere else but have become lax here.
"Fortunately, you can fool everyone for a while, and you can fool some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time. I didn't say that; it's a famous quote from the Old World, and it fits you perfectly.
"I infiltrated your mansion and spent so much time not to find an opportunity to influence you, but to slowly look through the memories of the people around you, searching for clues."
Fockes laughed instead of getting angry:
"What did you find?"
Liner shrugged his shoulders:
"I found that you have a habit that hasn't changed for many years. Whether you're commanding the army outside or facing the turmoil in Initial City, you must go to bed before ten o'clock at night. You never exceed that time.
"Moreover, when you sleep, no one is allowed to disturb you. Once, there was an urgent military situation reported to you by phone, but you didn't answer.
"That was at eleven o'clock at night, and you didn't return the call until two o'clock in the morning.
"Also, I've tracked many Awakened in the 'Dawn' domain, and I've taken the opportunity to look through their memories. I've summarized some common prices to pay, one of which is 'deep coma for a certain period of time'.
"Combining this information, I judged that you would be in a deep coma between 10:30 PM and 1:30 AM."
As a soldier who had been through life and death many times, Fockes' ability characteristics were never a big secret, and it was easy for someone with the will to investigate them.
As far as "Shepherd" Buyong knew, the two most obvious were:
"Inducing Coma" and "Awakening Latent Physical Potential."
As for the third, it was a more hidden type that not many people knew about.
And as a seasoned Awakened at the "Mind Corridor" level, "Shepherd" Buyong was well aware that after entering the "Mind Corridor," the corresponding boundaries of Fockes' two abilities must have been expanded, and they absolutely could not be viewed with old eyes.
——After being promoted to the "Mind Corridor," Fockes' number of actions decreased significantly, and the ones he showed most of the time were "Inducing Coma" and "Awakening Latent Physical Potential."
Fockes didn't speak, still staring coldly at the butler Liner in front of him.
Liner smiled:
"Your question just now confirmed to me that your price is 'deep coma for a certain period of time', but I made a certain misjudgment on the specific time.
"The reason why I'm telling you so much is to wait for the time when you truly fall into a coma to arrive.
"I'm very strange. You're not panicking at all, and you're willing to talk to me. Are you trying to forcibly show calmness, scare me, and interrupt the subsequent attack?
"Don't worry, every fifteen minutes, a group of people in your mansion will come here to try to kill you. Besides your two children, I think someone will always run into the time when you're in a coma.
"Don't struggle. Even if you make everyone in this house fall into a coma right now, assassins will continue to come from the surrounding area. Your only way is to call right now and ask the Governor or the Senate for help, and by then, among the people who come to protect you, there may also be my puppets."
Fockes listened quietly and sighed:
"You really are patient, unlike most people in the 'Anti-Intelligence Church'.
"I did play some tricks on the timing. Those few times when I didn't answer the phone for urgent military situations, it was actually intentional, just like the fixed requirement to go to bed before ten o'clock every night, which together constituted a misleading message to observers like you.
"As a general, I must know how to leave room for maneuver. In the early days of the Old World, there was already the concept of a reserve team, so how could I not make corresponding arrangements now?"
Speaking of this, Fockes laughed:
"Neither ten o'clock at night nor two o'clock in the morning are my coma times.
"Also, you may not have heard a saying that the Emperor once said: Awakened must protect the secret of the price they paid as they protect their own eyes."
The smile on Fockes' face became more and more obvious:
"In fact, my price is not 'deep coma for a certain period of time' at all. From the time I had a certain amount of strength, I have been trying to create a false image, and that false image is 'my price is deep coma for a certain period of time', in order to cover up the true price I paid.
"There is a saying among the people of the Ashlands that the strategies of deception and trickery cannot be excluded in warfare. This also applies in battles between Awakened.
"Otherwise, do you think I would be talking to you so calmly?"
The expression on Liner's face gradually solidified.
Fockes slowly turned over and got out of bed, saying seemingly casually:
"Have you noticed that your insomnia has been getting more and more serious lately?"
Liner didn't answer, but his brows furrowed.
"Ever since Xue Shiyue and Zhang Qubing's team left here and were followed by the fake 'Father', I have been guessing whether 'Shepherd' Buyong has been lurking nearby, planning some conspiracy against me." Fockes touched the top of his head, where he had little hair left, and said with a smile, "From that time on, I have been targeting everyone in this block indiscriminately, except for my two children."
Liner was silent for a while and said:
"Your third ability is to cause people to suffer from insomnia to varying degrees?"
"Yes." Fockes smiled. "In addition to making you more and more insomniac, I have also awakened your latent physical potential, allowing you to maintain a good condition while suffering from insomnia, without affecting your daily life. Therefore, you can continue to look through people's memories on a large scale, little by little.
"I have been proceeding gradually in this matter, and I shouldn't have made you notice anything. After all, when you look through memories, the focus of your attention must be all kinds of details related to me, not the living conditions of the person being looked at."
Liner was silent again, and after a while, he asked:
"What's the point of this?"
"Of course, there's a point." Fockes walked slowly, glanced at him, and said, "'Initial City's' intelligence system is still very strong. Some of the prices paid in your 'Endling' domain have long been grasped, and I have found that many of them are physical and physiological prices, such as sleep disorders, high blood pressure, decreased physical fitness, etc., etc.
"I don't know if your price is in this part, I'm just giving it a try. Anyway, there won't be any loss if it fails, but if it succeeds, hey..."
Fockes laughed:
"After overdrawing your body to fight insomnia for a long time, what do you think will happen once no one awakens your latent physical potential anymore?
"At best, you'll have a serious illness. At worst, you might die suddenly."
Liner's face darkened.
He looked around and said:
"There must also be many people in the surrounding area who are in poor physical condition. Aren't you afraid of affecting them?"
"There is a saying among the people of the Ashlands that soft-hearted people are not suitable to be generals." Fockes raised his chin, revealing his imposing posture, "The reason why I don't investigate the surrounding area and look for suspicious people is to avoid scaring you away and have the opportunity to teach you a lesson."
Speaking of this, Fockes glanced at Liner and laughed self-deprecatingly:
"What am I talking to you so much for? You're just a puppet..."
As soon as he finished speaking, Liner fell down and landed on the carpet.
The guards outside the door and the others in the mansion also fell into a coma.
Fockes changed into casual clothes, went to his two adult children, picked them up one in each hand, and hurried to the garage, where he got into an armored off-road vehicle.
Then, he drove the vehicle to the northern Green Olive District.
During this process, he did not call the Senate or the Political Affairs Office, nor did he contact his subordinates who belonged to the city defense forces.