The King of Curses

Chapter 181 Monkey Theory

"That's called 'holding back', you see?"

Before An Zhizhen finished speaking, he heard a scream in the conference room. The young man with glasses who had raised the question suddenly jumped up from his seat, and then curled up like a cooked shrimp.

His eyeballs suddenly bulged outwards, bloodshot, one hand covering his chest, and the other hand tremblingly stretched forward, as if asking for forgiveness.

"I……"

He tore his clothes, his face turned red, the blood in his body boiled like lava, his heart beat faster than 500 times per minute, his endocrine system was like a derailed train, and his body was overloaded and running uncontrollably.

The young man who had been so passionate just now suddenly fell down with a scream. The curse masters around him looked at this scene and suddenly became silent.

An Zhizhen, who was sitting in the first seat, just watched the other person struggling on the ground quietly, without any surprise or expression.

At this time, the secretary standing next to her explained to everyone:
"Please don't panic, there is a reason for this. During his most recent field mission, this person was dissatisfied with the instructions conveyed by the operator of the logistics department and had a conflict with him. Therefore, he held a grudge and broke into the operator's home yesterday and killed the latter. He used his own methods to destroy the body and thought that no one would notice it. He even attended this meeting in a swagger..."

"And you didn't even notice that until he went upstairs, Yinlian."

"Yes...I'm sorry, it's my fault."

The woman standing next to Advisor An lowered her head in fear.

"I'm just reminding you, don't take it to heart. Next time, we'll improve the real-time communication system so that if anyone loses contact for more than eight hours, they will receive news as soon as possible."

"I see."

The spell-binding masters looked at each other.

"So that's it..."

"I just don't think it's possible that Advisor An would suddenly turn hostile for no reason."

"You deserve it, then."

Amid the discussions, the young man lying on the ground was still struggling to survive, and did not die immediately;

His face suddenly seemed to have aged by ten years, and his voice was hoarse and weak.

"I just... killed an ordinary person... why... shouldn't there be as many replacements as you want?"

He was unwilling to die like this, his pupils fixed on the woman sitting in the first seat. Even if he was killed by the other party, there was no resentment or hatred in the young man's eyes, only endless confusion.

He sincerely recognized the superior status of the Curse Master, and at the same time believed in the leadership of An Zhizhen, who was the "strongest". The only thing that puzzled him was why Advisor An would get rid of a Curse Master who was obviously several times more valuable for the death of an ordinary person...

Until someone next to him spoke coldly:
"You disobeyed Advisor An's orders, which in itself is seeking your own death."

The young man stretched out his hand in the air and then lowered it with trembling hands. The light in his pupils dimmed.

……

An Zhizhen's eyes swept across the faces of the people in front of him, observing their expressions.

One third of this group of spell-binding masters had been subjected to varying degrees of mental interference from Tiankui Quanshou; after that, with the proper use of his skills, the entire group could be brought into compliance.

For her, the principle of using "Tiankui Quanshou" is close to a cost game; use the least consumption to control the most valuable people, and use these people as the basis to leverage the greatest degree of social power and organize the largest network of relationships.

It is not difficult for someone who has both power and political skills to control a huge social machine; but An Zhizhen wants to do more than that. She wants to ensure that her will can be clearly conveyed to every tentacle of the giant organization.

Therefore, for subordinates who need long-term control, An Zhizhen calculates the nodes and then applies graded control. The interference imposed on some curse masters is so weak that it only affects a small part of their subconsciousness and they are not aware of it in their daily life.

This model will continue to adjust as An Zhizhen's power expands, until... her ideal society is realized.

However, even for her, some things are still difficult to fully control.

Based on his observations, An Zhizhen concluded that curse masters seemed to be naturally more... "unstable" than ordinary people.

On the positive side, it means "having a strong enterprising spirit" and "having greater possibilities"; on the negative side, it means "emotional", "extreme" and "stubborn".

There are also many people whose way of thinking is different from that of ordinary people, and there is even a phenomenon that "the more persistent, the stronger they are."

Including An Zhizhen herself, she is a representative example.

She remembered Dongsheng once said:

"Most spell-casters have problems with their brains." This statement does make some sense.

Therefore, sometimes there will be such guys who are not sure whether they are crazy or not. In order to avoid making trouble in the future, we can only deal with them in advance, and as for the wasted value... just ignore it.

