After Guan Tong returned to his room at the Li Mei Hotel from the Sheriff's station, he couldn't stop thinking about the case.
Thinking back on it now, he felt a lingering fear. If he had been tricked into opening the door, they would have had the element of surprise. He most likely would have been ambushed by those two young men.
If he had detected their malicious intent and confronted them head-on, it was still debatable whether he could have won a one-on-two fight.
Before, Guan Tong wouldn't have been optimistic; it's hard to fight two people at once, after all. But ever since he consumed the vial of Genetic Optimization Base Liquid from the Glory Level box, besides the immediate increase to his Psychic Power limit, he felt that his body was also gradually and subtly improving in every aspect over time.
Although he had no detailed data from tests, Guan Tong could feel that he was faster, had more stamina, and had grown a bit stronger than before.
It was hard to say whether this change was due to the Genetic Optimization Base Liquid or the increase in his Psychic Power limit. But it was a good thing either way, so there was no need to dwell on it.
Guan Tong felt that with his enhanced body, he might actually be able to take on two people bare-handed. However, it would be a different story if they had weapons or used Psychic Power items.
He had seen people online openly showing off their Psychic Power items.
There was one boxing coach whose Psychic Power item was a pair of boxing gloves. After putting them on and consuming some Psychic Power, he would gain a massive boost in strength. A full-power punch could even shatter a solid rock!
The coach even posted a video of himself wearing the gloves and smashing the rock online to show off, and many people left comments expressing their envy.
This was what worried Guan Tong.
If those suspected kidnappers possessed offensive-type Psychic Power items, their combat capabilities would undoubtedly be much higher. With the element of surprise, they could achieve devastating results.
That was why Guan Tong had started trying to add words to the Wordless Book. He needed to develop his Psychic Power item's offensive properties—not to hurt others, but simply to have the power to defend himself when facing danger.
'Besides, why are they kidnapping people with high Psychic Power?'
Guan Tong couldn't figure it out.
Psychic Power couldn't be transferred to others, and Sublimation Coins couldn't be traded via an intermediary object at present. Even if they captured someone, they wouldn't gain anything. Were they forcing people to work for them?
But by kidnapping people so crudely, how could they expect their captives to willingly work for them?
Besides, doing this would quickly attract the attention of the Sheriff's station.
The country's population had been drastically reduced, making every single person incredibly precious. High Spirit Users were especially prioritized for support. Capturing them was tantamount to challenging the authorities, and the authorities would definitely crack down hard.
Guan Tong's own case was a perfect example. Those two guys had knocked on his door last night, and their bodies were found today. Such high efficiency showed just how seriously the Sheriff's station was taking the case.
'To be on the safe side, I'd better be extra careful,' Guan Tong thought. 'And I can't let anyone find out my Psychic Power limit is over 80, or I'll risk being targeted by someone with ill intentions.'
For the next few days, Guan Tong stayed in room 306 of the Li Mei Hotel, never once setting foot outside.
The authorities had sent him an application for free housing, but he didn't fill it out.
Like many others in the hotel, he felt that living there was perfectly fine. Large hotels like this had their own bars, gyms, laundry rooms, and even swimming pools. All the living facilities were readily available and maintained by the residents in rotation, making life very convenient.
For others, the fear of loneliness might have been a factor in their choice to stay. At least here, a large group of people could gather in the lobby every morning to encourage one another and keep their spirits up.
As for Guan Tong, his reasons were more about safety. The hotel was full of people who were all familiar with each other, so they could band together to fend off any danger. Plus, it was very close to the Sheriff's station; a single phone call could have a Sheriff there in minutes.
During this time, his days fell into a routine: add words, recover Psychic Power, add more words. Occasionally, Xu Xiaotian from the adjacent room, 305, would come over to chat and invite him to hang out, but he refused almost every time.
He also took the opportunity to warn Xu Xiaotian, telling him that a criminal gang was suspected of kidnapping High Spirit Users in Yunhua. He told him to be careful when he was out and about, and not to casually reveal his Psychic Power value.
Five days passed like this. After using up another food crate, Guan Tong finally finished the very last stroke of the word he was adding.
"Real..."
Guan Tong put pen to paper, writing the final stroke. The addition was finally complete.
On the first page, the original name "Guan Tong" had now become "Corporeal Guan Tong."
'Will anything change?'
Guan Tong was both expectant and nervous. He waited a few seconds, but noticed that these words didn't float out of the page like before.
He thought for a moment, then infused his Psychic Power, willing the Shadow to emerge from the book into reality as he had done before.
"Shadow, come out."
WHOOSH—!
The black Shadow, identical in shape to Guan Tong, emerged from the book and stood before him.
When Guan Tong saw the Shadow, his eyes lit up with brilliant, joyous light.
"It worked!"
Before, the Shadow had been completely hollow in the middle, nothing more than an outline.
But now, the Shadow standing before him was completely filled in with darkness, as if a pure black version of Guan Tong was standing there!
Guan Tong raised his right hand. Under his mental command, the Shadow opposite him raised its left hand.
The moment the two hands—one black, one white—clasped together, Guan Tong's heart pounded with excitement.
"The Shadow is actually solid!"
To be honest, Guan Tong hadn't been confident at all before. He had only added the words to the first page with a 'might as well try' attitude. He never thought it would actually work; it was almost unbelievable.
'Now that the Shadow is solid, everything is different.'
A solid Shadow had a host of new uses.
Most importantly, it meant that it could now interfere with the real world and interact with the physical environment.
This way, when facing danger, Guan Tong could summon the Shadow and mentally control it to help him fight.
But...
His excitement faded as he glanced at the panel on his personal terminal, and a bitter smile touched his lips.
"The Psychic Power drain for a corporeal Shadow is this high...?"
Watching his Psychic Power value drop rapidly, Guan Tong felt a sense of helplessness, but he also knew it was inevitable. The more developed a Psychic Power item became, the greater its Psychic Power consumption would be.
He did a quick calculation. In its previous, non-corporeal state, his current limit of 118 Psychic Power could sustain the Shadow for about eight minutes.
Now that the Shadow was corporeal, the duration had shrunk dramatically. He estimated that 118 Psychic Power would only last for less than two minutes. It was consuming roughly one point of Psychic Power for every second it existed.
"Less than two minutes of uptime. It's short, but a few seconds might be all I need to solve a problem at a critical moment... Still, if I want to use it for longer periods and develop the Shadow's abilities even further, I'll have to raise my Psychic Power limit."