Chapter 84: Compassion

Adam didn't remain in Howard's psychic world for too long before leaving as he didn't want to leave too much of a mark there.

At this point, he knew that he could place full trust in Howard. One could easily lie with their mouth, but it was very difficult to lie with one's brain. Even for people who were lying to themselves, it was very difficult to paint such a comprehensive false picture.

Thus, it was safe to conclude that Howard was simply just a good person.

"Can you tell me now? Where are those children taken?"

"They're taken away to become blank slates. Essentially, their psychic worlds are cleansed so that they still retain their physical bodies, but they no longer have any memories," Adam revealed with a forlorn sigh.

Even though Howard was already mentally prepared, his brows still furrowed tightly upon hearing this.

A brief moment later, he asked, "What purpose do blank slates serve?"

"They are provided to the wealthy and powerful as vessels that one can install their psyche into. In doing so, they'll be able to break free from their aging physical bodies and be granted a new lease on life."

"How do you know this?"

"I was once a blank slate myself."

This time, Howard was silent for even longer, and only after a full five minutes had passed did he ask, "What can I do?"

"Help me gather some information. Do your best to make it into the upper circles of the foundation so you can secure more information."

Adam nodded in response.

"What is the name of the healthcare company responsible for conducting the physical examinations on the children?"

"They're called the Compassion Company."

"..."

Even though Adam's conversation with Howard was quite brief, it was very impactful, and Adam returned to the infirmary after the two of them exchanged contact details.

At this point, Li Qi's tears had already run dry. Even though there was still an exhausted look in his eyes, it was clear from his expression that a massive weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Adam had seen that Li Qi was a kind child at heart, and he was confident that Li Qi would grow up to be a healthy young man following this treatment.

"We're going now," Adam said as he approached Li Qi and patted him on the head.

"Thank you."

"No need to thank me. If you want to thank someone, then thank your principal."

……

After that, Kim Hee-cho collected the payment for the job, and after chatting with everyone for a while longer, Adam and his group prepared to depart.

Howard rented a minibus to send everyone back to Sandrise City from Ash. A

After the grueling battle against the nun anomaly, everyone was feeling quite weary, but during the drive home, which was scheduled to last a few hours, Nie Yiyi approached Adam with a determined expression as she demanded, "Let's have a sparring match."

"How are you so sure?"

"I want to see what level you're at now."

Nie Yiyi was still as competitive as ever, and she was unwilling to accept the fact that a newbie like Adam could outstrip her years of rigorous training.

"Alright, let's do it!" Adam agreed with a nod.

He also wanted to see just how powerful his new anomaly was.

"I wanna watch!"

"Me too!"

Everyone else in the minibus was very excited at the prospect of watching a battle between the two, and Kim Hee-cho was even proposing a bet.

"I want to watch as well. Also, let's make this more exciting with a bet. I put my money on Adam."

He had witnessed the metamorphosis that Adam had undergone. Even though he wasn't able to see very clearly due to the darkness, he still knew more than the others did, and he was confident that given the form that Adam had displayed at the end of the mission, he would definitely be able to defeat Nie Yiyi.

"If we're having a bet, then I put my money on Nie Yiyi."

Hook was very familiar with Adam and Nie Yiyi's powers, and he knew that even though Adam had a multitude of invoked entities at his disposal, Nie Yiyi definitely held the upper hand when it came to absolute power.

"Alright, how much do you want to bet?"

"How about we bet our share of the payment from this job? If I win, you give me your cut, and if you win, I give you my cut."

"Sounds good," Kim Hee-cho replied with a smile and a nod. "Do you want in on this as well, Shae?"

"I'll pass. I'm not that interested in money," Shae replied with a shake of her head.

Even though the environment that she had grown up in was a little twisted, she had always enjoyed a life of materialistic abundance, so she didn't have much desire for money.

"Alright, it looks like they've agreed on the stakes for their bet, so let's begin. Should we go to my psychic world or yours?"

"Let's go to mine. There's more space in my psychic world."

"Sure."

Adam invaded Nie Yiyi's psychic world as he spoke, and the latter didn't resist.

In the blink of an eye, the two of them arrived on an island.

Islands were a very commonplace sight in Nie Yiyi's psychic world.

This was a rather small island, but it was packed with training equipment, and it was most likely the place where she had grown up as a child.

"Will this type of conventional training have much of an effect in enhancing one's psychic body?" Adam asked as he inspected the archaic pieces of training equipment on the beach.

"A strong body gives you more confidence, and that will strengthen your psychic body. That was what we were taught at the academy. Also, where I come from, there's an idea that one's internal organs are directly connected to their energy and essence. For example, if someone has a kidney deficiency, they're definitely going to be lacking in energy, and they won't be able to work up any enthusiasm or vigor for anything." Nie Yiyi pointed at the training equipment on the island and the medicine farm in the distance as she continued, "The equipment here is for training the body, while the medicine nourishes the internal organs. The muscles and organs complement each other to enhance one's energy and essence, and as a result, one's psychic power will naturally improve. In our tribe, we also subscribe to the idea that this type of training produces the most scrupulous psychic body that won't be easily led astray."

"That makes sense!"

Adam had witnessed psychic bodies of all types of different levels of power, but Nie Yiyi's one was the most pleasing to the eye. Not only had it retained a perfect humanoid form, its limbs were longer than Nie Yiyi's physical body in the real world, and its figure was also more even and well-balanced.

Essentially, it was like a premium version of her physical body.

"On top of that, techniques developed by the physical body through training can by used by the psychic body as well..."

"Less talking, more fighting!" Two more people arrived in Nie Yiyi's psychic world as she was speaking with Adam, and Hook immediately began urging for the two of them to begin fighting as soon as he arrived. "It's time for me to win some money!"

At the same time, he was backtracking to ensure that he was far away from the two combatants.

"Hurry up and begin! I'm already a safe distance away!"

"Should we begin?"

"Sure."

Adam didn't dare to hold back, and he immediately invoked his recently evolved Mummy as he spoke. As soon as it emerged, it began to give off a daunting aura.

"Has it evolved again?"

"That's right. Let's make this a friendly match. I won't fuse with Mummy, but you're not allowed to directly attack me, either, agreed?"

"Sure! Here I come!"

Fueled by her competitive streak, Nie Yiyi drew her twin blades, and her aura surged as she rapidly accelerated. In the blink of an eye, she arrived directly in front of Mummy before slashing her blade horizontally into its neck.

Mummy made no effort to evade the attack and withstood her blade head-on.

The blade slashed across Mummy's neck, throwing up a trail of sparks, but it remained completely unharmed.

"How are its defenses so strong?"

Nie Yiyi had only ever witnessed this level of defensive prowess in the giant anomaly of fear that had plagued Kim Garcia's psychic world.

"Defense is its forte."

Even as a level one anomaly, Mummy had already displayed extremely formidable defensive prowess.

As a level two anomaly, its defenses were already superior to those of the level three nun anomaly, and now that it had evolved even further from that point, it truly possessed a body of steel.

However, Nie Yiyi remained unfazed, and she performed a backward somersault, landing on a nearby rock, where she stood with her blades raised.

"I recall that this guy has incredible defenses, but its offensive power is quite mediocre, and its body is also extremely heavy and clumsy."