Chapter 21: Mutual Deception in the Logistics Warehouse

"Thank God, you've finally arrived."

In the logistics warehouse, an old man's expression was filled with excitement.

"It's my duty," said Gu Shanhai with a solemn face, and then added, "But before that, you'll have to explain everything about the situation, from beginning to end. After all, I need to formulate a plan based on the current circumstances."

"It's only right... "

The old man was named Te Kelei, the person in charge of the Longevity Project and the biggest shareholder of Saint Mary Hospital.

The situation was about what Gu Shanhai had expected; it was just that they had underestimated the power of the protoplasmic creature, but now that it was trapped within the Magic Array and couldn't escape, his idea was to use banishment magic to send it back to its own world.

These days, he had been studying banishment magic earnestly.

To be honest, Gu Shanhai felt a bit awkward listening to a researcher discussing magic.

Fortunately, he didn't show it and instead pondered something.

Did he really look like a sucker?

If not, why would Te Kelei try to hoodwink him as if he were fooling an idiot?

"Mr. Te Kelei, forgive my bluntness, but while your plan seems perfect, how do you intend to ensure its successful implementation?"

"If you could tell me how much explosive would be needed to kill this creature, I might believe you, but if you talk about using magic, sorry, my task is to get you out of here."

Gu Shanhai was retreating to advance. He knew Te Kelei certainly wouldn't give up and leave easily; it might all be for naught.

If he had really succeeded, why ask for Gu Shanhai's help?

"No, the Magic Array can't hold that creature for too long. If we leave now, we'll lose our last chance to kill it. Once it breaks free from the Array, it will start dividing."

"We'll all become its food."

Te Kelei seemed rather agitated, and Gu Shanhai responded with a hesitant expression.

"It's just that if I take you with me, there might be danger," Gu Shanhai said, stopping short.

But the actual situation... This guy was trying to fool him without even getting his story straight. He had said the creature was trapped, so why wait for Gu Shanhai to come before taking action?

Knowing that it was trapped, he could just go and release the banishment magic himself. There was no need to wait for help; fighting out was not an issue. The building was only three stories—he could easily get out, even through a window if needed.

So there were two possibilities: one was that there was still danger, and the other was that he planned to use Gu Shanhai for something.

Gu Shanhai was more inclined to the latter. Te Kelei not leaving meant he could, but he didn't want to.

Gu Shanhai had briefly looked over the logistics warehouse's stock of supplies, food, and purified water—enough for Te Kelei to survive another five years, including power generators, medical equipment, and other gear.

It seemed like the other party was treating him like a fool.

"For the federation!" Te Kelei said with conviction, looking like a loyal researcher.

Alright, the other party's true situation still needed to be ascertained. For instance, how could a researcher become the biggest shareholder of Saint Mary Hospital? Where did the money come from? So Gu Shanhai was more inclined to believe Te Kelei was overseeing the Longevity Project himself.

And it was highly likely that he himself had summoned the protoplasmic creature.

"Okay, but you have to guarantee to follow my orders. Otherwise, I'll abandon the plan and get you out of here first," Gu Shanhai said with an understanding demeanor.

"No problem, I'm good at this," Te Kelei didn't doubt Gu Shanhai's words, but was instead pondering his own next steps.

"However, you'll have to wait for me for a bit. I need to prepare some materials required for the banishment magic."

"You know, magic isn't always reliable."

Te Kelei quickly began to organize.

Gu Shanhai took the opportunity to wander around the logistics warehouse.

With his vision under the influence of mana, he developed an energy sight and was attempting to find other energy traces.

'In the safe? Well, that is the safest place.'

Forget about any hidden places or other areas—a strongbox like this wouldn't be easy to force open with brute strength.

Especially a custom high-end safe, which probably required heavy firepower to break open.

But against protection without any transcendent measures, Gu Shanhai was very confident. He infiltrated the safe with his mana without Te Kelei noticing and easily opened it.

The opposite party never even considered Gu Shanhai would find this safe.

'A parchment?' Gu Shanhai noticed something off about the parchment immediately—even with his energy vision turned off, he could feel a clear tingling sensation on his skin upon touching it.

'The knowledge carried by these words is truly extraordinary, almost ineffable.'

'It seems like it's indeed something from the sci-fi genre.'

He quickly scanned through it and found it contained information on flesh-related biotechnology, mostly about how to compensate for deficiencies using flesh.

This made him think of the creatures on the first and second floors, which were amalgamations of animals and humans.

'It seems to be written by Te Kelei, or maybe it's some dubious item that came with the summoned protoplasmic creature.'

And the Summoning Skill for the protoplasmic creature? Either it was an accident as Te Kelei said, or it was in Te Kelei's mind.

If it belonged to the skill system, it would probably be considered a core skill within the Summoner hierarchy.

Besides that, the safe contained numerous research notes corresponding to Te Kelei, which appeared to have been recently placed, probably to prevent Gu Shanhai from noticing anything.

While keeping an eye on Te Kelei, he memorized all the content of these notes.

Now he was hesitant about whether or not to take this slightly eerie parchment with him; it could be the most valuable thing in this instance.

In the end, after much deliberation, he... didn't take it.

Taking something so peculiar could backfire badly.

At this moment, he also realized something—that Te Kelei probably wasn't planning to banish the protoplasmic creature. Instead, he intended to use flesh technology to merge it into his own body and acquire its immense power.

'So the parchment likely contains incomplete information, missing some of the ritual knowledge.'

'This knowledge he could withstand, which is why it wasn't written down.'

'Without the ritual, he couldn't complete the fusion with the flesh, nor could he gain the protoplasmic creature's power.'

Gu Shanhai closed the safe and then quietly made a big detour before joining Te Kelei.