Sterility Ring

Hearing Han Rui's account piece by piece, Bai Ge was utterly stunned by what the ring could do.

Once Han Rui had sex with someone, the other person would die after about one or two minutes, without even leaving behind a corpse.

It was a killing effect triggered by intercourse. It was neither a virus nor simply a poisonous substance.

It specifically killed sexual partners, as though it were an effect that had sentenced someone to a lifetime of celibacy.

It was bizarre, yet it fit the characteristics of a containment object perfectly: an unreasonable trait.

"You seem to know this. Why did you still look for a woman?" Bai Ge asked.

Han Rui was silent for a moment before saying, "I didn't know at first. I only found out after doing it the day before yesterday... It made me afraid to even use my hands, because I was worried it might kill me too... But today, I really couldn't hold back."

Bai Ge frowned. This effect posed no danger to Han Rui himself. Only other people would die.

Han Rui clearly knew this, yet he had insisted on doing it anyway.

His reason was simply this: taking care of it himself might kill him, so he could only find someone else to do it for him.

"She disappeared here. Aren't you afraid of being investigated?" Bai Ge said coldly.

Han Rui timidly replied, "She came from somewhere else and had no relatives here. No one would care even if she disappeared..."

Bai Ge said indifferently, "As far as I know, you're the same..."

The meaning was obvious enough. If Han Rui disappeared, no one would care either.

Han Rui's pupils constricted, and he hurriedly shouted, "No! I have friends! If you dare kill me, the police definitely won't let you off!"

"Kill him! Bai Ge, if you don't want to do it, I will!" Shao Yuan said through the earpiece.

But Bai Ge said, "Wait."

"You don't still want to let him go, do you? He'll be a lot of trouble if he survives," Shao Yuan said.

"I know."

After muttering that, Bai Ge asked Han Rui, "Will this effect be lifted if you take off the ring?"

Han Rui shook his head. "I don't know. I've never tried."

Bai Ge frowned, suddenly unsure how to deal with the ring.

After thinking it over, he released an electromagnetic field and controlled the iron ring, making it float.

Han Rui was horrified and looked at Bai Ge enviously.

Bai Ge ignored him and sent the ring flying out of the kitchen, where it drifted into the villa's yard.

"Shao Yuan, the red dot on the containment-object map..."

Before he could finish asking, Shao Yuan exclaimed, "The red dot split apart! There are actually two red dots. One hasn't moved, while the other escaped the villa!"

Bai Ge said ruefully, "It's fine. One is the ring, and the other is Han Rui. Anyone who touches the ring will contract that effect, so he counts as a supernatural entity too. It's actually permanent. Even after losing the ring, the trait remains."

He was extremely glad he hadn't touched the ring directly. If merely touching it had infected him with that effect, wouldn't he be no different from a eunuch?

That meant he didn't even dare put it into his mindscape.

Shao Yuan asked, "Then... how do we contain it?"

"Obviously, we find somewhere to hide it. I didn't expect using this containment object to come at a cost. It actually has a negative trait!" Bai Ge said.

At this point, Bai Ge felt a little self-deprecating.

Anything was possible with the traits of containment objects. Negative traits were perfectly normal.

In reality, the Black Shadow Bow Tie was not flawless either. If Bai Ge dared to let the bow tie leave his body now, he would die instantly. The mantle pressure he had once endured would kill him on the spot.

Compared to that, this ring merely killed sexual partners and did not harm its wearer. It was already pretty good.

"Who are you talking to?" Han Rui asked as he looked at Bai Ge.

Bai Ge said nothing. Instead, he raised his knife.

"Wait! I have something to say!" Han Rui shouted.

However, Bai Ge's knife had already swiftly slit his throat. Almost simultaneously, Bai Ge lightly touched him with his head and took him into his mindscape.

This was the first time he had treated a human body as material and stored it in the Material Universe.

A huge glowing orb emerged and drifted through the Material Universe.

"A human soul..." Bai Ge tried to control it, but accomplished nothing.

"Bell, isolate this soul."

Bai Ge still could not affect the soul. He wondered, Do I really have to specifically set up an Absolute Trait for this?

