《Master of the Stars》


 Chapter 1: Massive Earthquake

    Chapter 1: Massive Earthquake


    The nation of crows, the City of Xia, had just entered the end of autumn.


    These ugly and intelligent life forms were the true masters of this city. They gathered upon the rows of trees, and with coarse, raspy monotone voices, made fun of the scurrying travelersing to and fro.


    Kah! Kah! Get screwed!


    Underneath the spoke-shaped cloud-filled skies, they would asionally unt their superior flying techniques.


    The majority of the travelers held unsightly expressions as if their parents had died. They red with expressions of hate at the circling shadows above and at the strange formation of mist higher above.


    The skies of the City of Xia was covered by this mist upon entering the end of the ninth month. An approximate total of six grade three, three grade four, and five grade two earthquakes had happened in under a week¡¯s worth of time.


    The magnitude and intensity of the earthquakes had yet to reach the limits to what the city could withstand, but the frail hearts of men were already rattled.


    Sound and electric waves permeated through the City Xia¡¯s atmosphere. Over half of the noise were of people shouting with all their might:


    Massive earthquake! Massive earthquake!


    Right when modern civilization entered into the 22nd Century, various experts and schrs spoke of this kind of ¡°social theory¡± openly, appearing in all sorts of media and reports.


    Luo Nan was somewhat influenced by this.


    He held under his arm a ck leather notebook that had never left his side, and he walked to the underground subway. At this time the band on his wrist vibrated, receiving a signal. His aunt Mrs. Luo Shuqing pelted him with words:


    ¡°Come back home at night! Your uncle already finished making dinner!¡±


    His Aunt had originally allowed him to live life independently, but due to the frequent earthquakes, she shredded their agreement and ordered over and over for him to return to their residence to take good care of the house.


    Luo Nan absolutely couldn¡¯t agree to this. He had painstakingly tested into Acumen College. Didn¡¯t he do that for days of freedom and independence? What¡¯s more was that he was at a critical juncture. Who knows what consequences would ur if he tarried for a day!


    The problem was that Luo Nan was never good with words; there wasn¡¯t a hint of persuasiveness in any of the arguments he brought up. The situation was bing colder and colder. His Aunt seemed to stare and reach out through the telephone to carry him home.


    Some information was sent over right when Luo Nan was getting a headache. Luo Nan just skimmed it over, and he secretly eximed a breath in luck. He hurriedly added another counterpoint: ¡°I have to prepare for an interview tomorrow with a society......¡±


    ¡°Interview? With which society?¡±


    ¡°Hic! The Mystic Arts Research Society.¡±


    ¡°Mystic Arts?¡±


    Madam Luo Shuqing was somewhat suspicious. Soon she called off to some corner:


    ¡°Mo Ya! Mo Ya!¡±


    A somewhat hoarse voice, with a uniquelyzy tone, entered the conversation not too longter. This was Luo Nan¡¯s older female cousin Mo Ya. She had just graduatedst year from Acumen College.


    ¡°The Mystic Arts Research Society eh? I know them. Rumor has it that they have a lot of money and that their members are quite impulsive.¡±


    Luo Shuqing hated this attitude of her daughter the most, rebuking her on the spot: ¡°Talk properly!¡±


    Mo Yaughed with a ¡°Ha!¡± and said: ¡°Your ¡®dear son¡¯ is in a bad situation. School starts in a month, and he¡¯s still interviewing. Clearly, he¡¯s a misfit! Major things flow together in Acumen University and western thought is very critical there. First, school credits are cut if one doesn¡¯t live in a society. And even when going to the next grade, it will be hard to find an academic advisor with good things to say in a letter of rmendation......¡±


    From this manner of speaking, which was like pouring oil on the fire, the mother-daughter war ignited once again in a sh. The focus of conflict shifted, allowing for the Luo Nan of over a hundred kilometers away to escape unscathed.


    Luo Nan had been standing in his own family¡¯s living room for nearly half an hour by now. The sky had already turned dark and the living room lights automatically lit up, casting his figure to the window of a high-rise apartment building across the street.


    Luo Nan spoke amand to cause the window curtains to close automatically.


    But right at this moment, a dark shadow passed through the nearly closed curtain and fell onto the open balcony. It used its thick beak to part open the sliding ss door. It walked inside, strutting, in apletely free and leisurely manner.


    This uninvited fellow was a typical Corvus Frugilegus or Rook. Its entire body was jet-ck aside from its ashen white beak. It looked to be thick, solid, and well-built, appearing to berger than its kind by a factor. Its feathers fluctuated between a deep ck and a hidden blue under the soft lighting.


    It strolled around in the room for a few steps. It leaped onto a small coffee table in the living room with a shake of its wings and immediately leaned forward with its body. A sealed ss test tube the size of a thumb slipped out from its thick beak and fell onto the coffee table. Arge amount of white powder was inside the tube.


    Having spat out the foreign object in its throat, the crow satfortably for a long time. It showed off its bright and clear voice:


    ¡°Kua! Kua!¡±


    ¡°Ink! Shut up!¡±


    The cries of this crow would spell disaster in this sealed empty room. Luo Nan chided the crow quickly, grabbed the test tube to clean, and took out a cooked strip of meat prepared beforehand to stuff up the crow¡¯s beak.


    This crow named Ink was still able tomunicate quite well. It ate in a very elegant fashion and even used its wing to indicate to Luo Nan to pour for it some water.


    There was also a dinner ced on the dining table to the side. The fragrance was nothing to write home about, keeping perfectly in line with the monotonousbor of a home artificial intelligence. The important thing was that the quantity of food was sufficient; it was enough to fill 3-5 people without a problem. Luo Nan disyed a first ss superhuman appetite and ate at astonishing speeds. Coincidentally, he finished eating at the same time as Ink.


    After Ink drank and ate its fill, it simply squeezed out of the sliding door window, pped its wings, and flew away.


    Luo Nan tidied up the cups and dishes. His wristband vibrated once again, right before he wanted to enter the study. This time it was his cousin Mo Ya who contacted him. Mo Ya and her mother werepletely carved from the same mold; she pelted him with words:


    ¡°How are you going to thank me for this time?¡±


    ¡°Hic! Thanks, sister.¡±


    ¡°Tsk. You don¡¯t even know how to exchange pleasantries!¡±


    Mo Ya knew that Luo Nan talked awkwardly, so she didn¡¯t press further. She cut directly to the chase by asking: ¡°Was that Mystic Arts Research Society suggested by other people, or did you go for it on your own ord?¡±


    ¡°I chose it myself......¡±


    ¡°Do you know what kind of ce it is?¡±


    Luo Nan thought for a bit and answered simply: ¡°It has the characteristics of being half a society and half a research institution. Its strength is robust from its private funding. There is a high degree of autonomy whenpared to the college.¡±


    Mo Ya sneered: ¡°Doesn¡¯t that appear awesome?¡±


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t know how to respond for some time.


    Mo Ya reminded him: ¡°That ce is the yground for the children of the wealthy. The core members formed their own circle. They research a few fantastical oddities each day to kill time. Normal students of families would be low-level workers no matter where they go. So this ce looks quite beautiful. But it¡¯s only beautiful for those in that circle. It has nothing to do with studies or technical skill......¡±


    Luo Nan interrupted Mo Ya¡¯s lecture: ¡°Experiments can be done there.¡±


    Mo Ya dragged out her voice sighing, ¡°Ohhhh, looks likes you¡¯ve been experimenting more and more crazily. But dear brother, you should go to a physics or chemistry rted interest society if you want to do experiments.¡±


    Luo Nan responded calmly: ¡°Those societies require you to go through a period of internship. I¡¯ve already acquired the relevant skills from middle school. I don¡¯t need to do this kind of work that I¡¯ve already done again.¡±


    ¡°The Mystic Arts Research Society is fine with that?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I looked at their intro package and also the school forums. It¡¯s the only society where aplete newbie can start an experiment freely and independently. And there¡¯s a lot of resources that touch on the field of psychotropic drugs, which is precisely what I need.¡±


    Mo Ya sneered: ¡°An unskilled worker can start his own independent experiment?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s fine for a skilled worker. It would be quite wonderful if the boss is an amateur.¡±


    The usually sharped tongued Mo Ya was actually stifled by these words from Luo Nan. It took a few seconds before she could open her mouth:


    ¡°Alright, Mr. Skilled Worker. I just want to remind you of something. You will bebeled as a misfit for sure if you were to switch societies in Acumen College. The following four years...... Oh wait, you¡¯re in the 10th grade. Then you will have plenty of time to regret your decision for the next eight years.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    Luo Nan¡¯s response caused Mo Ya to sneer: ¡°Alrighty. Let¡¯s talk about the issue with the reward.¡±


    ¡°Reward?¡±


    ¡°I staved off a bullet for you without regards for my own safety. You think a simple thanks would be enough?¡±


    ¡°Hic! What do you want?¡±


    ¡°Lend that apartment of yours to me for a night to host a small party.¡±


    Luo Nan hesitated: ¡°Which day?¡±


    ¡°20 dayster, the 15th of next month......¡±


    ¡°19 days.¡±


    ¡°......Fine then. 19 days. I don¡¯t need you to prepare anything special. All you need to do is to hide and remove your shameful stuff. I¡¯ll fix up what¡¯s left.¡±


    Luo Nan calcted the time: ¡°Shouldn¡¯t be a problem. Remind me 5 days earlier though, to give me a heads-up reminder.¡±


    ¡°Not cool. Well, that¡¯s how it is.¡±


    The call was hung up by the other side. Luo Nan started to get a headache from thinking of finding a ce to temporarily relocate to 19 dayster.


    Although things were this way, he was still grateful for Mo Ya. If it weren¡¯t for his older female cousin covering up for him for several years, how would he have been able to continue with his dangerous experiments under the eyes of his Aunt?


    Luo Nan shook his head, making a decision. He¡¯ll think about all this stuff tomorrow.


    It was presently 2096 AD, September 26th, 19:22. The fruitless day was finally over. Luo Nan weed the precious and tranquil time of night.


    He walked into the study. A ck leather suitcase was standing upright on the cable. It had a decent size to it and looked rather towering.


    Luo Nan submitted his fingerprint and entered in the password, causing the suitcase lid to open up with a low thin hiss. Tools and instruments wereid orderly inside. Layers andyers of shelves were lifted up. The extension of each shelf was like the spreading of flower petals. They entered one by one into prefixed positions.


    The desk had transformed instantaneously into a simple yetprehensive workbench.


    Luo Nan took out a medical cooler from the bookshelf, cing the cooler on the table. Various raw drug materials were seen encapsted inside upon opening the cooler. The white powder brought by Ink was subjected to a series of tests and was added amongst the drug materials upon confirmation of its validity.


    All the materials he needed for this night of work were here at this point. All his instruments were ready...... Well at least all those he could acquire and prepare.


    Luo Nan took a deep breath having finished with preparations. He opened a hidden drawer to the side of the desk and took out an old-fashioned notebook.


    This notebook had a brown cover. It had the same design as the notebook he always carried with him; they were both loose-leaf notebooks. However through wear and tear over countless years, a great amount of inked writing was affected, the brown leather notebook seemed to be somewhat separating, and there was even swelling on the outer skin. The insides alsocked a flexible e-ink screen.


    Luo Nan ced his own notebook to the side and opened the brown notebook very carefully.


    A properly hand-drawn diagram could be seen in the center of the very first page. It appeared to consist of several shapes from geometry ss. There was a pyramid, or a more urate description would be a tetrahedron, with an inscribed sphere and a circumscribed sphere. Together they formed apletely wless structure.


    There were hand-scrawled writings beneath this diagram. Four flowing and linked uses were written:


    My heart¡¯s a prison, my heart¡¯s a furnace;


    My heart calls for a lens, my heart calls for the nation.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t dare state that he understood the true meaning of this diagram and its following words. But every time he flipped to this page and read these words attentively to himself, all the messy thoughts in his head would settle down, causing his heart and mind to naturally be clear and tranquil.


    Luo Nan stayed on this page for a few seconds, then he started flipping towards the back of the book. He was searching for relevant content and keywords for the drug synthesis preparation amongst the densely packed words and sentences. He was totally engrossed in the profound sentences andplicated molecr forms:


    ¡°Reduction, substitution, simplification...... Grandpa,e on and help me out!¡±


    Time passed abruptly as he muttered to himself in a low voice.


    The lights outside the window had already gone out. And all this time in front of the workbench, Luo Nan¡¯s attention was focused back and forth between his notebook and his instruments for his experiment. He followed the data in his notebook, increasing doses of various raw drug materials.


    He only took a two-hour nap during this time frame; he slept for approximately two hours during the slow reaction phase.


    It was 3:15 in the early morning when he added in the final drop of solution. The turbid liquid started to boil violently in the reaction receptacle. Its color began to slowly change as well.


    Luo Nan stared attentively at the transparent receptacle that seemed to be on the verge of exploding; he was confirming if the reaction was the one he wanted. It took two minutes before he stretched his somewhat stiff neck and began cleaning up the stuff on hisb bench. At the same time, he muttered some data for recording:


    ¡°Stock of Dimethyltryptamine: 0, Stock of Cathinone: 0, Stock of MMDA: 2 mmg. Stock of Cetilistat: 5 mmg......¡±


    The self-operating notebook was spread out on theb bench and it followed his words. The opened flexible e-ink screen flickered and glimmered. The recorded tables on the interface automatically changed to the relevant data. The majority stock of drugs had already been depleted to zero, or they were rapidly approaching zero.


    Luo Nan cleaned up the waste, which consisted mainly of the packaged containers for these drugs. He took what could be reused and he washed and sterilized them, and he gathered what could not be recycled. It took approximately half an hour for his small work bench to be restored back to its orderly and pristine state.


    The light green drug in the reaction receptacle had been cooling slowly after a period of boiling. Having reached this step, he could basically determine that his efforts of this night had not been wasted.


    Anyway, he had made a brief recording in his brown notebook: ¡°Q-11R has disyed several instances of peripheral neuritis; Q-27R has disyed allergic symptoms and is on the verge of death. No abnormalities are disyed in other test subjects...... They possess substitute effects fundamentally, making it hard to determine side effects.¡±


    Luo Nan shook his head, guessing that the time was still off. He swiped on the flexible screen and went to his often-frequented ¡°Secret Star¡± forums online.


    Even though it was very early in the morning, the night owls of the forum were still engaging in bustling debate and discussion.


    At the center of the contention was precisely the City Xia.


    The recent period of earthquakes in the City of Xia set off waves and waves in this discussion forum, which was full of those that nted towards the study of mystics and mysteries. Many people were discussing the causes of the earthquakes. Be it the geology structure, resonance in tectonic tes, a leak in pneuma....... Any sort of fantastically odd topics were talked about.


    There were even those who solemnly swear that there had been a corporation running secret experiments in City Xia recently, that it was quite likely that the corporation was the source of the frequent earthquakes.


    Luo Nan did not have even an ounce of interest in these boring topics. He was only concerned about two points:


    One. Will the earthquakes affect his experiments?


    Two. As the panic-stricken situation bes more and more intense, wouldn¡¯t his Aunt forcefully haul him home!?


    Luo Nan inputted his customary user role password and was ready to log into the discussion boards in the forums. But a warning jumped popped up on the website: ¡°You don¡¯t have sufficient privileges. Please submit an authentication request to the administrator.¡±


    Luo Nan was dazed, then he smacked his forehead lightly. Yep. He had been shadowbanned to the small ck house. The justification for his ban was quite simple: All his posts on purchasing were thought to be bait from a police sting operation.


    This was a new rule set in the forums half a month ago after the police destroyed a multinational illegal drug inte deal. Talk of the rule was tightly concealed. Luo Nan was identally at the end of a smoking gun.


    It was no big deal to have his ID banned, but the annoying thing was having his drug distribution channel severed.


    Looking at his current stockpile of raw drug materials, soon he wouldn¡¯t be able to continue with his experiments even if Mrs. Luo Shuqing were to do nothing. And, the majority of the fifty types of drugs hemonly used were all part of the regted directory of psychotropic drugs. A minor would never be able to purchase them from a pharmacy.


    Could it be that he now needs to walk the ¡°ck Line¡±?


    While it was true that this distribution channel of the Secret Star discussion forum was illegal, its supply chain history was actually quite reliable. Quite a lot of them were ¡°external transactions¡± by factory owners. It could barely count as a ¡°business¡±, in regards to avoiding the strict regtion of psychotropic drugs.


    As for the ¡°ck Line¡±, the quality of the test sample brought by Ink today was eptable. But trading goods on the ck Line was a very serious crime. Every part of it was closely linked to organized crime...... To speak inly, they¡¯re a bunch of drug traffickers!


    Therefore~...... Whenpared to dealing with drug traffickers, what was the big deal with entering the Mystic Arts Research Society as an unskilled worker? He was not hopeful of acquiring raw materials from the society, but rather of acquiring an advanced distribution channel. Then it would be worth it.


    Finally, the liquid inside the reaction receptacle stopped boiling, cooling off rapidly.


    Luo Nan collected his wandering thoughts on the spot. He opened a valve to allow the drug to flow into an already-prepared needle-less syringe. Then he immediately injected arge quantity of the psychotropic drug mixture into a vein in his arm.


    There wasn¡¯t even a trace of change in his expression from start to end.


    Next, Luo Nan finished cleaning hisbware & instruments. Then he pressed down on a button, causing the ck suitcase to return to its original state. Only then did he tear off hisb gloves and ce his brown notebook super carefully in the hidden drawer. He hid the cooler inside the bookcase and went to the bathroom to wash up.


    It was exactly 4 o¡¯clock. Luo Nan changed to a sports hat and tank top. He sped the ck notebook that had never left his side under his arm, walked out the front door, and started his strict morning run to adhere to his schedule.

 Chapter 2: A Major Problem

    Chapter 2: A Major Problem


    The majority of the city remained asleep in darkness, allowing for the neon street lights to embellish the city. The glowing haze of the city scattered towards the sky, reflecting a pattern of mist that overflowed with ominousness.


    The massive earthquakes had yet to stop. Luckily the crows were experts at sleeping quietly on the tree tops, maintaining the proper quiet mornings.


    On top of arge tree near a high-rise apartment, Ink reacted and opened its eyes. It watched Luo Nan run by beneath the tree, then it closed its eyes and dozed off again.


    In the giant metropolis that is the City of Xia, maic rails passed between skyscrapers and skyscrapers. Overhead walkways, green promenades, and moving walkways were linkeding and going. It was like being under the leafy spiraling vines of a dense forest.


    Luo Nan was like a tiny little bug that breathed in and swallowed the early morning dew. He trekked forward step by step in this forest.


    His lips were slightly closed. His throat, oral cavity, and nasal cavity were vibrating fully to create a sound. It sounded like the buzzing of the vibrating wings of a bug.


    Actually, Luo Nan was reciting the words ¡°My heart¡¯s a prison, my heart¡¯s a furnace; my heart calls for a lense, my heart calls for the nation¡± over and over. He was only able to produce this bizarre sound by linking the mere sybles, omitting themas, and mixing it all with his breathing.


    asionally there were other people who had woken up for a morning run. They would slip past his body, be puzzled from hearing his sound, and turn around to size him up. He concentrated on going forward all this time, maintaining his speed and tempo at a rtively smooth pace.


    After continuing to exercise for an hour, Luo Nan turned and stepped onto a moving walkway to cross the wide space between two skyscrapers. This was his pre-scheduled rest stop. Though he paused his exercise, he still continued to chant without end.


    His breathing could still be considered smooth. The long period of time he spent creating that resonating sound resulted in an oxygen starved symptom; his inner skull was swelling faintly. But the counteracting spreading drug that was gradually umting in his system had yet to be effective.


    The drug he had injected before he left his home just started to exhibit its effects one by one with itsposition of psychotropics.


    In reality, any ordinary person, even drug addicts of many years, would instantaneously have their nervous system in disorder and die within the shortest time frame upon intravenous injection of this dosage, which wasposed of high purity psychotropics.


    However, Luo Nan underwent constant adjustment of doses andposition to tolerate it, gradually injecting nearly two-thousand doses over the course of five-or-so years. Luo Nan¡¯s outer appearance was exactly no different from an ordinary person. Inside, the structure of his nervous system had already disyed subtle and deep changes.


    He was still alive. Furthermore, he could feel the serious changes to his body.


    Aposition exceeding twenty different types of psychotropics broke through the membrane of his blood-brain barrier. The psychotropics, like over twenty incorporeal des, aimed against different neuron targets and began to sculpt and modify the neurons.


    This kind of ¡°sculpting¡± was bound to be rough and intense.


    The brain itself cannot feel pain. But under the influence of the drug, dopamine, norepinephrine, glutamic acid, neurotensin, and dozens of hundreds of other neurotransmitters were released by the brain like a tide of information. They acted on everyyer of skin, every internal organ, and every nook and corner by means of neurotransmission.


    How indescribable was this type of feeling? Luo Nan also did not wish to describe it. All he could say was that it was much better than his very first appearance when his body had spasmed uncontrobly, when he had incontinence, and when he even had lung failure.


    Obviously, he would have to pay the price to have thousands of generations of change on the basic structure of his human body within a short handful of years.


    Luo Nan¡¯s mind had long since been calm.


    He closed his eyes and increased his concentration on his chanting and breathing.


    Luo Nan¡¯s grandfather had passed this chanting and breathing technique to him. Nominally, this technique was an ¡°aid¡± to his drug sculpting. Afterall, how could a human¡¯s willpower control the changes that go on the cellr level?


    So Luo Nan continued to believe that the primary function of this technique was to maintain a concentrated mental state and activate the energy of his blood. Furthermore, it was a visualization technique that nted towards the mystic arts.


    Luo Nan¡¯s eyes were closed as he matched the ¡°Twenty Word Chant¡± with the diagram. The tetrahedron, the inscribed sphere, and circumscribed sphere appeared clearly in his mind, revolving in the center. Eachyer rotated before his very eyes.


    Luo Nan opened his eyes approximately ten secondster, taking a long breath.


    The visualized diagram revolved smoothly. Everything was going well.


    Luo Nan had traveled only half the distance on the moving walkway before he rxed his consciousness. He sized up the city in this early morning. The nightclub street of the City Xia was not too far away.


    Many people say that the life of the City Xia doesn¡¯tpletely awaken until midnight. The lingering aftertaste could be felt in the early morning. The sunny day, however, was just the period when the machinery was recharging. Under eachmp in this enormous and crowded metropolis, people were all set free to this yground of pleasure. The most flourishing nightclub area was a particr example of this.


    There were guys and girls under the neon lights right at this moment. They stumbled and staggered out from the nightclubs with messy clothes. Some people up front were a bit slow, and the back ones crashed into the front, like cars. Sounds of people falling and rolling into a blob could be heard. It was like a wiggling fat warm that couldn¡¯t crawl its way up no matter how it tried.


    They didn¡¯t get angry. They just stayed there pushing and pulling against one another,ughing and giggling. Clearly, they had been partying all night long, exhausting all of their energy. Only the excess secreted dopamine continued to transmit between neurons.


    They engaged in wanton indulgence in this manner. It was as if they were saying: Look! This is how the youth ought to live their life!


    Amidst the chaos, a luxurious flying car descended in autonomous mode, slid across the street, and parked to the side. Typical vertical doors opened elegantly.


    Atst, there was a rather tall man who was able to struggle free and climb up from the squirming body of humans. He seemed to have kissed every woman in his surroundings within this time frame. While hispanions wereughing and cursing, he grabbed the long leg of a nearby young woman and headed to the car half dragging half carrying her.


    The face of this man just happened to be illuminated clearly and distinctly by the bright neonmps of the nightclub street. As it turned out, Luo Nan recognized this person.


    ¡°Oh! it¡¯s him...... I bet he would make a good subject.¡±


    Luo Nan¡¯s heart stirred and he observed the group of guys and girls more seriously. Thirty secondster, he brought out the never-leaving-his-side loose-leaf notebook and he drew out an approximate sketch of the area at high speeds on a page of the flexible e-ink screen using a digital pen.


    The moving-walkway had transported Luo Nan for 75 seconds. He had several dozen seconds remaining, excluding the time that was consumed before. The lines had formed a crisscross mess of a sketch under Luo Nan¡¯s pen in this time frame. Hecked all intention of continuing, so he waited for the moving-walkway to bring him to its end. Then he put away his pen, swept his gaze downward, and directly left.


    When he had turned his head he actually saw that man who had triggered the idea of drawing. Somehow the man had actually noticed his existence. The man just happened to raise his head to look nkly at him.


    The gazes of these two people intertwined and crossed through the void. Luo Nan was unperturbed; he continued chanting those unbroken sybles, which formed the sound of the vibrating wings of an insect, and he proceeded with his running exercise.


    The few distant noises that permeated over were naturally filtered out and discarded.


    Xie Junping felt that he was about to go crazy.


    His throat tearing cries didn¡¯t bring about any sort of effect. The figure on the moving-walkway still left without looking back.


    To the side, his party friends and friends with benefits were still giggling andughing under the stimting effects of chemicalpounds. Juicy-Long-Legs of a moment ago, who was by every means pleasing to the eye, wrapped herself around his waist and giggled. She fumbled around trying to undo his belt.


    Xie Junping really went crazy now.


    ¡°GET LOST!¡±


    He pushed away Juicy-Long-Legs by force. He rammed his way into the car and locked the car door without regards to the shouts of the crowd of trash outside. At this moment his HoloFilm contact lenses, produced by the Quantum Corporation, were performing simple analysis on the data it had collected just now, mapping the result on his retina.


    The ¡°photo snatcher¡± on the overhead walkway appeared as an instantaneous photoshoot picture, revealing a fuzzy tilted face. Circled in red on the sports clothes was the Acumen College¡¯s crest, a plum blossom and bamboo pattern.


    Shortlyter the AI of his ¡°Phantom¡± car also analyzed the data recorded automatically from its surrounding environment as part of its security system. Passes of analysis were sent back.


    This was much clearer than the picture that was taken in urgency. Luck had nothing to do with this result.


    When Xie Junping saw the hooded ¡°photo snatcher¡± drawing and writing in a notebook in its hands, he smashed down on the steering wheel with a fist.


    The flying car honked, causing the fool who was rapping against his window to fall backward in shock. Before the fool¡¯s butt could hit the ground, the flying car had started up in a sh and took off with a whistle.


    He was seen! He was seen!


    Xie Junping smacked his own head ruthlessly. If this was a different time period, it wouldn¡¯t be a problem no matter what problems arise in the private life of a well-connected son of a wealthy family. But nowadays the situation was different.


    He should be in the bordering city Mangzhong as he was responsible for a disaster-relief humanitarian aid operation, ording to his society. True,st night he was really at Mangzhong. But he had snuck out of his team for the sake of joining this crazy party. He had snuck out and drove his car for several hundred kilometers to rush back to Xia City. His original n was to return immediately back when the party ended. But who could have expected that he would be caught red-handed by a student from his school?


    Right now he was striving for the senior medal of the Honor Society. And he wanted to try going one step further in the Student Council. It was the key period of time for him to establish a position in the circle; aka he was going for the ¡°general election.¡±


    Lying, destroying trust, and hypocrisy would all admittedly be necessary qualities asked of a standard politician. But if the politician were to be exposed, then it would simply be fatal. A fatal stupidity!


    What¡¯s more was the continuous earthquakes happening in Xia City at the present. The populous was in a state of rm. Everyone¡¯s mental tolerance was on the decline. Things that wouldn¡¯t be a problem normally would be problems now. The small problems in the past would be major problems today!


    Yep. Major problems would appear!


    The car¡¯s telephone rang. The one calling was the party friend from just then. Xie Junping had walked away too hastily; he had neglected to handle many things. He picked up at once, and the indistinct and fuzzy voice of Lian Yu scolded through foremost:


    ¡°Xie Junping. You bastard!¡±


    A strangeughter wasing from his party friend as background noise.


    Xie Junping closed his eyes. Yep. He had actually forgotten about..... Lian Yu. She was the slut who wanted to undo his belt just then. Actually, she already had a master; her real boyfriend was also a member of the same Honor Society!


    ¡°Give me control!¡±


    Xie Junping pounded the steering wheel heavily again. His strength was strong enough for the car¡¯s AI to give him a warning. But after he vented this time, he finally recovered somewhat of a clear head from his hangover and confusion.


    Calm! Need to be calm! As long as the evidence wasn¡¯t immediately uploaded to the inte, exposing him, there would always be a chance to retrieve the evidence.


    He strived to keep his manner of speaking calmly as he spoke in a low voice: ¡°Lian Yu. Go wash up. I have something I need to talk to you about......¡±


    Lian Yu spoke still drunk: ¡°Xie Junping, you son of a......¡±


    ¡°Go wash up! NOW!¡± Xie Junping roared loudly. He shattered the car¡¯s phone call in hate.


    The rage of the emperor leaves a million corpses; the rage of a warrior leaves blood flowing for five paces!


    However, the other side merely hung up the phone. Xie Junping could only rage as an ordinary person and m his head towards the ground......


    His head mmed against the steering wheel. Xie Junping forced himself to calm down. Actually, he knew himself quite well. He knew that he was pretty much an ordinary person. His intelligence and abilities were so so. He was at most able to have some level of social connections because of precisely his family backgroundwork working behind the scenes.


    But he was able to reach this expert cloud-reaching stage at Acumen College. How was he able to make it here to this very day? He acted as a quality boss. He took professional matters and gave them over to professionals to handle, offering them appropriate remuneration..... He relied on professionals!


    Xie Junping mmed against the steering wheel again. He was entwined damnedplicatedly with this woman Lian Yu. Aside from ying around with men, what sort of professional achievements had she disyed?


    His thought process cleared up quickly. He immediately threw Lian Yu into the back of his mind and dialed a different number. The idle ring back tone was a tender female voice:


    ¡°Hello. Hidden Indigo¡¯s Business Office is at your service. Our working hours are weekdays before 9:00 and after 17:00; As for holidays and vacations, the cost of services will be calcted as overtime. You are hereby informed. Thank-you for your cooperation.¡±


    Xie Junping rolled his eyes.


    A short timeter, the pre-recorded voice changedpletely to the sound of apletely different clear, bright, and energetic voice: ¡°Long time no see. Hello, sucker.¡±


    Xie Junping was overpowered by this name-calling in an instant. He wanted to refute her butcked the confidence. All he could do was speak through gritted teeth: ¡°This must be Yingying. Good morning. Boss Wu¡¯s not there?¡±


    ¡°Eh? You really want to see the boss?¡±


    ¡°...... No no no. Having you is fine. Having you is fine!¡± Xie Junping pped his head ruthlessly. Today he really drank himself retarded to be angry with this crazyss!


    ¡°That¡¯s right~ Any matter you tell me would be the same as telling the boss. Anyway, it doesn¡¯t matter who it is, you¡¯re still going to be ripped-off! Hehe!¡±


    Xie Junping wanted to eat the car¡¯sputer. But now was not the time to be bothered. He could only go straight to the point: ¡°Today I brought some trouble upon myself. I need your help to handle this.¡±


    He described what had happened earlier with the greatest speed. At the same time, he sent over the recording he had snatched to provide them with further analysis.


    Ying Ying soon replied: ¡°A photo snatcher? Should I admire your empty skull for a moment?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a snatched photo?¡±


    ¡°The one standing on the moving-walkway. Wasn¡¯t he waiting for you toe out of the night club, and then he took a picture?¡±


    ¡°Hic!......¡± Xie Junping¡¯s voice was jammed instantly.


    Even though he was criticized very harshly, there was no need to doubt the professionalism of Hidden Blue. Approximately half a minuteter, Ying Ying sent over a set of geographic coordinates.


    ¡°We should first perform a verification regardless of anything else. Without takingplicated factors in consideration, if this person was merely passing by, he should be the type that does early morning runs. Also since today¡¯s not a holiday the end of his run should be at Acumen College. Go here to wait and see.¡±


    Xie Junping felt that the logic was sound. He immediately turned the flying car and entered into another maic rail to increase his speed. He drove the car and arrived at the destination indicated by Ying Ying approximately five minutester. This was a pedestrian overpass located in the high-tech R&D district. It was a very good area. It was also one of the main nodes that lead to the college. Early morning jogger enthusiasts found it hard to refuse this route.


    The flying car parked at the northernmost end of the bridge. What followed was waiting. Xie Junping found it hard to be at ease and not be fretful. A formatted chart appeared on his retina at the moment. This was the profile of an individual pulled from Acumen College¡¯s database.


    The electronic image disyed a youngster who appeared very calm and reserved. He could be considered handsome with that smilecking face.

 Chapter 3: Notebook

    Chapter 3: Notebook


    ¡°This is your said ¡®photo snatcher.¡¯¡±


    Yingying provided a short analysis of the data: ¡°Luo Nan. 16 Years Old. Entered Acumen College this year on September 1st. His admissions scores were average. Teacher assessments from elementary school to middle school don¡¯t mention anything notable. He¡¯s very ordinary.¡±


    Xie Junping only cared for a certain point: ¡°So he¡¯s not really the ¡®paparazzi¡¯ type?¡±


    Yingying didn¡¯t respond directly; she continued analyzing the data: ¡°What¡¯s rtively noteworthy is that his aunt is written as his guardian on the form. As for his parents... let me look that up. His mother passed away due to a difficult birth. His father had gone missing long ago. How strange. There¡¯s still difficult births in this day and age?¡±


    ¡°Do you mean that......¡±


    ¡°The circumstances he grew up in is rtively unusual. There should be some entricities to his character. We need to observe further. Release your vehicle ess privileges right now and turn on the surveince system. I want to observe with you.¡±


    Xie Junping immediately followed her instructions. Shortly after he synchronized the data with Yingying, Luo Nan¡¯s steady jogging figure appeared on the sloped top of the overpass.


    Right now the sky was only in twilight. The distant figure waspletely blurry. Fortunately, the flying car Phantom¡¯s surveince system had gone through special customization to possess stronger detection and anti-detection capabilities. It was due to the automatic warning of the car¡¯s AI that Xie Junping was able to discover that his photo was snatched


    Xie Junping observed the photo snatcher¡¯s every movement through the surveince system. But he was unable to see make out anything.


    Actually, Zhang Yingying had already reached an initial verdict on her side: ¡°Congrats to you sucker! I can basically conclude that he did not target you specifically.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°Do you hear the sound of his breathing?¡±


    From fifty meters away, the muttering of the target could be recovered through the surveince systems powerful acoustic gathering and filtering capabilities. The sound of the morning runner¡¯s breathing was no exception to this.


    ¡°Hic! That buzzing is his breathing?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it like the sound of a bee? It should be a special breathing technique, and there¡¯s also a special chant. The specifics effects are unclear; maybe there isn¡¯t an effect at all. His lung capacity is only slightly better than that of an ordinary person. But he¡¯s in a state of extreme concentration. Look at his expression with that bright glow. Tsk tsk......Would one who harbors the malicious thoughts of snatching a picture really put forth the effort into exercising after doing so?¡±


    Xie Junping¡¯s anxious mood finally received relief. A smile was unconsciously revealed on his face.


    But right at this moment when Luo Nan made his way down the highest point of the overpass, Luo Nan¡¯s gaze suddenly deviated. Looking at the image cast by the surveince system, Luo Nan was looking directly at Xie Junping.


    The screen was unidirectional. Those outside the car can¡¯t see inside, but Xie Junping was still given a scare.


    ¡°Did he discover us?¡±


    ¡°Your Phantom is way too eye-catching. And furthermore, he¡¯s way keener than I imagined.¡±


    Yingying seemed to be interested: ¡°He must have sensed something. However, it doesn¡¯t seem like his expression has changed. He¡¯s not the type to wear his heart on his sleeve. This type of person has many thoughts running in their head; they¡¯re the type to have schemes. But for him to be able to maintain his concentration means that his willpower is higher than normal. Oh right. Speaking of willpower, I just found something very interesting. Do you want to hear?¡±


    Xie Junping watched Luo Nan move closer step by step. He was currently in a mess trying to figure out what to do, how could he have the mood to leisurely listen.


    However, Yingying didn¡¯t give a damn about Xie Junping. She spoke, minding her own business:


    ¡°ording to his school profile, Luo Nan¡¯s household address is located in the River Wu District of the Blue Bay Community. The straight-line distance between Acumen College and his house is nearly forty kilometers. Obviously, this isn¡¯t a long distance if he rides the underground public transit, the metro, and so on, but he ran over here. That¡¯s a marathon a day! Using his lung capacity, breathing technique, and muscleposition as a basis for analysis... Each run is tantamount to peeling ayer of skin! If he runs like this everyday...... Oh dear dear, that¡¯s quite the self-getion.¡±


    ¡°Crap!¡± Merely thinking those thoughts caused Xie Junping to feel his scalp go numb.


    Yingying continued with her analysis: ¡°From his forementioned circumstances I¡¯ve determined that he shouldn¡¯t be the impulsive type, generally speaking. He won¡¯t make rash decisions in a situation of unknown circumstances. But if you give him a bad impression, or if you make him feel threatened... The consequences are hard to predict...... Well, get out of the car now.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t think you came here to just watch him run, did you? Please. Wouldn¡¯t that show that you fancy him? Get out of the car now and make conversation with him. Don¡¯t you always brag that you¡¯re an expert socializer? Or do you only have the characteristics of being a sucker?¡±


    He knew clearly she was goading him, but there isn¡¯t a guy anywhere who would p his own face in front of a girl. Xie Junping took a deep breath and patted his face to sober up a bit more from his hungover and murky state. Only then did he open the vertical doors of his Phantom and step outside.


    This time he was standing face-to-face with Luo Nan for reals.


    The distance between the two was approximately forty meters. Xie Junping brought forth the elegant demeanor of running for the student council. He waved towards Luo Nan from far away, sending him a greeting.


    Yingying¡¯s rang through the internal earbuds, seemingly ringing from the depths of his mind: ¡°Excellent, you look just like a dog. Pay attention. Don¡¯t give off a stinking air of pretension. Your current appearance is of a shameless degenerate, but you¡¯re still considered a straightforward yboy. Also, you need to be a bit more forthright. He¡¯s way smarter than you imagine.¡±


    It was as if Xie Junping had returned to the time when he was running for student council. He followed every step nned by his advisor and operated ording to the image he would present to voters. Luckily Yingying¡¯s request wasn¡¯t that difficult. It seemed that this performance came naturally to him.


    He saw Luo Nan slow down in front of him and stare directly over to him. It was unclear if Luo Nan¡¯s expression had changed; hecked the visible intention of responding. This made Luo Nan quite hard to pin down.


    Xie Junping decided to take the offensive initiative. He moved forward a few steps: ¡°Apologies to this schoolmate, I wish to have a chat with you.¡±


    Only when the distance between the two was within ten meters did Luo Nan tilt his head in greeting: ¡°Senior Xie.¡±


    Xie Junping¡¯s heart skipped a beat. He asked by reflex: ¡°You recognize me!?¡±


    Yingying¡¯s resentful voice sounded out: ¡°What are you panicking for!?¡±


    Luo Nan answered at practically the same time: ¡°The 24th. You¡¯ve participated in the senior-run society promotion and advice convention.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right. That really did happen.¡±


    Xie Junping scolded himself internally for the bad response. He started the conversation over with Luo Nan by asking a question he already knew the answer to: ¡°How should I address this junior?¡±


    ¡°Luo Nan.¡±


    ¡°Okay then. Junior Luo Nan. I¡¯m terribly sorry for disturbing your morning run, but there¡¯s something I need your help with. Yes. The awkward moment just then. I can¡¯t be out in public at the moment...... Can we talk in the car?¡±


    Yingying spoke in a soft patronizing voice: ¡°You wield that self-deprecating tone quite well.¡±


    Luo Nan thought about it and didn¡¯t refuse.


    Luo Nan squeezed into the car and sat shotgun. He ced the notebook on his knee and sat upright, giving the appearance of a well-behavedw-abiding student.


    Seeing how Luo Nan was quite cooperative, Xie Junping let out a breath of relief and returned sitting in the car.


    He followed Yingying¡¯s instructions and allowed the door to remain open, avoiding the mental implications created by a confined empty space. He even pulled out a performance drink from the mini fridge from the back seat and handed the drink over: ¡°Replenish yourself with some water.¡±


    ¡°Thanks Senior Xie.¡± Luo Nan¡¯s disyed distant manners from the very beginning. He took the drink, but he didn¡¯t open the can.


    Yingying raised some additional points: ¡°Retard. Stop beating around the bush. This type of person is quick thinking. Many thoughts run through his head. It would be troublesome if you make a mistake. You need to pay attention. You were too vague just then. What awkward incident? Directly say the time and ce!¡±


    Xie Junping immediately cut to the chase: ¡°Junior, forgive me for being presumptuous. I wish to ask if you were at the Dongxing Twin Towers¡¯ moving walkway approximately 10 minutes ago at around 5:00?¡±


    Luo Nan held the cold drink in his hand as he responded simply with: ¡°Yes Senior.¡±


    ¡°Hic! You saw mee out of the nightclub?¡±


    ¡°I saw.¡±


    Xie Junping smacked his forehead and put on an extremely vexed expression. Five minutes were spent inside the car acting, three minutes venting, and two minutes waiting for Yingying¡¯s instructions.


    Yingying did not disappoint him, delivering him instructions very quickly: ¡°He isn¡¯t deliberately taking the initiative. He responds whenever you ask him a question. It¡¯s highly probable that hecks some social abilities. He may not be inexperienced from what he¡¯s exhibited so far; he should put more of a value on a person¡¯s image. This type of person will likely be fine being persuaded, but not coerced. However, you also shouldn¡¯t straightforwardly talk about money.¡±


    Xie Junping understood in a second. He forced augh on the spot: ¡°Junior~ This senior has truly lost face today. I don¡¯t have any sort of excuses for this matter that happened. But right now we¡¯re in unusual times......¡±


    He pointed out the matter of him wishing to get the Honor Society¡¯s Senior Medal. Then he sped his hand together, faced Luo Nan, and acted out paying his respects. He spoke half exaggerated and half seriously:


    ¡°I know no matter how I say it, it may not seem authentic. But junior, can you turn a blind eye to this? Can you let me off this time? Reputation and the like really doesn¡¯t mean much to me. But as far as I¡¯m concerned that medal is very very important!¡±


    The performance that Xie Junping put on this time was absolutely top-notch. His attitude was very self-deprecating. The vulgar gangster smile of a yboy was on his face; his brazenness was protruding and the smile also dispelled some of the seriousness of the situation. He was refraining from rousing Luo Nan¡¯s greed, for that would lead to bigger problems.


    Luo Nan remained unperturbed from beginning to end: ¡°Senior you don¡¯t need to act this way. I¡¯m no gossip, and even more so, I don¡¯t talk behind peoples backs.¡±


    ¡°Hic! I trust my Junior. But in the information age with videos, photos, and the like, it¡¯s not really safe......¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t take a photo. I just felt that scene was rtively special so I drew a rough sketch as a souvenir.¡±


    Luo Nan opened his notebook as he spoke. The flexible e-ink screen lit up to let Xie Junping take a look at the work he had drawn.


    Xie Junping was slightly relieved when he saw the vague lines and shadows.


    Right before Xie Junping was about to speak, Yingying spoke suddenly: ¡°Get the notebook into your possession.¡±


    She had spoken too fast. Xie Junping thought he heard her say ¡°snatch¡±. He had a cold sweat from fright on the spot.


    Xie Junping was stunned for two seconds before he could find a pretext: ¡°Junior, you¡¯ve carried this notebook for the whole day. It looks quite inconvenient to do so. What special function does it have?¡±


    Xie Junping had spoken the truth. Luo Nan¡¯s loose-leaf notebookbined the flexible screen with conventional paper binding into a single form factor. It appeared that having a flexible screen would cause traditional pages to not be very useful. And if one were to use traditional pages instead, a flexible screen would also be superfluous.


    He reached out his hand as he spoke, adopting a curious investigating appearance. In truth, his heart was somewhat shaking with fear, fear that Luo Nan would get angry and bring forth another mess.


    Luo Nan was actually quite magnanimous. He handed over the loose-leaf notebook to Xie Junping¡¯s hands: ¡°This kind of notebook was very popr during the Third War. Charging facilities weren¡¯t everywhere in the chaos of war or in the deste countryside. It was quite easy for electronic goods to turn into garbage. Traditional paper products were more reliable than electronic products at the time. Also, the efficiency can be rapidly increased when manufacturing is abundant. The flexible screen can be swapped out at any time; its manufacturing costs aren¡¯t high.¡±


    ¡°Whoa. A product from the Third War Era...... Have they produced any in the past dozen of years?¡±


    This brought a smile to Luo Nan¡¯s face, causing his facial contours to be softer: ¡°My grandfather loved these types of notebooks the most back in the day. He had bought over a thousand books in one fell sweep. This one I¡¯m using is amongst those. And, my grandfather wrote in at least hundreds of simr notebooks. Each book was packed to the brim. But now I¡¯m unable to see the majority of them.¡±


    ¡°Wow! So it¡¯s an antique.¡± Xie Junping flipped the pages at random and saw that the majority of the space was white. Only parts of the pages were written with forms, numbers, and simple diagrams. It was like they were written down in passing and Xie Junping couldn¡¯t see through the history behind them.


    Xie Junping¡¯s attention was primarily on the flexible screen. The drawing software was still running so he swiped with his finger, switching through page after page. He blurted out asking:


    ¡°Is this flexible screen also from fifty years ago? I¡¯m not quite familiar with this drawing software.¡±


    ¡°No, I..... installed itter on.¡±


    Xie Junping didn¡¯t need Yingying¡¯s reminder to hear the sign that Luo Nan had changed what he was going to say.


    Anyway, he soon became interested in a drawing.


    Xie Junping looked in browser mode and saw many images with simr scenes to the one he was in. There were scenes from inside the school and outside the school.


    Xie Junping was somewhat stunned. He had some basic level of appreciation from being a second-generation rich folk, having received a good education.


    Although every single one of these sketches was sloppy, some evencking any sort of background, Xie Junping was familiar with these ces. From the contour lines of humanoid figures of the sketch on the crooked paper, he could clearly see what sort of ces, circumstances, and people were described in the end.....


    Eh, thest sentence was too exaggerated. What he meant was that he could see what was happening in these drawings. He could see the intense bodynguage and expressions from lines that contoured and portrayed the human figures.


    Speaking of which, it was quite incredible. From the picture, concentration could be seen. Excitement could be seen. Depression could be seen. Madness could be seen...... Those rough lines of the image could portray the atmosphere of the scene, could portray the mood of the crowd. It could even portray everyone¡¯s bearings.


    Luo Nan had used a digital pen to draw out the lines, but clearly, there was a sort of sharp feeling of the image tearing out of the surface, stabbing deeply into one¡¯s hidden heart indicating that part of it was real.


    Xie Junping sweated inexplicably from looking: Crap. Did I discover the next Picasso?


    He flipped to thest page and saw the sketch where he was the main subject. Xie Junping was actually somewhat dazzled, all the way until Yingying¡¯s voice woke him up:


    ¡°He was clearly more excited than normal when he was talking about his notebook and his grandfather. I was researching some data just now and I discovered something very interesting...... Retard. Flip ahead a few more pages. You were idle for too long. Take care that he doesn¡¯t misunderstand.¡±


    It¡¯s because I was talking to you! Xie Junping scolded Yingying over a hundred times in his heart. But he still followed her instructions like a marite.


    Yingying¡¯s voice continued toe over: ¡°His grandfather¡¯s name is Luo Yuandao. He was formerly a researcher. He didn¡¯t have any noteworthy achievements. But at 83 years, aka 13 years ago, he was used of something. It¡¯s said that a short time after the Third War he went to the wilderness and, with cooperation from vagrant forces, he performed private live human experimentation......¡±


    My god!


    Xie Junpei¡¯s finger, which was swiping on the screen, shivered. He felt Luo Nan¡¯s gaze constantly looking at him; maybe this feeling was from his guilty-conscience. However, it wasn¡¯t an appropriate time to talk right now. The only thing he could do was force himself to continue on.

 Chapter 4: A Sudden Turn

    Chapter 4: A Sudden Turn


    Obviously the words ¡°Live Human Experimentation¡± weren¡¯t good.


    But the word ¡°Vagrant¡± had another lexical property to it in the present era.


    The Third World War erupted in the year 2044. 70% of human upied areas were destroyed in a short five years. The damage was so bad fifty yearster that the entire poption of 10 billion people was squeezed and confined inside 88 enormous-scale metropolises to live crowded and cramped. It took until thest ten years for conditions toe around for the better.


    Outside the metropolises was the wilderness. The wilderness was vast and empty. Thend was warped to ruin by the nuclear radiation such that nothing was recognizable. It was a cepletely unsuited for humans to survive. But there were a group of people who refused to live in modern civilization, or perhaps they were extremists, fugitives, megalomaniacs exiled from human society...... They made a bold gamble with their lives to wander about in the wilderness. Together they formed the concept of ¡°Vagrant¡±.


    The rule of the jungle was devoid of all humanity. There were no rules......


    Rted vocabry words bounced around one by one in Xie Junping¡¯s brain. He instantly formed a standard framework of Luo Nan¡¯s grandfather who he had never met before:


    Evil mad scientist! The sort that been popping up more and more in superhero movies.


    ¡°Luo Yuandao and his son had a falling out due to this matter. His son Luo Zhongheng, who¡¯s also Luo Nan¡¯s father, suddenly left home and went missing. There¡¯s no news of Luo Zhongheng to this day. Luo Yuandao suffered from a serious case of a mental breakdown and was hospitalized for a long time. His condition had worsened recently; he won¡¯t be able to live for more than a few days.¡±


    Xie Junping had a toothache listening to all this. He didn¡¯t care about all this. He was just worried about Luo Nan. Luo Nan by all means must not have inherited any sort of bad characteristics or have a warped character and so on from growing up in these circumstances.......


    This time, Yingying¡¯s tone had actually shifted:


    ¡°Anyway, this isn¡¯t even the most fascinating thing. Luo Yuandao was unknown in his generation, asides from that usation of live human experimentation. But he¡¯s rted to someone else who¡¯s actually renowned...... Yan Hong. You should know of him.¡±


    Xie Junping nodded his head by reflex. Of course he knew of Yan Hong. Yan Hong was a famous professor of Acumen College years ago. He was world renowned. But he had lost his reputation from an issue with academic misconduct. He faded away from mainstream society. It was quite a hand-wringing situation.


    ¡°Yan Hong¡¯s Archetype Nerve Formatting Study paper paved the way for the emergence of ¡°Burners¡±. The results were revolutionary without a doubt. It¡¯s impossible to overestimate its significance. I used to be quite an admirer.¡±


    No trace of adoration could be heard from Yingying¡¯s voice. There was only excitement: ¡°The problem is the issue of academic misconduct when he was 90. Someone exposed his results using Luo Yuandao¡¯s unpublished first-hand data. That¡¯s right. The data came from those who performed live human experimentation in the wilderness...... Your circle is quite screwed up!¡±


    Your sister! I¡¯m not part of the academic circle!


    Xie Junping silently cursed again. But Yingying stopped gossiping; she stuck closer to real analysis:


    ¡°Luo Yuandao¡¯s incident happened when he was 83. Luo Nan was only 3 years old at the time. The influence of his grandfather¡¯s scandal and his missing father certainly pierced through his childhood years. How could a child understand all of this? What sort of character would be manifested?¡±


    ¡°We can see it right now. His manner of speaking is rtively gentle. His behavior is very virtuous, simply like the model example of morality. Without taking into ount the issue that this may be an act, we can filter out two possibilities:¡±


    ¡°One is that he¡¯spensating by being virtuous. He feels shame and guilt for the actions conducted by his grandfather. He subconsciously holds himself to a very high standard of virtue, cutting out everything bad.¡±


    But Yingying immediately followed with a rejection: ¡°Of course if this was the case, Luo Nan wouldn¡¯t have talked nonstop about his grandfather¡¯s notebook. There¡¯s also likely some issue with the history of that flexible screen. What¡¯s he clearly avoiding......¡±


    Yingying stopped exining further. She directly jumped to the second possibility: ¡°The other possibility is that he¡¯s being virtuous for a mission. If his grandfather possessed some sort of charisma, or maybe he didn¡¯t care for any preconceived notions, the event of 90 years that disrupted the academic circle must have given Luo Nan a sort of assumption or fantasy towards the achievements of his grandfather. After all, it was sufficient enough to exert to topple Yan Hong.......¡±


    Xie Junping couldn¡¯t help raising his head and looking towards Luo Nan.


    Yingying¡¯s description was synchronized. Her voice had the same cadence as reciting a poem:


    ¡°Perhaps his grandfather had suffered an injustice? Perhaps the ¡¯Burning¡¯ should have been his grandfather¡¯s achievement? That old fellow in the mental ward who is on the verge of dying is actually a great person misunderstood and unacknowledged by the world?¡±


    ¡°Luo Nan¡¯s bound to have a feeling of solidarity with these thoughts, molding a sense of having the world against him, a sense of a mission. So he¡¯s reserved, antisocial, resolute, and vignt. Just like an anti-hero, he has the staunch resolution to charge alone against the world¡¯s dark plots...... Wow! Even I¡¯m moved!¡±


    The corner of Xie Junping¡¯s mouth was twitching from hearing this. That person Luo Nan was still in front of him. Why was the person behind him sounding more and more like she¡¯s writing a screeny?


    Nevertheless, youths that were fifteen~sixteen years old like Luo Nan were at a period of life when they¡¯re filled with heroic fantasies. Looking at his utterly serious appearance, could it be that Luo Nan¡¯s thought process was truly what Yingying says it is?


    ¡°Senior Xie?¡± Luo Nan asked a sentence which may have been a warning.


    Xie Junping only just discovered that he had lost his manners in front of Luo Nan while being concentrated on listening to Yingying¡¯s ¡°screeny¡±. What if he really gets misunderstood? That would spell the death of him.


    He hurriedly returned the notebook back to Luo Nan and naturally glossed things over bymenting: ¡°These drawings are quite decent.¡±


    When these words left his mouth, Xie Junping felt a dried and stiff. He could not face what followed.


    ¡°These don¡¯t count as drawings; they¡¯re mere sketches.¡±


    Luo Nan maintained his politeness, but after he took back the notebook he politely bid farewell: ¡°If Senior has no other matters then I¡¯m going to go.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Xie Junping¡¯s nk expression was like a work of art. Luo Nan faced him with a nod, ced the performance drink on the center console, and simply got out of the car.


    He...... was clearly being doubted!


    Xie Junping¡¯s mind was really empty. He hurriedly asked Yingying a question: ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t I need to say something?¡±


    ¡°So it turns out all my saliva has been wasted!¡± Yingying¡¯s words contained hateful resentment: ¡°You......¡±


    The noise transmitting to his ear suddenly turned quiet. Yingying¡¯s voice turned fuzzy and indistinct.


    ¡°Hello, hello?¡±


    ¡°Tszzzzz. Tszzzzz......¡±


    To hell with it! There¡¯s a situation now!


    Xie Junping sweated instantaneously. He saw the Luo Nan had already walked quite the distance. He had to do something so he rushed out of the car and shouted: ¡°Junior. I¡¯ll send you off!¡±


    Luo Nan turned his head and responded: ¡°It¡¯s fine if I just run. Wouldn¡¯t Senior be inconvenienced?¡±


    ¡°Hic! That¡¯s true.¡± Xie Junping was embarrassed. Right now it would be disastrous if he was seen in public. He should retreat back to Mangzhong without dy. The key thing was to snip the situation in the bud. He actually needed Luo Nan to remind him of this. He had been struck dumb to a certain level.


    Embarrassed as he was, he could only follow his usual habits to try to pull him closer: ¡°Then let me arrange a dinner as thankster. I¡¯ll find a ce and notify you within two days.¡±


    Xie Junping walked over upon speaking, intending to exchange numbers and Luo Nan actually didn¡¯t refuse. The two touched their wristbands together and the exchange was sessful. They even shook each other¡¯s hand in passing.


    Right when Xie Junping was mulling over further words to say, the area to the side suddenly lit up, causing him to instinctively turn his head. All he saw was an azure arc of lightning jump across. At first nce, it appeared to be lightning, but it clearly was striking from the ground towards the sky. It pierced between theyers of clouds.


    The surrounding electric lit buildings appeared to warp and distort, perhaps due to the arc of light being way too strong.


    And at practically the same time, his flying car Phantom emitted an rm.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Xie Junping turned around and he walked over towards his flying car. But he was only able to take a few steps before his internal earbuds suddenly rang with an ear-piercing screech.


    He shouted loudly. He reflexively went to cover his ears, but before his hands could grasp his ears another pain was felt in his eyes. The HoloFilm contact lenses temperature increased suddenly. The HoloFilm sensed that something was strange, activating its auto-cutoff mechanism. All functionality was shut off.


    Xie Junping¡¯s sight was blurred and his head was spinning. This was no illusion, but rather a vivid shaking, surging, and warping!


    The solid ground beneath his feet instantly turned into a rocking junk boat on turbulent waves. He could see skyscrapers and giant bridges warping and deforming within his field of vision. Fiery stars could be seen floating and swaying in the distance, shining red on the unlit sky.


    ¡°Earthquake. Major earthquake!¡±


    Xie Junping had only this thought flicker for a moment in his mind. But the ground went empty before he couldpletelye to. His entire body dropped downwards. And falling with him at the end of the bridge was the railing, rocks, and his Phantom flying car worth 500 million.


    The bridge copsed!


    This bridge, known to be able to withstand a magnitude 9 earthquake, was like a bunch of toy building blocks being kicked over. Half of the end of the bridge suddenly crumpled.


    Xie Junping¡¯s mind was just a sea of whiteness. He instinctively shrieked, his pair of hands wing wildly, wishing to grab onto something for support.


    He even grabbed onto something hard...... some rubble that had fallen down with him.


    His hand grasped this toy. This had no significance whatsoever besides adding to his mass!


    Xie Junping¡¯s eyeballs were on the verge of bulging out, then his vision spun rapidly.


    ¡°AHH.......¡±


    The miserable screech had just started when a stabbing pain was felt in the shoulder joint then his wrist. A great force pierced through his entire body. The direction he was falling seemed to have spun around in a sh. His entire body was swinging violently.


    ¡°AHHH! AHHH! AHHH!¡±


    Xie Junping screeched at the top of his lungs. He screamed violently at a high pitch and he cried out in tears. The falling bridge had already mmed into the lower levels of buildings at this time, ringing out with muffled explosions. Smoke and dust rose up. There was also the rmed screams of pedestrians. The situation had turned extremely chaotic.


    ¡°Shut up!¡± A muffled voice pierced through the rumbling noise and entered his ear.


    Xie Junping screamed two more times by reflex before he suddenly came to, violently shuddering. He raised his head and saw Luo Nan¡¯s face and half a chest sticking out from the top of the bridge.


    Of course, Luo Nan¡¯s arm that was reaching out with the utmost effort was the most important. It was scrawny, not thick at all. Yet that arm had firmly snatched him away from under the scythe of the grim reaper...... Hic! That arm was still wrestling with death.


    It was unknown whether Xie Junping¡¯s luck was enough.


    The shock the overpass received was extraordinary. Although the bridge has been seriously warped, only the edge end area of the bridge had fractured. Xie Junping just happened to be confined to that area. Luo Nan who was only five steps away from him hade out unscathed.


    But Luo Nan was only able to rush forward and fish Xie Junping¡¯s arm because things were precisely this way. Luo Nan didn¡¯t let Xie Junping fall and turn into meat paste.


    The situation was still unresolved. Luo Nan gripped Xie Junping firmly, but clearly, Luo Nan¡¯s strength was not enough. It would be difficult for Luo Nan to exert the strength to drag Xie Junping up.


    The slope formed from the copse of the end of the bridge was the most frightening. The angle was small, but Luo Nan was actually slowly sliding down under these circumstances. There wasn¡¯t anything to be seen in their surroundings that could lend them strength.


    The possibility of dying left a bitter taste in his mouth. Xie Junping tried his best to find something to grab onto, but his hand was struggling free, making Luo Nan hook onto the knuckles of his hand. Their hands were dangerously sliding apart.


    Xie Junping saw that his body was moving downwards, scaring him into screaming and squirming.


    Luo Nan had a very ugly expression on his face. He opened his mouth strained: ¡°Don¡¯t move. Grab my hand.¡±


    Xie Junping was scared of his wits; how could he take in what he was hearing. He continued to squirm.


    ¡°DO YOU WANT TO DIE!¡±


    A roar pierced his ears, causing him to violently shudder. Xie Junping looked up and just happened to see Luo Nan¡¯s eyes.


    Yingying had said that Luo Nan¡¯s eyes glowed with light while Luo Nan was exercising. But from this distance, Xie Junping saw that Luo Nan¡¯s irises weren¡¯t clear. They with thick and shot with blood. There were some traces of a green-yellow mottled color. But this mottled coloration seemed to have formed an otherworldly and bewitching sight that deeply prated into Xie Junping¡¯s mind.


    Xie Junping was unable to describe what it was, but his heart had tensed up inexplicably. His entire body was frozen.


    Luo Nan had spent a lot of energy roaring. This time his voice was quieter; it was also somewhat raspy:


    ¡°Look at your hand. What the hell is it doing!?¡±


    Xie Junping turned his gaze to look and saw that his right hand, the one that Luo Nan was firmly grabbing onto, was curled fixed into a fist. It was stiff like a hard piece of wood. He was tightly griping a rock that had fallen down with him in the palm of his hand. The sharp edges stabbed into his palm, causing blood to flow. He didn¡¯t know all this time.


    This was likely due to psychological stress. It was so much that he even lost all sense of pain. The rock and his bloody flesh seemed to be fused together...... Hopefully, they weren¡¯t bound together.


    ¡°Let go!¡± ordered Luo Nan.


    Xie Junpei wanted to let go, but his normally-agile hand waspletely dead frozen, making him sweat freely with urgency. Hepletely ignored the orders: ¡°I. I.....won¡¯t let go! I absolutely won¡¯t let go!¡±


    Luo Nan took a deep breath and red fixed at Xie Junping: ¡°Don¡¯t look at your hand. Look at my eyes.¡±


    Right now Luo Nan was the only one who shouldn¡¯t loosen his hand, so Xie Junping listened obediently. Xie Junping acted like a marite. He did whatever Luo Nan said.


    Xie Junping looked once more into Luo Nan¡¯s eyes. Those eyes were like a turbid vortex with their mottled coloration. His attention was firmly locked onto those eyes. Next, Luo Nan¡¯s voice exploded directly within the depths of his mind:


    ¡°Let go!¡±


    Xie Junping had only rxed a single knuckle when he felt all the strength in his body be drained in a sh. His fingers loosened. The blood-cover rock fell straight down and smashed on his shoulder before falling off to the distance.


    The pain woke Xie Junping. He felt his body go soft and heavy. He reflexively grabbed out with his hand amidst his own screams. This time his hand hooked onto Luo Nan¡¯s hand sessfully. This time he wouldn¡¯t let go.


    With Xie Junping¡¯s hand sharing the load, Luo Nan was able to adjust his hand position, atst, to be able to properly exert force.


    The taut situation was softened by this adjustment. Xie Junping¡¯s blood congested skull started to recover soberness. The element of feeling returned a little more to his body.


    The cold morning wind blew over, causing his body to sway. Noise was also amidst the wind. And amidst the wind were the sounds of explosions. Some buildings had copsed, causing rumbling sounds. There was also the sharp sound of sirens......


    One didn¡¯t need eyes to be able to understand all the chaos that was going on in the surroundings.


    He had heartfelt thanks towards this ¡°Anti-Hero¡±......Right now Xie Junping waspletely convinced of Yingying¡¯s analysis. Otherwise, he would have certainly turned into a puddle of mincemeat among the rubble.


    But he wished even more for this Anti-Hero to be able to produce more strength, to pull him up.....


    Then an inexplicable strong explosion came right when he opened his mouth.

 Chapter 5: Formatting Theory

    Chapter 5: Formatting Theory


    The noise¡¯s volume was simply unfathomable. The soundwaves clumped together and smashed fiercely on their eardrums like the fists of a boxing champion. It was as if a ferocious beast had opened its bloody mouth wide to its cheeks and howled in rage.


    Xie Junping swore that he had never heard such a fearsome sound in his life. The seismic wave permeated through his entire body, causing his eyes to bulge out. All his internal organs with rolling, jittering, and shaking. Amidst his stupor, he felt that the husk of his skin and flesh was like a prated water sack that could fall apart at any time.


    This feeling of unprecedented fear was like a storm that swept through his mind. It washed his entire body from the inside out and took all the details out for him to see iparably clearly.


    Xie Junping didn¡¯t know how this feeling came about. His mental defenses had copsed, and he couldn¡¯t hold back from screaming yet again. Though this time there was no one to stop him.


    Xie Junping screamed for an unknown amount of time; he only stopped when he exhausted all his emotions and energy down to zerk. Only then did he discover that he was still hanging in the air. His situation had not gotten better nor worse.


    The vibrational assault came and went suddenly. A cold wind blew before him, but Xie Junping had already fainted from exhaustion. Only his fingers remained striving to grasp Luo Nan¡¯s wrist. All sense of feeling was indistinct amidst his trembling; it was as if he had fallen entirely into a nightmare.


    Most fearsome of all was the state of the person who decides his fate, Luo Nan. Luo Nan was lying face down with an ugly expression on his face. His eyes maintained an extremely cool-headed and resolute gaze to them; he refused to let them go out of focused. His hand¡¯s palm was dripping wet and also appeared to be shaking.


    Xie Junping was on the verge of crying for reals: ¡°Hey! Hey! It¡¯s no problem for you right!?¡±


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t respond, instead closing his eyes. Sweat slipped out from the distant edges and dripped down.


    Xie Junping finally confirmed that Luo Nan¡¯s present state was extremely extremely bad. It would be hard for him to make additional actions.


    He would die a violent death if things continued this way!


    It¡¯s all that damned....... Wait. What had happened? An explosion? Xie Junping could not figure out what the cause of the violent shock and impact was. He also didn¡¯t have the time to think about this. He forced himself to raise his voice:


    ¡°Stay firm. Stay firm. I¡¯ll sound an SOS asap......¡±


    Luo Nan¡¯s eyes trembled, then opened with great difficulty. Luo Nan swept a look at Xie Junping and squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth: ¡°Look at your car!¡±


    ¡°Uh, let¡¯s focus first on......¡±


    ¡°Look down!¡±


    Xie Junping hesitated for a moment. Finally he fought against his dizziness and fears, his eyeballs rotating down. Then he saw the silhouette of his Phantom in all its magnificent glory located diagonally 10 meters down from him.


    The flying car Phantom valued at 500 million held an extraordinary standing. Aside from having capabilities of an ordinary flying car, it could also speed up on the maic rails¡¯ superconductive roadway. And it even has an air suspension braking mechanism in case of emergencies.


    So the Phantom didn¡¯t just fall to the ground and smash into pieces when it fell off the overpass. Instead it had automatically activated its suspension mechanism. It rose up slowly, searching for a maic rail to dock with. There wasn¡¯t any damage asides from some dents caused by fallen rubble.


    His life was saved!


    Xie Junping waspletely awake now. He issued amand in a hurry to make the flying care over to act as a foothold.


    They were freed from danger a minuteter.


    Xie Junping didn¡¯t have the strength to speak having just escaped from mortal danger. He simply tended to his wound while sitting in the cockpit of the flying car. His entire body was weak.


    It took a while before Luo Nan returned inside the car. He had tossed his loose-leaf notebook to the ground to free his hands before saving someone. Naturally he had to pick it back up.


    Luo Nan closed his eyes as soon as he returned to his sitting spot. His body sweated a great amount of sweat. He had exhausted far too much physical energy just then. He only felt at ease when he recovered his notebook, only then did some life return to him.


    Xie Junping was stupefied for a while before he finally thought of a few things he ought to do. The situation appeared to be at an anticlimax. But Luo Nan had maintained a level head and rescued him in the most critical moment. Otherwise, Xie Junping would have probably be the saddest dead member of Acumen College¡¯s Honor Society.


    This was without a doubt a life-saving grace.


    Xie Junping twisted his head around with the intention of disying his gratitude when a crackling sound rushed forth. The micro earbuds embedded in his ear rebooted. Ying Ying shouted:


    ¡°Hey hey sucker. You¡¯re fine right.¡±


    The corner of Xie Junping¡¯s mouth twitched. An intense state of mind spurred him into roaring without caring what Luo Nan would think of him:


    ¡°SUCK YOUR SISTER! SUCK YOUR MOTHER!¡±


    Ying Ying was silent for some time. The voice proceeded to transmit over. This time the voice wasn¡¯t brash, yet it didn¡¯t necessarilyck anger: ¡°Okay then Young Xie. I don¡¯t care what your situation is right now, but you must leave that ce at once. ording to my surveince, an intense impact went off approximately 2 kilometers to the northwest of you and 1 kilometer underground. The energy of the impact is equivalent to that of a small nuclear warhead. It had created an electromaic storm. As for if the ionization radiation has exceeded safe limits, well it¡¯s hard to exin.¡±


    ¡°Nuclear warhead?¡± Xie Junping¡¯s mood was pressed dead. He finally understood why all the electronics on his body had totally malfunctioned.


    He checked flustered if he could lock the door to his car, and he turned on the detection system. A few seconds past and nothing at all happened.


    ¡°Nope, nothing shows up here.¡±


    Then you need to hurry up and leave. Can it be you want to stay there and help the police do a write up?¡± Ying Ying gave him a new set of coordinates after speaking.


    Xie Junping cursed as he started up his flying car: ¡°It wasn¡¯t an earthquake? It wasn¡¯t an earthquake?¡±


    ¡°Terribly sorry. We can¡¯t discover anything within a 12 square kilometer range about a case of an earthquake that actually exceeded a magnitude of 9. So, I¡¯m inclined to believe that this was due to an ident...... an ident of disastrous levels.¡±


    Ying Ying analyzed the situation some more and put forth a suggestion: ¡°Furthermore, its best for you to return to Mangzhong immediately. An earthquake of magnitude 4.5 happened there a minute ago, honest to god. Those colleagues of yours are probably running all over the ce searching for people.¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    Xie Junping lost even the strength the curse.


    Ying Ying continued speaking: ¡°I¡¯ve already gone above and beyond for you. I¡¯ve asked for a high-altitude shuttle toe over from your father¡¯spany. It¡¯ll arrive in 90 second and will basically guarantee that you¡¯ll arrive back in Mangzhong within twenty minutes.¡±


    Ying Ying¡¯s calctions were proven to be extremely urate. The Phantom flying car had just arrived at the coordinates given by Ying Ying when their call had just terminated, anding tform atop of joint skyscrapers. This ce was rtively peaceful since it was outside the 12 square kilometer range. There were only shattered ss that were being cleaned up by janitor bots in some ces.


    A Hummingbird model shuttle had just arrived,nding on the tform with a rumble.


    Xie Junping stared at the shuttle. He was somewhat muddle-headed so he pped his face as an effort to raise his spirits. He got out of the car and walked a few steps. Then he suddenly turned his head:


    ¡°I have no words to thank with for your great grace Junior. I¡¯ll remember this favor. Your current state is also not that great, so I¡¯ll leave this car for you to ride. Go get yourself checked at the hospital. I¡¯ll get in touch with youter.¡±


    Having said this, he transferred the control privileges of the Phantom flying car over to Luo Nan. This way Luo Nan could use his own wristband to execute basic controls.


    Luo Nan knew that Xie Junping had just walked out through the gates of hell. Xie Junping¡¯s state of mind was inplete disorder at the time, yet he was able to think of this. This morality was very hard toe by, so Luo Nan did not speak any further. He nodded to continue on.


    Xie Junping gave Luo Nan a bow and jogged to board the shuttle. Soon the shuttle soared into the air, directly piercing the depths of the sky.


    Tranquility was returned to thending tform. Luo Nan took a few deep breaths, straightened his back, extended his arm forward, and grabbed the performance drink on top of the control panel. But this single action costed nearly all his strength. He leaned back heavily.


    He took a deep breath and spoke softly: ¡°Close doors.¡±


    The Phantom¡¯s vertical doors folded and closed, forming a seal on the car¡¯s empty space.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t need to sit in the cockpit, all he needed was to set up the route to the school. The Phantom was a highly intelligent flying car, obviously it could take him to his destination.


    But Luo Nan gave an order that had nothing to do with his school:


    ¡°Return trip!¡±


    The flying car turned around, entering in a path automatically. Luo Nan continued to use voice control to open the makeup mirrors.


    The AI spouted out a fine mist of water in a human-like fashion and the luke-warm steam of water was thrown on Luo Nan¡¯s face. What should have been afortable sensation was instead like countless sharp des scraping across Luo Nan¡¯s face. It was so much that Luo Nan¡¯s entire body began to twitch.


    He saw an ashened face thatcked life in the mirror, simply like that of an incurable patient at the terminal stages of his disease.


    Luo Nan pulled back the corners of his mouth as he tried to twist open the drink, but his fingerscked the strength. They ached and they pained. He failed five-to-six times before he seeded.


    He fished out a military energy bar from his pocket and ripped apart the packaging. He swallowed all of the energy bar with the drink down to his belly. His entire self even trembled a few times, yet there was a certain warmth that expanded from his belly to the limbs and bones of his body.


    His sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system worked in tandem following the consumption of the foreign nutrients. His digestive and blood cirction system worked in opposition to maintain harmony, causing energy to rapidly permeate through every organ and muscle tissue of his body.


    This was a basic mechanism of the operation of the human body that was ingrained in the foundation of the skeletal and fleshly body. This modern feature was formed from countless generations of hereditary evolution.


    However Luo Nan¡¯s operational mechanism¡¯s ingestion and digestion efficiency actually exceeded other people¡¯s efficiency by five to tenfold. The color of his face in the mirror rapidly took for a better turn. His appearance became the same as normal in a short few seconds.


    This efficiency came from his five years of following his grandfather¡¯s rted theories and painful fruits of research.


    The core concept behind his grandfather¡¯s theory was called ¡°Formatting¡±.


    This theory¡¯s system could be described approximately as a primitive notion. Taking heaven and earth, taking the universe, all living beings in the world could be approximately divided into three levels:


    The self, society, and heaven and earth.


    There was a special ¡®format¡¯ at eachyer to convey the core content of one¡¯s existence, operation, and birth & death. Complicated effects and interactions happened constantly amidst eachyer.


    His grandfather¡¯s deep, dense, and profound theory was not something that could be understood by relying on experiments and recordings. It was far from what a person his age was capable of.


    He could only concentrate on the basics at this time, on the adjustments and molding of ¡°self-formatting¡±.


    ¡°Self-Formatting¡± was the core of his grandfather¡¯s theory, a necessary ¡°Permanent Evolution¡±. This was the cornerstone of Societal Formatting that could bear the weight of heaven and earth.


    To realize and awaken the hidden potential of the human body, to possess supernatural strength. This was the basic premise of evolution.


    Luo Nan followed his grandfather¡¯s records of experiments over the course of five years for this reason. He utilized the stimtion of drugs to progressively remold his own nervous system. This was the axis which influenced every organ in the body, adjusting their operational mechanisms for the sake of forming fundamental changes.


    Luo Nan was still only in the early stages of self-formatting at the moment; this stage was recorded by his grandfather as the Vessel. The main purpose of this stage was to harmonize all the body¡¯s organs and systems for digesting and extracting nutrients from food. The body then stocked and stored the energy, even nurturing the mind...... It allowed for a person¡¯s basic functions to progressively adapt to the new environment and create the appropriate reaction.


    Luo Nan gradually began to possess a few abilities after forming the basic structure of the Vessel. For example, his digestive, absorptive, and recovery capabilities was strengthened to be an ¡°Appetite King¡±. And his mentalmunication is simr to that of a Hypnosis Master. He had used this ability to order the crow before. Today he had used it on Xie Junping. The results were quite decent.


    Of course, these abilities were only the icing on a cake. The true value still lied in the fundamental modifications to his body from self-formating.


    And ordingly, any elements that could influence his self-formatting and damage the structure of his existing Vessel can¡¯t be taken lightly.


    Luo Nan watched buildings and pedestrians rapidly zoom by outside the car window. His eyebrows were fixed from beginning to end. Finally, a notice popped out from the car¡¯s AI: ¡°The maic rail ahead has been damaged. Changing routes now.¡±


    The flying car had arrived at the broken part of the overpass right now. There was still a short distance to the location where Luo Nan and Xie Junping had been in danger. However, the area ahead was blocked off. And there was a pile of media reporters who rushed to get here. It would be very difficult to get any closer.


    The earthquake had affected approximately the entire area of the overpass.


    Looking from ontop of the bridge to the west, one could see a palpitating dpidated whether it be through the naked eye or by the rendering of a car¡¯s AI. There were two copsed hundred-story skyscrapers engraved in ruin with rising dust near the epicenter of the ¡°earthquake¡±. Swaying mes also invaded the turbid fog. It was simply a missile-cleansing scene reconstructed from a page of a Third War biography.


    And to the east of the overpass, one could see the majority of the metropolis disying it¡¯s flourishing nature.


    An extraordinary powerful impact with a limited range...... Luo Nan could only sneer if this was an earthquake.


    His upper body erected straight. His vision was cast through the window to the ruins in the distance,bining with the scene of the environment. The order of events shed back in his mind.


    He sent out another order to fish out an image automatically recorded by the car¡¯s AI. He had to sigh a breath in admiration at how high end the Phantom was. All angles were recorded in high definition, conserving the details to the utmost limit.


    Luo Nan selected the time when he and Xie Jieping were hanging off the broken overpass, to when they had a moment of reprieve from the crisis and when the sound shockwave exploded over, nearly damning them beyond redemption.


    Luo Lan started up the virtual mode function for the sake of understanding that situation more clearly. The car¡¯s windows cut off external vision on the spot and the projection system crammedyers of lights and shadows inside the car.


    After the viewpoint was adjusted, Luo Nan found himself seemingly back within that period of crisis.


    The angle towards the direction of the epicenter was perfect ording to when he was pulling Xie Junping. When the shockwave hit, mes erupted between skyscrapers and the air vibrated like water...... Then, things became like they are now.


    Luo Nan¡¯s eyes jumped all over and he sent another order and braced himself. He let the recording rewind backwards. He could see every frame packed with color and interlinked to form aplete chain. He couldn¡¯t find any w at all.


    Luo Nan reyed the recording node to the time when Xie Junping was standing on top of the car. The result was no different.


    He stopped wasting time and opened up his notebook and pondered for a bit. The digital pen dragged on top of the flexible e-ink screen, sketching various shades of exquisite lines.


    The lines ovepped to construct an outline very quickly.


    It was a vague blob of an image that possessed a slightly humanoid shape, yet there were several inhuman signs to it. Its limbs were bent, stretched, and unrestrained. It seemed to merge into the shadowy background. It was impossible to see its face even though its head wasposed of a few dozen or so intertwined drawn lines. It also oozed with a ruthless and sinister vor.


    Luo Nan paused his pen and thought. Then he performed a slight modification. The outer area of the shadow warped more fiercely under a somewhat excessive stroke. It was as if the shadow was burning up.


    A demon of hell was simply drawn in this manner. Its body was wrapped in dark and poisonous mes as it arrived on earth.


    Luo Nan personally looked over the slightly illuminated flexible screen. His heart actually faintly palpitated. It was as if the burning wraith was about to leap forth from the flexible e-ink screen at the next moment.

 Chapter 6: Illusionary Wraith

    Chapter 6: Illusionary Wraith


    Luo Nan stared at his drawing for a long time before deciding that he didn¡¯t need to add or remove anything. Then he took thepleted drawn sketch and performed a simple 3D rendering, importing the sketch into theputer¡¯s AI database. The sketch was run through an Image Processing Function in order to import his work of art into the recording.


    The Phantom flying car¡¯s AI capabilities are admittedly heaven defying, but this sort of specialized image splicing requires specialized software to process. The result created in this adhoc fashionpletely didn¡¯t look like a drawing. It appeared rather grotesque.


    But in Luo Nan¡¯s opinion, this low-quality spliced drawing was the best fit with his memories.


    Luo Nan saw the enormous wraith clearly at this moment. It emerged from within the exploding mes, towering over a hundred meters. It roared in fury amidst the copsing ruins and dust.


    The explosive impact of its roar was like several heavy fists or like a giant wheel steamrolling through. It was so much that Luo Nan felt all his internal organs shape and morph. The flesh and blood all over his body erupted with a sound, and the air was pervaded with the odor of blood and death......


    He truly thought he was done for, for a moment.


    This was the full view of what he saw, of what he felt!


    The real world was not a fantasy film, and Luo Nan knew this. The things he saw and felt was really far too bizarre. So he returned to the scene of the matter once again, juxtaposing the scene¡¯s environment, and watching the recording in reverse. He also observed the reactions in the surrounding areas.


    And finally the result was...... dull, ordinary, and not the least bit surprising.


    Was it a hallucination?


    Luo Nan flexed and stretched his fingers, closing his eyes. He adjusted his breathing and silently chanted the twenty word mantra. The visualization of the diagram appeared in the void. The tetrahedron, inner sphere, and circumscribed sphere slowly rotated. Several blocked circuits ahead were slowly restored back to being flowing and unhindered.


    Visualizing the diagram cannot be described simply as...... a hallucination.


    The diagram visualization technique showed clearly that his Vessel took some slight damage. However, the Vessel was in the middle of a rapid recovery.


    The long-distance marathon running training over the past several years did not give Luo Nan a particrly buff physique. Instead it gave him super outstanding endurance and recovery capabilities.


    It wasn¡¯t a huge problem, but Luo Nan was extremely concerned about it.


    Actually Luo Nan had alreadye to a solution under his own logic, but he didn¡¯t rush to conclusions. He thought deeply for a time.


    Soon a list of relevant information appeared.


    At the time of the incident, the initial ¡°earthquake stage¡± was already over. The atmospheric pressure was 104 kilopascals, which was within standard basic levels of atmospheric pressure. The shock of the explosive sound reached nearly 90 decibels then, which did not reach levels of damaging one¡¯s hearings. A 44 kilometer/hour wind was caused by the incident, aka a ss 6 intensity of wind. Other than the above, the temperature, humidity levels, radiation values, and other data were all within normal ranges.


    This was only a normal, maybe somewhat noisy, very windy day from just looking at the data. These circumstances caused two great young masters to be shocked out of their wits? Wouldn¡¯t that be a joke?


    And there was another point......


    Luo Nan used his finger to mark a distance in video analysis mode: There is a distance of 2.9 kilometers from the broken bridge to the heart of the epicenter. The sound waves should have a dy of approximately 8 seconds. But was this really the case?¡±


    Cold hard data was much more credible than his memories, adding to the iprehensible mystery. The data showed that the flying car Phantom received the powerful sound wave vibration earlier than the erupting mes by 7 milliseconds.


    Sound had run past light...... This was obviously ridiculous ording tomon sense. The origin of the explosive sound and the mes was torn into two pieces in face of the data..


    And so a clear paradox emerged between the mes and the explosive sound, between the explosive sound and the human reaction.


    Luo Nan raised his head, no longer watching any images or videos. He leaned heavily back against the chair.


    A hallucination? A bullshit hallucination!


    There was clearly a sort of force from an unseen ne, a bizarre force that meddled in the rtionships of everything here. It filled up what had been originally empty space!


    The burning wraith was the indicator to this sort of force.


    This wasn¡¯t science...... What Luo Nan wanted wasn¡¯t science!


    The Formatting Theory that his grandfather created had entered into the realm of metaphysics from the very start.


    Luo Nan had intimate fanatical feelings towards his grandfather¡¯s theory, so much so that he could ce the theory on the same level as his life. However, he could not find a clear reference to the theory from his results so far.


    Though he did have the Appetite King, Hypnosis Master, and other tricks that have already exceeded the limits of ordinary people, the level of these capabilities weren¡¯t conclusive. They absolutely have not reached the level of ¡°Fundamental Changes¡± to say the least.


    What would count as a fundamental change under self-formatting? What is the criteria for a fundamental change? If it¡¯s a so-called supernatural force, what would be its manifestation?


    Luo Nan was unable to find the answer from within the chaotic andplicated records of his grandfather¡¯s experiments.


    Five years had passed where he engaged in closed self-study, self talk and discussion. He felt that he was advancing step by step, but he was unable to reach a conclusion to the issue of this ¡°criteria¡±.


    But now a reference object had appeared!


    His heart pumped out blood that was as zing-hot asva. Yet all Luo Nan did was breath in a deep breath. His ten fingers gripped his notebook, and he lowered his chin. He controlled the pounding of his pair of heart and body.


    There wasn¡¯t even time to celebrate before the tip of the iceberg of the force had been exposed. The force looked that it could return to the other world behind the dark screen at any moment......


    There was still a lot of work that Luo Nan had to do.


    The car¡¯s AI had finished switching routes at this time, changing roads to do a detour. However, the damage of an over 10 square kilometers area caused quite the effect on the city¡¯s traffic. Severalyers of traffic in the air were closed off even if it was early in the morning. The moving vehicles began to slightly stop up. The vehicles were incapable of speeding up.


    Luo Nan deleted the data and gathered records saved automatically by the AI, to avoid revealing information about the burning wraith by deliberately making things moreplicated. Then he opened the news channel to check relevant news on this ¡°earthquake¡±.


    The majority of media was still in the phase of broadcasting in the form of text messages since the time from the incident was too short. Only the Star Associated Press demonstrated the haughtiness of a world-ss media. They promptly purchased the video shot by the unmanned sentinel drones in the vicinity of the incident. They spliced them to create a satellite shot, seizing the first resources.


    This recording wasn¡¯t even two minutes in length, yet it was pushed higher and higher on social media to receive greater and greater attention


    The bird¡¯s-eye view image was clearer, showing that the overpass was only really part of the outer perimeter of damage. The location of epicenter of the earthquake hadpletely caved in to form an enormous ruin. The caved area still was unable to be filled, revealing an enormous hole. Azure lightning continued to jump. It was an exceptionally eye-catching sight under the glow of twilight.


    What sort of situation was going on inside the enormous hole? How many casualties were there? Not a single media outlet had a definite report.


    The municipal administration and the police began to get involved at this time, guiding traffic in the surrounding area. The clean-up and rescue jobs had yet to officially unfold, but transport vehicles have already emerged in the air. They began to drop all sorts of engineering bots.


    The government¡¯s response time was already quite fast, rtively speaking...... At least they far exceeded their typical level.


    The flying car¡¯s movement speed decreased slower and slower. The police performed a few inspections on the passing vehicles as they cleared the way for traffic. One car would be inspected, yet another would not. Their criteria for inspection was unknown. It appeared not to be their usual practice.


    Luo Nan won the pick.


    A police officer to the side notified him to stop his vehicle. The police officer waited for the window to roll down before raising a request: ¡°Sir, please turn off your vehicle¡¯s radar and rted equipment to avoid interfering with the search and rescue effort.¡±


    Luo Nan was cooperative in a sh. He sent out an order in front of the police officer, turning off the functionality of relevant systems.


    The police officer waved his hand to let Luo Nan pass.


    But the ad hoc barrier gate pole closed in front of Luo Nan just as the car started. The police officer chased after him with two steps, indicating for him to stop once again. But not only did the police office indicate to Luo Nan, he also indicated to all the carsing in on the road.


    Someone with a temper rapidly shouted: ¡°What¡¯s going on!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re temporarily transferring rescue equipment. The traffic near the site of the incident will be temporarily closed off. Everyone, please be calm and patient.¡±


    This police officer was approximately forty years old. It appeared that he had calm temperament and a friendly bearing. However, there really weren¡¯t anybody who dared to explode with barbed words in front of him. This was because this officer was a standard riot police officer who wore defensivebat gear. He towered over two meters being supported by his exoskeleton armor to have the back of a tiger and waist of a bear. He couldpletely lift a one ton heavy flying car and send it flying down the road.


    Equipment? Some equipment had just been air dropped. If there¡¯s more equipmenting, then that means the area of the incident probably will be unessible......


    Luo Nan raised his head to the skies. The sky was imbued with light at this time, expanding the horizon. There truly were medium-sized transport ships hovering in the air. They seemed to be from the military, but he didn¡¯t see any equipments being tossed down.


    ¡°The situation¡¯s changing!¡±


    The Star Associative Press¡¯s senior on site reporter was on the news channel. He shot a scene of the area from a helicopter and described the current situation:


    ¡°The state of congestion has be more serious in the surrounding area. The number of stopped vehicles is increasing more and more. From what can be seen from the present, the government and police have not focused their energy on relieving traffic. Instead the control measures by the police have be more severe. The locked down area is increasingrger without end......¡±


    All the vehicle owners on the road would certainly be greatly empathetic to this news report. Most of the surrounding roads have already be parking lots. The positions of many cars haven¡¯t changed at all within a ten minute interval.


    The inspections by the riot control police be more severe. Some cars who have already been inspected had toe over and be re-inspected.


    Luo Nan was much more calm and collected whenpared to the rest of the vehicle owners voicing discontent noisily down the roads. His objective right now was to collect all relevant information. He was precisely given more ideas from being stopped for a bit longer near the vicinity of the incident.


    He was switching between several news channels in order to search for news of worth. At the same time he cast his sight towards his own social media; he frequently browsed forums,munities, and etc. As he watched the news, he swiped on a webpage. The car¡¯s AI, the flexible e-ink screen, and even his wrist band were all utilized and mobilized. His workload was a joy to behold, but he was unable to find any clues so far.


    It hadn¡¯t even been half an hour since the incident, so every news outlet had yet to make an in depth report. The majority of information on social media interaction tforms were rumors. The difficulty to sift through all this information to find something of use was far too high.


    ¡°The news still needs to circte for a while......¡±


    Luo Nan shook his head. His finger streaked across the flexible screen and he subconsciously clicked open a certain icon. An interface opened to reveal a familiar setting of sparse stars spread about. This was precisely his most-frequented Secret Star Forums.


    To Luo Nan the Secret Star Forums was a goods purchasing channel. He had never made a statement on a public board for the sake of safety. At most he would he would skim a few interesting topics.


    The niche specialized forum had a slower response to the sudden news outbreak and it was harder to form a lively discussion there. It was not of great important to gather information here.


    He came here purely due to habit.


    The most popr topic pushed to the top today looked tock any pertinent information. It¡¯s topic was A Collective Nightmare, the Release of Spiritual Waves, typical styling of the mystic arts.


    Luo Nan wasn¡¯t interested in these sorts of topics. Since he had some free time now, he sent a well-thought private message to the internal board¡¯s moderator as an attempt to lift the ban from his ount number in advance.


    Luo Nan spent a few minutes on the wording. Then when he exited from the PM interface, he discovered a topics¡¯ discussion page count explode several times in size on the home page. The liveness caused a ¡°Bright Star¡± result; a sole topic was drawn out and turned into a raging and burning star.


    And at this moment perhaps that moderator felt that the original headline wasn¡¯t drawing enough posts and so he made a change. The headline shed and turned into the words Xia City¡¯s R&D District Earthquake Nightmare Centralized Discussion Thread, New Merged Thread.


    ¡°Whoa?¡±


    Luo Nan had idently clicked into the thread at the first moment of its creation.


    The contents posted by the Original Poster was very simple. The OP, U-Soul, described that he was a Xia City resident residing near the R&D district and that he had been sleeping at the time of the earthquake. He had a dream half asleep and half awake. He had been swallowed whole by mes in that dream, and he had heard an enormous roar. The seismic wave was like a gigantic ship steamrolling over his body. It probably represented sleep paralysis.


    It wouldn¡¯t be that important if it was just this much information. The key lies at the moment when U-Soul woke from the scare; his wife next to him was also scared into waking up...... These two just had the same dream. Every single detail was extremely simr, like they watched a horror film as a couple!


    U-Soul posted this experience on the forums. No one really paid attention to it at first and U-Soul didn¡¯t take it seriously himself; he just directly posted live updates on the earthquake.


    He never thought there would be other people starting their own threads a short few minutester, talking about the earthquake nightmare matter. The content of their dreamworlds were described practicallypletely the same as U-Soul¡¯s.


    Afterwards, people followed up one after another. Some replied to the post in the thread, some started a seperate thread with a post, finally igniting the Secret Star Forums on this morning day. Huge discussions had begun.


    Anyhow, the niche forum¡¯s liveness also had its limitations. Luo Nan skimmed ten lines with a nce, soon sweeping over the contents of every post. He still had arge feeling of dissatisfaction.


    ¡°There were only two or three people who had truly experienced this instance for themselves......¡±


    The Secret Star Forums was small and its members were from all over the world. Over 70,000 registered IDs divided by 88 leaves not even 1000 people. Those who lived near the R&D district numbered even fewer.


    Some people had recognized this point. They started to introduce the news into popr forums and social media relevant information on the topic.


    Large numbers of people can handle matters well. Luo Nan had painstakingly searched for information in vain, but information surged forth under the searching of the collective whole of over a thousand people.


    Only now did many people find out the topic of the Collective Nightmare of Xia City. It had already formed an underground surge on the inte, and it was expanding with greater and greater momentum.


    The discussion atmosphere in the Secret Star Forums grew more feverish. Even though the moderator had set up a separate merged thread rule, there were still people opening new threads unceasingly. Rted topics were dragged in deep.


    And an ID by the name of Historical Data Shredder started a new post. He had set up a statistical diagram of this incident. He took all relevant cases on the inte and fed them into the chart. Moreover he updated without end, soon causing his topic to have the ¡°Bright Star¡± effect.


    Luo Nan felt that his words had meaning; the numbers were organized excellently.


    ¡°The Nightmare Spirit Wave¡¯s range of influence can be seen from the diagram to be a maximum distance of 300 kilometers, covering the entire city of Xia. The center of the area of the incident has a radius of approximately 10 kilometers. I shall call it the Core Area. There has been over 20 cases on the inte at the present. And it doesn¡¯t matter who were sleeping in the incident; they were all awakened.¡±


    Historical Data Shredder had organized over a total of fifty valid cases. Half of them were in the Core Area.


    The density of cases dropped significantly outside of the Core Area. The further the distance, the rarer the cases. This was very hard to validate.


    However Historical Data Shredder proimed that ording to his understanding a considerable portion of reactions that urred outside the core area were recognized as people who engaged in cultivation or religious practice. He supported his im endlessly with new relevant information and he hoped that everyone would aid him in his efforts and so on.


    Then U-Soul the very first poster also responded. He said that he¡¯ll bring his wife to the hospital for a check up in just a moment and that he¡¯ll post the result on the forums, creating a piece of awaiting-information.


    Luo Nan pinched his chin lightly. Then he immediately contacted his school¡¯s medical department through his wristband to book an appointment for a body examination. He was preparing topare his results with those of the U-Soul couple.


    ¡°Bang Bang, Bang Bang!¡±


    A disconcerting noise suddenly entered his ear. The window of the cockpit was rming from arge force.


    Luo Nan froze heart and soul. The person outside to directly stomped a foot at the car door during this moment of pause. Then came a sharp piercing voice that not even the fully sound-proof car was able to block:


    ¡°XIE JUNPING. GET OUT OF THERE!¡±

 Chapter 7: Damned by a Failure

    Chapter 7: Damned by a Failure


    The flying car Phantom rmed with a sharp cry. Not only this did not deter the behavior of the person outside the car, instead she became even more intense and continued kicking a few heavy blows in session:


    ¡°SON OF A BITCH. WHAT WAS THE MEANING OF TOSSING ME TO THE CURB!?¡±


    Luo Nan looked out of the car, and his eyebrows jumped.


    He saw a snow white thigh raised up in the air and the tail of skirt on the verge of tearing wrapping a pair of buttocks. His vision twitched up to sweep over to the person¡¯s face. A short recollection caused him to remember this person right on the number.


    It was Juicy-Long-Legs...... Fine, this woman¡¯s name was Lian Yu. She also participated in the society promotion and advice convention on the 24th. She was the society representative of the Student Council.


    She was none other than the person who had embraced Xie Junping, practically being dragged on to the car, in the earliest hours of the morning. But when she caused Xie Junping to have a contrast with his political life, she was then tossed away like a pair of worn out shoes.


    Luo Nan did not judge other¡¯s virtues and ethics. He was disinclined to go around judging people, and moreso he didn¡¯t want to get in a bind with her. He directly lowered the car windows and gave a simple response:


    ¡°Senior Xie¡¯s not here. Is there a problem Senior Lian?¡±


    Lian Yu stared nkly at thepletely empty cockpit. Then she was awoken by the sound ¡°Senior Lian¡±. She swept her gaze over Luo Nan twice with eyes that still contained bewilderness. Her figure suddenly left from the car window.


    Several secondster, the window on Luo Nan¡¯s side of the car also began rming due to arge force.


    Luo Nan shook his head and lowered the car window. Then two hands with long manicured finger nails unexpectedly reached probingly inside to grab his neck with a death grip. She hauled vigorously from outside of the car window:


    ¡°THIEF! CATCH THIS THIEF!¡± Lian Yu shrieking voice sounded far down the road.


    The group of vehicle owners in the surrounding had minds filled with buzzing about this long-legged beauty kicking a luxurious car in fury. But since now they encountered such a lively opportunity, their hearts grew more like a preying cat; they followed their desires and leapt to action.


    However, a group of drunk youngsters that had yet to sober up were more direct than the vehicle owners. They ignored the warning given by the police officer. They exited from luxury cars a row back and swarmed over like a cluster of bees. Lian Yu also hade over from there. They likely were those who had just finished partying at the nightclub and were stuck here on their route back home.


    This group of out-of-control youngsters had seized the opportunity, causing the surrounding vehicle owners to unexpectedly not dare get close.


    After all, what kind of people were they!


    The youngsters first crowded and gathered towards the side of the car window while roaring with sharpughter. But then they discovered that the space was narrow over there, that they weren¡¯t able to squeeze any more people. They howled and punched at the flying car worth 500 million in hopes of leaving behind some marks or damage on the car¡¯s body. They did not care at all about the ear-piercing rm.


    Some people even used the hood of the car as a drum to produce the wild beat of a nightclub.


    ¡°Noise noise, make some noise! Thief Thief, catch the thief!¡±


    ¡°Old Xie¡¯s magic tricks quite good. He¡¯s turned into a pretty boy to shock me!¡±


    ¡°Lian Yu would kidnap a person, but won¡¯t steal a car. Old Xie tossed away a car and even tossed away a person!¡±


    ¡°Look look look. Peek peek peek. In the back trunk is there some......¡±


    Someone seriously went to go lift open the back trunk amidst the chaos. But how could he possibly open it? Instead he was kicked in the buttocks by apanion, causing him to roll beneath the car.


    The chaotic, crazed, and violent scene caused the surrounding vehicle owners to stare gapingly.


    At this moment in the car, although Luo Nan had been caught off guard and grabbed by the neck by Lian Yu, his reactions were extremely quick. He pulled up from the back of the chair just then and gripped onto Lian Yu¡¯s radial artery, directly sapping her strength.


    Lian Yu ate pain and wasn¡¯t able to hold onto equilibrium. She fell head-first into the car, and the two people¡¯s faces were pressed together in an instant.


    Lian Yu was still currently wearing heavy makeup from clubbing. Her facial features were all the more deeply solid; they were charming and alluring.


    However, Luo Nan¡¯s vision pierced through the mask of highlighter, blush, and fake eyshes. He saw the swollen figure of the woman and the thickly crossed bloodshot heterochromic eyes. From the additional response of the body beneath his fingertips, he could conclude that...


    Lian Yu and her group of wildpanions not only had yet to recover from their hangover, they also had taken some drugs when they were partying.


    This was nothing for those with rich families. But they never thought of the trouble that woulde from exhibiting such unbridled behavior in the crowded public. Most of all there was an experienced police officer in the vicinity!


    Forget it...... He could only hope that this group of people would use their heads, otherwise they would lose all respect.


    Luo Nan absolutely didn¡¯t expect to get involved with this group of retards. He pushed away Lian Yu, but before he could figure out a way to handle things, the middle-aged police officer came walking over again while calling people over the phone. The gaze that was casted over was increasing in guard, to the extent that the officer even ced his hand on the weapon¡¯s firing position.


    And also at this moment, the car¡¯s AI sounded out with a warning that waspletely different than: ¡°Attention. The vehicle has been subjected to several various types of scans. There are risks of breaches of privacy. I suggest to start the.....¡±


    A vibrating buzzing cry sounded forth before the warning could finish. A number of ten small sentinel drones spanned through the congested cars. They scuttled back and forth in the airspace of this area andmunicated with the cold sound of machinery:


    ¡°All those who aren¡¯t police personnel on the road must put their hands behind their heads and get down. You have vited the Emergency State Law and Order¡¯s Section 16 Paragraph 5¡¯s provision and will be subjected to an investigation; I repeat......¡±


    A crowd of youngsters stared nkly at the small drones fluttering around like bats. Most of the noisy hysterical mood immediately dissipated in a sh.


    However, not everyone was able to maintain a basic level of soberness. The ¡°fighters¡± then stuck their middle fingers towards the ¡°bats¡± in the sky:


    ¡°GET LOST POLICE DOGS!¡±


    A pulse of zing electricity was given to him in response.


    The ¡°fighters¡± weren¡¯t able to make a single snort. Theirrge faces nted downwards as theyy on the ground. They let out a muffled sound that caused one¡¯s heart to shiver.


    The area surrounding the flying car Phantom became vacated on the spot. As long as one possessed a brain, one would immediately put their hands behind their head and get down on the ground. Even if there was asionally someone who was frozen, they were dragged forcefully to the ground by theirpanions.


    It was impossible to reason with unmanned sentinel drones right?


    Society had always somewhat dismissed these intelligentw enforcement machines. They were spoken ascking severity, and that they easily cause mishaps. But the best publicly recognized method to face situations of chaos was still to use unmanned machines for purging. They could maximize the elimination of the human element to provide propermunication between all parties.


    This group of ¡°well-trained¡± children of rich families understood early on that their privileges were only effective towards living people. A wise man knows better than to fight when the odds are against him. At most they would be taken to the police station, otherwise how would theirwyers make a living?


    Lian Yu alsoy down on the ground outside of the car window. Luo Nan received peace atst, but this kind of peace wasn¡¯t what he wanted at all.


    The middle-aged police came over to the side of the vehicle once again. The youngsters on the ground were quite obedient. At most they would slightly nudge their position with extreme caution. They feared to have the heavy exoskeleton armour stomp on their heads, or something like that.


    Still there were some people who firmlymitted the police officer¡¯s face to memory, vowing to humiliate himter on.


    The middle-aged police officer paid no heed to the careful intentions of the youngsters on the ground. He stood next to the car window and watched Luo Nan closely, he also ran his eyes over inside to see the interior state of the vehicle.


    The car¡¯s AI was still emitting the ¡°Privacy Breach¡± warning. Luo Nan resented noise so he simply shut it off. He understood the so-called ¡°several various types of scans¡± clearly. He was 80% certain that it was caused by a database retriever tool used by this police officer.


    Luo Nan was calm from the bottom of his heart. He took the initiative by asking: ¡°Is there a problem officer?¡±


    Since Luo Nan was cooperative, the middle-aged police officer also moved ording to procedure. He saluted towards Luo Nan and showed his credentials. His name, Xue Weiran, was shown on there. Unexpectedly, he was already fifty or so years old. It was impossible to tell his age from his appearance.


    The negotiations between these two were quite peaceful up until this moment. But this atmosphere immediately copsed to pieces as soon as Officer Xue asked Luo Nan to open the back trunk.


    Officer Xue grabbed a translucent box from the back of the trunk. He ceased talking with Luo Nan and directly tore open the case. The finger enveloped in armor revealed an agileness that was astonishing. Soon he saw separate small sealed bottles within the box.


    He twisted open a bottle and took out a pill in the shape of a capsule from within. White specks of fine powder scattered with a slight twist.


    A scanner that hung at the waist of Officer Xue flickered with a red light. He turned and stared fixed at Luo Nan with a bad expression.


    Luo Nan¡¯s eyes slightly jumped from the corner. His many years of experience with experiments made him particrly sensitive to certain drugs, it also woke him to the troubling state he was presently in:


    It was the failure Xie Junping¡¯s entertainment!


    Another ridiculous thought leapt forth immediately: Maybe he could get a channel of resources from Xie Junping in the future?


    Xie Junping sneezed, his nostrils glowing red.


    He knew that most people would me a virus as the cause. To catch a cold, to be stressed, it was all brought onto himself.


    He had barely settled the situation here in Mangzhong for the time being. The misfortune in Xia City nearly caused him to piss his pants in fright: There was a ¡°Pot of Destiny¡± still in the car. How could he have overlooked it?


    The one who told Xie Junping this piece of news was precisely Miss Zhang Yingying of the Hidden Indigo¡¯s business office.


    The two sides no longer needed to be surreptitious at the present; it was fine to engage directly in virtualmunication. With the powers of AR technology, the two people seemed to be sitting across each other for discussion in a reception room.


    Xie Junping had always criticized Zhang Yingying silently for being a ¡°Phone Operator¡±. She just handled answering the phone and rted work in Hidden Indigo¡¯s office. But Xie Junping had to admit that this sharp-tongued phone operator was indeed an extremely eye catching beauty.


    Zhao Yingying appeared to be only 18~19 years old at first nce. Her medium-short hair was free and loose. Her facial features gave a bright impression with a hint of a boyish vor, but her figure was not the least bit that of a boys.


    It was already autumn. She wore a camisole, revealing snowy white shoulders and neck. Two slender straps crisscrossed above her bulging and steamy bossom. It was sufficient to attract the gaze of every male.


    From the waist down was a short denim skirt. Multipleyers of decorative belt loops made it lookpletely cool.


    At this moment, her long snowy white legs were raised high on the boss¡¯s table. Roman t sandals rocked left and right, to and fro in a very casual manner. The denim skirt slid all the way up to the base of her legs, but there wasn¡¯t a way to take advantage of this due to the issue with the angle.


    Xie Junping did not have any thoughts of taking advantage of her at the moment. He was pacing back and forth in the room, restless and fretful.


    Everyone knew that low addictive psychotropic drugs were spread unchecked in poprity in the modern world. It was simply inconceivable for this entertainment to not appear in the private parties of rich folk. But public political opinion didn¡¯t care about this. As long as you stupidly expose possession of the drug, you¡¯re certain to have a hammere down and kill you. You won¡¯t get the chance to defend yourself.


    In a certain sense, this was even more severe than him sneaking off to party. In addition, there was the issue with the fatal fuseposed of his group of good for nothing friends. Every linking thread was connected together. The consequences wouldn¡¯t be a simple as 1+1.


    ¡°Lian Yu, you slut. Li Xuecheng, I¡¯vemitted you to memory. Liu Tao you bastard, you surely.....¡±


    Xie Junping was like a cornered beast. He wailed in this virtual iron prison. Obviously he urgently wanted to know what were the circumstances in Xia City...... Had he been implicated already?


    ¡°What do you have hungrywyers for? Let them handle things!¡±


    Zhang Yingying had a get-some-distance-from-me-you-trouble-maker expression of resentment. She showed signs of cking off.


    Xie Junping¡¯s heart became clear as a mirror. This shameless girl clearly treated him as a sucker. The problem was that his mind had panicked. He could only bring a obsequious smile on his face:


    ¡°In these unusual times I still ask of you experts to be more at ease. It¡¯s only natural that my remuneration will be sufficient.¡±


    Zhang Yingying spread her fingers: ¡°Then how do you want it done? Should I go bust people from a military transport ship?¡±


    ¡°Military transport ship? Why would it be military?¡±


    Xie Junping¡¯s voice changed in tone.


    Zhang Yingying extended three fingers: ¡°The Government. The Military. Quantum Corporation. These three bases of research and development are working together in production, at least in name. Now they¡¯ve inexplicably set off a nuclear warhead......¡±


    ¡°Nuclear warhead!?¡± Xie Junping¡¯s face wentpletely ck.


    ¡°Don¡¯t misunderstand; it was just an example. In any case it¡¯s really about the same. Anyway no one would ept this oue. But what exactly is going on then? A natural disaster? A terrorist attack?¡±


    Zhang Yingying¡¯s feet rocked back and forth quite freely: ¡°Right now all sides must provide an exnation, most notably the government and the military. These two do nothing but delegate work to others. Before they would consume kickbacks from Quantum Corporation, enjoying the benefits even though they shouldn¡¯t. Now that something has happened, I¡¯ve discovered that no one has any clue about the state of theirboratory. Was it an ident? Or were they getting rid of something? How would one who¡¯s not deeply involved be able to report the situation to the people up top?¡±


    Xie Junping still was unable to understand: ¡°But it can¡¯t be so bad that they¡¯ll be tossed onto military ships right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because you don¡¯t understand the severity of the situation.¡±


    This one sentence from Zhang Yingying tore Xie Junping¡¯s soul in half. She then extended five fingers: ¡°This is how much that piece of information costs.¡±


    Xie Junping¡¯s face changed colors: ¡°You¡¯re ripping me off!¡±


    Zhang Yingyingughed with a ha!: ¡°This number was adjusted to a degree due to our long coborative rtionship. Otherwise if you were to leave us, I will......¡±


    Her delicate white palm flipped over and over in a very genuine manner.¡±


    ¡°I......concede!¡±


    Xie Junping¡¯s face was ash, but he still swallowed his tone. If he was going to spend money, might as well spend it to the end. It would be the stupidest way to die if he were to leave things unfinished.


    Zhang Yingying blew him a kiss: ¡°Rx. It¡¯s worth this much. Any information involving ¡®Burners¡¯ is simply worth this much!¡±


    ¡°Burners?¡±


    ¡°Yep. I got this from a reliable channel of information. The high-endboratory was specialized in handling the research of the mechanism behind ¡®Burning¡¯. Their focus was towards nerve anatomy......¡±


    ¡°Live experimentation? With the human body?¡± Xie Junping could not be med for having his mind run wild. He had heard the information pertinent to Luo Nan before; the impression from then ran far deeply. Naturally he would now have associative thoughts.


    Zhang Yingying also didn¡¯t make a conclusion: ¡°The project wasunched as an experiment performed on the Mutants on the books. As for what else they researched, who knows?¡±


    She paused slightly before speaking again: ¡°Anyway, this is all of little importance. What¡¯s important is that theboratory must have been engaging in their firstrge experiment. Their power system was forcefully shut down by someone, causing their experiment to go out of control, and leading to a major ident. There is a disastrous number of casualties. And, the culprit took the opportunity to steal away some important experimental prototype......¡±


    Xie Junping blurted out: ¡°Deep Blue Walkers?¡±


    Zhang Yingying gave him a nk eye: ¡°Ridiculous! Rumor has it that the prototype is a newly developed product from Quantum Corporation, the structure of a chemical drug. Martialw for search and seizure has been imposed in the surrounding area right now. If this isn¡¯t effective, the whole city of Xia will be a chaotic mess.


    ¡°Oh, hold on...... What does this have to do with those who¡¯ve been lifted onto the transport ships?¡±


    Zhang Yingying responded effortlessly: ¡°Right now the culprit is atrge. Who would dare cause trouble? Who wouldn¡¯t be peaceful? In addition that group of good-for-nothings are poking around over there and are a hindrance. Who would have the time to screen them one by one. It would be better to use the name of the military to collect them all up, then process them when there¡¯s time. This way the government can save themselves a lot of trouble.¡±


    ¡°So it was like this all along......F*CK!¡± Xie Junping suddenly realized that he was destined to be a sucker!


    Zhang Yingying had moved in arge circle. In the end she was saying that Luo Nan and the others had run into the government and were caught in the crossfire by the crazy surge of implications by the military. Things absolutely weren¡¯t as dire as he had imagined!


    The five pieces of information were used in this way to form this conclusion?


    Xie Junping was on the verge of standing up and mming his hands on the table. Finally he remembered that this was a virtual reception room, but his expression was ugly to the extreme.


    Zhang Yingying understood his thoughts clearly. She immediately shook her head sighing: ¡°You¡¯re quite the hopeless type. If it was your father it would already be toote to give thanks. The key point is the drugs. The drugs! Do you still need me to exin this clearly for you?¡±

 Chapter 8: The Devouring Flames (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 8: The Devouring mes (Part 1/2)


    Drugs...... The manufactured drugs!


    Xie Junping was notpletely retarded. His brain had finally wound and turned to an understanding, but his mood turned even worse.


    Quantum Corporation... especially wouldn¡¯t let others survive!


    It must be known that the Xie Family owns a portion of the industry in the field where the most cutting edge of drugs are produced and sold; their strength was strong. But theycked the confidence to trulypare themselves with Quantum Corporation, a megacorp valued to be one of the top three in the entire world.


    The Quantum Corporation rapidly erupted in power after the war. At the beginning of the 90¡¯s, they proposed the concept of Burners using Archetype Formatting Theory as the foundation. They created the Deep Blue tform by themselves, releasing the Deep Blue Walkers, and changing the methods of war between mankind and the Mutants. They immediately and effectively recovered a great deal of territory that was conventionally used by humanity.


    Everyone with insight knew that Quantum Corporation appeared to exert their strength in their Weapon¡¯s tform. Actually their nature lies in performing sets of research, where really they made major breakthroughs in the life sciences. Their cumtive research in rted fields was absolutely one of the very best in the world.


    Nowadays this capital giant has atst extended their tentacles into the most cutting edge of the drug manufacturing field..... The several drugpanies where the Xie Family has equity in might be in for a panic.


    But Xie Junping carefully reconsidered things. ording to any investor worth their salt, those who first receive reliable information will have received an astonishing amount of wealth.


    Zhang Yingying looked at Xie Junping lost in thought. She crossed her arms and sneered:


    ¡°Sucker. Was the information worth the price?¡±


    Worth it! Way worth it!¡±


    Xie Junping had always used his face like a salesman. He lightly whipped out a happy and smiling face: ¡°Yingying my friend, you¡¯ve done me a huge favor. For all my life, I¡¯ll remember your good......¡±


    Zhang Yingying¡¯s tiny face was so tender that water could be drawn with a pinch. Yet, her fundamental nature was that of an impervious lord. Her eyelids didn¡¯t even rise: ¡°Sounds good~ This year the fee will be raised by 50% then. I thank you on behalf of the boss.¡±


    Xie Junping withered in a sh. He spoke hastily and messily: ¡°Oh! That¡¯s right! Quantum Corporation and Luo Nan. Is there a connection between them? That Archetype Formating Theory......¡±


    Zhang Yingying respondedzily: ¡°No matter what academic misconduct that Yan Hong had, the results that he sold to Quantum Corporation were final. Personal strength has no meaning whenpared to an investment group. The Quantum Corporation wouldn¡¯t pay any attention to these sorts of tiny ants. Don¡¯t go about scaring yourself okay?¡±


    Xie Junping wasn¡¯t concerned about this point though. He had actually made a connection to a different problem. He mumbled for quite a while before finally opening his mouth: ¡°If Luo Nan¡¯s been brought onto a warship, do you think he will.....¡±


    ¡°Just speak inly; you¡¯re worried that others would sell you out.¡±


    Zhang Yingying sneered: ¡°Even though the most normal thing would be to sell you out, he has yet to do so at the present! ording to reliable information, he hasn¡¯t spoken a single word ever since he was brought in for custody.¡°


    ¡°Really?¡± Xie Junping was somewhat doubtful. ording tomon sense, Luo Nan didn¡¯t need to carry him for his sake.


    Zhang Yingying spread her hand open: ¡°One who¡¯s determined to leave his name in history as an Anti-Hero... You will never be able to guess what he¡¯s thinking. For example, the recording......¡±


    ¡°Recording?¡±


    ¡°Yep. That Phantom of yours that¡¯s worth 500 million automatically recorded a security video. Did you really believe the police won¡¯t obtain it?¡±


    ¡°Huh? AH!¡± Xie Junping only realized at this time. His face lost all color. ¡°Then then then......¡±


    Zhang Yingying sighed: ¡°The police criminal records would have already turned to dust by the time you realize things! Rx, the records have already been deleted.¡±


    Xie Junping¡¯s hands sped together. He repeatedly expressed his gratitude: ¡°Thank-you for your thorough work Yingying.¡±


    ¡°Can you not credit me for someone else¡¯s work...... This was another righteous deed by our Anti-Hero.¡±


    ¡°Dang! So virtuous!¡±


    Xie Junping was really shocked this time. The car was under his name; this was an undisputable fact. All Luo Nan had to do was cooperate with the police by telling the truth. By using this together with a copy of the video recording, all suspicion towards Luo Nan would have been removed easily.


    But Luo Nan had chosen to delete the recording and keep silent, giving Xie Junping a cushion of leeway. This was an extremely huge favor!


    Xie Junping split his head thinking and was still unable to understand why Luo Nan was willing to go this far. In the end all he could do was sigh emotionally:


    ¡°Virtuous. Virtuous beyondpare!¡±


    As Xie Junping spoke these words, he found himself deep in thought in an instant. Should he go with the flow and let this Anti-Hero carry him?


    He could always discuss how to make it up for himter on.....


    But he thought things over again. It would also be fine if he was carried. If he was implicated, there¡¯s nothing he could do about it. The intermediate processes will surely increase inplexity, increasing the uncertainty significantly.


    The flying car Phantom was under his name. It would be hard for him to wipe himself clean no matter what.


    And he thought of Luo Nan, of the pair of bewitching heterochromic pupils. Xie Junpei¡¯s heart slightly trembled inexplicitly. He was unsure of the cause of this.


    ¡°Oh Yingying. What do you......¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong. Did you sprain your head thinking?¡±


    ¡°N-no that didn¡¯t happen!¡±


    Xie Junping thought a bit. It would be hard to talk about these kind of things. He might as well just heavily set his foot down and forget it. Other people have progressed things this far already. He can¡¯t be scared. He needs to first go fish some folks up before deciding what to do next.


    Yep. He¡¯ll let the Anti-Hero continue being righteous just as before!


    At this moment Luo Nan the Anti-Hero was sitting alone in the corner. Ice cold metal ting was behind his back and beneath his body. No markings of any kind were on all sides of him. It was a rough cold-hardiness befitting a warship, obscuring his thoughts.


    It was like a spiritual ghost that was soon absorbed by Luo Nan. The other people in the same room didn¡¯t have things as easy as he did. Each one of them had restless appearances.


    No one ever thought that they would actually be lifted into military warships and put in detention during what had been an ordinary security event.


    At first this group of rich kids wailed about the procedures, about seeingwyers. But after about an hour, not a single echo could be heard. The room was closed off from the outside. Only ice-cold warbots stood guard over them. Their bulky anti-riot guns looked to be terribly painful.


    Later on, the dozen or so people could only look at each other in dismay. They gradually calmed down.


    Luo Nan¡¯s head hung low. His breathing was indiscernible.


    It was exactly 8 o¡¯clock in the morning right now. Normally Luo Nan would be already waiting in the ssroom for ss to start at this time. And, he would have eaten breakfast with a portion size for at least five people......


    At the present Luo Nan could only eat meals using the most traditional chemical method of humanity, taking food and transforming it to energy. Replenishment through consumption. Notably he had taken a few extra precautions. For instance, the energy bar he had inside his pocket.


    But today¡¯s mishap had caused him to use that energy bar early on. He no longer had a means to replenish himself. This, along with him missing his usual eating time, caused Luo Nan to feel as if an ck hole had opened up in his stomach, squeezing the energy from his flesh and blood without limit.


    Under normal circumstances, the feeling of hunger wouldn¡¯t be as serious as it was now. But the causes behind Luo Nan being lifted onto the warship caused Luo Nan to be forced to expend a price.


    Luo Nan was forcefully detained under suspicion of carrying illegal drugs. Even though the police didn¡¯t have the time to go through the interrogation process, urine testing and rted simple works had started shortly after boarding and were under way.


    This was a necessary execution of procedure. There was no exnations needed.


    Luo Nan could point to the sky and swear on the sun. He was 100% not a drug addict. He 100% never touched the drugs in the box. He 100% wasn¡¯t part of Xie Junping¡¯s no-good group of friends.


    But the problem was the drug mixture he had injected in the morning before he left home. The mixture contained a proportion of illegal ingredients that was absolutely off the charts! If everyone else in the room had their quantities of illegal ingredients added together, their total probably wouldn¡¯t even reach a fraction of his.


    By following down this path of logic Luo Nan really was sh*tting himself. Anyway, he wouldn¡¯t be able to reason his way out of this.


    This was the exact reason why Luo Nan had deliberately activated his Appetite King skill immediately. He went all out in increasing the metabolism of his body.


    Time turned fast from Luo Nan¡¯s perspective.

 Chapter 8: The Devouring Flames (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 8: The Devouring mes (Part 2/2)


    The police were concerned with the most susceptible of psychotropic drug ingredients. These ingredients took five to ten days topletely metabolize. Only a short half an hour had passed between the time when Luo Nan was arrested and when he was taken aboard the warship. Luo Nan hadpleted the entire metabolic process during this time. He focused on dispelling the susceptible ingredients within his drug concoction. So when they took his sample, Luo Nan exercised some control over his urinary system, allowing him to disregard ordinary urine tests.


    As for his other test samples, such as blood, hair, and the like...... Luo Nan honestly wasn¡¯t sure of the oue.


    Therefore he kept his mouth shut ever since he was forcefully detained. He never had the slightest thought of exposing Xie Junping. Needless to say, he still needed to rely on that fellow¡¯s help in order for him to escape what was toe!


    There would be more or less a price to pay for choosing this route.


    Great amounts of energy from his internal organs were consumed from speeding up his metabolic rate. It was as if Luo Nan had fasted for over a week within a short hour of time.


    He sped up consumption of his fat reserves and atrophy of his muscles in order to maintain a supply of nutrients to his brain and nerve center. Neurons alternated between being excited and inhibited. All this led to Luo Nan feeling quite horrible at the moment,


    Pain. Numbness. And slight hallucinations. His senses were being assaulted without end.


    Luo Nan sat on the ice cold ting of the ship. He made not a single movement, but in reality he was enduring torment through each strand of muscle. The fibers were twitching minutely.


    This represented that the functionality of his nervous system was in disorder.


    He closed his eyes,pletely ignoring the rich kidsining to each other in his surroundings. He chanted the twenty words.


    He started with the utmost familiarity of chanting the words as a liaison without pause. The humming sound vibrated within his skull cavity. However his chanting speed grew slower and slower. His volume grew lower and lower. In the end his lips and teeth no longer produced a sound; there were only brief words that bubble and flowed in his mind:


    My heart¡¯s a prison, my heart¡¯s a furnace.


    My heart calls for a lense, my heart calls for the nation.


    Following the influx of words in his mind, Luo Nan¡¯s attention gradually umted. Distracting thoughts were eliminated. He had automatically entered into the first step in visualization.


    Silvery lines like threads formed the structure of the tetrahedron, the inscribed sphere, and circumscribed sphere within the void. The structure resembled a wondrous celestial body that rotated in solitude within the darkness of the cosmos and space.


    He went through five years of hand in hand advancement of Drug Sculpting with Chanting & Breathing, causing his Vessel to form a subtly paired rtionship with the visualized diagram.


    A misfortune with the Vessel would immediately affect the the operation of the visualized diagram. On the other hand he could actually sort through the structure of his Vessel using his thoughts to adjust the visualized diagram. Then plus or minus adjustments were made to his energy and blood, influencing the functionality of his internal organs.


    Luo Nan discovered that the damage to his Vessel was dependent on the former. Whereas increasing his metabolic rate and controlling his urinary system was dependent on theter.


    Of course theter was equivalent to having the operation of his autonomic nervous system disrupted. It went against the natural functions of physiology. He had to pay a biting recoil in price.


    And in this way, there were some issues with the rhythm of the revolving visualized diagram. Luo Nan had increased his metabolic rate for half an hour. Now he needed to use at least three times the amount of time to recover back to normal.


    Luo Nan handled this with experience. He arranged his mental state to be firm. In any case he¡¯s been imprisoned. He doesn¡¯t need to think too much about matters happening on the outside. He just needs to slowly recover and things will be fine.


    However he soon discovered that the situation wasn¡¯t that simple.


    The rotating visualized diagram in the void began to exhibit clear signs of stuttering, and this stuttering was growing more and more severe. It was like a low-grade machine running arge-scale game. It was unable to render a smooth and full scene no matter what. And the situation would turn even more messy after this machine overheats.


    Later on even the rhythm of chanting the mantra became influenced. It would be hard to maintain the visualization technique.


    The recoiling bite he received was actually this serious?


    Luo Nan refused to believe it. He halted his visualization technique and muttered to himself for a while. He adjusted his body and switched sitting positions.


    Luo Nan sat cross-legged. He was just like the monks and priests of the olden days engaging in meditation. His entire body was firmly fixed to the ting of the ship. A straight line was formed from the top of his head to his sides. From the shoulders, to the elbows, to the knees, merging to the ground to form a solid pyramid.


    This ¡°Pyramid¡± sitting position was a visualization technique taught by Luo Nan¡¯s grandfather during Luo Nan¡¯s adolescence. It was for visualizing the diagram on the title page of his grandfather¡¯s notes.


    The pyramid form of the tetrahedron was like the boundary to his limbs and body.


    The inscribed sphere contained his internal organs and the operation of his energy and blood.


    The circumscribed sphere represented the environment of the external world.


    And so his body and mind were linked together. What was internal opposed what was external. The quality of the visualization became more exquisite.


    Normally Luo Nan would be sleeping at night, but he instead reced his sleep with strengthening the quality of his visualization technique.


    He entered chanting the mantra once more, smoothly starting the visualization. Silver threads formed theplete structure of the diagram, and the diagram began to slowly revolve.


    This time Luo Nan wasn¡¯t an observer, instead he was a participant. As he chanted the mantra, he started to be indistinct within the bounds of the visualized diagram.


    It was as if he had arrived within a borderless darkness. The manifestation of the majestic pyramid revolved within the void.


    In amidst of all this, he vaguely felt himself absolutely not moving. What moved was the flesh and blood of his internal organs. What moved was the external world with its void of darkness.


    Amidst the actions and inactions, the elements of harmony and discord peeled awayyer byyer and revealed...


    ¡°What is this!?¡±


    There was clearly a type of forceing from within the surrounding empty darkness. The dimensions weren¡¯trge, but it was actually quite solid. It was like there was a hand hiding in the darkness that always sought to disce the visualized diagram, to interfere with its stability and its bnce.


    Luo Nan attempted to grab and hold onto the hand, but he waspletely unable to make clear the existence and form of the hand. The response grew clearer, but he was unable to touch it no matter what. It was like an evening mosquito flitting by his ear. Even if he did ignore it, it was still extremely annoying.


    Or to be somewhat more precise, this was fundamentally an apparition that orbited and wandered his internal and external body. It wantonly swallowed the energy from his flesh, leaving him with no choice.


    As for the stuttering? It took a lot effort to find out that he had been inflicted by an unusual virus......


    Luo Nan tried a few times to handle things with great difficulty. Instead his mind was in disorder, distracting thoughts lumped together, and his heart was gradually filled with impatience. He had no choice but to abort from the Fixed Space.


    But the situation turned worse after he withdrew from the Fixed Space. The urging fretful state of his mind coupled with the influence of his prior hunger caused a sort of tingling numbness, pain, and even slight hallucinations to emerge. They transformed into a torrent of distracting thoughts that leapt forth from his mind. A grant counter-offensive wasunched, wiping thendscape with power.


    It can also be described as a mass of venomous mes that boiled within his internal organs.


    Luo Nan¡¯s lips and teeth squirmed slightly, but what came out wasn¡¯t the 20 word chant. It was simple irrational cursing. His current state was very bleak......Though he clearly knew his situation was bleak, he was unable to control it. Things have obviously turned even bleaker.


    An interferenceing from the external world came following the instability of his mind. It was already quite difficult to block the external world. Now it turns out there were people resolutelying over.


    ¡°Hello!¡± Someoneughed in his ear, ¡°Kid. Have you been scared dazed? Or are you deaf?¡±


    Luo Nan slightly raised his head. He was unable to open his eyelids wide. He had exhausted too much energy resulting in his current. He was not that perceptive to the external world. He had no idea about anything that had happened recently, nor was he interested in knowing.


    However, this person did not let him off: ¡°You¡¯re very very young. What are you ying at being so high and aloof.¡±


    Luo Nan finally raised his eyelids and observed this person. As it turns out, this person was precisely the only person he recognized in this room:


    Lian Yu.


    Previous Chapter Table of Contents Next Chapter

 Chapter 9: A Large Terror (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 9: A Large Terror (Part 1/2)


    Lian Yu came over having just regained rity of mind. Her position within this circle of rich kids was somewhat vague. Without taking into ount her family status, this was because she had two lovers at the same time; she had her feet in different boats. She had a rtionship with Xie Junping and a rtionship with her real boyfriend at the same time. This was the reason behind the uncertainty of her position.


    Because of this, she was met with ridicule upon being tossed out of the car by Xie Junping. It can be said that she went mad with anger. This along with her hangover and rted issues caused Luo Nan to be the target of her venting. And that is how this situation came to be.


    Now that she¡¯s calmed down after being brought into the detainment room, Lian Yu¡¯s thought process underwent a minute change. Her anger towards Xie Junping had not lessened in the slightest, but she had a new n regarding Luo Nan.


    She had been observing Luo Nan all this time.


    Most of the people in this cramped and noisy ad-hoc detainment room were either dispirited and downcast or noisy and on edge. They gave off, from head to toe, an air full of defeat.


    Only Luo Nan, this ¡°Big Boy¡± who looked to be the youngest of the bunch, continued sitting calmly in the corner from beginning to end. He waspletely motionless the whole time aside from changing to a weird sitting position in the middle of it.


    The shadow of the corner lightly draped over Luo Nan¡¯s body, obscuring his silhouette and details. But the shadow matched himpletely together as a whole to don forth a mysterious and profound persona, like a mask and cloak on a masquerade.


    That appearance of his looked very tasty.


    And so, Lian Yu got closer to Luo Nan to observe him at close range...... his external features were provocative.


    Luo Nan¡¯s delicate, pretty, and quiet appearance was exactly her type. She was far more interested in him than in taking vengeance against Xie Junping.


    Of course before things can happen, she needs to understand the rtionship between Luo Nan and Xie Junping clearly. She needs to rify why did Xie Junping hastily run away this early morning and then swap with this little fellow.


    Lian Yu really couldn¡¯t hide her thoughts. A personughed mockingly to the side: ¡°Lian Jieyu. That guy¡¯s a herbivore. You two won¡¯t pair together.¡±


    ¡°Herbivores are also quite refreshing and tasty~¡±


    Lian Yu didn¡¯t care at all about being called that nickname by other people. ¡°Jieyu¡± was originally the title used in ancient times for imperial concubines of the court. Its status was dignitary. And it also contained a meaning of harmfulness and beauty. It was not a bad nickname at all.


    She naturally ignored this ¡°appeared tterer¡± even if he did have malice from inferring a meaning outside of the ¡°pce¡±.


    Lian Yu was fundamentally someone who was truly carried the spirit of an omnivore and she had quite the natural resources. Her solid and intense facial features carried a bit of a vor of someone with mixed blood. And what was really unfair was her well developed and tall figure. She even deliberately wore a skin-tight butt-wrapping wine-red mini skirt. Her bulging buttocks were alluring, giving way to a slender waist and long legs. Her charms were highlighted to the greatest limits.


    She borrowed a male jacket to drape over herself in order to stay warm in these days. But she had a habit of articting with gestures when she spoke, causing the front of the jacket to automatically open up to reveal wantonly the shadows of the contortions of coy snow white flesh. It formed a first-ss natural work of art that was simply capable of sucking in the gazes of all the males in the vicinity.


    However, all Luo Nan could feel was fretfulness...... and pain.


    Lian Yu had aplete change in attitude towards Luo Nan; she wanted to y around for a bit. She giggled as she spoke and went to pat Luo Nan on the shoulder.


    Not much force was really contained in the palm that pped down. But right now Luo Nan has returned to the state when he had just separated from Xie Junping; he would feel pain even when the moisture from fog collides with his face. Thending of this palm was simply an axe cleaving down on his shoulder. His entire arm to his shoulder felt no longer his in a split second.


    Luo Nan¡¯s entire face twitched once. Lian Yu took him to be nervous instead. Her hand rested on Luo Nan¡¯s shoulder, no longering down. She borrowed some support and lowered her waist enticingly: ¡°We¡¯re all prison buddies going through amon tribtion. Won¡¯t you introduce yourself to me?¡±


    Any other male would enjoy receiving this signal for material benefits. However for Luo Nan at this moment, all he wanted was to punch her in the face.


    Pain......It was really really painful!


    Luo Nan felt like a me was burning in his chest. In fact his hand had already been clenched into a fist.


    But his remaining reason told him that this person didn¡¯t harbor any deep animosity nor hatred. It was only the habitual hunting of a carnivorous woman and nothing more.


    Luo Nan tried to use reason to let go of some energy and return to his normal state. He spoke in a tone as smooth as possible to reply: ¡°Acumen College. Tenth Grade. Luo Nan.¡±


    ¡°Whoa! You really are my junior! Or are you a tasty young hunk......¡±


    Lian Yu was quite pleasantly surprised. The more she looked at Luo Nan right now, the more he was pleasing to the eye. A delicate, pretty, and tender face paired with cold and cool expression. Mmm, and there was that serious sitting position. She couldn¡¯t tell if he was angry or shy. He was really quite adorable.


    She could not hold herself back from taking some liberties with Luo Nan; she extended her hand to go touch Luo Nan¡¯s face.


    Her intentions were too clear. This along with her perverse signalling for material benefits drew in the envy of a few people.


    A hand suddenly probed forth, pinching Luo Nan¡¯s cheek in a rush in another giggling manner. Yet when she went to exert force with her fingertips, Luo Nan¡¯s face was pinched to a different shape:


    ¡°Tasty hunk? Are you tasty?¡±


    Luo Nan¡¯s heart thumped with an echo. His brain didn¡¯t function as he reliedpletely on his body¡¯s instincts. He waved his hand with force to swat her filthy hand away.


    This action brought an intense reaction from a heavily drunk and drugged fellow. This person was undoubtedly intensely agitated. This meddler was in apletely bad mood and took the opportunity to send over kick.


    ¡°HE #&%* BROUGHT IT HERE!¡±


    This foot kicked ferociously onto Luo Nan¡¯s shoulder. Its strength was massive. Luo Nan¡¯s body tilted to the side, even bringing Lian Yu with him. In the chaos, Luo Nan¡¯s notebook that had been resting on his knee was swept away by Lian Yu¡¯s hand when she lost her bnce, sliding two-to-three meters away.


    Lian Yu was wearing 10 centimeter high heels. She had nearly sprained her ankle in the confusion. She avoided falling on the ground only by using Luo Nan for support. She felt exhausted, then the anger in her mind reached to its peak in an instant:


    ¡°LI XUECHENG. WHAT THE HELL!¡±


    Then Li Xuecheng used an even louder voice to roar back: ¡°HELL WITH YOU SLUTTY #&%*!¡±


    Lian Yu was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. Her shrieking voice jumped an octave. She brandished her manicured nails towards Li Xuecheng¡¯s face in greeting.


    This fight was something that could not happen. Li Xuecheng¡¯s slip of his tongue had already caused Xie Junping to lose face. If he went ahead to touch Lian Yu, he really would have his face be wed a few times. He wouldter be no longer able to mingle with this crowd.


    He would duck out henceforth. Naturally there would be enough people here to stop the fight.


    This group of rich kids just had their spirits oppressed by being in this prison. They were on the verge of exploding. If right now there was a lively situation, each one of them would be dauntless to be the first to make a move. They left aside reason and thought it would be good if they could take advantage of the beauty¡¯s body.


    Lian Yu was already restrained by three or four big masters before she could rush forward. Words of pacification came left and right. Her body ate quite a few ¡°hands of righteousness¡± from head to toe. Her face was ashened from anger. Her high-heels shed forth. It didn¡¯t matter who it was, they were all kicked heavily. She kicked the group of males into dispersing chaotically.


    Then finally two girls with pretty faces had enough of the chaos. They persuaded her half-honest and half-faking. Only then was Lian Yu able to be barely pacified.


    Li Xuecheng broke free from the marring crisis. His face was quite injured. Even moreso he had a demonic me burning in his stomach that had yet to be vented. His eyes swept crazily all over the ce before it finallynded on the pretty boy that had started this mess. Luo Nan was staggering up at this moment. He went to go pick up his notebook with the attitude of a person with nothing better to do.


    ¡°F*CK YOU #&%*!¡± Li Xuecheng sent a kick behind Luo Nan¡¯s waist without a single thought.

 Chapter 10: Psychosis (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 10: Psychosis (Part 1/2)


    Although the military and the police took people and tossed them here for this arresting operation without taking follow-up steps, this didn¡¯t mean that theypletely wiped their hands clean of the matter. They were monitoring the room this whole time and they were monitoring the vital signs of each and every person. Currently they discovered that Li Xuecheng had entered a state of shock, only then did they adopt emergency measures.


    The armed mechanical soldiers were stone-cold and heartless toys to the bone; they were unable to understand everything that had developed thus far and could only see things in ck and white. They followed their strict and fixed programming and directly opened fire with their anti-riot guns.


    High-pressure pulses enveloped the entire room. Every person standing became an attack target. Even Lian Yu and the other girls were unable to escape it.


    An electric current apanied the pulse, piercing through the body. The current ran through the nervous system of the human body and formed a closed loop circuit. It stimted the muscles, causing the bodies to enter into a violent and stiff state in an instant.


    None of the people had any sort of resistance. They fell in a wave of painful agony.


    The chaotic situation was swept calm in an instant......


    Wait. There was one person.


    Luo Nan. He had been restrained by the group of rich kids at his waist and legs. Perhaps it was due to the manyyers of flesh acting as a shield that he was able to unexpectedly prevent himself from immediately falling down.


    He staggered a few steps and barely kept his bnce in the end. His body was half bent over. His hands were propped against his knees. His calves seemed to be trembling, rocking, and swaying. He could fall to the ground at any time.


    But Luo Nan continued to stand even though his condition was like this. He slightly lifted his head; the blood red glow on his face had subsided a bit, but his eyes were fixed. His eyes traversed through the fence of the detainment room andy fixed on the gun muzzles of the armed mechanical soldiers.


    The armed mechanical soldiers fixed upon their sole target without emotion. Just when they were about to unleash another attack, a soldier wearingbat gear burst in the room. It was a captain:


    ¡°At ease squad!¡±


    The armed mechanical soldiers¡¯ electronic eyes promptly turned to an idle ck upon receiving the voicemand.


    The captain¡¯s gaze swept through the room. He spoke strictly: ¡°All must lie down on the ground and put your hands behind your heads!¡±


    He never said there would be any consequences if one doesn¡¯t follow his orders. Yet none of the people wanted to challenge hisw. Even though they had yet to recover their strengthpletely from paralysis, the group of people still painfully got into the correct position, each one of them looking cuter than amb.


    Lian Yu snuck her head up and she casted her vision towards Luo Nan. There should be a lot of people acting like her who strongly felt that this dark and ruthless pervert would be obstinate till the end, that he wouldn¡¯tply with this captain¡¯s order.


    But they were extremely taken back from reality. Though Luo Nan moved slow, he stilly on the ground with extremepliancy. His hands intersected and hugged the back of his skull.


    Since Luo Nan had moved a few steps previously, he was now at a somewhat closer position to Lian Yu. Lian Yu could directly see the side of Luo Nan¡¯s face from her angle.


    Hmm. He seemed to be trembling...... It couldn¡¯t have taken him until now for him to understand fear right?


    An unending chant. A minute sound traveled to her ear. Bzzz Bzzz, Bzzz Bzzz. The sound was like the pping wing of a bee that brought a faint tempo with it.


    The source of this sound was none other than Luo Nan.


    Only now did Lian Yu discover that although Luo Nan wasying on the ground, his posture was a tiny bit different than the other people¡¯s. His chin pressed against the ground and he looked straight ahead. His lips slightly opened, revealing the source of the bizarre sound.


    That form was simply a venomous wasp with a broken wing struggling on the ground.


    Has this fellow gone mad?


    Lian Yu felt a cold shiver and grit her teeth in secret. She cursed at a certain person located several hundred kilometers away:


    Xie Junping you son of a b*tch! What kind of people are you associated with!?


    Xie Junping obviously wouldn¡¯t reply. However, the military made a quick judgement.


    From Lian Yu and the other¡¯s perspective, the reason why the armed mechanical soldiers and military personnel had appeared in session was because the situation had turned big. They didn¡¯t know what sort of punishment they were to receive.


    But in the eyes of the military, any small counterpoints argued from facts and testimonies by this group of temporarily detained youngsters amounted to nothing but shit. In the end, the military was only helping the police out with administration. It wasn¡¯t necessary for them to waste their energy on the surface. The final thing they did was lift the unconscious Li Xuecheng to the hospital. Then they took Luo Nan, who was ipatible with the others, and put him in solitary confinement.


    No one opposed this judgement in face of the military. There wouldn¡¯t be any point even if they did oppose it.


    Actually, when Luo Nan spoke in a low voice while he was being brought out from the others: ¡°There¡¯s still my notebook.¡±


    Come on. Come on!


    The eyes of Lian Yu and the others bulged wide open. They looked to see how this super-hidden pervert would reveal his vicious and wild side.


    However, they were fooled by the development of the situation once again. The captain didn¡¯t get angry, instead he hinted his subordinate to enter the room and retrieve the notebook. The captain flipped a few pages to take a look and saw the cracks on the flexible screen. He swept a nce with his two eyes and then handed the notebook back to Luo Nan.


    Luo Nan did not speak any more words. He followed obediently under the escort of the soldiers and left. He maintained a calm and collected silence from the beginning until he left, giving off the same impression at the beginning.


    Then during this time when Lian Yu and the others looked at each other in dismay, Luo Nan was brought into a solitary holding room. This location wasn¡¯t too far away from his previous site of imprisonment.


    The space here was cramped since this was a proper solitary holding room. Only a single metal chair had been ced in the room, and this chair was fixed to the floor. If one were to orbit around the chair in a circle, he would pretty much take up the rest of the space.


    This ce was a ustrophobic¡¯s worst nightmare. Luo Nan was apathetic towards it.


    He sat on the chair and subconsciously ced his notebook on his knee. First he wiped the footprint mark from the cover, then he gently and carefully opened the notebook.


    Portions of the metal binding rings of the notebook were somewhat deformed from being heavily stomped and ground by Li Xuecheng. The opening tab wasn¡¯t that responsive as well. But these kinds of damages did not amount to much whenpared to what happened to the flexible e-ink screen.


    It was unknown where Li Xuecheng drew his strength. The extremely pliable and tough flexible screen had fractured with over ten fine lines. Some lines ran through the entire screen. It seemed that if Li Xuecheng used a bit more strength, the flexible screen would have shattered into pieces.


    However, the flexible e-ink screen could still be used in this state. The screen lit up with a light swipe.


    Luo Nan felt a bit at ease. He didn¡¯t care about anything else. He then directly opened his mostmonly used drawing application. Soon he entered into its typical interface. The sketch of the burning wraith appeared on the upmostyer.


    It looked to be quite normal...... Luo Nan let out a long hushing breath. His finger long-pressed so he could enter into the nextyer¡¯s interface.


    But before his exhaled heated breath could even change in temperature, the flexible e-ink screen darkened and automatically shut off, not a hint of light remained. It was like an ominous te that had been painted inky ck.


    Luo Nan tried many different methods to restart the screen, but he was unable to get a response.


    He sat dazed in front of the pitch-ck shattered screen.


    The minicam in the corner locked onto Luo Nan¡¯s stiff and deadpan face and transmitted the scene to a different room on the warship.


    In this room, the freshly mintedwyer Zhang Yingying had rushed over travel-worn. She faced the relevant people in charge of the warship and presented legal documents.


    This time Zhang Yingying had changed into an old-fashioned grey-ck woman¡¯s suit. Her hair was coiled into a bun. The only bright color on her body was a gorgeous sapphire-blue scarf around her neck....... Oh, there was also her pair of slim and slender calves that were directly exposed to the air. They werepletely wless. These calves supported by ck suede high heels had an exquisite texture and a jade-like glow.


    And the person answering Zhang Yingying was the warship¡¯s logistics manager. Thismander was somewhat stout and carried thest name Lu. He had received a greeting from Zhang Yingying beforehand, but when faced with this young and tender girlwyer who was dressed up to look mature and was suspicious no matter how you look at her, he didn¡¯t have any intention of investigating her deeply.


    Of course, the reason probably had something to do with his eyes continuously ncing downwards.

 Chapter 10: Psychosis (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 10: Psychosis (Part 2/2)


    Although Commander Lu was somewhat frivolous, he had already acquired the habit of caution from doing logistics work for a long time so he had some hesitation towards the current situation: ¡°There isn¡¯t any problems with the others, but this one kid Luo Nan is truly a bit suspicious. He¡¯s so young; how could his hand be so fierce? His behavior after what transpired was bizarre as well.¡±


    Zhang Yingying repliedpletely seriously: ¡°Having this sort of thing happen is truly regretful. But in my opinion, this was a small conflict caused by the impulsiveness of being hot-headed. It won¡¯t hinder the judgment of this case itself.¡±


    ¡°Of course the military is only temporarily responsible for detaining these youths. We won¡¯t make a statement on this incident.¡±


    Commander Lu spoke, putting the matter to the side. Soon he revealed a smile: ¡°In ordance to orders from higher in the chain ofmand, Luo Nan¡¯s batch of people still need to wait for their investigations to bepleted. We still need to conduct screening and establish records. It should take about eight more hours at the very least, during which we won¡¯t permit them with any contact with people on the outside. You¡¯vee early Miss Zhang....... The coffee in the officer rec room is said to be quite good. Why don¡¯t I invite Miss Zhang over there to kill a bit of time?¡±


    Zhang Yingying¡¯s eyes didn¡¯t even blink once when faced with this tactless and crude pickup technique. She directly refused: ¡°No that¡¯s not necessary. My client has the miserable look of despair and apathy. It would be better for me to keep a close eye on him.¡±


    Commander Lu shrugged his shoulders: ¡°It should be because his flexible screen is broken. It should have some special significance for him. For instance, it could be a gift from his father or something like that.¡±


    Zhang Yingying raised an eyebrow: ¡°A gift from his father? What good thinking!¡±


    Commander Lu was a bit taken back when he was met with the rejecting signs by this young femalewyer. But he still revealed forth a smile for the sake of his objective. He spoke showing off in the sort of clear, yet not clear philosophical manner:


    ¡°Adults need to cautiously decide on allowing weak justification. The number of kids who areid back are plenty. They could suffer setbacks are any time, but they can bounce back quickly. This is because they¡¯re still under the protection of their family. Their fathers quicklypensate for it......¡±


    ¡°When my client was four his father threw him to the ground, smacked his butt, and disappeared.¡±


    Was this another rejection?


    Commander Lu was rather embarrassed for a while. He slipped away crestfallen and unwilling. While in this state of confusion, he actually met with Zhang Yingying making a big thumb¡¯s up towards him:


    ¡°Therefore I need to say this. Mr. Commander has quite the excellent intuition!¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    Zhang Yingying¡¯s forefinger and thumb pressed to form a ring. Her other fingers sliced through the empty air: ¡°Did you know that the flexible e-ink screen was a product that emerged 60 years ago. That there are approximately 200 different brands in total with over 3000 products. However, my client¡¯s screen isn¡¯t a model that could be found on any market.¡±


    Commander Lu¡¯s mind was a foggy mist. It was great just to be able to chat with this beauty. He did the utmost to get the gears in his head turning:


    ¡°It was personally made?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right! My client¡¯s father was one of the best industrial designers. He worked in manufacturing in Quantum Corporation and had outstanding creative work experience across two departments before retiring without a trace. He created this gift as a present for his sole son. There¡¯s no present as fitting as this.¡±


    Commander Lu performed a rough assessment: ¡°In other words, that screen has at least 12 years of history to it? Tsk....... But I need to say this. It would be very hard for you to use this reasoning to ask for a higherpensation due to damages.¡±


    Zhang Yingying chuckled. Naturally she wouldn¡¯t give Commander Lu further exnation. In reality she had already obtained the data on the flexible e-ink screen disy and had already performed a more meticulous analysis when she was in the office.


    Although Luo Nan¡¯s flexible e-ink screen was not a product that could be found on any market, it still required manufactured parts. For example, its super thin panel was part of the Medusa Series that hit the market in the year 2090.


    From this she could prove that the earliest timeframe in which Luo Nan could receive this gift was in the 90s at the earliest. In other words, it was highly likely that Luo Nan¡¯s determined to be missing or even dead father still maintained contact with Luo Nan in the 90s...... Maybe that was all there was.


    ¡°The year 2090. The matter with Yan Hong also happened in this year. There was also Quantum Corporation¡¯s Burners, Deep Blue tform... There were many pivotal events......¡±


    Zhang Yingying stared at the monitoring screen at that taciturn and stiff big boy. She suddenly really wanted to know what had happened on a certain day in the year 2090. At that time Luo Nan would barely be 10 years old when he would receive that present from his father whom¡¯s location was unknown. What kind of emotions did he go through?


    Was he reminiscing right now?


    The disy of the monitor wouldn¡¯t be able to broadcast Luo Nan¡¯s inner thoughts, but it did broadcast Luo Nan¡¯s bodily movements perfectly clearly...... After a long period of sitting in silence, Luo Nan finally made a new movement.


    He stood up, ced the broken notebook onto the chair, and strode a step towards the door.


    From this distance Luo Nan could stick his forehead to the thick and ice-cold metal door with a slight leaning of his body due to the small size of this space. He maintained this position for several seconds. He could be seen performing a few deep breaths in this time period...... So far Luo Nan¡¯s actions were quite understandable; he was doing his best to maintain a calm state of mind.


    But Luo Nan¡¯s next action made people quite bewildered.


    Luo Nan slightly moved back on the disy of the monitor, adjusting his distance. His line of sight remained facing the metal door from start to finish. He concentrated with all his might; it was as if what was in front of him was an unparalleled and exquisite work of art.


    He closed his eyes a full minuteter, reaching out with his hand and letting his fingertips slip across the surface of the metal door. He felt from here to there. This wasn¡¯t the end of it. His fingertips streaked to the corner to touch the metal ted walls and he continued with his preceding action.


    And just like this, Luo Nan walked in circle after circle in this cramped room. His fingertips stroked on the metal walls, forming continuous invisible linking traces.


    ¡°What. What¡¯s going on?¡± The inexplicably bizarre change caused Commander Lu to be a bit dizzy.


    Zhang Yingying didn¡¯t reply. She just looked on withplete interest.


    Thiswyer was intoxicated......


    Fine. Commander Lu felt that things should be put to a stop. After all, Luo Nan was only a minor. What if he really was traumatized and was stifled to madness. His military career wouldpletely dry up if the media were to report this.


    He hinted to his subordinate to prepare measures of intervention...... The closed room had a sedative mist spray installed and prepared to prevent enclosed people from getting mental breakdowns or even perform self-muttion.


    But Luo Nan stopped his footsteps at this moment. It was as if the previous events hadn¡¯t happened at all. He picked up the notebook from the chair and sat as before. He flipped to a nk page in the notebook and whipped out the digital pen. He removed the inductance tip to transform the pen into a fluorescent pen that could be used to write on paper.


    The tip of Luo Nan¡¯s pen fell onto the paper under the astonished gaze of Commander Lu. He drew out crisscrossed, fine, and muddled lines. His pen moved exceedingly fast to draw in an expertly minimal manner. After a few breathing techniques, an approximate outline appeared on the paper.


    Commander Lu indicated to the monitoring camera to zoom in. Then he was met with the lined sketch; it appeared to be a building. There was quite the detail to it even though it was just a sketch. For example there was the enclosed fence, the thick walls, and the narrow windows. All thesebined with other details to give one an intense impression:


    This was a prison.


    Only, the configuration as a whole had a certain unnatural misalignment to it. It was as if it contained a sort of force that can intervene between the material and the intangible, causing this building to be warped and twisted.


    Commander Luo looked half understanding half confused. Then a sound came from the side of his body. He twisted his head to look and was met with Zhang Yingying gazing fixed at the monitoring disy. She tapped the floor subconsciously with her foot. Her expression was that of unparalleled concentration.


    Oh? Maybe this little misswyer wouldn¡¯t react if he were to reach out with his hand and grope her perky butt......

 Chapter 11: Self-Portrait (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 11: Self-Portrait (Part 1/2)


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t know that there were people paying close attention to each of his actions. Even if he did know, he wouldn¡¯t exert extra effort to take this under consideration.


    His state was really bad: Hunger. Pain. Numbness. Hallucinations. These were negative elements that had existed in him, under the passage of time they could only increase in severity, not lessening in the least. And they even gradually began to converge together to form a poisonous me of corrosion. Every organ, the hundreds of bones, and every part of his body was spurred by an invisible force to shift around erratically.


    This so-called invisible force was none other than the apparition that Luo Nan had discovered through the means of visualization.


    This apparition was now no longer the size of a mosquito. It spurred the poisonous mes to flow deep in Luo Nan¡¯s flesh. It constantly consumed Luo Nan¡¯s energy and essence to grow and strengthen. And it continued to exert more and more disturbance towards Luo Nan to form a type of near-blocking effect:


    Everytime Luo Nan tried to meditate to enter into his Fixed Space and look into the origin of the apparition, he was disturbed intensely on a physical and even mental level. Even just a whistle would be a strong explosion.


    If things were to continue like this, Luo Nan would be eaten alive by the apparition sooner orter even if he were to take only into ount the mental cost and biting recoil from failure to enter the Fixed Space.


    And all this time the apparition was also trying to influence Luo Nan¡¯s state of mind.


    For instance when he had applied a fatal mental suggestion in the conflict with Li Xuecheng, when he was about to kill Li Xuecheng, a clear reverberating echo of what seemed to be the apparition¡¯s hissingughter echoed in his ear.


    His thread of sanity had truly just been a small distance away from snapping.


    Luo Nan remembered when his hand was stuck to Li Xuecheng¡¯s throat. Li Xuecheng¡¯s fear and despair melted into his flesh, blood, and energy to converge into a surging wave of heat that entered rushing and bubbling. However the surge that passed through his body was doomed to be impure. Not only was he unable to utilize it, it even swept away some of his own energy. No known tracks remained....... But it was quite obvious where that energy went in the end!


    The apparition utilized precisely this method to grow and strengthen at a rapid pace, squeezing upon Luo Nan¡¯s space of existence step by step.


    Naturally Luo Nan¡¯s current state of mind wasn¡¯t too great.


    But upon analysis, this sort of state of mind consistedrgely of a certain disturbance of his past memories. Even the deep sunken dregs of his horrible experiences floated to the surface.


    He was quite resentful. Just now because his notebook...... Fine. Because of what happened to his flexible e-ink screen, he had flown into an enormous rage.


    He should not have done that!


    Though he kept the flexible e-ink screen by his side for five years, he had already be ustomed to forgetting everything that was unpractical and useless. Yet where in the world did that ruthlessness and impulsivenesse from. And after the event, how did such an absent-minded mood billow out?


    Could it be due to the gene from a certain individual hidden deeply in his flesh and blood?


    From that coward?


    Ha! Ha!


    How ironic that the apparition¡¯s active disturbance would actually give Luo Nan quite a good exnation for what happened. So much so that Luo Nan actually felt a bit at ease.


    Everything was due to the apparition...... Then things would be rather simple.


    Indeed, the blocking-type of disturbance from the apparition brought a great deal of trouble. But why did he absolutely need to use that sort of brute-force method of butting heads and spilling blood?


    Luo Nan had entered into his Fixed Space in hopes of drawing support from that state in order to make a step forward in breaking the apparition, in touching the apparition, in seizing the apparition, in annihting the apparition. The blocking and disturbance from the apparition had, on the contrary, verified that his line of thinking was correct.


    The apparition should be a strand of tendon from Luo Nan¡¯s analysis. And he did not necessarily need to channel his Fixed Space in order to discover a piece of information.


    Luo Nan had a certain simpler method:


    Using a pen! Using a piece of paper!


    He had collected many subjects as source material over the past many years. He had drawn quick-sketches of the surrounding scenes countless times on the spot, seizing the characteristics of his subjects. Perhaps his pen and paper skills have yet to reach mastery, but his skills have long since reached first-ss in terms of speed and uracy through practice.


    Right now what he needed to do the most was to draw a special Self-Portrait!


    Lines flowed out from the tip of his pen onto the paper, piling up intoyers and intersecting one another. His mind was a blur as he was both concentrated and rxed. The pen flowed quickly to a near uncontroble direction.


    In a certain sense, drawing was more liberating than using the visualization technique.


    Although the visualized diagram seemed toe into existence from nothing, in reality the procedure was very strict. Luo Nan needed to maintain rtive harmony between his body and mind. He could not be carelessly excessive nor deficient.


    However the quick sketch on white paper was different. It was based off of substance, yet it could also separate itself from reality. This style of drawing could be made up of mostly imagination, fantasies, and symbolics in order to describe a certain idea or concept. It was aplete creative liberation.


    Back in the day, his grandfather could use hand drawn pictures to depict the marvels of Formatting Theory. Luo Nan of the present could use a simr method in order to describe and exin the changes that happened to his body.


    As this change was being drawn onto the surface of the paper, one could even specte what would y out and read a step ahead. A small rough draft to what would be a grand work of art was formed.


    And so Luo Nan drew a prison that could never exist in reality in order to symbolize the most prominent thoughts of his present mind.


    This was the first time Luo Nan had been detained and imprisoned for all his life; it was a new experience. He automatically made a connection with the leading use of the twenty word mantra:


    My heart¡¯s a prison.


    Luo Nan was confident that the twenty word mantra was some kind of interpretation made by his grandfather about Formatting Theory. The words ¡°Prison, Furnace, Lense, Nation¡± and so on were direct formtions of the levels of Formatting Theory. From this sequence Luo Nan could extrapte that the Prison Format was perhaps the advanced stage of the Vessel.


    Therefore he used the ice-cold and cramped confinement room as a reference in order to draw freely and flowingly. He plucked and selected his intermittent bursts of inspiration. He was like an ¡°energy machine¡± too wonderful for words. He constructed his personal marvelous building on the paper.


    He obviously knew that the majority of the building¡¯sposition drawn was fantasy; he might not be able to utilize it in Formatting, but it would be enough as long as he had that trace of inspiration.


    The distorted scene was even easier to exin. This was because his drawing reflected reality. The force that constructed the distorted building came from within himself.


    That formless and traceless apparition was the start of it all.


    He could not see the apparition, but he could indirectly experience its existence through the means the drawn distorted scene.


    The number of elements that appeared under his pen increased. The Self-Portrait grew closer to reality.


    At the moment, the tip of Luo Nan¡¯s pen and Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts were mixed as one; it was as if they were indistinguishable, no distinction could be made. The visualized world of the void was like a picture scroll that unfolded in front of Luo Nan once again. The silver threads of the tetrahedron, the inscribed sphere, the circumscribed sphere emerged clearly. It coincided with the Prison on the paper to form a spectacr picture.


    It didn¡¯t matter that he was unable to enter into the Fixed Space. He could make the Fixed Space appear here.


    In truth, the emergence of this picture proved that Luo Nan could eliminate external disturbances to his state of mind, so the actions of the apparition also became meaningless.


    The tip of Luo Nan¡¯s pen did not cease moving. His soul had truly returned back to the Fixed Space.


    The apparition, which had been continuously disturbing and destroying, was caught off guard. Its crafty form appeared atst!


    The outer space of the visualized diagram was originally an empty darkness that permeated into the other colors. It was a sort of oppressive crimson color like that of struggling mes that had yet to perish amongst the ashes. The apparition permeated and blended mutually with the darkness tobine and form a fuzzy and indistinct silhouette.


    This thing moved within the darkness, sticking to the visualized diagram, trying to invade inside...... And it had already infiltrated a portion of itself inside.


    If it was anyone else, they would need to spend some time to find this bordering monster. But Luo Nan was able to identify its form with just a nce:


    The burning wraith!


    It was none other than the faint mass of a wraith from the earthquake in the R&D district. It had nearly took Luo Nan¡¯s life with a hissing shriek, then it had concealed itself amongst the void to be difficult to pursue.


    Luo Nan even left its image within his drawing software.


    If he had not made an annoying encounter with ¡°destiny¡±, Luo Nan would already be on campus, referring to materials and striving to discover clues of the wraith. He never thought that this fellow would actually force him into this state, roaming around within his consciousness, melding his flesh and blood together!


    Luo Nan¡¯s pen didn¡¯t cease moving. However his lips hooked into a light smile.


    ¡°Hey, he smiled! He smiled!¡± Commander Lu cried involuntarily and immediately felt an extreme level of shame. He felt he had absolutely been infected by Luo Nan to make such a fuss over nothing.


    Zhang Yingying was also extremely curious about Luo Nan¡¯s present state of mind. Unfortunately the monitoring disy was destined to be unable to sense Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts. But on this side of the monitor, beeping notifications rang forth. Therge door opened and someone walked in withrge strides.


    Zhang Yingying¡¯s interest changed directions and she was met with someone wearing well-ironed slimfit sky-blue clothes. This person did not wear any military rankings. This person appeared rather out of ce amongst this room filled with deep-space gray military uniforms.


    Commander Lu turned to see this new arrival. His eyebrows slightly creased, but soon he put forth a smiling expression. He faced forward with a step and spoke withughter: ¡°Assistant Yan. How goes the ongoing search below?¡±

 Chapter 11: Self-Portrait (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 11: Self-Portrait (Part 2/2)


    Assistant Yan didn¡¯t respond immediately when faced with Commander Lu¡¯s pleasantries. His line of sight swept to Zhang Yingying to the side and stopped there for a moment, perfectly meeting Zhang Yingying¡¯s gaze.


    This Assistant Yan was approximately just over thirty in age. His medium height didn¡¯t reach Zhang Yingying who was wearing high heels. On the other hand his body deposition exuded vigor and strength, and his facial features were rather handsome. The only thing was that he had the habit of pursing his lips, resulting in a cold and solemn expression; he appeared hard to talk to.


    And what gave people the deepest impression were his eyes. Their pupils brought with them a slight color of crimson. The surrounding eye socket also exuded with a simr color. Most notable were the veins and blood vessels the interweaved together in the vicinity between the corner of his eyes and his temples. It gave quite an ufortable feeling.


    Commander Lu saw that these two were mutually sizing each other up and he did nothing to introduce them to each other. He opened his mouth once more, turning the focal point back to him:


    ¡°Assistant Yan. Is there anything you need my help with?¡±


    ¡°In ordance with orders from themand, I¡¯ve transferred over the detection equipment from mypany in order to conduct screening on the temporarily detained suspects aboard this ship.¡±


    Assistant Yan¡¯s face was expressionless as he directly manipted his wristband. He faced Commander Lu with an indication, soon passing an identification authorization.


    ¡°Detection equipment?¡± Commander Lu spoke inquisitively. ¡°The search below has concluded?¡±


    ¡°Not yet. However, the precision needs of the equipment are rtively high. Instation and calibration will require some time.¡±


    ¡°Understood. Understood.¡±


    Commander Lu was somewhat regretful. Since he was the one who received the equipment, he needed to act as person responsible for it; he absolutely needed to be present. The amiable conversation with this youngdywyer had toe to an end.


    He indicated to Assistant Yan to wait a bit and he turned to face Zhang Yingying with a smile: ¡°Miss Zhang. Let us conclude here for now? It¡¯s still early. I¡¯ll arrange a room for you. First take some rest. I will arrange for someone to send you the materials you have requested.¡±


    ¡°Thank-you Mr. Commander.¡±


    Zhang Yingying knew that it wouldn¡¯t be proper to stay idle by herself within the monitoring room. She took the initiative to extend her hand to sp with Commander Lu for a premature farewell.


    As Zhang Yingyingughed amicably as she passed by Assistant Yan, slightly squinting her eyes. Actually she had activated the automatic recording feature of her contact lenses, saving a picture of this person¡¯s face as a souvenir.


    The corner of Assistant Yan¡¯s mouth spasmed; it was unknown if this was a response. His vision did not linger on Zhang Yingying. ording to his angle, he was facing towards the monitoring disy within the room.


    Zhang Yingying nced back as soon as she left the room. Commander Lu could be considered to be quite cautious; he did not want to implicate himself. He had long since indicated to his subordinates to switch away from the close-up of Luo Nan. Right now Luo Nan¡¯s figure had already vanished from the dozen or so simr disys on the monitoring screen. It wasn¡¯t too surprising.


    But Zhang Yingying had a certain intense feeling:


    This Assistant Yan¡¯s vision was focused straight towards Luo Nan. And he had been staring fixed at Luo Nan for a long time without moving.


    Zhang Yingying inputted the picture she snapped into a database as she walked down the interior corridor of the warship, setting in fixed search conditions:


    ¡°From his uniform he should be of Sky Blue Security, the underlings of Quantum Corporation who specialize in thepany¡¯s security. The fact that he was able to directlymunicate with the military shows that he should have a high position. Also, there was his pair of eyes......¡±


    A warning sounded several secondster: ¡°Requested material is ssified as secret. You do not have sufficient privileges.¡±


    Zhang Yingying wasn¡¯t especially shocked; she switched to a different information channel with only a slight twitch of her mouth. Not much time passed before she selected and retrieved a simple personal record.


    The reason why this was ¡°simple¡± was because a portion of the record had been blocked and erased. However, she could already verify a portion of her hypothesis from the material avable.


    On top of the record was a digital picture. The appearance was none other than Assistant Yan, however he was younger by seven to eight years. He was disying a lofty and soaring smile.


    Yan Yongbo. Former Acumen College Instructor. Retired in the year 2090 on his own ord.


    His father. Former Acumen College Instructor Yan Hong.


    ¡°Well then. What a fine example of a destined sh between enemies....... Let¡¯s see, has he recognized Luo Nan after all?¡±


    Zhang Yingying made another mental connection to the dialog she had with Xie Junping before she had boarded the warship. She was forced to make an amendment at this moment: ¡°The giant machine that is Quantum Corporation wouldn¡¯t care about a tiny ant. But this may not be the case for a spider or something simr that crawls atop of it.¡±


    This appeared to be a very troublesome choice...... Should she give up?


    A thought spurred an action. Beneath the tip of Luo Nan¡¯s pen emerged a fantastic drawing that also circted within Luo Nan¡¯s mind.


    ¡°Yea, very cool......¡±


    The ¡°very cool¡± Luo Nan was still drawing the picture. Even though he had entered into the Fixed Space, even though he was locked onto the source of his disturbance after verifying the identity of the apparition, he never had the thought of stopping.


    This feeling of convergence between his intentions and his pen was truly quite wonderful.


    The burning wraith was a certain existence that was unfathomable. Luo Nan did not know how he should ssify and qualify it. Even though he had entered into the Fixed Space, he did not really have a clue on handling it.


    But when he gripped the fluorescent pen, when he let the lines flow from the pen¡¯s nib, all his problems were no more.


    The material and the spiritual. Reality and the imaginary. The present and the future. Several dimensions interweaved together from several angles. Together they described the same target. His insight wouldn¡¯t be exhausted no matter what happened.


    That twisted thing had its conceptual clues appear clearer and clearer on the sketch of the prison building filled with symbolic meaning.


    Luo Nan unconsciously opened his mouth into a tiny slit. He mouthed the long-ripened mantra, selecting only the first use:


    My heart¡¯s a prison!


    He spoke to himself without a sound. And the thoughts he had during execution had previously never congealed to this present level of solidarity; they even pierced through the boundary between reality and the imaginary, forcing itself into the visualization ne. It was as if his thoughts embodied as an iron mallet that pounded heavily onto the visualized diagram.


    Like the toll of a bell. Like the striking of chimes. Countless silver threads disengaged themselves from the diagram amidst the fine vibrations. The threads split and randomly collided to form theposition of a myriad of shes and sparks. And it was quite clear that thisposition possessed a close corresponding rtionship with the Prison Building on his notebook.


    Part of it was clear and proper. Part of it was warped and indistinct. There was a great disparity within its form


    Within it was a closely woven fence, a confined iron cage, jumping electric arcs, malevolent photon guns...... In short every article, every item was violent to symbolize the power of enforcement. The symbolism was embodied into the fine details of the prison sketch.


    His pen went ording to its own wishes due to leaps of consciousness. The majority of the structure was specious and did not conform the the fundamental principles of theposition; their existences became extremely short-lived.


    Every coil and knot that was shattered from the silver-threaded structure permeated into the burning wraith within the visualized diagram¡¯s internal ne. Actually when this wraith faced its great enemy, it moved about unceasingly in resistance with a rather sorry appearance.


    The burning wraith wanted to continue executing its destruction and disturbance. But the problem was that the course of assaultsunched simultaneously in multiple dimensions had alreadypletely encroached upon its scope of control.


    Luo Nan did not know why, but this overbearing over-a-hundred-feet-tall burning wraith howled to the sky. What sort of setback had it experienced? The wraith was this overwhelmed, but Luo Nan wouldn¡¯t stop now.


    The chanting didn¡¯t stop! The visualization didn¡¯t stop! The pen didn¡¯t stop!


    Gradually, Luo Nan ceased pouring detailsprised of inspiration into the sketch. Instead he began to subtract. Clues to form the core principle became clearer and clearer, granting him power.


    It seemed as if those jumpingption of silver threads in the visualized diagram also responded to the pure and intense thoughts of his mind. Hundreds of shy constructs copsed with an explosion; the simple and pure structure of the tetrahedron was exhibited once again.


    A crashing sound rang forth from the core of the inscribed sphere located dead-center within the diagram, causing his heart to seemingly shake and tremble.


    The burning wraith lost the will to continue on in face of this change. The glowing mes curled up within the darkness and broke away from the visualized diagram, transforming into a red ray of light that shot off into the distance.


    But where would it go on the visualization ne?


    Before this thought left his mind, the empty world was in turmoil once more. The red ray seemed to prate into an incorporeal veil. After a moment of sluggishness, it increased its speed to pierce through the void and leave.


    Luo Nan¡¯s consciousness was suddenly dazzled upon the piercing of this ¡°veil¡±. The ice-cold metal wall and the notebook ced upon his knee actually appeared in his field of view. And he could also see...... his own self drawing with the pen.

 Chapter 12: Out an Opening to Roam as a Soul (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 12: Out an Opening to Roam as a Soul (Part 1/2)


    An out-of-body experience?


    It was as if the Luo Nan was watching a supernatural film right now. However before Luo Nan could determine whether this soul leaving technique was a good or bad thing, the burning wraith¡¯s red ray had already pierced through the wall to disappear without a trace.


    Oh, ¡°disappearing¡± wouldn¡¯t be an urate description. This was because there still remained a difficult to describe yet clearly recognizable response that emerged in the bottom of his heart, marking the location of the burning wraith.


    Luo Nan knew the cause of this.


    Although the drawing beneath his pen was nominally a ¡°self-portrait¡±, in reality the descriptions of the state of his body and mind were epassed within. Naturally, his drawing was alsoprised of the burning wraith.


    Yep. The wraith was the unnatural warping within the sketch of the prison building.


    Right now Luo Nan¡¯s visualization and his drawing had already fused to one; they were hard to distinguish. It would be impossible for any clues left on the drawing to not leave traces in his mind.


    And Luo Nan was stimted into another burst of insight from the sudden fleeing departure of the burning wraith and the change in motion of the disturbing force.


    His main body actually didn¡¯t stop drawing under this inexplicable and ineffable out-of-body state. Although further details were unable to be crammed within the notebook¡¯s drawing, this burst of insight had already gushed forth; it was unstoppable.


    With a strength that seemed to pierce through the paper¡¯s surface, the pen drew tangled, coiled, and intertwined lines in the meager-some white space surrounding the drawing.


    The conceptual clues continued to strengthen. Finally it formed from the molding of insight with a vibration.


    It was like... It was like......


    ¡°*Crack!¡±


    Within the visualization ne, within the breath-taking resonance, a giant crow weighed down by heavy chains came to being at the core of the visualized diagram. It was like a preying python; it suddenly moved, probing with its long body.


    That incorporeal veil had just been pierced. Now it was torn apart once more. The shackled crow smashed and broke through the void to enter into reality. It followed in the direction of the escaped burning wraith, piercing the air to leave.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t know how long the chains were...... The front half had already broken through the void and the part within the core of the inscribed sphere had yet to reach its limit. Perhaps length fundamentally had no meaning on this ne?


    This technique was instantaneous. Luo Nan ¡°heard¡± the sharp cry of the bird. The shackled crow brought his heart to make contact with the violently scorching burning wraith in a sh.


    The shackled crow¡¯s power was swift. It had actually bore a hole through the wraith by force! Countless silver threads immediately burst and split,ing and going. They interlinked to rigidly lock the burning wraith in ce.


    Captured!


    Although there was only a millisecond of dy, Luo Nan still could not taste the scent of victory. An enormous force pulled via long chain to fiercely affect his body.


    The burning wraith also didn¡¯t know where it drew its strength. It was like an enraged boar that madly charged forward, pulling the chains without caring and in spite.


    Luo Nan was unable to control the mad charge of the burning wraith. Even his main body trembled under the effect, taking some kind of hidden force. He only felt his entire body go light. In reality, the crisscrossed form of the visualization underwent a rapid change. The surroundings of the confinement room was substituted and re-represented by theposition of every room, corridor, and machinery of the warship.


    This time his soul really was outside of his body...... And he was forcefully dragged from his body by the berserking burning wraith to travel and pass through walls!


    What¡¯s this? The physicalws of the spiritual ne?


    At first Luo Nan was pondering whether or not someone would be able to see this ¡°unscientific¡± scene. But soon he was sure that theing and going soldiers, officers, and mechanical AI on the ship werepletely ignorant of the chasing scene above their heads.


    The tightly guarded transport ship had beenpletely reduced to a defenseless horse racing track....... At least things were this way at this moment.


    It must be stated that this was quite the new kind of experience for Luo Nan. Luo Nan gave observing the current state of his existence a shot, and he arrived at an initial conclusion after a great deal of effort:


    The appearance of his soul form was quite approaching that of the burning wraith; he justcked the wraith¡¯s oppressive dark crimson mes. He was more like a shadow of the void.


    Luo Nan wanted to continue observing this experience in detail, but a chilling sense of feeling increased in intensity after the passing of an unknown amount of time. It was simply due to the crimson ray¡¯s body that sted wildly within a world of ice and snow. A cold wind of brutality cut like several des upon his body.


    This incorporeal frigid wind was absolutely unavoidable. His soul within the void didn¡¯t experience a blood sttering effect, but the intense feeling of pain waspletely real.


    It was quite clear that the situation was heading towards a dangerous incline. And it was quite evident that this was closely rted to being dragged into this out-of-body experience.


    Luo Nan¡¯s first thought was to immediately return to his body. But right now his mind and the chain were in coexistence; they were bound to the burning wraith. And he waspletely confused on how to unbind himself, on how to separate himself.


    Times of increasing confusion calls for an increasing need to move to action.


    Luo Nan performed three actions in this life-threatening situation:


    The first. He made aparison: What was more painful? The frigid wind cutting his soul or the psychotropic drugposition cutting his neurons?


    Verdict: It appears there wasn¡¯t much difference.


    The second. He made a confirmation: In the end, was there still a link between his main body and his soul?


    Verdict: His main body was quite in pain over yonder......


    The third. He raised a question. Since there existed a link between his soul and his body, where was this link?


    Verdict: Only one thing was known. The link existed upon the visualized ne and the sketched drawing...... Although this answer was somewhat of an abstraction.


    The first verdict enforced his belief. The second verdict rified how things worked. The third verdict gave him a method.


    His staunch belief transformed into a rippling sound of chanting at this very moment. As before, the leading use exploded and cried forth on the visualization ne and within his soul:


    ¡°My heart¡¯s a prison!¡±


    The visualized ne was drawn and blended together with the sketch just as before. A messy and clearly newyer of the prison building was formed between reality and imagination. The building seemed to be constructed like reality asyers uponyers wereid, enveloping Luo Nan¡¯s range of perception like dark clouds.


    The out-of-body soul appeared to be far from the main body. In reality the soul was still within the scope of the prison building.


    And the burning wraith was likewise!


    The heavily chained crow shuttled crisscrossing within what seemed to be the imaginary prison, forming support posts, thick walls, a prison, torture devices......


    And at this moment, Luo Nan truly understood the nature of what this heavily chained crow represented.


    There would always be an entity to enforce the rules no matter the prison. Its enforcement power would certainly be top-notch. Its needed to have the strength to punish when faced with a disobedient prisoner.


    The burning wraith appeared to have evaded to the distance, but it would inevitably suffer a merciless suppression as long as it didn¡¯t truly shed the binding chains that trap it.


    In an instant¡¯s time, the heavily chained crow vibrated with a cry that executed Luo Nan¡¯s will. The deeply umted force within was finally unleashed!


    The coalescence of his thoughts and insight caused every silver strand that formed every locking ring splitting from the heavily chained crow to be entwined with Luo Nan¡¯s soul.


    This action was tantamount to piercing and binding the burning wraith from inside out, roping and winding the burning wraith in, and even performing a direct ¡°Slice¡± of analysis on the burning wraith. A great quantity of information was fed back with not enough time to sort it.


    The burning wraith hissed with pain, yet no sound waves rippled. Instead spirit waves diffused into the surroundings, containing what seemed to be actual substance.


    It seemed as if this painful state was way too intense. The lighting along the walls of the long corridors of the warship suddenly went dark.


    Then the entire row of red rm lights lit up. Sounds from tangible and intangible rms ran through the entire space of the ship:


    ¡°WARNING. WARNING. A MUTANT HAS INFILTRATED THE SHIP. REPEAT. A MUTANT HAS INFILTRATED THE SHIP.¡±


    ¡°CLASS THREE MUTANT: DARKSIDER LIFE FORM HAS APPEARED.¡±


    ¡°ALL ROUTINELY ARMED PERSONNEL ENTER COMBAT POSITIONS. PREPARE SEDATIVES. ALL MECHANICAL AI ENTER STANDBY MODE.¡±


    ¡°LAUNCHING THE DEEP BLUE PLATFORM. BURNERS ENTERING EMERGENCY STATE!¡±

 Chapter 12: Out an Opening to Roam as a Soul (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 12: Out an Opening to Roam as a Soul (Part 2/2)


    Within a short several second time frame, the dark red rm lights spread a grave and pressing atmosphere to every nook and cranny on the warship.


    Although such situations were rare, the military always had procedures in ce to follow. It would be enough for each system and each branch to just adhere to orders.


    The problem was that there were non-military personnel aboard the ship at this time.


    In Zone C of the transport ship, engineers from Quantum Corporation installed and calibrated equipment. They suddenly went stupefied from the ringing rms.


    They stopped their handiwork, looked at each other in dismay, and were clueless on what to do.


    The ¡°supervisor¡± present, Commander Lu, had the highest military ranking. He also had sufficient experience. He immediately said: ¡°All nonbat personnel cease your work. Be on standby at your current location. Wait for further instructions.¡±


    After temporarily cating the people¡¯s moods, Commander Lu rushed to contact up the chain ofmand, verifying the situation. He had just barely received clear cut directions when he raised his head to find Quantum Corporation¡¯s in-charge employee¡¯s eye twitch.


    Acting security work manager Yan Yongbo sat on the edge of the construction site. He never raised his head, but he kept on fiddling with his wristband. He appeared unaffected by the external changes.


    Blow you! How can you be so calm!


    Commander Lu never liked these high-and-mighty sorts, these fellows who think too much of themselves. He walked over withrge strides and a stiff face. Just when he was about to voice out, a swift male wearing the sky-blue security uniform rushed in front of him to face Yan Yongbo. This male sought out instructions:


    ¡°Leader. We¡¯ve entered into an emergency state. Should we warm up?¡±


    ¡°Warm up? Oh Old Hei.......¡±


    Yan Yongbo still didn¡¯t raise his head. He spoke dully, ¡°Have you thought about how the military would feel if you were to wear an exoskeleton armor and rush back and forth on the warship?¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    ¡°You haven¡¯t have you? Well you can go ask Commander Lu.¡±


    Commander Lu had just walked over when he was suddenly stopped by these words in front of him, weakening his vigor. Then Yan Yongbo unexpectedly lifted his head to look at Commander Lu: ¡°Your thoughts Commander Lu?¡±


    Commander Lu¡¯s pupils whipped between the corner of his eyes. In the end he forced himself to swallow his anger. He opened his mouth with great difficulty:


    ¡°The orders frommand state that a Darksider life form has infiltrated the ship. There is arge possibility that this is rted to incident that happened in the R&D district. Quantum Corporation¡¯s burners will be participating in the hunting operation and are temporarily assigned a specificbat squad number, Squad 7. Here is themunications identifier number......¡±


    Yan Yongbo received the relevant data and nodded his head: ¡°That¡¯s good. I¡¯ll take a look at these orders. However Commander Lu, I suspect that this incident is rted to the detained people aboard this ship. I hope that you will increase your surveince capabilities in order to avoid any unexpected mishaps.¡±


    F*CK YOU ARROGANT *SS!


    Commander Lu was in charge of operational matters, so Commander Lu finally became angered when this issue was raised. He did not feel like going through any sort of superficial motions; he twisted his head and walked away with a dark face.


    Yan Yonbo did not speak any further. He stood up, led Old Hei towards a different direction, and left. He transmitted some data to Old Hei along the way.


    ¡°I¡¯m assuming that moron will need some time to vent his anger; the situation won¡¯t change that much. You go wait for the chance to remobilize to Zone A2. Excessive movements may produce something unexpected if you were to happen upon this person......¡±


    The data formed upon Old Hei¡¯s retinas. The delicate, pretty, and calm face of a youth appeared.


    Old Hei was expressionless. He just subtly nodded his head and deeply imprinted that young face into the bottom of his mind.


    The rm sounds and lights continued to alert without end. The shing dark red glows were represented by lines within the Prison Building between reality and imagination. They began to copse after a sh of brilliance, soon transforming to ruin to be nothingness.


    After all, Luo Nan had not truly constructed a rational structure. He had implemented quite a few ¡°future concepts¡± randomly within. It was quite the confirmation for these concepts to exist temporarily.


    Of course the most important thing was that the burning wraith waspletely unable to storm out at all.


    ¡°*Crack! *Crack!¡±


    The chained crow continued its suppression without caring for the struggles of the burning wraith. The chains that bound the burning wraith¡¯s body continued to dissect it, slice it, and perform analysis upon it. Layers of enforcement applications gradually targeted the core nature of the burning wraith.


    A faint bloody glow could be clearly seen circting on the base color of the chained ck crow. The bloody glow flowed in a reversing direction to kindle a marvelous ¡°heat¡±, feeding back continuously.


    This heat came from the burning wraith.


    The umted information and analysis started to disy their effects. Part of the burning wraith¡¯s operational mechanism of energy was decoded. The chains swiftly healed and replenished Luo Nan, giving Luo Nan further support while weakening the strength of the burning wraith.


    This effect was what the suddenly-pulled-out-of-body Luo Nan needed the most. Energy was poured into Luo Nan¡¯s soul like a mouthful of hot soup that flowed into an extremely starved state. Or it was like he was wrapped in thick clothes during the cold of winter. The results were instantaneous. The frigid des of wind were blocked externally. There was even a corresponding response from his main body within the interval of two, three breaths. The approaching limit to the state of his hunger was alleviatedpletely.


    The situation was changing and shifting. The burning wraith changed from a madly swinging wild bull into a naughty sled dog from the rge blood loss¡±. Then it would irreversibly change into a dying dog.


    Luo Nan was greeted with this dying dog a few secondster.


    The burning wraith was truly cute. It floated in the air looking weak and sickly. It¡¯s form hadn¡¯t changed too much...... Any changes would be hard to tell. Only its outer mes had clearly darkened by quite a bit.


    The most striking thing was at the back of this toy. It should be considered the back...It towed a long enormous ¡°tail¡±...... The heavily chained crow was still unceasingly performing suppression, slicing, and analysis upon the burning wraith. It seemed that the crow still needed quite a bit of time.


    Although Luo Nan was in Soul Form, he still let out a long breath from habit; he had finally resolved this ineffable annoyance. He could also bring this energy back to the ne of reality atst.


    Luo Nan naturally took notice of the rms that rang through the entire ship.


    Without taking anything else into ount, just the horrible and negative vocabry term ¡°Mutant¡± was enough to exin quite a bit of the situation.


    But what was a Darksider life form?


    Luo Nan searched his memories to no avail.


    Right now his surroundings had clearly underwent a change in circumstances.


    Not half the trace of a human could be seen down the long corridor. But the walls, floors, and several spots had already opened with narrow slits at some unknown time. A light white smoke could be seen emitting from the slits. Soon they pervaded the entire space.


    Oppressive footsteps echoed from the end of the corridor. Three awe-inspiring exoskeleton armours assumed abat formation. They advanced gradually within the misty smoke to push onwards.


    The corridor waspletely empty aside from the misty smoke. Those facing thepletely hidden thing looked as if they were facing an enormous enemy. It was as if there was an incorporeal monster that could ughter them at any moment!


    Luo Nan suddenly formed a certain wonderful thought when he saw this scene:


    Incorporeal and formless...... How could this group of people possibly deal with me?


    The mist increased in density within the corridor. Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts spurred a tiny action. He did not go about like a hurricane with a horse-racing style like before; he pulled the half dead burning wraith and avoided the corridor. He passed through the metal wall like a true ghost and entered the room next door. Then he rushed in the direction towards his main body.

 Chapter 13: The Darksider Species (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 13: The Darksider Species (Part 1/2)


    Luo Nan flew through a couple of rooms before discovering that the situation here was approaching that of the corridor. The rooms had little opened holes with faint white smoke pouring out in an unending stream. The concentration here was even higher since the space was smaller.


    Many soldiers were entrenched within the smoke, all of whom were fully armed. Their facial expressions did not change; it was clear that they were extremely familiar with situations such as these.


    Of course the smoke was certainly not poisonous.


    Due to the feeling of crisis from before, Luo Nan paid special attention to the effects of the smoke on his soul form. However he was unable to detect any anomalies from observing his current state.


    He pushed his suspicions to the bottom of his heart. Then he concentrated on the sensation he would feel when passing through walls.


    So this was what it¡¯s like to have an out-of-body experience?


    He used various methods to pass through seven or eight walls, one after another, in order to further verify his state.


    His grandfather¡¯s Formatting Theoryrgely incorporated the study of Metaphysics. During ordinary times Luo Nan would study metaphysics, and he would study a bit of philosophy, ideology, and mystic arts from books. Turns out it wasn¡¯t a waste of time now that he was in his current state.


    Anyway, Luo Nan had researched and discovered this before in ancient records. From the perspective of his mystical arts knowledge, he was far from reaching the level of perfection with his current abilities. The death-from-a-thousand-cuts experience he had from the coldness of the external world when he left his body gave him lingering fearssting even now. He absolutely needed to rely on the ¡°external gas-tank¡±, the burning wraith, in order to maintain his cruising flight.


    Needless to say, the feeling between being pulled by a sled dog and riding a flying nimbus waspletely different. There was arge distinction between being passive and taking control.


    Upon leaving his body, Luo Nan continued to purely rely on his willpower in order to conduct movement. He wasn¡¯t used to it of course. He made quite a few redundant thoughts and actions several times.


    The most important thing was that he had yet to truly adapt to this Soul Form and observe this world.


    Since Luo Nan had deeply researched the nervous system in the past, he quickly discovered that the traditional five senses, sight-hearing-smell-taste-feeling, had underwent a substantial change in their operational mechanisms on the soul ne. Audio and visual processes in this ne were really inefficient.


    Luo Nan was like a radar system under his soul form. He received various frequency bands at all times from the external world. The quantity of arriving information and signals were plentiful, already exceeding that of what the nervous system of a normal human body could receive and process.


    If Luo Nan were to cling to the body¡¯s usual process, the majority of these signals would automatically be washed away; only a few signals would be inputted into his nervous system and processed, and the resulting format would be derived from the five senses after processing by his main body.


    Not even mentioning the issue with the majority of the frequency signals being swept away and wasted, there would exist arge distortion phenomena upon processing the signals due to his nervous systemcking ¡°real¡± stimtion.


    He had already lost his sense of touch to say the least.


    ¡°It seems that it would be better to process these signals directly.¡±


    But if he were topile and interpret the signals directly, a bigger problem would be formed.


    Luo Nan painstakingly collected what he sensed. He was immediately sent into a crashing tumble from the quantity of chaotic information in the surroundings. It appeared that adapting to ¡°life¡± in the soul ne was quite the endless process.


    He had to change his thought process. The levels and range of his soul senses had broadened and increased...... It was like he was a typical radio. It would be possible to hear a few interesting things amidst the static and noise.


    This was an extremely new experience for Luo Nan. He didn¡¯t mind expending a bit of energy in order to refine the process.


    Then a few intermittent keywords caught his attention at this very moment.


    Luo Nan had discovered a tiny deflection happening ahead of him from being stirred telepathically. In this circumstance with his senses released, Luo Nan was assaulted by the sound of noisy mor that had reflected off of several metal walls.


    Luo Nan unexpectedly felt a certain and bizarre familiarity upon receiving this noise. This was because the source of the noise was none other than the location of the detained Lian Yu, Li Xuecheng, and the other rich kids.


    Luo Nan never expected that he would be able to observe the ce he was once at using this sort of marvelous method. He was truly there, but the other people werepletely clueless of it. It was a fantastic and genuine feeling.


    Lian Yu and the other rich kids did not know that a ¡°Soul¡± had been added to the mix. They argued and quarrelled without end.


    This truly confirmed that all beings must search within themselves to find reason. Upon this change into being detained, the atmosphere of this group of rich kids had no good direction to turn to.


    The group of peoplemented andined from being prohibited drugs, from being detained, and from the series of events with Li Xuecheng. The atmosphere had turned unknowingly tense when they began to shout and argue.


    The circumstances were strange now that the mutant rms rang and the smoke pervaded the air. It caused them to calm down for a bit. However, someone unknown threw out an opinion, starting a dispute once again.


    However this time, the dispute contained some reason behind them.


    The focal point of the dispute was ¡°Mutant¡±.


    ¡°The Ocean Diffusion Theory of Mutants is undeniably proven. Don¡¯t waste your breath arguing with me.¡±


    ¡°Your ears have been stuffed full of shit. How am I refuting the Ocean Diffusion Theory? I¡¯m just saying that there¡¯s been a lot of clear evidence that show a new source of the infection!¡±


    ¡°The source is spewing from your mouth then!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll f*ck........¡±


    All ¡°Mutant Species¡± began to emerge after the Third War. Arge-scale infectious mutation phenomenon urred on the world¡¯s original underlying living species. It was simply the most destructive terrifying illustration within the discipline of biology.


    The most popr origin is said to be as follows: An opening to the depths of the earth¡¯s crust urred somewhere in the depths of the Pacific Ocean trenches. Or perhaps it was an inconceivable gate.


    And so the fatal infection came from the ocean through the ocean¡¯s biosphere to enter the fresh water system and terrestrial ecosphere.


    All vegetation, fungus, insects, animals, and even a small portion of the human poption underwent various degrees of ¡°infection¡± within a short few year time frame. Living beings grew into forms of brutal, ruthless, and monstrous life forms under the catalyst of gic mutation. Once they were........ Right now they were the apex predator of the food chain.


    Before the emergence of Quantum Corporation¡¯s Deep Blue tform, humanity was in dire straits facing these poptions of terrifying species. They could only confine themselves in giant metropolises in defense, unable to return.


    Due to the topic having to do with survival, the topic of Mutants was undoubtedly the most popr after the Third War. Nothing was hotter.


    ¡°Then exin to me. What is a Darksider life form? The Great Encyclopedia of Mutant Species was published in 2091 AD. I, you see, have the entire set. There are 17 overarching major species. With over 2000 mutated types. Can you find the Darksider life form with those eyes of yours?¡±


    ¡°Alright then. If you believe your Great Encyclopedia is the bible, I¡¯m convinced...... That you¡¯re retarded!¡±


    ¡°Wait wait wait wait!¡±


    Finally there was someone who came in to stop the fight: ¡°There¡¯s no need to get angry over this matter. A new species can pop out at any time with regards to mutants and the like. We¡¯re all justymen here. We can¡¯t possibly make sense of this...... Hey Taoster. Your old man is a major funder of aboratory in the countryside. Have you heard of this thing before?¡±


    Liu Tao wore ssical gold sses and had a refined appearance. He could be considered a bit unique among this crowd. Normally he didn¡¯t talk much, but he had a certain humble and passionate charm.


    He had held himself back from speaking early on when he had heard the words ¡°Darksider life form¡±. Now that he was given the chance to finally talk, he naturallyughed darkly:


    ¡°Darksider life form...... A good entry point would be to consider it a ¡®specter¡¯.¡±

 Chapter 13: The Darksider Species (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 13: The Darksider Species (Part 2/2)


    The room went a bit quiet. Then there was someone whoughed immediately:


    ¡°Specter... Do you mean a ghost?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s up to your interpretation. Anyway from my point of view, the so-called Darksider life form is a sort of invisible and intangible thing that even floats around you to and fro. A specter would be a more fitting description.¡±


    ¡°Bleh. Taoster, you¡¯re being super creepy! You ooze of death!¡± A pretty trophy girl took the opportunity to look frail.


    Actually, the majority of people didn¡¯t really feel anything when Liu Tao had just talked. But through the embellishment of frailty and squeamishness from the pretty trophy girl, quite a few people began to have goosebumps.


    Some people twisted their heads to look at the surging smoke all around them. There was quite a bit of fear in their hearts.


    Contrary to belief, Liu Tao loved atmospheres like these the most. He pushed up his sses and adapted a calm state: ¡°The facts are as follows: The industry hasn¡¯t published any papers nor raised any relevant concepts on the Darksider life form. Those who know more about it, aside from the various high-endboratories, would be the military.¡±


    ¡°We can see that the military has crossed paths with Darksider life forms several times from the way they have responded on this warship today. This is a good thing.¡±


    The group of good-for-nothings were seriously bitter and angry when faced with Liu Tao¡¯s customary suspense-holding speech. Some people had already run out of patience:


    ¡°You can¡¯t see them!? You can¡¯t touch them!? And you can still research shit about them!? You¡¯re not setting people up to be cheated of their money right!?¡±


    ¡°F*CK OFF!¡±


    Liu Tao smiled and cursed before finally he cut to the chase: ¡°The reason I mentioned the military is because the military has added the Darksider life form as a special type of mutant form. But the majority of research institutes have held a different theory. They believe the two are not the same. The most epted description would also be somewhat of a conjecture. They believe that it may have been the cause of the ¡®Source Zero Virus¡¯.¡±


    ¡°AH!¡±


    It was still the same pretty trophy girl as before, however this time her response was genuine fear. And it wasn¡¯t just her; everyone had ugly expressions.


    The shadowy mutant could enshroud over each of their heads at any moment. Even rich kids were no exception.


    The Darksider life form was still able to draw their interest in research even though they¡¯ve already established that it was a mutant. However if this warped monster mutant was what made everyone¡¯s lives hell, then everyone would run at first sight of it.


    Liu Tao spread his hand open: ¡°Don¡¯t you guys go scaring yourselves okay? What I said was only the most preposterous conjecture of all. This thing has practically no resemnce at all to a virus. Even the conjecture of it being a ¡®Living Dark Matter Body¡¯ is more reliable inparison......¡±


    The pretty-trophy girl pouted at him for a moment, naturally entering into a teasing-flirting style. Someone next to her cursed for a bit.


    Liu Tao felt he had been wronged, so he just simply stopped being mysterious and directly made a simple introduction: ¡°In summary, these Darksider life forms are like specters. They are a real existence, but you can¡¯t touch them nor can you see them.¡±


    ¡°ording to its nature as determined byboratories, people have concluded that no contact urs between it andmon particles. Even electromaic waves won¡¯t create an active radiation in response. This implies that it¡¯s impossible to observe it directly under the vast majority of environments via conventional methods. Yea. They won¡¯t exert any effects on this world¡¯s matter under normal circumstances.¡±


    Someoneughed: ¡°Won¡¯t exert any effects? What sort of threat is that? Those aboard the warship are this tense and nervous... Is it all just to scare people?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m saying that this only applies to ordinary circumstances...... Have you ever thought about why this thing is called a ¡®life form¡¯? This is because this sort of thing possess the ability to interfere with the material ne under certain circumstances. And, it possesses a certain goal.¡±


    ¡°A goal?¡±


    ¡°It can vary vastly. But ording to statistics, nearly 40% of cases of interference urrences are disturbances that stimte the state of mind of living organisms. It makes people unable to focus their energy. Makes them jittery, quick to temper, sensitive, and etc......¡±


    The visiting Luo Nan to the side felt a stir of emotion. He sized up the burning wraith once more. This fellow still held its ¡°dying-dog¡± state at this moment, but what had happened beforehand perfectly validated Liu Tao¡¯s description.


    ¡°The Darksider life form has a very dangerous nature. Keep in mind that the parts we are unable to observe is meaningless to us. This is because the Darksider life form doesn¡¯tpletely cross over with us. However the parts we can discover will certainly be a threat. This is because they¡¯re trying to exert their influence at that very moment, to disturb our ne.¡±


    ¡°How does it disturb? It is very simple. A sentence is enough to describe it; it¡¯s called ¡®Know yourself and know your enemy¡¯. Under ordinary circumstances, the Darksider lifeform doesn¡¯t intersect with us. But when it does try, it must first understand, ess, and gather our information.¡±


    ¡°A goodparison would be with an active radar. Normal radars don¡¯t ¡®turn on¡¯. No one would be able to discover its existence. However the Darksider life form has the nature and aim to search; it will emit a beam for sure, exposing its own position.¡±


    Luo Nan, who was observing the burning wraith at this time, suddenly went stupefied. He concentrated his attention in an unprecedented manner for what would follow.


    ¡°Of course the Darksider life form is a thousand times more hidden than a radar. They don¡¯t need to send out probing beams and the like, all they need to do is absorb the various frequency bands in the atmosphere and its fine. Then they can analyze and process it through an iprehensible method to us. And this is our sole and only chance to be able to probe them.¡±


    Liu Tao had spoken to the climax. His hand pointed at the surrounding mist: ¡°Do you see this ¡®Shadow Mist¡¯? A special particle has been released within this mist. These particles are very susceptible to various frequency bands in the atmosphere. As soon as they detect a direction in which a concentration of a rtive change in nature has urred, they can convey the relevant data to the central AI location via sensors that are all over the ce. The central AI analyzes and determines the probability that a Darksider lifeform has appeared......¡±


    Lian Yu, who had yet to open her mouth, also became interested. Her speciality just happened to be in the field ofmunications: ¡°Taoster. You¡¯re quite clear on the matter.¡±


    Liu Tao was waiting for these words and immediately feigned a calm state: ¡°This kind of ¡®Shadow Mist¡¯ battle tactic was developed and produced by aboratory in the wilderness that was funded by my family......¡±


    Upon reaching this point, naturally there were nock of people who ttered him: ¡°Damnnn Taoster, you kept it super hidden! This technology will pay off big for us!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not bad, not bad.¡± Liu Tao was beaming with smiles. He felt quite invigorated inside.


    But the floating-to-the-side Luo Nan had a different mood at this time. He looked around at the surrounding mist and went somewhat dumb at the moment.


    The somewhat-quiet Lian Yu asked a question at this time: ¡°If it¡¯s this hard to discover a Darksider lifeform, how do you deal with one?¡±


    ¡°At the present only the Burners...... Actually the discovery of the Darksider life form was a matter that happened after the Quantum Corporation pushed out their Burners and Deep Blue tform. One can tell that the Burners are highly sensitive to the Darksider lifeform from theirbat experience. Only the Burners piloting the Deep Blue Walkers. Only via the means of an established Archetype Format, the burning ¡®Fire Format¡¯, can they do direct damage to the Darksider life form.¡±


    ¡°Then......¡±


    Lian Yu still wanted to ask questions, but a long beep sounded out and the exiting door to the room opened. The sliding metal door was still moving when an imposing figure burst in through the mist.


    Fine redser dots filled the room in a chaotic fashion from the bulky weapons frame. They streaked over the group of rich kids, causing them to be scared out of their wits.


    ¡°Get down! Get all the way down!¡±


    The fierce and tough voice was magnified by the loudspeaker, piercing their ears: ¡°Everyone. Crawl towards the room¡¯s exit at once in session. People will assist you outside!¡±


    This person, who had just thrown himself into the room, was certainly a considerably valiant and experienced special figure. Unfortunately he overlooked something from being in the military for a long time. This group of rich kids before his eyes really weren¡¯t experienced soldiers of the battlefield.


    They were already scared down to the bone from being faced with this sudden change in circumstances.


    Barely half a second passed. It was unknown who let loose their throat, but a piercing shriek flooded the entire room. The shriek spurred fear all over and around, like a tempest engulfing the hearts of each and every person.

 Chapter 14: Siege Hammer (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 14: Siege Hammer (Part 1/2)


    It must be stated that Luo Nan had heart-felt thanks towards this fierce soldier who had charged in head-first. This was because the soldier made apse in judgement, giving Luo Nan a chance to react.


    Luo Nan made a decision in the instant the shriek sounded out. He stimted the burning wraith telepathically through the heavily chained crow, forcing the burning wraith to be stabbed awake from its dying-dog state. The wraith stayed in ce.


    Luo Nan¡¯s soul body left, following its original path, back to where Luo Nan had his soul separated from his main body.


    Luo Nan¡¯s decision was based on the worst case scenario with no luck factored in. As it turns out, his decision was made in the most timely manner.


    The military responded at lightning speed. As soon as they saw the nature of the screaming group of no-good rich kids, theypletely lost hope that the rich kids would cooperate and they immediately moved to action.


    In the room, the ¡°Fierce Soldier¡± who had thrown himself in head-first lifted up therge weapon in his hand. Dazzling electric shes sprayed out amidst a booming sound.


    This was more effective than any order. All the rich kids immediately went prone even though the shriek was all the more ear-piercing. There was no longer any one standing up within the room aside from the Fierce Soldier. Everyone rushed towards the just-opened fence-like door, striving to be the first to leave and fearing to be thest. They rolled and crawled, squeezing over.


    The Fierce Soldier had taken control of the situation atst. He lifted his head that was enclosed by apletely sealed helmet. The translucent facete faced towards an empty space in the upper portion of the room.


    A typical person would see nothing in their field of vision save for the churning mist.


    But the Fierce Soldier clearly did not believe nothing was there. His right hand swept to the mode-switching button on his firearm, changing from a nk-firing mode, which he had just used to scare people, to a single-shot mode.


    The muzzle of the gun rang muffled. Then arge ming cloud rose up in the next moment within the semi-enclosed room; it enveloped practically the entire upper half of the room. It seemed like a minize-shell was shot hazardly and impulsively.


    Right now Luo Nan was already at a distance of two rooms away. The straight-line distance was also over ten meters. Anyway, since the chains and the burning wraith were integrated as a single body, it would be very hard to separate himself from the information over there. He had no choice but to continue heading back to his main body.


    Luo Nan¡¯s soul mind shivered the instant the ming cloud leapt forth. The force of this attack contained actual substance. It followed the chains and conducted into Luo Nan. Even though Luo Nan was an incorporeal soul body, it was actually as if he was struck by a fist to the chest; it felt super horrible.


    He could confirm that the true destructive force absolutely did not stem from the brutal mes. This was because Luo Nan did not feel the conduction of heat at this moment, but rather a direct assaulting force arriving on the soul ne.


    Since these things happened to Luo Nan in this manner, it would be needless to say what would happen to the burning wraith that stayed idle within the room. It had just awakened from its dying-dog state and was still somewhat sluggish. The red cloud exploded in its face, crossing over the divide between reality and the imaginary to affect its body.


    In an instant, the burning wraith¡¯s body was actually bombed to shrink by a factor; it had clearly taken damage.


    This sort of ze-shell type ammunition was clearly produced specifically to target the Darksider life form; the effects were instantaneous. However, reloading the ammunition wasn¡¯t necessarily easy. After the Fierce Soldier had unleashed his attack, he retreated backwards and began to reload at the same time. He was unable toplete this task even though a bit of time had already passed.


    But if things weren¡¯t as it seemed and if Luo Nan would believe that there was an opening, then that would be far to naive of Luo Nan.


    A single poorly skilled man would be unable to withstand the great force of many men.


    After the first ze-shell attack was unleashed, shells arced inside the room from outside one after another. At least five of the same type of shell ammunition entered and exploded within the room. ming clouds surged and raged for a moment. The temperature of the entire room had to have increased by twenty degrees or higher at the very least.


    The sudden increase in temperature appeared to be quite frightening. Actually, it was in fact meaningless. It further proved that the destructive capabilities of the ammunition was diverted more to the ce outside the normal ne.


    The left-behind-in-room burning wraith provided ample information.


    This storming ¡°ze-shell¡± not only directly assaulted on the soul ne, it even had a viscous function.


    The burning wraith tried to escape when it suffered the attacks. But it was as if a jar of glue had been toppled in the surrounding space, causing the wraith to move with great difficulty.


    Perhaps it was a strong and invisible maic field?


    Luo Nan continued to ponder as he continued to retreat. Right now he could clearly see that the military had already developed an entire process of effective methods in order to deal with the Darksider life form. He really didn¡¯t know how things would end if he had stayed behind.


    The manner in which Luo Nan made his retreating route showed that he put some consideration into it. He had an approximate exnation from Liu Tao¡¯s introduction. The Shadow Mist¡¯s capturing mechanism towards the Darksider life form wasn¡¯tpletely urate; it was a kind ofputational method that lies in probability.


    In other words, there was a high likelihood that the military didn¡¯t know the Darksider life form¡¯s true shape, true mass, and its rtionship between people.


    Luo Nan had ditched the just-captured burning wraith without the slightest hesitation. With the burning wraith attracting fire, Luo Nan could be considered safe, at least so far.


    However at this moment, the bound-to-room burning wraith was finally pushed to its vicious nature upon receiving repeated attacks.


    Thousands of holes were already made in its devilish body when it suddenly pulled back. It¡¯s originally-incorporeal body increased its degree of substance. There was even a split second where a clearer silhouette could be seen.


    The heavily chained crow was still fastened together with the burning wraith. However Luo Nan was unable to distinguish what it was out of the information that the crow sent back. He did not know what it was; he just felt that it was a certain terrible beast.


    The incorporeal and fierce beast faced the sky and roared in the next moment. Several spirit waves containing actual substance rippled forth, filling the room in a sh and prating the metal walls to rapidly spreading.


    From the moment the gunshot rang, the burning ming cloud above the group of rich kids heads simply scared the rich kids into pissing their pants. All of them were shrieking ¡°SAVE ME!¡± right now. Some people evenpletelycked the strength to crawl.


    Luckily the support soldiers outside the room saw through their nature. They changed their tactics, promptly reached out their hands, and hauled the kids out of there.


    But the burning wraith had howled out right at this time.


    Actually no one heard anything, but each and every person was unable to suppress a deathly fear from exploding in their minds under the engulfment of spirit waves.


    In this instant, at least three people pissed their pants and some people even directly passed out.


    But on a different ne, through the chains, through the burning wraith... Luo Nan could actually see something strange begin to ooze and spurt out of the pores between the nose and mouth from this group of rich kids that had copsed when faced with fear.


    Countless dark red glowing dots floated up looking like the downward-drifting dust under the light of the sun. Luo Nan could clearly see a marvelous energy within the dark and dim glimmer.


    This was like a strange ¡°spore¡±. And its source was none other than the dozen or so shivering and trembling rich kids outside the room.


    Practically each of them had this kind of dark red spore spurt from their body to interweave amongst each other. The spores formed, as a whole, an airy glowing mist that covered the entire room.


    The glowing mist increased in concentration at extreme speed. Great quantities of spores exited and interweaved at all times from inside and outside their bodies. The density was simply a burning me of doom.


    Finally the glowing mist reached its certain limit in density. It surged forth on its own ord, drowning the burning wraith within. Only a vague outline could be seen.


    At first nce its inverted form was the same as the sketch upon which Luo Nan had initially drawn it. The outlines and the like were only more detailed. There were many ces that had already departed from theposition of Luo Nan¡¯s drawing to be extremely abstract. For instance, a strange symbol seemed to be increasing in size upon its body.


    The burning wraith locked onto a target the instant the symbol emerged.


    The Fierce Soldier, who had always stood on the front-most line, was suited in an exoskeleton armor.. It was as if he had suffered an electric assault. The Fierce Soldier immediately fell backwards, violently twitching. A faint ¡°smoke¡± leapt forth from the material body, then the ¡°smoke¡± immediately dissipated.

 Chapter 14: Siege Hammer (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 14: Siege Hammer (Part 2/2)


    Luo Nan felt a sense of familiarity towards the series of events that happened in the room.


    The dreadful howl was a near reconstruction of Luo Nan¡¯s experience on the overpass. And something of an even rawer nature was revealed on the soul ne. It was clear that the others were ignorant of the ¡°Spores¡± and the like from their facial expressions.


    As for the fallen Fierce Soldier who was met with misfortune, Luo Nan was quite empathetic towards him. This was because Luo Nan had experienced the same shock of incorporeal doom when he had been torn out of his body through the pierced opening, forcefully having his soul be expelled out.


    Right now it seemed like this attack was a siege hammer that applied directly on the soul ne. The corporeal body of the material ne would be unable to withstand the force from the falling hammer which strikes the soul directly...... It was filled with the aura of the mystic arts.


    The Fierce Soldier clearly didn¡¯t have the ability to have an out-of-body experience. The situation turned terrible all of a sudden.


    Luo Nan stirred telepathically. He had no contention nor animosity with the militarybat personnel. This death was caused by the mysterious and unfathomable Darksider life form; he didn¡¯t wish for this to happen. He sent his firstmand to the postbat burning wraith after a moment¡¯s hesitation.


    The burning wraith was a bit sluggish within the room. At this moment, the deste mes that drove the burning wraith had already burned all the binding forces awaypletely, allowing the wraith to have aplete return of freedom and a sharp increase in strength. But Luo Nan¡¯smand was channeled through the chains directly down to the burning wraith¡¯s core level; it would be hard for the wraith to have the strength to refuse Luo Nan.


    The burning wraith emitted a bloody ray that curled up the smoke, which had scattered from the Fierce Soldier¡¯s internal body, and forcefully stuffed the smoke back in. It orbited in a circle in the air. The continuously exploding ming clouds appeared to do nothing to it. The dark glowing red mes swept across and fled the room.


    And from a distance of over ten meters away, Luo Nan¡¯s soul body caught up to the burning wraith without a sound at this very moment.


    ording to Liu Tao¡¯s words, the military used ¡°Shadow Mist¡± in order to probe the Darksider life form. They observed the data of each frequency band to see whether or not a changing deviation of disturbance towards the ne of reality had urred. Luo Nan didn¡¯t understand what sort ofputational methods they used, but he did know that his current state would be like being a duck driven to a porch; the burning wraith had pushed him to a state outside his normal ability. The reason why Luo Nan was able to maintain this state for such a long time was likely due to his self-formatting.


    He was a soul out of a body. Naturally he carried the deviation towards disturbing reality. Or perhaps he was mixed with the darkness and would no longer be ssified as a human. What would happen then? If things were this way, then there would be a high probability that he would naturally be considered a signal source within the Shadow Mist. He would act in a self defeating way like the burning wraith. He didn¡¯t know who would capture him at the very end.


    It would be impossible for him to create a diversion. He could only seed by using underhanded means.


    He guided the chains and maintained a distance that was neither too near nor too far. He stayed behind the burning wraith the whole way, adjusting his route cautiously at the same time.


    Although the burning wraith of the present fell on a ne in which the visions of ordinary people could not reach, its powerful and frequent disturbances on the material ne caused it to look like a burning luminous me within the detection system of the military. Its vicious aura was bottomless.


    The well-trained soldiers outside onlygged behind by approximately half a second. They then changed the directions of their gun barrels and used the special ming cloud to seal off the area of the corridor.


    But the burning wraith unleashed that terrifying roar again, absorbing the frightened emotions of the soldiers for its own use via some bizarre method. Its strength increased sharply, causing Luo Nan to have to exert some effort to control it. It would be further needless to say what would happen to the soldiers that could only rely on their special equipment to face the attack.


    Even though the ming cloud pervaded half the corridor, the burning wraith just moved wherever it wanted to move. Once in awhile it would shoot a burst of Siege Hammers. Being under Luo Nan¡¯s continual control, no injuries on the level of the first attack urred this time. However, those who were hit fell to the ground and passed out; it would be hard for them to regain consciousness.


    A bizarre situation was formed due to facing an incorporeal enemy and due to the inexplicable reason for why people were copsing. It put the emotions of the soldiers to the ultimate test of true will.


    Although these soldiers had underwent harsh training, they were unable to follow their drills and maintain a continuous volley of firepower. Frantic thoughts of fear spurred in their hearts. This was inevitable after all.


    Confronting the burning wraith was like trying to undo a deathlyplicated knot. The quantity of the bizarre spores in the corridor increased rapidly once again. It was unknown whether it came from the bodies of the copsed rich kids or from the bodies of the soldiers engaged inbat, but arge quantity of spores floated up, infected, and interchanged.


    A terrifying overturning demonic force pushed down upon everyone present like an avnche. Elite soldiers had formed abat formation, firing off one after another in rhythm. And an emerged disorder could already be seen in the formation.


    ¡°1, 2, 3...... 7, 8!¡±


    Including the soldier who had copsed within the room, there were nine well-trained elite soldiers suited in advanced exoskeleton armors. They formed abat squad that was sufficient to contend with powerful and formidable mutants in the wilderness.


    But under the fierce might of the burning wraith, they actuallycked all ability to retaliate back.


    Luo Nan¡¯s mood was a bitplex as he observed this scene.


    He had just been a criminal suspect detained forcefully by the police this morning; he could only act as an obedient grandchild when faced with the organization¡¯s might. But in a short few hours he already came to possess the dominating force and ability to smash the military¡¯s elite squad of soldiers in front of him. This force was both powerful and terrifying, unfathomable yet concrete.


    But he could extrapte at least a speck of how hard-pressed theary Government was when confronting the wilderness, when confronting the mutants, when confronting Darksider life forms from the scene before his eyes.


    Luo Nan was not an good patriotic kid who was concerned with the fate of his nation. Yet he was able to remember a saying:


    Everyone was only three-hundred kilometers away from the wilderness.


    Each and every person faced the threat of mutants on this. And from what he saw today, this threat was far greater than what the government and media normally made public!


    In the end, Luo Nan did not have a gloomy temperament; he quickly recovered his spirits from mncholy. He slightly restrained the ferocity of the burning wraith and simultaneously revised his route; he was about to continue passing through walls in order to return to his body.


    But an agitated response came from the burning wraith in the next moment. Luo Nan also felt an indescribable sensation just slightlyter. His attention shifted and he actually heard the muffled rippling of footsteps.


    The beautiful and clear color of azure seawater was at the end of the long corridor. It turned the corner and approached closer step by step.


    It was the same sort of exoskeleton armor. Except the head portion was a bit more nar with several sharp angles and corners on the external helmet. It was once considered the ¡°most manliest¡± of exoskeleton designs.


    But in the eyes of Luo Nan, it was like a praying mantis that had leapt in for the kill. The reflections off of every ne, edge, and corner possessed the prating force of a knife¡¯s edge.


    Thispletely sealed helmet tilted back and a low hissing sounded forth. At the same time, the neck and shoulder, chest and stomach, ribs, and limb positions of the exoskeleton armour morphed slightly. The entire armor seemed to have expanded by a factor in an instant.


    Then bizarre symbols began to appear on the painted surface of the armor. Smooth lines, circr arcs, hyperbs, and other various shapes appeared.


    Intricate electric arcs seemed to leap and circte upon the exterior of the armor. Yet after careful examination, how could it be electricity? It was clearly ayer of intricate interweaving mes stuck dead-fastened to the externalyer of the armor. That armor was deep blue like the ocean¡¯s water.


    There was only the slight flickering of the dazzling glowing mes.


    Deep Blue Walker...... A form of the Archetype Format!


    Several additional thoughts leapt continuously within Luo Nan¡¯s mind. Finally there was one relevant to the situation:


    ¡°Format of Fire!¡±


    Before this thought could vanish, the Deep Blue Walker approached forward withrge strides. Translucent mes sprayed from its body. The mes were crystal clear, and they pushed and filled the corridor like a silent wave of water. The mes interweaved with the space-filling ming clouds, which had been released by the military, to be one. An astonishing reaction was generated in a sh.

 Chapter 15: Slayer (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 15: yer (Part 1/2)


    ¡°Rumble rumble. Rumble rumble.¡±


    Luo Nan heard clearly a roaring sound simr to water boiling.


    In fact, over half of the ming clouds that pervaded the corridor was actually boiling. Crimson air bubbles amassed and pressed together to bulge, swell, and burst. It looked like an undergroundke ofva at first nce.


    But from the burning wraith¡¯s perspective, these thick foaming bubbles of life and death were more like a powerful detergent; a boiling can had just been brought out.


    A terrifying roar stimted the spores. But the spores were immediately annihted upon contact with the boiling ming clouds. Even the forces that were already in effect, such as the deste mes that surround the wraith¡¯s body, received heavy interference.


    A maelstrom was forming in the void right at this moment. Three type of mes, whether it be the burning wraith¡¯s, the Deep Blue Walker¡¯s, or what the soldiers had released, were drawn into the maelstrom. There were no further reactions.


    Although things were this way, the burning wraith itself still wouldn¡¯t be considered to have fallen into a disadvantage. But the problem was, who would engage in a one versus one fight aboard this military transport ship with you?


    A ¡°Bang!¡± rang out muffled. Suddenly a blue glow burst forth from a room within the corridor. An imposing figure charged thrusting out. It was actually another Deep Blue Walker.


    This Deep Blue Walker had clearly pushed itself to its limits in order to link up with the other Deep Blue Walker. It was far more intrepid than the first, throwing itself directly into the fray. The alloy dagger shed horizontally, and upon that dagger was the same translucent flickering of the Format of Fire.


    ¡°What precision!¡±


    Luo Nan had been suspicious whether this ¡°yer¡± possessed the ability to directly sense the Darksider life form. However the direction of its de was actually aimed straight at the burning wraith¡¯s vicinity, and it was practically dead center.


    The burning wraith¡¯s response was a bit slow. Perhaps it was due to the distance between the two being far too close. Or perhaps itcked the feeling of crisis from a material attack. Its body only blurred when the knife was just about to hit its body as it tried to dodge.


    In the end it was still toote. The edge shed across. The outer surroundingyer of deste mes were fine, but the inneryer of the void-like shadow wraith was not. Luo Nan could see a nk-white long scar formed from the direct sh.


    That one sh was able to cut the void!


    On Luo Nan¡¯s side, the burning wraith sent back a sudden mess of information. Then it exploded out with ruthless power.


    The burning wraith had already been provoked to its vicious nature; now it no longer listened to Luo Nan¡¯smands. It no longer restrained itself fromunching Siege Hammers as it directly attacked out.


    The Format of Fire that guarded the yer¡¯s body suddenly darkened. The body was still flying through the air when it had lost control, crashing into the metal wall of the long corridor and leaving several dents into the hard metal.


    Quite a few people screamed in rm.


    But the several-hundred-kilogram-heavy exoskeleton armor rebounded back from the collision. The glow of the protective mes darkened even further while the mes upon its dagger seemed to congeal with substance.


    And another sh shed out from the soaring body.


    ¡°Damn!¡±


    Luo Nan cursed darkly. This sh appeared to be deviate quite a bit from the previous attack, only sweeping the surroundings of the burning wraith. However that tyrannical and fierce determination already converged and intertwined with the Format of Fire to directly attack the inner core of the burning wraith.


    These two consecutive attacks, most notably thest one, directly knocked the burning wrath¡¯s response system into disorder; it went paralyzed on the spot.


    Although this thing appeared to have a ferocity that flooded the heavens, as expected what it feared the most was those who possess the absolute staunch and unyielding determination to face off against it. It had been tamed by Luo Nan just before. Now it had been stunned by a de. These things were possible because of its fear.


    Naturally, the yer wasn¡¯t in a good condition as well. After that de shed forth, the yer smashed directly to the ground sliding. Then it collided to the corner of a wall and was motionless.


    ¡°PERSONNEL DOWN!¡±


    And at this very moment, the first Deep Blue Walker that had entered the scene shouted an order loudly. At the same time he had a moment¡¯s chance to manipte the Format of Fire to cause the ming clouds that had been rendered with vigor to spiral and close in from eight sides; he sought to crush and kill the burning wraith.


    But perhaps the chaotic situation in the long corridor caused apprehension to grow in his heart. The enclosement of the vortex of ming clouds wasn¡¯t especially tight. A certain issue emerged based on the position of the burning wraith.


    And just in time, Luo Nan exerted some stimtion upon the burning wraith and forced the wraith to awaken from it¡¯s stunned state. The wraith was unable to retaliate with anything further; it directly transformed into a rainbow ray and broke through the weakest part of the ming clouds. Then came another escape attempt. It directly passed through the bodies of some rich kids and entered the lower deck of the warship.


    The central AI¡¯s decision processes were still sharp and prompt. But the copsed rich kids in the corridor acted as a human shield, causing difficulty for the AI to execute follow-up procedures. The AI could only order the organization of a second wave of attacks to intercept the wraith.


    The very first Deep Blue Walker who had entered the scene shook his head. He had no intentions to chase after the wraith. He unhitched his sealed helmet to expose a handsome and cold face. It was none other than Yan Yongbo.


    Right now the medics went to check out the unknown life-or-death state of the yer on this floor. But before they could touch the yer, the yer suddenly flipped and got up. The yer pushed aside the medics and immediately smashed the ground heavily with a fist, venting the resentment and hate within the mind.


    Yan Yongbo walked towards the yer with a grave and stern face the whole time. Then he exposed a never-before-seen smile as he reached out a hand towards the yer: ¡°Captain He. The most important thing is to maintain control of your mood when facing the Darksider life form. Besides, you¡¯ve already done the best you could just then.......¡±


    ¡°I know just how clearly matters went myself.¡±


    The yer absolutely refused Yan Yongbo¡¯s act of goodwill. The yer growled coldly in a low voice and then used the armor¡¯s power system to get up and began to calibrate the armor.


    ¡°Captain He......¡±


    The translucent facete of the yer¡¯s helmet twisted over to direct at Yan Yongbo: ¡°The quality elite of Quantum Corporation are worthy of our trust. I hope you will continue with our mutual cooperation in order to reduce unnecessary mistakes...... I really value this time when we cooperated together.¡±


    Yan Yongbo chuckled: ¡°Well that¡¯s natural.¡±


    The yer turned around and walked ahead with Yan Yongbo following behind. He carefully appreciated the special hint of femininity within the low scratchy voice. At the same time he pondered the yer¡¯s words, deciding if there were other meanings behind them.


    He lowered his head several secondster; he gave his subordinates a reminder using thepany¡¯smon frequency channel: ¡°The strength of the target is powerful. Everyone. The number one objective is to coordinate with the military¡¯s operation...... Heister, I especially mean you. Don¡¯t rush forward like an impatient child. First assist the military.¡±


    Heister responded simple-mindedly: ¡°Understood. I¡¯ll keep watch.¡±


    Having received set wartime procedures, all non-militarymunication channels were to be screened and be monitored. No random chatter were allowed as well.


    Yan Yongbo¡¯s words soon attracted the warnings of themand. However since the words did not contain sensitive information, and since they corresponded with the instructions given by the military to Quantum Corporation, the warning was just a mere formality.


    Only two people, Yan Yonbo and Heister, understood the true meaning of the words clearly:


    ¡°Put the operation on pause. Change the surveince target.¡±


    Yan Yongbo¡¯s thoughts wandered around while his head was down: Today is quite the fortunate day. I actually and unexpectedly got a chance to meet and interact with Captain He. Whenpared to this koi that could at any time leap through the dragon¡¯s gate and be a dragon, the malnourished cub of the Luo Family could have his surveince released for now.


    There were numerous methods to search the background of a small kid. But today¡¯s lucky opportunity was something that could onlye once. It didn¡¯t matter how; he just needed to leave a good impression in Captain He¡¯s eyes.


    Yep. It wouldn¡¯t be much to exert a bit of extra effort.

 Chapter 15: Slayer (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 15: yer (Part 2/2)


    Yan Yongbo adhered to his promise. He followed Captain He along with the military Burner squad for the following time. They were constantly on the move aboard the floating transport ship, chasing the Darksider life form at every nook and corner of every deck.


    The joint hunting operationsted for approximately half an hour before the Darksider life form tried rushing out of the warship to escape. But in the end, five Deep Blue Walkers surrounded and killed it. And Captain He was the one to receive the chance for the finishing blow of vengeance. The chaos aboard the warship was dispelled atst.


    Anyway, Luo Nan¡¯s soul body had already quietly returned to the confinement room while the chaotic situation had been rapidly growing.


    The thick metal door isted the room from the mor of the outside world. Luo Nan¡¯s main body continued to maintain its sitting position within the confinement room. The tip of his pen was still on the paper¡¯s surface. His eyes were half open and half closed. It was as if he was spellbound.


    Luo Nan had never observed himself from this point of view. For a moment he only felt it was strange beyondpare; the feeling that he was looking at a different life was growing stronger.


    But right now the burning wraith waspletely unable to provide Luo Nan with energy. The coldness within his soul body was umting; it was extremely bad. Luo Nan did not have time to tarry; his soul directly returned through the opening.


    The most worrisome of worst case scenarios of ¡°passing through the body to the other side¡± didn¡¯t happen. When the soul came close to the main body, the boundary between reality and the imaginary vaguely appeared. His visualized diagram manifested with its tetrahedron, inscribed sphere and circumscribed sphere.


    The inscribed sphere covered his internal organs. The tetrahedron was the dividing boundary between the internal and external. And when the soul touched the circumscribed sphere, his soul glimmered, merging through the door to the main body.


    A certain binding sensation restricted him, yet it was an agreeing force. It was like Luo Nan was wearing a thick armor; he felt the inexplicably at ease. This type of sensation persisted for a small half a second before fading away. His legendary mystical mental journey of an out-of-body experience was put to an end for now.


    Luo Nan¡¯s body made some movements. He pinched the shaft of his pen and slightly rocked his neck, adapting once more to the merging between his soul and his flesh.


    He could see from his current state that his human body was the medium and protective armor for his soul. Its usage of being a ¡°Power nt¡± was unavoidable to say the least. As for his out-of-body experience, it was as if he went on journey; he wascking resources, so it would be better to err on the side of caution.


    In truth if he wanted to have another out-of-body experience, he needed to carefully deliberate over the matter since he no longer had the burning wraith.


    The burning wraith was done for. Not long after Luo Nan¡¯s soul and flesh merged together, the burning wraith got caught into a death trap. Consecutive attacks had already exceeded the burning wraith¡¯s limits for sustainment by far. And it had encountered its most terrifying individual, the yer. The Format of Fire blended with a tyrannical will, causing the burning wraith to suffer a fatal injury.


    Of course it was quite the pity to lose the burning wraith. But how serious was that whenpared to his own life?


    Luo Nan took a deep breath. Even though his soul had returned, he still had one more trial that was ced right in front of him.


    On a ne that was difficult to see by ordinary people, the heavily chained crow was gradually retreating like a snake slithering back to the depths of its cave to hibernate. Up until now, it had yet to draw anyone¡¯s attention. But Luo Nan wouldn¡¯t be careless at all until the crowpletely returns.


    Withdrawing the heavily chained crow took a total of approximately ten seconds, but it felt like ten years from Luo Nan¡¯s perspective.


    Luo Nan had a faint feeling that there was a subtle change on the heavily chained crow¡¯s body. He didn¡¯t have the mood to further think about it though. He maintained holding the drawing posture the whole time until the chains hadpletely been regained, only to fade away along with the visualized diagram. Once in awhile he would draw some lines that even he would find to be unfathomable mysteries himself. He waited there in silence.


    He really didn¡¯t know if a Deep Blue Walker would burst in the door in the next second and press the muzzle of a gun towards his skull.


    Five minutes passed and nothing happened. Luo Nan could let out a long breath atst. He looked at his notebook. The perfectly fine Prison Building had already been destroyed subconsciously by random dabbles and scrawls.


    This was good as well......


    Luo Nan closed his notebook, raised his head with closed eyes, and leaned back in the chair. He emptied his mindpletely and was truly rxed for a moment.


    But he never imagined that a beeping would start ringing in the next second. The metal door opened amidst the electronic sound.


    Luo Nan suddenly opened his eyes, his body seemingly shooting up. But in the end he rxed after a moment of stiffness. His sitting-upright body was staring in a nkly towards the door.


    God knows...... what it was armed with.


    Luo Nan let out a rxed breath when he saw the personing in the door. It wasn¡¯t a Deep Blue Walker nor was it any of the fully armedbat personnel. It was actually the captain who had brought him in this room in the first ce.


    ¡°You. Follow me.¡±


    The captain¡¯s tone of voice was unexpectedly gentle as he indicated to Luo Nan to follow him. Luo Nan didn¡¯t waste time thinking and stood up to catch up with the captain. The captain logged them together into the transport stop vehicle so they could enter the interior transportation line.


    Luo Nan maintained a silence from beginning to end while they were inside the vehicle. He had an introverted and taciturn temperament all his life. If no one would initiate a conversation, he would just sit there the whole day and be perfectly fine with it.


    In the end the Captain unexpectedly had to exchange some words with Luo Nan: ¡°Right now the police have already boarded the ship to immediately begin the investigations. You are a minor and there are many rules in ce. Right now you are to meet yourwyer to do some preparations.¡±


    ¡°Lawyer?¡± Luo Nan was somewhat baffled. ¡°You helped me hire awyer?¡±


    ¡°Our military has nothing to do with it.¡± The captain had responded simply.


    At this time, the transport vehicle arrived to a different zone on the warship. Arrangements have already been made and were going underway over here. Luo Nan took a fleeting nce in passing and saw that here there were interrogation rooms, waiting rooms, analysis rooms and etc. The analysis roomsposed of various sampling analysis equipment in great numbers. It appeared the military waspletely serious.


    Actually, the majority of people performing the activities in this zone didn¡¯t wear the mostmonly seen deep-space gray military uniforms. They wore the ck uniforms of the Xia City police.


    The captain didn¡¯t stop moving. He led Luo Nan to a room in the corner of the zone. He knocked on the door, opened the door, and indicated to Luo Nan to enter.


    The room was a bit noisy.


    A woman dressed in a professional suit leaned against the edge of the table. She had her head down and was fiddling with a flexible screen in her hand.


    The AR special effects of the screen were clearly set to max gear. Images and shapes of beasts and humans emerged from the screen, leaping out and running about. The lighting effects were quite gorgeous and the sound effects were also quite astonishing......


    The screaming of the beasts at least were quite horrifying.


    Luo Nan actually recognized that this was the worldwide popr mobile game phenomenon ¡°Ten Days in the Wilderness¡±.


    ¡°Wait a sec~ This part is quite hard.¡±


    The professional woman didn¡¯t raise her head. She had spoken in greeting without much thought while she was stabbing and jabbing at the flexible screen.


    It was a ridiculous scene, and it made Luo Nan¡¯s escorting captain¡¯s eyes twitch.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t really mind. He faced the captain with a nod and directly headed inside.


    The difficulty level of Ten Days in the Wilderness was quite high. Just a few steps and techniques in and the game character was buried within the enormous gaping mouth of a mutant.


    The professional let out a sigh. She raised her head and a smile burst out on her tender and young pretty face: ¡°Hello, you must be Luo Nan. I am Zhang Yingying, thewyermissioned by young master Xie.¡±


    ¡°Ah, Xie Junping......¡± Luo Nan was not the least bit shocked towards this answer. In other words, he had been waiting for this result to happen all this time. Right now it seemed like that failure of a fellow didn¡¯t let him down in the end.

 Chapter 16: Zhang Yingying (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 16: Zhang Yingying (Part 1/2)


    Zhang Yingying snapped her fingers: ¡°Yo It¡¯s great that you understand.¡±


    Zhang Yingying¡¯s frivolous and casual manner was far different then the image Luo Nan had in his mind of a truewyer. Luo Nan felt quite astonished that Xie Junping would dispatch awyer like her to help him.


    Then Zhang Yingying described the sequence of events, further verifying this point of his:


    ¡°You were there when the ident urred in the R&D district. You should know that the military and police have ced a great importance on the matter. The situation over there is quite chaotic, so they don¡¯t have the energy to deal with you small fish and prawn. Yet, they still have to do screening, so they had to temporarily detain you on the transport ship...... Yep, this is an example of having some luck amidst disaster.¡±


    Luo Nan stared at her mute: What luck?


    Zhang Yingying blinked her eyes: ¡°You¡¯re luck is in not getting screwed by both sides! You¡¯re still a minor. We were able to intervene in time thanks to the fact that you¡¯re on this transport ship. Otherwise you absolutely wouldn¡¯t be able to hide it from your family if it were down to the police and their strict procedures. Hehe.¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    Luo Nan was left speechless. He had to admit that this youngwyer had hit the nail on the head with her words: If his aunt were to find out about this matter... He didn¡¯t even dare to imagine the scene!


    Zhang Yingying was finally satisfied when she saw Luo Nan change facial expressions. She spoke again: ¡°It¡¯s not just this. Do you know of the mess that just happened on the warship?¡±


    ¡°I was aware.¡± Luo Nan replied in quite the refreshing manner. The Shadow Mist pervaded the space even within the confinement room. Even an idiot could tell something was up.


    ¡°You have a decent amount of guts. I took a look at the monitoring recordings they sent me. All alone, smokeing in from all sides, yet you were still able to be that calm. You continued to sketch and draw. Someone like you is quite rare kiddo. I like young people like you the most......¡±


    Zhang Yingying reached out her hand and smacked Luo Nan on the shoulder hard, causing Luo Nan¡¯s somewhat stiff muscles topletely rx.


    She didn¡¯t care for the subtleties of Luo Nan¡¯s mood. Zhang Yingying continued speaking: ¡°I arrived on this warship two hours ago. The reason why I wasn¡¯t able to meet up with you until now was due to those government and military nutjobs. They¡¯re scared that you guys are hiding problematic characters, so they forbid you contact with the outside world. But when this mess happened, they realized that isting internal and external affairs is awfully stupid. So they started changing their tactics.¡±


    Locking down the Darksider life form was a more difficult matter.


    Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts began to flow and circte, moving somewhat absentmindedly. Zhang Yingying faked a sort of coughing sound: ¡°So pay attention. Isting internal and external matters when ites to taking heavy precautions is reallyzy of them. They inherently ced no importance to you small fishes and prawn. Though they are releasing you today, this doesn¡¯t mean they¡¯re giving up. It means they are saving their intentions to screen and search forter. They are much more serious now than they were in the beginning. You must be careful and cautious of the things you will soon say and do. I have the utmost confidence in you. But if you¡¯re misunderstood by some certain people... now that would be very troublesome.¡±


    Luo Nan nodded his head silently.


    The door made a sound at this time. The captain who had just left hade back again: Lawyer Zhang, please finish your preparations.¡±


    ¡°Finally it¡¯s my turn to go on stage!¡±


    Zhang Yingying stood up straight. She wore high heels and was taller than the notpletely-matured Luo Nan by half a head. She looked quite grand and imposing, contrary to expectations. Only her excessively tender face was a pity, as well as her energetic smile; they were out of harmony with seriius and professional outfit.


    She looked at Luo Nan¡¯s taut face and blinked her eyes:


    ¡°You can¡¯t be nervous...... Do you watch movies often?¡±


    Luo Nan had yet to barely catch up with her line of thinking. He responded after a second: ¡°Once in awhile.¡±


    ¡°Those big criminals in the movies. What do they say when they face the police?¡±


    ¡°......Please talk to mywyer?¡±


    ¡°Bingo!¡±


    Zhang Yingying vigorously smacked Luo Nan on the shoulder again. She took the lead and walked out the room.


    Luo Nan looked at the young femalewyer¡¯s slender back attentively. He had already made a definite conclusion: No matter what her goal was, this Lawyer Zhang was absolutely not someone that Xie Junping could handle in a lifetime!


    ¡°What are you doing distracted! Come on! Let¡¯s finish this quickly!¡±


    Zhang Yingying pressed forward ahead. Luo Nan chuckled and followed her going outbound.


    While they were talking, the traffic of people seemed to have somewhat increased at the ad hoc trial area setup.


    Xie Junping had sought awyer for Luo Nan¡¯s sake. Those rich kids, including those still detained, wouldn¡¯t fight alone. ording to Zhang Yingying¡¯s exnation, those rich kids¡¯ privatewyers had already consciously formed a team at thest moment and were already carrying out negotiations with the police.


    Speaking in the strictest sense, Zhang Yingying was also considered a member of this team. However, she had yet to finish up some matters.


    When they entered the trial area, the military personnel automatically stepped back and handed their duties over to the police. Now they had to first pass through various sorts of detection searches. Luo Nan spoke not a word from beginning to end. He just let others do whatever they needed to do; he was extremely cooperative.


    The schemes of the government and military were basically as Zhang Yingying had determined; the attitudes of the police were extremely strict when they carried out their procedures. And so Zhang Yingying¡¯s speech about ¡°finishing things up quickly¡± was destined to be nothing but hot air.


    Various investigations, various interrogations, and various procedures had to bepleted. And that even included responding to the ammo of the otherwyers.


    Li Xuecheng was still lying in the warship¡¯s sickbay even until now and was under observation for medical treatment. His family certainly wouldn¡¯t have the goodwill to put matters to rest. Obviously they wouldn¡¯t shift attention away from this matter.


    This wasn¡¯t Luo Nan¡¯s field of expertise. Fortunately there was this Zhang Yingying by his side.


    Although ¡°Finishing things off quickly¡± had gone to smoke, the young femalewyer was still able to disy an unobstructable and powerful strength. Of course, the behind-the-scenes negotiations that Luo Nan did not understand at all had a far greater effect. The negotiations had caused all offensive fire that was imposing and loud like thunder to be as effective and small like raindrops; they were annihted without a sound.


    From Luo Nan¡¯s perspective, this whole interrogation process only reiterated the course of events from the morning when he left his house door until he got detained. It was just a seven~eight reiteration... That¡¯s it.


    Then finally......they made it through!


    ¡°Arggg. What a waste of time!¡±


    Zhang Yingying ignored theplexions of the police officers in her surroundings as she walked out of the interrogation room. As she sighed with a drawn-out tone, she raised her sapphire-blue scarf a bit to the side in passing, exposing half her snowy-white bosom.


    Right now, a full ten hours had already passed from the time when they first entered the ¡°stage¡±.


    This marathon-type of setup really drained one¡¯s spirits. Fortunately, Luo Nan was able to eat tworge high-nutrition meals to replenish his energy. It can be said that he had already passed through the worst of it.


    Zhang Yingying pped her hands: ¡°It¡¯s done. The matter has been resolved in a satisfactory manner. Only a record of inquiry will be left behind by the police. They¡¯re still mainly focused on the incident in the R&D district. As for the ¡°Personal Injury¡± that happened here, rx. There won¡¯t be any repercussions.¡±


    The world of the wealthy...... Luo Nan was like a stereotypical angry youth; he snorted coldly in his heart.


    ¡°Then I can go now?¡±


    ¡°Not yet. This warship can¡¯t possiblynd just for your sake. Anding ship would also cost money. So, you need to wait for the whole group of people to finish with their interrogations before you can leave.¡±


    ¡°It seems like I am......¡±


    ¡°Yep! You were the first! So you need to wait longer.¡±


    Luo Nan sighed a breath silently. And at the same time he felt an inexplicable sensation. He twisted his head and saw some unmanned exoskeleton armors being towed by a transport vehicle. The vehicle passed through from not too far away.


    A swift and fierce male with a darkplexion and a buzz cut was on the vehicle. Luo Nan¡¯s gaze just happened to rest on this male¡¯s face which had a menacing coldness that waspletely unconcealed. And like Luo Nan, this male¡¯s line of sight came to rest on his opposing party as well.

 Chapter 16: Zhang Yingying (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 16: Zhang Yingying (Part 2/2)


    A weirdo.


    Luo Nan was the first to break his gaze, sweeping over the exoskeleton armors on the vehicle. Though there were no distinct markings, they were painted in a special blue. The answer was made clear:


    Deep Blue Walker......And most noteworthy was that it was the non-military kind.


    Over 90% of all Deep Blue Walkers in the world were in the military. This was an irrefutable and undeniable fact. But Quantum Corporation was the one who developed andunched the Deep Blue tform. So it was quite natural for them to possess a few so-called ¡°Experimental Types¡±. However, Quantum Corporation¡¯s Deep Blue Walkers weren¡¯t allowed to be outfitted with high-kill-potential weapons. They possessed fewer modules, they possessed slimmer body frames, and they came with some auxiliary equipment. For example, diversion fins and so on.


    These tiny details could escape other people, but they could not escape Luo Nan. He could even tell differences from just the exterior of thesepletely identical exoskeleton armors. He found the one he had previously crossed paths with inbat.


    It was the second from the left, that ¡°Field Controller¡±, the first to fight with the burning wraith. And during the very end when the wraith was surrounded, the Field Controller had yed a crucial role.


    Luo Nan¡¯s eyes squinted slightly.


    The systemyout and parameters of Deep Blue Walkers were undoubtedly highly ssified information. Even by adding together information from several information channels, only odd bits and pieces could be put together. For instance, this appearance right here. They had just been unsuited in this unboxed state. From the five years since the Deep Blue Walkers hadunched, probably only a handful of people had seen them in this state.


    Luo Nan gripped his notebook tightly, wishing to pick up his pen immediately. He wanted to draw this unequipped armor in all its detail.


    However at this time, the swift and fierce dark male aboard the vehicle casted an even colder and menacing gaze over to Luo Nan. Then he proceeded to do some work. He flipped a tarp topletely cover and seal all the armors from unwanted eyes.


    Luo Nan was slightly stunned. Then he shrugged his shoulders: The people of Quantum Corporation were this petty?


    ¡°He looks to be of Quantum Corporation...... Is he an acquaintance of yours?¡± asked Zhang Yingying suddenly.


    Luo Nan replied honestly: ¡°Never seen him before.¡±


    ¡°Then what were you being distracted for~ Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Zhang Yingying urged him by his side, pulling him back towards the previous room once again. She sighed a long breath upon entering, moved around, and leaned against the edge of the business desk just as before. She stretched and said: ¡°It¡¯s super damn annoying dealing with those bureaucratic shysters!¡±


    Luo Nan was speechless towards this ¡°female shyster¡±. But even more important was that he had been standing in the room for some time and had no idea what he should be doing.


    Zhang Yingying chuckled and giggled as she indicated for him toe over: ¡°Your performance just then was quite decent. I present you with a gift. Look, its this room.¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be dissatisfied. Only in this temporary zone are the externalmunications restrictions lifted on the warship. Otherwise, how would you be able to y games?¡±


    Luo Nan subconsciously shot a nce at his wristband. Sure enough, itsmunications functions and inte functions were unblocked. Hic! What the hell were these dozens of missed calls?


    After scrolling roughly, he found that most of the missed calls were from his older cousin Moya. They started in the morning for a total of 25.


    Then starting from seven in the evening, his Aunt also left three messages.


    It was already ten at night right now......


    Luo Nan could only feel the numbing of his scalp. He was unable to think of anything else as he dialed a number in a rush. He found his lifelong aplice, Miss Moya.


    ¡°Sis?¡±


    ¡°Eh Nan?¡± Moya¡¯s voice contained some uncertainty.


    ¡°Sis, what¡¯s up......¡±


    ¡°What do you mean what¡¯s up! What were you up to the whole day! I called you but you never picked up. I went to school and couldn¡¯t find you! I went home and couldn¡¯t find a single trace of you! I was already prepared to make a special police report you know?¡±


    Moya¡¯s high-pitched and piercing rock-n-roll-type voice was like a sandstorm blotting the sky. It was like a nuclear explosion had gone off; the mes of anger burned greatly:


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you go to school? Why didn¡¯t you take the society tests? You tricked me yesterday didn¡¯t you? Luo Nan you¡¯ve improved then. You¡¯re starting to go outside and y around already?¡±


    Luo Nan had been suddenly hosed with a flood of berating words. The intense and prating voice tore though and was rendered by his wristband, reverberating within the entire room.


    Zhang Yingying whistled and looked up towards the ceiling. She carried the ¡°I don¡¯t know anything¡± look of an innocent bystander.


    Luo Nan was unable to deal with his embarrassment. He walked away slightly and informed his older cousin of his current circumstances.


    All he had to do was remove the element of the burning wraith from today¡¯s matter and everything couldpletely be exined by bad luck. He didn¡¯t really need to cover up the other details.


    After Moya vented out the umtion of her worries and anger, she was willing to listen to Luo Nan¡¯s exnation. However, she had not an ounce of sympathy towards Luo Nan¡¯s misfortune:


    ¡°Serves you right! You deserve getting bad luck for sticking with that trash Xie Junping. If you haven¡¯t learned your lesson yet and repeat this in the future...... The type of people in the Mystic Arts Research Society are more the less this type. You might as well forget it anyway since you can¡¯t get in.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    Luo Nan suddenly realized that he undoubtedly missed today¡¯s entrance interviews for the Mystic Arts Research Society. But how did his older cousin know?


    ording to the caller Ids, Moya had restrained herself quite well in the morning; she only called him twice. But at four in the afternoon when the society activities began, she made a call every ten minutes on average. It was clear that she only became agitated after she knew he had skipped the tests.


    Moya sneered through gritted teeth: ¡°I know you¡¯re stupid. I think you have an aplice over there. Get them to help you now! Right now the issue is that you¡¯ve skipped the tests; you stood them up! You took my reputation, stomped it on the ground, and ground it! And there¡¯s more! You didn¡¯t pick up when mother called. I risked my life and said that you needed to stay to do an experiment as a test for the society...... You need to pay me back for this lie! Otherwise you¡¯re screwed! Not a person in heaven nor hell would be able to save you!¡±


    Luo Nan felt his heart squirm. He knew for certain that his older sister had done quite a bit of work in private. It really would make people embarrassed, skipping the tests this time.


    He blurted out: ¡°Then I¡¯ll pay for dinner tomorrow as an apology!¡±


    Moya sneered: ¡°You¡¯re excused with this dinner. But let me tell you, stay away from that circle. That group of good-for-nothings live extravagantly for all their lives with bottomless money as a basis. And you have nothing. I don¡¯t want to use future inherited property to assist a moron like you!¡±


    The final dialog between this sister and brotherpletelycked family affection. But Luo Nan was long since used to his older cousin¡¯s style of talking; he didn¡¯t mind.


    He realized that Moya was keeping watch at his apartment right now in Blue Bay Community. Naturally he expressed his thanks over and over. Moya waspletely full of disdain and contempt when faced with this and said sneering, ¡°I¡¯m rushing to the venue¡±. Then she hung up the phone.


    Moya had formed a band with a few other people during her college years. She already had some reputation in thismunity in Xia City. And her poprity was on the rise. Her busiest times were at night. Today she had waited in the apartment building, keeping watch for news for Luo Nan¡¯s sake. It was needless to say how great of her reputation was lost.


    However, Luo Nan inevitably grimaced when he thought of the nid by his older cousin. He thought for a moment, but he still hardened his courage to give his Aunt a call. He didn¡¯t dare to mention the events that happened today; he could only follow the lie spread by Moya. He fabricated that the society needed to check his experiment skills as a reason for staying sote. As for the results of the tests... he could only speak ambiguously: He had to wait until tomorrow for the results. They would talk about it once they¡¯re released.


    It wasn¡¯t a good time to open video chat and he wasn¡¯t able to determine via the sound of the phone whether his Aunt was convinced or not. He only felt that this night his Aunt was quite easy to talk to. She even let him off early to rest. He made it through, although it was a great mystery how.


    Perhaps his Aunt felt that he was hiding something when he was hemming and hawing about his test scores, causing some sort of misunderstanding?


    That would be the greatest thing ever!

 Chapter 17: Killing Time (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 17: Killing Time (Part 1/2)


    In any case, these telephone exchanges were not that different in cut-throat harshness whenpared to school entrance exams. Luo Nan let out a breath upon hanging up the phone, rxing in an instant.


    He twisted his head to look at Zhang Yingying and unexpectedly saw that she had picked up his notebook from his seat; she was flipping through it at this moment. The page she had flipped to right now was the sketch of the warped Prison Building. Although this page had already been subconsciously destroyed by Luo Nan with messy scrawls and scribbles, Zhang Yingying continued to look at it with extreme earnest. She even used her hand to trace along the lines.


    Luo Nan wrinkled his brows and coughed.


    Zhang Yingying raised her head; she was not embarrassed at all, instead she asked him withplete interest: ¡°This picture must stem from your imagination. Why did you draw it? Is it because you felt some inspiration while confined in that room? What does the warpedposition represent? And what do those violent devices, all ced together, symbolize? Even the lines surrounding the sketch seem to contain a lot of meaning......¡±


    Luo Nan originally wanted to decline answering her questions. But when he saw Zhang Yingying¡¯s expression, he suddenly thought of the subtle attitude she would disy from time to time ever since they first met. He felt the tugging of a sensitive heart-string.


    The thought stirred Luo Nan, causing him to look at Zhang Yingying once more. He changed his gazepletely, sweeping his eyes over her up and down. A few more questioning thoughts came into his head.


    ¡°Hey. Are these questions hard to exin?¡±


    ¡°I just felt that I should draw it like this. I just drew whatever came to me.¡±


    Luo Nan simply spoke abstractly, but Zhang Yingying was unexpectedly satisfied with this type of answer.


    ¡°Transferring what you felt. That¡¯s very good.¡±


    Luo Nan¡¯s curiosity towards Zhang Yingying was increasing, but he didn¡¯t want to leave his own notebook in Zhang Yingying¡¯s hands for too long of a time. He reached out, took it back, and sat back to his original position minding his own business.


    One could tell from his attitude that he didn¡¯t want to chat. In fact Luo Nan was pondering right now on how he would move a step towards verifying his own conclusion.


    And also at this time, he heard Zhang Yingying beckon him:


    ¡°Hey, want to y?¡±


    Luo Nan raised his head and saw Zhang Yingying lift her flexible screen to indicate towards him: ¡°The PvP of 10 Days in the Wilderness is the best part about it. It¡¯s way more invigorating than solo mode.¡±


    How could Luo Nan be in the mood to y games. He tactfully rejected her offer without thinking, but Zhang Yingying was especially persistent. She was now a pure and lively girl who loved to y. It would appear that her mental age was somewhat younger than that of Luo Nan.


    ¡°Come on,e on. It¡¯s great for killing time. Look at the police¡¯s pace. Even seven, eight more hours may not be enough for them to finish things. It would be considered quite good if we¡¯re able to get back home by five in the morning.¡±


    ¡°......when that timees, just send me directly to school.¡±


    ¡°Rx, you won¡¯t be tossed out of the warship to fall to the ground. The question right now is... Let¡¯s. y. Games?¡±


    Luo Nan still wanted to refuse even though Zhang Yingying appeared to be itching to y. But the words that came out of his mouth suddenly changed: ¡°Then let¡¯s y a few rounds...... I¡¯ll warn you in advance. I¡¯m not sure how to y.¡±


    ¡°No problem. No problem. We¡¯re just killing time after all.¡±


    Zhang Yingying¡¯s brows shot up in delight. This casual and innocent attitude was far different than the strong and powerful attitude she feigned before. She immediately ced her flexible screen in front of Luo Nan, fearing that he would refuse:


    ¡°Comeee. First do a sensing imprintation. Ten Days PvP uses hand gestures to control the game. You know of this point right.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I know a bit.¡±


    Luo Nan saw theyers of green rays sh past on the flexible screen and hesitated for a moment. But he ced both his hands on the screen regardless. Soon a beeping sound rang forth, indicating that the scan waspleted.


    Zhang Yingying snapped her fingers: ¡°It¡¯s set!¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m saying that the battle starts now!¡±


    Upon speaking Zhang Yingying unfolded the flexible screen, ced it on the business desk within the room, and sat her own self on one side of the table to be opposite of Luo Nan. Then she dimmed the lights in the room, making things quite official.


    The flexible screen casted light waves after hearing amand. A light blue arcing film of light pushed open with a radius of nearly a meter. The shade of color underneath this dome changed into a suitable matching color, sessfully forming and constructing a red earth and blue sky. This boundless destion was the backdrop to the game.


    From looking at the increasingly realistic special effects, one can tell that Zhang Yingying¡¯s flexible screen was the number one top brand in the market. It was actually able to take the portable game, Ten Days in the Wilderness, and render a mid-scale battle stage with units as a result.


    Luo Nan sat upright outside the game area and looked at the vast wilderness that was concentrated atop the desk. Virtual characters wore all sorts of exoskeleton armors. They shuttled about, flying around. It would be a lie to say that his heart was still like water.


    He was only sixteen years old. It was in his nature to y games. How could that nature bepletely dispelled?


    He was eager to give the game a shot deep in his heart when he saw the detailed imagery of the game. He spent a moment thinking about assimtion in, about being truly in the game; he spent a moment wanting to cause wanton destruction on the surface of this world. His spirits though subtle were something unsurpassable.


    Yea, he hadn¡¯t yed many games......


    In front of him, Zhang Yingying had quickly chosen a character. Her hands were sped, supporting up her chin. She was all smiles as she waited for Luo Nan to choose his character.


    ¡°No need to feel anxious. Take your time. I¡¯ll take it easy on you.¡±


    Luo Nan really didn¡¯t take up that much time. Ten Days in the Wilderness was a mobile game on the global phenomenon level no matter what anyone says. The number of people online had a peak record of 970 million people. This record was unbroken to this day. Mobile games released nowadays started to incorporate all sorts of immersive elements online. When he lived with his Aunt¡¯s household, he was pestered by his siblings to y versus. He had the basics down.


    He thought things over only by a bit, then he chose a rtively low-learning-curve typical hero. The trumpcard of the earth¡¯s military. The fire-power expert Heiya.


    Heiya¡¯s profile indicated that this imposing Petty Officer lived in theter part of the 80¡¯s. Under the support of the military¡¯s Fire-Eye tform, he was aplete walking independent military weapon house. Although his movement speed was that of a person, his berserk yet urate assaulting fire was sufficient to annihte enemies from over five hundred meters away.


    When both sides had finished choosing their characters, the game automatically deployed them on the battlefield.


    But when Zhang Yingying saw the character intro scenes, she immediately shouted: ¡°What¡¯s the meaning of this!? Are you looking down on me?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°Fine, you didn¡¯t choose a Deep Blue Walker and a fantasy type or a mutant won¡¯t do for you? You chose a newbie character to deal with me!?¡±


    There were over a hundred characters selectable in the 10 Days in the Wilderness game. They could be separated into four types: Standby Types, Deep Blue Types, Fantasy Types, and Mutant Types.


    Standby types referred to military exoskeleton weapon tforms and famous battle heroes. Deep Blue types followed the modifications made by Quantum Corporation to their Deep Blue tform. Mutant types were selected from the most stereotypical mutants in the wilderness. Fantasy types were armed fantasy units unrestrained by imagination.


    Although the gamingpany had bnced the game quite well, in reality one needed to check with realistic circumstances for true bnce. Obviously there would be some weaker characters of the four different types, especially of the Standby type. The Standby type reliedpletely on the character¡¯s charisma and low-learning-curve to support its role as a newbie character.


    In online co-op mode, the Standby type carried the decent air of a helpful uncle. However in versus mode, a newbie choosing this type would be feeding, whereas an expert would be smurfing. Generally speaking, no one would choose this type.


    Luo Nan nced at Zhang Yingying. He faced her iparably resentful attitude and smirked:


    ¡°Not choosing a Deep Blue?¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    After a bizarre moment of silence, Zhang Yingying sped her hands together. She spoke in an exaggerated drawn out voice, her eyes flickering like stars: ¡°Oh? You don¡¯t like the Deep Blue tform too? How bonding! I hate the color blue the most! I feel dizzy when I see too much of it......¡±


    Luo Nan nced at the sapphire-blue scarf this femalewyer was wearing and lowered his head speechless.

 Chapter 17: Killing Time (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 17: Killing Time (Part 2/2)


    Right now the interface of the game had already begun load and Luo Nan had already determined in his heart to not get caught up with Zhang Yingying on this matter. He nced at the wind speed and temperature data, issuing the gesture to advance forward.


    Heiya and his pet, a mechanized dog named Nubi who carried two ammo supplies, began to climb towards the highest hill in the surrounding terrain as chosen by Luo Nan.


    Zhang Yingying smirked and crossed her arms over her chest. She didn¡¯t manipte her character at all. Her mutant type character, Feng Huang, cruised in the air. She carried the posture of control.


    Luo Nan understood her intentions; she was abandoning the flexibility of tactics, directly facing off to determine victory. This was undoubtedly the situation where the character Heiya would be able to bring out the mostbat strength.


    As a newbie, Luo Nan recognized that she was giving him a handicap. He controlled Heiya to set up a weapons tform on the peak of the hill,pletely sacrificing his ability to move as a result. His maximum possible firepower was now realized.


    When all his preparations wereplete, Luo Nan directly made a taunting gesture without saying a single word.


    Zhang Yingying sneered, changing her hand gesture for the first time. She controlled the giant wasp-like Feng Huang to ze across like a hurricane. The character had already passed the center divide of the battlefield in the blink of an eye.


    Right now the two were marked to be a distance of 987 meters apart.


    900. 800. 700......


    Heiya¡¯s light railgun began to explode forth, drawing glistening trajectories under the sky.


    Zhang Yingying¡¯s grew excited all of sudden. She dered impatiently:


    ¡°I¡¯ll smash you to pieces!¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    No matter how silly Zhang Yingying was being, the control skill that she was demonstrating within the game was certainly far and beyond that of Luo Nan.


    Feng Huang¡¯s enormous body charged forward, dodging and fluttering between the ballistic shells that grew in concentration. The body broke through the 500 meter barrier between life and death. It broke through the consecutive variations of barrages, causing the arduous and borately knitted bullet shield to crumble to pieces.


    Nubi got corroded by Feng Huang¡¯s corrosion and his ammunition exploded to waste. Heiya had the light transparent wing of the wasp cross over his neck, directly KOing him.


    ¡°First blood!¡±


    From across the table, Luo Nan saw Zhang Yingying wag her index finger at him.


    ¡°Do you want to change characters?¡±


    Luo Nan spoke not a word, selecting the rematch option.


    Zhang Yingying took up the challenge with smiles and giggles. When their characters were deployed to the battlefield, she felt a sensation. She raised her head and was met with Luo Nan¡¯s gaze piercing through the hologram and falling on her face. That gaze had not moved for quite a while.


    She lifted her chin slightly and barraged Luo Nan with blinking eyes: ¡°What do you think? Beautiful right!¡±


    Whether she was referring to her looks or to her control skills, well that¡¯s where opinions may differ.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t reply. His gaze swayed slightly, but soon he withdrew his eyes back.


    Miss Zhang Yingying was naturally beautiful; she wasn¡¯t scared of people looking at her. Moreover, there was a game to y. She had to wait till she yed her fill before talking more.


    Light and shadow crisscrossed and blurred within the closed room. Time followed a different form to flow pass at lightning speeds.


    The battle in the wilderness didn¡¯t stop since it had begun. The game continued until a phone call interrupted things to inform Zhang Yingying of thetest news.


    ¡°The investigations are done...... What time is it? Damn, we battled long through the night.¡±


    The register below the hologram disyed the game round, game time, and real time all at once. One could see that it was already 4:50 AM on the 28th. Luo Nan and Zhang Yingying had already duked it out for 200 rounds to take up nearly 7 hours of time.


    ¡°It sure is a godly work of art to be able to kill this much time......¡±


    Luo Nan took a few deep breaths. He wasn¡¯t tired from ying the game for such a long time, on the contrary his brain was situated in an extremely excited state.


    Right now he needed to do something.


    Luo Nan picked up his notebook, flipped to a nk page, and directly put his pen to the page. Lines from the fluorescent pen had already formed an approximate outline withinn a short dozen of minutes. The style was the same ¡°sketching¡± style as before. The details weren¡¯t refined nor polished; they only portrayed the body movements of the character with a rtively typical background.


    Ady with blurred features rested her chin on one hand and was signing hand gestures with the other hand within the scene. She appeared to be somewhatzy at first nce, but the tension in her body spoke to all:


    She was fully focused and was overflowing with the vor of excitement.


    She was immersed in a game. It didn¡¯t matter whether it was Ten Days in the Wilderness or the drinking Finger Guessing Game, she would always carry this air.


    She was still assessing her opponent. Perhaps this air stemmed from her intense desire to win, or perhaps it was from a different objective.


    Luo Nan paused his pen slightly, determining that this was the result he wanted.


    Luo Nan had already observed Zhang Yingying for a total of 7 hours starting fromst night at 10 PM. The speed that he drew the picture was in opposition with the amount of time he spent observing his subject. This was undoubtedly an atypical way of doing things.


    Anyway, Luo Nan believed that drawing Zhang Ying Ying was worth it. Zhang Yingying was absolutely a worthy drawing subject in his opinion.


    But there was one more thing that still needed to be disyed.


    Luo Nan¡¯s pen hovered in the air without falling. It wasn¡¯t that he couldn¡¯t grasp what to draw, but rather if the pen were to fall, then a certain bearing would be clearly disyed...... He could still wait, still observe some more.


    He faced the sketch, having sunk into contemtion.


    Zhang Yingying had already finished her call. She closed the game with some regrets and spoke to Luo Nan: ¡°You can go home now. The only thing is that flying car Phantom needs to be left behind for evidence...... Oh that¡¯s right. You wanted to go straight to school? You don¡¯t want to go home and sleep for a bit?¡±


    Luo Nan grunted and he continued to ponder with his head down. The tip of the pen was about to drop.


    How could anyone lock Zhang Yingying down when she bes curious? She immediately moved closer to take a look and became stunned in ce when she saw the drawing. She instinctively reached out her hand to touch Luo Nan¡¯s forehead:


    ¡°Hey, are you trying to pick me up?¡±


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t avoid her nor did he raise his head. He let Zhang Yingying¡¯s warm palm stick lightly to his forehead. The pen in his hand began to sketch out more intricate lines.


    Kids these days are this precocious!?


    Zhang Yingying simply wanted to take her hand and cover Luo Nan¡¯s eyes when she was faced with Luo Nan¡¯s ying-it-cool appearance. But the subtle variations atop the notebook sucked all her attention away half a secondter.


    The characteristics of fluorescent pens made it so that it was difficult to embody shadowy shades of lines in umtion. But through the use of empty space, Luo Nan was able to present a vague billowing of intricate details. It was as if flowing clouds were curling around thedy¡¯s body.


    And thus it was like so.


    Even Zhang Yingying didn¡¯t realize it herself, but when was ying the game to its climax, the air of her body suddenly stirred. Something suddenly became unconcealed to appear in the external world.


    Even ordinary people wouldn¡¯t necessarily be able to discover this mystery even when using scanning devices like when they first entered this zone. The problem stemmed from when Luo Nan had been drawn out by the burning wraith into an out-of-body experience. The senses of his eyes, ear, nose, and tongue were carved into the special spiritual ne. He was now able to see some inconceivable things.


    The room¡¯s atmosphere was extremely tranquil, seemingly to the point of congealing. Luo Nan continued to maintain his previous tempo. He paused his pen, he collected his pen, then he put on the inductive tip. He ced the pen back to his pen case, pressed on the somewhat-unresponsive binder boosters to open the metal binding rings, and took out the sketch.


    Once he did all of that, Luo Nan took a slightly hidden breath of air. He raised his head and presented the sketch with both hands: ¡°Lawyer Zhang. This sketch is for you. It¡¯s my thanks for today¡¯s, no yesterday¡¯s exchanges.¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    Zhang Yingying didn¡¯t respond immediately. She was staring at the sketch with its unclear features as if she was staring at a mirror. She subconsciously raised her hand and moved her hand to match the body position corresponding to the mirror.


    Her fingertips streaked across, catching nothing but empty air. Only one who was spiritually tempered a hundred times through a thousand hammers could receive the information corresponding to the origins of one¡¯s body.


    ¡°My Bai Hong...is like this?¡±


    Zhang Yingying was stunned for a full ten seconds before she abruptly awoke. Her gaze fell deadlocked onto Luo Nan¡¯s face:


    ¡°You¡¯re...... a psychic!?¡±

 Chapter 18: Job Seeker (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 18: Job Seeker (Part 1/2)


    ¡°Who?¡± Even though Luo Nan was already quite prepared, he was caught off guard by this sudden address.


    Zhang Yingying¡¯s gaze was just like a sharp de that cut upon Luo Nan¡¯s face. But Luo Nan¡¯s reaction just then was really his honest reaction. Zhang Yingying wouldn¡¯t gain anything from this.


    But this time, Luo Nan woke from his bafflement in an instant. His eyes suddenly lit up:


    ¡°A psychic!¡±


    Hic. It¡¯s like he just blurted out a secret......


    Zhang Yingying chuckled: ¡°Okay then. I¡¯ll ept your gratitude.¡±


    She epted the piece of paper in a way to block Luo Nan¡¯s line of sight. But as she was doing so, she couldn¡¯t help but have her gaze remain looking at the paper¡¯s surface. She kept on ncing at it. Her heart made a meowing sound of interest... Perhaps this cat was scratching its skull in deathly torment!


    Two minutes passed and Zhang Yingying could no longer bear it. She ced the picture to the side and spoke directly open:


    ¡°Why do you draw like this?¡±


    ¡°What is a psychic?¡±


    Two people¡¯s gazes, questions, and curiosity crackled in the air to form a ball of mass; the situation was dire. Unfortunately no one was willing to conceded to first step. They red at each other in contention to be in a motionless deadlock.


    Luo Nan was sitting down so there was a great difference in high between him and Zhang Yingying. He tried to stand up, but something unexpected happened before his butt could leave two centimeters from the chair. Zhang Yingying was using her palm to push down on his shoulder showing no restraint.


    This gal had a lot of strength. It was as if there was a barbell pressing down upon Luo Nan¡¯s shoulder. His entire body tensed to push back against the force, causing even the metal chair to begin creaking.


    Zhang Yingying leaned forward with her body to practically join with Luo Nan¡¯s face. She appeared to have an extremely intimate attitude, but she was confident that Luo Nan would be able to handle it for sure. She increased her strength:


    ¡°Come on. Tell me. Why do you draw like this? I don¡¯t remember there being....... huh?¡±


    Zhang Yingying suddenly stopped, after all she was quite the intelligent person. She realized something, causing her attitude to change. She processed something, her brain beginning to work at high speeds, her eyes squinting to contain a dangerous air:


    ¡°You¡¯re testing me?¡±


    Zhang Yingying awoke with a realization: That sketched picture was absolutely just a cover given to her by Luo Nan. Its true purpose was to test her reaction. Clearly, Luo Nan had already began to doubt what the target of her actions were, even before he picked up his pen.


    Of course it was natural to be suspicious. But for Luo Nan to be able to be this skillful as demonstrated, to apply his own abilities so broadly, and conversely setup a cover to give her...... Why, this was quite the nice surprise!


    Luo Nan sat on the chair. He didn¡¯t avoid Zhang Yingying¡¯s beautiful face, which was nearly within reach. His line of sight locked up with hers. Yet the mood had actually turned quite tranquil: ¡°It was you who investigated me first. You looked at my monitoring recordings. And there¡¯s more. You said that ¡®I¡¯m not choosing a Deep Blue¡¯. Is it because you felt that I will disy a steady hate as a result, using my rtionship with Quantum Corporation¡¯s Formatting Theory as a basis? That means that you¡¯ve certainly investigated my family background and circumstances. You at least know of the matter with my grandfather.¡±


    Zhang Yingying rolled her eyes: ¡°Did anyone ever tell you that if you remember too many details when you¡¯re young, you will grow up to be extremely petty...... Wow, your small dick sure can shrink!¡±


    After a speil of babbling nonsense, Zhang Yingying admitted that she kind of flew into a rage from being humiliated. So she was determined to toss pride to the wind: ¡°If you care this much about investigations...... Let¡¯s continue then. Yep. Student Luo Nan, can you describe what useful abilities you¡¯ve learned?¡±


    Luo Nan remained as levelheaded as ever: ¡°I have no idea how to address my abilities, how to characterise them, what level to ce them at... In that case, how can I describe my understanding?¡±


    Zhang Yingying was slightly obstructed upon discovering that there was really no meaning in engaging with this stubborn Anti-Hero¡¯s air. There absolutely wasn¡¯t any sort of option topromise in this guy¡¯s head.


    Humph. Might as well bet it big andy all her cards on the table. No matter how mature he¡¯s acting, in the end he¡¯s just a baby!


    After a few curses beneath her breath, Zhang Yingying retreated a step in the end: ¡°I never expected for you tock this much knowledge and experience. I really pity you...... Actually you can easily find out by looking online what a so-called psychic is. It¡¯s a fellow who can closely connect and contact ghosts, specters, and the like. These people can sense incorporeal things that ordinary people cannot touch at all. And, they are able to connect to them. There¡¯s nothing special about them aside from this. Satisfied now?¡±


    Luo Nan was obviously dissatisfied. If they really ¡°Weren¡¯t anything special¡±, why did you make a big fuss over nothing?


    ¡°Now it¡¯s your turn.¡± Zhang Yingying absolutely wouldn¡¯t get the worst of it. She tossed out her question once again, ¡°Why did you add this glowing band to this portrait of me?¡±


    ¡°Felt like it.¡± Luo Nan was somewhat reserved. He patted his notebook: ¡°When faced with some interesting source material, I will have a quite special feeling inevitably. I draw this feeling outter, concentrating it as suitable...... Perhaps this is the ability tomunicate with spirits? Yep, you¡¯re haunted by a ghost?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the one who¡¯s haunted!¡±


    Although the exchange went like this, Zhang Yingying was still quite satisfied with Luo Nan¡¯s response. To the best of her knowledge, the majority of psychics in this world really did use various mediums and ceremonial methods to strengthen their vague senses until they finally reached the result of linking with the incorporeal.


    For instance, Luo Nan used a pen and paper to take that feeling and disy it as an image. Whether it was efficient or practical, it was already very impressive. To use an other-worldly gift to describe the feeling was quite fitting.


    The event with the Darksider life form had just recently urred, causing Zhang Yingying to think of some practical future applications of this ability. She soon felt her entire body be filled with interest: ¡°How long has it been since your ability has awakened? Are there more pictures like this?¡±


    Luo Nan looked at her baffled: ¡°Is now a good time to ask that?¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    ¡°Then let me ask something. These ¡®ability users¡¯ that Lawyer Zhang is mentioning, are there a lot of them? Have you talked with them? How do they practice and train normally? How and what sort of levels are these abilities separated to? What stage would my ability be at? If......¡±


    ¡°Stop!¡± Zhang Yingying crossed her arms to form an X, decisively shouting for a time out.


    Then she stood slightly further back to size up Luo Nan up and down with great earnest, looking like she suddenly realized something: ¡°You really don¡¯t know anything...... Anyway, you¡¯re quite interested in the circle I¡¯m in right?¡±


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t hesitate at all: ¡°Yes. I¡¯m extremely interested.¡±


    Zhang Yingying blinked her eyes: ¡°Even if the organization I¡¯m in is an evil organization, or perhaps a simple super powerful research institute, the type that specialize in slicing specimens for analysis...... You¡¯d still be interested?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an organization?¡± Luo Nan keenly captured the crux of things. He also responded without the slightest hesitation, ¡°You guys are already paying attention to me right? If you discover that I have this psychic ability, shouldn¡¯t you be attracting and recruiting me? Or perhaps abducting and imprisoning me?¡±


    ¡°Haha. You narcissistic madman....... Okay then. Let¡¯s say things are like you say. Wouldn¡¯t the proper thing to do under ordinary circumstances is to wait for a good offer? This impatient job seeking appearance of yours...What¡¯s up with that?¡±


    Luo Nan thought for a bit. And responded like so: ¡°If the choice is between being an outstanding student or being a young and inexperienced employee, I choose thetter.¡±


    Even if it was better for him to choose to join the Mystic Arts Research Society to perform independentb experiment work, he would have to stagnate in the Chemistry Society and be a well-behaved and brilliant student for a year before doing so.


    He needed pressure and opportunity. After all, he didn¡¯t have much in terms of capital; the time left for his grandfather...... was not much.


    That circle. That circle was probably overfilled with ability users. If he was going toe knocking, he had to knock his way inside!


    And he was using the quickest method to do so.


    Luo Nan stood up and faced towards Zhang Yingying. Beneath her stunned expression, he performed a proper bow: ¡°Therefore, please think it over seriously Lawyer Zhang. Give me the chance to get a job with you.¡±

 Chapter 18: Job Seeker (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 18: Job Seeker (Part 2/2)


    Luo Nan remained bowed for a few seconds while Zhang Yingying continued to remain silent.


    Only when Luo Nan stood back upright and his line of sight was looking straight ahead did Zhang Yingying smirk a little. She slowly opened her mouth to disy a slightly deeper voice:


    ¡°I can understand your thought process. Even though you possess such a wonderful ability, you don¡¯t know how to delve into its mysteries. You can only use questions after questions to run in circles without getting anywhere. You look up and around, and you can¡¯t find anyone who you can talk to. You don¡¯t know what attitude the world takes towards a ¡®different kind¡¯......There are many people in my circle who once had this look.¡±


    She took a gentle step forward, cing her hand on Luo Nan¡¯s shoulder once more. However this time the hand was ced extremely softly: ¡°You have determination. This is very good. But you need to understand what you shall face. You shall face......¡±


    Zhang Yingying suddenly choked on her voice. Luo Nan looked at her stunned, only to see the femalewyer¡¯s eyebrows, eyes, lips, and even her tender cheeks shudder and twist. In the end she couldn¡¯t hold any longer; she burst outughing:


    ¡°Pffff...... Ah I¡¯m sorry!¡±


    Zhang Yingying had identally spat some saliva on Luo Nan¡¯s face. She reached out her hand to wipe it away in a hurry. But halfway through she saw Luo Nan disy his best expression of all, causing her to erupt with a second bout ofughter. In the end she could only rest her hand powerlessly on Luo Nan¡¯s shoulder to support herself,ughing in great delight the entire time:


    ¡°Hahahahahahahaha! Oh my god! You must have really believed it! Am I right? I had only heard of chicks like you. This time I ended up meeting one......¡±


    Zhang Yingying wasughing so hard she was huddled over. Her chin drooped all the way onto Luo Nan¡¯s shoulder; it would have fallen to the ground without it.


    Luo Nan was enveloped by the fragrance and tenderness of a woman right now. How could he expect that this sexy beautiful woman would toss her curvy self over?


    Obviously Zhang Yingying knew that this was excessive of her, so sheter apologized without end. But each time she apologized, she couldn¡¯t help but break her restraint upon seeing Luo Nan¡¯s expression. This happened over and over until the military came to urge them to leave the ship. Only then did she recover to normal.


    Nearly twenty four hours had passed and the government, military, and Quantum Corporation¡¯s investigation had finallye to an end. They didn¡¯t have a reason to keep so many people detained, so they began to chase them out.


    Zhang Yingying continued to hug Luo Nan¡¯s arm the entire time on their hasty way out of the warship, speaking gently in search of forgiveness. Although there were people who raised their eyebrows at this behavior, she never had any intentions of letting go.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m sorry. Macho macho man. One must open his heart wide in understanding right? At the very most I¡¯ll never say that your small dick isn¡¯t that big ever again......¡±


    ¡°Cough!¡±


    Luo Nan finally shouted things to a halt. He understood now: She wasn¡¯t using her special charms, she was using embarassment to pressure him!


    Luo Nan had to admit defeat against Zhang Yingying¡¯s brazenness. He had been pulled around in circles down alleyways to ufortable topics, causing him to feel vexed:


    ¡°Fine then Lawyer Zhang. Miss Zhang. Right now I just want to know relevant information on this circle. The important information. Then I¡¯ll let the rest go okay?¡±


    Zhang Yingying was finally satisfied. She let go of hand withughs and giggles:


    ¡°Sure thing. Let¡¯s talk in the car.¡±


    Bidding farewell to the transport ship, bidding farewell to a night of trouble, Luo Lan sat in Zhang Yingying¡¯s sports car. He sat by himself in the back, intentionally keeping some distance between him and this shameless gal.


    Zhang Yingying turned her head to look at his expression, nearly exploding with another speil ofughter when doing so. Only when Luo Nan¡¯s cold and menacing gaze looked up did she restrain herself a bit:


    ¡°Okay, okay. Let¡¯s cut to the main topic...... First of all I am positive that you¡¯ve read a lot of novels for sure. You believe that our group of people are seeped from head to toe with mysticism. That we¡¯re some sort of secret society, some dark organization?¡±


    Aside from the fact that he didn¡¯t read novels, it was all on the dot!


    Luo Nan was left speechless for some time.


    Zhang Yingying chuckled while she started the car: ¡°What decade do you think we are living in. If the upper ss don¡¯t unt their wealth, if the best of the best don¡¯t show off their skills, then they might as well be dead. Those in our circle have really gone to the next level. The reason why you haven¡¯t discovered other special people is because of one reason: The numbers are too few.¡±


    The flying car already had the route to Acumen College set up. The car cut into the superconductive roadway to coast in a uniform velocity state.


    ¡°The proportion of ability users to the rest of the poption has continued to increase and rise in recent years. But ording to thetest and the most extensive of statistical results that don¡¯t include the vagrants in the wilderness and the military¡¯s burners, only one ability user will emerge for every 20,000 people on average. There are less than 600,000 of them in the world. The number of people genuinely recognized in our circle as an ¡®Awakened¡¯ is far fewer. ording to thetest statistics by our society, we¡¯ve had approximately 70,000 of them emerge. And this is from thest twenty years. This is the result of cultivating new people under the continuous efforts and push of the ¡®Awakening Project¡¯.


    ¡°Society?¡± Luo Nan captured the crucial point once again.


    ¡°Our professional society Luo Nan. We also need to keep our best interests in mind right? Of course since our scale is too small, we operate under the affiliation of the International Science Expedition Society in name, ssifying ourselves as Professional Explorers. You can directly go to our city¡¯s Expedition Society in the future if you wish to resolve many misceneous matters.¡±


    ¡°.......¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s continue talking then: 70,000 Awakened, whether it be through lineage, inheritance, or radiation as their root origin of power, are all scattered around extremely unequally. Of the 88 existing giant metropolises, some metropolises only contain three or two little kittens. Like Xia City is one of the more lively ces, but we only have 1000 Awakened. And among these, arge portion of Awakened like to adventure and train in the wilderness. The number of Awakened who stay in the city is far fewer.¡±


    ¡°You need to understand that the majority of these people are prideful and stuck up, untamable and unsubduable, entric and perverted. To try to conform them together to form some secret society...... Ha. Sorry. I have tough at that.¡±


    Luo Nan listened in great concentration, receiving a set of practical data from Zhong Yingying¡¯s mouth. Images were shaping one by one within his heart to gradually build a strange yet fantastical world.


    Half an hour passed. The flying car was approaching Acumen College. The flying car essed the light guide rails and began to line up to enternding tform.


    Luo Nan asked a few crucial questions when Zhang Yingying finished with her exnation, then he immediately resumed back to his quiet and reserved state, writing and drawing in his notebook. However, most of what he drew was a mess of chaotic lines that was impossible to make heads to tails of; it wasn¡¯t a new piece of work that was being created and it made the constantly sneaking-peaks Zhang Yingying be quite disappointed.


    With her eyes on thending pad, Zhang Yingying interrupted him: ¡°Nervous? To the point that you can¡¯t draw anything?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it natural to be nervous when applying for a job? I mean, you mentioned that there would also be a live interview test......¡±


    ¡°Rx rx. This circle is quite thirsty for new blood. Since you already have a set ability, you¡¯ll have a one hundred percent chance of passing when you apply to the society. The only variation you will see lies in your starting rank...... Does this macho macho man care about this empty title? Oh. We¡¯re here.


    They entered thending pad. Since the vehicle wasn¡¯t allowed to linger for more than a minute, Zhang Yingying no longer spoke wasteful words. She bid him farewell casually and freely:


    ¡°You already have my contact information. We also have amon understanding regarding matters about psychics. And so, I wish you the best of luck for a smooth interview.¡±


    ¡°Many thanks for your help.¡±


    Luo Nan gave a deep meaningful nce at Zhang Yingying. He nodded his head while getting out of the car in a straightforward manner.


    Zhang Yingying sent him off with a smile, bearing an easy-going attitude the entire time. However when Luo Nan had left, sheughed with a ¡°ha!¡±. She swung her snowy white and long slender beautiful legs, flinging her high heels off onto the dashboard. Then she immediately dialed a number. She shouted noisily when the call went through:


    ¡°Boss! I discovered a super duper tender young sapling! You have to give me a bonus this month!¡±

 Chapter 19: Period of Withdrawal (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 19: Period of Withdrawal (Part 1/2)


    Acumen College was located in the Pingjiang District, a core district of Xia City that was located in the outer city zone. Here there were several middle schools, high schools, and research institutions in great numbers aside from Acumen College. Together they jointly formed a near-hundred square kilometer education district. It was the number one region in Xia City for the humanities, so naturally it was the best living area in the city.


    After sending Luo Nan off to school, Zhang Yingying turned the car around and arrived on a campus of a research institution located several kilometers away from Acumen College. This research institute operated under the name of the International Science Expedition Society. In reality it was a contact gathering point set up for and by the Awakened.


    Since the number of Awakened in Xia City was quite sparse, this ce was quite barren throughout the year. Sometimes months would go by without even a person there. However, this time when Zhang Yingying entered the campus, she saw the rarely-seen sillouhette of Aunt Susan working on duty.


    ¡°Hey! Susan! Congrattions on gaining another 5 kilograms of weight!¡±


    Aunt Susan was half caucasian. Rumor has that she was an extremely beautiful halfie when she was young, but right now she was extremelyrge and heavy. This inactive middle aged woman weighed in at 120 kilograms. The biggest hobby she loved to do was staying home and ying games; she was a kindred spirit with Zhang Yingying because of this. They normally had a good rtionship.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been working overtime everyday! I¡¯m dying!¡±


    Susan¡¯s thick chin trembled as sheined loudly: ¡°You know the ¡°Pro-Altered Humans¡± doctrine that was agreed upon? It hasn¡¯t even been five years ago when they stated that Burners don¡¯t count as Altered Humans. Ha, they sure focused on the altered made by Archetype Formatting back then. But right now they¡¯ve changed their tunes one by one. These driveling liars have no backbone!¡±


    Zhang Yingying was amazed: ¡°They want to recruit Burners into the society? But the first batch of Burners still haven¡¯t finished serving their required time yet right? I recall that their service agreement is for twenty years......¡±


    ¡°The thing is that there is a batch of them that was able to retire early due to injury. There¡¯s approximately two hundred of them. Hehe. We¡¯re going to transform into a Veteran Society pretty soon.¡±


    ¡°Two hundred!?¡± Zhang Yingying¡¯s eyes were bulging wide open. ¡°There¡¯s only how many Burners in the entire world?¡±


    ¡°Seventeen thousand six hundred and twenty six Burners. That is thetest data.¡±


    Although Susan looked boorish, she was extremely perceptive towards numbers. She could grasp all data and statistics of the society, making her the society¡¯s secretary. Her authority was quiterge.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to wait for therge wave of retired Burners in twenty years. In the next ten years, the vocal power of the society will be snatched away by the government army.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not that pessimistic, contrary to belief.¡±


    Zhang Yingying wasn¡¯t ready to delve deeply into this topic. She moved closed to Susan¡¯s side and took a look at the various data that was being casted within arge area. Susan just happened to erge a certain person¡¯s profile that made Zhang Yingying quite amazed:


    ¡°He Yueyin. The leader of the 7th specialbat squad of Ship Lanshan. I just got out of there a moment ago...... 20 years old? When did she undergo the alteration?¡±


    ¡°She was part of the first batch. Rumor has it that she was 15 years old when she got in a car ident. She was in a life threatening state, and only through altering her into a Burner could she continue living. She grew in the military from that point on, achieving an outstanding military service; her life experience is quite extraordinary. She just retired from the military today, but soon she¡¯s going to be our big shot vice-president.¡±


    Susan¡¯s words were overflowing with the hint of mock and ridicule. But she still gave He Yueyin a rating of ¡°C+¡± without the slightest hesitation when she was calibrating Captain He¡¯s profile. This was the highest ranking given to entrants of the society.


    As a matter of fact, these two that were present here were evaluated to have a mere rating of ¡°C¡±.


    Zhang Yingying clicked her tongue. When she saw that Susan was going to continue inputting data, she rushed to hold Susan¡¯s hand back: ¡°Susan my dear. Let me look someone up!¡±


    Susan red with her bloated and puffy pig eyes: ¡°Get lost. Do you know how busy I am right now? I need to enter the data and ratings of over two hundred people¡¯s profiles, and I need to get it done within five days! This damned job isn¡¯t something that can be done just by tapping a few times on the keyboard!¡±


    ¡°Yes yes of course. I know that you have it tough, but think of our friendship! Last week I yed ¡®Chronicles of the Lajia War¡¯ with you! For three days and three nights! Then I wanted you to y a few rounds of ¡®Wilderness¡¯ with me! But you just ran off on me!¡±


    Susan felt a bit guilty: ¡°I had toe work overtime.¡±


    ¡°Grievances from overtime should be settled during overtime!¡±


    Zhang Yingying raised her flexible screen and casted an image onto the console in front of Susan¡¯s body: ¡°Just this one person. I need him to be entered into the database today. And I need him to have his rating evaluated. That¡¯s all I need.¡±


    Susan mumbled to herself. But she still paused her task-at-hand in the end, activating Zhang Yingying¡¯s flexible screen.


    ¡°God, it¡¯s Ten Days of the Wilderness again. You¡¯re not sick of ying it?¡±


    Susan found the relevant software module and essed therge projector in front of her. Zhang Yingying had performed the preliminary work quite well, saving Susan quite a bit of effort.


    ¡°Rey.¡±


    The game battling scene between Luo Lan and Zhang Yingying on Ship Lanshan started to rey within the projected area. It included a record of Luo Nan¡¯s gestures that was used to control the game character. There was also the movements of the game characters, the changing variations of tactics, and etc.


    Zhang Yingying wasn¡¯t negligent even though she had already experienced things first-hand; she continued to watch the rey with great earnest, to the point that she was even more concentrated than Susan.


    From the hand-control technique, one could see that Luo Nan was indeed a newbie. There were many redundant actions and many mistakes popped up here and there, leading to Luo Nan not being able to switch weapons in time, miss-syncing his weapons, and so on.


    However all of this waspletely meaningless from Zhang Yingying¡¯s perspective. She wasn¡¯t testing Luo Nan¡¯s electronic skill level, she was testing something at a far deeper level.


    For example, the lines drawn by Luo Nan¡¯s finger to select Heiya¡¯s ballistic trajectory. It was so precise it was as if the lines were drawn using rulers. Another example, after suffering two defeats when facing Feng Huang¡¯s rapidly moving velocity vector, Luo Nan was able to determine the vector with such uracy that it made Zhang Yingying grind her teeth in secret.


    From this, one could tell that Luo Nan possessed some certain qualities. But these still weren¡¯t his core qualities.


    Susan began to do work right now. Her right hand pressed in the interactable region, which immediately shed with a bright white light, causing the projected region to split to two halves.


    The game scene with Luo Nan¡¯s control rey was on one side. Corresponding real time data charts and diagrams were on the other side.


    While the scene was ying back, additional regions appeared on the charts and diagram side. Digits began to pulse. Several undting and surging trend curve lines were pulled from the data.


    Half of these lines were hovering near the bottom; they were rtively smooth and unchanging. However there were three lines that had rtivelyrge changes and variations.


    Zhang Yingying disyed an even greater concentration: ¡°His control dy ranges between 0.12 to 0.09. And he was able to keep it stable for over four hours. Tsk tsk. He has the ability to concentrate to this degree and he says he doesn¡¯t like ying games!¡±


    ¡°Scope of destructive power is between 0.1% to 0.8%. It¡¯s a little bit low. But it shouldn¡¯t be a problem if he can increase it.¡±


    ¡°Character activation. Degree of personification went from 52% to 72%...... 20 percentage points! He would pass with no issues!¡±


    Zhang Yingying let out a long hushed breath. There wasn¡¯t a specific ability; just the basic qualities weren¡¯tcking in merit. It made her be far less worried.


    ¡°Yet another nonbat personnel. Your business office is also running low on people. Can you make money with this kind of target?¡±


    Susan smirked and gave out a preliminary evaluation result using the software:


    Name: Luo Nan


    Age: Sixteen Years Old (Growth Stage)


    Ability Orientation: Enhanced Mental Ability (Precision Side)


    Determined Level: Unawakened (No Score Calcted)


    Potential Standard: E+


    Rmended Path: Precision Control, Maintenance and Manufacturing.


    Susan entered the data with great proficiency into the society-exclusive database. Upon hitting a button, the system automatically sent out contact information to a certain hatchling located several kilometers away.

 Chapter 19: Period of Withdrawal (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 19: Period of Withdrawal (Part 2/2)


    ¡°It¡¯s done!¡±


    Uponpleting this task, Susan waved her hand in indication for Zhang Yingying to stop interfering with her work and to get lost immediately.


    Zhang Yingying shamelessly didn¡¯t leave: ¡°Hold up girl. Let me see who¡¯s participating in the practical evaluations.¡±


    ¡°What the hell do you care about that for? Don¡¯t y¡¯all from the business office need to be at the Awakening Ceremony anyway to exert your influence?¡±


    There are three observation stages for neers, which are internal to the organization. These three stages consist of the Entrance Evaluation, the Awakening Ceremony, and Professional Delineation in total. Zhang Yingying had to wait until thetter two stages before she could truly exert influence on the neers in order to pull them into their group.


    Zhang Yingying replied withughs and giggles: ¡°We¡¯re quite optimistic for this neer.¡±


    ¡°You say that every time.¡±


    Susan¡¯s eyebrows wrinkled, ¡°Yingying. Is there a point in polishing neers day in and day out? And you only do it for these nonbat type personnel. Their Awakening is simpler than others. Your family¡¯s Wu Huang really does have specialized skills to be able to guide quite a decent number of people into bing personal family members with the boss. Indeed, this is the number one position in our circle.¡±


    The plump fist smashed down lightly in the interactable region, ringing out with a muffled echo.


    ¡°The more riches one has, the more thieves one attracts. A powerful person attracts criticism like a tall tree attracts the wind. There be more concerns with recruiting people as the family bes bigger. Look here. 70% of people in Hidden Indigo Business Office are nonbat personnel. How can you maintain your security? You need to know that some people aren¡¯t willing to talk and chat business with you internal and external to the society.¡±


    Zhang Yingying¡¯s eyebrows jumped up: ¡°Humph! That group of jealous pink eyes. They thoughtlessly shout their way to the top upon being awakened asbat types from the ceremony. And it was only a few years ago....... Hehe, Susan my dear. I know you mean the best for me.¡±


    She revealed a smile as she spoke and was about to embrace Susan¡¯s plump face with a kiss.


    Susan pushed away from her in a bad mood: ¡°Little girl, are you just pretending to be stupid or are you truly stupid. I remember you used to be quite opinionated. How did you be a yes-man right underneath your boss in thest two years? I remember the society ranking evaluations of thest two years. You haven¡¯t made any headway. Has your Baihong (White Rainbow) stunted?¡±


    Zhang Yingying saw that Susan was really angry; her smile shrunk a bit. She shrugged:


    ¡°I merely approve of the boss¡¯s words. A person who possesses a heavy fist that can smash the world won¡¯t have any effect on the continuing existence of the society. To smash the world is to suppress nature. Those who dominate society are ultimately those who maintain the existence of resources and production. As abstractly described, it can be likened to dealing with economic and other various high-level forms. Efficiency will increase if we allocate manpower to this aspect.¡±


    Susan rolled her eyes: ¡°I just feel that you¡¯ve been brainwashed by his ma Wu Huang. Through mastery of power and might, one can also suppress others and seize everything they want.¡±


    Zhang Yingying crossed her arms: ¡°We can use gentler methods to achieve our goals, and achieve them more perfectly.¡±


    Susan smashed another fist in the interactable region: ¡°You guys just can¡¯t let things turn into a match of power. To bepletely relied upon by one¡¯s fist! Then other people would be able to suppress you guys and it would be far easier for them to take everything!¡±


    ¡°Says who?¡±


    ¡°This proves everything!¡±


    Puffy pig eyes and almond eyes stood in opposition. No one would budge an inch. Only when the two people¡¯s wristbands vibrate with information did they snort at the same time and look down at their respective wristbands.


    An informative priority notice was shing on the screen:


    ¡°Emergency meeting?¡±


    ¡°All Awakened currently present in Xia City must attend? No virtual forms ofmunications allowed?¡±


    ¡°Feels like a plotted gathering.¡±


    ¡°Screw you. I admit the omens don¡¯t look good though.¡±


    ¡°I feel like it will be quite decent if 50% turn up.¡±


    ¡°The most it will be is 50%.¡±


    After three to five skillful exchanges, Zhang Yingying and Susan had reached amon understanding once again. Then they had verified something simultaneously.


    Susan shook her head. She no longer paid heed to her upleted task. She stood up with her fat body in order to turn off the machine and get going.


    ¡°Hey hey hey. I need to see if there¡¯s a reply yet?¡±


    ¡°See sh*t! That kid probably forgot to reply. Go go go. Let¡¯s go to your car.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s clearly very impatient...... Ah, forget it! Let¡¯s first get the meeting out of the way! But first, screw the car. You need to y Wilderness with me! For at least ten days and ten nights!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll screw you for ten days and ten nights!¡±


    The two people walked awayughing and giggling, tossing the few disputes they had into the empty air of the research institution.


    Zhang Yingying was still thinking something over when she started up the sports car; should she give Luo Nan a call? But she had second thoughts. That kid was extremely paranoid. Too much pressure would make things worse. So she let the matter go for now.


    The sports car set off out the institution¡¯s gate and just happening to brush past the prestigious and luxurious car Titan.


    The Titan was the number one car for hardcore car enthusiasts. And this was the top edition, Sky¡¯s Fury. It was simply an imposing flying tank.


    At present, Lian Yu sat by herself in the spacious back row seat of the car. Even if the arm rails and pedals were lifted up, the car would still feel absolutely spacious. But right at this time, Lian Yu felt an inexplicable feeling of danger.


    She had promised Li Xuecheng that she would take his car to go back to school. But right now her current circumstances werepletely different from what she imagined.


    Li Xuecheng typically had a slimy temper. He sat by himself in the first row and didn¡¯t speak a single word to her for the entire way so far. Instead, he made several repeated calls. It was unknown what he was tormented with.


    Lian Yu had an ominous premonition, but she didn¡¯t want to think too deeply of it. She could only force herself to remain calm, bringing out some cosmetics.


    From within the vague flow of time, a noise suddenly leaped into her ear: ¡°It¡¯s been awhile since I¡¯ve been to the school locker rooms. Especially the males¡¯.¡±


    Lian Yu¡¯s hand trembled upon suddenly hearing these words. Her cosmetics mirror dropped to the floor. She stooped to pick it up, but the spacious seat in the front row revolved over right at this time. Themonly thin Li Xuecheng sat upon it. At first nce, he looked to be a teenager who hadn¡¯t finished growing up yet.


    Lian Yu forced herself tough. She reached out to pick up the cosmetic mirror. But Li Xuecheng also stooped down in front of her, looking as if he wanted to help, but really grabbing onto her hand.


    ¡°Jie Lian. I¡¯m sorry. Today I¡¯ve made you disappointed.¡±


    Disappointed your ass! What qualifies you to say such things?


    Li Xuecheng had spoken extremely tenderly, but Lian Yu did not feel any sympathy at all. Instead, it made all her hair stand on end. She thought about the fact that she was the hidden fantasy of this fellow and she nearly pped him across the face.


    But she could only struggle. She looked at Li Xuecheng¡¯s gloomy and pasty face. Her just-ignited fury was extinguished in a sh like a me that had icy water poured onto it. She could only do her best to open her mouth gently:


    ¡°Xuecheng. Calm down first......¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m very calm. I¡¯ve already prepared a present for you as we drove. Although it¡¯s not very pleasing nor delightful......¡±


    As he spoke, the projector had already cast the location of a stream of bustling people to the empty space on the left side of the car. Just as Li Xuecheng had mentioned before, this was a school locker room. Thoseing and going were all young students.


    Lian Yu noticed that the projection was in a first-person view. It was like some immersive-type game. However, the controlled character revealed the ¡®props¡¯ in his hand on his own ord.


    A stun gun. A needleless syringe.


    And in front of this character was a barely-considered-familiar back that just happened to be standing in front of a locker, changing clothes.


    That was...... Luo Nan.


    Lian Yu¡¯s throat trembled unconsciously: ¡°What are you up to?¡±


    Li Xuecheng lightly kneaded Lian Yu¡¯s knuckles. Heughed in a low voice: ¡°I heard from our people on the inside that he managed to pass the urine test; he¡¯s like a pure white lotus flower. Our brothers can¡¯t ept this result of course~.¡±


    Lian Yu couldn¡¯t help raising her voice: ¡°The police have already reached a verdict. What¡¯s the point of drugging him now?¡±


    Li Xuecheng was amazed: ¡°Don¡¯t people say that there¡¯s always a withdrawal period after taking drugs? Rpsing or something like that?...... Come, let¡¯s y together...¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±

 Chapter 20: Vestiges of a Wraith (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 20: Vestiges of a Wraith (Part 1/2)


    The field of view slowly advanced forward on the projection within the car, containing within it an undting and faint swaying gait. The distance to Luo Nan drew closer and closer.


    Li Xuecheng became more and more mentally engrossed. His hand increased in strength, gripping Lian Yu¡¯s hand to the point of causing pain. All the while, his mouth was jabbering on:


    ¡°Jie Yu, did you know? I loved ying these real life games since I was a kid. Virtual reality, sensory immersion, and the like... Whenpared to this they¡¯re reallycking.


    ¡°This is a game that you truly control. Here there¡¯s absolutely no one to interfere, no opposition at all. It doesn¡¯t matter how exceptional the target is. At most he can only touch my puppet. He¡¯s unable to touch the formless link weaved from money, so he¡¯s even further unable to touch me. Looking at their helpless and anxious expression all the way until their thorough defeat, their copse...... There¡¯s nothing more amusing than this!¡±


    Lian Yu¡¯s legs were trembling subconsciously.


    Today Li Xuecheng was too unfamiliar to behold. Previously this fellow was able to quite grasp the meaning of reputation no matter how petty he was. He absolutely wouldn¡¯t have been this obsessed with a single person to perform a soliloquy......


    His entire character was now warped. It seems as though he had been stimted into bing mad from the intimidation and loss of consciousness as caused by Luo Nan yesterday.


    Lian Yu was fully aware that it was fundamentally impossible tomunicate with a lunatic. But the problem lied in the expression that Li Xuecheng was disying. He had the look of iparable anticipation; he was waiting for her response.


    Her lips trembled slightly as she thought for quite a while. She managed to squeeze out some words: ¡°Wouldn¡¯t this activity attract too much attention? If everyone sees that he¡¯s ambushed, then the withdrawal period......¡±


    Li Xuecheng¡¯s expression turned tender once more. He caressed Lian Yu¡¯s knuckles lightly: ¡°Think about it some more Jie Yu. I¡¯m not that stupid. Right now we¡¯re just getting a feel for the atmosphere. A good game will certainly have an excellent plot. A simple, rough plot is uneptable. Come. Let¡¯s watch together!¡±


    Li Xuecheng had somewhat increased the force of his hand while he was talking. At first Lian Yu didn¡¯t respond to it, but then her hand was pulled, awakening her. After a slight hesitation, she lifted her butt to sit up straight. Li Xuecheng was unable to wait any longer. He pulled her forcefully and she collided into his embrace.


    Lian Yu let out a low cry, but she was already hugged in Li Xuecheng¡¯s entire embrace. Luckily this lunatic¡¯s energy wasn¡¯t concentrated here. His chin dropped down to her shoulder and their faces stuck together. They continued observing the game, maintaining this intimate position.


    The car¡¯s AI detected that the two people were now sharing the same point of view. It erged the size of the projection in a humanlike manner. With the first person view as the maint support, with adding and calibrating the immersion function of contact lenses into the mix, the view of the scene was just as if they were there in person.


    The receiving and recording equipment created a faithful reconstruction of the original environment of the locker room. The buzzing sound waves made Lian Yu be all the more distraught with anxiety.


    Enrollment in Acumen College started in the seventh grade. They didn¡¯t have fixed ssrooms, instead they followed the western style of having an Elective Course System. Students were like livestock pheasants; they gathered together and dispersed apart randomly. And one of the most crowded and noisy gathering points of these students was the locker room. Everyday before ss began, a great number of people flowed in and out. Countless rumors, nder, and sexual gossips flew up and down, rumbling like mosquitos. This was a time when it seemed the mor would never stop.


    Near Luo Nan¡¯s locker was all students of the same year as Luo Nan. But as groups of people came and went, not a single person called out to say hello to Luo Nan.


    ¡°An invisible man.¡± Li Xuechengpletely controlled his state of mind as he observed Luo Nan¡¯s actions. Heughed in delight, ¡°Soon you¡¯ll be famous!¡±


    Just as mentioned previously, Li Xuecheng wasn¡¯t willing to use an electric attack and inject drugs in a public ce with several people. This was inconsistent with his expectations.


    He had to patiently bide his time in order to deal with this fellow.


    There wasn¡¯t just one person acting as a hired puppet for Li Xuecheng. The circle of rich kids was wide and vast, filled with friends. Li Xuecheng didn¡¯t care for the price, so the forces he could mobilize were quite significant.


    Luo Nan finished changing clothes and carried his old clothes to leave, probably to take to theundry room. As soon as he moved, four or five people caught up to him in session from the surrounding chaotic stream of people.


    A small map was on the upper left corner of the projection, just like that of a typical game. The surrounding structures and rooms were obtained and disyed with the current room. Li Xuecheng spirits were exuberant as he selected the location and method:


    ¡°What do you think? Should I shove his face into the urinal? Or should I use the jet shower to spray his ass? Or should I just stuff him in a trash can?¡±


    Lian Yu¡¯s face was cold. She spoke not a word. Luo Nan¡¯s matter of life or death wasn¡¯t her problem. But within this crisis was a subtle trap. Not only was she going to be taken advantage of, she will most likely have to face Xie Junping¡¯s fury when this is all over. Whatever the case, it was all not worth it.


    The medium which carried the first person view increased in speed. The scene trembled all the more violently, while Li Xuecheng¡¯s breathing became all the more urgent to her side.


    As Luo Nan turned a corner, several hired puppets turned and went as well. The puppet streaming in first person view received a report on the surroundings. The stream of people began to thin out ahead. It was the opportune time to strike!


    ¡°Then let¡¯s choose option A, the urinal...... No, I want something bigger!¡±


    Li Xuecheng cackled with bizarreughter. He eagerly ordered the First-Person-View puppet to get to the scene as soon as possible.


    As the perspective turned the corner, Li Xuecheng could instantly see just how sparse the number of people was. Now Li Xuecheng could see things much more clearly. His hired puppets had already congregated together. They swarmed into a bathroom.


    Li Xuecheng was a bit discontent: ¡°I¡¯m docking their payter. Can¡¯t this group of rough guys make things look a bit more natural?¡±


    Without any dy, an urgent voice was transmitted through themunications device:


    ¡°That fellow jumped the window and ran!¡±


    ¡°Old Zuo tripped when he gave chase. He¡¯s stuck in the window......¡±


    ¡°We still have some of our people outside!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve blocked him off...... Oh crap!¡±


    The scene had turned chaotic and unsalvageable in an instant.


    At first Li Xuecheng¡¯s face was rigid, but unsurpressable lines ofughter burst forth in the next moment: ¡°Man Zhao. Would there have been any meaning if we weren¡¯t dealing with a tricky bastard like this? Yep, isn¡¯t this plot quite entertaining?¡±


    Unexpectedly, he wasn¡¯t urgent nor impatient. He ordered the First-Person-View puppet to walk out of the locker room building and to give chase by following the indicator on hismunications device.


    Li Xuecheng was a fellow who was adept at using money. The campus thugs he hired were quite skilled in cornering people. Although he didn¡¯t know how Luo Nan discovered that something was fishy, a group of five third-year youths still managed to trap Luo Nan in a dark corner of the back of a building after two minutes of chasing.


    By the time the First-Person-View puppet drew close, the situation had nearlye to an end.


    Batons, switch-des, tasers, and other light weapons were held in the hands of these campus thugs. Although one thug had copsed, another thug charged forward with an arc of electricity from a stun gun to stab Luo Nan in the ribs.


    Luo Nan twitched as his body bent down.


    Li Xuecheng pped his hands in great delight as he watched. But in the next moment he saw something he didn¡¯t expect. Luo Nan, who was about to be drowned by a flood people, raised his head inexplicably. Luo Nan¡¯s gaze actually fixed in his direction. The bearing was absolutely precise. It was as if Luo Nan was looking at him directly with nothing but air separating them.


    Before he could react, a thundering voice erupted in the ear of the First-Person-View puppet, and the thundering voice also equally exploded in Li Xuecheng¡¯s ear:


    ¡°What the hell are y¡¯all doing!¡±


    His body jolted as the first person view suddenly erged with the grassy field in a sh. Then there was just pitch-ck darkness.

 Chapter 20: Vestiges of a Wraith (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 20: Vestiges of a Wraith (Part 2/2)


    The camera shot the earth at close range, however the audio recording device and other equipment were still in operation. Only the sounds of fist meeting flesh, miserable shrieks in session, and noisy chaos could be heard.


    In the end it seemed someone had chased the thugs away. Only then did the scene return back to tranquility.


    Li Xuecheng was mute for a moment. He recovered and saw that the First-Person-View puppet wouldn¡¯t be getting back up anytime soon. He tried calibrating the camera remotely. His mouth continued to mutter all the while:


    ¡°I should have known to use a hovering type......¡±


    The camera suddenly shook and the scene changed. The view cut through the building, the grass field, the sky, and also an intermittent image of a person. The rocking caused one¡¯s eyes to go dizzy.


    ¡°Steady yourself!¡±


    Li Xuecheng had rushed out the order with the assumption that the First-Person-View puppet had recovered. But soon he discovered that he was wrong.


    The figure was way too close to the rocking camera. The ice cold gaze of an eye focused gradually into view. Was it familiar?


    ......F*CK ME!


    Li Xuecheng smashed a heavy fist on the armrest. He finally understood the state of the current situation. Luo Nan was holding the unconscious First-Person-View puppet and was searching for clues right now. In addition, Luo Nan had quickly discovered the issue.


    The camera rocked slower and slower, while Luo Nan¡¯s face be clearer and clearer.


    Lian Yu¡¯s hand grew more and more painful. She opened her eyes and looked at Li Xuecheng who was right beside her. He probably noticed that she was looking at him for his ashen face made a slight adaption. His mouth twitched before he finally squeezed out a smile:


    ¡°It appears to be ¡®Game Over¡¯ this time.¡±


    This awkward self-mockerybined with Lian Yu¡¯s rtively obedient attitude allowed Li Xuecheng to recover a bit of confidence. His voice increased in volume:


    ¡°It¡¯s as I said before. Does he know who¡¯s the instigator? Even if he does know it was me, can his w reach out to me? Like I can even give him a greeting right now......¡±


    Li Xuecheng was about to use themunications device in broadcast mode, but halfway through he saw Luo Nan¡¯s gaze seemingly looking straight at him. Li Xuecheng hesitated before he finally chuckled. He replied stubbornly:


    ¡°......I can also just ignore him!¡±


    He closed the projector upon speaking, refusing to receive the informationing from over there. He began to talk and gabble non-stop when faced with Lian Yu¡¯s gaze:


    ¡°Jie Yu. I¡¯ve always understood since I was little that the resources behind power is formless, traceless, and omnipotent. This fellow was fortunate today to be able to get away from the campus thugs. But tomorrow, the ones he shall face will most likely be true gangsters.


    ¡°I still have many different methods of y aside from what you¡¯ve seen today. His family members, his rtives and friends, each person is a viable line of attack. This is real life. It¡¯s not like those games with their botchy programming and plot influences. We can take our time to y!¡±


    Li Xuecheng¡¯s speech became filled with more and more passion. Confidence filled his throat anew. But Lian Yu, who had been pulled into his embrace, only felt a rocking sensation inside. The speech left an intense sour taste that was frightening. Her organs were stewed and nibbled to have a thousand sores and a hundred holes by this time.


    This setback was already out of Li Xuecheng¡¯s mind; his mind turned more sexual instead. He hugged this charming and delicate doll, no longer increasing his strength. But wouldn¡¯t it be purely idiotic of him to believe that his wishes will be fulfilled?


    Intentions sprouted in his mind. The temperature of his breathing increased to the next level. His lips moved to the boundary between Lian Yu¡¯s neck and corbone.


    Lian Yu¡¯s mood suddenly plummeted to zero. She tried to break free, but she was firmly locked in ce by Li Xuecheng.


    ¡°Jie Yu, Jie Yu, Jie Yu......¡±


    The fuzzy sybles boiled from Li Xuecheng¡¯s throat. The temperature of his body was rising. Sky¡¯s Fury was a very nice ce. He had many splendid conquests in this ce. And today there would be anotherrge victory.


    ¡°Bang bang bang!¡±


    Someone had suddenly knocked on the car window with a decent amount of strength. This person¡¯s mood was clearly represented.


    F*ck. I still haven¡¯te yet and you¡¯re knocking some sh*t now!?


    Li Xuecheng was furious for some time. He was even more furious that the bodyguard in the surroundings wasn¡¯t able to obstruct a stranger. What if Luo Nan hade murderously over? Wouldn¡¯t he have to personally deal with the matter?


    He pressed a button to roll down the car window. He was just about to curse at this person, but what appeared outside the car window was Xie Junping¡¯s ice cold face.


    Li Xuecheng was struck dumb on the spot.


    Xie Junping¡¯s gaze swept across the tangled bodies within the car. His lips twitched and smirked: ¡°Li Cheng. Let¡¯s have a chat?¡±


    Li Xuecheng got out of the car absent-mindedly, while Lian Yu huddled and curled up in the car in a fetal position.


    It wasn¡¯t an ident that Xie Junping hade over since Lian Yu was the one who had originally sent out a help message to him. But Xie Jinping¡¯s attitude, from his abandoning her yesterday morning to the sweeping nce just now, still made her heart slightly go cold.


    Dreadfully, this person was uncatchable.


    It seemed that right now, Li Xuecheng was quite the better option. But that warped appearance of his......


    While her mind was in a tangle, a muffled sound rang out from outside that was also apanied by some cursing. These sounds rushed directly in her ear. Lian Yu leapt up to take a look at the situation outside of the car and her eyes went wide in a sh.


    Xie Junping was sitting fallen on the ground, blood flowing from the corner of his mouth. He was somewhat stunned.


    Li Xuecheng gasped for breath as he grinned withughter. His boiling mood had probably caused him to rip the cor of his shirt to reveal a skinny chest. His breathing caused his chest to undte up and down and the umtion of the red color of blood pervaded it:


    ¡°Ha. Ha. Xie Junping. I¡¯ve always hated looking at you. You¡¯re just a fool who could only sell his face without a teleprompter......¡±


    Upon speaking, Li Xuecheng walked over and delivered another kick. Xie Junping obviously wouldn¡¯t give him an easy time. Xie Junping blocked the kick and pulled hard in one direction, dragging Li Xuecheng to the ground. The two then wrestled as a lump of mass.


    The bodyguard finally caught up, but he was too stupefied to do anything. In the end it was Lian Yu who blurted: ¡°Hey! Separate them quickly!¡±


    The scene turned even more chaotic and Lian Yu felt an inexclicably familiar feeling with this scene. She recalled somewhat absentminded for a moment before remembering the conflict between Luo Nan and Li Xuecheng during their detainment. It pretty much went like this.


    Her long slender fingers were in her hair, but she was unable to make heads or tails of the chaotic situation. In the end she could only ask the heavens in silence:


    Has this world gone mad?¡±


    Right now, the chaotic situation within Acumen College had already settled down. Luo Nan raised his wristband. He tapped to confirm on the verification mail sent by the International Science Expedition Society.


    He should havepleted this task twenty minutes ago, but he didn¡¯t have the leisure to until now. This was because of he had a certain intense feeling that he was going to be ambushed from the moment he first entered Acumen College. It was as if there were many people who were watching him attentively with fixed eyes.


    At first Luo Nan believed that it was just a figment of his imagination. But this feeling grew stronger and stronger to the extent that he began to hear a low crackling rumble.


    He was very familiar with this sound. It was the sound of the visualized chained crow. The crow had entered reality on its own ord for some unknown reason. It was simply a reconstruction of a passage from the legendary novel, ¡°Divine Soldier¡¯s Warning¡±.


    Luo Nan remained super alert because of this. After a few rounds of observation, he finally discovered that he was being watched by several people. He then took the opportunity to jump the window and run.


    How was he supposed to know that his enemy would bring out such arge force. They cornered him in the end. If it wasn¡¯t for the help of that ardent person with a heart of justice, even he wouldn¡¯t know how today¡¯s events would end up.


    Oh, why hasn¡¯t that ardent person been introduced yet?


    The situation was far too chaotic back then. Luo Nan could only remember that the person had a tall and sturdy figure. This person swept over like a gale of wind, chasing those campus thugs off in all directions...... They ran and ran, leaving no trace behind.


    Acumen College was a ce filled with strange people in great numbers!


    Luo Nan shook his head. He was unable to see anybody observing him in his surroundings. But that feeling still remained in his heart; he entered into his visualization state.


    It was bing more and more effortless for him to enter into the Fixed Space. He saw that the crow with its long chains was exceptionally active within the center of the void. It spiraled and orbited inside and outside of the visualized diagram.


    But what was most interesting was the faint red glow at the front end of the chain.


    A fractured and twisted line was within the glow, forming an abstract symbol...... It made Luo Nan have quite the feeling of familiarity.


    Its dark red luster was the best indication. Luo Nan was able to recall something within several seconds: Weren¡¯t those lines the same lines that showed up on the burning wraith¡¯s body when the wraith evoked a great mass of ¡°spores¡± on the warship?


    When Luo Nan had first drawn the burning wraith, he had drawn many coinciding lines on the paper. But those lines weren¡¯t as concise as the abstraction right now.

 Chapter 21: One’s True Colors (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 21: One¡¯s True Colors (Part 1/2)


    A soft electronic bell rang in the distance. It was now eight in the morning. The act of a new day began once more, revealing the morning scene of bustling inefficiency.


    Luo Nan waited a long time for the ardent person toe back, but he saw that several of the thugs who had been knocked silly to the ground were starting to recover their strength. He didn¡¯t want to fix this giant mess, so he just simply turned around and walked away.


    He didn¡¯t ask to see who was the person targeting him, partly because he didn¡¯t believe that these thugs really knew what was going on behind the scenes, and partly because he was able to form an approximate conclusion from looking at the needleless syringe and its special solution contained inside.


    The ssroom teacher was lecturing within the ssroom. Not a single word was heard by Luo Nan¡¯s ear. Instead the notebookid open in front of Luo Nan and the fluorescent pen was tracing the abstract symbol. He made use of the color matching function within the software to change the lines into a dark red color. There seemed to be no difference whatsoever between these lines and the lines within the Fixed Space.


    Luo Nan stared at the symbol drawn on his notebook. He automatically felt a corresponding response with the burning wraith.


    This symbol was quite the marvel. When Luo Nan tried to reconstruct the burning wraith¡¯s definite form anew from its core, he had an inexplicable feeling that any additional stroke would ruin it; it would be like drawing legs on a snake.


    How could a mere dozen or so entwined and coiling lines already describe all the characteristics of the burning wraith? The details were all fully packed; it was impossible for Luo Nan to even begin.


    He gripped the pen, wishing to draw but was unable to, causing his stifled heart to be ufortable. Then Luo Nan simply stopped seeking perfection. He sketched out lines in a casual and rxed manner, and the pen moved freely with a mind of its own. All the while his mind was lost in thought; he was thinking of the reason for the abstract symbol¡¯s appearance.


    The burning wraith had been surrounded and annihted on the warship. This was an undoubtable and undeniable fact. But this symbol that appeared on the chains within his visualization was truly real.


    Luo Nan deliberated over thoughts, but could onlye up with a single reason: The heavily chained crow had analyzed and acquired the marvels of the burning wraith¡¯s coreyer when the burning wraith was under its control. Even though the burning wraith had been annihted, its core characteristics were left behind as vestiges upon the chain, giving the chain an additional ability.


    And so the warning that was issued due to the crisis this morning was not done by the heavily chained crow, but rather this symbol of the burning wraith. This was likely due to the burning wraith¡¯s extremely sensitive nature towards fear, savagery, and other negative emotions. Luo Nan had borrowed this property for his own use to be quite the special skill.


    Luo Nan could also feel the symbol¡¯s existence be a bit stronger than before now that the crisis was over. Even now the symbol seemed to continue to restore in strength.


    Could it be that the burning wraith could rely on this symbol to resurrect itself?


    Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts stirred in his mind. If things really were like this... Oh my, there would be nothing better. Thebat strength of the burning wraith had already been fully revealed upon the warship. If he had this kind of ¡°bodyguard¡±, why would he fear those campus thugs? He would just turn around and enter the professional society. He would have one more ace up his sleeve. He would feel much more rxed.


    Was there a way to increase the recovery speed of the burning wraith? Oh?


    Luo Nan suddenly felt the tip of his pen go astray. He looked at his notebook and saw that the perfect abstract symbol had already been drawn to a mess. It looked like the burning wraith, but there was somethingpletely wrong about it.


    But, it seemed like he could still draw some more.


    Unexpected thoughts and ideas like those of demons and ghosts sprouted in Luo Nan¡¯s mind. Theybined with an inexplicable burst of inspiration to make Luo Nan suddenly interested.


    Luo Nan had been reducing his drawing most of the time. All the structures, lines, and shadowyouts were being simplified to leave behind and prominently disy the most basic core characteristics of the source material.


    He could only recall of one instance when he made an addition to the drawing. That was when he made a breakthrough and implemented ¡°My Heart¡¯s a Prison¡±. He only had an abstract idea back then; the drawing hadcked the essence for a matching form. But details were padded out through unending bursts of inspiration, building a grand structure at thest moment and drawing out the heavily chained crow from within.


    The current situation was somewhat simr to yesterday¡¯s.


    He did not have as much insight, but as long as he had a clear idea on the general direction, he could still generate a considerable amount of relevant details and clues.


    Luo Nan continue to patch and repair here and there on the botched drawing. A certain image that had been hidden deep in his mind and had yet to be formed was now slowly bing clearer and clearer.


    An indistinct structure finally appeared on the notebook. It was unexpectedly simr to the architecture of Acumen College¡¯s campus.


    The drawing was sloven and indistinct. Anybody who saw it would likely bepletely baffled. They would just consider it to be a botched and iplete drawing.


    But Luo Nan knew that this drawing was alreadypleted. All his insights and known knowledge were already crammed inside, and the most important answer had also emerged from within:


    The outline of a character had finally formed in the core zone, in the location of the abstract symbol...... It was a sheep in wolf¡¯s clothing. This fellow had exaggerated limbs and actions to conceal the fear it had in its heart.


    And there was more......


    Luo Nan stared concentrated at the drawing. There seemed to be ayer of flowing mes on the surface of the dark red lines. The illumination of the mes made him a bit dazzled. He had an estranged feeling simr to the time when his soul had left his body, when his mind and body were separated. However, being under this state made several of the indistinct information contained within the drawing be clear in an instant:


    The target was located approximately 3 kilometers away somewhere in the southwest direction on campus. The corresponding campus building would be...... the Medical Department!


    Luo Nan was in a daze while the clear and distinct information was gushing and leaping into his brain.


    Could it be that this was a psychic technique? It was simply like a journey within a dream. Various elements were gathered and pieced freely together, but a rtively clear solution was actually the end result.


    Anyway he didn¡¯t know whether this was a real psychic ability, nor did he know how this technique operated.


    Oh yea, the Medical Department. Luo Nan suddenly remember that yesterday he had booked an appointment for a physical. The time was...... Alrighty then. He had missed it.


    Nevertheless, recollection would alwayses out as a string of memories. Luo Nan also recalled the time when he logged into the Secret Star Forums yesterday; there was aizen by the name of U-Soul who was also affected by the burning wraith. He said that he would bring his wife to the hospital for a physical. What sort of things were discovered?


    Luo Nan really wanted to gather all relevant information on the burning wraith. Since his flexible screen was ruined, he used his wristband to connect to the miniprojector on the school¡¯s desk and to connect to the worldwide web. He went to the Secret Star Forums to look for news.


    When Luo Nan first logged in, he nearly didn¡¯t recognize the forums. The entire forum was filled with a grave and serious dark grey color. There were no other colors whatsoever.


    The central interface had turned into gloomy ck hole horizon. It¡¯s topic was:


    Unconcluded Investigations. A Close Martyr.------ Centralized Grieving Post for U-Soul.


    Luo Nan was stupefied for a moment. He opened the post and heading the post was a news exerpt. The general idea was:


    A couple who resided in the R&D district had gone to the hospital for a physical yesterday afternoon. Because of an escted argument, the wife was suspected to have a psychosis break out. She lost her reasoning and stabbed her husband. It was a human tragedy.


    Below it was a rougher, darker, and heavier font:


    Warning! Warning! Warning! The effects of the Nightmare Incident has exceeded our expectations. Everyone must be on alert to think of all possible methods to ascertain the cause!


    Luo Nan stared at this piece of news all the way until the end of ss.


    Students moved and turned to create a loud mor. They went separately to their next sses. Luo Nan stood up and left the ssroom as well, but he wasn¡¯t heading to his next ss. He was heading to the Medical Department located 3 kilometers away.


    However, he was suddenly hit with a small dizzy spell upon walking a short distance out of the ssroom.

 Chapter 21: One’s True Colors (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 21: One¡¯s True Colors (Part 2/2)


    Luo Nan pushed through the dizzy spell, standing fixed as the sky spun and the earth whirled. When he slowly recovered, he tested the movements of his hands and he also bent his fingers and toes. Sure enough, he discovered that the joints of some of his fingers and toes were aching and numb. Overall he felt as if he had drank too much alcohol. The speed and responsiveness of his reactions had inexplicably dropped by a level.


    In addition the state he had just been in, with its flickering spiritual glow and its burst of thoughtful insights, was no more. Now it was like there was a veil blinding his mind. His mind felt murky and he only wished to sleep.


    Luo Nan did not panic, he just sighed: It still happened!


    He was detained on the warship yesterday and only got out of there in this early morning. It was impossible for him to prepare his drugs so...... Fine. Even if he did manage to go home, the current state of his drug reserves would have made things pointless anyway. And so, nearly five years of painstakingly maintaining the daily drug preparation task had finallye to a sudden end.


    The ufortable feeling wasrgely due to an operational anomaly of his nervous system. It could be considered a sort of drug withdrawal response.


    Luo Nan was mentally prepared for this ever since he had the problem with locating a drug distribution channel. He was vignt yesterday when he sped up his metabolism; he just never expected that this issue would wait until now to break out after his times of crisis were over.


    Luo Nan hobbled a few steps forward. He didn¡¯t feel too bad. He forced himself to stay up, but he knew that hisplexion was certainly grave and bad without even looking at a mirror.


    Alright. Now he had a valid reason to go to the Medical Department.


    Twenty minutester. Luo Nan strolled slowly into the Medical Department. This was Acumen College¡¯s School of Medicine and also a rather famousprehensive hospital of Xia City. It was open and was free of charge to the college students. Students just had to first reserve an appointment online before entering and have their identity verified.


    Luo Nan had booked the appointment with the hospital in a standard and simple fashion; he just chose the queue with the longest waiting time. Upon making his reservation, he paid no attention to the information provided on the reservation slip; he just strolled around in the hospital.


    He looked to be wandering aimlessly, but actually his senses regarding the target had already grown clear when he had first entered the main medical building.


    The target should be approximately 70 meters in the east wing....... That should be the Inpatient Department.


    As Luo Nan drew closer and closer, he could even feel the target¡¯s heart and state of mind contain overflowing fear and discontent. He could even feel a certain warped, knotted, and broiling stream of random thoughts flow inside of him. The thoughts were like the unending sprinkling of seasoning upon a roasting steak.


    Huh? What made him think things in such a way?


    While his miraculous line of thought was skipping all over the ce, the ground below his feet was slightly shaking. Soon the shaking became far more violent. Even the windows of the hospital were creaking now.


    ¡°Another one!?¡± Within the disturbance, patients, students, professors, and so on were like bustling ants. They rushed out from various buildings and crammed themselves in the central courtyard within a few minutes of time.


    The emergency exit routes of the hospital opened one by one to prepare for the evacuation of acute patients at any moment.


    And so it was an earthquake. The earthquakested for approximately thirty seconds, and was apanied by two aftershocks as well. Then came silence once again.


    Cursing sprang up all around the courtyard. The monthly seismic activity made special public locations, such as the hospitals, to panic at the slightest disturbance. Every time there was an earthquake, people had to follow fixed procedures and evacuate. Medical treatments that were underway had to be terminated. This happened over and over, tormenting the citizens. It was considered unexpectedly lucky for no idents to ur.


    Luo Nan walked a few steps within the stream of people, but suddenly he stopped. He felt something. The target that had originally been in the Inpatient Department was moving at high speeds and was moving in his direction.


    An electric transport cart came out from the Inpatient Department in the east wing several secondster. The vehicle pushed through on the pedestrian paths. Upon the vehicle was a casually dressed youth and several buff male bodyguards.


    Luo Nan¡¯s line of sight locked fixed onto the youth¡¯s face. He recognized this person and was not the least bit surprised. Yes. It was the person he had hypnotized yesterday to suffocate into passing out! It was Li Xuecheng!


    At first nce there was nothing much to Li Xuecheng¡¯s appearance. His face had a few additional bruises and his spirits looked depressed. Yet he was extremely fretful. He jabbered nonstop to the bodyguards at his side. He spoke intensely and even smacked a bodyguard on the shoulder in anger, paying zero attention to the public context they were in. It made one feel that he was extremely neurotic.


    Obviously Li Xuecheng under this kind of state wouldn¡¯t notice his ¡°Great Enemy¡± within the flow of people to the side. Luo Nan even heard his own name leak out from Li Xuecheng¡¯s babble.


    Sure enough...... This person was his target.


    Luo Nan casted his line of sight over, but a strange change suddenly urred before he could think of his next action.


    A glowing red mist suddenly soared up from Li Xuecheng¡¯s body and entwined with the interweaving shadows of the pedestrian walkways and buildings. It coiled and transformed before Luo Nan, ultimately forming a human-shaped demonic wraith.


    No one aside from Luo Nan was able to see this scene. Luo Nan¡¯s pupils shrank slightly and he stood there motionless on the spot.


    There was no one who was more familiar with this thing than Luo Nan.


    A burning wraith! Yet another burning wraith!


    So it turned out there was more than one burning wraith......


    But the most iprehensible thing was that Luo Nan didn¡¯t feel in shocked, alert, nervous, and so on in this instant. Instead he felt faminous. He could not suppress this feeling of hunger.


    It was a type of food that was quite ripe.


    Apleted and cooked dish.


    It looked so delicious. It was time... to eat one¡¯s fill......


    ¡°Crackle! Crackle!¡±


    The heavily chained crow vibrated with its cry, its sound was like a sharp needle that fiercely pricked Luo Nan in between the eyebrows. He was struck with a cold shiver. The scent. The hunger. It was all smashed to pieces in an instant.


    Thispletely new burning wraith in front of him radiated with a scorching strength on the mental ne that pressured against Luo Nan. Within it was clearly overflowing hunger and greed!


    The wraith flew as a gale towards Luo Nan, attacking.


    Luo Nan still remained motionless as he thought deeply. The intense instinct of greed from this burning wraith was dered clearly at him.


    At the same time as Luo Nan faced this imminent approaching threat, the crackling of the heavily chained crow superimposed upon itself above his mind. A strength came from the format of his body and mind through the means of a certain unending umtion until the strength reached its utmost bound.


    The boundary between the real and the imaginary was torn apart in the next moment. The heavily chained crow surged forth and leapt out from the space between Luo Nan¡¯s eyebrows, throwing itself in a direct head-on collision with the burning wraith. And it entered the body of the burning wraith in an instant!


    ¡°Hummm!¡±


    The wretched cry only existed on the mental ne, but it did sound out in reality for a brief instant. The hundreds of doctors, nurses, students, and patients present were all dazzled for a split second. But soon this dim feeling vanished without a trace. This was due to the abstract symbol at the end of the crow¡¯s chain; it had shed with a lustrous glow.


    The dark red glow illuminated the originally-pitch-ck interior of the burning wraith, and the glow released a certain force as well. A rapidly revolving vortex mass was formed in an instant.


    The strength of the vortex was extremelyrge. This was also an instantaneous technique. This newly-acquainted burning wraith was no longer able to reform. Most of its body had been sucked into the vortex and into the abstract symbol, increasing the brightness of the symbol. The small portion that remained floating in the void copsed and dissipated to nothing.


    And at nearly the same time, bodyguards on the just-encountered electric transport cart cried with rm. Li Xuecheng, who had just been exploding with criticism, suddenly fainted in the vehicle; he was no longer conscious.


    A small disturbance was now urring in the courtyard. A bodyguard carried Li Xuecheng off the cart and put him lying down on the grasswn. Li Xuecheng¡¯s pupils were jumping all over and his mouth was frothing. His face was ashen like that of a dead person.


    Luo Nan turned around and saw what used to be Li Xuecheng¡¯s life force. It was as if the floodgates were opened. Large quantities of life force leaked out on the ne unseen by ordinary people, transforming into fine wisps of smoke that crumbled along with the burning wraith. They curled up into the vortex in the void.


    Luo Nan¡¯s eyebrows were locked tight. He stirred telepathically, withdrawing the chained crow. The dark red abstract symbol also entered the space between his eyebrows and the vortex in the void faded away.


    The leaking process of Li Xuecheng¡¯s life force was suddenly put to an end. However, Li Xuecheng had already sunk into a heavya.


    Luo Nan stared at the unconscious Li Xuecheng lying on the ground. Luo Nan¡¯s expression was very grave. A victory that came as easy as crushing dry leaves and smashing rotten wood did not give him the least bit of delight.


    Luo Nan diverted his gaze from Li Xuecheng¡¯s body a short timeter, turning towards the crowd in the vicinity. Some people were watching with curiosity. Some people just casted a single nce andpletely ignored what happened. There were also doctors and nurses rushing over.


    This was a hospital. What can¡¯t happen? Everyone could understand what had happened.


    But who knew that on a ne they could not touch, that there were formless wraiths running wild, corrupting the minds of people, breathing in their essence and energy?


    Luo Nan was a victim. Li Xuecheng was a victim.


    Perhaps the human tragedy with the U-Soul couple was a part of this.


    How many remained? Just how many demons were released with that one howl in the R&D district? And, how many have formed schemes to seize away human life just like now?


    This was not only it. The burning wraiths clearly had apetitive existence between each other. A rtionship to consume each other. They formed a faintly discernible food chainwork.


    Luo Nan stared absentmindedly in the noisy and morous courtyard:


    Is this still the world I know?

 Chapter 22: Information Meeting (Part ?)

    Chapter 22: Information Meeting (Part ?)


    The Xia City branch¡¯s business office of the International Science Expedition Society was located in the Ln district of Xia City at the 18-story-high Shangding Tri-Towers. They were located approximately fifty meters above the ground, which was also the limit of low-altitude public transportation. The lighting of the morning sun was quite beautiful.


    Anyway, the floors below fifty meters had fairly cheap rental prices. Subordinates of the society, the Wilderness Explorers, rented the entire lower seventeen floors in one breath. They remodeled the floors to set up a more open and spacious area to provide the employees with space to move around.


    Themon employees who worked for the society, the group of Wilderness Explorers, helped purely mental cases who had money to burn. With the remodeling money, the society waspletely able to rent an exceptional ce in the core central business district and remodel it into whatever they think of. And so they had spent a lot of effort in remodeling, however the vast majority of facilities still remained rtively empty.


    The most typical case would be the luxurious circr conference rooms that were created on the lowermost three floors. They could hold over a thousand people to discuss business, but in the ten years since their inception, the number of times they were used did not exceed ten.


    Today the conference room was opened once more atst. Several hundred people entered in one after another. It made the ordinarily-idle-and-useless employees of the society watch with gaping eyes.


    There were this many Wilderness Explorers in Xia City?


    The employees could not see the organized materials for the meeting, so they did not know the inner details, how much time was reserved, and so on. They only felt that the meeting took an extremely long time. People entered in the morning, then lunch time passed and the meeting had yet toe to an end. Even when the earthquake happened during the middle of the meeting, there was no one who came out to flee from danger.


    Speaking of the earthquake, the white cor workers working nearby discovered from the earthquake bureau¡¯s announcement that the number of earthquakes they felt seemed to be far higher than usual. Ten to twenty earthquakes happened at the very least.


    Though things were like this, the group of Wilderness Explorers continued to hold their meeting unperturbed. They really had guts.


    Year 2096, September 28th, 14:00.


    Sr illumination simtion equipment were turned on all year round, casting dusky rays of light within the round conference room. Half of these instations were smashed broken, spreading extensive shadows all around. The shadows concealed the wretched state of the meeting and seeped deeply into the hearts of those attending.


    Zhang Yingying gripped Susan¡¯s plump hand lightly. The body temperature of the two linked together, causing the dusky chill to retreat a little. Susan muttered a few words that were iprehensible to anyone. The wound atop her shoulder still ached. If the injury was just two centimeters higher, her carotid artery would have been torn.


    A podium was in the center of the parliament style conference room. The president of Xia City¡¯s Wilderness Explorer branch, Ouyang Chen, stood there wearing a well-ironed suit, bow tie, and old fashioned t sses. He looked like a refined schr.


    Under the dusky halo of light, his face could be faintly discerned. He opened his mouth with tranquility: ¡°As of now, roll call is over. At first 429 people were gathered here today. Those who were ultimately able to participate in this information meeting numbered 420.


    9 people were lost. They had been turned into corpses...... And for some, not even corpses could be found!


    The atmosphere of the conference room had already froze solid.


    ¡°I will be informing the relevant state of the situation in this meeting. I have asked Quantum Corporation¡¯s CEO in charge of the Xia City Region, Mr. Hu Yuli, to make a thorough illustration.¡±


    Mr. Hu Yuli, who had once stirred up chaos in the world of business, was to the side of the podium. Hisplexion was ashen, but he strived to maintain an undisturbed appearance. He made a slight nod to everyone in his surroundings; this was all he could do.


    Ouyang Chen adjusted his sses and began his formal speech. The projector behind him began to operate in synch with him, disying the wretched state of the ruined zone within the R&D district.


    ¡°First here is a concise illustration: Quantum Corporation, the government, and the military were engaging in live research and analysis of mutants in the Mutant Laboratory in Xia City¡¯s R&D district. Their project had been underway for two years as of now. Approximately half a month ago, Quantum Corporation switched to different test subjects, a type of special species. It was the rarely seen Darksider life form that had a parasitic rtionship with a mutant species. Its codename was ¡®Human-faced Arachnid¡¯.¡±


    The projector flickered through a great amount of pictures, all of which were relevant records preserved by theboratory. Those participating in the meeting stared coldly at all the records. They continued to listen.


    ¡°Yesterday, aka September 27th at approximately 05:13, an operator employee at theboratory came under the control of a Darksider life form. The operator forcefully destroyed the power generator, And before the backup generator could kick in, the Darksider life form spurred the mutant to try to escape from theboratory.¡±


    ¡°Quantum Corporation attempted to contain the situation. They killed the mutant at 05:19, separating the Darksider life form from its host. At 05:25, Quantum Corporation also killed the Darksider life form. But before the Darksider life form died, it used some sort of iprehensible method we don¡¯t understand to release a certain...... virus.¡±


    Ouyang Chen paused, then he repeated with emphasis: ¡°A virus. As of now, this is the best we can describe it. Taking Quantum Corporation¡¯sboratory in the R&D district as the heart of the incident, statistics show that the virus proliferated at a max range of 520 kilometers. This covers the entirety of Xia City and all of its surrounding satellite towns.


    ¡°A radius of 10 kilometers from the heart is the core area of the viral infection. The number of infected is the most here, with initial counts having a 70% infection rate primarily with theboratory personnel and residents. The rate of infection rapidly drops outside the 10 kilometer range. ording to initial research and statistics, we know of three characteristics of the virus:


    ¡°The first. Eliminating the core area from the equation, the rate of infection among themon masses is not that high; we have yet to discover a case. However, the situation is very bad for ability users. So far 9 out of 1000 are infected. I believe that this is linked to the infection process; the responses and reactions of ability users are far more sensitive than that of ordinary people.¡±


    The atmosphere of the conference room turned even more stifling. This 9 out of 1000 rate of infection figure was calcted from human lives. Nearly half of all members of the society were able to participate today. And during the roll call just then, four people had been infected. And these four caused five other casualties.


    ¡°The second. There are many carriers, but the rate of the infection isn¡¯t that high. A special condition is needed to excite the virus. An intense change in one¡¯s state of mind, especially to a negative state of mind, is the most obvious trigger.¡±


    ¡°The following is ording to interior experiment reports of Quantum Corporation. The survival period of the virus in the human body is approximately eight to eighteen hours long. If one manages to maintain a tranquil state of mind in this time frame, the virus will bepletely destroyed. But if there exists a negative state of mind, the survival period of the virus will be greatly extended. And there will be a high probability of its activation. Current data have yet to form a final conclusion.¡±


    ¡°The third...... As just witnessed by everyone, the activated virus absorbs the host¡¯s blood and energy to transform into a Darksider life form. And these Darksider life forms will try to consume and fuse with each other to endlessly strengthen themselves. The levels of their forms and strength grows closer to that of their ¡®releaser¡¯ each time they strengthen.¡±


    Ouyang Chen diverted from illustrating the state of affairs. He turned his head to face Hu Yuli. He stared with cold and clear eyes behind the t eyesses:


    ¡°Therefore we need to ask. Is that Human-Faced Arachnid really dead? If these Darksider life forms are able to absorb sufficient nutrients, consume and fuse with each other, wouldn¡¯t the result represent the rebirth of the Human-Faced Arachnid? Has Quantum Corporation done research to support or touch on this situation?¡±


    Hu Yuli could only shake his head: ¡°We still haven¡¯t performed thorough research yet, we really don¡¯t know......¡±


    He did his best to avoid Ouyang Chen¡¯s question, but he was unable to make it pass the ordeal. Ouyang Chen¡¯s question was just the opening for more.


    A voice soon sounded out within the conference room: ¡°The information you released about having drugs stolen, what¡¯s up with that? This totally contradicts the news you announced just now!¡±

 Chapter 22: Information Meeting (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 22: Information Meeting (Part 2/2)


    Hu Yuli forced a smile across his face: ¡°Indeed, we did report it as a drug theft from theboratory, but that was just a mess created by a staff member. We didn¡¯t recognize the seriousness of the situation at first. We ced importance on searching for drugs...... Now the facts are clear that doing so was aplete mistake.¡±


    ¡°So it really was fake?¡±


    Off stage, Zhang Yingying had carelessly twisted her wound, causing her to grimace in pain. Anyway, she wasn¡¯t easily convinced of Quantum Corporation¡¯s excuse. Part of it was due to her trust in her own intelligence channels and another part of it was due to herck of confidence in how Quantum Corporation has been handling things all this time.


    She talked in a low voice with Susan: ¡°This fellow has been lofty and indifferent all along. He has Burners and the Deep Blue tform at his disposal. He always loved to ignore us, but today he¡¯s kowtowing on the ground. He¡¯s certainly hiding something.


    Susan nodded her head, then she shook her head: ¡°Let¡¯s see how the president responds.¡±


    Hu Yuli¡¯s exnation obviously wouldn¡¯t convince the crowd. Doubting words were repeatedly spoken off stage, causing this business big shot¡¯s head to sweat. He was gradually being overwhelmed.


    Ouyang Chen lightly knocked the podium with a gavel at this moment. His voice wasn¡¯t loud, yet it made the entire conference room rapidly quiet down.


    Everyone. Since we don¡¯t have faith in Quantum Corporation¡¯s exnation, let¡¯s not waste further time with this matter. Seek the answer on your own free time. Quantum Corporation wishes for our society to intervene with this matter, to help them deal with the issue with the virus spread. They should respond with the appropriate sincerity.¡±


    ¡°Of course. Of course.¡± Hu Yuli didn¡¯t care about what Ouyang Chen wanted. He would first make a promise for now then talk more about itter.


    Ouyang Chen¡¯s eyes bore into the crowd. He spoke calmly: ¡°Mobilization of the society is notpulsory. A majority agreement among the society members is required to organize an operation. And so now I shall state a justification in support of mobilization. It¡¯s very simple. ording to reliable information, this Human-Faced Arachnid was the first live specimen that was sent from that ¡®Gate¡¯.¡±


    Some people in the crowd were stunned and had yet to recover:


    ¡°A Gate, is it that Gate?¡±


    Hu Yuli¡¯s pupils unexpectedly erged in an instant. His body rushed to stand up straight, but right when his butt left his seat, Ouyang Chen swept a cold gaze over him. His sudden impulse was extinguished. He was paralyzed on the seat, unable to stand up anymore.


    And right at this moment when the attendees finally had the crucial information sink in, a rumble suddenly sounded forth. People had directly leapt up and started to inquire loudly:


    ¡°Ouyang. Is the Gate you¡¯re speaking of that one?¡±


    Ouyang Chen adjusted his sses once more: ¡°The source of the mutant species, the starting point of the new age. Thanks to Quantum Corporation, that which we¡¯ve always doubted, that door whose existence had yet to be proven, has finally been locked on.¡±


    ¡°Where is it? Where?¡±


    ¡°We can determine that it lies in the southern central region of the Mariana Trench of the Pacific Ocean. The society hopes that Quantum Corporation can provide concrete coordinates and data. Obviously this would require us to engage in further discussion. Let¡¯s return to the main topic for now.¡±


    Ouyang Chen¡¯s gaze swept in a circle, sweeping across each person¡¯s face: ¡°Among the seated are Martial Arts Families, Sorcerer Bloodlines, Clergymen and Monks. In this new age, we together are known as the Awakened. Our strength has been increasing over the past 50 years, our abilities bing more powerful. Our own efforts are a part of this, but there is also that which is hard to exin, the ¡®X-Factor¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Why were the limits of power, which were originally difficult to surpass, released starting from the year 2059? How is it that we pulled away and created such arge disparity between us and ordinary people? Why did the powers and abilities of legend appear on ourselves one by one? What did we pay? What did we gain? Is what we paid unequal to what we gained? Do we truly dominate our own fates, or are there certain unknown gods controlling everything?¡±


    ¡°We thirst to understand this secret. We demand to know the reason, but we are unable to find the answer all this time. And now what seemed to be a dead-end road suddenly had its obstacles swept away. This road is ced anew in front of us. I do not wish to miss this opportunity and I think that everyone thinks the same.¡±


    Rumbling and rolling noisy voices echoed within the conference room. Yet Ouyang Chen¡¯s words still remained smooth and calm:


    ¡°First, I will be naming this operation by the society with the codename Broken Net. The incorporeal demon has weaved an enormous. It is trying to hunt for prey within this enormous metropolis. We need to cut it down.¡±


    ¡°Yet now I shall refer to it as a ¡®Road Sign¡¯. We have spent several dozen years searching to no avail. It was only until the emergence of Formatting Theory did humanity pursue a new page in evolution. This is a theory for the ordinary person. We as Awakened havegged behind. This is unavoidably embarrassing.¡±


    ¡°As Awakened, we must increase our pace. We fundamentally should be leaders. We need to grasp firmly onto every opportunity and act as brave explorers. Then we will tell others what the road ahead is like, we shall tell which direction humanity should move towards...... There is a Road Sign ahead of us right now. Glory will forever be in our hands!¡±


    The electric vehicle reached its stop with a beep, waking Luo Nan from his sleep.


    When drug withdrawal reactions start, time wouldn¡¯t pass that easily. The damned elective style school along with his earth-shaking course schedule caused Luo Nan to switch between five ssrooms for five sses for his major, spanning across four different buildings. Over the course of the entire day, Luo Nan moved back and forth between the northern and southern part of campus.


    He didn¡¯t feel it was much back when his body was in a good state, but today¡¯s running back and forth made Luo Nan¡¯s head a muddled mess. He sat on the inner-campus electric shuttle in a dazed half-asleep state.


    He pped his cheeks to stimte his consciousness, then he slowly got off from the vehicle.


    The time right now was 3:40 in the afternoon. It was also the time when societies were active. Luo Nan¡¯s destination was the Precision Electronics Interest Society. There were skillful experts from electronic manufacturingpanies employed all year round over there. They were open for teaching maintenance and repair. It was also a paradise for DIY lovers.


    Luo Nan¡¯s goal was obviously to get his damaged flexible e-ink screen repaired. The damage to this intimate device gave him a feeling that was worse than the drug withdrawal response.


    However, he seemed to have spent all his luck on his Divination Drawing in the afternoon. The professional repair and maintenance teaching was already underway in the Precision Electronics Interest Society. They were thriving and flourishing. Today they employed certain super-experts, repairers, and enthusiasts from the industry. The professional hall was packed to the brim.


    He squeezed through the crowd for twenty minutes, and only just now did he manage to get a reservation number.


    In the end, Luo Nan could not stand being packed in the flowing crowd of people within the hall. He ducked his way outside to breath fresh air. However the feeling of dizziness along with his excessively sensitive senses invaded his mind in this moment.


    The rays of the afternoon sun pierced through the canopy of trees along the road, falling onto the side of Luo Nan¡¯s face. For the first time in his life, he felt that the autumn sun was scorching hot. Half of his face felt like it was about tobust; he could even smell the charred fumes of flesh burning.


    This was without a doubt a hallucination.


    Luo Nan stayed to the side of the road, standing straight like a nail. His lips were faintly squirming as he chanted the twenty word mantra. The words flowed into his heart like a cold stream flowing down his throat. It took the messy thoughts that dazzled his mind and cleansed them, drowning them one by one.


    Things took a turn for the better just then. A shadow had streaked across his half drooping eyes.


    Luo Nan suddenly opened his eyes, startling the person who waved their hand. That person retreated half a step, bringing an elbow down between the two.


    When the action waspleted, that person figured out that their actions were excessive. Awkwardlyughing, the person spoke: ¡°You alright there fellow student?¡±

 Chapter 23: Frequently Booked (Part ?)

    Chapter 23: Frequently Booked (Part ?)


    Actually, Luo Nan¡¯s vision was still fuzzy for two seconds after lifting his eyelids. When his vision totally recovered to be clear, all he saw was a wall.


    The person in front of Luo Nan was buff and tall, taller than Luo Nan by a full head. This person¡¯s back just happened to block the sun, covering Luo Nan¡¯s entire face by his shadow. This sudden sight truly did scare Luo Nan a bit.


    Luo Nan took a second look from a different angle. On top of this person¡¯s strong and muscr body was actually a rather simple and honest face. His face possessed the youth of a student, containing not even a few hairs of peach fuzz. And that wide mouth ofughter appearance of his was rather likeable.


    Luo Nan did a brief recollection and realized that his own deathly facebined with his muttering had created a far to conspicuous image. That inquiring wave of a hand was certainly done out of good intentions.


    He responded with a smile as well: ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Just a bit of a wandering mind back then.¡±


    A wandering mind? The person ahead revealed an energetic smile on the spot that spoke ¡°Although you¡¯re stubborn, I¡¯m also a guy so I understand¡±. Then he immediately introduced himself: ¡°That¡¯s good that it¡¯s nothing. My name is Xue Lei. I¡¯m a 10th grader of the River Wu district.¡±


    ¡°Luo Nan, also from the River Wu district. 10th Grade.¡±


    ¡°Huh? You also live in the River Wu district? I live on Pair River Road, where do you live?¡±


    ¡°Blue Bay Community, I just moved there not too long ago.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not far away at all! What a coincidence!¡± Xue Lei pped his hands a few times with greatughter, ¡°What a strange meeting. It must be fate. Alright, just call me Leister.¡±


    ...... This one had to be following the code of chivalry.


    Luo Nan was suffocated for a moment from Xue Lei¡¯s knightly manner of speech. It was unknown if Xue Lei was doing it on purpose. Luo Nan was left speechless for some time.


    However Xue Lei¡¯s giant mouth waspletely able to support the asion all on its own: ¡°I¡¯ll just call you Nanster then. Fate is fate after all. Actually, I had already walked passed you back then. But I heard your breathing resonate; it seemed that you were buzzing with a chant. It was like a deep breathing technique, yet it was not. And when I saw yourplexion...... That appearance of yours, I was afraid you hit a setback while skill training. Yep. It¡¯s great that it¡¯s nothing. It¡¯s great that it¡¯s nothing.¡±


    When Luo Nan heard the words ¡°deep breathing technique¡±, ¡°skill training¡±, and simr vocabry, Luo Nan¡¯s mind stirred. He looked at Xue Lei again, sizing him up. He noticed that Xue Lei was wearing some odd clothes. They seemed to be training clothes from some sort of gym. They had a light grey color, and on the left chest was an emblem of a three-legged cauldron. It gave people a deep impression.


    Xue Lei noticed where Luo Nan¡¯s gaze was pointed at and puffed up his chest:


    ¡°These are the training clothes of our gym. Not bad eh?¡±


    ¡°Hic......it was you?¡± Luo Nan answered with a question. A certain memory had flipped to the surface from the depths of his mind. This tall and sturdy figure along with the grey jacket was familiar no matter how he looked.


    Xue Lei was confused: ¡°You know me?¡±


    Luo Nan reminded him: ¡°This morning. Outside the changing rooms in the South 2 Area.


    ¡°It was you!¡±


    Xue Lei also recognized Luo Nan, but his response was stranger than Luo Nan¡¯s; he casted a nce behind him and only then did he speak in a low voice: ¡°You should be fine now right? That group of people should be all scattered by now......¡±


    ¡°Yes sir. Many thanks for your helping hand and your sense of justice.¡± Luo Nan also followed the code of chivalry and gave thanks in that style.


    Indeed, this was quite the coincidence. This tall and sturdy student in front of his eyes was the Ardent Person who helped him out this morning. This enormous campus could amodate several hundred thousand people. The probability of meeting this person again was really far too small.


    ¡°Ain¡¯t nothing, Ain¡¯t nothing. I was just passing through and I was there at just the right time.¡±


    Xue Lei was gesturing with his hands endlessly, but his face revealed excitement before he could finishing speaking a few words: ¡°Nanster. Although your body looks a bit weak, your hand strikes are quite nimble. The ces you striked were tastefully chosen. Have you trained before?¡±


    As Xue Lei spoke, he also gesticted with movements. He nearly touched Luo Nan¡¯s body as he demonstrated.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t know if he should block Xue Lei¡¯s move. But then a voice suddenly called from behind Xue Lei:


    ¡°Leister. What are you up to?¡±


    Xue Lei¡¯s body froze as soon as he heard the voice. He withdrew his hand and prepared a smile. Then he turned around: ¡°Hey Xiaolin~ There¡¯s a fellow student I know over here......¡±


    A tall and skinny girl walked over to them several secondster. She automatically hooked Xue Lei fixed by the arm, dering their rtionship publicly. The two matched quite well in height to say the least.


    Xue Lei introduced her promptly: ¡°This is my girlfriend Chen Xiaolin, she¡¯s a grade higher than us...... And this is Luo Nan. He also lives in the River Wu District; he lives over in Blue Bay right?¡±


    Luo Nan nodded with a smile, he wasn¡¯t superfluous.


    Chen Xiaolin sported a pixie cut. Her jeans matched well with a simple white jacket. She looked to be a blunt person. The outlines of her face were extremely distinct. Her eyes were slightly nted, giving her a somewhat astute and strict appearance. A single look made it clear who held the power between her and the simple-minded Xue Lei.


    However, Chen Xiaolin was extremely amodating when it came to dealing with people. She greeted Luo Nan with giggles andughter addressing him as ¡°junior¡±. She held an unwavering attitude.


    Luo Nan saw that the two were paired like one and felt that he shouldn¡¯t bother them. He prepared to say goodbye, but he had to first express serious and heartfelt thanks for Xue Lei¡¯s favor of assistance:


    ¡°The matter from this morning......¡±


    He had just started his sentence when Xue Lei bored at him with wild hinting eyes. Luo Nan was struck dumb, then he took a look at Chen Xiaolin wrinkling her brow to the side. He realized that there would be some interference; now wouldn¡¯t be the time to talk about this topic.


    He thought for a bit, and just straightforwardly reached out his hand: ¡°You guys get going then. Leister, let¡¯s add each other as friends...... is that alright?¡±


    ¡°Of course, of course.¡±


    Xue Lei chuckled as he reached out his hand, making contact with Luo Nan¡¯s wristband.


    ¡°Bzzzz!¡±


    ¡°Bzzzz!¡±


    Both of the wristbands vibrated at practically the same time when they had touched. The sound was quite surprising.


    ¡°Whoa! That was synchronized! Dang!¡± Xue Lei cried in surprise.


    His voice died to a miserable groan in the end from Chen Xiaolin ferociously pinching his waist.


    Luo Nan confirmed that this was an important message that issued the notification vibration. He lifted his wrist to confirm. The sender was the special duty advisor of the 10th grade, Li Mingde. He wanted Luo Nan to be at his office at 5 o¡¯clock.


    It probably had to do with him skipping ss yesterday and missing exams.


    To the side, Xue Lei finally realized what the situation was. After verifying the information, he also gritted his teeth: ¡°Elder Mingde has summoned me. This news can¡¯t be good.¡±


    Luo Nan raised his head to look at Xue Lei: ¡°You too?¡±


    Xue Lei blinked his eyes: ¡°What?¡±


    After a moment of shock, Xue Lei immediately realized something. He looked at Luo Nan once more. He spoke with brotherly meaning: ¡°You also didn¡¯t enter a society?¡±


    Luo Nan immediately confirmed that the person in front of him had somewhat of a different conclusion.


    Xue Lei was already grumbling andining on his own by now. He spread his hand: ¡°I really wanted to enter a society, but when I went to look at the Martial Arts Society and the Fitness Society, I saw that they were farcking whenpared to my gym. I had no interest at all...... Oh right. You want to go over together?¡±


    ¡°My meeting time is 5 o¡¯clock.¡±


    Xue Lei was delighted: ¡°Mine is 5 o¡¯clock too! This is some great fate! Let¡¯s go together! together!¡±


    Next to them, Chen Xiaolin thought of something. She asked Luo Nan: ¡°You didn¡¯t enter a society? Then you¡¯re a new student that just entered the college?¡±


    Luo Nan nodded his head in agreement.


    Chen Xiaolin¡¯s eyes lit up in an instant: ¡°Junior, what middle school did you go to? Is it River Wu Experiment Middle School? The same as Leister?¡±


    ¡°No, I went to Sixth Middle.¡±


    ¡°Xia City¡¯s Sixth Middle? How prestigious! But it¡¯s far away from the River Wu District......¡±


    ¡°I used to live in the Nade District. I just moved into the River Wu District after I tested into Acumen College.¡±


    ¡°The Nade District? That¡¯s a core district right? Housing there is extremely expensive!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s alright.¡±


    Luo Nan found it somewhat difficult to handle the questions over family property from Chen Xiaolin. He wished to back away from the subject.


    However Chen Xiaolin had already smiled with a proposal: ¡°It¡¯s almost four. The matter with Advisor Li is a bit far off and we won¡¯t be able to get anything done in this time frame. Why don¡¯t we find a beverage shop and chill for a bit before going over?¡±


    Xue Lei naturally agreed. Luo Nan felt it wasn¡¯t proper to decline when he looked at Xue Lei, so he nodded his head in agreement.

 Chapter 23: Frequently Booked (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 23: Frequently Booked (Part 2/2)


    There was a campus shopping center close by. Their reputation for leisure, snacks, and drinks inside was not bad. ss was out for the day, but it was time for the society activities right now. The stream of people was a bit smaller than normal. Overall, things weren¡¯t as crowded and head-banging as the Precision Electronics Interest Society back then.


    Luo Nan was still feeling difort from his drug withdrawal. Cold drinks and the like were extremely stimting foods. If he didn¡¯t have to drink, he wouldn¡¯t drink. Anyway, he understood that Chen Xiaolin had invited him to sit down and chat. Hopefully she didn¡¯te here desiring to eat food.


    Sure enough the service bot had just finished putting snacks on disy. Chen Xiaolin then spoke to Xue Lei: This time Advisor Li called you over. I won¡¯t talk about the other things, but don¡¯t just talk without thinking about anything regarding societies. Don¡¯t spit out any promises or agreements in regards to taking up considerablemitments or work.¡±


    It was apparent that Xue Lei was dumbfounded: ¡°Whaddya mean?¡±


    Luo Nan knew that Chen Xiaolin¡¯s words were also directed at him. But now was not the time to be superfluous. He raised his head and listened seriously.


    Chen Xiaolin faced Xue Lei to bettery out her words: ¡°Of course it¡¯s because I¡¯m scared you¡¯ll be duped. School societies are extremelyplex. The school. Teachers. Students. It¡¯s a three sided game. Those who don¡¯t understand the situation clearly will easily suffer losses.¡±


    She knew this was not convincing enough after speaking, so she directly went for the emotional route: ¡°In any case, I would never hurt you right?¡±


    Xue Lei could only nod.


    Chen Xiaolin turned to face Luo Nan: ¡°Junior. You must know yourself and know your enemy in every matter. Have a n in ce before taking action. Don¡¯t you agree?¡±


    Luo Nan could only smile faintly.


    Chen Xiaolin immediately continued speaking: ¡°Junior, you¡¯ve been attending this school for nearly a month. You should know by now that Acumen College is an experimental college. How everything¡¯s linked together, the atmosphere, and the practices are all somewhat different than that of other schools. Many peoplee here feeling unadjusted some extent. This causes people to have an even greater need to help one another, to coordinate with each other...... Really, I¡¯m suggesting you to participate in the Mutual Assistance Gathering.¡±


    ¡°Mutual Assistance Gathering?¡±


    ¡°This student organized gathering is meant for students like you and Xue Lei who have half entered the school. A Mutual Assistance Organization was formed. Their goal is to get everyone to adapt to Acumen College¡¯s way of life and atmosphere as quickly as possible. There are many seniors in the organization who can impart their experiences and help resolve questions......¡±


    ¡°Hic. Really?¡± Luo Nan felt a bit awkward. He didn¡¯t really want to attend something like this.


    Chen Xiaolin was unexpectedly cordial: ¡°I won¡¯t mention anything else. Tonight is the annual Mutual Assistance Dinner. Many seniors of the higher grades will be there. Some of them have already been here for seven years and are about to graduate; they have extensive experiences. If you have no problems, just go and chat; you can expand your respectiveworks. If you do have problems, you can go and talk about them. They can help you answer many questions...... This opportunity. Junior, you really shouldn¡¯t miss it.¡±


    Luo Nan was shaking his head in his mind. He had been in torment for the past two days; all he wanted to do was go home and rest. How could he have the mood to participate in this sort of activity?


    Right when he was about to refuse, Luo Nan¡¯s wristband vibrated softly. His Precision Electronics Interest Society¡¯s reservation slip number had been called. Luo Nan sighed a breath and raised his wrist:


    ¡°Senior, it¡¯s my number now. Why don¡¯t we talk about the details on the activity on the way back......¡±


    ¡°Think it over Junior. The dinner is tonight at 7:00 PM. It¡¯s at the Limestone Water Vige Pub. I¡¯ll send you a message on the way back with all the details.


    Chen Xiaolin was quite level when it came to dealing with people. She saw that Luo Nan wasn¡¯t too enthusiastic so she didn¡¯t add any more words. Sheughed as she exchanged numbers with Luo Nan, letting him free.


    Xue Lei reminded him in the end: ¡°Don¡¯t forget to go see Elder Mingde.¡±


    Luo Nan tossed the matter of the Mutual Assistance Gathering to the back of his mind. He rushed back to the Precision Electronics Interest Society. Soon his number was called. He followed the small and nimble floating guidance sphere and arrived in the maintenance and repair area. This ce was much more peaceful than therge hall.


    Behind the maintenance stand he could see a few young students surrounding a middle aged technician. They talked over topics and questions. When they saw Luo Nan enter, they checked to see the reservation list:


    ¡°External damage to a flexible e-ink screen...... The repair costs will be high and there¡¯s no guarantee for aplete restore. It would be better to have a manufacturer swap it out.¡±


    Luo Nan sat in front of the stand. He said in a low voice: ¡°It¡¯s a D.I.Y instation.¡±


    That one sentence made half the people nce over. The one who was looking at the reservation listughed: ¡°That¡¯s super awesome to be able to create and install a flexible e-ink screen. Why aren¡¯t you fixing it yourself then? This screen looks to be five years old. You can upgrade it to higher specs.¡±


    Luo Nan hesitated a moment before opening his mouth: ¡°That person has passed away.¡±


    ¡°Dang. That¡¯s quite the pity.¡±


    The middle aged technician raised his head at this time. He looked to be quite the amiable person. Heughed: ¡°Then bring it here for a look. Let¡¯s throw any good ideas out there and see what we can do.¡±


    ¡°Thank-you teacher.¡±


    Luo Nan nodded his head in thanks. He took the flexible e-ink screen out of the notebook and handed it over to behind the maintenance stand.


    The middle aged technician¡¯s eyes lit up as soon as he looked at it: ¡°A Medusa Board? This is hard to get started with. There¡¯s no wasted space between the modules. Are the internals disced?¡±


    ¡°Disassemble Disassemble. Get to it Zhai Gong.¡±


    The students were bustling around. Zhai Gong didn¡¯t refuse. In the end, students who have yet to graduate wouldn¡¯t be prepared to deal with the highly integrated electronics instation that is the flexible e-ink screen.


    The flexible e-ink screen that had a thickness of approximately 0.2 millimeters was disassembled; it definitely needed delicate and patient handiwork and Zhai Gong¡¯s gentle temperament was quite suitable for that. He exined the essentials and difficulties of the disassembly as he disassembled, exining theplicated matter in an easy way to understand. Even Luo Nan, who felt that it was all greek, had some basic concept after listening.


    But as the disassembly pace grew deeper, Zhai Gong gradually stopped speaking. His expression turned worse and worse. It wasn¡¯t just him. Some students were able to see that something was wrong. They began to whisper.


    Zhai Gong really did have patience. He spent a whole half an hour to disassemble the flexible e-ink screen into two pieces before stopping, fulling revealing the interiors for all to see. Now the work desk¡¯s sensing equipment automatically scanned the state of each and everyponent of the screen.


    The instrument disyed all sorts of data as buzzing sounds of discussion rang out. Finally the very first student who had looked at the reservation list was unable to stop himself from facing Luo Nan:


    ¡°Hey mate. You didn¡¯t bring this broken thing to humiliate us on purpose right?¡±


    Luo Nan was stunned. Hepletely didn¡¯t understand this person¡¯s meaning.


    ¡°Your Medusa Screen. It¡¯s not that things moved around; nothing¡¯s there!......Fine. It has an added battery module. But the processor, memory module, signal i/o module, sensors... Itcks all of thempletely! Do you just use this as a mirror most of the time?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible!¡±


    Although Luo Nan was an electronics newbie, even he knew that the flexible screen would just be purely decoration without a processor, memory module, and so on. It wouldn¡¯t even function as a mirror.


    Obviously this was impossible. He had used it perfectly fine yesterday. He used all sorts of software without any problems. He even sketched two drawings. How could it be useless?


    The problem was, did this student in front of him and did this technician expert Zhai Gong have a need to trick him? And the sensor results were also disyed clearly. There was no way to pass it off as fake.


    After being faced with the illumination of several dozen ill-willed eyes, Luo Nan was truly at a loss.


    ¡°You guys make way.¡±


    Zhai Gong hadn¡¯t opened his mouth until now. He suddenly indicated to several of the students in front of the stand to make way. When the work desk was cleared of people, he controlled the mechanical hand to open the back of the Medusa screen. He worked carefully and cautiously.


    Several secondster, a long thread like a spider¡¯s silk was slowly drawn from theplicated electric circuit. It swayed faintly amidst the breathing of the surrounding people.

 Chapter 24: Lightning Fiber (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 24: Lightning Fiber (Part 1/2)


    Actually the thread wasn¡¯t that long. It was approximately seven, eight centimeters in length. But it naturally felt different from the delicate electronic circuit inparison.


    The students¡¯ attention were naturally drawn over due to the extraction of the long thread. Someone asked: ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°Metallic properties? It appears to have decent toughness.¡±


    ¡°How was this mixed inside? Was it there in the first ce?¡±


    Zhai Gong did not give an answer to the aforementioned questions. As he looked at the object, he also looked at the state of the scanning tool. A moment passed before he directly put on a thin pair of membrane gloves. He pinched the long thread in his fingers, weighing it a bit before speaking:


    ¡°The mass is strange. There¡¯s quite the downward force.¡±


    Upon speaking, Zhai Gong prepared to ce the long thread onto a digital scale. The students all gathered around in curiosity.


    ¡°Wait a moment.¡±


    Luo Nan suddenly spoke out, causing everyone¡¯s gazes to fall onto his face. Luo Nan spoke with a downcast head: ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I don¡¯t want it repaired anymore.¡±


    His words prodded the hos nest. The group of society member by the repair stand spoke irritated:


    ¡°You did this on purpose then!¡±


    ¡°Damn. You really came to cause trouble? What grade are you?¡±


    ¡°The case is already removed. What are you ying at? Do you think we at Precision Electronics are easy targets?¡±


    Luo Nan¡¯s expression did not change. He repeated his prior words: ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯ve decided not to get it repaired.¡±


    On one side was boiling emotions. On the other was a stubborn attitude. The two sides collided against each other. Things were bing more and more intense.


    After a moment of startlement, Zhai Gong actually smoothed things over: ¡°If he doesn¡¯t want it fixed then we won¡¯t fix it. In the end, it¡¯s not our stuff. I believe that this student wouldn¡¯t go so far as to make fun of us...... Anyway, thebor costs will certainly be paid right.¡±


    Zhai Gong had intended to smooth things over with a bad joke, but no oneughed. On the other hand, Luo Nan was wholeheartedly thankful. He bowed once more:


    ¡°Thank you Zhai Gong. I¡¯m sorry for today.¡±


    Zhai Gongughed in great delight. He did his best to calm the surrounding society members: ¡°Alrighty. I¡¯ll first restore the device back to normal. It won¡¯t take too much time. Anyway, there¡¯s some tricks to this. Y¡¯all should pay attention.¡±


    Luo Nan really admired Zhai Gong for demonstrating this much concern. Yet he had no choice but to remind Zhai Gong of something: ¡°Zhai Gong. That thread......¡±


    Zhai Gong immediately understood. He spoke chuckling: ¡°In truth, I really had forgotten where I ced that toy.¡±


    He took a small sealing membrane bag from the side and ced the long thread inside. Then he handed it over to Luo Nan.


    Luo Nan already lost count how many times he gave thanks. He reached out and retrieved the bag carefully and cautiously. A dozen cold eyes fell on his body. It was without a doubt that he had turned into the most unwee person of the Precision Electronics Interest Society.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t care about this at all. He only had that fine thread in his mind at this very moment.


    Luo Nan walked out of the society hall ten minutester. He held the notebook in one hand and he held the sealed bag in the other. He was somewhat puzzled. It wasn¡¯t clear which side was heavier.


    The rays from the sun gradually fell from the west onto his body. It felt warm andfortable, like a light warm breeze brushing past.


    Thinking for a bit, Luo Nan lifted his hands to let the sun¡¯s rays illuminate the sealed membrane bag. He squinted his eyes. Something seemed off. He probably got hurt from the bright cirction of light from lightning.


    The lightning originated from the long thread. Obviously, things could be exined as such:


    The thread existed within a bolt of bright zing lightning.


    But there was no one at all in the surroundings who had a change in behavior in regards to this. Those who did notice things over here, only noticed due to Luo Nan¡¯s unfathomable posture.


    This bolt of lightning was like the burning wraith. It was also like the glowing cloud band that coiled around Zhang Yingying¡¯s body. It only revealed itself on the mysterious and unobservable ne. Ordinary people wouldn¡¯t be able to see it nor hear it. They wouldn¡¯t know of it or be able to observe it.


    This splendid light, this burning eye-dazzling sight only existed in Luo Nan¡¯s eyes!


    Luo Nan lowered his arm and his five fingers gripped tightly, nearly ripping the bag. The more Luo Nan gripped, the more he experienced the marvelous qualities of the long thread...... It waspletely disharmonious with its fine and delicate shape.


    Such a marvelous object had been concealed within the flexible e-ink screen all this time, providing no knowledge of its existence. It provided no hints whatsoever, just like itsst master.


    And so this inconceivable thing had its origins from that coward!


    Did he make it? Or did he obtain it through some channel?


    Why did he hide it in the flexible e-ink screen and send it back?


    Why were there no hints at all?


    That coward, what kind of n is he ying at in the end?


    Luo Nan¡¯s brain was aplete mess. His mind was perturbed. As a foot went out to take a step, he suddenly felt his knee weaken. He actually lost his bnce and suddenly fell headfirst.


    ¡°Oh dear. You¡¯re alright right.¡±


    Right when he was about to fall, it was Xue Lei who caught up to him from behind and supported him up. Puzzlement and worry could both be seen on Xue Lei¡¯s face: ¡°What¡¯s wrong? I was just yelling for you, but you didn¡¯t respond at all. What setback did you hit?¡±


    Only now did Luo Nan remember that Xue Lei was still waiting for him so that they could go to their grade advisor¡¯s ce together.


    ¡°What time is it?¡±


    ¡°4:50......¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s thatte?¡±


    Luo Nan was shocked at first, then he remembered that he had been situated in the repair center for at least forty minutes. Wasn¡¯t he cutting things close?


    Fortunately Xue Lei has kept waiting for him stubbornly all this time.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s move quickly.¡±


    Luo Nan took the sealed bag with the long thread and stuffed it in the coveryer of his notebook for a temporary cement. He needed to calm his head down for a moment and organize his thoughts.


    Xue Lei had long since been hopping mad with anxiety. But when he saw the state of Luo Nan¡¯s body, his heart naturally shifted directions: ¡°I¡¯m saying Nanster, that your body and bones are a bit weak. You normally don¡¯t work out much right? In my opinion, you shoulde to our gym and train for a few months. You will absolutely experience a major change.¡±


    Luo Nan stopped at the campus electric shuttle, pulling Xue Lei onto the vehicle. At the same time he inputted the shortest route to get to the grade advisor¡¯s office in his wristband. Then his lips spoke without thinking:


    ¡°When I have time.¡±


    ¡°Then it¡¯s settled!¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    Luo Nan suddenly understood why Xue Lei and Chen Xiaolin were a couple!


    The appropriate route was nned. With a bit of luck, Luo Nan and Xue Lei would practically enter the grade advisor¡¯s office at right on the dot.


    The number of new half-entered students in the school was not much. Those who had yet to enter a society by the end of the month numbered even fewer. However there were still a dozen or so people, making the office crammed and packed.


    Luo Nan and Xue Lei were thest to enter. Originally they wanted to hide themselves within the crowd, but Xue Lei¡¯srge frame was too conspicuous within the group of fifteen to sixteen year olds. It was even enough to bring Luo Nan into this.


    ¡°Thest ones to arrive. Come to the front.¡±


    The grade advisor Li Mingde, also known as ¡°Elder¡±, was nearly seventy years old. He was pretty much at retirement age. He maintained his physique quite well. He was tall and skinny with a sage-like appearance. He normally didn¡¯t talk orugh much and looked to be hard to get close to. This was concrete proof that this person was truly hard to deal with.


    The crowd was subtly disturbed. Luo Nan and Xue Lei were helplessly served as targets. They squeezed their way to the front row.


    Li Mingde use a strict gaze to cut through Luo Nan and Xue Lei¡¯s face. Then he cut his gaze through the others. This was an example by punishment, like killing a chicken to warn a monkey; it was very effective. Some students who had been a bit rowdy braced their bodies one by one. They adopted obedient attitudes.


    Due to the elective style courses, there were no set head teachers for the seventh year and above at Acumen College. Instead there was a special advisor arranged for each grade to be responsible for and to handle the daily lives and psychological needs of the students. This format appeared to be quite trendy, but quite a few advisors were running the role of being a Disciplinary Directory in the actual implementation. The were in charge of disciplining, in evaluation, and so on.


    Li Mingde was a model representation of that. Just like in a ss, this person first did roll call to verify that everyone was present. Only then did he start admonishing the students: ¡°What did I clearly call you all over here for?¡±


    All the students were silent. Not a person spoke a sound.

 Chapter 24: Lightning Fiber (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 24: Lightning Fiber (Part 2/2)


    Li Mingde¡¯s face darkened: ¡°Do you know how important the society activities of Acumen College are? It¡¯s understandable that you all didn¡¯t realize it before, but on the 24th was the society promotional event. Can you still say that you don¡¯t understand? During the event, I asked that you all must put an importance on seeking a society you admire as fast as possible. Apply and enter to avoid being punished by having course credit removed. So many days have passed and most of the hundred people who had participated in the event already have results. But what about all of you?¡±


    He pounded his table. Then a sensor activated a simple AR instation that disyed a profile: ¡°Xue Lei. Entered the Traditional Martial Arts Society on the 25th, then resigned?¡±


    ¡°Their skills were too crude......¡± Xue Lei tried to exin, but he was met with a fierce re from Li Mingde. Luo Nan casted a nce and felt deep admiration for Xue Lei.


    Then it came to be his turn: ¡°And there¡¯s also you Luo Nan. You said you would participate in the interviews for the Mystic Arts Research Society on the 27th, but you didn¡¯t go. Hehe, you skipped sses for the whole day on that day!¡±


    Luo Nan opened his lips. He wanted to exin, but he closed his mouth in the end. He just stood there silently.


    Li Mingde pointed out the failings of all the other people, of their empty society experiences. He sneered in the end: ¡°You guys are quite easy going. I exined during the society promotional event that the society series of school credit requirements take up a total of 24 units in three years ording to the school provisions. Each year you get 8 units for participating. If you don¡¯t participate, you lose 8 units. Forget it then. How many courses do you guys have to do to make up this gap?¡±


    This was the most realistic question from his speech aimed at this crowd of people. Afterall, a typical main course in a school year would only offer 4 units of school credit. Missing two main courses was sufficient to wipe practically a year¡¯s worth of effort.


    The office room immediately turned into an uproar of restlessness. It seemed that the school was serious? This was far different than the schools they were in before.


    And at this moment, Li Mingde made another heavy attack: ¡°September 30th is the final cut off date for entering into a society. Today is the 28th. You think there¡¯s still time right? But I need to remind all of you that tomorrow is the weekend break. The overwhelming majority of societies won¡¯t be open to ept new society members!¡±


    A mass of people lowered their heads to look at the time, then their expressions turned ashen. The end of society activities was at 6 o¡¯clock, yet it was already 5:20 right now. In other words, they had not-even 40 minutes to go look for a society, apply for membership, handle procedures even if they were to turn around and leave now......And this is only if the society epts them!


    There were people who screeched at once: ¡°Aren¡¯t we screwed!?¡±


    Xue Lei and Luo Nan nced at each other. They realized the situation was extremely simr to that mentioned by Chen Xiaolin. They then lowered their heads to y dead.


    Seeing the group of people being lifeless or having expressions of being violently disturbed, Li Mingde waved his hand: ¡°The school is a good school. I am also a good advisor. We¡¯ve already fulfilled our duties of informing you. But the freedom of choice you made was to undertake personal consequences...... Fine then. Time is of the essence. Do your best to seize the time to save your school credit.¡±


    Oi oi oi. What was he ying at?


    Xue Lei was the type to resign from a society. Luo Nan had a special situation in not attending an interview. The vast majority of the others had introverted personalities; it was because of this that they dilly-dallied until thest moment when it came to selecting societies. They were indecisive. Also these were inexperienced 15~16 year olds. They were scared out of their wits early on from a few rounds of bombarding words. What freedom of choice did they have!?


    The group of people looked at each other, not one daring to move. The students whocked in guts were already on the verge of crying. Luo Nan and Xue Lei originally wanted to withdraw back, but now they found it too awkward to move.


    Things continued like this until someone with a bit of a flexible brain opened his mouth with a stammer: ¡°Then Advisor Li, things are already this far along. It¡¯s toote whether we rush for it or take our time. Can the school make some sort of arrangements.......¡±


    ¡°The school won¡¯t meddle with the freedom of choice of students.¡± Li Mingde continued to emphasize the wording ¡°freedom of choice¡±, loving to ignore them.


    The youthful students began to worry. They began to speak without thinking: ¡°But you¡¯re the advisor! When a student has difficulties, shouldn¡¯t you help handle them?¡±


    ¡°You ignorant children. This time you¡¯ll listen to me?¡± Though Li Mingde spoke as such, his grave expression somewhat softened a bit. He leaned back in his chair and muttered to himself for a moment. ¡°How about this. I¡¯ll give you all a proposal. Just a proposal!¡±


    It didn¡¯t matter what would spew from Li Mingde¡¯s mouth. The anxiety ridden students would all listen: ¡°A proposal is fine. A proposal is fine.¡±


    Once one person would take the lead, several other people would follow. The office room soon turned into a chaotic rumble.


    Li Mingde shook his head. He extended his finger towards the crowd of students: ¡°In fact I have some words. The difficulties are more realistic than you expect this time. Don¡¯t even think of the societies with great reputation and good resources. Your individual interests also need to take a back seat. Your goal now is to enter into a society. First guarantee yourself a ce to stay at......¡±


    The crowd of students somewhat came to. They suddenly realized the rationality behind those words and said: ¡°That¡¯s true. That¡¯s true.¡±


    ¡°Then you can only select the more obscure societies, the ones with lower poprity. These societies possess limits with the scope of their activities and resources. You all probably just skimmed through their information before, but now you have no choice this time.¡±


    Li Mingde sighed a breath: ¡°Frankly speaking, saving your school units and guaranteeing your learning quality is of number one importance. This is my proposal and you all have heard it. Now then, go and handle things at godspeed.¡±


    A dozen or so young students looked at each other in dismay. They heard the logic behind Li Mingde¡¯s words, but those words were also unavoidably vague and generalized.


    Li Mingde saw that most of the people had idle expressions and couldn¡¯t helpughing: ¡°I¡¯ve already spoken to this juncture. What else are you all to do? Do you feel that you don¡¯t have enough time? If that¡¯s the case, I¡¯ll open a backdoor for you. If you feel that half an hour is not enough to choose, then I¡¯ll add an extra night. Tomorrow at 8 o¡¯clock in the morning. Contact me with your decision then. I¡¯ll try to make contact with those societies and arrange a reply or an interview for you. I can¡¯t give anymore time. Things won¡¯t be able to be arrangedter than that time...... And, I won¡¯t be able to guarantee the sess.¡±


    Of course it was good to have an extra night to consider things, but the problem was that things were not guaranteed. Some people revealed bitter expressions: ¡°Advisor. There are over four thousand societies in the school. Can you narrow down the scope of them or something?¡±


    ¡°You think this is the final exams?¡±


    Li Mingde gave a sweeping ring nce. Then he pondered for a moment before pounding against the desk once more. The AI Business System switched to a different interface in ordance to his allocated conditions. It disyed a stream of society names, thirty four of them to be exact: ¡°I¡¯ve just searched in the administrative system. You guys can refer to it.......¡±


    The flock of people squeezed their way forward. But Xue Lei at the very front gave augh when he swept his eyes across the information:


    Art of Growing Carnivorous nts Interest Society?


    Obscure Female Poetry Psychological Research Society?


    Telepathy with Higher Lifeforms in Neb M31 Society?


    What the f*ck?


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t join the fun. He was being squeezed dizzy by the other people. He braced himself against the advancing flock of people, retreating in their opposite direction to hide temporarily in peace.


    The matter with school units and societies was admittedly important, but right now the majority of his brain consisted of the stirring of that lightning fiber. He unconsciously took out the sealed bag and stared at it lost in thought.


    And at this time he saw that the lightning fiber had already pierced a small hole in the sealed bag. Half of it was already exposed outside. It appeared to be sharper than he imagined.


    ¡°The material properties are indeed special...... But how could the issue lie in its material properties?¡± Luo Nan pinched the long thread in his hand. Then in the next moment he was stupefied.


    This was the first time he touched the long thread bare. The long thread had an exceptionally tender sensation to it. But Luo Nan also felt an iprehensible ¡°temperature¡± seeping into him. He savored it for a moment. It was not cold, yet not hot. Instead seemed the tingly energy of an electric current had channeled into him through his fingertips, proliferating throughout his entire body in an instant.


    His body didn¡¯t really do anything, but the long thread floating in the light breeze within the room suddenly stiffened straight. Its toughness was a hundred percent of that of a sharp needle. It vibrated back and forth.


    Luo Nan starred with a stunned eye, not understanding the principle behind it. But during his moment of puzzlement and confusion, his wristband vibrated. A call wasing through.


    He was going to extend his hand to answer, but he had forgotten about the vibrating long thread in his hand. His hand moved forward and the long thread fell directly forward to touch the side of the wristband. Unexpectedly, not a single noise was made. The thread pierced directly inside. Seven, eight centimeters of length, practically half the total length had entered inside.


    And at this moment, Luo Nan¡¯s hand had an electric current run through it. His fingers felt numb and he was unable to hold onto the thread any longer. His eyes stared nkly at the remaining length of the thread boring its way inside. It seemed alive, and it disappeared in the blink of an eye.

 Chapter 25: Telepathic Sensor (Part ?)

    Chapter 25: Telepathic Sensor (Part ?)


    Luo Nan¡¯s eyes were wide opened as he watched everything happen. He waspletely unable to stop it.


    The interface of the lit up wristband was a chaotic mess, likely due to the pration of the long thread. Then the wristband darkened.


