“No, I trust your judgment. By the way, after Professor Wang read the case files on this incident, he became rather interested in this ghost’s abilities. Wang Liang, I wonder if you have any intention of handing over this malevolent ghost?” Zhao Jianguo said.
An A-rank malevolent ghost? Are you fucking dreaming?
Wang Liang refused outright. “Impossible. Handing over a malevolent ghost of this level in exchange for ten million—what would I gain from that?”
Zhao Jianguo felt somewhat embarrassed. He also knew it was unlikely, but for Professor Wang’s request, he still bit the bullet and continued,
“Well, that can be negotiated. For you, we can discuss a suitable price for this malevolent ghost again. It isn’t limited to ten million.”
“Captain Zhao, do you think I’m very short on money? I had somehow already achieved financial freedom the moment I arrived in Da’an City. I have no interest in money,” Wang Liang said.
“Wang Liang, don’t be so quick to refuse. Besides money, we can also discuss other things—gold, or certain special resources. Headquarters’ reserves are far greater than you imagine. As long as you agree, anything can be negotiated.”
Wang Liang actually had no intention of handing over malevolent ghosts in exchange for resources, including the previous Stench Ghost and Waving Ghost.
This was not only because keeping these malevolent ghosts in his hands could count as part of his foundation. If he wanted to cultivate subordinates in the future, these ghosts would be useful.
It was also because although these malevolent ghosts were not currently pieces of Sadako’s puzzle, they might become puzzle pieces for other film-and-television ghosts he would control in the future.
Keeping them now would make things convenient if he ran into a suitable match later. He could use his inventory of malevolent ghosts to quickly raise the terror level of the film-and-television ghosts under his control.
Although Wang Liang felt that this old woman ghost’s supernatural powers did not really overlap with any of the film-and-television ghosts in his memory, and a malevolent ghost of this strength would not be easy for others to control either,
he still did not plan to hand it over. Exchanging it for money was a joke. If the trade value was not high, he might as well collect it. At the very least, he would feel a certain sense of accomplishment whenever he saw it. Thus, he was about to refuse immediately.
“Still no—”
“Give me the phone.”
Before Wang Liang could finish speaking, another calm voice suddenly sounded from Zhao Jianguo’s end.
While Zhao Jianguo was talking, outside the operator room, a young man in a white lab coat, plain-looking and around twenty-five years old, walked in. He reached out to Zhao Jianguo for the phone, his eyes looking somewhat tired, as if he had not slept all night.
“Professor Wang! Why are you here?” Zhao Jianguo said in astonishment.
“I was passing by and happened to hear. You’re talking to the person in charge who handled the Changxing Road ghost-burning incident, right? His name is Wang Liang? Give me the phone. I’ll speak to him.”
“Oh, all right.”
Zhao Jianguo handed the phone to Wang Xiaoming.
After taking it, Wang Xiaoming spoke in a calm tone, his pace slightly quick.
“Hello. Let me introduce myself first. I am Wang Xiaoming. You can call me Professor Wang or address me by name directly. I’m quite interested in the ghost you dealt with last night.
I’m pressed for time, so let’s cut the nonsense. If you want to trade, I can exchange it for a new result recently produced by my laboratory. I call it a ghost candle. It is very helpful in handling supernatural incidents.
Its effect is very simple and direct. After it is lit, before the candle flame goes out, within the range covered by the candlelight, a person can be guaranteed not to be killed by a malevolent ghost. Absolute safety.
If you agree to the exchange, I can give you one ghost candle in exchange for ‘Ghost Burning People.’”
Seeing that the person he was talking to had suddenly become the famous Professor Wang Xiaoming of Headquarters, Wang Liang raised his eyebrows, feeling somewhat surprised.
However, he was still somewhat hesitant about trading away this terrifying malevolent ghost.
Seeing silence on the other end of the line, Wang Xiaoming frowned. With such conditions, whether the other party accepted or felt the price was insufficient, he should give a response. Yet the other side remained silent.
He pondered for a moment, thoughtful, then said,
“You need to keep this ghost? You want to control it? A malevolent ghost with an A-rank terror rating is bound to be difficult to control, but after I study it, I can help you. That does not conflict.”
“No, I don’t need to control it for the time being. It can be traded, but one ghost candle isn’t enough. I want five.”
In the end, Wang Liang still decided to trade away this malevolent ghost that might not necessarily be useful in the future, in exchange for resources he could obtain right now.
He had the ghost fire basin. The ability to traverse supernatural places was something he already possessed as well.
