Blind Spot
Chapter 142: Coincidence of 131? (Thank you to the Alliance Hierarch who is also a teary-eyed devil)

Chapter 142: Coincidence of 131? (Thank you to the Alliance Hierarch who is also a teary-eyed devil)

Zhuang Yijing really was moved.

So she quickly cast aside her original thoughts and earnestly sought advice from Li Chengyi on how to become as formidable as he had just been.

For an ordinary person, Li Chengyi’s previous display was already incredibly exaggerated.

Although, as Li Qingpeng had said, it wouldn’t stop a bullet.

But masters like them, when engaging in hand-to-hand combat, could indeed not stop a bullet, yet they could prevent you from firing one.

If the distance was great, they could even quickly evade and dodge.

And if wearing bulletproof gear, they would truly be like little superhumans, charging forward irresistibly, facing no real threat except from super soldiers or reinforced human soldiers.

With her heart stirred, Zhuang Yijing’s thoughts once again turned to the scene of her sparring with Li Chengyi.

She couldn’t help but feel a hint of romantic anticipation.

But because of other distracting thoughts this time, the intensity wasn’t high. She only contributed a little bit of lust to Li Chengyi.

After exchanging Flyfish accounts (a type of social media app), Li Chengyi listed some items and matters she needed to prepare, then before her, he inquired with his master, Yu Long, to see if it could be done.

Yu Long naturally didn’t mind, and upon hearing his talented student say he had found another genius, he didn’t believe it but also harbored a sliver of anticipation, readily setting a testing date.

After much hustle and bustle, those who came to the party were very satisfied, each receiving surprises they had not expected.

Perhaps for some it was more of a fright, but nobody cared about the few.

Li Chengyi took a taxi home with his family, only to discover that his sister Li Chengjiu was missing on the way.

His parents said she had left early on.

He wasn’t concerned, as this time the gains were quite good, and the contributions from both his sister Li Chengjiu and Zhuang Yijing together had allowed his Titan Sunflower, with the Evil Thoughts evolved for the third time, to increase to 21%—previously it was still in single digits, now it had filled up one-fifth in one go.

This was still a sustainable mode of weakening.

Sitting in the car, Li Chengyi felt full of anticipation for the future.

’Right, there’s also Marian Xilian. Another strong individual with mental issues. Her contribution filled up a substantial portion of the Evil Thoughts during one of the previous evolutions.’

Li Chengyi listed all these good resources one by one.

He planned to establish another Evil Thoughts Garden to complement the Garden of Fate internally and externally.

Of course, this was his future envisioning—for now, he didn’t have the capital to draw these resources close to himself.

This was also because Zhuang Yijing herself was just an ordinary person and easy to fool.

After the party, Li Chengyi also began his own investigations of the Endless Staircase that Rainbow Candy mentioned.

The next day, he personally went to the hot spring hotel she had mentioned, looking for clues.

But there was no Flash Appearance.

Obviously, the original form wasn’t here, nor did anyone enter the Blind Spot nearby.

If it wasn’t near the original form, then elsewhere, one would need to have the Blind Spot continuously active in order to Flash Appearance into it.

Four days later...

November 3rd.

Eternal Botanical Garden.

All members of the Garden of Fate were gathered together.

Rainbow Candy was playing with a handheld game console to relax her nerves.

Da Xiong was on the phone arranging for new medical equipment to be delivered here.

Da Hei and Xiao Zhong were verifying that all surrounding surveillance and detection systems were functioning normally.

They also had to monitor the AI search information for the prototype of the Endless Staircase.

And Li Chengyi...

He was oiling two skeletons.

"...." Rainbow Candy played her games for a while and then looked back at Li Chengyi.

She happened to see him gently aligning Yserine’s skull.

"Brother Cheng... Do you have any suggestions about this Blind Spot?" she couldn’t help asking aloud.

"There’s no sign of danger yet, but that doesn’t mean there is no danger," Li Chengyi looked back. "The staircase you are on keeps going down, and it’s likely that there will be a temperature change, gradually getting colder. If you need to move faster, you could bring a descent machine with you."

"I’m prepared for that. There’s a ready-made one," raised Xiao Zhong’s hand. "Just need to tweak the design of the exoskeleton a bit, not too difficult."

"Hmm, then make sure to have enough food and oxygen. I worry you might have to stay in there for a long time," Li Chengyi nodded.

"I understand," Rainbow Candy nodded earnestly, looking at her teammates who were gathering around and orbiting her.

Compared to before, when she and Da Xiong were the only two facing the Blind Spot.

Her parents at home couldn’t help much either.

The huge contrast made her suddenly feel that having such a team might be a good choice.

"Although we haven’t found the prototype yet, I have gathered some patterns from other channels," Li Chengyi spoke softly at that moment.

His source of information, naturally, came from Boss Xindela.

It had to be said that relying on White Star’s capital group to investigate Blind Spot information,

was much stronger than their few people fighting alone.

Boss said three days, and immediately provided clues.

"What pattern!?"

His words captured everyone’s attention.

Li Chengyi paused for a moment, then said solemnly.

"In the Blind Spot, there’s a prototype that originated from White Star, called the Spiral Staircase."

"It’s an endless staircase that always spirals like a helix."

"Once someone enters, they can never escape."

"In the year 21, five people entered this Blind Spot, two survived. The other three died. But it wasn’t from tiredness or starvation, it was... they encountered a special kind of monster."

"What kind of monster?!" Rainbow Candy became vigilant.

