Li Qingyu leisurely strolled towards the outer perimeter of the Hydroponics Station. He didn't hurry to get close: first, he took out a capsule of poison and attached it to the inside of his tooth, and only then, humming a song, headed inside the Hydroponics Station.
"Haji-mei-lo, southern and northern mung beans~ A-si-ga, I want more dragon milk~"
A whistle sounded, and a human figure jumped from the seventh floor of the Hydroponics Station, landing right in front of Li Qingyu. Bloodshot eyes stared at him intently.
It was the Silent One. They hadn't seen each other for about two days, and the guy's condition had gotten even worse.
He extended a withered hand towards Li Qingyu's neck.
"The voices of demons... have returned! Give me... holy oil... give me!"
When his hand, resembling a zombie limb, almost touched Li Qingyu's neck, the latter, with a smile, took out holy oil from his chest.
...
A few minutes later, the seventh floor of the Hydroponics Station. The Silent One was sobbing uncontrollably, only pausing to suck on the vial of holy oil. The sight was enough to make one's jaw clench.
"Wooo-ooo, I thought you wouldn't come back! You whoosh – and disappeared, and my heart whoosh – and turned cold! Wooo-ooo, glug-glug!"
The Silent One whimpered like a little girl, occasionally taking sips from the bottle. 150 milliliters of holy oil had already been half-drunk.
Li Qingyu smacked his lips. This guy was drinking the oil right before his eyes, causing bouts of nausea.
"There, there, there. I said I'd come back, so I'll come back. Now it's all yours."
He placed two more vials of holy oil in front of the Silent One. The latter instantly grabbed them in a hug, as if afraid someone would take them away.
Li Qingyu said:
"Alright, enough with the nonsense. I've given you the promised holy oil, now it's your turn to pay your dues."
The Silent One finished drinking the oil. His body filled with sacred power, and the noisy whisper of demons disappeared.
He carefully screwed the cap back on the vial and looked at Li Qingyu:
"Not enough. I need more!"
Li Qingyu wagged his finger at him.
"To receive, you must give. Honesty is the foundation of long-term cooperation. Let's finish this deal first, and we'll have endless cooperation in the future."
The Silent One asked:
"Will there be endless holy oil?"
Li Qingyu nodded.
"There will be so much holy oil that it will be enough for you to develop fatty liver and cholecystitis."
The Silent One's lips twitched. Remembering Li Qingyu's mysterious method of disappearing last time, he decided not to risk it.
"But I don't know how to teach you to use psychic powers! It's innate in me."
Psychic power is essentially the transfer of Warp energy into reality. A psyker acts as a channel. The stronger the soul and body of a psyker, the wider the channel and the more powerful the psychic ability they can wield. If the psyker is weak, the channel is too narrow.
Theoretically, all people can be psykers, but for most, this channel is so narrow that they cannot transfer Warp energy into reality. And if they try to widen it by force, an ordinary person will most likely just die. Or, more likely, be corrupted by the evil Warp energy and turn into a monster.
However, this did not apply to Li Qingyu. If he got corrupted, he would simply commit suicide and reset his status.
Li Qingyu said:
"I have an idea. Come on, use your psychic powers on me. Just don't kill me right away, release the power slowly."
This was the only way Li Qingyu could think of to learn psychic powers – to let a psyker contaminate him with psychic energy.
His "Scout and Sweep System" could increase mastery: the more he did something, the higher the skill became.
Psychic power has a corrupting effect. Being near it, he would inevitably be contaminated, just like standing by a drain during a sewage discharge – a few drops would definitely get on you.
Once he reached a certain level, he would be able to use at least one psychic ability. And knowing at least one small psychic trick, he would be able to farm psychic mastery.
The Silent One asked:
"Are you sure? This demonic power is very dangerous. Demons will pay attention to you, and you might die from a psychic strike!"
Li Qingyu took a few steps closer.
"Come on, stop talking, start!"
Seeing his determination, the Silent One had no choice but to obey. He raised his hand in front of Li Qingyu and began to slowly release Warp energy.
He didn't try to form any spell from this energy, just released pure power.
What was it like to be hit by Warp energy? Li Qingyu felt as if he was being covered by a river, only this stream was not hitting his body, but his soul.
Li Qingyu felt that this Warp energy was incredibly wild, uncontrollable, oppressive, disturbing, and cruel. As if mountains of corpses and seas of blood appeared before him.
Decay, fall, pain – all conceivable and inconceivable emotions simultaneously crashed down on Li Qingyu's soul, distorting his face into a grimace.