What the other party said was not wrong. An Zhizhen's eyes did not hold much value for the life of an ordinary person. But ordinary people were still her objects of protection and part of her ideal society. An uncontrolled spell master was a threat to society and must be eliminated in advance.

Of course, if she was a special-class spell-forbidden master like her sister, the ending would be different—

“Get rid of him,” the woman said. “Let the meeting continue.”

Kong Yinlian nodded slightly, asked someone to drag the disabled person lying on the ground away, and closed the door neatly.

An Zhizhen crossed her hands and placed them on the table, smiling as if nothing had happened.

"I told you some of these things on the first day you joined the Super Working Committee. I believe that the Curse Masters will replace ordinary people and become the ruling class of this world. There is no doubt about that."

"But I hope you understand that the monkeys that replace the old ones will only be monkeys that are smarter and better than them: monkeys with new talents that can make and use more powerful new weapons, allowing the entire tribe to rise to a new level... rather than evolving into a barbaric and boring fighting game of 'a group of monkeys with supernatural powers against a group of monkeys with guns'."

"You are talented elites, but ability cannot replace brains. Learn to adapt to the times and act prudently. A bright future awaits us. I hope you will encourage each other."

……

Someone who was cruelly punished and finally dragged away as a cripple was like a trivial episode.

In the conference room, the conversation among the curse masters who belonged to the same organization became lively and harmonious.

Jiang Zhifeng, who had been watching silently, was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief this time and talk to his colleagues, known or unknown, around him. He calmly wiped the cold sweat from his palms.

To be honest, Jiang Zhifeng agreed with Advisor An's opinion. She undoubtedly saw farther than anyone else. With both ability and wisdom, it was certain that the Chao Working Committee would grow stronger in the hands of the advisor, and the future was bright.

But after seeing the offender's end with his own eyes, he still felt a sense of fear; what was even more terrifying was that the other curse masters present actually accepted it like this.

"The strong prey on the weak" - the bloody rules of the curse-master society were right before him.

Maybe because he has been a middleman for too long, Jiang Zhifeng always feels that he has not fully adapted.

In addition...

His eyes were elsewhere.

There were not only spell-casters present, but also ordinary people. Although Advisor An punished the spell-caster who killed innocent people, he intentionally or unintentionally ignored their existence in his conversation.

For example, Zhang Yuanlu, Chairman of Dadi Holding Group, sitting third on the left.

Dadi Holdings started out in real estate and is one of the top five real estate companies in the country. It is a well-known developer in the city. Its fields involve industrial investment, real estate development, tourism and hotel management. It has 15 holding subsidiaries and its sales in reached an astonishing tens of billions. Even in Tianhai City, where there are many hidden talents, only a few state-owned resources and the five major banks can rank ahead of Dadi Holdings in terms of business scale. Compared with them, Jiang Group is nothing.

But now, this well-known big boss in the city looked as if he was sitting on pins and needles.

Seeing that the conversation between the spell masters was getting more and more heated, and completely ignoring their surroundings; and the long-haired woman who was the host just stood up and seemed to be about to leave, Zhang Yuanlu finally couldn't sit still anymore.

"Wait a minute, Advisor An, I'm here this time... to ask for a favor."

"Please speak." The smile on An Zhizhen's face was still perfect.

"I've been having some trouble lately..."

Zhang Yuanlu said hesitantly.

"Can we talk somewhere else?"

"of course."

An Zhizhen nodded slightly, turned to his subordinates and said:
"Everyone, please chat. If you have any questions you would like to ask privately, please come to the next office."

She walked out of the meeting room, and the secretary following closely behind her made an inviting gesture to Zhang Yuanlu.

Zhang Yuanlu walked into the office cautiously, looking around, and always felt that the atmosphere around him was a little different.

He felt like someone was spying on him, but when he looked in the direction of the "sight", there was nothing there.

"Botong, show yourself. Don't be so rude in front of the guests."

"Yes, I understand, Lord An."

A strange voice, slick and flattering, reminiscent of opera singing, came from the corner.

Zhang Yuanlu's eyes blurred, and suddenly he saw a thin figure appear in the place that was empty before.

The figure was child-like, curled up like a monkey, wearing a heavily colored costume, with thick hair on his face and a pointed chin.