Most importantly, although he had an alternative form of restart, he could not avoid attacks from consciousness-type malevolent ghosts. At a critical moment, if he had something like a ghost candle in hand, it would be more secure.
Especially when he was not sure what type the next film-and-television malevolent ghost he would come into contact with in a few days would be.
In the operator room, Wang Xiaoming shook his head and said,
“You may have misjudged the value of ghost candles. One ghost candle is equivalent in value to five ghosts. Moreover, at present, only my laboratory has them. Their quantity is scarce, and they cannot be bought even with money. So five is absolutely impossible. Only one,” Wang Xiaoming said.
“Five C-rank ghosts still can’t compare to one A-rank ghost. Talking about numbers when it comes to malevolent ghosts is meaningless. You want me to take an A-rank malevolent ghost that can let people traverse supernatural places and exchange it for only one candle. I can’t accept that in my heart,” Wang Liang replied with a smile.
After thinking for a moment, Wang Xiaoming frowned and said,
“How about this. The one that can protect people from attacks by malevolent ghosts is the red ghost candle. My laboratory has also produced a derivative product of the ghost candle, a kind of white ghost candle. Its function is to attract malevolent ghosts. At certain times, it can have miraculous effects.
One red ghost candle and three white ghost candles. The red ghost candle was only developed recently, and production is still very slow. The current output and quota can indeed only give you one.
But the output of white ghost candles is acceptable. One red and three white. In addition, after this malevolent ghost enters Headquarters’ hands, it will not be traded to anyone else. When you need it, you can apply to Headquarters to take it back.
If that still won’t do, then forget it. This malevolent ghost is not my current main research direction, nor is it something I must obtain.”
“You’re actually using something with an effect as terrible as the white ghost candle to trade? Since you can’t increase the number of red ghost candles, then I also want all the ghost banknotes Headquarters has. They’re a kind of colorful paper currency. Since you say Headquarters has deep reserves, you should have quite a few, right?” Wang Liang continued.
He no longer tried to increase the number of ghost candles. It seemed that, at present, trying to squeeze more red ghost candles out of Headquarters was indeed rather difficult.
In the original plot, Yang Jian had even used the Ghost Messenger and Ghost Coffin, yet he had only exchanged them with Headquarters for one ghost candle.
Although it might have been because Headquarters thought Yang Jian did not understand the price and could be sent away with a single ghost candle, there was also indeed the possibility that current production was truly not high.
In that case, he would turn to asking for ghost banknotes instead.
“Ghost banknotes? Paper currency? You know what that thing does? Can you tell me?”
Wang Xiaoming knew of this item, but did not know its function. It had been collected and handed in by some people in charge, but that was not his research topic, so he had not studied it much.
“I’m not sure either. I happened to see it once, but unfortunately I didn’t get it at the time. I want to find some more and study it.”
Of course Wang Liang knew the function of ghost banknotes, but he could not possibly tell Headquarters.
Money could make even ghosts turn the millstone. Ghost banknotes came in three denominations: three, four, and seven.
If handed to a malevolent ghost, the higher the terror level of the ghost, the more money it would take. A malevolent ghost that received money would no longer attack the person who paid.
Ghost banknotes could also be used in some places similar to ghost streets to purchase special things.
Right now, Headquarters had not yet realized the function and value of ghost banknotes. Collecting them ahead of time was definitely the right move.
“Is that so? Fine, but not all of them. I checked, and Headquarters currently only has forty-eight yuan in paper currency, but I can’t give them all to you. There are three denominations here: three yuan, four yuan, and seven yuan. I can give you two notes each of the three-yuan and four-yuan denominations. For seven yuan, I can only give you one note. That’s enough for you to study. There is no need to haggle further. My time is very tight. This is the most I can offer.”
“Fine. Then let’s leave it at that.”
Taking advantage of Headquarters’ lack of information to squeeze out nearly half of the ghost banknotes was more or less enough.
“Good. Discuss the rest with Zhao Jianguo.”
Wang Xiaoming handed the phone back to Zhao Jianguo, then hurried out of the operator room, rushing toward his laboratory to continue his research.
Zhao Jianguo coughed lightly and said,
“All right. Since it has been agreed upon, then that settles it. Once Professor Wang’s side allocates the ghost candles, I will immediately have someone bring the ghost candles and that, uh, paper currency you two just mentioned to Da’an City to exchange with you.”
“Fine. But preferably quickly. I’ll be going on a business trip soon, and I’ll be away from Da’an City for a while,” Wang Liang said.
“A b-business trip?”