    But the screen lit up once more within a span that was less than half of second. It returned to normal and the call continued to go through. It still continued to vibrate to notify him. However, Luo Nan noticed that the style of the interface had a clear distinction from what it was before.


    And moreover, it was inexplicably familiar.


    Luo Nan looked at the interface of his wristband and was dumbstruck. This continued until Xue Lei walked over from the side to remind him with some words:


    ¡°Oi. You got a call.¡±


    Luo Nan came to like waking from a dream. This time he clearly noticed the information regarding the inbound number. His eyelids twitched, and his first reaction was to block this fellow.


    Second thoughts were running in his mind. Just as the first rounding of calling vibration ended, a second round immediately came right after.


    Luo Nan spat a breath of air and connected the call.


    A candid, amiable, and extremely charismatic voice sounded out from his wristband in the next moment: ¡°Junior Nan. It¡¯s me man~ Xie Junping.¡±


    I know who you are.......


    Luo Nan absolutely wasn¡¯t willing to acknowledge this person. Over thirty hours of torment starting from yesterday until now, and unmet after-effect consequences of inconveniences, all had its origins in this fellow¡¯s crazy actions.


    If this guy dared to show himself right now, Luo Nan would absolutely be very happy to perform some ordinarily not-so-convenient experiments on Xie Junping¡¯s body. Luo Nan wouldn¡¯t even blink an eye.


    However Xie Junping had no shame and it was to the extreme. When he saw Luo Nan¡¯s moment of silence, he immediately apologized over and over.


    ¡°I¡¯m really sorry. I¡¯m sorry. Junior Nan, the responsibility of the matter from yesterday liespletely with me. In fact, I should have contacted you yesterday, but I was busy preparing a few things; I absolutely didn¡¯t have time for detailed talks....... How about this. I¡¯lle to school right away. Where are you Junior Nan? Let¡¯s meet up. I want to apologize in person.¡±


    Xie Junping spoke each syble of Junior Nan with so much affection that Luo Nan got goosebumps listening to him. This guy probably mulled over the tone of addressing Luo Nan for half a day before he decided on this manner of speaking.


    Luo Nan really didn¡¯t want to be involved with any matter with this sort of person. He responded not coldly, but not friendly: ¡°Senior, you don¡¯t need to be this polite. I¡¯m also busy over here.¡±


    ¡°Busy with what? Do you need help? I have some time today man~ I can pull some strings.¡±


    Luo Nan could only shake his head upon listening. Can you just reveal the arrogance of a second generation child of weath? Anyone can see that you¡¯re nning something with this type of enthusiastic tail wagging.


    Strangely enough, Xie Junping¡¯s half-truthful words carried the hint of nervousness. Could it be that he was worried over having that trivial matter pop up again? The matter with the nightclub is fine. The Pot of Destiny is fine too. It had already been a day since the pertinent things happened. It would be bad to handle them again. Luo Nan was just about to ressify this person in his mind to the lowest category.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I can handle it myself.¡±


    Luo Nanpletely believed in his older cousin Moya¡¯s words right now. There would be no good food to eat when one sows seeds and bes entangled with this group of rich kids.


    Li Xuecheng was like this. Xie Junping was no different.


    But Xie Junping¡¯s skill in involving people was top notch: ¡°Efficiency, efficiency man~ We can finish handling things in ten minutes. Is there a need to drag things out for an hour? Where are you? Share your coordinate marker with me. I¡¯lle find you!¡±


    Luo Nan wrinkled his brows and he instinctively looked at the interface of his wristband. The screen that had been darkened by the call suddenly lit up to disy a delicate and fine interface.


    Indeed, the interface was different now.


    Luo Nan¡¯s wristband¡¯s previous interface was automatically created from a typical theme. The hue was white and the interface was concise and snappy with no extra embellishments. But now the main color of the interface turned to a space-blue. There were also detailed stars decorating the background, and even the software icons changed.


    The problem was that Luo Nan was still familiar with it......Aside from a slight discrepancy in theyout, this was clearly the main theme of the interface of his flexible e-ink screen..


    He had met a ghost.


    The matter with the interface of his wristband was really weird. Luo Nan felt that his brain wasn¡¯t up to par. He really didn¡¯t want to stay idle in this chaotic mess of the office room. He then called to Xue Lei that he would go ahead and leave first.


    It was without a doubt that he was the first person among this group of students to leave this office room.


    Xue Lei also wanted to leave with Luo Nan, but he was stuck there by Li Mingde¡¯s shout due to some unknown problem. He returned back to the room with a bitter face.


    Luo Nan left the door, but he wouldn¡¯t abandon Xue Lei that easily. He stayed waiting at the corridor outside the door.


    Xie Junping continued to chatter on and on: ¡°Hey hey Junior Nan. Can you hear me? Give me your coordinate marker.¡±


    I¡¯ll mark your sister!


    As soon as Luo Nan released this thought, he actually witnessed the interface of the wristband change. It was actually the gps window, and the rted coordinates sharing function was chosen. These things emerged just like this in front of his eyes.


    It was as if an invisible hand did all the operationspletely in a sh. The middle segments were left outpletely.


    Luo Nan was somewhat stunned and stupefied. His present AI instation could only use voicemands to attain this sort of result. Yet Luo Nan was extremely certain that his mouth didn¡¯t spit out a single syble at all.


    What had truly affected his wristband were his thoughts.


    With the intention of performing tests, Luo Nan thought¡¯s stirred: ¡°Share.¡±


    The corresponding option lit up. And Xie Junping on the other side of the call was exalted. He spoke a sentence ¡°I¡¯ll be there soon¡± in a hurry, then ended the call.


    Luo Nan stared at the interface of his wristband dumbstruck.


    The setup of his wristband the flexible e-ink screen actually had a portion of the same data shared. The swapping of interfaces was alright by itself, but there was also the capability of telepathic control mode. What the hell was this.


    Telepathic control was not some sort of new toy. But the problem was, Luo Nan didn¡¯t carry any sort of telepathic equipment. His wristband itself wasn¡¯t installed with any kind of these capabilities.


    Of course, Luo Nan clearly remembered that the wristband had an additional ¡°long thread¡± inside it right before the marvelous changes.


    And Luo Nan suddenly remembered something else also at this moment. A certain person had said something back in the Precision Electronics Interest Society: ¡°The processor, memory module, signal i/o module, sensors... Itcks all of thempletely! Do you just use this as a mirror most of the time?¡±


    Obviously the flexible e-ink screen was not a mirror; Luo Nan had used it perfectly fine.


    This fact needed to be established. Wouldn¡¯t this mean that the long needle contained the capabilities of a processor, memory module, i/o signal module, sensors, and other misceneous things?


    Just this alone, just the existence of the telepathic sensor module was enough for him to impatiently wish to perform testing and verification at once.


    After an interval of bafflement, a steady flow of students came out from the office room. Some of their paces were rushed, some appeared to let out long breaths of relief. However there was no trace of Xue Lei as of yet.


    Only until the very end did a noise ring out from the door. It was unexpectedly Li Mingde exiting. His expression was a bit ugly. Behind him was Xue Lei. Xue Lei rushed Luo Nan with a grin upon seeing him.


    Li Mingde also saw Luo Nan. He still remembered the students that had avoided his ¡°good will¡± and walked out the office room. His expression turned heavy and he opened his mouth spontaneously:


    ¡°Your name is Luo Nan right.¡±


    Luo Nan was a bit startled, but said, ¡°Advisor Li.¡±


    ¡°Have you decided on a society yet?¡±


    ¡°...... Not yet.¡±


    ¡°Then you should make the most of your time. Don¡¯t dawdle.¡±


    Li Mingde¡¯s tone was very stiff. Luo Nan didn¡¯t know why Li Mingde¡¯s mood was bad, but he didn¡¯t care. Luo Nan just nodded his head, which could be considered his answer.


    The problem was that Li Mingde got angry upon witnessing Luo Nan¡¯s care-free attitude. He had a rapid andplete change in personality from being the grade advisor to being the disciplinary director :


    ¡°One more thing. Yesterday you skipped sses for the entire day. You¡¯re temperament is very vile. You will need to write an exnation exining the reasons why you skipped sses. You can also write a self-reflection. You absolutely need to make the facts clear and you will need to bring out reasons sufficient enough to convince the working teachers. Otherwise it will be extremely difficult to receive good grades in the three main sses and two minor sses you are taking. There will be greater pressure in terms of your school credit.¡±


    Luo Nan uttered not a word. He could only cower his body to disy his understanding.


    Li Mingde was especially vexed by Luo Nan¡¯s taciturn disy, but it would be bad for him to say more. He calmed his face, turned, and walked away to the elevator door before he shook his head with a humph:


    ¡°Lei!¡±


    Luo Nan and Lei Xue nced at each other in helplessness.


    ¡°What did he call you for just now?¡±


    ¡°Seems like there¡¯s some Hand Combat Society that wants to pull me in. They let Advisor Li help by asking me. I gave them my answer.¡±


    They were the same as two stuck out nails. No wonder they were scolded.


    Li Mingde was already seventy years old; he felt, to some degree, that he had the privilege to be arrogant due to his age. Luo Nan and Xue Lei didn¡¯t care about this. They prepared to leave so they walked down the corridor. The elevator door opened and Xie Junping came out in a hurry, looking stylish. He gazed forward fixed, brushing past Li Mingde¡¯s body.


    Li Mingde stared stunned. He wanted to greet Xie Junping, but instead he saw Xie Junping¡¯s gaze sweep to Luo Nan. Then Xie Junping spoke with greatughter:


    ¡°Junior Nan! Junior Nan! You¡¯ve made it easy to find you!¡±

 Chapter 25: Telepathic Sensor (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 25: Telepathic Sensor (Part 2/2)


    Xie Junping was already past the state of being a depressed and muddle-headed drunk after an entire day of recovery and preparation. His previous form waspletely tossed to aside into a deep ditch. Right now he was 100 percent aidback, bright, and positive youth.


    Xie Junping overtook Luo Nan with a few steps. He originally wanted to embrace Luo Nan with a hug, but he could only grasp Luo Nan¡¯s hand when he saw that Luo Nan didn¡¯t have any desire for one. Xie Junping grabbed Luo Nan¡¯s hand, not letting go. He shook fiercely:


    ¡°Junior Nan. It¡¯s all thanks to you. It¡¯s all thanks to you.¡±


    Luo Nan couldn¡¯t stand Xie Junping¡¯s cordial spirit. He twisted his hand away and took the opportunity to introduce Xue Lei and Xie Junping to one another.


    Xie Junping took Xue Lei as Luo Nan¡¯s good friend, so he was also exceedingly cordial to Xue Lei. After greeting Xue Lei, Xie Junping asked: ¡°What sort of business do you guys have over here? Are you done?¡±


    Xue Lei had seen Xie Junping in the society promotional event before. It wasn¡¯t like the time with Luo Nan when he didn¡¯t have any impression at all, he was able to recognize Xie Junping.


    He didn¡¯t overplicate his thinking and gave an honest answer: ¡°Just some matters with societies. Soon we¡¯re going to miss the deadline. Advisor Li is pressuring us a bit.¡±


    ¡°Societies? Advisor Li? Junior Nan, did you enter one yet?¡±


    Xie Junping was suddenly startled. He turned his head looking around.


    Luo Nan felt Xie Junping¡¯s reaction was strange. He shook his head: ¡°Not yet......¡±


    Right now Li Mingde had observed all of Xie Junping¡¯s fishy behavior from the vantage point of the elevator. He wished to avoid them by ducking in the elevator, but he was at quite the elderly age. He wasn¡¯t that nimble. In the end Xie Junping¡¯s gaze swept onto him.


    ¡°Hey Uncle Li. I came here in a rush and didn¡¯t see you. How strange. How strange.¡±


    Xie Junping drew out his tone as he greeted in a loud voice.


    Li Mingde squeezed out a smiling expression. He had just reprimanded Luo Nan. When he saw Xie¡¯s and Luo¡¯s conversation, he couldn¡¯t avoid feeling weakness in his heart. After a word of acknowledgement, he waved his hand in hopes of getting away:


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. It¡¯s nothing. You all have a nice chat. I have things I need to first attend to.¡±


    ¡°Wait a bit~ Shouldn¡¯t wee to you for society matters sir?¡±


    Li Mingde hesitated for quite a while when Xie Junping spoke these words. In the end Li Mingde still strolled his way over. A smile and benevolent expression was on his face, but he was feeling restlessness in his heart.


    Ignore Xie Junping¡¯s intimate addressing of ¡°Uncle Li¡±. Li Mingde knew himself that his title of being the grade advisor was not taken into consideration by Xie Junping at all. Ignoring Xie Junping¡¯s family status, Xie Junping¡¯s authority and work in the honor society within the student council was enough to unwaveringly suppress Li Mingde.


    If this advisor were to happily do what he wanted, the Xie Family would more or less do something about him for sure.


    He had just barely inched his way back, wielding the self-respect of an elderly. Heughed before speaking: ¡°Junping~ You two know each other?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right! Uncle Li doesn¡¯t know about this! This is my savior! The savior who saved my life!¡±


    Xie Junping was smiling andughing, but his words were filled with earnest and energy. No one would misunderstand: ¡°Uncle Li, you¡¯ve heard of the matter in the R&D district yesterday right?¡±


    ¡°Hic. I know.¡±


    ¡°But you don¡¯t know that during the incident, I was in a state of life or death ontop of a nearby overpass. When that earthquake happened, I fell head first down. If it weren¡¯t for Junior Nan¡¯s bravery and courage, if it weren¡¯t for Luo Nan grabbing onto me, eighty percent of me would have be meat paste.¡±


    ¡°Wow. That¡¯s very dangerous.¡± Li Mingde was growing more nervous. Of course, he was nervous for himself...... He still needed to maintain an expression of empathy; he felt very ufortable.


    Now Xie Junping was firmly sticking close to Li Mingde: ¡°Uncle Li, this is what being brave and acting with justice is. He saved my life. This is not something that can be rewarded by an old-fashioned medal. Give him school credit aspensation! Don¡¯t say that this mushy life of me, Xie Junping, isn¡¯t worth 2~3 units of school credit?¡±


    The corner of Li Mingde¡¯s mouth twitched. He had no idea how he should respond.


    Several seconds passed before Xie Junping made the first realization: ¡°That¡¯s right. The application for increasing credit in our school is quite troublesome. I¡¯ve thought of something. How about this Uncle Li. Why don¡¯t we exert all our strength on the society side. We can¡¯t becking when ites to my savior right?¡±


    Li Mingde was being overrun by the waves of words. This,bined with a bit of temper, made Li Mingde feel that he had turned into dough and that he was letting Xie Junping knead him. Although he still wanted to maintain a bit of arrogance in front of the students, he unfortunately could only grunt in agreement.


    ¡°......Then it¡¯s settled!¡±


    Xie Junping had pressured quite a few benefits from Li Mingde. Only then did he send Li Mingde off into the elevator and wave his hand in farewell. He turned around and winked his eyes towards Luo Nan and Xue Lei: ¡±It¡¯s settled. Elder Mingde is still easy to talk to.¡±


    Luo Nan and Xue Lei looked at each other. They both had bitter smiles.


    Although Xue Lei had a straight temperament, he wasn¡¯t foolish. He was certain that Xie Junping had business with Luo Nan from the hurried way Xie Junping came here. He didn¡¯t want to get involved, so he chatted with Xie Junping for a few words before conveying his gratitude. Then he said he was going to prepare for some dinner activities with his girlfriend. He was the first to take his leave.


    Luo Nan also wanted to leave, but second thoughts ran through his mind. It would be better to rify the situation today. In the end he had to understand where this cordialness of Xie Jieping wasing from.


    There was no other people right now. Xie Junping spoke more openly. He approached Luo Nan and asked: ¡°Li Mingde was being weird just now. Is it because he was bothering you beforehand?¡±


    Luo Nanughed and did not speak.


    You must know that this old thing is not trustworthy. It¡¯s not like he¡¯s been relying on fishing for money with the societies for only one or two days. Anyway, this sort of thing won¡¯t happen in the future. There are two types of teachers in Acumen College. One type is the teaching type. The other type is the babysitting type. Li Mingde is of thetter, and obviously one who is paid to do so. He will be very careful now that he knows of our rtionship.


    Xie Junping brought out a bold air unconsciously. But soon he thought of Luo Nan¡¯s Anti-Hero kind of level of virtue. He was somewhat embarrassed:


    ¡°Junior, it¡¯s fine that you know now. In reality......¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡± Luo Nan didn¡¯t want to continue discussing this topic.


    Xie Junping took the opportunity to begin friendly rtionships: ¡°Junior Nan, I know that you¡¯re not willing to be troubled over this sort of matter. It¡¯s easy...... You saved my life yesterday Junior Nan, and you also saved my reputation. It¡¯s not excessive to say your actions literally gave me a new lease on life. And so henceforth, Junior Nan¡¯s business is my business. Ignoring other things, obtaining schoolwork contacts and sprinkling money for societies are all my expertise. Future matters you need to have resolved in the school, whatever expenses you have outside you need paid, if your older bro blinks in face of these, then I¡¯d just be inhuman!¡±


    The majority of his words were blurted without thinking. They contained the truth, but they were too exaggerated. It was impossible to be assured by them. It was uncertain if he was dizzy from blood rushing to his head, causing him to blurt out words without thinking. Things weren¡¯t too good in the end. Both sides found themselves pretty awkward.


    Luo Nan only followed what was proper in his heart. He had no change of opinion towards Xie Junping: ¡°Senior¡¯s words are serious.¡±


    Xie Junping approached a bit closer to reveal a mysterious smile: ¡°Junior Nan. It¡¯s not my style to give thanks through empty promises. And so, let me take you somewhere......¡±


    ¡°Senior......¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t misunderstand me. We¡¯ve spoken seriously. Today I havee to truly and properly convey my thanks. My attitude is very serious. Junior, you must give me this face by all means.¡±


    Xie Junping grabbed onto Luo Nan¡¯s arm and brought out a won¡¯t-let-go-even-in-death attitude. ¡°It¡¯s not even six o¡¯clock right now. The society activities have yet to end. Junior, give me some of your time. If by six o¡¯clock you¡¯re disatisfied, you can turn around and walk away. I absolutely won¡¯t stop you.¡±


    Luo Nan lowered his head to look at the time on the screen of his wrist band, however all that met his eyes was a pitch-ck darkness. He tapped it and the screen disyed the low-battery indication, then the wristband immediately entered into energy-saving mode.


    The battery consumption is a bit much......


    Luo Nan recalled that his wristband had at least half battery, and this was normally enough tost a whole month without any problems. The current situation was clearly abnormal.


    He spent some effort muttering to himself in deep thought. Then he was dragged towards the elevator by Xie Junping.


    Previous Chapter Table of Contents Next Chapter

 Chapter 26: Order Society (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 26: Order Society (Part 1/2)


    Xie Junping already had a car prepared downstairs.


    Acumen College prohibited all vehicles from entering externally. What Xie Junping prepared was only a electric tourist car; it was the same type as the transport cart in Acumen College¡¯s hospital this morning.


    It seemed like this kind of vehicle was the status symbol of the rich kids in the school.


    Luo Nan¡¯s heart trembled as he thought of Li Xuecheng. There was a bit of vor from his close examination of sizing up Xie Junping.


    It must be stated that the burning wraith unbridledly sent ¡°seeds¡± all over yesterday morning. There was no reason that Xie Junping would be exempt from the same circumstance...... Luo Nan still remembered that Xie Junping¡¯s mind was on the brink of copse at that time. The burning wraith loved precisely this sort of intense and negative state of mind the most.


    But right now it seemed that this fellow waspletely normal. At least a burning wraith didn¡¯t leap out from his body and scream in assault and ughter against Luo Nan.


    Obviously Xie Junping didn¡¯t know that Luo Nan had these thoughts zing around. He dragged Luo Nan onto the car and personally acted as the driver. He drove speedily to the northern part of campus.


    Luo Nan sat shotgun in the car. With a little deep thought, the mental ne shook and the heavily chained crow probed out from between his eyebrows. It paused a bit before continuing to spread its wings to go stick close to Xie Junping¡¯s body. The abstract symbol at the front of the chain had its luster put out, looking like the eye of a devil. The responses he was able to observe were nothing but ayer of deeper darkness and gloom.


    Several seconds passed and the level of red brightness suddenly increased. The rays were on the verge of piercing into Xie Junping¡¯s body. However the heavily chained crow sounded with a cry. Then Luo Nan suppressed the crow¡¯s restlessness.


    ¡°Indeed, there¡¯s a demon......¡±


    Luo Nan was not really surprised. Afterall, there was nothing was really said to be strange from the perspective of logic. Moreover, it was clear that the maturity of the seed in Xie Junping¡¯s body was far different than in the case with Li Xuecheng; the seed still remained in a half-hibernated state. It took Xie Junping¡¯s blood and energy to mask its odor and be indistinct.


    If Luo Nan were to take his own body as a reference, Xie Junping should roughly be at the stage right before Luo Nan had the conflict with Li Xuecheng on the warship yesterday.


    Two days had already passed. Is the maturation of the seed going poorly? Or is it due to the element of the host¡¯s temperament?


    The chains had coiled a few rotations around Xie Junping¡¯s body. In the end the chains were slowly pulled back.


    Just wait a bit more. Just wait a bit more......


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t act blindly without thinking. He had a substantially deeper understanding of his own capabilities ever since he devoured the first burning wraith. His pondering was even moreprehensive. He could separate his abilities into two aspects at this moment:


    One aspect was the heavily chained crow. It represented the power of the format ¡°My heart¡¯s a prison¡±. It opposed his introversion, acting as a stabilizing force. It controlled and suppressed external and internal abnormal changes.


    Another aspect was the manifestation of the burning wraith as the abstract symbol. It could be abbreviated as the ¡°Wraith Sign¡±. This toy retained an appropriate portion of the capabilities of its archetype. Its nature was extremely aggressive, like a ferocious beast on the hunt. Its reactions were sharp and its insatiable appetite would be extremelyrge from time to time.


    The suppressive strength of the chains was overwhelming at his current stage. The Wraith Sign could only lie low and wait for an opportunity in the overwhelming majority of circumstances. Only when there was an intense provocation, only when Luo Nan would face the killing intent of other burning wraiths or when extreme emotions erupted nearby, would the Wraith Sign activate. The majority of actions would be subjected to the chains¡¯ control.


    Luo Nan recognized this point very clearly. His foundation was in the chained crow, in this Format. The Wraith Sign was just an applicable tool. Luo Needed need to carefully polish the principles of use behind this tool, and Xie Junping...... would be quite the good reference point.


    Yep. It could be said that this was a tiny revenge.


    Luo Nan¡¯s mind stirred telepathically once more as the chains withdrew. Hemanded to chains to streak across to his wrist. The chains then made contact with his wristband without a sound.


    The outer sealed shell of the electronic device had no meaning when faced with the mental scan. The various devices within were likewise. Luo Nan discovered that his own senses had limits in terms of their ¡°resolution¡±. He only had a rough perception of the the interior construction of his wristband; it was extremely fuzzy.


    That long thread was the sole exception...... It was extremely eye catching. Or in other words, it was far too dazzling!


    The long thread¡¯s lustrous radiance really seemed to be like lightning streaking across the night¡¯s sky when Luo Nan engaged contact with the thread purely on the mental ne. As for the twoponents of Luo Nan¡¯s abilities, the Wraith Sign had no response towards the thread at all. And the heavily chained crow...... believed it to be a conductive wire?


    Luo Nan snorted, but he was caught off guard. He let the lightning flow through the heavily chained crow and strike between his eyebrows and into his brain. His body shook violently.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Xie Junping was frightened.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡±


    Luo Nan stroked his forehead with a bizarre expression.


    If one were to chose the best ce in Acumen College, it would certainly be the circle of wends established when the school was founded. This was the number one greenery in the city. This ce was practically covered entirely by greenery, so one would always breath in fresh and clean air. And the slightly moist floor could practically take the long gurgling brook that weaved through a forest and have it permeated into one¡¯s bloodstream.


    And so Acumen College¡¯s beautifulid mostly in its wends. The wends¡¯ beautyid mostly in that peaceful flowing tree-weaving river.


    The long river divided the wends into a north bank and a south bank, also dividing into an area of seclusion and an area of flourishment. The flourishing southern bank¡¯s iconic building was the school¡¯s main auditorium. Then crossing the river to the north was the dense wends jungle. A nce looking over would reveal practically no trace of human construction.


    In this time of the day, the stream of people in the southern bank was tightly knit while the northern bank was rtively quiet. Xie Junping dragged Luo Nan to enter the jungle of the northern bank. He appeared to drive the car with familiarity and ease, being able to leap out to a strip of level ground from the dense woods. He continued driving forward and introduced without much thought:


    ¡°Whenpared to the southern bank, the northern bank takes up the majority of the wends. Many campus research institutions are situated here due to the good environment, however the cost of each is quite considerable. Be it the high taxes, construction materials, construction methods, structural design, all are strictly limited...... As for how strictly limited they are, you¡¯ll understand as soon as you see the main auditorium.¡±


    Acumen College¡¯s main auditorium was quite well-known among the all the colleges of Xia City. It had an eastern building style of overhanging eaves and was hidden in the middle of the jungle. It was a subset of the wends garden.


    The majority of the surface of the main auditorium really didn¡¯t have any practical use. The area of functional usageidpletely underground. Only in this way could the auditorium hold over a hundred thousand students and teachers simultaneously for ceremonies.


    ¡°You see it right. The main auditorium is pretty low within in the wends. Constructions cannot exceed fifty meters in height ording to the regtions within the wends area. It¡¯s the quarter the height of Pan Hill.¡±


    The Pan Hill that Xie Junping spoke of faced opposite of the main auditorium across the river. It was a tiny hill that was only sixteen~seventeen meters in height. Atop of the hill was a sea of green, yellow, and autumn red interweaving colors of splendor. An octagonal pavilion stood on top. The view there was wide and vast, giving a panoramic view of the whole area. It was the most refreshing thing ever.


    In fact, Luo Nan loved to go on top and gaze far in the distance as the wind would blow against him. He was only able to endure Xie Junping¡¯s suspenseful exnation until now because of the beautiful scene that matched his tastes.


    Xie Junping¡¯s mouth was an unceasing torrent of words: ¡°There are few ces where buildings could be constructed within the wends area. Naturally, environmental destruction carries criminal charges. Who wants to be charged? One can only seek space underground if one wishes to realize a functional facility. But the problem is that the geology and undergroundposition of the wends also has protective limits. The southern bank is a bit better, but digging three meters down in the northern bank is considered a vition...... Those research institutions had to pay a bitter price.¡±


    He blinked his eyes upon speaking to this point: ¡°Anyway, there¡¯s always an exception for everything.¡±


    Xie Junping extended his finger to let Luo Nan see an angle of a certain building through the dense branches and leaves of the thick woods.


    Luo Nan¡¯s first impression was just a feeling that this was ¡°pretty old-fashioned¡±. This was probably because of the rusted spots that were on the edges of the building. It gave one a rough impression.


    Xie Junpingughed with squinted eyes: ¡°Don¡¯t look down on it. ¡®Gear¡¯ is the building we see ahead of us right now. It is the exception among exceptions of the thirty nine research institutions and society buildings in the northern bank.

 Chapter 26: Order Society (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 26: Order Society (Part 2/2)


    ¡°Gear?¡±


    ¡°Yep. The name is very strange right? But I feel that it¡¯s impossible to find a more urate description within a short time-frame.¡± Xie Junping was like an energetic salesman, but his delivery was just so-so.


    Luo Nan lightly pressed his hand against his forehead. He had quickly formed the habit of doing simr actions within this period of time. It made his attention not as concentrated.


    The two people weaved through the natural screen of trees while they talked. Soon they saw the front of a building.


    The outside of the building was a rusted red color, just as in the first nce impression. That color seemed to not be of any natural color of the environment, instead it was like a rusted metal, a bit of a painted color. It turned out that the main part of the building was overrun by nts, long vines, and weeds, making it even harder to tell the arrangement of the whole thing.


    Xie Junping was a bit anxious. This type of external form gave Luo Nan a bad impression. Xie Junping rushed to supplement: ¡°There¡¯s been quite a few renovations in the past two years. The surroundings are a bit messy, but people will absolutely be pleasantly surprised looking at the insides.¡±


    Luo Nan did not know what to do, so he didn¡¯t speak a word. He wanted to see where the hell Xie Junping was going with this conversation.


    Two people went weaved on a small path born from weeds until they reached the main entrance of the building. What should be a small za was set up here. However, it was already seized by the assaulting jungle due to too few people caring for the area. It seemed that the main door wasn¡¯t sealed closed; the long vines of the wends extended inside the hall.


    The entire building was located in the tight encirclement of woods. The small za was the greatest vantage point nearby, but it was still hard to get a full view of the building.


    Luo Nan only now realized something: ¡°There¡¯s nobody here?¡±


    ¡°There will be people during the semester. Now it¡¯s just an empty shell.¡±


    Xie Junping used his wristband for AI ess privileges. Then the metal door of the building lifted up and therge empty hall inside automatically lit up.


    Xie Junping pulled Luo Nan inside while giving an exnation: ¡°This ce is known presently as the ¡®Order Club¡¯. It was once a very lively old society. Rumor even has it that this club was established before the school was. It had attracted over a dozen of the world¡¯s top five-hundred bankrollers and investors. It¡¯s super awesome. But having too many investors is also troublesome. In particr, after the earlier generation of members graduated, the investors that backed theter generations were extremelypetitive. What used to be a perfectly fine society forcefully had a battlefield of hell emerge, giving fruit to hatred that could kill. Two major incidents happened in sequence. One in the year 90 and the year 93, the characteristics of which were vile. The school prohibited new members from being recruited, causing the society to fall to ruin.¡±


    The two had just entered thepletely empty hall at this moment. No cleancut square structures could be seen here. A revolving staircase, a cylindrical elevator, and a ring-shaped corridor were cut in the giant hall. There was also a hint to a nature that was vaster and wider.


    Xie Junping shrugged his shoulders: ¡°The main architecture within this building are circr-based. This is probably the reason why the building was named ¡®Gear¡¯. The main fifteen rooms, hallways, and all the series of courtyards on each floor are said to be all circr in shape. It¡¯s all derangedly circr. You¡¯ll probably be a bit dizzy the first time you enter here, but you¡¯ll be fine when you adapt to it.¡±


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t really feel that there was anything to adapt to. Instead he was somewhat curious.


    Xie Junping continued with his introduction: ¡°Indeed, the club has the greatest fate for being passed on to this generation. In fact, the qualifications for recruiting new members will be renewed this semester. If only those fools hadn¡¯t been so stupid to cause financial issuesst quarter, have all the investors withdraw their backing, and have their funding runpletely dry and empty... The senior members left the society one by one, and the few meager members who stayed are tied in rted legal cases. They¡¯re being investigated even now. If their guilt is confirmed, then the society will automatically be disbanded.


    Having spoken to this point, Xie Junping sighed a fake breath: ¡°The club hasn¡¯t dissolved yet, but there are people scrambling over this ce like it¡¯s a matter of life or death.¡±


    Luo Nan was somewhat surprised: ¡°This ce is really popr?¡±


    ¡°Of course! The school¡¯s societies have been coveting the northern bank for a long time, especially ¡®Gear¡¯. Gear takes up 5,000 square meters of space. It¡¯s already ranked among the best of the societies and research institutions. It was the shiest building in the northern bank back in the day. There¡¯s no shortage of investors buying stuff here these days. Even more importantly, this is the sole and only ce that can be excavated in the northern bank. Only this ce has sufficient underground space among all the research institutions and society buildings of the northern bank. This ce is iparable! Those people are using money to fight each other. It¡¯s no different from a cat fight......¡±


    Spittle flew as Xie Junping spoke, but the problem was that Luo Nan had no sympathy at all for this sort of gossip; he was just stupefied. Xie Junping unconsciously produced his ¡°charming eyes casted for the blind¡± from his intense feeling of failure. He could only point out helplessly at this moment:


    ¡°Junior Nan. Don¡¯t you want to know who took over the club?¡±


    Luo Nan casted a nce at him: ¡°Isn¡¯t that still undetermined?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s only two groups left man~ The Construction Society and the Mystic Arts Research Society are taking turns bidding it out. We just need to see who can surpass the other. The result wille out two days from now...... I feel that the Mystic Arts Research Society has a really big chance!¡±


    ¡°Mystic Arts Research Society?¡± Luo automatically threw a greater amount of attention towards Xie Junping when he heard the super society that he had missed the chance with.


    Xie Junping¡¯s face revealed a bizarre smile: ¡°The Mystic Arts Research Society has staked it all for the sake of this plot ofnd. The society has already promised to be responsible for all the debts and members of the Order Club...... Hehe. They haven¡¯t considered that the whole process will take until next semester to finish even if everything goes smoothly. But this damned piece ofnd won¡¯t have anyone to maintain it. It will turn into a remains and ruins before our eyes. The price may not be worth it by then. Junior Nan, what do you think?¡±


    What logic are you following.......


    Luo Nan swept a nce around therge hall to verify that this ce certainly did have an automatic cleaning system and perhaps even mechanical AI; there seemed to be no dust at all in his visible surroundings. There wouldn¡¯t be any change even if half a year, or even ten years, pass with this level of maintenance.


    However Xie Junping had spoken in this way for apletely different objective.


    Luo Nan had a rough understanding.


    Having spoken to this degree, Xie Junping already had apletely lit up attitude: ¡°Look Junior Nan. People are needed to act as upholders and maintain basic operations if one wishes to protect the assets of the society to the greatest degree. But the resources and contacts of the Order Club are a thing of the past. They have nothing but damned debt. If one wishes to achieve this, funding from the Student Council will have to be spent. I calcted that at least 100,000 is needed for a year. This would all be debt.¡±


    ¡°If only there was someone in this moment who would be willing to enter this already-declining society and spend precious man-hours to conduct maintenance work for free... That person wouldn¡¯t have any society activities at all, his socialworks wouldn¡¯t grow... Oh man, that would be quite the sacrifice! It¡¯s hard to find someone like this Junior Nan. Your big bro over here has been pressed so hard with this matter for the past few days that even his hair has gone white. What do you think? Can you give me an answer to this problem, can you undo this knot......¡±


    Luo Nan watched Xie Junping do his salesman performance and was speechless for a time, but hepletely understood Xie Junping¡¯s intentions...... It was pretty much a twisted and roundabout way of achieving his goals.


    Luo Nan would first have to enter the currently-copsing ¡°Order Club¡± ording to Xie Junping¡¯s n. He would be a member, then soon a society would take it over. He would be an undumpable additional member under the Mystic Arts Research Society half a semesterter...... This was a matter that was already promised by Xie Junping.


    This path looked to be quite decent. Of course, this n needed a kind of high-level officer like Xie Junping in the Student Council. The money and influence of the officer was needed toplete the entire procedure of stuffing a neer into a society that was on the brink of copse; this society was fundamentally in a state without any organizational capabilities.


    However the Mystic Arts Research Society was backed by big investors and was also a circle for rich kids. Would they ept Xie Junping¡¯s rough stuffing of an additional member?


    At the very least, Xie Junping had quite the confidence right now. Heughed with giggles as he pushed Luo Nan inside an elevator.


    ¡°Rx, rx. I¡¯m quite familiar with this aspect of things. From the perspective of people within the circle, the people over there will do the take over at all costs. I also contacted them beforehand. One or two people don¡¯t count as much..... Junior Nan. I¡¯m not being unreasonable. If it weren¡¯t for the chaos yesterday causing you to be tired enough to miss your interview, would we need to do things in this round about way? This damned ce. Things haven¡¯t been easy ever since Yan Hong had his reputationpletely swept away and his research team dissolved. They¡¯re saying that we¡¯re taking advantage of them unfairly. I¡¯m saying that they¡¯vemitted a great offense against us!¡±


    A certain name entered Luo Nan¡¯s ear, causing Luo Nan to jolt still. He suddenly turned: ¡°What did you say?¡±

 Chapter 27: Privileges Locked (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 27: Privileges Locked (Part 1/2)


    Oh oh! Right on target!


    Xie Junping was practically brimming with tears of emotion when he saw Luo Nan¡¯s intense response. Wasn¡¯t it hard for this bro to hold himself back the whole time? Wasn¡¯t it all for the sake of seeing this kid¡¯s expression?


    This split second reward made Xie Junping feel that all his homework wasn¡¯t done for naught: The inarticte and introverted Luo Nan was forced to break through his shell when faced with his great foe. The degree of which Luo Nan casted his attention clearly increased by several levels.


    If things continued along this way, your bro won¡¯t be scared of you not receiving his passion!


    Xie Junping felt that things have finally ended up on the right path. He rxed mentally, and felt that his acting ability was bursting. He blinked his eyes and donned an innocent state:


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    Luo Nan red at him: ¡°You said Yan Hong...... Is it that Yan Hong?¡±


    Xie Junping felt a bit inexplicably weak when faced with Luo Nan¡¯s gaze. Yet he still followed his predetermined strategy to respond: ¡°It¡¯s that person who acted as a professor back in the day at Acumen College. He had an academic scandal in the year 90......¡±


    Xie Junping spoke very evasively, but a few words from Luo Nan struck to the core: ¡°The person who came out with Archetype Formatting Theory? Hisboratory is located over here?¡±


    ¡°Yep. He was hired in the year 83, since then he had done all his work here until the year 90.¡± It could be said that Xie Junping knew the data he just collected by heart.


    This was from Zhang Yingying¡¯s analysis if he remembered correctly. This was the two year node that had the greatest impact on Luo Nan¡¯s life.


    Luo Nan remained silent for a few seconds. He went deeper inside to make room and was no longer blocking the entrance to the elevator. Xie Junping took the chance to duck his way inside. He selected a floor, and the cylindrical elevator began to move.


    The silence within this sort of idle-state-with-nothing-to-do of the empty space of the elevator was the most awkward thing ever. Xie Junping tried to make the atmosphere lively, but Luo Nan took the initiative to open his mouth:


    ¡°Senior......It seems like you¡¯ve done quite a bit of homework.¡±


    And so things hade just like this. Xie Junping didn¡¯t want to y the fool of ¡°doing good work without recognition¡±. He had saved quite a few words for this conversation with this intelligent person.


    He broke into aughing grin: ¡°It¡¯s alright. It¡¯s alright. It¡¯s for helping Junior Nan. Hic. It¡¯s also to relieve my guilt. Obviously I need to be diligent.¡±


    Using the word ¡°diligence¡± was not an exaggeration in the least. Xie Junping had split his scalp thinking of this n.


    Luo Nan¡¯s society crisis. The Yan Hong who was suspected to have stolen the results of Luo Nan¡¯s grandfather¡¯s work. The expansion n of the Mystic Arts Research Society...... In the end, finding this explosive point consisting of a perfect collection of elementsing from every side was a coincidence by chance.


    However Xie Junping was worried that his own private investigation would cause Luo Nan to be resentful. He rushed to mend things over: ¡°Junior Nan. I didn¡¯t investigate your background on purpose. Informationes in a string in this day and age...... I also don¡¯t view Yan Hong in a positive light. He¡¯s way too annoying. Junior Nan, you¡¯ve lived quite a few bitter years!¡±


    Luo Nan turned to look at him: ¡°Senior, you know quite a bit.¡±


    ¡°Hic. I just know about this much.¡± Xie Junpingughed awkwardly; uncertainty entering his heart once again. Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts ran far too deep after all and the intense mood could only fade away in an instant. Luo Nan had returned to his expressionless state that revealed neither anger nor delight..... This was very difficult!


    The elevator had arrived to the subterranean fourth floor. This floor was approximately fifteen meters underground. The elevator¡¯s door opened, and the horizon immediately revealed itself.


    ¡°This floor ispletely knocked empty. It¡¯s the central control room of Gear. The underlyingyout of this building could be roughly described as four underground floors of society activity areas and seven underground floors of experiment areas. The space underground exceeds the space above ground. Obviously it is unique among the northern buildings.¡±


    Xie Junping ignited his promoting spirit for the sake of introducing to Luo Nan: ¡°Right now the central AI is in a low-energy-consumption-and-operation state. I¡¯ll activate it on the way back. Then we can know just how many resources remain in this building that we can use......¡±


    Luo Nan¡¯s interest was in a different ce: ¡°Is it still possible to find Yan Hong¡¯s experimental data?¡±


    ¡°That would be very difficult.¡± Xie Junping scratched his head as he spoke, ¡°When Yan Hong had his academic scandal explode in poprity, it¡¯s said that there was a nned ident that destroyed many key ces, annihting much of the evidence. Then Quantum Corporation took over all of his experimental legacy, and they pretty much wiped this ce clean...... Hic. If we look carefully though, we may be able to reap some gains?¡±


    Xie Junping had been fearful of dispelling Luo Nan¡¯s interest, so he forcefully corrected himself in the end.


    Luo Nan understood Xie Junping¡¯s intentions perfectly clearly. He knew that if he didn¡¯t clearly disy his interest, this person would be scared and on edge for who knows how long.


    Anyway, the problem was as follows: Even if Xie Junping owed him a life-saving favor. Even if Luo Nan held information that was not big nor small that could be used against Xie Junping. This rich kid controlled a great amount of resources. Did Xie Junping have a need to be this fearful of Luo Nan? Xie Junping had gone to a near abnormal state several times!


    Was it due to the burning wraith? One was terrified to the point of dying. The other had hatred to the point of dying. This was the two extremes between Xie Junping and Li Xuecheng.


    Oh?


    Luo Nan suddenly made the association with Li Xuecheng. Luo Nan¡¯s mind stirred: It seemed that the news from this morning had already spread around. Whatever gossip that flowed within that small circle had moved at the utmost speeds.


    He stared fixed at Xie Junping, looking deep in thought.


    All Xie Junping felt was an uneasiness from head to toe. Right when he was about to open his mouth, Luo Nan took the first step: ¡°I¡¯ve heard that Li Xuecheng is senior¡¯s best friend?¡±


    Xie Junping jumped in fright; he really jumped back half a step. He responded extremely intensely: ¡°You must not misunderstand that incident......¡±


    ¡°Misunderstand what? What if I do misunderstand?¡±


    Both awkwardness, nervousness, and even a bit of fear were written on Xie Junping¡¯s face. Xue Junping spoke all the more carefully: ¡°Junior Nan. You¡¯re saying that my rtionship with Li Xuecheng is very close. This matter. I¡¯m saying that yesterday¡¯s matter......¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the difference between today and yesterday?¡±


    These series of questioning words by Luo Nan almost caused Xie Junping to copse. Now Luo Nan ceased to pressure him. He just wanted to verify one fact:


    It appeared that this fellow Xie Junping was the one who had misunderstood something.


    His brain collected a few trailing clues, and just like constructing a baseless sketch, Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts suddenly became clear. Luo Nan blurted:


    ¡°Were you at the Medical Department this morning as well?


    As soon as the words left Luo Nan¡¯s mouth, Luo Nan found that the conclusion he made had a leap in logic that was far too extreme. Yet the results were extremely shocking.


    Xie Junping staggered, nearly falling on his face. Luo Nan grabbed onto his shoulder to have Xie Junping¡¯s face avoid the pain of the ground. But Xie Junping¡¯s reaction was preposterous to the extreme. He shrieked:


    ¡°I DIDN¡¯T SEE NOTHING!¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    Alrighty then. Things were finally clear now.


    Xie Junping was indeed at the Medical Department this morning. He was in the same ward as Li Xuecheng due to jealousy of a rival affair and a mutual brawl with Li Xuecheng.


    Li Xuecheng ran quite fast during the earthquake and Xie Junpinggged behind him.


    Li Xuecheng¡¯s party moved hastily; they didn¡¯t see Luo Nan within the crowd. But Xie Junping had discovered Luo Nan.


    And Xie Junping had personally witnessed Li Xuecheng directly copsing unconscious after only a few seconds of crossing paths with Luo Nan. Li Xuecheng had entered into a state of shock and was still at the Intensive Care Unit even until now.


    If it were anybody else, they wouldn¡¯t think too much about what happened. But Xie Junping knew of the conflict between Li Xuecheng and he also had received some details from Lian Yu¡¯s mouth.


    More importantly was when his life was hanging by a thread yesterday morning. He had received Luo Nan¡¯s other-worldly and shocking gaze. He felt those eyes were more and more mystical the more he thought about it. He was unaware that his mind had headed into a fantastical line of thinking.


    He originally wanted to find Zhang Yingying to discuss with her what to do, but he was unable to get in contact with her for some unknown reason. It seemed that Hidden Indigo hadpletely closed down. He was forced to personally take the initiative and figure out some sort of move. A part of him was thinking of building a good rtionship with Luo Nan, another part of him was attracted to the concept of people with abilities and otherworldly powers.


    Xie Junping waspletely unable to take any shock in his current state. Just a little bit of force would cause him to spill all the beanspletely.


    Luo Nan sighed a breath and patted Xie Junping¡¯s shoulder. He had spoken this much, but he had left out the most crucial cause.


    Of course, Xie Junping was ignorant and unaware of it himself.


    Luo Nan used his action of patting Xie Junping¡¯s shoulder to have the heavily chained crowe from between his eyebrows with a crackling vibration. The Wraith Sign flickered with a red glow in front and the crow entered in and out of Xie Junping¡¯s body in a sh.


    Xie Junping shivered inexplicably; a dark red glowing mist escaped out of his body on a ne that he was unable to touch. The mist was blocked head-on by the heavily chained crow, and was dispersed by this single attack.

 Chapter 27: Privileges Locked (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 27: Privileges Locked (Part 2/2)


    Luo Nan painstakingly suppressed the life-force-consuming urges of the Wraith Sign and soon the turmoil on the mental ne terminated in a short two seconds.


    It was unavoidable for Xie Junping to receive a bit of impact, but it should be within the limits of what he could receive.


    Luo Nan saw that Xie Junping was absent minded, so he lightly patted Xie Junping on the shoulder to try tofort Xie Junping. But who knew that before Luo Nan could speak, Xie Junping would obscurely spit out a few words with a shaking head and a drifting gaze:


    ¡°What¡¯s that noise?¡±


    Speaking delirious words now?


    This was Luo Nan¡¯s first thought, but he immediately noticed his own heavily chained crow shaking and vibrating as it slowly withdrew. It was making a crackling sound.


    ¡°......Senior? What do you hear?¡±


    Xie Junping¡¯s face turned towards Luo Nan. His eyes were unable to focus. He opened his mouth, but suddenly fell looking at the sky. Luckily Luo Nan propped him up, otherwise Xie Junping would have had the back of his head smash against the ground.


    But Xie Junping had already fallen into an unconscious state right now. He was dizzy, and it was as if he was having a nightmare. His body temperature shot up rapidly and the wristband on his wrist even started to sound a health rm; it sought to transmit a signal outwards.


    But the problem was that they were located about fifty meters underground right now. And they were in front of aboratory. The signal was blocked extremely well. No matter how advanced the wristband was, the signal was bound to be useless.


    The after-effects of destroying the burning wraith parasite are this serious?


    This was absolutely outside Luo Nan¡¯s expectations.


    He had clearly contained the damage towards Xie Junping¡¯s life force...... Could it be that the bond between the burning wraith and Xie Junping on the mental ne was far deeper than he predicted?


    Luo Nan¡¯s expression was grave. He let Xie Junpingy t on the ground. The heavily chained crow came out again and he let the Wraith Sign scan Xie Junping¡¯s body internally and externally.


    The problem was that there were no anomalies whatsoever. This was really true even from the aspect of the Wraith Sign¡¯s scans.


    Luo Nan was even more helpless when it came to the state of the Xie Junping¡¯s body.


    The structure of the human body was far too precise andplicated. Luo Nan had morphed his nervous system over these years using drugs to sculpt his Format. He already had bold knowledge of the human body from altering his own. But the total of what he understood was still only a drop in the ocean.


    Luo Nan really didn¡¯t wish to have made Xie Junping into this state.


    But events have already gone this far; he had no options. He pondered for a moment before carrying Xie Junping on his back to prepare to leave for the surface; he¡¯ll handle things there.


    Frankly speaking, carrying Xie Junping was not the least bit rxing for Luo Nan. This fellow weighed about seventy to eighty kilograms, and he was in an unconscious state; he didn¡¯t know how to be cooperative and so he was heavier as a result.


    Soon Luo Nan began sweating, but luckily the elevator was right in front of him. He reached out with his hand to touch and push a button. But right at this moment, he heard a warning beep sound clearly. It seemed to havee from Xie Junping¡¯s wristband.


    Luo Nan thought that there was now another problem with Xie Junping, so he rushed toy Xie Junping down to prepare to scan. But he never expected that he would hear the sound of a circuit breaker switching in the next instant. Suddenly a pitch ck darkness befell his eyes.


    Luo Nan was stunned for half a second before he suddenly lowered his head. There was still a bit of light amidst the darkness at this moment, the source of which came from the wristbands on his and Xie Junping¡¯s wrists.


    A series of information flooded Xie Junping¡¯s screen in an orderly fashion:


    The person who was awarded with temporary authoritative privileges has entered an unconscious state.


    The defense system of theboratory room has entered into a B-Grade state.


    Awakening functions for activation. The person who was awarded temporary authority has not responded.


    No other people have been awarded with authority privileges within the range of theboratory.


    The defense system of theboratory room has entered into an A-Grade state.


    The power system has been shut off. Themunications system has been shut off. The transportation system has been shut off. The life support system has been shut off.....Locking of theboratory area has beenpleted.


    ¡°......¡±


    The flood of information ended. The luminance of the wristband also died out. The faint luster of the wristband was like the gaze of a teasing demon. It blinked and blinked, no longer paying heed to its observer.


    Luo Nan tapped the wristband to try to revitalize it, but the personal defense mechanism of the wristband had activated. There was no response whatsoever no matter how he tapped.


    Luo Nan smashed a heavy fist against the elevator door.


    Present society was certainly a society of authority and privileges.


    A physicalwork covered every nook and corner of the city. The scope of digital privileges you have, which level of ess you have, determined which locations you were able to ess in the city.


    Your physical body could move freely, but your privileges were controlled. If one were to charge into the realm of high level privileges with the identity of low level privileges, one would just crash nose-first into a wall. And so Luo Nan had been caught in this inexplicable snare and was trapped here on the spot.


    The ¡°Privilege Trap¡± was verymonly seen. Most of these traps consisted of elevators, corridors, and other rtively confined narrow areas in important locations. These traps were meant for capturing illegal intruders who were not awarded with privileges, then the intruders were to be handed to the police for processing.


    This trap that Luo Nan encountered covered a vast amount of area. It¡¯s just that the location wasn¡¯t quite ideal...... This was a sealed space located fifty meters underground.


    The darkness was just like a demon that was everywhere at once in this ce. The silence that permeated through the space passed along restlessness and fear.


    Luo Nan stood at the elevator¡¯s entrance. He could clearly hear his and Xie Junping¡¯s breathing. Several seconds passed before Luo Nan took Xie Junping, ced him down, and leaned him against the elevator¡¯s door.


    ¡°Hey! Wake up!¡±


    Xie Junping did not respond.


    ¡°p. p.¡±


    Still no response.


    Shouting, pping, pinching, and other methods were all employed, but Xie Junping continued to remain in his unconscious state. On the other hand, Xie Junping¡¯s body temperature had stabilized quite a bit.


    Luo Nan was dumbfounded. He stood there for a dozen seconds before smashing the elevator door one more time, but this time his fist was a bit lighter. Then he carried Xie Junping anew and headed back the way he came.


    The darkness followed them like a shadow following a body. This was the darkest of darkness, the defense system of the damnedboratory room. All power sources were cleanly and directly cut off. There really weren¡¯t any sources of light at all.


    Luo Nan¡¯s initial thought was to use his own wristband for light. But his wristband practically emitted no light since half an hour ago, due to the long thread entering his wristband and causing a low-energy state.


    He might as well just not use anything, the darkness had no meaning to him in anycase.


    The heavily chained crow extended out once again and the Wraith Signed flickered with a demonic red glow in front. This aura only radiated out on the mental ne, but it illuminated the ne of reality through some sort of form to allow Luo Nan to be able to observe his surrounding environment without using his naked eye. Even more importantly, this method was clearer then using his naked eye.


    This was using his soul¡¯s point of view without having to leave his body.


    Regardless of any fact, it was truly a great feeling to be able to ¡°see¡± one¡¯s surroundings clearly. What had been unobservable in the darkness had been scanned and seen clearly. The mental aspect of pressure had also alleviated.


    Luo Nan found a chair within the empty space of the central control room. He ce Xie Junping upon it and temporarily left Xie Junping unupied. Luo Nan had already walked to the front of thepletely shutdown control console. He pressed a few random buttons, and the result was no response at all.


    The threat in reality still remained critical and heavy.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t forget about the flickering stream of information that appearedter on Xie Junping¡¯s wristband.


    Several systems werepletely shut down, the most life-threatening was the shutdown of the ¡°Life-Support System¡± without a doubt. They were fifty meters underground in a sealed room. If the system didn¡¯t constantly circte air, not much time was needed for the trapped...... Those inside the room, be it intruder or temporarily authorized people, would face the risk of suffocating to death.


    From this, Luo Nan could tell that owner of thisboratories ought to possess truly a vicious and merciless heart. These measures were undoubtedly illegal, should one dig out the legal uses. But when Luo Nan thought about who the owner of thisboratory was, Luo Nan felt things matched his own inner expectations.

 Chapter 28: Neuron (Part ?)

    Chapter 28: Neuron (Part ?)


    The previous owner of theboratory, Yan Hong, was the proposer of the Archetype Formatting Theory. The theory was all the rage during the year 80, but this fame was obtained by treading on Luo Nan¡¯s grandfather¡¯s shoulders.


    Back in those years when Luo Yuandao had done the matter of live human experimentation, the media focused on mainly reporting the details pertaining to the vagrant victims of the wilderness and other explosive points. Attention was heavily focused on the people who were brought to light over this matter. In addition, those identified as key witnesses had protection from the so-called ¡°Protective Witness¡± policy and had never entered the sight of the masses.


    But Luo Nan was quite clear on who had brought this matter to light. It was none other than a man who had originally worked in the sameboratory as Luo Yuandao; it was Yang Hong.


    Yang Hong proposed the Archetype Formatting Theory soon after the case with Luo Yuandao had entered judgement, receiving enormous academic reputation. Yet it was also because of this that Yan Hong fell so disastrously after the matter of his work being rted to Luo Yuandao¡¯s experimental data was exposed in the year 90.


    Although the outer world wasn¡¯t clear on it, the academic circle still had this matter remain fresh in its memory with quite a bit more detail. It was only because of the special characteristics of Luo Yuandao¡¯s case, and the fact that Quantum Corporation had stepped in, that everyone kept this matter aplete secret. The information only circted within the small and confined group, never to explode out in public.


    An ident was deliberately caused while Yan Hong was being investigated by the Scientific Ethics Committee, destroying the gathered evidence. It was done in an utterly poor manner, and this one incident caused Yang Hong¡¯s reputation to plummet into bing repulsively bad within the academicmunity. His reputation was flipped over, and he ultimately vanished without a trace.


    Indeed, it was only to be expected that this kind of person would set up a few killer traps in his ownboratory.


    At the present, Luo Nan thought that things were quite fitting, then he felt inexplicably excited.


    Yep, he was excited.


    Ever since Luo Nan had understood the entire process of development of his grandfather¡¯s case, Luo Nan had naturally regarded Yang Hong as the main culprit of the matter. Back in the day when Yang Hong was at his prime and when Luo Nan was still considered a kid, Luo Nan considered Yan Hong to be the final boss without any reservations. Yang Hong was the target that Luo Nan would eliminate in the future.


    Unfortunately this boss had fallen in the year 90 before Luo Nan could be an adult. Yang Hong¡¯s results then became Quantum Corporation¡¯s after a purchase of a great amount of intellectual properties.


    Even though Luo Nan had notpletely lost the target he had always strove for, there was still a feeling of loss in his heart. But who would have imagined that Luo Nan would be within this discardedboratory six yearster and actually receive a chance to cross des with this boss.


    Even though Luo Nan faced an empty target of his imagination, the significance waspletely the same from Luo Nan¡¯s perspective.


    Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts were unprecedentedly lively and his guts and courage were unleashed to their limits. A few breaths made his mind tranquil. He stood in front of the control console, and then the heavily chained crow cut its way inside.


    There were nothing but control consoles, a few screens, and more monitoring-rted equipment installed here, since this was the central control area for theboratory. One could see the interioryout of the building under normal operation; it included every nook and cranny of the surrounding area.


    This console acted as the control panel for the power source of the life-support system¡¯s core module. Right now the power waspletely shut off, causing the console to be meaningless in reality.


    Luo Nan¡¯s thought process was to use the heavily chained crow¡¯s and the wraith sign¡¯s sensing capabilities to following various installed electrical connections from the central control room to find the location of the core module. Then he would think of a method to restart it.


    He wanted to perform an experiment to see if he could meddle with reality from the mental ne.


    The heavily chained crow was like arge python that slithered within the darkness. It followed theplicated electrical leads within the sealed area, traveling away. The wires of theboratory were extremely clear. Their highly integratedyout saved Luo Nan quite a bit of time.


    He only made one mistake before he found the location of the central control system. An independent power source station was connected to theboratory here, and various internal core modules were connected here as well. Frankly speaking, Luo Nan was not really familiar with these systems. He was an electronics newbie after all.


    Luo Nan hesitated a moment before selecting the power source station.


    In the end the most life-threatening issueid in the cut-off power. He would win half the battle if he was able to restore power.


    But right when he was about to get the heavily chained crow to turn around ande back, the brain of his main body tingled slightly. Then a radiating lightning struck its way out.


    It was that mystical and mysterious long-thread.


    Of course the long-thread¡¯s hair-like structure had no meaning in this enormousboratory. But the lightning it manifested actually ran rapidly down the heavily chained crow¡¯s path. This instantaneous ability surged out of the front end of the chain and faded away within the mass of cable wires.


    Luo Nan covered his forehead; he was unable to understand what had happened for some time.


    This long-thread was way too bizarre.


    This long-thread had inexplicably activated the flexible e-ink screen¡¯s interface back when it had entered his wristband, and it had also consumed most of the wristband¡¯s battery life.


    Luo Nan initially concluded that the long-thread was a special kind of electronic equipment capable of integrating the various capabilities of a processor, memory module, sensors, and other things.


    But the long-thread had actually released an intense reaction when Luo Nan had the heavily chained crow scan it. The long-thread had broke into his brain through some inconceivable method.


    Luo Nan had been absent minded for some time due to the long-thread seemingly fusing into some location in his brain. After which, Luo Nan could actually feel its existence intensely.


    The brain did not have the ability to feel. The so-called feeling of existence was either a sort of abnormal electrical signal or a sort of response on the mental ne. Luo Nan was inclined to believe in theter. This was because there was clearly a subtle exchange of information between the long-thread and the heavily chained crow. Unfortunately that aspect was still something he did notprehend.


    Luo Nan had already given a rtively high assessment of this mysterious toy that had been hidden inside the flexible e-ink screen by that coward.


    But right now this thing gave him new shock and delight.


    Although the long-thread had broken away from the heavily chained crow, there still remained a distinct sensation of its existence. Luo Nan was able to feel its manifested lightning from this sensation. It propelled backwards down the electric line and entered Luo Nan¡¯s estimated location of the power station in a sh.


    A short few seconds passed and that area suddenly lit up. From the aspect of Luo Nan¡¯s senses, Luo Nan would describe the surging lightning to being like a direct assault. The heavily chained crow received his influence and suddenly withdrew back. However it was rtively slower than the velocity of the conducting electric current.


    It was due to the crow¡¯s slow speed that an inconceivable marvel unfolded itself in front of Luo Nan¡¯s eyes.


    He saw a tree within the eye-prickling lightning. It was arge tree that was rapidly growing.


    Its roots grew out within the power station and its main trunk followed the flow of lightning to pound into the central control system. In addition, there were countless flourishing branches that prated every module of the system.


    The deathly stillboratory had reactivated in an instant.


    An innumerable quantity of electrical signals converged from each and every system module. They were thenpressed and transmitted. The direction of transmission was clearly towards the heavily chained crow caught by therge tree and clearly over here towards Luo Nan.

 Chapter 28: Neuron (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 28: Neuron (Part 2/2)


    Was he the most bitter sufferer of epilepsy in all of past history?


    Luo Nan had practically seen his own tragic departure from life in that split second, but this had mapped out a deeper level of cognition for him: The structure of the long-thread revealed itself at this moment, looking like a gigantic neuron.


    The neuron acted as a basic signal processing unit of the human body; its ideal model would pretty much have the appearance of a giant tree.


    The forking branches were information receiving dendrites.


    The trunk section was the axon that transmitted information.


    The anterior axon terminals and the posterior dendrite contacts of a neuron were simr to the root system of thisrge tree, realizing neurotransmission of the nerve and conduction of electrical signals.


    Therge tree was growing within each and every system module of theboratory. At precisely this moment, it collected huge volumes of electrical signals from various system modules while converging these signals for transmission.


    There was a problem; thisrge-size neuron somewhat departed in shape from the structure of a typical neuron inparison. Independent operation was not implemented, instead the root system fed off the external power source and the destination of the conducting signals had changed to the trunk-fused heavily chained crow, which was also Luo Nan as a matter of fact.


    In a certain sense, therge-size neuron was just like an external synthetic organ of Luo Nan.


    This was an extremely mysterious thing. Its potential was boundless if he was able to utilize it properly. However, therge-size neuron¡¯s information transmission method was far more berserk than that of a typical neurotransmitter.


    Billions of electrical signals congregated together. If it were any typical person¡¯s brain, they wouldn¡¯t possibly be able to process such arge quantity of information that all flowed down the same path.


    Luo Nan tried to have the heavily chained crow sever the connection, but how could it be easy to sever a mysterious link such as this on the mental ne? Luo Nan could practically see himself drowning within the electrical signals, tragically and instantly departing from life in spasms.


    However, what came a minuteter was not a flood of electrical signals, but a glistening and familiar interface.


    The central control room lit up, but it wasn¡¯t the sort of brightly lit glow of lights. Therge-sized neuron¡¯s controlled energy and information had emerged in a rtively restrained style. An exquisite and outstanding transformation had beenpleted within therge volume of glowing electrical signals. The end result was delivered onto the enormous screen right in front of Luo Nan.


    The enormous screen disyed none other than the interface of the flexible e-ink screen which had apanied Luo Nan for the past five years.


    This was undoubtedly another outstanding work of the long-thread.


    On the petite wristband¡¯s screen. On the enormous monitoring screen spanning half the room. It proimed its own existence in such a way.


    Luo Nan was a bit baffled when he saw the enormous manifestation of the flexible e-ink disy. He could not only see the shing interface, but he could also see the inclusion of the background operation¡¯s basis.


    The structure of therge-size neuron was permeated with the vor of bionics. So much so that the nerve cell naturally possessed the basic structure of a cell.


    Luo Nan channeled through the heavily chained crow to discover this piece of area within the border of the branches and trunk of therge tree. Flourishing branches uploaded and sent back a huge volume of electrical signals here; it was the primary location of convergence.


    Luo Nan had yet to find out all his integrated capabilities in this ce. However, he was able to use this ce to analyze, filter, transcode, andpile information at the very least. It was just like aputer processor, or perhaps an auxiliary secondary brain. It first took the transformedrge volume of signals and shaped them into bing something that was concise, clear, and easy to understand. Only then did it truly feed the signals back to the central control system and within Luo Nan¡¯s mind.


    This allowed Luo Nan to avoid the damage to his brain from the huge volume of signals. It truly was a realized and inconceivable implementation of the effects of an external receiving neuron.


    This was no magical and fictional kind of thing; it was a real operating mechanism. It was a conversation that touched upon the mental and physical signals. This man and machine interactive information technology made one undoubtedly be respectful.


    Was the earth capable of reaching technology of this level?


    Luo Nan pondered for quite a while but was unable toe up with an answer. He could only return his attention back to what he was capable of understanding, the interface.


    The style of the flexible e-ink screen did not change at first nce. But when ites down to it, there was still a change.


    The interface that Luo Nan used had been extremely simple and refreshing; there weren¡¯t that many avable applications. He had only used his flexible e-ink screen to surf the web, draw, and read digital novels. He didn¡¯t download any unnecessary applications.


    There were precisely 8 application icons on the main interface. Among them included the five basic system functions: clock, calendar, yer, browser, and settings.


    Luo Nan himself had downloaded a document editor software, and his older cousin had pressured him into downloading a popr market news app. Lastly, there was the drawing software that had always existed inside.


    These application icons were in gridyout mode. There were two columns with four icons each. Theyout was quite intuitive at first nce.


    But Luo Nan clearly saw a new icon on the enormous screen right at this moment. It¡¯s structure was a group of crossed gears. Were it not for the different color, Luo Nan would have probably confused it for being a typical instation icon.


    The caption of the icon was very straightforward; it was the word ¡°Gear¡±.


    This...... external neuron had the capabilities of automatically downloading apps?


    Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts stirred, and his telepathic test from before actually had an effect once more. A new interface opened up and emerged right in front of Luo Nan. It was actually the building ns and elevation map.


    Luo Nan confirmed that these were undoubtedly the building design ns for Gear with just a nce.


    This was only because of how way too clear-cut the details of these design ns were.


    No wonder the caption said Gear. Each and every location of the scattered seven floors of the entire building could be seen in the space of this circr room. There were at least a hundred locations! And Luo Nan could see and confirm from the ns that a few doors and entrance halls were set up in a gear-tooth style. He could see that the entire structure was just like a heavy machine from just the nar map. Various locations were connected together in a gear-drive fashion to form an indivisible whole. It was marvelous and exquisite.


    There was even a column of options to the left side of the interface. Practically the entire column had turned grey right now. Only the sole option at the very bottom of the column still contained its full luster. And the name of this option was quite bizarre:


    ¡°Observation tform......¡±


    Luo Nan was unable toprehend it.


    A noise sounded from behind Luo Nan¡¯s back right during the period of bafflement. Luo Nan¡¯s attention moved and the enormous interface screen hid away. The central control room returned to a pitch ck darkness where even one¡¯s fingers could not be seen.


    It was unknown what sort of nightmare Xie Junping was experiencing behind him right now, but Xie Junping¡¯s hands and feet were waving and moving. However, Xie Junping was unaware that he was sitting on a chair; he soon lost his bnce, the chair fell and a person flipped, and the end result was Xie Junping falling.


    ¡°F*ck......¡±


    This moment had actually awakened Xie Junpingpletely. He cursed out and reached out his arm to hold his head. His eyes opened, but darkness was all that entered them. He clearly hadn¡¯t recovered a level-head. He shouted over there:


    ¡°Turn on the lights!¡±


    Luo Nan used his nearly-dead wristband to emit a bit of light. This was enough to satisfy Xie Junping¡¯s wishes.


    This sort of light was able to suddenly illuminate the outline of one¡¯s face. This was enough to scare someone to death in this sort of ce.


    Xie Junping drew in a cold breath and screamed. He crashed into the chair right when he was dodging away.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t want to y any courtesies. He just directly spoke: ¡°Senior, it¡¯s good that you¡¯ve awakened. You¡¯re state wasn¡¯t too good just now. You fainted probably because of that. Theboratory has detected that you lost conscious and removed your temporary privileges, cut off the power, and ceased operations of the life-support system. See if your privileges have been restored already?¡±


    ¡°Ah......AH!¡±


    Xie Junping used five seconds to fully digest the information Luo Nan conveyed to him. He shuddered violently on the spot, awakening to be clear-headed atst. He was unable to bring himself to ask how he hade to faint when all was said and done. He immediately lit up his wristband and addressed the issue with his privileges.


    A bang rang out approximately three secondster; Xie Junping had kicked away the chair that was to his side. Then he shouted:


    ¡°IT SAYS I NEED TO REAPPLY! HOW THE HELL DO I GET SIGNAL HERE!?¡±

 Chapter 29: Observation Platform (Part ?)

    Chapter 29: Observation tform (Part ?)


    Forget it. He never should have had any expectations for this system.


    Luo Nan then felt that his recent action of hiding away the interface was quite foolish. Fortunately it was better to actter than never, like mending the pen after the sheep were lost. He then sighed a breath and tapped the control console, lighting up the enormous screen in front of him once more.


    The radiating light of the enormous screen drew out Luo Nan¡¯s shadow. It also made Xie Junping¡¯s chin crash to the ground:


    "Junior Nan. You¡¯re...... a hacker?¡±


    Since Luo Nan didn¡¯t know how to exin, he just simply didn¡¯t say anything.


    On the other hand, Xie Junping became excited in an instant: ¡°Good good. It¡¯s said that this system has been strengthened by Quantum Corporation. Junior Nan, you¡¯re able to use it?¡±


    Wasn¡¯t this fellow¡¯s mood a bit too strange?


    Luo Nan still remembered that he had pretty much forced Xie Junping to go unconscious. Before Xie Junping passed out, he wailed at Luo Nan to ¡°spare his life¡±. But the current circumstances had Xie Junping lose all terror of Luo Nan in his heart and even his fear of being in dire straits had been cut to the bare minimum.


    Could the scare have caused him to lose his memories? Or could it be that ying the burning wraith would really have instantaneous effects?


    Luo Nan¡¯s brief reflection yielded no results and he ced this matter to the side. He activated the Gear interface once again and poured his gaze onto the Observation tform option. Several seconds passed before he selected the option telepathically.


    There was no change whatsoever upon the interface; instead there was a stream of information that followed the heavily chained crow and was guided in an orderly fashion into Luo Nan¡¯s brain. It allowed him to understand several things.


    Luo Nan muttered a bit deeply in thought. He turned around and went: ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡°Go? Go where?¡± Xie Junping looked around at their dusky surroundings, not really daring to move.


    But in the next second a door automatically opened up to the side of the central control room. A darker space was now open.


    Xie Junping blurted: ¡°Hidden passageway?¡±


    ¡°Turn on the lighting of your wristband.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    The enormous screen was extinguished by a telepathic thought from Luo Nan and the pitch-ck darkness was restored to the room.


    Xie Junping yelped in surprise. He turned on the light of his wristband in a fluster; the light barely illuminated the path ahead.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t say anything else now that there was light. He directly walked in the direction towards the newly opened door.


    ¡°Hey hey. This is a secret passageway right......¡± Xie Junping lowered his voice and suppressed his nervousness. He blindly followed after Luo Nan.


    ¡°There¡¯s a corridor outside.¡±


    Luo Nan¡¯srge external neuron still maintained control over the resources that had been disyed on the enormous screen even though the screen had been turned off. Valid information was transmitted, channeled through the heavily chained crow, and passed onto his cranial nerves. Then a screen was directly mapped onto his retinas.


    It didn¡¯t matter how far the distance was. As long as Luo Nan had the energy to support the existence of the heavily chained crow, this digital map would never disappear.


    Of course, if it wasn¡¯t for this heavily chained crow towing the Wraith Sign sensor and the fact that he wasn¡¯t prepared to do an out-of-body experience, he would have turned into a blind man and would have absolutely needed light to continue advancing within this darkness.


    Xie Junping had already understood the ruthlessness of the defense system from the incident with his wristband. He waspletely confused right now: ¡°How did it open if it¡¯s not a secret passageway?¡±


    ¡°It should be an initial design from the builders. The following route we will be taking, and all the doors, are controlled by a different and independent power source...... The remodelers who cameter obviously hadn¡¯t discovered this.¡±


    ¡°Why the hell did they make things so annoying?¡±


    Xie Junping¡¯s wristband and its beam of light swayed. He looked around at his surroundings and sure enough he saw public locations such as corridors and the like on their route. They asionally had to cut through a few rooms, but they didn¡¯t need to cover up their tracks.


    ¡°The builder must be very passionate.¡±


    The elevation and nar map of Gear radiated within Luo Nan¡¯s mind without ending. The tight structure with its peculiar design made him constantly breathe with admiration.


    Theyout of the entire building seemed to embody a machine that coulde to life to process a certain product at any moment. Right now Luo Nan and Xie Junping were traveling between gear parts; it was a wonderful tour.


    Luo Nan¡¯s and Xie Junping¡¯s journey was all green thanks to the control from the external neuron; they didn¡¯t encounter any obstacles whatsoever.


    After they passed through the safe passage of a stairway, they should have ended up on the subterranean second flooring from the fourth. Even though this was still within the scope of theboratory room, this was clearly a public activity area. They swept a beam of light to illuminate the area and even saw leisurely items such as a counter, a sofa, and etc.


    ¡°How marvelous.¡±


    Xie Junping hadpletely stifled his conjectures pertaining to secret passageways, but he gave his respect towards the builder¡¯s peculiar tastes once more.


    Regardless of how to describe it, Xie Junping¡¯s state of mind grew more and more rxed from encountering this marvel within their dark journey. He even had the courage to act as thentern holder, taking the initiative to go to the front and light their way.


    Whether or not he had the courage to enter any secret passageways they may encounter, well that was a topic worth discussing.


    ¡°Hey. Which way do we go in front?¡±


    Xie Junping¡¯s illuminating beam of light swept to a wall. Following the wall would lead them in a huge arc of a wheel to return back to the resting area. It seemed that they had reached a dead end.


    Without waiting for Luo Nan to respond, the beam of light sudden swept onto a signboard. It then stayed fixed on there.


    Xie Junping stepped fixed in ce. He pped his thigh fiercely: ¡°I know where we are!¡±


    Luo Nan looked over, following the beam of light. What was on the signboard seemed to be drawn by hand. An underwater view emerged before his eyes. Swimming fish yed between the kelp. They appeared quite lively under the slight sway of the light.


    ¡°Where is this ce?¡±


    ¡°Sandbar Aqueduct. It¡¯s a famous scenic spot of Gear. From here......¡±


    Xie Junping swept his light onto a closed door: ¡°If we go inside here and keep going until we reach Withered Tree Sandbar, which had been made into a constructed underwater corridor, and we pass through half a marsh and a smallke, then we will be close to essing a good ce with the underwater ecology of the wends.¡±


    After a simple introduction, Xie Junping began to sell gossip once more: ¡°Rumor has it that the underwater corridor existed even before the construction of Gear. Only, some people were used of destroying the ecology there, nearly causing the construction people to drop their pants from the cost. They let the Order Club have it for cheap, and the Order Club connected the corridor when they constructed Gear...... Of course, the Order Club has to pay quite a hefty sum in taxes each year.¡±


    Luo Nan found the most crucial piece of information from Xie Junping¡¯s series of nonsense: ¡°You said that it¡¯s a sandbar?¡±


    ¡°Yep. It¡¯s a very famous ce. It¡¯s said that it¡¯s the best ce to see the full view of the building Gear.¡±


    Luo Nan secretly lowered his head: Was this the reason why it was named Observation tform?


    It was at this very moment that Xie Junping finally came to. He excitedly patted Luo Nan on the shoulder with ferocity: ¡°Junior Nan. Doesn¡¯t this mean we¡¯ve escaped the trap? All we got to do is get to the sandbar and get some motherf*cking signal.......D*mn!¡±


    Xie Junping cursed obscenities yet again.


    Luo Nan waspletely lost: ¡°What¡¯s wrong this time?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think things are good.¡± Luo Nan was unable to see Xie Junping¡¯s expression clearly, but Xie Junping¡¯s voice was a bit panicky, ¡°I remember that the water level of the wends has rose over the past few years. The sandbar has already beenpletely submerged. There¡¯s only the crooked neck of a withered tree still extending out from the water..... The Order Club can¡¯t have sealed that exit up right?¡±


    Luo Nan took some time to confirm their route and he verified that things really were as Xie Junping described; they needed to pass through the underwater corridor. There were no anomalies as of yet.


    ¡°We¡¯ll know once we get there.¡±


    Luo Nan directly opened the underwater corridor¡¯s entrance and the slight fishy smell of water vapor assaulted their faces. This was probably the result of years of saturation.


    Xie Junping casted his beam of light perfectly straight, but he was unable to illuminate to the very end. This long corridor was just like the other structures in the building; its arc was clearly shown.

 Chapter 29: Observation Platform (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 29: Observation tform (Part 2/2)


    Two people walked shoulder to shoulder down the long corridor. This ce was extremely dark and silent, just like before. But this effect waspletely different than the deathly stillness of theboratory room.


    It was dark within the long corridor, but turbid and muddled ripples of water waves could be seen. The water refracted a bit of the sky¡¯s light in a negligible manner. The scene was extraordinary and lively.


    There were even slight echoesing from all sides of the ss walls. Underwater life forms were affected by their light, crashing into the ss walls one after another.


    The more quiet the surroundings, the more resounding the noise.


    Luo Nan couldn¡¯t hold back his curiosity at one time. He aimed his light into the water and illuminated an alligator head on. Xie Junping ducked instinctively when he saw the sinister skull crash into the ss wall, but something else crashed fiercely into a wall on a different side. The collisions nearly made him cry.


    He was much more well-behaved from this point on. In any event, they all had to follow the centerline of the underwater corridor. He even took the initiative to lower the brightness of his light to the lowest. Finally they made it to the end of the corridor without fear nor danger.


    There was clearly a sharp bend over here. Xie Junping walked to the corner, trembling with fear. His wristband illuminated across and a thick metal door entered his eyes. He saw a series of steel bars locking the gate from top to bottom. He didn¡¯t feel that good anymore.


    Xie Junping threw himself all over the door for quite some time. In the end he gave the door three ferocious kicks, only causing muffled bangs to ring out. It was evident that the other side was already crammed with water, dirt, and silt.


    He suddenly recalled what was most important and lowered his head to check to see if he had signal: ¡°Looks likes I have a bit? We should be one or two meters from the surface from here.¡±


    There was a problem; the water, dirt, and silt had mixed together into a singleyer to possess an extremely powerful electromaic blocking effect. The capabilities of Xie Junping¡¯s wristband were considered rtively strong, but it was still very difficult for him to receive a distinct signal.


    Xie Junping tried in torment until his brow was beaded with sweat. On the other hand, Luo Nan changed his gaze to a different location within the underground corridor. He fumbled around as the digital map, which was illuminated on his retinas, seemed to blend onto the inner wall.


    Luo Nan¡¯s actions were far too eye catching. Xie Junping, who had failed time and again, also had his interest drawn over. He copied Luo Nan and lightly tapped on various ces of the inner wall, but he was unable to tell why Luo Nan was doing such a thing from the produced sound.


    ¡°There hasn¡¯t been a single hidden door on our entire journey. There shouldn¡¯t be an exception here. Each of those building designs are filled with arrogance......¡±


    Xie Junping spoke in a very opinionated manner. Well actually, Luo Nan¡¯s digital map also led to the closed metal door and ended there with no other guidance.


    Luo Nan had tried to remotely control this door, but this door was clearly a dumb, purely physical, and isted device. It waspletely immune to all the advanced digital control technology that was out there.


    But he had yet to give up.


    This was because there was something that he waspletely unable to make sense of. Why were none of the system modules of theboratory that were mapped onto the external neuron¡¯s interface unable to have a response, save for this Observation tform function of Gear; why did just this appear so distinctly?


    Judging in ording to various information, this Observation tform path was set up before Yan Hong had established hisboratory...... Was it a natural fit with the rest of the building? Or was it specifically remodeledter?


    If it waster remodeled, didn¡¯t this mean that there was a certain purpose for its existence since it was coincidently different from Yan Hong¡¯sboratory designs?


    Only the mostmon public settings were seen on their road here. It seemed that only the end of this long corridor held some secret space. If there really was an issue, it would only appear here.


    Luo Nan pondered for a moment. He decisively terminated his integration with theboratory system modules and withdrew the heavily chained crow.


    What was truly worth noting was that his mental connection with the external neuron had a higher level of priority. As soon as the heavily chained crow withdrew, the external neuron transformed back into the lightning thread once more and was retrieved into his brain.


    ¡°What an iprehensible object.......¡±


    Luo Nan shook his head, no longer spending troubling thoughts on this matter. Instead, he ordered the heavily chained crow to drive the wraith sign to scan this entire area in one fell sweep.


    All physical partitions were absolutely meaningless to the heavily chained crow and the wraith sign.


    ¡°Got it!¡±


    Luo Nan suddenly raised his head and looked at a metal te in the upper direction. Tempered ss made up of 95% of the materials of this long corridor, the exception were metal tes fixed on the two ends. No one wouldn¡¯t notice them normally.


    But when the heavily chained crow swept across, it was able to see a material in a certain upper location clearly andpletely different than the metal tes and tempered ss.


    ¡°Hey. What are you looking at?¡± Xie Junping noticed that Luo Nan was acting bizarre. He also raised his head to look, but was unable to discover anything.


    Luo Nan ignored Xie Junping. He just estimated the height and angle seriously.


    He should be able to reach it......


    ¡°Make room.¡±


    Luo Nan waved Xie Junping to the side and backed up two steps. With a running start, he heavily stepped onto the metal door, borrowed its force to make another jump, twisted his body half a turn simultaneously, and reached up with his hands.


    It should have originally been the location of a metal te, but it had inexplicably changed to something that was sticky and slimy. It was only a slight obstruction. As soon as Luo Nan¡¯s hands broke through, Luo Nan¡¯s hand immediately collided with the edge of the real metal te. The collision was a bit painful, but Luo Nan¡¯s reactions were quite fast. He gripped on tight and his body twisted for a moment. He exerted force from his back and performed a pull up, his body shooting upwards.


    From Xie Junping¡¯s perspective, half of Luo Nan¡¯s body entered the metal te. Then a pair of legs shook back and forth, and Luo Nan¡¯s figure could no longer be seen.


    ¡°Oh d*mn....... A camouge film!¡±


    Xie Junping¡¯s family had some business dealings with the military. He had shouted out the name of a top-of-the-line product in a single breath.


    This was yet another glimmer of hope! It was really worth celebrating!


    However there was a problem; It seemed this was a highly difficult vertical jump and climb. My body couldn¡¯t possibly do this......


    This blockading ordeal had Xie Junping waste at least 10 minutes before getting through with great difficulty, even with Luo Nan¡¯s help.


    And when Xie Junping had truly essed the overhead space, he couldn¡¯t help but curse out:


    ¡°My god! So there was a secret passageway waiting here all along!¡±


    Indeed, this was a narrow tunnel with a height and width not even reaching a meter each. They needed to get on their knees and crawl in order to pass through. It waspletely different from the route they had up until this point.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you agree that this is due to the arrogance of the designer?¡±


    ¡°This should have been opened upter on...... The front¡¯s different.¡±


    Luo Nan had already performed some reconnaissance while Xie Junping was wasting time. He led the way crawling over. Soon apletely different style was revealed.


    At theteral end of the narrow tunnel was a sudden reversal in structure. It had turned into a vertical space. Although it wasn¡¯t very spacious, it was still able to hold two people with enough to spare.


    The most important thing was that...... it was much morefortable.


    A stone flight of stairs with a wooden grain style spiraled up under the illumination of light. Even though they had light, they were unable to see to the very end. With a feel, they could tell that their surroundings were extremely moist yet very clean.


    The two people ascended the stairs and Xie Junping felt the inner wall with curiosity: ¡°It seems to be tree bark...... Hey. Looking at this position, could it be that we¡¯re inside the withered tree of the sandbar?¡±


    ¡°Maybe.¡± Luo Nan responded, ¡°The trunk should be padded with some bionic material. It appears to be close to rotting, but it¡¯s in fact extremely resilient.¡±


    ¡°Wow! This is a tree house! The iconic tree of Withered Tree Sandbar is a treehouse! Which year and which month was this major undertaking....... F*ck! What¡¯s that!?¡±


    A shadow had suddenly rushed across Xie Junping¡¯s eyes, leaping directly to the base of the tree. Its body wasn¡¯t that big, but its speed was extremely fast. It was unknown which path it took, but a faint sound of water rang out. Then there was silence once more.

 Chapter 30: Bu Qingwen (Part ?)

    Chapter 30: Bu Qingwen (Part ?)


    Xie Junping nearly fell head first after receiving this shadowy scare. He was in anpletely sorry state and he couldn¡¯t help but curse with a foul-mouth.


    Luo Nan had been able to see things clearer since he had the sensing capabilities of the heavily chained crow: ¡°It¡¯s an animal of the wends. Seems to be a muskrat....... Are there any other exits asides from the route we took to get inside?¡±


    The muskrat was a moremonly seen animal in the wends jungle of Acumen College. A fully matured muskrat had a length of thirty to forty centimeters. Its tail was about twenty to thirty centimeters long. The one that had skirted by was smaller than a normal muskrat by more than half. It seemed like it wasn¡¯t a fully matured yet, but its movements were seriously nimble.


    Xie Junping spoke through gritted teeth: ¡°This ce absolutely wasn¡¯t abandoned for just one or two years. I fear that it¡¯s been a long time since this ce has be a critter¡¯s nest or something. Be careful not step on some animal shit......¡±


    Hisst word was spat halfway out and was then forcefully sucked back in.


    The illuminating beam of light just so happened to cut into a spacious area. Xie Junping could now see a circr chair that utilized the empty space to thergest degree, two stools ced randomly to the side, wall lights carved inside the tree wall, and a few exquisite wall hanging bookshelves and decorations. Anyone who looked at this would see that this room was setup to be a resting area.


    How big could a hole in a tree be? The usable area before their eyes absolutely didn¡¯t exceed three square meters. Obviously it was impossible to ce down a bed, but this exquisiteyout had utilized the special characteristics of the tree¡¯s ring shaped space to the greatest degree. A hint of leisure unfolded before them.


    Xie Junping immediately forgot his preceding words. He clicked his tongue repeatedly: ¡°To create this leisurely area. I don¡¯t understand.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s another floor on top.¡± Luo Nan pointed at the stone steps that continued to extend above, continuing to move forward.


    ¡°Why do I feel that this project is not the least bitcking whenpared to Gear? Especially since it was able to be kept a secret for so many years. Mouths were sealed way too tightly.¡± Xie Junping followed Luo Nan, climbing up. His impression of this ce was turning a bit better.


    The two reached up a floor higher while they were talking; this was also the upper most floor of this tree-hole cabin. Theyout here was much simpler, looking a bit spacious at first nce. There was only a table carved into the tree wall and a stool modified from an irregr growth of the withered tree in front of the table.


    The surface of the table was very clean with only a circr te ced on top of it. Xie Junping recognized it to be the base of an old photo projector album. It probably already had its battery drained, extinguishing the projection. But it should provide extremely straightforward clues with just a recharge of electricity.


    Luo Nan¡¯s attention was on every location within the hollowed tree.


    He fumbled around and took out quite a few mps, braces, and other fantastical oddities. Most of them were set up centered around the table. It was clear that this was a workshop room from each and every angle. As long as the corresponding equipment were installed, it would bepletely possible to perform research work here. It was quite sufficient for any designer.


    Xie Junping was to the side looking with interest. He squeezed his way inside and it seemed like Luo Nan wasn¡¯t able to pull out any more support devices and the like.


    Luo Nan moved directly in front of the table, not wanting to be squeezed in with Xie Junping. There were no wall-hanging instations here, in ordance with this area being the most spacious. But through careful observation, Luo Nan could see an irregr long circle of grain that took up an area that was roughly one square meterrge.


    He reached out with his hand to touch it, exerting a bit of force. The inner bark wall of this area actually unfolded like a scroll painting. It opened up on two sides.


    The illuminating light of the sky shot inside at the next moment.


    The change in lighting caused Xie Junping at the side to suddenly turn his head. They had actually spent more than half an hour in torment in theboratory room and in the tree cabin; it was already around six o¡¯clock. Night had already descended upon Xia City, causing the light of the outerworld to be fairly dusky.


    There was only the emergence of a fuzzy outline of Gear located several hundred meters away within the gloomy night of the marsnds jungle. It was impossible to see clearly with the naked eye.


    But for some unknown reason, Luo Nan felt quite moved at this moment.


    Perhaps this was due to him being at the Observation tform? The information provided by the designer of Gear was understood perfectly clearly.


    Then Xie Jumping suddenly burst out with greatughter to the side: ¡°Signal! I have signal!¡±


    Luo Nan ignored him, looking through the window of this observation tform to continue to look at Gear in the far off distance. The fuzzy scene revealed to his naked eyes wasn¡¯t special, but a nar map of the building still existed with his mind. It included the impression of the viewing angle from before.


    Luo Nan had a sudden realization as soon as he mentally collected all these elements. It was as if the distant building had been eroded by a whole era of civilization. Only this corroded shell remained standing against the forces of nature, having underwent heavy and great changes.


    Traces of the arrogance of industrial era of order were all over every edge and corner of the building. It was inharmonious with the naturally muddled environment. But in the end, it achieved apromise within this boundless darkness.


    This sudden rise of emotion made Luo Nan open his notebook in an instant. He used his florescent pen to portray lines that captured the visual impression assaulting his face.


    When Xie Jumping finished cheering, he turned around, saw Luo Nan¡¯s actions, and grew a bit angry.


    Did this guy really have a drawing addiction?


    But soon his feelings changed to be a bit at ease. Yup, this sort of foolish and passionate character shouldn¡¯t be a grim and ruthless fellow.


    Xie Junping walked back to Luo Nan lightly and quietly. He extended his head to look and was met with simple and even crude lines. If he hadn¡¯t known the depicted subject ahead of time, he absolutely wouldn¡¯t have been able to make the link between the drawing beneath Luo Nan¡¯s pen and the building in the jungle ahead of him. Yet when he realized what this drawing was depicting, he unexpectedly felt quite moved. Most notably was the twisted structure within the rippling water. It seemed to express a certain primordial and incorporeal force.


    Alrighty then. If he¡¯s not Picasso, then he¡¯s Van Gogh?


    Luo Nan drew his sketches with a quick hand. Soon he closed his notebook and let out a sigh of breath in satisfaction.


    Luo Nan already had a thicker interest in this building now. He couldn¡¯t help asking: ¡°Who¡¯s the designer of this ce?¡±


    Xie Junping shrugged his shoulders: ¡°I¡¯m pretty much stumped by your question. This building has at least twenty years of history to it. I was just a small baby when this thing was built. And you weren¡¯t even born yet. However man....... Haha. With signal we can talk about anything. The AI will absolutely have basic relevant information.¡±


    Xie Junping had been stifled broken through this experience; the heavens and earth had ignored him during his greatest time of need. He connected online while raging through gritted teeth, receiving his temporary authorization from the Student Council once more. From this moment on, he held the absolute ultimate power against that damnedboratory once again.


    ¡°There will be a day, be it morning or evening, when I will stuff that old geezer Yan Hong and let him have a good taste... It doesn¡¯t matter what gutter he¡¯s hiding in, I¡¯ll.......¡±


    During his unyielding disy of hate, Xie Junping was finally able to start each of the variousboratory system modules once again. He also searched for relevant information and found the original design drawings that had been stored as digital records. They included the designer¡¯s name.


    He used the powerful capabilities of his wristband to project the result as augmented reality; an image appeared floating in the air:


    ¡°Sole Designer: Bu Qingwen. Wow! Looks likes she¡¯s a girl from the signature. The characters are so pretty!¡± Xie Junping twisted his head over and sized out the furnishings within the tree house, but he was unable to see anything that disyed a specific and distinct female style. However the resting room on the floor below, with its exquisite and cosy setup, seemed to be enough to verify Xie Junping¡¯s theory.


    Xie Junping¡¯s tiny excitement wasn¡¯t worthy of receiving a response from Luo Nan. Xie Junping turned his head to look and was met with Luo Nan staring motionless at the designer¡¯s name and handwritten signature disyed on the hologram.


    Luo Nan¡¯s breathing was practically one with the surrounding air; it waspletely frozen.

 Chapter 30: Bu Qingwen (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 30: Bu Qingwen (Part 2/2)


    ¡°Nan...... Junior Nan?¡± Xie Junping called out towards Luo Nan in a probing manner, but he still didn¡¯t receive any response.


    Luo Nan stood there in a daze until he finally budged ten secondster. He resurveyed the setup of the narrow space, but the coordination between his neck and body was stiff like a rusted machine; it seemed as if he was exhausted, that thest bit of his battery could be drained at any time to leave him stuck here for eternity.


    But Luo Nan was ultimately able to control his body. He supported himself against the inner tree wall and slowly walked down the stairs. He was in a trance; it was as if he was sleepwalking.


    At first Xie Junping wanted to catch up with Luo Nan, but he stopped after thinking things through. He continued to operate his wristband, searching within the Order Club¡¯s database. And sure enough, he retrieved some new information.


    Bu Qingwen. Graduated in the year 72 with a PhD in Architecture. A veteran member of the Order Club. A digital photograph of her earlier years clearly revealed the pretty nature of ady. It matched with theyout of the tree house quite well.


    Perhaps it was the strong first impression, but all Xie Junping felt was that thisdy¡¯s facial features were somewhat simr to Luo Nan¡¯s. His mind was 70~80% certain of this.


    Right when he was pondering whether or not to make the next step in verifying this, his wristband notified him of an iing call. Xie Junping ground his teeth when he saw the iing number and put the call through. He really wanted to speak out withrge curses, but he forcefully stuffed his anger back down his throat and into his stomach when he thought of Luo Nan downstairs. He walked cautiously and solemnly next to the viewing window before speaking in a low voice:


    ¡°Hu Saner. You nearly killed me you motherf*cker...... You¡¯re still talking? You said that the defense system was some dogsh*t toy! Mmm. A new investor? You sure? He¡¯se for a tour? Right now?¡±


    Xie Junping was a bit surprised and he was finally able to control his mood. He pondered for a moment before giving Hu Saner a few instructions. In the end he still warned him seriously: ¡°Remember this. I¡¯ll smash your family to kingdome if there¡¯s another situation!¡±


    When things ended, Xie Junping made his way down softly and quietly. He reached out with a probing head from the staircase to take a look.


    He didn¡¯t dare to turn on his light. The dusky darkness of the tree hole differed only slightly with the light of the sky and he could barely make out Luo Nan standing in the center of the resting room. If Luo Nan were to slightly stretch out his hands, he would be able to touch the four sides of the wall. Somehow, Luo Nan maintained this nearly touching, yet not touching stiff posture. It was as if he wanted to embrace some incorporeal shadow in the darkness.


    In the end, Luo Nan¡¯s figure slowly slumped down gradually to be submerged within the darkness. Only the slight trembling of his back, which was like a boat that could flip and capsize at any moment, could be faintly discerned.


    Xie Junping felt that it wasn¡¯t proper to continue looking on. Softly and quietly, he made his way back up to burn some time in front of the viewing window. The color of the sky grew all the more darker as time passed. He thought about the information provided by Hu Saner, and he inevitably found it problematic.


    The sounds of footsteps echoed right when Xie Junping was at a loss. Luo Nan emerged at the head of the stairs, the dusky light preventing his face from being clearly seen.


    Xie Junping was just about to open his mouth with delight, but he discovered that Luo Nan wasn¡¯t casting any attention towards him at all. Luo Nan remained like a zombie. He walked in front of the unfolded table and hesitated slightly before finally extending his arm across. He picked up the base of the disc and was dazed once more.


    Ack! Wait a bit man. Xie Junping¡¯s breathing slowed. He just wished that Luo Nan would recover back to normal as soon as possible......


    ¡°Senior. Let me trouble you with something.¡±


    The sudden voice startled Xie Junping. Frankly speaking, he still wasn¡¯t too used to Luo Nan¡¯s soft manner of speaking. Moreover, Luo Nan¡¯s voice was a bit hoarse and nasally...... It couldn¡¯t be that Luo Nan had been crying?


    A subtle misalignment appeared between the Luo Nan before his eyes and the impression within his memories.


    Xie Junping was a bit mentally shocked, but the fact that Luo Nan had started the conversation on his own ord was a good thing. Xie Junping went ¡°Oh oh¡± twice before he rushed to respond:


    ¡°Speak up, speak up.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already submitted my entrance application for the Order Club, so let me trouble Senior to give the approval.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Sure. No problem.¡±


    This was none other than the original purpose which Xie Junping had dragged Luo Nan over here for. Preparations were naturally made ready well beforehand:


    ¡°Junior, right now you¡¯re a newly entered member of the Order Club. There are now 13 members total in the club, including you. Of course, you can just ignore the other people. They were dealt disciplinary action and have been suspended from the school at the very least. There¡¯s just some formal requirements you need to fulfill. Just spend a bit of effort over the next two days. Mm. I¡¯ll run the whole thing over with you and things will be fine.¡±


    He operated his wristband as he spoke, but he felt something was off towards the end. He raised his head suddenly and saw Luo Nan facing him with a 90 degree bow.


    The shock nearly caused Xie Junping to fall out of the window. He rushed to support Luo Nan up: ¡°Oh man. What the heck Junior Nan?¡±


    Luo Nan looked straight at Xie Junping¡¯s face and spoke softly: ¡°Today Senior has taken the initiative to have me enter the society. It¡¯s only because of this that I¡¯ve received this chance to find out that my mother had created this work Gear during her lifetime. I was even able to see her former residence......¡±


    Xie Junping felt a bit awkward: ¡°This is just a coincidence......¡±


    ¡°It really isn¡¯t! My mother sadly died when I was born. My grandpa went crazy before that and my father went far away; his family really didn¡¯t know much about my mother. So today I¡¯ve found out more about my mother than the past sixteen yearsbined! No matter what intentions Senior had beforehand, I, Luo Nan, will never forget these deep sentiments.¡±


    Although Luo Nan sputtered these words, his words were truly heavy and weren¡¯t false at all.


    Xie Junping really couldn¡¯t stand this proper and solemn attitude of Luo Nan¡¯s. And, he felt that Luo Nan¡¯s current mental state was far too abnormal. He pondered for a long time before finally asking cautiously and solemnly: ¡°She¡¯s really your mother.....¡±


    Luo Nan nodded slightly and he gave some electric charge to the projector through an unknown method. Now the projector could be started as normal, and the lively picture of a woman was disyed.


    She seemed to be under the trunk of this very tree, back before the water levels of the marsnds had flooded the sandbar. She was dressed casually and was leaning lightly against the withered tree. She was facing towards the camera with a splendid and bright smile that was far more lively and animated than the picture in her records; she possessed a special air of confidence.


    Xie Junping thought about how such a talented and good looking woman had suffered an early death and it left quite a bad taste in his heart. He really didn¡¯t know what to say for a time and could only tryforting Luo Nan:


    ¡°Your mother passed too early, not leaving many things behind. Junior, you¡¯ve discovered this legacy of hers. This is a big and good thing. You should be happy......¡±


    And only at this moment did Xie Junping suddenly remember that the Luo Nan before him was only a sixteen year old boy. Pealing away his cold and hard shell would reveal nothing more than a bruised and scar-riddled heart from a broken family, a husk whose father left him and whose mother died.


    Yea, this was way too heartbreaking..... But Xie Junping really didn¡¯t like this feeling, especially when he saw Luo Nan¡¯s circumstances. He absolutely wouldn¡¯t leave things like this tonight. This wouldn¡¯t do!


    Xie Junping spoke with frustration and tried to engage with Luo Nan in a conversation: ¡°Junior Nan, we have a problem right now. Before there was mainly the Construction Society and the Mystic Arts Research Society duking it out like dragons fighting for treasure. However a new investor suddenly appeared who wants to take immediate action with Gear. He wants toe over and take a look today.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already entered the society. Can he kick me out?¡±


    ¡°Hic. Things won¡¯t go that far......¡±


    ¡°Then it¡¯s fine.¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    It was quite clear that Luo Nan¡¯s state of mind waspletely enveloped with memorial sentiments of his mother right now. He no longer cared about any other news at all, and this included the inner matters of the Mystic Arts Research Society.


    Xie Junping suddenly felt exhausted. Weren¡¯t you the one who was doing all the decision making before? For some inexplicable reason, it was now Xie Junping¡¯s turn to wrack his brain with all his might. To fix things before things turned worse, he reminded Luo Nan to pay attention:


    ¡°The problem is that there¡¯s only one way out of this ce. Let¡¯s not get blocked up here by those people okay.¡±

 Chapter 31: Lying Low (Part ?)

    Chapter 31: Lying Low (Part ?)


    Luo Nan was dazed to his core upon hearing Xie Junping¡¯s words, but he ultimately was able to understand the most crucial issue. He looked around the tree house and was silent for some several seconds. In the end he made a decision: ¡°First let¡¯s head back.¡±


    Luo Nan looked at the album projector within his hand and hesitated for a long time. However, he still ced it back to its original position to avoid destroying the original arrangements of the tree house. Then he closed the bionic tree bark over the window to make sure no one would discover this ce.


    After Luo Nan did all of this, he turned his vision to face Xie Junping. Xie Junping then immediately raised his hand to swear: ¡°I absolutely won¡¯t mention this tree house to outsiders. This matter will rot in my stomach.¡±


    Luo Nan did not say a word and instead just bowed once again. Luo Nan was disying a more respectful attitude ever since hisst solemn expression of thanks towards Xie Junping. Honestly speaking, this really made Xie Junping feel secretly refreshed deep inside.


    Now that they were done with everything here, Luo Nan took the lead going down and Xie Junping followed behind. Perhaps it was due to his brisk mood, but Xie Junping had an idea inexplicably pop up in his mind. He used his heightened boldness to prod Luo Nan in the shoulder:


    ¡°Junior Nan. If you don¡¯t mind...... Is it okay if I leave behind a webcam?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Luo Nan suddenly turned his head and stared at Xie Junping¡¯s face.


    His behavior was just this bizarre. Before, Xie Junping would have certainly been nervous if something like this happened, so much so that he wouldn¡¯t have been able to speak out all his words. But his boldness increased ordingly after he could sense Luo Nan¡¯s respect for him. His line of thought increased in rity under Luo Nan¡¯s steady gaze:


    ¡°This is what I¡¯m saying. Don¡¯t you feel that this ce is bit too clean Junior Nan? There are lots of mosquitos in the marsnds and there is high humidity. A few days without cleaning would make this ce unbing. Just look at this ce. So clean, so refreshing. Yea, this ce looks good, but I¡¯m scared that......¡±


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t blink at all. He spoke with a hoarse voice andpleted Xie Junping¡¯s thoughts: ¡°People have already discovered this ce. And, they¡¯ve lived here for a long time?¡±


    ¡°Cough. That¡¯s what I¡¯m saying. After all, the AI cleaning system of Gear most likely wouldn¡¯t cover up to here.¡±


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t speak any further and his thoughtful gaze drifted a bit; it was unknown what he was thinking of. Several seconds passed before he turned around and walked slowly down. His finger was pasted to the inner tree wall the entire time, all the way until they walked to the stone steps where they started from. Then he suddenly spoke:


    ¡°It¡¯s here. There used to be a door here, but right now it¡¯s been padded with bionic material. It¡¯s sealed dead-tight.¡±


    Xie Junping aimed his illuminating light on top. He observed for a moment and spoke in favor: ¡°It might have been an ordinary door left behind from the days when the sandbar still existed. Then the water levels rose and it was discarded.¡±


    ¡°Rising water levels......¡±


    Luo Nan¡¯s voice grew hoarser and hoarser, as if a de was cutting across his throat. Speaking was growing more and more difficult: ¡°When did the water level rise?¡±


    Xie Junping looked up the information online: ¡°Approximately in the year 87. The underground rockbed fractured at that time, diverting the route of some underground river. It increased the average water level of the wends by nearly half a meter. Theke area of Withered Tree Sandbar increased by a full 1.7 meters. Hic, the year 87......¡±


    Yea. Didn¡¯t Bu Qingwen¡¯s death due to a difficult childbirth ur in the year 80? In any case, it was impossible for her toe and remodel this tree¡¯s space seven yearster.


    His line of thought straightened and Xie Junping whistled:


    ¡°There really was someone!¡±


    ¡°Yes. There really was someone.....But who was it?¡± Luo Nan responded hoarsely and slowly stooped down. He touched the narrow and secret passageway that had clearly been cut in at ater time.


    Xie Junping woke up with a realization and came over. There was a 99% chance that this passageway was carved out at the same time as sealing the door. They both had the same purpose of avoiding the rising water levels to still allow entry and exit.


    And so, the differences between Bu Qingwen¡¯s initial designs and the currentyout could be exined.


    Xie Junping watched Luo Nan who was stooped over and seemingly mulling over the structure of the hidden passageway. He casted his beam of light over to make it easier for Luo Nan to investigate. But he suddenly realized something was wrong after the light went over.


    Luo Nan was certainly deep in thought right now, but he was unconsciously digging with his fingers at the border between the hidden passageway and the tree hole. This monotonous movement could be said to be a bad habit, but it would be better to say that it was an indicator of some extreme mood.


    Luo Nan was mood was heavy and emotional a moment ago, yet he would be asionally tranquil, like the undting night tides of the coastal waters. This was the cadence corresponding with his ordinary mood.


    But he was in a repressed and irritable mood at this very moment. It was as if he was a wounded beast that saw the enemy that wounded it intrude on its territory. He was overbrimming with so much rashness that his mood was savage.


    Xie Junping was really scared that Luo Nan would tear off his fingernails. He rocked his illuminating beam of light very carefully.


    The variations in lighting caused Luo Nan to be startled awake. He suddenly turned around.


    Xie Junping was shockingly met with the red bloodshot eyes of Luo Nan. They weren¡¯t seeped with tears, instead they were heaped with a madness that pointed to the desire to devour a chosen person!


    Xie Junping just felt his calf muscle cramp when he was faced with this situation. He unconsciously moved a step back.


    But Luo Nan¡¯s mood seemed to be pacified by being under the illumination of light. He ceased his monotonous actions that caused one¡¯s blood to run cold and spoke in a low voice:


    ¡°Senior, where did we leave off in our conversation just now?¡±


    ¡°Hic. That there¡¯s someone living in this tree who sealed that door and dug out this secret passageway that leads to theboratory.¡±


    Luo Nan shook his head: ¡°At first nce the underwater corridor is normally a dead end route. It would be too conspicuous for outsiders toe in that way. Therefore it can¡¯t be any other people. It can only be the inner members of the society or theboratory. ¡°


    Xie Junping thought about it and felt that Luo Nan was right. He agreed with Luo Nan¡¯s reasoning in this way.


    And thinking deeper, such a person of the order club would have to engage in normal activities and social exchanges within the club. And when other people aren¡¯t paying attention, they would sneak through this underwater corridor and enter this tree hole to engage in some shady business, which would never see the light of day. The most important thing would be the span of time such a person would be doing this. They would probably have been doing this for 7~8 years, over 10 years, all the way until now...... Thinking about it made one¡¯s heart run cold.


    Xie Junping suddenly produced an idea: It can¡¯t be. It can¡¯t be that the hidden passageway was actually dug in from the other side during its creation!?


    Maybe someone swam and entered through the viewing window......


    With this thought having been born in his head, he looked at the pitch-ck entrance of the hidden passageway. Then he looked at the spiraling flight of stairs behind him. He didn¡¯t feel so good now.


    It seemed that Luo Nan hadn¡¯t thought about things this much. He slowly stood back up and faced Xie Junping half up: ¡°Then I¡¯ll trouble senior with the matter of installing the webcam...... If there¡¯s someone. If there¡¯s still someone here. I want to see who this person is to the end!¡±


    A bit of nervousness sprouted in Xie Junping¡¯s heart, but having Luo Nan at his side was more or less a source offort. He took a deep breath: ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll install it right now!¡±


    ¡°......You have tools at the ready?¡±


    ¡°Hic. I brought a few.¡±


    Xie Junping felt a bit awkward, but he still retrieved two micro-webcams, which were only the size of grains of rice, out from his wristband. Rich kids like him would sometimes y some absurd tricks, and they relied on these devices to do so.


    These types of portable micro machines could not be simpler to install. All he had to do was find a location with a wide viewing angle and press down to have it stick; it wouldn¡¯t fall easily.


    Xie Junping used both webcams: ¡°This small toy can broadcast video in real time and a single webcam can operate for over three months. Looking at how clean this ce is, we can get a result in one or two days if we¡¯re lucky.¡±


    Luo Nan walked up and down the entire space of the tree hole once again while Xie Junping was working, but he was unable to discover any more clues. His mood was clearly far more stifled now. Without saying a word, he went ahead through the hidden passageway and entered the underwater corridor.


    Xie Junping carefully caught up to Luo Nan while having the monitoring video open the entire time. He was scared that a murderer, one who had been hiding for several years, would suddenly jump out behind his back!

 Chapter 31: Lying Low (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 31: Lying Low (Part 2/2)


    Xie Junping raised his head after jumping from the exit of the hidden passageway. The camouge film looked like a whole metal te, blocking his line of sight perfectly.


    Who would ever expect there to be a short and narrow hidden passageway with the peculiar space of a tree hole right behind it?


    Luo Nan did not utter a word, maintaining silence during their return trip. Xie Junping gave another nce at the monitoring video and caught up using two urgent steps. He stood shoulder to shoulder with Luo Nan, but he soon found himself regretting his decision.


    Each of the system modules of theboratory had recovered back to normal operation right now. The way back was no longer a pitch ck darkness. Unique ck light illuminated with a dark purple glow within the ss walls. It made the watery area turn phantasmal and dreamlike.


    But this long and tedious road was simply torture from Xie Junping¡¯s perspective.


    The mental state of Luo Nan next to him was abnormal after all.....


    During the journey, Luo Nan continued to stifle his state of mania from the tree hole, his thoughts spinning in endless circles the entire time. Sometimes he would suddenly stop his footsteps, turn his head, and look back down the long corridor. Sometimes he would look at the increasingly gloomy waters next to him and was lost in thought for a long time. The blood within his eyes glistened with vividness each time he did this, causing it hard to look at his eyes directly. And there was even a few times when Xie Junping could hear the low sound of teeth grinding.


    So several minutes past while moving in this walk-and-stop manner, causing Xie Junping to confirm all the more:


    That Luo Nan was going mad!


    He had no doubts whatsoever; if there was some person who dared to say, ¡°I am the one who has been living in this tree,¡± Luo Nan would immediately throw himself over, crush that person¡¯s throat with his teeth, and then roar in interrogation:


    What the hell do you damn think you¡¯re doing here!?


    What was he thinking...... If he continued thinking like this, Xie Junping felt that he too would go mad!


    He had to do something at least.


    Xie Junping racked his brain as he recalled back to a fewmunications courses he had taken. He framed his words and hesitated for a long time before opening his mouth:


    ¡°Hic. Junior. You don¡¯t know much information about Auntie, your mother, right?¡±


    Luo Nan was clearly stunned; his defenses had been broken into and the force that did it came from his thoughts of affection for his mother. These wonderful feelings were like a gushing river that cleansed his heart. It was a bit painful, but it wasn¡¯t bad.


    A long time passed; only then did Luo Nan nod: ¡°No, not much.¡±


    There¡¯s a way!


    Delight filled Xie Junping¡¯s heart. He rushed persistently: ¡°Auntie didn¡¯t have many rtives?¡±


    Luo Nan continued to respond: ¡°My mom was a war orphan. She grew up in an orphanage since she was small.¡±


    Xie Junping nearly choked, but thinking of the time period, Bu Qingwen certainly was born during the third war. There were many people of that generation with simr circumstances.


    Regardless of how it happened, at least a conversation was started with Luo Nan.


    ¡°Was she a local? If, Junior, you want to collect more information, I still have some capabilities in Xia City.¡± Xie Junping tookplete charge with quite decent results.


    Luo Nan faced him with a half bow: ¡°Thank-you Senior.¡±


    Here we go again! He felt that Luo Nan was just like a person from the previous century, or perhaps he was following procedurespletely by the book to perform his actions..... Ugh, that might be it.


    Xie Junping¡¯s speech until now was filled with sufficient confidence in this conversation. He gestured with his hands: ¡°In fact I really admire Auntie to be able to design Gear and still have people scratching their heads over it twenty yearster. I just assumed it was a masterpiece from an expert master.¡±


    ¡°This is also my first time I knew about this.¡±


    ¡°Then Junior, what sort of things did you know before? Your family hasn¡¯t mentioned a single thing about Auntie?¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    The sudden silence made Xie Junping nearly believe he had overreached himself, like he had tried to be clever and ended up with an egg on his face. But Luo Nan still opened his mouth in the end:


    ¡°My mom passed before I was born......¡±


    ¡°You said that before.¡±


    Hic. Wait wait. Didn¡¯t those words sound a little bit strange?


    Before Xie Junping could realize what was wrong, he heard Luo Nan speak again: ¡°My mother and him. They got to know each other at Acumen College. They also went to the wilderness together to join with grandpa. My auntie had a really messy rtionship with them. She doesn¡¯t know much at all.¡±


    Luo Nan¡¯s words were somewhat incoherent and they also contained some subtle implications. Xie Junpingbined this with his previously collected information and he finally came to an understanding.


    Luo Nan¡¯s parents probably got to know each other and fell in love when they attended Acumen College, thenter they went to the wilderness together to assist Luo Nan¡¯s grandpa with his research. Luo Nan¡¯s current guardian was his aunt, but she didn¡¯t have a good rtionship with his main family. She didn¡¯t know much pertaining to the situation. Under the circumstances where his grandfather went crazy and his father went missing, naturally it was hard for Luo Nan to receive relevant information about his mother.


    Luo Nan unconsciously extended his hand as he spoke. His fingertips touched the ss wall to produce the muted sound of friction: ¡°I only know one thing about my mom since I was little; she had already passed before I was born.¡±


    It was this sentence again, and the same bizarre feeling emerged once more.


    Xie Junping mulled the words twice over before finally realizing where the issuey:


    If she had already died, how could she give birth to a child?


    Hmm. He had heard something like this before. In the rtively backwards medical circumstances at the time, for the case of a difficult childbirth, it was still possible to save the child even if the mother had already passed.


    Did this happen to Luo Nan, more or less?


    Xie Junping felt that he had figured out this secret and was just about to continue the subject. But then he saw Luo Nan take out that fluorescent pen from his ck leather notebook and draw an object shaped like an oval. Next to it sat the silhouette of a skinny character.


    The lines of the drawing were simple to the extreme, conveying the content extremely openly and clearly.


    ¡°This is my mom......¡±


    Luo Nan¡¯s voice was exceptionally gentle: ¡°I¡¯ve never seen her with my own eyes, but I¡¯ve heard that she gave birth to me in this way.¡±


    ¡°Hic?¡± Xie Junping was a bit bewildered.


    "Apparently it was June of the year 80, when I was 7 months...... inside mom¡¯s stomach. The base went into disorder and mother was heavily injured. She sealed off theboratory room and used a sustainment pod to save me. Look. This is me.¡±


    Luo Nan had drawn a small small circle within the oval, within the middle of the sustainment pod.


    Xie Junping opened his lips, yet not a sound was uttered from them. He originally wanted to ask how a fetus within a stomach could be ced within a sustainment pod. But when these words came to his lips, he suddenlyprehended the bitter course of events and instantly stood there in shock.


    Luo Nan pressed lightly against the edge of the silhouette and spoke in the same gentle, but fear-inducing manner: ¡°I can¡¯t see her, but she¡¯s always here...... This is my mother.¡±


    Xie Junping looked at the fluorescent lines dull-wittedly. He didn¡¯t know how he should respond for a time.


    Luo Nan walked forward, swapping to a different area, and drawing out another few lines. He borrowed the illumination of themps of ck light to form a sheet of depressing shadow. In front of the shadow was the prison-like structure of a fence. A person sat within it and the small shadow of another person was besides it.


    ¡°Then three yearster, my grandfather was prosecuted, imprisoned, and he went mad. Theboratory data was no more, as well as the results of his research..... And at this time, someone else was no more as well.¡±


    Luo Nan gave an oddugh to Xie Junping: ¡°He should be here, but he¡¯s not here...... This is my father.¡±


    They just happened to walk to the starting location of the underwater corridor at this time. Luo Nan retrieved his fluorescent pen and faced Xie Junping with a bow once again:


    ¡°I¡¯ve said some boring words just now. I¡¯ve bothered senior.¡±


    Luo Nan had clearly understood Xie Junping¡¯s intentions. Conversely, Xie Junping had finally pried a crack into the twisted, heavy, and mncholic inner world of Luo Nan¡¯s heart. Furthermore, Luo Nan¡¯s mood had clearly be much more tranquil. This should count as a good deed right!?


    Xie Junping secretly hushed out a breath and was just about to respond when the sounds of voices came from not too far away. Seven~eight people came into the underwater corridor from the surrounding resting area. There was even someone who greeted Xie Junping:


    ¡°Bro Ping. We¡¯ve arrived.¡±

 Chapter 32: Discussing a Legacy (Part ?)

    Chapter 32: Discussing a Legacy (Part ?)


    Xie Junping frowned as he looked over. Hu Huaying, aka Hu Saner, of the Student Council was of the people who came. He counted as his die-hard ally and the person whom Hu Saner greeted was none other than Xie Junping.


    Asides from these two, there were two new faces and another four people; the upper members of the Construction Society and even the chairman, Lang Ding, hade over.


    When faced with this situation, Xie Junping suddenly felt a bit of an ominous premonition.


    Although he felt apprehension in his heart, Xie Junping still adopted a smiling and weing expression. This sort ofmunications work was precisely his expertise. Since he wasn¡¯t facing Luo Nan, that old geezer, he immediately felt the heavens and earth open up wide. He just did whatever he pleased. He went from the difficulties of the infernals of hell to the starting arena for newbies.


    Though he face seven people, he was still able to greet with the amiable cordialness of a host without messing up at all. He also cleared up the identity of the two new faces in passing.


    Awyer, Xing Zhu, was the representative of the investor. His temperament was calm and t, in ordance to the cold and aloft behavior of the society elite. Another was a bodyguard, Hei Lianpi. He had a swift and fierce build, looking like a rather cool professional. No one would ignore him.


    These two were already working hard in public society to make a living; they were older than the students present here by a huge gap. Reasonably speaking, in these circumstances it would best for the Society Operations Office to send out people of equivalent status to receive these two, or perhaps send out a teacher advisor from the relevant society to meet them. But Xie Junping did not see such a person.


    Xie Junping was finding this all the more fishy and soon his premonition became true. While during the exchange with Lawyer He Zhu, He Zhu spoke directly:


    ¡°The Rainbow Fund is more than satisfied with the growth n and personnelposition of the Construction Society. They are willing tounch more practical coborations...... It¡¯s quite the decent investment to inject capital into the iconic building of the northern bank. I hope we can meet an agreement with the school and the Student Council pertaining to nning the course of events.¡±


    Xie Junping gave a chuckle, but he was cursing Hu Saner a million times in his heart: You didn¡¯t describe the matter clearly! Sure it¡¯s true that an investor had arrived, but he¡¯s not directly entering the game or something. The investor¡¯s starting a new path! And it¡¯s for the aid of the Construction Society!


    Oh man. He originally thought that it was going to change between a meeting of two dragons to a war between three kingdoms. But now the situation looked clearly to be a one-sided advantage!


    He grinned while shaking hands with Lang Ding and he diverted the conversation: ¡°I won¡¯t mention anything else, but I have no choice but to be impressed with the matter of pulling a sponsor to the Construction Society.¡±


    This chairman of thisrge society, Lang Ding, wasn¡¯t an especially strong person. He onlyughed at this moment: ¡°It¡¯s alright. Pulling in a new investor will make the allocation of society funds more fair. The schedule is now much morexed.¡±


    ¡°I wish you the best!¡±


    Xie Junpingughed with delight, but his heart was screeching: There¡¯s trouble now......


    He turned his head to nce an eye at Luo Nan. This old geezer still had the look of having a gloomy mood, paying no attention at all to these uninvited people. Indeed by following Luo Nan¡¯s logic, all Luo Nan needed was to be in the Order Club, to be in the building designed by his mother. It didn¡¯t matter who ended up controlling this ce at all.


    ¡°My god. How could a situation ever be so simple?¡±


    Xie Junping cursed silently; he felt that he had quite the headache.


    The Construction Society was okay too. Forget about the Mystic Arts Research Society. There¡¯s not a single one of therge societies that was easy to deal with. His nned work was now impossible. A small member of a society had the ability to disrupt one¡¯s ns.


    Before, Xie Junping was confident to give a guarantee to Luo Nan. This was because he had contacted the Mystic Arts Research Society beforehand; the path behind and ahead had been totally great.


    But now this matter with the Construction Society was really hard to deal with.


    It was rtively easy to speak to Ling Dang, but this matter with the society was far moreplicated. There were many thorns in the executingmittee. Regardless of other things, Li Xuecheng, this dying dog, acted as the daily vice-chairman of the Construction Society. He possessed great influence within the society.


    If Luo Nan were to truly enter the Construction Society and bump into Li Xuecheng once more...... Wouldn¡¯t there be a case of a mysterious campus death?


    He had to head back and think of a n!


    Xie Junping never had the intention to stay behind during his entire exchange. He exchanged a few more rubbish words and pulled Luo Nan to leave.


    But he never expected that Lawyer Zhu of the Rainbow Fund would freeze him in ce with a shout after just walking few steps: ¡°Head Xie. There¡¯s some business I need to discuss with you.¡±


    While it¡¯s true that Xie Junping was the head of the Society Activities Department of the Student Council, only a few people directly addressed him by this title within the school. He turned his head stunned, and adopted a smile:


    ¡°If you have any business to talk about, don¡¯t hesitate Lawyer Zhu.¡±


    Lawyer Zhu nodded slightly: ¡°It pertains to the aspect regarding societal assets. At present nce, the Order Club has already entered a state of empty operations. Thepletion of all processes will take at least three months to half a year. It would be disadvantageous to protect the existing assets at the this time. So we propose to hold a negotiations meeting tomunicate with thepeting societies and formally count up and sequester all assets of the Order Club. This will lessen depreciation and prevent external consumption. I hope the Student Council can coordinate and organize this as the middleman andplete the relevant procedures as soon as possible.


    Xie Junping¡¯s eyebrows was a knot. If you sequester the society, where would this old geezer next to me go?


    Lawyer Zhu didn¡¯t wait for a response and continued: ¡°In addition, we also hope that the school will do a strict investigation. We were paying close attention to the Order Club¡¯s website recently and we discovered that a new person had actually been admitted to the society. Can the society still recruit people even when it¡¯s halted? For someone to enter the society during thepetition over its resources, we need to understand the cause of this.¡±


    Oh crap. This guy specialized in finding faults!


    Xie Junping¡¯s face darkened in an instant, but he found things odd at the same time. He didn¡¯t remember offending the Rainbow Fund in any ce of his n. Perhaps it was this Mr. Zhu¡¯s litigating instincts.


    The Rainbow Fund was a very famous investor fund of Xia City. Logically speaking, they need to be this cheap right?


    He sent another nce to Luo Nan at his side. Thetter had clearly heard Lawyer Zhu¡¯s speech and had already lifted his head. But his line of sight wasn¡¯t casted on the person who had spoken; it dropped next to the Lawyer, on that bodyguard with a darkplexion.


    It was strange.


    Although Xie Junping did not understand what was the matter, he wouldn¡¯t leave things undone when it came to things. He smiled a fake smile in response: ¡°Lawyer Zhu probably didn¡¯t know that the Order Club still hasn¡¯t been dissolved in ordance to school procedures. The new member was recruited with the Student Council as the escrow agent. The member¡¯s main function is to maintain the normal operations of the society. To recruit such a member is within the realm of reason right?¡±


    Lawyer Zhuughed faintly: ¡°All original members of the society have entered detainment procedures. I find it hard to believe that the society is capable of resuming normal operations. Otherwise the school wouldn¡¯tunch the activities of bidding over its assets and act as the escrow agent. Our reasoning is as such. An escrow agent¡¯s purpose is to fully realize the protection of the assets, especially in this situation where the society is substantially dying. If Head Xie believes that there¡¯s a w in our reasoning, we can hold a negotiations meeting, solicit the opinions of the highest bidders, and choose the highestmon denominator.¡±


    Xie Junping choked slightly. He really didn¡¯t have the guts to open that negotiations meeting.


    Lawyer Zhu¡¯s line of sight transferred over to Luo Nan¡¯s face. Then at lightning speeds, he exchanged a meaningful nce to the darkplexion bodyguard next to him. After thetter gave a faint nod, he spoke:


    ¡°Are you Luo Nan, the student who just entered the society? I just saw your name in the announcement post on the society¡¯s website. Let me take the liberty of asking a question; what¡¯s the reason you entered the society? Have you gone through the relevant examinations? Before entering the society, did you understand the situation with the Order Club......?


    Luo Nan hugged his notebook when faced with these interrogating words. He was cold, detached, and quiet, uttering not a word.


    In the end Xie Junping couldn¡¯t stand watching this. He shouted: ¡°Hey hey hey! That¡¯s three questions! If you want reasons, just ask me! Who would know more than me?¡±

 Chapter 32: Discussing a Legacy (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 32: Discussing a Legacy (Part 2/2)


    Xie Junping took the focus of this argument and diverted it onto himself. But in retrospect, perhaps he had saved Lawyer Zhu¡¯s fate. He felt the superiority of upying a higher ground:


    ¡°Lawyer Zhu, you¡¯re saying that the recruiting a new member for the continued operations of the Order Club is a waste of resources. I do not believe this is so. Do you believe we of the Student Council eat swine food, that we don¡¯t know what we¡¯re doing? Hu San. The ability to recruit new members by the Order Club was reinstated recently in the new semester right?¡±


    Hu Huaying had suddenly be a bit confused from these arguments and Xie Junping had already pulled him into the water. Luckily the many years of being allies were not for naught. He immediately nodded:


    ¡°It was reinstated on September 1st.


    Xie Junping was fully aware that this was a behavior from thegging execution of procedures, yet he used this as evidence, throwing it onto Lawyer Zhu¡¯s face:


    ¡°Perhaps Lawyer Xhu doesn¡¯t understand the inner workings of the school. If so, there¡¯s no harm in me telling you. The Order Club truly did cause themselves to fall into ruin over these past few years. There¡¯s more than the financial affairs situation fromst year. An experimental ident urred in the year 93, which caused their qualifications to recruit members be removed.¡±


    ¡°But it was none other than this qualification that was reinstated on September 1st of this year. What does this mean? This means that the school still hopes to give the Order Club another opportunity, to let this old society, which existed back when the school was founded, leave behind some trace of existence. Even if they aren¡¯t able to escape their fate, this doesn¡¯t mean they willpletely disappear. At least there will be a legacy......¡±


    His speech started as words that even he wasn¡¯t confident in, but Xie Junping grew more spirited the more he talked. Even he felt a bit moved.


    This was because he had thought of Bu Qingwen at this very moment. He thought about how this talented alumni had designed Gear all by herself, left behind a ssical work of art, traveled to the distant wilderness, and then died in that sort of moving and tragic fashion.


    This former society had possessed great people such as her. They had to leave behind something, something to let people remember...... This sort of thing was exactly what he was going for!


    And so Xie Junping¡¯s voice grew all the more resounding: ¡°A prospective member has applied and the society has approved. Isn¡¯t this very normal? I looked and saw the true passion contained within this student¡¯s submission. The grounds are sufficient, and the applicant himself is extremely outstanding. What would it matter to allow such a person to enter the society during escrow?¡±


    Lawyer Zhu had seen several disys of emotions overwhelming logic such as this. Young people really loved to act this way. He shook his head with a smile: ¡°The grounds are sufficient? Then can you give concrete details?¡±


    If it was before, Xie Junping might have been embarrassed. But today he was very different. Heughed out loud: ¡°Of course they¡¯re sufficient; they¡¯re super adequate!¡±


    He directly pulled up the design ns from the society¡¯s database and had it revealed to everyone¡¯s eyes through the nearby projection instations.


    ¡°Gear, aka this building we are in right now, is the child of a doctorate who graduated in the year 72 from the School¡¯s Architectural Design Institution. Mrs. Bu Qingwen designed and nned this building all by herself until it waspleted atst. Here are the relevant digital records; they include Mrs. Bu¡¯s personal signature. There are no problems right? Lawyer Zhu?¡±


    Lawyer Zhu felt that something was not quite right. He retracted his smiling expression and looked at the records with a frown. On the contrary, the darkplexioned bodyguard gave a cold stare next to him, making Xie Junping¡¯s mind have a thought break out:


    This older brother doesn¡¯t seem to be a bodyguard; he seems more like a mobster holding some firepower.


    Anyway, Xie Junping pushed these unprecedented feelings and raised his spirits quickly. With a bold uplifted head he said: ¡°Mrs. Bu Qingwen is our school¡¯s pride just based off of this masterwork Gear! But it was such a pity; those whom the heavens love die young. Mrs. Bu unfortunately passed away six years afterpleting this work. The personnel of Gear were changed afterwards, and there were none who remembered this shocking, but short-lived alumni from back in the day. It was only until today......¡±


    Xie Junping walked withrge strides until he stood next to Luo Nan. He grasped Luo Nan by the shoulders: ¡°It was only until today that Mrs. Bu¡¯s sole and only child, Student Luo Nan, had tracked down the vestiges of his mother and entered Acumen College for study. Through a month of pursuit, he found his mother¡¯s work of art, yet he witnessed the Order Club in decline and Gear unprotected. The pain was too much and he took the initiative to request entrance to the society, to devote all his strength to take this legendary building and have it shine with luster anew...... Are these grounds not sufficient?¡±


    Luo Nan shot a nce to the hand residing on his shoulder, not saying anything in the end.


    The difficult people didn¡¯t voice any objections and Xie Junping¡¯s imposing air increased like the floating of a boat when the tide rises: ¡°Junior Lang. Lawyer Zhu. While we do know that the Order Club is likely to be history, this Mrs. Bu has performed a great contribution to the school. The school should back and encourage the cost of supporting Luo Nan honoring his mother.¡±


    ¡°This is just my individual opinion, but I ce these words in front of you. If you have any objections, you can voice your suspicions. Awsuit is not a problem as well. Sue the Student Council. Sue the Alumni Association. Sue the Parents¡¯ Association. Sue the School Administration Office. Sue the Board of Directors. No matter what, I will use this as my argument!¡±


    ¡°What is fake cannot be made true. What is true cannot be made fake. I want to see who¡¯s able to sever the connection of flesh and blood between Mrs. Bu and Junior Luo Nan. Who¡¯s able to smash their love between mother and child! Who¡¯s able to take the cultural legacy of our school and stomp it on the ground in destruction!¡±


    Xie Junping¡¯s current imposing air could truly topple the mountains and overturn the seas. He red with wide eyes and pointed to someone irrelevant: ¡°Junior Lang?¡±


    Lang Ding forced a smile and waved his hand; he wasn¡¯t willing to contend with Xie Junping.


    Xie Junping looked once more at the person who talked the most: ¡°Lawyer Zhu?¡±


    Lawyer Zhu¡¯s face was a bit green and he didn¡¯t respond immediately; he seemed to be formting his words.


    No way would Xie Junping give Zhu this chance! His mind flowed freely and rapidly right now. He disyed not a word, onlyughing in the end. He held Luo Nan by the shoulder and swaggered off.


    An unprecedented and decisive victory! Xie Junping¡¯s eyes were practically brimming with tears of excitement before even walking a few steps. This was the first time he didn¡¯t use a teleprompter, didn¡¯t use internal earbuds, to make a fervorous speech okay!?


    The results were simply invigorating to the point of ecstasy!


    So pitiful, it was so pitiful that this wasn¡¯t recorded! He wouldn¡¯t be able to resample this event in the future...... Wait up. Maybe there was a way.


    The idea was already born, so Xie Junping turned his head to ask: ¡°Junior Nan my man! My form just now. Can you draw it for me...... Hic! I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    His mood had been quite exciteful, so he was neglectful. Xie Junping only just discovered that he was still holding onto Luo Nan¡¯s shoulder and had yet to let go. A single cold and threatening nce from this old geezer caused Xie Junping¡¯s neck to contract. He rushed to remove his hand.


    Contrary to all expectations, Luo Nan gave him a huge thumbs up in the very next moment: ¡°Senior, you¡¯re very eloquent.¡±


    Xie Junping coughed and spoke with reserved intentions: ¡°I¡¯ve met many litigators like him. And I got my confidence from Auntie and Junior Nan......¡±


    But he couldn¡¯t help himself in the end. He broke into a great smile and spoke like a chatterbox: ¡°Say Luo Nan, just draw one for me. It would be quite the pity to not leave behind amemoration.¡±


    Luo Nan actually didn¡¯t refuse. He just responded: ¡°First I¡¯m going to buy a flexible screen.¡±


    Xie Junping never expected Luo Nan to respond, but he had suddenly obtained this reply. He was exalted after a moment of shock. Actually a portrait really wasn¡¯t much, but this represented that the rtionship between him and Luo Nan had truly entered into a new stage.


    He immediately smacked his chest: ¡°I¡¯ll pay for it!¡±


    ¡°...... No need. Thanks though.¡±


    Luo Nan gave augh, but he soon collected himself. He lowered his head and flipped through his notebook until he reached the page with the flexible screen to look at the broken side of the screen. He opened the metal binding rings a momentter, took out the flexible e-ink screen, weighed it in his hand, and adopted a pitching posture.


    Xie Junping ate some shock next to him. Before he could exert strength to restrain Luo Nan¡¯s throwing arm, Luo Nan stopped himself and faced Xie Junping withughter:


    ¡°It¡¯s bad to damage one¡¯s health. Right?¡±


    No matter what sort of craze Luo Nan was going through, Xie Junping just nodded his head resolutely. He knew fully well how Li Xuecheng had turned into a dying dog in the end. And so, he was able to infer the importance Luo Nan ced on this flexible e-ink screen. It was inevitable that he was worried about Luo Nan¡¯s current mood, that Luo Nan would do something he would regret in the future.


    If Luo Nan coulde to by himself, well that would naturally be the best oue.


    Luo Nan muttered to himself deeply for a while. In the end, he put the flexible e-ink screen back in the notebook and continued walking ahead. It was as if nothing had happened at all.

 Chapter 33: Rushing Back (Part ?)

    Chapter 33: Rushing Back (Part ?)


    Xie Junping¡¯s luxury car was rushing down the high-speed maic rail. His Phantom had been collected, but for a rich kid like him, this was nothing more than a chance to show off the car collection from his garage.


    Looking out of the car window, one could see that Xia City had already entered into the color of night. Now was the peak of when people got off of work, but traffic was rarely seen in Xia City.


    Through the course of dozens of years, through hundreds of millions of tons of earth, steel, and other various extraordinary materials, through the determination of the human race, arge collection of magnificent metropolises were built. Over two hundred million people were crammed into this finitend. But high efficiency operation was still just as possible as before.


    Just for traffic alone, Xia City discharged twenty floors of traffic from the subterranean to the high altitude skies. Over a million calcted means of transportation of all kinds were divided and flowed. Even during the period of the greatest concentration of traffic, only approximately twenty minutes were needed to rush down a forty kilometer road.


    Xie Junping had offered to send Luo Nan back home, and so Luo Nan was cheerfully rxed right now. He took this bit of time to get familiar with the new flexible e-ink screen he had just purchased; he was mainly getting familiar with the feel between the screen and his pen.


    The other devices for configuration were absolutely meaningless. All he had to do was integrate the external receiving neuron and connect it to the battery module. Then the familiar interface of five years would appear in front of him once again.


    However, the icon of gear, which had existed within theboratory, already disappeared. This showed that the external neuron was absolutely influenced by the underlying software and hardware.


    Luo Nan¡¯s finger rubbed twice against the location where the Gear icon once was. Then he immediately opened the drawing software, which he hadn¡¯t used for a while.


    The picture of the burning wraith was still ced on the upper mostyer of the software interface, looking just as malevolent and terrifying as before. Having been enriched by the concise abstract lines of the wraith sign, Luo Nan just felt that this sketch was truly an eyesore; there were so many things bad, wrong, and twisted about it.


    He shook his head and directly deleted the demonic sketch. The earlier drawn sketch of the nightclub entrance was naturally substituted.


    ¡°Hey hey hey. Delete this one too. Switch to a better looking one.¡±


    Xie Junping had turned his head over to look right at this time. He saw that Luo Nan had just deleted a sketch, but he wasn¡¯t able to see the details of it clearly. However, the next image could not be clearer. He had blurted noisily on the spot.


    Luo Nan gave him a nce. He spoke not coldly, but not warmly: ¡°Pay attention to driving.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re on the high-speed maic rails now. How can I drive?¡± Xie Junping ced his hand on the steering wheel and received a warning from the car¡¯s AI system. The car first entered into a switching region before allowing Xie Junping to modify the maic course. This was to avoid hitting the cars around them.


    Xie Junping donned an innocent state.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t feel like paying attention to him. He made a nk page on the drawing software and his pen went down on the screen.


    Xie Junping breathed and drew close to him. He looked at Luo Nan using the digital pen to draw indistinct background shadows. It was very likely to be the inneryout of Gear. Xie Junping was suddenly stunned during this period of excitement: ¡°Who is that person...... That bodyguard with a darkplexion? Why are you drawing him?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve encountered him before.¡±


    Luo Nan drew an approximate outline of the darkplexioned bodyguard. He wanted to add a few fine lines, but there was some hesitation. This was a rtively rare situation.


    Xie Junping was still a bit unsatisfied: ¡°Who is he man?¡±


    ¡°I saw him yesterday on Ship Lanshan. He¡¯s probably...... a burner of Quantum Corporation.¡±


    ¡°Burner!?¡± Xie Junping¡¯s chin smashed down onto his own shoulder.


    ¡°He should be.¡±


    On the warship at the time, it was none other than the darkplexioned male who was towing the Deep Blue Walker exoskeleton armors of Quantum Corporation. He drove across in front of Luo Nan and the visions of the two intersected. The darkplexioned male had covered the exoskeleton armors with a tarp to protect them from malevolent eyes. The whole course of events couldn¡¯t have been described as pleasant.


    Xie Junping felt a cold sweate. Didn¡¯t he exchange contending gazes with the darkplexioned male while he was giving his fervent speech? If that male sent a palm flying over, his just-escted mouth might fearfully be smashed to pieces......


    Inparison, Quantum Corporation¡¯s military might wasn¡¯t that direct.


    Luo Nan could only shake his head when faced with Xie Junping¡¯s expression. He flipped away from this page and his pen dropped down onto the screen once more. This time he really drew Xie Junping¡¯s form.


    Although this was clearly a gift, Luo Nan didn¡¯t deliberately add strokes; it was still minimalist. Then the clear form of an image appeared.


    This silhouette had an arm around a person¡¯s shoulder and was waving with the other arm in roused spirits. It seemed excited, wrathful, and a bit deranged. But the arm embracing the neck and the shadow to its nk made these somewhat-out-of-control movements turn into something defender-like, upright, and unafraid.


    Xie Junping initially was arguing saying, ¡°How am I that crazy,¡± but when he saw the wholeposition of the piece, he grew more delighted the more he looked. Thissted until he was grinning from ear to ear, his satisfaction at its peak.


    In the end there was only one thing unsatisfactory about it: ¡°That¡¯s you to the side. Why didn¡¯t you draw yourself out?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not good at self portraits.¡±


    Luo Nan gave a simple response, then he immediately sent the picture over. He didn¡¯t care what Xie Junping would do with this picture.


    Then next, Luo Nan took these two pictures and his old umted pictures and simultaneous selected them. He long pressed the screen for several seconds and the secondyer of the drawing software, aka the true features of the software, were opened.


    He had tried and failed yesterday in the confinement room of the warship. But today he had swapped to a new device, and everything went smoothly without a hitch.


    The bulk of the secondyer interface was none other than the tetrahedron on the title page of his grandfather¡¯s notebook. However itcked the inscribed sphere and the outer scribed sphere. Instead the tetrahedron was divided by four level cuts to form five levels of approximately equal height. The tetrahedron rotated within a gray background.


    Xie Junping¡¯s gaze moved across. He was a bit curious:


    ¡°Maslow?¡±


    This interface looked to be really close to the ssical diagram of Maslow¡¯s Hierarchy of Needs. This theory listed a person¡¯s needs from low to high, from basic needs toplicated needs. They wereid out in fiveyers like a flight of stairs.


    All one needs was a bit ofmon sense in sociology and psychology, and one would not find this diagram, corresponding to a ssical theory of the previous century, strange.


    Xie Junping pointed out: ¡°From bottom to top. Physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s student, office worker, technician, clergy, and politician.¡±


    ¡°How vulgar...... I¡¯m saying that these upations can be arranged in this increasing order?¡±


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t exin. He just took the dozen or so sketches he had selected and sent them into the confined space of the tetrahedron. There were at least several hundred simr works inside, dispersed and scattered.


    All the sketches were shrunk in size within the confined space. They began to rummage up and down when the new sketches were entered in. It looked like a fantastical card shuffler. They were shaken repeatedly under the power of the software to beid out in a new arrangement.


    The positions of the several hundred works of art were set by the ¡°card shuffler machine¡± several secondster. The overwhelming majority of works were ced in the lower two levels. Once in awhile there would be one in the third level. But the fourth and fifth level werepletely empty.


    ¡°They can act as a tarot card deck? For fortune telling? Man, whatpany made this software?¡± Xie Junping was drawn into the fantastical change in the interface. His brain asked questions as he opened his eyes wide. He strived to look for the sketch of himself.


    ¡°It should be my father¡¯s work.¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    Xie Junping immediately became sincere. He had a rough feel for Luo Nan¡¯s character now; he knew that Luo Nan certainly wouldn¡¯t have a good mood when it came to any matters involving Luo Nan¡¯s ¡°Father¡±.


    Luo Nan was a lot quieter for the rest of the drive. The flying car arrived in Blue Bay Community at approximately 7 o¡¯clock. He had gotten home just a little bitter than normal.


    He bid farewell with Xie Junping and entered themunity.


    Luo Nan went into to the apartment elevator with his head down the entire time. He selected the floor and then opened his notebook once again. He stared at the flexible e-ink screen, at the special secondyer interface, lost in thought. Then he gave a coldugh.


    That coward¡¯s existence was disyed clearly here, forever hiding like a turtle withdrawn into its shell.


    The drawing software was like this.


    The external receiving neuron was like this.


    The space within the tree...... Wasn¡¯t it also like this?


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t know the answer to this, but the oil burning mes of the fervent feeling of pain within his heart could not be clearer!


    The elevator reached the desired floor, the metal door opened wide, and Luo Nan closed his notebook with a bang to walk out withrge strides. The home AI system had detected his existence and had already confirmed his identity; the main door opened.


    Luo Nan walked in with a step, but was a bit startled.


    The living room lights were on, revealing a middle aged woman who was sitting on the sofa and doing work via her wristband. She raised her head when she heard the door open and her gaze fell directly across, her face expressionless.

 Chapter 33: Rushing Back (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 33: Rushing Back (Part 2/2)


    Luo Nan stood at attention on the spot: ¡°Aunt......¡±


    The middle aged woman on the sofa was Luo Nan¡¯s aunt, Luo Shuqing. Her figure was petite and her looks were average. Her temperament was rather quiet and serious.


    Luo Nan had his head hanging low the entire time when facing this elder: ¡°Aunt. You¡¯vee over even though it¡¯s so far?¡±


    ¡°Some people won¡¯te to visit no matter how you invite them. So, I came to see how you¡¯re doing.¡± Mrs. Luo Shuqing¡¯s poisonous tongue was just as deadly as before. It immediately stifled Luo Nan from speaking any further.


    It was only now that he realized it; no wonder he was able to pass through the ordeal peacefully and effortlessly yesterday night. His Aunt had probably decided toe over and do a sudden and unannounced investigation!


    Alright. This was just Aunty¡¯s style.


    Luo Shuqing got up while looking at her watch: ¡°Come on. Your uncle has already finished preparing dinner.¡±


    She did not give any chance for Luo Nan to disagree.


    Luo Nan struggled for a bit: ¡°There¡¯s no need to be this bothersome......¡±


    ¡°Since you know it¡¯s bothersome, there¡¯s no need to cause further trouble.¡±


    Luo Shuqing walked to Luo Nan¡¯s side. Her slim build was a head shorter than her nephew¡¯s, but her imposing air was able to surpass that: ¡°How unusual. You¡¯re being extremely daring to live in a high rise apartment and not worry about falling. But your uncle and I are already old. We¡¯re scared witless. We hope that you¡¯lle back and take care of the house!¡±


    Luo Nan opened his mouth, yet he soon discovered that hecked the strength to argue. He really didn¡¯t have the strength...... He hadn¡¯t closed his eyes to rest for forty consecutive hours of continuous work. He had faced the burning wraith, burners, and ability users. There were also the external receiving neuron, the secret of Gear, and countless information flowing in and bursting. There were also the intense washing of his state of mind stemming from his mother and from that coward. It seemed that he had overdrafted his entire energy reserves.


    At this very moment, it was just as if he hadpleted a very difficult and long army march back home. And so when faced with this vile mouth of good intentions, when faced with this love from his Aunt like he were her own child, when faced with one of his rare close rtives who he could rxpletely with, did he have a need to protest against her? To waste time in torment?


    After a moment of Luo Nan being dazed, Luo Shuqing had firmly grabbed onto Luo Nan¡¯s shoulder and faced him towards the exit:


    ¡°Time is valuable everyone! Move out!¡±


    This familiar, unyielding, and intimate action made the corner of Luo Nan¡¯s lips move. He wished to reveal a smile, to dere to his Aunt yet another loss on his part. This was an intentional technique he would use quite often, and it made his Aunt the most pleased.


    But he performed it halfway before he wasn¡¯t able to perform it any further. This was because the two days of umted exhaustion, challenges, pressure, and, most importantly, unrestrainableplicated feelings had all rushed to his head right at this very moment. They roared, seeking to find a chance to explode forth in a torrent. It seemed that any tiny pulling motion of his facial nerves would cause his weak embankment to copse, to cause it to alle bursting forth.


    There was an instant when Luo Nan wished to pull his Aunt to go back to the school, to point out the tree hole in Gear for her to see, to ask her if she had the same feelings as he did.


    But thinking about it, his Aunt didn¡¯t know an inkling about the situation with his mother. And so this impulse of his dissipated without a trace.


    Some things were destined to be beared solely by one¡¯s self, on one¡¯s shoulders. There wasn¡¯t anyone able to fully bear, to fully understand, your feelings. Today, to have been able to allow Xie Junping that much entry, was already a disy of his abnormal loss of control over his mood. It would be very difficult for another instance to ur.


    A hundred thoughts rumbled in his soul, but in the end Luo Nan only raised his head up slightly to prevent his Aunt from seeing the sorry state of his loss-of-control expression. But how to resolve such an unnatural action was already outside his scope of abilities.


    And right in the middle of his predicament, his wristband began to vibrate.


    Luo Nan practically turned his body instantaneously, his back facing his Aunt. He took a deep refreshing breath before letting the call go through. He heard a half mature, but not fully mature voice immediately sound over:


    ¡°Hey handsome, you free?¡±


    ¡°......What do you want?¡±


    Luo Nan had seen that it was Zhang Yingying¡¯s number. He didn¡¯t have the energy to get tangled up in words with this excessively vivacious woman. But the instant he opened his mouth, he was shocked at the degree of hoarseness and softness of his own voice.


    Luo Nan was scared that his Aunt could hear the abnormality in his voice, so Luo Nan walked a few steps back into the house.


    Zhang Yingying was actually quite astute. She was able to figure out that there was something fishy about Luo Nan¡¯s state from his voice. She spoke inquisitively: ¡°Bed time? Where are you?¡±


    Luo Nan adjusted his throat to use the shortest and clearest sentence he could muster: ¡°At home.¡±


    ¡°Yep. I thought so. Anyway, your heart is quite big. A whole day went by without receiving a notification about the entrance evaluations. Don¡¯t you know that you can call and ask?¡±


    ¡°......¡± Could Luo Nan say that he had already forgotten about this matterpletely?


    ¡°Admirable. What happened to the motivated jobseeker from this morning? I mean, I still remember even now: Teacher! I want to be a staff member!¡± Thisdy spoke with a high pitched voice, fabricating these words that Luo Nan had never said.


    But Luo Nan actuallyughed.


    There were truly far too many things that happened today. From Luo Nan¡¯s perspective, each event happened one after another in increasing severity. His thoughts were already squeezed into an extremely narrow space. This impromptuedy act by Zhang Yingying made his mind be far more awake.


    The professional society for ability users...... Fine then. The Expedition Society was a ce that he must fight for no matter what. Right now he didn¡¯t have a surplus of strength and what has happened has already happened. He¡¯ll stop carrying that desire to prevent his mood from bing sentimental and fidgety!


    He then asked: ¡°Has it begun?¡±


    ¡°Uh-huh. Right now go make your way back in a hurry then. It¡¯s in the ¡®University Activity Area¡¯ outside of Acumen College¡¯s campus, at the Limestone Water Vige Pub.Your main examiner is just about to arrive. As for the specific details, I¡¯ll tell you about it clearly once you get there...... I think that it¡¯s your moment to shine.¡±


    ¡°Limestone Water Vige Pub?¡±


    Couldn¡¯t this call havee twenty minutes earlier?


    Luo Nan was silent for a while, but he didn¡¯t speak any further. In the end, this call had given him a superb reason. He hung up and his mind slowly came to. He turned around and faced his Aunt with an open mouth.


    He didn¡¯t expected to collide with the inquisitive gaze of Mrs. Luo Shuqing: ¡°You need to head out for this?¡±


    ¡°Hic. Yes.¡±


    ¡°A date?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not!¡± Luo Nan immediately withdrew.


    ¡°Then what is it?¡± Luo Shuqing did not let him go.


    ¡°Hic. It¡¯s a gathering! A dinner get together!¡±


    ¡°Limestone Water Vige Pub? I remember that it¡¯s close to your school. Why didn¡¯t you just go there directly?¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t you see that I forgot?¡±


    While Luo Nan was handling this with great difficulty, he suddenly remembered something. Didn¡¯t Xue Lei¡¯s girlfriend mention some rted information this afternoon? He operated his wristband on the spot, and sure enough there was an invitation message in his inbox titled ¡°Acumen Mutual Assistance Meeting¡±.


    As luck would have it, the Acumen Mutual Assistance Meeting was unexpectedly at the same location, at Limestone Water Vige Pub. Right now the meeting time had already passed, but he could use this as an excuse.


    Luo Nan showed his Aunt the message: ¡°This is the school¡¯s Mutual Assistance Meeting activity. It¡¯s a very formal dinner.


    ¡°Mutual Assistance Meeting...... How are you interested in that?¡±


    Luo Shuqing could not have a better understanding of the temperament of a child within her own family. Would his introverted to autistic nature really ce an importance on this sort of social situation?


    Luo Nan took out a ready made argument: ¡°The school societies are all against outsiders. Things would be very troublesome without guidance from the words of seniors. I still haven¡¯t entered a society even now. I¡¯m afraid of getting my school credit deducted, so......¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t test into the Mystic Arts Research Society?¡±


    ¡°Hic. That¡¯s right.¡±


    ¡°You sought out the Mutual Assistance Meeting on your own ord?


    ¡°No. They came looking for me.¡±


    Luo Shuqing finally believed him after seeing her introverted and immature nephew¡¯s expression. She shook her head: ¡°Acumen College has been declining year after year, and it¡¯s been long since this started. Why did you want to get into this school so much?¡±


    Luo Nan was silent, speaking not a word.


    Luo Shuqing had more to say, but suddenly she saw the familiar apartment furnishings behind Luo Nan¡¯s backbine with Luo Nan¡¯s slim figure standing in the room. Her mind went twenty years into the past during this trance and she saw another youth facing her with smile.


    Her heart felt a bit of pain when she looked. The spirited and soaring smile had already been swapped with the stiff and serious face of her nephew.


    The silent and oppressive atmosphere collected and amassed at the doorway. Luo Nan even believed that his argument had failed until he felt a slight shock on his face. His Aunt had ced her palms on his face; she lightly patted:


    ¡°Then go tidy yourself up again. The handsomed of the Luo family can¡¯t let people look down on him no matter what.¡±

 Chapter 34: Elevator Entrance (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 34: Elevator Entrance (Part 1/2)


    Luo Nan raised his head in amazement, meeting his Aunty in the eyes. This sessful career woman, who was the head department manager of a multinational corporation, just so happened to be frowning:


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you¡¯re going to wear your school uniform to this dinner?¡±


    ¡°Oh no, I¡¯ll go wash up.¡± Luo Nan ran inside the apartment having no idea how he passed the ordeal. He gave a nce to the study in the meantime, to therge ck leather suitcase on the table. It was very conspicuous, but he didn¡¯t see any traces of it being moved. This made him let out another breath of relief.


    Luo Nan swapped to casual clothes very quickly, but Luo Shuqing really wasn¡¯t totally pleased with his outfit. It was clearly a formal dinner, but Luo Nan was even bringing his old-fashioned notebook. It was as if he was going to record notes at a meeting. What was this all about?


    In the end she didn¡¯t mention it. She just said, ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± and was the first to walk out the door. She clearly wanted to send Luo Nan to the dinner site.


    Luo Nan was already used to his Aunt¡¯s intensive style. He followed her sincerely like an obedient child.


    The twenty minutes of travel time to the dinner site was doomed to be filled with struggles. His not-even-one-month of high school life was interrogated from all sides with importance ced on his rtionships with other students. This area of Luo Nan¡¯s life was practically nk, and it made him be in quite the sorry state.


    He barely made it to Limestone Water Vige Pub. Lu Shuqing acted as the most conscientious driver, flying directly to the entrance of the establishment and indicating to Luo Nan that he could step off. Her sharp eyes swept across the pub¡¯s entrance in the meantime.


    Luo Nan knew his Aunt¡¯s intentions, but there was nothing he could do about it. He could only pray a few times in his heart. He opened the door and got off the car, entering into the establishment.


    Perhaps his luck turned for the better as Luo Nan was able to discover the registry of the Mutual Assistance Group in the corner of therge hall as indicated by the invitation. Though there was no one manning the station, there was still the electronic disy. Luo Nan was soon able to find his own name.


    His Aunt¡¯s call came through when he had finished signing: ¡°Don¡¯t stay out toote. Give me a call when the dinner is over.¡±


    Luo Shuqing¡¯s flying car flew away outside the pub. Only then did Luo Nan rx a bit.


    Luo Nan had swept his vision onto the number of people registered when he was registering; there were actually over a thousand people. There existed an upper limit to the number of members in a society of Acumen College; this sort of scale wouldn¡¯t appear in any of them. Only a get-together could exceed the limitations of a society and draw forth arge show of this sort.


    Mmm. So there were this many people. One more wouldn¡¯t be much. One less wouldn¡¯t be much. He didn¡¯t need to run over and attract the distaste of others.


    Anyway, this fellow Zhang Yingying was really not reliable. The sound of her voice made it seem like she had been waiting in the pub for a long time. But now there wasn¡¯t a trace of her in sight?


    Luo Nan was just about to contact her, but a chuckling voice came from behind him before he could make the call:


    ¡°Nanster! I thought you would nevere.¡±


    It was the voice of hisrade. The buff Xue Lei walked over withrge strides and right at his side was none other than his girlfriend, Chen Xiaolin. The two had high statures and long limbs. They came to be in front of him with just a few steps of effort.


    Luo Nan rushed to stop his call. He felt both awkwardness and bafflement:


    Didn¡¯t these two get this information far too quickly? He had just arrived and just signed his name.


    Things would have been quite manageable if it were just Xue Lei. But Luo Nan had to perform proper etiquette in front of Chen Xiaolin: ¡°Sorry Senior Chen. I was busy and I camete.¡±


    Chen Xiaolin¡¯s lips actually pursed into a smile: ¡°Actually, Leister and I never expected that you woulde. I was shocked when the registry sent out the message.¡±


    ¡°This......¡± Luo Nan didn¡¯t know how to respond for a time.


    It seemed that Chen Xiaolin had drunk some alcohol; her cheeks were slightly red. She spoke much more straightforwardly: ¡°Anyway it¡¯s good that you were able toe Nanster. This counts as giving me face. After all, your signature counts as my aplishment.¡±


    The conversation had already moved to this point. Obviously Luo Nan couldn¡¯t say, ¡°Actually, I didn¡¯t want toe. I actually need to go now.¡± He could only follow these two into the banquet hall.


    It was just as Chen Xiaolin said. This cold dinner meal gathering was made very formal. Big shots of the Student Council sponsored the event, reserving the entirety of banquet hall number 1. The scene was extremelyrge.


    Banquet hall number 1 was on the 27th floor. There were no idle elevators in therge hall and the three chatted as they waited.


    A few sentences into the conversation and Chen Xiaolin starting speaking about matters involving societies. This was also the reason why she invited Luo Nan in the first ce.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already found people in regards to the matter with societies. I¡¯ll bring you and Leister to go meet them on the way back. Do your best to pick a society that¡¯s more to your calling...... Don¡¯t say that there isn¡¯t a society you¡¯re interested in Leister. Is there a meaning in taking 6 years to take 3 years of coursework fromck of credit?¡±


    Xue Lei sealed his lips, saying not a word. Unfortunately Luo Nan was unable to keep his mouth shut:


    ¡°Senior. As for the matter with societies, actually......¡±


    Chen Xiaolin wrinkled her brow: ¡°You applied earlier?¡±


    Luo Nan nodded respectfully.


    ¡°You applied at Li Mingde¡¯s ce?¡±


    A blush of red flushed to Chen Xiaolin¡¯s face, and this wasn¡¯t solely due to the alcohol. She spoke with fury: ¡°Junior. I told you before. Matters involving societies areplicated. It¡¯s not as simple as you think. Do you know where Li Mingde is right now? He¡¯s right in this establishment, in the box seats, epting hospitality. Even if you can¡¯t handle his pressure, which ce do you think is more effective? In his office or here?


    ¡°She¡¯s drunk!¡±


    Xue Lei first mentioned this to Luo Nan in a low voice before turning to face Chen Xiaolin in Luo Nan¡¯s defense: ¡°I assure you that Nanster didn¡¯t go through with it at Elder Mingde¡¯s ce. I am willing to testify for him. Elder Mingde was quite furious at the time......¡±


    Luo Nan was able to see that Chen Xiaolin wasn¡¯t angry, instead she was baffled that Xue Lei actually hadn¡¯t exined the situation clearly to her at the time.


    Then Luo Nan asked something of Xue Lei in a low voice and Xue Lei shrugged: ¡°Isn¡¯t there that Senior Xie with his extensive inside connections? Mymunications skills aren¡¯t that great.¡±


    Luo Nan immediately understood that his peer Xue Lei knew quite well what he was doing in his mind, even though he was buff and he did look boorish. He absolutely wasn¡¯t a meathead with an empty brain.


    ¡°What are you guys talking about!¡± Chen Xiaolin red with a frown. The alcohol had gotten to her head at this moment, making her look charming and innocent.


    Luo Nan and Xue Lei raised their heads together. They were just about to exin when the elevator door opened and a dozen or so people walked out from inside. Their mood looked to be quite decent withughter going all around.


    Xue Lei was not interested at all in these people. He blocked the elevator door and let Luo Nan and Chen Xiaolin inside. He never expected Chen Xiaolin to yank him:


    ¡°Hold on!¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°Do you see that person? The one who just came out of the elevator, the youngest...... It¡¯s whom I just mentioned before, the vice-president of the school¡¯s student council Chen Weican. He¡¯s the chairperson of the Mutual Assistance Group and my immediate superior.¡±


    Both Luo Nan and Xue Lei looked over in that direction. The group of people had already walked out of therge hall and were outside chatting amiably. Things weren¡¯t too clear under the contrast of light, but they recalled that there weren¡¯t too many youngsters within that group.


    Chen Xiaolin took a few deep breaths, trying to to decrease the effect of alcohol on her mind. Soon she informed them: ¡°Senior Chen possesses true power within the school¡¯s student council. I think his family has some military contacts. His character is normally quite decent and normally we have an alright rtionship since we are both Chens. I didn¡¯t ask him, but I did mention a few words to him. Things will be a lot easier to handle for sure.¡±


    This meant that they would have to talk to him......


    Xue Lei¡¯s and Luo Nan¡¯s gazes linked up. They could both see theck of interest in each other¡¯s eyes. However, the corner of Xue Lei¡¯s mouth soon went down. Chen Xiaolin had actually kicked him with her high heels.

 Chapter 34: Elevator Entrance (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 34: Elevator Entrance (Part 2/2)


    ¡°Look at those who walked out in hispany. Just based off of who I recognized alone, they include the brains of the Parents¡¯ Association, the Council, and the Society Operations Bureau. He invited all of them to the dinner gathering to talk about standards. Elder Mingde¡¯s qualifications aren¡¯t enough toe inside. You go chat him up, just a few words. It¡¯ll save me a lot of trouble!¡±


    Indeed, Chen Xiaolin was bing exasperated that things weren¡¯t turning out as she expected. Xue Lei had a huge frown on his face. He really couldn¡¯t do something like this.


    Before victory could be determined between these two, Chen Weican sent off those honored guests that mentioned standards and headed off back inside the hall with the rest of his party.


    Chen Xiaolin saw him draw closer and she gave Xue Lei a hidden push to remind him to open the elevator door. Then she approached Chen Weican engagingly and cheerfully: ¡°Chair Chen......¡±


    Chen Xiaolin greeted several high ranking members of the Mutual Assistance Group in session. Xue Lei hesitated for a moment, not moving a single step and falling a pace behind. Chen Xiaolin turned around from the front and soon her expression went stiff.


    Luo Nan could see that the situation wasn¡¯t good. He gave Xue Lei a push and stood next to the elevator entrance, positioning himself into an awaiting posture. By the time Luo Nan raised his head, Xue Lei only gave the opposite party a greeting; the opportunity to exchange words was soon dead in the water, and it was mainly Chen Xiaolin who was propping the scene.


    The party of people headed inside the elevator. Chen Weican leading the group was really quite remarkable. He had arge and tall stature. He wasn¡¯t particrly handsome, but his gentle smile made him seem a bit distant. He also greeted back at Chen Xiaolin and Xue Lei, notcking in etiquette at all. However, his footsteps never stopped moving as he headed directly into the elevator. He was clearly the type of person to let other people match his pace, a rather powerful and influential character.


    Inparison, Luo Nan felt that he was quite like a bell boy from the way he stood by the elevator entrance.


    Another batch of people just came down therge hall through the pub¡¯s entrance, the person in lead was a woman wearing a professional dress and carrying a rather old-fashioned folder. Her gait was hasty, and she looked to be a white cor worker. Behind her was four rather lean and buff males. They moved hastily as well.


    This group¡¯s pace was quite faster than that of Chen Weican, most notable was the white colored woman leading the front. Her height certainly exceeded 170 centimeters with five centimeter long slender heels beneath her feet. The pants of the traditional suit she wore was nothing special, but they lined against her tall, slender, and beautiful figure. Most of all were her long legs that were beneath those slim-fit pants. Those contours were beautiful, simply striking at one¡¯s core.


    Chen Xiaolin was already a tall and lean beauty who was present, but she was shorter than this white cored woman by half a head. This difference was made the most distinctly when the two passed each other.


    The model figure of this white cored woman really made people exim in awe, but her gait wasn¡¯t the catwalk gait of a model. Her strides wererge in distance as she moved forward perfectly straight. The four buff dudes followed behind her arduously.


    They were only able to see this white-cored woman¡¯s facial features, which matched her figure precisely, when she drew close. Her contours were clear and solid, as if she were a like a sculpture. But they contained a cold harshness that prevented strangers from getting too close. In the end, whether or not she was beautiful was secondary to this.


    Right now her brows were furrowed, making her seem to be lost in thought, deliberating over some issue. She walked straight into the opened elevator, paying no attention to those nearby. The several buff males followed her inside, milling around to squeeze into the small space of the elevator.


    Fine then. Luo Nan had truly be a bell boy right now.


    Chen Weican was somewhat surprised when the white-cored woman walked past like a gale of wind. Through the light within the elevator, he could see this white-cored woman¡¯s face. It was as if he woke from a dream; he spoke out probingly:


    ¡°He...... Sister He?¡±


    The white cored woman raised her head and her gaze swept across Chen Weican¡¯s face. Her brows furrowed even deeper; clearly she recognized who he was.


    Chen Weichan was confident in his conjecture. He immediately caught up to her with two steps and spoke withugher: ¡°Hello Sister He. I¡¯m Chen Weichan. My father is the vice-chief of staff for Xia City¡¯s Near-Defense Force, Chen Hanxing.¡±


    He made his way into the elevator with a single step. Obviously those beneath him, Chen Xiaolin, Xue Lei, and etc, had to follow him inside. Chen Weican moved rather majestically and imposingly.


    The white cored woman swept her gaze across the crowd of faces at this moment, her face unable to be read. However Chen Weican recalled a certain rumor. With a split second decision, his hand stayed at the entrance of the elevator topletely cut off the people behind him.


    His forearm even touched something at this moment, but he was disinclined to pay attention to this. His body was half nted as he spoke in a low voice without exining: ¡°You all take the next elevator.¡±


    He pressed the button to close the elevator upon speaking, blocking the others outside.


    ¡°My God......¡±


    Luo Nan heard Xue Lei curse clearly besides him. Then he saw Xue Lei¡¯s face turn dark. Xue Lei wished to press the elevator¡¯s button, but he had some time wasted by being two people away from the elevator; the elevator was already on its way up by the time he got there. He was a step toote no matter what.


    He looked at Chen Xiaolin once more to see that she was actually embracing her bosom at this time. Chen Weican had touched her chest just now when he had reached out with his hand to block them. This was a very inappropriate action.


    Obviously, they all could have fit into one elevator, so splitting them into two batches was a rather arrogant action.


    Xue Lei was a straightforward person, but this didn¡¯t mean he didn¡¯t have a temper. His eyes red wide as he looked at several high ranking members of the Mutual Assistance Group. His expression contained quite the illwill. It seemed like he was about to brandish his tongue, to explode forth at this moment.


    Those who were able to mix themselves into the high ranks of a multi society organization, like the Mutual Assistance Group, were all the cream of the crop. They had a deep understanding of Chen Weican. Even though they felt resentment in their hearts, they had to maintain and protect their chairman¡¯s face as well as their own faces.


    There was someone present whoughed: ¡°It¡¯s probably that major sponsor. Apparently the chairman¡¯s been pushing quite hard. Is he using his handsome charms to sway her?¡±


    Chen Xiaolin awoke to the side. She pulled Xue Lei to a stop and spoke in a low voice: ¡°He didn¡¯t do it on purpose. Look at that woman, even she knew it was bad to stir up trouble.¡±


    Perhaps these words were logical, but from Xue Lei¡¯s perspective, they skirted by the issue far too much. They were spun without a hint of sincerity. They wereplete dog shit!


    He rotated his gaze upon the group of people outside the elevator, including Chen Xiaolin, and his breathing grew heavy. The fury in his heart was clearly escting.


    Luo Nan saw his state and was just about to stand forth, but then his elbow slightly went down and a cheerful voice entered his ear: ¡°You impolite fellow! You really didn¡¯t wait outside. I nearly missed you. Luckily I have good eyes.¡±


    Zhang Yingying hade


    Luo Nan turned his head and saw that this femalewyer had swapped to apletely different outfit than the one she wore on the warship. She wore a denim jacket that matched with her miniskirt and had her long white legs exposed. Her feet were wrapped with Roman sandals, which exposed her toes. This near-summer outfit radiated energy all around.


    Zhang Yingying¡¯s sudden appearance had actually somewhat eased the tense situation.


    Chen Xiaolin could feel the fury of her boyfriend. This,bined with the obvious damage to her honor, made her unable to figure out how to cate the situation for a time. She was trying to figure out how to dispel Xue Lei¡¯s fury, while not provoking the members of the Mutual Assistance Group.


    She could only try shifting the topic. First she pulled Xue Lei by his arm so their postures matched perfectly with Luo Nan¡¯s and Zhang Yingying¡¯s. She forced a smile and greeted:


    ¡°Is this your girlfriend Nanster?¡±


    Luo Nan was just about to shake his head, but Zhang Yingying had already responded with gigglingughter: ¡°Nice to meet everyone~. I am Luo Nan¡¯s number one pursuer. Just Yingying is fine.¡±

 Chapter 35: Secretary He (Part ?)

    Chapter 35: Secretary He (Part ?)


    ¡°......¡±


    The entire sequence of Zhang Yingying¡¯s totally nonstandard way of speaking caused Chen Xiaolin to be dumbstruck. Her mind was weighed down heavily now; she really wasn¡¯t suited to respond to Zhang Yingying¡¯s sort of character who was quick-witted a hundred times over.


    Fortunately, another elevator had just arrived at this time and the high ranking members of the Mutual Assistance Group were the first to enter. Chen Xiaolin was pulling Xue Lei over there, but there was a moment when she didn¡¯t pull him and the two were just a bit stunned.


    Luo Nan lead Zhang Yingying to shift a few steps and bumped into Xue Lei lightly while moving. Only then did the stiff atmosphere break and dissipate. The party of people had already entered the elevator, but the mood inside the elevator was just as one could imagine.


    The only person who wasn¡¯t affected was Zhang Yingying. She pulled Luo Nan to the very back of the spacious elevator, drawing intimately close to him. Her upraised head blocked the sights of the others:


    ¡°Comeee. Lower your head.¡±


    How could Luo Nan let her be so coy. Right when he was furrowing his brows, Zhang Yingying performed a quick action, gripping his earlobes tightly. She stuffed something into his ears and soon a detailed static sound started up.


    ¡°What¡¯s this? Internal earbuds?¡±


    ¡°The examiner. The exam problem.¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    ¡°Fine then. Actually this toy is called the ¡®HexaEar¡¯, but the name isn¡¯t important and its functions aren¡¯t important. What¡¯s important is that it is the exam evaluation for entering the society. The problem could be easy, but it could also be very difficult.


    Zhang Yingying¡¯s hand lowered then raised, letting Luo Nan understand that his answer to this exam problem would decide his ce within the professional society.


    ¡°Oh, you guys are going to the 27th floor...... There¡¯s even a party? You¡¯re not focused kid! Then let¡¯s set the end time for the examination to be the moment when we get to your destination. Best of luck then.¡±


    What the hell! Are you doing things spontaneously with no ns at all!?


    It was very difficult for Luo Nan to remain calm and collected. He saw that the elevator floor indicator had already reached the 15th floor. The elevator moved unhindered for some damned reason; it didn¡¯t stop anywhere on the way up.


    At most he would have 10 seconds before he would reach his destination......


    How could Luo Nan have the time to think deeply? At this very moment, a trembling cry came from the mental ne. The heavily chained crow, which was most worthy of his faith, pierced out of his forehead and scanned the foreign object in his ear.


    The heavily chained crow was undoubtedly the most sessful aplishment from Luo Nan¡¯s self formatting. It embodied his ultimate strength.


    Ability users should be rtively sensitive to the wraith sign, since it was derived from the burning wraith and the Darksider life form. Luo Nan instinctively wanted to avoid contact between the two, so he didn¡¯t use the furthest most end of the chains.


    Meanwhile, the external neuron maintained a charged-up and idle state and was ready for ess at any moment...... The first impression he got from this HexaEar was that it was a set of internal earbuds, like a special electronic product. If he wouldn¡¯t get an ideal oue from the exam, he would even cheat to change it.


    Luo Nan had to strive for a position within this professional society no matter what, for this represented his future path!


    His thoughts and decisions coursed using an instant¡¯s effort. The heavily chained crow cut through the HexaEar and used its limited resolution to sense an approximate analysis of the internalposition of this little thing. Sure enough, it was a precision electronic product. The highly integratedponents made Luo Nan bepletely dumbstruck as an electronics newbie.


    But then a sort of marvelous response was fed back from the slicing chains in a sh.


    Luo Nan¡¯s mind and will naturally concentrated on it. The detailed static in his ear was blocked off and there was only this response that formed a series of electronic signals. He excited the relevant areas of his nervous system and passed the valid information through into a form that wasprehensible by people.


    Oh. This form looks quite familiar.


    Before Luo Nan could react, a gentle artificial voice had already spoken out in his ear: ¡°Number 5357. Wee to Xia City¡¯s Wilderness Explorers Branch.¡±


    At the same time, a translucent region opened up onto Luo Nan¡¯s retinas and a concise visual interface emerged. Upon it was the traditional interface of a forum and it showed that his registration was already approved. He just needed to fill out the relevant information.


    This sort of virtual interface wasn¡¯t unfamiliar to Luo Nan. Manypanies used this HoloFilm product, and they all had this capability. Two hours ago, he had used the external receiving neuron to a simr effect and experience.


    This also took in telepathic inputs......


    For an instant, Luo Nan nearly believed that the external neuron was no longer under his control, but soon he confirmed that the external neuron was still maintaining its original state. The HexaEar was just using a simr method to send and convert electronic signals to his brain.


    Yes, it was extremely simr!


    Luo Nan reached out with his hand to support himself against the ice cold metal wall. The beating of his heart was rapidly escting in frequency...... This was certainly a brand new clue! It was rted to the external neuron. It was a relevant clue towards that coward!


    He should have realized it sooner, should have realized that his grandpa¡¯s and that coward¡¯s research should have crossed paths with ability users.


    My god. His decision to enter the professional society was absolutely correct!


    A low electronic beep indicated that the elevator had reached the 27th floor. The other people all headed out, however Zhang Yingying¡¯s whole face was covered with suspicion as she red at him next to him: ¡°Don¡¯t say that you don¡¯t feel a single thing at all. If you¡¯re going to be this disappointing, I¡¯ll just immediately kick you off this floor!¡±


    Luo Nan wasn¡¯t willing to let Zhang Yingying see his numerous and chaotic feelings. He lowered his head in a concealing nature and walked directly outside.


    Zhang Yingying followed him out of the elevator. She spoke in shock: ¡°It can¡¯t be. It doesn¡¯t make sense. My judgement can¡¯t be wrong......¡±


    This female was way too annoying with her buzzing. Luo Nan¡¯s fuzzy thoughts were madepletely into a mess. There were already the words ¡°Wee to the Society¡± and so on. He obviously wouldn¡¯t believe that he had failed the examination. He made a general sweep over the fill-in-boxes of the interface. It probably used that vague method of using telepathy to enter in the data. Most of the boxes were pull-down menus; all he had to do was select his choice.


    Aside from basic information like his age and gender, the vast majority of the boxes were stuff he never came across before. Like the ¡°Ability Source & ss¡± box. There were two options. One was ¡°Gifted ss¡±. Another was ¡°Systematic ss¡±. The f*ck is this?


    Luo Nan opened his mouth in annoyance: ¡°Am I a Gifted ss or a Systematic ss?¡±


    ¡°Obviously you¡¯re a Gifted ss...... Gak!?¡±


    Luo Nan acted telepathically, setting in his choice. He still didn¡¯t understand though: ¡°What¡¯s the difference between the Gifted ss and the Systematic ss?¡±


    ¡°The Gifted ss possesses a certain innate and special ability. The Systematic ss relies on an existing training system to go through arduous tempering and practice......¡±


    Zhang Yingying¡¯s words were somewhat open ended. But before she could finish talking, Luo Nanpletely overthrew her previous judgement: ¡°I¡¯m a Systematic ss!¡±


    What a joke. If he had chosen the Gifted ss, the dozens of years of his grandpa¡¯s research and his five years of hardship, wouldn¡¯t it have all been negated?


    He acted telepathically again and he changed his selection in the box. But his neck suddenly tightened before be could ask his next question. Zhang Yingying was actually firmly strangling him in ce from behind. Her vigorous body had drawn and stuck close to him, making him suddenly go dizzy¡¯


    ¡°Ah ah ah ah. You can see the interface right? You¡¯re filling it in now right? You haven¡¯t awakened right? This is heaven defying for a precision nted mentally enhanced.......¡±


    Luo Nan very nearly passed out from being choked by Zhang Yingying. His brain was already a pile of mush.

 Chapter 35: Secretary He (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 35: Secretary He (Part 2/2)


    Zhang Yingying was causing a scene without regarding the location. Obviously she would draw people¡¯s eyes. The people ahead who had already stepped into the dinner venue included Xue Lei, and they turned around one after another. They couldn¡¯t clearly hear what Zhang Yingying was saying, but they naturally went mute when they saw this scene.


    Luo Nan was being choked by Zhang Yingying; he couldn¡¯t perform any movements at all. Zhang Yingying gave a sly smile to the people ahead and waved her hand, while reigning in Luo Nan to a corner.


    Xue Lei and the others could only assume that these two had some secret couple business to talk about. They nced at each other and entered the venue with shaking heads. On the contrary, this interruption had actually continued to alleviate the tense atmosphere between Chen Xiaolin and Xue Lei. Those two looked away and started another conversation.


    ¡°Let go!¡±


    To be reigned in by the neck by a girl, to be forcefully abducted, and to not even be able to have the strength to retaliate back at all, caused Luo Nan to receive serious harm to his ego. He was really angry.


    Sure, Zhang Yingying were naturally familiar with each other. But from his perspective, Zhang Yingying and him clearly weren¡¯t at that level of familiarity.


    Perhaps Zhang Yingying could feel his mood, but more likely it was because of her own emotional state of mind calming down; Zhang Yingying let go with her arms by herself, returning back to herughing and giggling self. She pressed against Luo Nan¡¯s chest while Luo Nan was fuming:


    ¡°I was worried that you hadn¡¯t understood the situation yet. Are you sure you came here to participate in this cold dinner party?¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    Luo Nan was speechless for a time and the anger in his heart was increasing without end. He took a deep breath: ¡°Then why did you even follow me up to the 27th floor?¡±


    ¡°Because I needed to make a decision.¡± Zhang Yingying was confident in her actions. ¡°If you didn¡¯t have any reaction at all to the HexaEar, my decision would have been to kick you down a floor to avoid losing a person.¡±


    ¡°Luo Nan sneered: ¡°I responded to it, so now you decided to choke me?¡±


    ¡°Hehe, that was just an ident caused by being over excited. Guys shouldn¡¯t be small...... or something. I was also just happy for you~. After all, for an unawakened ability candidate such as yourself to be able to ess the HexaEar and enter the Psychic Wave Network, it is really rarely seen.¡±


    ¡°Psychic Wave Network?¡± Luo Nan couldn¡¯t avoid having his attention deviating to a different topic. Frankly speaking, Zhang Yingying¡¯s fussing appearance gave him some idea.


    Zhang Yingying responded with a question: ¡°What do you think the HexaEar is?¡±


    ¡°A special electronic device.¡±


    ¡°Bingo! The HexaEar is a telepathic device created by President Ouyang of our branch. Don¡¯t make fun of it. Our big shot president is bad at naming things.¡±


    Zhang Yingying promoted this person once again withughs and giggles: ¡°I won¡¯t exin the concept to you. I¡¯ll let you personally chat with the big shot president on the way back. All you need to understand is that the HexaEar is a specialmunications device. It has a total of six levels ofmunications. The most simple of which is the radio. It¡¯s a unidirectional psychic wave transmission. As long as you¡¯re an ability user or have the gift to be an ability user, you will be able to receive this special psychic wave. So you count as meeting the requirement.¡±


    Luo Nan thought about the gentle artificial voice: ¡°So it was that ¡®Wee to the Society¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Mhm. Oh right. You should have a number. What did you get?¡±


    ¡°5357.¡±


    ¡°OK, wait for me to add you as a friend.¡±


    Zhang Yingying suddenly stopped as another idea appeared in the blink of an eye: ¡°How about you add me. Get familiar with the interface. My number is 6166. Oh by the way, the following twomunications levels are the video andputing levels. The video is still a unidirectional signal transmission. It tests the mental response and abilities of the ability user. I call it ¡®Channeling¡¯. Since you are a precision nted ¡®Mentally Enhanced¡¯, you should have dominance in this aspect.¡±


    ¡°And at the puting¡¯ level, you can achieve interactive functions between man and machine. Though the pre-established special frequency band of the society, you can mutuallymunicate aswork navigators. You need some capability of mentally meddling with reality in order to reach this level. This is generally a privilege for the ¡®Awakened¡¯. Anyway, you¡¯re a psychic or perhaps you have a gift so it¡¯s ok.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a Gifted ss.¡±


    Luo Nan emphasized once again, caring quite a bit about this aspect. He was certain that without his breakthrough in Formating, without the formation of the heavily chained crow, he absolutely wouldn¡¯t be that sort of psychic......


    Maybe he wasn¡¯t a psychic at all!


    Zhang Yingying spread out her hand: ¡°Okay~ Up to you. Though if you don¡¯t add me as a friend, I¡¯m going to doubt that you have the ability in the first ce.¡±


    Luo Nan¡¯s face went cold. He followed Zhang Yingying¡¯s words and tried to add her as a friend, but there was a challenge in front of his eyes:


    ¡°Profile......¡±


    ¡°Who in the world fills out that trifling profile thing? What if you attract the bad attention of some fellow? Wouldn¡¯t that be the same as sending your neck onto someone else¡¯s de?¡±


    Zhang Yingying had a disdainful expression. She incited Luo Nan once more: ¡°Just skip it okay. Come on. Use telepathy to control it. Try adding me as a friend? Rx. HexaEar¡¯s obscureputational capabilities are extremely strong. All you need is to have the ability, think of whatever, and it will be fine......Wow!¡±


    While Zhang Yingying was eximing in astonishment, Luo Nan saw the translucent interface change with a variation in front of his eyes. It disyed, ¡°You have added 6166 as a friend.¡± Then a fuzzy squirrel leapt out. It even bowed towards him with sped paws......


    To the other side, Zhang Yingying puffed out withughter: ¡°My god! You used your student photo. How foolish!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re acting cute by using a squirrel! The word stupid is written all over it!¡±


    Luo Nan responded sarcastically, but he also discovered that there didn¡¯t seem to be much difference between this device andmunication software products on the market. He tried to change his own disy and soon the relevant modifying interface popped up. He thought for a bit, and he uploaded his visualization diagram.


    The tetrahedron, its inscribed sphere, and its outer scribed sphere rotated within the pitch ck void. It contained a hint of mysticism and profoundness.


    Luo Nan never took the visualized diagram to be something that was a secret to never be proimed. On the contrary, he wished to reveal this to as many people as possible. He wished to proim this diagram along with other various rted theories of his grandfather.


    There was just one thing. Luo Nan still understood very little of the marvels within; he absolutely wasn¡¯t qualified to preach about it. But as long as he got the chance, he would be very willing to let more people to have a deeper understanding of this diagram.


    Having be Luo Nan¡¯s friend, Zhang Yingying was naturally the first to see this change. She muttered, ¡°Old perfectionist.¡± And didn¡¯t speak any further.


    Luo Nan was still mulling over the deeper levels of the HexaEar. After all, Zhang Yingying had said that there were six levels of use to it in total. She had only exined three of them. What were theter three?


    But then a indicator sounded out before he could ask in detail. A friend request popped up on the retina interface.


    He had just entered thework. How could someone add him as a friend? He swept his gaze to the number that was indicated to be 5156. Obviously who would be able to tell any information from this? He could only ask Zhang Yingying:


    ¡°Who¡¯s 5156?¡±


    ¡°5156?¡±


    Zhang Yingying blinked her eyes, seemingly checking on her own HexaEar. In the end she donned an appearance of sudden realization: ¡°The society matched a secretary for you. The society has always treated its members very well. Haha!¡±


    It would be a wonder to believe you.


    Luo Nan gave Zhang Yingying a nce, but in the end he still added 5156 as a friend. Soon the other side sent a new request. The ¡°Wartime Encrypted Communications¡± made one quite speechless. He couldn¡¯t help giving Zhang Yingying another nce as he felt skeptical of what this girl was concealing. But in the end, he still put the call through.


    He epted the request and a cold and sharp voice was transmitted to his ear. It was a female voice that wasn¡¯t the least bit sloppy at all: ¡°Mr. Luo. I am He Yueyin, your temporary secretary arranged by the society. What floor are you on sir? I will go wee you sir.¡±


    Sir?


    Luo Nan still had not recovered from his shock when this Secretary He continued: ¡°Please share your geographical coordinates at the same time sir, for easy contact during wartime. Over.¡±


    ......Had she returned to the Third War era?

 Chapter 36: Encounter Battle (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 36: Encounter Battle (Part 1/2)


    Wrong! There was something wrong with this atmosphere!


    Luo Nan understood his own position very clearly. Even if he had leaped out of the circle of conventional society and entered into the special domain of the Wilderness Explorers Society, he was nothing inherently more than a bitter job-seeking staff member. So far he still wasn¡¯t familiar with his ¡°work environment¡±, and so he obviously didn¡¯t have an appropriate position.


    But now you¡¯re saying that I even have a secretary?


    Luo Nan red fixed at Zhang Yingying. This woman, who appeared to have an innocent expression, absolutely knew for sure the entire causes and effects behind this.


    Zhang Yingying¡¯s face was as pure as a white lotus flower: ¡°Has your secretary made any arrangements?¡±


    Luo Nan¡¯s mouth twitched: ¡°What did you all arrange before? Isn¡¯t it to have me experience this in the elevator? The examination has ended now. Can I go home?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t go~ The entrance examination has ended, but there¡¯s still more advanced testing. The Society has already opened a room on the 81st floor. Hehe. We will receive you properly. All you need to do is be engrossed in drawing and it will be fine.¡±


    ¡°Drawing?¡± Luo Nan gradually gained a better understanding in his line of thinking. He gave a cold re: ¡°You want to evaluate my psychic abilities? This is different than what you told me!¡±


    Zhang Yingying had an innocent expression: ¡°Yea~ I told you before. It¡¯s best not to expose matters involving psychic abilities. First get familiar with your situation inside the Society, then when your ability truly Awakens, it¡¯s fine to take your abilities outter. Otherwise, there will be a lot of peopleing to annoy you and you won¡¯t be able to refuse all of them. You¡¯re bound to offend someone......Am I right?¡±


    Luo Nan continued to re at her.


    Zhang Yingying spread her hand: ¡°The problem is that my words are damn useless. The big shot has already spoken. The situation has changed. What else can I do? Originally I was prepared toe here to give you more of an exnation, but then you were able to see the interface and you also possessed the ability of telepathic control. So then let me ask you to switch over to the homepage announcement region......¡±


    Luo Nan followed Zhang Yingying¡¯s instructions and the translucent interface on his retinas underwent a change. It was eye-catching to the extreme. The rusted color of the earth contained the cracks like the waves of the sea that continued to spread down to the furthest abyss. The scene was boundless and limitless.


    ¡°You should already see the interface of the homepage. It¡¯s the wilderness right? There¡¯s a bulletin board on the side of the road. It¡¯s right on there.¡±


    What third-rate game interface was this......


    Luo Nan loaded the information from the board while cursing silently. Not even half a second passed before a flood of words, such as ¡°Darksider Species¡±, ¡°Human-Faced Arachnid¡±, and ¡°Virus¡±, entered and interweaved to form a fuzzy, cold, and dark screen that appeared before his eyes.


    With a single swipe, a cold trace of sweat trickled down Luo Nan¡¯s spine.


    ¡°Look. Do I need to say more? Right now there¡¯s a war between us and those infected by the Darksider species. The Government, the Military, the Society, and Quantum Corporation are sparing no price at all towards the search and destroy operation that is unfolding in the entire city. They have to bring thisrge-scale epidemicpletely under control.¡±


    Zhang Yingying¡¯s finger tapped on Luo Nan¡¯s chest one strike after another. Her expression was one that was quite rarely seen; she was no longer smiling: ¡°My attitude towards this is very serious. The Society¡¯s attitude towards this is also very serious. Every single ability user, no matter how experienced or how much of a beginner, has to contribute their strength to give aid in these concerning and dangerous situations. In addition, Mr. Luo, who has just entered the society, is a psychic. Right now in regards to the society, you are what we need the most. The most valuable of resources!¡±


    Luo Nan muttered: ¡°The most valuable?¡±


    ¡°Of course. Do you know how many psychics there are in the Society right now? Even though our Xia City branch has over a thousand people, we only have four psychics. And, one of them is in adventuring in the wilderness right now. It¡¯s impossible for that one to get back in such short notice. So there¡¯s three left. Grandfather You looks to be approaching a hundred in years. It would be too inhuman to make him run about day and night, so he can only act as a central overseer. Then separated into the west side of the city and the east side of the city are Old Gao and Old Bai. I don¡¯t know how much they¡¯re ving away right now......¡±


    ¡°Then you discovered a new ve?¡± Luo Nan mocked her to conceal the nervousness in his heart. He counted as one infected by the virus in a certain sense. But the Darksider species that invaded his body had been vanquished by the power of his Format, the heavily chained crow.


    But the problem was that this vanquishing was not a total elimination. The burning wraith had turned into the Wraith Sign and still maintains its instincts. It was still able to consume its species and strengthen itself. God knows if the ability users would take him to be as one of the infected with his state, an enemy that had to be ughtered.


    But even though Luo Nan was nervous, he also possessed a certain excitement that was inexplicable.


    ¡°Human-Faced Arachnid¡±......This sort of special existence was able to expand the vastness and depth of Luo Nan¡¯s knowledge towards the burning wraith. It allowed him to look down from a much higher level and see the entire course of events for the situation; he had apletely new idea of what he would do in the future.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid hadid down a giant over the city. He was originally a node within this, but now there had been a change.


    Looking at the Society¡¯s information, the purpose of this undergoing ¡°collection¡± was to ultimately reconstruct the Human-Faced Arachnid, the most prominent and treacherous devil of the Darksider Species, into aplete and peak state. This could start at any of the other nodes.


    But currently, he was suppressing the Wraith Sign using his Format. From this perspective, if his node was the one to make it to the very end, wouldn¡¯t that mean he wouldpletely seize the terrifying strength of the Human-Faced Arachnid?


    Wasn¡¯t this the extraordinary strength that he had been chasing after all this time? It would be a strength seized by his Format. Maybe this was exactly where the marvels of the grandfather¡¯s researchy?


    ¡°Hello hello. What are you thinking? You¡¯re not scared stupid right?¡±


    Luo Nan came to from his distraction, but he didn¡¯t respond immediately.


    Zhang Yingying then patted him on the shoulder: ¡°Don¡¯t be scared~...... Mmm, being scared is normal. The fact that you didn¡¯t cry and scream for mommy already makes me quite gratified. Rx. We just want to borrow your fantastical drawing ability and you will absolutely be protected. Look, you have me right now. Then the Society arranged a special duty secretary for you; it¡¯s He Yueyin. She¡¯s a monster that was evaluated to be rank C+ when she entered the Society...... Hic. A genius! Her strength is high without limit!¡±


    Luo Nan concealed augh: ¡°The opponent is the Darksider species. Doesn¡¯t that mean only psychics are useful?¡±


    ¡°What are you thinking? On the real battlefield, any one of the standard Awakened has a means to lock onto the Darksider life form. They just have different methods of doing so. Quite a few are even able to see them with the naked eye.¡±


    Zhang Yingying solemnly corrected Luo Nan¡¯s absurd and ridiculous line of thinking: ¡°The real problem is as such. When the Darksider species lies in its hidden state, only psychics are able to discover clues about them. The Society will rely on your ability to do precisely this. Who would send you to the front lines!?¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    Luo Nan grew even more nervous. It seemed that he was closer to an Awakened than a psychic; he also detected the Darksider lifeform through intuition. The most he could do was rely on the Wraith Sign for a reaction while being in close proximity.


    As for being a psychic, he had just drawn the picture based off of what he had seen when he had fooled Zhang Yingying that one time. Besides that, he did demonstrate what could be psychic capabilities during the events with Li Xuecheng. But that was because the burning wraith had already formed on Li Xuecheng¡¯s body; it was a mutual response between wraiths.


    That kind of situation was seriously different than the long-distance sensing of a psychic!


    What to do? Luo Nan wanted to pick up his notebook right now and practice some more to avoid being made a fool of when the timees. In reality, he really did take out his notebook. He had opened the drawing software of the flexible e-ink screen.

 Chapter 36: Battle Encounter (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 36: Battle Encounter (Part 2/2)


    Zhang Yingyingughed as soon as she saw what Luo Nan was doing: ¡°Polishing your weapon right before the battle? Well, it¡¯s betterte than never. Do you really take this to be an exam?¡±


    Luo Nan¡¯s head didn¡¯t rise: ¡°Someone told me that I¡¯m a psychic, but I never admitted to being one before. Right now I¡¯m being treated quite decently, so I¡¯m going to draw a picture and try to get a feel for it. If, by any chance, I¡¯m really......¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re mentioning ¡®by any chance¡¯ to me?¡±


    Zhang Yingying saw that Luo Nan wasn¡¯t preparing his weapon for battle; he was simply preparing to flee the battlefield. Her almond eyes went wide at once and she grabbed him by his cor: ¡°You were able to draw my White Rainbow, and there¡¯s also that bizarre sketch of a prison. How can you not be a psychic?¡±


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m a psychic.¡±


    Luo Nan¡¯s gaze still remained on the drawing software. He drew a little bit of something, but actually, his mind was in turmoil with no order whatsoever. Zhang Yingying was still moring by his ear right now, so he simply had nothing to lose: ¡°You were the one who exined the concept that I was a psychic. You were the one who said it, and I have already taken the benefits provided by the Society. In any case, it will absolutely be Sis Yingying who will foot the bill in the end.¡±


    ¡°Bleh!¡± Luo Nan¡¯s unprecedented way of addressing Zhang Yingying so intimately made Zhang Yingying sick to her stomach.


    It¡¯s hard to handle a kid who¡¯s using reverse psychology......


    Zhang Yingying¡¯s eyeballs spun and spun and the hand that gripped Luo Nan by the cor somewhat loosened: ¡°Anyway, this C+ Rank secretary bodyguard is at most for one night, okay. This request is still within my limits. If you want to enjoy this kind of special treatment for a long time, then you need to draw out some strength...... That¡¯s right. I think you said before that you need some inspiration or something. How about we stimte some a bit early~ Acumen College¡¯srgemunity has high levels of service.¡±


    Within the mutualpetition of shamelessness, Luo Nan was finally defeated by Zhang Yingying¡¯s ample experience. He pursed his lips and uttered not a word. He drew outpletely meaningless lines on the drawing software with a distraught and anxious heart.


    When all was said and done, he really cared about the preferential treatment he was receiving from this professional society. This was a highpoint that he had never imagined to obtain, and this was also an opportunity that had dropped from the heavens.


    He didn¡¯t want to let this opportunity slip from his fingers. He had to produce something.


    Luo Nan tried to recollect to the morning of today, to the practice that was the most simr to being a psychic. But that dreamlike state was really far too mysterious and otherworldly. In his current circumstances, with his skittish and anxious mind, it was really hard topletely bring that state back.


    Zhang Yingying drew her face closer and saw the stered lines on the flexible screen. The more she looked the more suspicious she bes.


    ¡°Hey hey! You¡¯re going to make a mockery of yourself. Don¡¯t drag me down with you!¡±


    Some people walked past Luo Nan while he was disinclined to pay attention to Zhang Yingying; those people felt somewhat familiar. Luo Nan raised his head to look and saw that it was none other than Xue Lei and Chen Xiaolin. The two did not have good expressions on their faces. The issue of the exchange from before clearly had not been resolved. There was an air of depression between these two and right now they were walking towards the elevator. It was unknown what they were up to.


    Obviously, it would be hard to greet them under these circumstances.


    Luo Nan could only pretend that he didn¡¯t see them. He drew out two strokes with a lowered head, and he actually inexplicably drew out the twisted lines of the Wraith Sign. Hepleted it from start to finish in a single breath. He had never drawn it this efficiently before.


    Only when the sign finished forming did Luo Nan wake back to consciousness. His thoughts were slightly palpitating as he was scared of what Zhang Yingying would infer from the sketch. He raised his head and shot a nce, but was actually met with a rarely seen sight of this woman, who had disregarded his chaotic lines with at first nce, be somewhat stunned:


    ¡°You feel something?¡±


    Luo Nan was just about to respond when he suddenly went mute. The abrupt drawing of the Wraith Sign would inevitably give off an ominous implication.


    He followed his instinctspletely in the next moment, turning his head. Xue Lei and Chen Xiaolin had both entered the elevator. The internal lighting of the elevator illuminated down, but it was unable to brighten the gloomy faces of these two. Luo Nan felt that a dispute would probably break out at any moment, to explode out between these two.


    And at this very moment, Luo Nan had a bizarre thought sh in his mind. It was the information he had checked up on this recent morning,ing from the Secret Star Forums:


    It was the event where a suspected psychosis breakout had urred, leading to a human tragedy. The wife had ughtered the husband. And before this had happened, the husband and wife both had experienced a ¡°nightmare¡±.


    Warning! Warning! Warning!


    The Secret Star Forums had marked it withrge ck letters, and these letters floated out of the sea of his mind in the same fashion.


    Luo Nan closed his notebook with a bang, turning and moving his body towards the elevator. He shouted loudly at the same time:


    ¡°Xue Lei!¡±


    Thisrge shout was absolutely made impulsively. When this shout had left his mouth, even Luo Nan found it hard to proceed. He didn¡¯t know how to exin things.


    But it was right in the next moment that a trembling rang forth from the mental ne. The heavily chained crow called with a vibrating and earnest cry. And most importantly, the Wraith Sign at very front end of the chains lit up with a dark red glow.


    Luo Nan¡¯s consciousness was pounding mentally, but what immediately floated to his mind was an absolute loss on what to do. This was because there were two responses from the Wraith Sign that was clearlying from twopletely different directions.


    One was right in front! The other was right in back!


    Luo Nan could see the one in front absolutely clearly. Right when Xue Lei was looking at Luo Nan baffled, an apparition that was quite like the burning wraith became visible. Half of the demonic body was submerged in Xue Lei¡¯s back shoulder. It was unknown whether the body wasing out or continuing to permeate inside.


    Reality and the illusionary had intertwined. A human body and an apparition were fused into a weird scene. It caused one¡¯s scalp to go numb just looking at it!


    And right behind him......


    ¡°Careful!¡±


    Zhang Yingying¡¯s shriek and an acute aircerating hiss rang out at the same time. The elevator door was already closing at this moment. And Luo Nan clearly saw, on the reflection of the smooth metal elevator door, a warped shadow that was just about to touch him.


    A bloody glow exploded from the shadow¡¯s shoulder and a spurt of blood dripped onto the side of Luo Nan¡¯s face and neck. And at the same time, Luo Nan¡¯s back shook severely. It seemed like someone had crashed into him, pushing him forward to fall.


    Only the force was too much. Luo Nan¡¯s feet couldn¡¯t even touch the ground the entire time. He soared up high, heading directly towards the elevator door that had yet to closepletely.


    He was approaching the elevator door at rapid speed and the space between the door was shrinking little by little. Then Luo Nan had a rough understanding what was going on. He was probably going to be used as a tool to block the door from closing.


    The elevator door opened up on two sides in the next moment. A silhouette staggered to the side, crashing into the corner of the elevator. It was Chen Xiaolin.


    As for Xue Lei, with hisrge stature that was half integrated with the wraith, he blocked the front of the door with an expression of anger that was straightforward and even a bit juvenile. He was like a furious King Kong. His thick palm reached for Luo Nan¡¯s face.


    Perhaps it was because the change was sudden, but negative feelings didn¡¯t have time to surface in his mind. Luo Nan felt rather tranquil right now.


    In the blink of an eye, Xue Lei¡¯s hand had reached past his ear and grabbed onto his shoulder. Xue Lei pressed down lightly, ending Luo Nan¡¯s air floating state in an instant. Luo Nan couldn¡¯t help but tumble and fall to the corner of the elevator in the same direction as Chen Xiaolin.


    His field of vision spun as he tumbled. But the heavily chained crow, which had spurred the Wraith Sign, already mapped the entire surrounding environment of the elevator into his brain.


    A howl entered his ears at the same time. Xue Lei had already collided together with the dark silhouette that had thrown itself into the elevator. It looked like Xue Lei wanted to knock that person out of the elevator. But his opponent¡¯s charge was far too strong. Xue Lei¡¯s imposing body was unexpectedly unable to resist it and he fellpletely backward, smashing heavily into the back of the elevator.


    From what Luo Nan could sense, it seemed like the entire building was rocking.

 Chapter 37: Close Combat (Part ?)

    Chapter 37: Close Combat (Part ?)


    The elevator shook quite fiercely, and perhaps it was the intense vibrations that caused the malfunction in the electrical circuits. The entire elevator suddenly dropped before the door couldpletely close, falling a full half a story.


    Zhang Yingying rushed up from behind, nearly getting sandwiched inside the crack of the closing door. Fortunately, she was able to pull the brakes in time and was able to escape from this disaster. But when she saw the tightly sealed entrance, she kicked out in agitation.


    The elevator soon came to a halt. This type of maglev elevator was suspended within a maic passageway. If the elevator were to wobble and exceed its safety limits, the automatic locking mechanism would activate to fix the elevator in ce.


    This also meant that, within a short instant, the elevator had be apletely sealed space. There were four people inside. Luo Nan and Chen Xiaolin didn¡¯t have physicalbat strength, and Xue Lei and his opponent were wrestling against each other. What would determine their fates would be what was on Xue Lei¡¯s and his opponent¡¯s bodies.


    Xue Lei¡¯s face was flushed red. In front of him was a male wearing a ck western suit. The male was smaller than Xue Lei by an entire factor, but the strength that the male disyed far exceeded what Xue Lei could produce.


    His internal organs felt like they were rolling all over, having received a firm frontal assault; he found breathing to be hard for a few seconds.


    What was even more damning was the distinctlycerated flesh above his opponent¡¯s shoulder. It was a serious wound that was to the bone, but Xue Lei¡¯s opponent didn¡¯t reveal anything particr in his expression. His expression was actually indifferent, causing one¡¯s mind to shiver. And the injury did not seem to affect the strength output of this male at all.


    The two people were pushing against each other with their pair of arms right now. Their legs were spread into the floor. The two werepletely entangled with each other. Xue Lei was just about to use a wrestling throw, but right when he strove to start his movement, he saw his opponent open his mouth wide. A dense row of white teeth was exposed as the male directly bit towards Xue Lei¡¯s throat.


    Xue Lei snorted. He relied on his tall stature to send his head smashing down. His forehead collided with his opponent¡¯s face, blocking the hissing beast-like bite.


    It would be reasonable to say that Xue Lei¡¯s decision was brave and correct; the strikended on a dominant location. But although the opponent was clearly bleeding from the nose, it was as if the injury didn¡¯t matter. On the other hand, Xue Lei went dizzy for a moment. And in the end, this affected his ability to exert strength.


    His feet floated slightly and he knew something was going wrong. His opponent was using brute force to uproot Xue Lei¡¯s entire body from the ground. Then Xue Lei saw the world spin as he fell heavily to the metal floor with a bang. He practically felt like he was going to vomit up his heart and lungs at this moment.


    But Xue Lei¡¯s many years of arduous training disyed its utility today. The moment Xue Lei lost his bnce, he twisted his legs seemingly by instinct to ultimately cause his opponent to stumble. He borrowed the gap between them to pull back to an inconceivable degree with his imposing and buff body. He then shot out once more, throwing his body precisely onto his opponent. Xue Lei seized the chance to give another skull bash, but this time his head went from down to up, striking his opponent in the chest.


    Two series of impactster, Xue Lei and his opponent fell back at the same time to collide into the inner metal wall of the elevator.


    Xue Lei¡¯s grasp of direction was quite decent and was worthy of being rejoiced over. He had pushed his opponent to the opposite direction of Luo Nan and Chen Xiaolin. His body was slightly nted to protect the two people whockedbat ability.


    Could he finally catch a breath yet?


    Xue Lei¡¯s chest undted violently. For some unknown reason, the state of his body was pretty bad today. He had used up a severe amount of physical power and the dangerous hand-to-handbat just now had nearly depleted all his strength.


    Could it be that he was too anxious?


    Xue Lei couldn¡¯t understand his own situation and the opponent in front of him didn¡¯t immediatelyunch an attack. Instead, this male cast a freely unfocused bizarre gaze in this direction. He simply looked like a lunatic.


    ¡°Have you all gone mad!?¡±


    Chen Xiaolin, who was in the corner, had finally somewhat came to from the series of incidents until now. Everything that happened before her eyes had already exceeded hermon sense. She knew that her boyfriend was quite good at fighting, but she had never encountered him not resolving things with words...... There was no absolutely no reason to be in this life or death fight!


    This Luo Nan, who they had just got became acquainted with today, was mixed into this. It looked like he was on their side. Or in other words, maybe it was because of this fellow that this fearsome maniac was inexplicably drawn here!


    But what she couldn¡¯t stand the most was the ¡°it¡¯s only natural that things are this way¡± expression on their faces. What the hell was going on!


    Chen Xiaolin struggled to get up. She broke away from the dimension of logic as the feelings of terror and absurdity mixed together. It made her instinctively wish to escape from this area, to escape from these people. But this was impossible to do within thispletely sealed elevator. She could only shout herself hoarse:


    ¡°Can you guys stop and talk it out!? We¡¯re all trapped here right now......¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡±


    The short shout came from two people¡¯s mouths at the same time. Xue Lei and Luo Nan had spoken in unison. The shout stopped Chen Xiaolin, who had no idea about the current situation, from performing irrational actions.


    After shouting, Xue Lei locked hisplete attention onto the opponent in front of him once more. Luo Nan added a few words: ¡°Senior. Please calm down for a moment...... Okay?¡±


    He turned his head over upon speaking, meeting Chen Xiaolin in all directions. Chen Xiaolin was stunned for a bit, being locked fixed by Luo Nan¡¯s mottled and otherworldly eyes. It was as if all the strength in her body was sapped instantaneously into the air. She leaned against the corner of the elevator, her brain a sheet of nothingness.


    Luo Nan had used hypnosis to temporarily control Chen Xiaolin. He then raised his head to look towards the forward section of the elevator.


    Xue Lei¡¯s attention was on the formidable opponent ahead of himself, but Luo Nan¡¯s attention was on a more bizarre ne.


    There had been a burning wraith struggling inside Xue Lei¡¯s body. But it had already burrowed its way out during the fight just now, seizing away a sizable amount of Xue Lei¡¯s life force.


    And at the same time, that ferocious ck-Suited Male also had a burning wraith leap out of his body. The two burning wraiths intertwined. And, before Luo Nan could react, they fused together to strengthen in a sh.


    This sort of variation was really outside of Luo Nan¡¯s scope of reactions. Luo Nan wanted to resolve this problem; the heavily chained crow had already been released and the Wraith Sign was flickering. But this time they didn¡¯t embody the same dominance, like smashing rotten wood, that they had several times before. They were even conservative and cautious.


    This was because the just-fused burning wraith in the elevator was the most powerful burning wraith Luo Nan had ever seen. Even the one Luo Nan had once controlled, the one that turned everything on its head on the military transport ship, seemed to be inferior to this burning wraith.


    The form of this demonic body even cast off the formless mass of the void. It was approaching closer to the form of the very initial Human-Faced Arachnid of the R&D district...... From the materialsing from Quantum Corporation, Luo Nan could confirm one step further that the main body of the burning wraith was indeed like a hybrid between man and spider. More precisely speaking, a giant spider was stuck to the back of a human body, looking to be fused halfway. Both beings shared the same head, an ugly and demonic head.


    The apparition floated in the air. In fact, it was still absorbing Xue Lei¡¯s and the ck-Suited Male¡¯s strength in an unending stream through an unknown and secretive method. Xue Lei¡¯s symptoms of being tired were actually due to this. His opponent was pretty much the same.


    From the responses of the Wraith Sign, Luo Nan was able to hypothesise a few things on a deeper level:


    To manifest itself in this form, this burning wraith must have consumed at least over a dozen of its species. In other words, the pure quantity of umtion made it stronger than Luo Nan¡¯s Wraith Sign by severalfold.


    Luo Nan thought back to his ideas of ¡°going hunting¡± that had existed not too long ago and was inevitably forcedment over his own naivety: At this rate, he would be the one consumed!

 Chapter 37: Close Combat (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 37: Close Combat (Part 2/2)


    Luo Nan gazed dead-fixed onto the burning wraith in the elevator, and the burning wraith¡¯s attention deviated over ordingly.


    In a certain sense, they were looking face to face at each other.


    Six demonic eyes lit ame at the location of the burning wraith¡¯s head. They were lined up into two parallel columns; they really were like the eyes of an arachnid. Each eye had a different color. The six colors were as follows: muddy yellow, crimson red, shallow gray, deep sea green, deathly white, and jet-ck. Each eye was extremely small, but the colors swapped amongst the eyes. It was demonically bizarre, and it made one feel dizzy.


    Just sweeping his gaze over made Luo Nan have several turbid and chaotic thoughts boil out from the bottom of his mind. A surge of impatience swept his entire mood. He itched to smash something in order to vent out his emotions.


    Luckily, the heavily chained crow¡¯s trembling cry swept over him. These inexplicably surging emotions and distracting thoughts were quelledpletely.


    The burning wraith¡¯s demonic eyes were flickering and fluctuating. Clearly it had noticed Luo Nan¡¯s heavily chained crow, and, of course, the flickering Wraith Sign at the front most part of the chains.


    In Luo Nan¡¯s eyes, the first action this burning wraith was performing was to adopt an assault posture. It was the exact same response as the same species of burning wraith from this morning, at the school¡¯s medical department. Luo Nan also adopted a defensive posture, preparing to meet it head on.


    But this burning wraith actually didn¡¯t throw itself over. Instead, it even retreated a few paces to draw out some distance between it and Luo Nan. Its blurry face continued to look slightly up and it cried out with a sound that ordinary people would find hard to detect, but the sharp hiss surged on the mental ne.


    A sudden thought emerged in Luo Nan¡¯s mind. A thought of the ¡°Terrifying Roar¡± from yesterday on the warship came to mind in nearly an instant.


    He didn¡¯t have time to think further. The heavily chained crow was buzzing with its cry as it pierced the air to directly assault the burning wraith.


    Butpared to the giant surging wave of yesterday¡¯s mental assault, the momentum of this roar was far quicker. By the time the heavily chained crow touched the burning wraith, Chen Xiaolin had already shrieked behind him, bursting out with feelings of terror. Her body collided with the wall of the elevator as she wished to forcefully escape. But she didn¡¯t have the chance nor the choice at all, so her body went stiff with bulging eyes of terror.


    And from her body soared a bloody red beam of light. The beam was cast directly towards the burning wraith. As soon as the bloody beam had split out of her body, she instantly felt drained and she passed out.


    Luo Nan seriously wasn¡¯t able to block this sort of incorporeal exchange. He had his hands full relying on the quelling of the heavily chained crow to be able to stabilize his mind and the boiling of his life force. The chains that streaked across the air were affected as well. It lost its unstoppable force from before; it reached a standstill outside the perimeter of the burning wraith, trembling intently.


    At this point in time, the effects of the ¡°Terrifying Roar¡± were far from over. The ck-Suited Male, who was evidently under the control of the burning wraith, let out a fleeting howl. He faced Xue Lei and threw himself into another assault.


    Xue Lei was clearly influenced by Chen Xiaolin¡¯s shriek. His body trembled, and he even lost the key moment to exert strength. But he didn¡¯t take it lying down. He did the utmost with his remaining energy and exerted force to collide head on with a low snarl. The two met again in force against force, fiercely shing with each other. This time Xue Lei only fell back half a step. He had hit with a fist and also even an elbow. It seemed like he hadn¡¯t lost his steam for the time being.


    Luo Nan was unable to feel delighted from this. This was because he could already see that the intense fighting and surging of emotions were the best catalyst for the burning wraith. It caused the life force of the two to transform into the bloody beams of light that flowed endlessly into the burning wraith floating in the air.


    Yesterday¡¯s method was like a low-heat slow-boiling of spore emission. Compare this to the current method of blood drawing and life-force sucking. Wasn¡¯t this ten times more tyrannical?


    The strength that the burning wraith possessed to interfere with reality already exceeded Luo Nan¡¯s imagination. Luo Nan suspected that if the burning wraith, which only existed as an apparition of the void on the mental ne, were to continue to absorb life-force like this, it would bepletely capable of turning nothingness into reality and appear on the material ne.


    But what made him be on alert the most was the burning wraith¡¯s calm behavior. The burning wraith was actually controlling its instinct to consume. It didn¡¯t throw itself directly at Luo Nan. Instead, it was first increasing its own strength to the greatest degree possible, to increase its odds of sess...... This could already be said to be an ¡°intelligent¡± decision.


    This monster was heading uninterrupted into bing whole again. Indeed, to continue using the name given by Quantum Corporation, Human-Faced Arachnid, would be most suitable; it was a savage and cunning hunter. All methods it used were to strengthen itself or to weaken its prey. This made it hard to imagine just how powerful itspleted form would be!


    Luo Nan knew that the situation was growing far from good.


    Aided by the offerings from Xue Lei and the ck-Suited Male, the total strength that Human-Faced Arachnid wielded was increasing like a boat on a rising tide.


    Luo Nan¡¯s heavily chained crow continued to try to prate the outer perimeter of the formless demonic body, and the Wraith Sign at the very front continued to do the utmost to consume all the energy it could. But there was a faintyer that they could not surpass. A few attempts of prating, of interfering, yet the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s ¡°core¡± remained imposing and unmoving. And moreover, it continued to strengthen endlessly amidst all this.


    This Human-Faced Arachnid took most of this energy to strengthen itself. When this strengthening woulde to an end, who knows just how terrifying the following attack would be.


    As for Luo Nan himself, it seemed as if he had reached his limits?


    Simr chaotic thoughts had shed in his mind. Then they dispersedpletely.


    In reality, there was one more move he could do.


    Luo Nan stopped looking at the Human-Faced Arachnid, closing his eyes. He forced himself to enter his Fixed Space. He had relied on the fortune of the past two days of difficulties, of tempering, to make considerable progress in his mental space. With the effort of a mere sudden sh of thought, the visualized diagram of the tetrahedron with its inscribed sphere and outer scribed sphere emerged in the void.


    The heavily chained crow hade out of the central region of the diagram and was extending forth to try to prate into the deeperyers of the Human-Faced Arachnid. But no matter what it did, it couldn¡¯t bridge that gap. It was far from reaching the overpowering might it had disyed when it had vanquished the very first burning wraith, the power that smashed everything as if it were rotten wood.


    At first, Luo Nan believed that this was due to the power of the Human-Faced Arachnid. But now he had a different thought.


    Maybe, the problemid with himself.


    What was his own state when the heavily chained crow had disyed its most powerful strength?


    There was only one answer: Out-of-body State!


    The sort of prating and clear feeling over everything unseen and substantial had never appeared again after his out-of-body experience.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t understand the reasoning behind this. But there was a threat ced ahead of him right now. He didn¡¯t have time to ponder over this. Drastic times called for drastic measures. He had to do the impossible,e hell or high water!


    The out-of-body experience was a strange experience for Luo Nan. The first time he was able toe out of his body was due to Siege Hammer of the burning wraith and then the pulling of the heavily chained crow. He had to do something along those lines in order for him to have an out-of-body experience this time around. He performed the relevant telepathic thoughts to passmands to the Wraith Sign using the heavily chained crow.


    A fantastical vibrational response was fed back, washing over his entire body. Luo Nan¡¯s senses were much clearer this time around and he clearly touched upon the incorporeal veil. He didn¡¯t have the strength to puncture it, but he pulled in an external force to deliver an attack from both inside and outside. A hole was split open in this veil. He was no longer bound to his body, so he floated up.


    Luo Nan still had his eyes closed, but his senses on the mental ne were unleashedpletely. And at this moment, he weed the six iparably bizarre gazing eyes of the Human-Faced Arachnid......via his Soul Body State.


    The heavily chained crow crackled with it¡¯s trembling cry, which seemed to have increased in detail and rity. It was none other than this sort of subtle change that made Luo Nan instantly understand that his judgment was correct:


    The gap that he could not surpass to touch upon the Human-Faced Arachnid was not rted to his opponent at all. The most important causeid exactly with his own fleshly body.


    He needed to carefully study this issueter in the future.


    The six eyes of the Human-Faced Arachnid flickered before him, looking eager to eat. Perhaps it felt that it had umted enough strength? Or perhaps the out-of-body state of Luo Nan looked to be much tastier and weaker?


    Luo Nan abandoned his remaining distracting thoughts and looked straight at the Human-Faced Arachnid with no fear at all...... Was it time to give it another shot?


    The battle could break out at any moment, but the safety hatch on the ceiling of the elevator exploded down in this instant. The blur of a human dropped at lightning speeds together with the safety hatch. The ck-Suited Male had just made his way precisely to the halfway point of the elevator and the hatch smashed over the top of his head.

 Chapter 38: He Yueyin (Part ?)

    Chapter 38: He Yueyin (Part ?)


    The ck-Suited Male normally had quite the reaction speed; he had disyed adept twisting and evading maneuvers even during the battle with Xue Lei. The problem was that the elevator could only be so big. Xue Lei was protecting Luo Nan and Chen Xiaolin behind him, taking up at least half the space and leaving very little room for the ck-Suited Male. In the end, the male had to use his arm to block the hatch.


    A bang rang out; the metal hatch had smashed against the ck-Suited Male¡¯s elbow. No trace of the gargantuan strength from before could be seen. The light metal match was pounded into deformity. Thest-second use of strength, and a miss-slip at that, made it unavoidable for the ck-Suited Male, no matter how swift and fierce he was, to sink into the stiffness of a corpse.


    Xue Lei sneaked a peek and punched with a fist out of spite.


    But then he caught a change in front of his eyes; it seemed that there was another human figure behind the ck-Suited Male. What followed was the crisp sound of bone shattering. Then the twisted body of the ck-Suited Male was sent colliding over.


    Xue Lei made an error in judging distance in the next moment and he instinctively changed his fist into a palm in order to swat the ck-Suited Male aside. But suddenly a short body cut through the male. It was indeed bizarre. This person had cut their way between Xue Lei and the ck-Suited Male.


    Right when Xue Lei had his arm pushing out, right when he was wide open, this opponent sent their palm up and smashed Xue Lei in the jaw. The vibrational energy was transmitted to his brain and Xue Lei¡¯s body went paralyzed; he was unable to control his body no matter what he did. And right when he was struggling, a dagger had made its way to his neck. He couldn¡¯t hold on any longer, and his eyes went white as he fainted.


    The life or death battle had both parties defeated in a moment¡¯s instant. And this loss of consciousness severed the life-force transferring channel of the Human-Faced Arachnid.


    Although things were done roughly, this was an expert that adopted full measures!


    Luo Nan¡¯s mind roused for he immediately knew that reinforcements had arrived.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s rage was boundless. Its six demonic eyes suddenly lit up as it glimpsed to see who had just arrived. The ripples on the mental ne seemed to congeal with actual substance and came crashing down. It was none other than the Siege Hammer attack.


    Luo Nan¡¯s mind was screaming, ¡°Not good!¡± And he tried to use the heavily chained crow to interfere with the Human-Faced Arachnid. This time the chains really did disy a difference due to Luo Nan being in an out-of-body state, stabbing far deeper into the void. It seemed to practically touch the core of the Human-Faced Arachnid, but it was still extremely difficult for immediate effects to appear.


    Then in the next moment, a red glow stormed forth in the elevator.


    Luo Nan had a certain urge to squint his eyes...... And his Soul Body responded in this way. This was because ayer of raging mes had stormed out this new reinforcement¡¯s body right in front of him. The glow of mes was zing, prating from inside-out with its light.


    This Siege Hammer, which attacked directly against one¡¯s soul, wiped out half the sea of mes with a rumble. But it was ultimately unable to break through itpletely.


    On the contrary, the raging mes dampened a little and then expanded to explode with even more violence and power than before. Itpletely destroyed the attack on the mental ne, continuing to flood the entire elevator with the glow of mes. Its might was iparable for a time.


    The Format of Fire!


    Luo Nan¡¯s couldn¡¯t help having his mind be in an upheaval. Soon he discovered that something was wrong. He was swept by the glowing mes and the exact same state of a thousand cuts of pain from yesterday reappeared on his Soul Body right now. But this time the prating freezing chill hadpletely transformed into a scorching burn.


    So it turned out to be friendly fire......


    Luo Nan saw that the situation had turned for the worse. Any thoughts of waging a great battle in an out-of-body state were totally annihted. But instead of going directly back inside his body, he fell back to hide behind his main body. He relied on the breathing of his main body to block this wave of cmity.


    A hissing came from within the elevator at this moment as well. The glow of an ice-cold de covered the space to brightly contrast with the surging mes within the elevator. The blending of the two was marvelous. The raging mes and the cold de were ring; their tracks were branded onto Luo Nan¡¯s consciousness. It took a long time for them to disperse.


    That de looked to be quite familiar!


    The Human-Faced Arachnid already felt pain by every means from being burned by the Format of Fire. And the aura of this de made it even warier; it instinctively wanted to flee.


    But at this very moment, the heavily chained crow finally disyed its usage after a moment of adaption. The chains suddenly crumbled and radiated a myriad of thin threads directly at the core of the Human-Faced Arachnid. Although the force was a bit off from beingpletely overwhelming, it didn¡¯t matter what tricks the Human-Faced Arachnid pulled. The crow was able to execute its interfering and inhibiting.


    To be able to slow the Human-Faced Arachnid by a trace was already enough.


    The de¡¯s aura tore through space, shing onto the incorporeal image of the Human-Faced Arachnid. It split a straight line through the body, scarring the Human-Faced Arachnid before vanishing to nothing.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid hissed once more, but this time it was a blood-curdling shriek.


    The shriek was unending. It had been so close to congealing a demonic body into reality, but it actually had been smashed apart into countless dark and deep rays of light. The light permeated through the elevator, scattering in all directions.


    It still had this move left?


    Luo Nan was extremely surprised. He could sense that the Human-Faced Arachnid had not received a fatal injury. The reason why it crumbled and dispersed was for the sake of fleeing, and nothing more.


    With this sort of decision making, who would believe that this wasn¡¯t an intelligent being?


    The heavily chained crow withdrew, but Luo Nan felt something about the Wraith Sign in front. Amidst the chaos of the crumbling Human-Faced Arachnid, the Wraith Sign had torn off a piece of it,pletely devouring this piece in an instant.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t try to understand the effects in detail; it was bad to tarry. His Soul Body leaped towards his physical body through the hole and he opened his eyes.


    From this perspective, he just so happened to see the de¡¯s harsh aura recede. Ultimately, it seemed to withdraw back into a sleeve. God knows how there was space to conceal a de with those slim-fit tailored clothes.


    Luo Nan could not help but carefully size up this person...... Hic. Looked a bit familiar from the back.


    ¡°This person......¡±


    Luo Nan opened his mouth in order to speak, but he was suddenly hit with a spell of dizziness. His body leaned back to press against the wall of the elevator.The ice-cold metal was soon heated by the warmth of his body.


    Indeed, using this out-of-body trick was a really dangerous move; the price was especially high. If the Soul Body were to receive an attack, then the fleshly body would bear a portion of the damage in the end. Also, he had not eaten dinner yet. He was already very hungry.


    But now what was up with this ¡°so bursting, so bursting, so bursting¡± feeling?


    Luo Nan slowly inhaled and exhaled, trying to relieve the endless and increasing feeling of swelling. But it was useless. The ¡°ate until bursting¡± feeling came from the mental ne. It seemed that the Wraith Sign had forgotten to take into ount the size of its stomach when it had swallowed the piece of the Human-Faced Arachnid in one bite; it had be quite swollen from the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s ¡°gift¡±.


    This piece that was torn from the Human-Faced Arachnidprised of not only pure energy but also arge quantity of information. The heavily chained crow had the inherent capability of analyzing information. But when faced with this enormous chaotic flood of information, it¡¯s abilities were somewhat ineffective.


    Clearly, this information had exceeded Luo Nan¡¯s scope of understanding.


    What to do? Oh, perhaps he could......


    Luo Nan stirred telepathically and the external receiving neuron, which was already buried within the flexible e-ink screen, responded to dock up with the heavily chained crow in an instant. It was as if a choke point had opened up. Luo Nan didn¡¯t care whether or not this enormous quantity of information was useful; he just stuffed it all in.


    His thought process was very simple. Up or down, just put it all in. The external neuron could control the several system modules of theboratory simultaneously. It could control the sea of information that was in a superputer. There shouldn¡¯t be a problem for it to handle this remnant of the Human-Faced Arachnid.


    Reality soon proved that his judgment was correct. Towards all information external or internal, the external neuron took in whatever there was. There were no bad reactions whatsoever.


    The resolution of his mental senses was finite and Luo Nan didn¡¯t know how the external neuron ultimately operated. He had the urge to open up the flexible screen to take a look.


    Then a hand reached out in front of him in the next second.

 Chapter 38: He Yueyin (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 38: He Yueyin (Part 2/2)


    This hand that reached out towards him was slender and spotlessly white, but the contours of the cold and hard joints gave off apletely different charm.


    Luo Nan raised his head, setting his eyes on the seemingly familiar face. The face looked to be excessively cold, detached, and hard to deal with. Also, there were those slim fit dress pants. They caused a great disparity with his memories of the weaving rays of a de¡¯s aura from several dozen seconds ago.


    ¡°You are......¡±


    ¡°He Yueyin. Sir¡¯s temporary secretary. I¡¯m very sorry Mr. Luo. I camete.¡±


    That¡¯s right. Herst name was also He!


    Luo Nan eventually made a confirmation. Wasn¡¯t this the same white cored female that was at the entrance to the pub? The one who Chen Weican of the Mutual Assistance Group had shouted ¡°Sister He¡±.


    Luo Nan had even acted as a bellboy for her.


    But now this Sister He had be his secretary...... The rules and status of the world of ordinary people and the world of ability users...It seemed that the difference was quiterge? And it appeared that this was quite favorable for him.


    He Yueyin¡¯s eyes were drooping slightly down at this moment, somewhat disagreeing with the cold and proud appearance within his memories. Only now did Luo Nan realize that her gaze was far too sharp. When she covered up this characteristic, intentionally or otherwise, what remained was only a peaceful impression and nothing more.


    And of course, she was extremely beautiful.


    Having this kind of secretary was really not bad!


    Tiny buds of vain thoughts sprouted in Luo Nan¡¯s mind and were immediately uprooted. Luo Nan had not forgotten about Zhang Yingying¡¯s introduction to the situation: This was most likely a special period due to the havoc wreaked by the Human-Faced Arachnid; the value of psychics was reflected in this.


    If he were to take this to be in his right, then he would probably be theughingstock of the Wilderness Explorers Society and be forever engraved in memory.


    These thoughts operated in his mind for only a split second, and He Yueyin¡¯s hand remained in front of him all the while.


    Luo Nan¡¯s brain operated for another cycle before he was able to react by gripping her hand with his own. When he felt He Yueyin¡¯s hand, he found that it was indeed as cold and hard as illustrated by his sight. Several finger segments and joints had formed calluses. Inparison, Luo Nan¡¯s own hand was like the hand of a young master who had never gone through the baptism of wind and frost; it was excessively silky and soft.


    He Yueyin exerted a bit of strength to bring the half copsed and half leaning Luo Nan up. She withdrew her hand, yet supported him for a bit. It seemed that she was scared Luo Nan would copse again.


    In reality, Luo Nan really wanted to tell her that he was just a bit hungry, a little bit ¡°swollen¡±, and that there weren¡¯t any major problems with his body. But speaking in this way would be no different than uttering the words of a nutjob. He was on the verge of speaking his mind, but he switched topics and pointed to the unconscious Xue Lei:


    ¡°He¡¯s fine, right? He¡¯s my friend. It was him who saved me just now.¡± Luo Nan was really worried that He Yueyin would take Xue Lei as an enemy to be eliminated.


    ¡°He¡¯s just temporarily unconscious. His blood and energy will start flowing soon and he will wake up naturally. This other miss is a bit more troublesome; she probably needs to be hospitalized and observed. And a mental hospital needs to be arranged...... Wait a little bit.¡± He Yueyin stopped speaking as she pressed lightly against her ear. She¡¯s probably using the HexaEar tomunicate with somebody.


    Luo Nan did not feel like he was given the cold shoulder. He used precisely this opportunity to continue sizing up and evaluating his secretary.


    He Yueyin¡¯s eyebrows were locked in ce by habit while she wasmunicating. What was noteworthy was that Luo Nan had never seen her truly smile or rx. It seemed that she was dissatisfied towards everything, including herself. Perhaps the reason was from her rather prominent life experience, but she always gave off an enormous oppressive feeling.


    Luo Nan was not unfamiliar with this kind of feeling. He was normally like this as well. He had exhausted nearly all his energy trying to reproduce the experiments from his grandfather¡¯s notebook. Theplicated theory and high level operating procedures made him doubt if his actions and works were perfect. He didn¡¯t know if he met the requirements of these experiments, so the pressure was always there. Naturally, it was very hard for him to be happy.


    The only thing was that Luo Nan didn¡¯t have a lot of life experience, so he was unable to form an oppressive air towards others. He could only disy himself as introverted and depressing.


    For such a powerful woman to be constantly living life under pressure...... This world was more difficult than he imagined.


    The feeling of sorrow was born inexplicably. Luo Nan shook his head; he didn¡¯t know why he had suddenly be a bit more depressed. But then a secondter, he discovered that the floor beneath his foot seemed to still be vibrating. The elevator had already resumed a peaceful atmosphere. The vibration could onlye from an external source.


    He asked instinctively: ¡°Is there an earthquake?¡±


    ¡°No, this is just the pointless venting of a failed operation.¡±


    He Yueyin actually responded and then selected the 81st floor as the elevator button. The elevator vibrated slightly, then it restored to normal operation, slowly going up.


    Luo Nan mentioned a few words: ¡°Zhang Yingying¡¯s still on the 27th floor......¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s already been called up.¡±


    Luo Nan blinked his eyes. He was already lost in regards to the Society¡¯s ns and logic. Zhang Yingying was quite the unreliable woman, having said only a word or two; she was quite misleading. It didn¡¯t matter how he looked at things; He Yueyin was much more conscientious than her.


    ¡°Can you tell me just what the heck is going on now? I remember that I just came here to participate in the evaluation to enter the Society......¡±


    He Yueyin raised her brows while looking at him: ¡°Evaluation?¡±


    Luo Nan sold Zhang Yingying out without the least bit of pressure: ¡°I just submitted my application to join the Society this morning. Then Zhang Yingying told me to participate in an evaluation exam over here; I¡¯ve already passed it. Then you guys told me about the havoc the Human-Faced Arachnid is causing and that the Society really needs psychics, even arranging a secretary for me....... The aforementioned should be correct right?¡±


    He Yueyin responded with wrinkled brows: ¡°You only knew of the information pertaining to the Human-Faced Arachnid when you came to the pub? What about the specific details about the operation?¡±


    ¡°Details?¡±


    Luo Nan was stunned before realizing that he had sold out Zhang Yingyingpletely......


    Well, that¡¯s good! In that split second, Luo Nan had apletely new affirmation towards Zhang Yingying¡¯s degree of reliability on the spectrum.


    In the end, He Yueyin shook her head: ¡°There wouldn¡¯t be any point even if I do tell you the details. Everything is a chaotic mess.¡±


    ......Was she talking about the Society?


    Right when Luo Nan was trying to figure out this unfathomable mystery, He Yueyin used her HexaEar to transmit him information: ¡°Please enter the encrypted channel. Adjust to Warfare Mode.¡±


    Luo Nan acted telepathically ording to her words. The translucent interface on his retina reopened. He discovered, at this time, a series of 7~8 blood red warnings in the wartime encryptedmunications channel. All of which came from He Yueyin. The time stamps were all around the time of the incident. And on the normalmunications channel was additional information from Zhang Yingying.


    It was only that Luo Nan¡¯splete attention was on the Human-Faced Arachnid during that time. He had beenpletely unaware of the channel.


    He Yueyin reminded him at this moment: ¡°Mr. Luo, pay as much attention as possible to the information provided by HexaEar. It¡¯s best for all our futuremunication to be through this device. This is to ensure uracy and efficiency.¡±


    ¡°Mm. Yes. But it seemed that I had lost connection just then?¡±


    He Yueyin¡¯s eyebrows constricted a bit more: ¡°That¡¯s my negligence. Even though Mr. Luo is already capable of achieving third levelmunications, in the end, you¡¯re not an Awakened. It¡¯s hard for you to perform tasks simultaneously once you enter a tense situation...... I hope that Mr. Luo will take a set amount of time to do emergency response training in order to avoid situations involvingmunications disconnections.¡±


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t respond immediately, for the architectural drawings of Limestone Water Vige Pub had appeared on his retina in this moment. There was something eye-catching on it, a moving marker.

 Chapter 39: A New Way of Thinking (Part ?)

    Chapter 39: A New Way of Thinking (Part ?)


    The Limestone Water Vige Pub was not an independent building. Even though it had a height of 454 meters with its 108 stories, it was only one of the buildings existing in the Cloud City Water Vigeplex. And moreover, it was the building with the lowest height.


    There were six buildings simr to the Limestone Water Vige Pub, distributed in addered ring. They increased in height in order, altogether surrounding the Cloud City Main Building, which towered at 1179 meters, to form one of the world¡¯s top ranking buildingplexes.


    The architectural designs that Luo Nan could see epassed the entirety of Limestone Water Vige Pub and the several connected passageways to the next higher building¡¯s businesses.


    The transparent map was transformed into a mesh-like form, looking to be like honebs. But it was moreplicated than this by a thousand times. There were blue triangr g cursors scattered all around, representing the Wilderness Explorers Society. They looked to be charging around in a maze.


    Seeing this scene, Luo Nan blurted out: ¡°There are too few people.¡±


    The 108 story Limestone Water Vige Pub was the most affordable and in touch with people building among the Cloud City Water Vige. Naturally, the poprity was always high. When it came to be the weekend, especially during the peak hours of the night, there were at least a dozen dinner parties lined up in a row. Counting the travelers and tourists, twenty~thirty thousand peopleing and going wouldn¡¯t be considered much at all.


    But the number of ability users scattered among the various floors didn¡¯t exceed 15 taking everything into ount. One person would need to cover seven~eight floors on average. In reality, there were several teams formed, among which included these two who were present in the elevator right now...... The amount of area they could barely cover was simply riddled with a thousand holes.


    Luo Nan kept on hearing stuff about an operation, causing him to believe that the Society would execute it on arge scale for the sake of hunting and destroying the Human-Faced Arachnid. He believed that they wouldy down an inescapable. But when he saw this scene, even he felt a little bit embarrassed by it.


    His thoughts deviated at this time as he recalled a small detail: ¡°I remember that Sister He, you had brought along four people?¡±


    In the end, Luo Nan found it embarrassing to call her by ¡°Secretary He¡±. He copied this tongue from Chen Weican.


    ¡°Those four should be congregated together.¡±


    ¡°......¡± Luo Nan was alreadypletely convinced. Wasn¡¯t this kind of deployment to hunt the Human-Faced Arachnid the same as finding a needle in a haystack?


    He Yueyin suddenly asked him at this time: ¡°Can you switch to Conference Mode?¡±


    Luo Nan believed that she had other ns, naturally, he didn¡¯t have a reason to refuse.


    Soon, the retina interface shed with a notification as the Wartime Encrypted Communications Channel entered Conference Mode. A row of avatars appeared on the interface in order. All 15 Society members at Limestone Water Vige Pub were online and Zhang Yingying¡¯s squirrel was among the avatars.


    But what happened next was most unexpected. The following words from He Yueyin were clearly a response to his question: ¡°The number of people isn¡¯t the crucial factor. After all, the hidden resources that are in the Society¡¯s control are quite considerable. And so, the appropriate deployment to kill a clone of the Human-Faced Arachnid would be three-to-five Awakened acting together. This is more than enough.¡±


    Being the one to weaken the powerful Human-Faced Arachnid into retreating, He Yueyin was naturally qualified to speak these words. And Luo Nan didn¡¯t object; he wouldn¡¯t say it in this secret channel. He would wait until she was in front of arge crowd before asking, ¡°Sister He, how did youe to this conclusion in the end?¡±


    He Yueyin¡¯s voice was sharp and serious, but she had no intentions of stopping: ¡°Since our numbers are few, we can¡¯t possibly cover everything. There is absolutely no need to scatter ourselves, especially in this case wheremanding a long distance deployment will make a high level of refinement be unattainable.¡±


    ......Shots fired!


    Right when Luo Nan was stunned and speechless, another person spoke intentionally and their voice jumped out from the HexaEar: ¡°Wait wait wait. Things are different if a military arrives. Then how do we conduct things, how do we deploy? Secretary He, give me a proper exnation!¡±


    An impatient mood prated through the oily voice. A flickering indicator of number 3393 appeared at the corner of the retina interface. The avatar was an ugly ck beetle.


    He Yueyin didn¡¯t get caught in the ck Beetle¡¯s rhythm. She just adjusted the building¡¯s design map and opened up an interface screen on the lower right corner to disy a monitoring video of the interior of the pub.


    Luo Nan noticed that the faces of the people in the video consisted mostly of students. Looking at the scale and form, it was none other than the Mutual Assistance Cold Dinner Party Event, which he had yet to enter.


    Soon, He Yueyin made a mark on the interface. A male and a female were engaged in conversation at the edge of the monitoring area....... Xue Lei and Chen Xiaolin. The other was the male who they engaged in battle with, the ck-Suited Male who wasing endlessly closer.


    Clearly, this was a recording from before the incident.


    Xue Lei¡¯s and Chen Xiaolin¡¯s dispute was able to be seen. They probably had some misgivings about the public setting. After a few quarreling words, they left the site. They probably wanted to find a more quiet ce to talk.


    The ck-Suited Male followed behind them the entire time.


    The video recording then switched over to the entrance of the elevator, capturing Luo Nan with his head down drawing at just the right time. Naturally, Zhang Yingying was captured as well, looking at him from the side.


    ¡°Please take notice of the position marker of every person present.¡±


    He Yueyin¡¯s cold and piercing voice sounded out: ¡°ording to Zhang Yingying¡¯s description as well as what was disyed inbat, Mr. Luo discovered the anomaly on his friend¡¯s body at this time. He yelled a warning, then he was taken by surprise by the ck Wolf......¡±


    ¡°ck Wolf?¡±


    Luo Nan changed his gaze to the ck-Suited Male on the ground. So it turned out this guy had a nickname? Speaking of which, this fellow was in a much more miserable state than Xue Lei. He Yueyin¡¯s attack just then had directly snapped his spine. Could he still be saved?


    But He Yueyin¡¯s following exnation stunned Luo Nan.


    ¡°The ck Wolf was a registered member of the Society and was also a member of this hunting operation. However, right now he is already a ve of the Human-Faced Arachnid.¡±


    He Yueyin¡¯s tone was undisturbed, remaining unchanged even though this was herrade; she disyed no further emotions as well. But there was a silence within the Society¡¯s conference channel. This matter was clearly hard for the others to take in.


    He Yueyin¡¯s analysis continued at this time: ¡°We weren¡¯t able to find the scene where the ck Wolf gets infected. But extrapting from hisstmunications timestamp, he was infected approximately twenty minutes beforehand. Then the infected ck Wolf approached the next target.¡±


    ¡°We have reason to believe, from the state of him focusing on the target, that he had already been bestowed with amand. He shadowed the target, waiting for an opportunity to harvest the fruits of battle. The Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s methods were cruel and fierce. There was practically no cushioning time in between. And at this time, we had no inkling of this whatsoever.¡±


    He Yueyin¡¯s voice was the only sound left in the temporary silence of the Society¡¯s conference channel:


    ¡°It was only until Mr. Luo captured a trace of the Human-Faced Arachnid and gave his friend a warning that we were able to start to mobilize. The first wave was the person by Mr. Luo¡¯s side, Zhang Yingying......¡±


    A beep indicated that the elevator had just reached the 81st floor. There were no disturbances whatsoever during their entire trip. Thinking about it, this was probably the result of some special maniption.


    The elevator door opened. Luo Nan was then stupefied. Right in front of him against the wall was a beautiful woman with an expression of lifelessness. Wasn¡¯t this Zhang Yingying?


    This youngdy, who had always radiated with energy, was clearly receiving the information from the Society¡¯s conference channel. She made a not-so-pleasant assessment after the premonition and raised her hand dispirited:


    ¡°Hi. I¡¯m here.¡±

 Chapter 39: A New Way of Thinking (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 39: A New Way of Thinking (Part 2/2)


    Aside from Zhang Yingying, the four experts brought by He Yueyin were also present. They assumed action by taking out and cing down the three unconscious people from the elevator.


    He Yueyin¡¯s footsteps did not end. She gestured with her hand for Luo Nan to enter the Society reserved conference room.


    Zhang Yingying was ignored, but she was exceptionally clever. She wordlessly followed at their sides after her greeting, epting the analysis and criticisming over the HexaEar.


    Anyway, He Yueyin didn¡¯t criticize herpletely negatively:


    ¡°Zhang Yingying¡¯s initial response was eptable. The situation was sudden and unexpected, but she was still able to discover the anomaly with the ck Wolf and was even able to intervene. Her biggest problem is that her attack power isn¡¯t heavy enough. She wasn¡¯t able to stop the ck Wolf from going on to harm Mr. Luo. In reality, if Luo Nan¡¯s friend wasn¡¯t such a remarkable martial artist to be able to rely on his own powerful will and life force energy to cast off the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s corruption, then Luo Nan absolutely wouldn¡¯t have been able to narrowly escape an attack from two sides.¡±


    When Zhang Yingying heard this relevant assessment that contained some good points about her, Zhang Yingying¡¯s expression didn¡¯t actually improve. Instead, she turned more gloomy and was even a bit absent-minded.


    The group of people entered the conference room, which waspletely empty right now aside from a few monitoring devices installed in a disarray. He Yueyin did not give a single nce at them and just asked Luo Nan to sit down so she could continue exining the relevant issue.


    Since the conversation was conductedpletely on the Psychic Wave Network, the ne of reality was just a sheet of silence. The atmosphere continued to be very tense after everyone entered and sat in the room.


    ¡°The most unfortunate issue urred during the second wave. First of all, Zhang Yingying¡¯s second reaction was very clumsy. She looked on helplessly while the elevator, which contained Mr. Luo, fell and dropped, and she wasn¡¯t able to perform any effective actions. In addition, she wasn¡¯t able to get to the elevator in time. Next, support of the operationpletely fell apart. There was a total of 74 seconds when Mr. Luo waspletely exposed to the threat with the ck Wolf and the Human-Faced Arachnid, including the time when I was there......¡±


    ¡°We should be rejoicing the fact that we are still able to analyze the circumstances surrounding Mr. Luo right now, that we¡¯re not paying funeral respects to him. But this result had nothing to do with the members of the operation.¡±


    It was just as before; nobody spoke. He Yueyin¡¯s analysis wasn¡¯t that exceptional, but it was formed from cold hard facts of steel. Shepletely exposed the clumsy response of the society¡¯s operation team.


    Luo Nan saw number 3393, the ck Beetle who had spoken initially, disconnect and exit from the conference mode. It looks likes that fellow was also quite prideful and rebellious.


    He Yueyin¡¯s expression did not change in face of this. She continued: ¡°Inparison to the issue with the operation I exposed, I am incapable of understanding the reasoning behind the ns arranged beforehand. I received the notification from the Society only half an hour before the operation. I wasn¡¯t presented with a mission briefing. I was asked to act as secretary and a bodyguard for a member. It was only after I arrived at the pub that I saw Mr. Luo¡¯s basic profile. The crucial information was also unclear.¡±


    ¡°ording to my understanding, Mr. Luo was alsopletely ignorant of the details of the operation. Moreover, he¡¯scking in the appropriate training, so he made very non-professional actions when faced with this sudden development and ended up getting trapped in a dangerous situation.¡±


    ¡°Everyone was focused on battle. The members of the operation didn¡¯t utilize their mental abilities at all in order to bring about effectivemands. Moreover, the infected was ced as a higher priority. The Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s autonomous activity was neglected, leading to the utter failure of the mission.¡±


    ¡°I discovered the aforementioned issues during the operation. Perhaps I have a misunderstanding somewhere about the inner details since it hasn¡¯t been long since I retired from the military and entered the society. I apologize ahead of time once again. But for the exposed and future exposed issues, I hope everyone is able to engage in serious discussion to resolve this. Otherwise, our search and destroy against the Human-Faced Arachnid can only lead to constant losses and lead to even more unpredictable consequences. Over!¡±


    He Yueyin¡¯s long exnation had finallye to an end. No one spoke for a long time in the conference channel and there was nobody who responded to her proposal. It was an awkward atmosphere.


    Luo Nan even thought that if He Yueyin hadn¡¯t softened her tone near the end, perhaps more people would have exited from the conference channel like the ck Beetle.


    He was able to see that He Yueyin¡¯s rigorous and strict methods were a bit inharmonious with the Society¡¯s atmosphere as a whole.


    Then Luo Nan thought of Zhang Yingying¡¯s assessment of ability users this morning. Somements about being ¡°stuck up, untamable and unsubduable, entric and perverted¡±. He could see from the present that this really wasn¡¯t an exaggeration. At least them being ¡°scattered around¡± were words that absolutely hit the target in reality.


    Perhaps this operation will result in nothing?


    Beyond all expectations, Zhang Yingying spoke out within the conference channel at this time: ¡°Everybody, I¡¯ve been humiliated to this degree. I¡¯m not scared of speaking out...... We still need tactics to hit this boss monster. Everyone came over here like a swarm of bees without direction. In reality, we¡¯ve underestimated the enemy. Let¡¯s gather together as a team again.¡±


    The words by Zhang Yingying were made dispirited in an everyone-came-here-to-eat-a-farewell-dinner style. But the result was actually quite decent. The silent and frozen conference channel spilled with chaotic noise at once:


    ¡°Okay. Let¡¯s discuss the battle tactics. It would also be good to meet each other.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Luo still hasn¡¯t opened his mouth. Did his secretary turn him into a puppet?¡±


    ¡°Oh Vice President He. Today¡¯s fortune is tomorrow¡¯s disaster. Mr. Luo truly understands what it means to be wise and y things safe. Apparently, he¡¯s still quite young?¡±


    ¡°I still haven¡¯t met our future Vice President! This beginning is far from good!¡±


    ¡°To be able to draw from the sess and experience of an ex-military is quite good. Apparently, Vice President ys the Wilderness game?¡±


    ¡°Does the military have a team in the Wilderness game? The Vice President should be an expert. What character do you usually use?¡±


    Luo Nan was left speechless. This was clearly a Wilderness team who yed the online game, Ten Days in the Wilderness, together. It was unknown who called out first toe over to deal with the Human-Faced Arachnid.


    They probably thought they were in a game raiding a boss?


    He Yueyin was expressionless when faced with this. She could only sit quietly and wait.


    Luo Nan looked at Zhang Yingying again. After she had finished speaking, she had leaned forward on the table. She continued being lifeless, then she felt Luo Nan¡¯s gaze and suddenly turned her head over:


    ¡°Hey. Draw another portrait for me, okay.¡±


    ¡°Hic?¡±


    ¡°Forget it. You don¡¯t understand anything.¡±


    Zhang Yingying buried her head in her arms so no one could see her and she grew increasingly depressed. She knew that He Yueyin¡¯s assessment of the entire situation was quite fair. But the more she knew this, the more she minded. It was only because of that sentence:


    Her attack power isn¡¯t heavy enough......


    Ever since she entered the society, a single attack of her White Rainbow received praise from every big shot in the society without exception. She was known to have the most powerful and explosive attack power among the Awakened. She had always been quite proud because of this.


    But in reality, she absolutely didn¡¯t cause enough damage to the ck Wolf. If the ck Wolf had used a serious skill against Luo Nan at that time, talking about things right now would be useless.


    Zhang Yingying was somewhat absent-minded as she felt the cold and sharp air circting around her body. She inexplicably thought of the words spoken by Susan this morning:


    Has your White Rainbow stunted?


    This was the first time Zhang Yingying had simr thoughts sprout in her mind:


    It seemed... it seemed that things were a bit different than what her boss said.

 Chapter 40: Psychic Drawing (Part ?)

    Chapter 40: Psychic Drawing (Part ?)


    Zhang Yingying had spoken about Luo Nan drawing a portrait without rhyme or reason, causing Luo Nan to observe her carefully once again.


    Honestly speaking, Zhang Yingying really did change, and it was a fairlyrge change at that. The aura of her body had transformed entirely. If Luo Nan were to draw her portrait now, the result absolutely wouldn¡¯t be like the one from when they yed the game together, possessing the intense look of victory or defeat.


    Was her mood actually influenced this greatly?


    ¡°Mr. Luo.¡± He Yueyin¡¯s voice propagated through the HexaEar with some information to the side, ¡°Please enter Encrypted Channel 001.¡±


    ¡°......Okay.¡±


    Luo Nan abided with her request, entering into what seemed to be a module established at thest minute. A simple interface should have already been set up inside, but Luo Nan wasn¡¯t certain on the specific contents. He could only see information pertaining to himself and the Human-Faced Arachnid, and the information was constantly being updated with new information at this time to always be changing.


    Was this a pre-installed temte of the HexaEar? Or was this built by He Yueyin? If it was thetter, Luo Nan could only exim in admiration over He Yueyin¡¯s powerful control over the mental ne.


    ¡°I hope we can collect some information before we start the meeting as a basis for determining our strategic decisions. Mr. Luo doesn¡¯t mind right?¡±


    Luo Nan responded sincerely: ¡°I don¡¯t even know how I should describe some of the things.¡±


    ¡°No problem. Just providing the information first-hand is fine. Before when you were in the elevator, other than your friend......¡±


    ¡°Xue Lei.¡±


    ¡°Mm. Other than Mr. Xue blocking the ck Wolf, you should have caused the Human-Faced Arachnid to be impeded in some way. Is this correct?¡±


    Luo Nan rolled his eye back in the dark. Why was the first question so sharp!?


    However, the heavily chained crow molded from his grandfather¡¯s Formatting Theory was a grand and impressive achievement. Luo Nan couldn¡¯t wait to proim this achievement; he didn¡¯t have sentimental thoughts that stopped him. But what he wanted to avoid was nothing more than revealing his rtionship with the Human-Faced Arachnid and his hidden card of having psychic intuition.


    The current problem was that he absolutely wouldn¡¯t be able to exin things in such a short time, so he could only express things in a rather brief and regretful way: ¡°I felt that there was some sort of negative existence in the elevator at that time, so I tried using my ¡®Chains¡¯ to inhibit it.¡±


    ¡°Chains?¡±


    Luo Nan was waiting for this question. He took a deep breath to express his words as clearly as possible: ¡°This is in ordance with my grandfather¡¯s theory. I constructed a sort of Format on the mental ne. Its usage is to quell abnormal states in the body and mind......¡±


    He Yueyin asked in curiosity: ¡°A Format built on the mental ne? Do you mean the Formatting Theory¡¯s Archetype Formats?¡±


    Luo Nan original mood was rather worked up, but then it was as if his mood was suddenly doused with ice-cold water. He really wanted to roar in response, ¡°What f*cking Archetype Formats!¡± But soon he thought of the origins to the strength disyed by He Yueyin in the elevator. Wasn¡¯t it none other than the Format of Fire?


    In the hearts of Burners like her, Yan Hong¡¯s Archetype Formatting Theory was certainly the cornerstone of strength. They wouldn¡¯t ept anything else.


    He had actually wanted to expound on his grandfather¡¯s theory in earnest. He was really stupid for wanting to.


    Luo Nan¡¯s mood dropped down in a sh, no longer caught up in a desire to exin. He just responded: ¡°I don¡¯t know what special terms you all use, but the general meaning is like this.¡±


    ¡°This theory looks to be quite interesting. I hope Mr. Luo would discuss the theory with me in earnest when there is a chance.¡±


    He Yueyin was just like an outstanding host; she would never reject her people¡¯s words in rashness. Yet she grasped the crux of the subject all this time: ¡°Mr. Luo. Can you describe what you experienced when you faced off against the Human-Faced Arachnid? For example, the abilities disyed by the Human-Faced Arachnid?¡±


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t respond immediately, for he was trying to sort out his response in order to preserve his hidden cards; he would need some time.


    From feeling Luo Nan¡¯s hesitation, He Yueyin didn¡¯t stick with the roles of questioner and listener; she first shared her own experience:


    ¡°Actually, I cooperated with myrades yesterday to annihte a clone of the Human-Faced Arachnid. The one that we encountered today was clearly far different than the one from yesterday......¡±


    ¡°Yesterday? Where?¡± Luo Nan wasn¡¯t quite expecting this.


    ¡°Mr. Luo should know where the source of the Human-Faced Arachnid incident is. It was right above the R&D district, in the air, on the military transport ship Lanshan.¡±


    It was her....... That de aura! No doubt about it!


    The door to Luo Nan¡¯s memories had been a bit loose. Now that door was wide open. He took this lean woman in front of him and integrated this image with his memories of the Deep Blue Walker ying the burning wraith with a cross de sh from yesterday morning on the transport ship.


    That sensation from the de¡¯s aura fitpletely. Yes. She was the yer who had beheaded and vanquished the burning wraith!


    Sure enough, this was a small world full of coincidences.


    Luo Nan really didn¡¯t feel much, even though they ought to have some hate between them. Anyway, he suddenly spurted out the question he had stuffed in his stomach:


    ¡°Sister He doesn¡¯t need the Deep Blue Exo-Armor to ignite the Format of Fire?¡±


    The real question he wanted to ask was as follows: Why did I feel that the strength you disyed in the elevator was a factor stronger than what you disyed in the armor?


    What a pity. This sort of question would expose himself. He could only stuff it into his stomach.


    He Yueyin wasn¡¯t surprised of Luo Nan¡¯s certainty that she was a Deep Blue Walker. Deep Blue Walkers and Burners had a synonymous rtionship in this world.


    ¡°Starting from the third generation of Burners, the Format of Fire can exist even when casting off the Exo-Armor. After all, technology is constantly improving.¡±


    He Yueyin did not exin in further depth. Instead, she returned and borated more on the original topic: ¡°Compared to the one I annihted before, this Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s clone possessed capabilities of interfering with reality that were clearly much stronger. To be able to forcefully infect and control an Awakened such as the ck Wolf, and to extract life force at high speeds...... If the clone on the warship was like this one, we would have had a hard time seeding in surrounding and killing it.¡±


    Luo Nan used the HexaEar to thumb through the Society¡¯s materials and linked them with his own experiences. In the end, he found nothing that was illogical:


    ¡°It should have consumed much of its kind. Eight, ten of them umted together. Its abilities would naturally be on a higher level.¡±


    He Yueyin responded: ¡°As of now, there have only been two cases of sess from the start of the search and destroy operation with the Human-Faced Arachnid in the entirety of Xia City, not counting the one here. Other than that, there are three cases of defeat. Though there isn¡¯t more detailed information, from the brief you can see that this clone of the Human-Faced Arachnid we faced disyed a strength on another level. This was also the first case where an Awakened was forcefully infected.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t mention this before, but I feel that the most important issue lies in how the information is determined. Purely relying on the power of the Society¡¯s psychics would make it impossible for a valid series of information to ur. Other than this, Quantum Corporation certainly has its reservations. The high ranking members of the Military and the Society have already re-entered the R&D district for reconnaissance, in hopes of new discoveries.¡±


    The sound of a door interrupted their conversation. The ability users, who had been scattered on the various floors of the building, arrived one after another. Each person had a different appearance, but they shared a singlemon ground; they were rather curious towards Luo Nan and He Yueyin.


    Zhang Yingying raised her head as well, pumping herself up to help with introductions.


    Frankly speaking, Luo Nan really didn¡¯tmit too many of them to memory; he just remembered that the ck Beetle hadn¡¯te. It looked like that one no longer put on any false pretenses of respect.

 Chapter 40: Psychic Drawing (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 40: Psychic Drawing (Part 2/2)


    Since everyone had all sat down, He Yueyin no longer engaged in a lone conversation with Luo Nan and began the meeting.


    With her battle achievement of solely causing the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s clone in the elevator to retreat, with the previous analysis of the issues, and of course with a faint military background, He Yueyin had already established her position within the Society. She took charge of the meeting and there was no one who challenged her, at least on the surface.


    Luo Nan, however, was still situated as being a target of observation. Lines and lines of sight fell onto his face, all of which were filled with pondering and curiosity. There were no traces of concealment.


    Luo Nan was also observing them.


    If the operation were to continue, his own safety would be influenced to a great degree by these people. Obviously, he shouldn¡¯t be carefree and neglectful. He didn¡¯tmit much of the initial introductions to memory, but he was diligent during the meeting.


    Speaking of which, Luo Nan really admired his ¡°Secretary¡±. He only found out during the introductions that He Yueyin had just retired from the military. It hasn¡¯t been a day since she entered the Wilderness Explorers Society. She was like him, a ¡°newbie¡±.


    Though they had the same experience, He Yueyin took all the names and nicknames of the members of the meeting andmitted them clearly to memory. The exchanges in the meeting wentpletely unhindered and she demonstrated a thorough understanding of the patrol intervals and regions for the areas of the pub that each person had watch over. This wasn¡¯t just an issue that was determined by faculty of mind, but also of due diligence.


    Speaking of the meeting, the initial formalities were rtively casual. He Yueyin didn¡¯t follow up with one subject after another, instead, she acted ording to the same style as in the conversation with Luo Nan, chatting to gather information from all parties. Luo Nan had yet to exit from Channel 001, and so he was able to clearly see the temte being adjusted with newer content at lightning speeds. The design map of Limestone Water Vige Pub contained more and more detailed markers representing routes and trajectories.


    He could see that He Yueyin was trying to reverse engineer the movements of the Human-Faced Arachnid, to see how it had afflicted the ck Wolf. However, Luo Nan was unable to see the result as of yet.


    This kind of deduction through direct observation was quite the familiar feeling for Luo Nan. He opened his notebook subconsciously. The flexible e-ink screen still had the drawing software open, disying what he considered to be a total mess of lines. The abstraction of the Wraith Sign and the precision of theposition were eye catching.


    The drawing interface was left off right when he sensed the existence of the Human-Faced Arachnid, the moment before he warned Xue Lei.


    Luo Nan was somewhat spellbound looking at the chaotic lines on the interface. He was able to verify that he absolutely didn¡¯t genuinely see the Human-Faced Arachnid the instant when he had drawn the Wraith Sign. What stimted him was a sort of intense yet fuzzy sensation...... It was simr to the sort of iparably mysterious ¡°Intuition¡±.


    Luo Nan wasn¡¯t unfamiliar with this sort of feeling. When he made additions to his drawings......The self-portrait with the prison building, the sketch that captured Li Xuecheng, they all used a certain intuition and insight that transformed into detailed lines before turning into sesses.


    If he were to use the concept of a psychic described by Zhang Yingying as a standard, he would be barely able to rely on this as an ability.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    Someone had pounded on the table during the meeting, disturbing Luo Nan. That person was discontent towards He Yueyin. Luo Nan raised his head and only then discovered that some ability users were caught up in an inexplicable argument. It seemed that as the details of the conversation gradually prated deeper into the topic, a few issues were sparked.


    Under a mild state, everyone was all happy faces and there looked to be no difference between them. But now, practically everyone in the meeting room had be moody, reflecting in their faces differently. Some were fretful, some were angry, some were distracted, some were at a loss, some were detached. Each was different.


    Luo Nan felt that this was all very interesting. He took out his digital pen and the pen dropped to the surface of the flexible e-ink screen to sketch. What had been chaotic lines underwent a few embellishments, transforming into a turbid and rapidly flowing river. The structure of the Wraith Sign vanished under the closely knit lines.


    Then he sketched the outlines of a few fishlings within these lines. Perhaps they were undting along with the river¡¯s spray, perhaps they were leaping out of the water¡¯s surface, perhaps they were swimming at the river¡¯s floor in secret...... The attitudes and temperaments of the fishlings were all different, representing a certain few individuals in the conference room.


    But there was a bit that was the same: Every fishling was within the ebb and flow of the river, being influenced by the spray of the river...... And so, Luo Nan symbolized theplicated emotions and intentions in this way.


    Next, Luo Nan drew a small boat on the river with chains and an anchor hanging down the side of it. This symbolized himself. Perhaps he originally was also one of the members stuck in the ebb and flow of the river, but because he had the heavily chained crow to anchor him in ce, he was somewhat able to transcend from it.


    As for He Yueyin, her mood was simr to his. As a Burner, she possessed the power of a Format. She was like a reef within the water that was being scrubbed in every way, but she wasn¡¯t affected at all.


    As for the Human-Faced Arachnid, it was a hunter concealed deep in the river. It drew in negative emotions and waited for an opportunity to act. It could pervade itself into any of the others and exert its influence, but against Luo Nand and He Yueyin, it could only meet force with force.


    This was where Luo Nan¡¯s superiorityy.


    The tip of his pen continued to go along as Luo Nan suddenly had a train of thought be clear:


    The Human-Faced Arachnid didn¡¯t select the ck Wolf as its victim by coincidence! How could it have the luck to randomly select an Awakened? Thinking about it, Xue Lei was a resource of excellent quality; his life force was abundant, a top-grade ¡°tonic¡±.


    Perhaps the Human-Faced Arachnid had picked through every single person present here. It had made contact with each one, only no one was able to discover it yet.


    Yes. An apparition had once hovered over everyone¡¯s heads. It then selected the one it liked the most, the most unfortunate ck Wolf.


    And now the Wraith Sign, which had disappeared within the turbid river, used piercing and crossing lines to link up with each fish.


    ¡°Mr. Luo.¡±


    ¡°Hic. What?¡± Luo Nan was startled out of his spellbound state, discovering that someone had called out to him.


    A tall and skinny youth had spoken out. His nickname should be ¡°Bamboo Pole¡±. His face was always smiling andughing, looking to be happy and go lucky. But his words were extremely sharp:


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to speak more of the uracy and acuity of Mr. Luo¡¯s psychic ability. There¡¯s already factual evidence. So what¡¯s the range you can cover? From Vice President He¡¯s exnation, we need to center on psychics to create our tactics. Are we going to do closebat or long range bombardment? We need to get this clear right?¡±


    Luo Nan forced a smile and looked towards Zhang Yingying. You were the one who made me wear this hat, you exin.


    Zhang Yingying returned with a re, but she still opened her mouth: ¡°Luo Nan has just entered the society. He doesn¡¯t understand anything. We need to let Old You evaluate him and give him pointers. He at least needs the basic concepts......¡±


    But the Bamboo Pole did not spare them: ¡°I¡¯ve heard that Mr. Luo¡¯s psychic ability is divination through drawing? I¡¯ve been looking at you drawing and sketching all this time. Do you sense something psychically?¡±


    ¡°Oh, not necessarily.¡± Luo Nan obviously wouldn¡¯t say that he was drawing portraits of them, that he even felt you all had been consumed to some degree......


    When Luo Nan heard his own voice, he discovered that it seemed like he had been targeted. This ability user had enough of arguing with the other members and started to vent outwards. It would be hard to deal with He Yueyin, so the ability user chose him as a pushover to bully.


    When all was said and done, his reasoning wasn¡¯t convincing.


    ¡°I saw everything~.¡±


    The woman, who had raised her hand andughed, had the nickname ¡°Cat Eyes¡±. She was probably just over thirty years old and she had a scorching hot body with heavy makeup on. She looked just like a dancer at a club.


    Luo Nan had a deep impression of her because of her ability. She could perceive things at super-far distances and was extremely simr to a psychic. But her ability was not at all effective against Darksider life forms. She yed a scout-like role in the team.


    Luo Nan was educated right now. There was arge table separating the two in the conference room, with a distance of at least 7~8 meters between them. She could still see what he drew?


    People were already getting rowdy right now.


    ¡°Kitty, what did he draw?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay if Mr. Luo is shy. We can go head over.¡±


    ¡°Yeaa. This is my first time seeing this kind of type. Kitty, give us an interpretation, kay.¡±


    With a nce of an eye, one could tell that Cat Eyes was the type who liked to watch the world burn. She was unconcerned with Luo Nan¡¯s expression as she spoke out describing with giggles: ¡°This drawing has a very chaotic look to it. It¡¯s like a river and on the river is a boat and a reef. Beneath the surface are swimming fish......¡±


    ¡°Go on?¡±


    ¡°Then......¡±


    Luo Nan was somewhat helpless against this sort of nosy character. He wanted to put away his digital pen, but the tip slightly sank a bit. It was like there was an incorporeal wire twined around the pen.


    Suddenly there was a response on the mental ne. The chains crackled as they trembled and the Wraith Sign in front was flickering with radiance. Luo Nan moved his pen unconsciously. A marvelous sensation then emerged. It seemed like he had caught onto something......


    Cat Eyes had been burstingughter, but she suddenly went mute at this very moment. Blood seeped out of the corner of her eyes and she fell backward.

 Chapter 41: Dark Ritual (Part ?)

    Chapter 41: Dark Ritual (Part ?)


    The chairs within the conference room were quite stable. Cat Eyes¡¯s body collided with the back of her chair, causing it to rock slightly. Then the chair pushed her body forward. Her entire body was soft like noodles; clearly, she had lost consciousness. Cat Eyes rocked two more times before finally falling forward. Her forehead mmed onto the conference table with a muffled bang. Then there was no reaction from her whatsoever.


    The pen in Luo Nan¡¯s hand suddenly stopped moving. There was another reason for this aside from Cat Eyes¡¯s strange behavior. A flood of indistinct chaos suddenly exploded in front of his eyes at this very moment. Apanied with it were the signals of far bizarre sounds, smells, and so on. They too rushed over him.


    This wasn¡¯t the stimtion of his senses by the outside environment, but rather a direct transfer of informational signals to his nervous system. There was no orderly logic, no separation between primary and secondary; it was just a horde that came swarming over.


    Luo Nan was already extremely familiar with how to face this enormous quantity of information. He didn¡¯t try analyzing it at all, instead, he fed the information through the heavily chained crow and into the external neuron.


    Luo Nan had undergone an extremely simr experience that he couldpare to, so he understood generally how this sudden and unforeseen situation came about.


    This rude and impetuous woman Cat Eyes had just used her ability to ¡°Spy¡± on Luo Nan¡¯s work just now in the conference room. She scarcely imagined that this piece of work was part of the manifestation of Luo Nan¡¯s ability on the mental ne.


    Frankly speaking, her act of ¡°Spying¡± was extremely stupid. What Cat Eyes did was the same as swapping ces with the Human-Faced Arachnid. She took the initiative to deliver herself over right when Luo Nan was the most active on the mental ne. She was then pierced through by the heavily chained crow.


    The heavily chained crow and the Wraith Sign were unrestrained in tearing a piece off of her, and that piece even contained the memories Cat Eye¡¯s super-far perception and rted abilities. For the specific content, Luo Nan would need the analysis of the external neuron.


    ¡°Bang!¡±


    Some people had mmed the table when seeing Cat Eyes¡¯s miserable appearance: ¡°Mr. Luo, boy! What the hell are you up to!?¡±


    ¡°Bang!¡± People next to Luo Nan also mmed the table.


    ¡°You bunch of c*nts! What the hell are you messing around for when a psychic is doing work!?¡±


    The one who stood and roared was Zhang Yingying. Perhaps she had some instinct of protection in her heart towards the talent she had uncovered with her own hands. She stood up and tore a new one without the slightest restraint against her own friends. Her imposing aura challenged the heavens, and she was peerless for a time:


    ¡°When Old You roasts his turtle shell, would you try pouring water on it?¡±


    ¡°When Old Gao is practicing, would you try smashing his altar?¡±


    ¡°When Old Bai enters his dream, would you try pping his face?¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t understand courtesies, you should at least understand what¡¯s taboo. You think you can target a psychic at anytime and anywhere for bullying?¡±


    The me rotated over. It didn¡¯t matter if they had epted it or not, the group of ability users was dumbstruck and speechless. And at this moment, Cat Eyes¡¯s shoulder moved, an indication that she was starting to recover consciousness.


    The people beside her gathered around her to look. It took approximately 5~6 seconds before Cat Eyes finally came too. Under the support of people helping her up on the seat, Cat Eyes blinked her eyes with a nk face of loss: ¡°What is going on?¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    She couldn¡¯t have lost her memories?


    Someone extended their fingers towards her: ¡°Kitty, how many do I have holding up?¡±


    ¡°Get lost!¡± The long manicured fingers swiped over; Cat Eyes¡¯s strength was notcking at all. She had soon returned to her normal state and began to feel annoyed at the excessive number of people surrounding her. She waved people away.


    ¡°What happened just now! Exin it clearly to me!¡±


    ¡°I... How should I know!?¡±


    Cat Eyes spoke with a sharp and piercing tone, but when she faced to look at Luo Nan, she was clearly a bit meek: ¡°I was just looking at the drawing! Then his body¡¯s energy suddenly changed. Looks likes this toy of a drawing is really quite terrifying.....¡±


    ¡°Gak!¡±


    More than half the people rolled their eyes back. It¡¯s fine to just look at a drawing, but why did you touch his energy? When a psychic is doing work, his energy ising and going, rising and lowering. It¡¯s the same as abatant in a life or death struggling state. One bad move would cause a surge of negative feedback. Who knows what the result would be?


    Zhang Yingying mmed the table at once: ¡°Kitty! Do you have a special wish for death!?¡±


    Cat Eyes was clearly a bit embarrassed: ¡°I was just testing it... I was just curious, kay. There¡¯s only a few psychics in the society, and each of them hides tightly away. It¡¯s quite rare to have such an interesting youngd......¡±


    ¡°Mr. Luo, Mr. Luo?¡± He Yueyinpletely ignored the disturbance from this group of unreliable people. She had noticed that it had already been a long time since Luo Nan had opened his mouth to speak.


    Zhang Yingying turned around upon hearing He Yueyin and saw Luo Nan with eyes half opened, his face an expression of stupefaction. It seemed like he too...... had lost consciousness?


    ¡°CAT EYES!¡±


    She was no longer cordial, not calling her by ¡°Kitty¡±, directly calling her by her nickname. This was proof that Zhang Yingying was furious now:


    ¡°Don¡¯t you understand that Luo Nan¡¯s just a newbie!? And he¡¯s a gifted ss! Not a systematic ss! He doesn¡¯t know of any taboos! Especially since he¡¯s a psychic, it¡¯s toote for protection! And you purposely jabbed him? Do you have the intelligence of a professional!?¡±


    Regardless if it was Cat Eyes or her friends beside her, all knew that they had charged into cmity. Each one had their heads shrink back, and they uttered not a word.


    He Yueyin pressed against her ear and she frowned towards Zhang Yingying at this moment: ¡°I haven¡¯t been able to contact Old You all this time. He¡¯s probably in a psychic state. I don¡¯t know the way to contact Gao and Bai. You get in contact with them. Ask them how to handle this sort of situation!¡±


    ¡°Oh. Okay......¡± Zhang Yingying knew that they had an emergency situation. She immediately abided with the request.


    ¡°Cough! I¡¯m not a gifted ss! I¡¯m a systematic ss!¡± The voice suddenly sounded forth and Luo Nan¡¯s half drooping eyes openedpletely. He corrected Zhang Yingying¡¯s misunderstanding once more.


    ¡°......¡±


    After an instant of shock, Zhang Yingying was delighted. She wanted to pat Luo Nan on the shoulder, but after thinking about it, she ended up not daring to. She just patted him under the desk in passing: ¡°Just as long as you¡¯re fine. You¡¯re a systematic ss from now on! If there¡¯s anyone who¡¯s ignorant and dares to say you¡¯re a gifted ss, this old woman will cleave them in half!¡±


    As she spoke, her gaze swept over a few unreliable fellows across the table.


    Cat Eyes raised her hand immediately to surrender: ¡°Yep. You¡¯re a systematic ss. No doubt about it.¡±


    With the primary instigator of the situation already surrendering, all the others humphed and could only tacitly agree to this preposterous ssification.


    He Yueyin¡¯s cold and firm finger pressed against the side of Luo Nan¡¯s neck to feel the blood flow of his artery. The other hand was ced on Luo Nan¡¯s forehead. She asked gently:


    ¡°You don¡¯t have blood congestion in the head, no blood deficiency symptoms? Any dizziness? Any loss of vision......¡±


    Luo Nan shook his head somewhat embarrassed: ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±


    There was really nothing wrong with Luo Nan. His consciousness was super clear from the start. He was justpletely focused on the external neuron, so he didn¡¯t respond to the external world.


    The two pieces of information he had scooped could both be described as enormous. But whenpared to each other, the contents of Cat Eye¡¯s super-far perception¡¯s data file was really negligible.


    The external neuron was still in the middle of analyzing the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s information. But Cat Eyes¡¯s data waspletely able to be decoded topletion in a short dozen or so seconds.


    Luo Nan stirred telepathically and the interface of the flexible e-ink screen emerged on his retinas. He noticed that the number of icons on the interface had undergone a change once again.

 Chapter 41: Dark Ritual (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 41: Dark Ritual (Part 2/2)


    It was just like what happened in the undergroundboratory. An additional icon had appeared on the flexible e-ink screen¡¯s main interface. It wasn¡¯t the formerly existing ¡°Gear¡±, but an extremely familiar shape:


    The tetrahedron with its inscribed sphere and outer scribed sphere. Luo Nan¡¯s visualization diagram!


    Only, the entire body of the icon was dark, as if it was some application that was being downloaded. It had yet to finish downloading and installing, so most of it was hidden amongst the shadows. Only an extremely small portion was lit up.


    The progress disyed was..... 1%?


    Indeed, it was unexpectedly slow.


    Luo Nan swept his thoughts over and he was able to rify some fundamental information, but along with it came puzzlement:


    In the end, what kind of unit was the piece he scooped from the Human-Faced Arachnid? In ordance with the subject, shouldn¡¯t it be the same type of unit as the Wraith Sign? What rtionship did it have with the visualization diagram?


    These questions would have to wait until the download. Hic. The analysis wasplete before he would get his answer.


    Luo Nan paid attention to another matter as well: The result of Cat Eyes¡¯s analysis wasn¡¯t disyed on the main interface. He felt that there was ayer separating him if he wished to ess it.


    There seemed to be some gateways inside.


    ¡°Hello. Hello. You¡¯re okay right.¡±


    Zhang Yingying saw that Luo Nan had inexplicably re-entered a spellbound state after his short two sentence response. Uncertainty grew in the hearts of Zhang Yingying and all the others in the conference room.


    The profession of the psychic involved, for the most part, things on the mental ne that were the mysterious of the mysterious. Things that were really hard to grasp. Of the few psychics in the society, other than the old and virtuous You whose training went deep making it hard to tell his peculiarities, the other psychics were somewhat neurotic. It¡¯s said that this wasn¡¯t rted to any feedback damage received from using their abilities at an early age.


    Zhang Yingying couldn¡¯t hold back from ring at Cat Eyes with anger.


    No one imagined that Luo Nan would awaken his gaze at this very moment. He followed in synchronous with Zhang Yingying to look straight at Cat Eyes.


    Cat Eyes was already a bit immune to Zhang Yingying¡¯s furious re. But she was unable to see what meaning was hidden in Luo Nan¡¯s gaze. Her heart changed all of a sudden and she felt a bit inexplicably nervous.


    Hey hey hey. What was she getting nervous for!?


    Her emotions were far too abnormal, and even Cat Eyes couldn¡¯t stand for this to go on. She was a troublemaker at heart who didn¡¯t care about causing big problems. She was carefree and whimsical, her guts exceeding the norm. She had always boasted herself in this way.


    But why did she feel her heart be shaky and waning ever since she stirred up trouble just a moment ago? She really did turn into a good little kitty. Now when she directly faced Luo Nan, she continued to emit a weak aura. In the end, her self-awareness caused her to strike back:


    She had friendly rtions with Zhang Yingying, so she could let Zhang Yingying¡¯s roar slide. But you¡¯re a cub!


    Cat Eyes bulged her eyes wide open on the spot, returning a re to Luo Nan. Her mouth was even less restrained: ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Do you want somepensation? Fine. I¡¯ll sleep with you okay?¡±


    She had observed Luo Nan. This introverted kid whelp would most likely be unable to ward her off. In the end, he would need Zhang Yingying to get him out of this predicament. Then she¡¯ll just pester endlessly for a round, give a simr argument, and things will be okay.


    But the problem was that the gaze from Luo Nan that fell over her contained no decipherable emotions whatsoever. The gaze was also unaffected by any external emotions, and that included the deliberate provocation from Cat Eyes.


    Luo Nan nced to the side and saw that Zhang Yingying was about the m the table again, so he just nodded towards Cat Eyes: ¡°Come over and help me out, alright?¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    The people in the conference room looked at each other in dismay. Cat Eyes pointed a finger at herself: ¡°Me?¡±


    Wait up! This sort of position really sucks!


    Cat Eyes wanted to flip out, but Luo Nan already had his head lowered with the digital pen falling on the flexible e-ink screen once again.


    ¡°Such a young age! What are you ying at!?¡±


    Cat Eyes went ¡°Hah!¡± with augh, but an omen suddenly leaped over to Luo Nan from the surface of the table. Twelve centimeters high heels raised to the skies in hatred and the ground below was absolutely quiet. Her skill was in agility and she was just like a giant cat. The odor of her perfume, which was dense to the point of dizziness, covered the entire area.


    She braced against the table with one hand and half her body transformed into a shadow that fell onto the flexible e-ink screen held in Luo Nan¡¯s hand: ¡°Hey, kid! You faker! You want me to help you? Could it be that you can¡¯t draw your picture and you want to find someone to me when you fail?¡±


    Luo Nan gave her nce and only felt that this woman was unreasonable. But his sudden burst of insight was extremely valuable; he wouldn¡¯t let this opportunity slip away. He simply lowered his head to look directly at the flexible e-ink screen. He had something to say though:


    ¡°Don¡¯t talk. Also, try your best to not let your imagination run wild in your mind. Look at my drawing. What are your thoughts?¡±


    ¡°...... You still want to hurt me?¡± Cat Eyes thought back to her miserable bloody-eye-seeping state and her mind went a bit weak. The imposing aura that she had just barely unleashed suddenly declined.


    Zhang Yingying gave her another stubborn push from behind: ¡°I¡¯ve been watching this exchange go on for nearly a dozen rounds. You got jack sh*t. Are you seeking your own death?¡±


    ¡°Who knows, maybe you two are getting it on.¡± Cat Eyes blurted a response in mockery. Her eyes were squinted; it appeared she wanted to look but also didn¡¯t dare to.


    ¡°Shut up.¡±


    Luo Nan¡¯smanding words entered Cat Eyes¡¯s ears. Something sprouted in her mind, and she spoke no longer. Her eyes opened a bit wider as they looked at the surface of Luo Nan¡¯s flexible e-ink screen.


    Before, she had only used her super-far perception to scan this drawing, discovering nothing out of the ordinary about it. But this time sheplied with Luo Nan¡¯s order, her vision dropped onto it, and she felt that the drawing was entirely different this time.


    The various forms of shapes on the sketch was plentiful in number. For example, there was the small boat with chains going off the side, there was the reef that faced the wind and weed the waves. Both were extremely eye catching. But for some inexplicable reason, the focal point of her gaze rest fixed within the turbid river, onto a fish that seemed to be swimming in spirals.


    ¡°It¡¯s very simr to me......¡±


    Absurd thoughts attacked her mind and she saw Luo Nan¡¯s digital pen drop down onto the surroundings of the fish she was concentrated on. He had pulled out several more lines from the fish¡¯s body.


    It was strange just talking about it. Her consciousness went somewhat dazed when these lines appeared. It was as if these lines weren¡¯t resting on the flexible e-ink screen, but rather pulled out from her actual body.


    There was an incorporeal apparition that was at work, probing out. It caressed gently and softly, cutting into her inner organs and her skull, dissecting herpletely.


    Right when Luo Nan¡¯s intentions became clear, Cat Eyes body went stiff on the spot.


    Seeing Luo Nan draw on the spot, seeing the high pressure he exerted, the group of ability users became curious. They congregated all around him, surrounding him in a circle.


    From their perspective, the drawing Luo Nan drew was very chaotic at first nce, but it was also very visually stimting. What had been aposition of a river with chaotic weaving lines then turned inexplicably into clearer tracks under the pulling of the pen¡¯s de. Clearly, these lines represented the route the fishlings took to their current position.


    Some people¡¯s minds operated faster than others. They were able to dimly understand that Luo Nan was tracing back to what had happened before.


    Psychics could trace things back, they could find out what happened in the past!


    The conference room was just silent for a time. No one dared to disturb the work of a genuine psychic.


    ¡°Sister He.¡±


    Luo Nan had suddenly opened his mouth again as an action of habit. But soon he came to and he transferred to the Psychic Wave Network, entering Channel 001 to converse with He Yueyin.


    This time an inexplicable diagram emerged in the design map of Limestone Water Vige pub. He tried to find the matching region in the pub, but the problem was he wasn¡¯t too familiar with this ce. He could only ask for He Yueyin¡¯s help.


    The tiny actions between He Yueyin and Luo Nan could not be concealed from the others. The group of ability users could see what was up even if they didn¡¯t use their heads. They spilled into the encryptedms in a flurry, entering Channel 001.


    The only person who didn¡¯t do so was Cat Eyes.


    She waspletely unable to spare the energy at this time. Her ck fis stockings were unable to stop her legs from trembling. If she hadn¡¯t used her hand to support herself on the table, she would have long fallen to her knees on the ground.


    That apparition, that incorporeal apparition. It had dissected herpletely, yet that still wasn¡¯t enough for it. It began to consume in greed.


    Cat Eyes could only feel her energy rapidly draining away; her consciousness grew increasingly dizzier. And the source of all this was...... She could see it. The tip of the pen never stopped while it moved on the flexible e-ink screen. It seemed to flow on the surface. Any minute strokes were heavy bombardments against her on the mental ne.


    Luo Nan! It could only be Luo Nan! This devil!


    She thought about the whole course of events from beginning to end and things suddenly became clear. This was clearly a plot, a trap, in full view of a crowd. A demonic ritual was beingunched undisguised!

 Chapter 42: Mystic Society (Part ?)

    Chapter 42: Mystic Society (Part ?)


    Cat Eyes¡¯s felt her thoughts be unprecedentedly clear under the stimtion of anger. She was going to expose this demon¡¯s plot, so she gaped her mouth open to shout on the spot. But it was only then did she discover that all the muscles of her body no longer listened to her.


    Her fury was just a short burst of me. Boundless waves of terror had risen and extinguished it.


    At the very moment, all of Cat Eyes¡¯s energy was dissolved within the giant waves of terror, and her self-willpower also dissolved along with it. Emotions of remorse began to emerge within this sea of terror:


    This demon. Did he have me as his target from the start? Or is it because I offended him?


    God, I¡¯m so stupid!


    Cat Eyes was full of remorse. She was just like a sacrifice ced upon an altar. Her body didn¡¯t move and she uttered not a word. Even her thoughts gradually froze and perished. All that was left was her blood and soul, and they flowed out one drop after another. It was unknown where they flowed to.


    She tried to find the destination of her blood and soul, but it was as if she had been dropped into a boundless prison within her dazzled and blurred mind. Six sources of glowing light lit up within the treacherous shadowy coldness of the stirring darkness. A vague outline revolved in her surroundings. Several feet scurried around, gradually drawing closer.


    Her frozen consciousness suddenly trembled for she received some stimtion. It came from the distinct memory of the profile of the operation¡¯s target:


    "Human-Faced Arachnid? Why is it the Human-Faced Arachnid?¡±


    No one was able to answer her question within this dizziness. No one to relieve her of her terror.


    As the form of the Human-Faced Arachnid became clear, the surrounding screen of darkness came alive to possess its own intentions. It drew endlessly closer to her, and the warped darkness in front of the Human-Faced Arachnid was none other than its giant ugly mouth!


    She was going to be chewed, dissolved, then consumed......


    No! No way!


    Cat Eyes suddenlyprehended something, and the source of this understanding came from the mental senses of being an Awakened...... It didn¡¯t matter if this was a demonic ritual, if this was a trap, if she was really consumed by the Human-Faced Arachnid, she would inevitably sink to a ce of damnation with no hope of recovery. She would never have another chance!


    Save me! Save me! Someone save me!


    Cat Eyes was gradually losing consciousness on the mental ne as she shouted herself hoarse. But on the physical ne, she was doing nothing more than just slightly trembling with a drooping head.


    The more she felt the reality of her situation, the more she despaired.


    In the end, what kind of power was it that imprisoned her in this terrifying darkness?


    Was there no power that could save her?


    ¡°Crackle!¡±


    An unusual vibration rang out of the darkness. From the deepest depths of the darkness came long glimmering chains that pierced over in an instant.


    This change waspletely iprehensible to Cat Eyes. But when faced with the desperate situation of being consumed by the Human-Faced Arachnid, she would strive to grasp onto any variable to change that.


    If both were desperate situations, then she would choose the one that was less evil......


    Her entire consciousness concentrated over there. She did the utmost to shout: ¡°Save me! Save me!¡±


    The chains clearly responded to her cry, crackling and rattling as they prated through space. Cat Eyes had zero intentions of avoiding them. She let the chains run through her body and pierce her soul. It wasn¡¯t painful; instead, she had the strange feeling of being supported.


    She let the chains permeate through her body as much as possible, to extend to every nook and cranny in her body and mind. The crackling sound was no longer heard and in its ce was the bizarre ¡°ka chunk¡± sound of locking. Every ka chunk that sounded out was the sound of some chain link locking rigidly in ce.


    From Cat Eyes¡¯s perspective, this represented a safety rope on her body in face of danger. Every locking of a chain link gave a fantastic feeling of safety and satisfaction.


    Then Cat Eyes felt herself rising up to gradually leave this sheet of darkness. Her strength was also gradually recovering and more of her consciousness entered the ne of reality.


    She felt faintly that something was off. The iparably real experience on the mental ne shed with reality. It was as if she was ced in a half awake dream-like state; everything that was inconceivable was as they should be to her.


    She even entered the Psychic Wave Network independently to Channel 001 where everyone was gathered. This time she had the strength to unleash the cry that she wasn¡¯t able to unleash before. But as soon as this thought emerged in her mind, therge terror and uncertainty in front of her popped this thought as if it were a bubble.


    The chain ran through her soul body and she relied on it for support, but she had a certain feeling that if the chain were to just vibrate slightly, it would twist and kill her.


    In other words, her life could be decided by a single thought from the chains¡¯ controller.


    This waspletely illogical, but in her dim and confusing consciousness state, Cat Eyes didn¡¯t have the courage to verify this. She just wanted this wretched operation to end faster right now, so she could sort out the logic behind the chains.


    Perhaps, the controller of the chains was......


    Cat Eyes¡¯s let her gaze fall onto Luo Nan¡¯s body. It was him. This devil. Just give her an exnation okay!?


    But Luo Nan didn¡¯t give her a single nce from beginning to end, a single indication. This was enough to cause Cat Eyes to feel like everything that had just happened might have been her own delusions from a mental disorder?


    Astonishing progress appeared on Channel 001 at this time. Low moring could be heard within the encryptedms:


    ¡°There¡¯s a match! There¡¯s a match! Where is it?¡±


    Everyone¡¯s attention gathered over, and that included Cat Eyes¡¯s attention. Dream and reality joined together, permeating into one another. Everything turned logical and as it should be.


    Channel 001 had already turned into a conference channel at this time. Cat Eyes was slow in theing, not drawing anyone¡¯s attention. Everyone¡¯s attention was ced on the design map of Limestone Water Vige Pub. The diagram that Luo Nan took out corresponded exactly with a certain portion of the map.


    This picture of Luo Nan¡¯s was an alienation in the form of six shining stars. The corners were slightly rounded.


    This type ofposition didn¡¯t exist on any single floor of the building. However, He Yueyin changed her line of thinking and ced the nar map of every floor on top of each other. Then the answer suddenly became clear.


    ¡°It¡¯s the 16th, 17th, 18th floor on the west side, three different room locations on three different floors pieced together. They belong to some karaoke club.¡±


    He Yueyin had reached a conclusion after referring to the data on the pub.


    The relevant material was immediately converted to psychic wave information, entering everyone¡¯s brains. Even though He Yueyin had the support of HexaEar, this action by her was an extremely high level maniption of the mental ne. Typical Awakened would find it hard to even look up at her back.


    But no one expressed astonishment or shock at this time. This was because all shocking emotions were already crammed in by Luo Nan long ago.


    Zhang Yingying¡¯s question represented practically everyone in the room: ¡°What does this location represent? Where the Human-Faced Arachnid is hiding?¡±


    ¡°Mmm. I believe that this is only a ce where it had once passed through. And this ce had a very crucial use for it to get into its present state.¡±


    Luo Nan honestly and sincerely exined ording to his own feelings towards his drawing. He felt that he was bing more and more like a psychic.


    ¡°But you¡¯ve only been to the 21st floor, you¡¯ve haven¡¯t been here right?¡±


    ¡°Hic. I haven¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°You haven¡¯t been there in the past either?¡±


    ¡°This is my first timeing here.¡± Even though therge livingmunity around Acumen College had an outstanding reputation, this was really Luo Nan¡¯s first timeing here.


    From another side, Bamboo Pole could not hold himself back from asking in doubt: ¡°Then how did youe up with this picture? From a baseless feeling?¡±


    Luo Nan continued to respond: ¡°I haven¡¯t been there, but Cat Eyes should have.¡±


    All of a sudden, every gaze in the room fell uniformly onto Cat Eyes.

 Chapter 42: Mystic Society (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 42: Mystic Society (Part 2/2)


    When faced with everyone¡¯s gazes, Cat Eyes suddenly had a funny feeling of ridiculousness.


    You are all here looking for the Human-Faced Arachnid. Don¡¯t you know that there¡¯s a fellow here who could snatch away food from the jaws of the Human-Faced Arachnid? And that he¡¯s sitting right next to you all?


    But in the end, she could only respond dazed: ¡°I¡¯ve been to the 18th floor, and I¡¯ve passed through the karaoke ce. But I didn¡¯t detect no six glowing stars.¡±


    Cat Eyes didn¡¯t use the Psychic Wave Network; she had directly used her mouth. This allowed her to feel a bit closer to reality. No one was able toprehend her current mood, and everyone thought back to the matter of when Luo Nan had requested Cat Eyes¡¯s help.


    Immediately there was someone who couldn¡¯t refrain from shouting: ¡°Holy sh*t! This is memory reading plus digging of the unconscious mind...... Is it Old Bai¡¯s dream entering method?¡±


    ¡°The results that Old Bai gets arepletely chaotic! How is it this clear? Mmm. It¡¯spletely abstract and not easy to decipher.¡±


    ¡°Hey Kitty, does it feel good to be deeply dug into?¡±


    Finally, there was someone who was concerned about Cat Eyes¡¯s state. But when thisedy sketch opened up, Cat Eyes used her 12 centimeter high heels to respond.


    A cry of pain. The one who had spoken crudely knelt to the ground hugging his foot.


    He Yueyin pped her hands to gather everyone¡¯s attention over: ¡°Whatever the case may be, we will need to perform a survey of the area to strive for a better understanding of the mystery behind the increased strength of the Human-Faced Arachnid. At the same time, we can perform some drill practices.¡±


    At least this meeting produced some results.


    In the situation where the Human-Faced Arachnid was undetectable, He Yueyin convinced this group of ability users the need to formte tactics revolving around Luo Nan. Only then would they guarantee results and safety.


    They could only make tentative ns due to the short amount of time they had. Much of the details weren¡¯t perfected, but this was the opportune chance to try it live.


    ¡°Push forward 63 floors from the 81st to the 18th. Shouldn¡¯t be a problem right?¡±


    No one replied and no one cowered. In these circumstances, there had to be no problems!


    Luo Nan surveyed his surroundings. It seemed that he didn¡¯t understand what was going on. Well, that¡¯s logical. He was in a trance while they were all arguing and debating.


    There were 12 Society members currently present at the Limestone Water Vige Pub. Among them include the heavily injured and unconscious ck Wolf and the ck Beetle who long since left the team. Only 10 people remained.


    Then there were the four professional bodyguards that He Yueyin brought with her. One was looking over the injured people, the ck Wolf and Xue Lei. That brought up the total people to be dispatched to 13. And they were to be dispatched in the ¡°Centralized Formation¡± that He Yueyin had been mentioning all this time.


    Of course, this type of formation would require everyone to squeeze into one elevator.


    The thirteen people were divided into two batches. Luo Nan, He Yueyin, Zhang Yingying, three bodyguards, and the Society¡¯s ¡°Crag Burst1¡± entered an elevator for a total of seven people. This was the greatest force they could muster to protect Luo Nan.


    The remaining six people maintained a certain distance. They went through the fire escape passageways to rappel rapidly down the outside of the building and conforming with the movements of Luo Nan¡¯s group


    The HexaEar was used to maintainmunications throughout. As soon as someone were to receive an attack from the Human-Faced Arachnid, or as soon as Luo Nan formed a clear-cut reaction, they would rapidly assist and enclose around the enemy.


    Their tactics were simple and crude, but they were extremely in line with these circumstances that formed in thest moment. And only Awakened were able to realize a direct and advancing method such as this.


    Among the team was Cat Eyes, who possessed nimble and lithe agility as well as the ability of super-far perception. She naturally became the scout of the team, heading foremost and in front. She was also one of the members who was rappelling down the outside of the building.


    Shadows and glows interweaved with darkness and light on the floor and the freezing autumn wind assaulted their faces. Things were quite rxing before, but now mental frustrations were unable to be vented from the mind.


    Cat Eyes really did hope that her trapped, bounded, and suppressed state would turn for the better once she was far away from Luo Nan. But when she deliberately broke off ahead to pull a distance away that was over a hundred meters, the incorporeal chains still remained in existence. The chain links even continued to lock into ce. They produced a ka-chunk sound that only she could hear in a slow yet not hurried pace.


    She could not help shivering every time a ka-chunk sounded out. Her physical distance from Luo Nan was now great, but she was clearly pressing closer and closer with the controller of the chains on the mental ne.


    This distance was absolutely not an intimate one, but rather one of certain terror bing magnified and warped.


    Luo Nan¡¯s current state of mind was peaceful and a bit repressed. From Cat Eyes¡¯s perspective, it was like there were gray clouds in the desert skies pressuring down over her head. She was unconsciously stifled.


    She could still hold on at the present, but she didn¡¯t dare to imagine what would happen if Luo Nan¡¯s mood were to turn irritable and furious. In what manner would she depart from this life!?


    ¡°Kitty, you¡¯re too far ahead.¡± Zhang Yingying reminded her through the HexaEar.


    Cat Eyes gave a snort under her breath and her high heels dug into the ss wall, leaving behind a long gash and letting here to a stop against her downwards momentum. She had some malevolent thoughts of conjecture in her mind:


    Is Zhang Yingying a puppet? Was she tied and controlled by Luo Nan? Constantly wagging her tail and begging for mercy? Does his majesty Wu Huang2 know about this?


    But soon reason and intuition soon told her: This was clearly not the case. There was only one poor and unfortunate devil nearby, and it was solely her.


    This answer made Cat Eyes even more irritated.


    Currently, Cat Eyes was in front and had already reached the 20th floor. With an area of a diameter of fifty meters wide, the upper and lower five floors were all within the range of her senses.


    She followed the n and threw her body into a corridor of the building. She walked down the fire escape and informed the others of the situation at the same time: ¡°Indeed, it¡¯s karaoke, a club that¡¯s distasteful looking at that. Snort. People here are seriously young. Ah, kids these days......¡±


    She entered the club, which was decorated in a blurry and strange style and was the same in the majority of simr venues. It was as if she was in a maze. Cat Eyes actually matched the venue quite well with her scorching hot dress. The whelps that she passed by would cast nk nces at her. The asional server she came across would be mystified by her heavy makeup and outfit. She slipped passed by with her hypnotizing skills.


    Cat Eyes swayed her long legs. She looked to be moving leisurely, but actually, she moved nimbly and had already passed through all the relevant rooms within three stories. Atst, she arrived at the 16th floor.


    ording to the indicator of the map, this was the center of theposition of the six glowing stars, thergest room of the bunch. And right now there was a fervent party going on right now. She didn¡¯t have to enter the room. From the sight, hearing, and smell senses of her super-far perception ability, she had the situation in the room form clearly in her mind.


    Cat Eyeszily transmitted a question: ¡°No ability users have been discovered...... Do you want an on-site reconnaissance?¡±


    This time it was He Yueyin¡¯s turn to speak: ¡°Don¡¯t damage the scene. Wait for Mr. Luo to arrive before handling things.¡±


    Themunications had just ended when someone walked over rocking from behind. It was a youngd. His age couldn¡¯t have been more than twenty. But clearly, he was extremely experienced. He pretended he was dizzy and distracted, and he reached out a probing hand to grope Cat Eyes¡¯s butt, which was sticking quite far out.


    But when the distance was two centimeters away, the young drunkard felt pain in his hand. Then for some unfathomable reason, his body fell and collided with the wall.


    The young drunkard¡¯s emotions went dark. But he suddenly went stupefied before his anger could rise.


    Cat Eyes spoke not a word as she leaned against the wall. Her skin tight and shy dress revealed her sexy protruding contours. The ck fis stockings wrapped around her legs. And her high heels stretched around her foot. All this together with the floor and the wall naturally formed the earth-shattering sight of a model.


    Her free flowing curly hair covered up half her cheeks. Her red lips like fire slightly opened and closed to form a smile that was not like a smile:


    ¡°Little boy...Got a smoke?¡±


    The young drunkard immediately forgot the bitter experience that happened previously. He chuckled and giggled: ¡°I don¡¯t have any on me. But there¡¯s some inside! We of the Mystic Arts Research Society3 deal with the stuff. How about we.....¡±


    He reached out with his hand to touch Cat Eyes¡¯s towering bosom, but he was met with another sight of the world spinning. This time he immediately fainted when colliding with the wall.


    1. Crag Burst (±¬ÑÒ, literally Burst Crag)


    2. Wu Huang (Îä»Ê, literally Martial Emperor) is implied to be Zhang Yingying¡¯s boss (Chapter 19.2). He is referred to as "his majesty" quite a bit, so it¡¯s implied that he¡¯s quite a bigshot.


    3. Mystic Arts Research Society (ÉñÃØѧÑо¿Éç) is the society that Luo Nan wanted to apply to and has been frequently mentioned in the story starting in Chapter 1. It has been described to be filled with rich kids living lives of debauchery by Luo Nan¡¯s sister Moya. Luo Nan had missed the entrance interview to the society due to early events on Ship Lanshan. Butter, Xie Junping came up with a n to have Luo Nan join the Mystic Arts Research Society by first having Luo Nan enter the declining Order Club, then the Mystic Arts Research Society would acquire the assets of the Order Club and Luo Nan would thereby be a member of the Mystic Arts Research Society (Chapter 26.2). However, this n is currently in some trouble due to a new investor backing thepeting bidder, the Construction Society (Chapter 32.1).

 Chapter 43: Secret Order (Part ?)

    Chapter 43: Secret Order (Part ?)


    The skill that Cat Eyes disyed was ingenious. She had the young drunkard use his foot and shoulder for support against the wall. He was half leaning, half lying to maintain an unfallen body. Cat Eyes, this beautiful and bewitching woman, was also leaning against the wall. Together they formed the model case of a lecher meeting a subus. They looked like they were about to fool around together immediately.


    The asional server that passed by gave at most a nce of curiosity; they didn¡¯t have any other reactions.


    Cat Eyes waited by the entrance just like this. She even took out a cigarette in leisure and lit it while blurting out a sentence in themunications channel:


    ¡°What the f*ck is the Mystic Arts Research Society?¡±


    ¡°There are four societies with the same name in the surrounding six schools. The Mystic Arts have been quite popr in recent years. The picture that Luo Nan drew was a variation of the Star of David. It seems that this wasn¡¯t a coincidence.¡±


    Bamboo Pole was in charge of intelligence work. He indicated to Cat Eyes to lift up the drunkard¡¯s face to discern his identity and soon he had the answer: ¡°Huang Bingzhen1. Administrative Secretary of Acumen College¡¯s Mystic Arts Research Society. One of the second generation of money.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Acumen College~¡± Zhang Yingying let out augh containing a hidden meaning. Unfortunately, no one was able to understand this aside from Luo Nan.


    Bamboo Pole continued speaking: ¡°In addition, I¡¯ve discovered some really awesome things within the club¡¯s database. Look at this: Contact Name List, it¡¯s all female students, their profiles are all avable and the list is abundant in every type. All that you could ever need is here! Wow!¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    A strange silence emerged in the channel. Itsted until Crag Burst, who was next to Luo Nan, cursed out revealing the secret: ¡°Why the hell are you charging people for this? Why don¡¯t you go die Bamboo Pole?¡±


    Crag Burst was arge and buff man who was nearly two meters tall. He had a nearly 10-year career experience with a military. Although his temperament was a bit rough, he was an extremely good choice for being a bodyguard and a shield.


    He was the one who revered and fitted with He Yueyin the most because of his military background. He realized he had made a mistake when he spoke and instinctively nced over to He Yueyin. But He Yueyin¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change, as if she didn¡¯t hear anything.


    Bamboo Pole had sent out some business propositions in private channels. But in the end, he didn¡¯t forget to do what¡¯s expected of him: ¡°The database contains the signed agreement between the club and Acumen College¡¯s Mystic Arts Research Society. You can see that they remodeled four years ago,pletely following and executing the designs requested by the society. And this society is also arge financial backer of this club. There are over 7 line items each year on their public budget report. As for private transactions, well that¡¯s very unclear.¡±


    The elevator arrived at the 16th floor, the same floor as Cat Eyes. The party of people was too big a target; servers had long sincee over to question them. He Yueyin ignored the servers and directly asked Luo Nan:


    ¡°Mr. Luo?¡±


    Luo Nan raised his head and saw the blurry and bizarre space of the club. The wall had an external coating with a special characteristic. Strange tree vines and flowery patterns twined around each and every round and mystical structures of magical symbols.


    The pale dark-red glow was just like solvents in aboratory entering through tubes. The glow flowed through the vines and flowery patterns to travel back and forth through the seemingly independent ¡°Magical Symbols¡±.


    After looking for quite a while, Luo Nan spoke in a low voice: The lighting effect here is very interesting.¡±


    The server could clearly see who was it that stood centermost within this party of people and immediately revealed a standard smile: ¡°The style of our club follows the nning and designs of a specialized mystic arts team. This serves as bringing an entirely new and special experience for our customers.....¡±


    Luo Nan interrupted the server¡¯s cliche speech: ¡°Prepare a private room for us. Also, are the people of the Mystic Society still in room 1613?¡±


    Room 1613 was none other than the room that Cat Eyes was keeping watch over.


    Before the server could nod, Luo Nan started heading over in that direction. There were two destinations. He Yueyin instructed three bodyguards to wait in the private room. Then Zhang Yingying let the server prepare a fruit tter and red wine. She had the look of receiving a guest before ying around.


    And at the same time, He Yueyin sent out an order on the Psychic Wave Network: ¡°Octopus2. Release hallucinogens.¡±


    A young person wearing a funny cartoon t-shirt and a jacket came out from the restrooms nearby. He called out to Cat Eyes waiting outside room 1613 and directly entered the room.


    Cat Eyes followed close behind. She grabbed the young drunkard next to her and walked inside.


    The structure of room 1613 was extremely standard, a circr shape. In the center was shy and dazzling projector equipment. The setup of the lighting fixture was very peculiar and was lighting up with a dim pink glow, smearing the already dusky room to be more disorderly.


    There were no sofas, chairs, or the like in the room. There were only a few mats. Everyone was casually sitting on the ground, ying and fooling around. There were twenty to thirty of them.


    However, these people were already under the influence of their own drugs, now they were also influenced by Octopus¡¯s Hallucinogens. Their consciousnesses were chaotic. Whether these boys and girls were hugging each other, whether they wereughing or crying, they werepletely ignorant of changes in the external world.


    The result was far too extreme. Even Octopus didn¡¯t expect this. He acted in a fluster to adjust his drugpositions to prevent derangement from arising in this group.


    Cat Eyes uttered some words to him, tossing the drunkard to the ground in passing: ¡°Hurry up. They¡¯re already outside the door.¡±


    Someone knocked on the door while she was talking. Then the door opened and a server entered in with a nod. When he saw this scene, he actually had an appearance containing zero surprise and stood straight very naturally. They server spoke to Octopus, who still possessed a clear mind:


    ¡°Guests have arrived......¡±


    Luo Nan¡¯s party of people already walked inside before he could finish talking.


    ¡°Oh hey! Lil¡¯ Nanster!¡±


    Octopus ignored the matter with the drugs. He met Luo Nan with an appearance of being pleasantly surprised with seeing a close friend of many years. He weed Luo Nan with greatughter and gave Luo Nan an extremely strong hug.


    This clumsy and lifeless acting made He Yueyin frown just looking at it.


    Anyway, the server really didn¡¯t discover anything wrong, leaving after Zhang Yingying epted the fruit tter and red wine. The objective of taking over someone else¡¯s room, like a dove upying a magpie¡¯s nest, waspleted.


    Luo Nan coughed and pushed away Octopus, ceasing the patting, which was overflowing with cordialness, as well. Luo Nan looked around inside the room and saw how messy the circumstances were. He didn¡¯t know what he should say for quite some time.


    Zhang Yingying casually pinched a piece of fruit and sent it down her mouth to taste. She spoke ambiguously: ¡°Do you feel very disappointed? It seemed you nearly became one of them.¡±


    Luo Nan responded without thinking: ¡°It seems that there are many ces that could use me. Looks likes there¡¯s nothing to fear about ack of positions.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    Luo Nan no longer paid attention to Zhang Yingying. He turned towards Octopus with augh: ¡°Bro Octopus. Thisposition of drugs is quite splendid. Give me some pointers in the future, kay?¡±


    Octopus waspletely lost. He could only chuckle: ¡°You¡¯re ttering me. You¡¯re ttering me.¡±


    Cat Eyes shot them a cold nce and let out some shots: ¡°Bunch of trash.¡±


    Their group turned from being guests to hosts, chatting away in the room. But He Yueyin didn¡¯t forget the most important matter from start to finish. As she surveyed the decorations in the room and the figures on the walls, her eyebrows furrowed tighter and tighter.


    She stepped over a body lying horizontally on the ground and walked in front of the center projection equipment. She carefully examined the medieval style lighting fixture.


    Luo Nan no longer squandered time with Zhang Yingying and the others at this time. He continued to observe with his senses, paying attention to the patterned lines on the floor, which were rather gorgeous.


    Under the cover of human bodies, the broken and continuous lines of patterns ran through the connections of several geometric figures, leading towards the concentrated mass in the center.


    Ultimately, Luo Nan¡¯s gaze was cast towards the lighting fixture, and it just so happening to collide with He Yueyin¡¯s gaze.


    ¡°Mr. Luo?¡±


    Luo Nan gave her a nod: ¡°The Human-Faced Arachnid should have appeared here......¡±


    1. Huang Bingzhen (»Æ±üÕñ, literally Yellow Grasping Resonance ) Huang (Yellow) is a fairlymonst name. He¡¯s probably a minor character.


    2. Octopus (ÕÂÓã, literally Octopus)

 Chapter 43: Secret Order (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 43: Secret Order (Part 2/2)


    ¡°I believe that everyone in the area is nourishment for the Human-Faced Arachnid.¡± Luo Nan pointed at the wriggling and giggling human bodies in their surrounding. The Human-Faced Arachnid craved these negative emotions; it really had a soft spot for them.


    He continued speaking after a moment¡¯s hesitation: ¡°There are also these line patterns. This should be a magical symbol..... I don¡¯t know very much about the Mystic Arts. Is there someone who¡¯s more of an expert than me?¡±


    Zhang Yingying raised her hand from behind on the spot: ¡°I¡¯ve yed with tarot cards before. Does that count?¡±


    He Yueyin could make out what Luo Nan was hesitating to say and she spoke directly: ¡°Mr. Luo, sir, currently you are our only person who¡¯s qualified to make judgments about the Human-Faced Arachnid. There¡¯s no need to draw others in to exin.¡±


    Zhang Yingying stuck out her tongue. Luo Nan scratched his head, but in the end, he continued down his reasoning: ¡°At first I believed that these decorative vines, flowery patterns, and ¡°Magical Symbols¡±, were just goods; they had no practical purpose. But here, there¡¯s a portion of line patterns that seem to disy effects. Like drawing water through a canal, a portion of energy converges together over here......¡±


    Luo Nan pointed to the projector of the lighting fixture.


    He didn¡¯t need to use his psychic methods toe to this conclusion, just using his eyes was fine. The remains of those lines and that lighting fixture were simr to the residue of the dark red spores on the warship. They too were slowly ¡°evaporating¡± from the room.


    He Yueyin was unable to see this ¡°residue¡±, but she took out a small and exquisite mist sprayer from her pocket.


    Luo Nan could guess the general purpose of this. It should contain a special substance simr to the Shadow Mist1 and the substance should be able to capture the vestiges of the Darksider lifeform meddling with reality.


    ¡°Indeed, there exists the relevant ray residue.¡±


    Zhang Yingying walked over at this time, leaning on Luo Nan¡¯s shoulder and looking at the lighting fixture. A while passed before she spoke to He Yueyin, who was carefully observing the fixture as well: ¡°The situation appears to beplex. Is a Secret Order involved?¡±


    He Yueyin grunted; she didn¡¯t respond immediately.


    ¡°Secret Order?¡± Luo Nan didn¡¯t understand.


    ¡°They are a sort of baffling thing. A very troublesome organization of lunatics.¡±


    Luo Nan stared at Zhang Yingying: ¡°You said that ability users haven¡¯t formed any secret societies2!¡±


    ¡°The world doesn¡¯t deal in absolutes. And this isn¡¯t a secret society. It¡¯s an evil cult okay?¡±


    Zhang Yingying saw that He Yueyin hadn¡¯t responded for a time. She shrugged at Luo Nan: ¡°Just think about it. There are 600,000 ability users in the entire world. At most one tenth of them have a rtivelyplete practice system and train steadily and honestly. Most of the remaining 500,000+ possess certain abilities through aplete mystery. If there¡¯s no one to guide them, many of them grow to have inted egos. They consider themselves to be some ¡°new human race¡±. Some ¡°child of god¡± and so on. They believe that they stand at the apex of humanity, so they believe they can do whatever they please..... Things are quite like this in novels andics right?¡±


    ¡°Hehe.¡±


    ¡°Going ¡®hehe¡¯ is useless. This is the reality. Of course, the majority of these retards will be taught by the police on how to conduct themselves. If they can¡¯t beat exo-armors, then they can¡¯t tout some sh*t about being a child of god or a holy infant. The more annoying ones are handled by the military¡¯s Burners. Then the Society cooperates with the military to wee them into our organization for rehabilitation and observation.¡±


    Zhang Yingying spread her hand: ¡°But in the end, there are still some very special fellows. They can be considered the Gifted ss of the Gifted ss. Indeed, they are extremely difficult to deal with. Even within the Society, I¡¯m afraid that even the most top notch ability users of the same type would find it hard tomunicate with them. They don¡¯t approve of the Society¡¯s Ability System and its designations. They believe that there¡¯s a different ¡®exnation¡¯. But their exnation often involves using their abilities to wrap firmly around religion, legends, mystic arts, other existing theories, or perhaps rich imagination, to superficially present themselves. The end result is...... that they start schools and teachings!


    ¡°Several secret sects are formed by people to advance their exquisite theories and validate their imagination in this world. The problem is... They themselves may be tremendous, but their relevant theories are extremely absurd. If one were to practice ording to their theories, more than half would die tragic deaths...... But this is unavoidable. The illustrious power of mystics and sages is more kick-ass than ten thousand truths. Large quantities of people enter into these sects just as usual. They dedicate everything to these sects and are extremely devoted. These sects are quite a headache for the government. Naturally, they are quite the headache for the Society as well.¡±


    Luo Nan was able to hear the hidden implications: ¡°In other words, the Society can¡¯t take these people.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re holding back against evil in fear of harming the innocent! The leaders of these sects are morons, but their strength is truly powerful. In addition, these sects are nted deeply in the cities. To rummage through with our current poption density... You might as well just set off a nuclear warhead in the middle of the city....... Hey, believe it. Think of the Human-Faced Arachnid and R&D district!¡±


    Luo Nan was speechless for a time and was a bit lost in thought. Do those powerful ability users really possess the terrifying destructive capability of a nuclear warhead?


    This information was stimting. After returning from his thoughts, he simply spoke out the series of questions he had piled up in his heart:


    ¡°How does the Society designate things in their Ability System? What¡¯s really considered to be an Awakened? Where do I stand in all of this?¡±


    Zhang Yingying¡¯s mouth had already gone dry by talking so much in her exnation of Secret Orders. She rushed to eat some fruits to replenish herself. She waved her hand to indicate that she heard him and spoke ambiguously:


    ¡°You have the HexaEar already. Go look yourself.¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    ¡°I believe that Mr. Luo has already achieved a portion of it, and may have even exceeded the level of an ordinary Awakened. But you¡¯re extremely over-specialized.¡±


    He Yueyin had suddenly entered the conversation, and she had given quite the explicit judgment.


    Zhang Yingying went ¡°Hey hey!¡± and shouted: ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about this for now, how¡¯s the matter with this Order?¡±


    Luo Nan really wanted to whip her!


    Ultimately, He Yueyin was more concerned with their proper business. She responded: ¡°I¡¯ve already notified the Society, we will first withdraw......¡±


    ¡°It can¡¯t be. We had such a strong start, but we¡¯re finishing so weak?¡± Octopus, who was rushing to adjust his drugposition, lifted his head. ¡°We¡¯re ending things just like this?¡±


    ¡°Actually, some leader of this Order has been protesting against the actions of the Society, that we¡¯ve interrupted their ¡®Sacred Ritual¡¯.¡±


    Octopus ate some shock: ¡°We¡¯ve been discovered?¡±


    Luo Nan was quite baffled: ¡°How were we discovered?¡±


    Cat Eyes red at him quite unreasonably: ¡°You ming me?¡±


    Zhang Yingying¡¯s attention centered elsewhere: ¡°Sacred.....Ritual? Here?¡±


    She immediately threw out the fruit tter, spread her hand, andughed out. Who was it that spoke of ¡°holding back against evil in fear of harming the innocents¡± just now?


    Everyone in the room had a different reaction, but He Yueyin had the most cool-headed attitude. She responded:


    ¡°The leaders of this Order spoke without logic, and the methods of Secret Orders exceedmon sense. Regardless of anything, our target is the Human-Faced Arachnid, not some Secret Order. This operation is now terminated. We will withdraw. I will create a briefing on all matters that happened and deliver it to the Society and the hands of every one of you.¡±


    This time, these words were transmitted using the Psychic Wave Network. Then a strange cry of exasperation sounded within the encrypted channel.


    Zhang Yingying¡¯s eyebrows shot up: ¡°This Order jumped quite high up in fright! You sure they aren¡¯t colluding with the Human-Faced Arachnid? What¡¯s this Order¡¯s name! Reveal it to me!¡±


    He Yueyin didn¡¯t speak. She just shook her head to indicate to Zhang Yingying to look at the projection equipment of the lighting fixture in the middle of the room.


    It was unknown when, but the ¡°burning¡± pink glow of the lighting fixture could no longer be seen. And on the two sides of it was the emergence of a new image.


    There were two thin chains hanging down the sides, each one hanging a t dish. One dish was ck, the other was white. The two were in symmetry, hanging in the air motionless to form the typical style of a Bnce Scale.


    This time Zhang Yingying¡¯s lips split into a grin. She wanted to talk, but in the end, her mouth remained shut.


    It was actually Octopus who whispered:


    ¡°Mommy! It¡¯s the Order of Justice!¡±


    1. Shadow Mist (Ó°Îí) was mentioned in Chapter 13.2. It was the method that the military used to detect the burning wraith on Ship Lanshan.


    2. Zhang Yingying made fun of Luo Nan for believing in secret societies and dark organizations in Chapter 18.2.

 Chapter 44: Extraordinaries (Part ?)

    Chapter 44: Extraordinaries (Part ?)


    Luo Nan saw that people¡¯s expressions were either astonished or grave, so he didn¡¯t ask any further. He simply used the HexaEar to seek the answer.


    The solution soon leaped out in front of him upon using his consciousness to search:


    The Order of Justice. One of the three world-ss Secret Orders, and one that is known in modern times. This Secret Order was the only Order that didn¡¯t have an explicit personification of deities and gods as its holy object of worship.


    The highest leader of this Order was called the First Otum1. Their holy object of worship was ¡°The Scales of Truth¡±, and their fundamental doctrine was extremely unclear, containing only the following nine words: ¡°The fairness of the world. The justice of truth.¡±


    Within the Order was a strong obsession towards Sacrificial Rituals, which were known as ¡°Discing Equality¡±, and were used to realize equilibrium in the world.


    Frankly speaking, Luo Nan didn¡¯tpletely understand everything after seeing the overview for this information. He still needed to study some concepts further on his own.


    He Yueyin issued down the official order to retreat as of this moment.


    The ad hoc team was pretty much disbanded upon leaving the room.


    He Yueyin remained extremely strict for she informed everybody not to remain idle near Cloud City Water Vige before returning back to the Society to receive their next order. She also informed everybody that it was best not to act solo.


    Although the Human-Faced Arachnid had been heavily injured by her Format of Fire and couldn¡¯t possibly perform another offensive, the lone ability user was obviously the best tonic for the Arachnid.


    ¡°Arggg. What a sorry situation.¡±


    Bamboo Pole let out amented sigh and added, ¡°Good night everyone.¡± Then he simply went offline. Everyone else also faded away one by one in the encryptedmunications channel.


    Luo Nan took the initiative to call out to Octopus, adding this drugposition expert as a friend so he could contact him at any time. At the same time, he sent friend requests to Crag Burst and Cat Eyes.


    Crag Burst was quite straightforward, responding rather quickly. But Cat Eyes gave him a cold snort and just left.


    Luo Nan shrugged his shoulders. He could feel Cat Eyes¡¯s attitude towards him had be worse after their finished ¡°cooperation¡± with the psychic drawing.


    ¡°Hey, be careful. Cat Eyes really keeps a grudge.¡± Octopus had a decent impression towards Luo Nan. He patted Luo Nan on the shoulder and then left with Crag Burst.


    Luo Nan felt that he was very innocent. What did he do to Cat Eyes? The recoil at the beginning was due to Cat Eyes using her own ability to spy on Luo Nan during his divination, provoking the heavily chained crow into counter attacking.


    Or perhaps, the mental senses of being an Awakened allowed her to feel her a piece of her information being scooped?


    ¡°Obviously, you were too rough.¡± Zhang Yingyingughed delightedly as she pped his back. ¡°Ignore Cat Eyes¡¯s flirtatious appearance. In reality, I¡¯ve never seen her with a boyfriend since she entered the society. She may be a reserved old spinster?¡±


    Should this woman start joking about his?


    Luo Nan was disinclined to acknowledge her.


    Then He Yueyin spun her face towards him to unexpectedly enter into the conversation: ¡°Mr. Luo. In regards to the matter with Cat Eyes, your previous etiquette was somewhat inappropriate.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Luo should have probed and utilized Cat Eyes¡¯s memories and subconscious during the course of creating the psychic drawing. In a certain sense, you vited her free will. Of course, this was certainly an ident by Mr. Luo, but it would be better to say some apologies after the matter......¡±


    Luo Nan went ¡°Hic¡±, being a bit embarrassed.


    He Yueyin continued supplementing him with this sort ofmon sense: ¡°As a mental enhancement type ability user, as a psychic, Mr. Luo will certainly encounter simr issues in the days toe. But all you need to do is remember this: Ability users are extremely sensitive about ¡®free will¡¯. Communication prior and exnations after are all extremely necessary.¡±


    Luo Nan naturally received this lecture with an open mind.


    And at this time, he recalled the topic that was interrupted by Zhang Yingying. He saw that he would have no further opportunities for today if he didn¡¯t ask for a clear exnation now, so he opened his mouth in a hurry asking:


    ¡°Sis He, you said I¡¯m seriously over-specialized2......¡±


    He Yueyin recalled this matter and muttered to herself before speaking:


    ¡°If I were to evaluate Mr. Luo¡¯s ability on the mental ne based off of the results I¡¯ve seen from facing the Human-Faced Arachnid, I would give you a C+ Ranking, maybe even a B-. But for the physical ne, I can only give you an F Ranking. I can¡¯t rate you any higher.¡±


    Zhang Yingying gave augh: ¡°You can¡¯t go any lower than that. Going lower means you¡¯re handicapped.¡±


    Luo Nan¡¯s lips pulled into a frown. His body wasn¡¯t bad to that degree. He worked out for many years, tempered himself; his agility should be above normal.


    He Yueyin shot a cold nce at Zhang Yingying before speaking seriously: ¡°The mental and the physical are seriously imbnced. The consequences this brings are a hundred times more serious than being handicapped. Whether it be in the military or in Quantum Corporation, there are countless cases like this that are dripping with blood. I am saying this because I hope Mr. Luo will realize the importance of this.¡±


    Zhang Yingying was unable to keepughing and Luo Nan went mute as well.


    ¡°Since Mr. Luo had previously mentioned Formats, I will exin from the perspective of Formatting. My general understanding of the meaning of Mr. Luo¡¯s alleged Format is that it¡¯s different from the Archetype Format that I¡¯m used to. It should be more personalized, focusing on an individual¡¯s characteristics. Is this correct?¡±


    Luo Nan thought about it and nodded his head awkwardly.


    He Yueyin¡¯s gaze focused on Luo Nan: ¡°Let¡¯s view the Format to be some sort of building. An artist can use toothpicks to construct an enormous skyscraper. An architect canplete an entire set of design ns in theputer. But this is just a model, just data. The real and genuine building itself needs to be constructed from valid and resilient building materials. After all, the intrinsic nature of a building is its practical functionality.¡±


    ¡°If things are like Mr. Luo says, sir, you possess a valid Format. And so, you will need to select the most suitable building materials to construct this building topletion in a practical and solid manner. This aspect involves aplete transformation of sir¡¯s body structure and mental willpower. It¡¯s absolutely not just visualization on the mental ne.¡±


    ¡°If things were all just data then things would be better. But as one who lives in the world of reality, fine and weak works of art made of toothpicks would copse from a breath of air. They be pointless.¡±


    ¡°Aha! A toothpick-type boy!¡± Zhang Yingying pped her hands in greatughter. She cared not the slightest about rubbing salt in Luo Nan¡¯s wound.


    She never expected He Yueyin to switch targets to her in the next moment: ¡°Miss Zhang. I know you bear no ill intentions towards Mr. Luo, but your customary jokes and sarcastic expressions can be easily misleading towards new members like him.¡±


    ¡°For example. In the issue with Orders, although I too disagree with how this Secret Order has handled things, I know that the abilities of the leaders of Secret Orders are all, by the book, A rank. In the three stages of the Society¡¯s Ability System, the Awakened3, the Undertaker4, and the Extraordinary5, they are at the uppermost level. They are the strong that stand at the world¡¯s apex and they possess remarkable intelligence. They¡¯re absolutely not the sort of powerful lunatics you spoke of.¡±


    ¡°Though you know what you¡¯re doing in your head, it¡¯s quite easy to have Luo Nan misunderstand things and have him form the wrong impression. For someone who is a psychic, this kind of false impression is very likely to be fatal!¡±


    Zhang Yingying choked on her words in an instant, her eyebrows leaping straight up. She had previously slipped up in the operation, was criticized by He Yueyin, and had nothing to say. But now her series of behavior was rebuked for beingpletely wrong.....


    He Yueyin, you sure are high and mighty!


    Luo Nan could feel that the atmosphere between the two had suddenly gone tense. Unfortunately, he was also involved, so he found things to be awkward for a time. Right when he was thinking of how to mediate the two with words, his wristband started to vibrate.


    Luo Nan saw the iing number and his eyelids trembled. He put the call through in a hurry: ¡°Aunty......¡±


    ¡°I see that the dinner party has already ended. Where are you?¡±


    1. First Otum (Ê×¼À, literally Head/Chief Sacrifice).


    2. Over-specialized (Æ«¿Æ, literally nted Field). I mistranted this as "Overboard" in thest chapter. It has been fixed now.


    3. Awakened (¾õÐÑÕß, literally One Who Has Awakened).


    4. Undertaker (¹¤³Ìʦ, literally Engineer). ¹¤³Ì could also mean "Undertaking" besides "Engineering". ʦ can mean expert, teacher, or professional.


    5. Extraordinary (³¬·²ÖÖ, literally Extraordinary Species).

 Chapter 44: Extraordinaries (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 44: Extraordinaries (Part 2/2)


    ¡°...... I¡¯m still upstairs.¡±


    Luo Nan was unable to mediate the conflict between the two women, so he had walked forward two steps to respond to his Aunt in a whisper.


    His Aunt was certainly waiting somewhere nearby; she had been waiting by herself until the dinner party was over. This sort of supervising action was not considered the least bit idental to Luo Nan.


    This was his Aunt¡¯s nature. Tonight she had the indomitable will to bring Luo Nan back home. She wouldn¡¯t wouldn¡¯t allow Luo Nan any reason to refuse.


    If it were the past few days, Luo Nan would have certainly tried to escape from his Aunt¡¯s evil clutches by every possible means. But today his drug production supplies were in a deficit. He would have nothing today even if he returned back to Blue Bay Community. His thoughts of refusal weren¡¯t that resolute.


    Luo Nan performed a few symbolic exchanges of refusal, but in the end, he still cast in his defeat: ¡°I¡¯m together with my friends right now. I¡¯ll be down soon. Aunty, mam, where are you? I¡¯ll find you in a bit......¡±


    It wasn¡¯t much to give his Aunt this victory, but Luo Nan still had some concerns left: The influence from drug withdrawal weren¡¯t easily ignored. A sudden cut off of his drug supply would likely cause some anomalies and variations within his nervous system. His Format did what he wanted just now, but some reversal in progress seemed to happen because of it. How should he go about things to make it better?


    He looked at his friend list on the HexaEar and more or less gained some confidence. It seemed that he had truly gained an additional and alternative channel upon entering the Society.


    First, he dealt with his Aunt using ¡°yep yep¡±s and ¡°ah ah¡±s. Then he turned around to ask Zhang Yingying: ¡°Bro Octopus is quite the expert in drug synthesis. Does he sell his goods outs?¡±


    Zhang Yingying blurted: ¡°Who do you harbor errant thoughts with?¡±


    ¡°......¡± It was impossible to proceed with this conversation. Sister He, unleash your might! Twist her to be properly educated!


    Luo Nan rolled his eyes. He felt that it would be better to directlymunicate with Octopus. But perhaps his expression was too obvious, leading Zhang Yingying to be discontent and reign in his cor with his hand:


    ¡°Hey. Speak clearly. What are you up to? Doing business with Octopus, 9.5 times out of ten, involves bad things. Oh. Hold on......¡±


    Zhang Yingying suddenly reached out her hand to turn his face, but obviously, Luo Nan wouldn¡¯t let her do so. He was unable to resist her, however, for this woman¡¯s strength far exceeded his own by an unknown factor.


    Just how many times did this make?


    Luo Nan¡¯s face flushed red. He was somewhat unable to restrain his anger.


    He Yueyin couldn¡¯t bear to keep watching, her eyebrows furrowed as she sought to stop Zhang Yingying. But Zhang Yingying called out to her, appearing to have forgotten her former enmity: ¡°Comeee. Let¡¯s look together. I felt that there was something abnormal about this kid¡¯s pupils. It seems he took too many drugs. Exin clearly kay? Do you normally have this nasty habit?¡±


    How did she be so sensitive all of a sudden?


    Luo Nan was shocked for a moment, forgetting to struggle. Zhang Yingying forcefully peeled his eyelids back, but what could she see under the dusky lighting of the club?


    He Yueyin pulled on Zhang Yingying¡¯s arm, speaking in a very low voice: ¡°Don¡¯t cause a ruckus. We still haven¡¯t left this Order¡¯s domain......¡±


    Luo Nan was finally able to wrest free from Zhang Yingying¡¯s controlling grasp, but he was still gritting his teeth in depression. What the heck was up with this woman¡¯s monstrous strength? Was his body really weak to the point of being a cripple under the eyes of an Awakened?


    He vented with hate in secret. He¡¯ll wait until his fleshly body reaches an equilibrium with his mind, when he truly bes an Awakened. Then he will have a proper ¡°talk¡± with Zhang Yingying.


    In any case, He Yueyin had already interrupted Zhang Yingying, so Zhang Yingying no longer looked into the matter of Luo Nan taking drugs.


    Luo Nan also didn¡¯t want to stay with Zhang Yingying for now. Originally he wanted to leave immediately, but then he thought of Xue Lei and Chen Xiaolin ced on the 81st floor. He had to go see what their conditions were like.


    He made it to the 81st floor without any problems, but the sound of mor came over upon leaving the elevator and entering the corridor. Luo Nan didn¡¯t pay attention to it at first, but after a few steps, he saw outlines of people strewn at random. There were servers, medical personnel, He Yueyin¡¯s bodyguards, and so on. They were talking outside a door.


    Xue Lei should have been lying down in the room, but he was outside leaning against the wall with his head drooping down. He looked to be extremely dismayed.


    Luo Nan had a good impression of this fellow student who possessed a straightforward temperament and high martial abilities. But after their shoulder to shoulderbat together, Luo Nan felt that something was different. He asked in a probing nature upon walking over:


    ¡°Leister, you alright?¡±


    Xue Lei lifted his head from hearing Luo Nan¡¯s voice. He saw Luo Nan and his eyes lit up for a moment: ¡°Nanster, you¡¯re alright!? That thing just a moment ago...... arg!¡±


    A multitude of loose ends, ones that Xue Lei didn¡¯t know how to even start talking about. In the end, Xue Lei could only wave his hand; it was difficult to continue the conversation.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    He Yueyin asked the bodyguard in charge of looking after the injured. The bodyguard could only force a bitter smile and brief her on the circumstances that transpired.


    There were three patients. Xue Lei had only been knocked unconscious by He Yueyin; his body didn¡¯t receive any injuries, so he was the first to wake up. He was easy to talk to, easy to calm down, and he even went to look after his unconscious girlfriend. He looked after her all the way until the doctors, which were called by He Yueyin, had arrived.


    ck Wolf¡¯s spine was broken, so he had been lifted out for an operation early on. As for Chen Xiaolin, she was undergoing treatment locally. Who knew that things were fine as long as Chen Xiaolin was not awake. As soon as she woke up, as soon as she saw Xue Lei, her mood became stirred with emotions of terror, of anger, and of depression. She even chased Xue Lei out of the room and startled the servers of this floor; she was awfully noisy.


    ¡°She lost control of her mood?¡±


    Luo Nan immediately thought of the Human-Faced Arachnid, and clearly, He Yueyin had thought the same way. The two crossed eyes for a single nce, then both entered the room.


    He Yueyin actually blocked him for a moment, allowing Zhang Yingying toe over. The smile on this woman¡¯s face had be far weaker. The noble aura on her body grew thick; clearly, she had umted energy waiting to be unleashed.


    But when Luo Nan entered the room, he didn¡¯t find anything eye-catching; there was nothing exceptional at all. Chen Xiaolin was in a deep sleep on the bed. Other than her being weak, there were no traces whatsoever of the Human-Faced Arachnid.


    The three people exchanged gazes. All were somewhat stunned.


    The doctor was extremely dissatisfied to these three people who had suddenly barged in the room: ¡°The patient was just tranquilized. She needs to recuperate. All unrted people, get out.¡±


    He Yueyin faced towards Luo Nan to confirm that her problem really didn¡¯t involve the Human-Faced Arachnid. She then indicated to Luo and Zhang to leave first. She stayed behind to talk to the doctor.


    Not even a few minutester, He Yueyin came out the room.


    ¡°It¡¯s stress symptoms from facing iprehensive facts that exceeded hermon sense. She refused to be touched, has serious rejection, and maybe she has selective memories...... Members of the Societye across these cases frequently.¡±


    Zhang Yingying shrugged: ¡°I have suggested early on, ever since the mutants1 exploded to ten times their number after the war, that we should broaden the scope ofmon sense for the ordinary citizen. Let them be ustomed to the existence of ability users. Humph. Those mutant species, those unscientific ythings, have wreaked havoc for several dozen years already. Yet so many people continue to bury their heads in the sand!¡±


    Luo Nan finally understood. So it turned out that Chen Xiaolin was unable to ept the sudden life or death fighting between Xue Lei and the ck Wolf. Then there was also the Human-Faced Arachnid....... And even the effects of Luo Nan¡¯s hypnotism. All these caused the issues with her mind.


    He Yueyin gave a suggestion: ¡°It¡¯s best if you let your friend go home first. He¡¯ll only make the patient more anxious if he¡¯s nearby.¡±


    Zhang Yingying shot a nce at the still-dejected Xue Lei: ¡°Your friend is quite the material. His foundation is much better than yours. His adaptive ability is quite strong. He should be the disciple of some martial artist master.¡±


    Luo Nan quite approved of her conjecture. When they were in the elevator, Xue Lei¡¯s reactions were really admirable. He even suspected that Xue Lei¡¯s big body had sensed the threat of the Human-Faced Arachnid through intuition.


    Anyway, Zhang Yingying¡¯s decent behavior didn¡¯t evenst a dozen seconds before she started talking smack: ¡°This kid¡¯s clearly about to topple over from depression. You might as well introduce your friend into the Society to find people simr to him. This sort of transparent and buff guy will certainly be more popr than some tooth-pick boy!¡±


    Luo Nan red at Zhang Yingying before asking He Yueyin with a few questions about Chen Xiaolin¡¯s condition. Then he walked towards Xue Lei: ¡°Sister Chen¡¯s condition isn¡¯t that bad. The doctor will take good care of her and we can¡¯t really help much by sticking around. Let¡¯s first go back home.¡±


    Xue Lei shook his head, as expected: ¡°I¡¯m still going to wait here.....¡±


    Luo Nan pressed against his arm: ¡°Sister Chen will be sent to the hospital to receive follow-up treatment. She just needs a few days of peace and quiet and then she will be good. She needs to calm down. Let¡¯s go. It¡¯s gettingte. My Aunty¡¯s car is downstairs. We¡¯ll send you back on the way home.¡±


    When Luo Nan spoke of ¡°calming down¡±, Xue Lei clearly dropped his head even lower.


    Luo Nan sighed, he used some force to pull Xue Lei up. Of course, Xue Lei¡¯s mind was wavering right now. Otherwise, how would Luo Nan have been able to move him?


    He faced He Yueyin, Zhang Yingying, and the others for goodbyes. Then Luo Nan and Xue Lei left side by side.


    They just so happened to enter the elevator where Xue Lei had engaged inbat with the ck Wolf. Xue Lei looked at the remnant traces of the conflict within the elevator walls and was lost in thought for some time. Then he suddenly spoke:


    ¡°You guys aren¡¯t ordinary people right?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not either. I have to say, this is fate.¡±


    Luo Nan smiled and extended a fist out towards Xue Lei. Xue Lei was stunned for a moment, but he also extended his own fist to lightly bump with Luo Nan¡¯s. Then his lips split into a grin.


    1. Mutants (»û±äÖÖ, literally Distorted Species). It¡¯s been a while since this term was used, so here¡¯s a brief reminder. Mutants emerged inrge numbers after the Third War (Chapter 13.1). It¡¯s implied that they drove people to live inrge metropolises, and here we have more evidence that ability users have been fighting Mutants. In Chapter 22.2, President Ouyang of the Xia City Branch of the Wilderness Explorer Society announced the threat of the Human-Faced Arachnid, that the Arachnid is a Mutant, and that it¡¯s the first live specimen toe from the ¡¯Gate¡¯, which is what they believe to be the source of the mutant species.

 Chapter 45: Dreamer (Part ?)

    Chapter 45: Dreamer (Part ?)


    His consciousness was like a pearl that had sunk down to a cold and deste seabed. It was also like a solitary star suspending in the darkness of space.


    Sometimes the darkness subsided. Sometimes great light was released.


    In the end, pure light and darkness settled down into their respective domains. Then all sorts of outlines and contours began to appear in the border between light and darkness.


    A pillow. A bedside cab. A tablemp. A desk...... Layers andyers began to expand to expand outwards, from near to far. Simple thoughts and familiar feelings over theyout were piecing together to be clearer in their meaning.


    Luo Nan made a conclusion. This was his room, but not the room of his apartment in Blue Bay Community. It was his room in his Aunt¡¯s house on the east face of the second story, the ce he had lived in for five years.


    Several more thoughts came pouring into his brain:


    Gear. Human-Faced Arachnid. Explorers Society.


    He Yueyin. Zhang Yingying. Xie Junping......


    Various images and clues intertwined to ultimately form aplete recognition of the series of events.


    And Luo Nan was finally able to find the memory node of before he lost conscious: The operation at the Limestone Water Vige Pub had ended and he sent Xue Lei home. Then. Then. It seemed that he had fallen asleep in his Aunt¡¯s car.


    So, what time was it?


    His thoughts barely moved and his wristband, themp clock on his desk, and flexible e-ink screen in his notebook lit up with the relevant information seemingly simultaneously:


    02:27 AM.


    Huh.......huh?


    Luo Nan suddenly opened his eyes and sat himself up, but then his lower back, his thigh, and his calf transmitted a feeling of tightness and pain at the same time. His calf was hard like iron and stone; it was cramping.


    Luo Nan drew in a cold breath. He raised his foot and began to massage his leg. Although he was able to get over his cramp with quite the time, his fingers and toes still felt swollen and numb. His blood flow was stopped and blocked up. His stomach was twitching. And he felt some nausea in his throat.


    These were certainly the symptoms of drug withdrawal.


    This situation came as no surprise to Luo Nan. Heposed himself and did the utmost to ignore the symptoms.


    The AI system confirmed that the owner of the room had awakened from the series of movements it detected. It determined that the owner wouldn¡¯t go back to sleep and it automatically turned on the lights.


    Luo Nan turned his head to look around and various positions of furniture appeared in his vision. The sensation was the same as feeling around on the mental ne.


    Of course, the most important thing was that it was currently 02:29. The time spent being tormented with drug withdrawal symptoms had clearly allowed him to recover the precision of his mental senses.


    Luo Nan closed his eyes anew, clearing his mind of distracting thoughts. And sure enough, a distinct scene emerged within his mind.


    The range wasn¡¯t that far. When he touched passed the corridor through the room, the scene turned dusky and unclear. This was his limit.


    After some analysis, he figured that his range was approximately five meters.


    This was not even shitpared to the super-far perception ability of Cat Eyes. But previously Luo Nan had tomission the heavily chained crow or enter in his out-of-body soul state in order to achieve this. Today this was automatic.


    It seemed that his fleshly body and mental mind were adapting endlessly to his abilities, integrating his abilities to the most natural level.


    Alrighty then. He really wasn¡¯t ¡°an ordinary person¡± anymore.


    Luo Nan was just about to test out his new ability, but then an oversized figure tiptoed over down the corridor, entering into the range of his senses at this time.


    Luo Nan shook his head. He fought against the achy feeling of his body, got off the bed, and opened the door.


    ¡°Gasp!......¡±


    The figure that just passed by Luo Nan¡¯s door had her hair practically float up in fright. But soon she saw that the lights were on in Luo Nan¡¯s room and she saw who it was. She then passed over the enormous luggage in her hand without a trace of politeness:


    ¡°Help out!¡±


    Just looking at the size of the luggage made Luo Nan feel that he would be cramping again pretty soon. But he didn¡¯t say anything, taking the luggage in silence. He then did his best to move softly and quietly down the stairs under this person¡¯smands.


    Freed from her greatest burden and only carrying a guitar case, Mo Ya returned back to her free, easygoing, and handsome demeanor. She brushed aside the messy hair on her forehead, not forgetting to boss people around:


    ¡°Be more gentle! Don¡¯t make the lights turn on when you make it downstairs!¡±


    Transporting the luggage to the living room was extremely difficult, but they were able to prevent the AI housekeeper from turning on the lights. The older cousin sister and little cousin brother sat on the sofa panting for breath.


    Mo Ya1, Luo Nan¡¯s older female cousin, had a nice figure to the point of exploding. This characteristic beauty was usually dressed neutrally and had, very fortunately, inherited the handsome appearance of her father. She was unlike her mother, who had a very average appearance. And her height was nearly 180 centimeters due to a gic mutation. She was currently the tallest person in the household.


    She was dressed in denim right now and had her legs crossed, but those jeans were ripped in the knees to form t and smooth triangles. The fine and powerful contours of her body were prominently disyed from beneath her jeans. It was enough to make over 70% of females shriek at how handsome she was and have them cry to the ground in envy.


    Luo Nan really was paralyzed on the sofa. Even moving a finger would cause him to feel tired: ¡°I¡¯ve paid you back a favor.....¡±


    Mo Ya looked at him with a frown: ¡°Too weak. You didn¡¯t just eat drugs to survive for this month right?¡±


    ¡°How is that possible. My calorie intake for a single day is about the same as your calorie intake for a month.¡±


    ¡°So how are you so weak even after sleeping for an entire day?¡±


    ¡°I slept around 10 PMst night......¡±


    ¡°You still think that was yesterday? You went to sleep the day before yesterday alright? You were sleeping on the car just like a dead dog. It was me and Mo Peng2 who painstakingly lifted you upstairs. And after not seeing you wake up at all, your ¡®mother¡¯ called the doctors.....¡±


    Luo Nan raised his wrist to look at the date disyed on his wristband: September 30th!


    He was left speechless for a time. He guessed that his drug withdrawal had some element in this, as well as his two days of working around the clock.


    He switched topics, not wishing to be tangled up in this issue: ¡°Why are you running away from home in the middle of the night?¡±


    Mo Ya cried: ¡°Running away!? I¡¯m just going to do a road show at Man City. The time period is just a bit longer than usual is all.¡±


    Man City was a satellite town to Xia City and was located 400 kilometers away from downtown. It was a city that borderlined the wilderness.


    Luo Nan¡¯s eyebrows furrowed hearing this: ¡°For how many days?¡±


    ¡°For a month. There¡¯s this music festival I need to take part in.¡±


    ¡°Aunty will kill you......¡±


    ¡°She¡¯ll be too exhausted by the time I get back.¡±


    Mo Ya turned up her nose when faced with this kind of threat. And, she didn¡¯t let Luo Nan change topics that easily:


    ¡°Hey. Did you give up over there? Is that why you suddenly came home?¡±


    Mo Ya was clearly talking about the matter of Luo Nan¡¯s drug concoctions. Only she out of the entire family had a general idea of what Luo Nan had been up to for the past few years.


    Luo Nan thought about it andughed: ¡°Nope. Now¡¯s the resting stage.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine as long as you know what you¡¯re doing.¡±


    Mo Ya stood up, walked towards Luo Nan, and rubbed his head: ¡°Excellent. This little fellow has calmed down quite a bit...... Anyway, that¡¯s enough pretending. My ride is here. Carry luggage for the future goddess!¡±


    Luo Nan groaned, but in the end, he was unable to resist Mo Ya¡¯s emphatic words. He lifted the luggage once again and made his way out sneakingly.


    As soon as he exited the house, he saw the jet-ck old-fashioned van parked right outside the front yard. There were even people waving. Though the skies were dark, Luo Nan had already confirmed that those were the members of Mo Ya¡¯s band.


    These people......


    The luggage was stuffed with great difficulty into the car that was already filled with people and instruments, leaving Mo Ya only able to sit on her own suitcase.


    But Mo Ya cared not the slightest about this. She gave Luo Nan a hug quite refreshingly:


    ¡°Then do your best little bro. You¡¯re doing good.¡±


    ¡°Do your best too..... Miss Goddess.¡±


    The lights of the old-fashioned van lit up and the van slowly left themunity. Luo Nan watched Mo Ya go, watched Mo Ya continuing to work hard for her dreams.


    As for himself, he will have to work hard as well!


    1. Mo Ya (ĪÑÅ, literally Elegant Mo). Mo is a surname; I had a brain fart in the beginning of the series and just believed that Moya was her first name.... I¡¯ll fix the rest of the chapters during the weekend.


    2. Mo Peng (ĪÅô, literally Roc Mo). I believe that this was the first time that this character was mentioned.

 Chapter 45: Dreamer (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 45: Dreamer (Part 2/2)


    His back was really aching from acting as a porter. His limbs were soft and his recently-cramped calf was giving indications of cramping again. Under these circumstances, he really didn¡¯t feel like going up to the second story. He walked to the living room andid on the sofa, not wishing to move at all.


    His body was half-destroyed, but his mood was inexplicably cheerful. He was so cheerful that he started tough with ¡°ha ha¡±s while lying on the sofa.


    When seeing Mo Ya¡¯s appearance, Luo Nan had seen himself as well.


    It sounded a bit corny just hearing it, but having a dream was something that should be treasured very much, especially since Luo Nan had already embarked on his path.


    Mo Ya¡¯s dream was to bring up a world renowned band and to be someone entirely worthy of being called a goddess lead singer. Her band had already achieved some fame in Xia City, having opened two small concerts here. And musicpanies had already started paying attention to them......


    Luo Nan was once very envious of Mo Ya. They both chased after their dreams, but he had spent five years without seeing any substantial progress at all.


    Luo Nan¡¯s dream was to have his grandfather¡¯s theory prevail over that twister and giarizer Yan Hong, to let everyone know it, to have it be a famous school of thought, and to restore his grandfather¡¯s name to glory.


    This was not easy at all.


    Yan Hong had already fallen, but the possessor of all his results became Quantum Corporation, apany valued to be within the top 3 in the world. They used his results as a basis tounch the Deep Blue tform, to build up the Burners, and change the entire world.


    This super corporation was blocking the path in front of him. It seemed to be a barrier that was impossible to cross.


    To break through this giant ahead would require Luo Nan to be the world¡¯s best schr, possess the highest level of academic positions, have the backing of the relevant capitalistic forces, and produce endless superior results...... Based on his age and experience, just how many dozens of years would he need to realize his goal?


    Even more so, Luo Nan wasn¡¯t a super genius researcher. He had made his way through these five years stuttering over duplicating even basic experiments. His experience with theory was small to the point of pity.


    The results appeared to be absolute when looking at the test subject that was his own body. But what did he really seed in? He was, at most, solitary evidence that wasrge in size. Nobody would recognize these results. At most, there would be some organizations interested in him for analyzing him as a specimen or something.


    Luo Nan knew that this difficulty was impossible to surpass, so he stopped thinking about it...... he would lose it if he thought too much.


    It was as if the him back then was hesitating in front of the entrance to a highway. He had been staring at the flow of trafficing and going. Though he had thoughts of envy, it was impossible for him to merge into the flow of traffic.


    Mo Ya even had a van. All he had was just a body sculpted and modeled by drugs. He didn¡¯t even have the qualifications to go driving on the road.


    But now, his situation had undergone a marvelous change.


    Luo Nan¡¯s attention moved to his left ear. Within his ear canal stood an exquisite electronic device...... The HexaEar.


    This little thing, which came from the Wilderness Explorers Society, possessed marvelous capabilities. But only those who possess a certain strength, ability users, could activate the HexaEar. And depending on the level of their strength, different levels of functionality could be activated.


    During the initial contact, Luo Nan had to spur the heavily chained crow in order to realize the Computing function. But after sleeping for 30 hours, his fleshly body and mind had inexplicably realized and adapted the relevant ability. This time he just focused his mind slightly and the functionality of the HexaEar was already unleashed. He connected to the Psychic Wave Network without a hitch, the interface opened on his retina, and he entered the main interface with its deste wilderness.


    Luo Nan did not consider this change to be strange. Before, he had obtained the two abilities Appetite King and Hypnosis when he had constructed his Vessel1. Back then he had to focus his attention at a high level in order to unleash these abilities. But it didn¡¯t take long for the activation of these two abilities to be automatic to him. He practically didn¡¯t need to exert any meticulous effort. The abilities hadpletely assimted into his flesh, blood, and genes.


    Mm. It seemed that these abilities had transformed from active abilities to passive abilities. He carried this aura on his body and it required practically no energy...... Of course, concentration and energy may be consumed if he wanted to unleash these abilities on a deeper level.


    There was meaning in exploring this point, but Luo Nan¡¯s attention was not focused on this.


    Information had appeared, sparked from entering into the home page. There werements left by Zhang Yingying and He Yueyin and there were two emails sent by the Society.


    Of these, it appeared that Zhang Yingying¡¯sments were purely her seeking to chat with Luo Nan. She died down after seeing Luo Nan never going online.


    He Yueyin wanted him to respond immediately after going online. She reminded him to ept the briefing from the Society¡¯s channels. Inside the briefing was the assessment of the operation performed on the night of the 28th at Limestone Water Vige Pub.


    Luo Nan looked at the time. It was the middle of the night. It made no sense to go disturb people who were dreaming. He would take his time in contacting He Yueyin and first check the two emails from the society. One was the official confirmation and wee letter of him entering the professional society. The other was none other than the briefing mentioned by He Yueyin.


    He first opened the confirmation letter. Inside were some typical writing, an expressed wee of Luo Nan¡¯s entering the Wilderness Explorers Society. Every new member probably got the same letter.


    There would be one difference among the letters, and that would be the basic information form to be filled individually. Some items had to be confirmed and adjusted by the Society. Then the Society would make another confirmation with the entrant.


    Luo Nan was toozy to pay attention to the other items, but he stared fixed at the ¡°Ability ssification¡± item. Right now it was clearly disyed as:


    Systematic ss!


    Luo Nan fist pumped subconsciously, but then he discovered with nervousness that there was some special asterisk behind these words. His consciousness was drawn over, then a paragraph of information appeared:


    ¡°This item has a temporary reason for doubt. The proposal is to have the entrant contact the Society¡¯s Cultivation2 Department and enter assessment and registration work of the relevant Cultivation System. If the conditions are satisfied, the entrant could receive qualifications of being an instructor.


    Luo Nan raised her eyebrows. The wording ¡°reason for doubt¡± made him a bit displeased. But he had to admit thatpared to his difficulties of five years, today he......


    ¡°Embarked on the road!¡±


    The Wilderness Explorers Society was just a borrowed name. It was essentially a professional society for ability users. What was considered of core importance was one¡¯s ability and effectiveness.


    Take, for example, Luo Nan¡¯s identity as a psychic and the corresponding treatment that brought with it. All he had to do was to prove clearly his indisputable value and he naturally became the core for battle tactics. He had easily wiped away the doubts of those arrogant and obstinate fellows.


    After all, in the realm of ability users, the strong and the weak, the better and the worse, are all ced clearly in the open to be looked at directly.


    Academics? Position? Capital?


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t have the influence of these elements all the way until now. And these elements were the barriers that were the most difficult for him to cross.


    And so, it would be fine to just use reality to confirm:


    Confirm his abilities! Confirm that they came from a great theory. Confirm that they came from a self-consistent system...... Just this and nothing more!


    1. Vessel (ÈÝÆ÷, literally Vessel). An early stage of Self-Formatting, which is the first level of his grandfather¡¯s Formatting Theory, as introduced in Chapter 5.


    2. Cultivation (ÐÞÐÐ, literally Religious Practice). The ÐÞ is the word used for cultivating, especially in all these traditional wuxia/xianxia/xianhuan novels. The ÐÐ is the word for engaging. I was pretty torn on using the word "cultivation" for quite a bit and instead use "training", since I don¡¯t consider this your traditional xianxia/etc. But I am leaning more towards cultivation based on the supernatural ability aspect of things.

 Chapter 46: Honor Points (Part ?)

    Chapter 46: Honor Points (Part ?)


    Luo Nan used the Psychic Wave Network to look up the relevant information on the assessment of a cultivation system.


    He saw that the Society had aplete definition of the ¡°Cultivation System¡±. It was a system that one trains in, cultivating from beginning levels to high levels. A certain number of ordinary people are guaranteed to be Awakened, or even higher level ability users, by going through this cultivation sequence.


    Luo Nan focused his attention on the word ¡°Awakened¡±. It appeared that for a system to be recognized as a Cultivation System, the most fundamental prerequisite was to be able to have someone be an Awakened by going through this system.


    That means he was still a bit far away...... Honestly speaking, he didn¡¯t have a single clear-cut idea of how to be an Awakened from here.


    From this point of view, it was no wonder that Zhang Yingying was disdainful towards his persistence on being a Systematic ss.


    Of course, Luo Nan didn¡¯t believe that this was a defect in his grandfather¡¯s theory. All the theory and relevant methods he grasped came from solely a single notebook.


    His grandfather had created over a thousand simr notebooks throughout his lifetime. The ones that contained more important research results existed within the wildernessboratory.


    While his grandfather was gued by thewsuit, the wildernessboratory changed owners and most of the relevant notebooks were lost. The book the Luo Nan held was not worth mentioning at all in face of therge quantity of lost research data.


    There was a reason why Yan Hong, that giarizer, was able to rapidly understand the theory and produce results; he had obtained a great deal of important data.


    As for how Yan Hong was able to obtain this data......


    Luo Nan knew that this was because of his own father, because of that coward!


    When his grandfather¡¯swsuit was at the most critical stage, that coward took out grandfather¡¯s research results without permission and arranged some kind of settlement with Yan Hong and his team. The coward seeded in getting rid of his ownwsuit at the same time when the light judgment on grandfather was determined.


    But in reality, his grandfather¡¯s mental breakdown had already progressed to an extremely serious condition at the time. The court was unable to pass a particrly harsh judgment.


    When all was said and done, that coward was only watching his own hide and was acquitted!


    Luo Nan believed without any doubt that this was a betrayal!


    Not only did he betray grandfather, he also betrayed the person who had always supported their research. He betrayed mother who had already passed away!


    Luo Nan¡¯s heart would smolder every time he thought about this. He had such a great grandfather, such a great mother, but he also had a coward. He was the son of a traitor.


    Luo Nan drew in a deep breath. His previous good mood had beenpletely destroyed by the sudden recollection of memories. He tried to look at some of the material provided by the Society, but he was unable to settle his mind down.


    He looked at the light of day, saw that it was still early morning, and decided to go work out. After all, he hadn¡¯t gone for aplete marathon-style long distance run for two days already. He also needed to test and verify just how big the effects on his body were from the drug withdrawal response.


    Luo Nan stood up and was prepared to change clothes when new information suddenly arrived on the Psychic Wave Network. It was a direct call:


    ¡°Mr. Luo?¡±


    ¡°Hic. Sister He?¡± Luo Nan looked at the time. Just past the wee hours of 3 AM. It looked like He Yueyin was also someone who didn¡¯t sleep that much.


    ¡°You, sir, haven¡¯t gone online since two days ago. It seems like you entered a deep sleep state?¡±


    ¡°...... I slept for 30 hours.¡± Luo Nan was a bit embarrassed.


    He Yueyin spoke: ¡°Psychics expend an extremelyrge amount of energy. A long period of sleep is the mostmonly seen method of recovery. Time isn¡¯t a problem. The most important thing is to recover your energy.¡±


    ¡°Mm. mm. My mental state right now is quite decent.¡±


    Aside from his drug withdrawal response......


    ¡°Do you wake up this early every day Sister He? Or did you stay up?¡±


    ¡°Burners only need about two hours of peaceful rest a day. I typically choose midnight for it.¡±


    The two people chatted a few sentences before He Yueyin took the initiative to cut to the chase: ¡°I noticed that you just received some information. Did you look at the briefing yet?¡±


    ¡°Hic. I saw it.¡± Luo Nan was too embarrassed to say that he didn¡¯t. He opened the briefing in a rush, multitasking.


    Luckily enough, the details weren¡¯t tooplicated. He could tell He Yueyin¡¯s serious and blunt style from the writing. She didn¡¯t mince words, mentioning that the operation had ended in failure. She gave criticism to the intelligence gathered by the Society, to the coordination of battle tactics with participating members. She didn¡¯t cover or hold things back even though this document was submitted to the Society.


    There were many details that were already mentioned by He Yueyin on the night of the operation, the 28th. Luo Nan selected the more unfamiliar details to look into. He skimmed down and more or less understood the relevant content.


    He Yueyin¡¯s voice continued to transmit: ¡°The Society has already approved of this brief and has performed an assessment towards participating members of the operation. Mr. Luo, you sir are solely in first ce with a ranking of "B-". ording to the relevant uses of the Society, you will receive a fixed amount of Honor Points......¡±


    Luo Nan rushed to the end of the brief where the Society¡¯s evaluation was located and looked at the details that pertained to him:


    This new member of the Society used acuity and a calm attitude toplete his first showing. He made it impossible for a Human-Faced Arachnid to hide and disyed his purpose as the cornerstone of the operation. If he was able to be amander rather than bait, his performance would have been more perfect.


    Under assessment and evaluation, his award is a ¡°+4¡±. His Honor Points will increase by 4 points.


    As for the others, He Yueyin will receive the second highest, 3 points, having received an evaluation of "C+". She counts as passable. The merits offset the faults.


    The remaining people received 1¡¯s and even 0¡¯s. The unfortunate ck Wolf was one of these zeros. The only other was ck Beetle for abandoning the team midway.


    Things looked to be quite decent......


    He Yueyin reminded him at this moment: ¡°Honor Points are very useful in the Society. I hope you will consult with sources of information from every angle and use these points cautiously.¡±


    ¡°Sister He, do you have any suggestions?¡± Luo Nan had extreme trust in He Yueyin¡¯s abilities right now, so he directly asked her for guidance.


    He Yueyin replied: ¡°I also just entered the Society. And the way of the Burner is ultimately different from you all. I still rmend you to gain a greater understanding of the Society before selecting your choice. Having a ¡°B-¡± assessment, 4 points umted, is already quite impressive for a new member. You must bring out its greatest value.¡±


    Luo Nan naturally understood. This ¡°B-¡± assessment allowed Luo Nan to recall the evaluation He Yueyin made on that night. She gave Luo Nan¡¯s abilities on the mental aspect to be a ¡°B-¡± as well. But for his physical aspect, she only gave an ¡°F¡±.


    This seemed to be an important barrier blocking him from bing an Awakened.


    Luo Nan asked inevitably: ¡°If I want to temper my body to bring my mental mind and physical body to equilibrium, what should I do? When the corporeal body reaches equilibrium with the mind, would I be an Awakened?¡±


    ¡°I still can¡¯t give you really good rmendations for this point. After all, the military¡¯s Burner¡¯s started with ¡®Alteration¡¯. In any case, I¡¯ve heard the Society offers training methods to its mentally enhanced members.¡±


    He Yueyin was extremely patient. She answered every question: ¡°Mr. Luo needs to get this one concept clear: The said Awakening. Its key certainly lies in some cognitive change. It¡¯s good to train the corporeal body. It¡¯s good to cultivate the mind. But these are only methods to assist. Methods to assist the corporeal body and mental mind to really experience and sense the world. Methods to better interpret one¡¯s own strength. The society has an ¡®Awakening Ceremony¡¯ that has a simr function.¡±


    ¡°In your current stage, I believe that Mr. Luo doesn¡¯t need to consider the matter of Awakening. You just need to focus on bringing your mind and body to equilibrium. Earnestly experience the course of events until you reach this certain stage. When you umte enough experience, everything will naturally follow like a canal that is formed when water flows.¡±

 Chapter 46: Honor Points (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 46: Honor Points (Part 2/2)


    He Yueyin¡¯s reply was packed to the brim with her blunt and practical mannerisms. She absolutely wouldn¡¯t be receiving the fondness of too many people, but Luo Nan was able to ept her words.


    To realize equilibrium between his corporeal body and mental mind...... It was a simple and practical goal. One that was easy to focus his attention on.


    But then He Yueyin immediately sent him a message; it was a form with the title ¡°HexaEar Emergency Functional Training Program¡±.


    HexaEar?


    Luo Nan was stupefied until he recalled that He Yueyin had mentioned such a thingst night1. Did she finish arranging the program already?


    ¡°This...... You didn¡¯t have to.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t only that he didn¡¯t want to inconvenience her. He had adapted to his new abilities after 30 hours of sleep. This gave Luo Nan quite a high level of confidence. He felt that right now he could maintain 24 hours of continuous connection without any problems even without using the heavily chained crow.


    He Yueyin didn¡¯t let him off that easily: ¡°Mr. Luo. Using the HexaEar isn¡¯t just general knowledge, it¡¯s also a skill. Even those who reached the level of Awakened still need to practice it often, especially now since the threat of the Human-Faced Arachnid is still far from being removed. We need to maintain even tightermunications to prevent the Arachnid from getting chances to take advantage of us.¡±


    Luo Nan went, ¡°uh,¡± but eventually he recalled the Human-Faced Arachnid and seized the chance to change the topic: ¡°Oh right. What¡¯s thetest news on the Human-Faced Arachnid? How¡¯s the surround and destroy situation?¡±


    ¡°Not too good.¡±


    Some of He Yueyin¡¯s attention really did divert to this topic, but Luo Nan could hear the heavy implications from the tone of her voice: "The Society, the Military, and Quantum Corporation have handled eleven cases up to now. Four cases were settled. Seven cases ended in defeat. There are three other cases which have yet to be confirmed to be the doings of the Human-Faced Arachnid. Of these fourteen cases, five people died, one person heavily injured, and sixty-seven people received critical mental trauma.¡±


    This was simply an utter defeat!


    Luo Nan was practically facepalming hearing this. Before entering the Society, he had some reverence towards this secret organization that was hidden in human civilization. But right now it seemed that they were somehow in dire straits?


    How could a youth who harbored the dream of entering the Society endure this sort of thing?


    He Yueyin seemed to feel Luo Nan¡¯s mood. She spoke lightly: ¡°The Government and the ability users of the Society were in a much more pathetic situation when the Darksider life forms first appeared long ago. Then through paying heavy prices andunching a series of battle tactics, the situation was barely able to be controlled.¡±


    ¡°There are differences with the current situation. We have been constantly striving to prevent the Darksider lifeforms from converging into one being. But we lost control this time; our two years of effort2 was ruined in a day. We will need certainly need time to achieve control of the situation with Darksiders once again.¡±


    Luo Nan blurted: ¡°How is Quantum Corporation handling things?¡±


    ¡°Nan Nan, are you talking to yourself or something?¡±


    Aunty¡¯s voice suddenly rang out and the lights of the living room turned on to illuminate Luo Nan¡¯s figure on the sofa. Mrs. Luo Shuqing was at the base of the stairs wearing pajamas. She stared fixed at him with furrowed brows.


    ..... Mistake made!


    Indeed, Luo Nan was stillcking discipline when using the HexaEar. The usage was clearly on the mental ne, but he had neglected that for a time and spoke out directly! He also didn¡¯t know if he had made simr mistakes in the past.


    He Yueyin also discovered Luo Nan¡¯s mishap and took the initiative to terminate the call: ¡°Confirm the training programter. Just sending it back is fine.¡±


    This time Luo Nan was too embarrassed to refuse. He could only agree silently. Of course, the most important thing right now was to deal with his Aunt¡¯s questions.


    He stood up, but he had forgotten the issues with his body and nearly sprained his back. He took in a deep breath in secret and scrambled his mind to think of an excuse: ¡°I woke up and a schoolmate just so happened to call me. We were chatting. Yep. I sure did sleep for a long time......¡±


    Mrs. Luo Shuqing3 walked over, her furrowed brows had yet to loosen: ¡°Did you properly rest back over there in Blue Bay?¡±


    ¡°Yep. Quite well.¡± Luo Nan¡¯s eyes didn¡¯t even blink once when he spoke this lie. His inarticte nature was also a good guise.


    But Mrs. Luo Shuqing knew him far too well: ¡°When you lived here, you would always stay up past midnight. How would you able to discipline yourself to sleep earlier if you¡¯re on your own?¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    Luo Nan knew that he couldn¡¯t get tangled up in this any further. He lowered his head, looking for his shoe: ¡°Aunty. It¡¯s really early. You should go sleep some more. I can¡¯t fall asleep, so I might as well go work out my body.¡±


    ¡°Who in the world runs at 3 AM in the morning?¡±


    Luo Shuqing pierced him with this cold sentence, then she sat next to him on the sofa and patted him: ¡°At my age, once I wake up I won¡¯t be able to sleep even if I try to. Come. Talk to me.¡±


    ¡°Uh......¡±


    ¡°Come on! I still want to ask you. Do you have a fixed social circle in the school yet? That friend of yours on that day, his name should be Xue Lei. He looked to be sincere person......¡±


    Luo Nan knew that he lost his chance to escape. He could only sigh secretly and be well-behaved as he bears this new round of torment.


    A full two hours passed. He had chatted with Aunty from 3 AM to 5 AM before he was granted permission to do his early run. He was granted relief from this torment and he changed clothes and shoes at his fastest speed. He didn¡¯t even look back as he exited the house.


    It wasn¡¯t that he was not filial. It¡¯s just that the hazard of Mo Ya¡¯s midnight excursion could be exposed at any time with the passing of time.


    It must be noted that Mo Ya would normally practice her singing voice at this time...... It was best for him to get far far away from this dangerous ce!


    Luo Nan calcted the time and determined that by 8 AM, the battle between mother and daughter should have finished its first round. He would head home once that happens.


    Three hours outside really wasn¡¯t a lot of time to work out. The state of his body under the drug withdrawal response was really dire. His body couldn¡¯t support too much energy consumption.


    Luo Nan found a public park to properly get familiar with the Prison Format, the heavily chained crow, the Wraith Sign, and other elements. He wanted to see what sort of changes there were to his body after his adaptation period.


    He didn¡¯t reap much gain from these three hours, but as expected, he was greeted with his Aunt¡¯s fury when he got home:


    ¡°Luo Nan. You were part of the deed!¡±


    Luo Nan was unable to conceal the matter of him being an aplice. The AI System had faithfully provided all of the recorded scenes for his Aunt to choose and evaluate.


    Luo Nan knew that he shouldn¡¯t try to defend himself in this situation. He should just lower his head and take the lecture. Anyway, soon there would be food to eat......


    ¡°The food is done. Calm down. First, eat till you¡¯re full.¡±


    Uncle Mo Haihang 4 was already sitting down in the kitchen and had already served himself congee as an appetizer. He slurped it in a not urgent but not slow manner to taste a few mouthfuls of it. Then he nodded: ¡°Today¡¯s rice is quite sticky. Let¡¯s buy this brand next time as well......¡±


    ¡°Mo Haihang!¡± Aunty¡¯s firepower shifted targets in an instant.


    Yet Uncle remained calm and collected: ¡°Since we know where she is, where she went, how can we lose her? First endure for now and give her a good lecture when she gets back.¡±


    If it was any other person, such sloppy words may have been the fuse for a family war. But Uncle was one of the few people who was qualified to speak in such a way.


    He was Senior Technical Staff of the SCA, also known as the Society Credit Administration. Mo Haihang had already worked for nearly twenty years in their Authority Department.


    Credit Points hadpletely reced the function of currency in modern society. The SCA was none other than the observer and administrator of all ¡°Credit¡±. They were also in charge of auditing the granting of ¡°ess Privileges5¡±. It could be said that this was the most mighty and powerful department.


    Mo Haihang wasn¡¯t an extremely high-level official, but if he wanted to borrow his organization¡¯s resources to lock onto the whereabouts of his daughter, it would be as easy as breathing.


    1. HexaEar Emergency Functional Training. Luo Nan didn¡¯t notice themunications that were going on while he and Xue Lei were stuck in the elevator with the ck Wolf. When He Yueyin intervened and saved them, she asked him to do some training to avoidmunications disruptions (Chapter 38.2).


    2. Looks like the Darksider life forms appeared two years ago, but the Military and the Society were able to restrain them until now. Chapter 13.2 mentions that the Military had frequent encounters with Darksider Life Forms.


    3. Luo Shuqing (ÂÞÊçÇç, literally Luo Clear, Warm, and Virtuous). Luo is ast name, but could mean gather/collect.


    4. Mo Haihang (Īº£º½, literally Mo Ocean Boat).


    5. ess Privileges (ȨÏÞ, literally Scope of Authority). In Chapter 27.2, Xie Junping and Luo Nan were caught in the Privilege Trap in Gear. Xie Junping passed out and lost his privileges, so the various system modules of Gear shut down. Xie Junping and Luo Nan search for a way out and for signal, leading to their discovery that Gear was the creation of Luo Nan¡¯s mother.

 Chapter 47: Luo Yuandao (Part ?)

    Chapter 47: Luo Yuandao (Part ?)


    The husband maintained his firm stance and Luo Shuqing didn¡¯t speak much more. She only sneered: ¡°You think this is something that can be tossed away? This is your prideful daughter!¡±


    In any case, thanks to Uncle diverting Aunty¡¯s anger, Luo Nan was able to excuse himself from the battlefield and go up the stairs to change clothes and wash up.


    Who would have imagined that there would be so many things destined to happen this morning? Luo Nan just finished showering up and changing clothes when he received a message via the HexaEar. It was an unfamiliar number. Luo Nan thought for a bit before picking up the call. But just as he was about to ask who it was, a few words were thrown at him:


    ¡°F*ck you *****!¡±


    Luo Nan was stunned for a time. What kind of nutjob was this? There were these sorts of people in the Society? Then the voice shouted in an uncontroble manner:


    ¡°Just go duck inside that scheming woman¡¯s pants then! I¡¯ll show you all sooner orter!¡±


    This person sounded like he was drunk. The words he spat out weren¡¯t too clear, carrying obscenities. It didn¡¯t take half a minute before a long series of curses had been shouted out.


    Luo Nan finally came to at this time. Scheming woman....... Did he mean He Yueyin? Then that means this was rted to the operation on the 28th.


    From looking at this person¡¯s nasty attitude and the disyed avatar, Luo Nan was soon able to surmise the obvious:


    ¡°ck Beetle?¡±


    This fellow. That¡¯s right. He couldn¡¯t take He Yueyin¡¯s criticism that night. Wasn¡¯t he the one who abandoned the team midway? He and the unfortunate ck Wolf had the same assessment in the Society¡¯s brief; they both received a score of zero.


    From what he could see now, it seemed like this person had an extremely nasty temperament...... The Society really did have all sorts of people.


    Even a buddha would be angry when pelted with a shower of profanity. Let alone Luo Nan.


    He furrowed his brows when he responded: ¡°You¡¯re threatening me openly and your behavior is intense. I believe that you may be controlled by the Human-Faced Arachnid?¡±


    ck Beetle suddenly stopped, having been smashed with thisbel. Then he gritted his teeth and said: ¡°Kid. Don¡¯t believe psychics are amazing. We can slowly y together in the future!¡±


    Luo Nan responded with cold and prickling words: ¡°I¡¯m down anytime!¡±


    Both sides hung up the call. Luo Nan realized that he had spoken out loud in agitation. He lightly patted his cheeks and peaked out from the head of the stairs. It was quiet on the first floor. The husband and wife were still looking straight at each other. It seemed that Aunty still had some residual anger.


    He rxed his breath and walked down the stairs.


    Seeing Luo Nane down, both Uncle and Aunty turned to look at him at the same time. Uncle indicated him to sit down: ¡°Come. Eat breakfast. Warm congee is very tasty.¡±


    Mo Haihang had worked many years working for the authority agency. His stature wasn¡¯t tall, but he had a graveplexion. He was habitually silent and looked to be hard to get close to.


    But actually, he was your standard homemaker dad within the house. As long as he was home, all three meals from morning to night were all his responsibility.


    It wasn¡¯t that he was henpecked or something. In reality, Aunt¡¯s cooking skills were the same as the day she first started cooking; they were quite underwhelming.


    As for their children. Mo Ya perfectly inherited Aunty¡¯s powerful gifts and that included her extremely tragic level of cooking skills. Even if she dared cook, no one dared eat.


    There was also Mo Peng, Luo Nan¡¯s older male cousin who was the same age as him. How would it be possible for Mo Peng to crawl out of bed on the weekends before 10 AM? The family was toozy to call him down for breakfast.


    The depressive atmospherested a long time, probably due to the seriousness of Mo Ya running away from home. Uncle had encountered several simr circumstances in and out of work, so he watched the news calmly while drinking his congee.


    Luo Nan found it hard to talk, so he just shut his mouth and ate. The amount of food he ate just simply disappeared; the congee appetizer was certainly not enough to satisfy him. But his Uncle had taken this into ount when making breakfast. He included beef for nutrition, specifically so that Luo Nan could be full.


    Even though it had been a month, this was still an extremely typical breakfast for the Mo family. Still, Luo Nan felt that something was off today.


    This was because of his mental senses that were activated at all times, spreading out. He was able to see his Uncle and Aunt even though his head was lowered. He saw them swap nces seemingly more frequently than usual.


    Were they like this before? Or was it that his mental senses were too active today?


    Seeing that Luo Nan had just about eaten his fill, Aunty suddenly opened her mouth: ¡°You. Luo Nan.¡±


    ¡°Aunty?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not busy today right?¡±


    ¡°Uh. Not really......¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s all go to Anhai1 and see your grandfather.¡±


    Luo Nan was obviously stunned, but soon he resounded with an answer: ¡°Okay!¡±


    But he felt a bit uneasy in the next instant: ¡°Did Grandfather¡¯s condition turn worse?¡±


    ¡°Nope. Don¡¯t guess blindly!¡± His Aunt nodded. ¡°Go. Today you clean up the dishes!¡±


    Luo Nan did not object.


    Anhai Medical Treatment Center was a famous mental illness sanatorium in Xia City. It was located on the outskirts of the city and was 200 kilometers away from the main city district. It was about an hour¡¯s drive away.


    When the entire family had an outing, riding shotgun was the prime seat location. No one wanted to sit in the back row next to the Aunt with her sincere advice giving nature. This time Luo Nan scrambled to get to the front seat before Mo Peng could wake up. He let out a breath of relief upon sitting down.


    An hour of driving wasn¡¯t long, but it wasn¡¯t short.


    But for Mo Peng, this hour of driving will obviously be endless. Luo Nan had plenty of things he could do during this time.


    He opened the notebook he always carried with him and looked at the interface of the flexible e-ink screen.The new icon of the visualization diagram was still in a ¡°downloading¡± state. Thirty hours had passed, but the degree of progress only reached 2%.


    Alright, that¡¯s fine. Good thing there was this ¡°2¡±, otherwise, it might have been stuck.


    Luo Nan was unable to estimate just how much data he had scooped from the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s body. Or maybe the external neuron had its analyzation speed restricted upon breaking away from theboratory¡¯s abundant energy back in Gear?


    There was about 50% battery left in the flexible e-ink screen. This consumption was already quite excessive. But this was still nothingpared to the output of the independent power station of Gear¡¯sboratory.


    He could give it a try when he goes back to school tomorrow.


    Luo Nan opened the drawing software and entered into the secondyer interface2. Then appeared a pyramid structure that was formed from fiveyers consisting of student, office worker, technician, clergy, and politician.


    But he immediately furrowed his brows. Was it a misconception? This feeling that the interface had turned ¡°dirty¡±? It was a bit darker for some reason, and there was some slight shaking......


    Before he could observe in more detail, the Uncle who was driving turned his head over:


    ¡°Are you researching the social format diagram? Oh, you¡¯ve changed screens.¡±


    This driver had things quite leisurely while the car was on autopilot, but his gaze was quite sharp.


    Luo Nan went ¡°Oh¡±, wanting to brush away this topic by being vague.


    A rarely seen smile appeared on this uncle¡¯s face: ¡°During the year 79, I was pressured by a certain someone into opening a research project on the organization¡¯s supeputer. I established the model of the format diagram and I used Xia City¡¯s thirty years of ess privilege data and credit data to do so. I won¡¯t mention what disciplinary action I was subjected to, but I was still med by your grandfather for trying the impossible...... This is what you see in front of you.¡±


    Luo Nan knew that this certain someone was his father, Luo Zhongheng.


    It seemed that the rtionship between his father and uncle was quite decent, for his uncle kept on trying to change Luo Nan¡¯s impression towards his father all these years. But all these words were useless. Luo Nan would never forgive someone who used his grandfather¡¯s blood in exchange for freedom, that coward who left behind no trace of where he went!


    He grunted in response, not wishing to talk.


    From behind, Mo Peng saw that his dad opened his mouth and found it to be a golden opportunity to break free from his mother¡¯s oppressive control. He slid his chair forward and forced himself in the conversation:


    ¡°My bro. In my opinion, your five-level model of society is far too sketch. Why the heck are clergy ranked higher than technicians? And politicians are ranked higher than clergies? These aren¡¯t even the same fields. You¡¯re saying that clergies are higher than office workers. You¡¯ll get in a fight if you show this in public. No two ways about it.¡±


    1. Anhai (°²º£, literally Peaceful Sea)


    2. Second Layer Interface. This interface was first shown in Chapter 33.1 where Xie Junping points out that the pyramid diagram was simr to Maslow¡¯s Hierarchy of Needs. Of note is the fact that this Second Layer Interface is now referred as the social format diagram. Chapter 5 indicates the main levels of Luo Nan¡¯s grandfather¡¯s Formatting Theory: the self, society, and heaven and earth. The Second Layer Interface matches with the second level of Formatting Theory, society.

 Chapter 47: Luo Yuandao (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 47: Luo Yuandao (Part 2/2)


    Mo Peng¡¯s short and stout body moved forward, looking like a plump and silly groundhog. This sort of appearance was so unbing that Luo Shuqing red at him coldly from behind:


    ¡°The ignorant and ipetent shouldn¡¯t speak without thinking!¡±


    ¡°How am I ignorant and ipetent? Are my outstanding grades in all seven subjects just given to you all to be ridiculed?¡± Mo Peng had an expression of being wronged. Clearly, he had just wanted to liven the atmosphere. Why did he deserve this bad rep?


    Only his own father understood him, understood that Mo Peng could no longer bear being on the receiving end of his menopaused old mother. He just wanted to join in on the fun. Mo Peng¡¯s father exined with a few words to bring Mo Peng into the conversation: ¡°Students and office workers are only codenames. They each have their specific implications. Were you ever interested in this?¡±


    To avoid dear mother, anything would be interesting.


    Mo Peng spoke brazenly with snickers: ¡°Aren¡¯t I interested in it now? Back in the day, my bro kept seeking to teach me about this thing. And today, the seeds that he nted have sprouted......¡±


    He seized Luo Nan¡¯s notebook into his own hands upon speaking and looked at the flexible e-ink screen. He spoke amazed: ¡°What kind of effect is this? Looks likes it has been soaked in water?¡±


    Mo Peng¡¯s description was extremely appropriate. Right now it was as if the secondyer interface of the drawing software was submerged in the muddy waters of a river. The five-level pyramid structure within, which looked simr to Maslow¡¯s Hierarchy of Needs, was nearly entirely immersed beneath the water. It looked like there was a duskyyer of film. It was so much so that the ¡°cards¡±, Luo Nan¡¯s sketches, had increased in blurriness.


    Luo Nan also found this bizarre. But he could faintly feel that what he was seeing was rted to his body¡¯s abilities. He didn¡¯t want to talk deeply about this, so he took his notebook back and closed it:


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Just an effect from the screensaver......¡±


    This sort of lie was really easy to detect, but Mo Peng understood Luo Nan¡¯s awkward nature really well. He knew that Luo Nan didn¡¯t want to talk about it, so he didn¡¯t ask. He continued to use the social format diagram as a lifeline:


    ¡°Brother. My teacher! Expound and bequeath your knowledge and clear my doubts. Yes. I mean you. Tell me what the meanings of those codenames are. The seeds in my heart have already blossomed to grass......¡±


    Luo Nan nced at his uncle, who was adjusting the car¡¯s AI functions at this moment. It seemed that he wouldn¡¯t be participating in this conversation between youngsters. His Aunt sitting in the back looked over calmly. Her gaze made it seem like she was lost in thought.


    The atmosphere in the car was a bit delicate.


    Luo Nan thought for a bit, then he spoke lightly: ¡°The original intentions of this model during establishment was to have it exin the effects, impacts, and structure of rtionships of an individual in a Social Format......¡±


    ¡°Social Format?¡±


    Mo Peng went nk. Luckily this grandson of Luo Yuandao still had some basic idea towards Formatting Theory, even though he held no interest in it: ¡°You mean social structure right? How to word this.... The methods that exist to influence the individual, to naturally transform theposition of the human collective?¡±


    Luo Nan gave a thumbs up to Mo Peng upon hearing this response. That wasn¡¯t the exact meaning, but Luo Nan would save quite a few words in exining.


    ¡°Every country, tribe, region thatprise of a human collective will certainly have its own particr Social Format. New social individuals are produced endlessly in the corresponding estate through the format. At the same time, heaven and earth are naturally transformed, new resources are gathered, providing to the existence of society. Society is required to operate in such a way to exist.¡±


    ¡°Every social individual will be branded with the format of their society, but each individual will push back against the Social Format to some degree.¡±


    ¡°Student refers to the Learner. Learners can only receive the teachings of the Social Format in a unidirectional manner. They aren¡¯tplete social individuals yet, so they pretty much can¡¯t produce any utility in the society.¡±


    ¡°Office worker refers to the Worker, the basic social individual. They possess the ability to survive independently. They maintain the basic operation of the Social Format.¡±


    ¡°Technician refers to the Promoter. Their superiority over the Worker lies in executing optimizations in the Social Format. They are able to upgrade the efficiency of the format¡¯s operation.¡±


    ¡°Clergy refers to the Cognizant. They have a rtivelyplete recognition towards the Social Format and they¡¯ve begun to consciously exploit the power the Social Format.¡±


    ¡°Politician refers to the Changer. They are higher level Cognizants. They exploit the Social Format and consciously engage in altering the format with intentions of maximizing the benefits......¡±


    Mo Peng didn¡¯t have outstanding grades over seven subjects for nothing; he was a student of great ability. He immediately spoke when getting to this point: ¡°It sounds like this is some variation of social theory. There is a problem though. Is there a basis on how people are partitioned into this social hierarchy? Is there a uniform standard?¡±


    Luo Nan listened to Mo Peng and was speechless. But at this time, he felt the gaze of his uncle turn over in his direction. Luo Nan raised his head and looked right at his uncle. They looked straight at each other, and Luo Nan revealed a smile that contained a bit of bitterness.


    ¡°The standard¡¯s me! I am the standard!¡±


    Inside an independent ward of Anhai Medical Treatment Center, Luo Yuandao held a rectangr block and ced it lightly on top of a wall of blocks that towered half his height.


    His fingers were trembling, changed from an illness with his nervous system. His body was practically destroyed by this disease. He used to be quite tall, but his stature had long since copsed down. He was just skin and bones now, having lost so much weight that he was like another person. He looked iparably weak.


    Luo Yuandao had yet to hit eighty years old this year. In the current era, he had made his first steps into old age. Some people his age still didn¡¯t retire.


    But as for himself, Luo Yuandao was already approaching the limit, the end, of his life. He was standing stubbornly, continuing to build his work of art.


    Though his fingers and his arms were trembling, the blocks were ced upright and fit snugly in ce. He arrived at this result from over half an hour of control. He was determined to never give up so long as the oue was iplete. He maintained this resolution all the way until his work waspleted perfectly.


