Qi Yuan's reputation preceded him. Those who enjoy toying with others are destined to disregard others' feelings. Attempting to provoke him could very likely result in an accident.
Therefore, the Zhang Family Head had no intention of beating around the bush and directly revealed the answer.
"If a place is surrounded by Fusion Zones that have appeared in its vicinity over the course of a few years, there's a good chance that a Fusion Zone will emerge there as well. We were quite fortunate; it appeared after just a few months of waiting. Some have had to wait for years."
Qi Yuan's expression remained impassive. Was there a possibility that it was just a random occurrence?
However... if they had successfully predicted all of them, it might lend some credence to this theory.
Seeing Qi Yuan's blank expression, the Zhang Family Head pondered if he had said something wrong.
After some thought, he remembered that Qi Yuan was from the Duty Bureau and was likely dissatisfied with them withholding information about Fusion Zones. He hastily added, "Since there's no concrete evidence, it's possible we just got lucky. I recall there's a national research institute specifically studying this, so we didn't think to report it."
Hearing his explanation, Qi Yuan realized what misunderstanding had occurred. He casually pointed at the items on the table, changing the subject: "What effects do these have after being consecrated?"
The Zhang Family Head breathed a sigh of relief. At his advanced age, he couldn't handle such shocks, and the usually eloquent elders were even less reliable in such situations.
It was no wonder the Zhang Family Head was so respectful. Currently, no one in the world could restrain Qi Yuan; it all depended on his conscience. And conscience, that bottom line, might be there one second and gone the next.
Anyone would be on edge with a potentially explosive nuclear weapon by their side.
However, the Zhang Family Head didn't know that Qi Yuan hoped he would live a long life, or at least until Qi Yuan achieved godhood.
Unaware of this, the Zhang Family Head continued to introduce each item to Qi Yuan nervously, until he picked up a copper bell. His hand trembled, nearly dropping it.
"This... this is the Soul-Controlling Bell. Its function is to form contracts with souls and command them to do... things. It's too unethical, so we've kept it locked away."
When the Zhang Family Head mentioned "souls," Qi Yuan thought he had crossed into another world. After a detailed explanation, he understood.
The so-called "soul" referred to psychic power. After the emergence of psychic ability users, people began researching this phenomenon.
The core of human psychic power is in the brain, while monsters' psychic power is chaotic.
People had tried to control monsters using items similar to the Soul-Controlling Bell, but to no avail. The reason was simple: controlling humans only required controlling the core, but monsters had no psychic core, so they could only be controlled briefly, not suppressed long-term.
Monsters were different from most living beings, like strange products that didn't need to follow the world's rules.
Thus, even after decades, people knew very little about monsters.
The reason the Zhang Family Head was so nervous was that the Soul-Controlling Bell only worked on humans.
Qi Yuan didn't doubt his words. If they had actually used it to control others, the bell wouldn't be here, but in some spatial ability item.
The forbidden area was just for show; truly hidden items were kept in spatial ability objects.
Seeing that Qi Yuan wasn't particularly interested, the Zhang Family Head wiped away his cold sweat and continued introducing: "This one is..."
After chatting for a while, Qi Yuan had lunch at the Zhang family's place before heading to the airport in their luxury car.
Just before passing through the boarding gate, the Zhang Family Head held onto the sleepy-faced Qi Ao, saying, "Grandpa will visit you again later."
Qi Ao didn't reply verbally, just nodded solemnly.
Seeing this, the Zhang Family Head smiled. Young people indeed cared more about emotional exchanges.
His little grandson, moved by being invited into the forbidden area, had finally stopped pretending to be clueless.
Qi Yuan looked at the grandfather and grandson pair with a complex gaze. The power of blood ties was truly terrifying. Could his father possibly stay in prison for life?
...
"The environment here is quite nice," Zhu Xiaotong said, scanning Qi Yuan's villa in Jidu up and down. She held her reluctant son and suggested to Qi's mother, "How about moving to Jidu next year?"
Qi's mother, of course... immediately refused.
Although her parents and brother had protected her to the point of naivety, and she still believed in miracles when facing misfortune, she was, after all, a mother of two children.
Attending three schools in one year would not be good for her younger son's mental and physical health.
Moreover, although she didn't know what her elder son was doing, she didn't want to cause him any trouble.
Qi Yun was nudged by his wife, but he remained silent like a clam. Unlike his hot-tempered wife who liked to take care of everything, he preferred to respect others' choices. He would step in if necessary, but otherwise, he was content to mind his own business.
Qi Yuan had noticed their arrival at the villa quite early. He sent Qi Ao, who was rummaging around like a wild boar, to find his mother, and glanced at the messages on his phone.
[Gao Changze: Are you available now?]
[Gao Changze: I'd like to make a phone call.]
This tone... it was clearly not Gao Changze himself. Adding periods to instant messages was unlike him.
Gao Changze and the others had moved out of the villa after establishing the Superpower Affairs Office, and rarely came by except for Yin Qingran who occasionally returned to clean.
With the New Year approaching, they disturbed him even less.
So, Qi Yuan typed "Okay" in the chat box.
The other side had obviously been waiting for his reply, as the phone rang immediately.
Upon answering, a familiar female voice came through the receiver. It was indeed Yin Qingran.
"Sorry to bother you, but I have something I'd like to ask about."
"Go ahead."
Yin Qingran, not daring to waste time, quickly summarized the situation.
Inspired by their previous encounter, Yin Qingran had directed her investigation towards the whereabouts of monster corpses, including the black market. She had also tagged along with Ji Jia, specifically flying back to investigate cities around Shen City.
"...The peddler said that the monsters they sold had their minds erased, so they could be safely raised..."
Hearing this, Qi Yuan sat up on the sofa.
The Beauty Phase in Qipan City...
He had previously learned from Lv Cheng that there had been incidents of monster selling in Shen City. Had it merely moved to the neighboring city?
"Can monsters become docile if their memories are erased and they're trained?"
Qi Yuan replied decisively, "No."
"I see."
Recently busy with New Year's preparations, Qi Yuan didn't have much time to deal with issues that couldn't be immediately resolved, but young saplings also needed protection.
So, after some thought, he said, "Regarding this matter, I can recommend someone to you."
"Thank you. I feel that to accomplish something like this, there must be significant forces behind it. It might be related to my situation."
"Let me know if there are any developments," Qi Yuan added, "When you have time, continue collecting information on SS-rank and above monsters. I have a use for it."
"Understood."