Zhong Shenxiu opened the door to the security room and saw a group of bloodshot eyes that seemed to belong to people who hadn’t slept all night, waiting in the hall.
He smiled and said, "Everyone else may leave, except for Chu He, Han Bingjie, and Yue Shan... stay."
Although it was just a smiling suggestion, no one dared to disobey this sentence.
Wu Qi moved his lips, wanting to say something, but he was directly pulled away by Murong Hong beside him.
"The research isn’t urgent; we can wait for the results,"
Although, for them, being one day late could mean a life.
"No, the results are already out,"
Zhong Shenxiu casually tossed a cigarette-box-sized black wooden box to Chu He.
Chu He fumbled to catch the wooden box, obviously surprised.
Not only had the research yielded results in just one night, but there was also a physical product?
How could that be possible?
"Is this... coffin wood?"
Yue Shan suddenly spoke up, looking at the black wooden box.
"Correct, I’ve modified it using that coffin wood. Although it’s merely an object tainted with a weird aura, and its effect is continuously fading, because what’s confined inside is not a complete spirit entity, there should be no problem maintaining its effect for another two or three months..."
Zhong Shenxiu explained.
The vast amount of information revealed here made Chu He raise his eyebrows: "Does this contain a part of the spirit from yesterday?"
"Yes, it’s a piece of its finger!"
Zhong Shenxiu answered matter-of-factly, "I’ve researched a law: in this world, only spirits can restrain other spirits..."
"Inside this box is a part of a spirit’s power. When you encounter an attack from a spirit, you can open it... As for the consequences, well, they might cause you to die a bit faster, or perhaps negatively squared becomes positive, creating a good effect, like two spirits restraining each other, paving a way to survival."
"Of course, since it’s only a part, there’s a high probability that it could only fend off one spirit attack before it’s gone... Think of it as a one-time use consumable. It might be absorbed by another spirit, or possibly grow into another one, so it’s not without danger..."
"I’ve named it Experimental Product Number One. You can take it and test it out during your work. If you survive, bring back a usage report to me!"
"Brother Gui, you’re awesome," Han Bingjie gave a thumbs up, "Although I don’t quite understand, it can fend off a spirit attack once, right?"
"In a mission, it’s not just that simple... Having insurance even once could mean not having to spend lives to test a possibility," Chu He pushed his glasses up, looking at an excited Yue Shan, then suddenly asked, "Considering the size of that coffin wood and the spirit, you could make many of these boxes, right?"
"Yes, I could make a lot of them, but next I’m planning to sell them..." Zhong Shenxiu rubbed his fingers: "Something that saves lives, charging you each a million isn’t too much, right? I’m thinking of setting up a little shop in the company..."
Hmm, it makes sense for a security guard to run a small shop to make money.
Zhong Shenxiu was already quite adept at finding ways to profit from the company.
"A life worth a million isn’t too much, but even for a manager level, ordinary work compensation is only about fifty thousand..."
Chu He shook his head: "Your pricing is too high unless you go find those unfortunate rich guys on the floors..."
Zhong Shenxiu stroked his chin. He was actually just acting on a whim, not lacking money: "Then let’s set the price at two hundred thousand. Cash on delivery, no credit!"
"But, I feel that for moving such a large spirit yesterday, only getting paid two hundred thousand seems a little... underwhelming," Yue Shan mused.
"Can you compare the price of raw materials with industrial products? Don’t you understand the industrial-agricultural scissors gap?"
Zhong Shenxiu rolled his eyes and bluntly said, "If it’s too expensive, I also have a concept for ’Deceit Skill’ in the works. It involves planting a part of the spirit in your bodies. One implantation, lifetime effectiveness. Want to try it for free?"
"Planting a spirit inside us? Forget it..."
Han Bingjie shuddered involuntarily, "Also, it’s just a concept... the failure rate must be high, right?"
"The most expensive things come for free..." Chu He adjusted his glasses: "I think many desperados in the company would deal; I can introduce a few to you... Once the technology matures, I wouldn’t mind giving it a try... after all, one can’t survive without a touch of madness!"
"Well, as for how you do it, that’s up to you, I’m just responsible for collecting money..."
Zhong Shenxiu waved his hand, looking indifferent.
This ’Deceit Skill’ was inspired by the existence of Demon Hunters.
Demon Hunters gain a part of a demon’s power by performing rituals and consuming its characteristics.
So, by breaking down a spirit and transplanting parts of its organs or tissues—like hair, hands, teeth, blood... into a human, it might have the same effect!
’But the associated risks are very high because spirits are not comparable to those servants and kin... their existence is more akin to incomplete divinities!’
’With normal human sanity, it’s impossible to carry a complete ’spirit’... so it must be split into parts.’
’Even so, the failure rate would be very high... Death would be the best outcome from a failure, the worst would be parts of a spirit constantly eroding a human, then achieving a different kind of rebirth within the host...’
’Even if successful, parts of the spirit would constantly erode the host’s sanity... I don’t think ordinary human thought can withstand the corruption of a spirit’s mindset, thus leading to death and mutation... Before that happens, becoming mentally deranged, callous, and bloodthirsty are highly likely...’
’However, the premise for using Deceit Skill is having a high enough status to suppress and split the spirit... In this world, besides me, who else can do it?’
Looking at the three faces filled with worry, hope, and fear, Zhong Shenxiu waved his hand and headed back to the security room.
He sat at his desk, opened the drawer, and took out a black notebook to begin recording his research insights.
"Some common knowledge among the company’s employees is indeed correct, but there are also fallacies..."
"Firstly, the indestructibility of spirits is unquestionable; in this world, no one can destroy even a shred of divinity..."
"Secondly, my discovery: only spirits can oppose spirits, and except for myself, no other anomalies have been found thus far..."
"Thirdly, ordinary people dying can absolutely not turn into spirits... This was a common understanding of the company before, yet my research has broken this view. The correct statement should be—ordinary people dying cannot turn into spirits unless the process involves the power of a ’spirit’!"
"Fourthly, the behavioral patterns of spirits are worth pondering. Their actions reveal a hidden secret... Perhaps, I should get more involved in certain missions to obtain firsthand research data!"