    The face, which was so withered it looked famine, exposed a smile. Luo Yuandao was clearly extremely satisfied with theposition in front of him.


    In reality, short constructed walls of blocks were not just in front of him, but to all sides of him as well. Luo Nan and Mo Peng could only talk to Luo Yuandao with these walls in between them.


    Next to Luo Yuandao was a middle aged woman who was extremely patient. This was his advanced special care nurse, Xing Hong1. She saw the final block be put in ce and asked him softly:


    ¡°Mr. Grandpa. Since this piece is done, how about we rest?¡±


    Luo Yuandao disregarded her. With this good mood of his, he wouldn¡¯t be so stingy as to ignore the questions of his two grandsons. His mouth split into a grin and his head looked like a giantughing skull:


    ¡°Obviously since I created this theory, I am the standard for determining all that must serve me. Why do you ask? All living beings are made for me, for my mind is the universe! I... am the collective master of all living things! I... am the core of the universe!¡±2


    Mo Peng looked away in embarrassment. Ordinary people would find it extremely hard to ept the logic of this paranoid and crazy old man. Mo Peng was bearing it very painfully right now. His father, who used to apany him by his side all the time, seemed to have gone to inquire on the condition of the old man; he wasn¡¯t here. Mo Peng didn¡¯t dare to utter a single word, and he felt all the more ufortable.


    However, there was someone who made Mo Peng feel even more ufortable, his little brother cousin that stood beside him. His cousin looked to be extremely engrossed and even a bit fanatical!


    My god......


    Luo Yuandao lifted another wooden block, held it in front of his eyes, and continued preaching: ¡°I know the truth of both heaven and earth. I can bestow the root natures of every living being. Take this wooden block. It¡¯s square, but it can also be circr. Square, circr. These are all just its external form. I can even change the root nature that it¡¯s endowed within. What does that make its external form!?¡±


    ¡°I used it to build this pce. This is my domain. If I wish it to be square, let it be square! If I wish it to be circr, let it be circr!¡±


    The wooden blocks toppled when he finished speaking, but this time this was due to him speaking overly excitedly. Without a proper location to ce the block, the block fell down from his hands towards the ground.


    Luo Yuandao reached out in reflex to grab the block, but he was unable to keep his bnce with his weak body and he fell headfirst forward.


    The people in the room cried out in surprise. Luo Nan rushed forward by instinct and supported his grandfather up. But his forward momentum had been too great. He had destroyed the building block wall making blocks fly all over. Then after the chaotic crashing sounds of blocks falling every which way, the room turned deathly silent in an instant.


    1. Xing Hong (ÐÕºé, literally Xing Flood). Xing is ast name.


    2. Here we have a variation of thest sentence in the original synopsis for this story. I believe I mistranted it before; instead of "All living beings are made for me" I tranted it as "All living beings prepare for me".

 Chapter 48: Schizo Disease (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 48: Schizo Disease (Part 1/2)


    Nurse Hong rushed over and straightened the old man up together with Luo Nan. She spoke over and over: ¡°It¡¯s alright. It¡¯s alright. There¡¯s cushioning installed to protect him against falls.¡±


    It was unknown if these words were meant tofort others or herself.


    Luo Nan supported his grandfather by the shoulder very gently and carefully. He didn¡¯t dare to touch his grandfather¡¯s arm, for he could feel that the twig-like arm would snap with just a tiny bit of force.


    But Luo Nan felt something, a slight press against his chest at this moment. Luo Yuandao¡¯s twig-like arm was sticking out, pushing Luo Nan away.


    Luo Nan recalled that his grandfather didn¡¯t like people other touching him, so Luo Nan didn¡¯t dare resist. Then he saw that Nurse Hong had already fallen back in passing to pull some distance apart from them.


    Luo Yuandaoughed at this time with the hoarse sound of his vocal cords rubbing against each other. He spoke in a strange but happy tone: ¡°You may have destroyed my shrine. But you¡¯re unable to stay in my nation for long.....¡±


    Mo Peng stood to the side. His reaction had been slow due to his scare, so hadn¡¯t been able to catch up to them. But in the end, he couldn¡¯t stand it anymore. He rubbed his forehead with his hand to alleviate his embarrassment.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t mind his grandpa¡¯s bizarre thinking. He saw that his notebook, which he had carried under his arm, had already fallen on top of the messy ruins of blocks during the chaos. He knelt down to pick it up, but a howl entered his ear just as his fingertips touched the book:


    ¡°MY SPOILS OF WAR!¡±


    Luo Nan was stunned as a ck shadow swept the floor in front of him. He looked up not by instinct, but by the pull of Mo Peng. Luo Yuandao¡¯s toe had swept over.


    Nurse Hong controlled the bnce of this old man in a fluster. Her mouth was pacifying him endlessly: ¡°Mr. Grandpa. Your spoil of war is still here. It¡¯s still here!¡±


    She gave Luo Nan and Mo Peng a meaningful nce in a hurry. In response, the two could only withdraw backward to create some distance.


    ¡°Bring it to me.¡±


    Luo Yuandao was clearly far crazier than before. His thoughts must have been quite energetic for him to boss people around.


    Nurse Hu adjusted the bnce device on Luo Yuandao. She wasn¡¯t able to reach it for a time, so she indicated Luo Nan toe over: ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Mr. Grandpa means what he says......¡±


    In other words, Luo Yuandao was already at the stage of declining logic?


    Luo Nan took a deep breath, suppressing the pain in his heart. He picked up his notebook into the palm of his hand. Then he gave it to the old man.


    Luo Yuandao reached out to grab it. This thick notebook¡¯s weight was a bit heavy for him. His hand trembled when he held onto it. Nurse Hong wished to help him, but he refused crudely.


    His trembling hand made it seem like he would drop the notebook at any moment, but in the end, he was able to flip open the notebook and gaze at the contents within.


    Luo Nan knew clearly that Luo Yuandao¡¯s current mental state waspletely on an iprehensible ne. But still, Luo Nan heart was filled with a nervousness like his homework was being graded.


    He stared at the old man, wishing to see what the result was going to be in the very end.


    ¡°This is a load of crap! A load of crap!¡±


    Luo Yuandao looked with an expression of disdain towards Luo Nan¡¯s speedily sketched and messy lines as he flipped the pages. In a certain sense, this would be a typical response of a normal person.


    Luo Nan was unable to describe the feeling he had in his heart.


    But Luo Yuandao ceased moving in the next second. His gaze lingered onto the page, his eyeballs seeming to focus a bit.


    Luo Yuandao had flipped to none other than the page containing the sketch of the prison that was covered with scrawls.


    A full five seconds passed with Luo Yuandao not making a single movement.


    Luo Nan¡¯s felt the plucking of his heartstrings. He stared fixed at his grandfather¡¯s ghastly face. A tiny and weak me of hope seemed to have sparked in his heart. He leaned forward a bit in hopes of seeing his grandfather¡¯s reaction just a bit clearer.


    Luo Yuandao felt Luo Nan¡¯s movement and nced at him. Suddenly he spoke a few words: ¡°You¡¯ve also achieved the aura.¡±


    ¡°Grandfather?¡± Luo Nan¡¯s heart was beating hard. He couldn¡¯t help thinking: He can tell? He can understand.....


    He wasn¡¯t able to hold back from advancing forward, but that withered arm pressed against his chest once more. Then Luo Nan saw a pair of crazy and cold eyes:


    ¡°You¡¯vee to kill me.¡±


    ¡°Grandfather!¡±


    Luo Nan¡¯s heart suddenly seized tight for Luo Yuandao had pushed him away with great force. Luo Nan stumbled from the mess of wooden blocks beneath his feet, nearly falling.


    Luo Yuandao saw how Luo Nan trampled on the blocks and grew even more furious:


    ¡°MY SHRINE! YOU¡¯RE PLUNDERING MY HOLY NATION! My students, my office workers, my technicians, my clergies, my politicians...... THEY¡¯RE MINE. THEY¡¯RE ALL MINE!¡±


    Luo Nan, who had just been supported up by Mo Peng, was stupefied on the spot upon hearing these words.


    Then he saw Luo Yuandao, who wasn¡¯t even able to stand steadily at all, start to do something crazy. Luo Yuandao lifted his leg and had it fall down. He kicked the three rtively intact walls until they toppled down.


    Nurse Hong saw that the situation was turning bad. She had already injected him with a sedative, but he was still uncontroble for a time.


    ¡°Grandfather!¡±


    ¡°Grandpa!¡±


    Luo Nan and Mo Peng were both terrified and shocked. They didn¡¯t know what to do at all. Nurse Hong had already called for a doctor, but it would be impossible for a doctor to instantly appear.


    Luo Yuandao trampled and overturned the entirety of his works. Then he raised his head towards the ceiling and howled with crazedughter:


    ¡°It¡¯s on fire! It¡¯s on fire!¡±


    ¡°Let the mes burn! Burn through this cloak of darkness!¡±


    ¡°The new god wishes to trample on the bones of the old god! To ascend the throne!¡±


    ¡°Come then! Come then! Let¡¯s see who¡¯s the master of the universe!¡±1


    This fierce and terrifying image was like an enormous hammer that pounded against Luo Nan¡¯s and Mo Peng¡¯s hearts in rumbles.


    In the end, these two were merely 15 and 16-year old boys. They wanted to help, but they feared to make the situation worse. They were at aplete loss on what to do when faced with this scene, for this was an elder family member who had gonepletely mad.


    Eventually, the doctor had made his way over in a haste and behind the doctor was surprisingly Mo Haihang and Luo Shuqing. Since Mo Peng and Luo Nan didn¡¯t know what to do to help, they could only inch their way out of the ward like controlled puppets to stand stupefied outside.


    A second really did seem like a year in this moment.


    Actually, it wasn¡¯t really long. It probablysted ten minutes at most. Luo Shuqing walked out of the ward and faced the two stupefied people,ughing: ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Grandpa¡¯s often like this. Only, he spoke more than usual this time.¡±


    Luo Shuqing¡¯s rxed attitude made Luo Nan and Mo Peng feel much better. They wanted to ask the situation in detail, but they didn¡¯t know how to ask.


    In the end, Luo Shuqing looked at the time: ¡°It¡¯s gettingte, and it¡¯s also Grandfather¡¯s resting time. Let¡¯s all go grab some food. The food here is quite decent.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right. Your grandfather has his outside walks at four in the afternoon. Do you want to go with him?¡±


    ¡°Sure!¡±


    Luo Nan agreed immediately. Then he became a bit worried: ¡°If I¡¯m here, will he......¡±


    ¡°Who do you think you are?¡±


    Luo Shuqingughed again, then sighed to look at Mo Peng.


    Mo Peng really was a bit unwilling to spend all his precious weekend time in the mental sanatorium, but Luo Nan had already expressed his confirmation so clearly. Mo Peng could only keep his mouth shut.


    At most he would y some more of ¡°Ten Days in the Wilderness¡±. Hmm. If he could pull Luo Nan into ying a few dozen of rounds in PvP and destroy him, now that would be quite refreshing.


    Luo Shuqing chuckled: ¡°Then it¡¯s settled. Oh right. I was just talking to the doctor and he rmended a deep sleep health pod. It can rx one¡¯s mood and lower stress. Let¡¯s give it a try as a family. This way we know what to do for our noon break.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    Luo Nan and Mo Peng looked face to face with each other. Each had the same thought pop up in their mind: Was this sanatorium engaging in some fake marketing?


    1. Another reference to the synopsis/title.

 Chapter 48: Schizo Disease (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 48: Schizo Disease (Part 2/2)


    Regardless of the thoughts of the two youngsters, Luo Shuqing and her husband, the intellectual Mo Haihang who possessed a doctorate, both appeared to be exhrated by the idea of the health pod. After lunch, they brought the two youngsters to a side building of the sanatorium.


    Although Luo Nan and Mo Peng appeared to have surrendered on the surface, they were actually nning something in private. If the timees when their parents would be sold on this product, they would firmly opposite it. They would absolutely prevent their parents from being swayed.


    The so-called ¡°Health Pod¡± was located in a ce that had a simr setup to the main building. There were individual rooms with special nursing personnel in each one. It was like a napping ce, but rather like a high-standard Spa...... As long as human resources were involved in this day and age, the seller could have as high as an asking price as he wished.


    Mo Peng¡¯s eyes lit up when he saw the sweet smile of a young nurse. The problem of this being a con was long forgotten. He was practically itching to go inside and give it a try.


    Luo Shuqing had booked four rooms in advance that were next to each other. They each selected one to enter. Luo Nan and Mo Peng room¡¯s were to the edge, and Luo Nan range of senses just so happened to cover the room next door. He heard that fellow ask bashfully:


    ¡°Do I need to take off my clothes?¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    Luo Nan was disinclined to pay attention to the other room. Right now in his room, a pretty nurse was performing part of the service. She was exining the various benefits and basic operations of the health pod.


    Luo Nan just took her words to be amercial. They went in one ear and out the other. Surprisingly he was quite interested in the health pod itself instead.


    Perhaps it was an impression left by a particr experience that Luo Nan felt something special about sustainment pods and the like. This didn¡¯t mean he felt fondness or hate towards it, but rather he had a feeling of vagueness that stemmed deep in his memories.


    The health pod was disyed in front of him and, like being imnted with a suggestion from a hypnotist, it was as if he had dived into the turbid murky waters of the deepest depths of his memories. This sort of feeling was veryplicated, very chaotic. But Luo Nan didn¡¯t dislike it at all.1


    It¡¯s true!


    Luo Nan followed the nurse¡¯s instructions and entered the pod. The cover closed and gentle music began to y with a faint flowery scent that seemed to blend into the background.


    Everything operated as normal as time progressed. The cover was made of a special material that turned from translucent to opaque, slowly blocking off light from the outside world.


    Luo Nan closed his eyes, thinking that it was quite pleasant to take a noon nap in this manner. But then seven, eight secondster, he suddenly opened his eyes:


    Something¡¯s wrong! There¡¯s something wrong with this smell!


    Luo Nan pressed the open button inside the pod by reflex and at the same time came a muffled sound. Someone was knocking against the health pod¡¯s panel.


    The cover turned back from being opaque to being translucent. Luo Nan¡¯s reactions had been quick. When the lid flipped open, the person outside went, ¡°Ah!¡± from nearly getting his arm pinched.


    Luo Nan sat up abruptly. The heavily chained crow was humming with earnest on the mental ne, the ce where his greatest strengthy.


    Anyway, he met face to face with the person outside the pod right at this moment.


    The pretty nurse was long gone. The person standing outside the pod was a young doctor wearing a white gown. He wore sses and looked rather schrly. He would give people a better impression if he spoke fewer words.


    ¡°Are kids these days all this impatient?¡±


    The young doctor stretched by habit and then sighed. He took out a proper and strict attitude: ¡°Student Luo Nan. I am your attending doctor. Zhang Yuliang 2.


    Luo Nan¡¯s gaze began as a cold stare, but gradually he felt that the appearance of this young doctor faking being serious matched with a certain someone in his memories. He couldn¡¯t quite grasp who it was for a while. It was only until the doctor finished introducing himself and when Luo Nan saw the nametag on the doctor¡¯s chest did Luo Nan probe out with a conclusion.


    ¡°You¡¯re...... Brother Octopus?¡±


    ¡°Cough. I¡¯m Zhang Yuliang. The Yuliang that means shining splendor. ¡°


    The more the young doctor talked, the more certain Luo Nan became. Luo Nan hushed himself and rxed, but he couldn¡¯t help wanting tough.


    On the night of the 28th, it was none other than this ability user who wore a cartoon octopus t-shirt. Although he looked funny, this ability user had disyed the exquisite ability to concoct hallucinogens. He took a room filled with dozens of people and turned all of them into idiots with confused minds.


    And now the white gown he wore, along with the gold sses he wore for fashion purposes, made it seem like he had grown older by ten years in an instant. At first nce, he was a highly educated professional doctor.


    But the funny charm hidden beneath this doctor broke through this phony appearance when those eyebrows were raised, reflecting out the side that Luo Nan was most familiar with


    ¡°Hi Bro Octopus, how¡¯s it going.¡± Luo Nan was still thinking about how Octopus had reached the level of perfection with his drug concoction methods. Luo Nan, being rather well-versed in the subject, felt great admiration towards Octopus.


    And, this outstanding hallucinogen master was working as a doctor in a mental illness sanatorium..... Hmm. Seems to match up quite well.


    ¡°This weekend shift was so chill, but then someone just had to destroy it. Things aren¡¯t going well at all.¡±


    Octopus ignored Luo Nan¡¯s good intentions. He swiped through the flexible screen in his hand until he found the relevant material. He spoke rhythmically:


    ¡°Schizophrenia. A serious mental illness that urs in 1% of the world poption and has a gic factor to it. Those who have family members with schizophrenia have their own odds of getting the disease increased by several-fold.¡±


    ¡°The examinee¡¯s grandfather is a patient with a serious case of schizophrenia. Four years ago, the examinee had a lung failure due to a disorder in the functionality of his nervous system and had entered the hospital for treatment. The hospital had notified the family of the possibility of death.¡±3


    The current diagnosis of the examinee is as follows. It seems that the disease has developed a step further. The possibility of development of the inherited disease is not ruled out. Improper electric stimtion, drug stimtion, and sudden emotional stimtion all have the possibility of triggering the disease condition.¡±


    ¡°Tsk Tsk. Mr. Psychic, I really didn¡¯t expect you to be this kind of person.¡±


    Luo Nan finally realized at this time: ¡°Bro Octopus. My Aunty and them......¡±


    ¡°Mrs. Luo Shuqing has stated that a certain person was speaking to himself quite a bit this morning. He had spoken words full of usations and warnings such as ¡°How is XX Corporation handling things¡± and ¡°I¡¯m down anytime¡±. Moreover, there was no clear rtionship between these words and his usual behavior at home.¡±4


    ¡°Therefore, Mrs. Luo Shuqing suspected that this were early symptoms of schizophrenia. She was also worried that about the resistive nature of a certain someone, so she went through with this n in order to have an examination done...... How pathetic that our sanatorium¡¯s high-end health pod was used as an anesthetic device.¡±


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t know what he should say for a time. But soon he came to: ¡°My Aunty and they absolutely wouldn¡¯t have been able to think of this convoluted n!¡±


    Octopus spread his hand: ¡°Isn¡¯t it the responsibility of a quality doctor to resolve difficulties between a patient and his family? And this health pod can also do brain scan imaging. It¡¯s quite convenient.¡±5


    He looked at the time: ¡°Your legal guardians will be here soon. Will you talk to them to make things clear? Or will you be good, lie down, and y pretend?¡±


    Luo Nanughed bitterly, but he immediatelyid down and closed his eyes.


    ¡°Smart choice. Oh right. I won¡¯t vite the taboos of the Society. For your body scans and the like, I¡¯ll use fake ones to handle things kay.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve troubled Bro Octopus then.¡±


    The lid of the pod closed once more, isting Luo Nan from the light of the external world. But even though things were like this, Luo Nan was actually able to sense the surroundings outside of the pod. He could ¡°see¡± his Uncle and Aunt open the door and enter the room. They were filled with a seriousness from head to toe. They had cautious and concerned moods.


    Luo Nan stopped paying attention to the specifics of Octopus¡¯s deception. He was absent-minded, his thoughts numerous and disorderly. He didn¡¯t know how time passed.


    1. Sustainment Pod. In Chapter 31.2, Luo Nan described to Xie Junping how his mother had suffered a fatal injury while Luo Nan was still in her womb, but she had managed to save Luo Nan by putting him in a sustainment pod. This is likely the deep memory referenced here.


    2. Zhang Yuliang (ÕÅè¤ÁÁ, literally Zhang Shining Splendor). Zhang is ast name. Of note is the fact that the characters of Octopus (ÕÂÓã, Zhang Yu) is pronounced exactly the same as part of Zhang Yuliang¡¯s name, Zhang Yu. So his name sounds like Octopus Liang. I¡¯m tempted to make his name Octo Pushine, but no one has a name like that in real life...


    3. Luo Nan¡¯s lung failure. In Chapter 2, it was mentioned that Luo Nan had a lung failure during his first attempt at using drugs to sculpt his mind.


    4. Luo Nan speaking out loud. In Chapter 46.2 and 47.2, Luo Nan had spoken out loud by ident when using the HexaEar due to hisck of training.


    5. This means that Zhang Yuliang was the doctor who came in Chapter 48.1 when Luo Yuandao was having his episode. Luo Nan and Mo Peng ended up waiting outside for ten minutes. This was when Zhang Yuliangmunicated this "deep sleep health pod" n to Luo Nan¡¯s Aunt and Uncle.

 Chapter 49: Internal Logic (Part ?)

    Chapter 49: Internal Logic (Part ?)


    Luo Nan¡¯s absent-minded statested until Octopus opened the health pod.


    ¡°Oh man. They¡¯re hard to fool. They¡¯re quite well versed in this subject.¡±


    Octopus took off his fashion sses and fanned himself with his flexible screen to give off the impression that he had it tough: ¡°I¡¯ve handled things for the time being. I just said that the symptoms weren¡¯t obvious at the present, so I didn¡¯t dare to make a conclusion. If I didn¡¯t say this, they would have certainly brought you to a different hospital for examinations. Fine. I admit it. Things aren¡¯t guaranteed right now. You should best prepare yourself.¡±


    ......Indeed, this was the situation.


    Luo Nan was at a loss. How could he possible prepare for this? For the days toe, would he be regarded as a schizophrenic by his aunt and uncle?


    Octopus saw Luo Nan¡¯s gloomy expression andughed: ¡°Don¡¯t be so distraught. They¡¯re right in a certain sense. Don¡¯t you know? In a certain sense, all ability users are schizophrenic.¡±


    Luo Nan raised his head stunned.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say this. It was President Ouyang¡¯s brilliant remarks. Ouyang Chen. President Ouyang. You know of him right?¡±


    ¡°Mm. He invented the HexaEar.¡±


    ¡°Yep, that¡¯s him. He is the one and only registered and true Extraordinary in Xia City¡¯s Society. He holds absolute authority in the realm of the mentally enhanced. You¡¯re also a mental enhancement type. You can consult with himter.¡±


    Octopus clearly admired President Ouyang. He reemphasized introducing the President before saying:


    ¡°President Ouyang has mentioned often that as an ability user one most possess the logic of the normal world as well as the logic of the inner world. Moreover, each Awakened should have their own set of logic.¡±


    ¡°Normal-World Logic helps with your basic living, like eating, drinking, shiting, pissing, and sleeping, and even helps you crack jokes. It gives youws to follow and moral rules for your behavior. It teaches you how to socially interact and simple principles of work. It lets you be an ordinary person of humanity......¡±


    Luo Nan went, ¡°Oh,¡± having realized that this was very simr to the definition of the ¡°Social Format¡±. Of course, there would be simr concepts that exist between any social theory.¡±


    ¡°Inner-World Logic refers to the logic of the small circle of an ability user. The model power, the focus on personal strength, and the ssification of different levels of abilities. It goes without saying that this is very simple. Just fool around in one¡¯s own circle. Just think of it like apetitive fighting society?¡±


    ¡°But there¡¯s a problem. The Inner-World possesses a tremendous influential power on the Normal-World. In other words, the logic of the inner world causes a warping in the logic of the normal world to take ce...... Yep. Isn¡¯t this like schizophrenia? Hmm. Or in other words, it¡¯s like a model embodiment of a mental disorder?¡±


    Luo Nan was forced to nod: ¡°It¡¯s a little bit simr¡±


    ¡°It has to be simr! The only difference is that schizophrenics are incapable of using their logic to influence reality. Their logic is imaginary, weak, and ridiculous. But our logic can do it. Our logic can get most people to concede to its rules.


    Octopus¡±s hand cut through the air as he gestured: ¡°If you take this reasoning and apply it to Self-Logic...... Remember, President Ouyang proposed that every Awakened should have their own set of logic, called Self-Logic.


    Luo Nan breathed in inexplicably. He felt a certain feeling of deja vu that was like a swelling tide of water that swept across his chest and head.


    Octopus continued exining: ¡°This so-called Self-Logic is an extensive set of theories that exin the origin of an ability user¡¯s ability......No matter how ridiculous it is, all you need is to form aplete logical chain that can be verified in practice from beginning to end.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s like those crazy people from those Secret Orders...... They engage in deviated paths of destion without loss to their power because of the logic they possess within. By using this logic, they seed in distorting the external world.¡±


    ¡°Let us use an example...... can I use your grandfather Mr. Luo Yuandao?¡±


    Luo Nan was speechless.


    Octopus continued exining without pause: ¡°I¡¯ve seen the symptoms of your grandfather before. I will disregard the pathological changed to his nervous system. He is the model case of having his Self-Logic be incapable of prevailing over External Logic. If he really did possess the extremely powerful force to influence the entire cosmos, then he would be correct! His words of being the core of the universe and the truth of the world would be as he says.¡±


    ¡°But in reality, he can¡¯t possibly possess that level of power. Therefore, we as ability users must not get caught up in delusions. We must follow the rules of reality and use our own true strength to sculpt and refine our logic within, to allow our logic to manifest itself perfectly in the external world.¡±


    Octopus had spoken this many words in a single breath, so he was a bit tired. He spread his hand to conclude:


    ¡°In this sense, every ability user is a psychotic that tries to use their Self-Logic to warp the objective reality. We are affected by the influence of both Normal-World Logic and Inner-World Logic, so we will inevitably grow weary. Therefore some people want to push boundaries and let ordinary people be used to the existence of ability users, let ability users lead this world. There are also people whopletely disregard, don¡¯t care, and don¡¯t make contact. The more extreme ones won¡¯t even recognize Normal-World Logic. They don¡¯t take non-ability users to be people. Some even eliminate non-ability users through killing.¡±


    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s quite unfortunate. You¡¯re very young and you¡¯ve already entered such an enormous mental sanatorium. You will have some hardships ahead of you. If you really need a suggestion, it would be better for you to rely mostly on Inner-World Logic. This is a sort ofpromise. After all, you¡¯re still not an awakened, but you¡¯ve started to develop your Self-Logic long ago. There is the possibility that you may still be deranged. And if you follow ording to Normal-World Logic, things will be quite awkward for you. You won¡¯t be able to proceed further on your path.¡±


    ¡°Therefore, participate in more of the Society¡¯s activities. Get acquainted with more people and make friends. Form your own circle. And slowly you will adapt. Mm. I suppose this would be some words of advice from a senior.¡±


    A wad of ¡°Logic¡± was stuffed into Luo Nan¡¯s brain, so his brain was stupefied for some time. But he could tell that Bro Octopus was a warmhearted person. Although Octopus¡¯s words were a bit mysterious, they were very helpful for Luo Nan. Octopus had really wanted to enlighten Luo Nan, so Luo Nan expressed his thanks solemnly.


    Octopusughed and waved his hand: ¡°No need to be polite. It¡¯s also a rare situation to be able to get the chance to fish up a psychic. Just don¡¯t let me rush too far ahead in future operations..... I¡¯m just a drug expert. I¡¯m not the material used to charge and break through enemy lines.¡±


    This was obviously just spoken in jest. But when Octopus had said, ¡°Drug Expert,¡± Luo Nan suddenly recalled that matter which had hung long in his heart. Luo Nan muttered to himself slightly before speaking:


    ¡°Bro Octopus has plenty of research towards theposition of mental drugs right? Then do you ept custom orders?¡±


    ¡°Of course I do. Just exin what you¡¯re using it for and its fine.¡±


    Octopus had responded without thinking, but then he immediately froze. His gaze changed as he sized Luo Nan up and down. He even rubbed his chin and muttered to himself. It took quite a while before he opened his mouth again:


    ¡°Mmm. I need to say this clearly, especially since you are a minor...... You don¡¯t have any bad habits right?¡±


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t respond directly. He congealed his thoughts telepathically a bit and used the HexaEar to transmit a molecr form to Octopus: ¡°I want this type of drug to be synthesized, is that okay?¡±


    ¡°You still want me to prepare drugs for you? My asking price is very..... Holy sh*t!¡±


    TL Note: To be honest, this chapter is really confusing even for me. Well, I did my best tranting this, but basically, I think the key concept is that ability users try to warp the logic of reality with their own logic and that failure to be able to do so is to go mentally deranged. Now the differences between Inner-World Logic and Self-Logic, well that¡¯s not too clear to me, but I¡¯m assuming it¡¯s like training in someone else¡¯s dao vs your own dao if I were to exin it in xianxia terms.


    TLDR: Normal-World Logic = Logic of the normal world/normal people/ordinary people; Inner-World Logic = Logic of the circle of ability users; Self-Logic = Logic of the self

 Chapter 49: Internal Logic (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 49: Internal Logic (Part 2/2)


    Octopus was stunned for a moment and his gaze focused onto Luo Nan: ¡°You know. If you really wanted to kill someone, you wouldn¡¯t need to use such aplicatedposition. Just take any chunk of this form, have enough dosage, and the results will be absolutely phenomenal!¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    Luckily Luo Nan didn¡¯t need to exin. Octopus¡¯s gaze grew zed as he sunk back to the world he specialized in.


    Luo Nan gripped his fist tightly as he watched Octopus¡¯s reaction.


    He had a means now!


    In this very moment, the drugposition, the theories behind it, and its usage had its value proven by having this professional study the form in earnest.


    This was undoubtedly the best piece of news from Luo Nan¡¯s perspective.


    He had directly given Octopus this molecr form. Wasn¡¯t this none other than the result he wanted?


    The health pod beeped out at this time, indicating that the sleep period was over. Luo Nan didn¡¯t want to disturb Octopus¡¯s thoughts, but when he thought of his uncle and aunting over soon, Luo Nan could not help but urge:


    ¡°Bro Octopus, can you tell me clearly whether or not you can make it? If you can, I will give sample doses and everything else for you.¡±


    ¡°Give me the initial ones......¡± Octopus¡¯s words were erratic.


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    Octopus watched Luo Nan closely once again with eyes unblinking. A flush of red painted his cheeks: ¡°This definitely isn¡¯t the first version, am I correct? Any ordinary person would have died long ago if they were to have their neurons targeted so many times simultaneously. But the purpose of this drug is not for recreation, am I right?¡±


    Amazing! Luo Nan could not help admiring Octopus. Octopus actually was able to tell this much data from just the molecr form.


    But thinking about it from a different point of view, perhaps these thoughts did not stem from his judgments and his level of expertise...... After all, Octopus was an Awakened in addition to being a drug expert.


    Luo Nan watched Octopus¡¯s reaction and really didn¡¯t know whether he should be anxious and angry or be conceited and proud.


    But he knew that if Octopus continued to stay behind in the room and was caught by his uncle and aunt, all their matters would be exposed. Actually, the two adults who had left had already appeared within his range of senses.


    It was toote to leave the room now!


    ¡°Go disappear immediately right now, then I will give you the first version. Okay?¡±


    Octopus¡¯s eyes shined and he didn¡¯t object. He pulled open the room¡¯s window and jumped down. A height of three stories was nothing more than a single step in a flight of stairs for him.


    Luo Nan took a long breath and tidied up his clothes. He confirmed that there was nothing wrong and went out the door.


    The door opened, giving Mrs. Luo Shuqing, who was just about to knock on the door, a scare. She sized up Luo Nan¡¯s face carefully a few times beforeughing:


    ¡°How was it? Was it effective?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s alright. But there¡¯s no need to buy it.¡±


    Luo Nan started his y with his aunt. Honestly speaking, his acting skills were quite appalling. Fortunately, his aunt had a load on her mind and the conversation between the two went a bit absentmindedly.


    Octopus started to harass Luo Nan intensely through the HexaEar at this time, pressuring Luo Nan to send him more information.


    The more anxious Octopus became, the more cool-headed Luo Nan became.


    Right now he needed to determine a new conclusion towards his grandfather¡¯s results..... Then he would need to make a decision!


    A tumultuous weekend afternoon was about to begin.


    The afternoon passed quite quickly actually. Luo Nan and Mo Peng yed a few rounds of Ten Days in the Wilderness after their midday nap. They yed until it was time for Luo Yuandao¡¯s daily walks outside.


    Two young boys apanied an old man carefully and cautiously, listening to this old man speak those crazy words. Luo Nan¡¯s aunt and uncle kept a bit of distance, quietly discussing among themselves. Everything looked to be quite peaceful, everything was going as routine.


    The problemid with Luo Nan¡¯s ear; it was incessantly noisy. Even though his aunt and uncle were far enough away, there were bound to be some words that fell into the range of Luo Nan¡¯s senses. Not surprisingly, the topic revolved around his mental condition.


    There was something else that came in a different direction, Octopus¡¯s endless pestering.


    Ever since Luo Nan gave the corresponding molecr form to him, it was as if raw salt had been poured onto this Octopus. He was going crazy. Amazement, puzzlement, doubt...... Everything was beingpletely smashed to pieces when faced with the living case that was Luo Nan.


    It was just as Octopus said. No matter how ridiculous the logic, one must acknowledge its existence when one¡¯s able to verify it in the world of reality.


    Right now Octopus was sitting in aboratory testing out the drugposition while moaning and groaning to Luo Nan:


    ¡°When I look at the first step, I feel like this is foolish. When I look at thest step, I feel like this is crazy. When the first step and thest step arebined together, I can specifically say....... That we¡¯re allplete trash!¡±


    ¡°Give me another one. Another one of those initial drugpositions you spoke of. All I need is just one more. I need to test some ideas!¡±


    ¡°Wait. Don¡¯t give it to me yet. My logic is exploding! My god, how is it possible toe up with all these steps? The neuron is transformed, its growth is increased, its degeneration is inhibited, and even the drug withdrawal response.... Everything is taken care of! Even if there¡¯s a brain hologram ced in front of me, I absolutely wouldn¡¯t be able to tell the entire course of events......¡±


    ¡°These results simply can¡¯te from humanity! Whether it be its creation or its consumption!¡±


    Luo Nan was nearly unable to stifle his excitement and pride when he had first heard these words. But slowly his passionate emotions gradually dissolved away one by one amidst the movements of his grandfather¡¯s weak and weird body.


    These words of praise... What use were they in regards to his grandfather?


    Even if this honor and prestige were given to his grandfather, would this old man, who lived sealed within his Self-Logic, be able to feel delighted?


    Even in the most realistic case, this old man¡¯s condition would continue to worsen in the sanitarian. He had been open all day for visiting, so Luo Nan knew that this piece of news wouldn¡¯t do any good from before.


    It would be no different than giving up treatment.


    Luo Nan studied the old man¡¯s withered face. Every single word and action of this old man flowed and permeated into the bottom of his heart. A thought grew clearer and clearer, stemming from within.


    The color of the day gradually grew dark. The patient visit had reached its end and the family prepared to return to the city. Luo Nan used the HexaEar to ask Octopus a few matters about the drug and Octopus tookplete charge:


    ¡°The Society has specialized fast delivery channels. It¡¯s absolutely safe, convenient, and fast. I can start supplying a fixed quantity starting tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Then I give Bro Octopus my thanks.¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing. This little thing,pared to the value of these two molecr forms, is just a drop in the ocean.¡±


    Octopus was eager to get started: ¡°Oh right. I want to write a paper based on these forms and submit it to the internal journal of the Society. Can you represent your grandfather and give me permission to do this?¡±


    Luo Nan was palpitating with excitement when these words were spoken.


    He understood quite well that he didn¡¯t have the ability to proceed further in researching and interpreting his grandfather¡¯s theory. And so, if there was someone able to rece him in conducting this and give his grandfather the proper reputation, then this would be the best choice he could make.


    Octopus¡¯s level in drugposition was outstanding and he didn¡¯t have any hidden agendas; the conversations had gone very pleasantly. He was an extremely decent candidate.


    In the Society, was Luo Nan suddenly about to set the n in motion of seizing back his grandfather¡¯s honor?

 Chapter 50: Schedule (Part ?)

    Chapter 50: Schedule (Part ?)


    After all, there was the lesson to be learned from Yan Hong. Luo Nan had to consider the issue of giarism.


    In the end, the Wilderness Explorers Society was not the academic circle. Academicpetition, contested ground, didn¡¯t seem to exist here. Instead, they cared more about practical results.


    The status of a psychic was exceedingly high without even taking into ount the special circumstances of the present. As long as he stood his ground and disyed the functionality of his grandfather¡¯s results, no one would be able to strip away his grandfather¡¯s achievements.


    He considered things a few more times, but he still decided to ce his trust with Octopus. He replied simply:


    ¡°You can.¡±


    Octopus burst intoughter on the spot: ¡°Excellent. Then I will prepare the power of attorney form. The Society uses a unified system, so we will need two people to act as notaries. Each of us will choose one person. Who will you choose? Your secretary?¡±


    Luo Nan was finallypletely at ease upon hearing Octopus take the initiative to say these words. He thought of He Yueyin¡¯s personality. Indeed, she would make the best notary and would agree to it.


    The family had already boarded the car right now and the car drove off from the sanitorium. Luo Nan sat shotgun again and he turned his head to watch the setting sun gradually turn blood red amidst therge buildings. He was silent for a time.


    A moment passed before he requested something of Octopus: ¡°My Grandfather is there. I ask you to look after him.¡±


    Octopus naturally pledged to Luo Nan: ¡°Be at ease! I never knew that there was such a god next to me before. Now I know. From now on, he¡¯s my grandfather too! I will be sure to visit him morning and evening and attend to him properly.


    ¡°......Cough. There¡¯s no need to follow my Grandfather too closely with his current condition.¡± Luo Nan was worried that Octopus was unable to think clearly, that Octopus would seize his grandfather as a treasure and interrogate him several times.


    ¡°I understand. I understand. It would be bad to disturb Grandfather with his current condition. Then how about you let me see Grandfather¡¯s records post haste?¡±


    Octopus was currently in an extremely interested state. His thoughts were jumping around at lightning speeds: ¡°Oh right. I heard you mention that Grandfather also had arge portion of his records lost. This is easy to deal with. Let¡¯s issue a mission in the Societyter. We just need to set the reward to be very high. For example, one Honor Point for one notebook. Do you think even President Ouyang would mobilize? Don¡¯t be scared about not having enough points, I can split the cost. Just give me aplete copy of anything rted to drugs and I will pay all the points okay?¡±


    Luo Nan smiled from Octopus¡¯s passionate surge of details. But soon Luo Nan changed the topic to something else:


    ¡°Oh right. Let me ask something else Bro Octopus. For an ability user, It doesn¡¯t matter how crazy one¡¯s Self-Logic is as long as their Self-Logic isplete and can be verified, right?¡±


    ¡°Of course! Just look at those Secret Orders with their Gods, Holy Sons and Daughters, and First Otums1. Their mysterious and magical abilities are way too overpowered. They¡¯re unstoppable.¡±


    Octopus has spoken all of this in a single breath, but he immediately felt that part of it was wrong so he rushed with some additional words: ¡°Mm. Mm. What¡¯s more important than aplete logic is the verification. The verification! If you can¡¯t meddle with reality, then you¡¯re just psychotic; you just believe you can meddle with reality. Now that¡¯s a serious mental disorder...... Oh, shoot! It looks like the things I just told you are things you find in the intermediate level seminars. This is beyond your scope. Don¡¯t let your imagination run wild!¡±


    No wonder Octopus worked in the mental sanatorium; he was very keen towards these questions. He even worried that Luo Nan would let his imagination run wild without bound. Luo Nan being at a young age, and also being a psychic, made it so that misunderstandings could easily give rise to extremely serious issues.


    Luo Nan watched Octopus continue to give him advice andughed: ¡°Rx Bro Octopus. I know. The most important task for me to do right now is to temper my body and achieve an equilibrium between my mental mind and fleshly body. Then through the dual channels of the mental mind and fleshly body, I shall slowly perceive this world to form an answer progressively...... I shouldn¡¯t spend my time interpreting this world right?¡±


    ¡°Good!¡±


    Octopus didn¡¯t know that most of these words were pointers from He Yueyin2. He immediately let out a breath of relief and greatly supported Luo Nan: ¡°Excellent. You have wits kid! One should move steadily, one step at a time. Indeed, your body iscking some polishing. But that doesn¡¯t matter. You¡¯re still growing man!


    ¡°When the matter with the Human-Faced Arachnid is over, I will give you a set of training methods for the mentally enhanced. You will certainly achieve equilibrium in just a few years time before your body finishes maturing. You will be an Awakened when that happens from relying on the foundation Iy for you. You should naturally find sess like a canal that is formed when water flows.¡±


    ¡°Oh right. I¡¯ll send you the study notes I took in the junior sses back in the day. You can refer to them for now. There are a lot of very fundamental things in them, but this information will still be useful even if you be an Extraordinary.¡±


    ¡°Luo Nan took a deep breath: ¡°Many thanks, Bro Octopus.¡±


    Luo Nan chatted a few more topics on fundamentals with Octopus before ending the call. Then he looked at the skies outside. The pitch ckness of night had already descended and the road lights to the two sides of the high-speed electromaic track were like two endless dragons of light. They extended dancing through the darkness. They seemed to merge together at the corners, but they would split apart in an instant. The dragons of light were harmonious and synchronous, yet they would find it hard to stay together forever.


    Luo Nan leaned against his chair. He stared absent-mindedly at the reflection of the two dragons of light.


    ¡°One dragon is Grandpa. One dragon is me......¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    Mrs. Luo Shuqing, who sat in the backseat, was extremely sensitive to Luo Nan¡¯s soliloquy. Actually, Luo Nan had yet to speak a single word since getting on the car. He was silent for a long time, making Luo Shuqing be highly alert.


    Luo Nan looked back and saw that his aunt was obviously very nervous. He had to do his best to put on a calm expression.


    He thought for a bit. Then he spoke in a low voice: ¡°Aunty. Can you tell me something? Grandpa...... How much time does he have left?¡±


    Luo Shuqing¡¯s face was filled with shock in an instant. Then she used an even clearer frown to cover up her appearance. She suppressed her voice down to the softest whisper:


    ¡°What are you daydreaming about!?¡±


    Luo Nan let out a deep breath: ¡°Two years?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be crazy!¡±


    ¡°One year?¡±


    ¡°Luo Nan!¡±


    Luo Shuqing had suddenly raised her voice, causing Mo Peng besides her to freeze up. On the other hand, Uncle never looked back. It was as if he didn¡¯t hear anything all this time. He acted as the driver in form.


    Luo Nan let out a long breath to stabilize the sharp rush of emotions in his mind and to do his best to keep the tone of his voice steady: ¡°Grandpa sensed something about my drawing......¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Luo Shuqing thought Luo Nan¡¯s train of thought was very bizarre.


    Luo Nan opened his notebook with a lowered head. He flipped to the page with the prison building and showed it to his aunt to see: ¡°Grandpa felt something about this drawing in the morning. Isn¡¯t that right Brother Peng?¡±


    Mo Peng¡¯s entire body felt uneasy when he heard Luo Nan take the initiative to call him ¡°Brother¡±. This must be a threat, but Mo Peng still nodded. Obviously the words ¡°It was none other than this drawing that made Grandfather go crazy¡± had to be stuffed down to his stomach.


    Luo Shuqing took the notebook and saw the numerous and chaotic lines. She had formed a different meaning from these lines though, and her eyebrows furrowed tighter. She closed the book, not wishing to look at the drawing any longer in order to focus her thoughts: ¡°Be straightforward. What are your intentions when all is said and done?¡±


    ¡°I want to draw a drawing that will make Grandpa truly happy when he sees it........ I want to make him happy! This is not easy to do. I will need time, but I just don¡¯t know how much time he has left!¡±


    Luo Nan turned his seat around to be facing Luo Shuqing directly. They crossed gazes: ¡°I need to n a schedule, so I hope Aunty you will be able to give me urate information to refer to...... Can you do this for me, do this for the eldest son of the eldest son of Luo Yuandao?¡±


    1. First Otum (Ê×¼À, literally Head/Chief Sacrifice). I mistranted this before as Head Zhai. I thought it was a name, but it¡¯s really a title. Otum is Latin for "to offer". The leader of the Order of Justice is known as the First Otum. (Chapter 44.1)


    2. He Yueyin¡¯s Pointers. He Yueyin gave Luo Nan pointers on how he should proceed with his training in Chapter 46.1.

 Chapter 50: Schedule (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 50: Schedule (Part 2/2)


    Luo Nan knew that although his aunt appeared powerful, she was very much a traditional woman. She put the importance of educating a child first. Her way of thinking was conservative. And she would often shift decisions towards the men of the family on certain principles and topics.


    Luo Nan was the sole heir of the Luo Family. His Aunt absolutely wouldn¡¯t be able to refuse just based on this fact alone.


    Luo Nan got what he wanted two minutester. But now he didn¡¯t know what he should say to his aunt. He could only turn his chair around and the car sunk back into silence once again.


    Luo Nan used his flexible e-ink screen to thumb through his grandfather¡¯s diagnosis records.


    There wouldn¡¯t be any clear and timely conclusions in these records, but there would be hidden meanings between the words and lines.


    Luo Yuandao had multipleplications in functionality ur from the pathological changes in his nervous system. He had lost the functionality of several organs at the present, so heid in an extremely dangerous state. In fact, hepletely relied on drugs and medical devices to keep him alive.


    In the eyes of a doctor, it was already quite the miracle that this old man was now able to walk, able to speak, and able to get angry. There would ultimately be a day when the intense stimtion of drugs would no longer be capable of surmounting the essentials for life, the failed organs. Who knows when this man¡¯s scales of fate would start tilting. Perhaps all it would take was a slight increase in tolerance towards a certain drug, then the bnce would be broken and everything would be irrevocable.


    Everything could be simplified into three words:


    At any time!


    Beyond all expectations, Luo Nan wasn¡¯t that shocked. It seemed that things ought to be this way.


    Some information came from the HexaEar once again; it was still Octopus. Octopus had sent Luo Nan the study notes he had taken back in the day. They were all on the junior level seminars he had participated in. He had written down the key information.


    Inside was a fundamental set of training theories for the realization and maintenance of equilibrium between mental mind and fleshly body. It was extremely typical and practical. Naturally, Octopus¡¯s intention of giving Luo Nan these notes was to give him some direction.


    Luo Nan skimmed through the writing, getting a general understanding of the notes as he flipped through its entirety. He saved these notes in the favorites folder within HexaEar forter use.


    His body leaned back against his seat and his gaze was cast outside at the two parallel dragons of light.


    The courses of these dragons of light were the same, but they would never be able to converge together.


    This was the way things must be under the rationality and rules of the normal world.


    If he were to draw something using the line of thinking of an ordinary person, his grandfather, a serious schizophrenic, would never be able to truly have the same interpretation towards the drawing.


    Five years of time. Luo Nan had spent a lot of time trying to use the logic of normal people to decipher his grandfather¡¯s theories. He even tried exining it to normal people...... even tried to convince them.


    But now he understood clearly: Grandfather¡¯s world of logic hadpletely departed from the dimension of normal people. What business did he have towards worldly reputation and justice?


    What Grandfather needed, or at least what Luo Nan believed he needed, was a definite, an open, a proper, and an unmistaken interaction.


    Only then would everything begin.


    The most important thing was logic.


    Luo Yuandao¡¯s logic was ssical. His Formatting Theory was simr in form to primitive philosophy. He advocated the nested rings of Self Formatting, Social Formatting, and Heaven-Earth Formatting.


    This type of nesting was not based on the external to the internal, the material to the mental, but rather the internal to the external, the expansion of the self towards the entire universe.


    It would be very hard for someone, aside from the founder, to like this sort of theory. This was because this theory took all existences besides ¡°I¡± and pushed them in the whirlpool of life inside of ¡°Me¡±, turning them all into ¡°My¡± servants.


    Luo Nan had followed the words of his grandfather for Self Formatting. And when he exined Social Formatting, he had also used the five-level structure of Student, Office Worker, Technician, Clergy, and Politician. He had understood it in a rtively impartial manner, intentionally or otherwise.


    But Social Formatting followed a form that Luo Nan had yet to discover; it was not a clear-cut model. The collective bodies of certain human societies...... There were many social theories out there and the majority of them didn¡¯t differ in nature from Social Formatting. In fact, Social Formatting was even a bit inferior.


    It was just as Mo Peng, who possessed outstanding grades in all seven subjects, had said: Where did the standard lie?


    Luo Nan had heard this answer clearly from the crazed roar of his grandfather:


    In me! The standardpletely lies in me!


    My students, my office workers, my technicians, my clergies, my politicians!


    The selfishness and arrogance were enough to cause one to vomit. They were extreme and to the pinnacle, enough to make one quiver.


    But when Luo Nan eliminated those unnecessary emotions, he had found aplete and clear trail of logic to follow.


    Luo Nan flipped through his notebook until he reached the page with the prison drawing. He also flipped to the page that had given rise to the wraith sign. These were the two psychic drawings that were left on paper. Then he flipped back and opened the flexible e-ink screen to enter the interface of the drawing software.


    There should be one more psychic drawing here. The one he drew on the night of the 28th. The third psychic drawing that was like a muddy river.


    But, it wasn¡¯t inside.


    He then long-pressed to enter the secondyer interface of the software. It was as if this ce had truly been submerged in the muddy waters of a river.


    Then could he understand things to be like so: The psychic drawing was imported in this sort of way?


    Luo Nan naturally knew the symbolism behind the psychic drawing since he was the one who personally drew it. The muddy river waters were the turbid flow of emotions wielded by the Human-Faced Arachnid, formed from the convergence of emotions of countless humans.


    It seemed that there was no one capable of breaking away from these dusky and muddy waters. And within this turbid flow, the Human-Faced Arachnid engaged in its hunt......


    Luo Nan stared at the fiveyer pyramid shaped structure. Humanoid sketches were densely packed inside. Although they were arranged neatly like ying cards, they were inexplicably hindrances to the eye.


    He trembled subconsciously for a moment like something was passing through a sieve.


    In an instant, the muddy flow of the interface turned even more muddy and turbid, as if it was being stirred by an enormous incorporeal hand. More importantly, the several hundred ¡°ying cards¡± didn¡¯t follow the functions of the interface to get reshuffled. Instead, the cards scattered all around. The thousand of humanoid images were like passengers of a capsized boat drowning in the water. They poured out from the five-level pyramid and they struggled, floated, and warped within the muddy waters.


    Luo Nan was undisturbed as he watched all this happen and he arrived at the appropriate conclusion:


    ¡°Everyone¡¯s struggling within the turbid flow of emotions.¡±


    ¡°A simple sketched portrayal is meaningless in regards to the Social Format.¡±


    ¡°I believed I had to ssify them into different categories, but actually this had no use at all.¡±


    ¡°What is truly significant is.....¡±


    His gaze was cast at the main body of the five level pyramid. It had already turnedpletely empty.


    No. There were exceptions.


    At the lowest level, student, there were two!


    Luo Nan¡¯s memories ran rather deep for one of them. It was the gift he had drawn not even two days ago. A certain man was brandishing with one arm and was holding onto someone¡¯s shoulder with the other. He seemed deranged but was also upright and unafraid...... It was Xie Junping under an extreme state1.


    The other was a fish. It looked to be very lively. It swam in circles within the muddy waters, but from start to end, it never surpassed the range of the Student Level.


    He stared fixed at the outline of this fish, which looked to be drawn in a casual manner. Luo Nan used his finger to trace two lines before confirming its history:


    Within the third psychic drawing was the portraying of several ability users as fish. The corresponding target was:


    ¡°Cat Eyes!¡±


    This was not the end. Looking up from the Student Level, crossing over thepletely empty Office Worker Level, and into the Technician Level, Luo Nan could clearly see a bizarre symbol floating in space.


    The Wraith Sign. Human-Faced Arachnid!


    1. Luo Nan¡¯s drawing of Xie Junping. In Chapter 33.1, Luo Nan drew a picture of Xie Junping as a gift portraying the moment when Xie Junping was defending Luo Nan against thewyer of a new investor.

 Chapter 51: Entering the Wrong Door (Part ?)

    Chapter 51: Entering the Wrong Door (Part ?)


    Luo Nan sat quietly in his seat as he stared at the nearly empty five level pyramid. He continued to deduce some conclusions:


    ¡°It is the same pyramid, but the contents that remain inside is as different as night and day. It should be because the ¡®Standard¡¯ ispletely different.¡±


    ¡°The stratification I had early before was a simple reproduction of the structure of society; anyone could be arranged within it. But this sort of structure didn¡¯t have a clear-cut and urate position for each individual. It¡¯s like a mass of parts piled together. No matter how much I demanded itspletion, it wouldn¡¯t be assembled into aplete and functional machine. It was meaningless.¡±


    ¡°Today¡¯s stratification has a simple and crude standard...... Whether or not it belongs to ¡°Me¡±? Under this simple logic, all existences that are unrted to ¡®Me¡¯ are wiped away.¡±


    ¡°As for what¡¯s the criteria for being ¡®Rted¡¯...... Obviously one must have a direct rtionship with my Self Formatting in order to be brought into this system.


    Asyers andyers of logic propelled his thoughts forward, the software interface continued to change. The heavily chained crow was like a giant python that moved about inside and outside the five level pyramid structure. But no matter how it moved, it maintained connections with Xie Junping, Cat Eyes, and the Wraith Sign inside the structure.


    The heavily chained crow symbolized ¡®My heart¡¯s a prison¡¯. The concretization of the Self Format.


    Luo Nan had used the heavily chained crow to annihte a clone of the Human-Faced Arachnid on Xie Junping. Cat Eyes had suffered the countermeasures of the heavily chained crow when she had impinged upon Luo Nan during his divination with the psychic drawing. As for the Wraith Sign, it had been under the heavily chained crow¡¯s control from beginning to end.


    These scenes shed one by one in Luo Nan¡¯s mind, and he made a footnote from his reasoned conclusions.


    Of course, differences existed between these three. These differences were reflected in how they were partitioned between these levels.


    Xie Junping and Cat Eyes were in the Student Level. ording to Formatting Theory, they did not contribute to the Social Format. Instead, they were Learners who received teachings in a unidirectional manner.


    Even though Xie Junping had gotten Luo Nan out of a predicament emphatically, even though Cat Eyes released her deep memories for Luo Nan, these only happened after they entered the Formatting System. Their inclinations were undergoing changes.


    From merely at the system level, Luo Nan waspletely unable to obtain any direct benefits from these two. And if a major stimtion would ur, they may likely refuse Luo Nan¡¯s teachings and walk out of the pyramid, parting ways with Luo Nan.


    The Wraith Sign, however, was absolutely Luo Nan¡¯s dog. It¡¯ll bite whoever Luo Nan wants it to bite. Its loyalty was off the charts and it possessed extremely powerful capabilities. More importantly, Luo Nan could obtain direct benefits from it. The benefits he could get were even higher than simply relying on training his body...... The gains from consuming the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s clones were already proof of this.


    And so, the Wraith Sign had entered the Technician Level.


    But the problem was that it wasn¡¯t self-aware. It was impossible for it to ascend to a conscious state. It had already reached its highest level.


    His deep thoughts arrived at this point. Suddenly, Luo Nan inexplicably felt a feeling of familiarity. The levels became clear to him. The progressively deepening links and feedback patterns. Where had he seen this before.....


    He traced back his memories in a single direction and found the relevant scene, the frozen frame of Grandfather roaring fiercely.


    Luo Nan pressed against his forehead, digging with his fingers. Then certain words suddenly smashed into his brain, lingering around and difficult to be dispelled.


    ¡°Shrine. Holy Nation. New God. Old God...... God. God?¡±


    Within the crazed speech of his grandfather, the frequency of words rted to ¡®God¡¯ was extremely high. And these words were held in core positions of the speech.


    If it was the past, Luo Nan wouldn¡¯t pay attention to this. But now his scope was broadened wide. It would be hard for his thought process to remain simple.


    He closed his eyes, connecting into the Psychic Wave Network via the HexaEar and entering into the interface of the professional society. Then he searched for the item ¡°Secret Order¡± to look up relevant information on the structure of these organizations.


    Soon, arge quantity of information surged forth. It seemed that the filtering function of the AI installed in the Society¡¯s Psychic Wave Network wasn¡¯t that impressive. Luo Nan could only search andb through the data with difficulty until he found this sole section that drew his attention:


    The overwhelming majority of Secret Order founders have been unavoidably influenced by current existing social culture. In the beginning, they often refer to ancient myths, mainstream religions, and historical legends to build the basic structure of their sects. They even model things off of novels and games, smearing their sects with various fantastical vors, yet they set up strict rankings. The concrete ideas are myriad in diversity.....¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s refer to the Secret Orders that have existed for at least ten years. One must admit that a convergence in nature has appeared in a veryrge degree, a degree sorge that it¡¯s shocking. Most notably is the structure of these organizations. The three major world Secret Orders all practically agree by chance to divide their internal members into four rankings. They may call these rankings by different names, but the implications of each are very simr. I will take all these Secret Orders and exin it as a unified whole: Shallow Believer, Devoted Believer, Mad Believer, Favored.¡±


    ¡°As the name implies, the cultists of the four levels have different degrees of devotion and dedication towards their ¡°Gods¡±, and there are also differences in the favors and awards given by their Gods. The facts can be verified. These Gods, these First Otums, have real and true offerings, demands, and feedback from each and every ranked disciple that are strictly determined by ranking. These organizations possess simr but strict and feasible logic to form systems that are stable even until today.¡±


    Luo Nan only read half of it, but he already felt that this article matched really well with his ideas. It answered his questions precisely, so Luo Nan took care to look at the author¡¯s name. He never thought that it would be a familiar one.


    ¡°Bamboo Pole......¡±


    In case this wasn¡¯t known before, this was the skinny and tall person that was in charge of the intelligence work on the night of the 28th. Luo Nan remembered that this person was all smiles, but his words were actually quite sharp.


    Luo Nan¡¯s impression deepened for this person¡¯s exnation corresponded with his own situation.


    Now he finally understood where the familiar feeling came from. The four rank structure of Secret Orders...... Its definitions can certainly be borrowed from some novel or some game, but it seemed to bepletelyparable with the pyramid structure.


    Even though the pyramid structure had five levels, the topmost Politician Level¡¯s definition was fairly special. It represented the subversion and negation of the entire format. It didn¡¯t need to be discussed for now.


    The lower four levels were highly reasonable matches.


    Looking at his grandfather¡¯s Formatting Theory, or at least the Social Format level, from this perspective, wouldn¡¯t this be an exined ability system......And wouldn¡¯t it be nted more towards the standpoints of Secret Orders?


    Then what was he now? A poorly developed god?


    Luo Nan rubbed his forehead with greater force.


    ¡°Tired? We¡¯re almost home.¡± His uncle suddenly spoke.


    Luo Nan went ¡°uh,¡± jumping out of his state of reflection. It seemed like his behavior just now made his uncle and aunt worry. He thought for a bit, then smirked lightly:


    ¡°I¡¯m not tired. I¡¯m just a bit hungry.¡±


    His uncle went, ¡°Mm,¡± and he turned around to talk to his aunt: ¡°It¡¯ll bete to make dinner when we get back. Do you want to let Old Mo make a nutritious meal, or shall we get by with something outside?¡±


    Mo Peng shouted with fright: ¡°God. Don¡¯t let that old man work!¡±

 Chapter 51: Entering the Wrong Door (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 51: Entering the Wrong Door (Part 2/2)


    Old Mo was the family¡¯s AI housekeeper. When they had purchased this AI, they had identally chosen the Environmentally Friendly Green option. The cooking menu of this artificial intelligence would forever be filled with low-fat and high protein options. And the healthy meals it would make tasted more like drugs than food.


    Being middle aged, Luo Nan¡¯s aunt and uncle would asionally try it when they were toozy to cook; they were indifferent to it. But from Mo Peng¡¯s perspective, he would rather drink boiled water!


    Luo Nan felt the same way, but he had exhausted a great amount of mental energy, so it would still be best to replenish himself with a healthy meal.


    Uncle saw the horrible expressions on these two youngster¡¯s faces and was willing to concede: ¡°Then let¡¯s go out. There¡¯s a new restaurant nearby that¡¯s pretty decent.


    He then used the car¡¯s AI to book a meal online. Their luck was pretty good. He was able to ce an order even though they had entered the bustling market district of Xia City and it was dinner time.


    The SUV cut into a differentne, entering the bypass light rails of a skyscraper, gradually leaving theyer of traffic.


    Xia City extended from the ground to the high skies with its twentyyers of traffic. The top fiveyers were dedicated for aviation, the other fifteenyers of traffic mostly passed through the bypass light rails of various skyscrapers, allowing to switch and bypass into differentyers.


    Every night, many of therge skyscrapers would light up and look like spiraling revolving neonnterns. Thousands upon thousands of flying cars shuttled crisscrossed between each other to form rivers of light that seemed to flow for eternity. It was filled with a beauty of social order.


    Luo Nan just so happened to see this phrase ¡°social order¡± appear in Bamboo Pole¡¯s writing.


    ¡°We observe the appearance of irrational indicators in the majority of Secret Orders, but a high degree of unity and social order ultimately appear in and amongst every Order. It makes one skeptical how everything irrational is stuffed into a hard, firm, and strict framework. Perhaps it¡¯s some sort of miraculous machine that pumps out orderly products when stuffed with irrational materials. I have been unable to find an exnation that fits this besides that this is aplete Ability Exnation System.


    ¡°We can match the four rankings of Orders to the Ability Exnation System within the Society. The Shallow Believer corresponds with the unawakened ability user. The Devoted Believe corresponds with the Awakened. The Mad Believer corresponds with the Undertaker. The Favored corresponds with the Extraordinary. Basically the rankings much up quite well. Is the Ability Exnation System just another means to achieve the same end? If this is true, the Society is quite willing to sit down and have breakfast together with the Secret Orders. But in reality, there exists a serious divergence Between the Society¡¯s and the Secret Orders¡¯ exnation system.....


    ¡°The Society, Orders, and there are even Burners. What does this mean for so many different systems to exist simultaneously? We¡¯ve only seen one side to this truth. Could it be that this world is like a sandwich? Or is it like a multiyered crepe? Removing oneyer reveals another. It just depends on how you eat it.....¡±


    Bamboo Pole¡¯s article was quite long, so Luo Nan only read for an approximate understanding of it. Still, it was quite clear what was Bamboo Pole¡¯s purpose for writing this paper. He wanted to discuss the opposing systems between the Society and Secret Orders while correcting preconceptions of scorn.


    Anyway, Luo Nan¡¯s feelings departed a bit from Bamboo Pole¡¯s desired objective.


    ¡°It seemed I entered the wrong door......¡±


    Luo Nan had a certain tiny ridiculous thought. Now it looked like his Formatting Theory leaned more towards Secret Orders.


    For instance, weren¡¯t Xie Junping and Cat Eyes Shallow Believers?


    And it wouldn¡¯t be a problem to say that the Wraith Sign was a Mad Believer.


    The standard of the Social Format was more like a typical God serving as the core for the constructed system of a Secret Order.


    If these facts were true, then his Self-Logic would be a serious deviation from the Ability Exnation System advocated by the Society. So what was the point of entering the Society?


    Of course, what Luo Nan really wanted to know was why did his grandfather¡¯s theory matched so closely with the Secret Orders¡¯ Systems?


    Was it a coincidence? Or was there a different reason?


    Luo Nan doubted that he would receive an answer soon.


    The family had already arrived at the restaurant. A server guided them to their booked table and they sat down. The atmosphere of the restaurant was quite decent. Pseudo-ssical wooden shutters let rays of light shine through and also focused on privacy. It was rtively peaceful, even though there was a decent amount of people.


    Luo Shuqing was very much satisfied: ¡°You chose a nice ce.¡±


    For youngsters, this kind of atmosphere was a bit old-fashioned. Mo Peng was not interested in the surroundings; he just lowered his head to y games after ordering his meal.


    Luo Nan went to the restroom. His thoughts had reached a roadblock; he couldn¡¯t avoid the matters that weighed heavily on his mind. He went all the way with his head down, paying no attention at all to the matters in his surroundings.


    But someone called out to him while he was washing his hands: ¡°Mr. Luo?¡±


    Luo Nan was startled for a bit, then he raised his head to see a forty-year-old man with a tall and big body. He looked to be lean and calm. Luo Nan felt only that this person was familiar. He had to think about how this man had called out to him before realizing that only those who had participated in the operation on 28th had called him by ¡°Mr. Luo¡±.


    Yes. This was one of the four bodyguards that He Yueyin brought with her. He was in charge of looking over Xue Lei, the ck Wolf, and other wounded people. He was a very steady man.


    However, Luo Nan was unable to recall this person¡¯s name no matter how hard he tried. He was a bit embarrassed.


    This bodyguard was quite sophisticated. Heughed and extended out with his hand in response, introducing himself again: ¡°Zhou Hu1. I didn¡¯t greet Mr. Luo that day. Apologies.¡±


    Luo Nan rushed with a ¡°Brother Zhou,¡± and spoke somewhat baffled: ¡°Brother Zhou since you¡¯re here, is Sister He here too?¡±


    ¡°Nope. I¡¯m off today. I came here for a private dinner. My old team ofbat buddies...... Oh right. Crag Burst is here too.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    Luo Nan had a much deeper impression towards Crag Burst, a fellow Society member. This valiant closebat expert acted as his protector during the operation. Though he didn¡¯t encounter a chance to disy his skills, that two-meter tall buff giant gave off quite the feeling of safety. Luo Nan had even added him as a friend using the HexaEar.


    ¡°Yourbat buddy?¡±


    ¡°We saw each other before, but we weren¡¯t deep friends. However, now we¡¯re familiar with each other.¡± Zhou Huughed and invited Luo Nan, ¡°Mr. Luo,e over and join us?¡±


    ¡°Not this time. Tell Crag Burst I wish him well.¡±


    Luo Nan was not good at these sorts of exchanges. He said these words and was just about to leave when he turned his head and so Mo Peng¡¯s short and stout body make his way inside.


    Mo Peng was shocked for a moment when he saw Luo Nan clearly chatting with this middle aged andrge man. However, he didn¡¯t think much about it. He called out to them and then went to relieve himself.


    It would be awkward for Luo Nan to leave now. He faced Zhou Hu with augh: ¡°That¡¯s my older cousin......¡±


    Zhou Hu understood, leaving first with goodbyes.


    As soon as he left, Mo Peng came next to Luo Nan to wash his hands. He spoke through grimaced teeth: ¡°You met someone you knew? Dad did too. This ce is evil......¡±


    He hadn¡¯t finished speaking his words when someone else came in.


    Luo Nan was standing with his back faced against the door at this time. That person saw Luo Nan from behind straight on, as well as the side of Luo Nan¡¯s face in the mirror, and that person suddenly trembled, turned around, and walked out.


    Mo Peng just felt that things were really weird: ¡°We¡¯re all guys here. Can he still say he went in the wrong door?¡±


    1. Zhou Hu (ÖÜ»¢, literally Zhou Tiger).

 Chapter 52: Yan Yongbo (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 52: Yan Yongbo (Part 1/2)


    As Mo Peng¡¯s voice faded away, the person who had just left came charging back in a hurry. He made his way inside with a lowered head. It seemed like he couldn¡¯t hold on any longer.


    Mo Peng felt that this person was absolutely weird, so he startingughing.


    Luo Nan had the vague sensation that he was the reason for this person¡¯s bizarre behavior He swept a nce at this person¡¯s face and saw that he was quite young. He wore old-fashioned gold sses and looked to be like Bro Octopus at first nce. However, this person had shiny hair and smooth skin, looking to be a bit effeminate.


    He looked familiar, but Luo Nan was unable to recognize him.


    In any case, it would be bad to block someone off at the urinal to interrogate them. Luo Nan could only keep this person in the back of his mind as he and Mo Peng exited the restroom. They continued their conversation in a smooth manner:


    ¡°Who¡¯s the person Uncle met? Was he from work?¡±


    ¡°He looks likes a rich person? He brought a bodyguard and awyer. Seems like he came to talk business. He looks to be quite young.....¡± Mo Peng could only recall this much.


    The two strolled down the hallway at a pace that was not urgent nor slow. Then footsteps rang out from behind them. The young Wrong-Door Man had just left the restroom and was walking in the same direction as them, but he ended up going into a different room midway.


    The distance was just right. Luo Nan released his mental senses to see what was going on inside the room. Right when he was sizing up each person¡¯s face, a sentence struck his ear:


    ¡°This ce is evil. We talked about him and now he¡¯s here.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°The one we were just talking about. The one who nearly choked Li Xuecheng to death1, and who entered into the Order Club.¡±


    ¡°Oh dang! That nutjob!¡±


    ¡°......¡± Luo Nan couldn¡¯t refrain from touching his face.


    Luo Nan had already advanced past the range of his senses after hearing thest sentence, but it should be fine even if he didn¡¯t hear the rest of it. He finally recalled who that Spectacled Male was. He was one of Xie Junping¡¯s good for nothing friend. His name was probably Liu Tao2. He was the one who initially described the Darksider life form.


    Luo Nan was quite familiar with two~three people within the room. He should have met them all face to face on the warship, and they¡¯re probably the small group of rich kids.


    Luo Nan just didn¡¯t expect that he would be a bit famous within that circle...... Even if it was infamy.


    He no longer paid attention to these people, and he entered therge hall with Mo Peng.


    Dialog still continued on within the room. While it was true that they were the circle of rich kids, a more urate description would be that they made up most of the key members of the Construction Society...... They were only missing Li Xuecheng, who was resting in the hospital.


    They were supposed to be having dinner with the manager of their co-financer, the Rainbow Fund3. But the manager was runningte so they had yet to start dinner. They were bearing it with pain, so all they could do was to shoot off gossip to keep things alive.


    ¡°This kid¡¯s rtionship with Xie Junping is not clear at all. I heard that Li Xuecheng called the Broken Souls group to gang up on him the day after4. Not only was he unsessful, he was also sent to the hospital by Xie Junping5......¡±


    ¡°I think you have it wrong. Howe I heard that this matter had something to do with Lian Jieyu?¡±


    ¡°Have you seen Xie Junping and Lian Jieyu hang out together in the past two days? It seems like that rtionship is already over......¡±


    Then the host Lang Ding6 stood up at this time: ¡°I just got in contact with him. He¡¯s outside. I¡¯ll go out to wee him.¡±


    Liu Tao stirred out with a problem. His happiness soon died down a bit: ¡°This kid is quite the big shot. We don¡¯t even know his name or what he looks like even up until now......¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s alright as long as he knows the procedure behind the Rainbow Fund¡¯s official seal.¡±


    Lang Dingughed and called a few people to go with him. They headed to therge hall.


    Luo Nan and Mo Peng had already entered therge hall at this time. He saw the four-person table that his family had booked in the far distance. It was actually full and there was even one more person standing up.


    Mo Peng rolled his eyes upon seeing this: ¡°They¡¯re still not done chatting? They can¡¯t be joining us for dinner right?¡±


    Luo Nan walked closer and the pseudo-ssical shutters no longer blocked his view. His foot suddenly trembled as the appearance of the person standing outside entered his eye.


    The person standing was swift and fierce. His skin was dark and shiny. His ice cold gaze swept in his surroundings in vignce. He had the appearance of a bodyguard. When Luo Nan¡¯s gaze swept across, the dark-skinned bodyguard reacted at the same time, casting his deep and cold gaze over.


    It was that dark-skinned man he saw at Gear...... The Burner7!


    Luo Nan¡¯s eyebrows creased slightly. His pace paused a bit, then he increased in speed as he walked directly over.


    He saw who the other two people besides his aunt and uncle were sitting down. One was thewyer he had seen on that day. Another was a man who looked to be around thirty years old. He had a handsome appearance and seemed to beughing, but the creases on his face made it obvious that he maintained a serious expression all year round, causing his smile to appear stiff and distorted. He also gave off a bit of an inexplicable cold air.


    But what gave one the deepest impression was located near the rim of this man¡¯s eyes. It was an abnormal appearance of the color of blood entwining with tendons and muscles. It made a stark and demonic contrast with his smile.


    That¡¯s right. This man¡¯s eyes were crimson red.


    As the distance drew closer, Luo Nan drew a step closer to confirming that the atmosphere in the booth was absolutely abnormal. Uncle¡¯s expression was calm and Aunt¡¯s expression was a deep as water. Neither spoke a word, there was no trace of happiness of a reunion between old friends.


    That red-eyed man was also silent. The voice that came out of the booth was the elitist ent of Lawyer Zhu:


    ¡°I am temporarily unable to exin the intentions behind Mr. Yan¡¯sst minute proposal to transfer. However, with my professional foresight, I believe that there are many mechanisms at y......¡±


    Luo Nan and Mo Peng already walked right outside the booth at this time. The dark-skinned bodyguard had stared at Luo Nan all this time. Luo Nan didn¡¯t feel much from this openly cold gaze, but Mo Peng could no longer take it.


    ¡°I say that there¡¯s something wrong with this atmosphere......¡±


    The red eyed male saw them at this time. He waved his hand, indicating to Lawyer Zhu to stop. His gaze turned and fell directly onto Luo Nan¡¯s face. He paused a bit but took the initiative to stand up and crack a smile.


    This smile was extremely grotesque.


    His lips were opened wide and the two corners of his mouth were deliberately tightened up to affect the muscles of his cheeks. His eyes didn¡¯t squint from this smile but instead erged. The crimson red corner of his eyes trembled slightly. That bizarre distorting of his face was indescribable.


    ¡°This must be Luo Nan. I remember thest time I met you, you just came out of the womb 8 . You weren¡¯t even as big as a hand. And so you¡¯ve grown up......¡±


    ¡°YAN YONGBO9!¡±


    Luo Shuqing had mmed the table with a bang! Her voice had never been this furious and intense.


    The entire restaurant went quiet. The customers further away all turned their heads around to look.


    The server made his way over in a hurry, wishing to find out what was going on.


    And this also drew the attention of Lang Ding¡¯s group, who had just entered therge hall and were looking around. They first saw the familiar dark-skinned bodyguard without noticing anything else.


    ¡°Hey! They¡¯re here.¡±


    The group came over with their curiosity. Lang Ding, who lead the way, first saw the situation within the booth. His gaze flitted across from Luo Nan¡¯s face and fell onto the red-eyed man¡¯s face.


    His expression changed colors in an instant. He cried: ¡°Yan...... Professor Yan?¡±


    The members of the Construction Society¡¯smittee followed behind him. Some were at a loss, some were stupefied. But all those who were able to recognize this face had this thought run secretly in their mind:


    This financial backer...... his schemes run so deep!


    1. Li Xuecheng (Àîѧ³É, literally Li Excel at Learning) being choked. Luo Nan sent Li Xuecheng a hypnotic suggestion to stop breathing when Li Xuecheng had destroyed his flexible e-ink screen on the warship in Chapter 9.2.


    2. Liu Tao (ÁõÌÕ, literally Liu Pottery). Liu Tao was introduced in Chapter 13.1 and was an exposition tool to describe the Darksider life form.


    3. The Construction Society getting the financial backing of the Rainbow Fund. The Construction Society and the Mystic Arts Research Society are the two major societies bidding for the assets of the Order Club. The Construction Society received the financial backing of the Rainbow Fund, which will tilt the scales more towards them. Described in Chapter 32.1.


    4. Li Xuecheng¡¯s attempted revenge. Li Xuecheng hired a group of thugs to go beat up Luo Nan, streaming it live after he kidnapped Lian Yu (Chapter 19.2) to watch the result together. Luo Nan gets saved by a mysterious person who runs off chasing the thugs (Chapter 20.1-2). Luo NanHe meets this person, Xue Lei,ter on, and they be friends.


    5. Xie Junping (л¿¡Æ½, literally Xie Handsome Peaceful) sending Li Xuecheng to the hospital. Xie Junping rescues Lian Yu and beats up Li Xuecheng in Chapter 20.2.


    6. Lang Ding (Àɶ¦, literally Lang Cauldron). Lang Ding is the chairman of the Construction Society and was introduced in Chapter 32.1.


    7. Dark-skinned Man, aka Hei Lianpi (ºÚÁ³Æ¤ literally, Dark/Hei Skinned Face). Luo Nan encountered this Burner the first time back on the Warship (Chapter 16.1). Luo Nan meets this person again at Gear in Chapter 32.1 with thewyer of the Rainbow Fund. His full name was given in that chapter. He was first mentioned in the story as Old Hei in Chapter 12.2 and was seen working under Yan Yongbo on the Warship.


    8. Luo Nan (ÂÞÄÏ, literally Luo South)ing out of the womb. In Chapter 31.2, Luo Nan describes how his mother had suffered a fatal injury in his grandfather¡¯sboratory out in the wilderness due to some sort of attack/chaos that happened. She removed Luo Nan from her womb and ced him in a life-sustainment pod to save him. The fact that Yan Yongbo was there to witness this implies that he was involved with the chaos that happened in theb.


    9. Yan Yongbo (ÑÏÓÀ²©, literally Yan Always Rich). Yan Yongbo was first introduced at the end of Chapter 11.1. He is the son of Yan Hong and was also a professor at Acumen College like his father. He voluntarily retired in the year 2090 for some unknown reason. He is also the Burner from Quantum Corporation who assisted He Yueyin in killing the burning wraith on the warship.

 Chapter 52: Yan Yongbo (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 52: Yan Yongbo (Part 2/2)


    Most of the key members of the Construction Society have been at Acumen College for over 10 years. Yan Hong¡¯s academic scandal happened six years ago, sending waves of shock in the entire world. These key members certainly hadn¡¯t forgotten the causes behind this.


    And most of all, wasn¡¯t Gear none other than the topic they¡¯re focused on right now? The scene of the academic scandal, which made the world go in an uproar, centered on the ¡°ident¡± that happened in the undergroundboratory of Gear.


    Yan Hong deliberately manufactured an ident while faced with the usations of the entire world. He destroyed the evidence in the crudest way, covering up his crimes and painting Acumen College, which had the administrative duty, in a dark light.


    Yan Hong disappeared without a trace with the fingers of countless people pointing at him. And Yan Yongbo, who served as a professor at Acumen College, also disappeared.


    The absolute majority of people felt that these two would never be seen again.


    But now they were here like a fierce p to the face.


    ¡°It really is Yan Yongbo. He taught a ss I took before.¡±


    Liu Tao recognized Yan Yongbo and could not hold back from poking one of hispanions in the side: ¡°Hey. Is he the one in charge of the Rainbow Fund? They have a credit limit of over ten billion...... It seems he¡¯s being backed by Quantum Corporation. Is Yan Hong going to make a killereback?¡±


    The fellow shook his head. He had nothing. He was unable to answer this question.


    Yan Yongbo¡¯s devilish crimson pupils swept across Lang Ding¡¯s and the others¡¯ faces. He gave a slight nod; this was his greeting. Then he turned his gaze to the furious Luo Shuqing, giving a slight bow:


    ¡°Apologies Mrs. Luo. My words have been inappropriate. Actually, I¡¯ve quite admired, respected Senior Qingwen. So the first thing I¡¯ve decided to do upon returning is to purchase Gear, the immortal work designed by Senior Qingwen back in those days. Those days... I also hope to restore glory to my dear father¡¯sboratory......¡±


    Luo Shiqing did not hide her emotions at all: ¡°What wishful thinking!¡±


    Yan Yongbo was not rash nor impatient. He raised his hand and tapped his temples: ¡°Right now, I have the ability to turn this dream into reality...... Oh, how embarrassing. I forgot that you all haven¡¯t eaten yet. I won¡¯t disturb you for now. We can talk about the matter of the transfer in the future.¡±


    He walked directly out of the booth and Lawyer Zhu rushed to follow behind.


    Luo Nan stared cold fixed at this strange man from outside the booth. At first, he didn¡¯t know who Yan Yongbo was, but now it was clear:


    He was that person...... Yan Hong¡¯s son. The word ¡°Feud¡± would not be enough to describe it. And it didn¡¯t matter which side it was, none had any intentions of dissolving their hatred.


    Yan Yongbo walked to the side of Luo Nan, seeming to just brush past him. Yet he suddenly twisted his head and faced Luo Nan¡¯s cold and clear eyes with that warped smile.


    ¡°Oh, yea. My father and Mr. Luo Yuandao have worked together for several years, and I have worked with Mr. Luo for a period of time as a student and a research assistant. We were all schoolmates of Acumen College, Senior Zhongheng, Senior Qingwen, and I...... If there¡¯s the chance for us to coexist. I hope that we will be able to continue the fate between our two families in Gear.¡±


    Luo Nan was disinclined to respond to these meaningless words.


    But Yan Yongbo suddenly turned around without any warning in the next moment. He raised his hand and pressed onto Luo Nan¡¯s shoulder. He looked to be acting intimate, but then he bent slightly and pulled with force, forcing Luo Nan down to him.


    His mouth stuck to Luo Nan¡¯s ear and he whispered withughter:


    ¡°I exaggerated a bit just now. You weren¡¯t that small when you were contained in the womb. At worst you were the size of a chihuahua. You were quite cute floating around in the solution.¡±


    Feeling Luo Nan¡¯s body instantly turn rigid, Yan Yongbo patted his shoulder: ¡°What a pity about Senior Qingwen. Ever since middle school, I had her as my dream girlfriend...... But ever since that happened, this became an impossibility. Do you know why?¡±


    Luo Nan turned his face slightly with a prating gaze that was cold to the point of congealing. But this had no effect whatsoever towards the warped smile on Yan Yongbo¡¯s face: ¡°It¡¯s too easy for me to make mental associations. As soon as her face shes in my mind, I remember her pile of rotted flesh and bones!¡±


    Some string snapped within Luo Nan¡¯s mind in this instant. The heavily chained crow wished to pierce out of his body amidst a crackling vibration to pierce through the skull of the man in front.


    But a scorching force of fire came first out of Yan Yongbo¡¯s body. It prated into Luo Nan¡¯s reined neck like a red-hot de cutting everything in its path.


    Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts froze in this moment¡¯s brush with death. The heavily chained crow didn¡¯te out, and the words of Yan Yongbo pounded into his ear drum one by one:


    ¡°Look. This is none other than the Archetype Format. This is what it means to be a Burner. These are true results. And what you all have is worthless....... These are the words that I wasn¡¯t able to tell your damned father back in the day. I now give them to you.¡±


    Yan Yongbo released Luo Nan¡¯s shoulder andughed just like that at the top of his lungs. He just left. The dark-skinned bodyguard followed closely behind and Lawyer Zhu rushed to catch up.


    Land Ding and the other key members of the Construction Society looked at each other in dismay. They hesitated for quite a while before chasing behind Yan Yongbo.


    Yan Yongbo was like a crazed demon. He kept onughing with aughter that was hoarse and piercing. It resounded within therge hall.


    ¡°Nan Nan!¡±


    Luo Shuqing, who had been terrified by an inexplicable force, finally struggled to. She climbed over the chair and tossed herself over. She hugged at the kneeling Luo Nan and spoke incoherently: ¡°Are you okay? What did he say? That bastard...... What¡¯s the matter? What did he say?¡±


    Luo Nan spoke not a word.


    Yan Yongbo walked ahead with a brisk pace, pulling some distance between him and the members of the Construction Society. Eventually, he ended hisughter, and his face soon returned to its normally cold and solemn state.


    ¡°Lawyer Zhu.¡±


    Lawyer Zhu had to jog in order to catch up to him. His elitist easy-going air had unavoidably be a bit broken. But it would be bad if he didn¡¯t run; he was quite scared from Yan Yongbo¡¯s previous disy.


    He never thought thisrge financial backer, who always had a calm appearance, would actually be a madman at his core.


    He asked with small pants: ¡°Mr. Yan. Do you, sir, have any instructions for me?¡±


    ¡°How¡¯s the situation with the school?¡±


    This sudden change in the topic made Lawyer Zhu stupefied. Luckily this field was his specialty, so he was able to answer Yan Yonbo quickly: ¡°Basically they agree to speed up the process. If the bidding goes smoothly......¡±


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t it go smoothly?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°You have theplete support of the Rainbow Fund. Come on Lawyer Zhu. Tell me, where¡¯s the hitch?¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    Lawyer Zhu felt his knees grow a bit weak. He subconsciously choked on saliva as he rushed to patch things: ¡°All relevant procedures will bepleted within half a month of a sessful win in the auction.¡±


    ¡°Are there hindrances?¡±


    ¡°It mainly has to do with those still in the club. The one just now...... I¡¯m talking about Luo Nan.¡±


    Lawyer Zhu shot a nce at Yan Yongbo¡¯s face as he spoke. He only continued after seeing that there wasn¡¯t any particr reaction: ¡°Luo Nan is now a member of the club. He doesn¡¯t have the authority to make decisions, but he has the authority to apply for reconsiderations. In other words, he can use some doubtful procedural grounds to drag the time out. Of course, this won¡¯t hinder present conditions. We can handle things simultaneously.....Ah!¡±


    Yan Yongbo had suddenly turned around and grabbed Lawyer Zhu by the cor, ring at him: ¡°Lawyer Zhu, Do you know what the present conditions are?¡±


    Lawyer Zhu was scared stupid. He shook his head intensely.


    ¡°Do you know how many earthquakes have happened in the past ten days in Xia City?¡±


    He continued shaking his head.


    ¡°15 times. You don¡¯t even know this, and yet you dare to talk about the present conditions?¡±


    Lawyer Zhu was already madepletely stupid by Yan Yongbo¡¯s logic. Fortunately, Yan Yongbo released his hands at this time, letting out a sigh:


    ¡°Apologies. My brain was a bit excited. Help me think of how to handle things right now? Right now my mind is full of ¡°kill kill kill¡±. This isn¡¯t too good right?¡±


    ¡°......¡±

 Chapter 53: Hunter (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 53: Hunter (Part 1/2)


    Since Lawyer Zhu and Yan Yongbo stayed behind, Lang Ding and the others were able to catch up. Yan Yongbo did not acknowledge them. Instead, he used red Lawyer Zhu fixed in ce with his serious eyes, hoping to receive an answer.


    Lawyer Zhu¡¯s knees were really growing weak now. His heart was already captured by the exploding emotions of regret and fear. He was able to confirm now more than any other time that this fellow Yan Yongbo was not a normal person down to the bone!


    Yan Yongbo was abnormal. Lawyer Zhu was willing to admit that he himself was extremely ordinary. How could Yan Yongbo say something like ¡°kill kill kill¡± in front of others?


    He wanted to block up Yan Yongbo¡¯s mouth right now, to prevent him from spitting out those murderous words. He did his utmost to suppress his mind for the sake of this, striving to cook up words:


    ¡°Mr. Yan. Maybe we can change one of our methods...... If we want to prevent him from using his authority of reconsideration, it would be best to terminate his identity as a member of the club. Yes. I know this is not possible, but there are a substitute means. Yes. There are other means!¡±


    A person¡¯s potential was unlimited under pressure. A whole new idea really did pop up in Lawyer Zhu¡¯s mind: ¡°Yes. We can let him step back. We just need to prove that Luo Nan has some kind of direct rtional interests to gain with the auction. Then we just need a single hearing in order to shut him up forever!¡±


    Lang Ding and the others had already surrounded them at this time, taking up the majority of the corridor. They wanted to call out, but Yan Yongbo wouldn¡¯t even look them in the eyes. Instead, he had quite a bit of interest in Lawyer Zhu¡¯s words. He asked:


    ¡°Rtional interests? For example.....¡±


    ¡°For example. We can question if Luo Nan has some secret agreement with the Mystic Arts Research Society. After all, the timing of him entering the club was too much of a coincidence. We can certainly make an issue about this.¡±


    Yan Yongbo nodded slightly: ¡°Excellent. But where¡¯s the evidence?¡±


    ¡°No no, Mr. Yan. This was just an example.¡±


    Lawyer Zhu was within his field of expertise allowing him to finally regain his confidence. His voice grew a bit louder: ¡°We can take a more proactive approach. Your intent to transfer you just mentioned, now that¡¯s an excellent entrance point...... I don¡¯t quite understand the circumstances behind it. It seems like it¡¯s rted to some patents?¡±


    Yan Yongbo¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change. He gave a slight nod: ¡°More or less.¡±


    ¡°Luo Nan¡¯s a direct blood-rted party? He¡¯s the inheritor byw?¡±


    ¡°Correct. It stems from his grandfather.¡±


    ¡°Then, if you sir don¡¯t mind, we can use your personal identity to file awsuit against them. As long as the court epts it, then there will be a rtional interest between Luo Nan and you sir. And since you¡¯re the person in charge of the Rainbow Fund, you¡¯re a crucial person in the auction.¡±


    ¡°Then following, Luo Nan¡¯s every action would be called into question in regards to the auction; they can be considered personal motivations. I believe that based on these grounds, the school will produce a very sensible decision. It doesn¡¯t matter what Luo Nan does; it¡¯ll all be useless!¡±


    Yan Yongbo rubbed his chin upon hearing Lawyer Zhu: ¡°That¡¯s true. His heart will be filled with anger, yet he¡¯ll be powerless..... This would be quite excellent.¡±


    Did he make it through? Lawyer Zhu let out a breath of relief secretly.


    Lang Ding and the others finally got the chance to greet themselves, but they found themselves to be in awkward positions. They heard these two discussing a n to target Luo Nan, finding that nothing was taboo for them.


    It must be known that they were in a public context. There were many people in the restaurant sticking their heads out and looking around because of the unexpected event of before. There were also peopleing and going from the private rooms down this corridor who cast curious gazes over.


    For example, there was a two meter tall giant with a red face from being drunk. He leaned against the wall and rashly turned his head over to look. Hisrge size would make it hard not to be noticed.


    Yan Yongbo didn¡¯t care about this. He was extremely calm right now: ¡°I am very sorry for just now. Some private grudges of mine were touched upon, and I somewhat lost myself. I¡¯ve made everyone humiliated.¡±


    Not a trace of madness could be seen from Yan Yongbo right now. But the more he was like this, the more people felt how bizarre and unpredictable he was.


    In the end, it was Lang Ding who mentioned: ¡°Let¡¯s talk after we enter the room. Let¡¯s have a good few drinks as a wee back for Professor Yan.¡±


    No matter the thoughts of everyone present, everyone nodded their heads in approval. The group of people immediately gathered around Yan Yongbo and entered into the private room. The atmosphere looked to be extremely warm.


    Inparison, Luo Nan¡¯s family was in a more difficult situation in therge hall. Many people were casting sidelong nces due to the matter that just happened and due to Luo Shuqing¡¯s near loss of emotional controlter on.


    The lobby manager even came by to ask if they needed assistance. He probably felt that Luo Nan¡¯s family was in a weak ce due to the conflict just now.


    Luo Shuqing was about to call the police, but then her husband restrained her.


    She just barely suppressed her mood, so Luo Shuqing didn¡¯t feel like talking at all. She just wanted to go home immediately...... No, go to the hospital!


    Luo Nan¡¯s current state made one far too worried. His head was lowered from beginning to end, and he had yet to speak a word.


    From Luo Shuqing¡¯s understanding of children, she felt that Luo Nan¡¯s entire self was situated in an extremely gloomy state. But his emotions were repressed. It seemed that he could explode out at any time.


    What she was most worried about was this: Would Yan Yongbo¡¯s provocation influence Luo Nan¡¯s mental condition?


    Right when Luo Shuqing was restless, Luo Nan opened his mouth and said, ¡°I¡¯m hungry.¡± Then he picked up his chopsticks to dig into the meal ced on the table.


    This wasn¡¯t an especially polite action, but at least he disyed a rational behavior.


    Luo Shuqing and Mo Haihang looked at each other. They had no intentions of defying Luo Nan, so they ate their meal in silence.


    No one was able to feel the taste of this meal. Even the most confused Mo Peng of them all didn¡¯t have the mood to y his mobile games. He looked at one, then he looked at another, his face creasing into a frown.


    The evening meal ended early and the family took the car home.


    Upon entering the car, upon entering their own private space, Luo Shuqing¡¯s repressed emotions back in the public venue exploded outpletely:


    ¡°That despicable and shameless mad dog. That father and son just bite people as soon as they see them, having been held back by Quantum Corporation for five years!¡±


    This was the first time in Mo Peng¡¯s life time that he encounters his mother speak profanities. He watched with gaping eyes.


    Luo Shuqing wanted to continue speaking, but then Mo Haihang spoke in a whisper from the front:


    ¡°He fell asleep......¡±


    Luo Shuqing was a bit startled. She leaned forward slightly and saw Luo Nan leaning against the shotgun seat looking like he was sleeping. The words she had in her stomach were stuffed back inside.


    This response from Luo Nan was abnormal no matter how one looked at it.


    The married couple looked at each other face to face once again. They could see the worries in each other¡¯s eyes.


    Luo Nan could only apologize for his uncle and aunt¡¯s concern. Actually, he wasn¡¯t sleeping; he just wanted things to be quiet for a moment so that he couldb through his thoughts. But now his emotions were boiling from the bottom of his heart. How could he calm down?


    After being disturbed over and over, he could only turn his thoughts to a different direction.


    He activated the external neuron and the secondyer interface of the drawing software opened on his retina.


    This interface clearly had a subtle corresponding rtionship with his mental ne.


    The muddy river waters surged with waves to form into a vortex, seeming to disy his undting and surging emotions. A thousand ¡°ying cards¡± also floated in a chaotic mess.


    And only the three ¡°believers¡± were rtively stable within the pyramid structure.


    Luo Nan¡¯s gaze cut across Xie Junping and Cat Eyes without pausing. In the end, his gaze fell upon the Wraith Sign on the Technician Level.


    And now, above the Wraith Sign, there sparkled a dazzling red light.

 Chapter 53: Hunter (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 53: Hunter (Part 2/2)


    The red light indicated that the Wraith Sign was consuming. It was consuming none other than Luo Nan¡¯s rebellious rage!


    The Wraith Sign consumed the negative emotions of humans to grow. Ity within Luo Nan and was restricted by the heavily chained crow. It was impossible to harm Luo Nan¡¯s strength. But the intrusion of these intense emotions was tantamount to releasing the restrictions of the Wraith Sign by one level.


    The red light gradually faded away and over a hundred thousand lines sprayed out from the body of the Wraith Sign. These lines were simr to the lines from Luo Nan¡¯s quick sketches, but they shot out at ten times the speed to form aplicated and malevolent structure in an instant.


    Six eyes wereid in columns, each with different colors. Eight ws extended from the side, fusing with a human body. This ugly and demonic form was none other than...


    The Human-Faced Arachnid!


    When the image finished forming, Luo Nan¡¯s agitation was already on the verge of exploding on the mental ne.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid unleashed its greed and Luo Nan¡¯s mind indulged with it.


    Heaven and earth overturned in an instant. Luo Nan¡¯s consciousness was suddenly separated from the car. The shackles on his mental senses were cast off, and they expanded in all directions to the limits.


    Luo Nan¡¯s soul hade out of his body in this moment. And his main body, which was still carried by car, went rushing far away. Only his soul remained behind in this spot to monopolize this empty level of space.


    Luo Nan felt no sense of destion. This was because the range of his mental senses had expanded a hundred, a thousand fold in an instant.


    The convergence of the brilliant lights.


    The intertwining and rushing flow of cars.


    The numerous lives all tangled together restlessly.


    An iprehensible and wonderful scene was formed in this moment, bombarding against Luo Nan¡¯s heart.


    ¡°ROAR!¡±


    Luo Nan cast off all his misgivings, restrictions, and troubles. He ignored the bustling convergence of the logic that was native to every living being. He just followed the most direct and most violent emotions in his heart to face the sky with a long howl.


    On his soul body, the heavily chained crow unleashed its crackling cry and was moving around endlessly. And in front of the chains was the malevolent and ugly Human-Faced Arachnid. It felt Luo Nan¡¯s violent emotions and it also faced the sky with a howl, echoing with Luo Nan.


    The forces of the two entwined together to form a rushing surge of psychic waves. The waves spread rapidly out in all directions.


    This magnificent city seemed to slightly freeze in this instant, then it¡¯s normal operations were restored; it did not appear to have been influenced.


    But over a hundred crows, who had already returned to their nests, flew out in surprise. This caught the attention of the pedestriansing and going and the residents nearby, bringing them feelings of restlessness.


    These intelligent birds seemed to have psychic senses that exceeded that of ordinary people. They had felt the restless assault from the air, and it made it hard for them to calm down and return to their nests.


    His soul finished venting with its howl, allowing Luo Nan to calm down. At least the logic of his thought process could return to a normal operation.


    Gone was the stimtion from hormones since he was in his soul form. The effects on his mood were brought down.


    He was able to ignore the deep malice of Yan Yongbo. He was able to grit his teeth for now and forget the mockery and humiliation that Yan Yongbo pierced him with. It was only through this turbid flow of emotions, which had obstructed his rationality, that he was able to grasp that small piece of information.


    ¡°He saw me when I was a fetus.¡±


    ¡°He was there when the wildernessboratory went into turmoil. He was right at the scene.¡±


    ¡°But this was separated by only two years of time from Yan Hong¡¯s report to the authorities and shameless giarizing.¡±


    The underlying context that was revealedyer byyer allowed Luo Nan to get closer to the facts of what happened back then.


    Luo Yuandao¡¯s research in the wilderness could be approximately divided into three stages. First, Luo Yuandao traveled all across the world from after the third war until the middle 60¡¯s, living without a fixed residence.


    Then was the most stable research period. Thissted all the way until the end of the 70¡¯s. He had aplished the most within these near fifteen years.


    And starting from the year 79, problems urred with his grandfather¡¯s mind. Then there was also the turmoil that happened in his grandfather¡¯sboratory base. Bu Qingwen had died, and all work on research had fallen to a halt. The entire family returned to the city.


    From Yan Yongbo¡¯s age, it was very likely that Yan Yongbo joined during the end of the research stage or perhaps right before the upheaval. This was a very subtle point in time.


    ¡°He should have already been prepared back then.¡±


    And so, Yan Yongbo had to be the insider, and perhaps, he was also a participant!


    It has to be...... There were no tracks to Yan Hong, but his son had appeared. So was the father still far away?


    Luo Nan¡¯s soul was submerged in the city lights when a feeling inexplicably leaped out from his heart. This feeling gradually grew clear:


    So, I actually still have the chance for revenge?


    A vain and empty struggle for honor was bound to be a dry and tedious path. But before tonight, Luo Nan had no other option.


    But now, the situation had changed!


    Luo Nan suddenly broke intoughter, aughter of pure emotional joy; this was yet another subtle connection to his main body.


    His main body was far away in the SUV, separated from his soul by over ten kilometers. But there had always been the psychic aura of senses that remained from beginning to end. As long as these senses were not severed, as long as he hadn¡¯t reached past his limits, he would still be able to achieve a few minute interactions.


    This information wasn¡¯t baseless.


    Luo Nan looked at the Human-Faced Arachnid controlled by the chains. This vicious and ugly Darksider life form kept its obedience constantly. Yet there was an unending flow of energy that contained some information and came transmitting over. This informationbined with the implementation and practice that Luo Nan had personally performed to give Luo Nan a new conclusion.


    Luo Nan¡¯s central thoughts gradually grew clear. It would have been impossible to achieve his current level of an out-of-body state. The method of expelling his soul out by force was the same as scattering the soul to be condemned to death.


    He was able to maintain this state due to the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s rashness in pulling him out and the support from the energy transfer.


    But ultimately, it was still the heavily chained crow of the Self Format that had terrified and subdued this Darksider life form, allowing for this wonderful setup to materialize.


    This sort of situation was just like from folklore. He was like a demon tamer or summoner using evil forces to call and enve a demon.


    This allowed Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts toe to an understanding. The Self Format represented ¡°Control¡±. To use one¡¯s own strength for life and death fighting would be quite stupid.


    The most proper choice would be to tap more into the capabilities and powers of the summoned creature that was the Human Faced Arachnid.


    What a pity. Right now he barely had a summoned creature. This was just the Wraith Sign transformed into a clone of the Human-Faced Arachnid. It would be hard to disy its powerful strength.


    But he could only make do for now.


    Luo Nan¡¯s mind arrived at a decision. His soul body floated onto the back of Human-Faced Arachnid. The demon ve beneath him rose up without a sound and locked onto a direction. Then it leaped through the empty air.


    A distance of over a hundred meters was covered in a sh. This was far faster than when he was on the warship.


    Luo Nan¡¯s mind became free. He was just about to diligently experience this sensation, but then his heart stirred and he was immediately met with a sheet of darkness. The pping of wings came from low in the sky, crying with caw caws.


    It was a veryrge crow...... It came from behind but didn¡¯t approach closer once it had reached a certain spot. It just flew spiraling around. It gave off the feeling of being bewildered.


    ¡°Ink1?¡±


    Luo Nan¡¯s mental senses enveloped across and in the end, he was able to confirm that this was none other than the crow pet he used to practice hypnotism on.


    Luo Nan observed the surrounding area in greater detail. And sure enough, it was quite familiar. His family had been going back to the city, so they just passed the River Wu district. It wasn¡¯t that far to the Blue Bay Community.


    The howl of his soul just now had actually startled Ink into action. It had heard the call of its master, so it had flown here in a hurry.


    1. Ink. Ink was first seen in Chapter 1 delivering a test tube to Luo Nan.

 Chapter 54: Metal Bug (Part ?)

    Chapter 54: Metal Bug (Part ?)


    It¡¯s said that the intelligence of crows exceeded that of a seven-year-old child.


    It was unknown whether it was due to being gifted or due to the result of being subjected to the frequent hypnotism, but Ink¡¯s intelligence clearly exceeded that of its species. Its intuition and reactions were also excellent.


    It spiraled for several rotations without seeing a trace of any person, then it descended down to a protrusion from arge skyscraper to look in all directions and caw over and over. Clearly, it was using its usual methods to get Luo Nan¡¯s attention.


    Luo Nan¡¯s soul body was about 700 meters away at this moment. He saw how Ink was acting, so he stirred telepathically. The heavily chained crow crackled with its call and psychic waves clustered together to beunched towards Ink.


    This was originally just an experiment, but Ink was clearly quivering. The feathers of its body raised straight up and then it immediately twisted its head.


    It couldn¡¯t see anything in the darkness, but it still flew up after a moment¡¯s hesitation. It flew over to the location of Luo Nan¡¯s soul body. When it came here, it began to spiral in a glide. It really did seem to be able to feel Luo Nan¡¯s existence.


    ¡°Good boy!¡±


    Luo Nan was quite happy and he tried to use thispletely new method tomunicating with Ink. And sure enough, the results were several times better than just using pure hypnotism. Most especially was the feedback he received from Ink; it was more direct and clear. There was a great psychic connection.


    The six otherworldly eyes of the Human Faced Arachnid adjusted their views. It seemed to be paying attention to the newly arrivedpanion. Of course, the Human Faced Arachnid intrinsically didn¡¯t have self-awareness. This was only an effect from the bidirectional rtionship with Luo Nan.


    Luo Nan felt that he was just like a sorcerer from ancient times. The heavily chained crow was his artifact. It coiled around his soul body like a giant python.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid was his summoned demon and Ink was his spirit animal that he had tamed. His strength really did manifest itself through this sort of method.


    Time was of the essence. Luo Nan shouldn¡¯t be spending too much time tarrying with Ink. But then a subtle stimtion was sent to him right when he was about to let Ink go home.


    Luo Nan was stunned for a moment, but soon he was able to differentiate that the stimtion came from the HexaEar.


    The utility of this micro device was inconceivable. It had detected ack of response from Luo Nan¡¯s main body, then it captured the subtle senses of the out-of-body soul and transformed information into psychic waves that were even purer. The information crossed several tens of kilometers of distance through the frequency of Luo Nan¡¯s senses to urately enter Luo Nan¡¯s mental ne.


    The information that came was a chat request, and along with it came a default notification from the Psychic Wave Network:


    Do you want to start the ¡°Long Distance Remote Sensing¡± function?


    If this function didn¡¯t activate due to skipping the dialog, the HexaEar would assume that the owner was in a deep sleep state.


    This was truly an inconceivable invention!


    Luo Nan was forced to pay his respects to the legendary President Ouyang. The inventor had certainly given ample consideration towards souls in out-of-body states and had implemented this function.


    Octopus Bro had described President Ouyang¡¯s excellent achievements in the realm of the mentally enhanced. From the HexaEar, Luo Nan could see that there was quite the basis behind Octopus Bro¡¯s words.


    Luo Nan pondered only a moment before choosing to start the function. This was because he had seen who had requested the call. It was Crag Burst.


    Crag Burst, a fellow member of the Wilderness Explorers Society, and Luo Nan were at the same restaurant just then. They didn¡¯t meet face to face during that time though.


    Luo Nan guessed that Crag Burst wanted to meet up or something. But right now he really wasn¡¯t in the mood. Anyway, he wanted to confirm the current situation within the restaurant.


    The remote sensing function was activated and the informationing from Crag Burst was driven via psychic waves to collide with Luo Nan in the air.


    Luo Nan, who was in soul form, was inexplicably dazzled. This was a totally different experience than when he was in his normal state.


    In the instant he was absent-minded, Crag Burst¡¯s rough and somewhat lispy voice sounded forth. It looked like hemonly used the HexaEar as a telephone:


    ¡°Mr. Luo, did you leave?¡±


    Luo Nan was baffled about Crag Burst¡¯s certainty of this. Could it be that Crag Burst had gone to the hall in search of him? Luo Nan paused, then he replied with an answer that wasn¡¯t really a lie:


    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m with my family.¡±


    Crag Burst let out augh: ¡°So you really left just like that? How weak. You can¡¯t even make your way back to the field!? Luckily, I drank less alcohol than usual. I¡¯lle over and find you.¡±


    ¡°......¡± Luo Nan was speechless for some time.


    Indeed, good deeds don¡¯t see the light of day while misdeeds travel a thousand miles.1 Luo Nan¡¯s miserable appearance in the restaurant would soon be widely spread within the Society.


    Crag Burst was a clever man. His thought process was very straight forward. He probably felt that Luo Nan had tossed away his honor and wanted to retrieve itter on. Crag Burst was really quite willing to help out. Unfortunately, Luo Nan¡¯s current state would bound to make it difficult for Crag Burst to lend Luo Nan some strength.


    Wait. Luo Nan stared fixed at Ink spiraling around in the air. An idea suddenly sprouted in his mind:


    ¡°Is your get-together over?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve stopped drinking. Of course everyone left...... Hey! What are you thinking?¡± Crag Burst clearly wanted to watch the world burn.


    Luo Nan would have had a headache towards people like this before, but now, he wanted none other than Crag Burst: ¡°I¡¯ll need some time to get there. Did those people leave yet?¡±


    ¡°It seems like they¡¯re moving along rather quickly. If you¡¯re slow for a moment, you¡¯ll lose your chance...... Oh crap. They came out! Even meals during work don¡¯t go that fast!¡±


    Did the negotiations between the Rainbow Fund and the Construction Society go smoothly, or did they part on bad terms?


    Luo Nan was disinclined to spend time thinking about this question. He gave a nce to Ink and he spoke to Crag Burst: ¡°Help me keep an eye on them. Share me their location. Maintain contact. I¡¯m making my way over to meet up with you.¡±


    ¡°You want me to tail them? This isn¡¯t a problem, but are you sure you can make it back in time? You don¡¯t need me to stall for time or something?¡±


    ¡°......You don¡¯t need to for now.¡±


    ¡°Alright then. If you need me to, just let me know. My Tiger Burst has yet to be put to use!¡±


    ¡°Much thanks.¡±


    Luo Nan did not say much more to this heavy-hitter who was eager to get in on the action. Luo Nan hung up the phone and put his attention once more onto the airborne Ink.


    Ink appeared to have felt Luo Nan¡¯s ¡°gaze¡± and it let out two coarse caws. Its feathers quivered and it glided even more cheerfully within the blurred fog.


    A crackling cry rang forth. The heavily chained crow¡¯s movements increased its speed from upon Luo Nan¡¯s soul body. The Human-Faced Arachnid also experienced this change. Its devilish and ugly head reared up. Its six eyes flickered. And it let out a hiss that only existed on the mental ne.


    There wasn¡¯t truly nighttime in Xia City. All sorts of neon lights constructed a spattered sky exclusive to night. The beat of revelry mixed everywhere, permeating into the hearts of every roaming person.


    Crag Burst opened his car window and a torrent of heavy metal music came sting out along with surging lyrics and loud roars. Crag Burstpletely ignored the gazes cast at him from the flow of traffic.


    ¡°Smash the chest open! Embrace the soft flesh and blood! Rah! Rah! Rah!¡±


    Probably no one would expect that this fellow was doing a shadowing operation. Crag Burst didn¡¯t have a conscientious mind. He just felt that everything was a-okay as long as the target¡¯s vehicle was within his sights!


    ¡°Rip apart the throat! Kiss...... Oh d*mn!¡±


    A bold and fierce crow had dangerously swept over to the top of his car, brushing against the top of the cars in front. While it was true that this was quite the thrilling stimtion, the scene had disrupted the tempo of his music.


    And so he reached his hand out of the window and pointed towards the sky: ¡°Just go die already! Experience the anger that stems from within me! Rah! Rah! Rah!¡±


    Then right at this time came news of Luo Nan through the HexaEar:


    ¡°Maintain speed of the car. I have arrived.¡±


    The voice had yet to finish speaking when a jet-ck shadow came ramming in through the back window. Two feathers could be seen drifting down.


    1. Crag Burst witnessing the incident between Luo Nan and Yan Yongbo in the restaurant. In Chapter 53.1, there was the following line: For example, there was a two meter tall giant with a red face from being drunk. He leaned against the wall and rashly turned his head over to look. Hisrge size would make it hard not to be noticed.

 Chapter 54: Metal Bug (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 54: Metal Bug (Part 2/2)


    ¡°Hey hey hey?¡±


    Crag Burst stared nkly at this huge and sturdy crow. It had charged in through the car window and had crashed into the back of the thick leather chair. Then it had fallen head first to drop onto the back row of seats.


    The two feathers, which had been scraped off, floated within the breeze at the back of the car. They twirled a bit before being blown back out the window. But the unexpected guest had remained behind in the end.


    ¡°Mr...... Luo?¡±


    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s me.¡± The crow straightened itself and cawed twice with a sound that was sandy and coarse to the ears. It matched quite well with the heavy metal that was sting in the car.


    Of course, real responses woulde from the HexaEar.


    It was beyond Crag Burst¡¯s expectations. Crag Burst never thought that the one who had arrived would be in this form. He overlooked how the sharp ws of the crow had already scratched through the exterior of the leather seat. His eyes were bulging wide as he sized up the crow up and down.


    ¡°The mentally enhanced do have many skills...... Would you be a summoner? Do you share senses with this bird?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Things are more or less like you say.¡±


    Since Crag Burst had spoken this much, Luo Nan took the chance to acknowledge this. He was able to avoid looking for other reasons that may be riddled with holes.


    ¡°Oh hey. Looks likes a lot of people are underestimating you. To be able to psychically connect to a living being, share senses... This Soul Splitting is a high-level skill. There are no gifted on that level and even Awakened would find it hard to do it with finesse...... Most instances are quite vulgar.¡±


    Crag Burst frowned. He was a musclehead, so he detested the indirect methods of using separate manifested bodies to do work. Luo Nan still hadn¡¯t awakened though and was seriously skinny like a toothpick. It was already quite decent of Luo Nan to be able to make use of this method. Most praiseworthy of all was Luo Nan¡¯s attitude of seeking revenge for even the smallest grievance before the night¡¯s end.


    Ink hopped twice atop the leather seats at this time. It spread its wings, seeking to fly again.


    Tiger Burst, a military modified jeep, contained a lot of space inside. It had to have been, otherwise, the heavy-weight Crag Burst would never have fit inside. But for Ink, with its length of seventy centimeters and a wingspan of one meter, it was still a bit difficult to p its wings. Ink pped twice but was unable to produce sufficient force.


    Crag Burst watched with cheerfulughter. He extended his hand over, let Ink grab on tight, and released Ink onto the central console.


    ¡°Here. The view here is the best. Do you see them yet? They¡¯re ahead of us by two cars. It¡¯s the blue van.¡±


    Ink¡¯s talons hooked onto the edge of the control console to stand rather quite stably. Its jet ck eyes stared fixed at the target vehicle in front. It watched with extreme concentration.


    ¡°How about it? Need me to do something?¡± Crag Burst wanted to have some fun from the very beginning.


    ¡°No. Not for now.¡± Luo Nan replied simply.


    Crag Burst was a bit disappointed. Now he couldn¡¯t really scream his song, so he had turned bored. He ended up chatting randomly: ¡°I originally thought that you were going to ask Vice President He to help out and that you were going to ask Zhou Hu for help before you left. So you really didn¡¯t contact them?¡±


    ¡°Why do I need to find Sister He?¡± Luo Nan was somewhat speechless. Could it be that he gave off the feeling of being the sort of person that came running for help when being bullied?


    Whatever. He Yueyin wasn¡¯t his parent. In any case, this military woman was the type to do official business using official principles. She woulde to look down upon Luo Nan if he were to ask her for help with personal affairs.


    ¡°This is my personal matter. I won¡¯t rely on other people for help. Brother Crag Burst. I thank you very much for tailing them for so long. Leave the rest to me then.¡±


    ¡°What. You¡¯re just going to kick me aside?¡± Crag Burst was displeased, ¡°It looks like you¡¯re not going to make your move tonight based on your appearance?¡±


    ¡°Yes. This involves aplicated legal case that happened over ten years ago. I want to gain a deep understanding. My primary goal is to investigate......¡±


    Crag Burst was still unwilling to give up: ¡°Are you sure? Your bird spent all its effort to fly its way over here. Can it catch up to their car?¡±


    The flying speed of the Corvus Frugilegus was just ordinary among birds. Even though Ink had been trained by Luo Nan, giving it a better constitution, its speed was only about seventy kilometers per hour.


    It was not very likely for Ink to catch up to the car through the smooth and precise flow of traffic if no traffic jams appear.


    The thing was that Luo Nan never expected Ink to be able to do such a thing. He let Inke over to show off in front of Crag Burst¡¯s eyes. He just wanted to find an excuse is all.


    His true task of reconnaissance would still be reliant on other methods.


    Luo Nan¡¯s soul body had been floating above the flow of traffic while he was chatting with Crag Burst. He avoided doing close distance contact with the Awakened Crag Burst and advanced forward in synch with the flow of cars.


    His senses, which exceeded a range of 500 meters, had already enveloped the interior of the target¡¯s blue van. A prating scan had already swept across twice.


    However, this low-key blue van had an exterior material that seemed to be quiteplicated. Everytime Luo Nan tried scanning, interference would always appear, making it hard for Luo Nan to ascertain the number of people and the positions of people inside.


    With two attempted instances resulting in failure, Luo Nan¡¯s heart raised in vignce.


    The car was still running very smoothly. It seemed that his reconnaissance had been far too direct.


    The warning system within the van had been triggered at this time. It didn¡¯t make a noise but instead illuminated with a dazzling red light. The dark-skinned bodyguard, who sat in the driver¡¯s spot, had his eyes turn thoroughly cold. His gaze swept outside the window.


    ¡°Darksider life form?¡± Yan Yongbo, who had been resting with closed eyes, slowly opened his eyes. But then the warning light suddenly went out at this time.


    Yan Yongbo couldn¡¯t help muttering to himself: ¡°Is it possible that we¡¯ve entered the territory of the Human-Faced Arachnid? Or is it that we¡¯ve caught the interest of some powerful out-of-body soul?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve been tailed.¡±


    The dark-skinned bodyguard suddenly said these words and activated the projector equipment at this time. The real-time satellite video of the surrounding area appeared. The car¡¯s AI assimted the relevant video with the van to automaticallybine them together. Its high-speed analysis soon disyed a few suspicious targets.


    The most probable target was marked by an eye-catching red circle.


    It was an eye-catching and domineering military-altered Tiger Burst. Its volume was like a small armored car. It could really speed off in the wilderness with its rough four wheels. It appeared out of harmony within the bustling city.


    ¡°This car was always following us ever since we left the restaurant. And the monitoring system shows that someone inside the car had mentioned the words ¡°Blue Van¡±.


    ¡°The military?¡± This kind of aggressive tailing style really did look like something a proud and dauntless soldier would do.


    But then Yan Yongbo squinted his eyes for careful observation. Through the high-definition picture, he was able to capture arge crow beneath the car¡¯s window...... It was clearly not an ornament.


    ¡°How interesting. Look deeper into it...... Oh, wait. Right now we¡¯re near the River Wu District?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s use a different method.¡±


    Yan Yongbo rubbed his fingers slowly, then he pulled outwards. A fine soft needle was pulled inexplicably out through the skin of his fingertips. The scene was uncanny beyondpare.


    The soft needle had thick and thin hairsing out of it, its length was only about 5 centimeters long, and it looked to be a sort of metal material. But in the hands of Yan Yongbo, it was like kneaded flour. He kneaded the soft needle twice, and when he opened his hand up again, the soft needle had turned into a metal beetle the size of a grain of rice as if by magic.


    The car¡¯s window opened and with the snap of Yan Yongbo¡¯s fingers, the ¡°Beetle¡± was ejected out the car.


    ¡°Tell Jack that it¡¯s time to upgrade the hardware. If he wants to get a first-rate configuration, then he¡¯ll need to work hard...... Just go search within the trash of that car then.¡±


    The blue van¡¯s speed remained constant, but the Tiger Burst Jeep had inexplicably dropped in speed as seen on the satellite video feed.

 Chapter 55: Recycling Stratum (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 55: Recycling Stratum (Part 1/2)


    ¡°Well let¡¯s still continue. Today I¡¯ll act as your driver free of charge. Treat me to a mealter, or maybe do some fortune telling for me.¡±


    ¡°...... Psychics can do fortune telling?¡±


    ¡°Divining where the enemy was. rifying the location of a goddess. These actions changed fate. How is it not fortune telling?¡±


    Crag Bursts lips burst into argeugh, then he looked beneath the car window at the serious appearance of Ink. He couldn¡¯t help extending his hand to rub Ink¡¯s neck: ¡°Hey. Can you feel yourself being petted?¡±


    Luo Nan obviously wouldn¡¯t tell him that Ink was only ying along. He just replied simply:


    ¡°Don¡¯t ask...... Huh?¡±


    The car ahead was covered by his mental senses, but then there was an abnormal disturbance. A chink had clearly opened in the window of the blue van in front, and it seemed like there was something ejected out. It was extremely tiny and its speed was very fast. It seemed to ¡°strike¡± the car behind it nearly instantly.¡±


    Then his senses stuttered for a moment.


    The Tiger Burst Jeep and the blue van were separated by two cars. Luo Nan¡¯s senses had stuttered twice. When his senses returned, the object was already at the engine of the Tiger Burst Jeep.


    Luo Nan always had the issue of resolution with his mental senses and the current situation was no exception. He could only vaguely feel that this thing was an extremely tiny beetle shaped object. It seemed to have pierced through the two cars in front to pounce onto the Tiger Burst Jeep.


    Then he lost his sensespletely.


    And at this time, the four windows of the jeep rose up to form apletely sealed space. Gone was the whistling of the air outside, and the rumble of the heavy metal music was much more ear-piercing.


    Crag Burst was a bit stunned, then he ordered: ¡°Open windows!¡±


    The order was issued, but the car¡¯s AI had no response whatsoever. And this was not the least of it. The car¡¯s speed started to drop and the turning signal was activated.


    Luo Nan¡¯s warning came in at just this time: ¡°Careful. There¡¯s something......¡±


    ¡°Holy sh*t! The car¡¯s possessed!¡±


    Crag Burst practically cursed out at the same time as Luo Nan was speaking, but soon he calmed down. Within a few seconds, he tried manual control, voice control, and other methods. It was all useless.


    He was unable to open the car windows, change the speed of the car, or even change the music.


    The car¡¯s AI waspletely in control of the Tiger Burst Jeep¡¯s ess privileges. It turned then entered into a downward track, winding around a skyscraper, spiraling as it went down.


    ¡°Is it a virus?¡± Crag Burst estimated.


    ¡°No. It¡¯s a sort of robot bug.¡± Luo Nan spoke out the results of his observations.


    ¡°No matter how things are, there¡¯s someone remotely operating the car.¡± Crag Burst came to a most reasonable exnation. Then he came to a conclusion:


    ¡°We¡¯ve been discovered.¡±


    No one would be able to tell, besides Crag Burst and Luo Nan, that this aggressive and domineering military-altered Tiger Burst Jeep¡¯s AI had already gone rogue. This Jeep had been driving extremely steadily from beginning to end. It moved along with the flow of traffic, but it moved further and further away from the tailed target.


    Crag Burst and Ink were pretty much imprisoned inside this sealed space. They didn¡¯t know where the car was taking them.


    Crag Burst kept on trying to seize back control of the vehicle. His gaze swept outside to the constantly changing surroundings. His eyes flickered with light, especially with the light of excitement. His lips stuck straight back into a smile and he turned his head around to talk to Ink:


    ¡°They must have discovered us. But the only target is this car. You can still go on.¡±


    Then he rammed the window with his body, causing the bullet-proof ss to instantly explode with fine web-like cracks.


    The AI system was unable to stop the collective force. Crag Burst didn¡¯t even blink an eye when acting in this manner towards his own car. He extended his hand and tore downwards through the crumbling window, throwing himself towards the backseat.


    The other hand abruptly grabbed onto Ink. He didn¡¯t care how this bird struggled, he tossed Ink straight out the window: ¡°Go then! Put a little effort into it!¡±


    Ink was forcefully flung several tens of meters away and just so happened to pass through the downwards tracks. Ink promptly spread its wings to avoid smashing into the ss walls of the skyscraper.


    Luo Nan bellowed through the HexaEar: ¡°What the hell man!?¡±


    ¡°I want to know what the hell is up with them!¡±


    Crag Burstughed a bold and greatugh. His boredom from before waspletely swept away, ¡°Go keep an eye on them now. Stay in contact with me. I want to see where they want to take me!¡±


    He extended his hand out through the shattered window and waved. Then he sang with a hoarse and berserk growling howl: ¡°Smash the chest open! Embrace the soft flesh and blood! Rah Rah......¡±


    Ink spiraled within the neon mist of the sky. Luo Nan¡¯s soul body floated motionless at the axis of Ink¡¯s spiraling flight.


    The blue van that contained Yan Yongbo had broken away from the range of his senses two seconds earlier. To be honest, if he really wanted to chase after them, the flying speed of his soul body would easily overtake them.


    But then what did it matter if he did catch up to them? Luo Nan¡¯s heart was on high alert due to the anti-reconnaissance equipment of the van. If he forcefully chased after them, not only would this rashness be disastrous, but his identity and abilities may be revealed. This would truly be life threatening.


    Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts spun rapidly, and he hade to a decision in the blink of an eye.


    Clearly, his attention should be focused more on Crag Burst¡¯s situation. Crag Burst had taken the initiative to help out. His car was out of control now and he was trapped in dire straits. Luo Nan¡¯s heart wouldn¡¯t be at peace if he didn¡¯t go help Crag Burst out.


    And there was also that Robot Bug. Luo Nan cared about it quite a bit.


    Luo Nan¡¯s soul suddenly went down, bringing along Ink to chase behind the Tiger Burst Jeep.


    The Tiger Burst Jeep maintained a steady speed. Its direction was straightforward from start to finish. It had switched from two rails to continue going downwards. The fierce and domineering body of the car continued to proceed and criss-cross along with several other low-altitude cars. It rapidly entered downwards into some dusky stratum area.


    Luo Nan could sense the dividing line between the light and darkness as the noise of the metropolis was suddenly separated by ayer. All the while the heavy metal music sted from the car tobine with everything and render a heated and dense atmosphere.


    The car¡¯s lights cut across the outer walls of the surrounding buildings. The damaged walls were covered with messy graffiti. Some of the colors of the graffiti were ck and red. And so this sight converged into Luo Nan¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°The Recycling Stratum......¡±


    Life¡¯s nature was to move towards the light, and so people would always yearn for the clear skies. They yearned for ces bathed by sunlight. And in the city, they headed towards the city¡¯s core where life was bustling. Skyscrapers were concentrated there and low-altitude traffic was essible from all directions. The city¡¯s residents would live their lives up high, and some of them wouldn¡¯t truly touch the ground for several years.


    The low-altitude public transit thirty meters above ground was already the lowest limit that the great majority of people would go to.


    The term High-Altitude Race came from this.


    The problem was that Xia City was a giant metropolis containing two hundred million people as a poption. The city didn¡¯t have the luxury to waste space. It was unavoidable for some people of the two hundred million poption to be forced to survive in the dark and damp space of the lower strata.


    This was undoubtedly the slums of the modern city. This was the Recycling Stratum that specialized in handling the city¡¯s trash. And, to a certain extent, this was also awless ce where organized crime gathered.


    The Tiger Burst Jeep thundered as it rushed down from the upper strata, instantly catching the eyes of numerous ¡°professionals¡± within this dark space.


    A piercing whistle rang forth.


    High-powered modified cars ignited their engines one after another within the endless alleys between the buildings. All sorts of people could be seen on these speeding vehicles waving their sinister looking spiked clubs, chains, and, of course, firearms. They faced towards the jeep, which was still advancing in midair on the light rail, with screams, curses, and shouts.


    At the same time, they looked forward to what was toe:


    After all, the numerous rails of light on the Recycling Stratum were all broken!

 Chapter 55: Recycling Stratum (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 55: Recycling Stratum (Part 2/2)


    "The light rail ahead is damaged. Automatically switching over to off-road mode!¡±


    The car¡¯s AI had automatically issued thismand and the giant Tiger Burst Jeep slid off thest connection of the light rail several secondster. Its four wheels touched the ground, steamrolling over the shabby asphalt road and continuing to advance forward.


    Twenty, thirty ¡°professionals¡± were already amassed together. They were the nearby gangsters and biker members, and they shouted in a chorus. They hastened their boldness, advancing forward at higher speeds. They scraped their spiked clubs against the sides of the jeep and increased their speed, leaving behind warped and distinct scratches on the car¡¯s body. And when they passed by the car¡¯s windows, they produced provocative hand gestures at Crag Burst:


    ¡°Show-off swine! I¡¯ll fuck your *ss until it explodes!¡±


    Crag Burst¡¯s lips split into a grin as he produced the same gestures back: ¡°Come then! I¡¯m just scared you won¡¯t be hard enough!¡±


    The cursing outside grew even more resounding, but Crag Burst didn¡¯t pay this any mind. His eye¡¯s swept all around,paring the surrounding environment to the memories of his early years.


    If his memory was correct, the road that the jeep was traveling on had experienced nearly thirty years of history. This was one of the main roads nned by the city in the city¡¯s very beginnings. It linked up with several transport roads of the wilderness. The two-way twelvene road was quite the high standard no matter how one looked at it.


    But then the city¡¯s nning underwent a gigantic change within the following several dozen years. Countless skyscrapers rose sharply from the ground and the shadows from all sides covered the ground. Building material that fell from above scattered and smashed onto the roadways. And the buildings themselves blocked the skies above the roads.


    When the city gave up managing the Recycling Stratum, this road was destined to drown withinyers andyers of the shadows of skyscrapers. The area¡¯s inhabitants vited zoningws and recklessly packed the two sides of the road with buildings.


    Currently, countless eyes looked out from those buildings of all sorts of shapes and sizes. They stared at the jeep whizzing along with unclear intentions.


    ¡°Man, this damned ce is still aplete mess even after so many years. What the hell has the leader of this gang been doing?¡±


    Crag Burst had his arm resting on the frame of the spacious window. He shouted outside: ¡°Hey! Whose territory is this? You all don¡¯t keep good hygiene do you?¡±


    The gangsters outside the car were a bit sluggish, but then they immediately threatened with shouts and curses that were ten times louder than before. Some people lost control. They drove their motorcycles nearby and whipped whistling steel chains into the car window with enough force to smash a man¡¯s skull apart.


    Crag Burst just raised his arm, letting the chains smash atop of it. He coiled the chains for two revolutions and gave a slight pull. The man aboard the bike was like a kite with its strings cut. He flew away from his belovedrge-cylinder motorcycle, his entire body smashed across behind him.


    This moment was too sudden. The clustered motor gang behind him absolutely didn¡¯t have the time to dodge. Half of the motor squad was turned into a chaotic mess of people flying and motorcycles flipping in an instant.


    ¡°An Altered!¡±


    No one knew who shouted these words. The apanying motorcycle squad dispersed in all directions. Some people had already hit the brakes and stopped, giving up the chase.


    But at this time, one of the motorcycles that had been near the back increased in speed, soon reaching the jeep¡¯s side. This rider exposed a sinister grin to Crag Burst, lifted up the thick barrel of his gun with one hand, and just pulled the trigger.


    An explosion sounded and the typical shotgun unleashed twelve of its eight-millimeter tungsten pellets, which covered the entire front half of the car.


    The rider didn¡¯t even look at the results. He just swung his arm back and loaded the shotgun with another shell to shoot again. But this time when he raised the muzzle of his gun, he was met with the sinister smile of Crag Burst looking down the muzzle. Crag Burst¡¯s face was not injured at all.


    A muffled thud sounded out. The rider flew off the motorcycle to cross a distance of eight carnes. He flew into the distant zone-viting buildings.


    And Crag Burst leaped out of the car window to take the ce of the rider. He sat steadily on the motorcycle and with his newly seized the shotgun. This moring howler used this gun as a metal bat. He rushed back and forth. Smashing every one of these reckless gang members off their bikes in an instant.


    He had served as a prisoner within the sealed car for around ten minutes. Obviously, he didn¡¯t have a good mood.


    Though the motorcycle he was riding was a bit too small for his size, the motorcycle followed his willpletely. This sort of feeling of free movement was truly excellent.


    Crag Burstughed heartily, traveling side by side with the Tiger Burst Jeep as hispanion. He maintained the surging melody as before, growling and howling as much as he pleased.


    He pushed forward along with his car. The gang members that had fallen to the ground soon dispersed into the shadows. For a time, all that remained on the road was him and the jeep advancing forward in a perfectly straight line.


    Crag Burst suddenly felt an omen right when he was singing and enjoying himself to the fullest. He stooped lower to increase his speed and pulled a body¡¯s distance apart from the car in an instant. He saw, from the corner of his eyes, a fiery line streak across 20 meters behind him. The pavement exploded with a crater the size of a bowl. Only after did the peculiar hissing sound enter his eardrums.


    Crag Burst chuckled: It was arge caliber electromaic rifle, but the gunman¡¯s uracy was really terrible.


    Hmm. That¡¯s wrong. The shot had missed, but the enemy didn¡¯t have any intentions to fire again.


    He suddenly had a feeling that there was jet-ck bird pping away from the pitch-ck location of the unseen sniper right after the bullet was shot.


    Crag Burst grinned as he spoke though the HexaEar: ¡°What about your task? Don¡¯t you have faith in me? Anyway, you¡¯re doing quite well ying as a scout. How about we give it a shot in the wildernesster on?¡±


    ¡°Then you best prepare to feel cheated.¡±


    Luo Nan said a few words in passing. Then he used Ink to proim his existence to Crag Burst, but what had truly eliminated the sniper was the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s Siege Hammer.


    That poor fellow was currently unconscious in front of the window. He probably won¡¯t ever know what had hit him.


    Luo Nan¡¯s soul body floated in the middle of this dangerous area. His range of senses, which had a diameter of nearly one kilometer, disyed to him an all-epassing view that spread in all directions and contained multipleyers.


    He suddenly discovered that he was the most genuine sniper as of this moment: His existence was like a specter and he had an all-epassing perception with a diameter of one kilometer. Of course, he could telepathicallyunch the Siege Hammer attack that could ignore the vast majority of material defenses.


    Several elements had converged together. He was like a fish back in water under thisplicated circumstance. He could eliminate those ¡°evil doers¡± in the most efficient and fast way.


    With this kind of means avable to him, Luo Nan was able to truly feel that he was an ability user.


    Yes. This was the ability user that he imagined, a supernatural force that existed above the realm of the ordinary world..... Naturally, this was the best confirmation of the correct nature of Formatting Theory.


    And also at this time, Luo Nan realized how his weak fleshly body was restricting his true abilities.


    ¡°Hey, scout. Give me some new intel up ahead man. This motorcycle¡¯s quality is really bad...... Does your enemy often use this ce to annoy people?¡±


    Luo Nan responded: ¡°I think you should cut off and stop your car and inspect it properly. Perhaps we can discover some clues.¡±


    ¡°A good n, but we can do this while you scout on ahead. I just need some tools, some obstacle that can block my disobedient baby from moving.


    ¡°Wait for me to find......Huh?¡±


    Luo Nan suddenly choked on his words. This was because a colossal object had just entered the range of his senses past the dusky rays of the road ahead. This object approached closer slowly and steadily.

 Chapter 56: Black Jack (Part ?)

    Chapter 56: ck Jack (Part ?)


    Crag Burst¡¯s military-altered Tiger Burst Jeep had a size that was extremely shocking as a means of individual transportation. It could totally crush an ordinary car by running it over in off-road mode.


    But therge fellow that had just entered Luo Nan¡¯s range of mental senses couldpletely be described simrly. It could run over the Tiger Burst Jeep perfectly.


    Five seconds after Luo Nan discovered this behemoth, the enormous shadow slowly pressed across. Finally, Crag Burst¡¯s attention was drawn to it. Its enormous and overpowering size made Crag Burst, who had been wild and fearless, unconsciously gape wide open. He forgot how to speak for a time.


    It was a super-heavy road roller with an enormous body. It had a height exceeding five meters and a width taking up two full carnes. It was aplete industrial strength packer. The roller in front had a height surpassing the rooftop of the Tiger Burst Jeep.


    Perhaps thisrge fellow was the giant tool used to construct this main strip of the road back in the day. Its appearance was extremely old-fashioned. There wasn¡¯t a roof anymore for the driver. And all sorts and shapes of graffiti filled the entire surface of the vehicle.


    Anyway, this road roller had undergone some modifications. The two sides of the roller were outfitted with sharp des such that over four full carnes were directly covered.


    The weight of this vehicle had to be at least 50 tons. As it speedily drove across, the roller caused the already damaged asphalt road to be a sight too appalling to see.


    Even though it had a terrifying appearance, this antique road roller had an ordinary speed; it absolutely didn¡¯t exceed thirty kilometers per hour. If the jeep were to turn around and run, it would easily leave this outdatedrge fellow in the dust. Or if it were to make a small turn, it would have passed by with no problems.


    But there was a problem. The AI, which ruled the jeep, had zero awareness that it was about to be crushed and rolled to pieces. It maintained its current speed, current direction, and current route to advance forward.


    ¡°Hey! HEY!¡±


    Crag Burst did his best to try to wake up his baby, but his efforts were bound to be futile.


    The distance between the jeep and the road roller soon turned from three hundred meters to two hundred meters. The Tiger Burst Jeep contributed the most to the closing of distance, and it continued to pull closer.


    Luo Nan noticed that the road roller was carrying at least five gun-wielding people besides the driver. They all raised their guns and aimed at Crag Burst. Two of them carried the shockingly destructive electromaic rifles.


    Only God knew how these strictly controlled military-use firearms had fallen into these hands. Did the military handle their trash here too?


    ¡°Get out of the way!¡±


    As Luo Nan unleashed two Siege Hammer attacks as he warned Crag Burst. The targets were none other than the two gang members wielding the EM rifles.


    One of them copsed immediately, fainting. But a devilish red glow emerged in the eyes of the other shooter. He wasn¡¯t affected at all by the Siege Hammer. This shooter quickly switched targets and an explosive me shed from the muzzle of the gun. The metal bullet traveled at a terrifying velocity, traveling a distance of several hundred meters in a sh to prate Luo Nan¡¯s soul body.


    This shot didn¡¯tnd on any material object, but it gave Luo Nan a big fright.


    The shooter¡¯s psychic perception was very sharp to be able to determine the location of Luo Nan with extreme uracy, but his immunity towards the Siege Hammer was even more inconceivable. Luo Nan had prated all the material defenses of this marksman with an attack that focusedpletely on the mental ne, but it was as if he just hit the air.


    Crag Burst was also startled by the gunshot and the other three gunmen also opened fire. These gangsters were using old-fashioned gunpowder type weapons, but the power of these guns was still quite shocking.


    Crag Burst cursed loudly and he increased the speed of his motorcycle. He turned outwards to dodge the whistling hail of bullets and narrowly brush past the des of the road roller...... But he remained behind.


    The motorcycle ran far away in a zigzagging manner. Crag Burst had leaped off the bike and his buff figure flew effortlessly through the air tond over four meters away. He directlynded on the driver¡¯s cockpit of the road roller and smashed with a single heavy fist. The driver flew out the other side.


    The other people turned their guns towards him at this time, but no one was able to block Crag Burst¡¯s fist. They fell out from the road roller in quick session.


    After clearing these hindrances in a sh, Crag Burst tried to control, tried to stop therge fellow beneath him. Crag Burst just had to stop the road roller from moving. Even if the Tiger Burst Jeep had to take a hit, the Tiger Burst Jeep didn¡¯t deserve to be crushed and destroyed.


    Right now there were only fifty meters of distance between the two vehicles. There were only two~three seconds left before the jeep would be crushed.


    Crag Burst had experience with operating theserge industrial machines before. He felt he could control it. But then Luo Nan warned sharply using psychic waves to prate into Crag Burst¡¯s heart.


    ¡°Duck!¡±


    Luo Nan¡¯sck of experience wasy bare in this crucial moment. He had given a warning, but he didn¡¯t indicate the direction of danger. Crag Burst would need to perform his own judgment.


    Fortunately, Crag Burst was a veteran. He was able to identify the degree of danger from Luo Nan¡¯s hasty behavior. He leaped out from the cockpit without a moment¡¯s hesitation. He didn¡¯t stay on the road roller at all, he just flipped out.


    Seemingly in synchronous with his actions, a round spinning metal pineapple was tossed into the air. It dropped down right in the cockpit.


    ¡°Oh cr*p!¡±


    Crag Burst saw this event from the corner of his eyes with shock.


    Grenade! A defensive grenade with a terrifying destructive radius!


    This kind of crude and old-fashioned weapon had enormous destructive power. There was still a ce for them in the military. They were effective in certain scenarios.


    The grenade had been suppressed while in the hand. Upon release, the detonator began to countdown. It exploded with a rumble while in midair. Over a thousand metal shrapnel whistled in a storm to cover a space that was fifty meters wide.


    The grenade demonstrated its shocking destructive power on the few gangsters that had been knocked out of the road roller. They were hit by the shrapnel and miserable shrieks rang in the air.


    Even though speed wasn¡¯t Crag Burst¡¯s specialty, his mind operated at fast speeds. His body had just fallen to the ground. He borrowed the force from the impact to bounce up and, with a single step, overtook the road roller. He fit his body into a gap of the vehicle.


    His series of decisions was correct, but here there was someone waiting for him. A fist was sent directly at Crag Burst.


    The speed of this fist had seized the perfect timing. But what was even more shocking was the fist¡¯s inconceivable strength.


    Crag Burst received the fist with a single hand and his entire arm was forcefully deflected. Crag Burst stared nkly at this heavy fist as it smashed onto his face. Therge force ran him through, causing him to fly out to the shrapnel-filled skies andnd a dozen meters behind the road roller.


    Then at this time, a loud boom vibrated forth right in front of the road roller.


    The two vehicles were going at nearly 100 kilometers per hour rtive to each other. The five-ton Tiger Burst Jeep met in a head-on collision with the fifty-ton road roller. The kic energy of the jeep reached zero as its body caved in and parts ruptured into the air. It was a tragic sight.


    The road roller didn¡¯t crush the jeep instantly. After a brief period of sluggishness, the road roller maintained its speed from before, pushing the scrapped jeep as it continued to advance forward.


    More and more pieces of the jeep were dragged into the roller of the road roller. It was a most tragic and unavoidable fate.


    Luo Nan saw everything the road roller had done from beginning to end. He was stunned for some time, but then he ced more attention on the certain someone who had orchestrated all of this.


    Yes. The one who was able to ignore the Siege Hammer attack by the Human-Faced Arachnid. He had been ying dead ever since Crag Burst boarded the road roller, but he was the one who had tossed the defensive grenade and had seized the opportunity to punch Crag Burst in the face. He was the one who jumped from the road roller to the Tiger Burst Jeep just now.


    The red glow that red in this man¡¯s eyes gave Luo Nan the deepest impression of all. It was not a state that the eyes of ordinary life forms possessed and it seemed mechanical in nature.

 Chapter 56: Black Jack (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 56: ck Jack (Part 2/2)


    Luo Nan saw this person¡¯s features very clearly. He was a Caucasian; they were rarely seen in Xia City. He looked to be just under 40, or maybe he was a bit older. The scars on his face showed that he was a veteran.


    Of course, this person¡¯s left eye gave him a deeper impression. It was a robotic eye. Upon careful observation, Luo Nan saw that the eye had not undergone any cosmetic modifications; it had an ice-cold metalposition. And in the middley a red glow that caused one¡¯s mind to feel terror. An ordinary mind would find it hard to face that eye.


    ¡°This fellow isn¡¯t an ordinary human......¡±


    Luo Nan¡¯s mental senses were constantly covering this target. He discovered that there was more to this man¡¯s body than just the left eye. This person¡¯s body had far more metalponents than the ordinary person.


    ¡°It has to be an Altered Human! Cough cough. I was careless!¡±


    Crag Burst¡¯s voice transmitted through the HexaEar. He had been knocked off the road roller by a fist and then showered by the destructive shrapnel of a grenade. If he was an ordinary person, he would have long been dead. The first thing he did was to notify Luo Nan of his wellbeing and of his realization of the enemy. His sturdy physique and veteran experience were disyed in this manner.


    ¡°Altered Human1?¡±


    Luo Nan had somewhat of an understanding towards this concept. He saw that there would be some time until Crag Burst would catch up to him, so he carefully gave a more detailed scan with his senses while he exchanged information with Crag Burst:


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying he¡¯s like a cyborg soldier of the military?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean cyborg soldier. He¡¯s an Altered Human. There¡¯s no other word for it. And this sort of alteration has been prohibited for nearly twenty years now, at least on the surface...... How old is he? Over forty?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Sounds about right.¡±


    ¡°He has to be an Altered, one who has been through the military. He¡¯s quite skilled at deception. But this sort of fellow would certainly need to be granted special privileges by the SCA2. He would have to register at the SCA every year. Why would he be here?¡±


    Crag Burst felt that there was something iprehensible about this and Luo Nan felt the same way.


    The gangsters of the Recycling Stratumckedws and morals. They were simply a tiny military weapon house with their various weapons, guns, and grenades. This was due to the government abandoning administration over the Recycling Stratum.


    Actually, the overwhelming majority of these people were heavy criminals. Their privileges were so low that it was scary. The strict control of credit and privileges via the inte made it so that these people could only be kings in the Recycling Stratum. As soon as they leave the Recycling Stratum and enter a public location, they would be strictly monitored. Autonomousw enforcement would appear over their heads and send them to prison the moment they perform any sensitive actions.


    It was hard to imagine that a special soldier altered by the military woulde here to eke out a living. His special privileges were as striking as a lighthouse under the monitoring of the SCAwork. The government absolutely wouldn¡¯t permit such a dangerous element to act together with the gangsters of the Recycling Stratum.


    For people who were in the special circumstances of gargantuan legalities, it would be better to escape into the wilderness rather than to stay here.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. This fellow has angered me. I¡¯ll have a nice talk with him!¡±


    Crag Burst was gnashing his teeth in anger. Soon he pped his thigh: ¡°I found it. It¡¯s here. You keep an eye on him. I¡¯ming asap.¡±


    He found the high-power motorcycle in the middle of the road and he turned around to chase after it. In about half a minute, he would be able to truly re-enter the battlefield.


    Luo Nan focused his attention on the Altered Human.


    Now that he found out more about this person¡¯s identity, Luo Nan¡¯s grew even more interested in this person.


    After knocking down Crag Burst, this Altered Human went atop the heavily deformed jeep. He ripped the roof off to enter the cockpit whose original form could no longer be made out.


    Then the Altered Human smashed the control console with a fist and reached his hand inside to scoop out something.


    As Luo Nan watched, he recalled how the jeep¡¯s AI had lost control. He recalled the effects after Yan Yongbo hadunched a metal bug.


    Certainly, Yan Yongbo had done something to the jeep, and it was closely rted to the metal bug that had merged with the vehicle. The car had deviated from its normal operation ever since that happened


    And this Altered Human seemed to be connected to this. He was retrieving the metal bug like a recycler.


    This sort of action matched quite well with the Recycling Stratum.


    And in this sense, perhaps the metal bug was a super crucial item. Perhaps it involved some deep secret of Yan Yongbo?


    Luo Nan¡¯s mental senses turned even more refined upon thinking this far. Even though his soul body couldn¡¯t really do much at the present, he still wanted to ascertain the enemy¡¯s objective and think of the next step in his ns.


    From Luo Nan¡¯s observations, he could tell that the Altered Human could sense the bug in the same manner as the reaction towards the Siege Hammer. But this time the Altered clearly craved for the bug far more than anything else. He just looked up and shot a nce, but he didn¡¯t lock onto Luo Nan¡¯s position. He continued to search with a lowered head.


    Then the Altered Human¡¯s hand within the console suddenly slowed. His face changed from its cold and hard expression into a clear and malevolent smile.


    Then he pulled out his hand and pinched between his fingertips was a metal beetle the size of a grain of rice. He remained still for a time, looking at this instrument as if it were a work of art.


    The Altered Human raised the metal beetle up to his eyes and he sized it up carefully as if he was gazing at a treasured object. The more he looked, the deeper the smile on his face became and the red glow of his robotic eye continued to grow in intensity.


    When the metal bug appeared in the open, Luo Nan took this chance to continually scan this bug from top to bottom with his mental senses, trying to analyze its internal structure.


    But then he discovered that it wasn¡¯t easy to bnce between distance and precision. He was separated by over a hundred meters. The precision of his senses had a maximum resolution of a millimeter. It would be very hard to analyze further inside.


    Right when Luo Nan was debating whether or not to get closer, the high-power motorcycle rumbled from behind the road roller. Soon it bypassed the side des of the road roller once again and ran side-by-side with the deformed jeep.


    Crag Burst gave a provocative hand gesture to the man inside the cockpit from atop the motorcycle: ¡°Hey! Do you have to guts to go for another round? I¡¯ll give you a free hit!¡±


    The Altered Human somewhat collected his smile and his cold robotic eye swept over to Crag Burst. He didn¡¯t respond immediately.


    Crag Burst continued his provocations, but he used something else: ¡°I, Crag Burst, served as coast guard in Area 55. Tell me your name. I¡¯ll burn some incense for youter!¡±


    The Altered Human within the jeep opened and closed his lips slightly. He first spat to the ground in what seemed to be in a ridiculing way:


    ¡°A soldier......¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not?¡±


    Crag Burst discovered that there was something wrong with his assumption, and so he stopped being polite. But right when he was about tounch an attack, the enemy did something bizarre


    The Altered Human opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue, cing the metal beetle ontop of it. The tongue rolled back in his mouth, bringing the small toy along with it. Then the Altered Human clearly swallowed.


    He actually swallowed the metal beetle!


    Crag Burst watched in shock and the Altered Human revealed to him a smile: ¡°My name is Jack...... However, you can call me ck Jack in the future. I am top dog around here!


    Altered Human. The first mention of Altered Humans was mentioned in Chapter 19. They were implied to be altered for military purposes.


    SCA, Social Credit Administration. They administer credit and manage ess privileges. They were introduced in Chapter 46.2.

 Chapter 57: Local Area Network (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 57: Local Area Network (Part 1/2)


    ck Jack¡¯s figure leaped up as his voice faded away. He actually jumped off the driver¡¯s location down the other side. The timing he chose was impable. The road roller had just pushed the jeep to the location where the gangsters had their motorcycles all flipped in a mess.


    Some people actually hadn¡¯t left yet. They remained in the center of the road and watched the slow moving road roller with shock at first, then they shouted. They sought to start the engines of their motorcycle and get out of the way.


    But then Jack leaped from the jeep and seized a motorcycle right at this time. He increased his speed and circled around the side des of the road roller to go back the way he came.


    One second he was like a video game boss, then the next second he just fled?


    The front wheel of the motorcycle lifted up as Crag Burst cursed loudly. He forcefully turned, narrowly brushing past the des of the road roller. He put the pedal to the metal, increasing his speed for the chase.


    The speeds of these two motorcycles were over 100 kilometers per hour. They disappeared in the blink of an eye within the darkness of night.


    Luo Nan¡¯s soul body could catch up with no problems, but this task would be hard for Ink. A moment¡¯s hesitation had caused the two motorcycles, with their vigorous chase, to leave his range of senses.


    Here the road roller pushed against the jeep, rumbling along as it crushed across. The jeep was a sorry mess after being run over. The gangsters had hidden away to the road side with great difficulty and were raining curses. Some were cursing Crag Burst, but most were cursing Jack.


    Luo Nan stirred telepathically to try to listen to them in earnest. He discovered that their words contained some very interesting details, but these details were scattered, fragmented, andcked the main points.


    Ink alsoe over due to Luo Nan¡¯s concentration being fixated over there. Its pping wings attracted the eyes of the gangsters.


    One of the gangsters was getting annoyed just by watching Ink. He had a gun in his hands, but he turned stupefied like a block of wood right when he was about to shoot. He smashed to the ground having lost consciousness.


    The gangsters, who were cursing to their delights, all froze on the spot. They looked at their unconsciouspanion, then they looked up to the sky in astonishment.


    Ink spiraled downwards andnded on the roof of a zone-viting building. It towered above the gangsters, observing this group of weak chickens.


    A jet-ck crow was staring at them in the darkness with pitch-ck eyes. On the floory theirpanion who had inexplicably fainted. This scene made the dozen or so gangsters grow soft at the knees.


    The crow maintained its silence from beginning to end. The longer it did so, the more frightened and anxious these people¡¯s hearts became.


    Luo Nan was a bit embarrassed as he hovered next to Ink.


    He originally didn¡¯t want to be so intimidating to these weaklings; the most important thing to do right now was to collect information. But the problem was, Ink was just a crow. How could a crowmunicate with people? Things would be no different even if Ink was a parrot.


    He could see how useful the HexaEar was with the Psychic Wave Network. Without it, he wouldn¡¯t have been able tomunicate with Crag Burst.


    Oh, the Psychic Wave Network?


    Luo Nan made a leap in thinking. If it was just awork, would using the dark chains1 from within the pyramid structure to connect work?


    A new image of a crow had appeared within the pyramid structure. It was none other than Ink, and moreover, Ink was located on the second level, in the Office Worker Level.


    Obviously, Luo Nan didn¡¯t understand bird speak, but he was still able tomunicate his intentions and converse with Ink without any issues. Even if he had hypnotized Ink many times in the past, themunications between man and bird had all gone unhindered. Things had already departed the realm ofmon sense.


    If a man and a crow could do such a thing, then why couldn¡¯t a man and a man?


    Luo Nan became more resolute as his thoughts reached this point. First, he had to make a connection by using the dark chains.


    Luo Nan was a bit fastidious. He hesitated a moment and his thoughts continued to spin:


    Perhaps he could use a substitute method?


    The thought gave birth to a n. The Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s cold and devilish eyes swept across the crowd of gangsters.


    Of course not one of the gangsters was able to see the Human-Faced Arachnid. But the bizarre gaze of the crow was enough to make them flustered.


    The group of people was just about to fall two steps back when the crow opened its beak and let out a caw. The caw was hoarse and unpleasant to the ears, causing a shiver to break out in each person.


    But there was something more important than that. At the same time as the cawing of the crow, a weak yet indescribably distinct sound directly struck the depths of their minds, coiling in the bottom of their hearts:


    ¡°I ask. And you will answer!¡±


    ¡°MOMMY!¡±


    The miserable and panic-stricken shout sparked people to turn around and run. At the same time, some people didn¡¯t utter a sound; their eyes rolled back and they copsed to the ground.


    ¡°......¡±


    This time Luo Nan didn¡¯t mess around with them. These brothers fainted by themselves.


    Of course, soon the those who tried to flee suffered from Siege Hammer attacks in moderate severity. They wouldn¡¯t be knocked unconscious but would feel extreme pain.The pain was enough that they copsed to the ground and scream with their heads in their hands.


    This savage and devilish scene could be seen from front to back. The group of gangsters was frozen dead on the spot.


    What devil, what mutant, what ck technology...... Simr thoughts as absurd as these came and went in their minds, but in the end, they didn¡¯t dare to move their feet at all.


    The road roller rumbled off far in the distance and its noise gradually faded away from their ears. The road was still and silent for a time.


    ¡°I ask. And you will answer.¡±


    Luo Nan spoke his previous words once again, all the while paying attention to the changes in the pyramid structure.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid located at the Technician Level had changed at the core. This Darksider life form had spat out silk-like threads when Luo Nan had his mind set. These threads were shot out in the chaotic turbid flow of emotions.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid was a skilled fisherman. It used the spider silk to hook up fishlings one after another and tossed them into the lowest level of the pyramid to stand side by side with the images of Xie Junping and Cat Eyes. Their images were much weaker and lighter than those two, however. They were like frail bubbles that could pop at any moment.


    The dozen or so gangsters were all brought under the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s control without exception.


    As the mastermind behind the scenes, this was Luo Nan¡¯s first time seeing the Human-Faced Arachnid disy this sort of control. He was stupefied watching for a time:


    So it was this easy in the first ce?


    In any case, the psychic-mental connection was formed upon constructing the ¡°local areawork¡±. The following matters would be much more manageable.


    The HexaEar transmitted over psychic waves approximately two minutester. Crag Burst had taken the initiative to contact him: ¡°Crap crap crap! Scout, where did you go?¡±


    Luo Nan was able to determine what had happened from the tone of Crag Burst¡¯s voice: ¡°You lost him?¡±


    ¡°That ck rat. He¡¯s a good for nothing, but his alleyway scurrying skills are top notch. He even fired at me from behind...... Hey. Where¡¯s more forward intel?


    ¡°Your speed was over 100 kilometers per hour. I couldn¡¯t catch up.¡±


    Obviously, the crow couldn¡¯t have caught up. Luo Nan obviously wouldn¡¯t have to exin this to Crag Burst.


    ¡°Crap crap crap crap crap crap!¡±


    Crag Burst exploded with curses: ¡°You should choose something more useful to possess! The speed needs to be fast. What about a falcon or hawk. Aren¡¯t those good? Why the hell did you choose a crow?¡±


    Luo Nan didn¡¯tin even though Crag Burst wasining like this. The more Crag Burst was like this, the clearer thisrge soldier disyed that Luo Nan wasn¡¯t an outsider, that Luo Nan was someone who he started to trust and rely on.


    This was a very good beginning.


    And sure enough, Crag Burst came around and felt a bit embarrassed. He coughed twice: ¡°Since I know you have this skill now, I¡¯ll help you buy a good bird from the Societyter on. The price needs to be right. It¡¯s possible that it could be a mutant.¡±


    ¡°Of course. Help me chooseter.¡±


    Luo Nanughed and then changed topics: ¡°Even though I couldn¡¯t scout, I still managed to obtain some information. Where are you?¡±


    Dark Chains (ÎÚ³ÁËøÁ´, literally Chains Seeped in ck). This is the heavily chained crow. I mistranted it before, but I changed all the previous chapters to fix this. Basically, ÎÚ could mean either ck or crow, so I thought it was "crow immersed in chains".

 Chapter 57: Local Area Network (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 57: Local Area Network (Part 2/2)


    ¡°D*mned if I know where I am. Let me look at the map. Oh, I¡¯m at the DeShang Building in the River Wu District. The surface looks so shiny and clean. How could the ground below becking in morals?¡±


    ¡°DeShang?¡±


    Lua Nan recalled this detail from the information he just obtained. It looked like Crag Burst¡¯s chasing skills could not be overlooked; he was quite close to the final objective.


    ¡°Wait a bit. I¡¯ming over as fast as I can.¡±


    Ink rushed towards the sky, weaving between buildings as it flew through the air. Luo Nan¡¯s soul body controlled the Human-Faced Arachnid to fly next to Ink.


    The flying speed of the crow was really too slow. The Human-Faced Arachnid didn¡¯t even disy a third of its strength and it kept leisurely in pace with Ink. Luo Nan didn¡¯t expend his energy on flying, instead, he used the all-epassing view of his senses to observe the ground of the DeShang Building, which he had always heard of but had never stepped foot in.


    The muddy night sky of the Recycling Stratum gave him a very subtle feeling. He wasn¡¯t very experienced in flying around in the night sky. He never expected that it would be like swimming in a river. As time flowed on, the all-epassing scene revealed the deepest hidden things in the area to his eyes, causing this feeling of his to grow even deeper and alien:


    It was not only like swimming in water, it was like swimming in sewage!


    Everything appeared in his all-epassing view. There were so many specific details that things were a mess. It was impossible for Luo Nan to analyze things one after another. And so he had casually scanned things such as gangsters, prostitutes, drug dealers, casinos, as well as the abstract emotions of violence, lust, greed, apathy, and so on. All these interweaved as dirty paints that formed countless foul and muddy colors. They pelted and sprayed into his mind.


    Everything converged into muddy roaring rapids that washed the entire Recycling Stratum. They flowed once again to drown the entirety of Xia City with a giant turbulent tide of emotions...... In the end, this was just a tributary that was a bit dirtier.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid was quitefortable in this environment. The term ¡°a fish back in water¡± could describe it, but soon Luo Nan discovered that the Human-Faced Arachnid had some loss of appetite while it lingered in the turbid flow of emotions.


    Weren¡¯t these dirty and negative emotions the food that it desired the most back then? This fellow had relied on simr things to strengthen itself endlessly, but now it had thoughts of disdain. It felt that these emotions were beneath it.


    Luo Nan tried tomunicate with the Human-Faced Arachnid, but the information about the Human-Faced Arachnid had long ways to go before the analyzation wasplete. A forced understanding would be filled with vagueness and disorder. In the end, Luo Nan could only confirm a single point:


    The Human-Faced Arachnid had evolved on some level such that the food it used to eat would no longer satisfy its needs...... In the end, there wasn¡¯t a single fished that relied only on drinking water to survive.


    Perhaps the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s evolution was like the transition between a nkton and a fish?


    Should he congratte it?


    The DeShang Building appeared in front of Luo Nan¡¯s eyes right when he was racking his head over the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s food problem.


    Crag Burst was already impatient from waiting so long. Right now he was standing on the protruding wall on the tenth floor of the building. He surveyed the distance from up high and saw Ink fly over. He waved his hand in excitement from afar:


    ¡°Hurry hurry hurry. I found a way inside here.¡±


    Ink pped its wings as it searched for a ce tond, but how could Crag Burst have the patience to wait? He pointed at his shoulder: ¡°Here. I guarantee it¡¯s safe.¡±


    Luo Nan stopped being polite as he gave Ink the order and Inknded directly onto Crag Burst¡¯s shoulder. Then Luo Nan and Crag Burst began to exchange their respective information.


    ¡°The lower three floors, including the underground buildings, all have structures shaped like »Ø to be divided into inside regions and outside regions. Actually, they¡¯re just setup to have an isted area. Many buildings bordering the Recycling Stratum are like this, and so they were made in this way.¡±


    Crag Burst had looked up quite a bit of material while he was waiting: ¡°The isted areas have one-way passageways, security is tight, and all ess privileges are locked down. There are no ordinary means at all to enter the buildings of the business district from the Recycling Stratum; it doesn¡¯t matter who it is.¡±


    ¡°All the gangsters in thend exist outside the isted levels. Here they knock out countless mouse holes. It¡¯s not just DeShang Building, it includes the several neighboring buildings. Passageways are knocked through and the people to go inside are decent in number.¡±


    Luo Nan listened to Crag Burst prattle away andpared the situation here with the intelligence he had found out for himself. He organized his words and spoke:


    ¡°ording to the information I acquired, DeShang Building has an underground fighting scene. Peoplee here often to bet. Many rich guests stake big money here...... Jack is the ace host and judge of the fight scene here. He¡¯s probably one of the bosses behind the scenes.¡±


    ¡°Underground fights?¡± Crag Burst immediately became interested when he heard the word ¡°fight¡±. ¡°Howe I never heard of this before? I¡¯ve been to practically all the fighting stages, be it public, private, legal, and illegal, in Xia City!¡±


    ¡°......It¡¯s probably because this is a special stage exclusive for people 18 or under.¡±


    The isted external area of DeShang Building was just as Crag Burst said. It was filthy and chaotic with dark corridors weaving everywhere. Luo Nan had received a lot of useful information from the gangsters¡¯ mouths. Then he also had the support of the all-epassing view of his mental senses. A few rounds of scans gave him a flow of information that was smoother than obtaining from the gangsters.


    Crag Burst was still holding down a stomach full of anger from his failure in pursuing down Jack and he wanted to vent out. He never thought that Luo Nan would open up a cheat-like map as soon as they joined up. They entered a path and they only saw the shadows of gangsters scurrying out of the way. Crag Burst could only eat disappointment in the back as they encountered very little people. It was very difficult to for him to get an opportunity to unleash the strength brimming in his body.


    He wasn¡¯t an idiot. He could naturally feel that Luo Nan had used means of reconnaissance other than using the crow; some sort of higher level perception had yed a role in this.


    ¡°Wait. There¡¯s something fishy with your ability! The range! Even Cat Eyes¡¯s range isn¡¯t this weird......¡±


    ¡°Cat Eyes?¡±


    Luo Nan was actually quite interested in this wild woman who had suddenly appeared within the pyramid structure. Anyway, they weren¡¯t pushing themselves too hard right now, so he spoke without thinking: ¡°What¡¯s the range of her super-far perception?¡±


    ¡°Her all-epassing perception is about fifty to seventy meters. Her psychic perception, when her state is good, has a recorded limit of 3720 kilometers......¡±


    ¡°How much?¡± Luo Nan nearly choked, ¡°Did you say kilometers or meters?¡±


    ¡°I said kilometers.¡± Crag Burst chuckled. ¡±Quite inconceivable right? But this is where the terror of super-far perception lies. It¡¯s outside your realm of reason as long as the feeling is there! Back in the day, Cat Eyes did something super kick-ass. She used her super-far perception to control a megaton grade nuclear warhead to bore through the earth. She smashed it into an undergroundir of mutants in the wilderness. It was soul-shocking! Even the military big shots, who are excessively prideful, kneeled before her!¡±


    ¡°......¡± Luo Nan didn¡¯t know what he should say for a time. He had been quite content with the range of his mental senses while he was in his soul form. But now he was suddenly faced with a standard so high who could only gaze upwards to look at it.


    But on the other hand, such a kickass person had actually unwittingly entered his pyramid structure. She was receiving his influence and suppression, no matter how much or little there was. It was an extremely subtle feeling.


    Crag Burst concluded: ¡°In a certain sense, Cat Eyes¡¯s ability should be the type closest to being a psychic. But it¡¯s not as mysterious. Other than it being unstable and having no effects with Darksider life forms, there¡¯s practically no weak points. Therefore, you must not offend her. Otherwise, she can find you no matter where you are in the city, in every nook and cranny. Then when you fall asleep...... Snap!¡±


    Crag Burst performed the movements of snapping a neck, then heughed and petted Ink on the head: ¡°You really need to be careful. I feel that you two are pr opposites in nature and that one day...... Oh. It¡¯s a dead end?¡±


    It was a dead end ahead. In front of them was a wall painted in white. Crag Burst knocked against it. It was solid; there were steel tes embedded inside.

 Chapter 58: The True Seed (Part ?)

    Chapter 58: The True Seed (Part ?)


    ¡°The wall in front of us is the isted area, and in there is the underground fighting arena.¡±


    Right now all Crag Burst could see was the white wall, but things were different for Luo Nan. His soul body already went through the wall and he entered in and out quite a few times. His understanding of the arrangement inside might have been even greater than the designer¡¯s.


    Hebined what he discovered with the information he had received before and exined to Crag Burst: ¡°Originally no instations were permitted in the isted area beside monitoring and defensive systems. But the building¡¯s administration still made some modifications for the sake of ensuring viewing quality for the site. And so, the surrounding area is upied for this.¡±


    ¡°Therefore, a fuzzy zone has been formed here. The gangsters of the recycling stratum can interact with gamblers from the surface. They can pay funds and they can hire manpower. Jack is none other than the sole controller of this fuzzy zone. This is his nest. This is where his golden goose lies.¡±


    Crag Burst did not ask for further details. He was a man who often entered underground fighting arenas, so he had a much clearer understanding of the gateways inside these ces than Luo Nan.


    He didn¡¯t care about this point at all actually. He was only interested in capturing Jack: ¡°So Jack¡¯s in the fighting arena? How do we get inside? Do we smash our way through?¡±


    Crag Burst really did have some thoughts of giving this a shot.


    ¡°This is a passageway in the first ce, but for emergency use. It¡¯s designed so that only those inside can open it up.¡± Luo Nan let Ink p its wings to wake this older brother whose brains was filled with violence. The problem was that this was not effective at all.


    ¡°Grrr. Grrr! So we need to be direct. Watch me.¡±


    ¡°No. Wait up. Wait a few more seconds.¡±


    The white wall in front slid open in one direction before Luo Nan finished speaking. The inneryers of steel tes slid in the opposite direction. Then the ice-cold metal wall was exposed, but this wall opened as well from the middle and a passageway was lightly illuminated.


    Crag Burst was mute for a time looking at the threeyers of defenses, especially thestyer with its 10-centimeter thick super-reinforced alloy wall. He no longer mentioned using violence to pave a path.


    The passageway before their eyes wasn¡¯t too long for they were able to see the end with their eyes. A door was half open over there and more intense light permeated through it along with the noisy mor of people. Clearly, outside that door was some location within the underground fighting arena.


    Then Crag Burst saw a man sitting copsed in the middle of the passageway; he was already unconscious. Crag Burst turned his head, looking in all directions. Soon he discovered that above this man¡¯s head was a pin code lock. The corresponding screen clearly disyed a sessful opening.


    ¡°Your...... nted agent?¡±


    Crag Burst soon corrected this absurd thought, but the following conjecture was far more preposterous to him: ¡°No need to talk. You were separated by the wall, yet you controlled this fellow and had him open the door?¡±


    Right on the mark!


    So it turned out that his hypnosis ability matched quite well with the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s ¡°fishing skill¡±. The results were really decent.


    Luo Nan just chuckled through the HexaEar, maintaining a bit of mystery. He indicated to Crag Burst to close this passageway. The ce was definitely connected to thework of the control room. Even if they couldn¡¯t hide it for long, any bit of time would be valuable.


    ¡°Hell. This isn¡¯t just possession. You¡¯re able to maintain some abilities. So you can have the crow wield a portion of your abilities right? Do you have a sorcerer¡¯s bloodline? Or what Secret Order do youe from?¡±


    Crag Burst¡¯s thoughts became more and more excessive. Luo Nan was really worried that the words ¡°out-of-body state¡± mighte out of Crag Burst¡¯s mouth. He could only interrupt him once more: ¡°Let¡¯s pick up the pace then. It¡¯s very likely that Jack just used this ce to go elsewhere. Though it¡¯s impossible to enter DeShang Building and the business district from the isted area, there are direct passages to the upper-level urban districts.¡±


    Crag Burst immediately shut his mouth and simply cleaned up the scene before leaving the passageway.


    The outside was a ring-shaped corridor with an extremely distinct arc. It made one feel that the space was really limited. The operators here had utilized the space to the maximum. The concave walls. Every few sections had a scene projected on the curved wall, the brilliant scene of the fighting arena.


    ¡°So it¡¯s all kids.¡±


    Crag Burst¡¯s eyebrows furrowed. He was a professional, so he had a rotten mood looking at the each video image: ¡°The people here do have fighting skills. But they¡¯re more negative and fierce. These are life threatening fights!¡±


    Close-up scenes of fallen fighters appeared on the screen. Many had broken hands and feet, or maybe they suffered from a vital injury. Crag Burst wouldn¡¯t have blinked an eye towards these matters if this was the world of adult fighting. But the people fighting on the screen looked to be no more than fifteen years old, the same age group as Luo Nan.


    The group of half-grown children did not hold back their fierce fists at all. Did they really know what their fierce fists would do?


    The savage glint in their eyes demonstrated that they knew. And the feeling that these warped thoughts brought made one feel even more unwell.


    The sound of footsteps echoed from both sides of the corridor and Crag Burst¡¯s thoughts just disappeared from his head. Anyway, Luo Nan indicated to go to a different side and enter a room covered with thick curtains.


    Crag Burst thought that he was entering a passageway to the fighting arena, but when he entered he discovered that this seemed to be a waiting room. The arrangements were very simple and crude. There were just a wardrobe and a bench. Further inside was the passageway to the fighting arena.


    There was already someone else in the waiting room at this time. He was wearing fighting shorts and wore nothing on top. He was barefooted and a towel covered his head. His head was drooping down; it seemed that he was preparing his energy.


    He was probably thebatant for the next fight. He didn¡¯t have anyone besides him, not a coach nor a friend. He was all by his lonesome and he projected a feeling of destion and gloom. He actually didn¡¯t react at all to the big and heavy Crag Burst bursting in all of a sudden.


    Crag Burst nearly gaped on the spot, but then he discovered that the room was actually quite noisy. Disy screens, which were a bit smaller than the ones outside, were also in the waiting area. The audio through the speakers was quite noisy. It made one suspicious just what function this waiting room had.


    Then the disy screen just so happened to jump to a new scene right at this time.


    ¡°Look! It¡¯s Jack!¡±


    Luo Nan got Crag Burst¡¯s attention. The two people¡¯s minds came at attention, but soon they discovered that this was just a pre-recorded segment.


    Jack was wearing the uniform of a referee. He had a bow tie and he was standing perfectly straight. He moved back and forth with rhythm. If it weren¡¯t for the offensive scars on his face, he would be more like a butler of a nobility than a referee. No wonder his hosting and refereeing segments were so well received.


    ¡°This stage isn¡¯t bad.¡±


    Crag Burst used his expert eyes toment: ¡°The tall and thin guy has very solid fundamentals. His actions are very appropriate. He¡¯s an excellent control-typebatant...... Wait. There¡¯s something off with this video.¡±


    The editor had chosen shots involving the rxed punches, dodging, and nking of the tall and skinny teen that Crag Burst had been praising. It waspletely different than the intense life-or-death scene from before.


    Such a scene had to be suggesting something else.


    Luo Nan discovered that thebatant in the room had just raised his head after having it lowered all this time. Thebatant stared at the screen. Pale and slim cheeks were revealed under the towel. He was unusually peaceful and he continued to pay no mind to Crag Burst as before.


    Strangely enough, the Human-Faced Arachnid, which had always been well-behaved under Luo Nan¡¯s control, became a bit restless.

 Chapter 58: The True Seed (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 58: The True Seed (Part 2/2)


    The focus of the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s attention was on the deathly calmbatant. His age was probably around Luo Nan¡¯s age. His introverted and even gloomy nature was more or less the same too, but the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s interest was certainly not due to this.


    The feedback that Luo Nan received from the Human-Faced Arachnid was actually filled with expectation and hunger...... It was as if a glutton was staring at the slowly stewing dish on a stovetop. It would be a pity to eat it now, but not eating was making it impatient.


    So this was the new food that you chose?


    Luo Nan had been pondering the change in diet of the Human-Faced Arachnid and now there was a new reference. He took out a bit more energy to increase his attention on this matter, but how could hee to an understanding within such a short time period?


    The scene changed on the video at this moment. The strange scene of the match had ended and an after-fight segment followed. Jack stood in between the twobatants, looking to be announcing the winners.


    The beginning of the footage did not have many shots with the skinny and tall teenager, but his dominance was clearly disyed. The footage presented an astonishing level of control.


    However, Jack didn¡¯t rush in announcing the victor. He lowered his head to look at the time.


    The apanying music to the video strangely stopped at this time and sharp whistling and shouting came from the spectator stands on all four sides. The sound grew more resounding, noisy, and ear-splitting.


    Then Jack moved atst. He opened his arms and held onto thepetitors¡¯ hands in a manner that was unlike a typical referee. Then he embraced these two teenagers by their shoulders, looking very intimate.


    But the teenagers¡¯ bodies went stiff on the spot.


    Jack leisurely announced the victor in a manner that was like reciting a poem. His voice spread to the entire venue through a microphone: ¡°As the referee, I must fairly judge this fight. This was a conservative fight......¡±


    The shouting increased a level in volume from the spectator stands.


    ¡°This was a fight that was ended by time......¡±


    The screaming cheers grew more resounding. Some people even stood up and waved with fists, which sparked off even more people. Soon there was no one who remained sitting in the arena.


    Jack¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change as he spat out his final judgment:


    ¡°This was a fake fight!¡±


    The people in the spectator stands werepletely berserk now and chaotic mor rang forth. The noise had converged to a simple yet blood-chilling syble:


    ¡°KILL! KILL! KILL!¡±


    The two teenagers on stage had faces devoid of color. They wanted to struggle free, but they were firmly suppressed by Jack¡¯s metal arms. Then Jack spoke with a smile:


    ¡°There isn¡¯t a winner, nor is there a loser!¡±


    Before his voice could fade away, Jack exerted strength with both his arms at once. The sound of fragile bone shattering rang through the microphone on his body, spreading to everyone present.


    The shoulder bones of the two teenagers had instantly shattered into pieces. The powerful force drew them close, crushing their sternum and spine. They no longer appeared human. Jack continued to crush these two teenagers together, causing them to embrace each other in front of his chest.


    The faces with blood flowing out of all orifices collided together. Then they turned into two piles of dead meat.


    Jack loosened his arms and the two corpses slid to the ground. He didn¡¯t even give them a nce and he crossed his arms together to signal:


    ¡°A solid match. A friendly match...... PASS!¡±


    ¡°Holy crap!¡±


    The screen suddenly caved in and ruptured before the scene could switch. Crag Burst had punched up high, directly hitting it with an explosive punch. Such an intense reaction thoroughly revealed Crag Burst¡¯s viewpoint. He didn¡¯t care about the broken screen. He just spat:


    ¡°Bunch of trash.¡±


    The calmbatant turned his face over and a bit of surprise could be seen in his pupils, yet this emotion didn¡¯t transfer over to the rest of his face. It had already perished. In the end, he simply spat a few words:


    ¡°Y¡¯all are?¡±


    Crag Burst watched him with bulging eyes: ¡°Kid. You¡¯re going to take part in this bullshit fight?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m part of the next fight.¡±


    Crag Burst waved his hand roughly: ¡°You¡¯re up next on stage, but there won¡¯t ever be a next fight now that I have arrived. That way leads to the fighting arena right......¡±


    Crag Burst was just about to move forward. Not only was he filled with a sense of justice to the point of exploding, the matter that happened in this fighting arena made him, a fighting lover, feel sick in the heart.


    Luo Nan saw that Crag Burst had the intention to smash apart this fighting arena so he shouted helplessly for Crag Burst to stop. Didn¡¯t thispletely depart from their original goal?


    ¡°I¡¯m willing to bet that Jack will immediately flee and disappear without a trace the moment you enter the arena. Even if you strike down every single person in the venue, is there any point if this murderer manages to get away?¡±


    ¡°That is your problem, scout! Why haven¡¯t you found that ck rat yet?¡± Crag Burst was highly emotional. He hadmitted the same offense as Luo Nan. He forgot to use the Psychic Wave Network tomunicate and had directly opened his mouth.


    The silentbatant watched Crag Burst speak to the air. His gaze swept around in the space and he didn¡¯t see anything else. In the end, his gaze rested on the crow on top of Crag Burst¡¯s shoulder.


    He opened and closed his mouth with a bit of hesitation, but in the end, he spoke: ¡°Mister. Are you talking with the crow?¡±


    Crag Burst was stunned for a moment. He turned his head over to look and spoke bizarrely: ¡°Uh. Yes.¡±


    The words just left his mouth and Crag Burst was filled with regret. Such an answer was really quite stupid.


    This silentbatant had not disyed any emotion all this time, but now he clearly smiled: ¡°So it was Mr. Crow all this time. Can I talk to him?¡±


    His smile was a bit shaky and his words were unusually childish. Together these things burst open in the tiny waiting room.


    And at this time, Crag Burst and Luo Nan were able to clearly recognize that thisbatant was really just a half grown kid, a kid who was about to walk on stage to engage in a life-or-death fight.


    And also at this time did a subtle sh appear in the calm and deathly-still pupils of this fifteen~sixteen-year-old teenager before their eyes. All the boy¡¯s vitality and spirit came rippling forth from his pair of long narrow eyes.


    When faced with this expression, Crag Burst actually didn¡¯t know what to do for a time. In the end, he could only shrug:


    ¡°Sure. As long as he¡¯s fine with it.¡±


    Borrowing the force of Crag Burst¡¯s shrugs, Ink half flew, half hopped directly onto the half extended arm of thebatant. Of course, Ink had done this under Luo Nan¡¯s orders.


    ¡°Oh!¡±


    The calmbatant happily met Ink¡¯s spirituality. Then he stood slightly up and bowed towards Ink in a very serious manner: ¡°My name is Rui Wen1. They call me the Predator, but I am nothing more than a crow. This will be my 100th fight and myst fight. I hope Mr. Crow can give me his blessings.¡±


    This time the boy had spoken more words than usual. Luo Nan discovered that this calmbatant, Rui Wen, had a very special voice. It seemed his voice hadn¡¯t changed yet for his husky voice was a bit sharp. It also had a natural resonating charm to it and was extremely unique. It made one feel that this boy ought to be an extremely decent singer.


    ¡°Uh. That......¡±


    Crag Burst didn¡¯t quite understand what the boy was talking about. He tried to interrupt them, but Luo Nan stopped him.


    This kind of feeling was far too familiar. Rui Wen was currently like what Luo Nan often was; he waspletely stuck in his own circle of self and had formed his own set of logic. There wasn¡¯t a need to forcefully smash apart this moment.


    Perhaps this was his greatest opportunity to rx, a most treasured moment.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid began to stir at this time. There was none other than a glittering seed in the eyes of this newly promoted glutton. The seed had ascended up from the dark and silent depths of the abyss. Not a single speck of dust dirtied this seed, even though it was bound and surrounded by a turbid and muddy flow of emotions; it was pure and pristine.


    A delicacy! A delicacy beyondpare!


    Rui Wen (Èðö©, literally Lucky Multicolored Cloud)

 Chapter 59: Road of Verdicts (Part ?)

    Chapter 59: Road of Verdicts (Part ?)


    Luo Nan¡¯s senses were in synch with the Human-Faced Arachnid. The reasoning behind the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s intense interest was not left out. And so the intense stimtion had caused part of the turbid information to be clear and understandable:


    After the leap in evolution from a nkton to a fish, the Human-Faced Arachnid naturally wouldn¡¯t take the turbid flow of emotions as food. Today what it was most interested in was the ¡°spiritual seed¡± that was undting up and down within the muddy waters. It was a life that was floating in the turbid flow of emotions and it was vastly different than the dirty emotions that surrounded it. It was something that possessed life force.


    It was absolutely difficult to form this spiritual seed. One must be able to ovee the dirty emotions of desire through training of the mind. And one must possess the basic bearing of a positive outlook in order to ultimately form such a seed.


    For instance, Rui Wen was long since at a fledgling stage all the way until hemunicated with ¡°Mr. Crow¡±. He cast off the deathly-still coldness from his mind and sublimation of the spiritual seed finally urred, ascending to a new level.


    Crag Burst had a simr spiritual seed, but it was hidden deep within the raging magma mes of his powerful life force. It wasn¡¯t like Rui Wen¡¯s, all pristine and open.


    The spiritual seed was an iparable delicacy for the Human-Faced Arachnid. To consume the spiritual seed would allow it to eat and evolve...... Its methods of evolving are very life-threatening. On a fundamental level, it used other people¡¯s spiritual life force as nourishment to advance in its evolution. It was built on the foundation of destroying the hopes of others.


    Certainly, the Human-Faced Arachnid was an existence of ultimate evil. Even though Luo Nan depended on its strength to an extremelyrge degree, Luo Nan wouldn¡¯t disagree with this point.


    To not deny this fact to be false did not mean that Luo Nan would allow the Human-Faced Arachnid to do what it wanted. Otherwise, what would make him different from the Human-Faced Arachnid?


    Luo Nan was inplete control of the Human-Faced Arachnid and right now this was reflected in great detail. No matter how strong the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s desire was to eat, a single shake of the dark chains would make it well-behaved.


    Then a person walked in from the passageway that lead to the fighting arena. The noisy mor from the arena came in the instant the door open, seemingly bursting through the small waiting room. Fortunately, the noise soon cut off.


    The person spoke loudly: ¡°Rui Wen. Prepare to get on stage. The 100th fight is a challenge iparable...... Huh? Who are you?¡±


    ¡°Your grandpa.¡±


    Crag Burst revealed a nasty smile to this man. A fist smacked this man to lose consciousness and fall to the ground while he was dumbstruck and before he could to shout.


    Rui Wen turned a blind eye to this. He was alreadypletely immersed in his own world. He stood up and lightly swayed his arm up and down: ¡°Okay then Mr. Crow. It is time for my final fight. You won¡¯t be stingy with your blessings right?¡±


    ¡°Caw!¡±


    Maybe Ink was quite satisfied from being swayed. It had already opened its mouth before Luo Nan could give an order. Its caw was unpleasant to the ears, but it made Rui Wen smile once more.


    He held his arm out just like that and walked next to Crag Burst, returning Ink to him: ¡°Thank you mister. You and Mr. Crow¡¯s arrival is my lucky fate.¡±


    ¡°Cough. It¡¯s nothing.¡±


    Crag Burst¡¯s direct nature was not really suitable in dealing with the introverted and shut-off Rui Wen. The trains of logic for both sides were onpletely different lines.


    Luckily Luo Nan gave a helping hand at this time. He suggested to Crag Burst to ask for some information, even if it was in an awkward manner: ¡°You said something about a 100th fight. Is there any special meaning to it?¡±


    ¡°After the 100th fight, I can choose to walk on the Road of Verdicts and leave the fighting arena.¡±


    ¡°......Hehe. It¡¯s all standard, and it¡¯s been turned crap by some people.¡±


    Crag Burst had seen far too many simr instances in other underground fighting arenas: ¡°Will there be challenges on the Road of Verdicts?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    ¡°Who has broken through in the past?¡±


    Since the fighting arena was established, I and my older brother were the closest people in getting a hundred victories...... Oh right. Let me thank you on behalf of my brother for your praise just then.¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    Luo Nan and Crag Burst both thought of the tall skinny teenager who had died in Jack¡¯s metal arms.


    Crag Burst collided his fist with his palm: ¡°Isn¡¯t it super clear? There¡¯s no bullshit Road of Verdicts. This fighting arena absolutely won¡¯t let you alle out of here alive.¡±


    This fact was really transparent. This fighting arena was a joint business started by the gangsters of the recycling stratum and the rich. Competitors like Rui Wen were the destitute orphans from the recycling stratum. Gangsters captured them, forced them through bitter training, and made them fight to the death with each other, all for the amusement of the rich.


    Crag Burst hoped that Rui Wen would understand the truth: ¡°Leave. That¡¯s just a joke. Nothing more than a joke!¡±


    Of course, Rui Wen didn¡¯t respond. He just ripped off the towel from his head to expose cool crow-ck hair. His facial features were actually extremely effeminate and were inharmonious with the cruel beat downs of the fighting arena.


    Crag Burst continued to try to persuade him: ¡°Hey, join us. I¡¯ll kill a path out and bring you along......¡±


    Rui Wen maintained his silence.


    Crag Burst reached out a hand to hold onto him, but Rui Wen didn¡¯t even look at him. He just coldly spoke: ¡°I¡¯ll kill my way out, though the methods of me and my brother.¡±


    Crag Burst¡¯s hand stopped in shock and Rui Wen pushed aside the sound-proof door. He walked out with big strides.


    The DJ¡¯s resounding voice spread through the air: ¡°This is the hundred victory campaign that¡¯s unprecedented in history! Look at our Deathwing! The predator who has not suffered defeat, Rui Wen!¡±


    Cheers rang through the air of the fighting arena. Strange words were mixed in the chaotic and warped rumbling:


    ¡°Androgynous devil!¡±


    ¡°t-chested witch!¡±


    ¡°Strippletely! Show your identity!¡±


    Crag Burst didn¡¯t breathe in properly and he choked, nearly causing Ink to go askew. Luo Nan¡¯s soul body nearly lost his grip on the chains, nearly letting the Human-Faced Arachnid charge out.


    ¡°A female? I couldn¡¯t even tell.....¡± Crag Burst was stupefied on the spot.


    Who would have ever expected this? Rui Wen¡¯s bare upper body and her nature didn¡¯t disy a second sexual characteristic. Even if there was, it was drowned under the contours of her thin hard muscles.


    Luo Nan was a bit embarrassed. But these thoughts of embarrassment were forcefully severed when Rui Wen climbed onto the fighting tform to have her thin body exposed to the gazes of over a thousand people.


    Crag Burst stopped the sound-proofed door from closingpletely and the moring noise of the fighting arena echoed endlessly inside:


    ¡°Hey hey hey. I¡¯ll grant you the way out!¡±


    ¡°Buy buy buy! Let¡¯s hold an auction today then.¡±


    ¡°I want to sample what the t-chested witch tastes like!¡±


    The shouts, the mor, and the whistles were endless. Several hundred rich folks, who were likely the head of various fields, used methods such as these to obtain stimtion, which they wouldn¡¯t receive from regr society, from the body and life of this youngdy.


    What about Rui Wen?


    The filthy muddy flow came rolling across in all directions. But that pure spiritual seed remained untainted by even a speck of dust. This androgynous girl had already blocked off the influence of the external world of filthpletely.


    But in any case, why must such a girl be ced in such a dirty ce?


    Crag Burst didn¡¯t make a sound as he walked forward withrge strides.


    Luo Nan also couldn¡¯t hold himself back. He didn¡¯t stop Crag Burst from advancing forward.


    As Crag Burst walked out of the passageway, hisrge body and head ought to have attracted the eyes of many. But this time, the absolute majority of people had their attention focused on the fighting stage. They did not notice Crag Burst at all.


    Rui Wen on the fighting stage turned her head over without warning. Her cold and crystal clear gaze caused Crag Burst to stop advancing. He couldn¡¯t move forward even if he wanted to.


    Rui Wen¡¯s aura was truly beyondpare. From her perspective, this hundred victory campaign was clearly divine like a holy ritual.

 Chapter 59: Road of Verdicts (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 59: Road of Verdicts (Part 2/2)


    Rui Wen soon returned to her normal persona. She stood quietly in the middle of the fighting stage. Her head drooped down slightly. The rich folks on all four sides wantonly sized her up and assessed her body. They kept raising their bets at the betting house and the atmosphere grew all the fiercer.


    Crag Burst had been cursing without end while she was walking on stage. He swept his head to look at the spectator stands on all sides, just wanting to smash those who he found objectionable to pieces. The problem was that there was no one he didn¡¯t want to smash in the entire fighting arena.


    ¡°You still haven¡¯t found Jack?¡±


    Crag Burst noticed that the referee wasn¡¯t Jack; it was quite the pity. This made Crag Burst even more annoyed.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t respond. Right now his mental senses already covered the entire fighting arena. With him at the core, his senses covered a wide area with a radius exceeding five hundred meters. It even included more than half of the DeShang Building.


    The range of his senses was a bit reduced due to the various building material and electrical interference differences. His precision hovered around millimeter resolution, but these weren¡¯t grounds for his incapability of capturing the whereabouts of Jack.


    It was as if this Altered Human had evaporatedpletely.


    Rui Wen¡¯s opponent already made their way on stage at this moment, ignoring the meaningless string of titles. This stout and strong teen looked to be two~three times the size of Rui Wen. He didn¡¯t look like a fifteen~sixteen-year-old kid at all.


    Anyway, the spectators on all sides weren¡¯t surprised at seeing this teenager. They gave the same ardent cheers and incitement to thispetitor as well:


    ¡°Doped up boy!¡±


    ¡°Come on Powder Keg! Explode!¡±


    ¡°What a good match-up this is going to be!......¡±


    Luo Nan¡¯s attention waspletely attracted back. He was apleteyman in regards to the world of fighting. He only had a vague idea about heavyweight boxing and so on. Naturally, he was worried for Rui Wen when he saw the eye-pricking build of the teenager on stage.


    Crag Burst felt great disdain for the stout boy: ¡°A fellow uses the stimtion from drugs to forcefully mature....... There¡¯s no need for him to fight if he continues this. His own body weight would crush his bones to pieces.¡±


    But it must be noted that such instances of drug stimtion were quitemon in underground fights. This included Rui Wen. It was very likely that she took some drugs, causing her sexual characteristics to be suppressed. Otherwise, her natural constitution wouldn¡¯t have been enough as a girl. It would have been very hard to achieve one hundred victories.


    When all was said and done, Crag Burst and Luo Nan were clueless on what to do.


    In the end, Crag Burst could only speak infort: ¡°I am here. If anything happens, I¡¯ll be able to save her.....¡±


    Ink spread its wings, pping Crag Burst in the face. This fellow really didn¡¯t know how to talk. Are you needed to save someone?


    The key issued lied in the fact that Rui Wen¡¯s current mood and state were inconceivably clear and pure. But an external force of destruction towards the spirit and the mind would cause her a terrifying amount of harm. It would be much more troublesome than a simple flesh wound.


    Luo Nan had analyzed this piece of information from the Human-Faced Arachnid. He couldn¡¯t exin this to Crag Burst, so he felt stifled.


    The conversation between the two was meaningless, but the development that happened on the fighting stage caught everyone by surprise.


    The opening ceremonysted a full twenty minutes. The atmosphere was rendered and the bets went high. Then the fight began.


    Rui Wen did not retreat when faced with this opponent that was at least twice her weight. She approached closer, rushing in from the front. She closed in around Powder Keg¡¯s thick arm and broke his tibia with a single strike.


    Powder Keg¡¯s finger just brushed Rui Wen on the shoulder, causing her to fall from the loss of bnce and pain. Rui Wen effortlessly broke away from his grasp then took the chance to kick him in the forehead, causing Powder Keg to fall unconscious. The fight just ended like that.


    The venue that was high on emotions suddenly turned cold. The vast majority of people, including the betting rich guests, couldn¡¯t ept such a simple andughable ending. The arena then sunk into an awkward silence.


    The fight was originally just for entertainment. What they really wanted to see was fist hitting flesh, a savage and bloody scene!


    Crag Burst howled with wildughter under this bizarre atmosphere and he waved his fist in the air very exaggeratedly. His actions were so conspicuous that all the cameras in the arena shot him in a close-up view.


    Luo Nan wanted to have Ink p Crag Burst in the face...... If this wasn¡¯t Crag Burst exposing himself, what would be?


    The judge was stupefied for a few seconds on stage before he stepped forward to check the damage...... This was just a formality. His true purpose was to try finding an opportunity to get in contact with someone in order to figure out what to do next!


    But he was unable tomunicate with the fighting arena¡¯s big shot, aka Jack, from beginning to end. In the end, he could only talk to a first-rank manager and have this manager decide how the spectacle should go on.


    The referee got up helpless and held Rui Wen by the hand to prepare to announce the victor. But then Rui Wen knocked his hand away and spoke a few simple words with the help of the microphone of the referee¡¯s body:


    ¡°I choose the Road of Verdicts!¡±


    The fighting arena¡¯s heavy atmosphere was like a stuffed up explosion going off when theses words were spoken. First several hundred people murmured in low voices, then there were cheers,ughs, curses, and whistles that filled the entire arena. The atmosphere was ignited in an instant, overturning the entirety of the DeShang Building.


    ¡°Oh! Ha! There¡¯s a challenger! A traitor!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the t-chested witch¡¯s counterattack!¡±


    ¡°Stupid woman. Have your brains turned to muscle?¡±


    ¡°Go die then! Rip her to threads!¡±


    ¡°No. Break her limbs. Knockout her teeth. I demand it! I demand it!¡±


    The several hundred powerful rich had personally drawn up the rules. They had set up what looked to be an imposing way out. But when this rule received the ultimate challenger, there was no one who was able to maintain their calm.


    The imposing way out was just a symbolic footnote drafted from their high and lofty positions.


    To touch it was an offense!


    And so every emotion converged together in the end to form uniform calls:


    ¡°Verdict! Verdict! Verdict!¡±


    The referee came to his senses from the unexpected oue. He felt that he had been saved. Theughable battle, which was like having cold water poured over one¡¯s head, had suddenly turned into a fuse to the explosion of human emotions.


    Alright, alright!


    A projector covered the entirety of the fighting arena at this time. It had taken the opportunity to broadcast information about the Road of Verdicts. Various scenes shed in session, listing the three deathly flight of steps, Boxing King Battle, Beast King Battle, and Verdict Battle.


    The first two barriers were as their names implied. The Boxing King Battle was a fight against a real adult fighter. The Beast King Battle was a fight against a wild and untamed beast. Then there was the third barrier.


    The projector timely showed someone wearing a referee uniform. It was the image of a calm and callous Caucasian man:


    ¡°The Adjudicator! Jack!¡±


    This was the boss of the gangsters here, the ace-host, the referee, the man who had murdered Rui Wen¡¯s older brother. This was the final boss!


    The projector then broadcasted the scenes where numerousbatants, including Rui Wen¡¯s older brother, had died by the hands of this cold and callous man.


    Sharp whistles rang through the air every time someone¡¯s life faded away. The soundsted until the frame froze on Jack¡¯s crossed arms. The previous spectacle was negated. The entire fighting arena was about to erupt.


    ¡°Verdict! Verdict! Verdict!¡±

 Chapter 60: Altered Human (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 60: Altered Human (Part 1/2)


    Luo Nan¡¯s soul body just towered within the reckless and bursting flood of emotions.


    He ought to have been angry, but he had a special viewing angle. He looked at Rui Wen stand atop the fighting stage in silence after she had spoken and he saw her spiritual seed remain untainted from beginning to end within the flood of turbid emotions.


    A marvelous tranquility had arrived.


    And so Luo Nan was like this. He overlooked the stage from above, looking down coldly at several hundred warped faces. His mental senses were a rxed giant that allowed nothing to escape. They covered every nook and cranny within a range of a 500-meter radius....... And his senses captured each person¡¯s mood and inclination.


    The vast majority of people were feverish, but there would always be some people who were more special.


    For instance, there was someone who was a bit fretful.


    Luo Nan¡¯s shifted the focus of his attention. A male dressed in a western suit was in one of the VIP boxes of the fighting arena. He was pacing back and forth, shouting:


    ¡°Jack! Jack! Hell, I know you can hear me!¡±


    The static was extremely distinct and noisy within the high-priority call. Then two secondster, a voice came through: ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    Found him!


    Luo Nan focused his attention instantly, increasing his precision in all aspects. But he still felt that this wasn¡¯t enough. He simply had his soul body move over there as well. And so he was in the VIP room, sticking to the nape of this contact and receiving the informationing from themunications device.


    The contact was excited to finally get in touch with this damned Jack. In any case, this contact would have never thought that there would be a spirit haunting his back and eavesdropping the same information in synchrony.


    In fact, the information Luo Nan received exceeded the information the contact received. After heightening his senses, Luo Nan could ¡°see¡± things besides material objects. He could capture the closely woven radio waves interweaving through the air.


    Since Luo Nancked the ability to convert and decode electromaic waves, it was impossible for Luo Nan to know what information was transmitted through the air. But he could refer to the crisscross spread of oscitions internal and external to themunications device to form approximate judgments.


    The first time he did this was when he wanted to trace information about the Society from the countless crisscrossing alternating currents of the HexaEar. But this time it wasn¡¯t as easy.


    Fortunately, themunications between the contact and Jack were still going.


    The contact did his best in exining the details of the current events to Jack. The static noise of interference continued to ring all this time; the call quality was extremely bad. In the end, even the contact didn¡¯t know what they were talking about.


    ¡°Damn it! Jack, where the hell are you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m on the stairway to heaven.¡± It was as if Jack was working out; he was panting a bit.


    ¡°Now¡¯s not the time for jokes. You need toe back, asap.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just about to reach heaven......¡±


    ¡°What heaven? Rui Wen barged onto the Road of Verdicts. It¡¯s Rui Wen, Rui Wen! Didn¡¯t you say that any information regarding this woman must be reported to you immediately?¡±


    The Jack went silent for a full five seconds on the other side before responding: ¡°Who are the first two barriers?¡±


    The contact was happy to see that Jack had understood the severity of the situation. He rushed to continue providing thetest state of the situation: ¡°The first barrier is Derong, our head fight instructor......¡±


    ¡°She¡¯ll pass this one. There¡¯s no point to it. What¡¯s the next barrier.¡±


    ¡°But...... Oh. Oh my god!¡±


    The rich folk in the fighting arena were all shouting like lunatics. A second earlier, Rui Wen had sacrificed her wrist in order to dreadfully draw closer and fiercely knee Derong in the groin. Derong was a buff man with a build not inferior to Crag Burst at all, but the pain still made him bend over. During this time, Rui Wen smashed an elbow to his throat, pulverizing itpletely and breaking bone, piercing through his artery.


    Derong was suffocating and blood was spurting from his artery, causing this buff man to fall to the ground, twitching. Soon he would die.


    Rui Wen gazed at the dying man on the ground and spoke lightly: ¡°70% chance of bleeding out.¡±


    The contact was already stupefied just watching the scene. He couldn¡¯t take this loss: ¡°Derong was the first champion of the underground fighting union. Rui Wen must be hiding her strength. What the hell is going on? Who taught her how to fight? Damn it, damn it, damn it.......¡±


    Jack understood the entirety of the situation from the contact¡¯s reaction. He bossed around with his hoarse voice: ¡°Raise all the defensive walls right now. Iste the fighting stage. Tell that trash we need some time to prepare for the Beast King Battle.¡±


    ¡°......Prepare what?¡±


    ¡°You go contact Mr. Ma. Tell him that the high-quality life-or-death battle he always dreamed of has finally arrived. We¡¯ll send in the hundred-victory witch Rui Wen. All he needs to do is to bring his house¡¯s darling baby over. I¡¯ll give him ten minutes.¡±


    ¡°Oh! Mr. Ma¡¯s collection! Jack! You¡¯re really too evil.¡±


    The contact suddenly understood and he admiration for Jack¡¯s quick wits increased. He hung up the phone at once and rushed to find some people.


    ¡°Rui Wen, Rui Wen...... Forget it. Just let her go be together with her brother!¡± Jack took off his wristband and tossed it aside side. ¡°Nobody better bother me now.¡±


    He was suddenly startled before his voice could fade away. He slowly raised his head and his perfectly good right eye focused together with his robotic left eye. He gazed at the empty space devoid of all material objects in front of him.


    Finally found him.


    Luo Nan¡¯s soul body appeared in this room. He noticed Jack¡¯s reaction, but he was more surprised at Jack¡¯s current location. Jack was still inside the DeShang Building, but he was on the top floor, the 141st floor.


    This iconic building located in the River Wu District had a height of approximately six hundred meters. The 141st floor was at a height of over 550 meters. It just so happened to exceed the range of Luo Nan¡¯s field of senses.


    Luo Nan never believed that Jack would leave his old nest and enter into the society of ess privileges, a ce that was extremely unfriendly to gangsters like him.


    But the facts had proven his judgment to be false.


    Not only did Jack enter society, he entered the top floor area of DeShang Building, which requires the highest level of credit and ess privileges. He even had his own training room here.


    Right now Jack was sitting inside a pitch-ck device whom¡¯s function could not be seen by Luo Nan. Several electrical leads were stuck into his body. A strong electrical current would pierce inside his body every so often. Some even tore azure lightning through the air.


    ¡°Is it charging time for this Altered Human?¡±


    Jack¡¯s pair of eyes were constantly refocusing. At the end of the space ahead of him was the wall, but ahead of a wall was something that made him be on guard. It continued to emerge.


    He had a special scanner installed within his body that allowed his naked and robotic eyes to receive the entire spectrum of radio waves within his surroundings. The data was calcted and processed to form an image.


    In the end, a blurry shadow-like figure emerged on his optic nerves.


    He hesitated before hoarsely speaking:


    ¡°An ability user? In soul form?¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    Indeed, Luo Nan was shocked. The attack with the EM rifle back in the recycling stratum was really not a coincidence. This Jack seemed to have some kind of method to be able to detect the existence of soul bodies.


    The soul body hovered a bit within the room. Luo Nan discovered that although Jack¡¯s gaze was a bit sluggish, Jack total energy had rapidly changed and Jack had locked onto Luo Nan¡¯s position.


    This was a situation that Luo Nan had never encountered!


    For a time, the two sides didn¡¯t do anything for fear of what may happen. Under the unspoken silence, only the crackling of electricity remained ringing through the air.

 Chapter 60: Altered Human (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 60: Altered Human (Part 2/2)


    In the end, it was Jack who broke the silence. He stared fixed at the empty area of space and spoke in a low voice: ¡°I don¡¯t know who you are and I don¡¯t know which power you¡¯re affiliated with, but I am positive that there has been no animosity between us before today.¡±


    ¡°I admire your ability and I¡¯m not willing to be your enemy. I¡¯m willing to performpensation if you¡¯re resentful of our conflict today. I will do my best to satisfy you with whatever you desire, within the scope of my abilities.¡±


    And only the crackling of electricity remained to be the response to his words.


    Jack paused a bit before continuing: ¡°Your soul form has yet to reach theplete level of interfering with reality. My nervous system has been altered. Your influence over me is next to nothing.¡±


    ¡°Yes. There¡¯s also thatrge man. He¡¯s quite the headache of an opponent. Maybe he¡¯s rushing over here right now. But within DeShang Building, I¡¯ll slow him down so that he¡¯s as fast as a turtle. If we can¡¯te to an agreement, we can only keep wasting time......maybe all the way until tomorrow morning?¡±


    Luo Nan still didn¡¯t respond. He couldn¡¯t respond even if he wanted to. Jack was right on one point. He currently had two ways tomunicate with people. The first was using the Psychic Wave Network. The second was using the local areawork of the pyramid structure. Both were useless when faced with Jack.


    It was as if Jack¡¯s consciousness was hidden deep under a thickyer of icy water. Luo Nan could touch it, but ultimately too much of his strength would be wasted just reaching half way through the waters. It was the same as being untouchable.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t know how Jack was able to achieve this, so he simply blocked off Jack¡¯s voice and scanned the entire room to try to find out more information.


    What was most eye-catching in the training room was obviously the pitch-ck device surrounding Jack¡¯s body. Luo Nan, with hisck of machinery knowledge, found it very hard to understand the ultimate use of this device just by looking at it. From looking at the exterior, this device just looked to be feedingrge quantities of electricity into Jack¡¯s body in a steady and endless flow.


    Luo Nan noticed the voltage indicator. An ordinary person would have probably been turned into charcoal by now. But Jack looked to be taking it in with pleasure.


    He could see that the electrical currents provided by the jet-ck machine were vividly entering into various positions of Jack¡¯s body. Jack¡¯s muscles were twitching and trembling every second, but a steady rhythm clearly existed within this twitching and trembling.


    This demonstrated that Jack maintained a certain amount of control over his body.


    What did he say before? He was on the stairway to heaven...... Clearly, this infusion of electricity was harmless and useful for Jack.


    Oh, if this was the case......


    Jack continued to jabber on while Luo Nan was collecting information: ¡°Oh I know, you¡¯re unable to talk right? The world¡¯s research on soul forms is extremelycking. Or perhaps you¡¯re a gifted ability user who struck it big? Then that¡¯s excellent. I can probably guess what things will interest you the most: Intelligence, information, and all sorts of knowledge that can open up new horizons for you.¡±


    For instance, I can tell you now that you can use the special frequency band of your soul form tomunicate with me. This is I already have the relevant transmit and receive device imnted in my body. Even if I haven¡¯t used it for twenty~thirty years, it should still work.¡±


    ¡°We can try it now. You just need to concentrate your thoughts. Since you¡¯re gifted enough to achieve soul form, this should be easy for you.¡±


    The silence of the voidsted for about five seconds before Jack smiled. External psychic waves had gone through Jack¡¯s transmit and receive device and had converted into discernable information that sounded in his ear:


    ¡°I am now confident that you¡¯re not from the military.¡±


    ¡°If the military possessed an altered project, they wouldn¡¯t be stuck in such a sorry situation when faced with a Darksider life form.¡±


    Jack maintained his smile, making the scars on his face appear not as sinister: ¡°Of course, there is a certain difference between soul form and Darksider life forms. We can talk about this detail in the future.¡±


    ¡°Indeed, you know quite a bit.¡± Luo Nan expressed his admiration towards Jack¡¯s ability to constantly provide new information.


    ¡°And so I am an excellent information dealer.¡±


    Jack continued to speak openly and with assurance: ¡°What shall we talk about? Oh, that¡¯s right. Let¡¯s talk about why would we be enemies? I think you will certainly be interested in that pretty boy Yan Yonbo...... Now that you mention it, I think I know too much information.¡±


    Luo Nan sneered. Yes. This fellow¡¯s words were buried with countless bait. He mentioned things about the world, soul form, psychic wave receive and transmit device...... But in reality, the amount of practical information he divulged was practically nil.


    And so Luo Nan just spoke directly a secondter: ¡°Let¡¯s just talk about that metal beetle then.¡±


    Jack¡¯s lips split his smile even wider: ¡°Friend. You certainly must be very young. You should know that one shouldn¡¯t get rash during conversations and try to put the other party in a predicament. Instead, we should each take what we need. I know that you¡¯re certainly much more interested in Yan Yongbo. Otherwise, you wouldn¡¯t have tailed him.¡±


    ¡°Let me think what explosive points I have on him. For instance: Quantum Corporation? Archetype Format? The number one Burner in the world? Or perhaps..... The Deep Blue World?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re certainly a master storyteller.¡± Luo Nan used psychic waves to transmit his sarcasm, but he was forced to admit that all the topics mentioned by Jack had caused his interest to explode.


    It seemed that Luo Nan had encountered a mobile information warehouse.


    Jack, this fellow, was absolutely not just a simple gang leader. His experience, knowledge, and every aspect that Luo Nan was able to touch upon right now, far exceeded Luo Nan¡¯s previous estimation.


    Anyway, just let things be this way then......


    Jack continued to maintain his smile, but then shock and explosive fury ripped apart this mask a short secondter. The room was enveloped in darkness.


    Power outage!


    The low hum of the pitch-ck machine gradually came to a halt. Its power protection mechanism was quite decent. Jack¡¯s muscles soon returned to normal after arge convulsion.


    But his mood didn¡¯t go back to normal: ¡°Damn you! What the hell are you up to!?¡±


    Jack roared in the darkness. He strived to shake his arm, but this wouldn¡¯t give him a single spark of electricity.


    ¡°As you can see, the power went out.¡± Luo Nan used the method taught by Jack to maintain the conversation.


    It was really quite clever for Jack to choose the top floor of the DeShang Building as his hiding ce for it was beyond most people¡¯s imaginations. But since this was the business district with peopleing and going, there would be some uncontroble factors...... Frankly speaking, there were too many human factors.


    Just as before, thebination of hypnotism and the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s fishing skill was far too useful.


    While Jack was jabbering on, Luo Nan had spent a bit of time in selecting a property manager to cut off the power to this floor. During that time he even discovered that Jack¡¯s training room used a special dedicated power circuit. But this was still nothing to the manager of the DeShang Building.


    The facts were proven. No matter what the functionality of this device used by Jack was, once the power was out, Jack could only be a pile of scrap.


    ¡°I want information. You want time. This is where the significance of our conversation lies...... But what will happen if neither of us can get what we want?¡±


    Before Luo Nan¡¯s eyes, Luo Nan could still see the clips of thest moments on earth for the teenagers on the fighting stage. He didn¡¯t care if Jack couldn¡¯t see his actions. His soul body performed the same gesture of rejection as Jack with crossed arms:


    ¡°If I¡¯m rash, then so be it. I don¡¯t have an ounce of desire to talk with someone like you.¡±

 Chapter 61: Secret of the Dynamo Core (Part ?)

    Chapter 61: Secret of the Dynamo Core (Part ?)


    Thest remaining electrical arcs faded away in the darkness and Jack also ceased his violent movements. He sat in the middle of the device and cast off the electrical leads one by one from his body. In the end, all that was left was his violent gasps for breath.


    The cutoff in power seemed to have given Jack an unexpected burden. But his robotic eye didn¡¯t lose electrical power and darken as a result. Instead, the intense rise of his mood made him re all the more.


    Jack emphasized once more while gasping for breath: ¡°You cocky bastard. Damn! Do you know what you¡¯ve just done!?¡±


    ¡°I did something that made you extremely ufortable, and I¡¯m prepared to continue doing this.¡±


    Luo Nan just said these words in this fashion, for this was what he was going to do.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid, having just finished its mission, had already gone through the wall and returned back to his side. Under Luo Nan¡¯s direction, the Human-Faced Arachnid threw itself onto Jack.


    Luo Nan was able to confirm that one of the sentences spoken by Jack was not a lie: There was a certain difference between soul bodies and Darksider life forms.


    Jack was clearly able to lock onto Luo Nan¡¯s soul body, but he waspletely unaware of the Human-Faced Arachnids arrival. He was even unaware that the Human-Faced Arachnid had already assimted half way into his body.


    But on the other hand, the Human-Faced Arachnid couldn¡¯t find an opening in Jack. Even though Jack¡¯s emotions were erupting like crazy, Jack still maintained his soul defenses and this was still disyed. Right now the Human-Faced Arachnid was a probing-type imaging device at best. Even if it figures out the brain activity of Jack to the greatest rity, it would still be unable to interfere with him at all......And so itcked interest.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid really did have zero interest towards Jack. This wasn¡¯t because Jack was producing the lowest grade of emotions, as these were no longer in the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s diet. Instead, it was because the Human-Faced Arachnid waspletely incapable of consuming Jack!


    This could bepared to a master painter drawing a lifelike flower, attracting the visits of bees and butterflies. But no matter what, these bees and butterflies would never be able to pluck honey from this flower...... This was the difference between what was material and a picture. The difference between what was real and fake!


    From the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s perspective, Jack¡¯s emotions were like a vivid yet fake picture.


    Luo Nan could see the alteration that Jack had undergone with his brain and its operations. It appeared with a conciseness and efficiency that was shocking: Any kind of stimtion would stir up the mass of neurons, causing some kind of ¡°neurotransmitter¡± to conduct signals between neurons. Some kind of reaction would be excited to form a running and flowing line of continuous operation.


    At first nce, Jack¡¯s brain operation did not seem to be any different than that of ordinary people.


    But in reality, most emotions and mental activity of humans useplicated mechanisms of operation. Several brain regions activated in coordination in joint functionality. It was far from the ideal operation of a running and flowing line.


    Luo Nan sunk deeper in his investigations from this point. Then he discovered that Jack¡¯s brain operation looked to be concise and efficient, but moreover it seemed to use some sort of encoding method.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid had probed exceptionally deeply. It extended its feelers to every nook and cranny of Jack¡¯s bodypletely without him being aware. And so it resided in the abyss of Jack¡¯s brain. At approximately the central location connecting the left and right thmus, it discovered that a region of an area where Jack had undergone a precision alteration. Within this area clearlyy an even tinier ¡°nucleus¡±.


    Practically all of Jack¡¯s mental activity would first pass through this pre-constructed channel, go through various encodings, and exchange information with the ¡°nucleus¡±. Then the nucleus would take the corresponding stimtion and transmit it to every nervous center before feeding back the information.


    It was without a doubt that this ¡°nucleus¡± had a function of system integration: It used various encoding algorithms to form answers that were transmitted outward.


    This was originally a natural function of the brain, but now it was reced by the responses of this ¡°nucleus¡± machine. The crucial step was the distinction between what was ¡°real¡± and what was ¡°fake¡±.


    Were all Altered Humans like this?


    Luo Nan wasn¡¯t really confident in his own observations. And his thoughts of the functionality of the ¡°nucleus¡± were more like guesses. Anyway, there was something else that firmly drew his attention:


    A thin thread was coiled around the body of this hidden nucleus......No, it was the metal beetle!


    That¡¯s right! This was none other than the metal beetle tossed out by Yan Yongbo!


    Luo Nan¡¯s certainty was iparable. This was because the beetle kept half its original form at one end of the thread. This made him extrapte that the beetle wouldpletely fade away, given enough time, and be a thin thread.


    What were the conditions for the transformation...... Luo Nan looked at the jet-ck machine that had ceased operations and could more or less understand.


    This coiling thin thread gave Luo Nan a feeling of extreme familiarity.


    Using the Human-Faced Arachnid as the medium, Luo Nan put his soul imaging to full use. He then discovered that there was flickering and flowing lightning on the thin thread.


    And as soon as he increased the precision of his senses, he confirmed that the thin thread had already sprouted with countless branches. Quite a few had already exceeded the scope of his senses.


    Luo Nan saw that these branches had pierced inside the nucleus. And, it had permeated inside the nerves and veins. It might have even spread through the entire brain to form a tree shape structure with the nucleus as the core.


    Wasn¡¯t this, wasn¡¯t this...... the external neuron?


    ¡°What the hell are you up to now!?¡±


    It was probably due to the relentless nature of Luo Nan¡¯s probing that caused some sort of rm installed in Jack to go off. Jack was suddenly startled with fright. The blood-red robotic eye locked onto the position of Luo Nan¡¯s soul body.


    Rather than Jack¡¯s exterior expression, the changes in Jack¡¯s brain were what made Luo Nan¡¯s mind truly restless.


    It was that thin thread. The thread had split into countless branches and had pierced into various locations of Jack¡¯s brain. In an instant, the thread vibrated to form closely woven sparks.


    The sparks did not appear on the ne of reality; it had apletely different effect.


    At this very moment, the Human-Faced Arachnid felt a burning sensation that was strong enough to threaten its existence. It didn¡¯t need Luo Nan tomand it; it just retreated outside in crazed fashion.


    Jack¡¯s furious mood had certainly reached the highest peak. He stood up and, at this moment, his body clearly released the glow of dark mes.


    The glow of mes came from the inside out, explosively ejecting the Human-Faced Arachnid out of Jack¡¯s body. But the power didn¡¯t lesson at all when it was thrown to the location of Luo Nan¡¯s soul body.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid let out a painful scream and the powerful mental attack instantly swept across several floors of the DeShang Building. It was unknown just how many people were caught in the crossfire.


    Luo Nan was not in a position to handle others. When the glow of mes erupted, he used all the strength of his soul to retreat through the air.


    The world spun as he moved, but Luo Nan¡¯s leap of distance was far below his expectations...... He had only left the room. The total distance he traveled did not exceed 20 meters.


    When the glowing mes erupted, an incorporeal electromaic field was formed around Jack¡¯s body. It warped the mental ne and even the space of reality.


    It was as if Luo Nan¡¯s soul body fell into the bottomless abyss of the sea. Shocking pressure came at all sides of him.


    This feeling was far too familiar. Several days earlier on the warship, the burning wraith that was killed by He Yueyin had suffered simr methods of being targeted, suppressed, and even annihted.


    Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts trembled truly like electricity:


    The Format of Fire...... Burner!

 Chapter 61: Secret of the Dynamo Core (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 61: Secret of the Dynamo Core (Part 2/2)


    ¡°You can¡¯t escape!¡±


    Jack¡¯s hoarse voice was like the low cry of a deep sea monster. It pierced through the wall, jolting Luo Nan¡¯s soul body in turmoil.


    This fellow was actually a Burner?


    But ording to Luo Nan¡¯s knowledge, Burners weren¡¯t like this. Or at least, the Burners of the Archetype Format as proposed by Yan Hong weren¡¯t like this. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t need some Deep Blue tform, some exoskeleton armor. They would just directly modify their bodies.


    But what Jack unleashed was clearly the power of the Format of Fire.


    The thick walls of the training room exploded with a loud rumble in the next second. The wall deformed violently as a hole was smashed open in the center. Spiderweb-like cracks spread from the hole.


    Jack¡¯s training room was located in the middle of the 141st floor. It was a space that was sealed by thick soundproof walls on all sides. Only one side had an opening and Luo Nan had chosen to flee in that direction, the opposite direction of the main door. Luo Nan had done the utmost to pull his distance from Jack¡¯s pursuing attack.


    But what Jack chose to do waspletely different than what normal people would do.


    From Jack¡¯s perspective, Luo Nan was far too influenced by the human train of thought. Luo Nan should have gone up or down. Having a floor in between them would allow a totally different oue after taking on this electromaic interference.


    Luo Nan wasn¡¯t in a position to reflect on the past. He continued to try to pull his distance, but the pressure his soul body was facing was increasing without end. He could only move with great difficulty.


    Hell, even the Burners of the military wouldn¡¯t have this sort of might without their exoskeleton armor!


    The wall exploded open following another attack and Jack walked out withrge strides. Both his naked eye and robotic eye locked firmly onto Luo Nan¡¯s position. The scene of the soaring me aura had already faded away, but the effect of the maic field, which was like being in the deep sea, increased in intensity.


    Using his soul imaging technique, Luo Nan could confirm that Jack¡¯s body was deeply integrated with the Deep Sea EM Field. The circting energy within his body increased the strength of the EM field without end. And every one of his movements caused an intense change with the EM field. From Luo Nan¡¯s perspective, this was a very miserable experience.


    Jack stared fixed in the direction of Luo Nan¡¯s soul body; he seemed to have finally controlled his rage. His hoarse and low voice sounded:


    ¡°Youngster. Do you know just what price I paid to obtain the Deep Sea Type 4¡¯s Dynamo Core? Do you know just how much more I have to pay for your mischievous actions?¡±


    Dynamo Core? Was this the official name for the external neuron?


    And the model number, did it represent its corresponding abilities? Like the Deep Sea EM Field radiating from Jack¡¯s body......


    Luo Nan unconsciously mulled over these words and Jack didn¡¯t immediately attack him. Instead, Jack sized Luo Nan up from all angles. He looked to be a bit uncertain.


    ¡°Ability users nowadays are quite amazing. I actually encountered a youngster who is capable of raising a Darksider life form. And, the breed seems to be quite interesting.¡±


    Jack ought to be probing out right now. He had managed to injure the Human-Faced Arachnid, but he was still unable to capture its whereabouts.


    Luo Nan believed that it was best to maintain his silence.


    His attitude made Jack sneer: ¡°Fine then. I¡¯ll enter this matter into my database and tell this story to others in the future...... As for you, I don¡¯t have an ounce of desire to talk with you!¡±


    The words were spoken in verbatim. Jack returned Luo Nan¡¯s words unchanged. If it was before, Luo Nan would have felt Jack¡¯s words to be sharp. But now, he could not help thinking whether or not this was Jack¡¯s own free will or theputational result of an artificial intelligence.


    He would not receive an answer to this puzzle anytime soon. Luo Nan could deeply feel Jack¡¯s killing intent. Luo Nan no longer hesitated and amassed his concentration with full force with only the thoughts of fleeing in mind.


    He had learned his lesson and he directly fled to the floor below.


    The distance Luo Nan traveled was far more pitiful thanst time for he didn¡¯t even reach four meters, but the floor was made from concrete and highly-reinforced metal; it was made of much tougher materials than the wall that Jack had exploded to pieces.


    Jack¡¯s attack exploded forth and the floor caved in but didn¡¯t copse immediately. Luo Nan took this chance to go down another floor. He managed to pull a distance of over thirty meters from Jack, and he suddenly felt the binding force of the Deep Sea EM Field weaken.


    Luo Nan was delighted in his heart. This time the target of his escape was the empty night skies outside the DeShang Building. As long as he was over there, over at that void without ground, Jack wouldn¡¯t be able to do a thing to him.


    Then came a muffled bang. A bullet possessing enormous kic force pierced through two floors. It deviated a bit when piercing through, but it still exploded in the vicinity of Luo Nan¡¯s soul body.


    Clouds of fire surged all around, causing an even greater EM field effect and disturbing Luo Nan¡¯s soul body to the greatest degree.


    Luo Nan had seen special ammo that was simr to this on the warship. But the results this bullet disyed were clearly superior. And this wasn¡¯t a single shot, it was automatic fire! Bullets went through the hole pierced by the first bullet and exploded one after another. ming clouds were everywhere in an instant, causing the mmable objects on the floor to burst into mes.


    The sound of thunder rang out continuously within this short time period. The structure of the two floors was forcefully smashed apart and Jack just vaulted downwards. And before his body could arrive, the powerful Deep Sea EM Field had already enveloped Luo Nan.


    Once again, it was as if Luo Nan¡¯s soul body had entered the depths of the sea. He suddenly turned sluggish and he found it hard to move. And this time, the temperature of the seabed increased like mad. It was as if a volcano was going off in the middle of the ocean and it was about to cook Luo Nanpletely.


    Luo Nan suddenly felt a feeling of helplessness being trapped within. Then out of nowhere, he gradually understood.


    His soul body wasn¡¯t harmed that much by Jack¡¯s Format of Fire or the Deep Sea EM Field, instead, it was his ¡°external fuel tank¡±, the Human-Faced Arachnid, that had suffered heavy damage from the first attack. It was impossible for it to recover.


    Luo Nan had yet to achieve a true out-of-body state. He couldn¡¯t rely on his soul body to do whatever he pleased. He relied heavily on the energy provided by the Human-Faced Arachnid.


    Jack¡¯s explosive Format of Fire had inadvertently struck Luo Nan¡¯s lifeline.


    This was bad.....


    And at this time, Jack¡¯srge actions of destroying walls and causing fires finally led to the activation of the defensive systems of the DeShang Building.


    Right now there were just two people here on this floor. The floor was the office area of somerge business. Right now it was night time and it was the weekend, so there was not a soul in sight. The automatic robotic guard system of the property was the first to respond.


    When the fire rm and theft rm went off at the same time, the entrance to the office area exploded open. The blood red light of the rm cut through the area and civilian defense robots entered the room. They aimed their anti-riot guns towards the only target they could see, Jack.


    The problem was that the robots received apletely new order before they could attack with their anti-riot guns, causing the robots to enter a cute and idle state. Then all fire and theft rms ceased and the building was back to being quiet again. Only the office materials continued to burn andbust within the room.


    Jack didn¡¯t even turn around during the entire course of events. He remained staring dead-fixed at the location of Luo Nan¡¯s soul body.

 Chapter 62: Superiority (Part ?)

    Chapter 62: Superiority (Part ?)


    Luo Nan had witnessed Jack control the entire situation from beginning to end.


    It was as if this fellow Jack was holding a remote control that could pause and y. With just the press of a button, the security system of the entire floor, no the entire building, froze.


    This scene wasn¡¯t caused by the effects of possessing high ess privileges in the DeShang Building for the robots didn¡¯t have any means of detecting privileges. Yet the robots had just given in. Theypletelycked the strength to resist.


    This made Luo Nan recall the pitiful Tiger Burst Jeep of Crag Burst.


    Luo Nan broke his silence atst by using psychic waves to talk: ¡°How did you do that?¡±


    ¡°Oh, now you want to talk?¡± spoke Jack in irony and ridicule. ¡°Why are you making a huge fuss over nothing? I can control...... Oh, there¡¯s the Darksider life form. I can control machines. It¡¯s very fair.¡±


    Jack didn¡¯t refuse to talk, yet he didn¡¯t directly answer Luo Nan.


    He didn¡¯t mind responding to Luo Nan a bit more. After all, he felt some brooding in his mind from not being able to trace down the Darksider life form. He needed time to adjust the relevant parameters in his database. He was constantly amending the scope of his detection.


    Luo Nan could guess approximately what Jack was up to. Most of Jack¡¯s means of detection required the use of that robotic eye. After all, Jack was even turning his head about without end.


    This was good news. It seemed like Jack was very fearful of Darksider life forms. Or perhaps, Jack still felt that Luo Nan was still a threat?


    Luo Nan secretly paid this in mind, but now he couldn¡¯t help have the majority of his thoughts turn to the direction of ¡°machine control¡±.


    This was because Jack, as well as the previous actions of Yan Yongbo, had made his mind associate to a different yet simr case:


    The undergroundboratory in Gear.


    More specifically: The external neuron!


    Luo Nan was able to confirm that the thin thread in Jack¡¯s brain was really the external neuron, or as Jack called it, the Dynamo Core. This creation, which seemed to exceed the technology of this, could transcend all ess privileges and directly control and manipte all information technology at will.


    And now new facts told him that this toy was the key to being a Burner, to the Format of Fire, in addition to the above functions.


    Such a marvelous creation had actually apanied him for a period of five years in silence. And, it was mailed into his hands from that coward.


    What did this mean? What did this prove?


    The gale-like pursuit and escape had made it hard for Luo Nan to devote part of his mind and ponder over this matter. Now that there was a bit of time, relevant thoughts came drilling into the pit of his sternum like a heart-devouring bug.


    External neuron? Dynamo Core? Burner? Gang leader? Yan Yongbo? Quantum Corporation..... And, that coward!


    The sudden trail of thoughts, the explosion of information, seemed to tie itself into a noose on Luo Nan¡¯s mind. If this knot doesn¡¯t loosen, then Luo Nan¡¯s soul would be asphyxiated.


    Luo Nan suddenly felt regret. Maybe he should have let Jack tell a few more stories. He wanted to get things clear by any means necessary. He wanted to know just what sort of rtionship existed between Jack the gang leader and that coward!


    Luo Nan needed to strive towards this target right now. He did his best to maintain a clear head and used the ttest psychic waves as possible to convey information and probe Jack¡¯s response:


    ¡°Machine control at will? You don¡¯t have this ability. Otherwise, you wouldn¡¯t have gone to the recycling stratum and be a gang leader. You would have run away to the outside and stirred up troubles with your power.¡±


    Jackughed a hoarse and deepugh: ¡°Are you trying to provoke me? Kid. You were already sessful before, you don¡¯t need to worry about how you¡¯re going to die.¡±


    ¡°I admit that you have the ability to kill me. You¡¯re a Burner now after all...... What¡¯s wrong? Was I mistaken?¡±


    Luo Nan saw Jack¡¯s lips split into a grin, a grin that was filled with mockery.


    Jack shrugged his shoulders: ¡°It¡¯s nothing. People do have the right to be ignorant and I don¡¯t have the obligation to correct others...... Kid. There¡¯s no need to keep testing the waters. Call upon your pet. I¡¯ll give you an even more painful way to die.¡±


    Luo Nan would only do what Jack said if he went retarded, but Jack¡¯s mocking smile and words did contain quite a bit of meaning. Jack was feeling a sense of superiority; he felt high and mighty. The word ¡°people¡± did not necessarily refer specifically to Luo Nan. Instead, it was an unrestrained orbital assault that was filled with the implication that Jack was the sole sober person in a world of drunks.


    Note that Jack¡¯s thought process contained a high level of mental activity. It all stemmed from the data frame that was the ¡°nucleus¡± in Jack¡¯s brain. In a certain sense, it came to be more realistic than that of any ordinary person.


    Then where did Jack¡¯s sense of superioritye from?


    Luo Nan sized up Jack once more. He had obtained some intelligence from the gang members. This ruthless and vicious fellow had be the gang leader of this area in just 2~3 years time.


    He started off as a fighting instructor and rapidly became an important character in the fighting arena through the bloody ¡°70% Elimination Law¡±. Then he became the referee, the ace host, a partner, and finally, he became into the head spokesperson of the organized fighting arena.


    He had overflowing capabilities that allowed him to be a gang leader. But this wasn¡¯t representative of the fact that he was like this in other fields.


    Then......


    ¡°It¡¯s the metal beetle right?¡± Like a sudden thrusting peak, Luo Nan got straight to the point with this question.


    Jack was a bit startled, but then he quickly smiled: ¡°Do you still want to act rashly youngster?¡±


    Luo Nan ignored Jack¡¯s attempt at disturbing him. His thoughts were calm and certain. Everything that had happened in Jack¡¯s body had beenid bare by the prying of the Human-Faced Arachnid:


    ¡°Yan Yongbo used it to control our jeep. When you came over to settle thingster, you were clearly more interested in the metal beetle itself. Oh. It¡¯s too amateurish of me to call it the ¡°metal beetle¡±. You called it the Dynamo Core right? Deep Sea Type 4¡¯s Dynamo Core. It¡¯s a miraculous device that allows an ordinary Altered Human to possess abilities simr to that of Burners.¡±


    Jack went quiet in an instant. The dark red robotic eye, which had been searching for the Human-Faced Arachnid, swiveled back over. It stared at the fuzzy figure of Luo Nan¡¯s soul body: ¡°Are you trying to show off your intelligence? But we don¡¯t recruit neers over here......¡±


    When Jack had opened his mouth, the Deep Sea EM Field¡¯s intensity continued to increase.


    The feeling of his soul body turned even worse. From Luo Nan¡¯s perspective, breaking away from Jack¡¯s suppression and fleeing far far away was what he should do the most.


    But then psychic aura came gushing out from his mind. The aura interweaved to form a train of thought. It joined and assembled under the external pressure to drive forward withyer uponyer. Luo Nan was unwilling to interrupt this process:


    ¡°The Dynamo Core is very valuable to you, so Yan Yongbo paid you it as an award. But from the model number, I can see that this should be part of a series that¡¯s already in production. At the very least, it¡¯s a trial series that possesses a manufactured ability. And it is closely rted to Burners. Only Quantum Corporation...... has the power to be rted to it.¡±


    Luo Nan¡¯s mental faculties were processing without end, reaching the greatest peak of his fifteen years of life. He didn¡¯t speak directly to Jack. Instead, he was releasing bits and bits of bait within his words. At the same time, he was observing all of Jack¡¯s reactions and constantly amending his own inference.


    ¡°Of course, there¡¯s also you. You¡¯re an Altered Human, yet you¡¯re not from the military. The number of people in the world that can adapt to the ability of Burners can be counted on one hand. So I am confident that youe from Quantum Corporation. You¡¯ve been working for thispany that¡¯s at the world¡¯s leading and cutting edge of technology.....¡±


    After transmitting the psychic waves, Luo Nan saw Jack¡¯s face expose a mocking smile of superiority.

 Chapter 62: Superiority (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 62: Superiority (Part 2/2)


    Luo Nan could practically hear the heartbeat of his main body when he saw Jack¡¯s expression.


    ¡°Thepany that¡¯s at the world¡¯s leading and cutting edge of technology¡± was an embellishment that Luo Nan had intentionally added in order to probe out the rtionship between Jack and Quantum Corporation. He had predicted several responses from Jack, but the sole response he didn¡¯t think of was the smile that floated on Jack¡¯s face. His lips had split into a perfect curve.


    Luo Nan was forced to admit that he had to reevaluate the rtionship between Jack and Quantum Corporation. But he had to make one thing clear before doing this:


    For what reason?


    For what reason would a gang leader, stowed away in the recycling stratum, have this sort of attitude towards a major power rated to be top three in market value in the entire world?


    Luo Nan thought things over using the simplest train of logic. Could it be that Jack was backed by this colossus? At least to his knowledge? Jack even had eyes of contempt towards Quantum Corporation, thepany that¡¯s at the world¡¯s leading edge of technology.


    Luo Nan thought once more of the bait buried within Jack¡¯s words. Something about Soul Configuration, Deep Blue World...... He had never heard of these words before. Now that he thought about it, it¡¯s highly likely that these were deeply hidden secrets that could shock the entire world.


    Was that coward rted to these things? How deeply was he rted?


    Thoughts spun in his mind, but time did not allow Luo Nan further consideration. He could only continue his previous train of thought. He made a minor amendment and went to probe Jack¡¯s background:


    ¡°You both work at Quantum Corporation, yet Yan Yongbo can wield the power of the Rainbow Fund. You, however, can only mix with a bunch of gangsters. Yan Yongbo just casually tossed out a Dynamo Core, and this was enough to make you strive for it with all your might. It hasn¡¯t been long since Yan Yongbo joined Quantum Corporation, as far as I know. His rapid rise to a high position... Is it due to his own strength, or to his father¡¯s?¡±


    ¡°Or perhaps, being an Altered Human, an Altered Human that needs to draw on the Dynamo Core to possess the power of Burners, makes you bound to be a defective product off the assembly line.¡±


    ¡°The hell are you being extra clever for!?¡±


    The low and hoarse roar was apanied by a buzzing. The Deep Sea EM Field¡¯s pressure and temperature rapidly increased and Luo Nan¡¯s soul body was forcefullypressed under the sudden increase in pressure.


    Clearly, Luo Nan¡¯s words had struck a sore spot of Jack¡¯s.


    Jack¡¯s smilepletely faded away from his face. He reached out his hand and pressed down lightly on his forehead, seemingly to conceal his momentary loss of control. But his robotic eye, which was about to ignite, still exposed his current mood.


    His anger..... Was at the highest level!


    Right now Luo Nan found it hard to even transmit psychic waves, but he knew that if he were to give up now, Jack would probably eliminate him on the spot. Luo Nan understood this matter very clearly.


    Time. He still needed a bit more time......


    ¡°It was just a slip of the tongue? I¡¯m really sorry. I just spoke what I had guessed. Some of my words might have been very stupid, but I think our current situation is far more stupid.¡±


    ¡°True. The speaker is quite stupid and the listener also isn¡¯t intelligent.¡± Jack took two deep breaths. Last time he reacted like this was when the power outage happened. But this time his breathing was effective. His mood had recovered to normal and he even mocked himself.


    This sort of control ability, which was like switching modes, seemed to be only possessed by Altered Humans.


    Luo Nan noticed Jack¡¯s self-control. ording to reason, this callous Altered Human had many opportunities to unleash the explosive power of the Format of Fire and annihte Luo Nan¡¯s soul body into ashes. But aside from the very first attack, Jack did not really make another move.


    When faced with the hot-headed and straightforward opponent in front of him, the current Jack was rather overly-cautious.


    This had no rtion with being ¡°intelligent¡± or ¡°stupid¡±. Luo Nan could only think things over on the more realistic side of things: Was it due to the fear of Darksider life forms? Or was there a more direct, more fatal reason?


    Obviously, Jack wouldn¡¯t reveal the answer. Then Jack made a substantial action. He walked forward, drawing closer the distance between him and Luo Nan¡¯s soul body. The pressure of the EM field was increased by ten fold when the distance was reduced.


    Luo Nan tried to retreat backward, but this yielded minimal results.


    Jack revealed a smile anew: ¡°When I was in the Deep Blue World, I heard that one could use the powerful EM Field formed by the Dynamo Core to confine and capture souls and even Darksider life forms. Now I can test it out.¡±


    Deep Blue World? Luo Nan¡¯s first thought was this information that came from far far away.


    He only really understood in the next moment. So Jack actually wanted to capture him alive?


    Yes. From the increasing pressure of the EM field, Luo Nan could see that this was truly Jack¡¯s n. Luo Nan¡¯s soul body had already shrunk two times from its initial size. If this were to continue, he would be like the legendary Issun-boshi, the One-Inch Samurai, and be pinched between Jack¡¯s fingers.


    Luo Nan couldn¡¯t spare further thoughts on other matters. He amassed his concentration with full force, wishing to make his soul body move again. But at this time, the only parts of his entire body that could move were the dark chains that had been moving without end all this time.


    The chains?


    Before Luo Nan¡¯s thought became clear, the dark chains suddenly increased in vibration. But this wasn¡¯t a force that was born from the inside, it was an attack that came from the outside!


    A sharp hiss rang out and a shadow leaped out from several floors below, colliding with force into the Deep Sea EM Field. The sudden impact on the mental ne actually caused the EM field¡¯s operation to suddenlyg.


    The shadow collided with Luo Nan¡¯s soul body in the next instant. Like riding a flying nimbus, Luo Nan flew backward and broke free from the controlling range of the Deep Sea EM Field.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid!


    This malevolent demon came ughtering out right when Luo Nan needed it the most. The turbid flowing emotions still rose from its body as vapor. The heavy damage inflicted by the Format of Fire could not be seen right now, at least from the exterior.


    Sess!


    Luo Nan mind rxed and he flipped over to stand on the back of the Human-Faced Arachnid. He controlled this demon, which had just refilled its essence, to fly towards the nearest wall and out of the building. Luo Nan didn¡¯t look back at all.


    Jack¡¯s heavy and swift footsteps rang out from behind. Jack was still chasing Luo Nan and his speed was rapidly increasing. Thisrge office area gave him ample space to elerate.


    The Deep Sea EM Field came with Jack¡¯s pursuit, appearing as a shadow behind Luo Nan and the Human-Faced Arachnid. It was like a silent evil beast that had locked onto its prey with the desire to hastily consume.


    But it was useless in the end!


    Several tens of meters was a far too short of a distance for a soul body. With just a moment¡¯s breath, Luo Nan and the Human-Faced Arachnid had already left the outer wall of the building to enter the interweaving neon lights of the night sky. Then after another instant, they were already flying a kilometer high in the air.


    Jack rushed to the end of the floor and heavy smashed against the window, his strength not fading away at all. The powerful and tough reinforced ss exploded with web-like cracks in an instant, but it didn¡¯t break in the end.


    However, the metal frame supporting all sides of the window couldn¡¯t hold on. The entire window ripped off from the wall due to Jack¡¯s collision and the window fell towards the ground.


    Jack borrowed the loss of his momentum to stand at the brink of the empty floor. He took out a thick-barreled gun from his back, the same gun he used to fire the special military ammunition down to this floor.


    The muzzle aimed at the night sky, but in the end, Jack didn¡¯t pull the trigger in futility. He just coldly stared at the shadow of the night sky¡¯s void. A long time passed before he turned around and left.

 Chapter 63: Demon Altar (Part ?)

    Chapter 63: Demon Altar (Part ?)


    Leave? You didn¡¯t think things would be that easy did you?


    Luo Nan stood above in the night sky. He looked through the crisscrossing light rails of traffes that surrounded the DeShang Building and saw Jack leave in hatred. Luo Nan let out a long breath of relief and then burst intoughter.


    Right now a very interesting rtionship existed between Luo Nan and Jack.


    Jack¡¯s Deep Sea EM Field had inflicted heavy damage and even neutralized Luo Nan¡¯s abilities, but its effective range was still limited.


    Luo Nan himself didn¡¯t have any methods that were threats to Jack, but he had his long distance sensing range of five hundred meters in radius.


    And so it was destined; Luo Nan hadpletely pulled away from Jack and it was impossible for Jack to escape from Luo Nan¡¯s focus.


    Luo Nan was in quite the sorry state back in the Deep Sea EM Field. Today, Jack¡¯s action had caused him to be quite hard-pressed, so Luo Nan had to expose every single action of Jack¡¯s to his soul observation.


    Luo Nan lightly patted the Human-Faced Arachnid, indicating to it to catch up with Jack.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid suddenly flew into action. They dropped down rapidly in the night sky and entered the DeShang Building once more. They went through the wall like a ghost and the turbid flow of vapor that lingered on the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s body made it look bizarre and demonic.


    Luo Nan¡¯s mental senses locked firmly onto Jack, who was over twenty stories away. A hundred meters of distance meant that the precision of his senses was a centimeter long. The several tens of floors provided him with both safety and care. He would totally have the time to respond to anything that might happen.


    Jack had to have sensed that Luo Nan was locked on to him and was surveilling him for he kept looking back while he walked. Each time he looked back, he locked onto the direction of Luo Nan¡¯s soul body.


    But so what? He couldn¡¯t do a thing to Luo Nan.


    Things went far too easily for Luo Nan. He attentively watched Jack¡¯s whereabouts whilebing through the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s state.


    Luo Nan¡¯s soul body was standing on the back of the Human-Faced Arachnid right now. The sensation he felt on the mental ne was really quite bizarre. Although the nervous system could reconstruct the sensations from previous experiences to a great degree, there were bound to be some sensations that were untrantable and could only be intuitively grasped.


    The contact between Luo Nan and the Human-Faced Arachnid was like standing on a barbed wad of cloud and mist. Below him was incorporeal and formless, but there were the amazing forces of internal pressure and outward tension that acted simultaneously, holding a sense of physicality on the mental ne.


    The so-called pressure and tension were just crude feelings. Deeply concealed inside was actually the foundational structure to the existence of the Human-Faced Arachnid.


    The current precision of Luo Nan¡¯s senses wasn¡¯t enough to peak at the marvels inside the Human-Faced Arachnid, but he could basically feel some ck in the foundational structure of the Human-Faced Arachnid.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid was hit head on with the explosion of the Format of Fire from Jack. Indeed, it had suffered heavy damage. More than half of the demonic body had been melted away. Not even half of its volume remained.


    But this sort of heavy damage wasn¡¯t fatal for the Human-Faced Arachnid. It could probably consume some spiritual seeds or something simr to quickly recover or even evolve. But Luo Nan absolutely refused to use this sort of evil method......At the very least, the Human-Faced Arachnid couldn¡¯t have found other Human-Faced Arachnid clones in such a short time. Even if it did find them, it wasn¡¯t a guarantee that it could consume them.


    And so, Luo Nan could only select the stupidest option for the Human-Faced Arachnid: Go drink from the turbid flow of emotions then! Drink until you¡¯re full!


    It didn¡¯t matter if the Human-Faced Arachnid was willing or not. This was the only method that would allow the Human-Faced Arachnid to quickly recover in this situation. Luckily, the underground fighting arena of DeShang Building was a reservoir of dirty negative emotions.


    Luo Nan gave the Human-Faced Arachnid an absolute order. Go down there and feed, but avoid Rui Wen and Crag Burst. In a certain sense, Luo Nan¡¯s conversation with Jack was also to buy time for the Human-Faced Arachnid.


    Now Luo Nan¡¯s n was considered a sess. The Human-Faced Arachnid had recovered part of its strength and had saved him from a most perilous situation.


    But on the other hand, to force the Human-Faced Arachnid to drink dirty water meant that the situation was very serious.


    Though the Human-Faced Arachnid had been heavily damaged by the Format of Fire, its foundation was still rtively solid. It was just weak from excessive wear and tear. But right now, its foundation was a bit unstable even though this fellow looked to be quite vibrant in power. It had fallen over a factor in power from its peak, and it wouldn¡¯t be easy for it to recover all the way back.


    From this, Luo Nan now knew that the quality of food was extremely important for the Human-Faced Arachnid. It would only eat grass if it waspletely necessary, and this would not be filling at all.


    Mm, switching to a different topic, were the people back in the fighting arena still alive?


    Just as this thought shed in his mind, Crag Burst¡¯s voice came transmitting over: ¡°Hello hello? Hello hello? Scout, did you lose connection?¡±


    ¡°Not at all......¡±


    From beginning to end, Luo Nan didn¡¯t let Crag Burst know that he had sought out Jack on his own. Part of it was because he didn¡¯t want to reveal the existence of his soul body. The other part was because he felt that Rui Wen needed Crag Burst to keep an eye over her more than him.


    He had thought things over from all sides, but he never expected that he would get caught in such a perilous situation.


    ording to reason, the conversation between the two should have gone easy and unhindered thanks to the HexaEar. Luo Nan and Crag Burst had been talking quite a bit before Luo Nan faced off with Jack. But then Crag Burst remained quiet for the following moments. Now that Luo Nan thought about it, this was very strange.


    Luo Nan made a mental association to the perilous situation and wondered: Perhaps Jack¡¯s Deep Sea EM Field had an interference effect.


    ¡°I saw that your crow went smack silent all of a sudden. I thought you reached your time limit for possession.....¡±


    ¡°Uh, nope. Wait a bit!¡±


    Luo Nan steered the Human-Faced Arachnid to arrive in one of the middle floors of the DeShang Building for arge vantage point. Here he couldpletely unleash the dominance of his sensing range, covering the entirety of the DeShang Building.


    The circumstances at the underground fighting arena entered Luo Nan¡¯s control in this instant. But to simultaneously observe two ces at once was quite the challenge in terms of energy and precision.


    The situation at the underground fighting arena was somewhat beyond Luo Nan¡¯s expectations.


    Mr. Ma¡¯s precious little baby had yet to be transported over there. Rui Wen just stood on stage by herself in solitary. But the several hundred rich guests were actually glowing red all across their faces. There were ample energy and even additional excitement.


    The were chatting, provoking, and endlessly cursing loudly about their bets to their opponents. Or perhaps they were shamelessly teasing the beautiful female and handsome male prostitutes of the underground fighting arena. Some even performed on the spot in full view of the crowd, engaging in these absurd actions.


    Of course, this could be considered a part of gambling.


    Were they really raided by the Human-Faced Arachnid?


    ¡°They all went crazy.¡±


    As an ability user, Crag Burst had experienced many years of adventures and had seen several absurd and degenerate scenes. But the current scene was still something that could be counted on one hand.


    ¡°This is simply the hedonistic ritual of some Secret Order. They¡¯re using every method possible to try to please the devil...... Hello. Is there really an Order behind them like I said?¡±


    ¡°...... I don¡¯t know.¡±


    As Luo Nan spoke, he was reminded by Crag Burst to spare a bit of energy towards the disy of debauchery by the rich guests.


    Oh, this type of emotion...... Whatrge fervor1!


    Luo Nan suddenly understood. The Human-Faced Arachnid, having received a moment of independence, had used methods that far exceeded his crude expectations in intricacy.


    Fervor (Ðé»ð, literally Void Fire). Ðé»ð, in this case, refers to excessive Yang energy due tock of Yin energy, presumably due to the Human-Faced Arachnid consuming negative emotions. This term is not used in any of the future chapters. I thought it would be pretty interesting to point out.

 Chapter 63: Demon Altar (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 63: Demon Altar (Part 2/2)


    The Human-Faced Arachnid was like a top-notch looter and arsonist.


    Luo Nan was certain that the Human-Faced Arachnid had swept this ce clean. It wouldn¡¯t be excessive to say that it had wrung every ounce of blood and essence from them. But through it all, the Human-Faced Arachnid had disyed outstanding skill in stealing.


    It had consumed until it was filled with negative emotions and the corresponding life force energy. It had siphoned most of these people down to their base emotions, leaving just some grass on the surface of the ground. Then it had lit a fire in delight.


    The loss of control over negative emotions was tinder for the fire. The life force energy floating in the air was what lit the fire.


    There were many cases like this in reality. The weaker one¡¯s body gets, the more one can¡¯t control their desires. And when one loses control, thest bit of life force in their body gets squeezed clean.


    Right now at the spectator stands, all the rich guests, their private secretaries and mistresses, and the great quantity of staff members of the fighting arena were ignorantly caught in this situation.


    As soon as Luo Nan realized what the problem was, the circumstances of the fighting arena turnedpletely differently in his eyes.


    This was no fighting arena, this was a brazier that would soon burn dry and break. Or perhaps it was the caverns of a deep mine that was filled with gas...... One that had already been lit ame.


    Therge quantity of negative emotions and evanescent life force energy formed a burning massive cloud that could not be seen by the naked eye. It pervaded everywhere on the mental ne


    If these people could sense their own soul, they would discover that a terrifying feeling of suffocation had already descended upon them.


    And so Crag Burst, an Awakened, could sense the intense feeling of incongruity from within. He wanted to eliminate this feeling that was born from the current situation.


    How was this situation created?


    Luo Nan was disinclined to think further about thest moments of these rich guests at the spectator stands. Instead, he was rather interested in the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s actions.


    In any case, Jack wasn¡¯t making any particr movements at the moment. So Luo Nan just patted the Human-Faced Arachnid beneath him and indicated to this fellow to give him a demonstration.


    Obviously the Human-Faced Arachnid wouldn¡¯t decline. It charged back into the fighting arena a few instancester. It buried its devilish body deep within the ming cloud. Its six demonic eyes were half open and half closed and it opened its sinister mouth wide. It sucked the ming cloud inside and spat out the unstable turbid vapor of emotions out, forming an exchange of stability.


    Luo Nan understoodpletely now. The Human-Faced Arachnid couldn¡¯t disobey the conditions of his order, so it had created this killer poison environment; it did the utmost to dispel theponents of the turbid flow of emotions that it disliked the most. Luo Nan didn¡¯t know how much of an improvement the entire process yielded, but it was fine as long as the Human-Faced Arachnid was happy.


    In essence, the fighting arena was no longer a location that provided the rich guests with stimtion and wanton amusement they desired. Instead, it was an enormous altar. They believed themselves to be rulers, but now they had turned into livestock that were ced upon the altar. They would be ughtered anytime the Human-Faced Arachnid demanded it.


    Even though this didn¡¯t conform with Luo Nan¡¯s aesthetics, Luo Nan didn¡¯t feel a need to amend things.


    He swept a nce towards Jack. That fellow had slowed down his pace. Seemed like he was muttering something to himself. Luo Nan didn¡¯t need the Human-Faced Arachnid to be beside him in order to tail Jack. The previous battle proved that it would be easier to adapt to new situations if Luo Nan and the Human-Faced Arachnid were separated.


    So Luo Nan let the Human-Faced Arachnid stay behind in the fighting arena. It would be good for the Human-Faced Arachnid to stabilize its foundation a bit.


    But then an unforeseen event urred within the ten seconds after making the decision.


    Rui Wen, who had been standing with dangling hands all this time on the stage, suddenly raised her head. Her gaze faced the empty sky above her head. There was a broadcast disy over there. It was disying her image.


    Several people noticed this change. Soon they gave rational exnations for the cause:


    ¡°Oh, oh, oh. The t-chested witch has started to be depressed.¡±


    ¡°Is she trying to see what she looks like in herst moments?¡±


    ¡°Look! Look! There won¡¯t be a chance in the future!¡±


    A disturbance, which was not too big yet not too small, arose in the fighting arena. The spectators became excited. Their debased mockery mixed with their uninhibited emotions and was cast on stage.


    Rui Wen didn¡¯t react at all towards their provocation. She just looked upwards in a daze...... Was she really looking at herself on the disy?


    It wasn¡¯t so.


    Though it appeared that Rui Wen¡¯s gaze was towards the broadcast disy, Luo Nan was certain that her true focus was on something else, the Human-Faced Arachnid!


    Because in the next instant, the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s devilish eyes had suddenly opened wide and looked towards Rui Wen¡¯s location. It had been floating idly within the ming clouds when it suddenly increased in tension. The burning negative emotions and life force energy curled around its body to form rings and rings of indistinct fire.


    And Luo Nan¡¯s order came into effect at this time. Luo Nan was worried that the Human-Faced Arachnid would really swallow Rui Wen¡¯s spiritual seed; it had been drooling over her for a long time. Luo Nan wanted it to restrain itself and relocate.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid abided by the order, but then Rui Wen¡¯s gaze shifted along as well. She did not deviate from it at all.


    Crag Burst discovered that something was wrong at this time: ¡°Hey! What¡¯s she looking at?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know!¡±


    As Luo Nan replied in this manner, his entire scalp went numb on his main body. If had he perceived the situation correctly, then it was as if Rui Wen could see the Human-Faced Arachnid. Could she actually see Darksider life forms?


    Was Rui Wen an ability user? But why didn¡¯t weren¡¯t there any signs of it before? Or maybe her ability had just awakened? From the stimtion given by the Human-Faced Arachnid?


    A series of questions popped out in his mind, but not an answer was obtained to a single one.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid then howled as a response to Luo Nan¡¯s order. This was originally a sound that only Luo Nan could hear, but now, Rui Wen, this deste and silent girl, raised her head from atop the stage. She gazed towards the skies above the fighting arena.


    If her line of sight was extended about 300 meters, then her gaze would meet Luo Nan.


    Abnormal! Abnormal!


    Although Luo Nan clearly knew that Rui Wen couldn¡¯t possibly see him, he still ate some shock and he couldn¡¯t help shifting his position. He was just about to ponder over the circumstances of this girl, but he never expected that things woulde his way and be so overwhelming.


    And at this time, Jack ended his own self-contemtion. He increased his speed all of a sudden and returned back to his training room in a short thirty seconds. He picked up his previously discarded wristband and seemed to be making an external call.


    Luo Nan had to concentrate all his energy towards Jack. But before doing so, he had given an order to the Human-Faced Arachnid to keep its distance from Rui Wen; don¡¯t attract the girl¡¯s attention.


    Luo Nan began to close in on Jack after arranging everything. He hoped to increase the precision of his senses.


    But this was different than the time when Jack wasmunicating with the contact of the fighting arena. Luo Nan couldn¡¯t possibly stick close to Jack in the same manner unless he wanted to forfeit his life. So, the precision wasn¡¯t guaranteed.


    Ultimately, Luo Nan took the risk to pull within fifty meters of distance to Jack. He could feel the radio waves emitting from the wristband, but he could only track a small section of distance; he had to give up.


    Jack¡¯s call time was extremely short and the direction of transmission was clearly towards the outside of DeShang Building. The distance was far, far exceeding the limit of Luo Nan¡¯s senses.


    Maybe he was making contact with Yan Yongbo?


    Luo Nan could only make a blind guess. Then Jack entered the changing stall in the training room and changed his clothes.


    A white dress shirt, a ck bow tie, and ck cks, the official clothing for a fighting referee. Then Jack shot a cold and hard nce towards Luo Nan¡¯s position, directly went out, and entered a high-speed elevator.


    Was he going to the fighting arena?


    Jack¡¯s gaze was clearly a provocation. It was very evident that part of the fighting arena¡¯s situation had been revealed to Jack.


    The possibility of the cause being the Human-Faced Arachnid was very small. Then that means.....


    ¡°Crag Burst. Jack¡¯s here.¡±


    ¡°Who? Where?¡± Crag Burst was stupefied for a moment but understood quickly. He immediately asked Luo Nan for confirmation.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t respond immediately for the Human-Faced Arachnid had disobeyed his order during the moment his attention was split. It swept along the ming cloud of burning negative emotions and leaped over towards Rui Wen!

 Chapter 64: Live Sacrifice (Part ?)

    Chapter 64: Live Sacrifice (Part ?)


    The Human-Faced Arachnid was revolting!


    Luo Nan was suddenly furious and the dark chains shook to forcefully rein back in the Human-Faced Arachnid. The chains hummed with its vibrating cry and the ming clouds that surrounded the Human-Faced Arachnid copsed and dispersed. The arachnid hissed and screeched. It was clearly suffering.


    Luo Nan¡¯s anger slightly dampened from the miserable reaction of the Human-Faced Arachnid. It seemed that his control over the arachnid was still effective. He then thought of how this fellow had just saved his life and his heart softened a bit.


    Besides, what was the point of getting mad at this unintelligent fellow that only relied on its instinct for its behavior?


    Luo Nan was baffled. The Human-Faced Arachnid had always listened to him ever since the dark chains had shackled it. And the arachnid didn¡¯t overstep its actions with Rui Wen before. Why did it suddenly go out of control?


    Luo Nan needed to think this question over very carefully.


    Jack rode the high-speed elevator, walked through a dedicated passageway, and reached the fighting arena at this time. But he didn¡¯t directly show himself in public. Instead, he entered the VIP box and met with the contact; they didn¡¯t speak of anything important during this time.


    So Luo Nan concentrated his energy to think over the issue with the Human-Faced Arachnid.


    Communicating with the unintelligent Human-Faced Arachnid could be said to be an extremely strenuous undertaking. It couldn¡¯t directly tell Luo Nan what it was thinking, so Luo Nan could only search for connections to the problem within the arachnid¡¯s chaotic mess of data all by himself.


    His current analysis of the Human-Faced Arachnid, ording to the flexible e-ink screen, was only at 2%. In other words, 98% of the arachnid¡¯s data was just mumbo jumbo.


    To find things that could be understood from this mumbo jumbo, and useful things at that, was truly.....


    Uh, what¡¯s this?


    Luo Nan¡¯s soul body rippled slightly. He was startled by a moving image that suddenly shone into his eyes.


    The video was some external data that the Human-Faced Arachnid had absorbed beforehand. Frankly speaking, Luo Nan was just shocked for a moment before he rapidly came to a conclusion. This was a whole body image of the structure of a human body with several machineponents mixed inside. This specimen...... was none other than Jack!


    Luo Nan probed into the mysteries of Jack¡¯s body with the help of the Human-Faced Arachnid, concentrating most of his energy into Jack¡¯s brain activity and just casually ncing over the other parts. But Luo Nan never expected that the arachnid would actually record Jack¡¯s entire body and use methods iprehensible to Luo Nan to form an integrated video.


    A scene as if shot from a movie was disyed in front of Luo Nan¡¯s eyes.


    The time frame of the scene was set when the arachnid had appeared. This was when Jack unleashed his Format of Fire, right before the arachnid waspletely exploded away!


    And so Luo Nan could see a myriad of thin threads splitting from the Dynamo Core and prating through veins and nerves. The threads extended through Jack¡¯s entire body, unfurling open to form aplicated yetplete infrastructure in an instant. Every source of energy in Jack¡¯s body, be it flesh or machine, were all integrated into this infrastructure and were being transformed.


    In the next moment, Jack was like the embodiment of a super control chip of a precision device. The location, the specific timing, and the amount of force to exert were all coordinated wlessly. It was because of this that the internal forces from the high-speed integration didn¡¯t damage his body in the first moments. Instead, he stayed on the dangerous border where the closely woven fiery electrical power was sessfully transported back to the location of the nucleus and the Dynamo Core.


    The Dynamo Core lit up under the convergence of high energy. The lightning, which had been flickering unstably on the mental ne, turned lustrous and dazzling. The energy in Jack¡¯s bodypleted with an inconceivable change in nature at this very moment. In other words, the energy had crossed over from the ne of reality to a different dimension; it had entered the mental domain.


    Ignition sessful...... NICE!


    Luo Nan¡¯s soul body suddenly spun a circle in the air to calm down his excited mood. He didn¡¯t know what was the difference between this ignition method and that of the typical Burner, but this was still the first time he saw the entire ignition process of the Format of Fire.


    Even if the true core procedure wasn¡¯t revealed...... The Dynamo Core should be the key step inpleting the energy transformation process. But this was fine. Having this piece of concept and reasoning was already priceless.


    It didn¡¯t matter if it was Quantum Corporation or some other colossal power, the line of research behind their Burners were allid bare to Luo Nan.


    Luo Nan thought about how Quantum Corporation had spent ten painstaking years and trillions of credits in investments to have this project be a sess and Luo Nan felt the deep pleasure of revenge.


    The problem was...... His revenge wasn¡¯t over!


    Beyond all expectations, the movie clip, which was highly integrated by the Human-Faced Arachnid, continued to y on.


    The following scene was much blurrier. Then the time returned back to the Dynamo Core and the myriad of thin threads splitting off of it, the moment when the infrastructure was established.


    The image of Jack¡¯s body became ghostly. Large pieces of area were erased. All that was left were the Dynamo Core, veins, neurons, and parts of the body used to establish the framework.


    Energy just channeled, amassed, and ignited through this framework.


    Luo Nan could see that the scene was reying the course of events with the ignition from before.


    The rey demonstrated the importance of the infrastructure itself. Irrelevant branches and knots were erased from it and the marvels of the ignition process were carried out once more. Luo Nan recalled the Self Format. Wasn¡¯t the current stage of his body¡¯s infrastructure simr to the this in nature?


    What an exquisite reference...... Perhaps he could use this method as a reference for future training?


    Luo Nan let out a breath of deep emotion and admiration, his head burning. He continued to y the movie clip and began watching the rey yback a second time.


    The clip started over from the beginning yet again. But this time, theplicated infrastructure established by Dynamo Core turned into a fuzzy backdrop. Only concise lines, straight and curved, remained. They connected to key nodes of the infrastructure. Maybe they were randomly created..... Or maybe they were maic field lines?


    Luo Nan was forced to admit that he had no idea what he was looking at.


    But then, but then......


    When those straight lines and arcspleted joining, they formed aplete and closed off figure in the middle. When the figure finally emerged before Luo Nan¡¯s eyes, Luo Nan felt a certain trembling sensation that came rising from the bottom of his heart. It dominated him entirely.


    It was a palpitation that was felt when gorgeous light could be seen from being down in the darkness of the abyss.


    A tetrahedron...... was a bit imperfect.


    An inscribed sphere...... wasn¡¯tpletely tangent to the four sides.


    An outer scribed sphere...... didn¡¯t perfectly touch the four corners of the tetrahedron.


    But this structure, its silhouette, and the marvelous idea that emerged from it were like a heavy fist that exploded against Luo Nan¡¯s heart. It sted his chaotic state of mind into pieces, leaving behind only a diagram that had long since been assimted into his mind and thoroughly branded into the depths of his soul.


    The tetrahedron and its inscribed and outer scribed spheres.


    The figure analyzed by the Human-Faced Arachnid marvelously intertwined and linked up with Luo Nan¡¯s visualization diagram right at this moment. Only what pertained to Formatting Theory persisted in apletely pounding and igniting manner!


    Luo Nan froze on the spot.


    He forgot to restrain the Human-Faced Arachnid, giving the arachnid some freedom. It just followed its simple-minded nature and hissed sharply before leaping over to Rui Wen on the fighting stage.


    Luo Nan had already reacted midway through this, but he didn¡¯t try stopping the Human-Faced Arachnid for he could see apletely different scene.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid wasn¡¯t going to eat Rui Wen; its attack was more like a connecting line.


    It stirred the ming clouds of turbid emotions as it approached Rui Wen. Right when Rui Wen was about to be drowned within, the lustrous and pure spiritual seed emitted bright rays of splendor like a star prating through the clouds.


    Rui Wen and the Human-Faced Arachnid jolted simultaneously. Then the arachnid started to fly in an orbit around Rui Wen. Rui Wen¡¯s gaze followed the arachnid for half a circle before she slowly closed her eyes right when she was about to turn her body.


    This feeling, this scene emerged within Luo Nan¡¯s eyes; a circle was slowly forming!

 Chapter 64: Live Sacrifice (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 64: Live Sacrifice (Part 2/2)


    ¡°The circr state is still too abstract. It needs to be more concrete......¡±


    Luo Nan stared dead-fixed at the fighting stage, he looked at the state of the special connecting line between the Human-Faced Arachnid and Rui Wen.


    And at the same time, the people in the audience were also looking from the spectator stands, but all they saw was Rui Wen closing her eyes. They jeered, mocked, scolded from the spectator stands in response, using as much obscenities as possible to release the pressure and emotions from their everyday lives. They let their feelings of superiority and sess from being dictators over life and death fly out.


    But essentially they were a herd of the blind. They were stupid hogs andmb that had been ced on the sacrificial altar and were still shouting in delight. They didn¡¯t know that their life force energy was burning with every obscenity that leaves their mouths, every time they release their negative emotions. The energy was cast into this confined fighting arena and transformed into parts of the ming cloud to ultimately belong to the void.


    Luo Nan had no intention to look down on these people for his first-hand witness of the Human Faced Arachnid¡¯s two reys told him one fact:


    The visualization diagram wasn¡¯t a mystery; it was something that could be exined at any time. An extremelyplicated infrastructure was contained inside, an extremely profound foundational theory. All Luo Nan could see was just a high-level abstraction and nothing more.


    The two ybacks, especially the second, proved that the operations of the visualized diagram alreadypletely exceeded his level ofprehension. He didn¡¯t overestimate his own judgment skills, so he didn¡¯t try in vain to go analyze the principles behind the diagram in deeper detail.


    The mocking audience, however, was like the pot who calls the kettle ck.


    All Luo Nan could do right now was to maintain his reverence towards the unknown, to continue to observe and confirm what was toe.


    Therefore Luo Nan gave it his all to concentrate on the changes that were urring on the fighting stage. His perspective was abination of the material and the mental ne, and it also seeped with the understanding of the turbid flow of emotions. Every second of observation and perception brought along a shocking consumption of energy.


    The price for all this was well worth it.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid and Rui Wen physical image turned gradually hazy from Luo Nan¡¯s perspective. Likewise, the fighting stage and even the entire fighting arena turned hazy as well.


    All of this turned into a picture that was directly perceived through the senses and filled with symbolic meaning.


    Luo Nan saw a burning sea of clouds.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid was a spider demon swimming about the sea of clouds.


    Rui Wen was the one and only glistening star in the turbid cloud sea. Her splendor was prating and sharp. The scattering rays of the star were the biting cold light of a sword¡¯s edge.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid orbited around this star, constantly approaching closer and closer, driving the turbid flow of emotions and covering its aura. But no matter how much the mist of negative emotions surged like the tide around the star, the ice-cold de aura cut its way through to make not even an ounce of filth pollute Rui Wen.


    The star de edge was being tempered and refined during the entire course of events. The aura it emitted grew sharper and sharper. Dozens of hundreds of heavy blows assaulted the star, but the great amounts of turbid emotions weren¡¯t able to leap over to Rui Wen. They were transformed into nothingness by the suspending and illuminating sharp aura.


    But no matter how much of the sea was extinguished, the burning cloud sea advanced wave upon wave. Howling curses came from within the cloud sea, all provided by the incessantly excited audience. This was a herd of stupid swine andmb that had its blood already drawn by a de. They werepletely ignorant of the fact that this confined fighting arena had turned into an enormous altar and that their life force energy was the blood the flowed arbitrarily atop the altar. It was the sole pigment that painted the scene of the burning cloud sea.


    Atst, the Human-Faced Arachnid hissed and took the initiative tounch a material attack, throwing itself at Rui Wen.


    But through enduring the heavy myriad assaults of the turbid burning clouds, Rui Wen¡¯s Star de Edge had been tempered to a new level.


    The de edge aura shined upon the Human-Faced Arachnid before it had truly gotten close, shing countless fine cuts over its body. This wasn¡¯t an act; it truly had been injured.


    Luo Nan could feel the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s pain, but a feeling of delight was also conveyed at the deepest level of its response.


    Delight.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid continued to push forward to truly cross paths with the star de edge. One of its limbs got severed. It fell into the burning cloud sea, igniting with a rumble.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid made a long hiss in pain, but it turned and threw itself over and ate its own burning limb with a single bite; it trembled with excitement.


    The aura of the arachnid had weakened over this process, but then it clearly turned much more solid. And the hazy state of its corresponding foundational structure turned for the better as well.


    So it was like this all along!


    Luo Nan understood atst. The corresponding information had been analyzed at this moment and it flowed through his mind.


    It was without a doubt that the Human-Faced Arachnid was utilizing Rui Wen.


    It had discovered Rui Wen¡¯s ability, but it couldn¡¯t directly consume her due to being intimidated by Luo Nan¡¯s order. It had used a roundabout method to exploit her ability for its own gain.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid wanted to use Rui Wen to reach a sort of dynamic equilibrium.


    It kept attacking, kept pressuring, but it maintained control of the intensity to temper Rui Wen¡¯s Star de Aura to be sharper and sharper, all for the sake of making her truly be a threat towards it.


    It was very bizarre just thinking about it, but these were the facts. The Human-Faced Arachnid was incapable of growing its own self. It had to consume foreign material, including its own species, to achieve its own evolution.


    The current scene was just a variation of ¡°consuming¡±. The Human-Faced Arachnid was borrowing Rui Wen¡¯s Star de Aura to slice off its hazy and unstable sections and reconstruct its foundation. Even if the arachnid was riddled with a thousand holes, even if its limbs gets smashed and sttered, as long as it wasn¡¯t truly fatal, the arachnid would dly endure the pain.


    And naturally, the loss of its energy was constantly being replenished by the stupid hogs andmbs in its surroundings. It was these people who solely bore all the damage.


    This method was filled with a vor of deviousness and desperation. It matched the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s image quite well.


    From the arachnid¡¯s perspective, this environment, which it had single-handedly established, was just like a whetstone, a forge, and an altar.


    And it threw itself atop of it.


    Interesting enough, Rui Wen was the one to receive the most benefits from this situation.


    Until now, Luo Nan still didn¡¯t know what ability Rui Wen would ultimately awaken to. But when looking at the desperate appearance of the Human-Faced Arachnid, he could see that she had shocking potential.


    But the stimtion of an external object was needed to excite her ability. Her pure and prating mental state was able to take on the turbulent muddy waters and still remain untainted by even a speck of dust even after a hundred, a thousand scouring waves.


    And so, Rui Wen was on the altar as well.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid was exploiting her. And she was exploiting the arachnid as well.


    The two were exploiting and polishing each other to push themselves to higher levels. And their limits were yet to be seen.


    This scene may not bepletely true. Nevertheless, it was a part that Luo Nan was able to deduce and understand. Itspleteposition was secretly rted to Luo Nan¡¯s visualized diagram.


    Rui Wen and the Human-Faced Arachnid stood at the core. They could be said to be the inscribed sphere. They represented the continual operation of an endogenous force.


    The fighting arena was the sealed boundary of the figure; it was the outer scribed sphere. It represented the external environment and the source of power.


    And the tetrahedron..... Wasn¡¯t it none other than Luo Nan?


    The Human-Faced Arachnid came from Luo Nan¡¯s system. All of its actions were essentially part of the variations and extensions of his system. So ultimately, Luo Nan himself was who supplied this framework!


    As hisprehension increased in his mind, Luo Nan suddenly understood where the energy consumption of his act of observing went:


    It was the price and challenge that had to be paid when acting as the bearer.


    He wasn¡¯t standing on the altar. He was the altar.


    Whether or not Luo Nan¡¯s pyramid structure could hold the endlessly rising levels of the two, whether or not it could assume their surging powers, whether or not it could supply them with enough support... were all key in determining the sess of this sacrificial ritual.


    The framework would copse with a loss in equilibrium. There were only two cases for this: Either Rui Wen ys the Human-Faced Arachnid or the Human-Faced Arachnid destroys Rui Wen.


    Even if Rui Wen perishes, the Human-Faced Arachnid would not necessarily have disobeyed Luo Nan¡¯s will; this would just be a failure of the total framework.


    Of course, this would mean that Luo Nan would be forced to take on the recoil from the copse of the framework. The situation that would emerge then waspletely unknown.


    ¡°Human-Faced Arachnid......¡± spoke Luo Nan through gritted teeth.


    Then a spotlight came shining down from atop the fighting stage, illuminating an area to the corner.


    The onsite DJ let out a long whistle that was like an airne streaking across the skies: ¡°This has been a very long wait for the bloody future! The Beast King Battle that you all have been waiting for, our other leading character...... has arrived!¡±


    The exmation of the final syble was like a groan, but it caused every one of the audience to have one of their heart strings plucked lightly as an effect.


    The whistling that followed caused the entire fighting arena to rock.


    The bloody mes of the incorporeal altar burned harder.

 Chapter 65: Mutant (Part ?)

    Chapter 65: Mutant (Part ?)


    The floor sunk down then came up again at the spot illuminated by the spotlight; there was now an enormous metal crate atop of it. The sound of chafing friction could be heard from within the crate before it had entered the range of the spotlight. The sound was extremely uncanny.


    The metal crate was the size of a standard small shipping container. It was nearly six meters in length and over two meters in height and width. It was extremely close in length to the standard-sized fighting stage.


    The fighting arena went silent when this metal crate first appeared before everyone¡¯s eyes. Then the shouts and whistles from the spectator stands grew in boos andughter:


    ¡°God, what arge fellow!¡±


    ¡°This size. Is it a Brown Bear? Amur Tiger? ck Caiman?¡±


    ¡°This is shameless enough. This is cruel enough.¡±


    ¡°Can we keep betting? Can we change our bets?¡±


    Clearly, there was some controversy in the fighting arena, though the majority of people were d to see what was happening.


    They didn¡¯t care if they win their bets or not; they just wanted to see the spilling of blood, though there should be a bit of suspense of course. A one-sided battle would make people feel like something was a bit missing.


    The metal crate opened from the front at this moment, but nothing came out. Instead, a ¡°Ang ang¡± sound rang out along with the exciting sound of ramming. The beast had ample vigor, but this sound......


    The metal crate opened from all sides while everyone was looking at each other in disy and the inner content was revealed.


    The whole venue was stunned.


    There were actually two cages ced within the crate. They were about equal sizes.


    One was a pitch-ck semi-translucent ss box. Its inner content could not be seen.


    The other was a typical metal cage. The fellow inside was turning around and around in circles. It had long fangs. Its build was thick and bulky. It had a thick hide and tough bones. It could be considered a colossal animal with considerable strength. It rammed against the metal cage, causing banging sounds.


    This was a...... wild boar.


    Fine then. In reality, if 99% of the people in the fighting arena were tossed down there to face this heavy wild beast, which weighed over several hundred kilograms, they would be condemned to death.


    But, but, there was something wrong with this scene!


    They wanted to see the devilish scene of theceration of flesh and the sttering of blood. Not a chase and run, ram and dodge,edy show!


    And furthermore, they waited over ten minutes for this? A wild boar?


    The boos exploded with a rumble.


    All of the audience in the spectator stands, be it bosses of somepany or officials of some department,pletely discarded all of their reservations. They vented to the fullest...... They cursed ¡°F*ck you!¡± and hissed ¡°F*ck you!¡± to whomever they found displeasing to the eye.


    The pressure from the heaven shaking boos made it so that the DJ did not dare to speak a word.


    Rui Wen still stood quietly on the fighting stage with her eyes closed.


    Then, off the stage, the ck ss box next to the metal cage opened from the front without a sound.


    The opening to the pitch-ck box did not reveal anything, but the constantly agitated wild boar in the metal cage moaned with a sharp cry. It was as if a pig-ughtering de had been stabbed into its stomach.


    The boos of the fighting arena were forcefully interrupted by this ear-piercing cry. Then the audience saw the wild boar try to ram its way out of its cage as if its life depended on it. The ramming attack was quite the desperate attempt, causing the entire cage to shift. The two containers were forcefully pulled three meters part. The boar kept ramming until it reached the fighting stage and it kept on trying, causing rumbles to ring out from the collision with the stage.


    What the hell is going on!? Luo Nan was a bit annoyed and anxious.


    The sacrificial ritual had reached its key point. Countless lines emerged within the burning cloud sea to establish an even more exquisite structure, a structure that was created by the valiant instinct of the Human-Faced Arachnid. A profound and unpredictable order was contained inside.


    Luo Nan did not try to analyze this. The Human-Faced Arachnid was already on a level that exceeded Luo Nan. There was no point in forcefully trying to decipher its mysteries. All Luo Nan could do right now was to preserve the finalized structure of the altar and let the arachnid maintain its stability.


    Right now Luo Nan was doing fine and the two people atop the altar were doing excellent as well.


    The trick that was yed out on the fighting stage had caused the supply of the turbid flow of emotions to be somewhat chaotic. But this didn¡¯t really matter. The smell of a zing me didn¡¯t mean that a cooked dish would be made. The more adjustments that were made with this tiny heat for slow cooking, the more the dish would simmer dry and be burned through.


    This herd of hog andmb were simply putting the final nail in their own coffin.


    But then the wild boar rammed against the fighting stage in a crazed fashion at this time, causing the outside disturbance to suddenly increase. The Human-Faced Arachnid was fine, but Luo Nan was really worried about Rui Wen bing distracted.


    Although Luo Nan was worried, the audience was quite excited.


    ¡°Hoho. What a cheap trick!¡±


    Regardless of how many times they had seen it before, the audience loved watching arranged suspense where build up urs after being bottled up. Their interest was firmly hooked and all the boos and curses disappearedpletely. The fighting arena actually turned much quieter.


    Then something could be seen from the ck ss box atst. A long forked tongue stuck to the ground. It extended and retracted, revealing a coarse surface. A trillion cells for perception reced the eyes and the nose, sensing the external environment.


    ¡°Is it a snake? Or a lizard?¡±


    ¡°Hurry and start already! Show the head!¡±


    The being seemed to have felt the stirring emotions in the outside environment for it stretched out its long and narrow head out from the ss box. It looked to be a type of lizard.


    The audience in the spectator stands felt that something was off when the lizard had only stretched out half way...... Wasn¡¯t its skull around two meters long? The long and deep split of its mouth took up most of its head. It nearly reached the metal cage beneath the fighting stage and that pitiful wild boar was trying to escape with all its might, practically bringing its cage up to the stage.


    Based on the length of its skull, how long would its body be? How was it able to fit in the ss box?


    Then reality showed it stretch out four meters in length with its tough and flexible body like it was swimming in the air. Only its tail had yet to emerge.


    From the body that was shown so far, the mouth took up approximately half its length. It was simr to an alligator at first nce with its external appearance, but it was muchrger. Its limbs were extremely thick and bulky, propping up its stomach far away from the ground. Its forked tongue dangled down, sticking to the ground, contracting and extending. It looked very bizarre and cautious.


    What was this thing?


    Crag Burst already growled in a low voice while Luo Nan was puzzled:


    ¡°I¡¯ll f**k your b***h *** ****!¡±


    Before Crag Burst could finish cursing, the two-meter monstrosity opened itsrge mouth without any warning. Thousands of thick sharp teeth were densely packed together in four columns. The camera recorded it faithfully and the video was broadcasted in a close-up view to appear distinctively in everyone¡¯s eyes.


    The entire venue went cold in an instant.


    A sudden dash, a bite, a gnash, a swallow.


    The monster had performed a series of concise movements in this manner and the ring glow of blood spurted out right in front of it. The several hundred kilogram heavy wild boar and the cage of solid metal that surrounded it suddenly disappeared by half...... They had been swallowed by the monster with a single bite.


    Shrieking came from all around. This situation where half the fighting arena was quiet and half was in hysteria was rarely seen.


    And the giant broadcast disy atop the fighting arena was withdrawn upwards and put away, opening up the space above the fighting arena.


    Then a maglev type floating tform came dropping down from an entrance that had split open on the upper level of the fighting arena.


    There were no handrails or fencings whatsoever, but Jack stood steadily atop the tform wearing a white dress shirt, ck cks, and a ck bow tie, the official uniform of a referee. Although he looked down from high above, his face was expressionless. He turned a blind eye to the bizarre situation in the fighting arena.


    He lifted both his hands up slightly and separated them to two sides. One side represented Rui Wen, who was standing silently. The other side represented the monster, which had brutally swallowed its food. Jack spoke in a calm and unshaken voice:


    ¡°The Predator, Rui Wen.¡±


    ¡°The Mutant, Greatmaw Basilisk.¡±


    ¡°Let the Beast King Battle begin!¡±


    ......Mutant? It really was a mutant?


    Trembling and excitement dominated over everything. The silence had passed in the blink of an eye. The gamblers and the spectators all went crazy with shrieking, shaking fists and stamping feet. The entire fighting arena simply exploded!

 Chapter 65: Mutant (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 65: Mutant (Part 2/2)


    ¡°Ohoho, who¡¯s the damned person who thought of this idea? I love him to death!¡±


    ¡°Hurry up and start already, start! Or do I have to wait for it to finish eating that boar in the takeout cage?¡±


    ¡°Look at those four rows of sharp teeth. I wonder what it feels like when those fine limbs are rolling around in its mouth... Ah ah ah, won¡¯t someone shoot a close up shot?......¡±


    ¡°Hey, you on stage. Did you open your eyes yet? Look! Look how cute this baby is!¡±


    The so-called Beast King Battle had yet to begin, but each spectator within the fighting arena was overflowing with excitement.


    When this mutant was brought out as the main opponent in the fighting arena, everyone knew that the battle was going to bepletely lopsided. Only the prelude and the ending could be truly enjoyed to their heart¡¯s content.


    Rui Wen continued to stand in silence with her eyes closed at this moment. This was the best posture she could assume to maintain the suspense. Some people were truly worried that this battle scene would be soon reduced to a hunting show when this t-chested witch sees the terror of this Greatmaw Basilisk with her own eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯LL F**K YOUR B***H *** ****, I¡¯LL F**K YOUR B***H *** ****!¡±


    As Crag Burst spat curses, he probed out with his hand to touch the transparent defensive wall in front of him. He had to break open this barrier right now in order to save Rui Wen from the jaws of the mutant.


    Obviously, this wouldn¡¯t be a problem if he had time for ten, eight fists. This ultimately required a process. What if he excited the Greatmaw Basilisk¡¯s fierce nature? Then Rui Wen would really be dead a thousand times over.


    Crag Burst was full of regrets right now. Why didn¡¯t he put a stop to this damned Road of Verdicts earlier? Why didn¡¯t he stop this crisis from happening?


    Crag Burst did a few rounds of fast calctions and confirmed that he would need at least 5~7 fists for a guarantee to burst open the defensive wall. This was under the premise that there was no additional interference from the defensive forces of the fighting arena.


    He had to get some support due to the uncertainty of the situation: ¡°Scout, I need a bit of time......¡±


    A map, which was clearly drawn at thest minute, was transmitted over the Psychic Wave Network, interrupting Crag Burst midway. A route was clearly marked on the drawing that started from Crag Burst¡¯s current position to some area in the upper levels.


    Luo Nan¡¯s voice transmitted over: ¡°Don¡¯t cause a storm. Enter the VIP box. Jack just came from there. It contains the only short-cut passageway. You still have time. The damned lizard still needs time to digest!¡±


    ¡°The Greatmaw Basilisk needs only two minutes to digest that amount of food.¡±


    ¡°Then you have two minutes! I¡¯ll buy some time if that¡¯s not enough!¡±


    ¡°......Alright!¡± Crag Burst did not speak any further. He turned around and left. Right now trusting hisrade was his only option for Luo Nan¡¯s previous performance was worthy of his trust.


    Right when Crag Burst walked back into the waiting area, Jack shot a nce at him from the skies above the fighting arena. This minute action waspletely exposed under Luo Nan¡¯s mental senses.


    A thought suddenly emerged in Luo Nan¡¯s mind. He recalled the most important piece of information and he rushed to warn Crag Burst: ¡°Careful. Jack has discovered you...... He¡¯s a Burner! He possesses some sort of EM field of the controlling nature. His strength is no small matter.¡±


    ¡°......Understood.¡±


    Crag Burst was quite shocked, but he didn¡¯t say anything else. Instead, he increased his speed and rushed like mad in the corridor. The gangsters standing guard had already discovered him, but none were able to stop his sudden assault.


    Jack definitely received this information, but his face still remained a sheet of cold destion atop the maglev tform. Not a change could be seen.


    This fellow......


    Luo Nan had heard Jack mention ¡°Mr. Ma¡¯s precious little baby¡± with the contact, but he had assumed it was just a wild animal. He never expected that Jack would actually take things this far without shame.


    A mutant!


    The current situation was much more dangerous than that observed by Crag Burst. The sacrificial ritual was ongoing. The Human-Faced Arachnid and Rui Wen maintained their equilibrium between cruelness and frailty. While the two sides were being pushed higher and higher in level, Luo Nan didn¡¯t know when this whole thing would end.


    Rui Wen wouldn¡¯t be able to take on the enemy as long as the sacrificial ritual hadn¡¯t ended...... The equilibrium would copse in an instant, causing her to meet death a step earlier!


    Right now the person who bore the most arduous task in the fighting arena was Luo Nan.


    He had to keep the entire altar framework from copsing and he had to pay attention to changes in the situation. He had to guide a route for Crag Burst without dy and he had to focus his attention on Jack. He had to watch the Greatmaw Basilisk closely and avoid new shifts in circumstances from urring.


    One mind was doing two things. One mind was doing many things...... The all-epassing view of his mental senses took in information from all sides in parallel and he was forced to process it. One inattentive misstep would cause everything to copse.


    He wasn¡¯t an omniscient god, but he was doing the work of a god.


    The Greatmaw Basilisk¡¯s meal wasing to an end. It had eaten the second half of the wild boar with its metal cage in a short dozen of seconds. It swallowed the food down quite smoothly.


    At first, its enormous stomach could be seen touching the ground, but then it rapidly turned back to normal.


    The highly corrosive stomach acid in its belly possessed a terrifying digestive ability. The several hundred kilogram wild boar and at least half of the heavy metal cage had already been mostly digested in a short minute or so. The rted energy entered the mutant¡¯s body, increasing the temperature of its blood by several degrees.


    Its thick doubleyered eyelids opened at this time. Dark yellow cold cracks could be seen on its enormous eyeballs. It gave people the feeling of callousness.


    It assessed the surrounding environment.


    From the Greatmaw Basilisk¡¯s perspective, the noisemakers all around it were what it detested the most. But it had already tried to cross the defensive wall with its tail after it had finished eating. It wouldn¡¯t be able to break through that easily.


    And so, it decided to give up its difficulties and go for what was easy. It would choose its only option, which was to eat the simplest target.


    The Greatmaw Basilisk stared fixed at the target on top the fighting stage. Its long tongue stuck towards the ground, tasting around in probing. It uncovered even deeper information...... This slender animal was actually a certain threat.


    The mutant was the first-rate hunter. This was not a situation it would allow.


    The Greatmaw Basilisk did not have any vocal cords. It didn¡¯t have the ability to roar loudly. Instead, it growled deep and low. This was enough though. The deep and low sound waves went through the amplifier and were spread to the entire venue. Its ice cold pupils stared fixed into the camera and were broadcasted to every disy. The people in the audience had their hearts palpitated in an instant before they stood up one by one in excitement. They raised their arms and shouted loudly:


    ¡°Judgement! Judgement! Judgement!¡±


    The atmosphere in the arena was really about to explode.


    This was solely due to the word ¡°Mutant¡±.


    Mutants had stood at the apex of the world¡¯s food chain for thirty years after the Third War. They were the former overlords who forcefully trod humanity beneath their feet. The wilderness, the oceans, and part of the skies all became part of their domain. The world¡¯s poption exceeding 10 billion people was squeezed and confined into 88 giant metropolises. Humanity was in imminent danger for a time.


    Humanity¡¯s development of the Deep Blue Walkers had changed the means of war. Victory was obtained one battle after another, but no one would dare say that humanity had truly entered a full counteroffensive stage. To reim lost territory and the like was something that was only known to be a goal of the far future.


    This was the mental recollection that the word ¡°Mutant¡± gave to people of the present era, especially to the post-war generation.


    The bloody events in the fighting arena had given the spectators some fear, but theyout and the strong defenses of the fighting arena gave them a positive indication:


    They were the true dictators of the fighting arena. They were the strong who could enjoy everything that was happening. The exciting feeling that came with being in a special dominating position could not be brought by any other fierce animal.


    This illusionary yet powerful and dominating status caused the mes in the spectator¡¯s hearts to burst with even more intense zes.


    The people in the back rows stood up. The spectators in the front rows gathered forward, squeezing against the transparent defensive walls. They made every effort to close the distance and get a view of the savage appearance of the Greatmaw Basilisk.


    Luo Nan swept a cold gaze over the chaotic situation. Though these spectators were thergest source of themotion, it was of no consequence to the structure of the altar.


    Who would pay heed to the hogs andmb that were about to have their blood spilled on the altar?


    But then a subtle changed urred at this very moment:


    While people stood up one after another, while crazed shouts rang loudly in the atmosphere, there was someone who genuinely wasn¡¯t able to stand up.


    Some middle-aged man in the crowd had beenughing to his heart¡¯s content. He stood up and shouted loudly, but then hisplexion suddenly went stiff. He pressed against his chest and the red glow that spread across his face turned into a deathly ash. In the end, he copsed into his seat in paralysis. Then he struggled twice before bing motionless.

 Chapter 66: Desolate Sword (Part ?)

    Chapter 66: Deste Sword (Part ?)


    No one discovered this anomaly. Everyone¡¯s gazes were all amassed towards the fighting stage to go enjoy the scene of the battle that was destined toe to a rapid end.


    ¡°That was the first.¡±


    Right now, Luo Nan¡¯s energy was divided until the point of indivisibility. He didn¡¯t have the strength nor the need toment over the loss of life. He just sensed that some marvelous element had begun to flourish upon the altar when that life was burned away.


    The element content was too minute. Luo Nan was unable to see any distinct changes. But then there was another one, causing yet another two, then three....... And now there were many.


    The relevant numeral digits continued to rise without end within the scope of his mental senses. The umted marvelous elements didn¡¯t increase in quantity. Instead, they were like a ratio of paints, turning from shallow colors to denser colors.


    This was the color of death.


    The flow of blood would ultimately run dry. The sacrifices had been stabbed by a de to release blood and the time had more or lesse for their organs to fail.


    They were just the first batch to fall.


    The thought of killing never crossed Luo Nan¡¯s mind, but he also didn¡¯t have any thoughts to go save people. He had to focus on the framework of the altar. He had to concentrate on the new elements that were permeating in and the subtle changes that came with them.


    Every single individual that died was a challenge for the supply of the burning cloud of fire. But looking at the overall structure as a whole, the addition of a pigment of death caused aplementary situation where one falls and the other rises.


    The pigment of death couldn¡¯t provide energy, but it built a brand new structure in the infrastructure. It was like a bridge. It led the ritualists toward a ne once untouchable.


    From the hysteria of life to touch the destion of death.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid and Rui Wen were fine, and this included Luo Nan as well. They all touched this open yet deep realm.


    Luo Nan was a bit spellbound. The pressure of information, which had nearly clogged him up, suddenly was erased a little within this destion of death.


    A lot of information had value on the ne of life, but they no longer had any meaning once they entered the realm of death. Life and death blended together. And many things were strained through like a filter.


    This was a sort of awareness, but Luo Nan¡¯s awareness was at a very shallow level.


    Especially whenpared with Rui Wen¡¯s......


    When the realm of death opened towards them, Luo Nan discovered that Rui Wen had an acuity inconceivable in regards to this realm. Her acuity far exceeded that of Luo Nan, of the Human-Faced Arachnid. She was able to reap new gains every time a speck of life faded away to silence.


    Luo Nan had the vague sensation that Rui Wen hade to his side and that they were looking abreast at each me of life that was extinguishing within the spectator stands. The mes extinguished, copsed, and evolved. And information still iprehensible to him was obtained from within.


    But from another perspective, Luo Nan wouldn¡¯t have been able to discover this information were it not for Rui Wen. It was because of her existence that he was able to ess it.


    He didn¡¯t know what use this was, but there was one point he was absolutely clear on: Rui Wen had discovered this information. She could exploit the forces of death, something the Human-Faced Arachnid was incapable of.


    And so the equilibrium of the altar was suddenly smashed apart because of this.


    Rui Wen and the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s levels continued to mutually rise, but the current circumstance was the following: For every level the Human-Faced Arachnid rose by, Rui Wen would rise by double. So in just a few breaths of time, the mutual sharpening, the mutual advancement in power, grew closer to the edge of copse!


    The rules of the altar were as follows: Who will be reduced to the weak. Who will be the sacrificial offering!


    The Human-Faced Arachnid shrieked with an ear-piercing cry. This was a situation that it had single-handedly created, yet it had ced itself on the altar to ultimately be a sacrificial offering.


    But it¡¯s instinct to live caused it to struggle. Even if it was destined to perish, it would not be the first!


    Luo Nan watched this scene. He watched the burning clouds of me grow in greater turmoil. He watched the shouts of the spectators within the fighting arena, which was like the roaring of the mountains and seas. He watched the star and its piercing aura suspended and shining in the remote darkness. He watched the final struggles of the spider demon.


    For some inexplicable reason, he didn¡¯t feel the rippling of any emotion whatsoever. It was as if he was watching a mime show that had nothing to do with him at all. Or maybe he was looking at an array of calctions in a form.


    It wasn¡¯t that he lost the ability to feel; he just didn¡¯t have the leeway to disy his emotions. Maintaining the framework of the altar had already over drafted all his energy.


    Then Crag Burst contacted him right at this moment: ¡°Scout, I¡¯ve arrived at the VIP box...... Oh crap! The giant lizard!¡±


    The Greatmaw Basilisk had started its move. It slowly changed its angle to fix the most optimal line of path towards its prey. It was going tounch an attack immediately, based on its nature.


    Crag Burst had just broken into the VIP box, knocking out the contact whom had been overwhelmed with shock and was about to shout. Crag Burst was able to see everything that was happening in the arena from that viewpoint. He had notified Luo Nan in a loud voice.


    ¡°Go faster! Don¡¯t get distracted!¡±


    The information that Luo Nan transmitted over was calm and level to the max.


    Crag Burst clearly hesitated for a moment, but when he heard Luo Nan¡¯s words, he charged his way into the secret passageway of the VIP box and made a mad dash towards Jack¡¯s location.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t pay special attention to the actions of the Greatmaw Basilisk for right now he couldn¡¯t handle the heavy load on his mind. He had automatically made an adjustment and divided his attention into two parts:


    The situation inside and outside the framework.


    He put main priority on the former and secondary priority on theter.


    It was without a doubt that resolving the situation within the framework took precedence. As for what was outside the framework...... It would be brought within the framework to be settled as well!


    This was truly a wonderful example of dichotomy.


    The thought had barely stirred and the dark chains trembled with its vibrating cry. It strode through space and came forth, directly targeting the Greatmaw Basilisk.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t know if he could control this mutant; his goal wasn¡¯t that lofty. He was just using methods unique to himself to pull what was outside the framework inside the framework.


    When the mutant enters the framework, who knows if it¡¯ll be a priest or a sacrificial offering.


    The Greatmaw Basilisk made its move. Its thick and solid limbs swayed at fast speed amidst the screams that were shouting themselves hoarse from the spectator stands. The mutant stepped onto the meter high fighting stage with ease, its enormous body soaring through the air. Its enormous mouth, which could bite through steel, split open and faced Rui Wen with an attack.


    Luo Nan watched all of this with a cold gaze. The dark chains had already prated the Greatmaw Basilisk¡¯s head and a marvelous connection finished establishing. From Luo Nan¡¯s perspective, the Greatmaw Basilisk wasn¡¯t throwing itself at Rui Wen, but onto the framework of his altar.


    It wasn¡¯t a collision...... It was just a leap onto the stage!


    Everything interweaved within the washes of colors from the ne of reality, the mental ne, and emotions. The framework of his altar had truly linked each ne together to tower majestically.


    Rui Wen still had yet to open her eyes, but she clearly felt what was happening. She made a crossing step with her feet at the key moment. She barely dodged by a hair¡¯s breadth, letting the frontal attack by the Greatmaw Basilisk sweep by her.


    Anyone would have to dodge when faced with an attack that was like a high-speed truck.


    The audience wasn¡¯t disappointed. It¡¯s good that you dodged. It¡¯s more exciting if things were back and forth.


    The shouts from the spectator stands were like thendslides of the mountains or the tsunamis of the oceans. But then a faint long hiss inexplicably prated everyone¡¯s ears amidst these screams.


    The Greatmaw Basilisk staggered from Rui Wen¡¯s body. Its enormous body was practically the length of the fighting stage and it was probably too hasty in its attack for it lost a bit of control. It wasn¡¯t able to stop its momentum after it had touched the ground and it directly leaped past the fighting stage. It staggered, stumbling over directly to the spectator stands facing the back.


    The spectators saw the terrifying beast charge over. They clearly knew that it wouldn¡¯t be able to break through the defensive wall, but the spectators close to the fighting stage, especially the beautiful women who were in charge of painting the atmosphere, still shrieked in a half faking half real manner.


    Halfway through, however, the shrieks turned into hysteria.


    This was a monstrosity with a length exceeding five meters and a weight exceeding 800 kilograms. Its pitch-ck steel-like body suddenly withered in speed and it suddenly shrunk by a factor.


    The bones that propped up its body lost their hardness and its limbs fractured and snapped. It just slid on the ground, colliding into the defensive wall with a rumble.


    It didn¡¯t struggle. The callous pupils of its enormous eyes had already been eroded into two enormous ck holes.


    The Greatmaw Basiliskid paralyzed on the ground. It breathed a mere two~three times and its back, neck, head, chest......rge pieces of flesh were shed from its body and, in the blink of an eye, all that was left was its dense skeleton along with its veins and connective tissue. It died in a miserable defeat. It died in the most bizarre and cruel manner. And this scene was disyed before everyone¡¯s eyes.


    Luo Nan could confirm atst: Oh, so it became a sacrifice.

 Chapter 66: Desolate Sword (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 66: Deste Sword (Part 2/2)


    The spectators were faced with this sudden stimtion that exceeded the limits they could bear. They cried and screamed in rm with perhaps the breath that they had stifled from just a moment ago.


    The shrieks and shouts of fear formed the scene of a chaotic hurricane. The hurricane swept through the entire venue to those on the opposite side of the Greatmaw Basilisk on the spectator stands. Over five of the spectators couldn¡¯t handle this attack; their eyes rolled over and they copsed to the ground.


    More and more cases of copse urred in session, making these cases no longer special. More and more people became aware of this and more and more people were infected.


    There were medical personnel allocated to the fighting arena, but undting waves of cries for help made it so that the limited number of medical personnel were at a loss for what to do.


    And when this piece of information converged together to emerge on a clear and definite scale, it was as if this fighting arena had fallen into a bone-piercing cold stream.


    A trembling sensation assaulted everyone at the scene.


    Luo Nan looked down at everything from above in silence. He could see death covering life as more and more information lost their meaning. The framework structure of the altar became more clear and explicit as a result.


    Frankly speaking, it didn¡¯t matter whether things were internal or external to the framework, the entire situation had be immediately open and clear once the Greatmaw Basilisk had been pulled into the framework of the altar.


    Under the framework of the altar, the killing intent of the Greatmaw Basilisk had formed a direct challenge to Rui Wen.


    The Greatmaw Basilisk¡¯s fleshly body was quite powerful on the material ne; it waspletely on the level of a heavy truck. And it possessed innate toughness and destructive power.


    Yet this fellow was only at the level of an intelligent beast on the mental ne. Its level was at an unsurpassable distance away to those currently sustaining the altar, Rui Wen and the Human-Faced Arachnid.


    Things were as they should be. The Greatmaw Basilisk was reduced to a target to be ughtered, and it also became an exquisite scapegoat.


    The struggles of the Human-Faced Arachnid had yielded some results. It had nearly been ughtered together with the Greatmaw Basilisk by Rui Wen¡¯s Star de Aura during the juncture between life and death.


    The mutant¡¯s abundant life force energy became the best shield and substitute for the Human-Faced Arachnid.


    The constantly umted pressure made it so that a sacrificial offering must die. It prated through and the Greatmaw Basilisk took it all. The Greatmaw Basilisk became the convergence point of all the recoiling force. How could it not die?


    The Human-Faced Arachnid had saved its own tiny life, but in the end, it had suffered a miserable defeat. It got severed down by a level, but it had maderge improvements through the overall growth and reductions. The only thing worrisome was its extremely weak state. It could not maintain its demonic body and it transformed back into the Wraith Sign in order to recover.


    The rule of the altar was that the winner takes all.


    It was without a doubt that Rui Wen was the one to receive the most gains from the entire process of the sacrificial ritual.


    The instant the Greatmaw Basilisk had set foot on the altar, Rui Wen¡¯s ¡°Star¡± had emitted a most brilliant radiance.


    Annihting the soul and annihting the body were two different aspects that couldn¡¯t be said to be better than one another. But when the soul and the fleshly body were annihted at the same time, simultaneously only disturbing the two realms of the material and the mental, the incorporeal barrier between the two realms exploded apart.


    Rui Wen had done this and now she slowly opened her eyes, her pupils still a string of seclusion. She just stood there, her gentle breathing bringing the resonance of chimes.


    On the mental ne, the turmoil of the burning clouds of me formed sheets and sheets of nothingness. But from another perspective, the outlines of those sheets of nothingness were like a god of death that had stepped over from the void, raising its long scythe high in the air.


    Rui Wen was the sole victor atop the altar. Her ¡°Star¡± dominated everything and all those who were illuminated by the star¡¯s aura, all the sacrificial hogs andmb in the entire framework, would be squeezed dry of theirst remaining value with just a mere thought. They would fall to the silence of death.


    Probably the only thing impeding Rui Wen was the speed of herprehension over the information within.


    Luo Nan was probably the only person who could stop Rui Wen...... All it would need was his determination to dismantle this framework. But he had no thoughts at all of doing so due to the price that would have to be paid and its corresponding recoil.


    Right now he was observing the developing changes that were to follow.


    Unfortunately, the sealed off ceiling above the fighting arena exploded open with a rumble in the next few seconds. Pieces of wood, shattered ss, and even steel fragments filled the sky. The spectators were already in weak states of mind and several of them were pelted by this rain.


    Crag Burst had made it over.


    But then his chin smashed to the ground, causing a sound that was far more distinct than the mayhem he just caused: ¡°Crazy! She¡¯s awakened to her ability and she¡¯s at least B-Rank1 or higher!¡±


    Crag Burst was clearly distracted by Rui Wen¡¯s awakening. He even forgot the extremely dangerous character right beneath him.


    But Luo Nan didn¡¯t cease monitoring Jack all this time. He gave a warning at once:


    ¡°Stop him!¡±


    Standing on top of the maglev referee tform, Jack just shot a nce to the space above. Then his figure tilted and he suddenly dropped soaring through the air. His target was none other than Rui Wen on the fighting stage.


    And Rui Wen aimed her gaze at Jack from atop the stage.


    Was this the third battle for the Road of Verdicts?


    Nope. These senseless antics were already over. There was no one in the entire fighting arena who was able to take in that atmosphere.


    Jack understood this point quite well, so he didn¡¯t put on any sort of fancy show. He just activated the Deep Sea EM Field, which had caused Luo Nan many headaches.


    In fact, the Deep Sea EM Field had considerable effects on the material ne. Before Jack couldnd, the fighting stage, which had been trodden upon by the heavy Greatmaw Basilisk, couldn¡¯t bear the pressure any longer. The central area warped and copsed, leaving the entire ground caved in.


    Rui Wen¡¯s bnce was more or less affected by the copse of the fighting stage and the effect of the Deep Sea EM Field. She used a series of small quick steps to adjust herself and casually avoided Jack¡¯s frontal assault.


    She stepped barefoot on the ruins of the fighting stage, barely being affected at all.


    But then a muffled explosion rang out immediately after. The flooring beneath the fighting stage had exploded open causing fragments to stter in the air.


    This was outside everyone¡¯s expectations, save for Jack¡¯s. Even Luo Nan, who possess all-epassing senses, didn¡¯t notice it; there had been explosives buried beneath the flooring of the fighting arena.


    For what d*mned reason would these be prepared for?


    Rui Wen¡¯s figure couldn¡¯t avoid falling downwards.


    She would only have been able to make an adjustment afternding if it was her from before the Beast King Battle. But the current Rui Wen was alreadypletely different.


    She lifted her hand while she was dropping in a way that indicated practically no exertion of force. All the chaotic fragments of broken stone and wood within the empty air were sliced in half as an extremely sharp stream of air directly assaulted Jack with a hiss.


    Jack¡¯s reaction was quick. He lifted his right arm and then heard a muffled ringing. The sleeves of his shirt becamecerated and his skin split and burst, but no sight of blood could be seen. Beneath theyer of skin shed the luster of metal.


    Jack¡¯s right arm was a part of his body that had been altered. His arm had been wrapped with ayer of artificial skin and beneath it was super hard alloy.


    And at this moment, theyer of artificial skin could be seen rapidly rotting, withering away and the alloy beneath it darkened a bit in color.


    ¡°High corrosion? No, it¡¯s a force much purer than that!¡±


    The glow in Jack¡¯s robotic eye grew in intensity, locking dead-fix on Rui Wen¡¯s face. Jack recorded the key information down into a recording device deeply buried somewhere in his body:


    ¡°Type C Experimental Body, Number 2834. Gifted power has awakened. Recording characteristics...... Beginning the retrieval process.¡±


    Rui Wen being at B-Rank. This is really high for someone who just awakened. Vice President He Yueyin is ranked C+. Zhang Yingying and Susan are ranked C.

 Chapter 67: Priority Levels (Part ?)

    Chapter 67: Priority Levels (Part ?)


    The area beneath the fighting stage was a closed off lifting tform and further below was the freight transport passageway. The Greatmaw Basilisk was transported over using this passageway and was lifted up into the fighting arena.


    And right now the lifting tform was already moving. It went downwards at a fast speed.


    Rui Wen had stablynded. She exerted force with her thin yet sturdy body,unching an attack at Jack who had yet to establish solid footing.


    She was more confident than ever before, so she was able tounch a frontal attack against this callous adjudicator.


    Then a short beep came out of nowhere and Rui Wen bulged her eyes in shock. A powerful electric current exploded forth from some location within her chest, attacking her inner organs in an instant, spreading to her limbs and head.


    The electric current stimted Rui Wen¡¯s muscles via her nervous system, causing her to instantly enter a rigid-straight state. She lost her bnce in a sh and fell towards Jack.


    ¡°Come home darling.¡± Jack was not surprised at what happened. He reached out his hand and raised her by the arms. But soon he furrowed his brows as a sharp chill prated his skin, his organs even feeling cold.


    Even if Rui Wen had sustained heavy unexpected damages, her awakened ability still existed. The skin and flesh beneath Jack¡¯s ribs withered up in the blink of an eye toe off and expose a hinged alloy te construction of a rib bone structure.


    Jack merely creased his brows in reaction to this.


    A rippling pulse exploded within the depths of Rui Wen¡¯s brain in the next moment. This time all her attacking capabilities were truly erased, and her consciousness was erased as well.


    ¡°My God!¡±


    Crag Burst was onlyte by a second, but he could only watch helplessly as Rui Wen fell into the enemy¡¯s hands. He struck out with a fist under his enormous rage. The sealed lifting tform rumbled with a boom, causing the surface of the tform to shake wildly.


    He didn¡¯t expect the expressionless Jack to grab the unconscious Rui Wen by her legs and use her as a shield. Crag Burst rushed to restrain himself amidst his shock. All the while, one side of the lifting tform had already revealed the upper section of the freight transport passageway. Jack didn¡¯t wait for the tform tond, he just grabbed Rui Wen and jumped off.


    Crag Burst didn¡¯t even need to think; he chased after them. But when he just entered the passageway, he was met with the sight of Jack raising up a handgun.


    Jack pulled the trigger and a rumbling crack exploded within the half sealed passageway. This was a sonic bomb. Crag Burst made a muffled snort as the intense sound waves vibrated his brain. His legs were a mess; signs of cerebral concussion had already emerged.


    Jack wasn¡¯t affected by these troubles. The special structure of his brain made it so that he could make rapid adjustments on the fly. But he didn¡¯t continue fighting. He just grabbed Rui Wen under his arms and made a mad dash through the passageway.


    Luo Nan transmitted a question: ¡°You alright?¡±


    Crag Burst uttered not a word as he crawled up and resumed his chase. He was a bit shaky at first, but then he recovered back as ever before.


    Shipping containers were able to be transported using the freight transport passageway, so this ce was extremely spacious. Some goods that shouldn¡¯t be exposed to people weremonly stowed here.


    To the two sides at the end of the passageway were garages and gangster members. They were stupidly ignorant of the circumstances that urred in the fighting arena. They just so happened to be ying an MMO AR life simtion game together withughs and giggles.


    The female host within the game made them quite spoiled from ying. Oo¡¯s and ah¡¯s rang through the passageway.


    Someone felt that this wasn¡¯t pleasurable enough. He started to make a phone call to contact real people.


    The problem was that the freight transport passageway was far too remote. He would need to take out a car and go pick them up. The caller could only curse as he got up and prepared to select a car from the garage for a speedy pickup.


    But before he could even stand up, the metal doors of the sixrge garages from the two sides of the passageway started to open at the same time.


    The identity check, password entry, and other security measures werepletely skipped. The four wheel-style trucks had their lights turned on within the garage. Their harsh krypton bulbs illuminated the space within the passageway, dazzling the group of gangsters; they turned blind for a time.


    The ignition of the vehicles rumbled out in the next moment. The half blind gangsters were all qualified to be drivers, so they were spooked out of their minds when they heard the vehicles start up.


    ¡°The AI went haywire! Run!¡±


    No one knew who was it that shouted, but the facts of the matter were to turn around and run. It would be bad if they didn¡¯t run. If the four trucks set out, they wouldn¡¯t have space within the passageway and would be steamrolled to death.


    The unmanned heavy trucks moved practically simultaneously, but some were faster than others. They utilized the space to its limits and used the most effective means to set out from the garage in the shorted amount of time. They lined up in two rows and increased their speed as they went out on their routes.


    And throughout this entire process, any hindrances were of no concern.


    The group of people all ran deeper inside the passageway and, aside from two unfortunate people who were scrapped by the trucks, they suffered more from fear than from being hurt.


    But then the sound of heavy footsteps rang over right at this moment and their dusky and starry vision gradually grew clear. They saw an important someone who couldn¡¯t possibly appear in a ce like this:


    ¡°Jack...... Mr. Jack.¡±


    Jack ignored their existences and walked usingrge strides with someone sped under his arms. His pace was quite fast for he caught up to the four elerating trucks in the blink of an eye. He chose the truck at the very front and jumped onto the roof with that someone sped under his arms.


    His inhuman jumping ability made the group of people gape in awe.


    ¡°Get lost.¡±


    Crag Burst swept over like a storm. He saw Jack¡¯s actions from far far away and he wanted to increase his speed to catch up. But when he tried to pass through the back two trucks, two of the unmanned trucks walled him in at the same time; they were actually going to squeeze him to death.


    Crag Burst cursed loudly and disyed the same inhuman jumping ability as Jack, jumping on top of the four-meter high truck in an instant. But before he could get a steady footing, the truck beneath him suddenly mmed on its brakes. The enormous inertia flung him to the front of the vehicle.


    Another vehicle, which had been moving in parallel with the other cars, suddenly broke perpendicr. It illuminated Crag Burst with its light, ramming him across.


    In the end, Crag Burst¡¯s forte did not lie in his agility. A bang rang forth and he was rammed head-on in mid-air, scrapping hard against the side walls of the passageway. The heavy truck chased after him and went for another ram and an explosion rang out as the head of the truck smashed into the wall of the passageway.


    ¡°Damn it!¡±


    Crag Burst rolled out of the way in time, dodging the wheels of the truck.


    The two trucks had actually been controlled by Jack to be two heavy weapons. Even if they didn¡¯t cause any damage to the thick-skinned Crag Burst, they had heavily stalled Crag Burst¡¯s pursuit.


    By the time Crag Burst got up to pick up the pace and chase once again, all he could see were the tail lights of the two trucks in front.


    Crag Burst¡¯s face was ashen. He gritted his teeth as he continued his mad dash. But then the two trucks in front had already left the passageway at this time. He looked at the lights of the vehicles and one went right while the other went left. They had split routes.


    Crag Burst¡¯s scalp exploded. He didn¡¯t have time just then to look at Jack¡¯s movements. Who knows which vehicle he took Rui Wen to flee in?


    ¡°SCOUT!¡±


    The shout on the Psychic Wave Network had just been transmitted when the pping of wings could be heard over his head. The mysteriously missing Ink had streaked over his head to lead him the way.


    Luo Nan used the HexaEar to transmit: ¡°It¡¯s the right truck. They¡¯re heading directly outside of the city. You will need a means of transportation. Jack has the ability to control all information devices. You can only choose a non-AI model......¡±


    ¡°Crap. Where can I get a non-AI type nowadays? How about a motorcycle?¡±


    ¡°The motorcycle you used to drive over here is quite decent. There¡¯s one here too. Make a turn to the freight area. Its 70 meters to your right.¡±


    Crag Burst did not hesitate at all. He made a wild dash to the location described by Luo Nan. He knocked two gangsters over there flying and snatched a motorcycle. He then shot out like an arrow to pursue with all his might.


    Taking the motorcycle was like sharpening an ax to go cut firewood; this preparation would quicken the job. This was a high-powered motorcycle that a gangster loved to modify. Even though it was electric, it could easily reach stormy speeds of over 200 kilometers per hour on a decent surface.


    Crag Burst even remembered the limitations of Luo Nan¡¯s crow possession. He growled deeply: ¡°Leave the rest to me...... Ahahahaha! I¡¯ll screw Jack all the way back to eight generations!¡±


    The motorcycle charged out of the passageway with a boom, entering the shabby public road. Crag Burst could still see the tail lights of the heavy truck at this time.


    He met the strong rumbling winds head on, used his powerful arms to keep the head of the motorcycle steady, and floored the elerator.


    But then a dangerous omen suddenly sprouted in his mind as Luo Nan warned him at the same time: ¡°Above you...... Oh crap!¡±


    While Luo Nan could be heard with his rarely seen cursing, a dark red tail of me cut over Crag Burst¡¯s head and hit the pavement. Before Crag Burst¡¯s eyes emerged a ball of fire that was violently expanding. A powerful shockwave and terrifying raging mes engulfed Crag Burst in a sh.

 Chapter 67: Priority Levels (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 67: Priority Levels (Part 2/2)


    ¡°Target A¡¯s vehicle has been destroyed.¡±


    ¡°Significant fluctuations in the target¡¯s vital signs......¡±


    The indistinct and pitch-ck unmanned drone flirted past at low altitude. Its robotic eye locked to the burning mes below:


    ¡°Switching to targeting mode. Confirming the second attack......¡±


    ¡°Beep!¡±


    The warning signal was formed. The wingless drone ascended upwards, but it was still a step toote.


    A roar sounded forth from within the surging mes on the shabby road. Suddenly a mass of shining mes split from it. The mass of mes seemed to solidify under the enormous pressure. It leaped through the skies like a backward shooting star of fire.


    The wingless drone performed a dodging maneuver, but it couldn¡¯t avoid itpletely and burst into mes. Its metalposition warped in an instant and it fell to the ground.


    ¡°AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!¡±


    Crag Burst roared madly as he charged from the raging mes, his buff body wrapped in ayer of fire.


    The clothes on his body had already been burnt clean while his hair and eyebrows had turned into scorched masses under the high-temperature roasting. But no matter how much the mes burned, there existed an invisible divide to his skin.


    And so, not a bit of the fire stuck to his body even though his skin was very red from the high-temperature roasting.


    ¡°BREAK!¡±


    Crag Burst adopted a stance and all the muscles of his body rippled like a wave. An invisible wave of air exploded from his body, forcefully blowing apart theyer of mes on his body and scattering sparks into the air.


    Crag Burst, with apletely naked body, swept his sights onto the distance crash zone of the drone. He let out another howl; the breath he stifled from a moment ago was vented a bit.


    And at this time, Luo Nan transmitted over the HexaEar somewhat incoherently: ¡°F**k F**k! Damn it all! Crag Burst, I thought you....... You¡¯re still alive?¡±


    Crag Burst spat and said: ¡°You think my nickname is just for show? The crag rock has been split by the heat and I did as per my name. You¡¯ve met what lives under the clouds of explosions, haven¡¯t you? It is I, Crag Burst!¡±


    ¡°Also scout, you need to go take the society¡¯s junior level seminars. The wording of your warning was extremely nonstandard. In the case of a long distance attack, the direction, the drop point, and nature need to be provided. These basic factors need to be first said......¡±


    But then Luo Nan came with another warning before Crag Burst could finish chattering: ¡°Dodge quick! Get off the roadbed!¡±


    The warning was still nonstandard, but this time there was some rtively effective information inside.


    Crag Burst did not speak any further. He flipped and rolled off the public road, but he was half a second toote. Another surge of me exploded along with a powerful shockwave. The ss windows on both sides of the public road, which weren¡¯t really intact in the first ce, shattered from the vibration.


    It was yet another wingless drone and this small-scale unmanned device was being used as a weapons tform. It had clearly learned a lesson from thest drone as it held a distance of over a kilometer. It relied on radar and satellite to position and lock on urately to the target¡¯s location.


    The range of Luo Nan¡¯s mental senses made it so that Luo Nan could only discover and warn Crag Burst after the weapon wasunched. The pressure right now was enormous.


    Crag Burst withdrew underneath the roadbed to protect his body from being consumed by the mes. This was the most he could do right now. He couldn¡¯t help but curse loudly: ¡°Is this mofo a gangster? He¡¯s more like an arms dealer......¡±


    Luo Nan spoke coldly: ¡°Isn¡¯t Quantum Corporation the world¡¯s number one arms dealer? This has been set in stone after theyunched their Deep Blue tform.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right! Quantum Corporation!¡±


    Crag Burst should have thought of this way earlier, but the impression that Quantum Corporation was the world¡¯s number onepany in advanced technology ran too deep. It was very hard to make the mental connection between Quantum Corporation and a gangster of the recycling stratum.


    Even if he did make the connection, it wouldn¡¯t have been to that degree.


    ¡°He can¡¯t be starting a war right?¡±


    He smashed the ground with a heavy fist and the road couldn¡¯t support things anymore as the public road overturned. Crag Burst didn¡¯t dare to return back to the freight transport passageway. Instead, he charged towards the main building of DeShang.


    He rushed over and entered the building with a single breath. Crag Burst only gasped for breath after traveling 90 meters inside.


    This gangster nest had already been disturbed by the external situation at this time. Each of them stretched their necks out to look. The furious Crag Burst¡¯s entrance attracted everyone¡¯s gazes in an instant.


    ¡°It¡¯s that fellow!¡±


    Crag Burst had been chasing Jack half an hour or so ago and had a gunfight with the people here. The group of gangsters had the image of this iron hide buff dude fresh in their memories.


    The group of people whipped out their guns at once.


    And then...... There was no then.


    Before Crag Burst could make his move, Luo Nan had made everyone here copse. Even though the Human-Faced Arachnid had reverted back to its Wraith Sign state, it was as easy as pie to knock these small fries unconscious with its current level of attack.


    Then all Crag Burst did was find someone who was rtivelyrge. He stripped him of his clothes and covered up his vital areas.


    The entire process of events didn¡¯t even exceed twenty minutes, but Crag Burst¡¯s expression still remained unsightly: ¡°We¡¯ve been dyed here for too long. Even if it is a truck, it should be over ten kilometers away by now...... Damn it! What the hell is that fellow up to in the end? Where is he taking Rui Wen?¡±


    Just one look at Rui Wen¡¯s situation and one would know that a control device had been installed in her body early on, making her powerless to resist. This sort of situation would ur from time to time in other underground fighting arenas. Its main purpose was for ¡°safety¡±.


    But Jack clearly did this to capture her. This was far too strange.


    ¡°Rui Wen has just awakened to her ability. Is he selling ability users?¡±


    Luo Nan recalled the conversation between Jack and the contact earlier. The contact had once said that any information rted to Rui Wen must be immediately reported to Jack.


    Clearly, Rui Wen was a special existence within the underground fighting arena. Is it because Jack...... or more clearly, had the power behind Jack discover Rui Wen¡¯s potential early on?


    ......


    The wingless drone circled around the DeShang Building, constantly switching its search modes, locking onto the target¡¯s position, ensuring that the target couldn¡¯t charge out of the building and chase down Jack.


    Yan Yongbo sat quietly behind a business desk, looking at the videos streaming in real time.


    The door sounded with a beep. Hu Yuli1 used his high level of ess privileges to forcefully root the door and enter. He saw the scene disyed by the holographic screen in front of Yan Yongbo and his fury soared to the skies:


    ¡°Assistant Yan! What the hell are you up to!?¡±


    ¡°As you can see, I¡¯m providing some firepower.¡±


    Yan Yongbo did not treat the Quantum Corporation¡¯s Regional Executive of the Xia City area with much respect. His butt didn¡¯t even leave his seat.


    Hu Yuli mmed his hands heavily against the table: ¡°This is Xia City. This is the metropolis. This isn¡¯t the Deep Blue World. Do you know how many calls came in when the armed unmanned drone took off? The Mayor¡¯s Office, the Security Bureau, the Social Security Bureau, the City Defense Force......¡±


    Yan Yongbo raised his head to reveal a calm expression. Then the dark red tendons and muscles at the edge of his eyes pulsed slightly. The engendered feeling caused Hu Yuli to shut up in an instant. Hu Yuli¡¯s voice, tone, and attitude immediately became much more humble.


    ¡°My boy. I have to resign from my position ever since the incident with the R&D District urred. I¡¯ll back you with all my strength if you want the top seat. Do you want the Rainbow Fund? The Investment Society? I¡¯ll give it to you in a heartbeat okay? But you can¡¯t just throw me in the fireter to be roasted......¡±


    Yan Yongbo shook his head: ¡°If someone¡¯s going to be roasted then everyone¡¯s going to be roasted together. Do you think I want to be a target for others? But the issued ¡°research¡± mission has the highest level of priority. I¡¯m powerless.¡±


    Hu Yuli (ºúÓñÀí, literally Hu Jade Reason/Logic). Hu Yuli was first introduced in Chapter 22.1. He was doing PR talk about the R&D incident, the Darksider life form incident, to the Xia City branch of the Wilderness Explorer¡¯s Society.

 Chapter 68: Position of the New Star (Part ?)

    Chapter 68: Position of the New Star (Part ?)


    ¡°The research mission? You need to mobilize the weapons tform for that?¡±


    Hu Yuli felt that this was illogical: ¡°My boy, I know that you came from the Deep Blue World. It¡¯s true that actions there are very straightforward. The Apocalypse Laboratory is the core institution there, everything revolves around theboratory. But I¡¯ll repeat myself. This is Xia City. Here, the ones who write up the rules are the government and the military. We are apany. We use money and contacts to resolve issues. This is how we should do things......¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter who writes up the rules. The Assessment Department and their methods are what determine everything.¡±


    Yan Yongbo leaned against his chair with sped hands: ¡°You are in charge of thepany¡¯s board of directors. Your objective is revenue. I am in charge of theboratories. My objective is toplete missions by the deadline. If you can¡¯t fulfill your objective, you resign with a bow. And if I can¡¯t fulfill my mission? I won¡¯t even have a ce to stand. This is the difference between you and I.¡±


    Hu Yuli took a deep breath: ¡°My boy. Everyone knows of each other¡¯s troubles. But weren¡¯t things just fine before? The pace, the personnel, and the facilities, everything was all well prepared. We¡¯re just waiting on the matter with Gear......¡±


    ¡°That is just an ¡°excavation¡± mission. It¡¯s still lower priority than the research mission. Chief Hu, your full coordination over the past few days has not gone unnoticed by me.¡±


    ¡°Excavation, research?¡±


    In the end, Hu Yuli was on the upper levels of Quantum Corporation. He was just befuddled by the way-toomon title of the ¡°Research Mission¡±. This time when Yan Yongbo emphasized once again, Hu Yuli suddenly understood a bit:


    ¡°Your so-called ¡¯research¡¯. Is it the Deep Blue Project? Or the Bloodline Project?¡±


    Yan Yongbo raised his eyes and looked at him: ¡°What do you think?¡±


    Hu Yuli knew that it would be better for him not to delve in too deep since he was just about to resign from an executive position. He just took in a breath: ¡°Alright then. Alright. This time I was the one who was rude and impetuous. But my boy, no matter what mission it is, no matter how high its priority level, take special notice of what methods to use in order to not be wrong. Thepany is being extremely passive in Xia City due to the current situation in the R&D District. I have a lot of pressure. This sort of force is irreversible. Many missions will be disturbed, be it excavating or research...... Don¡¯t you agree?¡±


    Yan Yongbo wasn¡¯t a blind and arrogant individual. He saw that Hu Yuli hadpletely acknowledged his mistake and he stood up with augh. He called for his secretary to deliver two cups of coffee inside.


    Chief Hu, the ident was very unfortunate. No one ever thought that the Human-Faced Arachnid would revolt, just like no one will ever think that it¡¯s being eyed upon. The Human-Faced Arachnid was an A-Project excavated from the Ster Gate and the project was destroyed right when we were so close to sess. But this isn¡¯t the end. Gear is a B-Project. We¡¯ve been doing quite well in it so far.¡±


    ¡°But the problem is that the road to sess is strewn with setbacks. An even higher priority matter has appeared, so we need to make it clear what is more important. Fortunately, this should only be a temporary mission. We¡¯ll just need a tense two days at most if everything goes smoothly. It won¡¯t affect the execution of the B-Project.¡±


    ¡°I hope so.¡±


    Hu Yuli didn¡¯t wait for the cup of coffee. He didn¡¯t need to drink coffee for his heart was already filled with bitterness. He said his goodbyes at once.


    Yan Yongbo apanied him to the entrance. Hu Yuli hesitated for a moment when he faced the door. In the end, he couldn¡¯t help turning his head and asking:


    ¡°Can you answer one question?¡±


    ¡°Please speak.¡±


    ¡°I know the major significance of tapping into the Ster Gate quite clearly. If we can grasp another Deep Blue World, we willpletely change the course of human history. But, but that ¡®research¡¯. For what reason is it on a higher priority than the Ster Gate? Is it because it¡¯s taboo?¡±


    ¡°This question...... My teacher back in theboratory, Mr. Li Wei, had said this before: ¡®Everything can be considered mortal. Gods just need to master life.¡¯¡±


    Yan Yongbo unfolded his hand: ¡°He probably thought that researching life is the domain of gods, that the standpoints of humans and gods are different.¡±


    A madman.


    Hu Yuli shot a cold nce at Yan Yongbo. He didn¡¯t speak further while leaving withrge strides


    ......


    In the lower levels of the DeShang Building, Crag Burst had slowly calmed down with the passing of time. After a muttering to himself for a moment, Crag Burst suddenly notified:


    ¡°I¡¯m contacting the Society.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°Jack didn¡¯t bring the dozens of people in the fighting arena with him, but when Rui Wen awakened, he had his eyes on her. It¡¯s highly likely that he¡¯s an ability user trafficker. There are many underground powers who have simr raising mechanisms, as far as I know...... They exhaust all methods to stimte the target¡¯s potential, cause them to awaken, and then sell them for money. Largepanies and Secret Orders are all excellent buyers.¡±


    Crag Burst spoke chillingly coldly: ¡°These sort of situations can only be destroyed when one sees them. Right now this isn¡¯t a matter just for a scout like you. It¡¯s something that the Society needs to handle...... Even if its Quantum Corporation, if they don¡¯t pay up, I¡¯ll knock them to kingdome!¡±


    After releasing his ferocity, Crag Burst smashed his fist into his palm: ¡°The most important thing is to chase after him......¡±


    Luo Nan was also helpless. Actually, if he were to set his heart on chasing Jack with his soul body, he would have been able to lock onto the target with his speed. But since Crag Burst had been attacked, impeding him, they had been dyed for quite a long time. Luo Nan should still be able to catch up to Jack, but Jack knew of the existence of Luo Nan¡¯s soul body. He wouldn¡¯t be stupid enough to stay idle in the truck and just drive out of the city right?


    And don¡¯t even mention the fact that Quantum Corporation had personally made its move. After providing firepower, they will probably provide distractions.


    It was far too easy to hide two people in the City of Xia with its poption of 200 million.


    ¡°Things would be fine if Cat Eyes were here. With her psychic perception, as long as she has touched Rui Wen before, she¡¯ll be able to lock onto Rui Wen if she¡¯s within 350 kilometers of distance. It¡¯ll be a cinch....... Scout, your all-epassing perception is this awesome, but you don¡¯t know anything about psychic perception? Oh right. Aren¡¯t you a psychic? Why don¡¯t you give drawing a shot?¡±


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t reply.


    Crag Burst knew that he was just indulging in a fantasy. He gritted his teeth and spoke: ¡°I¡¯m going to first contact the Society. We can¡¯t catch Jack so we¡¯ll hand this task over...... In short, we can¡¯t let this son of a b***h run. I¡¯ll personally pinch his skull till it explodes.¡±


    Crag Burst raged as he got in contact with the Society.


    Luo Nan thought for a bit and his soul body jumped to return back to the fighting arena.


    This ce was just a sheet of chaos. The spectators were all withdrawing outwards and there were twentyish people who were unconscious or unfortunate enough to never wake up. They would need to be taken care of.


    Jack just washed his hands of these people, leaving a lot of pressure to those remaining in charge.


    Soon the fighting arena becamepletely empty, with not a few figures to be seen. And so the altar, which was established by the Human-Faced Arachnid using the negative emotions of the spectators, also became broken and disorderly.


    But from another perspective, Luo Nan was there, so the framework supporting the altar was there as well. The rules of the sacrificial ritual still persisted.


    The sacrificial ritual hadn¡¯t truly ended. Under the iron rule where the winner takes all, the ultimate victor Rui Wen had yet to clearly ept or relinquish theplete power that she deserved.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid had borrowed the disturbance of the Greatmaw Basilisk as a substitute. The death of the basilisk counted as a conclusion.


    But all the spectators present were sacrificial offerings. They were targets to be reaped. There still existed a connection between Rui Wen and the sacrifices, between Rui Wen and the altar¡¯s framework.


    Luo Nan could sense this point clearly.


    As for the ce, the ce......

 Chapter 68: Position of the New Star (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 68: Position of the New Star (Part 2/2)


    Perhaps Luo Nan really could draw a drawing.


    Crag Burst had reminded Luo Nan of his own capacities as a psychic. Even though Luo Nan was still confused about the principles behind it, the facts proved that he really was gifted in this aspect.


    The greatest key point was that Luo Nan now had inspiration.


    This inspiration existed ever since the start of the sacrificial ritual.


    The insidious altar, the burning cloud sea, the splendid star, the tempered de edge. And of course, there was also the empty destion, the realm of death.


    Lines,position, light and shadow...... Various elements had undergone long analysis within the depths of his heart.


    Luo Nan was confident that even if he didn¡¯t realize it now, he would have recorded this scene down in careful study when he got home.


    An idea was born at this very moment. The impulse to draw became exceptionally strong.


    However, all of his previous experiences with sketching psychic drawings required a source and direction of development before pen could meet paper; under direction, he made additions onto a pre-existingposition.


    But Luo Nan understood very little of Rui Wen¡¯s past...... Oh, this might actually be easy!


    Luo Nan released the full strength of his mental senses in an instant. The personnel in charge were hard pressed in the fighting arena. The panic-stricken spectators were scattered in the passageway. The gangsters were maintaining order while whispering to themselves. It didn¡¯t matter where any of these people were and what they were doing, they all felt a cold shiver at the same time.


    And in the lower level area of the building, Ink, who had been apanying Crag Burst, pped its wings and flew off. It flew back towards the fighting arena despite the calls from Crag Bursts.


    Mr. Ma was in a deep daze as hey upon the stretcher. He had his hand ced on his chest. The experience of choking and a heart attack from a few minutes ago still lingered around like a shadow, even though he was already administered drugs and was ced on a breathing machine.


    What in the world happened?


    He was a board member of arge biopharmaceuticalpany in Xia City. His worth was in the hundred of millions. Everyone addressed him as Mr. Ma. Wealth and woman were logically and expectedly just decorations to him.


    His life was an experienced life of sixty~seventy years. He needed entertainment and interests that were fresh. He needed stronger stimtion. He needed even higher feelings of sess.


    What would be more interesting, more stimting, more aplishing than dictating the lives of his people?


    And so Mr. Ma fell in love with the fighting arena; he fell in love with the bloody atmosphere. He invested in this ce. He just wanted to change things to make the fights more exciting, more stimting.


    Today the fighting arena requested to borrow his most prized possession in his collection, the Greatmaw Basilisk mutant. He agreed without the slightest hesitation. Actually, he had purchased this mutant for the sake of some future moment, to give a new show in the fighting arena.


    His wish was fulfilled earlier than expected.


    But a few minutes ago, his most prized piece of his collection, the Greatmaw Basilisk worth over ten million credits, fell, crumbled, and putrefied right before his eyes.


    The destruction of the basilisk wasn¡¯t the end of the world, but the way it died, the will that instantly caused death to descend, the force of fear that exceeded his limit of self-control heavy struck his chest.


    Who had caused all of this?


    "Rui Wen. It was Rui Wen!¡±


    The girl who struggled in the cage he had made.


    He remembered when she first came to the fighting arena three years ago. She was so skinny and small that she looked like she was six~seven years old. She only came to be her current size due to the stimtion from drugs.


    She was a fighting genius. Not counting her training time, she became the king of the fighting arena with her hundred victories within a short one year.


    But no matter how much of a genius Rui Wen was, in the end, she was just a toy in the palm of his hand. Everything time he saw Rui Wen feign tranquility, this tranquility was always within a situation where her life was at stake. Mr. Ma always had a sense of satisfaction spring up unbidden.


    Her fist was very hard. Her speed was very quick. But no matter how quick and how hard she was, she would never be able to break past the transparent defensive walls surrounding her.


    This is what it means to dictate! This is pleasure!


    Why was today totally different?


    From beginning to end, not a hair on his head was harmed. But there was an invisible ice-cold hand that clutched his throat, pushing him onto the ugly corpse of the basilisk to make him taste the vor of fear and death as much as possible.


    Rui Wen, that predator, that ominous crow......


    ¡°The exit is just ahead.¡±


    The medical personnel next to him spoke in relief: ¡°An ambnce is already parked in the parking lot. Mr. Ma is the first, then......¡±


    The fluttering pping of wings sounded forth. It seemed to fly straight over his head. The medical personnel cried in shock:


    ¡°What arge crow!¡±


    Mr. Ma suddenly opened his eyes. The lightning changed since the stretcher just so happened to leave the passageway. The ck shadow of a crow flipped over atop of their heads, shining a devilish outline of shadow and light before their eyes.


    The medical personnel waved his hand by instinct to drive away the crow, but all he got was a pitch ck feather floating down.


    And a nce, which was like a demon¡¯s eye of destion, was cast towards them.


    ¡°Rui Wen!¡±


    Mr. Ma suddenly sat up. The movement caused his blood to surge and the rupturing sound of his heart turned into the knell of death that rang loudly.


    His eyes bulged and then he copsed. Hisst mournful cry echoed back as it reflected over and over in the arched passageway.


    Rui Wen, Rui Wen, Rui Wen......


    The enormous crow smacked its wings,ing over with a sweep. Not one person in the entire passageway made a sound within this extremely short period of time. Not one person made a move. Fear gripped their throats; it was as if an ice-cold tide had engulfed them one by one.


    Rui Wen, Rui Wen!


    This name seemed to transform into a demonic incantation. It bred and spread from inside out, from you to me.


    The predator, the crow, the t-chested witch......


    Fragments of memories rummaged over in their minds, intertwining with their emotions. Like the crow¡¯s wing that swept over, they smeared a grave picture of ominousness and fear.


    The crow swept through the passageway and charged into the empty fighting arena. There it spiraled around in the air.


    From Luo Nan¡¯s perspective, the crow was a ck cloud of negative emotions that pushed its way through.


    The interweaving lines that outlined the altar were within the surging clouds. Hundreds of fuzzy human figures rushed about and wailed in distress from within. Compared to their stupidity from before, they seemed to have a clearer understanding of their own positions.


    They had turned from illusionary dictators to be, in reality, hogs andmbs.


    Countless scenes of memories of Rui Wen appeared and mixed within the altar. Most of them with fragmentary and warped. They assembled together to form a fuzzy image of Rui Wen. Countless aspects were pieced together, but the image was far too biased.


    Luo Nan contemted.


    The Rui Wen that he saw was different from the Rui Wen that these people saw.


    Admittedly, Rui Wen fought with and was victorious over the Human-Faced Arachnid. And Rui Wen¡¯s ughtering of the Greatmaw Basilisk left far too deep of an impression in the people¡¯s minds.


    But Luo Nan¡¯s first impression of Rui Wen was of her back in the waiting area. She had a towel over her head and she had spoken in a childish manner. She was a young child that used words like ¡°Mr. Crow¡±.


    She had fallen within the circle of her own self-logic. Perhaps she identified herself more as a crow than a person.


    But no matter what, she was the unrivaled victor over all the sacrifices and all the rewards atop Luo Nan¡¯s altar.


    Luo Nan was the support for the framework of the altar. His duty was to bless the victor.


    Ink let out a caw that was quite unpleasant to the ears, but this husky sound converged together with a surging shout on the mental ne and the result was suddenly tossed into the Xia City¡¯s night skies.


    ¡°The sole victor: Rui Wen!¡±


    The ck clouds surged and boiled. A splendid star rose up above the skies and its sharp radiance swept and cut through the clouds and mist.


    The outlining structure of the altar turned iparably clear. It was in the exact same shape as Luo Nan¡¯s pyramid structure.


    The splendid star would asionally enter the pyramid and would asionally roam out of the pyramid. She followed her own special orbit and she possessed a marvelous and clear rtionship with the pyramid structure.

 Chapter 69: Breath of the Deeps (Part ?)

    Chapter 69: Breath of the Deeps (Part ?)


    Rui Wen was projected onto the altar as a star and this star was projected into Luo Nan¡¯s heart as well. It wouldn¡¯t directly tell Luo Nan Rui Wen¡¯s position in the real world, but that connection and its corresponding information were unrivaled.


    This cognition manifested itself within Luo Nan¡¯s call and blessings. It exploded in the middle of the dense ck clouds like fiery thunder surging towards the skies. The earnest rolling thunder, the diffusion of psychic waves, swept across the night skies of Xia City to join with the millions and millions of life forms in juxtaposition.


    There was only one target on the that would give the right match.


    Luo Nan had an epiphany and this was his attempt at acting upon it. It was like the stroke of God that leads to his drawings. He didn¡¯t know if he would obtain the expected result; all he could do now was to wait.


    ¡°Scout, scout?¡± The sound of Crag Burst calling out brought Luo Nan back to reality.


    ¡°I¡¯m here.¡±


    ¡°What the hell did you leave for?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m at the fighting arena...... I¡¯m seeing if there are any trails of Rui Wen. It¡¯s in preparations of making a psychic drawing.¡±


    ¡°Huh? So how is it? Can you do it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to tell.¡±


    Right now lies just came out of Luo Nan as easily as opening his mouth. But this wasn¡¯t really a lie in a certain sense. He really had been preparing for the psychic drawing, but now the drawing was alreadypleted.


    Crag Burst was a bit disappointed, but soon he changed topics: ¡°The Secretary wants to talk to you. She asks if now¡¯s a convenient time?¡±


    ¡°The secretary? Oh, you mean Sister He? Yea now¡¯s good. How is it not convenient?¡± Luo Nan just felt that things were odd. He Yueyin could have just contacted him directly using the HexaEar. Why did she first go through Crag Burst?


    Crag Burst went ¡°oh¡± and soon a new call came through: ¡°Hello Mr. Luo sir, this is He Yueyin, society internal codename ¡®Secretary¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Uh? Sister He.¡± Luo Nan didn¡¯t understand why she suddenly mentioned an ¡°internal codename¡±. It sounded like she wanted to get reacquainted again. It was very odd.


    He Yueyin soon exined: ¡°The Society has already received Crag Burst¡¯s report and has decided to intervene in this matter. Due to the rtionship to a certainpany, the Society has entered confidential procedures in order to avoid trouble. Those participating in the operation are addressed by ¡°internal codenames¡± without exception. The pre-briefing and post-briefing will be in ordance with these procedures. Considering how your circumstances are special, the operation briefing from Friday night will be treated ordingly by the public release on Monday.¡±


    Luo Nan suddenly felt that things were so bureaucratic. It was as if he had entered a department of the military. Had the ability user society always been like this?


    Crag Burst soon exined everything with deep emotion: ¡°What a change in customs. It¡¯s like I¡¯m back in the army.¡±


    He Yueyin continued her dispatch: ¡°As for you Luo Nan sir, the codename I originally drafted for you is called ¡®Artist¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Mm. It¡¯s very good. Very fitting.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s way too fitting. It¡¯s too easy for people to make the mental connection. Apologies, I¡¯ve heard a few things about you sir from Crag Burst. The current circumstances that you and your family face are not suited to stand in the foreground of politics.¡±


    ¡°.....Perhaps.¡± Luo Nan thought of Yan Yongbo at this time.


    ¡°I just heard Crag Burst call you ¡®Scout¡¯. This codename is quite vague; it¡¯s more appropriate. Let¡¯s use this codename for the current operation? If you don¡¯t mind.¡±


    ¡°No problem.¡± Luo Nan didn¡¯t care about this sort of empty reputation. He was more concerned about the next steps in coordinating with the Society to save Rui Wen as soon as possible.


    ¡°Then. He. Cough. Secretary. What are we doing next?¡±


    ¡°Reinforcements will arrive soon and the society will put the entire city under surveince. The decision on the situation will be dependent on whether Quantum Corporation is willing to negotiate.¡±


    ¡°Then Crag Burst and I......¡±


    ¡°As for you, there currently isn¡¯t a clear mission for you. This is because there is a matter that needs to be handled as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    He Yueyin voice was tranquil: ¡°Mrs. Luo Shuqing just sent you to Xia City¡¯s Renai Hospital two minutes ago. The current diagnosis for you is a persistent loss of consciousness, a lighta.¡±


    ¡°Huhhh?¡± Crag Burst nearly heard something insane. ¡°Isn¡¯t Scout right here?...... You¡¯re talking about his main body?¡±


    Luo Nan was speechless for a time. He didn¡¯t about how long he had stayed in his out-of-body state until now. It must have been at least 3~4 hours. He had been pretending to be asleep before his soul left his body and his soul had traveled in a circle around the city. It was time to go home.


    Clearly, it had been impossible for him to get off the car by himself......


    This was yet another time when he wasn¡¯t able to be awakened within the short past two days. And this time, he really couldn¡¯t be awakened. It must be known that Luo Nan¡¯s aunt and uncle had snuck in an evaluation for Luo Nan with the doctor when they visited Luo Nan¡¯s grandfather. It was unavoidable for these two guardians to be overly imaginative under these circumstances.


    ¡°Mr. Luo. Crag Burst said that Sir has attached his soul onto the crow, but I don¡¯t believe this is true.¡± He Yueyin didn¡¯t call him by his codename. This matter had nothing to do with the operation.


    Luo Nan saw that his out-of-body state matters could not be concealed any longer and was just about to spill the beans when He Yueyin said: ¡°I¡¯ve consulted with You Lao1. Your current state is very likely to be a highlyplicated version of a soul sending state. In other words, most of your consciousness, or maybe your soul, has been projected via your ability toe onto the crow¡¯s body......¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°This is a very troublesome situation. This causes sustained wear and tear to yourself and the target of the sent soul. If you don¡¯t separate yourself in time, the consequences will be extremely serious. I¡¯ve already told Crag Burst that you don¡¯t need to go anywhere right now. Mr. Bai of the Society is rushing over here right now. He¡¯s a master in dream techniques; his academics in soul studies are very deep. Let hime make a diagnosis. I¡¯ll handle the situation with the hospital.¡±


    ¡°Uh. Wait. Sister He. I¡¯m at this......¡±


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t know why the most powerful psychic of the Society, You Lao, would make a mistake in judgment. Right now though, he clearly didn¡¯t have time to tarry over this matter. He was just about to exin when his consciousness suddenly went sluggish.


    ¡°Do you hear something?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Luo?¡±


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t respond immediately. Instead, he concentrated his energy to listen. He had a better answer a breathter and immediately spoke:


    ¡°Sister He. Help me out. Brother Octopus has a better understanding of my situation. Talk to him for a moment. I seem to have discovered Rui Wen right now......¡±


    ¡°Where is she?¡± asked Crag Burst and He Yueyin at the same time.¡±


    ¡°Let me make sure.......¡±


    A marvelous feeling was fed back once again from a far distance before he could finish speaking. Luo Nan¡¯s mind was like a stone in freefall. It was drawn over to the greatest degree under the wonderful effects of gravity


    Boom!


    The stone fell into the water sending clear ripples surging. The surrounding environment suddenly went quiet and only this small stone of his continued to fall.


    His consciousness chafed against the ¡°water¡± and minute noises soon mixed in with the weak background noise. Finally, things became serene.


    Luo Nan was not puzzled at all by this marvelous perception.


    The pulling effect between the pyramid structure and the star told him that his consciousness had actually locked onto Rui Wen¡¯s position and was trying to contact Rui Wen¡¯s consciousness.


    As for the reason why was there this deep body of water....... There was actually a reference to this before; Jack¡¯s defenses around his consciousness were like this.


    Only, Jack¡¯s conscious defenses ought to have stemmed from his body being altered. It was stable, firm, and rigid. It was like a pool of half-frozen backwater.


    As for Rui Wen..... She was breathing.


    You Lao (ÓÎÀÏ, literally You Old). He was first mentioned in Chapter 36.1. He is one of the few psychics in the Society.

 Chapter 69: Breath of the Deeps (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 69: Breath of the Deeps (Part 2/2)


    Luo Nan felt a certain tempoing deep within the waters; it was barely distinguishable. It was none other than the peaceful and drawn-out breathing of being in deep sleep. It seemed that Rui Wen wasn¡¯t causing ripples, but she was constantly breathing in the new and breathing out the old in a natural cadence.


    Rui Wen¡¯s body and consciousness were highly integrated within this cadence. Of course, this wasn¡¯t the monotonous undtion of force. It was the joint effect of variousponents such as breathing, blood flow, and the movements of inner organs. It was like a harmonious rhythm yed by a symphonic orchestra.


    Even her soul had merged within; it was practically perfect.


    Luo Nan was able to confirm that it was probably impossible for his Siege Hammer attack, which ignored the defenses of the corporeal body and attacked the soul directly, to work against Rui Wen in her current state.


    Rui Wen had merged her soul and her fleshly body perfectly together. The internal was harmonious with the external. They wereplete as one. A purely mental attack would be greatly scattered.


    This was precisely what happened with Jack.


    Indeed, the method that Jack used was absolutely clear and logical.


    When Luo Nan engage with Jack in battle, Luo Nan¡¯s Siege Hammer attack had no effect. Luo Nan couldn¡¯t understand the reason behind this no matter how much he thought. He could only conclude the reason to be the fact that Jack was an altered human. Now his understanding became much clearer.


    Of course, being altered was certainly an element in how Jack was able to achieve this. Rui Wen relied only on the simplest method, breathing, to reach this stage.


    Perhaps she was a true genius.


    When Luo Nan¡¯s understanding grew this far, the body of water slowly lit up. His consciousness illuminated within the water and he genuinely saw Rui Wen this time. He gave this girl a light scan of her status.


    Rui Wen was still unconscious. Luo Nan was unable to see any other changes.


    Luo Nan tried to wake her up, but he failed.


    The cause for this was very simple. Rui Wen was currently in a certain state of merging. It was very hard to separate the boundary between her body and her consciousness. Luo Nan¡¯s simple contact on the mental ne was clearly far too weak. He was incapable of forming enough stimtion to wake her up.


    There was a very key area over here: Rui Wen¡¯s merged state was a dual harmonization between her body and her consciousness. Neither one of the two fulcrums could becking.


    The problemy in Rui Wen¡¯s current unconscious state. Logic dictates that she couldn¡¯t possibly achieve a true merging in this state. If she had truly merged, she wouldn¡¯t be unconscious. She would certainly have achieved absolute mastery over body and mind.


    A paradox seemed to have formed between her state of unconsciousness and her merging...... It was here where the main culprit of Rui Wen¡¯ssting unconsciousnessy.


    Luo Nan had already discovered the source of this cause before: While Rui Wen¡¯s current state was ¡°practically perfect¡±, there were still some ws.


    The problem did noty in Rui Wen herself but stemmed from an outside disturbance. There were two in total. One in her skull. Another in her chest. These were the devices that Jack had imnted into her body long ago.


    The device in her chest discharged electricity. It was stuck to her spinal column. The purpose of this electric discharge weapon was to destroy Rui Wen¡¯s mobility within the shortest time frame.


    But with a scan by Luo Nan, it seemed like this toy had already failed. Perhaps it was destroyed by the recoil of Rui Wen¡¯s powerful ability.


    The true source of the disturbance was still the device in the skull. That toy was constantly emitting an interfering pulse. The pulse wasn¡¯t particrly strong, but it was able to break Rui Wen¡¯s harmonious system, causing Rui Wen¡¯s merging rate between her mind and body to becking by just a little bit.


    It was this little bit that made Rui Wen unconscious until now.


    This was a bit troublesome.


    Luo Nan wasn¡¯t a neurosurgery specialist. Even if he was, the little bit of consciousness he projected over here wouldn¡¯t be able to perform an open brain surgery


    Sure enough, he would have to rely on external reinforcements.


    Luo Nan grudgingly let go of his thoughts of awakening Rui Wen. He did the next best thing. He had his projected consciousness act as a fulcrum, or in other words a signal ry tower, to strengthen the connection with his soul body.


    Luo Nan¡¯s soul body was still at the DeShang Building right now. The range of his all-epassing sense was still only five hundred meters. The wide area outside that range was fuzzy and ck.


    Of course, when this signal tower was erected, a dark zone in the distance lit up with a mass of light. The map of that small piece of area was lit up as well.


    The range of Luo Nan¡¯s mental senses did not increase. Instead, he had projected his senses to the designated location. He looked down from above like he had opened up a rough satellite image. The resolution was extremely terrible, but it was gradually improving.


    It also contained something that was impossible for a satellite photo to possess.


    It was a small real-time panoramic map. Luo Nan was like a specter hovering in the skies above right now. A better sounding description would be...


    God.


    Luo Nan ¡°saw¡± Jack in the next moment.


    Jack clearly didn¡¯t detect Luo Nan¡¯s existence. This was because Luo Nan was relying on the signal tower erected within Rui Wen¡¯s body. Luo Nan¡¯s existence was concealed within Rui Wen¡¯s aura. There was an interference effect.


    Anyway, Luo Nan didn¡¯t pay particr attention to Jack. This was to avoid this crafty fellow from raising his guard.


    He was mainly focused on the surrounding environment


    Sure enough, Jack had ditched the truck half way. Right now he was standing in the living room of some apartment in contemtion. Rui Wen was at a hand¡¯s reach away on the sofa.


    The location of the apartment was not clear and Luo Nan wasn¡¯t sure whether or not this was Jack¡¯s property. But after some thought, Luo Nan realized that Xia City, an AI city covered inworks, was practically defenseless from Jack¡¯s perspective thanks to the Dynamo Core.


    Luo Nan wanted to determine the location of this apartment, but it wasn¡¯t easy.


    The recently-opened ¡°small map¡± had a finite range. It wasn¡¯t evenrge enough to cover the entire apartment. There was a "fog of war" in the middle. The only information that was clear was the direction and distance. He had topare this with a map of Xia City to make a guess.


    Luo Nan made adjustments to the precision and range of his senses while hepared what he saw with a map on the Psychic Wave Network. He discovered a rtively ideal midpoint.


    Right when Luo Nan was being tormented by his research, a call came through over at Jack¡¯s side.


    Jack was deep in thought while he stood in the living room when his wristband vibrated. He gave a coldugh and made a gesture. The hologram in the living room lit up. A figure, one that had left Luo Nan a deep impression, appeared clearly.


    ¡°Hey Jack, how does it feel to be the center of the world?¡±


    Yan Yongbo raised the coffee cup in his hands, sending his greetings from far far away.


    Jack responded indifferently: ¡°It¡¯s not that great. I¡¯ve turned from the house into a gambler and now there¡¯s pressure on the entire family......¡±


    ¡°Even when you have a ckjack in your hand?¡±


    ¡°If you have time to joke around, you have time to tell me the route I should transfer to...... Actually, I thought you would tell me that there¡¯s a car parked downstairs when you first called me.¡±


    Luo Nan could tell that the rtionship between Jack and Yan Yongbo was a cold one.


    Yan Yongbo put down his cup of coffee and shrugged his shoulders: ¡°Apologies. I thought it would be better to first give a call for the sake of safety. And also, I can¡¯t help saying a few words: Before I returned to Xia City, I believed that my mission had the highest level of priority. This made me a bit vain. But I never thought there would be a higher level job that would force me to stop my work and go coordinate with others. I have to say, Jack, you hid it very well. Your dedication to work is very admirable.¡±

 Chapter 70: Flaming Body (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 70: ming Body (Part 2/2)


    Yan Yongbo raised his eyebrows and he leaned against the back of his chair: ¡°It seems like in your eyes I¡¯m just a son who¡¯s supported by his father¡¯s legacy, a rich kid who has nothing to do.¡±


    Jack shrugged: ¡°I¡¯m just saying that you¡¯re living much morefortably than that old man. Thirty years have passed with Dr. Yan Hong facing contention. Is he still in that sorry state?¡±


    Yan Yongbo couldn¡¯t care less about Jack¡¯s mockery. Instead, heughed in a low voice: ¡°Nope, he¡¯s in an even worse state now. So much so that he¡¯s being marginalized. Well, nothing can be done about that, his research ability is just on that level. Getting more data will just make him squander away a few more days, then his state will be even more terrible. Besides......¡±


    Yan Yongbo tapped his temples after a slight pause: ¡°I can¡¯t imagine doing business with a dead man.¡±


    Jack stared at the hologram for a good while beforeughing hoarsely: ¡°I thought a sniper was going to cause my skull to explode just now.¡±


    ¡°How is that possible? I called you with the intention of making friends. But Jack, your opinion is putting me in a very difficult position. You suddenly told me that you don¡¯t want to return back to the Deep Blue World?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps if you had never called me, I would have already boarded the transport airship by now? Assistant Yan, you were the source of this inspiration.¡±


    ¡°Oh, ha!¡±


    Yan Yongbo was amused by Jack¡¯s deflection. He confirmed once more that this hoodlum¡¯s mental state was truly abnormal. His hints were already extremely clear okay?


    ¡°Jack, Jack. I just contacted you with thoughts of goodwill. Are you sure there aren¡¯t any problems with your cerebral nucleus?


    Yan Yongbo cut to the chase. His intention was very simple:


    Jack was an Altered Human. It didn¡¯t matter whether it was the Apocalypse Laboratory or Quantum Corporation, to ensure loyalty from disposable items, they would need to use a few technological means.


    For instance, the ¡°cerebral nucleus¡±, which was installed in Jack¡¯s brain, provided the temte for several high-level thought processes as well as monitoring and recording capabilities. If Jack was confirmed to be revolting, theboratory possessed specialized equipment designed to destroy the functionality of the cerebral nucleus. Jack wouldn¡¯t be dead with the destruction of the cerebral nucleus, but he would turn mentally disabled with a serious impediment to his cognition.


    It was impossible for Yan Yongbo to do any sort of coboration with Jack as long as the issue with Jack¡¯s cerebral nucleus wasn¡¯t settled; he would be tossing himself into trouble otherwise.


    Of course, if Jack really did have some method to..... Oh! Holy hell!


    Yan Yongbo¡¯s eyes bulged wide in the next moment.


    Jack subtly shook his head and his lips split into augh. Upon his pale skin, wrapped around his clothes, was ayer of dark red glowing mes.


    The surrounding air became warped by the high temperature of the roasting mes. The wooden floor beneath his feet charred ck from the mes as well and had even ignited on fire.


    The problem was that there wasn¡¯t any damage at all to Jack¡¯s skin and clothing. It was as if the mes were just an illusion.


    The dark red mes shined through the hologram, burning Yan Yongbo¡¯s eyes. Yan Yongbo¡¯s body leaned forward unconsciously to carefully observe the degree of warping in the surrounding air, regardless of how piercing the glow of mes were to his eyes. He finally arrived at a conclusion several secondster:


    ¡°The Format of Fire!¡±


    ¡°It is as you see.¡±


    Jack¡¯s body continued to emit the mes as he subtly squinted his eyes. The mes were clearly wrapped around his body, yet he was enjoying it iparably.


    Yan Yongbo was stunned for a long while before speaking: ¡°The alteration you¡¯ve had was the third generation technology of Burners? No, that¡¯s not right. I¡¯ve seen your profile before. The ratio of artificial organs to regr organs you possess reaches 55%. That is far from the upper limit of 14% required by the Archetype Format......¡±


    Jack extended his thumb and forefinger to perform an action of lengthening a line: ¡°Dynamo Core Technology.¡±


    ¡°Are you making fun of me?¡±


    Yan Yongbo was no longer reserved. He stood up and mmed his two hands against his table: ¡°Even though I am of the first generation of Burners......¡±


    ¡°The world¡¯s very first.¡±


    ¡°...... Fine. Thanks.¡±


    After thanking through gritted teeth, Yan Yongbo said: ¡°It¡¯s true that I am a first generation Burner. But I¡¯ve practically always been at the Apocolypse Laboratory for six years ever since the year 90. I¡¯ve never missed a time when a new technology was developed, from the very beginning with the simple burning of life force to the integration with exoskeleton armors of the second generation to the internal structural enhancement of the third generation. Of course, this also includes the fourth generation of the Dynamo Core technology. Do you remember Jack? I gave you the Deep Sea Type 4 Dynamo Core just now!¡±


    Jack moved his fingers around as he looked at the burning mes coiling around his body. He was like a child who had just received a precious toy, loving it too much to part with it.


    ¡°When you¡¯re talking about the fourth generation Dynamo Core technology, are you referring to theughable results of your old man? The results that werepletely led by the nose by others? The castrative technology that made Quantum Corporationcent?¡±


    Jack raised his eyes and met Yan Yongbo¡¯s cold gaze directly: ¡°My Dynamo Core technology isn¡¯t asplicated. It¡¯s merely a correct application of the Dynamo Core. It gives an Altered Human, no, any human, the key method of bing a Burner.¡±


    A silence was both inside and outside the hologram for a time.


    Luo Nan was already stupefied from watching. He looked down from high above and had seen the entire course of events. The great quantity of contextual information made him overwhelmed.


    Luo Nan had encountered the Dynamo Core before and he had heard Jack mention the Deep Blue World, but something about an Apocalypse Laboratory, tapping into some Ster Gate, and Yan Hong¡¯s current whereabouts were all included. Unfortunately, it was all fragmented. To piece all the information together would certainly be an extremely arduous task.


    And the most surprising thing of all was Yan Yongbo¡¯s current reaction.


    Luo Nan had experienced Jack¡¯s Format of Fire. He had believed that this was a new technology proliferated in secret by Quantum Corporation and backing powers. But Luo Nan understood when he saw Yan Yongbo¡¯s reaction. So it turned out that Jack¡¯s situation was a special case.


    Now, this was interesting.


    ording to Jack¡¯s words, Jack was just a chief miner in the Deep Blue World. Why would he know of these things?


    Luo Nan was in the middle of racking his mind when he suddenly felt Rui Wen¡¯s breathing tempo change to be a bit chaotic. The calm and deep waters had been disturbed by some outside force to formyers andyers of ripples.


    Luo Nan looked into the cause. It wasn¡¯t the disturbing device within her body. Instead, it came from Jack. It came from Jack¡¯s Format of Fire.


    The zing wind attacked, causing ripples in the calm waters. The degree of the ripples wasn¡¯t on the level of a surging tide and the change wasn¡¯t particrly strong, but Rui Wen still had to make adjustments after a moment of disorder.


    This sort of adjustment wasn¡¯t to return to tranquility. Instead, she adjusted to harmonize with the current situation. Her tempo increased slightly by half a beat.


    This increase in speed was of no consequence. The disturbing pulse from the device in her brain was brought in disorder instead. It had to increase its power output to continue its control over Rui Wen. But the speed in which it made its change was clearly a bitcking.


    Luo Nan¡¯s mind suddenly had a sh of inspiration:


    The state of the body and mind between sleeping and being awake should have extremelyrge differences; there was no reason why the tempo would be fixed between both situations. The same melody possesses differences via allegro and adagio.


    It was obvious that Rui Wen had another tempo for breathing when she was awake, for when she was moving about normally, when she was in an intense fight, and so on. It was reasonable that there would be variations of her breathing.


    Even more key was the source of disturbance in Rui Wen¡¯s brain. It seemed to alwaysg behind and was unable to catch up with the speed of variations in tempo. And Jack in his inexplicable madness was in a tangle with Yan Yongbo; he absolutely did not take Rui Wen into consideration.


    An opportunity granted by heaven!


    Luo Nan focused his gaze on Jack. This inexplicably crazed fellow was still showing off his Format of Fire. Luo Nan knew fully well that this so-called me was just an external shape. The true power and disturbing source was the Archetype Format. It was this thing that wentpletely against Rui Wen¡¯s own tempo of melody.


    So it¡¯s a Format eh? I am notcking in Format at all!

 Chapter 71: Five Minutes (Part ?)

    Chapter 71: Five Minutes (Part ?)


    The changes in the living room were divided into two points, but the imposing me on Jack¡¯s body drew in all the attention onto Jack, including Jack¡¯s own attention.


    There was no one who paid heed to the unconscious Rui Wen on the sofa. The intense radiating heat in the room made it so that the changes over there could not be observed at all. The heat perfectly concealed it.


    Yan Yongbo had just recovered a bit of energy. He forced his body to rx as he sat back down in his seat.


    His elbows were propped on the table and his hands remained sped as they pressed lightly against his nose. Half his face was covered as he tried to refrain from revealing excess emotions to be read: ¡°Jack. Pardon me, but I still doubt your words. You know that I have stayed at the Apocalypse Laboratory for nearly six years. My advisor was Li Wei......¡±


    ¡°Yes. I know. Li Wei is the head scientist of theboratory. He is the dictator who directs everything there. Perhaps you know of his other identity? It¡¯spletely different from ours......¡±


    ¡°Wait!¡± Yan Yongbo found this topic to be far too dangerous. Some things that were well known still shouldn¡¯t be spoken out loud. Jack had no misgivings at all right now, but Yan Yongbo would mingle with those at the Apocalypse Laboratory in the future.


    ¡°Jack. I know what you mean. Your Format of Fire is excellent scientific proof.¡±


    The Format of Fire of Burners was, in fact, a high degree of coordination between a series of elements including feeling, perception, forms of thought, patterns of behavior, the structure of the body, and so on. Their energy was amassed in an efficient manner under the special format to form both the tinder and ignition of the tinder as a result.


    Since the ignition was sessful for Jack, this exined how Jack was able to break away from the rigid temte of the cerebral nucleus and truly achieve independent awareness.


    And so Yan Yongbo understood why Jack had be so irrational. Clearly, the temte of his cerebral nucleus had lost its functionality. Jack had begun to have independent awareness and was handling his emotions and thought processes on his own. Since he wasn¡¯t very ¡°mature¡±, the fluctuations of his emotions and thoughts were much more intense than that of a normal person.


    ¡°Congrattions to you Jack. This is a new aplishment. But there¡¯s a problem. This can¡¯t prove the source of your information, and most importantly it can¡¯t prove the information¡¯spleteness.¡±


    Jack spread his hand again: ¡°Completeness? I¡¯m sorry, my information has always been iplete. If it was trulyplete, did you think I would act as a gang leader in the recycling stratum?¡±


    ¡°You said it yourself; you had theplete Dynamo Core technology!¡±


    ¡°I only said that I used a ¡®correct application¡¯ of the Dynamo Core. This isn¡¯t the same concept aspleteness. Could it be that you expected a miner such as myself to tell you how to produce the Dynamo Core? How to wire it? How to calibrate it? That¡¯s far too hrious.¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    ¡°As for the source, I can only say that it came from Area 13.¡±


    ¡°Area 13?¡± Yan Yongbo¡¯s gaze turned serious, ¡°You¡¯re speaking lies. There is no one on our side who can enter in there.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m certainly not lying. Core staff like yourself who work in theboratory are all unable to enter. I¡¯m just a chief miner and nothing more.¡±


    The scar that covered Jack¡¯s cheek was illuminated devilish-red by the mes. Even his throat seemed to emit mes as his split his lips and opened his mouth: ¡°But you ought to know that the highly contaminous waste of Area 13 will always go through the abandoned mining site for treatment. In a certain sense, the sewer touches closer to secrets than its neighbor as long as you understand how to process it.¡±


    ¡°Over a hundred people die each year in the waste treatment area?¡±


    ¡°Yea. So I had to swap a stomach, a lung, and all my intestines.¡±


    The waste area was a ce with high radiation that could practically ignite the sun. A hundred stomachs, a thousand lungs, weren¡¯t enough to be tormented over.


    Yan Yongbo did not say these words. He understood that Jack wasn¡¯t going to explicitly reveal his secret.


    Unless he was truly crazy.


    The informationcked a trustworthy source; its value was diminished by several grades. But just based on the Format of Fire, Yan Yongbo decided to believe in it by a factor and he began to haggle the price:


    ¡°Alright Jack, you¡¯re quite the moving man. I admit that the Dynamo Core technology, or at least its proper application, is enough to entice me. But this still isn¡¯t enough. You should know that I¡¯m already a Burner......¡±


    ¡°It can help you obtain even more Burners. At the same time, it can amend theughable mistakes of your old man!¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t a matter one man alone can help you with. It needs an entire team. Do you understand? I and the team behind me will need to take risks. I need a more convincing reason to help you.¡±


    Jack suddenly stopped speaking. He stared at Yan Yongbo for a long time beforeughing eerily: ¡°It looks likes it isn¡¯t a technological team that¡¯s behind you, it¡¯s a political team. In that case, I can provide another piece of information. Information that only a miner of the Deep Blue World would know.¡±


    ¡°Oh yea?¡±


    ¡°Someone has established a secret organization among the ten million Altered Human miners of the Deep Blue World. In other words, it¡¯s an order..... Soul Order! Oh, looking at your expression, it seems that you¡¯ve heard of it?¡±


    Yan Yongbo took a deep breath: ¡°The structure of the organization?"


    ¡°There are three to five contacts, including one high-level member. Of course, this information is three years old.¡±


    Yan Yongbo pped the table on the spot: ¡°Deal!¡±


    Yan Yongbo stopped beating around the bush with Jack since they reached an agreement: ¡°Then let¡¯s talk about the transaction. Are you sure you don¡¯t want to go back to the Deep Blue World? Actually, if you want to take a little bit of risk, we can use some contacts to transfer you out from the Deep Blue World after you go there.¡±


    Jack pointed to his skull: ¡°Things can¡¯t be hidden from people over here. Even if I have left things a bit unfinished on purpose, things haven¡¯t been exposed for now. I will need an ident to happen. Then I will fade away and give you the experimental subject to take away...... Oh right, I¡¯ll need a block of originum. About ten grams of it. A purity of at least 30% should be fine. I¡¯ll need a fixed energy source to finish thingspletely.


    ¡°You sound so rxed. Fine then. I¡¯ll arrange it immediately.¡±


    Jack smiled, but he actually let out a breath of relief in secret. From Jack¡¯s perspective, originum was even more important than Yan Yongbo¡¯s cooperation. He didn¡¯t ¡°leave things unfinished on purpose¡±. Someone in an out-of-body state had destroyed things halfway!


    He needed to improvise right now. In a situation without special energy supplying equipment, the special high-energy ore of the Deep Blue World was quite the decent option.


    The living room darkened as Jack withdrew his Format of Fire to reduce the wear and tear on his body. The current trick he used still had many limitations, but soon there weren¡¯t any problems.


    Yan Yongbo didn¡¯t know what schemes Jack was plotting in his mind so he continued to discuss the details: ¡°A surface vehicle will be more appropriate as a means of transportation; it will be easier to operate in case the situation bes messier¡±


    Jack spoke smoothly: ¡°As long as it¡¯s quite stable, all the other features don¡¯t matter. Our merchandise needs peace and quiet, otherwise, I can¡¯t guarantee that the effectiveness of the suppression chip. The characteristic of her ability is very troublesome......¡±


    ¡°Peace and quiet? Jack?¡±


    Jack went nk and he suddenly turned around.


    Rui Wen¡¯s breathing had clearly be urgent on the sofa and there was even a thinyer of sweat on her body. Of course, there was something even more eye-catching. An undtingyer of dazzling light ripples was right above her chest. It rapidly enveloped her entire body.


    An erect figure rose up from the rippling light like a strange building emerging up from the waters. Its features changed from being fuzzy to be clear as it gradually appeared.


    This figure was exceptionally eye-catching in the dusky living room, which had just lost the illumination from the Format of Fire. It was so eye-catching that it was directly projected into the pupils of Yan Yongbo within the hologram:


    ¡°Archetype Format?¡±

 Chapter 71: Five Minutes (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 71: Five Minutes (Part 2/2)


    Luo Nan¡¯s soul body soared in the night sky, rushing towards Rui Wen¡¯s position at rapid speed.


    Ink was relying on its air superiority to be seven, eight kilometers behind him. This crow was located with the second team, but the distance continued to be pulled apart. Crag Burst could only painstakingly follow Ink from behind at an arm¡¯s length away.


    He Yueyin and other participating Society members of the operation came from different directions. They followed the approximate direction and distance that Luo Nan gave and they converged together from all sides.


    The Society utilized satellites to endlessly shrink the scope of their search. They marked out suspicious locations while countless information was transmitted over the HexaEar. But there wasn¡¯t a single bit of information that left a mark in Luo Nan¡¯s mind.


    Luo Nan¡¯splete attention had already been shifted onto Rui Wen. He erected his Format within the body of water that was a blending of body and soul.


    A bit of force from his soul had been thrown in. It transformed into a pyramid tower that protruded out from the water¡¯s surface. The dark chains were like a giant python that roamed inside and outside the format pyramid, giving rise to waves within the water.


    Luo Nan¡¯s objective was to influence and disturb Rui Wen¡¯s tempo, to force her tempo to change and have her break away from the influence of the pulse in her brain.


    But Luo Nan never expected that he would be the first to be affected.


    Rui Wen¡¯s breathing tempo of merging was wless, resulting in crystal clear waters that could reflect everything.


    Luo Nan was forced to feel the excessive rigidity of the format pyramid and the excessive messiness of the dark chains; it was an awkward feeling to be within these pure waters. Luo Nan was forced to make adjustments, otherwise even the erected Format would feel askew.


    It wasn¡¯t particrly hard to do this sort of thing, for Rui Wen was there to serve as a standard and reference.


    Luo Nan let the pyramid¡¯s stability interweave inseparably close with the chains¡¯ vibration. One was moving, one was still. Yet it was a symbiotic harmony. Luo Nan performed several hundred calibrations before finding an extremely stable andfortable state, allowing for the opportunity to converge and harmonize his soul force.


    Finally, this aspect of his soul formed a marvelous vibration. It was extremely fine, so much so that it seemed to be moving yet not moving, it seemed to be calm yet not calm. The vibration was transmitted in all directions without needing a thought.


    As soon as this feeling suddenly shed, Luo Nan¡¯s soul body made arge shudder. It was as if ayer of incorporeal filth was expelled from his body, causing him to be much more pure and clear.


    It was as if his soul was breathing, possessing the capability to breathe out filth and breath in purity.


    This was the breathing of the soul, the tempo of the soul.


    The two tempos of Luo Nan and Rui Wen were mutually excited when this vibrating wave swept across. The water suddenly shook with surging waves. The seemingly level vibrating wave actually possessed a battering force.


    The external stimtion suddenly rose in intensity right in this moment. It drew Luo Nan¡¯s gaze outside and Luo Nan just so happened to see Yan Yongbo¡¯s expression of shaking in fear.


    ¡°He can see it?¡±


    Luo Nan¡¯s mind pumped as he saw Yan Yongbo lose color in his face. Luo Nan¡¯s mind was exceptionally clear right now and a burst of insight shed in his mind, granting him a sudden epiphany:


    Yes. He had established the framework of the altar, he had bore the increasing level of war between Rui Wen and the Human-Faced Arachnid, he had learned how to breathe with his soul, and much more. He had improved himself and the degree of his improvement far exceeded his imagination.


    It was so much that right now his projected consciousness could already interfere with the material ne. What had once been an incorporeal soul force was now appearing in front of men.


    ¡°Restrain her!¡±


    Yan Yongbo didn¡¯t know why the Archetype Format that he was so familiar with would appear before his eyes in such a bizarre form. As stupefied as he was looking at it, he could still see that a situation had urred with Rui Wen.


    With the new situation with Rui Wen, all thoughts of cooperation turned into aplete joke!


    Yan Yongbo had called Jack to attention in a loud voice and Jack didn¡¯t need Yan Yongbo to be superfluous. Jack activated the pulse in Rui Wen¡¯s brain at once. But right before this happened, Rui Wen had a ripple of a deste current sweep through her entire body from inside out. The precise device could no longer respond to Jack.


    ¡°Rui Wen!¡± Jack¡¯s robotic eye seemed to ignite with mes of murder.


    And Rui Wen, who had been unconscious until now, opened her eyes from atop the sofa.


    Her figure shot up in the next moment and Jack activated his Deep Sea EM Field at the same time.The near 100-kilogram sofa soared through the air and was flung to the side. It smashed heavily onto the window between the living room and the balcony, causing the window to shatter into pieces with a bang.


    The cool autumn breeze blew inside, causing the curtains to flutter about.


    The surrounding inhabitants were making amotion; it was past midnight after all. Other ces in Xia City may still be feasting and engaging in revelry, but the residential areas were tranquil.


    This sort of powerful noise was still too loud.


    ¡°Damn it! Hold on for five minutes! Reinforcements will be here soon!¡±


    Yan Yongbo shut off themunications after speaking these words and the hologram faded away.


    Jack turned a blind eye to this. His eyes were only on Rui Wen.


    The living room wasn¡¯t that big. There were no obstacles between Jack and Rui Wen right now. But Rui Wen seemed to possess an instinct to conceal within the darkness. She dropped noiselessly to a corner where the shadows were the densest. She didn¡¯t open her mouth, didn¡¯t utter a sound. She just looked coldly at Jack.


    Jack pressed against his forehead lightly to alleviate his sharp rush of emotions: ¡°Rui Wen, you Predator, always destroying other people¡¯s dreams.......¡±


    Before Jack could finish speaking, Rui Wen¡¯s figure suddenly twisted within the shadows of the corner. Sheunched an attack towards Jack at an absolute high speed. But faster than her rushing attack was the deste de aura that suddenly shed from the void.


    Jack¡¯s Deep Sea EM Field had been constantly active. It enveloped practically every furniture in the living room. But Jack snorted in this moment. His body fell backward as he rammed through the front door.


    There weren¡¯t any lights there, but soon dark red mes rose dramatically to illuminate his face.


    Jack¡¯s face had already been riddled with scars, but soon half his face rapidly withered up. A distinct scar could be seen on his cheek bone and this scar continued to split. The ash white bone was already drooping by half and what spurted out wasn¡¯t blood but mes.


    Right on target!


    Even though Jack had both the Deep Sea EM Field and the Format of Fire to interfere, he was still unable to stop Rui Wen¡¯s de aura.


    In reality, the de aura would have probably run through his skull if he didn¡¯t interfere. A one hit kill.


    Luo Nan floated in observation. He could see things much clearer now. Rui Wen¡¯s ability was like Zhang Yingying¡¯s White Rainbow, though White Rainbow was like a water cloud belt that coiled around a mountain; it had a more fixed form inparison. Rui Wen¡¯s de aura was more intrinsic in nature.


    Rui Wen¡¯s de aura was hidden within her basic air. It could suddenly explode out,ing without a shadow and leaving without a trace. Its sharpness was still second to what was truly prating, its cold deathly-silent air.


    Before Luo Nan could even see the trajectory of this killer attack, half of Jack¡¯s face was already done for.


    ¡°Rui Wen, Rui Wen......¡±


    Jack¡¯s voice turned obscure and he retreated even further backward. The home AI system, which didn¡¯t respond at all during all themotion, opened the entrance obediently like a dog.


    Jack had already rammed his way out when the door was opened by just a crack.


    Rui Wen made not a sound as she pursued to do another attack. But then the metal door mmed shut with a bang at this time and even locked itself. It wouldn¡¯t be easy to open it within a short timespan.


    And two ngs rang out in the next moment. Two cylinders the size of water cups had been tossed in through the balcony seemingly simultaneously. They went through the broken window and passed through the living room to arrive in the entrance hall quite urately.


    Amazingly enough, only thirty seconds had passed since Yan Yongbo cut off hismunications!

 Chapter 72: Soul Quelling Tower (Part ?)

    Chapter 72: Soul Quelling Tower (Part ?)


    ¡°Grenade!¡±


    Luo Nan¡¯s soul observed from above. He could see that the two cup-shaped toys were clearly military-standard grenades. He recalled that a defensive grenade had put Crag Burst in a precarious situation a while ago and he was stupefied for a time when faced with the potential might of these grenades in this confined environment. He just instinctively gave Rui Wen a warning. His mind was just a nk on what to do next.


    He saw Rui Wen rapidly turn around in the next instant, increasing her speed by pushing off her foot. She actually forged towards the grenades in a rush.


    Could it be that she was going to hit them back like in the movies?


    Before this thought could finish forming, Luo Nan could only watch helplessly with his all-epassing view at the explosive powering from within the grenade. He saw the outer shell warp, split, fragment, and finally explode into the air.


    He observed all the details of the entire course of events. It was so precise that time seemed to move in slow motion. But the problem was that the explosion urred the moment when Rui Wen increased her speed, in an instant faster than the blink of an eye!


    Shrapnel didn¡¯t spray out, but there was a strong sh of light and an enormous boom. In addition, electrical arcs flickered about as well.


    A shock grenade and a pulse grenade. Two tactical grenades were superimposed. Even a tiger would topple from it.


    The explosion exceeded 170 decibels, causing all the ss items indoors to shatter simultaneously. The surrounding neighbors¡¯ windows above and below couldn¡¯t avoid it and the entire apartment story went into amotion.


    Actually, Rui Wen had finished her maneuvers in the instant the two tactical grenades exploded. Her entire body had already leaped in mid-air and was bursting out towards the balcony.


    But Rui Wen took the explosive sonic wave like taking a hammer. Her body, which was filled with tension, lost its bnce. The distance between the entrance hall and the balcony was seven meters. She would have made it in a single leap normally, but this time she fell halfway there.


    Rui Wen disyed great tenacity and persistence. She rolled the moment her shoulder touched the ground and leaped up forward again towards the balcony. She deviated slightly, but the difference wasn¡¯t big.


    No wonder she did this. The entrance door behind her had opened up and Jack came charging back in with a body wrapped entirely with dark red mes


    In a state where she had taken on a shock grenade and a pulse grenade, it would be hard for her to face Jack in a frontal fight no matter what. She needed to get some time, some space, to adjust her breathing.


    But right when Rui Wen had leaped through to the balcony and was about to stand up, a two-meter bulky silhouette came hovering up from below the balcony without a sound.


    It was an exoskeleton armor formed from joining together metal modules. It was painted with ayer dark light-absorbing material. It was a bit indistinct with the night scene as the background. But a deep and dense air extended noiselessly from this steel body and temperature of its stored scorching heat caused the air to subtly warp.


    Luo Nan could even vaguely see a fuzzyplicated structure appear from the ripples of the warped air, inside and outside the exoskeleton armor. It grew clear until recognition.


    Format structure...... Deep Blue Walker.


    Luo Nan¡¯s mind turned thoroughly cold: ¡°Yan Yongbo!¡±


    This fellow obviously wasn¡¯t Yan Yongbo, but this fellow had released a deadly smoke shell. Yan Yongbo had said that reinforcements will need five minutes to arrive, but the total amount of time from the end of themunications until the appearance of this Deep Blue Walker did not even exceed forty seconds!


    And the Deep Blue Walker and Jack were implementing a pincer attack. One look would say that this was a discussed tactic.


    Right now Rui Wen had enemies both in front and at the rear. Although she was rapidly adjusting the tempo of her breathing, she had to recover before the Deep Blue Walker would crash into her. This was certainly an impossible mission


    Right now the body of water that was formed from the merging of body and soul was going through changes over and over. Surging waves were no longer rising, instead, the entire foundation was rocking. How hard would it be for Rui Wen to recover her merged-as-one feeling under these circumstances?


    The Deep Blue Walker on the balcony extended his hand, seeking to seize Rui Wen who was in a dizzy and unbnced state.


    Luo Nan absolutely didn¡¯t have much time to think. He just knew that he needed to do something. And the sole thing he had that could intervene right now was merely the soul force he had projected over here, only the towering format pyramid.


    Right now the living room was illuminated by the Format of Fire on Jack¡¯s body. The dark red glowing mes flickered about.


    Under this backdrop with its dark hue, ayer of turbulent light suddenly rippled outside her body. The gleaming waves of light formed a canvas upon which six straight lines crisscrossed. An upright tetrahedron structure was constructed in an instant.


    The rippling light shook and the tetrahedron shook as well. The two structures superimposed onto one another and the tempos intertwined to rapidly form a mutual offset. They echoed each other in a dynamic rtionship.


    From behind, Jack saw this marvelous image that was like an illusion. A sudden thought caused him to increase his speed as he alerted the Deep Blue Walker on the balcony:


    ¡°Take her life!¡±


    Nearly in sync with Jack¡¯s shout came the coalescence of Luo Nan¡¯s mind. His consciousness focused:


    ¡°Freeze!¡±


    At this very moment, This simple and abstract polyhedron structure was like a soul quelling tower that stood tall in the void. All wave motions were ttened in an instant. And at the same time, it fixed the rippling light outside Rui Wen¡¯s body in ce, stopping the vibration of her body and soul which she once found hard to control.


    Extreme movement followed extreme stillness. The interference on the mental ne and the material ne exploded with a rumbling recoil and the tetrahedron outside Rui Wen¡¯s body warped and faded away.


    This bit of soul force that Luo Nan projected over here had nearly been annihted and the scope of his senses turned extremely fuzzy. But all of this was worth it.


    The instant of stillness was the greatest opportunity.


    Rui Wen had seized the key turning point of the body and soul merging in an instant, bringing the tempo of her body and soul under control.


    The Deep Blue Walker didn¡¯t rely on Jack¡¯s warning to go for the killing blow. The palm that he reached out with suddenly increased in speed, grabbing onto Rui Wen¡¯s neck in one move.


    The problem was that the five fingers covered in armor had yet to perform the killing squeeze. The air on Rui Wen¡¯s body circted, amassed, exploded, and a formless de aura came erasing across.


    The Deep Blue Walker grunted. There were no visible wounds whatsoever to the exoskeleton armor, but the hand suddenly lost its strength. It was as if water had been wrung dry from the bones and muscles beneath the armor. The hand was shriveled and stiff, losing functionality.


    Even more fatal was that disorder appeared within what had been an intact Archetype Format. The Format of Fire weakened in strength.


    ¡°Amazing!¡±


    Though Luo Nan¡¯s vision was blurry, he could still sense Rui Wen. He really wanted to give her a high-five right now.


    Rui Wen¡¯s attack went from the intangible to the material, from the material to the intangible. It was realized on both the material and the mental nes, a marvelous and outstanding shifting. The ability originally affected the mental ne, having results like the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s Siege Hammer attack. Yet it also could y the material, having inflicted heavy damage to the fleshly body of the Deep Blue Walker.


    This genius-style attack exceeded all the variations that Luo Nan could imagine. He was hooked by that ability and awareness to easily shift between the mental ne and the material ne. He really wanted tounch a Siege Hammer attack to do some experimentation.


    But Rui Wen maintained a calmness that was inconceivable. It was as if the person who had just sunk into absolute passivity, had just narrowly escaped mortal danger, had just unleashed a brilliant and outstanding attack, was apletely different person.


    Her actions were sharp and flowing. She swayed her body lightly and shed herself free from the firm grasp of the Deep Blue Walker¡¯s five fingers. She exerted strength as soon as her feet touched the ground, even though she was barefoot and the ground was covered with broken ss.


    Though ss shards were embedded in her toes, the shards were unable to prate the flesh of the soles of her feet. She gathered her strength into a fist for an attack and charged with force. She collided directly under the open arm of the Deep Blue Walker together with her terrifying deathly-silent de aura.

 Chapter 72: Soul Quelling Tower (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 72: Soul Quelling Tower (Part 2/2)


    Rui Wen¡¯s fist was heavy and tricky. The exoskeleton armor with a weight reaching 300 kg lifted was into the air with a rumble from the force of her fist. It didn¡¯t move a particrly long distance, but the force of the heavy fist had prated the armor to eat away at the bone. The person inside the armor had taken practically all the damage.