The Warp is a projection of the emotions of sentient beings living in reality. If people in reality were happy, the Warp would be a warm and gentle ocean, and the gods dwelling within it would be benevolent.
But if people in reality live in suffering and oppression, then the Warp turns into a raging sea of lava, and the gods within it are evil deities.
It's easy to guess which type the world of Warhammer 40k belongs to.
Li Qingyu endured the blows of Warp energy, endured the pain that almost shattered his soul.
He held on. The longer he held on, the closer he would get to psychic power!
All his muscles tensed, and painful groans escaped his lips. He estimated he could hold on for another minute or two and planned to shout "stop" before he broke.
But at that moment, a voice echoed in his head:
"Mmm? What an interesting soul. I haven't tasted a soul like this before..."
Following this, Li Qingyu felt a certain entity trying to pull his soul out of his body.
Li Qingyu screamed and kicked the Silent One with all his might, sending him flying to the side.
The Silent One shrieked "Mommy!" clutched his stomach, and rolled on the floor, while Li Qingyu collapsed, twitching in convulsions and rolling his eyes.
Just a little more. If it were just a little more, his soul would have been pulled out by some wild demon.
Fortunately, he reacted quickly and interrupted the flow of Warp energy. Otherwise, the moment the demon pulled out his soul, the system would have likely registered it as death, and he would have been reborn in the Sanctuary.
And Lieutenant Rudolf was still waiting outside for his signal. Returning, regrouping, and running back would have been too much of a hassle.
The Silent One looked at Li Qingyu with resentment.
"If you wanted to stop, you could have just said so. You have a mouth, don't you?"
Li Qingyu lay on the floor, feeling dizzy. Not physically, but spiritually.
"Damn, some demon just almost ripped my soul out!"
The Silent One, clutching his stomach, sat down.
"See, I told you psychics are dangerous. Lots of demons in the... well, in the Warp, yes, that's what it's called?"
"They wait for us in the Warp. As soon as we use these evil energies, they devour our souls."
Li Qingyu checked the "Scout and Cleanse" System, and the corners of his lips twitched into a smile. It was all worth it.
In his system, the "Spirit" parameter became 16, increasing by 3 points at once.
Warp resistance - 20, psychic resistance - 21, psychic mastery - 21. All increased by 10 points!
He vaguely felt that the light of his soul in the Warp had become a little brighter and stronger.
They tidied themselves up a bit and calmed down. Li Qingyu asked:
"Do you have to live here? Can't you move somewhere else?"
The Silent One shook his head.
"No. My previous refuge was some ruined village in the forest, but the demon in my head made me go out and kill for fun, so I came to where there are more people."
"Every few days, someone comes here themselves for me to kill. For every 888 kills, the demon gives me a little respite, a drop of peace, sigh..."
Li Qingyu chuckled mentally. Eight? So, the Silent One had caught the eye of a Khorn demon.
Khorn is one of the five great dark gods of the Warp, the God of Blood, who loves rivers of blood. His sacred number is 8.
Demons under his command are the same – they love bloody massacres.
Li Qingyu said:
"If that's the case, little brother, change your residence. Remember the ventilation shaft I took you to last time? There's an Underground Repair Station there. Move there."
"It's very hidden there, neither rebels nor the Public Safety Service (PSS) loiter around. True, it's a bit damp, not great for those with rheumatism, but the feng shui is decent. Stick a board in the ground – and you have a grave."
"But that doesn't matter. The main thing is that it's close to my home. It will be convenient for us to cooperate, and it will be easier for me to bring you holy oil. So, Little Gigi, do you want to be my neighbor?"
Hearing that he could be Li Qingyu's neighbor, Little Gigi nodded his head.
"I want to, I want to! As long as I'm close to you, Watashi... Watashi!!"
He suddenly got overexcited, and Li Qingyu hastily stepped back.
"Don't do that, it scares me. Anyway, quickly pack your things and get ready to leave."
The Silent One nodded and began to pack his belongings.
Li Qingyu was pleased. Establishing a connection with a psychic was very beneficial for the development of his own abilities.
While the Silent One was packing, Li Qingyu went down to the lower level and found a thick ceramite gate.
The underground door of the Hydrological Station is the only entrance to the lower levels, which can only be opened with a mechanical key.
Now the ceramite gate was black with soot, and traces of explosions were visible on the floor around. Apparently, when the rebels captured this place, they tried to force open the door, but it turned out to be too strong, and their homemade explosives too weak.
