Jiang Baimian felt doubly helpless, but this didn't affect her state; she just sighed slightly.
Her mind had been tempered enough to be resilient.
"This piece of paper can be put away; we can do further research on it when we get back," she instructed Genava.
After saying that, she looked down at her watch.
"Time is running out; we need to hurry."
What she meant was that they had to quickly check if there was anything worth taking from the few items in the room.
Genava didn't delay. He shook the thin blanket, knocked on the pillow, and flipped the mattress, but found nothing else.
During this process, Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao were sensing with all their might but failed to detect any abnormal changes.
When Genava put away the piece of paper and extended his silver-black metallic hand towards the small night-luminescent pearl that emitted a yellow-green glow, Shang Jianyao suddenly spoke:
"It's moving, it's moving, there's fetal movement."
"..." Jiang Baimian discovered that her mind was still not resilient enough.
She couldn't help but sigh inwardly:
The "Ceremony of Life" cult was indeed the first religious organization Shang Jianyao had joined, leaving a distinct mark on him.
Of course, Jiang Baimian also knew why Shang Jianyao was saying that—the moment Genava's fingers touched the fish-eye-sized night-luminescent pearl, the item's yellow-green glow showed a subtle flicker that was easy to overlook, and inside, there was an extremely difficult-to-detect bio-electrical signal that flashed and disappeared.
Shang Jianyao continued:
"There's a very weak, very weak fluctuation of human consciousness.
"It's gone now."
Was this the product of the combination of the aura left behind by those powerhouses who explored the depths of the "Mind Corridor" and real-world objects? This could have come from Yan Hu himself, or it could have originated from his harvest in a room within the "Mind Corridor"... Jiang Baimian always kept the time firmly in mind and didn't say much:
"Let's put it away first and study it when we get back; we should leave."
Genava took out the rubber gloves he had prepared earlier and stuffed the yellow-green night-luminescent pearl into them, wrapping it up.
Then, the three of them quickly and orderly retreated from the room, turning off their flashlights.
After Genava pushed the coffin back into its original position, blocking the entrance to the basement, Shang Jianyao once again helped lift the coffin lid and placed it on top, fitting it perfectly.
"I don't think Yan Hu necessarily likes what you're doing," Jiang Baimian said, calculating the time as she watched Shang Jianyao's busy work.
Shang Jianyao slightly raised his hands, leaned back, and looked at the empty space.
"Everywhere is a dream; why take it seriously?"
Jiang Baimian wanted to say a few words back, but time didn't allow it, so she took the lead and exited the temple called "Yanluo Temple."
...
Inside the room with a dim yellow light bulb in the hotel campsite.
All the members of the "Old Task Force" were gathered around the coffee table serving as a dining table, looking at the yellow-green night-luminescent pearl.
"We have to try and see what kind of effect this will produce," Jiang Baimian broke the silence and said.
Her gaze turned to Genava.
After dinner, they had already studied the piece of paper and found nothing special about it.
Genava extended his silver-black metallic palm, picked up the fish-eye-sized night-luminescent pearl, and turned it around a few times.
"How do I use it?"
When he picked up the night-luminescent pearl, Jiang Baimian sensed that fleeting, weak bio-electrical signal again, but besides that, there was nothing.
"Try to put your mind..." Jiang Baimian stopped talking herself.
Even a person with toe brains would know that artificial intelligence doesn't have anything like a mind, and it is still not known whether humans have it either!
She considered it for a few seconds and said:
"Stimulate it with electricity?"
Thinking and doing, she immediately said to Genava:
"Hold it; I'll try."
Long Yuehong subconsciously shrank back, trying to create distance.
But after looking at Bai Chen and Shang Jianyao, who weren't moving, he felt that his performance was too timid, so he forcibly returned to his original posture.
Looking at the yellow-green night-luminescent pearl held in Genava's palm, Jiang Baimian raised her left hand and pressed it over.
A silver-white arc of electricity leaped out, crossed a short distance, and struck the surface of the target.
The yellow-green light emitted by the night-luminescent pearl showed obvious oscillations, and the weak bio-electrical signal hidden inside it resurfaced, becoming chaotic.
But all of this quickly returned to its original state, and nothing happened.
"No effect..." Long Yuehong said, not knowing whether he was relieved or disappointed.
He didn't feel like he had been affected by any ability.
Jiang Baimian nodded almost imperceptibly, pondering new solutions.
At this moment, Shang Jianyao said:
"Let me try."
Jiang Baimian pondered slightly and said:
"Be careful. Uh, put on gloves first."
She immediately said to Genava:
"You watch closely; if anything goes wrong, forcibly separate him from the night-luminescent pearl."
"Don't! We're true love!" Shang Jianyao responded in a tone that others couldn't tell if he was joking or not.
He then picked up a latex glove and put it on his left palm.
Then, he stretched out this hand and pinched the yellow-green night-luminescent pearl in Genava's palm.
As before, Jiang Baimian sensed the weak bio-electrical signal that flashed and disappeared.
