Stronger by Paying Salaries and I Have 1 Billion Employees

Late at night, in Apartment 0418 of the Xuyuan Faculty Apartments.

Chen Yansen glanced at his phone screen. The flame war between Zhou Hongyi and Lei Yijun gave him a taste of what Weibo was like in 2012.

’They really dare to say anything!’

If this were a decade or so later, the posts Zhou Hongyi made tonight could be split up and released over two weeks, and they’d be trending every single day.

Chen Yansen put down his phone and summoned the system panel. Including the 73 wisps left over from before, January’s Human Dao Fire had reached a staggering 41,843 wisps.

The total number of employees in the holding companies under Senlian Capital had already surpassed 38,000, with Orange Phone Factory and Cloud Speed Express accounting for 92% of that figure.

”Synthesize!”

Chen Yansen focused his will and issued the command to the panel.

In an instant, the 41,843 wisps of Human Dao Fire converted into 418 wisps of Divine Dao Fire. A golden mist materialized from thin air and shot into the space between his eyebrows.

An immense, pure energy instantly enveloped his brain.

His blood, neurons, glial cells, and cerebrospinal fluid greedily devoured the golden mist.

The outlines of his surroundings within a ten-meter radius appeared in his mind. It was still like a stick-figure drawing, but now it had a few more details.

”This damn system is such a fucking cash grab!”

Chen Yansen let out a long sigh, unable to stop himself from muttering under his breath.

With a Spiritual Power of 18.96, his brain became increasingly active. His mind felt like it was in overclocked mode; he could now accomplish in one minute what would take an ordinary person five or six hours of deep thought.

’Huh? What’s this!?’

Chen Yansen keenly sensed something unusual in the room. A swarm of ants suddenly poured out from the bedroom floor, frantically fleeing outside through the cracks under the door and around the windows.

A gecko suddenly darted out from behind the wall-mounted air conditioner. Without a second glance, it dashed straight for the living room and then fled Apartment 0418 entirely.

Chen Yansen frowned, but only after the gecko had vanished from his perception range.

’Needless to say, these strange occurrences are definitely related to me!’

He got up, went to the front door, opened it, and used his ’Divine Sense’ to lock onto the gecko.

’Sure enough!’

The moment his sense touched it, the gecko reacted as if it had spotted a predator and continued to flee for its life.

’What is this?’

’Am I some kind of insect repellent?’

Chen Yansen chuckled, but he was quickly reminded of the martial arts realm where ”not even a feather can be added, nor a fly can land.” ’But I haven’t fucking practiced any martial arts,’ he thought.

’Right, this must be because my Spiritual Power is too strong. It’s exerting a kind of mental pressure on the surrounding mosquitoes, flies, and ants, instilling an extreme sense of fear in them.’

’It’s just like how an elk, bison, or cheetah in the wild would immediately grow tense and look for any chance to flee upon catching a tiger’s scent.’

’Simply put, it’s a form of biological suppression!’

Chen Yansen pondered for a few seconds, then closed the door to Apartment 0418 and headed downstairs.

He wanted to test what kinds of animals this biological suppression ability could affect.

Downstairs, it was pitch black, with only a single, dim yellow streetlight hanging four meters up in the air.

The midges and moths that had been clinging to the lampshade vanished in an instant.

Standing still, Chen Yansen could clearly sense the field mice, wireworms, flies, and sparrows within a ten-meter radius all scattering away from him.

Ten minutes later, only a single campus cat remained, its fur standing on end. It stood on the lawn five or six meters away, staring intently at Chen Yansen.

”MEOW—!”

After they stared at each other for more than ten seconds, the campus cat let out a cry, then slowly backed away, finally stopping about eight or nine meters from Chen Yansen.

’If a Spiritual Power of 18.96 can have this effect, what would happen if it rose to 100, 200, or even 1,000? I bet even tigers and lions would flee at the mere sight of me.’

Chen Yansen frowned slightly, pondering to himself.

’What use is this thing to me?’

’So I’ll never have to worry about mosquito bites again?’

’But I already have the [Rhino-hide Tiger-bone] talent. A fruit knife can’t even scratch my skin. A mosquito could break its stinger and still not draw a drop of my blood.’

’I wonder if it affects people?’

Chen Yansen sighed. ’If everyone turns and runs the moment they see me, how am I supposed to pick up girls?’

In the middle of the night, there were no suitable test subjects to be found, so he could only turn back, head upstairs, and go to sleep.

Lying in bed, Chen Yansen extended his senses to his neighbors but detected no signs of anxiety or restlessness.

But he couldn’t be sure if it was because his Spiritual Power wasn’t high enough, or if humans were simply immune.

The main issue was that the ability was uncontrollable, more like a biological instinct that he couldn’t turn on and off at will.

Before he fell asleep, a single thought echoed in Chen Yansen’s mind: ’Am I even human anymore?’

「The next morning.」

Chen Yansen drove to the Science and Technology Park. As he entered Building 6, where Pinbei was located, Xu Xingxing, who was chatting with Zhang Yi at the front desk, suddenly felt a jolt of panic and instinctively glanced toward the entrance.

”Good morning, Class Rep!” Xu Xingxing greeted him as usual.

Chen Yansen’s heart skipped a beat as his eyes clearly caught Xu Xingxing’s unnatural reaction.

’So it does have an effect, even if it’s a very slight one. But what will happen if my Spiritual Power increases again?’

Chen Yansen thought to himself as he gave a nonchalant nod and walked straight toward the elevators.

”Xingxing, don’t you think the boss seems a little different today?”

Zhang Yi asked in a low voice.

”Did he get more handsome?” Xu Xingxing joked, not taking Zhang Yi’s words to heart.

Zhang Yi dismissed it as her imagination and quickly put the matter out of her mind.

「Meanwhile.」

Chen Yansen entered his office. After a short break, he summoned the heads of Pinbei’s various departments for a morning meeting.

”Brother Sen!”

”President Chen!”

Zhang Yifeng, Wang Zihao, Zhang Wenbo, Fei Qiweng, Song Yuncheng, and the others arrived on the eleventh floor one by one.