This Spiritual Energy is Lethal!
Chapter 363: Control

Chapter 363: Chapter 363: Control

Fei Huang Republic, Wuan City cemetery, 2004, 3:27 PM.

Li’s Heavy Industry Group Building was struck by a Spiritual Ability User three days prior.

The Li family hosted a low-key funeral and blocked the news of Li Yan and Han Yanyun’s deaths.

When dealing with media interviews, the spokesperson for Li’s Heavy Industry merely claimed that the Li couple was injured in the accident and would be recuperating for an extended period.

They even went as far as to arrange a four-year convalescence plan with a high-end private medical facility from the United Federation and purchased an estate on Newren Island as a retreat.

But the reality was that the Li couple had died on the spot in that accident, and their bodies were incomplete. Li Yan’s head was completely beyond technological reconstruction, and Han Yanyun’s entire upper body had been shattered into pieces, necessitating a hasty cremation.

Li Moyang had injured four ribs, a relatively minor injury given his routine fitness regime and highly regimented diet, which could withstand impacts that would otherwise severely damage internal organs.

The cemetery was quiet, with light rain falling under a pallid sky, and a cloud of rain slowly drifting northward.

Wearing a black coat and a bandage on his right hand, Li Moyang watched as the workers carefully placed his parents’ urns into the grave.

At the board, shareholders were stirring, and soon, he would likely hear calls for bringing in professional managers.

"Mr. Li, hello," Li Moyang heard someone greet him from behind.

He turned around and saw a man in a black suit.

The man had a solemn expression but his eyebrows conveyed kindness, appearing to be in his fifties.

"My name is Zhou Wen, I am the director of the Spiritual Ability Control Bureau," said Zhou Wen, extending his hand.

Li Moyang glanced at Zhou Wen’s extended hand, turned away, and ignored it.

Other than members from the Li Group and the Li family, officials from Wuan City and the Fei Huang Republic were present at the cemetery, including the personal attendance of the Control Bureau’s director.

Seeing that Li Moyang didn’t reciprocate the handshake, Zhou Wen wasn’t offended and withdrew his hand; losing one’s parents tragically was not an easy burden to bear.

"I’ve always wondered, Director Zhou, why do foreign spiritual departments call themselves ’Administration Bureau’ whereas ours is named ’Control Bureau’?"

Li Moyang looked toward the far end of the cemetery, where several black cars blocked the cemetery’s entrance and exit.

"That depends on our respective approaches to handling these matters," Zhou Wen explained.

"Oh?" Li Moyang turned back to look at Zhou Wen.

"The Control Bureau focuses on controlling and destroying anomalies, but foreign Administration Bureaus tend to focus on containment and utilization," Zhou Wen explained.

"When I studied in the United Federation, I noticed the spiritual power industry was well-developed in the Western world. Why isn’t the corresponding industry allowed to develop domestically? Why the suppression and restriction?" Li Moyang asked further.

Zhou Wen paused, his gaze at Li Moyang mixed with complex emotions.

"These things, Li Moyang, are not resources," Zhou Wen slowly stated.

"What can be utilized is a resource," Li Moyang shook his head.

Zhou Wen laughed and countered, "You’ve been to the United Federation, you must have seen those ’Black Boxes’ right?"

Li Moyang knew, Zhou Wen was referring to Black Box Space, and he nodded.

"Let me ask you, would you like to live with monsters?" Zhou Wen queried.

"We would develop on wastelands far from residential areas," Li Moyang replied, understanding Zhou Wen’s point.

"You are still young, Li Moyang, unaware of the mechanisms by which this world operates. I believe even the United Federation started its development of spiritual industries on wastelands far from residential areas," Zhou Wen continued, stepping forward and standing next to Li Moyang.

"But ... do not underestimate those capitalists. Once the industry truly opens up, they will deem any area as wasteland, and it indeed will become wasteland. Starting something is easy, ending it is difficult. You businessmen don’t need to concern yourselves with social welfare, but we must," Zhou Wen explained.

