"Let's talk inside the villa." Jiang Yan led the group back into the mansion.
Jiang Yan leaned back on the sofa; Han Qi, An Conghao, and Dong Guangjie sat opposite him.
Jiang Yan looked at the two and said, "Double the pay for that Medical Team. They'll be under full lockdown—no one leaves without permission."
Both nodded; after all, their identities were special, and the experiments they'd soon conduct would be just as unusual.
Dong Guangjie spoke up, "Mr. Jiang, this project needs human subjects—and quite a few. We have to prepare. Volunteers won't work; last time one of them sued me."
"I have my own plans for that." Jiang Yan had already considered it.
Thugs, Gangsters, wealthy scumbags—all were on his backup list. Rather than kill them outright, he could squeeze the last bit of value from them for his research.
Jiang Yan turned to An Conghao, "Expenses have been heavy lately—thanks for the hard work, Boss An."
An Conghao straightened instantly, beaming, "Mr. Jiang, you're joking. As long as it helps you, every cent is money well spent!"
Jiang Yan shook his head, "But with only outgoings, even you can't hold out long. Draw up a list of Liuyang City locals whose assets exceed a hundred million. When I'm free I'll invite them to a gathering—I'm sure they'll be eager to fund me."
All three inwardly mourned those unlucky souls; with Jiang Yan's methods, if they didn't pay up obediently they might not live to see the next second.
"Right, we're short-handed lately. Find some people, especially those hungry for power and money. If they show interest, give them a buddha crystal to let them taste it." Jiang Yan looked at them.
"Got it!" Han Qi and An Conghao nodded.
"buddha crystal?" Dong Guangjie was curious what it was.
"Meeting adjourned. Han Qi, show Dong Guangjie around and introduce him to the buddha crystal." Jiang Yan placed two Crystals on the table.
"Yes, sir!" Dong Guangjie picked up the Crystals and left with the other two.
Once everyone was gone, Jiang Yan leaned back on the sofa, staring blankly at the chandelier above.
After more than ten minutes he came back to himself. 'Early-game clearing really is tiring—but it's time for a summon and see if there's a surprise.'
Jiang Yan stood up and walked out of the Manor.
Flanked by woods, he picked a direction at random, walked a distance, and stopped.
His consciousness sank into his mind; the glowing pearl of the abyss appeared.
"Negative-emotion value full. Summon now?"
"Summon!" Jiang Yan willed it.
Buzz! A purple-black cloud appeared in front of him, rapidly swelling to half a meter across before stabilizing.
Rumble! Thunderous roars came from within the cloud.
Jiang Yan eyed the small cloud. 'Looks like this monster's size will be tiny.'
After two previous summons, he knew the cloud's size matched the creature's.
The rumbling lasted several minutes, then ceased as the cloud quickly dispersed.
Jiang Yan stared intently, wondering what would emerge.
As the cloud faded, a twenty-centimeter chameleon-like monster appeared.
Its scales, fine as black crystal, gleamed; most striking were its huge eyes occupying most of its head.
Those eyes were packed with countless tiny, rotating colored Crystals.
It lay quietly on the ground, watching Jiang Yan.
Information about it surfaced in Jiang Yan's mind.
Weaver of Illusions: (A peculiar creature from a special world—never look into its eyes.)
Gaze: Can hypnotize a target mentally!
Illusion: Can craft extremely realistic illusions!
Deceive: By expending mental power, overlays the target's surface to alter appearance! (Note: core ability; can fool cameras and screens.)
pearl of the abyss: 0/800
The pearl's summoning requirement doubled again.
Jiang Yan crouched and reached out; the Weaver crawled obediently up his arm to perch on his shoulder.
'No direct combat power, but decent support.' With a thought he issued a command.
'Change my appearance to a middle-aged man.' He passed the desired image to the Weaver.
Buzz! Black energy flowed from the creature's crystal scales and coated Jiang Yan's body.
He touched the energy—it felt cool and nothing more.
In three seconds the energy vanished.
In his place stood a plainly dressed middle-aged man in a blue shirt and white trousers.
Jiang Yan examined his clothes and opened his phone's front camera.
A nondescript middle-aged face filled the screen.
"Incredible—it even fools cameras." Though he'd known, he was still shocked.
'But my voice hasn't changed.' He noticed the limitation.
He jumped and ran about, testing whether the disguise would glitch.
After ten-odd minutes he reverted, a faint smile on his lips: 'Looks like I can move around outside now.'
With the Weaver of Illusions, the wanted posters were worthless; after talking with it, he learned the disguise could last indefinitely as long as it was fed.
Content, Jiang Yan headed back to the Manor. Though not combat-oriented, the creature's support was invaluable.
The next day, Ghost Buddha and Tyrant returned to the estate.
On the first floor of the lab, only Han Qi, Dong Guangjie, and Jiang Yan were present.
Dong Guangjie's eyes glowed as he stared at Ghost Buddha and the 3.5-meter-tall Tyrant standing before him.
His breathing quickened. "How could such bizarre creatures exist on Earth? Or… are they even from Earth?"
He turned to Jiang Yan, who had a black chameleon on his shoulder.
Jiang Yan remained calm. "They're indeed not of this world. Just focus on studying them; don't ask about origins."
"Understood." Dong Guangjie walked up to Tyrant; at 1.7 meters he only reached the creature's upper thigh.
He reached out to pat it, but Tyrant suddenly roared, "Roar!"
"Tyrant!" Jiang Yan called.
Tyrant fell silent at once, letting Dong Guangjie touch it.
"So hard—no wonder bullets can't hurt it." Dong Guangjie tapped its hide, the sound metallic.
He then tried to touch Ghost Buddha, but his hand passed straight through. "So you're the maker of the buddha crystals—how could such miraculous things come from you?"
Jiang Yan explained, "Ghost Buddha is an energy being—no physical form."
Dong Guangjie nodded, studying the two monsters for another ten minutes before stopping.
He turned to Jiang Yan and pointed at Tyrant. "Mr. Jiang, I'll need some of its blood."
"Fine. Tyrant, cooperate fully." Jiang Yan ordered.
Then he told Han Qi, "Bring over the Crystals we bought earlier."
"Yes!" Han Qi fetched the box of Crystals from outside.
Ten thousand Crystals filled the crate to the brim.
Jiang Yan directed Ghost Buddha to channel energy into the Crystals.
Dong Guangjie recorded everything on his phone.
This time, fully sated, Ghost Buddha filled eight hundred Crystals in one go before stopping.