Chapter 1023: Research Institute

If one were to say that Comet Street is a place in the slums that is still considered clean and tidy.

Then "Black Street" is the slum within the slums!

Here, fighting, brawling, smuggling, and trafficking... all kinds of criminal activities are happening at any time and any place.

Even Mysterious sects have activities here.

It is said that Nightless City once organized several mechanical police squads to come and suppress them, but it wasn't long before they rose from the ashes.

As time went on, it was left unsettled.

Aaron followed the fat man, visiting this place that Chloe and the others were not very willing to come to for the first time.

"Natural humans aren't short on time, just give me the Spirituality storage items!"

The fat man maintained a smile on his face.

Second-tier is the backbone, while Third-tier and Fourth Order are the High-Level Extraordinary of today!

As for the "Immortal" directors of the "Life Bank"?

They haven't opened the Seventh Primordial Substance at all, nor do they have the corresponding high status; they just saw the title of "Immortal" in ancient classics and then put it on themselves like monkeys dressing up in human clothes...

Hearing that Aaron might be a Second-tier Extraordinary, the tattooed bald man was startled: "Then... will our previous concealment offend the other party?"

The fat man came over holding a box: "This is the previously agreed-upon reward."

A dining table over ten meters long was covered with a pristine white tablecloth, and the waiters behind it were all in shiny suits, standing with straight backs.

"These Extraordinaries have really found a path..."

At the entrance, there were two tattooed bald men, coldly hugging their arms, like silent guards.

With a bit of curiosity, Aaron returned to the Green Forest clinic.

After closing the door, he went straight to the bedroom and opened the black market merchant's reward gift box.

Evangeline Messiah chanted the honorific name of the Spirit of Falsehood before she began to deal with the small steak in front of her.

"To become an Extraordinary, the most important thing is to engrave Secret seals on one's own body... which is to make the human body into a huge Spirituality storage item..."

"His spirit, his blood and flesh have already been cursed, I cannot completely expel it..."

Under the influence of Mysterious power, the Talismans on Suolun's body began to gather toward the kidney area.

The fat man only got a little closer and felt as if his blood were about to boil, so he hurriedly retreated.

"The more this is the case... the more suspicious the existence behind the Life Bank and Gaia Network becomes..."

In reality, there are many factions within, and some factions are even mutually hostile by nature; bloody slaughter among members is commonplace.

Aaron showed an exasperated look on his face, grabbing the fat black market merchant by the collar: "Are you scamming me?"

"Hmm, I will accept it without being polite."

The secular world has become a desert of Spirituality; Spirituality is extremely precious, but after all, it still circulates and can still be used.

The fat man took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead: "This doctor has definitely solidified his Spirituality and advanced in rank... he might not even be a First Tier Extraordinary, but Second-tier, or even higher!"

"Let me see the patient first..."

Evangeline nodded: "I miss Grandpa..."

On the scalpel, there were also some Weird symbols engraved.

A "Tower" Extraordinary?

Aaron pondered to himself.

"Mr. Aaron, I know many things about you... a natural human who suddenly appeared in the Death Desert, believing in the original ecology... such a you must be close to us."

"You are thoughtful."

"The advancement of an Extraordinary is to constantly purchase storage items, accumulating Spirituality until the advancement requirements of a certain Mysterious profession are met, and then advance through a Ritual..."

"Please rest assured, we are not those extremists from the Environmental Protection Association, nor are we the lunatics in the Death Cult who want to drag everyone to die together..."

A moment later, Aaron put down "The Path of Sublimation".

However, Nightless City is different; prosthetic limbs and artificial organs are everywhere here!

"Now, it is time to make a choice..."

Aaron came to the ward and carefully examined the patient wrapped in bandages from head to toe again.

Aaron began to chant an unknown Curse.

"This is... a very high-level curse, I feel the traces of 'Darkness' Spirituality... it seems to be mixed with a bit of 'Underworld'..."

"Therefore, among current Extraordinaries, the richest are the 'Shadow' Extraordinaries... uh, well... Fate is fickle!"

"Come in!"

Hearing this, Aaron raised his eyebrows slightly.

Aaron nodded, feeling quite satisfied with this: "By the way... where is the Fourth Research Institute? Something incredible seems to have happened there..."

He picked up a shell-like object, felt a bit of 'Tower' Spirituality within it, and couldn't help but nod slightly.

At this moment, two tattooed bald men blocked Aaron's path.

Aaron counted and found that the reward given by the black market merchant was two portions of 'Tower', one of 'Darkness', and one of 'Red', so he couldn't help but shake his head and put these Spirituality storage items away.

This could count as half of one of his own people.

