Tang Jinze spent the entire morning pulling strings to fast-track Shen Ge’s tests. After completing all the examinations, the two grabbed lunch, collected the expedited reports, and returned to the office.
Flipping through the results, Tang Jinze adopted a serious expression. “Aside from slightly poor physical condition, there’s nothing major. Did you get a girlfriend? You’re looking a bit depleted, my friend.”
Shen Ge replied flatly, “No.”
“Then why the weakness? Overworking your wrist? Wait, no—with a face like yours, you shouldn’t be lacking female attention…” Tang Jinze raised an eyebrow suggestively.
“Cut the crap. Be serious. Are you sure there’s nothing unusual in my reports? No extra organs, foreign growths?” Shen Ge pressed.
“What ‘growths’? Tumors? Relax, you’re perfectly healthy. Combine that with your clean habits, and you’ll easily hit a hundred.”
“Absolutely nothing abnormal?”
“Are you questioning my professionalism?”
“Sorry, force of habit.” Shen Ge grabbed the reports and skimmed through them himself. Every indicator was indeed within normal range.
Tang Jinze finally asked, “So what exactly are you worried about?”
What am I worried about?
Shen Ge was worried that… the System might be an entity寄生 inside his body.
His suspicion stemmed from three key observations:
First, Deng Yuqi had mentioned that entities and their energy (Eerie Energy) were inherently incompatible with humans. All past attempts to transplant entity tissues had ended in failure.
Yet, through the System, Shen Ge could flawlessly utilize entity traits.
Second, “Mental Strength” and “Eerie Energy.”
After allocating the 20% free attribute points from yesterday entirely to Mental Strength, Shen Ge’s stat had skyrocketed to 200%.
At face value, this seemed unremarkable—until you disregarded the System’s footnote: “Baseline for an average adult male is 100% per attribute.”
Shen Ge had played enough games and read enough novels to recognize how unusual this setup was. Most systems used simpler or more complex metrics, but this particular configuration was rare.
Then Deng Yuqi explained Eerie Energy and its storage units (“E-Cans”).
A standard E-Can held 100% Eerie Energy, calibrated to a Tier-1 entity’s capacity. Regardless of the entity’s size, the energy volume showed minimal variance.
Eerie Energy was the foundation for an entity’s abilities.
That was when Shen Ge realized: the System’s “Mental Strength” was likely just Eerie Energy in disguise.
The clincher? Type-A E-Cans passively regenerated 10% energy per hour—identical to Mental Strength recovery.
Shen Ge’s current state meant he essentially carried two E-Cans’ worth internally. As his Mental Strength grew, this reserve would expand to ten, twenty “cans.”
Testing this theory would be simple: next time he acquired an E-Can, a single sip would confirm whether it restored Mental Strength.
Third, and most critically:
The System could devour entities and steal their traits.
When entities died, their traits typically transferred to newly spawned entities—until Tier-4, when traits awakened permanently.
But traits absorbed by the System never resurfaced.
If the System was an entity, this made perfect sense: those traits had simply migrated to a higher-tier host.
Of course, these were just conjectures. By “Qidian System Logic,” an overpowered golden finger could explain everything away.
Yet too many signs pointed toward the System’s true nature, forcing Shen Ge to consider the possibility.
But even if the System were an entity—so what?
The medical tests had detected zero anomalies. Moreover, the System’s “rewards” posed another riddle: if it were an entity, where did these perks originate?
According to Special Investigations archives, no recorded entity displayed intelligence—whereas the System, however dumb, at least rivaled half a Xiaomi AI assistant.
The System wasn’t the only enigma. Entities themselves raised unanswered questions.
For instance, while official records dated the first entity incident to a specific year, Shen Ge had witnessed the “Dad Eats Mom” event long before.
But humans weren’t supposed to become entities. So what was his father?
Shen Ge massaged his temples, overwhelmed. The deeper he dug, the more contradictions emerged.
“First time I’ve seen you this troubled. Talk to me—maybe I can help,” Tang Jinze offered, sipping water.
Shen Ge exhaled, shelving the thoughts for now. “Just entity-related headaches. One last request: wipe today’s medical records. No backups.”
“Done.” Tang Jinze nodded.
Earlier, Shen Ge had briefed him thoroughly on entities, even drilling him on survival tactics. His insistence on immediate contact during any incident spoke volumes.
Now aware of the cover-ups, Tang Jinze recognized how long entities had truly been active—hidden behind sensationalized news.
As for the records purge, he assumed it tied to Shen Ge’s classified role.
“Keep this stun baton. Might save your life,” Shen Ge said, pulling it from his bag.
“Why not take a pistol too? Or this frag grenade? Leave it on your desk—people’ll think it’s a lighter.”
Tang Jinze waved frantically. “Hard pass. One curious idiot pulls the pin, and boom—instant workplace hazard. I’ll keep the baton, but guns are a no. Wouldn’t know how to use one anyway, and I’d rather avoid ‘tea invitations’ from authorities. Don’t worry, I’ll call if anything weird happens. Besides, how often do these incidents even occur? Lightning won’t strike me.”
“True. Stay away from me, and you’ll likely never encounter one,” Shen Ge deadpanned.
Tang Jinze laughed. “Listen to you— Oh, since you’re off today, wanna crash at my place for dinner?”
“Sure. Long time since I’ve seen your parents.”
After the visit, Shen Ge returned home by 9 PM, booting up his computer to scour the web for entity-related intel.
Cross-referencing System data with Special Investigations archives, he’d identified three core entity traits:
Presence of Eerie Energy (black mist).
Traits manifest at Tier-4+.
This framework cast doubt on many online “entity sightings”—particularly those involving humanoid cases.
Yet the “Three-Armed, Six-Legged Old Wang” and his own “Octopus-Pitcher Plant Father” blatantly contradicted the first rule.
Even the theory that “human-turned-entities are high-tier” collapsed under scrutiny: official research showed Eerie Energy caused human deterioration, not mutation.
[Congratulations on surviving another day in this entity-infested world. Reward: 1% free attribute points, 10 System Points.]