    The Deep Blue Walker moaned miserably. He had lost awareness in half his body and had lost his equilibrium. The structure of his Format was a chaotic mess dispersing the Format of Fire. He even had problems with piloting the armor. Right now he was still awake, but he was just relying on strength from his day-to-day training.


    He saw Rui Wen nce at him with her long and narrow eyes and a chill rose rapidly from the bottom of his heart. He gathered thest of his remaining strength tounch himself off the balcony to fly away. His diversion fins spread out slightly and this propulsion device brought him to soar upwards. He had actually left the battlefield.


    After repelling the Deep Blue Walker with a single fist, Rui Wen dropped her body downwards and exerted force once more to spring up and over the railing of the balcony. Her momentum was unstoppable. She soared two meters into the air and she pushed off against the upper wall of the balcony to flip up and over.


    Dark red mes shot out from the balcony below her, a step toote. It was the sweeping ze of Jack¡¯s Format of Fire and it directly destroyed half the balcony.


    The Deep Blue Walker of Quantum Corporation had been worried about bringing Rui Wen back to the Deep Blue World as an experimental subject. He used battle tactics, but he didn¡¯t use deadly force. He had restrained himself.


    But Jack waspletely different. He didn¡¯t care at all.


    The attack had failed. He rushed to the edge of the balcony and stuck out his head to look, but he didn¡¯t see anything.


    The Deep Blue Walker, who was levitating through the air with his diversion fins, had the perfect viewpoint right now. He alerted through the pre-establishedms channel:


    ¡°Below you!¡±


    Jack¡¯s body shivered. He was unable to detect Rui Wen¡¯s body even though his robotic eye was integrated with several detection technologies, even though he was equipped with other sensing instruments.


    But Rui Wen was really below him. She was arge living person, yet she was as incorporeal as a specter. After she had flipped to the balcony above, she had immediately moved to the side and borrowed the shadows on the face of the balcony to drop back down without a noise. She used the railing of the balcony as a screen to let loose an explosive fist the instant Jack received the warning.


    The deathly-silent de aura prated through with its mysterious transformation between void and reality. Jack groaned miserably as he staggered backward to retreat. His leg had been hit.


    He only retreated two steps before his flesh and skin withered and shed in an instant. His fragile bones couldn¡¯t support the weight of his body and snapped with a crack. Half his leg bone was left there.


    Jack toppled backward to smash heavily against the floor. His current appearance was just like that of the once high and mighty Greatmaw Basilisk..... In the way it died.


    ¡°Rui Wen!¡±


    Jack¡¯s face twisted as he howled loudly, but at the same time, he used his hands and feet to suddenly exert strength. He glided on the surface of the messy floor at high speeds and his Deep Sea EM Field and his Format of Fire blended together to form a massive vortex of me. It contracted and expanded continuously to form a powerful repelling force in order to block Rui Wen¡¯s attack of shadow and matter.


    His speed in this form was actually quite fast as he was able to slip out the front door in the blink of an eye. He didn¡¯t close the door this time for there was a moving metal wall that was blocking outside.


    It was yet another Deep Blue Walker.


    This exoskeleton armor looked to be much bulkier than the one that had fled from the balcony. No matter where it stood, it blocked and sealed off the front door of the room. It then turned its arm around to bring out a bulletproof shield attachment. The shield mmed against the ground with a rumble to firmly fix in ce.


    If this was just a shield, it would only be a freebie when faced against Rui Wen¡¯s mysterious ability. The problemy upon this person¡¯s steel body. The mes were scathing as there wereyers andyers of mes that amassed upon the shield. It was clearly a special skill, a specialized technique. Its defensive power was certainly way above normal.


    Luo Nan suddenly thought of something while he was observing the situation. ording to some popr science programs, the Deep Blue Walkers acted in groups of five to seven to form units for their anti-mutant operations.


    Five people had joined hands in killing the burning wraith way back on the warship. They were clearly divided into the military and Quantum Corporation, but they advanced and retreated like clockwork. They definitely had the appropriate joint-assault training and it was definitely hard work.


    In other words, there were at least three other Deep Blue Walkers hear the apartment beside this buff male shield before his eyes and the one that had suffered critical damage by the hands of Rui Wen....


    He just finished processing this thought when heavy footsteps could be heard on the messy balcony. It was certainly another Deep Blue Walker. Both its hands held guns and it appeared to be proficient at operating them. It was clearly not the poor devil that had half its body disposed of.


    Another sound came at the same time from the bedroom


    She was really blocked off.


    This was amonly seen small-configuration apartment in Xia City with its two bedrooms, one living room structure. The ways leading outside were at the front door, the balcony, and the master bedroom.


    Right now three Deep Blue Walkers were blocking three exits. The situation was now set up to be like shooting fish in a barrel.


    This wasn¡¯t a battlefield suited for Deep Blue Walkers, but it would be hard for Rui Wen to have the strength to resist if they could properly make use of their tactical ammunition, of their shock and pulse grenades, to form waves of attacks.


    The situation had made yet another dramatic change.


    Yet Rui Wen made not a noise and not a sound. She had no intention of changing her target. She charged in a straight line towards the sturdy shield bearer outside the door, growing faster and faster in speed.


    Everyone, including Luo Nan, thought that Rui Wen was going to y the same old trick once again and use her mysterious deathly-silent de aura to directly prate the defenses of the shield bearing man.


    Radio waves interweaved through the air as thoughtmunication urred between the several Deep Blue Walkers in an instant: ¡°It¡¯s impossible for Wall Five¡¯s Hundred-Layer me to be prated by a single attack. Follow up with a wave of shock grenades.¡±


    ¡°Artillery Six, copy.¡±


    ¡°Prepare tactical ammunition. Load firearms.¡±


    ¡°Gun Four, copy.¡±


    ¡°Prepare to attack!¡±


    ¡°Copy.¡±


    A tactical grenade was tossed from the bedroom the instant the voices cut out, but Rui Wen¡¯s dash had been too quick and the grenade¡¯s timer wasn¡¯t that lucky. It was impossible for it to explode before Rui Wen and Wall Five collide.


    However, as long as Rui Wen was unable to rush past Wall Five¡¯s iron fortress, the grenade would only need half a second of dy to explode at the back of her head.


    Luo Nan saw the shock grenade from high in the sky. He was just about to prepare a new ritual with the Format Pyramid as a preliminary step to help Rui Wen withstand theing attack.


    But right at this moment, he discovered that all of Rui Wen¡¯s air had increased rapidly in tempo. It was like a densely packed drum beat that was connected as one. And the instant when it seemed to break out of control, it would violently converge back together.


    The change between extreme movement and extreme stillness caused her body and soul water to go into an intense upheaval from what had been an undting pattern. Rui Wen opened her mouth and the air inside and outside interweaved. Then the vibrating wave of this upheaval exploded forth in all directions.


    It was as if Luo Nan heard the roar of a malevolent beast in this moment. But this explosive attack didn¡¯t form material sound waves. Instead, it was directed at the mental ne.


    It was yet another exquisite shifting between the material ne and the mental ne.


    The shield wielding man was using his full strength to guard against Rui Wen¡¯s deathly-silent de aura. His entire attention was focused on his shield. Rui Wen did the very opposite. She let loose a ¡°Psionic Storm¡± that was simr in nature to the Siege Hammer attack.


    This was nothing more than hitting the enemy¡¯s weak spot.


    ¡°Wall Five!¡±


    The shield wielding man¡¯s medical signs had suddenly changed, causing themander of the team to discover that things were far from good and to issue a warning.


    Wall Five wanted to be able to take the blow, but his strength was eroded away after getting hit by the Psionic Storm. It was as if a noiseless dark river had hit him. It was empty, cold, and deste, yet it directly targeted his weak organs. A single attack of pration.


    The Hundred-Layer me suddenly extinguished and Wall Five fell backward to face the sky, his shield covering his body.

 Chapter 73: Fire Within the Lake (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 73: Fire Within the Lake (Part 1/2)


    The shock grenade exploded behind her and Rui Wen threw herself head first onto Wall Five¡¯s body. The intensely shaking air, her body and her soul all rumbled and swayed.


    Yet prior to this Rui Wen had her body and soul maintain the state of upheaval, steadily seizing the tempo. She was like a veteran boatman steering a boat at flying speeds within the enormous gale and waves. Even if she were to face greater stormy seas, she was experienced to the point of proficiency. Theing situation was sheared continuously, leading her to actually cancel out the majority of the attack.


    This sort of excellent battle intuition was truly formidable and terrifying.


    Rui Wen performed a roll on the shield and then jumped up. She walked out two steps with somewhat of a slight stagger. But Luo Nan¡¯s Format Pyramid shed outside her body, soon pacifying this little bit of aftermath damage.


    Rui Wen twisted her head to look all around, searching for traces of Jack. There was not a soul in sight within the corridor of the apartment. The windows and even half the wall had been smashed to pieces in the stairway. With the Deep Blue Walkers¡¯rge sizes, it wasn¡¯t easy to use the elevator or stairs. So, they had directly smashed through the window and wall toe in directly from the air.


    Jack ought to have fled through there.


    Heavy footsteps echoed within the room. The gun-wielding Deep Blue Walker, Gun Four, rushed out the door. His magnificent body performed a tactical maneuver from up high in the air and hended half kneeling onto the ground. He blocked in front of the shield-wielding man, who was unable to get up any longer. The muzzle of the gun locked onto Rui Wen, but he didn¡¯t pull the trigger.


    Even though he was a Deep Blue Walker, two of hisrades had fallen in a row. Clearly, fear was born in his heart, restraining him. He had to think about how to proceed in order to control the problem with the ever decreasing number of members on his team.


    Rui Wen did not consider him to be of importance. She spoke not a word from beginning to end. She just shot a cold nce at the pitch-ck muzzle of the gun and directly leaped down from the smashed window and wall.


    This time she really did leap down.


    Gun Four didn¡¯t attack. Artillery Six had walked to the front door. He looked at the remains of the exploded shock grenade over here. His mouth was mumbling whispers; it was unknown what he was saying.


    Three Deep Blue Walkers were in the narrow staircase and front entrance area, filling the spacepletely. One was standing. One was kneeling. One was lying down. This kind of tactic-less and undisciplined behavior made the leader, Brain One, truly furious:


    "Are you guys just going to give up like this!?¡±


    ¡°In any case, there¡¯s only one third...... Cough! Helmet!¡±


    Wall Five was the one to respond. His air continued to grow weaker after finishing his sentence. Gun Four hurried over to help him remove his helmet in order to avoid Wall Five from choking on his own fresh blood and die.


    Gun Four and Artillery Six looked at each other in dismay when seeing Gun Five¡¯s appearance. They then asked: ¡°How¡¯s Fist Two?¡±


    ¡°His right arm¡¯s broken. Part of his heart lost functionality. He¡¯s being prepared to be sent to the hospital...... Wall Five, just take a car and go.¡±


    ¡°Ah, then things turned out alright.¡±


    The problem was, there was no one who was able tough at the clumsy jest from Brain One aside from the big-hearted Wall Five.


    From the beginning of the attack until now, just over a minute had passed. Rui Wen had gone back and forth between the front door and the balcony, defeating two Deep Blue Walkers and cutting the Burner Jack¡¯s calf. In the end, she withdrew with ease.


    Even if their hands and feet were somewhat tied with having the objective of capturing the target alive, what the hell was this feeling that came from copsing due to a single touch?


    Artillery Six tossed away the remains of the shock grenade in passing. It seemed he wasn¡¯t affected by giving up the search for Rui Wen, so he asked: ¡°Are we still going to enter the second position?¡±


    Brain One didn¡¯t respond immediately.


    In the end, Gun Four couldn¡¯t help asking: ¡°Are you sure we¡¯re not facing a mutant?¡±


    ¡°Looking at the data, half an hour ago the target ughtered a Greatmaw Basilisk like ughtering a chicken...... You should be asking why a transportation mission had suddenly turned into a siege fortification mission!¡±


    His mind had somewhat flown into a rage from the humiliation. He wasn¡¯t the one who ordered the mission to bepleted as fast as possible, but all the following tactical deployments came from his own mouth. He couldn¡¯t help being furious from facing today¡¯splete failure.


    ¡°I have the same misgivings as well. But we don¡¯t have the ability to look into who¡¯s responsible for the time being.¡±


    A sudden radio wave entered the internalmunications channel of the group of Deep Blue Walkers. Yan Yongbo¡¯s figure upied a small portion of their tactical visor.


    ¡°Captain.¡±


    All registered Deep Blue Walkers of Quantum Corporation were part of the Sky Blue Security1pany. Yan Yongbo held the identity of assistant director in Sky Blue Security. He held the post of Captain with four of the Deep Blue Walker teams in Xia City. He was their immediate superior.


    Right now Yan Yongbo was still sitting within the office. His sped hands blocked half his face. No one could tell whether he was delighted or furious: ¡°I¡¯ve already informed the Government, the Military...... and the Ability User Society that a Human-Faced Arachnid has appeared in Kan Avenue Park 23. While a team of Deep Blue Walkers from mypany were transporting en route, they discovered that a Human-Faced Arachnid had encroached on city residents, so they set out to stop it. The halfplete body of the Human-Faced Arachnid stimted the potential of an unidentified person, causing their ability to awaken. ording to the relevant uses of the memorandum, I allowed the temporary use of deadly weapons and submitted a report.¡±


    ¡°Emergency authorization?¡± Brain One, who acted as the teammander, understood Yan Yongbo¡¯s thought process in a sh. It actually came as quite the surprise to him.


    The Deep Blue Walkers of Quantum Corporation were not permitted to be deployed with highly deadly weapons under the authority of the government and military. The Deep Blue Walkers specialized with powerful equipment could only stay idle in weapon warehouses or atop of transport vehicles.......


    Their group was originally assigned a transport mission where they would need to pass through the wilderness, so they were allocated with the appropriate amount of deadly weapons. The weapons were all stored on the transport ship. The original intention was to equip and use the weapons after arriving in the wilderness to protect themselves. But now they had to be used in ordance with Yan Yongbo¡¯s wishes.


    The pressure Yan Yongbo was receiving this time was extremelyrge. If he didn¡¯t handle the situation well, the emergency authorization wouldn¡¯t pass deliberation. His position in thepany would probably slide all the way to the bottom under the pressure from the government and the military.


    Yan Yongbo certainly knew the consequences. But the consequences were nothing inparison to letting Rui Wen escape under his own eyes.


    He continued speaking: ¡°Your mission is extremely critical. You need to eliminate the Human-Faced Arachnid and protect the innocent civilians as best you can at the same time......¡±


    ¡°What about those under the arachnid¡¯s control?¡±


    ¡°Do your best to reduce the damage, but your own safety is still the most important. Use the appropriate terrain and choose long-range weapons.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    Brain One had understood tacitly and terminated the call with Yan Yongbo. He switched to bossing around his underlings: ¡°Let¡¯s carry out the orders then. Luckily there¡¯s a particle cannon in the vehicle. This apartment building looks quite decent. Go mount the particle cannon here. Aim at Park 23. Faster....... Unless you guys want to send Snake Seven, who¡¯s already in ce, into the enemy¡¯s mouth?¡±


    Luo Nan¡¯s gaze followed Rui Wen all this time and he followed her to jump down together. Right now the severely limited range of his senses had finally approximately scanned the external properties of the apartment building. His luck was quite decent too. He barely caught a glimpse of the logo of the apartment.


    This information was transmitted back to his soul body on the spot. His mind branched out and Luo Nan suddenly discovered that his soul body was already extremely close to the location of the incident.


    Before the thought could fade away, the surrounding dusky and muddled area turned radiant in an instant. Luo Nan¡¯s view had changed. The map of his all-epassing senses unfurled in no time. The range increased dramatically. The environment turnedplex. The information was in great quantities. It was as if a hurricane on the ground had surrounded him within.


    Then Luo Nan had a certain unprecedented feeling of permeability.


    The night wind that brushed past his body was slightly cool.


    1. Sky Blue Security is first mentioned in the end of chapter 11. It is said that they are an organization within Quantum Corporation that deals with Quantum Corporation¡¯s security.

 Chapter 73: Fire Within the Lake (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 73: Fire Within the Lake (Part 2/2)


    Permeability did not matter to the incorporeal.


    Luo Nan¡¯s gaze concentrated into the night sky. The cool autumn breeze passed through his current location. The stream of air was like an incorporeal river, rippling with fine waves that were hard to see with the naked eye.


    Luo Nan never experienced this before; he sensed clearly how much he had improved in this way. His soul body could intervene with the material ne, leaving a trace of himself in the air.


    He instinctively raised his hands to size them up.


    Luo Nan hadn¡¯t paid much attention to his soul body per se. From his understanding, the soul body was like a specter. It was transparent and fuzzy like a simple projection.


    But now, the act of raising his hands was the same customary action of an ordinary person. He was also able to see two slender arms. And these arms were even covered in the jacket he was wearing today. He was semi-transparent at first nce, but a shallow aure of light was radiated from inside to outside. It was a sort of alternative sense of reality.


    It wasn¡¯t just his arm. Every part of his soul body was like this as well.


    The aure was the product of the interference between the mental and the material ne. It gave Luo Nan a practical reference that he could feel.


    If he deliberately interfered with the material ne, the intensity of the aure would increase. His actions caused the light to manifest outside.


    And if he were to deliberately pull away from the material ne, the aure would rapidly fade away, causing his soul to return to being hard to see with the naked eye.


    Of course, this was merely the most basic method of execution. A great amount of energy would be wasted upon use. It waspletely inefficient. A truly highly efficient method...... would be known just by looking at Rui Wen.


    Right now Rui Wen was ¡°running¡± on the outside wall of the apartment building. The word ¡°running¡± was extremely suitable for what she was doing.


    The scale of this apartment building was quite decent. It had a height exceeding a hundred stories, which meant it was over three hundred meters high. Rui Wen was moving on the vertical face of the building. She was slow at first, using both her hands and feet. But soon she grasped the way to maintain her bnce, relying only on her two legs. Once in awhile she would do a coordinated jump. It didn¡¯t matter if there were any balconies protruding out, she borrowed the support of the railing to move as if she were on t ground.


    Luo Nan felt that her abilities were every bit a match with those veterans of the Society. At least on the Friday night operation, Cat Eyes had descended down the side of a building at flying speeds from a high altitude. It seemed that her rush down wasn¡¯t as sharp and fast as Rui Wen¡¯s was right now.


    And separated around twenty stories below Rui Wen was the figure of Jack rapidly descending.


    Jack obviously knew that Rui Wen was chasing him. Though his leg had been snapped off, he could rely on the state of his superhuman body, use his arms and feet, and rely on the effects of his Deep Sea EM Field to be like a gecko dropping down at rapid speed. His speed wasn¡¯t considered slow...... But the problem was, Rui Wen was faster!


    In the space of a single breath, the distance between the two was drawn to being less than ten floors and to be within thirty meters.


    Jack turned his head and swept a nce. Then he looked back down again. There were still forty stories of height left......


    He suddenly screeched and suddenly jump down. This action seemed to be deadly, but the direction he moved was extremely urate. He crashed through the middle of two decorative ss terraces and was stalled by a steel support structure for a moment before smashing onto the ground.


    The time was midnight. The pedestrian vehicles in the vicinity were scarce in number. Yet amidst the sound of a rumbling motor came an elerating military all terrain vehicle. It drew in at rapid speeds.


    Jack got up with a jump, colliding into the ATV.


    This was far too coincidental. Who would believe that this wasn¡¯t pre-nned?


    Luo Nan had seen Jack use the terraces as a buffer as he broke them. Rui Wen couldn¡¯t copy this, so he probably broke free from her. And once that ATV would drive onto the high-speed maic rails, Rui Wen would find it hard to chase after Jack even if her courage and strength were iparable.


    With a churning of his mind, Luo Nan locked onto the driver of the ATV. He borrowed a bit of strength from the Human-Face Arachnid, which was being cultivated. The Siege Hammer was unleashed, the attack hit dead on, and the driver grew weak and copsed.


    The ATV rapidly switched over to its autopilot function, but high-speed motorized movements would certainly need the input of a driver during the heat of battle. Right now the ATV lost a bit of control and needed some time to automatically recover from this backswing. Rui Wen took this time to jump down from the apartment building.


    It was forty stories! It might even be a bit higher.....


    Luo Nan was just stupefied in ce.


    Right now Rui Wen made a graceful jump as if everything was normal. She jumped into the night sky of Xia City from the vertical face of the building.


    The dusky color of night blended with the neon lights of the metropolis to form a messy smear of a background. Rui Wen¡¯s slim figure was the most eye-catching silhouette within it.


    When the force of her jump was nearly exhausted, when gravity was about to be the prevailing force on her body, a wave of air exploded from her body with a bang. It was as if she shook off some shackles of some sort. Her entire person became like a glider. She swept past at low altitude,bining speed and gracefulness perfectly. Gravity was forced back.


    Rui Wen couldn¡¯tpletely ovee gravity, but she could control the direction. She found a ce where she could borrow some force and grabbed the long extending pole of a streetmp. She did something that even a world-ss gymnast would find difficult to do. She rotated once around the pole and flipped into the air,pletely eliminating the damage that would have been brought by gravity andpletely entering a domain that could be controlled.


    Rui Wen dropped to the ground gracefully in the next moment. Her position was about thirty meters to the front-right of the ATV.


    Luo Nan saw first hand the entire course of events of Rui Wen leaping down from high in the sky. He could only gasp in admiration at this.


    During the course of events, Rui Wen¡¯s merged-as-one body and soul tempo had reached the end-limit of change. It was like her entire body was shifting back and forth between the material ne and the mental ne. The boundary between the two waspletely blurred. There were even a few shes where she seemed to transform into the void.


    Luo Nan was closely linked to Rui Wen, so he was able to lock onto those inconceivable shes of time. Because of this, he was able to start understanding the single logical principle behind all of Rui Wen¡¯sbat abilities.


    She was a person who roamed at the edge of the world. The merged-as-one body and soul tempo was an inconceivable superpower. It gave her the gifted instinct to shift back and forth between the material ne and the mental ne. It made each and every one of her actions hard to pin down and impossible to withstand.


    But Jack wasn¡¯t moved emotionally the same as Luo Nan.


    ¡°Go f**k yourself!¡±


    The unconscious driver had been pushed out from the ATV. Jack ground his teeth as he switched to manual mode. The ATV¡¯s speed didn¡¯t decrease but increased, facing Rui Wen as it came charging over.


    Rui Wen dodged out of the way and Jack went ¡°Humph¡± from within the vehicle. The ATVpletely couldn¡¯t be hindered. A me shot out from his shoulder; another attack was sent at Rui Wen. The Format of Fire seemed to be out of control.


    Perhaps it was because things were like this that Jack didn¡¯t slow down the ATV at all. He deviated to the side and cut into a green park nearby, crashing into the flower bed that surrounded the park with a boom. Jack flew directly out of the front car window under the effects of the intense inertia. He had saved some time getting out of a car. After a roll, he ducked his way into the trees.


    Rui Wen maintained her silence. She was like a ghostly phantom, sweeping over the treetops, continuing her pursuit.


    Jack practically had no chance to catch his breath and he had lost the courage to face Rui Wen head on inbat. He tunneled his way through the shrubs of the park using his hands and legs. He used this sort of sorry and humiliating method with gritted teeth to buy time for a contact signal that should have long arrived.


    This was the second battlefield confirmed by Yan Yongbo¡¯s underlings to him. This was an expansive area where the Deep Blue Walkers could truly disy their abilities.


    As soon as Rui Wen was lured here, the in-position five-to-seven Deep Blue Walkers wouldunch a joint attack. They would use their absolute power to suppress and capture Rui Wen.


    But who was going to tell him where the team of Deep Blue Walkers was at?


    The bushes reached their end. Ahead was a small artificialke. The pitch-ck surface of the water blocked the way ahead. Jack couldn¡¯t stop his body in time and he didn¡¯t dare to stop still. He charged into theke head first.


    Rui Wen arrived noiselessly to the skies above theke the instant he entered the water. Her deathly-silent de aura erased across and fine ripples were shaken onto the water¡¯s surface. A muffled scream came from theke¡¯s surface, as well as the sudden illumination of dark-red mes.


    Rui Wen locked onto the deranged and suddenly weak air at the bottom of theke. She adjusted her stance slightly and was just about to enter the water to finally settle things once and for all when a tinyser dot shined on her body above theke¡¯s surface.


    A terrifying attack descended in the next moment!

 Chapter 74: Blood Spirit Seed (Part ?)

    Chapter 74: Blood Spirit Seed (Part ?)


    The electrically charged particles collided fiercely with the molecules of the air. The atmosphere of the skies above theke seemed to suddenly be painted with the color of devilish-green. The intensely twisting air was likeyers andyers of flickering demon-fire that covered the near-two-acreke.


    The reaction of the molecules didn¡¯t matter; the kic energy of the attack had arrived a step ahead of it.


    The particle beam was weakened by the near-two-kilometer straight line distance. The beam had already diffused out rapidly, losing a substantial amount of its prating force. But the scope of diffusion was so great that there wouldn¡¯t be an opportunity to dodge at all.


    Rui Wen¡¯s body had been in the air above theke. She was smashed instantaneously into theke by the terrifying attack. Theke swelled and then gushed up two meters high, then she sunk directly to the bottom.


    Then the stream of rays generated from the particle beam covered the entire surface of theke, contributing just a little bit of its effects to the attack.


    ¡°Confirmed hit on the target,¡± reported Artillery Six calmly from atop the apartment building. ¡°We¡¯ve been locked on by a satellite. The SCA is trying to link with us remotely with their authority. They¡¯re requesting assistance in shielding.¡±


    ¡°Understood. Standby for thirty seconds. We can withdraw after we confirm the extent of damage to the target.¡±


    Brain One¡¯s response had been simple. Then he called out a different member of the team: ¡°Snake Seven.¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    ¡°Snake Seven!¡±


    ¡°Okay okay okay. I know already. Nevertheless, I have to wait for the radiation to drop a bit. Damn, why must these kinds of dangerous work always fall into my hands?¡±


    Azy voice, which was on apletely different wavelength than the other members of the team, had spoken out. The voice was quite sessful in making Brain One¡¯s face turn ashen. Brain One even felt a headacheing on.


    Even though Yan Yongbo was helping endorse the use of the particle cannon, firing this grade of a weapon within the confines of Xia City put him under a great deal of stress.


    Evidence for locking them up in prison was locked in the second the particle cannon was mounted on the building; they would be sent to the court ofw after everything was over. Even if they had Quantum Corporation backing them, he was unwilling to take this risk.


    And right now it was none other than Snake Seven, this fellow, who was carrying out the current mission.


    Brain One barked: ¡°The radiation of this area won¡¯t drop even after a hundred years if you don¡¯t intervene. Move faster!¡±


    Snake Seven cursed, but his actions weren¡¯t as prudent as the words he had spoken.


    A Deep Blue Walker with a slender build flew out of hiding from the outer side of theke half a secondter. He was propelled by a propulsion device to pass through the extremely scorching atmosphere. He inspected in a circle above theke.


    ¡°Damn. This old fashioned armor is not radiation hardened at all. The built-in measurement instruments have all been fried.......¡±


    ¡°You have fifteen seconds before I have Artillery Six fire another round.¡±


    ¡°F**K!¡± Snake Seven immediately stoppedining; he knew that the team leader would really do such a thing.


    His efficiency increased under pressure. Snake Seven reported back five secondster: ¡°I¡¯ve discovered the response of the target...... Wait, false report.¡±


    ¡°Snake Seven!¡±


    ¡°There are two people in theke okay? The interfering element always needs to be eliminated first right?¡±


    Snake Seven had flown down to theke while he was speaking, lifting the culprit who had caused him to make a false report and tossing the culprit onto theke¡¯s shore.


    ¡°Jack? Is he still alive?¡±


    Brain One wasn¡¯t the one who had spoken; it was Yan Yongbo. Yan Yongbo, themander, was one level higher up than Brain One. Yan Yongbo had bypassed ranks to speak time and time again. Clearly, the pressure he was facing was not the least bit smaller than what Brain One was facing.


    Snake Seven pulled Jack¡¯s face over: ¡°Ew. It¡¯s like this guy¡¯s skull is a dehydrated fig.¡±


    ¡°I need the Deep Sea Type 4 Dynamo Core inside his brain...... Forget it. Just bring his corpse back.¡±


    ¡°As you wish, sir. Oh right. Leader, can you give me fifteen more seconds?¡±


    ¡°Ten seconds!¡± said Brain One, clearly speaking through gritted teeth.


    Snake Seven gestured with an ¡°OK¡± sign to the building far in the distance. Then he entered the waters once again.


    Yan Yongbo had a feeling that his current actions were suspect to be beyond his authority. He took the initiative to privately chat with Snake Seven to alleviate this ufortable feeling: ¡°Is Snake Seven that ¡®Radiation Kid¡¯? The ability user who spontaneously awakened, but wanted to be a Burner?¡±


    Brain One also needed to alleviate his tense mental nerves. He spoke with what he had heard before: ¡°Yes. He has the shocking ability to neutralize radiation for his own gain. After integrating with the Format of Fire, he is truly like a tiger that has grown wings. It¡¯s just that...... it¡¯s very hard to correct his nature.¡±


    ¡°Give him a smackingter?¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s best not to go hurt others,¡±ughed Brain One bitterly.


    Snake Seven had discovered the true target while these two were speaking. Actually, he didn¡¯t really need to use much energy to find the one and only source of light in the dark waters. This should be right.


    ¡°I¡¯ve found the target. Oh, what skill¡¯s effect is this?¡±


    Rui Wen¡¯s body had yet to settle in the muddy and dirty water. She was floating up and down within the underwater currents. Her arms and legs hung without energy; she had already entered a state of unconsciousness.


    Yet there was a dazzling glow around her body. A meticulous graphical structure was enveloped within. Snake Seven had seen this structure so much in training to the point of vomiting.


    ¡°The Archetype Format?¡±


    His superiors used their authority to ess and observe his viewpoint together.


    Brain One reminded Snake Seven: ¡°Don¡¯t think too much. The target had disyed a simr conditionst time she woke up from unconsciousness. And there¡¯s also the time when she recovered from the shock grenade......¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    Snake Seven disyed efficient work. He raised up his gun and shot Rui Wen¡¯s body head on. Rui Wen had no reaction whatsoever, but the graphical structure¡¯s glow gradually faded away.


    Brain One continued guessing when he saw this scene: ¡°Perhaps this is some ability of the target, a regeneration ability that activates unconsciously?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps.¡± Yan Yongbo wasn¡¯t talkative. Brain One didn¡¯t have the qualifications to talk about information involving the Apocalypse Laboratory.


    ¡°If the high-potency anesthetic has no effect, we can just cut off her arms and legs......¡± Though Snake Seven had spoken in such a way, when he got close to Rui Wen he took out EM shackles that he prepared ahead of time. He fixed them onto Rui Wen¡¯s wrist.


    Rui Wen¡¯s two hands were firmly locked together under the powerful maic force. It looked like shecked the ability to fight back any longer.


    ¡°Complete.¡±


    Brain One let out a long sigh: ¡°Dismount the cannon, Artillery Six. Time to withdraw.¡±


    Artillery Six rapidly dismantled the ad hoc support structure for the cannon and Gun Four came from a different direction to help out at this time. The two people carried the heavy equipment and flew directly down the apartment building.


    The equipment transport vehicle was already waiting there at this time.


    There was also a personnel transport vehicle that drove into Park 23 and arrived at theke¡¯s shore for support. The logistics crew got off the vehicle and moved Jack¡¯s corpse to the back of the vehicle.


    Frankly speaking, this sort of action was a bit discriminating to the injured personnel. The injured Fist Two and Wall Five were all in the back of the vehicle in preparation to be transported to the hospital. It was seriously unlucky to have a corpse with them in the back.


    But thinking about it, Rui Wen should be in a critical state after being hit by the particle cannon. She should being along with them to the hospital.


    Snake Seven had yet to board the vehicle. The logistics crew stuffed Jack¡¯s corpse inside. Luckily the vehicle was spacious; they didn¡¯t need to worry about running out of space.


    But a ¡°crack!¡± suddenly sounded out when the corpse was ced down. Several people looked around at the cause of the sound and what they saw was Jack¡¯s shriveled skull being split open.


    The scalp hade off the skull. A faint red glow pierced out from the sutures1 within the bone.


    The sutures likely came from the alteration that Jack underwent.

 Chapter 74: Blood Spirit Seed (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 74: Blood Spirit Seed (Part 2/2)


    ¡°This lighting from the skull..... The insides must bepletely empty by now.¡±


    Fist Two was still wearing the exoskeleton armor within the car at this time. Only his helmet was off, exposing the pale face of a middle aged man.


    He was already outside ofbat, yet he was still wearing the exoskeleton armor. This was because his left arm was broken, the right half of his muscles werergely withered up, and his ribs were broken. The unique support structure of the Deep Blue Walker allowed his various fractures to be kept in ce and not be deformed.


    This bitter injury was caused by none other than Rui Wen. Therefore when Fist Two saw the condition of Jack¡¯s body, he was mentally reminded of his own misfortune and was rather rueful.


    Facing across from him was the short and stout Wall Five, who was unloading his armor. Wall Five held a breathing device and leaned over there pretending to be dead. He opened his mouth with eyes half open to speak obscurely, his lips bringing the scent of blood:


    ¡°My inner organs are going to bepletely empty too..... What¡¯s inside?¡±


    ¡°Dunno. Let the hospital dissect himter then,¡± spoke Fist Two. Then heughed bitterly, ¡°We¡¯ve been dissected ourselves too.¡±


    Wall Five gritted his teeth in recollection: ¡°F**k man, what kind of nefarious ability does this target have? To be this sinister to this degree? Is her stomach just stuffed with poison?¡±


    Fist Two pressed lightly against his stomach, but obviously, he wouldn¡¯t be able to feel it since he was wearing the thick armor: ¡°I heard that the target was the face of the underground fighting arena. She participated in below-18 fights and she just awakened half an hour ago. She should be a gifted ss based on the type of her ability. But the feeling I got when facing her ispletely different....¡±


    Wall Five coughed: ¡°If she¡¯s a gifted ss, I¡¯ll dig out my own heart!¡±


    ¡°Even if you don¡¯t dig your heart out, it¡¯s going to be dug out anyway. The scale of alteration you¡¯ll need will easily exceed 50%. Us tworades must head on the path of Altered Humans to survive.¡±


    Wall Five banged his head against the steel ting of the vehicle: ¡°Altered Human. Altered Human. My ten years of sweat and blood... will be wasted from this alteration.¡±


    ¡°That may not be true.¡± Fist Two lowered his head to look at the sinister appearance of Jack¡¯s death, ¡°This fellow is an Altered Human, but he is a Burner as well.¡±


    He reached out his hand to touch Jack¡¯s skull while he was talking. The dark-red rays wereing from precisely inside to radiate outwards through the sutures of the skull.


    But he never expected Jack¡¯s skull to be this frail. The scalp had ked and split. The finger enveloped in armor touched the skull lightly causing a piece of bone to actuallye off and fall inside the skull with a despondent sound.


    And so a cavity was formed. The red glow inside was even more eye-catching now. Fist Two and Wall Five had good eyes. With just a nce of an eye, they were able to get a general idea.


    Wall Five was given a fright: ¡°This brain tissue...... Will the condition of my body be like this in the future?¡±


    Fist Two snorted. He didn¡¯t rush to check Jack, instead, he essed the teamms: ¡°An anomaly has been discovered with Jack¡¯s intracranial cavity......¡±


    ¡°Open it and take a look.¡± Yan Yongbo took matters into his own hands once again, speaking over Brain One¡¯s position. In the end, he supplemented with, ¡°Open the shared view.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    Fist Two turned on the camera built into his shoulder and exerted force at the same time. Jack¡¯s malevolent skull was pinched to pieces like a dried up eggshell. He could see the shriveled and withered brain tissue inside. It had shrunk to merely the size of an egg. Normally brain tissue was whitish gray, but this tissue was nearly ck. It was as if a fire had zed it to be burnt. It was seriously deformed.


    But even more eye-catching was the object in the center upper section. What looked like a wheat kernel was embedded there, still radiating with a subtle light.


    Fist Two scanned the kernel with instruments and reported back with the relevant information: ¡°The brain tissue has lost activity. The kernel in the center has the qualities of a metalloid. Its surface temperature is 90 degrees centigrade......¡±


    ¡°Take it out for further inspection.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    Fist Two reached out with his right hand with nimble and borate fingers, even though they were enveloped by a thick metal glove. He pinched and lifted the ¡°metal wheat kernel¡± practically without touching the deformed brain tissue at all.


    Various sensing instruments continued to disy their effects. Soon high precision scans erged the fine structure of the metal wheat kernel to full view.


    Yan Yongbo waited before confirming at this time that this wheat kernel was actually formed from a thin, hair-like metal wire coiling tightly and closely woven around itself. The coiling loops of lines were so densely woven that no slits could be seen at all.


    ¡°Dynamo Core?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s none other than the Dynamo Core....... Deep Sea Type 4. Never thought it could be arranged into this form?¡±


    The back door of the vehicle opened at this time and Snake Seven said a word in passing. He carried the unconscious Rui Wen aboard and the vehicle immediately started.


    ¡°Deeper inside, deeper inside.¡±


    Snake Seven shooed the two injured soldiers to go deeper inside and his leg to kick Jack¡¯s corpse aside in passing. Only then did he put Rui Wen down and take off his helmet to reveal a face of a young man. His face was slim and slightly sunken, but it was one that loved to smile and was full of sunshine.


    He let out a long sigh: ¡°Things are finally settled. Why is it when I¡¯mte ining back that you all just smash someone¡¯s skull in pieces? Do other ces use proxies too?¡±


    Fist Two was over ten years older than this young man. He was normally very caring for this little pal. He was unwilling to let this kid be too presumptuous in front of their superiors and attract bad impressions. So, he gave him an eye signal and drew him into a proper topic:


    ¡°The radiation rating there is far too high. The follow-up work won¡¯t be an issue right?¡±


    ¡°No problem. I¡¯ve already started my ¡®active interference¡¯. I wouldn¡¯t havee back sote if I didn¡¯t...... Back to what you were saying Yan, sir. What particr usage does the Dynamo Core have in this form?¡±


    Before Yan Yongbo could respond, Brain One transmitted over: ¡°Vehicle No. 2. What the hell did you all do? The route is wrong.¡±


    ¡°You were the one who nned all the routes ahead of time......¡±


    Snake Seven extended his head to look toward the driver¡¯s area in the front. But his face only reached halfway before his pupils suddenly erged and a shout exploded from his throat:


    ¡°Your eyes!... Careful!¡±


    His body exploded with the ignition of the Format of Fire upon speaking. His body leaped forward with ferocity, and then his forehead went a bit numb just like that.


    Snake Seven was unable to deal with anything else. He used his forward momentum to reach out with his hand and grab his two heavily injuredrades.


    Fist Two and Wall Five were both veteran burners. They discovered that something was wrong at nearly the instant when Snake Seven¡¯s face turned color. They did precisely the same as Snake Seven. Their first reaction was to ignite their Format of Fire.


    But the problem was, they were doomed to the impossibility of realizing the peak of their reactions with the current state of their bodies; they may not even be able to seed in forming the Format of Fire.


    The two were more than a step behind.


    When Snake Seven was rushing over, his eyes, supported by the Format of Fire, were able to despairingly see several thin threads that were hard to see with the naked eye. They came splitting out from the metal wheat kernel in between Fist Two¡¯s fingers to pierce into the eyeballs of Fist Two and Wall Five.


    Then came a vibration of terror, forming a moment of irreversible destruction. Wall Five¡¯s eyeballs exploded and he fell askew with a moan. The metal wheat kernel clearly took Fist Two as its main attack target amidst Fist Two¡¯s screams. Countless of the same threads, hard to see with the naked eye, pierced through the internals of Fist Two¡¯s exoskeleton armor.


    Snake Seven¡¯s right hand grabbed onto Wall Five¡¯s calf at this time, his left hand already holding onto Fist Two¡¯s shoulder.


    Fist Two¡¯s foot was raised noiselessly amidst his screams. The foot heavily stomped into Snake Seven¡¯s stomach with explosive force. Though this young man was holding onto Wall Five, this one kick expelled them out of the vehicle.

 Chapter 75: Demon Eye (Part ?)

    Chapter 75: Demon Eye (Part ?)


    Snake Seven originally wanted to borrow force from the closed vehicle door and had reacted ordingly. But the electronically controlled metal door opened noiselessly without a sound, giving him no opportunity whatsoever. A sheet of empty air was behind him and the force that pierced against his stomach continued to press against him until he rammed against the ground.


    The exoskeleton armor collided with the ground, grinding out a stream of sparks. Snake Seven was left with protecting Wall Five with all his strength as the high-speed traveling transport vehicle rapidly pulled the distance.


    Snake Seven red at the taillights of the distance transport vehicle. His eyes were bloodshot as he raised his right arm. Heunched a miniature EMP grenade in the next moment. It flew high in the air, tracing urately a parab andnding in front of the transport vehicle.


    A muffled explosion sounded out. Snake Seven urately controlled and directed a stream of gamma rays to prate the area where the shielding was weakest in the transport vehicle, frying practically all its electronic gear in an instant.


    The vehicle suddenly lost control, went perpendicr, and flipped over. The five-ton vehicle maintained its inertia and slid several dozens of meters before stopping.


    Fist Two¡¯s figure had already flown out from the vehicle during its slide. Under the ingenious control of the propulsion device, Fist Two ended up standing on top of the stopped vehicle.


    Snake Seven was not happy at all to see the familiar figure. Instead, a deep chill rose pratingly from the bottom of his heart.


    Fist Two¡¯s face had turned deathly gray at this time. His life force waspletely exhausted, but before his eyes was the ¡°metal wheat kernel¡± propped up by countless fine threads. The kernel burned with the color of blood and approached endlessly closer towards Fist Two¡¯s face. It stuffed itself into Fist Two¡¯s empty eye socket and radiated with a devilish and distorted red glow.


    ¡°I¡¯ll screw you back eight generations!¡± cursed Snake Seven from a distance of several dozens of meters away.


    The young man original intention was to charge over there, but right now Wall Five¡¯s air was growing weaker and weaker. Blood flowed endlessly from his eyes yet again. He had pumped up his energy just then, and he had received intense disturbing forces. These jolted and shook his frail internal organs. He kept coughing, finding it hard to stop. Snake Seven could see with just a nce that Wall Five was on the verge of dying.


    Snake Seven injected Wall Five with the life-prolonging drug deployed within his exoskeleton armor. He howled within themunications channel: ¡°Brain One. Anyone. Anyone?¡±


    Brain One bone-chilling voice responded: ¡°de Three will be in position in seven seconds. Vehicle No. One will arrive in fifteen seconds. Snake Seven, be on standby for now.¡±


    ¡°Screw your standby......¡±


    ¡°Cough.¡±


    A coughing sound was heard within themunications channel, causing the entire channel to suddenly turn silent. What had been Fist Two¡¯s wavelength had already changed to a different voice.


    ¡°What a pleasant surprise...... There¡¯s actually originum. Quantum Corporation¡¯s newest walkers are already using originum as their backup power source? It¡¯s nearly forty percent in purity. This is excellent, excellent.¡±


    ¡°Excellent your mother!¡± spat back Snake Seven when he opened his mouth.


    Brain One was about to do ast-minute encryption on theirwork to sidestep this frequency when the voice mentioned a name: ¡°Mr. Yan. I know you¡¯re here.¡±


    Yan Yongbo¡¯s restrained voice cut in after a second of silence: ¡°Jack. What the hell are you up to!?¡±


    ¡°Showing you the marvels of the Dynamo Core in this form!¡±


    Dark red mes exploded from the eyes, the nostrils, and the mouth of Fist Two as Jack was speaking. It rapidly formed together to spread all around Fist Two¡¯s body.


    ¡°I am extremely apologetic for such a thing to happen. I should have used more peaceful methods, but I have no choice; I am far too hungry. Do you remember? You had used my previous body as bait to make that shot with the marvelous and peerless particle cannon. It would have been nothing were it not for my power supply being cut off. I was forced to look elsewhere to amend this.¡±


    ¡°Otherwise, the new life that I had worked so hard for would havee to a premature end. I didn¡¯t want things to be this way, and you shouldn¡¯t either. If not, who will show you the Dynamo Core¡¯s......Oh, f**k off!¡±


    The heavy-dark streak of a shimmering de had cut across; it was the hidden assassin of the team, de three. He had borrowed the shadows of the dark night to leap onto the transport vehicle and perform an attack from behind.


    This was a specially configured exoskeleton armor. It was practically a whisper all the way until the shimmer of the de was right at Jack¡¯s body. Only then did the armor unleash its full might. The explosive boost from the auxiliary propulsion device caused the de¡¯s edge to break through the sound barrier in an instant. The de was already in reach of Fist Two¡¯s neck.


    ¡°Fool!¡±


    The nozzle of the auxiliary propulsion device changed directions in a sh and the internal cushioning installed within the armor oddly became loose and soft. The twisting force was appliedpletely onto the arm within the armor.


    de Three¡¯s arm broke in seventeen~eighteen ces. The single de-strike moved with the force of thunder towards a direction unknown to him. It went down the stomach andnded on a leg. He fell and crashed somewhere, not knowing what happened.


    And right in front of Jack, Snake Seven had taken the interval of de Three¡¯s surprise attack to make a sudden assault with all his strength. Snake Seven charged several dozens of meters in a breath¡¯s time. The Format of Fire burned with full force. A dark aperture opened up on the chest of the armor, rays of light coalescing within.


    ¡°There¡¯s another particle cannon?.......A miniature model?¡±


    The raging ming eye of Fist Two turned over here. The deathly face, which already lost all the life force of flesh, revealed a twisted and terrifying smile, a smile belonging to Jack.


    ¡°What a retard. Don¡¯t go making a fool of yourself okay.¡±


    Snake Seven was overwhelmed with shock as he discovered that his exoskeleton armor, which he had been integrated with like a single body, suddenly went heavy. All power towards movement had faded away. All signals were blocked off. And the docking circuits of the Dynamo Core used to realize the Format were all severed one by one.


    He was no longer a Deep Blue Walker right now. Instead, he bore a weight exceeding two-hundred kilograms. He was neutered to failure, an unfortunate man who copsed helplessly in front of his objective.


    Snake Seven¡¯s stomach received another kick in practically the same area as before. He flew a dozen meters backward, crashing to the ground with a rumble.


    He struggled to get up, but then in front of him, he saw the transport vehicle start up, even though it had all its electronic equipment fried by his EMP grenade. Its four wheels actually started to spin, bringing the vehicle to move, turn, and then speed up. Within his moment of shock, the vehicle had already pulled quite the distance.


    Jack¡¯s voice continued to sound out within themunications channel: ¡°Mr. Yan. As you can see, ever since the Dynamo Core was developed, it existed for the sake of helping man control machines. Even a pile of scrap iron can transform into a terrifying weapons tform within the hands of the truly powerful."


    ¡°Of course in my perspective, the most important thing is this configuration of the Dynamo Core. It¡¯s emting the format of life. Life is able to enter a different state with control over this configuration and with sufficient energy. In a certain sense, this is close to eternal life.¡±


    ¡°Our agreement is still valid. But I will need to point out punitive conditions for your disappointing behavior. I hope you will make some mental preparations.¡±


    As Jack¡¯s voice faded away, a dark red streak cut in from above to pierce the ¡°head¡± of the ming Fist Two. An EM sniper rifle round caused the entire skull to explode into pieces with its powerful kic energy. Blood sma, brain tissue, and bone fragments sttered all around.


    In the back, Snake Seven smashed the ground heavily and made a roar.


    Yet Jack¡¯s calm voice continued to sound out. It was ice-cold like the devil:


    ¡°Your punitive conditions have been doubled.¡±


    The burning ¡°metal wheat kernel¡± seemed to float in ce within the vacuum above the exoskeleton armor. It was like the ominous pupil of a demon as it cast a frigid and caustic light towards all.

 Chapter 75: Demon Eye (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 75: Demon Eye (Part 2/2)


    The transport vehicle drove onto the high-speed maic rail, shaking off the group of people from Quantum Corporation far in the distance.


    A headless corpse sat quietly within the confines of the vehicle. Jack¡¯s demon eye used the illuminating mes to take a cold look at everything inside the vehicle from above the mutted and broken neck.


    The conflict just now had caused quite the mess within the vehicle. Two bodies used to be ced down here, but they were tossed around to be all over the ce from the effects of inertia.


    Jack¡¯s corpse was deeper inside; it had been knocked under a seat right now.


    Rui Wen¡¯s body was curled up. Her hands were tightly bound together by the powerful EM shackles. She was a bit closer to the demon eye.


    Actually, Jack already lost all interest in the other headless corpse. Even if that used to be his body, the body that had gone through alterations time and time again no longer held any meaning once the Dynamo Core was extracted out from it. The sole emotion that his old corpse stirred up was contempt.


    The same feeling of contempt was felt against the corpse he was currently possessing.


    This Burner¡¯s body used to be quite decent, but after crossing paths with Rui Wen, half its body seemed to bepletely crippled. Its right hand was broken and right now its head had been sttered by an attack. It had changed from an oil tank that could barely supply Jack with energy to a tattered water sack that couldn¡¯t even be repaired.


    The power system of the Deep Blue Walker was what was genuinely providing him with energy. It was the block of originum stored in the backup power supply.


    Oh, that¡¯s right.


    Fine metal threads like nothingness probed out from the mutted and severed neck. They pierced inside a different exoskeleton armor to form an ad hoc parallel power draw structure.


    The armor had been taken off by Wall Five. The power supply was half full and it also contained a block of originum in reserve.


    ¡°Perfect.¡±


    He sighed with emotion as fine threads manifested from the structure to bore through in a flowing and meticulous manner. It was inconceivably exquisite. Then when his gaze switched over to Rui Wen¡¯s body, a different emotion flourished. Its name:


    Greed.


    The glow of mes circted upon the demon eye, causing the fine thread structure to transmit with the subtle vibration of a rippling light. It was unbroken as one: ¡°I must have been possessed in the past. Such a perfect body was ced before my eyes and I actually wanted to destroy her! Those idiots, they...... and that includes the previous me, don¡¯t realize where the value of this body lies at all.¡±


    The gaze continued to sweep across Rui Wen¡¯s body. A deep scan revealed to him a cauterized injury, caused by the piercing of the high-speed particle cannon, and several wounds in the form of internal swelling and deformation. Jack even felt somewhat of a heartacheing on.


    ¡°I must do a detailed examination of this body in the future. I hope that the radiation didn¡¯t cause any irreversible injuries. Then if everything goes smoothly, the Dynamo Core can live as a parasite using this body as a host. With a careful arrangement of the Dynamo Core¡¯s configuration, it can fuse as one with Rui Wen¡¯s original soul configuration and ability configuration. Nothing would be further ideal than that. It doesn¡¯t matter if she is a girl. This body represents unlimited potential...... Oh, soul configuration?¡±


    His thoughts had arrived at this point, a different piece of information suddenly stood out after being slipped over. It made Jack suddenly be on guard. The demonic eye suddenly red, switching through several different detection methods in a sh. He scanned within the vehicle, especially giving the surrounding area of Rui Wen¡¯s body several more scans.


    In the end, he used the amplifier installed within the exoskeleton armor to transform signals and let out a buzzing sound: ¡°Youngster. How long are you going to keep hiding for?¡±


    The vehicle was a sheet of silence; there was no reply at all.


    The me of the demon eye stared dead-fixed upon Rui Wen¡¯s body: ¡°It looks like you want to protect this girl. Your soul configuration¡¯s strength was extremely amazing back in the apartment. It¡¯s so funny. Yan Yongbo and the others had thought this ability belonged to Rui Wen¡¯s body. This just exposes their ignorance in soul science.¡±


    The vehicle¡¯s interior was buzzing from the vibration of the amplifier, but there still wasn¡¯t any significant information that appeared.


    Jackughed in a low voice: ¡°Youngsters always overestimate their own patience, and they overestimate the patience of others at the same time......¡±


    The exoskeleton armor suddenly punched out, bringing with it a whistling wind. The fist smashed directly down upon Rui Wen¡¯s head.


    The hard knuckles already touched Rui Wen¡¯s temple and even slightly pressed into her skin. But in the end, the fist froze still and stopped.


    Jack maintained this stance for quite a while. He was anticipating the tetrahedron figure, but he had yet to see it. Or perhaps he was waiting for some other response. This time he was truly puzzled.


    Did he make a mistake in judgment? Or maybe this ability really dide from Rui Wen?


    Jack thought of the time back in the DeShang Building with the thorny big fellow and the youngster possessing a superrge sensing range. Jack¡¯s mind was rather filled with an apprehensive feeling that was hard to get rid of.


    Yes. It was this feeling of apprehension that turned so distinct. If his transnt was truly sessful, he would be an absolutely real and boundless existence of life.


    He just needed time.


    Then the city¡¯s public service system transmitted over information at this time: ¡°Maintenance is being performed on the maic rail ahead. Please switch to a different trafficyer. The next switching area is a hundred meters ahead.¡±


    The digital map had already provided an open route.


    Jack¡¯s demon eye flickered once again. He paid no heed to the indication. The speed of the vehicle didn¡¯t decrease but increased as it charged its way through.


    The radio waves of various systems of obstruction, control, and authority interweaved in the empty air, all seeking to control the crazily advancing transport vehicle. But under theprehensive control of the Dynamo Core, all attempts to link with the vehicle were absolutely meaningless.


    Jack fed signals into the amplifier tough with a muffledugh using this sort of senseless method.


    He was the undefeated demon king in this AI-ified metropolis. It didn¡¯t matter what warrior from what power and what direction.


    The feeling of disdain and conceit was quite nice.


    Ohohoho! This sort of feeling of superiority was especially wonderful!


    The demon eye painted the interior of the vehicle with a blood-red luster. It was dazzling, but people would find it hard to get a good feeling from it. Luo Nan watched this devilish scene with rapt attention, his heart exceptionally calm.


    Even though Jack was dealing with the changing situation outside the vehicle. His scanning and monitoring of the inside never faltered.


    Luo Nan knew of Jack¡¯s fear towards him...... No, a proper description was that Luo Nan could see it.


    Luo Nan hadid hidden for a long time already. He had been guarding Rui Wen by her side ever since the moment she took on the particle cannon and fell unconscious. He had tried to use his old methods to rouse Rui Wen¡¯s consciousness and restore her state.


    But soon Luo Nan discovered that this task was hard to aplish within a short period of time. The seriousness of Rui Wen¡¯s injury far exceeded his expectation. The high-speed particles¡¯ kic assault had wrecked several of her inner organs and had also destroyed the musical foundation of her harmonious melody.


    Forcefully switching tempos under these conditions would only make the recoil kill everything.


    Luo Nan could only guard Rui Wen by her side and expeditemunications with the reinforcements of the Society.


    The members of the Society, under He Yueyin¡¯s arrangements, were already prepared to intercept Quantum Corporation¡¯s fleet halfway. But then Jack¡¯s appearance made a mess of everyone¡¯s ns.


    The Society was making adjustments to their deployments and Luo Nan remained standing guard within the vehicle. He had seen with his own eyes Jack¡¯s bizarre yet interesting change in state.


    Yes, it was extremely interesting.

 Chapter 76: The Tower of Babel (Part ?)

    Chapter 76: The Tower of Babel (Part ?)


    A man¡¯s emotions and thoughts were abundant and colorful.


    One would only take these words to be a sort of description under normal circumstances. But right now Jack was the embodiment of these words.


    Energy spurred the flow of information signals back and forth atop the fine thread structure manifested by the Dynamo Core. Through this special structure, the signals endlessly assembled and converged, collided and transformed. The final products were intent, emotions, and thoughts.


    During this process, the energy emitted a multi colored luster while it was doing work. Some sort of unique pattern and tempo were hidden and stored within, shing and flickering.


    The pattern was consistent from beginning to end, but the tempo was random. Two core elements, one of stillness and one of movement, assembled together to form a structure that made one face the tempo of life head on. It was no longer a stiff temte; it was undeniably and undoubtedly the pulsation of the soul.


    Perhaps it was just as Jack had said; his life had entered apletely new form because of the existence of this structure.


    Luo Nan felt that he was watching precisely an educational film about the nature of the soul.


    When looking from a physical point of view, man¡¯s consciousness could be simply understood as a series of nerves and neurotransmitters, the transmission of electrical signals. This was the motor that was formed through the long survival of the human race, through evolution. This was the joint effect of a loopback mechanism.


    But several top researchers were convinced that the marvelous activity of the human consciousness had a deeper origin to its operation. There should be an even more essential model that would take all these signals, these mechanisms, and use special structures to integrate them...... An efficient system, a synergetic system, that was greater than the sum of its parts.


    The soul stemmed from this.


    Luo Nan approved these views as someone who possessed a ¡°superpower¡±, as a believer in Formatting Theory. Frankly speaking, the words ¡°Soul Configuration¡± that Jack had spoken was truly a marvelous term. Its hidden meaning was linked with Formatting Theory; the link was solid and vivid.


    But realistically speaking, it was easier said than done trying to find such a system that integrated all information, especially when using direct observation to look at the exquisite geometry of the structure to reverse engineer the system. To a veryrge degree, this was only a sort of delusion that was above reasonable meaning.


    But then Luo Nan actually discovered something simr right at this time.


    Not bad. It was what formed the core of Jack¡¯s demon eye. It was the fine thread structure of the Dynamo Core supported by the energy of two exoskeleton armors.


    Though it was crude, though it was just a piece, Luo Nan could see, with his unique viewpoint up in the air looking downwards, something astonishing. He could see a grand construction that took his breath away.


    Energy and information that could be physically observed and felt on the material ne were traveling within this construction. From the bottom to the top, they converged and collided endlessly. They climbed step by step. They transformed from simple thoughts and basic feelings to advanced intentions and emotions to enter once again into the purely mental temple.


    Yes. This was a building constructed upon the material ne of reality. This was the Tower of Babel that led from reality to the mental ne of the void.


    Even though this building belonged to Jack, nothing was stopping Luo Nan from enjoying its marvels; it made Luo Nan apud in admiration.


    This was because his understanding and appreciation of this marvel had already touched upon the essential level. From the perspective of reality, all of Jack¡¯s activity within this Tower of Babel, including intent, emotion, and thought, were practically not a mystery at all under Luo Nan¡¯s observations.


    And so, Jack¡¯s recent probings and threats were extremelyughable from Luo Nan¡¯s perspective. Luo Nan would find out a step sooner than Jack about Jack discovering him.


    Though Luo Nan found it funny, he was vignt: ¡°Energy and information can be simultaneously received on the mental ne and the material ne. Perhaps one is more efficient than the other. But if the energy and information are too pure, breaking away from neurotransmitters and chemical carriers, then the inherent encryption by the human body is lost. Everything is thenpletely exposed on a higher ne of observation, dispersing the darkness like a bonfire within the night. Yet this bonfire can also attract unknown dangers......¡±


    For instance, right now Jack didn¡¯t know that there was such a person, with a view like a god¡¯s, who waspletely observing all of his thoughts and behaviors.


    Jack¡¯s feelings had rapidly changed due to his state of life. He wasn¡¯t used to it yet; his feelings were clearly too intense. But his logic was not affected.


    He was fully aware that enemies were on all sides of him within this city. After breaking through the first obstacle, he nned his next route and had the vehicle descend on its journey. He was preparing to return to the recycling stratum that he was most familiar with.


    Then he began to make preparations for the fierceing battle to break out of the encirclement. He rapidly dismantled another exoskeleton armor as well as his original corpse.


    Jack¡¯s train of thought was very clear. He had been an Altered Human. His previous body was equipped with several precision instruments of great effectiveness, some of which wouldn¡¯t even be found in the possession of the Deep Blue tform. He needed to do his utmost to integrate these instruments together and have them exhibit greater utility.


    This was very easy for him. All he needed to do was to have the Dynamo Core split off a fine thread and link with these instruments andponents. It was life-like as it linked the information of each of these together closely. All he had to do was a bit of architectural design work.


    Luo Nan shook his head within his mind as he watched the pace of Jack¡¯s work.


    From his perspective, Jack¡¯s approach waspletely wrong.


    The true purpose of the Tower of Babel was to build a bridge leading from the material to the mental, breaking apart the barrier between the physical and the spiritual.


    Even though the alteration that Jack pieced together increased hisbat strength by a veryrge degree, at most this was the equivalent of building a new structure at the base of this grand Tower of Babel, a military fort made from piling brick and stone.


    Compared to the body of the Tower of Babel, which pierced the heavens, what was the point of the short fort? Even if the fort was built more firmly.


    All of Jack¡¯s emotions and thoughts continued to be exposed to the full light of day. His soul had been reborn, but he had yet to bepletely pure and calm. He was still being affected by the ripples of intense emotions.


    The truly fatal problem was that Jack did not resolve anything at all.


    It looked like what Jack said to Yan Yongbo about his Dynamo Core technology being iplete was certainly expressed quite honestly.


    Luo Nan¡¯s mind stirred as his thoughts arrive at this point. His soul body descended slowly from a position far from the material ne to extend out with a probing hand.


    Perhaps, all he needed was a light grip.......


    The fingers of his soul body touched lightly the membrane to the material ne. Like lightly tapping the surface of an undisturbed deepke, fine unobservable waves were roused within.


    Jack¡¯s demon eye suddenly red. His sitting body suddenly sprung up, bringing with him a few broken, un-integratedponents to fall to the ground with a jangle.


    When the mor passed, the inside of the vehicle was covered by a nearly solid sheet of silence.


    Jack maintained his stance for a full minute, but Luo Nan had already returned fully to the deepest depths essible on the mental ne. He didn¡¯t give Jack a chance to discover him at all.


    Jack sat back down after confirming that he wasn¡¯t able to lock onto the suspicious signal. He muttered to himself for a moment before picking up the multifaceted helmet that he had always disregarded. At the same time, the Dynamo Core split off a fine thread to pull over the robotic eye system from the side.


    After about two minutes of alteration, the helmet was reattached to the torso of the armor. The robotic eye lit up with a dark red glow after being integrated with the diamond-shaped visor.


    Luo Nan startedughing when he saw this scene.

 Chapter 76: The Tower of Babel (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 76: The Tower of Babel (Part 2/2)


    If Jack wasn¡¯t carrying so many uselessponents, he wouldpletely be taken for a mighty Deep Blue Walker with his helmet on.


    However, this Deep Blue Walker¡¯s mind was stretched extremely taut. The suspicious signal had given him an intense unease that wasn¡¯t easy to eliminate.


    Installing the robotic eye was just a start.


    There were still several advanced detection instruments within Jack¡¯s previous body. Right now they took priority. They were disassembled and integrated into Jack¡¯s current exoskeleton armor.


    Jack constantly turned his head during the instation process. He let his robotic eye guide all the detection instruments within his body, surveying the inner environment of the vehicle over and over again.


    But no matter how many times he surveyed, Jack was unable to seize the suspicious signal once again.


    But from another perspective, every detection survey wasn¡¯tpletely meaningless. Large quantities of data passed through the Tower of Babel using this method. A highly efficient convergence andbining were realized through this unique structure. Every survey stood for a deeper level of understanding towards the world by Jack.


    This was something Jack had never experienced before.


    Luo Nan¡¯s evaluation towards this was as follows: Jack was on the right path.


    After being frightened by Luo Nan, Jack¡¯s altered train of thought clearly exhibited changes. He no longer chased after increasing his immediatebat strength; he integrated the detection and scanning equipment to the best of his ability to guard against the incorporeal and traceless threat.


    From Luo Nan¡¯s perspective, this stuck closer to the essence of configuration over the military fort-style alteration. Namely, Jack was raising perception and awareness capabilities, he was endlessly enriching the source and level of information, he was strengthening the quality of integrated thought. He was climbing upon this grand Tower of Babel from the bottom levels to the top levels, from the concrete to the abstract, to reach the absolute mental domain.


    Looking at the long-term, Jack would certainly be able to reap some gains if he were to persevere in this sort of alteration method. He would find it easier to exhibit power on the mental ne.


    Was Luo Nan helping Jack make a breakthrough? Obviously, he wasn¡¯t.


    He was just looking favorably on Jack¡¯s alterations. There was something that existed within Jack¡¯s body that made it impossible to make up for an error...... His emotional thought process still had no defenses whatsoever. It would be hard for him to find a suitable medium within a short timeframe.


    It didn¡¯t matter whether it was his emotions or his thoughts, they were all the foundation of the soul and they were allid bare in this way. Jack¡¯s soul was tantamount to beingpletely defenseless. At least in Luo Nan¡¯s eyes, Jack was iparably weak.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t intervene before because Jack was maintaining a good habit. Jack was doing the utmost to maintain a synchronized tempo between his body and mind. It was like Rui Wen¡¯s body and soul merging. He possessed a powerful defensive strength against purely mental attacks.


    But this kind of synchronized tempo possessed extremely harsh demands.


    For instance, Rui Wen, who was stronger, needed to constantly adjust the state of her body to constantly maintain her calm and level mental state. Only in this way could she maintain her peak level within intensebat.


    Compared to Rui Wen, the current Jack¡¯s range of emotional fluctuations was huge. At the same time, Jack was endlessly altering his ad hoc body. His line of thought over the alterations was notpletely the same from the start to the end. Even if he had the Dynamo Core in the middle as a mediator, there was arge probably for it all toe apart.


    Jack had found the proper direction; he endlessly raised the strength and level of his soul. But the failure fort-style alteration he made before would eventually cause more and more serious influences towards his synchronized tempo.


    Perhaps Jack would eventually discover this problem, but Luo Nan wouldn¡¯t allow Jack the chance to resolve it.


    Take the boundary between the material ne and the mental ne to be a water¡¯s surface for instance. Jack, this fat fish that resided in the material ne, was endlessly leaping out through the water¡¯s surface to breathe in fresh air.


    Luo Nan was like a patient hunter waiting for his prey to exit the water to the greatest degree.


    He even prepared a special weapon for his prey; the dark chains and the wraith sign glowed with a subtle light.


    Obviously, the weapon that Luo Nan prepared was the Siege Hammer. The Human-Faced Arachnid was directly participating in order to maintain the attack¡¯s effectiveness. However, there was a change right now that fell outside of Luo Nan¡¯s ns.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid was in the middle of recovery when it changed its attitude of avoidance towards Jack; it actually became a bit restless. When Jack¡¯s form of life transformed, this Darksider life form¡¯s view changed from Jack¡¯s nature being pletely unable to be eaten¡± to being ¡°maybe it could give him a try¡±.


    More importantly, within the depths of Jack¡¯s soul was another ¡°spiritual seed¡± being nurtured. While it was true that this seed was far in purity from Rui Wen¡¯s seed, which was untainted by even a speck dust, it changed Jack¡¯s vor to be like a meat that was sprinkled with a bit of hot pepper. It could be eaten with some effort.


    In spite of its current weak state, the Human-Faced Arachnid struggled once more and transformed into a somewhat illusory figure. It made its intense desire to consume clear to its master in this way.


    Luo Nan was somewhat hesitant.


    Then the HexaEar transmitted information through the Psychic Wave Network onto the mental ne while Luo Nan was pondering. Luo Nan¡¯s soul body received this information.


    It was a format that was both energy and information. It was traveling on both the mental and material ne. What the HexaEar was doing far exceeded Jack¡¯s current level. Luo Nan could confirm that the HexaEar was encoding the energy and information; a typical wiretapping wouldn¡¯t cause any effects.


    However, even though the psychic waves were encoded, they weren¡¯t traceless. In particr, the unique waveband that transitioned from the material ne to the mental ne was like a light breeze blowing across the surface of ake. There would be some special ripples left behind on the material ne.


    Luo Nan was unable to feel this before, but he became more and more sensitive to this after grasping the key to soul breathing. Right now he was a bit displeased though.


    This was because Jack wasn¡¯t an ordinary person.


    Jack¡¯s holeless observation abilities were gradually increasing. This weak ripple didn¡¯t escape Jack¡¯s attention. Various detection instruments assembled together in an instant to actively probe various wavebands, seemingly burning a hole through the void.


    But this was useless. Currently, Luo Nan¡¯s soul body had absolute dominance over the mental ne. He could probe on a deeper and subtle level. Inparison, Jack¡¯s human-made devices were far too crude even if some were able to probe onto the mental ne. No matter their precision, their scope, they were far from meeting the demands necessary to seize Luo Nan¡¯s existence.


    And so Luo Nan was able to receive the signals with ease. He used this sort of method to provoke Jack¡¯s sensitive nerves.


    He Yueyin was on the other side: ¡°Scout. The target has been locked on. You can rest your soul-attached crow for the time being. Concentrate on observing the various sniper positions in the surroundings. Mr. Bai will contact you in a bit.¡±


    Crag Burst¡¯s muffledughter was transmitted across. Clearly, he had seen through He Yueyin¡¯s schemes of abusing her authority.


    Luo Nan disregarded He Yueyin¡¯s proposal. He had forced his ¡°soul-attached crow¡± to fly over from the DeShang Building. The journey had been nearly fifty kilometers long, but the crow hadn¡¯t even spent half an hour; its speed exceeded a hundred kilometers per hour. The crow¡¯s energy was over drafted no matter how one looked at it. It was highly likely that this would lead to unforeseen consequences to the state of the attached soul. No wonder He Yueyin had expressed her dissatisfaction in this manner.

 Chapter 77: Demonic Transformation (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 77: Demonic Transformation (Part 1/2)


    God was always watching, but Luo Nan was quite innocent right now; he didn¡¯t even attach his soul to Ink after all. From his understanding, Ink was supported by his soul breathing, sessfully joining the draft of the surrounding air. Each p of the crow¡¯s wing seemed to merge together with the night¡¯s sky. Ink was simply piloting the wind as it flew, so it used next to nothing in energy. Luo Nan didn¡¯t know just how satisfied Ink was.


    Alright. Luo Nan never expected that the reinforcement of soul breathing would have such great results. It clearly didn¡¯t increase Ink¡¯s upper limit, but it gave Ink a state iparable; it let Ink disy 150% of its abilities.


    Luo Nan copied this from Rui Wen. No wonder Rui Wen¡¯s thin body was able to disy super-godlikebat results. Perfect harmonization was sometimes even more key than absolute strength.


    But no matter what Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts were, He Yueyin was the highest rankingmander in the operation. Her orders were absolute. Luo Nan could only order Ink to fly over to the area assigned by He Yueyin


    He Yueyin¡¯s maintained a high standard for her work as a secretary. She knew that Luo Nan wasn¡¯t quite clear about what qualified as a sniper spot, so she even transmitted satellite images of the surrounding area. She also marked out locations that Luo Nan was in charge of and even gave suggestions for patrol routes.


    Such meticulous work left Luo Nan speechless.


    As Ink pped its wings and flew to the predetermined position, the Society¡¯s modified deployments for the operation entered the execution stage.


    The HexaEar acted as the main channel ofmunications during this time, transmitting with psychic waves. The waves covered several dozen square kilometers of area to converge and form a giant closely woven that fell outside the scope of senses of normal people. A rapid mobilization had started.


    Luo Nan was located at the core of this giant. He clearly felt theyers of interweaving psychic waves; the ripples on the water¡¯s surface turned even more distinct.


    Clearly, this sort of change did not escape Jack. His mood turned even more impatient than before. The criss-cross interweaving psychic wavespletely destroyed his search towards the suspicious signal. This was because right now there were suspicious signalsing in all directions all around him.


    Jack understood now. He was alreadypletely surrounded.


    A few negative effects finally arrived after thepleted transformation of his state of life. Jack knew that it was no use to be impatient, but he was unable to block these emotions.


    The strength of the Society¡¯s encirclement was within Jack¡¯s expectations, so Jack didn¡¯t react drastically because of this. Ultimately, it was Luo Nan¡¯s provocation from before that had left him with an extremely bad experience. It was like scattered weed seeds were beginning to germinate and sprout from the pressuring waters of all sides to him. They grew rapidly to consume what was supposed to be nutrients for the core of his willpower.


    The emotions of disdain and contempt from before had long since flown elsewhere.


    Jack smashed a heavy fist against the metal ting of the vehicle. He began to clean up the equipment he had yet to finish installing. His efficiency was lower than he had nned for.


    Of course, Jack owed this all to Luo Nan...... Even if he didn¡¯t know just who was behind the suspicious signal.


    Jack¡¯s reactions were quite interesting. But here on Luo Nan¡¯s side, the Human-Faced Arachnids reactions were not to be outdone.


    As Jack grew more and more impatient, the Human-Faced Arachnid stirred more and more restlessly. Even though the Arachnid wasn¡¯t intelligently aware, this sort of hunger instinct passed on information quite clearly.


    Under interpretation, the Human-Faced Arachnid was approximately saying: ¡°Don¡¯t stop Jack. The nutrition of the spiritual seed decreases when you do.¡±


    It seemed like the arachnid wasn¡¯t going to consume it right now.


    Luo Nan¡¯s mind stirred. Jack¡¯s sensitivity to the mental ne had increased to unknown heights under Luo Nan¡¯s stimtion. It had increased to at least be able to sense the Society¡¯s closing encirclement. Even though Luo Nan had faith in He Yueyin¡¯s leadership ability, Rui Wen was at hand¡¯s reach of Jack. Jack, under the control of his bad emotions, wanted to guarantee his safety. He had added an extra safety precaution.


    Luo Nan loosed the chains atst and the Human-Faced Arachnid was freed from its fetters. It let loose on the spot with glee and pounced directly over towards Jack.


    It must be stated that Jack, having been sharpened by Luo Nan¡¯s provocation, had made great strides in his capabilities on the mental ne.


    Before, he didn¡¯t have any ability to detect Darksider life forms like the Human-Faced Arachnid at all. But now, he had something like an ¡°intuitive¡± reaction when the arachnid came pouncing at him. It allowed him to tense up in an instant and unleashed his mass of probing instruments that could burn the void. What a pity.... It waspletely ineffective.


    Jack¡¯s emotional thought process wasidpletely bare. This was the key irreparable deficit that Jack possessed and the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s attack method far exceeded Luo Nan¡¯s imagination.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid didn¡¯t open up with a wide mouth to go biting in a single gulp. Jack¡¯s synchronized tempo of his body and soul state possessed a certain defensive capability.


    This Darksider life form possessed a cunning instinct. It went around the frontal defenses by blinking into the void with its weak body. Its core essence had actually transformed into a pulse of ¡°information¡±. It let itself be captured by Jack¡¯s detection instruments that wereing in all directions and it entered Jack¡¯spletely defenseless emotional thought process in this way.


    Luo Nan was stupefied when seeing this.


    Driven by energy, the information-transformed Human-Faced Arachnid was traveling within the Tower of Babel. The collision with its information emitted a reaction in an instant, shing with a certain dark hue of emotional luster.


    Luo Nan was able to immediately decipher that this was impatience.


    This tiny emotional element of impatience rapidly pervaded within Jack¡¯s emotional current. It followed the structure of the Tower of Babel, rising step by step. Soon it permeated into the highest level of thought.


    And so, the Human-Faced Arachnid was like a type of virus that gradually pervaded throughout Jack¡¯s soul.


    Luo Nan found this hard to imagine, but this was a fact that he had seen for himself.


    The Human-Faced arachnid started doing the real work after making contact with Jack¡¯s soul. The first thing it did was ¡°weeding¡±. It callously took those high-level thoughts that helped it enter Jack and it pilfered the core nutrients of willpower, the emotional weeds, to consume thempletely. Then it stabbed deep into Jack¡¯s soul.


    Within the abyss of self-awareness that was hard to reach, the Human-Faced arachnid found its ultimate target. The spiritual seed oozing with the color of blood and greed actually had a subtle glowing halo surrounding it.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid watched with avid attention and greed the seed that could be eaten at any moment. Yet it didn¡¯t make a move. It just concealed itself close by and waited in silence.


    As for Jack, he suddenly discovered that the irksome emotions of impatience had unexpectedly been blown away after the series of heart-palpitating omens. This was a change thatcked all reason...... But the deadly pressure was the best reason.


    Well in any case, right now his mind had recovered back to being calm. He could now face the imminent crisis head on.


    His gaze fell onto Rui Wen¡¯s body. He understood that the source of everything was from the body of this girl who he had monitored and tormented for three years.


    Jack reached out with his hand. He had to have Rui Wen be within his hand¡¯s control no matter what.


    And right at this time, the high-speed moving transport vehicle suddenly went super wide. It simply made one believe that the vehicle had intensely twisted. Actually, the hard bullet-proof steel ting of the vehicle really did warp seriously. Then it was torn!

 Chapter 77: Demon Transformation (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 77: Demon Transformation (Part 2/2)


    Jack nearly touched Rui Wen¡¯s fingers when he was suddenly pulled at least two meters apart from her. The color of the dark-night sky outside the vehicle was like a turbid river that suddenly crossed between the two.


    ¡°Impossible!¡±


    Jack¡¯s brain instantly calcted out the terrifying and preposterous force required to tear apart the thick bullet-proof steel ting by force. He deduced using the simplest of logic..... If this force were toe exploding his way without any attenuation, it would pierce through himpletely.


    rity came with this thought. Jack¡¯s self-awareness shined with a luster, dispersing the bizarre force that affected him on the mental ne.


    The color of the darkness of night dividing the twisted and torn vehicle fluctuated with a rainbow luster. The color spiraled a little before fading without a trace.


    This time the vehicle really did go wide. It collided with the abandoned site of the ground floor of arge building, but the seriousness was far from what he had felt before. At this time he found out that all levels of detection instruments had already taken information about EMP attacks and transmitted it over. Yet he had no clue about it.


    A mental illusion technique? I can be hit by illusion techniques?


    Inexplicable andplicated emotions surged up in his mind, then he turned cold and prating in an instant once again.


    It was due to the double effect of receiving the illusion technique and EM attack just now that caused his body to make the wrong response in confusion. The vehicle had gone super wide, flinging the distance between him and Rui Wen. Jack wanted to use the vehicle¡¯s wall behind him to push off and grab the precious treasure that was Rui Wen¡¯s body. But then there was a ¡°thump¡± behind him right at this time.


    The sound was heavy and thick. The force was iparably bizarre. It transmitted through from the outside of the vehicle, causing practically no damage at all before it directly struck into the internals of the exoskeleton armor, into the half-rotten body.


    It was as if the vibrating force wasing from the center of his chest to disperse outwards, causing the tightly woven Dynamo Core configuration to even tremble slightly. It jolted his body to be paralyzed on the spot.


    A second ¡°thump¡± came and the two forces ovepped with one another. The two different vibrations interlocked and excited each other. The half rotten body, whose states was due to Rui Wen¡¯s deathly-silent ability, had its structure copsepletely to turn into a meaningless dead sack of flesh. The vibration even spread through the good half of the body to lead into the fine prating threads of the Dynamo Core. The Dynamo Core now needed to be redeployed.


    And so, Jack still couldn¡¯t move.


    Then came the third ¡°thump¡±.


    The demon eye suddenly red after Jack donned a cold mask. The omnidirectional detection instruments had already formed an image of the situation outside the vehicle and the image was projected back.


    The middle-aged man outside was short and stocky. He wore a casual short sleeve shirt that was torn at the cuffs from his buff arms. He was the one who had hammered a fist against the vehicle. But there was something strange. The power of his fist was enough to make Jack be stuck in a dilemma within the vehicle, yet the location where the fistnded on the car remained as smooth as ever.


    ¡°This fighter is at least B-Rank!¡±


    As soon as this judgment was formed. Dark red mes burned from the rotten flesh within Jack¡¯s exoskeleton armor. It exploded outwards with great brightness.


    The body within the exoskeleton armor burned to ash in an instant. However, the Format of Fire wasn¡¯t affected at all. It was amplified through the armor and it was sted out the back.


    The bullet-proof steel ting in the back of the vehicle was approximately one meter in radius. It was instantly enveloped by the high temperature. Gathered by the Archetype Format, the astonishing force of heat didn¡¯t spread at all as it directly conducted its way to the outeryer of the vehicle.


    A muffled snort came from outside the vehicle. Therge-arm fighter¡¯s fist had been heated by the high temperature; the fighter had been injured by the power of the Format of Fire. His sheet of skin, scorched from ckness, forced him to stop his third punch and fall backward.


    Jack recovered his freedom atst. He disregarded the damage he had done to himself with his instantaneous explosion of mes and he turned around to go grab Rui Wen. But then he saw the back of the vehicle explode open at this time. The man who he had once crossed fists with before, Crag Burst, charged inside withrgeughter. Crag Burst didn¡¯t care for anything; he just met Jack in closebat.


    ¡°God damn it!¡±


    Jack knew hecked the strength to seize Rui Wen into his hands and his demon eye darkened in an instant. But then it lit up once more: ¡°Even if I can¡¯t have Rui Wen, I still have the Dynamo Core. I still have energy. I still am not defeated!¡±


    Two powerful people like two enormous beasts were inside the wide open vehicle. They engaged in closebat fighting in an instant, bursting forth with strength. It looked like the five-ton transport vehicle could topple over at any moment.


    The rescue operation was pretty much over at this time; it had been exceptionally direct and efficient. The surrounding deployed personnel showed themselves one by one, surrounding the transport vehicle to set themselves up against an easy target.


    He Yueyin stood beneath a cement pir at the abandoned site. She calmly watched the current situation.


    Next to her stood an undisciplined little old man. He was yawning over and over.


    Therge-arm fighter, who had been crucial just now, walked back over. His arm already recovered back to normal, being only a bit coarser than that of an ordinary person. He shook his injured arm and spoke with emotion:


    ¡°Secretary, you even dared to think of using an illusion technique against Jack, this abnormal Altered Human. And it was even sessful! Not bad Daydream.¡±


    Daydream, aka Mr. Bai, was the veteran psychic of the Xia City branch. He responded with a yawn and shook his head:


    ¡°The fluctuation of this man¡¯s emotions is veryrge. The defensive strength he disyed was oddly sloppy. It didn¡¯t even match a normal person¡¯s defenses to a certain degree. Of course, his logical ability is exceptionally strong and he recovers quickly. But as long as the first step hits the mark, follow-up steps won¡¯t be an issue.¡±


    He Yueyi rose and faced therge-arm fighter: ¡°I just exchanged some information with Quantum Corporation...... Mr. Giant Arm has worked hard. Things wouldn¡¯t have gone this smoothly were it not for your contribution with your two attacks.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ashamed. I was going tond three fists, but I never thought that the Format of Fire from this Altered Human could be manipted to this degree.¡±


    While they were speaking, Crag Burst burst forth from the middle of mes with a rumble, exploding his way out.


    No matter how brave Crag Burst was, his body was that of flesh and blood. Compared to Jack, who was alreadyposed ofplete metal, Crag Burst had quite the headache going on.


    Jack pushed Crag Burst back with this one explosive attack. Then he walked out withrge strides and dropped to the center of the empty ground to face the dozen veteran Awakened of the ability user society head on.


    The divide between the strong and the weak wasrge, yet he had no fear. This boldness made others have a whole new level of respect for him.


    But Luo Nan, who was floating in the air and observing from above, was a bit embarrassed: ¡°What....... Is this Human-Faced Arachnid up to?¡±


    From Luo Nan¡¯s perspective, at least half of Jack¡¯s current performance could be owed to the Human-Faced Arachnid. It was this fellow who waited in concealment within the depths of Jack¡¯s soul. It was this fellow who constantly guided the emotions their direction. It was this fellow who eliminated practically all of Jack¡¯s negative elements. Only in this way did Jack grew braver the more he battled, unleashing his fierce nature from the depths of his heart.


    Since the Human-Faced Arachnid was implicated in this. Now Luo Nan was like an aplice of Jack.


    Right now the Human-Faced Arachnid was extremely excited. Its strange and unpredictable instinct spurred it on. It took the most valuable portion of Jack¡¯s soul energy and brought it out to inject it into the spiritual seed before its eyes.


    Right now it wasn¡¯t like a fierce Darksider life form. Instead, it was like a gardener hard at work. It let the spiritual seed in front of it be washed off of the color of greed and blood so that it could blossom with a more brilliant radiance.

 Chapter 78: Mind Devouring Attack (Part ?)

    Chapter 78: Mind Devouring Attack (Part ?)


    Jack never felt this great before.


    Even though he was surrounded on all sides, even though he lost Rui Wen, the pressure stimted him to hisplete potential. The configuration of the Dynamo Core allowed him to understand how to truly operate energy and information at a high efficiency.


    The same information converged together and was analyzed, yet he was able to see details from an angle unprecedented. It was pratingly clear. Even during the most passive moments, he was able to seize the finest details of the changing situation. He didn¡¯t have any hesitation or confusion at all. And it was because of this that he didn¡¯t shrink back at all, that he had no fear.


    Besides what was going on externally, there was also himself.


    Jack was able to sense that the Dynamo Core¡¯s strength was encumbered by the crude ns he had made with his steel body; he could only disy a small portion of its strength. But this didn¡¯t bring his mood down. Instead, it boosted his morale, motivated him. The future was unlimited and broad if he could st it out.


    The splendid prospects ignited the true mes in his heart. The energy of the Format coiled and knotted, making contact with the mes of his heart to ignite fire anew. The Format of Fire¡¯s color turned even brighter, bringing a faint golden hue to its edges.


    The veined lines of the warped air merged with the glowing mes to form the fantastic image of the Archetype Format. The mysterious and marvelous pattern emerged and then gradually faded to save for an even more powerful force.


    Jack pulled out abat knife and the Format of Fire spread onto the body of the de, giving rise to warped rainbow glow.


    The de¡¯s edge in question forced the ability users of the Society to squint their eyes, even though they upied the absolute advantage.


    ¡°p p.¡±


    Giant Arm apuded for Jack, whose imposing air was rising higher and higher: ¡°I originally thought you were a little injured trafficker. Now I see that you¡¯re a trafficker who has a bit of ferocity. The piles and piles of bones beneath DeShang Building. Are they meant for you to train your guts, you deranged man?¡±


    The demon eye behind Jack¡¯s multifaceted helmet shot a cold light: ¡°Everyone who dies undergoes a special recycling process. Nothing remains of the bones and the like.¡±


    In the period of Giant Arm¡¯s dy, Jack chuckled with greatughter. The sound started as signals being fed into the amplifier, then the sound turned into an explosion as pure mes surged, shaking the entire abandoned level.


    Luo Nan retreated deeper into the mental ne during Jack¡¯sughter. He didn¡¯t do this because of Jack. Instead, he did this because of Daydream, Mr. Bai, who stood next to He Yueyin.


    Luo Nan had heard of Mr. Bai, this psychic, more than once by now. Right now it seemed that Mr. Bai fully lived up to his reputation. Ayer of gauze-like smoke was already circting on the mental ne. It gradually grew dense without sound or warning. It quietly established an area on the mental ne that was considered to be Mr. Bai¡¯s domain and it permeated towards Jack¡¯s direction.


    Mr. Bai had already unleashed an attack while Jack was speaking nonsense.


    Luo Nan had seen this before. When Jack was hit by the illusion, the smoke was made up of several fine and fuzzy inducing information. They cut into the material ne from the mental ne and manufactured an illusion within the Jack¡¯spletely defenseless yet exceptionally sharp Tower of Babel. The results were a hundred percent miraculous.


    But right now there seemed to be some change in the situation.


    Jack¡¯s Tower of Babel was stillpletely defenseless, but the tempo of the flowing convergence of the energy and information had already increased to another level. Before it was a rushing tide. Now it was crazy leaping mes. The speed, the efficiency, and the intensity all increased to an extremely shocking level.


    It was still possible to use fake information to deceive Jack, but the information must reach his level of a crazed tempo. This really wasn¡¯t Mr. Bai¡¯s expertise.


    And so, the mes burst open the surrounding fog in a mere breath¡¯s time. The mes took advantage of the bacsh to surge onward and dance on the mental ne. The mes soared.


    Mr. Bai went ¡°Humph¡± as the smoke slowly dispersed


    Luo Nan had unknowingly squinted his eyes in a purely subconscious manner. He experienced just how dazzling Jack¡¯s soul me was right now.


    This sort ofpletely unreserved,pletely unconcealed, reckless spray of light could only arise under Jack¡¯s special circumstances.


    For some unknown reason, a very ufortable feeling sprouted within Luo Nan¡¯s mind. He saw Mr. Bai furrow his brows and take half a step backward subconsciously at this time.


    Actually, Luo Nan also retreated backward; he tried to conceal himself deeper within the mental ne. This waspletely due to Jack.


    Mr. Bai and Luo Nan probably had a simr feeling; Jack¡¯s aura was too dazzling. These people often roamed on the mental ne. They liked the secret feeling of knowing something that others didn¡¯t.


    But Jack was theplete opposite. It was like......


    Oh?


    A towering cold intent suddenly descended. Luo Nan¡¯s ufortable feeling in his heart solidified even further. Also at this time prated a rattling sound. The dark chains had suddenly started shaking to emit an extremely subtle cry of vibration. It was warning Luo Nan.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid had been doing farm work within the abyss of Jack¡¯s soul until now. It changed its situation practically in synch with the dark chains and started orbiting around the spiritual seed. Its viciousness brought with it a restless agitation.


    Under the stimtion of all sorts of different omens, Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts became alert. He no longer limited his view to a corner. Instead, he expanded it at all costs to his utmost limit.


    No anomalies appeared within the one-kilometer diameter range.


    Ink was flying around with nothing to do near the so-called sniper location a bit further away when its feathers suddenly expanded outward. It dove down fast amidst a loud caw, leaving in a fluster.


    Just a hair toote. Some fleeting shadow had barely entered the range of his senses. It already left, fading away into the fuzzy dusk of darkness.


    ¡°Ink!¡± Luo Nan didn¡¯t have time to get over there. He could only rely on his sole ¡°office worker¡±.


    Ink came out of its high-speed flight and then changed its route under Luo Nan¡¯s guidance. It swept a circle in theplicated area near the sniper locations.


    The fleeting shadow re-entered the range of his senses a short three secondster.


    It was floating up in the empty sky right now, paying no heed to the pping crow. It just took its two columns of six devilish eyes and cast its gaze towards the location of Luo Nan and the others, separated by nothing but air.


    Those eyes were filled with greed and hunger.


    Luo Nan instantly understood where that ufortable feeling hade from.


    It was true that Jack¡¯spletely defenseless energy and information exposed all his emotions and thought processes. There was also his constant sharpening, the rapidly increasing level of his soul strength. These aspects of Jack didn¡¯t contribute much to the mental ne, but the reckless spewing of his soul aura was just as Luo Nan described before. It was a bonfire in the darkness of night. God knows what dangers it may attract.


    Now the answer had emerged.


    Human-Faced Arachnid...... Yet another Human-Faced Arachnid.


    This was absolutely a huge variable. Right when Luo Nan was about to inform He Yueyin, the sensing area unfurled over by Ink suddenly darkened. A powerful pulse had swept across, containing energy, information, and a corresponding tempo. It exceeded the limit that his senses could bear in an instant.


    The mental ne suddenly shook intensely in the next moment. A screaming and rushing hurricane came from the unknown, wiping out all of Luo Nan¡¯s senses.

 Chapter 78: Mind Devouring Attack (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 78: Mind Devouring Attack (Part 2/2)


    Tonight Luo Nan had witnessed the explosion of two EMP grenades. Though they didn¡¯t affect them, he could see that people used them before engaging in closebat. They were used to destroy the opponent¡¯s sight, hearing, and movement to make it easy to reap in the win.


    However, Luo Nan never imagined that he would actually encounter a simr electromaic attack on the mental ne.


    The ¡°hurricane¡±, which hade from who knows where, stuck to the t water¡¯s surface that was the boundary between the mental ne and the material ne, stirring up havoc.


    The first to be destroyed was the Psychic Wave Network established between the members of the Society. The information that Luo Nan transmitted to He Yueyin flew to god knows where half way through.


    Then Luo Nan¡¯s mental senses were hit by the attack. It didn¡¯t matter the range or the precision, all were pressed down and down again. In the midst of his fluster, Luo Nan discovered that his senses only had a range of thirty meters in radius. The range had shrunk by over ten times its original size. As for the precision, well that was a spectacle too horrible to endure.


    Luo Nan discovered that he was still fine, but Mr. Bai was even worse off than him. This old man looked to have been pierced. The corners of his eyes, his nostrils, flowed with blood. He couldn¡¯t even stand steadily, falling backward against the pir. The pir stopped him from toppling to the ground.


    This was literally a mental storm. It practically destroyed and overturned all existences on the mental ne, clearing it instantly.


    Luo Nan could not help having his heart run cold. Just what stage was that Human-Faced Arachnid at?


    There was only one thing that was worth getting happy over. The connection running between Luo Nan, Ink, and the Human-Faced Arachnid through the Format Pyramid did not get severed. Luo Nan was even able to send a bit of support to Ink through the air. The ripples of light from the Format Pyramid were harbored into Ink¡¯s ck feathers, calming down this little fellow who had received quite the fright.


    And ordingly, the Human-Faced Arachnid, who was more sensitive than him to a certain degree, transmitted him a warning. Luo Nan already knew this. The Human-Faced Arachnid parked above the skies of the sniper locations had already started to invade under the chaotic circumstances.


    ......


    Alright, this was a bit confusing. So Luo Nan added a nickname to his own Human-Faced Arachnid, the Wraith Sign. Even though the Wraith Sign was named, it was unintelligent. It couldn¡¯t give more information about the trajectory, speed, or the like. Itpletely failed to understand.


    But Luo Nan knew that the most likely target was Jack...... He was the only one not to be hit by the attack of the mental storm just now.


    This preferential treatment wasn¡¯t targeted at Jack but at the endlessly maturing spiritual seed.


    Jack still didn¡¯t know that it was hispletely unrestrained radiating of his soul aura that incurred this storm. He didn¡¯t know he had received great fortune and, at the same time, he didn¡¯t know that two Human Faced Arachnids had their eyesid upon him. He still felt something even though he wasn¡¯t on the receiving end of the attack. He had made a judgment the instant the storm began. The explosive sounds of hisughter and mes rang out without end. His alloybat knife shed across as he charged with great brazen.


    He believed that his opportunity had arrived.


    It really was his chance. The mental storm had swept across, severing the connections of the Psychic Wave Network. The ability users were stunned, their reactions slow by more than a beat.


    Yet He Yueyin, acting as the originalmander of the operation, maintained her high speed thought processes. She shouted strictly:


    ¡°Giant Arm!¡±


    She shouted his code name without adding any honorifics, showing just how dire the situation was. The personnel with the most powerfulbat ability, Giant Arm, knew that the current situation had gone strange. Yet he knew the duty he was bound to far more. At nearly the instant He Yueyin issued her order, he exerted force and flew vertically. He was only a hair slower than Jack.


    Giant Arm¡¯s chosen trajectory was exceptional. He flew vertically from the side, finding the shortest path to pierce Jack¡¯s side wings. His two arms suddenly expanded, bursting the cuffs of his short sleevespletely. He used his bare arms to punch with a heavy fist.


    Jack didn¡¯t even turn to look. The exoskeleton armor was just bait. He could see with the back of his head from the opposite side. Most importantly, the exhaust nozzle on the back suddenly opened. He didn¡¯t care about damaging the frame. He forcefully used the highest gear to shoot out a deep blue me.


    The terrifying temperature made Giant Arm snort out loud. He forcefully collected his strength to get out of the way, yet Jack increased his speed to his maximum. The alloybat knife didn¡¯t move fancily at all. It was just a simple thrust. With the mes of the Format of Fire covering the de, there was no body of flesh and blood that could stop it.


    The encirclement was already thin. Without the Psychic Wave Network to unify them, they were more like scattered sand. Like parting the seas, the de¡¯s edge pierced through in an instant.


    Right now the Deep Blue Walker armor was no longer touching the ground. Under the aid of its auxiliary thrusters, it shot towards the window leading to the outer world from the abandoned floor.


    Giant Arm, Crag Burst, and the others set off in hot pursuit. Butpared to the speed of the full force of the exoskeleton armor¡¯s thrusters, this task was one impossible to aplish.


    The window continued to growrger as Jack got closer. It swallowed him inside and spat him out into the night sky towards the recycling stratum of Xia City.


    An explosion sounded. The wall surrounding the window had been bombarded by Giant Arm¡¯s fist a step toote, copsing in an instant. Crushed rock sprayed outward, but it was all turned to ash when faced with the Format of Fire.


    Jack had seeded! The sky¡¯s the limit from here on! The bird soars and the fish leaps!


    Jack raised his head to look at the night sky of Xia City. Under the blurred colors of the lit city, his vision, his dream for the future suddenly transformed into a stairway to heaven. His feet hung down from high in the sky.


    It was at this time that the mes burning in his heart zed the most ardently.


    The void rippled with darkness.


    Jack had attained a very high precision of senses towards the interference on the mental ne with his current level. Naturally, this sort of change couldn¡¯t be concealed from him.


    Yet the Human-Faced Arachnid leaped directly out from the void, giving no leeway for Jack to react at all. The malevolent and terrifying apparition practically stuck to his face as it noiselessly prated Jack¡¯s exoskeleton armor.


    Terror had yet to rise in his consciousness. Jack was still manifesting ecstasy and pride externally. His mood was like an explosive me, but the same burning devilish mes of the Human-Faced Arachnid enveloped Jack¡¯s body in a sh.


    Under the illumination of the Format of Fire, the shadow of the Human-Faced Arachnid was clearly superimposed onto Jack.


    The dense shadow permeated the soaring mes of his soul. An ugly and vicious mouth gaped open to seize the abyss of his soul with uracy. The spiritual seed, which looked just about to ignite, was swallowed with a single bite.


    Jack¡¯s rising body suddenly froze. The glow of the demon eye darkened. Within the eyes of the pursuing ability users, the exoskeleton armor lost control in midair and fell head first towards the ground.


    Giant Arm and Crag Burst were stunned in front of the window when the sound of the wind suddenly erupted from behind. Another person jumped out from the window. The slender figure blotted the sky and slipped past the rapidly falling exoskeleton armor. de and human were one as the Format of Fire flickered fiercely and was directed into the sheet of void that was the curtains of the night.


    Behind the curtains of the night, the Human-Faced Arachnid was savoring the delicacy it just ate when the de-light arrived.


    He Yueyin!


    Her target wasn¡¯t Jack, but the Human-Faced Arachnid.


    Mr. Bai, who had been standing next to He Yueyin, took temporarymand of the operation in this moment. He endured the pain of his injured soul and loudly announced the situation: ¡°A Human-Faced Arachnid has been discovered. This is the third case......¡±


    As Mr. Bai¡¯s voice was unleashed, Luo Nan was jolted on the mental ne. This was because he ¡°saw¡± something at this time. It was yet another hurricane that swept across the material and the mental nes. The hurricane came screaming.


    Right now the Human-Faced Arachnid was using all its strength to evade He Yueyin¡¯s de-light. It absolutely didn¡¯t have any strength to spare for an attack.


    Luo Nan suddenly understood something: ¡°The mental storm isn¡¯t caused by the Human-Faced Arachnid...... There¡¯s some other power behind the scenes!¡±

 Chapter 79: Furnace Prison (Part ?)

    Chapter 79: Furnace Prison (Part ?)


    The mental storm descended once again.


    This disturbance was different in nature from the previous EMP-style storm. This mental storm clearly had an increased suppressive strength against its main targets, Mr. Bai, Giant Arm, Crag Burst. These veteran ability users with exceptional strength were all the main targets of this attacks.


    And of these people, Mr. Bai was once again the worst off.


    Giant Arm¡¯s and Crag Burst¡¯s strength mainly relied on the material ne. Their harmonized tempo between body and soul may not have been as perfect as the peak that was Rui Wen, but they had reached an excellent level without difficulty. In addition, their mind was encoded by the natural chemical carriers of the brain, so they possessed some defensive ability.


    Only Mr. Bai, whose majority of power was on the mental ne, took the attack like a stuck out nail being hammered down. Naturally, he took the attack more critically than the others. And even worse, he was the temporarymander.


    Mr. Bai already toppled to the ground. His hands were arranged in a strange sign as he gravely protected his mind from destruction. He lost the ability to speakmands for a time.


    The seven, eight remaining ability users could only follow their contingency n when faced with this situation. They surrounded Mr. Bai in a circle and ced the unconscious Rui Wen inside. They held the breath and stood vignt, putting all their strength on the defensive.


    Crag Burst and Giant Arm saw everything that happened from the window. They cursed in their hearts. Clearly, Mr. Bai couldn¡¯t be counted on for some time.


    The two faced the assault of the mental storm. Though their force of bravery was astonishing, they needed some time to adapt to the distortion of their senses and consciousness, to the increasingyers of pressure.


    And so, they were more than a beat toote to go back and help Mr. Bai or to provide He Yueyin with support.


    They could only watch He Yueyin with open eyes. They watched her leap out of the window and face the void of the curtain of the night with one de to y.


    Luo Nan¡¯s soul body was floating within the night sky, witnessing He Yueyin¡¯s stunning and outstanding de technique once again.


    He Yueyin was a Burner, yet from all the situations Luo Nan had seen before, she was the sole and only Burner who hadpletely mastered and subjugated the Format of Fire.


    She stripped the Format of Fire of its husk and used the strength of the Format of Fire to reinforce her de with pure power. It waspletely under control of her will. She used a strength from the mental ne to forcefully annihte the target on the mental ne.


    The Format of Fire was merely a power source from her perspective. She had a set of Self-Logic that was far more severe and she used it to drive this power.


    Perhaps this was the secret behind her astonishing de arts.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid did not dare to receive the de. It did its utmost to dodge.


    The perfect method the Human-Faed Arachnid used to hunt Junk was used by He Yueyin back onto it.


    The opportunity had been grasped. The tempo had been seized


    The Human-Faced Arachnid was in dire straits while digesting the spiritual seed. A de dropped down right when the arachnid was caught, severing four of its limbs from half its side. The limbs transformed into smoke and nothingness.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid let out a pained howl. Its figure turned wraith-like as it headed towards the void.


    He Yueyin tried to adjust her attack, but then Giant Arm and Crag Burst were victims of the mental storm. Reinforcements werete by a beat. The tempos of the front and back were different. And He Yueyin, her figure high in the air, had little margin to change her attack.


    A sudden omen rose in Luo Nan¡¯s mind. He let loose his thought:


    ¡°Careful!¡±


    Luo Nan could see things clearly now. The second wave¡¯s mental storm purposely avoided He Yueyin to cause this frontlinemander to be on a different beat than the others.


    Then the third wave descended. It was an attack that specifically targeted He Yueyin. This attack wasn¡¯t a mental storm, but a blinding lightning that pierced out from the mental ne!


    Luo Nan warned just in time. Even though He Yueyin¡¯s body was falling rapidly in midair, she shed her de in front of her chest and the tempo of her body and soul instantly turned solid and steady.


    ¡°sh!¡±


    The alloy de within He Yueyin¡¯s hand actually let loose the sound of metal shing, trembling for some unknown reason. And so, the turmoil against He Yueyin¡¯s body and soul had been defended.


    But no one, be it Luo Nan or He Yueyin, had any intentions of rxing.


    The void rippled once more. The malevolent Human-Faced Arachnid appeared with the special skill to blink in and out. It suddenly made its move during a sliver of chance, seizing the instant He Yueyin¡¯s body and soul tempo was in disarray. It wlessly coordinated with the hidden power from far in the distance.


    Siege Hammer!


    This mental attack was the specialization of the Human-Faced Arachnid. The Siege Hammer disyed its might once more.


    The alloy de rang out again and its trembling intensified. He Yueyin¡¯s synchronization between her body and soul wasn¡¯t amazing. A crack clearly split from the bombardment of the Siege Hammer. She would need one to two seconds in order to adjust back her tempo.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid wouldn¡¯t give her the chance. It hissed sharply on the mental ne. Its six devilish eyes red simultaneously. It sought to capture this gap and plunder the greatest fruits of war.


    ¡°Have you had enough!?¡± Luo Nan couldn¡¯t stand by and watch. Heshed out with his thoughts, which were none other than a signal.


    The demonic body of this arrogant Human-Faced Arachnid suddenly froze. Its six devilish eyes, which had been glowing with extraordinary splendor, each had a spell of confusion.


    At first, it was nk, then it reacted. But then it saw the dark chains suddenly manifest on the mental ne. The chains stretched perfectly straight. One end was still pierced into the depths of the void. The other end had linked up and even pierced into its chest. It was unknown when this happened.


    The unintelligent Human-Faced Arachnid was incapable of understanding its current circumstances. But instinct was able to let it know that this situation was extremely bad.


    It shrieked loudly and its demonic body leaped into the air to fly. It wanted to break free from the chains that were both real and incorporeal. This only made the chains rattle and shake. Information traveled through the chains, endlessly feeding back to allow Luo Nan to vividly sense what the internals of the man-spider demon were like from the other side of the chains.


    It was a furnace of hell, one of deepness and murkiness.


    mes sprayed out. A sea of fire churned. Here, the greatest thing that Luo Nan could sense was the high temperature. Of course, this was only an understanding through sensing. It was very hard to imagine that the Human-Faced Arachnid Darksider life form contained a high-temperature furnace of over tens of thousands degrees. This should be a sort of structure with the terrifying strength to melt and fuse, to consume awareness.


    Within this ce, chaotic fragments of information and emotion were like overgrown weeds. Once in awhile the spraying mes would make contact with a weed, causing just a hint of awareness to form. Then this awareness shrieks as it melts and fuses into the sea of mes, into the furnace. Then the cycle begins anew.


    Right in the middle of the terrifying furnace of hell, Luo Nan locked onto the spiritual seed that had just been plucked from the depths of Jack¡¯s soul.


    The outeryer of the seed had already been melted away within this furnace of hell. But it was just the outeryer.


    When the outer husk was digested away, a bit of devilish motley light of awareness leaped out from the middle. Luo Nan¡¯s dark chains reverberated closely, resisting the fatal flowing mes all around and illuminating the Format Pyramid structure down to a strict standard.


    The tetrahedron, the inscribed sphere, and the circumscribed sphere emerged clearly. The unique structure dominated a small region, giving some time for the motley glow of light to grow.


    In the blink of an eye, the devilish motley light erged rapidly. Eight legs extended out. Six colored eyes flickered with different colors. The half arachnid half human body stood stooped in its habitual manner, yet it possessed the savage tension to kill its prey at any moment.


    And so this was the manifestation of a Human-Faced Arachnid, of Luo Nan¡¯s Wraith Sign.


    It had manifested within the stomach of another Human-Faced Arachnid.

 Chapter 79: Furnace Prison (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 79: Furnace Prison (Part 2/2)


    The furnace of hell disyed ample rejection towards the alien body that was the Wraith Sign. The fiery sea churned uprge thick bubbles, showing a deep magma-like structure. The glowing mes flowed in the sky above the fiery sea like a giant dancing python, roaring and seeking to consume the Wraith Sign.


    The furnace of hell wasn¡¯t like the stomach of a Darksider life form, instead, it was like being in the middle of an enormous world. It had the feeling of fantasy from a dimensional world.


    The Wraith Sign didn¡¯t rush to fight, to destroy, when faced with this environment. It just raised its head to the sky and howled. Bloody life-like mes burned around its body, attuning with the Format Pyramid on the outside. It took the special structural form of the Format Pyramid and expanded it outyer byyer.


    Within the core of the furnace of hell, lines of different thickness traveled and crisscrossed to construct one basic structure after another. They joined and interlinked to form aplicated bodily whole.


    This scene was familiar in this way. It was just like the mystical altar within the fighting arena of DeShang Building.


    That¡¯s right. The Wraith Sign had erected a new altar. The one before was founded atop the turbid flowing emotions of several hundred spectators. And the one now was built in the middle of this furnace of hell.


    Luo Nan¡¯s two eyes had been grasping in the dark when it came to the previous altar; he knew how, but not why. Yet when he touched the Tower of Babel established by the Dynamo Core, when Jack ¡°selflessly¡± revealed his process, Luo Nan understood the structural rules behind the operation of energy and information. And he had grasped soul breathing as well. So he gradually came to experience the marvels of interfering and intemunicating between the material and mental nes. Now it seemed that he had some sense of an understanding.


    Luo Nan noticed that the structures of the two altars were extremely simr. They didn¡¯t seem to possess inherent differences. The rules behind their operation especially didn¡¯t seem different. Namely, the way they handled energy and information was precisely the same.


    A simple logical deduction made the following known: The same form would often lead to the same content. Since the structure was as such, the existing foundation shouldn¡¯t be too different.


    ¡°Oh, in other words, the foundation behind this furnace of hell is, in fact, simr in nature to the spectators of the fighting arena. The only difference is that one is manifested as a turbid flow of emotions, the other is manifested as a furnace of hell......¡±


    Luo Nan¡¯s interest increased as he looked: ¡°The turbid flow rooted in human emotions and desire can actually develop into a different form and possess a different function. Could this sort of transformation be attributed to the Human-Faced Arachnid? Or is there some other influential factor?¡±


    Holding his question and enlightenment, Luo Nan observed this furnace of hell and felt an increase in rity and understanding.


    The Wraith Sign pushed onward, advancing the process of building the altar. The giant me python, which had been battering and disturbing the Wraith Sign from the outside, gradually stopped. The thick bubbles within the fiery sea of magma burst open to clearly reveal the distorted faces of humans. Hatred, terror, or perhaps fever all cast ring gazes at the Wraith Sign.


    But no matter what they did, they were unable to prevent the continuous expansion, the continuous perfection, of the altar¡¯s structure. And as various functionalities wereid out, the intimidating might of these faces fell down the road of decline.


    Things were just this interesting. It didn¡¯t matter how terrifying and tragic the environment was. As soon as the altar was erected, some had be the priest and some had be the sacrifice. Some possessed the power of domination. Some were just stupid livestock. It was a sort of distinction of statuses that was callous and clear.


    The terrifying setting of the furnace of hell continued on. It may possess the enormous force to consume awareness and melt souls, but due to its status assigned by the altar, it couldn¡¯t cause any threats at all to the Wraith Sign atop the altar.


    In other words, the Wraith Sign used an altar to suppress the furnace of fire.


    At the same time, it was stripping more basic things from this fiery prison.


    The furnace of hell was suppressed upon the construction of the altar. The Human-Face Arachnid, which had been pierced by the dark chains, grew all the more impatient and uneasy. It even revealed a response of terror. It suddenly shrieked and, disregarding everything, broke through the void to leave.


    This situation was like the one on the warship back in the day. The scenario of Luo Nan being dragged by the burning wraith appeared once again. There was a problem though. Luo Nan was no longer an inexperienced child even though only a few days had passed. He had a deep understanding of the Human-Faced Arachnid already through the Wraith Sign. He didn¡¯t need to be scared about facing off against it head only. After all, he had already ced a mischief maker like the monkey king inside his opponent¡¯s stomach.


    ¡°Freeze!¡± The dark chains shook. The power of the format ¡°My heart¡¯s a prison¡± was injected inside the chains.


    The altar was causing chaos within the Human-Faced Arachnid. The chains seized the arachnid in its grasp. And it had taken a de-blow from He Yueyin, harming its energy. Its strength to resist dropped and dropped. Though it had clearly stepped through space to leave, it was actually forcefully dragged back by Luo Nan.


    This rippling and ringing movement was far too strong. Not only was He Yueyin able to feel the anomaly close by, the mysterious power from far in the distance was startled and terrified, scattering quite a bit of its mental power.


    The most direct effect was as follows: his follow-up killing move aimed at He Yueyin was severed. Allowing He Yueyin to fall to the ground safely and retreat.


    Then at the top of the abandoned floor, Giant Arm and Crag Burst broke free of the mental suppression. The three grouped together in the blink of an eye, retreating to Mr. Bai¡¯s position.


    The members of the Society in the defensive circle were at a loss during this time. As soon as Giant Arm, Crag Burst, and He Yueyin returned, the three stood separately to form a triangr structure within the ring-shaped defensive circle.


    He Yueyin issued an order with a deep voice, giving everyone a clearmand: ¡°Reboot your HexaEars! Choose the Local Area Network Architecture option!¡±


    Every one of the society memberspleted this step in the blink of an eye. A LAN of psychic waves was then established. Energy and information intemunication between each member of the Society, forming an external cooperative strength.


    And based on He Yueyin¡¯s allocation of privileges. He Yueyin, Giant Arm, and Crag Burst formed three stable support nodes of the LAN. All transfers of energy and information had to pass through these nodes in order toplete sessfully. And so, the pressure of the mental storm attack waspletely ced upon these three.


    And finally, Mr. Bai was given the chance to catch his breath within this LAN. He slowly recovered his energy and relied on the deep underlying functions of the HexaEar to filter everyone¡¯s cooperative strength and form an impressive torrent of energy and information. Upon passing through He Yueyin, Giant Arm, and Crag Burst, the torrent burst apart the pressure of the mental storm, casting the storm out into the boundless abyss of the night sky. He linked up to the Psychic Wave Network in the blink of an eye.


    The special form of information and energy opened up special privileges within the Society¡¯s Psychic Wave Network. Warning and Aid Request signals were sted out immediately and were received by those in charge of the Society.


    The ability user society of Xia City was inplete activity within a short few seconds.


    ¡°What just happened?¡± Luo Nan had hidden deeper within the mental ne after reining in the Human-Faced Arachnid. He wanted to avoid a likely retaliatory attack from the mysterious power.


    But the attack he anticipated never arrived. Instead, his HexaEar, which had been damaged by the jamming from the mental storm, crackled with noise. Then it transmitted intermittent information:


    ¡°Personnel...... Confirmed the interfering source...... Attack authorizations have been unlocked. All members, prepare for the assault.¡±


    The skies of Xia City seemed to light up in the next moment.

 Chapter 80: Preparing the Sacrifice (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 80: Preparing the Sacrifice (Part 1/2)


    A high-risemunity was located approximately 1500 meters away from the abandoned floor where He Yueyin, Jack, and the others were at. Looking down from here, one could just so happen to see the area of the abandoned floor and its surroundings within one¡¯s vision.


    This was none other than the sniper location pointed out by He Yueyin. It was also Ink¡¯s area of activity.


    This rather intelligent crow had sincerely and obediently concealed itself within the building of some bell tower during the first eruption of the mental storm. Its pair of wings lifted up to cover its head; it did not move at all.


    It was true that Ink had nothing to do with the attack area of the mental storm, being 1500 meters away. But the problemid in the person who had unleashed the mental storm. Ink was far too close to that person. They were merely separated by arge bell.


    Above the crow, who was shrinking back its head, at the roof of the bell tower was a mass of turbid ck smoke that formed a faintly discernible figure. It was perfectly merged into the deep darkness of night. Only two eye-like shapes flickered with faint sparks. Bringing a hint of man to this ck smoke.


    Such a form was like a demon, like a monster, captivating one¡¯s soul in terror.


    Compared to the might disyed with the three powerful waves of mental storms from before, this smoke man disyed a mood of annoyance and frustration:


    ¡°The Human-Faced Arachnid should have left after eating. But it made two more moves. This is especially rule breaking......¡±


    The smoke man was able to feel the activation of the Psychic Wave Network that covered this area. He could feel that the power of the controller of the Psychic Wave Network could fully transmit a tyrannical attack crossing several hundred kilometers by using the ability users on the abandoned floor as guides.


    If he had the chance, he would be very happy to go to the front door of the Wilderness Explorers Society of Xia City and give a good scolding to the shameless behavior of Ouyang Chen. But now it was toote to say anything.


    It may seem that he was reckless for not fleeing with all his strength as his first reaction. This wasn¡¯t because he didn¡¯t find the chance to. The hunting and eating Human-Faced Arachnid had some annoying troubles appear. This arachnid was the greatest hope for the secret order to breed out ¡°sacrifices¡±. He couldn¡¯t just toss it away without concern no matter what.


    ¡°Those damned chains...... Break for me!¡±


    The smoke man really didn¡¯t give a damn anymore; he went all out. He red at the area of psychic pressure that was growing all the more terrifying and he simply tore off some turbid smoke from his smoke soul body to cast it up in the air.


    The smoke conducted a transformation on the mental and material nes, rapidly tempering into the form of a de-edge. It hovered above the Human-Faced Arachnid, which was locked in ce by chains, and it manifested with a radiating sharpness as it cleaved downward.


    This smoldering de was not only about to sever the chains, it sought to cleave through the shameless amateur hiding deep on the mental ne with his head concealed but tail leaking out. Only this would get rid of the resentment in the smoke man¡¯s heart.


    The smoke man never thought that the de carrying his fury and hatred with cleave nothing but air.


    The dark chains vanished from thin air, going who knows where, and the Human-Faced Arachnid inexplicably recovered its freedom. It remained frozen there in ce. Its malevolent face looked quite stupefied.


    ¡°This... It¡¯s the Blood me Blessing!¡±


    In times of mortal peril, how would the smoke man take the time to think? Right now the abandoned floor was without light, yet it was bright. The activation of the Psychic Wave Network had nearly materialized. More and more energy was being transferred over, long since locking him there firmly. If he didn¡¯t flee now, he really wouldn¡¯t need to spend any more effort......


    ¡°Go go go!¡±


    He used a specialized control method to give the Human-Faced Arachnid an order. He made it escape off into a different direction...... The smoke man didn¡¯t forget what the people of the ability user society were up to in the past two days within Xia City. Even if his few waves of mental storms didn¡¯t attract animosity, this fellow was the original prime target of the ability society¡¯s attacks.


    Under his spurring, the Human-Face Arachnid¡¯s devilish eyes finally recovered a bit of their luster. It immediately leaped upwards into the sky to disappear without a trace.


    At practically the same time, the smoke man leaped out from the bell tower to flee towards the area where he felt the flow of people was the densest. He hoped to find a few people as meat shields, to let Ouyang Chen avoid doing the unthinkable.


    But then, in the end, he was a bit toote.


    The instant the smoke man leaped out from the bell tower, a terrifying energy assault burst forth from the abandoned floor 1500 meters away. A mental storm descended in the next moment.


    It was absolutely a retaliation!


    It was a mental storm as well. This attack, which originated from Ouyang Chen, had lost quite a bit of its exquisite from the long distance transmission and guidance. But when this mental storm swept across, it still made the smoke soul body fall into an unavoidable predicament.


    The smoke soul body, a soul in an out of body state, split itself into pieces with a few breaths of effort. The soul of the smoke man was exposed in the air, nearly being annihted when the storm¡¯s tail swept through him.


    Even though he had powerful strength, even though he was long past his inexperienced years of his soul being unable to take a breeze of wind, he disregarded everything and flew down hard. He flew until he reached the night show within the middle of these group of buildings. He was only convinced of his escape when he had reached this noisy and chaotic atmosphere.


    ¡°Today¡¯s grazing was a huge failure...... Ouyang Chen. This marks a feud between us!¡±


    The smoke man vented his hate as he breathed in the air of people within this night show. He resolidified ayer of his smoke soul body as temporary means. He confirmed that he wouldn¡¯t die and he began to worry about the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s condition.


    He increased his senses slightly. The Human-Faced Arachnid wasn¡¯t too far away. It was still roaming around. This was a bit dangerous..... Oh, he had found it.


    The smoke man was actually a bit happy for a time. He had received this control technique from another secret order. Even though the origin was unknown, the results were quite nice. If the technique wasn¡¯t like this, it would have been impossible for him to raise the Human-Faced Arachnid to this level within a short few days.


    Most of the people at the night show were young men and women ying through the night. Emotions were born in abundance, allowing for a turbid flow to permeate all over. It was also a good ce to hide the Human-Faced Arachnid.


    The people of the ability user society certainly had quite the influence to search for traces of the Human-Faced Arachnid all over the ce. The smoke man had suffered arge decrease in his strength today. He would need to recover a bit of energy. At the same time, he would let the members of the secret ordere with reinforcements to ensure hisplete safety.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid traveled noiselessly here amidst his pondering, stopping next to him. Its appearance was malevolent and terrifying, but three of its limbs had been severed, so had a bit of a sorry appearance.


    ¡°The strength cleaved away from this de... I don¡¯t know if the meal it just ate would be enough to make up for it.


    The smoke man took over the Human-Faced Arachnid. He didn¡¯t quite understand the nature of this Darksider life form for it hadn¡¯t even been two days. He guessed randomly and was at a loss for a time, but he was able to observe greater details.


    Oh, mes were shining brightly within the body of the Human-Faced Arachnid. They flowed and operated with rules and patterns. Could it be that it was already starting to digest the meal it just ate?


    Right when he was assessing things with great interest, he saw a stream of glowing mes pierce through the back of the Human-Faced Arachnid, splitting it open.


    The smoke man became stunned.


    The mes spread out in an uncontroble manner. Fiery light burst from various ces all over the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s body like thousands of sharp des. One de cut after another. The Human-Faced Arachnid could only struggle in futility until a tongue of me gushed out and burned its entire body, burning it into a sheet of nothingness in the blink of an eye.


    The smoke man was stupefied for a time upon seeing this scene. His mind waspletely nk.


    Then after the Human-Faced Arachnid had been burned away by the raging mes, the mes actually didn¡¯t disperse. Instead, theypressed together to form a vortex in the void. A boom sounded from inside. A malevolent and terrifying demon drove the mes and soared out from the center of the vortex. Six devilish eyes and eight long legs. If it wasn¡¯t a Human-Faced Arachnid, then what was it?

 Chapter 80: Preparing the Sacrifice (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 80: Preparing the Sacrifice (Part 2/2)


    The Human-Faced Arachnid didn¡¯t make any moves after reappearing. It just used its six devilish eyes to stare coldly at this fellow on the same ne as it.


    The smoke man felt that he was in a nightmare, a dream of the end of the world. Everything would go back to normal once he woke up from this nightmare.


    He took several looks at the Human-Faced Arachnid from all around. He was able to see that the Human-Faced Arachnid had somewhat changed from the burning mes. The most straightforward of was as follows: The legs that had been severed from its side by He Yueyin¡¯s de were regrown this time around.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid had the ability to rise anew from a bath of fire?


    Even if the smoke man¡¯s brain operated for three hundred more cycles, he wouldn¡¯t be able to think that a Human-Faced Arachnid had been hiding in the stomach original Human-Faced Arachnid or have simr oundish and absurd thoughts.


    He knew that he couldn¡¯t let any problems happen with this Human-Faced Arachnid owned by the secret order. This was a key existence for the foreseeable future of the Order of Bloodme.


    The smoke man adjusted his mood. He also adjusted the transportation method of the energy and information of his consciousness, causing a link to from between him and the Human-Faced Arachnid. The arachnid didn¡¯t resist.


    Soon, his consciousness cut into the deepestyers of the Human-Faced Arachnid. He saw the terrifying scene of the furnace of hell.


    The smoke man first let out a breath of relief.


    The Order of Bloodme he belonged to had a doctrine. Mighty Bloodme Will was hidden within the rage, hate, despair, and other intense and extreme emotions of every human. The arachnid didn¡¯t possess a concrete form. It didn¡¯t have explicit self-awareness. Yet it possessed strength, terror, power of absolute domination, and rampant and restless operational rules.


    And so after obtaining this Human-Faced Arachnid, the secret order took its most ssical meditation environment and projected it onto the arachnid to form the foundation. They built a basic structure for future sacrifices.


    Nothing looked to have changed, but further steps of verification were needed.


    The smoke man continued to prate deeper into the arachnid. Soon there were peculiar sounds that came permeating up from the bottom of the fiery sea of magma.


    ¡°Blood! Blood! Blood!¡±


    ¡°Fire! Fire! Fire!¡±


    The monotonous and mad shouts converged into a rumbling cry that would make anybody anxious. But to the smoke man, the cry was quite close and dear. Moreover, it made him feel at ease.


    This was the prayer of the lowest level of the secret order, the prayer of the believers. The real prayer¡¯s sound was naturally much moreplicated than this, but the Human-Faced Arachnid before him was sustaining the structure, making it still impossible for the arachnid to replicate the prayer perfectly. It was only an approximate copy.


    The ¡°Blood¡± often referred to hate and rancor. The ¡°Fire¡± referred more towards the search for stimtion.


    Within these shouts of prayers, the smoke man was able to confirm that the structure of the Bloodsoul Temple imnted by the secret order still existed within the arachnid. The foundation had not been lost. Everything was well.


    He contacted the secret order through the Bloodsoul Temple. Soon a deep and firm will gave him a response.


    ¡°I am here.¡±


    The smoke manpletely rxed when facing the First Otum: ¡°Your excellency, there¡¯s a bit of a situation with that matter from before.....¡±


    The First Otum was familiar with what had been a hunt and feed operation. While the Human-Faced Arachnid was hunting, the smoke man discovered a target that made the arachnid restless. This was Jack. The decision was hard to make back then, so he consulted with the First Otum and received permission. Only then did he have the arachnid go hunt Jack. But even the First Otum would likely find the following developments to be highly unimaginable.


    After hearing the brief report, the First Otum actually wasn¡¯t that shocked, only responding with: ¡°Mo Lun. Has our mold been damaged?¡±


    The so-called ¡°Mold¡± was the Human-Faced Arachnid.


    The smoke man, aka Mo Lun, had the fragment of the Human-Faced Arachnid bathing in me and being born anew sh in his mind. But describing such matters would be far tooplicated. He just chose the important points and responded simply:


    ¡°No, not especially. It even seemed to have leveled up a bit.¡±


    ¡°It really is so. From here, I can feel a sort of psychic pressure that it never possessed before. The arrangement and theyers of the environment are increasing. Even though the Bloodme Will was never keen with order, going through its path would be a journey inevitably divided into highs and lows, far and near.¡±


    ¡°It is as your Excellency says.¡± Mo Lun¡¯s mood had calmed down.


    ¡°The sacrificial ritual erected over forty years is at hand. For the sake of restoring the Order¡¯s honor, our operation cannot have any crises or dangers. This is upheld by the Bloodme Will. Everything is fine as long as we can fulfill our ultimate objective.¡±


    The First Otum nned dully: ¡°Your grazing grounds already has a soul envoy. I will send out another and a means of transportation as well. Your mission now is to break away from the core of the storm as quickly as possible and bring back our mold safely.¡±


    ¡°As you desire, your Excellency.¡± Mo Lun cut off the call and his consciousness went a bit spellbound while wandering in the abyss of the fiery prison.


    Ah, it had already been forty years.


    Forty years ago was the time when the third world war was rapidly developing. The first First Otum of the Order of Bloodme sensed the mighty Bloodme Will during the despair of war. His ability awakened and he established the Order of Bloodme on the battlefield.


    This was the earliest proven secret order of modern times. Mo Lun was considered an initiate clergyman. He was only twenty years old at the time. He was a new recruit from the battlefield.


    He obtained endless pleasure from the authority to massacre, bestowed to him from the Bloodme. The rapid development of the order allowed him to possess achievements that a youngster would never dream of achieving.


    As a well-established secret order of the times, the Bloodme once had astonishing glory. Their followers covered nearly two-thirds of the metropolises of the entire world. It was the first of the very few world level orders back in the day.


    But all good things muste to an end. An excessively intense and extreme doctrine would lose its vigor upon losing the support from the environment of war and crisis. The order rapidly declined after the war and its doctrine underwent several major revisions. The order split internally, attaching to external factors in an unforeseen change of events, cutting this powerful force into splintered branches. The branch Mo Lun was in could only shrink into an area of Xia City and rely on impressivebat strength of a high level to barely maintain the prestige of this secret order.


    Within the several years of change, the most important tool to realize the connection between the low-level believers and the Bloodme Will, the order¡¯s sacrificial vessel, had unfortunately been damaged. This was yet another critical blow for the order.


    The powerful sacrificial vessel was naturally the Bloodme Order¡¯s pride. It was the legacy treasure that distinguished themselves from the heretic and knock-off groups. Because they had this sacrificial vessel, they were able to have those low-level followers possess a conventional channel to directly link with the mighty Bloodme Will, giving them the true feedback of mental manifestation interfering with reality. It coalesced the minds of men, cultivating the less advanced in the most optimal way.


    This was an order that was established on supernatural forces. Losing the sacrificial vessel was undoubtedly a fatal blow. It was also a bitter dishonor.


    Right now their order was the same as those knock off groups. Every one of their sacrificial rituals, no matter how big or small, needed the First Otum to carry out their guidance. They used manpower tomune with the Bloodme Will. The energy consumption was enormous. The restrictions were many. It was hard to make people believe in it and it became the restricted order¡¯s greatest bottleneck to recover and grow.


    Mo Lun already had enough of these cursed days. He had experienced the most glorious period of the order, and it was because of this that he could not bear the intolerable decay of the society these days.


    Nowadays the order paid an enormous price to receive a new method of acquiring a sacrificial ritual. The Human-Faced Arachnid was the crux of the crux. It absolutely cannot fail.


    ¡°The mighty Bloodme Will. I request your blessing.¡±


    His consciouspleted this simple prayer within the furnace of hell. He could feel the response of a certain hazy will from the deep abyss of the void. And it came in a rity not often felt in recent years.


    It was as if there was truly a god looking down at him while towering from above.

 Chapter 81: Rending Body and Soul (Part ?)

    Chapter 81: Rending Body and Soul (Part ?)


    Mo Lun had to make a revision as soon as the thought was born: ¡°Pardon me for my foolishness!¡±


    Within the basic doctrine of the Bloodme Order, the personification of gods in the world was not recognized. This was because the Bloodme Will existed in all personalities. It dominated all highly aware life forms under certain conditions.


    The essence of the Bloodme Will exined the extreme side of nature. Only through the extreme roads of Blood and Fire could one reach the apex of strength.


    It was truly very difficult for such a doctrine to gain favor under the backdrop of the modern world. It was because of this that the order had unfolded several revisions to their doctrine over the course of several dozens of years. They buried most of the dividing, catastrophic causes of ruin.


    Mo Lun was an elder member of the order; he was more inclined towards the traditional doctrine. He viewed the Bloodme Will as a guide to pursue eternal strength. He believed more in his own will and goals over the respectful and humble doctrine. But it would be impossible for him not to receive any influences or disturbances over the dozen years of chaos. He took that weak thought and concluded that it was just a foolish association with being confused for a time.


    He strove to collect his mind and forget his recent thoughts. He carefully recollected the words the First Otum had just spoken, theyering within the furnace of hell.


    Indeed, a trueparison between before, a blindly fierce environment, and the current fiery prison would yield a subtle difference within. Notably was the tiny difference in the Blood and Fire shouts by the believers.


    Some fanatical and staunch sound grew clearer within the calls of the fiery prison, arousing even more reverberations. This could be said to be a definite feedback sufficient to prove that the construct of the order¡¯s sacrificial vessel had indeed grown out of the embryonic stage.


    Mo Lun felt that tonight¡¯s hardships were worth it.


    His consciousness separated from the Human-Faced Arachnid. His mood settled and calmed as he waited for the arrival of the soul envoy.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid floated in the air, staying by Mo Lun. It was calm as well, at least on the surface.


    ¡°This is like a dove seizing a magpie¡¯s nest. Or is this just wishful thinking?¡±


    In the previous few minutes, the show Luo Nan watched had truly broadened his knowledge. Then he didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry: What rebirth by me. This was just the reappearance of the Wraith Sign after consuming its kind.


    The altar erected by the Wraith Sign was the battlefield for devouring its own kind. Upon the erection of the altar, under this sort of framework, it was an absolute impossibility for the original arachnid to be the same arachnid toe out alive.


    And so it was inevitable for the experienced Wraith Sign, who possessed the home ground advantage, to get an easy victory.


    This Human-Faced Arachnid of the so-called Bloodme Order had the construct of the Bloodfire Call of the order¡¯s followers and the Bloodsoul Temple; it was nurtured very stylishly. But essentially at its core, the increase of its strength was actually finite. There was arge disparity between it and the sharpening, leveling between Rui Wen and the Wraith Sign.


    And after the Wraith Sign took the initiative to eat Jack¡¯s spiritual seed, this disparity grew evenrger. Failure of the Bloodme arachnid was to be expected.


    This was proof as well that the sort of Darkside life form that was the Human-Faced Arachnid was incapable of leveling up by itself. And that it was impossible for it to level up by eating low-level food.


    The grazing method of the Bloodme Order was actually correct. But what a pity, they had encountered a Human-Faced Arachnid that was on a far higher level than the one they owned. They had encountered the Wraith Sign.


    After the Wraith Sign had consumed Jack¡¯s spiritual seed, Luo Nan could feel that the Wraith Sign was even stronger than the arachnid he had encountered back at the Limestone Water Vige Pub. At the very least, the Wraith Sign could be considered a match for it.


    Actually, there were some things about the Bloodme Order that went beyond his expectations. Luo Nan didn¡¯t especially want any rtionships to develop between him and this order. When Mo Lun went to attack the dark chains, Luo Nan didn¡¯t resist him head on. Instead, he had separated from the arachnid and left the moment the Wraith Sign had erected the altar and directly controlled the situation. Luo Nan and Mo Lun didn¡¯t see each other since.


    When the Wraith Sign prevailed against its own kind and was busy taking over the fruits of battle, Luo Nan never expected that the surviving bit of driving means within the Human-Faced Arachnid would bring the Wraith Sign to the side of this mysterious power.


    The furnace of hell within the Human-Faced Arachnid had already been brought into the altar¡¯s framework at this time. The Wraith Sign just didn¡¯t have the time to gather it up.


    Mo Lun was totally unaware. He was in the format of pure consciousness. All the operations of the energy and information of his contacting, sensing, praying, and thoughts werepletely unconcealed. It was tantamount to taking all his secrets andying it out bare. He was not to be outdone by Jack.


    It felt great to wield other people¡¯s secrets. But some headaches were popping up when trying to figure out how to leave. After all, Luo Nan couldn¡¯t let the Wraith Sign seriously go with Mo Lun and do some sacrificial vessel things.


    The Psychic Wave Network, having just recovered normalmunications, reverberated with He Yueyin¡¯s voice: ¡°Scout. You¡¯re okay right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m fine.¡±


    Luo Nan¡¯s soul body hovered in the skies, observing downward. He saw He Yueyin furrow her brows as she talked with him. She smoothed the appearance of her brows after receiving his response. Luo Nan felt quite good.


    Actually, without taking into regard with the Wraith Sign¡¯s current dilemma, Luo Nan¡¯s state wasn¡¯t just fine; it was excellent. It wasn¡¯t good. It was great.


    He had supported the activities of yet another altar and he was inseparably tied to the Wraith Sign¡¯s victory, allowing him to receive direct benefits. These benefits far exceeded what he had received with Rui Wen.


    Of course, this didn¡¯t include soul breathing.


    Once the mental storm stopped, Luo Nan¡¯s range of mental senses would start to rapidly recover. Based on concrete data, the most direct observation of his mental senses would increase its range by 50~60% from 500 meters to reach a radius of nearly 800 meters.


    The expansion of the range of his senses was proof that the amount of information and energy Luo Nan couldmand had increased substantially. The precision also subsequently increased as a result.


    After the growth of his ability, Luo Nan naturally had the desire to show off. The Society probably started their chase of the Human-Faced Arachnid right about now. Luo Nan really was eager to give things a try...... Just kidding. Luo Nan was really thinking if it was possible to borrow the Society¡¯s forces to give the Wraith Sign a chance to escape.


    But he never expected that He Yueyin would speak the following words: ¡°The operation has been concluded. Return immediately.¡±


    ¡°Huh? We¡¯re not chasing?¡±


    ¡°Chase? Chase who?¡±


    ¡°The one who was plotting against you. The one who interfered with the psychic wavework......¡± Luo Nan really wanted to guide the Society¡¯s forces towards Mo Lun. His words were urging.


    He Yueyin was silence for a moment before suddenly facing Giant Arm, Crag Burst and the others with a hand signal. Then her voice suddenly turned low and soft, almost non-existing. It was as if she was scared that the enemy would be scared into motion:


    ¡°You see him? You must not move by all means right now. This person¡¯s strength is extremely powerful. Right now you¡¯re just a crow. Don¡¯t think of anything else. Just let him go!¡±


    ¡°Um. Wait. That person already left. But he should still be within this group of highrise buildings. So no chasing?¡±


    He Yueyin was startled. She faced Giant Arm and the others, who were already prepared to mobilize, with a signal to stop. Her voice returned to normal and she spoke with resolution: ¡°You are to return at once. Today¡¯s mission has terminated.¡±


    ¡°But......¡±


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t know what words would be right to say for a time. He could obviously see that He Yueyin¡¯s series of changes were all for the sake of his safety. But what would happen to the Wraith Sign over with Mo Lun?

 Chapter 81: Rending of Body and Soul (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 81: Rending of Body and Soul (Part 2/2)


    ¡°Mr. Luo.¡±


    He Yueyin addressed him differently, further emphasizing the end of the operation. She exined to Luo Nan: ¡°Different mission objectives need different mission deployments. Different people to execute the mission is needed as well. The troops that faced off against Jack may not be suitable for facing the Human-Faced Arachnid and the power behind it. And, the society has an approximate lock on the enemy¡¯s identity. There will be follow up measures executed to handle the situation. "


    But right now there wasn¡¯t......


    Luo Nan knew that he shouldn¡¯t be selfish and ce hisrades of the Society in dangerous circumstances. And the existence of the Wraith Sign was something that absolutely could not be exposed. When all was said and done, he would need to think of a way on his own.


    ¡°Understood. I will return immediately.¡±


    After confirming that Mo Lun would not leave this area for a while, Luo Nan ordered Ink to fly back.


    But he never expected He Yueyin¡¯s words to be the following: ¡°Mr. Bai is right here. He can give you an examination on the situation with your sent soul.¡±


    Luo Nan nearly made Ink knock itself unconscious against the bell tower.


    He Yueyin had mentioned Mr. Bai while Luo Nan contacted her at the fighting arena. Luo Nan didn¡¯t take it seriously at the time, but now his feelings werepletely different.


    Disregard the fact that Mr. Bai had been extremely passive when facing Mo Lun. On the mental ne, the mesh smoke style permeating attack was extremely exquisite. Luo Nan probably couldn¡¯t hide Ink¡¯s circumstances from this man.


    It wasn¡¯t a big deal to reveal his out-of-body state. But to hide it for so long and have it exposed was something very awkward to experience.


    Luo Nan really didn¡¯t have a good solution. He could only take things as theye.


    While they were speaking, He Yueyin and the others began to clean the battlefield. Although the course of events was a bitplicated, all the participating members of the operation escaped unharmed. The atmosphere was quite rxed.


    Rui Wen, who was injured in aa, was already lifted in a prepared ambnce for emergency treatment in order to reduce the radiation damage.


    As for the other, Jack¡¯s corpse was hauled back. A group of people surrounded the body studying it. It was called a corpse, but it was actually just the exoskeleton armor of a Deep Blue Walker. It didn¡¯t matter whether it was inside or outside; it was all messy. Various human tissue, brokenponents, made it give off the feeling of a trash heap. It was impossible to see the might that faced off against Crag Burst and Giant Arm.


    The pping of wings could be heard in the air. Ink pped its wings and flew in through the window of the abandoned floor. Compared to its same species, itsrge body and astonishing speed made it rather eye catching. It drew in everyone who was cleaning the battlefield to raise their heads and look at it.


    Mr. Bai, who had been nursing his mind all this time, raised his head and looked. He wasn¡¯t superfluous. An intent like light smoke spilled out from the depths of the void, locking onto the crow.


    Luo Nan rushed to have Ink descend to the ground in front of the sitting Mr. Bai. At the same time, he greeted through the HexaEar: ¡°Hi Mr. Bai. I¡¯ve troubled you.¡±


    He felt like he was a patient seeking an examination and that Mr. Bai was a medical expert, a profound doctor.


    Mr. Bai split his lips into augh. This old man famous for his dream techniques had a casual,zy attitude. He sat on the ground with a stooped back, looking like he could fall asleep and take a nap at any second.


    However, eyes quite bright were underneath Mr. Bai¡¯s half-closed eyelids. They headed together with the smoke cloud pervading on the mental ne to cover Ink¡¯s body. Soon he went ¡°Oh¡±.


    He Yueyin and Crag Burst had already walked over earlier on. They maintained some distance to avoid disturbing Mr. Bai¡¯s examination.


    Seeing Mr. Bai¡¯s response, Crag Burst, who had concluded that it was an attached soul early on, couldn¡¯t help asking: ¡°What is it? An attached soul? Or a sent soul?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell for the time being.¡± Mr. Bai was actually quite forthright. Then he followed up immediately with praise: ¡°It¡¯s a little bit different than what I previously imagined. Little Luo knows what he¡¯s doing with this method. The technique is quite meticulous. This standard¡¯s not bad, not bad!¡±


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t really cover things up. Ability users on Mr. Bai¡¯s level would just need to pay careful attention. The faintly glowing graphical structure could not be concealed under the wings of the crow.


    After hearing Mr. Bai talk about it, He Yueyin and Crag Burst then discovered the situation.


    He Yueyin hesitated for a moment before speaking: ¡°...... Format?¡±


    Much thanks for swallowing the word ¡°Archetype¡±.


    Luo Nan sighed a hidden sigh ofment. The degree of awareness of Yan Hong¡¯s Archetype Format was truly deeply rooted within Burners, within ability users. This was something that would need quite a bit of time to change.


    Crag Burst scratched his head, speaking: ¡°I don¡¯t recall seeing this figure in the beginning, but I saw it when we came rushing over here.¡±


    Luo Nan rushed to exin: ¡°I onlyprehended it just recently. The main thing is that it¡¯s a conditioning state.¡±


    He Yueyin set the tone with a single sentence: ¡°Are there any dangers with this?¡±


    ¡°Reason says that the more order it has, the less dangerous it is. But we can¡¯t make a rash conclusion.¡±


    Mr. Bai stood up upon speaking: ¡°How about this. We¡¯re pretty much done with matters over here. I don¡¯t really have anything to do. How about I go on a trip with little Luo to the hospital and do some testing, some looking, someparing. It would all be good.¡±


    He Yueyin responded: ¡°That would be the best. I¡¯ll arrange a car.¡±


    Although Mr. Bai looked to be disheveled, as soon as he moved to action he moved truly like thunder and wind. And there was He Yueyin, who was sprightly and efficient. Luo Nan didn¡¯t have the time to speak further before he was brought onto a flying car headed to Xia City¡¯s Renai Hospital.


    The rest didn¡¯t really matter. The one thing that made Luo Nan worried was the increasing distance between him and the Wraith Sign. Luckily the connection between the two of them remained stable and hidden so far.


    Mr. Bai asked Luo Nan several more questions in the car. The main of which was how did Luo Nan construct the connection between him and the crow, how did Luo Nan control it, and other simr details.


    Luo Nan saw that this was his chance. He took the initiative to describe Ink¡¯s history and he spoke notpletely truthfully: ¡°Back when I sensed Ink and locked onto him, it seemed that I became aware of the out-of-body state......¡±


    This was a pre-concealment of the likely exposure in the future.


    But Mr. Bai clearly didn¡¯t think too much about it. He justughed in delight after hearing Luo Nan: ¡°Out-of-body state? Kids shouldn¡¯t bite off more than they can chew. You have yet to awaken. Even if you go out of your body for a short time, you¡¯ll instantly be scattered into the wind...... Your soul will fly away and disperse with nothing left to be saved!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s that dangerous?¡±


    ¡°From ancient times until now, the price is disastrous.¡± Mr. Bai shook his head and sighed, ¡°In our ancestor¡¯s time, the out-of-body state was said to call and attract dark gods. It was quite forbidden and was considered quite reckless to do so. The people who did left the world tragically. Since you have this sort of awareness, you might as well read the books on it that the Society collected and revised. It is good to have a reference, to develop what is good and discard what is bad.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep this in mind.¡±


    Luo Nan finally understood why Crag Burst, He Yueyin, and Mr. Bai didn¡¯t think about the out-of-body line of thought. They considered his circumstances usingmon sense. They never imagined that Luo Nan would have the Wraith Sign by his side acting as an external fuel tank; it could act as his lifeline giving him more time in the out-of-body state.


    While Luo Nan and Mr. Bai were conversing, Luo Nan¡¯s soul body flew at demonic speeds to arrive half a step earlier at Xia City¡¯s Renai Hospital.


    It was undoubtedly an impossible task to rely only on Ink, a mere crow, to let Luo Nan recover his consciousness. To avoid things from bing awkward, Luo Nan would need to settle the matter ahead of time.


    The subtle connection to Luo Nan¡¯s main body didn¡¯t need a specific response. Luo Nan¡¯s mind just stirred and his soul body headed back inside his main body.


    The mental ne and the material ne converged in this moment. Like a rock being cast down from high above, it jolted with a thump, bringing out circles and circles of ripples.


    During the surge that was brought by entering his body, Luo Nan opened his eyes and gazed at the ceiling of the hospital with its monotonous pattern. He grinned and chuckled, but then his expression froze on the spot.


    Luo Nan felt a stabbing pain in the space between his eyebrows in the next instant. A small hole split open in the thinyer of skin on his forehead and blood seeped out from within.

 Chapter 82: Soul Envoy (Part ?)

    Chapter 82: Soul Envoy (Part ?)


    Luo Nan did not dare to make a move. His entire body was frozen like a block of wood.


    But he couldn¡¯t just stay frozen for it wasn¡¯t just his forehead. He felt a tearing sensatione from the flesh of his scalp, cheeks, shoulder, back and many other ces. And the sensation continued to spread.


    It was as if his body had suddenly turned into a thin bag filled with des. Just the slightest movement would cause a myriad of des to pierce his body as a result.


    His body and soul were gravely out of harmony!


    Luo Nan¡¯s insight and knowledge had made great progress. He was able to capture the root of his troubles in an instant. He recalled having heard He Yueyin mention his critical issue of his mind and fleshly body being unbnced and overspecialized. It was only a conceptual understanding at the time, now he had experienced it personally atst.


    His soul and fleshly body were from the same source, merged as one body. Energy and information intemunicated and interoperated in a synchronized operation. There was a natural, rtive, and harmonic tempo. Even if something somewhere may overstep its bounds, it had been still possible to adjust it back in range.


    But then the strength of Luo Nan¡¯s soul had received the gains of two altars in a row within the span of a night, increasing his strength greatly. He also understood the mysteries of soul breathing. The corresponding operation of energy and information was simply a transformation. And this transformation was rapidly fed back into his fleshly body upon uniting the two as one.


    It was good that the strength of his soul had increased and soul breathing was something even better. Soul breathing gave the current Luo Nan the ability to interfere with the material and mental ne, the ability to utilize the operation of energy and information to the highest effect.


    The problem was as follows: The foundation for body and soul were different when all was said and done.


    It could be seen from the Tower of Babel of the Dynamo Core. The soul, this thing, was pretty much a structure that was thebination of energy and information. It just needed a fundamental framework to operate under and things would be good. It didn¡¯t matter howplicated the adjustments were, often times only a thought was needed.


    But the fleshly body was limited to basic matter. Every functional system, organ, and tissue had different carrying capacity, tolerance, and etc. To transmit energy and information would require the use of various chemical carriers. This was an extremelyplicatedprehensive system.


    Luo Nan had started with his nervous system. He had used all sorts of nerve drugs to roam along the line between life and death. He used a full five years to modify the structure of his body and barely reach the needs of the format ¡°My heart¡¯s a prison¡±.


    How would it be possible for him to catch up to a new tempo with soul breathing within a second?


    Only through contrast could one see the difference. Right now Luo Nan could see where Rui Wen¡¯s godlike talenty. She didn¡¯t look particrly strong, but she was able to catch up and adjust to the changes to her soul tempo from beginning to end. It didn¡¯t matter how extreme the circumstances, she was able to maintain it. This was a function that far exceeded what ordinary people could do.


    Envy was pointless right now. That one instant onlycerated his muscle, so Luo Nan should be rejoicing. If it was his weak and susceptible nervous system, if something went wrong with his hormone system, the system of his body would likely crash on the spot. Or unpredictable changes in development would ur.


    Rejoicing was also useless. If the situation were to continue, Luo Nan¡¯s worries would have an enormous probability ofing true.


    ¡°Hello, little Nan. Lost in thought?¡±


    Mr. Bai¡¯s void transmitted over the HexaEar, making Luo Nan recall that ¡°he¡± was by Mr. Bai¡¯s side heading towards the hospital. They could see the building of the hospital by now.


    Luo Nan let go of the head-aching matters over here for the time being. He had already thought of an excuse: ¡°There seems to be a response with my main body......¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± Mr. Bai was a bit surprised, but he was very happy, ¡°This shows that the connection between your soul and body is extremely close. We can eliminate many issues. Come. Let¡¯s strike while the iron¡¯s hot.¡±


    Mr. Bai opened the car window upon speaking, indicating to Ink to fly outside: ¡°Go back to your main body right now. See if you can do it. I¡¯m going to greet the contacts of the Society within the hospital and get a temporary identity. We can talk openlyter and keep in touch in the future.


    This was all within Luo Nan¡¯s expectations. He gave Mr. Bai a word of thanks on the spot and spurred Ink to p its wings and soar towards the direction of the hospital.


    Ink found Luo Nan¡¯s ward quite urately, stopping outside the window. Then he gave Mr. Bai the good news two secondster: ¡°There are no problems on my end anymore!¡±


    And so, the entire show went wlessly...... If one were to ignore the huge problem with the imbnce between his body and soul.


    Mr. Bai chuckled inughter: ¡°It¡¯s best that it was a false rm. Right now it¡¯s already past midnight. You should rest, recuperate for a bit. Let us meet again during the early morning rounds. You should call me by Professor Bai with a yell at that time.¡±


    Luo Nan really wanted to ask this authority on soul science for guidance on this issue with his soul body imbnce. But his show had developed to this degree. Some words were truly hard to speak.


    In the end, he was an introvert. He had already responded automatically after a moment¡¯s hesitation: ¡°Okay. Thank-you Mr. Bai.¡±


    Themunications between the two were ended for now. Luo Nan then made a call with He Yueyin and Crag Burst to ease their worries. He focused his attention back on his own body after a round of notifying. Thecerating sensation in his muscles had spread a step further.


    This was something that could be concretely felt. If the pain nerves of his inner organs didn¡¯t have this situation, there wouldn¡¯t be anything to describe.


    Luo Nan sighed a breath. He had to act very carefully when performing this mere action. Otherwise, something else somewhere else would becerated within him. Obviously, this couldn¡¯t go on. He was paralyzed. He was super paralyzed......


    What did that moment¡¯s hesitation cost him in the end!?


    Luo Nan felt that he hadmitted his own folly. In the end, he wasn¡¯t a genuine idiot who stubbornly assisted on his own ideas. He knew that he absolutely couldn¡¯t be stupid under these circumstances. He had to go contact Mr. Bai again at once.


    But then the Wraith Sign¡¯s information was sent back from the nightclub several kilometers away at this moment. There was a change in the situation there. The Bloodme Order¡¯s Mo Lun had ordered the Human-Faced Arachnid into action.


    This was not the original Human-Faced Arachnid. Right now only a shell remained of the method the Bloodme Order instilled on the arachnid. It made the Wraith Sign, who wascking intelligence, have some difficulties understanding Mo Lun¡¯s intentions.


    Luo Nan sighed again. His soul went out of his body, temporarily casting off the restrictions of his fleshly body. He went all out to respond to the change in circumstances there yonder.


    Luo Nan had an approximate understanding of the situation through the Wraith Sign. Mo Lun had ordered the Human-Faced Arachnid because two soul envoys had arrived.


    Mo Lun didn¡¯t know that the ability user society had no intention of continuing their hunt for him. He still conducted evacuation n in ordance with the secret order.


    The so-called soul envoys looked to be a young man and a young woman who liked to have fun. They were now mingling in the nightclub with its great number of people. They didn¡¯t look out of ce at all.


    But this pair, after entering into the room where Mo Lun and the Human-Faced Arachnid were at and verifying their locations, immediately kneeled to the ground and prayed in silence, even though they could not see anything on the mental ne.


    The two people¡¯s bodies swayed inexplicably during their prayer. They went dazed, immediately falling to the ground, losing all consciousness.


    Luo Nan saw this very clearly. The moment they went into aa, all conscious activity was lost. Right now the man and woman on the ground were just two empty shells of flesh. Or perhaps one could say ¡°two vessels¡±.


    Mo Lun¡¯s ns so far were absolutely clear.


    As expected, Mo Lun then ¡°controlled¡± the Wraith Sign to have it enter the body of the female soul envoy, borrowing the air of life to mask the arachnid to thergest degree.


    As for Mo Lun himself, he threw himself into the fleshly body of the male soul envoy without any restraint at all. The male soul envoy was unconscious, his body still in shock to the point of copsing on the ground in weakness. A fine bloody hole split open at his temples. The surrounding veins pulsed and throbbed.

 Chapter 82: Soul Envoy (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 82: Soul Envoy (Part 2/2)


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    It was as if Luo Nan was looking at a rerun of the terrible misfortune that happened to his own body. The current situation was clear. The fleshly body of the soul envoy could not bear the strength of Mo Lun¡¯s soul being instilled. An injury had arisen in the body. But how would Mo Lun resolve this problem? What if he encountered some unfortunate mishap? He couldn¡¯t just force the soul envoy to battle. The soul envoy could be mincemeat at any time.


    Using the Wraith Sign as a node and a screen, Luo Nan opened his ¡°God View¡± to observe Mo Lun¡¯s actions from all angles.


    Mo Lun waspletely unaware of Luo Nan. He just kept his routine of adjustment, letting the soul envoy gradually adapt the instillment of his soul with its strength. Since the Wraith Sign was there, Mo Lun had exposed his own method of operating energy and information. Luo Nan made conjectures as he observed, so he was able to practicallyplete Mo Lun¡¯s steps.


    ...... So it was like this? Luo Nan was like an apprentice. He observed the actions of his instructor and he started to give it a shot himself.


    The first was to limit the self.


    The tempo of soul breathing was adjusted to be lower, slowing the speed and efficiency of the operation of energy and information. So much so that some was intentionally blocked. This lessened the enormous pressure that was brought to the body.


    The range of Luo Nan¡¯s mental senses began to shrink greatly. It went from a radius of 800 meters to under ten meters.


    This was approximately one percent of the mental senses of his soul body. It was impossible to shrink it down any further. This preserved the current soul configuration and tempo to their lowest limits. This was a ¡°basic unit¡±. But even though it was a basic unit, it was a factor higher than the five hundred meter radius ofst night. The pressure brought by the processing of information was still substantial.


    The second step was needed at this time: Maintaining distance.


    Luo Nan followed Mo Len¡¯s method. He let his soul body lean towards the depths of the mental ne to maintain a close yet distant state with his fleshly body. Yep. It was like he was dreaming.


    Mo Lun had used this method to decrease the pressure against the fleshly body of the soul envoy. But thergest problem was as follows: The information exchanged between the material ne and mental ne was a bit dyed, a bit disced, influencing the secretion of some neurotransmitters. The mind became muddled. It was like sleep walking or even being high on drugs.


    In the end, this was just a n of convenience. It really didn¡¯t get to the root of the problem.


    Luo Nan was a bit disappointed. But no matter how it was, this sort of method could help him break free from the awkward state of paralysis.


    Mo Lun didn¡¯t leave the nightclub in a rush after finishing sending his soul. Instead, he led the Wraith Sign out the room to walk around the nightclub. The sent soul form was calibrated to an optimal state.


    Observing had lost its value for the time being. Luo Nan¡¯s mind returned back. He couldn¡¯t help yawning and he nearly fell asleep. He really didn¡¯t want to scare his family by falling asleep again. He forced his urges back by shaking his head as he got up.


    The faint light of day passed through the cotton curtains into the room. It was as if time had flown. It was already morning in the blink of an eye.


    He thought of the chaotic twists and turns that happened during the first half of the night and he thought of how fast time had flowed. The contrast between then and now was clear and it made Luo Nan moved rather emotionally for a time.


    Luo Nan performed another deep breath, but then an itching sensation suddenly exploded in his throat half way through. His airflow diverted paths, choking him within an inch of his life on the spot. He coughed over and over, nearly unable to catch his breath.


    Themunications device at the head of the bed rang at this moment. His aunt¡¯s voice transmitted over with extreme delight:


    ¡°Nan nan! You woke up!¡±


    He wanted to say hello to his aunt, but his intense coughing prevented him from opening his mouth at all. He could only raise his hand with all his strength to respond.


    Luo Nan¡¯s intensive care ward had been specially prepared by the Society through the hospital. There was a 24-hour AI monitoring system and there was a pair of nurses allocated to him, a specialty nurse and a robot nurse. Actually, their real objective was to prevent his family from nursing him so that they could clear up space for what was toe.


    Due to this hospital¡¯s system, Mrs. Luo Shuqing could only observe Luo Nan¡¯s real-time situation through an inte stream. She never thought that she would see Luo Nan sit up on the same day he was admitted, in this early morning. This happy moment of surprise was seriously very important.


    But it was hard to avoid being worried when seeing Luo Nan endlessly gasping for breath. The door to the room was opened right when she was about to call for medical help. A grandiose doctor and nurse entered inside. The daily rounds had started.


    Astonishingly, Mr. Bai was lined up within this group. He was even in the center. This little old man had just casually put on a white gown and Luo Nan noticed that the doctor in charge addressed him as Professor Bai withplete respect.


    ¡°Oh! The little fellow woke up. This saves quite a bit of work."


    The nurse stepped forward to do the routine inspections the instant Mr. Bai started cracking jokes. She pulled up the monitoring data fromst night for Mr. Bai to refer to.


    Mr. Bai already had a firm view on what had happenedst night. He just skimmed over the data and continued to clown around with Luo Nan: ¡°......What¡¯s wrong with your forehead? You didn¡¯t wake up by falling did you?¡±


    The injury to Luo Nan¡¯s forehead was just his skin tissue tearing. A scab had long since formed, stopping the blood. It looked like he had scraped against something. The faint bloody scar was quite eye catching since it was on the forehead.


    ¡°Cough. Don¡¯t know. Hit something.¡± Luo Nan still couldn¡¯t stop coughing. He could only speak in stutters.


    Mr. Bai walked over beaming withughter. He used his hands to examine the situation with Luo Nan¡¯s body. In other words, he was opening/closing Luo Nan¡¯s eyelids and so on.


    At the same time, Luo Nan¡¯s HexaEar transmitted Mr. Bai¡¯s voice over: ¡°Idiot! You should be saying, ¡®Why am I here¡¯ or something like that okay?¡±


    ¡°Cough...... Why am I here?¡± Luo Nan¡¯s brain was constantly dazed due to the residual effects of reducing his soul¡¯s pressure. He really would say whatever Mr. Bai wanted. He was extremely obedient.


    Mr. Bai was greatly delighted. Luo Nan was young enough to be his grandson. He patted Luo Nan¡¯s head in passing, showing that this boy was worth teaching. Then he said:


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Little fellow, you must have had a lot of stresstely. You have a bit of OCD...... Your guardian is here right. Tell them of your circumstancester.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go downstairs immediately.¡±


    Mrs. Luo Shuqing didn¡¯t go home yesterday. She just stayed the night at a nearby hotel. She notified her husband of Luo Nan waking up, then she rushed over to the hospital. She watched the whole medical examination events from beginning to end through the inte stream. She rushed to respond through themunication device at the head of the bed.


    ¡°No rush. No rush.¡±


    Mr. Bai¡¯s mouth had spoken these words, but he grabbed Luo Nan¡¯s two hands. He indicated to Luo Nan to open up the thumb and forefinger on his left hand. He lightly kneaded and pressed Luo Nan¡¯s thumb on his right hand. He demonstrated the contact point, the technique, and the pressure once more: ¡°You can deal with the severity of your coughing in this way for now. Focus your thoughts. Eliminate your heart from distractions. Okay?¡±


    Luo Nan acted ording to Mr. Bai¡¯s words. Sure enough, the coughing symptom was somewhat relieved. He nodded his head in response on the spot.


    Mr. Bai walked out with all smiles and hands sped behind his back. The connection via the HexaEar was never cut off, however. Mr. Bai even shared information, letting Luo Nan know his following route.


    Mr. Bai symbolically examined a few more patients before meeting with Mrs. Lu Shuqing. The following pretext was different than what was given in the ward:


    ¡°I can make a preliminary diagnosis that it is an autonomic nerve disorder, or dysautonomia, from looking at the current situation. This was brought on by either extreme stress or angry emotions...... Did he get angry with anyone in the familyst night?¡±


    Mr. Bai brought out the attitude of a psychic. He asked the question knowing full well the answer, drawing in Mrs. Luo Shuqing instantly.

 Chapter 83: Auction (Part ?)

    Chapter 83: Auction (Part ?)


    ¡°No, someone outside the family had......¡± Luo Shuqing thought of the scenest night at the restaurant and was unable to prevent her chest from tightening and her heart from speeding up. She ground her teeth hard. That scoundrel. How dare he pull Luo Nan by the neck and threaten him.


    Mr. Bai nodded his head: ¡°Well, in any case, the disease has already appeared. What follows is the issue with treatment. Yesterday you did an examination over at Anhai and the overall situation was exined at that time. There are two particr points about the patient. The first is his age; he¡¯s right in the middle of puberty. The second is his gic history. These points must be considered.¡±


    Even Mrs. Luo Shuqing, an intelligent and capable woman, could only be at this doctor¡¯s mercy when having ess to unequal amounts of information. She was ill at ease, asking: ¡°You¡¯re saying......¡±


    ¡°Overall, I propose a drugless treatment. Taking medication may not be a good method for such a young boy. Instead, adjusting his environment is preferred, a self-adjustment. The atmosphere of the family is very important at his current stage. Control over his self-behavior is also very important. Simply speaking, he needs to loosen and rx. He needs to routinely rest. I don¡¯t suggest that he engages in heavy physical or mental activity.¡±


    ¡°Of course, his current symptoms of drowsiness, coughing, and so on will need to be dealt with in order to avoid affecting his quality of his life. How about this. First, have him stay two days in the hospital. Have him soak in the health pod and do some mental therapy to let him learn how to rx his mind.¡±


    Mrs. Luo Shuqing didn¡¯t even have the time to respond when Luo Nan could not hold back anymore from within the ward: ¡°Mr. Bai, why do I need to be hospitalized?¡±


    ¡°Because you¡¯re really sick. Your autonomic nervous system has been damaged.¡±


    Mr. Bai deserved to be called an authority on soul science. He had studied the mind to an extremely deep level. He was more than enough even if he was multitasking between Luo Nan and his aunt:


    ¡°The sudden emergence of your coughing is the most obvious proof. And right now you¡¯re still very drowsy? Who took a look at you with your dead-ridden and drooping eyes at this early morning? For a young man who can already send his soul to have these symptoms appear, clearly, there¡¯s an issue with a physiological mechanism.¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    Luo Nan was actually speechless for a time. He watched Mr. Bai skillfully speak a few sentences to handle formalities for his aunt with utter delight. Luo Nan pondered for quite a while before speaking:


    ¡°Is it because of the imbnce between body and soul?¡±


    ¡°You having this self-awareness is quite good.¡±


    Mr. Bai sighed a breath: ¡°I can see that you have quite the talent for soul science. You were able to use the method of sending and attaching the soul, all self-taught. And you were also able to open the hole for the out-of-state body somewherest night. Your study of the mind has progressed even further.¡±


    ¡°I just surmised recently that your ability on the mental ne is rather systematic. Even I would find it hard to form my body as one by myself and avoid producing evenrger problems. But the more things are like this, the more troublesome things are. You need to know that the rate of improvement of our bodies is far too smallpared to our souls. It is quite easy for the body to get lost behind.¡±


    ¡°There were many experts of the old generation back in ancient times who had an imbnce between their soul and fleshly body. They discarded their fleshly body, perhaps believing themselves infallible, perhaps beingpelled to, and in the end, they could only fall as errant souls. They could only be wandering ghosts as their body and mindpletely perished, leaving this earth....... We must learn from our predecessors. We can¡¯t be careless.¡±


    Luo Nan felt that he was quite innocent. He understood the reason behind Mr. Bai¡¯s words. But the mad expansion of his soul¡¯s strength over the course of the night... Could that still have been his mistake?


    Alright then. He didn¡¯t need to mention these symptoms to Mr. Bai any more......


    Luo Nan asked probingly: ¡°Do I start tempering my body from now on?¡±


    Mr. Bai scoffed at Luo Nan¡¯s words: ¡°Based on your sick body? Right now the most important thing is to nurse back your health. The health pod of Renai Hospital is quite effective. Go through a round of treatment and see the results. Rx. This isn¡¯t your typical consumer product. It uses a nutrient solution specifically provided by the Society. Your injury counts as a work injury.¡±


    ¡°Wait until the end of the observation period. If you want to get even better results, you can get in contact with expert pharmaceutical chemists of the Society. One to two honor points is more or less enough for someone to concoct a customizedpound for you...... Oh right. You just entered the Society. Do you understand honor points?¡±


    ¡°Mm. I do. But drugs are still going to be used for this?¡±


    Luo Nan saw early on that Mr. Bai was the sort of zany person who wasn¡¯t bothered by the little things. He was warm-hearted, so Luo Nan was quite rxed when saying: ¡°You even said that this would be a drugless treatment?¡±


    ¡°I was afraid that your guardian would give you those consumer products on the market. Besides whether or not the drug is proper for you, there¡¯s also the matter of how severe the stimtion could be. Wouldn¡¯t matters be much more troublesome this way?¡±


    Mr. Bai then gave an introduction on a few expert pharmaceutical chemists of the Society. But Luo Nan felt a surge of drowsiness in his brain after listening to just a few sentences. He was not able to concentrate, so he dimly responded with a sentence:


    ¡°How¡¯s Bro Octopus?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re familiar with Octopus?¡±


    Mr. Bai could see Luo Nan¡¯s state, so he didn¡¯t find it an annoyance. He just exined the facts truthfully, ¡°That young fellow¡¯s not bad. But his specialty is in drugs that stimte one¡¯s potential and hallucinogens. This doesn¡¯t fit with your situation. But as a pharmaceutical chemist, hiswork is much broader than mine. You can consult him for his opinion.¡±


    Luo Nan¡¯s impression towards this warm hearted and selfless old man grew all the more favorable. He promptly gave his thanks.


    Mr. Bai re-emphasized a few taboos he must take note of before letting Luo Nan sleep a bit. Luo Nan¡¯s sleeping would make it convenient for Mr. Bai to do a few more examinations in the hospital.


    Luo Nan really couldn¡¯t hold it any longer. He spoke another word of thanks and then fell back on the bed. But he never expected the HexaEar to transmit new information over. It was a briefing aboutst night¡¯s mission.


    From Luo Nan¡¯s understanding, getting a brief meant that he was getting honor points. Right now was precisely the time to use points. He forced back his urge to sleep and opened the briefing.


    It looked like the briefing was still written by He Yueyin; it was concise and clear. Luo Nan skimmed over the description of the course of events for the operation and then he went to look for the evaluation and points that pertained to himself.


    Luo Nan¡¯s performance in the operation was mainly in regards to him discovering the issue in the preceding stage. And within the preceding stage of the operation, he aplished his scouting mission outstandingly. He produced the factor for the Society to stop Jack, but other things weren¡¯t explicitly reflected in the brief.


    So his evaluation was lower thanst time by a bit. He was given a C+ and 3 honor points. He was still ranked in the first tier.


    Right now he had reached 7 honor points in total. He had umted them at astonishing speed. It looked like he was seriously going to go get an understanding of the Society¡¯s ¡°shop¡± right now.


    Soon he flipped to the end of the brief. Luo Nan discovered that the form of this brief was different than the one before at this time. This briefing had a link attached marked ¡°Spoils of War¡±.


    Luo Nan found out after opening that the Society had a Spoils of War Auction System all along. Anything that was reaped within the operation would be taken out for disy. The participating members of the operation would then visually assess the items on their value and grade in an auction. This was how they determined who gets what.


    As for the reapings here, obviously, it would mainly consist of items that hade from Jack¡¯s body.


    They included a medium-sized transport vehicle, the remains of a Deep Blue Walker exoskeleton armor, detection/scanner instruments, second-hand Altered Humanponents, and so on.


    Of course, the most eye catching of all was obviously that Deep Sea Type 4 Dynamo Core.


    Luo Nan stared at the digital interface for quite a while. At longst, he couldn¡¯t hold back from coughing andughing. He was greatly delighted:


    Yan Yongbo must be quite anxious over there.

 Chapter 83: Auction (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 083: Auction (Part 2/2)


    Trantion: Sarah


    Of the reapings, the thing that caught Luo Nan¡¯s attention was definitely the Deep Sea Type 4 Dynamo Core.


    He remembered watching all of the fine threads being recovered after the core had lost the stimulus of energy and information. The ¡®wheat-like¡¯ structure became loose and it was basically reduced to a fine needle of four to five centimeters. It was honestly very simr to his ¡®external neuron¡¯.


    A top-notch product that was likely rted to the ¡®external neuron¡¯ that was in his possession. It was a clue that was very likely to have a direct corrtion to his father¡¯s whereabouts. For this reason, Luo Nan was extremely interested in this item.


    Moreover, Luo Nan had observed most of the negotiation between Jack and Yan Yongbo. This allowed him to naturally understand the value of the core and its associated technology. For interested parties, the total value of all the other items from the reaping would not add up to half of the core¡¯s worth.


    Luo Nan immediately went to check on the Dynamo Core at the auction. However, the digital interface showed that the piece was still at its valuation stage. It seemed like even the association could not urately settle its value.


    Jack¡¯s Cerebral Nucleus was also at its valuation stage.


    This was quite surprising. Although the Cerebral Nucleus was the key processing center for an Altered Human and provided for its advanced thinking and emotion, it was still considered a ¡®mass produced¡¯ item, Therefore, it should not have the same status as the Dynamo Core.


    ¡°Oh wait, I think I remember this thing being wrapped inside the core.¡± Luo Nan thought back to the situation at the time. After the core had disassembled from its metallic ¡®wheat-like¡¯ form, the Cerebral Nucleus had indeed fallen out from it.


    Even while testing Jack¡¯s Cerebral Nucleus earlier, the core was found to be orbiting around the outside of the nucleus. It was unknown whether there were special conditions within.


    Jack was too mysterious. Yesterday night, the original n was to get to the bottom of Yan Yongbo. However, a sudden turn of events led to the current scene. Jack was one of the main catalysts of this incident. What Deep Blue World and what Apocalypse Laboratory? It was utterly unheard of. If it wasn¡¯t for Jack, how could Luo Nan have known about these things?


    After Jack died, many leads were lost. It was unknown whether the association could put in more effort to unearth relevant information.


    If not... Luo Nan would have to do it himself.


    As he was pondering over Jack¡¯s Secrets, Crag Burst¡¯s loud voice suddenly cut through, ¡°Hey, hey? Scout, are you alright? How do you feel after sleeping?¡±


    ¡°I still want to sleep...¡± Afterst night¡¯s fine y, Luo Nan and Crag Burst¡¯s friendship was no longer simple. Luo Nan didn¡¯t hide things from him.


    ¡°Still sleeping? Rui Wen is as well, but worse. She hasn¡¯t even woken up yet but her wounds are more severe than yours.¡±


    ¡°With wounds that severe, it¡¯s not a bad idea to sleep a bit more.¡± Even though they were not together, Luo Nan was well aware of the situation through the tower¡¯s various intermediary effects. ording to his predictions, it would be hard for her to rouse within the next two days.


    Rui Wen was talented in dealing with crises. She had the instincts to keep operating, even when she was in aa. During continuousbat, her tempo was founded upon quick recovery. However, once the situation calmed down, her rhythm would be extremely slow and she would require a long sleep to recharge.


    Her ability to adapt to changing environments and to urately adjust tactics ordingly was a skill that Luo Nan really needed to learn.


    ¡°Right, do you want to take part in the auction?¡±


    Luo Nan jolted, snapping out from his sleepiness. ¡°How did you know?¡±


    ¡°Look at the screen! It clearly shows who¡¯s online and who¡¯s ¡®following¡¯. You didn¡¯t even know this and you expect to win against your opponents?¡± Crag Burst erupted withughter.


    Luo Nan knew that he had made a silly mistake, but he couldn¡¯t give up on the opportunity to learn more about his ¡®opponent¡¯. He asked directly, ¡°Which ones are you eyeing?¡±


    ¡°Not interested. None arepatible with my ability or interests,¡± Crag Burst swiftly replied.


    ¡°Then why are you watching?¡±


    ¡°Maybe I¡¯d cheat a loser, why not?¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    Crag Burstughed again, ¡°Seems like the ¡®middle man¡¯ hasn¡¯t contacted you yet. Perhaps it¡¯s because your information is all locked under security and he couldn¡¯t find a breakthrough point.¡±


    ¡°Middle man?¡±


    ¡°Even if you didn¡¯t ask, I¡¯d still have to warn you. Look, you¡¯re a psychic; an ability user with enhanced mental ability. Out of the reapings, there are really not many things that would capture your interest.¡±


    Luo Nan faltered but made a sound of affirmation.


    Crag Burt continued with his exnation without skipping a beat, ¡°For our Society, besides going to the wilderness to try our luck, it is not often that we have the chance to rue such arge haul while operating within the city. So, the bidding right, especially for the first round, is extremely rare. If one were to use it carelessly or miss out, that would just be a waste...¡±


    Luo Nan understood. ¡°You¡¯re saying to buy it for someone else. Someone from the Society took an interest in a piece and they want it swapped out.¡±


    ¡°Clever! But I must say, it might not be a person from the Society.¡±


    ¡°Outsiders can as well?¡±


    ¡°Of course, as long as theye up with great goods ¨C mutual benefits, you know? The cutting edge technology we got from the haul this time is fairly popr in the market. There have already been a few who have expressed an interest, especially in the two pieces that are still undergoing valuation. The starter prices for those even have me moved.¡±


    Luo Nan had always thought about it and hearing this confirmed struck a sensitive spot. He couldn¡¯t help but blurt out, ¡°It¡¯s not Yan Yongbo, is it?¡±


    ¡°Yan Yongbo? No, it¡¯s an intermediarypany... Hey, wait. The intel is getting out too quickly, things are getting tense!¡±


    Crag Burst had always been hot headed but he was no fool. He pped a hand down and eximed, ¡°You don¡¯t say, it could well be true!¡±


    Luo Nan grinned, ¡°I don¡¯t want to fulfill his desires.¡±


    Crag Burst naturally picked up on Luo Nan¡¯s attitude towards Yan Yongbo and immediately became excited. ¡°I¡¯ll go look into it, wait for my intel. If it is true, we¡¯ll have to do things differently.¡±


    He quickly hung up and went straight to work.


    Luo Nan pondered for a moment. He immediately ¡®followed¡¯ both the Dynamo Core and the Cerebral Nucleus on the auction and logged out from the HexaEar. Heid on his bed and blinked. Although the desire to sleep wasing over him again, he kept thinking that he was missing something.


    Oh, Right!


    He turned his head. He looked at the loose-leaf notebook, that almost never left his side. It sat quietly on his bedhead; its ck covers making it look like a gateway to the unknown.


    Luo Nan hoisted himself up against the bedhead and flipped to the flexible e-ink screen of the loose-leaf notebook. He scrolled through the other icons and stopped at the visualized diagram.


    On Friday night, the icon for the visualized diagram was still installing. Now, however, the area that was dimly emitting light seemed to have increased by a fraction...


    Sure enough, as soon as he checked, he saw that the progress had jumped from 2% to 6%. That was a three-fold growth, shouldn¡¯t he be happy?


    Shaking his head, Luo Nan swiped his finger across the screen, shutting it down. However, from within the screen, a thin long needle slid out without a sound.

 Chapter 84: Hidden in the Void (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 84: Hidden in the Void (Part 1/2)


    Trantion: Sarah


    Luo Nan eyed his Dynamo Core. He was sure that it was nearly twice as long as the Deep Sea Type Four. On top of that, the ¡®electro-light¡¯ that flowed within the core was more intense than before.


    This was probably because the models were different.


    In Luo Nan¡¯s opinion, Dynamo Cores were truly very strange ¨C they had substance in the material ne, yet they constantly influenced the mental ne. With the mental and material nes interacting, its standing as an object blurred, as if its existence lied in the crack that separated the mental and material nes.


    There were truly many things worth researching.


    In his moment of thought, Luo Nan let the Dynamo Core merge into his brain. He wanted to see whether or not he could activate it, like Jack had.


    ¡°Since I need to activate it, I¡¯ll need to give it a bit of stimtion.¡±


    Unlike Jack, Luo Nan did not have specialized power transmission circuits. As such, he could not provide great electrical support. All Luo Nan had was the power of his soul. He also did not know what to do, so he simply let his soul power infiltrate into the core ¨CThis quickly became a kind of scientific study.


    The range of his mental senses sharply declined in exchange for a rise in precision. But for now, no matter how much the range had reduced, it was locked into a range of ten meters. Additionally, no matter how much the uracy had risen, it swayed within the millimeter range, far from his best record of 0.1 millimeters.


    This obviously wouldn¡¯t work.


    If one were to go by the standards of top notch technology to determine the technological uracy of the core, the core would at least be in the nanometer range. That was one millionth of a millimeter in uracy, which was close to the atomic scale. Just the thought of it was devastating.


    However, Luo Nan still knew that within the core, there was a bundle of ¡®brain chips¡¯. These brain chips were simr to the cell body¡¯s in neurons and bore a huge amount of encoding conversions and was responsible forputing tasks.


    He knew this becausest week, the core had undergone a certain degree of ergement thanks to the abundant energy support of the independent power nt in theboratory of Gear. This provided an abundance of energy which was obviously a more direct and effective method.


    Compared to the independent power station, Luo Nan¡¯s power was negligible. So as expected, the core did not respond.


    ¡°As expected it¡¯s not easy, if I could get Jack¡¯s core application technology and use it on myself... That doesn¡¯t count as being a cyborg, right?¡±


    Harboring these thoughts, Luo Nan sank into a muddled sleep. However, only half an hour had passed before he suddenly opened his eyes and moaned:


    This won¡¯t do, it¡¯s too terrible.


    The idea that Mo Lun ¡®provided¡¯ was expedient, but it was not aplete approach.


    In order to minimize the pressure on his body, Luo Nan made his body and soul semi-detached, allowing his soul to tilt more towards the mental ne. It was good at first, and the pressure on his body was reduced. There were no symptoms aside from lethargy, cough and an asional tightness in his chest.


    However, with time, as the soul delved deeper into the mental ne, side effects began to ur.


    Chaos, utter chaos!


    Regardless of how Luo Nan desensitized his soul, the ¡®basic unit¡¯1 was there. As long as ¡®Soul Configuration¡¯ ¡ªthe concept that he had learned from Jack¡ª was in y, the operation of energy and information would not stop. All kinds of signals from the surrounding environment would always have certain effects.


    Especially because this was the inpatient department of the hospital. In here, almost all of the living souls carried a sort of ¡®sickness¡¯. One or two would have been fine, but with up to a few hundred together, a gloomy mess of psychic waves constantly covered the various floors.


    For ordinary people, they would perhaps feel a little depressed. However, in the case of Luo Nan, he could hear the patients¡¯ cries of despair.


    Life was corrupted, energy and information collided and everything was painted a dark gray color.


    Only half an hour had passed and Luo Nan already felt depressed.


    This could not go on.


    Luo Nan tried to find a better ce for his soul to rest. This type of ce did exist in the mental ne. However, they were all in deep, dark, and quiet areas of the mental ne that were far from the material ne. He would be unable to maintain the semi-detached state of body and soul in this case.


    Wouldn¡¯t that cause him to return to an out-of-body state then?


    Luo Nan tossed and turned in the bed. He was intolerably sleepy but the interference just wouldn¡¯t stop. This almost tortured him into contacting Mr. Bai, asking to be discharged.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t there a way to withstand the soul power without needing toe out from the body... Huh?¡±


    Luo Nan snapped his eyes open, turned around and grabbed the notebook from the bedhead. In a sh, the Dynamo Core with an unknown model seeped into his body from the palm of his hand and traveled all the way to his brain.


    He referred to the example of Jack and allowed the core to stop in the position between his left and right thmus. He poured the concentration of his soul within the core, entering the mysterious crack in which the mental and the material nes interact.


    This could work!


    Ah, such quietness. It was like he was at the end of a deep, empty void.


    Luo Nan fell into a deep stable sleep.


    When Luo Nan roused again, it was already four thirty into the afternoon. This happened to be the visiting hours so his aunt was in the ward, watching him as he woke.


    ¡°Aunt?¡±


    Their eyes met. Luo Shuqing¡¯s eyes were moist. Since yesterday night, she had lost it too many times. Not wanting to aggravate Luo Nan, she sucked in a breath and forced herself to speak calmly, ¡°Do you know how you came in here?¡±


    ¡°I fell asleep... on the car?¡±


    Luo Nan put on an innocent face. In fact, he really didn¡¯t know how to alleviate his elders¡¯ worries. In a situation like this, he couldn¡¯t possibly puff out his chest and dere:


    This type of thing won¡¯t ever happen again!


    On the contrary, these types of events would probably happen more and more often.


    Luo Nan¡¯s hesitation had, in turn,forted Luo Shuqing. ¡°Are you feeling better now? The doctor said you had a nervous breakdown. It¡¯s not serious, so you don¡¯t need to take medicine. Just take some supplements to stop the symptoms such as coughing and lethargy. Then you can go home.¡±


    Luo Nan should ask about the situation, but at the moment he didn¡¯t feel like it. He simply smiled at Luo Shuqing:


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t feel like a big deal, it¡¯s just like I skipped ss for a day?¡±


    ¡°I already enrolled you in a video course, and it starts tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    As the conversation between the two returned to normal, a soft electronic sound rang out and a familiar face appeared on the disy panel: ¡°Mr. Xie Junping hase to visit.¡±


    Luo Nan was surprised. This person sure got his intel fast.


    Luo Shuqing was slightly shocked: ¡°Your friend?¡±


    ¡°Uh-huh.¡±


    At this moment, Xie Junping opened the door and strode in withrge steps. He then hollered, ¡°Junior Nan, I heard that you fell sick and was admitted. What¡¯s the situation?¡±


    He spotted Luo Shuqing after he had spoken and froze. He looked through Luo Nan¡¯s profile and quickly realized the rtionship between the two and bowed immediately.


    ¡°Hello Mrs. Luo, I am Xie Junping and I am also from Acumen College like Luo Nan...¡±


    It must be said that before one saw through Xie Junping¡¯s facade, his sunny appearance really leaves a good impression. Luo Shuqing¡¯s first impression of him was very positive.


    Luo Shuqing was a very traditional woman. She wanted to speak more with her nephew but since he had a guest, she decided to be polite. After exchanging a few words with Xie Junping, she excused herself and allowed the two youngsters to socialize.


    Xie Junping bowed as he saw Luo Shuqing to the door. When he returned, he boasted, ¡°So it turns out that someone hasn¡¯t been sleeping all this time; he¡¯s just been hospitalized. Anyway, within these three days, all the information regarding the procedures of the Order Club... I¡¯ve taken care of them!¡±


    Basic Unit, introduced in chapter 82.2: "This was approximately one percent of the mental senses of his soul body. It was impossible to shrink it down any further. This preserved the current soul configuration and tempo to their lowest limits. This was a ¡¯basic unit¡¯. "

 Chapter 84: Hidden in the Void (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 84: Hidden in the Void (Part 2/2)


    Xie Junping had saidst week that Luo Nan would have to run around and do some formalities after entering the club. Unfortunately, Luo Nan had spent an entire day sleeping on Saturday. After that, he had gone to the medical treatment center to keep his grandfatherpany on Sunday and on Monday, he went directly to the hospital. He had tossed all these matters aside but luckily Xie Junping had picked all of it back up.


    Luo Nan was a bit embarrassed. He spoke a word of thanks before he lowered his head to sign the electronic documents.


    Xie Junping was even at Luo Nan¡¯s side, exining the purpose of every document. Heter found out that Luo Nan didn¡¯t understand the contents at all and was just signing wholeheartedly. Luo Nan had disyedplete faith in Xie Junping, causing Xie Junping¡¯s heart to be at ease. Xie Junping simply started chatting.


    Of course, the topic never left the subject of Gear.


    "Junior Nan, you must despise the Construction Society right? I don¡¯t think that you need to worry too much. It looks like the Construction Society drew in the Rainbow Fund in an effort to win but the Mystic Arts Research Society aren¡¯t weaklings either. The people there have willfully leaped to action; they¡¯re bold enough to do anything! I have been looking into some rumors these past two days. They have quite the energy over there, all moring to wage war with the Construction Society... Compare things for a second. The Rainbow Fund is an investmentpany. In the end, don¡¯t they need to look at the profit from their investments?"


    "What if the manager of the Rainbow Fund goes crazy?"


    "Huh?"


    Luo Nan stopped his digital pen for the first time. He raised his head to ask, "Over at Gear, outside of location and ns, aren¡¯t there some other resources in high quantities?"


    "I¡¯ve really never heard of this before. Why do you think so? At the moment, the premium bids of the two parties aren¡¯t that particrly serious."


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t speak since he had received the following piece of information from Crag Burst. After the conflict at the restaurantst night, Yan Yongbo started to exert his power over the matter with Gear. He took it as official business and even gave thewyer a deadline. It seemed like someone had pressured him to do so.


    This waspletely different from the private factor that he had guessed in the beginning.


    Additionally, the Mystic Arts Research Society side of things had an extremely serious background. Luo Nan was at the Limestone Water Vige Pub Friday night for an operation. During this time, he had discovered that this society actually had something to do with the Order of Justice.


    Previously, Luo Nan was apathetic towards the strength of secret orders; he hadn¡¯t been directly affected by them. But this time, there was a small little Bloodme Order. The strength that its Elder Mo Lun wielded had opened his eyes to the world.


    Extrapting from this, since the Order of Justice had a strength that far exceeded the Bloodme Order, it would certainly be a serious colossus.


    The bidding war between the Mystic Arts Research Society and the Construction Society seemed to have already broken away from the scope of school societies. The contest between their sponsors had entered apletely different realm.


    He just wished he was over thinking it...


    Naturally, the significance of Gear was priceless from Luo Nan¡¯s perspective. He was confident that his mother¡¯s designs possessed the moving force of a ssic masterpiece.


    But from the perspective of powers like the Quantum Corporation and the Order of Justice, where did the value of a building constructed in the wends lie?


    Luo Nan was itching to get back to school and immediately get to the bottom of this.


    It was now 5 o¡¯clock, the end of the hospital¡¯s visiting time. It didn¡¯t matter whether it was Xie Junping or Luo Shuqing, they were all urged to leave. Finally, Luo Nan truly began his health pod treatment.


    He didn¡¯t have dinner and he had to be loaded into the health podpletely naked. The most embarrassing thing was that Mr. Bai had personallye to supervise him. Luo Nan was seriously suspicious. This excessively cushy little old man had probablye to make fun of him.


    "Don¡¯t be nervous. Aren¡¯t you wearing a venttor? You can breathe you know. Just pretend you¡¯re soaking in a bathtub for a nap. Oh right, you just woke up. Do you want to y a game then?"


    "There¡¯s even a game?" Luo Nan couldn¡¯t open his mouth because he was wearing the breathing device. He could only look over with wide eyes.


    "Through the HexaEar."


    Mr. Bai switched to the HexaEar¡¯s channel with a beaming smile, "Ouyang implemented quite a few games on the Psychic Wave Network tform and updates it on a timely manner. Games like Ten Days in the Wilderness are also quite popr. Don¡¯t you young-ins all love to y?


    "..."


    "Hm, wait, don¡¯t jump to conclusions!"


    Mr. Bai tapped against his forehead, "I¡¯ve heard that you can already use the Computing Level of the HexaEar?"


    "Yes, it is as you say."


    "This is a typical symptom of an imbnce between the body and the soul and I can see that you¡¯ve even learned to send your soul out on your own. You¡¯ll find it hard to stop at the imperfect fourth level, the Simtor. What if you get addicted to ying and your soul strength increases further? Your troubles will be enormous!"


    "Simtor?"


    "It¡¯s simr to virtual reality. From the basic interactive applications, to the automatic collection and operation of energy and information within the HexaEar, one is cast free from the limits of the fleshly body and bes able to manifest their Self-Logic on the Psychic Wave Network.


    Luo Nan blinked his eyes and concluded with, "So it¡¯s the out-of-body state?"


    Mr. Bai raised his eyebrows, "That¡¯s right. The brains of little guys really are fast. This is none other than the out-of-body state, also known as soul roaming. Your energy is protected while you¡¯re on the Psychic Wave Network, reducing the dangers of one¡¯s first out-of-body experience to the minimum. You can try it in the future, but for now, you absolutely can¡¯t! Not only should you refrain from ying games, you should also refrain from entering the out-of-body state. There¡¯s also meditation... Oh right, Can you meditate?"


    "I can do a bit of visualization. Isn¡¯t that pretty much the same?"


    "It¡¯s all the same. The use of all methods that can increase your soul strength is prohibited. Visualization is no longer purely a thought-based game at your current level. There will be a moment where you gather and operate energy and information. In doing, you will bring enormous pressure to your fleshly body... A true andplete imbnce... By then, you will die a weed death."


    This one talk by Mr. Bai knocked Luo Nan back to the coldness of reality. He could only force a bitter smile for the time being.


    These were the facts. If he hadn¡¯t learned the makeshift n andter gained the Dynamo Core, then Luo Nan would certainly be as good as dead right now. The Dynamo Core was important because it allowed him to entrust his soul within it and eliminated the pressure.


    Mr. Bai continued with the intimidation of a tiger to make Luo Nan understand the severity of the matter, but after awhile he gave Luo Nan a resolution. "Since you can¡¯t y games, just go and chat with someone. This old man isn¡¯t going to keep youpany, so just go find anyone else. Crag Burst likes to chat and it looks likes the Secretary treats you quite well. Additionally, she¡¯s a beautiful woman..."


    Luo Nan rolled his eyes before the nutrient solution could cover his head.


    "Mm, oh right. I¡¯ll go find Ouyang to grant your privileges. Children have always been unreliable." The old mister was as good as his word. He patted his butt and left.


    "..."


    Luo Nan really admired this old grandfather, but to be messed with like this really made him rx quite a bit. The nutrient solution hadn¡¯t reached his head, so he didn¡¯t feel ufortable.


    But soon, Luo Nan would have to face reality.


    He really couldn¡¯t sleep. There were too many things on his mind, yet he couldn¡¯t grasp the main points. His mind was quite messy and he even felt that his cranial nerves were especially excited¡ªit was very exhausting.


    Was he really going to go chat?


    Helplessly, Luo Nan flipped through his friend¡¯s list within the HexaEar. On the list were just He Yueyin, Crag Burst, Octopus, Zhang Yingying, Mr. Bai, and so on. Just these few people.


    Who should he choose?


    Right when Luo Nan was tangled in this thoughts, someone took the initiative to chat with him. A greenish-gray octopus head popped up.


    "Bro Octopus?"


    "My junior, have you entered the health pod yet?"


    "Yes, I¡¯m inside already."


    Luo Nan had already made contact with Octopus before entering treatment. They had negotiated over the matter of the nutrient solution drug concoctions. As a professional, Octopus had given Luo Nan several useful suggestions. He wanted Luo Nan to get in contact with a suitable pharmaceutical chemist.


    Octopus¡¯ scope within the realm of professionals did not end with Xia City but included the entire world. He offered to contact Doctor y of Los Angeles, USA, for the sake of rmending Luo Nan an authority in the field of neuroregeneration.


    There was already an oue at this time, "Junior, there¡¯s new information..."

 Chapter 85: Bai Xinyan (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 85: Bai Xinyan (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Sarah


    There wasughter in Octopus¡¯ words; you could tell that the task was almost done. ¡°Our luck isn¡¯t bad, Doctor y is fairly interested in a case like yours and has already decided to take over. I have already prepaid...¡±


    ¡°Brother Octopus?¡±


    ¡°Well, can¡¯t let me take advantage of you, huh? Your nerve medication needs to be set aside, a considerable portion of the neurons it targets include the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nerves. If these nerves are already damaged and continue to be stimted, it is hard to say how things will turn out. With me saving these costs, wouldn¡¯t it be the same as me getting your Grandpa¡¯s molecr form for free?"1


    ¡°That¡¯s not how it works...¡±


    ¡°It is exactly how it works! Right, there¡¯s another problem. At the moment, Doctor y has a project and can¡¯t leave, so he sent the students under him to do the preliminary data collection and test around next week. As for Doctor y, he may need until the end of the month before he cane.¡±


    ¡°End of the month?¡± Luo Nan was shocked and immediately felt his scalp go numb. Does this mean that he would have to bathe in this kind of nutritional bath for another month?


    He hesitated for a moment and finally voiced out, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that be too long?¡±


    Octopusughed and said, ¡°One month is not long; it¡¯s not even one full course of treatment. It¡¯s not like you¡¯ll continue to stay at the hospital. I asked Mr. Bai already. As long as the symptoms of lethargy and the cough are suppressed, then you can be discharged at any time. You¡¯ll only need to report once every alternate evening and do the specialized treatment. In terms of the fees, the Society will reimburse it. After all, this does ssify as a work injury.¡±


    Having heard that, Luo Nan realized that Octopus and Mr. Bai had kept in contact......


    At this moment, the light blue liquid in the health pod hadpletely covered Luo Nan¡¯s head. Although he wore filters, earplugs and other protective equipment, the strange sticky slippery feeling still became more and more prominent.


    Luo Nan was not new to this type of feeling due to his experiences when he was young. With the current uracy of his senses, he could vaguely make out the ingredients in the nutritional liquid. As small amounts seeped into his body, it caused an impact on the internal secretion of chemical substances in his body.


    Luo Nan could not help but carefully analyze these minute changes habitually. In the past, he was only able to get an approximate feel but now his senses had be much more fine-tuned. The operational efficiency of the energy and information had also increased without him realizing it.


    ¡°Oh no!¡±


    Luo Nan was startled awake, quickly halting his urge to observe. Even then, his whole body ached and he had even broken out into a cold sweat.


    Were they trying to treat him or to harm him?


    If Luo Nan had to experience this for another month, he would want to die.


    He tossed and turned, lingered for a bit, and spaced out. Octopus could only call him again, ¡°Hey, Bro, what happened? Are you feeling alright?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±


    Luo Nan couldn¡¯t say that he had brought upon himself, but he couldn¡¯t help but whine, ¡°It feels really bad in here.¡±


    He suspected that his long-held indifference towards health pods would be totally subverted after this month-long treatment period.


    ¡°Ha, you¡¯ll get used to it. I¡¯m actually quite envious of you.¡±


    ¡°Brother Octopus...¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s true, I¡¯m not kidding.¡±


    Octopus could not sympathize with Luo Nan at this moment as his attention was elsewhere, ¡°Did you know the student that Doctor sent is Bai Xinyan? She is deemed the magic flower of the pharmaceutical world and is an absolute beauty ¨C she does not lose out to your secretary.¡±


    Luo Nan decided to notment.


    However Octopus just became more excited, ¡°Tsk tsk, she sure was hot! Back when I was at Xia City, I would definitely have wooed her if not for Mr. Bai watching so closely. Think about it, to be able to spend a month with such a beauty. No, even if it was only three weeks ¨C what I wouldn¡¯t trade for such a chance!¡±


    Luo Nan nked out. ¡°Mr. Bai?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, she¡¯s Mr. Bai¡¯s daughter and is also a mentally enhanced ability user. However, she is also talented in the pharmaceutical field. She¡¯s Doctor y¡¯s best student and is even better than him in some aspects.¡±


    ¡°Right, you have to remember that the father-daughter rtionship between her and Mr. Bai is not very good. It seems like the reason why she went to America and had not returned all these years was also because of this. So make sure you don¡¯t use your rtionship with Mr. Bai as an excuse to get close to her. If trouble arises, don¡¯t say that I didn¡¯t warn you!¡±


    ¡°...Sure.¡± Luo Nan was utterly defeated by Octopus.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s it? Right, if staying in the health pod feels bad and you want someone to talk to. I¡¯ll do it free of charge just for tonight.¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    There had been a few showers and the weather was gradually getting chiller. The skies of Xia City had grown dark progressively earlier today. The weather was cloudy with no rain; the crisp weather of autumn was nowhere to be found.


    In the VIP resting lounge of the Xia City air harbor, Yan Yongbo sat quietly on the sofa. He sported schooled features and great posture. He had an air of a sessful businessman and his poise was even greater than the Director of Quantum Corporation¡¯s Xia City Branch, Hu Yuli.


    However, Hu Yuli didn¡¯t mind this. He casually rested whilst sipping tea and asionally ncing at the huge projector screen.


    At this moment, a special program made by the Star Associated Press was ying. A host who spoke very fast asked the experts:


    ¡°Why are the Deep Blue Walkers appearing in Xia City? It seems like the military has never put this force in any metropolitan area, let alone fight in it. This would be the first time in history!¡±


    ¡°Expert A,¡± The man was expressionless as he told it ndly stated the facts, ¡°There had actually been cases in the past. From memory, it urs once every 90 years but it¡¯s not because the military is undergoing missions. There should be other instances of this urring but they keep quiet about it and so it is often looked over by the public.¡±


    The host immediately skipped this boring response and turned to ¡®Expert B¡¯. ¡°Most of us are under the impression that the Deep Blue Walkers always appeared in ces like the wilderness and the ocean and that they always engaged inbat with mutants. This reinforces to us the stereotype that any ce where the Deep Blue Walkers appear must be extremely dangerous.¡±


    The knowing smile that stretched across Expert B¡¯s face showed that he knew the host was digging for a scoop. Heplied, ¡°Not only do we need to take note of the Deep Blue Walkers¡¯ appearance but we also need to pay attention to the response speed of the government and the military. The numbers of the Deep Blue Walkers are limited. There are only four divisions in the world, which is suboptimal. They usually operate in groups.¡±


    ¡°As a summary from various sources, the number of Deep Blue Walkers that appeared at dawn on the first was very great and there is even a very small possibility of a temporary transfer. This means they were always nearby and could even be on standby in Xia City. As for why, we can only see how it progresses and continue to salvage information from various sources...¡±


    Expert B did not supply any solid evidence but instead left room for imagination.


    The host was satisfied, ¡°Now we will cut in with a short clip, which will help us understand more about Deep Blue Walkers.¡±


    At this moment, a melodious bell sound rang through the resting lounge, indicating that the airship that they awaited had arrived at the airspace. Hu Yuli and all the other passengers stood up; only Yan Yongbo watched on while seated.


    When Luo Nan meets Octopus the second time, Luo Nan makes a deal with Octopus to have Octopus produce the mind-sculpting drugs in exchange for the molecr form.

 Chapter 85: Bai Xinyan (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 85: Bai Xinyan (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Sarah


    Hu Yuli turned around. ¡°Assistant Yan?¡±


    Yan Yongbo didn¡¯t lift his head but calmly said, ¡°To cut off Quantum Corporation from the program must have cost you quite a bit.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s alright, the money was taken from the headquarters. The media and the headquarters were always on good terms.¡± Hu Yuli smiled in response. He couldn¡¯t care less whether the smile counted as a trigger.


    Honestly speaking, Hu Yuli really admired Yan Yongbo. He had the guts to use military grade weapons like the particle cannon near the residential areas of Xia City.


    If the matter had beenpletely resolved, thepany and theb would have praised him and called the situation ¡®resolved¡¯. However, in reality, Jack had died, the test subject was lost, the number of Deep Blue Walkers had decreased by two and the mission fell throughpletely. This so-called ¡®resolve¡¯ was now branded as ¡®arrogance¡¯.


    Out of all the problems, the direct casualties caused by the operation was only the tip of the iceberg.


    The government and the military already had their hands full from the ¡®human-faced spider¡¯ incident. As such, the shot fired on the dawn of October first caused the already chaotic situation to be even worse.


    From politicians to military officers to businessmen¡ªeveryone wanted to take advantage of the situation.


    On the third day after the incident, clips and images of the appearance of Deep Blue Walkers in Xia City had leaked onto the inte despite the corporation¡¯s attempt to keep it under wraps. As the quantity of the news and the number of sightings increased, it exploded.


    Although there was no particle cannons nor Darksider Species, the Deep Blue Walkers themselves were already a prominent symbol for danger. In addition, there had been frequent earthquakes in the past two weeks. Adding two and two together along with a sprinkle of imagination resulted in all sorts of strange rumors starting to circte. Some of the rumors left even the most knowledgeable insiders speechless.


    The impact of this news continued to brew within the week. The ¡®Star Associated Press¡¯, which was notorious for being quick to catch a scoop, even produced a specialized program just a week after the incident. Although this was not unprecedented, it was still very rare. Despite the meddling within from the Quantum Corporation¡¯spetitors, one could not deny the huge impact the incident had on themunity.


    At present, the situation was already totally out of control. Earth¡¯s greatest decision-making organization, theary United Development Organization Committee (Star Alliance), expressed their disappointment towards the Xia City government and its military management.


    Control of military gradebat weapons such as charged particle cannons was inadequate, monitoring of highly destructive teams like Deep Blue Walkers was inadequate, Management after the incident was inadequate...


    The Xia City government and the military were metaphorically pped several times. Under fury driven from embarrassment, they directly pulled out from all the deals regarding the Human-Faced Arachnid with the Quantum Corporation. All sorts of investigation teams rushed in towards Quantum Corporation.


    The ¡®Darksider Species¡¯ incident was forgotten because the headquarters of the corporation failed to provide sufficient endorsement.


    In the ten years that Hu Yuli had lived in Xia City, he had never encountered such chaotic situation. It seemed like armed forces coulde in at any time to arrest them all...


    Nheless, the headquarters maintained a calmposure. On one hand, they were totally silent regarding the pressure from the government and the military. On the other, they started to regain control of the public opinion, and even the statements of both the Xia City government and the military, thus avoiding the onught.


    No matter how you looked at it, they were treated like an abandoned son...


    Hu Yuli had prepared himself mentally over these past three days. He had made mistakes over and over. It was like dropping a jar over and over when he had already broke it; he wasn¡¯t as concerned about the jar since it was broken anyway, so he grew all the more calm andposed. But what kind of feeling would Yan Yongbo have currently? This was really worth looking into.


    At this moment, the sound of footsteps could be heard from the VIP passageway.


    Hu Yuli called him again, ¡°Assistant Yan?¡±


    Yan Yongbo finally stood up, adjusted his cor and strode out the door. He walked in front by habit, effectively stealing Hu Yuli¡¯s ce.


    Hu Yuli wasn¡¯t mad.


    Yan Yongbo had perfect timing. As soon as he was out of the door, he caught sight of a flight attendant escorting a tall woman through the passage.


    The woman wore a brown trench coat and carried a dark brown backpack across one shoulder. She was dressed in a ghost-print graphic t-shirt. When this shirt wasbined with her foxy figure, she looked very alluring. Below her shirt, she wore a pair of ck trousers and high heels which entuated her long legs, making her look extremely attractive.


    Her wavy brown hair cascaded down her back and she donned sunsses which covered half of her porcin face. She smiled when she noticed the men as they exited the lounge; her lips quirking upwards to reveal her pearly whites. She effectively made the pretty female flight attendant look dull inparison.


    Yan Yongbo breathed in and looked up. ¡°Supervisor Bai, thank you foring.¡±


    Hu Yuli followed up and expressed his concern, ¡°I heard that it was a rough trip.¡±


    It was unknown where ¡®Supervisor Bai¡¯ had turned her gaze behind those sunsses but she responded to Hu Yuli, ¡°Yeah, we got attacked by three eagles. It was a bit of a shock.¡±


    As she spoke, she continued to walk forward and carried her own bag. Some attendants wanted to carry the bag for her but they didn¡¯t dare to make a move. They all followed her and returned to the VIP resting lounge.


    She threw her backpack onto the sofa and sat next to it. Swiftly, she took off her sunsses, fully uncovering her face. Her eyes seemed to be shing. However, upon closer inspection, one could actually see ayer of cold mes.


    Faced with such eyes, Hu Yuli could not look into them directly. Instead, he picked up his teacup and kept his head low.


    In contrast, Yan Yongbo lifted his head and faced this new ¡®colleague¡¯ ¨C at least for now¡ªwith a calm and firm attitude.


    In the end, it was Hu Yuli who broke the silence, ¡°Supervisor Bai must be tired after her journey. We have already organized for you a ce to stay, why don¡¯t you get some rest first?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not necessary. I haven¡¯t returned to Xia City in a very long time so I have some friends to meet.¡±


    Supervisor Bai let her gaze roll across the two men and sheughed. ¡°Before doing personal things, let¡¯s talk about business. The mission that theboratory gave me is to investigate the connection between the Deep Blue World¡¯s Soul Order with other secret orders in the world and to look for relevant clues. To date, the most valuable intel came from Assistant Yan. I heard Jack had personally admitted to knowing the contact of people in such cult.


    Since Supervisor Bai had dived straight into the matter, Yan Yongbo silently let out a sigh of relief and responded, ¡°Yes, including a high-ranking member.¡±


    ¡°So, what¡¯s the specific situation?¡±


    Yan Yongbo faltered, then replied, ¡°Jack died, we are currently tracing relevant clues and have already obtained his data record which is being looked into as we speak.¡±


    Supervisor Bai bnced her sunsses on the tip of a single finger; letting it spin magically.


    ¡°Can you be more specific?¡±

 Chapter 86: True Value (Part ?)

    Chapter 86: True Value (Part ?)


    Trantion: Sarah


    Yan Yongbo¡¯s gaze swept across Supervisor Bai¡¯s fingertips. His expression had darkened a bit but he kept a calmposure.


    ¡°We believe Jack is an Altered Human. At least, he was one before the night of September 30th. This way, it is impossible for his thought process to exceed the cerebral temte, so he could not possess any creativity. We have obtained the settings for his brain temte version and employed a brute force method to list out all possible choices. From this list, we picked out those that have the highest probability for individual investigation.¡±


    ¡°Ok, and then?¡±


    ¡°Up till now, we have dug through Jack¡¯s social circle but nothing hase up. The Apocalypse Laboratory checked through the cloud for any uploaded data but again, nothing came up... After various investigations, it can essentially be confirmed that if there were indeed data records, Jack would have been carrying them with him.¡±


    Yan Yongbo¡¯s gaze turned up to the Supervisor¡¯s face as he continued, ¡°We extensively investigated the battleground from the dawn of October 1st, but the ability user society was very thorough in their investigation and did not leave anything of value behind. Thus, the target is highly likely to be within the reapings that they are auctioning internally. At present, with the help of brokers, we have recovered all of the auction goods except the Deep Sea Type Four Dynamo Core and the Cerebral Nucleus. This is because the valuation for those items have not finished and the auction has not begun.


    ¡°Additionally, there is also the C2834 test subject. Presently, it is still under the control of the ability user society. It has already been unconscious for seven consecutive days but ording to intel, its vital signs are quite stable...¡±


    Having spoken so much, it could essentially be deemed as reporting work. Half way through this, Yan Yongbo realized this himself. However, there was no turning back and he did not have a reason to stop in the middle.


    After the extensive debriefing, Supervisor Bai did not respond immediately, as if she was digesting all of the information. It looked like she was in a daze.


    Yan Yongbo absolutely abhorred having to wait for people to respond, but he continued to wait earnestly. His heart sank; he really disliked the current atmosphere.


    Hu Yuli sipped on his tea as his eyes curved into crescents.


    Approximately half a minute had passed by before Supervisor Bai finally opened her mouth, ¡°I am relieved after having heard Yan Assistant¡¯s words.¡±


    Yan Yongbo¡¯s eyes shed and a smile broke out across his face, ¡°Supervisor Bai...¡±


    ¡°Before returning to Xia City, I actually had a mild headache. Our missions are different. We might need to cooperate a bit on Jack and the C2834 test subject but the workter on is bound to thin out the existing strengths present in Xia City.¡±


    Supervisor Bai leaned half of her body onto her backpack, switching to a morefortable position. ¡°All is well, the measures that Assistant Yan has taken are controlled and within their regr boundaries. There has been little need for coercive forces. This way, I don¡¯t have to worry and will just take and utilize these forces.¡±


    Yan Yongbo¡¯s expression changed.


    His current positions included the President of Rainbow Fund and the Assistant Director of Sky Blue Security. On the surface, the amount of funds the former position controls far surpasses the resources of thetter and under a normal social model, that was indeed true.


    However, the problem was that if Yan Yongbo could only choose one of the two positions, then he would unquestionably choose the ¡®Assistant Director¡¯ position. This was because this position would grant the power over the four entire teams, which wasprised of almost thirty ¡®Deep Blue Walkers¡¯.


    And now, with merely one sentence from Supervisor Bai, all of this was going to be taken away from him?


    The situation turned out worse than what Yan Yongbo had imagined. Supervisor Bai was not all talk, she was from the Quantum Corporation Headquarters and also had authorized control over the Apocalypse Laboratory.


    As soon as the electronic document reached Yan Yongbo¡¯s work wristband, the authority set became valid. The role of Captain which gave him leadership authority towards the four teams of Deep Blue Walker was transferred to be under Supervisor Bai¡¯s name.


    Now, Yan Yongbo was only a nominal assistant at Sky Blue Security; his position held no value.


    Yan Yongbo¡¯s face paled as he stared at Supervisor Bai¡¯s dazzling face. He could feel his breath getting rapid and the blood boiling in his chest and abdomen.


    Supervisor Bai¡¯s rxedposure remained unchanged; she smiled as she looked at Yan Yongbo. Yan Yongbo began to let his strength gather in his body.


    Hu Yuli could not sense the power mode of a Burner but he realized that the atmosphere in the room had turned extremely dangerous. He could no longer sit around. He put down his cup and tried to resolve the situation with a smile:


    ¡°There must be a reason for these arrangements by the headquarters and theboratory. As long as you two sincerely cooperate, it honestly doesn¡¯t make too much of a difference who is in charge of what...¡±


    ¡°There is a difference after all.¡± Supervisor Bai was astonishingly honest. ¡°As for where the difference lies, Assistant Yan, no, President Yan, can take his time to experience for himself. Oh. By the way, congrattions on being promoted to president. See youter.¡±


    She stood up and grabbed herrge backpack as she spoke, preparing to leave.


    Yan Yongbo stood up abruptly. There was a moment where he had wanted to pounce but his feet remained nted on the ground. A dry sound squeezed out from his throat; even he could not decipher the sound himself.


    However, Supervisor Bai seemed to have understood it clearly. ¡°Do you want to know the reason or the result? Why don¡¯t I tell you both? ¡®Research¡¯ missions are not your job so mistakes could be forgiven. You cannot afford even the smallest mistakes for ¡®excavation¡¯ missions. However, the limited power in Xia City cannot be moved for your sake again. In summary, you could not avoid failure. As for the reason, it is simply because you¡¯re on the wrong team.¡±


    She smiled and patted Yan Yongbo¡¯s cheek lightly as she walked past in front of him. She put on her sunsses and turned to leave.


    Yan Yongbo stood in a daze and only snapped out of his dreamlike state when the door opened. He rushed out and words that he never thought he would say rushed out from his throat: ¡°Supervisor Bai, you should know, I didn¡¯t even pick a team. I...¡±


    Supervisor Bai faced him in her sunsses. ¡°Are you refuting me?¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    ¡°Ok, let¡¯s say I wronged you, so what? Yes, you are very self-aware. You forfeited work at the Apocalypse Laboratory. Oh, and research missions as well. You came to Xia City and took charge. I also heard that you wanted to pursue someone¡¯s daughter1?¡±


    Yan Yongbo was caught in a daze and he did not know how to respond.


    Supervisor Bai¡¯s lips slightly parted, showing off a nice curve. ¡°You want to achieve self-worth? Where is your value? I¡¯m sorry, I have to quote someone... Outside of the Quantum Corporation and Apocalypse Laboratory, you are nothing! You chose the ¡®excavation¡¯ mission, you chose to do the work of mortals and are therefore destined to be dictated by gods2.¡±


    ¡°Then I...¡±


    ¡°If you chose the ¡®research¡¯ mission, if you chose the work of gods, then devote yourself to the gods3.¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    ¡°Now you understand where you went wrong? You have indeed chosen the wrong team, having chosen your own side.¡±


    Yan Yongbo froze on his spot.


    ¡°You have been the first Burner since the creation of the world. You should know where your value lies. If you¡¯re willing to cooperate, I can bring them out at any time... These four teams of Deep Blue Walkers are still yours.¡±


    Supervisor Bai raised her hand and daintily waved her fingers as she bid him goodbye.


    Supervisor Bai quickly disappeared through the VIP passageway as Yan Yongbo stood soullessly at the entrance.


    Inside the room, when Hu Yuli saw Yan Yonbo¡¯s appearance he felt happy yet a bit sympathetic. All that was left was to rejoice. ¡°Good thing I¡¯m resigning...¡±


    Yan Yongbo chasing someone¡¯s daughter. This may have been Luo Nan¡¯s mother. Chapter 52.2: "Yan Yongbo patted his shoulder: ¡°What a pity about Senior Qingwen. Ever since middle school, I had her as my dream girlfriend..."


    Excavation Mission. Refers to ¡¯excavating¡¯ from the Ster Gate mentioned in Chapter 68.1 I tranted it as "tapping into the Ster Gate", but "tapping" can also mean excavating. Note that Chapter 68.1 states that the Human-Faced Arachnid was excavated from the Ster Gate.


    Research Mission. Also referred in Chapter 68.1. Of note is the following:


    ¡°This question...... My teacher back in theboratory, Mr. Li Wei, had said this before: ¡®Everything can be considered that of mortals. Gods just need to master life.¡¯¡±


    Yan Yongbo unfolded his hand: ¡°He probably thought that researching life is the domain of gods, that the standpoints of humans and gods are different.¡±

 Chapter 86: True Value (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 86 (2/2) True value


    Trantor: Sarah


    It was five in the afternoon, and it was raining. Due to the bad weather, the glowing lines of the public transport system were dim, and Luo Nan became increasingly drowsy. He even had Mo Peng yawning because of him.


    ¡°Hey, these few days of treatment didn¡¯t work at all.¡±


    ¡°Cough, I just want to sleep......What if I fall asleep when we get there?¡±


    ¡°Fine, you go sleep now. When we get to the arcade, are you still going to sleep in someone else¡¯s business?¡±


    Luo Nan was discharged from the hospital on the 3rd and stayed at home for another four days. After a while, even Ms Luo Shuqing thought it couldn¡¯t be good for him to be cooped up at home and asked Mo Peng to coax Luo Nan out to rx.


    However, he was not in the mood to enjoy. Anyone who was carrying a bomb that could go off at anytime would share his sentiment.


    The one week of treatment was actually not as ineffective as Mo Peng made it out to be. His symptoms such as lethargy and the coughing had improved by a lot......At least it had untilst night.


    Yesterday, on the night of October 6th, the Blood me Order who had remained silent for a while must have sensed that the majority of people¡¯s energy was ced upon the Deep Blue Walkers. The news about the ¡°Human faced Arachnid¡± had passed, so they restarted the ¡°grazing¡± activity.


    The Wraith Sign, perfectly disguised as its predecessor, had been brought all around to every location of Xia City by Mo Lun. After he hade across an unfortunate darksider life form, the Wraith Sign had swallowed it up like dessert, all at once.


    Luo Nan¡¯s fun just got a lot more intense.


    Just as his body and soul imbnce seemed to have gotten a bit better, due to the gain in the feedback of the Wraith Sign, his bnce immediately came crashing. If Luo Nan hadn¡¯t gotten his soul out of his body to digest this ¡°gain¡±, then he would have painted the health pod in blood, causing huge drama in the hospital.


    After that, Luo Nan loitered outside his body for most of the night. After repeated attempts, he carefully let his soul return to his body through by using the dynamo core as a buffer.


    However, such a repeated attempts caused his soul power to increase by a factor, increasing the pressure against his fleshly body. This rendered nearly all of the previous days¡¯ treatment useless, like popping a bubble. All his symptoms came back.


    He spoke two sentences to Mo Peng and started coughing again.


    Mo Peng could not do anything; in a bit, they¡¯d have to go to the game lounge to feast and he found it meaningless to y games on the sliding stage. He didn¡¯t know what to do. Under the immense boredom, he would idly look at a hot program that was currently ying on the projector of the public transport system.


    It was the special news piece by the Star Associated Press on the Deep Blue Walkers.


    A quick-witted host, a stiff expert, and a sleek expert on video editing of a great production, all of these factors made up a quadrteral with ever-changing focuses. It was honestly quite captivating.


    Mo Peng was captivated by the edited video of a ¡°Deep Blue Walker¡±.


    At that moment, the program entered a corner where the audience got to interact with the experts. The host excluded ridiculous topics such as whether ¡°Xia City underground had mutants¡± and whether ¡°Deep Blue Walkers represent war¡±. Instead, he chose a question that was rtively basic and professional.


    ¡°There is a saying that Deep Blue Walkers are neither a type of equipment, nor a specific person. You¡¯d need tobine a ¡°Burner¡± with a special tailor-made ¡°Deep Blue Armor¡± to be considered a real Deep Blue Walker. Is this true?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    The stiff expert was an authoritative figure in the rtive field and his professional knowledge was impable. He immediately replied, ¡°Strictly speaking, Deep Blue Walkers are considered a type of systematic concept. They are built on the basis of the systems theory and ¡®Archetype Nerve Formatting Theory.¡¯ They require the human nervous system as a core to distribute their resources in order to achieve the best result.¡±


    ¡°The first applied research conducted regarding said theory was the Quantum Company¡¯s ¡®Deep Blue¡¯ project. As for ¡®Walker¡¯, it is a term for a prototype machine. There are two meanings of the term: the first is a pedestrian that walks on the roads and the second is a Buddhist term, which means an ascetic that hadn¡¯t shaved his head. This is to say, it is just the beginning, and there is a lot of follow up work to do in regards to research on this topic.¡±


    ¡°In terms of the material, ¡¯Burners¡¯ are worthy cores. They are confined to the natural conditions of the body and require the assistance of a specialized ¡®exoskeleton,¡¯ so burners and their armors have a dominant and auxiliary rtionship, not one that is equal......In my opinion regarding the ¡®Archetype Format¡¯s¡¯ theory, the rtionship between man and machine should be like the dominant and auxiliary rtionship of the core. The auxiliary equipment should support the lower limits of the Deep Blue Walkers and humans should determine the upper limits of the Deep Blue Walker with their autonomy.¡±


    The host began to regret letting the stiff expert open his mouth. He wondered how many viewers became tired and yawned or changed channels altogether.


    Mo Peng was one of the viewers that yawned; however, he turned his head and found Luo Nan staring at the screen without even turning his eyes.


    Right, the ¡°Archetype Formatting Theory¡± the stiff expert was promoting was something that Luo Nan absolutely detested. Mo Peng was seriously concerned that Luo Nan would get sick again from anger and quickly cated, ¡°This dude¡¯s such a show-off as if he¡¯s the only one that understands......¡±


    ¡°He has a point.¡±


    Luo Nan was referring to theter part, about the autonomy of humans. It coincided with his situation these past few days, only his situation was moreplicated.


    However, a fact that could be predicted was if he could get his body to endure a greater amount of pressure, then the ¡°lower limit¡± of his ability would correspondingly increase as well.


    The problem was, how would he do it? It would be impossible to catch up with the tempo if he were to increase the strength of his body step by step. Then, how about the alteration of the human body?


    As he was pondering this, Mo Peng pushed him along, ¡°Let¡¯s go, we¡¯re here.¡±


    The low-altitude bus stopped in the busiest area of Xia City; regardless of what time it was, there were always a lot of people. Luo Nan didn¡¯t like this feeling as it felt too constrained. Walking on the sidewalk, he was surrounded by towering buildings; it felt like they could copse at any time.


    ¡°Ahaha. Frost River Reality, here Ie again!¡±


    Mo Peng suddenly got excited. Luo Nan lifted his head and saw that not far ahead, there was a beautiful hologram advertisement board that disyed the words ¡°Frost River Reality¡± and was currently showing a passionate battle scene. Wilderness battle,va battle, deep sea battle, space battle ......each of these realistic battle scenes captured the attention of passersby.


    ¡°Virtual Reality¡± holds an immense attraction towards almost every young person. As Xia City¡¯s greatest ¡°Reality Base¡± chain store, every ¡°Frost River Reality¡± was arge-scale amusement park; it was a fantastic ce to kill time.


    Of course, with Mo Peng¡¯s personality, it was impossible to get him to y quietly with just two or three people. As he looked around to find people, an Intel cut through, ¡°Peng Seventeen, Nanster,e here. You guys are so slow that my spine is getting frozen from drinking cold beverages!¡±


    At a cold beverage shop near the Frost River Reality, there was a group of young boys and girls already waiting for them.

 Chapter 87: Playground (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 87: yground (Part 1/2)


    The Frozen Star was a well known cold beverage chain in Xia City. Even though its peak season was already over by now, there was still the Frost River Reality supporting them from behind the scenes. Business was still thriving on Sunday night.


    Luo Nan and Mo Peng nearly got lost when then entered the shop that was packed with a flowing crowd of people. Luckily, the people waiting for them weren¡¯t small in numbers. They were quite eye-catching when they all waved their hands.


    The party had to take two tables in order to sit rtively spaciously. More interestingly, most of the people here had thest name Mo.


    The members of the Luo family were limited in number in Xia City. Instead, the Mo Family was a thriving family here. If you counted the parents and the siblings, Mo Haihang¡¯s family had five Mo¡¯s. An assortment of family rtionships made it a rtively simple task to bring a hundred people together.


    If you counted all the cousins, Mo Peng would be in the 17th spot amongst all of these brothers and sisters in terms of age. He was often called Peng Seventeen.


    Every time the new year holidays came about, Luo Nan would always find his tongue getting stuck when greeting these uncles, aunts, and cousins. If he could hide, he would hide.


    Of course, since he was a boy sent to live with his aunt¡¯s family, he was indeed an outsider rtive to the Mo n. He didn¡¯t have any blood rtionship with them at all. In addition, there was his nature. He would just nod his head in the conversation with those who were the same age and generation as him. He only came to these gatherings once in a while, usually when Mo Ya and Mo Peng dragged him along.


    "Over here, over here."


    The one who waved the most cheerfully was none other than Mo Han, who had contacted Mo Peng just now. She was number 16 of the same generation of brothers and sisters. In reply, Mo Peng shouted without restraint, "Sister Sixteen!" Luo Nan, on the other hand, politely said, "Sister Han."


    Previously, he would follow Mo Peng and call her Sister Pomegranate, but it was fine to not call her that in the end. (ʯÁñ- Pomegranate is pronounced exactly the same in Chinese as Ê®Áù- sixteen)


    Other than Mo Yan with her super long legs, the youths of the Mo Family weren¡¯t that at all. This was probably due to their gics. For example, Mo Han was shorter than Luo Nan by half a head despite being clearly two years older than him. She was a lively young woman that was about to go to university. Additionally, she looked to be quite innocent with her smiling and beaming appearance. She looked like the type that could y with anyone.


    Luo Nan followed Mo Peng the whole way over. Mo Cheng was the oldest of the brothers and sisters of the Mo Family that came along. He was ranked seventh. He was already a third year university student this year but he was just like Mo Peng¡ªthey were both veteran gamers who holed up at home. His major was Game Design as well. He was certainly the one to take the lead when it came to any simr activity.


    Mo Peng always served as his assistant. He started the headcount, "Brother Seven, Brother Nine, Sister Thirteen, Sister Pomegranate... Whoa, hey! There¡¯s also Nanster, Brother Lu, Brother Jiang, Brother Jia. That should be everyone."


    Lu, Jiang, and Jia were all members of Mo Cheng¡¯s gaming n. Mo Peng was familiar with them since they had yed games together.


    Mo Cheng waved his hand, "Wait a bit more. Chenchen still hasn¡¯t arrived. There¡¯s also Brother Three. He¡¯s here as well and was the one who had invited everyone."


    "Huh?" Mo Peng was very surprised.


    The so-called Chenchen was the only female member of Mo Cheng¡¯s n. It was very normal for her toe.


    But the third brother of the Mo Family, Mo Qiu, was nearly thirty this year. He was at the age when it was time to settle down. He was far past the age to go y around with their group of youngsters. Additionally, he was typically the sort of person to put on airs. There was something wrong with this situation!


    Mo Han winked, muting his voice a little, "Apparently he¡¯se for a blind date."


    Mo Peng still didn¡¯t understand and asked, "Blind date? Doesn¡¯t he have a girlfriend?"


    "They must have broken up. He¡¯s always been a bachelor. Now he job hopped to a newpany, so the break up happened quickly. This time, it seems like they¡¯re acquainted through Sister Chen, who¡¯s part of the university section of Acumen College..."


    "Acumen College? What a coincidence." Mo Peng nced at Luo Nan, "Must be a teacher."


    "Ridiculous, she¡¯s a student!"


    "Oh dang! The old ox is eating tender grass!"


    Mo Han wrinkled his nose. "I heard she¡¯s a beauty! The secretary of Acumen College¡¯s Student Council. She graduates this year... Hey, Lil Nanster, you should show off your usefulness now. Is there such a person in your school?"


    Luo Nan justughed. How could he just list it off from the top of his head?


    On the other hand, Mo Peng felt great admiration. "It looks like Third Brother Qiu struck it rich. He invited the ten of us to go y games together for the sake of his blind date?"


    "They¡¯re calling it ¡¯getting together to make friends¡¯."


    Mo Han¡¯s appearance was of one who clearly knew the ways of the world. "ying games is an excellent choice. Don¡¯t look at the number of people here. Once we¡¯re in virtual reality, who would be concerned about others? In the end, wouldn¡¯t they be alone? They can do whatever they want!"


    Mo Peng gave Pomegranate Sister a thumbs up¡ªshe truly feared nothing.


    The subject of the conversation, Mo Qiu, came walking into the cold beverage shop. He was dressed casually and had a medium height. He had maintained his figure quite well and he looked like he was full of energy. The feeling of matureness that came from being a member of society, along with a bit of superiority, was perhaps truly destructive to the youngdies who had yet to graduate.


    Mo Qiu scowled a bit due to the mor of the cold beverage shop. This wasn¡¯t his ideal get-together point and neither was Frost River Reality. Anyways, since he was here already, he might as well go with the flow. He greeted the group of brothers and sisters with an easy-going attitude. He looked to be quite confident.


    After getting seated, he asked Mo Cheng, "Mo Seven, she hasn¡¯t arrived yet?"


    "Chenchen just went to pick up her sister from the campus toe over and kill some boredom. She¡¯ll probably be a bitte."


    "How many people areing?"


    "Right now there¡¯s four of them. Three girls and one boy. Chenchen ising with her sister, who¡¯s your get-together target. Thest one is probably her sister¡¯s boyfriend. Look! They¡¯re here."


    As soon as Mo Cheng uttered these words, everyone in their party turned their gazes simultaneously.


    "Which one is the blind date target? The one to the left or right of Sister Chen?"


    "It has to be the one on the left. No matter how you look at her, her height fits in very well with Brother Three¡¯s taste. The right one should be Sister Chen¡¯s sister. She should be nearly 1.7 meters tall and has just entered high school. Brother Three wouldn¡¯t be that desperate."


    Mo Peng chuckled. "High school? High school is good. She can get together with me."


    Mo Han reached out his hand and pped the top of his head. "A short girl is cute. A short man..."


    Halfway through his words, he suddenly felt unfriendly gazes from his surroundings. He stuck out his tongue and didn¡¯t speak any further.


    Chenchen¡¯s group of people had already drawn near and they were whispering amongst themselves. With Mo Qiu leading the way, the people here greeted them one after another.


    But as Luo Nan stood up he was stupefied when he saw the lean figure of the little sister next to Sister Chen.


    She didn¡¯t realize that Luo Nan was within the crowd of people at first nce. Instead, she just followed after her sister and greeted everyone.


    But in the end, she saw him. The two people locked gazes. Luo Nan had already done some mental preparations but the girl¡¯s face wentpletely nk. She went mute instantly.


    By now, Sister Chen was in front of him and was already introducing her quite clearly. "This is my sister, Chen Xiaolin. Secretary of Acumen College¡¯s Mutual Assistance Gathering..."


    That¡¯s right. She was none other than Xue Lei¡¯s girlfriend. Because of the fright from the incident on Friday at the Limestone Water Vige Pub, she had been admitted to the hospital for treatment. She was Chen Xiaolin.


    Luo Nan never imagined that he would meet her again under such a situation.


    It looked like Chen Xiaolin¡¯s impression of him had not been alleviated at all from her ten days of medical treatment.


    Now, this was quite awkward.

 Chapter 87: Playground (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 87: yground (Part 2/2)


    Since Luo Nan didn¡¯t really y that much with these people, Chen Xian, who was none other than the person Mo Cheng was addressing as Chenchen, wasn¡¯t that familiar with Luo Nan. She paused when she suddenly saw this unfamiliar face during the introductions. Luckily, this moment of awkwardness in broad daylight was able to conceal Chen Xiaolin¡¯s unnatural behavior.


    Mo Qiu¡¯s ample experience with society allowed him to save the show again this time. "What do you think? Our fifth uncle¡¯s family¡¯s Nanster has changed since going to Acumen College, right? People really do grow at Acumen College. Xiaolin, you didn¡¯t give me this much pressure thest time we met."


    Mo Qiu¡¯s self-mockery and sarcasm were very appropriate and beneficial. It alleviated the awkwardness and everyoneughed.


    However, some parts of it were a bit off and it was here where Mo Han slyly mocked, "It should be that the school curses people. They all just came from the hospital after all..."


    Chen Xian was a character that could match the guys in this male-dominated gaming n in every manner. She was not just for show. She immediately patted Luo Nan on the shoulder and said, "So it¡¯s Nanster all along. I didn¡¯t even recognize you just now. It seems like we haven¡¯t yed together that much. You must have just enrolled into the school. Chen Xiaolin is a grade higher than you. Let her look after you in the future. If she bullies you, just let me know."


    If this was a normal situation, this matter would have been over with such words from Mo Qiu and Chen Xian.


    However, there was a problem. Luo Nan wasn¡¯t the type of person who was really good at improvising. As for Chen Xiaolin, she might have been quick witted normally but she wasn¡¯t mentally stable right now and thus her reactions were extremely terrible. She didn¡¯t take in or even notice her sister¡¯s words. In the end, she spoke with a low voice:


    "Junior Luo. Long time no see."


    As the person who knew her sister the best, Chen Xiaolin¡¯s abnormal response instantly drew Chen Xian¡¯s attention. Actually, there was a quite the big difference between Chen Xiaolin¡¯s current behavior and her previous behavior.


    "Oh dang, there¡¯s cheating going on." Mo Han and Mo Peng had ducked to the side to whisper amongst themselves. But from Luo Nan¡¯s perspective, their volume was like being shouted at next to his ear.


    Luo Nan gave them a fierce re.


    Chen Xian didn¡¯t hear the whispers between the two, but even if she did, she would have to pretend she didn¡¯t. She asked with a bit of curiosity, "What¡¯s this? You two know each other? Acumen College is that small?"


    "We just metst week. Sister Chen has also helped me out before."


    What else could Luo Nan say? He could only deal with this now before anything else happened.


    Yet at this time, someone else spoke up and joined the conversation, "So you¡¯re also a junior who goes to the college... Last Friday did you attend the Mutual Assistance Dinner Gathering?"


    The one who spoke up was Mo Qiu¡¯s get-together target. Her name was Tian Si. She looked rather petite, beautiful, and gentle. Herughter was very appealing. No wonder Mo Qiu was really putting effort into pursuing her.


    "Yes. Hello, Sister Tian."


    Luo Nan remembered that he seemed to have met her before. She was an officer of the Student Council or the Mutual Assistance Gathering. It was just that President Chen Weican had been far too eye-catching at the time. Luo Nan¡¯s impression of the others that followed him was very shallow. If there hadn¡¯t been a match in information from past and present, he certainly would have forgotten all about her.


    Tian Siughed quite happily. "The influence of Acumen College has suddenly expanded greatly. Junior Nan, Tian Qi, and me. We make up nearly one-third of the people here."


    Tian Qi was one of the people in Chen Xian¡¯s party and he was the only male. Additionally, he was Tian Si¡¯s cousin. Tian Qi was tall, skinny, and refined. One could tell that he was quite interested in Chen Xiaolin.


    He had red at Luo Nan the moment Chen Xiaolin¡¯s behavior changed. His suspicions brought with them a hint of warning. However, he stillughed towards Luo Nan when Tian Si mentioned him. He reached out to shake hands with Luo Nan and said, "Junior." Tian Qi wasn¡¯tcking in poise at the very least.


    Luo Nan inexplicably felt that things were a bit ridiculous. He could clearly feel that the flow of conversation amongst this four person group of Acumen College revolved unconsciously around a certain person. Their conversation was also constantly being subjected to that person¡¯s influence.


    Xue Lei.


    An emotional issue... He got a headache just thinking of it.


    Luo Nan easily wouldn¡¯t get involved in areas he didn¡¯t understandpletely. However, he was very much involved in the misfortune that had happened between Xue Lei and Chen Xiaolin. However, he also felt that he didn¡¯t really do anything wrong.


    At the Limestone Water Vige Pub back then, the Human-Faced Arachnid already had its eyes on Xue Lei. It even controlled ck Wolf of the ability user society for both an internal and external pincer attack. Clearly, it wanted to enjoy Xue Lei as a meal. If Luo Nan hadn¡¯t figured it out at the time, the results would have been too horrible to contemte.


    But from another perspective, if Luo Nan hadn¡¯t given the emotionally out-of-control Chen Xiaolin a hypnotic suggestion during the fight between Xue Lei and the ck Wolf, then Chen Xiaolin probably wouldn¡¯t have ended up with such an intense mental impression after. In the end, he had to bear some of the me.


    Regardless, no matter how many undertones there were between the four people group of Acumen College, none of those were tonight¡¯s subject of activity. Frost River Reality and making friends were the goals.


    Everyone mutually understood this and under Mo Qiu¡¯s suggestion, they left their seats and went deeper into the cold beverage shop. Eventually, they entered majestically into the reception hall of Frost River Reality.


    This was undoubtedly the intersection point between the virtual world and the real world. Even though the world had yet to touch upon the most core of reality technology, there were still interactive AR virtual images all through out the great hall. Iron-blooded, cool & handsome, cute... Various AR images were jumbled together, looking like a chaotic mess. But the quantity of interaction between countless virtual images was very much worth watching.


    At least, the girls were very moe.


    When a sudden loud noise mored, Luo Nan quietlygged behind to the back of the group. He muttered to himself for a bit, before finally deciding to give Xue Lei a call.


    The call went through very quickly. "Hey, Leister, where are you!"


    "I¡¯m helping out at the gym." Xue Lei¡¯s voice was as loud as usual. "You¡¯reing to school tomorrow for ss right? Want to meet at Blue Bay? We can do an early morning run together."


    Xue Lei had also called and asked how he was doing when Luo Nan was hospitalized. He originally wanted to visit Luo Nan, but he didn¡¯t due to a conflict between the patient visiting hours and his ss schedule. He wasn¡¯t as free as Xie Junping.


    "My Aunt probably won¡¯t be okay with it."


    Luo Nan opened his mouth wordlessly but in the end, he still spoke out with the subject, "Leister, let me ask. Are you and Sister Chen..."


    Luo Nan understood far too well the implications, for Xue Lei had suddenly gone silent. With Xue Lei¡¯s personality, he wasn¡¯t one to hide things. He was extremely down when he opened his mouth and said, "She¡¯s determined not to see me. She won¡¯t even pick up the phone. The doctors said that it¡¯s best to maintain some distance with her, to avoid triggering her... Am I such a monster?"


    Luo Nan felt that things were problematic after hearing this. He hesitated for a moment before saying, "I¡¯m at Frost River Reality and I saw her. There are a few friends ying together with her. Do you want toe see her and clear things up?"


    "Which Frost River Reality?"


    "Center of the city, Fudong Main Street..."


    "I¡¯ll be there!" Xue Lei didn¡¯t speak any further and hung up the phone. He was probably charging over in a burst of energy but since it was the weekend, it would probably take two hours to get here from the River Wu District.


    Luo Nan was really worried that Xue Lei would miss her but he suddenly sensed something right when he was pondering over this matter. He lifted his head and was met with Chen Xiaolin, who stopped right in front of him. She turned around to look at him.

 Chapter 88: Rich Family (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 88: Rich Family (Part 1/2)


    Chen Xiaolin was clearly waiting for Luo Nan.


    Luo Nan greeted, "Sister Chen."


    Chen Xiaolin spoke very bluntly, "You were talking with Leister?"


    Luo Nan felt a bit awkward and he felt a cough rush up at this time. He held it back, which caused his face to flush red. However, they had pulled some distance with their group up ahead. They could talk about some things now.


    "I heard that Senior never wants to meet him. Actually, the matter..." Luo Nan barely managed to stave off his cough and wanted to exin but he didn¡¯t know what to say. After all, he knew that it was better for Chen Xiaolin to never know about the matters that he honestly wanted to say.


    "I can more or less understand what happened."


    "Oh?"


    Chen Xiaolin looked towards Luo Nan but the focus of her eyes didn¡¯t fall onto his face, "My father used to be part of the special police and Leister¡¯s father is one as well. People with those upations will always meet a few extremely dangerous situations... They don¡¯t use words or reason when facing the type of criminals that are destitute, vicious and extremely evil. They just use force as a way to resolve things. Isn¡¯t that right?"


    This understanding was right. Luo Nan could only nod his head.


    "The work of a special police is very dangerous. Right now, Leister¡¯s father might be a police officer but my father wasn¡¯t as lucky. He exploded to pieces when sent on a mission one time. This happened about seven, eight years ago."


    Luo Nan was stunned after he heard her words. He wanted to open his mouth to console her but he also felt that such actions were meaningless. Moreover, Chen Xiaolin¡¯s attitude was extremely calm and undisturbed.


    "I don¡¯t need to hide it from you Junior Nan. Leister really is my type; he¡¯s just like my father. He¡¯s resolute, strong, straightforward, and impressive. But after thinking about it, perhaps he will end up like my father. He will struggle up and down through all sorts of dangers and he will enjoy it and never be tired of it. I cannot handle this."


    "..."


    Chen Xiaolin shook her head amidst Luo Nan¡¯s silence. Then she suddenlyughed, "And more realistically speaking, I cannot understand the logic of you two."


    Luo Nan whispered, "Senior sister, you¡¯re saying..."


    Chen Xiaolin watched him closely. "Why did you two appear like you thought everything was normal and expected during that kind of situation? Didn¡¯t you feel a hint of shock? Of panic? It seems like your surroundings were full of these sorts of situations. Do you realize it now? Your expressions at that time sent a chill down my heart!"


    Chen Xiaolin took a deep breath once she spoke to this point. She finished off her words in the end, "Perhaps you two and I are not people of the same world. I can¡¯t understand you, I don¡¯t want to understand you, and more so, I don¡¯t want anything to do with you."


    Luo Nan was once again silent. He did not speak up for a long time. Finally, he said, "I can pretty much understand your meaning senior sister but there¡¯s something Ipletely don¡¯t understand about this matter. I hope that the two of you will at least get it out in the open like now... I think Leister, with his personality, absolutely isn¡¯t the type to be a stalker. Isn¡¯t that right?"


    At the same time, Luo Nan could see that Chen Xiaolin was an extremely rational person. She was unlikely to change her mind once she had rified her intentions. Luo Nan held a pessimistic attitude towards the results of Xue Leiing over.


    Despite this, he couldn¡¯t act as Xue Lei¡¯s substitute for this sort of thing.


    Chen Xiaolin was indeed fair and reasonable. She nodded lightly. "Alright. Let hime. We can spell this out."


    "Then I¡¯ll thank senior sister." Luo Nan nodded while he secretly let out a breath of relief in his heart. This sort of thing was in a realm that was impossible for him to understand. To forcefully engage in this matter made him sweat hotly.


    The gap between the two and their group grewrger andrger at this time. Many of them turned around to look, especially Tian Qi. Tian Qi constantly tossed his gaze over; he had a rather gloomy appearance.


    Luo Nan could understand the knot in Chen Xiaolin¡¯s heart but some things weren¡¯t that easy to ept. He thought for a bit and couldn¡¯t refrain from asking, "That person..."


    Chen Xiaolinughed as she unexpectedly flexed her biceps, "He¡¯s not my type."


    It was clear that Chen Xiaolin¡¯s mental state had stabilized quite a bit after she talked about the matter. She could already joke around. This was naturally very good for her but for Xue Lei, the oue could only head in a more negative direction.


    Luo Nan sighed again in his heart as they quickened their pace to catch up with their group.


    Currently, the majority of the group was curious about what went on. Most of them were focused on the central point of this get-together¡ªMo Qiu and Tian Si. However, Tian Si was focused on Tian Qi. Tian Qi was focused on Chen Xiaolin. Under the continuity of such a ¡®focus chain¡¯, Luo Nan and Chen Xiaolin had unwittingly be the targets of everyone¡¯s gazes.


    Although Luo Nan and Chen Xiaolin were open between themselves, the other felt that they weren¡¯t open enough.


    It was hard for Tian Qi to speak certain words, so Tian Si spoke with a subtle smile, "Junior Nan, what have you and our Xiaolin been chatting about? Could it be thatst week¡¯s matters haven¡¯t been settled... Is it about the societies?"


    "Oh, that¡¯s right."


    Mo Peng waste to catch on. "I rememberst Wednesday our sister said that you wanted to test into the Mystic Arts Research Society. Did you pass?"


    Luo Nan was speechless. Mo Peng, you¡¯ve yed games till you became stupid. It¡¯s already been over ten days. How slow can you be? You¡¯re still holding onto ancient history!


    Before he could respond, Tian Siughed in astonishment. Tian Si even said, "The Mystic Arts Research Society? Tian Qi is in the Mystic Arts Research Society!"


    "Huh?" Luo Nan found this a bit surprising.


    Tian Qi finally had the chance to speak up. He felt that things were a bit funny and very strange. "I¡¯m helping out with interviewing the neers. But I never saw you... Luo Nan, this name is familiar though."


    He stared at Luo Nan carefully, sizing him up and down for quite a while before suddenly losing control of his voice, "That¡¯s right! You¡¯re the one who didn¡¯te to the interview. You didn¡¯test Thursday! Someone even tried calling you but they were unable to contact you at all. The school system says that you cut ss for the whole day. You ditched us!"


    "Wow! Skipping the interview?"


    "Cutting ss for the whole day?"


    "Acumen College is this awesome?"


    "Lil Nanster, you really made people have a whole new level of respect for you!"


    "..." The innocent Luo Nan discovered that he had be the target among targets.


    Having suddenly recalled this situation, Tian Qi inexplicably became a bit excited. His voice roused the more he talked, "It¡¯s already veryte to for the society entrance interviews. You missed your interview, then that means you haven¡¯t entered a society?"


    Tian Si shook her head to the side. She then turned to look at Chen Xiaolin. "We don¡¯t seem to have arranged anything in our group. Did you leave it out on the day you entered the hospital Chen Xiaolin? The window is over. It will be very hard to enter a society."


    Tian Qi¡¯s expression became awkward and strange. Upon further inspection, he probably wanted tough but was holding back. The kind where he was trying very hard to resist. But in the end, he couldn¡¯t refrain from saying, "I didn¡¯t say it Junior, but missing the chance to enter a society is a great pity. Moreover, the deduction of 8 school credits for the year..."


    Luo Nan understood Tian Qi¡¯s current mentality quite well; he was a bit helpless and felt bored. In the end, Luo Nan didn¡¯t harbor any animosity to this person and in the future, he had a 50% chance of being in the same society as Tian Qi. Luo Nan didn¡¯t want to make the situation too ugly.


    Right when Luo Nan was about to respond, Mo Han countered in the blink of an eye. She had just mocked Luo Nan moments ago but when provoked by her hatred for amon enemy, she said:


    "The Mystic Arts Research Society? Do they research alchemy? How popr can that ce be?"


    Tian Qi had a high tolerance towards beautiful women. Heughed and spoke with pride, "We have ample funds in our society. Various projects are underway and the primary focus is on the interference between the mental and the material, religious rituals, magical spells, eastern mysticism, and so on. Among this, the society touches upon a lot of frontier subjects like microparticles, elements of the human body, psychology, and systems theory..."


    Mo Han sneered, "Mystifying, overplicating things."


    "Little sister, this isn¡¯t trickery."


    Suddenly an arm hooked onto Mo Han¡¯s shoulder to hug her, pressing half of this young girl¡¯s body into an embrace. Saliva and the odor of alcohol sprayed across her face and the sound of a chucklingughter rang out.


    Such an unexpected event scared Mo Han to the point of shrieking.

 Chapter 88: Rich Family (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 88: Rich Family (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Sarah


    The incident was sudden. Before they could even react, Mo Han was forcefully held captive. The group could only gape in surprise. The nearby Mo Peng was the first to run up and grab the man¡¯s arm, helping the struggling Mo Han break free.


    Mo Han¡¯s older brother Mo Tao was only slower than Mo Peng by a hair. Mo Tao was the ninth of the Mo family, and he was also the sturdiest and buffest. He growled as he rushed up and abruptly pushed the captor to the wall and grabbed his cor:


    ¡°What are you doing!¡±


    ¡°F***, what the heck do you think you¡¯re doing?¡±


    The man pressed against the wall was even louder than Mo Tao. His breath reeked of alcohol; it was obvious that he was totally drunk.


    Luo Nan¡¯s group was currently at the entrance of the guiding passageway located past the reception lounge. The space had suddenly narrowed so when the dozen people circled around, they effectively blocked off more than half of the passageway.


    The drunkard slurred a few sentences and looked up to see the dark and oppressive group. This seemed to cause him to sober up a bit as he felt a bit timid. He paused for two seconds.


    However, his alcohol-induced bleary eyes soon caught a glimpse of a certain someone in the group. He stretched out his arm and iled twice as if he was trying to throw a punch. Eventually, he rested his arm on Mo Tao¡¯s shoulders and pointed to a gaping Tian Qi.


    ¡°What? Little Tian, Little Tian Qi? You¡¯re here?...You gonna turn against me?¡±


    ¡°Huang, Officer Huang?¡±


    After uttering the first word, Tian Qi could not hold himself back from uttering the rest of the words. The amount of influence that the officer had rued over the years was enough to make Tian Qi feel weak but the situation at hand far surpassed the limit of his brazenness.


    The white face quickly flushed red. If it was possible, Tian Qi wished to dig a hole and bury himself in it.


    Fortunately, at this particr moment, his cousin Tian Si decided to step up and angrily yelled, ¡°Huang Bingzhen, stop throwing a drunk fit!¡±


    The drunkard squinted. When he eventually managed to clearly make out Tian Si¡¯s face under the minuscule lighting in the passageway, heughed again. ¡°Tian Si... Si, Big Sister Si Si!¡±


    This fellow Huang Bingzhen was around twenty at most. His fully intoxicated expression fully revealed his usual sense of unbridled recklessness. ¡°Big Sister Si Si, I haven¡¯t seen you in a long time. What brings you here? Is it for the Student Council or does the Mutual Assitance Group have activities? All these faces around us are new to me...Don¡¯t crowd around me, I feel ustrophobic.¡±


    He tried to struggle free from Mo Tao¡¯s grip but failed, which caused him to feel a little annoyed. ¡°Hey, you already know who I am. Why are you still like this, huh?¡±


    At this moment, Luo Nan had finally remembered some key information after flipping through his memories. Right, his intel had shown that Huang Bingzhen was an officer at the Mystic Arts Research Society; a typical rich kid and a pervert. Cat Eyes had directly smashed him into a wallst Friday night, knocking him out at the Limestone Water Vige Pub.


    It was most likely because he had drugged himself up too much but apparently he still hadn¡¯t learned his lesson from his previous experience.


    Naturally, Tian Si knew all about Huang Bingzhen¡¯s. She would certainly be fearless if it was only about his position within the school. However, she was fearful of the Huang family¡¯s social influence; there would be consequences if she offended him. Her face darkened. ¡°Huang Bingzhen, who are you here with? If you¡¯re drunk then go puke in the toilet. Do you find it fun embarrassing yourself in front of others? The Mystic Arts Research Society and Acumen College are tarnished because of you!¡±


    Huang Bingzhen broke into a smile. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, with how beautiful Big Sister Si Si is they will eventually get their reputation back...¡±


    At this moment, everyone realized that there was really no way to get through to this guy.


    Mo Qiu confirmed that Mo Han had not been hurt and decided to let it go. Instead, he seized the opportunity to shorten his distance with Tian Si and lightly wrapped his arm around her shoulder. ¡°Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s not stoop down to the level of this drunkard... Tao Nine, let¡¯s leave.¡±


    Mo Tao red at Huang Bingzhen and only let him go after lifting him up by the cor and shoving him at the wall.


    No one had expected that Huang Bingzhen would run his mouth the moment he regained freedom. ¡°Oi, you over there. We share the same morals. You¡¯re familiar with this. Have you asked for permission beforeing over and messing around? Have you gone through the superior above you, Chairman Chen?¡±


    Although this bastard was physically drunk, his mind was still clear. Every word he spoke was filled with venom.


    Tian Si¡¯s face grew pale with fury. On the other hand, Huang Bingzhen became more excited the more Tian Si became like this. ¡°So you guys could fool around with each other but I can¡¯t even hug a girl? Come, little miss, I¡¯ll tell you about the Mystic Arts Research Society...¡±


    He stretched out his hand to hold Mo Han again as he spoke. However, since Mo Han had snapped out of her daze, she was not one to be trifled with. She kicked out with her foot and hit him right in the middle of his shin.


    Mo Han was wearing pointy leather shoes and her kick was strong and ruthless. Huang Bingzhen immediately let out a groan of pain and began to hop around whilst he held onto his injured leg. However, he lost his footing and crashed to the ground. It was unbearably embarrassing.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±


    Mo Qiu didn¡¯t want to blow the situation out of proportions and decided to suppress his unhappy feelings. He called out to hispanions to leave and their group of people headed inside, leaving Huang Bingzhen on the side screaming colorful curse words after them.


    When they reached the turning point in the passageway, Mo Peng turned his head to nce at Huang Bingzhen who was still cursing loudly. He muttered, ¡°This person¡¯s words are too hurtful, I¡¯m afraid we¡¯ve lost the mood to enjoy tonight.¡±


    Luo Nan hummed and saw the preupied look towards Tian Si and Tian Qi. It was indeed true.


    They turned the corner. His vision was cut off but Luo Nan¡¯s mental sense still covered Huang Bingzhen¡¯s location. He found that a person had called out to Huang Bingzhen just as their group had rounded the corner. It was obvious that they bore witness to the conflict and remained hidden on purpose to avoid trouble.


    Luo Nan had actually met that person before. He was Xie Junping¡¯s friend Liu Tao, who was a higher-up at the Construction Society. He wore gold-rimmed sses and had an air of elegance.


    Huang Bingzhen was from the Mystic Arts Research Society...This group of rich kids had exceeded the scope of school activities but it was impossible to tell that they were going through a vicious bidding war over Gear.


    Mo Qiu had gone all out for this get-together tonight. He had specially reserved a room with his own hard-earned savings to make it more convenient for the preparation work before entering the game.


    After the group entered the room, they stood in the scanning area under the instructions of the artificial intelligence. Specified machines were used to examine their physical attributes such as body shape in order to develop digital models, matching peripherals, and so on. This was all for the sake of achieving the greatest degree of realism.


    In fact, the vast majority of people already had an ount in the ¡®Frost River Reality¡¯. They would only need the machine to scan and match them with their previous existing data which should only take a short amount of time.


    However, there was an exception in everything; Luo Nan just could not get scanned through.


    Mo Peng grew impatient. ¡°What¡¯s wrong Nanster, I¡¯ve taken you to y here before.¡±


    Being a gaming geek, Mo Cheng was extremely knowledgeable in this field. He shook his head and said, ¡°Little Na came herest year right? He must have grown half a head since then. As he has grown and doesn¡¯t y that often, the system needs to redo calibrations.¡±


    Luo Nan understood clearly that his body had gone through fairly significant changes from taking the medication day in day out. Although there was no stimtion from the medication now, he was afraid that the stimtion from his soul strength would result in even greater changes in the future.


    Heughed. ¡°It¡¯s really nothing, I did say earlier that I wasn¡¯t going to y haptic games.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± Mo Han found it very strange, ¡°You¡¯re at the Frost River Reality, isn¡¯t that what you came to do?¡±


    ¡°Well...¡±


    Luo Nan finally scanned through. However, the rare yellow light in the scanning area lit up. There was also a warning message. ¡°Dear valued customer, we are extremely sorry for interrupting your gaming process. As you are currently undergoing treatment, ording to doctors, it is advised that you do not y games with high levels of stimtion...¡±

 Chapter 89: Frost River Road (1/2)

    Chapter 89: Frost River Road (1/2)


    Trantor: Sarah


    Along with the warning sound, Luo Nan¡¯s ount at the ¡®Frost River Reality¡¯ had many of its privileges temporarily locked away and shown as ¡®restricted¡¯. Even the peripheral equipment that was given to him were different from everyone else.


    Everyone in the room looked at each other.


    ¡°Really, the longer one lives, the more one sees. Something like this can happen?¡± even the expert Mo Cheng had never seen this type of situation, causing him to be amazed for a second.


    Luo Nan was calm. The scanning result was one thing but the most important thing was that his medical history from Renai Hospital had also been entered into the database. This situation could only ur if both things came together.


    He couldn¡¯t say the ¡®Frost River Reality¡¯ did him wrong. Many haptic games nowadays stimted the nervous system to a small degree in order to achieve the best effect. This was extremely dangerous to Luo Nan whose nervous system operated with high load.


    Mo Cheng checked through the specified restrictions and nodded. ¡°You can¡¯t go into Area A or B; you could only y in Area C...¡±


    The gaming areas in the ¡®Frost River Reality¡¯ were divided into three levels. Area A the ¡®Engraved Reality¡¯, Area B the ¡®Immersed Reality¡¯ and Area C the ¡®Reality Experience¡¯. The intensity of stimtion to the nervous system decrease with each level along with yability.


    yers in Area C were usually old people, children or young people who just wanted to chill. Young yers that liked the thrill of virtual reality usually looked down on this area.


    Luo Nan had actually brought up the problem regarding the intensity of the game with Mo Peng before they came. However, no one could have imagined that the ¡®Frost River Reality¡¯ and the hospital had gone to such lengths. Mo Peng reacted responded loyally:


    ¡°How about this, I¡¯ll go with Nanster to Area C to help him practice his Wilderness skills. You guys go to where you want to go.¡±


    Luo Nan exited the scanning area and shook his head whilst wearing hisbat-style peripherals. ¡°You don¡¯t need toe with me; you can go y with Brother Seven and the others.¡±


    Mo Peng was an avid yer. Since he was finally able toe here, he must really want to y in Area A. This was because that area was the most stimting and the ce where he could get the best ¡®Reality¡¯ experience.


    Mo Peng hesitated and Tian Siughed while raising her hand. ¡°I¡¯m not good at games and can¡¯t do things that are too stimting. I¡¯ll just stay at Area C.¡±


    Since she opened up the option, Mo Qiu alsoughed. ¡°I¡¯ll also stay in Area C. Everyone else can go y where they want to; just stay safe. Cheng Seven, don¡¯t go too crazy and watch out for everyone.¡±


    ¡°No problem!¡± Mo Cheng replied, but it was hard to tell how much of the words stuck.


    Chen Xiaolin was not actually very interested but was dragged to Area B by Mo Han and Thirteenth Sister Mo Rui.


    Tian Qi also looked preupied. However, this natural third wheel must be dealt with in haste. He was immediately dragged to Area A by Mo Tao and Mo Peng and like this, everyone was assigned into their groups and left.


    ¡°Nanster, where do you want to y?¡± Mo Qiu asked for Luo Nan¡¯s opinion in a ¡®caring¡¯ way. The problem was that he was closer to Tian Si.


    It seemed like he really felt something towards Tian Si. His harsh words to Huang Bingzhen before hadn¡¯t created much impact.


    Luo Nan did not want to be a third wheel and gave a random excuse. ¡°Third Brother, you don¡¯t need to care for me. I¡¯ll go to the ¡®Ten Days in the Wilderness¡¯ to do some basic practice and train my body.¡±


    ¡°By yourself?¡±


    ¡°Nah, even in Area A, Mo Peng can turn on the guidance mode. I¡¯ll call him when I get there.¡±


    As Luo Nan spoke, he received a calling from his wristband. It was an unknown number. As he wanted to widen the distance from the two main get-together targets, he raised his hand in signal and turned away:


    ¡°Hello...¡±


    ¡°Hello Mr. Luo, I am Bai Xinyan.¡±


    Luo Nan was stupefied for a moment beforeing to his senses. Bai Xinyan? Wasn¡¯t she the prized student of Doctor y that Octopus brother had spoken of? The one that came to Xia City especially to help him with preliminary treatment as well as gather data?


    She was also the daughter of Mr. Bai...


    Luo Nan quickly extended his greetings, ¡°Hello, Ms. Bai.¡±


    Bai Xinyan¡¯s voice was deep and gentle. It was extremely pleasant to the ears. ¡°Mr. Luo, the body checks willmence tomorrow night but I just retrieved your information from Renai Hospital and the Society. I saw the results from the auto test results fromst night that there seems to be signs of rpse. How are you feeling right now?¡±


    Luo Nan silently admired her stoic attitude. In the end, he couldn¡¯t tell her that it was the Wraith Sign¡¯s fault, so he just vaguely replied, ¡°It¡¯s true, I don¡¯t feel too well, it feels as if the pressure has increased...¡±


    ¡°Perhaps the power of your soul has grown again. Between the before and after of an ability user¡¯s awakening, there are bound to be periods of intense growth. However, this is not good news for your current state.¡±


    Bai Xinyan was very direct and very honest.


    But Luo Nan was mentally prepared.


    Bai Xinyan continued, ¡°I require newer data in order to continue to the next step in your treatment. I ask for your cooperation, Mr. Luo.¡±


    ¡°Uh, do I need to go back to the hospital?¡±


    ¡°No need, I noticed that around five minutes ago the Frozen Star System had retrieved your detail from Renai Hospital.¡±


    ¡°The Frozen Star System?¡±


    ¡°That is the main system that the Frost River Reality employs. It is located in the superputer the ¡®ck Dome¡¯, which is the medium for a few experimental projects by the Star Alliance, the military, and the ability user society. You¡¯re at the Frost River Reality, right? Center of the city, Fudong Main Street?¡±


    He was caught!


    Luo Nan was a bit embarrassed and could only try to exin himself. ¡°I¡¯m in Area C, and all my privileges have been locked...¡±


    ¡°No, Mr Luo, you cannot remain in Area C. I need you to go to Area A now.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°In the tournament space in Area A of the Frost River Reality, there is a ssic tournament event called the ¡®Frost River Waterway¡¯. You must have heard of it before, the Frost River Reality was named after it.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I know.¡± Luo Nan not only knew about it but he had actually experienced it. Mo Peng and Luo Nan had called Mo Han ¡®Sister Pomegranate¡¯ there and gotten a rough beating. He was simply beaten to a sorry state, even thinking about it now made him feel fearful.


    ¡°The Frost River Waterway is actually a project to test the human limits that was initiated by ourb. It is equipped with data harvesting devices which can be used as a detection instrument to re-amend the relevant data.¡±


    ¡°Then...¡± Just as Luo Nan was going to ask, his wristband vibrated. He received a notification in his inbox which contained a digital key and its instructions.


    Bai Xinyan¡¯s deep pleasant voice lingered in his ear. ¡°This is a temporary privilege to the Frost River Waterway and through this; you can enter into Area A. After that, you just need to follow the requests of the system. Join and try to endure until the end of the game.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I will arrive approximately two hourster to retrieve the data. In the meantime, if Mr. Luo is up for it, you can do it a few times to let the system collect moreprehensive data.¡±


    Luo Nan was surprised. ¡°Ms. Bai, you have already arrived in Xia City?¡±


    ¡°I arrived not too long ago.¡±


    Bai Xinyan didn¡¯t speak much more. ¡°I look forward to our meeting, and I hope you enjoy ying.¡±


    The call ended and Luo Nan stared at his bracelet. He felt that something was off but he couldn¡¯t quite seem to put a finger on it... Wait, the Frozen River Waterway. Doing it a few more times?


    In an instant, Luo Nan felt like his spine was going to be frozen.

 Chapter 89: Frost River Road (2/2)

    Chapter 89: Frost River Road (2/2)


    Trantor: Sarah


    Luo Nan stood right on the boundary between Area C and the guide area.


    In front of him was a reality region that was covered by virtual AR figures. Through the strengthening of his peripheral goggles, it was difficult to distinguish between reality and fantasy, even though the external designs of the virtual images were a little cartoony.


    Some high-level yers may select their virtual guide. From virtual idols to gaming heroes, you could choose anyone. Therefore, the area in front of him became lively with real people mixing with virtual images, it would make one¡¯s head spin.


    Luo Nan had talked as he walked, which made his progress very slowly. He had already lost sight of Mo Qiu and Tian Si who were in front of him.


    He thought for a moment and decided not to enter Area C but to contact Octopus Bro through his HexaEar.


    After one week of preparation, the Octopus had already begun full blown research in regards to Luo Yuandao¡¯s psychotropic drugs. He was very ambitious and he integrated Luo Nan¡¯s practical results and conductedparative research with many groups of drugs. It seemed like he really became an eight-armed octopus, working with high intensity for days on end¡ªeven his sleep schedule was messed up.


    When Luo Nan contacted him, he was taking a hard-earned nap in theboratory. He was still a bit groggy when he picked up. However, after listening to what Luo Nan had to say, he immediately shot wide awake.


    "White Salt, Bai Yan returned to the country and contacted you? She wanted you to go to the Frost River Waterway?" (White Salt is pronounced as Bai Yan in Chinese)


    Bai Xinyan¡¯s nickname slipped out from Octopus¡¯s mouth as he washed his face, hoping to fully wake up his brain. He pondered for a while and said, "I know of that Frost River Reality project. The government, the military, the Society, as well as many financial groups andpanies all participated in it. President Ouyang is also the technical advisor for the project. Actually, it has been ported to our Psychic Wave Network tform. Of course, it¡¯s still not suitable for you. However, if you¡¯re talking about somatosensory stimtion, the corresponding dangers would be lowered a lot.


    ¡°Honestly speaking, White Salt¡¯s proposal is a bit radical but it is very fitting to Doctor y¡¯s style which is the ¡®Reconstruction School of Thought¡¯. Their school of thought relies on super top-notch neuroregeneration technology and they are extremely willing to test the endurance limits of the human body for every medical case. They then work on this limit,bining strengthening with regeneration into one; there are no other school of thoughts out there that couldpare in their superiority in this field... Of course, you still need to take care and control the intensity.¡±


    Luo Nan understood the gist of it. Since Octopus had exined it this way, it didn¡¯t seem like there would be any major problems. He thanked Octopus and hung up. He decided that he would act ording to Bai Xinyan¡¯s instructions.


    After that, he followed the instructions in the message about the key and downloaded the electronic key to his society privilege system. He obtained a temporary ess privilege and connected to the Frozen Star System.


    The system booted quickly and following the notification, Luo Nan left Area C and rode the dedicated elevator to level three of ¡®Frost River Reality¡¯.


    When the elevator doors opened, two guides dressed as female starship troopers greeted him at the same time, "Sir, we wee your arrival... ¡±


    Seeing the student-like Luo Nan d in the garish ¡®restricting¡¯ peripheral equipment standing in the elevator carriage effectively cut off the two guides¡¯ voices.


    Luo Nan was sure that the two guides were yed by real people and were not virtual images. He nodded in acknowledgment as he exited the elevator.


    Unlike the lively, noisy situation in the lower level, it was very quiet when he entered the third floor. The dim ck lightbined with the fine specks of light from above created a mini starry environment. It seemed like you could even hear the sound of breathing.


    Luo Nan also felt that his arrival created a problem for the two guides, but he couldn¡¯t just exin to them that he ¡®came here for a body check-up¡¯. He could only feign ignorance and politely ask them for relevant information as per the system notification£º


    "I need to go to the Frost River No. 3, how do I get there?¡±


    The two guides, one with long hair and the other with short hair, were both beautiful and cute. They exchanged quite a few looks before the guide with short hair answered:


    ¡°Sir, the Frost River No. 3 is in an independent area. May we verify your ess privilege?¡±


    "Oh, Sure.¡±


    Just as Luo Nan began to raise his hand, the other guide with the long hair had already started the scanning device to emit light with a hand gesture. As the device scanned across Luo Nan¡¯s peripheral battle equipment, a dim yellow warning light lit up.


    Luo Nan immediately received the system boot notification. "Dear valued customer, you have inadvertently entered an unauthorized area. Please follow the instructions of a guide nearby and depart as soon as possible in order to prevent creating an ident..." ¡±


    The two guides looked at each other and broke out professional sweet smiles at the same time as they turned to face Luo Nan. "Sir, as you have seen how things are, I ask for your cooperation...¡±


    ¡°Wait, this isn¡¯t it."


    Luo Nan figured it was most likely because the ess privilege in his wristband had not connected with the one from the Frost River Reality peripheral. As he was about to exin, the elevator doors behind him opened again and a man stumbled out from within.


    Another drunkard? Was ¡®Frost River Reality¡¯ really an amusement center or a bar restaurant?


    However, the neer appeared to be a regr customer. When both guides saw him, they bowed and greeted him at the same time. "Mr. Hu.¡±


    The drunk guy walked towards them; he looked fairly young. He casually slung his arm across the short-haired guide¡¯s shoulder whilst thetter hurriedly stretched out a hand to steady him and broke out with a sweet smile. "Mr. Hu, what arrangements do you need?¡±


    Although he was still quite clear-headed, Mr. Hu slurred his words. "Get me a room and prepare an environment that would get me to sleep quickly so that I can sleep for a while. Oh right, C7 would do...Frikkin, those people can really drink!¡±


    "As you wish, Mr. Hu."The short-haired guide walked inside whilst supporting the man and signaled for her colleague to finish dealing with Luo Nan¡¯s problem as soon as possible.


    Mr. Hu walked for two steps in a crab-like manner and stopped for a bit. He edged closer to Luo Nan and squinted whilst analyzing Luo Nan¡¯s face.


    At this moment, he stood in a daze and suddenly stretched out his hand, attempting to grab the goggles on Luo Nan¡¯s face.


    Luo Nan stepped back to dodge his grab and furrowed his brows.


    "Mr. Hu..."


    "Student!"¡±


    The two guides opened their mouths at the same time but they didn¡¯t know what to say. It appeared that neither of them knew how to deal with this type of messy situation.


    Mr. Hu tried to reach out again but at this very moment, the sound of a door opening rang out. A door had opened from a room in the corridor and ady donned in dark professional attire stepped out from within.


    Upon seeing thedy, the two guides found their support and greeted in unison, "Manager Yin."


    Thedy had also picked up on the situation and made her way towards them. As she came closer, her appearance became clearer under the dim lighting. She looked about thirty and was beautiful, she carried herself with grace and her exquisite makeup showed off the airs of a mature woman.


    Her gaze swept across the faces of both Luo Nan and Mr. Hu, then she smiled and said to thetter. "The little boss came here drunk; it seems like we specialize in selling hangover soup? "


    Mr. Hu was inexplicably slightly afraid of her, he straightened his posture and waved his hand. "Sister Le, I didn¡¯t mean it."


    Ms. Yin turned around again to say something to Luo Nan but was faced with a medium-sized young boy looking at her with a dazed expression. It was obvious that he was nking out.

 Chapter 90: The Second Oblatum (1/2)

    Chapter 90: The Second Otum (1/2)


    Trantor: Sarah


    Kids these days!


    Madam Yin stifled augh and asked for the scanning results from the two guides. She understood the situation with a nce and made her way in front of Mr. Hu. He was throwing a drunk fit and Madam Yin broke the two apart. She faced Luo Nan and said, "Student, this is the VIP area of the Frost River Reality. ording to the ess privilege of your peripherals, you shouldn¡¯t be here...."¡±


    "Wait, wait, wait!"


    Mr. Hu had sobered up quite a bit but his tongue became sluggish. When he spoke quickly, he ended up saying ¡¯wait¡¯ over and over before getting the rest of his words out. "That, hey brother, you look familiar... can you take off your sses so I can get a look?"


    Although the way he spoke was rough, the meaning behind his words was surprisingly polite.


    Luo Nan¡¯s heart twinged and he carefully examined Mr. Hu¡¯s face. Luo Nan found that although his facial structure was slightly swollen due to drinking too much, he actually looked kind of familiar as well. He thought for awhile then took off his goggles.


    The instant he did so, information from old memories resurfaced. "Senior Hu?¡±


    "Aha! Luo Nan, Junior Nan!¡±


    Mr. Hu released himself from the guide¡¯s hold and went to hug Luo Nan. Luo Nan did not attempt to dodge him since he feared that if he didn¡¯t grab Mr. Hu he¡¯d directly fall headfirst to the ground.


    Yes, Luo Nan remembered. This ¡®Mr. Hu¡¯ was the Student Council officer who took a group of people¡ªincluding the Construction Society and Yan Yongbo¡¯swyer¡ªto visit ¡®Gear¡¯st week. He was Xie Junping¡¯s best friend and Xie Junping had called him ¡®Hu San¡¯er¡¯; his real name should be ¡®Hu Huaying¡¯.


    ording to Xie Junping, he was a bit of an airhead but was still reliable. However, did the two of them really get along that well£¿


    On the other hand, although Hu Huaying was 70-80% drunk his mind was clear. Although Luo Nan and Mr. Huo did not know each other that well, Xie Junping and Luo Nan did.


    Hu Huaying also worked in the Society Activities Department; this past week he saw everything that Xie Junping did. Xie Junping had run back and forth, just toplete the procedure for Luo Nan to join the Order Club. Ever since they met, Hu Huaying had never seen the young master so worried.


    Even though he knew how Xie Junping swung, sometimes he could not help but think, ¡®Was it thisd who converted young master Xie?¡¯¡¯


    Whether the ¡®conversion¡¯ was something else, as Xie Junping¡¯s best friend, Hu Huaying knew exactly what attitude he should portray. Enthusiasm was only the first step, the key was the next move.


    "Junior, sses start tomorrow, don¡¯t they? Is your body well rested?" Hu Huaying showed that he always ¡®cared¡¯ and seized this opportunity to edge closer. "If you wanted to experience the VIP area, you could have just told me before hand; I still have a bit of shares."


    He had spoken in a low voice but he then raised his voice and continued, "Of course, there is also Manager Yin Leyin; both Junping and I call her big sister. She always takes care of us... Sister Le, this is my junior, Luo Nan, he is close with Junping."


    ¡°Luo Nan?¡±


    Yin Le stared at Luo Nan and thetter cast his eyes downwards, appearing shy as he mumbled "Sister Le" in greeting.


    Hu Huaying saw that Luo Nan was being overly shy and was afraid that he would feel embarrassed. Heughed and said, "Today turned out to be a fortunate mistake but regardless of what happened, since he¡¯s here just let Junior and I share a room. I¡¯m just going to sleep anyway and I won¡¯t take up much space."


    Luo Nan opened his mouth but didn¡¯t make a sound. His gaze returned to Yin Le¡¯s face and he couldn¡¯t look away.


    Yin Le forced a smile and let her gaze roll across Hu Huaying and Luo Nan¡¯s face. "The little boss¡¯s sentiments... I still need to respect it."


    "Sister Le, you are too kind.¡±


    Hu Huayingughed and dragged Luo Nan to thank Yin Le. Luo Nan voiced out a "Thank you, Sister Le" then cast his eyes down again.


    At this time, Yin Le let out an annoyed sigh. "Luo Nan, I¡¯ll just call you Junior Nan, okay? You, yourself know very well why your privileges were restricted. You can experience the VIP room a bit, but you must take care of your body...¡±


    "Yo, body not too good, huh? This, I understand." Hu Huaying thumped his chest as if to take charge of the situation. It was hard to tell whether he was still drunk.


    Yin Le nodded towards them. "Little boss, Junior Nan, you guys go y. There seems to be a bit of the problem with the renovations over at the Cloud City Water Vige, I¡¯ll go and have a look.¡±


    Hu Huayingughed. "Once the branch opens, then everything outside of the school will be your territory, Sister Le..."


    "This is all to make money for the bosses like yourself." Yin Le shook her head andughed. She bid the two farewell and walked into the elevator.


    Luo Nan cast a quick nce towards Yin Le again before the elevator doors shut and was caught in the act. This outstandingly beautiful manager smiled at Luo Nan again and waved her hand, bidding him farewell.


    The two guides immediately picked a room and led Hu Huaying and Luo Nan towards the inner parts of the area. ording to Hu Huaying¡¯s overview, the overall structure of the area was simr to a beehive; each division was a luxurious tournament room. Whatever they had there in the gaming area on the floor below, they would have it here as well, only more exquisite.


    The VIP tournament rooms were like the rooms on the lower level; gaming areas were integrated into it.


    There was also a scanning area inside the room. Under the instructions of the two guides, Luo Nan re-entered the area and redid the scanning. This time around, all the ess privileges had been unlocked and a new set of peripheral equipment had been sent over as well.


    The two guides had undergone professional training and immediately came forth to help Luo Nan put on his bat clothes¡¯ and take care of his equipment.


    Ever since Luo Nan could remember, he had never had the treatment of letting another person help him put on his clothes. Honestly speaking, there was an inexplicablefort¡ªin both the physical and psychological sense¡ªwhen the four hands touched his body. It was also quite embarrassing. This time, the embarrassment was real.


    Hu Huaying, who stood off to the side, watched on with glee as he egged them on, anxious to stir up trouble.


    The short-haired guide was very brave. Since she saw that Luo Nan really didn¡¯t have much experience and was a typical newbie, she stretched out her hand to touch his chest and teased him. "You put on a good act, wanting to go to Frost River No. 3. You really scared us all, you know."


    Luo Nan¡¯s heart twinged as he lowered his voice and spoke softly, "Could you please not tell Manager Yin about this... It¡¯s embarrassing enough.¡±


    "We¡¯re not that loose-lipped.¡±


    As she spoke, the short-haired guide suddenly thought of something and turned to talk quietly with her colleague. The two wanted to suppress theirughter but was unsessful in doing so.


    Little did they know that with Luo Nan¡¯s mental senses, they couldn¡¯t hide what they were talking about at all. The short-haired guide said, "This kid must have a motherplex, when he was looking at Manager Yin, he was dazed....¡±


    What could Luo Nan say? He could only feign ignorance. Things were fine as long as they agreed to his request.


    However, the problem was that the two guides weren¡¯t the only ones who thought that way, even Hu Huaying did. Using his drunkenness as an excuse, he put his arm around Luo Nan¡¯s shoulder. "Hey, Junior Nan, Sister Le is indeed beautiful but she is not one to be messed with. Don¡¯t be too impulsive or I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll do something you¡¯ll regret.¡±


    Wait, what? Luo Nan was lost for words.


    The reason he paid attention to Yin Le was actually very simple¡ªthey had met before, although it was through the perspective of the Wraith Sign.


    At that time, Yin Le appeared during the Bloodme Order¡¯s ritual activities as the Second Otum. She was undoubtedly among the higher-ups in the Order.


    The Frost River Reality was indeed the joint project of the government, the military, and the Society. Now, even the Order wanted to be involved. Despite this, it was unknown if the major shareholders knew about the identity of a sensitive figure such as Yin Le.


    Unless it was all just a coincidence?

 Chapter 90: The Second Oblatum (2/2)

    Chapter 90: The Second Otum (2/2)


    Trantor: Sarah


    Hu Huaying continued on without catching a breath. "Sister Le is a talent in both the technological and management fields. Thepany brought her over with a high price and I heard that her background is veryplicated. It¡¯s not that no one has tried to flirt with her before but eventually, they all return dejected and depressed.


    Luo Nan could salvage some information regarding Yin Le from Hu Huaying¡¯s loose lips and this information could bepared to what he already knew through the Wraith Sign. However, Hu Huaying changed the subject very quickly, eager to take Luo Nan to know the type that was ¡®rtively easier to get¡¯.


    To this, Luo Nan responded by wearing his specialized ¡®tactical helmet¡¯ peripheral, effectively shutting out all outside noise and information.


    The default selection of the ¡®tactical helmet¡¯ was enhanced reality mode. This was because the inner section of the VIP tournament room was designed with the popr starshipyout. When this wasbined with a little AR technology, it provided a rtively good experience in terms of immersion.


    However, very quickly, Luo Nan had a bit of the immersion broken.


    The ¡®tactical helmet¡¯ gradually affected his five senses, helping to further enhance the quality of his experience. However, this effect stimted Luo Nan¡¯s mental senses. As his five senses were tricked, his all-epassing senses began to take over everything.


    Illusory and reality intertwined but eventually, reality prevailed. Under the irvoyance of his mental senses, the lighting effects were all revealed; they could no longer be described as a ¡®reality¡¯.


    Luo Nan was a bit annoyed, he had not considered this problem in advance. If it continued on this way, then he would be totally cut off from ¡®virtual reality¡¯ in the future.


    Hu Huaying and the two guides could not even begin to understand what Luo Nan was feeling. After routinely asking him a few questions regarding his feelings, they quietly left and did their own thing in order to not disrupt Luo Nan¡¯s immersion experience.


    They did not know that Luo Nan was watching them with his mental senses, that Luo Nan knew their intentions.


    The long-haired guide left first. Meanwhile, the one with short hair flirted with Hu Huaying for a bit before leaving with augh. Hu Huaying was aroused but he couldn¡¯t take it out on Luo Nan. He could only go to the resting area to find a ce to sleep whilstughing and cursing. However, he quickly received a call. It was most likely from one of his fair-weather friends urging him to ¡®join them¡¯. After rejecting them a few times and failing, he got up in annoyance and quietly left the room.


    Like this, Luo Nan was the only person left in the entire VIP room to do his boring test. However, after a few failed attempts, he eventually lost all patience. He took off his tactical helmet and left the top grade enclosed maglev chamber in a daze.


    This couldn¡¯t be right. If it was just for regr people, then it would be fine. However, ording to Bai Xinyan and Octopus Bro, the Society had clearly participated in the project.


    There were plenty of mentally enhanced like him in the Society and if all of them had the same emersion experience, wouldn¡¯t that turn the ¡®Frost River Waterway¡¯ into a joke£¿


    Luo Nan realized that he might be doing something wrong if he were to follow this logic. He quickly looked down to his wristband to find the fine-print regarding his temporary privilege he had gotten from the Society. He dropped his hand.


    As expected! The temporary privilege¡¯s system startup had not beenplete; there was also a notification that disyed his location as Frost River No. 3.


    He should have known earlier. The privileges that Bai Xinyan had granted him were obviously ipatible with the Reality System; maybe they weren¡¯t even from the same data link.


    "I should have said something earlier. However, the Second Otum was there... Am I overthinking things?"


    Luo Nan felt that he had done a lot of unnecessary things. Whether it be due to hisck of social experience or because he was too guarded, sometimes he would make thingsplicated.


    He thought back to awhile ago and how he was being all mysterious. He had asked the two guides keep his secret. Now that he needed to ask them for help, he had to embarrass himself all over again.


    Luo Nan couldn¡¯t go back to the past so he could only shake his head as he made his way out¡ª still wearing his tactical helmet. Just as he was about to step out, he remembered that the VIP room had a call service...


    He rolled his eyes but right at this moment, his wristband¡¯s system notification finally showed that the ¡®Frost River No. 3¡¯ that he had spent a long time looking for had finally appeared within the boundaries for signal connection.


    "Would you like to activate?"


    Luo Nan was silent for a moment, then selected ¡®Yes¡¯.


    A soft sound rang out in front of Luo Nan and the door to a room automatically opened. The insides of the room was pitch ck but the automatic lights turned on immediately.


    Luo Nan walked towards the door and it closed automatically after he walked through, effectively separating the inside from the outside. He momentarily felt some regret. He hade in uprightly for a body test, since when did he begin to sneak around?


    As the door closed, his wristband vibrated and the data connection and system boot had fully activated. A very conventional looking female virtual image appeared before his eyes as a projection... at least it was one that Luo Nan found familiar.


    "Hello, Explorer Luo Nan. Wee to a whole new adventure. I am your guide, Nina. As per the explorer manual, please enter the scanning area to be allocated with the appropriate equipment.¡±


    Now the start guidemences?


    Luo Nan was certain that either the room or the privilege that Bai Xinyan had given him had locked the game items. He was not given him the option of choosing. This was different from his experiences back in the VIP room.


    It was alright though, Luo Nan followed the guide¡¯s instructions and entered the scanning area... It would be the third time tonight!


    The scanning this time was much more meticulous than the first two times and thus took longer. It had even required him to bepared with a demo video, so from time to time, he had to do a series of movements. Without a doubt, this was much more professional.


    Luo Nan could feel that the bat clothes¡¯ he was wearing were undergoing minor amendments ording to his movements, making him feel morefortable. Could this mean he needed to wear the helmet that he had discarded to the side?


    Just as he thought about this, the helmet emitted a red light.


    The virtual guide, Nina, spoke out in a gentle voice, ¡°Explorer Luo Nan, the system has confirmed that the tactical helmet that you have right now is ipatible with the requirements for adventuring and needs to be exchanged. Please follow the guide and undergo data binding for the new helmet...¡±


    At the same time, an automatic robotic tform spun around, handing a new ¡®tactical helmet¡¯ to Luo Nan.


    Luo Nan grabbed it and looked over it. On the surface, it did not seem too different from the one he wore before. He shook his head and put on the new helmet. However, the interface that followed caused him to be a bit surprised.


    The interface was pitch ck with only a single speck of white light directly in front of him. The system boot requested for him to concentrate and focus on the light and Luo Nan naturallyplied.


    After that, the speck of light divided, with one bing two and then four. They spread out and quickly moved to ces that were out of his line of sight. Nheless, the system boot still requested for him to lock on the ever-increasing specks of light.


    A normal person would most likely have been confused. However, since Luo Nan had mastered an all-epassing mental sense, this activity was simply a piece of cake.


    Luo Nan naturally, slipped into the ne of mental awareness from basic visual perception.


    Oh right, this was a guide that was made especially for ability users!


    Luo Nan came to this sudden realization.


    The speck of light had divided into a total of more than three hundred and sixty specks, distributed across all areas. Luo Nan had locked onto every single one of them. The lights then came together again directly above his head and began to cram itself into his brain.


    Luo Nan¡¯s mental senses automatically cut inside. Numerous light spots suddenly burst out in front of his eyes and intertwined with each other. Once it had settled down, Luo Nan realized that he had already ¡®entered¡¯ a starship and the gate that had just been opened stood before him. A corridor made from metal stretched out in front of him.


    After hesitating for a while, Luo Nan stretched out his hand to open the touch-activated alloy door. He saw that he was wearing gloves and the hard feeback he felt through them was very realistic way.


    The wall that separated fantasy and reality shattered in that instant.

 Chapter 91: Control Ability (1/2)

    Chapter 91: Control Ability (1/2)


    On the east coast of Xia City was a dangerous section of the winding Huanhai Highway. Past the protective railings of the highway was a steep cliff. Fine mist-like rain drizzled under the darkness of the sky, erasing the boundary between the cliff and the sky.


    This Huanhai Highway was the first highway installed with maic pavement, a ss 1 Highway. At first, it was just a technological implementation but it gradually turned into the superior choice for high-speed street racing due to its ssical location. Even though the weather was bad, the drivers who chased thrills did not care. Sports cars came rushing at lightning speeds one after another on the highway, their speeds easily exceeding 300 km/hr under the effects of the maglev system.


    The headlights cut across the road like a long sword. It sliced apart the curtain of night and the misty rain, making the cliff glow with light and stand out from the dusky ocean sky.


    Bai Xinyan stood on the peak of the cliff. She looked at the ascending highway spiral for a few rotations before extending her gaze into the distance. The flying cars that moved like a hurricane on the highway were like fireflies going the wrong way as they gradually faded into the curtains of mist.


    "Xia City still looks like the same. I can¡¯t see the difference between it and Los Angeles."


    The giant metropolises were constructed hastily as a measure against the terrible environment of the war¡¯s aftermath. It was hard to preserve the special characteristics of human culture. A high degree of homogeneity was natural and expected. It was because of this that such a tedious steel jungle¡ªthough seemingly varied¡ªwas actually a monotonous human structure.


    "It is because everything is so monotonous that those of the gifted ss deserve to be treated with preference... That is, from the perspective of a having a diverse species."


    Bai Xinyan¡¯s hands were in the pockets of her jacket. She weed the ocean breeze sting her face and strode out with a step. The fluttering fine rain solidified into fine ice crystals beneath her feet to bear her weight. Just like this, they would solidify, shatter and solidify again to form a faintly visible long staircase of ice crystals. Thissted until she crossed several levels of the highway to arrive at the lower section of the cliff.


    There was not a trace in the void behind her.


    Right now, Bai Xinyan was on a protruding tform about ten meters above sea level. There was enough space for two people to stand. Further down the tform was a recess that was over three meters deep and two meters high. One could see the traces of man-made cuts.


    Bai Xinyan didn¡¯t go inside. Her gaze swept across the recess and she saw an opened waterproof metal box inside. Clothes that belonged to a womany messily over it. They were already soaked by the fine rain blown in by the wind.


    "A relic from my casual life style. How many years has it been? I still haven¡¯t gotten rid of it..."


    Bai Xinyan inched her gaze away. She stood on the tform that faced the ocean. Half of the ocean skies rained like a screen into a sheet of limitless reaches. The ocean wind spurred and sprayed the rain onto her jacket¡ªcreating pitter-patter sounds. Nheless, the rain could not make her wet at all.


    Below the tform were piles of jagged rocks shaped like canine teeth. The tide slowly swelled and thick white froth vaguely created lines atop the tide that swung back and forth.


    Bai Xinyan gazed at the surface of the ocean. After a moment, her lips turned into a slight smile. The rain that fell around her body transformed into fine ice crystals once again, dropping rapidly into the tide and the rocks and making rustling sounds.


    In a few breaths of time, the endlessly rocking ocean tide froth transformed into crystal shards of all sorts of shapes. The chill continued to endlessly permeate deeper into the ocean waters. Soon, the reef and the half frozen tide merged together into a warped silhouette that was like the sinister face of a devil.


    "One, two three!"


    She counted to three in her mind. Suddenly, a ng was heard amongst the sounds of the ocean waves, the wind, and the rain. The sound came from far, far away. The devil face on the surface of the ocean suddenly tore and split, causing the reef to split as well. The ocean split in half and a slender human figure broke through from the parted seas. Sheughed with a series of loud ¡°ha ha¡±s:


    "Freezing. I¡¯m freezing to death! Freezing to death!"


    Zhang Yingying rushed out from the surface of the water. Her red and ck striped wetsuit disyed her nice figure very prominently. Despite this, ayer of floating ice hung from her body and pearls of ice had formed on her hair. She was messy andcked standing, looking to be in a bit of a sorry situation.


    Her bare feet tapped against the wall of the slippery cliff and she jumped vertically to fly onto the tform. The sharp aura that draped her body didn¡¯t dissipate. She cleaved through the rain, causing a hiss.


    Atop the tform, Bai Xinyan didn¡¯t avoid her. She faced the figure that had charged up here andughed with open arms for a vigorous hug. The khaki jacket was flipped over, covering the two together.


    "Ah, ah, ah, ah, Bai Yan, White Salt, Bai Yan!" Zhang Yingying was extremely excited. She was itching to roll out from Bai Xinyan¡¯s embrace and get rid of theyer of ice droplets that clung to her.


    Bai Xinyan paid zero attention to this. She held the young woman tightly in her embrace, sticking her chin lightly onto the hair covered with beads of ice. She didn¡¯t talk but she still had that subtle smile from the very start.


    When the excitement and energy of seeing old friends barely died down a little, Zhang Yingying pulled some distance. She looked at Bai Xinyan¡¯s expression and couldn¡¯t hold back from fiercely gritting out:


    "Oh my, you haven¡¯t changed at all. You didn¡¯t melt from spending all day in theb!"


    But when she truly came to, she lowered her head and saw that the chill on the surface of the ocean had yet to retreat. She swallowed her previous words back down her throat, "Wow! How did you do it? This kind of freezing air is already abnormal... You¡¯re not just an Architect, right? Are you an Extraordinary?"


    "I¡¯m not on that level yet. This is just a little bit of skill. It works differently from your White Rainbow. On the other hand, I haven¡¯t seen you in three years and now you¡¯ve suddenly been training quite seriously."


    Zhang Yingying rolled her eyes. "Yep, yep. I¡¯ve made a fool out of myself. I need to save face."


    "Did you now?" Bai Xinyan rubbed her cheeks lightly against the youngdy¡¯s tender and cool cheek.


    Zhang Yingying giggled, then she asked what Bai Xinyan¡¯s ns were. "No matter how things are, you¡¯ll need to stay in Xia City for a month or so. What¡¯s your schedule like? Why don¡¯t you live with me? We can y every day to our hearts¡¯ delight!"


    "I¡¯m seeing my boss tomorrow morning. Then I¡¯ll be handling other matters... I have an appointment tonight too but it¡¯s just some formalities."


    Having said this, Bai Xinyan¡¯s wristband vibrated. She nced at it and nodded slightly. "Quite a number of new people have been dug up by the Society in recent years. This Scout is quite decent."


    "Scout? Oh oh right. That fellow¡¯s your patient!" Zhang Yingying eyeballs spun. Some thoughts had floated up in her mind.


    Bai Xinyan observed all of this. Once she was sure that the Scout had hung up the phone, she conveniently exined the situation to Zhang Yingying. "The precision of this person¡¯s mental senses is extremely impressive. His abilities must be precision nted, heading towards micro-observation. How did he get the nickname Scout?"


    "This person... Well, he actually does have a bit of talent." Zhang Yingying blinked her eyes, feeling a bit baffled. "You two haven¡¯t met, right? How can you tell?"


    "I relied on technology." Bai Xinyan shook her wrist, letting the data be projected out from the wristband.


    Zhang Yingying could only understand a portion of it but she was able to grasp the relevant information. "Frost River Waterway... That fellow has nerve damage and he hasn¡¯t awakened. Can he endure it? Tsk tsk. Is it worth it? To torment him like this?"


    Bai Xinyan subtly smiled. "A patient needs to rely on their own two legs to walk when undergoing treatment. One leg is confidence. The other leg is obedience. I¡¯m just strengthening thetter element."


    Zhang Yingying¡¯s face was unreadable. "Sometimes, this fellow is a bit naughty but it shouldn¡¯t have started yet?"


    "Yea, he¡¯s been good so far. I just want to make him more obedient."


    "...yikes, you pervert!"

 Chapter 91: Control Ability (2/2)

    Chapter 91: Control Ability (2/2)


    Luo Nan stood at the entrance to the metal passageway. He was appreciating the blurred boundary between fantasy and reality when Nina¡¯s portrait appeared on his retinas. "Explorer Luo Nan, for the sake of infiltrating the¡¯s defensive circle, you will need to execute another short-ranged jump. Please enter the jumping pod."


    This plot felt very familiar. Last time, Mo Han had tricked him intoing here and experiencing it. Things were more or less the same now.


    Luo Nan walked into the opened metal passageway and the lighting gradually dimmed. There was a control console shimmering with light at the end of the passageway. Dots of stars from the depths of space could be seen in the transparent ring-shaped window of the operating system.


    Behind the control console was a ssical high-back starship chair. Luo Nan walked over and sat down. He followed Nina¡¯s guidance to calibrate the devices and amended the parameters on the control console one by one. Everything here aimed to help the yer adapt to the virtual environment by reducing the influence of reality to the greatest degree.


    Luo Nan used his picky gaze to examine the sensation on his fingertips, the changes in the lighting, and the shifts in perspective. However, he found it hard to find a distinct hole... The level of this simtion was quite intense and it had actually already exceeded the limit of the Realities geared towards the public. In order toe here, someone must have guided him mentally ahead of time.


    Everything was all set. The window disyed some absolutely meaningless coordinates for an adventure area. Nina¡¯s voice rang once more, "Please close your eyes and seize your bnce. Endure the vertigo of the short hop. Begin the adventure!"


    Luo Nan¡¯s body slightly trembled. A peculiar glowing whirlpool appeared in front of the jumping pod. The pod started and elerated. Luo Nan was pushed back into his chair by the force of inertia while the whole world began to spin and roll back and forth. Luo Nan instinctively closed his eyes. The noise of electromaics, the noise of machines in operation, and the cries of rms further in the distance were all exceptionally clear.


    Another jolt immediately followed. The sensation of high-speed rotation suddenly faded away. Theplete reversal of inertial force caused him to be suddenly flung outside.


    He was weed by the cold water of a river. A muffled boom rang out and water sshed everywhere. Just when he felt pain, a more serious chill prated into his bones.


    There was no doubt that this was a roughnding.


    Within the game that was Frost River Waterway, the moment of falling represented theplete conversion between reality and virtual. The overwhelming majority of the participant¡¯s senses were produced by the stimtion of electrical signals to the nervous system.


    Luo Nan¡¯s experience was more real than the vast majority of participants. Whenpared to the tragic experience from before, this ¡®reality¡¯ was something that could be treasured.


    He opened his eyes and stood up from the river. His surroundings were still pitch-dark but a weak lustrous light flickered in the corner of his vision. The waves of water were up past his knees. The flowing rate wasn¡¯t slow and the water was cold enough to chill the bone. There were even fragmented ice floes on the surface that collided with his body, causing him a subtle sensation of pain.


    Themunications device on his cor vibrated slightly at this moment. Nina¡¯s slightly urgent voice came through. Some messy background noises were mixed within the call, further embellishing the environment of this reality:


    "Explorer Luo Nan, you have just experienced a failed short-range jump. Yourbat clothes have been damaged to a certain extent. Please attentively look over the report. Please scout out the surrounding situation for the time being and send relevant information back to help us decide the next step and directions."


    Before her voice could fade away, themunications device rang with static noise. A bizarre and odd voice spoke, "Wee to the Frost River Pub. Please follow the waterway forward. We¡¯ve already prepared some fine liquor for our guests to warm up their bodies."


    Nina¡¯s voice cut back inside, "It looks like there are other people here. You can do a side adventure. From the information you¡¯ve sent back, please take note that some odd material has been mixed into the water of the waterway. The water temperature is already below the freezing point. Please amply move your body to avoid being frozen solid."


    The challenge of Frost River Waterway began from this moment on.


    In ordance with the rules of Frost River Reality, the winner of the challenge will be taken to Frost River Reality to receive a prize. The winner¡¯s game ID would be recorded and entered into the global rankings. Only, Luo Nan didn¡¯t know how the oue of this ability user version would be like.


    Luo Nan followed the guidance lines from the tactical helmet. He went against the flow of the water and pressed on forward.


    The purpose of Frost River Waterway was to test the ability of the yer¡¯s body to adapt to changes in a low temperature environment. Luo Nan had tried this before but at that time he had retreated in defeat. He didn¡¯t have a real understanding of the inner details of the circumstances.


    He just knew that the length of the waterway was very indistinct. He had heard that it was 1,500 meters before and he had also heard that it was 3000 meters. Frost River Reality had never made the true data public but it was super clear was that the waterway was split into three sections in total. In other words, three difficulties.


    The early stage began upon entering the waterway and was approximately five-hundred meters in length. This test aimed to see if one could maintain body activity under cold stimtion.


    The medium stage was from the five-hundred meters to the thousand meters mark. It involved diving underwater to discern underwater skills.


    Theter stage didn¡¯t have a definite length. It involved skill at an extremely high level. It specialized in testing the limits of a person¡¯s survivability.


    Last time, Luo Nan could only persevere for a hundred or so meters before he was unable to take it any longer. He was kicked into protected mode and his performance was appropriately embarrassing.


    The overall trend of the Frost River Waterway was to go downwards. After ten meters, the depths of the icy waters would begin to gradually increase. Soon, the waters would go above his waist. The gurgling flow of the icy waters made it a difficult job for those inside to walk forward¡ªespecially the prating chill. The feeling of numbness made it easy for a situation to ur.


    Luo Nan took a deep breath. Last time he had walked in the Frost River Waterway, it seemed that the icy waters had reached his waist in an instant. He had lost all feeling in the lower half of his body. This time, it looked like things were pretty much the same.


    This was unrted to the quality of one¡¯s body but rather something that was highly rted to the sensitivity of one¡¯s nervous system.


    The only thing different was thatst time Luo Nan was a bit ignorant. He was extremely sensitive to the stimtion but he did not know where his sensitivityid. Right now, he was able to clearly feel the external stimtion acting on the cold sensory receptors of his skin to form nerve impulses that entered his central nerves. They were conducted to the temperature regtion center of the hypothmus.


    His irvoyance over the state of his own body had already entered a level that was praiseworthy by ordinary people. Though it was taxing to use his near 1/10 millimeter sensing precision to prate on the scale of human-cells when it wasbined with his personal awareness, he should be able to grasp an approximate outline.


    But this would require a great increase in the flow of necessary information to process. A feeling of weariness soon invaded him and the temperature of his body rapidly reduced, sharply increasing his energy consumption rate.


    Then one of his legs grew weak and he fell into the water. The protection from his helmet made it so that he didn¡¯t choke but separated by ayer of armor was the torrential current bound with chunks of ice. They collided with him and made nking sounds. The icy water flowed into his damagedbat clothes, causing a chill to prate deep inside.


    This excessive stimtion caused his blood to circte. ording to his body¡¯s instinct, his inner organs took precedence. His limbs quickly went numb, making him lose the ability to move.


    A giant chunk of ice suddenly collided against his head with a bang. His helmet became damaged and icy water seeped inside. Luo Nan was choked to an inch of his life; he was seeing stars.


    His consciousness became a bit blurry. Nina seemed to have said something next to his ear but he was already unable to hear it.


    When his consciousness recovered back to total rity, Luo Nan had already returned to the high-back starship chair from before the jump.


    As expected, he had failed the Frost River Waterway challenge.

 Chapter 92: Multiple Options (1/2)

    Chapter 92: Multiple Options (1/2)


    Luo Nan leaned back in his chair. His limbs were powerless for a time. When faced with the changing stimtion of the external world, his body still needed some time to adjust.


    A hologram was set up in front of his body at this time. Videos were ying back in the center region. Several different perspectives showed the details of his movements at the Frost River Waterway. His very sorry state in them needed no further words.


    All sorts of digits and data appeared all around the yback videos. Most of it was jargon. Luo Nan did not quite understand it. Even if he did, hecked something topare it to. It was very hard for him to understand this event, which had beenpletely turned into data. In the end, he did not know what level this represented and whether he did excellent or poor.


    Luckily, he discovered that there was a simple summary at the lower center region of the hologram. "The challenger¡¯s body is weak but possesses remarkable sensing precision. He is a precision-nted mentally enhanced but hecks the appropriate information processing skill. Hecks control ability over his body and remains on an instinctual stage..."


    Information processing skill? Control ability?


    Luo Nan thought back to his recent experiences. He had received a lot of information but he was barely able to ept it. All of his nerve impulses and relevant reactions still followed his body¡¯s functions to advance in a prescribed order. Indeed, the so-called control ability was out of the question.


    He was quite convinced by this evaluation.


    Obtaining information was one thing¡ªprocessing and controlling it was another.


    Luo Nan knew that the control center for the body¡¯s temperature was located in the hypothmus. He also knew of the rtionships between the mutual inhibitions of the relevant control region, including the various neurotransmitters and neurons¡ªas well as their characteristics.


    He also possessed an appropriate amount of soul strength that was sufficient enough to interfere with the material ne. He could give his nervous system sufficient stimtion.


    But Luo Nan really did not know how to control this. This wasn¡¯t something that could be understood just by thinking about it. If he were to truly give it a shot, how would he decide what the right steps should be?


    It must be known that the hypothmus was an important region of the brain that regted the activity of hormones and internal organs. The problem with a bad stimtion would not be just failing the challenge; he might even kill himself on the spot.


    Luo Nan sighed and watched a few reys of his sorry appearance before choosing to face the challenge again. Before all this, Bai Xinyan wanted him to try it a few extra times. He was given two hours of time and only about a quarter of that time had passed now. He still had to practice!


    The problem was that the oue did not change too greatly each time he entered the Frost River Waterway. The icy cold water of the Frost River Waterway was alright. The real headache was the rapid flow of water and the giant chunks of ice and other junk that came rushing down. Under the numbness caused by the cold, Luo Nan absolutely didn¡¯t have the leeway to dodge. He could only fail time after time.


    The depression in Luo Nan¡¯s mind was umting. He was not scared of failing but he was gloomy about clearly knowing his problem and the feeling of powerlessness that came from the impossibility of fixing it.


    Repeating it a few times, he copsed at the first 500 meters mark each time. Each time had the same problem, what was the point of continuing to try?


    This umtion of emotions already caused his soul strength to go a bit out of control, so Luo Nan just simply chose to log out.


    The sealed maic chamber opened up and the high-back chair was restored to its original luxurious state. Luo Nan sat on the chair and was distracted for a time. He heavily smashed the armrest with his fist and ignored the system notifications. He took off his helmet so that he could take some good breaths of air.


    But the instant he took off his helmet, all the notification lights surrounding the high-back chair went out. The guide Nina disappeared without a trace and the lights in the room lit up instead. The atmosphere from before waspletely broken and his wristband vibrated again with a system notification:


    "You have spontaneously logged out of the system. Your temporary privileges have been revoked."


    Luo Nan was stunned for a moment. He looked at the time; he had not even reached half of the two hours period. He had just wanted to catch his breath just now. He never thought that the system would close on him so bluntly.


    This kind of privilege was far too deceptive.


    Thinking about it from another perspective, Ms. Bai probably did notpletely factor in the option of a halfway rest point for the user... From this perspective, Ms. Bai¡¯s temperament might be dreadfully hard to deal with!


    A sense of alertness suddenly swelled in Luo Nan¡¯s heart, like that of a mischievous student facing a strict teacher. The most unfortunate thing of all was that this was his first assignment from his teacher. He had done very bad on it...


    Perhaps he had already thoroughly destroyed her first impressions of him.


    Luo Nan was a bit troubled but it was toote for regrets now. His temporary privileges were no longer effective. The illumination of the lights clearly showed a sense of estrangement. He could only leave.


    The robotic tform swiveled over to his side at this time. The intent was to leave the special tactical helmet behind.


    Thinking about the huge difference in experience made Luo Nan really hate to leave. This also further increased the growing regret in his mind.


    Luo Nan hesitated for a moment. He did not return it for now and instead walked back to the scanning area. He picked up another helmet that was ced there. His hands held it in his grasp as hepared andpared. From the surface, he could not see much difference.


    If he had not entered Hu Huaying¡¯s VIP room first and had his first unsessful experience, Luo Nan probably would not have thought that the equipment was different and that the experienced formed would be so greatly divergent.


    But since he found where the problemy, why not use a bit of effort to thoroughly and clearly find out where the difference between the two helmetsid in the end?


    Luo Nan was unable to hold back his curiosity. He adjusted the precision of his senses to high and his soul strength prated the helmet. The field of precision electronics was all Greek to him but the structural design of the two helmets seemed to be identical. This gave him a standard of reference.


    This oneparison would really give him some good results.


    Hepared one region after another using his mental senses and he soon discovered that Frost River Helmet No. 3 had a chipset installed in apartment area stuck to the location above the forehead.


    The helmet he took from Hu Huaying¡¯s VIP room also had a simrpartment but there wasn¡¯t a chipset there.


    It was very clear that this was where the differencey.


    Luo Nan put on the tactical helmet once again, his consciousness prating inside. This time, there wasn¡¯t a system boot but the more things were like this, the more likely it was for the most basic things to appear. He noticed the flow of energy and information within the chip under the on-state.


    Looking at the material structure, the scale of energy and information was smaller by several magnitudes whenpared to human cells. But the sensitivity the soul had towards energy and information was clearly very high. His soul didn¡¯t need to interfere with the material ne; he was able to clearly perceive and read the energy and information.


    Thus, Luo Nan was able to perceive and examine the processing method of energy and information of the chipset within the Frost River Helmet No. 3... It was a very familiar architecture.


    It was extremely familiar!


    Luo Nan did a brief recollection and was able to confirm the root of the familiar feeling:


    Jack. The Dynamo Core. The Tower of Babel!


    Even though the operating mode over energy and information was cruder and more rigid inparison, this sort of mode of information exchange and transformation was undoubtedly disyed by the Tower of Babel structure by Jack that night... there was some link.


    Even if this method was transnted into a chip, making the structure that sustained the operation be greatly different, there was no essential difference over the operating modes of energy and information between the two.


    Ooh-wee, this really dide as a surprise.

 Chapter 92: Multiple Options (2/2)

    Chapter 92: Multiple Options (2/2)


    Part of the Dynamo Core¡¯s function was recreated?


    Luo Nan arrived at this conclusion and was more or less dumbfounded.


    Hecked aprehensive understanding of the object that was the Dynamo Core. At most, he had inferred a few things from the conversation between Jack and Yan Yongbo.


    This sort of thing was likely a top of the line item from the Apocalypse Laboratory. It possessed an overwhelming control over digital devices. It was a key technology to the fourth generation of Burners and could be used on Altered Humans. Furthermore, it couldpletely break the boundary between an Altered Human and a Burner by way of a special application.


    Such fine technology had suddenly appeared in arge public virtual amusement project that was Frost River Reality and it had appeared in such a special link. Even if this was just a small section¡ªeven if the government, the military, the ability user society, and various techpanies were all involved¡ªLuo Nan still found it hard to believe that this was just a coincidence of great minds thinking alike.


    Was this a repeated experiment hidden within this project? Or did the Apocalypse Laboratory have their hands in this project? Did the Society know of these circumstances?


    A series of questions knocked at Luo Nan and left him dumbfounded. It looked like he had one foot in dirty water.


    Of course, as long as he was able to face reality, he would be able to get all that he desired.


    Luo Nan muttered in thought as he weighed the chipped helmet in his hands a few times. His eyes gradually lit up.


    Obviously, he would not be able to take this helmet with him and he certainly would not be able to remove the chipset inside but he had the perfect alternative!


    His own Dynamo Core, the external neuron!


    Luo Nan had never used his own Dynamo Core to establish a Tower of Babel. He was worried that his current body would not be able to sustain it and that he would die just like Jack. However, Luo Nan had the peripherals of Frost River Reality now. By utilizing the Dynamo Core¡¯s ruling power over digital devices tobine the two, he would be able to re-materialize the immersive virtual experience meant for ability users. It should not be too big of a problem.


    The virtual experience was a small matter. If he could dig out some information on a deeper level, then that would be some great gains!


    Luo Nan could not hold back any longer. It was fine if he could not use Frost River No.3. He could just switch to a different location.


    He immediately abandoned the chipped helmet and carried his original equipment out the door withrge strides. Frost River No.3 immediately closed behind him, it was impossible for him to reopen it. Luo Nan did not care. He walked hastily back to Hu Huaying¡¯s VIP room. The instations here were still active with not a soul in sight.


    Luo Nan took a deep breath as he walked to the high-back starship chair. He put on the helmet thatcked the key chipset and connected to the system.


    From the perspective of an ability user, this helmet was just a clumsy tool without the mental guide function of the chipset. It could not control the pration of one¡¯s mental senses and made the resulting virtual scene quiteughable.


    But this time, Luo Nan was not impatient nor urgent. His intent subtly moved within the messy array of light and darkness. The external neuron, which had always been concealed in the center of his brain between the left and right thmus regions, soundlessly extended and stabbed into the chip area of the helmet. It probed around a bit and automatically forked out structurally to connect with the empty interfaces.


    Energy and information converged and operated. The entire process was manifested clearly. There wasn¡¯t a big difference in the structure but the emted copy was more exquisite than the chipset by a hundred fold or even a thousand fold! The amount of energy and information it could process was also over a hundred fold or even a thousand fold!


    Luo Nan felt the helmet grow hot. Compared to the supreme processing power of the Dynamo Core, the helmet was somewhat unable to endure the energy. However, this was not a big problem.


    At this time, Luo Nan¡¯s mental senses no longer spread out. Instead, there was a direction to ce his soul strength. It was like the sensation he had when he had entrusted his soul strength into the Dynamo Core after days of being extremely taxed.


    The previous Dynamo Core waspletely empty inside, like a deep and silent hollow. However, there was now color and structure. Layers andyers were piled atop each other, growing all the more splendid as it gradually formed a world.


    Luo Nan¡¯s consciousness lingered within, quietly sensing the fine details.


    This kind of ¡®guide¡¯ was much more intense than differentiating the dots of light, yet the guide was not like that of the chip, which was separated by ayer. Instead, his emotions werepletely and thoroughly essed and cast inside.


    What was going to happen?


    The instant this thought shed by, his mind waspletely immersed within.


    As if time was flowing backwards, when Luo Nan came to, he had returned to the jump pod and was facing the ring-shaped windows of the control console.


    The tightness of hisbat clothes bound to him, the weight of his helmet, and the support of the high-back chair all passed through various sensors all over his body. They were fed back to his central nerves and an indistinguishable scene that was between virtual and reality was interweaved together in front of his eyes. Luo Nan was broughtpletely into this fantastic world.


    There was not a system boot this time. Only two graphical options were there in the ring-shaped window before his eyes.


    Luo Nan¡¯s scalp went a bit numb the instant he saw the graphics.


    The right graphic was a simple sphere.


    The left graphic was something that he could not be more familiar with... The visualization diagram, the Format Pyramid!


    Perhaps his moment of daze was far too long, for the system eventually let out a sound. It was still Nina¡¯s crisp female voice. "Do you need the newbie guide?"


    "Yes."


    "Please select the active mode: 1. Archetype Mode; 2. Free Mode."


    On the ring-shaped window, the visualization diagram and the sphere lit up one after another after Nina¡¯s notification, indicating which one was Archetype Mode and which one was Free Mode.


    "Archetype..."


    Luo Nan felt somewhat ufortable but the feeling of excitement that came from peeking into a giant secret bombarded heavily against his chest. He could feel threads of cold air pass through the fine gaps between his teeth. He could not help but lock his gaze right onto the diagram he knew all too well.


    "I choose Archetype Mode!"


    The visualization diagram lit up and shifted into the center of his vision. Meanwhile, the sphere gradually faded away. At the same time, the deep and low voice of a certain man rang in his ears:


    "In a certain sense, every human is a mass of molecules assembled together. The living process of every human is the oxidation of this assembled mass of molecules. The human body is precisely in a burning state."


    Just hearing these words alone caused Luo Nan to feel an electric current run through and shake his spine. It was enough to cause his entire body to be covered in goosebumps. There was an instant where he almost jumped out of his chair but a different force made him motionless.


    The deep and low male voice continued, "The ¡¯Burning¡¯ of ordinary people is inefficient be it generated, umted, or exploited. The Burning is restricted to the structure of our bodies, affecting our lifespan, and through inheritance, it affects the existing form of our generations."


    "But following the deep exploration of the secrets of life, humanity is no longer satisfied with such an inefficient mode. Humanity has endlessly tried to improve their muscles, bones, organs, genes, and consciousnesses... Traces of alteration technology has been left behind in each field but it was all scattered and fragmented. This was until humanity selected a whole new structural system, taking these scattered and fragmented results and truly integrating them together."


    The visualization diagram erged in the center of Luo Nan¡¯s vision. Countless lines interweaved together to draw the outlines of bones, organs, nerves, and muscles. They joined together to form aplete human body that settled in the center of the visualization diagram. It sat majestically in the lotus position.


    "This transcends human convention. This is the embodiment of a certain direction of evolution. This is the Burner."

 Chapter 93: Archetype Flame (1/2)

    Chapter 93: Archetype me (1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    An explosion of water rang forth. Luo Nan had experienced yet another failed ry, re-entering the Frost River Waterway. The rapid flowing water and fragments were above his body, bringing a bone-chilling sensation.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t stand up immediately. Instead, he submerged his head¡ªwhich was wearing the tactical helmet¡ªunderwater. He used the cold flowing rapids to clear up his brain.


    When he had decided to substitute the Dynamo Core for the chipset and connect to the Frozen Star System of Frost River Reality, he had very much expected to dig up information of this degree.


    Originally, with the temporary privilege granted by Bai Xinyan, he was unable to ess to the core of this virtual reality project. It was only after the feelers of the external neuron touched upon the lowest level of the Frozen Star System that he was able to get a glimpse at these deep mysteries.


    "Simting the Burner. The Burner¡¯s simtor."


    Frost River Reality, beloved by youths, even had this function... Alright, this was still within the realm of reason. The government and the army were involved and this was arge project about virtual reality. Like borrowing the hen toy an egg, they had made a few model constructions,bat simtions, and simr work. Things couldn¡¯t be more normal.


    This kind of optimization towards ability users¡ªsuch as Burners¡ªreally made one¡¯s imagination go wild. Even the technological methods employed were amazing.


    Luo Nan was already super familiar with the leading story at this time, so he had skipped it by habit when it started ying again; he had not been paying much attention. He was just mulling over his current situation, wanting to see what was different in the end.


    Suddenly, Nina¡¯s notification streaked past his ear. "...Please pay attention to the internal energy reserves of the Archetype Format, appropriately deploy them, and avoid being frozen solid."


    Huh? The lines changed?


    Luo Nan had a sudden realization. He still remembered that Nina¡¯s guide sequence started by notifying that thebat suit had been damaged, noting the anomalies of the waterway, and then there was the line "Please amply move your body to avoid being frozen solid".


    What the heck was this ¡®internal energy reserves¡¯ that suddenly popped up?


    His thoughts arose and the scenery cast on his retina changed. On the lower left corner, a thick white U-shaped symbol appeared, shining brightly. It captured Luo Nan¡¯s attention.


    When Luo Nan¡¯s gaze was cast onto the U-shaped symbol, the deep and low backgroundmentary voice spoke once again, "By drawing in the Archetype Format, the Burner transcends the burning mechanism that is conventionally inefficient. The Burner fully transforms and utilizes the internal energy of the human body and obtains even higher applicational efficiency..."


    The U-shaped symbol was changing as thementary sounded. It turned from an initial white color to red, orange, green, blue, purple¡ªin that order. Five colors in total. Then it returned to its initial color¡ªwhite. During this time, the coloration that filled the U-shaped symbol had its ¡®water-level¡¯ endlessly increase. Direct observation of this image revealed crucial information.


    Luo Nan took in the relevant words and quickly understood the meaning behind them. Burners could utilize the Archetype Format to continuously transform, umte, and increase the internal energy of the human body. The ¡®water levels¡¯ of the U-shaped symbol was the avable internal energy reserve, and its changing spectrum of color represented the efficiency of that form of energy from low to high. There were six levels in total.


    It was very clear that the key factor for determining the depths of ability in a Burner¡ªin a situation where the internal energy reserves were extremely closeid in the energy form.


    The body¡¯s natural generation of chemical energy and the muscr mechanical energy of a 100 kilogram built man wasughable whenpared to the antimatter annihtion reaction produced from a strand of hair from a baby.


    Of course, thisparison itself was a joke.


    This was where the mighty secret of the Burnery... Or at least a crucial portion of it.


    Luo Nan straightened up. The icy cold flow of water continued to scour against his body, causing his body temperature to rapidly plunge. He did not move, instead, he waited:


    Where are the internal energy reserves? Where is the Archetype Format?


    Even though he was inside a game, Luo Nan did not believe that he was simply ying a game. The so-called internal energy reserves, the Archetype Format, and even the digitized symbol should not be concepts that were just installed in the game. There had to be some sort of concrete, touchable experience...


    Though, he had not entered here in a very formal way. He had used the Dynamo Core to gain ess.


    "TZZZZZZ."


    An odd sound started ringing out. The image shown on his retina and the backgroundmentary in his ears turned a bit fuzzy. Clearly, they were being affected by some strong interference.


    The disturbance passed after a second or two. The backgroundmentary was fine and Nina, the system guide, was fine too. There were no problems afterwards. There was only the singing voice of the Frost River Pub that was transmitted over from the distance via radio waves. Mixing into the noise towards Luo Nan in the waterway, a voice called out:


    "I used the memory of fine liquor to cast up a me, letting her freeze in the ice..."


    Amidst the cold and intermittent singing voice, Luo Nan could feel a slight vibration just above his forehead. The tingling sensation started from the top and moved down, spreading outyer byyer from the top of his head to his shoulders and neck, chest and back, waist and abdominals, legs, and finally the soles of his feet.


    During this time, detailed feedback was transmitted through his brain, his spinal cord, his twelve cranial nerves, and even his thirty-one spinal nerves. This spurred his near a thousand bones and muscles, the hundreds of millions of capiries, and the tissues of his entire body to form an innumerable stream of information that was transmitted back to his brain.


    To differentiate these signals one after another and rify the meanings umted within them may not be possible for Luo Nan, even after his brain underwent a transformation into a superputer.


    But when these signals swarmed over, they circled around the external neuron, and the external neuron instantly differentiated them into a marvelous order.


    Some were stronger. Some were weaker. Some were more hurried. Some were more at ease. Each seemed to be in their respective and definite positions, arranged in order of density. It was like the different shades and shadows of lines when drawing. They instantly formed a profound structural whole that was directly observed.


    Next, Luo Nan¡¯s consciousness naturally sprouted, directly embedding itself into the central core of bnce in the dominant structure.


    Driven by a wonderful thought, Luo Nan sat back into the water and adopted the full lotus position, fixing his entire body to the riverbed. The two sides from the top of his head to his shoulders, elbows, and knees formed two perfectly straight diagonal lines that merged with the riverbed and formed a stable pyramid structure.


    The rapidly scouring flow of water instantly shed with his face. The external and powerful pressure was conducted into himyer byyer and was transformed into energy and information that conducted through the system of millions and millions of nerves, tissues, and capiries. They ultimately formed a weak yet perfect stimtion that was tossed into the central core where Luo Nan¡¯s consciousnessy... It was like a spark being tossed into a deep pool of kerosene.


    "Boom!"


    The mes danced and soared, seemingly engulfing everything.


    Of course, this wasn¡¯t a real fire. This could only be described as the pouring of his consciousness, an expansion of his perception. However, when Luo Nan¡¯s consciousness shifted away from his feelings and returned to a normal perception, there was clearly now a warming force within his lower belly. It radiated out all around.


    And at this time, the ¡®water level¡¯ of the U-shaped symbol on his retina rapidly plummeted. It kept falling until it reached the lower one-third mark. Only then did the downward trend barely stop, yet the symbol continued to shake endlessly.


    The trend did not look good but Luo Nan was able to feel the matching real sensations and acuities synchronized within his body.

 Chapter 93: Archetype Flame (2/2)

    Chapter 93: Archetype me (2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan opened his eyes but still maintained his sitting position. The pratingly cold river brought chunks of ice to endlessly batter against his chest. asionally, there seemed to be a shard that could prate the defenses of his tactical helmet and directly injure his face. The ice also seemed to be mocking him in low voices.


    "Ha, what¡¯s appeared within your body? What¡¯s dancing within?"


    What appeared was the Archetype Format. What danced was the Format of Fire.


    Luo Nan had expected this even before he had jumped off the high-back starship chair. He was eagerly awaiting these results.


    He absolutely would have refused this opportunity a week or two ago, perhaps due to feelings of pride. But through the Format ¡®My heart¡¯s a prison¡¯, through subduing the Human-Faced Arachnid, through establishing the Format Pyramid, through the out-of-body state, and through contemtion over reality and fantasy, he had experienced many different trains of thought. He was very different from before.


    Only when one nted their feet and stood firmly could they hold a calm and objective attitude when facing problems on the ne of reality.


    Luo Nan was already convinced that the Formatting Theory he had inherited really did have practical results and that it was not in the least bit inferior to the Archetype Format. In fact, it was even more amazing on the mental ne.


    However, he conceded that the Archetype Format¡¯s development and application in the field of the human body¡¯s potential had been conducted to an extremely deep level. They had already established a rtivelyplete systematic standard that was able to sessfully appear in a virtual reality system. This was extremely extraordinary.


    What he wanted to do now was to dig deeper into the mysteries within, from the Archetype Format itself to the source and technology of the simted copy. He would not let a single hair escape his grasp.


    The water level of the U-shaped symbol continued to shake and drop, showing Luo Nan that his internal energy reserves were still being used up. However, this sort of consumption had already disyed its value.


    Right now in Luo Nan¡¯s lower abdominals was a real sensation of heat manifested from his internal energy. It forced down the chill and continued to circle around his lower abdominals, making his inner organs slightly warm.


    Luo Nan stood up and moved his limbs a bit. The effects of the internal energy grew clearer under this movement. There was now an axis for the energy of his entire body. Although the heat was constantly being worn away, a portion of it operated and flowed via the axis¡¯ control. It flowed from his upper limbs to his lower limbs, from areas of high heat to areas of low heat. Even though the efficiency was all over the ce, Luo Nan was still able to maintain the normal functions of his body.


    Luo Nan could feel something like an armor formed from the support of the heat upon the outeryer of his skin. What used to be a bone-chilling cold became somewhat bearable.


    "Yes. This is it."


    This was none other than the results of being able to control his nervous system. He had been looking for this during his repeated attempts in Frost River Room No. 3. Previously, he was unable to grasp it when faced with theplex structure of the hypothmus and had given up.


    But now, through his internal energy, through the Archetype Format, everything was aplished naturally and easily. If Luo Nan were to look at it from an observer¡¯s point of view, he would be able to sense the stimted area of the two front and back sides of the hypothmus and the thermoreceptors that covered his entire body. Through a high-degree of conformity, they coordinately stimted every location: top and bottom, inside and out. All of his body was used to transport this heat all around, forming a fine Heat Network that covered his entire body.


    The involving neurons, blood vessels, muscle fibers, and even fine and hidden conductive paths were controlled in a fashion that was a thousand times moreplicated than Luo Nan expected. No, ten thousand?


    However, this control method was not mentally taxing at all. He just spurred his thoughts and issued a not-so-clear instruction. The Archetype Format that was powered by his internal energy reserves hadpleted everything for him.


    Luo Nan began to walk forward withrge strides. The heat armor disyed its effects very prominently. Even though the water level of the waterway was gradually rising and the contact of the icy water with his body grew greater and greater, the response of his body actually grew quicker. He could effortlessly avoid therge chunks of ice floe that was rushing down the watery rapids. He could also sense the unsteady undercurrent below and was able to control his body in time and maintain his bnce.


    Soon, he had walked over two, three hundred meters; a distance that far exceeded his previous record.


    "It really is important to have good ¡¯software¡¯..." thought Luo Nan with sudden emotion.


    Because of the existence of the Archetype Format, he did not need to manipte hisplicated nervous system directly. Instead, through his internal energy, he achieved a method of maniption that even an idiot could do. He could focus more of his energy towards responding to external stimuli.


    Luo Nan¡¯s Self-Format was like this as well. Did he know how to control the Human-Faced Arachnid? Did he know how to increase his number of believers?


    He totally did not know!


    Even if he possessed ten times the strength he had now, he would still need to personally experience all of the details. He would need to dig from the application all the way down to the baseyer in order to put every link in ce. It was practically impossible.


    But once he had the Format Pyramid of ¡®My heart¡¯s a prison¡¯, everything became easy. All he had to do was tap into the potential of the Format Pyramid, then supply it with the necessary energy. The high-level applications would then became sessful.


    The current situation was very interesting.


    Most of Luo Nan¡¯s Self-Format targeted the soul and the mental ne. The effects towards his fleshly body werecking.


    The Archetype Format mobilized the potential of the human body to a veryrge degree, fully achieving control and application towards every part of the human body. However, Luo Nan could see that its results were mediocre in the mental realm from his various experiences thus far.


    What was the factor that led to the two theories, which could be said to have stemmed from the same source, to have such a big difference between them appear? Thinking a step further, if he could merge the two together, could he be able to create something that could affect both the mental and the material ne? A highly effective Formatting Software?


    Luo Nan was unable to find an answer in this short amount of time but he recognized one point very clearly. Right now, just touching the software of the Archetype Format was his only version of experience. He hadn¡¯t really formed the Archetype Format.


    The cause was very simple... Right now, there was a difference in the stimtion of the Archetype Format towards the body. It did not matter whether it was the operation of his brain and spinal cord or the arrangement of his forty-three cranial and spinal nerves. There existed a discrepancy. Perhaps this discrepancy was big, perhaps it was small. It was between them all and the Format of Luo Nan himself.


    Though the two design philosophies were identical, the details werepletely different; they were two different works. They could bepared but they could not be confused to be the same.


    What he could currently perceive was just stimuli conferred to him through the VR system. For example, the ice flow of water that endlessly battered against him was just some data model being cast onto his body.


    Its results were real, real enough to touch upon a part of his energy, transform it into internal energy reserves, and ignite the Format of Fire. However, it still fundamentally did not exist.


    Luo Nan was not dejected though. The Archetype Format, an alteration of the body that touched upon the deepest levels of the body¡¯s mechanisms, was not something that could be casually obtained. Just being able to experience it once had already far exceeded his expectations.


    Most of Luo Nan¡¯s attention was cast upon his body. The external world grew fuzzier under his perception but there was an understanding and that understanding was the depth of the waters. Right now, the icy waters were already past his chest and then his neck. It seemed impossible to carry on walking normally. Luckily, Luo Nan knew how to swim a little and started to half walk and half float.


    But since the waters were like this, he lost his sense of time and distance.


    Right now, had he reached the five hundred meter mark yet?


    Right when he sought to find the system confirmation, the space beneath Luo Nan¡¯s feet became nothingness. His toes could no longer reach the bottom and from here henceforth, the depths of the water exceeded his height.


    This was nothing but the problem was that the thick rock strata was already within reach. If he were to continue on, it would not be long before the flow of the water wouldpletely submerge this endless cavern, leaving not even a sliver of space behind.


    Had he reached the second stage?


    A rumble sounded right when Luo Nan was pondering over how to ovee this juncture. The rocky wall behind him copsed and another stream of water came gushing out. The two streams collided against each other, forming a whirlpool with a bizarrelyrge force. He was drawn into the whirlpool instantly and was fiercely flung and smashed onto the un-level rocky wall. It smashed him silly on the spot and his tactical helmet became damaged. A cold stream of water came gushing inside and the so-called Heat Network, his so-called armor, was of no use. His consciousness faded and the world instantly spun all around.

 Chapter 94: A Bad Mind (1/2)

    Chapter 094: A Bad Mind (1/2)


    Trantor: Sarah


    "Failed again... However, it is obvious that the difficulty increased. Oh right, this is designed especially for Burners."


    Luo Nan exited the Frost River Waterway, not attempting to try it consecutively again. He simply sat on the high-back starship chair and closed his eyes, feeling the difort after the stimtion signals left his body.


    Although there was no more pressure from the rushing cold water, his body still felt like it was a few dozen kilograms heavier. There were coordination problems in various parts of his body; he felt like an old machine that hadn¡¯t been oiled, he was a bit stiff between the joints.


    He also felt muscle pain and cramping from the tearing of some of his muscle fibers. This was all caused by the discrepancy after the separation from the ¡®Archetype Format¡¯ model. The pain that he was experiencing at present was proof that the standards of his body were far from passing.


    Luo Nan started moving his fingers after a minute and regained control of his body which had suddenly felt foreign. At this moment, an analysis hologram had risen up in front of his high-back chair, which continuously reyed the sess and failing factors of his previous waterway adventure.


    Luo Nan watched the evaluation out of habit; however, the evaluation was severely harsh and unlike anything he had seen before. "As a Burner, low-level mistakes that were hard to believe urred with the basic Archetype Format; the distribution of internal energy were that of a beginner and the coordination ability between the body and internal energy were close to zero. It is rmended you immediately test the faults in the format as well as undergo strict basic training and go back to school for reconstruction..."


    "I was this bad?¡±


    Luo Nan touched his head and could not help butugh despite himself. Perhaps it was because the system went ording to the standard of Burners and the requirements went up by a lot...


    After that, a 3D full-body image appeared on the screen. On the image, red and green lights, as well as blue and white lines, formed some close-knit nodes and outlines. The ¡®red lights¡¯ which represented mistakes were shockingly eye catching.


    Luo Nan found this to be a bit surprising. "Even if this was a temte selected by the Dynamo Core, why are there so many mistakes?"


    He randomly selected a ¡®red light¡¯ that was located on the chest. This caused quite a few lights that were close to the area to light up as well. Even a group of nodes that were located far away on the leg were affected. It evidently showed a very systematic connection between the two areas.


    The hologram beside it showed a close-up of the corresponding part and used a clear icon to portray the internal energy as the ¡®axis¡¯. It also showed the flow, confluence, manifestation and mutual interference of the relevant energy and information in the special structure of the corresponding body part. Even the direct and indirect effects to nerves, blood vessels, muscle fibers, bones and internal organs in the material ne were shown.


    Even though Luo Nan did not understand half of the many models and forms but with the basic concept of how energy and information operated, he could make out most of the rest. He looked on in both interest and agony.


    He had found the source of the problem very quickly: No wonder there were so many mistakes. A lot of the nodes in the ¡®Archetype Format¡¯ model were affected by the interference of the ¡®Self-Format¡¯. It was all jumbled up.


    Even if Luo Nan deliberately distinguished between virtual and reality; the innate ability that he had continued to rectify for the past five years included a sharp increase in his soul strength and continued to deepen this impression. It was something that could not be easily removed.


    From the yback system, it could be seen that the ¡®Archetype Format¡¯ model had already undergone a transformation within half a minute of covering Luo Nan¡¯s body. Many key nodes were disced and by this time, even the virtual ¡®Format of Fire¡¯ had yet to be ignited.


    The strange thing was that at the end, when many nerve wirings were disturbed and distorted, he had actually seeded in an ¡®ignition¡¯. What was the reasoning behind this?


    Luo Nan subconsciously pressed his hand against his lower abdomen. He did not know whether it was due to the heat conduction from his palm, but he could vaguely feel a hint of warmth emitting from this area that would not go away.


    Well...Scary!


    Luo Nan could not think of an exnation and could only continue to consult the system analysis yback to find the reason. As he watched, he came across aprehensive, all-around analysis which left him slightly startled.


    Let alone anything else, just this error correction system was absolutely unattainable for his ¡®family workshop¡¯ style Format research.


    With time, it would be very difficult for one not to seed if one had such a system. This system had its timely and urate simtion, yback and error correction methods all one needed on top of that was a little knowledge, talent, and hard work.


    It was no wonder that within the short span of five to six years, the number of Deep Blue Walkers were already enough to fill four to five divisions while it continuously expanded.


    The Archetype Formatting Theory had indeed sky-rocketed after receiving support from capital and political power. It would be next to impossible to counterattack against it in the current social context.


    "As expected, I can only expand my influence in the ability user society...Currently, I have made some progress as a psychic, or perhaps as my identity as Scout. However, it¡¯s still not enough, far from enough!"


    Luo Nan was a bit distracted and right at this moment, his wristband vibrated. A call came through; it was Mo Qiu.


    "Third Brother?¡±


    "Nanster, where are you?" Mo Qiu asked straightforwardly.


    Luo Nan was slightly startled. "I¡¯m upstairs...¡±


    "Upstairs where? Forget it, Come down now." Actually, Mo Qiu didn¡¯t care where Luo Nan was. Having been able to contact him, he let out a long sigh. "Come to the guide tform in the waiting lounge. I¡¯ll wait for you here."


    "Third Brother, what¡¯s the matter..."


    "Nothing much, Peng Seventeen just went overboard and had a bit of an extreme reaction. I think it¡¯s best to go home early and rest,e down quickly."


    "Oh, ok."


    Luo Nan furrowed his brows after the call ended. Third Brother Qiu was obviously lying; there was a sense of forced calmness in his voice, he probably didn¡¯t want to let a ¡®kid¡¯ like him worry. However, the nervous tension both within and outside his words had totally betrayed him.


    What happened?


    His brain went into overdrive and Luo Nan took off his peripheral equipment and exited the VIP room without dy. As the door closed, he remembered that he was invited by Hu Huaying and should let him know that he was leaving, just to be polite. However, he did not get his contact details at the time...


    Luo Nan shook his head and power-walked towards the elevators. After a short while, he met the two beautiful guides again. Both the long-haired and short-haired guides broke out in a sweet smile at the same time and yfully lifted their hats to him in greeting from a distance:


    ¡±Hi, Chief!"


    Luo Nan responded with a nod and told the two as he got closer. "Later, when Senior Hues back, please tell him that something came up and I need to leave first..."


    The short-haired guide widened her eyes. "You¡¯re not going to y for a while longer, Chief Luo? It¡¯s not even been an hour."


    "No, something came up." Luo Nan nodded to the two and walked towards the elevator.


    Seeing that Luo Nan was in a rush, the two guides exchanged nces then bowed together. "We¡¯ll be sure to pass on your message."


    The elevator rang and the door opened to the side. As Luo Nan was about to enter, he saw a group of four or five peopleughing as they exited. They were all drunk and one of them was Hu Huaying.

 Chapter 94: A Bad Mind (2/2)

    Chapter 94: A Bad Mind (2/2)


    Trantor: Sarah


    Luo Nan saw Hu Huaying and Hu Huaying also saw Luo Nan. His enthusiasm still had not subsided. He immediately staggered forward and clung to Luo Nan. "Junior Nan, what¡¯s wrong? Is it not fun ying by yourself? Good thing I brought a group of brothers over. We can all y a match together. Want to y Ten Days in the Wilderness? Or do you want something even more stimting?¡±


    "No, Senior Hu. Something happened with my friend and he asked me to go down. I¡¯ll be leaving first." Luo Nan excused himself politely, not wanting to be involved with the group of drunkards.


    Hu Huaying blinked, he was still not thinking clearly. "Tell your friend toe here. Everyone¡¯s close to one another, normally we¡¯d y together with Junping!¡±


    He lifted his hand and was about to introduce each one of his friends. However, Luo Nan grabbed onto his arm, made eye contact and said softly, "No need, Senior, maybe next time.¡±


    "Uh..." Hu Huaying was suddenly lost for words. He said "uh" quite a few times before responding. "Ok then, alright."


    By this time, the rest of the drunkards in the entrance of the elevator had already sized up Luo Nan. The majority of them were not interested in him and were more interested in the two pretty guides instead.


    Luo Nan nodded in greeting to Hu Huaying again and tilted his body to squeeze past the group. There was a person who stood sluggishly in the middle, most likely stoned from drinking too much. This person staggered after colliding with Luo Nan¡¯s shoulder. He widened his eyes and was about tosh out but was dragged to the side, clearing the path.


    The person who dragged him was not Hu Huaying but another acquaintance.


    Luo Nan¡¯s gaze scanned the area and saw the bespectacled Liu Tao, who looked gentle and quiet. Luo Nan could tell that he was the soberest out of the group.


    After he saw Luo Nan look over him, Liu Tao gently readjusted his sses and tilted the corner of his lips in greeting. His expressions were a bit stiff; it seemed as if he had not decided whether to acknowledge him or pretend that they did not know each other.


    Maybe it was because Liu Tao was not sure whether Luo Nan had recognized him.


    On the warship that day, his introduction of concepts such as Darksider life forms and Shadow Fog, as well as the less than pleasant encounter at the restaurant two dayster, had unknowingly left a deep impression on Luo Nan. Luo Nan¡¯s impression of him had already surpassed the conflict with Lian Yu and Li Xuecheng.


    But since he was so torn, Luo Nan decided to just pretend that he did not recognize him.


    One of Luo Nan¡¯s questions had been solved after seeing Liu Tao here. No wonder he was bumping into so many drunkards tonight. As expected of a group of affluent second generations, there were not many people in Xia City who could treat the Frost River Reality as a drinking establishment instead of a gaming center.


    Hm, however, Huang Bingzhen was nowhere to be seen...


    Luo Nan entered the elevator and greeted Hu Huaying with a nod once again. The elevator closed slowly along with the farewells of the beautiful guides.


    After Liu Tao saw the metal doors of the elevator close and confirmed that Luo Nan could no longer see him, he finally let out a sigh of relief. He had not even been that drunk but any drunkenness he had escaped along with his breath.


    He turned his head to ask Hu Huaying ¡®what that guy was doing here¡¯, but found thetter still waving his hand stupidly at the elevator doors. He cursed inwardly and pondered for a bit. Then he raised his wrist, preparing to contact someone.


    However, at this moment a sound rang out and the elevator doors that had just closed suddenly opened again. Luo Nan was by himself in the carriage that should have gone down. His gaze swept across the faces of the drunkards outside the elevator.


    Liu Tao¡¯s heart started to beat rapidly and his raised wrist froze in ce.


    Luo Nan¡¯s gaze eventuallynded on Hu Huaying as he broke into a shallow smile. He raised his wrist, stepping forward. "Senior Hu, give me your contact details. ¡±


    Hu Huaying was baffled and pped his own head after hearing Luo Nan¡¯s words. "Ah, my brain. Come,e,e. Add me as a friend. In school, you should contact me often about anything in the future!" ¡±


    The two touched wrists and added each other as friends on their wristbands. Hu Huaying had graciously epted Luo Nan¡¯s intentions and patted him on the shoulder quite a few times.


    Luo Nan smiled in eptance and idly withdrew from him. His gaze swept across the group once again and ineffablynded on Liu Tao¡¯s face.


    At this moment, Liu Tao looked straight into Luo Nan¡¯s eyes.


    As his gaze met the unclear irises, Liu Tao¡¯s heart seemed to have stopped abruptly. He clearly knew that his reaction was too obvious and wanted to show a more natural pose. However, how could one control the instinctive responses of the body?


    Liu Tao did not know what his expression looked like; he could only see that Luo Nan¡¯s gaze was locked onto his face. The smile that was sent to Hu Huaying was still in ce; however, he felt that something was not right.


    Luo Nan¡¯s looked down after approximately half a second.


    It was as if Luo Nan¡¯s eyes carried a maic force as Liu Tao also looked down, only to see his raised arm. He instantly retracted said arm as if he had touched burning red metal, letting it hit his own chest.


    This downright horrible reaction was met with Luo Nan¡¯s unwavering voice. "Senior Liu, could you add me as well?"


    "Huh? Ah! Oh, okay..."


    Liu Tao did not even know what he said and watched as Luo Nan moved his arm forward. He also rigidly moved his shoulder forward like a marite.


    A gentle vibration indicated that the two had sessfully added each other. On the other side, Hu Huaying snapped out of his daze and mumbled, "You guys know each other?"


    Having heard this question, Liu Tao froze on the spot as if he had been struck by lightning.


    However, Luo Nan acted as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened and backed into the elevator. He simply responded, "I met him a few timesst week... See you seniors.¡±


    The elevator doors closed again and the numbers indicated that the carriage had gone down.


    At this moment, the three others that Luo Nan had ignored started to snap out of their daze; they were both baffled and annoyed. Someone even said, "This guy¡¯s quite arrogant, huh. Who does he think he is? ¡±


    Liu Tao did not listen to Hu Huaying¡¯s response to his friend as he was caught in a trance. He lifted his wrist and Luo Nan¡¯s name was still disyed on the contacts interface. Scrolling back a bit, there was the person he was trying to contact just now.


    At this very moment, the extremely light wristband seemed to be crushing his wrist.


    "No, no, no. Honestly that guy is nothing special..." In order to get rid of thisughable pressure, Liu Tao thought back with all his might to the restaurantst week. Thinking of how embarrassed Luo Nan looked after being casually roasted by Yan Yongbo.


    However, all the images eventually returned to the otherworldly cold colours deep within Luo Nan¡¯s slightly motley eyes. He felt as if he was suffocating.


    Liu Tao could not help but hit his head hard. "Crap, what¡¯s wrong with my brain? You think you¡¯re so smart, huh!¡±


    "Taoster? What are you doing?" Hu Huaying looked baffled. "I didn¡¯t know that you knew Luo Nan, did you guys also meet through brother Ping?"


    Liu Tao opened his mouth but did not know how to respond.


    After that, he raised his wrist again and the contacts on the screen scrolled up and down along with his eye movements, flipping between two names.


    While he meandered about, one of the names suddenly erged; as if filling up his entire eye socket.


    Huang Bingzhen.


    The call connected. The idiot with half a brain scattered and the other half full of hallucinogens slurred, "Taoster,e quickly. Come everyone, I¡¯ll let you all experience what supernatural power is!"

 Chapter 95: A Small Exchange (1/2)

    Chapter 95: A Small Exchange (1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    As Luo Nan walked out of the elevator, he raised his arm to look at his wristband. The friend he had just added did not respond yet, but this was very normal. He was not counting on this little bit of a psychological hint to force the rather scheming Liu Tao intoplete submission.


    The human body¡¯s various neurons and neurotransmitters were encoded and encrypted by carriers of the material ne. In the case of Jack, it was absolutely impossible for a nce of eye contact to see through all of his thoughts and even all influences on emotions. Besides, Luo Nan did not even have his most capable Wraith Sign by his side.


    However, it was not very difficult to see through a target¡¯s approximate emotional trend. Especially when the target harbored quite a malicious intent.


    Luo Nan had not paid particr attention to Liu Tao at the beginning. He could only me Liu Tao¡¯s ownck of confidence for the series of actions that gave off a transparently awkward vibe. Most particrly was when the elevator door closed the first time, Liu Tao appeared to have had a load off his mind... He certainly would not know that Luo Nan did not need to use his eyes to observe him at all.


    What followed just required a simple bit of logic.


    Luo Nan thought back to the moments after the conflict with Huang Bingzhen. Liu Tao had perfectly avoided being seen, then he showed himself to Huang Bingzhen afterwards. Most likely, Liu Tao had discovered Luo Nan and had hidden to the side to spy on them. Whether it was to help Huang Bingzhen vent some anger or for some other objective, Liu Tao had undoubtedly acted with ill intent.


    So logically and naturally, Luo Nan gave Liu Tao a bit of a psychological hint. Under the overwhelming dominance of the mental ne, the aftermath caused by this ¡®little bit¡¯ of a psychological hint would be determined by Liu Tao himself.


    Luo Nan went against the flow of people to enter the reception hall. He found Mo Qiu with great precision among the dazzling silhouettes of people and virtual figures.


    Just as he said, Mo Qiu was waiting in front of the guide stand of the reception hall. However, something was outside of Luo Nan¡¯s expectations, this ¡®third brother¡¯ was actually by himself. There was no one next to him. There was not even a trace of his target of the meetup, Tian Si.


    Luo Nan squeezed out from the crowd and spoke out in greeting, "Third Brother, where¡¯s Mo Peng and the others?"


    Mo Qiu did not answer directly and just adopted a calm expression. "Nanster, you¡¯re here. Let¡¯s keep on waiting. Mo Rui, Mo Han will be here in a bit..."


    This time, Luo Nan was not in the mood to go beating around the bush with him. He asked directly, "Did something happen with Mo Peng and the others? Did someone get offended and a fight happened?"


    As soon as these brief words were uttered, Luo Nan was able to see shock in Mo Qiu¡¯s expression. Luo Nan confirmed that he had hit the bull¡¯s eye.


    Mo Qiu first reaction was. "Mo Peng got in contact with you?"


    Luo Nan spread his hands. "I was just guessing!"


    Right now, Luo Nan¡¯s mature behavior made Mo Qiu more or less overlook Luo Nan¡¯s age. He also forgot to maintain the calm andforting demeanor of an elder brother he had constantly tried to portray and unconsciously sighed.


    Actually, Mo Qiu felt quite wronged; he really did not know too much about the situation. Mo Qiu and Tian Si were loitering around Area C and chatting when the situation urred. They were already a bit toote by the time news had gotten over.


    "It seemed like Mo Cheng¡¯s battle team was provoked when they were practicing their skills. The two sides faced off in virtual reality but things became serious. Both sides had people get kicked offline due to the excessive BMing. Otherwise, it would have turned into a real fist fight..."


    This was nothing really. Inpetitive games, BMing and challenging were part of the game. In circumstances of high immersion, when someone was unable to hold back their anger, virtual duels would be real PKs. This was a verymon urrence in amunity full of young and vigorous people.


    Generally speaking, arge amusement center like Frost River Reality would always have the appropriate control measures in order to prevent the situation from worsening.


    However, today was just a bad day. By the time Mo Qiu got wind of the news and made his way over, people who were not even part of the battle team and did not really do anything to instigate things, like Mo Tao, Mo Peng, and even Tian Qi were all drawn in. Things really did turn into a big brawl.


    The situation suddenly went out of control. The public order monitoring system captured the scene and automatically reported it to the police. This was now something that could not be suppressed by Frost River Reality no matter how much they wished to. The sentinel bots arrived at the scene and pointed their riot guns, knocking out the group of youngsters, putting them on the ground instantly. They were lifted into police cars in just a few minutes. These police cars were parked outside right now.


    Even the police were shocked. Did young people really make such a big scene..?


    Huang Bingzhen¡¯s face shed in Luo Nan¡¯s mind. Then came Liu Tao¡¯s face. He felt this was a case of leveraging power, an easy way to pluck oneself out from a situation. This seemed to be something that Liu Tao would do.


    Of course, this was only spection.


    Mo Qiu¡¯s train of thought ran a bit further. He noticed that the people who provoked them looked like thugs. He was afraid that a society gang had gotten involved. His first priority was to gather up a few of hispanions within the amusement center and ensure their safety.


    In any case. This night was bound to be quite a terrible night.


    At this time, Mo Rui, Mo Han, and Chen Xiaolin came over in a haste. The three of them had been ying the game, The Uncanny Valley, and were not part of the majority of the group. They were able to avoid the conflict.


    On the other hand, Chen Xian, who was one to y with the boys, had participated in the brawl. Thus, she was also taken aboard a police car. Mo Qiu got quite the headache when he saw Chen Xiaoline closer; he did not know how to exin the situation to her andfort her.


    Things were bad either way. In the end, Mo Qiu was forced to exin the situation to the girls. But the reactions of these girls more or less exceeded his expectations.


    Mo Rui was rtively quiet and that was okay, but Mo Han instantly jumped. "It has to be that Huang Bingzhen! That bastard is a good for nothing no matter how you look at him! He had people get revenge for him!"


    She had first thought of that trash in an instant. It seemed that Mo Han¡¯s mental scar of Huang Bingzhen¡¯s hug was veryrge.


    Chen Xiaolin¡¯s expression grew even calmer. She did not grow distressed when she heard that her sister had been detained and instead asked, "Have they determined which party is responsible?"


    "All they know is that the other guys started provoking them." Mo Qiu felt helpless when he spoke these words.


    "Which police department are they going to be taken to?"


    "This... I¡¯ll ask."


    Right now, Tian Si was looking over matters on the police side of things. After Mo Qiu called to get information, he discovered very awkwardly that his current way of handling things had been crushed by Chen Xiaolin who was only a sixteen, seventeen year old girl.


    Awkwardness was just awkwardness; it did not prevent Mo Qiu from obtaining the definite information. "It¡¯s the Fudong Department Branch. It¡¯s being handled nearby."


    Chen Xiaolin nodded and turned to face Luo Nan. "Leister¡¯s dad works for the city department. He¡¯s quite familiar with the people in charge."


    Oh right, Leister was making his way over here in a hurry.


    Luo Nan did not say a word. He just raised his hand towards Chen Xiaolin, indicating to her that too many people worrying about the same thing was bad. These sort of things should bemunicated to people who were more familiar with police matters.


    However, Luo Nan¡¯s was shaking his head in his mind as well when he saw Chen Xiaolin¡¯s calm expression when she mentioned Xue Lei. He did not believe that this exchange would be able to save any part of their rtionship.


    Chen Xiaolin did not refuse. She walked to the side to talk with Xue Lei.


    Luo Nan sighed again. Huang Bingzhen¡¯s face shed in his mind once again. Would that rude fellow really be satisfied with this superficial revenge?

 Chapter 95: A Small Exchange (2/2)

    Chapter 95: A Small Exchange (2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Liu Tao stood outside the door of a room in Area A that was second only to the VIP floor in luxury. He hesitated for a moment but in the end, he still pushed his way inside.


    The lighting in the room was dim. It seemed that not all of the lights were turned on; only one wallmp was on in the corner of the resting area. Two scantily d women were lying there in a daze. Flesh ovepped with flesh. They seemed to be sleeping but were not. Clearly, they had taken drugs.


    Liu Tao¡¯s brows furrowed deeply when he saw this scene. "You stupid idiot. You said you didn¡¯t want to mingle here any longer? Did you really believe that Yin Le¡¯s running a brothel?"


    He thought again from a different angle. Huang Bingzhen really did have a bit of intellect for not bringing these two girls to the VIP Area.


    Liu Tao tried to use this reasoning to convince himself but then he turned around. His eyes had already adapted to the dim lighting of the room, making the fuzzy human silhouette in the operating area distinguishable and clear. He was instantly struck stupid by the sight...


    He absolutely should not have counted on this moron!


    Huang Bingzhen was wearing a tactical helmet and waving his arms in the dim operating area. His body staggered and swayed as he went around in circles at the center. This son of a b*tch waspletely naked! Besides his helmet...


    "This guy¡¯s done for!"


    Liu Tao always felt that ying with women and finding fun all the time was to be expected for people like them, pampered rich kids born with a golden spoon. But there had to be a limit. This was already absurd and reckless beyond this. A fellow that constantly thought of greater thrills beyond his limits was bound to not live a long life.


    People like Huang Bingzhen were addicted to alcohol, taking drugs, and ying with women of all sorts. Additionally, these people always spend money on the newest andtest things. If leftpletely unchecked would mean tormenting oneself to death sooner orter... In fact, Huang Bingzhen was pretty much at this stage.


    Ever since this fellow joined some order within the Mystic Arts Research Society, he was able to find some sense of ¡®eternity¡¯ from his own absurdly degenerate lifestyle. He was fine most of the time but once his lips tasted alcohol and drugs, his brain reverts back to a realm ofplete inhumanity.


    If the Huang Family did not have such a high investment stake in the Mystic Arts Research Society, if this guy did not have an iron ballot to discuss business¡ªespecially in the crucial moment in the biddingpetition over Gear¡ªLiu Tao would not even be involved with this guy. It was very ball breaking for Liu Tao.


    Liu Tao was wondering whether or not to call out to this madman when Huang Bingzhen called out first with an "Ah". Huang Bingzhen kneeled entirely on the ground and kowtowed over and over. Then heughed oddly. The sound of hisughter squeezed out from his helmet. The stuffiness of the sound was quite agitating.


    "Pervert!"


    Liu Tao was quite startled by this shout, jumping a small step back. Because of this, Huang Bingzhen discovered him. This guy was kneeling on the ground as he turned to look at Liu Tao. The visor of the pitch ck helmet blocked his face. It was bothical and eerie.


    "Taoster, can you note up with such a clever n? These fellows are all being hauled away one by one!"


    "Huh?" Liu Tao had yet to process his words.


    At that moment, the operating area was illuminated by the rays of a projector, disying a few images. It was the situation inside an escorting police car. Within it, Liu Tao was able to see a few faint familiar faces of those who had the contention with Huang Bingzhen just a moment ago.


    These were all captured by the camera on the body of some thug, allowing Huang Bingzhen to follow the entire process of the conflict from beginning to end. This sort of method was learned from Li Xuecheng.


    However, from Huang Bingzhen¡¯s perspective, he had yet to reach Li Xuecheng¡¯s level of methods.


    Liu Tao thought of Luo Nan when he saw the situation, his mind getting tangled in a knot. He replied indifferently, "What you wanted was to have them separated. Right now, there are a few youngdies left behind, right? Whatever happens next is your business; it has nothing to do with me."


    Though he said these words, when he saw that Huang Bingzhen was not eager to make a move and do some nasty things, he let out a hidden breath of relief.


    "Bull crap, they¡¯re not alone. Their brother follows them around like a shepherd... Hey! What happened to the others?" Huang Bingzhen finally discovered that Liu Tao was by himself and was rather unhappy.


    Liu Tao rubbed his wristband unconsciously,ughing. "They all drank themselves silly, how could they possiblye over?"


    "Who says we¡¯re noting over?" The door behind Liu Tao was opened with great force. Hu Huaying and a few others came stumbling and bursting in. He blurted, "You two are so sneaky. What the heck are you up to?"


    "Crap...." Liu Tao felt sick all over. He had snuck his way over here, hiding it from Hu Huaying and the others. He did this for the sake of hiding the fact that Luo Nan was involved in these matters. He needed space to work and save the situation.


    But these drunkards came crashing over. It would be bad for Liu Tao to change his stance. How could he control the situation?


    Huang Bingzhen nced at Liu Tao¡¯s face with suspicion in his mind but soon became excited by the sudden increase in the number of people in the room. He did not look into Liu Tao too much,


    "It¡¯s all good now that y¡¯all are here, you sons of b*tches. You guys always say I research those weird and mystical things. Let me tell widen y¡¯all¡¯s knowledge right now, just who will be the true master in the future era! The bull crap you have now is nothing! They should have long been swept into the trash!"


    Hu Huaying, in his extreme excitement,pletely disregarded the boos from Hu Huaying and the others. He already started speaking nonsense as his arms and legs danced. "And over there, the two over there..."


    He was referring to the two drugged up girls. The problem was that they were really out of it. How could they respond?


    Huang Bingzhen cursed and ran over. He hooked his arms beneath them and forcefully hauled the two girls over under Liu Tao¡¯s and the other¡¯s incredulous gazes. He ced them on the two left and right sides of the operating area.


    "It can¡¯t be. He has this much strength from taking drugs?"


    Liu Tao was stupefied watching. The two girls had to weigh eighty to a hundred kilograms total. And they were half unconscious. They did not know how to coordinate. They could only act as dead weight. But this weakling Huang Bingzhen was actually able to carry one girl in each hand and forcefully haul them over. If he had this strength during the conflict with Luo Nan, the situation back then would not have been that bad right?


    Liu Tao also noted that Huang Bingzhen had ced the girls down with particr attention. Each one had their own coinciding corner; it was not a random cement.


    Huang Bingzhen¡¯s actions were very clear. Even though Hu Huaying was drunk, he was able to see it. Someoneughed. "Oh hey! What are you up to? Gonna y some ritual? I¡¯ve heard that there¡¯s a certain someone who still can¡¯t draw aplete magical spell even though it has been many years since he entered the society."


    "All you amateurs shut up! In this era, how stupid is it to y around with drawing and strokes? Having this is enough for me!"


    Huang Bingzhen waved his hand and the video of the police car was cleared away. Then he snapped his fingers and arge projection instantly covered the center of the operating area. Triangles, pentagrams, hexagrams, circles, and various mystical and enigmatic symbols were joined together to form a three-dimensional figure. It was like an enormous cake that was made from severalyers that instantly enveloped everyone within. Snow white, hidden indigo, dark green, dark gold, and various colors were projected blurred in front of everyone¡¯s eyes.


    Liu Tao was able to see what seemed to be the figure of gears in front of him. They were joined together and turning. The feeling they engendered was indescribable.


    "What are you ying at?" Such an intense light had lit up the dim room, making Hu Huaying feel dazzled by the sight. He adjusted his drunkard eyes by squinting and was a bit confused.


    "ying? Fine, I guess I am ying. Let¡¯s y with a small exchange experiment. For preparations of the holy exchange in the future!"


    Huang Bingzhen took off his helmet, exposing a face that waspletely flushed red. This color even permeated his pupils. Mixed with the blurred colorful glow of the surroundings, those eyes appeared mottled and devilish.


    Meeting Huan Bingzhen¡¯s eyes made Liu Tao shudder.


    This kind of mottling was the same kind as Luo Nan.

 Chapter 96: Summoning a Holy Object (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 96: Summoning a Holy Object (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    The stifling feeling shed, which made Liu Tao¡¯s brain vacant for some time. The fingers on his wristband instinctively moved and worked. His wristband silently vibrated and started its video recording function.


    Liu Tao eventually came to. By this time, he did not have any thoughts of changing things. He saw the magical spell projected around Huang Bingzhen tremble and rotate. Huang Bingzhen even reached out his hand to touch the virtual, fake lines of the structure as if caressing the tender skin of a beautiful woman. His face waspletely intoxicated.


    "Just look! This is the holy space!"


    Everyone else in the room was dumbfounded. They werepletely unable to follow this lunatic¡¯s thought process.


    Huang Bingzhen found great pride in seeing everyone¡¯s expressions, yet he was also a bit frustrated at theirck of appreciation. As such, he was happy to spend some words to give all these ignorant fools an exnation. "Do you know what I¡¯ve built? Do you know what it¡¯s used for?"


    Huang Bingzhen continued to gesticte about, regardless of whether they wanted to listen. "The holy space is a mystical domain to realize the ¡¯exchange¡¯. In here, you can relinquish something and use it to exchange for something else of equal value. Through this mutual exchange, the most perfect, most exquisite bnce in the universe can be obtained... Such a marvelous domain, supported by modern technology, just needs one thing in order to be established. What is that thing? What is it?"


    Huang Bingzhen pointed his finger at Hu Huaying, at Liu Tao, and the others one after another. None of them were neglected but no one interacted with him. Everyone was still in a state of stupefaction.


    "You morons are beyond redemption! You¡¯re supposed to say ¡¯magic spells!¡¯ Aha! well that¡¯s wrong! It¡¯s a seed! a seed!"


    Huang Bingzhen was able to have a great time fooling around by himself but Hu Huaying and the others felt like that they had been suddenly pulled on stage while watching a preposterous y. They were now awkward participants.


    Huang Bingzhen did not have any self-awareness in regards to this. "We just need to obtain a ¡¯seed¡¯ to build a foundation upon. We sprout the seed utilizing the fixed system mold and the holy space is built. The holy object can be sustained within."


    "Now where do we get the seed? Taoster, you must know the answer!"


    He was actually called upon...


    Liu Tao really wanted to p Huang Bingzhen¡¯s face to see if he¡¯ll wake up from the blow but when faced with those eyes, Liu Tao felt a bit of terror. He could onlyugh awkwardly.


    "My mind is a nk at the moment."


    "Stuuuupid. You¡¯ve plucked these seeds before."


    Huang Bingzhen was just like a musical conductor radiating with passion. With a wave of his arm, a video appeared clearly in front. It showed the thugs deliberately provoking and starting the brawl. He swept his hand across the projection and grasped, seemingly seizing something out from the void. He waved his fist in indication towards Liu Tao.


    Liu Tao was able to approximately guess what Huang Bingzhen was saying. The so-called ¡®seed¡¯ was obtained from the brawl just now... What the heck was this thing!?


    Liu Tao admitted that he really could not follow what Huang Bingzhen was thinking.


    "His brain is messed up on drugs! What the heck are you guys up to!?"


    Even Hu Huaying, who was in a state of stupor, felt that something was off at this moment. His gaze swept towards Liu Tao. From his perspective, Liu Tao hade here before him. It was easier to talk with Liu Tao and Liu Tao ought to know more about the situation.


    Liu Tao hesitated for a moment. It was very clear that he did not want to talk. He just spoke vaguely, "A group of people made him suffer previously. He¡¯s not mentally well. I don¡¯t know what kind of wild thoughts he¡¯s having!"


    "Him, suffering? He¡¯ll make his way back. What¡¯s he being tormented over? Who did who offend?"


    "That person isn¡¯t sufficient to make things this bad."


    At least in Huang Bingzhen¡¯s mind, there was no concept of Luo Nan as a ticking time bomb. Only God would know why Huang Bingzhen chose to do things in this manner than to use simpler and more direct methods.


    Come to think of it, if he was actually able to understand Huang Bingzhen¡¯s thought process, wouldn¡¯t that make him crazy as well?


    Liu Tao shrugged with a look of frustration.


    Hu Huaying saw that he would not be able to get an answer from Liu Tao, so he stumbled forward to pull Huang Bingzhen by the shoulder. "Junior Huang, don¡¯t make things so abstract. If you have something to say, speak it inly. If there are things to be handled... Frick!"


    Hu Huaying hade up to Huang Bingzhen with good intentions, yet Huang Bingzhen pushed him away. It was impossible for Hu Huaying to maintain his bnce in his state. He immediately fell to the ground on his butt and was stunned on the spot.


    "Hey Huang Bingzhen, there¡¯s no point in you acting like this!"


    Another drunkard wanted to do something for Hu Huaying; they had a good rtionship. However, Huang Bingzhen¡¯s mottled and devilish pupils swept over and stared dead straight at his face in the next moment.


    "Silence! Though the experiment is small, it is still holy!"


    ...you were the noisiest one out of all of us just now.


    Hu Huaying struggled to get up from the ground. He shouted, "This fellow has overdosed on drugs! Grab him! Wake him up!"


    Everyone had simr family backgrounds but Frost River Reality could be barely considered Hu Huaying¡¯s domain. He was the owner, so it was best to listen to him.


    Several drunks began rolling up their sleeves, eager to take action. They took the chance to howl as they charged up. Liu Tao hesitated for a moment before following behind them,


    Though Huang Bingzhen¡¯s strength right now was unusually great, there was a limit. It was impossible for him to withstand several people working together. Arms iled in the air. Legs sprawled out in a mess. There wasn¡¯t a ce to get good footing. Eyes seemed to drip with blood.


    In the end, he had no choice. He could only yell hoarsely, "Please Holy Object! Please Holy Object!"


    Nobody cared for the so-called holy object. The correct course of action was to wake this kid up. Hu Huaying turned his head looking all around. "Do we have any suppressants? This kid doesn¡¯t care about his life at all... Huh?"


    Hu Huaying¡¯s voice suddenly cut off. Liu Tao, who was the most sensitive, quickly turned his head towards the sound.


    In the center of the magical spells, Liu Tao saw marvelous ck and white lines intertwine and weave. They assembled together into a construct. A structure gradually formed. It was simr to a ssical hanging bnce scale and was half of a person¡¯s height.


    The scale contained a ck pan and a white pan, each settling to its respective side. A smooth arc appeared in the middle of the support frame, bncing the pans together. Right in the center was what appeared to be a carving of a western crown. It was unknown what flower it was based on but eight sharp engraved leaves spread open in a ring. Atop the center of the crown were six gems arranged into two rows, each gem was a different color with dark dues. The overall shape looked bizarre yet beautiful.


    At this time, the structure was divided into three sections. The center frame, the ck pan with its ck connective chain, and the white pan with its white connective chain. The pans were hoisted up, even subtly swaying in the process. It was as if the structure was real.


    "I think I¡¯ve heard of this before?" Hu Huaying scratched his head.


    "It¡¯s must be the Scales of Truth." Liu Tao knew a little bit about it. This so-called ¡®Holy Object¡¯ was not only quite influential in the Mystic Arts Research Society, it was also quite famous in the wealthy circles of Xia City.


    However, Liu Tao was just not interested in these mystical and mysterious things; he never truly tried understanding them before. Looking at things now, it seemed like he really did look down on the Scales of Truth... In any case, this object had at least some ability to make an ordinary person retarded.


    Huang Bingzhen grew even more crazed when he saw the Scales of Truth appear. He shouted as he struggled. "The fairness of the world!The truth of fairness! The requirements for the daily exchange of goods has been satisfied as defined by the holymand! Perform the exchange! Perform the exchange!"


    "Can you calm down!?... Oh frick!"


    One of the drunkards had pped Huang Bingzhen on the cheek quite heavily but Huang Bingzhen bit him with a growl. The drunkard shrieked and blood was spilled. He started to curse very angrily when a sudden jolt went through his body. He lowered his head and was met with the sight of sharp arthropod limb piercing out through his chest. It was unknown whether this sight was virtual or real.

 Chapter 96: Summoning a Holy Object (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 96: Summoning a Holy Object (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    The social order grew more and more chaotic in the reception hall of Frost River Reality. Many people were drawn to the scene by the police¡¯s arrival. The effects of the brawl were brewing.


    Frost River Reality¡¯s personnel had quite the headache over this matter. The people in charge were constantly negotiating with the police, wishing for the police to quickly take away everyone who was part of the brawl and end the incident. However, the police still needed to conduct some scene investigation work. Tian Si was also one of the parties. This petite school girl was constantly trying tomunicate with the police. The three parties¡ªFrost River Reality, the police, and Tian Si¡ªwere impeding each other. This deadlocksted for some time.


    When Luo Nan and the others went out, the scene that they saw was none other than this.


    Chen Xiaolin finished talking with Xue Lei and had arrived by Luo Nan¡¯s side. Her expression was actually a bit affectionate. "Leister called his dad. It seems like the old man¡¯s on duty tonight. He just received a dispatch toe right here."


    "This is too much of a coincidence." Luo Nan was astonished and baffled. "His father is a special police officer. He¡¯s also taking part in an issue of public order such as this?"


    "It seems that they¡¯ve been constantly on a state of alert ever since the explosion in the R&D District. All issues of public order in the city center have been escted in priority."


    Mo Qiu was feeling quite ambivalent at the side. It was great to be able to find a way to resolve the problem but the current situation ced him in an awkward predicament.


    He noticed that Chen Xiaolin, a mature young woman, had been discussing matters with Luo Nan ever since proposing the n to handle the situation. He was the oldest and most experienced of the bunch, yet he had be a side character.


    Was it because these two were very familiar with each other?


    It was not that Chen Xiaolin was ignoring Mo Qiu¡¯s minor sensitivities. Although her traumatizing encounter at Limestone Water Vige Pub left behind serious mental scars, it still made her understand that Luo Nan¡¯s identity was not as simple as an ordinary high school freshman.


    Luo Nan had looked upon that intense and terrifying scene as if it was somethingpletely natural. This situation was practically nothing inparison.


    She was naturally drawn to discussing matters with the one who was best able to maintain hisposure.


    Chen Xiaolin eyes shifted around as she spoke. Her vision sweeping over several tall and sturdy special police officers wearing exoskeleton armor. However, all the special police officers worepletely enclosed tactical helmets. There were not any clear markings on their armors either. She was unable to tell which one of these officers was Xue Lei¡¯s dad. Perhaps he was still at the Area A site...


    On the other hand, Luo Nan did not really try looking for Leister¡¯s dad. If his dad wanted to help, then he would contact them. If he did not want to help, finding him would be pointless. As such, Luo Nan headed towards the police cars after observing the situation; he wanted to see how Mo Peng and the others were doing.


    This brawl was a little weird no matter how one looked at it. Luo Nan wanted to get a step closer to understanding what had happened.


    He was seven or eight steps away from the police car containing the participants of the brawl when he was stopped by an ice cold metal arm. It was none other than a special police officer who was nearly two meters tall. This officer towered above him and emitted a not-so-benevolent aura from behind the pitch-ck armor.


    "Ahead of you is a restricted area. You can¡¯te any closer." The special police officer¡¯s deep voice came buzzing out from behind the helmet.


    Luo Nan did his best to put on a juvenile expression befitting his age. "Officer, my older brother¡¯s inside. I came with him here together..."


    "Is that so?" The special police officer blocking the way made a gesture to those behind him. Immediately arade came running over asking, "Captain?"


    Captain?


    The special police officer gave amand the instant Luo Nan was in his stupefaction. "Give the hospital a heads up to first get some urine samples from these people and then perform drug tests. Their behavior was extreme. It is uncertain if drugs are the cause."


    ...how on earth did he reach this kind of conclusion!? Luo Nan could onlyugh bitterly in great astonishment. Meanwhile, his mental senses cut through the visor with just a spurring of his mind. He was confirming something.


    And at nearly the same time, the special police officer blocking him opened up his helmet to reveal the angr face of a middle-aged man.


    "You¡¯re Luo Nan."


    "Officer Xue, uh, uncle?"


    Though the tone was rather different, the calmness and decisiveness within was exactly the same.


    Luo Nan felt that things were a bit awkward. This special police officer in front of him was none other than the Officer Xue who had personally arrested him due to the matter of Xie Junping¡¯s Phantom flying car carrying illegal drugs. That was the first time Luo Nan had ever been arrested. His impressions of the time ran quite deep. He even remembered this officer¡¯s name. His name was Xue Weilun.


    Thest name Xue was quite rare with only one family with the name of Xue in Xia City. When this fact wasbined with their current location and the post of this officer held, Luo Nan was certain that this burly police officer was absolutely Xue Lei¡¯s father. This officer was also the person who they were requesting help from.


    Xia City really was quite small!


    Luo Nan observed Officer Xue once more. Compared to his first impression of this officer, he was able to find more simrities Xue Lei had with his dad. It was a verification of sorts.


    However, it seemed that Officer Xue¡¯s first impression of Luo Nan did not have much of a positive effect.


    Xue Weilun¡¯s brows creased as his stared locked onto Luo Nan. It was as if he was gazing at an escaped criminal. On that day, Luo Nan had been umunicative after being detained. He had an obstinate appearance of being uncooperative. The impression Xue Weilun had of Luo Nan ran deep. Luo Nan looked to be a bit more open and carefree today. He was still reserved though.


    "Leister said that you¡¯re his good friend. How long have you two known each other?"


    "Sincest week..."


    Luo Nan felt that it was very likely that he would be interrogated by Officer Xue, to make sure that Xue Lei was not making friends with criminals. Luckily, his wristband vibrated during this moment of headache. He immediately whispered his apologies and went to check the message on his wristband. The situation was alleviated from its tenseness and awkwardness.


    The message actually came from Liu Tao. It was not an instant message, but rather an audio file.


    What the heck was that guy up to?


    Luo Nan subconsciously opened the audio file and immediately an extremely exaggerated voice came out. "The holy space is the mystical realm where the ¡¯Exchange¡¯ is realized..."


    What followed was the unending preaching of this voice. There was something about magical spells, seeds, holy objects, and simr jargon. They came rolling out one after another. Words exchanged between Hu Huaying and Liu Tao was even mixed within. From this, Luo Nan was able to extrapte that Huang Bingzhen was the source of these neurotic preachings.


    When Luo Nan had just figured this out, an upheaval urred within the recording. From within, the series of confusing words suddenly leaped a certain sensitive term.


    "The Scales of Truth?" Luo Nan was suddenly excited. Then he heard, "The fairness of the world. The truth of fairness," and so on. The answer was clear as day.


    The Order of Justice! This secret order has such a high profile. It certainly did not live up to the definition of ¡®secret order¡¯.


    At the same time, Luo Nan finally discovered that this recording had been ying for far too long. Xue Weilun was to the side, not really caring. On the contrary, he listened very seriously... and very openly.


    Luo Nan was a bit embarrassed. Xue Weilun was not an ability user. It was reasonable to say that Luo Nan should not have let him hear this information.


    The following few seconds all involved Huang Bingzhen¡¯s ¡®Exchange, Exchange¡¯ and simr crazed shoutsbined with sounds of a struggle. Luo Nan was just about to transfer yback over to his internal earbuds when...


    A sharp and terrifying tone came engulfing everything right at this moment.


    "Spider!"


    Spider? Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts wandered in that moment but he forcefully recollected himself.


    The recording stopped at this point.


    Luo Nan¡¯s expression turned extremely ugly. He immediately gave Liu Tao a call but no one answered him. He switched to calling Hu Huaying. The oue was the same.


    Luo Nan did not keep still while he was calling. He had turned around and started heading inside.


    Xue Weilun¡¯s expression had long since changed. Seeing that Luo Nan was heading inside, his original intent was to grab him. However, he hesitated when his arm reached out half way. He did not stop Luo Nan. Instead, he caught up to him withrge strides.

 Chapter 97: Arachnids Intermediary (1/2)

    Chapter 97: Arachnid¡¯s Intermediary (1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan quickly walked through the reception hall and headed towards the VIP elevator. On the way, he entered the Society¡¯s special channel regarding the Human-Faced Arachnid and reported that there was a situation.


    There had been many reports rted to the Human-Faced Arachnid in Xia Cityst week. However, Luo Nan was one of the only four psychics of Xia City. He possessed special privileges within the Society. As soon as he finished the report, He Yueyin already came to contact him.


    "Mr. Luo, I¡¯ve already dispatched personnel to the coordinates you¡¯ve shared. The closest personnel will be able to get there within five minutes. Please stay on standby until then and do your best to avoid frontal contact with the target. I will be there in around thirty minutes..."


    "I¡¯m verifying the status of the situation. Right now, I only have a conjecture, not a real confirmation." Luo Nan had learned some jargon and he spat them out one after another.


    "You¡¯re not suited to engage in relevant missions in your current physical condition. Therefore, please, your number one task should be to ensure your own safety."


    "I understand... I have a veteran special police officer by my side."


    During the conversation, Luo Nan had already entered the VIP elevator. This time, he did not have Bai Xinyan¡¯s temporary privileges but this was not a problem. It looked like Frost River Reality had promoted the level of his ount.


    It seemed that Hu Huaying¡¯s reputation was quite useful; he had been quiteprehensive in helping out.


    Luo Nan really did not want to see something bad happen to Hu Huaying.


    Xue Weilun silently followed him into the elevator. His identity as a police officer gave him privileges to move in and out of scenes of incidents.


    The two were locked together in the closed elevator. Both wanted to speak, yet the elevator stopped at the VIP floor before one of them could.


    The elevator door opened. The first thing that Luo Nan saw were the two guides, one with long hair and one with short hair. The two were quite astonished when they saw that Luo Nan hade back.


    "Mr. Luo? did you forget something..."


    The two guides soon saw the tall and bulky Officer Xue behind him. They immediately knew that something was off. They were speechless for some time.


    Luo Nan disregarded their thoughts and directly asked, "Is Senior Hu still in the same room?"


    The two guides looked at each other, hesitantly replying, "Mr. Hu and his friends have already gone downstairs."


    "Downstairs? I didn¡¯t see them." Luo Nan estimated that the situation he had heard through the recording happened at least ten minutes ago. At that time, he was still at the guide stand of therge hall. The stand and the VIP elevator were not that far apart. How could a group of drunks boisterouslye over without him noticing at all?


    "They took a different elevator directly to Area A."


    "Area A?" Luo Nan muttered to himself a bit and said, "Where¡¯s Huang Bingzhen¡¯s room? You two recognize this name right?"


    "Mr. Huang?" It looked like the guides recognized him from the situation, "Mr. Huang didn¡¯t go to the VIP area today..."


    "Area A then? Area A also has private rooms right? Can you help me look it up?"


    The two guides revealed pained expressions, especially when they saw the giant behind Luo Nan. The two talked amongst themselves for a moment before calling another contact. They asked Luo Nan to answer.


    "Hello, Mr. Luo. I am Yin Le."


    "Manager Yin?" Luo Nan never thought that the two guides would directly bring this character out. However, this was still within the realm of reason. He thought about Yin Le¡¯s other special identity and was forced to consider things carefully.


    Yin Le held a very calm attitude. "I am at Cloud City Water Vige right now. I don¡¯t understand the situation over there. Mr. Luo can you exin for a moment?"


    Luo Nan was stupefied for a moment. Was he just going to say, "Hey, so I discovered traces of a Human-Faced Arachnid and the Order of Justice in your territory. Can you folks from the Bloodme Order cooperate with us and help us find them?"


    Though matters of the Order of Justice had nothing to do with the Bloodme Order, Luo Nan knew that things weren¡¯t simple from his week¡¯s observation of the Bloodme Order through the Wraith Sign¡¯s perspective. He was getting a bit of a headache now.


    Yin Le still maintained her calmness even though Luo Nan did not respond to her immediately. She asked leisurely, "If Mr. Luo doesn¡¯t have any pressing matters, our business has a specialty team dedicated to handling troublesome matters. Mr. Luo can inform them of the situation. I believe that the situation can be properly settled..."


    Luo Nan knew that Yin Le was trying to pass him over. However, right as he was pondering about what to say, Officer Xue held down his arm and inserted himself into the call.


    "Hello, Manager Yin. I am Captain Xue Weilun of the special police group directly under the Police Department of Xia City. The police number and relevant evidence can be sent to you through the inte. Currently, I am at your site, where a vicious conflict incident has urred. I suspect that this matter has something to do with your customer, Huang. I hope that your side is able to cooperate with the police and release the relevant privileges to make it easy for the police to handle this emergency. Thank you for your cooperation."


    Xue Weilun was actually able to say such a long paragraph in a single breath and he said it with such toughness and determination. His words were distinct and recognizable.


    Yin Le clearly went quiet before responding. "We will fully support the work of the police."


    The call was then hung up.


    Luo Nan understood that this time he hadmitted a great offense, equivalent to death towards Yin Le. However, he very much approved of Xue Weilun¡¯s method of using decisive action in thisplex situation.


    The two people no longer tarried. They followed the directions of the two guides to go through another non-stop elevator and entered Area A, where Huang¡¯s room was located.


    In just a short minute, the police already took over Frost River Reality¡¯s monitoring system under Xue Weilun¡¯smand. They promptly locked onto the target.


    Luo Nan and Xue Weilun arrived at the luxurious room. There were already five or six special police officers in position. They separated all the gawking customers from the surroundings and were poised for action. They were ready to break in at any time.


    When seeing this scene, Luo Nan yelled "F**K" in his mind.


    These special police officers were a little bit stronger than ordinary people at best, wearing their exoskeleton armors. However, if there really was a Human-Faced Arachnid arachnid involved, these special police officers would bepletely useless.


    There was also Xue Weilun in particr. How could Luo Nan watch Xue Lei¡¯s father face danger right in front of his eyes?


    He unconsciously tried to squeeze his body through but he was stopped by Xue Weilun. Then a special police officer forcefully pushed him behind a restricted line.


    Luo Nan struggled for an instant and saw the special police officers in front of him face Xue Weilun and perform a few hand gestures that he was unable to read. Xue Weilun then gave the order to breakthrough. The door to the room was pushed open and several special police officers came pouring in.


    Luo Nan red at the special police officer behind him and struggled free when the officer was distracted. Luo Nan headed inside the room.


    Xue Weilun¡¯s brows furrowed when he saw Luo Nan charging inside. He did not say much about his actions; he just asked, "Take a look. Are all of them here?"


    Actually, Luo Nan did not need to look. He had long since used his mental senses to scan the situation of the room from the outside. He knew what was going on.


    Hu Huaying, Liu Tao, Huang Bingzhen, three other drunkards, and two girls he had never expected to be here.


    He nodded but he did not give a fixed answer. "Everyone I recognize is here."


    Luo Nan¡¯s mental senses were constantly searching while he was speaking. However, he was unable to tell anything else from this pitch-ck room.


    There was not a Human-Faced Arachnid, which was the most key. There also was not the so-called holy space and the Scales of Truth; they had disappeared altogether. There were only eight human bodies in deepas.

 Chapter 97: Arachnids Intermediary (2/2)

    Chapter 97: Arachnid¡¯s Intermediary (2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Xue Weilun gestured with his hand to turn on the lights. His brows furrowed a bit further when he heard how fast Luo Nan had responded. "You can see?"


    "..."


    Luo Nan only just realized that he was too used to using his mental irvoyance for convenience. His lips had been loose as well. He had actually answered Xue Weilun¡¯s question with all the lights off in the room¡¯s operating area.


    It should be known that these special police officers were all equipped with tactical helmets that had night vision capabilities. Luo Nan did not have any special equipment on him whatsoever.


    "I have good eyes... Cough cough!"


    Luo Nan face went a bit red. He then had the urge to cough. He took this chance to be thick skinned and force over this issue while indicating to Officer Xue. "Uncle Xue, all the lights in the operating area were turned off. Seven or eight of the ten of them were opened as projectors. Did you see this when you came in here?"


    "Nope," replied Xue Weilun in a simple manner. He thought that things were rather ridiculous. This fifteen, sixteen year old half grown kid looked way too cool and collected. This kid was simply taking buckets of unwarranted suspicion and pouring it on his own head, though this kid did not look to be a fool either.


    This veteran special police officer was about to turn fifty this year. He could not help but have some mixed feelings. "Kids these days can endure much more than we could back in the day..."


    Their conversation had served as somewhat of a reminder of that.


    In the end, Officer Xue could not even make heads or tails of his own son. Additionally, Luo Nan did not reveal anything in his behavior so far to cause Officer Xue to feel ill will towards him. At the very least, Luo Nan was not an incurable good for nothing.


    Luo Nan did not notice Xue Weilun¡¯s good intentions. His mental senses covered the entire room for he was endlessly collection information. Of course, he paid particr attention to Hu Huaying and the other unconscious people. He wanted to first make sure that they were not in any life-threatening danger.


    However, their current states were indeed very bizarre.


    When the lights were turned on, they were able to see the two females with their disheveled clothespared to the eight other people. The girlsid further away from the others. They were practically on the edge of the operating area.


    The six young masters were all copsed and squeezed together in the center. Huang Bingzhen was stark naked without anything covering him at all. Hu Huaying, Liu Tao, and the rest were surrounding him in a circle. Their arms and legs were entangled with each other.


    Luo Nan was able to surmise a few things from the recording and the scene before his eyes. Hu Huaying and the others were restraining the drug-overdosed Huang Bingzhen when the incident happened. The incident was sudden¡ªhappening in a sh¡ªit had caused everyone to copse.


    Mutual fear of various intensities still remained on most of their faces. They were not at peace even though they were unconscious. It was as if they had sunk into a nightmare.


    The only exception was Huang Bingzhen.


    Although this fellows¡¯ face was buried within the pile of people, making it so that other¡¯s were unable to see him clearly, it could not be hidden from the irvoyance of Luo Nan¡¯s mental senses. He could see thepletely rxed expression that Huang Bingzhen possessed. He looked like he was sleeping normally.


    Was this the expression of someone that overdosed on drugs would possess?


    Luo Nan, having increased the precision of his mental senses, was able to observe their breathing, pulses, eyelid twitches, and other external indicators. He had some suspicion to what was going on but he was notpletely sure. He needed to carefully look at the details first.


    Officer Xue reached out with his arm to block him. "Don¡¯t destroy the scene of the incident. Wait for the investigators to arrive."


    Luo Nan tried to y dumb. "Aren¡¯t you an investigator?"


    "We are the special police. We¡¯re just involved in action."


    "Oh, but it seems like that there isn¡¯t anything wrong with their bodies?"


    "I¡¯ve already called an ambnce. They will go through some drug tests."


    Luo Nan felt rather helpless. It looked like Uncle Xue may have felt that he was involved with psychotropic drugs. Luo Nan did not me him though. The two exposed girls, let alone Huang Bingzhen, had clear indicators of being overdosed on drugs.


    Returning back to the main topic. The two girls¡¯ appearances made Luo Nan more confident in his prior conclusion. This was the natural response of being overdosed on drugs. There was an issue with Huang Bingzhen¡¯s appearance no matter how he looked at it. Additionally, it was an issue he was very familiar with.


    A light and serenea.


    Thest person to have encountered such a problem was Luo Nan himself.


