Chapter 53: A Calm Period of Training and Grasping Knowledge

After Gong Qing's funeral, the situation in and around the hostel regained a semblance of normality. Time could certainly heal all wounds, and as the days passed, the students gradually pushed the sorrow of losing someone familiar to the back of their minds before settling back into their routines.

Those like Tang Mu, Huang An, and Hu Ning, who had recently graduated from high school, eventually received official result slips and certificates to prove their performance during the Psionic Society's assessment. They utilized the documents to apply for scholarships and admissions to the various colleges around the Greater Earth Federation. But of course, they didn't stop their fitness and psionic training, as they had to continue growing their powers in preparation for the difficult days of university education.

The only new normal around the hostel was the two combat units constantly deployed by the police to guard against the Crimson Brotherhood. They were the countermeasures against the threat of the same underworld organization with a vindictive reputation that was behind the two men who killed Gong Qing and tried to kidnap Ning'er and the others.

The deployed combat detectives, who were always true-blue psionics, kept a strict watch over the place to ensure that no other tragedy happened. Their presence settled all the nervous hearts of the students residing in the hostel and allowed them to focus back on their matters without worries.

Tang Mu was also delighted by the presence of the police, especially since he no longer had to leave the hostel to find a more secure residence. He could at least remain in the cheap quarters until the day he left for university without worrying too much about his safety.

Tang Mu had already failed to find more clues about the Crimsonblade backing Red Stalker and Mystic Snake from their two smartwatches that Little Green had already unlocked. He had also tried to use the Federal Mercenary Guild's intranet to unearth more hints about the lady who had threatened him but came up short with his findings.

The knowledge of a mysterious enemy lurking out there and waiting to strike at any moment constantly weighed on his mind. And because of that, he was even more satisfied by the police's decision to keep a strict watch over the hostel.

But all that aside, the existence of the combat detectives also inconvenienced him to a certain extent.

He wasn't stupid enough to believe that his darkness manipulation abilities could repeatedly allow him to escape the strict monitoring of the police if he used them without abandon. And more than anything, he wasn't willing to test his luck by casting his shadow teleportation or stealth ability when the powerful combat detectives were in the hostel's vicinity.

The Federal Police was a government organization with many powerful psionics that had tracked down and captured many criminals possessing a wide range of superpowers, even in outer space. Tang Mu could readily guess that they had some form of technology or officers with perception powers to detect the usage of psionic abilities within a certain radius. And with that in mind, he had decided to remain careful around them to avoid unnecessary inconveniences.

For instance, he no longer exited the hostel at night to head to the Federal Mercenary Guild or other places of interest. He hadn't even gotten an opportunity to exchange the psionic crystals he was continuously harvesting in the painting world for money since he didn't wish to attract the attention of the police.

Yes, he was safe in the hostel, but he also felt more like a prisoner in his residence. Circumstances were that limiting, and he even had to leave his clone as a substitute in his room every time he adventured into the painting world.

Since he couldn't go out much, Tang Mu had a lot of time on his hands, which he spent training, reading, adventuring in the painting world, and researching all sorts of information in his residence. He was even more motivated since he had already discovered that his Mentifery superpowers could manifest anything under two conditions.

Firstly, the item had to be below the maximum limit of 45 kilograms that he could manifest with his imagination. Secondly, he had to have a near complete grasp of the structure and composition of the object in question before using his Mentifery to actualize it in reality.

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A case in point was that if he comprehended the complete structure of a psionic bomb, a bullet, or another weapon, he could manifest it as long as it wasn't over the weight limit. If he learned about the composition of an acid or any other chemical and understood it well, he could also use his imagination and psionic energy to warp reality and bring it into existence for a short period.

The only conditions limiting his Mentifery superpowers were his lack of knowledge and inadequate psionic energy reserves. With that in mind, he trained harder than ever and researched like mad as the days and weeks went by as if in a flash.

Of course, he knew better than to spread himself thin and thus mainly focused on understanding the bullets of the strange pistol he had collected from the deceased Red Stalker and a few other ancient weapon models.