"The Upstairs People and the Downstairs People," Li Chengyi answered.

"Suddenly, a door will appear in the staircase landing on a certain floor.

The door will be pushed open from the inside out, and from it will emerge the shadow of a person constantly going upstairs or downstairs.

Blind Spot Individuals must not let the Upstairs People and the Downstairs People get close, or they will be in fatal danger."

Li Chengyi gave a brief introduction.

"Of course, the Blind Spot I’m talking about is another one, our situation here might be different."

"Is there a known way to deal with them?" Rainbow Candy asked, obviously a bit worried.

"Using strong lighting can make them temporarily disappear, but they’ll appear again sooner and more frequent next time. After that, there’s no more information." Li Chengyi said, "Because the people who last entered this Blind Spot died without breaking it or finding a way to escape."

"Multiple attempts without discovering a way to escape suggests that firearms are ineffective..." Da Hei said gravely.

Without thinking, it’s clear that the Blind Spot Individuals in this example were not beginners, and the fact that so many of them perished indicates that they likely tried every method available to them.

"Forget it, for now, everyone just wait, and when Rainbow Candy enters, we’ll immediately move around and try Flash Appearance. It’s best to enter and collect clues ourselves," Li Chengyi said sternly.

"Okay."

Everyone agreed in unison.

The rough plan was arranged.

Li Chengyi walked aside and took out his phone to check his account balance.

The botanical garden had been losing money constantly, and he hadn’t had much money left over to begin with, and with no revenue coming in recently, his account had just over ten million remaining.

The money was sufficient for the time being, but the key issue was that if the losses continued, he would have many other expenses in the future, which wouldn’t be cost-effective.

Even if the industry wasn’t making money, it shouldn’t be losing so much.

He looked at the financial statements the botanical garden’s finance department had sent to him before.

They included balance sheets, profit statements, and cash flow statements, among others.

A small botanical garden’s so-called liabilities were mostly the costs incurred from purchasing stock, and while there were plenty of assets, they required all kinds of maintenance and supplies.

Just the monthly normal expenses of the entire Eternal Botanical Garden would be at least three hundred thousand upward.

Staff plus security plus truck drivers, as well as several people running business in other places, specialists on paid assignments, intelligent system maintenance personnel, and so on...

Scattered around thirty-something people in total.

But because previous sales channels had been taken over by other farms, the botanical garden’s profits were very low.

’At this rate, my money won’t be enough... If I need to buy some expensive flowers... That would really be... And I can’t always be the one supporting everything.’

Li Chengyi began pondering how he could turn his industry from loss-making to profitable.

After giving it some thought, he decided that professional matters required professional people, so he went to ask Da Xiong and Xiao Zhong, who were in charge of logistics.

The two of them gave similar advice.

"Our family keeps it simple," Da Xiong said with a smile, "We hired a few very capable senior managers, shared bonus stocks with them, and then just wait comfortably for the profits."

"For professional matters, you find professional people, hire outside talent to manage for you. The problem with the botanical garden is that it’s somewhat bloated; it needs to cut back expenses. Let the managers help you streamline, and for generating income, you need to talk business yourself, think of strategies, and study market demands. After setting your direction and profit points, build a team and tackle solutions," Xiao Zhong earnestly replied.

"But won’t this lead to outsiders taking control?" Li Chengyi asked with concern.

"Then you just replace them. Brother Cheng, you’re not afraid someone will trip you up, are you?" Xiao Zhong laughed. "Everyone has only one life to live, after all."

"That’s true," Li Chengyi laughed as well.

"All right! Then let’s hire!" After much thought, he decided to seek external help.

"As for profit points..."

Li Chengyi frowned again.

What was different about his flowers compared to those from other farms and botanical gardens? What could bring in profits?

How did other botanical gardens make money?

Visitor tickets, selling specialty derivative products, etc. Tourists come for sightseeing, then shops are set up within the botanical garden, spaces are rented out, rent is collected, exclusive products are sold to earn commission, and unique brands are created...

A flow of ideas suddenly crossed his mind; after all, he had visited quite a few botanical gardens recently and had subconsciously remembered these processes.

’But all these are too homogeneous. Even if they can make money, it would only be a small amount. If I want the industry to become a mainstay of legitimate income... it requires something unique, something with strong competitive power.’

As he pondered, Li Chengyi slowly strolled away from the lobby where Rainbow Candy and the others were and leisurely made his way to the botanical garden’s outdoor garden area.

It was November.

Potted white chrysanthemums were arranged neatly, their branches and leaves being shaped by the master pruner’s large scissors into uniform streamlined forms of simple beauty.

Li Chengyi nodded to the master pruner, who responded with a wave of the hand and continued his work.

He walked over to a pot of white chrysanthemums and knelt down to examine them closely.

The white flowers, surrounded by dark green leaves, looked like fluffy white mop strands.

The center was light green, and the edges were lined with slender petals.

Li Chengyi reached out and touched them.

’White Chrysanthemum: Also known as autumn chrysanthemum. A perennial herb with a blooming period from September to November. It clears heat and detoxifies, clears the liver and improves vision, often used to treat dizziness and sore throat caused by wind-heat common cold. Its nature is cool, taste sweet, and is not suited for consumption by those with a cold spleen and stomach.’

’Flower Language Technique: Sorrowful Pupil (When faced with the remains of the deceased, it allows for the tracing of their life’s information based on personal consumption. The more mental and physical energy spent, the more of the deceased’s life information can be traced.)’