    Luo Nan muttered to himself silently for a moment before suddenly using. "Uncle Xue, its the guy in the middle. He and I had a contention an hour or so ago!"


    "Tell it to the people of the Public Order Division when they arrive," grunted Xue Weilun. But then he inquired, "They¡¯re not your friends?"


    "Only one can be considered a friend..."


    Luo Nan pointed at Hu Huaying, then his fingertips nted towards the center and pointed. "As for this one, Huang Bingzhen, young master Huang, he is way above my status."


    Xue Weilun¡¯s brows furrowed again behind the helmet. Was it a misperception? There was a subtle change within Luo Nan¡¯s speech. However, Xue Weilun was unable to concretely distinguish where the change was.


    "Huang Bingzhen?"


    "That¡¯s correct, Huang Bingzhen. He is from the second generation of a wealthy family and is famous in our school. He¡¯s garbage, trash."


    Xue Weilun shook his head. "There¡¯s no point in telling me such things."


    I know okay... These words were not directed at you in the first ce.


    Luo Nan squinted his eyes. When the name ¡®Huang Bingzhen¡¯ came out of his lips, the sound waves only traveled a few meters on the material ne before they began to dissipate.


    However, the corresponding information within the sound was spurred on by Luo Nan¡¯s intent through his soul strength. The information spread rapidly on the mental ne, spreading past the range of his mental senses in the blink of an eye.


    This trick was something he had learned a few days ago from Mo Lun of the Bloodme Order. Mo Lun had used this method to call the Human-Faced Arachnid from far, far away. The covertness and exquisiteness that Mo Lun had disyed in this method exceeded Luo Nan¡¯s current performance by a hundredfold.


    Right now, Luo Nan did not know how to conceal it.


    Besides, what he wanted as a result was such a diffusion. Now it was time to see what the response was like.


    One second, two seconds, three seconds...


    A subtle tremor could be felt in his ear. A sharp, ill-willed voice cut in. "The heck are you yelling for? You bragging about being a mentally enhanced type? Half of Xia City heard you!"


    The voice was familiar, yet it was not particrly familiar. Luo Nan was dumbfounded for a time before realizing that the words hade through the Psychic Wave Network of the HexaEar. He mentally looked around and discovered that an avatar of a cat eye gemstone had lit up in the encrypted channel setup exclusively for this operation, dering who had spoken.


    In the end, Luo Nan finally remembered who this was. He did not respond until two secondster due to some odd thoughts.


    "Cat Eyes?"


    Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts were suddenly stimted before his voice could fade away. A clear and powerful response had broken into the range of his mental senses in an extremely crude fashion.


    Ten meters of distance was not really that far. In the blink of an eye, the shadows of the void came seeping in from one end of the room¡¯s walls.


    Luo Nan was facing Xue Weilun at this time and he deviated the angle of his gaze. Yet under the irvoyance of his mental senses, he could see the situation that was unraveling as clear as with the naked eye... for it was urring on the mental ne.


    The shadow of the void had yet topletely permeate through but the mass of six different colored eyes in front and the ugly chelicera mouthparts had together formed the shape of a malevolent spider.


    Then there was the constant waving of four arthropod limbs. Some were being waved excessively excitedly, asionally hitting its own body. They stirred minute undtions on the mental ne that caused one to feel unease.


    A round plump stomach should have been protruding from the back but it had turned into the t chest and body of a human body. The back even had the outline of human legs, but most of it was still submerged within a dark chaotic fog, making it look deformed and warped.


    This form was like a giant spider with half of its body fused to the back of a human. Its heavy weight pressed and broke the back of the human, transforming an ordinary human into a crooked and mutated monster.


    "Human-Faced Arachnid."


    At least that¡¯s what it looked like on the surface.

 Chapter 98: Failed Goods (1/2)

    Chapter 98: Failed Goods (1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan¡¯s heart thumped twice when he saw the Human-Faced Arachnid collide inside. He was seriously a bit stunned.


    He had used his soul strength to make a greeting. All he called out to was what he believed to be Huang Bingzhen in an out-of-body state. After all, Huang Bingzhen¡¯s current shallow and unconscious state was practically the same as Luo Nan¡¯s, back when he had his out-of-body state. He had spected that Huang Bingzhen used the special methods of the Order of Justice, like the holy space, the holy exchange, and so on, to obtain the power to go into the out-of-body state.


    From Luo Nan¡¯s own experience, if one did not have an external force to help out, they would need to carefully ponder how to even move the first time their soul left their body. This fellow Huang Bingzhen could not have gotten far.


    Luo Nan had a clearer understanding of Huang Bingzhen¡¯s nature after their conflict earlier today and after referring to Liu Tao¡¯s recording. Terminology such as ¡®a sheep in wolf¡¯s clothing¡¯, ¡®a bully who preys on the weak and fears the strong¡¯ and, ¡®being carried away¡¯ were meant specifically for such a person. He may have been scared by the sudden appearance of the city¡¯s special police force, was not adapted to the marvels of the incorporeal soul, and was scared intoing out.


    However, Frost River Reality was jammed packed with people. As long as Huang Bingzhen was not a fool, he would certainly discover the advantages of the out-of-body soul very quickly and his self-confidence should have inted. Luo Nan used some stimtion and some provocation in order to hook this fellow back. Luo Nan believed the sess rate of this would be rather high.


    The situation unraveled quite simrly to how Luo Nan had imagined but the degree of danger was on apletely different order of magnitude.


    Luo Nan instantly entered into the highest state of vignce. He followed the principles of the Society¡¯s provisions and tossed out, "A Human-Faced Arachnid has appeared. He¡¯s heading for me," in the encrypted channel. The dark chains shot out, unable to stay put with the pressure of soul strength against his body. The chains spiraled around his body, making battle preparations.


    "What¡¯s wrong?" asked Xue Weilun to the side.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid and the dark chains were all existences on the mental ne; Xue Weilun was unable to see them. However, Luo Nan had suddenly tensed up. Luo Nan was unable to hide his bodynguage from Xue Weilun. Luo Nan turned his head at this time and faced the empty right side of the wall. His expression turned grim. He felt that a storm was brewing.


    Xue Weilun¡¯s words reminded him that there were several special police officers in the room. He silently screamed "F**K" as he knew he would be doubted. He shouted.


    "There¡¯s a problem with the room. Withdraw!"


    Despite the huge difference in build, Luo Nan forcefully grabbed Xue Weilun¡¯s exoskeleton armor covered arm as he spoke. He wanted to drag Xue Weilun outside.


    However, Luo Nan was unable to move him. Xue Weilun and his underlings were still, they were all confused by Luo Nan¡¯s neurotic-like reaction. They did not respond instantly.


    And at this time, the Human-Faced Arachnid had already permeated through the wallpletely. It was already close at hand.


    Indeed, this fellow had made Luo Nan his first target. Its six solid eyes locked onto Luo Nan¡¯s position and it charged over like a crazed bull. Its eight sharp de-like limbs streaked across the void to sh Luo Nan¡¯s head and face.


    What?


    As he faced the Human-Faced Arachnid, Luo Nan put nearly all of his energy to defend against the most probable attack that could happen, the Siege Hammer. He actually forgot to make a move against this attack that exceeded his expectations.


    "You idiot!"


    A vigorous and strong lioness-like figure forcefully made its way inside from close to the door of the room through two sturdy special police officers. Its speed increased once again as it leaped several meters and it collided against Luo Nan in this moment of peril, sending Luo Nan flying and narrowly avoiding the sharp long limbs of the arachnid.


    Luo Nan¡¯s eyes were bulging to the point of splitting after being flung out. This was because he could grasp what was going on very clearly through his mental senses. The sharp long limb had not cut Luo Nan but it had taken the opportunity to press forward and pierce Xue Weilun through the chest and sh upwards. The limb cut into the helmet from below and came out through the top of the skull.


    Only now did Luo Nan fall to the ground. His entire spine was all numb from the collision. He slid backwards for two to three meters from the momentum, only stopping when he reached the edge of the operating area. He did not even have time to catch his breath but he was doing his utmost to get up.


    "Uncle Xue... huh?"


    Whether it was through the naked eye or through the perception of his mental senses, Xue Weilun continued to stand there perfectly alright. His helmet turned to face Luo Nan¡¯s location. Luo Nan was a bit stiff while looking at Xue Weilun; this was due to the absurd scene before his eyes.


    It was as if nothing had happened to Xue Weilun¡¯s body.


    As for the Human-Faced Arachnid, it was unable to put on its brakes afterunching its mad-bull charge and de cleaving attack. It simple charged straight to the edge of the room. Then it turned around and looked at the results of its attack. It looked to be a bit stunned.


    Luo Nan sat on the ground. He blinked his eyes. His brain was a bit stupid right now.


    Not too far away from Luo Nan was Cat Eyes. She wore camouge pants and a baseball cap tilted to the side. She looked as if she had just been hip-hop dancing. She made a light roll and stood up but she too was stupefied when facing the current situation.


    "You..."


    Xue Weilun felt like he was watching some absurd show. In an instant, a hip-hop girl had appeared with astonishing skill. He did not dare to wait around idly.


    It was only now that most of the special police officers in the room came to. They pulled out their guns one after another and pointed them to the hip-hop girl who had suddenly broken inside. Some of them even pointed their guns at Luo Nan.


    All of the threat they could feel only came from these two.


    "Put away your guns!" Xue Weilun gave an order and then asked, "Luo Nan, what the heck are you two doing!?"


    Luo Nan did not know how he should exin things for a time. His gaze shifted to the Human-Faced Arachnid at the side of the room and his mental senses locked firmly onto this enemy. He probed out several times, after which he could not help but find things problematic.


    From the aggressive appearance of the Human-Faced Arachnid, Luo Nan had believed that it was fully-matured, that it had manifested from nothingness to reality and entering the material ne. He had believed that it wanted to behead him.


    But the facts of the matter turned out to be different.


    The level of this Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s power was actually very ordinary. So ordinary that it could not have been stronger than the burning wraith that Luo Nan had encountered back in the day on the warship.


    So, how stupid must it be for it to abandon its most optimal ability, try to use its formless existence to break through to the material ne, and use a material attack to resolve its issues?


    In fact, this fellow had been constantly trying to interfere with the material ne from the mental ne up until now. It was like an expanding balloon that was firmly set on pressing down into a body water. This sort of method had no functionality besides making it more eye-catching.


    Luo Nan finally understood why the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s form was so clear. This fellow was spending most of its energy to mentally interfere with the material.


    The closer it was to the material ne, the more likely it was for people to perceive it.


    In thest operation, Cat Eyes was unable to see the Human-Faced Arachnid but her assist just now proved that she could already manage to determine the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s location and timing.


    This sort of change had nothing to do with a growth in her ability. The target was different.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid before their eyes was clearly totally different than others of its kind.


    The lighting in the room suddenly lit up amidst Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts. The projectors in the operating area suddenly lit up even though there was no one to control them. Five different colors of light were cast into this area.

 Chapter 98: Failed Goods (2/2)

    Chapter 98: Failed Goods (2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    There seemed to be something wrong with the projectors for the light as they did not cast out any concrete images. It was like a mass of mottled glowing mist and it covered the entirety of the operating area. It wrapped Luo Nan, Cat Eyes, Xue Weilun, five or six special police officers, and the eight unconscious bodies within.


    Then the lighting suddenly changed, attracting the gazes of everyone within the room but the one to have the most intense reaction was that stupid Human-Faced Arachnid.


    The first instant the lighting interweaved, it charged forward once more. It did not target any specific person but it directly burst into the expanding glowing mist. It hid its body within the mass of colored lights.


    This projection mist was certainly a screen meant for the Human-Faced Arachnid!


    Cat Eyes muttered, "Crap". She was an ability user whose ability stemmed from perception. Being able to lock onto the target was what gave her the greatest sense of security. She had feltpletely suffocated in thest Human-Faced Arachnid hunting operation. Today, she had barely made progress. She never expected for it all to have gone down the drain.


    However, Cat Eyes was an experienced Awakened. She changed her train of thought and her gaze fell upon what had created the mottled colored light mist, the projector equipment. To pull the carpet from under the arachnid could be a decent option...


    "Everyone withdraw. What¡¯s wrong with the system over there?"


    Xue Weilun spoke loudly, his former words meant to those further ahead inside the room. He let them leave the projection area first. Hister words were aimed towards the technical staff in charge of the room¡¯s monitoring system equipment and operations. He really did not like this kind of change. It made him feel that the situation was yet to be under the police¡¯splete control.


    Cat Eyes was originally going to make a move when she heard Xue Weilun¡¯s order. She grumbled, "Idiot!"


    Luo Nan coughed as he crawled up. He tried exining for Xue Weilun¡¯s sake. "He doesn¡¯t know..."


    "I¡¯m saying you¡¯re the idiot."


    Luo Nan found her behavior unfathomable. Did I offend you?


    However, it was quite likely thinking about it from another perspective. It must be known that her image had been left in the Format Pyramid. Even if her image was located on the student level, she did not truly count as one of his believers. She was very ignorant of it, like Xie Junping. However, Cat Eyes was an ability user. Perhaps she instinctively sensed it and was rejecting him?


    Luo Nan looked at Cat Eyes once more under the five-colored lighting. His impression of her was that she was a pretty and flirtatious dancer. She was dressed in hip-hop fashion, wearing a crooked baseball cap. She looked much younger than the night where she wore that mature dress. She looked cooler as well. If Luo Nan did not have the HexaEar to confirm in advance and had bumped into her on the street, he would have beenpletely too scared to call out to her.


    However, they were in the middle of an operation. Some words were better spoken. "How am I being an idiot?"


    Cat Eyes responded with a sneer when facing Luo Nan¡¯s blunt attitude. "Mr. Psychic, where¡¯s your authority tomand in this kind of operation? Where¡¯s your right to mobilize? Is it fun to act an innocent bystander? You brought in this group of nuisances and then gave up the leadership role to them? You want them to fight?"


    Her words had struck the key point. Luo Nan was left speechless. In thest operation, He Yueyin had pointed out that this situation was what should be avoided the most. He had vited this today and it was a very serious vition. Last time, the members of the operation did not know who the target was. This time, Xue Weilun and his group of special police officers werepletely in the dark.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you even have a shred of self-awareness as an ability user..? At the very least, your sense of superiority is fine." Cat Eyes was not admonishing him. She was just being sarcastic, though the results were pretty much the same.


    Luo Nan spread his hands. He did not know how he should respond for a time.


    "You two. What are you still doing inside?"


    Xue Weilun walked over withrge strides. He was quite discontent with how these two were whispering amongst each other in the light mist, staying behind. Of course, he was still bewildered by the illogical situation. He brought out his most straightforward and efficient attitude to face this.


    "I don¡¯t care what rtionship you two have. When facing the police, you need to cooperate... Luo Nan, exin for me. What sort of monkey show were you just ying at?"


    This sort of attitude that was like the authority of the establishment and of the older generation was very effective on young people such as Luo Nan.


    If Luo Nan had toe up with the words by himself, his brain would have exploded. Luckily, he had Cat Eyes by his side. Luo Nan pushed this woman out without the slightest hesitation. "The time for you to disy the superiority of an ability user hase..."


    And Cat Eyes didn¡¯t refuse. "At least this old man is much smarter than you!"


    The two went out of the light mist at the same time. Then Cat Eyes then took the initiative to face Xue Weilun and engage in negotiations.


    Luo Nan was not concerned about how the negotiations would go. He believed that Cat Eyes, being a veteran ability user, would certainly be able to resolve things. Right now, he was cing all his energy towards the projected light mist and the covered area. Ultimately, he was more suitable for doing technical work.


    Cat Eyes regarded this area covered with the light mist to be the most dangerous area of all. This was because the Human-Faced Arachnid was concealing itself within it. She did not know which direction it wouldunch an attack from.


    However, Luo Nan had a different perspective.


    Luo Nan had locked onto the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s position ever since it had first appeared. It made no difference whether the arachnid was inside or outside the mist.


    If there was a difference... It would probably be a stronger rity.


    In the eyes of others, the projected light mist would obstruct their sight. But in Luo Nan¡¯s eyes, the light mist was apletely different revealing method. The chaos and the mottled colors could only be said to be the inherent nature of the operational method of energy and information with theck of cognition.


    The projected rays of light possessed a special organized form. They could naturally be ssified as a type of energy and information, one that could be directly observed. It was because of this that Luo Nan could see the structuralyout within through his mental senses. He could easily see lines as if they were on the palm of his hand. He could see minute details down to the finest hair.


    "Another Tower of Babel-esque structure. It is far more refined than the chipset of the tactical helmet. However, there is a huge distance between it and the perfectyout of the Dynamo Core." Luo Nan used a picky attitude to make a judgment towards the quality of the structure within the projected light mist.


    Because of this, Luo Nan was entirely rxed when the projection of light mist covered the area. If things were not so, how would he have the leisure to go chat with Cat Eyes about him being an idiot?


    There was a problem for those who had created this projection; they were unable to see Luo Nan¡¯s intentions. The structure they had cast only contained a special and key purpose.


    Luo Nan could see it very clearly. When the Human-Faced Arachnid had collided inside, it had realized an extremely perfect fit with the structure of energy and information. It was like the teeth of gears biting together, like a train entering a track. The arachnid began to be corrected and amended ording to the mold of the projected light mist.


    The primal and chaotic information structure of the Human-Faced Arachnid was bing clearer as it was being affected by the light mist. Luo Nan could see the energy and information¡¯s direction in operation. Energy and information were rapidly pulling away from the material ne. The idiotic action of the Human-Faced Arachnid trying to interfere with the material ne was forcefully pulled back...


    Why was the word ¡®forcefully¡¯ used?


    Because there was anotherponent within the extremely well fit whole of this energy and information structure. It radiated ipatible information from beginning to end, like random noise urring on a smooth operating assembly line. It felt jarring and ear-piercing.


    Could it be that the arachnid was a so-called ¡®defective good?¡¯


    Luo Nan raised the precision of his mental senses by a level and was ultimately able to determine that this ¡®wedponent¡¯id in the internals of the Human-Faced Arachnid. It looked to lie in a rather vital functioning area...?


    In an instant, Luo Nan grasped the core of the situation.


    The internals of the Human-Faced Arachnid? Is he having fun?

 Chapter 99: Sweeper (1/2)

    Chapter 99: Sweeper (1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    From Luo Nan¡¯s perspective, the Human-Faced Arachnid was a chaotic mass and a mystery.


    Luo Nan¡¯s Dynamo Core had gained a new function ten days ago. It had begun to analyse the Human-Faced Arachnid. Despite making repeated breakthroughs, reaping gains, and gaining several reference points, he was still unable to get pass seven percent in the analysis. Even so, there were probably only a few people more knowledgeable about Human-Faced Arachnids than Luo Nan.


    Even Luo Nan, with his understanding of the Human-Faced Arachnid, found it difficult to have a even an outline of the core inner structure of the Human-Faced Arachnid. The closest he hade towards understanding it was during the process of his Wraith Sign consuming the Bloodme Order¡¯s Human-Faced Arachnid.


    Luo Nan had believed that he had seen the mysteries of the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s inner structure at the time. However, in retrospect what he had seen was merely the projected mold of the Bloodme Order¡¯s Bloodsoul Temple. It was a sacrificial vessel prepared ahead of time for the sake of this order.


    Therefore, Luo Nan was still in ying the guessing game when it came to the inner structure of the Human-Faced Arachnid. asionally, he would get a bit of an outline but overall, he was still lost in the shroud that was like a fog that covered a mountain.


    Right now, Luo Nan would be forced to say a word of admiration regardless of their positions if the enemy¡ªmost likely the Order of Justice¡ªwas able to take out the inner structure of the Human-Face Arachnid and make exhaustive changes to its operational rules over energy and information.


    However, Luo Nan really didn¡¯t see such a scene before his eyes.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid had been molded by the mist¡¯splex operational structure of information and energy. It now looked refined andplicated. Following the structuralyout, the Human-Faced Arachnid would now be able to use the Siege Hammer and other methods to stimte and consume negative emotions.


    But upon closer inspection, there were too many ces that seemed correct that were actually wrong. The theory was correct, but to no surprise, the theory was excessively shallow.


    From Luo Nan¡¯s perspective, the strongest aspect of the Human-Faced Arachnid was the fact that it possessed an innate tyrannical instinct even though itcked all intelligence. It couldpletely rely on its instincts to produce astonishingly precise responses.


    This sort of instinct should be established upon a foundation and inner storage that were robust and faultless. Like an AI System, effective ¡®judgments¡¯ could be produced from vague conditions when possessing a sufficientlyrge database.


    The inner data stored within this Human-Faced Arachnid before his eyes was far toocking. Though this was a realistic emted model, Luo Nan deduced from some of the surface patterns that it was just a padded out object. It was simr in shape and appearance but the spirit was different.


    "After so long, only an imitation is formed. Or in other words, it¡¯s an ¡¯exoskeleton armor¡¯ on the mental ne. In this case, a powerful instinct is out of the question and there will certainly be issues with its judgment."


    Luo Nan analyzed this Human-Faced Arachnidyer byyer, lifting the foundation out into bare air. Ultimately, he was able to confirm that the so-called wedponents were actually the entire structure. In the end, these were the effects. "Since it is an exoskeleton armor, a person is needed to control it. The problem is, a blockhead who is hard to change in a short period of time was chosen. Not only that, he ispletely unsuited to the mental world. They really messed up bad, didn¡¯t they?"


    He cast his gaze towards Huang Bingzhen, whoid stark naked within the pile of people. Luo Nan wanted tough. Right now, the facts were clear. Huang Bingzhen really was in an out-of-body state. Additionally, he did so by having his soul don the Human-Faced Arachnid Exoskeleton Armor.


    All right. This was a good invention. At the very least, it allowed Huang Bingzhen to experience the supernatural for a moment... Oh, wait a minute!


    An idea shed across Luo Nan¡¯s mind at this very moment. It took his train of thought and twisted it into a different direction. "Though this sort of structure is extremelycking, it still gives one the capability to travel on the mental ne. Additionally, one only needs the relevant materials and methods to achieve it. It definitely could be mass-produced. If someone like Huang Bingzhen could obtain one ten thousandths of the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s strength and could recklesslye and go and run amok... This is such a great temptation for an ordinary person whocks the gift for the supernatural!"


    Luo Nan looked at the Human-Faced Arachnid model as he thought of this. He looked at the wedponents housing Huang Bingzhen¡¯s soul and his expression suddenly changed. "Could this be the secret behind the divine and holy powers of this secret order?"


    Several consecutive thoughts spun in his mind, causing him to feel a bit spellbound. At this very moment, a group of people came into the room through the door. They were all wearing police uniforms but they weren¡¯t allocated with exoskeleton armor.


    Luo Nan couldn¡¯t help but crease his brows when he saw the group of people rush inside. He cast a nce at Cat Eyes¡ªit seemed that this negotiator was useless. A Human-Faced Arachnid was being rectified in the room right now. A series of supernatural powers like the ability user society and secret orders were involved. This group of people werete and useless and they were just clogging up space right now.


    The head of the group of police officers had a medium build and a lean physique. He looked intelligent and capable. He came in and reproached, "Old Xue, not only can your special forces team solve cases, they can find cases... You guys are so capable!"


    It looked like Guo Ju hade with the bad intentions, but Xue Weilun did not really say much. This was because these people all were the public security police that should havee out to scene of incidents. There really was suspicion that Xue Weilun¡¯s team¡ªthe special forces¡ªhad gone beyond their authority by taking action.


    Moreover, the person who had arrived was the chief of the Fudong Department Branch. Frost River Reality was really part of his administrative domain. Xue Weilun¡¯s actions were extremely taboo.


    "Guo Ju, the situation urred abruptly. These were just temporary preparations. Do not me me. " Xue Weilun was the type of person to give face when it was due. However, there were urgent matters of high priority that had to be handled at this time.


    His gaze cuts towards Cat Eyes, who he had finished negotiating with. He was filled withplicated thoughts. His gaze then swept to Luo Nan¡¯s face in the close distance. In the end, he made a firm resolution. "Guo Ju, there¡¯s some matters I need to talk about. We suspect that there has been a Darksider life form roaming about here just a moment ago...."


    "Darksider life form? I know. Someone made a report."


    Guo Ju held a very calm attitude. From his perspective, Darksider lifeforms were on the same level as amon thief, a gang member, and so on. He felt that they were no different. His chin nodded towards the glowing mist within the projection area.


    "This falls out of our scope of responsibility. The military will arrive soon to take over. They are the true professionals."


    A problem for professionals being resolved by professional people was a method that Xue Weilun approved. The problem was that there was clearly already a professional person by his side.


    Cat Eyes¡¯s attire did not instill confidence but the strength that she had disyed earlier and the connections she had mentioned in their conversation already caused a sense of trustworthiness to be formed.


    "Guo Ju, I have already verified with headquarters..."


    "I too, have verified. So, I havee to clear the scene."


    Guo Ju waved his hand and robotic electronic sounds rang out from outside the door. Frost River Reality were allocated with their own multipurpose robots. Like hard-working worker bees, the robots entered the room one after another, following their preprogrammed procedures. They locked onto the familiar figures within the projected mist.


    "I have received orders to first ensure that the innocent masses won¡¯t be affected. Those who need to be sent to the hospital will be sent there now to avoid any mishaps that may happen. After all, a long night is fraught with dreams. We will make up some illness for those without symptoms to get them out fast... Right, Old Xue, you can withdraw your team now."

 Chapter 99: Sweeper (2/2)

    Chapter 99: Sweeper (2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Xue Weilun watched the multipurpose robots unfold stretchers and enter the scene one after another. He squinted his eyes for a moment. "What¡¯s to be done about the scene of the incident?"


    "Technicians have already taken pictures and saved them for records. The Darksider life form is a ss III mutant. With it hiding and the military about to enter the scene, how can we have the space to handle this case... Is the ambnce here yet? Ship them all out. Have all unrted personnel leave the scene."


    Guo Ju responded with these simple words and his orders were subsequently transmitted down the chain ofmand.


    Immediately, the multipurpose robots entered the operating area to move the unconscious bodies. Two of the robots were in charge of tidying up the scene. They separated the pile of human bodies and moved them onto stretchers. The rest of the robots departed like a running assembly-line. They took the unconscious Hu Huaying and the others and sent them off one after another. They handled things quite cleanly.


    Several special forces officers were looking at Xue Weilun. Xue Weilun indicated with his hand to withdraw from the room first. In any case, if there was really a Darksider life form hiding here, the special forces would not be much use.


    Xue Weilun did not remove himself from the scene. Though the reasoning behind Guo Ju¡¯s order to directly clear the scene was passable, there were some subtleties to the timing. The way things were going was quite suspicious.


    In clearing the scene, Guo Ju did not just want the unconscious bodies to be taken out, he also wanted the others to go outside as well. The special forces had all left the room and the only ones left were Luo Nan and Cat Eyes.


    These two people did not move an inch.


    Luo Nan had his mind on some other things but when Guo Ju and the robots came into the scene one after another, a change had urred within the projected glowing mist. It drew his attention over once again and he fixed his gaze onto the projected mist, his expression showing his utter concentration.


    Cat Eyes scanned the situation with interest due to the sudden liveliness of the room.


    Neither one of them took Guo Ju¡¯s appearance seriously. That was until the police personnel followed Guo Ju¡¯s request and appeared by their side, asking them to leave the scene.


    Luo Nan¡¯s observations were interrupted once again and he became a bit annoyed. He cast his gaze towards Cat Eyes, his meaning clear¡ªthis is the result of your negotiations?


    Cat Eyes gave him the middle finger. "The nature of things has long since changed, all right? Wait and you¡¯ll see the notification from the Society in due time. Right now the issue with the Human-Faced Arachnid is no longer that of hunting a Darksider life form. Instead, it involves contention with some Secret Orders... Oh, don¡¯t get too close."


    She pushed away the innocent and ignorance police officers by her side as she walked to Luo Nan.


    Meanwhile, the police officers in charge of vacating the scene saw Luo Nan and that he was still a teenager. They were not really rough. They just wanted to grab Luo Nan by the shoulder and drag this bizarre kid with a drifting expression out of here.


    Cat Eyes made a police officer stumble a few steps and collide into his coworker when she arrived.


    Luo Nan was ignorant of the situation urring outside his body. However, he approved of Cat Eyes words about Secret Orders from the bottom of his heart. He already had an understanding of the circumstances with the Bloodme Order. The minds behind this Human-Faced Arachnid before his eyes was absolutely not just the Bloodme Order. Let alone today¡¯s Order of Justice, there were at least two to three secret orders operating in this field.


    It seemed that over the course of the night, the Human-Faced Arachnid had be a precious treasure fought over by the world¡¯s Secret Orders. At the very least, it was a rare target worth hoarding. Guo Juo had appeared and he had a direct rtionship with some medium to small scale Secret Orders. These orders had amonality¡ªack of sacrificial vessels.


    It was unknown where the information that the Human-Faced Arachnid could act as a sacrificial vessel hade from. Even within the Bloodme Order, this matter was kept hush and secret. It was never directly mentioned.


    Rtively speaking, the sudden involvement of the colossal giant that was the Order of Justice was a bit unexpected for Luo Nan.


    From what he could understand from the current situation, the Order of Justice seemed to be engaging in some sort of ¡®emtion research¡¯ of the Human-Faced Arachnid. Were they developing a new ¡®Faith Product¡¯?


    In this moment, the atmosphere within the room suddenly turned taut.


    No matter how much Cat Eyes tried to y things down, the implications behind her words were extremely serious. Several police officers at the scene had their hands ced on their guns. They did not whip out their guns and fire on the spot but this was because Xue Weilun stopped them.


    "Hold on, Guo Ju. They are important witnesses and they are experts with their privileges verified by headquarters and the SCA."


    "There are so many experts nowadays that you could make a mountain out of them."


    Guo Ju had an ugly expression but in the end he knew some internal information. Even though he was appointed as the man in charge, he could not go around stepping on mines and offending people. It was absolutely uneptable.


    The situation was tense and at a deadlock for a time.


    Cat Eyes squinted an eye. Her overall meaning was, ¡®What do we do now?¡¯


    Luo Nan was also puzzled over what to do in the current situation. In any case, there really was a bit of temporary quietness for now. He grew increasingly certain that he would not be able to control the situation. He might as well just give up and pour his full concentration to the technical side of things.


    Little did he know that in the eyes of the others, his stance ofpletely ignoring the ways of the world and being soaked in his own world made him appear to be super arrogant... And dangerous.


    Guo Ju¡¯s gaze had already swept away from Cat Eyes tond onto Luo Nan¡¯s face. He carefully observed the direction that Luo Nan was looking at and his expression turned as somber as water.


    By now, Luo Nan¡¯s gaze had locked onto one of the multipurpose robots within the room. It was together with another robot; they were responsible for lifting people. After these robots had entered the room, they came and went from the operating area, moving responsibly and diligently.


    Luo Nan had noints about the robots themselves. However, when the robot had entered the operating area, the stable operational structure of energy and information underwent a change within the projected glowing mist. Arge flow of energy and information suddenly leaked down into an unremarkable external reception module upon the robot¡¯s body.


    This sort of transfer of energy and information was hard to detect, even for people with astonishing extrasensory perception like Cat Eyes, let alone themon person. However, it could not be hidden from Luo Nan.


    This was quite the eye-opener. This method took something that existed on the mental ne,pletely transformed it into energy and information, and downloaded it into a special storage unit. It appeared to be inconceivable but it was actually quite logical. It was the reverse operation of the Tower of Babel structure.


    The subtleties within really needed to be seriously researched.


    Guo Ju had stayed hidden all this time until he suddenly appeared to vacate everyone from the scene. His intentions were very clear now. He was trying to retrieve a prototype after real testing and verification.


    Luo Nan did not stop the process; he wanted to continue observing.


    This was because he understood very well that there was a certain node that could not the bypassed. Although the Human-Faced Arachnid Exoskeleton Armor could be reconstructed, downloaded, and stored, the same absolutely could not be done to the soul of a human.


    Layers andyers of the structure were reconstructed, transformed into pure energy and information, before being imported into the storage unit. The wedponent, Huang Bingzhen, that was concealed within the interior of the Human-Faced Arachnid Exoskeleton Armor were inevitably exposed.


    A mass of fuzzy smoke suddenly separated from the framework of the operational structure of energy and information. First, it condensed into a cloud, bringing with it a brightness that could be barely seen on the mental ne. The cloud stalled in the air for a moment and then crashed into Huang Bingzhen¡¯s body, which was being prepared for transfer out of the grounds.


    This was quite the good timing.


    Luo Nan knew that this was Huang Bingzhen¡¯s soul. It seemed to be wrapped with ayer of special protection, avoiding the tragedy that came from a dropping crash. The Order of Justice¡¯s Faith Product n was actually quite humane...


    He had no intentions to interfere. He just observed with full interest.


    However, things would always go wrong. After separating from the mysterious Human-Faced Arachnid Exoskeleton Armor, Huang Bingzhen¡¯s tiny soul made a mistake by habit... He was too close to the material ne.


    Normally, this would not be a problem. Normally, all he had to do was get in range of the fleshly body and the soul and the flesh would unite as one. Everything would be okay. However, Luo Nan and Cat Eyes were both presently in the room.


    Cat Eyes¡¯s mental senses instantly cut across upon suddenly discovering a suspicious target¡ªshe wanted to lock on for a scan. This was a very natural reaction but from the perspective of the weak structure of Huang Bingzhen¡¯s soul, this action was like a whip that heavilyshed down.

 Chapter 100: Heart-Lock Prison (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 100: Heart-Lock Prison (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Cat Eyes¡¯s expertiseid in her long-ranged perception. This was also a kind of mental sensing. With her all-epassing perception, she could cover a range of fifty to seventy meters. However, this was different to Luo Nan¡¯s irvoyance-type sensing.


    Her level of sensing was primarily focused on the region where the mental and the material nes mutually interacted. She was unable to sense the deeper parts of the mental ne, so it was hard for her to reach a target that hid in the extreme depths of the mental ne that was far from the material n¡ªsuch as the Human-Face Arachnid.


    However, Cat Eyes intrinsically possessed an extremely high degree of sensing precision and powerful pration capabilities at her level of sensing. She was just like a high power active radar system that was powerful enough to cover the entire city.


    Huang Bingzhen could not endure it because her output power was a bit too much.


    "What the hell?"


    Cat Eyes reacted quite quickly and she soon became aware that something was amiss. She retracted her mental senses and restrained it to an appropriate level. This prevented Huang Bingzhen from burning along with the exterioryer of protective shell.


    However, it was not easy topletely retract a mental attack spurred by telepathy. On the spot, Huang Bingzhen let out a miserable howl in the mental ne. The protective shell around his weak soul jolted twice. Its structure had seemingly taken damage but the shell was not broken, for better or worse.


    If this guy was smart at all, he would have taken this chance to immediately slip back into his own fleshly body, thereby ending things.


    But today was bound to be filled with matters. Huang Bingzhen had not been tempered by the seas and its winds¡ªhe was still inexperienced. He was not familiar with the workings of the mental ne. When he was hit by the attack, he just froze there in foolishness. He did not advance nor did he retreat. Additionally, his miserable howl had traveled some distance on the mental ne. He had more or less broadcasted a signal.


    Cat Eyes and Luo Nan looked at each other in dismay as a storm suddenly erupted on the mental ne. Tyrannical mental senses came cutting in from a long range. It first broke through Cat Eyes¡¯ all-epassing perception with its radius of seventy meters. The powerful pressure caused Cat Eyes¡¯s expression to suddenly change color.


    The enemy¡¯s mental attack came steamrolling in, as if there was no one to oppose it at all. Cat Eyes might have been an expert of perception but she wascking in her ability to defend on the mental ne. She would not be able to meet force with force there. However, such a powerful action by the opponent also conveyed one¡¯s position extremely clearly.


    The enemy¡¯s mental senses cut through the private room in an instant and the enemy examined the room¡¯s inner situation unimpeded. Its power pressed against Cat Eyes¡¯s senses and reduced the range of Cat Eyes¡¯s senses.


    "A formidable foe, one with a mental enhancement focus..."


    Cat Eyes telepathically left a message in the encrypted channel¡ªhis was the quickest and most effective method of exchanging information since it was instaneous. However, the channel refreshed with new messages the instant she left her message. "The enemy¡¯s main body has entered within forty... thirty meters of range. The enemy¡¯s speed is very fast and the enemy possesses great power and energy. Damn it all! It¡¯s an All-Rounder type!


    "Avoid direct engagement. Order the special police forces to provide assistance. Pertinent orders and privileges have been issued." He Yueyin responded.


    He Yueyin had masterfully conducted the deployment and mobilization of personnel from the very beginning. Even though Luo Nan had not listened to her orders and had gotten involved in the situation, He Yueyin was constantly performing appropriate adjustments in real time. She was utilizing nearby resources to maximum efficiency so as to increase the operation¡¯s margin of safety.


    Cat Eyes obviously knew that avoiding direct engagement was an excellent decision. The problem was that the opponent would not spare them even if she wanted to pull back!


    Huang Bingzhen¡¯s miserable howl might have touched upon a sensitive nerve of this opponent because the mental senses instantly transformed into an attack after scanning the entire room. It was like a wave. It was like a storm. The might of an assaulting attack was truly disyed.


    There was a problem though. Such actions would cause disaster to befall not on others but on Huang Bingzhen!


    The previous inadvertent release of mental senses by Cat Eyes was almost too much for Huang Bingzhen. The opponent¡¯s current mental attack, which was like the raging seas and stormy waves, came pressing over. From Huang Bingzhen¡¯s perspective, he would drown and perish. His already-weak defenses were just like a soap bubble¡ªit could burst at any moment.


    No matter how stupid Huang Bingzhen was, he knew that he was in dire straits now. He immediately let out another howl of misery.


    However, this action was useless. His bubble-like defenses burst and a wisp of smoke spread out. At first, it was very hard to make out Huang Bingzhen¡¯s appearance but the smoke soon lost its form as it trembled and dispersed.


    Luo Nan knew that after Huang Bingzhen¡¯s soul hade out of his body, the structure of his soul was not resilient enough¡ªhe had stuck too close to the material ne. As a result, he was dispersed by the power that interfered between the mental and material nes.


    Huang Bingzhen was an ordinary person. He had never trained in the mental domain. He could not even have his soul take form by himself. As such, when he had lost his protective shell, his soul did not have any ability to exist any longer. In addition, the external world was like a whistling storm. The environment of the mental ne was vile to the extreme.


    The opponent had heard Huang Bingzhen¡¯s miserable howl at this time, yet they had no intentions of stopping their attack. The mental attack continued and itpletely suppressed Cat Eyes. Cat Eyes¡¯s sensing range was shrinking smaller and smaller, it was to the point that her range was now confined to the room. She had lost all perception of what was going on outside the room.


    "Damnable fiend!"


    Cat Eyes grit her teeth in anger. She was bad against these kinds of brute force mental attacks. She was most ustomed tobining her hyper sensory perception with her nimble and strong body in order to fight for the initiative during high-speed movement. But right now, she had a half-useless fool by her side. She could not even draw out five percent of her ability in fear of causing friendly fire. She felt extremely wronged.


    The opponent was extremely keen as well. As soon as the decisive moment had urred, the opponent did not give Cat Eyes any chance to adjust. The rapidly approaching figure turned erratic in Cat Eyes¡¯s perception due to the all-around suppressive force. It made Cat Eyes quite worry about when and where this powerful enemy would being from.


    Cat Eyes cast a re towards Luo Nan. She should have known that nothing good woulde upon following this fellow.


    "Rattle!"


    A marvelous trembling sound shook forth and proliferated the mental ne. Cat Eyes¡¯s scalp went numb the instant she heard this sound. Her defenses, which were already in danger, instantly fell to pieces.


    Right when the recoil was about to strike her, a simr vibration responded from the depths of the structure of her body and soul. Incorporeal chains activated from a state of hibernation to erect a framework in an instant that was too marvelous to describe with words. It was like the stable frame of a building. The frame towered unmovingly, no matter how wild the gales blew.


    The life-threatening recoil from her broken defenses was dispersed for some odd reason and the tyrannical mental attack did not seem to be as strong as before.


    Although Cat Eyescked the strength to counterattack, it was as if she waspletely immune to the mental attack. The extremely atrophied range of her mental senses began to regain their lost area. They began to expand outwardsyer byyer.


    "Hm?" The powerful enemy also discovered this situation. A low nasally sound was transmitted not on the mental ne but on the material ne, letting everyone in the room hear the sound very clearly.


    So the enemy was extremely close already.


    Cat Eyes finally got the chance to catch her breath and immediately went toplete He Yueyin¡¯s series of orders to the very end. She spoke loudly, "Captain Xue, put all your energy into being vignt. The killer is close by!"


    She did not care about beingpletely factual. It was best to just get the point across. In any case, Huang Bingzhen¡¯s soul was scattered. He was 90% dead anyway. It wasn¡¯t really a lie.


    But as soon as Cat Eyes spoke those words, dark chains came surging across like a giant raging python. They pierced through the void and struck Huang Bingzhen¡¯s near-dispersed smoke-like soul dead on.

 Chapter 100: Heart-Lock Prison (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 100: Heart-Lock Prison (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Since Huang Bingzhen¡¯s soul was near the material ne, Luo Nan¡¯s dark chains were also close for the sake of controlling him. Therefore, the chains could not be hidden from Cat Eyes¡¯s direct gaze.


    Cat Eyes then cast Luo Nan a somewhat odd look. It partly because he looked like he was ¡®kill stealing¡¯. Another part of it was due to the chains themselves.


    Well, it did not matter what Cat Eyes thought. Luo Nan knew what he was doing. The instant the dark chains had struck their target, the mass of soul smoke was not destroyed. Instead, the mass had oddly coalesced together.


    At this time, the unseen foe continued to unleash powerful mental attacks. A slice of area in the private room waspletely enveloped with powerful storms on the mental ne. Any power that wished to face this attack would be instantly and utterly defeated.


    The problem was, who would face those attacks head on?


    Luo Nan already possessed ample experience of attack and defense on the mental ne through the Human-Faced Arachnid and through Elder Mo Lun of the Bloodme Order. He knew where his superiorityid in.


    Whether it was the format of ¡®My heart¡¯s a prison¡¯ or tempo of soul breathing, they were allyouts formed by one¡¯s self. They did not need to be driven by external forces.


    Though the mental ne screamed with a storm, Luo Nan¡¯s dark chains merely trembled a few times. The chains did not try to wrest away power, did not try to take up ground, and did not try to forcefully obstruct the storm. Instead, the dark chains stably erected thoseyouts.


    Luo Nan¡¯s body and soul structure was like this from inside out, supported by the dark chains... Aside from his fleshly body, which wascking.


    The pressure was certainly still there. His nervous system was being stimted and there were effects on his skin, flesh, and organs. But this was nothingpared to yesterday night where he had nearly died from the imbnce between body and soul due to the Wraith Sign¡¯s power boost.


    He coughed a few times and breathed steadily. Huang Bingzhen¡¯s maimed wisp of a soul was affected by the chains¡¯ format and was stabilized. Faint light smoke billowed all around the soul, a portion of which came circting back. A bit of the figure¡¯s outline was restored.


    The chains then forcefully pressed down on this mangled smoke of a soul back into Huang Bingzhen¡¯s body. Flesh and soul merged into one atst but only god would know of any residual effects.


    "Tsk..."


    The pressure on Cat Eyes plummeted, allowing her senses to be much more responsive. Her eyes captured Luo Nan¡¯s entire series of actions and no matter how awkward she found it, she was forced to exim in admiration. "This is a Soul Quelling Technique! You took up a nice stance!"


    Huang Bingzhen may not have been a person worth saving. Luo Nan may not have had a good opinion of him but he had acted because he did not want to see a living person die like a candle being blown out.


    In addition, this was more or less a stance, just as Cat Eyes said. He wanted to convey the following to the powerful enemy¡ªyour methods of mental storms are useless against me and those who I protect.


    Cat Eyes was an example and the 90% dead Huang Bingzhen was an example as well.


    Luo Nan¡¯s deration on his stance was effective. The mental storm began to dwindle down when Huang Bingzhen¡¯s soul returned to his body. Subsequently, the enemy would asionally cause the storm to resurge but these should be a series of tests against Luo Nan¡¯s grounding. The enemy was testing to see how it would break through Luo Nan¡¯s structures but the enemy found no sess in the end.


    The mental attack was withdrawn but the senses still remained in existence. The enemy did not conceal its target at all. The enemy¡¯s mental senses were simr to Cat Eyes¡¯s high power active radar as they constantly covered the interior of the room. The enemy was dead-fixed on watching Luo Nan down to a prating level.


    In any case, the turmoil on the mental ne had calmed down a bit but the tension of the material ne¡¯s atmosphere was just getting started.


    Although Luo Nan¡¯s skills on the mental ne were truly inconceivable, ultimately they were not applied on the material ne. Ability users could see what he did but it was hard for ordinary people to see. They were on apletely different tempo.


    Guo Ju, who had been constantly yelling to vacate the area, denounced Cat Eyes even further when she cried out that there was a killer. He proimed that Cat Eyes was making things up.


    He was correct in a certain sense but unfortunately, his actions were meaningless.


    Xue Weilun was absolutely disinclined to take heed of him at this time. What Xue Weilun was focused on was Cat Eyes¡¯s warning and the nasally grunt that was brimming with ill intentions.


    The more time passed, the stranger Cat Eyes¡¯ and Luo Nan¡¯s actions became¡ªthey were clearly a bit nuts. However, Xue Weilun had more or less some knowledge and understanding of these ¡®certified professionals¡¯. They essed a level that was different to that of ordinary people.


    Out of consideration for the safety of those involved, Xue Weilun pro-actively deployed personnel and arranged a police cordon. Of course, he did not forget to ask the technicians to go search for the origin of the nasally grunt.


    Xue Weilun shifted focus. Guo Ju did not look too happy on the surface but Xue Weilun still sighed a breath of relief. From his perspective, it did not matter if the situation was in a deadlock or if there had been any changes in the situation. They were not important. What was truly importantid in the robots that followed their programmed operations.


    Three multi-function robots had already finishedpleting their transporting task. Thest remaining human body was none other than Huang Bingzhen. They put him on a stretcher. Their metal bodies were driven by their programming as they moved out the door.


    The people on the scene were disinclined to pay attention to the three hindering robots. In any case, the scene of the incident was nearlypletely destroyed. It did not matter how many people the robots moved¡ªit would not make a difference.


    Guo Ju, on the other hand, felt like his heart was about to burst. He looked out from the corner of his eyes and his focus was always on the body of the robot in front. He saw it make its way ahead as it dragged the stretcher. He finally let out a mental sigh of relief when the robot and the stretcher gradually left the room.


    He made it past!


    His relief had notsted for more than half a second when an enormous force attacked the stumpy metal machine in the next moment. The hundred kilogram body flew through the air with a bang, colliding fiercely against the panion¡¯ behind it.


    The three robots were struck flying back one after another like several dominoes falling down all over the ce. Their running operation was turned into aplete mess. They just struggled on the ground but they could not climb back up at all.


    Worst of all was the stretcher on the robot in the middle. The entire module was ejected and Huang Bingzhenid on the stretcher like a duck without feathers. He flew halfway across the room through the air and fell hard.


    The stretcher module was in the air a bit longer than Huang Bingzhen. When it fell, it just so happened to smack Huang Bingzhen in the face. After a muffled thud, there was actually the sound of moaning.


    He¡¯s alive?


    The situation had suddenly changed and Cat Eyes could not help but be distracted for a moment. Her gaze swept onto the naked duck and she gasped once again in admiration towards Luo Nan¡¯s brilliant skill.


    Just based on this alone, Luo Nan¡¯s achievements in soul studies was enough to cause Mr. Bai, an authoritative schr on the soul, to raise his brows in shock.


    Indeed, this fellow was quite the hidden boss. Who knew what sort of items were hidden in his stomach.


    But soon, Cat Eyes had to quickly focus her mind since there was someone who was gradually walking through what had been an empty entrance.


    A dazzling white was disyed under the dim lights.


    The person who arrived was wearing a snow-white loose-fitting robe, looking ipatible with the lively activity going on in the scene of reality. The person was wearing the robes of a priest, one that would only appear in religious events.


    Compared to standard clothes, the color of the robes was really excessive. Even though the lights were of messy colors, it seemed that all of the mottled rays were able to be reflected off, leaving behind a dazzling and pure white.


    Guo Ju was not too far away from the entrance. The collision and damage to the robots made his heart feel like it was about to burst. Now that he saw the dazzling white, a person suddenly came to mind. His beating heart instantly choked in his throat, clogging his throat so much that he would soon suffocate.

 Chapter 101: Fairchild (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 101: Fairchild (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    "No no no. They shouldn¡¯t know who I am." Guo Ju wanted to control his nervous thoughts and he did his utmost to remain calm. He wanted to turn his gaze away if he had the chance but doing so would be really suspicious.


    His only choice was to feign an expression of surprise or perhaps he should mix in a little bit of anger as well? However, the sparkling white before his eyes was the indelible source of his fear. He did his best to endure it for a second but all secondary thoughts were soon dispelled clean from his mind. He could only look over with trembling fear as he stiffly took in the information before his eyes.


    Guo Ju saw the tall and sturdy figure beneath the white robes. A bit further up the body was the deep and clear silhouette of a western face. The skin was a healthy tan color. This was not enough information to identify the person.


    However, when Guo Ju¡¯s gaze rested on the side of this person¡¯s face, he saw t scarlet red skin and flesh at the location where an ear ought to be. Guo Ju¡¯s eyes contracted entirely, as if they were pricked by a needle.


    Even though Guo Ju could only see one side of the face, Guo Ju was certain that the other side would be the same.


    "Truth bless... Oh damn, never mind!" Guo Ju could not endure it any longer. He turned his gaze to avoid further stimtion but this action was meaningless.


    For in this very moment, he felt his calves spasm and he felt a cold chill blow across his neck. The sensation turned fiery in the blink of an eye, it felt like his skin and flesh were splitting from being roasted.


    Guo Ju withdrew, pretending not to notice the personing in. However, Xue Weilun could not do the same. This fellow¡¯s sudden appearance was suspicious no matter how he looked at him, especially with those bizarre clothes. The man had to at least exin how he had gotten past the defensive perimeter arranged by the special police and had suddenly appeared within the room.


    Xue Weilun ced his hand to the side of his weapons holster and was just about to interrogate the man when the sounds of a series of bodies falling to the ground could be hearding from outside. The heavily armed special police equipped in exoskeleton armors had copsed seemingly simultaneously.


    Xue Weilun¡¯s reactions could not be described as slow during this time. He instantly pulled out his gun and opened fire. The hand railgun designed for the special police forces exploded out with fatal bullets but the end result was just arge hole sted through the door frame. The angle of deviation was enormous, exceeding the realm ofmon sense.


    Xue Weilun knew what had happened. An incorporeal bullet had prated his brain the instant he pulled the trigger. An intense jolt had caused him to lose control over his body. He tried to recover as he stumbled a step forward but ultimately, his control over his body had bepletely weak. It would be very hard for him to recover in a short time frame.


    Every single attack had happened on the incorporeal and formless mental ne. The enemy was powerful and possessed an extraordinary strength. Normal people were powerless against him.


    This man had cleared out the space in a few short minutes before he walked inside with leisure.


    Luo Nan saw that the pupils of this man were dark gray, giving off a feeling of destion and callousness. However, the fierce means disyed by this man increased the tension and uncertainty of the situation to its limits.


    Of course, Luo Nan also noticed theck of ears on the side of this man¡¯s face. With this sort of appearance, along with his tyrannical strength, this man must certainly be well-known in the world of ability users.


    At this time, Cat Eyes also saw this man¡¯s figure clearly. She moaned in the encrypted channel.


    "Big trouble now! It¡¯s Fairchild!"


    "Fairchild? Of the Order of Justice?"


    "Yes. The Ears of Truth. The mad believer of the Order of Justice!"


    Luo Nan was not blind. "That Guo Ju. He has responsibilities with the Order of Justice. Why does he have that sort of expression when one of his own is here?"


    "Humph, it is already quite admirable for him to not cry out for his mommy the moment that the ¡¯secr side¡¯ meets the ¡¯truth side¡¯, when shallow believers meet mad believers, or when the ¡¯exchangers¡¯ meets the ¡¯executioners¡¯."


    The Order of Justice was like any otherrge-scale organization. It was hard for internal strife to not appear, especially for religious groups where equal importance was ced on holy worship and concepts of faith. It was easy for something to go awry without the quelling of a powerful ¡®god¡¯.


    The holy object of the Order of Justice was the Scales of Truth that split things distinctly into ck and white. Within this order, the ¡¯secr side¡¯ and the ¡¯truth side¡¯ were just like opposite sides of a scale. One was ck. One was white. They were split into two.


    The two were as their name implied. One referred to the disorderly secr world. The other referred to pure truth.


    The truth side was displeased with the secr side performing an unbnced holy exchange. They believed that exchanging money, lust and dirty desires for the bestowment of the divine power of truth was grave spheme.


    The secr side scoffed at the harsh doctrine of the truth side, believing it too far exceed the realm of reality.


    The truth side of this order had begun a purification project at an unknown time. They executed punishment on those who performed excessive holy exchanges.


    The hatred between the two factions had been gradually umting and the so-called punishments had grown more and more vicious. Several Truth Executioners were born from this situation. Fairchild was one of the famous ones.


    He might not be the most powerful but his customary Truth Mirror punishment caused people to pale just from hearing its description. Its basic concept was as follows: The sinner must die under the same circumstances caused by whatever ability gained through the secr exchange.


    Luo Nan somewhat understood the situation now. It was no wonder that Fairchild ignored Huang Bingzhen¡¯s dying state. Looking at things now, Fairchild basically wanted Huang Bingzhen to die via soul annihtion.


    From the perspective of the truth side, it was quite disgusting for there to be people such as Huang Bingzhen living in this world!


    The problem was that Luo Nan had destroyed Fairchild¡¯s intentions.


    Fairchild did note to cause Luo Nan troubles immediately. He was following his duty as part of the purification project. He still had a target he needed to resolve.


    Not too far away ahead of Fairchild, Guo Ju did his utmost to calm down but it was useless. His entire body was shivering with fear because he was well aware that the tall andrge man standing behind him was seeking his life. This was a matter as simple as breathing for Fairchild.


    Fairchild walked to Guo Ju¡¯s side and sized him up a few times. His lips opened to utter in a deep booming voice. It was a sound that seemed to directly strike the heart from the eardrums. "You don¡¯t need to worry just based on yourself for now. You didn¡¯t break away from the real purpose of the exchange with the results of exchanging for a secr item using a secr price... But who gave you the right to engage in spheming the truth?"


    "I..." Guo Ju opened his mouth since he wanted to speak, yet he was unable to find an appropriate reason for his behavior. He did not have even an ounce of the courage he disyed before. The color of his face grew all the more paler as it neared transparency. What seeped out from within was entirely despair.


    Everyone else in the room was shocked speechless for a time. No one had ever expected that Guo Ju would fear Fairchild to this degree.


    The reputation and power this Executioner held within the Order of Justice was just more than one could imagine.


    "Seems like things aren¡¯t good."


    Cat Eyesmunicated with Luo Nan and He Yueyin through the encrypted channel. She inevitablyined about Luo Nan. "It would have been better to let that fellow Huang Bingzhen die. He¡¯s clearly scum... Oh right, what did they do to attract the Ears of Truth?"

 Chapter 101: Fairchild (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 101: Fairchild (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Cat Eyes must have forgotten that she had praised Luo Nan for adopting this stance. As for her current question, Luo Nan knew the answer to it.


    Luo Nan swept his gaze across the ground where Xue Weilun had fallen. He sighed a breath of relief as he confirmed that Uncle Xue had only received a mental attack and was not in any fatal danger.


    Luo Nan¡¯s gaze then fell onto the three scrapped robots. He pondered whether or not the special storage unit was still retrievable. The ¡®Faith Product¡¯ inside was installed for the sake of Huang Bingzhen, Guo Ju, and simr people. It was also the cause of today¡¯s matter.


    The unconscious Huang Bingzhen was blessed. The awake Guo Ju was stuck in aplete tragedy.


    Guo Ju¡¯s body was just like a shaking sieve right now as he gazed stiffly forwards. Fairchild stood behind him and whenever Fairchild asked a question, Guo Ju would answer. Not a single thought of whether or not his life could be saved crossed his mind. Fairchild¡¯s voice was like a fist that endlessly clenched and squeezed out everything inside Guo Ju¡¯s head. As for what would be left behind, only Truth would know.


    Thanks to Guo Ju, Fairchild¡¯s attention still remained elsewhere. Luo Nan and Cat Eyes had the chance of respite.


    Cat Eyes yelled into the encrypted channel, "Where¡¯s everyone else?"


    The encrypted channel began to flood with messages. A fellow named Red Fox, who was dispatched after Cat Eyes, arrived at the scene. He had already started to give up and retreat. "Fairchild? If I go in its a free kill for him. There¡¯s no point even if Kitty¡¯s there. Do we have any otherrades who want to go die?"


    Bamboo Pole, who Luo Nan had worked together with once before, had also been one of the people dispatched. "(Fox + Cat) x 2 is still a freebie for him. You guys actually still have enough life in you to send out information. It really is quite astonishing."


    Another person called Papercut divulged some practical information. "I¡¯ve personally witnessed this earless man in action. He took on the master of the Metal Storm head on. The Shield of Truth is simply broken. Are you sure you¡¯re still alive?"


    Bamboo Pole concluded. "Be smart about it. First, kneel. Make it easier for this dude of the Order of Justice to kill you. Make it a swift death..."


    At this time, He Yueyin transmitted more detailed information. "Though Fairchild is an All-Rounder type ability user, he¡¯s still the strongest in his power of faith. He is one of the few mad believers who is able to receive the holy force of the Scales of Truth and form the Shield of Truth. He bes unyielding and unshakable for at least ny minutes, gaining defensive ability on the level of an Extraordinary.¡±


    Cat Eyes¡¯s eyes twitched just reading all of this. "Hey, this information is useless. First, tell us how to deal with him?"


    "To all those dispatched for the operation and have yet to arrive on the scene, change your destination to the neighboring Haipu Hotel on Yn Block."


    "... What¡¯s the meaning of this?"


    He Yueyin responded calmly. "Fairchild has a tendency to go hysterical while executing his purification work. Currently, there is no one who is a match for him among the deployed personnel. They will just cause unnecessary stimtion for Fairchild. Thus, we must redeploy and avoid tactics that add oil to the fire. I¡¯ve already informed the Society. Powerful supporters will be simultaneously engaging in negotiations."


    "It¡¯s better to negotiate. This person may engage in great ughter within the Order but he keeps a low profile on the outside."


    Bamboo Pole proposed the following. " Kitty share your perspective with us. Let¡¯s put our heads together and make a n. We haven¡¯t engaged in direct confrontation yet. If we can reason with him and give each other some leeway, then things would be for the best."


    Luo Nan was unable to participate in this kind of conversation. After all, the target of this operation was no longer the Human-Faced Arachnid. There was a more immediate trouble in the form of Fairchild.


    But he was not beingpletely idle right now since Fairchild had his eyes on him constantly in a way others would find hard toprehend.


    Luo Nan was on the receiving end. He had to endure it.


    Atst, Guo Ju¡¯s cmity had ended. Fairchild approached from behind his back, no longer paying any mind to Guo Ju.


    Only now did Guo Ju bend his knees. His entire body kneeled softly to the ground. He watched Fairchild from behind in a daze. Fairchild swaggered within a dazzling white light. Finally, Guo Ju¡¯s head struck the ground as he lost consciousness.


    "Good news!"


    "There¡¯s a way out!"


    "You have to hold on."


    Several pieces of information appeared in the encrypted channel. Guo Ju¡¯s narrow, difficult, and lucky escape instantly gave the members of the Society some hope. Today, this Ears of Truth did not seem to have an especially intense killing intent.


    However, several people soon felt baffled. They had been watching from Cat Eyes¡¯ shared perspective and had noticed something. Fairchild¡¯s gaze deviated from their direction by a minute angle. It gave them a feeling of difort from just watching it.


    "Kitty, who are you looking at?"


    "Mr. Luo." Cat Eyes replied simply.


    Only now did several people realize that Luo Nan, the person who had begun the operation and had everyone gathered, had yet to speak for a long time since everyone starteding into the channel.


    "Hey hey, he¡¯s still alive right?"


    Bamboo Pole, who had once worked with Luo Nan, had a deeper understanding of Luo Nan than the others.


    From Bamboo Pole¡¯s perspective, Luo Nan was a professional in his field, being a psychic. At the same time, Luo Nan was an extremely young and inexperienced student. His psychic drawings were astonishing, but he did not disy any particr talent in handling affairs. On the night they worked together, every one of their actions was nned by Bamboo Pole and He Yueyin. asionally, Luo Nan would reveal something extraordinary like the time when Cat Eyes had courted disaster with him.


    This was to be expected though, now that he thought about it. If a 16 years old high school student¡ªwho immersed himself in self logic as a psychic most of the time¡ªwas able to coordinate social conversations, handle affairs, and do all kinds of things, they would not be a genius but a monster.


    Bamboo Pole had very practical concerns. Would this half grown kid be able to endure facing against the number one executioner of the Order of Justice?


    Not only did this require courage, it also required intelligence, experience, training, and even a little bit of luck.


    Luo Nan had yet to respond. Everyone in the encrypted channel was unsure if he had noticed these messages.


    "Kitty, what¡¯s up with your partner?"


    "Mmm, he has a lot of pressure."


    Cat Eyes shifted her gaze as she replied, letting everyone in the encrypted channel see Luo Nan¡¯s appearance.


    His appearance was just as Cat Eyes had described. Luo Nan¡¯s body and his face were clearly a bit frozen. His expression appeared lifeless; his gaze stared straight ahead, meeting with Fairchild¡¯s gray pupils.


    Both of them were expressionless but Fairchild¡¯s bodynguage was lively. His body was in harmony from top to bottom, revealing calmness, callousness, and might.


    As for Luo Nan, the muscles of his entire body werepletely paralyzed. Anyone could see his tenseness and pressure.


    "Hey, hurry up and wake up. Breathe and rx!"


    "He can¡¯t hear you."


    "We¡¯re screwed. He¡¯spletely suppressed."


    "It¡¯s already quite decent for him to meet Fairchild¡¯s gaze. How old is he?"


    "Fairchild won¡¯t give a damn about his age. That Huang Bingzhen isn¡¯t that much older than him!"


    Within this fuss, some people were baffled. "Why is he concentrated on Luo Nan? What is Fairchild thinking? Is he able to tell that Luo Nan is a psychic?"


    "Their order is absolutely notcking in psychics. They were founded on them in the first ce..."


    Waves and waves of information streamed through the encrypted channel. Some people used text. Some people used speech. Some simply used their thoughts. It was a mess of different methods ofmunication that formed a chaotic soup.


    But then in the next instant, all the chaos froze. Fairchild had opened his mouth. His deep voice clearly circted within the enclosed room.


    "Chains... Not bad."

 Chapter 102: Debating the Truth (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 102: Debating the Truth (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    "What chains?"


    Of the people participating in the encrypted channel, only He Yueyin had somewhat of an understanding. Everyone else waspletely lost.


    Cat Eyes had once experienced them before. She knew what they were but it was extremelyplicated for her to exin it to them clearly. She could only simply say, "It¡¯s a skill Mr. Luo uses on the mental ne."


    This exnation actually mixed up the nature and technique of Luo Nan¡¯s ability but no one was able to point this out.


    Luckily, Fairchild possessed his own view only. He was not able to receive the information from the encrypted channel. He spoke calmly in his deep and low voice, "Looking at your chains is like looking at an airtight prison. The rules, regtions, restrictions, controls...your prison possesses a feeling of orderliness that makes one pleasantly surprised. I really like it."


    This kind of evaluation in this kind of form was really unexpected. It was both admiration and idle gossip. Additionally, it gradually eased the tension that was previously in the air.


    This was a good beginning.


    However, there was still a problem. Everyone was able to tell that Luo Nan was not experienced at handling such situations¡ªhis responses were extremely slow. He had missed his best chance to talk. He did not respond at all while facing Fairchild directly even when the sound of Fairchild¡¯s voice faded away. He maintained his silence from beginning to end.


    From the perspective of the observers, the alleviation of the atmosphere barelysted for two seconds before turning back to being awkward and stiff.


    The encrypted channel was in a hubbub. "He wasted his chance!"


    Cat Eyes was able to feel things clearer since she was next to him. She was a bit worried so she stepped forward, wanting to rece Luo Nan in the conversation.


    She made a step, half blocking Luo Nan, and suddenly stopped. The words she had formed in her mouth could not be spoken for some reason. Her aura also became a bit weaker.


    She spoke with great difficulty, changing some of her words unconsciously. "Mr. Fairchild, we believe this is all a misunderstanding. We were chasing a Human-Faced Arachnid when we encountered this dirty secr exchange. We were also putting a stop to it..."


    Fairchild continued to be expressionless, he did not even nce at Cat Eyes. He just responded with some admonishing words. "The Truth stands at the forefront, the secr will give way in face of its superior strength."


    Cat Eyes¡¯ mouth gaped but she suddenly had nothing to say. There was a more direct cause besides Fairchild¡¯s callous words. She had suddenly discovered that there was a more dangerous and direct undercurrent beneath the awkward and stiff atmosphere.


    The dark undercurrent flowed on the mental ne. Itid in a deep region that Cat Eyes found hard to perceive. When Fairchild opened his mouth, a mental attack set off an enormous wave, allowing Cat Eyes to get a true peek at what was going on.


    The sound of the rattling dark chains fed back information continuously, bringing a scent filled with vicious danger. From this, Cat Eyes was able to confirm that Luo Nan and Fairchild were still engaged in an incorporeal contest by her side. She had actually beenpletely ignorant of it!


    Cat Eyes did not know when this contest had begun, how long it had been or when it had started. But at this moment, she truly felt that she was an outsider... And a blind one at that.


    Bamboo Pole discovered that something was off from within the encrypted channel. "Standing at the forefront? Fairchild really seems to view Luo Nan in a favorable light?"


    Cat Eyes did not respond. She was still recovering from the attack.


    In the end, Bamboo Pole did not understand the situation. He could only randomly guess. "This can¡¯t go on. Fairchild has already brought out his stance. If he doesn¡¯t get a response right now, or a response that doesn¡¯t reach his expectations, who knows what he will do. How is Mr. Psychic¡¯s achievements in research and theory? Soul studies and philosophy? Who¡¯s more of an expert?"


    "Also, skills shouldn¡¯t be involved in a conversation such as this. At Fairchild¡¯s level, he is able to differentiate between lies and truth. Regr speech is fine, just say whates to mind..."


    "I¡¯ll try."


    Luo Nan¡¯s sudden response stunned everyone in the encrypted channel.


    Actually, Luo Nan had constantly been paying attention to the information from the encrypted channel. He was extremely clear on what Bamboo Pole and Red Fox were discussing and their worries.


    Indeed, Luo Nan and Fairchild were still probing each other in their confrontation on the mental ne. Theymunicated in a special way but this did not mean that Luo Nan was content inmunicating in this way.


    He did not really feel too well because he was using his soul strength continuously. The pressure his body was taking on was gradually umting. Achiness, pain, stiffness... Various negative influences were transmitted throughout his whole body by his nervous system. The information was gradually fed back to form a vicious and increasing loop.


    If everything could be satisfied using simple words tomunicate, why should he take on these unnecessary risks?


    However, Luo Nan did not know what to say. His brain spun round and round but no matter how much he cranked, he was unable to find the perfect means for a response.


    He also knew thatmunication between two people could never be perfect. After all, fear and pressure were taking over. Stalling for time had its limits.


    Bamboo Pole¡¯s reminder more or less gave him a direction. What did he want to say the most when facing Fairchild¡¯s evaluation?


    Luo Nan stared unwaveringly at Fairchild¡¯s callous and calm face. Several seconds passed before he took in a deep breath and spoke softly, "Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Fairchild."


    "It¡¯s over!" The channel was in a mor. Cries that he was done for happened over and over. If Luo Nan had responded this way in the first instance, things would have been fine. But to wait until now to thank him, how long did that make his reaction time be?


    The channel was in a mess so He Yueyin, who had not spoken in some time, directly cleared it. She did not need to do this for Luo Nan had already given up on referring to the channel. He just said what he wanted to say.


    "This is one of the results of my grandpa¡¯s research. I call it ¡¯My heart¡¯s a prison¡¯. A prison¡¯s prison. It¡¯s erected on the basis of Formatting Theory..."


    His grandfather¡¯s achievements, his grandfather¡¯s Formatting Theory were the only things he could talk nonstop about like an unceasing torrent in this world. After all, he had spent five years of blood, sweat, and tears researching it.


    However, Fairchild did not talk to him to listen to a popr science version of an exnation. A couple of sentencester, Fairchild cut straight to the chase. He began to talk formally. "It has a marvelous operational method, forming special structures and functions. This is great. However, it has done a terrible job of tempering your body. Is this because itcks a system?"


    This was Fairchild¡¯s criticism towards My heart¡¯s a prison. Luo Nan knew that Fairchild was absolutely correct. However, in this moment, he felt he needed to reciprocate. "Mr. Fairchild, your mental storm alsocks orderliness and a feeling of tempo..."


    The people participating in the encrypted channel lost their voices when these words were spoken. They couldn¡¯t even say, "He¡¯s done for." Where did his boldnesse from?


    The people in the channel finally reacted with a series of warnings.


    "Calm down. You need to calm down!"


    "Hold on for now. Fairchild doesn¡¯t have any bad intentions."


    "You must not start a contention and make things worse for yourself."


    Unfortunately, Luo Nan no longer paid any attention whatsoever to the suggestions from the encrypted channel. He continued with his words and said.


    "Why is your mental storm like this?"

 Chapter 102: Debating the Truth (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 102: Debating the Truth (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan had thought of Rui Wen when he had opened his mouth.


    On that night, Rui Wen had broken the encirclement of Deep Blue Walkers. She possessed the power to seamless shift between the material ne and the mental ne to form absolutely powerful bursts of strength. She also possessed an unmatched ability to change tempos. Luo Nan could never forget this in his life.


    Luo Nan had yet to truly experience Fairchild¡¯s true strength but Rui Wen was above Fairchild just based on tempo harmonization.


    Fairchildcked a merged-as-one tempo. This made the pressure that Fairchild gave off in their confrontation on the mental ne intermittent and fleeting. It was hard for the mental storm attack to reach the level of Rui Wen¡¯s explosive power. Fairchild¡¯s tempo was evencking whenpared to Elder Mo Lun¡¯s of the Bloodme Order.


    However, was the gap between Fairchild and the two that obvious? Even withoutparing Rui Wen, a young girl, why was it that he felt this Ears of Truth possessed an aura greater than that of Mo Lun?


    This was what Luo Nan was puzzling over. If he were to purely use speech to express himself, he would touch upon various contexts and secrets. Even if he used over 100 sentences or 1000 sentences, he still might not be able to express himself clearly. Instead, he just used two or three sentences.


    Then, Fairchild just simply replied. "Why?"


    He had simply repeated one of Luo Nan¡¯s words. Then he took a step forward, causing the entire room to practically shiver in this moment.


    This was not an illusion. The equipment, the furnishings, and the human bodies that were standing, sitting, kneeling, and lying down jolted a bit. The three wrecked robots made squeaky shaking sounds.


    A dazzling halo emitted a glow from Fairchild¡¯s body. The lights defused from his chest outwards to instantly covered his entire body and illuminate the entire room. Every corner was without shadow. Every detail could be seen.


    And at this moment, the encrypted channel exploded with information.


    "Ah, ah, ah. It¡¯s the Shield of Truth!"


    "He¡¯s gone hysterical. One word and he¡¯s off."


    "He¡¯s really courted death. He¡¯s screwed..."


    "The negotiations? Back him up?"


    "Kitty run fast. Run fast!"


    Cat Eyes unconsciously took a step backwards but in the end, she did not make any further steps. This was because Luo Nan, who was in front of her, did not make a single movement when facing against Fairchild¡¯s terrifying pressure. At most he coughed twice.


    The pressure that Luo Nan faced was far greater. However, it was on the mental ne so he could manage it. He squinted his eyes slightly and watched the dazzling lighting and sounding from Fairchild¡¯s body.


    It was inevitable for the surrounding area to be influenced by Fairchild¡¯s aura when unleashed. The shaking was not limited to the room. It seemed that the entirety of Frost River Reality was shaking.


    Was Fairchild going to make his move? Luo Nan did not think so.


    At this moment, all that appeared before his eyes was an operational structure of energy and information erected upon a fleshly body as a foundation. It was limited by the material ne. This structure could not be directly observed like those built on the mental ne. The details and the like were unable to be clearly seen. Yet, most of its principles were transparently disyed.


    The material ne and the mental ne pressed and squeezed against each other. They mutually interfered with each other to form a vortex that could exist simultaneously on both the mental and material nes, spinning together to form a dynamic yet stable framework. Fairchild¡¯s mind and human body were merged as one within this framework. They supported each other and mutually affected each other.


    This was Fairchild¡¯s response.


    Perhaps it was hard for Fairchild to achieve Rui Wen¡¯s tempo of body and soul merging, of harmonized unification. Despite this, the state of his body and soul was erected as a stable and powerful structure. It gave one the feeling of a nuclear reactor containing an enormous power. Within this, the mental and the material interfered with each other and intense collisions urred at every operation. It was precise and harmonic. It was perfection.


    Luo Nan was dumbstruck for a time. He only understood the level of Fairchild¡¯s power just now. Additionally, this power far exceeded what Luo Nan had seen in any other person.


    If he had not seen this with his own eyes, he would have never imagined that an ordinary human could actually contain such an astonishing energy within their body.


    In the end, the storm set off on the mental ne was only the overflowing radiating heat of this nuclear reactor.


    Likewise, Fairchild¡¯s answer, if tranted into words, would require 1000 sentences to be described thoroughly. The step he had taken now made things utterly clear.


    The basis of these two¡¯s conversation was their confrontation on the mental ne. The dark chains and the mental storm. One attacked and one defended. They were striking each other at all times, probing each other.


    Everything they did was just to reveal a bit of their conversation. Using words to repeat what they had said. Compared to their exchanges on the material ne, perhaps what urred on the mental ne stuck closer to their real intentions.


    Luo Nan was forced to admit that he was perfect for this type ofmunication. It was simple and direct. It saved many meaningless words. Moreover, he did not need to disy a certain attitude. All of his intentions were disyed clearly within the mutual attacking and probing on the mental ne.


    There was only one problem. This kind ofmunication method was very tiresome. Luo Nan¡¯s soul could bear it but this did not mean his body could.


    As such, he tried to use words this time. First, he wanted to apologize for his mistake in judgment towards Fairchild¡¯s mental storm. "Apologies...however, I don¡¯t feel that my grandfather¡¯s theory is not systematic. The state that is manifested has its problems in only the method chosen. I amcking in depth of understanding due to inexperience."


    Nothing else really mattered besides one point, and that was Fairchild¡¯s evaluation¡ª he had called the Formatting Theory unsystematic. It made Luo Nan very discontent.


    The format of ¡®My heart¡¯s a prison¡¯ was the result of systematic research. It was only that Luo Nan had chosen an unorthodox method...He had taken psychotropic drugs to gradually reconstruct the format of his nervous system in order to obtain his abilities in the end.


    In this process, he had neglected the issue with his body. And also, he did not have a true understanding of the nature of the operational structure of energy and information during his previous five years.


    He was convinced that if he had time, if he could start over, he would be able to harmonize his body and soul much better. At the very least, the unbnce he had currently would not have urred.


    While justifying himself, Luo Nan pointed to his own body and pointed to Fairchild¡¯s body with a gesture. He used irvoyance to observe his own cranial nerves, spinal nerve structure, and nodes, which he had polished for a near week. If he had given these regions extra stimtion and tempering during thesest five years, then perhaps the results would have beenpletely different.


    "Damn, the hell is he doing?"


    "Is this an apology or is this an exnation?"


    "What is his grandfather¡¯s theory? Does anyone know?"


    Within the encrypted channel, the group of zealous people were all looking stupefied. Luo Nan¡¯s disconnected phrases and gestures were bizarre no matter who looked at them. He was iprehensible.


    They all spected, but if they were the ones up there, they would certainly have dropped the ball. But in Luo Nan¡¯s case, it seemed that Fairchild had yet to make a move... Not only did he not make a move, his dark gray eyes were cast upon Luo Nan¡¯s body in seemingly utter concentration.


    The heck was this? Communication between a nut job and a mad believer?


    Huh, they were surprisingly in tune with each other!

 Chapter 103: Giant Vortex (1/2)

    Chapter 103: Giant Vortex (1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    It was already 8 o¡¯clock in the evening. The drizzling sky rain was unending. Bamboo Pole opened his umbre and walked briskly yet calmy onto the street.


    An enchanting and beautiful woman quickly walked past him on the roadside. Sheined to herpanion in front of her in a low voice. Besides this irksome autumn rain, there had also been a light earthquake recently.


    Bamboo Pole continued looking all the way until the enchanting and beautiful women had faded into the stream of people. If he did not have a mission tonight, he would not mind having "a chance encounter" with this beautiful woman.


    As for how he would start hitting on her, there was no harm in saying: Actually, it wasn¡¯t an earthquake just now. Just two brothers with mental illnesses having a fervent conversation...


    Fairchild¡¯s voice came sounding over through the HexaEar, "Your order is reflected upon your soul. My order is reflected upon my body. Each of us has only perfected one side of the problem while trying to fix our w on the other side."


    "The difference lies in the fact that I can continue to seek a resolution. For instance, your chains... But you need to go through a challenging procedure in order to perform a systematic revision. The error lies in either the theory or in the choice, but neither will change the end result."


    This was the longest Fairchild had spoken tonight. He gave off the feeling that he was being drawn in due to being on the same path. It was seriously funny and strange to Bamboo Pole when he heard Fairchild¡¯s words... Wait a minute. Fairchild was implying that he was extremely interested in Luo Nan¡¯s ¡®My heart¡¯s a prison¡¯ format?


    If nothing else, if these words were spread, it would make this Mr. Psychic and his Formatting Theory be greatly known, resounding in Xia City.


    However, would things be that easy?


    Bamboo Pole had his doubts. He walked into Yn Hotel and took the elevator straight to the 89th floor. There was a restaurant on this floor and sitting at a desk facing the window was a young man wearing a red jacket. This young man waved to him.


    "Hello mate. This is the best location and it only costs 20 credits."


    Bamboo Pole¡¯s lips twitched as he walked over and sat down. "The best location is a block away. Kitty will be d to swap with you."


    With that said, he was able to clearly see the triangr amusement center two kilometers away by looking through the ss window wet from the rain.


    Red Fox¡¯s lips split into a grin; his expression was strange. "It felt great just now when the three buildings shook... The spaceship¡¯s about to take off."


    Frost River Reality had a very interestingyout. As a whole, its structure spanned three individual buildings, with each upying several stories. They were painted in two interweaving colors, space ck and silver white. They looked like a giant triangr spaceship stuck within the city, it looked like it would be able to fly into space at any time.


    Several minutes ago, Fairchild had released his Shield of Truth. It was an exaggeration to say that the buildings were shaking. Nheless, the intense stress radiating into the surrounding area had spanned across the material and mental nes to cover a wide space.


    Bamboo Pole encountered several people who thought that it was an earthquake while walking over here. A rough estimation would yield a range with a radius exceeding three kilometers. Fairchild¡¯s monstrous aura seriously overflowed the skies.


    However, Luo Nan and Cat Eyes were not really affected even though they were right in front of Fairchild. Perhaps, Fairchild was really treating them favorably.


    Bamboo Pole was one of the technical staff; he wasn¡¯t like Red Fox. Once Red Fox was on call, he had nothing to do. As soon as Bamboo Pole sat down, he took out a folded screen, which he always kept always by his side. He then began to work.


    He performed two or three operations and entered into the monitoring system of Frost River Reality and its surrounding buildings. Logically speaking, this was very hard to do even if he was proficient with electronics. However, the Society had always possessed a share of Frost River Reality. They had quite a few of the relevant privileges. He relied on the temporary privileges provided by He Yueyin in order to do this, which made things a bit easier for him.


    Over 1000 monitoring feeds were switching back and forth on the flexible screen. Only an ability user with super dynamic eyesight like Bamboo Pole would be able to grasp the crucial information within.


    Red Fox took a few nces at the flexible screen and he waspletely lost. "What is the point of doing these things now? Fairchild is abnormal. That radius of three kilometers means that he has thirty square kilometers of area control. On the contrary, he might be the ones monitoring us."


    Bamboo Pole did not lift his head. He continued to filter the images with his eyes. "That is way too exaggerated. The Shield of Truth¡¯s resonance range and control range are different. It has a proportion of ten to one, so it is very difficult to deal with. After all, it is a cultivation that fuses the body and soul. How can it be the same as mental senses?"


    "Oh, I actually forgot. You are an expert on Secret Orders." Red Fox let out a rxed breath. The ¡®earthquake¡¯ just now really caused him a dramatic increase in stress. He felt a lot better now.


    "Do not rx too early. Fairchild was never the type of person to keep a high profile. He actually let out the Shield of Truth without the slightest hesitation just now, covering thirty kilometers. He must have another objective."


    "And what is that objective?"


    "I do not know for now. Oh, there¡¯s an opening...tsk, there¡¯s trouble!"


    After endlessly cleaning up the monitoring feed, some people¡¯s images grew more and more distinct. Bamboo Pole took these images and uploaded them to the Psychic Wave Network. He copied the marking and pasted it into the encrypted channel, letting all those who were part of the operation see.


    "Kitty pay attention! The Order of Justice¡¯s secr side can¡¯t endure any longer. The Knights of Equity has already sent at least two small squads of ten people total. At least half of them have entered the scene..."


    Red Fox stared at the screen in astonishment. "Wow, do you see that guitar case? I¡¯ll use some points from this operation to make a bet. That is absolutely arge-caliber sniper weapon. Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t pose a threat to Fairchild. They¡¯ve already started to hold sniper positions. I¡¯m running out of patience!"


    An explosion of information flooded the encrypted channel once more.


    "Strange, previously, the secr side would stick their heads in the sand like ostriches when they were discontent. Why the difference now?"


    "Are they starting a religious war?"


    "The Order of Justice is splitting? Now that is good news!"


    "The problem is that we are caught in the crossfire!"


    He Yueyin¡¯s order cut through the hubbub. "Bamboo Pole, Yn Hotel is the best sniper point of the surrounding blocks. It has to be brought under our monitoring. Avoid direct conflict with the people of the Order by all means."


    "Understood... However, I am not abatant." This was not a situation where temporary privileges could be used. Bamboo Pole would inevitably have to run on to the control room.


    He stood up and just when he was about to move, Red Fox pped his thigh. "Look, who is that?... Zhang Yingying! That girl is participating in the operation? The heck is she going in for?"


    Bamboo Pole, after a moment of being stunned, adjusted the monitoring screen. He saw Zhang Yingying and a tall, beautiful women wearing a jacket walk shoulder to shoulder into Frost River Reality. The two had their arms hooked together. They chatted andughed as they walked. They appeared very intimate and were very eye-catching.


    However, the jacket wearing women¡¯s extrasensory perception was sharp. Her gaze suddenly faced the monitoring cam, meeting face to face with those observing her.


    Her hazel pupils were bright, beautiful, and moving. But that expression and her empty smile brought some indescribably deep meanings.


    Bamboo Pole inexplicably felt that this woman was very familiar but he was unable to think of who she was in this short while.


    Before this thought could finish, Red Fox gave him another push. "Look!"


    From their perspective, they just so happened to see a low altitude flying shuttle pass in the skies above Frost River Reality. With the fuzzy rain as a backdrop, He Yueyin¡¯s slender and tall figure fell in freefall.


    "...she even made us go on standby!"


    "This isn¡¯t the main point. The main point is, will Frost River Reality still exist when this is all over?"

 Chapter 103: Giant Vortex (2/2)

    Chapter 103: Giant Vortex (2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    There were some differences between Frost River Reality now and in ordinary times.


    The most popr time in Frost River Reality was normally around 8 PM at night. At first nce, there was a hoard of people in the reception hall. However, most of these people were departing or were loitering around to take looks.


    There had been a brawl, an earthquake, police intervention, and the arrival of a few batches of special forces. In addition, there was an ambnce sending people off. No matter how bold the yers were, they all had some concerns.


    The employees of the amusement center did not really do anything towards this. A group of supervisors followed the police¡¯s request for cooperation, as discussed between Xue Weilun and Frost River Reality¡¯s manager, Yin Le. They did not hold any expectations towards tonight¡¯s profits. They just let the police rummage around.


    This was precisely the scene that Zhang Yingying encountered when she entered Frost River Reality. She could not help but sigh. "If that earthquake monster makes an attack here, everyone in the reception hall will be exterminated. This flock of ignorant andmentable people... So what does it matter if we break thew on purpose?"


    Bai Xinyan shrugged. "One must take into ount trustworthiness and moral values. For instance, doctors have a responsibility towards their patients till the very end."


    Zhang Yingying reached out her hand to touch Bai Xinyan¡¯s face. "Los Angeles sure has amazing stic surgery techniques. Your skin must be ten times thicker than before?"


    Bai Xinyan¡¯s eyes rolled. Her mouth turned as she sought to bite Zhang Yingying¡¯s finger.


    Zhang Yingying backed off while giggling. Just when she was about to speak some more, her eardrums slightly vibrated. The HexaEar transmitted. "Hello, don¡¯t waste too much time. How can you make us great masters wait?"


    "Bamboo Pole you peeping Tom!" Zhang Yingying hissed. "You must be the one who was controlling the surveince cams just now."


    "I¡¯m monitoring! Besides executing my task, I also need to avoid capturing you guys on camera. Anyways, that hostile aura is super distinct. Don¡¯t you guys feel it?"


    "Are you talking about the earthquake monster? Of course, we know. However, right now, I¡¯m keeping a guestpany and bringing her to meet a person. White Salt has a patient here."


    "White Salt?"


    Bamboo Pole¡¯s voice suddenly spiked up an octave. "Are you sure? Is she the one wearing the tan jacket next to you? Tsk tsk. It¡¯s been several years and her style has suddenly changed. I still have an impression of her wearing a white researchers gown in my heart... Does she have a boyfriend yet?"


    Zhang Yingying rolled her eyes and another message cut through theirmunications. "Hello, Mrs. Zhang."


    "Secretary He, Vice President He!" Zhang Yingying clearly elongated her tone when she saw themunications number disyed. Zhang Yingying did not have the least bit of a good impression towards this new acquaintance who had exposed her weak nature and pressured her to go training at the bottom of the sea.


    Zhang Yingying noticed that Bamboo Pole had disconnected the instant the newmunications cut through. She had a rough idea towards why¡ªone does not visit a temple without a cause; there was always an ulterior motive. This contact was probably rted to the mission that Bamboo Pole had just mentioned. Humph, He Yueyin was really putting on airs.


    However, He Yueyin had no intentions of trying to regain friendly rtions. She directly informed Zhang Yingying of the current situation. Since time was of the essence, she did not include too many details. She just introduced the important points. Only now did Zhang Yingying learn the identity of the earthquake monster just now.


    "Luo Nan is in direct confrontation with Fairchild? Is he seeking his own death?"


    "It looks likes Fairchild won¡¯t harm him for now, but what will happen next? It is very likely that he will be drawn into the conflict between the truth side and the secr side of the Order of Justice. We need a few reinforcement points right now, to be prepared for idents... Can you join?"


    Zhang Yingying was speechless for some time. She had introduced this kid with great potential into the Society. Why was it that now it seemed that Luo Nan had be a troublemaker that specialized in getting involved with matters over and over?


    She did not think it over too long. She nced at Bai Xinyan. "It¡¯s no problem for me to join but I have a friend..."


    "Bai Xinyan?"


    "Huh, you know her?"


    Bai Xinyan raised an eyebrow when she saw Zhang Yingying cast her gaze at her. In the next moment, her wristband vibrated. She saw who it was and immediately burst into a smile.


    "Hello, sis. It¡¯s been a long time. How are you doing?"


    Zhang Yingying¡¯s eyes bulged open. She wanted to open her mouth and ask but she saw that Bai Xinyan and He Yueyin were chatting enjoyably and freely. Zhang Yingying could only gesture repeatedly with her hands for some time. She was trying to convey.


    "How do you know her?"


    Bai Xinyan just blinked her eyes toward Zhang Yingying. Then she gave He Yueyin a definite reply: "...Not a problem. No matter what, I¡¯m at least half part of the society. And it has been a long time since I¡¯vee back to Xia City. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s the level of the people here. It is good for me to have a chance of close observation."


    However, she did notpletelyply with He Yueyin¡¯s ns. She hesitated for a moment and said, "Do you have any tactics that are more proactive? Right now, the situation is very messy. The most important issue is to rify just who is our friend and who is our enemy."


    This dialogue was not kept hidden from people. The participating members of the operation, such as Bamboo Pole, were able to hear it through He Yueyin¡¯s channel. They had the same feeling.


    This operation was a hunting operation with a Human-Faced Arachnid as their target but it had changed into a battle encounter with Fairchild, the Ears of Truth. Immediately after, it had turned into an inner conflict of the Order of Justice.


    The continuous shifts of conflicts made people at a loss for what to do... They really only came here to surround and hunt a Human-Faced Arachnid.


    Unfortunately, strong characters appeared one after another with continuously increasing might. The situation had turned into a giant vortex. The momentum grew more and more ferocious. It looked like the situation was headed in no direction at all. They only acted as support and reinforcements, yet the pressure was enormous.


    In fact, right now there were already people who hadpletely given up and turned tail. Red Fox never had a strong desire to fight. "Right now, the Order of Justice is having an internal catfight. It isn¡¯t appropriate for us to participate, right? Secret Orders areposed mostly of madmen. If a full-blown war is ignited between the Society and this order, who will take responsibility?"


    When there¡¯s one, there are two. Immediately, there was someone named Metal Box giving Red Box a ¡®like¡¯. This Metal Box had yet to arrive at Yn Hotel, but he did not want toe anyway. "The Society¡¯s mission briefing talked about a Human-Faced Arachnid. Where the hell is this damn Human-Faced Arachnid? I just see Fairchild. How will the points be divided and calcted when the mission is over? This mission is far too unreasonable..."


    The Wilderness Explorers Society was never an organization that possessed powerful binding uses. Additionally, it was hard to truly expect strict obedience from a group of ability users. For example, in thest operation that targeted a Human-Faced Arachnid, ck Beetle did not follow a single one of He Yueyin¡¯s words. He just withdrew and experienced no repercussions afterwards.


    Moreover, this operation was turning more and more chaotic. People had an excuse to quit and get away from it.


    With these words from Red Fox and Metal Box, even Bamboo Pole was emotionally affected for a moment. This was despite the fact that he had a bit of a friendship with Luo Nan through jointbat. Now, what about the others?


    Zhang Yingying just entered the encrypted channel and saw this scene that seemed to be on the edge of copse. She was stupefied for a moment. She turned to look at Bai Xinyan, not knowing what to say.


    Bai Xinyan still had a sweet smile just as before.


    That is about right. She was not a member of the society. She did not have a HexaEar. She was unable to see the changes within the encrypted channel. Right now, she was even waiting for He Yueyin¡¯s reply.


    However, before He Yueyin could reply, a surging wave was conducted outwards from Frost River Reality¡¯s internal activity area. "Attack! Terrorist attack! Area A¡¯s special forces were ambushed in the room. The bunch of them died..."


    The information that was transmitted was not particrly clear. However, a young man and a young woman had just met up in front of Frost River Reality¡¯s entrance. The pair found it hard to talk to each other and they were particrly susceptible to this information. After a moment of shock, the young man rushed inside the reception hall without saying any words. The young woman was unable to stop him. She shrieked.


    "Xue Lei!"


    This shriek was like a fuse suddenly set ame. In addition, the young man¡¯s powerful figure burst through the crowd, bringing chaos. The crowd in the reception hall exploded a secondter.

 Chapter 104: Balancing (1/2)

    Chapter 104: Bncing (1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Within the room of Area A, Cat Eyes spat out a nervous breath, forcing herself to shift her attention away from the mess within the encrypted channel. But when her gaze changed directions within the room, it still fell onto the two people that were continuing tomunicate with each other. She still felt that the big quarrel within the encrypted channel was a much happier ce to be.


    When the entire situation was mixed into a rotten mess by the stormy vortex, the eye of the storm centered on certain people. These people were stillpletely unaware.


    Disregard Fairchild¡ªhe was one of the most powerful ability users in Xia City. He could enter the ranks of Extraordinary.


    As for the other person, just why!?


    Before this thought could finish, Cat Eyes saw Luo Nan unconsciously take a step forward, closing the distance between him and Fairchild to be within three steps. They were so close that it seemed that they could reach out and touch each other... Actually, Luo Nan really did reach out with his hand.


    His hand waved out at an angle and it looked like it grazed the top of Fairchild¡¯s head. Fairchild did not bat an eye. Instead, he maintained thatpletely serious and focused look.


    Luo Nan withdrew his hand and spread it out. "This is waste heat you have here."


    "I agree with this description."


    "It¡¯s waste heat. How can you control it?"


    "I am precisely facing this issue."


    "My issue with my fleshly body requires a dangerous procedure to resolve it but it can still be done in theory. Your issue is fundamentally based on an error with logic. How can you possibly resolve it?"


    Cat Eyes could not help but caress her forehead. She felt that the train of thoughts between Luo Nan and Fairchild had already entered a level that outsiders could not understand. And their words were trending deeper and deeper into abstraction.


    Luo Nan did not about care what others thought. Everything was fine as long as he and the person he was facing¡ªFairchild¡ªunderstood as well.


    Ever since Luo Nan had wanted to expound on whether or not Formatting Theory was systematic, Luo Nan had tried to use words to substitute the exchange on the mental ne. He still had some influence from it and he was convinced that he was best suited to this sort ofmunication method.


    Luo Nan and Fairchild revolved around the core that was the structure and order of the mental and material nes. Continuously deeper discussions led to the rules of the mental ne. The order of the material ne. The interference and influences between the two. Body and soul merging and tempo changing. And more...


    Many things were involved and Luo Nan only understood half of it. Either that or he knew how things were but not why they were so. However, no matter what sort of thoughts and questions he tossed out, Fairchild was able to understand and respond. Fairchild used the near-perfect Shield of Truth state to give the most direct examples.


    Likewise, Fairchild¡¯s self-exnatory state was able to draw resonance and insight within Luo Nan. Luo Nan stood on the theoretical foundation of Formatting Theory. Hebined self-practice with the exquisite demonstration he observed on that night between Rui Wen and Jack. He was able to put forth things that could make Fairchild¡¯s eyes glisten, like soul configuration, body and soul merging, soul breathing, and so on.


    Luo Nan¡¯s muddled and chaotic thoughts gradually became rified through these course of events. The most notable rification was in the field of mutual interference between the material and mental nes. Some things were apparently right but actually wrong, so they were rooted outpletely. His mind was clear, unprecedentedly clear.


    Inparison, the pressure his body was facing was really nothing.


    However, as these two rified their reasonings, an unseen vague contradiction appeared.


    The contradiction mainly urred with Fairchild.


    When this Ears of Truth saw the ¡®My heart¡¯s a prison¡¯ Format and the advantages of soul breathing, he gave great praise to the orderliness that they brought to the mental ne. However, no matter how much he wanted to achieve these things, they were not something that could be achieved by observation alone.


    The structure of Fairchild¡¯s body and soul could be seen as a nuclear reactor. It was a powerful structural system that had its foundation mainly established on the material ne, therefore its main area of effect would also lie on the material ne. This was reflected in his powerful physique and extraordinary levels of defensive ability.


    This was a powerful structural system. It possessed high degrees of order and was rtively sealed off. The mutual effects between the body and the soul would find it hard to break free from their respective positions, no matter the side. Because this was so, Fairchild was able to obtain the powerful force of a strong fleshly body and simultaneously have a limitation on the development on the mental ne.


    The storm he formed on the mental ne was only the recycling of the spillover heat of his nuclear reactor.


    Luo Nan was able to ce himself on par with Fairchild but he could take out Rui Wen as an example and do aparison.


    Rui Wen¡¯s body and soul merging pursued the seamless shifting between multiple nes. She could rapidly jump between the different frequencies of the material and the mental. She possessed adaptability, improvisation, and explosive power that were inconceivable.


    Fairchild was fixed to a single level, a single frequency. He took his structure and refined it to the peak, slowly expanding its range of influence.


    Luo Nan was able to take note of the merits and drawbacks of these two different methods. He could only say that if Rui Wen and Fairchild were to swap cesst Sunday night, the particle cannon that was fired at the artificialke in the park may not have had an effect.


    However, rewind a little bit more. If Fairchild was in the situation of being sent into unconsciousness by the controlling pulse to his brain, it would have been very hard for him to wake up by himself. He could only get trampled on.


    Of course, if one wanted to make Fairchild go unconscious with the pulse, it would be better and more straightforward to just roast his brain.


    From Luo Nan¡¯s level of understanding, Fairchild had enough power. His nuclear reactor, the structural system that was formed from the secret cultivation technique¡ªthe Shield of Truth that came from the Order of Justice¡ªhad already exceeded all imagination in terms of firmness and stability.


    However, this was far from perfect in Fairchild¡¯s perspective. "The goal of cultivation is to explore the Truth. We need to observe the world in a moreprehensive manner to discover the deeply hidden marvels of the world, to make the order of the world definite... Nothing is more important than observation. Observation is how humanity understands the world. Giving order to the world is the most crucial ability!


    "Currently, I have already reached the limits of what I can probe at the level I can ess. My current structural system is limiting my observational ability. I am unable to increase the depth of it and I am having a hard time making progress. This ispletely uneptable..."


    Then do you know that there is someone staring at your steel-like body with a salivating mouth?


    Luo Nan understood what Fairchild was pursuing but Luo Nan did not believe that he was headed in the right direction. "The reason why your observation is limited is because of your structural system itself... I call it the high degree of order with Self-Format. Right now, your Self-Format is constantly influencing and disturbing your external surroundings.


    "Your Self-Format absorbs negative entropy, causing an increase in entropy to appear with the Heaven and Earth Format of the external world and generating waste heat. It is normal for there to be disorder and ack of tempo. The fact that you are able to make use of your format isn¡¯t really proof that you¡¯re able to cast free from this format and start anew. It just shows that your expansion of the controlling range of your Self-Format endlessly warps the Heaven and Earth Format, the format of the world. Through this, you influence the mental ne from the material ne. As for me, I do theplete opposite. I influence the material ne from the mental ne."


    From this perspective, Cat Eyes¡¯ judgment that Fairchild was an All-Rounder type was incorrect. Fairchild intrinsically was still on the material ne. He was a physical enhancement type from head to tail. However, he was powerful to the peak. He was able to form an astonishing interfering force on the mental ne.


    Luo Nan thought of when he had understood soul breathing and had a dramatic increase in soul strength. He was able to interfere from the mental ne to the material ne to form an aure, a shadow image, and bizarre forms. This too ought to be a manifestation of waste heat.

 Chapter 104: Balancing (2/2)

    Chapter 104: Bncing (2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Theory and practice confirmed one another, allowing Luo Nan to feel his mind grow clearer and clearer without obstruction. He stopped caring about whether or not he was wrong; he just spoke his mind. He took all the thoughts within his mind and through words and demonstrations on the mental ne, he disyed it all down to the bone.


    "For a Self-Format that¡¯s mentally focused, one only needs to concentrate on the rationality of the operational structure of energy and information, on whether or not it is efficient. Changes and revisions can be done at any time but when ites to the fleshly body, changing it is extremely difficult. It is like an inspiring illusion of a designer. The designer could bring out a refined rendering but there would always be a distance from a practical application."


    "For a Self-Format that¡¯s materially focused, one needs to consider the paths of the inner organs, blood, nerves, muscle, bones, and so on. The precision required even includes aspects like cells and biomacromolecules.... This is like the work of an architect. Every kind of material has to be given sufficient consideration. Every single structure needs to be practical."


    Luo Nan did not say these things without thinking. These were the subtleties that were embodied in Fairchild¡¯s demonstration just before. The micro level fine structuralposition moved and amazed Luo Nan with its perfection, even if it was just the tip of the iceberg.


    "Observation is the vocation of the mentally enhanced. Observation is used to experience and understand the operationalws of all of the world¡¯s living beings and try to predict a more refined and effective operational structure of energy and information. Oh, it could be called ¡¯configuring¡¯. One seeks to form a perfect pre-configuration."


    Luo Nan felt more and more that the word ¡®configuration¡¯ that Jack had mentioned was really concise and marvelous. He could not help but use the word once more. "For a physically enhanced, one should focus on the practical reconstruction of the configuration in order to manifest control power and alteration ability towards the material ne... However, you use a materially focused ability to do work that is mentally focused. Obviously, this is very hard to do sessfully. This defies the materialws!"


    Fairchild let Luo Nan talk and demonstrate without end. Even though there were many things that were banal within Luo Nan¡¯s words, even though Luo Nan was repeating things over and over, Fairchild listened quietly from beginning to end. This was because he knew that Luo Nan was not trying to lecture him or prove something. Luo Nan was justbing through his own understanding once more.


    Thissted until Luo Nan rified the distinction between the mentally focused and the materially focused. Fairchild then asked simply, "Why can¡¯t one bnce the two and attend to both?"


    "Bnce?" Luo Nan suddenly stopped and was a bit lost in thought. "Yes? Why can¡¯t it be bnced? It is clearly possible..."


    Fairchild mentioned this without thinking. However, Luo Nan had a real life example.


    Rui Wen who was still in aa. Even though she had a slender figure, she was a young girl who possessed inconceivable abilities. Her short few minutes of ughtering attacks were the most brilliant of demonstrations given to Luo Nan.


    Luo Nan had once believed that the two different methods of Rui Wen and Fairchild each had their own merits but right now he suddenly discovered that Rui Wen¡¯s configuration of body and soul merging was the greatest refined model in revealing the effects of having the mental and the material ne in equilibrium.


    From Luo Nan¡¯s current level understanding, it was nearly perfect.


    "This is enough!"


    Cat Eyes¡¯ had reached the limits of her patience during Luo Nan¡¯s idleness. It was aplete disaster within the Society¡¯s encrypted channel. Metal Box had withdrawn from the operation and Red Box and Papercut were also on the verge of quitting. The situation that He Yueyin let unfold had long since turned different from the powerful style she exhibited before.


    Cat Eyes was one of the people trapped in a dangerous situation waiting to be rescued. Naturally, she felt upset. And right at this time, this dude¡ªLuo Nan¡ªwas still speaking dialogue that turned back and forth from suddenly being enigmatic to being clich¨¦... Fairchild could bear it but she could not.


    Cat Eyes simply smacked Luo Nan on the back. "Nobody¡¯s getting anything done on the outside... Huh?"


    Luo Nan fell straight forward when he was hit by Cat Eyes¡¯ palm. Luckily, Cat Eyes had quick reactions and managed to grab onto his shoulder. Otherwise, he would¡¯ve fallen headfirst next to Fairchild¡¯s foot.


    Remember, Cat Eyes had shared her perspective. Not a bit of Luo Nan situation could be hidden from the encrypted channel.


    He Yueyin¡¯s cold voice cut across, "What¡¯s going on?"


    Zhang Yingying eximed in astonishment, "Heartbreaker Palm! You!"


    Cat Eyes was bbergasted. God knows what happened. Luo Nan, this kid, had a critical imbnce between his body and soul but this was not enough to make him this weak!


    Fairchild had a different reaction to Cat Eyes¡¯s nk response. He was not surprised at all. He just shifted his gaze towards an area above with no object in sight.


    Over there, Luo Nan responded awkwardly. During his selfless demonstration on the mental ne, he had actually subconsciously let his soul pull some distance from his fleshly body. This one ident caused his soul to leave his body.


    Luckily, he had cut deep into the mental ne. Fairchild, who had been constantlymunicating with him, was able to lock onto his position.


    Going into the out-of-body state was not that bad. However, his fleshly body had to suffer the consequencester on.. Luo Nan sighed and was about to head back to his body when Fairchild¡¯s thoughts cut across, continuing the previous dialogue just as before.


    "Bncing isn¡¯t apromise, rather it is a revision that is purer. Have you had a taste of it before? Merging with the rays of Truth is like sleeping within a womb. Every breath links together the inner and outer world. It is truly breathing out the old and breathing in the new, getting rid of filth and bringing in purity..."


    Fairchild had made a description that was a bit abstract and confusing but his sincere emotions fused with the storm on the mental ne, allowing Luo Nan to have a blurry personal experience.


    "We can give it a shot. Come help me."


    Anyone else would have been confused by Fairchild¡¯s expression of words. Luo Nan, however, was able to understand without any difficulty. Intense curiosity suddenly overflowed from his mind, causing him to forget the fact that he was still in an out-of-body state. The dark chains then shook to strike Fairchild¡¯s mental storm.


    Luo Nan¡¯s dark chains constantly remained on guard amidst their direct exchange no matter how long it was. However, the attacker and the defender were intentionally switched this time around.


    The dark chains pressed down on the mental storm for the first time, pressing into Fairchild¡¯s controlling range. The power of the ¡®My heart¡¯s a prison¡¯ format was instantly used, taking the orderliness that this format possessed and sending it into the depths of Fairchild¡¯syer of waste heat, the mental storm.


    Luo Nan was increasing his hold in a way, like when he did so against Rui Wen and Ink.


    In an instant, Luo Nan¡¯s consciousness briefly cut into Fairchild¡¯s range of mental senses. A three-hundred meter radius area was brought into his irvoyance.


    The resulting cross-section covered a vast space of 300,000 square meters. The entirety of Frost River Reality was covered. A high-speed flow of energy and information rapidly converged with a bang. They went through a special configuration that filtered and analyzed the energy and information, arranged them into levels, and made them distinct and concise.


    Fairchild closed his eyes as he quietly took in this wonderful experience... The marvels of this experience were not as simple as experiencing an all-epassing perception.


    Observation brought with it order, and order is the Truth.


    At the same time, observation brought with it pressure.


    For Luo Nan, receiving the information from Fairchild¡¯s mental senses was like taking the hits of a giant il revolving at high-speeds; his entire soul was trembling violently. Though Fairchild¡¯s range of senses was inferior to his, Fairchild¡¯s level and depth of understanding far exceeded Luo Nan¡¯s. It was like a super-rich nutrient, and it gave Luo Nan difficulties that were beyond his capabilities.


    If Luo Nan was not in his out-of-body state and was in his fleshly body, then he would have vomited blood. However, in his out-of-body state, Luo Nan was able to feel the strength of his soul have some clear growth under Fairchild¡¯s stimtion and he was unable to suppress it.


    "What the heck are you up to this time?"


    An emotion like a bitterugh surfaced in Luo Nan¡¯s heart as Fairchild made a sudden step towards Luo Nan. The snow-white gown fluttered to reveal a fist that had been concealed inside. The fistunched straight out, smashing into the chest of Luo Nan¡¯s unconscious body.


    A radiance like liquid mercury circted and surged between the tip of Fairchild¡¯s fist and Luo Nan¡¯s chest.

 Chapter 105: Sniper Power (1/2)

    Chapter 105: Sniper Power (1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Cat Eyes was like a giant cat with puffed up fur the instant Fairchild unleashed his fist. She pounced forth.


    A powerful jolt was transmitted from Luo Nan¡¯s body the moment she supported him by the shoulder with her hand. She felt like she had been electrocuted and her hand was flung off. Her entire body then took the attack.


    However, her touching Luo Nan was not the most key factor for her intense response.


    In this instant, it did not matter whether it was within the encrypted channel or her intrinsic senses. Intense warning signals were sent shooting everywhere. What was troublesome was that the warning signals and stimtion had many firing points going off in different directions, different intensities, and different distances. Together, they built a giant of danger that made one¡¯s scalp go numb. Cat Eyes¡¯ split second decision skills were now tested to their limits.


    However, Fairchild¡¯s single fist wiped out at least ny percent of her options off the table. Only a single viable path wasid bare before her eyes.


    Luo Nan¡¯s unconscious body was flung even faster than Cat Eyes¡¯ hand. His body flew into the air and smashed into the wall behind with a loud bang. A quicksilver-like radiating glow permeated Luo Nan¡¯s entire body with its illumination the instant he collided. The glow then faded without a trace.


    Luo Nan¡¯s body lost all strength and fell, sticking to the base of the wall and sitting on the ground.


    Cat Eyes moved backward to arrive at Luo Nan¡¯s side. However, she did not bring him up. Instead, she pressed against his neck, pushed him down, and got down beside him.


    The instant shepleted these series of actions, two thuds sounded out from the sound-proof wall of the room. Several adults were blown away by the explosion of wall-instion, drywall, and other particles of building materials through the wall. A cloud of turbid smoke and dust hung in the air, covering more than half of the room.


    However, the dark red curves of ballistic trajectories soon cut this cloud of dust into bits and pieces. Special rounds bombarded one after another against the ground and walls to explode in sequence. They broke apart the smokescreen as the sound of powerful lightning interweaved together. The interior of the room was transformed into a sheet of ruins in an instant.


    As one could imagine, if Luo Nan had remained in his previous position, he would have turned into swiss cheese in the blink of an eye.


    Someone else was also within the scope of danger, Xue Weilun, or Officer Xue. He had taken Fairchild¡¯s mental storm attack earlier on and had sat dazed on the ground. He was in the middle of recovering with all his might when the torrent of bullets came pelting down. Fragments and dust had flown through the air, enveloping him within.


    When the wave of attacks arrived upon Xue Weilun, he did not receive any fatal damage due to the exoskeleton armor he was wearing. Instead, he waspletely awakened from the dazed state of his soul. He performed a few tactical movements by instinct and ducked into the corner at breakneck speed. In the end, he managed to avoid the brunt of the attack.


    The others in the room were not as fortunate. The two police officers, who had tried to drag Luo Nan and Cat Eyes earlier on, had been background characters for quite some time. However, this wave of attacks caused them to fall instantly. It was unknown whether they were dead or alive.


    Guo Ju, who had been kneeling unconscious all this time, was the worst of the bunch to be hit by the wave of attacks. Large caliber sniper rounds had struck his back and the upper half of his body had been smashed to smithereens. Flesh and blood sprayed everywhere. He could not be more dead than he was now.


    The astringent smell of blood assailed them,bined with a boiling killing intent that was like an invisible roasting me. The sensations assaulted Cat Eyes¡¯s perception, forcing her to shear them endlesslyyer byyer. Only in doing so was she able to eliminate these interferences and grasp the crucial information.


    But the problem was that the enemy knew very well the absolute power and unparalleled defenses of Fairchild¡¯s Shield of Truth. Long ranged firepower may have low effectiveness but it was still the only option. No one would want to get near within a hundred meters of Fairchild.


    This left Cat Eyes with no chance to disy her long-range perception ability.


    The original target of the hail of fire was the Ears of Truth, Fairchild. He withdrew his fist upon striking Luo Nan and sting him away. He did not adopt any particrbat stance. Instead, the aura with a luster like quicksilver enveloped his body, circting him and looking very thick. No matter the projectile, all the rounds lost their kic energy right before this inconceivable aura. The powerful sounds and lightning of the rounds were also blocked by the aura.


    It was a marvel that defied thews of physics. Cat Eyes could feel a slight chill seep through the cracks of her teeth. She felt a deep sense of unfathomness.


    Fairchild¡¯s disy was of high luminosity and thus attracted most of the firepower. Cat Eyes and Officer Xue now had a chance to catch their breaths.


    The sounds of miserable shrieking, crying, and moaning was endlessly heard. Though several of the yers of Frost River Reality had left the site after the series of incidents, there were still a few people remaining. They might have fainted or they were just onlookers but these people did not evacuate immediately.


    Two snipers of the Knights of Equity had opened fire and two ballistic trajectories of bullets had cut through the area, turning the region into hell on earth.


    The degree the room was ruined far exceeded the chaotic and miserable outside. Aside from the shock bullets from the very beginning, with their explosions reaching 170 decibels, no one had uttered a sound from beginning to end.


    For some people, it was toote. For some people, the situation made no sense. There was also Cat Eyes. She caught two big breaths, took all her emotions, and poured it into the encrypted channel.


    "How can you all make it so easy for the Order of Justice to deploy two sniper positions!?"


    Bamboo Pole revealed a helpless expression. "We didn¡¯t even know if we were going to make a move. What could we have done? Also, who could have possibly imagined that the Order of Justice would cause this big of a mess? Internal strife should be handled in a special manner."


    He sighed and continued providing information on the immediate situation. "Right now, the Order of Justice is sending people inside without end. Aside from going inside Frost River Reality, a portion of their people have gone to the top floors of the surrounding three buildings. My ability to monitor those regions have been blocked. I don¡¯t know what they¡¯re doing. I just sent a request to the Society formandeering a satellite or an atmospheric monitoring balloon. However, it may be too slow to meet our pressing needs."


    The wavering Red Fox had been by Bamboo Pole¡¯s side all this time. He supplemented with his ownints. "The Order of Justice already has people stationed where we are at right now. I don¡¯t know when but they¡¯reing to take over the control room! Damn! Everything¡¯s going downhill. Where are the negotiators of the Society?"


    He Yueyin¡¯s response was simple. "The three First Otums of the Order of Justice have cut offmunications. We are unable to contact them."


    Zhang Yingying tsked twice. "From my recollection, those First Otums are all of the secr side. What a coincidence. There are three buildings surrounding us. One First Otum for each building..."


    A strange silence suddenly emerged within the encrypted channel. A full two seconds passed before Zhang Yingying whistled. "Yep. Secret Orders are filled with lunatics. We shouldn¡¯t need to pick a side in their civil war right?"


    He Yueyin skipped over this topic. "Verify Mr. Luo¡¯s state."


    "He¡¯s still not dead yet," replied Cat Eyes unhappily. She looked over Luo Nan¡¯s face a few times and added, "His eyelids are moving. If he¡¯s not pretending to be asleep, his brain is in a state of low-conscious activity. Perhaps he is trying to understand that iron fist of love from Fairchild? Damnit, I¡¯m just guessing over here!"


    Cat Eyes¡¯s answer represented the views of nearly everyone in the encrypted channel. They might have been surprised by Fairchild¡¯s fist strike, but they were not worried about Luo Nan¡¯s safety. This was probably the power of a dialogue between a nutjob and a mad believer. Their means of conversation could not be held tomon sense, so those in the encrypted channel should not engage in further absurd spections, less they also became infected by mental illnesses...


    Cat Eyes¡¯s brows shot up at this time. She keenly sensed a change in the outside world. "The attack is over. Did you guys make a move?"


    "Not at all." Zhang Yingying expressed her innocence.


    However, He Yueyin did not reply. In the end, it was Bamboo Pole who made a confirmation. "Secretary He got rid of one. For the other sniper, a buffd has rushed in the fray. He looks very familiar. Oh, I remember now. It was the little fellow who held off ck Wolf at the Limestone Water Vige. It seems that Mr. Luo¡¯s ssmate has arrived. Is he really not an ability user?"

 Chapter 105: Sniper Power (2/2)

    Chapter 105: Sniper Power (2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    "I think the kid¡¯sst name is Xue. He¡¯s probably the disciple of that martial arts master. He sure has guts." Zhang Yingying failed to protect Luo Nan on the night at Water Vige Pub but this young man had made up for her mistake. She had a rather deep impression of him.


    Bamboo Pole expressed his approval as well but he soon added, "Isn¡¯t he a bit hot-headed? He¡¯s alsocking inbat experience. He¡¯s not even able to lift his head due to the suppressive fire on him..."


    "Zhang Yingying go support him," ordered He Yueyin directly.


    Zhang Yingying shrugged, "Sorry, you and I don¡¯t have that great of a rtionship."


    Those words fell on deaf ears as He Yueyin continued to give orders. "Upon destroying the sniper point, advance counterclockwise along the perimeter and clear out all opposing personnel carrying loaded weapons. There is no need to pay attention to the enemies who are purely ability users. Bamboo Pole will coordinate with you."


    "Hello!?"


    He Yueyin no longer paid attention to Zhang Yingying. She gave out order after order. "Bamboo Pole, first establish amunications link for White Salt. Give her secondary level rights to the encrypted channel and then mark out all enemy personnel carrying loaded weapons. Do your best to get it all on video for archiving purposes."


    Bamboo Pole understood He Yueyin¡¯s intentions. "What a good n. The city government and the military have just pointed their long ranged weaponry over here. They are using weapons of high destructive power as a warning to all parties. We are all good citizens of the city, right..?Let¡¯s make it clear!"


    Themunications link with Bai Xinyan was established while Bamboo Pole was talking. Bai Xinyan¡¯s wristband then vibrated and arge quantity of information came flooding into her wristband.


    Bai Xinyanughed as she conscientiouslybed through the information with a lowered head. At the same time, she gave Zhang Yingying a wave with her other hand. This youngdy was full of discontent but she could only look towards the sky and roll her eyes before turning stealthily to go to the location indicated by Bamboo Pole.


    He Yueyin¡¯s manner of speaking grew a bit politer as she said, "White Salt. You¡¯re in charge of getting your patient, Mr. Nan, out of there. Is that alright?"


    Bai Xinyan responded with all smiles. "It is a doctor¡¯s duty to help the dying and save the injured. However, are you sure that Fairchild would like us getting involved?"


    He Yueyin returned to a manner of speaking that waspletely cold. "This has nothing to do with him."


    After a moment¡¯s pause, He Yueyin spoke to Bamboo Pole. "Help me establish anothermunications line."


    The two sniper points were no longer suitable locations, resulting in the Knights of Equity having a lot of their follow-up tactics forcibly severed. It was not an easy task to find a suitable location within theplicated interior of the amusement center.


    An unusual moment of peace actually appeared within the ramshackled room. There were only four survivors inside and the one who did not understand the situation the most was likely Xue Weilun. In any case, this diligent police officer had the most misgivings right now.


    His gaze and his equipment scanned from the other three people within the room and his unconscious underlings outside. The concentrated wave of fire just now had mainly targeted the interior of the room. The special police outside had protection with their exoskeleton armor and their vital signs were rtively stable at this time. All of this information appeared in hismand data.


    Xue Weilun ought to be happy but when he saw the battered body of Guo Ju and the two regr police officers who were toote to be saved, his emotions grewplicated and he could not calm down.


    In the end, his gaze fell to the center of the room, resting upon the white-gowned man who had been calm all this time. This was the man who had brought upon these series of disaster, yet this man viewed them as if they were nothing. The concentrated shrapnel was merely the drizzle of an autumn¡¯s night from this man¡¯s perspective. The drizzle touched his body with its moisture but he did not get wet.


    This kind of monster should not exist in the ordinary world of man. This monster, with his immense pressure, stood on a slope that was levels high above. He could run over the bewildered and the weak like a flood and cause terrifying injuries.


    It was rare for Xue Weilun to be emotional but at this time a static noise came through his transmitter. A voice containing hesitation emerged out from it. "... We can patch thems this way? It can¡¯t be that easy to break into the data link of the police, right?"


    Though the radio distance was far and the signal was intermittent, Xue Weilun was able to tell who it was without a doubt. His heart instantly clenched up. "Leister! Is that you?"


    "Hello? Dad, are you really okay? I¡¯m with my friend Nanster right now. Everything is fine."


    On the other side of the call, Xue Lei did his best to make his voice appear calm. However, there was a problem; a father knows his son the best. Xue Weilun was able to sense and infer things from the minute sounds of breathing from his son. More so, there was a gaping hole in his son¡¯s faux words that ¡®everything is fine¡¯ and this hole was clearly ced in front of him.


    Xue Weilun¡¯s mind spun as he seethed with anger. "You entered the site? Are you counting on your Three-Legged Cat Martial Arts? I never should have sent you to that dojo in the first ce. Don¡¯t you know what kind of situation this ce is in right now!?"


    However, how could it possible for Xue Weilun to worry about other things in this moment of desperation? His roaring voice rushed out from his armor and resounded within the ruined room.


    Separated by a distance of several hundred meters, Xue Lei could only shrink back as his old man lectured him in a torrent of abuse. Next to Xue Lei, Zhang Yingyingughed in great delight... It did not matter who was out of luck, she would always find pleasure in it.


    "Xue Lei, are you listening to me? Get the f**k out of here right now..!"


    Xue Weilun¡¯s roars swept and spilled out all around the broken room¡ªnot even an echo was produced. However, Luo Nan, who had been pressed to the ground by Cat Eyes, twitched twice with his eyelids. He then opened his eyes.


    "Oh, Leister¡¯s here now?"


    "You¡¯re awake?" Cat Eyes was a bit astonished, "I thought you were going to y dead until the situation is over."


    ying dead? Cat Eyes was obviously mocking him. Luo Nan could onlyugh in response but soon he discovered that he and Cat Eyes were lying shoulder to shoulder next to each other. They were extremely close. Close enough to smell each other¡¯s breaths. It was more or less embarrassing.


    Luo Nan turned over and sat up. Just this one movement caused fine sounds to creak from the flesh and bones of his entire body. His body was stiff but soon it rxed. He stretched his neck, his expression rather subtle.


    Cat Eyes remained prone on the ground. She asked with a frown, "Hellooo, aren¡¯t you scared of being sted in the head by a gun?"


    "They haven¡¯t been cleared out yet? The remaining long distance snipers are withdrawing."


    Cat Eyes felt that their current positions were far too awkward. Upon hearing Luo Nan¡¯s irrefutable words and pondering for a moment, she just simply sprung up and shot a cold eye at Luo Nan. "Do you know the situation?"


    "Generally," said Luo Nan freely, his gaze never leaving Xue Weilun who was to the side. This father was angry to the point of stomping his feet.


    No matter how calm and steady this Uncle Xue was, he too would have this sort of appearance when seeing his child in danger. Viewing such interactions was really quite interesting.


    "You¡¯re really taking things leisurely."


    Cat Eyes¡¯ furrowed brows furrowed even tighter. Luo Nan really gave off this sort of change upon awakening. It seemed that his characteristic of being a nut-job had strengthened. At any time, he could sink into trains of thought that outsiders had no chance of understanding.


    The problem was, though you may be a nut-job, not everyone else was a mad believer like Fairchild!


    The instant Cat Eyes thought this, the mad believer Fairchild finally made a move after standing calmly all this time. He leaned and walked two steps, attracting everyone¡¯s gazes in an instant.


    Even Xue Weilun put lecturing his child on pause when he saw this. He watched Fairchild with rapt attention.


    The three multi-function robots, which Fairchild had trampled out of operation, blocked the front of Fairchild. By now, these robots had already been baptized by the hail of special bullets. They wereplete scrap now and even their system self-test function had been stalled.

 Chapter 106: Words of Krait (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 106: Words of Krait (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Fairchild stood in front of the three piles of scrap, sweeping his gaze across them. The partially warped metal structures, then seemed to be sliced by an incorporeal de. They split one by one.


    When the three piles of scraps crumbled apart, the figure of a person was unexpectedly shown.


    It was Huang Bingzhen. While this brother was unconscious, he had been pressed down by the stretcher and blocked by the robots. There had been absolutely no trace of his existence. He had actually survived the hail-fire of bullets just now; he was just injured by the shrapnel. He just so happened to wake up from the pain at this time and he started to moan for help.


    Fairchild reached out his hand. Of course, this action had nothing to do with Huang Bingzhen. In the next moment, a metal box shot up noiselessly among the pile of metalponents and fell into Fairchild¡¯s hand.


    "Is that the storage unit containing the Human-Faced Arachnid?" Cat Eyes¡¯s gaze scanned the metal box. It was hard for her to corrte the image of that arachnid with this box.


    The dead and damned Guo Ju had been quite detailed in describing the course of events during his confession to Fairchild. Cat Eyes, with her long-range perception, naturally did not miss it.


    Stowed away in that metal box was the barest core of the object that sparked today¡¯s events... It was the raw source and key information that could construct the Human-Faced Arachnid. All one needed was to use a special method of reconstruction with this box and a Human-Faced Arachnid would pop out of it in minutes. Even if this arachnid was an imitation, it could pass as the genuine article and possessed formidable might and capabilities.


    The disy before Fairchild had been like a farce because the pilot of this Human-Faced Arachnid had been Huang Bingzhen. Huang Bingzhen was moaning in agony on the ground right now in a very clumsy manner.


    Fairchild quietly sized up the metal box with extreme and serious attention. He was so intense that everyone else present was subconsciously holding their breaths. They feared disturbing this person. They feared causing a situation.


    A voice then suddenly rang out at this time, "Fairchild, don¡¯t you even feel an ounce of regret when facing this masterpiece?"


    Everyone else in the room ate a sudden shock. Cat Eyes was worse off; she felt a shiver run down her spine.


    The voice had been transmitted into the room in a very bizarre manner.It emerged out of nothing within this ramshackled room. The voice was low, feeble, and tapered. The words came out in a low hiss, as if spat out by a snake. Though the voice carried this special characteristic, Cat Eyes was unable to sense anything about it at all. The voice had rung clearly within her ear but she was unable to grasp any clues from it. Her so-called long-range perception had turned into a mere decoration.


    Within the encrypted channel, He Yueyin then uploaded some information.


    "The Secretbound First Otum. The Words of Krait."


    In this moment, all those with an understanding of the organizational structure of the Order of Justice in the encrypted channel shivered with fear.


    The Order of Justice was a world-scale secret order. They took equivalent exchange as their core doctrine and made oaths upon it. They¡ªespecially their secr side faction¡ªvalued their doctrine to a degree impossible to imagine for ordinary people. Many core secrets and esoterica relied on strict, callous oaths to be maintained.


    The witnesses to these oaths, ranked from low to high, were the Clearsworn, the Secretbound, and the Mindseer. They were also executors and punishers. They were the axis of power of this entire order¡¯s system.


    Though the Secretbound First Otum was ranked in the middle of the First Otums, this priest had a status that was higher than the other duties in the Order of Justice by an entire level. The Secretbound was a high ranking member, a diplomatic officer of secrets. The Order of Justice may be a secret order on a world-scale but there were only a hundred or so Secretbounds in total. On average, each metropolis only contained one or two of them.


    As such, every Secretbound First Otum oversaw a region. They were in charge of enormous power. In terms of political status, the Society would need to take the leader of their Xia City Branch, Ouyang Chen, to match in reciprocity.


    But further thought proved the emergence of a Secretbound to be no surprise; this was a wrestling of power between high levels of the Order of Justice. The Ears of Truth Fairchild had an impressive reputation for his strength on the world level. He was infinitely close to the realm of an Extraordinary.


    Looking at the situation from this perspective, the events so far in Frost River Reality were nothing more than a show of extravagance. Those that woulde to suffer would be the innocent civilians in the bloodbath and the misfortunate tiny ability users of the Society.


    "Damn it! I¡¯m done here!"


    Red Fox could not hold back from expressing his discontent within the encrypted channel. "This isn¡¯t a problem on the level of a city fire. It¡¯s a battle between gods! Normally, it would be toote to hide but we actually bumped into this with eyes wide open..!"


    No one in the Society responded for a time but that was because Fairchild spoke in response to the Secretbound, "Though this piece of work is quite refined, it is still a toy that satisfies the sphemer¡¯s sinful desires. I don¡¯t see the qualifications for it to be called a ¡¯masterpiece¡¯."


    The Secretbound First Otum used the mystic technique of the Words of Krait tough softly. As for his whereabouts, not a single person knew.


    "Oh Fairchild, I need to remind you of something once again. Your logic can be ced upon the two sides of the Scales of Truth in a perfect exchange. Is this your reasoning? This holy object, this sacrificial vessel, can sustain our Order, but it is also a giant toy that satisfies the sinful desires of our believers?"


    Fairchild¡¯s expression did not change. This was not the first time that such debates had urred. He understood extremely well that it was meaningless to use words to retort. "An Weng, you just need to understand one thing; this object won¡¯t return to your hands. Yourughable ¡¯holy exchange¡¯ will ultimately be reduced to a senseless dream."


    "So, you have chosen to cooperate with the ability user society?"


    The moment An Weng uttered these words, all the members of the Society sharing Cat Eyes¡¯ perspective felt a shock run through their mind. Despite this, Fairchild did not really react. These kind of words were tantamount to the most serious of usations. One misstep would spark a sh between these two world-scale organizations, the Order of Justice and the ability user society.


    Unfortunately, Fairchild was disinclined to exin anything. "I¡¯m just cleaning up the believers that desecrate the truth."


    A subtle jolt ran through the room when these words were let loose. The quicksilver-like aura upon Fairchild¡¯s body rippled and all information circting within the channel were shredded to pieces as the Words of Krait were blocked.


    Fairchild then lowered his arm to take the metal box with the white sleeves of his robe. No one knew what he was going to do with itter on.


    However, this series of dialog caused an uproar to ur within the encrypted channel.


    Red Fox was the most emotional. He directly let out a shriek. "We¡¯ve been done in good this time! Fairchild is too heartless, taking advantage of the situation for his own benefit. Screw your ¡¯cleaning up¡¯! Screw your cooperation! Can¡¯t you talk clearly!?"


    Zhang Yingying had entered the channel a bitte and she had not really paid much detail to the chat history. She was ignorant of the situation and watched the chaotic scene with enjoyment. "That metal box must be very crucial. Hopefully, we won¡¯t have to fight for it with a lot of effort..."


    "The Human-Faced Arachnid is stored within this box and Guo Ju was supposed to retrieve it. Though I listened to his exnation, he said something about downloading?"


    Bamboo Pole was a technical member, so he was more concerned with the technical issues. He asked Cat Eyes, "What did Guo Ju say earlier?"


    Cat Eyes had begun sharing her perspective in the middle of Fairchild¡¯s and Guo Ju¡¯s dialog exchange. Most of the people within the encrypted channel did not receive theplete information. Naturally, they were still confused.

 Chapter 106: Words of Krait (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 106: Words of Krait (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Cat Eyes felt an iing headache. Complicated theory was involved and Guo Ju had been in a muddled state of mind; some aspects were spoken quite vaguely. There were many parts of it that were iprehensible. She could only simply say.


    "Apparently this was the most sessful experiment that the secr side has made in regards to the Human-Faced Arachnid. If they continued their research, their ultimate target would be mass-production? Is this right?"


    "..."


    "Hellooo, I¡¯m asking you." Cat Eyes gave Luo Nan a prod.


    Luo Nan was a bit surprised. "You¡¯re asking me?"


    "Who else can I ask? This is the matter that Fairchild seeks to resolve. You and he were chatting so delightfully. Did you rify the matter?"


    "This matter was of no value to our discussion."


    Luo Nan shook his head with sincerity. The conversation he and Fairchild had was mainly in the field of the mutual interference between the mental and material nes. The Human-Faced Arachnid Exoskeleton Armor was a construct that purely existed on the mental ne and it was a simple model at that. It could not even be considered to be a soul configuration. What was there worth discussing?


    Cat Eyes could not refrain from rolling her eyes. So it turned out that this guy was still in his nut-job mode.


    Red Fox was highly anxious all this time and had long since had grievances. He could not hold back from letting out several dozen tsks within the encrypted channel before sneering bitterly. "Mr. Luo. Master Luo. Our group of people is braving the great danger of a vicious conflict with the Order of Justice to give you support. Are you saying that we¡¯re doing this for the sake of something that is ¡¯not worth discussing¡¯? Alright then! You sir are really something! It¡¯s fine for me to not be at your beck and call then!"


    Red Fox walked away with his hands swinging upon speaking these words. Next to him, Bamboo Pole saw that things were going down a bad direction and grabbed Red Fox. "Wait! Calm down! Luo Nan didn¡¯t speak clearly. The topics that he and Fairchild discussed were more abstract; they didn¡¯t necessarily touch upon this matter..."


    "And you understand the abstract topics they talked about? Is it for this that we followed him, hand and foot? I said early on that today¡¯s mission never had a clear objective from the very start. Our duties aren¡¯t clear. Our group of people came here in a fluster based on the directions of a nutjob. I haven¡¯t seen a Human-Faced Arachnid in this operation yet. Instead, we got ourselves stuck in the middle of the Order of Justice¡¯s internal strife. And the result? Their main leaders didn¡¯t even make a move yet and we¡¯ve gathered our people brazenly to wipe the area with great toil and effort. He he, he¡¯s the henchman of the Order of Justice, the Vanguard of Civil War. Has a nice ring to it, don¡¯t you think?"


    Red Fox anger exploded. If he was not involved in this incident, he would haveugh away instead, taking Luo Nan¡¯s and Fairchild¡¯s exchange as a joke.


    However, Red Fox and Bamboo Pole were in the control room of Yn Hotel right now and they had left a bit of a trail. The Knights of Equity were here to seize a sniping position. Sooner orter, they woulde ughtering inside. It would be hard to avoid conflict. Red Fox would have been fine if Luo Nan had truly exined the course of events clearly, said words of apologies, and added a word of thanks. However, Luo Nan only said that these things ¡®weren¡¯t worth discussing¡¯. How insensible could this kid be!?


    Moreover, Red Fox had a deeper concern. "The Society has yet to issue a clear statement as of yet. Expert reinforcements have not arrived. There¡¯s no trace of coordination. If we really do discuss this matter with the Order of Justice, what value do we have? Are we the first wave of cannon fodder? Or are we being set up to be the fall guys?"


    Bamboo Pole continued to try and persuade Red Fox. "You¡¯re overthinking it. President Ouyang is not that kind of person..."


    "Everyone has a dark side, you just haven¡¯t seen his! Or, do you think that this situation can be contained within the scope of Xia City? Everyone, brother and sisters, y¡¯all still haven¡¯t figured it out? The situation is already catastrophically enormous! These secret orders are experts in these topics of faith. They make a big fuss over minor issues. They will always believe themselves to be politically correct. Right now, we don¡¯t even have proof that we¡¯re not aiding Fairchild. Or don¡¯t tell me that we¡¯re going to send them our conversation log to prove our own innocence?"


    It was now He Yueyin¡¯s turn to try and persuade him. "Red Fox..."


    "I¡¯m talking with Boss Nan right now. You can go shut up, secretary!" Red Fox grew angrier the more he thought about things. He did not give face to anyone. He scolded whoever dared to speak.


    The state of the encrypted channel turned very awkward when these words were spoken. Red Fox clearly demonstrated that the only person he wanted to talk to was Luo Nan. Anyone else who opened their mouths would just be pouring oil onto the fire.


    Luo Nan had been lost in thought for a few moments before discovering that he had turned into Red Fox¡¯s target. He really was not that insensible. He just did not really think things over too much. He had spoken too bluntly¡ªthat was all.


    The Faith Product, which he had dubbed the Human-Faced Arachnid Exoskeleton Armor, was essentially a simplified model of a soul configuration. Having seen the on-site demonstration with Huang Bingzhen and having his Wraith Sign as a true reference, Luo Nan could very well create his own Human-Faced Arachnid Exoskeleton Armor. All he needed to do was to collect enough negative emotions. This was not hard to do. It was not that big of a deal.


    On the other hand, this was not Fairchild¡¯s realm of expertise. If they really discussed this topic, Fairchild would not have as clear of an understanding as Luo Nan. Luo Nan felt that he was quite wronged for a time.


    But on the other-other hand, the report warning about the Human-Faced Arachnid was made recklessly. Additionally, he had ignored He Yueyin¡¯s instructions by directly entering the site of the incident. This led to the continuous change and esction of the situation. Indeed, he had made mistakes prior.


    Though Red Fox hadined constantly about the many changes in the mission objective, he still followed along from beginning to end. Right now, he was about to be involved in a frontal sh with the Order of Justice. Things were extremely dangerous for him. He really did have a basis for his anger.


    Luo Nan did not mind making apologies nor did he mind saying a few buttery words. However, the current context was quiteplicated. He really did not know what response would be the most appropriate.


    He looked at the person closest to him, Cat Eyes. Cat Eyes was holding her arms to her chest and had a callous and reproaching appearance that said, "Looking at your awkwardness makes me feel great." However, Cat Eyes had her right arm sticking out to the side. Two fingers stuck up from them and then hooked downwards a few times. Her meaning was to have Luo Nan lower his head and admit his mistakes.


    She was constantly sharing her perspective, so she used a method that was covert to make it hard for others to discover what she was doing. However, this sort of signal was far too vague.


    At this time, two friends transmitted messages through the HexaEar¡¯s personal interface to Luo Nan simultaneously. One friend was He Yueyin. The other was actually Zhang Yingying.


    "Apologize to Red Fox. Trymunicating with Fairchild and clear up the matter with the Human-Faced Arachnid."


    "Speak a few words to Fairchild. Do some formalities. Red Fox has made manyints. Just give him a way out and things will be fine."


    The content of the two messages was different but the meaning was the same. Both sought to teach Luo Nan ways to alleviate the situation. He Yueyin¡¯s method followed her style. However, Zhang Yingying¡¯s words came as a bit of a surprise to Luo Nan.


    What Luo Nan wanted was none other than these concrete instructions. He let out a breath of relief and responded obediently within the encrypted channel. "I¡¯m sorry, Red Fox. I didn¡¯t really think things over just now. Let me talk with Fairchild once more..."


    Luo Nan was also mulling things over as he spoke. Though Red Fox had spat out a pile of angry words and some of its content was quite understandable. The biggest problem that their group of society members faced right now was their unclear status with the Order of Justice¡¯s internal strife. They were subject to critique, and they did not have any substantial proof to their own innocence.


    Luo Nan even went to a level deeper in thought. He already understood the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s configuration but he had nothing to support his words. There was not enough proof if the Society wanted to negotiate with the Order of Justice behind the scenes. The only true conclusive proof was naturally that metal box within Fairchild¡¯s hand.


    Luo Nan more or less had an understanding of Fairchild¡¯s nature. At most, Fairchild would do a verification of the storage unit. After that, it was highly probable for Fairchild to simply destroy the unit. That would be really quite the waste.


    Luo Nan¡¯s mind was clear. He spoke to Fairchild. "Mr. Fairchild, if you¡¯re not going to use that storage unit... Why don¡¯t you leave it with us for verification and safekeeping?"


    Cat Eyes: "?"


    He Yueyin: "..."


    Zhang Yingying: "!"


    Red Fox: "F**K! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?"

 Chapter 107: The Shield of Truth (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 107: The Shield of Truth (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Red Fox was not the only one exploding with anger when Luo Nan let these words out of his mouth; everyone in the encrypted channel was exploding with anger.


    "You all saw it! You all saw it!" Red Fox was drained of all his energy by the time he finished reproaching Luo Nan. His roaring turned into a moan. "I knew all along that this bastard was aplete weasel..."


    "A true idiot."


    Zhang Yingying smacked her face with her palm and felt too embarrassed to face anyone. She was unable to meet Xue Lei¡¯s eyes, even though he was looking at her as if he were looking at a lunatic. Just how naive was she? She actually believed that this kid, who waspletely serious in being hired as an office worker, would be able to fix this matter!


    Though Bamboo Pole believed himself to possess the calmness and collectedness of a technical worker, he could not but help say, "In the future, it would be better to not let him speak and just have him draw his psychic drawings..."


    Truthfully speaking, Luo Nan¡¯s words just now made everyone speechless.


    If this was a request, it was too presumptuous... After all, Fairchild had made his stance very clear towards Secretbound First Otum An Weng. The metal box was a crucial object that Fairchild would not even negotiate with An Weng over. Why would he give it to you, Luo Nan? One bad move and Fairchild would be hostile.


    If Luo Nan was negotiating, well he was being absurd... Right now, what the Order of Justice¡¯s secr side eyed was none other than this metal box. This group of people would engage in open ughter without the slightest hesitation, even if it was in the middle of a bustling city center! They possessed that kind of resolution and determination. This metal box was something that burned and scalded the possessor¡¯s hands yet you want it? What kind of mental disease do you have?


    Actually, Luo Nan felt that his own words were a bit odd after they had left his mouth. He saw the reactions in the encrypted channel and feared that he had made yet another mistake.


    However, Fairchild had already turned to look at him. They locked gazes and after some brief thought, Fairchild nodded. "If you want it... here."


    Fairchild tossed the metal box over upon speaking. He was direct and efficient.


    "Don¡¯t catch it!"


    "Can you not be so precarious!?"


    "Look! This is what it means to push the boat with the current, to take advantage of the situation!"


    The encrypted channel was filled with voices of fussing. However, Luo Nan could not just p the metal box back to Fairchild. He reached out with his hand instinctively and five fingers touched the metal box. The box still retained a bit of heat when it entered his hands, it was like the residue heat of a high-speed, high-operation instrument.


    At this very moment, half of the people in the encrypted channel howled in grief and the other half maintained their silence. This sort of atmosphere was simply like the end of the world.


    How could he be so stupid to do such a thing? How can he be so stupid beyond saving?


    Nevertheless, Luo Nan was a bit annoyed. He was able to ept criticism and he was willing to admit that his level of social skills was not very high but did it validate this damn atmosphere? They acted like the sun was going to explode in the next instant!


    This metal box yed such an important role in this entire course of events thus far. This should have been obvious to everyone from the moment Guo Ju began his confession to Fairchild!


    He took a breath and let out some information in the encrypted channel. "Isn¡¯t this storage unit the Order of Justice¡¯s research? The conclusive proof of the experimental Human-Faced Arachnid?"


    "Yoho? Master Luo feels like he¡¯s been wronged?"


    Red Fox gave a coldugh. "Conclusive proof? Based on an externalponent of a robot? Based on a one-sided speech of a dead man? Or is it the cryptic exchange between Fairchild and the Secretbound First Otum? Master Luo let me teach you something. The Words of Krait is the Order of Justice¡¯s Secretbound Gateway Technique. There exists no instruments capable of recording and saving it!"


    Luo Nan was baffled. He continued to speak in the encrypted channel. "The Society intervened early on. We used various monitoring, perspective sharing, video archiving... Everything was done well. The entire plot progression is clear andplete..."


    "In this day and age, it is too easy to pass fakes as the real thing. Your ability user society intervened early on. You must have nned things early on." Red Fox imitated what the Order of Justice would say, stopping Luo Nan in his tracks.


    Luo Nan was at a loss. He did not know what to say. But he still was not willing to concede. He ground his teeth and used his thoughts as a pen to draw a simplified 2Dposition within the encrypted channel.


    Though Luo Nan believed it was simple, it was a refinedposition formed from crisscrossing and weaving lines of diagrams pieced together. It was drawn in an instant in order to have those in the encrypted channel quiet down a bit.


    Red Fox was a bit dumbstruck. "What¡¯s the meaning of this? Are you trying to charm me with a drawing?"


    Upon finishing drawing thisposition with haste, Luo Nan used the marking function of the Psychic Wave Network in the form of an eye-striking red pen. He delineated several dozen red circles upon the 2Dposition in the span of a single breath.


    ¡°This is the energy and information structure stored within the storage unit. A simplified reconstruction technique is included as well. Much of the details involved are special patterns that appear repeatedly... Aren¡¯t these patterns solely used by the Order of Justice?"


    In fact, many of these structures had appeared within Fairchild¡¯s Shield of Truth configuration. They acted as super key nodes in its application. Luo Nan only dared to be so confident because he had seen this.


    "These patterns act as the inner core structure of the storage unit. It is a unique process, a unique method. Chasing back this trail binds all sorts of informational evidence. Don¡¯t tell me that you¡¯re so passive that you won¡¯t be able to form an iron case out of it?"


    Red Fox was defeated by this technical train of thought. He did not know how to respond for a time.


    Next to him, Bamboo Pole looked at theposition with rapt attention. He muttered lowly, "I don¡¯t know if these are processes unique to the Order of Justice. But I¡¯ve looked at some material of the Order of Justice¡¯s inner rituals and there really are simr structural arrangements. These just a little bit morphed... These here are used for storage?"


    Bamboo Pole was not only a remarkable hacker, he was also an expert in the research of secret orders. In the case of Bamboo Pole, he really did carry quite the degree of credibility.


    Due to thisposition, the attention of this group of people became a bit scattered. Zhang Yingying spoke with surprise. "This is the internal structure of the metal box? How has your sensing precision improved so fast?"


    "If this is indeed the inner structure of the storage unit and it is indeed the result of mental sensing, then converting the volume of the metal box itself... That means that the precision of his mental senses should be approaching the micron level."


    Since she had entered the encrypted channel, Bai Xinyan had been silent until now. This was the first time she had spoken and she spoke with a dull tone. "Student Luo Nan. You¡¯re carrying an excessive burden based on your physical condition."


    Luo Nan recalled that she used to call him ¡®Mr. Luo¡¯. Was he being downgraded now? After a moment of shock he said, "My body¡¯s fine. I just believe that we have sufficient evidence to exin the facts, that we can make an iron-hard case!"


    Red Fox was postponed by the continuous interruption of several people. He saw that Luo Nan was still stubborn in his views and directly confronted him. "A case? What case are you making? Whose case are you handling? Who¡¯s going to file this case? A case between the Society and this secret order isn¡¯t just a case; it¡¯s an open sh of contention! It¡¯s total war!"


    "Master Luo, the ability user society may be supporting you and our number of members may be enormous but we¡¯re a very loose organization. A single impromptu operation can send a lot of people running off and quitting. Also, you¡¯re facing the Order of Justice. They have millions of devout believers. They are a world-scale secret order with Extraordinaries by the handful. Do you know how serious this is?"


    "Moreover, there¡¯s a saying in this world, ¡¯This is one thing. That is another.¡¯ The Society can put the Order of Justice in a jam by saying that they¡¯re breeding Human-Faced Arachnids; it¡¯s not a problem. But in regards to the Order of Justice, it is out of the question to involve yourself with their internal affairs! This is f**king politics. This is f**king reality!"

 Chapter 107: The Shield of Truth (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 107: The Shield of Truth (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    This series of frigid irony and scorching satire was sent over. However, Red Fox had made a novice-like error during his torrent of words. He had used the HexaEar as a standard telephone. All thoughts of telepathicmunication werepletely forgotten. He just directly roared with his voice.


    Red Fox¡¯s mood was not alleviated after his roaring. Instead, he grew even more hot-tempered. He smashed his fist atop the control console and cursed, "Retard!" He still continued to feel irritable, so he pulled against his red jacket and cursed, "Weasel!"


    Bamboo Pole shook his head, no longer uttering words into the encrypted channel. He just simply spoke to Red Fox to mollify him. "Though he may be addressed as ¡¯Mister¡¯, he¡¯s still a kid. And... Xia City is not the same as Hu City."


    Red Fox¡¯s expression turned even uglier when he heard the words ¡®Hu City¡¯. He shot an ice-cold nce towards Bamboo Pole. "The only thing different is the distance. Back then, I ran out of Hu City like a dog. Here, I am now at Xia City, where I don¡¯t want to die like a dog. I don¡¯t want to be thrown into the dump by others."


    Bamboo Pole shrugged. He no longer tried to persuade Red Fox since some not-so-friendly faces had shown up in the monitoring system. These faces were heading over to the control room, over to them. Bamboo Pole sighed and asked within the encrypted channel. "Trouble hase as expected. What should we do?"


    He Yueyin asked him, "Can you confirm what weapons the enemy currently possess?"


    Bamboo Pole understood He Yueyin¡¯s meaning. She was not asking for them to immediately barricade the door from these people, she was asking what sort of ns the order had in Yn Hotel, what deployment they had prepared against Fairchild... Ah, she was more stubborn than he had expected.


    "A big fellow. Their mainbat weapon is certainly a big fellow."


    Bamboo Pole multitasked. He switched repeatedly between the monitoring screens and confirmed his target; they were already starting to set up. "It¡¯s very likely a sniper weapon. To the best of my knowledge, many secret orders are researching supernatural versions of sniper artillery cannons. Against a single target, this toy can be several times more powerful than a particle cannon. Of course, I have my doubts on whether or not it will be effective against the Shield of Truth."


    He Yueyin was not superfluous. She just simply responded, "Retreat. Head towards the predetermined reinforcement point."


    Red Fox sneered off to the side. He gestured with his hand implying. "You see, I knew it."


    The corner of Bamboo Pole¡¯s mouth twitched. You¡¯re the one shouting ¡®master!¡¯ with the Order of Justice on our doorstep. And now that we are retreating, you p me on the face. Bamboo Pole felt quite displeased.


    In the end, Bamboo Pole did not say anything. He packed up his equipment from the control room in five seconds and walked out with Red Fox. The control room was on a floor close to the roof. This floor was not used for amodations. It was absolutely empty and utterly quiet.


    Red Fox felt uneasy. He muttered, "It¡¯s way toote to retreat now. He Yueyin and the others caught the order¡¯s snipers off guard at Frost River Reality. Now, the order will be prepared to ambush us from all sides... Oh crap!"


    Ahead, the door to the fire escape was heaved open but Bamboo Pole and Red Fox were smart. Without even seeing a trace of a person, they knew that people wereing with bad intentions. They nced at each other, turned around, and ran.


    The fine electric hum of gauss rifles reverberated behind them in the empty floor and were exceptional at instilling fear into their souls.


    "I¡¯m not part of the d*mnbat personnel!" Bamboo Pole cursed. But before cursing, he had pressed a special button on the flexible screen in his hands. The floor¡¯s fire rm went off and several heat-blocking walls came falling down.


    Electromaic projectiles shot out from weapon barrels, only to bombard against theyer of transparent walls. They pierced through but the walls caused their trajectories to deviate.


    At the same time, a door opened up to the side. Bamboo Pole shouted, "Over here!" Red Fox and Bamboo Pole then rammed their way inside. They made their way through the room as fast as the could; they did not hesitate in the slightest. They traversed through arge open window and jumped into the night sky at an altitude of nearly a thousand meters.


    After performing this suicidal action, it was as if their feet had stepped onto zing wheels. They slid down the vertical ss walls of the hotel at astonishing speeds.


    Bamboo Pole controlled his bnce with some difficulty. He chuckled. "No wonder the Society has ¡¯rapid descension from high stories¡¯ as their final exam question for their junior training ss. It¡¯s very useful."


    Red Fox gnashed his teeth in anger. "Master Luo should have his name changed to Weasel."


    The chaotic situation at Yn Hotel was naturally shown in the encrypted channel. Red Fox had the mostints about Luo Nan but he could not afford to be distracted right now. Luo Nan was relieved from being targeted by him yet his mood did not turn for the better.


    Red Fox¡¯s words were like a de that cut the heart rather than the skin.


    Luo Nan was silent as he was baptized by Red Fox¡¯s political and realistic views. This did not mean that Luo Nan felt that Red Fox was wrong. On the contrary, Luo Nan felt that the more Red Fox argued, the more his loathing be unearthed from the depths of his heart.


    In the end, Red Fox¡¯s focus clearly shifted from Luo Nan to politics and realism. Luo Nan was only a tool he used as a target for his mockery and scorn.


    Things were really just as Red Fox had said. While the Human-Faced Arachnids were wreaking havoc in Xia City, the Order of Justice was studying this supernatural creature, engaging in sinister research. In fact, there was irrefutable evidence of this. But in the end, if they could get off easy and pressure with counter charges... What would be the point of going after them?


    The validity of Red Fox¡¯s words could be seen in the reactions of those in the encrypted channel and from Luo Nan¡¯s personal experience. Luo Nan¡¯s experience with the Bloodme Order was an excellent example. Mo Lun brought along a Human-Faced Arachnid for grazing and had made a move against members of the Society. In the end, the Society left the matter unsettled.


    Back then, Luo Nan¡¯s Wraith Sign was masquerading as the Bloodme Order¡¯s Human-Face Arachnid like a dove upying a magpie¡¯s nest. Luo Nan did not really think much about the Society¡¯sck of action but now that he thought about it, were not things just as Red Fox was saying?


    Politics? Reality?


    Luo Nan would not find it strange at all if this sort of thing were to ur in regr society; he held a bit of a pessimistic view towards the hearts of normal people after all.


    But here he had the enormous ability user organization that was greatly detached from the normal world. Why were they also like this?


    Luo Nan had even wanted to promote and develop his grandfather¡¯s Formatting Theory within the Society to great brilliance. If there was not much difference between here and normal, secr societies, then how could he possibly guarantee that his grandfather¡¯s theory would not fall once again to its death?


    Disappointment. Major disappointment!


    This feeling of extreme disappointment was Luo Nan¡¯s current state of mind. He did not feel like talking and just tossed the warm metal box back and forth in his hand. He wanted some peace and quiet, if it was possible...


    However, how would there be a chance for some peace and quiet right now?


    While his mood was churning around with the tossing of the metal box, he felt with great rity some extremely obscure force upon the mental ne. It formed a region of turmoil. It felt extremely negative, like a sheet of gloomy clouds and it covered most of the pulsations given off by the force of life.


    Luo Nan could feel the malice rippling from the void. This must be the real way the secr side of the Order of Justice did things.


    Luo Nan ceased the movements of his hands as the dark cloud pressed down. He lifted his head and just so happened to meet Fairchild¡¯s eyes straight on. At first nce, those gray pupils looked like the hazyyers of the dark cloud. However, those pupils also contained resolution and willpower. They pierced the cloudyer with their positive light, making it hard to look directly into Fairchild¡¯s eyes.


    Fairchild did not know the cause for Luo Nan being lost in thought. His gaze still remained fallen upon the metal box that Luo Nan was tossing around. A moment passed and he suddenly spoke.


    "We have yet to touch upon the entirety of the Truth and I have been brimming with anticipation towards its real form but due to this intolerable interference... The Truth has not shown itself fully; the goal we¡¯re pursuing has been desecrated. However, I can ensure one thing and that is this ground has been erected as the domain of Truth."


    The quicksilver-like aura exuding from his body circted as his voice undted with sybles, subtly suffusing the ground with its illumination. The cloudy light proliferated outwards.

 Chapter 108: Observing Powers (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 108: Observing Powers (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    The dark cloud of the mental ne covered the entirety of the surrounding area. It endlessly stirred and transformed as it tried to invade Fairchild¡¯s domain. However, as it pressed and warped against the domain, traces of the dark cloud¡¯s essence emerged. It transformed into a swaying and sinister deep chant that appeared on the material ne.


    "The Words of Krait!" Cat Eyes reached out to pull Luo Nan back. Her expression was grave, as though she had been confronted by a formidable foe.


    The Society had managed to block off the sniper points, causing the Knights of Equity to retreat temporarily. Now, the secr side revealed their methods once more. This time, they had given up traditional means of long-ranged attacks and utilized supernatural powers directly.


    However, this sound was of a different frequencypared to the sound First Otum An Weng used as pure conversation. This hissing chant was filled with dark and chilling power. More than half of the lighting in the room had been extinguished by the hail of bullets, and the darkness of the room grew all the more deeper and heavier when this chanting sound manifested into existence. The little bit of remaining light radiated in messy trails of grotesque and mottled colors, causing the room to seem warped and twisted.


    Inparison, the radiance of Fairchild¡¯s Shield of Truth was finite in filling the room. However. A radiance was still released in the area established by Fairchild. It was pure and clear and no matter how much the chanting sound stirred and pressed, not an ounce of it could permeate through.


    Luo Nan¡¯s gaze concentrated on the sheet of pure, clear radiance. He whispered hoarsely, "This erected ground truly is the domain of Truth..."


    "Wait until you make it back alive before bing religious, kay." Cat Eyes gave Luo Nan a pull, hinting at him to pay attention to the contents of the encrypted channel. He Yueyin had already given the order to retreat.


    Luo Nan did not move. It would not be that easy for them to leave in the current circumstances even if they wanted to.


    Rays of light that came in from the world outside the door were severed and blocked. Two rapping sounds could be heard as someone knocked against the door frame. The force used was quite considerable for the entire room seemed to shake twice. However, the one who came did not exert this much strength deliberately.


    He was not wearing an exoskeleton armor but his height exceeded two meters. He stood in front of the door and had to duck down to avoid hitting the lintel. He was even half-naked, his chest exposing a pitch-ck skin that shined like oil. Tough fascia joined his brick-like muscles and they rippled along with his breathing. He was like a ck tiger ready to pounce. Based on physique alone, he looked even brawnier than Fairchild, whom was already extremely tall and muscr.


    He ignored the gazes of everyone else in the room and solely faced the radiating auraing from Fairchild. He grinned andughed, revealing snow-white teeth. "Mr. Fairchild. It¡¯s been a long time. Oh, you probably don¡¯t remember me..."


    "Baze," Fairchild spoke this name with a whisper.


    "Much thanks, Mr. Fairchild. You still have an impression of me."


    This ck and brawny man called Baze had spoken each syble of ¡®Mr. Fairchild¡¯ in a gentle and courteous manner. It really did not match his appearance. "I¡¯ve always been very grateful for the teachings you gave me when I first entered the Order. You taught me the progression of cultivation and told me the importance of control... What a pity. In the end, I still chose to go down a different road. I feel that aggressive and rough methods are better suited for me. Power has not left my side in doing so."


    Luo Nan felt a dangerous tension emerge from this ck and brawny Baze when he performed this ¡®master and disciple reunion¡¯ show. Luo Nan could not refrain from asking.


    "Who are you?"


    "ck Tiger Baze of the Knights of Equity. Deputy Head of the Xia City Division."


    Cat Eyes straightened the crooked cap on her head and subconsciously loosened her muscle fibers to be agiler for the bitter battle ahead. It was not strange at all for a fellow like Baze to appear in a high-level internal strife of the Order of Justice. But fear in reality was ultimately different than the pressure in theory.


    She needed to give Luo Nan a good lesson, since he wascking inmon sense. At the same time, she needed to give herself a reminder. "A freak who has broken through to be an Awakened based purely on the power of his gifted fleshly body. Yet I¡¯ve also heard rumors that he was only able to obtain his ability through the Order of Justice¡¯s Life and Death Ritual. Well in any case, if one were to select the top ten people with the strongest fleshly bodies, then Crag Burst would barely be at the tail end. Senior Giant Arm and Senior Zong Ji of the Society would be ranked roughly in the middle due to their burst strength and technical ability. However, this Baze is certainly in the top three."


    Luo Nan went, "Oh." He now had a clearer understanding of Baze¡¯s strength.


    He had seen Crag Burst¡¯s and Giant Arm¡¯s abilities before. Crag Burst was able to walk away without a scratch under the impact of a high-explosive incendiary. As for Mr. Giant Arm, he was more of a pure martial artist. The power of his fist could pierce through an armored vehicle and he was able to forcefully hold down the exoskeleton armored Jack. Indeed, Mr. Giant Arm possessed inconceivable skills. If a true fight were to arise, Luo Nan did not know what sort of style Mr. Giant Arm would exhibit.


    On the basis of his fleshly body, Baze exceeded these two in power. His strength was great as one could well imagine.


    At this time, He Yueyin released some information into the encrypted channel. "Pay attention. Though the strength of Baze¡¯s fleshly body is formidable, what he has always relied on has never been his fleshly body."


    As for what Baze had always relied on... Well, he had already begun to reveal it as he blocked the exit to the room. He took a deep breath and his head tilted down slightly. Upon the oily sheen of his pitch-ck skin, there were lit streaks and streaks of tattoo structures. It was as if an invisible being was writing twisted scripts upon his body.


    The surrounding illumination warped even further. Looking up, one could see that each script seemed to ignite with me, then etch themselves deep into his body, and burned through the void. The Words of Krait answered with its hiss. The sound of a snake¡¯s tongue was now like the sound of flesh burning.


    He Yueyin updated them with more information. "Baze is a Human Body Weapon of the Order of Justice. Through him, the First Otum can fully disy their power lying in the mental ne. "


    "So this sort of method exists." Luo Nan¡¯s breadth of knowledge had increased. This was an application he had never thought of before. For a pure mentally enhanced ability user, this was quite a decent transformation to use. It could be assumed that the Human Body Weaponponent to this transformation would not be that easy to cultivate.


    Luo Nan thought to himself for a bit but then Cat Eyes red at him from the side. "The heck are you thinking about!?"


    "... Nothing much." Luo Nan did not speak what was on his mind. Things would have been better for Cat Eyes if she did not say anything. Her speaking had invoked a certain train of thought in Luo Nan. If he increased his control over Ink, Rui Wen, and even Cat Eyes, in a certain sense, wouldn¡¯t this be the same type of method that the First Otum was using? Though his method would be a bit more passive.


    Baze strode in with heavy steps as several thoughts shed in Luo Nan¡¯s mind. His brawny body entered the darkness and squeezed into the room. The muscles of his body rippled regrly and the strange script that covered him seemed toe alive. Every step seemed to paint an otherworldly and bewitching picture. He was like a me radiating with darkness, ready to pounce.


    The dark mes crossed with an area of Fairchild¡¯s aura. ck and white rays of light fused to form a warped ashy grayyer in an instant. Baze lifted his head, revealing pupils like burning coal. His mouth split into a grin.


    "Fairchild! The Truth does not obey your fancies!"


    His voice oozed with a bizarre noise. There was another voice in there out of harmony. There was a bizarre existence that was talking in sync with Baze.


    Fairchild only had a single sentence as a response in the face of this.


    "F**k off!"

 Chapter 108: Observing Powers (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 108: Observing Powers (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Fairchild¡¯s snow-white robe fluttered and the liquid quicksilver aura rippled. The just-formed grayyer was torn asunder and Baze and his overwhelming assault was thrown off the ground and was forced to fly backward.


    "Truth Mirror!" The members of the Society, who had the leisure to watch Cat Eyes¡¯ shared perspective, flooded the channel with this term.


    Fairchild practically did not exert any effort in that instant. Instead, it was the ultimate technique of the Shield of Truth that forcefully bounced Baze¡¯s attack back and made Baze take on the full force. Just by looking at the power of the surging dark me attack of Baze, one would wonder just how incredible the shield was to be able to reflect practically all of it back.


    This was a very ssical method that Fairchild used in his judgment and executions. Though he had never personally given this move a formal name, the circle of ability users had long since called it the Truth Mirror. Its reputation was resounding.


    Luo Nan could see things far clearer than the others. Baze¡¯s technique was not purely on the material ne or a technique used for physical purposes. It was a technique that interfered between the material and the mental ne to form a structural force. Luo Nan was even able to capture the entire process. Explosions of intense ripples instantly split and fused between the mental and material nes, before it converged to the material ne. There they formed an enormous attack.


    However, Baze¡¯s mental ne remained stable, even after he had actively guided and transformed the energy. The attack power on the material ne had be strong, yet the destructiveness towards the mental ne had been dissipated away. This allowed the domain of the Words of Krait to remain stable.


    From this point of view, Baze was not a bitcking whenpared to Fairchild.


    The two people¡¯s powers were cutting and transforming back and forth between the material and the mental nes. The hardest thing about this method was to achieve the transformation technique of interference between nes. It did not matter whether it was Fairchild or Baze, both of them achieved this through a structure that interfered between the body and the soul. They had inhumanly brawny bodies and staunch willpower and this was the basis for realizing this sort of transformation.


    It would be very hard for Luo Nan to realize a simr transformation model in his life.


    However, the fact that Luo Nan was able to pry the marvels of these mysteries wide open was quite an inconceivable matter. Not a single person in the encrypted channel had voiced any opinions on the deep level of mechanics disyed before them. Next to him, Cat Eyes¡¯ mental senses were not even able to get close to Baze¡¯s and Fairchild¡¯s war zone. If she forced it, it was extremely likely for her to suffer recoil.


    Part of the reason why Luo Nan was able to do this so easily was because of the exchange he just had with Fairchild; ity in the domain where the mental and the material ne mutually interfered, so his thought process on this was clear. But another part of the reason was what he could faintly perceive. It seemed that his mental senses were a bit out of the ordinary.


    The soul strength he was able to achieve from cultivating in Formatting Theory and the depth of his irvoyance was superior to that of the other experienced ability users like Cat Eyes and Mr. Bai with their perception and forte in soul studies. At the very least, Luo Nan¡¯s irvoyance had never been locked on or been detected sessfully by others. Additionally, after he gained a clear understanding of the marvels of soul breathing, he was able to seamlessly shift and transform between the shallow and deep levels of the mental ne. Most observers would find him unfathomable.


    In this way, Luo Nan¡¯s special irvoyance sensing was able to extract and parse great quantities of deep information from phenomenon that ordinary people would see as normal. He then fed the information back to his soul configuration where they converge into a special experience. This experience was the key requirement for the endless strengthening of his soul.


    Fairchild had once said that there was nothing more important than observation. This was indeed a truth, at least for a mentally enhanced individual.


    Luo Nan hade to finally experience for himself the superiorities of this most crucial of abilities¡ªobservation. Anyhow, before this, he had always considered this ability as a burden...


    Upon sting Baze away, Fairchild walked out the room withrge strides. The quicksilver-like aura surrounding his body was a special characteristic of the operation of energy within his body and soul interference structure. Many special structural details inside were only truly revealed inbat. The sight of this enchanted Luo Nan.


    It was because of this that Luo Nan had a particrly sharp response when this structure was hit by Baze¡¯s attack. Fairchild had only walked a few steps of distance before a bad feeling of danger suddenly sprouted in Luo Nan¡¯s heart. He shouted, "Careful!"


    This warning was not directed towards Fairchild.


    The enemy knew quite well where Fairchild¡¯s weaknessy, hoping to endlessly umte their superiority on the mental ne and break the structural operation of Fairchild¡¯s Shield of Truth. However, Fairchild never gave the enemy the opportunity. The area he controlled was as stable as a boulder. Even though on the mental ne he could only manifest ayer of water, he let this turbid water surge to the skies and tower unmovingly.


    However, the Words of Krait was a gateway technique that seemed to be able to extract power from the suffering of living beings in the user¡¯s surroundings and rapidly transform it for the user. When the Words of Krait was activated at full force, every single living being in the surroundings became its fulcrum.


    Ultimately, Luo Nan¡¯s warning was issued a beat toote. The moment the words left his mouth, the hissing of the Words of Krait exploded in volume. The warped darkness within the room did not break its focus from Fairchild or lessen. Instead, the darkness increased in weight. The mental ne, the ne that the Words of Krait affected, was being rapidly diffused and permeated with this darkness, covering an enormous piece of area.


    Cat Eyes groaned. She had her mental senses out by habit and it was like being bitten by a viper. Her five senses and consciousness all received the attack. The moment of pain was simply like having her skull forcefully pressed into ake of venom. The pain was so much that her body went weak and soft.


    In the encrypted channel, He Yueyin assigned a member. "White Salt!"


    "I know. I¡¯ll be there soon," said Bai Xinyan in agreement. Soon, her voice faded away. Her strength should be above average, but she could not be counted on for a short time.


    Luckily, the chains deep within Cat Eyes¡¯s body and soul vibrated and rattled, counteracting much of the attack and eliminating a lot of the pain.


    Cat Eyes could not refrain from gnashing her teeth. She cast an ice-cold nce at Luo Nan but she still reached out her hand and pulled him to retreat.


    "Over here."


    No matter what, she did not dare to head out from the main exit. Fortunately, the sniper fire from before had pierced through the soundproof walls, giving them different routes to chose from.


    Luo Nan even wanted to watch the fight between Fairchild and Baze but he knew that putting himself in life or death danger was really insensible.


    He cast another nce outside the door and he could no longer see Fairchild¡¯s figure. There was a problem though. Luo Nan saw Xue Weilun instead! Xue Weilun scrambled to the exit and began grabbing the few unconscious special forces and dragging them inside.


    "Uncle Xue!"


    "You guys go ahead and leave first."


    In any event, Xue Weilun could not abandon his subordinates and flee by himself but there had been seven special police officers attacked by Fairchild. There was a limit to how many people he could carry even with the aid of his exoskeleton armor and he could not just pile seven living bodies atop of each other and heave them all over.


    Most importantly, Xue Weilun did not understand the ck magic involved in these fights. Right now, the Words of Krait¡¯syer of influence was endlessly probing outwards on the mental ne. Cat Eyes had already suffered from it and soon, the Words of Krait would affect normal people.


    Xue Weilun possessed willpower that was extremely strong for a normal person but there was still arge discrepancy whenpared to an ability user. When the time came, he would be wiped out like his subordinates, possibly even more miserably.


    Cat Eyes hissed as she pressed her hand against her aching head. They were too helpless in this situation. If Officer Xue did not talk to his son through Zhang Yingying¡¯s channel, she would walk away right now with ease. However, that one event made it impossible and inexcusable for her to feign ignorance right now.


    "We will need to make two trips at least for seven people." Cat Eyes made a rapid judgment and ordered Luo Nan, "Make your way out first, meet up with White Salt."


    She turned around to help Xue Weilun upon speaking but Luo Nan pulled her to a stop. "Hold on!"


    Luo Nan¡¯s body began to exude a faint glow as these words left his mouth.

 Chapter 109: Destruction (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 109: Destruction (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Cat Eyes¡¯ pupils shrank as she sensed that Luo Nan was utilizing his soul strength. To be able to disy this effect showed just how exceptional Luo Nan¡¯s soul strength was.


    Before she entered this operation, He Yueyin had emphasised to Cat Eyes that Luo Nan was currently undergoing treatment due to a critical imbnce between his body and soul. As such, Luo Nan was not allowed to utilize his ability too excessively. Otherwise, the strength of his soul would cause critical harm to his nervous system.


    Luo Nan had already courted death once before but the dangers of the mental conversation back then between the nutjob and the mad believer had been neglected. This time, Cat Eyes was able to sense it. Several regions of Luo Nan¡¯s nervous system were involved now and there were clearly some subtle warping and morphing within them.


    But what the hell was this aura?


    If Cat Eyes could see it, that would mean that everyone else in the encrypted channel could see it too. Bai Xinyan, who was rushing over, drew out a long sigh. "Doctors with such headstrong patients find themselves in quite the dilemma."


    He Yueyin¡¯s strict and serious voice cut through. "Mr. Luo, I ask that you do not overuse your ability, so as to avoid unexpected consequences."


    These words were quite serious and served as a reminder for Cat Eyes. She grabbed Luo Nan¡¯s shoulder to put a stop to it. However, with a rattle of the chains seated deep within her body and soul, her entire self quivered a bit from inside out. It was as if she had been electrocuted and her hand froze by the time it extended halfway to Luo Nan. In the end, she was unable to move a single inch.


    It finally came!


    Cat Eyes¡¯s heart was pounding but soon her heart was filled with vexation. This was what she feared the most after the operation at Limestone Water Vige Pubst week. She had impinged on Luo Nan with her mental senses while he was making his psychic drawing and had suffered a counterattack. She had be the recipient of Luo Nan¡¯s unfathomable ability and had incorporeal chains pierce through her body and soul. She was imprisoned by this ability.


    In the following week, however, Luo Nan did not make any strange moves. The chains¡¯ existence had gradually be undetectable but this only haunted her more. In today¡¯s operation, their close proximity did not spur any undue activity with Luo Nan. Instead, Luo Nan had helped her in a few crises through these chains.


    Just when Cat Eyes began to believe that she had misunderstood Luo Nan, the true nature of Luo Nan¡¯s technique was exposed in this crucial moment. Right now, she was basically like a cat with a chained leash! If her master did not want her to move, then her neck would be reigned in by the chains, no matter her struggles.


    Cat Eyes red at Luo Nan with killing intent. This was not an exaggeration. She wanted to pounce on him and snap his throat with a bite.


    He can just f**k off and die for using his soul strength against her!


    At this very moment, the sound of an astonished Xue Weilun was heard.


    Cat Eyes had her long-range perception ability. She did not need to turn her head; she could already see it. A figure had manifested upon each of the bodies of the seven special police officers. It was the size of a fist and its form... It was a tetrahedron with an inscribed sphere and an outer scribed sphere. That¡¯s right. It was the avatar that Luo Nan had used in the encrypted channel.


    Cat Eyes was a bit shocked. Her anger stagnated a bit. Just looking at this scene, she could tell that this was an anomaly that was formed from power on the mental ne interfering with the material ne.


    ording to theories in soul studies, the effectiveness of the mutual interference between the mental and material nes was inversely proportional to the entropy. In other words, the fact that a symbol was manifested means that the efficiency and the order were high. The more orderly it was, the more efficient the soul strength became at affecting the material ne and the stronger the control ability became.


    Most notably was the fact that Luo Nan was attending to seven bodies with a single mind and caused seven figures to manifest the symbol simultaneously. Even though each figure was exactly the same, even if each figure was just for appearance purposes...


    Before her train of thought could end, Cat Eyes was able to sense the bodies of the unconscious special police officers tremble one by one. These were clear signs that these officers were regaining consciousness.


    In the end, Cat Eyes could not refrain from turning and looking at the scene with bulging eyes. Xue Weilun had a moment of astonishment before ultimately realizing the cause for the change. He turned and looked over.


    Luo Nan let out a long breath. He did not make any fancy movements but the seven figures rippled simultaneously. In answer, minute vibrations came into being on the mental and the material nes.


    It was as if a muffled buzz was ringing in Cat Eyes¡¯ ears. In that instant, the constant hissing sound of the Words of Krait turned indistinct, only to never recover back.


    Then came the groaning sound of a special police officer. Once one officer sat up by instinct, then came another. The special police officers sat up one by one from the ground and turned over. They were still befuddled but this sort of magical awakening left Cat Eyes and Xue Weilun stupefied.


    It was not just these two, Zhang Yingying in the encrypted channel went, "Eh?" She felt some indescribable emotions, so she simply tossed out a series of stupefied emojis, flooding the channel like mad.


    "Ohohoho. Who was the one who gave him such a huge power up this week? Did a certain secretary and he engage in ¡¯dual cultivation¡¯? This progress is illogical. This technique..."


    Before she could finish off the rest of her message, she was muted by a certain secretary. However, the meaning behind Zhang Yingying¡¯s words were the thoughts of the majority.


    Xue Weilun was fine. In any case, he would just have capable experts exin fields he did not understand. But for the professionals of the Society, the hardest part was exining things inyman¡¯s terms.


    It must be known that it was easier to destroy than it was to create. In this case, ¡¯destroying¡¯ was Fairchild knocking these clear-headed people unconscious and ¡¯creating¡¯ was Luo Nan instantly awakening these unconscious people. From disorder to order. From high entropy to low entropy. The difficulties between the two were iparable.


    In the end, how did Luo Nan aplish this?


    Red Fox and Bamboo Pole made it to the reinforcement point and met up with Papercut. Breathing unsteadily, they gasped for breath and they nearly choked to death when they heard what Luo Nan had done. After two coughs, they guessed, "Fairchild knocked these special police officers out. Did Fairchild give Luo Nan the technique to save them?"


    "You think Fairchild is that bored?" said the person who was really bored. Papercut was using a piece of paper to file his nails. He had yet to do anything in the operation as of yet.


    There were no clear indicators for why the special police officers had awakened beside the projected figures half submerged in the chests of their exoskeleton armors.


    "Just look at his avatar. It¡¯s exactly the same as these seven figures. Oh right, he mentioned something about his grandfather¡¯s Formatting Theory before. Are these things rted to that? What is that theory?"


    Formatting Theory? An imaginative idea that has long since been washed away by reality... It truly has been ages since it wasst heard.


    Bai Xinyan walked freely in the empty amusement center. The message history of the encrypted channel had been loaded in her wristband and was being reyed back to her retina as the keywords were being searched. The term ¡®Formatting Theory¡¯ that Papercut was suspicious of just so happened to be the same term that she was looking up. She shrugged her shoulders and broke intoughter.


    The seven figures attracted nearly everyone¡¯s attention. Bai Xinyan was not an exception. However, the angle she focused on was a bit different than the others.


    A tetrahedron with an inscribed sphere and an outer scribed sphere. This was a typical figure in a standard geometry course. The appearance of such a figure now made everyone astonished. However, Bai Xinyan had long since searched through internal publications and found it used in the context of a different practice. And there, it was in circumstances far more exciting than now.


    Soon Bai Xinyan was able to retrieve some information. She linked this with her previous knowledge and said, "Luo Nan, Scout. Looks like you¡¯re still a psychic! That obsolete theory has been dug out with new worth by the Luo Family, right when they¡¯re facing self-destruction!"


    Bai Xinyan blinked her eyes, cutting off the endlessly scrolling information projected on her retina. With both hands in the pockets of her jacket, she pursed her lips and continued walking at a brisk yet calm pace.


    "Looking at Luo Nan¡¯s circumstances, it seems he¡¯s just a step away from ultimate destruction. Now, wouldn¡¯t that be quite the waste?"

 Chapter 109: Destruction (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 109: Destruction (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    "Doctors have professional ethics. Proper ethics!"


    Bai Xinyan¡¯s lips curved into a teasing smile as she stopped following her current train of thoughts. She had already obtained many gains today. Right now, she needed to do something else¡ªto y the role of a qualified doctor. As such, she ced her attention into acting with the appropriate conduct.


    She reyed the video from Cat Eyes¡¯ shared perspective several times. Cat Eyes had her eyes fixed on Luo Nan for quite a period of time. From the video, Bai Xinyan could see the minute twitching of Luo Nan¡¯s cheeks and forehead, regions concentrated with nerves. She could also see the dtion and contraction of his pupils. She could not see below his neck and shoulders but things should be simr there. These were signs of his nervous system being intensely stimted.


    And at the same time, a faint aura that was quite eye-catching burst from inside Luo Nan¡¯s body to the outside. Its power filled and supported the concentration of his neurons. This aura eliminated as much of the destructive power possible. It was able to eliminate the destructive power caused by the intense stimtion of soul strength.


    Thinking about it, this was the fundamental reason behind Luo Nan¡¯s capacity to use his soul strength without any worries... For the time being, it stopped the destructive path he trod and allowed him to make it past.


    Fortune!


    Bai Xinyan used a doctor¡¯s insight to make this judgment. Soon, she spoke in the encrypted channel. "Student Luo Nan, your current state is fine. Is it due to that punch by Fairchild?"


    "Yep, it was because of his punch just now." Luo Nan did not want people to haphazardly guess around like it was a game show, so he borrowed this opportunity given by Bai Xinyan to make a clear response.


    Bai Xinyan evaluated, "Your current indications are quite simr to Fairchild¡¯s Shield of Truth. He must have blessed you. Near Los Angeles, I¡¯ve encountered high ranking squad leaders of the Order of Justice open up territory in the Wilderness. All of their cultists in a hundred meter radius received the Shield of Truth blessing. With it, most of them could take on the first attack of a mutant ranked C or below. It is an extremely effective blessing."


    "That¡¯s right... One of the effects of the order¡¯s Pdin Aura is an increase to defense." Zhang Yingying¡¯s mute time was not that long. As an experienced gamer, she soon spoke in gaming terms. "However, these buffs are only temporary."


    "Yes, it is temporary." Luo Nan responded inly but the facts were not that simple.


    He Yueyin felt a bit of an iing headache on when she faced theck of urgency from these idle chatters. She asked Bai Xinyan directly, "White Salt, report your current location."


    "I¡¯m forty meters away from them. Yup, I see people already. It¡¯s as if Student Luo Nan¡¯s face is glowing. He looks like he¡¯s doing great."


    Bai Xinyan came to a stop as she gazed past the soundproof wall. The room was on the verge of copse. The lighting was dusky and arge difference in luminosity was formed with her current location. However, this did not really affect her.


    She waved her hand in greeting toward the few people within the room.


    He Yueyin gave another order. "Everyone in the room, rendezvous with White Salt. Retreat ording to the designated route."


    A clear evacuation route immediately appeared within the encrypted channel. At the same time, the route map also appeared in Officer Xue¡¯smand data link. He was stunned for a moment but he still issued the route map to his subordinates and asked them to act in ordance with the provided directions.


    "Move move move!"


    Bamboo Pole was now the one who urged everyone on. He continued to be responsible and diligent and refreshed the encrypted channel with new information. "They¡¯re just about to finish calibrating their sniper artillery cannon. Its range covers the entirety of Frost River Reality. Who knows? The gunner might have a mental hup, ignore Fairchild, deviate the muzzle ever so slightly, and provide corpses which only mops can collect!"


    "Screw off!... I¡¯m talking to you!" Cat Eyes was in a horrible mood. She resisted the malicious impulse to tear Luo Nan¡¯s throat to shreds and pushed him hard, indicating that he should leave first.


    Right now, Luo Nan could sense the intentions behind Cat Eyes¡¯s mood. He was not superfluous. He ran a few steps and jumped through the broken soundproof wall and made it outside.


    He turned back to see Xue Weilun¡¯s subordinates, the special police officers. They were well trained and experienced. They soon flung away their meaningless state of confusion and followed their training. They withdrew in an orderly fashion and used the avable cover, performing their standard tactical maneuvers... Though their actions might not be effective.


    "This is an example of professional ethics." expressed Bai Xinyan in understanding towards the special police officers.


    Luo Nan¡¯s gaze flitted across the face of this beautiful andid-back woman. He looked down and murmured in greeting. "Ms. Bai, hello. This is the first time we¡¯ve met."


    "I have somewhat of an understanding of you, Student Luo Nan." Bai Xinyan winked at him in a very cordial manner. She looked easy to get along with.


    However, Luo Nan could not forget the 2-Hour Assignment in Frost River Waterway she had assigned him earlier today. Needless to say, there was also the Burner Simtor, the hidden secret of Frost River Waterway.


    So Luo Nan was wary toward this beautifuldy.


    It was because of these thoughts that Luo Nan switched his gaze over to the several special police officer¡¯s bodies. Each of them still had a ¡®projection¡¯ of the visualization diagram on the chest regions of their exoskeleton armor. It had yet to dissipate.


    It had to be stated that the visualization diagram was very high profile. If Luo Nan did not revoke it and news of this scene got out, then some people¡ªat least those on Yan Yongbo¡¯s side¡ªmay take negative actions against him.


    Luo Nan had already considered whether or not to revoke these diagrams but then a deafening explosion pierced his ears. The battle between Fairchild and Baze had entered an extremely intense state. Frost River Reality¡¯s high-end immersive experience region rapidly turned into a sheet of ruins.


    Fairchild had held an unshakable advantage on the material ne so far but the range of the Words of Krait continued to endlessly expand.


    The Words of Krait was far too overpowered; it kept on searching for people to drain from. Even Cat Eyes had been targeted by it. After some thought, Luo Nan did not revoke his buffs¡ªthe visualization diagrams. Instead, he added one more for Xue Weilun as a precaution.


    Bai Xinyan observed all of this with great interest and asked, "This skill of yours is like our family¡¯s Old Bai¡¯s Bestowed Awakening technique. It doesn¡¯t just wake the target up; it seems like there¡¯s the scent of something high-end integrated in there. This power seems rigorous. Is this a skill from Formatting Theory?"


    Your family¡¯s Old Bai?


    Luo Nan was stupefied for a moment, before he realized that Bai Xinyan referred to her father, Mr. Bai. The way she addressed him gave off the impression that this father and daughter pair did not get along.


    At the same time, Luo Nan very much admired Bai Xinyan¡¯s power of insight. Indeed, Luo Nan had utilized the visualization diagram and the tempo of soul breathing to bestow buffs into everyone¡¯s bodies. Bai Xinyan had given an extremely appropriate description of his skill.


    This kind of woman really gave off quite the pressure.


    As Luo Nan grew unwilling to converse too much with Bai Xinyan, a shriek came out from within the crowd of congregated people. The shriek was sharp and shivery. It was simply a cry that seemed to be from the pain of having one¡¯s heart dug out from the chest... Oh, this might not be an exaggeration.


    The several special police officers who had just evacuated from the room rushed to ce down the body they carried. That person had injured his back and was curled up in a ball. His face was warped and his mouth gaped wide but he was unable to let out any sounds whatsoever. Only tears, snivel, and cold sweat could flow across his face.


    It was Huang Bingzhen. It was unknown whether this guy was lucky or unfortunate but in the end, he had been carried out by the special police officers due to their professional ethics. Although Huang Bingzhen was alive, his current appearance made it look like he was better off dead.


    Bai Xinyan was the only one of the bunch with medical qualifications. She just gave him a quick scan with her eyes and shook her head. "The Words of Krait... He¡¯s already a ¡¯snake hive¡¯ now and could be said to be a kind of ¡¯human weapon¡¯. Who knows... That First Otum might be sizing us up right now by using him as a medium."

 Chapter 110: The Truth Gate (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 110: The Truth Gate (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    The night fell with uninterrupted rain. The rain never seemed to stop and it only grew in intensity. Sticking to the edges of the roof of high rises, fine screens of rain and smoke could be seen. The rain and the smudgy city lights covered everywhere the eye could see aside from the rooftops themselves.


    Three buildings acted as pirs that surrounded Frost River Reality. Although their rooftops were still wet and moist, not a drizzle of rain could be seen falling down above one¡¯s head. There was an incorporeal screen that divided the rooftops of these three buildings from the autumn rain of Xia City.


    Only twenty or so minutes had passed like this before dozens of people bustled about on each of the rooftops. Some hauled equipment. Some drafted diagrams on the floor. They came and went, giving off a sense of extreme urgency.


    An Weng left the people to their own devices when it came to the deployment. He just stood quietly at the edge of the building. He had a small withered body and wore the robes of an Otum, even though these clothes did not fit his body. The winds were strong atop this building that was nearly a kilometer in height. Any loose clothing would likely be blown away.


    Despite the wind, he stood very steadily. The shadow of his hood covered his face but within his turbid pupils was pierced by a faint light. The light shined upon the interweaving spotlights of the triangr rooftop tform of Frost River Reality below. The red and blue lights of the police cars surrounding the area looked like fancy decorations. It was all quite dazzling to the eyes.


    A tide of people streamed endlessly out from the emergency exits under the blotchy lighting, diffusing all around. They then acted in ordance to the stupid herd mentality and surrounded the outside in a congregated mass. They swarmed endlessly around like a mass of insects blocked off by water.


    At the base of each and every one of these three high-rises were crowds of people pressing against the ss walls. They used all sorts of filming devices and turned on spectator mode. They took all the emotions of panic, fright, and excitement and magnified them. The emotions transformed into a murky cloud that was hard to see with the naked eye, merging into the autumn rain and the curtain of night.


    Though An Weng¡¯s droopy eyelids seemed to cover his eyes, he gazed at the boiling miasmic smoke of opaque emotions with great interest. He gave off a subtle feeling that he could watch the scene unfold for not minutes but for the entire night and not tire. There was more though. There was something even more interesting within the murky miasmic cloud.


    "...Who knows, that First Otum might be sizing us up right now by using him as a medium." This dialog that had urred inside Frost River Reality was transmitted to An Weng as clear as day.


    An Weng burst out withughter. It was just as this youngdy had said. Through this ¡¯snake hive¡¯, he had used mental irvoyance to scan every one of the faces within the room. He focused on sizing up two of them. One was the young jacket wearingdy who had pointed out the ¡¯snake hive¡¯. The other one was the youngster who had received the Shield of Truth blessing from Fairchild.


    "They¡¯re both impressive people." His lips wriggled as he made this evaluation.


    The jacket wearing youngdy possessed impressive insight, knowledge, and experience. The depths of her abilities were hard to guess. He was actually unable to decode the pertaining psychic waves cast via the ¡¯snake hive¡¯. He just knew that she was at least a B-rank in terms ofbat ability.


    As for the youngster...


    He had been scanning and rendering the scene using the ¡¯snake hive¡¯ and psychic waves but before his previous thought could finish, the scene had suddenly turned blurry and distorted. Then itpletely copsed. It was clear. The ¡¯snake hive¡¯ that he established had been destroyed.


    After a moment of brief shock, An Weng¡¯s shriveled lips split apart to expose a gap that was like a ck hole. It was a smile. "To be able to interfere with the Words of Krait¡¯s operation, to not even give up an inch... His soul strength is impressive, he has ample spirit, and he has power. Excellent, excellent."


    The three buildings were arranged in a triangr formation. As An Weng observed and evaluated Luo Nan and Cat Eyes, a person who wore ck-robes appeared on the rooftops of each of the other two buildings. They stood in the middle of their respective rooftopnding pads.


    These two also wore the clothing of First Otums, but they did not dare to be like An Weng. They did not leave their positions to go looking around. Instead, theymanded their surrounding personnel with extreme seriousness. Whether it was the drafting or the transporting of the equipment, they checked the deployment with great care. The needed to ensure that nothing would go wrong.


    As their arrangements grew all the more ready, the minds of these two First Otums became more and more uneasy. First Otums were senior members of the order. They engaged in the intense study of schrly knowledge, and they knew about Fairchild quite well. They were naturally able to determine their odds of sess in the conflict that would follow.


    Separated by space, these two chatted for a bit. But in the end, they could not refrain from going to the mental ne. This ne was imperceivable by their subordinates and they used it to seek guidance from An Weng. One of them was in charge ofmunications. He was the First Otum just below An Weng, First Otum Zheng Xiao.


    "An Weng, we have deployed our troops quite quickly. However, this n was made quickly. It is far too rushed. It will be hard for it to be fully effective! Though we have our coordinated spell formation, ording to our current estimations, the odds of killing Fairchild do not exceed thirty percent. It is far too dangerous. Why don¡¯t we n some more..."


    An Weng did not respond immediately. He extended two hands that were just muscle, bone, and liver spots. His hands were filled with a sense of age and decay. They were even trembling a bit. His thumbs, which he could not extend straight anymore, parted with his forefingers and touched to form a triangle. He tried to contain all of Frost River Reality inside.


    "Why do we need to kill Fairchild?"


    "Huh?"


    "Why do we need to kill Fairchild?"


    An Weng asked once again, "You all actually didn¡¯t have any doubts from the beginning of the operation until now? Or do you think that Fairchild is ourplete enemy just because he has ruined many of our matters over these past two years in Xia City? That any operation with him as our target is inevitable and expected?"


    The two First Otums were a bit bbergasted. You were the one who mentioned getting rid of Fairchild. Now you are resenting the fact that we have not held suspicions, that we have not spoken up, that we have not wondered what there is to personally gain from all this?


    Luckily, Zheng Xiao had worked with An Weng for many years, so he knew An Weng¡¯s temperament. He responded in the same tone as An Weng, "An Weng, actually we are feeling apprehensive. Fairchild is quite the major character, after all. He is the backbone force of the truth side and he holds the most promise of bing an Extraordinary. If we make a mistake, there will be no holds barred between the secr side and the truth side. This is what we are trying to avoid..."


    "The scales have two ends. The two ends just keep their distance. They should not interfere with each other and should mind their own business."


    An Weng made minute adjustments to the frame of the viewpoint formed from his fingers. He locked onto Fairchild¡¯s position. "Therefore, Fairchild isn¡¯t on the truth side. He is on the extreme side. He is a paranoid executioner. There has never been a ce for him in the order."


    Zheng Xiao felt a jolt run through his heart. "So we are going to eliminate him?"


    An Weng¡¯s words implied that they were not the only ones demanding to have Fairchild dealt with. There was a moreplicated and callous plot going on in the background.


    "However, if things are as you say, we should wait for a better opportunity, for an easier n..."


    An Weng responded dully, "Let us talk about the odds. Fairchild is powerful. Any schemes, with someone this powerful as a target, will not have a probability of sess exceeding fifty percent. We could go into deeper, more detailed nning. But most of it will be down to luck. Today our luck is good. The terrain, information, energy, and pretext are allplete. Why not try it?"


    "Try it?" Zheng Xiaoughed bitterly, "If we are not sessful, I fear that the consequences will be too difficult to bear."


    There would be endless troubles if this tiger does not die. If they really did infuriate Fairchild and attract his mad vengeance, these First Otums of the secr side might have to sleep with their eyes opened from then on. One would go crazy under those circumstances.


    "What sort of consequences can there be?" An Weng made two light coughs. He turned around and walked slowly towards the spell formation area. Deployment wasplete. "The Gate of Truth is about to open. That paranoid madman may still be alive against Baze but can he afford to be distracted?"

 Chapter 110: The Truth Gate (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 110: The Truth Gate (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Zheng Xiao was speechless for a time. He came back to reality when An Weng got into position and the spell formations atop the three buildings began to calibrate and operate.


    An Weng, are you amused sir?


    If this was true, news of the imminent opening of the Gate of Truth would soon begin circting within the Order of Justice. It was said that through this mystical gate, one could see this order¡¯s holy entity, the true body of The Scales of Truth. The gate opens the way to the paramount authority, allowing supreme knowledge to be obtained.


    Zheng Xiao was the First Otum in charge of missionary matters in the region. This concept was the product of brainwashing spread by the preaching of their priests. They used the recent earthquake in Xia City and borrowed a few words from the order¡¯s doctrine to create these rumors. They imed that the Gate of Truth was located near Xia City. The days of several earthquakes that had happened one after another was an interacting reaction; the holy entity wasing unceasingly closer to the material world.


    Priests of the Order of Justice¡¯s secr side had to spread simr talk every year. They had to recruit believers and expand the influence of their order. Strange sights were not surprising for Zheng Xiao.


    Their order just so happened to seize new ground in analyzing and exploiting the Human-Faced Arachnid. Their research was making great progress. Soon, they would push out new Faith Products. Zheng Xiao wanted to ride this momentum, so he did not set many restrictions on the rumors spread by their priests.


    These rumors were such nonsense. An Weng was chasing the wind and clutching at shadows. He could not really believe these rumors, right? They could not possibly bind down Fairchild¡¯s hands and legs with this?


    "The old man is out of his mind!" The other First Otum, An Chengli, messaged Zheng Xiao through a private channel.


    Zheng Xiao did not go along with him. An Chengli¡¯s words may not have been polite but this was just how An Weng¡¯s grand-nephew was. Normally, An Chengli put on a bright face and relied on his family elders to forge alliances with others. Who knows what sort of context was going on in the background.


    Moreover, Zheng Xiao did not believe that there was a problem with An Weng¡¯s mind.


    An Weng may be a Secretbound First Otum but his seniority exceeded that of ny percent of Mindseer First Otums. He could have been more but he was already at an old age when he had received the revtions from the holy entity. His fleshly body could not bear it and limited his sess.


    Even though things were this way, every priest and cardinal in the order had to greet An Weng when they saw him, and this included even the great Archotum. With the passage of time, An Weng¡¯s original name had long since been forgotten.


    An Weng had never disgraced the honorific Weng, which meant an elderly wise man. An Weng may be a centenarian old man with an utterly decrepit body but his understanding of the current state of affairs was clear and deep. His understanding exceeded that of these Clearsworn First Otums.


    At the very least, Zheng Xiao felt inferior to this old man. He was forced to think ayer deeper. Were there deeper meanings within An Weng¡¯s words?


    Zheng Xiao recalled some pertinent records in his memories. ording to the order¡¯s holy scriptures, the opening of the Gate of Truth marked the start of the transformation of the world. Last time it happened, mutants engulfed the globe. The earth¡¯s ecology waspletely altered and the shackles that locked the hidden potential of humanity were destroyed. The earth had received a revtion.


    He had no doubts that the next time the gate of truth opened, humanity and the world would be transformed once again. As for whether prosperity or destructionid in the future, none of that was stated explicitly within the holy scriptures.


    No matter what direction the transformation, this was a matter that shook the world. If this information turned out to be true, the upper levels of their order would have exploded withmotion. The order¡¯s Holy Cardinals, Mindseer First Otums, Great First Otums, and even the elusive and mystical Archotum would get involved. They would clear their calendars and gather at Xia City. Xia City was now a turbulent ce, of rising winds and scudding clouds. But the current situation was not that crazy. It was not possible for this to be true, right?


    Oh, hold on! If it¡¯s the Gate of Truth, if Xia City was really going through turbulent developments, what sort of benefits could the Order of Justice obtain? If things really did turn big like the so-called butterfly effect, the government, the army, the ability user society, and the major financial powers may get involved. The Order of Justice was not going to wait and split the gains with all these powers, right?


    Zheng Xiao suddenly shivered when his thoughts reached this point. His entire body was trembling unconsciously, even though he was wearing thick ck robes. This was not a symptom of fear. It was brought on by sudden feelings of excitement and stress.


    "An Weng, sir, are you saying that the Gate of Truth is actually real?"


    "Is it real? Is it fake?" An Chengli was curious about what Zheng Xiao was talking about. He could not help but interject. "Why hasn¡¯t there been any news about this from up top?"


    Even if there was news, it would not be given down to members on their level.


    Zheng Xiao had always harbored some suspicions. He believed that An Weng had called him here for a reason. Was it because An Weng knew that his greatest strength was his self-awareness? Did An Weng call him here to form a team with An Chengli, a young First Otum who¡¯s ambitions exceeded his abilities?


    Although An Chengli had many faults, he was not stupid. He asked with a rapid fire of words, "An Weng, does the great Archotum have a holymand? If the Gate of Truth is really going to open soon, do we have the time and ce yet? Is today¡¯s matter just a pretext?"


    That is true. Could it all be just a pretext?


    Zheng Xiao was unable to make a definite sense of things for a time. It seemed that they really were using the conflict with Fairchild and the internal strife of their order as a facade to cover up their true intentions. This way, the powerful members of the secr side and the truth side of the Order of Justice could amass in Xia City without suspicion. They could form an absolute advantage over the other powers... Then what was today¡¯s deployment all about?


    Once in awhile, An Chengli made an excellent partner, especially when his brain was in high gear. He scrambled to speak out Zheng Xiao¡¯s suspicions, "If things are really this way, then we are to be stagehands for this y?"


    "Fairchild is quite the fitting character. How credible do you think this pretext is?" An Weng had answered only one question, yet it spelled out many matters quite clearly.


    Zheng Xiao and An Chengli were both silent. They needed more time to digest all of this.


    The rain fell harder and harder into the night. Though the drizzle was blocked off by the top of the rooftops, they could still hear the low sttering sound of falling raindrops.


    An Weng did not give these two much time to think. Soon, their mental domains trembled as ck light and white lines interweaved to form the ssical structure of a bnce scale. It manifested in the deep void that ordinary people would find hard to see and it dered its existence towards these two people.


    The ck and white tes on each side were each connected by three chains of their respective colors. The frame in the center allowed the two sides to serve as foils for one another. The base below was thick and heavy. There was nothing else to the structure besides the aforementioned parts. It was concise and simple.


    This was none other than the projection of the Scales of Truth. It acted as the paramount holy entity of their order. No matter the ce, the time, or the circumstances, all must be respectful towards it. The two First Otums bowed and recited scriptures in silence, thus temporarily clearing the distracting thoughts from their minds.


    Right now, the Scales of Truth were not in a bnced state. It was as if there was something heavy on the white te, which caused it to sink all the way to the bottom. The ck te on the other side was raised high up. It gave off the sense that it could topple over at any moment.


    This unbnced state was the original indicator of their order¡¯s powerful mantra. Everything they were doing was for the sake of bringing this unbnced state back to a bnced state. This process would bring them mystical powers that were unimaginable.


    However, this time there were some oddities with the state of the Scales of Truth. The white te, which was pressed far down, appeared to bepletely empty. At the very least, not a single object could be seen on it. On the other side, there was a tiny snake atop the raised ck te. It was as thin as a chopstick and its body was coiled up in a circle. Its mouth bitted its tail and murky clouds churned around it.


    This tiny ouroboros snake was the manifestation of the Words of Krait. It symbolized the negative force of suffering they presently controlled within Frost River Reality. It was something they needed to endlessly adjust to achieve bnce with the scales. It was the only weight they could manipte.


    However, if they looked at the state of imbnce, it seemed that this weight was not enough.


    "It appears that the Words of Krait¡¯s operation is not running smoothly." Actually, Zheng Xiao wanted to ask what sort of offering was ced on the white scales, for the truth side.


    An Chengli asked, "The Krait¡¯s absorption is being interfered with. Are the ability users inside Frost River Reality up to some mischief?"


    An Weng did not express an opinion. "Let us take a look then."

 Chapter 111: Inquisitor (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 111: Inquisitor (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    When An Weng gave thismand, it did not matter whether it was An Chengli or Zheng Xiao. They both drew their minds back and returned to their respective positions. Instation of the equipment atop the three buildings had beenpleted at this time. They began to start up simultaneously.


    A special three-dimensional projector held the necessary core functions. A rainbow colored light was instantly cast and it interweaved to form a structure of countless changingyers. Such aplicated spell formation would normally require a couple hours to be deployed but it was able to appear instantly through projection.


    The scattered rays all went through a special process to carry a fixed amount of energy. If an ordinary person were to be irradiated by the light, they would probably be burned on the spot. However, with the control of the three First Otums, not a single bit of these rays¡¯ energy was wasted. They all converged into every foundational structure of the spell formation and fused all sorts of vors of light together.


    It was as if each of these First Otums was wrapped in a cocoon of light. Fundamental magic runes were arranged in order in the inneryer of the light-cocoon. They formed a single chain-like structure that revolved and spiraled. This was the foundation for the inner ring.


    Atop this foundation, countless arcs radiated out to intertwine with multi-pointed stars on the outeryer. They linked together marvelously to form dozens of independent gear-like structures of various sizes. The teeth of these gears bit together one by one. It was like an enormous machine. It rumbled as it started up and buzzed as it operated.


    The surface of the sphere surrounding it all wasposed of dozens of hundreds of spell circles. A darkish gray light circted like rapidly flowing turbid waters. It flowed like a gurgling river and it seemed that the river could overflow at any time. Though there was this danger, powerful tension could be obtained from this.


    Practically the exact same spell formation was formed atop the three buildings. They formed the edges of an invisible equteral triangr structure.


    This structure¡¯s name was Evolution Field. It was erected by the three First Otums working together, so they all got to share in its marvels. Of course, An Weng, as the Secretbound First Otum, possessed the highest privileges. He held the lead position.


    Additionally, right in the middle of the Evolution Field was the projection of the Scales of Truth that was in an unbnced state.


    Though the Scales of Truth had yet to enter the material ne, all the surrounding believers within the material ne knelt down on their knees. These priests and knights paid their respects ording to their order¡¯s etiquette. Their devotion and reverence converged into the spell formation and transformed into a confluence of special energy and information, increasing the activity of the formation.


    The magical spell formation was now in operation. The surrounding area gradually came under its control. The most explicit change was the effect upon their range of senses.


    None of the three First Otums were great at mental sensing. They needed to use the Words of Krait to make a ¡®snake hive¡¯ in order to understand the detailed situation within Frost River Reality; it only had a range of one kilometer in a straight line after all. Alternatively, they could use a human weapon such as Baze as a fulcrum. These were the only two methods they could use.


    However, the information from Frost River Reality was being collected through the Evolution Field shared by the three right now. It did not matter how numerous orplicated the information was. The plethora of chaos was being filtered and gathered within the triangr structure. In the end, the information was formed and cast to the souls of the three First Otums.


    The image went from blurry to clear and it covered a range of over a hundred square meters. Every living being appeared within this image. Additionally, under the effects of some special mechanism, the image automatically focused, centered on the most important characters, and marked them out.


    There was not much to say about the target¡¯s status.


    It was a half-grown kid who looked to be around fifteen years old. He was dressed casually and he looked like a student who hade to Frost River Reality for some weekend fun. Anyone picked out from the people in his vicinity would yield a member of society quite a few years older.


    Yet this group of cautious people encircled this young man so that he was in the center. Some did this unconsciously. Some did this consciously. Most notably, there were the eight tall and brawny special police officers equipped with exoskeleton armor. They held their guns and shields and they naturally formed a defensive formation. Their appearance was like they were escorting a high level official.


    "So is he the one?" Zheng Xiao and An Chengli were a bit surprised.


    An Weng maintained his silence.


    This was not the limit of the information gathering and analysis of their Evolution Field. Special symbols internal to the order were scattered down to the image. Every target in the room who the First Otums needed to be concerned with were marked as clear as day in an eye striking fashion.


    The three First Otums saw something astonishing upon each of these people and it was no different from one person to another. The same form existed upon each of their chests. The samebinational structure.


    "A tetrahedron with an innerscribed sphere and an outerscribed sphere... This is the Archetype Format."An Chengli was a Clearsworn First Otum, after all. He was familiar with the extraordinary theories of each major power. He obviously would not forget the Archetype Formatting Theory that was currently scorching the world.


    Zheng Xiao hesitated for a moment but he still made a correction. "The Archetype Format is a standard way of enhancing the fleshly body. However, the current situation seems to be the product of interfering with the material ne from the mental ne."


    An Chengli gasped and wanted to speak but An Weng¡¯s thoughts were transmitted clearly before he could speak. "The operation of the Words of Krait is congested and the reason is this young man. He is the most direct cause. He doesn¡¯t have many years on him, yet he already possesses considerable soul strength. And the operation of his powers is meticulous. He naturally belongs to the side of order, not chaos. Plus, he received Fairchild¡¯s Shield of Truth blessing not too long ago."


    "Fairchild?"


    "The Shield of Truth!"


    Zheng Xiao and An Chengli both ate a sudden shock. "What¡¯s his rtionship with Fairchild?"


    "Who cares about their rtionship."


    An Weng continued to have thoughts of indifference. "The only thing we need to know is just how much more powerful is this young man¡¯s blessing and the tetrahedron structure are after receiving the blessing from Fairchild. No matter where he goes, the powers of chaos and order will have their limits... Do we have information about this young man?"


    Naturally, the Order of Justice had spies in the ability user society. Though they might not have ess to top secret information, they could ess basic resources. It was inevitable for them to find information on this young man. It did not take long for the three First Otums to get to know this young man.


    An Weng did not hide his special attitude towards this young man. "Luo Nan. A new member of the Society. A young man with boundless prospects. A young man with little background... His powerse from talent. If we had encountered him earlier on, drew him into the order, and given him careful training, perhaps he might have been a contestant for ¡¯Saint¡¯."


    Zheng Xiao¡¯s heart shuddered. An Chengli had strived for the title Saint back in the day. He was not sessful, so he returned to Xia City in silence. He became a Clearsworn First Otum but he was always brooding over his failure. Why did An Weng mention such things...


    Separated by a hundred meters of the night sky, he was unable to see An Chengli¡¯s expression. Next, An Weng gave an order.


    "Chengli."


    "An Weng."


    "The secr side is not the secr world. What we do is formte rules for the secr world. So when we engage, we need to find reasons to. We also need to make our stance clear."


    "An Weng!" Zheng Xiao could hear something ominous from those words. He could not refrain from speaking.


    However, An Chengli was already struck to the core by his grandfather An Weng¡¯s words. The stage had been set. He responded practically instantly, "An Weng,mand me sir!"


    "We need to make it clear to people of the world that the Order of Justice is different from the scattered ability user society, that we are different to those politicians that believe in trickery. We have our doctrine and we absolutely will notpromise... They will need to pay the price for their reckless meddling with the internal affairs of our order!"


    "Right now, you are the inquisitor. Make the verdict then."

 Chapter 111: Inquisitor (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 111: Inquisitor (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan had a bad feeling ever since they left the room.


    They had embarked after they rendezvoused with Bai Xinyan. Their route was none other than the area swept by the sniper bullet trajectories not so long ago. The amusement center waspletely empty and all they saw was aplete mess. The helmets and equipment were on the ground everywhere, tossed by customers who lost their minds in fear. asionally, they would happen upon human corpses sted by the high-energy rounds.


    The automatic sprinkles had activated above; it now rained both inside and outside the amusement center. The water mixed with the flesh and the blood to form a paste-like substance and the faint red bloody water flowed beneath their feet. Their group, who had been stuck in the room for quite a while, found the current situation hard to imagine.


    At the very least, Luo Nan never expected this. He never expected to see this scene in Frost River Reality.


    At this time, he had to repeat meaningless words endlessly. "Yes, don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m fine. I¡¯m really fine. I¡¯m with the special forces. It is very safe here. Don¡¯t worry..."


    He was talking to Mo Qiu, his older cousin whose legs had turned to jello from the shock and was waiting outside. Mo Qiu did not stop Luo Nan from leading Officer Xue into Frost River Reality. He had thought that Luo Nan was trying to get on this police officer¡¯s good side, to make it easier to plea for leniency for Mo Peng and the others¡¯ sake. After all, they had been taken into custody for being involved in a brawl. But how was he to know that a terrorist attack would happen in the amusement center just a dozen minutester? There was news that the special forces were knocked out. Then came the explosive sounds of gunshots. Frost River Reality had exploded with chaos.


    Mo Qiu and the others had been brought outside by the chaotic tide of people. He wanted to contact Luo Nan but his call went to voicemail. Mo Qiu was scared out of his mind for Luo Nan. He thought about calling again but in these special circumstances, repeated calls would bring Luo Nan troubles. It was an impossible situation and it tormented him until he practically went mad.


    In the end, Luo Nan noticed the missed call on his wristband while he evacuated from the room. He called back and let Mo Qiu¡¯s stomach filled with fires of torment settle down. The relieving of stress would inevitably make one be a bit chatty. Luo Nan used a patient tone to lessen Mo Qiu¡¯s worries. From their conversation, he was able to partially grasp the situation outside.


    After the so-called terrorist attack hit, the police set up a blockade line surrounding Frost River Reality and they evacuated the civilians nearby. Everyone believed that the police would rush in at godspeed and control the situation within Frost River Reality. But no one ever expected the police to hesitate outside, even after amassing several hundred personnel. They just dispatched a fewbat robots and other unmanned machinery inside. These robots would rescue a few civilians from time to time or retrieve a few corpses. Aside from this, they really did not do anything besides draw resentment from the civilians.


    Luo Nan heard how the police was handling things. He nodded. "Well, this is the way they should do things..."


    Currently, Frost River Reality was enveloped by the Order of Justice¡¯s Words of Krait power. All living beings within its range would likely be reduced to ¡®snake hives¡¯. They would help the enemy. The police methods were clearly directed.


    Mo Qiu did not understand. "Nanster?"


    Luo Nan was unable to exin such things to Mo Qiu. He could only say. "Mo Peng and the others have already been brought to the station right? It¡¯s safe there. Third brother, you, Senior Sister Xiaolin, and Senior Sister Tian should leave quickly. You guys should go far far away. I heard some internal information. These terrorists probably have weapons of great destruction..."


    "What!?"


    "Don¡¯t talk nonsense." Xue Weilun heard Luo Nan speak without thinking and put a stop to it at once.


    Luo Nan waved a hand towards him in apology. He then continued talking with Mo Qiu. "I¡¯m with the special forces. I¡¯ll probably evacuate from a different direction. Don¡¯t be concerned about me. Just be concerned about getting far away from here... Also, don¡¯t talk about this matter with our family for now."


    "You think you can hide it from them?" Mo Qiuughed bitterly. "The media of the entire world have their cameras focused on you guys."


    "..."


    Luo Nan ended the call with Mo Qiu. His brain could not help but imagine what Mo Qiu said about the rescue and corpse retrieval situation with the police. The indescribably bad feeling invaded his mind once more and forced him to sigh with worry.


    Xue Weilun saw that Luo Nan had ended his call. He walked up to him and gave him a few reminders. "Luo Nan. You may be an expert but your family members are not. They may not be able to handle things. You can¡¯t guarantee that he won¡¯t spread information outside and be manipted by others..."


    Luo Nan just wanted to emphasize to Mo Qiu the importance of getting far away asap. He was referring to the Words of Krait when he talked about weapons of great destruction. It was not too far from the truth. However, Xue Weilun was an elder. Having heard these words from Xue Weilun, Luo Nan went along obediently.


    Xue Weilun only said such things because of his professional habits. He saw how Luo Nan had manifested the tetrahedron figures to protect their bodies. He saw Luo Nan¡¯s mystical power. He automatically associated the identity of this young man with that of an expert. He naturally had worries of his own.


    Now he saw that Luo Nan was able to maintain a respectful attitude towards his elders. Luo Nan possessed impressive discipline. His original solid impression of Luo Nan being a drug abuser was diluted by quite a bit. At the same time, he now had somewhat of a good impression of Luo Nan.


    Xue Weilun also did not want tobel his son¡¯s friend with any stereotypes. The suspicions he had once harbored were resolved all at once. He reached out with his hand to swipe twice at the ghostly tetrahedron figure on his chest. The air rippled with subtle waves visible to the naked eye. The figure warped and morphed a bit but was soon restored to its original state.


    "This figure... It can guard against those mental attacks, right? How long can it be maintained for? What is its name?"


    "Format Pyramid, so my grandfather calls it." Luo Nanughed. "It¡¯s a bit of an exaggeration to say that it can guard against mental attacks. It can only prevent disturbances on the mental ne. For a direct attack, it can only act as a cushion to give one time to react."


    As he spoke, he looked at the tetrahedron figures on the chest of the surrounding group of people. Each one of them was protected by the Format Pyramid buff and this made Luo Nan quite happy. His voice was bright and clear. "As for how long itsts... Things will be fine as long as I¡¯m standing here."


    "Student Luo Nan. Are you sure that ¡¯you¡¯ are fine?"


    Before Luo Nan could finish speaking, someone else besides him spoke. She spoke with an emphasis on the second ¡¯you¡¯. There were some implications in her words. The speaker was none other than Bai Xinyan.


    As their party made their way ording to the evacuation route, this doctor of medicine had her head down and was looking at her wristband the entire time. It seemed that she was looking at some data. Her concentration made it so that she was practically blind to her surroundings. She had barely spoken at all today and it seemed that the words she did speak were quite undermining.


    "Doctor Bai..." Luo Nan could only squeeze out these words before suddenly going speechless. Bai Xinyan had gotten close to him, reached out with her arm, and seized him by the shoulders in a half-pressing, half-hugging sort of way. She just walked forward with Luo Nan in this dubious position, attracting side-long nces from the people nearby.


    Luo Nan understood clearly that Bai Xinyan did not have ¡®those¡¯ intentions but her arm held him tight and her body pressed tightly against his. He felt an indescribable softness against his back and his body subconsciously stiffened up.


    "Light tactile sense: normal."


    "Huh?"


    After that, not only did Bai Xinyan have his shoulders in her embrace, she used her other hand to lightly turn his neck and examine his carotid artery. The warmth of her fingers invaded Luo Nan¡¯s skin as his veins and nerves pulsed. This information was fed to Bai Xinyan through her finger.

 Chapter 112: A New Direction (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 112: A New Direction (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    "Hellooo, are you going to take a bite out of him next?" Zhang Yingying could not refrain from shouting. Cat Eyes was sharing her perspective, after all. Bai Xinyan and Luo Nan could not hide any shady business. The members of the Society within the encrypted channel could see it all as clear as day.


    Ultimately, Luo Nan was a thin-skinned individual. He heard what was said and wanted to struggle free but then Bai Xinyan¡¯s finger did something interesting as it pressed lightly against his neck. It changed instantly back and forth from being hot to being cold. The rate of change was quite fast. Luo Nan had tempered himself in the Frost River Waterway not too long ago. The warm and cold sensory receptors of his skin were extremely sensitive, so sensitive that he might not be able to distinguish between the receptors.


    The stimtion came clearly in this sharp contrasting manner, which caused him to be unable to hold back from trembling. At this moment, Bai Xinyan¡¯s other hand that rested on his shoulder began to exert force. It was fine in the beginning, being just pure pressure, but it changedter. Though Luo Nan had the Shield of Truth buff, he could feel his muscles, bones, and skin undte beneath Bai Xinyan¡¯s fingers. The sensation of pain assaulted him, causing him to crease his brows.


    "Dr. Bai... Hey!" Luo Nan¡¯s entire body almost jumped. This was because Bai Xinyan¡¯s fingers, which used toy on his neck, had suddenly slid down his cor to touch his chest.


    "Wow!"


    Cries of shock and astonishment rang throughout the encrypted channel. Normally, special police forces would advance with vignce and attentiveness but even they could not help but look in distraction.


    Bai Xinyan was a beautiful woman who could make anyone¡¯s heart rate increase but Luo Nan was unable to bear this sequence of events. His right shoulder was pressed down and he had no strength in his arm. He could only raise his left hand to push through his clothes against Bai Xinyan¡¯s slender hand, which had already slid down to his chest.


    However, when his arm curved up, his elbow hit Bai Xinyan¡¯s body behind him. It seemed that he had hit somece inappropriate.


    Luo Nan¡¯s body froze up but at the same time, Bai Xinyan¡¯s melodiousugh rang by his ears. "No issues with pressure sense, pain sense, and temperature sense. No anomalies can be seen with the biological senses. Reflexive movement, motion, and sense of bnce are quite urate. Pretty good~"


    Bai Xinyan nonchntly pulled a distance away from Luo Nan as she spoke. She acted as if nothing had happened.


    Luo Nan realized that Bai Xinyan had done some functional tests on him. However, she did this out of the blue, what was the meaning of this?


    "I was looking at some data and I found out a few things. Those who receive the Shield of Truth¡¯s blessing will have a substantial increase in their defensive ability but if they¡¯re buffed for a long time, dislocation to bones, damage to nerves, and other symptoms may appear. Researchers believe that this is due to the power of the Shield of Truth. As it reinforces the structure of the human body, it also causes distortion or the feeling of numbness in the target, making it impossible to urately grasp the limits of the body... But looking at Student Luo Nan now, it looks like you haven¡¯t had any of these symptoms appear. Was Fairchild¡¯s iron fist of love more refined than normal?"


    Voices went ¡®ohhhhh¡¯ in the encrypted channel as they realized what was going on. However, just how many of them could really understand this exnation?


    Luo Nan recovered from his embarrassment and was forced to admire Bai Xinyan¡¯s judgment. It seemed to match uppletely with his current circumstances. She just overlooked one thing; the impact the blessing had on Luo Nan himself.


    When Fairchild hadnded his fist on Luo Nan, the power of the mutual interference between the mental and the material was injected into Luo Nan. It covered his entire body. The blessing was inconceivably exquisite. It seemed to permeate every cell of Luo Nan¡¯s body.


    When this thick power permeated within, the millions of millions of basic building blocks of Luo Nan¡¯s body began to strengthenyer uponyer. They also subtly warped and dislocated. It was the same as casting certain powerful basic structures of the Shield of Truth into Luo Nan¡¯s body. His body now had a dramatic increase in how much it could bear.


    Bai Xinyan¡¯s judgment was correct up until this point but those who received this blessing normally would not receive it down to the cellr level. Fairchild had given him preferential treatment.


    However, there was a reason why Fairchild had acted so exquisitely. He just strengthened Luo Nan on a basic level, giving Luo Nan room to regte and control this power.


    Any other person would freeze for some time when facing the exquisite structure of the Shield of Truth, so it would be quite decent for them to be able to follow established instructions. In Luo Nan¡¯s case, he had only received Fairchild¡¯s demonstration recently. He was not clear on the subtle details. However, he could not be clearer on the basic concepts.


    Therefore, things came to him quite naturally when he unleashed his soul strength. With his soul configuration as a reference, he boldly utilized these basic structures tobine them with his ¡®My heart¡¯s a prison¡¯ format, which was the materialization of his visualization and five years of psychotropics. His format had undergone a second degree of change, erecting an outline of a configuration which was better suited for him.


    Luo Nan continued to tweak the outline of his soul configuration even now to make it more harmonious and coherent. Naturally, such refined work would not appear in Bai Xinyan¡¯s data.


    Unfortunately, such a calibration was only temporary. The blessing of the Shield of Truth onlysted for a short time. Once its effects were gone, Luo Nan¡¯s body would return to its original state.


    This was more or less what Bai Xinyan had said.


    He now understood Bai Xinyan¡¯s previous intentions but the way she did things left Luo Nan brooding. The warmth on his face had yet to dissipate. To hide it, he spoke a bit louder.


    "I already said that I¡¯m fine..."


    "It was me. I requested White Salt to examine you. Don¡¯t me her Mr. Luo." He Yueyin was the one to answer him, and she did not do so in the encrypted channel. Her words came directly in the form of sound waves.


    Luo Nan was a bit startled. He lifted his head and looked forward to see He Yueyin. She was still dressed in her professional attire. She stood in the hazy mist that was sprayed from sprinklers on the ceiling and gave a slight bow in their direction.


    Though she was covered by the mist, her body remainedpletely dry. It was as if there was an incorporeal force that surrounded her body, isting her from being contaminated by external matter. Her gaze pierced through the mist and reached over. It was then that Luo Nan could clearly sense ayer of thin haze masking what had been her clear, bright eyes.


    This female secretary constantly gave him help altruistically. It was hard for Luo Nan to be angry at her. He shook his head but He Yueyin spoke before he could speak.


    "The next mission will be more troublesome. However, if Luo Nan¡¯s endurance is temporarily stronger after receiving the Shield of Truth¡¯s blessing and he can bring out hisplete ability, then it will make the operation much easier."


    "Luo Nan¡¯s eyes lit up but before he could inquire in greater detail, Zhang Yingying disyed even more excitement in the encrypted channel. "Ohoho, is it time for him to draw some scribbles? Wait for me! I¡¯ll be there soon!"


    "..."


    "Hey, it looks like you didn¡¯t bring your ck notebook? Do you need me to find you pen, paper, a flexible screen, or something and bring it over for you?I¡¯m right next to a department store, you know. Leister, go! Take two of any high-end brands you find."


    Leister, who was with her, was obviously embarrassed. It took a while for him to respond faintly with a mere sentence. "Am I really doing this?"


    Luo Nan was baffled as well. It seemed that Zhang Yingying was even more excited than him. What the heck was this?


    However, He Yueyin denied Zhang Yingying¡¯s conjecture. "No. What I need now is Mr. Luo¡¯s ability to make long-range attacks and his all-epassing perception."

 Chapter 112: A New Direction (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 112: A New Direction (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    "All-epassing perception? Kitty, a certain someone¡¯s going to rece you!" Zhang Yingying buzzed and made a racket quite delightedly.


    Luo Nan¡¯s identity as Scout and his participation in the Society¡¯s operations were kept secret. There were no direct leaks. However, within the Society, it was impossible to block rain and windpletely. At the very least, it was impossible to hide it from people as persistent as Zhang Yingying. She was not surprised that Luo Nan possessed this kind of ability. His identity as Scout was all but directlyid bare.


    Though He Yueyin vigorously advocated for applying ssification levels, it seemed that she had taken the initiative to blur the boundary between Luo Nan and Scout. It was unusual, to say the least.


    Zhang Yingying absolutely would not let this chance escape her grasp. She immediately gave He Yueyin a private message. "Hello! You¡¯re knowingly breaking the rules!"


    This time, He Yueyin had no response whatsoever.


    Luo Nan was a bit surprised but he was more concerned about the request that He Yueyin had raised. In fact, this secretary just explicitly assigned him a priority mission, not one that was protective and limited. This was the first time she had done such a thing. Luo Nan was eager to give it a shot.


    He Yueyin spoke neutrally, "Bamboo Pole. Report Frost River Reality¡¯s current situation."


    "Alright." Bamboo Pole responded in azy voice, "In ordance with the secretary¡¯s request, I will distribute an image to everyone then."


    As he spoke, aplete real-time dynamic map was released in the encrypted channel. It was altered from Frost River Reality¡¯s elevation structural drawing. The result was semi-translucent. It was very clear and intuitive to look at.


    "Over here in Frost River Reality, Secretary, Yingying, and Student Xue Lei have already cleared out the area. Both the military and the police¡¯sbat robots have also entered the site. Most of the space has already been swept clean. However, there are some areas where they found it impossible to take under their control... By searching the monitoring system, I¡¯ve found that the Order of Justice still has five to seven gunners. They are mostly concentrated around the border between Area A and Area B and they control the external passageways. Also, Baze and the other Human Weapons are protecting them. He¡¯s the red dot on the dynamic map."


    Luo Nan looked at the map with rapt attention. He took the initiative to ask, "How many are there like Baze?"


    "Cough. Boss Nan, there is only one Human Weapon like Baze. If there were two, then you guys wouldn¡¯t have left that room alive."


    Bamboo Pole had to correct Luo Nan¡¯s mistaken thought. "However, there are slightly shoddier Human Weapons. They are none other than the Otum Knights of the Knights of Equity. There¡¯s only a small squad of them in Xia City. There are nine in total, including Baze. Since their goal is to get rid of Fairchild, either all of them or at least more than half of them have been dispatched. They are waiting on the fringe of the battle area between Fairchild and Baze. Despite this, there is a problem. Even though these Otum Knights haven¡¯t fused their power with that of a First Otum, intrinsically they¡¯re equal to a C+ Rank or higher ability user. It will be very difficult for us to discover their existence just using the monitoring system."


    "In other words, I am to find out where all these people are, right?" Luo Nan did not really feel that this task was that difficult. However, there was one thing he did not understand. "Just how amazing are C+ Rank ability users...?"


    Bamboo Pole gave him a point of reference. "The Secretary was evaluated at C+ when she entered the society. It¡¯s probably the peak level of the Awakened stage."


    Luo Nan swallowed a mouthful of shock. He had seen He Yueyin in action several times. Her callous and swift tempo made one feel like they were facing a thick steel wall. She was someone who could kill with a single blow. Now, all of a sudden there were eight or nine characters with as much strength as He Yueyin.


    "Of course, the highest score possible in the Society¡¯s entrance evaluation is a rank of C+. I, myself, believe that the Secretary should be able to reach B with her strength. I¡¯ve heard that Boss Nan got an entrance evaluation of E+. You were also seriously underrated."


    "Uhm, thank you." Luo Nan gave a word of thanks to Bamboo Pole. However, he was still unclear just how a C+ Rank was measured in the end.The only ones who were more clueless were dreadfully only Xue Weilun and the surrounding special police officers.


    Bamboo Pole directly switched to a different material of reference. "Take Yingying for example then. Her strength was only ranked at C, yet her ¡¯White Rainbow¡¯ can reach a rank of C+ in offensive power.


    An image of Zhang Yingying shed in Luo Nan¡¯s mind. He exhaled. "That¡¯s not too bad..."


    "Hey Luo, do you dare stick your dog head out to try it on?" Zhang Yingying¡¯s furious voice came from far away. Her snow-white long legs swung as she stomped over. Her imposing air pressured the surrounding special police forces to disperse one after another, making a pathway for her.


    Luo Nan went, ¡®hic!¡¯ and figured out that his mouth had shot off a bit too quickly. Though his impression of Zhang Yingying was veryplicated, she had good intentions for him tonight. She had sent him a private message telling him how to fix the situation with Red Fox being angry. She also offered to bring pen, paper, and a flexible screen. Her mannerisms were great but this description really did not fit her.


    "Father! You¡¯re fine, right?"


    Xue Lei followed closely behind Zhang Yingying. He saw his father and was super excited. He rushed forward but was smacked in the head by the metal fist of the exoskeleton armor suit. His tall and brawny figure became shorter by a half.


    When he saw how his friend hade to an end, Luo Nan became truly worried about the fate of his own head. He was also worried about incurring Zhang Yingying¡¯s wrath with her white rainbow; she might recreate a parhelion with him as a victim. He hastily raised his wristband to indicate his apologies. "I¡¯m very sorry! Oh, Yingying. Your White Rainbow... It feels much sharper."


    Zhang Yingying sneered. "Now you¡¯re kissing butt? It¡¯s toote!"


    Luo Nan shrugged with hands unfolded. He felt helpless. It was extremely pitiable; he really was telling the truth. He had just cast a nce over to Zhang Yingying and saw the river cloud belt circting around her body. He had never seen it so bright, lustrous, and pure before. It was as if there was living water snaking and circting upon her body. It reflected with a cold aura.


    Because of this change, he had nearly blurted out and revealed the fact that he could directly observe Zhang Yingying¡¯s White Rainbow. He was able to guess that Zhang Yingying must have made a breakthrough in her ability over this past week. Only then would such a distinct change be present.


    Such progress answered one of his questions. People were anxious in the Society.


    Luckily at this time, Xue Lei could not stand the lecturing his father was giving him. He came over dejected and depressed as he sought refuge, his actions serving as indirect protection for Luo Nan. He gave Luo Nan a hearty embrace. "Nanster. Thank you so much. I heard everything from Father. Good thing that you were there!"


    "Actually, Uncle also looked after me all this time."


    The two got along well together and they were friends of the same age who stuck together through thick and thin. Luo Nan naturally treated him differently. He patted Xue Lei¡¯s muscr shoulder and spoke with some emotion, " Uncle was right. Leister, you really shouldn¡¯t havee inside. How were things over with Senior Sister Xiaolin?"


    "You¡¯re not someone of this world." Xue Lei stepped two paces back after his hug. He revealed a dejected face. "Those were her exact words...sigh"


    Xue Lei still had more to say but he turned his head and saw that there were all sorts of people in their surroundings. He could only reveal a wry smile in the end. It did not matter how much he could try distinguishing himself from Xiaolin¡¯s words. The facts before him were irond proof and he felt powerless in front of them.


    Bamboo Pole then coughed a few times in the encrypted channel to get everyone¡¯s attention. "Everyone, that¡¯s just about enough small talk for now. I still haven¡¯t finished exining the situation over here yet..."


    Next to Bamboo Pole was Red Fox. Red Fox recovered his spirits at this time. "Hey! The heck are you talking about all this for? You still want to recklessly engage with the Order of Justice¡¯s secr side? You want to risk life and limb with Fairchild? Can¡¯t you see that there¡¯s the giant evacuation route that you can take? You¡¯re still not sick of that hellhole yet?"

 Chapter 113: Dumb Teammate (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 113: Dumb Teammate (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Red Fox smashed down with rapid-fire questions but Bamboo Pole lectured beside him, exining in calm and even-tempered manner. "Well, we¡¯re not helping Fairchild exactly. You see, there are still innocent civilians within Frost River Reality. My initial estimation ces the numbers at a hundred, with all of them being in Area A. They are divided into twenty clusters, with each of them containing two to seven people."


    As Luo Nan listened attentively, Zhang Yingying came over to him, unwilling to forgive him. Bai Xinyan tried to hold her back by the shoulders but it was no use. "Hey! You said you could feel a sharp change. Were you telling the truth?"


    "It¡¯s true," replied Luo Nan without hesitation.


    "Baseless talk. Who would believe you? Yea! So, draw me another portrait!"


    "Eh?" In the time before Luo Nan could react, Zhang Yingying had stuffed a thin notebook into his hands. As she did this, she prodded a pencil into one of his hands as well. She was actually quite considerate; the pencil was already sharpened and it nearly pierced his skin.


    It was really quite difficult to find paper notebooks and simr consumer articles in ces like this amusement center. The things Zhang Yingying had stuffed into his hands must be game rted merchandise. There should be showy game rted icons and decorations on the borders, covers, and inneryers.


    Luo Nan was speechless for a time. He was able to get a fan from his sketched drawings? Moreover, his fan was actually this unfathomable and odd woman, Zhang Yingying?


    Bai Xinyan was quite baffled. "Are you saying that you really like his drawings?"


    Zhang Yingying was beaming with smiles. Not a trace of anger could be seen. "He¡¯s a psychic! He can trace back the past. He can know the future. He can see what others can¡¯t see. My boss exined to me that my sense toward White Rainbow is far too subjective. I need more references from different perspectives. His drawings are simple and open. I can save a lot of effort with them."


    Luo Nan could only smile wryly in regards to her reasoning. He opened the notebook but looked at the ceiling above. The sprinklers were going off, soaking Luo Nan¡¯s hair. The water scattered onto the notebook and soon a page was soaked as well.


    Zhang Yingying rolled her eyes in response. She pressed him. "Do it when things are over! You will give it to me tomorrow!"


    "Will there be one for me?" Bai Xinyan came to join in on the action. Luo Nan always maintained a bit of vignce toward this woman. He could only tilt his head andugh, adopting an introverted and shy appearance.


    However, his attention was soon drawn in by Bamboo Pole¡¯s exnation.


    "The presence of the hundred civilians is really a big headache. The Knights of Equity currently do not n to capture and hold people hostage. However, they¡¯re not making any signs of letting people go freely outside."


    Bamboo Pole then yed a video. It showed that there were gunmen guarding the exit passageways. When a civilian tried to escape, the gunman would shoot their legs and let them scream and moan on the ground. It was utterly cruel.


    Xue Lei growled next to Luo Nan. He really did not like the scene. He could not hold back from muttering, "This is not a hostage situation..?"


    "They¡¯re just establishing snake hives with them."


    Bamboo Pole adjusted to a different monitoring screen to let everyone see the specifics of the current situation. Those who tried to escape were shot in the legs to generate pain and fear. Together, those emotions formed the best medium for the Words of Krait. The suffering of the civilians was increased by several folds but they were not allowed to faint. They could only struggle and scream, allowing the incorporeal viper toe in and out of their bodies. Soon, they were on theirst breaths


    The screams and struggles had another effect; they broadcasted out enormous quantities of negative psychic waves. The trapped civilians, who were not that harmed, were dominated by emotions of terror and panic. The radiation of negative emotions and psychic waves allowed the snake hives to spread and propagate.


    "The more concentrated and therger the number of snake hives, the easier it is for the Order of Justice¡¯s First Otum to disy their abilities. Their limiting distance bes smaller as well. ording to previous information, it is standard to have three snake hives for a Human Weapon like Baze to output at full power. If more Otum Knights are to be added, the number of snake hives needs to be doubled at least... Now that I mention it, you guys made the correct choice in bringing that rich kid out of there. Boss Nan¡¯s Format Pyramid is also very awesome."


    Bamboo Pole was talking about Huang Bingzhen, who had fainted once again. Right now, his body was buffed by Luo Nan¡¯s Format Pyramid, so the effects of the snake hive were suppressed.


    Though Luo Nan was praised, he was not that happy. The cruel mental torment in the monitoring feed was still disyed. Xue Lei could not stand looking at it and Luo Nan could not stand it either. Such a scene continued to spark the terrible feeling he had before. It made him feel unwell from inside out.


    At this moment, Red Fox gave another roasting. "The program has been changed once again! Now we¡¯re doing a gargantuan rescue mission? I say, is infantilism contagious? Just having one brat over here is enough!"


    Luo Nan felt really horrible. He was attacked for no reason. He was vexed and just as he was about to take a breath of air to calm down, he felt a slight pain in his fingers. It turned out that he had subconsciously squeezed his hand, breaking the sharp tip of the pencil and lodging the tip into his finger.


    Zhang Yingying spoke out in the encrypted channel. "Hey! Hey! Fox-dog! That¡¯s enough of your mumbo jumbo! The Order of Justice couldn¡¯t have scared you this bad."


    Red Fox¡¯s views had never changed all this time. He never thought that Zhang Yingying and even Bamboo Pole would say that he was a turncoat! Red Fox was in a bad mood from top to bottom. His fury hailed down as a torrent of words.


    "Pardon me, I¡¯m really not scared of the Order of Justice. I¡¯m just scared by this dumbf**k teammate. The Order of Justice is going around unbridled and they are one of the three major secret orders. To aplish what you want, to continue on, anyone would be helpless and that includes me. But this brat is different. He doesn¡¯t even know themon sense of picking your battles! He wants to make things big! Human-Faced Arachnid, Fairchild, Words of Krait, he set them all off! You guys aren¡¯t scared of losing your face when ying with explosives with him? And you say I¡¯m scared to the point of imploding my pants!? Look at these innocent civilians, aren¡¯t they imploding?"


    Zhang Yingying suddenly exploded with fury. "FOX-DOG! DON¡¯T YOU GO TOO FAR!"


    Red Fox¡¯s words were far too reproaching and hurtful. There was a moment when Luo Nan forgot to breathe. He just subconsciously removed the pencil nib from his finger, letting the nib fall into the shallow waters beneath.


    A profound and exquisite perception inexplicably locked onto the entire process of this tiny object falling down. The process included the nib tumbling and turning, the moment it entered the water, and even the resulting fine ripples.


    Luo Nan used this method to distract himself, to experience a moment of serenity. But when his attention came back, the burning, scalding heat in his chest became all the more unbearable.


    He wanted to go along with this burning emotion and roar in defiance. He wanted to rebuke Red Fox¡¯s irrational behavior. However, he did not utter a single word in the end. His expression was calm and rxed, he took the range of his mental senses, which he had restricted down to a ten meter radius in caution and released it outwardyer byyer.


    Ten meters. Twenty meters. Fifty Meters... Soon, the range of his mental senses exceeded that of Cat Eyes and it continued to expand.


    As the range of his mental senses rapidly expanded, the rate of information pouring in grew exponentially. The information was fed back to him but it was not like that of a simple soul configuration. He could realize and facilitate a conversation with this energy and information. The energy and information had to follow the functional mechanisms of the human body¡¯s nervous system. Through special neurotransmitters and various forms of stimnts, the energy and information could be transmitted with order. They advanced under the process, step by step, to ultimately merge into the central hub of his brain. They assembled andbined into aplete, all-epassing scene. This entire process tested the body¡¯s ability to receive information and energy to an ultimate degree.


    In a few breaths time, various details and information of the scene in Frost River Reality Area A rushed in like the swelled wave of the ocean. Luo Nan was bombarded head on and a rumble could actually be heard.

 Chapter 113: Dumb Teammate (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 113: Dumb Teammate (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    In this very moment, it was as if Luo Nan had been smacked head on by an enormous wave. The space between his ears rumbled and stars dazzled his eyes. Even his skin was a bit numb. However, his current level of endurance was different from before. His mental ne was stable from the beginning to the end and it ebbed along with the impact of the flow of information. The stimtions of light, color, sound, cold, heat, and pain were split and filtered, causing the scene of the external world to gradually grow clear and bright.


    In the next few seconds, Luo Nan took a deep breath with his abundance of energy. He divided a strand of his mind topare the flow of information with the elevation structural diagram that Bamboo Pole provided. He performed a second filtering and categorization with his own sensing area.


    Doing this amongst the assaulting flow of chaotic information was not easy. Within his spellbound state, Luo Nan could hear Xue Lei curse, "The f**k is this guy?" He also heard Red Fox¡¯s sneer within the encrypted channel.


    "I¡¯m overdoing it? Secretary, do you dare to vow and dere that the true intentions of thisughable big rescue mission isn¡¯t to wipe the butt of your boss?"


    Luo Nan¡¯s eyes remained closed. Whether or not He Yueyin had a response, Luo Nan would not pay further attention to the encrypted channel. He just concentrated on his fixed train of thought to filter the information he sensed. Practically by the time Red Fox had finished speaking, several spurred emotions and their corresponding information continued to refresh on Luo Nan¡¯s mental ne.


    He used the private message function of the encrypted channel to send some information to Bamboo Pole, who was in charge of intelligence work. Bamboo Pole did not respond immediately. It took a full five seconds for him to respond with a stupefied emoticon.


    Luo Nan let out a drawn out breath upon doing all this. He suddenly felt some pain on his back. It was Zhang Yingying. She had smacked him and shouted, "Pump yourself up!" Then she faced Red Fox and scolded him right back.


    "By your logic, you¡¯re grumbling around because you¡¯re doing cleanup work for the Order of Justice? That the people they dispatched, their take over of the site, and the shots they fired are all because Luo Nan forced them to? Ha! These words sound very familiar to me. Back in the day, you ran out of Hu City like a dying dog. It looks like you¡¯re using the same excuse right now... Back then you didn¡¯t even dare fart a word. This time you have a chance. Are you taking the time to crap out this stinky performance to toss to others?"


    Over at the reinforcement point, Red Fox exploded with anger upon being uncovered by Zhang Yingying. He made a most basic mistake by opening his mouth and directly howling into the channel, "Isn¡¯t your back hurting from standing so much and being a hypocrite!? Do you want to make a bet!? What kind of face do you think headquarters will make after this is over!? Wait, you don¡¯t need to wait long. Just check the news tomorrow! Let¡¯s see what kind of attitude Xia City¡¯s government and military will have!"


    "Well I bet you¡¯ll pucker up your butt and run just like before!"


    Zhang Yingying spat in contempt. "If you have the guts, just go howl at headquarters, go howl at Xia City¡¯s government! A de drawn in anger will be strong if drawn by the brave. A de drawn in anger will be weak if drawn by a coward... Didn¡¯t you learn this in elementary school? I can teach you for free, you know!"


    "Yingying."


    It was probably because she could feel that the team¡¯s atmosphere was on the verge of copse that He Yueyin opened her mouth atst to stop Zhang Yingying from speaking further.


    However, by now Zhang Yingying was exploding with anger. She was unable to control herself as she stabbed back. "I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t really know you. Don¡¯t talk to me so intimately. I don¡¯t want to repeat myself a third time... Oh right, someone wanted you to make a vow, Secretary He. Don¡¯t shrink away just because youck the means. Weren¡¯t you so critical and strictst week? What happened to your iparably imposing aura of never being wrong?"


    These two did not need to use the encrypted channel to engage in their dialog. They were engaging in a battle of words right in each other¡¯s faces. This was much more direct than using the encrypted channel. The others cast a sidelong nces at them.


    Under the collective gazes of the crowd, He Yueyin¡¯s expression possessed neither happiness nor anger. She answered in an undisturbed tone, "I need to correct one of your misunderstandings. Mr. Luo isn¡¯t weak. What he can do, the things he can do, are much more than what you all are disputing about... Right now, an adjustment is being made due to new information and intelligence. I ask everyone to receive it attentively."


    "Hello!?"


    "Ha!"


    It need not matter whether it was Zhang Yingying or Red Fox who responded in colorful, emotional tones to He Yueyin forcefully changing the topic, they had one thing inmon. They were resentful.


    Just by saying, ¡®Mr. Luo¡¯, He Yueyin took the focus and shifted it onto Luo Nan. Bamboo Pole had to cough a few times to try to capture all their attention. However, this yielded no results. Feeling helpless, he could only release a map.


    "Alright, I think it¡¯s better for you guys to look at these on your own. I¡¯ll just mention one thing. The data just now was for reference only. From now on, all intelligence regarding the inside of Frost River Reality will be refreshed constantly. Always refer to the newest map!"


    As he spoke, two dynamic maps emerged in the encrypted channel. They werergely the same but they had some minor differences. One wasbeled ¡®old¡¯ and the other wasbeled ¡®new¡¯.


    These two images were both concise and clear. Red dots represented the enemy. Green dots represented the trapped civilians that were scattered around. The two images looked mostly simr but careful inspection would reveal differences between the old and new maps in the number of red and green dots. There were at least ten percent more dots on the new one, a scale of about a dozen people.


    The additional ten percent wasrgely made up of red dots, the enemy.


    "You changed the monitoring style?" Cat Eyes¡¯ unique, sharp and bright voice sounded out. "The new people who have shown up, they¡¯re all Otum Knights?"


    Over at the reinforcement point, Bamboo Pole saw that a sneer still remained on Red Fox. He sighed. "Don¡¯t ask me. This has nothing to do with me."


    His words were unclear but this vague response was the clearest indication of his thoughts. After all, He Yueyin had long since mentioned the matter about Luo Nan and his all-epassing perception. And she also just mentioned it indirectly when she corrected Zhang Yingying for her ¡®misunderstanding¡¯...


    "You¡¯re a funny guy!" Red Fox still wanted to maintain that cold and reproaching attitude but Bamboo Pole just shrugged with unfolded hands. Not a sound came from Cat Eyes. It seemed like she had fallen into deep thought.


    The sneer on Red Fox¡¯s face gradually stiffened. Then it was as if he woke up a bit. His skin started to twitch and convulse.


    Before he could speak, Zhang Yingying went "Ah ha!". Her mouth split into a grin and she gave another good smack to Luo Nan¡¯s back: "Excellent. This hard worker has a decisive victory over a certain someone shooting his mouth. Talking sh*t with thousands of words can neverpare to actually doing something calmly... However, Kitty will really lose her job at this rate! Haha!"


    By speaking these words, Zhang Yingying felt a slip of the tongue herself. She rushed to shut her self up but Cat Eyes had woken up from her deep thoughts. She was next to Luo Nan. Her eyes slightly tilted over, revealing squinting eyes. The intenting out from them was like a de just tempered by fire and it sought to sh Luo Nan¡¯s face.


    She might have considered this fellow to be a hidden boss early on. However, Luo Nan revealed his ability in the field she was best at. This caused her heart to be directly provoked with great intensity.


    Complete dominance? This is not funny at all!


    Cat Eyes red at Luo Nan like she wanted to kill him. She tried to see through his true nature but she was unable to obtain anything substantial, just like in her previous failed experience. She could only resort to words.


    "I won¡¯t talk about the other ces but here... Are you sure there are people? How did you do this?"


    Cat Eyes was pointing at some location in the surroundings of Area A¡¯s arena block. The red dots were disyed quite clearly on the new map but there were no traces of them on the old map.


    Cat Eyes should be able to sense this region for it was at the edge of the range of her long-range perception. However, in truth, she was not able to perceive the existences of the enemies here.


    There were not many chances for Red Fox to vent. Red Fox practically chased Cat Eyes¡¯ tail as he hoarsely spoke, "Kitty is absolutely correct. Are you sure there are people? Can you guarantee that you are urate, that you aren¡¯t improvising....?"


    "You shut the hell up!"


    "Did you shoot away your brain? Daring to shoot your mouth off like that?"


    Cat Eyes and Zhang Yingying spoke at practically the same time. The length of their speech and their moods were different but they left Red Fox choked on the spot. At this very moment, from Red Fox¡¯s perspective, it did not matter whether it was at Frost River Reality, at the reinforcement point, or in the virtual encrypted channel. They had all sunk into a silence that made it hard for him to take, it was till the point of suffocating.

 Chapter 114: Imploded (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 114: Imploded (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Cat Eyes was silent after venting with her yell. She stood there, at a loss. Fortunately, Zhang Yingying had taken over the show. Sheughed and patted Luo Nan¡¯s back and she used her height advantage to stroke his head. She gave Luo Nan a good praising but was pped away by him displeasedly.


    Zhang Yingying did not get mad. On the contrary, she was now very excited. She was the one who made the rmendation for Luo Nan to enter the Society. Whatever Luo Nan aplished added color and luster to her reputation... At least, this was what she believed.


    She did not doubt the authenticity of the information Luo Nan had supplied. It had nothing to do with his abilities. She trusted in the honest personality of this greenhorn and still maturing high school student, nothing more.


    "Hey hey! Now it¡¯s time to give the final word. Speak speak! Why can¡¯t Kitty see them and why can you?"


    Luo Nan thought for a moment but he opened his mouth in the end. "That one there is a corpse."


    "Huh?" Zhang Yingying was a bit shocked. It was not only her, there were not many people around them who were immediately able to understand Luo Nan¡¯s words.


    Zhang Yingying did her best to understand. She tried toe up with an exnation. "So you are saying that the Otum Knight over there is disguised as a corpse, causing Bamboo Pole and Cat Eyes to miss it?"


    Luo Nan nodded.


    "This is too..."


    Zhang Yingying was simply speechless. Luo Nan was able to see a corpse fifty meters away in such aplicated environment. This was quite amazing but this was a pretty bad reason! Wasn¡¯t this like thinking that something was valuable and amazing but then the truth revealed it to be worthless?


    She did not mean to reject Luo Nan¡¯s exnation but she could not refrain from asking Cat Eyes to seek proof. "So what is it? Hey, Kitty?"


    Kitty only reacted when she heard her name. She answered with great effort. "There really is a corpse over there."


    She was quite dispirited. She did not have any doubts in her mind.


    Bamboo Pole released an image from the monitoring system into the encrypted channel. Indeed, there was a corpse over there. It had a rather plump figure. It looked like a typical overweight personmonly seen in the city. It looked as if the corpse had been done in by a bullet. It was prone on the ground and did not move at all. A giant puddle of blood seeped beneath it. Just looking at the amount of blood, it was very likely that this person was dead.


    Everyone who saw the video was dumbfounded. No matter how one looked at it, whether vertically or horizontally, it was without a doubt a corpse. There were no traces that this was an Otum Knight in disguise.


    "Oh..."


    Within the encrypted channel, Red Fox¡¯s hoarse voice trembled withughter. "Are you saying this fatty is an Otum Knight? That¡¯s such a joke. Those who¡¯ve seen the data on the Order of Justice raise your hands. Which one of the nine Otum Knights of Xia City has this corpse¡¯s face?"


    For a time, no one responded.


    Red Fox suddenly raised the volume of his voice. "Perhaps, Boss Nan believes that we must be vignt towards any human-shaped object? Then ording to your logic, every single corpse in Frost River Reality has the potential of being an Otum Knight... Who¡¯s going to do the verification? Are we just going to rely on those dots you ced on the map? Howughable!"


    Red Fox¡¯s throat was torn by the time he finished. He truly believed that he was not mistaken, that he did nothing wrong. Right now, he was a bit more resolute than before. The reason why the situation was so awkward was ultimately because it revolved around Luo Nan, this infantile trash, and his surrounding female white knights. These women were protecting him in apletely biased manner.


    He had already wanted to turn around and leave more than once. He wanted to break away from this cursed operation, but he didn¡¯t deserve to be called a coward over this. He still had pent up frustrations from over many years of leaving Hu City anding to Xia City. His manner of speaking was influenced by his frustrations, people had attacked back when he spoke and he was beat down quite badly. The further frustrations made him want to argue things clearly.


    Bamboo Pole looked at his expression. He felt unwell for Red Fox and wanted to mediate. He reached out and ced his hand on Red Fox¡¯s shoulder. "Red Fox, listen to me..."


    "This includes you!"


    Red Fox pped Bamboo Pole¡¯s hand away with force. He red at Bamboo Pole with bloodshot eyes. "Do you have sh*t for brains? To believe word for word what a little baby says? Do you not care if it is right or wrong? Do you just p like a monkey towards a newly processed dynamic map?"


    Bamboo Pole sighed. He shrugged. "Red Fox, you need to cool down and think..."


    "I¡¯ll cool you, you rentboy!"


    Red Fox gave Bamboo Pole a big thumbs... down. He took a big breath and straightened his red jacket with both his hands. This red jacket represented his name and reputation. His lips split as he burst outughing. "How about this! You guys don¡¯t have to do anything. I¡¯ll just go by myself. Let¡¯s make a bet and see if that really is an Otum Knight!"


    Bamboo Pole was shocked as he suddenly realized the meaning behind Red Fox¡¯s words. He reached out his hand to grab Red Fox but Bamboo Pole was not abat member. How could he prevail over Red Fox, who had the reputation of City Hunter? He grabbed nothing but air with those hands.


    "Stop him." Bamboo Pole called out to Papercut but Papercut was a mentally enhanced ability user. He was not that much better than Bamboo Pole.


    Red Fox¡¯s body flickered and he appeared in the shopping center, another reinforcement point. Soon he blended into the bustling streets withrge flows of people. By the time Bamboo Pole and Papercut rushed over, their line of sight was already blurred by the screen of rain. It was impossible to see a trace of Red Fox.


    Didn¡¯t you guys say that all I can do is shoot my mouth? I¡¯ll show you what I can do!


    Red Fox¡¯s lips were fixed into a sneer. He walked withrge strides toward the most chaotic area of the city, downtown.


    "Red Fox, don¡¯t do something meaningless!"


    "Irrational people like to roll around and cause a crazy scene, right?"


    Two messages came into the encrypted channel. The first came from He Yueyin. Theter naturally came from Zhang Yingying.


    The two had spoken at nearly the same time, upon which He Yueyin gave a piercing re that was unprecedentedly strict. Though Zhang Yingying always had a lively personality, she was instantly stifled by that re.


    Zhang Yingying wanted to counterattack but Bai Xinyan spoke in her ear, "Hey, you can¡¯t push people too far!"


    Zhang Yingying¡¯s mouth gaped but no sound came out. Now that Bai Xinyan had mentioned it, Zhang Yingying realized that Red Fox¡¯s behavior was a bit abnormal. At the very least, Red Fox had a bit of a ¡®nothing to lose¡¯ air about him.


    Were things this serious?


    At this time, Red Fox¡¯s hoarse voice entered the encrypted channel. "Then exin things more clearly, Mrs. Secretary. Exin it to me clearly. Where is the meaning? Where is the meaning behind this damned night?"


    Red Fox continued to make the basic mistake ofmunication by sound waves instead of psychic waves. But he did not care about the strange gazes cast towards him by the pedestrians around. After a good round of cursing, he mocked with his hoarse voice. "Since there¡¯s no meaning to this at all, then what I¡¯m doing isn¡¯t bad."


    He quickened his pace as he let his words hang in the air. The distance between the reinforcement point and Frost River Reality was closer than Frost River Reality and Yn Hotel. In the instant he had spoken, he had given strength to his legs and saw the ¡®triangr spaceship¡¯ in the distance. This was Frost River Reality; it was surrounded by spotlights and police lights.


    Waves and waves of people were evacuating from Frost River Reality ahead. Their paces varied between urgent and slow. Their expressions switched back and forth between palpitating with fear, panic, excitement, and curiosity.


    Red Fox did not dodge or move out of the way. He collided head on into the flow of people. With both hands in his pocket, he used a most rxed way to go against the stream. His arms and shoulders bumped into people over and over but it did not cause him the slightest impact.


    Mm. A very familiar feeling. These ignorant faces are no different than those of Hu City.

 Chapter 114: Imploded (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 114: Imploded (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    The sneer fixed on Red Fox¡¯s lips seemed to be carved by a knife. This was the arc his lips were the most used to. Absurd feelings of deja vu assaulted him over and over, causing him to be restless as he recalled some memories. It seemed like ages ago. The city was simr. The night was simr. The flow of people was simr. He was simr...


    However, back then there was not a triangr spaceship. There were only targets fleeing in panic, targets doing their best to hide.


    Oh, he remembered now. It was quite the perfect operation.


    He had a group of friends and peers who were outstanding just like him. They used ten days and ten nights to execute the perfect operation down to every link. All that was left was for him, the City Hunter, to execute the final blow.


    Not a single innocent civilian was harmed in the busiest area of the city and the target was killed easily... The target was a preacher in name. He killed women and children as sacrifices for his demonic god. He was a Mad Believer.


    Filthy blood had sshed onto Red Fox¡¯s jacket, just like an idental spige of champagne. In that moment, every single one of the participants was jubnt at their sess. Most of them were youngsters who had just entered the Society, just taken the entrance evaluation. The number of Awakened among them were few but through strict nning and excellent execution, they were able to slowly grind away at their target¡¯s advantages. They created a favorable situation for themselves and they finally aplished a perfect kill on the Mad Believer with the strength of B- Rank.


    Then what? Then what happened?


    The Order caused wanton destruction in Hu City in the name of revenge. A list of the participant¡¯s names for the operation was leaked and they were pursued and ughtered one by one down the list. In a short few days, over half of the youngsters who had participated in the operation had died.


    In the meantime, what did the Society do?


    Headquarters rebuked them with an evaluation that said, "An operation where the consequences were never considered at all." The branch gave them ¡®Getaway Tickets¡¯, which was pretty much the same as being exiled. They were banished far far away by those who they thought were theirrades.


    As the lucky few who survived, they ran out from Hu City like dogs. They hid in the wilderness and scattered in every direction like the rays of a star. If they were to try to contact each other now, nine out of ten of them would not respond. Their locations were unknown. Whether they were dead or alive was also unknown.


    What the hell kind of ending was this!?


    The stream of people split just ahead of Red Fox. Countless blurry faces streamed past his shoulders on each side, giving him a sense of deja vu. His mind entered a wonderful state of tranquility, to the point that he was able to crack some jokes.


    "856 meters away from the target. ETA 90 seconds. Raise your bets everyone! Whoever bets against me, I¡¯ll bet even higher!"


    The encrypted channel was just a sheet of silence. It was just like the night he fled from Hu City. The corner of Red Fox¡¯s mouth twitched as he recalled these memories. In the end, his mouth settled into his standard sneering smile.


    Red Fox arrived at the outer perimeter of Frost River Reality. There were crowds here, standing and watching. They billowed out from the police cordon when it was set, falling back unwillingly. Some media reporting crew could not get good spots. They tried to squeeze against the flow to get closer to the scene of the incident.


    Cameras shed atop the three buildings surrounding Frost River Reality, the shes looking like the flickering of stars. asionally, they would flicker simultaneously, casting a deathly white light in this area.


    It made quite the perfect graveyard.


    As Red Fox was about to cut into a thicker stream of people, some new information came slipping into the encrypted channel. The sender was He Yueyin.


    "We shouldn¡¯t be cing our attention on that corpse."


    Red Fox was distracted for a moment, having heard her words. His brain spun its gears a few revolutions before he ultimatelyughed. "I knew it all along. I knew it all along... Going to check an Otum Knight. Going to check a corpse. This is simply the crappiest joke of all!"


    "Hey!" At Frost River Reality, Zhang Yingying red at He Yueyin with both her eyes and raised her hand and pointed straight at He Yueyin. She wanted to berate He Yueyin but she subconsciously shifted her gaze onto Luo Nan.


    Luo Nan¡¯s expression was still rxed as he stood solemn and silent. Hecked the ease of one who held the pearl of wisdom but he alsocked the panic of a swindler whose ruse was seen through.


    Red Fox chuckled. "Mrs. Secretary, so you¡¯re saying that you¡¯re folding your hand and admitting defeat? Have you sought your boss¡¯s opinion before saying these words?... Mr. Luo. Boss Luo. Aren¡¯t you going to say anything?"


    It was as if Luo Nan did not hear a word. He had no reaction whatsoever.


    Zhang Yingying could not hold herself back but Bai Xinyan reined her in by the neck. It was an intimate action but because of it, Zhang Yingying could not speak another word.


    Red Fox¡¯s smile grew when he did not hear a response. His voice grew hoarser. "Okay, that¡¯s great! Your ability to wipe butt and faces is truly amazing! Is there any point in doing any of this? Is it to smack my face? Or is it to let this Weasel wriggle out of this?


    He Yueyin spoke calmly, "Isn¡¯t this what you wanted?"


    Red Fox was simply dumbfounded. "Are you joking?"


    He Yueyin sighed a bit secretly. "This has nothing to do with jokes. I¡¯m just trying to bring your attention back to the ne of reality. For instance, you have a misunderstanding, an error in logic."


    "Unreasonable!"


    At this time, Red Fox truly had an impulse to smash the HexaEar into pieces. However, a familiar voice then sounded in his ear.


    "...If we really do discuss this matter with the Order of Justice, what value do we have? Are we the first wave of cannon fodder? Or are we being set up to be the fall guys?"


    What¡¯s this?


    "You guys haven¡¯t seen the true nature of Headquarters... The situation is already catastrophically enormous! These secret orders are experts in these topics of faith. They make a big fuss over minor issues. Moreover, Headquarters will always do what is politically correct!"


    Red Fox understood atst that this was his own voice he was hearing, words he had once spoken. They were just abbreviated through editing; the original meaning behind them was not changed. He could only sneer in response. "What¡¯s wrong? You want to write me up to HQ? Go ahead! They did a number on me back in the day. I have experienced it once; a few more times is nothing to me!"


    He Yueyin continued to y the audio, which had been prepared recently. The next paragraph had a closer timestamp. It was the start of Red Fox tearing into everyone else.


    "... Human-Faced Arachnid, Fairchild, Words of Krait, he set them all off! You guys aren¡¯t scared of losing your face when ying with explosives with him? And you say I¡¯m scared to the point of imploding my pants!? Look at these innocent civilians, aren¡¯t they imploding?"


    This dialog suddenly entered Red Fox¡¯s ear right when he began to mull over his counter argument. Blood suddenly burst and his face swelled. The sound waves vibrated against his eardrum and his own mocking and caustic tone was like a t file. It pressed deep into his mind and started grinding back and forth.


    He was in pain and irritated. He wanted to open his mouth to speak, but all that echoed through his head was inexplicably that "imploding, imploding". It pressed down on him with realness and he was not even able to spit out half a word.


    Only now did He Yueyin¡¯s voice enter his ear. "My code name is Secretary. Luo Nan isn¡¯t my boss. Of everyone currently here, there is no one who has known him for more than two weeks."


    "Luo Nan is a rookie who just recently entered the Society. Whether it be in the normal, secr world or the ¡¯inside world¡¯, he is very muchcking in life experience. The potential for his mistakes to bring trouble far exceeds that of everyone else. Especially his ability to make situations big.


    "However, whether it be me, Yingying, Bamboo Pole... We several people are all leading him, protecting him, helping him. Is this bad? He won¡¯t be cannon fodder. He won¡¯t be the fall guy. He won¡¯t be the victim of politics. This kind of result is attainable in our loose Society. Are you displeased? Are you disappointed? Especially you, who came out of Hu City..."


    "Don¡¯t you dare y the emotional card with me!"


    The words ¡®Hu City¡¯ were like a scorching brand that pressed forcefully against Red Fox¡¯s chest. Because of it, he could not refrain from screaming, "Your bullsh*t Society is at best just a death list! You all are listed one by one. And one by one you all will be crossed off! Crossed off! You..."


    "Oh my, this list you speak of. Am I on it?"


    The voice suddenly rang out behind his head. He was so startled that his scalp started to go numb. Even though Red Fox was at the height of his emotions, instinct still aided him in evading with a roll. He pulled some distance and only then did he turn to look back.


    In this very moment, he was stupefied on the spot.


    It was a lean middle-aged man. He wore a well-ironed tuxedo, one that would normally only be worn for formal dinner parties. His eyes were half covered by ssical sses and he had a smile that caused the skin around his eyes to ripple with shallow creases and lines.

 Chapter 115: Ouyang Chen (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 115: Ouyang Chen (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    "Good evening, Red Fox."


    "Good, good evening." Red Fox¡¯s mouth responded instinctively. Actually, he had been dumbstruck for a full five seconds before he came to with great difficulty. He bowed and said, "President. Sir... you¡¯ve arrived?"


    This middle age man behind him was none other than the president of the Wilderness Explorers Society¡¯s Xia City Branch. He was the nominal leader of all the ability users in the city¡ªOuyang Chen.


    Practically everyone of the Xia City Branch knew where to find this President with the nickname ¡®The Gentleman of the Lab¡¯. Just go to the branch¡¯s office, the Shanding Tri-Towers and knock on theboratory located on the thirteenth floor. He will be there nine times out of ten.


    After the HexaEar was introduced to the world and the Psychic Wave Network was graduallypleted, Ouyang Chen held several job responsibilities simultaneously. He was the Lead Engineer, the Chief Operating Officer, the Project Manager, and several other positions. He spent entire days calibrating thework, resolving bugs, and increasing the quality of service through in-depth research. There were many who suspected that Ouyang Chen never even took a single step outside the office for the 365 days in a year and the 24 hours in a day.


    He wore the same tuxedo for many years without change. He had only shown himself in front of a crowd a few times for rare formal meetings and nothing more.


    Because Red Fox knew all this about the President, Red Fox¡¯s brain was filled with confusion when he saw Ouyang Chen appear outside Frost River Reality. Additionally, the President¡¯s initial words. What was the meaning behind them?


    Ouyang Chen wore a faint smile like this was a chance encounter while crossing an intersection. He waved at Red Fox. "I interrupted you all in the middle of your chat. That was rude of me."


    Having heard his words, Red Fox immediately looked at the encrypted channel. However, there were not any eye-catching indicators of there being any super admins in the channel. Ouyang Chen was not currently in the encrypted channel. But switching his trains of thought, the entire Psychic Wave Network was single-handedly constructed by Ouyang Chen. He had supervisor privileges toward all official operations coordinated by the Society. It was quite normal for him to have seen their contention.


    Those words just then, had he seen them all?


    Red Fox was a bit dazed but he could feel his burning fury of emotions miraculously start to plummet ever since Ouyang Chen had arrived. All that remained in the pit of his heart was a faint warmth.


    He Yueyin¡¯s voice continued to be transmitted through the HexaEar. "... I don¡¯t want to give you the impression that I¡¯m being emotional. I just hope to ry the facts. The metropolises of the world are nominally under the jurisdiction of the united government. In truth, the metropolises are in half-independent states. Every metropolis had a different ecology. This applies to the normal, secr world, and the inner world is no different. There isn¡¯t a true unified order and logic. I really don¡¯t like these kinds of circumstances but the resulting facts are as follows: No matter what Headquarter¡¯s verdict is, no matter what oue you had in Hu City, it is meaningless to apply them to Xia City."


    Red Fox did not have a stable mind right now. Most of her words had entered one ear and left the other. Red Fox¡¯s reaction towards Ouyang Chen¡¯s appearance was quite an intense one, even though Ouyang Chen had not entered the encrypted channel. However, it seemed like those over at Frost River Reality had not received any news of his arrival at all.


    There was not any puzzlement, shock, or greetings, it waspletely dead on that front! It was as if they werepletely unaware of Ouyang Chen¡¯s arrival. Or perhaps this President Ouyang Chen only existed in his world!


    Could it be? Was this Ouyang Chen an illusion?


    Red Fox¡¯s consciousness grew even more fuddled. He could not refrain from looking once again at Ouyang Chen. The President appeared clearly and distinctly and he even raised his hand in indication. Ouyang Chen wanted him to listen earnestly.


    Some highly sensitive vocabry pierced his eardrum from He Yueyin right at this time. "I¡¯m not too clear on what a ¡¯death list¡¯ is but I believe that the core-most Self-Logic of an Awakened can¡¯t be distorted by external threats."


    President Ouyang, the man who had proposed the Three Levels of Logic Theory, was right next to him. Red Fox obviously knew the meaning of Self-Logic. It was when an ability user influences the external world, enabling one¡¯s own strength to have its effects truly disyed.


    Distorted? This was not a good word at all in this context!


    First, he had been smacked in the face by his own words. Then he had a fright from Ouyang Chen¡¯s appearance. The current Red Fox was not in the mood to get into a tangle. He just sneered and was ready to tell the others of Ouyang Chen¡¯s arrival when...


    "Aren¡¯t the people around here quite stupid?" Ouyang Chen asked suddenly.


    "Huh?" Red Fox heard his words and subconsciously twisted his head and looked all around. He observed the surrounding peopleing and going restlessly but he did not know how he should answer Ouyang Chen.


    Ouyang Chen reached out with his right hand and his arm slightly swayed. It was like he was marking a rhythm as he drew a triangle high up in the sky. Then he suddenly changed the topic. "The three First Otums of the Order of Justice stand at the three corners of a triangle. Their Evolution Field envelopes the area, acting as the initial step in their magic spell. Among them is one Secretbound First Otum and two Clearsworn First Otums. Their strength in order from high to low is B+, C+, and C+. ording to the Evolution Spell Theory, their practical range of control has the triangle as their innermost nucleus. Their range of control has a maximum median radius of 3.2 times that of the nucleus to cover a vast area.¡±


    Red Fox felt like an idiot. He waspletely unable to follow Ouyang Chen¡¯s train of thought.


    "Let us trante the range to something more concrete. These three buildings, including Frost River Reality and the adjacent two blocks, are all within the direct lock-on range of the magic spell. All the people here, standing and watching and all those people in the adjacent blocks are in life-threatening danger. Isn¡¯t it quite stupid of them to still remain in the area?"


    Ouyang Chen looked gravely around him. He no longer had a smile on his face and a calm and cold gaze could be seen behind those sses. Such an image was the usual appearance of the Gentleman of the Lab.


    Red Fox was more familiar with this image but it made him more nervous. He hesitated before replying, "Is it because that they¡¯re ignorant about the danger?"


    "Pretty much, but that answer isn¡¯t sufficient." Ouyang Chen reached out with his hand and pointed outward. It was as if he had stirred the surface of a body of water. His hand streaked across the pushing and rushing flow of people and fine ripples diffused through this medium.


    Red Fox¡¯s eyes bulged wide in an instant. In this very moment, he finally discovered the oddities of the flock of people in their surroundings... No this was wrong. The issueid in himself and Ouyang Chen.


    The two were clearly standing within a stream of people, yet every one of these people ignored them!


    Even if these people¡¯s attentions were gathered on Frost River Reality, bumping into people was unavoidable in such a crowded stream. However, in their current situation, not a single person made contact with them. The people went around them, went between them and even went through them. It was as if Red Fox and Ouyang Chen had turned into formless ghosts. Their bodiesy in the world of reality, existing along with the surrounding stream of people yet an insurmountable distance was pulled between them.


    Then Red Fox saw something quite clearly in the encrypted channel. The clock in the corner of the interface. How the heck did it stop!


    "T-This is...."


    "Reality projection, spacial maniption, or whatever you want to call it but I¡¯m used to calling it ¡¯Logic World¡¯." Ouyang Chen reached out, pointed at his temples and added, "It is the world interpreted by my logic."


    Was this none other than the power of the Extraordinaries?


    In face of this inconceivable power, Red Fox lost all thoughts of courage. He could only bow in defeat. "President sir, enlighten me."


    Ouyang Chen did not believe that Red Fox was being rude, so he exined using terms like he was teaching a high-level course in the Society. "It is because these people are ignorant to our logic, ignorant towards the logic of the inner world... The scope of thought for ordinary people are mostly limited to their sights, so they are unable to see the danger. Some people may consider thoughts of whether or not they are in range of guns, explosives, and so on, but this isn¡¯t enough. To truly avoid troubles, they need to go at least two blocks away. This is the scope of danger that they can¡¯t imagine."


    Ouyang Chen¡¯s exnation was undoubtedly true.


    As Red Fox nodded, Ouyang Chen inexplicably changed topics once again. "Though they may be stupid, you¡¯re not too clear on things yourself. In a certain sense, you are as stupid as them. No, you¡¯re even more stupid! Why is that?"


    "..."

 Chapter 115: Ouyang Chen (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 115: Ouyang Chen (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Red Fox was just like a bad student who had been called upon by his teacher. He gaped speechlessly with a bewildered expression.


    Ouyang Chen entered his strict-teacher mode. The cold and clear gaze behind his sses made Red Fox tense nerves shudder. Now came a second question.


    "What is the logic of the inner world?"


    Red Fox¡¯s mouth gaped but not a word came out. In fact, he had long since spoken out the thoughts in his mind when he was rebuking Luo Nan. Was there a difference? It¡¯s all about politics, reality, andpromise...


    But spitting these opinions in front of Ouyang Chen was a very difficult thing to do.


    Ouyang Chen was not hoping for a response. He just answered directly, "The logic of the inner world is decided by destructive capability. The scope of extraordinary powers¡¯ destructive capability is what determines the boundaries of the logic for the inner world."


    Red Fox became hoarse but he was unable to refute these words.


    "Whenpared to normal people, the number of ability users is quite small. However, we possess powerful destructive capabilities. We have formed societies and orders, casting organizations all over the world. In turn, we have allowed destructive potential to cover the globe. All that is needed is our will and we can directly influence everyone¡¯s lives or deaths on this. Normal, secr society has been warped and twisted by us in this manner. Ultimately, this is a sort of extortion logic."


    "Uh, president..." Red Fox had turned into someone who suffered from amunication disorder. He had no idea how to express his opinions.


    Ouyang Chen¡¯s lips hooked into a faint smile. "I¡¯ll switch to better sounding words then. We can call it the logic of the strong, for the strongest destructive powers are erected upon the various paths of the strong¡¯s Self-Logic, upon this foundation."


    "In our current situation, there is not a single destructive power of the strong that is able to cover the entire world. Ultimately, we still have limits. We have to divide the world. Therefore, the strong are axles of the inner world and they radiate out circles of influence big and small. The customary method of exchange in the inner world all depends on the circles of the strong. Contention,promise, and exchange arise within this circle."


    "The strong are the root of logic for the inner world. Everything else, the conflicts,promise, trickeries, politics, are all just for show and formality. Thenes the next question. Who are the strong?"


    The gears in Red Fox¡¯s brain finally began to operate when faced with this third question. Ouyang Chen pointed at the rooftops of the threerge buildings surrounding Frost River Reality. "Three First Otums are acting together. They do not care for the price and can let those skyscrapers copse for all they care. Are they strong?"


    Red Fox answered cautiously, "That depends on who youpare them with."


    "Excellent!"


    "Huh?" As far as Red Fox could recall, this was the first time Ouyang Chen gave him approval since they met but what did this president approve of?


    Ouyang Chen adjusted his sses, his gaze unprecedentedly cold and raw. "Finally, you know that power and strength are all rtive. I can give a few supplementary words. When the strong face off, the strong brings out a base stacked with real and material achievements and aplishments. So, who, where, and what are you facing?"


    Red Fox¡¯s heart suddenly throbbed. He was stupefied on the spot.


    Facing... Who am I facing?


    Dim and scattered memories formed together like a cloud. Red Fox had a vague recollection of the time when he first arrived in Xia City. Now that he thought about it, it was really quite strange. He had suffered such a bitter lesson, yet he continued to entrust himself in this damnable Society?


    Yes, it was because of the resources and benefits of the Society. It was because he needed to train hard and quickly improve himself. Then he would return to Hu City and exact vengeance with pleasure. But day after day and year after year had passed. How could he forget? When did he forget? For what reason did he forget? It seemed like he forgot these things too...


    Was it because of the limits of his talent? Or the fact that he practically did not make an inch of progress? Was it because of the passage of time? Healing the harm to his heart?


    No, ultimately, it was as He Yueyin had said. His Self-Logic had been distorted by the logic he detested the most. The word ¡®imploding¡¯. Wasn¡¯t it none other than the most habitual word of that trash from headquarters?


    "Distorted?" Red Fox pulled out his arms and looked at his hands. He saw the slow changes that had been urred over the years to the structure of his body and he felt his body be so unfamiliar to him.


    Ouyang Chen¡¯s voice entered his ear. "Don¡¯t let your mind wander. Let us continue discussing what it means to be ¡¯strong¡¯... Oh, this rtes to why you¡¯re ¡¯stupid¡¯."


    The upheaval in Red Fox¡¯s mind was shattered. His mental frustrations were lessened. But his thoughts grew all the more chaotic. He lifted his head nkly and looked at this president, who had just given him an awakening blow.


    "Whether it is inparison or facing off, an example is needed. You say, who do you think is the strongest here at the present?"


    "Obviously it¡¯s the president..." Red Fox did not know whether tough or cry but he responded without the slightest hesitation.


    Ouyang Chen was currently the one and only Extraordinary officially registered in the Xia City branch of the Society. He stood at the apex that was the pyramid of humanity. He was super strong. Though Secretbound First Otum An Weng of the Order of Justice may be someone powerful enough to make one¡¯s expression change when his name was heard, he was far from being ced as an equal with Ouyang Chen.


    The extraordinaries had an agreement in ce to restrict their actions. If Ouyang Chen were topletely ignore these restrictions and make a move with determination, the three First Otums of the secr side would need to risk their lives to summon their holy entity. They would need to kneel down on their knees and ask Fairchild to change sides and give them a hand. However, there still would not be the possibility of another confrontation; the battle would be decisive.


    Ouyang Chen was quite blunt. He nodded in acknowledgment. "Then who¡¯s next... Just talk about the people on our side."


    "The Secretary?" Red Fox replied quite swiftly.


    Ouyang Chen did notment. "Then who¡¯s next?"


    Red Fox slowly mulled over his answer. "Thenes me, Yingying, Kitty, Papercut, Bamboo Pole... I¡¯m not familiar with Bai Xinyan."


    Ouyang Chenughed but he did not appear to express an opinion. Then an urate perspective drawing of a building appeared before them. It was none other than Frost River Reality. The figures of several people were projected within it; they were He Yueyin and the other members of the Society. Their sizes might have been small but they were life-like.


    "What about him?" The person that Ouyang Chen was pointing at none was other than the teenager whom Red Fox had skipped over, inadvertently or otherwise¡ªLuo Nan.


    Red Fox sneered, "Him? He¡¯s not even an Awakened."


    "Yep, he has yet to awaken."


    Ouyang Chen nodded and sighed. He then muttered, "Ordinary people are bright. I alone am muddled. Ordinary people are pure. I alone am smothered."


    Red Fox¡¯s ability regarding ssic prose was quite shallow. He was all confused hearing this. He could only raise his hand in surrender. "President..."


    Ouyang Chen did not mean to give Red Fox a hard time. Heughed and said: "ssical texts are not my specialty either. These words, from my understanding, mean the following: Everyone¡¯s energy is finite. When one establishes high level logic, it is hard to deal with the numerous and chaotic logic of the normal, secr world separately. When one forms a high level logic, the logic of the normal, secr world bespletely meaningless. Therefore, intelligent people of the normal, secr world will find themselves muddled in the dark; they be like children, young and clumsy."


    "The further the distance between high level logic and normal logic, the more intense the ratio between the two. Once it reaches a certain level, one may even find themselves unable to connect with normal logic and run in the opposite direction. There is an old saying, ¡®The bright way seems dim. The forward way seems backward. The straight way seems crooked¡¯."


    Ouyang Chen gazed attentively at the exquisite projection, his pupils growing serene and distant. "At a higher level. At a stronger face off. How would it be possible to know the hardships within when using the eyes of ordinary people, using their ways of assessment? Furthermore, he is still a novice... Everything has to start from scratch."

 Chapter 116: Observing the Constellations (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 116: Observing the Constetions (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    In Frost River Reality Area A, at the border where the private room areas and the public arena intersected, a group of people looked at each other in dismay. He Yueyin had stopped talking because Red Fox had oddly entered a state of silence. No matter what they did, he did not respond at all. The fierce emotions he had before was like a bonfire that had burned out, vanishing in a puff of smoke.


    "She¡¯s okay at giving orders but her ability to talk heart to heart is quite average in my opinion," Zhang Yingying whispered to Bai Xinyan, acting as quite the typical armchair expert.


    Bai Xinyan tightened her grasp on Zhang Yingying¡¯s neck to shut her up.


    He Yueyin was as quiet as ever. Her eyes looked downcast as she muttered to herself.


    On arge street, Bamboo Pole quickly made his way toward Frost River Reality. At the same time, he utilized the surrounding monitoring cameras to lock onto Red Fox¡¯s image after a few swivels. The angle of the image was not good but he was still able to see Red Fox with his eye-catching red jacket. Red Fox stood like a stump in the middle of a stream of people. He appeared still and spellbound. It was unknown what thoughts were running through his mind.


    Bamboo Pole let out a sigh of relief. "It is good that he hasn¡¯t directly charged inside. Those words were actually effective..."


    Papercut strove hard to catch up with Bamboo Pole¡¯s pace, his subtly plump body swaying back and forth. He tried suggesting. "Can we check the corpse¡¯s head to make sure?"


    The two specifically avoided using the encrypted channel so as to avoid provoking Red Fox.


    Bamboo Pole thought about it. He shook his head. "It¡¯s too dangerous."


    ording to the new dynamic map provided by Luo Nan, the corpse marked as an Otum Knight was the closest enemy from He Yueyin and the others. However, the various Otum Knights were not too far away from each other.


    Right now, the situation in Frost River Reality Area A was like a bizarre game of Chinese chess. The river dividing the rival territories was the border between the private room area and the public arena. It separated the Society and the Order of Justice into two sides on this chessboard.


    The Society may haveid out their rooks, knights, and cannons, but they had not really made a move. On the other side, the enemy¡¯s king and bishops were rolled into one mass but their other pieces were readily avable. Their formation was rigid and tight. Normally rooks, knights, cannons, and pawns were used to grind at the enemy king¡¯s preparations in a game. However, if the Society were to cross the river into enemy territory in real life, then there would be a lot of pressure for the Society to bear.


    Papercut could only shrug helplessly after hearing Bamboo Pole¡¯s exnation. "Bad things will happen if we go check. Bad things will happen if we don¡¯t check. Isn¡¯t this madness!? If so, Boss Luo should say some words to rify things, right?"


    Originally, Papercut was not on any side in the dispute between Red Fox and Luo Nan but Red Fox¡¯s intense and decisive reaction had more or less evoked a few sympathetic thoughts within Papercut. At the same time, Luo Nan¡¯s long period of silence made Papercut feel a bit dissatisfied.


    Though Luo Nan was still a teenager, he needed to disy sufficient professional aplishments and teamwork ability. After all, he had entered this circle of ability users and was participating in their operations. This was especially true in dangerous times such as now. A single ¡®weasel¡¯ could kill off their entire team with just a thought. As a teammate, who would not be wary of Luo Nan? Although Red Fox¡¯s reaction was drastic, his words held some truth to them.


    Papercut cast a nce at the encrypted channel. He then saw a young, infantile face quite unexpectedly. He did not know what was going on. Cat Eyes, who was sharing her perspective, had her sights fixed on Luo Nan¡¯s face for quite some time.


    This young and inexperienced looking high school student had been silent since the contention started. He was not emotionally moved at all, whether it be by mocking words or actions of support. Upon further inspection, Luo Nan should still be focused on his all-epassing senses. His eyes were vacant and his gaze ethereal. His attention was not on the matter with Red Fox.


    Luo Nan¡¯s actions could be praised for being responsible and diligent, undisturbed by either praise or humiliation. However, his actions could also be criticized for being too arrogant and reclusive, selfish and cold-blooded!


    Kids these days...


    Papercut leaned toward thetter with his views but he was ultimately more moderate than Red Fox. In the end, he just sent Cat Eyes a private message. "Hey, Kitty. Do you know what¡¯s up with him?"


    Cat Eyes did not respond to him instantly. Her perspective did not change at all either... Was she entranced and just watching?


    Papercut felt helpless. He could only send another message. "Is there a way to verify the Order¡¯s methods without provoking them?"


    The instant he sent this message, he inexplicably recalled the Society¡¯s mid-level training course, ¡®Teamwork¡¯. The famous instructor had concluded, ¡°When themon messaging channel in the team bes idle and private messages be prevalent, the breakup of the team bes close at hand."


    Papercut frowned and he looked at Luo Nan¡¯s avatar inside the encrypted channel. He felt even more horrible. At this moment, Cat Eyes¡¯ perspective swayed. It seemed like there was also someone was beckoning to her on the side.


    "Kitty, what do you say?" Inside Frost River Reality, Zhang Yingying could not hold her self back any longer. She forcefully pried Bai Xinyan¡¯s arm a bit from her throat and called out to Cat Eyes.


    Papercut was not the only one to have felt the horrible team atmosphere right now. Zhang Yingying had stood staunchly by Luo Nan¡¯s side but her mind was extremely clear. Luo Nan was the focal point of the conflict but the way this kid handled things was closed off. It was extremely inappropriate.


    Right now, acting as the mysterious quiet guy is not popr anymore! Everyone likes cheery extroverted men!


    But Luo Nan, this brother, really could not be wakened up. Bai Xinyan, who possessed the perspective of a doctor, rmended Zhang Yingying to not disturb Luo Nan while he was engaging in his mental senses. This was to avoid mishaps from urring.


    As for He Yueyin, this senior staff member who gave the impression of being callous and intelligent was quite reserved tonight for some unknown reason. She did not speak what was on her mind and kept her thoughts hidden. The target this time was vague. Things werepletely different thanst week¡¯s mission with the Human-Faced Arachnid. It appeared that He Yueyin had yet to truly rify what their mission was so far and this made Red Fox angry to the point of his brain exploding.


    Zhang Yingying could only helplessly consult with Cat Eyes, who held the most expertise in this core issue. If Cat Eyes could understand Luo Nan¡¯s intentions and help exin things or perhaps testify for him, then this tight knot of a problem would likely loosen up.


    Cat Eyes did not respond right after she was beckoned. There was ag of two seconds before she suddenly turned her head in a fashion that was just like she had been startled awake. Such an action gave Zhang Yingying a fright. "You¡¯re fine, right?"


    "I¡¯m fine." Cat Eyes reached out her hand and straightened her t-brimmed cap, which had been crooked up until now. The shadow that fell from the brim covered half her cheeks. "What did you say just now?"


    Zhang Yingying looked at her dubiously and said, "I¡¯m talking about verifying things. Red Fox is unwilling to forgive Luo Nan and Luo Nan, this fellow, is so passive that you won¡¯t even get a fart out of him even if you smack him a couple times. Do you have a way to verify what he¡¯s saying is correct?... something more dependable?"


    On the other side, Papercut nodded in hidden agreement. His thoughts were the same as Zhang Yingying¡¯s. But soon he saw that Cat Eyes did not have an answer. Instead, her gaze shifted once again back to Luo Nan¡¯s face. Her gaze was a bit deviated at first but then it sprung back. It was as if that young and infantile face possessed some sort of inconceivable maic-like force.


    She was enchanted by his rhythm!


    Papercut could not hold back from cursing in his mind. Yet at this very moment, Cat Eyes¡¯ vision suddenly concentrated with a high degree of focus. It was to the point that her entire field of vision became blurred.


    There was only one thing clear. They were slowly lifting up, right in the center of the interface where Cat Eyes¡¯ shared perspective could be seen. They were pupils that were somewhat bright and mottled.


    They were Luo Nan¡¯s pupils.


    This character, who was the focal point of the contention, seemed to have finally heard everyone¡¯s doubts and dissatisfactions atst. At least for now, he had walked out from his enclosed logic and had finally interacted with the external world.


    The target of Luo Nan¡¯s gaze was Cat Eyes. Since Papercut was following Cat Eyes¡¯ shared perspective, it was the same as looking through Cat Eyes¡¯ eyes and locking gazes with Luo Nan.


    Well, ¡®locking gazes¡¯ was not precisely correct. It should be described as a one-sided observation...


    For some inexplicable reason, Papercut felt a cold shiver run suddenly run through his body when his gaze locked with Luo Nan¡¯s pupils, which were far from being described as clear. In this very moment, the rain which fell endlessly from the sky grew colder by several degrees and this coldness seeped down to the bones.


    The faint cry of Bamboo Pole¡¯s voice entered his ear. "Those eyes are like a demon¡¯s..."

 Chapter 116: Observing Constellations (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 116: Observing Constetions (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    There were many people who had noticed the aberration within Luo Nan¡¯s eyes but Cat Eyes felt an intensity that was ten times stronger than anyone else.


    It must be known that she was the one who had faced Luo Nan directly. Moreover, she was the unlucky fool who had received Luo Nan¡¯s torment early on.


    Right now, there were chains locking her body and soul deathly tight, and a demonic look now appeared from within Luo Nan¡¯s turbid eyes. From the outside to the inside. From the inside to the outside. She fell fully into them.


    The most frightening aspect of all this was the fact that she had no idea how Luo Nan did this. She did not have a shred of a clue. It was like a figment of her imagination but the trembling deep within her body and soul contained realness and substance.


    Cat Eyes¡¯ breathing stagnated for about half a second. It was within this half a second period that memories were evoked ofst week at Limestone Water Vige Pub, that time when she became the victim of Luo Nan¡¯s demonic ritual. Fear had surged forth like the turbulent tide. The boiling emotions were seemingly able to drown her at any time. It was so much that she had the impulse to turn tail and run.


    Cat Eyes¡¯ feet did not move. Actually, her entire body was frozen.


    In this moment, she saw Luo Nan raise his right hand. His five fingers spread slightly open and then curved. His forefinger subtly straightened a bit, as if he was drawing something subconsciously. It also seemed that he was going to directly probe her!


    As Luo Nan¡¯s arm moved forward, Cat Eyes could clearly feel her eyebrows slightly quiver... However, the tips of Luo Nan¡¯s fingers had yet to touch her. His arm had yet to extendpletely, so there was still some distance between his fingers and Cat Eyes¡¯ cap. Luo Nan just tapped once from far away, the orientation coinciding with the space between Cat Eyes¡¯s brows.


    With the tap of the finger came a downward stroke. It happened right after, no maybe even simultaneously. Cat Eyes¡¯s face, throat, shoulders, chest, abdomen, and even her legs burst with tremors in various areas one after another. Luo Nan¡¯s finger traveled down in a single action like a shadow following a body. He instantly traced over Cat Eyes, seemingly delineating the outline of an extremely simple figure.


    Cat Eyes did not make a single move. She could not move, giving Luo Nan free rein.


    This really offended Zhang Yingying who was on the side. The meaning behind Luo Nan¡¯s abnormal actions did not matter. It had increased the divide between him and the others. It made matters even worse. She immediately bellowed, "Hey! Have you gone mad!?"


    Luo Nan turned his head upon hearing her voice, his gaze locking with Zhang Yingying¡¯s for the first time in a while. He reached out his hand and tapped with his finger through empty space.


    Zhang Yingying was fuming; she could not move her upper body. Filled with hate and resentment for Luo Nan¡¯s behavior, Zhang Yingying forcefully kicked with her legs. She wanted to give this kid, who had fallen into a possessed state, a good teaching.


    But her beautiful, slender, and snow-white legs could only lift up half way before tremors started to spread from various points on her upper body. Zhang Yingying knew that things were serious now. She went, "HEY!" and could not refrain from squirming even though Bai Xinyan had a hold on her neck. Zhang Yingying wanted to stop these inexplicable tremors and itchings. She raised one of her long legs up but it weakened and fell back down.


    No matter how much Zhang Yingying tried to dodge, Luo Nan¡¯s probing finger was able to urately match up with the tremor points on her body. Another outline was delineated in an instant. It was so fast that Bai Xinyan did not have time to release her arm and give Zhang Yingying her freedom.


    Zhang Yingying was furious now but then something happened the instant Luo Nan¡¯s finger stopped in its ce. Zhang Yingying¡¯s White Rainbow, which was constantly flowing and coiling around her body, oddly gave off a faint cry. The cry resonated with the tremor points on her body. Her power that she spent several hard days to purify seemed to be even more refined and clear.


    She was captured by this sudden amazement.


    Only Zhang Yingying knew of the changes that had urred in her body. However, Luo Nan¡¯s otherworldly and freakish disy had quite the impact on He Yueyin, who had been calm and cool-headed all this time. She could only look with bulging eyes at Luo Nan¡¯s actions and was no longer muttering to herself in thought.


    Luo Nan retrieved his hand uponpleting the drawing of Zhang Yingying¡¯s outline. From his perspective, he had done enough.


    Luo Nan closed his eyes as he no longer needed to use his fleshly eyes. Bright starlight lit within the area covered by his mental senses.


    Cat Eyes was located in that position but what he saw was not Cat Eyes. Instead, there were glittering starlightsing from ten points. There were connecting lines between these points and together they formed a simple structure. The same thing urred at Zhang Yingying¡¯s position, though the structure there was a bit more concise.


    These were like the basicpositional forms that people often used to mark the starry night; these were constetions. And the number of these constetions was endlessly increasing within Luo Nan¡¯s range of mental senses.


    Although the Shield of Truth blessing from Fairchild was temporary, it was ultimately able to allow Luo Nan to understand something. He was able to understand what he could ultimately do with his current level of soul strength, provided he had a resilient enough body capable of enduring it.


    The merged body and soul state had many limitationspared to the pure out-of-body state. However, there were many advantages unattainable in soul form. The most direct difference was precisely reflected within the mutual interference between the mental and material nes.


    The outline of a configuration for a body and soul merging was the backbone for a high efficiency conversion of energy and information. Though this causes an explosive increase in pressure toward the fleshly body, the harm and consumption of the resulting mutual interference was lowered by over fifty percent at minimum.


    In other words, the quality of Luo Nan¡¯s soul strength interfering with reality had increased by over twofold in an instant. Moreover, the disturbances he had to ovee during this process was greatly reduced as well. One of the more visible effects was a sharp increase to his mental precision.


    Luo Nan had always been particrly sensitive toward energy and information, so there was not much to say in that aspect. In regards to the material ne, the embodiment of his precision could be measured by the disy of his limits in applying mental irvoyance on his body. Before, his limits of mental irvoyance were approximately one tenth of a millimeter when observing his own body. When observing things outside his body, his limits were on the millimeter level. Here, he could only observe things with a rough estimation; it was not particrly meticulous.


    However, the limits of his external precision had now easily broken through the tenth millimeter realm. The quality of the resolution had exceeded what was achievable by the naked eye. Although there was still a heavenly distance between this and a precision observation instrument on the nanometer level, this represented that everything within the range of his mental irvoyance could be seen as if he himself was personally there. No matter the shadow, no matter the corner, it did not depend on the intensity of lighting at all. Everything could be perceivedpletely. Additionally, if Luo Nan focused his energy and shrunk the range, the resolution would be increased to another level. The possibilities were endless.


    A sharp increase in precision was certainly good but the first thing this change brought for Luo Nan was inconvenience. It broughtrge quantities of useless details and garbage information.


    There was floating dust, crawling insects, the dirt by the edge of walls, and of course, the background hum of electric currents. There were the jumbled sounds of humans breathing and the sound of rain hitting the rooftop of the amusement center. The information of various locations outside was included. There were the temperature variations, the exchange of air currents, and so on. The details, which were once hard to notice, all interweaved and mixed together. They packed into Luo Nan.


    The information stimted him with severalyers and several angles. It would naturally be fed to the structure of his body and soul. However, the processing rate was destined to be limited by the speed of his neurotransmitters. This was the limitation of the material ne. Not everything big and small could be processed. Some information had to be rejected.


    It must be stated that a blurry sort of mechanism of discerning had been formed in the human body through several hundred thousand years of evolution. The mechanism worked by focusing on the overall characteristics of a given object, rather than on excessive detail. The pressure brought on by discerning excessive detail was thereby avoided.


    However, the current problem that Luo Nan was facingid in the sudden increase of his sensing precision. What had been blurry overall characteristics was now divided into great quantities of clear details. The boundary between these two distinctions had been broken.


    The clearer the details, therger the quantity of information and the greater the consumption of analytic resources. This directly influenced the upper limit of Luo Nan receiving this information. It also limited his sensing range.


    Therefore, Luo Nan had to redefine this boundary. He looked deeper into these various details for more extensive connections. He endlesslybined simr characteristics to form overall concepts better suited for his current circumstances. He interweaved and constructed orderly structures that were distinctly vivid. He started from the very beginning. He was bing cognizant of the world all anew.

 Chapter 117: Unfurling the Star River (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 117: Unfurling the Star River (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Such an old world. How could it be interpreted anew?


    Luo Nan was faced with this challenge the instant he unleashed his all-epassing sensing. He had to concentrate his full attention to analyze various basic elements of information. He had to arrange these elements in order once again. An ancient buddhist master had once spoken of three realms of zen. In the first realm, one sees a mountain as a mountain and one sees water as water; one sees things with eyes of innocence. However, there was a moment in time where Luo Nan had reached the second realm. Here, one sees a mountain as not a mountain and one sees water as not water. What was seen on the surface was superficial, fake like an illusion. Everything possessed unwritten rules hidden behind a mask of falseness. Luo Nan had gained a new understanding of the world where a mountain was not purely a mountain and water was not purely water.


    Living people and living emotions were all broken down and analyzed. Take for instance Cat Eyes. Luo Nan knew she was in fear the instant he made contact with her. In this living example, Luo Nan broke down the fear into her breathing, her heart rate, her pupils, her flesh, and even her hormone secretion. All kinds of micro-level details of change were simrly broken down and analyzed. Then Luo Nan reconstructed the fear from the beginning... He wanted to find more concise, more innate specialpositions sufficient to describe all sorts of people in all sorts of states.


    If it was anyone else faced thisrge quantity of details and materials, they would probably be knocked stupid on the spot. Their minds would not be able to recover their original functionality. In this case, they would be no different than bing mentally disabled.


    Luo Nan was knocked stupid in the beginning. The range of his mental senses had a radius extending approximately eighty meters. It covered the entirety of Area A and Luo Nan had nearly copsed. It was like an inte virus. Great quantities of detailed information came flooding into the various sensors of his body over a short period of time. The information congested his neuralwork. This intense stimtion over a short period of time caused a serious inhibition to his nerve activity. Luo Nan was aware that his functions were atrophying substantially. His IQ would soon drop quite a bit.


    Fortunately, Luo Nan had the Shield of Truth¡¯s blessing, which revealed its effects. His nervous system and even his entire fleshly body had been substantially increased in terms of resilience and regeneration ability. This allowed him to push through the initial assault of garbage information.


    Afterward, Luo Nan made a crucial decision. For now, he would give up on everything that existed purely on the material ne. He would only pay attention to the mutual interference between the mental ne and the material ne... In other words, the realm of life.


    Luo Nan made this decision right around the time Red Fox reproached that He Yueyin was ¡®wiping his butt¡¯ for him. At the time, Luo Nan just wanted to aplish He Yueyin¡¯s mission in the most outstanding way. He wanted to shut Red Fox¡¯s dirty mouth in a single breath. ording to the needs of the mission, the most crucial thing was to find the concealed Otum Knights of the Order of Justice.


    Luo Nan¡¯s decision was one that was made driven by the circumstances. However, it was because of this reason that Luo Nan was unexpectedly able to break through a bottleneck with his train of thought.


    The number of constetions was endlessly increasing. Let alone Cat Eyes and Zhang Yingying, everybody in his surroundings, including He Yueyin, Bai Xinyan, Xue Weilun, and Xue Lei, were under the irvoyance of Luo Nan¡¯s mental senses. They were all transforming into constetions.


    Zhang Yingying and Cat Eyes¡¯ constetions were practically abstract symbols. Compared to those two, the images of the others looked more like rough sketches that were made through quick tracing. Their lines were irregr. The star dots obstructed each other. They seemed there but not there. They had a bit of an indeterminate vor to them.


    Luo Nan called these Life Sketches. This was his new interpretation of this old world.


    The world of reality was something he could still overlook for now. Luo Nan let himself experience andb through the marvels of these Life Sketches. However, Luo Nan was defenseless. Someone grabbed him by the cor and said, "Kid, you¡¯re acting like a hooligan. What the hell are you up to!?"


    Only Zhang Yingying could be so direct. She had finally broken free of Bai Xinyan¡¯s control and had charged up to retaliate. In the blink of an eye, she asked Cat Eyes, "Kitty, are you alright?"


    Cat Eyes did not speak; her eyes remained downcast. The shadow of her t-brimmed cap blocked half her face. Her expression was not a happy one no matter how one looked.


    "Hey! I say, have you guys had enough?" Papercut could not hold back his words within the encrypted channel. "Now is not the time to be flirting around, right?"


    These words were directed at Zhang Yingying but halfway through, Luo Nan¡¯s pair of motley colored pupils oddly came to mind for Papercut. He shivered once more and instinctively felt that this fellow with a demonic gaze should not be ignored.


    The gears of his mind spun and he got straight to the point and said, "Boss Luo, I ask of nothing else but can you say some words of exnation? Even if you have no proof, having justification is fine!"


    Papercut and Bamboo Pole were just outside of Frost River Reality at this time and had managed to lock onto Red Fox¡¯s position. There was another reason behind Papercut¡¯s words. He wanted to use the dialog within the encrypted channel to get Red Fox¡¯s attention.


    Papercut did not even expect Luo Nan to answer. He just wanted Red Fox to look at Luo Nan¡¯s pupils. One would be stunned no matter what... Hey! Cat Eyes! The heck are you looking at the floor for!


    At this moment that was filled with great pressure, something concealed stealthy above began to buzz and suddenly came smearing across Papercut¡¯s head. He lifted his head and saw a flying drone the length of half an arm. It streaked across the rainy night sky and pierced into the reception hall of Frost River Reality.


    "It¡¯s painted a deep-space gray. Is it the army¡¯s or the space force¡¯s?" Papercut looked at where the drone came from and was a bit baffled. However, he did not think about it too much because apletely new image had suddenly popped up within the encrypted channel.


    It was a live stream. It was captured from up high, looking down inside Frost River Reality. It looked like there was even a bit of a sway to it. Papercut immediately thought of the military drone just now.


    The surveyed scene produced by the military drone had entered the encrypted channel of the Society. What was going on?


    Before he could understand things, the image was partitioned as it joined the rest of the surveince screens of Frost River Reality itself. Here, one could see the drone captured on camera. From this perspective, an eye-catching military emblem could be seen on the body of the drone.


    The drone continued to streak past several cameras as it flew nimbly and unhindered within Frost River Reality. Its built-in camera captured the most crucial area, Area A. Then the camera zoomed in and reduced its scope. It soon locked onto its true target.


    The fat corpse that Luo Nan had dered to be an Otum Knight appeared dead center within the camera. Then the image partitioned again and another live stream recording appeared. It captured the fat corpse from a different angle.


    "What¡¯s going on?"


    "She¡¯s ying for keeps!"


    Papercut and Bamboo Pole expressed their shock totally differently. Papercut turned his head in stupefaction only to see Bamboo Pole raise three fingers in indication.


    Papercut and Bamboo Fox were now about a meter away from Red Fox. It really seemed that Red Fox was lost in a trance. He was unaware of everything.


    Papercut threw away his distracting thoughts and no longer paid attention to the streaming videos in the encrypted channel. He counted to three under Bamboo Pole¡¯s direction and suddenly pounced. He reached out with his hand to grab Red Fox¡¯s left shoulder as Bamboo Pole grabbed onto Red Fox¡¯s left shoulder.


    The two held him tightly to make sure Red Fox would not break free. However, they felt something odd when they made their move. A strange sensation that was empty yet real came out of nowhere.


    Well whatever. Red Fox was under their control now. Red Fox was clearly a bit out of it but he did not struggle.


    Papercut found things quite odd. Did Red Foxe around, or did...


    With this strange feeling in mind, he brought his attention back to the encrypted channel. The gunmen of the Order of Justice had discovered this military drone, this troublesome intruder, and had raised their guns to fire on the spot. The military drone performed evasive maneuvers but the gunmen had a high degree of implicit understanding with each other. Their lines of fire crossed and the drone was sted from the air by the electromaic rounds. The bird¡¯s eye view stream instantly went dark.


    However, the surveince streams within the room were still active. Papercut saw that the drone also opened fire at the same time as the gunmen with its own allocated weapon. The drone¡¯s target was not a gunman but the fat corpse sprawled on the ground.


    "A verification by the military?"


    Before Papercut could finish processing this thought, the fat corpse exploded apart in the next second. Globs of flesh and bone burst and sttered, piercing the walls nearby and leaving holes in the ground. Its pration power was iparable.


    Then there was something that made one¡¯s eyes go crazy. A thin figure shot out from the stter of misty blood and instantly appeared on the surveince screen.

 Chapter 117: Unfurling the Star River (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 117: Unfurling the Star River (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    "Holy hell!"


    Papercut¡¯s startled cry represented the inner thoughts of absolutely everyone in the encrypted channel.


    Though this thin figure had moved quickly, none of the people within the encrypted channel had missed it with their eyes and ears. The sudden change was seen clearly. A thin person had clearly burst out from the exploded corpse.


    The surveince screens were switching between feeds quite quickly. They switched continuously across areas but they were only able to catch fleeting shadows of the figure. This situation continued for around five seconds before the feed turned dark. From this point on, all of the surveince cameras were done for.


    Papercut rushed to ask Bamboo Pole, "What¡¯s going on?"


    Bamboo Pole was helpless. "Don¡¯t ask me. First, someone just directly took over the surveince system using the highest privileges through official channels...Then the Order of Justice probably destroyed the cameras physically. Well, I¡¯ve done my job. I can pull out now."


    Everyone ignored Bamboo Pole¡¯s bad joke as their minds were still flickering with the scene from earlier. A figure had leaped out from an exploding corpse.


    Undoubtedly, the debate from earlier was now concluded.


    However, it was extremely quiet inside the encrypted channel. Whether it be the party involved, Luo Nan, or the viper, Zhang Yingying, no one spoke a word. They were clearly considering Red Fox¡¯s mood.


    It was good of them to do so but Bamboo Pole and Papercut still decided to hold onto Red Fox tighter after ncing at each other. They wanted to prevent Red Fox from doing anything irrational in case he took it too hard.


    "The police are here," Red Fox spoke this sentence coldly. Their actions were too conspicuous. They stood out from the stream of people and they looked like civilians catching a thief with their arms restraining Red Fox. The police officers who were controlling social order at the site had discovered them. They approached with their hands on their guns.


    Let alone police officers, Papercut did not dare to let go if even an emperor came over because he did not know how to convince Red Fox to cooperate. In the end, Bamboo Pole spoke with psychological methods in mind, "Real strong men ept it when they lose in a bet."


    "Do with me what you will." Red Fox was surprisingly frank, causing Bamboo Pole and Papercut to look at each other in surprise. They felt an iing headache since Red Fox was being so calm right now. They were unable to judge him.


    With just a shake of his shoulders, Red Fox slipped free from their grasp. He did not do anything else, though. He just calmly spoke, "That fellow is Ghost Thunder. I¡¯ve met him once."


    "Shoot! So it¡¯s actually a big shot!" Papercut understood now as easily as it took to tear a piece of paper.


    Ghost Thunder was one of the most famous of the Otum Knights of Xia City¡¯s Order of Justice. This fellow¡¯s most famous ability was to turn most matter into terrifying explosives through contact with his hand. It synergized quite well with his excellent movement speed. Whether it be in an all-out assault or in a stealthy assassination, he was a character that brought terror to people.


    After the military drone had inexplicably verified the corpse, the drone had spurred the terrifying character to show himself. No one knew who Ghost Thunder would have as his next target.


    "The military has good timing," Bamboo Pole muttered under his breath but he soon felt that was something off. Someone had a strange reaction when the military drone had entered Frost River Reality. He turned to face Bamboo Pole. "What did you say just now? y for keeps? Who was ying for keeps?"


    Bamboo Pole did not answer him immediately. He first sent a message in the encrypted channel. "We¡¯ve met up with Red Fox. You guys be careful. It¡¯s Ghost Thunder!"


    "Now, no one should have any objections toward the validity of Mr. Luo¡¯s all-epassing sensing ability."


    He Yueyin was the one who spoke. She was in a situation where Zhang Yingying had apprehension toward her. No one ever expected that He Yueyin, the person in charge of the mission, would have no fear of making things big by speaking so bluntly.


    Papercut thought, "Crap," and instinctively grabbed Red Fox. However, Red Fox did not budge at all and remainedpletely expressionless.


    Could it be that Red Fox had truly epted his loss? Or did someone drug him?


    Papercut withdrew his hand in embarrassment. In the encrypted channel, He Yueyin had yet to understand the situation with Ghost Thunder. After raising the topic of Luo Nan¡¯s all-epassing sensing, she gave out orders. "Starting from now, allmunications need to be done via the encrypted channel. Mr. Luo. Cat Eyes. Confirm the radius of your all-epassing perception¡¯s current range."


    "55 meters." Cat Eyes responded bluntly. This number was ten percent higher than her normal performance.


    "80 meters." The inhibition of Luo Nan¡¯s nerve activity had faded away by now and Luo Nan had broken free from having a deaf ear to the external world. He had heard He Yueyin then hesitated before he reported a rtively conservative number.


    Since Luo Nan was not certain the needs of her mission at this time, he chose to exercise caution. This number was the limit when bncing living bodies with purely the material ne. He was a bit stronger than Cat Eyes in this aspect but there was quite the difference ifpared to thest operation where he reached a sensing radius of 500 meters.


    Sure enough, He Yueyin was a bit surprised. "80 meters?"


    Luo Nan was just about to exin when Zhang Yingying revealed her vition of essing ssified information. "Gee, remember the report said 500 meters, right? However, Luo Nan was in an abnormal soul-attached state at the time. Right now his body and soul are merged as one, yet he is able to maintain 16% of his sensing radius. The Shield of Truth is this useful?"


    Luo Nan blinked. This number was eptable? He could not refrain from asking, "Is 16% normal?"


    "What a noob!" Zhang Yingying curled her lips in disdain but she exined, "The sensing range is affected in the body and soul merged state due to the limitations of the material ne. A mentally enhanced ability user will find the difference to be huge whenpared to mental forms like the attached soul state, out-of-body state, and so on. Typically, it is normal to have the sensing range in a merged body and soul to be between 8% and 10% of a pure mental form."


    "In turn, for a perception specialist like Kitty, things will change when she reaches the Architect level. Kitty will be able to enter the out-of-body state whenever she wishes and she will have an explosive increase in her sensing range. A ten-fold or even a twenty-fold increase is possible. By then, you won¡¯t amount to much."


    Cat Eyes did notment on Zhang Yingying¡¯s praise. Shecked all reactionspletely.


    Luo Nan slowly nodded. He now had a rough understanding of his own level of power. Zhang Yingying¡¯s reasoning was correct. The Shield of Truth blessing was a vital support to the range of his current sensing. An 80 meter radius of sensing was the result of relying on a fleshly body with powerful resilience.


    However, Zhang Yingying had used the wrong number. 16% was not the sensing range he was able to maintain. It was 10% or maybe even lower.


    Last time, when his soul left his body, his Wraith Sign had strengthened twice with two consecutive sacrificial rituals back in Jack¡¯s arena with Rui Wen. The range of his mental senses had reached 800 meters at the time. Additionally, his Wraith Sign had a sessful hunt yesterday, causing his soul strength to shoot up once again. The upper limits of his sensing range had probably increased as well but he did not dare to try it out.


    Currently, Luo Nan¡¯s natural sensing range was only around 10 meters. Using an upper limit of 800 meters to calcte, a ratio of only 1.2% was preserved. This was lower than the typical lower bound of 8 percent by six to sevenfold. It was simply tragic. The degree of imbnce with his body and soul had already reached such a stage.


    Increasing the strength of the fleshly body was not something that could be aplished over the course of a single day. Urgency would not change anything. However, Luo Nan had reason to believe that his ratio of sensing range would not remain hovering around the 1% when the effects of the Shield of Truth were to fade away. He believed that this ratio would increase substantially.


    As for how much it would increase, Luo Nan would need to look at his Life Sketches and see whether or not he could find new interpretations that were rationally consistent with this old world. This currently seemed like a feasible direction to take:


    Draw a sketch. Extract a configuration. Use the most basic of dots and lines to portray an approximate yet clear-cut outline. This was the Life Sketch.


    When the sketch was simplified to the extreme, living spirits were portrayed one after another, formed from concise dots and lines like with Cat Eyes and Zhang Yingying. They became like constetions on the star charts that were used in ancient times. They jumbled out everywhere in the deep abyss of space and revolved and moved around Luo Nan as he acted as the core.


    And this star as was expanding endlessly deeper and wider. Its current scope already spanned over a hundred meters. Itpletely enveloped Area A of Frost River Reality.


    Luo Nan was about to engross himself within these marvelous changes when He Yueyin¡¯s orders appeared within the encrypted channel. "I want the locations of all the gunmen of the Order. Dispose of them in the shortest time possible."

 Chapter 118: Within the Darkness (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 118: Within the Darkness (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    This was probably the most clear-cut order He Yueyin had given out tonight in this operation. She had even stickied her orders as written words within the encrypted channel.


    Current mission objective: Dispose of all gunmen of the Order. Prioritize non-ability users. The area spans Frost River Reality and its surrounding connected buildings. Luo Nan is executor number one. Cat Eyes is executor number two. Everyone else, guard and safely transport Luo Nan and Cat Eyes to ensure that their mental senses cover the entirety of the area spanning Frost River Reality and its surrounding connected buildings. Leave no stone unturned.


    The heck was this?


    It was an extremely clear objective but not many people understood He Yueyin¡¯s intentions. If she wanted to dispose of the enemy, what about the Order¡¯s Otum Knights? What about An Weng and the other First Otums of the secr side? Those were the big shots. It was true that the secr side currently had their full attention on Fairchild but He Yueyin could not truly believe that the Order would let them easily take out their gunmen like in a target practice, right?


    It was really impossible to tell what He Yueyin was thinking! Papercut turned to look at Bamboo Pole. "You¡¯ve been on a mission with the Secretary before. Was her style the same?"


    Papercut had spoken quite tactfully. There was a hidden meaning behind his words. He Yueyin was themander of an elite military Deep Blue Walker squad, but suddenly she became quite unreasonable?


    Bamboo Pole did not speak. He justughed and wriggled his ears and reminded Papercut that He Yueyin¡¯s orders were already in effect. Allmunications must be done through the encrypted channel as established by the HexaEar.


    As themander, He Yueyin had cleared the content within the encrypted channel upon issuing these official orders. Only feedback regarding the situation with the execution of the mission could be made. The meaning was clear: From now on, everyone just work on the mission at hand. Do not whine blindly.


    Next, He Yueyin issued orders that were even more concrete in detail. "Luo Nan, Cat Eyes, and Xue Lei will form the inner circle. Xue Weilun and the other special forces will execute a closed-ring defense in ordance with their standard mobilization procedures. White Salt, Yingying, and I will be in the outer circle as mutual support. We will advance in this protective formation in the ten o¡¯clock direction... Refer to the newest marked map for thetest information in real-time!"


    Outside of Frost River Reality, Papercut, who possessed some basic tactical experience, felt as if his scalp was frying when He Yueyin¡¯s orders were issued.


    There was nothing much to be said about their travel route. The ¡®river¡¯ dividing the battlefield, also know as the boundary between the private room area and the public arena, was at a sixty degree angle from their current position, the ten o-clock direction. Their objective was extremely clear. Luo Nan was to disy his all-epassing perception to his utmost and cover all the enemies of Area A. This would allow them to pull a distance to react. This was quite the proper choice.


    However, there was a problem with their formation. The special forces¡¯ closed-ring defense was a tactical formation used in closebat riot control. Its appropriate application was in situations where numerous thugs were attacking from all sides without long-range weapons. The objective was to protect those within the closed-ring.


    Yet He Yueyin and the others were facing cold-blooded gunmen of the Order. There was also the pressure from the big shot Ghost Thunder. The Order possessed many methods of long-ranged attacks. What if a high-incendiary exploded at the dead center of their group? How would they deal with that?


    T-T-This... What the heck was He Yueyin thinking?


    While Papercut was dumbstruck, Bamboo Pole gestured toward him somewhat impatiently, alluding to Red Fox. Bamboo Pole was hinting that even Red Fox was able to restrain himself, so you should be able to as well.


    Currently, Bamboo Pole was the one who provided basic technical support of the marked map. This was his area of expertise. After he appeased Papercut in order to avoid any mishaps, he took the initiative to ask within the encrypted channel, "Boss Nan, can you confirm whether or not the information conversion of the marked map is operating as normal?"


    Perhaps Luo Nan was not used to it since he took three seconds to respond, "...normal."


    Papercut scratched his head. The assumption could be made that quite a few of hispanions participating in this operation had the same sentiments toward Luo Nan right now. Although no one doubted Luo Nan¡¯s sensing ability, Luo Nan was certainly far too crappy at doing purely practical work!


    Bamboo Pole was quite patient. He exined one step at a time. "I¡¯ve already sent out control privileges in order to ensure a prompt refreshing. Right now, you are the first controller. The Secretary and Kitty can mark the route and ce gs. Have you yed the ssic minesweeper game? It¡¯s like that. Let¡¯s have you refresh the marked map into the encrypted channel using telepathic control mode."


    "Oh, sure."


    It took a full two seconds but the marked map was finally reset within the encrypted channel. The foundation of the image was still the elevation map of Frost River Reality and red and green dots still densely covered the map. Those who were part of the contention before noticed that the previous location of the fat corpse no longer had a red dot in its ce. It appeared that the map¡¯s content and details had been refreshed.


    Bamboo Pole gestured with an OK sign toward Papercut and Red Fox and winked. His intentions were that this little fellow was still redeemable.


    Red Fox responded with indifference and Papercut just smiled wryly. Papercut felt that he was perfectly substituting for the role that Red Fox had previously yed. No matter how one looked at it, no matter how awkward it was, he was being far too neurotic, right?


    Papercut tried to return to his calm state from earlier but before Bamboo Pole could even finish his gesture, half of the sixteen or so enemies marked with red dots on the map were wiped away in the span of a single breath!


    "What the heck?" It was a miracle that Papercut did not pass out. "Did he make a mistake?"


    He Yueyin was marking their travel route on the map at this time but then the extending blue arrow clearly stopped. It seemed that she too was stunned by this sudden scene.


    The encrypted channel was silent for a time but Luo Nan soon broke the silence with his voice. He sounded clearly a bit shaky but he was doing his best to sound confident and experienced, kind of like a soldier making a report.


    "Seven gunmen have been wiped outpletely."


    He Yueyin: "..."


    Cat Eyes: "?"


    Bamboo Pole: "!"


    Papercut shouted, "What the hell?"


    As for Red Fox, he smashed his fists together to create a crisp bang.


    Zhang Yingying, who was hopping around full of life for the fierce battle ahead, nearly sprained her ankle when Luo Nan provided them with this information. She hurriedly leaned against Bai Xinyan for support, turned around, and blurted,


    "Are you joking?"


    By now, numerous people had varied reactions. The motionless dots on the marked maps suddenly burst with activity.


    Luo Nan continued to provide new information and Cat Eyes supplemented for him with a hoarse voice. "An Otum Knight is charging towards us from the three o¡¯clock direction... He¡¯s gone! It¡¯s very likely to be Ghost Thunder! There are more behind us! Three, no, four in total!"


    An incorporeal rhythm seemed to explode in the atmosphere. What had once been a stagnant situation suddenly be like a ne stalling at high altitudes. Practically everyone felt dizzy to the point of absurdity.


    He Yueyin disyed her first ss mental fortitude at this time. She did not speak any nonsense and just issued orders. "Yingying, go in stealth toward the ten o¡¯clock direction. White Salt and I will protect our right nk. Move!"


    Yet the instant her words dropped down, everyone¡¯s vision darkened.


    The crowd standing around and watching outside of Frost River Reality let out startled cries at the same time. At this very moment, the focus of the crowd¡¯s gaze, the triangr spaceship that was Frost River Reality, had its power supplypletely cut off. The instant darkness contrasted with the spotlights outside and made the inside of the amusement center appear even darker.


    It only took two seconds for the startled cries to grow even more chaotic. The darkness no longer covered just Frost River Reality. It spread to its three conjoined buildings at inconceivable speeds like an infection.


    The radiance of a myriad of camera shes had never been as deathly white and as harsh as it was now.

 Chapter 118: Within the Darkness (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 118: Within the Darkness (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Darkness had suddenly descended on Frost River Reality like a cleaving curtain covering one¡¯s head. Theoretically speaking, neither the ability users possessing supernatural powers or the special forces equipped with exoskeleton armor should be affected by this darkness. But when this darkness arrived, the atmosphere became filled with evil thoughts and killing intent. Such sensations floating in the air might have been a fabrication. However, the restless and negative psychic pressure was substantial and real.


    The members of the Society were not certain about the range that the darkness covered but they were able to directly experience the vor of urgency and mania within the darkness.


    The more things were like this, the more they needed to stay steadfast.


    He Yueyin had the gun-toting and shield wielding special forces deployed in such a way that Luo Nan was surrounded by them. He was in the center. Their movements were not that fast. Maintaining the formation was the number one priority.


    Ghost Thunder and the other Otum Knights assaulted them with an all-out effort. The distance between the two sides suddenly shrank.


    Every Otum Knight was equal to a C+ Rank Awakened. They were limitlessly close to the Architect level. Looking at them as a whole, they followed the same consistent logic of their order in their rigorous cultivation. The power they possessed was much more concentrated than that of even a focused ability user. Their power was direct and tyrannical. Moreover, they had a natural tacit understanding in regards to cooperation and coordination with each other.


    Four Otum Knights ced their attention on the Society¡¯s squad as their fierce intent intertwined with each other and merged with the darkness. It was like the noiseless howl of a vicious evil beast of the void.


    The Format Pyramid upon the bodies of Xue Weilun and the several special police officers began to sway at this moment. The pyramids were like candle mes swaying in the wind, nearly going out. The entirety of the attack then followed the flow of energy and information, going toward Luo Nan. They exploded over and over like firecrackers on Luo Nan¡¯s mental ne.


    The attack on his mental ne disturbed the structure of his body and soul. Luo Nan¡¯s feet trembled and then Cat Eyes and Xue Lei held him up by his arms. They moved while carrying him.


    Cat Eyes did not utter a word but Xue Lei whispered, "Nanster, you okay?"


    Luo Nan shook his head. The enemy had responded in quite the decisive manner. They changed the direction of their assault in the first instance to match with the changes in the power outage. They utilized the darkness to unleash powerful attacks. Their actions were filled with the taste of being premeditated.


    The ufortable feeling appeared once more, the same feeling he could always faintly discern ever since they left the private room. But this time, the feeling of unclearness and fuzziness lessened. The constetions, which were constantly revolving and traveling within his mental senses, were clearly revealing something.


    Luo Nan used apletely different perspective to analyze the subtle hidden information in the dark and the gloom. The most essential purpose of drawing the Life Sketches was to pull new interpretations of the world in a dimension that was best suited for him. It was to install an axis. It was to establish a standard.


    It was because of this that something marvelous would happen each time he drew a Life Sketch. As he pieced together the wonderful constetions, great quantities of noisy information collided with him like a swarm of bees. They circled within the surroundings of each constetion and there were mutual influences. The information was slowed down by the constetions, giving Luo Nan time tob through them and pick his choice.


    Such methods were quite rough. The big and small details fed back to him whenpared to being in an out-of-body state were much more difficult to capture. He would certainly lose several meaningful details. At the same time, a lot of redundancy would remain. Yet it was an effective method of interpretation in the end. It was the most practical method that was best suited for Luo Nan.


    It did not matter what sort of hidden tricks the enemy used. As long as they were employed against Luo Nan to be sensed by him, he would naturally gain new interpretations from his star as. These interpretations were then integrated into Luo Nan¡¯s standards and rules. This allowed him to ultimately trace things back to its root and lock onto his target.


    The original information was fuzzy but after the hurricane-like assault by the four Otum Knights and the onset of the omen of danger appeared within Luo Nan¡¯s mind, the information grew in rity.


    In his eyes, the darkness was the deep background that was the void of space. Dozens of constetions and thousands of stars spiraled and roamed about. They were rapidly drawing closer to each other and were going to collide. What had once been a rtively static star as suddenly lit with unprecedentedly dazzling life force. It formed quite the interesting contrast with the restless negative psychic pressure on the ne of reality.


    The Life Sketch of each person was not the same as one another and this difference was manifested within the form of their constetion. Some were simple. Some wereplicated. Some were clear. Some were fuzzy. Those that were clear like Zhang Yingying¡¯s and Cat Eyes¡¯ were of those he had a deep understanding prior. For instance, He Yueyin and Bai Xinyan. They had powerful strengths and had configurations that were profound and exquisite. With his current level of analysis, there were naturally more constetions that were blurry and ambiguous.


    The four Otum Knights with Ghost Thunder as their leader possessed staunch strength and deep hostile intent. It would be much more difficult to draw them clearly. From Luo Nan¡¯s mental senses, the four Otum Knights, one in front and three in the back, were like four masses of nebe exploding within deep space. They came leaping at his face.


    The collision on the star as level was faster by a beat than what the events on the ne of reality. When the fuzzy chaotic mass of the two sides collided, the nodes and lines that were previously unclear changed. The blurring fog was cleaned and their rity was sharpened substantially.


    As the star as changed, He Yueyin, who was protecting their nk, issued an order. "White Salt, shield us!"


    The ceiling amidst the sheet of darkness burst and exploded as her voice fell. Boarding materials used for decorative purposes shattered into pieces amidst the explosion and turned into shrapnel that came flying from all sides. The special forces were well trained and experienced. They raised their shields and blocked the space above. The ring of debris pelting their shields rang for a time with some loud sounds of pounding mixed in. The minute splitting of the structure of their shields suffering damage could be heard as well.


    The st shields could guard those in the inner ring but they could not extend their protection to the three women, He Yueyin, Bai Xinyan, and Zhang Yingying who were roaming outside.


    Zhang Yingying was alright. She made two quick steps and evaded to the side. However, the remaining two women were caught in the range of the explosion of debris and their reactions were entirely different.


    Bai Xinyan did not vary her movement speed at all but a wave of coldness burst from her body to sweep across the empty space. No matter the debris, no matter the explosion, it was all instantly frozen. They were even stripped of their corresponding kic energy. They rustled like snow as they floated to the ground. Such a science defying marvel nearly caused the eyes of the special forces to explode out from their sockets. Only then did they understand what He Yueyin meant when she told White Salt to ¡®shield us¡¯.


    He Yueyin responded differently as the cold wave flooded the darkness. She pressed closer instead of retreating. With her first step, her figure could still be seen. With her second step, her figure blurred and warped. By her third step, her figure had disappearedpletely. All that remained was a brilliant arc of light that sliced through the darkness. The arc of light traveled over thirty meters before anyone realized its existence... Currently, the four Otum Knights were at distances that were less than forty meters away on average!


    Clearly, He Yueyin attack yed the enemy in the front of the assault formation. Her attack was slowed by a bit, so she ran the risk of mortal danger from the enemy¡¯sbined assault from all sides.


    Yet the arc of light traveled far too fast, leaving no time for anyone to be concerned with the matter. The radiant arc of light suddenly shed and extinguished.


    Practically not a sound could be heard when the arc of light shed and perished, yet a certain constetion copsed into pieces within the star as of Luo Nan¡¯s senses. The constetion darkened and faded away.


    Even those with the keenest of ears were able to barely hear the spurting of blood within the darkness.


    Xue Lei drew in a breath of shock to the side. "A kill in less than ten paces!"


    Cat Eyes voice was also dry and hoarse in the encrypted channel. "Confirmed kill on Ghost Thunder."


    A sheet of silence hung in the encrypted channel. Itsted until He Yueyin issued new orders. "elerate toward the 12 o¡¯clock direction."


    Zhang Yingying did not utter a word when the orders were issued. She changed course and increased her speed. As the team merged with the fringe of the darkness, He Yueyin¡¯s figure appeared. She continued to guard the nk, acting as if nothing had happened at all.


    If there was a change, it would probably be reflected in the nce of her eyes toward those in the center of the team formation. The target of the gaze was not Luo Nan but the speechless Xue Lei.


    Xue Lei remembered He Yueyin¡¯s order to keep allmunications within the encrypted channel. He immediately tightened his lips as all the hairs on his body raised.

 Chapter 119: Three Dark Clouds (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 119: Three Dark Clouds (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan paid no mind to the subtle changes around him. Hisplete attention was ced upon the changes of his star as. When He Yueyin instantly yed Ghost Thunder in one strike, the blurry, unclear neb around Ghost Thunder was cleaved apart as well.


    Ghost Thunder¡¯s constetion had turned clear at thest moment before he died. Though the constetion soon darkened and faded away, the structuralws within gave Luo Nan an excellent reference point for analyzing the other Otum Knights of this order.


    Luo Nan¡¯s star as became much clearer in the blink of an eye. ordingly, the obscure, unclear external force that was pressing down from the skies became all the more revealed.


    Luo Nan was able to tell that this force on his star as and the assault formation of the four Otum Knights affected each other and were rted. But something happened when Ghost Thunder, who was at the head of the formation, was yed in a single blow. The force, which was still being deployed, was struck intoplete turmoil and had lost its order. After a few moments of struggle, it eventually and inevitably dispersed.


    "Aye! This is bad!"


    Luo Nan¡¯s worries were now ced over yonder. The force possessed a considerable amount of power and was directed on the mental ne. To have a high efficiency of effectiveness on the material ne, it would need to seek a suitable interference point to cut into. Therefore, it had not been able to truly make its move all this time. It just circted and spiraled around, umting in power to strike a blow like thunder. Evoking one¡¯s sense of judgment would yield a conclusion; this charge up technique was a thousandfold in magnitude than the special case with Huang Bingzhen, who had been stuffed all the way into the corner.


    Clearly, the winds of fate had turned against this force. It had barely found an opportunity to interfere and fully disy its marvels through the four Otum Knights but He Yueyin had struck out with a terrifying blow. She yed the Otum Knight¡¯s weak point in one move. This caused a dreadful whish to happen, which then caused the umted force to be stopped and crumble. It dispersed all around.


    The dispersion of the considerable force was unimportant but it did form an interference with the overall situation of Frost River Reality. The special forces that surrounded Luo Nan were clearly wearing exoskeleton armors with temperature controls but they all shivered one after another. They had received the eroding effect of this dispersed force.


    However, the Format Pyramids, which had been badly damaged to the point of being nearly extinguished, lit up once more on their chests. They were perfectly restored and were able to expel this ineffable cold chill cleanly away.


    "This is quite the fast reaction time." Bai Xinyan lightly praised in the channel. She then took the chance to ask. "There aren¡¯t any problems with your body, right? Are you keeping an eye on thesting time of the Shield of Truth¡¯s blessing?"


    "Shouldn¡¯t be any problems," Luo Nan replied casually. Most of his attention was still on his star as.


    The repair of the Format Pyramid blessing was not due to his fast reactions. It was due to his efforts to maintain the star as he had drawn with great difficulty.


    Why was Luo Nan concerned with the enemy? It was because the effects from the dispersion of the force were super annoying. Frost River Reality became a sheet of chaos within the next few seconds. The trapped civilians captured by terror within the darkness were the most susceptible. This force that overflowed with negative psychic waves, caused all those without mental defenses to fall apart.


    For a time, screams and cries resounded within Area A. The situation was iparably more miserable than when the gunmen had wreaked havoc with their sadistic actions.


    The unsteady hearts of the people influenced the Life Sketches. Luo Nan was mulling over whether to give all those within the range of his mental senses some sort of blessing but it was toote in the end. The devastating negative psychic waves quelled and staked the souls of nearly a hundred people. Handling the situation was beyond the scope of his ability.


    It was unavoidable for the star as to shake intensely. Luo Nan could feel every constetion trembling. Several of them were disced and their manifested structures were warping. This wasted at least half of Luo Nan¡¯s efforts thus far.


    "Damn it!" Luo Nan could not refrain from cursing.


    "The hell is going on over there!?" Xue Lei shot a few nces at He Yueyin. Atst, he could not hold refrain from whispering to her. Right now, miserable cries and shrieks flooded their ears. He was unable to take the atmosphere. He would rather have a few powerful foes pop out of nowhere and stake his life in battle.


    He Yueyin¡¯s divine de technique had struck fear into the hearts of the enemy. In addition, the force which powered the enemy up had copsed. The few Otum Knights hesitated to make a move, allowing the team of Society members to smoothly advance.


    Luo Nan shook his head to try and shake away the anxiety in his heart. He released some information in the encrypted channel in order tofort Xue Lei and to report on the situation he was observing. "There really isn¡¯t much to say. Just that there was someone up to some trouble. Secretary He yed him in a single strike, causing a whish and their power to go out of control. However, it won¡¯t cause any substantial damage."


    There were no more than three people within the entire team who truly understood Luo Nan¡¯s words from inside out. However, there was no one who doubted his words after he disyed brilliant performances one after another. They were actually affected by Luo Nan¡¯s train of thought, conjecturing and pondering a lot more.


    Cat Eyes also made a report at this time. "My sensing range is being affected. Currently, its radius is 40... 38 meters."


    "Mr. Luo?" He Yueyin immediately looked for Luo Nan to confirm.


    Luo Nan did a general scan. Though his star as had yet to stop shakingpletely, the range of his senses was not greatly influenced. The positions of each Otum Knight was all in the palm of his hand. He immediately said, "Things are alright on my end."


    Zhang Yingying interjected. "How much is ¡¯alright¡¯?"


    "80 meters." Luo Nan reported the same number as he did previously. Actually, his sensing radius for the ne of life had already broken through 120 meters. Moreover, it continued to expand in a leisurely manner.


    Oh, hold on. Did I get something mixed up?


    As Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts suddenly deviated, Zhang Yingying continued to speak with emotion, "Aberrant! The more I look at it now, the more I feel that your all-epassing senses are abnormal. Why is it that you can always see what others can¡¯t? Is it because you¡¯re infused with psychic powers?"


    "He¡¯s on a higher level. His viewpoint is different." To the side, Cat Eyes gave a direct assessment of Luo Nan, an action that was rarely seen from her. Her assessment was the result of her continuous observations of Luo Nan.


    "The direction of application is different." Bai Xinyan also joined in the discussion. " Cat Eyes¡¯ long-range perception is a technique that works closely with her body. Student Luo Nan¡¯s sensing ability seems to be a purer, more concentrated observation. Of course, this means it¡¯s easier for his ability to fall apart..."


    "Correct, the direction is different," Luo Nan responded suddenly, "Cat Eyes needs to perform a timely response to all changes in the range of her perception. Every single detail needs to be rified. I, on the other hand, don¡¯t need to consider other problems. I just need to make choices with the precision, range, and levels in ordance with the observation needs."


    "..."


    It was impossible to continue with this discussion!


    Zhang Yingying tilted her head and she rolled her eyes. ¡°This is the most aberrant thing of all, okay!? So you can change the frequency of your mental senses as you wish? There are those who have trained arduously and polished cautiously in order to find a most suitable soul frequency for them. Those countless ability users are fixed in the mentally enhanced focus. You¡¯ll make them go out of their minds if they hear of this!¡±


    The discussion within the encrypted channel had abruptly stopped.


    Luo Nan was not aware that he had suddenly ended the topic. It could even be said that his heart was filled with ease and delight. Indeed,munication was the best way to solve problems. If it was not, he would now be makingrge crazy strides in the wrong direction!


    "Too thin! Too narrow!"


    A problem urred with the direction of his concentration while he was drawing his Life Sketches. There were parts standing out that possessed details that were most difficult to carve. He was unable to use his finite mind to resolve these near-inexhaustibly deep configurations.


    Behold, even though the star as was in disorder and was in endless turmoil, every Otum Knight and every trapped civilian was unable to break away from his irvoyance. The obscure and unclear force was also ultimately locked on by his observations.


    This was not because of how meticulously he carved out these sketches. It was because of thepositional whole of the area under the control of his senses. He observed the broad outline. He knew the flow of direction. And that was enough!


    He did not dig deep into the details and instead, he looked at the overall situation. He went and used his irvoyance upon the entirety of what he could ess in the region where the mental ne and material ne interfered mutually. He observed the ne of life in its entirety.


    In fact, doing this was much simpler than he had imagined!

 Chapter 119: Three Dark Clouds (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 119: Three Dark Clouds (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    To know the whole, one must first see. One must simply see.


    His old methods of irvoyance were unable to break free from the stereotypes of the old interpretations of the world. He had followed the old conventions obediently as he expanded his domain. He had taken into ount the endurance and processing power of his body when it came to receivingrge quantities of information.


    However, after switching to new interpretations, all he had to do was draw! These drawings were casual whole impressions reproduced from his senses and memory. All he needed was to grasp one or two characteristics of living movement so it was fine to synthesize them through concise strokes.


    This was the difference between sketching and speed-sketching. This was the difference between meticulous brushwork and freehand brushwork.


    Luo Nan generalized his Life Sketches into twoponents, speed-sketching, and configuration. Speed-sketching should be done first and foremost. This was the core where the whole of his ideas resided. This was the true direction of application.


    Before the wholeposition could be confirmed, carved details, no matter how true, would likely be warped and absurd when looked at with the whole. Just like with the out-of-ce disorder with his star as.


    "The whole! The whole!"


    Luo Nan emphasized to himself in a hypnotic manner. He closed his eyes then reopened them. Then he closed them again. By doing this, he was able to forget his old observational methods. His thoughts and consciousness were able to expand outward and reach new heights. He was able to go further beyond and to broaden magnificently.


    Right now, the range of his irvoyance was like the contraction and expansion of a heart, like the rise and fall of a tide. It contracted. It expanded. It swelled. It receded. The changing frequency was growing faster and faster. The changing spectrum was growingrger andrger. It was truly like a great river bursting through a dam; it flooded all around, flowing freely. It was like the shattering of an iron mold; stereotypes and conventions no longer existed.


    There was an instant when Luo Nan felt his body and soul about to be scattered into the void. Itsted until his dark chains trembled. The power of his ¡®My heart¡¯s a prison¡¯ format appeared and only then was he able to draw himself in.


    At the same time, the range of Luo Nan¡¯s mental senses was restored to the apex value of when he was in his out-of-body state. It reached eight hundred meters and after a few breaths of time, the radius exceeded one kilometer. It was expanding endlessly. The entirety of Frost River Reality, including the three buildings supporting this indoor amusement center, and even the surrounding area was within the range of his mental irvoyance.


    Fuzzy constetions appeared one after another. They represented everyone in Frost River Reality. It was not just the few who were near Luo Nan. It included Frost River Reality, Baze, seven Otum Knights, nearly a hundred trapped civilians. They represented people outside of Frost River Reality. It included the police officers above the three buildings supporting Frost River Reality. It included the thousands of civilians crowded around and watching. They were all totally integrated into Luo Nan¡¯s star as.


    Stars bright like diamonds formed this constetion system. There were also shadows that were hard to see with the naked eye and there were also hazy and turbid dark clouds.


    The shadows were the building construction, furniture, equipment, decorations, and other useless dead ends. The dark clouds were living outlines of people who were hard to analyze within a short period of time.


    Though Luo Nancked the ability to depict them, the contrast between motion and static, inanimate objects and living beings, awareness and unawareness evoked a marvelous and exquisitely consistent rtionship.


    Brightness and shadows interweaved. Light and darkness matched together. Emptiness and substance alternated... Under each other¡¯s influences, each and every constetion, shadow, and dark cloud had their boundaries with each other be gradually blurred. They weaved amongst each other, strewn at random. However, their trajectories were clear with rules andws behind them. In the end, they formed an endlessly snaking star river of splendor. The river unfurled itself.


    It was without a doubt that this was the most profound and magnificent scene Luo Nan had ever drawn in his life. It possessed a nearly inexhaustible amount ofyers and marvels.


    If he had the chance, Luo Nan really wanted to mesmerize himself within theseyers to ponder and savor over every detail. But today, he would not immerse himself within. He just used an independent, separated, detached, and wonderful point of view to capture and draw thepositional outline of this star river scene.


    As a whole, it was quite appropriate to describe what he perceived as a ¡®star river¡¯.


    It was as if Luo Nan was standing at the dead center of an enormous gxy. The starlight was sparse in the area he upied but surrounding him were three enormous and bright spiral arms unfolding out. They urately represented the number of living beings in Frost River Reality and the three buildings it was connected to.


    However, there was also a hazy dark cloud entrenched at the end of each of the three spiral arms. The three dark clouds obstructed the starlight. They even interlinked channels between the dark clouds. The channels drew out a region of turbid darkness that pressed heavily atop the star river. The darkness even permeated within. It was hard to see their true identities.


    It was without a doubt that the three dark clouds represented the positions of the First Otums of the secr side in the Order of Justice. Looking at the current situation, it seemed that his previous judgment was true.


    Three First Otums. They were all here.


    Well, he had found the most important targets of this night.


    The expansion of Luo Nan¡¯s mental senses was still continuing. Thissted until the limit of its distance broke through two kilometers. Only then did the expansion rate begin to attenuate.


    The enormous star river scene had already covered three bustling blocks of the city. The highest elevation it reached was to the high altitude trafficyers. The lowest it prated was to the enormous underground sewage system of the city. The Life Sketches that represented living beings were in the tens of thousands. The number of stars was nearly impossible to count.


    Of course, from Luo Nan¡¯s perspective, the pure void or inanimate objects were the meaningless regions of shadows. They were meaningless unless he chose to expend a lot of his energy, change his observation methods, and meticulously use his irvoyance.


    Luo Nan felt pressure once again at this time. There was a mutual influence between the stars; they were affecting each other. An enormous tension was ultimately formed within the depths of the star river and far too much redundant information was formed as well.


    The gigantic dimensions of the river had naturally increased the amount of information he received and the nar area he could ess. Though he did not actively sense them, the enormous ne of life confined to Xia City was like the myriad of gxies of deep space. Their lights radiated over.


    After a moment of consideration, Luo Nan actively reduced the radius of his sensing to be 1500 meters. He continued to shrink the range until it reached approximately a kilometer. This was to precisely have the whole buildingplex of Frost River Reality and its connected buildings incorporated within. Things were going steady so far and there was enough tolerance for error.


    The dazzling star river flowed silently, light splintered, and shadows shifted. A fuzzy and subtle rtionship was maintained with the faint starlight projection from further away.


    Upon fixing his irvoyance range, his spreading power was retracted and his sense of detail grew even sharper. They affected each other and began to fine tune one another. Inharmonious nuances were spontaneously influenced, allowing Luo Nan to tear through the chaotic masses without the need for direct observation.


    However, the dark clouds located on top of the three buildings remained thick and solid. It was hard to observe through them... Well, at least two of the clouds were like this.


    Thest cloud had umted quite the surplus of mass. Thick could not even describe it, yet why did Luo Nan get a sense of familiarity from it?


    Luo Nan had a n in mind. He withdrew his mind for now and he tried to put his hands in his pockets due to habit. He waspletely focused and had forgotten that his arms were being gripped by Xue Lei and Cat Eyes. When his hands did not move as he expected, his forearms swung down and were flung a bit too far. His hand smacked into a ce that was quite buxom and stic. There was a faint sound.


    Cat Eyes instantly turned to look at him at this very moment. Though they were in the darkness and the brim of Cat Eyes¡¯ hat covered her eyes with dark shadows, her gaze shed with an aura as cold as ever before. The sting from her gaze forced Luo Nan to squint.


    However, the most important thing was to fish out the object from his pockets. It was true that his hand was touching the cloth of some pants but its pockets did not belong to him. Luo Nan tried to move his hand away, rubbing the surface a few times but he was unable to move his arms where he wanted to. He could only face Cat Eyes and say,


    "Let go for a moment. I need to get something from my pockets."


    At this moment, Luo Nan seemed to feel Cat Eyes¡¯ grip on his arm grow a bit stronger but in the end, she let go without saying much.


    Luo Nan was finally able to put his hands into his pockets and take out the metal box with the downloaded Human-Faced Arachnid Exoskeleton Armor. He weighed it in his hands.


    Cat Eyes¡¯ hand noiselessly stuck back to his upper arm at this very moment. She maintained her hold over him and spoke with a barely audible whisper, "Do you need help?"


    Luo Nan looked at Cat Eyes again. Her gaze was still clear and cold but the vague silhouette of her mouth was in an unreadable curve within this dusky darkness. Her lips hooked slightly into a very contradicting smile but there was a sense of a never seen before novelty to it. He had the impulse to take up a pen and draw just by looking at her.


    Luo Nan blinked his eyes but he nodded after a short while. "Okay. Can you help me break open this box?"

 Chapter 120: Too Unsightly (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 120: Too Unsightly (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    "Break it open?" A cold glow could be seen in Cat Eyes¡¯ narrow eyes. She was skeptical. "Weren¡¯t you going to use it as evidence?"


    Luo Nan blinked once again but since he had drafted a mental outline beforehand, he said, "Well, I suspect that this toy has been messed around with. The enemy is using it to set up something like a snake hive; they¡¯re tracking and locking onto our positions..."


    Several people cast nces of shock the moment Luo Nan uttered these words. These words vited He Yueyin¡¯s request to use the encrypted channel for allmunications. The words came out from his mouth and entered everyone¡¯s ears but they were not concerned about this vition.


    "Is that true?" Zhang Yingying turned in curiosity.


    "Think back to when He Yueyin yed Ghost Thunder in a single move and affected their ns. If she hadn¡¯t killed Ghost Thunder, they might have already made the final step to have their nse to fruition... Or at least, that¡¯s the way I feel about things."


    Luo Nan relied on the bit of information he raised to blurt out some baseless words. He had thrown all logic out the window by the end of it. Regardless, there really were people who believed in his words.


    Zhang Yingying asked with bulging eyes, "Then why aren¡¯t we getting rid of it asap?"


    "Don¡¯t we need to destroy it first?"


    "Humph, Fairchild gave this to you. What if he sets out to punish youter on..."


    "You think so?"


    Luo Nan¡¯s expression of amazement defeated all of the others.


    Zhang Yingying waved her hand. "Forget it. Since you¡¯ve said such words, just watch me!"


    A clearly light cry rang in everyone¡¯s ears as her voice fell. It was like the vibration of wind chimes and it was quite pleasing to the heart.


    There was a slight jolt in Luo Nan¡¯s hand and he saw the rather thick metal box split noiselessly into two halves. A faint spark shed before it disappeared without a trace.


    The box split between his thumb and forefinger and a cold air seeped into his skin. It was as if an incorporeal sharp de had sliced against his skin.


    "Hey!" Luo Nan could not refrain from ring at Zhang Yingying with bulging eyes. If the cut had been just a bit lower, his hand would have likely been amputated on the spot!


    "Don¡¯t mention it!" Zhang Yingying waved her hand as sheughed cheerily. "You¡¯re still not getting rid of it?"


    "It should be fine." Luo Nan had nothing to say to Zhang Yingying. But after blurting out a few words, something came to mind. He added, "We don¡¯t know who is the First Otum that has made their move. It looks like this First Otum is on quite the ordinary level. Subsequent changes werepletely terminated the instant Ghost Thunder died."


    Zhang Yingying could not hold back from rolling her eyes. No matter how ordinary the enemy was, they were at least a Clearsworn First Otum, okay? Clearsworn First Otums are calcted to be at the C+ Rank, an overwhelming power that could crush everyone here except for He Yueyin and Bai Xinyan.


    Just as her words were about to leave her mouth, a dull voice sounded out from the nk. "There are three First Otums in Xia City for the Order of Justice. It¡¯s said that An Chengli is likely to be the most egotistical one out of them. He is the youngest. He depends on the power of his elders quite a bit. An Weng is his granduncle."


    "An Chengli?" He Yueyin shot Zhang Yingying a cold nce just as she wanted to interrupt. She tapped her ears. Clearly, He Yueyin was reminding everyone not to vite the mission needs by chatting with their mouths open.


    "Some people sure can get away with double standards... Well the boss is the boss!" Zhang Yingying posted a big thumbs up icon in the encrypted channel. The taste of sarcasm was overflowing in her words.


    This all came as quite the surprise to Luo Nan, causing him to stare dumbstruck at He Yueyin. No one should have been able to understand the purpose of his words just now but she had wlessly gone along with him. It seemed that An Chengli was truly the First Otum in question. The effects of her words were god knows how many times better than what he could have done...


    He Yueyin turned her gaze over and gave Luo Nan a slight nod.


    Luo Nan did not have the time to think deeply about her actions. His heart stirred and although his eyes looked at He Yueyin. The dark cloud that he had locked onto within the splendorous star river on the mental ne had lost its original stability. Right now, it was surging and raging.


    Its aura was astonishing but it could not exceed the disy of the other two majestic and solid dark clouds. Moreover, streams and streams of turbid darkness split from this dark cloud. The streams charged toward Frost River Reality and permeated within.


    Though the dark cloud was still spiraling and umting power, Luo Nan felt a cold chill. The enemy¡¯s target was over here and their malice was clear. There was a distinct feeling of fury and impatience to it all.


    These emotional vors emerged clearly within Luo Nan¡¯s irvoyance.


    This matter was urgent. Luo Nan tossed away the split box and he dispersed his mind into the dark atmosphere around him.


    The raw materials required to produce a Human-Faced Arachnid were stowed away in the metal box. It was like the toner of a printer. It was useless if you took it out by itself; it would only dirty one¡¯s hands. But when matched in aplete set with aputer and a printer,plicated clear scripts and characters could be formed.


    Within the entirety of Xia City, Luo Nan was probably the best person to form aplete set with these raw materials. At the very least, the current situation showed that Luo Nan¡¯s studies and understanding toward the Human-Faced Arachnid was deeper than that of the Order of Justice.


    The ¡®toner¡¯ was drifting through the air in scatter bits. With none of the others aware of it at all, Luo Nan gathered this toner using his soul strength. He kneaded it a few times but he still felt it was awkward to work with. His consciousness sunk into the external neuron and he activated the Format Pyramid interface. Through this interface, he was able to link up with the Wraith Sign located several dozens of kilometers away.


    He did not need this fellow to do much. He just needed the Wraith Sign to wait there like a good boy to act as a model for him.


    Something unexpected happened when he took over the Wraith Sign through the Format Pyramid system. The star river irvoyance system he had just established received additional information from the Wraith Sign¡¯s side.


    The range of Luo Nan¡¯s irvoyance could not possibly reach that far but the response was exactly the same as it was normally. The increase in dimensions made the receiving information be much richer.


    The Wraith Sign was not a living being. Deep within its structure was a mass of chaos. There was nothing to it that could be described as a Life Sketch. Yet an obscure shadow was formed with this chaotic mass of a structure under the starlight and control of the Format Pyramid system. This shadow was mapped over to Luo Nan through long distances.


    The strength of this simple projection was far too small. It could not be used for much but it acted as an excellent temte.


    Originally, Luo Nan just wanted to look at the Wraith Sign¡¯s structure in order to make a vish copy. He just wanted to make a low grade imitation like drawing a dipper using a gourd as a model. But since this projection was here, he just simply tossed the raw material within it.


    This way, the result would legitimately be a high-level imitation product, right?


    However, it was not that easy to reproduce the Human-Faced Arachnid. Huang Bingzhen had followed the Order¡¯s ways to gather the so-called raw materials required but these raw materials were of the lowest quality. Right now, the Wraith Sign was not even inclined to shoot a nce at such impure materials. No matter how good of an imitation that would be formed, it would just be an imitation after all. Its functions would be simplified and its power would be quite average.


    However, Luo Nan felt that this would be sufficient.


    Soon, a Human-Faced Arachnid that was closer in its form to its initial state, the Burning Wraith, floated in the air. The efficiency of the Order¡¯s methods was quite bad. There was no one here who could see this Human-Faced Arachnid, save for Luo Nan.


    The mental ne was a structure that was deep and endless, containing many levels. It was like a cascade of dark curtains and it was the best ce to conceal one¡¯s self from the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s perspective. It was extremely difficult to ess the deep levels of the mental ne, even for Cat Eyes who was an expert at perception or powerful ability users like He Yueyin and Bai Xinyan.


    However, Luo Nan was able to probe to the deep levels of the mental ne with his mental senses from the very beginning. He waspletely different from the others. Perhaps the reason was due to his mental senses being purely used for ¡®observation¡¯?


    Under the control of Luo Nan¡¯s consciousness, the low-configuration version Human-Faced Arachnid noiselessly submerged into the void. It soon followed one of the three spiral arms of the star river and arrived at the fringe of the raging dark cloud.


    Within the dark cloud, lustrous rays of emotion continued to shine.


    Luo Nan thought back to the events ofst week, back to when he faced Jack. The Wraith Sign had pulled out a deep and impressive trick; this fellow had emted and transformed into a piece of information and a bit of emotion. It seeped into Jack¡¯s thought process and advancedyer byyer all the way until it reached the depths of Jack¡¯s soul.


    It was obvious that the Human-Faced Arachnid possessed a simr instinct. Luo Nan was not asking much of this low-configuration version. He just needed it to go inside and transmit information out to him.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid flickered outside the dark cloud. It faced the rays of emotion within the cloud and dived in.


    Check out my sporadic streaming on twitch! https://.twitch.tv/strivon


    Chapter Synopsis:


    Luo Nan exins that the enemy is likely using the metal box to track their movements, which is why he wants to destroy it. Zhang Yingying happily slices the box in half with her ability. Luo Nan openly taunts the First Otum An Chengli and He Yueyin catches on and taunts as well by speaking without using the encrypted channel.


    Luo Nan turns his attention to the mental ne. Sure enough, he could feel the enemy¡¯s fury quite clearly. He then takes the contents of the metal box, the raw material used to make a Human-Faced Arachnid, to make a high-level imitation of his Wraith Sign. Luo Nan sends the new Human-Faced Arachnid into the dark cloud that surrounds the furious First Otum. He seeks to have this arachnid to transmit information back to him from within the cloud.

 Chapter 120: Too Unsightly (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 120: Too Unsightly (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Things were out of Luo Nan¡¯s hands after the High-Imitation Low-Configuration Human-Faced Arachnid entered the dark cloud. With the human body¡¯s level of processing information, watching it was fine but manipting it was extremely difficult. What he did just now was the equivalent of tossing out a wiretapping bug into the dark cloud. Whether or not he would be able to receive results more or less depended on a bit of luck.


    The spiral arm of the dark cloud was smeared with theplicated cluster of emotions, looking like a swaying poisonous mushroom. It still remained unclear but Luo Nan could feel that there were some differences now. He needed to keep on waiting.


    Luo Nan was not pinning his hopes onto the Human-Faced Arachnid. He withdrew his attention and focused back on Frost River Reality.


    The battle between Fairchild and Baze was not that noisy. There were many times when Luo Nan hadpletely forgotten about their existances. It was hard to imagine these two powerful ability users skilled in physical techniques doing things in this way.


    However, Luo Nan could not forget about them even if he wanted after he erected his Star River irvoyance System. This was because the brightest cluster of stars was situated there.


    This was a very interesting phenomenon; the most eye-catching constetion of the Life Sketches drawn by Luo Nan was the constetion that belonged to Fairchild.


    Originally, it was impossible for Luo Nan to sessfully analyze Fairchild due to his super powerful strength but he had exposed the marvels of his body interacting and interfering with the mental and the material nes. He was grand and imposing, not really concealing anything. Therefore, Luo Nan¡¯s Life Sketch of Fairchild was clear and distinct.


    Simplifying Fairchild¡¯s constetion down to Cat Eyes¡¯ degree of simplicity was obviously impossible. The structure of Fairchild¡¯s constetion wasplicated, lit with the dots of several stars but because of this, the stars of this constetionbined together to cause an astonishing degree of presence and luminosity within the splendid star river of Luo Nan¡¯s senses.


    Because of Fairchild, the eight Otum Knight, including Baze, had their constetions affected. The neb dust that enveloped their bodies was torn apart bit by bit and exposed some deeper mysteries.


    Luo Nan pondered. It seemed that through this phenomenon, he could get a peek at themon origin between the Order of Justice¡¯s First Otums and Otum Knights. He just needed a bit more time.


    However, He Yueyin issued new orders at this time within the encrypted channel. "Head fifty meters toward the one o¡¯clock direction. Exit through passageway number three."


    Luo Nan and the others had been advancing forward all this time. They only discovered now that they had unwittingly arrived at one of the exits to Frost River Reality. It was a passageway that connected to one of the buildings that supported Frost River Reality. Through here, they could enter the connected building B. In other words, they had already slipped past much of the dangerous regions in Frost River Reality.


    Zhang Yingying, who was paving the way as the vanguard, could not hold back from speaking in the channel, "Hellooo, don¡¯t we still need to rescue about a hundred people?"


    He Yueyin responded, "The mission targets are the gunmen of the Order."


    "Luo Nan has already wiped them out already, okay!?"


    "There are at least a dozen or so gunmen left in the three buildings. From our current intelligence, the Order still has three or four squads, excluding the First Otums and the Otum Knights, that haven¡¯t been contained yet. There is a sniper team confirmed at Yn Hotel. There are also mobile units still present in the surrounding three buildings."


    Zhang Yingying was baffled by a problem for a long time before so she could not help but ask, "What¡¯s the point of getting rid of the gunmen? The First Otums and the Otum Knights are the big shots..."


    "Leaving the gunmen alone will lead to more civilian causalities."


    "Hellooo, are you saying that a Secretbound First Otum and two Clearsworn First Otums are less dangerous than a few gunmen?"


    "Looking at the current situation, yes."


    A few rounds of back and forth happened and this led to Zhang Yingying bing extremely dissatisfied with He Yueyin¡¯s answer. She was about to muster more energy to grill her further when Red Fox, who had not spoken in the encrypted channel for quite a while, suddenly interrupted,


    "Before bing an Extraordinary, a mentally enhanced ability user is quite limited in direct interference with the material ne. The lethal power of a mental storm isn¡¯t necessarily greater than that of a metal bullet. Moreover, the ¡®weapons¡¯ of the First Otums are currently being pinned down by Fairchild in Frost River Reality. This leads to a substantial offset to the First Otums¡¯ mental powers..."


    He Yueyin continued after Red Fox. "There are currently at least thirty to fifty thousand civilians within the three buildings. If these people were to be enved by fear, crowd stampedes may ur and the consequences would be unimaginably catastrophic. All the gunmen would need to do is to pull the trigger to set this off... we can¡¯t afford to pay this price."


    Everyone was forced to admit that their words had some truth in them. However, these two people had pped each other¡¯s faces not too long ago, yet now they were echoing one another? This caused very conflicting emotions to be born in the others who held various stances during the contention.


    Luo Nan was a bit embarrassed. Compared to He Yueyin¡¯s and Red Fox¡¯s train of thoughts, his thought process contained some assumptions. Even if he managed to draw Life Sketches of the First Otum and resolve the situation with them, it seemed that his actions would be of little help.


    So should he adjust things and go look for the gunmen?


    However, the demands that such an action would ce on the precision of his senses was much greater than before. Luo Nan felt that he might not have the ability to do this.


    As Luo Nan thought about his problems, Zhang Yingying thoughts were of a more practical nature. "To sift through these three buildings would take until the end of time, right?"


    "He Yueyin responded as if she had expected the question, "We¡¯re just responsible for building B. Building A and C will be handled by the military."


    The encrypted channel was immediately thrown into a state of shock. Papercut asked, "The military? The military is personally making a move? Oh right, there was that drone a while ago..."


    Zhang Yingying shouted, "Like I said! How could it be a coincidence!? You were the one who gave the order to verify that the corpse was Ghost Thunder, right? Did you use some personal contacts?"


    He Yueyin had a strong military background. This was not a secret in the Society. However, she had not shown much of her personalwork since she entered her society, besides her military aplishments. This sudden mention caught people off guard.


    He Yueyin did not respond immediately when faced with this question.


    Zhang Yingying would not let her escape. "Helloo, won¡¯t bringing the military into thisplicate things... Secretary He?"


    He Yueyin responded two secondster, "It¡¯s an official coboration."


    "What?"


    He Yueyin moved on from this topic. She simply said, "Enter building B in thirty seconds. Red Fox, Bamboo Pole, Papercut, remain responsible for Yn. Pay heed, we need to resolve the situation with the gunmen within five minutes."


    A countdown interface appeared within the encrypted channel after He Yueyin issued these orders. The current time remaining was 295 seconds.


    The sudden inclusion of this element made everyone freeze in shock.


    When Papercut was faced with this unreasonable task, he spoke out in shock, "We don¡¯t even have the time to run back from there to Yn Hotel!"


    In Papercut¡¯s moment of doubt, Red Fox did not speak a word and instead turned around and left. Bamboo Pole gave Papercut a yank and increased his speed to catch up to Red Fox. It was as if Papercut had awoken from a dream. He pushed off with his feet and asked for rification, "What happens if we can¡¯t aplish it in five minutes?"


    "We make an emergency action n after 285 seconds. We can¡¯t predict what changes will ur by then... Move faster!"


    He Yueyin urged the team to move faster and issued the operational procedures one after another. "The special forces will form a second squad. Upon entering building B, they will act as the vanguard, clearing the way and maintaining order. As for everyone else, Mr. Luo, Yingying, and White Salt will form a team upon entering the floor; they will head down. Cat Eyes and I will form a team and head up. We will quickly search and handle the gunmen as we make contact with them. 270 secondster, regardless of whether this task ispleted, immediately perform rapid descension from the building and get out of the range of the buildingplex!"


    She matched the timer interface perfectly every time she mentioned the remaining seconds. She notified everyone to deploy themselves in teams and that time was being endlessly consumed.


    As the group of people took in the amount of time remaining, He Yueyin spoke specifically to Luo Nan, "Mr. Luo, you need to concentrate your energy. You can¡¯t afford to be distracted."


    Luo Nan was stunned for a moment, having understood the meaning behind her words. It was at this time he ¡®heard¡¯ some information with his ears. It was spoken seemingly regretfully but also mockingly.


    "... How unsightly!"


    So I¡¯m out on travel for a few days. Releases will be sporadic, but still five days a week.


    Chapter Synopsis:


    Luo Nan views thing on his star as and can see Fairchild¡¯s and Baze extremely clearly upon it due to the radiance they emit. The light of Fairchild¡¯s constetion helps him see through the neb dust around the Otum Knights and find the link between the knights and the First Otums.


    He Yueyin expands on their mission to wipe out the gunmen of the Order, stating that leaving the gunmen alive will lead to more civilian casualties. They are responsible for building B while building A and C will be handled by the military in an official coboration. He Yueyin sets the time limit to five minutes, much to everyone¡¯s surprise.


    He Yueyin warns Luo Nan not to be distracted, but he "hears" someone say, "How unsightly!"

 Chapter 121: Two Worlds (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 121: Two Worlds (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan¡¯s mind suddenly jerked. This information hade out of nowhere. It did note from anyone in the team and it did not seem to be directed to anyone at the time. It filled the air and resounded in his mind just like that.


    He froze in a state of stupefaction but then realized that this was the result of the progress made by the Human-Faced Arachnid. He used his irvoyance on the dark cloud connected to the spiral arm of the star river. He could clearly feel the dark cloud decrease in density. More and more fuzzy starlight radiated out along with some energy and information. The energy and information were converted and analyzed through the Human-Faced Arachnid.


    Those words did not seem to be a part of a real-time dialog exchange. Instead, it was more like the intense thoughts of someone¡¯s mind. These thoughts produced and spurred a continuous stream of information for a time.


    It looked like the person within the dark cloud was in quite a bad mood.


    Luo Nan tilted his head and looked up. Through the metal frames and the transparent ss ceiling, he was able to see the outline of the high rise covered in pitch-ck darkness; no light was able to escape. It was vaguely like the dark cloud within his senses.


    In fact, their party of people was charging toward one of the dark clouds and it was the one containing endlessly changing rays of emotion that Luo Nan was focused on. The target who he dubbed the poisonous mushroom.


    What a coincidence... Luo Nan¡¯s gaze locked onto a corner of the rooftop. His naked eye could not see where the edges began but he was able to see it on the mental ne. The malicious intent concealed deep within the atmosphere grew clearer and clearer as they drew closer and closer.


    Though He Yueyin had warned him not to get distracted, what if the First Otum was trying to interfere with them?


    Luo Nan sent a message within the encrypted channel. "It seems like someone has his eyes on us. It¡¯s that egotistical fellow."


    He Yueyin¡¯s response brimmed with the taste of this being a matter of course. "As long as we¡¯re inside one of the three buildings, we will catch the eye of at least one First Otum. Don¡¯t bother with them. Don¡¯t get distracted."


    This was the second time that He Yueyin warned him.


    Luo Nan feet practically did not touch the ground anymore. He was being carried by Xue Lei and Cat Eyes. As they rushed down the connecting passageway, Xue Lei whispered into his ear, "She didn¡¯t mention me at all!"


    "You¡¯re certainly going to follow your dad..."


    Before Luo Nan could finish talking, He Yueyin suddenly opened her mouth and asked, "Xue Lei has already ¡¯obtained his sign¡¯, right?"


    "I achieved something small over the past two days... Huh?" Xue Lei was suddenly shocked. He turned and said, "How did you know?"


    He Yueyin did not respond. She issued further orders in the encrypted channel. "Xue Lei group with Mr. Luo. Follow the time requirements. Whether or not the mission ispleted sessfully, we must all leave the range of the buildings at godspeed."


    Before Xue Lei could even react and just as Xue Weilun was about to talk after recovering from the sudden shock, a new message scrolled through the encrypted channel. "Hello Sister, it looks likes your standard for distributing people is based on being an Awakened. Does the Society have a particr purpose for this deployment?"


    Bai Xinyan was the one who sent the message but He Yueyin did not respond whatsoever.


    Xue Weilun¡¯s words were blocked by the lines of Bai Xinyan¡¯s message.


    In the face of this totally unknown context, the worst thing he could do as a special police officer and as a father was to guess around wildly in spection.


    Their party of people entered the floor of building B at this time. The special forces¡¯ formation dispersed automatically and Cat Eyes and He Yueyin separated out from the team to stand together.


    Zhang Yingying pulled Bai Xinyan toward her and grabbed onto Luo Nan and Xue Lei as well. "Do you know why you need to concentrate?"


    The two high school students shook their heads.


    "The following moments are certain to be extremely intensive."


    Zhang Yingying winked and was about to add more but then she saw Xue Weilun walk over. She shut her mouth and walked with Bai Xinyan to the side. Luo Nan hurriedly made room and gave the father and son some time to talk.


    Only, the exchange between the Xue father and son was far more straightforward than they could possibly imagine. The two were both magnificent men. They gave each other a hearty hug. The thick exoskeleton armors between did nothing to block their feelings.


    "Do your best."


    "Be careful."


    The time was continuing its countdown, so they did not have much time to talk. Their words lingered in the air as the ss wall next to the exit was smashed into pieces. ss shards flew and fell before a whistling gale entered through the hole.


    Zhang Yingying cast a nce downward. "The gradient is fine. It¡¯s not the straight vertical type."


    In this very instant, Xue Lei was able to feel the tension in his father¡¯s embrace. He split his mouth into a smile and broke free. "Rest easy, things will be fine."


    Zhang Yingying turned to look. "Has Xue Lei rapidly descended from high buildings before?"


    Xue Lei maintained a confident smile. "My master taught me the Ape Traversal Technique before. I¡¯ve also learned a bit of extreme parkour. I¡¯ve done it before at high floors but not for long distances."


    "Excellent!" Zhang Yingying gave him a big thumbs up. "Having Luo Nan be such a burden will cause White Salt and I to squander away quite a bit of our energy for him. You need to look out for yourself. Now is the time for martial artists to crush the mentally enhanced."


    A couple of figures flickered next to Zhang Yingying as she was halfway through her words. He Yueyin and Cat Eyes jumped up shoulder to shoulder practically simultaneously. They faced the wild gale and jumped into the dark void. Their figures flipped and they flew vertically up. He Yueyin just left a single message in the encrypted channel.


    "Time is of the essence."


    They had no chance whatsoever for careful nning and preparation due to the time constraints. The habitual actions from normal times determined one¡¯s effectiveness in this sort of situation. Right now, the building was without power. The elevator was out of operation. Yet they had toplete the entire journey within four and a half minutes. To follow the methods of the Society would be to rely on the skill of the ability users in rapid ascension or descension.


    He Yueyin did not choose to have Luo Nan ascend. This fellow¡¯s terrible physical skills were the number one reason for her decision.


    Zhang Yingying shrugged. She was not that worried. She knew from the moment He Yueyin nned the mission that the mission intensity was changed to be much easier.


    The concrete action n was naturally issued into the encrypted channel. "Luo Nan¡¯s sensing radius is 80 meters. B building¡¯s width is approximately 150 meters. It¡¯s fine to just circle your way in a spiral route. If things go smoothly, all you need is 100 seconds to get to Fudong Main Street."


    Luo Nan was astonished. "I won¡¯t be able to lock onto the gunmen in that amount of time..."


    "The viewpoint from the lower floors with their terrain is useless. The likelihood of there being gunmen is far too small. The Secretary just wants us to retreat. Are you ready yet? I¡¯ll go first with the big dude."


    Xue Lei suddenly shivered. The confident smile on his face stiffened a bit but regardless of this, he could not let the others, especially his father, see his reaction. He could not let the others get distracted in worry for him.


    He muttered to himself a few times a chant personally passed onto him by his master, "Transform the prities, by thews of the Way." He started to pump himself up. "I am different from normal people! I really am different!"


    Chen Xiaolin¡¯s face oddly shed in his mind only to disappear like the popping of a soap bubble. The gale of darkness had eroded his physical sensations but now the yin-yang fluctuations within his body were restored once more to a warm state. In addition, his remaining bit of doubt and hesitation were dissolved to nothingness.


    Xue Lei grew even more certain that he was born for this kind of situation. He turned slightly to lock eyes with Luo Nan, the friend who had drawn him into this wonderful world and the two bumped fists.


    "Let¡¯s go!"


    Xue Lei yelled as he jumped into the darkness of the void outside and Zhang Yingying jumped out at practically the same time as him. Thest one toe out was Bai Xinyan; she held onto Luo Nan¡¯s waist with a single arm.


    Xue Weilun followed two close steps behind them. He reached out with his head to look down and was able to see his son. Xue Lei was keener than any ape or monkey. His long arms just smacked against the ss wall a few times to push off and he slid in an arc. He flew all the way down as if he was riding a skateboard.


    Soon, their figures were lost into the night.


    Xue Weilun was lost in thought when arge gale suddenly swept over him in a pressing chill. He felt something and he lowered his head to look at the Format Pyramid on his chest. The mark was faintly distorting and rippling. It was unknown if it was due to Luo Nan leaving.


    Chapter Synopsis:


    The words Luo Nan heardes from the thoughts of one of the First Otums. This First Otum is quite dissatisfied. Luo Nan warns the team that the egotistical First Otum, An Chengli, has his eyes on them. It is likely that Luo Nan was able to hear the words due to the low-configuration high-imitation human-faced arachnid he tossed into the dark cloud in the previous chapter.


    He Yueyin warns him not to get distracted by the First Otum and just focus on their mission of eliminating as many gunmen as possible in their limited five-minute time frame and escape from the building.


    Xue Lei wonders what his task is, as everyone else on the team was given a task. He Yueyin asks if he has obtained his ¡¯sign¡¯, presumed to have something to do with the martial arts he trains in. Xue Lei confirms and He Yueyin assigns him to be with Luo Nan to move down the building.


    Xue Lei says good bye to his father. He Yueyin and Cat Eyes go up the building. Xue Lei pumps himself up as he jumps out to slide on the side of the building to descend down along with Zhang Yingying, Bai Xinyan, and Luo Nan.

 Chapter 122: Two Worlds (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 122: Two Worlds (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    At the center of the tform atop building B, the gear-like graphic structure hummed in operation, establishing a refined and marvelous formation. Rays knit closely together like a cocoon of light, wrapping An Chengli within.


    Within this shieldingyer, An Chengli openly revealed a face that was green with emotion as he ground his teeth. His mind was currentlypletely upied with therge building below him, on those damned members of the Society. The mere thought of them made his chest feel like it was on fire.


    As a Clearsworn, he was a mentally enhanced ability user in a certain sense. Yet mental sensing was never his forte. He had to use the Evolution Field in order to lock onto the targets located several hundred meters away, separated by several dozen floors of reinforced concrete.


    However, just by having his consciousness exist for a moment within the Evolution Field, he could hear An Weng¡¯s evaluation of him. It seemed formless as it tangled in his thoughts.


    "How unsightly."


    An Weng¡¯s words had always been faint and subtle, worthy of mulling over. But this time, the most superficial meaning behind it made An Chengli feel like he had been smacked fiercely in the face, leaving his face stiff like wood.


    He stood in the middle of the spell formation, but he felt like he was a prisoner held in a cage. The gazes cast by the surrounding people had be extremely bizarre.


    Actually, the surrounding priests and knights of the Order were far from the level of being able to ess the information from the Evolution Field. It was very hard for them to know what the First Otums were doing and what they weremunicating within.


    But An Chengli still felt horrible. He felt that An Weng¡¯s words were spreading far and wide. Along with those words, his performance as Inquisitor and the job assigned to him by An Weng spread as well... The situation was quite different from what he had initially imagined.


    He never imagined that this little kid called Luo Nan would be such a thorn in his side.


    Regardless of anything else, Luo Nan¡¯s soul strength was truly extremely solid. Most importantly, Luo Nan had a self-developed system, the so-called Format Pyramid. It looked unreal and illusionary, but it was like an annoying screen. It acted as a cushion against prating forces on the mental ne. An Weng had tried time and again to act against it, but he was never able to break it with each attack. He could only continue to umte power.


    An Chengli hesitated like this for a long time. He bided his time until the military ¡®activated¡¯ Ghost Thunder, allowing An Chengli to borrow this chance to use the Otum Knight as a medium. That would be his chance to kill the enemy. However, how could he possibly imagine that Ghost Thunder would be killed in a single stroke by that damned Secretary before he could use his umted power? Not only that, An Chengli suffered a whish from Ghost Thunder¡¯s death. The turmoil it caused his soul had yet to recover even now.


    The most damnable thing of all was the ridiculing way Luo Nan and the Secretary had called him out... Especially since they had blindly picked him in this one-sided situation.


    Utter shame and humiliation!


    If news of this got out, then he, An Chengli, would be an eternalughingstock in Xia City and even the Order of Justice! No one would want to get involved with him!


    All An Chengli wanted in this very moment was to exact vengeance.


    The members of the Society had already crossed the connecting passageway to enter Building B... Building B, that¡¯s great! He was at Building B!


    The three connected buildings had heights of approximately 700 meters. They nted down toward Frost River Reality that was in the center of their connected areas. When Luo Nan¡¯s party arrived, the straight line distance between An Chengli and Luo Nan shrank to 400 meters. Luo Nan¡¯s party had even split up!


    A golden opportunity bestowed by the heavens!


    An Chengli began to siphon power from the Evolution Field, but An Weng¡¯s thoughts cut through just as he started, seizing all privileges toward the Evolution Field. The projection of the Scales of Truth was in the center of their triangr formation and this projection forcefully sucked in the attention of each First Otum.


    Atop this ssical hanging bnce scale, the white te was raised a bit higher than before, while the ck te had dropped a bit lower. The unbnced state seemed to have been amended somewhat. The coiling and swiveling state of the Krait atop the ck te was more lively than before, showing that the ritual was making great progress.


    An Chengli was startled at first when he was deprived of his privileges, but his face grew feverish when he saw this scene.


    Arguably, An Weng¡¯s ultimate goal of appointing An Chengli to try Luo Nan was to destroy the order formed by Luo Nan. It was to release the elements of pain and chaos in order to restore equilibrium to the Scales of Truth. Great progress had been made, An Chengli should be happy.


    However, there was a problem. Just how much did he contribute to it?


    After the Secretary had yed Ghost Thunder in a single stroke, the majority of An Chengli¡¯s umted power had dissipated into nothingness. He might have caused those unfortunate civilians trapped in Frost River Reality to be scared out of their minds, but the chaotic element from those hundred or so people was simply negligible!


    What truly affected the bnce of the scales were the civilians¡¯ panic due to the power outage of the three buildings. Moreover, An Weng had realized all of this by issuing orders to their mobile units. He did not use any extraordinary powers.


    When An Chenglipared himself to An Weng, he felt like a fool.


    However, An Weng was not very satisfied with the current situation. "It¡¯s stillcking. Perhaps the underlying mass I ced on the truth side is far too heavy... The situation still needs to be remedied."


    Zheng Xiao was atop another building. He wanted to ask just what in the world was the underlying mass that An Weng had ced on the truth side?


    But at this very moment, An Chengli expressed himself impatiently in his eagerness to redeem his pride and dignity. "Leave the job to me, An Weng. This time, I will dispose of this batch of people from the Society for sure..."


    "You only have one chance, child."


    An Weng¡¯s telepathic thought felt gentle yet firm, but only those familiar with him would know of the callousness thaty hidden in the deepest depths. It was like the bottom of the iceberg hidden by the seas. "When one mends the pen after the sheep are lost, what is mended isn¡¯t the flock of sheep, but the fence. What we should solely focus on is order! Nothing else!"


    As he spoke, the image under the projection of the Scales of Truth rapidly switched to the crowds of people densely packed together. These people were scattered in various locations around the three connected buildings. They were anxious and worried due to the sudden darkness.


    But with the passage of time, the human instinct to adapt to any environment disyed its effects. In this modern society with its convenient and efficient information systems, a high degree ofw and order was disyed as well.


    As the government broadcasted information targeted toward the trapped civilians, giving them instructions to disperse and evacuate, the people¡¯s emotions of panic gradually receded. Over ten thousand civilians withdrew through fire escape passageways and emergency evacuation exits in an orderly fashion.


    Modern metropolises often had connections of high-altitude esctors and transportation belts between their high-risemercial buildings. It was like the spiraling and extending vines within forests of the old. It made the evacuation work of the current pressing situation much easier. People flooded out from these passageways like ants. Surprisingly, the overall process went smoothly due to the appropriate deployment of information.


    However, this was a factor in the unbnced state of the Scales of Truth and the state was growing increasingly unbnced.


    Just looking at the height of the white te, one could see that it had lowered once more. Let alone Zheng Xiao, even An Chengli, who had not been focused on the Scales of Truth, could not help but divide some of his attention back.


    Their spell ritual would fail if they could not transform the scales from an unbnced state to a bnced state. In this case, the three First Otums would receive a heavy whish that would be far more disastrous than the one caused by the Secretary killing Ghost Thunder a while ago.


    "One order. One world."


    An Weng let out a light sigh. "I like order. Order is the brightest path to the Truth. But sometimes we need to discard the inferior portions and swap them with superior portions. We need to use the inferior world as stepping stones to get to the superior world..."


    "An Weng!" Zheng Xiao felt more and more than something was wrong. Back when An Weng sought to have the power cut from the three buildings, he believed An Weng¡¯s actions to be quite inappropriate. But did An Weng¡¯s words not indicate that he wanted to do something a step more extreme?


    A more extreme step. Now what kind of step could it be?


    An Weng response was as clear as always. "Disorder alwayses before order. Birth of life always apanies destruction."


    His telepathic words hung in the air as a dazzling radiance exploded within Frost River Reality. The shock wave instantly ttened one side of the ss walls. Shards and fragments filled the sky, fluttering around. Streaks of seven-to-eight humanoid shadows dispersed apart within the radiance, shooting toward the three connected buildings.


    In mutual response to this unforeseen event, several guns sprayed with their fire atop the three buildings, tearing away the calm darkness.


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    Chapter Synopsis:


    It is now the First Otums¡¯ perspective. An Chengli is furious for his failure to deal with Luo Nan and for An Weng¡¯s evaluation of him being unsightly. His n was indeed to use Ghost Thunder as a medium with his umted power, but He Yueyin had in him before he could do anything. Then Luo Nan and the Secretary had even called him out. He was humiliated.


    An Chengli begins to siphon power from the Evolution Field to exact vengeance on Luo Nan, but An Weng takes away all his privileges. The First Otums attentions turn towards the Scales of Truth for the unbnced state is bing more bnced. An Weng seeks to cause more chaos to make the Scales of Truth more bnced. The civilians are evacuating in an orderly fashion, increasing the unbnced state.


    An Weng goes extremest as he has the seven-to-eight humanoid shadows, presumed to be Otum Knights, disperse from Frost River Reality to the surrounding three buildings. He then has the gunmen shoot into the night, presumably at the civilians.

 Chapter 122: The Bounds of Logic (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 122: The Bounds of Logic (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    "An Weng!"


    Zheng Xiao¡¯s mind shook violently as he was swept by emotions of panic and fright. He wanted to face An Weng and bellow, ¡°We¡¯vepletely crossed the line!¡±


    Everything that happened could be exined by the bitter battle with Fairchild, where it was impossible to attend to the civilians; one could even use it as an angle of attack. It was quitemon for enemies, that is Fairchild, to choose battlefields that were not their side¡¯s expertise. However, if one stubbornly stuck to their guns, that is An Weng, and rips apart the baseline that was the government and society with blind terrorist attacks and great esctions, how would they be different to the vagrant organizations of the wilderness?


    If they really provoked the Star Alliance and even the local factions of power, many different parties would join together and send punitive forces against them. It would be hard to be exonerated even with the help of the First Otum Division.


    "An Weng!"


    An Chengli was also struck with panic that went down to his soul. His train of thought was no different from Zheng Xiao¡¯s and it was even ayer deeper. In the case of a future investigation into their actions of attacking the civilians, the decrepit An Weng would not care with his level of seniority and the Otum Knights were just following orders. As for the gunmen, they might not evene out with their lives. In the end, the ones who would bear responsibility would be An Chengli and Zheng Xiao!


    The terrible expression on his face was likely turning even uglier.


    Well, regardless of how ufortable Zheng Xiao and An Chengli were with the situation, it was impossible for a detonated state to return to zero.


    As the gunfire sttered wildly around the darkness, the true terror that was the Otum Knights elerated and pushed off from the triangr spaceship that was Frost River Reality. They leaped through the air, their targets being the surrounding three buildings.


    Intense light exploded behind them, entwining with the chaotic red and blue lights of the police. It heralded the spectacle of chaos that was to follow.


    This was by no means a diversion or an ergement of the battlefield. The Otum Knights were simply causing destruction, likely of the wanton nature.


    "Baze!"


    An Chengli believed that he and Baze had a bit of a friendship going on, so he could not help but contact Baze. He wanted to ascertain just what sort of ns An Weng had in mind. He knew that his actions were meaningless but if he could not rify this point, he would simply suffocate.


    However, Baze did not have a response whatsoever. As An Chengli tried calling over and over again as his scalp grew numb. It was as if his consciousness had suddenly fallen into ice. He was unable to send out any telepathic thoughts.


    "Baze is much busier than you right now. Why don¡¯t you do something more meaningful, like keeping quiet?"


    An Weng¡¯s thoughts circted within the Evolution Field. He had be the master of it all, leaving An Chengli to shrink into a corner like a decorative pir.


    The thoughts of these few people entwined only for a brief moment. Right now, several people¡¯s eyes were branded with the gunfire sttering within therge buildings.


    However, the trajectory of bullets came tearing through the night from a different direction. The bullets pierced the ss walls, ripping the figures of the gunmen to shreds. All that remained atop Building B was the lingering sound of gunfire.


    The Evolution Field faithfully transmitted these changes back to the First Otums, forming an image.


    "The Secretary!"


    An Chengli saw this enemy who he had just tangled with. A simr situation urred with Building A and Building C. Snipers and even strike bots had instantly ughtered their gunmen over there. He did not know if they were from the military or the police.


    There was no one who could pull the triggers on their guns a second time.


    The brainwashed gunmen were disposable. It was quite normal for them to die, but this abandonment of life proved a fact that was most terrible.


    This was a joint operation between the government, the military, and the ability user Society. Perhaps at some location where they could not see, the military had dispatched theirmando unit. Perhaps their Deep Blue Walkers were on the way!


    "An Weng, the situation is big now!" An Chengli could not refrain from roaring.


    But at this time, an intense shiver ran through his body.


    The element of chaos was rapidly increasing, causing the projection of the Scales of Truth to grow even more bnced. It instantly crossed a crucial node, causing the power of this holy entity to be sent toward the three First Otums who were maintaining this spell.


    The Evolution Field advanced in functionality. The telepathic thoughts of the three First Otum converged together in a certain sense. An Chengli still did not have any privileges, but his perception became more sensitive at the very least.


    He could sense the Krait absorbing more and more chaos element atop the ck te. That thing was actually growing.


    However, there existed a disturbance.


    It was as if there was some incorporeal sieve existing under the night sky. Someone was trying to gather the shards of chaos within this region to give this region a unique ¡®order¡¯.


    The Evolution Field continued to switch its image. It swept once again across the members of the Society, including the Secretary who An Chengli no longer paid attention to and Luo Nan who was about tond on the ground.


    An Chengli noticed that this teenager just so happened to lift his head and cast his gaze toward the sky. His stunned expression was utterly clear; he must have been startled by the intense change in the situation.


    There was a problem though. The direction of Luo Nan¡¯s gaze did not seem to intersect with the Otum Knights who were soaring at the heights of Frost River Reality. Instead, Luo Nan¡¯s gaze was focused on somece even higher.


    "It¡¯s him! It¡¯s that kid!" blurted An Chengli. Actually, An Chengli did not know whether Luo Nan was the cause of the disturbance, but he already had the thought to have someone else kill the kid. Just this thought was enough to make him express this judgment.


    An Weng did not respond. The image switched once more, and this image proved that An Weng ced no importance toward An Chengli¡¯s judgment.


    The image was a bird¡¯s eye view of Frost River Reality. This enormous triangr spaceship had be a tattered pancake with holes everywhere. This was the aftermath of Baze¡¯s and Fairchild¡¯s battle.


    The spread out seven Otum Knights had all leaped away from this ce. They had already crashed into the ss walls of the surrounding buildings.


    The skies above Frost River Reality were empty; there was absolutely nothing.


    But soon, the image integrated with information shook violently and inexplicably. Marvelous waves rippled out from that location and were even bursting forth from within the Evolution Field.