He researched all sorts of info on the internet, including the unique composition of explosive primers, the chemistry of superior gun powders, facts about the alloys making up the casing and projectile parts of distinctive bullets, the configurations of bombs and grenades, and general blast physics, among other things. He read and internalized all the knowledge he could get on the web until it was just like adding one plus one to him.

June ended, and July passed as he trained, adventured into the painting world, and comprehended all sorts of information. Eventually, August arrived with regal ease, implying that only a few weeks remained before the commencement of the new university semester.

It was just another typical Friday evening, and Tang Mu was seated on his bed, training with his eyes closed. The light afforded by the small bulb in his room illuminated his face and highlighted his serene expression as he focused on visualizing the structure of a bullet in his mind.

All sorts of knowledge regarding primers, gun powders, casing alloys, and projectile designs continuously flashed in his brain as he invoked his Mentifery powers. He allowed all the information he had internalized for over a month to crystalize in his thought center until he successfully constructed the cognitive manifestation of the bullet.

His eyes flashed open at that exact moment. He stretched out his hand and allowed the psionic energy pouring out of his activated Galactic Chakra to flow into it. At the same time, he triggered his Mentifery superpowers, and an outline of a golden bullet gradually manifested between his fingers. He gave one last push, and the image congealed into solid ammunition within four seconds.

Success!

Tang Mu was beside himself with joy.

He placed the golden bullet to the side and stretched out his hand again. He went through the same process from before and quickly manifested one of the ancient grenade models using his Mentifery in seven seconds. He held it in his hand and smiled when he saw that all its outer details, including its egg-shaped structure and the safety pin, resembled the real thing.

In fact, he was sure that it was the real thing, and if he pulled the safety pin, he could blow himself up. The only difference between it and the manufactured one was that it could only last for thirty minutes in reality before gradually disappearing into thin air. But by then, it would have long blasted a target into a bloody mess.

This was another rule for items manifested using the Mentifery superpower. They, themselves, could fade away from reality after a given time. But their effects would remain in the actual world forever.

As long as I master and shorten the manifestation process of this grenade to microseconds, I'll have another card in hand.

Tang Mu's hopes soared.

Through his usage of shadow teleportation, he had learned one crucial fact. He could utilize his Mentifery powers together with his spiritual sense ability to manifest an item or array he desired anywhere within his perception scope.

Following the same reasoning, he could also use his imagination manifestation and conjure a grenade missing a safety pin anywhere he targeted with his perception. He could literally use his spiritual sense to blast the hell out of an enemy remotely.

This was also why imagination manifestation was one of the most potent superpowers in the universe if used well. As long as he possessed the required knowledge and psionic energy, anything he could imagine would become a reality. He just had to use his spiritual sense to envision a triggered grenade in the enemy's lair, and everything else would be straightforward.

The only issue is that the blast power of this ancient grenade model is a bit weak to do any substantial lethal harm to true-blue psionics.

I'll have to start manifesting the more recent models of the high-explosive fragmentation grenades if I'm to use them as lethal means against other psionics.

I can also research more types, like the white phosphorus grenade and the smoke screening grenade, to increase my combat ability and flexibility during battles.

Tang Mu made a few plans in his mind. Even though he couldn't get any information about runic weapons like psionic bombs from the internet, he could still go for ancient weapons like grenades and TNT bombs. He could grasp their complete knowledge and learn how to manifest them within an instant before using them in battles against enemy psionics.

It was at that moment that Tang Mu's doorbell sounded.

His heart skipped a beat, and he quickly stowed the bullet and grenade he had manifested into the Star Orb Storage space. At the same time, he triggered his spiritual sense and noticed that the person at the door was Ning'er, the small girl who had survived the attempted kidnap more than a month ago. A soft smile outlined her delicate facial features as she repeatedly pressed the doorbell's switch.

Now, what does this girl want this late in the evening?

Tang Mu sighed and moved to open the door.