Shang Jianyao looked at the night-luminescent pearl in his hand and seriously reasoned with it:
"You should have heard a saying called 'A pearl covered in dust.' As a night-luminescent pearl, you've been in the basement for decades, with no one to appreciate or praise you. Don't you feel lonely?
"Now, you have the opportunity to bloom with your own glory..."
Listening to Shang Jianyao's rambling, Long Yuehong felt both amused and scared.
What was funny was that this guy seemed to really think he could communicate with a night-luminescent pearl, and what was scary was that this guy really succeeded in communicating with a night-luminescent pearl.
Bai Chen, who had been watching quietly, was also shocked by Shang Jianyao's operation. This reminded her of the mentally disturbed wasteland wanderers she had encountered before.
Of course, there was no essential difference between Shang Jianyao and them, except that he had a doctor's certificate.
After communicating for more than a minute, Shang Jianyao sighed "helplessly."
"It refuses to speak."
It can't speak... Jiang Baimian just finished her sarcastic remarks when she saw Shang Jianyao hand the yellow-green night-luminescent pearl to his right hand.
That hand wasn't wearing latex gloves.
Jiang Baimian opened her mouth, but in the end, she didn't stop him. She just signaled Genava with her eyes to be prepared.
It took Genava more than two seconds to analyze what the look in her eyes meant.
Shang Jianyao held the yellow-green night-luminescent pearl in his right hand, and his deep brown eyes suddenly became deep and dark.
The next moment, Jiang Baimian sensed the emergence of that weak bio-electrical signal within the night-luminescent pearl. It spread and grew, becoming very complex, as if receiving the descent of a certain idea.
Long Yuehong jumped up abruptly, trembling, rushed out of the room, returned to the next room, lay on the bed, wrapped himself tightly in the quilt, and curled up his body.
"This..." Jiang Baimian was a little dazed when she saw this scene, but then she understood.
The night-luminescent pearl had worked!
Shang Jianyao lowered his head slightly, looked at the night-luminescent pearl in his palm, and said with a smile:
"It seems to make others timid; let's call it 'Coward.'
"It can target only one person or cover all humans within a range, but the effect will be much worse."
Jiang Baimian's eyes lit up when she heard this.
"This ability is very strong and very suitable for this mission."
What the "Beheading Operation" feared most was being intercepted halfway or not finding the right target. With this night-luminescent pearl, as long as they could strike first, the defenses around DiMarco would be virtually useless, and even he himself would be affected.
Shang Jianyao continued:
"The maximum distance is about 120 meters. It can now affect the other side of the campsite and the underground shopping mall in Redstone Collection."
"Well, it certainly can't compare to the real 'Mind Corridor' powerhouses, but it should be able to affect them as well." Jiang Baimian made inferences based on the current situation.
At this moment, she keenly discovered a problem:
"Is the light of the night-luminescent pearl a little dimmer?"
"Yes." Genava compared the two sets of data and gave an affirmative answer.
Shang Jianyao nodded.
"It's like eating candy: it gets a little less each time you use it, and it can't be recovered. You can also make all the power explode instantly, and the effect will be stronger."
While they were discussing, Long Yuehong in the next room finally woke up, turned over, got out of bed in annoyance, and walked back here.
Jiang Baimian glanced at him and said with a smile:
"Not bad; you can recover so quickly after being affected by this 'Mind Corridor' level item."
"He also didn't become so timid that he lost control of his bowels and bladder," Bai Chen added.
She wanted to use the phrase "wet his pants," but she realized that this meant tearing open Long Yuehong's scars, so she changed it to a more formal word.
Long Yuehong's heart was greatly comforted. He sat down and asked about the night-luminescent pearl's ability characteristics.
After Jiang Baimian finished speaking, he looked at Shang Jianyao's right hand with some curiosity:
"Can ordinary people like us who aren't Awakened Ones also use it?"
"Practice makes perfect," Shang Jianyao laughed.
Long Yuehong thought of the timid side he had shown before, so he mustered up the courage and said:
"Then I'll try."
Shang Jianyao then handed over the yellow-green night-luminescent pearl.
Jiang Baimian also wanted to know the answer to this question, so she quickly said to Genava:
"Be prepared for accidents."
"No problem." Genava's blue glowing eyes locked onto Long Yuehong.
Long Yuehong took the night-luminescent pearl and only felt that the touch was not as cold as he had imagined, but rather closer to human body temperature.
He tried to concentrate his attention and focus his spirit, but he couldn't activate the "Coward" effect no matter how he tried.
"It seems like it won't work..." In the end, he shook his head in disappointment.
At this moment, wind blew through the hotel campsite, bringing a whooshing sound.
Long Yuehong's ears twitched, his body trembled, and he suddenly dropped the night-luminescent pearl and hid behind the sofa, which was behind Bai Chen and Jiang Baimian.
After a few seconds, he breathed a sigh of relief and stood up.
Seeing Shang Jianyao and the others looking at him at the same time, Long Yuehong's face instantly turned red.
"I, I don't know what's going on. I suddenly felt very scared just now and felt that there was something wrong with the wind..."
Jiang Baimian nodded thoughtfully.
"Non-Awakened Ones can not only not use this 'Magical Item,' but they will also be affected little by little."