Could it be related to my own name?
Guan Tong did not know, but he remembered clearly that the Shadow first appeared in the shape of his silhouette.
Although he called it "Shadow" based on its form and appearance, and everyone else who had seen him use the ability also assumed it was a shadow power, whether it truly was a "shadow" or some other form of ability remained unknowable.
"What are you thinking about?" Shi Jingyi asked, "You look so grim."
"I... I might be completely wrong. Maybe from the very beginning my ability wasn't what I imagined, there might be some deviation I don't know about."
The more Guan Tong thought, the more uneasy he felt. If the "Shadow" wasn't a shadow at all, then what was it? Could it really be, as Shi Jingyi suggested, some kind of strangely formed life?
Shi Jingyi pulled her hands back and thought for a moment before saying, "Only you can figure out your own ability. But I think the Shadow's loss of control is related to your personal emotions. Think about whether that's the case."
"...Indeed."
Guan Tong nodded; he had noticed that too.
So far, the Shadow rarely changed in normal circumstances and would act entirely under his manipulation and command.
But when his emotions fluctuated violently, the Shadow seemed to show signs of activation, beginning to act spontaneously and uncontrollably, and those actions tended to be destructive.
Moreover, as the number of times it had "died" increased, the Shadow's degree of loss of control grew stronger, and it became increasingly sensitive to changes in Guan Tong's emotions.
If we ranked Guan Tong's emotional fluctuation from 0 to 10, where 0 is no fluctuation and 10 is a total emotional breakdown,
then before the "A Bright Moon Rises Over the Sea" rule, the Shadow might only lose control when his emotional level reached above 8.
But after that rule, a Shadow that had been completely destroyed, or "died," twice could partially lose control when Guan Tong's emotions were only at level 6 or 7.
This trend was undoubtedly a bad omen.
"In that case, you must pay more attention to your emotional changes from now on." Shi Jingyi paused, then added,
"However, everything has two sides. When I probed your body with Mind Power earlier, I found the out-of-control Shadow is extremely skilled at using Mind Power, as if it can mobilize it instinctively."
"Instinctive mobilization...?"
"If we normally use Mind Power, we first form an intention in our mind and then produce the effect we want, so there's a conversion process. The out-of-control Shadow lacks that process; it itself... is like an embodiment of Mind Power."
Upon hearing that, Guan Tong vaguely recalled the first time he used the Shadow Domain, when Mind Power seemed to flow and respond so smoothly—could it have been because the Shadow was in an out-of-control state then, using Mind Power on an instinctive level?
"But don't think that's wholly good," Shi Jingyi warned seriously. "A weapon that has lost control becomes more dangerous the sharper it is. Using it could injure others or yourself."
"I understand. I'll pay more attention to my emotions in the future."
"Not just your emotions, and try to avoid letting it 'die' again if possible. Based on your situation, every time it's fully destroyed, the threshold for loss of control lowers. I'm worried that if the number crosses some limit, it could go completely berserk, and that would very likely cause a massive disaster."
Ye Lianka spoke with heavy gravity.
During your earlier probe, you perceived that the out-of-control Shadow wasn't insignificant. Even though it could only mobilize a portion of Mind Power, it took you quite some effort to suppress and calm it.
If one day it completely lost control and could mobilize all of Guan Tong's Mind Power, the destructive power would be terrifying... you can imagine it might be comparable to a survival-type Doomsday Rule.
"Guan Tong, promise me you'll control yourself."
"...You will, thank you."
After returning from Cangying Ridge, Guan Tong felt very heavy-hearted.
He hadn't expected that meeting with Shi Jingyi would reveal such a huge potential problem in himself.
Back at the shelter, he summoned the Shadow and watched it.
"What exactly are you?"
The Shadow stood in silence opposite him, with no movement and no speech.
Guan Tong looked at the black entity that matched his own body shape, and an odd feeling rose inside him.
"...Never mind. Whether you have life or not, you're my most reliable helper. I'll be more careful from now on. If I encounter rules like 'A Bright Moon Rises Over the Sea' again, I'll think twice and won't let you solve things by self-destructing."
He finished speaking and stored the Shadow back into the Wordless Book, then opened to the first page. The two characters "Guan Tong" in the center were clear and deep.
He ran his fingertip across them and was surprised to find a slightly raised tactile sensation in the handwriting.
He flipped to the second page, the third page. Although the characters' shapes hadn't changed, the tactile feel was different from the beginning.
"It seems that over time, these inscriptions have been blending more closely with the Wordless Book, forming a single, tightly integrated whole."
On the blank eighth page, he took a pen from his storage ring and tried to write.
The moment the nib touched the page, an invisible force flung the pen away.
"Seems the conditions still aren't met."
Guan Tong silently summoned the Terminal Panel.
