'The trial of a Guardian lies in exploring the depths of the heart, digging into the essence of the host's soul, creating a soul bond between the Guardian and its host, and unleashing the host's potential.'
'A Guardian accompanies its host into the deep inner world, directly touching the bottom layers of the soul, to discover the host's inherent and long-held wishes and identify the root of what the host wants to protect.'
'Only by understanding the most valued elements deep within the host's soul can a Guardian form a contract and draw upon the power the host exerts in protecting what is treasured, achieving the Guardian's own evolution.'
Mr007 touched Li Pan's Guardian garment and then wrote in his notepad,
'Your Guardian has been activated, but the trial seems to have been unsuccessful. It's unclear what your soul world revealed, but the Guardian was frightened. It is temporarily unable to form a contract with you or exert its full force.'
Li Pan also noticed that his Guardian garment felt warm to the touch, brimming with life, and when Mr007 touched it, the fur on the collar bristled. Could it really have been startled by his dream? After all, if he put himself in its position, he'd probably be uncomfortable too if a zombie suddenly touched his face...
Wait, was he overlooking something?
Hmm... can't remember, so never mind, he should focus on his own issues first.
'...So you're saying, that dream reflects 'my' inner world?'
I feel perfectly sane, don't I? It was so blue it's ridiculous, not like it was that crazy, right?
'Do you want to try again? That would require another silver key.'
Li Pan shuddered as he recalled the giant serpent with his own face,
'Next time, let's take a break.'
Anyway, according to Mr007's explanation, that dream seemed to be a reflection of his soul, the black dog was the Guardian, and the serpent symbolized some kind of spiritual projection within Li Pan's heart: potential, desire, long-held wish, craving, and such symbolic meanings, which was why the serpent's head bore his face...
But what the hell is the Nine Yin Manual... and why was he able to take it out of a dream... why could only he see it...
Li Pan used the system to translate the Ancient Chinese character by character, even paying extra to access a dictionary of Ancient Chinese, and only then could he translate the Nine Yin Manual into a version he could understand.
This seemed to be some kind of martial arts qi-gong practice, like the secret manuals often found in novels.
Of course, it's the Cyberpunk era now, and nobody reads pure text novels anymore. Everyone can conveniently choose their favorite world backgrounds and scripts to play in various virtual games and Super Dream movies, as long as they're willing to pay.
According to Mr007, the Guardian can help the host discover the deep-seated desires and treasures within their heart, awakening the potential to protect and channel true strength.
Could it be that deep down, he desired to become a martial arts master? It seemed a bit odd to still practice martial arts in a Cyberpunk world, didn't it...
In any case, Li Pan guessed that perhaps because he was essentially a traveler from ancient times, the longing for power deep in his spirit still took the form of martial arts scripture, expressing his wish to gain the power of self-preservation in this chaotic world.
So, maybe once he mastered the Nine Yin Manual, his Guardian would be able to form a contract, right?
But it was difficult. Li Pan had also looked at the translated Nine Yin Manual carefully; it was complex with all sorts of meridians, acupoints, breathing techniques, and cultivation methods. Just an Ancient Chinese dictionary was far from enough; he estimated he'd also need to buy and study other ancient texts like the Daoist Scriptures.
'The head office has sent a video conference invitation, scheduled to take place in the meeting room in three days, to hear your initial report. You may want to prepare in advance, conduct some inventory checks and plan the annual business operations or something.'
Mr007 suggested while holding the notepad.
'In three days? Oh, the 14th... f*ck! Isn't that the day before loan settlement? Damn it, they better not be planning to fire me...'
Li Pan snapped to alertness.
It looked like the training would have to wait; he needed to make a PowerPoint presentation first.
Li Pan estimated that he'd have to first go through various inventories and business aspects of the Monster company, organizing the losses due to the wipeout of the previous employees.
Speaking of which...
'007, do you remember why you were... 'deleted'?'
Mr007 wrote on the notepad.
'All past records and memories have been deleted.'
Right, that made sense. 007 had survived purely by chance due to a paper jam, and since the other party had 'come back to life', there probably wasn't much to go on.
Then Mr007 wrote again.
'But according to the notepad, most past storage malfunctions occurred in the technical department; maybe you should start your investigation there.'
'Oh? The technical department?'
The reception hall had twelve doors, leading directly to the General Manager's office, the meeting room, the office area, the HR department, the technical department, the logistics department, the business department, the server room, the Ambient Temperature Warehouse Blue Zone, the Temperature-Controlled Warehouse Yellow Zone, the Cold Storage Red Zone, and the elevator.
Actually, if you looked at the layout, the HR department, the office area, and the General Manager's office were all on the same floor; you could get by with just one door. But it seemed that cutting through the hall/dimensional fissure shortcut was some kind of perk for the General Manager—less walking, after all. Who knew...
The names of these places were pretty self-explanatory. The elevator was the only entrance and exit connecting with the external world; you'd be offline from the public network the moment you entered.
The three warehouse zones corresponded to the cargo rated by safety risk from red, yellow to blue. They served as temporary storage for goods before the numbered management system was in place. By the way, Mr007 was currently residing in the Cold Storage.