    His intuition was not wrong!


    An Chengli¡¯s eyelids spasmed for a bit. Minute distortions appeared outside his body in the spell formation constructed by high-energy beams of light. And ordingly, something that should not be there was born in what had once been a water-like flowing operation of energy. A vortex had been formed out of thin air.


    It was only at this very moment where the operation of the spell formation nearly went off course.


    In this moment of his daze, the Evolution Field switched images once again. The image was focused on the first Otum Knight to charge into the buildings surrounding Frost River Reality.


    An Chengli recalled that this fellow¡¯s name was Flying Shark. Within the Otum Knights, Flying Shark possessed a first-ss speed in water and in air. His impact power was very strong and his killing nature ran deep.


    An explosion rang out. The enormous ss wall was forcefully smashed into pieces by the collision. This fellow had certainly locked in his direction before pushing off. There were a couple dozen of civilians who had not fled in time within this area of ss.


    Shards of ss flew through the air, each fragment infused with Flying Shark¡¯s extraordinary strength. The group of unlucky civilians departed from this world in a manner akin to being sted in the face by a shotgun.


    "The first wave!"


    An Chengli had foreseen this bloodbath of a scene.


    But what appeared within the Evolution Field was not the stter of blood and flesh nor the miserable shrieks of anguish. There were only streaks and streaks of warping light dissipating away. Then there was nothingness.


    "Where...Where are the people?"


    There was a moment when An Chengli¡¯s train of thought stagnated. A short dyter, the ss walls shattered to pieces one after another. Otum Knightsnded inside the building one by one, but what they faced was an unexinable nothingness.


    Within the entire building, at each location that the eyes could reach, not a single person could be seen.


    The Krait appeared to be frozen within the projection of the Scales of Truth. Then it dissolved into the smoke within the te. The ck te rose up until it reached the peak, and in ordance, the white te on the other side was heavily lowered.


    The unbnced state had returned to zero.


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    Chapter Synopsis:


    Zheng Xiao and An Chengli watch as An Weng exacerbate the situation by having the gunmen fire wildly into the darkness and having the Otum Knights charge to the connected three buildings.


    An Chengli can¡¯t do anything as all privileges of the Evolution Field have been taken away from him. He tries to call out to Baze to no avail.


    The Krait increases in mass atop the ck te atop the Scales of Truth. However, its process is being disturbed. Someone is trying to gather the chaos within the region to give it order. Luo Nan is the likely culprit of this.


    The first of the Otum Knights, Flying Shark,nds in one of the buildings and a bloodbath is to be expected. However, not a person can be seen. Only streaks of light warping away remain. The rest of the Otum Knightsnd, but they face nothingness.


    An Chengli is bewildered and the Krait disappears atop the Scales of Truth. The unbnced state had stopped its trend of bing bnced and has been reset to be totally unbnced.

 Chapter 122: The Bounds of Logic (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 122: The Bounds of Logic (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    By the time the shock wave swept across one side of Fudong Main Street, Luo Nan and the others had just stepped onto a side street of Fudong Main Street.


    Things were just as Zhang Yingying had expected. There were not any gunmen on the lower floors, so their journey down was leisurely and cheery. The total time they used did not exceed 100 seconds. They even had some idle time to think things over. They borrowed the shadow of the building toe quietly down, so they were not too conspicuous to normal people.


    However, the activities of the Otum Knights above Frost River Reality made their cautious actions seem like a joke.


    "What in the world are they up to?"


    Thought Zhang Yingying when she saw the shock wave that exploded out from Frost River Reality and the figures flying out from it. Even her imaginative train of thought was unable to fathom it.


    Several gunmen perished soon after opening fire. They were disposed of efficiently and neatly. There was nothing odd about this. They were not worth a fart whenpared to the Otum Knights.


    "I wish we knew that this would happen earlier. We even held ourselves back. It would have been better to just make a move! I¡¯m positive that An Weng has some brain damage... TZZ!"


    Zhang Yingying suddenly ced her hands on her ears as she winced in great pain.


    Half of Luo Nan¡¯s brain had been knocked stupid a bit earlier than her. It was perhaps the most severe case of tinnitus he ever had in his life. The sudden bang made him suspect that there was someone opening fire by his ears.


    He covered his ears as well and he could not refrain from grimacing with gritted teeth.


    "What is going on?" Xue Lei had been enjoying the experience of sessfully descending from high altitudes when he was given a fright by Luo Nan¡¯s bitter reaction.


    Bai Xinyan nced at the two and lowered her head to look at her wristband. She then shrugged. "There¡¯s a problem with the encrypted channel."


    The countdown number was fixed at 97 seconds on the disy of her wristband. It no longer budged at all.


    "The Psychic Wave Network has crashed." Zhang Yingying staved off the initial st and gave her ears a light pat. She had a baffled expression. "It has been a long time since this problem has urred. Is the President doing some sort of extreme testing? Is this part of the mission..."


    She suddenly became speechless halfway through her words.


    At this time, Bai Xinyan¡¯s gaze was cast to the end of the side-road. Xue Lei hesitated a bit and uncertainly raised his head to look. In the end, Luo Nan shook free from the tinnitus state with great difficulty and blurted words that were most crucial.


    "Where is everyone?"


    It was at this very instant that the lustrous star river of Luo Nan¡¯s irvoyance had its lights extinguished without a sound, bing a sheet of nothingness. All that was left was a few dozen stars and neb dust that were even harder to see into.


    The contrast was so intense that it made Luo Nan simply stupefied on the spot. Zhang Yingying grabbed onto his arm at this time, ensuring that the two were a bit closer. She then locked gazes with Bai Xinyan with a nce and their small group started walking cautiously out from the side road.


    The rain had yet to stop at this time. The police lights were lit, the street lights were lit, and a public transportation vehicle sped across the street; the lights inside were on as well. Only the connected building structure behind them was a sheet of pitch-ck darkness. The contrast between light and darkness was intense.


    But it did not matter whether it was bright or dark, for not even a trace of a human could be seen as far as their eyes could reach. The entire street. The entire buildingplex. Even the blurry city beneath the rain waspletely empty. There was not even a hint of a human.


    It seemed that the strong still existed, namely the Otum Knights that had crashed into the ss walls of the buildings just now. There was also Fairchild and Baze; sudden explosive shock waves were produced with open savageness. Last of all, there were those atop therge buildings, the First Otums and their underlings located in their respective dark clouds.


    These people appeared within the ne of Luo Nan¡¯s mental irvoyance in the form of constetions and neb dust. The star river, whenpared to its broadening and lustrousness from before, was so sparse that it made one very shocked.


    "Oh dear, I made a bit of a mistake."


    A voice inexplicably came through. Suddenly, a rich background noise returned to the world.


    A ripple seemed to streak across the space before Luo Nan¡¯s eyes. He went, ¡®Ah¡¯. It was as if an electric current had run through his entire body. The sight before him was a flurry as concentrated starlight and deep darkness transformed back and forth several times in the void. Then it stabilized and his lustrous star river was restored to its ¡®normal state¡¯. However, there were some subtle differences.


    Densely packed streams of people appeared out of nowhere on the ne of reality. They rubbed against each other¡¯s shoulders and followed in each other¡¯s footsteps as they made their way with haste. They submerged Luo Nan¡¯s team of four people within. Most of the people were keeping far away from this region. asionally, they would turn around and look at the pitch-ck buildings. Expressions of bewilderment and apprehension appeared on their faces.


    This was the scene that should be in reality, but the things that happened a moment ago, what was that about?


    "Hey, do you guys see it yet? Those Otum Knights... They¡¯re gone." Zhang Yingying¡¯s voice suddenly turned into a whisper, it was a bit hoarse.


    "Including Fairchild and Baze." Bai Xinyan¡¯s gaze was cast toward Frost River Reality. The dangerous shock waves from the battle over there had oddly disappeared. Not a trace remained. All that was left was the ramshackled outer walls of the building.


    Luo Nan mentally added, "It even includes the three First Otums atop the buildings. They¡¯re on the other side."


    Bai Xinyan muttered to herself in thought for a few seconds before whispering, "It¡¯s like the legendary power of spatial maniption, spatial rifting. A section of space and time is cut out and duplicated. Or perhaps it¡¯s a ¡¯projection¡¯ of the world... I¡¯ve only heard in rumors that some Extraordinaries who call themselves gods possess this sort of nearly iprehensible space-time ability."


    "Spacial rifting?" Zhang Yingying knew of this famous term quite well, but mostly in fantasy works. She could only shrug helplessly. " Right now, the only Extraordinary out in the open in the entire metropolis is the President... Eh?"


    The two beauties, each with their own special characteristics, locked gazes. Zhang Yingying touched the lobe of her ear subconsciously. The encrypted channel had yet to be restored. The mess with the Psychic Wave Network still remained. However, all they wanted to do was understand the situation. They could use their wristbands, old technology.


    Zhang Yingying began to make a call; she wanted to rify things.


    "A rift?"


    Luo Nan stood by the side. He naturally heard the dialog between these two women. He blinked and his consciousness flowed, diffusing through the void.


    The lustrous star river of his irvoyance remained just as it had been before. There appeared to be no anomalies. However, after having that experience just now, having no anomalies was the biggest anomaly of all.


    The Otum Knights, Fairchild, the three First Otums and other characters of the Order of Justice were all engulfed within the spatial rift the moment it appeared. These people no longer existed in the ne of reality.


    Regardless of whether or not it was the President as they guessed, this change should have appeared within Luo Nan¡¯s mental senses. It should be like when they first entered into the spatial rift; the instant change in his senses should have been the same.


    But the current situation was different. Regardless of it being Fairchild¡¯s magnificent and dazzling constetion, Baze and the other eight Otum Knight¡¯s neb dust, and the dark clouds manifested by the three First Otums, they all continued to exist on Luo Nan¡¯s star as. There was just an additional yer¡¯ to them that was hard to exin.


    There was a reason for this. Though Luo Nan¡¯s body hade out from the spatial rift, a portion of his consciousness still remained within the spatial rift. This portion continued to do the work that was a walk in the park for him.


    Observing!


    Luo Nan was using his irvoyance on two different worlds at the same time. They were independent of one another and ovepped with each other. A whole new dimension was opened in what could be seen as a 3D structure. This sort of heaven-defying experience was a feeling that could only be grasped intuitively and it could not be conveyed through words. It was infinitely strange yet wonderful beyondpare.


    Most notable was that these two viewpoints appeared to bepletely identical. When the vastly different worlds folded upon each other in reality, Luo Nan gained a new perspective of observation. It was enough to make what had once been a chaotic unclear mass of dust clouds much clearer. Though it was still hard to extract a constetion-like Life Sketch from them, it was possible to draw an approximate outline. Whenpared to a dust cloud, such a drawing would have a higher degree of identification.


    By now, the dark clouds that affected his observations were gradually being diluted and were dispersing. The true identity of the three First Otums of the Order of Justice wasing out into the open. Soon, Luo Nan was able to find the highest ranked among them.


    He was an old man wearing loose robes. He stood in the center of thending pad of Building A. He had a withered figure and was quite elderly. Needless to say, this was An Weng.


    Though An Weng was trapped in the spatial rift, he had no thoughts of worry. He just spoke emotionally with a subtle smile, "Normal people can¡¯t do such things. Only the extraordinary can. Ouyang, I really am just a useless old manpared to you."


    "I¡¯m not worthy of such praise, An Weng."


    As they spoke, a middle-aged man dressed in a tuxedo appeared on the rooftop where An Weng was located. His clothes were as if he was attending a dinner party. They were a dozen or so meters away from each other, and this middle-aged man gave a slight bow to the centenarian An Weng, showing some etiquette.


    "This world I have established is called ¡¯Logic¡¯. Though there are quite a few inconsistencies with it. Any idea can form an experiment. Any result can be obtained from aboratory. All as long as a few iterations are done. Since today I have this chance, I ask An Weng and all my guests for some valuable criticism."


    Check out my sporadic streaming on twitch! https://.twitch.tv/strivon


    Chapter Synopsis:


    It is now Luo Nan¡¯s group¡¯s perspective. They make their way down the building to a side street when suddenly a loud ringing happens in their ears. There appears to be a problem with the Psychic Wave Network. The group then finds themselves alone in the city. Only the strong remain, namely the powerful members of the Order and the Society.


    President Ouyang Chen realizes he had made a mistake and the ability user society members return to reality. Luo Nan sees the crowds of civilians once again.


    This ability of Ouyang Chen is called spatial rifting. The members of the Order no longer exist on the ne of reality. They are now trapped in Ouyang¡¯s rift. However, Luo Nan can still observe what is going on there, part of his consciousness still remained within.


    The perspective shifts to An Weng and Ouyang. Ouyang states that he calls his world ¡¯Logic¡¯.

 Chapter 123: Demon Claw (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 123: Demon w (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Ouyang? President Ouyang Chen!


    Luo Nan finally understood the meaning behind He Yueyin¡¯s orders. No wonder she paid no heed at all to the strong members of the Order. She had been waiting for this all along.


    Luo Nan had never seen Ouyang Chen in person, but his great fame was like thunder piercing the ear. After all, the president of this branch was an instructor on Inner Logic Theory, he invented the HexaEar, and established the Psychic Wave Network. The Ouyang Chen he saw in such a way today was quite consistent with the image he had imagined. Ouyang Chen did not feel a bit unfamiliar at all.


    An Weng and Ouyang Chen were even more familiar with one another. They had both been in Xia City for many years, keeping each other in check and bnce. The two had dealt with each other before. They dealt with each other more often than their respective members and believers.


    This centenarian old man lifted his head and looked up into the night sky, which was no different than it was before. He whispered, "Logic World. I remember. You¡¯ve discussed such simr concepts with me before."


    "It was just a consultation." Ouyang Chen remained humble and low-key.


    "But I rejected it." An Weng recollected those times and became rather emotional, lesiastics and researchers were the same; they both headed toward the truth. "However, our kind won¡¯t ce the holy entity onto the experiment table. We will always have a forbidden region we cannot enter. Whether it be due to reverence or fear, we ultimately need to avoid it. We are different from researchers in this way. You all trample into the realm of the divine as you wish."


    Ouyang Chen listened to An Weng quietly and did not refute. He just stood there as an Extraordinary, causing all those besides An Weng on thending pad to feel restless and anxious.


    In fact, the dialog between An Weng and Ouyang Chen was broadcasted to the other two First Otums through the Evolution Field. Regardless of Zheng Xiao or An Chengli, their instant reaction was no different from swallowing a live bomb.


    Zheng Xiao closed his eyes while An Chengli groaned, "This fellow came out from hisboratory... It must be because we crossed the line. Oh, hell!"


    An Weng smiled and said, "Ouyang, my children don¡¯t really understand you; they don¡¯t understand your work."


    Ouyang Chen¡¯s gaze flitted from theplicated lines of light outside An Weng¡¯s body as he lifted his head to look at the sky just like An Weng had done. He appeared thoughtful but he did not answer An Weng immediately.


    An Weng soon retracted his gaze and analyzed Ouyang Chen¡¯s actions like an old friend, like an elder. "You were never an inventor. You¡¯re a theoretical researcher. Once you¡¯ve grasped a question, you will revolve around it. You will conduct research, all the way until you form an entire system that has value. One example is when you established your Psychic Wave Network. Other people only saw that it granted convenience, but I know that you¡¯re researching the soul. You are researching mental power, researching the existing nature of the mental ne in regards to the material ne. You want to understand clearly the power that distorts reality. You want to understand where ites from..."


    Ouyang Chen observed the old man¡¯s mottled face with great attention. He calmly replied, "This is what I¡¯ve been chasing after all this time. ording to the teachings of your Order, it is the source of the world¡¯s transformation."


    "Oh, yes. The opening of the Gate of Truth!"


    An Weng said this key vocabry with such ease, causing the other two First Otums¡¯ scalps to go numb. So this old fellow really had this n to use the fierce conflict with Fairchild as a facade to cover their true intentions?


    "I feel like we¡¯re all a joke!" Zheng Xiao and An Chengli used a private line tomunicate with each other, "There¡¯s certainly something wrong with the old man¡¯s brain capacity. Or perhaps he didn¡¯t even consider us at all. We should think of something..."


    Zheng Xiao suddenly could not hear him. The private line was inexplicably severed and at the same time, an utterly ice-cold telepathic thought cut through his nerves to slowly grind against him.


    An Chengli was even worse off.


    Zheng Xiao closed his eyes and opened them again. It was without a doubt that the old man knew of the existence of the private channel between him and An Chengli all along. The old man had just kept one eye closed and let them whine all this time.


    Perhaps, Zheng Xiao should be thankful. Even though this was a private conversation, he never spoke ill of An Weng due to his caution and wariness. However, now Zheng Xiao was worried that this old man was reviving old grievances. It was iprehensible. Why did An Weng suddenly put on an open attitude ande clean with his n?


    It was as if demons and gods were at work. For some odd reason, Zheng Xiao¡¯s attention shifted toward the core of the Evolution Field, toward the projection of the Scales of Truth.


    The unbnced state still persisted but Zheng Xiao noticed something with the white te. Though it originally had been lowered all the way to the bottom, it had lifted up a bit at an unknown time. The Krait had manifested again on the ck te and had started to regain vitality.


    So, where in the world was the chaos element causing this?


    When it seemed that Zheng Xiao had understood something in his trance, the pressure on the mental ne escted in intensity. It was ice-cold and heavy, making his train of thought unable to advance a step further.


    Then the dialog between An Weng and Ouyang Chen bizarrely became warm like a spring breeze, "Well regardless, I can sense your sess. Ouyang, you¡¯re trying to redefine the rules of the material ne!"


    Ouyang Chen shook his head lightly. "If there really is such a form, I hope it is reproducible. But so far all I can do is pinch out a specious model, a minor copy."


    "At the very least, here is a battlefield where one can go at it freely; it¡¯s enough to lessen the effects toward the normal world. Look Fairchild and them are fighting it out quite delightfully..."


    As An Weng spoke, Frost River Reality was no longer able to bear the explosive battle of the two powerful ability users going all out. Frost River Reality was severed from its connection to Building A, and half of its structure hung toward the ground.


    The figures of Fairchild and Baze flew out at practically the same time as they crashed into Building A. Even more powerful shockwaves sted out, causing the ss walls of several dozen floors around them to shatter. The shards fell like rain and the entire building seemed to be shaking.


    If this really was the ne of reality, the series of explosive strikes would dreadfully lead to civilian casualties in the hundreds and thousands. But now the building was empty of people. It did not really matter even if the building was demolished.


    The only people to be concerned about were the Order¡¯s cultists on top of the building.


    The battle between Fairchild and Baze grew more and more intense, but although An Weng was the one to mention their battle, his gaze mostly remained rested on Ouyang Chen. He observed him with rapt attention.


    "An Weng?"


    "It really is quite a decent design." An Weng stared fixed on Ouyang Chen as he gave a slight nod. "You¡¯ve maintained a very high level of independency. At most, you¡¯ve borrowed the objects currently existing in the material ne. The energy consumption isn¡¯t too much and the pressure you need to bear isn¡¯t too great... It¡¯s hard to imagine that this is a defective work."


    Ouyang Chen smiled in response. "Since the possibility of overloading and copse is very small, An Weng, you don¡¯t need to think further in this direction."


    Ouyang Chen words hit the nail on the head when it came to An Weng¡¯s thoughts, leaving An Weng to justugh. "Ouyang, since you¡¯re fully aware that this is an unsessful work, why don¡¯t you continue to do more research? Why don¡¯t you stay in yourb and focus wholeheartedly on it? Why don¡¯t you overlook the distractions of society and let it continue the way it always has..."


    "An Weng, I came here in ordance with the way things always have been."


    Ouyang Chen was very serious when he faced the old man in front of him. "Right now, I am in ordance with the most representative nature of the world. Here, I am nominally the only Extraordinary of Xia City. This city is proimed to be of my rule and it will meet all my experimental demands."

 Chapter 123: Demon Claw (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 123: Demon w (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    The tform was quiet for a few seconds before An Weng began to shake his head. "Ouyang, Ouyang, your current appearance is far from the appearance you have when you seed with an experiment. You¡¯recking persuasive power."


    Ouyang Chen maintained eye contact. "An Weng, not a hint of sincerity can be heard in any of your words aside from those involving doctrines."


    An Weng¡¯s shriveled lips split apart, revealing a slit between his unusually clean and white teeth. A low, hoarse voice bubbled forth, "This amounts to nothing. The world does not move in ordance to our dialog. The decisive element does not lie in truth or lies, but in fixed facts. Ouyang, Xia City no longer revolves around the whims of you and I the moment you erected the Logic World... Do you want to make a bet?"


    Ouyang Chen truly considered An Weng¡¯s question seriously, but he just sighed silently in the end. "All I¡¯ve done is section off the channel that gathers elements of chaos, nothing more... I believe your First Otums have already abandoned the idea of sacrificing themselves."


    An Weng did not react to these words, but the other two First Otums atop their respective buildings shrank a bit; it was as if they were hit on the head by a bat.


    Zheng Xiao was speechless. He had the premonition long ago; he just suppressed it, that was all. He became more awake and the shock of it all was lessened quite a bit.


    An Chengli was the one who had been truly knocked awake. He spoke, losing his voice, "What? Self-sacrifice...?"


    As his words hung in the air, An Chengli¡¯s thoughts cut through into the Evolution Field. He had never been a fool, but the several setbacks within this short period of time had caused his mind to be not as clear, nothing else. After being ¡®warned¡¯ by Ouyang Chen, he looked at the changes with the projection of the Scales of Truth. The key point that he had once neglected manifested itself clearly atst.


    "The two worlds are isted and I am within the spatial rift. There aren¡¯t any terrified civilians, so where is the chaos elementing from? How could I have forgotten this simplest logic of all?"


    An Chengli¡¯s gaze swept to his underlings who had vacant expressions. An Chengli then looked at the structured lines of light outside his body and a cold sweat dripped down him. He wanted to reach out with his hand, but then he discovered that he was restrained by An Weng as a means of punishment. He was not even able to move a single finger an inch.


    Yet at the same time, the power he had umted within his body linked closely together with the lines of light outside him. His power was being siphoned awayyer byyer, flowing into the Evolution Field.


    This was a spell, so energy consumption was necessary. In addition, An Chengli had suffered a whish earlier on. He felt weaker than normal, so he was not as sensitive to the loss of his body¡¯s energy.


    It was because of this that he did not realize that energy was being siphoned from him during this period of time. Additionally, the amount of energy far exceeded what was necessary to maintain the spell. More than half of the power that he had umted for many years had been siphoned away without his knowledge. It was without a doubt that this power was all transformed into the mass atop the Scales of Truth. It was to correct the Scales of Truth¡¯s damned unbnced state.


    An Chengli already had over half of his power drained away, but the siphoning speed was getting worse and worse!


    An Chengli could not refrain from cursing, "Old man, You¡¯ve gone mad!"


    As he let loose his curse, light and shadow fluctuated between the three buildings. The Evolution Field field was turning tangible from its previous incorporeal state. It had manifested within the void to dere its existence to all.


    The rest of the magical symbols and diagrams did not amount to much as all their gazes were focused on the center of the enormous scales. There existed a ck te and a white te. One raised, one lowered. The critical unbnced state was revealed to everyone¡¯s eyes.


    One could see that theyout of having the white te lowered and the ck te raised still remained, but there was an opposing trend. The white te was slowly rising while the ck te was slowly sinking. The difference in mass between the two sides was gradually leveling out.


    Of course, the price came from An Chengli, Zheng Xiao, and even An Weng. Their energy was being siphoned away.


    "Why did you choose me!? Why did you choose me!?"


    An Chengli was unwilling to sacrifice himself for this spell. Though the three certainly would share the cost, the current trend would make him the first to fall. Why?


    It must be known that he was An Weng¡¯s grandnephew. He was the youngest and he had the highest prospects. Though he was not as strong as An Weng, he must be stronger than Zheng Xiao by a bit, right? It could not be because he had failed as an Inquisitor at disposing Luo Nan, right?


    As he struggled with all his might, Zheng Xiao¡¯s thought cut into the Evolution Field, "An Weng, just who did you choose as the underlying mass?"


    A shiver suddenly ran through An Chengli like he was waking from a dream.


    That¡¯s right, who was the underlying mass? The underlying mass had yet to reveal itself on the white te but it determined the upper limit for the element of chaos. If that mass was less than the total power of the three First Otums, then he could still be saved...


    This thought was released and the Evolution Field switched images. What appeared was a certain location within the building.


    The region had been ttened by the shock wave of the sh. Fairchild remained spotless in his white robes, without even a speck of dust. And Baze, who was more muscr than Fairchild, looked like a raging rhino. He charged at high speeds, flinging his body to fly. He crashed through the ss wall to fall to the bottom of the building.


    This height was not enough to kill Baze but it would be hard for Baze to get in a tangle with Fairchild anytime soon. As for the other Otum Knights, without Baze acting as a meat shield, it was meaningless for them to charge up to Fairchild.


    Fairchild lifted his head and looked up. The Evolution Field just so happened to give him a close-up shot.


    Fairchild had clearly sensed that the Evolution Field was ¡®paying attention¡¯ to him. His gray pupils swiveled to face the dusky void outside the building.


    Then his figure suddenly shot up in the next moment. He climbed out of the window, stood on the side of the building, and flew up vertically. The height of several dozen floors would not take him much time at all; it would be easy for him to reach the rooftop.


    "The Truth is above me!"


    Regardless of the furious An Chengli or the calm Zheng Xiao, after rifying An Weng¡¯s intentions, the two First Otum felt like they were suffocating. An uncontroble despair swept their hearts and souls.


    It was Fairchild. The strong who was a hair under the level of Extraordinary. He was the underlying mass that An Weng had found!


    An Weng was the most powerful of the three First Otums but he was already old and withered. No matter how strong his mental power was, his fleshly body was on the verge of copse. The remaining two First Otums did not even equal one An Weng when added together.


    Just purely considering the energy of their essence and blood, even if there were two An Wengs, would that be enough to match the Ears of Truth¡ªFairchild?


    Obviously... It was not.


    Since this was the case, it would be impossible to gather enough chaos element from them. The unbnced state of the Scales of Truth would truly engulf thempletely. Moreover, the first one to fall would be An Chengli!


    "No, NO!"


    An Chengli¡¯s mind was unstable as his energy was being siphoned even faster. He tried calling out to his underlings and there truly were a few loyal believers who wanted to rush over to help when they saw his crazed appearance.


    However, they could only make it halfway across before An Weng sighed. His hands extended out from his spacious robes. His thumbs and forefingers touched to form a triangle. His other six fingers sped each other, forming a seal-art corresponding to the Evolution Field.


    "Being stupid doesn¡¯t matter. Being exposedpletely bare really makes one helpless."


    An Chengli¡¯s mouth gaped open. His eyeballs were practically bulging out. It happened right when his eyeballs were about to detach from their sockets. The Evolution Field¡¯s defensive mechanism¡ªwhich had been concealed all this time¡ªactivated soundlessly. The structured lines of light crossed and intersected through An Chengli¡¯s loyal believers.


    mes of deep darkness exploded as it ignited forth. From the outside to the inside. From the inside to the outside. It burned through these peoplepletely. They were not granted a swift death. The shrieked miserably, their hands waving and their feet stomping. All their fear and despair was fused into this me and shone into the eyes of their peers, prating down to the depths of their hearts.


    The Evolution Field disyed this scene with great rity. The glowing mes leaped and soared but it was as if a coldness had frozen everything over. The Order¡¯s multitude of cultists, priests, and knights were all frozen in shock on the spot.


    An Weng did not say it explicitly, but the meaning behind his actions were extremely clear.


    Adding the three First Otums would not yield enough chaos element to match Fairchild. But if drastic measures were taken, if more people were burnt as offerings, then there would be enough.


    The tes of the projection of the Scales of Truth continued to move in a steady manner as the element of chaos continued to be amassed. But in the end, should they be hoping that the process would go slower? Or faster?


    An Chengli was truly at a loss for what to do in this moment.


    He followed the instincts of a First Otum and prayed toward the Order¡¯s holy entity. However, with An Weng in between them like a dark cloud over his head, what he received was just the emptiness of despair.


    Who¡¯s going to save me? As long as I make it out alive, anyone is fine with me...


    An Chengli could no longer move his body and his consciousness gradually froze. There was only a little bit of consciousness that grasped at life; it still existed within the fear and despair. It was like a flickering me that continued to struggle.


    The ice-cold darkness descended upon him slowly and his me of hope gradually sank, growing fainter and fainter. But when this me was pressed into the depths of his soul, when this hope let out its final glow, it shone with a bizarre shadow that was seemingly familiar.


    Another intense shiver ran through An Chengli. The mental connection had yet to fully surface when arthropod limbs¡ªwhich were more akin to sharp des¡ªpierced the depths of his soul. They bent, squeezed tight, and ground against each other.

 Chapter 124: Two Arachnids (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 124: Two Arachnids (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    An Weng maintained the special triangr hand seal and dark mes ignited from the triangr cavity. The mes spread to the palms, to the arms. They gradually covered the chest, reaching all the way to the head.


    These mes burned not like coal but in a more economical fashion. Essence energy was extracted bit by bit and was ignited to disy 120% of its original energy.


    An Weng burned and it was no different with Zheng Xiao. With An Chengli taking the brunt of it, Zheng Xiao was able to keep calm for now. But the calmer he was, the less he understood. Therefore, he asked An Weng via the Evolution Field.


    "Why are we going this far? Aren¡¯t we just paving the way for the push of massive forces into Xia City for the Order? It can¡¯t be? Are we going to these extremes to be credible? Do we need to sacrifice the lives of several First Otums?"


    An Weng¡¯s answer, however, was elusive and vague, "The child Cheng Li... Only when one hides behind him does one¡¯s mind be clear."


    "..."


    "He spoke of the Gate of Truth and asked the when and the where. That was the correct thing to do. rifying concrete information is an intrinsic thing to do. But what the Ordercks right now is concrete information."


    "So An Weng, you want to verify it? Everything you¡¯re doing right now is, in fact, to seek out this thing that might not exist as of yet? Ultimately speaking, this means that the Order hasn¡¯t gotten confirmation at all, right?"


    It was practically impossible for Zheng Xiao to keep his emotions under control. Regardless of who had discovered it, he had found out that his own life would likely be wasted on a meaningless guess. It was very hard for him to keep his cool. This, this was wrong. No matter how things were turning out, he still treasured his own life. It was just that their actions were aimless; a miracle would not ur. He was not willing to have hisst bit of hope destroyed!


    It was as if An Weng had read his thoughts. "We aren¡¯t doing these things aimlessly. Do you remember the Human-Faced Arachnid? Its origin... Thatpany, which uses money to mask their sketchy behavior, wanted to use the Human-Faced Arachnid to make drugs? What are they thinking!"


    "Quantum Corporation and the Gate of Truth?" Zheng Xiao was speechless for a time. He found it difficult to link these two elements together, they were as incongruous as an ox¡¯s head and a horse¡¯s mouth.


    However, An Weng believed it with conviction. His will was iparably firm. "The first opportunity was seized away from us, so now we must seize the opportunity back without the slightest hesitation. The Gate of Truth can only be essed by us, the qualified. The authority of the Truth is destined to be wielded by our hands!"


    "..."


    Zheng Xiao suddenly understood why he was never able to rise to the next rank. Perhaps the hundred who stood at the peak of the entire Order were all paranoid madmen like An Weng!


    He was about to give up on the conversation but then a thought throbbed unwillingly from the bottom of his heart.


    "An Weng!"


    And at this time, the centenarian he faced use the most First Otum way to speak to him, "Pray then, child. Pray that the Gate of Truth is in Xia City. Or pray as the scriptures say. Beneath thick clouds lies inds covered with boiling magma, while Demons bound in chains fly within clouds... Order binds disorder. Disorder consumes order... Perhaps, we will search to the ends of the clouds and find powerful demons and as described in the holy scriptures, the demons will traverse space. For theye to rece us, to rece our positions..."


    "Screw your demons! Screw your scriptures!"


    Each of the three First Otums could hear any conversation within the Evolution Field. Perhaps it was due to being stimted by certain information but An Chengli miraculously had a bit of sanity restored to him. He had used his thoughts to let loose this roar.


    But in the blink of an eye, a storm of crazed emotions came blowing. An Chengli¡¯s little bit of thought was like a thin thread that could break at any time. It moaned within the storm.


    "He¡¯s more persistent than I expected. How excellent!"


    An Weng was extremely satisfied with his grandnephew¡¯s reaction. As for Zheng Xiao, his heart wentpletely cold. He reacted as well by throwing his consciousness into the core of the Evolution Field.


    Unbeknown to him, the two ends of the Scales of Truth had formed a straight horizontal line parallel to the three corners of the Evolution Field. The life force of the three First Otums, eight Otum Knights, several dozens of priests and knights were all seeped with hearts of terror and craze. These emotions fused together to form elements of chaos. The quantity was notable under An Chengli¡¯s massive output, causing a rarely seen equilibrium to form with Fairchild at this very moment.


    Zheng Xiao opened his mouth but no words came out. His thoughts cast hisst message, "We¡¯re still in the spatial rift..."


    An Weng¡¯s response was like a cebo;forting but meaningless. "Child, you need to understand one more thing. This is an opportunity, a wonderful opportunity."


    As the old man¡¯s thoughts rified things, Zheng Xiao suddenly felt a shudder run through his body and soul. The three-dimensional structure erected within the Evolution Field, the projection of the Scales of Truth and its fulcrums the three First Otums, began to tremble and warp.


    The entwining effect of energy was far tooplicated and it was hard to observe. But it ultimately formed outward wave motions that instantly swept across the material ne of the Logic World.


    Zheng Xiao could ¡®see¡¯ Ouyang Chen at this time. This man, who was the number one expert in theory within Xia City, was frowning. His gaze was cast toward the manifested projection of the Scales of Truth.


    An Weng did not need to have the Evolution Field switch images to be able to view this scene. All Zheng Xiao needed to do was to send information back via the spreading and scanning waves.


    Zheng Xiao had collected even more information than just images pertaining to Ouyang Chen. For instance, he had an approximate understanding of the ¡®boundary¡¯ of the Logic World. It was the area of the buildingplex consisting of the three connected buildings. It was approximately just over a kilometer in radius.


    And so he arrived at a question: What sort of experimental testing was Ouyang Chen conducting if they were sealed inside from start to finish?


    Before he coulde up with an answer, something happened with the frequency of the waves that were being directed by the Scales of Truth... It could basically be described as a subtle change that urred with them and the waves ordingly cut into the mental ne.


    ording to the ancient writings of the Order, the mental ne was like an unbounded ocean. It was iparably vast and iparably deep. Man¡¯s mental consciousness was like a fishling. Some people could only slosh about within the shallow regions of the sea. Some people could swim ten thousand meters deep.


    Of course, this was merely an analogy. It was exceedingly different to reality. Regardless, entering the deep sea was an extremely difficult task. The Order¡¯s ancient writings pertaining to cultivation approximately divides the mental ne into different regions, shallow, middle, deep, abyssal, and absolute. Five regions. As a Clearsworn First Otum, Zheng Xiao could only slosh about at the border to the middle region even in his peak state.


    However, now his body and soul shook with stimtion due to the rapidly changing frequency of the waves. It was as if he was warped and distorted into an ugly devilish fish. He suddenly prated downward, entering deeper into regions of the deep sea that he had never tasted. Here, he was under the pressure of a terrifying amount of information.


    Zheng Xiao moaned. All he could feel was an intense morphing of the flesh and bones of his entire body. His soul was soon deformed beyond recognition. The extreme pressure brought him extreme pain for within it came an abundance of information. However, hecked the energy to even receive this information, let aloneprehend it.


    Perhaps An Weng could do it. Could he really do it though?


    Zheng Xiao could vaguely sense the others through the Evolution Field. An Weng was absolutely not having an easy time right now. Every change in frequency to the waves as led by the holy entity was an absolute torment to the centenarian old man¡¯s body. Irreversible damage was being caused to An Weng.


    This was a verification. A verification where life was the price... Oh?


    Zheng Xiao was not too sure; he thought he had heard something. Regardless, he could clearly feel something seep into the Evolution Field at this very moment. A slender and faint shadow flitted across the surroundings of the Scales of Truth. It moved in a winding and turning orbit, its insect-like limbs caused one to feel not only puzzlement but extreme palpitation.

 Chapter 124: Two Arachnids (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 124: Two Arachnids (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Zheng Xiao ultimately had a clear head. A relevant and explicit thought soon emerged in his mind. "You released Number 3!"


    Originally, he did not have the energy to converse with An Weng, but his mind underwent a surge of stimtion when he saw what was going on. He had actually squeezed out thest bit of his energy.


    An Weng did not respond, likely because he could not afford the time to. For at this moment, the sound of an explosion could be heard and half of Building A¡¯s roof suddenly copsed. The ring light that shone through was like a miniature sun. It came soaring up from below.


    Fairchild strode out from within the pulsing waves of light. He advanced quickly toward the burning An Weng behind the spell formation.


    Twenty meters away, Ouyang Chen was gently shaking his head.


    Such a subtle action did not escape Fairchild. He turned to look, his gray eyes staring fixedly at this Extraordinary, who could already be considered a spectator. Fairchild¡¯s deep voice seemed to be able to shake the entire air atop the roof.


    "Do you still believe we¡¯re in aboratory?"


    "In a certain sense, yes," Ouyang Chen calmly admitted. "This Logic World is myboratory."


    "Well that¡¯s quite unfortunate! You put a fellow even crazier than you in here. Your experiment is doomed to be a gigantic mess."


    Fairchild¡¯s footsteps did not stop. In the time he took to talk, he rammed his way into the automatic defensive circle of the Evolution Field. The dark mes burned around his body but not a single spark was able to prate the white light that surrounded him.


    The priests and knights could have stopped him but they were people submerged in terror and fear. It was impossible for them to muster up enough courage to step forth.


    Fairchild arrived at the perimeter of the spell formation unimpeded. His movements remained efficient and swift. He reached out his hand and crushed the cocoon structure of light like smashing an egg. Fragments of light filled the sky.


    Like this, one of the three pirs of the Evolution Field¡ªthe most important one of all¡ªwas crushed.


    In response, the two First Otums atop buildings B and C shrieked practically simultaneously. It was as if a power surge was running through their bodies, electrocuting them. The structure of light around their bodies distorted and copsed.


    Zheng Xiao faired slightly better than the others. He had noticed Fairchild charging through the roof in time and had mentally prepared himself. Though the whish was agonizing, it ultimately was not fatal.


    But on the other rooftop, An Chengli¡ªwho was no longer aware of his body¡ªwas not as fortunate. He already bore heavy pressure from being forced into the deep regions of the mental ne and the force of the whish from the copse of a pir of the Evolution Field beat down instantly into his fleshly body.


    Before his blood could even spray from his body, his body transformed into a burning torch. The tearing of his flesh and the pain of being burned incinerated An Chengli¡¯s willpower to ashes. He fell to his knees and then copsed to the ground. A howl of agony boiled from him, growing weaker and weaker with time.


    And atop Building A, the dark mes around An Weng¡¯s body exploded out to cover half a meter. The intensity of the burning had increased by who knows how many times. His clothes and his withered body all ignited with mes. The light of the me glowed through his body and through the melight one could even see the emptiness behind him.


    But An Weng just stood there calmly. He maintained the triangr seal-art that was linked with the Evolution Field. He just lifted his head slightly. His eyes which were still turbid within the me locked with Fairchild¡¯s gray eyes.


    His mouth opened slightly the instant they crossed gazes. He uttered with a weak voice that came from his scorched throat, "Those who yearn for the truth will find themselves on the two sides of the scales."


    "But not at the mercy of chaos."


    Fairchild made another step, his fist striking directly at An Weng¡¯s head. Under the force of the fist and the mes burning within the body, the old man¡¯s skull was instantly turned into a stter of fire.


    One blow, one kill. Fairchild¡¯s expression did not even change a hair for he knew that there was not too much significance behind his actions.


    His fist twisted a bit before he pulled it back and an invisible shock wave was set off on the material ne. The wave collided with the mental ne and prated it deeply. However, the wave was still slowed and a certain formless shadow leaped out from An Weng¡¯s burning husk to hide into the depths of the void.


    Fairchild lifted his head and his gaze faced the center of the triangle formed from the three buildings, the void right above Frost River Reality. There, the manifestation of the Scales of Truth¡¯s projection was erected within rippling waves of light.


    The Evolution Field couldpletely copse at any time, having lost a pir. But the projection of the Evolution Field appeared to be as stable as before. This was not merely a marvel of this holy entity; a new power was supporting it.


    Zheng Xiao could no longer keep himself standing atop Building C. He copsed, sitting on the ground with the body he could barely control. He stared nkly at the projection.


    Such a malevolent image could only turn uglier within the warping waves of the Evolution Field. The insect limbs, which had only asionally streaked by, appeared before his eyes under this serious warping. Of course, it was no longer an insect. It was a wraith distinct to the eyes.


    The fine limbs shed within the rippling light and this monster¡¯s body, a fusion of man and arachnid, climbed the base of the Scales of Truth. Its six demonic eyes flickered and gleamed. And no one knew just who it had its attention on.


    "Number 3," Zheng Xiao murmured.


    Number 3 was a Human-Faced Arachnid.


    The Order of Justice was one of the first to identify the Human-Faced Arachnid, to capture and utilize the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s power. With urate information, they relied on the first mover¡¯s advantage to capture a total of five Human-Faced Arachnid clones within the past dozens of days. They named them numbers one through five in order. They performed research and testing on the Human-Faced Arachnids. Four of the Human-Faced Arachnid clones consumed each other. One specimen was sent to the Archotum. In the end, all that was left was Number 3, always kept by An Weng¡¯s side. No one knew that An Weng¡¯s ns for it would be like this.


    Number 3, who had hidden itself until now, actually appeared due to Fairchild smashing An Weng¡¯s skull. Moreover, a step earlier, it threw itself into the Evolution Field that was on the verge of copse.


    Right in the moment of Zheng Xiao¡¯s dazed state, his thoughts that led the Evolution Field linked up with a mass of restless and chaotic energy.


    Human-Faced Arachnid, Number 3!


    Zheng Xiao instinctively wanted to use techniques to control the Human-Faced Arachnid and ensure authoritative control but past the mass of chaotic energy he touched a facet that was crystal clear. The conscious information was like light rippling waves and its frequency was so very familiar.


    Zheng Xiao¡¯s blood ran cold.


    "...An Weng?"


    Number 3 did not respond but Zheng Xiao could see its six demonic eyes and its ugly head turn toward a different direction.


    The rooftop of Building B. An Chengli was located over there.


    In the next moment, the facet which he could feel from Number 3 suddenly disappeared.


    Before Zheng Xiao could rely on his mental perception¡ªwhich he had yet topletely withdraw from the mental ne¡ªto lock onto the location of this facet, Number 3 had rammed its way into the depths of the mental ne. Its target was clear. It instantly made its way over the rooftop of Building B and its sharp limbs pierced down.


    Before the attack couldnd on its target, a different wraith soared from An Chengli¡¯s destroyed body, which had nearly burned to nothing by now. The wraith leaped into the void.


    Zheng Xiao saw it clearly; it was another Human-Faced Arachnid!


    "A secret stash from the spoils of war."


    A consciousness suddenly appeared and it was extremely clear. Though Zheng Xiao had some mental preparations, he was still so shocked that he nearly blurted.


    "An Weng!"


    During this sh of consciousness, two monster heads collided in the depths of the mental ne. It seemed that victory and defeat were instantly decided.


    Number 3, who could be called An Weng, used the mouth pincers of an arachnid from nightmares to mangle half the body of ¡®the spoil of war¡¯. He then took a vicious bite, engulfing his food all the way down his throat.


    Thest thing to be chewed was the head of the Human-Faced Arachnid, which looked no different to any other Human-Faced Arachnid. The two heads were connected together, then one of them ate the other.


    This vicious scene of cannibalism performed by the Human-Faced Arachnid was never as nauseating as it was now.


    At the very least, Zheng Xiao could not believe it. "Is that really An Weng?"

 Chapter 125: Chains From the Void (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 125: Chains From the Void (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Zheng Xiao¡¯s judgment should be correct, regardless of An Weng¡¯s actions. The Human-Faced Arachnid that appeared from An Chengli¡¯s body was highly likely to be a spoil of war stashed by An Chengli during a previous Human-Faced Arachnid hunting operation.


    It appeared that An Chengli had not raised it that well since it did not really help him much. Instead, it even turned on him, stabbing him at the worst of times.


    It was without a doubt that Mr. Spoil of War had absorbed An Chengli¡¯s ¡®nutrients¡¯, but there was still an innate difference between it and Number 3, who had consumed much of its kind.


    Mr. Spoil of War probably felt the difference between it and Number 3 and had its heart set on fleeing. But before it could make a single step, its nutrients sprayed out as it turned into a part of Number 3.


    Zheng Xiao sensed the entire Human-Faced Arachnid consuming process fairly clearly. This was not a nice experience at all. He just sensed it, so how must it feel for An Weng?


    Number 3¡¯s actions fit its ugly exterior and savage instincts quite well. However, if there was an An Weng in there as well, then the significance of its actions were nowpletely different.


    From Zheng Xiao¡¯s perspective, perhaps An Weng would act a dozen fold more vicious sometime in the future. However, An Weng would not use such rough methods like that of a low-intelligence beast.


    "An Weng, An Weng?"


    "Child. Are you alright?"


    The words that Zheng Xiao wanted to say were stolen out of his mouth, leaving Zheng Xiao nearly speechless. But the pressing situation forced him to try talking. "An Weng, I can¡¯t stand it anymore. You don¡¯t need to..."


    Zheng Xiao meant that he wished to have his consciousness freed from the deep regions of the mental ne. He wished to be no longer bound to the Evolution Field and the Human-Faced Arachnid.


    But An Weng¡¯s response brought with it despair. "Child, you¡¯re important. You¡¯re very important."


    The Evolution Fieldpletely copsed the moment their thoughts crossed, but Zheng Xiao was unable to withdraw his projected thoughts. The situation was like a tough string. One end was connected to himself. The other end was being pulled by Number 3 and An Weng. He drifted in the endless void like a kite.


    This sort of sensation was actually not unfamiliar to him.


    The Order of Justice had grasped the means to control the Human-Faced Arachnids long ago. During their experiments, several First Otums acted as the controllers. The sensation was quiteplex, like abination of walking a dog and flying a kite. Sometimes, the attached-soul state phenomenon would appear when one was like an incarnation of a Human-Faced Arachnid, roaming about in the depths of the void.


    Due to the discovery of this phenomenon, An Weng specially developed an application for it. It was the Faith Product that he supplied torge clients... It was the source of all the chaos tonight. It was the Human-Faced Arachnid Exoskeleton Armor.


    However, now it looked like there was a deeper reason for An Weng to push the development of his little invention with such urgency. Perhaps, he had long imagined that there would be a day when he would ¡®ride¡¯ a genuine Human-Faced Arachnid and dive into the deepest depths of the mental ne?


    Zheng Xiao was part of several days of experiments. He was very clear about the ¡®dive depth¡¯ of the Human-Faced Arachnid on the mental ne. The depth far exceeded the limits of First Otums.


    There were five different depths on the mental ne: the shallow zone, the middle zone, the deep zone, the abyssal region, and the absolute realm. They were also known as ¡®Three Zones, One Region, One Realm.¡¯ Those who were not Extraordinaries would find it hard to enter thetter two levels unless they were powerful mentally specialized B rank ability users.


    Zheng Xiao¡¯s limit was the middle zone while An Weng could only stop at the deep zone, even with his profound aplishments in the cultivation of the mind. He would need the blessing of their holy entity to enter the deeper areas and he would need to pay a considerable price.


    But from the perspective of the Human-Faced Arachnid, staying in the deep zone was the most natural thing to do. They could enter the abyssal region any time they wanted and could even reach the depths of the absolute realm. These areas werepletely disconnected from the material ne. Any instrument that was purely physical would find it impossible to observe their existences.


    These Darksider life forms followed their instinctspletely. It could be said that theycked intelligence. It was because of this that they would actively go the shallow zone due to the allure of food and react to the emotions and consciousness of humans. Only when this happened did people have the chance to capture them.


    Yes, when the Human-Faced Arachnid interfered with an external object, the depth at which it could hide was affected. The degree it was affected was rted to the diving depth of its target on the mental ne.


    The closer their two depths, the less the Human-Faced Arachnid was affected.


    Zheng Xiao had an approximate understanding of the decisive methods that An Weng had employed. Perhaps, An Weng could reduce the effects of the interference to the very minimum by utilizing the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s innate gifts. In this way, An Weng sought to find the Gate of Truth that was hidden away in the depths of the endless void.


    An Weng had already made his move. The marvelous probing waves of the Evolution Field was transformed through the Human-Faced Arachnid and cut deeper into the mental ne.


    Zheng Xiao was not too clear about the concrete details of the probing process. After all, he was a ¡®kite string¡¯. Nheless, there was one thing he could not understand at all.


    Why did An Weng need to go look in the mental ne? Was the Gate of Truth just an illusory spirit?


    It was within this moment of puzzlement that An Weng spontaneously had his thoughts converged with Zheng Xiao. "What a pity, child. It is impossible for me to pass to you what I am currently experiencing. You don¡¯t understand just how interesting this experience is. All I can tell you is that you shouldn¡¯t use the popr-science-like analogies of the Order to guess at the truth. The structure of the mental ne and the way the two nes interfere with each other is much more interesting than you can possibly imagine. Of course, we need to give much thanks to Ouyang and give much thanks to hisboratory..."


    Atop of building A, Fairchild turned to look at Ouyang Chen, who had just walked over to his side. "How long are you going to let yourboratory corrupt An Weng for?"


    Ouyang Chen loosened his bow tie to get into a morefortable state. However, he also increased his concentration at the same time. He drew out a drawn breath and said softly, "It is good to reinforce buildings when earthquakes are due, but it is impossible to reinforce a city. We need to have its energy be released, and sometimes we take the initiative to set it off... This is what myboratory is doing."


    Fairchild sneered, "You and An Weng must chat away at times."


    "We have in the past." Ouyang Chen did not deny it. He then asked back, "Mr. Fairchild, aren¡¯t you going to say something more?"


    "I know absolutely nothing about An Weng¡¯s ns."


    "I¡¯m referring to the matter with the Human-Faced Arachnid."


    "Human-Faced Arachnid?"


    "This Darksider life form is much more marvelous than we imagined. Quantum Corporation has their own theories and the Society¡¯s research yields different theories. Of course, there¡¯s also the Order of Justice... Within the ancient scriptures of the Order of Justice, does the Human-Faced Arachnid have a ce?"


    Fairchild sunk into thought. He had to recollect some memories and consider his options.


    But further development of the situation did not give him much time. An Weng controlled the Number 3 that floated in the depths of the void. It switched frequencies the fifth time and this time there was a subtle difference. An Weng was uncertain about what he saw, so he cast his consciousness over in utter concentration.


    However, a more substantial change urred within Number 3. It urred within the depths of the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s intrinsic mass of chaos.


    A rattling vibration rang forth that was like the sound of chains shaking.


    The erratic shaking did not seem to follow any rule, but the sound itself could be perceived and distinguished; it was ipatible with the chaotic nature of the Human-Faced Arachnid.


    What was perceived was order.

 Chapter 125: Chains From the Void (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 125: Chains From the Void (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    An Weng was never one to reject order, but he demanded for order to be under his control.


    Right now, he had focused all of his energy on controlling the probing process. He waspletely unable to attend to the internals of the Human-Faced Arachnid... And even if he could, it would be useless!


    An Weng had once tried to filter through the chaos within the Human-Faced Arachnid to create aplete model. However, he had failed against his expectations. This was because chaos was the nature of the Human-Faced Arachnid; it could not be altered.


    As such, he had to use the kite-line that was Zheng Xiao to endure the chaos within the Human-Faced Arachnid and maintain his basic intellect. Otherwise, he would bepletely suppressed by the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s instincts.


    But now, An Weng actually sensed the power of order within the Human-Faced Arachnid. He never once doubted the results of his own research, so the answer became clear to him.


    An external power had made its way inside!


    There was no doubt about it. This power came from Mr. Spoil of War! This power had already been crushed to pieces by the devouring force of the Human-Faced Arachnid, but it had somehow reassembled itself.


    Chaos once shattered would only be more chaotic. There was only one exnation that this power was able to restore itself. Its chaos was just a disguise. It was just a clever emtion.


    This made An Weng think of the Faith Product he had developed not too long ago. The Faith Product was merely a reflection of his train of thought. He originally wanted to carefully sort through and gather much more information. However, Fairchild¡¯s appearance destroyed his initial ns.


    From that moment onward, the situation grew more and more outrageous. The situation now had long since been unrecognizable.


    Though the simple recollection of memory was meaningless, the clear context of details was able to help one sort through their thought process. Tracing back from this train of thought, An Weng finally confirmed that a mistake had appeared in his previous judgment.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid he consumed was not a spoil of war. It was an imitated product; perhaps it was one of the Faith Products he had made. As far as he knew, that little toy had changed owners today. It had made its way to the hands of a certain teenager...


    From the taste of what he had consumed, this little toy was more advanced than his original version. It was to the extent that it could pass off as the real deal. This did not surprise An Weng. However, this teenager possessed some kind of inconceivable power of order. Additionally, through some special ability, this teenager stagnated the changes with the unbnced state of the Scales of Truth time and time again.


    Ouyang Chen should be expressing his thanks to this teenager, otherwise, he might not have had the time to erect his Logic World.


    However, An Weng also recalled that this teenager should have been isted from the Logic World...


    Of course, this mystical little fellow made people furious!


    With his attention deviating in direction, An Weng¡¯s efforts of probing the mental ne was all wasted; he lost the sensing trail that could have led him to the Gate of Truth. Yet An Weng did not let fury and rted emotions take over him. Instead, he cast the probing waves in theplete opposite direction.


    An Weng did a self-examination toward his Human-Faced Arachnid, locking onto the element of order ipatible with the chaos and pushing it back... If he did not get rid of the interfering element, all the searching and probing would be useless.


    The vibrating sound of shaking chains increased in rity and its corresponding information continued to join and assemble. In the end, dark chains were formed, twisting, bending, and extending. It pierced the chaos housed within Number 3 and shot out countlessly linked barbs in all directions. These barbs seeped everywhere within the Human-Faced Arachnid.


    The situation was now much more troublesome than An Weng had initially judged.


    In this form, the power of order dered its invasion toward the Human-Faced Arachnid. The end of the chains was long; it extended deeply into the depths of the mental ne. It was without a doubt that the mystical boy was connected at the other end.


    Wasn¡¯t his name Luo Nan?


    An Weng¡¯s thoughts coiled and knotted, forming an incorporeal chant. He had seen Luo Nan¡¯s basic information before, so locking onto Luo Nan¡¯s aura through the Evolution Field was more than enough for a Secretbound First Otum.


    A highly fatal secret curse was gradually forming. The next time An Weng locked onto Luo Nan, he would unleash his curse without the slightest hesitation. The barrier between the mental and the material would be forcefully destroyed and all his worries would be resolved.


    This was not the smartest way to go about things but it was the most direct. Even though this would put him in a dangerously weak state as a soul parasitically attached within the Human-Faced Arachnid, he was going for it.


    An Weng¡¯s mind followed along the chains. With the aid of the Human-Faced Arachnid, the sealed and chaotic structure of the Logic World¡¯s space did not hinder him at all. In the process, An Weng identally affected the ne of reality but now a new change was urring to the situation.


    He had an approximate recollection of Luo Nan¡¯sst location before the Logic World was erected. He locked onto that direction and scanned the ne of reality. An Weng was confident that he would lock onto his target in two seconds.


    The probing waves were able to smoothly cut out of the Logic World. It was hard for Ouyang Chen to restrict the probing power of the Human-Faced Arachnid. However, in the next moment, the external information that came over was not the scenery of the metropolis. Instead, it was a starry sky that made one dazed and lost; it was just that strange.


    An Went was dazed for just a moment before he soon woke up. The starry sky was the projection of someone¡¯s consciousness.


    He had made contact with Luo Nan. This boy seemed to be short of livebat experience. There were practically no counter detection measures on the exchange of the mental ne.


    In an instant, the two sides were engaging inbat with short-reach weapons... short eh?


    An Weng was just about to unleash his deadly curse but he had no choice but to stop. He never imagined that the scene of this person¡¯s consciousness would be this vast and grand. Indeed, though the power within was near non-existent, this sort of manifestation was an inconceivable aplishment.


    This was merely the reconstruction of Luo Nan¡¯s perception. An Weng needed to trace back to the source and find the core of Luo Nan¡¯s consciousness.


    Yet behind this scene of a starry sky were the auras of countless living beings. They appeared here as stars and together they established a hazy and vast structure.


    Moreover, the scene that was formed from Luo Nan¡¯s observations and perception could not described as just vast. Luo Nan fully utilized the mental ne and this included the Logic World¡¯s reality. Though the starry sky was smooth and uniform, if one looked at the whole, it was actually filled withplicated and warped details. It was like abyrinth.


    As for Luo Nan¡¯s core consciousness, it was hidden behindyers andyers of curtains. It was difficult to discern its location.


    If Luo Nan had created this starry sky structure by force, An Weng could collide against different sides to find his target via feedback. However, within this realm of pure perception, the more he looked, the easier it was for Luo Nan to lead him by the nose.


    In addition, from the perspective of a Human-Faced Arachnid, this environment was like a pot of soup with a smell that pervaded everywhere. The Human-Faced Arachnid began to get restless from an instinctual great terror. This spread An Weng¡¯s power thin.


    An Weng made a quick decision. He gave up probing on the ne of reality to stop wasting time... There were still the chains.


    The power of the dark chains continued to increase, restraining the chaotic nature of the Human-Faced Arachnid. It made Number 3 feel uneasy, so An Weng simply strengthened this instinct of Number 3 and had it search by following the chains backward.


    In any case, the master of these chains had to undoubtedly be Luo Nan.... Huh?


    Number 3¡¯s probing suddenly halted. An enormous sense of oppression came at this very moment. It was like a storm of mes that came screaming from the end of the chains. The sudden increase in external pressure heated the chaotic essence of the Human-Faced Arachnid into a pot of boiling oil.


    If the Human-Faced Arachnid possessed awareness, the boiling of its instinct would surely cause it to scream loudly.


    It would scream danger, danger!


    Thismon yet different terrifying force came crashing down. Number 3¡¯sbat instincts were pressed to its limits. A battle through space exploded out in an instant.


    In the face of the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s boiling instinct, An Weng¡¯s control ability plummeted to the minimum. He became like a small boat that was rocking up and down within a sea ofva. He could capsize at any moment.


    The situation was once again out of his control.


    He suddenly understood. Luo Nan absolutely was not on the other end of the chains. Instead, it was another damned Human-Faced Arachnid... And an extremely powerful one at that!


    How could this be?

 Chapter 126: Colosseum (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 126: Colosseum (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    The sense of distance was instantly made clear. The two Human-Faced Arachnids were far away from each other, the distance far exceeding the normal sensing limits of Human-Faced Arachnids.


    In other words, they should not have made contact with each other. Then what was going on? Was this Human-Faced Arachnid targeting Number 3 specifically, targeting him for doom?


    Before An Weng could understand the root cause for the change, the sh between the Human-Faced Arachnids reached a fiery hot state.


    The hazy starry sky was filled with the powerful pressure of hostility. Number 3¡¯s body was being forcefully distorted. Every action was being resisted by a force that was both material and incorporeal. It was because of this that the chaos energy within Number 3 began to circte at high speeds. It was like a boiler that was crushing and burning all the fuel within, providing Number 3 with an even more powerful internal energy.


    For An Weng, this was simply a disaster. He had given up his fleshly body and ced his soul within Number 3¡¯s body, realizing a partial fusion. However, they had ultimately yet to mergepletely as one. A portion still remained independent and it was the most critical portion¡ªthe intelligent portion.


    After Number 3 started the ¡¯boiler¡¯, a tenth of the mass of An Weng¡¯s soul was soon evaporated. Many memories and resources were instantly erased, causing An Weng to be slightly dazed. He stayed like this until Zheng Xiao was affected as well, letting out a miserable shriek. Only then did An Weng suddenlye to.


    Even the kite-string was about to be severed. How could these chains be so strong?


    As self-deprecating thoughts shed in his mind, An Weng forced himself to forget the imminent threat. He poured his power into Number 3 to try to control it and struggle free from the chains.


    The dark chains were the sole channel that connected the two Human-Faced Arachnids; it was also the main battlefield where the Human-Faced Arachnids shed. If An Weng wanted to destroy this situation, the most effective method would be to sever the chains.


    With An Weng¡¯s aid, Number 3¡¯s power was suddenly raised to the next level. Its eight limbs waved in the void as it did its utmost to thrash and try to withdraw backward.


    The dark chains straightened, perfectly taut. A pulling and shing force activated simultaneously upon the chains, causing the chains¡¯ vibrations to increase in intensity. The vibrations converged as one before ultimately bing a sharp hum like that of a rubber band on the verge of snapping.


    Just missing a bit more. Just missing a bit more...


    The more intense the sh between the Human-Faced Arachnids, the more awful the inner pressure of Number 3¡¯s boiler became. The mass of An Weng¡¯s soul was continually eroded but he had to continue to elerate this process to ensure Number 3¡¯s power output.


    This was the stupidest consumption of his soul of all, but thanks to these pressing matters, An Weng had no choice.


    In this moment, An Weng felt like he and the dark chains were like two fizzling and burning fuses. They were waiting to see who would be the first to burn out, ignite the bomb, and explode into pieces.


    "The Truth is above!"


    "Hum!"


    The prayer and the vibrations urred simultaneously and another sh exploded on the chains. The powerful assault of energy broke through the limits of the dark chains atst, causing the chains to lost its special structure as it shattered and dispersed with a hum.


    Number 3¡¯s body suddenly stopped as the chains broke.


    However, An Weng was not happy at all.


    By now, the mass of his soul had shrunk to two-thirds of its peak. An enormous quantity of memory of resources was burnt to ash. Even with his resolute will, he experienced a moment of daze.


    There was more. In the final stage of the sh, An Weng no longer had the energy to maintain things elsewhere. Zheng Xiao, the kite-string, was severed.


    Number 3 floated within the hazy starry sky. The striking starlight filled everywhere, but there were no clear trails remaining. It was as if Number 3 had lost its way within the starry sky; it had lost its bearings.


    An Weng took a slow breath and sorted through the great mess of his soul. In addition, he tried to strengthen his control over Number 3.


    However, something urred right when he was gradually permeating and spreading into Number 3¡¯s chaotic region with his soul mass; the inner pressure of Number 3¡¯s boiler plummeted quickly and an explosion was ignited.


    A pain like that of a poisonous me assaulted An Weng; he forcefully endured it, maintaining a bit of rity. However, his mind still sunk heavily down.


    Number 3 slowly turned its body around. It became restless again by instinct. Moreover, this restlessness was even more intensive than during the bitter battle just before.


    At this moment, An Weng heard a low and fine sound. It was like the background noise that always existed in the metropolis. It was not really noticeable but it was everywhere. Looking into this noise would yield an abundance of misceneous information.


    Additionally, within this subtle noise that people found hard to ignore was a river that was shadowy like it was dirty. It flowed noiselessly. A massive and ugly body floated out from within. The body spread its limbs, its demonic eyes flickered, and it instantly appeared next to Number 3. By the time the entirety of its stooped body floated above the shadowy waters, it directly faced Number 3.


    From Number 3¡¯s perspective, this Human-Faced Arachnid that An Weng had locked onto was clearly a factor bigger than Number 3 itself. Its figure was more realistic and more solid; it gave off a pressure that assaulted one¡¯s face. It caused Number 3¡¯s restlessness to grow harder to control.


    Number 3¡¯s instinct was to escape but it still remained within the ¡¯star realm¡¯.


    This had nothing to do with courage. It was because of the incorporeal power of order that was embedded within this hazy starry sky, causing this realm to act as a bizarre prison. Even if this realm was boundless and vast, Number 3 was locked firmly inside. The only ending that was left was the decision between victory and defeat, between life and death.


    It was those mysterious chains...


    Although it appeared to have shattered, it had actually transformed from the material into the incorporeal. It used an even more inconceivable form to establish order. It revealed a power of constraint that was even more inescapable.


    An Weng came to a clear understanding of this just now. The Human-Faced Arachnids had already engaged in another round ofbat.


    Human-Faced Arachnids were not like intelligent life forms. They did not speak any nonsense. They were just propelled by their instincts and the two sides began crossing des once again. Loud rumbles rang forth as they collided.


    Just a single sh and Number 3¡¯s left mandible was forcefully chomped and consumed by the massive Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s stomach. At the same time, Number 3¡¯s sharp limb pierced the human-body portion of the massive Human-Faced Arachnid. The wound gurgled as it ignited and bloody mes sprayed everywhere.


    The two Human-Faced Arachnids let out noiseless roars of pain at the same time, but the direct wrestling-like fight did not change a bit. It was as if they had returned to the Colosseum of the ancient times. The most bloody of forms were used to please the spectators.


    And so, just who should they be pleasing in this moment?


    An Weng strove to maintain his train of thoughts with the Human-Faced Arachnid as it shed. The change with the chains showed an exquisite shifting of the power of order. This was not a change that was made spontaneously. This change existed within the framework that epasses this starry sky.


    Who did this framework belong to?


    An Weng knew the answer but in this hazy starry sky, even a shrewd person like him would find it hard to lock onto the man behind the scenes in a short period of time.


    Unless...


    Number 3¡¯s body shook violently once more. It was always at aplete disadvantage during the wrestling. Right now, half its ugly face had been chomped away by its powerful foe. It was missing half of its six demonic eyes and its aura suddenly grew weak.


    There would not be a chance of victory if things continued this way.


    An Weng used a mere tenth of a second to make a final decision. He did not spend much more time on the corresponding choice as well.


    A dark ball appeared in the inner irvoyance of his mind, in the mass of his soul. It was covered densely with strange markings. This was the deadly secret curse that he had formed when he sought to kill Luo Nan as fast as possible.


    Without even the slightest of hesitation, An Weng crushed the ball with his soul strength, causing the secret curse to burst and shatter. The deadly negative energy swept through the mass of his soul.


    The pain of his mind was indescribable by words, but simr ways could be used to vent his feelings. An Weng¡¯s intent surged and he roared explosively on the mental ne.


    ¡°LUO NAN!¡±

 Chapter 126: Colosseum (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 126: Colosseum (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Incorporeal waves swept the starry sky, spreading far and wide.


    Only An Weng knew the true purpose contained within these waves. With just an additional expansion, only pure energy was revealed and the waves pushed outward. Under the effects of this power, the lights of the stars that filled the sky became like candles within a storm; they flickered, on the verge of extinguishing.


    Actually, not one of these stars could be put out. Though this hazy star river was a projection of Luo Nan¡¯s perception, its information was purely scenic.


    What An Weng did was purify the probing waves so that he could follow the path of projection. He took key information and directed it back, injecting it into the material ne.


    The power from the Scales of Truth and the information of the deadly secret curse merged together with the instinct of the Human-Faced Arachnid. The resulting prating nature of the waves was iparable. Whether it was the Logic World or the scene of Luo Nan¡¯s consciousness, they were both unable to block the probing waves. The waves pushed onwardyer byyer and soon An Weng reaped some results.


    On the material ne, within the metropolis. The mes of life flickered. There was not any substantial damage, but the scope of influence contained information that was like the crazy talk of delusions. The waves flowed, spreading to countless tens of thousands of people.


    Most of the information would be unconsciously filtered, while a small portion would form a rtively clear awareness in people. Though the information wascking a counterpart, causing people to naturally disregard it, there still remained a finite portion of information that would make contact with those possessing keener perception. Those that were familiar with it¡ªlike Luo Nan¡ªwould respond by instinct and An Weng would get feedback.


    Though it was limited, it was already enough!


    "Nanster, is someone calling out to you?" Xue Lei looked around, but he was unable to see where this feeling wasing from. He was rather puzzled for a time.


    Luo Nan went, "Oh", but did not answer. He remained looking up at the sky.


    The autumn rain ran through the night with no end in sight. The power over at Frost River Reality had yet to be restored. The evacuation work of the trapped civilians was approaching its end. The sounds of people grew thinner and thinner; the curtain of night appeared pitch-ck over yonder, while the silhouette of the buildings looked murky.


    The cleanup work of the surrounding area was more or lessplete. Yn Hotel¡¯s sniper point was confirmed to be cleared of hostile forces. The members of the Society were all on Yn Block. This area now served as themand center of the government and the military. It was also the ce where new information was the most abundant.


    Military warships slowly entered the airspace above, representing the military¡¯s full involvement with the matter. The warships hovered above the city area in a rarely seen sight. It drew the gazes of several civilians in the area, their fingers pointing all around.


    Luo Nan also gazed upward but his eyes were directed to the area of Frost River Reality. The marvels of the Logic World was embodied within the group of pitch-ck skyscrapers. It existed behind the void, where the naked eye could not reach.


    Xue Lei did not take not receiving an answer personally. He copied Luo Nan and raised his head to look at the group of connected buildings far in the distance. Despite this, no matter how he looked, he was unable to see why. He could only shake his head. "The ways of this current world are truly bizarre. A single man has the power to pinch out a section of space to do as he pleases! No wonder my master says, "In the way of martial arts, if one can¡¯t adapt and improve the self, then one will wake up the next day and be wiped out...."


    And staring in the same direction as them were all the members of the Society.


    The vast majority of onlookers were still grasping with the sudden disappearance of the great number of terrorists. Luo Nan¡¯s group had clearer answers privy to them.


    Papercut¡¯s eyes were wide as saucers as he looked in concentration. He mumbled, "So President Ouyang had his eyes on them all along... Logic World, eh? I never heard even a smidgen of news about this in the Society. He sure cheated some people into some good misery."


    "He¡¯s just taking advantage of the situation, nothing more."


    Red Fox was the only member of the Society that had made direct contact with Ouyang Chen tonight. He more or less had the responsibility to exin things. He shed a nce at Logic World and sneered, "To enforce rules upon others, wouldn¡¯t one need to show off might as powerful as thunder? The Logic World has been erected and the explosive power is sufficient. I really want to see the faces of those in the Order."


    As he spoke, Red Fox rested his gaze upon Luo Nan¡¯s face. Ouyang Chen had given Luo Nan an evaluation of ¡¯the bright way seems dim¡¯, and Luo Nan had shown practical results time and time again. However, when his gazended on such an introverted and infantile face, he could not help but size him up.


    "Do you see anything?"


    "..." Luo Nan looked into the sky, giving no response whatsoever.


    To the side, Xue Lei coughed to catch Luo Nan¡¯s attention, but he still did not respond. Xue Lei could only poke at him with his hand.


    Only then did Luo Nane to, like waking from a dream. He nced around. Right now, He Yueyin was acting as the full representative of the Society. She engaged inmunications with the government and the military. She was so busy that she walked off and disappeared. Bamboo Pole, as the technical member, followed her. Zhang Yingying and Bai Xinyan walked over to the military medical vehicle; it was unknown what they were up to. Cat Eyes appeared to be very tired. She found a ce to idle away... Only Xue Lei was left by Luo Nan¡¯s side, while the direction of Red Fox¡¯s gaze spelled his intentions clearly.


    A fierce contention had urred between Red Fox and Luo Nan not too long ago, so it was hard for them to avoid awkwardness when meeting again. Luo Nancked the experience to resolve such an atmosphere. Xue Lei could not really help him, so Luo Nan could only blink.


    "What did you say just now?"


    Red Fox did not get angry. He just reached out with his hand and pointed toward Frost River Reality. "You¡¯re proficient at mental perception. You can see things clearer than I. Do you see a doorway of any sort? Can you answer me?"


    "..."


    "Are you not looking?"


    "No, I saw a little bit of something earlier."


    Though he answered in a business-like fashion, Luo Nan had adjusted socially. He thought for a bit and answered, "It is a sort of refined structure that interferes mutually with the material and the mental nes. It is like the Shield of Truth. Yet it is also very different from the Shield of Truth."


    "This... really is different." When facing Luo Nan¡¯s confusing logic, Red Fox found it hard to continue the conversation. He could only force augh and say, "Extraordinary powers manifest themselves in such a way."


    His response counted as giving Luo Nan face. He did not say the word ¡¯nonsense¡¯.


    Luo Nan was silent for a time, but this was not because he was stumped by Red Fox. Instead, it was what his irvoyance had yielded him; it was far tooplicated to be described by words. In addition, the results of his irvoyance was a sort of amendment to his past knowledge.


    ording to his past understandings, the mental ne was a sort of deep and multiyered structure. It was like countless curtains stacked atop one another. Eachyer was distinct, and the closer theyer was to the material ne, the thicker the curtain. The bottom most portion was merged with the material ne. Here, the mental ne and the material ne interfered with each other. The degree of which was fixed and depended on the amount of energy.


    Therefore, the mutual interference of the mental and material nes urred upon every person. However, normal people could only produce tiny amounts of interference and was pretty much negligible. On the other hand, the effects of interference were much clearer in the case of ability users.


    The Shield of Truth was the most powerful method of interference that Luo Nan had ever seen. It was also the clearest and explicit method. He believed it to be the benchmark for the application of interference between the mental and material nes.


    As for Rui Wen, the merging of the fleshly body and the spiritual soul as one was a different sort of state. It was likeparing apples and oranges.


    However, the interference state of the Logic World broke Luo Nan¡¯s understanding that had formed not too long ago. Under the senses of his irvoyance, the manyyers of curtains that formed the mental ne unfurled. There was no longer the sense ofyers. Instead, theyers ovepped, distorted, and even tore. Someyers that were at a considerable distance from the material ne were forcefully coalesced together. It was to the point that even the loweryer of the curtain also had an interference effecte about. They all tangled together into one mass.


    This was the third state of the rtionship between the mental ne and the material ne that Luo Nan had ever seen. It was also the mostplicated state.

 Chapter 127: Change in the Turbid Clouds (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 127: Change in the Turbid Clouds (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Through thisplex method of interference between the mental ne and the material ne, Ouyang Chen realized a ¡¯peeling¡¯ of the material ne. The virtual and the real both appeared, establishing a spatial rift that was like the real world.


    The rules andws were within the rift. However, the delicacies were not as easy as constructing skyscrapers. The deeper details would only tax the mind to the extent that the gains did not outweigh the losses. Luo Nan just observed the general outline. He did not continue to be entangled within.


    To exin such things to Red Fox would involve far too much information. Quite a bit of it was of Luo Nan¡¯s individual understanding. Hecked confidence in expressing himself with words, so he did not talk for a time.


    He heard the sound of a care extremely close to him while he pondered about how to respond. Luo Nan was about to check it out when his neck suddenly tightened. Someone was pulling his cor, dragging him. His back collided with the car.


    "Don¡¯t waste time. Get in the car now!" Zhang Yingying emerged from the vehicle, urging Luo Nan with impatience. She had brought over a military medical vehicle. The space in the back was sealed and ratherrge. It could load several dozen people without any problems.


    "What¡¯s so pressing?"


    Luo Nan thought that another mission was given to them and he did not bicker with Zhang Yingying. Instead, he nodded to Red Fox and entered the vehicle first. Xue Lei, Red Fox, and the others followed behind him. They went in one by one. However, everyone soon became a bit dumbstruck.


    The scene inside was a bit different from what everyone had imagined. The space was rtively narrow for various equipment and instruments were packed densely within. When the few people went inside, the space became a bit cramped.


    "To the hospital."


    Bai Xinyan had taken off her jacket and changed into the white gown of a doctor. She even wore sterilized gloves on her hands. She was dressed all out.


    Luo Nan stared stupidly while Zhang Yingying next to him took off his clothes. She pulled off his outer garments and lifted his undergarments.


    "Woooow," spoke Xue Lei with emotion.


    Luo Nan¡¯s face soared in temperature with these many people in the car. "HEY!"


    Zhang Yingying outright ignored him. Her fingers crawled under Luo Nan¡¯s undergarments and she touched the contours of the muscles of his back and waist quite impudently. "Though this body is F-Rank, a candidate for disability, he isn¡¯t that thin and weak."


    Her soft and smooth fingers slid around. They felt warm, but they made Luo Nan quiver and shudder. He had forgotten the words that he was going to say.


    "Looking at his body fat percentage, his body is stillckingpared to those of his age. However, it is nothingpared to his soul strength... Stay still!"


    Bai Xinyan yelled at the squirming and struggling Luo Nan and stuck the electrical leads of some device to various locations on Luo Nan¡¯s body. Now it was quite awkward for Luo Nan to move even if he wanted to. As he was forced to obediently let Zhang Yingying take off his upper clothes, he asked with helplessness, "What the hell are you all doing?"


    "You must feel great showing yourself off. You¡¯ve turned into an incinerator in the blink of an eye. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll reduce your fever for you!" Zhang Yingying was acting as an ad hoc nurse. She was quite amused as she jabbed and poked Luo Nan¡¯s body with her fingers. She yed around quite delightfully.


    Bai Xinyan saw how Luo Nan¡¯s body temperature was rising and she stopped Zhang Yingying from teasing him. She then began to calibrate her instrument and at the same time, she exined, "No one knows when the effects of the Shield of Truth will disappear. Right now, the growth rate of your soul strength is quite dangerous. One misstep and your soul strength will overtake your body. There won¡¯t even be the chance to save you. Therefore, we need to keep you under observation for 24 hours... No matter how good the equipment here is, there¡¯s nothing like the peace of mind of being at a hospital."


    Luo Nan smiled bitterly. "It can¡¯t be that serious, can it?"


    "We¡¯re just being prepared for the worst case scenario." There was a de-emphasis in Bai Xinyan¡¯s tone, but her mind was set. The troubles in the future were certainly going to berge. A bit of this could already be seen based on the way the previous two generations of the Luo family had left society.


    In addition, Luo Nan¡¯s current troubles were not limited to just the imbnce between his body and soul.


    As Bai Xinyan¡¯s words hung in the air, Red Fox frowned. He unconsciously extended his hand and pressed against his ear. His gaze turned toward Luo Nan.


    Xue Lei saw his actions to the side and said, "Hey! Did you hear something too...?"


    Red Fox motioned for Xue Lei to keep quiet; then he made a few gestures to Papercut. "After the Logic World was erected, the Psychic Wave Network entered a frozen state. Even now, it has yet to be restored. Communicating secretly between us is now way less convenient than before."


    Papercut read his gestures and soon nodded. He closed his eyes to sense for a moment and his expression turned grave. "Soul calling?"


    "Yep, soul calling," said Bai Xinyan as she let out a rarely heard sigh. "I don¡¯t know what disaster your boss Luo has provoked now. An Weng is clearly stuck in the Logic World; his situation is dire. However, An Weng doesn¡¯t care about the damage to himself. He still tries to lock onto Luo Nan¡¯s position. In addition, he has already seeded, more or less."


    Within the vehicle, all their gazes were cast onto Luo Nan. Thetter had nothing to say. With all those leads connected to his body, he could only act as a puppet to be moved about by others.


    The door to the vehicle opened at this very moment. Cat Eyes, who had been idling away and lost, entered the vehicle as well. Then Bai Xinyan said, "Sister He and Bamboo Pole will move with the military. Right now, all our people are ounted for. There¡¯s no need to dy... No matter who we¡¯re facing, our number one priority is to create distance."


    The car elerated as she spoke and soon the buildingplex of Frost River Reality was tossed to the background. This was the same as withdrawing from the battlefield.


    Two minutes passed with several people exchanging nces. "We should be out of the range of the soul calling."


    The group let out sighs of relief. They could finally disregard the intermittent callings within their ears. Right now, the military medical vehicle was already over a straight line distance of ten kilometers from Frost River Reality. As a Secretbound First Otum, it would be difficult for An Weng to contact Luo Nan at these distances. In addition, An Weng was isted within the Logic World.


    However, Luo Nan was not particrly optimistic... He was not hopeful that a moving vehicle would be able to remove the pressure from An Weng.


    This thing known as ¡¯distance¡¯ was not that significant to the current An Weng, to Luo Nan.


    The twisted and tangled state of the multiyered curtains of the Logic World caused distortions to appear in the distance of the mental ne. In a situation where the distance did not change on the material ne, there appeared a deviation between two points on the mental ne.


    It was like the overused example of space folding. Take space to be like a piece of paper. There are two ends that are away from each other and there was originally a great distance separating them. However, they would be within reach when the paper folds and the two ends came together.


    In regards to this sort of special structural pattern, Luo Nan could do more than just observe. In fact, after An Weng had driven his Human-Faced Arachnid to consume the high-imitation Human-Faced Arachnid in An Chengli¡¯s body, Luo Nan immediately discovered a hole and a chance.


    Through the dark chains, Luo Nan established a connection between the Order of Justice¡¯s Human-Faced Arachnid and the Wraith Sign hidden far away in the Bloodme Order. He utilized the special characteristics of the Logic World. He took advantage of the opportunity and built a colosseum. Or perhaps, one could call it an altar.


    Using the Format Pyramid as the foundation, Luo Nan erected the framework of the altar. Luo Nan was quite familiar with this action, so it was effortless.


    There was only one thing different this time. It was the ¡¯span¡¯.


    Luo Nan could make use of the Logic World and An Weng could do the same as well. This was because the Logic World existed within the seriously distorted mental ne. An Weng¡¯s evil intentions could not be blocked. Things were quite dangerous when An Weng began his assault with his evil intent. The projection of the Scales of Truth emerged in Luo Nan¡¯s mind. The most notable aspects were the unstable ck and white tes moving up and down.


    A seemingly familiar voice seeped into his heart.


    "Those who yearn for the Truth will find themselves on the two sides of the scales."

 Chapter 127: Change in the Turbid Clouds (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 127: Change in the Turbid Clouds (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan felt quite an intricate sensation.


    When he had erected the framework of the altar, he was able to transcend past that world. He was not directly influenced by being the sacrificer and received only benefits... All this was possible as long as he could support it.


    However, now the projection of the Scales of Truth entered as An Weng¡¯s evil intent came attacking over. That feeling of supremacy was offended and the altar¡¯s framework he was supporting faced erosion and collision by external forces.


    He had never encountered this kind of situation before.


    However, this was natural now that he thought about it. The Scales of Truth was the paramount holy entity of the Order of Justice. It could act as a sacrificial vessel and could be regarded as another altar frame. An Weng had made his way upon one of the tes, bing a sacrifice of the Scales of Truth. One thing was being used for two things, possessing dissimr purposes and different natures. A sh was inevitable.


    In addition, An Weng was not just having the two frameworks collide together. His prating evil intent had locked onto his target. He clearly wanted to pull Luo Nan into the depths of the maelstrom!


    It seemed that An Weng had seeded.


    Luo Nan tried to wash his mind of the Scales of Truth but it was useless. The thing grew clearer and clearer, especially the side with the white te. There seemed to be a possessed force that drew in his mind, giving him no chance to escape.


    Looking deeply into the source of this power yielded what seemed to be a structural pattern that was vaguely like that of the Shield of Truth. His body grew tense from inside out. It was as if he was bound by incorporeal threads.


    Luo Nan struggled in his difort, but he never expected the instrument connected to his body to ring in rm. The collective gazes of everyone in the vehicle became focused on him.


    Zhang Yingying, the ad hoc nurse, immediately raised her hands up high in the air. "I didn¡¯t do nothin¡¯!"


    "Even if you wanted to, you couldn¡¯t have caused this to happen."


    Through an AR disy, Bai Xinyan integrated the data of the instrument and various numbers were arranged and disyed. Theymen who saw the disy were all blinking crazily. However, everyone was able to see sudden minute fluctuations appear on a near-level frequency graph.


    "There has been a change in the strength of the fleshly body, though the scope is quite small." Bai Xinyan¡¯s gaze swiveled over, flitting past Luo Nan¡¯s face. "There hasn¡¯t been a crack on the Shield of Truth, right?"


    "About this... I¡¯m not sure."


    Luo Nan scratched his cheeks with his hands; he was a bit embarrassed. Though the matter was hidden and he could not speak of the details, he was not a resolute and courageous boy. Instead, he took on the attitude of uncertainty.


    Bai Xinyan raised an eyebrow, but she did not say anything. Zhang Yingying had already smacked Luo Nan¡¯s shoulders. "You¡¯re not sure? What do you mean, not sure?"


    "The problem isn¡¯t on my end..."


    Actually, it was!


    Luo Nan got himself in this deep and was forced to admit to himself that things had gotten big now.


    Right now, Luo Nan could sense an enormous ¡¯heat source¡¯ existing by his side. He was familiar with this feeling of order. It was undoubtedly Fairchild.


    Luo Nanbined the situation in the Logic World with the fragments of An Chengli¡¯s memory that he had received from the high-imitation Human-Faced Arachnid to produce a conclusion. He did not know whether tough or cry from his conclusion.


    Perhaps, he and Fairchild were the same. An Weng had acted first and asked questionster against them, sending them to be the underlying mass atop the Scales of Truth... Had Luo Nan been ced upon the altar to be one of the sacrifices?


    This was truly an example of irony.


    The sense of supremacy that always came when erecting the altar¡¯s frame caused Luo Nan to lose uracy in his conclusions. When An Weng exhausted his soul and forced his way over, Luo Nan had believed that his Wraith Sign held the upper hand. Luo Nan¡¯s behavior of being engrossed in the thrill of the hunt was too careless.


    After making it past the dangerous situation of near destruction, An Weng immediately used decisive methods to give Luo Nan a good lesson.


    If Luo Nan¡¯s conjecture was correct, An Weng had captured the link where Fairchild blessed him with the Shield of Truth. An Weng used iprehensible and arcane techniques of the Order to achieve sess in one move.


    Moreover, the matter would not end here. Right now, it seemed that Luo Nan had already reced Fairchild, Ouyang Chen, and simr characters. Luo Nan had be An Weng¡¯s number one target to deal with. Luo Nan¡¯s ability to draw enmity caused even himself to feel helpless.


    The most vital matter was to naturally have the situation get back on track. Whether it be President Ouyang or Fairchild, weren¡¯t these two being idle for too long?


    "Perhaps An Weng is focusing and pressuring Fairchild and Luo Nan got involved as a result?" Everyone in the vehicle could obviously see that Fairchild had given Luo Nan a blessing. Papercut frowned as he guessed this, all of a sudden going on this train of thought.


    Red Fox spoke in a low voice, "It¡¯s also possible that he¡¯s being directly targeted like striking a cow with a mountain in the way."


    Zhang Yingying gave Red Fox a thumbs up in great approval. "That¡¯s right... Then we need to take defensive measures!"


    "We are in no condition to do so right now."


    Bai Xinyan shook her head. She lifted her wristband to make a call. Soon, she was connected. "Sister He, about the matter with your boss stirring up trouble. Even being separated by the Logic World can¡¯t stop An Weng. I propose to push President Ouyang to resolve this matter asap!"


    Luo Nan¡¯s head hung down, having lost the face to meet others in the eyes for a time. However, he ultimately would not distract himself in social matters for too long. He also could not count on the help of others. His mind soon concentrated upon the altar frames.


    Luo Nan could not rx for even a moment when it came to An Weng, even if it appeared that the old man was rapidly growing weaker.


    "There¡¯s not much time left." An Weng was clear about his own state.


    Within the colosseum, half of Number 3¡¯s limbs had been chomped and consumed. It appeared spiritless and itcked the strength to fight back.


    The mass of An Weng¡¯s soul trembled and shrank. All that remained was half of the mass at its peak. Though this was all that was left, the two maelstroms of altar frames tore at each other with the colosseum being second to the Scales of Truth. The Scales of Truth was the major aspect.


    Since Luo Nan was ced upon the scales...he could only be ced on the truth side. An Weng had been catching up to that mass but Luo Nan¡¯s mass was absolutely abnormal. Thebined mass of he and Fairchild¡¯s caused the projection of the Scales of Truth to instantly slip toward the unbnced state.


    In such a dangerous moment, An Weng¡¯s mind grew even more callous and firm. Though it was clearly an illusion, the projection of the Scales of Truth seemed to possess the majestess of a true holy entity, the essence of immortality.


    An Weng could withstand the ignition of his soul for a short period time... He could even obtain a stronger tension and realize even more excellent results.


    "BANG!"


    It was as if a bowstring was plucked with great force. The probing waves swept deep through space the instant the vibration sounded. It was far more tyrannical and prating than thest time.


    In this instant, it did not matter whether it was the Logic World or the hazy starry sky, they were both practically transparent to him. His consciousness spread freely to every nook and cranny, to every level.


    Ayer of cloud and mist apanied the transparency. It was what the probing waves essed on the material ne. It was the phenomenon formed from mutual interference.


    The cloudy mist seemed to grow denser, and it soon caused the night sky of the Logic World to be a bit dirty.


    "BANG!" Another sound vibrated, broadcasting out; the visibility within the Logic World plummeted once more. It was as if a thick fog had rolled in and the threerge buildings were practically warping.


    "Ouyang!" Fairchild had a bit of his telepathic senses focused on the projection of the Scales of Truth. He could indirectly touch An Weng¡¯s current state. Fairchild felt a bad omene over An Weng and he warned Ouyang Chen.


    Before Ouyang Chen could respond, electric fire suddenly leaped from the upperyers of the hazy mist. The arc stabbed their eyes and it came smashing down like a redwood that was felled.


    Why was ¡¯smashing¡¯ the word to describe it?


    Because in the blink of an eye, the bolt of light twisted and coiled. Behind its powerful glow was a turbid and solid shadow with the appearance of a clenched fist. The chaotic electric arcsing from it were the fist¡¯s fluttering hairs. Looking at the whole, it was simply the giant arm of a monstrous beast and the arm came rumbling down.

 Chapter 128: Shadow Realm (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 128: Shadow Realm (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    When the giant arm came smashing down, it seemed like the verisimilitudinous night sky of the Logic World copsed. Space warped and shook; fine ripples could be clearly perceived. The ripples washed over everyone¡¯s skin, causing most of them to shiver and shudder.


    A corresponding chill emerged from the bottom of everyone¡¯s hearts as huge distortions suddenly appeared in the projection of the Scales of Truth at the center of the three buildings. Its luminance dimmed and the giant shadow arm swallowed itpletely.


    The phantasmal projection clearly could not stop the arm at all. The shadowy giant arm bound in ring electricity came rushing straight down, directly striking the rooftop of Frost River Reality.


    The arm showed no signs of slowing down during this time. Even though particrly strong shockwaves could not be seen, an acidic corrosive power seemed to run straight to the bottom of the building. A fracture that ran for over thirty meters split open the buildings in the blink of an eye. Then, rippling lines of reverberations spread in all directions from the fracture.


    The entirety of Frost River Reality crumbled and copsed, and only now could the terrifying explosion be heard. Regardless if they were facing Frost River Reality, the ss walls of the three surrounding skyscrapers were nearlypletely destroyed.


    The electric mes around the giant arm were like a liquid as it sshed out. The bolts of electricity were like countless living snakes. They pierced into the surrounding three buildings and soared wantonly.


    Baze¡ªwho had been knocked to the ground floor by Fairchild¡ªcrawled up. He had just so happened to be right under Frost River Reality. He watched Frost River Reality crumble and copse and he felt the pressure from the electric mes. Without saying a word, he rammed his way into one of the skyscrapers, rolled in an evasive maneuver, and managed to dodge the electric mes in the end.


    He had responded quickly and his luck was good as well, but the others were not able to be like him. One Otum Knight was struck with misfortune head on. He was located on the side of a building facing Frost River Reality and the chaotic spray of electric mes surrounded him. There was no escape.


    As the electric arcs struck his body. He sought to rely on the extraordinary powers gained from bitter cultivation to withstand it. However, an unimaginable force acted upon his sturdy torso in an instant. His limbs twisted substantially and it was like a pair of demonic hands were kneading his body into a ball. He was kneaded into a mangled meatball and he rolled chaotically on the destroyed floor of the building.


    The most frightening thing of all was that this Otum Knight was not spared a quick death. Smothered screeches sounded from the meatball again and again, the sound full of misery and despair.


    Even the face of the powerful Baze turned dark green from he saw such a scene. He rammed his way deeper into therge building without even looking back. The further away he was from the electric mes, the better.


    "That¡¯s not lightning... At the very least, it¡¯s not pure lightning."


    Luo Nan could approximately see the source of this wave of lightning. It was the same as the mist produced by An Weng¡¯s probing waves. It came from a violent interference between the mental and material nes.


    This sort of interferencepletelycked rules and patterns. It was chaotic and berserk. The final result was both this chaos and the powerful ionization effect of lightning.


    Nevertheless, the spray of lightning covered nearly a kilometer in diameter. Just how astonishing was the intensity of the soul strength that acted upon the material ne? Using Luo Nan himself as a standard, was it about ten thousand times more powerful? Or a million times more powerful?


    This was not realistic! Even the feeling Luo Nan got from the enigmatic and unfathomable President Ouyang Chen was far from matching this sort of intensity. There must be some special method being applied.


    Luo Nan¡¯s attention was forcefully drawn in. However, the region was destined tock a good target for him to observe.


    The terrifying force within the shadow did not merely cause destruction on the material ne. An assault sted out on the mental ne just a hairter. It was like the magma spray of an erupting volcano. It pelted down in a torrent.


    Luo Nan was in a pure observation mode. Its effect made it so that he did not receive a direct attack. However, in the Starry Colosseum, the Human-Faced Arachnids engaging in their life or death battle did not fair as well. They let out miserable hisses at the same time as mes burst from their bodies.


    ording to the information that the Wraith Sign was transmitting back, the roasting assault of the giant shadow arm had a rtionship with the chaotic core of the Human-Faced Arachnid. It was simply like that of a torch meeting oil. The two were even separated by a distance when the arachnid ignited.


    As for the other Human-Faced Arachnid, Number 3, it was burned transparent. Its human portion was burned into vapor and turned into a mist of energy. Then, its human portion was absorbed and consumed by the endlessly expanding shadow


    The two arachnids were entangled upon the altar. Wraith Sign could sense a bit of Number 3¡¯s state. The information from its senses was instantly refreshed with changes, allowing Luo Nan to understand with greater rity.


    There was something more real existing behind the terrifying shadow. Perhaps it was a powerful and hungry demon. The thing probably had not truly entered the Logic World but its powerful strength allowed it to clearly manifest its vicious and ruthless nature before everyone¡¯s eyes.


    The ¡¯curtain¡¯ of the mental ne wobbled and undted. It was being twisted and warped, making it hard for Luo Nan to distinguish the real aspect and location of the demon. He could only make a situational guess.


    This demon was like a gluttonous old cat. It stood ashore and reached out with its paw to stir the waters. It hoped to catch some delicious fishlings and eat its fill.


    Who was it that attracted this ¡¯old cat¡¯?


    It was without a doubt the unpredictable An Weng located within the burning Number 3. Looking through the Wraith Sign¡¯s senses, it seemed that An Weng was in a pretty good mood.


    As far as Luo Nan knew, An Weng¡¯s soul was within the burning mes of Number 3. He was withering up without end, yet he was in a delighted mood. His emotions were sprayed wantonly out from his soul while he was surrounded by mes. If he still possessed a fleshly body, it would be the same as bellowing out in greatughter.


    And he should beughing!


    He had waited for over sixty years for the transformation of the world, for the era of magical and holy powers. He had been in the Order of Justice for forty years, and his faith had never wavered all this time. It was just unfortunate that he was encumbered by the old age of his body. No matter how much he understood theories and concepts, the slightest mistake would always bring him a great disaster. He was always blocked from entering a higher level and never even had the chance to fight for it.


    However, as the giant shadow arm came rumbling down at this moment, the incorporeal barrier that was always above his head finally opened up a crack.


    Looking ahead, perhaps his chances were still slim. But ultimately, it was a chance. Moreover, this chance was already close at hand.


    The shadow swallowed up part of the starry sky and Luo Nan was unable to make an effective analysis of its form. From An Weng¡¯s perspective, this was the greatest sign of all. He no longer needed to distinguish the direction. He drove Number 3, who was nearly exhausted of power, to leave the battlefield and leap in the direction of the shadow.


    Under the threat of beingpletely burned to nothingness, Wraith Sign did not pursue Number 3. The current altar frame had turned into a messy soup after countless disturbances. It was incapable of stopping An Weng.


    As for the demon behind the shadow, it kindly epted the food that charged directly into its jaws.


    However, this was not enough to satiate it. The demon certainly had an excellent appetite. After the demon hadunched its initial attack, it discovered that there was not anything that could threaten its life. The congealing shadow began to spread as it entered into a  mode¡¯. It targeted the rest. It targeted everyone!


    Everyone in the Logic World had be its target.


    The demon was driven by its desire for chaos. It would chase after what it found to be most delicious. If everything was tasty, then it would eat everything.


    The mist produced from the probing waves that interfered with the material ne had yet to dissipate. The dark shadow flooded its way in, turning the mist into boiling dark clouds that oppressed the Logic World.

 Chapter 128: Shadow Realm (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 128: Shadow Realm (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    The quicksilver-like radiance from Fairchild¡¯s body interlocked with the dark clouds of turbid mist that came pouncing at him. The two forces collided and it all seemed fine at first, but then the giant shadow arm smashed through Frost River Reality. Its momentum did not end there and the arm pounded into the ground.


    The shockwave sted across and the three skyscrapers could be seen swaying. Transverse waves and longitudinal waves were tangent to each other and the power became even more intense. The rooftop of the skyscraper beneath Fairchild¡¯s feet was like a cloth being torn asunder. Long fractures suddenly spread, splitting in all directions. Anyone could tell that the building was about to copse.


    Having experienced this level of power, Fairchild knew that he was no match for it. However, he remained expressionless. He just cast his gaze at Ouyang Chen. "You¡¯ve been a spectator for this long. Was it to wait for this?"


    "Yea... But it¡¯s still not enough." Ouyang Chen lifted his head to look up at the source of danger hidden in the background. It had appeared atst.


    The giant shadow arm had already manifested as a pitch-ck pir that ran through heaven and earth. It was like an orbital elevator that ran from outer space to an endpoint stopping at the ground. However, it was still hard to determine where its other endid.


    The dark clouds of turbid mist spun and flew around the pir, forming a vortex of distortion. There was also mist at its base that billowed outward. Though lightning did not sh within, a terrifying power could be sensed hidden inside.


    The following change in the situation was no longer something that could be resolved by spectating.


    Ouyang Chen had already begun to make a move. He did not appear to do anything special; ripples just manifested outside his body and swept outward. The ripples were unstoppable. The dark clouds of turbid mist surrounding the giant shadow arm were split open and the ripples directly assaulted the shadow body itself, causing it to tremble endlessly.


    The demon in the background seemed to sense the threat. A sudden burst of electric me gushed from the dark clouds of turbid mist to cleave down toward Ouyang Chen¡¯s head.


    Ouyang Chen neither ducked nor dodged. His expression did not change at all. He just looked like he was opening his mouth as he breathed in, swallowing the lightning directly into his body. A crackling glow throbbed around his body, but it was quelled by the ripples he produced.


    Ouyang Chen responded in quite the effortless manner in this exchange of blows. However, he then frowned. "This taste is filled only with greed and impatience."


    Fairchild asked, "Is it an Extraordinary?"


    "It doesn¡¯t possess an extraordinary thought process. It¡¯s formed of pure chaos and disorder. It¡¯s more like a Human-Faced Arachnid."


    Ouyang Chen¡¯s gaze flitted from the giant pir to the shadow arm, to the circting and spiraling cloudy mist. He sighed and said, "However, it¡¯s at the peak of chaos. It actually has the existence of a ¡¯domain¡¯... In this sense, it¡¯s not wrong to say that it is an Extraordinary."


    The so-called shadow pir was a region of high-interference between the mental and material nes. The dark clouds of turbid mist that surrounded it were simr, but the degree of interference was at an inferior level. The further away from the shadow pir, the more the degree of interference dropped.


    Based on its ability, the demon waspletely able to envelop the entirety of the Logic World with its might. However, its outstanding instincts allowed it to distinguish between levels of intensity. It used the strongest interference to warp a section of material space and wielded this warped space as a weapon, shing it violently with the outside world.


    It was just like a lever. It used a rtively small amount of energy to leverage a power far beyond its normal limits. The dark clouds of turbid mist. The soaring electric me. These were all produced in this fashion. This was a high level skill. This was one of the applications of an Extraordinary¡¯s ¡¯domain¡¯.


    Ouyang Chen was not too pressured by this. Enemies on the side of chaos, even if they possess the ability of the Extraordinaries, were not worthy of too much of his attention.


    There was no reason or logic that could be described in chaos itself. Even if something could be analyzed from chaos, the end result would just be a shallow idea. It could only be used to fool an amateur. Even if Ouyang Chen wanted to research it, he would need to find the overall mechanism that formed this power of disorder. This would be a time consuming process.


    His target was An Weng and his intentions had not changed even in thest minute.


    Ouyang Chen began to rise a bit; his toes left the ground by several inches. He just levitated in the air without anything to support him. When one reached the level of Extraordinary, even if one did not have the natural ability to fly, one could create an environment that allowed flight. This was done through the mutual interference between the mental and material nes.


    This was also another application of the ¡¯domain¡¯.


    No matter where Ouyang Chen went, the substance-like ripples eliminated both the cloudy mist and electric me alike. The ripples appeared to move unimpeded, unhindered, and the spreading ripples appeared brighter at the forefront. It shone with its illumination.


    What had once been a well-blended shadow pir was now a bit more transparent. The forefront of the ripples that constantly followed rules and patterns were slightly distorted.


    The ¡¯domains¡¯ of the demon and Ouyang Chen had collided.


    The atmosphere in the Logic World suddenly grew tense. The entire area was shaking. The rooftop of Building A was already on the verge of copse from the sh between Fairchild and the dark clouds of turbid mist. Now, it finally copsed. The helpless and nk priests and knights fell screaming in quite a miserable manner.


    Fairchild did not have the ability to levitate so he could not avoid falling down from the ashy and turbid mist. Fairchild spat out a shout and his quicksilver aura cleared the surrounded area. He raised his head and looked up.


    However, what he saw was not Ouyang Chen nor the demon who had yet to reveal itself. What he saw was clearly a Human-Faced Arachnid struggling endlessly within the shadow.


    When the ¡¯domains¡¯ collided, traces of the Darksider lifeform submerged in the shadow pir was revealed.


    Number 3! This Human-Faced Arachnid had just escaped into the depths of the mental ne. When one tried to probe the deep sea for it, one would find it hard to trace. It was strange and baffling. However, it appeared again at this very moment. Its demonic body was ravaged and unwhole. It appeared weak and lifeless. Its entire body was ame. And most importantly, it had lost the special ability to roam in the depths of the mental ne.


    Did the assault of the shadow pillow hit Number 3 head on based on sheer coincidence? Or was there a different reason?


    Fairchild could see Number 3 struggling inside the shadow, but it did not look like it was struggling to escape. Instead, it seemed to be charging deeper inside. Fairchild could not refrain from being suspicious. Was An Weng really still controlling the Human-Faced Arachnid from the inside? Acting in such a way inside the dark depths of the demon¡¯s shadow was simply suicide!


    Floating in the air, Ouyang Chen was able to see things clearer than Fairchild. He was familiar with An Weng and knew that the old man was not someone who did things roughly. Even if An Weng was overtaken by emotion, he would certainly have a fundamental reason for his actions.


    The sh between ¡¯domains¡¯ grew more intense. Ouyang Chen used this as a pretext to look through the shadow. He could vaguely see something glimmering and sparkling from the center of the shadow pir.


    Ouyang Chen had found the reason!


    Ouyang Chen soon determined that the glimmer was the projection of the Scales of Truth. It actually did not copse during the initial assault. Instead, it was embedded in the depths of the shadow, and its form was the same as ever before.


    Of course, there were still changes that could be described. Atop the ck te was the Krait that controlled the elements of chaos. Right now, it was coiled into a ball and was at itsst breaths of life. The mist formed from the elements of chaos had already dissolvedpletely into the shadow surrounding it. It seemed that next, the Krait itself would soon dissolve into the shadow as well.


    Under Ouyang Chen¡¯s rapt attention, Human-Faced Arachnid Number 3 was doing its utmost to close the distance between it and the projection of the Scales of Truth. The distance between it and the Krait. The interior of the shadow possessed a terrifying heat and a corrosive nature, endlessly dissolving Number 3. However, Number 3 did not cower in the slightest.


    There was not that much distance between the two. With a body that was nearly burned to nothingness, with struggling movements that disregarded the cost, Number made contact with the edge of the Scales of Truth projection atst. It pounced at the ck te in quite a desperate manner. Meanwhile, its malevolent and deformed mandibles opened up to swallow the Krait atop the te in one bite!

 Chapter 129: A Great Exchange (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 129: A Great Exchange (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Number 3 suddenly went stiff when the Krait entered its stomach. The raging mes around Number 3 seemed to burn even more violently. Within the ze, it seemed that its demonic body was nearly burned into nothingness. Its remnants pushed off to collide with the ck te. There was still a bit of the arachnid left to burn as the ze exploded, turning itpletely into scattered ashes. Ashes and sparks dropped onto the te.


    Had An Weng turned into scattered ash and smoke? Ouyang Chen and Fairchild did not see things this way.


    It was just as they had expected. As the ash dropped onto the te, the exhausted mist of chaos element began to gurgle and sputter. It rolled and billowed, increasing in scale.


    Then, long limbs suddenly stabbed out from the turbid mist. They waved a few times and the ugly figure of a Human-Faced Arachnid stood up from within the mist. It had six dazzlingly-colored pupils and eight limbs. The mes that once burned upon it had disappeared. It seemed to be back at full power, though its size was much smaller than before.


    It used to be the same size as the projection of the Scales of Truth. Now, it had shrunk by several folds and was around the same size as the Krait it had just eaten.


    "He took the ce of the Krait and severed the link, reintegrating the chaos element anew... This is outside of my expectations. It¡¯s understandable though. This is indeed An Weng¡¯s style."


    As Ouyang Chen sighed, the chaos element was saved from dissipation by being integrated under the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s control. The Human-Faced Arachnid was transformed. It became even more efficient, so much so that it could absorb from the darkness of the shadow pir instead of being absorbed itself. It could continue to grow stronger.


    It was quite logical for An Weng to devour the Krait and substitute himself for it, but there were many intricacies of the form that was the Krait. It was an extremely well-developed system of the Order of Justice and the best choice in controlling the chaos element.


    Though the Human-Faced Arachnid was possibly on a higher level of power than the Krait, there were bound to be issues when linking with the Order of Justice¡¯s existing system.


    Only someone as experienced and as powerful as An Weng could have adjusted, made a viable alternative for the Krait, and seeded in such a short period of time.


    The most exquisite part was not the rebirth of the Human-Faced Arachnid. It was the integration with the projection of the Scales of Truth. The miniature form was not Number 3¡¯s body. It was Number 3¡¯s projectioning from within the Scales of Truth system.


    The true Number 3 had already merged into the projection of the Scales of Truth. It was hard to separate them. To do so would mean mutual annihtion, the utter destruction of the Scales of Truth¡¯s projection.


    This was a problem on another level.


    Ouyang Chen did not slow down his advancement. He continued to approach the shadow pir, analyzing and clearing the area close to him, allowing others to see the situation inside.


    There were a few people who had the leisure to be concerned about this, but Zheng Xiao was one of them. This First Otum remained calm headed all this time, but in face of the constantly changing situation, there were many times where his brain simply crashed. It was only when Number 3 devoured the Krait did he truly get startled awake.


    Zheng Xiao hugged his stomach. There was a mechanism that converted and connected his energy to the Krait, so his heart had nearly stopped when the Krait was devoured. Instead, his heart instantly pumped wildly inpensation. He was considered one of the fortunate ones. The surrounding priests and knights were all copsed on the ground; they werepletely unaware of how much the skyscraper was wobbling beneath their feet. Zheng Xiao did not know just how many could still be awoken.


    He lifted his head up with a nk expression, looking into the depths of the shadow. Under the dual illumination of the projection of the Scales of Truth and Ouyang Chen with his ripples, the insides of the shadow were being peeledyer byyer. A portion of it had directly evaporated, while another portion of it had dissolved into the turbid mist of chaos element.


    It could be confirmed with a fair amount of confidence that the projection of the Scales of Truth was utilizing the darkness of the shadow to rapidly expand the mass of the chaos element on the secr side. This was a highly efficient process... as seen from the situation with the scales right now.


    The projection of the Scales of Truth faced a change due to the unbnced state once again. However, the ck te was the one that continued to sink down this time. This showed that the masses on the two sides were beginning to invert in quantity.


    Zheng Xiao had a vague recollection of this current phenomenon. This was the default state set by An Weng when he started up the Evolution Field. An Weng had even told him that perhaps a demon, as described in the holy scriptures, would take their ce and contend against Fairchild, who seemed nigh undefeatable at the time.


    Now it seemed that the demon had trulye. Moreover, its terrifying power far exceeded that of the Ears of Truth.


    "Beneath thick clouds lies inds covered with boiling magma, while Demons bound in chains fly within the clouds..."


    Was this the verification that An Weng sought?


    He could not see the inds or the chains right now, but there were clouds and there was a demon. Half of the holy scriptures had been verified. Then, cautiously speaking, did this mean that the Gate of Truth truly existed in Xia City?


    Zheng Xiao¡¯s cheeks twitched a bit. If they hade here tonight to just verify things, then their mission would be aplete sess. They could leave with their aplishment.


    However, it seemed that the current An Weng had no thoughts of leaving in mind!


    "Bing a sacrificial vessel. Stealing the sky and substituting the sun in open deceit. ording to the ritual procedures of the Order, An Weng, you want to..."


    At this time, Zheng Xiao had just reasoned out a general outline. It was atop the white te that was steadily rising. It was built from the Evolution Field and existed behind the Scales of Truth. It showed its form for the first time.


    Bing the weak side, what was atop the white te was no longer qualified to remain anonymous.


    What first appeared was the structure of a kite-shaped shield. A quicksilver aura circted around it. This was the projection of the Shield of Truth and it undoubtedly represented Fairchild.


    Zheng Xiao cast his gaze toward Building A, but his sight was blocked by the dark clouds of turbid mist. He could not see anything. He was unable to tell just what sort of mood Fairchild was in right now.


    But then came a change that exceeded everyone¡¯s imaginations.


    As soon as the projection of the kite shield appeared in its entirety, light and shadow manifested itself on the white te once more. This time, the form was much more concise. It was aposite structure. It was a tetrahedron with an inscribed sphere and a circumscribed sphere.


    "The Format Pyramid!"


    Zheng Xiao¡¯s brain nearly crashed again. This Luo Nan... When in the world did he get on the scales?


    The Scales of Truth was not something you could get on just by wanting to. The converting and transforming process was veryplex. An extremely tight-knit system foundation and energy linking mechanism was needed.


    Only An Weng could engage in a simr operation. Considering the time, did this not mean that Number 3 hade into contact with Luo Nan when it fled into the void in its moment of distress?


    Well, it did not matter how much mass Luo Nan took up. The side of the white te that bore their weight clearly did not match the overflowing abundance of chaos element on the other side.


    The mass held by An Weng was notcking at all; it was far too much. He could easily allocate the mass on his side. All he needed to do was withstand the pressureing from the shadow of the demon in the background. Then, he could endlessly reap more mass from the shadow. This advantage was a hard one to break.


    To this end, An Weng then added the final pen stroke to his n.


    Atop the ck te, the Human-Faced Arachnid opened its mouth and sucked in. It swallowed the surrounding turbid mist into its stomach. It was unknown how An Weng converted the mist, but what had once been scales in a constant nted state actually began to level out.


    The scales swung. The white and ck tes moved up and down. The Human-Faced Arachnid swallowed clouds and puffed out mist. Clearly, it was calibrating its mass, searching for the point of equilibrium.


    Things were too easy with this much mass avable!


    The white and ck tes appeared level to each other once more, satisfying the conditions of the Order¡¯s holy entity. It was like a ripe, plump seed buried in the void.


    A vague prayer incantation could be heard, acting as rain and fertilizer. The watering had a sequence to it and itsted until the seed germinated. Branches and leaves sprouted to form aplicated structure of nature, to form a holy space of miracles!

 Chapter 129: A Great Exchange (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 129: A Great Exchange (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    "What happened?"


    Luo Nan had been chasing An Weng with his mental senses and was observing the Logic World all this time. He understood some portions of the changing situation, while other portions were half understood. When the giant cocoon of light appeared, he had a faint understanding that the situation had reached its most crucial node. However, with his limited level of understanding, his thought process was stuck here at an impasse. It was difficult for it to continue.


    He could only continue to raise the precision of his senses and observe earnestly. Even though the efficiency of this sensing method was far more wasteful than his recently learned Life Sketches by a ten-to-a-hundred fold, he felt his actions were necessary.


    At this time, an indescribable light was revealed from within the projection of the Scales of Truth. One would not be able to tell why there was this light just from perceiving it, but under this light, the ck and white tes of the Scales of Truth lost their countenance in an instant.


    ck was no longer ck. White was no longer white. Some crucial element seemed to be drawn away from them, yet it also seemed to mix together. There was no distinction between them.


    It was then that this indescribable light noiselessly established a region within the shadow pir. Its shape was like the cocoon of light that enveloped the three First Otums in the beginning with the Evolution Field. It was just tenfoldsrger.


    The Scales of Truth resided in the middle of the cocoon of light. Its light intertwined with shadow to form countless lines of various thicknesses. At first, the lines appeared to be like ruffled branches that were growing endlessly longer, some of which twined around the two tes. Thin branches spiraled and pierced the projection of the masses atop the tes. Neither the projection of Human-Faced Arachnid Number 3, the kite shield, nor the Format Pyramid were spared.


    A change urred simultaneously in the three projected figures because of this. Light and shadow warped and the structures dissolved into thin air.


    "The holy space. An extraordinary exchange."


    The ripplesing from Ouyang Chen¡¯s body cascaded upon themselves, canceling the shadow pir¡¯s resistance. Step by step, Ouyang Chen made his way toward to the cocoon of light. The ends of the ripples made contact with the surroundings of the cocoon of light, undting up and down. The tempo of Ouyang Chen¡¯s ripples was not slow, but when he saw the growth of the cocoon of light and the changes to his ripples, Ouyang Chen was forced to frown.


    "Changing from a small exchange using secr objects to a great exchange of the extraordinary realm... An Weng, you really do things in quite a remarkable fashion. However, you¡¯re borrowing the power of the Scales of Truth to do this. Did your Archotum approve of such a thing?"


    No response came from the cocoon of light, but Luo Nan felt his heart beat a little faster for some reason.


    Exchange?


    He understood a bit more now. The two sides of the scales. The Human-Faced Arachnid versus him and Fairchild. Was there an exchange going on between them?


    No, that was wrong.


    After all, the two altar frames were still entangled. An Weng, by cing Luo Nan on the Scales of Truth, had bound the two frames to form a close rtionship.


    Luo Nan could vaguely sense the border of the two sides of the scales. Chaos and order were bing blurred. There was not a rtionship of exchange between the two sides. It was more like a sort of blending where they formed an indescribable existence together. This existence was used as a foundation to allow for endless growth and development.


    As for the exchange... It urred on a more mystical and mysterious ne. He could not precisely perceive it for now.


    But as the exchange reached the most critical point, it did not matter if it was the Human-Faced Arachnid, Fairchild, or Luo Nan, they all could not avoid being affected. Majorly affected!


    The rooftop of Building A had nearly copsed into nothingness. In the middle of the ruin of dust and smoke, Fairchild raised both his hands and concentrated energy into his gaze. At first, it seemed that the quicksilver radiance circting around his body had darkened a bit, but he remained expressionless.


    Luo Nan was startled for an instant when he saw this scene. His heart suddenly pulsated faster.


    This was bad! If even Fairchild was affected, what could he do? Problems were sure to arise with his main body... The Format Pyramid structure was dissolving atop the Scales of Truth, which was an ominous sign.


    "Hiss..."


    Luo Nan¡¯s attention swung back to his main body and he gasped in shock. However, his gasp was interrupted midway. Ever since An Weng had pulled him on the altar frame that was the Scales of Truth, Luo Nan was unable to struggle free from a binding sensation. Now, this binding sensation was far more intense. His blood and energy was blocked and impeded, so much so that many parts of his limbs grew numb. Luo Nan¡¯s ability to control his body was drastically lowered.


    In contrast, it was as if the sensations of parts of his inner organs were reversed. These parts used tock sensory nerves, but now a feeling of pain spread through his entire being. It caused Luo Nan¡¯s many organs to twitch and spasm. His entire body even began to shake and he went into a fever.


    On the AR disy, at least eight graphs appeared with a blood-red color that indicated critical danger. The whispering conversations in the vehicle were instantly wiped clean. All that was left were the repeated beeps of the rm instruments interwoven into one.


    "Visceral dysfunction. Hold him steady..."


    Bai Xinyan gave out this order, but it soon became obsolete. This was because ava-like heat came pouring from Luo Nan¡¯s head. It was as if his brain was boiling. It was as if someone had punched him hard. His mind was dazed. His consciousness was blurry. His mental senses lost their precision and the scene he saw with his irvoyance became fuzzy.


    The base that was his mind was being raided!


    Luo Nan strove to clear his mind, hoping to restore a clear head. Even if his thoughts were just a pile of mush, he knew that this was An Weng. An Weng had used the Scales of Truth and the enormous cocoon of light he had just erected as a channel.


    That old man. He had directly struck Luo Nan¡¯s Achilles¡¯ heel in an instant.


    No! This could not go on!


    Luo Nan felt the incorporeal around his body rapidly tightening. Right now, his body was bound and unmovable and it was cutting off his source of power. It was going topletely seal all changes within his body and soul. If that happened, he would truly be waiting for death.


    The incident happened too suddenly. Luo Nan did not have the time to think about anything else. As the incorporeal was about to close, Luo Nan reliedpletely on his quick-witted instincts to visualize the Format Pyramid. He ordered the Wraith Sign to pull. Through the sounds of shaking chains, his soul was hoisted from his body and he crossed into the depths of the mental ne in a single step.


    The incorporeal closed, but it was a step toote.


    The instant Luo Nan entered the out-of-body state, he could clearly hear cracking sounds like that of branches endlessly snapping. There was also the existence of a substantial resistance. Luckily, he was relying on an external power, the Wraith Sign, for his out-of-body state. His method was pretty rough for breaking directly into the depths of the mental ne. If he was not this rough, he might not have been able to seed in one go.


    Now, Luo Nan¡¯s mind suddenly grew clear upon the separation of his body and soul; his mental senses stabilized. The most miraculous thing was the sensation of pain in his main body. Much of it was instantly eliminated.


    Yes. An Weng had seized the blessing of the Shield of Truth to do his work. Luo Nan, by forcing himself into the out-of-body state, had shattered the method powered by the interference between the mental and material nes. Luo Nan had shed himself of the shackles and was no longer bound.


    However, everything could not be perfect. Although Luo Nan had dodged a disaster, he had lost control over his main body. Before his body could beid t, his body fell backward straight into Zhang Yingying¡¯s bosom. It was no longer conscious.


    The inside of the vehicle was a bunch of bustle and chaos. Looking at the situation, it seemed that Luo Nan was going to die...


    Luo Nan was unable to change what would happen to his body next. Though he had destroyed An Weng¡¯s ns, Luo Nan had still yet to separate himself from the maelstrom. As long as the sh of altar frames still existed, as long as the Scales of Truth and the Format Pyramid were still entangled, it was impossible for him to truly stay out of it.


    Now, Luo Nan¡¯s escape and its oue were directly shown in the projection of the Scales of Truth, within the so-called holy space.


    There, the Format Pyramid still existed on the white te, but it was much fainter than before. More importantly, the trend of it being warped and dissolved was reversing. It was being restored.


    This kind of change was not big or small, but it directly disturbed the state of equilibrium where chaos and order were being blended together. Within the cocoon of light, the growth of the branches stopped and some of the branches even instantly withered.


    This was nothing more than the rise and the fall.

 Chapter 130: Inhuman (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 130: Inhuman (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    "Oh dang!"


    Zheng Xiao stumbled as he let out a long sigh. Everyone could see the changes going on in the holy space¡ªin the cocoon of light¡ªas long as they were focused on it. The details of the changes inside could not escape Zheng Xiao.


    He was well aware that An Weng had screwed him over. However, they were both members of the Order ced upon the scales, so he was unconsciously biased toward An Weng. Zheng Xiao was a Clearsworn First Otum; he was very familiar with their scriptures. He knew just how precious the holy space represented by the cocoon of light was.


    When they had set up the Evolution Field, they used external equipment to arrange the spell formation. Looking deeply into the spell formation, one could see that it was an imitation pieced together by machines. However, upon realizing an exquisite equilibrium, the current holy space had naturally achieved a domain that came from the holy entity.


    When the holy space was erected, the underlying masses¡ªchaos and order¡ªthat formed the equilibrium with the scales all became sacrificial offerings for the exchange. An exchange that stepped into the extraordinary realm.


    This was the true road to heaven! The step to the extraordinary!


    The Order viewed the holy space as a womb to nurture the holy spirit. As long as the sacrifices atop the Scales of Truth could provide enough energy, even an Extraordinary could be manifested out of thin air. At the very least, every generation of the Archotum was the result of a great exchange via the holy space. It represented the blessing of the holy entity and its supreme authority.


    It was because the Order of Justice relied on this inconceivable power that they were able to maintain a steady increase in the number of powerful members in their order. They were able to do this for the past forty years and this allowed them to spread their doctrines all over the globe. In this way, they became one of the top three secret orders in the world.


    An Weng went into deep thought. Right now, his fleshly body waspletely destroyed. There was a seventy to eighty percent chance that his soul was going to reconstruct his fleshly body using this method. The mostmon use of the great exchange was to produce the body of the holy spirit.


    If An Weng was sessful, then the Order would gain another Extraordinary in their ranks. Although tonight¡¯s price was very steep, it would still be worth it. However, there were ws in the process tonight. The root of the problem was that even if a body was formed, it would not be ¡¯extraordinary¡¯. It would be a huge loss.


    The branches continued to wither. Though there were some branches that continued to grow topensate, it was impossible to eliminate the phenomenon of the withered branches in a short period of time.


    There was something even more deadly. This dy allowed Ouyang Chen to break through thest obstacle of the shadow pir. He stood right outside the cocoon of light and was within touching distance.


    Though the holy space was boundlessly magical, the barrier it possessed was not strong. It was incapable of stopping the strike of an Extraordinary.


    Zheng Xiao closed his eyes and let out a long breath.


    "An Weng, are you there?" An odd greeting was heard for some reason.


    Zheng Xiao suddenly opened his eyes in shock, but all he saw was Ouyang Chen standing outside the cocoon of light. Ouyang Chen reached out his hand and lightly tapped the shell of the cocoon of light. He was like a guest paying a visit¡ªcourteous and polite. Though his voice was a bit loud, spreading out several hundred meters, it was just as clear and as distinct as before.


    Inside the cocoon of light was a sheet of silence. There was no response.


    Ouyang Chen muttered to himself in thought upon seeing this. He increased the force of his knocking fingers, stressing the outeryer of the cocoon of light. As his strength increased, the outer shell of the cocoon of light clearly subsided. Its texture was obvious. It was like the membrane of a peeled living egg. Light could shine through it and it could be punctured easily by a finger.


    Of course, the holy space was not an egg. Under Ouyang Chen¡¯s external stimtion, the holy space responded in a manner that exceeded everyone¡¯s expectations.


    The cocoon of light twitched and pulsated as if it was a living creature. It was like an enormous heart with branches of veins piercing out and extending everywhere. What had once been thin shadows amassed together from the surroundings. The shadows made contact with the branches of veins; it was as if the branches of veins were coursing with living blood. They turned alive in an instant, pouncing forthyer byyer, shielding the cocoon of light, and driving the shadows further away.


    At the same time, the Logic World rumbled and shook. The giant shadow pir that had smashed into the ground pulled up and was being withdrawn upward. The dark clouds of turbid mist churned like waves. It assaulted the senses directly, causing one¡¯s heart to feel smothered.


    "This..." Zheng Xiao was a bit stupefied. A different thought suddenly surfaced in his mind. "I was wrong! An Weng isn¡¯t forming the body of the holy spirit! He¡¯s repeating his previous method. He wants to control, to control..."


    It was like controlling the Human-Faced Arachnid. An Weng clearly wanted to have the shadow pir¡ªthe demon in the background¡ªbe the host for his parasitic soul! He wants to realizeplete control over the demon!


    However, the consequences of having Luo Nan escape revealed itself in this moment.


    Thunder exploded in rumbles. This was the roar of the shadow demon in the background. Luo Nan did not reverse An Weng¡¯s ns, but he had caused an instantaneous change. He reduced the upper limit of An Weng¡¯s control power.


    The shadow pir was pulled up halfway when a buzzing crackling could be heard. The deep dark shadow clouds diffused in all directions, filling the entirety of the Logic World.


    No one could avoid it and this was no different than receiving an attack from the demon.


    Zheng Xiao¡¯s face went green. He summoned hisst bit energy to instantly cast an incantation. A transparent barrier was erected around his body. It blocked the first wave of the dark shadow clouds of erosion.


    However, not everyone was as fortunate as him. All the Order¡¯s priests and knights on the rooftops were suddenly ignited by the dark mes when the dark mist enveloped them. The mes seemed toxic and corrosive; a few breathester, they were all burnt to ashes.


    These people died in this wretched manner, but they were unconscious from earlier. At least, they did not die painfully. The Otum Knights, however, were the most miserable ones of all.


    The Otum Knights did not care too much about the corrosive attack of the dark shadow clouds. What they faced was not an external threat. It was the shackles nted deep within their body and soul over the past several years.


    They were vessels for the First Otums¡¯ mana and this was also their source of power. Right now, An Weng¡¯s power was going through this channel to give them a blessing... One that waspletely uncontroble. The power of the demon was rebelling and it was far above the limits that they could endure.


    Muffled explosions could be heard as dirty flowers of blood bloomed in various corners of the buildings. Several Otum Knights exploded one after another. And thus, the Order of Justice¡¯s elite troops in Xia City were nearly all wiped out in this instant.


    After the six muffled explosions rang out, Baze, who had nearly climbed his way to the rooftop of Building A, suddenly froze in ce. His muscr body abruptly expanded to twice its usual size and his muscles and bones creaked grotesquely.


    He ascended to the crumbled rooftop of ruin amidst his spasms. It looked like he could explode any moment. But in the end, his powerful gics and the strength of his fleshly body allowed him to endure it.


    Baze strove to open his mouth. What had once been snow white teeth were nowpletely stained with blood. He roared from the bottom of his throat.


    "FAIRCHILD!"


    Fairchild stood at the other side of the rooftop. He heard Baze¡¯s roar and turned around. Baze¡¯s eyeballs were nearly bulging out from their sockets and he was already half blind. However, he miraculously locked onto Fairchild¡¯s location. He let out another roar and charged over.


    With just two steps, Baze had crossed a distance of several dozen meters and his fist exploded out. Fairchild¡¯s darkened quicksilver aura sprayed and the Shield of Truth broke. Fairchild¡¯s well-built body was sent flying and Baze chased after him at an even faster speed. He pummeled Fairchild with one blow after another.


    "DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE!"


    His howls were filled with murderous intent; he was venting the extreme pain he felt. Thenter, he simply tore off his mask. "KILL ME KILL ME KILL ME KILL ME! COME AND KILL ME!"


    Baze¡¯s twisting muscles were like living snakes swimming beneath his skin. It gave him enormous strength, but this strength was engraved with pain and despair.


    Baze knew that he would die, but he wanted to die in a way that allowed him some dignity!

 Chapter 130: Inhuman (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 130: Inhuman (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Fairchild did not utter a single word, while he maintained a purely defensive guard. Baze had broke his Shield of Truth, so he no longer possessed a near-absolute defense ability. Baze had forcefully broken the limits of his defenses. His fists were more terrifying than any ax or hammer; they shredded Fairchild¡¯s robes and flesh endlessly and created a thinyer of bloody mist.


    Though Baze possessed such an impetus, he still failed to fell Fairchild so far. Though the power of chaos endlessly battered and eroded against Fairchild, there existed a fundamental order to him all this time. There was not a tangible form that could match it.


    Baze sent another fist that exploded down and forcefully sted Fairchild¡¯s guarding arm open. The fist¡¯s power pierced through his chest and entered his lungs. The crushing blow was so powerful that Fairchild¡¯s chest appeared a bit caved in.


    However, Fairchild did not shirk or flee. He used a flexible arm to put Baze into a joint lock, and the two instantly entered a skin-to-skin close melee that was more dangerous than ever before.


    Their two skulls smashed together, which instantly covered their faces with flowing blood. During this process, Fairchild smashed Baze¡¯s sinister teeth in.


    Fairchild still had Baze¡¯s elbow in a joint lock. He used the power of Baze¡¯s momentum to forcefully pull thetter into a twisting throw and smashed Baze hard onto the rubble. But not even a secondter, Baze flipped Fairchild into the air with his inexhaustible brute force.


    These two people were beasts in human form. Their powers were just that terrifying. The floor of the ruins could not handle the strength of their sh, and it caved in. This force even brought along the steel support beams.


    Their two figures fell, and the rubble pelted their faces from above. However, even within the narrowest of spaces, they did not stop at all. They continued to pummel each other¡¯s face, chest, and ribs.


    The shockwaves from their shes blew the rubble and steel beams away, and the two did not get buried. However, they had already spat out blood before they could fall to the ground.


    Fairchild disregarded the extent of his injuries, as he remained as callous as steel from start to finish. He bided his time and waited for an opportunity. Finally, the moment came when Baze let out two bombardments without the slightest reservations.


    Fairchild endured another heavy blow to his injured chest. He paid this price to capture the interval when Baze overexerted his strength. Then, Fairchild utilized his joint-maniption skills. He forcefully dislocated Baze¡¯s left elbow and used a heavy headbutt to smash Baze¡¯s right shoulder.


    After all this, both of Baze¡¯s arms were broken.


    Though Baze was in this condition, he was still like a crazed tiger. Hepletely ignored his shattered shoulder and dislocated joints, as he pounced up to continue this deadly engagement.


    However, his movements rapidly declined. He could no longer manage moving as he did before. Fairchild pulled some distance between them and let loose a chain of punches. He connected with Baze¡¯s chin, ears, and other vital points to shake Baze¡¯s brain in its skull. While he was dazed, Fairchild let loose a heavy kick to Baze¡¯s stomach and knocked the wind out of his body.


    "Kaboom!"


    Baze flew backward and smashed a warped and deformed pir in half. A lot of rubble fell down and covered his entire body. In the end, he struggled up with great difficulty, roaring and snarling as usual. The pure savagery of chaos had enveloped this man¡ªthe physically strongest of Xia City¡ªand it tortured him to the point of inhumanity.


    Fairchild took a bit of time to gasp for breath and adjust his breathing. Then, he said, "Help!"


    His voice was deep and low and was unable to reach far. When he spoke, shadow clouds saturated the air around him in a twenty meter radius. There was no one alive in the area aside from Baze.


    Fairchild¡¯s voice hung in the air for a mere two seconds before his chest lit with a faint glow. The tetrahedron of the Format Pyramid was half embedded in his chest. It helped to restore Fairchild¡¯s blood and energy, and it relieved the pain of his injuries.


    Fairchild used his hand to reset the broken ribs inside his body. He started to bleed because some of the ribs had pierced his internal organs. However, such injuries were far from fatal to him. He was powerful; a step away from being an Extraordinary. After he reset his broken bones, his internal organs¡¯ self-regeneration ability started. He could now maintain at least fifty to sixty percent of hisbat power.


    Of course, the standard used was one without the blessing of the Shield of Truth.


    "Him as well." Fairchild pointed at Baze.


    "Are you sure?" Luo Nan¡¯s consciousness cut through from the mental ne. Just now, Fairchild had used the impression of order he received from Luo Nan back when they had demonstrated their abilities to each other. This allowed them to make contact and also showed that Luo Nan¡¯s existence in the Logic World was not a mystery to the powerful such as Fairchild.


    "He can still be saved," Fairchild responded indifferently. "I believe you can do it."


    Okaay, all the pressure was tossed on Luo Nan in a mere sentence. Of course, Fairchild knew that his answer was unsatisfactory. He said in follow up, "Within the Order of Xia City, there are a few members with promise aside from An Weng. They are none other than him and Zheng Xiao... They need to be left with a bit of energy."


    Uh, that¡¯s right. Luo Nan had nearly forgotten, and he would have if Fairchild did not mention it. Fairchild was a member of the Order of Justice. Though he was an executioner of the truth side, and was ipatible with the secr side like fire and water, he was a mad believer of the Order.


    The situation was disastrous with the Order of Justice suffering heavy casualties. It was hard to figure out Fairchild¡¯s current feelings. However, when one thought about it, Fairchild was probably far from happy.


    "What about An Weng...?"


    Luo Nan¡¯s mind grew clear before he finished his words. Now was not the time to deliberate over ¡¯leaving them with a bit of energy¡¯.


    The shadow pir rose endlessly. An Weng¡¯s plot and methods were abundantly clear. The demon in the background was far too powerful. It seemed that the Scales of Truth and the holy space together could truly allow An Weng to create a miracle and control the demon. When that happened, everyone in the Logic World would be purged clean.


    "You¡¯re overthinking it." Fairchild¡¯s response was simple. "The battle between Extraordinaries won¡¯t ever enter your hands."


    This big truth was quite normal, which made Luo Nan speechless. He silently sighed and no longer wasted time on words as he gave Baze the Format Pyramid blessing.


    Things did not go as smoothly for Baze as they did with Fairchild. The effects were not instantaneous, as this dark and muscr man¡¯s body was a gigantic mess inside. External and internal injuries were second to what was truly troublesome¡ªhis body had been forcefully injected with the chaos element.


    This was a rough exchange of power. It was simply like taking the chaotic nature of the Human-Faced Arachnid and forcefully shoving it into the human body to rece all its functions.


    Just the fact that Baze had not exploded on the spot showed the incredible strength of his body.


    Knowing the cause was useless. After the series of crazed attacks, the chaotic nature had already fused deeply with Baze. He was like a cup of water contaminated with ink. He would not return to his original state no matter how much Luo Nan cleansed him.


    Moreover, the amount of ink exceeded the cup of water itself.


    To call this a terminal illness would be quite apt.


    Luo Nan switched to his irvoyance type sensing. He observed Baze with his Life Sketch method. It was already impossible to draw a constetion of Baze. If Luo Nan had to draw, he could only make out the umbra of a dark cloud like that of the Human-Faced Arachnid.


    In a certain sense, Baze could no longer be considered human. He was more like a demon, as he possessed a chaotic nature. Moreover, this nature continued to prate and rece Baze¡¯s original functions.


    He should have died much earlier, but he was still alive for some reason.


    His powerful fleshly body had fused together with the utterly copsed foundation within to form this extremely special case.


    However, he was doomed. It would be difficult for him tost long.

 Chapter 131: Not Really a Demon (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 131: Not Really a Demon (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan used his mental senses to scan Baze from inside out. The more he looked, the greater the pressure became. The more he looked, the more uncertain he grew. He cursed An Weng in his mind for a time.


    This freaking An Weng. He does not want to take responsibility and just screws over his own subordinate... Fine then. An Weng was not paying any attention to things on this end, as he was obsessed with working on the demon in the background.


    "You can save him," Fairchild repeated these same words. His faith in Luo Nan far exceeded Luo Nan¡¯s faith in himself.


    "How can I save him?" Luo Nan did not need to beat around the bush when he talked with Fairchild. He responded unhappily, "His heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney... none of them are functioning. All his bodily functions are aplete mess, all for the sake of amassing a most explosive power..."


    Suddenly, Luo Nan¡¯s words trailed off when he reached this point. Conversations on the mental ne allowed dialog to convey information at an efficiency that far exceeded normal physical speech.


    Fairchild understood Luo Nan¡¯s difficulties and problems, and Luo Nan understood Fairchild¡¯s reasoning. Then, Luo Nan used even simpler and precise words to express his thoughts.


    "You want me to erect an order frame upon him and bind him?"


    "That¡¯s right." Fairchild¡¯s thought process was rough because it originated from the time he received the feeling of order on the mental ne in Frost River Reality with Luo Nan. He let Luo Nan speak the final few words to clinch the point, just like before. He praised Luo Nan, "An order frame... It¡¯s a good description."


    Of course, it was good. This was what An Weng was doing right now.


    Yes, and there was Luo Nan as well.


    Having experienced the sh with An Weng on the altar frames, Luo Nan had some new understandings about matters he previously found unclear.


    The altar and the sacrificial ritual represented a sort of order. Though the nature of the demon was chaos, a certain order controlled it. Chaos required arge frame, otherwise, the chaos would bepletely meaningless.


    The Human-Faced Arachnid was an excellent example of this concept. The Wraith Sign¡¯s many sesses with the sacrificial ritual were living proofs. The existence of this chaos could exist within a high level of order. This was the only exnation for why a Darksider life form¡ªwhich could only rely on instinct to move¡ªcould use highly efficient methods to make correct decisions most of the time.


    Right now, Baze was a demon in human form. Though there were parts that were a bit incongruous with this description, he was essentially no different from a demon. It was naturally very difficult to restore him to a human-like state. However, if the goal was just to maintain his current state... It was a step toward being feasible.


    Luo Nan mulled things over for a little bit and said, "If you don¡¯t mind him being in this state, perhaps I can keep him alive. However, his fundamental nature will bepletely changed this way. Is there a point?"


    Fairchild gave a slight nod and looked down at the Baze that gasped for breath. This fellow¡¯s organs had long since twisted, which caused him immeasurable pain. Dirt and blood stained his dark face. His mouth was no exception, and he looked as hideous as a demon.


    Baze felt Fairchild¡¯s eyes on him and locked gazes with half bulging eyes. Then, Baze¡¯s pupils dted, as he was no longer able to focus them. He looked even more terrifying now. Moreover, the skin that bore this terrifying and hideous face rapidly turned dark and gray. Baze¡¯s ability to struggle was diminishing, and he grew stiffer and stiffer. It looked like the mes of his life could extinguish at any time.


    In regards to life, the nature of chaos was infinitely close to death.


    Conversely, if one possessed life, one¡¯s nature might not necessarily be of pure chaos. There would always be a glimmer of hope.


    "Go on then," Fairchild responded as such.


    Luo Nan ended the conversation, and the radiance of the Format Pyramid in Baze¡¯s chest grew brighter and brighter. It represented Luo Nan¡¯s order as it formed an influence upon Baze.


    However, just the blessing of the Format Pyramid was not enough. The addition of a more direct and efficient method was required.


    Luo Nan needed to refer to some things, but then his consciousness had that awful experience with the altar frames. The information that came from the depths of the mental ne distracted his consciousness for a moment, which made his mind wander a bit.


    An Weng appeared to have gained a new level of control power over the demon in the background. Ouyang Chen waspletely dispelled from the shadow pillow, which rapidly left the Logic World.


    "Focus!"


    Fairchild admonished Luo Nan. He meant that Luo Nan should not get involved, and he should not get close.


    Luo Nan understood what Fairchild meant. However, the altar frames were entangled. It was not something he could stay out of even if he wanted to.


    In fact, when Luo Nan exerted influence on Baze, his entanglement with An Weng floated once again to the surface.


    An Weng had not been paying attention to Baze. However, the chaotic nature that Luo Nan was dealing with when he erected the order frame was none other than the portion stripped from the demon that An Weng was trying to control. If Luo Nan were to trace back to the source of this chaos nature, he would not be able to avoid making contact with An Weng¡¯s Scales of Truth frame. Instantly, this hidden rtionship poked out as clear as day.


    An Weng and Luo Nan met once again, but this was no happy chance meeting. It was the collision of two order frames on a higher level. A sh and a chase.


    Oh, there was also President Ouyang Chen. He had joined in on the fun with his mental senses.


    This was the first time that Luo Nan had sensed the existence of the President so clearly. However, Ouyang Chen¡¯s existence soon turned fuzzy.


    This was because Ouyang Chen was ¡¯further¡¯ away.


    A good example would be a divingpetition. Luo Nan and An Weng both had clear directions, so they headed directly to the destination. Ouyang Chen¡¯s diving depth was on par with them, but he was not familiar with the underwater environment. He wasted a lot of energy, as he tried to find his target. Luo Nan and An Weng left him behind with their cheat-like abilities. In the end, Ouyang Chen had gotten lost. Needless to say, things were worse for other people.


    After Ouyang Chen dropped out from thepetition, An Weng took the energy he had focused on Ouyang Chen and ced most of it on Luo Nan. He scanned Luo Nan over and over and paid extreme attention to thetter.


    It was no mystery why An Weng was acting this way. Right now, the holy space had permeated within the center of the shadow pir and An Weng¡¯s attempts to control the demon had yet to seedpletely. Luo Nan had traced upriver through Baze¡¯s chaos element and arrived over yonder.


    The magnitude the two upied was no different in terms of internal, external, and level. Then the problem came: two frames. Two elemental types. Two directions. There was only one demon in the background; who would it listen to?


    It did not want to listen to either of them!


    Restless roar permeated the Logic World through the countless curtains of the mental ne. The power of fury catalyzed the shadow clouds into maelstroms that seemed to contain substance. They eroded and ripped apart everything that they covered. Dust filled the sky as far as the eyes could see, and the three buildings began to shake even harder.


    Such a reaction allowed Luo Nan to be a step more confident in his understandings. The demon in the background might be stronger than the Human-Faced Arachnid by a thousandfold, but the two were the same in nature.


    This fellow¡¯s reaction was practically a carbon copy of the reaction of the burning wraith, which was the predecessor of the Wraith Sign back on the warship a dozen or so days ago. They were bothpletely helpless when faced with this situation.


    Only a order frame of a higher level could achieve the powerful instinct nurtured within their chaos. It was currently in great pain from the attacks to its order frame, but it would be in far less pain if it got captured.


    Right now, An Weng was tracing through the concreteyers of the order frame to get a feel for its structure. He made a matching emtion of the order frame to realize control over the demon. He had a clear direction. The holy space had likely indicated this direction to him.


    However, Luo Nan had his own direction as well!

 Chapter 131: Not Really a Demon (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 131: Not Really a Demon (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    A light vibration rang through space. Luo Nan had the living case of the Human-Faced Arachnid before him. It was impossible for Luo Nan to not make the mental connection with his dark chains.


    A dozen or so days ago, Luo Nan had established his format and entered the level of ¡¯My heart¡¯s a prison¡¯. Since then, Luo Nan had made rapid progress, and even he felt that this speed was incredible. However, he deeply understood that the embodiment of his greatest abilities had always been the Format Pyramid and the dark chains.


    This was the precious treasure that his grandfather left to him. Everything and everything had developed from here.


    Luo Nan had yet to understand all the mysteries within even now. He could only describe himself as having dispelled his doubts over some fundamental principles.


    This was truly a frame!


    The changes in the altar frame proved this. The so-called dark chains were very much like an instantiation of some high-level order frame.


    Luo Nan could not understand it. How did his grandfather transform this order frame into drugs, breathing, and visualizations? How could this order frame be branded into the practitioner¡¯s body in this manner, and allow them to master this high level technique?


    However, the application was the most important thing right now.


    Luo Nan had the feeling that the directional nature of his dark chains was in no way inferior to what An Weng possessed. It seemed that Luo Nan could still dive deeper and follow An Weng for some more.


    But was that necessary? He thought back to when Bai Xinyan and the others had ridiculed him and when Fairchild had admonished him. He also remembered all the previous lessons from his rash behavior time and time again... Was he making a mistake?


    He stopped overthinking things, and the dark chains manifested. They pierced from the depths of the void to prate Baze¡¯s forehead.


    This was not the first time that Luo Nan had used the dark chains to bring someone back to life, but it was certainly the first time he had a clear target of order. Luo Nan paid no attention to the concrete cirction of blood and energy. Instead, he solely focused on the order frame that acted on the chaotic nature within.


    Though the order frame could be described as acting on the chaotic nature, this was an elevated description.


    Interfering with the material ne had never been Luo Nan¡¯s area of expertise. His current developmental path was already shifting toward pure observation. He hadrgely given up on trying to affect the material ne. In exchange, he gained an outstanding performance in mental sensing.


    It was impossible for Luo Nan to turn Baze into a marite he could control. It was also impossible for Luo Nan to force Baze onto a new path of order.


    He merely guided Baze through the fog of chaos. He clearly saw just how much the chaos element had ravaged Baze. So, Luo Nan used the higher level of the new order tob through the structure of Baze¡¯s body and soul. This procedure thereby mitigated the damage from the chaos.


    The problem was that Baze had lost basic control over himself. Even if Luo Nan ced a clearcut solution before him, it was hard for him to follow it. Luo Nan had anticipated this early on and led Baze.


    Now they reached the final fork in the road.


    Luo Nan gave Fairchild a final reminder. "This is my order frame... Mine!"


    Fairchild definitely understood the deeper meaning behind Luo Nan¡¯s words. However, Fairchild did not speak. He simply knelt down and struck Baze¡¯s chest with a heavy blow.


    Baze spat out a mouthful of blood that sshed onto Fairchild¡¯s entire face. Fairchild appeared unaffected, as he sent out another blow. This time the paralyzed Baze, who was on the ground, straightened up on his own ord. He cut off Fairchild¡¯s fist halfway with his chest.


    The two locked eyes at this moment and Fairchild tilted his chin slightly upward. "Follow him if you want to live."


    Baze gasped for breath. The erosion from and the symbiosis with the chaos element continued to bring him pain. It twisted each vein in his body inside out. Every muscle was spasming. Within this sheet of chaos, nothing remained of the ustomed functional order of the human body. It was impossible to restore.


    If he wanted to live, he would need to find a new order that would allow life to continue on within this sheet of ruin. He could not possibly aplish this in a short period of time... However, Luo Nan was demonstrating some possibility of life for him.


    Baze had no choice but to obey.


    He closed his eyes and his breathing grew even more chaotic at first. Then, his breathing suddenly broke off. It took a few seconds before he continued breathing again. And so, this process repeated. At the same time, the muscles, bones, veins, and internal organs of his body were all squirming in a frenzy. They matched his breathing tempo.


    This repeated itself five times. That is, it failed five times before Baze roared crazily. The back of his head struck the floor of the ruins madly, and loud bangs rang out. His body was struggling and spasming like crazy. His veins were bulging all over his skin. This all formed an ugly and hideous scene.


    Seconds ticked by and the shadow pir spurred the dark clouds of turbid mist and ravaged the buildingyer byyer. Portions of the structure copsed from time to time, and therge building grew all the more unstable.


    Some of the dark clouds of turbid mist came rolling in. Obviously, it could not harm Fairchild, and it could not do anything to Luo Nan. However, it was inexplicably attracted to Baze; it pounced on his body, as he roared madly. It permeated in and out of his nostrils and mouth, as if some kind of exchange was taking ce.


    Fairchild did not move at all. He calmly watched everything unfold.


    "Gasp!"


    Baze drew in an audible long breath. He exerted himself and breathed in all the mist that surrounded his body in two short seconds. He struggled in pain and swelled a bit; suddenly, the size of his body was fixed. Then, he fell paralyzed again on the ground and gasped for breath. His chest was clearly moving up and down, his breathing entering the rate of normal people.


    This represented that Baze had found a new life order within the chaos and disorder.


    Although, this oue might not be a satisfactory one.


    Baze opened his eyes and his ice-cold eyes looked toward the night sky without focus. His malevolent and fierce intent was like a me beneath ayer of ice. It was weak, but it existed tenaciously.


    Luo Nan knew that this dude¡¯s gaze was directed toward him. But what could he do about it?


    An interesting change had appeared in the Format Pyramid structure. Baze¡¯s figure quietly appeared on the ¡¯office worker¡¯ level. This was the result of reconstructing Baze¡¯s body and soul structure ording to order with the aid of the dark chains.


    Luo Nan had already stated this clearly to Fairchild by saying that this was ¡¯his¡¯ order frame.


    Fairchild had agreed tacitly, but Baze did not necessarily ept it... Fine, he was certain that Baze was seriously rejecting it.


    Luo Nah had ced Baze at the office worker level within the Format Pyramid, so he was under a binding power. Luo Nan did not have many examples of this, but he could make weakparisons. The Wraith Sign was in the technician level, and it was very obedient. Cat Eyes was in the student level, and she was unruly and obstinate. As for Baze on the office worker level...


    The dark chains suddenly shook with life. Baze¡¯s body suddenly convulsed within the rattling vibrations. A certain ¡¯hook¡¯, which had long since warped and deformed, shattered with a bang.


    In an instant, obscure waves prated space and came over. This event shocked and startled Luo Nan, but he was in no position to cry out with his mind. He absolutely could not react in time. This was An Weng¡¯s consciousness and it came shing across space. It was like a longsword recently pulled out of the forge. It brought along an intense burning sensation.


    The ¡¯hook¡¯ was certainly the means An Weng used to control Otum Knights such as Baze. Even if An Weng had abandoned Baze, it was hard for An Weng to not be disturbed in the face of this change.


    However, An Weng¡¯s intense reaction was not as simple as that of ¡¯losing a single Baze¡¯.


    Luo Nan had realized a ¡¯control¡¯ over Baze. He had erected a binding order upon Baze¡¯s chaotic nature. In a certain sense, this was tantamount to controlling a portion of the power of the demon in the background. Though An Weng had abandoned this portion, An Weng felt threatened.


    He could liken this to An Weng trying to control the maind. An Weng¡¯s attempts had turned everything on its head, but he had yet to obtain his desired oue. Luo Nan was to the side. However, Luo Nan was able to control a small ind detached from the maind due to a volcanic earthquake first.


    This was probably in the same vein.


    Analogies could be used to describe reality, but they could not rece reality in the end. Luo Nan and An Weng¡¯s rtionship were not that of an ind and its maind. There was not a vast body of water between them; there was not an ocean. There was only the distance of their senses, which was neither far nor near.


    It was far too dangerous! If Luo Nan was An Weng, he would have probably thought this.


    Moreover, there was another element that seeped into the fray.


    The dark chains rang with their rattle, ringing non-stop.

 Chapter 132: Perhaps of the Truth (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 132: Perhaps of the Truth (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan had grown ustomed to the sound of the vibrating dark chains. Of course, this was just his interpretation. There were no sounds on the mental ne. There was just the corresponding energy and information.


    Before, the dark chains would spend most of their time hidden in the extreme depths of the mental ne. There was only a finite amount of time for outsiders to know of its existence. However, An Weng¡¯s current depth on the mental ne was in no way inferior to Luo Nan¡¯s. An Weng could sense the corresponding energy and information just as clearly.


    Yes. An Weng must have heard it.


    First, there was Baze; then, the vibrations came. It was unknown how An Weng interpreted this series of changes. However, Luo Nan had confirmed that An Weng paid extreme attention to these events. An Weng even temporarily halted his attempt to control the demon!


    The heart of the holy space¡ªthe cocoon of light¡ªwas astonishingly calm. All movements had ceased. In ordance, An Weng¡¯s thoughts cleaved over once again in Luo Nan¡¯s direction. As the person involved, Luo Nan felt the burning sensation of the red-hot longsword. However, Fairchild felt it as well.


    "Withdraw your senses! Don¡¯t provoke him!" Fairchild¡¯s logical decision made Luo Nan¡¯s speechless. However, Fairchild quickly recognized his mistake and frowned. He cast his gaze toward the shadow pir, which was pulling up and leaving the sky.


    No one was able to surmise An Weng¡¯s actions. As for the demon, though it was still wild, the chaotic energy and information it brought with it could be observed as background noise. This energy and information warped the depths of space but was rtively easy to filter out. Because of this, things became much easier in an instant. For a time, all that remained was the faint ringing of the dark chains. The rung grew clearer and resonated more.


    Luo Nan felt a bit of pressure. He discovered that the source of the energy and information of the chains¡¯ cry seemed toe from more than one ce, so it was not only himself. The dark chains shook within the warped depths of space and evoked a reverberation!


    The energy and information were transmitted in a formpletely different to sound waves and the like. They were ethereal. If one wanted to trace back to the source, one could only analyze the energy and informationyer byyer to find clues and differentiate the direction.


    Thinking about it, An Weng had discovered this point. So, that was why he had stopped his previous actions. He wanted to lessen the disturbances. But no matter the strength of the interference, it was still far too difficult from Luo Nan¡¯s perspective. His analytical abilities were far from reaching this degree. Luo Nan was at a loss for a time.


    Uh, hold on, I¡¯m an idiot!


    Luo Nan cursed to himself. This cascaded series of unforeseen events had made his brain stupid. In reality, analyzing the energy and information was not that troublesome. The crucial information couldpletely be seen using the dark chains.


    Luo Nan¡¯s refocused his attention on the dark chains. In a short few seconds, a light bulb lit up in his mind. He had called it a ¡¯reverberation¡¯ just now, but this judgment was wrong.


    The sound in the depths of space was not reverberating. It was resonating.


    Let¡¯s borrow concepts from physics. The current state of the dark chains could be said to be vibrating at the same frequency of some object somewhere.


    The chains influenced the object, and the object influenced the chains. The waves started off with a tiny amplitude but suddenly expanded. It made it so that the dark chains could not hide, but it also made clues appear about the thing hidden in deeper space.


    "Rattle....ROAR!"


    The demon roared. Ever since the dark chains reverberated on this level, the powerful demon clearly grew extremely furious. Its power, which was on the verge of leaving the Logic World, let loose an explosive st as if it was venting its anger. All the buildings in the area crumbled and copsed one after another and shrapnel flew through the air. Spectators like Fairchild, Baze, and Zheng Xiao all had to rush to take shelter to avoid being part of the disaster.


    The attack of the demon naturally involved the mental ne. The corresponding st there was also extremely powerful. If the demon could do it, it would certainly crush all these little fleas inside and outside its domainpletely to death. Then, it would chew them up and swallow them.


    However, it was not easy for the demon to do this.


    Luo Nan was no longer a newbie that had trembled with fear when he faced the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s Siege Hammer attack. Right now, he could disy a marvelous superiority in his sensing-mode of pure observation. By not mixing interference with the physical ne, Luo Nan was able to have his mental senses diffuse into the atmosphere. They were incorporeal and ethereal. They were everywhere at once. The demon¡¯s mental attack descended like a storm. Though it might have been warped and deformed for a time, the whish that Luo Nan received was minimal. He barely felt it.


    In this situation, it did not matter if the buildings of the Logic World were destroyed or not. In the end, the Logic World was nothing more than a paper-cut silhouette that stood between the virtual and reality. The biggest problem was, just how much could the Logic World endure?


    As the demon¡¯s power continued to st out, a clear shaking appeared within the night sky. The frequency of its corresponding ripples distorted with an upheaval. The power was enough to potentially cause the Logic World to copse.


    When the buildings copsed, Fairchild and Baze moved agilely. The injuries did not affect them, and they were able to avoid being caught in the fallout quite easily. However, when Fairchild saw the ripples in the void, his expression changed a bit.


    "Withdraw," told Fairchild Luo Nan. However, neither Luo Nan or Baze moved.


    After the construction of the Logic World, regardless of mental senses being able to enter at will, a living person whose body was on the material ne would not find it easy to leave the Logic World. They would need to obtain the permission of Ouyang Chen, who built it. Or they could forcefully break through the barrier of this space. This option would undoubtedly shake up the foundations of the Logic World and rapidly lead to the world¡¯s copse.


    This was exactly what the demon was doing.


    Normally, if Fairchild wanted to leave, he would send his greetings to Ouyang Chen and things would be fine. However, it was unknown just how much control Ouyang Chen had over his Logic World right now... The degree of damage that the Logic World had suffered already far exceeded its normal limits. It was like a scrapped machine. It did not matter how great its performance was in the past, once the key parts were damaged, it would be extremely difficult to start it up anew.


    s, this point might not have been something Ouyang Chen had kept in mind when he started all this.


    Luo Nan did not respond to Fairchild¡¯s call. He did not retreat. It was not Luo Nan being disobedient. Rather, it was because Luo Nan did not dare. Fairchild viewed the limits of the material ne, whereas Luo Nan saw the mental ne bing even more chaotic.


    In the material ne of the Logic World, the warped structure of space was still useable. However, in the mental ne, this sort of crucial structure had already begun to copse. Warped curtains hung from the material ne and locked out one after another. They disconnected from each other and fluttered with sticity, as they intertwined. They took the mental ne, especially its deep regions, and made it one tangled mess.


    Luo Nan really did not dare to venture in there. From his irvoyance, he could see that the stability of the Logic World had received irreversible damage from the demon¡¯s attacks. The attackspletely reduced the curtain structure of the mental ne into abyrinth trap. It was like over a thousand tape lines had been pulled to the limits and interwoven together to form many bizarre loops.


    If a soul body wanted to enter and exit, one mistake and the soul would be lost in the endless abyss of space. Even if one made it out alive, it would be unknown what godforsaken ce they would appear at.


    Of course, it would be fortunate if it were only hundreds of kilometers away. But what if it was ten-thousand kilometers? What if one emerged in the bottom of the ocean? In the vastness of outer space?


    This was noughing matter!

 Chapter 132: Perhaps of the Truth (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 132: Perhaps of the Truth (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    The structure of the Logic World deformed within this warped space, to the point that it radiated energy and information. If this energy and information were analyzed, it would likely yield the crackling sound of copse.


    The situation grew all the moreplicated within the mental ne. Though Luo Nan was not going to listen to Fairchild¡¯s proposal to leave quickly, he stopped extending his mental senses. He stopped going deeper into the mental ne. Instead, he tried to retract his senses.


    Finally, Luo Nan saw that the demon was using the opportunity to ¡¯vent¡¯ with attacks to escape suspicion. After it had caused the Logic World¡¯s structure to copse, it upied a ne of some already-disconnected curtains. Meanwhile, a tape line rapidly retracted. This curtain and this tape line, their rtionship with the Logic World had been severed Then, it headed toward the depths of space.


    An Weng was forced to make a choice, as he had solely focused on Luo Nan... Actually, his choice did not matter. The demon¡¯s foundation of power had absorbed the cocoon of light and the heart. An Weng would certainly have to leave along with it.


    An Weng¡¯s focus that was like a red-hot longsword had left atst.


    Luo Nan could not help but rx a bit. However, he soon discovered that it was too early to rx.


    The demon had left. An Weng had left. But the familiar yet strange vibration grew clearer and clearer. It caused the dark chains to oscite a bit more intensely than normal.


    The resonance still continued.


    The dark chains were being affected by the distant information. Even if Luo Nan deliberately pulled some distance to stay out of it, there existed a resonance-type rtionship. As long as he remained in this ne, his consciousness would be attracted. There would always be a constant desire to approach it.


    Luo Nan¡¯s mind was in a bit of a trance. Some energy and information fragments were injected into his mind thanks to the attractive force. They turned into fuzzy images upon analysis. Luo Nan felt as if he was in a dream.


    He felt uncertain about this sight because his analytic abilities werecking. At this time, a different source on the mental ne transmitted vibrations over. Ouyang Chen had sent the information. The President had locked onto his level and position, and he was catching up through it.


    This was the first time Luo Nan had experienced the mental senses of an Extraordinary. It miraculouslycked all pressure, and it only sent over pure information.


    "Effective division ofbor is more important than working overtime."


    "Huh?"


    Suddenly, Luo Nan¡¯s mind jolted before he could truly understand what was going on. He felt an astonishing storm being set off on the mental ne. It was an enormous force with an unclear source, and It came sting across.


    The gale blew and light swayed. It covered an extremely vast range and level. It enveloped the star river scene which Luo Nan drew, which caused it to turn blurry in an instant.


    The sudden onught of the storm would have affected Luo Nan further, but Ouyang Chen¡¯s telepathic thoughts were here. Ouyang Chen erected a defensive barrier out of nothing to block the follow-up attacks.


    The mental ne had not been calm before. Now that it received this influence, its curtains and tape lines fluttered around everywhere. The numerous chaotic information flow drowned out the specific direction that An Weng and the demon headed, forever lost.


    The unknown party used the storm to cover demons tracks! Luo Nan made this initial judgment at once. The sudden appearance of the storm came too coincidentally. It made one naturally doubt its purpose.


    Who made the move? Was there a powerful member of the Order of Justice in Xia City who had yet to reveal themselves?


    "President!"


    "They should be here now."


    Ouyang Chen knew all of Luo Nan thoughts through themunication on the mental ne. Ouyang Chen, on the other hand,cked even basic emotional waves. After evaluating of the sudden change in the situation, he exined a bit of background for Luo Nan.


    "An Weng... The target he is trying to control contains an important secret. Many people and many powers have an interest in it. I believe that our Society needs to seize this decisive opportunity. It would be best if we could lock onto the position of that demon."


    This left Luo Nan dumbstruck. How could they possibly lock onto it?


    The demon had caused quite arge amount of chaos when it destroyed the Logic World. Then, the mental storm appeared from somewhere, and the demon used the storm to sever its trail in a truly effective manner. Even if Ouyang Chen wanted to lock onto the demon¡¯s position, there was not a lot of time...


    Before Luo Nan couldplete his thoughts, another change urred in the void.


    Suddenly, another force surged. It was like a high cliff that abruptly ascended into existence. It stood in the middle of the void andpletely suppressed the gusts of the mental storm that came from some distance. In the midst of Luo Nan¡¯s daze, something had inexplicably and heavily quelled the chaotic terrain within the mental in.


    This ability of dynamic quelling was on a much higher level than that of pure destruction.


    Though the cliff stood there quelling, there was a sort of overwhelmingly dangerous feeling emitted from it for some reason. It was not due to instability. It was because there was an even more powerful active nature within its majestess.


    Luo Nan had abundant experience with his mental senses, but this force simply gave off the feeling that said, "I do note to the mountain. The mountaines to me." This was the first time Luo Nan had ever experienced such an imposing force. Inparison, Fairchild was too pure and Ouyang Chen kept a low-profile the entire time. They were not as bright as this power, this unforgettable power.


    Who was this? It looked like they were on the same side, but howe they did not make a move when the situation was more favorable?


    Luo Nan hesitated internally. On, the other hand, this did not shock Ouyang Chen at all. He just sent out new telepathic thoughts over to Luo Nan, "I was left too far behind just then. My ability isn¡¯t sufficient to lock onto the demon¡¯s position from here. I need you to help confirm."


    Ouyang Chen acknowledged this in an easy-going manner. Luo Nan¡¯s ability to trace with his senses on the mental ne exceeded Ouyang Chen. Ouyang Chen ced Luo Nan in an awkward position when he admitted this.


    "I can¡¯t lock on!"


    Right now, Luo Nan could only confirm that the demon was located in the extreme depths of the mental ne. The construction of the Logic World warped the curtains of the mental ne, which brought them close to the material ne. It was only in this way that this chance appeared before the demon.


    Many curtainsyered upon each other to form the mental ne. With the construction of the Logic World, this curtains tangled and merged together into a single mass. Now that the Logic World¡¯s structure had copsed, the curtains were being set back into ce. During this upheaval, the curtains interacted each other. It was simply like the scattered pages of a book dancing in the wind.


    At this moment, it was very hard to find the location of the demon and An Weng. First, one had to find whichyer of the mental ne they were in. Then, one had to find them on thatyer. The difficulty was on the same level as trying to lock onto a single page of a book¡¯s scattered pages; then, trying to find a single typo within the densely packed characters.


    Just the thought of the magnitude of this undertaking caused a chill to run down Luo Nan¡¯s spine... Uh, actually he was in his soul form now. He did not have a spine.


    Ouyang Chen clearly knew the difficulty of the matter. He did not intent on giving Luo Nan more pressure. "Just a general direction is fine. You can integrate with this image."


    Pure information cut through once more, but this time, the quantity of it wasrge. It made Luo Nan a bit dizzy.


    The information that came in was just as Ouyang Chen had described. It was simr to an image; it was just far moreplicated. A unidirectional perspective or three-dimensional figure could not describe it. After Luo Nan analyzed it, it was as if someone had squeezed him into an immersion VR device. Luo Nan personally experienced theplicated nature and the abundant content of the image.


    This was where the benefits ofmunicating on the mental neid. Soon, Luo Nan understood that this was the structural design drawing of the Logic World.


    After sorting through the general outline, Luo Nan instantly felt that the structural patterns of the Logic World were like thick sponge mats. The mats gated off in all directions and were stacked three, fouryers inside out for each side. Then, theyers pressed together from the outermostyer.


    Luo Nan could represent the material ne, while the sponge mats represented the mental ne. Force was exerted on the high levels of the mental ne to forcefully warp the structure of the foldedyers. This ripped apart the separation between extremely distant regions of the mental ne, which allowed them to directly interfere with the material ne.


    This was probably how it worked. Luo Nan understood the basic principles of erecting the Logic World. Of course, actually doing so was another thing. It was absolutely not easy... It was not even worth thinking of attempting if one did not possess the strength of an Extraordinary.


    Moreover, how manyyers of sponge mats were there? Does the thickness of the mats pose an issue?


    From what Luo Nan could tell with his own senses, the mental ne was a multiyered structure, but it describing as thousands ofyers of curtains would be more urate. Especially since this feeling grew stronger the deeper he delved into the mental ne. No matter how theyers ovepped; no matter how they fluttered and shook.


    Well, Ouyang Chen had sent the structural drawing of a simplified model for the Logic World. How much harder would calcting the distortion of several thousandyers be whenpared to calcting the distortion of a fewyers? Even if Ouyang Chen sent over the calctions, Luo Nan probably would be unable to receive such a mass of information.


    Luo Nan had found a rational exnation, and his mind calmed down quite a bit. Though a small mistake would lead to a huge difference in the result even when he used the model, Ouyang Chen did not expect precision from him.


    He thought about it broadly and telepathically drew a circle upon this image. He felt that this region was the most suitable location for the demon. He felt that this one circle would require him tob through over a hundred ¡¯curtains¡¯ to verify the demon¡¯s existence. If Luo Nan had the misfortune of the target ¡¯curtain¡¯ to drift away during this time... Then the only ending would be all his efforts going down the drain.


    After Luo Nan drew the circle, he felt that his solution was unreliable. However, Ouyang Chen was quite pleased with it. "The direction is quite convincing. We can give it a shot. If it doesn¡¯t work, we can do more research."


    "But..."


    When Luo Nan released this thought, the turmoil on the mental ne, which had lessened substantially, suddenly ignited once more. The enemy that had covered An Weng¡¯s trail with the mental storm attacked the ¡¯quelling cliff¡¯ time and time again to no avail. The enemy switched to a different method and began to jump back and forth between various regions of the mental ne. Sometimes, the enemy even touched the material ne. Rolling clouds gave birth to waves that directly affected the existence of the Logic World.


    Everyone could tell that theplete copse of the Logic World was only a matter of time.


    Ouyang Chen stopped wasting time speaking and did not consult Luo Nan for his opinion anymore. He took the bit of strength that he used to protect Luo Nan¡¯s mental senses and made a subtle change. He took Luo Nan and his mental senses that had stirred up quite a bit of trouble tonight and expelled him from the Logic World.


    By the time Luo Nan came back to reality, he had found his soul body floating in the area of the buildingplex in the real world. Unlike the smashed state of Frost River Reality in the Logic World, it was unscathed in reality. It shrunk into the cover of darkness.


    However, Luo Nan¡¯s star river scene turned more and more confusing.


    It was only now that Luo Nan discovered the sh between the strong. It was not merely limited to the Logic World. Their power possessed a prating and stable nature that was astonishing; they forcefully broke through the barrier of the Logic World. The resulting shock waves passed onto this ne.


    Even though Luo Nan could not evoke enough power with his mental senses, the structure of his Life Sketches received real effects. The pressure was mounting.


    Without needing much thought, Luo Nan began to rapidly reduce his sensing range. From his perspective, he could do this in a single effort of will. However, he soon felt something wrong.


    Life Sketchesposed the scene of the star river, and Luo Nan drew it personally. This was not something that Luo Nan could withdraw from with will alone. He could not delete it with his will alone. The corresponding information was already deeply engraved in his mind, and this caused Luo Nan to receive real influences himself.


    Energy and information exchanged on the mental ne. Expanding the range of one¡¯s mental senses did note with any difficulties. However, the instant Luo Nan retracted his mental senses, hepressedplicated information. They swept over his soul body.


    Whether it be his soul or his main body dozens of kilometers away, they all shook violently.


    Luo Nan was already familiar with this kind of feeling. Every time the altar framepleted a sacrificial ritual sessfully, every time the Wraith Sign reaped some gains in a hunt, corresponding energy and information would always be fed back to Luo Nan.


    His soul was bing stronger. When this happened, troubles always followed like a shadow following a body. This time, the troubles seemed to be even bigger than before.


    Before, the limits of his soul body¡¯s endurance had yet to be tested. This time, things werepletely different. Before Luo Nan could retract the range of his senses by even a half, the feelings of swelling, rupturing, and dizziness magnified endlessly. A bad omen of a runaway effect appeared within the operation of the convergence of energy and information.


    There was something even more deadly as well. The sh between the strong on the mental ne was stuffing a bunch of useful and useless energy and information into the equation.


    His soul body had reached its limits! Or in other words, the operational structure of energy and information, also known as the Soul Configuration, had reached the cap of the amount of energy and information it could process.


    There was a great amount of information. The lost of control and the disorder caused the boundaries between information to blur and mix together.


    Which information was his self? Which information was his own consciousness?


    Which information was his surrounding insignificant memories and impressions?


    These things were all kneaded into one spot. They interfered with each other and affected each other. Soon, it seemed that his soul would stop working.


    No, that absolutely could not happen!


    Luo Nan knew that regardless of what happened next, he needed a buffer. He needed a way to discharge this flood... He could not think of anything else at this moment but the sesses he had in the past.


    The external neuron!


    A lightning bolt cleaved through the sea of his mind and Luo Nan¡¯s physical body sprung up in the vehicle. It fell back down again and began exhibiting death convulsions.


    The values of the medical monitoring instruments at the scene rose and fell sharply. The values did not go straight down. Instead, they bounced up and down and went off the charts. It was as if the instruments had entered strong maic field. The numbers they gave were no longer worth anything.


    Everyone was startled and baffled in the vehicle, be it Bai Xinyan, Zhang Yingying, Xue Lei, Red Fox, Cat Eyes, or Papercut. At the same time, a static sound rang in the ears of several members of the Society. The Psychic Wave Network, which had ceased to operate for a while, began to restoremunications. Only, the first wave of information transmitted over to them was bizarre.


    Within rustling noise like the rise and fall of the tide came two voices in sharp opposition. Thoughts transformed into callous words. "The Order will purge all who desecrate the Holy Entity..."


    "Then let¡¯s go to war!" The response was leisurely and calm, as if the previous words were just a breeze blowing past the ear. However, the information within along with the corresponding power and identity of the speaker made the members of the Society who had heard the messages look at each other in dismay.


    Then, everybody cast their gazes near-simultaneously on a single person.


    What the hell is your boss doing?


    Zhang Yingying spread her hands in a helpless shrug. It was rare to see her speechless.

 Chapter 133: Intermediary (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 133: Intermediary (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    "Chu chu! Chu chu!"


    Xie Junping puckered his lips. His tongue sprung back and forth, as he produced an alluring sound. What a pity. He had made a great blunder. He had forgotten to use a microphone. The actions of his mouth were bound to be useless.


    Luckily, the night vision camera in front was quite awesome. Colored light post-processed the dark green image. By the time it was transmitted to his eyes, the technology had nearly reconstructed the image perfectly. It was close to the real situation.


    He could see a little plump brown critter in the dim corner of the tree hole. It stood on its hind legs, as Its front paws shook. Sharp teeth ground against each other within its t and round mouth. The creature looked nervous and alert.


    "That¡¯s right. Be a good boy ande to papa..."


    Xie Junping¡¯s lips split into a grin, as he subtly moved his joystick. Then, he pressed a button. A spider-like bionic robotics tform finished locking onto the target. It shot out with a paralyzing needle.


    The brown critter visibly trembled for an instant before its upright body fell forward.


    "Bingo!"


    Xie Junping loudly yelled and pulled hard on his joystick tomand the robotic spider. The spider dashed down the flight of stairs, and its forward limbs reached out. Its sharp tips caused visible blue-white sparks. "Brown-haired mouse! Let your papa love you properly!"


    The stab was perfect!


    The stab had struck the target dead on before his eyes, but he had never expected the following to happen. The mouse¡¯s tail, which made up two-thirds of the length of its entire body, whipped out. It knocked the electrically charged forelimbs of the spider askew without taking a hair of damage itself.


    Then, its plump body shot straight up and it clung to the wall of the tree house. It turned horizontally and traversed the wall with five or six steps like an acrobat. After that, it dropped to the ground and repeated a few vertical jumps, dodging the metal the robotic spider shot. It went down the flight of stairs and disappeared past a corner in the blink of an eye. It caused a faint sshing sound, as it jumped into the water.


    "F***K YOU!"


    Xie Junping temporary neglected his facade of a respectful person in his anger. He nearly smashed his controller to the ground, and he smacked his head hard a few times, which caused his immersion helmet to ring out with muffled vibrations.


    There was not the time to be overly vexed. He yelled out, "Underwater view!" Soon, the scene switched to an underwater area that was dark, cloudy, and murky.


    The automatically calibrated visual mode showed a rtively well-rendered scene thanks to the high-end underwater camera. The bloody-glow of the setting sun pierced through the jungle to diffuse across the surface of the shallow waters. The gleam of the reflective waves asionally brushed across, asrge ck fish swam by. The water was full of life and everything felt within reach. It was as if Xie Junping had personally entered the water.


    However, Xie Junping did not have the leisure to enjoy this underwater scene. He pushed his joystick forward and a motor silently started up. This was an expensive purchase, a small military unmanned underwater vehicle. It moved like a fish as it slipped quickly around.


    He had lost his best opportunity with his meaningless emotional venting from earlier. The brown-haired mouse had dove out from below the sandbar and slipped past the UUV ahead and below. The brown-haired mouse had an unexpectedly great speed underwater.


    Xie Junping had already stopped talking. He grit his teeth, as he activated the firing system. However, the target did something unexpected with its long tail. It knocked its tail into the thickyer of silt below the water and stirred up a great quantity of ck mud to act as a screen. This action allowed it to escape from the firing system¡¯s lock-on.


    At this time, the robotic spider entered an autonomous mode and crashed into the water. This was an amphibious robot. Though it couldn¡¯t float on the surface, it could tread on the bottom of the water and chase slowly ahead.


    "This looks to be more effective..."


    Xie Junping rushed to switch the control modes, but could he do so in time? In the end, he simply said through gritted teeth, "Telepathic control mode!"


    He immediately went to control the simpler machine, the small UUV. Hebined the telepathic controls with the automatic cruising function, which let the UUV travel back and forth in the rubble. Then, Xie Junping endured the dizziness and strain from using his mind to do two things at once, as he controlled the robotic spider to pursue the critter.


    Muddy waters sprang up all around him within the smallke of this wend. His movements startled the fish and prawn within, and the birds and critters above the water. It was all quite chaotic.


    Xie Junping roared five minutester, and he threw the joystick hard.


    "OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD."


    A dark shadow came straight at Hu Huaying¡¯s face right when the freight elevator opened up. Luckily, Hu Huaying¡¯s reactions were quick. He dodged to the side and the unidentified flying object swept past his ear. Then, it smashed into the elevator¡¯s inner wall behind him.


    Hu Huaying¡¯s scalp went numb when he heard the volume of noise the joystick made. He opened his mouth and wanted to curse at Xie Junping, but saw that Xie Junping was wearing a helmet. He saw Xie Junping try to pull off his helmet in a flustered and exasperated manner. This fellow nearly broke his own neck due to his heated mood.


    Hu Huaying rolled his eyes. He did not scold Xie Junping, but he did not go help. He just crossed his arms over his chest and watched Xie Junping struggle.


    Hu Huaying waited until Xie Junping took off his helmet and his other peripherals before mocking him. "Brother Ping, you¡¯re bing more and more stingy now! Why don¡¯t you go to Frost River Reality. They have a full set of gear there. What¡¯s the point of using a joystick."


    "I¡¯m not ying games. I don¡¯t need a full set of gear!"


    "If you¡¯re not ying games, what are you ying?"


    "... You won¡¯t understand."


    Xie Junping wanted to say something, but he hesitated. In the end, he just waved his hand with a helpless look. But there was a me that burned within his eyes, which showed a will that had not weakened at all.


    He breathed a few times and calmed himself down. "How goes the work with the societies?"


    Hu Huaying shrugged and replied, "It seems that the Mystic Arts Research Society is really going to withdraw. They¡¯re going to transition to the next leadership ahead of time. Old Du wants to resign. I believe that we can take advantage of this situation. I heard that there has been a problem with their major financial backer; their financial backer may be removing funds."


    Xie Junping frowned, as he put down his helmet. He waved toward Hu Huaying and indicated that they should not continue chatting in the central control room. They should go into the elevator and return to the surface.


    As they entered the elevator, Xie Junping sent the deformed multi-function joystick flying with a kick. This action showed that his mood had yet topletely calm down.


    "The Rainbow Fund backing the Construction Society is certainly much more stable."


    "And why does that matter?"


    Hu Huaying spread his hands in a shrug. "I don¡¯t really see a difference. The main thing is the fact that our Junior Nan has enemies everywhere. Li Xuecheng of the Construction Society is a pain and Hu Huaying of the Mystic Arts Research Society has yet toe out from the hospital. The kids of the Mystic Research Society are eager to start some action. They¡¯re getting ready for their revenge. From my perspective, it doesn¡¯t matter which of these societies Junior Nan joins; they¡¯re pretty much the same... What are Junior Nan¡¯s thoughts about this?"


    Xie Junping did not immediately respond.


    The elevator door opened and the two arrived at the tea room on the underground third floor of Gear. Xie Junping just chose a random recliner and threw himself on it. He justid there without moving. He took a few breaths, as he faced the sky.


    The sun had almost finished setting, as it released thest of its warmth for the day. In a timely manner, the AI Service Terminal delivered a cup of ck tea at the perfect temperature. Xie Junping reached out to grab it, but he waszy. He used his finger to hook onto the handle of the cup and his eyeballs swiveled to look all around the room. Theyout was the same, and had not been frequented all this time. However, there were some subtle differences with this society buildingpared to two weeks ago.


    A dozen or days had passed and he was the one who single-handedly managed things. This was the result.


    A good amount of time passed before Xie Junping sighed. "I don¡¯t want to give this ce up to anyone!"


    "Huh?"


    "Anyway, I don¡¯t want to give this ce up to anyone." Xie Junping closed his eyes, as hey on the recliner.


    An evening wind blew through the jungle and entered through the window. It merged with the afterglow of the setting sun, which eliminated its chilliness. The wind spiraled lithely within the fifteen story atrium, and it seemed to carry with it a rhythmic whistle. The sound was detailed and exquisite.


    His mood, which had been agitated all throughout the day, could be unconsciously cleansed and cleared in this ce. All that was left was a wonderful tranquility... Well, all right. There was still that challenge with the brown-haired mouse.


    Xie Junping¡¯s thoughts churned and his vision seemed to extend all the way to the withered tree of the sandbar. His visionbined as one with the robotic spider underwater and the small underwater unmanned vehicle.


    The ck mud stirred up during the underwater chase had already settled now. What would the next chase be like?


    Thinking about these things brought quite the thrill. A light challenge is quite a wonderful thing... Ah, what?


    Xie Junping suddenly went into a daze. How did the scene is his mind suddenly be this clear and realistic? It was just like the video sent from the underwater cameras.


    He sat upright in an instant, but before he could consider this matter thoroughly, Hu Huaying started spewing the words of a drunkard. "My brother Ping! Right now we¡¯re talking about the situation with Junior Nan!"


    "We can¡¯t change the situation no matter how much we think," replied Xie Junping without any thought. The bloody red glow outside the window drowned half of the jungle and the glow also wiped all traces of the bizarre thoughts he had just now.

 Chapter 133: Intermediary (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 133: Intermediary (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    The rumbling cry of falling water resounded next to his ears. The crushed ice of a flowing river hit his face with a cutting force like des.


    The pain was a small matter. Luo Nan strove to fix his pace, but he never had the chance to, as he went against the flow of the ever-changing Frost River Waterway. The high-speed ice floes of the cold waters enveloped him, and his feet could barely reach the ground. Despite this, he continued to move forward.


    In the span of a few breaths, Luo Nan felt a pressure assault the dome of his head. Suddenly, he withdrew his head as hard rock sliced across the water¡¯s surface and dangerously cut across his scalp.


    Above theyer of water was ayer of rock. There was not enough room for Luo Nan to have his head above water. He did not have time to take a deep breath just now. After he rolled for a distance, a grave chilliness had seeped into his body. He lost the sensation of his limbs and even worse, he felt a smothering in his chest. The ill consequences ofcking a reserve of oxygen had appeared in this moment. His brain was bing stupid, and he unconsciously opened his nose and mouth, which allowed cold water to pour in.


    "Gargle gargle..."


    The icy water forcefully ran in from his nose. Even an iron-muscled man would find this sensation unbearable, let alone Luo Nan. Luo Nan struggled with his hands and legs a few times. His vision was a sheet of darkness. Then, a dark red glow covered his vision with only a halo in the center that emitted light. This was the standard sight of a near-death state, and it took a while to recover from.


    In the corner of his peripheral vision throbbed a numeral digit to the count of ten. The guide, Nina, indicated with her soft voice.


    "You havepleted the stage¡¯s objective."


    The immersion helmet¡¯s power was cut off, which expelled Luo Nan consciousness from the Reality Interface. He felt the dense and sticky nutrient solution gush and flow around him. He was unable to channel and control his soul strength, so he was relying on such methods to force it back in ce. Such methods were very rough.


    Luo Nan muttered the twenty-word secret mantra of ¡¯My heart¡¯s a prison¡¯ to himself. He utilized his chanting and breathing techniques to maintain a tranquil state of mind. In the depths of his mind, the chains vibrated a few times, and his soul strength oscited as well. Then, it ultimately stabilized. However, waves and waves of his soul strength continued to seep downward. It was like a small waterfall that rushed down from a short cliff. It formed a sort of pressure toward him.


    "Excellent. Your state is more stable now." Bai Xinyan¡¯s voice entered his ears, which represented the end of today¡¯s treatment. "We can allow visitors earlier today... Terrific, right?"


    She had clearly directed herter words toward someone other than Luo Nan.


    The water level of the nutrient solution continued to drop at this time. Luo Nan reached out with his hands to take off his helmet, as the blood red glow of the setting sun seeped through the window. The glow diffused against the outer wall of the medical treatment pod and blended together with the nutrient solution. It created a dazzling glow to the eyes.


    Luckily, Luo Nan did not really use his eyes much these days. He just naturally knew the changes outside. He used a hand to knock against the inner wall of the pod and sent a message using the HexaEar in his ear.


    "Sister He. Good afternoon."


    "Shouldn¡¯t it be Secretary He?" Bai Xinyan was flipping through the monitoring records, as she casually said these words.


    No one acknowledged Bai Xinyan. He Yueyin wore a sinct and sharp business suit. She stood outside the medical treatment pod. Though Luo Nan likely could not see her clearly, she still did her habitual slight bow.


    "Good afternoon, Mr. Luo."


    There was still some time before theplete removal of the nutrient solution. He Yueyin used the HexaEar to ask Luo Nan for the details of his current state.


    Luo Nan answered with ¡¯yes¡¯s and ¡¯well¡¯s. Some things could not really be understood and some things could not be told in a way that could be understood. It had already been a week since the matter at Frost River Reality. Luo Nan¡¯s original n to go back to school and study died in its womb. His nned discharge from the hospital was likely canceled, as he re-entered a twenty-four-hour monitoring state. In addition, Bai Xinyan became personally responsible for him.


    From the way that things were handled, the Society¡¯s judgment toward the state of Luo Nan¡¯s body was quite a negative one.


    However, Luo Nan did not believe things were that bad... Unfortunately, saying such things were useless.


    He Yueyin also discovered that it was useless to ask Luo Nan. In the end, she had to find a professional. She looked at Bai Xinyan, who used her hand to swipe down a flexible interface.


    "A gain value hovering around -17 to -25. This is an eptable interval. And like I said before, he is in a more stable state now."


    The so-called gain value was also known as the effect value. This quantified the degree of harmonization between the body and soul. Overall, the effect value reflected whether the method, the structure, and the degree of mutual interference between the mental ne and material ne were good or not.


    A positive value showed that there were positive gains, positive effects.


    A negative value showed that there were negative effects.


    A zero value showed no increase or decrease.


    In this standard, the higher the gain value, the better. It was quite normal for a typical ability user in normal circumstances to have an increase or decrease of one or two points. Over ten points was a bit abnormal.


    Luo Nan¡¯s gain value was negative, and it broke through twenty points. His case was certainly much more serious. However, a normal person would typically have his gain value avnche when they reached this degree.


    Luo Nan¡¯s gain value could still fluctuate up and down. It showed that he was rtively stable.


    "How stable is he?"


    "As long as there aren¡¯t any particrly intensive fluctuations in his emotions, as long as he doesn¡¯t do any intense exercise, and as long as he takes great care, he can still live a normal life without any issues. Actually, there¡¯s no point in being overly cautious. Being active, resting, and maintaining a good mood is better than anything else. I mean, I can¡¯t really stop him if he finds a beauty to roll in the hay with. As long as he¡¯s happy, you know?"


    Luo Nan had just opened the medical treatment pod and heard up to this point. He was speechless for a time. In any case, he and Bai Xinyan were in frequent contact over these past few days. They had a rtively good understanding of each other¡¯s personalities, so Luo Nan was a bit hardened to such things. He could only pretend that he had not heard anything, as he looked down to find clothes to wear.


    He Yueyin looked to the side and red at Bai Xinyan with an eye. Bai Xinyan¡¯s smile remained just as before.


    Luo Nan hade in and out of the medical treatment pod over the course of the past few days. He had be ustomed to exposing his chest, back, thighs, and so on. The thickness of his figurative skin was growing. He put on the patient robes in the blink of an eye, which concluded today¡¯s session.


    He knew of his own situation. Right now, Luo Nan¡¯s interest was mostly ced elsewhere. "How¡¯s the situation outside? The Order of Justice hasn¡¯t dispatched people over, right?"


    He Yueyin did not answer. Instead, it was Bai Xinyan who freely spoke. "You¡¯re not even cing such importance on your own injuries. It looks like you¡¯re hoping that things are going to get big?"


    "..."


    So, Bai Xinyan simply took matters into her own hands and gave Luo Nan a lesson. "Look, Student Luo Nan. The battle at Frost River Reality. The scramble over some object. The number of casualties. You need to know that it¡¯s all meaningless. Right now, everyone¡¯s focus is on the Martial Empress bing an Extraordinary. Her might can counterbnce the Order of Justice¡¯s Archotum summoned holy entity. This is more critical than anything else!"


    "Extraordinary..." Luo Nan recalled the final stage of the sh that night. Two powerful forces shook and throbbed back and forth in their fierce battle across space. Even if most of the battle urred on the mental ne, the powers had asionally gushed into the material ne and had smashed the Logic World into bits and pieces.


    He only found outter on that the person who had intervened and covered An Weng¡¯s trail was the Archotum of the Order of Justice. The Archotum had borrowed the power of the Scales of Truth to do so. The other person who had intervened was Zhang Yingying¡¯s boss. She was a legendary woman known as the Martial Empress.


    "It is impossible to overestimate the significance of an Extraordinary."


    Bai Xinyan exined in deeper detail, "Within any one of the powers across the globe, the Extraordinaries are the symbols of power andw. In recent years, the three individuals, Ouyang Chen, the Martial Empress, You Lao, form the iron triangle of the Society. They are the foundation that stabilized the Society within Xia City. Of the three of them, two have be Extraordinaries, causing a sharp increase in the Society¡¯s influence in Xia City. The Society¡¯s power is certainly worthy of debate."


    "On the other hand, Quantum Corporation made Los Angeles their own. It has be a capitalistic paradise, while the Order of Justice has made Edmonton a holy kingdom. But upon closer inspection, one power is apany that clearly chases after the maximization of gains. The other power is an order with clear-cut doctrines. What does the Society bring to the table? A way of life?... Or perhaps the Society borrows a shell that is used in a different direction."


    Bai Xinyan paused slightly, and her pupils swiveled to face He Yueyin. "I heard that General He is interested in running for mayor of Xia City after retiring from the military, is that right?"

 Chapter 134: The Limits of the Fleshly Body (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 134: The Limits of the Fleshly Body (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    When Bai Xinyan said the words, ¡®General He¡¯, she most likely meant He Yueyin¡¯s father. He was a high ranking officer of Xia City¡¯s Coastal Defense Force. His name was He Bozheng.


    Speaking of which, He Bozheng was Crag Burst¡¯s old superior. He Bozheng was pretty low key in the military, but he had a good reputation.


    But the person with the most power in the He Family was He Yueyin¡¯s grandfather, Admiral He Chong. He was the brightest shining star out of all the officers during the third war. He served as the highestmanding officer directly under the Star Alliance andmanded the Space Frontier Fleet. He was your typical military big shot and had retired for many years. He had countless old friends in the military, and he held a majestic status.


    He Bozheng was a rathermendable person. s, he was also in his father¡¯s shadow. Despite this, He Bozheng would hold a lot of promise if he really wanted to enter the political arena after retirement and be a candidate for the Xia City election.


    Of course, the political aspects involved were quiteplex. The link between politics and the ability user society was already something outside Luo Nan¡¯s knowledge. He used his head to think a bit and failed to grasp the main pointspletely. In the end, his throat began to itch and he began to cough.


    He Yueyin had no interest in such topics from beginning to end. She acted like she was an outsider who had nothing to do with Bai Xinyan¡¯s topic.


    She saw Luo Nan coughing and brought a cup of water from the side. She casually and rationally switched the topic back to Luo Nan. "The damage to Mr. Luo¡¯s nervous system hasn¡¯t worsened, right?"


    Bai Xinyan chuckled, as she swept her gaze across Luo Nan¡¯s face. "Honestly speaking, it¡¯s hard for there to be a clear improvement. I¡¯ve spent far too much time helping him control the growth rate of his soul strength. The progress of his medical treatment isgging behind greatly. We will need to increase our time together if this continues on... Student Luo Nan, are you sure you¡¯re not doing this on purpose?"


    Luo Nan corrected her in earnest. "Frost River Waterway is the one keeping mepany all the time."


    In fact, there were no issues with Bai Xinyan¡¯s professional exnation. Luo Nan¡¯s biggest trouble right now was the out-of-control growth of his soul strength.


    Drawing the Life Sketches, bing cognizant of the order frames, the sacrificial hunts of the Wraith Sign, and so on. These events had pushed his soul strength to new heights time and time again.


    Luo Nan had even discovered that his soul strength had grown all this time just from releasing his mental senses and achieving awareness with his irvoyance. It was like the autumn rain striking a levelke. The rain was fine, but theke had unknowingly risen to submerge the bridge that spanned it. It naturally caused the pressure toward his fleshly body to be bigger and bigger.


    To treat this problem, Bai Xinyan had used the treatment method that was the Frost River Waterway. This could be considered a ¡¯cage therapy¡¯. It took Luo Nan¡¯s soul strength and confined it in a monotonous and repetitive environment. Then, difficult challenges were presented one after another to exhaust his soul strength over and over.


    This method treated the symptoms but could not cure him. However, it was still passable for emergency treatment.


    The problem stemmed from the fact that there were three versions of the Frost River Waterway in total.


    One version was simplified for the public; it could be only used on an ordinary person.


    One version is the one Bai Xinyan brought out. It was suitable for ability users. This was the Professional Guide Version that only an ability user could ess.


    Thest version was the grand full version that Luo Nan had essed with the external neuron.


    The Professional Guide Version was quite decent, but Luo Nan had experienced the full version that included the elite cultivation methods of the Archetype Format. As such, returning to such a castrated version made Luo Nan feel quite a loss from the differences.


    Additionally, Bai Xinyan was outside monitoring him during every run of the Frost River Waterway. The female doctorate was clearly involved with the research on the Archetype Format, so Luo Nan had always maintained vignce, which made this week quite an arduous one for Luo Nan.


    Taking advantage of He Yueyin¡¯s presence, Luo Nan expressed his thoughts once more. "Perhaps we can try to incorporate physical training. In the end, this is where the problem with my body and soul imbnce lies. Blindly exhausting my soul strength and not strengthening my fleshly body... This is really restricting me..."


    "You have a way with words."


    Bai Xinyan pursed her lips into a smile, and the gleam in her eyes seemed to circte around. She examined Luo Nan up and down once again. "As a doctor, I certainly wish to have a treatment n that can bring your case under permanent control. However, I need to emphasize the following. Any independent physical exercise you do will certainly involve ¡¯volume¡¯. In your situation, it would be best if you didn¡¯t have any hopes."


    You think I¡¯m going to wait for you and your researchboratory to ¡¯modify¡¯ me? Luo Nan didn¡¯t say this out loud, but displeasure filled his heart.


    Bai Xinyan¡¯s current treatment n involved technological strengthening of Luo Nan¡¯s body from the inside out. Reportedly, the basic method was to use special nano-materials to mold the relevant neurons and inner organs. Regeneration and damage urred simultaneously, which rapidly increased the endurance and resilience of the fleshly body.


    Luo Nan did not especially reject this regeneration n in the beginning. After all, Bai Xinyan worked at y Laboratory, the cutting edge research organization of neuroregeneration and neruostrengthening. Her academic adviser was none other than the principal investigator of theboratory, Doctor y. He was the number one authority in this field.


    However, after the matters at Frost River Reality, Luo Nan¡¯s vignce toward Bai Xinyan grew heavier. He really did not want to entrust his own life to aboratory that had an unclear rtionship with Quantum Corporation. Especially since the amount of modification in the n grew bigger and bigger with the growth of his soul strength. His n was no longer a simple case of neuroregeneration. Even the man who had contacted Doctor y in the first ce, Brother Octopus, was a bit unsure of this matter.


    Luo Nan did not hide his thoughts deep enough, as Bai Xinyan had seen through him in a single nce. "It isn¡¯t rare for a patient to reject their doctor¡¯s treatment n. It¡¯s actually amon urrence when ites to prescription medicine. In any case, we¡¯re not talking surgery here. Surgery would only make a big mess of things."


    Her slender fingers drew a circle near her temples. She was clearly suspecting that someone was being a moron.


    Luo Nan mumbled, "Then what is one¡¯s Self-Logic worth?"


    "Oh, so Student Luo Nan wants to discuss about treatment principles toward ability users?"


    Ten Luo Nans tied together would not be a match for Bai Xinyan in terms of professional knowledge. Naturally, he did not argue with her. He just lowered his head in silence.


    Then, contrary to expectations, He Yueyin spoke, "There has always been unknown variables with Mr. Luo during Doctor y¡¯s arrival and even before the treatment n was confirmed. A week ago, it was impossible for us to imagine that he would be in this situation."


    Bai Xinyan raised her eyebrows. "That¡¯s true."


    Luo Nan opened his mouth. He could not tell if He Yueyin was helping him out or stabbing him in the back...


    He Yueyin did not give him much time to mull things over. She spoke directly to him, "Mr. Luo. I¡¯m very happy to see that your condition has stabilized. As such, ording to the training requirements of new members of the Society, the Society has decided to arrange a series of general knowledge study tasks for you. These tasks aren¡¯t too intense or difficult, but they require a fixed amount of concentration. I hope you can do some good preparations."


    As He Yueyin spoke, she transmitted a study n table through the HexaEar.


    Luo Nan skimmed over the n. It involved intellectual studies, skill training, mission practice, and so on. It looked quite standard. The teachers looked so very familiar for some reason though?


    Listed in the first spot was He Yueyin. Her course was titled, ¡®Ins and Outs of the Psychic Wave Network¡¯s World Order¡¯.


    Next was Crag Burst¡¯s ¡®A Crash Course on Common Commands¡¯, Bamboo Pole¡¯s ¡®Notes on the Major Characters of the World¡¯, and it even involved Red Fox¡¯s ¡®Tracking and Anti-Tracking Drills¡¯, as well as Papercut¡¯s ¡®Soul Strength Activation Techniques, and so on...


    The courses appeared to be more on the practical side, but the teachers were all people who Luo Nan had worked with in his few operations. Obviously, it was great to be familiar with them, to have met them, but it was like this for every single subject. This could not be a coincidence, right?

 Chapter 134: The Limits of the Fleshly Body (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 134: The Limits of the Fleshly Body (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Bai Xinyan asked him with all smiles, "Aren¡¯t you familiar with all the teachers?"


    Her guess was a bit godlike. Bai Xinyan certainly could not see the information on the Psychic Wave Network. How was she able to guess correctly?


    Bai Xinyan winked, as she locked with Luo Nan¡¯s rarely seen startled gaze. "It¡¯s easy to guess. You¡¯re great at causing trouble. It will be easier for you to ept lessons from people who you have met before."


    "..."


    "I¡¯m just kidding. The truth is that you¡¯ve made an impression in the hearts of many. The Society isn¡¯t certain in their confidentiality, so they made this rtively closed circle of people for you. Unfortunately, you¡¯re such a troublemaker that I don¡¯t believe the Society¡¯s actions will be useful."


    Luo Nan was embarrassed, but he was also secretly scared. This was mainly because of the word ¡¯closed¡¯. He subconsciously rummaged through the lesson table. It was certainly great to learn things, but to be closed off in this small circle was something he absolutely did not want.


    In total, he had already spent two weeks holed up in the hospital. Sure, he could endure time in solitude, but to do research and be researched on were two different situations altogether.


    He Yueyin seemed to have read his mind. "Taking the fact that Mr. Luo needs to go to school and has his studies, his training time should be primarily arranged at night. There won¡¯t be any conflicts."


    When it came to it, He Yueyin¡¯s words were also a refutation to Bai Xinyan¡¯s ¡¯closed¡¯ talk.


    This was a wake-up call for Luo Nan. That¡¯s right, he had nearly forgotten about school. It was already the middle of October. The prime of his high-school life was actually going to be half dedicated to the hospital. It looked very likely that he was going to have to repeat a year or two...


    He consulted Bai Xinyan, "ording to my situation, when can I go back to school?"


    "As long as you can keep going through the Frost River Waterway exercise ten times in the morning and evening, you can go back to school anytime." Bai Xinyan¡¯s answer was brisk and to the point, but she added a jab in the end, "I thought you deliberately feigned ignorance and that¡¯s why you didn¡¯t mention it."


    Luo Nan swore to himself that he would no longer speak with Bai Xinyan for the night.


    He Yueyin looked at the time. "We can start now if it¡¯s convenient for Mr. Luo, is that fine?"


    "Up to you guys."


    "No problem."


    Luo Nan and Bai Xinyan spoke over each other. They could not help but give each other dark looks, as they rolled eyes.


    "You all get to it then." Bai Xinyan smiled. as she gathered up her equipment. After everything was tidied up, she waved goodbye. What a lithe and graceful action. Luo Nan maintained his guard against her in every way possible, but he was still forced to admit that her actions had a very feminine charm to them. They were quite pleasing to the eye.


    Unexpectedly, in his moment of daze, Bai Xinyan¡¯s fine and slender fingers brushed against Luo Nan cheek. "Pay attention to the lesson. Don¡¯t get distracted... Oh right, it would be best if you wash up first."


    Bai Xinyan walked out of the door; she twirled her fingers andughed all the way.


    Luo Nan lips were pulled back and his face was a bit red. He also had a headache. Then, He Yueyin¡¯s gaze came over, and he felt even more embarrassed and blurted,


    "I¡¯m going to go wash up now."


    He wanted to smack his own mouth when the words left it.


    He Yueyin was as calm as ever before. She softly said, "It¡¯s too obvious that you¡¯re wary."


    Suddenly, Luo Nan froze.


    "The more nervous you are, the more White Salt wants to tease you. That is just her personality. She¡¯s your standard cat."


    This was the first time Luo Nan saw He Yueyin describing a person behind their back. In any case, was He Yueyin admonishing him or was she giving him emotional support?


    "Everyone has their secrets, secrets only they would know... Mr. Luo¡¯s attitude is a correct one, it¡¯s just that there¡¯s room for adjustment. I hope that this period of training will bring about a change in you."


    Having said this, He Yueyin raised her hand slightly and indicated to Luo Nan that he was free to go.


    It seemed that He Yueyin was wary of Bai Xinyan as well.


    After getting the okay, Luo Nan let out a hidden breath of relief. He thought about the lesson He Yueyin gave him, as he rushed into the shower. He scrubbed quickly and changed into normal clothes. After he refreshed himself, he obediently returned to listen to He Yueyin¡¯s lecture.


    "We will start with the applications of the HexaEar."


    Imparting knowledge covering the HexaEar and Psychic Wave Network was something that He Yueyin promised to do two weeks ago.


    Before, Luo Nan had only obtained some basic knowledge from Zhang Yingying. He Yueyin¡¯s course was far moreplete and rigorous. It might not be as fun, but practically speaking, it was far more effective than a so-called happy education.


    As such, Luo Nan gained a clearer understanding of the sixyers ofmunication with the HexaEar in a short period of time. He also did some intensive exercises of functionsmonly used by members of the Society.


    Of course, this was far from He Yueyin¡¯s teaching objective. This was evident from the name of her course. It was quite a holistic topic. The HexaEar and the Psychic Wave Network were just starting points. He needed to get to the end of the course to be able to truly use them.


    He Yueyin¡¯s ability to grasp time was absolutely first ss. The first lesson in the course took about forty minutes, ending just when the family visitation time was about to begin.


    Luo Nan could see that tonight was quite a lively night, as he looked through themunication screen. His aunt, Ms. Luo Shuqing, was a woman who nothing could deter. She came to see him every day, and this time Xue Lei came along as well.


    "And so we conclude here for today."


    He Yueyin gave Luo Nan a nod and prepared to leave.


    Luo Nan hesitated for a moment, but he still spoke, "Sister He."


    "Yes?" He Yueyin stood beneath thest thread of light from the setting sun. It was hard to make out her face, which made her usual ramrod straight posture of confidence much more prominent to the eyes.


    Luo Nan had suddenly realized that He Yueyin was in a context outside of official business; he could not imagine it. But the words had already left his mouth and retracting them would not be an easy thing to do. He could only summon the courage and say, "Sister He. Since my aunt and Xue Lei are both here, how about we all go out for dinner?"


    Luo Nan was not just being polite. This was the matter that Luo Nan had pondered over for a long time¡ªhow to develop a personal rtionship with He Yueyin... Uh, of course, he did not have those intentions. He just wanted to get closer to her.


    In the end, it did not matter what the ns of the Society were or what He Yueyin¡¯s own conjecture was. Her family background was out of the ordinary, and she was quite capable and outstanding herself, being a retired military officer. Ever since Luo Nan met He Yueyin, He Yueyin brought out an attitude of a secretary and had helped him out.


    This was by no means normal.


    No matter how dark or bright Luo Nan¡¯s mood was, the rational part of his brain immediately warned him. "You must not get carried away!"


    It was because Luo Nan felt this insecurity that he was trying to get him and He Yueyin to understand each other a bit more. At least they could be friends?


    "There will be other chances in the future." He Yueyin made a predictable and polite response. Her expression was just as calm and unperturbed as usual. There were no visible traces of delight or anger.


    She walked out of the hospital ward under Luo Nan¡¯s gaze and just so happened to meet Luo Shuqing head on.


    Xue Lei, who had been cautiously talking with Luo Shuqing, was startled into a jump. This woman, who could kill in less than ten paces, had left a deep impression on him. After the matter at Frost River Reality, he had asked the master of his gym about her, and the master had acted very strangely.


    Though he did not quite understand what part of He Yueyin made him feel this way, a bit of reverence always existed in his heart. He instinctively bowed.


    "Secretary He."


    He did not know the appropriate title to call her, but he had seen Zhang Yingying and the others call her this, so he just blurted it out.


    He Yueyin did not mind. She gave a slight nod and bowed toward Luo Shuqing. "Mrs. Luo."


    Luo Shuqing and He Yueyin had met each other a few times over this past week. All Luo Shuqing knew of He Yueyin was that she was a government employee from the police department. She was in charge of the investigation and forensics of Frost River Reality. Luo Shuqing smiled and greeted He Yueyin. Then, she politely created some distance. After all, nobody wanted their child repeatedly questioned. It was like turning from a victim into a suspect.


    He Yueyin had no intention to chat with them. She simply took her leave.

 Chapter 135: Divine Yu Gym (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 135: Divine Yu Gym (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Xue Lei enjoyed the VIP treatment as Luo Nan¡¯s friend with the host being Mrs. Luo Shuqing.


    When Luo Shuqing sent Xue Lei homest time from the Limestone Water Vige Pub, she had a rather favorable impression of this tall and burly boy with a mild temperament.


    But the events at Frost River Reality had caused this boy¡¯s status to soar in her mind.


    That night, Luo Nan had been stranded in the middle of the conflict zone and was practically among thest batch evacuated people. By that time, he had already fainted and they sent him straight to the hospital. He could notpletely conceal this sort of situation. When Luo Shuqing heard the news, she was said to have flown into a rage. She lectured everyone who was involved in the get together that night with a torrent of abuse¡ªfrom Mo Qiu to Mo Peng. Exining the matters that happened that night was a huge problem. The magnitude was so big that it scared Luo Nan, and he considered pretending to faint again.


    In the end, it was Zhang Yingying who came up with the n to use the Xue Family father and son duo to divert her attention. Their story was that Luo Nan had fainted from the trauma. Then, Xue Weilun and Xue Weilun had worked together to rescue him.


    The father and son pair owed Luo Nan a favor. They were also people in the know, so they were good spokespeople. The nimble hands of a copywriter had weaved a brilliant image of Luo Nan, a zealous civilian helping the police, and removed all implications of Luo Nan being involved in a dangerous solo activity.


    Because of this, Mo Haihang and Luo Shuqing had specifically invited Xue Lei¡¯s family for dinner. It was quite a coincidence. Xue Weilun was the backbone of the special forces. Mo Haihang was the technical expert of the SCA. They were both in the field of social privileges,w, and order. They had even worked together twice in the past and were not strangers.


    The two had good impressions of each other during their previous two meetings and this time went just as well. The friendship between the two families was rapidly heating up; it just made Xue Lei quite tired. With Luo Shuqing present, the topic would inevitably change to the matters of that night and Xue Lei was fearful that he might slip something out and waste all his previous efforts. In the end, he and Luo Nan brought their heads together. They went mm, mm and yes, yes. It was unknown what they were saying.


    Luo Nan saw just Xue Lei¡¯s distressed state and began to cough. One cough came after another and he could not stop. Then, he used the acupressure technique that Mr. Bai had taught him, but the effects were not obvious.


    Such a scene was quite normal for Luo Nan, but Luo Shuqing immediately became worried when she saw this. "You¡¯ve been under treatment for nearly half a month. Why hasn¡¯t the coughing gone away? When did that Doctor y get here?"


    She got up as she spoke and was going to massage Luo Nan¡¯s back to help his breathing. Xue Lei rushed to take the lead. "Aunt Qing, let me."


    Xue Lei¡¯srge hand pressed against Luo Nan¡¯s back. As he massaged, he slowly increased the pressure. Luo Nan coughed, not from pain, but from a marvelous heat that permeated into his back and spread to his inner organs. It was as if vapor was rising to form clouds, filling his throat. It was like the moisture of warm water. His condition greatly improved for a time.


    Luo Shuqing could no longer sit still. She hade over today because she still did not understand the treatment situation. She immediately said, "Leister, You and Nannan chat here for a bit. I¡¯m going to take a stroll with Doctor Bai."


    "Okay. It is best for you to go Aunt Qing. I will be here to keep Nansterpany. Just rest easy." Xue Lei¡¯s tongue had gotten quite sweet after saying nearly a week¡¯s worth of lies.


    Luo Shuqing gave the two a smile, as she hurried out the door.


    After this adult left, Xue Lei was able to speak much more easily. He expressed his worries, as he massaged Luo Nan. "You can¡¯t keep coughing like this man. The gym master told me once. Breathing in, one can observe the inner organs, move a myriad of veins, and take in the soul. Breathing out, one can observe heaven and earth, know yin and yang, and visit the divine. It is the key valve in controlling the body and mind, in channeling the inner and the external.¡±


    He only said half of what he wanted to say. Based on your supernatural ability and how bad your breathing tempo has be, how badly damaged is your body? Just how hard a task is it for you to recover?


    Luo Nan could generally understand Xue Lei¡¯s intentions. Luo Nan could not do anything about his body with all its virtues. He could only chuckle in response to Xue Lei. In any case, an image had immediately appeared in his mind when Xue Lei told the half literary half vernacr words of his gym master. The image was that of an old man, of a sage who transcended the mortal realm.


    As Xue Lei spoke, a thought he once had suddenly popped up again. "In your situation, learning breathing techniques should be quite useful for you. At the very least, it can adjust the state of your body... Nanster, why don¡¯t youe to our daoguan, our gym. I won¡¯t talk about our gym master because the most skilled of the disciples is none other than I!"


    Xue Lei gave a big thumbs up, and he extended it before Luo Nan¡¯s eyes. He even wiggled it a few times.


    Luo Nan was not doubtful at all of Xue Lei¡¯s words. The old gym master¡¯s ability was certainly worthy of praise for being able to start a gym, for being able to produce such a remarkable disciple, such a remarkable apprentice in Xue Lei.


    Luo Nan was suddenly reminded of the fact that he had never asked Xue Lei about his gym even though they had known each other for so long. He did not know the name of Xue Lei¡¯s daoguan and how he should address the gym master.


    "Ah, our daoguan is called Divine Yu. It¡¯s that..."


    "Divine Yu? As in the Great Yu who Controls the Waters? The Great Yu who made a system of irrigation canals which relieved flood water into the fields of ancient China and brought prosperity to the Chinese hearnd?"


    Luo Nan had blurted this without thinking and Xue Lei went, "Aha!". He lifted his hand and gave Luo Nan¡¯s back a smack. The force was so much that snot and saliva almost flew out of Luo Nan. Xue Lei did not notice it though. Instead, he just shouted,


    "Nanster, you¡¯re awesome!"


    "Huh?"


    "Every time I mention the name of my gym to others; they¡¯re all blind and deaf to it. They think it¡¯s some yew woodshop! Man, I just want to knock their teeth in when that happens. But Nanster, you were able to tell its origins in an instant!"


    It looked like Xue Lei was sick of hearing about yew woodshops.


    Divine Yu, Divine Yew? Actually, it was quite easy to mix them up.


    Luo Nan just feigned ignorance andughed. "The Nine Tripod Cauldrons just came to mind. Yu received the metals of nine governors, casting nine cauldrons, which were all used to offer sacrifices to the gods and supernatural... After Yu the Great had finished taming the floods that once engulfed thend, he divided thend into the Nine Provinces and collected bronze tribute from each one. He used the metal to cast nine tripod cauldrons. With them, animals were boiled alive as ritual sacrifices... It is an early social structure with an ovepping format consisting of the world, society, and the self. It contains some meaning even today."


    These words were idle writings in his grandfather¡¯s notebook. He had a very deep impression of them and had said them without thinking. "It¡¯s just a simple format from ancient times. In the end, it¡¯s hard to apply it in today¡¯s world."


    Format? And an ovepping one at that? What kind of topic was this?


    Xue Lei could only half understand what Luo Nan was saying. He was discovering all the more that this friend had a train of thought that was quite different from that of a normal person. This train of thought had caused Luo Nan to always be targeted or doubted. However, it was ultimately proof that Luo Nan¡¯s unfathomable thoughts were useful. Greatly useful.


    That night, Xue Lei stood by Luo Nan¡¯s side. He had seen how others doubted his friend. Then, he saw how his friend stirred up conflict and turned things around. He saw it all from beginning to end. He rode this rollercoaster with Luo Nan and the experience wiped his impression of Luo Nanpletely clean again. Yet his congenial feeling toward Luo Nan did not lessen; it continued to increase.


    After all, Xue Lei¡¯s gym master also spent the entire day saying stuff he couldn¡¯t fully understand. Luo Nan could probably have a good chat with his gym master because of their temperament. The two should get along quite well if they were to get together!


    Xue Lei looked at Luo Nan once more after he had this thought. A gleam shone in his eyes and he put more energy into promoting his gym on the spot. "Our gym master¡¯sst name is Xiu, as in training or cultivation. His name is none other than the name of the gym, Divine Yu or Shenyu. He single-handedly founded this gym and the gym has always had a great reputation. The gym master hasn¡¯t really been promoting her business since he¡¯s helping people. Otherwise, our gym would be long since super popr..."


    Xiu Shenyu? The name sounds very ssical-martial-arts-esque. It was a very befitting name for a gym master.


    Luo Nan¡¯s heart rate increased. It was not just because he was curious about this Gym Master Xiu. There were other aspects he was considering.

 Chapter 135: Divine Yu Gym (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 135: Divine Yu Gym (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan could feel that his aunt was like a bird startled by the mere twang of a bow. They had hospitalized him for two consecutive weeks, so his aunt was easily frightened due to these past experiences. She was likely to increase her watch over him to the next level.


    Furthermore, he had entered the Society, which brought up an entire set of annoyances. He also had to think of his studies. He would need arge amount of free time to handle all this. He absolutely couldn¡¯t be stuck at home like a caged bird, so he needed to find a passable excuse to avoid this.


    Xue Lei¡¯s proposal today was an excellent excuse.


    Divine Yu Gym was located in the River Wu District. Practicing martial arts was certainly something that required time. Perhaps, it would even need one to take morning lessons. It would be great if he could get this to happen. No matter how much his aunt wanted to keep a close eye on him, she wouldn¡¯t be so insensible to have him shuttle back and forth for half a day between districts. Wouldn¡¯t the apartment in Blue Bay be the perfect spot? Then, he wouldn¡¯t need to stay with his aunt.


    Of course, in order to get this n to work, he would need the help of others. Just Xue Lei may not be enough.


    Who else could help him? Actually, Luo Nan did not have many options.


    He lowered his head, swiped through his wristband and found the way to contact Bai Xinyan. He was just about to call. Suddenly, he recalled that his aunt went to go see Bai Xinyan. It would be super awkward if his n was found out through his own voice over the phone.


    A thought stirred in Luo Nan¡¯s mind, and he excused himself to the restroom. He walked a few steps and the star river scene was already projected in his mind.


    Luo Nan restricted the range of his mental senses. Under this precondition, the physical range covered only a few of the adjacent floors. Yet, there were still several hundred Life Sketches pieced together within these floors. The starlight of nebe intertwined to reveal many levels of information. Then, all Luo Nan did was pick the areas he was interested in. He heightened his sensing precision and applied his irvoyance.


    This sort of perspective was like a god¡¯s. It felt truly unmatched. But before Luo Nan could lock onto Bai Xinyan, he found another person instead.


    How strange. He Yueyin was actually still here.


    He Yueyin was walking within the building of Renai Hospital, as she headed toward Bai Xinyan¡¯s temporary office in Renai Hospital.


    Bai Xinyan was a world-ss expert on neuroregeneration. Moreover, she was a doctor of medicine and of philosophy at the y Laboratory. Even though she only had Luo Nan as her single patient, Renai Hospital treated her excellently. She was given arge office that was like a deluxe suite. During guard hours, she coulde here to take naps. There was not anything to be picky about it except for its distance to Luo Nan¡¯s ward.


    He Yueyin did not call out or anything. She simply walked in.


    In the room, Bai Xinyan had already taken off her white doctor¡¯s gown. She was wearing a snow-white turtleneck sweater. It hugged her body, which made her face appearrger, but it did not make her look fat. Instead, it fully revealed her curves and entuated her perfectly beautiful body. This sight caused one to yearn for her.


    Right now, there was a rather handsome male doctor in the room as well. He stayed here to titrly talk about academics. He would find anything to speak of until their shift was over. Then, he would ask this free-spirited and hot female doctor out for dinner.


    Bai Xinyan was quite patient. She held a cup of coffee andughed, as she talked with him. This was a waste of time, but she was not agitated nor did she rush.


    He Yueyin simply pushed the door open and entered and scared the male doctor. The male doctor was about to explode with rage, but he turned and was met with a pair of cold and clear pupils. His heart shuddered inexplicably, and he instinctively cowered a bit. "Is this your friend, Dr. Bai?"


    Bai Xinyan nodded with a smile, as she raised the cup in her hand at the same time. The meaning was very clear.


    The male doctor even wanted to introduce himself and get to know another beautiful woman. But there was a hint of embarrassment on his face, and he did not have any more courage. In the end, he shrunk away self-consciously.


    Bai Xinyan sipped on her hot coffee. She had no intentions of courteously greeting He Yueyin. In any case, she would just be inviting rejection if she did so.


    He Yueyin walked straight before Bai Xinyan and stood directly opposite of her. It seemed that He Yueyin was a bit shorter than Bai Xinyan in height, but her aura, which was callous and clear, evidently grew stronger.


    "I called you over from across the ocean, from Los Angeles, not for you to do some happy-go-lucky treatment."


    Bai Xinyan was the perfect example of a free-spirited woman. She was like the fleeting clouds and the warm breeze. She shifted her cup away and revealed a face of innocence. "So, you want me to drill your boss until he¡¯s weeping and crying? Would that satisfy you?"


    "I know you White Salt. You also once said to me that every case of happy-go-lucky treatment is for dead people. That¡¯s what you said to me back in Los Angeles..."


    Bai Xinyan burst out intoughter. She reached out to touch He Yueyin¡¯s cheek. "But you¡¯re alive and well! And you¡¯re so beautiful!"


    He Yueyin pushed her hand aside. Her expression was calm. "You know the state of my body more than I."


    "Alright, Mrs. Flirt! Yep, Sister He is most intimate after all. In any case, I want to tell you something. Doctors have the right to formte ns for their patients; each and every n is established based on the patient¡¯s personal situation. It doesn¡¯t matter if its happy-go-lucky treatment or active intervention. There are specific ns for dealing with specific conditions. This is the objective reality. There¡¯s nothing more to it."


    Bai Xinyan swayed her coffee cup back and forth, as she let the ck liquid inside swing as well. Yet, she did not spill a single drop. "From what I¡¯ve observed of your boss¡¯ situation, the current happy-go-lucky treatment is the best choice for him. As for whether or not things will go like you say, and if there will be variables appearing in the future... I look forward to it as well... Are you satisfied with my answer?"


    "Even if it reaches the point of being incurable?"


    Luo Nan perceived the entire confrontation between the two beauties absolutely clearly, but he did not act like someone in a soap-opera, like it was the end of the world, like life was not worth living.


    Luo Nan merely shrugged in the restroom and sighed. "It seems that I have set up the external neuron sessfully yet again."


    This marvelous little device was able to bear the pressure of his soul strength, and it could hide itself perfectly. It was even able to avoid detection from the Ouyang Chen¡¯s examinations, Bai Xinyan, and other people, which caused errors of judgment... Unfortunately, the external neuron made him appear overly naive and optimistic.


    In fact, things were not as everyone else believed. Luo Nan really did know the seriousness of the state of his own body. In his understanding, he had a far more pessimistic judgment toward the degree of imbnce with his body and soul.


    However, he was still able to bear it due to relying on the marvelous uses of the external neuron.


    Bai Xinyan¡¯s judgment over the state of his body did not scare him, but the concern hidden beneath He Yueyin¡¯s cool and calm demeanor was quite moving.


    At this time, Luo Nan could sense that his aunt would soon arrive at Bai Xinyan¡¯s office. He could no longer afford to tarry, so he rushed to give Bai Xinyan a call.


    The call startled Bai Xinyan, as she was in the middle of a confrontation. Sheughed and shed her wristband to He Yueyin. Then, she picked up call. "Student Luo Nan. Where are you feeling unwell?"


    "Ugh, Dr. Bai. There¡¯s something I wish to ask you."


    "What is it?"


    "The endurance of my body..."


    "Are you peeping on us?"


    "..."


    "You should be able to reach here with the range of your mental senses. I can only believe that you¡¯re feeling guilty about your actions if this isn¡¯t the first time you¡¯vee around like this."


    Bai Xinyan¡¯s gaze circled in the air for a revolution. It was as if she could really see through Luo Nan.


    Although Luo Nan knew she had not truly seen him, she still gave him a scare. However, he ultimately did not break his irvoyance. He made some mental preparations in his mind and pretended that he was just watching Bai Xinyan with a special videophone. He took a breath and said,


    "I wanted to ask Dr. Bai if you would be so kind to grant me permission for normal physical exercise."


    "Oh, I said this before. You have to minimize the volume you do."


    "Not that, I just want to learn breathing techniques to alleviate my coughing."


    Bai Xinyan clearly sunk into deep thought, probably because this idea was outside her expectations. A momentter she said, "Where? A fitness center?"


    "Uh, no. Leister rmended it to me. It¡¯s a daoguan, a gym, that he trains in."


    "Leister? Xue Lei?" Bai Xinyan went into deep thought again after she confirmed the reason. He Yueyin gave Bai Xinyan a nod in this moment, which indicated her approval.


    If Luo Nan could see it; Bai Xinyan certainly saw it too. However, Bai Xinyan did not follow He Yueyin¡¯s script. She just revealed a mysterious smile.


    "What is the name of that gym?"


    "Divine Yu. Divine Yu Gym."


    Luo Nan felt something the moment the words left his mouth. He did not know if he imagined it or not, but the instant the two beautiful women crossed gazes, their expressions, aura, and the air became cold enough to cause Luo Nan to tremble from the bottom of his heart.

 Chapter 136: Time Bomb (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 136: Time Bomb (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    There was something wrong with this atmosphere!


    Luo Nan began to regret making this call... No, no no. Indeed, it was correct of him to call. He had a cat-like curiosity in his heart, but ultimately, He Yueyin and Bai Xinyan did not say much. Bai Xinyan responded with a very normal tone.


    "Well, if it¡¯s that Xue Lei, you can give it a shot. His background should be that of a traditional martial arts school; he can be considered to have trained to a professional degree. However, you must be aware that only gentle exercises, such as breath tuning, tao yin, yoga, and tai chi are suitable for your body. Such exercise ns will need to be recorded for research if the gym doesn¡¯t mind. I can permit you if these conditions are satisfied."


    Luo Nan had no reason to disagree. The timing of his call could be considered perfect, as his aunt just so happened to make it to the door. Luo Nan immediately hung up at practically the same time as his aunt began knocking.


    The two women with exceptional bearings locked gazes once more. Bai Xinyan looked around the room at nothing and made a faint humph. This made Luo Nan scream, F*ck, in his mind. His timing was too precise, and it brought suspicion upon him.


    However, Luo Nan had grown some thick skin after he thought about his potential future lifestyle. He had to see this to the end. In any case, the two women should not be able to capture anything solid that could be used against him, as he was using his mental senses. This should be the case, right?


    Mrs. Luo Shuqing entered the room and saw that Investigation Officer He Yueyin was present as well. She was a bit surprised for a time, and her heart grew more vignt.


    By now, she was absolutely unwilling to have her nephew enter the eyes of the police. Even though she knew that the problem was small, she was not willing to take any risks.


    He Yueyin understood the situation quite clearly. She did not spend time with words. Instead, she just gave Luo Shuqing some greetings. Then, she brushed past Luo Shuqing and walked out the door.


    Next, it was time for Bai Xinyan to put on a show.


    Perhaps, Bai Xinyan¡¯s nature of a supervisor disyed itself, for Bai Xinyan handled matters very briskly. She relied on the mastery of her professional knowledge and used her silver tongue to temporary dispel Mrs. Luo Shuqing¡¯s misgivings in a short few minutes. Moreover, she gave a proactive suggestion.


    Fair and moderate exercise is good for your nephew¡¯s recovery.


    As for how it should be done... the snooping Luo Nan naturally understood this quite well. He let out a long breath of relief. He remembered that Xue Lei was still waiting outside the restroom, so he stopped snooping and retracted his mental senses.


    Bai Xinyan sent Luo Nan¡¯s aunt away. Today¡¯s work was pretty much over. She really did not want to stay in this depressive building with endless illnesses, so she simply tidied up, put on her customary jacket, and left. She was off work now.


    Bai Xinyan took the elevator down to the parking lot and was mulling over whether or not she should hit Zhang Yingying up. They could hit up the clubs tonight. However, she suddenly felt something that made her stop in her tracks. She turned around and looked.


    She was met head-on with a gaze that gleamed with a cool and prating light. The gaze was a thick as the north wind, and it brushed her face. They were inside a building, and the temperature was normal for the season. But it was as if the temperature dropped down to freezing levels.


    He Yueyin... Bai Xinyan knew it was not that easy to shake her off!


    Bai Xinyan raised her hand in surrender. "Stop ring at me, dear. I have no intentions of prying into your private matters."


    "Your source of intelligence."


    "Hey, this is an open secret, okay?"


    "Open? It involves the entirety of Luo Nan, the Luo Family, and the Formatting Theory."


    Bai Xinyan was dumbstruck for a time. It was obvious that this old friend had deliberately gone down the wrong line of thought. He Yueyin seemed to be unconcerned about being personal. She directly went to the sensitive topics, not glossing it over a bit.


    He Yueyin spoke aggressively, "Your academic advisor¡¯sboratory works for Quantum Corporation to a certain degree. Remodeling the nervous system, the theory of evolution, and the Archetype Format are all of the same origins. The Formatting Theory of the Luo Family should be what you all desire the most and are doing the utmost to obtain. However, why is it that you all haven¡¯t made a single action toward it in all these years... Or perhaps you used to long for it, but you discovered certain unpredictable pitfalls and ws with it? Like what can be seen from Mr. Luo today?"


    "Are you showing off your reasoning skills?"


    Bai Xinyan straightened her jacket and zipped it up to her neck. She wanted to block the cold air that assaulted her face, but she could not avoid sighing. "Or are you saying that everything should be flipped down to the bottom with us here, while that peeping little fellow is on standby? You think that this would be better for him? Better for the current situation of Xia City?"


    He Yueyin locked onto Bai Xinyan with her re. A moment passed, and she walked expressionless toward the sports car that Bai Xinyan had recently purchased. She simply opened the door, went in, and sat down.


    Bai Xinyan shrugged. She got in the car and started it. Then, she made a beautiful drift within the narrow space and rushed out of the exit. Soon, she merged into the rushing traffic of the city.


    Several kilometers away from Renai Hospital, He Yueyin opened her mouth once again. "Give me all pertinent information. All of it."


    "Don¡¯t have it."


    Bai Xinyan¡¯s response was brisk and to the point. "Research concerning Formatting Theory was soon terminated. We obtained the conclusion that there was no value in continuing the research... I can tell you the reason. Through over a thousand repeated experiments, we determined that there was no one who could endure the rapid growth of soul strength."


    "Rapid growth?"


    "It looks like you only have a smattering of knowledge in regards to Formatting Theory. I can give you an overview... Do you need it?"


    He Yueyin¡¯s eyes were slightly closed. She waspletely silent.


    "Then, don¡¯t resent me if I talk too much."


    Bai Xinyan¡¯s sports car was installed with a self-driving mode. She put her hands on the back of her head and adopted azy posture. "ording to the research line of Quantum Corporation, the Formatting Theory you speak of is confirmed to be apletely out-of-control way to increase soul strength. Its origin is Luo Yuandao from back in the day. It is also a sort of ¡¯revtion¡¯ your boss¡¯s grandfather obtained in the wilderness. This ¡¯revtion¡¯ is in the same vein as the ¡¯gods¡¯ of the various secret orders. It may be marvelous, but it wasn¡¯t unrivaled within that era."


    "Of course, there are differences between the revtion and those bizarre gods. In the next few dozen years, that old man was constantly trying to redefine this sort of power in his own way, and he was even able to obtain a series of results. The results primarily involve two different paths. One is to get closer to the ¡¯revtion¡¯ itself, stressing differences in individuals. It is the Formatting Theory that is unique to the individual without equal. The other path is the result of apromise with how narrow the fundamentalist path bes the further one walks it. By mixing in modern scientific and technological capabilities, individual characteristics are lessened, the highestmon factor is sought out, and apletely new theory is sorted anew from within. This is the Archetype Format..."


    He Yueyin listened quietly. She was silent and did not speak a word.


    "You¡¯re quite clear on the result. Formatting Theory and Archetype Format... I won¡¯t talk about which one is stronger, but in practical applications, the Formatting Theory is aplete failure. The vast majority of practitioners and experimental subjects who have received this theory have died. They all died due to beingpletely unable to control the growth of their soul strength. His grandfather, Luo Yuandao, was able to live a bit longer than the others, but right now, he¡¯s a lunatic. His father, Luo Zhongheng. Oh, he¡¯s dead now too."


    "This man had once worked with Yan Hong for a period of time. ording to what Yan Hong said, that person was simply a ticking time bomb that could explode at any moment... This wasn¡¯t figurative. This was in the literal sense. And so, not even his bones existed after."


    Bai Xinyan¡¯s hands were still propping the back of her head, while she looked at He Yueyin. She was waiting to see her reaction.


    He Yueyin looked at her as well. "What¡¯s the conclusion?"


    "Isn¡¯t it none other than this?" Bai Xinyan¡¯s bright and beautiful eyes blinked in an expression of extreme innocence.


    The corners of He Yueyin¡¯s lips hooked into a subtle smile. This was the first smile she revealed during their confrontation. However, it was filledpletely with cold intent. "Even if Formatting Theory doesn¡¯t possess the value of a universal application. Even if the death rate approaches 100%. Is it within Quantum Corporation¡¯s persistent style to actually have zero interest in this method? This method to increase one¡¯s soul strength to the maximum?"

 Chapter 136: Time Bomb (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 136: Time Bomb (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    From a capitalistic point of view, benefits could be extracted from everything the world had to offer. Although Luo Nan¡¯s actions in Frost River Reality disyed youth, inexperience, and clumsiness, even an idiot could see that he possessed abilities with super powerful sticity.


    From the perspective of therge conglomerate Quantum Corporation, even if they did not make any long-term investments, they could extract short-term ¡¯tools¡¯ of explosive power from Formatting Theory. They could disy uses that exceeded the imagination in crucial moments.


    In the recent years, Quantum Corporation showed no interest in pursuing the trail that was Luo Nan. If Yan Yongbo had not entered the scene, if Zhang Yingying did not have such acute perception of Luo Nan¡¯s potential, Luo Nan would have likely been forever buried within the boundless sea of people. He would have been buried until he became a time bomb; until he exploded to bits and pieces.


    He Yueyin had absolute confidence that there were some shenanigans going on. So, just what was it that made Quantum Corporation give up on excavating this wealth that was Luo Nan?


    Bai Xinyan removed her hands from her head and stretched. "What depth of information do you expect me to know with just me and myboratory¡¯s research pool? This is everything that I know. It¡¯s up to you to believe it or not."


    Bai Xinyan took this stance, setting firm that there was nothing He Yueyin could do about it. The exchange and transmission of this information depended on Bai Xinyan¡¯s mood all this time. She was willing to say this much because she wanted to see He Yueyin¡¯s reaction.


    To be able to extract some juice from an already squeezed sugar cane was quite a surprise.


    Sure enough, He Yueyin did not continue to pressure Bai Xinyan. She just sank into deep thought. It was something that was able to make capitalists of boundless greed withdraw their hands, so it was probably a threat so terrifying that it was unstoppable. Or there could be something else that was enticing. Something that could be harvested for boundless and enormous benefits. Or perhaps Quantum Corporation was trying to have its cake and eat it too.


    He Yueyin followed this train of thought. She took the information of Quantum Corporation and Formatting Theory that she had gathered over the years and rearranged them. She was trying to seek out a trail, but it would be hard to find a solution within a short period of time.


    At this time, Bai Xinyan stared at her with beaming eyes. "I¡¯ve spent so many words on you. Shouldn¡¯t you answer my question?"


    He Yueyin¡¯s eyes remained half closed. She ignored Bai Xinyanpletely. However, she did not directly refuse her.


    Bai Xinyan was no longer polite after she saw this. "Let¡¯s talk about the matter with Frost River Reality. Ouyang Chen may have stolen the show, but I find the deep participation of the government and military, as well as the ability users who were contained in the Logic World cage, to be of greater interest... An all-around coverage of social awareness. A major unification of political structure. The intervention between the inner world and the outer world reaching a bnce that is ultimately mixed as one. It seems that this is the manifestation of a certain someone¡¯s Authoritarian Governance Theory?"


    This line of questioning was indeed rted to the question back in Luo Nan¡¯s ward. The question of whether or not He Yueyin¡¯s father was going to run for office. Bai Xinyan just pushed it a step deeper and showed her high attention toward the political situation with Xia City. She was extremely straightforward.


    He Yueyin maintained her silence against Bai Xinyan¡¯s questions. However, as long as He Yueyin did not outright refute Bai Xinyan, Bai Xinyan would more or less have a basic answer in her mind. Bai Xinyan wanted to disy a fewments on the matter, but He Yueyin visibly frowned. Soon, Bai Xinyan also received the same information through special channels.


    She swiped through her wristband and let the short message repeat itself in her pupils. The way the message was disyed was simr to its content. "Well, they sure do things consistently."


    Just ten minutes ago in Bay City, on the opposite bank across the ocean, a Mindseer First Otum of the Order of Justice killed the vice president of the ability user society¡¯s Wan City branch. They did this without warning, which led to a fierce sh between the Order of Justice and the Society.


    "Simr matters will likely ur more and more in the uing future."


    Bai Xinyan revealed a mysterious smile. "Even though not all future matters will be this serious, the tone has been set. In a few days, every branch will be in a state of emergency. Ultimately, the Society will be under great pressure. They will certainly make a few moves... Your troubles always involve the Society."


    He Yueyin only knocked on the car window in response to Bai Xinyan¡¯smentary. "Stop the car."


    "I¡¯ll drive you there. It¡¯ll save time."


    "No need." He Yueyin pushed the door open and got off the car at the temporary stop. She stood and turned her gaze toward the shadow of Renai Hospital, which was already left far in the distance.


    There, Luo Nan was still living afortable life, as he worked hard. There was nothing wrong about this for a fifteen-to-sixteen-year-old teenager, but just how long could these peaceful and calm days be maintained?


    Luo Nan did not know that He Yueyin¡¯s mind was troubled several kilometers away. Right now, Luo Nan¡¯s freedom n was being carried out smoothly. With Bai Xinyan¡¯s cooperation and Xue Lei speaking on behalf of him, convincing his aunt was a reasonable matter.


    The visitation time ended; Xue Lei and Luo Nan¡¯s aunt left together. Then, Luo Nan made an appointment for a ¡¯trial exercise¡¯ with Xue Lei¡¯s gym. The matter was basically set.


    Luo Nan let out a long breath of relief, and his mind rxed. His mind deviated in a different direction. He had never thought to tell others of the secrets that was his external neuron. He had never thought about this before. He was vignt against Bai Xinyan, and he had always exercised a bit of caution.


    However, he never thought that concealing the external neuron would lead to He Yueyin, Bai Xinyan, and several other people making extremely pessimistic judgments toward the state of his body.


    The most notable factor was He Yueyin¡¯s attitude. She had supported him enough to make him embarrassed. There was a moment when he wanted to confess his secrets.


    But then he recalled the words that He Yueyin had spoken not too long ago. "Everyone has their secrets, secrets only they would know."


    Luo Nan did not quite understand the deeper meaning behind those words, but rationally speaking, those words were more trustworthy than his emotional impulsions.


    It was the dead of the night. There was no one who would disturb him at this time. Luo Nan took a deep breath, and he fought against the itching urge to cough that floated up his throat. His mind turned inward, as he sunk into the depths of his brain.


    A glowing streak of electricity roamed between regions of light and darkness within his internal vision.


    This was none other than the external neuron. Jack and the others knew it as the Dynamo Core. Under the interactions between the mental ne and the material ne, it manifested itself in this unusual representation.


    His senses delved a step deeper, and he received some kind of marvelous and real feedback. There was truly a real and enormous vehicle that he could feel. It was an enormous hole. It was like the void. This was what was disyed within.


    His soul strength had risen endlessly. Most of it was channeled into the external neuron. This was a separation. This was a buffer. It allowed the turbulent surging flood to turn into a vast and deepke, which allowed Luo Nan to avoid the direct impacts of his soul strength.


    This was the most life-saving function of the external neuron.


    Luo Nan named this function the ¡¯Hollow Depository¡¯. He relied on it to persevere against his rapidly soaring soul strength to this day.


    However, another week had gone by as Luo Nan underwent Bai Xinyan¡¯s ¡¯cage treatment¡¯. No matter how much he tried to exhaust his soul strength, this was just treating the symptoms and not the root cause. It was still incapable of controlling the growth momentum of his soul strength to a stable state.


    Even the ¡¯Hollow Depository¡¯ could not store any more of his soul strength. More and more of his soul strength was spilling out of it like overflowing water. It caused a shing pressure against Luo Nan¡¯s fleshly body.


    Whether it was Bai Xinyan or He Yueyin, both had pessimistic judgments towards the unbnced state of Luo Nan¡¯s body and soul. Their judgments stemmed from this.


    But Luo Nan himself felt differently about it.


    The out-of-control growth of his soul strength was like a flood of water overflowing in all directions. It was hard to control. But after filling the deep hollow, it turned from rapids into a slow flow. It transformed from the incorporeal into the material. Was this not sort of a transformation; a type of control? Could he not act one step further with it?


    Moreover, a more obvious change urred with the external neuron. It required his attention.

 Chapter 137: Imperfect (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 137: Imperfect (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    The user interface of the external neuron opened before Luo Nan¡¯s eyes. Nothing about it changed, save for the icon of the visualization diagram. The change with the dark gray and the very long ¡¯download and instation¡¯ state of the icon was revealed quite distinctly.


    There was yet another streak of light. It formed a long and narrow glowing slice of a circle. The slice was about 1/10th of a full circle. This slice was much clearer than before. However, it disyed quite a mysterious and concrete number when he applied his senses to it.


    9.99%.


    This number appeared after the events at Frost River Reality. Before, the analysis progress was at 7%. It had jumped nearly three percentage points overnight. This progress was quite fast, but what was up with the two digits after the decimal ce?


    Luo Nan suspected that if he increased the precision of this number, the nine would be an infinitely repeating decimal.


    There was a teau with the analysis progress? Was it stuck at this level?


    This was an unprecedented situation. Luo Nan had to carefully mull this over.


    From Luo Nan¡¯s perspective, the programs and app icons of the external neuron¡¯s user interface were the projection of the external neuron¡¯s analysis and control capabilities over certain targets. This was reflected extremely sufficiently with the cases of Gear and the Human-Faced Arachnid.


    The icon of the visualization diagram appeared from analyzing and controlling the Human-Faced Arachnid. Hisprehension grew deeper, and he gained newfound understandings after the events at Frost River Reality. These factors allowed him to realize the following. Chaos and disorder were the essences of the Human-Faced Arachnid. What was there worth analyzing? One would not obtain any answers if they analyzed chaos and disorder.


    What could truly be analyzed was what possessed value to be analyzed. It was the order frame that formed the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s outstanding instinct in the midst of chaos essence.


    Therefore, the image of the Human-Faced Arachnid did not appear on the user interface. Instead, it was the visualization diagram... Theposition consisted of a tetrahedron, an inscribed sphere, and an outerscribed sphere.


    Alright, now why did the icon appear as the visualization diagram?


    Luo Nan¡¯s heart always pounded hard each time he thought of this question. It pounded this hard for a week.


    The corresponding rtionship between the Human-Faced Arachnid and the order frame filled the crucial logical link between the disy of the user interface and the discement of the analysis target. What followed was just simple reasoning and Luo Nan could draw a conclusion.


    The visualization diagram and the order frame matched together to arge degree. Could practical meaning be obtained from the fact that the two ovepped?


    Every time the relevant train of thoughts floated in Luo Nan¡¯s mind; the dark chains would resonate with its vibrating cry from the boundless depths of the mental ne like on the night within the Logic World. It was as if the dark chains had reappeared next to his ear.


    A vague linking trail emerged among all sorts of phenomena, among the various details. It shifted between darkness and brightness, between being hidden and being distinct. Thissted until it closed into a loop, and it made Luo Nan¡¯s heartstrings tremble.


    Unfortunately, there was a sizable portion of detail that remained indistinct. It did not allow Luo Nan to make a breakthrough in his understandings toward the order frame, the visualization diagram, and the Human-Faced Arachnid.


    The analysis progress remained at the bizarre value of 9.99%. The rapid growth of his soul strength continued to slowly flow over the containment limits of the Hollow Depository. The disease that was the imbnce between body and soul continued to worsen step by step.


    However, Luo Nan reaped some gains when all was said and done.


    First, he had obtained what could be considered a promising future. If the visualization diagram and the order frame really did ovep, the path ahead would be deep and magnificent beyond imagination. It represented the astonishing breadth and depth of Formatting Theory.


    Second, talking from a more substantial level, there was now a vehicle to the once-elusive order frame, to the profound and abstract visualization diagram. The vehicle was the external neuron.


    The marvelous creation known as the Dynamo Core gave a data ssification toward the order frame that was urate to two digits after the decimal point.


    The creator of the external neuron undoubtedly possessed deep and prating understandings toward its corresponding elements. Its applications made heavy-lifting tasks look easy, so it was able to analyze the design of the order frame within. The external neuron was a grand piece of work.


    The existence of this work itself was a cognitive tform toward the order frame. It tookrge quantities of intangible and iprehensible elements and substantialized them.


    Though Luo Nan current understanding toward the external neuron was extremely shallow, the device itself was rich in interfacing and universality. It provided seamless ess to the human nervous system, to the artificial intelligence systems, and even to the Format Pyramid¡¯s social-format. The external neuron gave Luo Nan many entry points to these systems.


    For instance, Luo Nan currently held extreme interest toward the Hollow Depository function. There was great value in researching and exploring this function that could control his soul strength. Doing this had substantial meaning. The matter with his soul strength was pressing.


    Luo Nan was forced to admit that he would not even be able to utilize Bai Xinyan¡¯s happy-go-lucky treatment if it were not for the external neuron. He would have be a gigantic tragedy.


    Formatting Theory theory was great and all, but what was up with thispletely out-of-control growth? How did his grandfather avoid resolving this issue back when he was doing research this theory?


    Luo Nan thought back to the writings in his grandfather¡¯s notebook. In the end, he reluctantly admitted that it was hard for the answer to exist in the results of early stage research.


    It looked like pursuing other clues in his notebook had to be put on the agenda.


    With this thought in mind, Luo Nan decided to get in contact with Octopus Bro, who was researching the molecr forms from his grandfather¡¯s notebook. At the same time, Luo Nan could also ask about his grandfather¡¯s recent physical and mental state.


    Oh?


    As Luo Nan scrolled through his contact list to find Octopus Bro¡¯s avatar, his train of thought suddenly fixated on something.


    Mental state?


    This link, which he had neglected intentionally or otherwise, suddenly jumped into Luo Nan¡¯s train of thought. A devilish sound fluttered back and forth inside and outside his heart at this time.


    What had caused his grandfather to be a schizophrenic lunatic?


    Was it because of the psychological blow of having his own son betray him and steal the results of his work?


    Luo Nan had believed that this was the reason all this time.


    However, what if he looked at it from a different angle? From an angle he had once never imagined? Right now, there was a different and real angle ced before his eyes.


    How could a creator not be a practitioner?


    It was improbable for his grandfather not to use the results of Formatting Theory on himself.


    If this was the case. No, it had to be the case. If this theory never ultimately resolved the issue with the uncontrolled growth of soul strength; if this theory never resolved the issue with the imbnce between body and soul. Then, this was not a perfect theory.


    Luo Nan took an impartial stance to make this hypothesis. Then, what would his grandfather¡¯s state be? It must be known that there was a 99% chance that his grandfather did not possess an external neuron!


    What would be the result?


    These thoughts made Luo Nan suddenly burst with cold sweat down his back.


    Then, Luo Nan recalled when he was visiting his grandfather at the medical treatment center. He recalled his grandfather¡¯s crazed words. He redeciphered and redetermined those words with his current understandings. It seemed that there was some extremely marvelous feeling of pertinence?


    The angle of this train of thought was clear, and the thoughts came surging like an opened floodgate. They rushed up and advanced straightforward. They were hard to stop.


    Luo Nan temporarily set aside the situation with his grandfather. There was something else. There was someone else!


    The person who had delivered the external neuron into Luo Nan¡¯s hands in such an unfathomable way.


    The person who one could not avoid, who one could not crack...


    The way he did things. His objective. His considerations. What were they?


    Luo Nan was lying down on his bed with his eyes wide open. He waspletely awake.

 Chapter 137: Imperfect (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 137: Imperfect (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    ¡°It¡¯s on fire! It¡¯s on fire!¡±


    ¡°Let the mes burn! Burn through this cloak of dark curtains!¡±


    "Cloak.... dark curtains!"


    Suddenly, Luo Nan opened his eyes. He had yet to adaptpletely to the lighting here, so he always felt that the wall lights were like mes on the eve of going out. They flickered uneasily under this cover of a cloak-like dark curtain.


    This cloak-like dark curtain pressed down over his body and isted him from the world. His whole body became lethargic, and he was unable to spur some energy. It was as if he was oxygen deprived.


    He understood that this feeling was bad. He removed his feet from the stool toypletely on the ground, as his fingers rapped the circr chair above his body. The smart lights on the wall began to increase in brightness, as it sprayed warm colors beneath.


    The imbnce between darkness and light took a turn. Shadows of the wall ornaments were projected onto the fine grain of the wooden walls and the bookshelves. These shadows formed apositional whole. Theposition merged together with an extendeddder, which caused this narrow space of three square meters to unfold and possess a marvelous sense ofyers.


    Luo Nan felt a lot better.


    Right now, he was in the tree house of the Withered Tree Sandbar. This room was a secret area his mother built.


    Two weeks ago, he hade to the school for the first time. Thanks to multiple factors, the majority of people did not know that there was a student who had quietly faded away for a time before he had quietly returned. These included the fact that the school had an elective based system, his small social circle, and Xie Junping helping him arrange sick time off from school.


    After the conclusion of an entire day of courses, Luo Nan, the one and only official member of the Ritual Club, had arrived at Gear. He arrived at the treehouse that still remained unknown to most, and he rested there quietly.


    Here, time had washed away the aura of his mother, but countless minute vestiges still remained that highlighted her former existence. Luo Nan had meticulously tried to search for traces of his mother, but after awhile, he felt that it was unnecessary. Then, he sat in the resting area on the lower floor and focused his back on the designs that slightly protruded from the wall. He sat there in a daze. His mind was entangled with countless things, but none of these things possessed meaning.


    Thissted until he fell asleep in a daze. Then, his memories startled him awake¡ªrecollections of the mad words of his grandfather.


    Those mad words had tormented Luo Nan for the past two days, and he always sought to discern the logical thread hidden within them. However, this wishful thinking was like smacking one¡¯s head against the wall... It made one¡¯s brain go a bit numb.


    He nced at his wristband; two hours had passed amidst his daze. He heard a sounde from thedder below. Thisdder was a convenient tool installed at the end of the long corridor submerged with water. Thedder was used for normal entry and exit. It was one of the results of the work Xie Junping did during this past half a month.


    It was half an hour into the afternoon. Soon, Xie Junping made his way inside. There was now an additional person in the resting room, and it immediately made the space quite crowded. Xie Junping simply sat on a step of thedder. He yawned and tears came out of his eyes, as he asked without thinking, "Have you seen the video I sent you?"


    "...Not yet." Only now did Luo Nan recall that Xie Junping had sent him a video. Xie Junping said that he found the culprit who had snuck into the treehouse.


    "It¡¯s a muskrat, not a mouse!"


    Xie Junping gnashed his teeth, as he corrected Luo Nan¡¯s mistaken thought. The muskrat had been engraved in his mind after he was entangled in battles with the brown-haired rodent for half a month.


    "That thing is absolutely abnormal! It¡¯s absolutely impossible for normal rodents to possess those reactions and that type of behavior. This must be a rejected mutant of aboratory experiment!


    Luo Nan could sense Xie Junping¡¯s mood. Xie Junping¡¯s attention had to be on more than just a rodent.


    Xie Junping had arrived today at Gear with apletely new look. It surprised Luo Nan. Two weeks had passed and Xie Junping must have painstakingly racked his head ande up with a n.


    There were few people who could treat Luo Nan this way besides Luo Nan¡¯s rtives, and the first was Xie Junping. Luo Nan had no intention of taking these emotions and cing it under the frame of the Format Pyramid. Luo Nan was also unwilling to say dry words of thanks. He just silently memorized this favor, and his lips split into a grin.


    "I¡¯ll look at it when I get back. When you catch that mouse, uh that muskrat, let¡¯s eat some braised stir-fry."


    Xie Junping¡¯s mind went wild, as he imagined the beautiful scene of the brown ¡®mouse¡¯ being tossed into a pan of hot oil. However, he soon came back to reality and asked Luo Nan, "Aren¡¯t you going to that gym? When are you leaving?"


    "It¡¯s about time. Right now."


    He had already obtained permission from his aunt in regards to the matter of training in breathing techniques. However, the matter was not finalized. ording to Xue Lei, Gym Master Xiu would rather go without a disciple than have a shoddy disciple when it came to teaching. Luo Nan had to meet the gym master in person before he could finalize things.


    ording to Xue Lei¡¯s stories, Gym Master Xiu had once said, "Whether I teach. Regardless of purpose. Let us talk in person."


    For this, Luo Nan had scheduled a time with Xue Lei to meet at Divine Yu Gym. After he heard about this matter, Xie Junping had volunteered to drive Luo Nan over.


    During this half month period when Luo Nan was not at school, Xie Junping and Xue Lei¡¯s friendship had continued. Xue Lei¡¯s issue with the school societies had stagnated at Limestone Water Vige Pub, but it was resolved thanks to Xie Junping.


    Xue Lei¡¯s monstrous body and powerful martial ability was the target of Xie Junping¡¯s extreme envy. His heart was drawn toward the gym master that Xue Lei spoke of.


    Luo Nan and Xie Junping came out from the jungle of the north bank and saw that the skies were getting dark. Xie Junping started up the electric transport cart and transported Luo Nan along speedily on campus. There were not many people on campus during this time. Most people had already gone home.


    Xie Junping pushed the electric cart to its highest speed. At the same time, his mouth spewed words like a raging torrent. He talked about the repeated battles with the brown-haired rodent.


    Xie Junping was describing how he had controlled the underwater vehicle to pursue the animal when Luo Nan suddenly spoke up without warning.


    "Slow down."


    They had just made it to an intersection and Xie Junping instinctively pressed the brakes. It was a good thing he did so, for a semi-trailer truck came whistling past down a different road. The dark green truck was inharmonious with the atmosphere of the campus, and its sealed trailer brushed against the front end of Xie Junping¡¯s electric cart. The truck caused a great gale to blow leaves all around, and the leaves spattered against the windshield of the cart with pattering sounds.


    "Holy sh*t!" Xie Junping was the only one on campus who put on airs. This was the first time he met someone else be so ostentatious.


    Also, what the hell was with that heavy freight?


    Acumen College strictly prohibited external vehicles from entering the school. Regardless of the countless wealthy students with high-status parents, they all had to use electric carts to get around. As for transportation vehicles for construction, there were special roads for them. It made no sense for them to charge and bash around on campus.


    The semi-truck had not stopped at all. It just galloped straight along. Soon, it entered a special underground road. However, it certainly made a serious vition at the intersection just now.


    Xie Junping, a candidate for vice-president of the Student Council, a high ranking member of the Honor Society, chuckled darkly. He rightfully made a call to the school security department and sent over the license te, model number, and other images his HoloFilm captured.


    "To make sure it doesn¡¯t leave the school gate."


    Xie Junping gave Luo Nan a wink. Of course, this matter was not really important. Soon, he and Luo Nan forgot all about it. They rode the electric cart to the parking lot and switched to Xie Junping¡¯s flying car, a Phantom. They flew off and docked onto the maic rails, setting the coordinates to the River Wu District.


    A call came through before they could travel far. Xie Junping nced at the caller id and used the car¡¯s phone to put the call through. He answered in a jolly mood, "Old Du, what¡¯s up? It must be quite rxing to have nothing to do, now that you¡¯re resigning from the Mystic Arts Research Society..."


    The voice was so sharp in fury that it nearly damaged the high-end acoustics of the car. "Oh Bigshot Xie, are you having fun!? So it turns out you folk like to ssh hot tea on one¡¯s face before one leaves!?"

 Chapter 138: Boshan Building (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 138: Boshan Building (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    "The hell are you talking about?" Old Du baffled Xie Junping. "Old Du, you must have taken way too many drugs!"


    "I¡¯ll drug your sister! Did I provoke you or something? Why the hell did you tag my truck?" Old Du¡¯s voice was really sharp. It was clear that his fury soared to the heavens. His voice rolled out into the curses of a vixen.


    Xie Junping was unable to hold back hisughter, as he realized what was going on. "So, that semi-truck packed with freight was yours? Are you driving it?"


    "I would have steamrolled you to death if I was on it!"


    Xie Junping did not take Old Du¡¯s words to heart. He smacked the steering wheel inughter. "Ah Old Du, I¡¯m not criticizing you. It may be easy for anyone to get a drivers license nowadays, but don¡¯t let a retard drive your truck. Being too brash and one mistake will cause your ident rate to be a disaster. Your father works for the Department of Transportation. Didn¡¯t he warn you?"


    "Xie... You..."


    "Okay okay okay. I won¡¯t push you. I¡¯ll give a call to security and let you drive your truck away. However, I want that retarded driver to serve me tea as an apologyter..."


    "Screw you!"


    The sharp trill of Old Du¡¯s voice was clearly audible through the car¡¯s speakers. "So, you¡¯re still talking sh*t! They¡¯ve already towed back my truck. If anything happens to the cargo inside, things ain¡¯t over between us Xie!"


    After saying this, Old Du just hung up.


    "What the heck just happened?"


    Xie Junping had an expression of bafflement. He turned to look at Luo Nan and exined, "This Old Du, aka Du Yong, we call him Sissy Du as well. You should know that he is the president of the Mystic Arts Research Society. Normally, he¡¯s a pretty decent guy; it¡¯s just that he¡¯s quite fanatical about the mystic arts. Now, add the fact that he overdoses on drugs and you can see that sometimes his mind isn¡¯t quite normal."


    "..." The description of Old Du described Luo Nan dead-on. It was like he was identally shot dead in the face. He was speechless.


    Xie Junping still did not quite understand the reason why Du Yong got so angry. He grumbled, "He had it towed back, yet he¡¯s still pissed!?"


    A call came through at this time. This time, Luo Nan knew the caller id as well. It was Xie Junping¡¯s best friend, and a fellow member of the Student Council, Hu Huaying.


    "Bro Ping, where are you?"


    "I¡¯m outside with Nanster. We¡¯re heading to the River Wu District to handle something."


    "Oh? So Nanster¡¯s there too."


    This brother just so happened to be at the right ce at the right time at Frost River Reality that night. Huang Bingzhen¡¯s ¡¯holy exchange¡¯ had knocked him unconscious. Although he was unconscious during the events, he heard the news when he woke up. As such, he had a general understanding of what had happened. There were no two ways about it. Luo Nan had led the special forces to his and his friends¡¯ room. They were transported out. This was not a life-saving favor in the figurative sense, as Luo Nan had literally saved his life. As expected, Hu Huaying looked at Luo Nan in a different light.


    Luo Nan greeted Hu Huaying as well, "Bro Hu."


    Hu Huaying quickly cut to the chase. "I heard you just helped out the Mystic Arts Research Society. You got Old Du¡¯s semi-truck confiscated?"


    The logic behind Hu Huaying¡¯s words immediately befuddled Xie Junping. "The heck do you mean? How did I ¡¯help¡¯... the Mystic Arts Research Society?"


    "Don¡¯t you know? Old Du didn¡¯t just resign as president; he quit his society. Before he quit, he took the instruments and materials he used in the society, loaded them in his semi-truck, and took them away. Then security confiscated the vehicle, and the members of the Mystic Arts Research Society came chasing over to take the goods back without an iota of change."


    "Holy sh*t!" These twist and turns of events surprised Xie Junping. So, this was what actually was going on. This was no longer the issue of a former president quitting his society. This was an extreme change; an issue that shed all pretense of cordiality. Just how much of a mess was the Mystic Arts Research Society in right now?


    Xie Junping shot a nce at Luo Nan and unavoidably thought about the issue of who had ownership of Gear. The Mystic Arts Research Society would be truly damned if it were to wrestle with the Construction Society in this state.


    "What about those financial investors in the background? Are they staring nkly as this society eats itself? Oh! That¡¯s right! You said it before. A major financial backer removed their resources, right?"


    Next to Xie Junping, Luo Nan closed his eyes. He had heard this matter from Xie Junping already. However, Luo Nan¡¯s understanding was different than Xie Junping and Hu Huaying. Luo Nan knew that this matter involved things that were all the way up to the situation with Xia City. Especially with the Order of Justice.


    "Old Du is quite a failure of a person."


    Xie Junping sighed about this huge let down with the Mystic Arts Research Society. He had a huge headache for a time. Today¡¯s matter was something inappropriate to walk away from. In addition, his tagging of Old Du¡¯s vehicle caused the situation to intensely change. As for what would follow, what the conclusion would be like in the bidding war between the Mystic Arts Research Society and the Construction Society, who Gear would belong to... It was all a pain.


    He smacked his steering wheel. "Alright! I¡¯ll go back and take a look."


    Luo Nan nodded. "It¡¯s best to go back."


    "Not you, you already have an appointment. I¡¯ll see youter. You never know; you might call him your Master. You should leave a good impression. You must not bete."


    After he said this, Xie Junping controlled the flying car to park safely to the side. "We¡¯re not that far from school. I¡¯ll have Old Hue and pick me up. You drive my Phantom over. In any case, you have the privileges to my car. Let us stop wasting time. I¡¯ll contact you if somethinges upter."


    Luo Nan looked at the time; he did not refuse.


    The Phantom flying car soared away at high speeds. Luo Nan remained sitting shotgun, not changing his position a bit. He allowed the flying car to advance the whole journey in autonomous driving mode.


    Luo Nan was mulling over the matter with the Mystic Arts Research Society. ording to the Ability User Society¡¯s recent intelligence, the Order of Justice was thergest financial backer of the Mystic Arts Research Society. This was not confined to merely Acumen College. In each and every school in the Pingjiang District, the Mystic Arts Research Society was simply a front. Behind all of them was the shadow of the Order of Justice.


    The boundary between the inner world and the secr, normal world was blurred to the highest limits in the realm of the mystic arts. This was a superb channel to assimte talent.


    However,st week, several dozen priests and knights at Frost River Reality had died in the Logic World. This ounted for the majority of them and among them included a First Otum, eight Otum Knights of the highest elite, and the destruction of the fleshly body of the mastermind An Weng. All that was left of An Weng was his soul, and his soul had merged inside the body of the demon. It was unknown where An Weng and the demon had gone.


    Today, the Order of Justice was missing elite forces in Xia City. All that was left was Zheng Xiao and Baze to support the overall situation. It was inevitable for problems to arise.


    It was noteworthy that the Order of Justice did not immediately call in reinforcements to make up for the gap in Xia City. Instead, they spent all their energy without end on other cities. They did what could be called a textbook definition of spreading pressure; they made it so that the ability user society of Xia City was faced with external threats. Soon, these threats rapidly turned into pressure and criticism from within the Society. It was said that the high level members of the Society had quite the headaches in these recent days.


    Luo Nan sighed, and he had his mind sink. He generally sensed the undercurrent of the soul strength bubbling up from within his Hollow Depository. His mind continued to sink further; he entered the abstract and cryptic Format Pyramid interface of the external neuron.


    Before, the interface was like murky water. Now, there was a huge change in its appearance.


    The Format Pyramid remained situated in the center as before, but the surging turbid water and the ying card portraits of people had transformed into a grand and vast star river. Tens of thousands of stars were spread over, and dark clouds billowed out. There seemed to be boundaries between the stars and the dark clouds. But as a whole, they melted together into a furnace; it was hard to differentiate them.


    Such a state was the result of the great drawing strokes of the night at Frost River Reality. He had drawn a myriad of Life Sketches that fused into a hazy star river, and this hazy star river mixed together with the Format Pyramid.


    However, when Luo Nan truly went to observe the interior of the Format Pyramid, even though the light of the stars were shining through, even though the light was clear as water, he could see that each level basically maintained its original state.


    The two levels of politician and clergy remained empty. The technician level just had the Wraith Sign. The student level looked to be the liveliest level. Xie Junping and Cat Eyes were bobbing up and down within the star river. It looked like they were going to be raised to the office worker level.


    The most distinct change actually urred on the office worker level. There was an additional person besides the crow Ink, who had long since entered this level.


    Baze. Currently one of the few greats remaining of the Order of Justice¡¯s Otum Knights.

 Chapter 138: Boshan Building (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 138: Boshan Building (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    It was as if there was ayer of mist and dust surrounding Baze¡¯s projected image within the Format Pyramid. Starlight subtly glowed.


    Luo Nan¡¯s mind was drawn over, and he saw the starlight simr to the water of a river. It rolled and billowed within the Format Pyramid and set off ripples. There were also waves surging below that pushed Baze¡¯s portrait to bob up and down. An impressive scene to the eyes.


    However, aesthetic could not purely support this situation.


    The uncontrolled growth of soul strength broke through the capacity limits of the Hollow Depository. This outbreak led to the continuous increase of the interference effect between the mental ne and the material ne, which caused the disturbance toward the Format Pyramid Interface to grow stronger and stronger.


    Luo Nan was a bit worried when he woke up to the situation in front of him. Theyout of the Format Pyramid and the rankings of his believers were going through huge changes.


    Luckily, no problems had urred so far. His mind swept over Baze¡¯s portrait and touched upon some key openings. A long shadow steeped in darkness pierced through the clear rippling starlight. This was the instantiation of an order frame, the dark chains. These marvelous chains were like a dragon of legends. They bobbed up and down the endless star river, flickering in and out of sight.


    Right now, it spiraled around Baze¡¯s portrait, as it emitted a faint noise. There was a meaning contained in its actions. It was likely showing the way to Baze¡¯s order.


    On the night at Frost River Reality, An Weng had tried to control the demon withoutplete sess. He lost control of the chaos element. The chaos element surged through the mana channels within the bodies of the Otum Knights and eroded their life force. This was the primary reason why the elites of the Order were all wiped out.


    Baze had suffered from the attack then as well. He was on the verge of exploding and dying. In his moment of despair, he sought out Fairchild. He hoped to find an honorable death. But then, Fairchild restrained him and requested Luo Nan to use his order frame to help Baze find a new path to life.


    Luo Nan was in fact sessful in doing so. Although chaos element might have eroded and reced Baze¡¯s life, Luo Nan was able to establish a whole new restrictive order within this sheet of chaos. Baze was relying on none other than this to live in this world.


    Yet, it was also because of this that Baze¡¯s life was in Luo Nan¡¯s hands.


    Of course, Luo Nan had saved Baze because Fairchild asked him to. Luo Nan was not going to really do anything to Baze. Baze was quite strong. Luo Nan was not sure he could stop such a person from seeking death.


    Luo Nan had not tried to do anything toward Baze¡¯s body after that night. Then, Luo Nan had entered the hospital for treatment, vexed over the uncontrolled growth of his soul strength. The high level members of the Order of Justice called Fairchild back for questioning and investigation. The two sides did not contact each other at all. There were many moments when Luo Nan simply forgot about this matter.


    The unforeseen event with the Mystic Arts Research Society had wound Luo Nan¡¯s train of thought over here. He was thinking whether or not he should contact Baze.


    He hesitated for a moment, but he still did not make the next move.


    Aside from the Wraith Sign and Ink, Luo Nan had yet to utilize this channel to make contact and control a single person. It was one matter to do this toward an unintelligent Darksider life form or his own pet. To do this toward Xie Junping, Cat Eyes, and even Baze, these highly intelligent living beings, was a totally different matter.


    He also did not know just what sort of applications the order frame was capable of in the end.


    Furthermore, it felt kind of like a joke to go contact Baze for the matter with the Mystic Arts Research Society. The level of a school society was far too inferior in the eyes of someone as powerful as Baze.


    Luo Nan shook his head, and his mind departed from this space.


    The so-called saying, ¡®Cultivation Without the Sun and Moon¡¯,rgely referred to the state of meditation and calmness where the sense of time toward the outer world waspletely lost. Luo Nan¡¯s self-perception had spent a full circle within the Format Pyramid Interface. Nearly half an hour had passed in reality.


    The Phantom flying car speedily continued along under its autonomous driving mode and had already made it to the River Wu District. The car¡¯s AI was already inputted with the address that Xue Lei gave. The AI had nned the route, and it quickly brought Luo Nan to Boshan Building, the location of Divine Yu Gym.


    There was arge detached high-rise that upied over a hundred acres ofnd. It was named Boshan because its design was a replica of the Boshanlu, or Hill Censor, of ancient times. This was the famousndmark building of the River Wu District.


    Boshan Building had the shape of a mountain. It was wide at the base and sharp at the top. The bottom floors were neat and tidy offices. The top floors formed the jagged peaks of a business district. Various stores were strewn at random there. There was also a bright green aerobic runway that spiraled upon the building and stretched to a rooftop garden at the very top.


    This was the highest ss business district in the River Wu District. Since they were able to run a store here and able to open a gym, that Gym Master Xiu must have a high social status.


    Luo Nan parked the car at the underground parking structure and took an elevator to the high ss business district. He gave Xue Lei a call and soon found the location of Divine Yu Gym thanks to his guidance.


    If one were to view Boshan Building as an artificial mountain, then Divine Yu Gym would be located about halfway up the mountain. It did not take up too much space, and its construction was of an open ssical courtyard style. The terrain of the business district limited it, making up of three courtyards in ascending height. The whole construction took up three stories, and it faced the sun in a corner. It was as if it was built in ordance to a mountain, and it looked utterly refined.


    Though it was located in the bustling business district, the front of the gym was rather simple. All that hung was a simple que that said, ¡®Divine Yu¡¯. It was upright and straight but not fancy. There were not many characteristics to it.


    Xue Lei rushed out to wee Luo Nan at this time. He wore light gray training clothes. The same outfit that Luo Nan saw him in when they first met. There was a tripod cauldron logo on his chest. His muscles bulged tightly against his training clothes, which made him look magnificent.


    Luo Nan¡¯s gaze rested a moment on the tripod cauldron logo. Suddenly, he recalled the gym master¡¯s name. Of course, this was also the name of the gym. It was highly likely that the name originated from the ssical story ¡®Yu Cast Nine Tripod Cauldrons¡¯.


    Just from the name and the look of theyout and exterior of the gym, Gym Master Xiu Shenyu was indeed an old-fashioned character.


    Xue Lei did not know the thoughts that instantly shed through Luo Nan¡¯s mind. He split his lips into a slightly embarrassed grin. "Nanster, the gym master is teaching a ss right now. I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll need to wait a bit. He will be good in half an hour."


    Luo Nan was in no hurry. "This is nothing. Oh right, can I take a look?"


    Xue Lei scratched his head when he heard this. "Uh, not this ss. They¡¯re all seven, eight year old kids. They haven¡¯t fixed their essences yet. If their frame disperses, it would be hard for them to coalesce the energies back... Why don¡¯t we first wait at the mind study?"


    Luo Nan did not push it. He followed Xue Lei inside. He was just a little curious. "The gym master is personally teaching kids?"


    When Luo Nan was a kid, his aunt and uncle had the children of the family take hobby sses in martial arts and fighting for exercise. It was hard to meet the boss during those times. Normally, trainers were the ones who taught the courses.


    Uh, daoguans and training sses were quite different.


    "There aren¡¯t many people in our daoguan. We don¡¯t have the resources. Plus, it¡¯s very important for children toy a good foundation, so the gym master personally came."


    Xue Lei nced around and whispered, "Actually, very few kids are able to endure; they can¡¯t handle the pain. The gym master says that there aren¡¯t many who can embark along his path, and it¡¯s not necessary to forcefully mold them. Yet, he also can¡¯t hamper their progress. Its fine to turn them from stubborn stones to unpolished jades and reveal their light. Maybe one day in the future, they will receive a moment of enlightenment and still be able to rely upon this path."


    Luo Nanughed as he looked at Xue Lei. "So you¡¯re saying that you¡¯re along the gym master¡¯s path?"


    Xue Lei answered a bit rudely, "Yea, man. The gym master once said that I was quite like him when he was young."


    Luo Nan turned to look at Xue Lei¡¯s simple and honest face. He tried mixing Xue Lei¡¯s face with a sage-like old-fashioned character, but it was hard for him to imagine the resulting appearance.

 Chapter 139: Tai Chi Ball (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 139: Tai Chi Ball (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    The skies were already dark, and the daoguan did not have many lit lights inside. The front courtyard was quite lively though; there were students and parents moving back and forth under the lighting. As they made their way to the middle courtyard, Luo Nan found a sparse amount of people. The lit lights within the winding corridor caused this courtyard to be dusky.


    Xue Lei brought Luo Nan up the right winding corridor. They reached the back courtyard. It was a sheet of pitch-ck darkness. They could not see a single person. The lights of the winding corridor, and the spray of light from the bustling city outside could not reach here.


    "There aren¡¯t generally people here," said Xue Lei. Then, he pointed at the pitch-ck wooden building ahead. "We¡¯re here. That¡¯s the mind study."


    The wooden building appeared long and wide under the dusky lighting. It seemed to take up over half of the back courtyard. Luo Nan did not quite expect this. He had thought Xue Lei was talking about a study room or something when Xue Lei mentioned the mind study. He never thought it would be thisrge and this spacious. It was big enough to be a training ground.


    They walked into the mind study, and Luo Nan confirmed that this was likely once a training ground. Beneath their feet was the instation of soft and beautiful cork material. They took off their shoes and walked on it. It was veryfortable. Yet, it was certainly left unused now. There were many random objects ced inside, and theyout was quite casual. It looked a bit messy.


    A low table was ced near the entrance, and there were a few cushions as well. There was even a tea set on the table and a small stove next to the table to boil water for tea. It was all very clean, neat, and tidy. It looked like people came here often.


    Xue Lei turned on the lights, which only covered the area next to the entrance. This caused theyout further inside to appear duskier and messier with shadows looming everywhere. It looked a bit creepy.


    This environment slightly embarrassed Xue Lei. "Normally, the gym master spends his time here. This ce is a bedroom, a study, and a living room. There is also a sundries room. They¡¯re just not separated here."


    Luo Nan wondered out loud, "Why?"


    "The gym master said that he¡¯s impatient and has a lot of rage. He needs a vast space to clear his mind. He¡¯s more likely to get sick if he¡¯s smothered. Of course, typical people like us don¡¯t do this..."


    Upon saying this, Xue Lei rummaged out a tea kettle and other objects used to receive guests. He turned on the stove to boil water, but then, his wristband began vibrating when he put the kettle on the stove. He looked at the message and tapped his head. "Nanster. How about you first sit here for a bit. I need to go help out my fellow disciples. Sorry, man. Sorry."


    "You do what you gotta do."


    Luo Nan certainly did not mind. Between them, they had a friendship that ascended lives. There was no need to be this polite, but Xue Lei felt that there were truly no words that could describe his feelings. His hands came together in a bow, and he rushed away.


    Looking at this, it seemed that the gym was reallycking people...


    Luo Nan was a bit surprised. The gym master had to be a billionaire in order to open a daoguan in Boshan Building. Why did he not hire a few more trainers? Or maybe business was thriving too much that they couldn¡¯t meet the demands?


    Luo Nan recalled his impression of the path he walked to get to the mind study. He felt that there were not that many people in the daoguan. It did not matter whether it was the back courtyard or the middle courtyard. There were not that many people. This ce was not lively.


    Yeah. This was a bit weird.


    He did not think too much about this. The water had yet to boil. He just stood near the entrance and watched the dark scene. There were not that many ssical-style buildings like this in today¡¯s Xia City. The daoguan was located in the bustling business district. People streamed endlessly above his head and below his feat, but within this courtyard, the morous sounds of people were blocked off. This was truly the best ce to get some peace and quiet within a ce of noise.


    Two antique-style humanoid stonenterns were alight outside the mind study. The orange rays illuminated the doorway of the mind study, the corridor, and a small area of the courtyard.


    A gust of wind blew, and leaves rustled, floated, and fell. Luo Nan only saw it now; there was arge tree in the middle of the back courtyard. It was so thick that two people could not wrap their arms around it. He could not tell what type of tree it was at first nce. He just felt the edge of the lights reach out, as the shadow of tree swayed. It was beautiful, secluded, and quiet. And the slight rustling sound from the wind purged his heart and mind. The seat of his emotions were washed clean, but serene thoughts were born from the silence.


    Luo Nan stood beneath the wooden awning outside the mind study. He was in a trance for a time, and the sound of boiling water behind him startled him awake. He walked back inside and brewed himself a pot of tea.


    He was young after all. His thoughts and feelings were fickle. Those faint yet discernible thoughts just now had quickly dissipated, and he sized up the furnishings inside the mind study. Thisrge open space possessed many functions simultaneously, and it made him very curious. He held the teacup, and his gaze flitted over the various arrangements in the room. There were some ces where the light could not reach, and he could not see those areas clearly. He automatically used his mental senses.


    The automatic irvoyance had a range of a dozen meters or so and enveloped the area surrounding the doorway within. This perception was so meticulous and did not spare dust particles.


    And so, Luo Nan discovered that this ce was quite clean. It was not spotless, but it was swept often. There was a bit of order hidden within. It seemed that the arrangement of the random items was naturally divided into rtively independent areas. The first impression Luo Nan got was not that of disorder and messiness.


    In other words... Luo Nan¡¯s mind went at ease. He thought of the old-fashioned character that was the gym master. Such a person would not go so far to make their residence a big mess.


    Luo Nan grew curious upon understanding the situation inside. There was an order to the messyyout. How were functional areas represented and differentiated?


    "It¡¯s all books in the surroundings. Hmm. There¡¯s also a pillow. That there should be the study."


    "There¡¯s a futon and its further inside. Could that be the bedroom?"


    "There¡¯s just decorative items there. Looks like some of them are over a year old. They¡¯re collections. This is the sundries room..."


    Luo Nan carefully went through each and every location and found pleasure in doing so. His gaze roamed around and back. He had more or less went around in a circle. Suddenly, he stopped.


    Not to far away from the entrance was somethingrge on disy. It was an enormous sphere so big that only a grown man could wrap his arms around it. The sphere was ced on the ground and was nearly half a person tall. It seemed to be made of metal. It looked very heavy. There was not anything else around it, and it looked quite towering.


    Luo Nan could not think of its purpose for a time, so he simply walked over to examine it in detail. He felt a subtle chill assault his face, as he got closer. He touched it with his hand, and it felt ice cold. No doubt about it; it was made out of metal.


    Was it hollow or solid? If it was solid, the wooden floor here might not be able to support it.


    Luo Nan looked below the metal ball. There was a bowl-like tray ced there, and the metal ball rested inside. It looked quite stable. He pushed out with his hand; no movement. He added a bit more effort; this time it worked. The metal ball wasrgely disced within the tray, letting out the sound of friction.


    The sound was exceptionally clear within this empty and quiet room. Luo Nan panicked, and he rushed to stop his hand. But somehow, the way the ball and the tray were connected in this structure made it so that the metal ball began to roll a bit in the tray with just a bit of force. The vibrations were so much that the floor below began to shake.


    The rotating metal ball rubbed against Luo Nan¡¯s fingertips, and he was able to feel bumpy marks on the ball. There seemed to be intermittent lines and painted colors!


    This waspletely unexpected. A slight rotation of the sphere had brought up a blurry pattern... It was even luminous too!


    The style of the pattern was a bit strange.


    In his moment of bafflement, Luo Nan suddenly felt the blurry pattern being raised higher a bit.


    At first, he thought it was a misconception due to the rotation of the sphere, but the sound of friction from the rotation disappeared. The rotated pattern continue to rise until it reached his chest.


    "..."


    Luo Nan lowered his head. All he saw was the connective portion between the metal ball and the tray. He did not know when they separated. This sphere must weigh at least a hundred kilograms. Luo Nan could not see anything supporting it, yet it floated above the tray, as it spun and rotated.

 Chapter 139: Tai Chi Ball (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 139: Tai Chi Ball (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan came to a sudden realization when he saw this. So, it turned out to be maic levitation. Superconductive technologies had made huge developments in today¡¯s world. Such objects were not umon.


    The heavy metal ball levitated in midair; it was still spinning. Luo Nan messed with it a bit, and the ball began to rotate a bit faster. The colored lines upon the ball joined together to form a clearer picture. Although Luo Nan could not really tell anything from it, the sight was quite delightful to the eyes.


    This toy possessed all the colors in profusion and was a bit like the levitating spinning tops that Mo Peng liked to collect when he was a kid. This one was just muchrger. Perhaps this was a prop used in lessons for kids?


    Luo Nan fiddled with the metal ball, and he touched the tray. Based on the movements back when the two objects were touching, it looked like superconducting materials were not used. Luo Nan could not help but wonder, what created the force that allowed this maic levitation?


    He deliberately heightened the precision of his mental senses to prate through the outer shell of the metal ball. As expected, he discovered quite an odd mechanism buried within the center of the sphere, but it was not electrical in nature.


    Footsteps rang from outside the room amidst Luo Nan¡¯s moment of pondering. Xue Lei spoke out with a greeting, "Nanster, the gym master has arrived."


    Luo Nan hurried to the door and saw Xue Lei following a tall,nky man that walked inside. Luo Nan could not see the man¡¯s face clearly, but he bowed in ordance to his earlier preparations.


    "Gym Master Xiu."


    A loud rumbling boom sounded out and exploded in the empty room. The scare caused Luo Nan to jump, and he turned around to look. He saw that the levitating metal ball had fallen, smashed to the ground, and flipped the tray over. The ball rumbled, as it rolled upon the cork flooring.


    "..."


    Xue Lei had the fastest reactions. He rushed over and caught up to the ball in two to three steps. He stopped the metal ball with his hands.


    Aside from the fact that Luo Nan was obviously embarrassed, Luo Nan also froze on the spot. He did not know what to do for a time.


    Xue Lei rolled the metal ball back into the tray, and he even remembered to cover for Luo Nan. "It¡¯s nothing. It¡¯s nothing. Gym master, Nanster, you all talk first."


    Luo Nan gaped with his mouth wide open. The few words he had prepared earlier were no longer applicable. He could only lower his head in a bow. "Sorry, I..."


    "Sit then."


    Gym Master Xiu went from standing at the doorway and walked behind the low table. He extended his hand to point at a location for Luo Nan. Gym Master Xiu¡¯s voice was deep and husky. It was indistinct. If it were not for his hand gesture, Luo Nan would not have understood what he was saying. Luo Nan had nearly missed it.


    It was only now that Luo Nan could see the man clearly, and the sight stupefied Luo Nan. The man was a bit different from the graceful and proper old-fashioned character he had imagined. Gym Master Xiu looked to be in his mid forties. He was extremely skinner andnky, like Bamboo Pole. The night breeze blew in from the outdoors, and the gym master¡¯s ssical style robes rustled. It seemed that the wind could carry him into the air at any time.


    The difference in the lighting inside and the lighting outside smeared several shadows onto the middle-aged man¡¯s withered cheeks. At first nce, the man looked to be all skin and bones; it looked like the forces of nature were on the verge of peeling off his skin.


    Honestly speaking, this gym master was not good-looking. But Luo Nan was not unfamiliar with this image. The torment of his grandfather¡¯s ailment over these years left a result like this.


    It cannot be. The gym master¡¯s body was in ill-health?


    Gym Master Xiu was the first to kneel down. Luo Nan knew this was an ancient rite, and he copied the man¡¯s actions. But Gym Master Xiu just fiddled with the tea set. It looked like he was going to treat a guest for tea.


    Luo Nan mulled over some wordings in his mind, but unfortunately, conversations were not his expertise. He needed time to figure out what new things to say, so he could only maintain his silence. The training grounds were quiet and noiseless for a time.


    The more quiet it was, the more awkward it became.


    There were several instances when Luo Nan wanted to speak, but he was unable to find a way to start. He could only find himself some things to do. He used his mental senses to observe what Xue Lei was up to.


    Xue Lei flipped a switch after pushing the metal ball back into its tray. The outer shell of the metal ball opened up, and Xue Lei took out the installed machinery from the cavity inside. The machinery also had the shape of a sphere, but it was just the size of a fist, six to seven centimeters in diameter. A fineyer of metal mesh wrapped the outeryer of this small sphere. The inneryer was an instation of a device simr to a gyroscope. Xue Lei pounded it twice then scratched his head. Clearly, this toy was broken.


    This shattered thest of Luo Nan¡¯s few hopeful thoughts, but this also gave him the chance to speak. He lowered his head and apologized, "I¡¯m sorry Gym Master Xiu. I..."


    Halfway through his words, Luo Nan was unable to think of a way to exin what had happened with the metal ball. He went to a sudden stop and visible sweat appeared on his forehead.


    Gym Master Xiu was pouring water into a cup at this time. He heard Luo Nan and looked up to give him a nce. "Tai chi ball."


    "Yes, tai chi ball. I will absolutely fix that tai chi ball... Cough!"


    It seemed that Luo Nan was destined to be unable to speak aplete dialog today. The itching sensation had risen up his throat in this moment. Luo Nan could not stop it, so he could only turn his head and cough twice.


    Gym Master Xiu did not seem to care. "It was already broken. It¡¯s already quite bizarre for it tost until now."


    He pushed a cup of tea toward Luo Nan, as he spoke.


    The itch in Luo Nan¡¯s throat had yet to fade. Luo Nan epted the cup, but he did not dare to drink. He was scared that he could not hold back the cough and would spit the tea out.


    This was likely disrespectful of him, but Luo Nan was quite helpless in this matter.


    Gym Master Xiu picked up a cup of his own without concern for Luo Nan. He drank the tea in one gulp and minded his own business. Then, he lowered his head and yed with the cup in his hands.


    They had exchanged a few sentences, and now, they were back in a silent state. Luo Nan really did not know what he should do for a time.


    Xue Lei saw that things were not going well from over yonder. He disregarded the matter with the tai chi ball and hurriedly inserted the mechanical device back into the cavity. He walked over with brisk steps. Then, he knelt and sat to the side. He poured more tea for the two, gave Luo Nan a stealthy wink, and deliberately spoke in a loud voice.


    "Nanster, no need to be too restricted around here. The gym master doesn¡¯t care for customs and rites at all."


    Luo Nan looked at his own kneeling posture. Then, he looked at the cup in his hands. He was speechless for a moment.


    Luckily, Xue Lei¡¯s interruption had brought Gym Master Xiu out of his silent state. The gym master¡¯s head was still lowered, as he yed with the cup, but he finally spoke.


    "A heard a few things about you from Xue Lei. He rmended that you learn breathing techniques to treat the symptoms of your cough. However, I am not a doctor, and there¡¯s nothing mystical about breathing techniques..."


    Luo Nan listened attentively and carefully. He was scared that he would mishear the gym master, but Luo Nan was suddenly surprised when he heard thetter sentence. He nced at Xue Lei, who gestured a ¡¯don¡¯t worry about it¡¯ back.


    "Xue Lei." Gym Master Xiu suddenly mentioned Xue Lei¡¯s name.


    This startled Xue Lei. He rushed to straighten up. He sat upright and still. "Gym master."


    "What did you say on that day?"


    Xue Lei¡¯s mouth gaped open, and a few ¡¯uh¡¯s came out of it before his thoughts became clear. He spoke very carefully. "I said that you, the gym master, has once said, ¡¯Breathing in, one can observe the inner organs, move a myriad of veins, and take in the soul...¡¯, those words."


    Xue Lei did not mention the more abstruse words near the end, like ¡¯observe heaven and earth, know yin and yang, and visit the divine¡¯, but the meaning was certainly there.


    Then came five to six seconds of the Gym Master¡¯s silence. The cup just twirled within his withered and bony fingers and palm.


    Right when Luo Nan believed that the gym master was angry, the gym master slowly raised his head and aimed his sunken eyes at Luo Nan. "I speak abstractly when I teach. Duality and parallelism of words. They give today¡¯s youngsters a deep impression, and it allows them to remember a few words. This avoids a teaching style that is stiff and rigid, which may make their cultivation be bad."


    The fixed-stare of Gym Master Xiu raised Luo Nan¡¯s hair, but he still replied, "Yes."


    Luo Nan had to admit that he did not have much belief in those abstruse descriptions, even though there was the living case of Xue Lei ced before his eyes. Luo Nan did not really hope that learning breathing techniques would be able to cure him of his ailments. He mainly wanted to avoid brushing away Xue Lei¡¯s sentiments, and he wanted to have a more convenient life in the future.


    Gym Master Xiu had spoken quite realistically. Luo Nan could naturally ept those words.


    Another few seconds of silence passed before Gym Master Xiu opened his mouth once more. "No matter the technique, everything must start from the beginning. Time and volume is the true path. Your body isn¡¯t suitable for much volume. Then, what about time?"


    "Huh?" Luo Nan could not understand what the gym master was saying for a time.


    Gym Master Xiu stared at him. The enunciation was husky, but the meaning was clear. "Do you have consistent and sufficient time?"

 Chapter 140: Sleeping Technique (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 140: Sleeping Technique (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan understood the gym master¡¯s meaning, but his thoughts were unable to turn around for a time. He hesitated in his answer.


    Gym Master Xiu produced even clearer points. "You are a student. You have other matters to attend to. I can teach you, but do you have enough time to take in and absorb my teachings?"


    Luo Nan was speechless. He realized that this was indeed an extremely realistic problem. Going to school and taking the Society general knowledge sses daily. Doing the Frost River Reality exercise, which would use up his soul strength everyday. Plus, he had his own research on Formatting Theory... Every item was time-consuming.


    Of course, the daily schedule was much easier now that he did not need to produce drugs everyday. It was not impossible to squeeze out a bit more time. However, this time was bound to be scattered, fractured, and uneptable. Would he be able to guarantee good learning results in this case?


    Luo Nan looked at Xue Lei. Xue Lei was also stupefied. Clearly, he did not think about this.


    In the end, it was Gym Master Xiu who suggested a realistic approach. "Write up a schedule. Write down your entire day on a schedule and give it to me to look at."


    "Oh, sure.¡±


    Luo Nan already had a schedule ready and made. It was the training program He Yueyin drew up thest time she visited. All Luo Nan needed to do was erase a few details about the course names and give it to the gym master.


    Luo Nan was going to send it to Gym Master Xiu, but he suddenly discovered that Gym Master Xiu was not wearing a wristband.


    Xue Lei rushed and spoke, "You can just give it to me. The gym master isn¡¯t used to using electronics."


    "Uh, okay."


    Xue Lei received the information. Then, he connected it to a printer in the corner of the training grounds and operated it.


    Luo Nan was a bit surprised. Wristbands were not just amunications tool for modern citizens; they were integrated with proof of identities, social privileges, asset credits, and other details for passage. No one noticed the power of these wristbands, but once one lost theirs, they would immediately experience the feeling of being unable to move a single step in society.


    Luo Nan¡¯s uncle worked for the SCA. His uncle had taught the kids specific topics on social experiences, which left a very deep impression on Luo Nan.


    The machine buzzed as paper passed through it. Finally, Luo Nan matched Gym Master Xiu with his preconceived image of an old-fashioned character. Was this not a passable reason to exin the gym master?


    Xue Lei brought the printed schedule over. Gym Master Xiu lowered his head and skimmed through it. He calmly said, "Who arranged it?"


    Luo Nan was startled, but Xue Leiughed before he could respond. "Is it Secretary He?"


    "Yes, you¡¯re right. It¡¯s Sister He."


    Gym Master Xiu shook the paper lightly, which caused it to sound out with a crack. Then, he ced the paper on the low table and ced a cup that he had been ying around with upon it.


    "It¡¯s quite decent. You still have the time to sleep... If you want to learn my breathing techniques, you must ensure that you get at least six hours of sleep a night. Learning to breathe shall start with sleep."


    Luo Nan was stupefied, and he instinctively turned to look at Xue Lei. Xue Lei gave him a wink and motioned for him to agree to it.


    But Gym Master Xiu spoke before Luo Nan could talk. "No need to rush in your answer. Go back and think it over. Think of whether or not you can maintain steady work and rest. Then, make your decision."


    Then, Gym Master Xiu raised a hand and motioned that Luo Nan could leave.


    That was it? This big gym master... Was he easy to talk to? Or hard to talk to?


    Luo Nan was a bit unused to it, and his mind was sluggish. He followed Xue Lei¡¯s lead, saluted to Gym Master Xiu, and bid his farewells.


    The two went back through the same corridor. On the way, Luo Nan was still wondering, "Learning to sleep..."


    "It¡¯s learning to breathe while sleeping."


    Xue Lei corrected Luo Nan¡¯s mistaken thought. "The Sleeping Immortal Skill, the Nose-Locking Technique, the Dormant Dragon, and simr techniques have existed since ancient times. The gym master certainly must have chosen to begin here based on the reality of your situation. He¡¯s tailoring his teachings to you."


    Luo Nan grunted in agreement; he was not doubting the gym master. The world was arge one, full of extraordinary things, not to mention the realm of supernatural powers. Luo Nan knew of Mr. Bai¡¯s dream techniques; this was intimately rted to sleeping. There was also Rui Wen; that little girl had already slept for a full half a month. She was certainly using sleep to adjust her state.


    Gym Master Xiu had said something superb. "No matter the technique, everything must start from the beginning."


    Luo Nan had to truly give it a shot in order to see if the training was useful, to see what the results would be.


    Luo Nan still possessed this patience.


    Luo Nan¡¯s mind finally adapted, but then, he recalled a different matter. "Oh right, the tai chi ball!"


    What was the tai chi ball? Luo Nan was still unsure, but he had broken someone else¡¯s equipment; this fact was as clear as day. It would be best to pay the necessary repercussions.


    Xue Lei could not refrain from scratching his head when he heard the words ¡¯tai chi ball¡¯. "That thing is truly broken... Forget it, don¡¯t be concerned about it. Focus on tidying up your schedule between work and rest. Work hard when you get back. I¡¯ll think of a way to fix that toy."


    Luo Nan was unfamiliar with the circumstances and could only say, "I¡¯ll pay the repair costs."


    "Let¡¯s talk about thatter." Xue Lei chuckled and led Luo Nan to the exit.


    The two passed through the middle courtyard and the front courtyard. They hardly saw any people in the daoguan at this time. Xue Lei exined the deserted state of the gym, "We haven¡¯t recruited any new sses because we¡¯re going to be moving soon."


    "Moving?"


    Luo Nan had been in the back courtyard for around half an hour and had a deep impression of the silent and serene feeling. They were going to move from such a great location?


    Xue Lei sighed. "The gym master won this ce in a bet for the sake of setting roots in Xia City back in the day. The property itself belongs to Boshan Industries. The bet back then was only for the rent of ten years. Right now, the gym master has to pay rent, and the rent is extremely expensive. We don¡¯t have the savings... In fact, the gym master is bad at business. He lives very destitutely in his day to day life.¡±


    The two had walked to the entrance by now. Luo Nan turned around. He found it hard to imagine not being able to make money in such a bustling location.


    But then, he saw the que above the door of the gym with its two simple words, ¡®Divine Yu¡¯. Then, he thought about the personality that Gym Master Xiu disyed. Now, he felt that there was nothing strange about Xue Lei¡¯s words.


    "Back then Xiaolin, sigh. Xiaolin had said that if the gym master subleased the daoguan out and switched to a smaller location, the rent moneying over several years would be quite a substantial sum. Then, we wouldn¡¯t be in this situation."


    Xue Lei was still not quite used to mentioning his ex-girlfriend. Luo Nan gave an awkwardugh. Honestly speaking, he had not thought of subleasing, and it looked like Xue Lei had not either based on his tone of voice.


    They were both not financially minded people.


    Luo Nan bid farewell to Xue Lei. He no longer wasted time; he took the flying car Phantom straight back to Renai Hospital. He had gone to the daoguan, so today¡¯s treatment and study time had been postponed until night. Time was of the essence. Plus, there was the matter pertaining to his daily schedule that he had to discuss with He Yueyin.


    Luo Nan arrived at the hospital. He saw Bai Xinyan, but he did not see He Yueyin.


    "Prepare to be disappointed if you wanted to have some private tutoring. The Incident Investigation Team have just arrived at Xia City from the Society HQ..."


    Bai Xinyan indicated to Luo Nan to strip the devices off his clothes, but she saw that Luo Nan was frozen in ce. She raised her eyebrows. "Student Luo Nan. Please don¡¯t show the fact that you¡¯re disappointed so clearly, okay?"


    After He Yueyin had pointed out Bai Xinyan¡¯s temperament, Luo Nan¡¯s immunity toward Bai Xinyan¡¯s teasing had greatly increased. In a certain sense, this was an exchange of blows.


    Luo Nan thought for a bit and asked, "Investigation Team... What¡¯s the meaning of adding an ¡¯Incident¡¯ to it?"


    Bai Xinyan reached out and ced a hand on his shoulder. "What did that Gym Master Xiu say to you?"


    Neither of the two had answered the other¡¯s questions. Their gazes just crossed. Luo Nan looked straight into Bai Xinyan¡¯s amber eyes. His heart inexplicably beat a bit harder, but soon his mind settled down. He did not blink at all.

 Chapter 140: Sleeping Technique (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 140: Sleeping Technique (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    When a male and a female locked gazes for a long while, but possessed neither physical desires nor shared an emotional connection, their actions can only be understood as an attempt to exert dominance over one another.


    Luo Nan certainly didn¡¯t think that deeply, but Bai Xinyan was able to grasp the subtle meanings underlying the situation. From her perspective, Luo Nan was far from being able to intimidate others with his current ability. She didn¡¯t truly feel that Luo Nan was trying to control her. The answer was obvious. This was just an emotional performance.


    In other words, childishness!


    It was indeed meaningless to stay on the same wavelength as a childish big boy. Bai Xinyan didn¡¯t want to force herself to continue; she simply reached out and held Luo Nan¡¯s head firmly.


    "The colors of your irises are really ugly!"


    She let go of his head before Luo Nan could struggle and moved to a different side of the room. Shepletely ignored Luo Nan¡¯s expression as she pondered in her mind: "The little fellow¡¯s hostility has grown stronger and stronger ever since the events at Frost River Reality. This change makes no sense..."


    While Bai Xinyan mulled this over, Luo Nan pressed a hand to his ear and subconsciously walked two steps away. He likely received a message through the Psychic Wave Network. He Yueyin was most likely the one to have contacted him during this time of day.


    A couple of secondster, Bai Xinyan received amunications request. The request came from none other than He Yueyin.


    He Yueyin had initiated a three-waymunication link.


    Bai Xinyan wasn¡¯t a member of the Society, but she had requested temporary-use privileges in using the HexaEar for the sake of convenience. Ouyang Chen was quite magnanimous when it came to promoting the results of his research. The matter was easily handled, and so, Bai Xinyan could observe the daily life of the Society¡¯s Xia City Branch in close proximity and collect relevant intelligence with ease, to her delight.


    To have such a big-hearted boss and several colleagues below this boss, it must not have been easy for Sister He after she retired from the military.


    Bai Xinyanughed and greeted her with a bit of pity, "Hello, Sister He. Have you finished serving those great envoys?"


    He Yueyin ignored Bai Xinyan¡¯s ridicule, or perhaps she didn¡¯t wish to talk about those people. She simply cut to the chase. "I would like to hear your opinion on the learning arrangements Mr. Luo made with the daoguan."


    "I have no opinion... This is because your boss didn¡¯t bring up the matter with me at all. I don¡¯t know if he has a certain opinion about that Gym Master Xiu, or if he has a certain opinion of me."


    Such an open usation left Luo Nan speechless.


    These were times when he couldn¡¯t keep on being stubborn. He could onlyfort himself in learning to defy Bai Xinyan. Then, he spoke a few sentences to describe the notable points of his trip to the daoguan.


    Actually, there wasn¡¯t much he could say. Gym Master Xiu¡¯s intentions were very clear. He could teach Luo Nan, but the time needed to be arranged. All Gym Master Xiu requested was time. This went a bit against convention, but that was all.


    He Yueyin sank into deep thought. Then, she asked Bai Xinyan, "Will it affect the treatment you¡¯re giving Mr. Luo?"


    "From what I can see now, no. Of course, if you don¡¯t mind, I can add another research task and see if there is any improvement in the altercation-absorption efficiency rate under Gym Master Xiu¡¯s instruction... Oh, right. What do you feel about Gym Master Xiu? Is he serious? Cordial? Sly? Antisocial? Aren¡¯t you going to describe him to Secretary He?"


    Bai Xinyan¡¯s ability to use every second and every inch was second to none.


    Luo Nan rolled his eyes. He didn¡¯t want to respond.


    Luckily, He Yueyin forcefully shifted back to the topic at hand. "It¡¯s good as long as it doesn¡¯t affect the treatment. For other items, there is still room for adjustment in Mr. Luo¡¯s schedule. Purely intellectual courses in general learning can be taught via the Psychic Wave Network. It will be ideal if this could ur simultaneously with the health pod treatment."


    "The training exercises in Frost River Reality don¡¯t take too much time. The n is feasible. However, all the brain burner courses should be postponed untilter. If the mind is too strained, the treatment efficiency will certainly be affected."


    "Common sense is absolutely crucial to keep in mind; the intensity can¡¯t be overwhelming. I will give the others a warning on the specifics."


    The twodies weren¡¯t willing to shirk responsibility, so they took the task of drawing up the schedule upon themselves. This became the new topic of their discussion. Only on some details did they consult Luo Nan, the person involved, for his opinion.


    After the schedule was generally formed, He Yueyin contacted the Society members involved in the schedule one by one inmunications. Soon, an all-new schedule was made andpleted.


    Luo Nan felt something when he saw the new daily schedule appear before his eyes. He felt like he was an outsider; as if he was on apletely different page than these twodies.


    Luo Nan quickly suppressed this peculiar feeling of his and asked, "I¡¯ll take this schedule and get in contact with Gym Master Xiu tomorrow, then?"


    He Yueyin grunted. It seemed as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she simply said, "Have him take a look. Any adjustments because of issues can only be done after you start trying out the schedule. Today, let us first do a test. A test to see the effects ofwork learning within the treatment pod."


    Bai Xinyan held Luo Nan¡¯s shoulder. "Yeah, did you hear her? You can take off your clothes now."


    "..."


    Luo Nan took off his clothes and entered the pod with gritted teeth. Bai Xinyan was quite considerate with the time after the Frost River Reality treatment. She gave the following hour over to He Yueyin.


    Today¡¯s general knowledge course was still ¡¯Ins and Outs of the Psychic Wave Network¡¯s World Order¡¯. Luo Nan had long since put the immersion helmet on his head, but it had yet to turn on for the time being. He followed He Yueyin¡¯s instructions and entered the Learning Guide Mode in the Psychic Wave Network via the HexaEar.


    There was bound to be some unexpected things for Luo Nan. The first thing Luo Nan saw was the home page of the Society, which was also the main interface of the game ¡®Ten Days in the Wilderness¡¯. In the past, only a few members of the Society were able to personally witness the scene of the Wilderness through practical courses. The scene appeared before his eyes just like this:


    The rusty earth appeared like ripples and ripples of frozen waves. A few western-style bulletin boards were carried by these waves and they arrived within reach.


    Looking at this scene made it seem as if one could enter the wilderness by simply taking one additional step.


    "Why aren¡¯t you giving it a shot?"


    A crystal clear voice resonated by his ear. The sensation was far too realistic, so much so that Luo Nan turned his head by instinct. Then, he saw He Yueyin.


    "..."


    Currently, He Yueyin was still wearing a tailor-fit professional suit. The material was navy blue, and underneath it she was wearing something that one could never go wrong with: a white dress shirt. Her dress pants fit her slender legs, and all together she appeared confident, crisp, and sharp. This was her usual style of attire. There weren¡¯t any useless decorations or essories.


    Luo Nan saw this image quite often, but today it was a bit different. This was because there was clearly a dream-like glow surrounding He Yueyin¡¯s body.


    The purpose of this glow was to call to his attention that what he saw wasn¡¯t a true form. The glowing outline contrasted with He Yueyin¡¯s body like porcin contrasting with jade. But there was a powerful impact with this inhuman quality, and it made Luo Nan speechless for a time.


    He Yueyin approached him exactly like this. She spoke coolly and calmly just like usual. "Today¡¯s learning objective is the practical operation of the HexaEar¡¯s simtor. We need to make use of our time. We need to make sure that these out-of-body experiences won¡¯t overly stimte your soul strength and cause unnned growth."

 Chapter 141: Simulator (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 141: Simtor (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan was more or less a bit stupefied when faced with He Yueyin¡¯s new form. He only awoke from his reverie when He Yueyin cast a piercing gaze over.


    "I can?"


    The HexaEar was invented by Ouyang Chen. It was the terminal equipment for the Psychic Wave Network and possessed a total of sixyers ofmunications. A typical Awakened can achieve extremely fast and convenientwork functions through the first threeyers, and these were more than enough for daily use.


    The Simtor belonged to the fourthyer ofmunications. Luo Nan once heard Mr. Bai exin that this function was simr to the out-of-body state. One could realize an instantiation of one¡¯s self-logic upon the Psychic Wave Network and simr virtual reality experiences. This was already quite high-level. Many members of the Society couldn¡¯t do it.


    Luo Nan was a mentally enhanced ability user. He had the ability to send his soul out of his body, so he was superior than most people in this area. Mr. Bai had long since judged Luo Nan capable of entering thisyer.


    But Mr. Bai also said that Luo Nan absolutely must not use the Simtor function if he had not resolved the issue regarding his body and soul imbnce. Otherwise, his soul strength would likely continue to grow, giving his body even greater pressure.


    In response to Luo Nan¡¯s question, He Yueyin said, "Yes, because the results from President Ouyang¡¯s Logic World experiment allowed substantial changes to arise within the Simtor function. Right now, it¡¯s still in a debugging state. The soul strength consumption rate doubles when one enters this basicyer. As long as your control is enough, we can eject you before any positive gains appear. Time is of the essence. We can start now."


    "Uh, okay," Luo Nan simply replied.


    He Yueyin did not immediately start practical training, but instead gave a refresher on thest ss. "Last time, I taught you the concrete forms regarding extraordinary powers in the Psychic Wave Network."


    "Yes. Extraordinary powers. Eastern tradition calls it Qi. Some people in the West call it Mana. Burners call it Internal Energy. The Society¡¯s official name for it is Psychic Power. No matter the name, it is fundamentally the energy and information that an ability user utilizes to bestow order."


    Luo Nan quite liked the descriptor that was ¡¯bestow order¡¯. His realizations from his cultivations to this day were concordant with it. The subject made him talk non-stop. "Therefore, the HexaEar invented by President Ouyang is also known as the Psychic Simtor under the Society¡¯s definitions. The electronics built-in aren¡¯t reallyplicated precision electronics, but the device can guide psychic power, form a special terminal structure, and realize analytic control over energy and information..."


    He grew more excited the more he talked. From Luo Nan¡¯s perspective, the terminal structure of the HexaEar was a sort of simple configuration. There was a huge difference between it and the external neuron, which was the Deep Sea Type 4 Dynamo Core, in terms of precision. It was even a bit inferior to the imitation chipset he had seen at Frost River Reality.


    However, there was something absolutely amazing about this invention. It could make full use of the carrier that was the ability user. By guiding its rtively simple structure, it could disy extremely remarkable utility.


    If a description had to be made, the Dynamo Core and the imitation chipset were approximately equivalent to automatic weapons. Astonishing results could be disyed in their corresponding areas just by knowing how to manipte these devices.


    On the other hand, the HexaEar was like an ancient legendary sword. If ced in the hands of a child, it might not even be able to y a chicken. However, if ced in the hands of a peerless swordsman, it could wipe out a thousand forces with ease using one horizontal sh.


    Well, this was not an exact description, of course. Luo Nan was still unable to truly probe out all the functions of the Dynamo Core, and he did not have an urate understanding of the upper limits of the HexaEar. However, this did nothing to stop him from feeling admiration toward President Ouyang Chen.


    This sort of simple and precise structural form inspired only astonishment and awe in Luo Nan, a beginner arduously researching the efficiencies of soul configurations.


    If his configuration was tempered to the degree that the HexaEar was, his external neuron would not be crammed with his rapidly growing soul strength to the brink of explosion. Luo Nan thought about his helpless situation with the enormous brimmingke that was the Hollow Depository, and had the impulse to rush over to apprentice himself to President Ouyang Chen.


    He Yueyin was not surprised with Luo Nan¡¯s depth of understanding regarding the HexaEar and the Psychic Wave Network. She experienced Luo Nan¡¯s outstandingprehension ability toward courses during herst lecture... Though this didn¡¯t involve political details.


    She just added, "In the first threeyers ofmunication modes, the HexaEar simply needs to decode the information flowing in. The Simtoryer, on the other hand, involves the sharing of energy. That is, thousands upon thousands of people¡¯s psychic power are jointly used to support an enormous virtual world. The transmission of energy and information in this world is extremely efficient."


    "Likest time when we faced... Well, who was the fellow who controlled the Human-Faced Arachnid?"


    Luo Nan nearly blurted out the name ¡¯Mo Lun¡¯. This was back during the operation against Jack. Elder Mo Lun of the Bloodme Order brought a Human-Faced Arachnid over to hunt and feed, giving the Human-Faced Arachnid and others a lot of trouble. In the end, He Yueyin borrowed Ouyang Chen¡¯s power through the Psychic Wave Network to repel the Human-Faced Arachnid.


    The scene was fresh in Luo Nan¡¯s memory. He couldn¡¯t refrain from asking, "Is anything possible as long as one enters the Simtoryer?"


    "Theoretically, yes, but the burden is quite heavy. The required privileges are extremely high. Perhaps there will be improvements made in the future. This is because the integration of the Logic World gave the Psychic Wave Network a fundamental change. What we are going to do next is to conduct aprehensive analysis of this ce before the majority of peoplee in."


    He Yueyin¡¯s reminder made Luo Nan suddenly realize that although he was standing at the entrance to the Wilderness, he didn¡¯t see anyone else at all. "Are there normally a lot of peopleing here?"


    "There is on average 800 people online at any point during the day."


    "That¡¯s a lot. Just how many Awakened are there in Xia City?"


    "I¡¯m talking globally."


    "..."


    He Yueyin added to her exnation, "If one isn¡¯t a mentally enhanced ability user with the ability to send one¡¯s soul out of the body, the vast majority of people have to be at or above the Architect level in order to enter this ce and to ess this ne. The ability to send one¡¯s soul out of the body is rarely seen in your typical Awakened. Therefore, every person you make contact with here in normal times is a veteran."


    Luo Nan was a bit stunned. "Then, isn¡¯t it a bit early for me toe here?"


    He Yueyin didn¡¯t answer him. She just walked slowly, entering the Wilderness from the border with a single step. Her glowing, translucent figure caused the dark red background to light up.


    Then, she turned around to look at Luo Nan. "The name of the Society is The Wilderness Explorers Society. The Wilderness is our main direction. Of course, the far more dangerous ocean is also included. President Ouyang used the interface of the Ten Days in the Wilderness game not just by random choice, but because it is an excellent ce to learn basic tactics."


    "Today, we will focus on you adapting to this ce. If there aren¡¯t any abnormal reactions, Crag Burst will guide you in this ce to learn about tacticalmands over the next few days. He is also the only one of your course instructors who can enter the fourthmunicationyer of the HexaEar. The other courses will be interspersed as you progress."


    Luo Nan knew that the time to chat was over and nodded in agreement.


    "One more thing."


    He Yueyin suddenly chuckled. Her smile came out of nowhere. It was bright and dazzling under the virtual rays of light. It made one feel dazed. Abruptly, her arm shed across empty air and a mirror appeared on the boundary line to the Wilderness a secondter.


    A mass of fuzzy, faint light shone in the mirror like drifting mist. At the center, one could faintly see the shape of a tetrahedron.


    This... Luo Nan suddenly realized something while looking into the mirror.


    "Is this me?"

 Chapter 141: Simulator (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 141: Simtor (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    The feeling of novelty was missing when Luo Nan first entered the Simtoryer of the Psychic Wave Network. This was because the sensation was simr to using the immersion equipment of virtual reality. Luo Nan just took this as a virtual reality experience specific for ability users, but he had never expected that his form would look like this in here.


    It was hard for Luo Nan not to be embarrassed when he thought about how he talked to He Yueyin in this form just now. No wonder sheughed...


    He Yueyin¡¯s rarely seen smile shed and disappeared like fireworks. Then, she returned to her normal calmness. "Your view toward yourselfcks maturity. If you want to engage in normal movement here, then you first need to establish your own form."


    "So I need to create a mold, like character customization in a game?"


    "It¡¯s self-cognition."


    "Self-portrait?"


    The twomunicated some concepts in an instant. He Yueyin was about to give a more detailed exnation, but she stopped before the words could leave her mouth. She only kept the mirror there.


    "It¡¯s up to you to figure out how to establish your form."


    Luo Nan stood in front of the mirror in a daze. He earnestly thought of how to go about changing his form due to how serious He Yueyin was being. However, he couldn¡¯t think of any other ideas no matter how he much pondered.


    A change appeared in the mirror the instant the thought stirred in his mind. Lines of a silhouette were drawn on the image within the mirror. The process was no different than his everyday sketches.


    Luo Nan wasn¡¯t good at self-portraits; he had mentioned this to Xie Junping before. Luo Nan wasn¡¯t being humble. This was because Luo Nan was never quite able to grasp his own individual characteristics in his drawings. All he could draw was something simr in form. But whenpared to most people in this world, his skill in sculpting himself was quite decent.


    The blurry and faint body in the mirror soon turned into a simple humanoid image. Then, the image was enriched and fine-tuned. After thirty seconds of shaping, the image became about 70 percent simr to Luo Nan himself. It was certainly possible to make it better with a bit more effort.


    "Is this fine?" Luo Nan raised his hand. The sensation was pretty much the same as his physical form as he turned his head and asked.


    He Yueyin looked at him for a while and lightly shook her head.


    Luo Nan asked in wonder, "What¡¯s wrong?"


    "This method is the easy way out."


    He Yueyin walked back over until she reached Luo Nan¡¯s side. "In the Simtoryer, our form should be the manifestation of our individual characteristics when ites to the operational structure over energy and information. ording to President Ouyang¡¯s exnations, it could be considered a view into one¡¯s self-logic. For example, I..."


    He Yueyin raised her hand as she spoke. Her long, thin fingers spread a bit, indicating for Luo Nan to look. "My current form isn¡¯t what I want. The Internal Energy of the burner, its operation of energy and information, causes light and heat to appear on my foundation. So, it is unavoidable for my form to glow. Anyone can see that I am a Burner with a single nce."


    Luo Nan fell in a daze when staring at He Yueyin¡¯s jade-like fingers. Eventually, he understood. "In other words, one¡¯s form in the Simtoryer is also a certain objective reality. At the very least, it is a sort of projection. It can¡¯t just be anything."


    Indeed, Luo Nan now understood clearly. But he couldn¡¯t refrain from scratching his head when he saw his form in the mirror. "But I¡¯ve still yet to be an Awakened. Self-logic, and so on... I haven¡¯t established them yet."


    This reason Luo Nan found was so good that it stupefied He Yueyin for a moment. He Yueyin then nodded. "Indeed, this needs to be considered as well. Then let us first proceed with the next step and see what happens."


    And so, she indicated Luo Nan to follow her and step through the boundary into the Wilderness.


    Luo Nan followed with deep curiosity. He reached his hand out to touch the bulletin board within the gusts of sand. The thick and rough sensation was instantly fed back.


    "It¡¯s wooden..."


    The boundary between the virtual and the real blurred away. Luo Nan turned his head. The so-called entrance had already disappeared. He just saw the boundless rusty red dirt, and in front of the bulletin board he saw the outline of a building appear.


    Now he had truly entered the Simtoryer.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t have the energy to be emotionally moved. He Yueyin¡¯s Practical Course didn¡¯t involve him looking at scenery.


    For the next twenty minutes, He Yueyin had him familiarize himself with the environment. The main activity point was a small town that was simr with the background of the Ten Days in the Wilderness game.


    In that game, this was the supply point for yers. It was also the ce where missions were issued. In the Psychic Wave Network, this was more like arge saloon.


    "People online will engage inmunications and inquiries here."


    "What do they talk about?"


    Luo Nan had applied video game thinking toward this ce, but when he heard He Yueyin¡¯s introduction, he suddenly realized that his thinking was childish. The veteran members¡ªevery single one of them¡ªwere brilliant, outstanding characters in the inner world. Each had ability, each had goals. None of them had the leisure to run in here and y games.


    "I¡¯ve only been here once since joining the Society. I haven¡¯t participated in the concrete details. However, I have heard President Ouyang say that most discussions revolve around topics of self-logic, energy structures, the interference between the mental and the material, and other simr fields..."


    Luo Nan blinked. "They can also talk about this stuff offline."


    "Nothing canpare to this ce in terms of convenience. The Psychic Wave Network is erected by thousands upon thousands of ability users. It¡¯s like a supeputer. President Ouyang and others can utilize the resources within this ce and render models that are hard to implement in reality."


    All right, the style of the scenery was quite good. The problem was that Luo Nan had never seen such a ramshackle saloon.


    He Yueyin led Luo Nan to the town¡¯s central block. It was empty with no one in sight. It was as if the entire town had been looted by a tornado. Most of the buildings had copsed into ruin. Only a few buildings were basically intact.


    "Practically each building is an independent zone. Inside a portion of them are items that have been ported from the game to provide people with amusement. However, most are experimental models, the crystallization of collections of several people¡¯s intelligence."


    "What¡¯s the deal with it now?"


    "It has to do with the effects from the Logic World,¡± He Yueyin spoke softly. "A great change ured in the structural rules of the Simtoryer when President Ouyang integrated the results of the Logic World inside. Most experimental models haven¡¯t adapted to the environmental change and have been destroyed."


    "Logic World?"


    Luo Nan more or less understood the principles of erecting the Logic World. It was a structure of deep interference between the mental and the material nes, and it was really quite unfriendly. However, this method of spatial rifting to construct a new world caused one to truly feel like they were staring up at a high mountain.


    "Sister He, so you¡¯re saying that this ce is equivalent to another Logic World?"


    He Yueyin shook her head. "This isn¡¯t my area of expertise."


    Luo Nan twisted his head and looked all around, having not received an answer. Yet he was unable to easily rify it. He thought for a bit and walked to the side of a ruined building. He lowered his head to size up the rubble and stone.


    "Shaped like snowkes... It¡¯s quite orderly."


    They looked like a chaotic mess of ruins when looked at from afar. But when looked at carefully, one would find that there were structural patterns within every piece of debris. Laws and rules could be found within every piece.


    It was practically impossible for this to happen in the real world.


    "The difference between the natural and the artificial." Luo Nan reached out his hand to grab a piece of rubble. He wanted to research it in earnest for a moment, but his hand only raised up half way before his hand felt light and the stone fell to the ground.


    Luo Nan was a bit stunned.


    The rubble didn¡¯t slip out from his fingers; it directly cut through the skin, flesh and bones of his hand. It went through without hindrance at all, falling to the ground with a sound.

 Chapter 142: Interference Ability (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 142: Interference Ability (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan reached out to grab the rubble again by instinct. The stone entered his hand once more; the tactile sensation, weight, and so on were still there. He really did pick up the stone.


    Right now he was crouching on the ground and his back was facing He Yueyin. These actions of picking up and throwing were quite normal. He Yueyin¡¯s attention wasn¡¯t ced here. She used this period of time to continue introducing her knowledge about the Simtor.


    "President Ouyang built the Psychic Wave Network, so this virtual world was bestowed with his basic order. However, President Ouyang doesn¡¯t haveplete control over this world. Instead, collective researchers with theirbined intelligence endlessly revise this world. This world contains each of their orders, changing them into a public order. Bloodrock Town is the most important hub in establishing order."


    Luo Nan¡¯s attention became a bit distracted by He Yueyin. He removed his gaze from the rubble and turned to ask, "Isn¡¯t it a hassle this way?"


    Actually, Luo Nan wanted to say something else. Why was President Ouyang giving away sole authority without rhyme or reason? He¡¯ll certainly be held back by the others, right?


    He Yueyin was about to respond when something to the side caught her eye. Luo Nan looked over as well, but all he saw was thergest publicmunications area in the town. It was a building simr to a tavern and the wooden door swung open with a wham. Someone had walked out.


    There were other people in this town?


    The unknown person clearly heard the dialogue between Luo Nan and He Yueyin and simply said, "The energy of a single person can¡¯t possibly support the entire structure of a virtual world. Even if he could, who woulde here if this ce keeps closed rules of order?"


    It was a man around forty years of age, the age which could be said to be one¡¯s prime. The man had a proper appearance and a high stature. He wore a tailored western suit with tastefully chosen essories. He just didn¡¯t fit in with the town environment... Actually, He Yueyin didn¡¯t fit in as well. The two were dressed up like white-cor, senior-level workers of argepany, not explorers that wander the wilderness.


    Moreover, they clearly knew each other.


    The man greeted after interrupting, "I heard that the Simtor underwent a revision and I specifically asked President Ouyang for temporary privileges toe and take a look. I¡¯m not disturbing you, am I?"


    He Yueyin responded indifferently with, "Mr. Yuan," and didn¡¯t give him any more words.


    Mr. Yuan revealed a faint smile on his face. He walked over from the street, but he didn¡¯t go over to He Yueyin. Instead, he walked over to Luo Nan¡¯s side. His tall figure and the squatting Luo Nan formed a striking difference in height.


    Before Luo Nan could stand up, Mr. Yuan said, "In today¡¯s era, no one can eat by themselves. Anyone who wants to form a monopoly will be abandoned by the others. It¡¯s like the rules formted within publicpanies. Gains and profits need to reflect the interests of each shareholder. So I need to say that President Ouyang made an extremely wise decision."


    The heck is this guy?


    Luo Nan finally stood up. He really didn¡¯t like this man¡¯s attitude. Specifically, he was disgusted byrge statistical organizations like Quantum Corporation. He detested all simr remarks. Moreover, this man clearly was rather arrogant in his evaluation toward Ouyang Chen.


    They were in the Psychic Wave Network, didn¡¯t this man have any basic respect for Ouyang Chen? Having reached this point in his thoughts, a lightbulb suddenly lit up in Luo Nan¡¯s mind. He more or less guessed the identity of this middle-aged man.


    As expected, He Yueyin introduced the man to Luo Nan. "Little Luo. This is Yuan Fei, Mr. Yuan, of the Society HQ¡¯s Incident Investigation Team."


    Little... Little Luo?


    Luo Nan realized that his social status had been downgraded. There were no problems with He Yueyin calling him this; as far as the current situation was concerned, it was even appropriate. He knew that there was some intention to protect him. But people¡¯s hearts were delicate and hard to understand. When the words entered his ear, he suddenly felt an ache in his heart. He didn¡¯t feel too good.


    Luo Nan was bewildered, unable to understand the matter, in Yuan Fei¡¯s perspective. Anyway, it was quite a surprise for Luo Nan to meet such a fellow in the Simtoryer.


    Yuan Fei sized Luo Nan up a few times. This strong attitude made the young Luo Nan quite ufortable, so Luo Nan stopped squatting and stood up. Yuan Fei¡¯s eyes clearly gleamed when he saw this.


    The boy was young and quite arrogant, yet he was able to enter the Simtoryer. Had Xia City unearthed another gifted talent?


    tter!


    A sudden sound reverberated around the area. The sound was exceptionally clear within the quiet atmosphere. The three people¡¯s gazes roamed all over. They saw a stone tumbling down some rubble.


    Luo Nan stared stupefied at his own hand... Did the stone slip through his fingers? No. This time the sensation was much clearer than before. The stone had fallen down onto the palm of his newly-solidified hand and out from the back of his hand.


    He moved his fingers subconsciously and turned his hand back and forth in examination. Atst, he was able to determine something. Though his hand appeared to be of substance, it had been formed like a congealment of mist. Its density was insufficient, to the extent that itcked resistive force. The weight of a stone could only be held for a time. His hand would disperse with a mere distraction.


    So it was like this all along.


    Yuan Fei shook his head, faced He Yueyin, and said, "Miss He, after the Logic World was integrated into the Psychic Wave Network, the structure of the Psychic Wave Network has grown more and moreplicated. The technician maintenance strength needs to be increased... However, there¡¯s no need to be excessive through being overly enthusiastic. The way I see it, this kid is really not bad to able to use high-level applications of the Psychic Wave Network at a young age. But to forcefully enter the fourthmunicationyer is meaningless."


    The words made Luo Nan very ufortable. What do you mean by forcefully entering? It wasn¡¯t hard at all.


    Luo Nan was just about to speak when another mirror manifested out of thin air and dropped to the ground. It stood by his side, but the mirror was Yuan Fei¡¯s doing, not He Yueyin¡¯s.


    "Alright Little Luo, go mold your form a bit more... It¡¯s about to fall apart."


    Luo Nan turned to look and was quite shocked. Who knows when his face became bloated and swollen. His facial features were mangled. He looked ugly and ridiculous.


    Light fell from the sky the instant Yuan Fei spoke those words. Part of the light even shone through his body. He looked abnormal; there are no two ways about it.


    This...


    "You¡¯re not interfering with the material ne sufficiently. This would have been fine if it was the old version of the Psychic Wave Network, but the new version has greatly increased the role of interference ability. It¡¯s like the pressure deep under water has been raised. If your structural strength is inadequate, the copse of your form is inevitable."


    Yuan Fei put a hand in a pocket. It looked like he was sizing up a very interesting toy. He even reached out to gesture with his other hand around Luo Nan¡¯s body, and he turned to speak to He Yueyin. "It looks like the new version has increased the threshold requirements for ess. Things are going to be quite strenuous for people over here in Xia City. Miss He, can you propose to President Ouyang to release the technological safeguards over here and let the other branches share the pressure?"


    He Yueyin brows furrowed a bit. "The Psychic Wave Network has been open source quite early on. Technological safeguards are all executed in Bloodrock Town..."


    "I¡¯m talking about the infrastructure." Yuan Fei cast a nce at Luo Nan. His lips hooked into a grin. "An upgrade is an upgrade. Those who are troubled are not limited to the kids of Xia City."


    Luo Nan looked in the mirror, and he found it harder and harder to shape himself into a human form. He tried to correct things back, but the sensation waspletely different than before when he first entered the Wilderness.


    He felt a clear sense of stagnation. When his telepathic thoughts cut through, it was like colliding into glue. Control became extremely strenuous. The more he tried to exert control, the more severe the dispersive state of his body¡¯s structure became. In the end, his bodypletely crumbled and dispersed into a mass of fog. It was impossible for him to return to his original state.


    Luo Nan looked at the ridiculous mass of fog in the mirror. He really couldn¡¯tugh.

 Chapter 142: Interference Ability (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 142: Interference Ability (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Naturally, it was impossible to proceed with the practical training within the Simtor. After dealing with Yuan Fei in a simple manner, He Yueyin led Luo Nan out of the Psychic Wave Network to go back to the ne of reality.


    Luo Nan opened his eyes, but all he saw was a sheet of darkness. An enclosed helmet, which had underwent special modifications, was covering his head; the immersion boot up hadn¡¯t started yet. Luo Nan just gazed into the darkness as emotions flowed around in his mind.


    Yuan Fei hade from HQ as part of the Incident Investigation Team. He came to Xia City without understanding the situation around Luo Nan and saw Luo Nan enter the fourthmunicationyer for a hands-on attempt at the Simtor. Yuan Fei felt that failure was normal for Luo Nan; sess would have been abnormal. He merely chuckled at the matter with zero concern.


    But Luo Nan was well aware of the imbnce between his own body and soul. He had enough of the stress and pain from the uncontroble growth of his soul strength. The sudden issue with hisck of interference ability was quite a contradicting phenomenon. It was so contradicting that anyone who knew his situation would be baffled for a time.


    He was unable to ponder for too long on this matter, for Bai Xinyan spoke with an exceptionally gentle voice, "How did the out-of-body state feel within the Psychic Wave Network?"


    Luo Nan remained frustrated with his interference ability issue. He wasn¡¯t in the mood to answer Bai Xinyan, and he ignored the key elements in her words.


    Bai Xinyan just took his actions to be a silent agreement. She let out something like augh and a sigh. "My silly old man seems to be quite enlightened, but truthfully, he¡¯s old-fashioned. He only believed that you had the ability of soul-attachment. But now, the past two days have caused his face to be swollen from all the shame. He doesn¡¯t dare to show himself..."


    Luo Nan only realized now what Bai Xinyan was saying. So it turned out that the misunderstanding regarding his out-of-body ability being a soul-attachment ability was corrected?


    Indeed, Mr. Bai didn¡¯t show his face these days. From what He Yueyin was saying, it seemed that Mr. Bai was asked to teach Luo Nan but had declined. Everyone knew quite well that his reasons didn¡¯t have much to do with Luo Nan. The element of Luo Nan only ounted for a small percentage of his decision.


    Luo Nan was disinclined to get involved in the dispute between the father and daughter pair. In any case, seeing how such an unforgiving woman would treat her good-natured old man raised Luo Nan¡¯s mental vignce.


    Luo Nan¡¯s moment of silencested too long, leading Bai Xinyan to misunderstand his thoughts. "You¡¯re not the only kid who gives half-truths, who keeps cards hidden in his hand. There¡¯s nothing to be embarrassed about. It¡¯s just that you¡¯re a bit reckless from a doctor¡¯s perspective... Hello, Sister He. I was just talking with your boss. Oh?"


    He Yueyin¡¯s call was only for Bai Xinyan. Bai Xinyan uttered a questioning tone and sunk into silence. Several seconds passed and the enclosed helmet lit up without warning. The guide process specifically targeting ability users had begun.


    Bai Xinyan¡¯sst sentence came cutting in: "Tonight¡¯s homework has begun. I hope you don¡¯t go goofing off."


    "Hey!?"


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t want to speak with Bai Xinyan before, but now he couldn¡¯t help opening his mouth. Even an idiot would know that the topic He Yueyin and Bai Xinyan were discussing was Luo Nan¡¯s insufficient interference ability. He was the person in question; why the heck did they iste him from the discussion?


    He felt like he was in the hospital, and that he was just like a patient diagnosed with a terminal illness. The world knew he was done for, save himself... Hold on. The content of the pessimistic dialogue between the twost time, was it about this?


    Luo Nan forgot to ept the guiding process for a time. He remained in a daze. The protection of his external neuron and the buffer of the Hollow Depository were not enough to stop his chaotic thoughts and emotions during times like these.


    ...


    Luo Nan waspletely out of it during his second day at school. The symptom of a lowered interference ability and its corresponding ominous signs had disturbed his mind from morning to night.


    As far as he was aware, He Yueyin and Bai Xinyan had engaged in a long discussion after the matter was discovered, but they never came to a definitive answer. They were going to make another major overhaul to Luo Nan¡¯s daily schedule, which had underwent a revision already. Luo Nan was left waiting for news until the new revision could bepleted.


    The greater part of the day passed by in a blur, and Luo Nan had yet to receive his new daily schedule.


    Halfway through the afternoon, the time for the school society activities began. The other students got up in a hurry, and this included Xie Junping, who stuck by Luo Nan¡¯s side for two days straight; Xie Junping had a meeting to run in the Student Council. As for Luo Nan, he was the only living member of the Order Club. He wasn¡¯t in the mood, and there weren¡¯t any activities for him to do.


    Luo Nan was really in a bad mood. He came back to the tree house of the Withered Tree Sandbar and sat in the resting room. He looked at the faint lighting in a daze.


    In the beginning, he carefully mulled over the issue with his interference ability, but his train of thought rammed against knowledge barriers one after another to the point of bleeding from his head. He would always encounter special cases involving Formatting Theory. He wanted to ask someone with a better understanding, but there was no one who could help him.


    In the end, his ruminations gave him a more terrible mood. He did some self-analysis in his helpless situation. He tried to interpret his negative emotions.


    He Yueyin had mentioned that normally there were only around eight hundred people online globally in the Simtor at any given time. Luo Nan had felt a bit nervous, yet he also felt a bit of superiority. However, this sense of superiority was nipped in the bud. There weren¡¯t any other emotions that could fill the gap, and the empty sense of loss had naturally begun to breed.


    This was not just due to his change in status; it involved a more fundamental problem. The issue that popped up a few days ago had appeared suddenly, but had yet to be resolved. It remained this way up until tonight, like an endless shadow noiselessly creeping upon him.


    Luo Nan was alone within the shadows with nothing to support him. There were only his numerous and chaotic emotions entwining his mind,yer uponyer. They pushed him to ask himself: Did his grandfather¡¯s Formatting Theory truly possess ws that were near irresolvable?


    For instance, the uncontroble growth of soul strength?


    In another instance, theck of interference ability in the material ne?


    Were there other ws besides these? Was there an end to them?


    Luo Nan leaned against the inner wall of the tree hollow. It seemed that all his energy had been devoured bit by bit by this cruel problem, while time passed unknowingly in his daze. Thissted until he felt a faint vibration within his ear. Someone was contacting him through the HexaEar. Luo Nan was a bit surprised when he saw the contact name.


    "Hello, Boss Luo. Is now a good time?"


    Luo Nan rushed out from the tree house, made his way through the underwater passageway and high-speed elevator, and arrived at the main entrance of Gear. Not long after Luo Nan got there, a thirty-year-old young man appeared from a footpath on the outside of the building.


    It was nowte autumn. The jungle wend was densely woven with vegetation, blocking the sun early in the day. It was a lot duskier than normal. The young man plodded his way over, walking rather wearily. He made his way to the front of the Gear building and under its lights. His lips split into a grin, and beads of sweat could be seen on his chubby face.


    "Boss Luo. It wasn¡¯t easy to find you here... This ce is quite nice."


    "Mr. Papercut." Luo Nan walked down the stairs and weed him.

 Chapter 143: Invisible Barrier (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 143: Invisible Barrier (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    This was none other than the mentally enhanced ability user who Luo Nan fought alongside with during the night at Frost River Reality. It was Papercut. Frankly speaking, this old chap¡¯s external appearance was really too ordinary. Luo Nan nearly didn¡¯t recognize him when seeing him again at this moment.


    Luckily, Luo Nan still remembered this Awakened with his slightly chubby body and his friendly smile to all... even if most of the time Luo Nan didn¡¯t receive this smile.


    Papercut¡¯s opinion of Luo Nan was mainly a reflection of the harmfulness of Luo Nan¡¯s immature behavior toward the team. However, various facts wereter revealed that proved Luo Nan¡¯s behavior to be correct. And so, there was no longer a need for him to continue holding this opinion.


    "You can just call me Papercut. Adding a ¡¯Mr.¡¯ to my nickname feels weird." Papercut¡¯s lips split into their habitual grin.


    "Then don¡¯t call me Boss Luo..."


    "Boss Luo is your nickname~" Papercut¡¯s amiable way of talking was really contagious. "I know that you have many nicknames. In any case, the first nicknamests the longest. Everything follows the path of least resistance."


    Luo Nan was a bit sorrowful, but Papercut waved his hand before Luo Nan could say anything. "Well, let¡¯s not get entangled in these details. Today, I havee to teach you. My apologies for the short notice; something came up, so I pushed up the time."


    Luo Nan responded courteously, "It is I who is troubling you."


    He beckoned Papercut toe inside as he spoke.


    Papercut was one of Luo Nan¡¯s teachers in general knowledge and training. He was responsible for teaching "Soul Strength Activation Techniques", which is a practical course. When talking about the course, Papercut had to emphasize, "Usually this course is taught near the end. The reason why it was pushed forward..."


    "Must be because of my special circumstances. My low interference ability. We¡¯re going to do an on-the-spot test right now to further verify my situation, are we?"


    Papercut was a bit stunned. He turned over to face Luo Nan, and he had a bit of a helpless gaze. "Boss Luo. You¡¯re not that old, but you read into things so much."


    Luo Nan blinked. "Aren¡¯t I right?"


    "...You¡¯re right."


    It wasn¡¯t surprising at all for Luo Nan to be reading into things. His old daily schedule had a summary of what this course was about. This course was clearly a practical course involving the mental interfering with the material. The truth was as clear as day with the appearance of the issue with his interference ability and the course being deliberately pushed forward.


    Was this a re-examination of his so-called terminal illness?


    Although things were like this, Papercut¡¯s course itself was still quite meaningful. Papercut¡¯s nickname was a reflection of his expertise in puppetry. He used special techniques to cut out paper tools to perform a variety of functions under the drive of his soul strength.


    Within Gear¡¯s tearoom three stories above the earth, Papercut showed one of his techniques to Luo Nan. Papercut manipted a tiny paper man to perform aical mime-skit. Then, he manipted the paper man to perform a set of military fighting moves. The motions were agile, vivid, and lifelike. It was as if the paper man was truly alive.


    The small paper man also possessed considerable strength. The teacups on the table were kicked all over the ce. In the end, the paper man began to practice weightlifting. It swung the teacup in a way that made it look like a street performer.


    Luo Nan had been in an agitated mood, but he couldn¡¯t refrain fromughing when he saw the miniature paper man¡¯s hard performance. His mood had unconsciously taken a turn for the better.


    "This is the most elementary application. Thenter, mentally enhanced ability users are split into the activation ss and the control ss. The activation ss primarily relies on imitating spirituality, while the control ss primarily relies on precise maniption. I¡¯m an activation ss. We are moreid-back, and we predominantly do auxiliary work. I looked at your profile. You are a precision-focused mentally enhanced, and your pure observation abilities are quite unruly. It is very likely that you will show some talent in precise maniption."


    Papercut began by painting Luo Nan a rosy future, "The Society hasbat robots specifically made by the control ss. In fact, every control ss should be able to excel in multiple fields. They can be amazing engineers, fighters, restorers. They are strong and safe."


    Luo Nan¡¯s eyes turned into thin little slits as he smiled andughed. The first thing he had to do was meet the basic requirements for interference ability. Everything Papercut was saying was meaningless if it was impossible for his soul strength to effectively interfere with the material ne.


    When restoration was mentioned, Luo Nan suddenly recalled the tai chi ball back at Divine Yu Gym. Its coreponent seemed to be precision machinery. He heard from Xue Lei that the device hadn¡¯t been fixed yet. It remained in the daoguan. Luo Nan still needed to handle this matter properly.


    The repair engineers of the Society had to be much better than those in the outside world.


    After a moment¡¯s distraction, Luo Nan recollected his thoughts. He focused on listening to Papercut¡¯s lecture with full devotion.


    Whether today was about training and learning or a reexamination of symptoms, Papercut only taught elementary subjects. He taught the basic techniques of using soul strength to affect material objects.


    Papercut had selected a special sort of paper talismans as training materials. Apparently they came from a different psychic of the Society, Mr. Gao, who Luo Nan hadn¡¯t met before. They were made from the starch of a specially-bred mahogany and bamboo. The ratio was chosen with utter precision, resulting in the best suited material for coalescing with soul strength.


    Papercut was someone who possessed a meticulous yet patient nature. He broke down each step the moment he started working and manipting the talismans. He exined the few specific points on the talisman that need to be infused with soul strength with absolute rity. Everything was clear, from theory to practice.


    Papercut had prepared the course soprehensively that the difficulty wasn¡¯t that high. However, reality moved in a different direction. It simply went down the most pessimistic of estimations.


    Luo Nan¡¯s learning progress wasn¡¯t going well.


    It was already six o¡¯clock in the afternoon. Under the lighting of the tearoom, Little Luo and Papercut held their breaths with steady concentration as they stared intently at the several crude paper men atop the table. These little things had just been cut out, and they swayed as they stood up. It was hard for them to walk.


    One step. Two steps. Three steps... Then dropping dead, never to get up.


    "Gosh darn it!" Luo Nan mmed the table with his hands, and the resulting breeze lifted the paper men up. With the help of the breath of a long sigh, these little things floated and drifted under the table. These series of actions happened much more swiftly than the great difficult progress Luo Nan was making just now.


    Luo Nan knew of his failures, and he hurriedly said, "Sorry." He got up to collect the paper men, but Papercut stopped him with a hand. With an effort of will, a small paper man came to life at once some five meters away. It was like a brutish monkey. It skipped as it bounced, and it climbed the leg of the table. It made it to the top of the table in five movements.


    Luo Nan grew more embarrassed when hepared himself to Papercut. He gave a bitterugh, sat back in the chair, and stared up in a daze.


    "It doesn¡¯t make sense." Papercut scratched his head without end, but he wasn¡¯t able to get to the bottom of things. However, his patience had yet to be exhausted. He pulled Luo Nan and said, "How about we theorize some more and start from the beginning."


    Luo Nan had no reason to give up when he had this sort of teacher. He pumped his spirits up, grabbed the paper man atop the table, and tapped various points on the paper man¡¯s body from the head to the body. "There are four soul strength infusion points in total. They are connected by a sum of six foundational lines, upon which basic control is realized."


    Luo Nan hesitated when he reached this point. Then, he said, "This is actually a sort of irregrly deformed pyramid. It is a structure that transforms the operation of energy and information. The paper man is just a medium. The pyramid structure is what supports it... Did you choose to start with this structure because it is kind of like my Format Pyramid?"


    Papercut was finally defeated upon hearing these words. He rubbed his forehead, feeling that his head was about to explode. "You say these things faster than I can exin them. What you say is correct, but is there a problem with this?"

 Chapter 143: Invisible Barrier (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 143: Invisible Barrier (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan calmed down and fiddled with the small paper man with his fingers. Then he tossed it onto the table several secondster. "It is because the pyramid structure needs a certain tensile strength in order to work. If the strength you can bestow is equivalent to a steel structure, the most I can do are cobwebs."


    "Strength.... True, it¡¯s about the strength."


    Papercut felt helpless. He obviously knew that the crux of the issue was in the structural strength. The root of the problem was still Luo Nan¡¯s inadequate mental interference ability towards the physical ne. But interfering with the material ne was just skimming the surface for a mentally enhanced ability user!


    Luo Nan¡¯s mental senses had reached near perfection. Transitioning into an out-of-body state was routine for Luo Nan. He was a mentally enhanced ability user who had already reached B-Rank in mental cultivation. Yet Luo Nan couldn¡¯t do the most basic thing of all: telekinesis. What the heck was up with this? Who could answer this for Luo Nan?


    Ultimately, this question had no answer.


    Luo Nan was unable to get an answer from Papercut. Soon, night fell and he returned to the hospital for treatment. Bai Xinyan, who long since knew of his problems, avoided mentioning the topicpletely. She did not give Luo Nan any reference information at all.


    Luo Nan wanted to ask He Yueyin some more about his situation, but he put these intentions to rest after a moment¡¯s thought. This issue with his mental nergely had to do with self-awareness. If he couldn¡¯t clear up this matter on his own and relied on others, his situation would be even more hopeless.


    It was unavoidable for Luo Nan¡¯s terrible situation to affect his mood. The following exercises at Frost River Waterway were simply catastrophic; his performance was extremely bad. The amount of time he could endure was much less than in the morning, and it was a straight 20% drop fromst night.


    Luo Nan looked at his performance results and geared up for another run. However, Bai Xinyan showed no expression whatsoever at his results. She let Luo Nan steadily conclude his session within the treatment pod.


    "You also need to learn something new tonight, so you¡¯d best take a nap and rx. Oh right, don¡¯t bete." Bai Xinyan waved her hand as she created medical records, dismissing Luo Nan.


    In the past, Luo Nan would have likely been rejoicing, but after thinking it over more thoroughly, wasn¡¯t this attitude too happy-go-lucky? Was anything fine if a person was going to die anyway?


    Luo Nan thought of how he had eavesdropped on Bai Xinyan and He Yueyin¡¯s conversation two days ago, and his mood turned even worse. He really wanted to crack open Bai Xinyan¡¯s skull to see just what her perspective was on his situation. Or maybe he should listen in on their conversation once more.... The problem was, how could such an opportunity to eavesdrope about daily?


    Luo Nan left Renai Hospital in a storm of messy emotions. Tonight was already booked. He was to go to Boshan Building and learn breathing techniques from Gym Master Xiu.


    Last time Luo Nan had the flying car Phantom take him to the daoguan. He already returned the flying car to Xie Junping. Today, he sat in the low-altitude public transport. He made his way over to the River Wu District under the curtain of the night.


    The first thing Luo Nan did upon sitting in the vehicle was give his aunt a call. He notified her that he was going to spend the night at the daoguan.


    Actually, he had relied greatly on Xue Lei in confirming with his aunt that he could stay out all night. But he was very familiar with his aunt¡¯s temperament. Though she had already approved of his schedule, Luo Nan still needed to give his aunt a call to ease her worries. If things were to go Mrs. Luo Shuqing¡¯s way, Luo Nan¡¯s first day of formal study would have Mrs. Luo Shuqinge personally to the daoguan and greet Gym Master Xiu.


    By the time Luo Nan finished the call, Luo Nan was already halfway to the daoguan. At this time, the public transport vehicle wasn¡¯t as crowded as it was in the day. A few ten or so people were on it. They were all either sleepy or looking down at their wrist bands ying games or the like.


    Luo Nan sat at the back. His head was also down as he fiddled around. However, he was different from the others. He was fiddling not with an electronic device, but with a thin piece of yellowish green paper.


    This was a special paper talisman given to him by Papercut. It was made personally by Mr. Gao. The material it was made from was quite special as it was fairly suitable for channeling energy and information. It could easily deal with an enemy in the hands of a real expert. It was a bit luxurious for Luo Nan to use it for training.


    But if he wanted to train to get a true feel for it, it was absolutely fine!


    Luo Nan followed the techniques Papercut passed on to him; slowly working with the paper, ripping the paper into a paper man the size of a palm. The supporting incorporeal pyramid structure was then wholly formed.


    At the same time, Luo Nan¡¯s overflowing soul strength poured down topletely drown the paper man. The details were exquisite and meticulous: the grains of the paper, the roughness of the ripped edges, the vertical and horizontal folds. No detail could escape him.


    But under the effect of his soul strength, the paper man could only roll over once within the palm of his hand in a half-dead, half-alive manner. It moved once, but never moved again. Luo Nan¡¯s soul strength, which was crushing his own physical body, seemed to have no practical effect on the paper man.


    "It¡¯s still like this.... Why?"


    Back in Frost River Reality, he had given Xue Weilun and the special forces a reinforcing buff without any problems. He had real, concrete results when controlling the Wraith Sign, influencing Cat Eyes, and unleashing mental attacks. But why couldn¡¯t he affect material objects?


    Luo Nan looked outside the window at the bright lights of the city. The scene looked like a fluttering cloth. It was deste, and it was hard to see substance. Luo Nan¡¯s mind naturally reached out to cross the depth of the void. His mind flowed within the sea of city lights, and his sensations became more real.


    Within his senses and irvoyance, the myriad of living beings was like a convergence of stars. It was akin to the winding milky way, with marvelousyers divided within. The star river was majestic and hazy, like a grand world, gorgeous and magnificent.


    But such a vast star river frame couldn¡¯t stimte even a bit of an ocean¡¯s spray when cast upon the small paper man. The tensile strength of the pyramid structure was still like cobwebs. Things were so bad that Luo Nan couldn¡¯t even feel a connection between the pyramid structure and the star river frame.


    There was an invisible, cial barrier that blocked his consciousness from material objects. It made his consciousness infinitely close to, but unable to truly fuse with a material object.


    The situation wasparable to the divide between dreams and reality.


    Was this power just a fabrication? Was it like the crazed ravings of his grandfather? Did they only exist on an imaginary level?


    No, no! This made no sense!


    Luo Nan¡¯s beam of consciousness cut through the star river, his senses covering a radius exceeding two kilometers. Within the metropolis, there were normal people, the Awakened, Otum Knights, crows, and Darksider life forms. They existed as additional fulcrums for him.


    They were real and true, and they gave him feedback at all times.


    How could such perceptions be an illusion?


    Luo Nan was in a hazy trance when he arrived at the Divine Yu Gym in Boshan Building. It was already nine o¡¯clock in the evening. The students of the daoguan had all gone home. Only Xue Lei remained. He hade out to wee Luo Nan.


    "Nanster. The gym master is waiting for you inside."


    Luo Nan stifled his chaotic thoughts and emotions, and spoke with a bit of embarrassment, "I¡¯mte."


    "No way. The daoguan isn¡¯t taking on new business, so we finished at eight o¡¯clock. You¡¯ve actuallye early, all things considered. What is important to remember is that learning something new will require a bit of time. Rx; I¡¯ll back you up tonight."


    Xue Lei pulled Luo Nan inside. The lights were off for both the front courtyard and the middle courtyard of the daoguan at this time. Thete autumn night made walking through the winding corridor feel distinctly deste and cold. Luckily, Xue Lei had a loud voice, diluting this feeling quite a bit.


    Luo Nan asked curiously, "Are you staying overnight at the daoguan too?"


    "Of course. I¡¯ve always been the gym master¡¯s assistant... hmm, and his interpreter."


    "Huh?"


    In Luo Nan¡¯s daze, he and Xue Lei had already reached the back courtyard. The humanoid stonenterns illuminated the entrance to the courtyard, dividing light and shadow, making the ce look like an exquisite oil painting.


    Xiu Shenyu wasn¡¯t in this painting.

 Chapter 144: Power of the Mountains and Rivers (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 144: Power of the Mountains and Rivers (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan and Xue Lei walked into the room. None of the lights were on. The lights outside only illuminated the entrance. Most of the ce was pervaded with shadow. Nothing could be seen clearly.


    Xue Lei looked all around to find the gym master, while Luo Nan relied on his advantage with mental senses and locked onto Xiu Shenyu¡¯s location a step before Xue Lei.


    Xiu Shenyu was sitting atop the cork flooring. He leaned against the wall on one side of the corridor. His left leg was bent, while his right leg was straight. He just sat as he pleased. Not too far away from Xiu Shenyu was the tai chi ball. It was indiscernible if the environment embellished the scene, but right now Xiu Shenyu was silent to the point of gloom. He showed no response to the two young mening in.


    "Gym Master, Luo Nan is here." Xiu Shenyu finally saw where Gym Master Xiu was at and walked over to notify him with a soft voice.


    Xiu Shenyu grunted and said, "Then let¡¯s begin."


    The simple and straightforward attitude was a bit of a shock to Luo Nan and Xue Lei.


    Xiu Shenyu disregarded the thoughts of the two youngsters, stood up from the floor, and walked to Luo Nan¡¯s side. Xiu Shenyu had a tall, thin figure; he was a full head taller than Luo Nan, who had notpletely grown yet. He gave off quite the pressure when standing.


    "The time I requested of you is from eleven o¡¯clock at night to five o¡¯clock in the morning for a total of six hours. Having six hours of time is sufficient for the first stage of learning in an ideal situation. Tonight, you havee early for the sake of learning basic techniques, performing a few tests, and understanding the details."


    Luo Nan obediently agreed.


    Though it was quite strange for Gym Master Xiu to skip the pleasantries and dive straight into the course of action, Gym Master Xiu spoke with a high level of rity. Luo Nan did not know what Xue Lei meant by his being the gym master¡¯s interpreter.


    Luo Nan immediately obeyed Xiu Shenyu¡¯s requests. Hey t on a sleeping mat that was already prepared. Xue Lei lit a pot of incense in a very exaggerated manner, saying that it would help him to rx.


    The lighting was dim. The fragrance rose in spirals. It truly was not difficult to rx in this kind of environment. Luo Nan closed his eyes and slowly adjusted his breathing. Soon, he entered a calm state.


    Then Xiu Shenyu suddenly asked him, "Have you learned other breathing techniques in the past?"


    "Mm, yes."


    The tiny chanting and breathing technique Luo Nan practiced wasrgely useful for visualization. However, he had started off by practicing breathing, and a few weeks earlier, he witnessed an excellent demonstration from the unfathomable little girl Rui Wen. From her, heprehended the tempo of soul breathing.


    Uh, soul breathing should count as a breathing technique. Luo Nan believed that he had some experience.


    Xiu Shenyu continued inquiring, "Have you entered a meditative state before?"


    "Are you referring to a still state of mind, a fixed mental space? I have."


    Xue Lei was quite delighted to the side. "This is good! You already have an excellent foundation. You would certainly make rapid progress."


    Xiu Shenyu gave Xue Lei a nce, but refrained from saying anything. He simply let Luo Nan continue rxing. At the same time, he began to tell him some essentials in calibrating one¡¯s breathing.


    He spoke generally at first, but due to the atmosphere they were in, Luo Nan subconsciously tried to follow the methods Xiu Shenyu talked about.


    Xiu Shenyu had an urate grasp of Luo Nan¡¯s state. He suddenly changed his manner of speaking. He spoke more concisely, directly touching upon the differences that appeared in Luo Nan¡¯s testing process. He also added corrections.


    Sometimes he reached out with his hand to press against Luo Nan¡¯s body. He wanted Luo Nan to focus his breathing and mind on these areas.


    At first, Luo Nan disliked the feeling of having someone be so concentrated on his breathing. As Luo Nan controlled his breathing, he spared some attention to receive guidance. His mind was stretched taut. He could not be described as rxed in any way.


    But Luo Nan ultimately had a foundation. Soon he discovered that they held several of the same understandings with regard to the essentials Xiu Shenyu was teaching him. Luo Nan¡¯s insight on some key details grew deeper, and consequently his breathing control became steadier.


    Furthermore, Xiu Shenyu¡¯s guidance did not involve harsh criticisms on the strict observance of the little details. He was like a faint guiding light that led the way forward, ensuring that Luo Nan never got lost. Luo Nan preferred to do things this way.


    Not a lot of time passed before Luo Nan adapted to Xiu Shenyu¡¯s teaching style; his mind soon settling down. Luo Nan controlled the intensity of his breathing, causing him to faintly feel something between his mouth and nose. The mind first existed in the mouth and nose, then the throat, chest, stomach, tailbone, and so on. This visualization also went in the reverse. It changed back and forth. Ultimately, it allowed for an uninterrupted breathing. Direction and location were indiscernible as breath gradually enveloped his entire body.


    This wonderful feeling made the body feel like it was a bit hot, as if the body was wrapped in warm mist. It was akin to being in a steam sauna, but it did not feel as stuffy. It was rather prating.


    In the end, all of Luo Nan¡¯s energy was focused on the changes of feeling. Xiu Shenyu¡¯s low voice was naturally blocked off, and eventually even Luo Nan¡¯s consciousness of his body was blurred. It was as if his entire person had transformed into a cloud of mist, drifting in nothingness.


    The mist swelled and shrank, revealing the difference between the internal and the external. To sum it up, this was a sort of singr tempo.... Yes, it was a bit like what Rui Wen could do. The breath resonance that was at the peak of wonders. The fusion of body and soul.


    With this thought, it was as if Luo Nan had awakened from a dream. He opened his eyes wide in understanding.


    Xue Lei looked at his wristband in ordance to Xiu Shenyu¡¯s directions and confirmed the time. "Five minutes and twenty seconds."


    "Huh?"


    Xue Leiughed. "You¡¯ve spent a total of three hundred and twenty seconds lying down until now."


    Luo Nan was stunned. "That short?"


    He thought that time had passed quickly. He thought that at least two hours had passed. He never expected that only a small amount of time had gone by. If he were to calcte the time when his mind waspletely entranced, it probably would not even reach a minute.


    Xiu Shenyu nced at Xue Lei¡¯s wristband. "Time in meditative state: seven seconds."


    "Seven seconds?"


    "The soul gallops across a world. The mind shines at eight extremes. Seven seconds is good; it¡¯s not short."


    Luo Nan could not understand him at all. It was now time for Xue Lei the interpreter to show off his skills. He spoke with praise, "Sure enough, you do have a foundation.... The meditative state you just entered is actually a process of self-examination of the body. It¡¯s like when a machine boots up and data is read and loaded into it. The faster your brain, the higher the efficiency. Seven seconds of introspection and achieving deep stillness is really amazing."


    Gym Master Xiu made noment toward Xue Lei¡¯s words. He just said, "Nothingness cannot be relied upon. Fullness cannotst long. Remember that breathing tempo. We will proceed with the next step."


    It was really hard to understand, but it truly seemed quite amazing.... Luo Nan inevitably felt a different sort of confidence toward Xiu Shenyu¡¯s teachings. He recalled the feeling he had experienced just then and solemnly nodded.


    Two minutester, Luo Nan followed Xiu Shenyu¡¯s guidance and re-entered the marvelous state of body-into-nothingness. His body was like a cloud of mist, and warm heat continued to umte. Then, he achieved the correct tempo where the mist swelled and shrank, and subsequently the heat was no longer static, now flowing endlessly.


    At first, Luo Nan¡¯s experience was a blur. But after bing familiar with it, his senses grew more acute. Slowly, he observed some substantial meaning from the nothingness of the mist.


    Xiu Shenyu theorized that entering the meditative state was only the initial step in understanding. Cultivation required one to discard pre-established ideas about the body and mold the feeling of the still state of mind anew.


    This did not mean that Xiu Shenyu wanted people to let their imaginations run wild. What was real, was still real. Breath was still breath. What was sought was the whole potential.


    Luo Nan was familiar with these methods. Was this not the same method as his speed sketches? The importance was not in the appearance and details, but in the grace and finesse of the method.


    However, Xiu Shenyu gave him a clear-cut image.


    ¡°The body is like the mass of a mountain range. The breath is like the length of flowing water."

 Chapter 144: Power of the Mountains and Rivers (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 144: Power of the Mountains and Rivers (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    The body was a mountain range with dense vegetation and thick soil. It can bear the rays of the sun and the rain of the clouds. It can resist storms and thunder.


    Breath was flowing water. It twisted and turned, amassing the beautiful soul of the mountain range, giving life to all living things.


    Here, the body was the foundation. It was the utmost, the decisive material structure. It was akin to a mountain range; there existed highs and lows, up and downs. Vital energy was the function decided by the body¡¯s foundation. It was like the power of flowing water. It followed the form of the mountain as it flowed down, and warmth and coldness, yin and yang, can be seen.


    The two conformed to each other, and nuances gradually grew clearer as the still state of mind intensified and the real and the virtual were manifested and discerned. There truly seemed to be a painting of mountains and rivers being unfurled before Luo Nan¡¯s eyes. Within the rolling mountains, clear rivers snaked around as they followed the path of potential. In some ces the waters remained in ce. In some ces they turned. In some ces they split. The waters divergedpletely in different ces.


    Having these differences allowed the sense of substance to be clearer.


    Gradually, there were some ces where the flow of water umted into something like a deepke, a dark whirlpool. These were meridian points, and Xiu Shenyu wanted him to pay special attention to them. These nourished and grew the soul. These were fields of blessing.


    Luo Nan¡¯s consciousness gradually confirmed their locations and contracted them with his pre-established concepts of the body: top of the head, the chest, the lower abdomen, and even the palms of the hands, the soles of the feet....


    There seemed to be a resonance among these meridian points, and they surged with dark life. Waves cut across, and the feeling of mist-like nothingness gradually retreated. Luo Nan¡¯s perception toward his body was expressed anew, but this time it was with apletely new understanding than before.


    It was like the ancient philosophical proposition: "The mountain is seen as a mountain; water is seen as water. The mountain is seen as not a mountain; water is seen as not water. The mountain is still a mountain; water is still water."


    Luo Nan felt stupid when he heard Xiu Shenyu talk about these things, but when he truly experienced it himself, he felt he understood things quite clearly.


    However, Xiu Shenyu was only talking about the first step. He had yet to discuss what they would do next.


    Luo Nan¡¯s focus lightened a bit, his thoughts wandering. He originally wanted to exit the still state of mind and ask Xiu Shenyu the know-hows for the next step, but the resonance among his meridian points made him recall Rui Wen¡¯s marvelous technique of body and soul merging.


    But after carefullyparing the experiences, Luo Nan ultimately found that they were different.


    Luo Nan was far from reaching Rui Wen¡¯s ability to merge body and soul as one. The resonance in his body only ured between a few meridian points. Each meridian point was a terminal point with lines connecting them, forming a fuzzy structure. The structure was a bit chaotic andplex. It was also somewhat familiar.


    If slight adjustments were made....


    The feeling Luo Nan perceived within his body was still quite unfocused. Luo Nan subconsciously viewed his body as a revisable painting. The terminal points were moved, and the connecting lines were merged. After a few adjustments, the fuzzy and chaotic structure became orderly. The structure became a central axis in the shape of a pyramid.


    Luo Nan suddenly sensed that something was wrong. He wanted to open his eyes, but then a shout came cutting in from the outside world.


    "Continue!"


    The voice was heavy, and it pressed down against Luo Nan¡¯s surging mind. Luo Nan¡¯s mind shook a few times before eventually maintaining the still state. By now, the image of mountains and rivers had blurred and faded away, as a more familiar scene grew in its absence.


    It was a pyramid rotating in the void. Precisely speaking, it was the Format Pyramid, the visualization diagram.


    Luo Nan was rather bewildered by the sudden change in imagery. His perception toward his physical body was also affected, turning chaotic. But this situation did notst long. The chaotic information was absorbed by the rotating visualization diagram within Luo Nan¡¯s still state of mind. It was neat and orderly, structured with rules, and it seemed to be the central axis. A single action spurred the bones, flesh, and even the hundreds of millions of veins. An action spurred a hundred actions, a thousand actions, ten-thousand actions. It possessed rules, and was not the slightest bit disorderly.


    Luo Nan was familiar with this sensation. He went through the Archetype Format Guide Program in theplete version of the Frost River Waterway System back in Frost River Reality. He ignited the virtual form of the Format of Fire. The Format of Fire had acted as an axis as well. It had many connections in many directions. It was vaguely the same as his current experience.


    The Format of Fire and the image of mountains and rivers were great, but they could notpare in meaning to the visualization diagram. Luo Nan had be ustomed to the continued existence of the visualization diagram by his side. The visualization diagram was the representation of Formatting Theory, the truth that Luo Nan revered.


    Therefore, the visualization diagram upied the most central location in his mind when it appeared. His other feelings just surged and fluctuated around the visualization diagram, and they might as well be annihted to dust.


    Luckily, Luo Nan was able to recall what his goals were tonight. Though he had somewhat deviated from his main task, the roots for the breathing technique still existed. His breathing tempo was only chaotic for just a moment before returning to calmness.


    The image of the mountains and rivers already turned blurry by now, but Luo Nan could still feel the cirction and umtion of vital energy. However, the trending path naturally disappeared without a trace. Onlyyers of rising steam were left, amassing together in a steady stream. They rose toward the central region of the visualization diagram, and toward the inscribed sphere.


    Luo Nan¡¯s visualization seemed to only be concerned with his body. The inscribed sphere contained his inner organs and the cirction of his blood and energy. Luo Nan¡¯s vital energy symbolized the activation of his body¡¯s functions, as lectured by Xiu Shenyu. As for what the convergence of vital energy represented, Xiu Shenyu did not say.


    The visualization diagram rotated endlessly, and at the same time,yers uponyers of vital energy poured inside. The energy was great, and it seemed that a change was about to ur.


    But there were no changes.... The center of the inscribed sphere was just nothingness, like a ck hole. No matter how much vital energy was amassed, it was all swallowed by this sheet of nothingness. Its limits could not be seen.


    At this time, Luo Nan¡¯s mind followed the cirction of vital energy and entered the inscribed sphere. This was the first time he did this since he started studying Formatting Theory. His actions came automatically to him. Clearly, he was making great progress in visualization.


    Originally, this was a good thing, but Luo Nan¡¯s mind became stiff and sluggish when observing the scene from the inside. He was flooded with darkness, which he did not know was real or not, and it was hard for him to feel anything else.


    Luo Nan¡¯s current state of mind was absolutely unsuitable for entering a meditative state. Then, a deep cry came from outside. The cry suppressed therge upheaval that made Luo Nan leave his still state of mind. The cry pressed Luo Nan¡¯s mind firmly in this space, and it allowed Luo Nan to see things more clearly.


    Rattle! Rattle!


    Within the abyssal space whose depth could not be seen, countless thick chains prated the sheet of darkness. They crossed and weaved. They coiled around each other. They formed a structure soplicated that it made one¡¯s scalp feel like it was about to explode.


    It was like an inescapable. It was like a dungeon.


    That¡¯s right. The dark chains always came from the inscribed sphere of the visualization diagram. However, Luo Nan never thought that these seemingly endless chains, which could prate throughyers of the void, could have this appearance, could have this shape, deeply hidden within the visualization diagram.


    Luo Nan had felt his vital energy boil with great power, but now it was simply negligible vapor in the face of such a cavernous chasm. The enormous pressure pressed down upon the spiraling strands of vital energy.


    A bit of light from a me could be seen deep within the area of weaving chains. The light passed through the small chinks in the chains, but Luo Nan could not sense the slightest bit of heat from this light. The cial chains sucked in what heat there was, leaving only a flicker of light behind. The light attracted a portion of Luo Nan¡¯s mind, and it seemed neither close nor distant.


    "My heart¡¯s a prison."


    Suddenly, Luo Nan recalled the leading words in the twenty-word secret mantra left behind by his grandfather.


    The rattle reverberated once more, and Luo Nan was no longer able to control his mind. He was expelled from the still state of mind, and the image of mountains and rivers, the image of the visualization diagram, all faded away without a trace. Luo Nan felt a burning heat in his lower abdominals and nothing more.


    Luo Nan blinked with vacant eyes. The first thing he saw was Xiu Shenyu.


    Xue Lei was next to the gym master. He opened his mouth but was tongue-tied. It took a while before he said, "You, how did you sit up?"

 Chapter 145: Start with the Body (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 145: Start with the Body (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Sit up? Yeah, he did sit up. He sat in the lotus position, looking like a pyramid. Hepletely lost the image of the mountains and rivers imparted upon him by Xiu Shenyu.


    Luo Nan gaped with his mouth, speechless.


    Somehow, Xiu Shenyu wasn¡¯t that surprised. He sized Luo Nan up and down a few times, then slowly said, "The breathing technique. Taking old and new techniques and fusing them into a furnace. This is a good thing."


    Xue Lei let out a breath of relief. "Then that¡¯s good."


    He never expected Xiu Shenyu¡¯s next words to be, "It is also a pity that the art cannot be used upon his own body."


    "What?"


    Xue Lei blinked. He was unable to trante the gym master¡¯s words! Xue Lei looked at Luo Nan, whose head was lowered in deep thought, and saw no reaction from him. In the end, Xue Lei could only ask, "Gym master, sir, what do you mean...?"


    Xiu Shenyu did not respond to Xue Lei. He gazed at Luo Nan for a moment, then said, "I taught you to visualize the image of the mountains and rivers, but you were unable to bring about the mountains and rivers. The frozen ground. The icy waters through the crevasses. Most of it has been frozen. Water lubricates things, whereas ice brings one pressure."


    Luo Nan pondered over Xiu Shenyu¡¯s words. After a while, he raised his head and said, "I ask the gym master for guidance."


    Xue Lei looked at the gym master. Then, he looked at Luo Nan. He ultimately confirmed that he was out of a tranting job. He shirked back to a corner and stopped saying anything, but his ears straightened in attention.


    Xiu Shenyu thought as he spoke, "Just like Rome wasn¡¯t built in a day, three feet of ice does not form in a single day. I don¡¯t quite understand your visualization technique, but I can vaguely feel things from it. From the inside to the outside, your technique is strict and rigid, but is also grand and imposing. It is enchanting. And this, of course, is an excellent thing. Unfortunately, this cial mountain isn¡¯t truly yours. The higher this cial mountain is amassed, the grander and vaster it is, but at the same time, the smaller and more indistinct you be.... As a man absorbs this power, the power also absorbs the man. This is your problem."


    Gym Master Xiu was never one who was good at words. He was not quite clear in his train of thought and in his way with words when he conversed with people. It was veryborious for one to hear his speech with its many metaphors and analogies.


    To the side, Xue Lei¡¯s eyes were spinning in circles as he heard all this. Luckily, Luo Nanbined the gym master¡¯s words with his own understandings of his body and the prison in his mind ¨C the interwoven dark chains ¨C and was able to get a general understanding.


    As Luo Nan understood Xiu Shenyu, Luo Nan became seriously shocked by Xiu Shenyu¡¯s level of insight. He really respected Xiu Shenyu. This gym master undoubtedly had true skill. However, Luo Nan gained an even deeper loss now when it came to his own situation.


    It took a while before Luo Nan could ask, "Why isn¡¯t it mine? I¡¯m the one cultivating using it!"


    "Is it all truly you?"


    This response stupefied Luo Nanpletely.


    From the very beginning, the road he walked as he researched Formatting Theory was a road that required he rely on external forces. Psychotropic drugs. Darksider life forms. Sacrificial frames.... The decisive application of these external things was the driving force behind the leaps and bounds of growth of his soul strength. The only thing Luo Nan did was erect the frame.


    And even the frame was something he learned from his grandfather.


    Xiu Shenyu slowly stood up while Luo Nan was in his daze. He walked inside, next to the tai chi ball. There was not much lighting in the room, and the distance was far. All one could see was a fuzzy silhouette.


    Luo Nan and Xue Lei nced at each other. They both got up and walked over.


    Xiu Shenyu disregarded the two. He simply yed with the tai chi ball, causing the bowl tray on the ground to swivel. The metal ball was half a man tall and was over a hundred kilograms in weight. It began to rotate with noticeable noise. The rolling created a reverberating sound, and the cork floor was trembling.


    "This is the cial mountain."


    Luo Nan nodded. He had automatically substituted the words ¡¯cial mountain¡¯ for ¡¯Formatting Theory¡¯ in his mind.


    "This is you right now." Xiu Shenyu pointed at the bowl tray below as he spoke.


    The bowl tray was osciting without end due to the heavy rotating sphere above it. Luo Nan was unable to take his eyes off it as he stared and juxtaposed his own situation with the bowl tray.


    This analogy was very intuitive. Even Xue Lei, who was confused all this time, could understand. "Gym master, do you mean that Nanster is cultivating far too quickly? Arge tail obstructs action; Nanster¡¯s too lopsided, making it bad for him?"


    He never expected Xiu Shenyu to shake his head. "He¡¯s being rejected."


    "Huh?¡± Xue Lei was immediately stupefied once more. Then Luo Nan suddenly raised his head.


    Xiu Shenyu pressed his hand against the lines on the surface of the metal sphere and the grinding and rotating metal sphere rumbled to a stop. Xiu Shenyu opened the outer shell of the sphere while it was still slightly swaying. He took out theplicated mechanism installed within its cavity.


    "You should be this."


    Xiu Shenyu spoke calmly, "To put it briefly, man and cultivation is like drawing a circle; with the self in the center of the circle. Then, the circle is ergedyer byyer, the range of control grows greater and greater, and its volume grows heavier and heavier. But no matter what happens, no matter where a man¡¯s heart takes him, the journey must be one without hindrance. Follow and oppose ording to your heart. This is the true path. If the journey is heavy, sluggish, and cumbersome, if it¡¯s hard to propel down one¡¯s path, then this is what¡¯s called arge tail that obstructs action."


    Luo Nan first looked at the mechanical device and sunk into contemtion. Then, he looked at Xiu Shenyu. "Then, right now I...."


    "Right now you¡¯re just a support¡ªa medium."


    Xiu Shenyu ced the mechanical device back inside the cavity. Then, he made the metal sphere rotate again. "I assume that you, yourself, know clearly just how much strength you have left in the center of the circle."


    Luo Nan thought back to the depths of the inscribed sphere. There was that little light of me thatcked all heat whatsoever. He took a deep deep breath and said, "But I¡¯m still there inside!"


    "Just a portion," Xiu Shenyu responded dully. "This isn¡¯t your technique. You just endlessly watered it, and then it turned intoyers ofyers of ice chunks. You let it expand, you let it be denser. You may be able to borrow its strength, but the strength has to follow its existing rules. You can¡¯t escape its constraints by even a smidgen. I haven¡¯t seen any substance that allows information to be fed back to the human body. There are mystic and incorporeal powers when ites to a person¡¯s cultivation, but for you this is just a pavilion in the air, a mirage.... You¡¯ve built it to such a scale that what is real and what is false are flipped upside down. This is the main reason behind the imbnce between your body and soul."


    Luo Nan instinctively disagreed with the first part of Xiu Shenyu¡¯s description, but everything changed when Xiu Shenyu mentioned how ¡°the strength has to follow its existing rules¡±. Luo Nan was stupefied on the spot as if he were hit by lightning.


    The doubts that had formed during the trip here on the public transport vehicle were vaporized by the luminosity of an epiphanic lightning bolt.


    That¡¯s right. Why didn¡¯t he think of it before? Sensing the star river. Receiving feedback from his believers. These were all real and true achievements. They were all changes involving the mental ne, and they all existed within the frame of Formatting Theory.


    In contrast, Luo Nan had entered the rules set by President Ouyang Chen when he entered the Simtoryer of the Psychic Wave Network, while controlling the tiny paper men involved the material ne. These were fields that Formatting Theory could not ess.


    Luo Nan found his powers effective in one aspect, but ineffective in another. This was the reason for it! It ally here!


    Although this was just the view of a single person, Xiu Shenyu did not know of the concrete details involving Formatting Theory. He also was not aware of Luo Nan¡¯s awkward situation. The fact that Xiu Shenyu was able to deduce Luo Nan¡¯s situation to obtain an urate assessment that was indistinguishable from reality was something that could not be described as coincidence.


    Luo Nan just stood there in his stupefaction. The darkness of the training grounds wrapped around him, as the sound of the metal sphere rolling came grinding into his heart.


    Xiu Shenyu¡¯s voice seeped in like fine sand, "When we take in external powers, the first harm can be described as ¡¯imprisonment¡¯. The next harm can be called ¡¯inversion¡¯. The worst harm is ¡¯parasitism¡¯. Your current situation is between imprisonment and inversion...."


    "Gym master!"


    This was the first time Luo Nan interrupted Xiu Shenyu since tonight¡¯s studies had started. He stared at Xiu Shenyu with fixed eyes. He gazed directly into the sunken eye sockets of this decrepit middle-aged man. Depth, remoteness, and darkness lurked within there, and it was hard to distinguish between colors. Yet there existed a heavy force that pressed onto Luo Nan¡¯s heart.


    Luo Nan gritted his teeth and spoke, "Gym master, do you mean that there are ws with the technique I cultivate in? Is that correct?"


    Xiu Shenyu¡¯s response was the clearest Luo Nan ever heard from him.


    "Without a doubt."

 Chapter 145: Start with the Body (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 145: Start with the Body (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Xue Lei coughed. ¡°Gym master....¡±


    Xue Lei was a bit flustered. He understood Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts. Frankly speaking, anything involving Formatting Theory was a sensitive topic! He was really afraid of Luo Nan bing furious, turning around, and leaving. Xue Lei wanted to do his best to save the situation, and he wished that Xiu Shenyu would not say things so bluntly. At least leave some leeway for mediation.


    Unfortunately, the message conveyed by Xiu Shenyu¡¯s dark eyes could not be stopped. It was sent, and there was a near-zero chance that Xiu Shenyu would withdraw his remark with his temperament.


    The tai chi ball continued to roll in the bowl tray. Amidst a rumbling sound, the design on the surface gradually lit up and became clear. Xiu Shenyu turned his gaze to look at it, signaling that he had no further intentions to speak.


    As for Luo Nan, his gaze rested on Xiu Shenyu¡¯s face. Luo Nan had been like this since Xiu Shenyu had said "without a doubt¡±. Luo Nan didn¡¯t make any other movements. He just stood there in ce like a statue. Even his breathing seemed to have stopped.


    Xue Lei looked to his left. Then he looked to his right. In the end, there was nothing he could do. He just hung his head and prayed to himself. He hoped that God would open his eyes and prevent trouble from arising at all costs.


    For a time, the only movement in the spacious room was the constant rolling of the tai chi ball. It rolled from the words and thoughts of a person to the words and thoughts of another person.


    An unknown amount of time passed and Luo Nan, whose entire body had been frozen, suddenly walked forward a single step. He raised a single hand to cut open the incorporealyer of stone that froze him, and he reached out to press against the rolling tai chi ball. The metal sphere rubbed against the palm of his hand, and the metal sphere jiggled twice due to the uneven distribution of external force. The metal sphere nearly flipped out from the bowl tray, but it just barely stabilized. It now rocked back and forth in the bowl tray, and the luminous patterns on the sphere¡¯s surface naturally faded away without a trace.


    Xiu Shenyu frowned for a moment, then raised his eyes to lock gazes with Luo Nan.


    This was bad! The gym master didn¡¯t like other people disturbing him when he was fiddling with the tai chi ball!


    Xue Lei¡¯s heart began to beat wildly. He simply wanted to cry faced with the situation before his eyes, but no tears coulde out. He never expected the situation to unfold like this when he had invited Luo Nan toe to the daoguan and learn breathing techniques!


    But the situation developed in a way that was not as pessimistic as Xue Lei was imagining.


    Luo Nan did not be furious because of the criticism toward Formatting Theory, and Xiu Shenyu did not be angry at Luo Nan for stopping the tai chi ball from rotating. As the monotonous sound of rolling faded away, Luo Nan spoke with a low voice of increasing rity.


    "Gym Master Xiu, the only w in my technique is that it doesn¡¯t consider the human body. Am I right?"


    "I don¡¯t believe that it is ¡¯your technique¡¯."


    Xiu Shenyu reached out a hand as well. He pressed against the tai chi ball, applying simr force for the second time, while Luo Nan found it hard to ept these words from Xiu Shenyu yet again.


    Two people had their palms pressed against the tai chi ball, and the metal sphere became all the more still. It did not move an inch. Through this subtle powery, Xiu Shenyu gave a slow answer.


    "In worldly cultivation, the right path shoulde from the inside to the outside. From me to him. Water travels in ordance to the terrain of the mountain. Breath and energy move due to the human body. And grace and beauty are found within. If such a marvelous spectacle urs outside the body, then what business do ¡¯I¡¯ have?"


    Xue Lei¡¯s head was spinning from listening to the antonomasia of ¡¯You¡¯s and ¡¯I¡¯s, but Luo Nan could understand each of Xiu Shenyu¡¯s words with rity. The words rted to Luo Nan directly involved a concept that Luo Nan was most familiar with: I. Me. My. The ¡®self¡¯!


    This time around the concept was heard in quite an ironic manner.


    Luo Nan¡¯s grandfather had written down a twenty-word secret mantra in his notebook. Every use began with a ¡®my¡¯: My heart¡¯s a prison, my heart¡¯s a furnace; My heart calls for a lens, my heart calls for the nation.


    Wasn¡¯t Formatting Theory rooted in the ¡®self¡¯? The ¡®self¡¯ had to exist!


    It was because of this that Luo Nan refuted Xiu Shenyu¡¯s words without thinking, "No way. When I cultivate, it all involves ¡¯me¡¯ as the axis!"


    "Do you have anything to ascertain that it is truly the ¡¯self¡¯?"


    Xiu Shenyu gave Luo Nan no chance for further exnation. He immediately shattered his following defenses. "Cultivating for the ¡¯self¡¯ will allow the human body a structure and will allow the cirction of blood and energy. There are changes between movement and stillness. Physicality will inevitably be exhausted, unless you sufficiently prepare. Only in this way will a mark be left with every step. Only in this way can errors be avoided.... This is what you haven¡¯t done."


    Luo Nan stopped talking. He listened attentively in silence.


    "It is inevitable and logical for one to tread wrongly on their journey by relying on pure consciousness for a foundation thatcks all materiality. For others, once the body and soul imbnce reaches a certain degree, the body and soul impeding each other are unable to progress a single step. But for you, the towering cial mountains are expandingyer uponyer without any sign of their limits."


    Xiu Shenyu did not expound further from this point. The meaning was clear and could not be mistaken. No matter how grand and powerful the framework on the mental ne is, its core mechanism of growth and decline isn¡¯t rted to the person himself. How can it be described as ¡¯yours¡¯?


    Luo Nan¡¯s brows were deeply furrowed as he stared at the tai chi ball. He was lost in thought.


    Soon, the room entered a state of silence once more. Xue Lei could not refrain from saying, "If you truly have this problem, then we have to make some adjustments.... Gym master, can we fix this?"


    Xue Lei¡¯s choice of words were tactful, but Xiu Shenyu responded quite bluntly, "External techniques cannot be used for the sake of one¡¯s self. It is not toote to start from scratch and walk toward the correct path."


    Luo Nan lifted his head upon hearing him. He gazed straight at Xiu Shenyu with a face devoid of all expression.


    Xue Lei saw that the situation was going on a bad trend. He scrambled forward and grabbed Luo Nan¡¯s right arm. "We can think over this some more...."


    Luo Nan knew what Xue Lei was nervous about, but he really was not angry. He was just thinking about his grandfather.


    Xiu Shenyu¡¯s thin, decrepit body was somewhat simr to his grandfather¡¯s. Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts floated to the medical treatment center. An insane old man was over there, and the old man¡¯s ailments had tormented him into something inhuman. His life was also near its end.


    What had caused all of this? Luo Nan was not a doctor; he found it impossible to make an urate assessment. However, right now there existed a fact that was as clear as day.


    Before, the hospital was able to confirm that energy and stimtion were useless in the attempts to improve the old man¡¯s illness. However, Luo Nan¡¯s grandfather was likely a practitioner of Formatting Theory. If Luo Nan were to recognize the ws of Formatting Theory, revisions could be made upon this foundation, and the positive effects for his grandfather would likely be instant.


    Luo Nan¡¯s mind was in a bit of a daze right now. His thoughts transformed as fast as lightning, and the thought process was not the least bit simple.


    The upheaval of an undercurrent of concepts flipped the sunken grains of memories to the surface of his heart. Luo Nan had synthesized and taken drugs for the past five years. He did this day in and day out in bitter obsession. These memories floated in turmoil, then the silhouette of Gear under the setting sun inexplicably cut into his mind. There was also theke that faced the building, and the treehouse devoid of all traces of people....


    Luo Nan could not get a grasp on his own emotions for a time, but soon he made up his mind. He took a deep breath, forgot the tangling thought of whether or not Formatting Theory was wed, and took a step back. He immediately turned to face Xiu Shenyu and gave him a heavy bow.


    "The Formatting Theory I cultivate in is my grandfather¡¯s heart and blood; it¡¯s his life. I cannot give up it up no matter the case, no matter the cause. If the gym master can help me mend its ws and correct its errors, I will never forget this favor through eternity!"


    It seemed that Xiu Shenyu was stunned for a moment as well. Then, he shook his head. "You are most willing to move in ordance to the technique. You should not desire to be ¡¯imprisoned¡¯."


    Luo Nan just looked at him. "Can you help me?"


    Xiu Shenyu responded as if nothing was wrong, "I¡¯m not an expert in such visualizations. I only use the most basic method of training, practicing, and tempering. I am unable to resolve the so-called ws and errors of your Formatting Theory.... The most I can do is help you obtain a stronger physique, increase the endurance of your body by a bit, and increase the room for you to experiment and adjust."


    "That¡¯s already enough," said Luo Nan without hesitation.


    Xiu Shenyu was direct as well. "Then prepare for some pain and suffering."

 Chapter 146: Flexibility Lies in the Eyes (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 146: Flexibility Lies in the Eyes (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    The mind and the heart gives birth to conceptions, but the mind and the heart also kills conceptions. The flexibility lies in the eyes.


    Luo Nan seemed to be asleep yet not asleep, awake yet not awake. It was as if he entered a still state of mind.


    He could truly see the visualization diagram rotating in the void, yet there were also countless specious shadows diffused inside and outside of it. Every shadow was a copy of his figure. They were practically everywhere, yet none of them was real.


    Then Luo Nan¡¯s mind sunk downward directly into the heart of the inscribed sphere. He fell into the center of the deep prison. The shadows were truly like shadows of his body; they followed him inside.


    Thousands upon thousands of dark chains moved simultaneously with a rattling vibrato. They weaved together into something like a, and the light of a mecking all heat flickered in the deepest regions. The light illuminatedyers andyers of chaos as it fused and ovepped with the myriad of shadows. It was hard to distinguish between the shadows, for they were like flocks of bats. These wraiths danced bewitchingly like clouds and waves.


    ¡¯Me¡¯. Which one is ¡¯me¡¯?


    Luo Nan¡¯s viewpoint changed amid his daze. It was as if he was looking down from high above. He saw the rays of light pierce upward andbine with the mes in his eyes into one. Great amounts of light was released, suppressing the wraiths, and Luo Nan was suddenly awoken.


    Luo Nan opened his eyes. His vision was a bit fuzzy at first; part of it was due to the dusky lighting of the room. The light of the sun could not be seen, so only the lights of the humanoid stonenterns illuminated the entrance to the room. Light and shadow were jumbled together, and they formed outlines upon the random items within the room. The normal and ordinary image gave Luo Nan a feeling of inexplicable novelty. It could not be determined if this was a psychological effect.


    Luo Nan flipped over and sat up, the nket covering him sliding off. The slight chill of early morning came flowing in from the opened entrance. It made him huddle his shoulders to cover his neck.


    A husky voice suddenly vibrated from the corner of the room. It was none other than Xiu Shenyu. "Falseness has energy. Darkness has knowledge. There exists fields of blessing in the heart. All without raising a thought.... You should go through morning procedures. Follow what you didst night."


    Luo Nan closed his eyes and opened them. This time the aftereffects of his dream-state were wiped away. He was truly clear-headed now. Luo Nan looked at his wristband; it was now a bit over 4:30 in the morning. No wonder it was so dark outside.


    Xiu Shenyu did not say anything after that, but Luo Nan was able to feel his gaze resting upon his body. Xiu Shenyu was supervising his task.


    Yes. Luo Nan¡¯s bitter days have begun startingst night.


    Luo Nan did not waste time talking. He settled his mind and began performing the breathing technique. The breath in his mouth and nose gradually possessed a sense of density.


    Luo Nan did not take the next step in circting after finding the right tempo of breathing. He first massaged the acupoints surrounding his eye sockets. He extended his hands while sitting cross-legged, sped them together, and massaged his feet using a special technique. Everything was done in special positions; it was just a bit ugly to look at.


    "Harder!" directed Xiu Shenyu in a timely manner....