[Name: Guan Tong]
[Nickname: Shadow]
[Title: Intermediate Civilization Observer]
[Mind Power: 1420 (1420) (958600)]
[Ascension Coins: 41700]
[Overall Biometric Rating: Perfect]
In just over twenty days, his Mind Power upper limit had broken through 1400, accelerating his growth a bit. This was because he received heartfelt gratitude from millions of Manchidon residents, allowing him to gain approximately one extra point per day.
But as Silver Fox said, feelings of gratitude quickly fade with time. So this growth couldn't be maintained long-term; Guan Tong estimated it might vanish when the next rule appeared.
Additionally, he had consumed a lot of reserve Mind Power, since he'd done a great many things during this rule.
Lifting that submarine that fell into the gravity vortex, hunting the parasitized Prophet, and ultimately preventing the Moon from rising by his own strength had together depleted him significantly, dropping his reserve Mind Power below one million.
Besides that, his Ascension City savings also hit rock bottom.
Previously fixed daily expenses around twenty units a day, even when his total Ascension City holdings once exceeded the thousand level, still weren't enough; by early July only a few tens of thousands remained.
But the good news was that now he no longer had to bleed resources outward constantly like before.
Before, his large daily expenditures mostly went to buying Flowable Mind Power converted into reserve. The smaller portion supported Uenoshi's Serpent Hair Society development.
Now that the Black Star siblings had joined the Trace Origin Travel Troupe, and Black Star and White Star continued to run the Xisiya underground Ascendant broker work, the Ascension Coins they earned could be used to purchase some Flowable Mind Power.
This wasn't Guan Tong demanding anything; Black Star had volunteered. He gave three reasons.
The first and biggest reason was that Guan Tong and Shi Jingyi had saved their brother Aaron; such a lifesaving favor deserved repayment.
The second was that they were now members of the Trace Origin Travel Troupe and, as team members, should contribute to the team.
Just as Guan Tong, as troupe leader, left each member a Mental Stability Anchor to defend against psychic attacks—this was a free team benefit, but if one were to actually sell it...
A totem that automatically defends against psychic attacks twenty-four hours a day and alerts its holder when attacked—how much could that fetch on the market? Black Star, as the middleman, understood the value of such a totem very well.
The third reason was Black Star knew he could continue this business only because he had tacit approval from Administrator Ye Lianka.
After Ye Lianka took office she made sweeping reforms; many fringe businesses were shut down, and even the Security Bureau had been abolished. Why, then, could his Twin Stars Bar, this underground Ascendant broker point, continue to operate stably?
Black Star didn't personally know Ye Lianka, so he couldn't assume special favors. He understood it was thanks to Guan Tong's connections—Guan Tong must have some private tie with Ye Lianka—so Ye Lianka allowed him to keep operating this underground market.
Black Star laid out these three reasons rationally and convincingly, and Guan Tong had no argument, so he agreed.
Meanwhile, Uenoshi's Serpent Hair Society had moved from the investment phase into the return phase and now brought in a considerable daily Ascension Coin intermediary fee income.
After distributing wages and shares to her subordinates and cadres, Uenoshi handed the remaining bulk over to Guan Tong as team public funds.
With this arrangement, Twin Stars Bar, the Serpent Hair Society, plus Guan Tong's Ascendant Home website and his personal sales of Hidden Rules, multiple open-source income models were now in place.
In fact, if Guan Tong wanted to earn more it would be simple. If he took on commission jobs and charged high prices, many would gladly pay for someone with the reputation of "Shadow."
If he abandoned his bottom line and accepted assassination-type commissions, the income would skyrocket... though Guan Tong wasn't that far gone.
After reviewing the panel data, Guan Tong began thinking about revenge again.
When he told Shi Jingyi he wanted to kill those people, it wasn't entirely hot-headed talk.
If those people truly imprinted the idea of "limited clearance slots" into others' minds like a mental steel seal, then any strong person who wasn't part of their group would become a target for elimination.
For the targeted, this is an irreconcilable contradiction—you make clear you want to eliminate me, I cannot remain indifferent.
Guan Tong rejected that theory. Even if they succeeded in wiping out all non-affiliated strong people, what would happen next? Those "insiders" would inevitably fracture again, seeing each other as competitors for the clearance slots.
In the end, even if only two people remained in the world, they'd still be thinking, "If there's only one clearance slot," while seeking to kill the other.
Guan Tong absolutely refused to let the world and all humanity be ruined and destroyed by such people.
"This matter can't be rushed. I need more preparation, and I also need to keep my promise to Adam..."
Thinking of this, Guan Tong went upstairs to the second floor, turned on his computer, and logged into Ascendant Home to the private message interface.
Although Adam had broken through the thousand-point Mind Power upper limit, Guan Tong had not established a Mind Network with him. Since Adam hadn't prepared a new phone, Guan Tong intended to contact him through site private messages.
At that moment, he saw several private messages in his inbox, and one immediately caught his attention.
The subject read, "Partial Truths I Know About the Array Operation"