Li Moyang didn’t want to listen to these grand truths; his expression grew irritable.

"Our Control Bureau controls and destroys these entities to ensure the domestic populace can live in a stable environment, undisturbed by anomalies that disrupt common understanding. Those things are inherently harmful and should not exist in our age," Zhou Wen added.

"Things that defy common sense shouldn’t be considered anomalies, Director Zhou," Li Moyang argued, not agreeing with Zhou Wen’s viewpoint. "They should be called knowledge. We shouldn’t shun research because we fear the unknown. Our business world lags behind an entire era in utilizing Spiritual Energy. If we had our own Spiritual Power Industry, the Li Group wouldn’t have been utterly unprepared for what happened three days ago."

"The mishap yesterday was the fault of the Control Bureau, and I apologize on behalf of the entire bureau. That was an illegal Spiritual Ability User... Our superhero chased him into the city, and in that respect, we have already had him reflect on his actions," Zhou Wen said.

"Apologies are the most meaningless acts. Ignorance is the greatest sin," Li Moyang coldly stated.

"My condolences, Mr. Li." Zhou Wen knew Li Moyang was irritable now and didn’t want to hear him speak any more, so he wisely took his leave.

Two days later, at the Li estate.

Li Moyang frowned at the white Holy Diamond mounted on a mechanical arm. A blue light from the nearby monitor cast a glow on his cheek.

"This thing... so small... weighs 25 grams... only 24 millimeters long and less than 12 millimeters thick... Why can it turn into a hammer..." Li Moyang muttered as he pondered the data on the screen.

This completely defied the law of conservation of mass!

Li Moyang had obtained a small bottle of liquefied Spiritual Energy through various connections— these injections turned a person into a Spiritual Ability User after being administered into the spinal cord, allowing the use of Holy Diamonds.

Originally, Li Moyang hypothesized that Spiritual Energy was key to activating Holy Diamonds and tried to turn them into weapons with these injections.

However, the results of the experiments starkly contradicted his initial assumptions; no matter the technique used, even dripping liquefied Spiritual Energy onto the Holy Diamond, the stone failed to react.

Tests on liquefied Spiritual Energy also failed to identify its constituent elements.

For the first time, Li Moyang felt he might never understand something, and he was not willing to inject the substance into his own spinal cord.

After all, it required periodic draining to prevent disabilities from the fluid accumulation.

Only the state possessed the technology for draining and injecting Spiritual Energy, beyond what he could decode through his research.

He slumped into a chair, rubbed his eyes, and sighed deeply.

He couldn’t control this bizarre object, this Holy Diamond, even the lowest grade... He couldn’t fathom its mysteries...

"Li Moyang..."

"Li Moyang?"

"Li Moyang!"

Li Moyang’s eyes opened, and he found himself holding a black shard in his hand.

He snapped back from his reverie. Was it day or night? He glanced at the whisky beside him—a sure sign it was evening.

Coffee by day, whisky by night...

The caller was the mysterious woman from the future, now leaning against the door, tilting her head as she observed him.

"Corrigan is dead," the woman said.

"Is that so...? I was just about to... ask you," Li Moyang replied.

Li Moyang stood up, pouring the remaining whisky into the fireplace where it crackled loudly.

"I can see how time changes after his death. Li Moyang, you did well," the woman said.

"Thank you... By the way, what’s this?" Li Moyang tossed the black shard to her.

Chen Ke had given it to him.

The woman caught the shard and rubbed it between her fingers. "It’s a piece of Symbiotic Stone, no longer usable. Where did you get this?"

"My assassin told me," Li Moyang replied, "Corrigan had this jammed in his head when he died."

He set his glass down, his expression thoughtful.

"He was formidable, Corrigan wasn’t easy to control. Can you manage him?" the woman asked.

Li Moyang looked at her, his expression somewhat profound.