    Luo Nan unconsciously exerted more force with his hand. Soon his hands and feet had warmed up, and his tendons and muscles had loosened up. Then, his hands went to his back to press against its two sides. Luo Nan looked like he was doing some sort of exercise with these series of movements... exercises for old people.


    Luo Nan back was in pain as he did this, for Xiu Shenyu pressed his finger into a spot. Xiu Shenyu¡¯s voice entered his ear once more. "Here. Put more force here."


    Luo Nan¡¯s breathing was chaotic, but soon he adjusted. He bent his hand in ordance to Xiu Shenyu¡¯s request and continued to apply force. He did this until the spot felt achy and hot.


    This was not the end of it. Luo Nan then sat on the cork flooring, twisted his body, and stretched his hands and feet. The most important thing was for his gaze to follow his movements, regardless of his body¡¯s position. Every time there was something the least bit wrong with Luo Nan¡¯s positions and movements, Xiu Shenyu would instantly correct him with words, or even use his hands to adjust Luo Nan himself.


    Luo Nan went through the exercise nine times. It might look like he never left his original position, but Luo Nan used up a great amount of stamina. Ayer of sweat covered Luo Nan¡¯s body.


    What was especially taxing was paying attention to the position of his eyes. They always had to move along with his hands and feet. They were massaged in this way as well. Right then, Luo Nan¡¯s eyes were a bit hot, as if there was steam rising from his eye sockets. Luo Nan was on the verge of crying.


    Luo Nan gently closed his eyes, withdrawing and concealing his mind. His exercise only counted as a sess at this point.


    Luo Nan had learned this series of movementsst night. It was a hands-on instruction from Xiu Shenyu. Luo Nan learned to massage his head, hands, feet, and torso in this way. Luo Nan learned to stretch and twist his limbs along with a supplementation of breathing in this way. This involved positioning, strength, feeling, response, and so on. Xiu Shenyu was meticulous down to the smallest detail.


    This was the basic method Xiu Shenyu spoke of. Luo Nan followed a prescribed pattern to the letter, and there was practically no room for meditation and visualization. Nothing fake could be seen from it.


    Xiu Shenyu told him the following: "Your form is like a bowl tray. You bear heavy mass, but you¡¯re rejected outside. A strand of your mind is split, existing within this imprisonment. So, arge tail obstructs action. If you want to make it right, first you must break through theyers that separate the mind, energy, and essence. The only way starts from the human body. Strengthen the body¡¯s function to make yourself beautiful inside and out. Cultivate your essence energy.... It¡¯s like adding a me beneath the bowl tray. Use the heat of your body to melt a corner of the cial mountains. Separate a cup of soup out from within. If you want to reach sufficient ¡¯heat¡¯, you cannot continue cultivating in a purely still state. You need to exert yourself while walking, sitting, and lying down. You need to activate and circte the functions of your vital energy."


    ording to Xiu Shenyu¡¯s words, Luo Nan¡¯s cultivation thus far was confined by the external technique that was Formatting Theory. His fleshly body was weak, and the only thing that connected the inside and the outside of the body were the nine orifices.


    The nine orifices of the body were the two eyes, the two ears, the two nostrils, the mouth, and the two lower extremities. The eyes, ears, and mouth were the most important of them, and of these, the eyes were the divine master. There was a saying from the "Scripture of the Hidden Contracts": The mind and the heart gives birth to conceptions, but the mind and the heart also kills conceptions. The flexibility lies in the eyes.


    The essentialsy in this saying.


    Luo Nan¡¯s cultivation was in the mental ne. It was difficult to utilize his fleshly body. Now, he had to utilize the natural physical nature of his body. This was akin to drawing water from a stream. He had to gradually build the scale, and then seek a breakthrough.


    Luo Nan could only understand half of Xiu Shenyu¡¯s theories. He only knew that he had to begin with the eyes, the most important orifices. Now that he thought about it, only minor abilities had manifested during his early years before he achieved his Self-Format. Besides the Appetite King ability that strengthened his digestion and absorption rates, there was also the Hypnosis Master ability. This ability was really apparent. It used the eyes as a medium to terrify a person¡¯s mind.


    Luo Nan checked his own experiences and realized that he did make some small gains with his fleshly body.


    The morning exercisested for nearly an hour, only ending at 5:30. Luo Nan washed his face, walked back into the courtyard, and saw Xue Lei sweeping fallen leaves in the middle of the courtyard. Luo Nan rushed to help, but Xue Lei refused.


    "Save some energy. We¡¯re going to school in a bit, but there aren¡¯t any public transport routed there."


    "Are we running there? Isn¡¯t today a bitte for you?"


    The distance from the daoguan to Acumen College was nearly fifty kilometers. Though Luo Nan had ran such distances before, it was nearly six in the morning now. He did not believe that he could make it in time for his morning courses after assessing his level of energy.


    "Duuude. Your resolve is reallyudable!"


    Xue Lei grinned andughed as he gave Luo Nan a big thumbs-up. But then he shook his head. "I¡¯m the one running there. Right now your body isn¡¯t suitable forrge amounts of exercise. You can put up with the public bike point over here at Boshan Building.... Oh, Nanster. Yourplexion is looking a lot better today.¡±


    Luo Nan felt good himself. The aches of his body had yet to fade away, but his mind was resolute and his spirits were clear with energy. He waspletely different from yesterday.


    He had a general idea why.


    It had already been nearly a month since Luo Nan had achieved the Self-Format of ¡¯My heart¡¯s a prison¡¯ and had stopped the consistent process of synthesizing drugs. Since then, he didn¡¯t have a feasible cultivation method. Most of the time Luo Nan had been wearily dealing with the endlessly surging growth of his soul strength. This left Luo Nan in an utterly passive position. The few techniques he polished were scattered and sporadic. It was far from systematic.


    Today, he had performed real and true movements in Xiu Shenyu¡¯s daoguan. He had made steady progress in every detail and every node. Though this might be a basic method, it was a starting point.


    Luo Nan was not afraid of hard work. He was just afraid of meaningless hard work.


    Compared to the big goal of rectifying and verifying the rights and wrongs of his grandfather¡¯s Formatting Theory, the tiny goal marked down by Xiu Shenyu was truly something in reach.


    Regardless of whether his goals were now broken down or he was reassuring himself, Luo Nan¡¯s mind became infused with energy. Quite a bit of his worries were alleviated.


    "Concentrate the gaze to what is attainable, and light shall illuminate the earth. Do not stray, do not lose, to the end."


    It was unknown when Xiu Shenyu had walked out, but he stood at the wooden corridor and was looking at the two youngsters. "Time is gettingte. Off you two go then."

 Chapter 146: Flexibility Lies in the Eyes (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 146: Flexibility Lies in the Eyes (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    "Yes, yes, that¡¯s right. I can¡¯t make it to the hospital this morning..." Luo Nan rode a bike as he asked Bai Xinyan to take this treatment session off. His breathing was heavy and a cold wind caused him to choke. He coughed a few times.


    Bai Xinyan¡¯s ears shot up. She had a rough understanding of Luo Nan¡¯s current situation. "Early morning exercise, eh? Pay attention to your amount of exercise. Right now your condition is stable, so it¡¯s fine to miss a treatment session once in a while.... Oh, right. How did learning the sleeping skill go?"


    Luo Nan responded with grunts and groans. He didn¡¯t say much.


    Bai Xinyan didn¡¯t inquire any further. She soon hung up. From her attitude, it seemed like she was determined to carry out the happy-go-lucky treatment until the end.


    Luo Nan took deep panting breaths, which formed faint white mist in the cold, crisp morning. It was now 7:20 in the morning. He was still a street away from his destination, Acumen College, but thest of his physical energy had been squeezed clean from these two hours of cycling. Xue Lei was even beating him ahead.


    At that moment, Luo Nan¡¯s thighs felt paralyzed, his calves spasming, and his chest and back were drenched in sweat. Hecked even the strength to stand up on the bike.


    Xue Lei nced back at him and slowed down a bit. It was obvious that Xue Lei still had energy in the tank.


    Luo Nan was envious of his friend who was like a tireless beast. Xue Lei had ran a distance of fifty kilometers straight up with vitality. He ran the whole way like a long-distance runner, during which he changed his running style several times. He frequently punched out with his fists or kicked out with his legs. He jumped between stories to keep on going forward. The amount of exercise he did and the amount of energy he consumed had to exceed the cycling Luo Nan by a dozen-fold.


    Though the two¡¯s pace slowed down at the moment, Xue Lei, with his distance ahead, increased the intensity of his movements. Fists and sleeves could be heard tearing through the air right next to him. He was simply dripping with sweat as he subjected himself to crazy training.


    If Xue Lei did this every day, Luo Nan could understand why Xue Lei had such astonishing strength. So astonishing that even Zhang Yingying and the other Awakened all praised him highly.


    Speaking of which, today, Luo Nan had been roused by Xue Lei¡¯s rhythm and had thus brought out apetitive spirit within him.... Luo Nan felt embarrassed being beat by a runner while he was cycling, now that he thought about it.


    Atst, Xue Lei¡¯s morning exercise came to an end. He collected himself, exhaled deeply, and switched to walking withrge strides. Perhaps Xue Lei felt Luo Nan¡¯s gaze, for he turned to look at Luo Nan. "Nanster, please don¡¯t be offended. It¡¯s hard for me to talk and split my attention when I train."


    Indeed, Xue Lei spoke practically not a word the entire journey. This was rather different from his straightforward and talkative nature.


    "It¡¯s nothing. Things are quite nice this way." Luo Nan really admired Xue Lei. He spoke emotionally, "When ites to training, doesn¡¯t one have to devote their entire concentration to it?"


    Xue Lei didn¡¯t immediately respond. He sized up Luo Nan a few times and split his lips into a grin. "The gym master says this often: The opportunity to train and cultivate is number one. If one can¡¯t grasp an opportunity, then nothing is worth mentioning!"


    Luo Nan was stumped. He really couldn¡¯t think of the relevancy of these words. He couldn¡¯t help asking, "What sort of meanings are contained in those words?"


    "The gym master had said a few things while teaching breathing techniques in previous sessions. I¡¯ll give you the rundown."


    Then Xue Lei spoke with a swaying and bobbing head, "The human body possesses the breathing of life. Heaven and earth also possess the breathing of life. We, as people, are insignificant. We are short-sighted. We can only see what is in front of us. We concentrate only on our own inhtion and exhtion. The breathing of heaven and earth can only be found in the middle of the long hazy river of time.


    "We are unable to see the passage of time. It is difficult for us to harmonize our breathing with the breathing of heaven and earth, but we can be sailors. With our bodies as boats, we can sail on the billowing waves of the river of time. Through fine work, we can capture the dribs and drabs of the directions of the winds and the power of the waters. Ultimately, the breath of heaven and earth can be used to aid the breath of a single person. The true meaning of cultivation is when the speed of the boat prevails over the speed of the waters, regardless of the flow and the waves."


    "Of this, the directions of the winds and the power of the waters are opportunities. The umtion of many sands make a tower. The amassing of trees make a forest. Gathering several small forces make arge force. One by one they answer upon the body and soul. Powerful capabilities. The transformation of vital energy.... Do you understand?"


    Xue Lei wasn¡¯t quite certain of Luo Nan¡¯sprehension near the end.


    Luo Nan grunted. He knew that Xue Lei wanted to let him know a few things. These things were probably focus, perseverance, and so on, but the concrete details weren¡¯t clear to him.


    Xue Lei smiled. "I didn¡¯t understand when I first heard these words. Then the gym master exined them to me. We¡¯re all steering boats, traveling the river of time. It is hard for us to avoid being surrounded by perils. In ancient times, the boatmen of rivers had to spend a great deal of energy to avoid being wrecked when encountering dangerous rapids and torrents. They spent a great deal of mental energy exploiting the nature of water. This was essential.


    "Training and cultivation may look like it involves only the tempering of one¡¯s strength, but in fact, it demands the forging of one¡¯s willpower. The mind is what suffers, and regardless of whether it¡¯s normal training or facing a foe in battle, the mindes before energy, and energyes before strength. This concerns the importance of consumption and loss. It is logical for them to go down in this descending order."


    Luo Nan looked at Xue Lei. He was finally able to confirm something this time.


    In this bicycle ride, didn¡¯t his physical energy consumption far exceed his mental energy consumption? The bodily functions of his entire body had reached their limits, but his mind was still very lively. From Xue Lei¡¯s perspective, was his mental concentrationcking?


    Was Xue Lei criticizing him?


    This was the most tactful Xue Lei could be with his honest nature. Then, the weary feeling through Luo Nan¡¯s body became a bit prickly. Even his panting breaths became hot.


    Xue Lei was concerned that he spoke too far. He subconsciously waved his hand, but he himself was a bit nervous. "Nanster, actually I...."


    "How should the mind be used for it to be focused? What would be sensible?" asked Luo Nan seriously. He wasn¡¯t going to let Xue Lei just say nonsense.


    Luo Nan wouldn¡¯t be mad at his friend for something as little as this; he just really didn¡¯t understand. It was reasonable to say that he had learned and practiced with extrememitment fromst night until now. He didn¡¯t let his mind wander, nor did he goof off at all.


    Xue Lei let out a breath of relief when he saw that Luo Nan was behaving quite well. He rushed to exin, "Nanster, you really have been diligent, but you¡¯re not quite familiar with the ways within. Your diligence is crude. You need to know that walking, sitting, and lying down are all forms of cultivation. Every single movement must be made diligently and must be made with intent. You¡¯re cultivating in the eyes orifice. The eyes are the light of the mind. The eyes must follow the heart. Every single movement of the hands and feet must correspond with your sight..."


    Luo Nan looked at his hands and feet. Heughed bitterly, "But I¡¯m cycling, man."


    "Everything flourishes, then reverts to their roots. The movements of the hands and feet can all be seen from the dantian, two inches below the navel. These are just small tricks. What is truly hard is to look at yourself, look at your person, without losing a strand, without missing a drop. Look from the outside to in. Return to the roots, and return to destiny. Only then can you know what it means for the heartntern to shine; what it means for strength to be near-unattainable. Only then can you know where to apply your diligence, and only then can you know true pain and suffering....¡± Xue Lei coughed. ¡°The gym master forbade me from saying these things until we got to this spot."


    Thest few words underpinned the whole exnation.


    Luo Nan was dazed for a moment. His gaze moved away from Xue Lei¡¯s body, and he first looked at his clothes that were nearly drenched clear with sweat. He then raised his head and looked at the pedestriansing and going on the road.


    Most of the pedestrians were students at this ce, but they were of all kinds of figures and colors. There were many, and they were jumbled together. Luo Nan¡¯s mental irvoyance gave an approximate calction of seven to eight hundred people on this road. This skill of his was rare even in an Awakened. A normal person was far inferior to him.


    But if he were to go down in detail, look at the movements of their hands and feet, and observe the changing bodies without missing a single wisp.... Focusing on the five or six peopleing and going around him was enough to exhaust him both mentally and physically, let alone the entire street.


    Of course, there was himself as well.... The requirement was precision and detail. Did he really have to take every flesh, nerve, reaction, and change of his entire body and incorporate them into his cognitive process?


    Was this attainable by a human?


    Was this the only way for it to count as cultivation?


    Luo Nan had a foot down from his bike. He stood there, lost in the stream of people. Within his contemtion, he gained a whole new understanding of what Xiu Shenyu meant when he said, "Prepare for some pain and suffering."

 Chapter 147: Dragon Spits A Pearl (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 147: Dragon Spits A Pearl (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan sat on some stone steps with a loose-leaf notebook resting on his knee, ced in afortable angle. Behind him was a ssical-style auditorium that blocked half of the sun. The warm rays of the sun and the chilly shadow of the building were ced side by side.


    He sat right at the border where light and shadow crossed, and he faced aplicated ambient lighting. His half-squinting eyes were focused on the tip of his pen. They moved together in strokes along the paper¡¯s surface to create neat characters one after another.


    "The breathing of life of heaven and earth is the format of heaven and earth. The breathing of life of the human body is the format of the self. To disy effects of the infinitesimal Self-Format with the vast and hazy Heaven and Earth Format requires not only a great match in strength, but a look into the details. Before, I did things too crudely, too stupidly...."


    He lifted his head upon writing to this point. His gaze cut across the flow of people outside therge auditorium. It was now time for school society activities. The number one area with the greatest congregation of students was near therge auditorium, near the Nanan River Bank. The ages of the people spanned several years. From tall to short, from big to small, from beautiful to ugly, from male to female, all sorts of people came and went, forming a motion picture.


    Ten days ago, Luo Nan would have sketched out a drawing with his observations. He would capture a few interesting people of the here and the now in drawings with typical characteristics.


    Three days ago, Luo Nan would have striven tomit everybody who fell in his vision to memory. He would have memorized their facial features, their movements, their clothes, their rtionships with each other, and so on. He would have ssified them with great detail and precision.


    Luo Nan was currently sitting on the steps of therge auditorium. He swept his gaze around and selected ten people out of the several hundred people below him. These ten were at different locations. Some were male. Some were female. They were not necessarily in the same grades or societies. However, in the following half-minute, these same ten people brushed past Luo Nan¡¯s side as they climbed up the steps of the auditorium.


    These ten people passed the closest to Luo Nanpared to other people. They came in the order he predicted, and he made not a single mistake until thest two. He made an error for the first time because one of them answered a call.


    "Not bad.... Eighty percent."


    No one else could see it, but Luo Nan was absolutely clear. Every time a person approached him starting from a distance of two meters away, the muscles of his body would tense and rx, and his pores would open and close. He was instantly alert to ensure that he could jump up and react in a single breath every time a person came near him. Although his vignce and preparation to react at a moment¡¯s notice was covert, it used up quite a deal of energy. A thinyer of sweat appeared upon his body by the time these ten people passed him, and his breathing became a bit uneven.


    It consumed a lot of physical energy, but it consumed even more mental energy. This 80% sess rate wasn¡¯t due to luck; it was from observing several hundred people¡¯s bodynguage, direction of pace, and location and distance. Luo Nan began from thergest to the smallest, from the outside to the inside, to make his judgments.


    This was none other than what Gym Master Xiu meant when he said, "With the self as the master, observe one¡¯s self and observe others through illumination." Luo Nan wasn¡¯t a video recorder. He wasn¡¯t an inanimate object. He was a living person. Every sight captured by his eyes had to correspond to his own body. He had to rify the key information, and discern this information into different levels of priority. This included prediction, preparation, and reaction.


    Therefore, cultivating the eyes orifice was never just about cultivating the eyes. It was using the eye cavity as a guide to meld mental and physical energy, vital energy, and the body into a single furnace. This was a systematic undertaking. This was a marvelous cultivation method involving a single point levering and moving the entire body.


    Luo Nan spent nearly a week¡¯s worth of time before he could understand it. Then, he used three more days to consolidate his foundation. It could be said that he finally started after the tenth day.


    Luo Nan thought about his cultivation progress and couldn¡¯t bear to go back in time. Luo Nan was required to maintain high levels of sharpness. It was totally impermissible for him to get distracted or be lost in thought.


    In the beginning, he couldn¡¯t determine the priority levels of information in an urate manner. Aside from that, he felt that he wasn¡¯t using his eyes meticulously enough. He hated that he couldn¡¯t engrave everything within his vision into his mind. It seemed that he wouldn¡¯t be able to reach Gym Master Xiu¡¯s standard of a ¡¯bitter cultivation¡¯ if he didn¡¯t do this. At all times, he had topletely concentrate and torment his mind until both his strength of vision and mental capacity were squeezed clean.


    Luo Nan¡¯s eyeballs felt achy and swollen just recollecting. His reflex was about to make him shed tears, but perhaps he should simply close his eyes, lie down, and take a nap. Napping was one of the greatest pleasures in the world, after all.


    Bai Xinyan saw Luo Nan like this and practically canceled all of the Frost River Waterway exercises. ording to her, Xiu Shenyu¡¯s torture was much more effective in exhausting Luo Nan¡¯s soul strength than anything else. He was simply like antern burning through thest bit of oil. Luo Nan might not even make it by the time Doctor y, whose schedule was constantly dyed, gets over to Xia City. Luo Nan might even breathe hisst.


    Luo Nan knew that he was walking a skewed path, but Gym Master Xiu spoke as softly as a feather, "Bnce is what¡¯s desired. First know the bounds and ends. Then increase or decrease the scale." It was fine for a beginner to be fearless of excessiveness for a time.


    All right. Luo Nan will remember to increase or decrease the scale for a lifetime.


    Luo Nan flipped through his notebook until he reached the page with the flexible e-ink screen. He opened up a spreadsheet and entered the training results from this instance. Then, he went to his diary page and wrote,


    "October 25th. Thousand people training has beenpleted. Total sess rate is 72.2%. Dividing the training into sections, the middle section has a sess rate of 55.6% and the end section has a sess rate of 19%...."


    Luo Nan finished doing some basic data analysis and closed his notebook. The surrounding pedestrians gave him strange looks, but Luo Nan ignored them. He took out a medicine bottle and applied some eye drops to his eyes. After that, he massaged his face.


    A slight chill soaked into his eye sockets, and instantly some steam rose through the air. The medicine, which had a moistening function, had permeated inside to fuse with Luo Nan¡¯s vital energy.


    The liquid medicine was the product of a secret recipe given to him by Gym Master Xiu. Octopus Bro concocted it for him, and it could alleviate the fatigue of the eyes. In any case, it was quite stupid of him to overexert his eyes.


    A person¡¯s eyes wereplicated and refined structures, but in the anatomical sense, one would not be able to find the existence of the eyes orifice no matter where one looked in the eyes.


    The so-called eyes orifice were the eyes and their corresponding functions. This orifice interferes mutually with the mental ne to form a special structure. It was between what is real and what is imaginary. Only through this orifice could one attain the result of linking the inside with the outside and shine with spiritual radiance.


    It was nearly impossible for a normal person to possess the eyes orifice. Only those who possessed a certain cultivation path, and those who could interfere with the mental and the material nes, could slowly build it. Ity on the same vein as the Shield of Truth.


    Luo Nan had experienced the Shield of Truth, but it existed only as a temporary construction. The eyes orifice he was building today was like a permanent facility inparison.


    Luo Nan could somewhat feel it already.


    Luo Nan closed his eyes. He could feel a deep pressure acting upon them. The pressure came from the Format Pyramid. It was his power on the mental ne. It was a side-effect against his fleshly body, which was on the material ne.


    Other people started with nothing and grew from there when they cultivated. Only Luo Nan was substituting the fake for the real. He was taking the power imprisoned by the format, ¡®My heart¡¯s a prison¡¯, and was shifting it to a ne where he could control it.


    These days of exploration and experimentation had passed, and Luo Nan felt that ¡¯imprisonment¡¯ wasn¡¯t apletely urate description of his situation. It could be said that his soul strength had entered a processing assembly line, because it had to finish a sequence of processes and be turned into a fixed and finished product before it could be taken off the line.


    This was why his range of application was so greatly limited.... Chains could be used to bind people, but it was hard to use them for embroidery.


    If Luo Nan wanted to take the ¡¯raw materials¡¯ that was his soul strength out of there, he would need to break through the barrier that was ¡¯My heart¡¯s a prison¡¯. That was why not even an iota of efficiency remained when he tried to use his soul strength outside the range of ¡¯My heart¡¯s a prison¡¯s¡¯ applications. It was not efficient at all.


    It was because of this that he had such horrible results when he tried to do the soul strength activation exercises in the Simtoryer of the Psychic Wave Network.


    But now he was progressing in his cultivation of the eyes orifice. He could take out his soul strength, and it was manageable even if it was intermittent. This sort of technique was like grinding with water, and the material ne constantly conformed to him. It was like when dripping water would eventually cut through stone. Even if everyday he could only siphon out a drop, it will still leave a mark when it smashed down. After days and days of this, a sunken pit could be formed and water could be umted to develop further step by step.


    What¡¯s more was the fact that Luo Nan¡¯s situation wasn¡¯t as horrible as this.


    Luo Nan had just half-built the eyes orifice, and he was like a pond storing water. His soul strength trickled in. All Luo Nan had to do was carefully conserve it, prevent it from evaporating or leaking. After a while, it could turn into a deep pond, ake, and then, an ocean.


    At this step, Luo Nan didn¡¯t need Gym Master Xiu to remind him the importance of storing his soul strength. Every day he used seventy percent to temper his eyes orifice and build its structure. Thirty percent was set aside and stored.


    When he closed his eyes, his eyes were truly like ball bearings. They spun in his eye sockets, and they seemed cold yet not cold. Hot yet not hot. Warm and chilly. Their wonders were hard to describe.


    A mass of light appearedter on. It illuminated the interior of Luo Nan¡¯s skull, and was hazy at first, akin to a candle me on the verge of being extinguished. But Luo Nan was working hard every day, and with every day of training, some of the haziness faded away. There was progress.


    There was a name for this: "The sole heartntern illuminates the nineherworlds.¡± Gym Master Xiu said that the eyes orifice was considered a small sess when the heartntern probes down and lights the inner organs brightly.


    So far, Luo Nan had already built the tform for the eyes orifice. He had an outline. It was no longer a mirage. It was no longer the ravings of a lunatic.


    Because of this, Luo Nan was no longer fond of having his eyes open. Especially when he was alone, he would rx his eyelids and allow his eyeballs to be moist with both warmth and coolness. The glimmer that was the illuminatingntern of his heart felt excellent.


    He sat there with his eyes closed, yet not closed. He couldn¡¯t see anyone, and he didn¡¯t deliberately use his mental senses. Every time a pedestrian passed by him, faintly discernible traces were left upon his body. They were all revealed by the illumination of the heartntern spreading ahead and extending behind.


    The light weaved and crossed, causing Luo Nan to feel like a spider at times. He had this wonderful method of knitting an incorporeal. Every living being stirred his senses when they passed through his territory, and he responded ordingly.


    Inparison, the range of Luo Nan¡¯s irvoyance on the mental ne wasrger and was on a more profound level, but it didn¡¯t possess a mechanism that allowed him to purely and directly react.


    "...Huh?"


    Luo Nan suddenly shifted his shoulder, but he was a step toote. Xue Lei had walked up behind him and pressed down with a hand. The sensations of the spider web were instantly shattered.... The insect was too big.


    "Eh? Are you using your mental senses?"


    "Nope." Luo Nan failed to react in time to Xue Lei¡¯s approach. He was a bit depressed, so he responded to Xue Lei in an unhappy tone.


    "Then you saw meing up to you from behind? The heartntern of the eyes orifice. Observe the self and observe others through its illumination. It¡¯s only been a few days! A beginner needs to meld the mind and thaw the flesh and blood. They typically need a hundred days to build their foundation and tap through to this meridian point.... It took me two months back then!"


    Even Xue Lei was a bit envious as he saw Luo Nan¡¯s rate of progress.


    "It¡¯s not finished yet, plus I already have a foundation...."


    "Hehe. The gym master said early on that although you have a deep foundation, most of it is assimted into your external technique, Formatting Theory. Your body is weak as well. Logically speaking, it is easy to say that you have it harder than normal people. Today¡¯s the 25th. It¡¯s just been ten days and there are signs already! You¡¯re a genius!"


    "You¡¯re exaggerating. At most I can borrow a bit of power."


    Luo Nan had a clear awareness of himself that others found hard to understand. It was quite a coincidence, urring in this moment. A chain of lightning suddenly cut through the sea of his mind. It shed and disappeared, but it stirred his thoughts. His heartntern flickered and lost its stability and smoothness, but it zed all the brighter.


    He frowned. It leaked again.


    The grounds of theke-sea had overflowed a bit. His tiny little pond couldn¡¯t store it all.


    Before he could finish his thoughts, a loud voice called out from the lower steps, "Nanster, Leister! I¡¯m here!"


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t need to look to know that it was Xie Junping. He hade to pick them up. Luo Nan dispelled his thoughts for now, stood up, walked down the flight of steps shoulder to shoulder with Xue Lei, and got into the cart.


    The electric cart went around the stream of people and sped away.

 Chapter 147: Dragon Spits A Pearl (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 147: Dragon Spits A Pearl (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    The electric cart sped around campus.


    During this time of day in Acumen College, most students were still racking their heads or pushing their bodies over school society activities. They fought fearfully for those eight school credits a year, so the few students on the electric cart attracted the hate of the others.


    What a pity. None of the people sitting in the cart were aware of the other students¡¯ feelings. In a sense, they were a group truly isted from the school.


    Xue Lei sat up front next to Xie Junping. They talked about the party they were going to, and thispletely unfamiliar social circle made Xue Lei a bit curious and nervous. Xie Junping joked around as he said half-true half-false words and teased Xue Lei.


    Luo Nan sat in the back. At first he listened in to Xie Junping and Xue Lei¡¯s conversation, butter his thoughts sunk into the heartntern of his eyes orifice. He observed the flickering me and the surrounding changes down to the finest detail.


    The heartntern of the eyes orifice illuminated an area in the brain. The results of this cultivation practice was profound and mysterious, but it wasn¡¯t the first ¡¯guest¡¯ that Luo Nan housed in his skull. There was another object that orbited around the heartntern.


    The external neuron.


    This dynamo core was like a dragon serpent wandering in his brain. It spiraled around thentern, appearing within and disappearing out of sight. It red with lightning as it drew near like it was baring its fangs and brandishing its ws. It crossed the me-light of the heartntern, shifting suddenly between eating its light in and spitting it back out. It seemed that it could swallow the whole thing in a single bite, and it was quite frightening to witness.


    It was hard for his heartntern to remain lit for long in this situation, let alone exist. The sight of it wasn¡¯t the only thing that was terrifying. The first time the external neuron got near the heartntern, the energies of the two reacted to each other. The luminescence of lightning radiating from the external neuron simply put out the me of the heartntern, destroying several days of bitter effort in an instant.


    Luo Nan had simr cases ur over seven times in a row. He was tormented so much that he began to question life.


    But then the lightning cut into the heartntern during Luo Nan¡¯s eighth moment of near-despair. It aided the burning of thentern with its powerful force, and the radiance illuminated all. This instance caused the quantity to grow by ten times of what he had umted with great difficulty.


    After this event, the external neuron would always arrive to bombard the heartntern with its lightning at the end of each of Luo Nan¡¯s sessions of cultivating the eyes orifice. Luo Nan would train to observe a thousand people as targets for a day in batches of one hundred people. He cultivated ten times a day, so the lightning dragon appeared ten times as well.


    The external neuron was not able to extinguish the heartntern since then, but sometimes, the tyrannical lightning would disturb and harm the luminescence and stability of the heartntern. If Luo Nan hadn¡¯t strengthened his heartntern several times, his progress would have likely be unsightly.


    Luo Nan¡¯s emotions felt ratherplicated toward Xue Lei¡¯s admirations because of this. Don¡¯t be happy looking at my progress. The results can only be looked at after each and every cultivation session. Each time there was a chance for my progress to copsepletely!


    The few days at the daoguan allowed Luo Nan to understand what it meant to walk into mes of madness. The times when his heartntern was extinguished happened early on. The me¡¯s intensity wasn¡¯t strong, so the whish was weak and only two extra days of effort were wasted. But if his heartntern were to be extinguished now, his eye structure and his mental willpower would get damaged. Dreadfully, it might take half a year of special attending to for recovery.


    His situation was tantamount to having an unstable ticking time bomb hidden in his brain. And he was the person who had ced this bomb inside....


    Luo Nan opened his notebook after a moment of pondering. He wrote with hooded eyes. "The acrobatics of the dragon spitting pearls is getting more and more fluent. I feel like I¡¯m ying with fire."


    He thought for a bit and added a ¡¯lightning¡¯ behind the ¡¯fire¡¯. Then, he added the word ¡¯ice¡¯, and he was done.


    He subconsciously sighed after writing these words. The analogy of a bomb wasn¡¯t a good analogy. An iceberg is more apt.... It just blocked the space, hiding beneath the surface of the water, waiting for someone to crash into it.


    From these few days of cultivating in the eyes orifice, Luo Nan felt that the greatest gain he made was, one, in understanding truly what sort of ¡¯precision¡¯ was required for cultivating, and two, using this precision to re-examine his process of implementing Formatting Theory and see whether he had made some mistakes or went on the wrong path.


    The answer was naturally a resounding yes.


    Disregarding whether or not there were ws in Formatting Theory, Luo Nan had too many instances of knowing-but-not-really-knowing-why when he cultivated in Formatting Theory. He possessed zealous faith in his grandfather¡¯s theory and walked down this path with his heart set on it. Many small links in his path were determined on their own and by their own power, so Xiu Shenyu considered Formatting Theory to be an external power; a power that Luo Nan was trapped and caged by.


    And now, Luo Nan was facing a situation with the heartntern of the eyes orifice. He had spelled a big death upon himself.


    The Hollow Depository function of the external neuron was first possible thanks to Elder Mo Lun of the Bloodme Order. That was when Luo Nan¡¯s soul strength just exploded in growth, exacerbating the imbnce of his body and soul. Luo Nan didn¡¯t know how to handle it. Luckily, the Wraith Sign had taken the ce of the Bloodme Order¡¯s Human-Faced Arachnid and was lying undercover by Mo Lun¡¯s side. The Wraith Sign acted as Luo Nan¡¯s eyes and ears, and through it Luo Nan observed Mo Lun¡¯s techniques on soul attaching and soul sending. Luo Nan took what he learned and created distance between his body and soul. This made it so that his soul and flesh were seemingly merged but not, and it lessened the pressure toward his fleshly body. This method was truly effective, but it had many side effects. Luo Nan was more susceptible to dreaming, being dazed, and being absent-minded.


    Luo Nanter discovered that the external neuron possessed the Hollow Depository function. He sent his soul atop of it, and it was like entering an empty world; there was no background psychic noise interference there. Then the Wraith Sign went hunting, and that created a mess of things. Luo Nan reliedpletely on the external neuron to act as a buffer against the pressure from the rise of his soul strength and to ensure his life.


    Since then, Luo Nan continued sending his soul to the external neuron to relieve the pressure to his fleshly body. He gradually became used to the action.


    So, to be exact, a long time had passed with Luo Nan¡¯s fleshly body and spiritual soul notpletely fused. Most of his soul was entrusted upon the external neuron, and though this mysterious object was hidden in his brain, it was not his flesh, blood, or organ. They were ayer apart from one another.


    Xiu Shenyu said that his fleshly body was being rejected by the external technique Formatting Theory. The reality of the situation was that there existed a separation and sh between his soul side, which was using the external neuron as a medium, and his fleshly body, which was a natural existence.


    This was where the crux of the problemy... at least in an understandable way.


    And this was where Luo Nan found himself in a tight bind.


    Luo Nan could control the external neuron and cause it to move to various parts of his brain; he could even chase it out if he wanted. But his weak fleshly body was far from being able to sustain his soul body with its heavy pressure, and his soul was inseparable from the Hollow Depository function.


    Plus, eventually he needed to transfer his soul strength out of the ¡¯My heart¡¯s a prison¡¯ format for further refinement. This naturally caused a connection to form with the eyes orifice. The eyes orifice became lively and smooth every time he finished a session of tempering this meridian. His body and soul were linked during this time, and what urred mimicked the mutual attraction between positive and negative charges within rainclouds. The lightning of the external neuron bombarded the heartntern. This circumstance was inevitable.


    So every time Luo Nan finished cultivating, he faced a dangerous trial of walking into the mes of madness. He had failed the first seven times, but he endured the following dozen. He even reaped some gains; it seemed that his cultivation path was feasible.


    However, what cultivation required was meticulousness, concentration, and consistency. The worst he had to fear were fluctuations and turmoil. Even if Luo Nan were to reap gains ten more times over, he would still bepletely devastated by a single failure.


    "The problem is quite life-threatening. What¡¯s more life-threatening is the fact that no one is capable of helping...."


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t open his eyes. He just used his fingertips to streak across the paper edges of the notebook. He flipped the pages of the notebook back and forth.... It acted as a core, but it was a secret that could be easily stripped from him. The existence of the external neuron was something he couldn¡¯t tell a soul about. This made it so that Luo Nan could only rely on himself, and he pondered over ns bit by bit.


    Six days had passed since the heartntern was first lit. He had faced and retaliated against the lightning attacks sixty times.


    Luo Nan couldn¡¯t think of anything else at first. Beside making every effort to strengthen the structure of the eyes orifice, it might be better to slow down his progress to allow his heartntern¡¯s foundation to stabilize. He even referred to Fairchild¡¯s Shield of Truth configuration. Based on his half-formed eyes orifice and the mechanism behind the fusion of body and soul, Luo Nan spent a great deal of mental effort in fine-tuning the microstructure of his eyes. This had no benefits besides increasing their sturdiness.


    This was a stupid way of doing things, but the results were not that bad, especially the experiences he repeatedly had a dozen times near the end. It was like the steel manufacturing technique of ancient times where metal goes through repeated forgings and hammerings. It made the structure of Luo Nan¡¯s eyes orifice stronger and tougher, and the lit heartntern exuded a sense of smoothness, pureness, and thickness. It was only in this way that the heartntern was able to withstand fifty-three attacks of lightning ande out undefeated.


    But deep worries still remained in Luo Nan¡¯s heart.


    Luo Nan¡¯s worries grew graver and graver the more he pondered deeper and deeper into the phenomenon of lightning striking his heartntern.


    "Nanster, a penny for your thoughts?"


    Xie Junping had deliberately raised his voice, and Luo Nan finally heard him. Luo Nan looked forward with half-lidded eyes and a bit of surprise. "What¡¯s up?"


    Xue Lei reproached Xie Junping at the same time. "Don¡¯t disturb him. He might be training."


    Xie Junpingughed. "It¡¯s quite shaky in the car. How can anyone train? Aren¡¯t you scared of walking into the mes of madness?"


    Luo Nan was speechless, having been stabbed in the face with the proverbial knife.


    Xie Junping stopped looking at the road, turning his head over tough. "When other people train, they get more lively the more they train. Like Leister. But look at you! You¡¯ve had your eyes and brows hanging down these past few days. It doesn¡¯t seem like you¡¯re awake! With this sort of training method, not a single pretty girl will put up with you, man!"


    Luo Nan leaned back in his seat. He tried to rx his body, but his eyes still squinted. "Yesterday you said we¡¯re just meeting up with some of your friends. To better handle the matter with Gear."


    "Of course, of course, that¡¯s what I said." Xie Junping donned a face of innocence. "But didn¡¯t I tell you? In the Mystic Arts Research Society, Vice-President Tang Yi is most likely going to be top dog there now that Sissy Du resigned and ran away. Tang Yi is also known as the Blood Peony. She got her nickname from the power of her looks. If you¡¯re not a handsome dude who¡¯s at least an eight out of ten, you¡¯re not allowed toe near her. Even then, most whoe near get trampled to the ground.... Right now you¡¯re relying on your young face; there¡¯s barely enough delicateness and cuteness mixed inside, but it¡¯s there. If you don¡¯t liven up, the road ahead will be treacherous!"


    Luo Nan let out a long sigh and simply closed his eyespletely. He didn¡¯t want to talk. But then, the burning heartntern in his brain lost the smoothness in its luminous me. Clearly, the strengthening from thest lightning strike, which was the sixtieth, had stuffed the heartntern too full.


    Pressure was inevitably formed toward the iplete structure of the eyes orifice.... Resolving this situation took priority.


    Luo Nan was ustomed to this as well. He didn¡¯t open his eyes, but his fingertips moved to flip the pages of the notebook. He flipped near the end and found a smooth piece of paper wedged between the pages. The paper was flimsy and a bit rough, but it had considerable value. This was a paper talisman that Mr. Gao personally made for Luo Nan, and it was quite an extravagance to be used for practicing.


    Luo Nan rubbed the paper against his hand as he recalled the techniques taught to him by Papercut. Luo Nan¡¯s fingertips moved as he made a simple fold on the paper talisman and grasped it in his palm.


    His eyes saw nothing. There was only the concentration of his heartntern.


    The me-light suddenly red then darkened within the shrine that was his brain. In this instant, it was as if an incorporeal me burned the hand that grasped the paper talisman. The sensation of a hot pain stabbed into Luo Nan, causing him to spread his fingers open by instinct, and seemingly some ashes came flowing out between his fingers.


    After that came a feeling of impact that was very real. Luo Nan¡¯s five fingers came together again, and only then did Luo Nan open his eyes to look.


    There was no paper talisman this time. All Luo Nan saw was aplete four-limbed entity, a paper man with blurry features. It was the size of his palm, and it had bumped into his thumb to lie paralyzed within his hand. The open electric cart allowed a cool breeze toe in, causing the paper man to shake its hands and feet. It had no reactions other than this.

 Chapter 148: New Financial Backer (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 148: New Financial Backer (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    "My luck¡¯s decent."


    Luo Nan looked over the paper man a few times, then he flipped to the back of his notebook and wedged the paper man between a couple of nk pages.


    Luo Nan had flipped past three simr cases in his notebook. With the addition of this one, there was now a total of four paper men hidden within the notebook. Some were a bit bigger. Some were a bit smaller. But they were all of the same material.


    These paper men were made when Luo Nan¡¯s eye orifice overflowed. Luo Nan diverted the pressure to them to prevent an overload. Lightning had bombarded the heartntern sixty times. Subtracting the first seven times when thentern was extinguished, and considering the damage, Luo Nan had to divert the pressure a total of twenty-five times to restore basic equilibrium. However, only four paper men werepleted sessfully, leaving a sess rate of only 16%. It was pitifully low.


    Although the result was this bad, Luo Nan still had to record it.


    Luo Nan opened his flexible e-ink screen and recorded the data. Basically, the paper men were Luo Nan¡¯s homework for the week; he was going to turn them in to Papercutter to look over. He felt that these paper men were rather different than the articles he created in the beginning.


    At the very least, the way he ¡¯cut¡¯ them out was quite cool.


    Luo Nan put away his pen and blew away what ash remained sticking to his fingers. He blinked his eyes and felt that his eye sockets were a bit dry. He closed his eyes again to observe himself internally and saw that the luminescence of the heartntern was rather weak. It was weaker than before it had received the strengthening from the external neuron.


    Luo Nan wasn¡¯t surprised by this. He was still a novice when it came to activating his soul strength. He was far from being precise when applying it, and this time he had obviously pushed himself too hard and used too much of it. Luo Nan didn¡¯t rush to recover what he had lost, for doing so would require him to transport his soul strength from the ¡¯My heart¡¯s a prison¡¯ format. One mistake and the external neuron woulde roaring. It truly wasn¡¯t worth it.


    He allowed the vital energy of his body to naturally replenish and nourish. Although this took a long time, the process was stable and could be said to be flexible.


    Sitting in front, Xie Junping was in full spirits since mentioning the Blood Peony, the matter with Gear. "Tang Yi is such a powerful woman. Either we need an even more powerful person to subdue her, or we need to make sure that our meeting goes well.... Nanster, this is a good thing! We know she¡¯s a beauty based on her nickname. Today¡¯s the 25th. The pricepetition for Gear is the Monday after, the 30th. Time is of the essence and the mission is a tough one. We can¡¯t tarry any longer!"


    Luo Nan kicked the seat in front of him to give Xie Junping a warning. Then he switched to a normal topic. "Is there any information on the starting bids for the two sides?"


    "Right now we don¡¯t have anything definite. Only rumors."


    Xie Junping shrugged. "Sissy Du sure has it tough. By breaking the door as he storms from his figurative home, he¡¯s burned quite a few bridges in the smallwork he has in the Mystic Arts Research Society. He just mentioned a little something about the financial backer behind the Mystic Arts Research Society, implying that the financial backer wants to work with the Construction Society."


    "Working with them? That can¡¯t be."


    Luo Nan was rather surprised. Wasn¡¯t the Order of Justice the ones behind the Mystic Arts Research Society? The Rainbow Fund was behind the Construction Society, which was the same as Quantum Corporation. What did it mean for these two organizations to work together?


    "Don¡¯t things change quickly in capitalism? In any case, I heard the main thing is that there is a different main financial backer for the Mystic Arts Research Society in this bidding war. Before, it was a religious organization. Now, it¡¯s a research fund. It¡¯s quite famous. I mean, it¡¯s famous in our circle. The LCRF...."


    "The Life Cycle Research Fund?"


    "Oh, you¡¯ve heard of them before?" Xie Junping was quite surprised. He turned to look at Luo Nan. "I thought you don¡¯t pay attention to such things."


    "I heard of them recently. Two days ago."


    Most of Luo Nan¡¯s energy was focused on the heartntern of the eyes orifice these past ten days. However, Luo Nan still continued with the training courses that the Society had arranged for him. A few of the courses were put on the back burner due to his interference ability issue, except for the practical courses from Crag Burst and Red Fox. He was mostly involved in the Soul Strength Activation Techniques course, and he persisted in learning its theories. Once in a while he would perform experiments and make adjustments. If he didn¡¯t do all of this, the small paper men in his notebook would have never existed.


    Luo Nan reacted with lightning speed when Xie Junping talked about the Life Cycle Research Fund. This was because He Yueyin¡¯s "Ins and Outs of the Psychic Wave Network¡¯s World Order" and Bamboo Pole¡¯s "Notes on the Major Characters of the World" both mentioned this institution.


    On the surface, this organization was established by several of the top rich. The main investment direction was the ssic direction for extending human life expectancy. This was the most important investment fund in the field of biology, and they were major investors of several important biologicalboratories.


    But there should be inseparably close rtionships between the fund, the government, and the military. It was practically an open secret. The fund also should be working with the various powers of the inner world. Many important projects were there, and that included the Frost River Waterway Luo Nan was ever so familiar with.


    It was quite strange!


    Luo Nan leaned back against his seat and stared nkly at the sky. "The Life Fund, Quantum Corporation, and the Order from before.... They¡¯re all interested in Gear. Why?"


    He spoke aloud to himself and wasn¡¯t expecting an answer, so he never thought Xie Junping would catch up to his train of thought in an instant. "Sissy Du said that the structure of Gear is very suitable for performing mystical rituals. The Order Club that used to own Gear is also known as the Ritual Club. The fraternities and sororities of Acumen College oftene here to hold ceremonies and rituals. They even do drugs, party, and the like. It¡¯s said that the effects there are stronger than doing these things on the outside...."


    Xie Junping just spoke without thinking, but when he turned around to look at Luo Nan, he saw that Luo Nan was frowning. Xie Junping instantly shut up, but he couldn¡¯t hold it in for too long.


    "Even I feel a certain something while I¡¯m there. I feel especiallyfortable over there. I think faster, and I be keener and more alert. Plus, sometimes I don¡¯t need to open my eyes, and I can see stuff.... I can see thingspletely! Nanster, what do you think? Am I unlocking some supernatural powers?"


    Luo Nan was dumbfounded and speechless. He didn¡¯t know what to say.


    Xie Junping became spirited. "I didn¡¯t feel it before, but I¡¯ve been dealing with Sissy Du for the past few days. He¡¯s really an interesting fellow. He has a lot of stuff hidden inside him, and the information I got from him was quite random but interesting. Right, are you two free on Sunday? Sissy Du says that there¡¯s some Starry Sky Meet. They regrly hold them every Sunday at the Mystic Arts Saloon. Several people with powers attend them. It¡¯s very interesting. Shall we go check it out?"


    "Uh, I don¡¯t understand a thing about the mystic arts..." Xue Lei responded awkwardly.


    His worldview had broadened as he gained deeper and deeper understandings of the inner world. He was considering joining the Wilderness Explorers Society. How could he go to a ce called the Mystic Arts Saloon? It sounded super sketchy.


    "Nanster?"


    "I¡¯ve already made ns for Sunday. I need to send something off to be repaired." Luo Nan declined Xie Junping¡¯s invitation as well. It was the truth; he really needed to go to the service center.


    Xie Junping was a bit disappointed. "Then forget it. I just wanted you all to get some new perspectives on things....¡± He sighed. ¡°Oh, well."


    Xue Lei turned to look at Luo Nan. The meaning in his eyes was likely, "Does this brother know anything?"


    Luo Nan gave a slight shake of his head. Xie Junping knew that Luo Nan possessed some supernatural powers and rather revered him for it. Xie Junping was also a bit curious, and he constantly prodded Luo Nan with caution, but Luo Nan never took the initiative to talk about himself. After all, there were differences in their circles, and it was hard to exin some things without Xie Junping personally experiencing them. It would just make a mess of his emotions.


    But, on the other hand, Xie Junping was in his Format Pyramid. Xie Junping was one of Luo Nan¡¯s believers. Even though Xie Junping was on the lowest apprentice level, the strict rules of the Format Pyramid weren¡¯t likely influencing him.


    Luo Nan thought of his own sufferings and felt that he should carefully examine this situation when he gets the chance. To make sure his friend wasn¡¯t suffering from any negative impacts.


    It wasn¡¯t a good time right then to theorize about such matters. Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts took a turn and he thought of something else. He faced Xue Lei and asked, "Did you bring it over?"


    The topic was changed far too quickly. Xue Lei was unable to react for a time. "What?"


    "The mechanical device inside the tai chi ball. It needs to be fixed!" Luo Nan was a bit fed up. "I told you two days ago. Bamboo Pole introduced me to an amazing repairer...."


    "Oh, I brought it, I brought it." Xue Lei tapped his skull and reached a hand in his pocket. He rummaged around and grasped nothing. This blockhead could only awkwardlyugh. "I stuffed it in my locker this morning and forgot to take it out. I can get it now if you want?"


    "Forget it. It¡¯s okay to give it to me tomorrow."


    Though Xie Junping didn¡¯t know what those two were talking about, he still nced all around and said, "Aren¡¯t the locker rooms in the South 2 Area? We¡¯re in the South 1 Area. It¡¯s not far. We might as well stop by. It¡¯s better to exchange it now, just in case you forget tomorrow. Your memory hasn¡¯t been good these days."


    "That¡¯s fine."


    Luo Nan and Xue Lei concurred, but Luo Nan paused. Xie Junping mentioned something strange just now. "What did you say about my memory?"


    Xie Junping turned the cart as he shouted, "I said it long ago. The disciples of Gym Master Xiu are skilled and amazing. Bring me there so I can pay respects to him and learn some skills.... You two forgot all about it."


    Luo Nan and Xue Lei nced at each other, having been reproached. They were both a bit embarrassed. It wasn¡¯t that they forgot. The truth was, Xue Lei had mentioned it to Xiu Shenyu, but Xiu Shenyu refused. There was no leeway for discussion. Xiu Shenyu¡¯s straightforward attitude made Luo Nan feel pride to have been epted under his tutge.... Yep, he really did feel that way.


    Why did Gym Master Xiu agree so easily to teach Luo Nan?


    The two ability users stammered responses as the electric cart parked outside the locker rooms. Xue Lei hurriedly got off the cart to get the object.


    Luo Nan and Xie Junping chatted, speaking one minute and being quiet the next. They were unable to go away from the topic of Gear. Halfway through their conversation, Luo Nan subconsciously opened his flexible e-ink screen. He used his status as a member of the Society to retrieve the architectural drawings and other data from the Inte. He looked at the creative design of therge and small gears biting into each other. The building possessed a powerful and rigorous unique beauty.


    Luo Nan really cared about this building.


    Luo Nan could understand if it was just the Rainbow Fund; after all, Yan Yongbo was their leader. That guy certainly wanted to seize back theboratory to wash the usations from his old man whose fame was built on theft.


    However, whether it was the Life Cycle Research Fund or the Order of Justice, they all disyed some interest toward Gear.


    Was it because of the effectiveness of ¡¯mystic rituals¡¯ over there?


    Luo Nan traced up the logical chain. What was his mother¡¯s objective when she designed and built Gear? Was it as the data said? That Gear was her graduation work of pure art? Was it really that simple?


    Luo Nan looked at the image of a free-spirited girl in the data records and went into a daze. He was spellbound.


    Thissted until Xie Junping made a coy snap of his fingers. He raised his voice and said, "Hey, beautiful. This must be a fated encounter. Would you like a ride?"


    Luo Nan raised his head and saw someone walk out from the locker rooms. It wasn¡¯t Xue Lei, but a woman with beauty far above the average, just as Xie Junping said.


    Hmm. She looked familiar.

 Chapter 148: New Financial Backer (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 148: New Financial Backer (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Having heard Xie Junping¡¯s yboy voice, the girl who just walked out raised her head. Her gaze was rather calm. She even revealed a subtle smile.


    "Head Xie, hello."


    Her simple greeting destroyed Xie Junping¡¯s attempt to hit on her.


    By now, Luo Nan had ascertained the identity of this person. "Senior Sister Tian?"


    The girl turned to look at them, and only then did astonishment show on her face. "Junior Nan? Is your health getting better?"


    This calm and collected girl was none other than Tian Si. Half a month ago, a social activity urred with her and Third Brother Mo Qiu of the Mo Family getting together. This was also the reason why Luo Nan and the others had gone to Frost River Reality and experienced that enormous incident....


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t me her or his cousin. He was just a bitmentful. Mo Qiu and Tian Si seemed like they¡¯re getting along quite well, but he didn¡¯t hear much news about them after the incident. It was a few days after Luo Nan was admitted to the hospital that Tian Si dragged her unwilling younger cousin to visit him specifically. Her etiquette wasn¡¯tcking, and Luo Nan had a good impression of her.


    This was quite unfortunate from the perspective of the Mo family members.


    Today, Tian Si wore a slim-fit turtleneck sweater and paired it with a velvet mini skirt. Her clothesplemented her small face well, and they made her petite figure appear long and slender. This made her seem all the more gentle, refined, and beautiful. No wonder Xie Junping was hitting on her.


    In any case, the two both had office positions in the student organizations. They were familiar with forming rtionships, and they far exceeded Luo Nan in this field.


    "You¡¯re the head of a department. I¡¯m the head of a department. What a coincidence."


    Xie Junping still had an expression that was beaming with smiles as he jumped off the cart. He extended his hand and acted like a chauffeur. "I¡¯ve always hoped to drive a cart and spur the horse for Head Tian. Today the heavens have given me this chance.... Don¡¯t decline, I know where you¡¯re going. Cloud City Water Vige, right? Head Tian is attending the party as well. Fate has brought us together! Don¡¯t you think so, Nanster?"


    Nanster had also gotten off the cart. He gave him a re.


    Xie Junping was still a bit scared of him. He instinctively flinched back.


    Tian Si responded with a faint giggle. "I¡¯m just there to pad out the numbers. There¡¯s no need to look at me so highly, Young Master Xie. Right, Junior Nan. I heard Tian Qi say that quite a few people have mentioned you within the Mystic Arts Research Society. Your name is bing more and more famous."


    She maintained a smile from beginning to end, as if she was talking about trivial matters, but there were some subtle meanings hidden within her words.


    Luo Nan and Xie Junping were both startled, but in that moment, Xue Lei just so happened to rush out from the locker rooms. Xue Lei saw the three talking and slowed his pace.


    Tian Si and Xue Lei didn¡¯t meet each other that night at Frost River Reality, but she was able to infer that the three boys hade as a group. She immediately took a step back. "Young Master Xie, Junior Nan, you all go first. I already have ns to go with some other people."


    "That can¡¯t be right?" Xie Junping waspletely in a picking-up-mode. Hepletely forgot Luo Nan¡¯s wordless warning. He actedpletely surprised, like a thunderbolt hade out of the blue. "ns? With ady friend?"


    Tian Si thought for a bit and pursed her lips to a smile. "Yep, ady friend."


    Xie Junping was unable to find a good response, and it was inappropriate of him to nag further. He could only sigh andment in a farewell, and he drove the electric cart off into the distance. As he turned the corner, he nced backward and chuckled mischievously.


    "She¡¯s quite hard to deal with."


    Luo Nan grunted in agreement. A mature and strong soul lived within Tian Si¡¯s petite body. Xie Junping¡¯s foresight was not wrong.


    But this dude couldn¡¯t keep hisposure. He instantly sighed and said, "I¡¯ve been at the school for so many years, and Chen Weican has never been able to gain her hand. I wonder who will be able to this time at the party."


    Luo Nan gave the seat in front of him a light kick. "Concentrate on driving."


    Xue Lei snorted. "Chen Weican...."


    His rtionship with Chen Xiaolin was ruined because of his attitude towards Chen Weican back at the Limestone Water Vige Pub. It was natural for Xue Lei to have apletely bad impression of this vice president of the student council. Xue Lei was particrly affected when their cart sped past Limestone Water Vige Pub. He looked up at the building only to be haunted by memories. His mood turned much worse.


    Luckily, this wasn¡¯t the address of the party.


    Cloud City Water Vige possessed many locations. There were several simr buildings whererge congregations could be held.


    The Pingjiang District was full of buildings that were generally low. The buildingplex that was Cloud City Water Vige was the most prominent among them. It was also the most eye-catching one.


    The main buildingplex was still around fifty kilometers away from Acumen College, but its derivative building areas were already built along campus borders. Business was flourishing, and it attracted countless students and teachers of the school. This was a ce of amusement and consumption; a ce to enjoy oneself. This was why this ce was known as therge activity area of Acumen College.


    In fact, Cloud City Water Vige used simr methods to be situated next to the colleges and universities for their two main locations. Their buildings were in tremendous locations, because they were near the top businesses, universities, and private high schools of Xia City.


    The members of this party all came from the five schools covered by Cloud City Water Vige. A total of five hundred people convened together. This was quite the scale, and the party was a formal one. Before going to the venue, Luo Nan and the others had to dress in ordance to the party¡¯s requirements!


    "Aren¡¯t there enough annoyances? There¡¯s also this damned thing as well?" Luo Nan was shaking as he wore the white gown that was clearly a size toorge. He was in a luxurious suite that Rich Xie had booked. His expression was one of bafflement.


    "Working clothes, man. Those who want to dress as doctors dress as doctors. Those who want to dress as mad scientists dress up as mad scientists. Oh, I even prepared sterile gloves. Do you want to put them on?¡± Xie Junping dangled the gloves before Luo Nan¡¯s eyes. He was grinning from ear to ear.


    Luo Nan swatted his hand away in frustration and asked, "What kind of party is this? So gaudy!"


    "Hey, I sent you the invitation e-mail. You didn¡¯t look?"


    "...."


    Luo Nan was left speechless. He had fully focused on cultivating the eyes orifice for the past few days, and the free time he did have was crammed with the trainings from the Society. He didn¡¯t have the mental energy to attend to other matters. The party was entirely arranged by Xie Junping. The e-mail invitation in his inbox was still unread.


    Xie Junpingughed and said, "Then better start cramming before the battle. The invitation was written very clearly.... If you don¡¯t read it and end up embarrassing yourself, don¡¯t me me."


    Luo Nan rolled his eyes, but he opened the invitation letter using his wristband. Indeed, the letter was written very clearly. The party was a role-ying party. Every participant had to dress up as a social upation. It was preferable for the participant to dress up as an upation rted to their field of study, their specialties, and so on.


    There were thousands of upations in society, but people had to dress up in upations with distinguishing characteristics. This narrowed the options down quite a bit, and there were bound to be repeats.


    The theme of today¡¯s party was ¡¯kinship¡¯. The invitation letter exined that those who yed roles of the same profession would interact with each other. The wording on the interaction was mysterious. It wasn¡¯t quite explicit.


    Luo Nan scratched his head while reading the letter. He had been a homebody for many years. He feared this sort of excitement the most, so he felt ufortable about the whole thing. Plus, what sort of bad taste does Xie Junping have, having him dress as a doctor/mad scientist?


    Xue Lei rxed at this time. He bellowed withughter. "Luckily I looked at the letter a long time ago. I don¡¯t need to make any special preparations."


    He was ying the role of a martial artist. This was truly a disy of his inherent character. He was wearing the clothes of the Divine Yu Gym that he wore every day anyway. There was practically no change. It could be said that he was advertising for the daoguan. Habits were formed through long years and many days. Even if the daoguan wasn¡¯t recruiting new students, he didn¡¯t choose to wear a different set of clothes. He worried the least about the role-ying theme out of all of them.


    As for Xie Junping, he was the ¡¯most normal¡¯. He wore an overly oundish formal suit. His clothes were sewn with ayer of sequins, making him rather eye-catching.


    Luo Nan was both surprised and unconvinced. "Why can you wear a suit?"


    "This is also a role too! What do you think? We¡¯re dressed true to our basic characters! I am the romantic young master, living a life of pleasure!"


    Xie Junping was allughs and giggles as he pushed Luo Nan and Xue Lei out the suite. Together, they left for the venue. Luo Nan was shaking the white gown, feeling awkward no matter what he did. Then a certain someone took out a pair of gloves and dangled them before his eyes.


    "Physician Luo. You really don¡¯t need this?"


    "Call me Doctor Luo."


    Luo Nan snapped back, but he seized the gloves at lightning speed and stuffed them in his pockets. He couldn¡¯t hold back fromughing. It had been quite a while since he was in such a rxed mood.


    They were currently in the Ocean Sky Cloud City Building. This was the fourth building among the six ring distributed secondary buildings. The first three buildings contained ¡¯Water Vige¡¯ in their names. Starting from Ocean Sky Cloud City, the rest of the buildings contained the words ¡¯Cloud City¡¯ in their name. The heights of these buildings went up in ascending order, and so did the prices of their services.


    They walked the path that led to the party¡¯s venue. Xue Lei winced at the luxurious and refined disys the along the road. The instant they entered the main venue, a crisp, cold, and gorgeous deep blue light was sted into their faces. Xue Lei eximed,


    "My god, is this the Crystal Pce?"


    The first impression people got from the main venue was a field of rippling water. A huge amount of ocean water was sealed by translucent crystal walls. Under the illumination of light, the realism of the ocean was unveiled in an ideal and near-perfect manner.


    Actually, if only this sight was considered, any modern ocean parks would showcase something simr. The world of the ocean¡¯s floor could even be seen. This wasn¡¯t that rare. But all one needed was to think and he would realize that this scene was located in an eight hundred meter tall skyscraper. There was ocean water from top to bottom. The entire thing was linked and was stored between walls. The ocean water flowed within the pir....


    Tons and tons of ocean water was disyed in this willful and structured way. Of course, there swimmed also millions of marine life, from the tiny scallops to the enormous blue whales, all living inside. Altogether, they formed aplete yet twisted food chain.


    The participants of the party mingled around the main ocean disy. They were atop the circr viewing tform. Several hundred people was a sizable number, but they were negligible whenpared to the enormous crystal pir that was one hundred twenty meters in diameter and as high as the building itself.


    To be able to erect this water tank in this broken world, and to inject it full of water and maintain the highest level of safety and protection.... It could only be said that the sess of this project was a top contender for being one of the greatest achievements in applied physics.


    The Cloud City Water Vige buildingplex was onlypleted in its entirety four years ago. Ocean Sky Cloud City was thest building to be made, taking longer than the main building by about a year. One could see just how difficult it was to construct.


    Luo Nan hade here twice before with his aunt¡¯s family. This wasn¡¯t the first time he saw this scene, so the emotions that were stirred within him were a bit weak. However, he could never tire of the beautiful scene of the ocean life inside.


    The three of them didn¡¯t utter a word for a while. The silencested until someone called out to them.


    "Brother Ping. You didn¡¯te early." Hu Huaying, who was in charge of advanced arrangements, got here way earlier. He seemed toe out of nowhere.


    Today¡¯s party was a show of friendship jointly arranged by the student councils of five different schools. The schools were only slotted for a hundred guests each. It was a rtively high-end party.


    Xie Junping was a member of the student council. He was naturally qualified to attend. On the other hand, it was quite hard to get slots for Luo Nan and Xue Lei. In the end, Hu Huaying yielded his invitation for a plus one. Four dudes came together to a party where the mainstream trend showed that men came paired with women. It was unavoidable for them to be a bit conspicuous.

 Chapter 149: Strangeness in the Ocean (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 149: Strangeness in the Ocean (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Compared to Xie Junping, whopletely did not expend effort into role-ying with sincerity, Hu Huaying at least put on a performance. He wore western cowboy clothes and a cowboy hat that sat tilted on his head. Under careful examination, the hat was made out of paper. It was both funny and casual.


    Hu Huaying saw how everyone focused their gazes atop his head, and he shook his head rather proudly. "Quite decent, right?"


    Luo Nan¡¯s hate had yet to fade away. He sneered. "It¡¯s way better than some moneyboy."


    There were only so many people who were dressed up. One look and anyone could tell who was the moneyboy.


    Xie Junping gaped with his mouth, but no words came out. He could only spread his hands in helplessness. Hu Huaying held back fromughing as he slightly tipped the brim of his hat and bowed in thanks.


    The ascertained Mr. Moneyboy spoke unhappily, "Let¡¯s not talk about trivial matters. Have you confirmed it Hu Huaying?"


    Hu Huaying responded, "The Blood Peony will attend for sure."


    "What upation is she dressing up as?"


    "Who knows? Just look at her height and we can find her. A tall, beautiful girl of one hundred eighty-five centimeters. She stands out like a crane in a flock of chicken."


    As the two officers of the student council discussed the details, Xue Lei turned to ask someone more trustworthy. "Nanster?"


    Luo Nan shook his head slightly. He faced the crystal pir in the center and became a bit spellbound.


    When it came to finding people, Luo Nan was an expert among experts. He had scanned three floors above and below with a slight release of his mental senses. However, he didn¡¯t find anybody who fit Hu Huaying¡¯s description.


    Instead, he felt a clear sense of stagnation when his soul strength cut through the crystal pir. He tried seven different frequencies before he was able to find a precise way to send his psychic waves into the sealed up ocean water.


    He found nothing strange besides the fact he had to change frequencies.


    Luo Nan first cursed at himself for being stupid. It was impossible for the Blood Peony to hide in the ocean water, in any event. Why did he do something so meaningless?


    But his thoughts continued to churn, and he suddenly realized something. This crystal wall could iste a good portion of psychic wave transmission. The material... no, traces of mutual interference between mental and material nes existed upon it. It was like the crystal wall had been ¡¯blessed¡¯!


    Blessed?


    Luo Nan looked up. He was unable to see all the way to the top edge of the crystal pir. Then he looked down. He was unable to see the bottom. A blessing was performed on this much volume?


    His chain of logic was shattered just like this.


    Xie Junping grumbled to himself to the side. "She¡¯s probably not even here yet. Let¡¯s wait some more. We can¡¯t be too obvious about it. We have to make it seem natural. She¡¯s a hard person to deal with."


    Hu Huaying said, "It truly is strange. Tang Yi is graduating next year, but it seems like he isn¡¯t pursuing further studies. Something about meeting the position of president.... No one can tell what he¡¯s thinking."


    "A great number of people is certainly needed to be able to guess what he¡¯s thinking."


    Xie Junping tidied up his sequined suit and sighed. "If we can¡¯t find her, then we can¡¯t find her. It may not be reasonable to deal with her directly. We should aplish our objective in a roundabout manner. Let¡¯s first get to know the host and use him as a middleman."


    Xue Lei was still confused. "Who¡¯s the host? Isn¡¯t this a joint activity among five schools?"


    "Someone always provides the venue. The Yao Family is a major shareholder of Ocean Sky Cloud City. Their fourth young master, Yao Feng, attends Cloud City School of Business. The reservation for the three stories was done by his hand.¡±


    After exining this much, Xie Junping grinned and said, "The Yao Family were in the shipping industry back then. They did maritime transportation. They¡¯ve done some dark business, but Yao Feng has a decent character. What¡¯s even more impressive is the fact that his family seems to be old friends with Tang Yi¡¯s family."


    "They both have stakes in the same equity," corrected Hu Huaying.


    "Humph. There¡¯re even rumors of his grandfather having a mistress.... In any case, there¡¯s some friendship between them."


    Xie Junping¡¯s voice quieted to a whisper. He was about to say something a bit taboo, and his gaze even shifted to a corner. "In my opinion, the key to today¡¯s mission lies upon Leister¡¯s body."


    Xue Lei blinked, and he extended a finger to his own nose. "Me?"


    "Yes, you!" Xie Junping reached out with a hand to mp on Xue Lei¡¯s thick shoulder. He briefed Xue Lei directly, "Yao Feng is a fanatical fight enthusiast. Of course, he has high standards but has little ability. The results will certainly be great if you chat with him in this field."


    Hu Huaying added, "And several people say that Tang Yi is an expert fighter."


    Xie Junping finished it up, "So today we will begin with martial arts. Leister, it¡¯s all up to you."


    "Is it fine like this? Don¡¯t we need to n some more...?"


    Xue Lei far exceeded Luo Nan in being cheerful, but there was not much difference between these two brothers when it came to handling people. Xue Lei thought of the burden he now had and felt a trace of apprehension.


    Xie Junping never expected this tall and strong brother to want to turn tail and run. He felt annoyed for not having his expectations met. "The heck are you getting nervous for. This is a social party! Things are very simple when ites to students! This party is just an excuse to loosen up and have fun. The venue, alcohol, beautiful girls, handsome dudes, and a few unspeakable things.... Are you scared that Tang Yi will fall for you? Who cares! Did you train to be a kid or a man?"


    "You¡¯re the one who¡¯s the kid!" Xue Lei raised his voice, but then his voice died down. "Do you y around this crazily all the time?"


    "Every party has its own benefits. The more you take part in this sort of activities, the more you know where you are on the socialdder. You know who you can work with in the future, you know who you can use, you know who you can betray, and you know who you need to stay far, far away from...."


    Xie Junping yed around, speaking in a whisper. He saw Xue Lei¡¯s expression and spat out some saliva inugher. "You really believed me, man! We¡¯re just students. Students! I¡¯m just ying around. If we don¡¯t get along, then we¡¯ll get down to it. If we do get along well, then we¡¯ll get down even harder. Just make some friends and everything is good. In any case, we¡¯re just specting right now. You might not even need to see Tang Yi. We¡¯re just giving her face. Okay, let¡¯s go go go!"


    Xie Junping dragged Xue Lei and their group went around the viewing tform. They made a few turns and arrived at an open-style bar in the corner. There was a circr sofa here, but there were no lights. There was only the deep blue illumination spilling out from the world¡¯s first water tank pir.


    Seven people sat on the sofa. Four males and three females.


    "Found the host," whispered Xie Junping. He then walked forward withrge strides until he reached the outside of the circr sofa. He smacked his palm on the back of the sofa, scaring the person closest to him. The person turned their head to look and responded with a yful curse. Thus began a conversation.


    Since the lighting was dim and Luo Nan was refraining from cultivating in the eyes orifice, Luo Nan naturally used his mental senses to better distinguish the scene. Soon he sensed that the three males out of the seven people, not including Yao Feng who was chatting with Xie Junping, were quite conspicuous.


    Two of them were younger out of the three; they were in their twenties. Then there was one who was a bit older, around his thirties. Their ages were beyond the scope of this party.


    Xie Junping began introducing his friends, "Yep, we¡¯re best buds and we came here together for some fun. Xue Lei is a young martial artist. He¡¯s first-rate. You know the event at Frost River Reality, right? Leister was one of thest few people to be evacuated from Fudong Main Street.


    "Luo Nan was also one of thest few people to be evacuated. He is an extremely outstanding psychological expert. He also saved my life...."


    Luo Nan¡¯s mood becameplex as he heard this. It was rare for Xie Junping to use such wordings to brag about him and Xue Lei, but what the heck did he mean by him being a psychological expert?


    Yao Feng also pondered things in his mind. Xie Junping used to always have a sexypanion by his side. What was with the sudden change in character? Xie Junping still possessed the same enthusiastic attitude, though. He took the initiative to stick wristbands together and exchange contact information.


    Then Yao Feng turned around to prepare introducing the people on his side.


    Suddenly, someone spoke up, "Frost River Reality? Why, that¡¯s interesting. My sister¡¯s been stingy about that mess. No one¡¯s told me anything clear about it. Why don¡¯t you guys tell me what happened?"


    The person who spoke was one of the three males that Luo Nan had paid attention to. He sat the farthest inside, and he wore a military uniform. It was true that a soldier was an upation, but it was hard to avoid suspicion for illegal doings for an ordinary person who was wearing it.


    The person was sprawledzily. His arms hung down from the back of the sofa, and he took up a great deal of space. He had a sloppy appearance.


    Xie Junping was displeased when he heard his tone of voice. It was his moment to disy his attitude to everyone else. When did it be this guy¡¯s turn to be in the spotlight? Xie Junping felt the arrogance in the man¡¯s words, and his heart burned with fury, but then Hu Huaying gave him a light jab in the ribs as a reminder.


    Yao Feng did something as well. He used the dim lighting of the bar to give him a subtle, but fierce re.


    Xie Junping didn¡¯t drink alcohol nor take drugs. His brain was still very sober. Some thoughts shed in his mind, and he swallowed the words back down his throat.


    Yao Feng seized this moment of silence. "Comeee. Let¡¯s first get to know each other. I¡¯ll introduce you guys..."


    "He Donglou."


    The military man raised his hand as if he were answering a roll call. He sounded quite cheerful. "Complete outsiders havee to butt in."


    Xie Junping¡¯s mind spun in a circle. He really didn¡¯t expect the military man to act like someone from a xianxia novel. However, this person didn¡¯t appear to be very deep. The approximate nature of the man¡¯s temperament could be easily guessed.


    Silk-pants. Big silk-pants!


    Probably because like repels like, Xie Junping found this guy unpleasing to the eye no matter how he looked at him.


    Hu Huaying gathered over and reminded him, "Space He!"


    It was just two sybles, but the meaning behind them was terrifying. Xie Junping shouted inwardly, Oh crap, to himself. This was the first time he admitted defeat. He was also scared of Luo Nan¡¯s and Xie Junping¡¯s reactions, so he quickly used his skills as an actor. Heughed as he said,


    "Outsiders? There are no outsiders here. We know each other from here on out. Myst name is Xie. I¡¯m Xie Junping, a bored person of leisure."


    His hand streaked over Luo Nan and Xue Lei, and stopped while pointing at Hu Huaying. "I¡¯ve already introduced these two, but I still have one more best bud. Hu Huaying the Third. He¡¯s the owner of a great deal of farnd. I feel that the amount ofnd his family owns will one day extend into the Wilderness."


    Xie Junping wanted to blur the focus away from Frost River Reality. Yao Feng was very cooperative in this. He beamed. "The Third¡¯s family raises cows. My family raises fish. Our family has always had friendly rtions with each other."


    Hu Huaying raised his paper hat in greeting.


    In the innermost area of the circr sofa, He Donglouughed merrily, "It really is quite the coincidence. We can be paired up. We also have a martial artist here, and a chauffeur.... Huh? Do doctors and pilots fit together?"


    The jump in this brother¡¯s train of thought was too sudden. The group of people were a bit speechless. Yao Fengposed himself first. He rushed to steer the conversation back on track. "Let me introduce Feng Jiajun, or Instructor Feng. He is a high-level instructor in the Thunder Falcon Martial Arts Gym. He should be in the same social circle as Xue Lei. We have so many close people. They might even join forces after a bit of interaction."


    Feng Jiajun was just over twenty. He was older than Xue Lei by around five years, but he was still young. Whenpared to Xue Lei, he was slightly thinner and a bit more handsome. He came from the sort that was very popr with girls.


    "Xue Lei? You must be new in the circle. Well, now we know each other."


    There was a bit of haughtiness contained in Feng Jiajun¡¯s words, but he still followed the customs within his social circle. He stood up and was about to cup his hands in a bow, but then his gaze somewhat changed directions tond upon Xue Lei¡¯s chest. The symbol of Xue Lei¡¯s daoguan was located there: the design of a three-legged cauldron.

 Chapter 149: Strangeness in the Ocean (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 149: Strangeness in the Ocean (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Feng Jiajun¡¯s eyelids drooped down slightly, but the smile on his face grew much more distinct. "Instructor Xue...."


    Xue Lei replied humbly, "I¡¯m not an instructor. At most, I¡¯m a teaching assistant for my daoguan. I haven¡¯t finished my apprenticeship yet."


    "Is that so? Which daoguan do you hail from?"


    Xue Lei wasn¡¯t one to let any chance to spread the name of his daoguan escape his grasp. He immediately cleared his throat and said, "Divine Yu Gym of the River Wu District."


    "Gym Master Xiu¡¯s daoguan?" Feng Jiajun¡¯s lips split into a grin, revealing a mouth full of white teeth. "Then I¡¯ve truly been looking forward to meeting you for a long time."


    Xue Lei was both shocked and delighted. "Instructor Feng knows our gym master?"


    "I naturally do. Divine Yew, man. It¡¯s very famous."


    He spoke the word ¡¯Yew¡¯ in a very drawn out manner.


    No matter how straightforward Xue Lei was, even he felt that something was wrong in that moment. He looked at Feng Jiajun, who had just extended a hand with a smile. "We should get to know each other."


    Shaking hands was not a good practice within the martial arts circle.


    He wanted Xue Lei¡¯s hand?


    Xue Lei hesitated for a moment, but he saw Feng Jiajun frown a bit amidst his firm attitude. Xue Lei extended his hand and the two shook hands.


    He listened to Feng Jiajun continue speaking. "I¡¯ve heard of Gym Master Xiu and knew of his name for a long time. After all, he opened that Yew Shop in Boshan Building, but I¡¯ve rarely seen that man in the ten years he¡¯s been there. I¡¯ve heard that all of you are moving soon...."


    Feng Jiajun wanted to show a rxed and easy-going attitude. He spoke fluently, like pearls, but he suddenly stopped.


    Xue Lei¡¯s eyebrows rose, and a creaking sound of friction, which made one¡¯s teeth ache from hearing it, could be heard from where their two hands met. Then a light bang sounded out, as if a miniature balloon had popped.


    At that instant, Feng Jiajun¡¯s palm moved as slippery as a snake. His hand slipped away from Xue Lei¡¯s fingers, but his body unconsciously recoiled. He was frozen there for a moment before standing back up straight. He lowered his head to look at his own palm, and his expression darkened. The corner of his lips lifted into a smirk, then he regained his smile.


    "You¡¯ve trained your strength quite decently."


    "Oh? Have two enemies met each other on a narrow road? An inevitable sh between foes?"


    He Donglou straightened his sitting posture a bit. He took his arms that had hung from the sofa and smacked his chest. He even rubbed it a few times. His attitude showed that he enjoyed watching chaos and didn¡¯t mind a hugemotion happening.


    You may be right, but was it good to just say it outright?


    He Donglou¡¯s skill at being a silk-pants forced even Xie Junping to concede defeat. Xie Junping pondered, If I don¡¯t drink alcohol or take drugs, I probably won¡¯t be a match for him.


    Yao Feng just felt that a disaster had descended upon him, but the curses that filled his belly were unable toe out of his mouth. He could only rack his head for a way of conciliation. "It¡¯s normal for martial artists to learn from one another. But if it¡¯s done too early, the consequent shows be meaningless.... Young Master He?"


    "He has a point," He Donglou epted the criticism by going with the flow. He looked quite easy to talk to, but he possessed a bit of a silver-tongue when he opened his mouth. Feng Jiajun frowned a bit, but in the end, he took a step back.


    Xue Lei didn¡¯t let Feng Jiajun go that easily. He furrowed his brows and red at Feng Jiajun with zing eyes, not letting him escape his sight.


    Feng Jiajun¡¯s eyes went cold and dark upon seeing this.


    On the other hand, He Donglouughed upon seeing his expression. "There¡¯s no rush. Didn¡¯t you hear? There¡¯s still a showter on. I¡¯ll let you all have some time when that happens. Hey, I¡¯ve waited so long. Old Yao, where¡¯s your family¡¯s most precious treasure?"


    Yao Feng lowered his head to look at his wristband. He smiled reluctantly. "Almost here."


    He gave Xie Junping a meaningful look upon saying this, and thetter understood Yao Feng without words. Then, he chuckled with an utterly unhappy heart. "Young Master He, go have fun first. We¡¯re going to go for a walk."


    He Donglou was an expert in picking on him. "Don¡¯t forget about the matter with the show."


    I¡¯ll show your sister!


    Xie Junping cursed in his mind from his belly to the heavens. He was going to talk a bit more with Yao Feng, but in the current circumstances, it seemed that Yao Feng might cry. Yao Feng absolutely wouldn¡¯t be in the mood to help them hook up with Tang Yi. Their most important objective for participating in this party had mostly fallen through.


    Xie Junping and Hu Huaying dragged Luo Nan and Xue Lei away together.


    Xue Lei remained silent since the handshake. His expression was deep and solemn, his fury not fading away. He turned his head back to look after being dragged a few steps by Hu Huaying.


    Feng Jiajun didn¡¯t react. It looked like he was calling someone.


    Luo Nan saw the whole conversation happen from beginning to end. He was aplete observer. The way the second generation of the rich dealt with each other was not his expertise, regardless of intelligence or clumsiness. Hecked all interest.


    Only, the matter with Feng Jiajun had urred in such a bizarre manner. It involved Xiu Shenyu and his gym, so it was unavoidable for Luo Nan to be worried.


    Through a slight effort of will, all of the words that were exchanged between Feng Jiajun and the person on the other side of the line were captured by Luo Nan¡¯s mental senses. The information was transmitted back to Luo Nan.


    Xue Lei still maintained an unsightly expression. His fury was hard to appease. "What the hell is up with the Feng dude?! Did our daoguan provoke him or something? Boshan Building, does it have something to do with Boshan Building?"


    Luo Nan spoke without thinking as he monitored Feng Jiajun¡¯s call, "It just might be."


    "Huh? You¡¯re saying...." Xue Lei wasn¡¯t stupid; he soon confirmed the key elements, traced down the logical train, and put together the string of clues. "The meaning behind that Feng guy¡¯s words. He envies the fact that our daoguan is in Boshan Building? Thunder Falcon Martial Arts Gym is a huge gym, they wouldn¡¯t.... Oh, could it be that they were the ones who lost the bet back then? Do they want their venue back?"


    "That¡¯s probably the case."


    Luo Nan still remembered what Xue Lei had mentioned. Back when he had arrived at Xia City, Xiu Shenyu had made a bet with someone and had won the usage rights for the daoguan site for ten years. Feng Jiajun had mentioned ¡¯ten years¡¯, ¡¯moving¡¯, and simr words during the handshake as well. The situation was made much clearer whenbining this information with the information revealed by the call.


    Xue Lei spat, "This guy only shows up when the daoguan is moving. What the hell happened ten years ago.... No, Nanster. I need to make a call."


    "You¡¯re going to contact the gym master?"


    "Yes, the gym master never mentioned this matter before. But I see that this man¡¯s going to stop by the daoguan. We have to be direct about this."


    Luo Nan stared at him. "Be patient when you ask, and tell me what he sayster."


    Xue Lei nodded. He found a secluded ce and proceeded to contact Xiu Shenyu. Since Xiu Shenyu often didn¡¯t carry any electronics, it was a bit troublesome to call him.


    Luo Nan watched Xue Lei¡¯s actions, and he subconsciously shook his head. He might not be able to get the answer out from the gym master.... I need to take different means.


    Luo Nan understood Gym Master Xiu to be a genuine taciturn man. Nothing woulde out of him if he didn¡¯t want to talk, no matter how much Xue Lei were to coax and pester him.


    In order to prevent the gym master from making a stubborn mistake, Luo Nan thought of several more ways to collect information. His best option in Xia City was undoubtedly the Explorers Society. They had recruited Mr. Giant Arm, a powerful martial artist. The Society should have a good understanding of the situation in the martial arts circle.


    Luo Nan habitually pressed a finger against his earlobe. He logged in to the Psychic Wave Network, but was unable to find anyone. Then an rm sounded in his ear.


    Half of the deep blue light in the surroundings was suddenly blocked by shadow. The rest of the light violently shook. Some element was causing stress to the structure, and it prompted the people nearby to turn their heads and look, their gazes falling in the direction of the crystal pir in the center.


    A ferocious monster could be seen on the inner side of the crystal wall. It was over fifteen meters in diameter, and it moved like a high-speed ne. In the blink of an eye, it crossed over several dozen meters of water. It charged to the edge of the crystal pir, fiercely crashing into it. The magnitude of the noise was startling.


    The power of the charge of such a colossal creature was shocking and terrifying even though a crystal wall stood in its way. A few people attending the party had been stuck to the crystal pir, observing the beauty of the ocean floor. They never expected this sudden change, and they instinctively cried out in fear. They frantically retreated, and some unfortunately lost control of their legs. These people staggered back and fell with their butts t on the ground. It was quite shameful.


    The monster, which looked more like a bat than a fish, wanted to make another frontal impact. It suddenly ascended upward, revealing a deathly white stomach. It practically glided on the inner crystal wall as it rapidly ascended. It used the most direct way to show just how astonishing its wingspan was, as well as the hideous mouths that ran down the sides of its stomach.


    Oh, who could forget its ten-meter-long slender tail? It was packed densely with bluish ck scales. It resembled a chain whip made of metal, and arcs of electric me even red and flowed around it.


    An enormous body. Powerful movement ability. A demonic body structure.... These elements formed the image of a terrifying fish monster, and this monster wasn¡¯t giving up. After ascending a certain distance in the crystal pir, it suddenly flipped backward to whirl around the axis of its body.


    The ocean water churned everywhere the monster passed, and the resulting waves were as sharp as des. The ocean prawns, bothrge and small, were all sliced to powder everywhere it passed, only to be sucked into the mouths that ran down the sides of the monster¡¯s stomach. What had once been crystal clear ocean water became turbid in an instant. It reekedpletely of blood.


    Within the churning currents, the horrific monster fish broke away from the limits of a normal person¡¯s gaze to disappear without a trace.


    Though the people attending the party were the elites of top-ranked schools, most of them couldn¡¯t avoid being stupefied on the spot from witnessing this sudden and bloody scene. They found it hard to speak for a long time.


    Yet there was a small portion of people who were able to remain calm and collected, whether it was because they were mentally prepared, or their temperaments exceeded the masses¡¯. A smaller number of people evenughed with excitement. He Donglouughed the brightest and the loudest.


    Those ten meters away could hear hisughter. "This thing is kickass! It¡¯s a Mutant for sure. It has to be a ss 2 at least. It¡¯s rare to find one as wild as this and still be captured and brought back...."


    Such a ferocious monster fish far exceeded the limits of normal biology. It was indeed a Mutant. A professional who was familiar with Mutant Genealogy would be able to tell that this monster fish stemmed from Mob, a genus of ray, and was moremonly known as the devil ray. This monster was the mutated result.


    The normal Mob species were mild creatures. They had existed on Earth for over a million years. They weren¡¯t great at attacking, but due to their sturdy body and its strange shape, the genus had be collectively known as devil rays.


    However, the monster fish within the crystal pir had been mutated into a form that could truly be called that of a ¡¯devil¡¯. Especially just a few moments ago, when it engaged in a mindless ughter of the other oceanic creatures. It made one shudder with fear.


    Xie Junping had suffered from considerable fright, to the point where he had identally bitten the inside of his cheek. His mood worsened and he couldn¡¯t refrain from cursing. "That Fourth Yao really doesn¡¯t want to do business putting this thing in there...."


    He spoke half of what he had intended when he saw Luo Nan and the others turn their gazes behind him. Xie Junping immediately turned around and was met with the ugly expression of Yao Feng.


    Xie Junping didn¡¯t feel the least bit embarrassed. He justughed. "What¡¯s wrong? Don¡¯t you need to serve the young master of the He Family?"


    Yao Feng heard him and instinctively shot him a re. Then he felt his actions were too shameful. He waved his hand andughed wryly. "I¡¯m not serving him for now. First, I¡¯ll be avoiding him for a bit. One who is near mountains will eventually eat mountain dirt. One who is near oceans will eventually drink ocean water. There are conditions for everything. Of you all, one is an immoral druggy and one is a farnd owner. You don¡¯t need to understand, but we who eke out a living upon the ocean have to deal with the Coastal Defense Force. We have to deal with the He Family. Not ttering him is no good, man...."


    Luo Nan inexplicably felt like he had heard the information Yao Feng said once in the past. Before he could ascertain what it was exactly, the HexaEar vibrated. He wasn¡¯t looking for anyone in particr on the Psychic Wave Network, but someone had found him first.

 Chapter 150: Coupling (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 150: Coupling (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    "Huh? Who is it?" Luo Nan thoughts focused, and he saw a number he had never seen before. Naturally, he was surprised.


    Just when Luo Nan was subconsciously about to answer the call, he suddenly felt that something was wrong. He swapped to the settings interface with an effort of will, and sure enough, he had already set themunications mode to be restricted. In this mode, only the people in his contact list could engage in real-timemunications with him. Everyone else could only leave messages.


    He Yueyin had suggested to set the HexaEar up this way. She said that it was to avoid interferences to the maximum extent so that he could concentrate on his cultivation.


    Then came the question: How did that numbere in?


    Luo Nan was curious to see who the caller was, but the other party severed themunications request right when Luo Nan was about to pick up. Luo Nan waited a moment, but no one called again. He dialed back the number, yet the system disyed the following message: "The person you are trying to contact is in limited contact mode. Please leave a message."


    Well then, what was up with this low-level malfunction? It¡¯s already been over ten days. Wasn¡¯t the debugging of the Psychic Wave Network over yet?


    Luo Nan shook his head and temporarily put the matter aside. His shifted his full attention back to the issue with the Divine Yu Gym.


    To understand the enmity that existed in the martial arts circle, Luo Nan obviously needed to find someone in that circle. But only one person remained after Luo Nan had filtered through all the people he knew in the Society. It was Giant Arm, and Luo Nan only knew of him. Giant Arm might not know of Luo Nan.


    Then I can only find someone I¡¯m closer to.... Seems like Crag Burst is the only option. He has a military background, and he¡¯s among the top ten strongest people in terms of physical strength within Xia City. He also has a friendly and lively temperament. He should have somemon dealings with the martial artists circle.


    Luo Nan formted the wording in his mind and set out amunications request to Crag Burst. However, no one would have expected the system to answer in the same cold tone as before.


    "The person you are trying to contact is in limited contact mode. Please leave a message."


    Luo Nan concluded that there was indeed a problem with the Psychic Wave Network. He couldn¡¯t help scratching his head. The members of the Society were used to the conveniences of the Psychic Wave Network. Very few of them would record the wristbandmunications numbers down. Luo Nan was no exception. All contact was impossible at this moment.


    He could only wait.


    Meanwhile, the rich kids were still going at it. Yao Feng poured out his grievances, but Xie Junping wasn¡¯t interested in listening at all. He just asked what concerned him. "Hey, that¡¯s a Mutant. Did you release it here in Ocean Sky Cloud City to cause chaos and destruction, only to buy it from the other shareholders at a low price...?"


    "Hey, hey, hey! Don¡¯t talk baseless nonsense!"


    Yao Feng¡¯s face waspletely green now. He hated being unable to cover Xie Junping¡¯s mouth. He could only grit his teeth and exin amidst his misfortune. "It¡¯s a client¡¯s who is a distant rtive on my mother¡¯s side. He loves to collect Mutants the most and had spent a considerable price to custom order this one long ago. He just barely got his hand on it, but no one expected him to drop dead from being overstimted; he was just watching an underground fight, after all.... And so, an excellent merchandise lost a ce to call home. It isn¡¯t good to release it back to the ocean, so we can only keep it here. We¡¯ve being dying from headaches for the past few days because of this thing."


    "You¡¯re freaking lying!" Xie Junping wasn¡¯t fooled. "You may not be able to find cookware in your Yao Family, but your ce is full of pools where you can put fish. Yet you put this Mutant into this simtion ecosphere to ruin it! You know how hard it is to make! This is a source of revenue for you.... Hey, Yao Four. Are you sure you don¡¯t have a money-making scheme you¡¯re not sharing?"


    Xie Junping reined in Yao Feng¡¯s shoulder as he spoke, beaming all the while. He also furtively winked at Luo Nan.


    Since Yao Feng was so kind as to deliver himself to their doorstep, there was absolutely no reason for Xie Junping to let him escape. Xie Junping nned to tenaciously hold this predetermined middleman with his gaze. He would use him to get in contact with Tang Yi, and Hu Huaying was backing him up by his side. The two acted with a deep level of tacit understanding with each other.


    Luo Nan could only sit at the sidelines. He waited a long while and listened to the twists and turns of the conversation. He found the whole thing to be boring. Xue Lei was busy as well. He was still on the phone with those at the daoguan, his feet pacing endlessly in circles. It seemed that things weren¡¯t going too smoothly for him.


    Another moment of silence fell, and Luo Nan¡¯s gaze shifted behind him toward the simted ocean ecology which had went through a brutal impact. The monster fish had fled to the depths of the crystal pir after wreaking havoc. Much time had passed since it disappeared without a trace.


    But the monster fish¡¯s power still existed in the areas it had passed, regardless of the passage of time. Many schools of fish, leisurely swimming around, would suffer from a fearsome invisible pressure when they went near these areas, and one by one they burst and scattered.


    Beautiful purple and vibrant red bloomed within the deep blue light, providing a different kind of wonder and beauty.


    Luo Nan quietly watched these chaotic shoals of fish. The glow in his eyes circted, but he didn¡¯t open his eyes orifice for cultivation. It was just a cursory experience.


    During this process, his feet followed the shoals of fish and moved slowly. By the time he came back to reality, he was already a distance away from Xie Junping and the others. He didn¡¯t care; the exchange with Yao Feng wouldn¡¯t require him to be present. Plus, with a mere thought, the whole party area woulde under the range of his irvoyance. He wouldn¡¯t get lost.


    He tried using the Psychic Wave Networkmunications again; it was still not restored. He stopped thinking about it, and strolled along the viewing tform. He walked, stopped, and walked, his eyes observing the shoals of fish, his mental senses weaving in and out.


    Two different realms. Two different modes. They were distinct from one another, but possessing matching sources of information allowed a marvelous corresponding rtionship to manifest.


    Luo Nan walked halfway. The information between the mental ne and the material ne corresponded with each other, but this naturally led to an interference between each other. The extent was minimal; it was weaker than the degree of soul strength Luo Nan could transfer from the Format barrier, which didn¡¯t even have 1% efficiency, by a thousandfold. Yet, there still existed an influence toward the eyes orifice.


    Such a continuous and unending influence was rare. It was like the earth was being moistened for life to flourish. The ¡¯water level¡¯ of the eyes orifice was rapidly restoring and slowly bing of higher quality.


    Luo Nan savored the subtleties within. He became spellbound for a time. This should be a good thing... right?


    He stopped moving. He felt a bit of uncertainty.


    A sensation was suddenly born from the bottom of Luo Nan¡¯s heart. The thoughts in his brain were still aplete mess, but his body moved ording to the sensation. He ducked a bit to the side, the distance of a hundredth of a hair, to perfectly evade a scampering petite figure, whose head was lowered, behind him


    But then Luo Nan had his notebook sandwiched under his elbow. It was protruding out, and it caught onto something. It fell to the ground, spread open its pages, and revealed doodled lines. Only rough outlines could be seen.


    "Ah, I¡¯m sorry."


    The girl, who had nearly caused a rear-end ident, apologized in a sentence. She tidied her unkempt hair and bent over to pick up the fallen notebook.


    Her fingertips had just touched a page of the notebook when she suddenly became aware who it belonged to. She lifted her head in astonishment. "Junior Nan?"


    Luo Nan went ¡¯oh¡¯, and responded, "Senior Sister Tian. What a coincidence."


    The person who had bumped into Luo Nan was none other than Tian Si. Sheughed as she picked up the notebook and returned it to him. "It¡¯s not a coincidence. Those who participate in this party will eventually meet.... Are you dressed as a doctor?"


    Tian Si slightly tilted her head to the side. She sized up Luo Nan¡¯s attire, and the action made the drawing board she hung from her shoulder shake a bit. Luo Nanughed with a look. "Sister is dressed as an artist."


    Luo Nan had taken professional fine arts sses to learn speed-sketching. He was familiar with the wardrobe of a professional.


    Tian Si had dressed cleverly. The only difference between how she was dressed now and how she usually dressed at school was the drawing board. Yet she still disyed a gentle, refined, and beautiful temperament. She instantly went up a grade when paired with the tool. Anyone would be convinced that she was a female artist who went out to collect local cultural materials.


    In any case, Luo Nan¡¯s notebook had most likely caught onto this drawing board.


    Tian Si answered, all smiles. "I¡¯ve always been in the design school. Though right now I¡¯m cing a heavy emphasis on industrial design, I¡¯ve pursued a bit of the arts in my early years. What do you think? Am I dressed alright?"


    "It matches you quite well." Luo Nan¡¯s words came straight from the heart, but he had no intention of continuing the conversation. Right now he was in a restless state of mind. He just said a few words for the sake of courtesy, and intended to bid farewell.


    But Tian Si pursed her lips into augh. Her attitude showed that she still wanted to talk. "Junior Nan¡¯s costume is a bit strange."


    It wouldn¡¯t be proper for Luo Nan to ignore her, so he just sincerely asked, "What¡¯s strange about it?"


    "I just feel that Junior Nan shouldn¡¯t be a doctor. It¡¯s a pure feeling."


    Tian Si used her fingers to charmingly draw circles by the sides of her head. Then, she pointed at the loose-leaf notebook sped under Luo Nan¡¯s arm. "You also have that prop. It stands out a bit."


    Luo Nan simply said, "I brought it with me without thinking. It¡¯s a habit."


    Luo Nan said some boring words, and he finally realized the bizarreness of the whole thing. Their conversation was merely superficial. If Tian Si was looking for someone to chat with, she shouldn¡¯t have chosen him.


    Having thought this far, a deeper sensation was born in Luo Nan¡¯s heart. He subtly focused his will, and he ¡¯saw¡¯ a young man just over twenty to the side behind him. The young man was dressed simrly to Luo Nan, ying the role of a doctor. He had a tall and straight stature, and he had handsome and bright facial features. But the gaze he had cast over them was filled with ill intent.


    Tian Si should be able to see this person from her perspective, but she acted as if she hadn¡¯t. She simply chatted with Luo Nan, beaming all the while.


    Luo Nan could more or less guess the situation from looking at the movements of the ¡¯young doctor¡¯s¡¯ expression. He mentally shook his head. Had Tian Sie over in the hope that he would take some heat off her?


    No one who was able to attend a friendship party between the five schools was someone who could be easily dealt with. Luo Nan was young, and he wasn¡¯t tall. It was a bit funny to be used as a shield.


    As Luo Nan mulled over how toy the situation bare in a few words, Tian Si began ttering him, "I took a few extra peeks at what you drew. Junior Nan¡¯s line drawing fundamentals are quite solid. If you can get into the design school and inherit the family legacy.... Why, that would be a story to behold."


    Family legacy?


    Luo Nan¡¯s heart shivered. His original train of thought scattered in an instant. All that was left were chaotic emotions. He didn¡¯t know what to say for a time. Tian Si put her hands together in contrition.


    "Apologies, Junior Nan. I found it very oddst time at Frost River Reality. A bunch of youths from the Mo Family, and only you had a differentst name. I asked Mo Qiu more about you, and I heard Tian Qi mention some rumors and circumstances around you and his Mystic Arts Research Society. I was curious, and I looked up your profile. Only then did I find out that you are the child of Senior Brother Zhongheng and Senior Sister Qingwen."


    "...."


    Yes, that was right. Luo Nan¡¯s parents had indeed studied at the school¡¯s design institute. Tian Si was absolutely correct when she mentioned his ¡®family legacy¡¯.


    Tian Si stepped closer, and her mannerisms became more intimate as well. "Actually, for these past few days, I¡¯ve always wanted to have the chance to thank Junior Nan."


    Luo Nan¡¯s brain was a bit slow in understanding. "What?"


    "Some time ago, I was selecting my graduate design topic. At the same time, I also sought to be a graduate student of Pan Wen, Professor Pan. But several of my topic selections were shot dead time and time again."


    Tian Si¡¯s glowing eyes gazed at Luo Nan¡¯s face. She whispered, "I was really out of options, but luckily Junior Nan¡¯s matter gave me the inspiration I needed. I proposed a research topic anew based on Senior Sister Qingwen¡¯s Coupling Design Theory from back in the day, and it finally got epted.


    "Senior Sister Qingwen is Professor Pan¡¯s most outstanding pupil. Professor Pan saw the topic I chose and her eyes immediately went red.... I know. I got lucky and scored big. I owe it all to Senior Sister Qingwen."

 Chapter 150: Coupling (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 150: Coupling (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan¡¯s mood became indescribable in mere seconds.


    What Tian Si said was something close and personal to him. But the words in her speech, all of those names and concepts, were so unfamiliar to him.


    He felt as if he were in a dream. He strove his best to merge inside, but he was alwayscking a bit of something. He could only strive to rey the memory just now, and he feared to miss a single word. But he awoke from this important dream, and it dissipatedpletely.


    Luo Nan waited even though Tian Si had stopped talking; he still wished for her to continue. Then he subconsciously extended his hand, touching the protective ss that separated the viewing tform from the crystal pir. The ice-cold sensation cleared his mind a little, and it ensured that Luo Nan didn¡¯t forget even an ounce of Tian Si¡¯s words.


    Perhaps it was because of Luo Nan¡¯s odd reaction that Tian Si became a bit puzzled.


    "Junior Nan?"


    Luo Nan really wanted to ask her, "Can you continue a bit more with that?" But the words changed when they left his mouth. "It must have been twenty years since they¡¯ve graduated, and Senior Sister Tian knows about this?"


    Tian Si¡¯s gaze softened a bit, and she revealed a gentle smile. "To say that the impression still ran deep after the passage of several years would be a lie. But by simply researching some data, many matters havee before my eyes. However, I have heard that a few old professors would use Gear as an example of architectural philosophy and aesthetics when ites to architectural design. Senior Sister Qingwen¡¯s name has always resounded."


    Luo Nan awkwardlyughed. "Is that so?"


    "Inparison, I admire Senior Zhongheng even more. Although I am learning industrial design, Senior Zhongheng has a strong theoretical background. Many of his research theories have stood the test of time till this day. These include concepts, products, and design. Any of these can be easily used, saving quite a bit of effort."


    Tian Si had clearly studied the material with great detail. Every word that left her mouth had a basis to it. But the more she was like this, the more confused Luo Nan became. It was awkward. Luo Nan didn¡¯t even know how to respond.


    His hesitation caused a gap to appear in their conversation and in the atmosphere. This gave a certain someone a chance.


    "Sisi."


    It was the ¡¯young doctor¡¯ who had been observing from behind and to the side all this time. He quickly walked over, his movements revealing impatience. He stood in between Luo Nan and Tian Si without a trace of politeness, and he used his shoulder to block Luo Nan¡¯s line of sight.


    "Sisi, you¡¯ve made it easy to find you."


    Luo Nan frowned, and his finger, which was pressed against the protective ss, bent a bit. He got a bad vibe, and he knew why Tian Si was avoiding this rather handsome ¡¯young doctor¡¯ nearly like she feared him. Such temperament and behavior made his good looks a waste.


    So there was someone this unreasonable among the elites of the five schools.


    Luo Nan¡¯s mood turned terrible. He didn¡¯t want to be involved in this contrived matter. But the absolute majority of the words Tian Si had said just then were what he desperately wanted to hear, what he desperately wanted to memorize.


    Tian Si had said that she consulted a huge amount of information for the sake of her graduate project. She had to have more information. She must have a lot more in her stomach, but with the young doctor in the scene, it would be difficult for Luo Nan to continue this conversation.


    Luo Nan stared at the spine ahead of him, which was wrapped in a white coat, and took a deep breath, but this was not enough to settle his annoyance.


    "President Ju." Tian Si held the drawing board with her arms folded in front of her chest. She took a small step back, and her bodynguage showed that she felt very alienated. She didn¡¯t hide it at all. Whenpared to her usual smooth style, it looked like she had reached her limits.


    Unfortunately, President Ju was not conscious of this at all. Or maybe he was aware and just didn¡¯t care. He leaned forward to decrease the distance between him and Tian Si, and used the tone of a talk show host to say, "Sisi, the party is about to formally begin. I seriously invite you to pair up with me...."


    Tian Si really couldn¡¯t bear it any longer. She took another step back, leaned to the side, and extended her arm out to Luo Nan. This forcefully shifted President Ju¡¯s attention. "Let me introduce you two. This is President Ju Maoxun of Cloud City School of Business¡¯s Elite Society. And this is my junior, Luo Nan."


    Ju Maoxun felt really displeased with the way Tian Si had reacted, and he extended his dislike to Luo Nan.... Alright. He was already in a bad mood since two minutes ago when he saw Luo Nan and Tian Si chatting delightfully. He long had schemes in mind.


    For him, it required no effort to bully the younger generation. He would correct this neer.


    While Ju Maoxun was deeply considering how he would give this newborn kid a deep memory, Tian Si did something that made him furious all of a sudden. This petite and beautiful girl walked straight around him to stand by Luo Nan¡¯s side. She even pulled the boy¡¯s arm.


    "Apologies, President Ju. I just promised Junior Nan that I would apany him tonight.... It hasn¡¯t been long since Junior Nan came to our school, and it¡¯s the first time he¡¯s taken part in this sort of activity. He really is lost about the whole thing."


    Halfway through, it seemed that Tian Si felt that her action of pulling his arm was too intimate. She rxed her hand and patted Luo Nan on the shoulder. She was around six years older than Luo Nan, but she was shorter than Luo Nan by a head. Her patting was a bit humorous in the old-fashioned way.


    The feelings of a male and a female were irrelevant in this context.


    Tian Si¡¯s actions made Ju Maoxun reveal an expression that wavered between good and bad. He was unable to grasp Luo Nan¡¯s rtionship with her. Naturally, he was angry that Tian Si rejected him, but if she was truly acting in consideration as a senior sister to a junior brother, he would cause trouble if he were to forcefully interfere. He would not be able to escape the shame.


    Oh, wait a minute. He saw the whole thing from beginning to end. He was there since Luo Nan and Tian Si met, but he never saw Tian Si receive any requests from Luo Nan.


    F**k. He was being yed for a fool!


    Ju Maoxun¡¯s innate temperament was a harsh one. He was known as ¡¯The Butcher¡¯ at the Cloud City School of Business. This time he had dressed as a doctor in irony of his nickname. He had hesitated earlier because he was thinking about his course of action. He viewed the youngdy Tian Si as a superior who was not to be trifled with, to a degree. But his fury raged at this moment, and he no longer gave a f**k.


    He took a fierce step forward as he habitually revealed his teeth inughter. Flesh pulsated by the sides of his handsome cheeks, and he instantly appeared sinister and malevolent. At the same time, his hand moved like lightning to grab the cor of Luo Nan¡¯s white coat.


    Ju Maoxun was almost a head taller than Luo Nan, so the length of his arms and legs were longer. He just reached out, and the fledgling stood there stunned before him. Luo Nan had no reaction whatsoever.


    It would be too conspicuous of Ju Maoxun to throw Luo Nan by the cor as part of his threat, especially in public. Ju Maoxun was a person used to such matters. Though he had acted with power and ferocity, he just shook the edge of Luo Nan¡¯s cor and exerted a bit of force to make the inner side of the cor chafe against Luo Nan¡¯s neck. There was even a bit of rhythm to it.


    "So you¡¯re Junior Nan. To be dressed the same is also fate. Now we know each other, and I will remember you well. Don¡¯t worry, I have quite the good memory. I don¡¯t forget a face I¡¯ve seen. Raise your head; don¡¯t be a p*ssy!"


    He viciously ordered Luo Nan to raise his face, and at the same time, he shot him a piercing and vicious gaze. "This teaching from your senior is enough for you to enjoy for ten years. You should be saying thanks again and agai...."


    His tirade suddenly stopped.


    Luo Nan raised his face and locked gazes with Ju Maoxun. He looked at Ju Maoxun¡¯s pair of eyes; they turned from being fiendish to chaotic. And then, from being chaotic to vacant.


    All these changes actually only happened in an instant.


    Luo Nan gently removed Ju Maoxun¡¯s frozen hand while Ju Maoxun acted like a soulless puppet with rusted joints. Luo Nan frowned, exerted some force, and caused Ju Maoxun to stagger backward.


    Ju Maoxun instantly regained himself. His hand, which was extended before him, jerked back as if he had touched a poisonous snake, and it hit his own chest. The impact caused him to grunt and wake up a bit. He wanted to rage again, but he saw Luo Nan¡¯s eyes sweep over with a level gaze, and his mind shuddered. He gaped with his mouth, said not a word, turned around, and walked off.


    When he got far enough away, Ju Maoxun¡¯s head became clearer. He turned around, wanting to head back, but hecked the courage. He could only extend an arm and point at Luo Nan. In the end, he walked away fuming.


    Tian Si felt like she had watched a preposterous drama. She was unable to discern any logic from beginning to end. The coarse and troublesome Ju Maoxun, who seemed to be possessed by the devil, had inexplicably had his ferocity dispelled and had walked away with his tail between his legs.


    What did Luo Nan do?


    Tian Si was stupefied for a full five seconds beforeing to herself. She hurriedly apologized to Luo Nan, "Sorry, Junior Nan. Just now, I...."


    "Senior Sister is very popr."


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t want to diverge too far from the topic. He said a few polite words and stopped there. He hoped Tian Si would continue talking about the matters pertaining to his mother. It would still be good even if she included ¡¯him¡¯, his father.


    But Tian Si¡¯s mood had been altered, having witnessed the interaction between Luo Nan and Ju Maoxun. Her eyes were downcast and lost for a moment. Then she looked at the shaking water within the crystal pir, and she suddenly spoke with emotion, "The scenery of the crystal pir looks like a dream when seen from afar. But when one looks at it long enough, calling it a dream bes an exaggeration.... It¡¯s like a person. The view on the surface may appear unbounded, but it is really quite limited."


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t respond. He didn¡¯t hear anything about what he wanted to hear. He had no interest in Tian Si¡¯s situation and her mood. He just felt moody inside.


    He imitated Tian Si in an effort to calm himself. He watched the rippling water within the crystal pir.


    His many days of cultivation had yet to form a link. Luo Nan¡¯s heartntern of the eyes orifice had yet to reach a realm that can be called a small aplishment, but his sight became much sharper. The swaying ocean water had its color restored from the blood by the time it reached the crystal wall, but it couldn¡¯t be considered particrly clear and clean. Fine impurities swam within, floating and undting.


    Under careful examination, most of the ocean life had fallen to the bottom in pieces of body tissues and waste.


    Luo Nan¡¯s gaze extended out into the distance. He saw the shoal of fish mixed within the deep waters. The beautiful color of nature swayed tourists to take pictures as souvenirs. Not many people knew where the filth in the water originated from.


    Likely a sizeable portion of filth came from the cruel hunt of the devil ray, the remaining traces of its ughter.


    It looked dirty and messy, but there was a ssic saying, "No fish can survive if the water is too clean." The ecosphere of the ocean revolved around this filth. Microorganisms, algae, and small fish and prawn were formed upon it. These individual links followed each other in session to join head to tail and form a tight and necessary chain.


    If a link was missing, and there was no human intervention, the consequences would always be bad.


    Luo Nan sighed as he thought to this point. He vaguely sensed that this was rather simr to the problem he faced in cultivation. But by carefully studying his situation once more, his mind had split into two. Whatever he couldn¡¯t resolve made his mood even worse.


    Being upset, he no longer wanted to beat around the bush. He prepared to bluntly request this senior sister to say everything she knew.


    But then Tian Si found a new linking point from being emotionally moved. She suddenly spun her face toward Luo Nan, and her delicate and dainty facial features were rejuvenated with her usual smile.


    "Junior Nan, I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ve heard this before, but there is one other structure that follows Coupling Design. Cloud City Water Vige Building Complex, and the Ocean Sky Cloud City we are in right now follow it the closest."

 Chapter 151: Eye of Heaven and Earth (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 151: Eye of Heaven and Earth (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Tian Si pointed at the crystal pir before them. She spoke gently, "The core design concept of Ocean Sky Cloud Cityes from the facilitation of a close integration between an ocean system and a building system. Power, data, ecology, and various other elements all link up. This is an important portion of Senior Sister Qingwen¡¯s Coupling Design."


    Luo Nan¡¯s gaze cut across the crystal pir. His mental senses were able to observe theplicated multi-story structure concretely, but what he could see confused him. He didn¡¯t know what to say. He just wanted to ask:


    What is Coupling Design?


    Tian Si didn¡¯t understand Luo Nan¡¯s currently troubled mind. Her smile grew increasingly more intimate the more she spoke. She drew her hands together and adopted a praying posture. "Junior Nan, let me take the liberty to ask you something. Does your family have any material left behind by these two seniors? I want to copy them for reference. Of course, I will pay extreme attention to intellectual property rights and the like."


    Luo Nan gaped. Right now his little bit of pride waspletely insignificant in the face of his intense desire and craving for more information. He leaned over and stared at Tian Si. "Senior Sister Tian. My mother passed away early, and... my father left early as well. Practically none of their things were left at home."


    Tian Si gasped and said, "So it was like this. My apologies. I thought¡ª"


    Luo Nan interrupted her before she could finish speaking. He hurriedly said, "Senior Sister. Can you give me a copy of the information you collected? I really need it. Really!"


    Tian Si was enveloped by Luo Nan¡¯s gaze, and she suddenly understood how Ju Maoxun felt before.


    Under the deep blue light, Luo Nan¡¯s eyes were mottled with colors, but they possessed an indescribable pressure that prated her being. She felt as if her eyes and mind were being burned by raging mes, and it made her want to hastily close her eyes. Her heart rate shot up rapidly.


    "I...."


    As an officer of the Mutual Assistance Gathering, Tian Si had always been an expert innguage and expression. But in this moment, as she faced Luo Nan¡¯s eyes, her verbal ability for logic and reason instantly perished to ash. Instead, the emotions that she sessfully suppressed all this time tangled and weaved in her mind. She was stupefied for a time.


    It wasn¡¯t easy, but a single thought spawned in her mind. He¡¯s really like.... Yes, they¡¯re the same type of person!


    Luo Nan ovepped with that person¡¯s figure. Then, the image burst into mes. Tian Si¡¯s mind intensely shuddered, and she subconsciously took a step back.


    "Senior Sister Tian?" Luo Nan didn¡¯t quite understand Tian Si¡¯s reaction.


    "Hold on a bit!"


    Tian Si finally rposed herself a little, but nervousness could be heard in her voice. Her throat was dry. She lowered her head; she didn¡¯t dare look into Luo Nan¡¯s eyes. She was afraid that she would lose her soul if she were to gaze too long.


    She fiddled with her wristband with her head lowered. She closed her eyes, adjusted her breathing, and tidied her emotions. Three seconds passed before she started working with her wristband. She brought out the series of information she had saved.


    "This was originally your parents¡¯ information. If Junior wants it, all you had to do was ask."


    Her speech passed through a logical frame and a sorted train of thought. Only after she spoke did Tian Si raise her head. She forced a smile and said, "I¡¯ll directly share what I¡¯ve saved in the cloud with you. Most of the informationes from the school¡¯s electronic library. Some information needs a certain level of privileges. You probably don¡¯t have the privileges right now, but you should be granted them earlier than usual if you ask Head Xie."


    Luo Nan put his hands together and expressed his thanks over and over. "Thank you, Senior Sister Tian. Thank you."


    From this, Tian Si knew that Luo Nan wasn¡¯t able to see through to the deeper things dwelling in her mind. She let out a breath of relief and her mind became a bit livelier again. She brought up a diagram that Luo Nan was unable to ess right now and projected it.


    But the interference of deep blue light was too great since the crystal pir was too near. She used her drawing board as a shield to let Luo Nan be able to see the diagram clearly.


    And so, the area that became clearer was also limited. Luo Nan unconsciously came closer to stand shoulder to shoulder with Tian Si. Their heads butted together as he watched with earnest.


    "This is the design proposal of Cloud City Water Vige submitted eighty-two years ago. Look here. Thepany¡¯s technical advisor is Pan Wen, Professor Pan. ording to her, the purpose of the proposal was to lead a team in verifying Senior Sister Qingwen¡¯s theory. Unfortunately, it wasn¡¯t considered especially sessful. It was even considered a mistake."


    Tian Si swiped the AR image, causing the 3D perspective drawing of Ocean Sky Cloud City¡¯s initial design to disy variousplicated structures.


    "Professor Pan says that Ocean Sky Cloud City has too much of a craftsman¡¯s influence. Though it integrated an ocean system, it is just a show of the original theory. It¡¯s not a sess in construction theory. It¡¯s far from Gear, which seems to be made by heaven and has no trace of anything unnatural."


    Luo Nan listened with pride and sadness. He looked at the perspective drawing of Ocean Sky Cloud City, and felt the same feeling as when he saw Gear.


    Tian Si was able to read his emotions. She thought for a bit and began to act more gossipy. "I heard that Professor Pan specifically implemented a design because of this. One can see the wends of the school with a naked eye from the high level viewing tform in Ocean Sky Cloud City. And this included Gear on the north bank. The two structures mutually shine upon each other, one high and one low...."


    "Really?" Luo Nan impatiently interrupted Tian Si before she could finish speaking.


    Tian Si didn¡¯t mind. She just said, "Cloud City Water Vige is a group of buildings ascending in height in a ring. Aside from the main building, only Ocean Sky Cloud City faces the school. None of the other tall buildings block its line of sight, and the height and angle are just right. There should be some basis to her words."


    Luo Nan immediately asked, "What floor is the high level viewing tform at?"


    "The hundred forty-second floor. Does Junior want to go see?"


    Luo Nan nodded his head and spoke no more. He walked straight toward the closest elevator.


    Tian Si thought for a bit and followed him. Compared to Luo Nan¡¯s focused mind, her gaze flitted back and forth among the stream of people on this floor, searching for the target she had in mind.


    She didn¡¯t expect to not only be unable to find her target, but to sh with an enemy on a narrow road. She saw Ju Maoxun, who had left in a sorry state not long ago, walk over withrge strides and a dark expression. By his side were a few characters with expressions of ill intent.


    He can¡¯t be thinking of starting a brawl at the party!?


    It was hard for Tian Si to imagine such a scene, but it was also hard for her mind to escape fear. Just as she was looking for security, she had the misfortune of bumping gazes with Ju Maoxun from afar. Her mind went into a panic.


    The flesh of Ju Maoxun¡¯s cheeks pulsated as he gave a few words to the people beside him. Then he sped up his pace.


    Ding, rang the bell, and the elevator door before Luo Nan opened up. Luo Nan walked in while Tian Si whispered, "Wait for me." She caught up in a few steps, and the drawing board she hung from her shoulder slid to her elbow. It swung, hitting the edge of the elevator.


    She said, gasping, "Hurry, Ju Maoxun¡ª"


    She had just begun speaking when an explosion sted out on the floor.


    Tian Si shuddered as the lighting at the corner of her eyes changed. She instinctively turned her head, and she saw the portion of the crystal pir that faced the elevator. A pitch-ck shadow led an enormous current of water, and it smashed heavily toward the inner wall of the pir.


    The sharp impact caused the crystal pir to crack with ayer of fine white veins. The sound waves that rippled out shook people¡¯s hearts. It made people believe that this enormous crystal pir had shattered from the impact.


    It was undoubtedly the mutated devil ray that had caused all of this.


    The attendees, who were observing the shoals of fish, cried out in rm nearly in chorus. Such a scene was much more terrifying than the one before. The disy of the devil ray was much wilder and more violent in that moment.


    It swam around the edges of the wall, and it mmed repeatedly against the inner crystal wall with its t head. It was filled with restless emotions. With a body thatrge and an ample attack power, there was no one who dared to be near, even though there were clearly twoyers of protection between them. They feared that this monster would break through the protectiveyer and eat people whole.


    Tian Si covered her mouth by instinct, cramming her scream back down her throat.


    The doors of the elevators immediately closed while Luo Nan just nced at the crystal pir before looking downcast at his toes. It seemed that there was nothing else in this world that could arouse his interest.


    Ju Maoxun and his buddies had been aggressively walking over when the devil ray started its attack. They just so happened to be nearby, and thus they were given quite a scare. They followed the herd mentality and stopped to watch.


    It was Ju Maoxun who saw the elevator doors close in the distance. He shouted a few pressing words, and the group of people rushed in pursuit. However, the high-speed elevator was already making its way up by this time.


    "Keep an eye on the floor it stops at."


    Ju Maoxun made up his mind; he was going to give a lesson to the dog-sh*t boy and girl in this building. He smacked the elevator¡¯s call button and summoned an elevator that ran parallel to the one Luo Nan and Tian Si were on. He cursed under his breath to vent some of his emotions, which were on the verge of exploding.


    Luckily, another high-speed elevator soon arrived. Ju Maoxun nced at the floor number and took the lead in entering the elevator. The others came flooding in after him.


    "It stopped on the 133th floor and the 142nd floor."


    "What¡¯s on the 133th floor?"


    "I think it¡¯s an office area?"


    "142nd?"


    "The high level viewing tform."


    "It¡¯s that one!"


    Ju Maoxun quickly locked onto his target and ground his teeth. The elevator door closed, blocking off the cries and mor of this floor.


    Only two seconds passed before a different bizarre sound came reverberating within this quiet space. The sound diffused into their ears. Ka chunk. Ka chunk. Ka chunk. Ka chunk....


    The tempo was monotonous, with no change to it whatsoever. It sounded like someone was moving a pair of old scissors back and forth. It didn¡¯t stop at all, and it made everyone fidgety.


    "Whose ringtone is this?" This was the first thing Ju Maoxun thought of.


    Hispanions all had expressions of bewilderment.


    Ju Maoxun finally discovered that there was a fresh new face among them. This fellow hade into the same elevator as them... or maybe the fellow was already inside the elevator. His mind was focused on the dog-sh*t boy and girl, so he didn¡¯t notice the stranger until now.


    This was a public location, after all. Such a thing was very normal.


    The person was dressed purely in ck. He was wearing a suit and sunsses; he dressed quite sharply. He looked like a bodyguard or a security agent in a TV show. He stood out in this party.


    But the most eye-catching thing of all about the sunsses man was his tie. It was super gaudy, and under careful examination, all sorts of beetles dotted it. Perhaps it was because of the chrome color of his tie, but there existed a faint metal sheen to it under the lighting of the elevator. Thepound eyes of the beetles flickered with the light, giving off a feeling of aberrance.


    The sunsses man felt Ju Maoxun¡¯s attentive gaze and slightly tilted his head. His eyes should be looking right at him now.


    Ju Maoxun watched with stupefaction. He locked eyes with this entric fellow. The sunsses man split his lips to let out a chuckle, revealing a mouth full of pitch-ck teeth. There were even garish designs branded upon them.


    "...."


    Ding!


    The elevator door opened, and Ju Maoxun and his group of people walked out. The elevator door then closed.


    The group of people stared around the entrance of the elevator, looking lost. "Where are those two at?"


    "We¡¯re at 124th floor. We¡¯re on the wrong floor."


    "Then why did we get off?"


    "Because...."


    Ju Maoxun felt dazed. His mind was filled with the lustrous designs branded on those ck teeth, the gaudy beetle tie, and the ka chunk sound that rang by his ear for a time. If these various elements weaved together, it seemed that it was quite natural for them to ur?

 Chapter 151: Eye of Heaven and Earth (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 151: Eye of Heaven and Earth (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    The elevator that Luo Nan rode made a stop at the 133rd floor. The other people got off there, leaving just him and Tian Si in the elevator. The floor number rapidly jumped up on the elevator disy, and it seemed that the journey was to be a quiet one until Luo Nan suddenly opened his mouth.


    "What kind of person is Professor Pan?"


    Half of Tian Si¡¯s attention was still captured by the berserk devil ray, and the other half revolved around Ju Maoxun. A few seconds passed when she heard Luo Nan in her stupefaction, and only when the elevator stopped and the metal doors opened did she wake up to reality.


    Right as she was about to speak, Luo Nan already took the lead and walked out of the elevator. She could only hurriedly follow him. She waspletely taken in by his rhythm, like a secretary epting her boss¡¯s whims.


    Tian Si suppressed the odd feeling in her heart and said, "Professor Pan is the world¡¯s top expert in design theory. At least half of the reputation of our design schooles from her hands."


    Tian Si was quite clear on what Luo Nan truly cared about. She gave a slight pause, then continued speaking, "When Senior Sister Qingwen was in the design school, she was personally taught by Professor Pan. I have asked a few teachers for guidance, and they all say that Professor Pan treated Senior Sister Qingwen like a daughter. She loved her that much. Outside of academics, she is a very kind olddy. She¡¯ll certainly be very happy if you pay her a visit."


    Luo Nan seriously said, "I will certainly pay her a visit."


    "That¡¯s good. I can help introduce you."


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t care how much thought was put into her words. He just carefully memorized Professor Pan¡¯s contact details.


    The two people made their way through the corridor and arrived at the viewing tform exposed to the sky. The elevation here reached seven hundred meters. The buildings of the Pingjiang District were generally shorter. Aside from Cloud City¡¯s main building behind it, open space sprawled wherever the eye could see. Tian Si said that one could see the wend jungle of the school from here. It appeared to be true.


    Dusk arrived. The weather turned cold. The winds of high altitudes came roaring in. The protective ss at the edge of the viewing tform began to buzz. The sound of water rushed underneath the sound of the wind.


    "The top of the central crystal pir is on the 142nd floor."


    Tian Si pointed at the frame structure rising above the center of the viewing tform. The frame both supported and separated the water. The vast volume of water was nearly fifty meters in diameter, and it cut through the viewing tform. It jutted approximately two meters out, and it was surrounded by protective ss.


    "This is the rather famous Heavenly Ocean Lake. It appears to be a portion of the crystal pir, but they¡¯re actually separate structures. Reinforced ss separates them at the bottom of thiske. So, it¡¯s just a swimming pool. The constructors made it themselves as a joke."


    The two needed to pass by the edge of the Heavenly Ocean Lake frame structure. Luo Nan just cast a nce at this ¡¯joke¡¯ and lost all interest.


    The current time was just before most sry workers got off work. The sky gradually darkened, and there weren¡¯t many people on the viewing tform. It looked a bit deserted.


    Luo Nan discerned the direction to travel and walked to the edge of the viewing tform. He cast his gaze toward the school. Indeed, he could see the wend jungle of the school and Gear clearly. He could also see the long river that weaved in and out of the forest. He could see the reflection of the setting suning in anding out.


    Luo Nan was able to make an approximate guess on the location of Gear from the outline of the jungle and the river. But with the gradual darkening of the sky and the distance of a dozen kilometers, the independent building was truly like a tiny part lost in the shadows of the boundless jungle. It was hard to find.


    Luo Nan wanted to put more effort into looking for Gear. He believed that Tian Si wouldn¡¯t lie about such matters. He wanted to use his mental senses, but his mental irvoyance, which had been always sessful, seemed to not have the range of his vision under these circumstances.


    "It¡¯s getting dark. Our vision is limited. But there are viewing scopes here. You should be able to use it to see Gear." Tian Si pointed at a row of high viewing binocrs at the edge. These were meant to be used by tourists. Right now, there were just three people using them.


    Luo Nan walked ahead without saying a word. He moved closer to look through the binocrs and then stood straight.


    Tian Si cautiously observed him. "No good?"


    Luo Nan shook his head. The binocrs limited his field of vision, and all he saw was a repressed world. This was not the feeling he needed.


    He stood lost there for seven seconds on the viewing tform, before he suddenly spoke without warning, "What is Coupling Design all about?"


    He had an approximate understanding what ¡¯Coupling¡¯ meant. It referred to the phenomenon of interaction and joint movement between various systems. But what did it concretely refer to in the context of his mother¡¯s architectural theory?


    Tian Si had to answer this question. She grew all the more cautious and careful, considering her wording over and over before speaking, "It is a more unified theory within the design school, lying in the field of aesthetics and philosophy. It is a new interpretation of the ssical eastern philosophical concept of ¡¯oneness of heaven and humanity¡¯. Practically speaking, it runs in the same vein as green construction like sr energy, hydraulic power, wind energy, and other natural resources."


    Luo Nan furrowed his brows into a frown. Tian Si immediately emphasized, "But in my opinion, Senior Sister Qingwen¡¯s core idea should inspire hope that an effective influence can be achieved upon grand natural systems through man-made orderly structures of buildings. And the level this sort of influence method involves is iparable with the traditional meaning of green construction.... In regard to this, Professor Pan possesses what is called an ¡¯eye of heaven and earth¡¯ in assessing. It is a mystery of mysteries."


    Tian Si had spoken very vaguely. She had yet to research Coupling Design thoroughly. She just cherry picked good-sounding evaluations that other people made to appease Luo Nan, and nothing more.


    Luo Nan was well aware of her intentions. He pursed his lips but didn¡¯t respond. He had somewhat of an idea, but he wasn¡¯t certain. He also didn¡¯t want to tell Tian Si.


    This seemingly clear yet not clear realization stimted Luo Nan¡¯s heart. It made him itch to tear down that fuzzy wall around it. No matter the answer, it would possess iparable value for Luo Nan!


    Luo Nan took a step forward, and the tip of his nose pressed into the inner wall of protective ss. He strove to look into the distance. Unfortunately, this tiny step was meaningless rtive to the distance of a dozen kilometers that separated him from his target. All his eyes could see was still a mere general outline. Not a trace of Gear could be seen.


    His eyes were dted to their limits, and the precision of the resolution of his eyes were stillcking. As for the mental ne, he could only barely probe ahead in the void. The distance he could reach was far from what he needed.


    So it came to this. What his vision could see. What his mind could sense. Two different realms. Two different nes. He was unable to precisely locate the target. This put him in quite the tangle, making his mood a mess.


    Luo Nan hit the ss with his forehead; he wanted to calm his mood. Then somemunications came through on his wristband, causing his wristband to vibrate. He wanted to cut it off, but he shot a nce at his wristband before doing so, and the name that entered his eyes shocked him.


    Zhang Yingying.


    Luo Nan had nearly forgotten that he had the number of one member of the Society. Part of the reason was because he had no contact with this person for a long time. He heard that Zhang Yingying went behind closed door training in hopes of advancing her White Rainbow by a level.


    At that moment, Luo Nan was really not in the mood to deal with Zhang Yingying. But Zhang Yingying had specifically changed channels to contact him during the maintenance period of the Psychic Wave Network. He was afraid it was something urgent.


    In the end, he put the call through. Right when he was about to say hello, Zhang Yingying smacked him in the face with some words.


    "Where are you? Are you at school?"


    Luo Nan was stunned for a bit before replying, "What¡¯s going on? I¡¯m not at school. I¡¯m at Cloud City Water Vige."


    "You¡¯re not? Excellent.... Hold on. Cloud City Water Vige. That¡¯s not too far!" Zhang Yingying¡¯s tone rose in pitch. She urgently asked, "What about Xue Lei? Is he with you?"


    Though they were a bit far away from each other, Xue Lei could be considered with Luo Nan.


    Luo Nan grunted in affirmation.


    Zhang Yingying clearly let out a breath of relief. "Whatmunications mode have you set up in your HexaEar? The Secretary asked me for yourmunication number, but was unable to put a call through to you. In the end, she even wanted me to pass on her words.... Do you ever make things easy for people!?"


    Luo Nan sweated a bit. He had set up the HexaEar¡¯s settings in ordance to He Yueyin¡¯s proposal to have him concentrate on his cultivation. He set up the HexaEar in the limitedmunications mode. This made it so that only pre-recorded contacts could call him. He never thought that this would eventuallyplicate an issue.


    Zhang Yingying grumbled a few words, then she deliberately made her tone serious. "Listen carefully to what I¡¯m about to say. I¡¯m passing the Secretary¡¯s words to you."


    "What¡¯s going on?"


    "Trouble¡¯s here! It¡¯s the investigation team from Headquarters. I don¡¯t know what information they heard, but someone probably misled them. Right now they fully believe with all their heart that you are a key yer in the matter in Frost River Reality, that you know a few secrets. They want to get some information from you. Interrogate you."


    "Interrogation? They want to investigate me?" Luo Nan¡¯s mood was already quite fretful. He heard all this and couldn¡¯t help butugh. Where the heck did thise from?


    "Headquarters always does things very bureaucratically. There¡¯s nothing to be surprised about." Zhang Yingying words turned disdainful. Then she snorted. "Of course, these unreasonable requests have all been rejected by President Ouyang. But these people aren¡¯t finished with their evil intentions. They are using the high-level privileges they possess to manufacture a malfunction and force the Psychic Wave Network into maintenance...."


    "And President Ouyang is just letting them cause trouble?"


    "Shut the hell up and listen to me! Time. We don¡¯t have the time, do you understand!? You¡¯re a noob! You don¡¯t even have basic training done! If those elite interrogators get a hold of you, you might cough up everything because you don¡¯t understand what¡¯s going on!"


    Luo Nan asked, baffled, "Hold on a minute. You¡¯re saying that they¡¯ve alreadye looking for me? They¡¯re at the school?"


    "You don¡¯t say! Why else did we call you on the phone with burning urgency? Right this moment Headquarters has already spread people out, though there are probably reinforcements from our Xia City side. For those people, as long as they don¡¯t take your worthless life, it doesn¡¯t matter what excessive measures they take. No matter what repercussions could emerge afterwards, President Ouyang and our boss can¡¯t go so far as to kill them. They¡¯ll get off scot-free."


    Zhang Yingying spoke faster and faster, "On the contrary, as long as you¡¯re under the protection of our branch, they won¡¯t dare to go at things without reservation. They¡¯ll avoid letting things go out of hand. Our branch is truly aplete mess from the loss of connectivity with the Psychic Wave Network. We also don¡¯t know who cane support you first. Luckily, Xue Lei is there. That fellow¡¯s ability is worth cing trust in.


    "So you should go find some ce crowded, stay there with Xue Lei, and not move. No matter who finds you, you absolutely must not go with them if the Secretary hasn¡¯t personally verified that it¡¯s okay. If they want to y hardball, let Xue Lei make his killing moves. All you guys need to do is hold out for at most half an hour and things should be fine. Where¡¯s Xue Lei? Let me talk to him. I¡¯ll make some arrangements."


    "...He¡¯s somewhere on the phone."


    ¡°LUO NAN!¡±


    Zhang Yingying heard Luo Nan¡¯s insincerity atst. She suddenly exploded with rage. "Is now the time to be ying around? Even if you¡¯re a kid who doesn¡¯t understand people, you¡¯ve joined the Society. Please think like an adult in considering problems, okay? We¡¯re not babysitting you to y house with you. You absolutely don¡¯t understand the methods of those bureaucrats from Headquarters! You need to get to Xue Lei¡¯s side right now! RIGHT NOW!"

 Chapter 152: Activation Class (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 152: Activation ss (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    From what Luo Nan could remember, this was the first time Zhang Yingying was truly furious like a raging storm. He was used to herughing and smiling all the time, without a serious appearance at all. This sudden change was quite shocking.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t me Zhang Yingying for being this emotional. During the Society¡¯s training, he chatted a lot with Bamboo Pole and Papercut. Any time the topic involved Headquarters, none of them had practically anything good to say. Luo Nan found this very odd. How could such an organization retain people?


    Papercut gave him the answer. It was because of resources, power, less restrictions, and the like. But Papercut also admitted that all these benefits were as weak as a bubble during serious conflicts of interest.


    Bamboo Pole¡¯s answer was much more flowery. "Not every city is like Xia City."


    Xia City certainly had an excellent andrge environment, but it was no utopia that transcended worldliness. It could be influenced. Recently, the Headquarters¡¯ investigation team roaming in Xia City created an animosity like the one between a chicken and a dog.


    What was truly bizarre was the fact that Headquarters was able to seize the chance to act with malicious intent even under the cold processes and underground measures of vignce arranged by the Xia City branch.


    Luo Nan was not prepared to argue with Zhang Yingying. He changed his train of thought whileunching his own peculiar ways of connecting with people. He didn¡¯t give Xue Lei a call. Instead, he simply unleashed his mental senses.


    Fifty or so floors separated him, who was at the viewing tform, from the party location, which was on the eighty-eighth floor. After he calcted, he figured that the distance ran a straight line that was less than a couple hundred meters. This was within the range of his mental senses.


    Luo Nan easily found Xue Lei on the floor where the party was being held. Then he gave off a subtle mental vibration, and Xue Lei¡¯s martial instincts were immediately on alert. Communication on the mental ne followed after that.


    Since themunication was unidirectional, and Xue Lei wasn¡¯t used to this method, Luo Nan didn¡¯t spend too much time going deep into detail. Xue Lei was able to tell just how serious the situation was, even though Luo Nan was notifying him via this method. He immediately said a few words to Xiu Shenyu, hung up the phone, and rushed to get to Luo Nan.


    At the same time, Zhang Yingying pped her thigh because she didn¡¯t hear Luo Nan immediately respond to her. "Do you understand what I¡¯m talking about at all...."


    "I already notified Xue Lei. He¡¯s heading up here right now. You can give him a call and get in contact with him."


    Zhang Yingying was stunned for a moment, then she recollected her meaningless emotions in the blink of an eye and asked, "How many floors away is he? Forget it. I¡¯ll just ask him. Also, your mental senses should be activated right now, right? You have a sensing range of eighty meters. That should be enough. Remember, this is a matter of life and death. You must hold on no matter what. You have to keep your eye out for any suspicious targets.... Don¡¯t hang up. I¡¯ll open parallelmunications."


    Luo Nan grunted in acknowledgment as he heard the quick exchange between Zhang Yingying and Xue Lei in his ear and as his mental senses noiselessly covered a vast area of a kilometer in radius.


    The lustrousndscape of the star river unfurled in his mind.


    It covered nearly a hundred and seventy floors from the underground space of Ocean Sky Cloud City and up. The Life Sketches of tens of thousands of livings beings lityer byyer, formed from stars and filling the sky. They were numerous and close together. In truth, most of these Life Sketches could be ignored. Luo Nan justbed through the areas where his mental senses could not prate.


    The answer came quickly and was beyond his expectations.


    It was the high-speed elevator he was just on.... The elevator next to it. There spiraled a mass of hazy dark mist. A few stars flickered in and out of sight.


    Right now, the suspicious elevator had already reached the 130th floor, the office area of some multinationalpany. Some people had called for the elevator, hence the temporary stop. But soon, the elevator resumed moving upward.


    Luo Nan sighed, "Not good."


    Zhang Yingying immediately asked, "What happened?"


    "Actually, there¡¯s someone heading up here. Someone with unknown strength."


    "Avoid him. Employ your advantage in sensing. Don¡¯t face him head on. If the enemy also has a sensing ability and you can¡¯t shake him off, then go inside a crowd. Don¡¯t give those guys a chance to make a move."


    Luo Nan looked around the viewing tform, and his lips upturned into a silent, wry grin. At present, very few people loitered on the viewing tform. The so-called ¡¯crowd¡¯ didn¡¯t exist. Even if it did, Luo Nan was absolutely unwilling to use innocent people as shields.


    In the end, he casted his gaze up at the darkening sky. No matter what would happen today, it would be hard to unearth any new secrets of Gear. Speaking of which, it seemed that he didn¡¯t inherit an ¡¯intuitive instinct¡¯ in his blood.... He was unqualified to be his parents¡¯ son!


    Wasn¡¯t that right?


    Thepletely unreasonable thought churned the emotions in his heart a few times. He smacked the protective ss hard, giving Tian Si quite a surprise.


    "Junior?"


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t exin what was on his mind to her. He simply said, "We¡¯re going."


    Tian Si was stunned. Luo Nan was acting very strangely right then, but she was clever and knew wiser than to say anything. She gave a faint grunt and adopted the submissive attitude of a retainer following a lord.


    Zhang Yingying also found things strange on her end. "You¡¯re leading someone? Who?"


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t answer. He led Tian Si toward the elevator area withrge strides. Taking into ount the speed of the elevator, he had a chance to break away from the unidentified fellow.


    But he only walked halfway there when new elements appeared within the range of his mental senses.


    Luo Nan suddenly stopped walking.


    His mental senses were focused inside the crystal pir. This enormous pir was a hundred and twenty meters in diameter. It housed thousands upon thousands of species of marine life, but 99% were muddled and hazy in his mental senses. Their Life Sketches were scattered and could simply be ignored.


    The sole exception was the devil ray. It was a Mutant with a powerful and dense aura, and it didn¡¯t really know how to conceal itself. Most of its Life Sketch revealed itself outside nebe. It was very eye-catching, standing above the crowd.


    Because of this, Luo Nan suddenly discovered that this huge fellow had broken away from the middle-depths region of water it liked to stay in. It was advancing straight up, moving even faster than the high-speed elevator.


    Originally, the monster fish was located around thirty floors below the undercover suspicious character. But by the time Luo Nan unleashed his mental irvoyance, the monster fish¡¯s height broke the 130th floor in the blink of an eye. Its speed wasn¡¯t slowing down at all!


    Luo Nan was more vignt toward something else though. Next to thisrge fellow was another mass of hazy dark mist excellently concealing something. If it were not for the brightness of the monster fish¡¯s Life Sketch, asionally revealing that something¡¯s extraordinariness, Luo Nan would have truly neglected it.


    This was not some marine being. It was a living person.


    This couldn¡¯t be good. Luo Nan immediately changed directions and urgently asked, "Are there elevators that don¡¯t pass through Heavenly Ocean Lake?"


    There were 60 high-speed elevators in Ocean Sky Cloud City. It was aplicated structure. Luo Nan¡¯s star river image wasn¡¯t particrly apt at discerning inanimate objects. Luo Nan was desperate, so he had asked.


    "There are." Tian Si¡¯s response was worthy of praise. She had done her homework ahead of time, and it showed. She instantly pointed to the west side of the viewing tform. ¡°The row of them there all are."


    "Walk faster. We¡¯ll split once we get there."


    Tian Si practically went into a small jog from being urged on by Luo Nan. She was a bit out of breath. "Did Ju Maoxun and his gange up here? Sorry, I was just...."


    "It has nothing to do with you." Luo Nan had Tian Si eat her words.


    "Wow, you¡¯re quite the show off! If you have the mood to talk, you have the mood to walk, okay?" Zhang Yingying pressured him through the call, mocking him. Truth was, she was angry to the point of stomping. "Don¡¯t pretend as if you don¡¯t have the skills.... Xue Lei, faster!"


    Xue Lei¡¯s hurried voice could be heard. "I¡¯ming from the outside."


    Luo Nan provided new information with revised positions of him and the enemy. "I reached the west side of the building. I will provide updates at any given time. One enemy is in the central elevator. The other is in the crystal pir."


    While speaking, Luo Nan took out a thumb-sized bottle from his pocket. He unscrewed the cap with a single hand, shook it, and threw it behind him.


    The bottle fell to the ground. It sounded like it was empty.


    Tian Si waspletely lost. She didn¡¯t understand what Luo Nan was doing at all. However, Luo Nan spoke over the phone with a tone that was full of the vor of crisis that soldiers faced before a vicious battle. Luo Nan¡¯s voice stabbed into her, causing her to break out in cold sweat.


    In the end, Tian Si was an intelligent person who valued her life. She didn¡¯t speak, but she secretly opened themunication function of her wristband. She hesitated for half a second as she decided who she should contact before making up her mind.


    However, there was no response with themunications.


    Tian Si¡¯s brain was struck dumb. She walked with a lost mind and didn¡¯t look where she was going. Her high-heels didn¡¯tnd correctly on the steps going down the tform, and she staggered. Luckily, Luo Nan caught her.


    Luo Nan extended a helping hand, but his feet didn¡¯t stop moving in the slightest. He half-dragged Tian Si as they walked forward. In such circumstances, even if he didn¡¯t utter a word, the pressing feeling of danger felt like being wrapped in a thundering rain cloud. It loomed heavy and oppressive, terrifying to one¡¯s soul.


    Tian Si¡¯s face went pale. She spoke not a word as she dimly walked seven steps. Only then did she break free from Luo Nan¡¯s support. Her hand grabbed her drawing board deathly tight with a white-knuckled grip.


    The two people walked in this manner toward the west side elevator area and encountered quite a coincidence. Luo Nan didn¡¯t even press the elevator button, and an elevator just so happened to arrive. The bell rang with a ding!, and the metal doors opened.


    Currently, Tian Si¡¯s mind was just nk. She simply followed her instinct as she walked forward, but Luo Nan yanked her back. She immediately lost her bnce, and her petite figure fell backward onto Luo Nan¡¯s shoulder, pushing them both further away from the elevator.


    Tian Si gave a faint gasp as the drawing board slipped through her fingers and fell to the ground. The drawing board got stepped on by both Tian Si and Luo Nan as they moved backward. Let alone being dirtied, the drawing board was now cracked.


    But at this moment, Tian Si was already unable to deal with these details.


    A man slowly walked out after the elevator doors opened. He wore a security uniform, and he wielded a police baton in his hand. The electrical switch was already flipped on, and the baton pulsated with the sound of crackling. This new type of police baton had an ¡¯electric whip¡¯ effect. Sparks could be seen shing around it.


    From Tian Si¡¯s perspective, the jumping electric arcs truly possessed an enormous deterring might.


    He was a security officer. Why wasn¡¯t she asking for help?


    It was because of this man¡¯s face. It made her blood run cold from his strange look. Dted pupils. Stiff flesh. The snot and tears that ran down. Everything of him looked filled to the brim with terror.


    But the corner of the man¡¯s mouth split and twitched upward. If one were to just look at this portion, it looked like the man was grinning.


    This face had been forcefully jammed withpletely opposite emotions. From Tian Si¡¯s perspective, this scene was far more horrifying than the devil fish ramming into the crystal pir a moment ago.


    The electric baton was real, to say the least.


    "He¡¯s gone mad!" Tian Si murmured.


    Her voice fell, and a devilish chuckle bubbled from the mad security officer¡¯s throat. The man lunged with great force. He charged over, waving the electric baton.


    Tian Si let out a gasp of a cry, and she shrank behind Luo Nan. Right after she hid within Luo Nan¡¯s shadow, she heard the muffled sound of something heavy smashing to the ground. Then a ttering rolling sound.


    Luo Nan¡¯s body stood firm, moving not an inch and blocking the space ahead. As Tian Si did her best to calm her breathing, she dimly heard Luo Nan mutter.


    "So there is a way to distort consciousness.... How fortunate."

 Chapter 152: Activation Class (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 152: Activation ss (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Tian Si couldn¡¯t understand what Luo Nan was saying at all. She just saw the mad security guard fall face first to the ground. The police baton fell from the man¡¯s hand, and it rolled to their feet.


    She instinctively wanted to pick up the baton and use it to protect herself. She bent over, but Luo Nan kicked the baton away.


    "Don¡¯t waste time. You take this elevator and go first."


    Luo Nan urged Tian Si to move faster. Tian Si hesitated slightly, but came out from behind Luo Nan. She was heading right toward the elevator when another ding! rang out. A second elevator arrived, and its position was right next to the previous one.


    Tian Si walked a step forward, leading Luo Nan by half a body. She then raised her head and saw the previous scene... but with twice the amount of people. Two security officers wore the same expressions as they came out of the elevator. One of them even wielded a riot gun.


    Tian Si stared into the pitch-ck muzzle of the gun. Her vermilion lips spread open, but she was unable to utter a sound. Fear was strangling her throat, and this time she didn¡¯t have the chance to hide. But because of this, the scene was projected clearly into her pupils which were dted from fear. The two mad security officers¡¯ eyes rolled white, and they fell to the ground.


    She made not a sound over the entire course of events. It was as if she turned mute. The people atop the viewing tform had yet to be aware of what happened, but the more things transpired like this, the more the elements of strangeness and mystery seeped into the bottom of her heart.


    Tian Si unconsciously covered her mouth with her hand. Her ice-cold palm felt a bit of warmth from her breath. This allowed her to confirm that she still lived in the world of reality. But why? Why was she suddenly thrust into this level of conflict?


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t have the leisure to ponder the thoughts of a woman. At that point in time, Tian Si became still, unable to move. Luo Nan gave her a light push and said, "Go!"


    Tian Si chewed on her lip as she nervously strode two steps forth. But something happened at this moment. She heard the faint sound of the elevator suddenly stopping, and the entire row of elevators¡¯ disy screens lost their lights.


    The power had been cut off. The metal doors automatically closed, blocking Tian Si outside.


    Whether it was Tian Si or Luo Nan, both were instantly shocked. Then Luo Nan smiled a mere half a secondter. It can¡¯t be discerned whether or not he wasughing. "The enemy is certainly prepared."


    His voice hung in the air, and a heavy vibration came passing over. The ground beneath their feet shook slightly. They clearly felt a tremor.


    "Earthquake?" This was the first thought that came to Tian Si¡¯s mind. Xia City had already endured over a month of earthquakes. But then a second wave of vibration followed closely after. With it came the roaring sound of water, which was clearlying from the direction of the Heavenly Ocean Lake.


    The few tourists on the viewing tform werepletely astonished. Some people stuck their heads toward the Heavenly Ocean Lake. Some even walked over.


    Tian Si looked that way as well, but she was pulled away by Luo Nan. "Let¡¯s go to the fire escape passageway."


    Luo Nan no longer ced concern upon the failed elevators. He quickly decided a direction, walked briskly a few steps, and grabbed the confused Tian Si behind him. He wanted her to follow him.


    In a daze, Tian Si followed him for a few steps and stepped over one of the copsed bodies of the mad security officers. This time she didn¡¯t stumble, but she was stimted instead. After all, when things reach an extreme, they could only move in the opposite direction. Her mind became much clearer. She thought of something, stopped moving, and bent over to pick up the riot gun on the ground.


    ng ng.


    A foot came streaking across. It brushed against Tian Si¡¯s fingertips and kicked the riot gun several meters away.


    Tian Si¡¯s heart instantly throbbed. All herplicated and chaotic emotions were stuffed in there to the point of exploding. She suddenly stood up and faced Luo Nan with a courage that came out of who knew where. She shouted, but she still subconsciously suppressed her voice. "I need a weapon to defend myself, okay!?"


    Luo Nan simply said, "I¡¯m not using it, and you can¡¯t use it either."


    "Based on what!?"


    "I recently took a course that covered situations simr to the one we¡¯re in now. Nonbatants shouldn¡¯t wield deadly weapons. If they do, the first to be harmed would likely be me."


    Tian Si knew that she shouldn¡¯t get angry, but she couldn¡¯t stand having her dignity trampled on. She raised her voice. "I¡¯ve taken military training before. I won¡¯t hurt you by ident.... Or are you saying, that you¡¯re worried that I¡¯ll shoot you in the back when you¡¯re not looking?"


    "With the enemy possessing some kind of control ability, there is always the chance."


    Having said this, Luo Nan slightly raised his wrist. He asked through the wristband opened inmunications, "The enemy can control normal people, and the controller can have his victims move however he wants. The victims possess strange emotions. What sort of ability is this?"


    Zhang Yingying instantly responded with the user of this ability, "It¡¯s Puppeteer! He¡¯s a member of the investigation team. He¡¯s a master in advanced hypnosis. He has the ability to control living beings withplicated minds. Aside from people, he can control higher intelligent beasts or Mutants, as long as he doesn¡¯t get eaten by them."


    "He¡¯s the one in the crystal pir. I can confirm it."


    Zhang Yingying snorted coldly. "Stay away from that stupid woman if you want to live. You should have split from her from the beginning...."


    Luo Nan prompted Tian Si to follow him. Then heughed. "The enemy has made ample preparations. I may have to deal with a hostage threat situation. It is better for her to be by my side. It gives me peace of mind."


    "Are you fond of her?"


    "Who knows~? In any case, we should try to avoid risks."


    Zhang Yingying choked on her words before angrily saying, "I¡¯m just afraid that you can¡¯t protect her, and she bes a hostage threat like you said."


    "That¡¯s just a problem of ability."


    Luo Nan locked onto two threat targets via his mental senses as he cautiously observed the surrounding situation. At the same time, he talked with Zhang Yingying and devoted a bit of mental energy in watching Tian Si.


    Many lines of operation. Many sides to pay attention to. This was a bitter task for anyone, but Luo Nan could handle it. He was able to do all these neatly in apletely non-chaotic manner.


    In fact, Luo Nan¡¯s brain had truly be much clearer through thest ten days of cultivation. He went through lessons and exchanges with Yueyin, Bamboo Pole, Papercut, and the others. They tacitly wanted him to understand explicitly several matters ofmon sense and norms. This was to prepare him for times when decisions needed to be made. Which essential elements that needed to be considered. What could be ignored. Luo Nan gained a fixed set of rules regarding this.


    There was also his cultivation with the heartntern of the eyes orifice. Even if he had yet to reach steady progression in it, his aplishments were already enough to advance his reaction and coordination ability by leaps and bounds. No matter what situation he faced, he would find it much easier than before. He had a fixed set of rules he could follow.


    He even devoted a bit of mental effort to Xue Lei. "Leister, steady yourself a bit. Don¡¯t charge too fiercely."


    "No problem. I¡¯m around the 110th floor. I¡¯ll be there soon." Xue Lei¡¯s breathing remained rtively steady, but he was clearly in a nervous mood.


    Luo Nan calmed him. "No need to be so tense. I¡¯ve already dealt with three of them. This move of Puppeteer¡¯s is useless against me."


    He arrived at the fire escape passageway as he spoke. Just as he was about to push the door open, he sensed that something was wrong. His heartntern of the eyes orifice faintly shed, and he withdrew his arm immediately. There was a dark green beetle atop the handle of the door. Itshed out with its de-pincers, seeking to stab Luo Nan¡¯s fingers, but missing by a hair.


    The de-pincers had a sharp point, serrated inner edges, and glowed with a lush green. Luo Nan suspected that the result of being stabbed by it wouldn¡¯t be pretty.


    The strike had missed. The beetle, which was the size of a fist, buzzed, spread its wings, and cleaved down toward his face.


    Amid Tian Si¡¯s startled cry, Luo Nan swung the loose-leaf folder in his other hand like a fly swatter. It whistled in the air, and the dark green beetle jumped up and avoided it. Then the beetle pounced down, disying intelligence inconceivable for an insect.


    It seemed as if Luo Nan could not block the beetle, having swung with full force and missed. But a thin piece of paper drifted out of Luo Nan¡¯s loose-leaf notebook. The paper was within the beetle¡¯s attack trajectory, and it transformed in the air. It contracted like a spring and exploded open to reveal a small figure. It flew down from up high with a flying kick to knock the beetle far away.


    The sole move exhausted all of its strength, and the small figure fell atop Luo Nan¡¯s shoulder. It was a paper man the size of a palm. Its four limbs were of equal sizes, and its face was indistinct. It was just a thin piece of paper, but it adopted a boxing stance. It appeared quite lively in its oddness.


    The series of changes happened as rapidly as a falcon swooping down the instant a hare rose. Tian Si only cried out in rm at this moment.


    Things were far from over. The beetle, which was knocked flying, shook a bit before pouncing back over while approximately seven beetles came flying through the slit of the door to the fire escape passageway. They appeared to be cast from the same mold. They buzzed with their wings and zoomed over all at once. They formed an oppressive mass of darkness, and it made one¡¯s scalp go numb from simply looking at them.


    Luo Nan hurriedly retreated, bringing Tian Si along with him.


    A hair earlier, the small paper man atop his shoulder had soared to the skies. It cast the figure of a courageous fighting master as it faced the enemy head on. It possessed no fear as its fists punched and its legs kicked. Its strikes were heavy, for it sent three of the beetles flying one after another, stopping the momentum of the beetle assault.


    But no matter how brave and tenacious the small paper man was, it was at a disadvantage in numbers. Its body was in no way inferior to the pack of beetles, but the few were no match for the many. Plus, it didn¡¯t possess the ability to fly. It had to push off the beetles in order to stay in the air, so it had limited movement. Soon it was in dire circumstances, and one of its arms was torn off to drift to the ground.


    Luckily, the beetles¡¯ reactions weren¡¯t that keen nor shrewd. The small paper man¡¯s aura confused them, and they dropped to the ground to crowd around the arm. The small size of the target made it so that only a few of the beetles could get to it at once. This gave the small paper man time to recover.


    Luo Nan continued to withdraw. His gaze never left the small battlefield as he asked, "Is controlling beetles also one of Puppeteer¡¯s skills?"


    "...." Zhang Yingying didn¡¯t immediately respond.


    "Hello?"


    A sharp honk rang out. Zhang Yingying had smacked down hard, sounding her car¡¯s horn. She was rushing over here and was suddenly startled by Luo Nan¡¯s words. She couldn¡¯t control herself as she furiously said, "It¡¯s ck Beetle. That asshole! He has a conscience even smaller than a beetle¡¯s."


    "ck Beetle?"


    Luo Nan recalled that fellow. It seemed that he, Zhang Yingying, Bamboo Pole, and a few others belonged to the same gaming group. During the operation to stop the Human-Faced Arachnid at Limestone Water Vige Pub, ck Beetle had left just because he hated the blunt way He Yueyin talked to him. After that event, he received a bad evaluation for his contribution to the operation. He took it out on Luo Nan, calling him on the phone and threatening him.


    It was really unknown how Zhang Yingying and the others could y with someone with this personality.


    At present, this person had already made his move, and it was made against Luo Nan. ck Beetle¡¯s stance was very clear.


    Zhang Yingying went silent for several seconds after speaking. Her voice lowered to a whisper. She didn¡¯t mention personal matters; she just said, "Don¡¯t look at him as a sorcerer. Pay attention to his close-quarter attacks. His speed isn¡¯t fast, but he makes weird changes. He possesses explosive strength, and he has many malicious techniques."


    Luo Nan¡¯s gaze scanned across the mass of beetles. "That¡¯s really bad. Right, is he an activation ss?"


    "What?" Zhang Yingying didn¡¯t understand for a time.


    "Soul strength activation. What Papercut is proficient in. Aren¡¯t people divided into ¡¯control ss¡¯ and ¡¯activation ss¡¯? He looks quite like an activation ss to me."


    Zhang Yingying still didn¡¯t understand what Luo Nan was getting at. She just said, "Correct, he¡¯s an activation ss. However, I want you to be wary of his close-quarters attacks. That¡¯s what¡¯s most effective against you."


    "I know."


    Luo Nan gave a casual reply, his gaze never leaving the cloud of beetles. At the same time, Luo Nan made a subtle adjustment in the precision of his mental senses. He locked dead on to the owner of the cloud of beetles. The enemy¡¯s elevator had already arrived at the 142nd floor.

 Chapter 153: Advantages and Disadvantages (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 153: Advantages and Disadvantages (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan¡¯s attitude in his response was not what Zhang Yingying wanted out of him at all. She smacked her steering wheel once more. "You¡¯re ying things down too d*mn much. Haven¡¯t you been taking sses this whole time!? You don¡¯t even understand how to analyze the factors in victory or defeat. What are you ying at!? What did the Secretary teach you when all is said and done?"


    "I learned a bit. The most basic principle is to analyze the advantages and disadvantages for the enemy and myself. The idea is to y to one¡¯s strengths while grasping the enemy¡¯s weak points to pressure them into desperation and death. Also...."


    "Also?"


    "Also, one must have absolute confidence in one¡¯s advantages. One absolutely cannot lose their imposing aura."


    "That¡¯s just a cebo that bastard Crag Burst poured into you, okay!?"


    "It¡¯s amazing!"


    Luo Nan expressed his admiration very sincerely, but this made Zhang Yingying look upward in anger. She really wanted to lift this kid by the ear and give him a lesson, but now was not the time for nonsense. She could only grit her teeth, suppress her temper, and exin thingsyer byyer.


    "Let me tell you. Your advantages liepletely in long range techniques. And mostly on the mental ne. The ck Beetle you are facing right now knows you in and out. Plus, his strength far exceeds yours. Mental senses and simr foresights are half-useless. You have mental attack techniques, right? They look quite decent, but if the enemy is prepared, it wouldn¡¯t be hard for them to execute responsive measures.... They¡¯ve already gone to this degree, so they won¡¯t be scared to put in a bit more effort."


    Luo Nan seriously listened to Zhang Yingying¡¯s analysis, but he did not express an opinion. In the end, he just hung his head slightly down, closed his eyes, and breathed to adjust his mental state. When he opened his eyes, he simply said,


    "I¡¯ll do my best not to confront them head on."


    "You...."


    ¡°I¡¯ve reached the 125th floor," Xue Lei spontaneously interrupted them, reminding them that action was better than talk. Further time wasted on this squabble would allow ck Beetle toe killing over.


    "Roger."


    Luo Nan gave him a short response. From beginning to end, regardless of Xue Lei or the two dangerous targets, they were all within the range of his senses. Luo Nan grasped each of their actions, and he was even able to estimate specific numbers.


    "Puppeteer led the devil ray to ram against the wall. ck Beetle just got out of the elevator. The straight line distance is fifty-five meters and they¡¯re advancing at a uniform velocity. There aren¡¯t any routes that are better. Move straight ahead!"


    The first part of his speech was directed toward Zhang Yingying. Thest three words were an order for Tian Si to dash inside the fire escape passageway. He even gave her a push.


    "But, the bugs...." Tian Si¡¯s hairs stood on end when she looked at the dozen of ugly beetles piled atop each other. But she was quite strong-willed; her legs didn¡¯t go weak.


    "Better than dealing with people."


    Although he said this, Luo Nan shook his notebook and its pages spread apart, allowing another small paper man to jump out. It traveled outside the pile of beetles to help itspanion break down the pressure and caused the battle to be livelier.


    Tian Si couldn¡¯tugh at all when seeing this miniature,ical battle. The series of strange events, starting from the mad security officers, gripped her heart from beginning to end. Luo Nan would asionally cast her a nce, and this made her heart beat faster.... This was mostly because of fear.


    But she remembered everything that Luo Nan had said through his wristband. This young man, who was around six years younger than her, didn¡¯t hide anything. All his apprehensions and thoughts were open and level. Luo Nan¡¯s calmness as he pondered the situation gave off a sense of tolerance and kindness. These attributes showed clearly.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t want her to be taken hostage, but this didn¡¯t mean that feelings existed between the two. He just wanted to avoid trouble. However, a truly ruthless person wouldn¡¯t have considered this at all.


    Tian Si thought of ¡¯that person¡¯, the person she tried to contact in secret. After the situation escted, Tian Si had tried countless times to contact that person. The call was unable to go through. She waspletely offline. Compared to Luo Nan, that person was more likely to manifest a callous, deep core behind those exquisite features.


    It was quite odd for Tian Si to be able to think of all this in such dire circumstances. Perhaps this was a woman¡¯s gift?


    Several thoughts and emotions churned in her mind before Tian Si let out a self-mockingugh. A bit of calmness had reappeared in this constantly hazy and confusing situation. She stopped doing meaningless things, like hesitating, doubting, holding her breath, and so on. She cautiously headed straight forward toward the fire escape passageway.


    The two small paper men were tangled in a clump with the beetles, but this meant that the path to the fire escape passageway was clear. Luo Nan and Tian Si walked a few paces. A bit of restlessness appeared when they passed the mass of beetles.


    Tian Si instinctively shivered, and Luo Nan promptly reminded her. "Don¡¯t pay attention to them!"


    Tian Si saw that she was only a few steps away from the door to the fire escape passageway. She simply closed her eyes and reached out with her arms. The speed of her legs didn¡¯t slow but instead quickened. Her hand touched the door in the span of a breath. The beetles she was so concerned about didn¡¯t turn around ande after her. The staircase was dusky, and there weren¡¯t more than a few of the beetles.


    Luo Nan held the door open behind her, but he didn¡¯t go inside. He just faced Tian Si and said, "Head straight down. Don¡¯t think about the matter regarding the elevator."


    "We¡¯re not going together?" Tian Si¡¯s words didn¡¯t receive a response from Luo Nan at all. The teenager before her eyes had long since turned around to intensely watch the situation atop the viewing tform. His body leaned against the half-opened door. His back was slightly bent so that he could spring into action at any time.


    Tian Si hesitated a bit once again, but before Luo Nan could speak, a muffled explosion sounded at the viewing tform. The noise was enough to shake one¡¯s heart. Screams weaved within the deep and heavy sound.


    A powerful jet of water sprayed from the middle of Heavenly Ocean Lake. The water rushed to the dome above, sweeping all the hanging decorations down to the ground.


    What was more shocking was the enormous shadow within the jet of water. It seemed to push off the dome in a flip to heavilynd. The pool of water fiercely rushed forth, spraying the surrounding disys. The tourists who were spurred by curiosity to surround the swimming pool and watch themotion were knocked unsteadily. Some of them even fell into the water. They cried one after another.


    The viewing tform was now a chaotic mess.


    "He has considerable strength.... You¡¯re still not leaving?"


    Tian Si watched, stupefied when faced with this scene. Only when Luo Nan reminded her did she finally understand that she was a meaningless character in this scene of crisis. She gritted her teeth, turned around, and hurriedly went down the stairs. Her heels cked against the ground, and soon she disappeared without a trace.


    Puppeteer¡¯s methods turned the viewing tform into aplete mess, but the beetles in front of the fire escape passageway became restless as well.


    It was as if their intelligence instantly soared up by two levels. Most of the beetles flew up, and this allowed the paper men, who couldn¡¯t fly, to dispose of the rest.


    The highly intelligent beetles of the bunch broke free from the stupid situation. They seized the opportunity to locate their true target. A dozen pairs ofpound eyes locked on Luo Nan standing in front of the door to the fire escape passageway. They made a slight adjustment, buzzed, and swarmed over. The oppressive darkness gave off the vibe of a horror film.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t respond immediately. His gaze didn¡¯t even rest upon the mass of beetles. His gaze pierced through them to fall onto a certain someone on the viewing tform.


    The imposing aura of the devil ray made the viewing tform aplete mess. Of the crowd of tourists, some held their heads in their hands. Some ran away. There were a few unfortunate people who were struggling in the water.


    Only Luo Nan had his gaze rested on that person. The man wore ck clothes that gave off the air of an investigator. He paired them with a gaudy tie, and he had one hand in his pocket. He sauntered over and was on apletely different wavelength than the other people on the viewing tform.


    Although his pace was leisurely, his speed was actually extremely fast. It was as if he possessed a technique that shrank distance. He disyed outstanding body control and coordination.


    This man was none other than ck Beetle.


    Currently, ck Beetle and Luo Nan were merely forty meters apart from each other. A trained and experienced ability user could easily identify the target at this distance.


    ck Beetle sted Luo Nan with augh. The rainbow stripes engraved on his ck teeth sent an aberrant and sinister force through the air.


    The assaulting swarm of beetles had their speed increased by several dozen percent.


    Luo Nan¡¯s eyes closed halfway, and the imminent crisis seemed to blur with ayer of mist. His vision wasn¡¯t clear, but his heartntern shimmered within the shrine that was his brain, revealing the flying trajectory of every beetle and even predicting their movements.


    The trajectories crossed and extended, as an invisible spider web wasid out.


    Luo Nan was situated in the center of this spider web. Any movement made by any beetle was reflected in his mind. They crawled on this spider web.


    The beetles slowed down when they hit the spider web.


    It wasn¡¯t that the beetles¡¯ speed had reduced; the beetles¡¯ extent of movement was lowered by a level thanks to the predictive nature of Luo Nan¡¯s judgment and awareness.


    This was a newly learned skill. This was an application of the heartntern of the eyes orifice.


    At the same time, this skill had fused into his innate mental senses and was disying its utility.


    The flying beetles were just as Luo Nan had judged. Realistically speaking, they were no different than his paper men on the ground. They were all merely mediums of the activation of soul strength. They were core vehicles. They were operational structures of energy and information.


    Under the irvoyance of Luo Nan¡¯s mental senses, the special configurations of each and every beetle¡¯s body were revealed. There existed a slight difference with the pyramid shape he was most familiar with, but Papercut¡¯s lectures had touched upon several of those fundamental morphing patterns.


    Therefore, on the ne visible to the naked eye, the changing core structure of the numerous beetles was tied to a certain rhythm. All this entered Luo Nan¡¯s irvoyance. Not a hair was missing as they were projected into his mind.


    And so, Luo Nan¡¯s mental senses blended together with the illumination of his heartntern. The spider web originally involved only the movement of material bodies, but several more facets were incorporated all of a sudden. They were numerous and close together, and they piledyer uponyer.


    The beetles¡¯ flying assault immediately slowed by a factor once more.


    In the realm of reaction, being slower by a beat was tantamount to being slower by a world of difference. Luo Nan¡¯s situation was far more extreme.


    Various changes caused synchronized reactions to form in the control center of Luo Nan¡¯s body, and Luo Nan performed responses in ordance to the level of danger. Luo Nan stepped to the side, let go of the door to the fire escape, and added a bit more force to the automatic spring of the door.


    This was a series of simple actions. The rarest thing about them was how clear it was. It wasn¡¯t messy at all, and it had a leisurely air to it. It was the embodiment of full body coordination.


    Half of the results of Luo Nan¡¯s ten days of cultivation in the heartntern of the eyes orificey in here.


    The door heavily closed, and the beetles¡¯ inability to dodge in time through the ss of the door could be witnessed. They collided into the door, sounding like the pelting of hail. The sound was quite crisp.


    Of course, this wasn¡¯t enough to stop them.


    Although these beetles weren¡¯t made of steel, a few impacts like these weren¡¯t enough to hurt them. Luo Nan wasn¡¯t hoping for this blow to be sessful; he just wanted to use the door to block them as he ran down the stairs.


    He still had his eyes half-closed as he ran. The invisible spider web revolved around him in the void.


    There it was right above him on the mental ne he was oh so familiar with. A vicious and ugly shadow heeded his call and emerged by his side. It was in the center of the spider web as well. Its six eyes circted with light as it absorbed information in all directions. It was the executioner that took out the three mad security officers a moment ago.


    Human-Faced Arachnid.


    It unleashed its siege hammer attack in the next instant.

 Chapter 299: Advantages and Disadvantages (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 299: Advantages and Disadvantages (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    The Human-Faced Arachnid Luo Nan wielded wasn¡¯t a native type. Its originsy in the Faith Products developed by the Order of Justice. Luo Nan had personally made a high-imitation version of itter on. The one he had made and used back in Faith Product was quite convenient. Unfortunately, An Weng had destroyed it.


    Luo Nan had forgotten about this matter with the passage of time. Before returning back to work, Fairchild actually had someone deliver a small bottle of raw materials to Luo Nan. Luo Nan didn¡¯t know what Fairchild was thinking; he didn¡¯t expect this at all. This bottle was the same metal bottle Luo Nan had thrown to the ground a moment ago. Of course, the practical application of infusing the substance in the bottle with some negative emotions was not hard at all for Luo Nan.


    It wouldn¡¯t be easy for Luo Nan to summon his first Human-Faced Arachnid, the Wraith Sign, for it was within the Bloodme Order. The imitation Human-Faced Arachnid Luo Nan just made could serve as a substitute.


    Earlier, the Human-Faced Arachnid followed along Luo Nan¡¯s mental senses in locking on to all threat targets. The reason why it didn¡¯t make a move was because of a shaky feeling Luo Nan had when observing via the Life Sketches. It was like the premonition an experienced hunter got right before they pulled the trigger.


    As matters stood, no matter how bad Luo Nan¡¯s premonition was, now was not the time for hesitation.


    With a mere thought, the Human-Faced Arachnid spewed an invisible seismic wave. It went through the insectscking the light of intelligence and prated the barrier that was the fleshly body to bombard against ck Beetle¡¯s pressing soul.


    The attack struck dead on. A spasm could be seen upon the beetles¡¯ bodies, and the approaching man slowed a bit, but that was all. He became stunned for only a moment before his head tilted a bit to the side. The gaze behind those sunsses seemed to be able to prate through the structure of the building and fall on Luo Nan¡¯s body.


    Alright, Zhang Yingying¡¯s jinx hade true. Luo Nan¡¯s long range attack wasn¡¯t effective.


    This wasn¡¯t a rare urrence. Luo Nan encountered many instances where the siege hammer attack was ineffective. The Human-Faced Arachnids wreaked havoc in Xia City for nearly a month, and effective means to counter them were gradually known. Various powers centered on the many functions that the Human-Faced Arachnids yielded. The Order of Justice was even able to produce Faith Products. It was very usible that others had prepared simr mental defenses against the Human-Faced Arachnid.


    Luo Nan was startled for only a moment. He didn¡¯t get dismayed or flustered. At that moment, he already reached the 141st floor. He slightly hesitated in the stairwell before walking out of the fire escape.


    No other people could be seen on this floor. The lit public areas of this building were mostly centered on the crystal pir, emitting a dreamlike deep blue light. Luo Nan¡¯s gaze nced over. The water rippled with waves, not at all still, but the magnitude of the vibrations had lessened. No image of the devil ray could be found within Luo Nan¡¯s field of vision.


    Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts spun in his head. His feet didn¡¯t stop as he walked straight forward along the edge of the crystal pir. He moved quickly toward the elevators of the central area. The series of movements consumed quite the amount of physical energy. His breathing became a bit unsteady.


    Luo Nan just reached the middle area of the crystal pir when two loud thuds sounded out in the stairwell behind him. The sliding doors opened up a mere two secondster, and ck Beetle walked out withrge strides, wearing a suit. He let out a sharp whistle in mockery.


    Luo Nan immediately turned around to look at this man head on.


    ck Beetle¡¯s external appearance wasn¡¯t a surprise to Luo Nan. Luo Nan had long since memorized this man¡¯s facial details very clearly through the use of his mental senses. If Luo Nan had to say that something was different about this man, he would point out the flying group of beetles revolving around the man¡¯s body, as well as the two paper men squeezed in his hand.


    Clearly, it was hard to use the paper men effectively against an ability user like ck Beetle.


    ck Beetle¡¯s feet didn¡¯t stop moving. The flesh of his face half-covered by sunsses pulsated in movement. His lips split to reveal ck teeth engraved with lines. Luo Nan was stupefied for a moment before understanding that this was ck Beetle¡¯s smile. "We meet for the first time, kid. I did make an appointment with you before...."


    "The curses and words of tasteless trash venting through the phone." Luo Nan was quite frank in telling ck Beetle his impression of him.


    Having his self-introduction be interrupted, a green air sudden spawned upon ck Beetle¡¯s face, and the patterns on his ck teeth moved back and forth. At the same time, ck Beetle exerted force with his fingers, kneading the dying paper men. Soon, they lost their shapes as they were ground to dust, and the dust fell between ck Beetle¡¯s fingers.


    Luo Nan¡¯s eyes twitched. Ten days of bitter effort, half-gone.


    ck Beetle pped his hands upon seeing what Luo Nan was looking at, flicking off thest scraps of paper. His gaze looked straight at Luo Nan from behind a pair of sunsses. "You have quite the quick tongue. However... activation ss? I heard that you have problems with your interference ability in hitting stagnation? The intelligence people are really quite a joke."


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t talk. Right then, his vision covered ck Beetle and the flying beetles surrounding him. The heartntern of his eyes orifice and his mental senses functioned simultaneously. They were analyzing and predicting all this time.


    While his mind focused on observation, Luo Nan moved back. He faced ck Beetle as he walked backward at a moderate pace. His actions would normally appearical, but his movements looked fluid and easy. This was the result of bodily coordination.


    Luo Nan certainly wouldn¡¯t have been able to do such actions ten days ago.


    The marvels of cultivating in the eyes orificey in here.


    Cultivating in the eyes orifice wasn¡¯t simply cultivating in the eyes; it cultivated the entire body. ording to Gym Master Xiu, it was the beginning of whole body cultivation. Its application allowed the essentials to be brought out. Ten days of focused training, and though hard indicators like Luo Nan¡¯s power, speed, and so on didn¡¯t really increase, his levels in integration, coordination, control, and simr abilities produced clear increases.


    Even ck Beetle raised his eyebrows when he saw Luo Nan¡¯s ability. "That robotic woman really put in the time and energy to teach you, eh? Is it because you brought her to ecstasy with your tongue?"


    The words digressed miles away from the topic, making Luo Nan¡¯s eyelids twitch when he heard them. But Luo Nan¡¯s observing and retreating rhythm remained calm and unbroken. He was only ten meters away from the side edge of the central crystal pir. The elevator area was just a turn away from there.


    ck Beetle twisted his neck. His feet seemed to slow, but in fact they quickened. He spoke as he strode, "What are you running for? Don¡¯t you remember? I said that we will slowly y together! One must be a man of his word and be resolute in his work. This has always been my motto...."


    Regardless of how ck Beetle goaded, provoked, and teased Luo Nan, Luo Nan made up his mind to not say a single word. He knew that the show had yet to begin. He was happy to encounter this situation, for Xue Lei had already broken through the entrance to the 130th floor. Only forty to fifty meters of straight line distance remained between them.


    However, ascending stairs and running were different in difficulty. Plus, the disparity between Luo Nan¡¯s and ck Beetle¡¯s speeds was very apparent. With just a few steps, ck Beetle could close the distance by around thirty meters.


    Luo Nan blinked and looked through half-lidded eyes. The scene in front of him blurred a bit.


    The way ck Beetle advanced forward appeared normal, but it was in fact bizarre and paradoxical. A prelude could be seen in any micro-movement in the shoulder, hip, waist, and back. Then there was his vigorous aura of life and the self-formedyout of his Self-Logic. All these details have been concealed from the life sketch all this time. It gave Luo Nan quite a bit of trouble in judging analytically.


    Luo Nan¡¯s spider web became much moreplicated due to ck Beetle¡¯s existence. The energy consumption it required endlessly increased.


    ck Beetle¡¯s voice cut through in a timely manner. "Are you sure you want to keep running? Sure, sometimes the intelligence people are a joke, but sometimes they¡¯re useful as well. I know. The range of your mental senses is outstanding. And you have good mental attacks. Now you also have activation ss skills.... However, the information about your body and soul imbnce, about how your body is at its limits. This information should be correct, right? Kid. Do you feel your fingers bing numb, a burning sensation all over your body, or aches in various ces of your body?"


    Luo Nan¡¯s eyelids twitched once more, but this wasn¡¯t merely due to ck Beetle¡¯s words. It was also because the distance between him and ck Beetle had shrunk to a twenty-meter juncture. For an ability user, they were a mere jump away from each other!


    ck Beetle spoke even more leisurely, while the pressure given off by his movements continued to rise. "You¡¯re just like the ssic story of Cheng Yaojin and his three axe strokes. You only have a few moves, and though you may gain the upper hand in the beginning, you have nothing else once those moves are exhausted. Everyone can see what those moves are. Have you calcted the factors that determine victory and defeat before? Calcting the causes of victory, and the causes of defeat. Calcting advantages and disadvantages. Actually, you don¡¯t need to lick that robotic woman. I, Grandfather of Insects, can give you a hands on teaching.... Oh, the eyes. It¡¯s your eyes, right? They¡¯re going to burst a blood vessel!"


    A vibrant scarlet red glistened within Luo Nan¡¯s half-closed eyes. It was just as ck Beetle said; the veins surrounding Luo Nan¡¯s eyes were about to rupture.


    The heartntern of the eyes orifice when used in conjunction with mental senses yielded great results.


    The trajectories of movement on the material ne. The control source on the mental ne. Two interacting structures of energy and information. Homologous elements on different nes. All these interfered with and affected one another. Only by using a way to integrate them could the mostprehensive form be manifested. This was rather useful in increasing the cultivation progress of the eyes orifice and was shown when observing the fish in the party venue.


    But this inseparably close rtionship had quite the hidden danger for Luo Nan¡¯s current cultivation situation. Luo Nan¡¯s cultivation during these past few days was always filled with the sense of danger. He failed to take this into ount during this critical juncture.


    Now, after today¡¯s events, the hidden danger began to reveal itself. The most direct was the most fatal. It was the limit to how much his body could bear.


    ck Beetle believed that the crucial moment hade. A grotesque chuckle bubbled out of his throat. "We can continue to y, or we can simply get to the point. Why don¡¯t you tell me what you saw in the Logic World?"


    The question shed through the air at Luo Nan. It made Luo Nan, whose eyes were deep at their limits of suffering, have his mind throb with a thought.


    That was a very secret matter that only a few people knew about. How did information about it leak out?


    It was during this moment of distraction that ck Beetle seized his chance.


    He never expected Luo Nan to simply spit out the answer. Even if he had spoken and acted in an oppressive manner, it was all for seizing this opportunity for a single strike.


    His figure suddenly blurred, and the swarm of beetles surrounding his body shed. Even Zhang Yingying would want to praise this show of explosive power. In an instant, ck Beetle crossed a distance of nearly twenty meters to seize Luo Nan¡¯s face with his hand.


    Luo Nan saw that only an arm separated them, and an attack was unleashed on the mental ne.


    "Using up thest of your limited abilities." ck Beetle had expected Luo Nan¡¯s method of response. This baby kid could only do a few things time and time again, since the beginning.


    He had long since prepared to take on Luo Nan¡¯s attack. He had deliberately reinforced himself with a protective spell before mobilizing. He could withstand at least five simr attacks in total.


    ck Beetle stared, focused at Luo Nan¡¯s eyes. He hoped that the high pressure would cause Luo Nan¡¯s veins to rupture in the moment of the kid¡¯s fear and despair. He wanted to see the blood gush out!


    He would use the HexaEar to capture the wonderful footage. Then he would send it to that robotic woman when he got back. He would send it to all those who sucked up to this kid, and to his old friends.


    The attack on the mental ne made contact with the spell-formed protective in the next instant. ck Beetle had his desires fulfilled. He saw the corner of Luo Nan¡¯s eyes flow with blood.


    His lips split open to greet this urrence with a smile.


    Oh, hold on!


    The instinct and insight ck Beetle had tempered through hard work and time sensed something strange. The mental attack didn¡¯t act as expected when it made contact with his protective spell. It didn¡¯t intertwine with this cushion and transform into nothingness.... Instead, a strand of wind, even more intangible than a ray of light, red inside him.


    The wind passed through the gap, and light illuminated the earth below.


    Pratingly bright light shown for a time. Unblockable and unstoppable.

 Chapter 300: Only I know (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 300: Only I know (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    ck Beetle could be considered a mentally enhanced ability user. Even if he didn¡¯t really have a gift for sensory observation, he possessed basicmon knowledge regarding it.


    Naturally, ck Beetle would find reaching the level of a prating bright light, something unblockable and unstoppable, with his sensory observation to be an excellent thing. The problemy in the fact that he had be a target of observation via mental senses. The observation of his entire body could bepared to wind leaking through and rain seeping in. Every detail of his body and mind, from the inside to the outside, could be seen.... This was enough to drive him crazy!


    This was what ck Beetle was feeling right now.


    Looking at the situation from a realistic and understandable level, Luo Nan¡¯s face was within the grasp of his palm. ck Beetle just needed to reach out ever so slightly, and he would be able to tear the skin off the kid¡¯s face. But as soon as that unblockable and unstoppable feeling emerged, he truly felt that winds were prating his body from all directions. He couldn¡¯t suppress the feeling of weakness that instantly swept across his entire body.


    What the heck was going on?


    ck Beetle found it difficult to figure out this sudden change within a short period of time. He looked through the slits between his fingers, and the only thing he saw was Luo Nan¡¯s eyes oozing with blood. Those pupils had slightly dted. They were unfocused. They didn¡¯t move at all. They appeared a bit lifeless.


    He had just reached this conclusion when Luo Nan¡¯s eyes moved. The messy rays of light converged a bit, and a faint gleam of light locked with his gaze.


    The glimmer was akin to needles; prating with a force like threads.


    The subtle piercing force prickled ck Beetle¡¯s thick skin. At most there was an instant of pain, but the force felt like it pierced into his eyeballs, into his heart, and into his brain. There were certainly other consequences.


    This was what ck Beetle felt.


    ck Beetle couldn¡¯t form any protection against being riddled with holes. And the force of the piercing needles moved unimpeded, unhindered. The force exploited his weakest and most fatal locations, messing with them!


    In an instant, ck Beetle felt a thunderous pain. The pain exploded within the skull of his brain, and it rapidly spread out. It was impossible to control once it had started.


    ck Beetle howled in pain, his eyeballs nearly bulging out of his eye sockets. The colors of ck and red inteced, turning his vision into a sheet of chaos. His mind instinctively flooded with fear, but his many years of life-threateningbat experience continued to spur him. He seized all the courage he could muster, and he did his best to probe with his hand. His intent was to grab the mischievous kid in a single move.


    He was just a fist away... but his fingernails, coated with poison, grasped only air.


    A fruitless attack, and ck Beetle¡¯s body continued to rush forward. Only then did he realize all the things going on in his body while he was doing his high-speed assault. Pain exploded. His senses were confused. There were changing stimtions to his nervous system. All this made the equilibrium of his body aplete mess.


    "F***!"


    His extended fingers swiped across the hard wall. Then his wrist bent to the corner of the wall. Next, his head and body collided into the wall.


    In the end, ck Beetle¡¯s entire body had smacked into the wall of the elevator area. His body failed to reactpletely due to the assault of intense pain. He had smashed into the wall hard without even an ounce of cushioning. He then slid to the ground. The sunsses that covered his face had snapped.


    Only at this point did the pain somewhat alleviate in his brain. However, the feeling of the impact to his fingers, wrist, head, and body came next. This wave of pain was nothing much whenpared to thest, but the feeling of disgrace of smacking into the wall and falling to the ground was like having sulfuric acid sshed to his chest and sprayed all over his head and face.


    "I¡¯LL KILL YOU!" A burning and corroding heat proliferated outward with ck Beetle¡¯s howl. At the same time, he threw down his deformed sunsses, which he had crushed with his hand.


    He ignored his vision, which was still chaotic, as well as his terrible sense of bnce. He used the wall as support while he struggled to stand up. He waved his arms, venting, and controlled the beetles to fly in all directions. However, everything he did was useless. He was unable to touch even a hair of Luo Nan¡¯s.


    No. I need to calm down. I need to calm down!


    Feelings of anger and fear entwined and undted with the series of failed attacks. There was a trough in this wave emotions, and ck Beetle seized it. He went all out in calming his mind as he tried to break free from hispletely horrible state.


    He leaned against the wall while trying to call out to his temporary partner, "Puppeteer! Puppeteer! ...F***!"


    Before Puppeteer could respond, the prickling feeling came back again. But this time, pain didn¡¯te to him. A faint sound, from who knows where, came instead.


    No, it was a telepathic thought!


    ck Beetle smashed the wall behind him with a hand. His heart was filled with hate but also near-inescapable fear.


    Powerful people with formidable soul strength and mastery of techniques could indeed transmit thoughts to others in a unidirectional manner. But most of the time, this could only ur during states of peace. In true battles of life and death, the mind must be stretched taut and the opponent must be highly prepared. This sort of unidirectional imbuing of thought would certainly suffer a great deal of interference. It was practically impossible to realize while maintaining the integrity and uracy of the transmitted information.


    But right now, a sound rang within ck Beetle¡¯s brain. There was a bit of noise at the very beginning, but it grew clearer and clearer.


    "...Factor analysis. I¡¯ve learned it before."


    Luo Nan expressed his thought telepathically to continue the topic they were ¡¯discussing¡¯ a moment earlier. Namely, the topic of analyzing factors in victory or defeat.


    ck Beetle had undoubtedly raised the topic to mock Luo Nan and mess with his emotions. But now, Luo Nan bounced the topic back at ck Beetle, stuffing ck Beetle¡¯s brain bit by bit.


    "The advantages I¡¯ve analyzed for victory are different than yours. You see:


    "You can¡¯t see what I can see.


    "You don¡¯t know what I know.


    "You can¡¯tpare to what Imand.


    "You are unable to reach where I¡¯m at.


    "Lastly, I havee to a conclusion. My superiority lies outside of your deficient imagination!"


    The broad and uniform sentences of information were done in a somewhat shaky manner, having been pieced together on the fly. But the cruel ridicule came permeated within Luo Nan¡¯s distant telepathic thought, branding into ck Beetle¡¯s mind.


    Crack! ck Beetle crushed one of his back mrs. Then his mood followed his crushed tooth with a spray of blood.


    "I¡¯LL F*** YOU BACK EIGHT GENERATIONS!"


    ck Beetle¡¯s crude cursing and his boiling blood was incapable of drowning out the bone-chilling wind in his mind. He understood the situation well. Luo Nan¡¯s projected telepathic thoughts weren¡¯t that powerful; they were like strands of silk. But no matter what defensive and protective means ck Beetle used, they were unable to interfere with Luo Nan¡¯s telepathy at all.


    This thread of telepathy coulde as it pleased and could stay as it pleased. It wantonly smeared a drawing to be engraved in ck Beetle¡¯s mental ne. Such an ability seemed inhuman. Itpletely affirmed the ability that was akin to a prating bright light, unblockable and unstoppable.


    ck Beetle could not suppress his fear and shame. They were like two swords stabbing in and stabbing out. They took turns stabbing him and cutting him, shredding his dignity beyond recognition.


    If just a little bit of force was added... just a little...


    Ding!


    The sound that indicated the arrival of an elevator rang by ck Beetle¡¯s ear. ck Beetle had somewhat recovered from the intense pain and chaotic vision by now. He dimly saw, through the corner of his eye, a faint figure flit past him, and soon the elevator door closed again.


    A sound no longer came from Luo Nan.


    The changes in details were like a sudden foreshadowing emerging, and it made ck Beetle¡¯s mind jolt. A certain thought spawned in his mind. If that kid can truly get rid of me that easily, there¡¯s no need to push himself until his eyes start flowing with blood. Plus, he spewed a bunch of nonsense.


    Though ck Beetle had these doubts, he was unable to think further. He staggered half a step, turned his body, and looked toward the elevator. He merely saw the elevator door close and head downward.


    He looked around with his somewhat fuzzy vision. The elevator area was spacious and empty. It was just empty space all around. Luo Nan¡¯s figure wasn¡¯t there at all.


    Yes, Luo Nan just needed to add a bit more force and he would be done for.... That f**king kid has a problem with his interference ability. ck Beetle was able to deal with the purely mental attack, but Luo Nan probably couldn¡¯t even muster the force to affect ck Beetle¡¯s body and soul structure.


    "F*** ME!"


    ck Beetle let out another round of cursing as he smashed into the elevator door. But all he did was cause a dent in the metal te. The elevator indicator was already showing changes in the floor number.


    He stopped hesitating and shook his head fiercely. He locked onto the fire escape that ran on the outer side of the corridor. He rushed over in a few steps, rammed the door to the stairwell open, and jumped down the narrow gap between the flight of stairs.


    At the same time, he tried making contact with hispanion once more. "Puppeteer? Say something if you¡¯re still alive!"


    "Tsk. That kid is too sneaky. I nearly choked to death in the water. I almost lost my puppets." Puppeteer¡¯s voice finally came through in a bout of cursing. ¡°Snake Tongue¡¯s protective spell isn¡¯t worth sh*t...."


    "This is hisst move," ck Beetle spoke through gritted teeth. "He doesn¡¯t have the energy to follow up, so he fled! He certainly can¡¯tst long. Keep an eye on elevator number fifteen."


    ¡°I¡¯m looking... It stopped! On the 133th floor!" In the crystal pir, the devil ray ran by the high-speed elevator¡¯s side.


    ck Beetle didn¡¯t ck as well. He used his elbow to push off the railings. His body flipped, and he urately stopped at the 133th floor. He charged into the door to the building and went in.


    Within the elevator room, in front of elevator number fifteen, stood a white-cored worker. The elevator door opened. It was none other than this person who had caused the elevator to stop.


    This white-cored worker was given a scare by ck Beetle charging out from the fire escape. The white-cored worker had just turned his head, and ck Beetle moved like a phantom to seize the worker¡¯s body. ck Beetle extended his hand to the worker¡¯s head and fiercely mmed the worker into the metal door.


    Blood immediately flowed from the white-cored worker¡¯s head, and he fainted.


    "Thanks for the help."


    ck Beetle spat out these words without a trace of sincerity as he curled his lips into a grin. His expression grew all the more malevolent, and the aura around his body practically burned. The tie wrapped around his neck appeared like a living snake as it slipped out of the cor of his suit. Upon the tie, one of the beetle patterns inexplicably squirmed and budged out. It turned into a real beetle and crawled along the tie.


    As soon as ck Beetle would see Luo Nan, he would tie Luo Nan up with his tie and shove the poisonous insect down Luo Nan¡¯s throat. Screw whether Luo Nan lived or died!


    The elevator, which was automatically controlled by aputer program, was not concerned at all about the situation outside. It arrived at its destination and its door automatically opened.


    ck Beetle leaned forward and was about to move.


    But the elevator was absolutely empty. Not a trace of a person could be found.


    No, there was something.... A paper man.


    There was only this piece of work that was the size of a palm. It was of the same make as the two paper men ck Beetle had ground to pieces earlier. It possessed no fear, and it had stood there all this time since the elevator call button was pressed. It stood on the wooden floor of the elevator, holding a fighting stance.


    "SCREW YOU ****!"


    The string of reason within ck Beetle¡¯s mind snapped just like that. He simply reached out with his palm and let out a tyrannical strength, disregarding how much pain his hand was in. He crushed the paper man into pieces.


    "He didn¡¯t go down! He went back to the viewing tform!" Within the crystal pir behind ck Beetle, the devil ray ascended rapidly. Puppeteer gestured to ck Beetle through the protective ss, indicating that he was going up.


    The gesture was extremely normal to do, but it was an absolute mockery from ck Beetle¡¯s perspective. ck Beetle still wasn¡¯t able to understand what exactly happened to him. He just knew that Luo Nan had yed him.


    It was just as the strand of telepathy Luo Nan had left and imprinted on his mental ne.


    You can¡¯t see what I can see.


    You don¡¯t know what I know.


    You can¡¯tpare to what Imand.


    You are unable to reach where I¡¯m at!


    "ARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGHHHH!"


    ck Beetle punched out in madness, and the metal door of the elevator deformed from the smash. It could no longer close and was stuck in ce. Harsh rm lights lit up.

 Chapter 301: Only I know (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 301: Only I know (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    The viewing tform had been quite a lively ce¡ªaplete mess with all the tourists. This was caused by the devil ray breaking through the Heavenly Ocean Lake. Some of them had left. Some police had arrived. And there were some who had stayed because they wanted to watch the fun.


    But when Luo Nan returned back up to the viewing tform, all sounds in the area werepletely gone. There were a few dozen people copsed everywhere; they were unconscious.


    No need to be puzzled. The person who did all this was Luo Nan himself.


    ording to what Luo Nan learned during his lessons, the site must be evacuated before ability users sh. Multiple variables would make the situationplex, causing additional trouble. Of course, there were those who would deliberately cause chaos for their own benefit. However, Luo Nan believed that he wouldn¡¯t be able to harden his heart during crucial moments and do things decisively.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t forget that he was facing a ¡¯Puppeteer¡¯. This person could remotely control intelligent life forms. As soon as they fight, any clear-headed person would likely be his shield.


    Luo Nan considered himself a rookie when it came to facing an enemy in battle, so he had to execute the teachings his seniors imparted to him with meticulousness.


    However, an experience ¡¯senior¡¯ had truly been stunned by his series of actions and their results.


    "How did you do it!? Just how!? How!? Hahaha!" Zhang Yingying smacked her steering wheel in her excitement. The sharp vibrations of the horn could even be heard by Luo Nan on the other side of the call.


    Zhang Yingying had held back a belly full of words during Luo Nan and ck Beetle¡¯s confrontation and exchange. She wanted to curse at ck Beetle, but also wanted to calm and warn Luo Nan. However, she knew fully well that Luo Nan was facing a situation in apletely vulnerable position. Any little unexpectedness during a crucial moment of life or death might lead to catastrophe.


    She could only suppress her concerns and resist opening her mouth with great difficulty. It was so much that she began worrying about Xue Lei. She didn¡¯t want to cause something bad to happen through good intentions and agitate Luo Nan¡¯s foe.


    This internal conflict was more torturous than fighting a powerful enemy in person. Thissted until the situation settled, and Zhang Yingying couldn¡¯t hold it back any longer. She took her belly full of air and exploded it forth.


    Zhang Yingying¡¯s shock and surprise spurred on Xue Lei, who was hard at work going up the stairs. He took a few deep panting breaths andmended Luo Nan, "Beautifully done, Nanster! Leave the rest to me. I¡¯ll be there soon...."


    Luo Nanughed as he wandered around the edge of the viewing tform. "We have plenty of time. Take a breather. Don¡¯t get knocked down as soon as you get here."


    Xue Lei panted. ¡°Rx. There aren¡¯t any problems."


    Xue Lei was worried that he was adversely influencing Luo Nan just now. He rushed desperately up the stairs and nearly choked on his breathing. Though he had ¡¯obtained his sign¡¯, his body still felt strained.


    Of course, the fact that Luo Nan was alright was better than anything. Xue Lei¡¯s mood rxed, and it didn¡¯t take long for him to adjust his state.


    "Yo yo yo, Luo! I¡¯m asking you!" Zhang Yingying excitement andints didn¡¯t lessen a bit. She smacked the steering wheel of her car, causing the horn to re to the heavens. "Hurry up and tell me! How did you toy with that bug into being this miserable? That guy is a genuine megalomaniac, but he¡¯s no fool."


    Luo Nan was able to feel the pure joy that brimmed from the bottom of Zhang Yingying¡¯s heart. It must be said that ck Beetle could be considered an old acquaintance of hers. However, Zhang Yingying stood firmly by Luo Nan¡¯s side in this moment. Her stance was clear, never wavering at all. Luo Nan rather enjoyed this feeling of approval.


    He thought for a bit before giving a serious reply, "I put on a proper attitude and utilized my advantages to kill in a single blow. Unfortunately, there¡¯s still problems with my interference ability. I can only buy a bit of time."


    "Kill in a single blow.... Certainly, Crag Burst must have taught you this. Am I right?"


    "Yes," Luo Nan admitted.


    It was strange, now that he thought about it. In the course of the past few days, He Yueyin, Bamboo Pole, and Papercut were all inclined toward technical and intellectual fields, the rarely touched upon strategies for facing enemies. When it was Crag Burst¡¯s turn to teach, Crag Burst had a stomach full of energy from being one of thest teachers; his section had been pushed back in the teaching schedule due to the issue with Luo Nan¡¯s interference ability. The few instances they got together were all long sessions. The topic always revolved around actualbat, and this gave Luo Nan a bit of practical experience.


    Crag Burst had told him that the most important thing in facing a foe inbat was to have the right attitude. Whether the attitude was calm or a hot-blooded one, one must find an attitude that best fitted one¡¯s self. It might not be the most effective or the most thorough, but it was the most stable. It could withstand much more variables.


    In short, this attitude was a sort of irrevocable conviction. It could only be built atop the biggest and most irreceable advantages leading to victory. In extreme terms, people who possessed this mindset would think the following:


    The enemy could defeat me, but the enemy would never be able to defeat me in my area of expertise!


    Luo Nan followed this principle and first verified his field of dominance.


    "Yo, you¡¯re quite the bold fool. Crag Burst and you aren¡¯t the same type at all, okay?"


    Zhang Yingying had a deep understanding of Crag Burst¡¯s temperament, so she found what Luo Nan said very hard to believe. Luo Nan, you¡¯re a formic type. Can your small physique withstand ying with warriors in mortal conviction? Plus...


    "What about your advantages? Mental senses and attacks, are they useful at all?"


    "Why are my advantages limited to just these?" Luo Nan felt a bit helpless. In the case of factors in victory and defeat, regardless of it being Zhang Yingying or ck Beetle, everyone had their minds set on his superiorities being his sensing distance and mental attacks.


    But Luo Nan never believed this was so.


    The world had powerful people inrge numbers. There were certainly people stronger, probably very much stronger, than Luo Nan in regard to his mental sensing ability in terms of precision and range, no matter how outstanding it was. This was certainly also the case with the intensity of the mental attack power of the fierce siege hammer attack he relied on the Human-Faced Arachnid for. This sort of externally circting advantage would be directly broken through by someone sooner orter.


    His superiority could only be established upon an irreceable element unique only to him.


    "You still have hidden cards?" Zhang Yingying gave off a hint of skepticism. She felt she had quite an understanding of Luo Nan, so she couldn¡¯t think of the card Luo Nan had yed to be able to toy with ck Beetle to the point that ck Beetle wished he was dead. "I heard you learned some skills from Xue Lei¡¯s teacher. Thinking about it, this teacher must be quite out of the ordinary to be able to produce a disciple like Xue Lei. But in just a days.... Hey, Xue Lei, kid. What sort of quick tricks did your master teach?"


    Xue Lei had already caught his breath while Luo Nan and Zhang Yingying were talking. His breathing calmed quite a bit, and he answered, "It¡¯s the heartntern of the eyes orifice. It¡¯s not a technique that can be quickly learned. Techniques regarding the eyes can only... oh god!"


    Zhang Yingying also realized something at practically the same time. She was unable to hold back from asking Luo Nan the details of his mysterious victory. She spoke with a pressing tone, "ck Beetle said that the veins of your eyes burst. You didn¡¯t use a forbidden technique, did you? Are you okay?"


    "I¡¯m alright." Luo Nan used his knuckles to lightly rub the corners of his eyes. He could still feel pain in his eyes, and they still flowed with blood, but these were all a bit less than before.


    The more Luo Nan downyed his situation, the less Zhang Yingying dared to watch idly. She smacked her car¡¯s horn once more. Her excitement and tion was nearly exhausted. All that was left were anxiety and worry. "Ignorant children will be ignorant children. Your eyes! You think you can go blind in a ce like this!? Hey, didn¡¯t your teacher warn you when he was teaching you?"


    Xue Lei spoke unhappily, "The heartntern of the eyes orifice is like grinding with water. It is a gradual method. There are no forbidden techniques with it.¡±


    Xue Lei had already ran up to the 140th floor. He could see Luo Nan at the limits of his vision, and he waved at him. Thest two floors had to be climbed. He would make it there a step earlier than the two enemies.


    It could be said that Luo Nan had erected himself into an invincible position.


    Luo Nan was quite clear about his own situation. His eyes were a bit injured due to forcefully integrating the heartntern of the eyes orifice with his mental senses. He had exceeded his limits. Right now, it was best to close his eyes and rest.


    But he didn¡¯t want things to end like this.


    Luo Nan used the protective ss at the edge of the viewing tform as support, and he automatically cast his vision far off in the distance. The color of the sky was bing darker and darker, and the main body of Cloud City Water Vige, therge activity area, and Acumen College further away were all lit with lights, drawing out areas upon areas of blurry shadows and outlines.


    The scene bore some resemnce to the star river scene manifested by Luo Nan¡¯s mental senses. The only difference was where the blurry chaosy within the star river scene. Most of it were interferences formed from ability users¡¯ powers, while the blurriness before his eyes was simply due to the limits of light with vision.


    Before today, Luo Nan had tried several times to disperse the turbid clouds and dark mist within the star river scene. Though he was grasping the details of the life sketches with greater precision, he was never able to achieve this.


    But it happened just now when he faced ck Beetle. Luo Nan seeded in piercing a beam of light into the deepest depths of ck Beetle¡¯s body and soul structure and drawing a Life Sketch of the greatest rity. He gained lucidity on all the weak points of the living being who was ck Beetle. Only in this way was Luo Nan able to seize the initiative and y with ck Beetle like the other man was in the palm of his hands.


    That beam of light originated from the heartntern of the eyes orifice, at least partially.


    The heartntern of the eyes orifice was not the cornerstone Luo Nan had erected his conviction upon, but this magical technique imparted to him by Gym Master Xiu had undoubtedly yed a vital role.


    Daily, the technique both umted water and drew water. It cut a spiritual orifice in the human body, activating Luo Nan¡¯s soul strength. And during times of practical application, it floated high above to illuminate below. It projected a prediction of the trajectories of movement on the material ne. Itplemented Luo Nan¡¯s mental senses.


    Observing the material to retrieve the environment. If one perspective was unclear, then Luo Nan could switch to a different perspective. More often than not, this led to near discoveries. The two referred to each other, and more could be seen than the sum of the two alone.


    If he used his mental senses independently, or if he purely used the heartntern of the eyes orifice, none of this would be able to reach the mystical effect of a wind passing through the gap and light illuminating the earth below.


    But when the two werebined, the heartntern of the eyes orifice swept away the turbid clouds and dark mist on the star river scene produced by Luo Nan¡¯s mental senses. The information on the mental and material nes coupled. They intersected and positioned to form a strand of wind, a beam of subtle light, thatpletely prated through to the truth underneath the thick exterior of chaos.


    Yes. Coupling.


    Borrowing this principle truly delighted him in both body and mind.


    Luo Nan closed his eyes slightly. They spun and he opened them again. The light of his psychic mind couldpletely illuminate the life structure of ability users. He should be able to illuminate the void of a mere dusky sky.


    In this moment, Luo Nan cleansed himself with a new method of irvoyance. He observed the empty space, and he gazed into the distance to the border of the world with the outline of the jungle. The sky, which was turning all the more darker, couldn¡¯t hinder him.


    Homologous information on the material ne and material ne linked up. They refined each other and burst forth with a marvelous spiritual light. The light was cast into the water reservoir of the heartntern of the eyes orifice, then the light passed through the eyes, through the void, and through the jumbled outlines of the jungle to illuminate the target from above.


    Within the wilted jungle stripped of leaves, theke¡¯s surface appeared like a small mirror. At one side of theke was Gear.


    That small building carried a bit the color of rust. A river weaved between the trees and flowed past one side of the building. The river made a turn at the ends of Luo Nan¡¯s vision to extend off into the distance. It was like the scouring of time over the course of many years.


    When time moves, everything moves.


    Looking down from the high building, the river was moving, the jungle was moving, and the earth was moving. Gear was there, and it slowly rotated in a unique rhythm that possessed neither beginning nor end.

 Chapter 302: You Dont Understand (Part 1/3)

    Chapter 302: You Don¡¯t Understand (Part 1/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan quietly gazed at the skies and the earth ahead. He didn¡¯t move for a long while. He didn¡¯t even respond when Xue Lei made his way up the viewing tform and greeted him.


    Xue Lei was a bit scared. He could see that Luo Nan¡¯s face was smeared with tears of blood, painting the aberrant face of a demon. The corners of his eyes were bloodshot, and his eye sockets had a clear film of red. This appearance truly indicated that one should be immediately sent to the hospital.


    "Hey, is anyone going to talk?" Zhang Yingying had been ignored for quite some time, and she smacked her steering wheel once again.


    "Sister Ying, I see that something¡¯s not right with Nanster¡¯s state." Xue Lei began to feel nervous as he rushed to tell Zhang Yingying. However, Luo Nan¡¯s current calm state of mind was simr to the air Gym Master Xiu exuded in his daily life. He subconsciously lowered his voice for fear of disturbing Luo Nan.


    Before Xue Lei could get a response from Zhang Yingying, Luo Nan¡¯s voice suddenly sounded in his ear, "The breathing of heaven and earth may be seekable."


    His words came out of nowhere, stunning Xue Lei in his ce. However, these words inexplicably felt familiar to Xue Lei. Xue Lei carefully pondered for a while before recalling that this was rted to the gym master¡¯s theory on opportunity. Xue Lei had talked about this stuff to Luo Nan earlier on.


    However, the gym master originally meant that heaven and earth were grand and vast, while people¡¯s powers were insignificant inparison. Cultivators needed to always work hard and be diligent in every area in order to be able to borrow the strength of heaven and earth for their own use. What stood out was the circtive channel of the mind, where the mind came before energy, and energy came before strength.


    With these words from Luo Nan, it seemed that some internal core within Luo Nan had changed.


    Xue Lei didn¡¯t quite understand Luo Nan¡¯s way of thinking. He was also worried about Luo Nan¡¯s state. He could only ask carefully, "Nanster?"


    "The cirction and running of river water. The existence of life and death in the jungle. They each have their rules in a self-formed system. It could be said that they each possess formats. These small formats are like natural sets of gears made by heaven. They are pieced together to form arge format of heaven and earth."


    Luo Nan had already entered this mental state, and he continued exining, "From the perspective of Formatting Theory, the Heaven and Earth Format is grand and marvelous without bounds. It is abundant inyers, and there are no limits to its transformations. It is like a production line that assembles and installsplicated machinery. Countless gears operate ording to order, transmitting motive power down the line."


    "It¡¯s happening again!" Zhang Yingying couldn¡¯t refrain from groaning. There had been a simr spectacle of Luo Nan talking to himself during the night at Frost River Reality, and it was repeated today. Unfriendly thoughts, concepts, and ideas assaulted her ears.


    Zhang Yingying never expected Luo Nan to act in a way that seemed like he was opposing her. Zhang Yingying¡¯sints were lost to the wind. Suddenly, Luo Nan came out of his extremely self-centered state in search of interaction. He raised a question for both Xue Lei and Zhang Yingying.


    "The production line of the Heaven and Earth Format won¡¯t ever stop. In this situation, how does one insert a self-made ¡¯gear¡¯ inside for seamless integration?


    "...."


    "The answer is coupling!"


    Luo Nan was like a kid striving to show off. He impatiently announced the answer. A smile burst forth upon his demonic face, which was blotted with tears of blood. It was exceptionally bright and splendid.


    Xue Lei was stupefied once more. He really didn¡¯t understand what Luo Nan was saying, but this was the first time he had seen such a bright and refreshing appearance on Luo Nan¡¯s face ever since he had met him.


    Luo Nan was indeed extremely delighted. He grew all the more fascinated by the marvels of Gear the deeper he observed it.


    This building, Gear, was embedded within the Heaven and Earth Format. It became part of the rumbling and operating production line. The rules were precise, and it fitted seamlessly. There was not a hint of the air of a man-made craftsmanship to it. It seemed to be inherent to heaven and earth.


    This wasn¡¯t possible if the breathing tempo of heaven and earth was not mastered.


    Because of this, Luo Nan was able to confirm a conjecture he had made earlier. His mother¡¯s Coupling Design was closely rted to Formatting Theory. It was like a sort of application or interpretation. It put to use Formatting Theory in the ne of reality for the people of the world to see.


    And this real and tangible achievement belonged to his mother!


    "Formatting Theory? Gear?"


    Xue Lei finally found the key words in Luo Nan¡¯s speech, and he sought to trace the direction of Luo Nan¡¯s gaze. Xue Lei was actually able to discern the outline of the jungle and the symbolic building off in the distance with his acuity and limits of vision. But an outline was all there was to it.


    "Nanster, you can see Gear from here?" Xue Lei was skeptical of the level of Luo Nan¡¯s visual acuity, but he was mostly concerned. For Luo Nan to use his eyes this much in his current state; the burden was far too great.


    "I can see it. It¡¯s truly beautiful...." Luo Nan¡¯s voice swayed like the wonders he saw in front of him.


    The marvels contained within Gear could not be essed by purely using the fleshly eyes, or the irvoyance of mental senses. Only when the two modes of vision and mental senses, intersected and positioned in a coupling of information, could the truth be essed behind the exterior. Luo Nan looked at the incorporeal power of order. He watched it rotate silently within the void of heaven and earth into a genesis.


    Luo Nan gazed at all of this with an insatiable thirst for more. It was not enough no matter how much he looked at it.


    Xue Lei hopped madly from anxiety. He was unable to understand the world within Luo Nan¡¯s eyes, but he was able to grasp a few things from the aura radiating from Luo Nan¡¯s body.


    Xue Lei only understood one part: Luo Nan¡¯s energy function of the eyes orifice was flourishing too greatly. It was like the wild growth of a nt. Before, it had been a sapling; but then it turned into a towering tree in the blink of an eye.


    Where did this terrible powere from? Did Luo Nan have enough stamina? Could the structural strength of the human body and its acupoints support it?


    One mistake and Luo Nan would be crippled!


    "Right, I need to find the gym master!" In life-threatening matters, the first person Xue Lei thought of was his gym master.


    But right as he was about to exit from the three-way call to call and find the gym master, Luo Nan suddenly drew in a deep breath. His arms pressed against the protective ss, his head hung down, and his eyelids drooped to physically prevent Luo Nan from doing the iprehensible action of gazing off into the distance. Luo Nan appeared utterly tired.


    Xue Lei rushed over. "Nanster, you all right? Why don¡¯t we first take a breather...."


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t open his eyes. He justughed. "I may have a bit of a situation going on."


    "What?"


    "Order can be seen as a gear. The coupling of two orders is the meshing of two gears. If there isn¡¯t a precise n for their integration, if there exists an excessive disparity between the two masses instead, things be very troublesome."


    Xue Lei was knocked stupid once more, while Zhang Yingying vented angrily, "Forget about him! He¡¯s hopeless!"


    In his mind, Luo Nan understood that his friends had different ways of expressing their concern and worries. However, it was difficult for him to continue exining the situation happening with his body. This was because it involved his deep secrets.


    The heartntern of the eyes orifice formed a coupling rtionship with the mental senses. In essence, the cultivation with the human body that Luo Nan just started hade in contact with the rather extensive Formatting Theory System.


    They could couple, but friction and collisions couldn¡¯t be avoided. Ten days of cultivation, with the phenomenon of lightning striking the heartntern urring sixty times, already clearly revealed the elements of risk within.


    Plus, yet another change urred with his present situation, and the trend wasn¡¯t looking too good. It was like a thundercloud high in the sky. The electrically charged particles interweaved. Something big was bound to happen....


    A strong light suddenly shed. The external neuron was akin to a dragon roaring with the wind and thunder. Its showed itself within the shrine of his brain, and it jolted into a bolt of electricity that smashed upon the heartntern.


    This was the sixty-first time! And it was stronger than any other!


    This was a direct collision between the external neuron and the eyes orifice structure.


    Luo Nan long had this foreboding in his heart, but the intensity of this impact was still beyond his expectation. His body suddenly spasmed, and his brawn became muddled. Within his daze, he seemed to hear the sound of his eyes shattering.


    The impact endured by the cranial nerves passed through the closely interwoven nervous system to transmit to every part of the body. This included muscles, bone, blood, and fascia. They all spasmed by reflex.


    Luo Nan curled up and crouched down. He reached out his hands to cover his eyes. Uncontroble tears flowed from his eye sockets. His eyeballs burned hot, and his eyelids twitched wildly. It was utterly painful.


    He heard Xue Lei¡¯s startled cry and Zhang Yingying¡¯s panicky shout. The two were both confused.


    Against all reason, Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts became clearer within the pain. He could feel a change in the tactile sensation of his hands covering his eyes. They weren¡¯t holding tears of blood, but something more viscous. The intense and powerful pressure had caused great harm to his body.


    This wasn¡¯t much. He knew what was going on.


    Luo Nan calmed himself down, for he had obtained excellent results. There was probably nothing in the near future that could shake his heart more than him discovering the marvels of Gear.


    Even if his eyes couldn¡¯t see material objects, he urately grasped Xue Lei¡¯s extended arm for support. He whispered, "I¡¯m fine. Someone¡¯sing from behind."


    As soon as he spoke those words, the sound of water exploded, heavily muffled, in the direction of the Heavenly Ocean Lake. The colossal devil ray soared up and smashed down, setting off an enormous wave in the pool.


    A human figure gracefully leaped up in sync with the devil ray. The person jumped atop the supporting frame structure at the edge of the pool. He wore a ck diving suit that showed off the powerful and formidable contours of his body. He sported massive diving goggles on his face, and he had no intention of removing them.


    This was a member of the investigation team sent by Headquarters¡ªPuppeteer.


    Xue Lei spun around, guarding Luo Nan behind him. Vignce could be seen within his eyes.


    Puppeteer didn¡¯t say anything. He used his good position from the high ground to look down from above. His pupils behind the diving goggles continued to size up the two people at the edge of the viewing tform. He paid special attention to Luo Nan. He was very interested in Luo Nan¡¯s pained squatting state.


    Only a few secondster, two elevators close to the Heavenly Ocean Lake area came one after another.


    The first toe out was ck Beetle. He had thrown away his sunsses, and his expression was still a bit green. His eyes pierced over with a chilling gaze. He ignored Xue Lei, only training his gaze on Luo Nan¡¯s bent form.


    Xue Lei held nothing back from this person. He red fiercely and viciously, but he remained a bit nervous inside. Luo Nan was in apletely terrible state. Xue Lei had to deal with a double front attack simultaneously. With that, having to divert some mental energy in protecting Luo Nan seemed barely possible.... Oh, right! There was another elevator! Could it be the enemy¡¯s backup?


    The door of the other elevator opened in the midst of his headache.


    Xue Lei¡¯s mind went nk. He barely adjusted his cognitive direction and identified the person.


    "Tian... Senior Sister Tian?"


    It was none other than Tian Si who hade out of the elevator. This cute and beautiful schoolmate had a deathly whiteplexion. She walked stiffly, and the upper part of her body was held in a weird posture.


    Her two hands ovepped each other as they clutched at her own neck. Her grip was quite strong, for her fingers dug deep into her tender skin. The pressure was so great that her mouth gaped slightly and her lips faintly trembled.


    The scene looked bizarre and absurd.


    Because of the existence of self-protection mechanisms, a normal person couldn¡¯t possibly use this method to strangle themselves to death. However, the situation was different when one was controlled by supernatural powers.


    Xue Lei ground his teeth in anger when he saw this. "You people... you call yourselves members of the Society!?"


    No one paid any attention to him. Above the pool, Puppeteer opened his mouth, but he spoke to Tian Si. He spoke calmly, without any distinguishing quality, like he was engaging in a normal chat. "Meeting again after a small time apart. Do you have anything to say, beautiful girl?"


    Tian Si¡¯s lips trembled, and Xue Lei could even hear her teeth tter with his nimble eyes and ears. Such an aberrant and cruel technique had been cast upon her body. She could be considered strong for not having a mental breakdown.


    Shaky words were squeezed out of Tian Si¡¯s throat with great difficulty.


    "I¡ªI took the stairs the whole time."


    "...."


    Everyone on the viewing tform stared with stupefaction.


    Only Luo Nan, who had a knee on the ground from the pain, voiced ¡¯ha¡¯ in a spitefulugh; though hisugh was a bit shaky. He didn¡¯t look back. He just raised an arm toward her.


    "My bad."

 Chapter 303: You Dont Understand (Part 2/3)

    Chapter 303: You Don¡¯t Understand (Part 2/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Of all the people on the viewing tform, probably only Luo Nan understood the emotions of grievance within Tian Si¡¯s words.


    She really did follow Luo Nan¡¯s instructions. She headed straight down the stairs of the fire escape. She didn¡¯t use the elevator no matter how tired she was, and she kept far away from the crystal pir in the center. And yet, she was still unable to escape from Puppeteer¡¯s evil clutches. She got controlled by him and became a hostage.


    Of course, Tian Si¡¯s feelings of grievance were secondary to her fear. She was an intelligent person. From the methods chosen by Puppeteer and ck Beetle, she could surmise that the momentum of victory and defeat between the two sides had reversed. Otherwise, there wouldn¡¯t be any meaning to her being a hostage.


    For the ¡¯kidnappers¡¯, her valuey in threatening Luo Nan. But from Luo Nan¡¯s perspective, what value did she hold? Why should Luo Nan abandon his great situation for a hopeless reversal, just to risk saving her?


    This situation put Tian Si to near despair.


    But she still ced her hopes in Luo Nan. However, she grew all the more fearful that Luo Nan would find saving her too troublesome, and would sit back and watch. So her expression of grievance was intentionally conveyed, even though they stemmed from her inner feelings. She could only hope to engender a bit ofpassion in Luo Nan, and give herself a chance to live.


    Tian Si was more or lessforted by Luo Nan¡¯s raised arm.


    However, her response couldn¡¯t satisfy the others.


    Above the Heavenly Ocean Lake, Puppeteer sighed. He walked along the frame structure of the pool, and his figure smoothly made its way to the center edge of the pool. He faced Tian Si, then hooked his finger.


    Tian Si¡¯s feet involuntarily moved. She headed toward the pool, the distance close. The thumb of her left hand held up her jaw, roughly turning her head to slightly look up. She was forced to raise her head to look at the master who was in control of her life.


    "Come, let us work together for a bit." Puppeteer squatted down and even lowered a hand toward Tian Si. His mouth split into a grin on a face half covered by diving goggles. His teeth gleamed white in this smile.


    Puppeteer had a decent facial structure. There was the charm of a positive and good-looking guy. But this smile drowned Tian Sipletely with feelings of fear. She could only look on helplessly at herself in the goggles¡¯ reflection. She was like a marite. Her entire body was controlled ording to this person¡¯s will.


    She extended a hand upward to join with Puppeteer¡¯s hand. Then, she was flung up. The rough action made her feel like her arm had dislocated. She couldn¡¯t refrain from groaning in pain, but soon, even this sound was stuffed back down her throat.


    Puppeteer used his own hand to take the ce of Tian Si¡¯s. He gripped her neck hard, and sized her up face to face. He was extremely satisfied with her deathly white and flushed redplexion, caused by her fear and suffocation. Then when she took in a deep breath of air, he took in the exquisite fragrance of her tidy hair andughed.


    "Beautiful girl. Whether you are willing or not, we are one body."


    Tian Si really was about to suffocate. She had regained a bit of control over her body, but it was impossible to remove the steel-like grip Puppeteer possessed. Her two feet struggled to move. She couldn¡¯t do anything else besides this.


    Puppeteer lifted Tian Si¡¯s slender neck as he walked easily back to his original position. Tian Si¡¯s feet and hands struggled to move during this process, but soon she ran out of strength. Her body went weak, and her eyes were filled with despair.


    Puppeteer¡¯s gaze had moved toward Luo Nan at this time. Even though Luo Nan was half-squatting at the edge of the viewing tform and didn¡¯t even turn his body around, the eyes behind Puppeteer¡¯s diving goggles remained firmly fixed on Luo Nan. There was not the least bit of rxation.


    As for ck Beetle, his callous face stood in front of Heavenly Ocean Lake. He was blocking the only path of rescue to Tian Si.


    Although things were like this, Puppeteer still didn¡¯t feelpletely secure. He continued talking, "I have to admit that we¡¯vepletely underestimated your ability, Mr. Luo Nan. We¡¯ve underestimated the perfection you¡¯ve reached with your mental attacks. You dashed our ns. So we learned our lesson and decided to talk calmly and negotiate to solve this issue. For the sake of ensuring this, I specifically made a ¡¯safety line¡¯.


    "Much thanks to the beautiful girl¡¯s cooperation. Currently, my mental nes and that of the girl share a bit of a link. Anything I experience will be impartially shared with her. As for how much I can endure, I am confident that I surpass this frail and beautiful girl in this aspect.... An attack that is sufficient to defeat me will likely destroy the girl first. So, I can only hope that the two of you have a rtionship that is close enough."


    Having said this much, Puppeteer turned to look at Tian Si. "Speak, beautiful girl. Have you two slept together yet? No? That¡¯s better. Maybe Mr. Luo Nan will feel more regretful if that¡¯s the case."


    Puppeteer sang an excellent performance, so it was natural that he hoped to receive a response from Luo Nan. However, only Xue Lei¡¯s loathing gaze came from over there. Luo Nan still maintained his original posture. Even the arm he sent out in apology toward Tian Si had been withdrawn. It was unknown whether it was due to his injuries, or him being disdainful for this defeat.


    Puppeteer sighed. He had no choice but to urge Luo Nan. "Mr. Luo Nan. It¡¯s best to stop wasting time. The police may be idiots, but they should be regaining consciousness right about now. Let us resolve this quickly and return to our respective homes. This will be for the best."


    Luo Nan still didn¡¯t respond.


    "Tsk. Are youngsters these days this cold and detached? Then, let me first warm up the scene and y a small game with this beautiful girl."


    A smile was restored on Puppeteer¡¯s face. He raised a single arm, swinging Tian Si above the water. "The devil ray broke through the tempered ss at the bottom of the pool. Now, Heavenly Ocean Lake is probably the world¡¯s deepest pool;there¡¯s no doubt about that. It is eight hundred meters, and the only one in the world! I have a premonition that the beautiful girl next to me has decent swimming skills. She can match those cute little friends, medium friends, andrge friends inside.... Why don¡¯t we give it a try first?¡±


    "Hey! H-H-Hey!"


    Tian Si had originally given up struggling, but the strength of Puppeteer¡¯s hand ruthlessly increased as Puppeteer¡¯s words entered her ear. This simply squeezed out her remaining energy,pelling her to struggle with her hands and feet. She couldn¡¯t speak a word, and what was once beautiful eyes rolled back to white.


    "Excellent. Beautiful girl, you really have a movie sense." Puppeteerughed in delight, and he shook her a few times, making Tian Si struggle with increasing pain.


    "Then let us officially begin. The first act of a hero saving a beauty. ACTION!"


    Heavenly Ocean Lake blossomed with an explosion of water as soon as the words left his mouth. A terrifying dark shadow broke through the water¡¯s surface, soaring seven meters high. It scrapped the soles of Tian Si¡¯s feet, and it swung its long tail in a whip-like attack to sheer off one of Tian Si¡¯s high heels. Her other high heel dropped down during her struggling.


    "Shoes? My other partner has tender feelings for the fairer sex. But I will tell it to go for your delicate and small feet next. Do you want them to be symmetrical?"


    The ice-cold water and the burning viciousness assaulted together. Coupled with the terrible and callous words of murder, Tian Si couldn¡¯t hold it back any longer. Tears flowed down her face, and she just cried silently. The barrier of her willpower hadpletely copsed.


    At the edge of the viewing tform, Luo Nan still had his eyes closed. His eyelids just twitched twice. It was hard for him to exert energy. He supported himself against the protective ss as he slowly stood up. He turned around to meet the two vicious people face on, but he still didn¡¯t speak.


    ck Beetle saw the state of Luo Nan¡¯s eyes, looking as if they were stabbed blind, and he turned to lock nces with Puppeteer. They were both thinking of the word ¡¯whish¡¯ in their minds. ck Beetle immediately chuckled. "You¡¯re trash as a director. Have you forgotten that we¡¯re not in an era of silent films? Even if we are, where¡¯s voice-over exnation and dubbing?"


    Puppeteer was not offended. He praised lightly, "Good idea."


    He slightly loosened his palm that was exerting force when he said these words. This allowed Tian Si¡¯s crying to barely squeeze through her throat, strand by strand.


    Her breath, stifled with despair, pierced through the sound of Heavenly Ocean Lake¡¯s water, intermittently entering the ear. It made Xue Lei grit his teeth until they creaked. However, Zhang Yingying had already given orders again and again. She forbade Xue Lei from being impulsive, for this might give ck Beetle and Puppeteer a gap to take advantage of. Xue Lei could do nothing besides grit his teeth.


    As for Luo Nan, though his eyes were closed and blood continued to flow, he maintained a calm expression to the point of callousness.


    The situation remained deadlocked.


    Puppeteer gained a big headache facing this unwaverable Luo Nan. They were in Xia City, so time stood on Luo Nan and Xue Lei¡¯s side. Puppeteer could only stand in opposition as he made contact with his own people through his own channels.


    He snapped his fingers a few secondster. "How about this. Let us switch methods. Beautiful girl. Beautiful girl, don¡¯t cry. I¡¯m asking you. This callous boy in front of us. Did you two n toe together here? Why are you crying yourself blind? Can you tell me?"


    Tian Si¡¯s willpower had copsed. She acted as if she was already dead. She couldn¡¯t respond.


    Puppeteer shook his head. "In this case, I will first tell you a secret for the sake of fairness. Our other partner...."


    As he spoke, the Mutant devil ray broke through the surface of the water once more. It soared in the air, but it didn¡¯t follow thews of physics and fall. Instead, it defied gravity and floated beneath the dome. It revolved in the air around Tian Si¡¯s body.


    "Our partner can actually fly, yo. So it can use itsrge mouth and meticulously grind away at the flesh of your small feet. It will slowly eat you; it¡¯s better for digestion this way.... So, let¡¯s work together once more?"


    The devil ray¡¯s tail, glowing with electricity, wrapped around Tian Si¡¯s small feet as Puppeteer spoke, slightly hooking into a bit of pantyhose. The tail spiraled upward and gradually tightened.


    Tian Si felt the serpentine sensation on her tiny legs. The electricity even introduced a numbing sensation. Her entire body trembled. A gurgling sound mixed into her hoarse crying. She just wanted to faint already. But this was an excessive hope, for she was under Puppeteer¡¯s control.


    "Pay attention to the time,¡± Puppeteer warned in the end.


    Tian Si¡¯s thoughts and emotions were aplete mess. Fear dominated everything. It was like the w of a demon had reached into her brain and stirred everything around. Whatever was in there was fished out.


    "Because, because Gear! Gear is Senior Sister Qingwen¡¯s representative work. We can see it from here...."


    "Gear? Must be that society building we went in the first ce." Puppeteer tilted his head, and he continued to ask, "Senior Sister Qingwen? Who is that?"


    "She¡¯s Junior Luo Nan¡¯s mother...."


    "I have a faint impression, but seems like this information is useless." Puppeteer cast a nce in Luo Nan¡¯s direction as he talked.


    ck Beetle stared in that direction with fixed eyes, and he suddenly thought of something. He got in contact with someone through his wristband.


    "Hello, you guys are still in Gear, right? Yep, that society building. Hurry up, verify it.... Stupid, isn¡¯t it easier to break things, set things on fire, and so on?"


    He raised his arm and opened the speaker function as he spoke. He raised the volume to the maximum.


    Large bangs and a series of crashes could be heard a secondter. The sounds transmitted through, and it seemed that there was no intention of stopping.


    Luo Nan¡¯s eyelids trembled, and he opened his eyes atst. The thick blood umted within his eye sockets came flowing out. They carved two paths of blood upon his cheeks.

 Chapter 304: You Dont Understand (Part 3/3)

    Chapter 304: You Don¡¯t Understand (Part 3/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    ck Beetle knew fully well that Luo Nan¡¯s current injury was mostly due to the whish of his cheat-like ability; it wasn¡¯t really rted to what they were doing. However, this didn¡¯t affect ck Beetle¡¯s delighted mood.


    ck Beetle returned back up to the viewing tform, his tight expression rxing. Heughed a hissingugh toward his wristband. "Snake Tongue, oh beautiful Snake Tongue. I love you to death! Keep going, keep going! Smash what looks valuable!"


    The hoarse voice of a male came through the external speakers of the wristband, "Don¡¯t worm your way close to Snake Tongue if you¡¯re that bored. The one who¡¯s doing all the work is me. How about I destroy the walls of the building, the outer walls next?"


    "I love you too, Tank!"


    ck Beetle was overly excited, so he had an extremely greasy mouth. He nced at Luo Nan at the same time, and spoke without concealing his delight at all, "Oh, I¡¯m sorry. I know that this move is a bit childish of me, but I can¡¯t stand how effective it is! Especially when I see your face. I want none other than that expression!"


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t talk, but Xue Lei couldn¡¯t hold back from cursing, "You lowlife! You scum! Do you have the guts to face us head on? I¡¯ll smack your skull t in three blows!"


    ck Beetle¡¯s sinister eyes swivelled over. His lips split apart to reveal a heavy darknessing from deep behind his tongue and teeth. "Why, that¡¯s truly unfortunate. I am not interested. I just feel that it¡¯s such a pity...."


    Soon, ck Beetle¡¯s poisonous gaze shifted and pierced Luo Nan¡¯s face. "It¡¯s such a pity that the HexaEar has malfunctioned today. Otherwise, we can stream this live and watch Tank¡¯s building demolition skills. Oh, I forget. A wristband is fine too. Cloud City Water Vige has rtively stable Inte."


    Luo Nan lightly spat out a mouthful of air as he reached out with his hand to hold on to Xue Lei, who was close to exploding. Luo Nan leaned back to press against the protective ss. He hoarsely said, "Stop it with the torment. What do you guys want to know?"


    "Ohhhh, you finally know how to reply."


    ck Beetle saw Luo Nan admit his defeat. He certainly knew that he grasped Luo Nan¡¯s weak spot, and that sess was imminent. He felt a cool breeze run down from his skull to cleanse his innermost feelings. Yet, even though he felt this way, the utterly sorry experience he had in the 141st floor with Luo Nan was still like a volcano. It rumbled from the bottom of his heart.


    This wasn¡¯t enough! Not enough!


    ck Beetle stopped speaking. He just slowly smoothed down the tie he held in his hand and put it back on his neck. A flip to the left and a fold to the right. These motions were performed a few times. During all this, the loudspeaker of the wristband continued to reverberate with the muffled sound of walls being smashed.


    Xue Lei was angry to the point of stomping, even with Luo Nan holding him back. "You bastard! Did youe here just to mess with people!?"


    ck Beetleughed involuntarily. "No rush. They had only just begun. The building is quiterge. You won¡¯t even see any results unless they go smashing for an hour or two... gak!"


    Before the words coulde out of his mouth, ck Beetle¡¯s mouth suddenly was unable to close. Hister sounds remained stuck in his throat. Not even a hup was able toe out.


    During this process, his cheeks turned red, green, then purple, like there was a hand of an invisible demon covering his mouth and nose. The air inside and outside his body were blocked off from one another. The feeling of suffocation drowned his entire body. Then came the pain that he experienced before, a needle stabbing into his brain and stirring around. His vision turned reddish ck, and his nervous response was thrown into disorder. His entire body froze and even shook.


    Luo Nan¡¯s voice was like a cold wind that swept past his ear. "So you actually didn¡¯t make a safety line? That¡¯s truly unfortunate."


    ck Beetle struggled amidst the pain. His eyes practically bulged out from his eye sockets as he strove to spur his supernatural powers. But for some reason, this mental attack was fiercer than thest by tenfold. The aftermath of the attack came slowly, not retreating at all. ck Beetle put full effort in exerting himself, but he could only touch his gaudy necktie. He grasped it hard, but he was unable to do any further actions.


    Above Heavenly Ocean Lake, Puppeteer exploded with a shout, "Mr. Luo Nan, let¡¯s not do anything excessive! We can properly talk this over!"


    The shout left his throat, and Puppeteer saw Luo Nan turn his head to look at him. As soon as the the pair of bloody eyes made contact with Puppeteer¡¯s, a cold tremble ran through his heart.


    Luo Nan spoke softly, "Who¡¯s being excessive? Me, or him?"


    Puppeteer calmed himself down and forced a smile. "We don¡¯t need to go at things this intensely. This is just a routine investigation, nothing more. Look. I haven¡¯t harmed a hair on the beautiful girl from start to finish. I was just joking around. Just a scare. Okay?"


    "Then you¡¯re smashing my mother¡¯s representative work."


    "That¡¯s...."


    Luo Nan looked slightly downcast. The motions of his body were filled with a feeling of weariness, and it seemed like he was organizing his words. "ck Beetle doesn¡¯t have the attitude to properlymunicate with me. Actually, I still don¡¯t know what in the world you all want. All that¡¯s happened is fighting, insulting, and hurting."


    Puppeteer cursed inwardly in his mind. He cursed both Luo Nan and ck Beetle. He saw the series of shes from beginning to end. Luo Nan was certainly speaking nonsense when he said that he still didn¡¯t know. However, ck Beetle made revenge a priority over gaining intelligence. This was an incontestable fact.


    In truth, Puppeteer quite admired ck Beetle¡¯s way of doing things. The two shared amonnguage in this point. Ultimately, they didn¡¯t consider Luo Nan a threat in the beginning. They just did some safeguards against mental attacks, believing the task of grabbing a half-crippled teenager to be very easy. Their behavior was excessively wanton because of this.


    Ill actions bore fruit to ill consequences¡ªconsequences that one must swallow.


    One thing that Puppeteer was stronger than ck Beetle in was flexibility. He knew that he had to change strategies. He talked it over with his people in the background, then exposed a sunny smile.


    "Mr. Luo Nan, we are both members of the Society. I believe that we can engage in a calm and peaceful exchange. I already had mypanions stop their activity at Gear. If our exchange goes smoothly, mypanions will withdraw from there immediately. After everything is done, I will even arrange to have the best engineering team to restore all damaged areas to be like new again. Plus, I will give a million inpensation. Will you be satisfied with this sincerity?"


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t respond, but he didn¡¯t refuse.


    Puppeteer felt that the trajectory change was a sess. His smile grew more splendid. "Mr. Luo Nan, our two sides have to disy good faith to one another. Look at ck Beetle...."


    Luo Nan¡¯s lips moved a bit. "Will he affect our exchange?"


    Puppeteer was a bit startled, but the smile remained on his face. "No, he won¡¯t affect us."


    "H-Hey!"


    Although ck Beetle¡¯s entire body was frozen, his mind was still awake. His eyes and ears were still working, and Puppeteer¡¯s words sifted into his ears. ck Beetle felt like his heart was about to explode. He strove to gather all the energy in his body to turn around, but he was still under the effects of Luo Nan¡¯s mental attack. His sense of bnce was lost, and instead of turning, he fell, and his face nted on the ground.


    Puppeteer already made up his mind. He didn¡¯t even nce over and just muttered to himself, wondering if the safety line he held would be useful or not.


    And at this time, Luo Nan opened his mouth. "Speak, then. What do you guys want to know?"


    Puppeteerposed himself and calcted the time. A pretext was tossed out from his smiling mouth. "On the night of October 7th at Frost River Reality, Fudong Main Street, City Center, a conflict urred between the Society¡¯s Xia City Branch and the Order of Justice. Branch President Ouyang Chen intervened during theter stages of the conflict, erecting the so-called Logic World. Many matters are unclear from that point onward. Headquarters seeks to reconstruct the truth of the matter, and being unable to has been harmful for administering justice for all."


    Luo Nanughed. "You guys should be asking President Ouyang."


    "A lone man serves himself. Two men serve the public. It is hard to ce faith in a one-sided testimony. Through a special channel, we came to find out that you, Mr. Luo Nan, had the fortune of entering the Logic World through an out-of-body state. You are an extremely important eyewitness, so we want to ask¡ª"


    "What special channel?" Luo Nan was very curious.


    Puppeteer¡¯s expression finally went cold. "Mr. Luo Nan, no matter what you ask, this is an investigation by Headquarters. I hope everyone will maintain a proper attitude, not digress into side topics, and avoid unwanted consequences!"


    Luo Nan nodded, no longer interrupting him. "Ask."


    Puppeteer stared at Luo Nan¡¯s face and spoke with a heavy voice, "We want to know what you saw in the Logic World. Let¡¯s narrow the scope a bit. What did Ouyang Chen do? What did An Weng of the Order of Justice do? And why? Not a trace of him could be seen after the incident. Where did he go?"


    "There are a lot of things that I don¡¯t know."


    "Spit out everything that you do know!"


    "This will take some time."


    "Mr. Luo Nan!" Puppeteer took a deep breath and vented by increasing the pressure of his fingers upon Tian Si¡¯s slender neck. He used her painful struggling to express his own feelings. "Since we all know that this will be very time-consuming, why won¡¯t you be a bit more swift about it?"


    Actually, Xue Lei was itching to fight by now, but he was stopped once again.


    Luo Nan leaned against the protective ss. He pondered for a moment, before saying, "If you want to know why An Weng acted the way he did back then, you must understand just what the Logic World created by President Ouyang really is."


    Puppeteer raised the volume of his voice. "Mr. Luo, our time is precious!"


    Rear instructions came before he could finish speaking, "Let him talk. This information is valuable."


    Puppeteer¡¯s cheeks twitched, and he instantly switched to a smile. "So please, be brief yetprehensive."


    Luo Nan disregarded the changes in expression over yonder. He just attended to organizing his own words. A few secondster, he said, "If you look at the mental ne as countlessyers of floating curtains...."


    Puppeteer muttered "F***" to himself. He had no choice but to interrupt Luo Nan, "The world recognizes the division of the mental ne into three zones, one region, and one realm. Where did your countlessyerse from?"


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t speak. His eyelids lifted, and blood red eyes faced Puppeteer. Although Luo Nan might not be able to see clearly, he still maintained his stance. Thissted until Puppeteer felt himself to be an incurable stupid c*nt.


    Puppeteer¡¯s eyelids twitched. "Mr. Luo?"


    Luo Nan had opened his eyes for too long. The burning pain in his eyes caused him to simply close them. He leveled his breathing, and spoke a handful of secondster, "Through the Formatting Theory created by my grandfather, I observed that the mental world was like this. Do you need me to exin what Formatting Theory is?"


    "Huh...?"


    "The self, society, and heaven and earth. The rtionship between three different formats should be rtively easy to understand for an ability user. I recall that President Ouyang made some remarks on self-logic and the logic of the normal world. You all can¡¯t be socent as to be ignorant of these concepts, right?"


    Four or five new concepts jumped out consecutively, making Puppeteer a bit dazed. Luckily, he soon received instructions from the rear, and adjusted the topic to the right direction. "We can postpone the ss on theory. Right now, can you describe: one, what the Logic World is like; and two, what sort of oue did An Weng have in the Logic World."


    "In this case, I don¡¯t need to use curtains to describe it."


    Luo Nan raised his head slightly, adopting a posture of recollection. "Logic World? Thinking about it now, it is basically a portion of a structure that is torn and forcefully dismantled from within the Heaven and Earth Format, then pieced together to form a temporary production line. It then bes part of the Heaven and Earth Format, but its rules follow the criterion served by the Self-Format. It takes the Heaven and Earth Format, and temporarily channels it into the scope of the Self-Format. Small gears are used to driverge gears. It is truly quite the exquisite structure."


    "...."


    Screw your formats! Screw your gears!


    Puppeteer felt that hisprehension ability had been insulted. He wanted to immediately snap Tian Si¡¯s neck, but Luo Nan¡¯s voice drifted leisurely over just as he processed the thought.


    "It looks like you don¡¯t understand?"

 Chapter 305: Four Gears (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 305: Four Gears (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    The Mutant devil ray moved back and forth, swimming to and fro within the Heavenly Ocean Lake. Its developed pectoral fins were like wings, and they set off wave after wave in the pool. It appeared a bit restless, mimicking Puppeteer¡¯s current mood. Puppeteer still had a smile on his face, but half his facial muscles were stiff.


    At the same time, a dark and cold whisper came into his ear from the ¡¯rear¡¯. The direction of the sound was unknown. "You can¡¯t truly believe that you can rake up some things from the kid right now and obtainrge merits for your service.... If so, yourprehension ability truly has problems."


    Puppeteer¡¯s cheeks became a bit warm. He wanted to curse in his mind.


    The thought was just formed, yet the ¡¯rear¡¯ was still able to see through to even his inner organs. "If you have the time to curse inwardly, then you have the time to think about how to continue attracting their attention. Move your mouth!"


    Puppeteer ground his teeth in secret, but that person had a point behind their rebuke. Puppeteer somewhat came to terms with the situation, and subtly moved the muscles of his cheeks. He did his best to respond calmly.


    "Mr. Luo Nan can continue."


    Puppeteer verified the time once more as he spoke, and he also confirmed that he had started recording. He settled on a n. No matter what Luo Nan would say, he would let Luo Nan talk. He would have Luo Nan¡¯s wordse in one ear and out the other for now. Later, he would carefully analyze them in detail.


    Formatting Theory, eh? Whatever about your mother and father. When I get back, I will make you report even the colors of the underwear of your entire family.


    Luo Nan seemed to truly believe in Puppeteer¡¯s words. His eyes remained closed as he spoke without expression, "Then I will continue exining. I just finished talking about the Logic World. Next, I can briefly describe An Weng¡¯s situation."


    Like hell you finished talking about the Logic World!


    Behind therge diving goggles, Puppeteer¡¯s gaze cast downward. He did his best to retrieve information that was rted to Luo Nan in his mind. However, Luo Nan¡¯s voice maintained its piercing quality. His voice was simply like the low whisper of a demon. It teased Puppeteer¡¯s emotions,yer byyer.


    "I¡¯m not too clear on what An Weng was doing. I¡¯ll just say what I observed and understood. You must first know that the level of the Heaven and Earth Format is extremely rich. The application of interference in the material ne with the mental ne can form countless types of ¡¯order frames¡¯. Oh, you certainly don¡¯t understand this topic...."


    F***!


    The devil ray in the Heavenly Ocean Lake echoed Puppeteer¡¯s emotions. It smacked with its wing-like pectoral fins, releasing the sound of a rumbling explosion. A spray of water filled the sky, sshing onto Tian Si and soaking most of her skirt and pantyhose. However, Tian Si alreadycked all response whatsoever.


    Puppeteer wanted to kill somebody.


    He was now utterly convinced that Luo Nan was doing this on purpose. The kid had grasped the fact that he ¡¯didn¡¯t understand¡¯ to obstruct and wear him down in ridicule. All right. Was Luo Nan truly taking him to be a Buddha who could never get angry?


    Luo Nan stopped talking, but he didn¡¯t even open his eyes. He just calmly waited for the devil ray to stop making noise.


    "Do you want to snap your safety line? Maybe the kid is waiting for you to do that. When that happens, my protective spell, which you said ¡¯isn¡¯t worth shit¡¯, won¡¯t be able to protect you."


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t talk while the ¡¯rear¡¯ eerily warned Puppeteer. In the end, Snake Tongue finished with an order,


    "Don¡¯t you make me expend mental energy for your sake!"


    Puppeteer¡¯s emotions turned to ash after being rebuked once more. He suddenly came to, and he thought about what Luo Nan¡¯s objective could be in his series of mockery and provocation. It seemed like it was just as the ¡¯rear¡¯ said. Luo Nan wanted Puppeteer to snap his own safety line. Puppeteer¡¯s thoughts ran deep.


    Clearly, on the surface level, after these exchanges, Luo Nan should be able to see that the connection between Tian Si and Puppeteer in ¡¯sharing mental attacks¡¯ was an unequal one. Tian Si was tortured to within an inch of her life, while Puppeteer had it quite easy.


    In fact, even if Luo Nanunched a mental attack, Puppeteer was certain that he could block the first wave. He relied on none other than Tian Si, who remained in his grasp. She could act as a ¡¯good conductor¡¯, ensuring that the damage to himself would fall to a minimum.


    If Puppeteer were to make a mistake and have his escape path severed, then what would happen? Just look at ck Beetle ahead! He was a living example!


    A myriad of thoughts shed through his mind, and a thinyer of cold sweat formed on Puppeteer¡¯s back. He instantly rxed a finger, and even infused some vital energy into her, to avoid constricting her even further while helping circte her blood and energy. He feared that he would truly strangle his ¡¯safety line¡¯ in a moment of excessive emotion, pushing the situation into irremediable circumstances.


    He faced Luo Nan and exined, "Ahem, apologies. The Mutant is not easy to control. I didn¡¯t interrupt your thinking, did I?"


    Luo Nan was silent for a moment, and when he spoke, his voice became deeper and lower, "I coined the term ¡¯order frame¡¯. It¡¯s normal for you to not understand what it means. So ask yourself, do you need further exnation?"


    Puppeteer stared at Luo Nan¡¯s face. The more he looked, the more he felt that he escaped a disaster. Rather... why was Luo Nan exining these things? Why was he going through with this exchange? In any case, a cover-up only made things more conspicuous.


    Youngsters these days sure had ruthless hearts!


    Puppeteer¡¯s mind rxed, then was strung tight again. It looked like Luo Nan still harbored thoughts of a frontal conflict with them. The Society¡¯s reinforcements would probably arrive soon. Puppeteer needed to ept the many possibilities and do some more preparations.


    Speaking of which, was the ¡¯rear¡¯ still not finished preparing yet?


    In any case, Puppeteer adjusted his mentality. He resigned himself to what might happen. Anyway, he wouldn¡¯t get screwed just by listening. What was he scared of? He adopted a radiant business smile and said, "Of course, it is best if you can exin. I want you to; how can I not?"


    Luo Nan truly felt exhausted, having experienced so much. He spat out a breath of air, and gasped twice before continuing, "This term I came up with¡ªites from an insight provided by Fairchild."


    "Fairchild?" Puppeteer gradually lost his mind¡¯s prejudice, having adjusted his mentality. His thoughts were much nimbler, so his eyebrows shot up when he heard Luo Nan. "The Ears of Truth?"


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t build upon this topic. He followed a prescribed order in exining. "Fairchild once said that observation is order. ording to my understanding, he¡¯s referring tobing through one¡¯s own logic. All the world¡¯s objects are observed and illuminated to erect a power of order that is understood and utilized by one¡¯s self.


    "And our existences themselves are the products of some natural order. Here lie subjectiveness and objectiveness. Interference urs between the orders of the mental and the material, like two gears meshing together. If the coupling structure is rtively stable, and has an efficient operation, then it bes a gear set with rtively independent functions. Namely, it bes an ¡¯order frame¡¯.


    "Order frames can be big or small. In the case of small order frames, an example can be the cultivation methods of our bodies. This example can be divided even further. In the case ofrge order frames, the myriad of things within heaven and earth can all be incorporated within. Rtionships can also ur among the various order frames."


    The eyes behind the diving goggles blinked. Perhaps it was because he had calmed his mind. Or, perhaps it was because he had a clear reference. Puppeteer suddenly felt that Luo Nan had skimmed over the descriptions of ¡¯gears¡¯ and ¡¯formats¡¯, and substituted easier to understand vocabry in their stead. Luo Nan rather made some sense.


    That so-called ¡¯order frame¡¯ was like the self-logic of an ability user. Oh, this was Ouyang Chen¡¯s concept. Puppeteer liked the more fantastical wordings like what Ouyang Chen used, like ¡®domains¡¯.


    Powerful ability users also mentioned such things over at Headquarters. They wanted to impose a ¡¯manifestation of rules¡¯ upon the material world, and use a perspective of pure and thoroughly extraordinary powers to reinterpret the entire cosmos, while giving the mental ne its own ce.


    Of course, whenpared to the deep andplicated physical system made over thousands of years of development of the human race, the fifty years of high-speed development of the inner world was far too immature. The things mentioned by the powerful ability users could only act as a motion, to be tentatively heard.


    Right now, this kid was contemting theseplex topics. Did this mean that Formatting Theory possessed quite a value?


    He he, I¡¯ll have to go through a good digging when I get back!


    "He¡¯s really chatting with him?"


    Zhang Yingying¡¯s head felt dizzy, and her brain swelled from listening via their three-waymunications. She couldn¡¯t refrain from grumbling, "Don¡¯t just do as you please to the point that you lose yourself. Puppeteer is an extremely dark fellow. Hey, I think I heard someone mention Snake Tongue. It¡¯s Snake Tongue, right?"


    Luo Nan continued to spout away for Puppeteer. It seemed that he didn¡¯t hear Zhang Yingying. In the end, Xue Lei whispered in confirmation, "Yep they said Snake Tongue. There¡¯s also a Tank. They are currently at Gear. They threatened Nanster."


    "That sinister woman is quite famous. She¡¯s a true-blooded mage.... Oh shit. I just looked it up. She isn¡¯t part of the investigation team at all. She just snuck over."


    Zhang Yingying smacked her steering wheel. "Right now, the official vice leader of the investigation team is under control. But the people over there might not know about that variable, Snake Tongue. I need to let the reinforcements know; otherwise, they¡¯ll be sent to her belly."


    Xue Lei¡¯s heart constricted a bit. "This person is very hard to deal with?"


    "She¡¯s a character who has reached the Architect level early on, but she and Nanster are a bit alike. She doesn¡¯t have a good body, so she stays out of view most of the time, rarely showing herself. However, she specializes in hexes, and she knows interrogation and assassination techniques. She¡¯s sinister and vicious. When she really wants to hurt someone, she can stealthily travel over a thousand kilometers in an out-of-body state to a different city.... Oh my god!"


    Zhang Yingying didn¡¯t smack the steering wheel this time. She smacked herrge legs instead. "Be careful with this one. You must be careful. You¡¯ve spoken a pile of nonsense there so far, but if she¡¯s in her out-of-body state, she can get to Ocean Sky Cloud City from Gear with just a thought!"


    Xue Lei¡¯s scalp was going numb from just listening. He immediately opened his mouth to warn Luo Nan, "Nanster...."


    Xue Lei¡¯s voice just left his mouth when Luo Nan pushed off against the protective ss wall with his back to stand up. He gently said, "Words spoken purely with the mouth may not be understood properly. In this case, I can perform a demonstration."


    Puppeteer keenly observed the subtle changes ur over on Luo Nan¡¯s side, especially with Xue Lei. Xue Lei was clearlymunicating with someone, and obtained some new information. His mind went alert, and his body rapidly transitioned into a battle-ready state, all while not changing the expression on his face at all.


    "Demonstration? I feel you exined things quite well just now. The concept of the order frame, I already understand it. It¡¯s actually a domain, a small universe. A different way of talking about the power of heaven and earth. Am I right?"


    "Wrong."


    Luo Nan responded directly and efficiently, "The core of what I just said doesn¡¯t lie in order frames, but in coupling. The former has a myriad of names, but its origin still lies within the myriad of connections between each other.... My mother unified these connections into a ssification called ¡¯coupling¡¯. I feel that it is a very appropriate name."


    At the end, Luo Nan¡¯s blood red eye sockets opened up into small slits. A deep, dark destion lurked within the color of blood, and they fell in front of the Heavenly Ocean Lake. Atop a copsed figure.


    "An excellent example can be seen upon the person who is ying dead."


    ck Beetle, who hadn¡¯t moved for a while and whose face met with the ground, felt a shiver run through his body, as well as his scalp go numb. He felt Xue Lei in front, and Puppeteer in the back, all cut their gazes over like des.


    At the same time, he inexplicably felt an ice-cold sensation at the bottom of his heart. The coldness seeped out, cracking like the splitting ofyers of ice. It was like the alien whisperings of a deep, dark hole. It lingered, not dispersing.

 Chapter 306: Four Gears (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 306: Four Gears (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    ck Beetle was indeed ying dead.


    Although Luo Nan¡¯s second mental attack was much stronger than his first, it had its limits. ck Beetle hade back to himself after going through the most painful stages. His mobility was restored.


    However, ck Beetle already lost his ce in the current situation. He understood this. The people from Headquarters were all an unreliable, cold-blooded sort. And by making a move against Luo Nan, he pretty much severed his friendly rtions with the Xia City branch. He jumped around like a pirate, until he finally bungled into the ocean.


    At that moment, ck Beetle hated Luo Nan. He hated Luo Nan through his bowels. His teeth were also itching toward Puppeteer. Now that he thought about it, those two must think the same of him as well.


    ck Beetle didn¡¯t know how to handle such an awkward situation. He could only lie on the ground and y dead. His n was to adapt to the changes in the situation. Of course, it would be best if things went like when a sandpiper and a m war together, but the fisherman catches them both. In any case, he had to get through this in one piece.


    Puppeteer and Luo Nan had quickly forgotten about him during their confrontation. But ck Beetle never expected Luo Nan to easily bring him back in focus after saying those unfathomable concepts.


    Then Luo Nan mentioned a ¡¯demonstration¡¯, and this made ck Beetle¡¯s spine run cold. Luo Nan couldn¡¯t possibly have good intentions. Should ck Beetle continue ying dead? Or should he get up and resist?


    ck Beetle wanted to hit the ground as he struggled over this.


    Luo Nan cared not the least about ck Beetle¡¯s reaction. He didn¡¯t pause speaking at all. "In my perspective, ck Beetle¡¯s gear set. Oh, I¡¯m talking about order frames. Altogether, there are four gears to him from inside to outside. In the center is arge gear formed from the structure of body and soul. Practically all energy has to pass through it to engage in operation. Every ability user has to possess such a central hub...."


    This was quite obvious. Puppeteer easily understood. However, his current attention had more or less deviated. His cold gaze was roaming upon ck Beetle¡¯s motionless body.


    If nothing else, Puppeteer believed that what Luo Nan said about ck Beetle ying dead was correct to an 80% degree. It must be said that he was the one who had first let ck Beetle down. However, it was quite meaningless to overthink this, havingmitted an offense already. Puppeteer pondered how to deal with this new variable.


    "Aside from the central gear, ck Beetle still has an external gear. It is none other than the twenty-seven beetles scattered around the viewing tform, as well as the six beetles on his tie."


    Puppeteer¡¯s attention was drawn back when Luo Nan spoke such precise numbers. Puppeteer did a general sensing, and he found that Luo Nan¡¯s number for the beetles scattered around the tform should be right. However, ck Beetle¡¯s core item, the gaudy tie, was always covered and sealed. How did Luo Nan verify the number?


    After a moment of hesitation, Puppeteer didn¡¯t take Luo Nan¡¯s words seriously.


    Luo Nan continued exining, "The thirty-three beetles may appear dispersed, but they are, in fact, closely connected through soul strength activation. Another gear structure can be formed at any time. This sort of method should be quite flexible. It shouldn¡¯t matter if ck Beetle loses a few beetles, but the material is rtively brittle. If the structure truly operates, I¡¯m afraid it only has the strength for one attack.


    "Yes, there¡¯s more. His tie looks pretty good. He should be regrly polishing it using gears. What I mean is, he regrly applies his interference ability and channels his energy into it. The tie can act as a medium. It isn¡¯t that fragile. It should be quite functional."


    "ck Beetle has two hidden techniques: Insect Explosion and Poison Stinger. The former is a corrosive cloud, while thetter is a sword-like killing move,¡± Zhang Yingying¡¯s voice came through the wristband, giving Luo Nan supplementary information. This made it so that Xue Lei could understand things more clearly.


    Xue Lei could hear the vibrato within the end of Zhang Yingying¡¯s voice. "We¡¯ve really encountered a damnable bastard this time!"


    What the hell!


    ck Beetle was unable to hear Puppeteer¡¯s thoughts, but he could hear Zhang Yingying¡¯smentary. He didn¡¯t need Zhang Yingying¡¯smentary. Although the descriptions of gears, order frames, and the like were unfamiliar, Luo Nan had said things that were fused within his blood. They were his basic foothold in this world, and today, they were pointed out one by one. It would be strange if he wasn¡¯t ufortable.


    ck Beetle reflexively refused to believe in it.


    No, you¡¯re wrong! What you¡¯re saying is illogical. Oh, now that I think about it, even though my information is confidential, the Society is a very open ce. Zhang Yingying and the roboticdy all know my details. This little bastard probably knew my information early on. Is he using words like ¡¯order frame¡¯ to cover it up and mess with my mind? Or maybe the kid doesn¡¯t even care if I¡¯m awake. Maybe he¡¯s using me to draw Puppeteer¡¯s attention away?


    ck Beetle grew more suspicious and exasperated the more he thought. His mind was tangled over this problem for quite some time, but he gritted his teeth in resolution; he would keep the status quo. In any case, his face was stuck to the ground. He might as well leave his pride there and take Luo Nan to be spouting nonsense. He decided not to move at all!


    At this time, Puppeteer took the initiative to face Luo Nan with question, "Didn¡¯t you say that there are four gears? You only talked about two."


    "The third gear is a bit different from the first two gears. It is independent from ck Beetle¡¯s body and soul structure. It can be said to be a coupling, but it is more like a parasite. A parasite... can count as a type of coupling, I suppose. Yes, I believe it counts."


    Luo Nan¡¯s words were spoken ambiguously, but they nailed ck Beetle to the ground the instant he heard them.


    "Impossible!"


    ck Beetle felt as if the back of his neck had been cut open by an icy de. The piercing cold and pain proliferated from his spine to the two sides of his body. In the blink of an eye, even his toes were cold.


    Other people might have been confused by what Luo Nan said, but ck Beetle¡¯s mind was absolutely clear.


    Luo Nan was talking about his natal bug.


    His ability has its origins in a Mutant beetle. He had identally swallowed it in his early years, and it fused with his extraordinary powers to erect a unique ability structure. He nourished it endlessly throughout the years, and the mutated demon bug was thoroughly imnted within his body. It became the most important foundation for his abilities.


    This was his number one biggest secret in his life. It was always hidden in his stomach to rot, and he never mentioned it to anyone. How could Luo Nan possibly know about it? Unless.... Unless this kid had a pair of heavenly eyes, allowing him to see through his organs and see all his secrets with absolute rity!


    And at this time, ck Beetle thought back once more to the feeling he had previously of ¡¯a prating bright light, unblockable and unstoppable¡¯.


    Wind passing through the gap and light illuminating the earth below. Were there invisible eyes behind this iprehensible feeling of pration? Were they always watching, missing not even a hair?


    ck Beetle¡¯s heart beat wildly with the sudden birth of this thought. It beat against the ground through his chest, and the aura around his body began moving. Everyone here was a keen and sensitive person. Naturally, none of this was hidden from them.


    "This guy really was ying dead!" Xue Lei had a straight temperament. He just blurted out the truth.


    You should just go die!


    Even though ck Beetle¡¯s face stuck to the ice-cold ground, it was like he burst into mes at this moment. ck Beetle¡¯s brain rang with explosions, and he heard a buzzing noise like tinnitus pour into his ear. He was filled with the emotions of fear and rage, and these emotions soared like mes, cremating the ying-dead-n into ashes.


    ck Beetle suddenly bent his elbow and propped his body up. Whether or not this was a conscious action, his first reflex was to rush over and strangle that damnable fiend for exposing his life¡¯s greatest secret.


    Xue Lei was always half a body in front of Luo Nan. He took a step to the side in this movement, covering Luo Nan behind his thick shoulder.


    Speed was not ck Beetle¡¯s forte, but craftiness was etched in his bones. Even though currently his mind was a big mess, he instinctively chose a method of approach as he faced Xue Lei¡¯s stance, which was as sturdy as a boulder.


    ck Beetle manipted Xue Lei¡¯s center of gravity with several small changes in movement. He also saw the face behind Xue Lei¡¯s body.


    A small portion of Luo Nan¡¯s face was revealed. Only a single eye could be seen. The eye socket revealed a slit, and the deep red color within absorbed all light. It was pitch-ck, and it manifested an invisible pressure that pressed against ck Beetle¡¯s chest.


    "There¡¯s still the fourth gear. It was just harnessed."


    Before his voice fell, a violent wind blew through the viewing tform half-exposed to the sky while Xue Lei and ck Beetle collided together. Amidst the repeated sounds of bursting air, Luo Nan¡¯s hoarse and weak voice drifted and deflected far. If one didn¡¯t concentrate the mind, it might not be possible to hear Luo Nan clearly.


    Puppeteer wasn¡¯t sure if Luo Nan was talking to him. Listening to the tone, it seemed like it.


    "The fourth gear doesn¡¯t belong to him at all. Instead, ites from the outside. At first it was used for protection, like ampshade covering him, to block mental attacks. However, now, the coupling method has changed. It has turned from ampshade into a noose...."


    ck Beetle snorted in retreat. Xue Lei¡¯s closebat ability was greater than his by at least a level. He had no chance of winning in a frontal sh. Plus, Luo Nan¡¯s voice always lingered by his ear. The few key words trickled in one after another, causing his heart to shake in fear over and over. It was hard for him to maintain a fighting mood.


    ck Beetle shifted his body greatly to the side; from now on, he wouldn¡¯t show his back to Puppeteer. Only when they formed a narrow triangle did ck Beetle stop moving. His breathing was a bit unsteady as he first stared at Luo Nan, before shifting his gaze to Puppeteer. Then his eyes flitted past every shadow on the viewing tform. His mind also wavered along with his eyes.


    As for Luo Nan and Puppeteer, the gazes they cast over appeared rather subtle.


    The intense anxiety and fear transformed into substance. They boiled in his chest. "Snake Tongue, talk to me...."


    A hissing sound responded. It came from the remote darkness, and it sounded like the flickering of a poisonous snake¡¯s tongue and the slithering of scales. Just when ck Beetle wished to move in his moment of horror, a terrifying numbing sensation rose up from his stomach to drown his organs. It drowned his throat, but its power was yet exhausted. It continued rising.


    A buzzing sound pierced into his brain.


    ck Beetle¡¯s eyeballs swelled as wisps of blood filled his sclera. Fear and despair crammed inside. It was his natal bug, the Mutant he always carefully locked up within his stomach. It existed independently of his internal organs, but today, the demon bug had gone out of control.


    The bizarre hissing sound enticed the Mutant demon bug to recover its instinctual fear. It bit through ck Beetle¡¯s intestines, stomach, chest, throat, and all the way to his brain.


    ck Beetle still wanted to struggle, but his enemy didn¡¯t give him a chance. As the sensation of numbness along with the buzzing insect entered his brain, his consciousness darkened, and his light of life became forever gone.


    The violent wind covered Luo Nan¡¯s drawn out sigh.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t want to save ck Beetle. He just wanted to warn him, to cause the enemy to stumble in her dark technique. But he never expected the enemy to utilize such ruthless methods. She simply roused the parasite within ck Beetle¡¯s stomach, the Mutant bug, and the positions of master and guest were reversed with this change.


    ck Beetle died frozen within the wind. He was dead through and through. At that moment, his body only existed as an exoskeleton for the Mutant demon bug and whatever its whims.


    Xue Lei was unsure about what happened. He looked warily and asked Luo Nan, "Is he...?"


    Luo Nan nodded. "He¡¯s dead."


    Before his voice could fall, ck Beetle¡¯s mouth opened up. "Yasakasa."


    "...."


    ck Beetle¡¯s lips and tongue wriggled, as well as his throat. This was quite clear. But the sound that came out was fuzzy and hoarse. In this overexertion, a gleaming green stinger protruded out from his throat. It even shook left and right a few times.

 Chapter 307: Thunder and Rain (Part 1/3)

    Chapter 307: Thunder and Rain (Part 1/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Xue Lei held amazing valor when faced with such an aberrant situation, but his human instincts still made his scalp go numb. He couldn¡¯t stop the cold shiver that ran down his spine. "What sort of monster is this?"


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t respond. Instead, ck Beetle¡¯s body leaned over a few degrees to face the two directly. The throat continued to reverberate. "...Pashasha. What Ouka means is sorry."


    A few of the words were pronounced very artictely by ck Beetle. If one were to close their eyes, they would probably not hear much of a difference between the prior andter parts.... Even if one were to blink, one could confirm that a person was talking as long as they ignored the ufortable details.


    Right now, ck Beetle had a restrained, polite expression that was uncharacteristic of him. His pair of hands were sped together, stiffly protecting his lower abdomen. His head sagged slightly, and he truly had an appearance of apology.


    "An early move has caused several connections to be missing. A transformation process still needs to be undertaken. Please forgive me."


    Were it not for the unnatural twitching of facial muscles.... Were it not for the pointed insect limbs poking out of his nose, mouth, and ears, the current ck Beetle¡¯s expression would simply be like that of a trained and experienced ceremonial officer.


    Theparison of before and after. Theparison of internal and external. Theseparisons made one¡¯s mind shiver with a haunting alienation.


    Xue Lei realized what had happened by integrating Zhang Yingying¡¯s previous reminder with the situation. He adjusted his positioning, protecting Luo Nan behind his broad shoulders. He directly faced that human-yet-not-human, insect-yet-not-insect thing, and shouted,


    "Snake Tongue?"


    "Before the transformation can bepleted, I will need to deal with you two. However, just as someone said before, I hope to have some useful exchanges with Lord Luo within this small period of time."


    Before them was ck Beetle externally, and a mutated demon bug internally, but its will was Snake Tongue¡¯s in a strange existence. This could be surmised from the calm, courteous behavior in speech. At the same time, the stiff body had leaned forward a bit, and it had adapted to speaking. It soon straightened back up, and then performed a deep bow with a look of extreme respect.


    "Lord Luo¡¯s theory has opened my eyes, breaking through obstacles that gued me for several years. I have benefitted from the lecture."


    For an instant, Xue Lei, who was standing between the two, felt like he was the third wheel.


    This was true in a way. Snake Tongue borrowed ck Beetle¡¯s mouth to speak and move. This was just a form. Its thoughts viewed Xue Lei as nothing. It looked only at Luo Nan.


    "I believe that Lord Luo should also have his own set of gears. Lord Luo is also engaging in a marvelous application of coupling¡ªthe power that can see through living beingspletely. However, the operation isn¡¯t very smooth, correct?"


    As ck Beetle¡¯s body spoke, his cheeks revealed convulsionspletely out of tune with his tone. A beatter, his two eyes noiselessly disintegrated. Blood sttered, and mossy green appendages of an insect protruded out of the eye sockets, then withdrew again.


    In this eye-spasming scene, a smile was revealed on ck Beetle¡¯s face. Between the pitch-ck teeth engraved with lines expelled an inhuman and deathly air. "Your gear is extraordinary, but your body is frail. The moreplicated and profound the coupling, the greater the pressure that is brought to you. Lord Luo, how long can you endure it?"


    Luo Nan stood behind Xue Lei. His face felt a bit ufortable. It was because of the blood that flowed down from his eye sockets; it was about to dry up. Luo Nan used the white cuffs of his white coat to wipe his face with two strokes. Such a small action affected the nerves of his face, bringing him pain. It was as if he were being scraped by a knife.


    He exhaled, did his best to maintain the tranquility with his face, and softly said, "Did you simply kill ck Beetle to reduce theplexity of coupling, thereby gaining greater control?"


    "Each time Lord Luo speaks, the meaning is clear, and the essence is there."


    Snake Tongue responded through ck Beetle¡¯s riddled body. At that moment, she was on the same train of logic as Luo Nan. She could hold a two-waymunication with him. "Allow me to express my objection. Lord Luo¡¯s assertion of ck Beetle being dead is rather imprudent. I merely made altercations to his way of existence. ording to what Lord Luo exined, I just took the central gear and transformed it into another shape."


    ck Beetle¡¯s body spasmed violently as the words were released. His entire body shrunk into a ball, and he knelt to the ground, shivering from head to toe.


    Xue Lei subconsciously pushed across with his arm, bringing Luo Nan further behind him. He feared that the enemy might spawn something like a demonic moth. A faint yet fine chant came out from ck Beetle right when Xue Lei moved. The chant merged with the frigid wind atop the viewing tform to blow in all directions.


    Xue Lei didn¡¯t know if it was an illusion, but he felt the strength of the wind weaken. Then a beatter, little sounds of explosions rang from various areas atop the viewing tform.


    Xue Lei¡¯s ears twitched. He spun his gaze in a circle, urately capturing every point of explosion. He just saw light green vapor rise up and diffuse in all these locations.


    "Twenty-seven of them. They should be the bugs controlled by ck Beetle. They all exploded."


    "It¡¯s Insect Explosion. Be careful of the nerve gas inside. If the gas has been made more effective through special techniques, its corrosive nature can be quite strong." Zhang Yingying already knew that Snake Tongue had arrived, thanks to her wristbandmunications. She was even more worried and anxious now, but she feigned calmness in order to prevent the two rookies from panicking. It should be quite exhausting to keep acting like this.


    Xue Lei¡¯s eyelid twitched. "The volume doesn¡¯t appear to be big, but what are her intentions by gathering the gas all together from all sides?"


    Zhang Yingying¡¯s mind went nk. "Gather?"


    Luo Nan inserted himself into the conversation. "Snake Tongue is controlling the airflow atop the tform. Leister, can you take the stairs while carrying me?"


    "No problem!" In any case, Xue Lei would have to put up with it even if there were problems.


    "Then let¡¯s.... Forget it. We¡¯re a bit toote."


    Luo Nan¡¯s voice grew hoarser. His body was indeed under enormous pressure. He was bing weaker and weaker, but his mind was glowing brighter and brighter.


    Things were just as Snake Tongue guessed. Luo Nan had achieved a coupling rtionship between his gears under his roughly formed order frame. The coupling might not have been smooth, but it was enough to give birth to a divine light capable of illuminating the inside and the outside, reaching everywhere and giving Luo Nan amazing foresight.


    Unfortunately, the difference between the enemy¡¯s experience and Luo Nan¡¯s experience was great. When facing the mage Snake Tongue and her treacherous and mysterious mind, Luo Nan¡¯s reactions were slower by a thread.


    Right then, the frigid air current atop the tform was under the control of a fine spell chant. The winds were tamed and acquiescent. The winds whirled, gathering the scattered green poison clouds over, one after another. Theyers of pressure headed toward Luo Nan and Xue Lei. They looked like rolls of fine cotton at first nce. They floated, not dispersing, and converged into screens, surrounding them at all sides. The way out of the tform was blocked off, sealing Luo Nan and Xue Lei inside.


    Xue Lei looked around in a circle, the veins of his forehead throbbing. He had the mind to use a fist of gale to break through theseyers of poison mist screens. However, he thought about how masterful Snake Tongue¡¯s wind-control spell was, and he hesitated from acting against evil so as to prevent harm to innocents.


    He had reached the realm of obtaining his sign. He might not have to fear the poison mist, but what about Luo Nan? It was impossible for Luo Nan endure this torment with his body.


    Snake Tongue¡¯s method of ying things down had stabbed a lethal point of weakness into them.


    What should they do now? Wait for the poison to vaporize? Disregarding the fact that the tform was constructed in a half-open style, Snake Tongue had made this space no different than apletely sealed room.


    And this wasn¡¯t the end of things.


    Xue Lei¡¯s eyelids twitched, and he saw ck Beetle, who had fallen to the ground with spasms, slowly crawl up from the ground. ck Beetle¡¯s body was still a bit rocky, and his bloody cavities-for-eyes endlessly spewed blood. His face was skewered with several holes by sharp insect limbs, but he still revealed a courteous smile.


    "The transformation has beenplete. I¡¯ve made Lord Luo see a joke."


    Before the final syble ended, ck Beetle¡¯s mask-like smile shattered into pieces. In its ce was a hatred and madness warped to the extreme. The two bloody cavities upon his face spun toward Luo Nan¡¯s location. He spoke through gnashing teeth, "Little bastard who hides beneath a woman¡¯s skirt. GO DIE! AHHHHHHHH!"


    The sudden change in aura made Xue Lei¡¯s scalp explode. The scene before Xue Lei¡¯s eyes blossomed. ck Beetle was charging over with a roar. He directly rushed through the green poison screen and punched straight out.


    The charge pushed the poison screen into a chaotic eddy, and Xue Lei could smell the acridity. He thought about Luo Nan behind him, and Xue Lei flew into a rage. He made a sharp shout, and his powerful body actually expanded by a factor. His body was akin to a giant¡¯s as he unleashed heavy blows.


    A bang exploded out, and ck Beetle was knocked back at a speed even faster than his approach. The bone of his right arm was smashed into three sections by Xue Lei. He was again suppressed by heavy fists. The fists warped and copsed his forehead inward, smashing a depression into his skull.


    But in the instant ck Beetle was bombarded back, ck Beetle ripped off his tie with his left hand and swung it in one stroke. It shed silently across Xue Lei¡¯s chest, and it was as if Xue Lei¡¯s clothes were cut by a sharp de. They instantly split, and a white line appeared on his chest. The line rapidly turned red as it filled with blood. A dark color even shown through right on the eve of breaking through.


    Xue Lei gritted his teeth, uttering not a sound. He just looked unwaveringly at ck Beetle.


    If this was a normal situation, the exchange of blows would have led to ck Beetle¡¯s brain exploding to mush. Xue Lei would have won already. However, the fellow before his eyes, with his twisted expression and cracked skull, did not have brainse out, but part of the shell of an ugly demonic bug.


    ck Beetle even grinned withughter. "Ohhhh, the open wind feels so good.... Why have I never discovered this before?"


    Xue Lei¡¯s mind shuddered with aversion. He didn¡¯t know if it was ck Beetle speaking or the demonic bug.


    What the hell was this guy now?


    Before Xue Lei could finish this thought, ck Beetle¡¯s expression went through another change. His lips and teeth opened, and he conveyed Snake Tongue¡¯s will, "Lord Luo, is ck Beetle dead or alive like this?"


    Behind Xue Lei, Luo Nan spoke in a low yet steady voice, "It is merely a damaged soul that¡¯s been molded by you into a wraith-like monster...."


    "That¡¯s one interpretation."


    Snake Tongue didn¡¯t deny it. "The scale between life and death is fuzzy from the perspectives of you and I. You say he¡¯s dead. I say he¡¯s living. We each have our own criterion. However, I want to ask. If Lord Luo bes like this, will you have the same thoughts then?"


    "...."


    "Of course, I certainly won¡¯t treat you as roughly as I have ck Beetle. I will use the most meticulous of techniques to slowly mold you. I¡¯ll have Lord Luo¡¯s soul be the most precious of my collection."


    Under Snake Tongue¡¯s control, ck Beetle faced Luo Nan and Xue Lei with another bow. Green beetles substituted the brain within the split skull. They squirmed a bit. "When that happens, I will remold a more suitable body for Lord Luo to house your dazzling soul. If fortune would have it, we can even converse about research. I want the thoughts of a genius. Thoughts on perfecting order frames and the like. This is my n....


    "What do you think, Lord Luo?"

 Chapter 308: Thunder and Rain (Part 2/3)

    Chapter 308: Thunder and Rain (Part 2/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan made no response whatsoever when faced with Snake Tongue¡¯s courteous and respectful behavior through ck Beetle¡¯s body. He leaned against the protective ss. His eyelids drooped down, and he became short of breath. He gave others the impression of increasing weakness.


    The poisonous mist closed in all around. Luo Nan, with his poor physique, was in quite a life-threatening situation. Snake Tongue might not even need to expend any more energy. Just by saying a few more words, Luo Nan might simply fall.


    "Lord Luo?" Snake Tongue still asked in a civilized and courteous way. Disregarding the shorings in attractiveness of her medium, there wasn¡¯t anything that could be fussed about.


    Xue Lei could no longer bear the hypocrisy. He sneered. "No wonder you have a ¡¯tongue¡¯ in your codename. You speak a lot of nonsense!"


    "I¡¯m truly sorry. I can¡¯t think of anything I need to do right now besides talking."


    Snake Tongue drove ck Beetle to step two paces forward to allow Xue Lei to face the formidable foe. Currently, ck Beetle wasn¡¯t really much, but if the poison screens were disturbed a few more times, there was an 80% chance that Luo Nan would fall. This was the reason why Snake Tongue was acting so leisurely.


    Xue Lei gnashed his teeth in anger as Snake Tongue continued speaking, "I can end this situation much quicker, but I feel quite ashamed. My humble cultivation hasn¡¯t reached perfection. I can¡¯t guarantee theplete retention of your light of intelligence. What information remains mostly relies on luck. The most likely possibility would be the erasure of Lord Luo¡¯s fascinating theories. That would really be a pity...."


    "Snake Tongue!" Above the Heavenly Ocean Lake, Puppeteer also had enough. He looked at his wrist once more to confirm the time.


    Though the police of Xia City and the security department of Cloud City Water Vige wereplete trash, they were certainly heading over right now. What if the Xia City branch of the Society were on their tails? They had barely obtained the upper hand. They needed to take Luo Nan into their hands and not let him escape.


    "Mind your own matters," Snake Tongue¡¯s voice rang directly in his ear, this time with a warning that was neither light nor heavy.


    Luo Nan, who maintained silence all this time, finally spoke, "You asked about An Weng a while ago.... Aren¡¯t you digressing from the topic?"


    "Idiot, you¡¯re still in the mood to chat? Shut the hell up! Stop breathing!" Zhang Yingying was already driving up a storm in the metropolis. This year, her driving score was shot to nothing. Now, she even expended a lot of mental energy worrying over this troublemaker. She wanted to tear her steering wheel off her car in her hate.


    "Listen to Sister Zhang, Nanster! Don¡¯t talk!" Xue Lei also wanted to curb Luo Nan from talking. Luo Nan, however, patted him on the shoulder in slight reassurance.


    ck Beetle continued to act like a mouthpiece in front of them, helping realize a dialogue between Snake Tongue and Luo Nan. "From my viewpoint, An Weng¡¯s location and the like really don¡¯t stir my emotions as much as Lord Luo¡¯s theories."


    "Then I must truly thank you."


    Luo Nan continued to speak in a weak voice, "Therefore, you intend to continue discussing rted topics until I fall to the poison mists.... Or perhaps, you¡¯ve finished constructing your fortifications?"


    The viewing tform was suddenly without sound.


    "Fortifications?" Whether it was Xue Lei, Zhang Yingying, or even Puppeteer, they all encountered a barrier in understanding. They were stunned for a time.


    Snake Tongue probably had the same emotions. She spoke through ck Beetle a full five secondster, but this time, the tone was much graver than before, "Lord Luo, you¡¯ve been observing me all this time?"


    "I am forming conjectures about you."


    The sound of Luo Nan¡¯s breathing turned rapid. A smidgen of poison had entered him, and at that moment, the effects were bing increasingly obvious. However, he still spoke, "I am thinking. Based on your ability, you were originally going toe over here with ck Beetle and the others. With the element of exceptional surprise, I probably wouldn¡¯t have made it this long if you had. However, you didn¡¯te. You just made a mpshade¡¯, doing just better than nothing. It just doesn¡¯t make sense for a killing machine to act as a logistics person.


    "Therefore....


    "I made a conjecture. Of course, I also had the support of someone¡¯s intelligence. I thought that you were bound toe over via an out-of-body state. It is convenient, but it is fragile. Especially against me, an expert in sensing and mental attacks. You should have quite a cautious nature, someone who cherishes her own body. You still haven¡¯tunched your final offensive. Maybe you¡¯re scared of expending too much energy, allowing me to detect you and catch you. Your defensive ability can¡¯tpare to ck Beetle¡¯s and the others¡¯."


    Snake Tongue was silent for several seconds, before speaking, "Right now, has Lord Luo discovered my position?"


    "I¡¯m not too sure yet, so let¡¯s do what you suggested. Let¡¯s keep chatting?"


    Snake Tongue stopped uttering a sound. She seemed to be pondering Luo Nan¡¯s means.


    Xue Lei, Zhang Yingying, and Puppeteer. These three people were unable to speak a word for a time. So there was another battlefield going on atop the tform, and they werepletely ignorant of it all.... Although Luo Nan had brought this out to the open, the situation was as so.


    Everyone¡¯s gazes, aside from the people absent from the scene, all congregated upon Luo Nan¡¯s body. However, they were unable to see even a clue.


    Luo Nan¡¯splexion still wasn¡¯t very good. The protective ss behind him had an arc to it, so he was ufortable as he leaned against it. He painfully adjusted his body¡¯s posture, and he finally felt a bitfortable. He extended two fingers, and gestured with a swipe.


    A second passed, and Snake Tongue spoke through ck Beetle, "Lord Luo means...."


    "I¡¯m answering your question." Luo Nan seemed to be interested in talking. "You just asked me about my order frame. ording to the standard that is ck Beetle, my order frame contains two gears. One big and one small."


    Luo Nan had spoken simply, but the implications were much moreplicated.


    There were two gears. Therge one was the Format Pyramid. It represented the soul strength stored within the external neuron as well as the external neuron itself. During one of Xiu Shenyu¡¯s lectures, therge gear was called an ¡¯external power¡¯. Xiu Shenyu said that it was like an enormous iceberg. Its power was strict.


    The small gear was the heartntern of the eyes orifice, the progress Luo Nan made in ten days of cultivation. It was an extension of the system of his body, but it had yet to mature. It remained a mere dinghy floating outside the iceberg.


    There existed certain coupling rtionships between therge and small gears from the very beginning. The infusion of soul strength from the Format Pyramid allowed the heartntern of the eyes orifice to rapidly develop and strengthen. This was just one rtionship between them. The heartntern of the eyes orifice and the Format Pyramid intemunicated and ovepped information. This was the second rtionship.


    The second rtionship was quite notable. In the very beginning, whether it was ck Beetle or Puppeteer, when Luo Nan tried to use irvoyance and see their Life Sketches, they were both obscured by a dense haze. There was interference. Then there was the new coupling rtionship, which was like wind passing through the gap and light illuminating the earth below. After this coupling rtionship was formed, the two people¡¯s Life Sketches, and even the entire star riverndscape, had most of the turbid clouds and dark mist brushed away. Layers uponyers were prated, and mysteries no longer existed.


    It was impossible for Luo Nan to speak these details. What he spoke now, especially the discussion with Snake Tongue, was a technique to gain a better understanding by exining what he knew through his own words. He was further refining his embryonic ideas.


    So he really didn¡¯t care whether or not Snake Tongue responded. He just talked, caring only for himself. "My problem lies in the fact that these two gears aren¡¯t on the same order of magnitude. They are also too close together. Theyck a fairposition. Even when they form a coupling rtionship, it is hard to avoid wear and tear due to their differences."


    His face turned toward the Heavenly Ocean Lake. Heughed. He clearly blew a fuse, but this rarely seen expression of his made the nearby Puppeteer¡¯s scalp go numb.


    "A special structure is certainly needed to facilitate a motive connection between the gears with their enormous difference in masses. A link in-between is a necessity. Like the devil ray. It charges and rushes within the crystal pir, killing numerous marine life. It paves a path of death around it, but just a small distance away, many small fish and prawn can rely on its discarded food and waste to grow."


    Puppeteer subconsciously looked down below his feet. He only woke up halfway through his action. The conversation was running way too off-topic!


    Even Snake Tongue was slightly unable to follow Luo Nan¡¯s tempo. In the end, she just let out a sigh containing an unclear emotion. "Lord Luo, you really make one revere you when you use unique methods in your ponderings.... However, we are still people of themons. It isn¡¯t good to diverge too far from the level of the normal world."


    ck Beetle suddenly made a sudden step forward as she spoke.


    Xue Lei wasn¡¯t sure what sort of stage the situation had developed to, but his duty to protect Luo Nan would never change. He subtly bent his body like a bow. He entered into abat stance.


    Luo Nan paused the conversation that only he could understand. His blood-filled eyes faced ck Beetle¡¯s warped and deformed face, but he ultimately just nced at him to look downcast. "You don¡¯t want to discuss theories?"


    "I¡¯m very worried about Lord Luo¡¯s current state."


    Snake Tongue¡¯s concern was like ck Beetle¡¯s face. All that was left was a shriveled and empty husk. As she spoke, the green poison screen noiselessly gathered and approached the center. The scope was done in an extremely cautious and subtle manner.


    ck Beetle pressed forward as well. His speed wasn¡¯t quick, but his center of gravity swayed and changed seemingly randomly. He seemed to be as good as 80% of his peak state.


    Xue Lei had to pay attention to the poison screen of mist, had to stay locked on to ck Beetle, and also had to worry about Luo Nan¡¯s state. His mind was split in all these directions. It was really hard.


    At this time, Xue Lei heard Luo Nan cough out a breath of air behind him. He was shocked, and he turned around to look, ignoring ck Beetle¡¯s movements in front.


    ck Beetle¡¯s side seemed to be shocked as well. He unexpectedly didn¡¯t seize the opportunity to cause difficulties.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t care about how the others acted. He took in a deep breath, then he slowly exhaled. He couldn¡¯t avoid the toxic environment of the surrounding poison curtains of mist. He subconsciously moved his jaw during this process, dispersing the feeling of numbness in his face.


    "The main ingredient of ck Beetle¡¯s insect explosion poison should be a polypeptide neurotoxin, with the greatest likelihood of it being ISTX-3. Normally, it propagates via the bloodstream to directly affect ion channels and cause a strong paralysis effect. But ck Beetle made huge adjustments in its synthesis for the sake of increasing its efficiency. He increased the likelihood of a respiratory infection, but this reduced the toxicity...."


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t even raise his eyes, having spoken to this point. He just breathed augh. "Would you say that this dialogue is now on the level of the normal world? Mrs. Snake Tongue, we hade to an agreement to engage in discussion. It¡¯s not good to withdraw midway."


    Snake Tongue could hardly hide her astonishment. "Lord Luo has also researched neurotoxins?"


    "I¡¯ve taken many drugs. I can resist the neurotoxin for a bit of time."


    Though Luo Nan said this, he had many years without the format foundation as a container. He also just recently pierced through to the eyes orifice, stimting the functions of his human body. Today, Luo Nan was likely in big trouble. He absolutely wasn¡¯t as he appeared, breathing in toxic gas and scaring people in amusement.


    Luo Nan leaned against the protective ss and switched to a morefortable position. He absolutely wouldn¡¯t tell Snake Tongue that half his body had numbed already. That he would tumble if he were to take a single step.


    However, his nervous system was in an extraordinarily excited state due to the stimtion of the neurotoxin. This was precisely what he needed the most.

 Chapter 309: Thunder and Rain (Part 3/3)

    Chapter 309: Thunder and Rain (Part 3/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan¡¯s bullshitting skills were truly rising as he spoke about frames and gears. By pairing his skills with a bunch of jargon, his effectiveness in scaring people greatly improved as well.


    Snake Tongue was a silent for a time. She was probably reassessing Luo Nan¡¯s state.


    As for Xue Lei, he wasn¡¯t quite clear on what was going on, but he let out a breath of relief when he saw the appearance Luo Nan had donned. His entire self rxed.


    "Nanster, you¡¯re amazing!"


    Most of Xue Lei¡¯s thoughts were focused on Luo Nan when the poisonous screens of mist surrounded them. The feeling of apprehension was hard to take, for he couldn¡¯t utilize his skills. Now that most of his worries of the future were gone, the pressure moved away from his mind. The energy of his body circted much more smoothly.


    Luo Nan gave Xue Lei a big thumbs up. He wasn¡¯t nning on telling him the truth. Losing control of half his body was quite an ufortable feeling, but it was worth it if he could liberate Xue Lei¡¯sbat power.


    It¡¯s just that Xue Lei still had some lingering fears. He was worried that the enemy would use some dark methods against them, and he whispered, "Nanster. Let¡¯s take the chance. I¡¯ll carry you down¡ª"


    "No, we¡¯re going on the offensive."


    Luo Nan¡¯s voice was lower and deeper than before, but his will was unwavering. The veins of his forehead faintly throbbed, as the coupling between the heartntern of the eyes orifice and the Format Pyramid formed the glimmering wind. The glimmering wind brushed across the viewing tform, as well as most of the skyscraper itself. It illuminated every nook and cranny, including the Life Sketches of every living being.


    The enormous quantity of information was difficult to process. Luo Nan had to approximately discern the information based on the distance and level of danger. Under the umtion of information, Luo Nan formed response ns one after another, changing them and refreshing them.


    Luo Nan did notck in ideas. He wascking in the judgment ability that was formed from the umtion of experience. In this situation, the principles formed by his predecessors¡¯ experience became the number one basis for his decision making. The principles of mentality taught by Crag Burst were the basis of Luo Nan¡¯s actions. Luo Nan took his own conviction and schemes, and erected them upon unwavering elements of victory and superiority. These were what forged his steel will.


    "We don¡¯t have the energy to continue being tangled up with Snake Tongue. Right now, we need to get rid of ck Beetle. Without this starting point, Snake Tongue can only make a move in the mental domain. Victory is ours at that point."


    Xue Lei¡¯s gaze cut to ck Beetle. He felt that the distance was appropriate. Both advance and retreat was all right. It¡¯s just that variables would inevitably ur oncebat started.


    It was just a moment of hesitation, but the enemy made their move first.


    Low sybles came out of ck Beetle¡¯s mouth. They sounded like part of a spell chant as well as the hissing of bugs. The two fused together, and the poison screens of mist closed in from all directions. The color of green suddenly deepened as a gurgling sound rang through the air. With the help of Zhang Yingying¡¯s intelligence, Luo Nan and Xue Lei realized that ck Beetle was forcing the poison mist to catalyze. It wasn¡¯t just neurotoxin now. The poison mist became corrosive, and it came pouncing over.


    Snake Tongue probably did this because she felt that the neurotoxin wasn¡¯t effective enough, so she switched to a corrosive type to see if it would give more damage.


    Luo Nan witnessed this scene and was not really surprised. He didn¡¯t cover up his previous speech at all. This was the same as pressuring Snake Tongue into making a move. Luo Nan instantly spoke faster, telling Xue Lei, "I recall you mentioning that you¡¯ve perfected the Latent Thunder technique?"


    "Huh?"


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t wait for Xue Lei to respond. He flipped through the pages of the notebook he always held within his hand until he reached thest page. Herey thest of the paper men he had made. There was something different about it. Its paper material ignited into a ze of fire in midair as it pounced into the poison screens that were on the verge of closing in on them.


    The special material and special technique formed a special ze. Its quality was out of the ordinary, but this was an extremely rough method of response from Luo Nan. The corrosive poison mist exploded into mes as they made contact, sshing outrge gushes of fire and causing the toxicity to be violently vtile.


    In an instant, before Xue Lei were an acrid odor and the sight of me. Xue Lei eventually realized Luo Nan¡¯s intentions while his scalp was frying. He immediately gritted his teeth as he gave a low shout, collecting the energy of his entire body. Then, his energy exploded in an eruption. The martial artist clothes upon his body rang with crackles, and air sted away from his body, dispelling the assaulting mes at once.


    This move could defend against fire, but not poison. The toxicity was excited in an instant, growing fiercer than before by countless fold. Even Xue Lei felt his limbs go a bit numb. Luckily, the clearsign within his body shone with its illumination. It quickly dispelled and suppressed these negative feelings to the minimum, wiping them clean.


    Xue Lei was most concerned about Luo Nan still. He was just about to turn around when he was pushed from behind. "Blitzkrieg go!"


    The force wasn¡¯t great, but it was expressed in a direct and efficient way, wiping away the distracting thoughts from Xue Lei¡¯s mind. Xue Lei growled. He relied on his strong body to break into the region of mist, which was still spraying with mes, battering his way through.


    As he saw Xue Lei throw himself ahead, Luo Nan¡¯s body subconsciously wanted to slide to the ground. His muddy vision turned even fuzzier. However, there was the glimmering wind formed from the coupling between the Format Pyramid and the heartntern of the eyes orifice. The wind blew across all orifices, illuminating every part of the body. The feeling of numbness was alleviated substantially, and strands of heat rose up, giving Luo Nan a bit more strength. In the end, Luo Nan leaned steadily against the protective ss, escaping making a fool of himself.


    The devious figure hiding deep in the mental ne behindyers andyers of defenses was incapable of seeing through this hole.


    Xue Lei¡¯s charge was a move that shifted around the roles of aggressor and defender.


    ck Beetle had already pressed a certain amount of distance when Xue Lei¡¯s sudden assault came. Xue Lei¡¯s awesome explosive power made him like a ferocious tiger crossing a river, roaring through. The powerful energy surrounding Xue Lei¡¯s body tore the remaining poison screen of mist into shreds.


    ck Beetle¡¯s control over the poison mist waspletely broken, but then his feet swayed as he sidestepped in time, dodging Xue Lei¡¯s frontal charge.


    Xue Lei¡¯s gaze was vicious as his tall and strong body instantly whirled around like flowing water. He charged with a shoulder and struck with an elbow, drawing out close range strikes which were akin to the howling wind and torrential rain. His tiny range shifted and changed in a manner that was in no way inferior to what ck Beetle could do.


    ck Beetle¡¯s response was inferior to his response back when he was normal. He avoided the shoulder charge, but was unable to dodge the elbow strike as his body suddenly stiffened. Xue Lei seized this chance. A growl burst from his throat, and he unleashed a fist brimming with power. One fist came after another as he pummeled ck Beetle in the shoulder, neck, and face. At first there was no sound, but after the three punchesnded, there suddenly came the explosive sound of thunder. The force pierced through the skin, flesh, skull, and brains. Thetent energy exploded in vibrations, and ck Beetle¡¯s ugly and deformed skull thudded and exploded apart.


    Within the shards of the skull bone, the beetle¡¯s body suddenly shriveled. It looked like it was about to explode, but it actually did this to avoid most of the punching pressure. It firmly pulled back downward, following the broken veins in the neck and sinking deep within ck Beetle¡¯s ruined body.


    The image, the scene, was aberrant and horrifying. But Xue Lei had already entered abat state. He turned a blind eye to this and drew his energy to let loose another hammer of a punch.


    Thunder rang once more, and the neck, shoulders, and chest of ck Beetle¡¯s ruined body caved in, bing seriously deformed. He no longer had the form of a human. If any normal person had such an appearance, they would be 100% dead. However, Xue Lei felt that this wasn¡¯t enough. He fixed his gaze upon ck Beetle¡¯s ruined body and unleashed another heavy hammer of a blow.


    But then Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts directly entered Xue Lei¡¯s mind. "Retreat!"


    Xue Lei didn¡¯t even think with this stimtion from Luo Nan. He withdrew his fist, and his body flickered in retreat.


    It happened at nearly the same beat. ck Beetle¡¯s critically crushed chest suddenly expanded. The force was so much that it looked like it would explode apart entirely. But just when the chest was on the verge of bursting, an invisible force forcefully terminated it. In the end, only the shoulder and neck, which were meat-paste by now, exploded in a mist of blood.


    The bloody glow gurgled within the air. Theter part of the blood was greater than the prior, spraying toward Xue Lei¡¯s head. But Xue Leiunched a fist filled with energy, forcefully shaking the blood apart.


    Xue Lei had no intentions of rxing after escaping from this danger. He suddenly turned to look at Luo Nan, and he saw lightning inexplicably sh within the eye sockets of his best friend.


    Before he could understand what happened, Xue Lei heard a shriek of despair.


    "AHHHHHHHHHHH!"


    The ugly green beetle emerged once more from the upper half of the ruined human body. Half of its shell was fused with the damaged blood and flesh. The other half, which included the head, backshell, et cetera, ignited with mes and smoke. The mes flew and curled upward, forming the faint shape of a human struggling in pain.


    It was ck Beetle¡¯s ¡¯wraith¡¯.


    Right then, ck Beetle could be considered awake. His shrieks were filled to the brim with despair and fear; his emotions of fury had sunk from the surface.... Right then, he was in a state that was neither man nor demon, and his emotions were born from this.


    "SNAKE TONGUE! SNAKE TONGUE!" All of ck Beetle¡¯s vocal organs were obliterated into nothing. His current screams were from the materialization of intense negative thoughts. They were like curses, and also pleas.


    "Many thanks for your help."


    The voice was extraordinarily gentle and refined. It quietly entered the ear like a breeze. This was the product of using the air currents atop the viewing tform as a musical instrument. The air was seeped with indiscernible telepathy, and thus, sound was produced.


    The sound didn¡¯t match the person. Who could ever think that this was Snake Tongue?


    The gentler Snake Tongue¡¯s response was, the more intense ck Beetle¡¯s reaction became. The intense emotions caused the mes to be more like a burning man in appearance. But regardless, it was only a nt growing in a flower pot of blood and flesh. No matter how it twisted and struggled, it couldn¡¯t leave and it couldn¡¯t die. It could only stagger around in its half-ruined body, a scene that caused shivers to run down one¡¯s spine.


    Snake Tongue didn¡¯t feel like chatting leisurely with a fellow whose self-awareness was on the eve of being extinguished. Her tone grew all the more rxed and gentle. "I truly need to give much thanks to ck Beetle to be able to urge Lord Luo disy his expertise, and for giving me the chance to make contact with Lord Luo in this manner."


    Xue Lei really didn¡¯t quite understand what Snake Tongue was saying, but Snake Tongue had used dark and treacherous methods before, and now she was chatting very openly. When he heard her tone, he instinctively felt that things were far from good. "Nanster?"


    Luo Nan leaned against the protective ss. His bloody red eye sockets were locked on to ck Beetle. Some of the stopped blood flowed down once more, dripping down from his chin to his white coat, leaving an eye-catching blotch.


    When ck Beetle¡¯s body swelled and neared the point of explosion just a moment before, Luo Nan had used his soul strength to forcefully interfere with the gears within, effectively suppressing them.


    Otherwise, what would have happened wouldn¡¯t be a spray of bloody mist. It would be a meat bomb. Xue Lei might not have been able to take it, and in an environment with rapidly spreading poison, Luo Nan wouldn¡¯t be able to take it either.


    Luo Nan¡¯s technique of interference reached the peak of mastery. He needed to have the visual power topletely see the corporeal and incorporeal of the enemy¡¯s foundation. Only then could this be done. However, the dealer that was Snake Tongue had buried a trap here earlier on. Luo Nan¡¯s soul strength was locked firmly by her when he seeped it inside, and then began a wrestle of power.


    The soul strengths of the two collided head on for the first time, and the situation turned into a dangerous deadlock. If Luo Nan were to cower just a little, the meat bomb would explode.


    "Retreat backward!" Luo Nan squeezed out two words between his teeth.


    Xue Lei hesitated a bit, then he moved back.


    The sound of Snake Tongue using the wind to speak was like a shadow following a body: It was relentless. It seemed she was in the mood to talk again. "Looking at the results of soul activating the paper men, Lord Luo¡¯s interference ability strength far exceeds the scope illustrated by intelligence. Aside from the fact that the intelligence personnel have failed in their duties, this resultes from the coupling of two gears. It must be a method that wasprehended just recently."


    Luo Nan responded coldly as he calcted Xue Lei¡¯s safety distance, "Correct, but you don¡¯t get bonus points."


    "But Lord Luo should understand it clearly. The source of your problems don¡¯t lie in your interference ability. It lies in the critical imbnce between body and soul. AKA it is the problem of therge disparity between your small gear and yourrge gear. The more breathtaking your performance is right now, the graver the consequences you bring upon yourself...."


    "So you used ck Beetle to manufacture this trap for me?"


    Luo Nan knew that Snake Tongue¡¯s ultimate goal wasn¡¯t to force a deadlock. Even if they were in a deadlock, Snake Tongue still had a soul strength cirction technique that reached near perfection. She increased the pressure bit by bit, forcing Luo Nan to increase his invested soul strength ordingly. They twisted around each other, forming a powerful and incorporeal maelstrom. It was like a closebat wrestle on the mental ne.


    This was precisely Snake Tongue¡¯s meticulous n. She used this method to force Luo Nan into a basic tug-of-war, into a pure wrestle. Her ultimate goal was to avoid the powerful and sharp long-range attacks Luo Nan was capable of.


    Now, Snake Tongue had revealed the true location of her soul. She had performedyers uponyers of fortifications, dispelling Luo Nan¡¯s explosive power of soul strength. It could be said that she was secure and had nothing to fear.


    Luo Nan exhaled. "All right. I need to say something. Your warping of ck Beetle¡¯s central gear to force ck Beetle¡¯s four gears in mutually affecting each other is absolutely not ¡¯coupling¡¯."


    "Of course. This sort of structural rtionship is coarse and rudimentary. It has no beauty."


    Snake Tongue¡¯s gentle voice was like that of a teacher reciting poetry. "The world doesn¡¯t follow one¡¯s fancies. Nine times out of ten, we ultimately need to use the most realistic of methods to resolve problems. So, I used a low-grade structure to draw over Lord Luo¡¯s interference and restrict your soul strength. Next, I will use this ugly wrestle of power to touch upon the limits of your body a bit at a time until your bodypletely falls apart. Perhaps this method will make it hard for your light of intelligence to remain, but I will be able to obtain something first-rate for my collection¡ª"


    "Collect your ancestors!" puffed Xue Lei in fury. He directed a deathly re toward ck Beetle¡¯s wraith and ruined body. Even though he didn¡¯t understand the details, he knew the cruxy over there.


    He could pulverize whatever hook or trap there was!


    Though his body was still moving backward, the degree of his movement turned small. He couldunch an opposite attack at any time, at a speed that would surely surprise the opponent.


    But Luo Nan called out to him, stopping him once more, "Leister, calm yourself.... It¡¯s rare for someone to chat with me."


    Luo Nan¡¯s body was unable to maintain supporting itself as he spoke. Luo Nan slowly slid to sit on the ground.


    Xue Lei turned to look, his face flushing red when he saw Luo Nan¡¯s state. He gritted his teeth so hard that they were going to crack, but Luo Nan still gave Xue Lei an appeasing gesture. He wanted Xue Lei to go back.


    As Xue Lei was tangled in this conundrum with gritted teeth, Luo Nan slightly tilted his face up high. He faced the location of Snake Tongue¡¯s true soul and spoke gently as if he were in a casual chat, "Mrs. Snake Tongue. I must correct you on one of your views. The coupling rtionship can be coarse or fine. It can be of high quality or of low quality. But most of all, it can be divided into having it and not having it. If there is coupling, then there is coupling. If there isn¡¯t coupling, then there isn¡¯t coupling. You can¡¯t use coarseness and low quality as an excuse.... Do you agree?"


    Though Luo Nan remained calm when faced with a desperate situation, Snake Tongue didn¡¯t have any feelings of admiration. She just smoothed out her n from start to finish and reconfirmed the strength of her fortifications. Only after she concluded that everything was certain did she quietlyugh.


    "The way Lord Luo speaks has a certain arrogance that says, ¡¯Who but myself can do it?¡¯ I don¡¯t quite understand; are you unting that you are the only one who can understand your mother¡¯s research area?"


    Luo Nan really did carefully consider this before shaking his head. "That¡¯s unlikely."


    "Then, is Lord Luo deliberately manufacturing a topic of discussion to buy some time? Are you waiting for reinforcements to arrive?"


    Luo Nan was stupefied for a moment before saying, "Can¡¯t we just discuss things purely for what they are? Coupling isn¡¯t a basket that anyone can put on. An excessively broad definition would just lower its value. It¡¯s just like your meat bomb, where you¡¯ve just produced shes and chaos to stingily construct a new order.... If you still persist in your views, then I will continue believing that you don¡¯t understand coupling."


    Snake Tongue didn¡¯t respond. Over at Heavenly Ocean Lake, Puppeteer was already pushed to his limits. "He¡¯s just buying time! A military aircraft is making its way over! I can see its lights!"


    Actually, nothing really could be seen down in the pitch-ck darkness in the depths of the night sky. But it was after-work rush hour right now. There were manyyers of traffic, with the car lights creating a bit of a chaotic view.


    Those who had the relevant experience would find it easy to determine that these cars had received some information; the information being to make room for an ad hoc military shipnding.


    Snake Tongue was still quite calm. "Doesn¡¯t matter. In the current situation, as long as the three major yers of Xia City don¡¯t rush over, there is no one who can help him escape from my trap."


    Puppeteer nearly cursed out. You cane and go as you please with your soul body. I need time to retreat.


    He narrowly stuffed the emotions back down to his stomach. He understood that it was impossible for him to y with Snake Tongue to the end. He was determined to withdraw first. He nced at his gasping ¡¯safety line¡¯; she was useless now. Forget it, I am extremely benevolent. I¡¯ll help you this one time!


    "You all slowly y. I¡¯m out of here. Mm, before that, I¡¯ll need to leave some beautiful memories."


    Puppeteer gave Luo Nan and Xue Lei a lustrousugh, revealing a mouth full of white teeth. Then he used his wristband to contact Tank, who had yet to appear here.


    "Hello, Tank. Can you do something that will leave a deep impression? Like setting some fires?"


    Luo Nan¡¯s hanging eyelids suddenly twitched twice. Xue Lei instantly woke from his stupefaction and nced back to the jungle of the wends in the distance. But it was already dark, he couldn¡¯t really see anything.


    Even if he could, it was impossible to expect good intentions from this group of people.


    Puppeteer continued chatting with Tank, "If time is a bit pressing, just burning the surface is fine. Pay attention to first destroy the fire control system.... Hot damn, that fast? All right, my words are useless. I believe in your expertise."


    "F***!"


    Xue Lei thought about the misfortune the legendary building was suffering right now, and felt that his hair was about to stand on end. He cursed and yelled, "Snake Tongue! You dare!?"


    Puppeteer shrugged. "Forget her."


    "This has nothing to do with me." Snake Tongue¡¯s voice remained gentle. "However, regret is a hook that is buried within memories. The most touching emotions of the world can be drawn. I don¡¯t mind if my collection is smeared with the color of tragedy."


    Puppeteer cursed to himself for how pretentious she was being. Behind the diving goggles, his eyes swept to look at Xue Lei, who was on the verge ofbusting, as well as... the one sitting on the ground. Luo Nan was expressionless with those bloody red eye sockets.


    Tsk, say something!


    Are you trying to disgust people acting like this? All right, you¡¯ve seeded, we¡¯re disgusted.


    Puppeteer¡¯s smile broadened. "Okay, you all slowly chat then. I¡¯m leaving first. Oh, much thanks to you, Snake Tongue. You¡¯ve saved me from using my safety line."


    He slightly stuck out the thumb of the hand gripping onto Tian Si¡¯s neck as he spoke. He used force to stir the girl¡¯s lower jaw, forcing her to be somewhat awake. Emotions of fear resurfaced in Tian Si¡¯s vacant and dim eyes. Puppeteerughed in satisfaction and whistled.


    A boom sounded in the Heavenly Ocean Lake. The devil ray smacked the water¡¯s surface in agitation. Its enormous mouth split open as it saw the human figure above it. It drooled with desire.


    Puppeteer chuckled, then deliberately raised his voice. "This is your bonus. Drag her down to the bottom and slowly enjoy her. Don¡¯t rush things too much. Let the people on the various floors see. And give our Mr. Luo adequate time to think; which one should he save first? His mother¡¯s work? Or his lover¡¯s life? ...Or maybe he won¡¯t be able to save either?"


    His gaze pointed toward Luo Nan to lock with those blood-red eye sockets. He maintained his grin as he released his fingers, letting Tian Si fall down.


    The water rumbled as the devil ray pped its fins. It flew straight up, and itsrge mouth opened to reveal fine teeth. It faced to meet the human.


    It was in this instant that Puppeteer saw blood overflow from Luo Nan¡¯s eye sockets. The flow of blood continued to engrave marks upon Luo Nan¡¯s face, and Puppeteer¡¯s heart was iparably satisfied. He used two fingers that had been burdened with carrying food to gesture across his forehead, delivering his farewells.


    "Till next time!"


    Puppeteer made a light jump, heading toward the dome. Just as he was about to leap over the steel frame, the muffled sound of something falling into the water resonated. The clear difference in sound made his heart skip a beat. He instinctively shifted his gaze to look down, and he saw the devil ray unfurl its long wing-like fins, which were over fifteen meters wide. It looked like an enormous and aberrant bat as it soared to reach beneath his feet.


    The heck did it fly so high for.... Oh, hold on, what was with the water sound?


    Great waves were billowing out within the Heavenly Ocean Lake. Puppeteer¡¯s gaze deviated, and he saw a velvet skirt, which was puffed up a bit due to being soaked with water, move to and fro atop the water.


    "Get away!" Snake Tongue exploded with an unprecedented warning, causing Puppeteer to burst out with a cold shiver. However, this didn¡¯t obstruct his instincts, which he had tempered over the years, from leading him and forcing him to shift his position.


    And at practically the same time, a different heavy shout exploded directly on the mental ne.


    "PUPPETEER!"


    Puppeteer knew that he absolutely couldn¡¯t be distracted, but the cold sharp shout cut through to the depths of his soul, pressing Puppeteer to turn his head to lock gazes with the blood-filled eyes far in the distance.


    Lightning tore through the turbid blood, causing Luo Nan¡¯s eyes to dazzle with brilliance.


    Puppeteer instinctively squinted his eyes, even though he was wearing diving goggles. It was truly as if he were looking at a spear of lightning radiating within the night sky, and the spear came stabbing at his chest.


    At this moment, whatever instincts, whatever training he had, were turned to ash under the soul-rending attack.


    Puppeteer¡¯s body froze in an absolutely abnormal manner. The Mutant devil ray had an enormous body, and the power at which it flew was extremely quick and ferocious. Even though Puppeteer had shifted a few feet, the distance he had moved wasn¡¯t enough. It was far from enough!


    Blood sprayed in a bout of rain as the corner teeth of the devil ray hooked on to Puppeteer¡¯s right arm. This was the same arm that had gripped Tian Si by the neck, and it separated from the body in an instant.


    Then came the strike from its wing-like fins. The hidden and mutated barbs directly pierced Puppeteer¡¯s chest and the ribs on his two sides. They stabbed evenly inside.


    The sharp pain woke him a little. With his life in danger, he pushed with his feet. This produced quite a bit of force, for he flew off to the side in retreat. But the whip-like tail that was over fifteen meters long of the devil rayshed out with a buzz, bringing a sound akin to chains rattling.


    The heavy attack struck Puppeteer dead in the face. His diving goggles split apart to reveal eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets, as well as emotions of incredulity. All of these disintegrated in the blink of an eye under the powerful explosive force. All that was left was a human body without a head, and that body fell into the Heavenly Ocean Lake.


    A few bloody waves rippled out, before soon diluting into nothing.

 Chapter 310: Wheel of Time (Part 1/3)

    Chapter 310: Wheel of Time (Part 1/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    After killing its previous controller in a single move, the devil ray sank down. Its enormous body was practically touching the surface of the water, but it didn¡¯t enter the water. It just pped its powerful wing-like fins.


    In the end, fins weren¡¯t wings. The rate at which they moved up and down was very slow, but the air currents pierced through the center of the wave-like section, causing marvelous and powerful effects. The air convergedyer uponyer, the density increasing to be a sole source of motive power. This caused the heavy enormous body, which exceeded several tons, to be easily supported up in empty air.


    The over-fifteen-meter-wide colossus hovered above the viewing tform. The sight might not bepletely spectacr, but it inspired an abundance of horror. The water below was affected by thepressed air. Ripples and waves surged to bubble to the shore of the poolyer byyer.


    Tian Si, who had fallen into the water a moment ago, was lifted up by the surging waves. Shey dazed at the edge of the pool. As for the dead Puppeteer, his body waspletely drowned within the waves of water. Not a trace could be seen.


    "Why go through such detailed work when you can already control Mutants?" At least half of Snake Tongue¡¯s attention rested over at Heavenly Ocean Lake because of Puppeteer¡¯s death.


    The betrayal of the devil ray was within her expectations. Puppeteer, this half-assed puppet master, should die in such a fashion. It just happened sooner rather thanter. And the Mutant, who had a strengthened fleshly body, wasn¡¯t really a threat to her.


    What Snake Tongue truly cared about was the method Luo Nan used to control the devil ray.


    She saw the devil ray¡¯s performance. Tian Si and Puppeteer had both fallen into the water, but it had sent Tian Si to shore while leaving Puppeteer¡¯s corpse to sink into the watery depths. The distinction was quite clear. What was hard to imagine was the fact that the devil ray stillplied to its nature in using waves. This was the devil ray¡¯s thinking, and it was a very human-like train of thought.


    This proved that Luo Nan¡¯s control over the devil ray was a surrender rather than a maniption. Even for puppet masters, this was an extremely high-level skill.


    Puppeteer used special techniques to entwine his victims. What did Luo Nan do to overpower Puppeteer¡¯s control?


    Luo Nan must have started formting and executing a n from the moment Puppeteer revealed the devil ray. During this process, whether it was Puppeteer or Snake Tongue, all werepletely ignorant of it. Even when the devil ray betrayed Puppeteer, Snake Tongue still wasn¡¯t certain of the techniques Luo Nan had employed within.


    This skill waspletely missing from the intelligence they were given.


    Of course, Puppeteer was stunned by Luo Nan¡¯s deadly long-range bombardment, causing Puppeteer¡¯s death by the devil ray and leaving Luo Nan open for direct attacks from Snake Tongue. But obviously, Luo Nan wasn¡¯t restricted by Snake Tongue at all. What the heck did her wrestle on the mental ne even mean?


    "This fellow is like a treasury... no, a weapons depot!"


    Snake Tongue waspletely unable to guess what this seemingly young, inexperienced, and biased teenager can fish up in the next moment. Formatting Theory and Coupling Theory, were they production lines for mental weapons?


    The impact of Puppeteer¡¯s immediate death made Snake Tongue clearly think things over much more. So much so that she forgot for a moment that now was not a good time to go pondering things.


    She felt a slight jolt, and the location of her soul body was locked upon.


    Snake Tongue¡¯s mind became a bit heavy, and she saw Luo Nan turn his head to look at her from the edge of the viewing tform. Lightning stained with blood tore from his eye sockets to pierce through space. It was the same move that was employed against Puppeteer.


    Snake Tongue had already exposed the location of her soul body for the sake of better realizing a wrestle on the mental ne with Luo Nan. She faced Luo Nan with ck Beetle¡¯s ruined body between them. Back then, she was confident that Luo Nan could only struggle in a dirty wrestle on the mental ne. She thought that it would be hard for Luo Nan to bring out long-range attacks. She had no fear, for she was confident. But Puppeteer¡¯s death woke her up.


    I made apletely wrong judgment!


    Snake Tongue knew that it was toote to avoid the attack. She could only rely on her fortifications to withstand it. But then, the tyrannical attack didn¡¯te as predicted. Only a strand of wind came. A ray of light. It was a bit warm, but the wind blew with the heat of the sun, prating her thoroughly.


    "What the...?" Snake Tongue felt that things were off.


    On the mental ne, creeping grass, leaves, and vines noiselessly shook as they intertwined over and over. They formed a special construction that covered most of the viewing tform area. Theplicated structure on the surface would make one neglect the roots of the vines. But actually, every coarse vine had a spot in the soil from which to draw life.


    Luo Nan had cleared the area early on, knocking out several dozen tourists. Snake Tongue used these people aspost to nt her Nightmare Vine Spell. She used the power of these dozens of people¡¯s blood, energies, and souls to weave a. This became the foundation for her fortifications.


    This method was simr to Puppeteer¡¯s safety line; it was just more exquisite. Not only could she divert mental attacks, she could also forcefully stimte everybody¡¯s hidden potential and cause the Nightmare Vine to grow wildly. The vines would be resources that Snake Tongue could control¡ªsuitable for attacking and defending.


    However, Luo Nan¡¯s mental attack didn¡¯t arrive. What did arrive was merely a slight brush of wind, a glimmer of shining light. It passed through between the gaps in the Nightmare Vine Spell structure, exploiting the weakest and most fatal locations. Not a single hole it didn¡¯t pass, and it made Snake Tongue feel that theyers uponyers of fortifications she constructed were already seeped with water....


    An ominous dark cloud covered Snake Tongue¡¯s mind for the first time.


    What Luo Nan chose to do made Snake Tongue much more wary than the methods he employed before. This young man easily disposed of a powerful enemy in retaliation. He should be using the momentum of his victory to persist in seeking a second sess. He should be carried by that victorious experience.


    But Luo Nan didn¡¯t do that! All intelligence showed that this teenagerckedbat experience. But after performing an inconceivable reversal of a situation, the kid used the most correct and the wisest method to see through the trap behind her fortifications.


    This was something hard to exin using experience or even intuition. It¡¯s actually on the same level of certainty and naturalness as writing the correct test answer.


    Snake Tongue knew that if the wind, the light, continued to permeate, then her foundation would bepletely peeled clean. This was undoubtedly Luo Nan¡¯s mental attack, and it wouldpletely tear apart her defenses.


    What should I do?


    Over a hundred thoughts flowed through her mind, but all were useless, because she couldn¡¯t see through Luo Nan anymore!


    Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!


    A sound wasing from Luo Nan¡¯s wristband. The control center of Gear had issued a warning remotely when Gear¡¯s fire control system had lost connection.


    Tank¡¯s destruction still continued. It was just a matter of time with the fire.


    Luo Nan¡¯s face was as dark as water. Snake Tongue could feel the mania within the soul strength that was casted over. A dense and cold killing intent shown through the glimmering wind. Luo Nan held nothing back.


    But the permeating power wasn¡¯t affected. Luo Nan just shifted his gaze away to turn toward the space above the Heavenly Ocean Lake and point directly at the devil ray hovering in the air above the water.


    Then came the sound of surging water, and the hovering height of the devil ray increased. the long wing-like fins pped a bit, and it flew away from the space above the Heavenly Ocean Lake. It pressed to the edge of the viewing tform.


    In this instant, the devil ray brought Luo Nan, ck Beetle¡¯s ruined body, and Snake Tongue¡¯s soul body under the shadow of its t expanse.


    Before Snake Tongue could realize what was going on, the devil ray¡¯s wing-like fins struck out, and ck Beetle¡¯s ruined body ahead was like a basketball exploding. His entire body shriveled as he was thrown nearly thirty meters away. He didn¡¯t stop until he collided with a decorative statue on the viewing tform.


    The explosive attack was of pure force. It didn¡¯t knock ck Beetle off bnce¡ªit simply pulverized him. Snake Tongue¡¯s heart was uneasy, so she didn¡¯t react in time. The meat bomb couldn¡¯t even explode before it was disposed of. At least 80% of the bones were reduced to smithereens, and the body was like a punctured sack of water. Blood continued to gush out.


    With a broken foundation, ck Beetle¡¯s wraith was like a candle me within the wind. It red twice beforepletely going out. Snake Tongue didn¡¯t even have the time to groan.


    This attack was likely the expression of venting some feelings.


    Then what did this mean?


    Controlling the devil ray. Killing Puppeteer. And eliminating ck Beetle. At the same time, he grasped dominance in offense and defense on the mental ne. Today atop the viewing tform, Luo Nan was the master. Whatever he did was correct.


    Snake Tongue lost a bargaining chip with the elimination of the meat bomb. The situation turned for the worse for her.


    Looking at the so-called wrestle of soul strength right now, Snake Tongue felt that this was a self-directed, self-acted, and narcissisticedy show by Luo Nan. Theedy was insurmountable. Even now, she didn¡¯t understand how Luo Nan was able to divvy out a portion of his strength to control the devil ray, kill Puppeteer, ande at her with a killer attack in the blink of an eye.


    It can¡¯t be that Luo Nan¡¯s soul strength was infinite without bounds, right? His body.... How can his body endure it?


    To the side, the devil ray¡¯s body was excessivelyrge. It was hard for it to control its bnce in the air. It had just pped the meat bomb away, and now the tip of its other fin struck the protective ss at the edge of the viewing tform without a hint of caution. It directly broke open a huge hole.


    Shards went flying everywhere, some falling atop Luo Nan¡¯s and Xue Lei¡¯s heads.


    Xue Lei raised his head to look at the ferocious bloody mouth cavities on the belly of the devil ray and was a bit stunned. The belly looked like it shrunk a bit; the devil ray was certainly keyed up. However, Xue Lei didn¡¯t understand how the situation reached this stage.


    "Give me a hand, Leister." Luo Nan supported himself against the protective ss as he slowly stood up, but his legs were still weak.


    Xue Lei was unable to think too much. He rushed to seized Luo Nan by the arm. Only then did he grimace. "This... you did all this?"


    "Rx, it¡¯s quite obedient."


    It was just as Luo Nan said. The devil ray behaved in very docile manner, as if it had regained traces of its nature before mutating. The tiny caved in part of its stomach possessed an invisible maic field, counteracting most of gravity. Thepressed air that flowed around its wing-like fins stirred up faint ripples and waves, fine-tuning the bnce of the devil ray based on its posture. The skill of low-altitude floating showed here.


    The devil ray dropped straight down until it was only fifteen centimeters above the ground. It acted as a first-ss step, but it was just a bit too wide.


    Its enormous body seemed to ripple endlessly, but not even a hair of it touched the ground. It just sprinkled water droplets onto the floor tiles of the tform.


    Luo Nan sized the devil ray up in silence. He felt the obedience and fearing from the leviathan.


    On a ne untouchable to the vast majority of people, the high-imitation version of the Human-Faced Arachnid had already assimted most of its body into the devil ray. Incorporeal spider threads bore through the body, prating and winding around practically every vital organ of the devil ray. The devil ray was now a temporary host for the parasitic Human-Faced Arachnid.


    If the situation was just this, the devil ray would still have some leeway to struggle. Its problem was, on a marvelous ne, within the star riverndscape of Luo Nan¡¯s mental irvoyance, dark chains invaded and locked the Life Sketch of the devil ray. Every one of its stars was punctured, weaving a three-dimensional drawing more abstract than before.


    Within the deep vibrato of chains, the devil ray no longer had way of freedom from inside to out. It could only bow its head.


    Luo Nan reached out with a hand, touching the side of its fins, which were making wave-like movements. The outside was covered in ayer of sticky liquid, making Luo Nan¡¯s hand cold and slick. However, the strength was considerable. Luo Nan¡¯s palm was numb from the shock.


    "You¡¯re.... Nanster, don¡¯t!"


    Xue Lei suddenly realized what Luo Nan wanted to do, but he had just opened his mouth when Luo Nan stepped on without speaking a word. The current devil ray was like a magic rug from folklore. It awaited its master for boarding.

 Chapter 311: Wheel of Time (Part 2/3)

    Chapter 311: Wheel of Time (Part 2/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    It was reasonable for Xue Lei to be worried.


    It was hard to stand steadily on the smooth and soft back of the devil ray. Plus, right now Luo Nan was very weak. Were it not for Xue Lei supporting him, he would have fallen down as soon as his other foot left the ground.


    Luo Nan had no intentions of giving up partway. He took in a deep breath, and the lightning in his eye sockets shed once more. The marvelous power of therge and small gears coupling prated through his body. It was like the stimtion from defibrition. All the pores in his body opened up, and a tingly heat condensed in a small circle within and outside his body.


    "Huh?"


    Xue Lei was caught off guard by the sensation of electricity running through his palm. He loosened his grip by reflex, but his reaction was top-notch in terms of swiftness. He reached out to support Luo Nan again, but Luo Nan already stepped out with his left foot at the edge of the devil ray¡¯s back. He was really standing atop the t body of the devil ray.


    The devil ray wasn¡¯t quite used to it. The degree its body undted suddenly increased. Luo Nan¡¯s body began to lean forward helplessly. However, the coupling effect of the heartntern of the eyes orifice illuminated in a timely fashion. A mass of predictive lines wereid out. It was as if an invisible spiderweb unfurled upon the devil ray¡¯s back.


    The ¡¯stick strength¡¯, namely the sense of bnce between the devil ray and Luo Nan, was marvelous and rapidly increasing.


    Luo Nan¡¯s own predictions toward the control of the devil ray, and the information-sharing mode formed from the coupling of therge and small gears allowed Luo Nan¡¯s foresight to permeate deep within the devil ray¡¯s body. Luo Nan could see every single corner outside and inside the devil ray, as well as all its emotional changes.


    Actually, his heartntern of the eyes orifice had yet to fully mature, but the transformation that arose from coupling exceeded the limits of the heartntern of the eyes orifice. Gym Master Xiu had said, "The sole heartntern illuminates the nineherworlds." Luo Nan had yet to see the ¡¯nineherworlds¡¯, but the rity of his ¡¯heart depths¡¯ was not inferior.


    Aside from being separated by skin and flesh, right now Luo Nan and the devil ray could be said to be of one body, with Luo Nan¡¯s will in the center.


    In this state, Luo Nan stepped out, and this was enough to eliminate his momentum from leaning forward. He rocked a little bit and grasped his bnce. It appeared dangerous, but he was actually quite stable.


    The devil ray¡¯s body endlessly rippled beneath his feet. Luo Nan thought for a moment, then decided to simply stop moving. The devil ray¡¯s t body¡¯s shaking intensity increased. With controlling intent, Luo Nan stepped on this rippling body to move levelly across. He moved until he reached the head section of the devil ray.


    With a mere thought, the two long head fins of the devil ray flipped up. These things were used by the devil ray to help catch prey. At that moment, Luo Nan used them as handrails. He held them to stand firmly upon the devil ray¡¯s giant body.


    It was certainly a bit awkward to hold on to the head fins of the devil ray. However, the devil ray¡¯s fear of Luo Nan remained a dense cloud of thunder in its heart. The behavior of its enormous body was naturally led and affected by these emotions. The pping rate of its wing-like fins increased by quite a margin.


    "Nanster, don¡¯t be impulsive!" Xue Lei wanted to jump up as well, but if he did, the bnce Luo Nan had with the devil ray would instantly be broken. It would be very difficult for Luo Nan to adjust. Therefore, the devil ray shook its body in a very unfriendly manner. It floated up, not giving Xue Lei a chance.


    Xue Lei was worried, but he had some energy. He looked at where Luo Nan¡¯s gaze was directed; it was cast into the jungle behind the darkness of the night sky. How could Xue Lei not know what his best friend was thinking. Xue Lei went, "Hey! Hey!" immediately, but he stumbled on his words. He was unable to say anything to stop Luo Nan. He could only ask Zhang Yingying for help.


    "Hurry up and persuade Nanster. He¡¯s going to ride the fish and fly over...."


    "Uh, what?"


    The situation had changed far too quickly, with most of the key details uring on the mental ne. Zhang Yingying wasn¡¯t clear on the changes in circumstances on the viewing tform. She just felt that there was something wrong with her ears. It sounded like Xue Lei¡¯s mouth had cramped up.


    Precisely in her bafflement, Luo Nan actually took the initiative to contact her. "Give me information on Tank."


    "Tank. I say¡ª"


    "AT ONCE!"


    Luo Nan¡¯s voice wasn¡¯t high in volume, but the depth of it agitated one¡¯s heart. Zhang Yingying became inexplicably timid. She hemmed and hawed. "That person¡¯s body is of excellent quality, and he has outstanding mastery over it. He can strengthen parts of his body¡¯s defensive power at thest minute, but other than that he¡¯s nothing special."


    "Is his defensive power formidable?" It seemed that Luo Nan didn¡¯t quite understand.


    "What¡¯s going on over there? Hey, Nanster, you.... Oh my god!"


    Before Zhang Yingying could finish speaking, a terrifying deep whistle exploded from her side. Her heart suddenly tightened and she felt the blood rush from her head. Her brain felt dizzy, and her entire body felt terrible. She cut off themunications by reflex. Her body¡¯s feelings improved a bit, but by the time she came to, she could only look at the severedmunications indication, and smacked her head.


    The devil ray rose sevenish meters above the viewing tform. It suddenly opened its enormous mouth. At the same time, the two columns and four rows for a total of eight mouth slits opened up below its stomach. This location would be the location of the cheeks for a normal devil ray. But after the mutation, this part had been alienized. Now, there were residues of oceanic flesh left from the destruction in the crystal pir, giving the mutant a tyrannical air.


    A low frequency hissing wasing out from the enormous mouth and the slits.


    The hissing sound was propelled by enormous pressure to diffuse in all directions. The rumbling vibration was like a heavy train galloping across. It caused every frame, structure, and protective ss to intensely vibrate atop the viewing tform. It was like an earthquake was happening.


    But this deep hissing sound didn¡¯t evenst five seconds. The tform suddenly went silent. It wasn¡¯t that the sound had stopped; the sound waves had simply changed frequencies. It had gone below the 20 Hz boundary, entering the infrasonic wave realm.


    The vibrations transmitting through the air didn¡¯t directly affect Snake Tongue, but they were able to stupefy her.


    The pration power of the infrasonic waves was formidable. The information transmitted was urate. The life forms in the ocean felt a sense of danger through it, and they discerned the direction it came from. However, there were few things that could produce such powerful sound waves at will.


    Theoretically speaking, the mutant devil ray with its enormous mass and pure fleshly power should be close to A-Rank. Its fleshly body was strong and flexible; as long as the body was put to appropriate use, high frequencies and low frequencies were easy when using the cavities to emit sound. It made sense.


    The keyy in the application. The devil ray possessed the ability to produce ferocious and shocking infrasonic waves, but this wasn¡¯t part of its natural instinct. Itcked this instinct even after the mutation. If it had, it would have disyed a shocking change in how it hunted prey. The management of Cloud City Water Vige wouldn¡¯t have ced this dangerousrge beast into the crystal pir.


    In other words, Luo Nan reprogrammed the way the devil ray applied its power after controlling it. What other changes could he induce?


    How did Luo Nan do this? And, what did he n to use infrasonic waves for?


    A series of questions piled up tobine into one with the dark cloud Snake Tongue harbored in her mind. This made her feel that her luck was turning for the worse. Her train of thought was unavoidably influenced by these series of changes. She became somewhat distracted.


    But suddenly, a substantial psychic pressure pressed down upon her in this moment, making her mind shiver.


    A drifting ¡¯curtain¡¯ had been erected atop the viewing tform. For the sake of better producing sound waves, the devil ray¡¯s enormous body went nearly ny degrees vertical. Although it was like this, it formed a sunken pit in the flesh of its back, giving Luo Nan a support point to maintain bnce.


    Right now, Luo Nan grasped its head-fins in his hands. His vision rested over the colossus by a head. His rtive height exceeded ten meters. In this towering situation, he seemed like a god riding a demonic beast, and he looked down upon Snake Tongue¡¯s soul body from above.


    Luo Nan¡¯s eye sockets remained flowing with blood, but the dazzling lightning continued to sh within. It radiated with brilliance, revealing a different sort of cold intent.


    A jolt ran through Snake Tongue¡¯s mind, but her pride made her refuse to continue being controlled by Luo Nan. She immediately adjusted the wind, the medium she used to talk, and she spoke cheerily, "Lord Luo, the winds are strong up high. You should be careful. Maybe you need my help. I can talk with Tank...."


    She suddenly stopped talking halfway through.


    The high-pressure infrasonic waves didn¡¯t directly destroy Snake Tongue¡¯s Vocal Spell, but the most suitable frequency was calibrated after a period of time. Changes subsequently came.


    Atop the viewing tform, the tourists, who had been knocked unconscious by Luo Nan early on, still maintained a murky consciousness. However, they began to groan and struggle in their dazes, as if they were in nightmares.


    Snake Tongue understood the true target of the infrasonic waves atst.... The vehicles for her Nightmare Vine Spell were suffering from the attack of the infrasonic waves. They caused a dangerous resonance to form in the tourists¡¯ chests.


    Wasn¡¯t this no different from mass murder?


    The Nightmare Vine Spell was erected upon people¡¯s bodies, using them as vehicles. If this group of people were to all die, the spell would naturally disintegrate. But Snake Tongue had analyzed Luo Nan¡¯s temperament before. She didn¡¯t believe that this teenager had the guts to wipe out several dozen... no, hundreds of people.


    It must be known that the pration power of infrasonic waves was considerable. Finding the right frequency with the mutant devil ray¡¯s near A-Rank level in power required sweeping enormous sound waves through the core of the viewing tform. The civilians several dozen floors below would likely all die as well!


    But looking at Luo Nan¡¯s attitude.... Could it be that his mother¡¯s work being on the verge of destruction had agitated Luo Nan enough to lose all sense of reason? Just looking at those eyes, interwoven with a bloody glow and ring lightning, made Snake Tongue terrified of confirming this.


    A secondter, or maybe even less time than that, Snake Tongue suddenly heard Luo Nan speak. "I shouldn¡¯t be wasting any further time on you, but I need practice...."


    Luo Nan spoke openly, with not a hint of coloration from emotions. This showed that Luo Nan still maintained his sense of reason. However, the strength of his rationality was unable to contain his restless killing intent.


    Snake Tongue didn¡¯t understand what Luo Nan meant by ¡¯practice¡¯, but she soon realized that Luo Nan had excellent control over the infrasonic waves, whether it was in intensity or in scope of influence.


    Luo Nan did this urate work with the devil ray in a way utterly iprehensible to Snake Tongue. He caused several dozens of people to wander above the line between life and death, but they didn¡¯t make contact with the line.


    Soon, the results of this method revealed themselves.


    The resonance of the heart and lung organs wasn¡¯t so intense that it was fatal; it just sent the unconscious people¡¯s blood and energies into turbulence. This affected the functions of their nervous systems, forming all sorts of unwellness for those unconscious. It formed unsteady states of chaotic thoughts and bad feelings.


    Snake Tongue knew that things were bad. The fortifications formed from the Nightmare Vine Spell had the primary functions of diverting and blood-drawing, most especially thetter. The spell needed external energy. It stimted the potential of its victims and drew their energies to strengthen itself.


    But these people¡¯s blood and energies were now a big mess thanks to Luo Nan¡¯s meddling. They couldn¡¯t possible have any potential energy now. It was fine if this was the case with only one or two of them, but with several dozen of them like this, even though Snake Tongue was a mage, it was impossible for her to control the situation in such a short time frame.


    Plus there existed the rush of power from the whish in the midst of this chaos. A strange feeling came at the same time as the whish. It was as if several dozen invisible hammers were fiercely bombarding into the roots of the Nightmare Vine Spell. Lightning even coursed through!

 Chapter 312: Wheel of Time (Part 3/3)

    Chapter 312: Wheel of Time (Part 3/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Snake Tongue never expected that the situation would be reversed in this fashion.


    Luo Nan yed a hand of beautiful dominoes. They were standing in several dozen lines, and they fell down one by one on the material ne. They affected each other, working with each other. They inconceivably yet logically affected the mental ne, warping the defensive structure of the Nightmare Vine Spell.


    The mental attack Snake Tongue was most vignt of hadn¡¯t even appeared on stage yet, and her fortifications that she built with painstaking effort was at near copse.


    Snake Tongue currently stood in the center of her fortifications. Her mind wavered, and she grew fretful. This was more or less caused by the whish of her Nightmare Vine Spell. At first, she thought that Luo Nan was going to destroy the foundation of her spell and dig open her fortifications. But after two rounds of whishes, she felt that there was something off with the situation.


    Under the attack of Luo Nan¡¯s infrasonic waves, the Nightmare Vine Spell¡¯s course vines didn¡¯t wither as expected. Instead, it was as if they had consumed stimnts. They stirred restlessly without end.


    Snake Tongue knew of her own matters. She knew the method that she used to erect her fortifications; she had taken some shortcuts. The whish formed was truly troublesome, needless to say of its copse.


    Luo Nan¡¯s methods and train of thought made her mind be driven by fear.


    I can¡¯t keep wasting time. The intense thought to retreat surged for the first time in Snake Tongue¡¯s mind. But this thought had just barely formed when a strong pressure suddenly erupted. The blood-devouring intent of the Nightmare Vine Spell had found the closest target.


    Snake Tongue knew that things weren¡¯t good. She immediately started chanting. She would disperse the Nightmare Vine Spell regardless of the consequences. However, the terrible feeling of being seen through by Luo Nan became clear once more. She used her irvoyance by instinct, and she saw Luo Nan¡¯s eyes. Blood and me interwove within them, yet they were so pratingly cold that they cut through her heart.


    The mental attack came. It was somewhat different than the heavy-hammer-type bombardment that was in the intelligence briefing. Within her chaotic defensive system silently came a sharp de piercing in. The sole attack stabbed through all her defenses, piercing the weakest area of Snake Tongue¡¯s soul body.


    This attack didn¡¯t directly cause Snake Tongue serious damage, but Snake Tongue had been preparing a spell, and she was interrupted. Herst chance of possibly controlling the Nightmare Vine Spell was severed.


    But from Snake Tongue¡¯s perspective, the most fatal thingy in the defensive system of the Nightmare Vine Spell. It now became an invisible cage on the mental ne, trapping her and binding her within. She wouldn¡¯t be able to struggle free any time soon at all.


    Snake Tongue used all her power to try various methods. This included the interference transformation between the mental and material nes that she dreaded using previously. However, this was totally useless. Instead, with these series of attempts, with her excessive interference with the material ne, her soul body gradually showed itself.


    "Nanster, you¡¯re ying with something big now.... Huh?"


    Xue Lei rubbed his stomach as he walked from behind the enormous back of the devil ray. He made his way around, and he suddenly saw a specter appear in the air ahead. It vaguely looked like a woman, and this specter glowed green within the night. Under careful examination, the glow wasing from a screen that hung to the ground. Half of it covered the back, while half of it covered the weak figure in front.


    Such an appearance was akin to a ghost or a spirit. Her expressions were faint and couldn¡¯t be seen clearly. It looked like she could scatter into the wind at any time.


    But after a few more rounds of careful examination, there appeared to be several dozen strips of smoke surrounding this fragile woman. The strips weaved and twined, tying into each other. They were graceful like feathers, or streamers, yet they were as malevolent as a prison or shackles.


    "T-This... is Snake Tongue?"


    Xue Lei guessed correctly, but he was still a bit confused. He didn¡¯t know why this mysterious and powerful foe had suddenly revealed herself, especially in this form.


    Her appearance was absolutely disconnected with the ugly and vile appearance of ck Beetle¡¯s ruined body.


    Snake Tongue wasn¡¯t concerned with what she looked like. Right now, there was absolutely no one in her eyes besides Luo Nan. Her soul-out-of-body was pressured to be visible. From her perspective, the situation hadpletely copsed. And all of this was caused by the teenager atop the devil ray¡¯s head.


    It was impossible for Snake Tongue to ept the process that led to such a result.


    Since Luo Nan began to truly disy his power and use his techniques, Snake Tongue didn¡¯t know half of what he had done. In other words, her confusion had dropped her in such a conclusion.


    The most preposterous thing was that she and Luo Nan were still wrestling with their soul strengths. But was there any point to this wrestle? She got the clear feeling that Luo Nan was only using a pinky to hold her in ce. He was free to do what he wanted with the rest of his strength, and so this was the result self-realized by Snake Tongue.


    It wasn¡¯t that she never experienced something like this before; she just never imagined that this would appear because of a teenager.... What was reflected within was no longer strength, but a difference in foresight.


    Snake Tongueposed herself a little. She could be said to have suffered a crushing defeat in today¡¯s sh of forces. However, it was rather premature for her to consign to hopelessness.


    She was someone who had umted much experience in the world. She soon adjusted her state of mind. She stopped considering struggling, and she didn¡¯t have her figure fade from the material ne. Rather, she took on a can¡¯t-be-picky attitude and faced Luo Nan, who towered on top of the devil ray¡¯s head, then bowed as a greeting. She did her utmost to maintain a tranquil tone as she admitted,


    "Lord Luo is brilliant. I am defeated."


    Aside from an ice-cold gaze, Luo Nan didn¡¯t give her anything at all.


    Snake Tongue stood up straight after performing some salutations. She tilted her head slightly upward to lock with Luo Nan¡¯s ice-cold gaze. Her posture was meaningless in her soul body, but it was meant for courtesy and the situation. "Since I¡¯ve admitted defeat, I won¡¯t cause any further troubles for Lord Luo. I hope I can obtain some preferable treatment...."


    Luo Nan maintained his silence, but the Nightmare Vine Spell grew more restless on the mental ne. This was the most direct response. On the material ne, visible to the naked eye, the dark smoke outside Snake Tongue¡¯s body grew threefold in volume. The power at which they twisted and twined grew more and more apparent.


    A shiver ran through Snake Tongue¡¯s mind, but she continued trying to usemunication to resolve the problem. She threw out a bargaining chip. "Lord Luo, I can order Tank to stop his actions right now!"


    "I will kill him."


    This was a simple sentence by Luo Nan, but his words had nearly shoved Snake Tongue¡¯s words back down her throat. She floundered for a second, before saying, "Lord Luo, please don¡¯t be impulsive. I want to save your mother¡¯s precious work. That¡¯s the most¡ª"


    The whistling sound of the wind crushed Snake Tongue¡¯s words. The devil ray had begun pping its wing-like fins with great power. Thepressed air rumbled as they flowed, the power astonishing. It soared several meters up in the air, looking as if it would soar through the skies at a moment¡¯s notice.


    Luo Nan stared at Snake Tongue from his higher position. "You keep on resisting. I¡¯ve already wasted two minutes with you."


    Of course Snake Tongue was resisting. Even though she lost, she had no reason to let Luo Nan go and kill herrade. Clearly, there was an enormous difference in understanding between the two. It was unavoidable for her thoughts to darken.


    Yet she saw Luo Nan close his eyes at this time. His eyelids still trembled. This movement allowed Snake Tongue to confirm something. Luo Nan was certainly extremely exhausted. That¡¯s right. How could his body endure executing these terrifying techniques over and over again?


    Maybe she should continue to stall for time?


    This thought just stirred within her when Luo Nan suddenly opened his eyes. Lightning red within those bloody sockets. "And... you¡¯re continuing to waste time!"


    His voice fell, and the Nightmare Vine Spell, which was already ustomed to devouring its master, contracted violently. At the same time, the second mental attack already arrived.


    Snake Tongue suffered attacks from two sides. Her specter rippled and contorted. It seemed that she might vanish. She did her best to resist while rousing her glib tongue, doing her best to persuade him.


    "Lord Luo, I admit that I¡¯ll receive heavy injuries if you continue clinging to this course of action. But like you said, the direct abrasion and contention of yourrge and small gears will make you have no future to speak of! Formatting Theory. Coupling. How can you validate these elite theories in this case?"


    Luo Nan heard everything and subconsciously loosened a grip on a head-fin of the devil ray. He caressed his own cheek; it was a bit numb. He used a bit more strength, and there was the horrible feeling ofceration.


    But what did this matter?


    "If my mother hadpromised for the sake of her life, then I wouldn¡¯t exist on this earth. If I make apromise over my mother¡¯s word with you despicable bastards, there will still be stains left even if Gear is preserved... and it leaves you free toe any time for a second try!"


    Luo Nan¡¯s voice went low and husky. He was practically speaking to himself. These were his thoughts, his ideas. He really didn¡¯t know what was right or wrong, but today, his emotions, his wisdom, his blood, and his energy all resonated together to obtain this answer. There was no glossing over this.


    Snake Tongue didn¡¯t even have the time to be angry when she was called a ¡¯despicable bastard¡¯. She saw the devil ray rush straight up, and the countless vines shed continuously under the noiseless roar.


    There weren¡¯t any material sound waves, but a vibration burst out on the mental ne, like that of a sword cutting through several hundred bow strings of a dragon. Snap snap snap snap. The beat exploded continuously in the depths of her mind. Her manifested ghostly body soared up into the air, not of her volition.


    Gales raged. The sky and the earth spun. The that was the Nightmare Vine Spell wrapped her up to drift within the night¡¯s wind. She was like a bound bird or beast that a hunter carried back after a sessful expedition.


    The series of disgraces darkened Snake Tongue¡¯s thoughts even further. The poisonous hate seared her heart, and she yelled sharply, addressing Luo Nan by name for the first time, "Luo Nan. You better not have regrets!"


    What answered her were the sonic ps of the devil ray¡¯s wing-like fins producing wind.


    The devil ray flew out of the viewing tform in an instant, entering the vast and empty skies a kilometer in altitude. Luo Nan was situated atop the devil ray¡¯s head, and he looked down.


    The heartntern illuminated from above, shining upon everything. Whatever darkness, jungle, building there were, they were unable to be sheltered. No object existed in Luo Nan¡¯s eyes besides a fine gear embedded within the depths of the boundless jungle. It shown clearly.


    This was the first time Luo Nan used coupling and the heartntern for irvoyance for this long. It was a marvelous sensation, like the bubbling water of a spring that gushed out from underground.


    Was it the heartntern shining upon Gear, or had Gear¡¯s divine light entered his heart?


    It must be thetter. It was the purest light within the darkness, a pupil that circted with ripples of life. Over there, the pupil billowed, flickered, revolved, and pulled the long river of time. It took the vestiges of the ancient past and manifested them to the present, transforming into indescribable emotions as it silently gazed at him.


    Mother?


    Apletely irrational thought plucked at his heartstrings. Luo Nan was a bit dazed, but soon he strove to open his eyes. He wanted to engrave this pupil into the bottom of his heart.


    But the gleaming mutual shining of light onlysted an instant, and the dirty colors churned back up within the pure luster. Thick smoke and me unbridledly smeared it, causing wanton destruction.


    It was as if Luo Nan had been punched hard in the chest. A me scorched all the way into his eyes, and the poisonous smoke it brought was poured into his heart and lungs. The scene was instantly transformed into that of fire.


    "It¡¯s burning...." The mes boiled within his organs. The most ridiculous bit of hope he had in his heart became part of the poisonous smoke.


    Luo Nan subconsciously tightened his grip on the thick head-fins of the devil ray. The pain of his burning heart and scorching lungs and his fury exploded upward. They split his throat as he screamed in agony.


    The devil ray below his feet felt the emotions of its controller. Its body was already enormous, but it suddenly expanded by a factor. Its enormous mouth and the eight mouth slits on its cheeks opened up. The drive of the powerful pressure of sound produced sound waves in a frequency that was far below the limits of what a human could hear. The sound waves fused with Luo Nan¡¯s violent emotions, and as one, they pierced through the air.

 Chapter 313: Yarn of Silence (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 313: Yarn of Silence (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Night fell. The darkness of the night sky weaved with the ostentatious lights, kneading silence and restlessness together, revealing the primary colors of the metropolis.


    The bustling of the city could swallow everything, but it took just a short thirty seconds for noiseless thunder to roll in from a corner of the night, from the wends jungle forgotten by the vast majority of people. It was like a chariot of a god, heavily crushing over.


    The surface of the small marshyke that neighbored Gear was affected from the ring mes. Some fish leaped up, breaking through the water¡¯s surface. But the fishes trembled in the blink of an eye and smashed back into the water.


    A woodcock just so happened to tread around the shallow waters near the shore of theke. All of the feathers of its body suddenly stuck straight up. It staggered as it rushed to move a few steps, and it pped its wings to fly off.


    Not even a few seconds had passed when thousands upon thousands of different types of panic-stricken birds noisily flew away from among the trees. And beneath their bodies, foxes, badgers, mice, rabbits, and the rarely-seen wolf, deer, and other beasts all began fleeing wildly and chaotically.


    Most of them were driven by the sudden copse of the jungle¡¯s atmosphere. They rushed and stampeded without a goal in mind. Some even collided into trees or fell into the waters. The roars and cries never stopped.


    The wends jungle instantly became hell. The chaotic copse rapidly spread.


    Under this backdrop of chaos, Gear stood to one side of the jungle. Within the banging racket, a muscr figure rammed through two stories of windows. He leaped out and performed a roll on the ground. He didn¡¯t stop at all as he made a mad dash, charging into the depths of the jungle.


    Invisible and silent vibrational waves covered the area surrounding Gear by a several hundred meter radius. The vibration wave sted across, leaving dead beasts and birds everywhere among the trees. Injuries couldn¡¯t be seen on most of them, but their contorted bodies were strikingly terrifying.


    The sound wave mainly damaged the brain and the chest. It resonated with the inherent frequencies of these body parts, causing the nervous system to go in turmoil. The contortion of inner organs caused ruptures, then death, which came either extremely fast, or extremely wretchedly.


    Tank witnessed this scene with his own eyes. He had always believed himself to be dauntless, but even he felt a chill run down his spine. His legs moved faster, as he charged ahead in a straight line. He needed to charge out of this realm of death in the shortest possible time.


    He uttered a deep howl from his throat while he madly dashed. His inner organs squirmed as his blood and energy gurgled. His many years of cultivating the human body made it so that thunder rang when he roused his blood and energy. This self-formed pattern of sound resisted the deadly sound wave.


    The powerful pressure of infrasonic waves came out of nowhere. Though his reactions were quick, he was unable to defend himself from most of the first wave. Then he forcefully stimted his lungs to withstand the resonance. The feeling was absolutely horrible, and he was umting internal injuries.


    Though he had obtained perfect control over his inner organs through cultivation, he was devastatingly unable to control his brain. His thunder could only withstand the infrasonic waves for the time being. So, he could only tread into the muddy waters with an ashen face. He could only ram his way through the branches of trees like a dog. His mind was filled with thoughts of fleeing. He didn¡¯t dare think of anything else.


    He suddenly rxed his body several hundred meters into the depths of the jungle. The invisible sound-pressure finally disappeared. Only now did Tank dare to stop his organs from making the sound of thunder. However, he was unable to hold back his blood from rushing upward. It rushed to his throat, and his entire mouth had a bitter taste.


    He went, "Pooh!", spitting out bloody foam, and he went to contact Puppeteer through themunications channel. As expected, not a person responded. There was also the mental connection that the mystical Snake Tongue had established; no information came from there as well. This put Tank in an even worse mood.


    Then at this exact moment came a different line ofmunications.


    "Yuan Fei?"


    This fellow was already under house arrest. It wasn¡¯t easy for him to makemunications. However, Tank wasn¡¯t grateful at all. He roared through the line as soon as the connection was made. "What the flippity f*** is going the hell on? Didn¡¯t you say this kid didn¡¯t really have a backer? Why the hell does he have a directed infrasonic wave weapon?"


    Yuan Fei¡¯s voice transmitted over, "Are you drunk?"


    "Drunk on your mother¡¯s ass!" Tank bit back, having just walked the line between life and death, and having his head messed by the infrasonic waves. He didn¡¯t care who he was talking to and just shot his mouth off, "Mrs. Yuan, you stupid c*nt. You even cheat your own people! Even if you send your *ss to my doorstep in the future, I won¡¯t even give you a single nce!"


    "You are indeed drunk." Yuan Fei¡¯s voice was still calm. "In Xia City, only Yongu Fortifications is setup with an infrasonic wave array. To kill you from several hundred kilometers away means to have the people in the entire city all apany you in death."


    "Pingjiang District. Acumen College. North Bank Jungle. The animals here are all freaking dead! Just look! I almost became one of them!"


    Tank wanted to roar some more, but his throat choked and he coughed twice. He forcefully pushed down another mouthful of blood that threatened to bubble up. He had no choice but to lower his voice by an octave. But he still spoke fuming with rage through gritted teeth, "I¡¯ll give you some additional information. There¡¯spletely no news from the other members of the mobilization team. Puppeteer and Snake Tongue were all alive and kicking a moment ago, energetically torturing the kid to fess up. But in the blink of an eye, who knows how the hell they died. Either the Xia City branch has made their way over, or the kid¡¯s depth.... I¡¯ll emphasize this a few more times for you. It¡¯s a directed infrasonic wave weapon. A DIRECTED INFRASONIC WAVE WEAPON! F***! F*** F*** F***!"


    Yuan Fei was silent for a moment before saying, "I will inform Secretary-General Gong."


    Tank roared a few times, and his boiling skull finally calmed a little. He knew that it was pointless to make a fuss. He just said with hate, "There¡¯s nothing that can be said with things the way they are now. I will evacuate based on n C...."


    "You¡¯re leaving straight out of the city?"


    "Motherf***er. Only the military can use a mass-ughter-ss infrasonic wave weapon that easily. You don¡¯t want me to leave the city? Do you want me to be target practice?"


    Tank continued to walk forward. He was now a good distance away from Gear. An iota of life actually existed here. Beasts and birds flew and ran madly with great noise and disarray. Chaotic life was still life; it wasforting to him. He spat out a breath of air, discerned the direction, and prepared to enter the dorm area of the school at the north bank. No matter how crazy the military was, they couldn¡¯t possibly use their infrasonic waves there.


    Yuan Fei¡¯s voice continued to transmit into his ear, "Verify that allmunication records have been uploaded to the cloud. Then destroy all terminal equipment...."


    Tankughed bitterly and was just about to speak when a shiver suddenly ran through his heart. It was as if an invisible hand had pierced his chest and was closing around his heart.


    "...."


    Tank gaped. The words that were at the tip of his tongue all crumbled to pieces. In its ce was a surge of blood. It crackled as it surged up, stupefying his brain while his ears hissed with tinnitus.


    The infrasonic waves came again!


    Tank felt like his heart was being squeezed so hard that it would burst, but his surroundings were clearly normal. He could still hear the mor of beasts and birds. He nced over; they were all alive and kicking.


    A dense and ominous sensation bubbled forth, causing Tank to suddenly raise his head. A dark shadow descended upon him, covering the trees from above. It was real. It was an enormous shadow visible to the eyes.


    "A ck... fish? Devil ray!"


    The scene before his eyes finally merged together with the information that came intermittently from themunications channel. But wasn¡¯t this meaningless?


    Under the pressure of the enormous shadow in the air above, the nearby beasts and birds all pissed themselves in fear. They flew and ran with all their might, a sensible action for they weren¡¯t in danger of being killed by infrasonic waves.


    However, Tank would rather the situation be restored back to what it once was, an impartial treatment to men, beast, fish, and bird. It wasn¡¯t that the infrasonic waves had disappeared. Instead, the infrasonic waves were now perfectly constrained in one direction. All the terrifying energy of the sound pressure was directed toward him. The low frequency vibrational waves pierced through the branches and leaves of the trees. They pierced through his inner organs, skull, and brain, manifesting the malevolent scythe of the grim reaper within. It felt for the frequencies inherent to the several cavities of his body, seeking for a connecting line.


    Tank reacted quite quickly. He re-stimted the sound of thunder the instant his heart received the attack. However, there was a problem. No matter how much he forcefully changed the resonance frequency of his inner organs and produced his unique thundering sound, the infrasonic wave piercing through his brain and inner organs would always change correspondingly and firmly lock on to their frequencies.


    The frequencies switched a few times just like this, and Tank became unable to bear it any longer. Especially in the area of his brain, which he couldn¡¯t use his technique on. Havoc wreaked upon it, simr to having a storm st through the area time and time again. He was crushed over and over, and the powerful attack sted apart the wall that was his will, freeing massive amounts of negative emotions into his mind.


    "AHHHHHHHHHHH!"


    Tank was truly about to break down. Under the infrasonic waves, his body was torn into several shing segments from a perfect harmonized whole. His internal energy was in disorder, and his blood started circting in reverse. Empty space possessed a steel-like strength, yet they shed and rubbed against each other, dragging each other down.


    This wasn¡¯t a powerful attack of fists that struck the flesh. Instead, it was a twisted attack that tore him to pieces from the inside to the outside.


    "Tank!"


    Yuan Fei and Tank were separated bymunication devices. Yuan Fei was unable to feel the pressure of the infrasonic waves that Tank was under, but he was able to hear Tank¡¯s blood-curdling screech with absolute rity. Then came the noise of branches and leaves snapping, the noise of struggling and rolling, the excessive cursing to the point of shouting oneself hoarse, the begging for forgiveness....


    Yuan Fei didn¡¯t try to contact Tank. Calm and collected, he just heard the sound turn from chaotic to even more chaotic. Then, the sound suddenly came to an end. Yuan Fei promptly stood up and walked out of the washroom. He ignored the cold and detached observers as he hurriedly walked back to where he came from.


    The 12th floor of Shanding Towers was the same as most floors below the 18th floor. The lighting was very bad. Itpletely relied on artificial lighting for illumination. And since this floor wasn¡¯t really an area of activity, the simted natural light didn¡¯t even turn on. The corridor was suffused with a deathly white light. Not an air of a human could be felt.


    Midway through the corridor, he saw the Deputy Secretary-General of Headquarters. He was also the leader of this investigation team, Gong Qi.


    Gong Qi was a veteran of the ability user society. He was approaching a hundred years old, but he took good care of his health. His appearance was lean, making him look like he was in his seventies, like someone who had just retired. He wore a suit by habit, looked neat and formal, and kept himself in a ramrod straight posture.


    Right now, Gong Qi was standing right behind the face of an enormous ss wall. He stared coldly at the situation behind the curtain of ss. He spared Yuan Fei not even a nce, even though he knew Yuan Fei was walking over. His expression didn¡¯t contain even a hint of a smile; it was utterly grave.


    Another centenarian was next to him, but this centenarian was a head shorter. He sat in a wheelchair and was beaming. He was in-between Gong Qi and Yuan Fei, and he tilted his head and gave Yuan Fei augh, looking quite amiable.


    Yuan Fei¡¯s heart throbbed as he saw this smile. He subconsciously slowed his hurried pace.


    The person in the wheelchair was Old You, the most veteran ability user of Xia City. He was older than Gong Qi by three years, but he looked to be at least thirty years older. He already lost all his hair, and even his eyebrows were thinly spread. Each side only had a few hairs that hung down to his cheeks. He looked a bitical.


    Yuan Fei felt it be harder and harder to move forward. He had just barely made his way near, and was mulling over how to report to Gong Qi about the matter with Luo Nan, when he suddenly sensed something. He saw Gong Qi holding his left hand behind his back. Gong Qi¡¯s five fingers were slowly rubbing against each other, going sisi.


    Yuan Fei¡¯s eyelids shot up, and he lost all thoughts of giving Gong Qi a report. He had followed this Deputy Secretary-General for several years, so he naturally knew: This old fellow was in a terrible mood; he wanted to kill somebody!

 Chapter 314: Yarn of Silence (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 314: Yarn of Silence (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Gong Qi was the first of the ability user society to step into the realm of Extraordinary; he was one of the strongest. As one tiny clue could reveal the general trend, Gong Qi was able to predict the results of the investigation team¡¯s operation just from Yuan Fei¡¯s walking pace. As for the course of events¡ªwhether or not anyone died and how many had died¡ªall these were just minor details. He needed not to be too concerned about them.


    Gong Qi¡¯s twenty-year career as Deputy Secretary-General also had him serving as the diplomatic officer of secrets. He experienced many stormy waves in his long career, sculpting him his own set of rules and conduct. This made it so that he merely disyed a cold expression, even though the urge to kill surfaced from within his heart. He just used the micro-movements of his limbs to vent his agitation.


    He wasn¡¯t masking anything; masking was absolutely meaningless. Next to him was You Gang, or Old Man You. Though Old Man You was unable to climb his way to the ranks of Extraordinaries through entire his lifetime, his mind was clear and his eyes were bright. Putting on a phony appearance would just make this old manugh.


    Yuan Fei could be considered perceptive. He didn¡¯t reveal the situation in broad daylight, so he preserved a bit of face.


    With how matters developed thus far, Gong Qi was disinclined to spend more words with You Gang. His rubbing fingers squeezed then separated, before he knocked against the ss wall in front of him. "I more or less understand the legal matter with Quantum Corporation now. The structure of the girl¡¯s body and soul is quite peculiar. Back in the day, Water Deva expounded upon the cross-morphosis of body and soul. There are many simrities between it and her. It¡¯s very interesting, which is why I took her away...."


    "She¡¯s here to recover. That¡¯s what she believes. But won¡¯t being sent to your hands result in a person¡¯s destruction?" Old Man You, at his age, really did as he pleased. He spoke straightforwardly and ruthlessly,his words all without a hint of civility.


    Gong Qi was used to it. His eyes didn¡¯t budge a hair. "The conditions here at Headquarters are nevertheless a bit better than Quantum Corporation. It¡¯s easier to develop the girl¡¯s value here."


    Old Man You¡¯s eyelids, which were on the verge of losing activity, drooped down. Only his long eyebrows quivered as he said, "Develop? You¡¯ve been doing good business these days. You¡¯ve learned to be no different than those big tycoons."


    Gong Qi finally frowned. "It¡¯s a performance. Or do you think that I shouldn¡¯t give youngsters a stage to perform? It¡¯s just a slip of the tongue. Old Man You, why are you being so serious."


    Old Man You chuckled as he shook his head. "A slip of the tongue? It looks like you, Secretary Gong, have finally grown rotten with age. You should yield your position to the younger folk. In my opinion, Little Yuan is not bad. He has good eyes, and he¡¯s highly capable."


    Why the hell was I pulled inside thispetition between two old fools?


    Yuan Fei¡¯s face twitched, but soon he donned a smile. He conveyed a bow toward Old Man You. "Old Man You¡¯s made quite a joke. The Society still needs Secretary-General Gong. Old Man You, with you at the helm guarding us, thousands upon thousands of ability users are sheltered."


    Old Man Youughed. "I provided shelter fifty years ago, and fifty yearster I still provide shelter. I can¡¯t even build a shed now, plus its boring. What are your thoughts?"


    Yuan Fei immediately sealed his mouth. He wouldn¡¯t utter a sound no matter what.


    "I understand the Xia City branch¡¯s attitude now. I¡¯ll head back first."


    Gong Qi no longer put himself in a bind with You Gang. He cast a nce with his cold face at the ss wall. Inside there was a girl in quiet deep sleep. Her breathing seemed nonexistent, but its rhythm was continuous. It was one from start to end.


    His gaze cut over to her. It lingered there for a bit before he turned around and left.


    Old Man You grunted. He spoke after a beat¡¯s dy, "So today we end things here? You¡¯re not going to keep mepany?"


    Gong Qi didn¡¯t acknowledge him. He didn¡¯t look back. But a number shed in his mind.


    0.2%


    Quantum Corporation¡¯s quoted price always came at quite the opportune time. The Incident Investigation Team had just left Headquarters, and the quotation hadnded on the desks of several big shots and various secretaries-general through reliable channels.


    Two divided by a thousand was a small number, but eight trillion credits was already invested into this project. This super project would likely have several times that amount of money injected into it in the future. Any small changes would be amplified to astronomical numbers.


    What was more, the results that the project was heading toward was more valuable than these numbers of money, which was only significant in the normal world.


    From a realistic perspective, Headquarters¡¯ focus should be inclined toward realistic interests. They should use all their energy in fighting forplete rights to the girl, to have herpletely for themselves. This was what they should be doing.


    But then they looked at the news that came from the Order of Justice. An Weng¡¯s decisive actions that night clearly involved extremely important information; it was the ultimate secret that Headquarters always sought to obtain.


    The two matters stacked together. Which one was lighter? Which one was heavier? How should they distribute their energy and resources? Headquarters had quite a headache going on.


    Looking at things now, Apocalypse Laboratory really did have good foresight in arranging the importance of research and excavation.


    But when things get down to the nitty-gritty, who wouldn¡¯t want to have their cake and eat it too?


    Gong Qi returned to his temporary dwelling. He sat on a couch and pondered in silence.


    Yuan Fei cautiously approached him. He wanted to raise some words, but Gong Qi wasn¡¯t willing to spend too much time with him. He said, "Leave behind the records of the operation. Why don¡¯t you go."


    Yuan Fei let out a breath of relief. Luckily, he had seized the moment to tidy up the information. He wasn¡¯t caught unprepared. He bowed and left the room.


    Gong Qi skimmed through the records. Even with only a preliminarybing through the information, he found that there weren¡¯t many things of value inside.


    Headquarters had temporarily destroyed the function of the Psychic Wave Network. And ordingly, the Xia City branch interfered with Headquarters¡¯munication line. It wasn¡¯t easy to ensure internalmunications with the mobilization team. The uploading of the corresponding data worked with a bit of a dy.


    Currently, Gong Qi could only see the beginning portion where Puppeteer had captured a hostage as a bargaining chip, and thetter portion with Tank¡¯s intermittent words. The most crucial period of time was aplete nk. However, he could also see that the situation had taken an abrupt turn, copsing in a short period of time.


    From Gong Qi¡¯s perspective, disregarding ck Beetle, Puppeteer, Tank, and especially Snake Tongue all had power. Their shrewdness was eptable as well. How could they have been wiped clean in just a few minutes?


    It didn¡¯t quite seem that the Xia City branch¡¯s reinforcements had arrived, at least from what he could tell with Tank¡¯s shouts just before death. It wasn¡¯t likely for the Xia City branch to be this absolute.


    It seemed to truly be like Tank said; the military had made a move and used a directed infrasonic wave weapon. But although this thing was perhaps very effective against Puppeteer and Tank, it wouldn¡¯t be worth a damn against Snake Tongue¡¯s soul body.


    And, as far as he knew, Snake Tongue was still alive and well. Something strange was going on!


    Gong Qi slowly rubbed his fingers. As a leader, he really shouldn¡¯t be spending too much time on these sorts of details. Otherwise, what would Yuan Fei and the others do?


    The problem was that the matter was spread before him. This was a race against time with the Order of Justice. If they missed an opportunity, he would be held responsible for it. Those old co-workers who he worked with for many years would be quite delighted to smack him in the head with this injustice.


    One less person meant an extra mouthful of rice for the rest. This was the in and simple truth!


    The strength of the fingers¡¯ rubbing increased a bit. Sisi sounds could be heard. Gong Qi closed his eyes, appearing to be in deep thought, while also appearing to be napping.


    Roughly five minutes passed before his eyes slightly opened. A telepathic thought, like smoke, merged into the void, thrown into the depths of the mental ne.


    Right before the end, two channels of telepathy suddenly cut across space. One channel was tight like a heavenly. The other channel was tyrannical like a high cliff, a towering peak. The heavenly just blocked and sealed all telepathy, while the cliff pressed down with its towering might to faintly touch upon Gong Qi¡¯s consciousness, intentionally or otherwise.


    Gong Qi snorted, his face turning a bit dark, but this didn¡¯t continue for long. He soon reverted back to his expressionless state.


    Today, he had been constantly enduring, calcting, and pondering. Whatever spoken reasons there were, they were all false. Ultimately, he was the one under subjection.


    Ouyang Chen was a homebody who wholeheartedly focused on research, but that Lady Wu was quite ambitious, and her mind was far more unpredictable. These two Extraordinaries converging together had allowed Xia City to be an independent area. Sure enough, he had scalded his hand when he had sent his telepathy out this time.


    But he couldn¡¯t really me anyone for this. No one had made him act overly hasty in recent years, giving those old co-workers a handle on him.


    He was of old age, and time and tide waited for no man!


    Gong Qiposed his state of mind. He stopped thinking about such matters and contacted Yuan Fei, "Have the private ne make preparations. I¡¯m returning tomorrow."


    Yuan Fei was quite surprised. "Secretary-General Gong?"


    Gong Qi didn¡¯t say anything else and simply ended the call. He closed his eyes and resumed his napping state. However, his mind was still active. He sunkyer andyers down, inside himself, not out.


    The sh just now only left him suffering a hidden loss. But this collision actually gave him a reason to leave Xia City in a short time frame. It also provided a cover for his other actions.


    At that moment, Gong Qi was within his own domain, circting energy. On a ne unobservable by others existed none other than a roll of fine yarn. It slowly swirled. It was like a hanging curtain.


    "Yarn of silence. Yarn of silence...."


    Gong Qi had to expend quite a bit of energy in using this technique to tidy up loose ends. He gave a noiselessugh, and his telepathic thought infused within the empty space of the yarn curtain to write words out of thin air.


    "Safe or not?"


    The words turned to smoke the instant they werepleted, like the telepathic thought he had cast into the void just before. However, this time it wasn¡¯t intercepted by the two Extraordinaries. The instant the smoke made contact with the yarn veil, the smokepletely fused inside. Not a tincture leaked out.


    Gong Qi knew that thisyer of smoke had entered the special channel that was the yarn of silence. The smoke passed through the deepest depths of the mental ne, the absolute realm, to be passed out to the other end in the distance.


    "Three Zones, One Region, One Realm." This was the ssical method in differentiating the levels of the mental ne. The absolute realm was the deepest level. Its name spelled the existence of an ¡¯absolute limit¡¯. The depths were endless. Even Extraordinaries would find it hard to perceive the minute information within without prior preparation.


    The medium that was the yarn of silence was marvelous. Gong Qi was hidden from the two Extraordinaries¡¯ attention. He was extremely certain of it.


    He waited silently. Two minutes passed, before suddenly a wisp of smoke unfurled into a fuzzy image. It appeared like a cold and mocking face, and it manifested in the center of the yarn curtain.


    This was a symbolmonly used in mystic spells. It signified assassination and dark plots. But the image itself might have been more suitable to represent the caster¡¯s emotions. If this method of contact didn¡¯t expend so much energy, the other side would certainly use more caustic words to shoot back in fury.


    In other words, she must be harboring evil intentions by leaving this dark technique inside the reply. His reputation in Headquarters was indeed in tatters. It was quite normal for her to be angry.


    Gong Qi didn¡¯t really care. The gap between an Extraordinary and a B-Rank mage was the distance between heaven and earth. He was able to ignore most of her loathing, especially since she was certainly in dire straits.


    Speaking of which, wasn¡¯t being able to reply meant that she had admitted defeat?


    Well, there was no difference whether or not she gave in.


    In his heart, he nced over Snake Tongue¡¯s weak, frail appearance. He saw her dark and ghastly nature, which was rarely seen. The corner of Gong Qi¡¯s mouth twitched, and he left a new mark in the middle of the yarn curtain.


    This time, the information wasn¡¯t limited to text. It was like Snake Tongue¡¯s message: It was a spell symbol that contained a special meaning. Even though he simplified it to the peak, the structureprised manyyers that intertwined. It took him twenty turns to transform it into smoke, bit by bit, and send it through the yarn of silence.


    He thought for a while in the end, before sending out aforting remark.


    "Go y dead for ten days. I¡¯ll give you new life."


    Gong Qi saw that thest bit of smoke didn¡¯t go into the yarn curtain, and he sneered in his mind. Then he had this marvelous object disperse, and he truly went to nap.

 Chapter 315: Remember? (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 315: Remember? (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    ¡°This is dead tiring," Papercut gasped.


    Papercut was running madly the whole way as he entered the wends jungle. His chubby body appeared more sluggish and heavy. This damnable Acumen Collegepletely prohibited the operation of flying cars. He had to forcefully charge into the system in order to directly put out the fire, but he was being chased by the school¡¯s security.


    Nothing went easy for him since his journey began.


    Originally, he rushed to Ocean Sky Cloud City to provide support. He had already entered an elevator when he received news that Luo Nan rode the ray to fly to Acumen College. He could only turn around and chase after them.


    He finally made it to the north bank jungle, but in the end, the red alert that pressed him all this time drastically fell to a normal alert level. This represented the end of the emergency state. Right now, he came over just to do some cleanup work.


    Well, if there was some cleanup work to be done, it seemed to be very difficult.


    Papercut openly grinned when he entered the woods. This ce was truly like a fryer. The birds and beasts were fleeing in chaos. Feces and urine flowed everywhere. And most of all, the bitter odor of death assaulted the face. It nearly made him trip. He couldn¡¯t really see too clearly in the dark, but from what he could manage to see, the corpses of birds and beasts would likely make some nearby ecological research institutes cry to death.


    But all of this couldn¡¯tpare to what was above the trees in the air. It flew, circling around. It was a blue, gigantic, flying ray. It was stupefying.


    "Mutant devil ray...."


    Papercut knew of this thing. He even specifically ran to see it when he first heard that it had been moved to the crystal pir of Ocean Sky Cloud City. But no one told him that this thing could be used as a firefighting helicopter.


    His neck was tilted high. He watched, and his eyes ached.


    "Watch ahead! You¡¯re going to hit a tree!"


    A cold voice sounded in his ear, scaring Papercut into a jolt. Luckily, he was able to quickly identify whose voice it was. The red jacket was very eye-catching in the darkness.


    "You¡¯re here, Red Fox."


    "I was here five minutes before you."


    Papercut sighed depressingly. "You caught the tail, while I went on a wild goose chase for nothing.... Is there anything left I can help you with?"


    "Help? Yeah man, firefighting! But do you have the same lung capacity as that ray?"


    "Uh, you¡¯re saying...."


    Red Fox¡¯s face couldn¡¯t be seen too clearly within the darkness, but the hint of teasing was obvious. It followed his usual style.


    ¡°As for those people from the investigation team, the buffoons all died on the spot, just short of bing scattered ash and smoke. If we do go over there now, what can we do besides shout, ¡¯long live your majesty¡¯? Oh right, the ¡¯Emperor as a Commoner¡¯ show is having a rerun on Xiawei Channel 3, have you seen it?"


    "...." Papercut finally realized that his newly made friend had some emotional problems.


    Before the matter at Frost River Reality, the two were merely acquaintances. But they repeatedly shared the same stances during that operation. Whether their stances were correct or not, they grew familiar with each other because of them. They even went out drinking afterward, and a friendship was truly established.


    Papercut knew of Red Fox¡¯s personality. Red Fox saw things in an extreme manner. The more he was stifled, the more destructive his emotions became. Papercut rubbed his forehead and gave a sillyugh, getting his hand smeared with sweat. "Boss Luo has done a hell of a job once again. We rushed over here screaming, and now we¡¯re left with handling the aftermath.... Hey, look at my mouth."


    He conveniently tapped his jaw. He wanted to continue speaking, but he heard Red Fox sneer, "That¡¯s right, just handling the aftermath."


    Red Fox raised his chin upon speaking, indicating to Papercut to look to the side.


    Actually, Papercut saw the dead corpse over there quite early on. Based on real-time intelligence, he was able to extrapte that this was Tank, a member of the Headquarters¡¯ Incident Investigation Team, famous for being physically strong. Anyone who was able to make a name for himself in the world of ability users in the past hundreds of thousands of years was not unimportant. But today, this rather famous charactery dead in the wends jungle. It was really regretful....


    "Holy cow, who is this!?" Papercut carefully examined the corpse, and a numbing chill ran up his forehead. He rationally knew that this had to be Tank, but the scene that met his eyes had an enormous impact.


    His lips pulled back; he didn¡¯t know what sort of expression he should have. "This... this is Tank?"


    From real-time intelligence, he knew that Tank was a muscr and rugged giant. He was dogged and valiant. His frontal defensive ability was especially outstanding. Rumor had it that if he was prepared, he could withstand three consecutive shots from a 12.7 millimeter caliber heavy sniper rifle.


    But what the heck was up with this pool of dead flesh, fat, and mush?


    What Papercut saw was a superrge fatty heavier than him by over threefold. All the flesh on the corpse¡¯s face was contorted. The pile of dead flesh wascerated from top to bottom. Not aplete tissue could be seen. Even the bones were fragmented, many of them piercing through the meat to reveal a deathly white color to the outside.


    This sort of appearance was just a step away from looking like something slow-cooked.... Even if it was torture, it was impossible to achieve this without a few hours of time.


    Red Fox slowly walked over, holding a branch in his hand. He poked below the shoulder of the corpse. "Here. I struck a blow on him back in the Wilderness when I was fleeing from Hu City."


    Papercut looked over with amazement.


    Red Fox gave no reaction toward Papercut¡¯s gaze. He stabbed around with the branch, minding his own business. "This attack of mine was aimed at his back, but he turned around real quick. I stabbed him dead on here, and my dagger snapped in half. I even saw him blow off Old Five¡¯s skull with a punch."


    Papercut opened his mouth, but hesitated. Atst he interrupted, "The matter at Hu City... Headquarters personally dispatched people?"


    "It was him, but he had a different identity. Back then he was just the holy defender of a small order. Who knows when he entered the Society.... My dagger is engraved with a piercing glyph. A reaction happens when I¡¯m five kilometers from the target, and it canst for at most ten years. It¡¯s never wrong."


    Red Fox¡¯s voice turned into a whisper. The darkness was unable to block his cold smile. "I originally thought that I would wait to seize a chance to strike a blow. But now, the difficulty has been reduced quite a bit...."


    His other hand had taken out a pitch-ck dagger at an unknown time. The sharp tip descended, his hand having loosened its fingers, and the dagger fell straight down. It stabbed into the soft dead flesh of the swollen corpse, sinking up to the hilt.


    For a moment, Papercut believed that Red Fox was venting his murderous feelings against Tank. However, he mulled it over again and knew that this was wrong. He looked at Red Fox¡¯s gloomy mood and thought of someforting words to say, but he didn¡¯t know where to start. He could only whisper,


    "Did Boss Luo do this?"


    "Mm."


    "How did he do it? I heard from the Secretary that it was an infrasonic wave...."


    "That is what I told her. The birds and beasts next to you all died this way. Nearly I did, too."


    "Huh?" Papercut only now discovered that Red Fox¡¯splexion wasn¡¯t quite healthy. It was very pale. Turned out he had received some internal injuries.


    Red Fox didn¡¯t really care. He picked up his dagger and put it back into its sheath. It was said to be a directed infrasonic wave weapon, but with how directional it was, it could already be considered arge-scale attack weapon. After discovering Tank¡¯s true identity, Red Fox became driven by hate. He hid in secret nearby, waiting to strike. He should be affected by the powerful infrasonic waves.


    But he missed his chance in the end.


    Papercut was able to faintly guess some of this, but this kind of stuff was hard to openly talk about. He could only scratch his head and point at Tank¡¯s swollen corpse. "This fellow took on the same infrasonic waves as you?"


    Red Fox shrugged. "Who knows."


    Papercut was incapable of asking anything else. He could only take a few pictures and record some videos. He already confirmed by now that Red Fox would rather puff around in the woods than go see Luo Nan; Red Fox had already checked out. There was nothing to say in this situation. Papercut just had to forcefully pull him over.


    "Hello," said Papercut, "who cares how he did it. As long as you¡¯re fine, then things are okay. In any case, the person is right over there. We can just ask anything that we¡¯re not clear about. Oh right, are you sure you¡¯re okay? I¡¯ve been one of his teachers. Should I have him apologize to you?"


    "F**k off!"


    Red Fox flung his hands, wishing to leave, but he was forcefully dragged back by Papercut. "Hey, don¡¯t. I heard the kid¡¯s really put his body in a pickle again; his eyes are close to being blind. I don¡¯t know a lick about emergency treatment. If you don¡¯t help, all I can do is burn some paper-ash to use as paste."


    "You go pasting. I don¡¯t give a sh*t."


    "Come on,e on.... Oh, that devil ray doesn¡¯t eat people, right?"


    "Who knows? Why don¡¯t you eat one of its infrasonic waves."


    "Damn!"


    The two pulled at each other, but in the end, they still headed in the direction of Gear. The devil ray in the sky didn¡¯t eat them by the time they entered Gear. It also didn¡¯t send out any infrasonic waves. Itpletely turned a blind eye to them. It just continued to suck in water from the smallke next to Gear, and it blew water like a cannon to smash into the fire upstairs.


    It was described as a water cannon, but it truly shot out artillery shells made out of water. Through specific usage of its oral cavity and cheeks, the devil ray tookrge quantities of theke water and condensed it into an extremely strong giant ball of water. The balls of water came smashing in through the gaps in the windows at great speed and uracy for a top-notch firefighting effect.


    Papercut both clicked his tongue in wonder and gained a headache at the same time. "This fellow is quite elite.... Isn¡¯t it too high-profile? If its picture gets taken, the Inte will explode!"


    Red Fox didn¡¯t talk as he took the first steps into Gear.


    Currently, the various floors were aplete mess due to the back and forth sh between fire and water. The ce looked utterly dismal. Red Fox and Papercut encountered a few multi-function robots along the way. They seemed to possess firefighting capabilities, but they had all been smashed into pieces. This was clearly Tank¡¯s work.


    But the executor of all this had left this world in a state ten times worse than these robots.


    "Nanster, where are you?" Papercut called out a few times with no response. Things were utterly strange. He grew worried. It couldn¡¯t be that another situation had urred, right?


    "He¡¯s underground." Red Fox unexpectedly took the lead. He brought Papercut through the fire passage without the slightest hesitation.


    "You...¡± Papercut trailed off, then coughed and said, ¡°The structure here is very unique. I heard his mother designed and built it. A pity, what happened to her."


    Papercut abruptly changed his speech halfway through, hiding it in the end. It was very clear. Red Fox must have tailed Luo Nan after Tank was killed, and after he confirmed Luo Nan¡¯s whereabouts, he returned back to the jungle.


    From the night at Frost River Reality, Papercut was able to tell that Red Fox held Luo Nan in high regard, or perhaps he was a bit jealous, after their misunderstanding had been resolved. In any case, there existed some sort of admiration and envy in there.


    Perhaps he was thinking, if Hu City had been Xia City....


    Unfortunately, this was just a big if.


    Red Fox and Papercut walked to the central control room, seeing the same scene of ruin along the way. When Tank wasmitting destruction, the first thing he destroyed was the central administration system.


    "How thorough... and careless."


    Papercut looked with a sigh. He had taught Luo Nan in this room a few times before. Back when he chatted with Luo Nan and listened to him talk, a very strict security system was in ce. But Luo Nan didn¡¯t really like it. After he took control of Gear, he shut off this system. The remaining privilege control methods were simply like tissue against Tank, a professional in unscrupulous destruction. They had no effect.


    Red Fox was thinking of something else. "Where is he?"


    He had been quietly tailing Luo Nan recently. He saw Luo Nan stay in the central control room; Luo Nan was using his wristband to reinstate system operations. Red Fox stayed for a time, before he felt assured enough to leave.


    But at that moment, the central control room waspletely empty.


    Luo Nan had disappeared, and Snake Tongue, who was shackled by Luo Nan, disappeared as well.

 Chapter 316: Remember? (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 316: Remember? (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Papercut¡¯s gaze spun around in the central control room. "Nanster¡¯s not here?"


    He made to go into the room as he spoke, but Red Fox stood in his way.


    "Wait." Red Fox wore a cold and clear expression. He moved without a sound, bringing not even a wisp of a breeze, as he entered the central control room. His nose would tremble from time to time, distinguishing the scents inside the room. He even went to examine the elevator and other entrances or exits.


