The Road Ahead is Long and Arduous? Let's Start with a Place to Stay

Although this mission only lasts seven days, Wang Zhen still wanted to find a place to stay.

Because he needed to draft a proposal—a truly explosive plan—he required a secure base of operations to conduct his full deductions and calculations.

Wang Zhen did not continue following the newcomers, as he had already left Little White to shadow them. Although it appeared to be a crow, its stamina was over ten times that of a real bird, so Wang Zhen had no fear of Little White losing their trail.

Even though he had burned Kayako's haunted house to the ground, leaving only a barren plot, Wang Zhen still found a high-rise hotel nearby. He paid a premium to secure a suite on the top floor that faced the ruins of the house.

The straight-line distance from here to the ruins was only three hundred meters, making it the closest location that met Wang Zhen's requirements.

Standing before the spacious, bright window, Wang Zhen looked down at the ruins of the haunted house and began to calculate how he could secure more rewards. After all, the technologies he and Tifa had their eyes on all required reward points and side quests.

"Kayako... is the mistress of that haunted house."

"She has a husband named Takeo Saeki and a son named Toshio Saeki."

"Then, one night, Takeo Saeki hacked Kayako to death before committing suicide, while their six-year-old son, Toshio Saeki, went missing."

"According to the movie plot, this entire family turned into evil spirits, and each possesses formidable supernatural abilities. Kayako can spread through videotapes like a plague; whoever watches the tape is cursed—which is essentially being tagged by Kayako—and then hunted down."

"Takeo Saeki's blade ignores defense; being struck by it causes direct damage to one's internal organs."

"Toshio Saeki can teleport, and if he grabs you, he can temporarily freeze you."

Wang Zhen recalled the abilities of this family of evil spirits. Individually, they could be avoided if one knew their mechanics, but this family, which had been at each other's throats in life, fought as a coordinated unit in death. With their three abilities complementing each other, things became truly difficult.

The Kayako family... family... family...

It seemed that plot of ruins still had its uses!

What Wang Zhen realized was that while this family had the ability to kill outside their home, their power was maximized at their residence—the very ruins he had burned down, now reduced to a pile of bricks and rubble.

However, for evil spirits, the location of the haunted house acted as an anchor. Even though he had burned the house down, it shouldn't have severed the anchor. These spirits would still linger here, as this was the only place where their power reached its peak.

"However, I don't just want to kill this family of evil spirits. What I truly want is to use the 'Philosopher's Stone' transmutation circle to transmute this entire family into a Philosopher's Stone."

"Therefore, the difficulty will be much higher!"

"But, as Marx said, given 10% profit, capital is eager; at 50%, it becomes daring; at 100%, it is ready to trample on all human laws; at 300%, it is ready to sell you the rope that will hang it!"

"The reward points and side quests from the Kayako family are already worth 300%. Thus, risking my life is inevitable. However, I still need to verify a hypothesis first. Only if this hypothesis holds true can I reap this 300% profit; otherwise, I'll only be able to take a fraction."

Wang Zhen's hypothesis was that the "Philosopher's Stone" transmutation could be scaled up!

After all, Alucard's "Dead River" contained over three million "lives"—the population of an entire country. When he released the "Dead River," it flooded the entirety of London!

And Wang Zhen's "Dead River"?

A ten-meter-diameter "Philosopher's Stone" transmutation circle!

A ten-meter diameter—that was the range of Wang Zhen's "Dead River"!

"I'm not that busty, naive policewoman Seras Victoria. A single Captain Bernadotte was enough to make her happy, and she stopped collecting others. The result was only a single blood-red wing. Although that is her 'Dead River' ability, it is still far too weak compared to Alucard."

Wang Zhen knew that Seras Victoria's "Dead River" ability, the blood-red wing, had a small range but could fly, slice, and extend; it was undeniably an excellent combat ability. However, Seras Victoria was a warrior, while Wang Zhen considered himself a mage, so he naturally desired large-scale spells.

"Tokyo is too prosperous, and too important. If something goes wrong, it might trigger too many variables."

"I'll find an inconspicuous spot in the outskirts instead."

Having made up his mind, Wang Zhen began to study the "Philosopher's Stone" transmutation circle. Specifically, the national-level transmutation circle—an ultra-large-scale array—was something he couldn't set up yet, but he could use his "Dead River" ability as an auxiliary to expand the range of his own "Philosopher's Stone" circle.

However, once the range of the "Philosopher's Stone" circle expanded, the transmutation speed would slow down significantly. If he were attacked during this time, the transmutation would fail!

Therefore, neither the time nor the location could have any errors; otherwise, a failed transmutation would be a minor issue, but sustaining injuries would be a major one.

Wang Zhen took out the map of Japan he had prepared and began to study it, focusing on the map of Tokyo. In the middle of his work, he took a break to observe the newcomers led by Zheng Zha and Zhang Jie through Little White. He discovered that Zheng Zha and the others had also found a hotel to stay in.

"It's hard to say how many of these people will survive until tomorrow. The family of evil spirits is currently at peak rage; once night falls, they will definitely move to retaliate. It all depends on which of these newcomers has the most luck." Through Little White, Wang Zhen watched these newcomers, who were acting as if nothing were wrong and even starting to flirt, and chuckled to himself.

Suddenly, a thought struck Wang Zhen. He used Little White to carefully observe the area around the hotel where Zheng Zha and the others were staying. To his surprise, he discovered an office building—a perfectly rectangular structure. If positioned correctly, a transmutation circle could perfectly encompass the entire building!

Wang Zhen had Little White circle the area, and then he quickly headed toward the office building. He needed to conduct an on-site inspection; if conditions permitted, he naturally hoped to stir up trouble right here in Tokyo!

After all, with the Kayako family present, if he played his cards right, he wouldn't just harvest a "Philosopher's Stone"—he could also pin the blame on Kayako!

When the time came, he could even use this incident to see if there were any artifacts in this Age of Dharma Decline in Japan capable of dealing with evil spirits!

"In the original story, a Buddhist scripture handwritten by a high monk appeared that could block Kayako. I wonder if there's anything better!"

By this time, Wang Zhen was already standing across from the office building.