[Discovered good-grade mental element, "Flute Sound." Do you wish to extract it?]
No, no, no, no, no, no, no!
Li Ban hastily slammed the lid shut.
His initial flattered surprise had completely given way to trembling fear.
No reward without merit.
Could the corpse of a dead prisoner really earn him such a massive reward?
Seeing Li Ban's unease, Du An suddenly let out a soft chuckle.
The smile vanished in a flash, leaving Li Ban even more bewildered.
"This is what Zhou Gu used to exchange for a peaceful rest of his life. But I am giving this element to you, and it is certainly not so you can live your days in peace."
"What do you need me to do, Sir?"
"Promote to prison guard and fuse with the Flute Sound. I have my own arrangements for the rest. Find Lu Qinghe on your way out; she will give you resources for your cultivation."
With that said, Du An lowered his head and resumed his writing.
It was a clear dismissal.
Clutching the small black box, Li Ban turned to leave, but his steps faltered.
"Sir, what if I hadn't come to you and still completed my promotion within a month? Or, what if I failed to promote..."
"Those with unclean backgrounds, or those who are useless, all meet the same end."
Gripping the box in his hand, Li Ban silently walked out.
So from the very beginning, his path had been paved by Du An.
He just didn't know why the man had chosen him, nor what he wanted him to do.
Zhou Gu had chosen him in the past because he had no one else to use, but what about Du An?
Filled with questions, Li Ban left the study. Outside, Lu Qinghe simply handed him a white fruit.
It looked like a peeled lychee.
"This is a Spiritual Rhinoceros Fruit. The spiritual rhinoceros inside is enough for you to complete your promotion within a month. Eat it immediately after you get back, otherwise the spiritual rhinoceros will continuously leak away."
"Is there anything I need to be careful of when eating this?"
"Careful of?" Lu Qinghe's lips curled slightly. "Keep it a secret. Jealousy can get you killed."
Hearing this, Li Ban didn't hesitate for a second. He swallowed the Spiritual Rhinoceros Fruit right then and there.
If it was a secret, why wait until he got back?
Better to eat it right here.
Nobody could see what was already in his stomach, right?
Instantly, Li Ban felt a dense concentration of spiritual rhinoceros swirling in his chest.
But it also got stuck, making him quite uncomfortable.
It felt like he had swallowed a massive steamed bun whole.
He was choking on it.
"Hurry back and cultivate."
"Lu Qinghe, why... why did Sir give me all this?"
"Don't ask me, and don't tell anyone about what happened in Jingyan Hall," Lu Qinghe replied gloomily, before unceremoniously ushering him out.
...
A month later, Li Ban successfully maxed out his spiritual rhinoceros.
Maxed out spiritual rhinoceros for three elements!
Du An never showed up again. Instead, he had Zhang Baishan hand the prison guard identity token to Li Ban right in front of Wang Hua.
Wang Hua's face instantly mirrored the exact expression Zhou Gu had worn the day his element fusion failed.
The despair of having no future left.
"Normally, after your promotion to prison guard, you would be given a Ghost-Head Saber to fuse with. However, the Lord mentioned that since you already received an element reward for bringing back that prisoner's corpse earlier, you won't be getting the Ghost-Head Saber for now. When you promote again, if you have no other elements to fuse with, you can request a Ghost-Head Saber from me at any time."
In other words, the Ghost-Head Saber was basically a perk for prison guards and prison officials.
Only those who couldn't fuse with the Ghost-Head Saber like Zhou Gu, or those who possessed more suitable elements like Li Ban, would pass it up.
Zhang Baishan suddenly remembered something else.
"Right, you must properly fuse with the element Sir gave you. There's no rush. Adjust your condition first to avoid failing the fusion and wasting Sir's goodwill."
'But your Lord Du told me to fuse with it immediately,' Li Ban grumbled inwardly.
Outwardly, of course, he merely thanked Zhang Baishan for the reminder.
Upon finally receiving the prison guard identity token, the voice of the mission assistance system echoed in Li Ban's mind once again.
[Acquired Tier 2 Status "prison guard". Phase task accomplished. You will gain temporary logout permissions during sleep. Duration: 20 minutes.]
Li Ban hurried back to his room.
Now that he was promoted to a prison guard, it was time for him to move out.
He also needed to clear out and make room for the new handyman.
