CHAPTER 41: CHAPTER 41: EXCLUSIVE WEAPON

Accompanying Sun Hang’s description, the female researcher’s one remaining eye stared roundly, her face full of uncontrollable excitement and joy, as her capacitive pen sped across the tablet, recording swiftly.

Even Yang Lian displayed a hint of astonishment, asking quietly, "That thing... did you create it?"

"Is this... your ’ability’? Although it’s intrusive, I still want to ask..."

Before the female researcher finished speaking, Sun Hang interrupted, "You should be aware of the institute’s rules, right?"

"Ah, sorry!" The female researcher froze for a moment, then nodded vigorously, cautiously glancing around and taking two quick looks at colleagues busy in the distance. She quickly password-protected the document, then put away the tablet.

"Can I leave now?" Sun Hang wiped his fingers smeared with chip crumbs on the corner of his clothes and asked.

"Of course! We don’t have the right to restrict a Hunter’s freedom," said the female researcher. "But please keep your communication open for the next 72 hours, as the institute director might want to speak with you personally due to the uniqueness of this object-type paranormal item."

...

Sun Hang carried a big bag of snacks given by the female researcher, eating and walking, until he hailed a taxi after ten minutes on the road.

But when he got in the car and the driver asked where he wanted to go, Sun Hang was taken aback.

He suddenly realized that he had no idea what the villa complex where the Mysterious Creature Hunters were assigned was called, nor did he know which district or road it was located on.

Sun Hang thought for a long time and finally had to ask the driver to take him to the Celestial City Mysterious Creature Research Institute—as Yang Qi’s SUV was parked there, and its navigation system should still hold his home address.

"Impressive, you look so young yet you work at the institute!" remarked the taxi driver. "By the way, what was that huge explosion earlier? It sounded as if a building collapsed; I could feel the ground shaking even from two or three miles away."

"Two buildings did collapse," Sun Hang nodded.

"Demolition then? Wait, no, judging by your outfit and the dust on your head... you wouldn’t have come from there, right?" The driver said, surprised.

"Good eye," Sun Hang gave him a thumbs up.

"It wasn’t... caused by a paranormal item, was it?"

Sun Hang nodded—this incident was sure to hit the headlines tomorrow. With such a big commotion, even if the Management Committee wanted to hide it, they couldn’t. Rather than letting various rumors run rampant in the city, it would be better to openly disclose the truth to the public—after all, the Cult Organization and the creatures they kept had been wiped out, without causing broader damage, so naturally there wouldn’t be too much negative public opinion.

"Unbelievable... guess I should avoid driving by that area in the future," the driver kept saying.

But compared to the residents inland who fear paranormal phenomenon, people living in frontier regions like Celestial City have stronger psychological resilience... For those living here, paranormal attacks may not be everyday occurrences, but at least they’re not surprising.

"No big deal, the disruptive creature has been eradicated..." Sun Hang was halfway through speaking when his phone suddenly rang. Seeing the screen, he found a message from Yang Qi.

"I just received the notification; did you wipe out a Cult Organization in Chenghua District? And eliminate the creature ’Taotie’ they kept? Why didn’t you notify me immediately?"

Yang Qi’s message was filled with a tone of reproach, which made Sun Hang feel somewhat distressed.

As Sun Hang’s direct superior, she had a priority right to be informed of all Sun Hang’s actions—just as the one-eyed female researcher had just uploaded the report to the institute, Yang Qi had been notified.

"I thought your sister already told you..." Sun Hang pondered for a moment, then blamed it on that aging ice queen who liked keeping a straight face and hadn’t been promoted even after seven years of work.

"You know my sister’s personality... She wouldn’t say a word more unless necessary. I have already reviewed the detailed on-site report. You weren’t hurt in the fight, were you?"

"No." Sun Hang thought for a moment; the wounds that healed immediately probably didn’t count as injuries. "But the knife is a bit troublesome—I don’t know how I made it appear, nor how it became a paranormal item..."

"I’ve understood the situation with the knife. According to my judgment, the Taotie that infected you probably had previously devoured a paranormal item with the ability to manipulate metal. It endowed this ability upon you during the infection process... Since you’re the first recorded Taotie-infected person, I’m also unsure what abilities you might develop. As for the knife becoming a paranormal item, it’s likely due to being infected by ’Taotie’, or by your ’infection’."

"Can Mysterious Creature Hunters infect ordinary items into paranormal items?" Sun Hang was taken aback, quickly sending a message, "Doesn’t that make people like us quite dangerous?"

"The probability of infection without subjective intent is extremely low, almost zero. But since you ’created’ the knife using your ability, we can’t rule out that a portion of the deceit virus was copied during that process. I’ve just realized, did you previously ask me about the creation conditions for object-type paranormal items because of this?"

"Yes." Sun Hang responded honestly.

"Since this object-type paranormal item is created by you, the situation is entirely different. You can completely apply for it to be your ’exclusive weapon’... Though as far as I know, the thing is over 15 meters in length and weighs more than eight tons, which ’seems’ not quite suitable for carrying around."

"But it’s quite handy when I use it; it doesn’t feel that heavy."

"The main issue is the size... Here’s what I’ll do—I will try to apply for a transport drone on your behalf. Normally, this item will be stored in the institute’s containment facilities, and when you need it, the drone will air-drop it to your location... that’s more convenient than carrying such a huge thing with you."

Sun Hang thought for a moment and replied with an "OK" emoji.

A few seconds later, Yang Qi sent another message, "I just received word from the institute—the sequence number for that thing is out now: ’Ji-2796’. As its creator, you have the priority to name it."

"2796? Have object-type paranormal item numbers reached over two thousand?" Sun Hang was slightly surprised.

"More temporary numbers and obsolete numbers that have been deleted or replaced."

"Speaking of which, I’m quite curious as to how the institute determines the original-level zero-numbered paranormal item—is it based on intensity?"

"Based on meme frequency. For example, assuming each paranormal item’s meme is a rainbow of colors, the original-level item’s meme is the primary colors—red, green, blue (Note 1), which mixed in different ratios, can present any other color—putting it this way, can you understand?"

[Note 1: The three primary colors referred to here are defined as "RGB light colors," not the "red, yellow, blue" used in the art field.]