Spirit Hall Has Already Noticed Us
Although Chu Feng was expressionless, the researcher knew he was angry.
He immediately left to fetch Wang Er.
Chu Feng did not have to wait long before a bald young man came running at full speed, his research uniform not even properly put on.
"Director," Wang Er greeted him respectfully.
Within the research institute, almost everyone called Chu Feng the director.
The other departments called Chu Feng their leader.
Frowning, Chu Feng flung the research log at Wang Er.
"Explain this to me. Why did you halt development of the Soul Guidance Pistol? Don't you know how important this is to the organization?"
The Soul Guidance Pistol was one of the Soul Guidance Technology projects he valued most.
As a man from the modern world, he firmly remembered something Mr. Ai had said.
Dignity lay only upon the sword's edge; truth lay only within the range of cannons.
He did not believe in being chosen by gods. He believed only in his own strength.
How many divisions did the gods have?
Yet Wang Er had actually halted this project without even explaining it to him.
If the system had not consistently shown Wang Er's favorability at its maximum and his loyalty to him,
he would have suspected there was a mole in his organization.
"Director, I'm just worried that the emergence of the Soul Guidance Pistol will make us the target of every arrow." Worry showed in Wang Er's eyes.
He respected Chu Feng from the bottom of his heart, young though Chu Feng was.
But he still felt that the Soul Guidance Pistol should not appear in this era.
"Director, the Soul Guidance Pistol is far too easy to copy."
"If our enemies get their hands on it, it won't take them long to produce copies."
"When that happens, it will inevitably unleash a catastrophe across the continent."
Although the Soul Guidance Pistol was also a product of Soul Guidance Technology,
it merely had some additional Soul Power enhancement to increase its might.
Its internal construction was no different from the pistols of his previous life.
Purely mechanical, it was easy to operate and copy.
Any reasonably skilled craftsman could probably make one by hand just by looking at it.
Even without soul guidance enhancements, it would still have considerable power.
If this thing spread, it would inevitably provoke the continent's fear and a joint campaign to eradicate them.
It might even lead to the "arms race" Chu Feng so often spoke of.
The continent would inevitably descend into a war that engulfed ordinary people.
That conflicted with their organization's ideals.
Wang Er took a Soul Guidance Pistol from his waist and dismantled it in front of Chu Feng.
In less than ten seconds, every component of the Soul Guidance Pistol lay neatly arranged on the floor.
Holding a Soul Guidance Pistol bullet, Wang Er raised his eyes and looked straight at Chu Feng.
"Director, this Soul Guidance Pistol isn't some rare thing like a Fixed-Installation Soul Cannon."
"If Spirit Hall or those empires get hold of it, we'll be put in a very passive position."
"Giving up eating for fear of choking!" Chu Feng said softly, picking up the pistol's most important component, its frame.
"By the time they try to copy it, we'll already have developed more powerful soul guidance firearms."
"We'll simply crush them."
What he wanted was to mass-produce troops and crush everything with absolute military might.
The Soul Guidance Pistol was merely the most basic soul guidance firearm.
"But Spirit Hall has already started investigating us recently," Wang Er said anxiously.
"Hm? What happened? How did Spirit Hall notice us?"
Chu Feng believed their organization's concealment methods were excellent, and they had yet to undertake any activities on the continent.
How had Spirit Hall noticed them?
Did they have noses as keen as dogs'?
"It's the gunpowder. Researching soul guidance firearms requires large amounts of gunpowder."
"Although we've been buying it from many different places, we still aroused Spirit Hall's suspicions."
Wang Er wiped the sweat from his forehead, which Chu Feng's imposing presence had frightened out of him earlier.
"If we keep researching, Spirit Hall will trace it back to us sooner or later. The soul guidance firearms will be exposed, and our organization won't be able to stay hidden either."
That was another reason he had halted development of the Soul Guidance Pistol.
They had yet to develop a resource that could replace gunpowder.
As long as they researched soul guidance firearms, they would inevitably need gunpowder.
And Spirit Hall would investigate.
"Spirit Hall..." Chu Feng fell silent as he reassembled the dismantled Soul Guidance Pistol.
Spirit Hall really was no simple organization.
They could even follow this trail.
He did have some misgivings about Spirit Hall.
After all, it was the continent's foremost power.
If they truly fought now, even victory would be a pyrrhic one.
"Then reduce our use of ready-made gunpowder for now. We'll manufacture it ourselves and just purchase the raw materials."
Since ready-made gunpowder could be traced, they would make their own.
"Research how to make more powerful gunpowder yourselves. If you research it properly, it'll be no less useful than soul guidance firearms."
They would suspend research into soul guidance firearms for now and research gunpowder instead.
He refused to believe Spirit Hall could still sniff them out this way.
If they could still track down his organization, what else was there to say? He would hand it to them.
"Yes!"
Chu Feng handed the Soul Guidance Pistol back to Wang Er and rubbed his brow. "You really should hurry up and find someone to help you make decisions."
Wang Er had considerable talent for Soul Guidance Technology research, but he fell far short when it came to strategy and handling matters.
Anyone else would have known how to carry out what he had just said.
Yet Wang Er had stubbornly chosen to halt the entire soul guidance firearms project without even explaining the situation to him.
Wang Er instinctively glanced aside and gave an awkward smile.
"Well, I'll find someone later."
He knew his mind really was not sharp when it came to social dealings and planning.
He usually focused on researching Soul Guidance Technology and paid no attention to other matters.
"No, Director, you should remove me from my position as deputy director. Just let me be a first-class researcher."
As Wang Er spoke, he removed the deputy director's nameplate from his chest and bowed, offering it to Chu Feng.
He had made up his mind.
There was simply too much for a deputy director to do, leaving him unable to properly research Soul Guidance Technology.
A first-class researcher's pay was not low anyway, so there was no need to be deputy director.
Looking at the offered nameplate, Chu Feng shook his head. "Keep doing it for a while. Once you find someone suitable, come tell me."
If Wang Er stopped being deputy director, would all the work not fall to him?
Better to let Wang Er find his own successor first.
Wang Er clenched his teeth slightly. He had forgotten that their leader was also someone who did not want to work.
"Understood. I'll find someone to take over as soon as possible."
"Speaking of recruiting..." Something suddenly occurred to Wang Er. Changing the subject, he continued in a pleading tone, "Leader, shouldn't we recruit more people?"
"We have more and more projects, and we're getting a little short-handed."
"Now more than half our people have been assigned to the Star Dou Great Forest base, too."
The organization simply had too much to do.
Their leader had even established a new Star Dou Great Forest base elsewhere.
The organization's manpower had suddenly become stretched thin.
But the organization's current nature meant they could not recruit openly, or they would have no way to determine whether the recruits were spies from other factions.
They could only have Chu Feng personally select people.
His brows tightly furrowed, Chu Feng slowly exhaled. "I'll handle the manpower issue."
"I've already brought you an assistant to start with. He'll study Soul Guidance Technology under you from now on."