Why Not Ask the Magic Conch Shell

Gao Changze noticed his disdainful look and awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. "I just didn't want Brother Yuan to have to go downstairs to open the door, so I thought I'd come up directly to save you the trouble."

Qi Yuan gave him a deadpan look. This guy's habit of passing the buck had become instinctive; there was no hope for him.

Now, thinking back to the little black-hearted loli's attempts to shift blame, he wondered who had influenced whom.

With a resigned expression, he let Gao Changze in through the window. When he sat back down on the sofa, another person had appeared next to Gao Changze - it was Yin Qingran.

"I'd like to report on the recent situation," she said.

Qi Yuan nodded, signaling her to proceed.

If they had uncovered any major incidents, he could conveniently dispatch his villain organization's doppelganger to "claim credit," eliminating those criminal organizations ahead of time under the guise of silencing witnesses. This would smoothly initiate the mode of his own people fighting against each other.

The carefully crafted organizational objectives were just waiting for both sides to reveal some details through their verbal sparring, making it easier for everyone to fill in the blanks.

He had nothing better to do, so for the sake of nurturing these seedlings, he might as well listen.

Yin Qingran felt there was no point in hiding anything from this young man who lacked neither ability nor means. If not for his help, they would still be holed up in Shen City, waiting for Gao Changze to grow into an S-level superhuman.

So, having received his consent, Yin Qingran began to recount the events.

"Our operations didn't go smoothly at first. The previously discovered hideout was inexplicably abandoned ahead of time..."

Right from the start, Qi Yuan couldn't help but exclaim inwardly. Calculating the time, she had been busy from before the Spring Festival until now.

Is this what the world of workaholics looks like?

Ah, I work just as hard...

Never mind then, let's all grind together!

"...We felt something was off, so we immediately concealed our identities and cut off offline contacts... Until a week ago when that incident broke out, the people watching us must have been distracted, and we successfully found a new hideout."

She went on to describe how they disguised themselves as buyers, then followed and infiltrated the location.

Qi Yuan had quite a few S-level superhumans around him, but that didn't mean they were everywhere. Otherwise, Qipan City, which got thrashed by an A-rank Monster, would have something to say about that.

Relying on Yin Qingran's abilities as an A-level superhuman, they infiltrated and investigated without encountering major troubles, tracing their way to a factory fronting as a shell company.

They lurked and observed for several days, following the factory "staff" to find a base hidden in a suburban area.

"...That laboratory was built in a sparsely populated area. At first, we thought they were going to collect monster samples in the wild, but in reality, they were using monster patrols to cover their activities, and they didn't even need to keep constant watch over the monsters."

Being able to control monsters - this organization had big ambitions.

If this technology could be handed over to the research institute, human safety could see a qualitative improvement.

Qi Yuan couldn't help but lean forward, waiting for what came next, but the following content left him disappointed.

"...We realized things were getting more and more complicated, so we didn't rush to act. Only after confirming there were no high-level superhumans or monsters guarding the place did we infiltrate the laboratory."

Next, they interrogated the lab manager and learned that two or three weeks ago, higher-ups had demanded the retrieval of test contents and financial accounts, leaving only the most basic monster trading operations running.

The rest was met with feigned ignorance, and the only valuable thing they brought back was the device for controlling monsters.

"Lv Cheng took it back for research. It's a psychic control artifact."

Qi Yuan looked down at the object on the table without picking it up to examine it. Instead, he asked, "Compared to similar items, does it have any special features?"

Yin Qingran slowly shook her head. "No, we've tested it. It can't control new monsters."

"If there's anything special, it's one thing, but it's unrelated to monsters," Gao Changze suddenly interjected, adding, "If it's used to control humans, unless the controller actively releases it, it's almost impossible to break free."

Qi Yuan recalled his knowledge of psychic control artifacts, which highlighted the importance of his habit of frequenting the Duty Bureau's archives.

It was standard for such items to control the human psychic core, making it difficult to break free without external intervention once controlled. Gao Changze's words seemed to state the obvious, but there was a subtle difference.

For instance, Xue Shizong's null ability should theoretically be able to break most controls, but Gao Changze emphasized that this one was almost impossible to break.

This proved that it had functions beyond mere control.

Seeing Qi Yuan look his way, Gao Changze continued, "It controls the core and seems to affect the psychic power..."

Realizing he might be stating the obvious, Gao Changze scratched his head, "Lv Cheng told us, to put it simply, if regular psychic control is like adding a switch, then this combined artifact is like injecting poison into the body's bloodstream - control is everywhere."

Both methods worked through the psychic core. After psychic control, there was still a process of establishing a connection and contract between the superhuman or artifact and the psychic core, enabling long-term control.

Qi Yuan understood why Yin Qingran had said there was nothing special earlier.

"I don't think it's a coincidence or happenstance. I suspect this might be key, but the problem is none of us can figure it out, so Ji Jia suggested we come to you for help."

Having said this, Gao Changze's eyes were full of expectation.

Although Yin Qingran's face remained calm and composed, her eyes kept glancing in his direction.

Do you think I'm some kind of magic conch shell?

Qi Yuan was exasperated. What made you mistakenly think I would understand research matters?

But he had to admit, even though Ji Jia couldn't divine the actions of superhumans far beyond her abilities, her intuition was as reliable as ever. Qi Yuan might indeed know something.

His daily routine of browsing vast amounts of news and dispatching doppelgangers to various locations was all for gathering more information, to use precognitive dreams to deduce the future, obtain intelligence in advance, and set the stage one step ahead.

If the information they provided was sufficient and only lacked a spark of inspiration or direction, he could solve the problem simply by daydreaming in the literal sense.

"Wait here, I'll be right back," Qi Yuan said as he headed towards his room.

Gao Changze suspected they had been verbally taken advantage of, but he had no proof. He turned to look at Yin Qingran, trying to find an ally.

However, his potential ally put down her cup and, familiar with the surroundings, found her way to the utility room. She put on hand protectors and other items, preparing to clean the villa.

"One, two, three..."

Yin Qingran picked up the brooms she had bought earlier and took out several cleaning cloths, arranging various cleaning tools neatly on the floor.

She waved her hand over these items, activating her ability. The objects were infused with superhuman energy and began to automatically clean the villa.

Even though he had seen this more than once, Gao Changze felt sour as a lemon. "You've spent more energy on cleaning than on the special sword you made for me."

The fact that Gao Changze's long sword could unleash blade beams was actually thanks to Yin Qingran, after all, this wasn't a wuxia world.

"If you clean for me, I'll lend you the energy I save," Yin Qingran said calmly, arms crossed.

"Well, it's not that I can't..."

Gao Changze quickly assessed the villa and immediately backpedaled: "I'm sorry, never mind."