Aaron seemed to hesitate for a moment before following him inside.

"This is the classic of our school, just an introductory level..."

Aaron flipped through the two gifted classics.

"Next... I will perform a Curse of Extraordinary Ability; those unrelated should not get too close, lest you be accidentally injured!"

He hurriedly walked into the ward and saw that the bandages on Suolun's body had been unwrapped.

By the time Aaron walked out of the operating room, took off his gloves, and washed his hands, the patient inside had already fallen into a coma, though their breathing was still normal.

A Non-human Existence is a titan in its own right.

"Where is the patient?"

"You... I don't even know who you are right now..."

Aaron asked.

In such an environment, it is impossible to cultivate high-tier Extraordinary individuals; no wonder they are crushed by advanced technology.

Aaron looked at the fat man.

"We can only raise the price; I hope the final reward will satisfy the other party."

The fat man squeezed in first and beckoned to Aaron.

Aaron missed that Death Desert a little.

"Damn it, I misjudged this time."

The fat man explained that Mysterious Sect is merely an umbrella term used by the outside world for all Extraordinary individuals and their beliefs.

After a careful examination, Aaron frowned: "And... the tier of the one who cast the curse... is very high!"

The rest of the Fourth Primordial Substance, such as the Beast of Darkness, Sage, Mechanical Mentor, Weaver, Expert of All Histories, Scarlet Noble, Evil Spirit... each must bow their heads in inferiority!

"Looking at it this way... the Mysterious System has indeed become non-mainstream."

In the Wasteland Era, Spirituality dissipates, becoming a desert.

"Thank you, Doctor Aaron!"

Cenarius's original words of reprimand were stuck in his throat: "Fine..."

After all, the effect of Spirituality dissipation is still present, and one must stingily calculate their Spirituality reserves when performing any Ritual or ability.

Only his eyes were exposed, his entire body wrapped tightly and airtight.

'Death Desert... which is the site of the former Green Forest City...'

"We belong to the 'Five-Ring Tower', just a small organization hoping to obtain more knowledge..."

"Thanks to the Spirit of Falsehood for granting me dinner!"

Now, each one of them is a titan in the Mysterious world, a tycoon smuggling Spirituality!

After all, that was the former Green Forest City.

He had been putting on an act before, but now he could be certain that this fat man wanted to recruit him into the sect.

'Some kind of sealing technique... done better than I could back in the day.'

He muttered to himself.

"Yes, Father!"

The fat man led Aaron through a corridor, lifted a door curtain, and let Aaron see a 'person' wrapped entirely in bandages.

The 'Shadowless' of those years was just a very ordinary Non-human Existence.

From the other party's expression, Aaron intuitively knew that the other party was telling the truth.

After agreeing on the reward, Aaron came to the patient's side, a pitch-black scalpel appearing in his hand.

Next, it was a simple artificial organ transplant surgery...

One of the books had no writing on the cover and looked like a private notebook on Occultism.

This man originally possessed a strong physique and developed muscles... but at this moment, they had withered like pieces of rotten wood, his skin blooming with an ominous black color, with purple Talismans like ants crawling upon it.

'The No. 4 Research Institute located in Green Forest City... what exactly were they researching to have attracted a curse from a high-ranking existence?'

Extraordinary individuals who have solidified the First Tier are absolute elites.

The fat man frowned in a dilemma: "An artificial heart is a sky-high price in the slums... How about this, I just received a pair of artificial kidneys yesterday; although they aren't branded, I'll just install them for Suolun to use..."

Finally, the fat man laid his cards on the table.

What surprised Aaron most was... the other party's injuries...

When at a low tier, Extraordinary individuals who rely solely on Shadow can only smuggle precious Spirituality from the Spirit World; therefore, the value of 'Shadow' Spirituality is extremely high, and one point of Shadow can at least be exchanged for ten or so points of other Spirituality like 'Darkness' or 'Underworld'.

Aaron held the scalpel, occasionally making a few cuts on Suolun's limbs: "However... thanks to the current era, I have thought of a way. I can transfer his curse to an important organ—it must be an extremely important one, such as the heart or brain... then perform a visceral resection to remove the curse along with the organ... The kidneys won't really work, unless both kidneys are removed together."

If it were in the Invis era, a patient who had an important organ removed would not have lived long at all.

In fact, he had long ago discovered that something was wrong, but he just watched the fat man perform quietly, wanting to see where this guy would eventually lead him.

But after several years, the Spirituality had still dissipated completely.

For him, this bit of Spirituality didn't even count as a drop in the bucket, but it seemed it could be used as a general equivalent for trade within the Mysterious Sect.

A low shack.