The man grinned at him as if to express friendliness.

Zhang Yuanlu did not respond, trying to calm himself down so as not to embarrass himself.

Being in his position, he had naturally seen some of the methods used by the spell-binding masters.

An Zhizhen sat down gracefully behind her desk and knocked on the table. The female secretary beside her immediately brought her a cup of hot tea and placed it next to her.

She picked up the teacup and took a sip leisurely.

"When you say you want to help... do you mean to make your son a curse-master? I can arrange it and send him directly to the Higher Education Campus."

"Actually, there's something else."

Zhang Yuanlu sat down cautiously and spoke in a low voice.

"Someone in the city has recently been eyeing my business... and is causing me trouble."

"It sounds like a small matter, but do you need me to handle it?"

"The other party's identity is not simple. Although he is not a curse master, but..."

Zhang Yuanlu didn't finish his words, but An Zhizhen naturally understood what he meant.

Finding some ruffians to cause trouble is a common practice among private bosses, but considering Zhang Yuanlu's status and the fact that he was able to build such a huge fortune from scratch, he naturally would not fall for it. It would be better to say that he is one of the biggest local tyrants in Tianhai City.

Therefore, the person he offended couldn't be from the underworld, so it could only be...

An Zhizhen laughed softly.

"Mr. Zhang, do you think we are your thugs?"

"I dare not. I am just worried that there may be misunderstandings. I don't have strong connections in this area. I heard that the Super Working Committee has close cooperation with law enforcement agencies, so I would like to ask you to mediate..."

"If someone comes to your door, it's because you've exposed yourself."

"No, I think..."

Zhang Yuanlu had already realized what the other party meant when he was halfway through his words. There was a hint of anger in his tone, and he said in a deep voice:
"Advisor An, don't forget that I was the one who invested in you. The funds for your experimental base and the channels for communication with foreign laboratories all depended on me. I think you understand the principle of repaying kindness."

"You are right. I am grateful for your help in the past from the bottom of my heart. I also feel that I have been too much trouble for Mr. Zhang, so..."

An Zhizhen put the teacup down with a soft sound.

"I plan to send someone to get it later, so you don't have to work so hard."

Zhang Yuanlu was stunned for a moment.

He had been through a lot in the business world and was very quick to react. He suddenly realized something:

"Could it be that the person over there is actually you—"

"Shhh."

An Zhizhen put her finger to her lips and smiled.

"Keep your voice down."

Zhang Yuanlu was becoming more and more frightened. He subconsciously stood up from the chair and wanted to escape the room, but suddenly he felt something cold crawling up his neck. He was so scared that he sat down.

"No, wait, don't...! If I disappear, it won't be good for you--"

An Zhizhen no longer cared about him at this moment, and the woman looked towards the monkey face in the corner.

"You mentioned your ability before, that you can take people's skins, right?"

"Yep!"

The curse master known as "Botong" showed joy on his face, knowing that his chance to work for Lord An had finally come. He knelt down and said respectfully:

"Please allow me to use my power!"

"Try it. If you want to be my disciple, don't let me down."

"Yes!"

The monkey-faced man jumped up after receiving the order, turned around and looked at Zhang Yuanlu, who was paralyzed by a centipede, unable to move and with a look of fear on his face. The respectful expression instantly turned into a grim smile.

"The face-changing techniques that have been handed down to this day include 'wiping the face', 'blowing the face', and 'pulling the face'. What I am going to demonstrate next is the 'pulling the face' technique. Please enjoy it!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Bo Tong stretched out his hand and swiped Zhang Yuanlu's face with fierce movements, tearing off his facial features like a film.

……

Looking at Zhang Yuanlu's miserable state of being reduced to a bloody mess, Kong Yinlian, who was pouring tea for the boss, couldn't help but reveal a hint of sarcasm on her face.

"How dare an ordinary person like you negotiate with me alone? You really don't know what I am talking about."

Not to mention the boss, even she would not take an ordinary wealthy businessman seriously, no matter how much he is worth.

"There are people among the spell-forbidden masters who can't figure things out and can't see reality clearly. Naturally, there will be people among ordinary people too, and they will only be more numerous and widespread..."

An Zhizhen said.

"But faced with the cruel reality, I think they will figure it out soon."

(End of this chapter)