Chapter 273: Who Else But Her?
The Second Elder stared, stunned, before kicking his Light Brain away in a fit of rage. The servants knelt on the ground, none daring to make a sound.
Lily Hart watched and roared with laughter. It was just like a reality show from the civilized era—unscripted, with a cast of pure amateurs.
Over at the O’Malley Family residence—good grief—Frank O’Malley was still asleep. He showed no signs of getting up, merely shifting his position.
Meanwhile, Ash O’Malley stood under a pavilion, staring at a camera on one of its pillars. It was about the size of a fist and looked like an enlarged human eyeball. Upon closer inspection, it was rather unsettling.
The installer didn’t seem to care about hiding their objective. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have chosen such a conspicuous location and camera design.
Leaving the pavilion, he saw two more "eyeballs" on the rockery by the path. They automatically tracked human movement, following them in a full three-hundred-sixty-degree arc.
Ash O’Malley walked a little further and was met by yet another camera. He fell silent. ’They’re everywhere.’ There were four or five of them on this short stretch of road alone.
He recalled Lily Hart’s thoughtful expression from yesterday and strongly suspected she was behind this. She wasn’t the type to suffer a loss in silence. Daring to plant a spy near her...
...was bound to invite retaliation. He just hadn’t expected it to be so direct, a taste of their own medicine.
You plant a spy, I’ll install cameras.
But while a spy could be rooted out, Ash O’Malley didn’t dare touch these cameras.
Who knew what tricks Lily Hart might have built into them? ’But,’ he wondered, ’is she the one watching from the other side?’
Ash O’Malley stood there, staring back at the camera. Just then, Frank O’Malley came out the door, rubbing his bleary eyes, still in his pajamas.
"Bro, what are you looking at?" Frank O’Malley ambled over to his side and followed his gaze upward. The moment he saw it clearly, he was jolted wide awake.
He pointed at the camera, his voice trembling. "An eye... an eyeball? Whose eyeball is that big? That’s terrifying! Get it down, quick!"
"That’s a camera," Ash O’Malley said, speechless.
"A cam... camera? Then we have even more reason to take it down!" Frank O’Malley exclaimed in shock.
With that, he reached up to grab it. It wasn’t very high; by standing on his tiptoes and stretching as far as he could, he could just about reach it. Just as his fingers were about to make contact, Ash O’Malley clamped a hand around his wrist.
"Don’t touch it," Ash O’Malley said, his voice grave. He was afraid it might be dangerous.
Frank O’Malley obediently pulled his hand back. He joined his brother in staring up at the camera and asked blankly, "Who installed this?"
"I don’t know," Ash O’Malley answered honestly.
"Who’s skilled enough to install cameras without any of us knowing?" Frank O’Malley scratched his head.
Suddenly, the two of them exchanged a look of perfect understanding and said in unison, "Boss Hart."
Ash O’Malley was now certain of his suspicion. ’All the more reason not to touch it. It’s probably not just our family; the other three families must have them installed, too.’
The two of them started walking. Frank O’Malley was about to head back to his room to wash up when the Great Elder approached them.
His expression was stern as he looked directly at Ash O’Malley. "I heard you two spent all day yesterday at the lottery shop. Is this true?"
Ash O’Malley’s heart tightened. He stammered, "Yes... but..."
The Great Elder’s face broke into a smile. "That’s the right way to do it! You need to build a good relationship with her. It will be good for the O’Malley Family’s reputation."
Ash O’Malley agreed, then pointed at the camera. "Great Elder, this..."
"What is it?" The Great Elder squinted to see. He had astigmatism and was nearsighted, and with no place to get glasses in the apocalypse, everything he looked at was a blur.
When he looked where Ash O’Malley was pointing, he just saw a blurry, black-and-white blob.
"A camera," Ash O’Malley said in a low voice.
"What?!" The Great Elder’s voice shot up, and Frank O’Malley instinctively covered his ears.
Once the Great Elder processed this, he immediately ordered, "Quick, get it down."
"There are too many. It’s impossible." Ash O’Malley pointed to another spot, then several more in succession, all of them locations of other cameras.
The Great Elder was dumbfounded. "Who did this? Where did all these cameras come from?"
The two brothers didn’t dare say it was Boss Hart. They just pretended not to know and shook their heads.
Boss Hart, who had watched the whole thing, commented, ’How loyal.’ She had originally considered installing fewer cameras at the O’Malley residence.
But then she figured she couldn’t show favoritism. If people found out and noticed the O’Malley Family had fewer cameras, they might become suspicious of them.
It was better to treat everyone the same.
She closed her Light Brain with satisfaction. Many customers outside had been watching, but they all thought it was fake, just a comedy sketch.
But only those who knew of The Mysterious Clan understood how serious this was.
For example, the five leaders of Central Command were currently gathered for a private meeting. Elder Shaw watched the scene on the large screen, wanting to laugh but desperately holding it in.
The screen was showing the clip of the Rivers Family’s Second Elder trying to dismantle a camera, only to be injured in the resulting explosion. The video had already gone viral.
Chad Yates’s little finger was gone for good, but he’d had the research institute make him a prosthetic. It looked quite realistic after being attached.
He stated with certainty, "This is definitely Lily Hart’s handiwork. No one else could pull this off."
Brian Booker, a leader with a slender build, scoffed. "Are you saying she’s more formidable than The Mysterious Clan?"
Chad Yates knew Brian Booker was from the O’Malley Family, so he didn’t dare speak recklessly. But he had The White Family backing him!
Another leader, Steven Gibbs, said with a grim expression, "But if not her, then who?"
The Rivers Family was behind him. When the video was playing just now, he couldn’t bear to watch, afraid the image would be seared into his brain.
Elder Shaw raised a hand and pressed it down. "Alright, that’s enough. Who did it isn’t important. What’s important is that we resolve this. Right now, everyone is treating this as entertainment because they don’t understand The Mysterious Clan."
"When it comes to understanding them, I imagine the four of you have the most to say, don’t you?" Elder Shaw said, his gaze sweeping over the others.
There were five leaders in total. Besides him, the other four were all backed by The Mysterious Clan.
Chad Yates was with The White Family, Brian Booker with the O’Malley Family, Steven Gibbs with The Rivers Family, and Lena Corbin with the Shaw Family.
They were all the greatest pawns of The Mysterious Clan in Central Command. Fortunately, this arrangement allowed them to keep each other in check, maintaining a balance.
Otherwise, all hell would have broken loose long ago.
As a result, none of them could stand the sight of each other and loved to bicker whenever they met.
And it was precisely because they understood The Mysterious Clan that the four leaders were terrified. They were terrified of failing their assignments.
Terrified of losing their positions. And even more terrified that The Mysterious Clan would be exposed to the public.
This would completely shatter the worldview the survivors had built.
Therefore, this situation had to be resolved. It couldn’t be allowed to continue.
Steven Gibbs said, "I propose we temporarily shut down the Human Social Sphere. Once the storm passes, people will forget about it."
Elder Shaw shot him a glance. "Easier said than done. That is the only platform where people can freely communicate and discuss things. You say shut it down, but believe it or not, if you do, they’ll rise up in rebellion."
"They’d dare?!" Lena Corbin said sharply. Her features were soft, but when she became serious, she gave off an intimidating and distant aura.
The Shaw Family had too many secrets to be made public. If this live broadcasting continued, the consequences would be unimaginable.