The fat man said sincerely.

Yet only a handful of people enjoyed the service of a large number of servants.

"Find an opportunity in the future to explore it; it will be very easy to get the topographical map in the fat man's hands."

"Evangeline, the number of times you have been engaging in Prayer lately has increased..."

He tossed this seashell: 'Feels like... it can at least seal Spirituality for decades without it leaking...'

On the main seat sat a dignified middle-aged man with a golden beard; he was Evangeline's father—Cenarius Messiah!

"Treatment? I don't want to be targeted by the powerful being behind the curse."

The fat man, whose collar was being grabbed, showed a look of joy on his face: "Sure enough... as a Natural Sciences doctor, you recognize this kind of curse injury. How is it? Can it be treated?"

"By the way..." Evangeline suddenly asked her father: "I just read the investment report for the Life Bank; why invest in the No. 406 Research Institute?"

The fat man sighed at the side, his expression filled with excitement again: "Mr. Aaron, since you can see the influence of Darkness and Underworld, please save Suolun. Regardless of the days or other rewards, such as Spirituality storage items, we are willing to pay!"

And in the desert of Spirituality, Extraordinary individuals have still groped out ways to advance!

Upon entering, he discovered that although the shack looked small from the outside, it actually had extra space inside; the surrounding shacks had been dug through, and there might even be a basement.

Aaron sneered.

"This is not some patient with schizophrenia at all... he was attacked by a Mysterious force!"

Among ordinary Mysterious sects, those with slight Spirituality are the mainstream.

He had originally asked casually, but he did not expect the black market merchant to actually answer: "In that hellhole, the Desert of Death... I no longer intend to organize people to go exploring. Sigh, this time Suolun was injured, and I don't know how long it will take to recover."

In this classic, although no specific path was introduced, it recounted many precautions for contemporary Occultism.

These Extraordinaries seemed to have found a way to counter the effect of Spirituality dissipation, and there were also specialized storage items.

Aaron took the box, opened it, and discovered that besides a few strange fragments, there were two books inside.

"Sigh... Suolun is also unlucky. Previously, our organization obtained a piece of intelligence containing a topographic map of an abandoned No. 4 Research Institute. He led a group of people to explore it, and in the end, he was the only one who returned."

After setting up the Wall of Spirituality, he used a small knife to make virtual slashes on Suolun's body, his mouth beginning to chant incantations in the Spirit World Language.

"Spirituality storage items?"

Aaron sneered, let go of his hand, and prepared to leave.

"My lord!"

"That is because..." Seeing that his daughter finally took an interest in the financial industry, Cenarius immediately began to explain.

"For a professional who advances this way, as long as the Secret seal does not go wrong, maintaining their rank for decades is not a problem... but it must be noted that after every battle, one must purchase Spirituality storage items to replenish Spirituality, otherwise there is a possibility of dropping in rank..."

"Inside!"

He did not know how much time had passed when the fat man heard Aaron's voice.

However, this was nothing; back then, he had swallowed all the 'Red' within a Scepter just the same, carving out the illustrious reputation of the Green Forest Earl.

Inside a magnificent palace-style villa.

On the surface of this shell, there were also countless exquisite patterns, which together formed a ring that transcended a flat plane.

For example... Spirituality is precious and must be treasured with storage items! Modern Extraordinaries are so stingy regarding the use of Spirituality that they are harsh; there are even specialized scale divisions where one unit of a storage item stores an average of one point of Spirituality...

The fat black market merchant wiped his forehead, which was covered in cold sweat.

"Hmm, then it is decided."

These incantations were awkward and difficult to understand; chanting them made one feel as if their tongue were about to tie into a knot.

"Wait, there is also that No. 4 Research Institute; there is a suspected high-level Evil Spirit inside... we can also go and probe it."

Beside him, a tattooed bald man stepped forward: "This doctor... can he do it?"

The clinic was silent, with only the occasional rustling sound of turning pages.

Aaron gave a solemn instruction and began the Ritual.

Another book with a red cover had the title written on it—"Path of Sublimation"!

Aaron revealed a look of interest and began to flip through it casually.

"So that's how it is!" Evangeline nodded as if she understood: "But why have I only heard of research institutes starting with double digits and triple digits, but never single-digit ones? For example... No. 8, No. 4, and so on?"

"This involves some Secrecy that only the upper echelons know..." Cenarius replied: "The single-digit research institutes all conducted very powerful research; without them, there would be no advanced technology today, but they are also the culprits behind the current desertification and energy scarcity of the world... Therefore, the files regarding them have been permanently sealed, and for some research institutes, even their locations are a mystery!"

(End of chapter)