After the prison break incident, only three of the original handymen remained, and the slaves had been completely wiped out.
Because of this, Tree-man Bing and Wang Hua had selected and brought back five new slaves.
After a brutal struggle among themselves, two of those five slaves died within the month, and one was promoted.
Now that Li Ban had also been promoted, another handyman position had opened up.
The remaining two slaves would likely start a new round of slaughter against each other.
It couldn't be helped. In the eyes of those with an identity, slaves were nothing more than consumables.
If they didn't fight to climb the ranks, they would end up just like the slave Min from before—dying the moment a tiny ripple disturbed their lives.
They had absolutely no ability to weather any risks.
Wang Hua didn't return, as Liu Mu had called him away halfway back.
It was time to buy more slaves again.
Li Ban moved his meager belongings into Gu Yueqi's old room.
After Gu Yueqi died, his belongings had been cleared out by Liu Mu.
Aside from a few daily necessities, absolutely nothing of value was left.
If Li Ban didn't want to use a dead man's leftovers, he could replace them, but it would come out of his own monthly salary.
Although his monthly pay had now increased to two taels, he thought about it and decided against replacing them.
It was just a room where someone had died. He had killed people before, so why would he be afraid of a room?
Locking the door, Li Ban lay down on the freshly sheeted bed and closed his eyes.
Time to fuse with the element, "Flute Sound."
Shortly after acquiring the "Flute Sound," Li Ban had the system extract the element.
This was to prevent it from being stolen by anyone else.
Now, he could fuse with it directly.
[Fused with element "Flute Sound". Acquired ability: Mental Interference.]
It was yet another painless fusion.
Li Ban was now certain that he wouldn't suffer any backlash or side effects during fusions.
He just wasn't sure if this was an innate ability unique to him or a convenience provided by the mission assistance system.
But he would find out once he returned to the Laboratory tonight.
After completing the fusion, Li Ban wasn't in a hurry to leave.
It took others at least a day or two to undergo a fusion.
So, he simply stayed in his room and began cultivating.
The Spiritual Rhinoceros Fruit Lu Qinghe had given him still had a tiny bit of residual effect left.
It was perfectly suited to feed his new element.
As for the "Silver Kingfisher," the element Zhou Gu had given him, he planned to see how things played out before deciding whether or not to fuse with it.
He cultivated straight into the night before falling asleep right there in his room.
When he opened his eyes again, he was back in the Laboratory.
The liquid surrounding him rapidly drained away, and the transparent glass casing in front of him hissed open.
"Quick, tell me the mission!" Li Ban shouted the moment Chen Dong's face appeared above him, ignoring everything else. "I can't receive any of the content you loaded into the mission system!"
Chen Dong's smiling face froze, morphing into an expression of disbelief.
"The mission didn't load in again?"
But he still helped Li Ban sit up first. "Come out and move around a bit. Your body won't be able to handle it otherwise."
"I only have 20 minutes."
Li Ban wasn't in a hurry to leave the pod now. Time waited for no one, and he still had many questions.
However, Chen Dong still brought over a set of assisted exercise equipment, allowing Li Ban to stretch his limbs with the help of smart machinery.
As Li Ban exercised, Chen Dong recorded his current progress in the Death Prison.
"You promoted to prison guard? That was fast!"
Hearing that Li Ban had earned this temporary logout opportunity through his new identity, Chen Dong was incredibly astonished.
"Back then, it took me two whole years to promote to prison guard!"
As if he had discovered a new continent, Chen Dong hurriedly used his communicator to contact the Director, who hadn't made an appearance yet.
A metal door on the left side of the Laboratory suddenly lit up before sliding open.
The Director hurried in from behind the door.
"Li Ban promoted to prison guard?"
"Yes, Director. But Li Ban said he still hasn't received the mission details in the Wizard World."
The Director took the records from Chen Dong's hands and glanced at them without breaking his stride, quickly arriving at Li Ban's side.
"You've done exceptionally well. Since you still aren't receiving the mission details, I'll have to relay the mission to you verbally right here. Remember, the contents of this mission must not be disclosed to a fourth person."
Li Ban nodded repeatedly.
The Director took a deep breath.
"We sent you into the Wizard World to find a certain person, and a certain item."
"This person was originally an undercover agent for our Laboratory, but he betrayed the Laboratory, and he betrayed the Leader."
"His codename is... General."