I am a necromancer, and I absolutely love America.

---------------Catherine Reference Image---------------

Amidst the chaos, the match ended without a conclusion.

The match was cancelled that day and will be rescheduled for another day.

The victim was a student's parent, which will leave a huge psychological scar on many students.

Within minutes, the news had spread like wildfire, and reporters who had rushed to the scene surrounded the rugby field.

Catherine drove Richard and Debbie home, barely managing to squeeze through the crowd, glancing back every now and then with lingering fear.

Debbie was awake, lying silently in the back seat, clutching the Apple Watch box with a line of text written on it:

"I Love You My Sweet Deb."

Sweet Deb was Mike's nickname for her, but he stopped calling her that after she started middle school.

When Catherine drove home, she found a group of reporters had already gathered at the door.

These resourceful reporters somehow obtained the identities and addresses of the victims' families.

Reporters spotted Catherine's car returning and immediately crowded around it.

As victims of the "Wild Hills Park Shooting," Catherine and Debbie became the focus of media attention across the United States, with cameras and microphones snapping pictures of the car.

They don't care how sad the victims' families are; they only care about the big news.

Catherine, with a cold face, drove for a long time before slowly squeezing in.

Back home, Debbie went straight upstairs to her room, lay on her bed, and cried silently.

Catherine followed her in, helped her close all the curtains to block the reporters' prying eyes, and then closed the door.

Catherine returned to the first floor and whispered:

"Master, is that you?"

Catherine was not sad.

She had been divorced from Mike for a long time, and the last bit of warmth she had left vanished when Mike hit her with his car, leaving only hatred and fear.

Now Mike is finally dead.

Richard neither confirmed nor denied it.

"Your troubles are completely resolved."

Catherine breathed a sigh of relief. She had been feeling uneasy under Mike's gaze, but now she could finally relax.

She glanced upstairs:

Debbie cried very sadly.

Richard stood up:

"I'll go take a look."

Catherine clenched her fist slightly, her nails digging into her palm and causing a slight stinging sensation, but she said nothing.

"I'll cook."

Richard went up to the second floor and knocked on Debbie's door.

Debbie shrieked:

"Don't bother me, Mom! Let me be alone for a while."

Richard said:

"it's me."

Debbie paused for a moment, then said with a hint of panic:

"Don't come in either!"

Richard opened the door.

"Don't come in!" Debbie buried her head under the covers.

Richard sat on the edge of the bed, forcibly dragged Debbie out, held her on his lap, and comforted her:

"It's alright, it's all over now..."

Debbie finally couldn't hold back anymore and hugged Richard's neck, bursting into tears:

"My father is dead..."

A photo fell out of her arms; it was a picture of her father holding her when she was a child.

Richard had never seen this photo; it was probably hidden by Debbie.

Richard listened quietly as Debbie tearfully recounted her past with her father.

For Richard, the concept of a father was too distant.

Since his parents divorced, he came to the United States alone to study, and the images of his parents in his mind have gradually become blurred.

In psychology textbooks, this is called emotional repression or psychogenic amnesia. Richard thought to himself.

Compared to his parents, the person he remembers most vividly is his half-brother, Li Shenyan, what a fine name.

"Ha, Dad took the naming of my brother more seriously than I did." Richard pursed his lips.

Debbie spoke while crying, her emotions fluctuating wildly.

She hugged Richard tightly around the waist, as if trying to bury herself in his body to vent her grief.

Richard gently patted Debbie's shoulder.

On Debbie's head, the flames of sorrow burned fiercely and trembled violently.

Two faint flames remain, representing regret and exhaustion.

Richard thought to himself that the way to control desires is to control hormones, and this had been perfectly proven in Catherine's case.

The same method should be used to ignite desire.

Since it can be ignited, can I do the opposite and reduce or eliminate some desires by decreasing the secretion of certain hormones?

How exactly are hormones manipulated in the "Ignition of Desire"?

Richard carefully recalled his two experiences of using desire to ignite his passion, and pondered silently for a long time.

If igniting desire truly involves manipulating the endocrine system to influence emotions and desires, then the only feasible method is to use the power of magic to anchor the human endocrine system, forcibly catalyze specific glands to secrete excessive amounts of the corresponding hormones.

If I can use magic to wrap around a specific gland, cut off its nerve signal transmission, or suppress gland activity, can I reduce or stop the secretion of certain hormones?

