Experiment Successful

After Guan Tong returned to his room at Limei Hotel from the Public Security Bureau, he kept thinking about the case.

Looking back now, he felt a lingering fear. If he had been tricked into opening the door, with them prepared and him unprepared, there was a high chance those two young men would have struck first and taken him down.

If he had noticed their hostility and confronted them head-on, however, whether he could have won two against one was another matter.

Guan Tong had not held out much hope before. After all, two fists could not defeat four hands. But ever since he drank the [Gene Optimization Fluid] obtained from the Glory-grade box, aside from the immediately increased Mind Power Cap, he felt that every aspect of his body had been subtly improving over time.

Though he had no detailed test records, Guan Tong could tell that he was faster than before, had greater endurance, and had gained some strength as well.

It was hard to say whether these changes came from the [Gene Optimization Fluid] or from the increased Mind Power Cap, but either way, it was a good thing. There was no need to dwell on it.

Guan Tong felt that with his enhanced body, he might be able to take on two opponents barehanded—but if they had weapons or used Mind Power Artifacts, it would be a different story.

He had previously seen some people publicly show off their Mind Power Artifacts online.

One boxing coach had a pair of boxing gloves as his Mind Power Artifact. After putting them on, as long as he consumed Mind Power, he could gain a massive boost in strength. With a full-force punch, he could even shatter a solid rock!

The boxing coach had even specifically posted a video online of himself smashing a rock while wearing the gloves, flaunting it. Many people left comments expressing their envy.

That was what Guan Tong was worried about.

If those suspected kidnappers possessed Mind Power Artifacts with offensive properties, their combat ability would undoubtedly improve. If they caught someone off guard, they could achieve extremely effective results.

That was why Guan Tong had begun trying to add words to the [Wordless Book]. He wanted to develop the offensive properties of his own Mind Power Artifact, not to harm others, but so that he would have the strength to defend himself in the face of danger.

"And what are they planning to do by kidnapping High Mind Power Users?"

Guan Tong could not figure it out.

Mind Power could not be transferred to others, and Ascension Coins currently could not be traded through designated items. Even if they captured people, they would gain nothing. Were they forcing them to work for them?

But if they captured people so brutally, how could those people willingly work for them?

And doing that would quickly draw the Public Security Bureau's attention.

With the nation's population drastically reduced, every person had become extremely valuable. High Mind Power Users were even priority targets for support. Capturing them was tantamount to opposing the authorities, and the authorities would definitely respond with force.

Guan Tong's case was proof of that. Those two guys had knocked on his door last night, and their bodies had been found today. Such efficiency showed just how seriously the Public Security Bureau took the case.

To be safe, I should be more careful lately, Guan Tong thought. And I can't casually reveal that my Mind Power Cap exceeds 80, or some interested party might target me.

Over the next few days, Guan Tong stayed in room 306 of Limei Hotel, never stepping outside.

The authorities did send him an application form for free housing, but he did not fill it out.

Like many people in the hotel, he felt that staying there was quite good. This large hotel had a bar, gym, laundry room, and even a swimming pool. It had every living facility one could need, maintained in turns by the residents, making life very convenient.

Others might have chosen to stay there partly because they feared loneliness. At the very least, a large group of people could gather in the lobby every morning, encouraging one another and keeping themselves from falling apart mentally.

As for Guan Tong, safety was the greater concern. There were many people in the hotel, and they all knew one another. If danger arose, they could resist it together. Besides, the hotel was close to the Public Security Bureau. With one phone call, public security officers could arrive within minutes.

During this time, he repeated the same process every day: adding words, recovering Mind Power, then adding more words. Xu Xiaotian, who lived next door in room 305, occasionally came to chat with him and invited him out, but Guan Tong turned him down almost every time.

He also reminded Xu Xiaotian that Yunhua was suspected to have a criminal gang kidnapping High Mind Power Users. He told him to be careful when going out and not to casually reveal his Mind Power value.

Five days passed like this. After Guan Tong used up another Food Box, he finally completed the final stroke.

"Solidified..."

Guan Tong held the pen and wrote the final small horizontal stroke of the character "solidified," finally completing the addition.

The two words "Guan Tong" that had originally been on the first page had now become the four words "Solidified Guan Tong."

Would there be a change?

Guan Tong was both expectant and nervous. He waited several seconds, only to find that the four words did not float out as they had before.

After thinking for a moment, he injected Mind Power into it, letting Shadow detach from the book and enter reality as before.

"Shadow, come out."

Whoosh—!

The black Shadow, identical to Guan Tong in build, emerged from the book and stood before him.

The moment Guan Tong saw Shadow, his eyes burst with delighted light.

"It worked!"

Previously, Shadow had been entirely hollow in the middle, with only an outlined edge.

But now, the Shadow standing before him was completely filled with darkness, as though a pitch-black Guan Tong stood in front of him!

Guan Tong raised his right hand. Under the control of his thoughts, Shadow opposite him raised his left hand.

The instant the black and white palms clasped together, Guan Tong's heart raced with excitement.

"Shadow really has a physical form now!"

To be honest, Guan Tong had not been confident at all before. He had only tried adding words to the first page on a whim. He had never expected it to truly succeed. It was almost unbelievable.

"Now that Shadow has a physical form, everything is different!"

The physical Shadow had gained many new uses.

Most importantly, this meant it could interfere with the real world and interact with the physical world.

That way, when faced with danger, Guan Tong could summon Shadow and control him with his thoughts to fight for him.

Except...

Amid his excitement, Guan Tong glanced at the panel on his Personal Terminal, and the smile on his face immediately turned slightly bitter.

"Shadow in physical form consumes that much Mind Power...?"

Looking at his rapidly falling Mind Power value, Guan Tong felt helpless, but he knew it was inevitable. The more deeply a Mind Power Artifact was developed, the greater its Mind Power consumption would be.

He did the math. In his original non-physical state, with his current Mind Power Cap of 118, Shadow could be maintained for around eight minutes.

Now that Shadow had solidified, the duration had shrunk drastically. With 118 points of Mind Power, he could likely maintain him for less than two minutes—almost one point of Mind Power consumed for every second he existed.

"Less than two minutes of maintenance time. It's short, but at a critical moment, perhaps just a few seconds would be enough to solve the problem... Still, if I want to use Shadow for long periods and further develop his abilities, I'll need to raise my Mind Power Cap."