This Spiritual Energy is Lethal!
Chapter 346: Intelligence Amplification

Chapter 346: Chapter 346: Intelligence Amplification

"Attention, attention, containment breach, containment breach, please evacuate the facility as quickly as possible."

Before Parker could settle his nerves and enjoy the elation of mastering his abilities, a mechanical female voice came through the speakers in the corridor.

The research lab, which had seemed normal until now, was suddenly engulfed in red as the warning lights came on, overshadowing the white incandescent light.

At first, it didn’t seem significant, but now, as the surroundings turned an urgent red, the three of them felt a pressure mounting.

"No more nonsense. Wang Ailin, you just mentioned we could leave from an area that’s one-twentieth below the containment station, what does that one-twentieth mean?" Chen Ke said.

"The spherical research station’s bottom area has been hollowed out but remains unused out of fear that the Abyss below could affect experimental results. The man-made layer at the very bottom is Containment Hall Number One, which is typically off-limits. However, there is a maintenance passage leading to power generation structures," Wang Ailin explained.

"Why isn’t anyone allowed in there?" Parker asked.

"Well... that area is semi-permanently sealed. This containment station houses tens of thousands of mutated items, all in rooms nested within rings. Only the items in Containment Hall Number One... they take up an entire floor..." Wang Ailin divulged.

"What’s contained inside there..." Chen Ke asked.

"I don’t know. The sphere has been around for decades before I arrived... It’s said that Containment Hall Number One contains the first mutated item that the institute ever contained. My clearance isn’t high enough to see its containment record," Wang Ailin stated.

"Have you ever seen that thing?" Parker inquired.

"I haven’t seen it, but Professor Mansis mentioned it’s a floating black stone," Wang Ailin replied.

"That doesn’t sound threatening. I thought it was some huge monster," Chen Ke let out a sigh of relief and said.

Wang Ailin was at a loss for words to contradict Chen Ke but still felt that the stone must be more dangerous than the other monsters.

Chen Ke led the way, pulling aside the desk blocking the door and was the first to step out into the corridor. Wang Ailin, flashlight in hand, followed closely behind Chen Ke, with Parker, empty-handed, exiting the room third in line.

According to Wang Ailin, the first layer was the research labs; following the ring structure downwards would lead them to containment rooms, but the lifts were locked down, forcing the trio to find an escape ladder via the walkways.

Along the way, they encountered many researchers who had lost their minds, some muttering to themselves on the ground, others slamming their heads against walls, leaving them blood-stained.

This was the result of multiple memetic infections and cognitive attacks that robbed them of their sanity and consciousness.

In fact, all researchers were issued headset devices like the one on Wang Ailin’s head, designed to block memetic and cognitive intrusions, but many didn’t get the chance to put them on.

"Does the institute contain monsters?" Chen Ke suddenly asked.

Speaking of containment facilities, Chen Ke had visited the Administration Bureau’s underground containment control center in 2006, which housed all kinds of live monsters, while the institute seemed only to contain mutated individuals.

"No, we don’t contain living creatures here. That’s something the Administration Bureau takes care of," Wang Ailin shook her head as she roughly outlined the containment jurisdiction between the institute and the Administration Bureau.

The institute is a large research organization that only contains items with supernatural power, most of which are items mutated by spiritual energy, but also include some creations with inherent transcendent abilities.

The Administration Bureau, on the other hand, is more like a monster cage. In fact, they contain monsters for the benefit of the institute, as the monster corpses and live samples used for research are provided by the Administration Bureau.

Most of the Holy Relics diamonds are also controlled by the Administration Bureau because, fundamentally, they are military-grade extraordinary ability armaments and can be utilized.

Moreover, the institute also assists the Administration Bureau and the military in developing spiritual power weapons; spiritual guns and bullets are one such example.

Most of the objects contained by the research institute are either impractical for use or the consequences of their utilization far outweigh the benefits.

"No wonder you all wait for the Administration Bureau’s people to show up when something goes wrong here; you have no defense mechanism whatsoever..." Parker complained.

"We are an academic sanctuary; we don’t need too many people waving guns around." Wang Ailin argued.

The three of them walked for a while, following the looped hallway ahead when a familiar door appeared on the right, bearing the number 0451.

They had come back again.

"Did we miss the stairs?" Parker asked.

"Impossible, the stairs are very conspicuous." Wang Ailin shook her head as she shone her flashlight on the door of her lab; the orange light of the flashlight was submerged in the red warning lights of the corridor.

"Wait a minute." Chen Ke said solemnly, a blue light flashed in his right hand, and the Black Ring Sect’s candlestick appeared in his grasp, lighting up with a faint cyan flame that seemed weak but engulfed the surrounding red lights.

Just like in the Black Box Space of the West Gold Building, Chen Ke subconsciously believed they had walked into an illusion.

The candlestick had the power to dispel illusions, but Chen Ke’s intelligence wasn’t sufficient, and he could only use it as a flashlight. Now, however, it was different with Wang Ailin by his side.

"Try and see if you can grab this candlestick." Chen Ke held the candlestick, leaving a space beneath the handle for Wang Ailin to grab it.

Holy Relics could only be summoned and used by Spiritual Ability Users; ordinary people could pick up the diamond-shape Holy Relics, but they were not able to touch the summoned Holy Relics.

But what if two people held it together?

Wang Ailin had a complex expression as she looked up at Chen Ke and then at the candlestick handed to her, slowly extending her hand to grip the tail end of the candlestick.

She could grab it.

"The feel of it is actually like this... so cool..." Wang Ailin sighed, continuously caressing the handle of the candlestick.

After Wang Ailin touched the candlestick, the blue glow became even more resplendent, and the white light at the heart of the flame became as blinding as a surgical lamp.

If when Chen Ke held the candlestick, the light was akin to a spark, then after Wang Ailin touched it, that spark turned into a blazing prairie fire, completely uncontrollable.

The pale blue candlelight turned into cyan beams, lighting up blue fireworks in the air and brightly illuminating the hallway.

Chen Ke looked at the candlestick, and an information box sprung up in front of his eyes:

[Mystic Glow Black Ring Candlestick]

[Durability: Intact]

[Mysterious Attribute Enhancement: Arcane Power Increased by 20%, Illusion Range Increased by 20%, Magic Duration Increased by 20%]

[Mental Resistance: The holder’s resistance against sanity attacks increased by 70%] (Intelligence Amplification: Resistance effect reaches 100%)

[Illusion Dispelling: Upon lighting, dispels low-level illusions within the range of the candlelight] (Intelligence Amplification: Dispels high-level illusions within a large area)

With Wang Ailin’s enhancement, the special effects of the candlestick saw a tremendous leap.

However, at the same time, the speed at which the candles burned also increased greatly, with several candlesticks weeping wax tears, visibly melting at a rapid pace.