Reno redirected his gaze back to the relic.
"Why store the relic this way?" he asked.
"You don't know?" Fernandez sounded surprised. "The relic is an energy entity, and it cannot be touched directly."
"What happens if it's touched directly?"
Fernandez grabbed a small white mouse from the nearby research table and tossed it in the direction of the relic.
The small mouse passed through the magnetic field, collided with the relic, and let out a piercing scream. Every hair on its body stood on end, its body instantly enlarged, resembling a wild boar. Its mouth extended with long fangs, and its claws became as sharp as knives, appearing ferocious and ugly, sending shivers down one's spine.
However, just as it was about to charge down and tear everyone apart, the white giant mouse suddenly exploded with a bang, scattering bits of flesh and blood throughout the room.
Reno raised his hand, activating his telekinesis. The bloody chunks in the air seemed to hit an invisible barrier, halted abruptly, and then dropped to the ground.
Lowering his hand, Reno asked, "How can it be used? I need all the information about it."
"It's in my hands," Fernandez said, producing a black storage device. "It's yours as long as you spare us."
With a wave of his hand, the storage device flew into Reno's hand.
Fernandez was dumbfounded.
Reno examined the storage device. "Undoubtedly, Mr. Fernandez, you are an outstanding scientist, a corrupt scoundrel, and a failed negotiator... You don't even know how to threaten others."
Daniel, the CEO, interjected immediately, "Fernandez indeed did something foolish, but I am not a fool, Mr. Reno. I know threats mean nothing to you, so I didn't intend to resort to any. There's no animosity between us, and I believe we can sit down and talk. Considering your current situation, befriending a conglomerate is far more meaningful than offending one."
However, Reno ignored him, inserting the storage device into the terminal and connecting the line. "Ike, receive data, analyze the content, report any findings."
"Received, data receiving," the virus replied.
After completing this task, Reno turned to the CEO. "I have a question."
"Please, go ahead," Daniel's attitude was very respectful.
"Since relics can be used to save dying individuals, why don't those bigwigs in the federal government use it to save themselves?"
Daniel's face showed a contemptuous smile. "Police only have authority over civilians, Mr. Reno. Perhaps in your eyes, those bigwigs in the government are the top of human society, but in our eyes, they are just dogs serving us. Power cannot be inherited, but wealth can. Controlling wealth means controlling power."
At this point, Daniel paused for a moment before continuing, "Be it the president or senators, their financial resources are actually limited... Accepting bribes may make you wealthy, but it won't make you a top billionaire. So they don't actually have that much money to buy the energy of relics, let alone directly own them. Moreover, due to their special status, they are not suitable for using such things. Once people discover their secret of immortality... believe me, Mr. Reno, even if relics grant eternal life to those who have no private lives, there will naturally be others who will take it away. From this perspective, it's smart for public figures not to tamper with it from the beginning. After all, it's only a five percent chance, why take the risk?"
"But life is always tempting. Hasn't anyone tried to take the chance?"
"Of course, there are always desperate people," Daniel shrugged. "That's why there are so many assassination attempts."
Reno remained silent, only turning back to the relic.
"How do I take it away?" he asked.
The CEO pointed to a large metal box in the corner. "That's a magnetic box. As long as you place the box there, control the magnetic field, and it will be sent into the box."
It was exactly the same as the box used by the Abrodean to store the Zero Target, just a bit smaller than the Abrodean's, probably because the relic was smaller. It was evident that Daniel was not lying.
Reno walked over and opened the box.
Daniel said, "You have to place the box in the middle of the magnetic field."
Then he saw Reno gesture toward the relic, and it slowly flew into the box.
Daniel wisely kept his mouth shut.
Telekinesis!
He never thought telekinesis could be used like this. In fact, Reno didn't expect it either.
While using telekinesis to control the relic, he thought it wouldn't work, but unexpectedly, things turned out to be much simpler than he had anticipated. During the process of control, Reno not only did not feel the exhaustion and emptiness of energy consumption, but instead, he felt mentally refreshed, as if... a hungry man had found food.
But this feeling disappeared as soon as the relic entered the box.
To be precise, Reno no longer felt the relic's energy after it was cut off by the magnetic field. At that moment, he wished he could immediately take the relic out again, but he forcibly suppressed the impulse and closed the box slowly.
The virus had already controlled two handling robots to come over automatically, lift the box, but not leave.
They were waiting for Reno's command.
Reno glanced at Daniel, causing the CEO's heart to skip a beat, but he maintained a smile on his face as he replied, "You've got what you wanted, Mr. Reno. I believe you won't do anything meaningless. Just take the box and leave, close the door behind you, and everything will be done. Trust me, Mr. Reno, I won't cause you any trouble."
Reno stared deeply at Daniel, remaining silent the whole time, which made the CEO's heart race.
After a while, Reno spoke, "Mr. Reken, I must admit that since I came in, you have been very cooperative. Considering that what you've said is all true, personally, I don't see any reason to give you a hard time."
Upon hearing this, Daniel breathed a sigh of relief.
"But for some reason, I have a feeling. I feel like you're not as sincere as you appear. It seems like you're hiding something from me," Reno suddenly changed his tone.
Daniel was startled and quickly responded, "Captain Reno, I absolutely have no intention of misleading you. This kind of misconception may stem from nervousness. You and I both know that sometimes heightened emotions can cause nerves to be a bit sensitive. Oh, I'm not referring to you, I mean myself. Excessive nervousness might lead to me not performing very well, thus causing misunderstandings for you."
"Is that so," Reno said casually.
He glanced at Fernandez and then said abruptly, "It's been you who has been cooperative all along, not our director. Perhaps I should kill him and spare you."
With that, he suddenly aimed the gun at Fernandez.
This action terrified the old director.
He immediately knelt on the ground.
Daniel was also stunned. He never expected Reno to act this way. At this moment, Reno's unpredictable and bloodthirsty mood completely overturned Daniel's previous understanding of him. But it wasn't surprising. His collection of information on Reno was obtained on the fly, and the vast amount of information hadn't even been fully processed yet.
"Don't do this!" Fernandez yelled, "I've been very cooperative too, it's just that Daniel has been doing all the talking. I couldn't get a word in. I'm still useful, don't kill me!"
"Is that so," Reno looked at Fernandez.
He suddenly smiled and holstered his gun, "Just kidding, no need to worry."
Fernandez and Daniel both breathed a sigh of relief.
Reno waved his hand, signaling the two robots to remove the box first before he slowly walked out of the room.
He grabbed the door, intending to close it again.
As Daniel had said, once the door was closed, nobody would bother him anymore. He could calmly leave with the relic.
As Reno's hand rested on the door, both men breathed a sigh of relief simultaneously.
At that moment, Reno suddenly turned around, "Oh, by the way, I have a question for Director Fernandez."
"What is it?" Fernandez asked, wishing this ominous figure would leave as soon as possible. He would answer whatever Reno asked immediately.
Reno asked, "What price did the Santiago family pay in exchange?"
Fernandez instinctively pointed behind Daniel, "It was that man..."
His words abruptly stopped.