After a brief moment of thought, Shen Ge replied, “Judging by the name, I’m guessing these are devices powered by ‘supernatural entities’? No wonder you packed up the entire car after evacuating the area—you’re recycling the entity’s remains. But which part of the entity is used to create this ‘supernatural energy’?”

“Is it ground into some kind of special material? Or do you extract its blood or marrow as an energy source? Maybe it has a core—like a crystal or energy nucleus, about the size of a fingernail—that can be used as a power gem or even ingested to gain abilities.”

Deng Yuqi was surprised by how much Shen Ge had deduced from just the name. Her opinion of him might’ve risen further… if not for the latter half of his speculation.

“Mr. Shen, you certainly have a vivid imagination. May I ask where you picked up these… ideas?” she sighed.

“Oh, post-apocalyptic novels all follow that formula,” Shen Ge answered casually.

Deng Yuqi: “…”

Stay calm. Stay calm.

“That’s the tech team’s domain, and frankly, I’m not privy to the details. However, yesterday I mentioned two methods to breach a supernatural space—identifying weaknesses or patterns. There’s a third method I didn’t bring up because I assumed you wouldn’t meet the conditions.” She deftly steered the conversation away from the equipment.

Shen Ge raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “Oh? And what’s that?”

“Supernatural space collision,” Deng Yuqi said, studying his expression closely for any reaction.

Though Shen Ge had already guessed as much, he kept his face neutral. “What’s that?”

“High-tier supernatural energy equipment can replicate a supernatural entity’s space, but such devices are exceedingly rare—there might only be a handful worldwide. By colliding two spaces, a spatial distortion occurs, allowing external entry. It’s the most brute-force way to break a supernatural space.”

Up until now, even the Rong City branch of the Special Countermeasures Department—a unit dedicated to supernatural incidents—had only encountered six such events in several years.

The number of entity corpses available as “raw materials” for equipment could be counted on one hand, and that didn’t even account for R&D losses. So while saying “a handful worldwide” was slightly hyperbolic, it wasn’t far from the truth.

Considering Shen Ge had survived two supernatural events and even handled their equipment, Deng Yuqi saw no harm in sharing basic knowledge.

More importantly, his performance had already met the department’s recruitment standards. He’d likely be recruited soon.

Hearing this, Shen Ge finally understood the “spatial distortion” he’d witnessed.

Yesterday, Cheng Shengnan and Xiao He had been pulled into the “Immobile” entity’s space, rendering them invisible. When Shen Ge used “Immobile” to restrain the haunted car’s driver, he’d also dragged it into a supernatural space—but since the driver itself was an entity, it possessed its own space.

A supernatural space wasn’t an isolated dimension cut off from reality. It was more like a subspace, especially since signals could still penetrate it.

One thing was certain: these spaces lived up to their “supernatural” label. Not only did they have bizarre, unpredictable effects, but their very existence as subspaces warranted extensive research.

Shen Ge had accidentally triggered a “supernatural space collision”, creating the distortion that allowed Deng Yuqi to infiltrate the haunted car’s space.

His calm demeanor, however, made Deng Yuqi frown. “So how did you achieve that collision, Mr. Shen? Were you carrying supernatural energy equipment?”

Shen Ge reached into his pocket. Deng Yuqi tensed, expecting him to produce a hidden device—only for him to place a lighter on the table.

“Officer Deng, look at this lighter. It may seem ordinary, but in reality, it’s actually…” He spoke with grave seriousness, as if presenting some revolutionary artifact.

“A hair dryer? A razor?” Deng Yuqi sighed. “Mr. Shen, let’s skip the movie references, shall we?”

Shen Ge shrugged. “Officer Deng, from the moment I entered this building to sitting here, three teams of your people scanned me with six different devices. You probably know what color my underwear is. If I had supernatural energy equipment, wouldn’t you already know?”

“…”

Deng Yuqi had no rebuttal.

He wasn’t wrong. Under the guise of “safety checks” and “preventing hidden supernatural contamination,” the department had subjected him to every scan imaginable.

Their goals were simple:

* Ensure he wasn’t a threat.

* (More importantly) Confirm whether he was hiding any equipment.

But the results were disappointing.

At least, nothing their tech could detect.

Watching the devices beep over him, Shen Ge had worried his system or traits might be exposed. Yet judging by the team’s frustrated expressions, even his glitchy, storage-less system wasn’t so easily discovered.

This interaction gave Shen Ge two key insights:

* Verification – The department could indeed detect and combat supernatural entities.

* Awareness – They had no clue about his system.

For now, the priority was leaving the department without raising suspicions. Shen Ge abruptly shifted the topic:

“Officer Deng, counting yesterday, I’ve helped resolve two supernatural incidents. Shouldn’t the reward be… higher this time?”

“Of course. Without your assistance, we might not have contained the incidents before they escalated. You’ve been instrumental in minimizing the damage. I’ll recommend you for a Tier-1 reward—approximately 200,000 yuan.”

Shen Ge feigned astonishment. “Wow, jumping from 20,000 to 200,000? That’s quite the leap. That’s almost one or two months of my salary…”

Deng Yuqi barely resisted asking: Do you want it or not?

Then Shen Ge leaned forward, dead serious. “How about this, Officer Deng—keep the money. Just give me a truckload of those special fire extinguishers instead.”

“…”

Deng Yuqi’s eye twitched.

A single “Freezing Module” cost millions in R&D alone, not counting material losses.

200,000 yuan wouldn’t even buy a scrap of entity flesh, and he wants a finished product?

No—a whole truckload?!

Might as well rob us!

After several deep breaths, she forced a polite smile. “I apologize, Mr. Shen. These are specialized combat assets. They’re not for civilian distribution.”

“Then how about a pair of those gloves?”

“The ‘Supernatural Gauntlets’ are even more expensive than standard equipment. Also non-negotiable.”

“How expensive? A million? Ten million?”

“Eight figures.”

“Sold. Cash or card? Can I pay in installments?”

“…”

Deng Yuqi barely choked out: “You’re… quite affluent, Mr. Shen. But these are strictly non-commercial assets.”

“Just testing the waters. If you’d actually agreed, I’d have been too embarrassed to propose a 9-million-yuan installment plan,” he said solemnly.

Her fists clenched.

Noticing her strained expression, Shen Ge quickly added, “Don’t be discouraged, Officer Deng. Real life isn’t some billionaire fantasy where you swipe a card and throw around millions. But are you sure your department isn’t getting overcharged? Sounds like someone’s skimming profits.”

“…”

“Officer Deng, given our rapport, can’t you sell me a pair for a few million? I don’t have ten, but I could scrape together half that.”

“…”

“Mr. Shen, thank you for your cooperation today. This way, please—I’ll escort you out.” Deng Yuqi stood and strode from the room without looking back.

Shen Ge rested his elbows on the table, fingers interlaced over his mouth in a classic detective pondering pose. His gaze was profound. “Officer Deng, before I go… there’s one last matter.”

She tensed. “Yes?” Had they overlooked something critical in the incident?

Shen Ge lifted a foot, revealing his sock—now gray from walking barefoot. “Mind getting me a pair of shoes? Mine were ‘eaten’ by the haunted car’s driver. I’ve been barefoot from Chenghong Road all the way here.”

“…”