According to satellite images, there were about fifty killers who entered Central Park. Originally, there were over a hundred, some were eliminated by Mike on the way, and some were persuaded to retreat.
Concentration is key; the remaining killers were either cunning or had a few tricks up their sleeves.
The commotion caused by Mike along the way left the NYPD scrambling, and as Mike walked, he entered the Arctic Circle area of the zoo. It wasn't that he specifically entered the zoo to visit; he was just wandering aimlessly and happened to come across it.
Next, a Polar Bear attacked Mike.
There aren't many animals in the Arctic Circle area: penguins, Polar Bears, seals… First, the safety glass, primarily used to defend against Polar Bears, was shattered in two hits, which was very unusual. Second, the Polar Bear's eyes reminded Mike of Bepo from the Heart Pirates, full of human-like wisdom.
"Someone is controlling this Polar Bear," Mike instantly realized, "The controller generally can't be too far from the controlled subject. He must be nearby!"
However, after searching the vicinity with Observation Haki, he couldn't find anyone. Did that person have a special hiding technique, or was his location beyond the range of Observation Haki?
Reuben was a Mutant. Before his abilities awakened, he was already a supporter of Mutants and other types of super-powered individuals.
"Mere humans, shallow, ignorant… refusing to evolve, then perish in decay."
Reuben's superpower was soul possession, with target subjects being mammals, from small mice to large elephants. There were too many pet cats and dogs in the city, and how could humans guard against their own pets? So Reuben could always easily infiltrate mansions, obtain safe combinations, bank account numbers, passwords, and steal cash and valuables.
Reuben wasn't short on money; perhaps money came too easily, making life feel empty. Thus, he became a killer, and due to his extremely high success rate, he quickly became a senior member of the Continental Hotel.
There were many advantages to possession—
First, gaining the animal's special abilities, and using them with human intelligence, achieving a 1+1 greater than 2 effect.
Second, he could only possess one animal at a time, but after possession, he gained the ability to communicate simply with its kind—if he possessed something like a wolf king or monkey king, he could even command other members of its kind in combat.
There were also disadvantages—
First, before possession, the user needed to make close eye contact with the animal to leave a mark. If the marked animal was more than a hundred meters away, or if more than half an hour passed, the mark would automatically disappear. Also, he could mark a maximum of three mammals.
Second, after possession, the animal could not move beyond a certain distance from the user's body—this distance increased as Reuben's ability grew stronger, currently around one hundred meters. Exceeding this distance would automatically break the possession.
Third, he could not possess other humans, and if he wanted to transfer from one animal to another, he needed to return to his own body first.
Fourth, if the possessed animal died during possession, the ability user's mind would suffer a shock. The last time, a dog Reuben possessed died in an accidental car crash, and Reuben was in a coma for a whole day. When he woke up, his body felt as if it had been ravaged by two strong men.
"Damn it!" The Polar Bear roared repeatedly, which was actually Reuben cursing.
The Polar Bear seemed clumsy and cute, but it was actually very fierce, running at sixty kilometers per hour, which translates to six seconds for one hundred meters. How many seconds was Usain Bolt's hundred-meter dash again?
If the Polar Bear Reuben possessed was a flexible fatty, then Mike was a nimble monkey, moving effortlessly under the Polar Bear's claws.
"Hmm?"
While dodging and moving in various directions, Mike noticed that once he moved towards the southwest, the Polar Bear instinctively tried to block him more actively.
"Is his body there?"
Mike smiled slightly, concentrating his Observation Haki search area on the southwest direction, and then he found someone lying on the stands of the sea lion show area.
"So that's it."
The person lying there had extremely weak vital signs, weaker than a vegetative state, more like a corpse than a living person—when Mike used Observation Haki to search, he prioritized living people, thus overlooking him.
It was also due to Mike's fixed mindset, but fortunately, it wasn't a big problem.
After Mike dodged the Polar Bear's pounce, he suddenly crouched down, moved behind the Polar Bear, and ran towards the southwest.
"Coincidence?" Reuben wasn't sure if his body's location had been exposed. A hundred meters wasn't exactly close, and he had never had his body discovered until now.
Reuben hesitated. Should he directly release the transformation, or continue to pursue with the Polar Bear?
The animal park was divided into three sections: the sea lion show area, the Arctic Circle area, and the tropical rainforest area. The sea lion show area had sea lions, the tropical rainforest area only had trees and flowers, and the Polar Bear was the strongest mammal in the entire area.
His body lived a life of nightly revelry, lacking exercise, with combat power roughly equal to five, negligible. How could he deal with Mike's attack?
Comparing the two, Reuben chose to pursue Mike in the form of the Polar Bear.
However, he was still several steps too slow… Mike, when he burst out, was already faster than the Polar Bear, and a hundred meters was a straight line distance, but the actual terrain was much more complex, making the Polar Bear's massive body a hindrance.
When Reuben arrived at the sea lion stands, Mike was at ease, with a knife at his neck.
The Polar Bear's eyes were complex… A real Polar Bear couldn't possibly have such complex eyes.
"Stand still!"
"Roar!" The Polar Bear roared furiously.
In a trance, the 'Bearman Tribe fears nothing' meme flashed in Mike's mind. To show respect, he gently pressed down the knife in his hand, and immediately, blood gushed from the body's neck.
The Polar Bear's roar instantly froze. It brought its legs together, stood upright, and tucked its two paws to its chest, playing the role of a pure white beckoning cat.
"Are you Reuben Chambers?"
Reuben Chambers, a Mutant. In the killer information provided by Winston, Reuben's ability was suspected to be animal control. Now it seemed Reuben could indeed control animals through possession.
According to the information, Reuben was a Mutant supremacist, in the middle stage of 'chuunibyou,' progressing towards the late stage. All the targets he chose were traditionally considered villains. This was why Mike didn't directly open a window in his body's neck.
The Polar Bear nodded obediently.
"Alright, now bow, then pretend to be shot at my command, and then play dead."
…Reuben roared in his heart, 'Is he training a dog? Bearman Tribe will never be slaves…' Then he saw Mike, like playing a violin, gently drawing the blade across his body's neck, making the wound longer.
Reuben unhesitatingly overlapped his paws and clumsily bowed.
"Bang!"
Hearing Mike's imitation of a gunshot, the Polar Bear's bowing motion paused. It staggered back a step, then fell straight down.
It was all an act.
Mike couldn't help but clap, and after laughing heartily, he stroked his chin, "If I cut off his body, would he be trapped in the bear's body forever, or could he transfer to another animal or person?"
The Polar Bear, playing dead on the ground, immediately rolled over and shook its head wildly.
Mike chuckled, "Don't worry, how could I experiment on a cute Polar Bear? I still need to bring Chloe to visit in the future."
Reuben: "…"
So, it's fine to experiment on him, right?
Humans are inferior to bears!
Furious and trembling with cold!