Li Qingyu took out the mechanical key obtained from Reno of the Water Purification Guild, inserted it into the keyhole, and turned it. The sound of an electric motor and gears working was heard, and the gate opened.
Inside the Hydrological Station, there was still electricity, and the corridor was illuminated by bright incandescent lamps.
Li Qingyu strode inside and began the joyful process of "looting."
As is known, in games like "Escape from Tarkov," key rooms are a gold mine. All valuable loot, secret documents, "electronics," ice picks, rare artifacts, key cards – all of them spawn in locked rooms.
Therefore, Li Qingyu searched everything very carefully. Very, very carefully!
Every box, every pocket of clothing, every container – he opened and checked everything.
The lower level of the Hydrological Station was divided into three zones: the living area, the control area, and the equipment area.
The minus first floor was the living area. There were 10 dormitories with six bunk beds, tables, and drawers in each. The regular staff of the station rested here.
Turning everything upside down, Li Qingyu found valuables worth: 1500 fertilizer coupons, two watches, and 5 bottles of alcohol.
Then, in the medical office of the living area, he discovered:
8 hemostatic bandages, 5 small medical kits, 3 jars of painkillers, and 1 large surgical kit.
Hemostatic bandage, durability 1/1, can eliminate one limb bleed.
Small medical kit, durability 120/120, can restore 120 health points to a damaged body part.
Painkiller, durability 3/3, relieves pain for 2 hours.
Large surgical kit, durability 8/8, can restore health to a dislocated ("black") limb, except for the head and chest.
Li Qingyu whistled. This was the first time he had obtained medications, and so much at once!
For ordinary people, these are just medicines, albeit effective, but for him, when used according to the System's rules, they worked wonders!
For example, if his leg were blown off by a mine, he would use one application of the surgical kit, and his leg would grow back from thin air. It was simply unrealistically cool!
Li Qingyu carefully packed these precious medications into his backpack. Until he found a way to replenish his medicine supplies, these things were more valuable to him than life itself.
Having finished packing, he headed to the last room on the minus first floor.
Judging by all appearances, this was the manager's dwelling. A huge room with one bed, and the household items inside looked luxurious.
After a thorough search, he found several "golden slots."
One gold ring – estimated value 3500 fertilizer coupons.
One crystal item – estimated value 2500 coupons.
One antique book in a gold binding – estimated value 4500 coupons.
A bottle of elite perfume – estimated value 1500 coupons.
Such a rich haul made Li Qingyu happily stomp his feet. It took him time to calm down before going down further.
The minus second floor was the control area. There were few rooms here, essentially one huge control hall.
The hall was filled with many peculiar devices and those very screens that looked outdated but were made conscientiously.
There wasn't much to look for here. Using the map as a guide, he found the main console and pulled out a palm-sized device resembling a mechanical hard drive.
As soon as the item was in his hands, the system issued a notification: quest item "memory panel" received.
This little thing contained information about the underground water arteries of the Hive. For Li Qingyu, its value was 100,000!
Hiding the memory panel, Li Qingyu descended to the minus third floor. Here were many giant units, welded firmly to the walls and going directly underwater. This was probably the main monitoring equipment of the station.
In the basement, he found several advanced transformers, a coil of high-quality electrical wiring about thirty meters long, several high-brightness incandescent lamps, and one fully charged promethium battery.
He repacked his backpack, slung all these treasures onto himself, and, breathing heavily, trudged upstairs.
With such a load, he immediately got "red overload" – his legs trembled with every step.
Slowly hobbling to the first floor, he saw the Silent One, who was already waiting for him, also laden with bundles and bags, ready to move.
Li Qingyu dropped his things and said:
"Soon my friends from the PSS will come here to take over the facility. Don't pay attention to them, bypass them and go straight to the ventilation shaft."
"Later, when I'm free, I'll come to you. We'll continue to 'study' psychics, and I'll bring enough holy oil for you to resist the demon."
The Silent One frowned, nervously clutching the holy oil to his chest.
"Promise you'll come before I drink it all. Promise!"
Li Qingyu sighed.
"God, is there another psychic on this planet? Even if there is, do I know who it is? Who else am I supposed to look for besides you?"
"Don't worry, these few bottles will last you a long time. I'll definitely come to you within three days."
The Silent One lowered his head.
"Agreed, we agreed..."
Then he soared into the air and flew low, disappearing into the distant forest.
Li Qingyu waited until he disappeared from sight, took out a small-caliber pistol, and fired three shots into the sky.