Bai Ge decided to study it later. For now, he first had to clean up the scene.

He busied himself for a while, removing all the bloodstains. The method was simple: he stored everything in the kitchen that had been stained with blood inside his mindscape.

Just as he finished, Shao Yuan suddenly charged into the villa's yard.

He reached out and directly grabbed the ring, which had been floating in midair under the electromagnetic field.

"What are you doing?" Bai Ge exclaimed, hurrying into the yard.

Shao Yuan calmly held the ring and said, "Nothing. I heard you had dealt with him, so I came over to help clean up the scene."

"I don't need your help. I've already finished! Shao Yuan, didn't you hear me just now? This ring will make you unable to..."

Before Bai Ge could finish, Shao Yuan said, "I know. Bai Ge, this containment object can transfer viruses! In theory, it can cure all viral diseases."

"So what? I didn't contain these things because I had to use them myself. My main purpose was to prevent us, and other people, from being harmed by containment objects in the future," Bai Ge said. "Of course, some can be used personally, but others are better kept hidden... Besides, using this ring means dying alone. Do you dare use it?" Bai Ge asked.

"I do! Besides, I've already touched it," Shao Yuan replied decisively.

"...Uh." Bai Ge's expression turned strange. "Aren't you afraid?"

Shao Yuan said, "I have to make myself useful somehow. Bai Ge, this negative effect isn't unacceptable... I'm very interested in this containment object, so I have to pay some price."

Bai Ge was speechless. "Sigh, don't treat containment objects like good things. This is a permanent negative trait. We'll definitely encounter better ones in the future. Do you really think I'd keep it all to myself?"

Shao Yuan said seriously, "It's fine."

"To me, being able to control viruses is more important than having a girlfriend."

In the end, the two of them left Xuancheng late at night.

This time, unlike when Shao Yuan had killed someone before, they did not destroy the evidence afterward. They had shut off all the surveillance cameras from the very beginning.

Therefore, Han Rui's death would forever be treated as a disappearance.

On the way back to Xiangfan City, Bai Ge would occasionally turn his head to watch Shao Yuan excitedly wearing the ring. Every so often, Shao Yuan would look at himself, then at Bai Ge.

"What are you looking at?" Bai Ge asked helplessly.

Shao Yuan said, "I can directly sense the viruses inside a human body and know their names. Although I have to use my eyes to see them, it isn't X-ray vision. It's a unique sensory perspective. You wouldn't understand even if I explained it."

Bai Ge sighed. "You're treating it like a treasure. If I'd known, I would've destroyed it from the start..."

Shao Yuan clicked his tongue. "You're just jealous!"

Bai Ge shook his head. "What the hell would I be jealous of?"

Of course, he was not reluctant to part with it. Bai Ge could also transfer viruses inside his mindscape.

In other words, the ring's trait was practically something his mindscape already possessed, though it was not as convenient as the ring.

"Honestly, Shao Yuan, the most powerful part of this thing isn't transferring viruses... In my opinion, its true power lies in that effect that makes you die alone," Bai Ge said.

Shao Yuan was stunned. "Hmm? Isn't that a flaw?"

Bai Ge snorted. "Anyone who touches it becomes unable to have children! And it's permanent and absolute... That's far more unreasonable than transferring viruses!"

"This ring is like a source that spreads the 'die-alone effect.' Through contact, it passes the abnormal effect on... making everyone who touches it permanently unable to reproduce."

"Come to think of it, this effect is also like a poison. It's just formless and intangible, something akin to a meme."

"If you want to kill someone, you only need to take the ring and touch their lover with it. Then you can just wait for the news..."

Shao Yuan considered this and said, "When you put it that way, its flaw has become an advantage? It might even be its strongest point."

Bai Ge rolled his eyes. "Don't do anything reckless. Wear gloves from now on! Until I solve this problem for you, you can go be a monk!"

Shao Yuan laughed. "Don't worry. I've always been practically a monk anyway..."

"I've decided. From now on, it'll be called the 'Sterility Ring'!"

P.S.: A rather uneventful first kill.