What hormones cause sadness? Richard recalled the knowledge from the textbook: cortisol, prolactin, and perhaps something else.

In addition, when a person is sad, serotonin and oxytocin levels drop drastically.

In other words, when you ignite and amplify a desire or emotion with your own desires, you not only increase the rate of hormone secretion but also inhibit the secretion of certain hormones.

The ignition of desire is inherently a two-way process involving hormones...

A system notification suddenly sounded:

"Ding! You have independently mastered the reverse application of [Ignite Desire], namely [Desire Elimination]. The [Ignite Desire] magic has been upgraded to [Desire Manipulation]."

"Ding! You have autonomously advanced to the [Soul and Desire] branch of magic. [Soul and Desire] knowledge: 27% -> 42%"

Richard was pleasantly surprised and immediately opened his personal panel:

******

Class: Necromancer

Physical fitness: 15 (average for an average adult male is 10)

Spirit: 12 (average for all humans is 10)

Mana: 11/24

Branches of knowledge:

[Soul and Desire]: Level 2, 42%. Spirit +2.

[Flesh and Bone]: Level 2, 42%. Constitution +6.

[Pain and Plague]: Not yet unlocked

skill:

[Death Sense]: You can sense the aura of death within 500 meters and obtain some information upon contact with corpses. The more well-preserved the corpse, the clearer the death aura and the more complete the information. Passive, no mana cost.

[Resurrection of the Dead]: You can imbue a corpse with the Mark of the Dead, resurrecting it and making it a loyal servant. The more intact the corpse, the higher the success rate of resurrection. If the servant dies, [Resurrection of the Dead] will be forced into a 30-day cooldown. Quantity: 2/3. Cooldown: 1 day. Mana Cost: 10 points.

[Servant Enhancement]: You can enhance your servant's physique. The lower the servant's physique, the higher the success rate and the greater the improvement. Cooldown: 30 days. Mana Cost: 10.

[Touch of Pain]: You can inflict immense pain upon contact with the target. Duration: 1 hour (can be canceled early). Cooldown: 1 day. Mana Cost: 1.

[Magic Hand]: You can release a tentacle made of magic, which can freely switch between reality and illusion. Maximum range: 4 meters. Magic consumption: 1 point of magic is consumed every 10 seconds, with a minimum consumption of 1.

[Desire Manipulation]: You can sense the desires within the target's soul and amplify or reduce multiple desires at once. Mana cost: 5.

******

【Desire Manipulation】is a significant departure from the original 【Desire Ignition】 version.

[Ignite Desire]: You can sense the desires within the target's soul and amplify them. Mana cost: 3.

Change can be good or bad.

The advantage is that it allows you to manipulate multiple desires at once and amplify or reduce them to a certain extent, which makes the skill effect more controllable.

The downside is that magic consumption increases, making its use more costly.

"Give it a try!" Richard looked at Debbie.

Desire-driven manipulation, activate!

Minimize sadness to the extreme, and maximize exhaustion.

A strange light flashed in Richard's pupils.

Debbie suddenly felt extremely tired.

She held Richard's waist, feeling very warm.

Sleepiness washed over Debbie like a tidal wave.

A few seconds later, soft snoring could be heard.

Unexpectedly, I also received a hypnotic technique.

Today was very fruitful.

Not only did they completely solve the big problem of Mike, but they also remained uninvolved, successfully shifting the blame onto Marcus and the BG gang.

Most importantly, it is about advancing from "igniting desire" to "manipulating desire".

Richard put Debbie on the bed, covered her with the blanket, closed the door, and went back downstairs.

Catherine glanced at him:

"How is it?"

Richard walked to the window:

"She's asleep. She should feel much better after a good night's sleep."

Catherine paused for a moment:

"It seems Debbie trusts you a lot."

Richard pulled the curtains open a crack and looked out the window.

Mike won't be coming to monitor us anymore.

Instead, a group of reporters, armed with various types of cameras, aimed at the house, attempting to capture a newsworthy photograph, shamelessly profiting from the tragedy.

What a terrible industry!

Richard drew the curtains.

The room quieted down, with only the soft sounds of Catherine cooking and the aroma of the food remaining.

Richard opened the book and began to read, feeling an immense sense of peace.

Catherine was cooking, Debbie was sleeping, and she was reading a book; they were as peaceful as a family.