Next, Li Ang entered the Automated Pet Box and experimented with the Necromancy Technique on a SCAR-H assault rifle and a bowl of clear water.
Once the Necromancy Technique activated the assault rifle, it gained a certain degree of mobility. It could shuffle forward by rocking its magazine and stock. When it perceived a threat (Li Ang used Cat's Eye to create an illusion of a shredder in front of it), the rifle would actively open fire and launch grenades. After running out of bullets, it would even use magazines placed on the ground to reload itself.
Li Ang held down the rifle while casting the Necromancy Technique on a bowl of clear water. After a short delay, the water solidified into a gel-like substance, becoming a slime-like entity that struggled to stand up from the basin. When Li Ang approached, this slime would turn its 'head' toward the sound, mimicking Li Ang's face on the part that resembled its head, much like in the science fiction movie "The Abyss" directed by James Cameron.
Li Ang created an illusion of fire in front of the water slime. He observed that the slime would retreat frantically, tumble out of the basin, and fall to the ground like a lump of dough.
Items activated by the skill don't inherit original memories, nor are their intrinsic properties affected by their appearance. It's not yet clear if using the skill multiple times on an item will grant it some degree of memory, thereby allowing it to be tamed.
Li Ang silently stopped maintaining the skill. He watched as the rifle ceased to move and the slime reverted to clear water, seeping into the soil.
Since [Necromancy Technique (Basic)] has no cooldown, it can be used four times a day. If I have enough Sanity Value, I could even create four revived inanimate objects simultaneously. But the cost would be enormous.
Activating the Necromancy Technique alone costs 200 Spirit Power Value and 100 Sanity Value.
Once activated, it consumes 20 Spirit Power Value and 10 Sanity Value per second.
Li Ang's current Spirit Power Value was 670. (Spirit Power Value is determined by various basic attributes such as intelligence, constitution, perception, and charisma; its maximum limit and recovery speed can be improved through daily exercise.) His Sanity Value had also been raised to 488 through long-term training, which included a 50-point increase to its cap from the Trait [Organ Collector].
Sanity Value is also determined by basic attributes like intelligence and perception. It can be enhanced through training or with the help of special equipment and items, but it's more significantly influenced by a player's own willpower.
The estimated Sanity Value for ordinary humans in Game of Slaughter is 100. In actual measurements conducted by large organizations, the average Sanity Value for ordinary adults with basic education ranges from 80 to 120, fluctuating with education, and mental and physical health.
Generally, individuals from special groups—such as highly educated intellectuals who believe in science, combat veterans, warriors with determined wills, and Ascetic Monks who endure daily physical lashings—will possess higher Sanity Value. Ordinary people living in extremely harsh regions, like reclusive hunters, children from Romania and Ukraine dwelling in sewer slums, and Eskimos within the Arctic Circle, also tend to have higher Sanity Value.
Interestingly, high Sanity Values have also been found among extremely ignorant and superstitious populations.
According to some forum rumors, half a month ago, the Supernatural Accident Place of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation raided an underground stronghold in New Jersey. This stronghold preached doomsday prophecies, and authorities rescued a group of teenagers who had been controlled and brainwashed for a long time. Among them were individuals with Sanity Values as high as 580, who stubbornly refused to abandon their devout belief in the doomsday prophecies, regardless of what anyone else said.
Of course, after the Bureau's Supernatural Accident Place subjected that individual to knowledge-infusion using their devices, his Sanity Value rapidly collapsed, falling below normal levels.
However, this also provided inspiration for certain large organizations in the United States: could they utilize deception and brainwashing methods to increase their subordinate players' Sanity Values?
In fact, research into using drugs and hypnotic brainwashing to control human will and nerves has always been ongoing in the United States. It merely shifted from projects like the CIA's MK-ULTRA to personality correction programs for psychiatric patients at some large medical centers.
They could readily apply research results from the medical field at any time.
On American player forums, such conspiracy theories were quite rampant. Many American players even imagined business tycoons secretly kidnapping players for experiments, preparing to create brainwashing weapons like Quantum Lily or Lily Omega.
Hmm... in a sense, they weren't wrong.
In the first few months after Game of Slaughter began, certain conglomerates from the United States, Japan, and South Korea started searching for Lone Wolf Players.
If they discovered a player of formidable strength, these conglomerates would first try to recruit them using threats, bribes, and other methods, offering substantial rewards to avoid physical confrontation if possible.
If they found an absolute beginner, someone with only one or two levels and an overall mission clearance evaluation of C to B, then some unscrupulous conglomerates would unapologetically resort to direct kidnapping. They would either kill the player to transfer their qualification to a trustworthy subordinate or conduct various bizarre experiments on them directly, including hypnotic brainwashing control.
Of course, all this was conducted in secret and didn't cause much of an uproar.
It was only in recent months that players' overall strength increased. Even beginners, aided by forum posts, became much savvier and learned to hide their tracks. Consequently, the conglomerates' efficiency in kidnapping dropped significantly.
In any case, the 488 Sanity Value Li Ang currently possessed was probably only enough to maintain an item's revival effect for about 30 seconds (and he needed to reserve a portion to prevent himself from going insane).
While thirty seconds might seem short, it was already sufficient for some special scenarios.
For example, the Biological Template, the Automated Pet Box, and the corpses of the Mothman, the Blood Clan Nobles, and Zou Zhengze...
Li Ang's current understanding of the Biological Template and the Necromancy Technique was still insufficient for him to dare revive the templates randomly. Therefore, he moved several rectangular, sealed glass boxes onto an empty space within the Automated Pet Box.
He looked through the glass boxes at the monstrous bodies floating and sinking in the formalin solution, feeling a strong urge to experiment.
If inanimate objects like toys and firearms, lacking sentience, can't respond to my words, then wouldn't highly intelligent beings with their own consciousness retain their memories upon revival? Perhaps they could even form a considerable fighting force...
Unfortunately, he had already used up all his daily uses of the Necromancy Technique. However, Li Ang was not in a rush. Instead, he turned to explore the final and most critical two gains from this mission.
The Divine Spark of Roanoke, and the mane of the Mirage Dragon.