    The odor of blood upon Luo Nan¡¯s body hung quite heavy due to his damaged eyes. Red Fox was able to distinguish the whereabouts of the odor thanks to his nose, which he had strictly trained. However, after turning in a circle inside and outside, Red Fox¡¯s expression grew uglier and uglier.


    He was incapable of understanding the information revealed by the scent.


    "There are no traces of him going outside."


    "What?"


    ¡°There¡¯s no residue of scent in the elevator or safety doors. He didn¡¯t leave through those."


    Papercut blinked his eyes as he looked back in the direction they came from. "Scents don¡¯t clearly show directions. Last time, Nanster came in from here. Did he not go back out the same way?"


    "I¡¯m able to distinguish the direction." Red Fox didn¡¯t raise his head. He walked toward the control console. This should be the core for the entire building, but today it turned into a massive garbage heap. It had beenpletely destroyed by Tank.


    Red Fox tried to reconstruct the original scene. He sized up the piece of scrap that was the control console, and he quickly discovered an anomaly. An enormous amount of electricity had surged through a certain area of the garbage heap. Since the control console was destroyed, the electrical resistance had be extremelyrge, causing scorch marks. But there weren¡¯t any electrical wires or the like in the area.


    While Red Fox pondered this, Papercut muttered, "Disappearing into thin air? It doesn¡¯t seem like something like that happened...."


    He controlled paper men to bounce and skip outside the building as he spoke, extending his sensory range. He confirmed that the devil ray was still very obediently acting as a firefighting helicopter. There was no change with it whatsoever.


    "Should we contact the Secretary?"


    Red Fox¡¯s expression turned even worse, but he didn¡¯t refuse.


    Papercut had just lifted his wrist when he heard an electronic beep in his ear. The corresponding telepathic thought had a destination, and soon, a kaleidoscope of information docked with his consciousness. He felt the lively sensation instantly.


    After a great deal of effort and trouble, the Psychic Wave Network was finally rebooted sessfully.


    Papercut was long since ustomed to having the HexaEar by his side, having been in Xia City for these years. He easily entered the lively Psychic Wave Network, and his mind rxed on the spot. He felt it was a curious coincidence, so he searched his friends list in the first instant. Shockingly, he saw...


    That Luo Nan was online!


    His avatar, the tetrahedron, was very eye-catching.


    "Hey, Nanster. Where are you?" Papercut called out.


    Red Fox suddenly turned around to look at Papercut.


    As for Luo Nan¡¯s side, there was a moment of silence. One second passed, followed by another two. Then came a strange noise. It formed interference, making Papercut nearly believe that the Psychic Wave Network was going out again.


    Luckily, the noise soon faded away, and Luo Nan¡¯s voice sounded out, "I¡¯m.... Mm, wait a moment."


    His voice sounded a bit hoarse, and also a bit elusive. Papercut was stunned upon hearing him. He quickly asked, "You¡¯re okay, right?"


    "I¡¯m okay." Luo Nan¡¯s voice was still hoarse. Papercut could feel that there was a bit of a problem with his mood.


    Red Fox couldn¡¯t stand this meaningless dialogue any longer. He logged onto the Psychic Wave Network and bluntly asked, "Where¡¯s that Snake Tongue?"


    "Killed herself."


    Red Fox and Papercut looked at each other in dismay.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t go into further exnations. Instead, he asked back, "You guys are in the central control room. Everything¡¯s fine there, right?"


    "Things are alright¡ª"


    Before the words could be finished, someone requested to enter the chat. It wasn¡¯t just one person, though. There were several. He Yueyin, Zhang Yingying, Crag Burst, Bamboo Pole, Octopus... and even Bai Xinyan came to join in on the fun.


    Every one of them were ability users that Luo Nan was familiar with. They came contacting him like a swarm of bees.


    Luo Nan had no idea that he was this popr. He wasn¡¯t good in these situations. He rather wished for a more peaceful environment, especially now.


    Luckily, everyone was aware of the situation. He Yueyin immediately took the initiative and established an internal channel. She took all relevant members and pulled them inside. Then, she changed the channel mode to message mode. Only her, the maker of the channel, retained voice privileges. She represented everyone in asking,


    "Mr. Luo. How¡¯s your body? How are your eyes?"


    Letters of various colors were rapidly scrolling down on the internal channel¡¯s interface as He Yueyin spoke. The channel felt more lively than a usual voice mode channel.


    Luo Nan only responded with his low and hoarse voice, "I¡¯m all right. I can still see."


    "Mr. Luo. I don¡¯t rmend you staying at Gear for too long. Currently there have already been people taking pictures and video of the devil ray flying in the sky, and it¡¯s been uploaded to the Inte. The activity that has urred in the jungle of the north bank is too great. We will need professionals to handle the follow-up work."


    He Yueyin maintained a calm and rational bearing from beginning to end. She was able to guess Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts, adding, "I¡¯ve already notified firefighters to rush over there ten minutes ago. They should be there soon."


    "I know." Luo Nan was in a subtle mood, but his response was direct. "I¡¯ll leave immediately."


    "It¡¯s better for Mr. Luo to head back to Cloud City Water Vige. The Sacred Heart Hospital there is quite aplete facility...."


    "Okay." Luo Nan¡¯s responses were getting shorter and shorter, to the point that he just logged out after responding. Clearly, he didn¡¯t want to talk.


    His attitude was very baffling to the people in the internal channel.


    "What happened? Did he get mad?"


    "Anyone who¡¯s been tormented by those people from Headquarters will get angry."


    "Are you sure it¡¯s not because of our reinforcements being useless idiots?"


    "Hey! Hey! What about you?!"


    "Is it post-traumatic stress? He was frightened, and he was mad. Plus, he killed people. Look. ck Beetle. Puppeteer. Tank. Snake Tongue. A total of four lives. Oh, has he killed before?"


    "Seems like... he hasn¡¯t, right?" Zhang Yingying wasn¡¯t quite sure.


    At this time, Papercut spoke not a word as he uploaded a few pictures. They showed Tank¡¯s corpse from various angles.


    Red Foxmented, "Boss Luo¡¯s masterpiece."


    Zhang Yingying sent out a dumbstruck emoji, starting a flood ofments and emojis that trailed from right to left. Other people followed her one after another. The series of stupefied and confused emojis streaked across the pictures of the corpse.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t care what the others were saying about him. After endingmunications, he just maintained his original posture. His eyes were wide open as he disregarded the pain that was soon turning numb. He gazed around.


    The ring-shaped space. The ring-shaped chair. And the wall-lights, bookcase, stool, and other fixtures. They were in this narrow little space, building a cozy and leisurely atmosphere. This was none other than the small tree-hole cabin above the Withered Tree Sandbar.


    Luo Nan looked idly at the furnishings in the room, and he also looked at his two hands. He suddenly stood up several secondster, leaning against the slightly damp tree wall. He staggered up the stone steps to reach the upper floor of the tree house.


    He stood in front of the viewing window, and the scroll-like window opened from two sides. The darkness inside rapidly converged with the darkness outside, trying to drown out all of existence.


    Luo Nan could still see that the Withered Tree Sandbar and Gear were separated by at least five hundred meters of distance. From this angle, Gear looked like an unfinished painting. Only part of a shadowy silhouette was revealed. A few fire spots weren¡¯tpletely extinguished yet. They continued to flicker in the night.


    Why did hee here?


    What happened in-between?


    What did he see?


    Actually, Luo Nan wasn¡¯t in a hurry to gain the ultimate answer. He wanted more time to take everything he just experienced and pour it out and talk. He wanted to talk about everything, missing nothing big nor small, no matter how much time it would take.


    But his circumstances were bound in stone. There was no one he could talk to about everything.


    He could only silently gaze at Gear and look at the tower without a sound within the river of time. He could only watch it reveal its simplest and most negligible aspect to the people of this world....


    At this time, a real firefighting helicopter rumbled through the sky from far away. On the Psychic Wave Network, He Yueyin knew that Luo Nan had logged off, but she still messaged him a reminder. She wanted him to meet up with Red Fox and Papercut as soon as possible, hide the devil ray to the greatest extent, and meet at Cloud City Water Vige.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t respond. His gaze still rested on Gear. His thoughts seemed clear and bright, yet they were not. Coupling Theory could exin today¡¯s experiences, but in the end, pure theory was incapable of revealing the full view of this great work.


    It was rigorous. It was magical. It was beautiful!


    Most importantly, it was his mother¡¯s work, and he was only able to obtain a peek at half of its appearance.


    Things shouldn¡¯t be this way!


    Luo Nan leaned forward, his head sticking out of the viewing window. The night breeze bound with ashes and the acrid smell of the jungle assaulted his nostrils. It was clearly cold, but a scalding stimtion pierced into his brain.


    An emotion and an impulse. They were difficult to suppress.


    Luo Nan¡¯s pair of hands tightly held the lower trim of the viewing window. With a thought, the devil ray, which was fetching water above the smallke not so far away, immediately gave up its work. Its wing-like fins just pped once, and its enormous body appeared above the submerged sandbar to be near the edge of the withered tree.


    "Go!" Luo Nan made a low shout of energy as he leaped out of the viewing window and fell onto the edge of the devil ray¡¯s fin. The long wing-like fin easily coiled, causing Luo Nan¡¯s body to slide to the t back of the giant ray.


    The viewing window closed without a sound, restoring the appearance to what the withered tree should look like. Luo Nan strove to stand up, but his legs were still weak, and he nearly fell. Luckily, the devil ray¡¯s strong body timely gave him some stic support.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t wait to fully gain bnce. He just staggered ahead until he reached the head of the devil ray. He grabbed the pair of head-fins that had flipped up. Only then did he sigh and whisper,


    "Fly then. Find the best angle!"


    The devil ray made a low cry, and the screaming air broke a few branches on the shriveled tree. Its enormous body headed up, and it reached an altitude of several hundred meters in the blink of an eye.


    Luo Nan¡¯s unusual activity attracted the attention of others atst. Papercut¡¯s yell seemed toe over from within the jungle, and there were people yelling from his HexaEar and his wristband. People were calling his attention.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t respond whatsoever. He just looked toward the sky.


    The school was located in the Pingjiang District, an educational function area specifically allocated by Xia City. Even if there was thendmark that was the Cloud City Water Vige Skyscraper towering into the clouds, it was located in an area with the lowest building heights. The distribution of air-trafficyers was rtively sparse.


    He looked up. His field of view was actually quite wide, and today¡¯s night sky was decent. Three to five stars were impatiently piercing through the light pollution of the city with their radiance. They appeared at the corners of the sky.


    But as the devil ray flew upward, as the frigid winds assaulted his face, there was a different scene within Luo Nan¡¯s mind, before Luo Nan¡¯s eyes, and within Luo Nan¡¯s ears.


    It was the gushing of the ice crystals of clouds.


    It was the astral winds that roared like dragons.


    It was the vast hell-like earth.


    It was the strange world that he had never thought about, that he wouldn¡¯t think about, in his past sixteen years of life.


    Danger. Mortality. And the power of enticement like that of opium.


    Luo Nan could hardly tell what was real and what was an illusion. Then the devil ray¡¯s vertical body returned horizontal as it began to hover in circles in the sky.


    At that moment, Luo Nan was already over a thousand kilometers in altitude. He looked down from up high, but he saw heaven and earth spin, the river snake, as well as the the background drawn by the light pollution of the city mixing with the darkness of the void. They formed an oppressive and dirty image that freely entered Luo Nan¡¯s vision. Millions and millions of living beings came and went within. Perhaps they were apathetic, or perhaps they were wanton. These were the temperatures sprinkled among life.


    Luo Nan never really understood this city. Even now, Xia City was merely the background for the existence of his life. He paid attention to merely what was beneath this background. A tiny little point.


    Gear.


    From Luo Nan¡¯s perspective, only this ce was pure and clear. No matter how chaotic the elements of the background, as long as they approach this ce, tangible and intangible orders, tangible and intangible gears, would entwine between heaven and earth. They would mesh and revolve around that marvelous and pivotal point in slow operation.


    Rigorous. Magical. Beautiful.... Real!


    Luo Nan stared at this soul-shaking scene in stupefaction. It was likely that only he knew just how gorgeous this setting was, and his self-consciousness followed in its operation to form a portion of an incorporeal yet grand order. His consciousness expanded outward,bing through all the things of heaven and earth within his senses.


    So he knew that within the area of several dozen kilometers, practically all the high-definition cameras of skyscrapers had spun over to face him. There were also high-altitude warships, and even orbital satellites several hundred kilometers high. They all locked on his position in the night sky, coldly staring at him.


    Then there were the mental senses. They came like silk threads from various mental nes. They turned to envelop him, and they didn¡¯te from just one or two people.


    He didn¡¯t know how many there were, and he didn¡¯t know how many different methods were used, but they paid attention to this side of heaven and earth. They paid attention to each and every one of his movements.


    However, the hundred of millions of inhabitants in Xia City, the billions of living beings in the world, were they worth a dime?


    Understanding was order. Not knowing was disorder. The information of disorder was like an illusion. It dissolved like ice within the glowing mist of this enormous metropolis.


    That figure. That name. That soul. They surged within Luo Nan¡¯s mind as pride with no ce to go.


    The people of the world need to be told about her wondrous ideas, her grand aplishment. Thousands upon thousands of words need to be written in an endless script of characters. Some of the words within will contain several meanings, and these can go thousands of miles.


    The boundless world. Who can say everything about it? Who can understand everything about it?


    Is it possible that the person who can do all this is my insane grandfather in the sanitarium?


    In the end... I¡¯m the only one left.


    Mother. Right now, there¡¯s only me.


    There¡¯s only me!


    The devil ray could feel Luo Nan¡¯s emotions. It suddenly dove down from an altitude of a kilometer high. It¡¯s enormous body seemed to be connected and pulled by a long and incorporeal string of order, turning the devil ray to a strange and spectacr giant kite. The kite revolved around the center, rapidly spiraling.


    The screaming gale scalded Luo Nan¡¯s eyes. His vision distorted, and there was only that revolving gear, the turning of time, dazzling his eyes like billowing water. It was like the center of the world, the source of order. All the things of heaven and earth converged within it to dock with his mind, to couple.


    Boom!


    The boundless star river. The billions of stars. They surged in the storm of his emotions. They shook faintly, the billions of starlight akin to water drops as they transformed from a river into an ocean in the blink of an eye. Luo Nan¡¯s surging soul strength overloaded the external neuron, overflowing it in an instant. It was like an enormous river bursting through a dike, and the water came gushing down.


    It was this gush of water that heaved up therge and small gears of unequal sizes. It was like a giant wave had smacked an amphibious vehicle, and the vehicle was searching for a chance to rotate in sync.


    Energy rubbed away, and lightning burst forth. They wove into each other and became dense. In the blink of an eye, the energy and lightning became incalcble. It just exploded Luo Nan¡¯s blood and energy into a surge. It was a heated pain, something that couldn¡¯t be understood. Luo Nan could only be propelled by his churning emotions into a throat-splitting roar.


    There weren¡¯t any worries. There weren¡¯t any thoughts. There were only those pure-to-the-limit emotions, and they mixed with the lightning to m explosively on the mental ne.


    "MOTHER!"


    The deste sound of thunder crushed across the void.

 Chapter 317: Cracked Ice (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 317: Cracked Ice (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    The devil ray, bound in the whistling winds, streaked across the sky to arrive above the viewing tform. It slightly tilted its t body, and it passed through the structural frame. Its momentum was eliminated with wave-like ripples as it hovered above the pool. Then, it slowly descended.


    Luo Nan¡¯s legs didn¡¯t move, but the devil ray stimted the flesh of its back on its own to send Luo Nan down like a conveyor belt. He just staggered a bit when he slid off the wing-like fins.


    Xue Lei had been waiting to the side, and he stepped forward to support Luo Nan in a timely manner. He was just wearing a thin t-shirt, and his body was covered in sweat. He only let out a breath of relief when he was able to hold firmly onto Luo Nan¡¯s arm. But a different sort of energy rushed through his head.


    "Nanster, have you gone crazy!?"


    Near the end of his speech, his voice suddenly dropped an octave, "Your eyes...."


    "It¡¯s nothing."


    Luo Nan motioned to the devil ray to submerge into the Heavenly Ocean Lake and enter the central crystal pir. He was dripping with water from the ssh made by the devil ray when he broke free from Xue Lei¡¯s grasp, and he walked to a dryer area to the side of the pool.


    Luo Nan¡¯s eyes were still burning and in pain from when he had dropped to the ground, but after blinking his eyes a few times and feeling the autumn breeze blow over, he soon felt quite refreshed. His eyes were like lubricated ball bearings, taking the moisture inyer byyer. In the middle, there came some prickly and itchy sensations, but most of it was alleviated quickly. Unexpectedly, his eye sockets, eyebrows, forehead, and face all felt immersed in coolness. It was rather soothing.


    Luo Nan believed that it wasn¡¯t a big deal. The lightning in between the coupling of the two gears bothcerated, but also repaired the coupling like glue. Right now, he couldn¡¯t control the coupling too urately, perhaps due to the damage from the prior wave of lightning and variouscerations. But the following wave of lightning produced a welding effect. It came in a reversal, and perhaps because his luck was good, the coupling subsequently exploded open.


    But since it was coupling, it was natural for information to intemunicate and synchronize. It was highly probable that the transformation was a good one, and as time passed, Luo Nan felt it be more and more obvious.


    This was merely Luo Nan¡¯s own thoughts. Xue Lei got a different feeling as he looked at Luo Nan¡¯s eyes.


    Xue Lei felt like he was looking at the eyes of a cold-blooded beast. Although Luo Nan¡¯s eyes weren¡¯t long and narrow, the densely woven cracks that spiraled within them made those eyes look like ss balls that could shatter at any moment.


    Xue Lei subconsciously shuddered when he witnessed this scene, and he immediately reached out to grab Luo Nan in order to take him to the hospital and get him examined. But the energy that red within Luo Nan made Xue Lei¡¯s eyelids twitch twice.


    Xue Leiposed his mind, and he followed the reaction of the energy. He saw once more the fractured cracks, which were like deep cracks in ice. It looked deste at first nce, but therey a dense cold aura seeped within. The glow would asionally pulsate, like ring lightning rending the night sky. It was dazzling.


    When faced with this pair of aberrant eyes, Xue Lei didn¡¯t know what to say for a time, and he subconsciously handed over the notebook in his hand.


    This was Luo Nan¡¯s loose-leaf notebook. It had been thrown upon the tform when Luo Nan had jumped on the devil ray¡¯s back. Xue Lei had picked it up and was returning it to its rightful owner.


    Luo Nan held the leather cover andughed. It was hard to hide his weariness.


    Xue Lei¡¯s tone eased a bit. "You should still go get yourself checked up."


    "Okay." Luo Nan knew that this was something he couldn¡¯t avoid, and he agreed to it quite crisply. His gaze turned and he saw a girl, with Xue Lei¡¯s clothes draped over her, sitting atop a bench besides the pool. Luo Nan was quite baffled. "Senior Sister Tian is still here?"


    Tian Si heard Luo Nan say her name. She slightly bit her lower lip and raised her head. Her lips were so white that not a trace of red could be seen. Her expression was also a bit stiff. Luo Nan didn¡¯t know if it was due to the effects of the cold, or the power of fear increasing a bit.


    She had been grabbed by the throat, been threatened as a hostage, and fallen into the Heavenly Ocean Lake. Her entire body was soaked with water. Her knitted clothes entered the water, so they became extremely heavy. After getting out of the water, the slightest cold breeze became exceptionally cold. Her shoes had fallen into the Heavenly Ocean Lake early on, leaving her fine legs to touch the moist ground with only pantyhose as protection. She was battered and exhausted.


    It waste autumn. The chill was very serious. Though Xue Lei had kindly given her his gym clothes to warm her body, it was still hard for her not to hug her legs and shiver from the cold.


    Xue Lei whispered, "The fright she took was probably too vicious. She probably has some post-traumatic stress. She¡¯s been staying here, not moving at all, no matter how much I try persuading her."


    Luo Nan furrowed his brows upon hearing this; he didn¡¯t know how to handle this for a time. His gaze deviated a bit, and he saw that the viewing tform had clearly been cleared of all people. ck Beetle¡¯s and Puppeteer¡¯s corpses were gone, the unconscious tourists were all evacuated, and all traces of the battle were wiped clean.


    Xue Lei was informed. He whispered, "Secretary He came not long after you left. She cleared the site and arranged for Brother Zhou to take care of things here."


    From the end of the pool, a calm man in his forties was making his way over. It was Zhou Hu, who Xue Lei had just mentioned. He was one of He Yueyin¡¯s bodyguards and her confidant. He had met Luo Nan twice in the past, and he was Crag Burst¡¯srade-in-arms. He was no stranger.


    "Brother Zhou,¡± Luo Nan ced the matter with Tian Si to the side as he made a courteous greeting.


    Zhou Hu¡¯s words and actions were steady and fitting from start to finish. "Mr. Luo. ording to Miss He¡¯s instructions, I will wait by your side this night to do some odd jobs for you. Just give me direct instructions for anything that needs to be done."


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t refuse. He nodded in thanks.


    Zhou Hu swept a nce at Tian Si and more or less understood the situation. He lowered his voice and said, "Miss He told me that this one was stifled quite ruthlessly, and even struggled during a hostage situation...."


    Luo Nan heard his words and thought for a while. Then, he walked forward two paces.


    The distance closed, and everything was fine except when Tian Si saw Luo Nan¡¯s ice-cracked eyes. Her entire body recoiled, but she soon realized what she just did. She forcefully restrained her fear and shuffled forward, raising her head to see him. She was terrified and pitiful.


    "Junior, I¡¯m sorry...."


    Right now, Tian Si absolutely didn¡¯t have her daily leisurely and cheerful appearance.


    Luo Nan furrowed his brows and bent down a bit. "Senior Sister, it¡¯s very cold out. Go change your clothes, then we can continue chatting, okay?"


    Luo Nan had used his close-range hypnosis technique right then. Tian Si subconsciously grunted in agreement, and her mind went into a slight daze.


    Luo Nan improvised upon seeing this. "Go with her, Leister."


    Xue Lei shook his head hard. Tonight, he practically didn¡¯t do anything. He settled firmly on a decision in his moment of regret. He would follow closely by Luo Nan¡¯s side.


    "All right. Let¡¯s all go together." Luo Nan really didn¡¯t have any special feelings for Tian Si, but because she had researched Gear and Coupling Theory, his attitude was a lot different than it normally would have been.


    There was arge-scale shopping center within Ocean Sky Cloud City. It would be quite convenient for Tian Si to change clothes there. Plus, Luo Nan had rode the slippery back of the devil ray to do some firefighting at Gear. His body was covered with dirt and ash, and the white coat he wore was beyond recognition. His face was probably no better. He needed to clean himself up.


    The group of people took the elevator down. They headed toward the shopping center.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t intend to immediately meet up with He Yueyin and the others. This was primarily because the just-established internal channel on the Psychic Wave Network had quickly been maxed out by the chaotic stream of information.


    Luo Nan had handled things impulsively today, and the others had downloaded photographic and video evidence of this from thework. They went intoplete chaos, and Luo Nan didn¡¯t know how he should respond for a time.


    When he was emotionally excited, he hated not being able to face the world and speak of the greatness of his mother¡¯s work. But now, his mood had ebbed away, and his rationality had returned. He knew that the secrets within must never be divulged to outsiders.


    How should he respond to the others? What a troubling matter.


    Unfortunately, he was too tired to rack his brain. He might as well continue being stubborn and talkter.


    Xue Lei wanted to say something about the way Luo Nan did things, but he didn¡¯t open his mouth. Zhou Hupletely listened to Luo Nan¡¯s ns. As for Tian Si, she acted like a marite. Whatever Luo Nan said wasw.


    The group arrived at the 101st floor and found a brand store nearby. They went to purchase clothes.


    Luo Nan just washed his face and threw away his white gown. He would first make do with everything else. As for Tian Si, no matter how much she would have to make do, she would need to spend a bit of time. The three guys just stood waiting in the store.


    Xie Junping¡¯s call came at exactly this time. He pelted Luo Nan with a question, "Where the hell did you go?"


    Luo Nan nced at the dazzling lineup of women¡¯s clothing. "I¡¯m buying clothes."


    Xie Junping clearly choked for a second. He paused, before asking, "Where¡¯s Leister?"


    "He¡¯s with me. What¡¯s going on?"


    Xie Junping chuckled, "It¡¯s nothing. It¡¯s nothing. I¡¯m just asking. Both of you two suddenly disappeared. Tang Yi came over just now, and we couldn¡¯t find you two at all."


    Luo Nan suddenly thought of something. He turned a bit to the side, and his eyes brushed past the most striking fixture outside the store¡ªthe central crystal pir spanning over a hundred forty stories of the building. The devil ray was swimming about inside, attracting quite a few guests to stop and watch.


    "Ask Yao Feng for me, about how much the price of that Mutant devil ray is."


    "So it really was¡ª¡± Xie Junping coughed hard, ¡°It¡¯s nothing, something went down the wrong pipe."


    The sudden rise in pitch was forcefully suppressed; this was how Xie Junping concluded things. Xie Junping¡¯stter words were given to deal with hispanions on his side, but as he spoke to Luo Nan again, he dialed his voice down into a whisper. He couldn¡¯t refrain from shivering in excitement.


    "Nanster, Y-y-y-you... it really was you? The Inte is going to explode, don¡¯t you know!? Yao Feng just got the news and is under pressure. Oh right, he shouldn¡¯t have recognized that it was you!"


    "Then he¡¯s quite retarded."


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t want to keep talking, so he just reminded Xie Junping, "I¡¯ll be over in a bit. Don¡¯t forget to ask him the price."


    He hung up the call upon saying this.


    Luo Nan admitted to himself that asking Yao Feng the price of the devil ray was an impulsive thought. He really liked looking down at Gear from the sky, experiencing marvelous feelings and appreciating the beauty of the building to the limits. It naturally was ideal to obtain the devil ray for himself.


    Of course, more realistic factors were at y.


    The power of the Mutant devil ray¡¯s fleshly body was tyrannical. In addition to that, its muscles were pliable, tough, and top-notch. It could control them extremely well. It could be used for many purposes, mostly acting as a substitution for Luo Nan¡¯s weak fleshly body and for doing some antagonistic work.


    Possessing this weaponpanion was a key factor in Luo Nan¡¯s survival for the future.


    Luo Nan was truly tired. He was in the clothing disy area, and he simply sat on a stool meant for trying on shoes. He flipped open his notebook, and the flexible e-ink screen lit up.


    He subconsciously opened the secondyer of the drawing software, and the lustrous star river nearly dazzled his eyes. The heartntern of the eyes orifice, under the effects of coupling, practically swept clear the turbid dark clouds within the star river. The eight extremes were illuminated, and the myriad of Life Sketches formed hundreds and thousands of constetions. They revolved inside and outside the Format Pyramid, rising and sinking. This was a grand star as, practically drawing one¡¯s mind within.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t look at it carefully, and just exhaled with a low sigh. He returned to the upperyer of the software and easily created a nk interface. His electronic pen drew out lines. The pen soared as it went up, and it paused as it went down. It moved chaotically, drawing out an unknownposition.


    Xue Lei was standing by his side when he suddenly said, "Nanster, why don¡¯t you transfer me over to that Order Club you¡¯re in."

 Chapter 318: Cracked Ice (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 318: Cracked Ice (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan raised his head in amazement. He didn¡¯t really understand.


    Xue Lei continued speaking, "The gym master will need to rest for some time after moving his gym. He won¡¯t need me to help him for the time being. I joined my current school society in name only; there¡¯s no point in me going. You should simply give Brother Ping a call and transfer me over. We can look out for each other, okay?"


    Luo Nan absentmindedly said, "Of course it¡¯s good to be looked out for."


    Currently, the right to the ownership of Gear was in the middle of a bidding war. Whether it would fall to the hands of the Mystic Arts Research Society or the Construction Society, Luo Nan was a single force. If he could have a trustworthy friend help him.... Hold on. This wasn¡¯t a situation of looking out for one another.


    Luo Nan finally understood Xue Lei¡¯s thoughts. Xue Lei wanted to act as his bodyguard. Luo Nan was willing to admit that with Xue Lei guarding nearby, his weak body would bepensated for. If he had paired Xue Lei with his mental attacks and other techniques from the beginning, today¡¯s situation would have gone smoothly without a hitch.


    However, Luo Nan understood something clearly. Future troubles wereing, and they wouldn¡¯t be on the same level as today¡¯s!


    "It isn¡¯t just the two of us, Leister. There are many factors here. There are your parents, and my aunt¡¯s family...."


    Luo Nan spoke softly and gravely. He talked and talked, breaking off in the end.


    The resurgence of worked up emotions made it unavoidable for Luo Nan¡¯s myriad of thoughts to be chaotic. They were like weeds flourishing in his mind. Frankly speaking, the schemes that Headquarters¡¯ investigation team employed truly shocked him.


    Forceful abduction. Hostage taking. Arson. This group of people had nopunctions at all. They were capable of doing anything.


    And this was only Headquarters. Luo Nan didn¡¯t forget that there was Quantum Corporation, and especially Yan Yongbo, who had been eyeing Gear all this time for whatever purpose.


    The Order of Justice seemed to have withdrawn for the time being, but the situation with Headquarters was a matter of great importance, looking at how active they are. They couldn¡¯t possibly stick their heads in the sand like ostriches.


    There was more. Various powers remained uncountable by Luo Nan. From the madness that came from making the Human-Faced Arachnid, Luo Nan could see that there were far too many greedy people in this world. One of them could pop out at any time.


    How could just he and Xue Lei handle this?


    All right, there was also the Xia City branch of the Society. But looking at today¡¯s circumstances, they were limited no matter how he asked for help. Though He Yueyin and the others had done their best to support him, there still remained gaps in coverage. They couldn¡¯t immediately appear before him. It would be even worse for his family, whose priority levels would likely be lower than his.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t know how to formte his concerns to Xue Lei for a time. It was in this moment that Tian Si had walked out from the fitting room, having finished changing clothes.


    Now wasn¡¯t a good time to be picky about clothes. Tian Si just chose the closest brand named clothes and casually paired them up.


    It was probably because she was very cold from being dropped inside the pool, so she wore a wool coat with a velvet jacket. She covered her upper body very tightly.


    Her lower body was wrapped in a pleated long skirt, and it hung to her ankles. She was also wearing a pair of oxford high-heels, which she bought on the way. She was already sweating a bit, standing in a warm and cozy shopping mall. Her moist long hair was draped behind her back, and her cheeks flushed red. She looked like she had just taken a bath.


    Tian Si nudged her way step by step before Luo Nan just like this. Her eyes looked downcast as she whispered, "I made you wait a while."


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t say anything. The topic of the Order Club that Xue Lei wanted to talk about wasn¡¯t something that could be straightened out with idle chatter. Luo Nan closed his notebook and stood up.


    "Let¡¯s go then."


    "Mr. Luo." Zhou Hu returned just now, having gone outside to do some errands. He delivered a newly opened pair of brown sunsses to Luo Nan. "Your eyes.... Let¡¯s first hide them."


    Xue Lei understood in a sh. "Those veins are seeped with uncanniness. You should hide them for now."


    No wonder He Yueyin had chosen Zhou Hu as a bodyguard; he was really quite attentive and thorough. Luo Nan gave a word of thanks as he epted and put on the sunsses. He first headed toward the elevators, while Xue Lei and the others followed him. Behind them, inside the crystal pir, the devil ray noiselessly spiraled, following them down.


    The original n had Luo Nan be directly admitted to the hospital upon arrival for examination. However, the matter with the devil ray was brought up in the call with Xie Junping just now. Luo Nan wanted to go to the party venue and see the specifics surrounding the situation.


    Zhou Hu, who followed by his side, had no objection toward this.


    The group of people quickly returned to the 88th floor. ording to the party¡¯s schedule, the warming up time should have ended, and the actually party should be officially starting. However, Luo Nan and the others arrived to see that the area surrounding the crystal pir was clearly a bit chaotic. The buzzing ofmotion never stopped.


    Luo Nan contacted Xie Junping once more, and Xie Junping informed him, "A skylight has been opened in the crystal pir. Never has such a thing happened since the building waspleted. Many activities have been postponed for the sake of safety. Yao Four has lost face and is cursing quite a bit¡ªhold on a sec."


    Xie Junping and Hu Huaying were still in conversation with Yao Feng; they couldn¡¯t slip away for a time. Luo Nan looked around him. As fortune would have it, the elevator they took ced them right where they first encountered Yao Feng, as well as the sofa corner with that He Donglou.


    Not a trace of the troublesome characters could be seen in this moment. Only a few strangers sat there in idle chatter.


    The sofa corner was quite spacious and wide. It was fine for resting and discussion. Luo Nan notified Xie Junping, and he led Xie Junping and the others over. He intended to rest there and wait for Xie Junping to meet up with them.


    Luo Nan and the others took a left turn, but there was a group of people on the right who saw theme out of the elevator. Someone immediately shouted bizarrely, "By thunder and fire! How ferociously intense! They changed their clothes. What do you think went down?"


    "Two of them went, and there are four who came back! Wow!"


    "You can¡¯t judge a book by its cover...."


    Listening to his friends be noisy and seeing them mostly point at Tian Si, Ju Maoxun¡¯s expression turned uglier and uglier.


    Their group had lost their drive after being frightened by the sunsses man with ck teeth. They ran out of the 124th floor in extreme humiliation. They just barely recovered some energy and went back up. But the next elevator contained a white-cored worker with a face full of blood. His head was smashed so hard that it turned t, and the man sank into a deepa. This gave them another shock. They didn¡¯t know what was going on upstairs.


    Then the police intervened, and the group of people helplessly returned back to the party. The party activities hit a setback as well. It could be said that nothing went smoothly for them. In the middle of their gloom, they suddenly saw Tian Si and Luo Nan return, but they returned with a hell of an appearance.


    Ju Maoxun began grinding his teeth.


    The friends next to him were quite familiar with him. They saw wisps of blood appear in Ju Maoxun¡¯s eyes. Ju Maoxun had donned the appearance of The Butcher. They shut their mouths one by one.


    It wasn¡¯t odd, thinking about it. There was a rtionship. Clothes had been changed. Was Ju Maoxun rivaling someone for the affection of ady? Or was he putting on the lush green hat of a cuckold?


    Ju Maoxun stared at the backs of these people. He didn¡¯t make a move. Anothermotion today would cause him to lose more face. After today, however, the situation would be different.


    "We¡¯re going!" Ju Maoxun forcefully suppressed his tone, turned around, and left. A good 90% of the sharp thoughts he had stabbed his mind repeatedly. He could only wait for an opportunity to reveal itself before he could vent them out.


    Zhou Hu and Xue Lei, who had merged into the flow of people, turned to nce when Ju Maoxun had just turned around. They were keen, and such a malevolent gaze could not escape their senses.


    Zhou Hu even moved to Luo Nan¡¯s ear to ask, "That person...."


    Luo Nan shook his head. As long as Ju Maoxun and his gang didn¡¯t immediately rush up toe to blows, he wouldn¡¯t spare them even the idlest of feelings. They arrived by the sofa corner with a few steps, and Luo Nan felt no need to be polite. He sat down first without any indication.


    His back pressed against the soft sofa. With this support, the feeling of pain became like steam vapor. It instantly enveloped his entire body, evaporating all the energy in his body.


    He subconsciously let out a sigh. He was a bit exhausted.


    "Nanster?" Xue Lei didn¡¯t sit. He stooped to look at the color of Luo Nan¡¯s face. He felt a little concerned.


    Luo Nan lifted his eyelids and looked at Xue Lei¡¯s furrowed face. Heughed involuntarily. "The mindes before energy, and energyes before strength, when ites to the importance of consumption and loss. It seems that today I¡¯ve met the minimum requirements."


    These were the words that Xue Lei had admonished him with back when he had just learned the technique of cultivating in the eyes orifice.


    Luo Nan had implemented these words into reality when faced with the enemy today. He didn¡¯t exhaust too much of his physical strength, but theprehension and application of order frames, gears, coupling, and simr concepts exhausted his mental energy.


    Then there was also the fact that he went to save his mother¡¯s work. His impatient heart and surging emotions also wore away at his mind. In a safe environment, his umted feelings of exhaustion exploded. He really wanted to lie down and sleep it off.


    Xue Lei was likely the person who could understand Luo Nan¡¯s state the most. He urged Luo Nan, "How about you sleep a bit? The wear to your mind has harmed your mental energy, which is forcefully holding up a bottomless pit."


    "Well, first I need to ask a few things to get a clear understanding of them. Sister He should be almost here."


    Luo Nan suddenly remembered that there was an outsider by his side. He forcefully opened his eyes and swiveled them to face Tian Si. "Senior Sister Tian, I am sorry about today. I let you suffer a cmity with the pool and the ray. However, the situation has passed. The following time frame should be very safe. If Senior Sister, you¡ª"


    An aura arrived behind his back before he could clearly formte his thoughts. Then long, snow-white legs swung across the sofa from behind to lithely leap over the back of the sofa. A slender figure suddenly appeared in this fashion.


    She wore a simple T-shirt and paired it with jean shorts. The autumn vor was very strong in this full-body summer outfit. It was also capricious. The only person that Luo Nan was familiar with who could dress up like this was Zhang Yingying.


    "Whatcha lookin¡¯ at!? I rushed over from the coast. Sorry I¡¯m not wearing a diving suit! Of course, if you had died, I would have changed to a formal suit to collect your body."


    Zhang Yingying sat near Luo Nan, staring at him with her gaze and not letting go. She sized him up carefully, trying to assess if he was missing some part of him.


    Luo Nan was nearly at the point where he couldn¡¯t open his eyes. He didn¡¯t really acknowledge her, except with a grunt.


    If it was any normal day, Zhang Yingying would have long since jumped up in anger. But today, she just coldly snorted back. She extended an arm to touch Luo Nan¡¯s forehead. Her fingertips streaked down, and she measured the pulse over his carotid artery for his heart rate.


    These series of actions weren¡¯t that weird. But Luo Nan¡¯s expression spelled awkwardness no matter how one looked at it. After Zhang Yingying looked him up and down a few times, she finally asked, "What are you wearing sses for?"


    She pulled them straight off as she spoke.


    Luo Nan nced at her and saw her expression turn stiff. Her gaze seemed to turn slightly sluggish.


    "Am I that ugly?" Luo Nan took back his sunsses, but he suddenly felt that something was off. This was because his heartntern of the eyes orifice had subconsciously illuminated her in an instant.


    On the night at Frost River Reality, Zhang Yingying¡¯s Life Sketch was more or less clear to Luo Nan. The natural illumination from the heartntern right now made the Life Sketchpletely lucid.


    However, this transparency seemed to give rise to adverse effects. The sharp energy akin to a glowing water-cloud belt within Zhang Yingying rang with a cry. The sharp energy covered her foundation anew.

 Chapter 319: Mind Controller (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 319: Mind Controller (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    White Rainbow¡¯s state was very interesting.


    Luo Nan¡¯s mind stirred when he saw how special Zhang Yingying¡¯s body and soul structure was. But before he could understand itpletely, another person entered the sofa corner. This person panted slightly as he said, "Boss Luo, your rhythm is too quick! Us bros can¡¯t keep up!"


    As he spoke, Papercut¡¯s plump body plopped down to jiggle on the sofa.


    As for Red Fox, he uttered not a word. He sat next to Papercut on the sofa¡¯s armrest. His gaze wandered upon Luo Nan¡¯s body as he carefully sized him up.


    Back at Gear, Luo Nan had focused 99% of his efforts on firefighting. However, he was absolutely sure that these two, whom he once held a discourse with, were the first to make it to the scene. Their attitude was impable.


    Luo Nan received these feelings and immediately gave the two a nod, easily turning his gaze away from Zhang Yingying. He ced the matter of Zhang Yingying¡¯s White Rainbow to the side for now and put on his sunsses.


    Zhang Yingying was a bit confused. She wasn¡¯t sure what happened just then. She simply heard Papercut talking andughed by instinct. "So you¡¯re saying that we made him wait so long that we¡¯re left dealing with the corpses?"


    She tapped his wristband as she spoke, letting Papercut take note of the time.


    Papercut pointed at Zhang Yingying, and then he pointed at himself. He was left speechless at this suicidal evaluation.


    Zhang Yingying didn¡¯t believe that it was suicidal, as she was there providing information and intelligence for half the time Luo Nan and the group of people from Headquarters were inbat. Anyhow, she did a little better than Papercut.


    This group was quite familiar with one another. No one took bashing each other personally. With most of tonight being intense, it was necessary to rx after confirming that Luo Nan was in good health.


    But on the other hand, being the only normal person of the group, Tian Si felt extremely ufortable with the sudden appearance of these people.


    The ring-shaped sofa was mostly closed up. There was only one way to get in. It formed a rtively private space, and Tian Si was sitting at one end of the entrance. Then Papercut and Red Fox had sat on the other. The two sides were very close to each other, but they didn¡¯t talk to each other at all. Not even a nce was exchanged between them.


    Tian Si¡¯s head was a bit downcast. Her pair of legs were together to the side. Her bearing was a dignified one, but half her body was outside, like her current situation.


    With the passing of time, the most remarkable self-defense mechanism of the human race¡ªforgetting¡ªbegan to disy its effects. The nightmare-like experience gradually blurred, and Tian Si stepped back a bit from her dazed and fear-trembling state. Her thoughts began forming once more.


    The 88th floor was the venue for the friendship party between Pingjiang District¡¯s first-rate educational establishments. Though the members of the party could be said to have a few years of experience, fundamentally speaking, they were all still students.


    Ignoring Luo Nan and Xue Lei, of the people who arrived one after another in the sofa area, only the long-legged beautiful woman shining with youth was a bit like a student. The other three people had the dense air that indicated being members of society upon their bodies. And the previously acquainted Zhou Hu was the oldest level figure, being in his forties.


    These people surrounded Luo Nan, and they were discordant with the surrounding environment. They were all on good terms with each other, and they naturally formed a circle. When they came here and sat down, the few students who sat at the sofa corner in idle conversation felt a bit uneasy for some reason. These students soon got up and left.


    Only Luo Nan¡¯s group of people remained in the sofa corner. At most, there was the bartender at the small bar in the back.


    Are these people all like Luo Nan, Puppeteer, and so on? Are they powerful people who possess inconceivable abilities?


    Tian Si couldn¡¯t help guessing. The circle she was in contact with now was very far apart from her original school, and the light political circles she was familiar with. They were so far apart that she was incapable of understanding it. She felt overwhelmed.


    However, it was very dream-like to be able to form a rtionship with this circle.... Of course, it was mostly of the nightmare variety.


    Tian Si was in the middle of adjusting her thoughts when a topic suddenly dropped down on her. The long-legged beautiful woman, who appeared to be younger than her by a few years, had turned her gaze over. "Is she the female lead in the first-half? She¡¯s really not bad. You really like the older women, eh? I¡¯ve never seen you with someone younger."


    Hearing this load of crap, Luo Nan was ready to roll his eyes even though he was super tired.


    Tian Si was rather embarrassed by Zhang Yingying¡¯s words. Her emotions stimted some memories, and she suddenly remembered that it was this voice who told Luo Nan to abandon her and throw her away for being a burden.


    Tian Si knew that she shouldn¡¯t get vent out her anger on these powerful people. On the contrary, being targeted time and time again stimted the pride that existed in the bottom of her heart. Of course, she wouldn¡¯t use intense methods to express herself. She just lowered her eyes and sat upright at the end of the sofa. She was more calm and reserved than before.


    This lovely bearing of hers disyed vulnerability the most clearly. It was really capable of evoking the protective nature of the opposite sex. Luo Nan didn¡¯t forget the friendship he had with Tian Si from her mentioning Coupling Theory. He naturally helped her out with a few words, "Don¡¯t joke around. Senior Sister Tian is an excellent student of our school¡¯s design institute. She will be undertaking advanced studies next year. It¡¯s highly likely she will be the apprentice to continue my mother¡¯s research."


    "Oh, little miss schr. I see. From the outside, it looked like you two were going to enjoy blessings and endure misfortune together."


    Zhang Yingying spoke with a smile. The ripple that ran through her eyes contained a hidden meaning. Do you know what I mean?


    Of course, how can I not. If you hadn¡¯t changed the subject, I would have asked her to leave already, okay?


    Regardless of their individual attitudes, Luo Nan and Zhang Yingying already reached an agreement. The matters they were going to discuss next were far too sensitive. It would do nobody good to have Tian Si stay here.


    Luo Nan intensely resonated his mind as he cast his gaze over at Tian Si. "Tian Si, you¡¯ve endured much torment recently. You must be very tired. It¡¯s okay not to participate in this sort of party. Go back and rest, okay?"


    His speech and his words were of concern, but they might as well be an order.


    Tian Si¡¯s mind went nk. It was unknown whether he loosened up or felt bad, but just as Tian Si was about to nod, the quiet man wearing a red jacket suddenly broke his silence, "The Secretary has opened a ward in the Sacred Heart Hospital. You should go over there to have your body examined in order to avoid residual effects."


    After a moment of stupefaction, Tian Si regained herself. She was being spoken to. She cast her gaze toward Luo Nan very consciously, for she wanted to see what his attitude would be.


    Luo Nan was a bit suspicious as he looked at Red Fox. Red Fox¡¯s mouth twitched as he said, "This is going with the flow."


    Zhang Yingying immediately changed her stance as she sneered, "If going with the flow is useful, then today¡¯s matter wouldn¡¯t have escted to these extremes.... Oh right, where¡¯s Secretary He? She¡¯s the one who wants us to convene together, and she¡¯ste?"


    "She should be at the hospital?" Papercut was worried that Red Fox and Zhang Yingying would get into a quarrel. He rushed to butt in, and he asked Luo Nan, "Speaking of which, why the hell did youe here? Did you want to stay here until the party ends?"


    "I¡¯m waiting for some news." Luo Nan briefly mentioned the matter with the devil ray. "I¡¯m thinking that having that toy by my side would make things safer."


    "I really didn¡¯t know that you¡¯re actually someone with connections!" Zhang Yingying¡¯s eyes were wide open. She looked very surprised.


    Of course, she was just mocking him.


    Papercut scratched his head. "Nanster, didn¡¯t I tell you? Mutants that are of a higher quality are never less than ten million in price on the market. The market probably values the devil ray to be¡ª¡±


    Before Papercut could finish speaking, Xie Junping noisy voice entered his ear from the crowd. "Nanster, you¡¯re fine, right?"


    Xie Junping and Hu Huaying hastily made their way over. Xie Junping had seen that one of the many figures in the sofa corner appeared vaguely to be Luo Nan. He didn¡¯t think much, just directly calling out and asking. Once he spoke out, he suddenly realized that six to seven pairs of eyes were staring at him. They were all new faces to him.


    No, there was one who looked familiar.


    "Zhang Yingying?"


    "Oh, Sucker, hello." Zhang Yingying smiled as she waved. She turned her head to give Luo Nan a second expression of admiration. "So you actually had him go negotiate the price!"


    Before Luo Nan could speak, Xie Junping exploded, "What do you mean by ¡¯actually¡¯!?"


    Zhang Yingying rubbed her fingers against each other. "How much money?"


    Xie Junping¡¯s voice immediately dropped an octave. "Six... sixty million."


    Zhang Yingying spread her hands, "Ha ha."


    Red Fox, who sat in the outermost spot, retracted his legs to make a path into the circle, indicating to Xie and Hu to go in and sit. He even assessed Xie Junping. "The price is fair."


    Papercut added, "A devil-face electric eel was caught at Eight Cliffs Reefst year. Its price was about the same, being sold for forty million. However, the devil ray can be used in both the water and the air. This makes the price hard to estimate."


    Zhang Yingying shrugged. "You all are talking about this so seriously. In any case, a certain someone is unable to afford it.... Even if he could, he won¡¯t be able to raise it."


    "That¡¯s true."


    Papercut turned his head to look at the mighty devil ray swimming around in the central crystal pir. Ever since Luo Nan rode it here, this Mutant swam in nearby waters, never lessening its distance from Luo Nan. However, this made it so that the shoals of fish sharing its current location suffered a cmity. "A Mutant of the physically strengthened variety. Its power is proportional to its appetite. Several tons of fresh food a day isn¡¯t enough for it. It¡¯s very difficult to raise."


    "I need it."


    Luo Nan looked at the devil ray. He spoke in a low and heavy voice, "My order frame can only disy its effectiveness on the mental ne. I need an external equipment like the devil ray in order to form some influence on the material ne."


    "Some?" Red Fox repeated the word. He didn¡¯t understand the stuff about order frames, but his stomach was still feeling really bad from getting hit by the devil ray¡¯s attack. It wasn¡¯t just Luo Nan who had to go to the hospital and get checked up. He had to go too.


    Of all the people there, Zhang Yingying was one of the earliest people to have been introduced to the concepts of order frames, gears, and coupling. She had been pondering them all this time, seemingly understanding them yet not. She heard Luo Nan mention these concepts once more, and it was as if a shbulb went off in her brain. It lit up.


    "From your perspective, the devil ray is an exoskeleton?"


    Luo Nan was stunned for a moment, before saying, "It can be described that way."


    Zhang Yingying understood clearly with a thought, which then continued to sprout. "From your perspective, the devil ray is just a module or a plug-in, and your order frame acts as a power source and a general control system. How is this done?"


    Luo Nan was happy to exin a few relevant theories, especially since Zhang Yingying¡¯s description was quite reliable. He immediately said, "The generation of energy and information, its drive and output, are all engendered by the coupling of gears. Of course, gears themselves can also produce energy and information...."


    "No, I¡¯m asking how you were able to have the Mutant devil ray work for you when you first encountered it. How did you get it to follow your every whim?" Zhang Yingying looked at him with wide eyes. "Is your true ability simr to Puppet Masters, Beast Tamers, or the like? Or is it more like a Mind Controller?"


    In the sofa corner, Red Fox raised his brows once he heard thest two words. Papercut grimaced, while Zhou Hu appeared pensive. The other people wore nk faces.


    "What do you mean ¡¯Mind Controller¡¯?"


    Luo Nan waspletely unfamiliar with this concept, but he realized Zhang Yingying had mentioned Puppeteer, that trash, on equal terms with him. He felt a bit ufortable. "Understanding another party¡¯s order frame and the coupling rtionship formed from it will naturally allow one to exercise concerted control. It has nothing to do with mind control. I¡¯ll exin further: President Ouyang¡¯s Logic World is a structure that is formed when he uses his order frame to distort and mold a portion of the vast heaven and earth. It is a temporary result. What is President Ouyang controlling here?"

 Chapter 320: Mind Controller (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 320: Mind Controller (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    The group of people in the sofa corner listened to Luo Nan use the concepts of gears and order frames to exin Ouyang Chen¡¯s great technique. Some of them blinked their eyes. Some of them furrowed their brows. Some of them scratched their heads. They expressed themselves differently, and they inevitably made eye contact with each other. The atmosphere became quite odd.


    Zhang Yingying relied on her sh of enlightenment just now to barely follow Luo Nan¡¯s train of thought. She casually flung a wisp of hair as she asked, "ording to you, President Ouyang takes the heaven and earth.... Okay. He takes the spatial structure as an exoskeleton and controls it that way?


    "Using Formatting Theory as an interpretation, he¡¯s using his Self-Format to distort the Heaven and Earth Format. And the Heaven and Earth Format may be able to exin the coupling rtionships of many rtively independent ¡¯gear sets¡¯. President Ouyang transforms them from their previously distant distribution of space-time."


    Luo Nan suddenly stopped here, like he had jammed. He only whispered several secondster, "Yes, it¡¯s ¡¯space-time distribution¡¯. No doubt about it. Theg caused by the distribution of space-time can be reduced through this method."


    It¡¯s happening again!


    Zhang Yingying propped her forehead up with her hand. She made a silent sigh. Luo Nan, in this self-talk state, was quite refreshing when used to disgust enemies. But when used upon his own people, it was really quite heartless.


    Luckily, this state didn¡¯t persist for too long. Luo Nan raised his head and turned to hold her gaze. His brows even furrowed. "Isn¡¯t being a ¡¯Mind Controller¡¯ the same as being a ¡¯Psychic¡¯? As long as your mind is set to it, you¡¯ll be incessantly annoying?"


    Papercut puffed with a poof.


    Zhang Yingying¡¯s brain churned. Oh wow, that really is a thing.


    There was a nanosecond instant where Zhang Yingying really did consider throwing out a small apology, but then she justughed as she extended her elbow around Luo Nan¡¯s shoulder. She moved closer to him, bringing out the attitude of a bro. "Don¡¯t carelessly throw words together. However, it¡¯s a very interesting way of talking, talking about those gear sets and space-time distributions. Oh! Isn¡¯t this the intelligence that the group from Headquarters want to know? Is it really okay for you to just spit it out like this?"


    "I didn¡¯t start talking about these things because someone was acting horribly." Luo Nan didn¡¯t believe that the Logic World was any mystery. Perhaps An Weng¡¯s actions could barely count. However, He Yueyin didn¡¯t warn him that the group from Headquarters didn¡¯t have any patience for questioning.


    Zhang Yingying¡¯s lips twitched. "You talk about it quite easily. The matter with An Weng¡ªI asked my boss. She only spoke vaguely about it."


    "This may be because she doesn¡¯t understand Formatting Theory."


    Luo Nan clearly knew that Zhang Yingying¡¯s boss was the famous and outstanding Her Majesty Wu Huang, the Martial Empress. But due to his subtle mood, he blurted out jokingly, "From my perspective, the facts are very clear. It is precisely because of President Ouyang¡¯s technique that An Weng found it easy. He took advantage of the situation to lock on to a ce that was originally very distant. He jumped over there through a shortcut."


    There still wasn¡¯t anyone who could truly understand his Formatting Theory and Coupling Theory. But with the logic behind them described clearly, Zhang Yingying and the others imagined the situation and got the gist of the picture.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t want to be associated with the title of ¡¯Mind Controller¡¯. He had zero idea what this title meant. So he asked, not understanding, "What sort of profession is the Mind Controller?"


    "It should be considered the next step of a Hypnosis Master. Mind Controllers are experts in leading and controlling the minds of people. They are very popr in all sorts of religious orders. The weaker ones can be responsible for preaching and sermonizing work. The more powerful ones can be core priests. There are some who are simply the leaders of their orders.... Speaking of which, we haven¡¯t gone over this before?"


    The person who had spoken wasn¡¯t part of the people within the ring-shaped sofa. It was Bamboo Pole, who had just walked into the sofa corner. He was an expert on secret orders, having done extensive research on them. He started Luo Nan off with the powerful people of every major order in his "Notes on the Major Characters of the World" course. This was a very important part of his course.


    Luo Nan shook his head. He didn¡¯t have the faintest of an impression.


    By now he saw He Yueyin. She stood by Bamboo Pole¡¯s side, but he felt that she was acting a bit quiet and low-key.


    Luo Nan¡¯s limbs felt weak. His body¡¯s reactions were half a beat behind. He could only wave to the peopleing over as his greeting. By his side, Xue Lei instinctively got up to give them his seat. He was worried about being polite to He Yueyin, and he simply jumped over the back of the sofa.


    With this, He Yueyin gave Xue Lei a word of thanks as she walked through the entrance of the ring-shaped sofa. She sat by Luo Nan¡¯s left side, while Zhang Yingying remained sitting on the right.


    The sofa was quite soft. The three people were pulled close to each other, making it quite crowded.


    Bamboo Pole, on the other hand, didn¡¯t join in on the fun. He simply walked to the bar to the side of the sofa corner and took up one of the only two spots there. He ordered a martini, and he beamed as he saw the group of people rub closely against each other in the ring-shaped sofa.


    Papercut felt a bit regretful seeing this. He also wanted to order a few cups. As he got up, he said loudly, "Get me a rum and coke."


    Bamboo Pole shook his head. "Stay there. Crag Burst will be here soon. With the size of his body, don¡¯t invite him to go over to where you all are. It will be torture."


    He waved to Xue Lei behind the sofa. "Leister, fancy a cup?"


    "I¡¯m not old enough." Xue Lei wasn¡¯t of drinking age, and the public venue managed things very strictly. He could only politely decline this sort of recreation.


    As he spoke, Xue Lei walked to stand behind Xie Junping and Hu Huaying.


    The topic that was discussed here a moment ago and the odd atmosphere made the two second-generation rich people stupefied. They saw Xie Junpinge over and subconsciously sighed in relief. Xie Junping asked in a whisper, "Everyone here is...?"


    Xue Lei didn¡¯t know how to respond for a time.


    It was the mass that was Papercut sitting next to them who lit up with a smile. "We are people of the same profession in the same society. It¡¯s like your school¡¯s Mystic Arts Research Society. Our field is simr."


    Xie Junping went, "Ohhh.¡± His thoughts were undecipherable,, but his expression turned very odd and unusual.


    At the other side, after being seated for several seconds, He Yueyin spoke in a low voice, "Apologies, Mr. Luo. I made a mistake in my work, causing this situation to emerge...."


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t talk. He wasn¡¯t angry at He Yueyin. However, saying a few words like "It¡¯s okay" was an absolutely impossibility for him.


    He really did mind when all was said and done. How could he not?


    Seeing and experiencing how Headquarters had no lower bounds in their methods, Luo Nan¡¯s mind was filled with thoughts on how to deal with the arrival of enemies in the future, on how to deal with this problem.


    He wasn¡¯t alone. There were his aunt and uncle. There were his close friends living in Xia City. There was also Gear, which couldn¡¯t be moved at all.... All kinds of restraints, all of which must be handled. All respects must be thorough. It was an impossible task to aplish, no matter how he looked at it.


    Before a clear path ahead could be seen in one¡¯s train of thought, one¡¯s thoughts would naturally trace backward, upstream to spread to various ¡¯what if... then maybe...¡¯, ¡¯in the event that... so...¡¯, and simr lines of thought. Reproach, regret, and simr emotions came with these thoughts as well.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t have enough mental energy to imagine what had yet to happen. But those vague emotions still existed as before. Following He Yueyin¡¯s honest apology, his emotions, which were like inferior wine that had yet to finish fermenting, broke through the barrel wall to spill out.


    He didn¡¯t have the leisure to mull over how to express himself. He spoke bluntly, "I need a solution. My¡ªmy family. My mother¡¯s heart and blood.... Those scum are willing to do anything!"


    He had spoken these words to Xue Lei. He had spoken these words to himself. Right now, he spoke these words to He Yueyin. Before, he spoke rationally, but now he was venting his emotions.


    He Yueyin responded in a low voice, "President Ouyang has already sealed off Headquarters¡¯ defensive privileges on the Psychic Wave Network. Gong Qi will be leaving Xia City early tomorrow morning."


    Luo Nan wanted to listen to more, but He Yueyin stopped talking just like that. He red at her. "Then what?"


    "The branch is researching the relevant security n. I take full power and responsibility over thepletion of this concrete item."


    The sofa corner sank into a ridiculous silence at once.


    Luo Nan was stunned. It took a while before he said, "Just like this? Where¡¯s a concrete operation? Personnel deployment? Is there a guarantee? This...."


    Papercut saw that things weren¡¯t going too well. He instinctively acted as a peacemaker. "Nanster, it isn¡¯t that the Secretary isn¡¯t going to do anything. The ¡¯asymmetric warfare¡¯ of ability users targeting normal people is a very difficult worldly problem. There are countless permutations, so it¡¯s fundamentally impossible to make a contingency n. The Secretary says she will use her full power and take full responsibility. She¡¯ll certainly shoulder this. Everyone will also do their utmost to help, right?"


    Papercut had good intentions, but Luo Nan¡¯s mind grew heavier and heavier. He absolutely didn¡¯t doubt He Yueyin¡¯s sense of responsibility, but he felt that doing their utmost might not be effective. It seemed that things were headed to the worst possible oue!


    Putting himself in another¡¯s shoes, Luo Nan understood that if he wanted to make a psychic move right now and kill any normal person in Xia City, only Ouyang Chen and Her Majesty the Martial Empress, only people like them whose levels were iprehensible to him, could protect civilians from him.


    Aside from these people, any and all security routine methods were meaningless. Even if He Yueyin mobilized the army to surround the target so that not a drop could trickle through, it would also be useless.


    Perhaps the amount of ability users who possessed techniques like his were few, but Headquarters wasn¡¯tcking in powerful people on the same level or higher... and there were even the Order of Justice, Quantum Corporation, and various powerful organizations. How wouldn¡¯t there be countless permutations of techniques?


    All right, how did he end up standing in opposition against these powers?


    Luo Nan possessed a mere vague answer in mind. He was unwilling to jump to conclusions, so he simply took a deep breath, put his head in his hands, put his elbows on his knees for support, and pondered with a hanging head.


    After the horrible constion by Papercut, not a person answered next. Another long silence reigned, so long that it was suffocating.


    It wasn¡¯t that there were no misunderstandings between them; it was just that there was an enormous difference in the burden of responsibility. It permeated deep into the foundation of the conversation, making it hard to continue this topic.


    But some things couldn¡¯t be avoided. Luo Nan was a member of the Society, but the Society was unable to provide assistance nor protection. The upper levels of the Society even persecuted him. The difference in the branch and Headquarters was a ridiculous gap that could not be filled by a few promises.


    As for He Yueyin, she did not wish to say much more.


    She had been in charge of secret, ssified work ever since she entered the Society. She tried to change the circumstances of the Society to stop it from leaking information all over the ce, but this time, the leak of intelligence regarding Luo Nan produced devastating consequences. Strictly speaking, Headquarters¡¯ actions were her responsibility. This was also herrgest setback after she retired from the military.


    She had to reflect on herself.


    And so, two people sat shoulder to shoulder like this. One sat ramrod straight. The other was stooped. They both sat in silence. The other people looked at each other in dismay, finding it harder and harder to open their mouths.


    "Oh, things have gone lively in just an instant."


    An external force came suddenly, and it broke the wall of silence in the sofa corner. Following the sound came a group of people entering the dusky corner. They were rather hard on the eyes.


    He Donglou, in his well-ironed military uniform, held two beautiful women for show in his left and right hands. Behind him followed his silent ¡¯old chauffeur¡¯. This should be a first-ss bodyguard. As for Feng Jiajun the martial artist and his femalepanion, not a trace of them could be seen.


    He Donglou had fun all around the party venue, but he still preferred the atmosphere in the sofa corner. It would be perfect to y some small games with the pretty faces by his side. But when he came back, he was stunned seeing the grave people there.


    Actually, a few more people could be stuffed inside here, but the ce was already unsuitable for ¡¯ying games¡¯.


    "Tsk. How disappointing."


    For the sake of atmosphere, there was nearly no lighting in the sofa corner. The clearest source of light was the rippling deep blue of water pouring from the central crystal pir.


    The first person He Donglou was able to identify was Xue Lei, who was standing behind the sofa. A person of that size easily stimted his memories. He remembered this big man, who nearly started a conflict with his attendant.


    His gaze nced down after recognizing Xue Lei. He then saw Xie Junping and Hu Huaying.


    I know them all!


    He Donglou opened his mouth as he used his chin to point through the air, "You guys also know the benefits of this ce? Comeee. Make some space. This party is really boring, but the quality of the women here are good."


    His words drew coquettish anger andughter from the two pretty faces, while Xie Junping and Hu Huaying in the ring-shaped sofa nced at each other. They got up at the same time, and Xie Junping greeted, "Young Master He. We just so happened to meet, but this ce is too cramped. We¡¯ll go to a different ce¡ª¡±


    "Just stay here, being a bit cramped is nothing. Right now we should squeeze in together." He Donglou was no master who could be easily persuaded by others. Moreover, he just saw Tian Si sitting upright with downcast eyes at the entrance to the ring-shaped sofa. Her appearance was dignified and elegant, the type he loved the most.


    The space next to her just so happened to be rtively empty.


    He Donglou didn¡¯t care about the maximum load of the nearly full ring-shaped sofa. He seized the two pretty faces and made his way inside, obviously to Tian Si¡¯s side.


    Though He Donglou could act carefree, the ¡¯old chauffeur¡¯ behind him had to be responsible and diligent. The ¡¯old chauffeur¡¯ felt that something was off during the gap in speech. He looked around and was the first to see a familiar face.


    Zhou Hu.


    A cold and clear gaze cast over from a different direction right when the ¡¯old chauffeur¡¯ wanted to speak. The instant their gazes met, the ¡¯old chauffeur¡¯ immediately stood at attention, sealing his mouth.


    He Donglou wasn¡¯t really a serious hoodlum, but he already had his mind set on chasing women. As he walked into the ring-shaped sofa, he deliberately rubbed against the pair of legs beneath Tian Si¡¯s long skirt. He revealed a smile as he said, "Excuse me, beautiful."


    Tian Si was able to tell from Xie Junping¡¯s and Hu Huaying¡¯s reactions that this Young Master He¡¯s status was out of the ordinary. She frowned slightly, but she didn¡¯t look up. She just withdrew her body a bit.


    He Donglou smiled as he sat down. He was about to tease her again when someone made a soft chuckle diagonally opposite to him. The timbre was excellent, like the cry of ark. It made his heart itch hearing it.


    He Donglou raised his head and saw a youthful, bright, and beautiful youngdy. Sheughed willfully without restraint, revealing a mouth full of white teeth. She didn¡¯t hide them at all, seemingly lighting up this dusky corner.


    Hot damn! This one is nice!


    He Donglou was at a fun-loving age. He loved ying the magnanimous lord the most. He changed his target at once, and his gaze swept once across the youngdy¡¯s body as he smiled in greeting, "Beautiful, you¡¯re dressed as...."


    "A student getting pampered by her sugar daddy, of course." Zhang Yingying had been stifled very ufortably by the moment of silence before. She had found it hard to speak, but now there was a chance to have fun. She naturally conformed to it. She beamed while hugging Luo Nan¡¯s arm, even rocking back and forth. "This is our boss."


    "...."

 Chapter 321: An Invisible Man

    Chapter 321: An Invisible Man


    Trantor: Strivon


    Beautiful girl, don¡¯t you go into the entertainment business! Your acting is far too exaggerated!


    He Donglou was stunned for a moment. He blinked a few times before adjusting. He easily turned his gaze, looking to see what kind of divinity this boss was.


    Luo Nan was in the middle of mulling over his difficult problem when his train of thought was broken by the concerted cacophony between He Donglou and Zhang Yingying. He frowned and raised his head. He Donglou¡¯s face just so happened to be illuminated by the rippling deep blue light.


    "Oh, didn¡¯t we meet before?" He Donglou had a bit of an impression, but right now Luo Nan was no longer wearing his white gown. He even wore sunsses. There were many interfering factors that prevented He Donglou from recognizing Luo Nan for a time.


    Xie Junpingughed as he introduced, "It¡¯s Nanster. You met him here just a moment ago."


    He Donglou had met many people tonight. It was impossible for him to remember everyone. But he nced at therge student behind Xie Junping and a light bulb went off in his mind. He remembered thisbination of people. The greatest impression in his memories was of Xie Junping, a martial artist who nearly had a conflict with his other attendant.


    As for Luo Nan, who had dressed as a psychologist, he barely had the faintest impression of. "Oh, we have met. What happened? You changed your character. Did you feel that being a boss has better prospects?"


    Luo Nan nced at him. He didn¡¯t respond.


    He Donglou didn¡¯t care. He never intended on giving Luo Nan room to talk. He simply evaluated. "This is quite a creative move. Most importantly, it¡¯s interesting, but what you¡¯re wearing iscking a bit in professionalism... especially your sunsses; they¡¯re simply a faulty stroke! My boy, your face already looked quite delicate. Wearing this uncharacteristic prop makes the air of being a student very apparent around the crystal pir."


    Zhang Yingying continued the topic. "The big boss has done everything quite consciously. Nothing is bad. He has escorts in front and behind. Just look. There are secretaries, lovers, attendants, bodyguards... piles of people."


    Her fine and long fingers streaked in a circle. In the back, Xue Lei looked quite like a bodyguard with his tall and solid body. He also possessed the corresponding sense of mission. However, the group of people sitting on the sofa mostly rolled their eyes.


    He Donglou obviously knew that Zhang Yingying was joking around. He cheerilyughed, and he habitually raised his arms to rest them on the shoulders of the two pretty-faces. In the end, there were a lot of people here. His clothes pulled a bit tight when he stretched out, so his well-ironed military uniform was lifted up halfway by his actions.


    The right pretty-face extended her hand very intimately as she tried to smooth the uniform. She found that it was hard to do, so she simply helped him unfasten some buttons, revealing the shirt inside. In jest, she pretended to lose her bnce and fall into his chest. She even pretended to struggle and get up, but in fact she rubbed him in tantalization.


    On the left side, the other pretty-face pouted her lips. She had been defeated by her peer andpetitor.


    He Donglou did not bat an eyelid. From his perspective, the right pretty-face¡¯s love-seeking style was a bit trashy. There were emotions of jealousy toward the ¡¯female student¡¯ mixed in her actions. Her thoughts weren¡¯t pure.


    He really couldn¡¯t ask much from a friend with benefits made in a short period of time. But before his eyes sat a first-ss prey. If he continued to ept the pretty-face¡¯s advances, wouldn¡¯t that make him trashy too?


    So, He Donglou ignored the buxom and tender flesh rolling on his chest. His gaze turned, skipping over the various men, and only looking at the women. Soon he discovered that the ¡¯secretary¡¯ next to Luo Nan looked quite decent.


    The lighting in the sofa corner was dim. There was also the left pretty-face in the way. The angle was bad. He Donglou couldn¡¯t see her clearly for a time. He just knew that she dressed as a white-cor worker and she sat on the sofa. Her thin suit trousers faintly outlined the contours of her legs. They were fine and long, possessing power, giving off a sense of propriety.


    There was also the quiet ¡¯lover¡¯ by the edge of the sofa. Nothing hid her anymore; He Donglou could see her much clearer. There was something special about her, even though she seemed to be docile and boring.... Oh, she looked a bit familiar.


    Tsk tsk. A secretary, a lover, and even a mistress. They were all first-ss figures. He Donglou couldn¡¯t help being envious.


    He had always been a bit of an emotional person. He suddenly no longer wanted to give any attention to Luo Nan. He relied on the gap produced by the right pretty-face in order to cheerily talk with the ¡¯lover¡¯ at the edge of the sofa. "Beautiful girl, I feel like we¡¯ve met before."


    Tian Si nced at him and nodded faintly. She didn¡¯t talk. This was a polite refusal.


    However, He Donglou wasn¡¯t someone who could be gotten rid of that easily. He had a follow-up move after speaking. He held the right pretty-face, not letting this stupid woman block his line of sight by getting up. He continued to hit on Tian Si. "Let me think. Right. You and Tang Yi came here together, right? Mhm, you gave me a deep impression."


    Tian Si was stupefied. Her expression changed subtly.


    He Donglou reached his target. He gathered himself closer to Tang Yi, and deliberately used a whisper to say, "When I saw you before, you and Tang Yi just so happened to separate.... What a pity that we didn¡¯t have the time to get to know each other. Dare I ask your name?"


    His extremely aggressive actions forced Tian Si to withdraw even more. But then this beautiful girl¡¯s subsequent reaction made He Donglou displeased.


    Tian Si¡¯s gaze went over his shoulder. It was directed over at Luo Nan. Clearly, she instinctively cared about what Luo Nan thought.


    This.... Was she really just role-ying?


    Oh, there was more. Wasn¡¯t the atmosphere in the ring-shaped sofa a bit too quiet?


    The thought had just formed when Luo Nan started a different dialogue out of nowhere, "Does anyone have any connections that can get me a loan?"


    Zhang Yingying asked, "How much do you want to borrow?"


    "Sixty million."


    "Wow. Look at you, so determined to have it."


    "Indeed, I am determined to have it."


    Luo Nan¡¯s elbows still rested on his knees. His hands were sped together, covering his mouth and slightly supporting his head. His head faced the central crystal pir, and he stared at the Mutant devil ray, which was still swimming around inside.


    He Donglou was speechless. "...."


    Luo Nan somehow seemed to have not noticed that He Donglou was there, like thetter was as invisible as air.


    The short dialogue consisted of not a word regarding He Donglou. He Donglou had brought two pretty-faces and forcefully came in here. He also raised the topic of role-ying. He even took liberties with the ¡¯lover¡¯.... But not a person in the sofa corner circle gave him a serious response. He was simply ignored.


    Please, wherever and whenever the Young Master He went, he was always the focus of the crowd. He was the center of the stage. How did he encounter his current treatment? Was it on purpose?


    He Donglou¡¯s gaze turned cold as he looked at the familiar Xie Junping and Hu Huaying. He discovered that the their bodynguages seemed to be quite awkward. It was quite different from the calm and indifferent feeling he got from the others.


    Something¡¯s wrong!


    He always felt that Luo Nan was Xie Junping¡¯s and Hu Huaying¡¯s friend or little follower. The people in the sofa corner should naturally be of the same type. Logically speaking, it should be a gathering of the rich second generation.


    However, looking at things now, it seemed that this thought was improbable.


    He was familiar with the younger generation of the military bigwigs. He was a bit unfamiliar with those from the business world, but he had a general idea about them. Yao Feng also introduced to him that behind Xie Junping and Hu Huaying were Xia City¡¯s top representatives of the area¡¯s financial groups. They had engaged in business for several dozen years. Their business covered every nook and cranny of the metropolis. They absolutely couldn¡¯t be summarized by the business they did on the surface, which were medicine and agriculture.


    Xie and Hu. Xie, especially, should be core characters in any business circle of the second generation rich. But right now, regardless of their seating arrangement or demeanor, they were both acting weird. They didn¡¯t fit in at all.


    In addition to that was the bright, young, and beautiful ¡¯female student¡¯. She talked about a boss, attendants, lovers, bodyguards, and so on. Most of what she said were casual jokes. But sitting on the ring-shaped sofa, there was no one who rowdily retorted, even ignoring their happy or unhappy states. There faintly existed an intimate and even top-down rtionship in the group.


    This was something that could never ur in the chill second generation rich circles.


    Though He Donglou was undoubtedly a big silk-pants, his family had been in the military and government for a long time. His brain was nevercking. As soon as he realized the problem, his gaze swept over everyone¡¯s faces once more.


    The targets of this circle of observing weren¡¯t limited to the beautiful women. He finally discovered that the people he had previously spared no attention to were all of older ages. Theycked the air of a student. They shouldn¡¯t be participating in the party.


    As he observed others, others looked at him as well. The emotions in those gazes were subtle.


    Oh, this one whose age is the oldest. What¡¯s up with staring at me like that? He looks quite familiar.... Old Zhou?


    F***!


    He Donglou¡¯s scalp suddenly jolted. His gaze went unstable, and he instinctively avoided Old Zhou¡¯s gaze, which was filled with deep meaning. Next, his drifting gaze finally saw that his own bodyguard, the ¡¯old chauffeur¡¯ hadn¡¯t sat down from the start. The ¡¯old chauffeur¡¯ stared straight ahead and stood ramrod straight. He might have been even more serious and proper than when he was back in the army.


    Then Yao Feng unexpectedly called at this time. Xie Junping answered it, and Yao Feng smacked him with a question, "Have you seen Young Master He?"


    "As luck would have it, we¡¯re together.... It¡¯s Yao Four." Xie Junping made a subtle indication to He Donglou, and Xie Junping saw that He Donglou had no response whatsoever. Xie Junping informed Yao Feng of their location, "We¡¯re at the bar sofa corner."


    "Don¡¯t!" He Donglou suddenly spoke and stood up, giving Xie Junping quite a scare. But Xie Junping just saw He Donglouugh in response, "He doesn¡¯t need toe. I just so happen to be looking for him for something. See you allter."


    Xie Junping looked nkly at him, and Hu Huaying¡¯s expression next to him was more or less the same. As for the two pretty-faces by He Donglou¡¯s sides, they were confused. They stood up, bewildered, not knowing what had just happened at all.


    It was good that they stood up, especially the left pretty-face. Her posture deserved full marks, for she helped blocked the line of sight from that side.


    He Donglou made himself an example of sticking one¡¯s head in the sand in the new era. He didn¡¯t say anything more, and simply headed out of the ring-shaped circle. Tian Si subconsciously made way for him, but at this time, a swift, fierce, tall, and muscr figure arrived. The man¡¯s throat lit withughter as he said,


    "Oh hey! So many people. Is there still space?"


    Crag Burst had arrived. Hisughter didn¡¯t end even when He Yueyin spoke indifferently, "Halt."


    "Huh?"


    In that instant of stupefaction, Crag Burst saw a certain figure wearing a military uniform at the entrance to the ring-shaped sofa, a young man with untidy clothes. The young man strode out, wishing to jump out of there, but Crag Burst immediately realized the situation on the spot. He was habitually a man of action. Hisrge palm-leaf-like hand extended out to hold the young man¡¯s head and simply push him back inside.


    Crag Burst¡¯s rough, long fingers pinched He Donglou¡¯s skull, like squeezing a rubber ball. His palm covered He Donglou¡¯s mouth and nose, stifling He Donglou to the point that his eyes had turned white.


    He Donglou had never been treated this way since he was born. Even if it was a matter of time, this was something he would remember for a lifetime.


    He would especially remember Xie Junping¡¯s and Hu Huaying¡¯s bbergasted faces. This preposterous show was put on full disy. And He Donglou was ced at center stage atst, but why the hell was he the clown!


    Completely horrible emotions rushed to his brain, and He Donglou¡¯s face flushed red. Crag Burst removed his palm and then hopped about, shouting, "He Yueyin, isn¡¯t this your little brother!?"


    The sofa corner turned suddenly silent.


    Indeed, several people needed to adjust the stability of their facial muscles.


    But soon, Zhang Yingying used a resounding whistle along with loudughter, a deration of her failure to adjust. "Wow! Secretary He! The styles of you two, sister and brother, reallyplement each other!"


    "Poo¡ª!" Papercut also broke his efforts and coughed repeatedly. Coughing came with hisughter. He raised his hand to indicate his apologies to He Yueyin.


    He Yueyin didn¡¯t care, but He Donglou was unable to attend to women chasing and the like. He red with fury at Zhang Yingying and the rest of the group who watched him in enjoyment. An unknown amount of malevolent thoughts boiled in his mind.


    But soon, He Yueyin issued a new order: "Strip."


    The word came out of nowhere, but He Donglou understood in an instant. His face flushed even redder, and he shouted, "Sis! Give me a bit of face! This isn¡¯t a real uniform! It¡¯s cosy! A costume!"


    He Yueyin didn¡¯t speak. She just raised her head from the dense shadows, casting her cold and clear gaze. The left pretty-face had long since been stupefied by this scene. Her legs went weak, and she fell back onto the sofa. Now, there were no obstacles between the older sister and the younger brother. Everything became clear and distinct.


    He Donglou was afraid of his sister, especially as a member of a military family. His actions were indeed taboo. In the end, he could only grit his teeth as he took off the military uniform and stuffed it in the bosom of the right pretty-face. He waved his arms in agitation, like he was chasing off chickens and ducks. He let those two stupid pretty-faces get the hell out.


    "Both of you, go! Go! Be quick about it!"


    The two pretty-faces walked away with faces of stupefaction. He Donglou was now wearing only a white shirt. Even if the building¡¯s temperature was regted quite well, He Donglou still shuddered under the psychological effect. He spread his hands extremely helplessly toward He Yueyin.


    "Is this finally okay?"


    He Yueyin ignored him. She tilted her head slightly to the side and gently asked Luo Nan, "Mr. Luo, let us go to the hospital right now?"


    Luo Nan knew that it wasn¡¯t suitable for them to stay there. He nodded and stood up. As soon as he moved, everyone else followed. The members of the Society stood up simultaneously, while those who had no idea of what was happening, like Xie Junping and Tian Si, stood up as well, albeit subconsciously. The group of people walked outward in a dense mass.


    "Hey hey, what the hell are you all doing!?"


    He Donglou suddenly became an invisible man once again. No one acknowledged his urgent shouts. He really felt indignant. He couldn¡¯t hold back from wanting to grab on to his sister, but he didn¡¯t have the skills. It was impossible for him to catch her.


    He forcefully put on a thick skin as he followed them, but He Yueyin¡¯s cold and clear gaze shed across. He immediately raised his hands and stood in his original spot, not making any move. His eyes looked helplessly at the group of people walking off into the distance.


    "Hey, Young Master He. You, sir...." Yao Feng had rushed over, appearing from behind, and he saw He Donglou wearing just a shirt and holding his hands up in the air like he had just been robbed. The mass of people in front of them had already entered the flow of people. They couldn¡¯t be seen clearly any longer.


    Yao Feng only felt puzzled. He beckoned once more. "Young Master He?"


    "You can see me?"


    "Huh?"


    "Ha ha!"


    He Donglou no longer paid any attention to Yao Feng. He just put down his hands and sat back on the sofa.


    Since He Yueyin was there, He Donglou more or less was able to surmise the history of the group of people. His family all knew what the focus of He Yueyin¡¯s work was in the present.


    "A group of arrogant soldiers. A band of ouws." He Donglou was still gnashing his teeth a bit in anger. But in the blink of an eye, he turned bewildered. "Secretary? What sort of responsibility is this?"


    He Donglou tried to recall Luo Nan¡¯s face, but the sunsses and dim lighting had an influence. He was unable to remember very clearly. His brain cycled a few more times, and his impression turned even blurrier.


    His body leaned back; he was about to give up. But an especially clear image inexplicably churned up in his brain. In the dim area with faint lighting, Luo Nan and He Yueyin sat side by side. One was stooped. The other was upright.... And their distance.... Wasn¡¯t their distance a bit too close?

 Chapter 322: New Schedule (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 322: New Schedule (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    October 28, 2096, 4:55 a.m.


    Luo Nan¡¯s consciousness floated up from a muddled mass, only faintly there. Before he could open his eyes, the HexaEar cast some useful information into his mind, representing the start of a new day.


    There were new adjustments to Sunday¡¯s schedule. There were off-site arrangements. There were updates on the repair pace of Gear. There was a briefing on his grandfather¡¯s mental condition. And there was an internal forum involving the discussion of the Logic World and itstest battle status.


    The series of pre-filtered information lit up on the HexaEar¡¯s interface one by one. Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts scanned them over, absorbing the information one at a time. He didn¡¯t look at the information in detail, though. He just straightened up and stretched on the bed. He adjusted his posture slightly, letting his body, which was lying down perfectly straight, loosen a little.


    Right now, he was lying in bed. His hands were sped behind his head. His hands rubbed against the back of his head as he turned, making a brushing sound. The warmth of his palm seeped through the thinyer of hair to circte on his scalp, but the heat was unable to seep further down. Instead, a subtle chill came out from within his scalp.


    This feeling was quite wonderful. His skull felt absolutely empty, as if his brain tissue had dematerialized. All that was left was the eyes orifice, which was gradually bingplete. The revolving and spiraling external neuron was faint as well, as if there was an invisible curtain in the way. It wasn¡¯t like it was two days ago, crackling like lightning and radiating light everywhere. But under fine observation, there really was an iota of a cold stream of air meandering between them.


    Within a daze, this area simply sunk downward. It was unable to reach a bottom and just headed toward a different and bizarre dimension. A dark and cold wind just so happened to blow upward from within here. It flooded his skull with its chill.


    There was simply a ¡¯hole¡¯ sunken in his forehead...


    Luo Nan groaned with his eyes closed. His consciousness drifted a bit. The dark and cold air became more like a long thread, and this thread pulled gray clouds and enormous waves. The clouds and waves surged into the base of his skull, bursting open thoughts that had been restrained in ce, allowing Luo Nan to contain the vast heaven and earth, which were near unfathomable between illusion and reality.


    Luo Nan slowly opened his eyes.


    The room was dusky. There was only the residual light of the neighborhood¡¯s street lightsing through the curtains and windows. It gave the room a bit of luminosity, and it drew out faint outlines of the various furnishings inside.


    Luo Nan¡¯s current progress in cultivating the eyes orifice already gave him night-vision and the ability to see the finest details in all its entirety. Then before he could even focus his vision, the structural grain of the ceiling above him could be seen without him even paying deliberate attention. His mind was just nk as he took in all this information. Eventually, his pupils focused, and he exerted some force with his waist to sit up.


    This was his uncle¡¯s house, and he was in his room. His room wasn¡¯t that spacious, and the bed was quiterge. Luo Nan put himself in a posture that tested his flexibility. It was like yoga, yet it was not. It couldn¡¯t be described as tao yin either. In any case, it loosened and livened the muscles, exercised the body, turning the entire body into a ball of meat. Luo Nan rolled from one end of the bed to the other.


    There were only two constants during this process. One was the state of breathing; breath was continuous, living and dying at the same time. The other was the electric me arising from the coupling of the eyes orifice with the external neuron. It crackled as it red and radiated within the skull, and it cleaved down to the bottom of the heart and even the ends of the hands and the feet. The shock caused the entire body¡¯s pores to open, producing a prickly sensation. Sometimes there was even intense pain, and perception increasingly sharpened.


    This morning exercise drillsted forty minutes. Though every movement was done on the bed, it actually involved most of the body¡¯s bones, muscles, and tendons. It was ratherprehensive. Moreover, there was the coupling power of the two gears in the order frame itself. The coupling power affected the whole body. It was both tempering and torturous. The feeling was definitely not one of enjoyment.


    By the time Luo Nan got off the bed, his entire body was damp with sweat.


    The bedding and the like were naturally handled by the housekeeping robots. Luo Nan took a shower in the bathroom, after which he looked in the mirror half-fogged up by steam. He saw his own stick-thin body, as well as his eyes, which were densely covered in cracks.


    The cracks in his eyes seemed to have shrunk a bit over the course of two days, but they were still quite horrifying in appearance. Lightning would asionally circte within them as well. Needless to say, he had to hide them.


    Luo Nan picked up the lens case that was to the side and put on contact lenses. This toy¡¯s other functions couldn¡¯t be used, but its cosmetic effects were top-notch. Once Luo Nan had finished all his preparations, the neatly-dressed Luo Nan resumed the appearance of a young student. Only then did he head down the stairs and go out to start his regr morning run.


    A whistle entered his ear just as he ran out of the gate. It came from the HexaEar, and what followed were ad hoc tactical directions. Luo Nan skimmed through the information in his mind, and he quickly turned his head. Fifty meters away, hidden in the shadows, he saw a tall andrge figure extend an arm. The figure was pointing straight at Luo Nan¡¯s head.


    "Bang! You¡¯re still a bit too slow!" Crag Burst grinned andughed, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.


    "A sneak attack? Are you sure?" Luo Nanughed as well, conversing with Crag Burst via the HexaEar while running to meet up with him. Crag Burst wore exercise clothes, looking like a morning runner as well. The two ran shoulder to shoulder. Aside from their difference in height, they weren¡¯t different from the other runners with exercise partners.


    It wasn¡¯t a coincidence that Crag Burst appeared outside Luo Nan¡¯s house. ording to the course schedule arrangements, his morning was allotted for Crag Burst¡¯s "A Crash Course on Common Commands". Everyone was very clear that this was one of the measures of protection for Luo Nan.


    Throughout the course, Luo Nan was ensured that there was constantly an ability user by his side. If something were to suddenly happen, the ability user could protect Luo Nan and fight in coordination with him.


    Perhaps such thoughts and arrangements were already made when He Yueyin had drafted up the training courses. And Headquarters¡¯ actions had pushed these arrangements from the shadows into daylight.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t express an opinion toward this arrangement. Compared to himself, he was more concerned about the safety of his grandfather, his aunt, and his uncle¡ªhis family. The Society also made arrangements regarding this, but the effectiveness had yet to be tested.... Luo Nan would rather this be never tested in his lifetime.


    "I checked the thread this morning. The topic has grown more and more explosively. Most people are blindly making a scene, but there are a few who have very valid points. You don¡¯t have a handle to post, right?" The friendship between Crag Burst and Luo Nan developed from fighting side by side. Luo Nan was very close with Crag Burst; he was different from the other teachers. He chatted and gossiped with Luo Nan before teaching, talking about the super popr discussion topic about the Logic World.


    Luo Nan thought about the information he got this morning and shrugged. "Isn¡¯t it all just part of the strategy? It looks very effective to me."


    It had already been over half a month since the night at Frost River Reality, and discussions regarding President Ouyang Chen¡¯s Logic World had truly started to heat up. It looked a bit slow in happening, but it was crystal clear to insiders.


    It was all hype!


    This was probably the logic behind it.


    "Hey, have you heard of President Ouyang¡¯s Logic World yet? Spatial rifting to form a world by himself. That¡¯s being kick-ass!"


    "That¡¯s really kick-ass. But this thing is way too big. I don¡¯t understand it."


    "You haven¡¯t seen the thread? A bunch of people exined it there. It¡¯s super clear and logical. Seems like they¡¯re all Extraordinaries. Well anyway. Anyway, Old Man You replied!"


    "Old Man You?"


    "Yeah! Seems like he agrees with the original poster¡¯s words. However, seems like the original poster heard it from someone else and expressed it thoughtlessly. It¡¯s a bit curvy and tricky... so, Her Majesty the Martial Empress doesn¡¯t agree."


    "Whoa, she replied too?"


    "The appearance of a graceful beauty. Two parties stand in opposition. Right now the two are no longer making any replies, but the following posts are noisy enough to flip the skies. Thousands upon thousands of posts have been made without end. They mor to have President Ouyang personally exin it."


    "Tsk tsk tsk. Now that, I gotta see!"


    In this way, theedic-sketch-like discussion was quite fake, but the thread was unable to withstand the effects of Old Man You¡¯s and Her Majesty the Martial Empress¡¯s authoritative power. A feeling of eagerness for Ouyang Chen personally exining his Logic World also arose. In a short dozen hours, relevant posts scrolled down the screen. The screen was filled with, "In favor of Old Man You¡±, "Long live the Martial Empress", "Worship Old Man You", "The Martial Empress is supreme", and so on.


    Of course, the group of bored and leisurely people wouldn¡¯t let Ouyang Chen, the person who started this whole thing, escape that easily. They posted crazily.


    "President Ouyang,e out and receive your guests!"


    "Of those outside hisboratory, who has the courage to knock on his door?"


    "Don¡¯t believe what people tell you until you see it for yourself. He¡¯s just talking big. Intensely asking before setting off fireworks. Ah no, the Logic World!"


    Seven out of ten of thesements came from the circle of the Xia City branch. After the Martial Empress sessful stepped into the ranks of Extraordinaries, the reputation of the iron triangle of Xia City grew more and more brilliant, giving the branch members a sense of pride. So, most of the posts were more like expressions of their closeness rather than debate, raising the team spirit of the Xia City branch.


    In the eyes of those who had a mind, the post had a different meaning. Was the Xia City branch no longer wishing to cover the truth of the matter at Frost River Reality? Were they going to make a public announcement? Otherwise, why were they chatting about some Logic World?


    So soon, the other cities with established Psychic Wave Networks joined in as well. Those who were following the post were mostly higher-end people. They absolutely wouldn¡¯t worship the iron triangle of Xia City, and they were disinclined to leave messages on that super-off-the-rails topic. However, they would asionally swipe down a few times, wishing to see whether or not Ouyang Chen had said anything, whether or not any valid information was revealed.


    And this was the result that the hype hoped to achieve. It was to take the attention of those with a mind and pull them toward the iron triangle, leaving Luo Nan¡¯s matter behind.


    The three big shots of Xia City did this to divert pressure away from Luo Nan. It was also a patch for the matter that suddenly urred two days ago.


    Luo Nan naturally epted this, because this was something he should do. In any case, there were two possibilities that this diversion-tactic could end with, and Luo Nan was not foolish enough to entrust all his hopes on this tactic. He just paid casual attention to it was all.


    Moreover, the thread was thousands upon thousands of posts long, an extremely lengthy discussion. It confused people. It channeled people inside. It agitated people¡¯s emotions. Everything was mixed together. It made Luo Nan dizzy looking at it. It was better to keep a respectful distance from it.


    In any case, Luo Nan found Crag Burst¡¯s attitude odd. "Aren¡¯t you the type of guy who hates this sort of bullsh*tting the most? How can you read it?"


    "How can I not? It¡¯s very pleasing to the eyes!"


    Crag Burst gave a thumbs up. "Her Majesty the Martial Empress has done things quite nicely this time around. There¡¯s all sorts of personal photos of her. She¡¯s explosively beautiful. There¡¯s also the small group of girls in her office; they¡¯ve lined up for photo shoots. This hasn¡¯t happened in thest ten years! Hurry and save the pictures! Remember not to save it on the Psychic Wave Network. Otherwise, as soon as the Martial Empress is in a bad mood, whatever collection you have will alle to an end!"


    "...." All right. Luo Nan now understood why the thread had heated up so explosively.


    With that said, Luo Nan had known of Her Majesty the Martial Empress, a legendary woman, for a long time, but he never had the fortune to meet her. He was very curious to see what sort of person she was, especially since she was be able to make someone of Zhang Yingying¡¯s temperament submissive and obedient.


    The thought had just formed, and Luo Nan wanted to study the thread. He barely opened the web page via the HexaEar when Crag Burst unexpectedly shrieked, "F*** ME! MY CLOUD STORAGE!"

 Chapter 323: New Schedule (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 323: New Schedule (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan ran in front. His breathing was smooth. On the other hand, Crag Burst was tearing verbally at the bad egg who had taught him how to save data from the Psychic Wave Network. The two weremunicating via the HexaEar, but Crag Burst was stirred by intense emotions. He howled,


    "You said that saving was safe! What the hell is going on!?


    "A virus? The Martial Empress is bored enough to use a ball-breaking virus? Oh right, she doesn¡¯t have balls...."


    Crag Burst¡¯s voice had gone low near the end, but soon it stormed back up. "You¡¯re saying that you don¡¯t know? You told me that using your encoder to save data¡ªoh, of course it¡¯s yours. What else would I use it for? D*mn, you whiner!"


    Though Crag Burst spoke like this, his face split in a huge grin. His emotions quickly changed. "Oh yeah! I heard that you have a super high-end super high capacity data storage. So it turned to ash just like that? Well, that¡¯s a pity!"


    Crag Burstughed loudly as he ended the call. He felt that there was always someone to take the fall to the bottom of a pit, just that this one was skinnier by a bit. He impatiently exined what happened to Luo Nan, "It¡¯s Bamboo Pole. Man, that guy. This time he really suffered a serious injury. Well, you reap what you sow! Ha ha!"


    Luo Nan had never experienced a restlessness on that level before. He had never seen it with the old veterans like Crag Burst and Bamboo Pole. He just followed the topic and asked, "Is it hard to transfer data from the Psychic Wave Network to the Inte?"


    "That¡¯s what I heard, but all we need to know is how to use the tools. Bamboo Pole wrote some software that¡¯s quite easy to use. Of course, this time around he had failed."


    "Is the conversation pure information? Or is there interference between the mental and material nes? Is there coupling?"


    "Don¡¯t. Let¡¯s not talk about this. You can just ask Bamboo Poleter." Crag Burst immediately put this topic to a halt. He was not interested in pure theory at all, especially from Luo Nan, who was infamous even outside their circle. If he were to listen to Luo Nan talk about theory this early, he would have to go drinking five pints of alcohol, and the entire day would be wasted.


    Crag Burst was defeated, and Luo Nan was truly a little sorry about it. Right now, Luo Nan was extremely interested in everything that could possibly involve format conversion, interference, coupling, and simr phenomena and theories. The breakthrough he had two days ago allowed him to open a giant door. Inside overflowed with precious treasures. But the amount of treasures was so much that he had yet to finishbing through thempletely. He needed to continue his efforts.


    The morning run had barely started. Luo Nan thought for a bit and switched topics. "I still haven¡¯t thanked you."


    Crag Burst waved his hand. "Please. This sort of task is easy and convenient. Plus, I get some points for this. It was your Secretary that arranged things so closely."


    "I¡¯m not talking about this. I¡¯m talking about the factor analysis of victory and defeat. The mentality one should have when facing an enemy. What you¡¯ve taught me has been truly very useful. It helped me a great deal."


    "I just talked a little about my experience. To be able to use it means that we have a tacit understanding of each other." Crag Burst rubbed hisrge bald head. He was quite proud, giving Luo Nan another thumbs up. "You¡¯re also quite amazing to be able to find a concept that suits you this quickly. Oh right, I heard Zhang Yingying say that you call it coupling?"


    "To be exact, it¡¯s Formatting Theory. Coupling is just an application, a way of applying the theory to reality." Luo Nan knew that Crag Burst didn¡¯t want to listen to theories and didn¡¯t say too much.


    ording to Crag Burst¡¯s advice, one must possess an irrevocable conviction when facing an enemy. And this conviction was established upon one¡¯s most irreceable factor for victory.


    Luo Nan chose Formatting Theory without much hesitation.


    Only a set ofws and rules erected upon this theoretical foundation could fuse into the irreceable elements of his blood. It was none other than Formatting Theory that brought him inconceivable experiences. The theory took the magic of the dark side of the world and disyed it for him. It allowed him to know what he hadn¡¯t known. It allowed him to see what he hadn¡¯t seen. It took the authority of somews and rules and sent it to his hands.


    Understanding his mother¡¯s Coupling Theory in a timely manner was even more fortunate for him. By relying on the heartntern of the eyes orifice, a technique imparted to him by Xiu Shenyu, Luo Nan was able to manifest the intrinsic application of Formatting Theory into reality. Luo Nan had the full right to use an arrogant tone to talk down to ability users on the level of ck Beetle and say the following words:


    You can¡¯t see what I can see.


    You don¡¯t know what I know.


    You can¡¯tpare to what Imand.


    You are unable to reach where I¡¯m at!


    Honestly speaking, the feeling was quite a good one.


    Luo Nan¡¯s lips split intoughter. The heat flowing in his blood seemed to increase in temperature.


    To the side, Crag Burst pondered some things before grunting a few times. He opened his mouth to say, "It¡¯s great that you¡¯ve been able to find a conviction, but it¡¯s not enough to just look at the case of victory. You also need to look at the case of defeat. This world doesn¡¯t have anyone who can win forever. I heard that even President Ouyang was defeated so bad in his younger years that he doubted his life. That¡¯s when you¡¯re truly put to the test."


    Luo Nan turned his head to nce at Crag Burst. He nodded. "I am prepared for that."


    "Just a bit of mental preparation is absolutely not enough!"


    Crag Burst gave advice from the perspective of someone experienced, "No matter how calm someone is, in times of victory, it is hard topletely dig out the ws in one¡¯s self. But after suffering a crushing defeat, mistakes will be suddenly magnified, and it is extremely hard to maintain a normal state of mind. Therefore, one must have guts and fortitude to be able to be tempered and forged time and time again. In the end, the existing structure may even bepletely smashed to bits, and only then, can one forge a piece of good steel.... The most taboo thing to do is to teeter left and right, to be in self-denial."


    "I know what you¡¯re saying," Luo Nan continued with a subtle smile, the warm breath between his mouth and nose remaining smooth and long, "but you can rx. I have no other choice but to get stronger."


    Actually, the blow of failure had arrived early on. The Luo Family¡¯s current state over three generations was the clearest embodiment of it.


    His grandfather, his mother... and perhaps even his father. All his blood rtions squeezed their blood into Formatting Theory. As the sessor, even if Formatting Theory looked like a high-speed out-of-control sports car, Luo Nan was destined to be the driver and reviser until he crashed.


    Therefore, currently, Luo Nan didn¡¯t use Formatting Theory to defeat the formidable convictions of his powerful enemies. Only an awareness of coexistence and mutual death remained when it came to Formatting Theory.


    Luckily, signs existed on the road ahead thanks to the existence of coupling and Gear. The light was still there. Hope was still there.


    After the smile, Luo Nan originally wanted to say more, but in the end, he didn¡¯t speak. His feet didn¡¯t stop as he headed forward with a head held high. The morning rays were gradually exposed from behind the garden walls of the uneven courtyards in the residential area. Even if tall buildings stood in great numbers, the outline of the clear sky shone very clearly.


    Luo Nan jogged a few circles around the area with Crag Burst before returning back home. Even though today was Sunday, everyone at home had ns. They didn¡¯t sleep in. Even Mo Pengy on the sofa in the living room, making half a yawn. He was ying games to pass the time, and he didn¡¯t even see Luo Nan enter the house.


    Uncle Mo Haihang was busy in the kitchen. As long as he had the time, he always insisted on cooking to prevent the entire family from experiencing the torment from eating food produced by the AI housekeeper or his aunt.


    As for Aunt Luo Shuqing, she just set out the tableware. Now and then she wouldmand the AI housekeeper to tidy up some housework and the like.


    Luo Nan said a few words of greeting and went upstairs to shower. Luo Shuqing just nodded, not saying much. Her character made it difficult to speak cheerily. She nced over and saw Mo Peng ying games. She coldly said,


    "Come over and help."


    Mo Peng looked up, startled. He saw his mother¡¯s face and didn¡¯t even dare to let out a fart. He threw away the console in his hand and went to act like a good boy.


    The family atmosphere was a bit stifled. This continued until it was time to eat. It stayed like this.


    It wasn¡¯t strange for this to happen. Yesterday, on Saturday, the family went back to the medical treatment center to visit Grandpa Luo Yuandao. But this trip was different from thest. They practically had no chance to have direct contact with Luo Yuandao.


    The medical treatment center said that the degeneration of the old man¡¯s central nervous system had be increasingly severe, further worsening his case with schizophrenia. This made him very emotionally unstable, and his condition continued to deteriorate. If this were to continue, the old man¡¯s mind and body would likely rapidly copse with no possibility of salvation.


    Though this oue was something that could be predicted long ago, it was still very difficult to ept when it happened before their eyes.


    Most especially for Luo Shuqing. She was the only rtive yesterday who was allowed a short visit. After personally witnessing her father¡¯s situation, her mood plunged into an extreme low. The course of a night didn¡¯t improve her mood much at all.


    Because of this, the table was unusually silent during breakfast time.


    Luo Nan immersed himself in his meal. There were thin slices of beef paired with congee, and more then ten pieces of meat were in his bowl of congee. The bowl was thick and steamy, wrapped in the fragrance of meat. It was a good dish. Luo Nan used the biggest bowl out of the family, and his speed was the fastest as well. He was on his third bowl, and not even ten minutes had passed.


    "Don¡¯t slurp down your food. It¡¯s hot. It¡¯ll burn you." Only a thinyer had gone down Luo Shuqing¡¯s throat from her bowl. She had no appetite. She just looked at the other people eating, and she finally looked at Luo Nan and lectured him.


    Luo Nan merely grunted. His head was still buried in his bowl. He continued to slurp the golden congee into his mouth, eating boldly and forcefully. His appetite had always been astonishing, and after he began cultivating in the eyes orifice with Gym Master Xiu, his appetite even increased.


    It wasn¡¯t that Luo Nan was apathetic toward the deterioration in his grandfather¡¯s condition. He had experienced much over these past few days, especially teetering on the edge between life and death. This made it so that some other feeling lingered in his heart.


    There were many different kinds of attitudes one could have when facing a loved one in pain. The mostmon ones seen in this word was filled with sorrow and helplessness. These didn¡¯t suit him.


    Seeing her nephew stuff his head eating food, Luo Shuqing didn¡¯t get angry. She just asked her husband, "Did Luo Nan get a bit more meat on his bones?"


    Mo Haihang was able to guess that his wife felt that something was wrong with Luo Nan¡¯s mood. He tried to adjust, grunting, then saying, "Old Mo, report some data. What is Luo Nan¡¯s weight?"


    Old Mo was none other than the AI housekeeper. It had a grasp of the entire family¡¯s body data and health stats. A very maizing baritone voice sounded out, "Mr. Luo Nan was weighed on October 28th at 52.6 kilograms. His BMI is valued at 18.8."


    "This is fine." Mo Haihang nodded to Luo Nan. "You have a bit more meat on you recently. Your countenance is of a healthy color, though it is still a bit pale."


    Luo Shuqing was slightly gratified by this. Her lips hooked into a little smile. "Being in the hospital too long can destroy someone. It looks like learning these martial arts was the correct choice. Later, have the little fatty go too."


    Mo Peng was shot dead while eating. He immediately went wide-eyed in an expression of innocence.


    Luo Nan swallowed down a piece of meat and helped him out, "Gym Master Xiu is moving his gym soon. The gym will be suspending its business."


    Luo Shuqing frowned. "Then what will happen to you?"


    "I haven¡¯t been going as much now, just going asionally for a bit of guidance. The gym master only epted me because of Leister. Such a thing isn¡¯t likely to happen again. Two days ago, Xie Junping wanted to join in on the fun, but he was rejected." Luo Nan said nothing but the truth. At most, he exaggerated a bit.


    Luo Shuqing stared at Mo Peng with an expression of enmity. "Back then I let you apany him in training, but you found an excuse not to. Now, there are no more chances. Just look at your belly.... The Mo Family, the Luo Family, never had someone with your body type!"


    Mo Peng¡¯s purity of blood was suddenly questioned. He was groggy, but he couldn¡¯t refrain from retorting, "I¡¯m still developing, okay? How can I be skinny at this height? Ignoring everything else, if I turn out shorter than Mo Ya, then can I go ming you all for being biased?"


    "Mo Ya?" Luo Shuqingughed out of nowhere. "Are you talking about that unfilial girl who ran away from home? Then don¡¯t you worry. When she gets back, I¡¯ll break her leg!"

 Chapter 324: Repair Technician (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 324: Repair Technician (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Shuqing¡¯s feudalistic aura as the family head waspletely unleashed when Mo Ya¡¯s name was mentioned. She was resolute and decisive.


    As one of the family heads, Mo Haihang coughed, "Don¡¯t overdo it."


    Luo Shuqing tilted her head to stare dead-fixed at her husband. "Overdo it? Our little child has been hospitalized time and time again, grandpa¡¯s condition is worsening, while she¡¯s been perfectly fine and has been gone from home for nearly a month! She doesn¡¯t even call once a week. Her mind ispletely on that band. Who are you saying is overdoing it?"


    Luo Nan and Mo Peng locked gazes for a second before immersing themselves in their food. They obviously couldn¡¯t tell their aunt and mother that Mo Ya had rushed back to see them when Luo Nan had entered the hospital the second time. This was just unbeknown to a certain someone.


    Well, Mo Haihang knew of this as well, and even helped cover for her. But currently, Mo Haihang wore a face of calmness. It really made one utterly respect him.


    Mo Peng saw how his father was acting so beautifully and was unable to think calmly. He blurted, "Good or bad, she¡¯ll be back in a week. You can lecture her then, and things will be good...."


    "Who¡¯s getting it bad? Me for having your cursed sister?" Luo Shuqing shot a cold re. There was a shift in the focus of her fury.


    Mo Peng had stepped on andmine. He lowered his head once more, but with a face filled with grief and indignation.


    Luo Nan kept on chowing down, but the topic had touched upon Mo Ya, drawing a portion of his mind over to it. While Luo Shuqing was worried, he was worried as well, but in a different way. Today¡¯s times were wrought with troubles. Even with the support of the Xia City branch, it was hard to look out for an entire family. Not to mention the fact that Mo Ya was in the border town several hundred kilometers away.


    If it was a matter of worries, his were several fold more intense than his aunt¡¯s.


    "Nanan, what ns do you have today?" Luo Shuqing wanted to ease the atmosphere. She no longer nagged at her child and turned to ask Luo Nan. This pulled Luo Nan¡¯s mind back to reality.


    Luo Nan replied honestly, "I¡¯m going to the service center in Xi City. I identally broke something of Gym Master Xiu¡¯s a few days ago at the daoguan. I need to get it repaired."


    Luo Shuqing was a bit surprised. "Xi City? That¡¯s quite far. You want me to send you?"


    "No need. I already booked a car. It¡¯ll be here after breakfast."


    Luo Nan speedily gulped the rest of his meal down and tidied things up before running outside. The car he booked was none other than Crag Burst¡¯s military jeep. It was already parked outside the residential area and had been waiting for a while.


    Crag Burst¡¯s original jeep had been destroyed back at the recycling stratum. His current jeep was newly purchased. It looked even more domineering. Luo Nan sat shotgun and adjusted his posture. The car seats were a bit hard, conforming to military standard. However, the car was really spacious. With Luo Nan¡¯s height, he could pretty much straighten his legs with no problem.


    "Tsk, tsk. How much was this car?"


    "Should be around two million." Crag Burst started the car, and it rolled down the public roads like a tank. It soon cut into the high-speed maic rails, and its speed increased.


    Before, Luo Nan really didn¡¯t care about matters such as these, but he was actually quite envious at the moment. "You¡¯re godd*mn rich! Do all ability users make money easily? Why can¡¯t I find a way to make money?"


    Crag Burstughed. "You¡¯re still thinking about getting the sixty million, aren¡¯t you? Didn¡¯t the Secretary say she¡¯ll help you find the money?"


    "Well, I can¡¯t always bother people." Luo Nan¡¯s two palms smacked his own temples. His elbows supported his head. He was half-stretching and half-venting his emotions.


    He used to almost never get worried over money. After all, he was the sole male heir to the Luo Family. When he was just born, his parents had invested funds for his education and livelihood. There were fixed credits for each of his expenses. In addition, his aunt and uncle doted on him, and Mo Ya gave material assistance to him as well. In this way, he was able to engage in drug research with some effort.


    But sixty million was the price to purchase the Mutant devil ray inside the crystal pir of Ocean Sky Cloud City. Thisrge number far exceeded the level of his livelihood. If he continued to keep his head down and do research as a student, keeping to this working routine, then it would be hard to earn this number in his lifetime.


    Plus, right now... he heard that the Yao Family was sick of the devil ray causing damage to the ecosystem in the crystal pir. They were constantly looking for a new home for the ray. Perhaps the price would go down after the passing of time, but this was a big significance in Luo Nan¡¯s perspective. The most important thing was that he didn¡¯t have enough time.


    "Ah, god. Thinking of money just makes me upset." Luo Nan sighed. He only revealed his emotions like this with someone he was as close to as Crag Burst.


    Crag Burst¡¯s pursed his lips. "Your appetite is far too big. Nobody gets their money in a huge gale of wind. It¡¯s realistically impossible. Later, I¡¯ll sponsor you a few million to make up for any differences. I don¡¯t have any more. It¡¯s all invested in the Society. Who keeps that much money lying around idly, anyway?¡±


    Luo Nan leaned back against his seat. He cupped his hands wearily. "Thank you. But I¡¯d rather you introduce me a channel of making money. I have no clue where to begin for this."


    "How did you make money before?"


    "I looked at the missions issued by the Society, both public and private, they all award points and/or resources, but I¡¯ve never seen them award cash. You can convert points to money, but one honor point is only valued at a million. A drop in the bucket. And Zhang Yingying and Papercut keep telling me not to exchange my points...."


    "Of course not." Crag Burst smacked his steering wheel. "The set price for the Society¡¯s points hasn¡¯t changed for thest thirty years, you know? It¡¯s purely used to deceive people. If you want to exchange, you will have to go to the ck market.... Ah pooey, don¡¯t go to the ck market. The things the cheaters there sell are too many to count. Many of them are set up by the b*stards of Headquarters. They¡¯re specifically point sinks."


    Luo Nan snorted. "The others told me that too."


    "Honor points are super duper extremely important! Currently, an extremely closed-off rare resource trading tform exists within the Society¡¯s circle. One must use honor points as money to barter for any object here. Nothing else will do."


    Crag Burst was still worried that Luo Nan didn¡¯t know how serious this was. He was worried Luo Nan would get swindled as soon as he bumps inside. He increasingly put more energy in exining, "It must be said that this is the main reason that the Society hassted this long. You¡¯ve seen how the Society has handled things this time, causing the heavens to be furious and people to be reproaching. Especially Headquarters! But most people still stay with the Society! There are even huge batches of people sharpening their brains, seeking to get in! Why? It¡¯s none other than this resource transaction tform. It hangs above everyone¡¯s mouths, wetting their appetites. You can¡¯t see it now, butter, when you go deeper into your cultivation, you¡¯ll fork overrge amounts of points at any time for repair, medical treatment, or advancement. One mistake and your progress will be stagnant for several years!"


    Luo Nan nodded at first, but then shook his head. He smiled wryly. "Right now, I just want to make money. Big money."


    Crag Burst grinned. "You¡¯re looking at things the wrong way. The Society¡¯s transaction tform has already be a closed-off circle. Money from normal society isn¡¯t worth a dime. If you really want to make money, you need to rely on your supernatural abilities. You need to find those circles which are neither close nor distant to us."


    "Neither close nor distant?"


    "Those who know the existence of the ¡¯inner world¡¯ but don¡¯t inherently possess the relevant abilities, so they wish to hire ability users to do some special work. They can be individuals, financial groups, military or government powers, and so on."


    Having spoken to this point, Crag Burst turned to look a few times at Luo Nan. He hesitated, a rare action from him, before speaking, "This circle isn¡¯t white; it¡¯s half-dark. It might be too early for you to touch upon this."


    "Too early? Right now I feel like I¡¯m behind when ites to making money. Oh, hold on. Using my abilities.... So you¡¯re telling me to do some illegal things?" Luo Nan finally realized what Crag Burst was saying.


    Crag Burst shrugged. "It¡¯s fifty-fifty. Depends on your luck."


    "Then... I¡¯ll go try my luck?"


    "Maybe. In any case, based on your current capabilities, it¡¯s just a matter of time before you to contact these people. I¡¯ll lead you in an encounter in the future. This circle is mainly concentrated in a few private clubs. Face-to-face transaction is in the majority. After you get familiar with them, then you can negotiate about frence work over the."


    Crag Burst introduced some crucial information to Luo Nan. He just spoke generally. Luo Nan had to first make contact before he could understand any concrete details.


    This was something that couldn¡¯t be done today. Currently, Luo Nan¡¯s main task was to get the central mechanism of the tai chi ball repaired. It took Luo Nan and Crag Burst an hour of driving to reach an electrical equipment center located within Xi City. Its name was ¡¯Cross Borders¡¯.


    Papercut had inquired about this Cross Borders Electronic City; it was a nice ce. There were thousands upon thousands of stores, big and small. All together, they formed a twenty-four-hourrge-scale service center. It was thergest professional D.I.Y. exchangemunity in Xia City.


    Luo Nan and Crag Burst arrived at around nine o¡¯clock in the morning. The electronic city was gushing with people. Hundreds and thousands of unmanned equipment turned and crossed to and fro near the ceilings of the various floors. It was quite a bustling scene.


    Their destination was the twenty-four-hourrge-scale service center. ording to the process arrangement, they needed to have an appointment number and register it in order to have a mechanical part repaired. Then they got assigned a repair technician. They followed a floating guide-ball until they reached the corresponding workstation. They saw a beautiful service advisor and waited.


    The hardware facilities of the service center were quite up there, and the waiting area was set up to be very cozy and luxurious. There were even monitoring video feeds of the workstations inside, which could be disyed as a three-dimensional hologram for a panoramic view of the repair technician¡¯s work process. It was like being next to the repair technician.


    However, the feeling this all gave was a considerable surcharge in service without even including the cost of repair.


    There were many people here, which was a ring sight. Crag Burst no longer talked with Luo Nan about these sensitive topics. Under the chatter of idle boredom, Crag Burst saw the situation at a few of the work stations. He was uninterested in the repair technicians wearing face shields. His gaze lingered around the electronic price disy, and he clicked his tongue repeatedly. "Papercut rmended this ce? Isn¡¯t this a ce for dealers?"


    The prices were able to make someone as rich as Crag Burst smack his tongue over them. From Luo Nan¡¯s perspective, this mean that the prices were no different than being drained of blood. However, Luo Nan still believed in Papercut¡¯s sincerity. Heughed, not responding otherwise.


    On the other hand, the service advisor spoke gently while pouring tea for them, "Rest assured you two sirs. We are one of the ss A workstations in this service center. The repair technician, personnel, and equipment allocated here are the most top-notch of Xia City. We will certainly provide the highest quality services for our customers."


    Before her voice faded away came a beeping sound from the workstation. Information was sent back, and the service advisor received it. He became a little stunned, but he shortly gave Luo Nan a smile, revealing eight normal teeth.


    "Hello, customer. The goods you¡¯ve handed off to us has fairly special circumstances. I¡¯ll let the repair technician exin the rest."


    She turned to the side and made some minor calibrations. She made the quality of theprehensive hologram clearer. However, the repair technician revealed by the projection wasn¡¯t as pleasing to the eye as herself.


    The repair technician had stopped doing his diagnostic work. He lifted his visor to reveal slim cheeks. He was nothing special to look at, but he was a technician who was able to hold a position at a ss A workstation. He was certainly an outstanding professional. He sat behind the workstation and nodded toward Luo Nan and Crag Burst. He looked quite amiable.


    "Hello. This is worker number 5475, at your service. Myst name is Di."

 Chapter 325: Repair Technician (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 325: Repair Technician (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    "Hello, Worker Zhai," Luo Nan greeted politely, but in the next moment, he blinked his eyes. He felt that this repair technician looked rather familiar.


    Plus, Luo Nan noticed that Worker Zhai seemed to be sizing him up as well. Worker Zhai¡¯s gaze wasn¡¯t directed at Luo Nan¡¯s face however. Instead, it rested upon the loose-leaf Luo Nan always carried by his side.


    The two locked gazes once more, and Worker Zhaiughed. He said, "Our center doesn¡¯t have the pertinent records for the product that the customer has delivered to us for repair. I have confirmed it to be a D.I.Y. product.... Speaking of which, this student sure likes this kind of stuff, eh?"


    Luo Nan was lost for a time. He gazed back at Worker Zhai once more, and memories resurfaced from the depths of his brain. He suddenly realized why this Worker Zhai¡¯s face looked familiar. They had indeed met before. His flexible e-ink screen had been stomped on and brokenst month when he and Li Xuecheng had that conflict. He took advantage of the Precision Electronics Hobby Society¡¯s club activity to get it repaired. Back then, it was none other than this Worker Zhai who had opened up his flexible e-ink screen, allowing Luo Nan to discover the external neuron hidden within.


    He recalled that he had acted quite rudely in his moment of desperation. Fortunately, Worker Zhai had a good temperament and wasn¡¯t bothered by it.


    Luo Nan revealed a smile as well. "Oh, Worker Zhai works here. Much thanks for that day...."


    "Thanks for what? I just opened it up, didn¡¯t do anything else. Oh right, have you fixed that tablet of yours yet?"


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t know how to respond upon hearing this question. In his moment of stupefaction, Worker Zhai changed the topic, "What you brought here today is also a D.I.Y. product. There aren¡¯t any operator manuals readily avable. This makes fixing it more troublesome. Currently, our service center isn¡¯t at full capacity in servicing customers. I propose you apply for exclusive service. This will make the speed much quicker."


    D.I.Y? In other words, the tai chi ball wasn¡¯t a mass-produced product.


    Luo Nan was a bit surprised, but found it rational. He had never seen such a tai chi ball outside of the daoguan before. He felt that its range of application was also quite narrow.


    Before he could respond, Crag Burst asked the service advisor to their side, "This counts as ast minute upgrade in service. How are you going to calcte the price?"


    The beautiful service advisor exined gently, "The two sirs came here with a reservation made by someone else. Today¡¯s expenses will all be assumed by that customer. As for ¡¯exclusive service¡¯, the main benefit is the switch from the open workstation that you have right now to an independent workshop. This fulfills the privacy requirements. Based on that customer¡¯s scope of privileges, you won¡¯t need to pay any additional expenses."


    "Oh, really? Papercut is so magnanimous. Then let us not argue and go with this." Crag Burst simply took matters in his own hands, making a decision for Luo Nan.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t object.


    "Then let us enter into exclusive service. The workshop is number 245. Please follow the service advisor and wait ahead." Worker Zhai fiddled with some things on his end, waiting for a substitute repair technician to arrive and take his ce.


    Luo Nan and Crag Burst followed the beautiful service advisor. They made their way through arge open hall and arrived at apletely enclosed workshop to one side. The instations here weren¡¯t that different from those outside; there were just a few more equipment. Actually, the space was quite smaller. Crag Burst, with his huge size, felt a bit constrained.


    The control console suddenly activated a delivery channel during Crag Burst¡¯s mumbling. Luo Nan¡¯s mechanical device was fixed to a special vise, and was shipped over to be ced upon a spot that was slightly in front of the center of the control console.


    This mechanical device was the core of the daoguan¡¯s tai chi ball. Externally, it was a sphere that was the size of a fist. On its surface stretched a very thinyer of metal mesh. Insidey a device simr to a gyroscope. Atop the special support, the external metal mesh endlessly expanded and shrunk. It didn¡¯t stop doing this at all, but this was all that it did.


    Crag Burst clicked his tongue twice. "It¡¯s quite easy for them to shuttle things to and fro."


    As he spoke, he pulled Luo Nan ahead to go up and observe.


    The service advisor had exined to them that the independent workshop was different from the outside. Customers were allowed to directly enter the control console and observe at close range. They could even perform some work themselves, if the repair technician permitted it. Some D.I.Y. enthusiasts wanted none other than this atmosphere. They rushed over like ducks to ces like these.


    Luo Nan knew nothing about machinery or electronics. He waspletely lost when it came to working on them. However, Crag Burst could count as half an expert, having worked for many years in the Coastal Defense Force. He hadn¡¯t really cared for the toy that Luo Nan sent here for repair, but once he got near it, he went, "Ah," in surprise. He said, "This toy looks oddly familiar. It¡¯s like... It¡¯s like... a hovering target sphere?"


    "The model should be the Comet Type III Hovering Target produced by the Piya Corporation. It is a very old model, having been introduced on the market ten years ago," Worker Zhai entered from a different side via a staff ess-way and continued Crag Burst¡¯s topic.


    Crag Burst snapped his fingers. "That¡¯s right. It¡¯s a Comet III. The gyroscope in the middle is actually an AI core. It¡¯s like magic, and it¡¯s quite robust. In the military, it can be used for a long time when ced within any target drone shell. It¡¯s also easy to repair."


    "Yes, it isn¡¯t hard to fix the Comet III, but this product is a bit different."


    Worker Zhai walked forward to stand next to Luo Nan and the control console. He wasn¡¯t tall; he was around the same height as Luo Nan. And he looked quite amiable when heughed. As he stood in front of the control console and as the relevant privileges started up, the various repair and diagnosis equipment began to boot up one after another. They made calibrations ording to his location. The entire workshop practically revolved around him in operation.


    "Tsk, the equipment in this room must be worth more than a million." Crag Burst turned his head all round. He looked very inquisitive.


    Worker Zhai agreed, "A standard workshop is allocated 7.5 million credits worth of equipment, even after eight years of depreciation. I¡¯ve also added some of my own personal equipment here for my own use.... Look, there are at least two ces here in this hovering target that need some major repair."


    Crag Burst gathered himself closer ahead. He discussed with Worker Zhai, "I see a spot. The external target drone shell has been removed. In its ce is a metal mesh. I have no idea what the hell it does."


    "To fasten to the frame, right?" Luo Nan relied on his memories topare the diameter of the tai chi ball¡¯s inner cavity with the size of the hovering target. He noticed that there was a slight discrepancy. He looked at the metal mesh endlessly expand and contract once more, and did some guesswork.


    "Frame?" Worker Zhai thought for a bit, but he didn¡¯t ask further. Instead, he indicated for the two to look. "The mesh is only an essory. The core issue doesn¡¯t lie here."


    As he spoke, he fiddled a few times with the device atop the vise. It was unknown how he did it, but he removed the metal mesh and ced it to the side. All that was left was the central gyroscope-shaped object. The gyroscope¡¯s rotor wasn¡¯t rotating at the moment. It simply sat there.


    Worker Zhai then manipted a robotic hand to probe the gyroscope¡¯s variousponents and disassemble it. The difficulty of this disassembly seemed to be no less than that of disassembling the flexible e-ink screen back then. In a short minute, the three heard a subtle click. It seemed that some sort of mechanism had been touched. The gyroscope¡¯s axis separated away from the center, revealing an object like a shard of ss.


    Worker Zhai manipted the robotic hand once more, using special tweezers to extract the object. He ced the object on a different vise, a miniature one, and fixed it in ce.


    At that moment, they were able to see that this object¡¯s external shape was quite standard. It assumed the shape of a rhombohedron. Clearly, it had undergone special processing.


    "The central control chip?" Crag Burst asked in a low voice. His breathing even slowed a little. He was scared that he would blow this thing away.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t talk; he just squinted his eyes.

 Chapter 326: Hovering Target (Part 1/3)

    Chapter 326: Hovering Target (Part 1/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan observed both the object and Worker Zhai. Worker Zhai was in the middle of carefully sizing up the object before him in utter concentration.


    "It certainly isn¡¯t part of Comet III¡¯s design. The hovering target¡¯s control program is very simple. Its general control chip is already integrated upon the axle, so this little thing looks like something that was added on."


    Crag Burst asked curiously, "Added on?"


    "Let¡¯s do some testing. Workshop 245, requesting one Batwing Type A shell. Thank you."


    Hister words were spoken to the service center¡¯s warehouse. As he spoke, Worker Zhai returned his attention to examining the gyroscope¡¯s rotor, as well as its internal and external frames. Since he had already disassembled the central axis, he just examined it a few times before starting to reassemble it.


    It was very apparent. Worker Zhai deliberately ignored the minute rhombohedron during his assembling process. He simply restored the gyroscope of the hovering target to its original form. He worked very quickly, finishing before the arrival of the external shell, which was still stuck on the conveyor belt.


    When the external shell arrived, Worker Zhai stuffed the gyroscope inside. The final result that appeared before Luo Nan¡¯s and Crag Burst¡¯s eyes was a very odd object shaped like arge bowl. It looked like an exceedingly abnormal flying saucer.


    Crag Burst was very familiar with this toy. "A Batwing Type A target drone. Its high-speed flight and emergency hovering movement modes are integrated quite nicely. The Type C and Type B models can be used as simple weapons tforms. It can even be used in the Wilderness."


    Worker Zhai gave Crag Burst a chuckle; this could be considered an approval by this expert. Worker Zhai then let loose with his hands, and therge bowl¡ªno, the target drone¡ªhovered amidst a low buzzing sound. It shifted horizontally, little by little, streaking past the tips of the three men¡¯s noses as it gradually increased in speed.


    As the target drone elerated, it became like a bat. It flew back and forth within the narrow work space, and it didn¡¯t collide with anything at all.


    Worker Zhai looked at a hologram to the side. There were all sorts of diagnostics data streaming down on it like a waterfall. He shook his head around ten secondster. "I can¡¯t discover any problems at all."


    Upon saying this, Worker Zhai cast his gaze on the miniature vise, and his gaze rested upon the rhombohedron shaped object. He switched to a different interface on the hologram, revealing the repair request form Luo Nan had filled out prior to the appointment. "I need to confirm something. The malfunction that you, Mr. Luo, have...."


    "So it¡¯s a tai chi ball that can float...." Luo Nan was very cooperative. He gave a brief description of the relevant circumstances.


    Worker Zhai thought for a while, before asking, "How heavy is the tai chi ball?"


    "It¡¯s about half a person tall and is made out of strong metal. It must weigh several hundred kilograms." Luo Nan wasn¡¯t quite sure.


    Worker Zhai eximed, "Huh!?" and Crag Burst coughed, "Nanster, the electrical mechanism of the hovering target can lift five kilograms at most."


    Worker Zhai shook his head. "I can¡¯t see any modifications made to the hovering target¡¯s motive power and transmission. Oh, if the metal mesh is used as a supportive function, it can be viewed as part of the transmission. However, the motive power you described is unreasonable."


    "Really?" Luo Nan only had a vague understanding of the tai chi ball. It was hard for him to answer such questions. He thought for a moment and could only whip out his contact list and give Xue Lei a call.


    Xue Lei was home right now. It seemed that he was engaging inrge volumes of training, for his breathing was a bit staggered. He really didn¡¯t waste a single bit of time. Obviously, Xue Lei was very familiar with the tai chi ball, but the problem was that Xue Lei wasn¡¯t good with words. He was bound to make a few failed attempts as he tried to convey his meaning across.


    "Tai chi ball, man. It can endlessly store whatever energy that¡¯s beaten into it. And it can even transform that energy to form all sorts of rebounding forces. It can even directly transform their nature."


    Crag Burst jabbed Luo Nan with his shoulder. "He deserves to be your best friend. You two are the same."


    Luo Nan ignored Crag Burst and wanted to talk with Xue Lei some more. However, Xue Lei had already found a more efficient method. "So, I recorded a videost year involving training with the tai chi ball. I¡¯ll send it to you. You¡¯ll know when you see it. Really."


    With the video file on hand, Xue Lei immediately began the transfer. The service center¡¯s Inte was quite remarkable. Luo Nan saw that there was a lot of bandwidth avable, so he simply started a video call, and Xue Lei intuitively joined the call.


    Luo Nan only introduced Worker Zhai to Xue Lei, since Xue Lei had already met Crag Burst in the past. The video file finished transferring over by the time Luo Nan was done.


    Worker Zhai motioned to Luo Nan to cast the video onto the giant hologram so several people could watch it together.


    The perspective in the video recording was that of a selfie. One could see that it was Xue Lei recording himself. The video showed Xue Lei in Gym Master Xiu¡¯s back courtyard. Xue Lei¡¯s bare arms revealed a body of powerful muscles, and he let out a punch after harmonizing his breathing.


    His fist struck the tai chi ball. The deep ring that resounded showed just how impressive Xue Lei¡¯s power was. Of course, the tai chi ball merely trembled a bit. Xue Lei¡¯s punch wasn¡¯t enough to cause the ball to distinctly rock.


    "What beautiful prative strength!" Crag Burst clicked his tongue in admiration and in generous praise. He turned to speak with Luo Nan, "Leister is quite amazing. He was able to send all the power of his fist into the center of the tai chi ball. This sort of result can only be achieved with the hovering target enduring the hit."


    Xue Lei¡¯s strikes continued to pound without end, without any variation in speed, and the tai chi ball remained rtively stable from beginning to end. About a minute passed, and the power of his fists suddenly increased. His glowing red arm actually caused an explosive sound as it struck through the air.


    Not only was the attack much fiercer, its path of energy changed as well. The tai chi ball didn¡¯t fall back when it was hit by this attack; it actually jumped up. It jumped above the edge of the metal bowl to reach a height of twenty centimeters. Xue Leinded another fist as the tai chi ball sank back down, and the hovering target jumped up once more. It even swayed a little, and it didn¡¯te back down this time.


    The several hundred kilogram tai chi ball hovered in the air. It was about thirty kilometers off the ground, and it began to spin.


    Xue Lei¡¯s expression spoke of utter concentration. The speed of his fists didn¡¯t change, but an explosive sound came with each fist, one after another. The hovering target continued to rock, and asionally it would shift, butter, its rocking motion grew smaller and smaller while its spinning speed grew faster and faster. Outlines of the luminous designs on its surface shone in daylight.


    The video stopped here.


    Crag Burst¡¯s loud apuse embarrassed Xue Lei a bit. He thanked Crag Burst repeatedly for watching.


    Luo Nan looked at Worker Zhai, who was staring at the still frame of the video. Worker Zhai was lost in thought. He sighed in admiration as well. But he didn¡¯t seem to be very astonished.


    Crag Burst also saw Worker Zhai¡¯s expression. He grinned inughter, "So how ¡®bout it? Can you see a way now? Can you fix it?"


    Worker Zhai¡¯s head hung down as he pondered for a moment, but his expression remained calm. "I pretty much understand now. It should be storing and transforming the external kic energy. It stores it like a spring, The greater the power, the greater the potential rebound. The way it transforms the energy is quite interesting. From straight physical energy to rotational energy. Then there¡¯s also the hoving powering.... Let me perform a test."


    He moved the miniature vise and ced the miniature rhombohedron into the cavity of some device, which fixed four sides of the rhombohedron in ce. Then, a buzzing vibration started. One could see that the device was mimicking Xue Lei¡¯s fist. It sent external kic energy inside.


    Luo Nan adjusted the direction of his camera to let Xue Lei be able to see the test process. The three people observed with rapt attention, but there were no changes with the rhombohedron, even with the passing of a dozen seconds.


    Worker Zhai didn¡¯t feel anxious. He soon made some calibrations, and this time he directly passed electricity through the rhombohedron. He increased the voltage and the current, but the rhombohedron within the device didn¡¯t react whatsoever.


    "Is itpletely broken?" Xue Lei was a bit disappointed.


    "Try it again when youpletely put it back together?" Crag Burst wanted to try something else.


    Worker Zhai didn¡¯t say anything. He just stared at the device¡¯s cavity and continued to make calibrations. A metal rod flipped up from beneath the control console as he worked. There was a handle near the tip, and it was even wrapped in insting material.


    The metal rod revealed itself perfect upright at a 90¡ã angle. Worker Zhai gripped the handle, then took a deep breath.


    Luo Nan¡¯s eyelids jumped, and Crag Burst turned to look a beatter. The two locked gazes, confirming with each other that a minute ripple was born within the mental ne.


    "Whoa whoa whoa! It changed! It changed!" Xue Lei immediately discovered the changes within the cavity of the device through thegless high-speed Inte.


    Luo Nan and Crag Burst turned their gazes to look, and they saw several long fine threads extending out from the outer surface of the miniature rhombohedron. They were everywhere, and they gently swayed.

 Chapter 327: Hovering Target (Part 2/3)

    Chapter 327: Hovering Target (Part 2/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    The fine threads extending out from the miniature rhombohedron numbered a total of six. The threads drifted and swayed within the device cavity, looking like a struggling and atypical jellyfish at first nce.


    Luo Nan pursed his lips as his gaze focused on the inside of the device cavity. A sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu washed over him. He felt that he had seen this scene before somewhere.


    Crag Burst studied the rhombohedron a few times before turning his gaze onto Worker Zhai. This repair technician had merely gripped a metal rod, and drops of sweat could be seen on his forehead. He looked extremely exhausted, and at the same time, the ripples on the mental ne grew all the more distinct.


    Nothing could be said about it. Worker Zhai was an ability user.


    Crag Burst studied the man a bit. He felt quite surprised, but it was within the realm of reason. It was very natural to make contact with ability users, for this was a channel introduced by Papercut.


    Crag Burst was acting as Luo Nan¡¯s bodyguard; he had to eliminate all sources of danger. Frankly speaking, linking this man as a dangerous source was a little difficult.


    Worker Zhai¡¯s performance was quite so-so.


    Such a description could be considered a courteous one. Crag Burst was experienced and knowledgeable. He possessed a measuring stick in his mind. Based on Worker Zhai¡¯s performance in disturbing the mental ne just now, Worker Zhai was on a slightly higher level than the ¡¯enthusiasts¡¯ of all the ability users he met in the past.


    The ability to consciously utilize mental power and influence the material ne was impressive from the perspective of normal people. However, this was all Worker Zhai had to him. The metal rod and the device were used to amplify his powers. If these middle links didn¡¯t exist, it would be a wonder for Worker Zhai to lift even a fine hair with the interference ability formed from his level of mental power.


    Crag Burst rxed once he made this judgment. His attention wandered over to Luo Nan, who was still carefully observing the cavity of the device. Looking at how concentrated Luo Nan was, it seemed that the miniature rhombohedron was much more valuable than expected.


    The beads of sweat upon Worker Zhai¡¯s forehead had already spread into a thinyer. His breathing was no longer smooth as well, but the six ¡¯tentacles¡¯ surrounding the rhombohedron in the device cavity didn¡¯t seem to have undergone any changes.


    Luo Nan opened his mouth atst. "This toy can change further?"


    Worker Zhai drew in a breath. He spoke much more quickly this time, "It should. The six tentacles are quite sensitive to interference ability, but it has yet to form a structure that can store and transform kic energy¡ªlet alone doing things such as maic levitation. If the tai chi ball doesn¡¯t possess anything of interest, then these tentacles are the parts that are most worthy of our attention.... My ability isn¡¯t enough. Can you guys help?"


    Luo Nan, Crag Burst, and even Xue Lei viewing from afar were all able to sense the anomaly. Crag Burst acted as if Luo Nan had forgotten to introduce him, and his mouth split into a grin. "So it turns out Worker Zhai is also part of the Society."


    Worker Zhaiughed as well. He didn¡¯t hide it. "Papercut rmended me into the Society, but right now I¡¯m still in the evaluation stage. It¡¯s already been five or so years."


    Xue Lei eximed, "No way! Is the evaluation very strict?"


    Xue Lei was already prepared to enter the professional ability user society and had started the relevant procedures. With the fine woman Zhang Yingying helping him out, he had nothing to worry about. So, he only had a smattering of knowledge over the three-stage process of evaluation, awakening, and professional. He was unclear on these concepts. His heart seized for a moment when he heard Worker Zhai mention five years.


    Worker Zhai continued to smile. Luo Nan and Crag Burst didn¡¯t exin with Worker Zhai present. In the end, the truth would harm someone.


    It must be stated that ten Crag Bursts added together in regard to sensing on the mental ne wasn¡¯t enough to surpass Luo Nan. What Crag Burst could discover on the mental ne, Luo Nan could certainly do without any problems. He could do it with more detail, with vivider quality.


    From Luo Nan¡¯s perspective, Worker Zhai¡¯s mental power in the formation of interference ability against the material ne was a tragic sight. Luo Nan had simr faults in his early stages.


    Although the disys were simr, the natures were quite different.


    Luo Nan possessed mental power that far exceeded normal levels. But because of the special circumstances with Formatting Theory, Luo Nan was blocked off from interfering with the material ne. Later, he relied on the heartntern of the eyes orifice¡¯s coupling to break through his shackles. It could be said that his problem was exotic, and the way he resolved it was extremely out of the ordinary.


    Worker Zhai¡¯s problem was one of the simplest and most straightforward. He needed to cultivate more. There was nothing impressive about his strength or depth on the mental ne. He was simply not good enough ording to the standards of the Society.


    Zhang Yingying had once said that there were six hundred thousand ability users in the world. Of them, only seventy thousand are Awakened. It was none other than these seventy thousand people who established the frame of the professional ability user society.


    The Society set up records of people who had yet to awaken like Worker Zhai, but they normally didn¡¯t pay much attention to them. But if the person¡¯s age was lower, like Luo Nan at sixteen years old, they might hold some expectations for them. The problem was that Worker Zhai was already forty years old. The term ¡¯potential¡¯ was meaningless when applied toward him.


    Speaking these few words made Worker Zhai more tired. He shook his head. "Who¡¯s going toe and help me?"


    "How can we help?"


    "Grip this handle and pour in your power. It won¡¯t be a problem as long as you can form interference."


    "Then let me." Crag Burst wasn¡¯t willing to have Luo Nan make contact with some mysterious oddity. He took a step forward, waited for Worker Zhai to relinquish his grip, then firmly held the metal handle.


    The tentacles extending out of the rhombohedron had begun to retract when Worker Zhai relinquished his hand. But when Crag Burst¡¯s palm held the handle,rge sections of the tentacles suddenly stabbed out. Crag Burst didn¡¯t appear to have used much force, but the tentacles became thicker than before. The space within the device cavity appeared much more cramped, causing the tentacles to spiral and fold to amodate themselves.


    Soon, all four people were able to clearly see each of the tentacles noiselessly branch off into five forks, which were more slender than the tentacles a level above them. Then, they extended little by little. At the moment, there was a total of thirty-six fments. They constantly intertwined to form a marvelous dynamic pattern.


    "This is amazing!" Xue Lei¡¯s attention was immediately drawn back to it. He looked at it in puzzlement. "Does this toy have a different mechanism?"


    Crag Burst was blinking his eyes. It seemed he was trying to recall something. He asked Worker Zhai, "Is this all right?"


    "Hold on a sec."


    Worker Zhai used a scanner tool to analyze the dynamic pattern formed from the tentacles. The scanner tool outputted a simple diagram, which Worker Zhai cast to the hologram for more work and revision. A short dozen secondster, a series of dynamic images appeared one after another. They appeared in session like an animated short film. There was a clear timing to them.


    "The structure can now transform kic energy, but this isn¡¯t enough."


    "You need more? Just watch!" Crag Burst was unwilling to let anyone else do the work. He exerted two times the amount of powerpared to before while cheerily speaking, but there were no further changes within the device cavity.


    Worker Zhai gestured to the dashboard below the metal rod. "Continue. There won¡¯t be any problems as long as the arrow doesn¡¯t reach the red zone."


    "Then I¡¯ll y for reals." Crag Burst¡¯s lips split into a grin. His bronzeplexion seemed to re with a crimson glow. Even his pupils seemed to have obtained a sheen of scarlet.


    His five fingers moved subtly upon the metal handle. He was just about to exert force when he heard someone shout, "Stop!"


    Crag Burst instinctively retracted his energy and nced at the dashboard. He just saw the arrow suddenly jump, nearly entering the red zone.


    "...I didn¡¯t even go full power!"


    "Your interference ability is too rough and broad. It¡¯s not suitable."


    Worker Zhai¡¯s gaze spun to a different direction upon speaking.

 Chapter 328: Hovering Target (Part 3/3)

    Chapter 328: Hovering Target (Part 3/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan understood tacitly when he met Worker Zhai¡¯s gaze. "Then, let me try."


    "Hellooo. I did use my prative energy." Crag Burst wasn¡¯t about to give up. He was a bit impolite, for he harbored vignce deep down. "You were talking to me first, not even mentioning Nanster. Plus, there isn¡¯t much difference whenparing me to Leister. Why can¡¯t I achieve the same result as him?"


    Worker Zhai responded gently, "I¡¯m thinking of two reasons. One is that my amplification device is more suitable for mentally enhanced ability users. And you, a typical case of physical enhancement, have a different direction of interference. The second is that the miniature rhombohedron may be simr to our wristbands. There is a level for daily application, and there is a different level for developers."


    Crag Burst rubbed hisrge bald head. He felt that what Worker Zhai said was reasonable, and he turned his gaze toward Luo Nan. Luo Nan nodded and said, "The work Worker Zhai did just now was extremely delicate and precise. He used his mental power and borrowed a bit of electrical current from within the device to realize an amplification of interference in the material ne. But when ites to you, Brother Crag Burst, youpletely destroy the amplification effects."


    "So it was like this." Crag Burst nodded his head and looked at Worker Zhai once more, this time with a different meaning in his eyes. "Do you have an affinity for electrons? This is quite a decent ability. It¡¯s especially suitable for a repair technician. You can be considered a tiger that has grown wings. There aren¡¯t any ces without electricity these days."


    Worker Zhai burst out inughter. "It isn¡¯t suitable for a repair technician; it¡¯s necessary. If I wasn¡¯t a mentally-inclined ability user who can realize an affinity with electrons, engaging in deeper research would just be wishful thinking."


    He cast his gaze at Luo Nan withplicated emotions. "I don¡¯t even dare to think about the level of visual power that people like Mr. Luo possess. Us amateurs who haven¡¯t even started are indeed left in the dust whenpared with the Awakened."


    "This one here, Nanster, has special circumstances." Crag Burst made way for Nanster as he spoke. He easily added, "I really feel like I¡¯ve seen this toy somewhere before."


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t speak. He took a step forward and grasped the metal rod. The tentacles of the miniature rhombohedron within the device cavity had retracted when Crag Burst had let go, and Luo Nan didn¡¯t put out his power in time. The tentacles fully retracted, and Luo Nan didn¡¯t make any further movements.


    "What¡¯s wrong?" Crag Burst didn¡¯t understand.


    "He should be observing." Worker Zhai Worker Zhai was a precision-nted mentally enhanced ability user. Even though it was impossible for him to perceive Luo Nan¡¯s actions on the mental ne, he was able to guess the relevant train of thought.


    Crag Burst went, "Oh." He felt a bit embarrassed for being suspicious of Worker Zhai just now. He pressed against his earlobe and did a general gesture as a member of the Society. "Let¡¯s add each other as friends."


    Worker Zhaiughed wryly and waved his hand. "It¡¯s embarrassing, but it¡¯s impossible for me to add people."


    "Huh!? You don¡¯t have an ID on the Psychic Wave Network?"


    "I have one, but it¡¯s very hard to use normally." Worker Zhai shook his head again. "I have just that bit of mental power, and I have yet to reach the level that will allow me to interfere with reality at anytime and anywhere. So, I have only been able to wander around the perimeter of the circle for these past few years. I rely on my trade to make a bit of a living. Fortunately, Papercut looks out for me. He frequently introduces work for me."


    It was without a doubt that Luo Nan was introduced to Worker Zhai in this way.


    Crag Burst asked inquisitively, "It can¡¯t be that bad? I saw that your interference ability was quite precise...."


    "That¡¯s because I¡¯m in this workshop. Outside of here, I am no different from a normal person.¡±


    Worker Zhai nced at Luo Nan. He saw how Luo Nan had yet to do any actions, and he turned back and said, "Psychic Wave Network has expended a great deal of energy in trying to set me up with that Awakening Ritual. But my talent has its limits. Five years have passed, and all I have is a slight increase in my electron affinity ability. I¡¯m quitecking in other aspects. I need to rely on a ¡¯hearing aid¡¯ to be able to use the HexaEar and ess the Psychic Wave Network. Currently, I can only reach the secondyer, which allows me to watch videos, listen to the radio, and the like. It¡¯s impossible for me to interact andmunicate."


    "Hearing aid? Is that something you designed?" Crag Burst was able to grasp a general understanding. This was another amplification device. He was a bit curious. "Amplification devices are of special interest for the people of the Society who work in mechanical and electronic designs. The bigger the scale, the better in regard to four or five dimensions."


    "You¡¯re talking about the four dimensions of measurement." Worker Zhai was a man of technical expertise. He always paid particr attention toward such theories. He was about to discuss this with Crag Burst some more when Luo Nan suddenly let out a long breath. Luo Nan¡¯s palm left the metal rod.


    The miniature rhombohedron within the device cavity remained in its initial state. The state was aplete reversal of the progress Worker Zhai and Crag Burst just made.


    Xue Lei, who was observing from afar, wasn¡¯t involved in Crag Burst¡¯s and Worker Zhai¡¯s discussion. He had been observing Luo Nan¡¯s methods from beginning to end. He was disappointed because of this. "Nanster, is it no good?"


    "I want to take it out and try." Luo Nan turned to look at Worker Zhai. "The device doesn¡¯t help me much. It¡¯s amplification direction should primarily be in power. I feel that it¡¯s better to prate deeper."


    Depth, intensity, sensitivity, and affinity were the four dimensions of measurement that Worker Zhai had just mentioned. Namely, they were the four basic metrics for the Society involving mental power. These metrics didn¡¯t possess any particrly strict logic or scientific foundation. They were primarily established bymon agreement, reflecting the vagueness of the study of supernatural powers in the modern era.


    Worker Zhai didn¡¯t object. "My specialty is in electronic devices and mechanical design. The issue lies in the internal structure of this little thing. As far as the mental realm is concerned, you have the final say."


    Worker Zhai opened the device cavity as he spoke, and the miniature rhombohedron slid out from the vice. He ced it on the outer edge of the workbench.


    Luo Nan studied the object a few times before asking, "Worker Zhai mentioned that it isn¡¯t enough for the structure to transform kic energy. By that you mean...."


    "From the situation clearly shown in the video, the tiny object still has yet to reveal the structures allowing two capabilities¡ªmaic levitation and energy storage. Plus, I want to know where its powerponents are located."


    Worker Zhai easily drew out a structural drawing on the hologram. It matched with the structure that transformed kic energy. "From the perspective of conventional thought, the miniature rhombohedron is like an integrated circuit. There are no problems when it¡¯s used in electronic devices, but to drive a tai chi ball weighing several hundred kilograms, what medium does it use to do this work? The tentacles are a decent choice. It just needs tobine the two parts of the drive and work together. However, I have yet to discover the relevant structural design that does this."


    Luo Nan now gained a general understanding. "Worker Zhai, so you¡¯re saying that there should be more of those tentacles that form more structures."


    Worker Zhai¡¯s digital pen rapped against the hologram. "Motion, precision, and sufficient sturdiness are needed."


    Crag Burst listened to their discussion, and his previous thoughts floated back to the surface of his mind, this time clearer than before. There was just a thinyer of paper blocking them. He rubbed his head hard. "The tentacles, structures, precision.... Oh, how does that happen?"


    Luo Nanughed and asked again, "In other words, the miniature rhombohedron drives the tai chi ball. And it¡¯s very likely that this is aplished through those tentacles?"


    Worker Zhai barely nodded when Crag Burst smacked his own head hard. "Hot damn! A dynamo core!"


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t speak any further. He drew in a long breath, and his towering iceberg-like mental power resonated with the heartntern of the eyes orifice from afar. Invisible thunder crackled and red, forming what seemed to be the essence of lightning within the depths of the cracks of his eyes. The lightning cleaved down through space.


    The miniature rhombohedron inexplicably trembled at the focus of his gaze.


    The object couldn¡¯tpare to his external neuron. It also couldn¡¯tpare to Jack¡¯s Deep Sea Type IV Dynamo Core. But it radiated on the mental ne, and the psychic light answered and resonated with the lightning within Luo Nan¡¯s eyes. Indeed, this was the light that exclusively belonged to dynamo cores!

 Chapter 329: Minefield (Part 1/3)

    Chapter 329: Minefield (Part 1/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Six tentacles extended once more from the miniature rhombohedron within the workshop. Next came the second level, which were even more fine tentacles. Six tentacles served as the main trunk, and thirty were secondary branches. They extended far from the core of the rhombohedron. Several dozen tentacles floated and rippled in the air. Were it not for the rhombohedron leaving a fixed impression early on, the mass of tentacles would have people neglecting its existence.


    The situation within the device cavity wasn¡¯t very different from before. At most, the tentacles extended slightly further out. However, the expressions of the three people in the workshop were much more solemn than before.


    Luo Nan squinted his eyes, calibrating the radiance of his heartntern of the eyes orifice. Crag Burst shifted his feet to adjust his viewpoint to and fro. As for Worker Zhai, he carried a portable microscope on him. He changed its lens from time to time, seeking a suitable focal distance.


    "Has there been any changes?" Xue Lei was restricted by his distant viewpoint. He couldn¡¯t distinguish the details clearly. He blinked a dozen times, but was unable to see anything of note.


    In the end, it was Worker Zhai who responded. He said, "Wait a moment."


    He fetched a piece of foil from atop the workbench. He rolled it up and carefully probed with it. The foil¡¯s pointed end streaked across the empty space within the mass of tentacles.


    The tip of the foil was soon obstructed. It bent a bit. Under the illumination of the workshop¡¯s lighting, a thin sheen streaked across the ¡¯empty space¡¯. It was unremarkable, but it didn¡¯t escape their attention.


    "There¡¯s something!" Xue Lei immediately understood. The empty space in the tentacle structure likely possessed an even finer structure, but itsponents already exceeded the limits of the naked eye.


    Worker Zhai slowly retracted the strip of foil, but when his elbow had merely pulled back a bit, the tip of the foil inexplicably tore. It was as if an invisible de had shed across it. A section at the front was first severed off, before it shattered into pieces. They could see that the thirty-six tentacles didn¡¯t have any particrly vivid changes during all this.


    Instead, a fine vibrating cry rang in the workshop. The source was none other than the tentacle structure.


    "Careful now, careful." Crag Burst gestured with his hands, indicating to Worker Zhai to do things with care.


    Worker Zhai thought for a moment and simply flicked the remaining half of the foil up above the tentacle structure. The foil was now in free fall. It tumbled a few times in the air, which was within expectations. However, before it could touch any of the visible tentacles, it was ground to fine dust by invisible killer threads.


    Not even the sound of breathing could be heard in the workshop, making the trembling cry of the tentacle structure more distinct.


    Worker Zhai turned to look at Luo Nan. Luo Nan¡¯s gaze still rested upon the rhombohedron in the center. Worker Zhai whispered, "Did you catch everything?"


    Crag Burst¡¯s lips twitched. "He has superior mental powers. Dogs should make way!"


    Worker Zhai smiled wryly. He understood what Crag Burst meant. He was a mentally enhanced ability user who hadn¡¯t even awakened. He wasn¡¯t even at the level of a dog. Luckily, he had an engineering expertise. He could rely on equipment for aid to do more than what he could normally do.


    Kachunks rang out from below the workbench, and a round white board came out. It looked like a rough sepal. It gathered the tentacle structure halfway inside, and it pressured Luo Nan and Crag Burst into moving backward. The several lights up above lit up. They calibrated their angles one after another, causing rays of light to prate the tentacle structure that contained both tangible and invisibleponents, and casting the shadow of the structure onto the white board.


    "Hot damn!" Crag Burst was caught by surprise.


    The snow-white board caught the shadow, and atop the board roamed and slithered thousands upon thousands of live snakes. They endlessly shifted and changed along with the changes in the angle of lighting.


    They could see clearly now. The thirty-six fments of tentacles, which were thinner than hair, turned as thick as a thumb atop the shadow board with this special projection of lighting. And between these tentacles was a densely packed shadow web.


    Everyone was able to confirm that there was ayer of finer fments invisible to the naked eye among the thirty-six fments. They were densely woven like a, forming a moreplicated and refined structure.


    Worker Zhai worked with theputer and spliced together the several different angles of the projected shadow web. Soon, aplete three-dimensional structure was formed. Worker Zhai projected it on the workbench.


    Luo Nan¡¯s gaze darted between the material object and the three-dimensional projection as hepared them. Crag Burst couldn¡¯t get the knack for it. He simply asked, "How many fments are there in total?"


    "The current statistics say 1276." Worker Zhai skimmed through the data as he let out a sigh. "I need topletely rece the previous structure, and I need topletely redo the material analysis.... The resources allocated to me may not be enough nor suitable."


    Crag Burst didn¡¯t understand. "What?"


    "There¡¯s a supeputer in this electronic city. It¡¯s called ¡¯Cross Borders¡¯. I can apply for a portion of its resources with my privileges. Right now, it¡¯s primarily being used to analyze the dynamic structure."


    Worker Zhai pointed at the hologram. Pages and pages of diagrams shed through at high-speed. They were all structural diagrams of the shadow web captured just now. Over a thousand of them shed by while he spoke.


    "It looks to be quite fast?"


    "It¡¯s meaningless. I can¡¯t provide it with the effective parameters, so it can only rely on brute force. It is impossible for theputer to understand how to distinguish between the thousands upon thousands of tentacles in varied thickness from this ss-like object. It¡¯s even more impossible for theputer to understand how to analyze the way it stores energy, what kind of state the tentacles have when they twine and wind, what sort of applications the tentacles have when they spread apart...."


    Worker Zhai sighed as he reached this point, "Most notable is the fact that the stimting element involves the mental ne. Mainstream engineering of mankind has yet to do proper preparations for this. I am powerless to do anything about this in a short period of time."


    Xue Lei went, "Oh." He was a bit disappointed.


    Crag Burst shook his big, bald head and let out a sigh. However, his mental state was much more confident than the others¡¯. He turned to face Luo Nan. "It¡¯s a big discovery. How ¡®bout it? Do you want to transfer it to the Society for them to take a look?"


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t react immediately. He just faced Worker Zhai and asked, "Is it okay if I have it retract back?"


    Worker Zhai was a bit reluctant, but he couldn¡¯t find a reason to refuse. He nodded with a wry smile.


    Luo Nan squinted his eyes slightly, isting the effects of his heartntern of the eyes orifice. The three levels of tentacles all retracted, regardless of their visibility. No clear changes could be seen in the volume of the miniature rhombohedron.


    Worker Zhai was unwilling to put away the workbench. He used a hand to operate his portable microscope, and he gathered close to the rhombohedron. He clicked his tongue in wonder.


    Luo Nan made way for him. Crag Burst understood, and the two walked to the side and whispered to each other.


    "What¡¯s the difference with Jack¡¯s Deep Sea Type IV and this one? Was it also a three-level structure that extends out little by little?"


    "Three levels? I don¡¯t understand this. I only skimmed through the report a bit." Crag Burst did his best to remember, but was unable to retrieve the main points. He simply said, "It¡¯s best to make contact with the branchboratory. You were one of the people involved in that operation, and your evaluation was one of the best. You certainly have the ess and inquiry privileges. Just don¡¯t leak the information. Ha ha. How do I say this. Not many people really cared back in the past...."


    "Yeah, no one really cared." Luo Nan smirked.


    Crag Burst was a bit embarrassed. Rumors spilling all over was the Society¡¯s tradition, and Luo Nan was the person who was most harmed by this tradition. Crag Burst hesitated because of this. "If the branchboratory handles it, you will certainly need to exin the entire sequence of events to them. Is that all right?"


    "Leister, what¡¯s your opinion?"


    Luo Nan looked at Xue Lei, who was slightly hesitating.


    Xue Lei didn¡¯t understand the significance of the dynamo core, but he was able to see that this toy wasn¡¯t so simple. He just didn¡¯t expect that repairing this device would cause side issues to arise, and it seemed to involve pretty big things.


    "Don¡¯t overthink it. First notify the gym master, then listen to what he has to say." Luo Nan saw that Xue Lei found difficulty in deciding and put on a straightforward stance. "This is the gym master¡¯s personal object. We snuck it out from the daoguan. Although we have good intentions, if we pass it on, we¡¯ll be leaking personal secrets. How can we exin this to the gym master?"


    Xue Lei let out a sigh and nodded repeatedly.


    Luo Nan looked toward Crag Burst and Worker Zhai once more. Crag Burst performed a zipper gesture in front of his lips, while Worker Zhai returned back to reality from his researcher¡¯s state. He smiled and said, "Protecting a customer¡¯s secrets is the fundamental doctrine of a technician."


    "That¡¯s good." Luo Nan nodded to express his thanks.


    Xue Lei asked, "Then let¡¯s go talk to the gym master?"


    Luo Nan hesitated for a moment, and he cast his gaze at the miniature rhombohedron. He turned his gaze to the three-dimensional projection and the simple diagram on the hologram a few secondster. It took a long while before he spoke again, this time with an irrelevant answer.


    "This diagram... I don¡¯t understand it."


    "Huh?" The other three were all dumbfounded.


    Luo Nan stepped forward. He extended a hand to swipe on the hologram to look at the previous diagrams that had shed past. The results deduced by the supeputer¡¯s resources allocated to Worker Zhai endlessly showed simple diagrams of the dynamo core and amendments done to the diagrams. From the perspective of an amateur, the diagrams were quite concise, but the specialized symbols were akin to obscure writings. They were hard to understand.


    Luo Nan was originally going to use coupling, configuration, and simr methods to deconstruct and reconstruct the diagrams. But a few thoughts shed by in his mind, and he gave up on this for now. He turned to ask, "Worker Zhai, these diagrams are too specialized. Can you teach me about them?"


    "Which parts?"


    "All of them."


    Worker Zhai was a bit startled, but he soonughed, "This will take some time."


    The rate at which Luo Nan swiped with his finger was far from that of the analysis speed of the supeputer. He soon gave up and let the simple diagrams sh across. However, the thoughts that had formed just now grew clearer, then solidified. "I want to learn from the beginning. I¡¯m not as good in physics as I am in other subjects, let alone electrical engineering and mechanical design. If I can get some tutge, that is naturally the best."


    Worker Zhai studied Luo Nan for a moment, and suddenly realized that this member of the Society, who had already stepped to the next level, was still a student. He skimmed through the relevant information. The age of sixteen years old was quite conspicuous.


    "What year are you in high school?"


    "Freshman."


    "Are you interested in engineering?"


    "It¡¯s useful." Luo Nan was quite honest. He looked at things from a practical point of view. "I want to understand these structural diagrams. I want to have the concepts down at the very least."


    Worker Zhai shook his head. He emphasized once more, "This is impossible to do in a short period of time."


    To the side, Crag Burst had already been tripped by Luo Nan¡¯s flying train of thought. He simply rolled his eyes. "Weren¡¯t we talking about the issue with confidentiality? You said that you were going to speak honestly with that gym master.¡±


    "After we fix it." Luo Nan interrupted Crag Burst¡¯s words. He looked at Xue Lei once more. "I am uncertain of the gym master¡¯s reaction based off his temperament. If we carelessly ask, he may not even give us room to talk. Xue Lei, let¡¯s keep this matter in the dark for now. Wait until I understand the principles inside before returning the object back to its rightful owner. Is this okay?"


    "Uh, sure."


    Xue Lei was stupefied. This especially happened when he faced Luo Nan¡¯s eyes directly. Though there were contact lenses separating them, and the eyes were a reconstruction from optical and electrical signals, Luo Nan¡¯s gaze zed so fiercely that it induced fear.


    He never saw this side of Luo Nan before, as far as he could remember.


    "Hold on, hold on!" Crag Burst raised both his hands, trying to calm a certain someone down. "You said that you need to fix it. How are you going to fix it? Are you going to ask the branch¡¯sboratory? This contradicts what you said before! Let me tell you, even though this is the branch¡¯sboratory, they may not wield the necessary technologies."


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t speak. He just swept his gaze around the room. He turned from Worker Zhai to Crag Burst, then to Xue Lei, and finally to his own hands.


    Everyone was involved.

 Chapter 330: Minefield (Part 2/3)

    Chapter 330: Minefield (Part 2/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Crag Burst was stupefied upon being caught in Luo Nan¡¯s gaze. He soon came back to reality, and he immediately withdrew back. "Don¡¯t you say that you want to do things all by yourself. And don¡¯t you say you want everyone to help each other. This is the work you mental dogs should be doing. I am a physical ss.... You should just ask me to go kill the folks at Headquarters."


    Luo Nan wasn¡¯t counting on him. Heughed, and his gaze deviated. "Worker Zhai, I need to request this of you."


    Worker Zhai gaped with his mouth. In the end, he could only shake his head with a bitter smile. He expressed himself many times that he was powerless in this situation. He wasn¡¯t being humble. This was the final conclusion he obtained after evaluating the resources and technology. This ¡¯request¡¯ was impossible to resolve.


    He merely listened to Luo Nan say, "I know it¡¯s useless to be anxious about this, and I don¡¯t expect to see sess after a mere one or two months. I just want to take this chance and ask you to help me establish a foundation."


    Luo Nan wasn¡¯t someone who had a way with words. He stopped once he spoke to this point. He saw that Worker Zhai didn¡¯t immediately refuse, and he followed his train of thought in continuing, "I am also a mentally enhanced ability user. And I am precision-focused as well. Brother Papercut also mentioned that I naturally should step into the repair technician business. I learn, and you teach. We can even have social exchanges...."


    Crag Burst saw how much effort Luo Nan was putting in formting his words, and he couldn¡¯t resist from helping, "In your case, both teacher and student will benefit!"


    The words reminded Worker Zhai of something. His eyes lit up as heprehended that this sixteen-year-old high school student was already an official member of the Society. Luo Nan certainly far surpassed him in mental cultivation. He thought about how Luo Nan could obtain such achievements at such a young age. Aside from having outstanding talent, Luo Nan must be quite skilled in cultivating techniques. At the very least, Luo Nan¡¯s methods should be better than his rogue cultivation.


    As such, not only would both teacher and student benefit, a mutual exchange of assistance was possible.


    Many years had slipped away with him outside the gate to the Society. His goal was in sight, but unattainable. Even though he was optimistic, there was always some worry in his mind. At this moment, there suddenly was a turn for the better, and Worker Zhai¡¯s heart stirred.


    But then he saw theplicated structure of the shadow web, and he saw the myriad of diagrams shing through the hologram. His brain felt a faint ache. It was easy to ept Luo Nan as a student, but no matter which ways they go about it, Luo Nan¡¯s ultimate target stilly with the dynamo core. In regard to this, Worker Zhai didn¡¯t even have a direction to start with.


    It wasn¡¯t his style to deceive others and deceive himself. It wasn¡¯t his style to fail to carry things through.


    Worker Zhai subconsciously let out a sigh.


    Luo Nan knew that Worker Zhai¡¯s attitude had somewhat changed. But there was an unwillingness to let go in the bottom of his heart. He thought for a while, and he walked up to the workbench. "You mentioned just now that youck parameters?"


    Worker Zhai¡¯s emotions were aplete mess. He removed his portable microscope and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Actually, the problem lies with the research direction. Kic energy transformation is only the simplest step. How does it store it? How does it perform work with that energy? How does it appear within this precise structure? It involves far too many things."


    "I don¡¯t quite understand the engineering side of things, but for the direction, I can propose a starting point. Do you have a pen?"


    Luo Nan asked for a digital drafting pen. He drew a figure on the three-dimensional projection, on the shadow web.


    His many years of quick sketching had increased his basic skills. The digital pen¡¯s lustrous lines of light streaked and flowed easily. An iota of arcs formed circles in front of the roughest ends of tentacles.


    Then the tip of the pen cut around the surface of the sphere to draw a tetrahedron. Afterwards, at the perimeter of the tetrahedron, at the end points of the tetrahedron, the pen drew out arger circle.


    Worker Zhai saw clearly the entire process of Luo Nan¡¯s work. He also saw clearly the figure that was drawn. He was dumbfounded on the spot.


    A circle. A tetrahedron. Another circle. These three figures were nested within each other. Their rtionships were clear, and the points at which the figures connected, as well as the area they covered, greatly matched up with the three-level tentacle structure of the dynamo core. The matching wasn¡¯t one of a strong beat or a weak beat. It was a harmony that warmed the heart and delighted the eye.


    Pure feeling was unreliable in the field of engineering, but feeling was often the guide to sess.


    "Archetype Format?"


    Crag Burst blurted this out. He soon corrected himself, being under Luo Nan¡¯s zing eyes. "Formatting Theory.... What a coincidence?"


    "It¡¯s quite a coincidence. We might as well try."


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t understand the mechanical design, but he knew that it involved the dynamo core. He knew that there would be a pleasant surprise if he ovepped it with Formatting Theory. This was proven before by Jack.


    He threw the digital pen down and turned around. "Worker Zhai, these are my thoughts. You might as well think it over again. We can get in touch with each other at any time."


    Worker Zhai¡¯s gaze was glued to the three-dimensional diagram. He was unable to withdraw his gaze for a time.


    Luo Nan and Crag Burst bid their farewells. They didn¡¯t take the hovering target with them, and they left the miniature rhombohedron behind as well. Worker Zhai didn¡¯t object to this.


    Basically, they already reached an agreement to work together. The agreement was likely tost quite a while. Even with Formatting Theory as a reference,pletely breaking through the mysteries of the dynamo core was absolutely not an easy task.


    Xue Lei hung up the phone on his end to go have a headache over how to hide this matter for a longer period of time. As for Luo Nan, he sat in the back of the jeep. His brows were always furrowed during his deep contemtion. The load on his mind was heavy.


    Crag Burst couldn¡¯t hold back from asking, "Where to now?"


    "The branch¡¯sboratory."


    "Uh, so we¡¯re going to Shanding Towers?"


    Luo Nan came back to reality. "I¡¯m saying that I need the research data that the branch¡¯sboratory has on the dynamo core. I need all of it. I also need their future data on their future progress."


    "What¡¯s there to think about regarding this? Just directly ess the data."


    "Then draw attention to myself and be watched?"


    Crag Burst grinned. It wasn¡¯t a problem to ess data, but if Luo Nan wanted follow-up updates and in-depth participation, he would draw unwanted attention to himself and cause more issues to arise.


    "Then let¡¯s rotate. Let Secretary He help and divide things clearly. We can also use an intermediary. In any case, the intermediaries and representatives have been beat down to quite a tragic situation nowadays. Secretary He is quite skillful in finding incision points."


    The so-called intermediaries and representatives were internal members of the Society. They were hired by external powers, and they used their privileges as members of the Society to sell internal resources of the Society. Last time after the operation with Jack as the target, there were a few intermediaries who weremissioned by Quantum Corporation. They paid high prices to buy back relevant equipment. They bought back practically all the seized goods back.


    Crag Burst still felt that essing the data wasn¡¯t something hard. His train of thought diverged, and he said, "In the beginning, a group of intermediaries caused the price of the dynamo core to fiercely soar. Theypletely stopped now. Apparently, the financial backer behind them changed? I¡¯m saying that Quantum Corporation...."


    "They still don¡¯t have a backer." Luo Nan shook his head.


    The financial backer that Crag Burst was talking about was none other than Luo Nan¡¯s old ¡¯family friend¡¯, Yan Yongbo. That man¡¯s life wasn¡¯t easy these days. He flew back and forth between Xia City and Los Angeles, bing a frequent flyer. Though things were this way, Yan Yongbo¡¯s position in Quantum Corporation remained on the verge of copse.


    The enemy was in an unstable situation. This more or less alleviated the pressure that Luo Nan felt.


    They chatted for quite a while, but Crag Burst still didn¡¯t know where Luo Nan wanted to go. He was just about to ask again when a call came through on the Psychic Wave Network.


    "Yingying? I¡¯m working today. Not bad. I¡¯m Boss Luo¡¯s personal bodyguard.... He¡¯s next to me."


    Crag Burst spoke a few words and put the call onto the multimedia system of the jeep. The central control disy hologram lit up, revealing the upper half of Zhang Yingying¡¯s figure.


    Zhang Yingying was dressed in tight-fitting gym clothes. There was a bit of sweat on her forehead, and a few strands of hair stuck to it. A white towel was wrapped around her neck. She looked like Xue Lei just before. They were both engaging inrge volumes of exercise and training. She waved hello to Luo Nan and beamed. "Hello, Boss Luo. Are you interested ining over to swap pointers? Let me experience your heartntern of the eyes orifice."


    "Next time," Luo Nan responded simply.


    Zhang Yingying¡¯s invitationcked sincerity. She disregarded the matter after waving her hand and switched topics. "So there¡¯s a bit of something. I originally wanted to call you on Monday, but since you¡¯re here right now, I can just tell you. There¡¯s money to be made. Are you in?"


    Luo Nan frowned, "What money?"


    Zhang Yingying¡¯s eyebrows shot up. "Money to buy the devil ray! Don¡¯t say you already have it."


    Luo Nan was very honest. "I haven¡¯t found a way to make money."


    "Oh, really?" Zhang Yingyingughed even more delightedly. "I¡¯m giving you a chance to do an odd job. Do you want it?"


    An odd job? I can make sixty million from odd jobs? Luo Nan didn¡¯t talk. He just looked coldly at Zhang Yingying pretending to be awesome.


    Zhang Yingying was displeased now. "What does that look in your eyes mean? I¡¯m not lying to you. Mypany has been expanding its business these days. We don¡¯t have enough manpower, and we don¡¯t have any capable neers these days. As long as you¡¯re willing to run along out, the rewards will be quite generous. It may not be enough to fill your pockets, but it won¡¯t hurt. Hurry up! Do you agree or not? Talk to me!"


    Crag Burstughed to the side, "Businesses always report what kind of work they offer. What if it requires being a prostitute or an escort? Do we still have to take it?"


    Zhang Yingying grinned in delight, revealing her teeth. She wasn¡¯t angry. She turned and shouted, "Boss! Crag Burst is telling you to sell yourself at nightclubs!"


    "Oh my god!"


    Crag Burst muscr body immediately shrunk by a factor of two. He wished with all his might to stuff himself under the driver¡¯s seat. Even Luo Nan subconsciously looked up in disbelief.


    Zhang Yingyingughed heartily. Obviously, her majesty the Martial Empress wasn¡¯t by her side. But the result was still exceptionally good.


    Crag Burst recovered and immediately started cursing, "A fox who exploits the tiger¡¯s might. Using powerful connections to intimidate people...."


    "Foxes are really beautiful!" Zhang Yingying raised her hands to her head, pointing two fingers up and out. She wriggled them in a very lively manner.


    Crag Burst spat out in contempt, "What the f*ck! Those are bunny ears!"


    Luo Nan couldn¡¯t hold back from grinning.


    Zhang Yingying blinked at Luo Nan. She beamed as she sent some information to Luo Nan. "These are the details of our subcontracted business. Time is tight. Give us a response soon. Oh right, my boss is allowing me to tell you this. Thanks for all you¡¯ve done. She has had quite a few social activities recently, and she¡¯s made a lot of money. And, there are people chasing after her!"


    "You¡¯re wee."


    Luo Nan¡¯s smile faded as he spoke. Zhang Yingying was clearly saying that quite a few people were trying to gain her majesty the Martial Empress¡¯s approval from inside the Xia City branch, while looking at Luo Nan unfavorably.


    This was within his expectations.


    "Hello, you¡¯re not worried?"


    "There¡¯s no point to being worried. I never harbored aspirations of being popr."


    Crag Burst coughed, "Yingying is saying that you should pay your respects and recognize her as your godmother...."


    "Just die!" Zhang Yingying simply extended her middle finger. "If the boss doesn¡¯t speak, you won¡¯t even be able to find the door."


    Then she gave Luo Nan a smile. "Rx, rx. Don¡¯t let your imagination run wild. And don¡¯t look so miserable day in and day out. The boss and the President are all watching. Headquarters won¡¯t perform their theatrics a second time. As for making money, that¡¯s much easier. We as ability users just need to find the right method, and we can make money even by sleeping."


    Crag Burst blurted, "That¡¯s still selling...."


    Zhang Yingying sent Crag Burst the middle finger once more. Two of them.

 Chapter 331: Minefield (Part 3/3)

    Chapter 331: Minefield (Part 3/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Zhang Yingying didn¡¯t let the call go on for too long. She cracked a few jokes with Luo Nan and Crag Burst before hanging up. The data she sent had finished transferring over by now. Luo Nan used the HexaEar to look it up, while Crag Burst smacked his steering wheel in mischievousughter.


    "This sister may be very noisy, but her heart is in the right ce."


    Luo Nan understood what he meant. He nodded. "I know."


    The first time he met Zhang Yingying, Zhang Yingying was lively and quick-witted. She was also not one to give up easily. She had to seize the upper hand before stopping. Yet just now she even made fun of herself, making the atmosphere quite lively and fun. She even gave Crag Burst pretexts to make fun of her as well.


    Luo Nan recalled Zhang Yingying¡¯s appearance when she wriggled her bunny-ear fingers, and he couldn¡¯t helpughing again. He soon collected himself and whispered, "It looks like this time things are pretty bad?"


    Otherwise, why did Zhang Yingying, with her temperament, deliberately try to get him tough?


    Crag Burst chuckled. "It should be because of the pressure, right? It¡¯s normal. You¡¯re young. If you can stillugh without a care in the world when you¡¯re burdened with these things, you really need to go see the doctor."


    "Really? This is normal?"


    "Of course it¡¯s normal. Back when I was in the Coastal Defense Force, every time a tidal rush was forecasted¡ªyou know what a tidal rush is, right? It¡¯s whenrge amounts of Mutants use the astronomical high tides as an opportunity to attack the coastal defenses. That¡¯s what¡¯s called andslide tsunami, hiding the sky and covering the earth."


    Crag Burst started his jeep, and the jeep sped out of the parking lot with a rumble. As the jeep merged onto the maic rails of the electronic city, Crag Burst continued, "The time that¡¯s the most torturous is after the warning but before the battle. Some people in camp even kill themselves. And of these people, some are experienced and seasoned veterans¡ªones who are most likely to survive the battle. People... have limits to what they can endure. Those whose limits are exceeded change, and it¡¯s over for them. But I can see that this hasn¡¯t happened with you. Your limits are far from being pushed."


    Crag Burst spread his fingers as he spoke. The distance between his thumb and his middle finger was considerable.


    Luo Nanughed once more, but he sighed after, "I have changed, though."


    He did feel that the way he reacted when encountering situations had be a bit different.


    They just discovered none other than the dynamo core back at the electronic city! This needed to be emphasized!


    His father had used a covert method to send him this magical object, and this object was the key to turn Jack, an Altered Human, into a Burner. The technology of this world was incapable of touching this level of mysterious technology, and it even touched upon the mystical power hiding behind the colossus that was Quantum Corporation.


    A month ago, he would have recklessly rushed to the daoguan and seeked the gym master for questioning. He would cling deathly to the gym master to obtain the reason why.


    Although right now his conviction to study the dynamo core was set in stone, this road he wound himself on was a long one, and the intense thirst in his heart was on the verge of tearing him apart.


    Why?


    It was probably due to feelings of apprehension. He made enemies time and time again within a short month, and each was a major power of this world to be reckoned with. To do this over and over again... even a newborn calf would find its horn ground to nothing.


    Luo Nan saw a faint premonition. What waited before him was a field of deadlynd mines. Things would be fine if they were never triggered, but as soon as one went off, not even future opportunities would exist for him.


    Asking Worker Zhai to help and first utilize his equipment was a correct decision.


    But from another perspective, one must pay a price by lying in wait. His mind couldn¡¯t hold back from spawning various thoughts, and these thoughts weaved into a heavy,rge, and dense. Pressure came with it like a shadow following a body.


    It was true that he had yet to reach his limits, but the distance from changing was, perhaps, not that far.


    As the jeep weaved its way through traffic, Crag Burst shot a few nces at Luo Nan. He grinned inughter. "Nanster, I need to say a few things to you. We are both men. We all face pressure. We can change our ways of letting out steam, but we can¡¯t disy it on our faces. We have our pride."


    "Letting out steam?"


    "Tobo, alcohol, women.... Bah! I¡¯m saying to learn, learn, and learn! Turn that pressure into energy!"


    Luo Nan copied Zhang Yingying and gave Crag Burst the middle finger.


    Crag Burst was a bit embarrassed. "These are minor details. Just don¡¯t go looking into those things. I¡¯m saying that the weekend is a great time. Don¡¯t waste it. I¡¯ll arrange a ce if you don¡¯t have any ns. Everyone can rx."


    "Tobo, alcohol, and women?"


    "Kids should learn to be good!" Crag Burst¡¯s rough voice and energy interrupted Luo Nan¡¯s vocalized thoughts.


    Luo Nanughed and asked, "Where¡¯s Trigate District?"


    "It should be between the main city district and Man City. It¡¯s around two hundred kilometers away. What do you want to go there for?"


    "It¡¯s nothing. I saw the material Yingying sent over. The business partner is Trigate Securities LLC. They¡¯re registered in Trigate District. I¡¯ve never heard of them before."


    "Oh, this ce used to be a garrison camp of Xia City. It was dmissioned not too long ago. The securitypany you mentioned should have a military background. Not bad. It¡¯s easier to make money from the government and military. What kind of work is it?"


    Luo Nan read the material out loud, "Native species gic and ecological preservation...."


    "Wha¡ª?" Crag Burst didn¡¯t instantly understand.


    Luo Nan repeated himself once more, while rifying the introduction to himself, "It¡¯s patrol and scouting work. It has to do with Mutants."


    "D*mn. The cheaters!" Crag Burst smacked his steering wheel hard, and the horn red explosively.


    This time it was Luo Nan who didn¡¯t understand. "Is this line of business not that profitable?"


    "It has nothing to do with the profitability. I¡¯m saying that such work just shows that the government and the military are cheating themon people once again. F***! Why the h*ll did they get rid of the garrison!?" Crag Burst changed attitudes in an instant once he became furious.


    Luo Nan thumbed through the material and slowly understood. "Native species gic and ecological preservation,¡± this awkward sounding and tediously long name, could be described in a single idiom: Mending the pen after the sheep are lost.


    The Mutants isted in the wilderness and the seas would asionally break through the heavy defenses of the city due to special circumstances. They would appear in the districts of Xia City. This work entailed none other than searching and killing the infiltrating Mutants to ensure the safety of the city.


    Speaking of which, there really weren¡¯t that many Mutants within the districts of Xia City. A rich family would raise one or two; it was rather popr to do so nowadays. The Great Maw Basilisk that Rui Wen had in and the flying devil ray tamed by Luo Nan both belonged to this category.


    But these Mutants had underwent strict inspection and quarantine procedures, all of which were recorded on file. The negative influences were decreased to the very minimum.


    The fellows who unexpectedly infiltrated the city were different. They usually carried highly pathogenic bacteria and viruses, and some Mutants even broke through the barriers of reproductive istion. They could reproduce with the native species of the world and create further generations. The proliferation of such species within the city¡¯s ecosystem, along with perhaps minute mutations, would likely bring about cmity under the enormous push of numbers.


    This hidden destructive power woulde even more shockingly than that of the clearcut Mutants.


    Crag Burst patted Luo Nan on the shoulder. "The task is an arduous one, yet it is full of honor and glory.... That¡¯s what the government and military always say when you wipe their *sses."


    Luo Nan snorted and said, "Well, it suits me quite well."


    "Yep, a scout. There aren¡¯t many people better than you out of all my impressions. However, this kind of work is very time-consuming and requires much patience.... Huh? This job can¡¯t be right."


    Crag Burst suddenly remembered that Luo Nan was still a student. His extracurricr tasks were also very cumbersome. It was impossible for him to have the leisure time to apany people in running around the city.


    Was Her Majesty Empress Wu urging Luo Nan to cut ss?

 Chapter 332: Meeting in the City (Part 1/3)

    Chapter 332: Meeting in the City (Part 1/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    The climate was very abnormal, which was reportedly due to the melting of the pr ice caps. In the month of November, the cold air currents went straight south, pushing the wet and cold ocean winds through and past the city. Xia City, or Summer City, was a coastal city, and it turned into a city whose name didn¡¯t correspond to reality. It was like it had entered winter a month ahead of time.


    Ayer of frost unexpectedly had formed on the outside of the windows of this morning¡¯s ssroom. Luckily, this physics course was held in arge ssroom. Three hundred or so people were packed inside. There wasn¡¯t any need for heating equipment. The entire ssroom was rather warm.


    Luo Nan sat in the row next to the windows. He was focused on listening to the lecture and taking notes. Various knowledge points and their corresponding figures and forms presented themselves in tree-shaped branches on a standard holoscreen. They were organized by categories and were arranged clearly. The serious effort Luo Nan was putting in gave off the appearance of a budding brilliant student.


    If Xue Lei hadn¡¯t been Luo Nan¡¯s ssmate for the past month, Xue Lei might have been baffled by Luo Nan¡¯s current actions.


    "Hey, don¡¯t you have an appointment this morning?"


    "It¡¯s a meeting." Luo Nan didn¡¯t even raise his head while correcting Xue Lei.


    "What time?"


    "9:30."


    "Are you leaving after this ss? I¡¯ll go with you."


    "...You want to skip the next ss?"


    Xue Lei was baffled. "I have to skip ss if I¡¯m going."


    "Then don¡¯t go. In any case, the agreement doesn¡¯t require me to appear in person."


    Luo Nan confused Xue Lei with a few sentences. Then the school bell rang, and the first ss of the day ended. The lecturer motioned that it was break time, and the ssroom roared with chatter. It turned morous in an instant.


    Luo Nan continued to adjust theposition of his notes on the holoscreen. The core details within didn¡¯te from himself. They were Worker Zhai¡¯s writings. Practically all the knowledge points of the high school stage was covered within. What Luo Nan had to do was stuff all these details into his brain, then do the corresponding training of great intensity.


    Needless to say, Luo Nan felt his train of thought grow much clearer ever since he took some tutor lessons from Worker Zhai. The effects were rather instant, akin to setting up a pole and seeing its shadow.


    Luo Nan was neither hurried nor slow, puzzling Xue Lei even more. Xue Lei simply gave him a push, "What in the world do you mean?"


    "The meaning is to divide the mind into its own manifestation. Two minds attend to two things... like so."


    Xue Lei¡¯s eyes were bulging from their sockets hearing Luo Nan. In Xue Lei¡¯s moment of daze, Luo Nan finally finished making adjustments to his notes and stretched out. A student just so happened to open a window. The frigid and wet wind came pouring in, shing with the warm air within the room. It jolted the minds of a few drowsy students.


    Luo Nan and Xue Lei both turned their heads to look out the window. Looking toward the northeast from their location, through the buildings strewn at random, provided the sight of the wends jungle at the ends of the gray-white clouds. The jungle had a dark hue to it as well, mixing with the color of the sky. It was hard to distinguish at first nce.


    Normally, watching this view was insignificant. But after hearing of Luo Nan¡¯s ns, Xue Lei inevitably found his imagination running a bit wild. "It... is in the jungle right now?"


    "Mm, acting as an overseer," Luo Nan blurted out a few words, then suddenlyughed, "It¡¯s really useful."


    Xue Lei felt the oddness of the situation. He looked at Luo Nan once more and only felt that Luo Nan¡¯s smile was a bit chilly and quite awkward.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t say much else. He stood up, walked to the window, and looked toward the wends jungle in the distance. The skies were dark and gloomy, and glimmering reflections of light could no longer be seen from the river that wound between the trees. The river appeared like a long, gray belt. It was half-hidden and half-present, and it cut deep into the jungle. Some waterbirds pped their wings and flew. They could be considered lively, but the scale was far different from the spectacle of a few days ago.


    "It was a Mutant! A godd*mn Mutant! That fellow¡¯s destruction of this ce has pushed back our work by ten years!"


    A small boat was making its way down the long winding river, while the waterbirds flew toward the skies. There were four people aboard. Two young men held wooden oars. They used the most primitive of methods to power this small boat. They were so tired that their tongues wagged out of their mouths. They also had to endure the incessant jabber and mutterings of an old man. For a time, they wanted to jump in the river and drown themselves.


    The old man that was giving them enormous mental pressure was named Wu Zunliang. He was an elderly man, having reached the age of ny this year, but his mind was still hale and hearty. Even spending long periods outside the city for scientific exploration was a walk in the park for him. Sample surveys within the campus were not enough to exhaust his surplus of energy. This made his tongue engage in idle chatter all the more.


    "I can hear the rumbling noise of machinery even though we¡¯re two kilometers away. This is undoubtedly pollution. The group who issued the construction permit is made up entirely of grandkids...."


    The chaotic event a week ago had sent the ecosphere of the wends jungle into aplete sloppy mess. The sudden descent of the cold windsbined with this, making things worse in a bad situation like adding hail to snow. This made all the schrs, professors, and researchers of zoology, botany, ecology, gics, and other fields of the school all cry to the point of being unable to shed tears.


    Times like this made the certain number of people, who were engaging in construction work in the jungle despite the vile circumstances, be targets of loathing and hate. What a pity. Realistically speaking, their negative emotions were utterly useless. All sorts of documents werepleted for the construction team at the north bank for Gear. They held permits from the Environmental Protection Department and the school. The construction followed the requirements very strictly. Their work was practically perfect.


    Wu Zunliang prided himself on his seniority. He wanted to call the construction to a halt to avoid affecting the ecology of the wends and turning it into something even more disastrous than its current state, which was already on the verge of copse. However, the results of his efforts left him very disappointed and very unhappy.


    He was upset. He needed to curse out to vent his feelings. Anyway, his naggy old wife wasn¡¯t by his side. No one scolded him.


    The tall and slender woman at the bow of the boat nced back just before the two experimental working dogs of boatmen were about to go crazy. She smiled and said, "Professor, it isn¡¯t wrong for them to call you a grandpa looking at the ages. The sudden appearance of all these big nephews is giving me a slight headache."


    Old Man Wu pointed at her. "You want to be an aunt at your young age? Why don¡¯t you find a boyfriend? What ever happened to the one introduced by Old Pan?"


    "If you can¡¯t remember, Professor, then I can¡¯t either."


    The tall woman adjusted the wide-brimmed hat on her head. Then she swept her gaze across the two bitterly pained experimental dogs. "You seniors must be tired. Let¡¯s switch?"


    "No, no, no, no!" The two experimental dogs spat out their tongues as they nodded their heads and wagged their tails. They coincidentally decided to row with all their strength, to prove that they had a surplus of energy.


    The woman dressed in hunting clothes didn¡¯t say much else. She continued to chat with Old Man Wu, "Professor Pan¡¯s body is in ill health recently. She¡¯s been getting insomnia quite often. Her personality makes it so that she would mentally attend to Gear at the north bank if a situation were to ur with it. It is better for the repairs of Gear to finish during these messy times to avoid further matters from popping up in the future."


    Old Man Wu smacked his lips as he listened to his student speak about his wife. He didn¡¯t say any other words of blind worry over other people¡¯s business.


    Wu Zunliang didn¡¯t stop for long, though. He looked at the two shores of the long river, saw the sad situation of the jungle, and couldn¡¯t help himself from cursing once more.


    "Mutants are crazy things that cause utter destruction. Why the hell is Cloud City Water Vige raising one? That dogsh*t ocean shop. I. Never. Should. Have. Helped. Them. In. The. First. ce!"


    Old Man Wu stomped his feet with his head hanging down to his chest. He stomped once per word, and the wooden boat swayed back and forth. It could capsize at any time. The two experimental dogs¡¯ faces were devoid of all color, while the woman dressed in hunting clothes at the head of the ship pressed down her wide-brimmed hat. She smiled as she watched Old Man Wu vent.


    As a veteran ecology expert, Wu Zunliang extremely loathed and detested Mutants. The devastation and the continuous variations of these monsters destroyed the ecological theories of the times before the Third War. These monsters practically destroyed the entire worth of his past fifty years of life.


    The next forty years had him obtain aplishments as before. His publications increased his status. The people of the world were in awe of his change in area of research before old age, of his magnificent feat of a second climb to the peak. Little did others know, Wu Zunliang¡¯s love for this field of knowledge was nearly exhausted by how ugly and diverse the gics of the Mutants were.


    Over the course of several dozen years, practically all influence from Mutants were isted from the wends jungle of Acumen College. There were extremely few ces like this one that could evoke his ideals from the beginnings of his life. But today, even this ce was defiled. Old Man Wu truly did feel that life wasn¡¯t worth living.


    "I¡¯m going to write a letter to the school. No, the city government! The group of grandkids of Cloud City Water Vige, I will see that they will be penalized with their family fortune!"


    "If you want to write, then write," the woman dressed in hunting clothes easily agreed. At the same time, she swept her gaze across the river shore and chuckled, "I¡¯m quite interested in that rook. This sort of body type already far exceeds that of amon raven, don¡¯t you think? I believe that the appearance of one thisrge hasn¡¯t been seen before."


    "Which one?" Old Man Wu turned around to look, and arge bird with ck wings flew into the depths of the jungle without practically a trace. The river just so happened to bend right that moment. The trees in front were sparse, and ake opened up before them. They could faintly see Gear of the north bank towering above theke. It was spattered with rust.


    When truly seeing the building, Old Man Wu, who had been cursing and grumbling all this time, was speechless. He looked at the building for a long while, before turning and asking about the crow, "Did you get a picture?"


    "I already sent it to your email.... Professor, I have an appointment. I¡¯ll need to leave early today."


    "Oh, yeah. You mentioned this yesterday. You can go. There¡¯s nothing going on now anyway. Oh, there¡¯s water all around us. Let the little deers row a bit longer."


    The two experimental dogs had hearts filled with tears, but they had to agree with the professor.


    "Yeah, let us keep rowing for a bit."


    "Just reach the shore. Students of mine can¡¯t possibly get lost in the jungle."


    Old Man Wu bellowed withughter.


    The wooden boat approached the shore in a short while, and the woman dressed in hunting clothes nimbly jumped onto the shore. The small boat pulled some distance from the woman¡¯s force at the bow.


    Old Man Wu shouted, "Come back home for dinner!"


    "No need. There¡¯s someone taking care of food for me." The woman dressed in hunting clothes waved her hand. She turned around and entered the forest. In the blink of an eye, not a trace of her could be seen.


    Old Man Wu sat back down at the stern of the boat. He turned to look at Gear facing the shore. He sighed as he patted the ridge of the boat, "Control the speed. Don¡¯t forget to take some samples."


    The Gear at the north bank had much of its surface area on fire. Over the course of a few days, the exterior of Gear looked to have been restored to its original appearance. It always emanated a feeling of great change to it, of the scouring of time, and this made the aesthetic needs of its external form not too high.


    The current work progress mainly had to do with the instation and remodeling of the internal equipment and facilities. The destruction caused by the departed Tank during the day of Headquarters¡¯ operation included the central control room. The central control room was nearly razed to the ground. The water cannons let out by the fire fighting devil ray had also caused great electrical damage. All sorts of cables needed to be buried and reinstalled.


    The construction workers and technicians were carrying equipment in and out. It was a work scene that was buzzing with activity.


    The rook pped its wings as it sharply halted its falling descent to the ground. It stopped steadily atop the railing of an observation deck at the roof of the building. This position allowed it to see the figures of people entering and exiting. Even a little of the interior of the building could be seen through the ss windows.


    There was a construction worker inside one of the rooms. He pushed a high precision imaging equipment. He moved openly through the various floors of the building. People woulde over to him from time to time, and he would enter data obtained from other locations. He continued to revise the parameters, establishing a database that was likely even more meticulous than the original design drawing.


    The scope of work and intensity of the construction worker, when converted to value, already far exceeded the payment offered by the school.


    The crow stared coldly at everything. It pped it wings several secondster, flying across the wends jungle, which was still in a sorry state. It made its way out of the school, and it entered therge activity area.

 Chapter 333: Meeting in the City (Part 2/3)

    Chapter 333: Meeting in the City (Part 2/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    It was now a quarter after nine in the morning. The second round of morning sses at Acumen College had already begun, and the students in the area were more or less in ss. The students were stuck on campus as their energy sapped away. The streets of therge activity area were more deste than usual, with only the asional car flying past on the low altitude maic rails extending off into the distance.


    The Pingjiang District of Acumen College couldpete for the throne of having the average lowest building heights within Xia City. There was the super-tall buildingplex Cloud City Water Vige in the center, but this made the surroundings appear even shorter and tter.


    The crow pped its wings, and it skillfully made its way through the gaps between buildings. It soon locked onto the entrance to an underground parking lot. It took advantage of a pedestrian¡¯sck of attentiveness, and it flew in, practically sticking to the ceiling. It spiraled left and right as it flew in, and soon it reached the underground third floor. It found its final target in the middle of several hundred parked cars.


    Amidst the sound of the fluttering of pping wings, the crow dropped onto the rooftop of amon SUV. It knocked with its jet ck talons, and the sunroof opened up to swallow the bird inside.


    The inside of the car was filled with the fragrance of beef. In the driver¡¯s seat, a thick, muscr man held a bag of roasted meat fresh out of the oven. He ate using his hands, stuffing the pieces of meat into his mouth. The massive crow entered the car. When it collected its wings, it smacked the man¡¯s skull. The man didn¡¯t even raise his head. He was engrossed in eating.


    The man¡¯s skin flushed red, something that wasmonly seen among Caucasians. However, the man was Asian, so this gave off a feeling of abnormality. A mass of a beard like that of an artist¡¯s grew beneath the man¡¯s chin. It was fixed to his face, making him appear rather boorish.


    The crow looked at this fellow inquisitively. Then it stood up in the shotgun seat, its ws hooking on to the seat. It stood quite steadily. Its enormous body exceeded seventy centimeters in height. As it stood in the front seat, it was no different in height from a normal person sitting down.


    After swallowing the chunk of meat down his throat, the man turned to look at the crow. He locked gazes with the crow¡¯s pitch-ck pupils and went, "Oh.¡± He rummaged around in the car with an extended hand and found a box. He tilted his bag of food, looking like he was about to dump the contents into the box.


    "Did you eat yet? I¡¯ll give you some if you¡¯re hungry."


    Yep, the man must be of the same trade. Otherwise, why would he treat a crow this way?


    This enormous crow was none other than Luo Nan¡¯s pet. It was also Luo Nan¡¯s earliest ¡¯believer¡¯¡ªInk. Right now, Ink shared its sight with Luo Nan. Luo Nan could even control Ink, and he had Ink shake its head.


    "Not going to eat? Well, forget it." The man crammed another chunk of meat into his mouth and chewed viciously. Then, he picked up a rubber band-shaped object from the control console and yed with it using his fingers, revealing its toughness and sticity. It shown with a luster of mauve. It was utterly eye-catching.


    "Lift your leg."


    Luo Nan was very cooperative as he gave the order to Ink. Ink hopped and lifted a w askew in the air.


    The man used two fingers to pull the rubber band open and put it on Ink¡¯s lower leg. The band immediately bound back, and the band wouldn¡¯t fall since talons were in the way. Ink¡¯s lower leg was now lined with a purplish red circle. It was really eye-catching.


    Luo Nan felt Ink¡¯s sensations and knew that the band didn¡¯t have much influence, if any.


    The man¡¯s voice came out indistinctly as he ate meat, "This little thing is specially made. It¡¯s amunications device, very easy to use. It¡¯s quite suitable for you mental-focused folks. You¡¯ll know once you try it."


    He had bound amunications device on Ink¡¯s leg?


    Luo Nan infused the object with his mental power. No reaction. Then he subtly interfered with the material ne, immediately stirring a key mechanism. The rubber band trembled slightly, sending out the corresponding signal.


    "Hello. Hello?"


    There wasn¡¯t any sound in the car, but the middle-aged man in the driver¡¯s seat tapped his earlobe. "I can hear you."


    So that was how to use it. It was indeed very convenient and effortless. Luo Nan reckoned that he could have achieved the same result of externalmunication by relying on his previous interference power, whichcked his understanding in the coupling technique and merely allowed him to blow scraps of paper.


    Luo Nan only had a single question right now, and he used themunications rubber band to ask, "Isn¡¯t this a bit roundabout? We can just use the HexaEar."


    Luo Nan still remembered that thest time he and Crag Burst mobilized together, the twomunicated unhindered on the Psychic Wave Network using the HexaEar. They also seamlessly essed therge operation of the Society. There wasn¡¯t a need to start apletely new channel ofmunications, right?


    "That¡¯s you guys¡¯municationswork. My connections are insufficient. Besides, your partner hasn¡¯t entered the Society either. So that¡¯s why."


    "Partner? Then you.... What¡¯s your name, sir?"


    "Myst name is J¨¬n."


    "Sir J¨©n?"


    "Fourth tone. The J¨¬n(½ù) from putting together G¨¦(¸ï) and J¨©n(½ï). You can just call me Old Jin. In any case, I¡¯m a driver."


    Luo Nan felt that this man was a bit moody. Perhaps his situation was simr to Worker Zhai¡¯s. They were people within the circle, but they weren¡¯t Awakened. They harbored some emotions of jealousy, and this was very normal. In any case, the Hidden Indigo Firm where Zhang Yingying works and the Martial Empress is reportedly the boss of had hired this man; he was an employee. Luo Nan needn¡¯t be worried about rted psychological constructs.


    These theatrics set up by Zhang Yingying made Luo Nan hide himself in the background. He attached his soul to his crow for some scouting. There was nothing that could be criticized from the aspect of safety. But in the end, he was still pulling the wool over people¡¯s eyes in a situation where cooperation was needed.


    Luo Nan originally thought that the muscr old driver in front of him was to be his future partner for some time. However, it seemed that his partner was some other person?


    The window rapped with noise during his pondering. Old Jin unlocked the doors, and someone opened a back door to sit in the back row. She wore a wide-brimmed hat, while shadow obstructed half of her face. She looked quite mysterious. She leaned back after sitting down. The movements of her limbs were ratherx. "Old Jin, my partner¡ªoh, a rook with a height of seventy centimeters. A giant."


    The one in the back had swept her gaze onto Ink riding shotgun, and she immediately let out an exmation of admiration.


    A normal rook would have a height of around fifty centimeters at maturity. Ink¡¯s body far exceeded that. Such information could be easily found on the Inte, but this person was able to distinguish the species of crow with a nce. She understood the pertinent field of knowledge through and through. She ought to be an enthusiast or a professional.


    The person took off her wide-brimmed hat as she spoke. Her ck hair dropped down like a waterfall, contouring a bright and beautiful face full of vitality. Her face seemed to light up the dim car.


    Yes, it was a woman. She looked young, around twenty years old. Her skin was the healthy color of olive, but her skin tone wasn¡¯t dark. Instead, her skin shone with the bright luster of life. Capturing the description urately, her skin was filled with cogen, expressing an abundance of vitality.


    She casually bound her hair into a ponytail. Luo Nan could see that she was quite tall. She just straightened her back, and her head nearly touched the roof of the car. Her form-fitting hunting clothes stretched tight during this, causing her figure to appear all the more curvaceous.


    "Old Jin, I¡¯m notte, right?"


    "Depends on how fast the car goes." Old Jin made a simple reply, then poured the rest of the roasted beef into his mouth. His cheeks bulged as he chewed viciously. He knocked against the control console, and the car started up in AI mode to speed out of the underground parking lot.


    Luo Nan was stupefied at such a bold eating style. Then, the beauty sitting in the back reached out with a hand, and Luo Nan subconsciously got the feeling that she wanted to shake hands in greeting. He was about to order Ink to extend a wing in response, but the beauty had already tapped Ink on the head. Then she started rubbing Ink¡¯s head.


    "This crow¡¯s not bad. Oh, or should I say spirit bird, familiar, or servant? Which one sounds better?"


    "...."


    "Peony also carries amunications device. You two can talk directly." Old Jin¡¯s voice was hard to make out, but he gave Luo Nan an introduction.


    "Peony?" Luo Nan stirred the rubber band to give it a try.


    "Hi. Mr. Crow, hello."


    "Hello to you too. In any case, Miss Peony, it would be better if you could stop pressing against Ink¡¯s skull."


    "This giant¡¯s name is Ink? That¡¯s easy to remember. It will be easier to call outter.... Also, don¡¯t add a ¡¯Miss¡¯. Peony is my codename. You can just call me by it."


    "Then you can just call me Crow."


    ording to what Zhang Yingying said, everyone participating in the operation didn¡¯t know his true identity, and this included his partner. This was, of course, another safety measure, one that Luo Nan epted.


    Peonyughed. She had very beautiful eyes and very long eyshes. The skin under her eyes was very youthful and plump, the color of which was very bright and full of moisture. Her eyes curved into exquisite moon-like arcs when sheughed. It was very attractive.


    "Sure thing. I¡¯ll leave the ¡¯Mr.¡¯ to Ink. Mr. Ink, that has quite the ring to it."


    "Caw!" Hearing people say its name over and over, Ink inexplicably awakened with self-awareness. It opened its mouth to voice out in a sound that was inevitably hoarse and unpleasant to the ears.


    "So he agrees, right?"


    "...."


    By now, the ordinary SUV they rode in already cut its way into the high-speed maic rails. The driving route would have them spiral into the sky from Cloud City Water Vige.


    As the car changednes, the crow nced at the skyscrapers reaching through the skies far in the distance. It paid particr attention to Ocean Sky Cloud City right in front.


    It couldn¡¯t see the fine details of the building, but starting a week ago, waves and waves of ¡¯tourists¡¯ disyed special interest over the viewing tform of the 142nd floor. They would stay for half a day, or even a full day, each visit. They didn¡¯t just use the viewing scopes atop the tform, they even brought their own equipment to look with delight and joy.


    These ¡¯tourists¡¯ pair off quite nicely with some ¡¯construction workers¡¯ at Gear. A lot of different types of data and information came back and forth between them. It could be said the Gear was studied meticulously and thoroughly from the inside out.


    It was very interesting. From current intelligence, it seemed that the origins of these people were quiteplicated. At least four or five batches of them were from investors. There were conflicts between them, and there was also cooperation. Each of them showed off their schemes, ying with extreme delight.


    But no matter how openly they fought and how covertly they maneuvered, these people¡¯s target was clear. They were all observing and surmising: Were there deeper secrets to the building that was Gear? Could they publish something out of them?


    So Luo Nan understood that although Gear appeared to be peaceful, it had already sunk into a torrential undercurrent. And it was falling deeper and deeper.


    The reason for which was still unknown.


    Ah, the stress!


    The car remained silent like this the entire way, and they arrived at a different underground parking lot fifteen minutester. It should belong to some business hotel downtown. This area was linked to the recycling stratum. Thick walls could be seen at one side as the car made its way down. There were decadent and crazed figures of people wandering around beyond the walls.


    It was impossible for sight to prate the body of the car and the thick walls, but a thirty meter radius of area was all within the scope of Ink¡¯s perception. This area turned into a meticulous scene, and the scene was projected into Luo Nan¡¯s mind, located several kilometers away.


    Using pure observation, mental power could prate through walls regardless of iting from Luo Nan himself or his believers. Nothing couldn¡¯t be reached. The only thing that was restrictive was the finite range that could be covered.


    A radius of thirty meters. This was the limit of Ink¡¯s natural perception. However, separated by space, Luo Nan could also use various methods of strengthening to expand the range substantially, though temporarily.


    Luo Nanpared this with other information, and he felt that this ability was quite sufficient.


    The car urately parked in the middle of a parking spot, and just ahead was an elevator. Old Jin smacked his lips. He had eaten all the beefpletely clean.


    "Well, time to get out. What happens next has nothing to do with me."

 Chapter 334: Meeting in the City (Part 3/3)

    Chapter 334: Meeting in the City (Part 3/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Under the urging of Old Jin, the first thing Peony did was get off the car. She put on her wide-brimmed hat, brought her hands to her head to fiddle with her hair, and got her pony tail toe through the back of her hat. She shook her head slightly, giving off a sense of luster and beauty, and the dynamic feeling of life.


    Now Luo Nan was able to confirm that Peony was rather tall. She absolutely had the figure of a model, looking to be in the same category as his cousin Mo Ya. In other words, she had to be taller than a hundred eighty centimeters. This caused the youngster, whose real body was barely a hundred seventy centimeters, to feel rather pressured.


    Luckily, he didn¡¯t need to reveal himself.


    Ink hopped out of the window. It extended its wings, did a slight turn, and flew up into the air. Luo Nan saw that the elevator was waiting a floor above, and he used the power of interference to press the button. The elevator¡¯s light lit up, and it opened just as Peony arrived in front of it.


    "Thank you, Mr. Ink." Peony gave a drawn outugh, but she had thanked the wrong person. The skin beneath her eyes shown clearer during her smile, carving two crescents, while her eyes seemed to be covered with mist. They were hazy and unclear. This made her appear all the more charming.


    Peony walked into the elevator as she smiled. She patted her shoulder. "Want to take a break?"


    Ink already made a decision by itself before Luo Nan could personally express himself. Perhaps Ink felt that the elevator was too cramped, being unable topletely extend its wings. It simply dropped onto Peony¡¯s shoulder.


    "Wow, you¡¯re heavy."


    Whether it was looking at Ink from a species perspective or from a real-life situation perspective, Ink was no doubt arge fellow. Right now, its two ws gripped on to Peony¡¯s shoulder. It retracted its wings, putting them away. It would have whacked Peony in the head if it didn¡¯t.


    The elevator went up, and soon reached the fiftieth floor. There was someone waiting at the exit. That person was stunned as he saw Peony, and especially the enormous crow atop her shoulder. It took a while before he approached them and said, "Hello, are you Mrs. Peony of the Hidden Indigo Firm?


    Peony gave a grunt of agreement, a very sufficient attitude.


    The receptionist¡¯s gaze slowed a bit when it swept across Peony¡¯s face. Then his mind inexplicably shivered. He soon judged the cause to be from the crow.


    Disregard whether or not the crow was bold and imposing. This crow that perched on the beauty¡¯s shoulder was leaning forward habitually in its stance. Its height seemed to be bearable, but its tail and body formed a diagonal line. The crow¡¯s stance was akin to someone leaning forward with their body, pressing right before the eyes in a deadly re. The pitch-ck eyes werepletely fixed. They were eerie. And they were looking more and more uncanny.


    The receptionist involuntarily took a step back, but realized that he was being impolite. He gave an awkwardugh and shifted to the side. He extended a hand and said, "Please walk this way."


    Peony nodded and walked into a small conference room ahead.


    The room was approximately forty square meters. The tables and chairs ced throughout everywhere except the center were oval-shaped. In the center was some device. The device wasn¡¯t even on, but there were a lot of people sitting in the chairs. There were about twenty people there.


    The agreed upon time was 9:30, and right now, it was already 9:32. They werete by two minutes, but the conference had yet to begin. It seemed that they weren¡¯t the only ones who werete.


    Seeing Peonye in carrying a giant of a crow, everyone in the room all turned to study them.


    Peony maintained her polite yet estranged smile. She took on everyone¡¯s gazes as she found a ce to sit down. She adopted a gaze of curiosity, and her gaze swept over the faces of everyone in the room. She was expressing extreme rxation with her bodynguage.


    Ink hopped down from her shoulder and stood atop the desk in front. Under Luo Nan¡¯s will, Ink gathered its wings and closed its mouth. It uttered not a sound. It only twisted its head back and forth, and its eyeballs swiveled along.


    The beauty and the crow shifted their gazes, switching targets in sync and out of sync. One woman. One crow. They tantly observed the other people in the meeting. In the end, these powerful people somewhat couldn¡¯t take it. They broke their gazes away one after another.


    Originally, there were some people who wanted to get close to the beautiful girl when they first saw her. They wanted to say hello and see what might transpire. However, they dismissed these thoughts one after another, and the atmosphere became awkward.


    As such, of the twenty or so people in the room, only Peony¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change from beginning to end.


    Luo Nan was forced to admire her. He had Ink as a shield, with himself being several dozen kilometers away. He had nothing to worry about. However, Peony¡¯s performance spelled that of experience. She was calm andposed. Unyielding and imposing.


    It was unknown what kind of work she did at the Hidden Indigo Firm.


    Luo Nan realized that he was so busy for the past few days to the point of dizziness. He knew very little about his future partner. He was mulling over whether or not he should go ask Zhang Yingying for more information when the door made a sound. Another person came in, who paused a bit beforeing over to their side.


    The newly arrived person simply pulled out the chair that was next to Peony. Then he bowed with a smile. "May I sit here?"


    "Feel free." Peony tilted her head. She roughly studied the person a little, and she didn¡¯t refuse.


    This person sat next to Peony. He was a young man in casual clothes. His medium length curly hair was one of the more striking things about him. They hung to the end of his shoulder, appearing a bit fluffy. His skin tone was extremely white, and he even had an earring in his left ear.


    Luo Nan was certain that this brother¡¯s stylist was absolutely top-notch. Such a hairstyle not only didn¡¯t appear effeminate, it enhanced the contours of his facial structure, which seemed to carry a bit of mixed blood. Pairing this with his V-shaped build made it so that he gave off quite an aura of masculinity, kind of like an old European lord.


    The young man introduced himself after sitting down, "Hello, myst name is Long. I am ranked seventh. My friends call me Long Seven. I just joined this group. Allow me the liberty to ask your name."


    "You can just call me Peony."


    "Peony?" Long Seven swept his gaze across Peony¡¯s cheeks tond atop her wide-brimmed hat. "I¡¯m guessing that you¡¯re a student of Acumen College."


    Luo Nan ate some shock, but he soon realized that he was getting ahead of himself. From beginning to end, Long Seven was just chatting with Peony.


    Peony had no ill will toward this handsome person of a mixed race. Her smile burst forth from the corners of her eyes as she asked in rapport, "What¡¯s your reasoning?"


    "Please forgive me for being blunt. Jungle Owl is a non-professional gaming n made up of students. They just entered the WCG Tournament in only one game called Ten Days in the Wilderness. Their achievements aren¡¯t much to write home about. Their merchandise is mainly and only consumed in Acumen College.¡±


    It was only now that Luo Nan noticed that there was a logo in front of Peony¡¯s wide-brimmed hat. It was in the shape of an owl. It was probably the logo of the so-called Jungle Owl.


    "It¡¯s not that bad. Jungle Owl has quite good-looking ¡¯skin.¡¯ There are tons of fans inside and outside the school."


    Peony leaned in to the side, using her elbow as support on the table. Her fingertips felt along the edge of her wide-brimmed hat. This casual action made her hat tilt a bit, giving off a bit of an easy-going feeling.


    Long Seven didn¡¯t say anything. Some of the members looking at them had eyeballs nearly bulging out.


    Next, Peony and Long Seven chatted about eSports. It was just that Long Seven knew the styles, members, and aplishments of the various gaming ns like the back of his hand. On the other hand, Peony was far more interested in the attractiveness of the members of each team... regardless of them being male or female.


    "Ha, I really have an appearanceplex. Other people look at the live streams, while I look at the sidelights, the interviews, and so on." Peony didn¡¯t hide her interests at all. She giggled in utter delight.


    Long Seven was about to speak when he suddenly froze. In the middle of his startled gaze, one of Peony¡¯s hands propped up her cheek, while the other hand reached forward. Her long fingers gently brushed across the curls by the side of Long Seven¡¯s face. It seemed that she even touched his skin.


    "Of course, you¡¯re not bad too."


    The ambiguous levels were off the charts!


    The thrill levels were off the charts!


    Most of the people in the conference room were eavesdropping on and peeking at the conversation between the beauty and the handsome man. When Peony made this move, some people gasped from being caught off guard, while some people¡¯s eyes lit up bright with raging mes.


    The cause of all this was the rampant growth of emotions in the heart.


    Long Seven instantly recovered from his astonishment. He instinctively reached out, seemingly seeking to grab Peony¡¯s probing fingers. But he hesitated a beat.


    Peony withdrew her delicate fingers without a sound, but she held an earring of lustrous silver between her thumb and index finger. This was none other than the earing that was on Long Seven¡¯s left ear.


    Long Seven became serious for the first time upon meeting when he saw the object in Peony¡¯s fingers. He said, "Miss Peony...."


    "You can just call me Peony."


    Within this dialogue provoking d¨¦j¨¤ vu, Peony¡¯s posture remained unchanging; she continued to have her cheek propped up by her arm. She just held the earing between her fingers, and studied it in great detail close to her eyes. After a while, she visibly exerted force with her fingers. The fine circr earring didn¡¯t react.


    Long Seven¡¯s expression turned grave. He was right about to speak, but how was he to know that the beauty before him would extend an arm before his eyes and say, "It¡¯s quite a good earring. Is it made of tinum?"


    Long Seven didn¡¯t answer Peony¡¯s question. He immediately grabbed the earring and hooked it back on his ear. His tense face softened a bit, but it was impossible for him to return to his previous state of speech andughter. The atmosphere grew all the more bizarre.


    Ink could feel all the changes in the atmosphere. It subconsciously pped its wings, dropping a feather.


    Peony reached out and held it. She jabbed Ink in the head, all smiles. She yed around, minding her own business. She looked like she didn¡¯t care at all about Long Seven¡¯s change in attitude.


    What an egotistical woman....


    Luo Nan had just made this initial judgment when someone else walked into the conference room. This person stood straight in front of the oval table. His eyes swept across the room in a circle before nodding and saying,


    "Everyone is present. Let the meeting begin."


    The man who just arrived had a face that already reached old age. He was at least seventy years old, but he stood ramrod straight. He introduced himself with ample energy and a magnificent voice, "I am Trigate Corporation¡¯s CEO. My name is Wu Bin. I am also the person in charge of this project and the organizer of this team. I will be the one to coordinate the project¡¯s specific actions for the following time period. Among the people sitting, there are two professionals worthy of trust. There are also the elite of thepany and those who possess powerful strength. I am confident that this Preservation Operation will achieve satisfactory results."


    Wu Bin¡¯s speech was a bit bureaucratic, but he kept in ordance with the government and military background of Trigate Corporation.


    His stiff speech didn¡¯t represent a rigid mind. Wu Bin was fully aware that the experts he invited were meeting with the team members for the first time. They needed to have an intuitive understanding of each other. He took this chance to call upon one of his subordinates, "Introduce yourselves, starting from you."


    The subordinate quickly stood up. He was just about to speak when Peony raised her hand from the middle of the table. Her fingers were still ying with the dark ckish blue crow feather as she said, "Director Wu. The Hidden Indigo Firm wishes for you to first exin the personnel thatpose the action team. ording to the contract agreed upon by the firm and yourpany, we should be the only professional consultants and conductors. Where did talk of two professionalse from?"


    Her words shut up the poor subordinate, who was left looking stupidly at Wu Bin.


    The atmosphere in the conference room entered an even more awkward stage.

 Chapter 335: Winghand Bloodbat

    Chapter 335: Winghand Bloodbat


    Trantor: Strivon


    Wu Bin¡¯s brows furrowed slightly under Peony¡¯s inquiry, but he immediately presented a smile and said, "It¡¯s like this: We received thetest intelligence and saw that some of our targets possess the ability to spray matter that can causerge doses of radiation in a short period of time. These targets also like to live in areas of radiation. Therefore, we specifically invited Mr. Long Seven."


    Wu Bin extended an arm upon speaking, and Long Seven was very cooperative. He stood up and faced the other people in greeting. His bearing and air were all first-ss. His smooth and natural bodynguage diluted the awkward atmosphere in the room.


    Then came the apuse.... The members of the meeting were really pping.


    Wu Bin asked Long Seven to sit down. He continued, "Mr. Long Seven has been rmended by Northhope Corporation. He is an expert, and he possesses the special ability to neutralize radiation. As the world¡¯s finest supplier of human resources, Northhope Corporation¡¯s acuity is worthy of trust. I, myself, am also convinced of Mr. Long Seven¡¯s professional aplishments. At the same time, I ask you to believe in the sincerity of our cooperation and our ability to keep our promises."


    Hearing all this, Luo Nan already formed a rough assessment. This team probably had frequent dealings with ability users. Wu Bin talked of special abilities as natural as drinking water. He also didn¡¯t pay particr attention to Ink, an odd choice for a pet. He was probably very experienced in the world, not wondering at strange sights.


    This was quite reassuring.


    Peony sped her hands together to form a cup that braced her chin. This made her appear even more focused. Only the light scratching of her face with the crow feather revealed a slightly different kind of interest.


    Of course, it didn¡¯t matter what posture Peony adopted. A beautiful girl looked good in any position. It also dispelled the negative feelings of the others in the room. And just like this, she smiled. "Our firm doesn¡¯t doubt yourpany¡¯s power and reputation, but things need to be considered professionally. When scouting and locking onto the target, all matters need to be directed by our firm. This one point cannot be changed because of the teamposition, the type of target, the environment, and other reasons."


    Wu Bin responded immediately, "We won¡¯t go back on our word upon the matters stressed in the agreement."


    Peony switched her gaze to Long Seven¡¯s face, "The firm will not take any responsibility for any losses caused by use-viting actions from the cooperating partners and the members of the team. In such a case, the firm will withdraw from this project and seekpensation."


    Wu Bin confirmed, "No objections."


    Long Seven studied Peony from the side. Heughed two secondster, and said, "I am providing special service. Mrs. Peony, I have no contradictions with you taking charge of the entire situation.... I will certainlyply with the rted uses."


    Peony smiled as she sat back down. She tossed the feather back onto the table and said, "Then I have nothing else to say."


    Wu Bin let out a hidden sigh of relief while revealing a grand smile on his face. "Since we are one team, it is best tomunicate in a timely fashion. Be like Mrs. Peony and directly point out these things. We can dispel quite a few problems."


    Though he said these things, he wasn¡¯t willing to have Peony talk again. He indicated everyone to begin introducing themselves, and the team members introduced themselves one by one. Soon, it went around in a circle before arriving back at Peony and Long Seven.


    Long Seven donned an air of a noble, but he took the initiative to introduce himself for the sake of the collective. "Director Wu mentioned just now that he mainly invited me for my radiation neutralization ability. I won¡¯t say anything more on this topic. Other than that, I have studied the use of firearms and exoskeleton armors¡ª¡±


    Peony suddenly interrupted him, "What kind of exoskeleton armor? Military? Police? Or a Deep Blue Walker?"


    Long Seven gave a subtle smile. "I can use all of them."


    "Oh, forgive me." Though Peony said this, she was not the least bit surprised. She casually raised her hand, indicating that it was now her turn to introduce herself. "As you all can see, my special ability is being able to control birds for reconnaissance of a wide area, and perform some information integration analysis of the work. However, it seems like there¡¯s already an intelligence officer on the team."


    Wu Bin immediately made himself known, "We will certainly get the coordination done well. Axel Thue is mainly responsible for liaison and intelligence sharing. He is a very good assistant."


    Intelligence Officer Axel Thue, who had already introduced himself, stood back up once more to send his greetings to Peony. He didn¡¯t sit back down, though. Instead, he followed Wu Bin¡¯s intentions and began introducing the specifics of the operation.


    This briefing wasn¡¯t just for Peony¡¯s and Long Seven¡¯s benefit. The majority of the people in the conference room were the elite of Trigate Securities¡¯ operations department. However, they didn¡¯t have the privileges to look up certain key information. They needed to receive aprehensive exnation.


    The projector turned on within the dark room, projecting a different slice of the world inside.


    The light in the background spelled the time of dusk. The setting sun illuminated to the side. Wrinkledyers of the dark red earthy alongside ins of wild growth. The earth sucked in the red clouds of the setting sun, appearing like waves of blood frozen instantly during their rush. The earth formed piles upon piles of countless hills and valleys that extended to the reaches of heaven and earth.


    "The Wilderness... Wavepeak Hills?" Long Seven muttered. It was like he was speaking to himself, yet also deliberately conversing with Peony.


    Peony turned to look at him. "You¡¯re quite familiar with the terrain around Xia City."


    "I go there for a run from time to time."


    The bird¡¯s eye view continue to push forward during their exchange. The elevation gradually dropped at the end of the monotonous horizon, and a blood red, hilly area emerged, showing that Long Seven¡¯s deduction brimmed with acuity.


    The camera gradually locked onto the target.


    Countless ck dots spiraled in the dusky skies above the hills. They were like a weary flock of birds that wished to return home. But when the camera drew near and locked onto one of the bodies, Luo Nan¡¯s eyelid twitched from far away in the campus of Acumen College.


    What appeared in the center of the projection was not a bird at all. It was more like an ugly and mutated bat.... It was, without a doubt, a Mutant.


    The bat wasn¡¯trge in size. Its wingspan was around thirty centimeters. Its skull was the size of a small dog¡¯s. Its ears were veryrge. Its teeth were sharp, and its eyes were the color of blood red. Ash ck fur grew around its entire body.


    Its most distinguishing feature were the four ws that extended from the edges of its open webbed wings.


    Looking at the Mutant from a different angle, this monster¡¯s limbs were quiteplete. It possessed ample muscle, and it appeared to possess extraordinary strength. Its webbed wings appeared to be more like attachments.


    Intelligence Officer Axel Thue timely intervened with an exnation, "Winghand Bloodbat. They are a Mutant species that live in flocks. They suck on the blood ofrge mammalians to survive. While sucking blood, they also inject a paralysis agent and a virus. Large enough doses are fatal. Its diet includes people, and even its own species. Large flocks of them can be ss 2 threats. The vagrants of the wilderness call them Pub. It¡¯s an onomatopoeia, mimicking the sound of their pping wings.¡±


    He turned on the sound upon speaking. The high-fidelity audio reproduced the sound of the scene, the sound of hundreds upon hundreds of devilish bats circling in their flight. They made the uncanny sound of ¡¯bb,¡¯ which was akin to the sound of a sea of gs fluttering in the wind. The sound was constant.


    Axel Thue brought out an anatomical diagram at the edge of the projection, then said, "Everyone, please pay particr attention. The Winghand Bloodbat¡¯s body doesn¡¯t have a vocal organ. It normally doesn¡¯t make a sound when it flies and feeds. It is a terrifying assassin of the night. It only makes such a sound when it seeks a mate. Of course, they be extremely violent and keen during these times. Their destructive power is also at the peak."


    Another diagram popped out from below the anatomical diagram. Axel Thue was quite skilled in powerpoint.


    ¡°During the Winghand Bloodbat¡¯s mating season, the virus that it injects during blood-feeding possesses highly infectious and highly deadly characteristics. So far, there are already records of small and medium vagrant tribes being wiped out by being infected. This ce, for instance, is a ruin from the annihtion of a vagrant tribe."


    The camera angled shifted, and the people in the room could see hollowed holes atop the hills. They were quite regr. They were used as windows.


    These were earth cavesmonly used by vagrant tribes. They were quite solid, and great at concealing them, allowing them to avoid the majority of predators in the Wilderness. There was the scenario of earth cave battles in the Ten Days in the Wilderness game, so the image was not unfamiliar to Luo Nan.


    But all that appeared in the image was deathly stillness. The camera switched, and a few withered corpses appeared among scattered rocks and weeds. It seemed that every one of these corpses haf contorted. The people in the room could imagine that these vagrants had struggled desperately as they died.


    Silence descended upon the meeting room.


    Intelligence Officer Axel Thue continued to exin, "There is something that we need to be particrly aware of. ording to thetest research, some of the Winghand Bloodbats have mutated and evolved to gain finite control over its viruses. I don¡¯t know how else to say it. Does everyone understand...?"


    Long Seven interrupted with a question, "So you¡¯re saying that the Winghand Bloodbat can control its infected target?"


    "No, it has to do with the degree of infection. There exists a chance that it can cause mutations. ording to the experimental data of a certain research organization, a Winghand Bloodbat was able to realize mutation in two experimental bodies."


    "Human experimentation?"


    Intelligence Officer Axel Thue swept a nce at his boss and shrugged. "The data doesn¡¯t indicate this."


    He didn¡¯t continue this topic. He justpletely presented the various habits and characteristics of the Winghand Bloodbat in a very patient manner. This included the newest results from various research organizations, and he didn¡¯t even miss presenting the variations and subspecies of the Winghand Bloodbat.


    Unavoidably, he also exined the possible infiltration routes of this Mutant into Xia City.


    The whole thing took two hours. Acumen College¡¯s morning sses all ended by then.


    Trigate Corporation must have felt that the presentation was getting too long and tedious. All sorts of drinks, fruits, and snacks were brought to the people in the meeting. Even Ink was given a cup of drinking water.


    They barely made it to the end when a disy board of considerable size appeared to the side of the projection. There were several dark outlines and figures arranged upon it, and they were roughly divided into four levels. The top level was a bit sparse, while the bottom level was densely packed. There were at least a couple dozen of them.


    The projection of the Wilderness and the Winghand Bloodbat flock became a mass of light, and this mass of light was cast into the upper left corner of the first outline.


    At this pace, the meeting wouldst two days!


    Long Seven couldn¡¯t help shaking his head. "The scope is considerable."


    "Now is a good time to pull the fire rm, right?" Peony smiled from the corner of her eyes to her lips. She didn¡¯t actually mean her words, though.


    She never counted on Wu Bin to directly respond. She just spoke to her ¡¯pet,¡¯ "Mr. Ink, finished with your nap yet?"


    Ink, who had be as still as a sculpture of y, raised its eyelids. It really was napping under Luo Nan¡¯s orders. Ink just left a strand of consciousness to observe its surroundings, allowing Luo Nan to make use of it. Otherwise, Ink would have long since made amotion with its lively natural instincts.


    "We have prepared lunch. I ask the two experts toe." Wu Bin had no choice but to exin while giving the invitation, "As you can see, the Winghand Bloodbat is an exception in this case....¡±


    Peony cast a sidelong nce at him. "There are three exceptions. You¡¯re still calling them one exception?"


    On the four-level outline of the disy board, the top levelprised three Winghand Bloodbats. The second level had five. The third and the fourth had eight. There was a total of twenty-four.


    Disregarding exceptions, there were twenty-four Mutants who had killed their way into Xia City simultaneously. This was one of the most serious public safety incidents in thest thirty years.


    Wu Bin continued to beat around the bush, "These targets are arranged in decreasing order of threat. As such, we have nned milestone and stage bonuses. The topmost three have special rewards."


    Peony looked straight at Wu Bin in the face. "It¡¯s great to talk about money, but I bet that the government and military hasn¡¯t done much in the directional search for limited targets such as these. Am I right?"


    "We can increase the efficiency this way."


    "Oh true, you can save quite a bit of effort.... Mr. Long Seven, what do you think?"


    Long Seven crossed his arms, an action that was not very like that of a lord. "Modern science and technology is always rapidly progressing."


    Peony held a goblet atop the table. She shook it slightly, and the blue-green suds of the drink clung to the walls of the goblet as liquid spun within. She immediately raised her cup in indication to Long Seven.


    "A toast to Earth¡¯s future."


    Long Sevenughed in response. Their cups gently touched with a clink, and the odd and distorted faces of various people were reflected on the cups¡¯ surfaces.

 Chapter 336: Atop the Electric Shuttle

    Chapter 336: Atop the Electric Shuttle


    Trantor: Strivon


    Autumn turned into winter, increasing the nights and decreasing the days. Half of the allotted afternoon school society time had yet to pass when the rays of the setting sun cast upon Acumen College. The sun dyed everything with ayer of red, vaguely matching with the Wilderness within the projection.


    Luo Nan rode the campus¡¯s electric shuttle. He headed toward the auditorium with half-lidded eyes. He looked like he was sleeping, but he was not.


    Xue Lei didn¡¯t mind. Splitting the consciousness for two uses. Luo Nan had been like this for the entire day, not resting for a short moment. But Luo Nan¡¯s wrist band started to vibrate. It did so for several dozen seconds, and Xue Lei could even hear the buzz. This brother still wasn¡¯t responding. What the heck?


    Xue Lei couldn¡¯t hold back atst. He gave Luo Nan a push. "Someone¡¯s calling you!"


    Luo Nan went, "Ah,¡± and finally snapped out of it. He saw who it was on the caller ID and put the call through. "Hello, Third Brother."


    Hu Huaying was the one who called. The call barely connected when he smacked Luo Nan with a question, "Nanster, where are you?"


    "I¡¯m heading to Gear right now."


    "Okay. Hurry up a bit. The construction team is wrapping up for today. The underground facilities are pretty much all repaired now. They gave Old Xie a call, and Old Xie gave me a call to ask you to check it out."


    "Check it out?"


    Luo Nan felt that things were quite amusing. Since Gear had been damaged by the firesst week, that ce had be a location where supernatural entities gathered. There were five, six, seven, eight spies stuffed there. What was there to check out? The volume of intelligence each faction was gathering?


    Of course, this matter had nothing to do with Xie Junping and Hu Huaying. When all was said and done, all of this was caused by Luo Nan being too high-profile back then, and the disy of his extraordinary attachment to Gear. Even if there was nothing odd about Gear, Luo Nan¡¯s actions were bound to stir the attention of several eyes. What¡¯s more, this ce was not that simple.


    Luo Nan¡¯s emotions swung twice before he responded with a whisper, "I know. I¡¯ll be there in a minute."


    Luo Nan hung up and leaned back. He furrowed his brows subconsciously.


    Xue Lei turned to look at him. "You¡¯re no longer attending the meeting?"


    Luo Nan grunted and said, "Nope, it¡¯s too long. I don¡¯t really understand as well."


    Actually, some of Luo Nan¡¯s words were insincere. Xue Lei couldn¡¯t tell, but he was curious. He asked, "What did they talk about?"


    "They talked about things like Mutants, gic infection, and the probability of transmission." Luo Nan used telepathy to inform Peony as he talked with Xue Lei. He just left a bit of will to give Ink reins as hepletely withdrew his attention.


    It was already half past four in the afternoon. Seven hours had passed since the meeting started. Luo Nan withdrew, subconsciously letting out a sigh of relief.


    As the meeting dragged on, the discussions grew more and more technical and specialized. Such specialized knowledge was too obscure and abstract for a high school student. From time to time, it was simply like listening to a differentnguage. To forcefully try to understand it was a waste of brain power, and this would also bring about issues with uracy.


    He might as well just listen to the conclusion. The Hidden Indigo Firm were arranging things this way, after all. Luo Nan finally realized Zhang Yingying¡¯s kindness. If things were to follow in the style of today¡¯s meeting, there wasn¡¯t much he had to do for the next few days.


    However, Luo Nan had to admit that he really learned a lot from this long meeting. Much of the specialized knowledge regarding Mutants and the Wilderness, as well as the rted intelligence analysis, were unheard of and unseen until now.


    Luckily, Luo Nan had taken lessons from the Society recently. Otherwise, Luo Nan wouldck even the most basic ofmon knowledge in these subjects.


    "These days, you need to be careful of cats, dogs, birds, bats, mice, and other animals like these. Don¡¯t get hurt by them. Right, there¡¯s the recycling stratum in the Dual River District. You need to be careful of people too."


    "What happened? A viral infection? An epidemic?"


    "It¡¯s not that serious. The effects on normal people isn¡¯t too big. It¡¯s mainly us who are..." Luo Nan recalled the knowledge he gained from the meeting, giving Xue Lei a warning.


    The virus transmitted by the Mutant was such that the stronger the infected person, the greater likelihood of mutation. Ability users were people at high risk.


    It was like some time ago with the crisis from the divide and spread of the Human-Faced Arachnid. Aside from the unlucky few who got too close, normal people practically escaped unscathed. But several people of Xia City¡¯s ability user society branch were controlled by this parasite, creating a huge mess.


    That was an infection on the mental ne. As for the Winghand Bloodbat, the poison and the virus were transmitted via blood. Physically enhanced ability users would find themselves attracting the Winghand Bloodbats like flies.


    Xue Lei¡¯s tooth ached just listening to Luo Nan. He gritted his teeth and couldn¡¯t help asking a few details.


    Luo Nan acted as a trantor. He took all the information he knew and selected the information that directly concerned him. He simply requested Xue Lei to refrain from spreading this information. It was fine to warn his family to take note. If any symptoms appeared, they should promptly contact the Society.


    "Isn¡¯t this a bio-crisis? And the city is hiding it like this? There hasn¡¯t been any rumors of it at all. I wouldn¡¯t have known if you hadn¡¯t told me.... Oh right, will there be any problems with you telling me these things?"


    "I have signed a confidentiality agreement,"ughed Luo Nan as he waved his hand. "The agreement is written very clearly. The Hidden Indigo Firm and its shareholders have the right to know and follow the developments in the situation. We are also allowed the discretion to notify parties of interest. However, our actions must not cause social impacts.... So isn¡¯t this okay?"


    "Social impacts?" Xue Lei didn¡¯t quite understand.


    "No informing the various authoritative media and social media. Do not cause rumors. This should be all right."


    Xue Lei let out a breath of relief, and he couldn¡¯t help from breaking intoughter. "This agreement isn¡¯t worth sh*t."


    "It¡¯s quite an unequal one."


    This use was extremely vague. To follow to the letter resulted in a limit that was practically boundless. The Xia City¡¯s branch was Hidden Indigo Firm¡¯s shareholder. They also worked for the public good. Xue Lei was a member of the Society. Legally, it wasn¡¯t a problem for Xue Lei to know.


    In the meeting, it was unknown just how many times Peony used methods like these to torment Wu Bin to the point of wanting to cry but being unable to. This was something else Luo Nan had gained today.


    In addition to the discussion of specialized knowledge, the meeting also involved techniques and skills of office politics. Peony, Long Seven, Director Wu Bin, and Intelligence Officer Axel Thue disyed excellent performances in regard to this.


    Luo Nan expressed himself quite emotionally while exining it to Xue Lei, "The shing of de light and sword shadows. To kill without a sound. What sort of minds does this group of people have?"


    He really admired them.


    Luo Nan had experienced many things since entering the inner world. He was always within the eye of the storm, and he always became the target of fire. There were many times when he needed to forge ahead, contend against enemies, and work with his teammates. He never had any leeway to rest.


    In fact, his experiences proved that he wasn¡¯t a natural leader. He was crippled in this aspect to a degree.


    He spent most of his time past the age of ten doing experiments and immersing himself in research. His introverted nature was one that was nearly that of a hermit. He had no concept of certain matters at all. He could only move in ordance to what he felt. There were many ws in his chain of actions, and many times what he did was for naught. Luckily, his fortune was decent. He had the power revealed to him by Formatting Theory. He also had assistance from He Yueyin, Zhang Yingying, and big shots like Ouyang Chen. Only in this way did he not die a violent death, and instead, endured the many bumps on the road of life to this day.


    In today¡¯s meeting, Luo Nan remained behind the scenes, a rarely seen action. He just left a strand of consciousness tied to Ink¡¯s body. He collected his mouth, only bringing his eyes and ears. He increased his knowledge using only pure observation, obtaining real benefits.


    He learned in particr from Peony and Long Seven. Peony was a very strong individual, but she was extremely good at utilizing her beauty to gloss over and dispel matters. On the other hand, Long Seven was a needle concealed in silk floss, a ruthless character behind a gentle appearance. His sharp, prideful air was concealed behind an aura of confidence and ease produced from his words and actions.


    asionally, the two would oppose each other with equal intensity. asionally, the two cooperated closely. Being divided or being together was unfixed. They brought Wu Bin, a seasoned character at the scene, under their rhythm. The team leader had long since be merely the team leader in name.


    This sort of scene¡¯s ability to grab one¡¯s attention was much more powerful than that of the dry and boring ssroom lectures.


    Peony and Long Seven were in their twenties, but their stores of knowledge, their bearings, their words and actions, and their natures and characters were quite brilliant to Luo Nan. Luo Nan admired them... and perhaps felt inferior inparison.


    He was only six or seven years younger, but they were this different. Would he be able to reach their level through the experience of six or seven years?


    All right, these hopes seemed uncertain....


    A call from another person came right when Luo Nan was describing the situation to Xue Lei. This time, the call came from a different channel. The HexaEar vibrated. It was Zhang Yingying.


    The connection was made, and this sister excitedly smacked him in the face with a question, "You¡¯ve been stunned by them, right?"


    "Quite stunned," Luo Nan spoke with sincere emotion, "Your firm is filled with the elite. Peony is quite amazing. It seems like she¡¯s even from our school?"


    "Tsk, you¡¯ve simply jumped ship to go catch lobsters, and now you¡¯re speaking modestly? Don¡¯t go blindly praising others. What about you?"


    "Me? What can I do? I¡¯m just pretending to be a crow over there...."


    "Crow, my a*s! It¡¯s more like you¡¯re out of it! Big bro, you¡¯re the core of this project, okay? Being elite doesn¡¯t matter. If you don¡¯t talk, they¡¯ll just y hide and seek at Xia City!"


    Zhang Yingying¡¯s mood was erratic. She was all smiles before, but now she was frustrated because Luo Nan did not meet her expectations. "The firm has outsourced this project to you because we look favorably upon your mental sensing ability. All the work depends upon your actions. Letting our firm do all the work is the same as tossing money away. The least you can do is listen!"


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t know how he should respond. This quarrel was different from the ones in the past. Zhang Yingying was speakingpletely from his standpoint. She exhausted all there was to talk about. There probably wasn¡¯t anything he could refute with.


    He was speechless for a long time, and it was Zhang Yingying who sighed in the end. She slowed down and said, "I¡¯m not reproaching you. I just feel that this is an excellent chance for you. The job is practically tailor-made for you. Just do things like in a video game...."


    "This, the invasion of Mutants, can¡¯t be considered a game."


    "A metaphor. It was just a metaphor, okay? Haven¡¯t you realized it? Your biggest problem is that you¡¯re too stressed. The work is to search out these Mutants. You¡¯re pretty much the only one with a mental sensing ability on this level in Xia City. Aside from the boss and the president, there¡¯s no one who is better than you. This is your specialty. This is your field. You¡¯re the authority here. If you don¡¯t establish a frame now, when will you?"


    "...."


    "Oh my god!"


    Luo Nan¡¯s silence spelled the problem very clearly. Zhang Yingying couldn¡¯t hold back from tilting her head to the sky and sighing, "Your performances at Frost River Reality and at Ocean Sky Cloud City were quite kick*ss. You stifled people to the point of madness. You cheated people to the point of spitting blood. You killed people, totally annihting them. You were godlike. But with just a few days of time, you¡¯re shrinking more and more."


    "I haven¡¯t shrunk," Luo Nan wanted to correct her for his own sake.


    "Yes. Yes, you old man. You¡¯re growing, but it doesn¡¯t hurt to stand up straight everyday. Are you getting enough oxygen to your brain?"


    Zhang Yingying shot her mouth off like a machine gun. She mowed down with a rapid-fire beat, "Rx. Rx your mind. What are you stressed about? Are you afraid of embarrassment? Don¡¯t say that you¡¯re an authority. Even if you make a small mistake, you¡¯re not really appearing in person. What¡¯s wrong with making a mistake? That crow. Its name is Ink, right? It is a mask. And you use it to conceal yourself. No one knows who you are. You canugh or you can curse. You can cry or you can vent. They won¡¯t know who you are unless you tell them."


    Luo Nan asked stupidly, "A mask?"

 Chapter 337: Soloer

    Chapter 337: Soloer


    Trantor: Strivon


    Zhang Yingying stammered a bit when Luo Nan asked this question. The words she just spoke were all driven by her emotions. They were an attempt to evoke Luo Nan¡¯s emotions, so Zhang Yingying didn¡¯t pay particr attention to her choice of words. How was she to know that this guy, Luo Nan, would be apathetic to the extreme, and even have the leisure to answer her question with a question?


    Zhang Yingying had no choice. She could only improvise on the fly, "Yes, you understand now. When one wears a mask, one gains an additionalyer of protection. It is easier to let loose with this protection. Aren¡¯t there performance styles with people wearing masks on stage? In those performances, the expressive power of the limbs is regarded as more important than the face. You don¡¯t need to worry about ugly appearances. The audience will even naturally imagine it. Don¡¯t people say that imagination is more beautiful than reality?"


    Zhang Yingying¡¯s logic was aplete mess by the end. Even she was about to facepalm.


    But she never expected that Luo Nan would really be dragged into the ditches by her. "You¡¯re saying that this is a show, and I am to engage as a new character. This way I can lessen the pressure?"


    The power of imagination had exploded!


    Zhang Yingying had identally saved Luo Nan with herpletely broken logic. She immediately seized this chance and fiercely nodded her head from the other side of the call, saying, "Yeah, yeah! Haven¡¯t you seen those Inte trolls? A lot of them make good money and have good education in real life. They express themselves so virtuously in front of people in everyday life, but they talk bullshit when they go online in anonymity. That¡¯s how they vent and relieve stress! Just think. This is human nature. Your behavior on the Inte and your own nature are certainly different!"


    Luo Nan conscientiously thought about his own Inte life before responding, "It seems like there¡¯s not much difference for me."


    Zhang Yingying took in a deep breath before spitting out word after word with gritted teeth, "Then you go learn. Learn how others vent. Learn how others let loose. Otherwise, you will just keep on stressing out like this, and you¡¯ll break down sooner orter! You don¡¯t need to think about much else. In the entire firm, only me and the boss know your identity¡ª"


    "Peony doesn¡¯t know?"


    "Of course she doesn¡¯t. She¡¯s a neer¡ª"


    "A neer? What does she do in your firm?"


    "What else can she do? The boss just unearthed her and has yet to arrange a specific task for her. Then a project just so happened toe along, so we let her coordinate for experience."


    Luo Nan felt like his heart was stabbed with a knife. Not only did he not rx, he turned gloomy. "A neer is this amazing. What did she do before?"


    Zhang Yingying lost her patience. "It was boss¡¯s good eyes. I think she had been observing her for quite some time. It was only recently that the boss recruited her. I¡¯m not too certain of her past. She wasn¡¯t part of the Society, nor an Order. She also has no rtionships with the military. Who knows where she spawned from? She¡¯s super mysterious.... Oh right, don¡¯t you be intimidated by her. She¡¯s just a stage performer, just an assistant and messenger. The important person in question is you!"


    Luo Nan wanted to say, "You wouldn¡¯t think so if you were in this meeting,¡± but the words only reached the tip of his tongue when he suddenly felt that something was off. The topic was the same, but today¡¯s Zhang Yingying was much more emotional thanst week¡¯s. She was clearly perturbed.


    As soon as the thought formed, the words within Luo Nan¡¯s mouth changed, "Uh, do you not like Peony or something?"


    Zhang Yingying instantly went silent.


    Luo Nan thought back on Zhang Yingying¡¯s attitude and suddenly realized, "You can¡¯t bepeting with her, right!? Are you jealous of the neer?"


    "...Just go die!" Zhang Yingying was really mad now. She hung up the call.


    Luo Nan went, "Uh." His evaluation grew firmer.


    Luo Nan was able to make an assessment out of Zhang Yingying¡¯s nature, words, and actions. Zhang Yingying probably had a very special position in the Hidden Indigo Firm. She was very much a favorite of Her Majesty Empress Wu. But all of a sudden, the neer Peony came out of nowhere. She was extremely brilliant in handling affairs, and her abilities were very powerful. She likely gave Zhang Yingying a dangerous feeling.


    These thoughts and feelings were very subtle, subtle enough that perhaps even Zhang Yingying wasn¡¯t conscious of them. But they wereid bare in a few words by Luo Nan in quite a rude and impetuous manner. Honestly, this was very disrespectful of Luo Nan. He got off easy with Zhang Yingying merely hanging up the phone and not blocking him.


    Luo Nan scratched his head. He started getting a headache over figuring out how to apologize to Zhang Yingying. In the end, he wasn¡¯t someone who was good with words. He could only leave a message on the Psychic Wave Network.


    "I spoke wrongly. I¡¯m sorry.... Also, thank you. I understand now."


    Luo Nan¡¯s prior words were very clumsy, but they were also very sincere. However, theter few words had false intentions.


    Understand? He understood in principle, but in practice, his thoughts were far from clear. As time passed, Luo Nan even felt that doing these things wasn¡¯t that significant.


    Rx? Would rxing let those enemies, who were akin to tigers watching their prey, give up? Would it change the pursuit of their goals?


    He had the time to mull over these matters. He might as well sink into his mind and do some school work exercises.


    But then someone in the shuttle made a low cry all of a sudden. A muffled boom soon followed. Something heavy had smashed into the vehicle¡¯s window, and this brought new and louder shouts.


    Everyone in the vehicle all turned to look. Most of these people were messaging others online. They had been unaware of what was going on outside the windows. During their befuddled states, a fellow wearing a baseball cap was spotted through an open window. He cursed from afar and gave the middle finger.


    "F*CK! We lost another, zero to three. I¡¯ll kick you all in the balls!"


    Luo Nan understood now. The electric shuttle had passed the open-air field. An athlete in the middle of training had lost control of his foot, kicking the ball into the shuttle¡¯s window.


    This was supposed to be a minor matter, but some of the students in the shuttle found amon topic, and someone faced the fellow wearing the baseball cap. He said, "Team Pathfinder¡¯s level this year is full of drunkards, losing to even Yunshang, zero to three. They even recruited rk."


    "rk, what a soloer. He just knows how to run a hundred meters down the sidelines. He must be using this as a chance to train for track and field. How much is the track and field society giving him as a sign-on bonus?"


    "Hellooo, he ran down the entire field. That¡¯s nearly twenty kilometers. Are you up for the task?"


    "Up for picking weeds? I¡¯ll break an ankle on the turf by the time we get through the whole field...."


    "You¡¯re right. Lando Field is very crappy. It¡¯s absolutely not suitable for our school. We should switch to a more responsible sponsor. Who wants to start a petition with me?"


    The atmosphere in the shuttle grew livelier and livelier. A lot of people who had been silent while the vehicle was in motion broke their silence. They participated in the game discussion. Some people even went to the school message board to petition, while some took the opportunity to get the female students¡¯ numbers. There were plentiful gains.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t care for such things. He raised his eyes to look, and was about to go back into his own train of thought and world when he saw that Xue Lei was also exchanging numbers with people, and was discussing topics involving rk.


    Luo Nan was inexplicably shocked. "You know this person?"


    ¡°Of course, rk Kembo, the athletic star of the school. Lightning of the field. Rumor has it that soon he¡¯d be able to enter the city¡¯s team. I saw his matches before, back when school started. He wasn¡¯t as rough with his feet as people are saying now."


    Xue Lei spoke as if this was the most obvious thing on earth. Then, he became shocked as well. "You don¡¯t know!? His posters are all over the ssroom buildings in the school!"


    Luo Nan¡¯s mouth gaped. He looked once more at his peers chattering away within the vehicle, and his heart inexplicably fell. He opened his mouth again several secondster and asked, "Do you also know about Jungle Owl and what it is?"


    "Of course, man. They¡¯re our school¡¯s gaming n. They y Ten Days in the Wilderness. They lost quite horribly in the Autumn Gamesst month.... Did you run into a member of Jungle Owl? Who?"


    "I didn¡¯t," Luo Nan muttered. He turned his head to look out the window, scanning the campus subconsciously.


    Xue Lei waspletely confused. "What¡¯s wrong?"


    "It¡¯s nothing. I just feel that I stay at home too much," Luo Nanughed, not saying much else.


    Actually, he had spoken another lie. His current assessment of himself couldn¡¯t be merely described as staying at home too much.


    Xue Lei concentrated on his martial arts, while Peony joined the Hidden Indigo Firm. They each engaged in their own activities, acquiring a certain distance from the world of normal people. However, they didn¡¯t lose perception of their surrounding environment.


    Luo Nan was far too dull inparison.


    The shuttle made its way leisurely to the auditorium, and the student passengers went off and on in-between. The subject of the ser ball had vanished into thin air, as if nothing had happened.


    Luo Nan got off the shuttle and deliberately turned his head to look around. His gaze soon cut into the area surrounding the bustling auditorium. A week ago, it was here that he tempered the eyes orifice. He was familiar with each de of grass and each tree. He also had the number of steps in the flight of stairs in his mind. The faces of people who were often active here were a bit familiar looking to Luo Nan, but that was all.


    After all, these were merely temporary targets of his observation. There wasn¡¯t any deeper information to be acquired. There wasn¡¯t any meaning.


    Luo Nan harbored this sort of understanding all this time. But as he returned to this ce today, a certain feeling suddenly dawned upon him: He and this auditorium, the surrounding za, and even the entire school, were totally ipatible.


    Things were like this two months ago when he had just entered the school, and things were still like this now.


    This feeling of his was not a good one.


    Luo Nan and Xue Lei didn¡¯t have time to waste. They simply entered the forest that surrounded the north bank. They made a few turns and arrived in front of Gear. The smell of smoke and ash seemed to remain.


    The construction team had finished today¡¯s work by now. They left one by one, reducing the presence of people.


    Hu Huaying was already waiting at the entrance by the time Luo Nan arrived. Besides him, there waited also the supervisor and the project manager. It looked like today¡¯s activity was going to be a formal inspection.


    Hu Huaying immediately introduced everyone, being positioned in-between, and Luo Nan nodded in greeting. Luo Nan didn¡¯t intend to go deeper into conversation. He also didn¡¯t immediately go inspect. Instead, he went to ask for Xie Junping.


    Previously, the young master of the Xie Family was forging on ahead, but all of a sudden he was nowhere to be seen. Luo Nan really did want to see him. With Xie Junping present and chatting up a storm, wouldn¡¯t things be lively?


    "Old Xie has been acting quite mysteriouslytely. It probably has to something to do with Sissy Du. They¡¯re doing some fasting cultivation."


    Luo Nan idently heard the biggest joke in Xia City. He couldn¡¯t help grinning. Hu Huaying also couldn¡¯t butugh, "Waking up at six a.m. Going to sleep at nine p.m. He has maintained this for five days."


    "Oh, that¡¯s not easy.... But having order in life is a good thing. He has perseverance."


    The Sissy Du who Hu Huaying just mentioned was the former president of the Mystic Arts Research Society, Du Yong. Luo Nan only met him once before. He wasn¡¯t too familiar with him. He just knew that Du Yong was a bit neurotic, albeit a decent person.


    They started to talk about Gear after a few words of idle chatter.


    The project manager maintained his silence, while the supervisor exined. Luo Nan didn¡¯t really listen. Nothing but the instation of wiring, the maintenance of various systems, and rted things were said.


    Luo Nan made grunts and okays in response. He wasn¡¯t a technical person; he just checked the contractmissioned to the supervisor. It was just that things didn¡¯t merely involve construction. The supervisor¡¯s spy work was yed quite swimmingly, protectively, and so on.


    Luo Nan would be damned to trust him!

 Chapter 338: Bottom of the Atrium

    Chapter 338: Bottom of the Atrium


    Trantor: Strivon


    Currently, Gear attracted flies. Luo Nan recognized this.


    Within Acumen College, Gear had always been tinted with a bit of a mysterious vor. Even Xie Junping, ayman, heard of the nickname the Ritual Club. Rumor had it that Gear was very suitable for carrying out mystic rituals. And with Luo Nan making that move, every expert and professional would find it hard not to find Gear strange.


    Actually, before the various spies crammed their way in, the Xia City branch of the Society had already made an assessment. They said that theyout of the building was out of the norm. As for the concrete ces of interest, these results could not be obtained in a short amount of time.


    Because of this, He Yueyin suggested that Luo Nan follow the principle of removing whatever was blocking the way. First release the people inside, avoid sealing off various locations, and let everybody guess around to their heart¡¯s content.


    The matter regarding Headquarters was a lesson to be learned from.


    This was an intelligent method, but it was also a move of withdrawal. For a week, Luo Nan acted in ordance to He Yueyin and the other¡¯s instructions. He acted as if he hadn¡¯t seen the actions of the spies, but he was actually agitated in his heart. He couldn¡¯t bear letting outsiders open ess.


    He couldn¡¯t stop the spiesing from all sides. He had to suffer in silence. But this didn¡¯t mean that he would treat the spies with a good expression.


    He had a n early in mind. He let the supervisor engineer talk and guide them in a stroll underground. And so, half an hour passed with Luo Nan not expressing any opinion, nor revealing any emotions.


    Soon, night fell, and the supervisor and project manager werepletely unable to get a feel for Luo Nan. They felt that there was no point in continuing. Hu Huaying was capable of reading Luo Nan¡¯s behavior by now. He gave a few words to deal with the situation and sent the supervisor and project manager away.


    Hu Huaying waited for the outsiders to scram before asking, "Nanster, is this work not to your taste?"


    Luo Nan shook his head. "I don¡¯t understand when ites to the specialized matters, but besides that I¡¯m not really dissatisfied. Just let them continue with the repairs. You know, this ce is very meaningful to me. As long as nothing happens, everything is fine. But something did happen, so this ce needs a few protective measures. I can¡¯t find outsiders for that job."


    "Old Xie mentioned this before. So that¡¯s why this construction doesn¡¯t include the restoration of the defense system. He¡¯s thinking that you will want to personally design it.... You¡¯re certainly notcking in experts."


    Hu Huaying¡¯sughter more or less contained a hint of ttery. Last week at Ocean Sky Cloud City, he personally witnessed how the me of the young master of the He Family had been suppressed.... No, the me hadn¡¯t been suppressed¡ªthe person extinguished the me himself.


    Each and every one of the people who revolved around Luo Nan was very mysterious, and perhaps, very influential. Most notable was He Donglou¡¯s sister. ording to his hidden sources, that was He Donglou¡¯s real sister of flesh and blood. She had just retired from the special forces in the military. Who would have expected that she was working with Luo Nan?


    Hu Huaying had been a slightly suspicious in the past of how Xie Junping normally acted with his friend Luo Nan. But today was different. He was given the opportunity, and he was capable of doing things more fervently than Xie Junping by tenfold!


    The Xie Family was Xia City¡¯s number one major business group, no two ways about it. There was a level of difference between the Xie Family and the Hu Family. When others came out with force, you had to strive to catch up. Tenfold was not an exaggeration.


    Hu Huaying even thought ayer deeper: Old Xie didn¡¯te out to greet Luo Nan today. He ran off to y some mystic arts with Sissy Du. Was this being overconfident that his rtionship with Luo Nan was stable? Or did this imply going toward a different direction that was in ordance to one¡¯s fancy?


    As Hu Huaying pondered, they walked as a group out of the fire escape passageway and entered some wide, open space. The lighting had dimmed. There weren¡¯t any lights on. The dark sky emerged above their heads.


    Hu Huaying had leaned back against the wall of this ce for many days. He was extremely well-informed of theyout and repair progress of the building Gear. He swept his gaze around and said, "This ce, the atrium, is a bit messy. It is hard to avoid dropping some junk here during the renovations. You have to wait until the end before cleaning this ce."


    Luo Nan grunted and raised his head to look. Gear had seven floors underground and four floors above ground. There was also a half-open rooftop, for a total of twenty floors. They were currently on the lowest floor, looking at the peak of therge atrium several meters high.


    The constructionyout of Gear was unconventional. As for how it was unconventional, one needed an architect or someone in the know like Luo Nan to be able to exin. Even the directional angles were notpletely the same.


    In any case, from the perspective of the majority of people, the circr, cascading, and practically nting internal structure of Gear was probably what would leave the deepest impression. Within this series of structures, the most eye-catching thing was the perfectly straight ¡¯atrium¡¯ that linked all the floors together. Nothing else could surpass this in Luo Nan¡¯s eyes.


    It was different from the vast majority of simr structures. The atrium of Gear was situated at the westernmost side of the building. Its edge was the outer wall of the building. Its height exceeded fifty meters, and it took up considerable space. If the lights weren¡¯t turned on and the angle of the rays of the sun wasn¡¯t suitable, the atrium would appear pitch-ck from top to bottom. The darkness was quite terrifying.


    Looking at it with a dark mindset, this was an excellent ce tomit suicide.


    The outer wall of the atrium was surrounded by bulletproof ss, probably to prevent such circumstances from happening. Not even the slightest of cracks was spared on each floor. It would require quite the skill to jump down.


    From the bottom of the atrium, one could tilt their head upward and see the evening sky. The lights of the metropolis, aside from a ray of the setting sun, were what dimly smeared this ce with the dusk¡¯s colors.


    The atrium was twenty meters in diameter. It was extremely spacious. But from an issue of height, it appeared rather slender no matter the perspective. Only when one reached the bottom to personally experience this ce could one know just howrge this space was.


    Luo Nan gave Xue Lei augh. "This ce is quite decent to train at everyday. The atmosphere isn¡¯t too stuffy, right? The rooftop can be closed when it rains. It¡¯s more convenient than the outside."


    "It¡¯s worth a shot." Xue Lei grinned. He took himself to be a bodyguard since they entered Gear. He uttered not a word and was in aplete state of vignce. In secret, he even operated the detection device allocated to him by the Society. This was to defend against anything of the construction team that might have been left behind in the dark and had yet to see the light of day.


    Xue Lei rxed now that he was chatting with Luo Nan. He copied Luo Nan, raising his head and looking at the sky. He suddenly thought of something. "Closing the rooftop. That must use ss as well, right? Then, this is like an astronomical telescope¡ª"


    "Actually, it does have this function." Hu Huaying remembered that information about this was included in the data. He immediately showed off, "It can be realized through an internal mounting module. The equipment room is on the sixth floor underground. Of course, we¡¯ll need to swap to a special lens as well. The retrofitting should be done in an hour. Of course, you can¡¯t change the direction of this telescope. You can only look at the small area above your head."


    "An hour?" Xue Lei¡¯s heart stirred a bit. He really wanted to experience it.


    Hu Huaying rushed to mend his words, "We can¡¯t do it right now. This function was added in 1991. The Order Club copsed soon after construction finished. The nearly purchased equipment were all sold off. The depreciation cost them hundreds of thousands."


    Are you ying with me!?


    Xue Lei rolled his eyes. Before he could talk, Luo Nanughed wryly, "Ruining it by adding something superfluous, like drawing legs on a snake."


    Hu Huaying mind went nk for a moment. He honestly didn¡¯t understand what Luo Nan was talking about. In any case, he wasn¡¯t affected from parroting Luo Nan¡¯s words, "So, the legs of the snake were chopped off."


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t say anything else. He quietly looked into the night sky. It was unknown where his thoughts drifted to.


    Hu Huaying and Xue Lei locked gazes. They were just about to talk when Luo Nan raised his arm to look at his wristband. Luo Nan¡¯s brow furrowed. "Someone¡¯s looking for me. Third Brother, you and Xue Lei go ahead and chat. I¡¯m going to pick up this call."


    Hu Huaying really wanted to agree then drag Luo Nan and Xue Lei to eat dinner. He wanted to establish friendly rtions. But he had seconds thoughts. With Luo Nan¡¯s introverted nature, he couldn¡¯t be impatient in ying friendly. What if he pushed things too far? So, Hu Huaying immediately said, "You do what you gotta do. I¡¯ll head on out first...."


    Sure enough, Luo Nan didn¡¯t urge him to stay. He nodded and gave another word of thanks. Then he hurriedly walked into the fire escape passageway. That call of his must be very private.


    Xue Lei and Hu Huaying took the elevator up, sending Luo Nan their farewells.


    Soon, the silence at the bottom of the atrium was restored.


    Luo Nan waited for the elevator to go up as he stood in the fire escape passageway. He didn¡¯t turn on his wristbandmunications. Instead, he subtly closed his eyes. His thoughts pulsed to arrive at the business hotel several dozen kilometers away.


    His temporary partner Peony had used the rubberband to stimte Ink, and this was sensed by Luo Nan. The reason she did this was very simple.


    The meeting had finished.


    Luo Nan looked at the time. It was around six p.m. right now. The meeting hadsted nearly nine hours.


    Peony walked to the elevator, with Ink still on her shoulder. They paired up quite well, but things were different from when they arrived. There was another person in the elevator. It was none other than Long Seven.


    The two people had no desire for further conversation, but Long Seven was paying a bit more attention than usual to Ink in the elevator. They exited the elevator as they arrived at the underground parking lot, and simply walked to the first row of cars. There was a super-car there. It wasn¡¯t low-key at all.


    Luo Nan vaguely recalled that this was the location where Old Jin had parked. Where did the man and his car go?


    Old Jin¡¯s ordinary SUV came speeding in during Luo Nan¡¯s moment of bafflement. He shed his lights and stopped in front of Peony, who was standing before the elevator. He arrived right on the dot. Clearly, he hadn¡¯t wasted an entire day in waiting. He was eating a giant burger from who knows where. The fragrance was quite strong.


    Peony let Ink ride shotgun. She sat in the back seat as before. Old Jin opened the window, dispersing the fragrance inside the car. Then he started the car, and he heard Long Seven call out at this time.


    "See you tomorrow."


    Peony waved her hand rather aloofly, and soon the SUV sped out of the underground parking lot.


    Only now did Peony talk business. She spoke rapidly, "The meeting will continue tomorrow. I will send the rted information and meeting records to the internal cloud space. Please check if you¡¯ve received them."


    Luo Nan wanted to ask the situation of the meeting in detail, but he thought about the behavior Zhang Yingying had revealed earlier on and hesitated slightly. In the end, he didn¡¯t say anything.


    The car entered a state of silence. It was now Old Jin¡¯s turn to talk, "Where do you want to get off?"


    Luo Nan remembered that Peony was probably a person from Acumen College. If he got off with her, he might draw this woman¡¯s suspicions. This must not happen. The firm hid his true identity. It would be better to hold this disguise until the end.


    "I¡¯ll leave once we leave the parking lot."


    "Then see you tomorrow."


    They didn¡¯t perform any civilities. As soon as the car entered the main road, Ink jumped out the window, spread its wings, and flew into the night sky. At the same time, at Gear, Luo Nan logged into the cloud space and checked the meeting minutes.


    The rted documents came from Trigate Corporation. Thispany did matters in ordance to standards. The meeting minutes were very tidy and understandable.


    Peony even made annotations line by line. She marked the important points. Luo Nan really didn¡¯t know where she got the mental energy and time. Aside from the data, she even wrote a few brief reports about the members of the meeting.


    The focus of her attention was naturally Long Seven. Peony already obtained a preliminary conclusion, and the decisive point actually had to do with his fashionable ear.


    In Peony¡¯s report, the material of Long Seven¡¯s earring belonged to some kind of super-stic memory alloy material. It could morph greatly under high temperatures. It was a mechanical keyrgely preferred by Burners.


    In other words, Long Seven was very likely a Deep Blue Walker.


    In addition, this man was quite familiar with Xia City. He even possessed the special ability of radiation neutralization. Peony already locked onto the target.


    He was Snake Seven of Sky Blue Security, a subsidiarypany under Quantum Corporation.

 Chapter 339: Within a Prison

    Chapter 339: Within a Prison


    Trantor: Strivon


    Snake Seven¡¯s identity was peeled open in just a few hours?


    Luo Nan grinned as he examined Peony¡¯s report in detail. The report simply indicated how Snake Seven had once appeared during the Society¡¯s operation in rescuing Rui Wen. Of course, he appeared as an enemy of the Society.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t have a deep impression of this man. After all, seven or eight Deep Blue Walkers had mobilized that night, and many of them became casualties. God knows which one was which. Within Luo Nan¡¯s memories, the post-operation report did contain this codename. The codename represented the man¡¯s depth of involvement in this conflict, but nothing more. He was just one of the people who were on the opposing side of the Society.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t feel emotionally moved like "Oh, so it was him.¡± His attention deviated a little.


    Luo Nan thought a level deeper. There was no reason for this Snake Seven, or this Long Seven, not to use simr methods as them. The focus of his analysis would certainly be Peony, but Ink was quite an eye-catching mark, being an enormous crow. Ink was at least 70% likely to be Long Seven¡¯s incision point.


    Could Luo Nan still hide his identity?


    Ink was quite high-profile on that night, especially during the prior half. There were certainly more than a few eyewitnesses at the underground fighting arena.


    Luo Nan was furrowing his brow in contemtion when a refresh symbol appeared on the cloud space document. He tapped it gently, and the entire document was updated. There was instantly a lot more text.


    Under careful examination, there was more detailed information on Snake Seven, and they were allid out within the document.


    So Luo Nan came to find out that Snake Seven was a very talented ability user. He was ambitious, seeking to be a Deep Blue Walker, so he entered Quantum Corporation of his own ord. He became a special test subject with his young age, andter he strongly requested entrance to the mobilization team. So, he was transferred over to Sky Blue Security.


    The document even touched upon Snake Seven¡¯s personality, how he handled things, his family rtions, and so on. This character, who Luo Nan once found mysterious, was exposed inplete daylight in the blink of an eye. Practically nothing was hidden from Luo Nan.


    A fine strand of air seeped through the cracks between Luo Nan¡¯s teeth, cooling his heart as well.


    He logged out from the cloud space. His brain was a bit messy, but there was a part that remained extremely clear. With Luo Nan¡¯s current reputation, special position, and role, the various intelligence agencies would never overlook him.


    As one tiny clue could reveal the overall picture, looking at Snake Seven¡¯s life events, perhaps there were also files on Luo Nan atop the desks of the various intelligence agencies, endlessly refreshing with newer information. Each and every movement was likely to bepletely exposed to the naked eye of others, just like with Snake Seven. Not even an iota of privacy remained.


    Luo Nan stood at the bottom of the atrium in a daze. His wristband vibrated several dozen secondster. Xue Lei was calling. "I¡¯m practicing my punches in front of Gear. Give me a heads up when you want to go home."


    "Oh," Luo Nan absently responded. Then he snapped out of it and expressed his refusal, "It¡¯s already dinner time. You can go back first. No need to wait for me."


    School was already out by now. Xue Lei had worded his speech this way because he understood the tempo of Luo Nan¡¯s life. Right around this time every day, Luo Nan trained. His schoolwork and studies were all fixed to the dot.


    "Going home alone is very boring. It¡¯s better to go together."


    Luo Nan spat, "Then we split at the school gate?"


    Luo Nan was currently living at his aunt¡¯s house. Xue Lei lived at Dual River District. Heading home, one would go west, while the other would go east. Things would be bizarre if they headed the same way. Ultimately, Xue Lei just had the thought of being a bodyguard in mind. He feared shameless enemies like Headquarters appearing.


    Xue Lei also felt that he was being a bit absurd. He asked, "So when are you going to get your independence and freedom, man? You don¡¯t even need to go to the hospital for treatment anymore...."


    ¡°My aunt isn¡¯t scared of me going for treatment. She¡¯s scared of me suddenly needing rescue." Luo Shuqing no longer trusted Luo Nan¡¯s health. This ount had gone bankrupt. It was also impossible to exin the concept of the coupling between flesh and soul to Mrs. Luo Shuqing. Luo Nan could only entrust his hopes to someone else. "My cousin wille back next week. With her present to draw away my aunt¡¯s firepower, I¡¯ll give it another shot."


    The two chatted for a bit, and Xue Lei started shadowboxing.


    Luo Nan really envied Xue Lei¡¯s current state. This week, Xue Lei had transferred school societies thanks to Xie Junping¡¯s efforts. He had no worries besides acting as Luo Nan¡¯s bodyguard everyday. Xue Lei spent most of his time cultivating in martial arts. His time was spent quite productively.


    Luo Nan¡¯s emotions fluctuated much more widely than his friend¡¯s. Especially now, being stimted by the intelligence document, Luo Nan¡¯s heart was filled with agitation. He didn¡¯t have the mood to think about reality. He strolled a few steps at the bottom of the atrium, then looked up again.


    Within his daze, the perfectly straight atrium and the ring-like night sky was like a prison, sealing him inside.


    No! That was wrong! Why would there be a prison within his mother¡¯s work?


    Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts changed once more when he thought about his mother. He looked at the atrium once more. The structure blended into itself. He looked up from below. This ce was like an abyss that led to the realm of the starry skies. There was no limit to its destitution.


    In the end, those few thoughts were born from his own fear. The prison was drawn by his own hands.


    Luo Nan shook his head, dispersing the illusion. He looked at the time. It was a few minutes before the appointed time. He sat down cross-legged and recalled the breathing technique taught personally to him by Gym Master Xiu. He tried to quiet his mind.


    The currents of his heart really did settle a bit with the passing of several breaths. Luo Nan even closed his eyes and practiced his cirction homework. The energy polished within his body, and the heartntern of the eyes orifice zed with splendor, gradually burning away the distracting thoughts in his mind to nothing.


    Seemingly ording to coupling theory, there currently existed a total of two rtivelyplete gears within Luo Nan¡¯s body and soul structure.


    One was soul strength, driven and born from Formatting Theory. This power had long since exceeded the limits of what his physical body could endure. It was great and difficult to control. Luo Nan relied on the Hollow Depository function of the external neuron to barely form a stable structure. Although he did this, the soul strength leaked and overflowed at all times. It was truly like an iceberg that stood tall within the ocean. It was vast and overwhelming. Towering and imposing. Its pressure absolute.


    Luo Nan gave it a name: God Gear.


    The other was the eyes orifice. It was the product of a technique imparted by Xiu Shenyu. Relying on the natural marvels of the human body and borrowing his special circumstances, Luo Nan created apletely new vehicle of transferring and refining soul strength. The result was the heartntern of the eyes orifice, and it excited the potential of the human body.


    Luo Nan named it Body Gear.


    ording to Gym Master Xiu¡¯s teachings, achieving sess in cultivating in the eyes orifice was only the beginning in cultivating the fleshly body. Compared with the towering iceberg in the ocean that was the God Gear, the Body Gear was merely a small reservoir. It could only y an auxiliary role in regtion.


    Right then, within Luo Nan¡¯s body, an embryonic form of an order frame was established from the God Gear and the Body Gear. Through the technique of coupling, the gears engaged together for mutual influence.


    The frame had been formed, but it was simple and crude. Luo Nan still relied much on external forces. Without the suppression from the external neuron, Luo Nan was guaranteed an instant annihtion.


    Even with the quelling of the external neuron, electric me circted, and energies exchanged and shed between the God Gear and the Body Gear. Several waves of thunderclouds and stormy winds swept through everyday. There was no point in telling others the suffering Luo Nan endured.


    These dangers were hidden in Luo Nan¡¯s body, and these dangers didn¡¯t leave even an ounce of room for trial and error. Luo Nan had little say. He was forced to use the most concentrated of manners to engage in cultivation. He had to cultivate his foundation with extreme care, to amend the frail bnce between his body and soul.


    All trivial and distracting thoughts had to be scattered as ashes into the wind as soon as he began cultivating. It was actually quite effective in dispelling his negative emotions.


    There was no concept of time as Luo Nan entered the meditative state. Luckily, Luo Nan recalled that he still had cultivation lessons. He just did some maintenance on the eyes orifice structure, dispelling the excessive strength of the interference power¡¯s electric me, and he ended this homework assignment.


    He left his meditative state. His senses were exceptionally sharp, yet his mind was at peace once more. The surrounding information all coalesced inside, and he felt a marvelous sound permeate into his ears. Tick tock tick tock. Like the fine ticking of the hands of a clock, which rotated in circles without beginning nor end.


    Luo Nan wasn¡¯t the least bit surprised. From his perspective, this was the sound of Gear breathing.


    There were fifteen main halls within twelve floors above and below ground, particrly above ground, including the atrium. Together, they were like a well-calibrated machine. Everyponent operated smoothly, unhindered. The teeth of the gears meshed and fused together. This was the only way such a harmonic rhythm could be formed.


    From Luo Nan¡¯s perspective, this was the sound of nature. This was the reward from his earnest cultivation. He smiled subconsciously as he listened to the clear and orderly beat.


    But noise cut in a mere handful of secondster. It was a static sound. At first, there was only one, suddenly affecting the beat. But the noise continued to spawn several secondster. It was like the sudden insert of the dry cawing of birds and frogs during the performance of a band. The noise undted at random, turning a perfectly fine performance into a nightmare.


    Luo Nan suddenly opened his eyes. The sound of nature existed no longer, but the noise remained.


    They wereyers uponyers of ovepping radio waves. The sources came from various corners of the building. Surveince cameras, tapping devices, optical cables, antennas... all sorts of forms. They gathered all sorts of information and transmitted it out. They were like pairs and pairs of cold and dark eyes, spying on Luo Nan¡¯s each and every action from various angles.


    It was like a prison.


    Luo Nan raised his head. The darkness could not obstruct his gaze that was augmented by the heartntern of the eyes orifice. Through the solid ss, a certain security camera located on the underground third floor was pointed right at him. It did this openly.


    There were monitoring equipment doing work all around him. This was absolutely not the only one.


    The corner of Luo Nan¡¯s lips crinkled. He wanted to rage, but he inexplicably felt that things were absurd and ridiculous. The corners of his lips rose subconsciously as he thought of how he was worried about Long Seven discovering his identity, and how his thoughts became an omen.


    "Ha! Ahaha!"


    What ought toe shoulde. Luo Nan squeezed a dry and hoarse sound out of his mouth. He had just dispelled those negative emotions, but they suddenly descended back upon him like a storm. The rumbling thunderclouds crackled down into his heart.


    Bang! The security surveince camera shattered to pieces on the underground third floor. Simr sounds of shattering resounded in the various corners of the building at the same time. Of course, there was also the muffled sound of circuit breakers tripping.


    Direct means brought about crude results.


    The sparse lighting within the building of Gear suddenly went out. Then the central control system automatically operated, activating the backup electrical line. But very unfortunately, it failed.


    Even the listening devices were destroyed. With how concentrated they were, it would be hard for even the backup system to escape this fate.


    Luo Nan stood within the darkness, coldly feeling everything.


    But then Xue Lei came calling him. His voice changed into one of nervousness. "Report your position. Connect mentally!"


    "I¡¯m all right."


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t know how to exin to Xue Lei. The wristband vibrated once more to start the central control system on manual operation mode. It asked him if he wanted to use repair robots for emergency repairs.


    Luo Nan easily agreed and found an excuse, "The quality of the construction work of those people ispletely awful.... Yeah, it¡¯s like this."


    The HexaEar vibrated at this time. Bamboo Pole was online on the Psychic Wave Network. He was quite punctual ording to the teaching schedule, and he sent a greeting to Luo Nan. This was the usual procedure between them, but the message Bamboo Pole left today was a bit odd.


    "Are you mad?"

 Chapter 340: Two People

    Chapter 340: Two People


    Trantor: Strivon


    The message came out of nowhere, and it shocked Luo Nan. But he soon linked it to the changes from before.


    How does he know?


    They¡¯re spying on me!


    Oh, I think they mentioned this to me a couple of days ago?


    The direct logic evoked rage, but some blurry memories turned clear. The two sides shed and turned into a wave of meaningless emotional unrest.


    Yes, when the Xia City branch of the Society first started surveying, He Yueyin had proposed to install monitoring and rm devices within Gear, in order to deal with unusual situations. Luo Nan had agreed at the time, and Bamboo Pole was the one in charge of instations. He even integrated the control system to his wristband....


    How fortunate. Luo Nan couldn¡¯t distinguish between enemy and self when he got angry. Hepletely ughtered everything clean.


    Luo Nan wanted to leave a reply, but he didn¡¯t know what to say. It took him a long time before he responded with false words, "It¡¯s nothing."


    "He he, if you say so. Are we still going to do the lesson today?" Bamboo Pole¡¯s attitude was really not that of a qualified teacher. This was his usual style.


    Already a month¡¯s worth of time had beenpleted within the course schedule arranged by He Yueyin. Among the courses, Papercut¡¯s "Soul Strength Activation Techniques" became extremely simple thanks to Luo Nan achieving the ability of coupling. It was the first course Luo Nan finished, and Luo Nan also finished He Yueyin¡¯s "Ins and Outs of the Psychic Wave Network¡¯s World Order" two days ago.


    As for the two highly practical courses from Crag Burst and Red Fox, adjustments had to be made due to changes in circumstances, which included Luo Nan¡¯s increase in ability. Luo Nan had yet to officially start these courses.


    This just left Bamboo Pole¡¯s course, "Notes on the Major Characters of the World,¡± and they continued to make steady progress on it.


    A fluctuation of emotions wasn¡¯t a reason to refuse taking lessons. Luo Nan soon responded, "Yes, can we begin now?"


    "No problem."


    Bamboo Pole immediately skipped over those unpleasant matters. He sent a set of pictures, videos, and other image materials of people as usual, setting the main content of today¡¯s ss. He then opened the video call function and waved his hand in greeting. He went h-h-h, conversing with Luo Nan.


    Bamboo Pole was the only one who talked the vast majority of the time. Most of his speech consisted of things like, "Don¡¯t look at how devout this person appears. Actually, he takes on very beautiful lovers."


    Don¡¯t be surprised. This was the way Bamboo Pole usually taught. He called it "delightful teachings.¡±


    Luo Nan never met someone as knowledgeable in random facts as this fellow. His appearance was typically that of a hacker as he easily searched for every avenue of beautiful women. But he also had deep attainments in regard to religion, history, mystic arts, and so on. He was also a paparazzi master.


    His course was mainly about people. He only talked about two or three each ss. The moment he dug out one, he would talk about their proper matters, trifling matters, news, gossip, and all the like. Manyyers and many perspectives came down in the ss. The characters he talked about were established firmly in Luo Nan¡¯s mind. They were hard to forget.


    But based on the pace, the course progressed quite leisurely.


    Looking at the course ns, He Yueyin¡¯s and Bamboo Pole¡¯s course volumes were about the same. But He Yueyin¡¯s course had already finished, while Bamboo Pole¡¯s n to cover a hundred characters was less than halfpleted.


    Bamboo Pole spoke frankly, "There are two types of people halfway through this kind of course. One type is very interested. They will go digging on their own. They¡¯ll learn on their own. The other isn¡¯t interested. They just chat, but at least it¡¯s fun. This kind of course can be long or short. It can easily adjust to any time."


    He was fully aware; Luo Nan¡¯s mood was amiss today. So what he taught was rtively simple, and the course content unfurled in full swing. He spoke for a while, even taking the initiative to ask,


    "Do you want to stop here?"


    Luo Nan was suddenly started awake from his dazed state. He knew that he wasn¡¯t paying much attention and was quite embarrassed. He hurriedly apologized.


    Bamboo Pole responded, beaming, "Don¡¯t be a stranger. In fact, I¡¯m an informer who serves you, Boss. I¡¯m in charge of pushing information toward you. When the boss has time, I¡¯ll report more information. When the boss is busy, I¡¯ll report less information.... Boss, you¡¯ve been very busytely, right?"


    Luo Nan felt helpless. The group who participated with him in the matter at Frost River Reality called him Boss anytime, anywhere. This was originally a word of irony from Red Fox to He Yueyin, but he was called this day in and day out, and the maliciousness of the word was wiped away. It even became a well-known nickname.


    Bamboo Pole was a mischievous person. He would feel ufortable if he didn¡¯t call Luo Nan this a few times a day.


    Luo Nan could only ignore the nickname, but Bamboo Pole had hit the nail on the head. He really was working himself to death the past few days. He enlisted Worker Zhai as his tutor, and he was learning engineering from him. This huge subject required much time and energy if one wanted to attain some achievements in it. The time and energy required were much more than what a crash course would demand.


    However, today¡¯s bad mood had nothing to do with the stresses of learning.


    At that moment, Luo Nan didn¡¯t have the mindset to learn, but he really wanted to speak with someone. And he didn¡¯t know where to begin.


    He subconsciously flipped through the material that was just given to him. He nced over the names and achievements, immediately forgetting them. But he made some mental connections thanks to how multi-leveled and multi-angled the data was organized, customary to Bamboo Pole¡¯s style.


    "This data¡ªhow much of it was umted from tapping devices, bugs?" Luo Nan¡¯s lips twitched. "Is everyone researched in this way?"


    "Most of it is public information. Of course, much of it is the blood and sweat of paparazzi." Bamboo Pole raised an eyebrow. "They are like you, interested in this course. You can use it as a temte and pass as a chief paparazzi in arge entertainment mediapany. It won¡¯t be a problem."


    Luo Nan was suddenly hit with a thought. "I can be considered to have a reputation by now, right?"


    "To a certain degree, yes."


    "Then... Brother Bamboo Pole, what kind of person am I? What have people like you researched?"


    Luo Nan wanted to know how much of his background was exposed to the various intelligence agencies. This was his intention in asking, but his ability to express himself in words was very worrying, causing Bamboo Pole to slightly misunderstand.


    "Whoa, do you feel lost in life? You want to analyze yourself?"


    "I...."


    Luo Nan wanted to correct him, but his thoughts changed and he thought some more. Before arriving at Gear, interacting with Zhang Yingying had made his mind a mess, putting him in a bad mood. It wouldn¡¯t be a bad thing if he could clear up the roots of his problems. He said, "I guess."


    In the video chat, Bamboo Pole sat on an ergonomic chair. He adjusted himself into afortable position and said, "I¡¯ve mentioned the ways people are researched. There is nothing else but three aspects: natural, societal, and psychological. These arebined with the specific nodes regarding the changes of time and space."


    Luo Nan nodded. He had learned this, but setting a hand to delve into it was a bitplicated.


    Bamboo Pole chuckled, "You¡¯ve asked quite urgently, and I haven¡¯t prepared. However, you took the initiative to ask, so let¡¯s use this as material. Let¡¯s make a simple analysis."


    "Okay," Luo Nan said helplessly.


    "Let us begin from your topic. A normal, natural person, a societal person, possesses the instinct of psychological privacy, of psychological defenses. People pay attention to the assessment of others toward them, but they rarely take the initiative to have others assess themselves. The exceptions are when they want to show off or when theyck confidence. The intent is consultation, and doing so is considered abnormal."


    Luo Nan went, "Uh," and couldn¡¯t helpughing. He said, "Then just say I¡¯m asking for a consultation. Although, the intent is a little lighter."


    Bamboo Pole shook his head. "There¡¯s no need to consult with me. Ask yourself. Ask the self who is here in the present. Under natural conditions, what are your body¡¯s circumstances? Are you as fierce as a tiger and as energetic as a dragon? Or do you have a hidden disease?"


    "Huh...?"


    "Please be quick about."


    "My body is notpletely well, I guess."


    Luo Nan still needed the external neuron right now. The scope in discrepancy between the God Gear and the Body Gear was a deep-seated problem, most especially with the uncontroble growth of his mental power. He had yet to make a general resolution about this matter, so there were no ends to his troubles.


    Luckily, there were a lot less Human-Faced Arachnids roaming Xia City nowadays. Otherwise, the Wraith Sign in the Bloodme Order would have its hunting speed increase by double. And in turn, this would cause Luo Nan¡¯s mental power to increase to the point where his body was in danger of exploding. The cultivation technique of the orifices that he learned from Gym Master Xiu was unable to eliminate a scale toorge.


    Bamboo Pole didn¡¯t dig deeper. He changed angles, "Looking at your circumstances societal-wise, what is your situation?"


    This time Luo Nan didn¡¯t hesitate. He responded, "Not good."


    Though he had the backing of and many friends from the Xia City branch, there were all sorts of potential threats to him that ranged from Headquarters, Quantum Corporation, the Order of Justice, and even the Bloodme Order. They were akin to bombs, and Luo Nan would be annihted ten times over if they were all to go off.


    "Psychological circumstances.... Forget it, it¡¯s in as day."


    Bamboo Pole whistled, "Three major items, allplete with situations. The answer needs no further discussion. The problem is very serious, my boy!"


    Luo Nan never expected this sort of result from following Bamboo Pole¡¯s temte and performing a quick analysis. Didn¡¯t this mean that his entire self was twisted?


    He temporarily forgot about the matter with intelligence agencies. His mind was nk for a while, before he asked, "How do I resolve it?"


    Bamboo Pole spread his hands open in helplessness. "You want me to be your staff officer? Why are you counting on me when even Secretary He can¡¯t handle this matter?"


    Luo Nan knew this was true, but he still asked, "If you were in my shoes, Brother Bamboo Pole, what would you do?"


    "If I were you, I would turn tail and leave. I would run as far as can be. I would hide as deep as can be. I would be like a cicada that sheds its carapace, vanishing and leaving an empty shell. I would retreat for the sake of progress. I would turn to light for the sake of darkness.... Yeah, I know you won¡¯t do this. I¡¯m just talking nonsense."


    Bamboo Pole maintained a clear mind from beginning to end. He sighed, "All right, then. I¡¯ll give you two examples you can use as references. I¡¯ve mentioned the first before¡ªHer Majesty Empress Wu.


    "In the earliest of times when Her Majesty Empress Wu started off, quite a few people said that she was Lady Wu, someone who only has their looks. Then people called her Fourth Ranked Imperial Consort Wu, andter, Empress Consort Wu. This continued until she was finally known as ¡¯Her Majesty Empress Wu.¡¯ This is reference to the ssical figure Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty, a controversial yet effective monarch who started off as a concubine and became the only female emperor of China. The names follow Wu Zetian¡¯s titles as she grew in power. Our Empress Wu remained unmoved during all this. She¡¯s like a stone immovable by the flowing river. She¡¯s smooth on the surface, yet firm at heart."


    "Smooth on the surface, yet firm at heart?" Luo Nan instinctively felt that the wording was off.


    Bamboo Pole pressed with his views, "Did you forget? I told you before. Sure, Her Majesty Empress Wu is very domineering, but back in the day, her skill in maneuvering through politics is incredible. She starts off by relying on President Ouyang¡¯s influence, then she carves out an independent business, the Hidden Indigo Firm. She never recruits fighters to her firm, and she¡¯s never done things low-key at all, though she¡¯s also never crossed the line.


    "She has a gxy of talent for subordinates. Before, the Xia City branch and even Headquarters weren¡¯t always on good terms with her, but nowadays, they¡¯ve either been appeased or suppressed by her. No matter the stormy waves, she remains unmoved. She steadily expands, forming major power. Her rule is as fair as the heavens, and the way she employs people is as mysterious as a demon. She grasps the true meaning of power, technique, and influence."


    Bamboo Pole wasn¡¯t finished with his words of praise toward Her Majesty Empress Wu, "This sort of style that is motionless like a mountain can be said to be the way of monarchs. The title Her Majesty Empress Wu is said as a mockery by some people, but I feel that it¡¯s very appropriate. Her approach is the most supreme way, in my opinion."


    Luo Nan imagined how Her Majesty Empress Wu might have maneuvered so skillfully political-wise and had his thoughts wander far away for a time. "This approach must be very hard, right?"


    Bamboo Poleughed, "Others have a clear goal from the start. Their methods are sharp. They use both the carrot and the stick. You can¡¯t learn it, and it¡¯s toote even if you can."


    "...." Luo Nan was left speechless.


    "I used this example to give you a benchmark, so that you have a reference. Let us talk about the second example. I haven¡¯t talked about this one before, but you¡¯re certainly very familiar with her. She¡¯s none other than your secretary."


    "Sister Yueyin?"

 Chapter 341: Solicitor

    Chapter 341: Solicitor


    Trantor: Strivon


    Bamboo Pole gazed straight at Luo Nan as an image through the Psychic Wave Network. He chuckled as he said, "I won¡¯t say much else. You¡¯re taking my ss, and you¡¯re taking Secretary He¡¯s ss. Don¡¯t you have any impressions?"


    "...Yes, probably." Luo Nan wasn¡¯t hesitating in his heart as much as he was with his mouth. After all, He Yueyin and Bamboo Pole were both teaching him ¡¯cultural courses,¡¯ but their styles werepletely different. It was unavoidable for him to sometimespare in private.


    Bamboo Pole encouraged him, "Speak. Speak and see."


    There wasn¡¯t much else to say about Bamboo Pole¡¯s teaching style. As for He Yueyin¡¯s teaching style, Luo Nan had to think as he spoke, "When Sister He Yueyin teaches, she easily provides all sorts of information. She covers vastly and thoroughly, and she also makes the overall concept exceptionally clear. Her lessons are quite enchanting."


    "And what else?"


    "Her arguments are precise and appropriate. Her words are precise and the meanings are plentiful. They are usually sharp to the bone. She often points out the deep, hidden activities behind important events. She exins the rtionship between the secr world and the inner world, the traditional political structures and the new power that are ability users, very smoothly and understandably."


    Bamboo Pole¡¯s eyebrows jumped. "I feel that what you¡¯ve said is not much different from my own impressions, of course, except the thing about her words being precise and the meanings plentiful. Don¡¯t blindly praise her. Doesn¡¯t she have any ws? Or something that¡¯s different from me?"


    He saw Luo Nan hesitate a bit, so he persisted in pressing him, "Rx, I won¡¯t spill the beans. Even if I do, she¡¯s a very open-minded person. She won¡¯t mind."


    "I don¡¯t quite understand when ites to her ws." Luo Nan was an honest kid in the end. He was unwilling to talk behind someone¡¯s back, regardless if it was about their shorings or their strengths. He pondered for quite a while before he said, "If there is something different, it would be that her knowledge points are more focused. Her pace is also much faster than yours."


    Bamboo Pole burst intoughter. He smacked his chin fiercely. "That¡¯s the right answer."


    "Huh?" Luo Nan didn¡¯t understand what was so funny.


    Bamboo Pole gave him a further step in realization. "Isn¡¯t the course schedule she arranged for you based on this same principle? From morning to night, you follow it closely, step by step."


    "Uh, it¡¯s all right. It¡¯s not particrly strict. It¡¯s nothing much now that you¡¯ve mentioned it. Besides, how else can I grasp knowledge as quickly as possible?"


    "Of course you feel that it¡¯s normal, because you and she are the same kind of person. You two are both bows stretched very taut. The arrow that shoots out is sharp and prating. It is unstoppable, but what happens in normal times?"


    Luo Nan was a little stunned. This was the first time he heard someonepare him side by side with He Yueyin.


    Bamboo Pole continued his assessment, "There is no one in the entire branch who can keep up with Secretary He¡¯s fast tempo. She moves as if a ferocious beast is chasing her. Since entering the Society, she has managed the branch¡¯s affairs, drawn up various systems, and so on. Obviously, this is good, but this is a chill Society. We¡¯re not in a state of battle. Who can persevere like this day in and day out? Of one hundred people, ten will carry on as usual. Ten will persevere. Fifty will thrash as if they are drowning. And thirty will drag everyone else down. Copse will first happen from within, before the enemy even attacks."


    Luo Nan was seriously suspecting that Bamboo Pole was using this as a chance to roast He Yueyin.


    As a hacker, this fellow¡¯s nature treated anything binding with skepticism. He was a standard anarchist. He never hid this during his lectures.


    Luo Nan really admired this aspect of Bamboo Pole. Although Bamboo Pole liked to roast others, he was the person who coordinated the best with He Yueyin during thest few operations. Their tacit understanding was the highest.


    "Well, I digress. Let¡¯s continue talking about the examples." Bamboo Pole adopted a different posture on his ergonomic chair. His expression conveyed helplessness as he said, "In a sense, people like Secretary He are extremely selfish. Don¡¯t be suspicious. I¡¯m also talking about you. Consciously or not, you both believe that the world turns ording to your tempo."


    The ¡¯selfish¡¯ Luo Nan could only listen.


    "I won¡¯t mention you for now. Secretary He is actually quite a magnanimous person. She has the aura of a savior. I always feel that her methods are good for everyone. She has a sense of mission. She gives off the feeling that all the living beings under the heavens are her business. Maybe she has a lot more secrets, a lot more dangers, than we know, based on her family background. She likely has unspeakable difficulties. But she¡¯s a bit vapid from the perspectives of us incorrigible fellows. It makes people not interested in pursuing her."


    When Bamboo Pole spoke to this point, his eyes tilted over. "What about you?"


    "...."


    They were silent like this for quite a while before Luo Nan asked, baffled, "Why aren¡¯t you saying anything?"


    Bamboo Pole raised a hands. "I¡¯m the one who¡¯s asking. You¡¯re much more closed off than Secretary He, and Secretary He¡¯s goals are much more clear-cut than yours. Her skills are more superb, and her mind is clearer. She knows that she¡¯scking, so she still continues to revise and improve herself. You are different. You¡¯re sixteen this year, right? You¡¯re not of age. You haven¡¯t finished maturing. Your temperament is still unfixed, and your brain is filled with fantastical thoughts. It is very tiring to use the mind to guess what you¡¯re thinking when you don¡¯t talk."


    Luo Nan pressed his lips into a thin line. This wasn¡¯t the first time he heard a simr evaluation. But such a situation, with Bamboo Pole using this to set off an example, was rarely seen. Luo Nan could only feel a bit apologetic for He Yueyin.


    He was just about to speak when Bamboo Pole raised a hand. "You don¡¯t need to talk about restoring Formatting Theory¡¯s name, defending your mother¡¯s work of art, or simr talk."


    Then what could he talk about? Luo Nan was stifled in an instant.


    Bamboo Pole stared straight at him. He sighed only after a long while, "You don¡¯t have any other goals?"


    Luo Nan copied Bamboo Pole¡¯s previous action of spreading his hands in helplessness. "These goals still aren¡¯t enough? What else do I need?"


    Bamboo Pole sighed again, "Isn¡¯t it enough?"


    "Huh?"


    "What else is there to analyze? We spoke a long series, and the conclusion is very clear. You and Secretary He are the same kind of person. You both live your days strung tight. Your goals are your source of stress because they are very hard to resolve, very hard to realize."


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t like listening to this. He asked, "Very hard to realize?"


    "As long as matters involve opposition, it all is very hard." Bamboo Pole was considerate of Luo Nan¡¯s feelings. He erased a keyword and emphasized another, "Who stands in opposition to you? If the gap is toorge, the more you strive, the stronger the pressure. The exception exists when you can level everything as equal. You need the ability to make the majority of peoplepromise, at the very least. Like Her Majesty Empress Wu."


    Luo Nan was silent.


    "Her Majesty Empress Wu very rarely faces a colossus in opposition. Her number one priority is to grow and strengthen. She does this with initiative. It takes precedence. Detouring on a few circles is nothing if she makes steps toward this. Sometimes, she can even umte power more easily this way.


    ¡°Secretary He¡¯s route is very clear. She wants to consolidate the Society. She wants to consolidate this group of straggling and disbanded soldiers. Her methods may be worthy of debate, but her foundation is firm, her resources aplenty, and her selfishnesscking.


    "And you? You charge straight forward ording to your goals. You tread through any trap, any pitfall. Fortunately, you¡¯re like a piece of stubborn iron. The usual crucial junctures are the striking of hammers. You, who is iron, make it through, while other people would have long since been smashed to mincemeat. But what if this were to continue in the future? What if Quantum Corporation, the Order of Justice, and even Headquarters continue to hammer you? Or what if they just melt you in a st furnace in one breath?"


    Luo Nan¡¯s eyelids twitched. This was the situation he was worried about.


    However, it seemed the Bamboo Pole was shifting directions having spoken to this point. The sense Luo Nan got was no longer that of pure analysis.


    Luo Nan was still unsure. He smoothed his tone and asked, "Then, Brother Bamboo Pole, what do you think I should do next?"


    The words had just left his mouth when he recalled that he had asked Bamboo Pole for guidance not too long ago. Bamboo Pole had refused at the time, and instead, brought out the examples of Her Majesty Empress Wu and He Yueyin.


    Sure enough, Bamboo Pole extended a hand to point at him. "These words again. What¡¯s the point of asking me? I wager that with your temperament, you¡¯ll follow your nature when thingse to a head, regardless of what extravagant embellishments others may say. You¡¯ll just tread straight ahead! There¡¯s a head of the hammer in front, or perhaps a st furnace. It makes no difference to you."


    Luo Nan wasn¡¯t really hopeful in regard to his ability to control himself. But he believed that Bamboo Pole had spoken wrongly about one point. "I don¡¯t want to tread straight or whatever. Who doesn¡¯t want to take an easier way to reach their objective? But I absolutely have no choice when thingse to a head."


    "Then how do you wind up in situations where ¡¯thingse to a head¡¯ time and time again?"


    "...." Luo Nan really thought this over conscientiously. When did it begin with him always sinking to points of no return?


    He didn¡¯t get an answer, but there was one point that was very clear. If these sorts of days were to continue, there would be more and more times when ¡¯thingse to a head.¡¯ The chances to make choices would grow smaller and smaller, until they disappear entirely.


    Bamboo Pole observed Luo Nan¡¯s expression and was able to understand Luo Nan¡¯s current perplexities. "Therefore, my words won¡¯t change. If I were you, I will certainly run whatever distance away. It is not because of fear or weakness. It is because one needs sufficient space as a cushion in order to grow and strengthen, in order to have the leeway to make choices."


    "That¡¯s impossible." Luo Nan didn¡¯t even need to think before refusing.


    Bamboo Pole already anticipated this. His eyes didn¡¯t even blink once as he said, "Then you need a shield, and you need reins. The shield gives you a chance to recover energy on the battlefield. Reins can rein in your neck when your head is heated feverishly."


    Luo Nan blinked. "Brother Bamboo Pole, can you speak more clearly?"


    Bamboo Pole rolled his eyes. "I¡¯ve already spoken clear enough.... Fine, what I mean is, you need to find a backer."


    "A backer? Who can I rely on?"


    Bamboo Pole looked at him like he was looking at an idiot. "Who can you rely on right now in Xia City?"


    "President Ouyang...."


    "GTFO YOU IDIOT!"


    Luo Nan gasped, feeling that he was being treated unjustly. There were only two Extraordinaries in Xia City who could shield him. What was wrong with the first answer he thought of? With Ouyang Chen?


    Luo Nan¡¯s mind took another turn, and only then did he realize that Bamboo Pole¡¯s examples, which came out easily, were absolutely not spoken with casual intent.


    "You want me to rely on Her Majesty Empress Wu?"


    Luo Nan saw Bamboo Pole¡¯s expression and knew he had finally guessed right. However, he still didn¡¯t understand Bamboo Pole¡¯s train of thought. "What¡¯s the difference between President Ouyang and Her Majesty Empress Wu? Also, am I not currently receiving their protection?"


    "The Xia City branch looking out for you is official business. Since it¡¯s official business, it is restricted to procedural processes. Correspondingly, holes in the system will certainly exist. The matter with Headquarters is the best proof. The same reasoning can be used upon President Ouyang. Who made him the president?"


    Bamboo Pole used a finger to point far in the distant air. "There¡¯s something more important. There is absolutely nobody in this Society, this loose organization, who can control you. Whenever you make a folly, there are no means to restrict you. He Yueyin could fit the role, but she began in the wrong position. How very awkward to be ying the secretary of a boss and the like."


    Luo Nan was a bit embarrassed. He said, "Brother Bamboo Pole, you¡¯re an anarchist. Opening and closing your mouth is under check. Is this really okay?"


    "At least I never cause trouble," Bamboo Pole stabbed Luo Nan in the chest with this de. He even twisted it, "I also rarely do something stupid. Even if I do, I find a ce to rest and earn a bit of extra money or something."


    "Huh?"


    "Idiot! I¡¯m soliciting right now, Boss Luo!"

 Chapter 342: Unobstructing the Liver (Part 1/3)

    Chapter 342: Unobstructing the Liver (Part 1/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan and Xue Lei had split at the school gate, and Luo Nan was riding a car home. This car was dispatched from the Xia City branch of the Society. The driver was a very professional bodyguard who possessed strength out of the norm. Luo Nan wasn¡¯t really familiar with him, so they didn¡¯t really talk much on the road. Luo Nan spent far more time being lost in thought.


    Things were just as Bamboo Pole had said. Today, his lessons were indeed a solicitation, and the financial backer who hired him was none other than the legendary Her Majesty Empress Wu.


    Bamboo Pole was extremely eloquent. His persuasive and promotion skills were enough. Luo Nan really was a bit emotionally moved. But it was quite embarrassing. Luo Nan had forgotten nearly all of Bamboo Pole¡¯s words upon getting into the car.


    It wasn¡¯t because he didn¡¯t care. Instead, he was far too stressed.


    Luo Nan had constantly been a focal character since joining the Society, but this was the first time he was being recruited like this. Hecked key social experience. His mind was aplete mess, filled with far too many distracting thoughts when he had encountered this matter. He really didn¡¯t know how to respond.


    Luo Nan¡¯s mind was such a mess that what he remembered most clearly weren¡¯t the benefits that Her Majesty Empress Wu was offering him. Instead, it was the words offort Bamboo Pole had given him: "Boss Luo, you¡¯re not even of age, yet you¡¯re already aplete member of society. Such matters cannot be avoided. You can consult others for their opinion. Ask many. Consult many. Don¡¯t be impatient in making a decision. Her Majesty Empress Wu went through me rather than Zhang Yingying because that littless is far too impatient. She wants to avoid using the emotional card to influence your decision...."


    This argument was filled with sincerity, but Luo Nan remembered it due to a certain phrase Bamboo Pole used. The words ¡¯member of society¡¯ stabbed into his painful weak point.


    Luo Nan opened the window and leaned his elbow onto the frame. He felt the night wind head on. A while passed, and his other hand drew an imaginary picture in the air. It was a tetrahedron, and he divided it into five levels.


    ording to Formatting Theory, this was the diagram of the Societal Format. The diagram was clearly divided into five levels: Student, Office Worker, Technician, Clergy, and Politician. These were ssifications for the different levels of resources he could control.


    It barely matched with external society.


    He still remembered expressing that solemn vow back on Ship Lanshan when he first met Zhang Yingying. He wanted to change from a student to an office worker. He needed pressure and opportunity to enter into a whole new circle. This was to fulfill the requirements for rapid ascension in society.


    His voice still rang in his ears. He truly did make this step, but back then, he never thought he would reach this point today, where he was at a loss for what to do.


    He didn¡¯t believe he had made a mistake in his choice back in the very beginning. But his current passive situation couldn¡¯t be a necessary one, right? If he viewed life as a game, then the game route he took after entering society was certainly a very crappy one. Plus, there weren¡¯t any save points. He could only make his way forward with a heavy head, not daring to stop his footsteps.


    Luo Nan certainly had to chew the bitter consequences of his life, and right now he found himself at yet another juncture. He had to make a decision. He couldn¡¯t falter. He had to move forward.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t really understand what Her Majesty Empress Wu was thinking. He couldn¡¯t make out the schemes within her mind. He could only follow Bamboo Pole¡¯s words of advice, and consult others for their opinion.


    The first person he thought of was He Yueyin. He had tried calling her, but she was unable to spare the time, probably handling work. He just left a message asking her to contact himter.


    Luo Nan could only skip to someone else for now. He used telepathy to swipe through his contact list in the HexaEar. He swept through a full circle, pondering over who he should consult.


    He had to first skip Zhang Yingying, and he recalled that Crag Burst had a task to do this night. What about Octopus....


    Luo Nan had no confidence in hisnguagemunication ability. He just expressed his thoughts as text, leaving a few friends messages of seeking advice.


    He had just sent the messages when the driver suddenly spoke, "Boss Luo, we¡¯ve arrived at your home."


    Luo Nan was stunned before realizing that he had spent far too much time formting his words. The car had already arrived at the gate of the residential area. Right now, it was already past dinner. The residents going for walks or exercising on the road were few.


    "Thank you, Brother Qi," Luo Nan gave a polite thanks, got off the car, and headed toward his house. Halfway there, he suddenly realized that he had be ustomed to the name Boss Luo. When did that happen?


    He walked inside the house. He didn¡¯t see anyone in the living room, so he called out. His uncle, Mo Haihang, responded from a distance within the kitchen, "Oh, Luo Nan. Wait a moment. I need to reheat the food for you."


    "Oh, sure."


    It was eight o¡¯clock at night. Dinner time was over quite a while ago. However, as long as Uncle was home, a portion would be left behind to ay the hunger of the Appetite King Luo Nan.


    Luo Nan first went to wash his face. He woke himself up with cold water, and he returned to the living room. Luo Shuqing was already sitting on the couch, wearing a home outfit.


    "Aunt," Luo Nan hastily greeted her. He feared her the most in this home.


    Luo Shuqing was fiddling with her wristband, head lowered. She just gave a grunt in response. Luo Nan¡¯s heart thumped as he saw this. He immediately made his way around the minefield and headed to the kitchen. But ultimately, he was toote.


    A cold, clear voice came from behind him, "Did Mo Ya call yet?"


    "Uh, she hasn¡¯t. I haven¡¯t heard from her for the past two days. Maybe Mo Peng.... Where is he?" Luo Nan turned around. He didn¡¯t see Mo Peng, his best shield, but it didn¡¯t hurt to draw disaster away from himself.


    "He went outside to do something wild. I just hope he will be back before nine." Luo Shuqing¡¯s attention was drawn away a little, but soon she locked back onto her target. "Is there a confirmed specific time when Mo Ya ising back to Xia City?"


    The words, ing back to Xia City,¡¯ were truly worthy of praise. It was precisely like the saying, ¡¯No one knows a girl like her mother.¡¯ Luo Shuqing already made a conclusion. Her unfilial daughter wasn¡¯t going toe back to the house within the short return from the music festival.


    This time, Mo Ya had left the house for a month, and matters had grown far too big!


    Luo Nan continued to y the fool, "I haven¡¯t talked to her for the past two days. At most, I see what her friend circle is up to.... The music festival is over. Won¡¯t shee back?"


    Luo Shuqing raised her head and looked into her nephew¡¯s pair of eyes. In the end, she couldn¡¯t stop the feelings of doting emerging from her heart. She sighed, no longer questioning Luo Nan, "Go eat dinner then. If there are no issues with the school, go adjust the time for the makeup sses. It¡¯s bad to eat meals toote, after all."


    Luo Nan gave a vague response and quickly sat at the dinner table. His uncle had finished slicing a piece of beef for him. He even enfolded it into a small wrap. The wrap contained beef and scallions. The texture was tough and crunchy. It was very chewy, and it went down easily.


    To avoid getting into a quarrel, Luo Nan half-pretended to bury his head in his food, leaving no room to talk with his mouth.


    His uncle sat on the other side of the dinner table. "Good thing you¡¯re learning martial arts, otherwise, you¡¯d be quite out of shape eating like that everyday."


    This was a good topic! Luo Nan¡¯s mouth was too busy to talk. He just nodded his head.


    "Aside from Mo Peng, no one in this family has ever been fat! Feed that unfilial girl to a pig if you have the skills! She won¡¯t be able to go running out into the wild then!" Luo Shuqing was annoyed with being by herself in the living room. She came to the dinner table.


    Luo Nan¡¯s uncle immediately closed his mouth into a subtle smile, avoiding a frontal sh.


    Luo Shuqing knew just how imprable her husband was. Her gaze shifted to the best target to bully.


    Luo Nan hated not being able to have the entirety of the beef wrap stuffed in his mouth; he had eaten too fast, and the wrap was already in his stomach. There was now a gap, and he couldn¡¯t avoid speaking. His brain went feverish, and for some damnable reason, he spilled the beans about himself, "Today, the boss of one of my friends wants me to work at herpany...."

 Chapter 343: Unobstructing the Liver (Part 2/3)

    Chapter 343: Unobstructing the Liver (Part 2/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan felt regret the instant the words left his mouth. Mo Ya must have cursed him in secret for him to disregard the consequences of blocking the barrel of a loaded gun with his body.


    No matter his regrets, words once spoken could never be swallowed back down. The incurred consequences revealed themselves at the first instance. The husband and wife, Luo Nan¡¯s uncle and aunt, cast their gazes upon Luo Nan one after another. First there was skepticism, then there was vignce.


    "Your friend? And their boss?"


    "What kind of work? What kind ofpany is it?"


    The questions came in sequential order, but the meaning within them were the same.


    Luo Nan knew he had prodded the ho¡¯s nest. He was incapable of exining how his introverted homebody self was able to suddenly be interested in thepanies of society. He could only brace himself as he responded by avoiding the major points and focusing on the trifling points, "I haven¡¯t agreed yet. They¡¯re probably just talking for show anyhow."


    Luo Shuqing stared unwaveringly into her nephew¡¯s eyes. "The problem right now is, why is thispany interested in you!"


    "Why can¡¯t they be interested in me?" Luo Nan forced himself to be thick-skinned, preparing himself to be pestered endlessly.


    Mo Haihang made a gesture before Luo Shuqing could continue speaking, pausing his wife. He maintained his subtle smile and spoke gently, "Let me ask. Why haven¡¯t you agreed? Is it because the payment isn¡¯t good enough? Or is it because you don¡¯t have enough time?"


    "It¡¯s¡ª"


    Mo Haihang didn¡¯t wait for Luo Nan to finish speaking, "It¡¯s right to have a cautious attitude. No matter the age, working hours and payment are both very important the moment a work rtionship is formed. How much are they paying you?"


    "Uh." Luo Nan was stupefied the moment his uncle asked for details. He was lost in thought for a while before responding, "We haven¡¯t discussed this yet."


    "If you¡¯re going to discuss it, there¡¯s no harm in having your aunt as an adviser. She¡¯s a highly experienced member of HR in argepany. She specializes in these things. She¡¯s very experienced in cheating others and letting people cheat."


    Luo Nan immersed himself in his food, giving a muffled response, "Oh, sure."


    Luo Shuqing gave her husband a re, but she was very clear on some of the routines in their marriage of several dozen years. She immediately changed the way she talked, "Working to support yourself is good. What¡¯s thatpany called? I can help you research deeper for now. I should be able to find out their average pay. You¡¯ll have an advantage when you negotiate pay with them."


    She had been a professional in HR for many years. Herwork was ample when it came to supervising human resources. She was very familiar with this line of work. She already opened up a professional inquiry software as she spoke. All of Xia City¡¯s regrpanies could be found within.


    The actions of this husband and wife were amiable, but in reality, they caused pressure with each of their steps. Luo Nan¡¯s mind wasn¡¯t really working by now, and he never was good at lying. He began to divulge his secrets.


    "I think they¡¯re called Hidden Indigo?"


    "Hidden Indigo Corporation?"


    "It should be a firm."


    Luo Nan buried half of his face in his food. Otherwise, he would be revealing the sweat on his forehead with absolute rity. Right now, he realized why he was able to put himself in sorry and difficult situations, antagonizing countless people, within this short amount of time.... His impulses were far too deadly!


    Luo Shuqing quickly obtained search results. "The Hidden Indigo Firm.... Oh, there are registered information and tax records. They primarily provide legal and business consultations. They look quite standard. What¡¯s the name of the boss recruiting you?"


    "Wu...¡± Luo Nan coughed, ¡°I only know that herst name is Wu."


    "Wu Zhao?" Luo Shuqing read the name of the firm¡¯s owner, and the dinner table instantly drowned in awkwardness.


    Long Live Her Majesty Empress Wu!


    Luo Nan let out a long sigh. There was now a starting point. Uh, hold on. Wu Zhao? Why not be simply called Wu Zetian? Why Wu Zhao, the name the Tang Empress Wu Zetian gave herself after rising to power?


    Mo Haihang¡¯s fingers rapped lightly against the dinner table, and his brows furrowed. There were naturally many unreliable parents in this world. There were many parents who gave odd names to their kids. But there were extremely few parents who named their kids after historical, unique, and controversial characters. More importantly, this vited current legal statutes.


    Mo Haihang, holding a position in the social privileges department, would never pass such registration applications.


    But at this moment, this was the situation: This Mrs. Wu Zhao was grandiosely using this name, and she registered a standard firm under it.


    His many years of experience working at the SCA told him that this Wu Zhao, her firm, and the corresponding registered information wereplete bogus from head to tail. This was a mockery of the public agencies of authority. This meant that she was a person of great capabilities, being able to openly bypass certain rules of society. Of course, this also meant that she was certainly very willful.


    It was impossible for Mo Haihang to immediately verify his assessments. He also didn¡¯t say them out loud. Though his thoughts coursed with electricity, a smile still remained on his face. He asked, "They took the initiative to express interest in you. This is great. This shows that you¡¯re skilled in something that is useful to their business. What is it specifically?"


    Oh, yes. What was it?


    Luo Nan was a bit out of it. He more or less held a cautious attitude toward the reason why Her Majesty Empress Wu recruited him. His body hid precious secrets, so it was unavoidable for him to be suspicious.


    He didn¡¯t have an answer right now, but he couldn¡¯t stop talking. He could only wring his brain dry as hebed through all his skills known to his family. Luckily, he had a sh of inspiration before he was able to wring his brain to death. Hebined it with today¡¯s experience and found a good justification.


    "They like my ability to make quick sketches."


    "Quick sketches?"


    Luo Nan¡¯s response was outside his guardians¡¯ expectations. They locked gazes with each other once more. They truly did know of Luo Nan¡¯s ability to draw quick sketches. He really could sketch realistic drawings in a short period of time, but what was the usefulness of this skill?


    Luo Shuqing immediately asked, "What does the Hidden Indigo Firm have such employees do?"


    "Seems like it¡¯s detective work, or something like that. Quite a few people carry anti-recording devices nowadays. Some matters are hard to work with and may even draw vignce in the opposition. They recruit people like me to try and see."


    "Private detective?" Luo Shuqing¡¯s brow locked deadly tight. "This sort of work...."


    "Yes, I also feel that this sort of work is quite odd, but it¡¯s hard to directly refuse, in consideration of my friend¡¯s reputation. Once two days pass and their excitement dies down, I¡¯ll refuse them then and things will be good."


    Luo Nan said everything in a single breath, sighing a hidden breath of relief in the end. He finallypleted the circr chain of logic, but if he were to continue, he would certainly implode. He immediately ate the food on the dinner table like zing winds sting away clouds and stood up.


    "It should be like this. Aunt, Uncle, you two rx. I won¡¯t get mixed up in society.... Oh, they should have sent the materials for today¡¯s makeup lesson. I have some homework I need to do. I¡¯ll go upstairs."


    He didn¡¯t even collect his bowl and chopsticks. He just turned around and walked away.


    Luo Shuqing wanted to stop him with her voice, but Mo Haihang did a cating gesture. They locked gazes once more, and Luo Shuqing discovered that her husband¡¯s bearing was very solemn.


    Luo Nan made it up to the second floor with just a few steps. He jumped into his room and locked the door. He finally rxed, lying on his bed. He rocked a few times and began to roll with his head tucked in his arms.


    "Luo Nan you pig. You fool. You idiot...." his mumbling voice abused himself for a round to break up the hate within himself. But soon he began to feel diffident in his heart.


    His two guardians should be mulling over his matter at the moment. His excuse was full of mistakes. He wouldn¡¯t make it through easily. For today¡¯s sake, he had to perform a bit of detective work. Ah no, a bit of spy work.


    Yes, with his mental sensing ability, the conversations between his aunt and uncle wouldn¡¯t remain as mysteries to him. By then, he should be able to wade through any suspicions without difficulty, right?


    With a n in mind, Luo Nan was about to make a move, but then the HexaEar came on and transmitted information to him. He Yueyin, who had been busy handling tasks, was calling him.

 Chapter 344: Unobstructing the Liver (Part 3/3)

    Chapter 344: Unobstructing the Liver (Part 3/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    "Were you looking for me, Mr. Luo?" He Yueyin¡¯s voice came through the HexaEar. Her voice was low and hoarse. She was probably quite weary.


    Luo Nan mumbled, unable to respond at the first instance. He had recalled the ¡¯example¡¯ Bamboo Pole gave earlier, and he knew that He Yueyin experienced a lot of stress. Luo Nan felt a bit embarrassed for constantly bothering her.


    "Mr. Luo?" Although He Yueyin spoke with a questioning tone, her attitude remained gentle.


    "So it¡¯s like this, Bamboo Pole just mentioned that..."


    Luo Nan did his best to make a long story short. He told He Yueyin about the matter of Bamboo Pole making extra money by representing Her Majesty Empress Wu in recruiting him. Naturally, he asked He Yueyin for her opinion in the end.


    He Yueyin didn¡¯t respond immediately. She was silent for about half a minute before speaking. She didn¡¯t rush to answer Luo Nan¡¯s question, but instead inquired for more details. This included the examples Bamboo Pole spoke of that Luo Nan was a bit embarrassed to say. She asked all these details one by one.


    Luo Nan was ultimately pressured by He Yueyin to recount the situation at the time. He felt very awkward, feeling like he was a little guy sowing discord among others.


    He Yueyin didn¡¯t really care about this. She thought things over for a while before saying, "Mr. Luo, are you mulling over whether or not to join? Or are you mulling over Her Majesty Empress Wu¡¯s intentions?"


    She hit the nail on the head with those words.


    Luo Nan already pondered on this matter for quite some time, and now he was forced by He Yueyin to recollect these events. Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts were more or less clear: Why should he join the Hidden Indigo Firm? Zhang Yingying had introduced him in the past. This firm¡¯s main business was providing services for the rich and powerful big shots of Xia City. They sought rich suckers and established interpersonal rtionships for business with them. For investments and the like.


    This wasn¡¯t the life Luo Nan wanted. Unless there were generous rewards....


    There wasn¡¯t really anything Luo Nan could hide. He immediately responded, "I don¡¯t understand Her Majesty Empress Wu¡¯s thoughts.... Hmm, hold on. I don¡¯t think she¡¯s in a rush to recruit me."


    A light bulb went off in his mind just as he spoke, changing thetter half of his words as well as their meaning.


    He Yueyin didn¡¯t express an opinion for Luo Nan¡¯s change. She asked, "Why do you think so?"


    "You know that the firm did an outsourcing of work a few days ago. This sort of method suits me. At the very least, it¡¯s more suitable than joining the firm. If she didn¡¯t outsource this work to me, I might have really joined them in my poor financial state. She has this better method that would certainly influence the recruitment, but she¡¯s not using it. Don¡¯t you think so too?"


    Luo Nan became a bit diffident as he spoke. He urgently sought He Yueyin¡¯s opinion.


    He Yueyin responded, "There are no problems with your overall reasoning."


    "Really?"


    "I just need to correct one point. ording to Her Majesty Empress Wu¡¯s temperament, the business opportunity you obtained should be a type ofpensation."


    Luo Nan expressed his confusion.


    He Yueyin exined for him, "Looking at your narrative of the circumstances, Bamboo Pole¡¯s assessment toward Her Majesty Empress Wu is quite an appropriate one. Her Majesty Empress Wu engages in the rule ofw with all her matters, while not engaging in ethics. She appears to not be bothered about the trifles in the day to day, but she is actually extremely strict. She treats others and herself this way."


    This wasn¡¯t merely it. Bamboo Pole had mentioned this point in his past lessons. He had even given a few examples. But Luo Nan¡¯s mind went a bit off-track the instant he thought of Zhang Yingying. He really was incapable of imagining how that sister was able to survive under the pressure of such a strict boss. It was very difficult to establish a relevant impression.


    Now, He Yueyin said simr things before his eyes and was unable to change his disbelief. "Strictness is strictness. The more I hear it, the more I don¡¯t want to join. How is this rted withpensation?"


    "Because of Headquarters." He Yueyin exposed the truth with a few words, "The operation Headquarters carried out against you was done after Her Majesty Empress Wu and President Ouyang decided to protect you. The situation had been critical, and although ck Beetle was the reason for the offensive that was coordinated inside and outside our organization, oversights are still oversights. Her Majesty Empress Wu is exacting on both herself and others. She feels that mending the pen after the sheep is lost is still something that needs to be done. Otherwise, it would have been very difficult for Yingying to give this several million credit project to you, even if Yingying is different from a normal person."


    Luo Nan suddenly understood. "No wonder!"


    In other words, good things just didn¡¯t fall out of the sky in this world. The restless feeling brought about by the great generosity of the business reward vanished like a puff of smoke.


    So it was an exchange for using his life!


    Of course, the principles of Her Majesty Empress Wu and Zhang Yingying¡¯s care and attention were still engraved in his mind.


    After He Yueyin exined the reason for thepensation, the conversation changed topics once more, "Based on what you said about this recruitment, Her Majesty Empress Wu probably doesn¡¯t have much expectations from you entering the Hidden Indigo Firm. Her attitude is expressed clearly by letting Bamboo Pole convey her intent."


    "What attitude?"


    "Her Majesty Empress Wu is a well-known progressive. In thest few years, she devoted her efforts into establishingpletely new rules of society, allowing ability users to seamlessly integrate into normal society. Naturally, it is easier for younger people to exert influence when ites to realizing and spreading her theories. In fact, she likes to teach potential youngsters who have made a name for themselves."


    "Bamboo Pole mentioned this before.... Um, so you¡¯re saying Her Majesty Empress Wu is showing appreciation for me?"


    A rarely heard chuckle came from He Yueyin, "¡¯Showing,¡¯ that¡¯s a good usage of the word."


    Luo Nan¡¯s mind wound around a circle. "You¡¯re saying that she¡¯s ¡¯showing¡¯ not to me, but to others as a widely advertised disy?"


    "If it¡¯s not, would Her Majesty Empress Wu have conveyed her words through Bamboo Pole? Would Bamboo Pole allow you to openly ask others for advice? This is to spread public opinion. This is to expand influence. It is a deration of her stance specifically toward those who have a mind. With this, if the people of Headquarters still want to make a move against you, they will need to consider the factor of Her Majesty Empress Wu getting deeply involved. Bamboo Pole spoke very correctly. Official business and private business are ultimately different. The greatest ideal takes into ount both private and public interests."


    Luo Nan finally understood the winding maneuvers within those schemes. He let out a long breath of relief, but he still felt someplex emotions. "So, the so-called recruitment is just in name. It¡¯s hollow, I say!"


    He Yueyin¡¯s voice turned gentle. She spoke softly, "Mr. Luo shouldn¡¯t undervalue himself. Her Majesty Empress Wu is strict on others and on herself. Her scope of vision is extremely high. If Mr. Luo¡¯s level isn¡¯t enough, she wouldn¡¯t even give you a nce, let alone adopt this stance. Frankly speaking, this too is an expression of goodwill, as well as an investment for the future."


    "It¡¯s all right, Sister Yueyin. I¡¯m not someone who¡¯s super sensitive. I know my position. With Her Majesty Empress Wu clearly verbalizing her protection over me, what else can I hope for?"


    Luo Nan responded with a brisk tone. After dispelling the confusion, he felt truly embarrassed to be taking up more of He Yueyin¡¯s time. He said, "Sister Yueyin, I feel much better after you¡¯ve exined things. You must be busy on your end. I¡¯ll let you hurry back to your work. I have homework and evening sses as well."


    "It¡¯s nothing. It was just some business work. I already finished. On the contrary, you¡¯re so packed with homeworktely. How can you endure it?"


    "It isn¡¯t a problem. Uh, so you don¡¯t mind?" Luo Nan suddenly realized that he had narrated Bamboo Pole¡¯s example and assessment back to He Yueyin. Bamboo Pole¡¯s words couldn¡¯t be said to be good. Of course, Luo Nan was really quite the fool to be asking her.


    "Mind what? It¡¯s just Her Majesty Empress Wu taking the chance to strike a blow."


    "Huh?"


    "Bamboo Pole wants you to consult with many people. He¡¯s certainly factored me as one of those people. Those words were mainly spoken for me to hear. This is probably because I¡¯ve been too hasty in my actions within the branch."


    "Sister Yueyin...." Luo Nan didn¡¯t know what was good to say for a time. From Bamboo Pole¡¯s assessment, he knew that He Yueyin experienced an enormous amount of stress. If another Extraordinary expressed their disapproval, He Yueyin might be even more encumbered with dealing with affairs in the future.


    He Yueyinforted Luo Nan in his worries about this, "You know your position, and I know mine. Bamboo Pole said that my goals are much clearer than yours. Actually, he¡¯s wrong. Your goals are just as clear. It¡¯s just that many aspects are involved when ites to realizing them. Like the interchanging of darkness and light, it¡¯s far tooplicated. It¡¯s hard to get started."


    "Yes, this is the truth."


    He Yueyin¡¯s words really did speak to the bottom of Luo Nan¡¯s heart. His goals, whether it be his grandfather¡¯s reputation or his mother¡¯s work of art, all involved manyyers and many powers that entwined with each other. He didn¡¯t have the strength to break them, nor did he have the de to cut through this tangled mess.


    It was as if He Yueyin could hear his thoughts. She said, "Since the situation is like this, there is no harm in me telling you an old saying: A sharpened de is half the work of cutting a tree. If you really don¡¯t have a way to get started, then you can just sharpen your de. Hone a sharp de, for there will be a day of troubles."


    "Mm, I know, Sister Yueyin. I will certainly work hard." Luo Nan couldn¡¯t help smiling upon speaking. He felt like a little student promising to study hard.


    He Yueyin didn¡¯t mind. She spoke softly, "Your ability to mentally interfere with matter has just manifested. This is of the utmost importance. You must be careful. You¡¯re no longer willing to visit Bai Xinyan, but there¡¯s no harm in running to the Divine Yu Gym more often. Their techniques in cultivating the energies of the body are quite impressive."


    "Yes, Gym Master Xiu is really a wealth of knowledge," Luo Nan spoke with sincerity.


    He Yueyin paused a bit, before suddenly asking, "Are you still cultivating the eyes orifice?"


    "Yes, Gym Master Xiu said that when I get initial sess with the eyes orifice, I must consolidate it until I understand yin and yang from the inside and out."


    "Then?"


    "Then I need to cultivate the ears orifice and the mouth orifice. The three essentials must be cultivated topletion. Coalesce essence, energy, and spirit. Only then can I proceed to the next step."


    He Yueyin gave a soft grunt of approval before saying, "Nine orifices, three essentials. Through the inner organs, coalesce essence and energy, and purify the mind. This is the proper cultivation path. There¡¯s no harm in cultivating in earnest. But you need not bother with strange tales and absurd arguments, delirious ravings and daydreams.¡±


    "Huh?" Luo Nan didn¡¯t understand what He Yueyin meant by delirious ravings and daydreams. But by the time he snapped back to reality, He Yueyin already bid him goodnight and ended the call.


    This was quite odd. Why did she suddenly say such words?


    It seemed that He Yueyin was very familiar with Gym Master Xiu.


    Luo Nan maintained a faint awareness amidst his confusion. He heard the sound of a door closing on the first story. It was Mo Peng. He had his fill of fun outside, entering the house free of worries. This reminded Luo Nan that he had to eavesdrop on the dialogue between his aunt and uncle. But when his soul strength covered the house, he discovered that his guardians were lecturing Mo Peng in the living room. They weren¡¯t talking about Luo Nan¡¯s matters for now.


    Luo Nan listened for a few minutes without gaining anything of value. He simple collected his mind and proceeded to do work. He finished his homework and took out the basic physics exercises that Worker Zhai had prepared for him. He pondered, tackling the problems.


    His energy was fine and thorough from the meshing of the God Gear and Body Gear, allowing his concentration to reach a level that few could attain when he truly put his mind to it. Soon, two hours passed, and it was already past ten at night.


    Luo Nan stretched his back in ordance to the tao yin techniques taught to him by Gym Master Xiu. He loosened his joints, rxing and stretching level by level. His body, wrapped in muscle, bone, skin, and flesh, cracked and crunched endlessly for a moment. Warm moisture circted at the same time. It was extremelyfortable.


    "Blood is sufficient in the fascia as it is drawn from the liver, meaning that the liver is full of blood right now. Things are gradually maturing. Perhaps maturity will happen in the next two days."

 Chapter 345: Sound Heard in the Night

    Chapter 345: Sound Heard in the Night


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan put everything to rest and rolled onto the bed. He stripped until he was just wearing his underwear. He calmed his breathing and did his evening exercises. A thinyer of sweat appeared on his body after half an hour of tao yin breathing exercises, but the states of his body and mind were restored to their peak. The me of the heartntern of the eyes orifice radiated within his head from beginning to end.


    Luo Nan stirred with intent, and the heartntern flickered, casting its glimmering light into his inner organs.


    Gym Master Xiu once said that after achieving initial sess in cultivating in the eyes orifice, the light to observe within would be like the sun and the moon illuminating the mountains and rivers. Even if one couldn¡¯tpletely understand the marvels of vitality, nothing would be missed. One could even pierce the clouds and break through the fog, revealing the essence of mist.


    Luo Nan observed himself internally with psychic illumination. He saw the structure of his inner organs. They were shaped like lumps. They were like high cliffs looking over ravines, towering mountains of rock strewn at random, their outlines dim. Luo Nan disregarded these shapes. He just used his mind, the light of his eyes illuminating below with the rotation of the sun and the moon. He locked on to the life gate located at the lower spine. He heated and refined the life essence there, pouring it into the bed of the perineum. The perineum filled with yang energy, which then naturally rushed up to immerse his inner organs.


    What happened in this instant was truly akin to water being sprayed on magma. Vital energy sputtered and boiled into vapor, alike the whirling of iridescent clouds. The myriad of extremes deformed.


    Luo Nan felt an omen the instant he heated and refined his life essence. After a fright, came delight. "Fill the mountains with mists of energy by refining with the pill furnace. I have reached this step in the technique of refining essence to energy. I¡¯ve almost reached the limit. The next step is to grind down the mountains and redevelop the fields of blessing.... No wonder the gym master said that I first need to obtain a torrential flood to pour and overflow the passes before making a decision. The maturity is sufficient. It will clearly happen today!"


    It must be said that Luo Nan, with his body and soul structure in imbnce, had an obstruction between the internal and the external. He had no choice but to use the vital energy of his entire body to nourish the eyes orifice and form the Body Gear. Only then could he draw upon the towering and vast power of the God Gear. In fact, channeling the power of this grinding gear carried substantial risk. If Luo Nan didn¡¯tprehend the technique of coupling, he might have had to endure several months worth of torment and undergo some augmentation surgery in order to maintain the frail bnce between his body and soul.


    But things could only move in the opposite direction when they reached an extreme in this world. The moment Luo Nan received his mother¡¯s blessings in obtainingprehension over coupling, he was able to cross the most difficult of junctures. The crisis transformed, allowing him to reap greater benefits.


    When normal people cultivated internal refinement techniques, they reliedpletely on water grinding arts. This could take any possible amount of time to reach the level that could fill the mountains with mists of energy by refining with the pill furnace; be it seventy-seven days, eighty-eight days, ny-nine days, or even a hundred days, a year or three years.


    But in Luo Nan¡¯s case, the potential energy of Formatting Theory was truly far toorge. A cier suspended tall above a vast body of water. Even if a bit of its power was channeled, that power was subject to loss in interference. And yet, this power would still boldly forged its way forward. When Luo Nan obtained initial sess with the heartntern of the eyes orifice, the limits of interfering the material with the mental was broken open. It had already gone out of hand within thest seven days.


    In the instant a mere few thoughts shed in Luo Nan¡¯s mind, the mist energy coalesced within his chest and abdomen. The energy were dyed in five colors. The liver and galldder locations were most particr. The green energy glowed slightly. It was very dense.


    ording to oriental ssical theory, the pure eyes orifice was akin to the mouth of a spring, and its sourceid below. There was something called, ¡¯Inside and outside the liver and the galldder, open an orifice at the eyes, grasp its splendor, and fill the muscles.¡¯ Luo Nan¡¯s sess with the eyes orifice wasn¡¯t merely the opening of an orifice in the middle of his forehead. He had opened an entire set of mechanisms and systems with the liver, and its mechanisms influenced everything in the entire body. It involved the liver, the galldder, the eyes, the fingers, the fascia, and so on. The system seemed to jump all over the ce, but in fact, it was linked in one breath. This was what Gym Master Xiu meant when he said, "The body is a mountain range with dense vegetation and thick soil. The breath is like the length of flowing water, winding and moving."


    "I have finally opened through to the fountainhead of the eyes orifice reservoir. I finally obtained flowing water!"


    Before, Luo Nan had exhausted all the vital energy of his body to open a way to the eyes orifice and received the terrifying might of the God Gear with great difficulty. The vast ocean iceberg continued to channel soul strength to him, and his simple eyes orifice was merely a reservoir the size of a pond. There were limits to how much it could endure. Even though Luo Nan was using coupling, the repeated shes from the God Gear caused his pupils to crack like ice and lightning to re within.


    But right now, his situation was different. The eyes orifice now had a path to the blood and energy of his liver and galldder, and this could even transfer to the fascia of his entire body. If he continued to clear away the obstructions, he would be able to get through to the inner organs, the muscles, the bones, and the skin and hair one after another. The amount he could endure from the God Gear would dramatically increase, as he would form the true Body Gear that would revolve without end.


    He could be said to have obtained a path from the internal to the external. Luo Nan¡¯s hard times were over, and the good times were just beginning. Just feeding off the power of the God Gear was enough for a while of good enjoyment.


    It was now midnight. The energy of his liver was appropriate. After feeling emotions of delight, Luo Nan repressed his excitement and fixed his mind. He carefully adjusted and guided his energy to clear the obstructions. He hungered for aplete sess.


    His efforts this time caused two hours to pass in the blink of an eye. He waited as the yin and yang of his liver and galldder automatically conditioned the fire of the heart and the water of the liver. As they circted, Luo Nan naturally woke up.


    He opened his eyes, and his thoughts stirred. He felt a sensation, and he knew that it was about three o¡¯clock in the morning. At the moment, he was overflowing with essence energy. His mind was fresh and invigorated, not suitable for going back to sleep. But this wasn¡¯t part of his usual tempo when it came to work and rest. He was mulling over what to do when his mind pulsed once more.


    There was someone speaking nearby, and they even mentioned his name.


    Based on the level of Luo Nan¡¯s mental senses, he could glimpse and see the information of every living being within a range of several kilometers if he put his mind to it. It was just that the information was far tooplex, and Luo Nan was affected by his longtime use of his soul strength. This added to his burden, so Luo Nan maintained his mental senses at a radius of a dozen meters in his day to day life. Most of the time, his mental senses remained in a standby state. He only reacted when faced with evil intentions and other dangers.


    But the sensitivity of his mental senses increased substantially, possibly due to his great progress in his cultivation just now, and the way it presented itself was quite different from before.


    His mind was akin to a smoothke reflecting the countless stars. It seemed to be the inverted image of the distant, starry sky. And the corresponding information joined and transformed, topose more tangible images of people¡¯s figures. This included their speech, and it was all reflected in the mindke.


    Oh, it¡¯s Aunt and Uncle.... Right, who else can it be?


    The two elders were in their bedroom. They were lying side by side atop their bed. They whispered in conversation. It looked like they hadn¡¯t slept at all this night, talking all the way until now.


    Even though Luo Nan possessed an inconceivable mental sensing ability, he wasn¡¯t someone who would go eavesdropping on people in his daily life. He just heard his name, andst night hemitted quite the folly, so he couldn¡¯t help feeling a bit diffident. He was curious.


    "I¡¯ll just listen for a bit... just for tonight."


    Luo Nan gave himself an excuse before truly putting his mind to sensing. This time, he was like an invisible ghost hiding within his aunt and uncle¡¯s bedroom. It was as if he was there in person, listening and watching with his eyes and ears.


    Luo Nan was unable to retrieve what they said previously, but the first few words that entered his ear stimted his mind.


    "...Is it Dad? Or did Zhongheng¡¯s friende to Xia City?"


    "He was in the Wilderness for twenty years, avoiding civilization all that time. With that kind of sensitive project, he¡¯s lucky to have any friends who haven¡¯t be enemies. It¡¯s impossible for any of them to show up."


    The one who spoke first was Aunt Luo Shuqing. The ¡¯Dad¡¯ she spoke of was naturally Luo Zhongheng¡¯s grandfather, Luo Yuandao, and Zhongheng was Luo Nan¡¯s father, Luo Zhongheng. From Luo Nan¡¯s perspective, these two names were what he cared about the most, though the emotions toward them weren¡¯t quite the same. The mere mention of these names attracted 120% of his attention.


    Luo Shuqing was a bit dissatisfied with her husband¡¯s response. "Don¡¯t y the fool! You know who I¡¯m talking about!"


    "Yes, I know.... But I checked the entrance and exit records of the airport. Yan Yongbo took flights over the Pacific Ocean back and forth recently. He¡¯s been to Los Angeles at least six times already. His troubles are obviouslying from within Quantum Corporation. Do you think they can have an influence on Quantum Corporation?"


    They? Who¡¯s ¡¯they¡¯? What is their rtionship with Grandpa? With Dad?


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t understand who they were talking about, but he knew that the subject his guardians were talking about right now involved the ¡¯family friend¡¯ Yan Yongbo.


    Also, there was the time when Yan Yongbo humiliated their family at the restaurant. Luo Nan had made a solemn vow to seize back the fame from Yan Yongbo¡¯s dad, Yan Hong. Rational or not, Yan Yongbo had the backing of Quantum Corporation, so he really gave others a lot of stress.


    A few days passed, and this dude suddenly disappeared without a trace. It was like having a tiger¡¯s head and a snake¡¯s tail; a strong start but a weak finish, and it made one quite suspicious.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t have aplete understanding of the whole sequence of events behind this matter, but whenpared to other matters of greater importance, Luo Nan had no intentions of mulling over such small details.


    But from the perspective of his aunt and uncle, the tiger that was Quantum Corporation was quite intimidating in normal society. Even if their family was a rtively affluent middle-ss family, there was more than a level¡¯s difference when they werepared to Quantum Corporation, a capitalistic behemoth. One bad move, and the family would be bankrupt, and people would die.


    Luo Nan couldn¡¯t help feeling ashamed thinking about this point. His aunt and uncle bore suchrge pressure this month, but they never mentioned it to him. Luo Nan wasn¡¯t troubled by these matters, and there were many times when hepletely forgot about them.


    I should think of a way tofort these two guardians.


    Luo Nan was mulling over this matter when he heard his aunt sneer, "Do you despise vagrants? Even me, an HR worker, know that the trend of vagrants heading back to the city has been quite fierce in recent years. Some of them have their criminal records cleared. They take on new leases of life and be big bosses. There are more than one or two cases of this happening."


    Luo Nan¡¯s uncled sighed, "Then are you hoping that a former vagrant with a cleared criminal record is helping out?"


    "That¡¯s not what I said."


    Luo Nan¡¯s uncled pulled out a drawer from the bedside cab. He took out a sealed e-cigarette. He was about to ce it in his mouth, but he stopped, twirling it between his fingers instead. "I would rather them stay in the Wilderness forever. This group of people are used to thew of the jungle, and they are involved with religious elements. They are nevercking in craziness and ambition. When the old man was in this world, he was at least a symbol. There existed constraint. But once there¡¯s a change in the situation, I don¡¯t believe that they will reason with us. It seems likely for them to converge with the major powers of the city. I¡¯m afraid things are about to get much livelier."


    Luo Shuqing was quite vignt. "They¡¯ve sought you out again?"


    "I haven¡¯t seen them face to face. I¡¯ve just have had contact with them through the phone. They¡¯re simply requests to alter some data and the like. Whether or not it is done sessfully, they remain all very polite.... You¡¯ve spoken correctly. There is a trend of them entering the city."


    The focus of Luo Shuqing¡¯s attention changed. "What about Nanan? Have they made contact with Nanan? Are you saying that this Wu Zhao...."


    Luo Nan¡¯s uncle finally ced the e-cigarette into his mouth. The vapor rose into the air as he sighed, "I don¡¯t know. I really don¡¯t know."


    In the bedroom, both the husband and wife no longer had the mood to talk. Time just passed, and the pressure from silence slowly umted.


    Luo Nan¡¯s telepathic thought remained there for a few minutes. He felt quite depressed, so it quietly withdrew.


    After retracting his senses, Luo Nany there, lost in thought.


    His aunt and uncle¡¯s guess over the history of Her Majesty Empress Wu wentpletely in the wrong direction due to the unreliability of their source of information. But the information within their dialogue made Luo Nan understand something. In this world, in a certain corner of the boundless Wilderness, there actually existed a group of people that possessed a strange yet intimate rtionship with his father and his grandfather.


    Wilderness? Vagrants?


    All right, another loose thread suddenly appeared.... It looked quite removed, but the things behind it appeared very serious.


    Luo Nany in bed, looking at the ceiling. He was in a leisurely mood, finding something to do since he had nothing to do. In an instant, his thoughts turned chaotic, existing side by side with feelings of agitation and mncholy.


    There were too many things he had to do. Too many things that were hard to aplish.


    He thought about it, and he was no longer happy with the bit of sess he just obtained with internal refinement.

 Chapter 346: Traveling Soul (Part 1/3)

    Chapter 346: Traveling Soul (Part 1/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan was in a trance for a long time, his mind still a mess. The hour hand of the clock pointed to four. Another hour had passed without him being aware. Luo Nan felt unwell. This extremely clear state of mind had been disturbed into soup.


    No, I can¡¯t keep going on like this!


    Luo Nan tried to shake off his bad mood. He thought of He Yueyin¡¯s teachings, and he immediately muttered aloud, "Sharpening a de is half the work of cutting a tree. Sharpening a de is half the work of cutting a tree. Sharpening a de is half the work of cutting a tree...."


    Luo Nan chanted these words over a dozen times, forcibly recing his plethora of distracting thoughts. He got tired after a while, and he used his finger to press against his forehead. His mood slowly calmed. He didn¡¯t have any new experiences, but his muddy thoughts from before gradually turned clear.


    He he. Sister Yueyin was quite considerate for giving me this chant. Actually, saying this chant a thousand times, thinking of a million countermeasures, boils down to a single sentence¡ªyou¡¯re f*ck all if you¡¯re not an Extraordinary!


    Within this month, he followed He Yueyin in understanding "The Ins and Outs of the Psychic Wave Network¡¯s World Order.¡± He followed Bamboo Pole in studying "Notes on the Major Characters of the World.¡± Wasn¡¯t this none other than the principle he learned?


    Frankly speaking, the inner worldprised just a bunch of ¡¯inhumans¡¯ who have awakened with abilities. They ranked themselves in order of strength, establishing a simple society. Even if the inner world was influenced by the normal world¡ªmoney, resources, and contacts could be used to a great degree¡ªstrength was what determined how much one was respected.


    Why did Bamboo Pole have him rely on Her Majesty Empress Wu? It was because Her Majesty Empress Wu was an Extraordinary. She had masterly strength and robust resources. People were awed by her. She could sever incidents that Luo Nan found impossible to handle. She could resolve problems that Luo Nan couldn¡¯t solve.


    In this sense, swapping Her Majesty Empress Wu for any other Extraordinary would achieve a simr result. At most, there would be a difference of service. Of course, swapping would be meaningless if Luo Nan was an Extraordinary himself. The majority of incidents wouldn¡¯t have happened, and even if they did, they would rapidly reach a resolution.


    This was the special position that Extraordinaries hold.


    If Luo Nan could resolve things by himself, he naturally wouldn¡¯t want to rely on others. But the truth of the matter was that he was far from the level of an Extraordinary. Right now, he could barely be considered a blunt de. To grind this de to a sharp edge and conquer every obstacle before him would require him to smash through a lot of hard work.


    He Yueyin had advised him with thismon saying, "Sharpening a de is half the work of cutting a tree," because she was quite worried about him losing patience and confidence from the tedious and difficult process.


    Luo Nan wasn¡¯t that careless and worthless, but to say that he was someone very patient would be a lie.


    He was willing to pay with blood, sweat, and tears in order to hone his de. He could endure whatever hardships, no matter how bitter. But if this process was crude and clumsy, like the gradual step by step of the water grinding arts, then he wouldn¡¯t be able to bear it.


    His grandfather was on the verge of death; he couldn¡¯t wait. The ming enemies with vicious intent wouldn¡¯t wait either. Luo Nan didn¡¯t want to leave behind irreparable regrets. Moreover, he didn¡¯t want to have his head cleaved by the sword of a powerful enemy before matters could be resolved.


    "Put in more effort! Progress even faster!"


    This was none other than the cultivation tempo he desired. To achieve this, he had to rely on nothing but two things. The first was Formatting Theory and coupling. The second was the internal body refinement technique taught to him by Gym Master Xiu, which cultivated essence and energy.


    Thetter involved personal guidance from Gym Master Xiu. The path was clear, the sequence distinct. Luo Nan wasn¡¯t scared of missteps. It was of the utmost efficiency. But this sort of internal refinement technique, regardless of it being breathing techniques or opening orifices, all required particr attention to maturity. One must not advance prematurely. For instance, currently, it wasn¡¯t appropriate for Luo Nan to make any impatient actions, having just honed the eyes orifice into perfection. He needed his body to settle for several days, then see.


    So this left only one thing that could be further carved for results.


    Formatting Theory.


    Luo Nan understood very well that his cultivation progress in internal refinement was shocking. Part of it was due to a sharpening influence from Formatting Theory, the transformation of the enormous potential energy of the vast ocean cier. Today, his cultivations in the eyes orifice waspleted, and he would still need to rely on the power of Formatting Theory for the next step in his cultivations.


    No matter which ways he went about it, Formatting Theory was his most fundamental and key research. He dedicated himself to forging ahead. He couldn¡¯t ck off at all. And there was a state most appropriate for pondering Formatting Theory.


    The clock pointed to 4:10 a.m. Luo Nan looked at his daily schedule using his HexaEar. He had around an hour to go before his regr morning exercise routine.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t get up, having estimated the time. He just slightly closed his eyes and said, Come out, in his mind. Chains shook within the void, its pulling forceing out of nowhere. It pulled his soul to leave his body with a shudder.


    Yes, what Luo Nan wanted to do was astral travel in an out-of-body state.


    Formatting Theory itself was wed. Its hidden dangers wererge, one of which was the imbnce between body and soul, the unconventional explosive surge of soul strength. And the times when soul strength exploded the most fiercely was often when the soul left the body.


    After the event at Frost River Reality, Luo Nan¡¯s imbnce between body and soul had reached a critical level. He had to seal up this technique and stop using it.


    However, was Formatting Theory still Formatting Theory without the explosive increase in soul strength? Luo Nan inherited this theory of his grandfather¡¯s. He desired to reform and improve it to perfection. This process was bound to be filled with constant trial and error. Now, how would he do this trial and error? Naturally, he had to make errors in order to make revisions.


    Luo Nan was in a critical state in the past from the imbnce between body and soul. He lost all room to make mistakes. However, with his progress in his cultivations, with the constant revolving of his body gear, his foundation turned deep. His ability to deal with risks greatly increased. There were some things he had to put on the agenda. He had to keep going, or should he just wait for the de to cleave into his body, awaiting death with closed eyes?


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t want to close his eyes and wait to die. He had to open his eyes to look at this world. He had to use the perspective of Formatting Theory to make scientific analyses. Then he had to put it into practice to verify the results. He had to push forward like this, level by level, using the greatest of efforts to climb to the level of Extraordinary at the fastest speed possible.


    "I can do it! I have to do it!"


    Luo Nan¡¯s conviction grew clear. His soul floated outside his body. Like a fish, he softly leapt into the boundless and endless mental ocean. The range of his senses instantly expanded by tenfold, by a hundredfold.


    His telepathic mind stirred, and he saw his fleshly body in its sleep-like state. He swept his vision to look at his quiet-yet-awake guardians, and his soul body flickered as it disappeared into the void.


    Without the burden of the fleshly body, the soul body¡¯s movement speed only depended on the spatial interference strength Luo Nan could employ with his methods and skills. It wasn¡¯t an oddity to be able to travel several kilometers in a single thought. Luo Nan left his livingmunity far away in the blink of an eye, entering the depths of the metropolis, which was on the verge of waking in this early morning.


    His soul wandered in the city, and seemingly familiar, yet unfamiliar feelings umted inyers. In the past, nearly every time Luo Nan went in an out-of-body state, he was in deadly and dangerous situations. He was just purely observing and perceiving. Times like this were rare.


    The Life Sketches of every living being within the area he could sense appeared one after another. Together, they formed a deep starry sky that continued to expand. The starry sky of life ovepped with the night sky of reality, turning into abyrinth interwoven on the mental ne and the material ne. Thisbyrinth possibly even held unknown and precious treasures within.


    This was an experience that was difficult to grasp in a normal state.


    Luo Nan wasn¡¯t bewildered by thebyrinth. He soon confirmed a direction. He moved like a demon of the night. Hidden at times, and disappearing at times. But he pressed forward in a straight line. He didn¡¯t avoid any of the tall buildings or flying vehicles. He just went through them all.


    It was now 4:20 a.m. Only ten minutes had passed, and Luo Nan¡¯s soul body was already flying in the skies above Pingjiang District. He took Acumen College, and even the buildingplex of Cloud City Water Vige which jutted into the clouds, into the range of his senses.

 Chapter 347: Traveling Soul (Part 2/3)

    Chapter 347: Traveling Soul (Part 2/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan was quite shocked after checking the time.


    Acumen College was around eighty kilometers away from his aunt¡¯s house. It took exactly an hour to get to it when one followed the speed limit of the city. He had just spent ten minutes to get here. In other words, the flying speed of his soul body was nearly five hundred kilometers per hour.


    Luo Nan got a rough feel for the flying speed of the soul when he was in the out-of-body state for the very first time. He just felt that it was fast. He never thought that it was this fast. It must be known that he merely flew casually and was far from reaching his limits. If he truly put his all, it was entirely possible for his speed to increase by an entire factor.


    Perhaps, this was the result of his catalytic progress?


    There were a few satellite towns added to the main city district of Xia City, so the total radius of Xia City was around four hundred kilometers. This meant that he could easily reach any location in Xia City within an hour. In a night¡¯s time, he could travel a whole circle around Xia City, and even travel several thousand kilometers away.


    The marvels of astral travely here.


    He just didn¡¯t know if any issues woulde up with the order frame, which was formed from his Body Gear and God Gear, from having his soul body be too far away.


    Luo Nan immediately slowed the flying speed of his soul. He spared a bit of mental energy to sense the changes in his fleshly body located eighty kilometers away.


    The out-of-body state caused considerable changes with the order frame of Luo Nan¡¯s body and soul. The pressureing from his soul strength toward his body was practically nil, but he was also separated from the external neuron. There was no longer the vast ocean iceberg structure and its massive order. The God Gear didn¡¯t really live up to its name anymore.


    Luo Nan tried to drive the heartntern of the eyes orifice, but there was no reaction. At this point, he was certain that a corresponding material medium was necessary for an effective interference of reality when he used the mental ne. For instance, no matter how powerful his God Gear, Luo Nan¡¯s current order frame was useless in this regard, for hecked the meshing of the Body Gear.


    Luo Nan couldn¡¯t help feeling a bit disappointed about this.


    In this way, the substantial uses of astral travel were rather limited. He needed to n ahead. He needed to make a few backups of the high-imitation Human-Faced Arachnid as long as the Wraith Sign wasn¡¯t here.


    Luo Nan pondered this matter and felt a little puzzled. Were mentally enhanced ability users like Mr. Bai and Old Man You, who definitely possessed the astral travel ability, like this in their out-of-body states? It didn¡¯t seem so. How else would they show their skills in their day-to-day lives?


    He pondered this from different angles, but was unable to get the gist of it. He was even thinking of giving He Yueyin a proposal: Add a course on the applications of the out-of-body state.


    In any case, it was impossible for him to resolve this issue tonight. Luo Nan collected his mind, giving up on useless, distracting thoughts. With a flicker of his soul body, he arrived in the skies above Cloud City Water Vige. He locked on the viewing tform atop Ocean Sky Cloud City and drifted down.


    It was the wee hours of four o¡¯clock in the morning. There naturally wouldn¡¯t be anybody there on the viewing tform. It was deste and quiet. When Luo Nan¡¯s soul strength cut across, though he had no effects toward the material ne, he made contact with the consciousness of a living being via the mental ne.


    Within the central crystal pir of Ocean Sky Cloud City, the Mutant devil ray was resting and floating in the water. It suddenly became excited. It swung its enormous t body to whirl in a circle, a habitual action. It was like a giant drill as it rapidly ascended upward, heading toward the peak of the crystal pir. It rapidly advanced toward none other than the viewing tform of the Ocean Sky Cloud City.


    Since Ocean Sky Cloud City held captive such a fierce creature, they naturally didn¡¯t have a lowered guard. Every night, there were professionals on duty. There were also monitoring probes of different forms ying their role.


    The instant the devil ray moved, its special behavior drew the alert of the monitoring system. There were groans all over within the central control room of therge building.


    "This monster is going crazy again."


    "A single disturbance costs hundreds of thousands!"


    "Quick! Release the blocker!"


    The so-called blocker was a defensive device that Cloud City Water Vige temporary installed after the devil ray had broken through the reinforced ss of the Heavenly Ocean Lake. It had no other function besides preventing the devil ray from punching another hole through the Heavenly Ocean Lake.


    Therge building turned chaotic, and Luo Nan could feel it. He felt a bit embarrassed, so he imbued psychic waves into the devil ray, calming its agitated emotions.


    The devil ray possessed decent intelligence. Although it had been under Luo Nan¡¯s control in forced submission by the high-imitation Human-Faced Arachnid, it had felt all sorts of novelties and fascinations. Moreover, it had reached an utterly strong state under Luo Nan¡¯s control. It both revered and feared the special frequency of Luo Nan¡¯s psychic waves. Right now, it was already ranked in Luo Nan¡¯s Societal Format Diagram. It was located in the Office Worker level. ording to the definitions of Orders, it could be called a ¡¯believer¡¯ or ¡¯family.¡¯


    Luo Nan¡¯s telepathic mind sunk downward, and the devil ray didn¡¯t dare resist. It immediately stopped its momentum. As it turned its body, it saw that it had rmed its surroundings. Fish and shrimp, who were fleeing in all directions, were easily swallowed with a single bite. Ocean Sky Cloud City had blood spilled in it yet again.


    The gambol of the just awakened devil ray would bring about great damages to relevant parties. Luo Nan¡¯s soul body stayed above the viewing tform, and he looked into the distance, at the wends jungle of the north bank of Acumen College. He stared, unmoving for a time.


    Gear was in the middle of the jungle. The viewing tform was over a dozen kilometers away from the wends jungle. The color of day was dark and deste. Normal people would find Gear hard to see.


    But Luo Nan could see it.


    The distance of a dozen kilometers existed within the limits of Luo Nan¡¯s mental senses when his soul and body were together. Before, he had used the coupling of the God Gear and the Body Gear to stimte the heartntern of the eyes orifice to marvelous effects. The caressing psychic light illuminated the earth from above, taking Gear, which was within the jungle, into his irvoyance.


    It was currently impossible for him to achieve coupling between the God Gear and the Body Gear in his astral travel state. But since entering the out-of-body state, the range of his senses increased explosively tenfold. He was able to clearly see Gear with pure observation


    Back then, he had a magical feeling that Gear was the eye of heaven and earth, that it was arge format epassing the entire universe. The problem was, it was difficult to trigger such feelings again, no matter how much he observed Gear.


    This result was within his expectations.


    He had already understood something the instant when his heartntern illuminated Gear from above. The marvels contained within Gear couldn¡¯t be seen by purely the naked eye. Mental senses couldn¡¯t illuminate it clearly, either. Only when the two modes of vision and mental senses were coupled to realize a polished ovep could the reality behind the exterior be touched. Only then could he ascertain how that power of order rotated within the void of heaven and earth into a genesis.


    Observing through pure mental senses was meaningless.


    If possible, Luo Nan obviously hoped to go to the the viewing tform physically in person and observe Gear in the day and night with his irvoyance. He would then take in the marvels of his experience. But this week, there had been ghosts dancing all around, all the time, regardless of the location being the viewing tform or Gear. It spoiled Luo Nan¡¯s mood.


    "Forget it. Forget it. I¡¯ll go observe up close."


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t choose this location for his astral travel based purely on a whim. He had a clear purpose and n.


    Luo Nan¡¯s soul body flew away from Ocean Sky Cloud City. With a mere thought, he appeared within the middle of the wends jungle, and Gear was just ahead. At that time, all the lights were off within the building. It was pitch-ck, without any hint of a human.


    To enter this ce at this time and in this sort of setting would require some guts.... Oh, if someone really dide, Luo Nan didn¡¯t mind testing out the fellow¡¯s qualities.


    What a pity; there was no such person here.


    Luo Nan¡¯s soul body went through the wall to go inside Gear. His mental senses naturally covered every space and every corner of the twelve floors above and below him. He missed not a hair.


    Such things was possible when his body and soul were merged. In that state, he could do even better thanks to the strengthening from the heartntern of the eyes orifice. It was more suitable to the environment of Gear.


    But Luo Nan often had this thought: There are people ahead of the body and eyes behind the head; he must not act willfully. So he waited until he gained sess with internal refinement, reckoning that now he could endure the pressure of his soaring soul strength. Only then did he embark forward.


    He didn¡¯t know if it was his imagination, but he felt a chill as he stayed in this ce in the form of a soul.

 Chapter 348: Traveling Soul (Part 3/3)

    Chapter 348: Traveling Soul (Part 3/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    The early morning might be the quietest time of the day for the wends jungle. The activity of the birds and the beasts between the trees had plummeted to the minimum, and whatever sounds that made their way to Gear werergely blocked off.


    Any slight abnormality would be magnified under such an environment, evoking a sense of bizarreness.


    Luo Nan¡¯s soul remained unmoving. He took in this experience in detail. A dozen or so seconds passed, and he grew more certain that the chill he felt wasn¡¯t an illusion. The chill even seemed to possess a certain pattern. It was like a wisp of air moving in a circle, and it traveled back and forth inside Gear.


    And there was a soft diditata sound apanying the chill as it circted within the building. Perhaps it was because he had been listening to the sound for a while, but he felt that there existed a faint, yet exquisite rtionship between the two.


    The exquisiteness made it so that one would perceive illusions at any given time.


    Luo Nan was in his out-of-body state. The precision of his mental senses had climbed to the highest summit. Normally, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to detect the subtle rtionship contained within the chill.


    "Right. This is right."


    Luo Nan liked this sort of discovery. This detail fit in nicely with the research and conclusions he made on the mysteries of Gear. His explorations during astral travel started off nicely.


    He was about to stay here to engage in further study, but his brain heated up for a few seconds, and he recalled his primary purpose for today¡¯s actions. He could only suppress his impulses, and go through the ground floor with his incorporeal soul. He headed toward the central control room located on the underground fourth floor.


    The feeling of his soul going through the ground was quite a marvelous one. The soul body relied on mental senses. Normal matter wouldn¡¯t cause any interference. But Luo Nan was used to the perceptions of the body, so it was inevitable that some mental barriers would appear in his mind.


    Within his ¡¯eyes,¡¯ the earth and steel structure formed numerousyers of shadows. It was akin to plummeting through thick clouds. They appeared solid and imposing at first nce, but then they turned as indistinct as smoke when he collided with them. He very nearly lost his sense of orientation, bing uncertain whether he headed up toward the skies or down into the earth.


    Such a feeling triggered the appearance of memories from the bottom of his heart.


    He had experienced a simr scene a week ago, but that scene was more vivid and real. Bloody rays had pierced through an ash-grayyer of clouds, and he had gone through them just like now. An incredibly vast view of the world had been presented before him.


    Today, Luo Nan came here in secret. He came here to chase after that incredible experience.


    He had long wanted to do this, but his recent situation prevented him. His situation was a hopeless mess, so the Xia City branch kept him under strict surveince. They protected him practically twenty-four hours a day. They sent him to school. They picked him up after school. On campus, Xue Lei always wanted to stick close to him. And there were sentries on rotational duty outside his home at night.


    Needless to say, things were tight at Gear as well. There was always construction work. All sorts of people came and went, hiding their true intentions. Monitoring urred both inside and out. It was truly as if there were eyesing from all directions. Luo Nan was up to his ears in work. He really was unable to find a chance.


    Today, he managed to astral travel through his great efforts. Naturally, the first thing he did wase here to try. The situation was now unfolding just as he intended.


    He had deliberately gone to Ocean Sky Cloud City to observe Gear from afar because he wanted to trace back the actions that led to that experience. And his first decision aftering back to Gear was to go to the starting point of that real experience. He was going to the central control room located on the underground fourth floor.


    Luo Nan had seen it yesterday afternoon. The central control room was entirely renovated, installed with apletely new control console. Its holographic projection showed that all equipment and instations were on standby. There was only the shing of two or three electronic lights.


    Luo Nan stood before the control console. His mind in recollection was akin to entering the ocean with waves upon waves of receding tides. The ocean churned with excitement, causing the temporal scene to appear as if in a vast space, boundless and endless.


    Although he was clearly in soul form, Luo Nan subconsciously performed the action of drawing in a deep breath.


    "Come, then! Now is the time to witness miracles!"


    Luo Nan¡¯s telepathically touched the control console and extended inside to capture that feeling within his memories.


    The control console was ice-cold. Its digital lights shed. Then... no further response came.


    Luo Nan waited a full twenty seconds before daring to confirm that his tracing attempts had suffered a most merciless failure.


    "What¡¯s wrong?"


    Luo Nan still remembered what he experienced that day. He remembered the entire process that caused him to be transported from the central control room to the tree hole located over a thousand meters away.


    Luo Nan remembered looking at the ruins of the smashed control console. The fellow named Tank had destroyed the fire safety module. Luo Nan had tried to activate it once more by using the external neuron to directly connect to the underlying system. He had been sent spinning the moment he connected to the energy module.... Oh?


    Yes, the external neuron!


    Luo Nan¡¯s soul spun in ce for five or six revolutions, his mind still retaining emotions of vexation that were difficult to dispel. His mind really had been muddled. It was very probable that the external neuron had acted as a primer, as a key, at the time. Otherwise, an average Joe could just waltz in and uncover the shocking mysteries of Gear.


    Back in the day when his mother designed Gear, there was also that man who possessed the external neuron. Using the external neuron as a safeguard was the most rational choice.


    Luo Nan wanted to open the treasure chest, but he forgot the key at home.


    All right, this was a wasted trip. Next time, when he had the chance.... Wait. It was only 4:30 A.M. He still had time. With the flying speed of his soul, it waspletely possible to do a round trip!


    With the slightest stirring of a thought, Luo Nan¡¯s soul flew straight up. He went throughyers andyers of earth, rock, and metal to directly soar into the skies above Gear.


    "Oh?"


    Originally, Luo Nan was going to immediately leave, but he suddenly felt something when his soul body traveled within the building structure. The lingering chill within the air seemed to cut with minute ripples and undtions at the soul body at several locations. It felt wonderful.


    Luo Nan couldn¡¯t but think of what had happened before.


    His soul body stopped in ce, and his mental senses naturally covered the entire building, taking the structure of Gear into his mind.


    There seemed to be endless discoveries waiting to be unearthed when it came to the marvels of Gear. Outside, Gear was seamlessly embedded into the Heaven and Earth Format as a tiny part. Inside, Gear had subtle and exquisiteponents that together formed a harmonized whole.


    ording to what Luo Nan learned recently, Gear could be generally described as a precision-running mechanical system.


    Luo Nan had endlessly observed Gear over the past many days. He observed each part one by one, and could generally discern them. Within the building, there was the central control room, the undergroundboratory, the above groundboratory, the activity room, and the atrium. There were several pieces of independent areas. They were all parts of this machine, and each fulfilled their respective functions.


    The machine was constantly running, but eachponent was fixed. This caused a problem: If theponents weren¡¯t moving, what was moving?


    A proper engineer probably would have gone mad when faced with this problem, but Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts were influenced by his many days of living in this world. He naturally turned to another train of thought.


    Theponents didn¡¯t move. Then what moved was some kind of an extraordinary power.


    The cultural courses he recently took touched upon knowledge involving the mystic arts. For example, the formations of the Orient, the magical spells of the west, and other simr stuff. Ability users used materials, temperature, terrain, the atmosphere, and so on in arrangements. This was to better draw and drive energy, creating a marvelous structure of coalescence and energy.


    Researchers of the Society even included the Wuhou Eight Formation of folklore and other simr mystic arts as references.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t care the least about the Wuhou Eight Formation, and its effect which was akin to a stone immovable by the flowing river. He was just driven by the new thoughts that had popped into his mind, and he flew up a certain distance in height to gaze down from afar. He scanned Gear from inside to outside once anew several times, opening up new trains of thought.


    He thought, Was that chill,ing from nowhere, created by air-conditioning?


    ording to the superficial knowledge Luo Nan learned from Worker Zhai over these past few days, this sort of mechanical system should have some sort of primary motor to provide motive power to parts, which then realized functions, allowing the transmission to connect the two parts of motive power and work. There were also auxiliaryponents that, for instance, controlled operation.


    Luo Nan, a non-mainstream engineering apprentice, would find it truly very difficult to distinguish the marvelous designs of the well-blended mechanical structure. However, tracking the flow of energy was a different story. Luo Nan could roughly judge the locations of transmission, the locations of umtion, and the locations performing work.


    Luo Nan¡¯s mental senses immediately following the flow of the chill. In and out. To and fro. He followed for a few cycles, eliminatingponents one after another, gradually shrinking the scope until he reached the westernmost side of Gear.


    This ce had a diameter of twelve meters and a depth of fifty meters. It was the atrium.


    ording to Luo Nan¡¯s perception, the chill was divided inyers, and each of its flow had a different source. However, practically everyyer arrived there in the end, umting in its spiraling, in all its movements. The diditata sound was clearest here.


    Luo Nan¡¯s soul sunk down to directly enter the atrium. Heart answered with a sensation as he did so. As expected, the psychic pressure of the circting current was a factor higher here than the other locations in the building. When his soul body cut into this area, ripples clearly undted on the mental ne, akin to the ripples formed when a pebble was tossed into a deep well.


    With this ¡¯toss,¡¯ Luo Nan was able to confirm the exquisiteness, the subtlety of this flowing energy coalescing here. And this told him that he wouldn¡¯t have grasped the changes within were it not for him being in an out-of-body state, were it not for the sharp increase in the precision of his mental senses.


    Then, what came after the umtion of the spiraling flow of energy?


    Why did Luo Nan have an impression that this ce was like a deep well? This was because there seemed to be something missing in the atrium, based on the quantity of flowing energy that was coalescing. An order to control the energy flow was missing. The element to lock the whole thing in ce was missing.


    Was it the external neuron? Or perhaps....


    Luo Nan floated within the atrium. He was silent in thought for a while before suddenly strengthening his soul. Based on his current ability, doing the strengthening was as difficult as drinking cool water. The visualization diagram,posed of a tetrahedron, an inscribed sphere, and an outerscribed sphere, immediately appeared in the void, enveloping his soul within.


    The instant this figure manifested within the atrium, Luo Nan discovered that the surrounding chilly flow of energy had been stirred!


    The flow speed was increasing, going through the visualization diagram, in and out, coiling around, moving step by step.


    The visualization diagram acted as a pole, and the stirring of the pole gave the gathered flowing energy a lot of order. It also consolidated the energy quite a bit. Most notable were the changes with some messy information. They were gathered up because of this stirring, gradually bing logical.


    There was a way!


    The response grew clearer and clearer with the cirction of the flowing energy. Luo Nan¡¯s mental senses were even tinged with color. A faint gray glow gradually filled in.


    Luo Nan was no stranger to this.


    In this week, whether it was the day he had that experience, or the times when he was half-asleep and half-awake in silence, there was always this glow entwined in his memories, reminding him of the existence of a magical world.

 Chapter 349: To the Cloud (Part 1/3)

    Chapter 349: To the Cloud (Part 1/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    This gray-white glow of paint became motivation in Luo Nan¡¯s perspective. He couldn¡¯t help thinking, Can it be? Can the circumstances back then be recreated without using the external neuron?


    Luo Nan wanted to know more, and his mental senses naturally expanded, allowing him to discover that his soul strength was constrained¡ªit was constrained within the atrium, unable to breach outside no matter what he did. It just revolved within the atrium, its speed rapidly increasing.


    Soul strength didn¡¯t possess kic energy, nor did it really have vectors to speak of. These were just philosophical elements discussed within the Society. Luo Nan was unable to give an urate definition, but whether it was an illusion or a genuine sensation, his soul strength undoubtedly appeared in such a state.


    He thought about the practical physics course he took in middle school. He had seen a particle elerator. It elerated charged particles in a vacuum using electromaic fields. The particles umted more and more energy, before ultimately colliding with each other.


    This was what Luo Nan felt right now.


    His soul strength was constrained in this way. It revolved at soaring speeds, forming and sustaining wave after wave of tremendous psychic pressure. The pressure was so much that the line between the mental and the material gradually blurred. This was a structure of the mental ne, and it forcefully revealed itself in prominence.


    Thousands ofyers of curtains soared, following the surge of psychic pressure. They warped one after another; distant ones pulled closer, and close ones cast afar. It looked like one great mess, but for some reason, after several changes, the thousands of curtains actually interweaved to form a stable structure. No matter how warped the mental ne became, few changes urred in the main section... although it was stillplicated to the point of madness.


    "This scene seems familiar.... Stop!"


    Luo Nan gave up analyzing with firm resolution. The deeper he sank into the mental ne, the more he came to know theplexity of its mysteries and secrets. They were endless, enough to wring one¡¯s mental energy dry. Luo Nan really didn¡¯t have the energy to think from different angles.


    The cycling speed continued to increase, catalyzing Luo Nan¡¯s soul strength to some kind of limit. His perception on the mental ne quickly began to crumble, and soon he lost perception of the cycling, of the psychic pressure, and so on.


    The corresponding thoughts were annihted. It was akin to a skyscraper whose structural frame was erased, immediately causing it to copse and fall apart.


    Luo Nan instantly fell into a sheet of chaos.


    If any bit of consciousness still remained under these circumstances, then only existence itself was probably all that was left.


    The world went still before exploding apart!


    There was an indescribable period of time. It might have been a second. It might have been an hour. But Luo Nan waspletely unaware of what happened during that time.


    By the time his basic perception was restored to him, he just sensed the weak feeling of existence as one of the few things remaining. The feeling took on the form of iparable greed, and it rapidly expanded. It took all ability of thought and perception that had been lost, and seized them backpletely, digesting them anew.


    The endlessly rising psychic pressure disappeared without a trace, and Luo Nan¡¯s soul turned light and calm, transparent inside and out.


    Everything was being restored. Everything was improving. But everything changed into something different.


    In fact, a whole new world appeared before Luo Nan¡¯s eyes.


    The gray-white glow appeared once more, acting as the universal background, drawing blurry and hazy silhouettes. Soon, the silhouettes became discernible. They were mounds and mounds of clouds. Coils and coils of mist. The hail-fire of ice crystals. And between the pressed and torn cracks of clouds was a blood-red flowing glow, as if a congration burned in the area below.


    Luo Nan stared at it all, taking the time to confirm that it wasn¡¯t an illusion, that it wasn¡¯t a memory, that it was urring in this very moment. This was the scene collected by his mental senses.


    He had seen a simr scene in the past. Though the process had been differentst week, he had looked down from above to view such a scene. He had gone deep within, for a short, yet incredible journey to the cloud!


    Sess! This was it!


    Luo Nan wanted to wave his arms and yell in exhration, but this was something he couldn¡¯t do as a soul. He could only settle for the next best thing. He weed the astral winds wrapped in the ice crystals of his memories.


    Wait, where was the wind?


    Luo Nan discovered the anomaly atst. He tried to control his soul body to enter the endless cloudyer before him, but he was unable to get even a millimeter near no matter how much he exerted himself. It seemed as if a piece of invisible ss stood before him, cutting the two areas apart.


    Then more problems came out.


    Luo Nan discovered that he was unable to engage in an all-epassing view with his soul. He was constrained to something like a bird¡¯s-eye view. The sensation of the invisible ss together with this view made it all feel like he was sitting in an airne. The thick ss window separated him, leaving him only to gaze at the boundless sea of clouds.


    If Luo Nan never had that first experience, he would probably praise the marvelous scene before his eyes. But there were no ifs in this world; there was only reality. This situation of immobility, of being trapped, was absolutely not what Luo Nan desired!


    Moreover, this led to another problem. Right now, he wasn¡¯t in the atrium of Gear. He also hadn¡¯t moved to the cloud world. Then, where was he?


    The thought barely formed, and Luo Nan felt some irresistible force repelling him. It took him, who was infinitesimally close to the cloud world, and smacked him down over and over. Then the world spun before his eyes. He couldn¡¯t help his scream, and by the time he snapped out of it, the world changed back to its most normal appearance.


    He had returned to the atrium within Gear.


    "Oh my... god!"


    The middle obscenity and thought were forcibly erased by Luo Nan. He had nothing to say toward his mother¡¯s masterpiece. He was just pissed off with himself.


    He returned to the normal world, and his all-epassing senses returned as well. They covered Gear from inside out, taking the structure of the atrium and the gathering energy flow into his irvoyance. He saw everything to the finest detail.


    So my senses are sharp this time? Luo Nan gritted his teeth in frustration. The range of his mental senses simply exploded, driven by his emotions. They broke away from the constraints of the atrium. There was no wall blocking them, but there should be some sort of retaliating whish for his actions!


    The feelers of his mental senses extended fifteen kilometers out in the blink of an eye, reaching toward an area that was twenty kilometers away. They easily covered the entire campus of Acumen College, bringing Cloud City Water Vige and most of therge activity area within their perception.


    Luo Nan was shocked when he snapped out of his minor emotions. This wasn¡¯t the directional irvoyance he used atop Ocean Sky Cloud City. This was an omnidirectional radiation.


    A radius of twenty kilometers. That was a range of over a thousand square kilometers. The entirety of Pingjiang District was just thatrge!


    The space was enormous, climbing up to the heavens and digging down to the earth. The sheer amount of information from the living beings, even if from simplified Life Sketches, was of a terrifying quantity. It was an astronomical number.


    There was an instant when Luo Nan felt he was about to explode. He used all his efforts to constrain his out-of-control mental senses, seeking to reduce the impact. But soon he received thetest feedback.


    The impact seemed quite illusionary?


    The information that should havee dide, but the expected impact didn¡¯t ur. The soul simply engulfed therge quantity of information, digesting it, like drinking a ss of in boiled water.

 Chapter 350: To the Cloud (Part 2/3)

    Chapter 350: To the Cloud (Part 2/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan¡¯s mental senses covered over a thousand square kilometers, simultaneously portraying the Life Sketches of hundreds of thousands of living beings, projecting millions and millions of stars. The level and range of his mental senses were outstanding. But the first feeling Luo Nan got was far from great. He was unable to get a sense how much his soul could endure. He couldn¡¯t help thinking,


    Can it be? Are the powers the same? Has Formatting Theory been stimted from cultivating here in Mother¡¯s work, causing another eruption in uncontroble growth?


    Luo Nan knew the dangers of the out-of-body state, but the extent of expansion, the explosive tempo, far exceeded his expectations. Though Luo Nan possessed the God Gear upheld by the external neuron, though Luo Nan¡¯s liver flowed with energy, allowing the Body Gear to constantly rotate, his body might not be able to bear it!


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t dare stay in the atrium any longer. He immediate soared upward. But he felt a subtle sensation the moment he cut through the aftermath of the flowing energy all around him, and a thought suddenly appeared in his mind.


    It seems like the changes with my soul are quite big this time?


    The details surrounding his mental senses far exceeded any previous instant in abnormality. Perhaps other aspects were involved aside from a growth in volume. Unfortunately, the details were too many and too tedious. They felt blurry, and Luo Nan was unable to judge what they were within a short time frame.


    Luo Nan couldn¡¯t achieve a clear understanding, and he didn¡¯t force it. One problem appearing often led to a series of problems appearing. He needed to return home as soon as possible. He disregarded the external neuron. The utmost priority was to confirm whether or not his body and soul structure would copse in imbnce once more.


    Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts churned within Gear before taking the step back home.


    Luo Nan soared in the dusky sky of the early morning, his mental senses already covering the route back home. His perception prated everywhere, stopping at nothing. Skyscrapers were like masses of smoke. They were practically nothing, Luo Nan rushing straight through. His phantasmal flying soul was like a demon.


    The more he experienced these things, the more he felt that something was off.


    His soul strength had to have increased, but with time as a buffer, Luo Nan felt that the increase in volume wasn¡¯t as terrifying as what was previously indicated. At most, it was equivalent to the the amount the Wraith Sign fed from its prey during the time the Wraith Sign made its first hunt. Luo Nan had some leeway to deal with this sort of increase after forming the Body Gear.


    But at the same time, his sensing region was endlessly changing from his high speed movement, and the range it covered grew greater and greater. He had already broken through a twenty kilometer radius, and this range continued to slowly increase.


    What was the root cause for this increase?


    Luo Nan¡¯s mind was distracted, but the speed he was traveling at as he made his way back far exceeded his speed whening. It took a total of six minutes to get home, and this was far from his limits.


    There weren¡¯t any changes with the situation at home. Luo Nan¡¯s aunt and uncle had tormented themselves for the greater part of the night, but they fell asleep sometime throughout it all. The entire house was very quiet. About a kilometer away on themunity streets was the bodyguard dispatched by the Society. His eyes were zing bright as he guarded the monitoring devices.


    However, whether it were the devices or the bodyguard, none of them had any reaction toward Luo Nan in his out-of-body state.


    It wasn¡¯t that they were unqualified. Astral traveling, what Luo Nan was doing, was an activity on either the absolute realm or the abyssal region of the mental ne. The vast majority of B-rank ability users would be blind to Luo Nan even with open eyes.


    Luo Nan¡¯s soul remained atop the roof of his house. His body, fast asleep below, was like an enormous vortex. His soul was instinctively attracted to it.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t enter his body in the first instance when faced with this attractive force. He felt slightly hesitant.


    This was an excellent touchstone to test the increase of his soul strength and the resilience of his fleshly body. However, dangersy here as well. If he couldn¡¯t stuff his soul inside, he would probably be the biggestughing stock of the Society for earning an unprecedented nickname of being a homeless soul. Though, there wouldn¡¯t be any deadly crisis to speak of.


    And Bai Xinyan, who recently suspended her duties to have some fun, would probably be quite delighted to stuff him in a health pod for treatment.


    No way in hell would that happen!


    Luo Nan was irritated with his own indecisiveness. A de woulde at him no matter what decision he made. He couldn¡¯t avoid it forever. What was he hesitating for!


    His resolution firm, the soul sank down, its form melting like ice. The inexhaustible surging soul strength rushed into the vortex that was the body and urately locked onto the external neuron. It infused within in an orderly fashion.


    The external neuron filled up and then naturally overflowed, forming the image of the vast ocean iceberg structure. But with the external neuron as a frame, the soul strength didn¡¯t overflow without order. And so the God Gear was formed in this way.


    The pressure endured by the body began at zero, and continued to rise.


    Luo Nan¡¯s eyelids twitched as hey on his bed, maintaining a half-mast state. Hey there, experiencing the changes urring with his order frame.


    The pressure continued to rise, akin to the rush of a great tide. The God Gear and the Body Gear were like waterwheels. They rumbled as they rotated within the flow of water. Not only did they dispel the frontal impact of the tide, they even borrowed the power of the tide and transformed it into energy, nourishing the fields of blessing.


    It looks like there aren¡¯t any problems?


    From the past until now, Luo Nan¡¯s cultivations in the eyes orifice graduallypleted, but there was always a tiny little hole¡ªan upper bound to what could be endured. The eyes orifice was far from reaching a level where he could disy the full power of the God Gear. He could only protect the lower limit; that was, ensure that the God Gear and Body Gear could mesh and rotate in harmony. The God Gear and Body Gear significantly differed when it came to volume, but the fear of the consequences was too great to change it.


    But right now, with the energy flow of his liver unobstructed, the eyes orifice was able to reach his inner organs. The lower limit had increased massively, unbeknown to Luo Nan. The Body Gear and the God Gear had meshed and were rotating. The cirction of blood and energy increased in speed, causing a sharp increase in consumption. But the blood of the liver continued to replenish and adjust, simr to the recharging of batteries. The nourishment of moisture caused growth and development that was evesting.


    But then Luo Nan¡¯s Body Gear absorbed too much power, and in this instant, his internal heat grew much stronger. The energy of the liver naturally began to flow away to the fascia, the fingers and toes, and the eyes orifice, giving them rapid growth, nourishment, and refinement. These changes urred up and down his body, increasing the strength of it


    From this, Luo Nan could see that not only weren¡¯t there any problems, there seemed to be a possibility for further increases in his cultivation speed. This was absolutely great news. Of course, the increase in soul strength was still within the scope he could control. This was even better news.


    Luo Nan confirmed atst that the uncontroble growth of the soul had merely been a misconception. However, the explosive expansion in the range of his mental senses was fact. Why was this?


    He simply sat up in his bed, taking the notebook from his bedside. He flipped to a nk page, then started to write and draw.


    The same actions lead to results that are several times more in quantity than ones in the past. Following normal logic, this means that the process of the actions are naturally more effective. There are improvements to their application.


    But every operating link is absolutely unique in the current situation. They have to be executed to the letter. This means that the changes have toe from the soul itself.


    But I¡¯ve already eliminated the element that¡¯s the increase of soul strength. This leaves...


    The structure? The nature?


    Aha!


    What is the soul? What sort of form does the soul exist as?


    Such questions were far beyond Luo Nan¡¯s cursory scope. The research of the inner world, developed for several dozens of years. The details of human civilization¡¯s several thousand years of religious studies, philosophies, mystic arts were all incapable of producing an exnation that could convince everyone when it came to this question.


    Luo Nan was unable to resolve this question. He could only put it aside as he drew closer to reality. Time was of the essence. He needed to make another trip to Gear and confirm the usage of the external neuron.


    Oh, the external neuron.... How do I take it with me?


    Luo Nan suddenly became aware of this problem and he immediately felt like a fool. He never had the ability to move objects with his soul!

 Chapter 351: To the Cloud (Part 3/3)

    Chapter 351: To the Cloud (Part 3/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    The facts proved Luo Nan¡¯s worries to be true.


    When he entered the out-of-body state through his usual method of extracting his soul, the external neuron didn¡¯t react whatsoever. It remained a long serpent of lightning, spiraling within his head. It gave off an unperturbed feeling that went along the lines of "You cane and go, but I¡¯m going to stay here."


    Yet it would be an injustice to say that hecked all control over the external neuron. The moment Luo Nan used a more traditional method, the stirring of thought, the external neuron changed ces within his head. Its curling lightning flickered and red, echoing from afar.


    Just by looking, Luo Nan knew things wouldn¡¯t be easy.


    Luo Nan made a few strokes with his pen on the loose-leaf notebook. The problem still remained, but an idea grew clearer in his mind.


    The out-of-body state. Using telepathy to spur action. These all appeared to be matters of the mental ne, but in fact, this assumption was wrong. Disregarding the out-of-body state, ording to the recent theory he learned, telepathy should actually be something like the guiding of energy through intent.


    Luo Nan went on to describe the rtionships between several essential elements. Call all the energy that could be umted by the human body to be ¡¯vital energy.¡¯ Vital energy circted through the entire body, gurgling like water. The external neuron was a parasitic life form; it was a fish that lived in the water. And Luo Nan¡¯s thought was like a small stone.


    Thought itself didn¡¯t possess the power to directly push the external neuron, but it could strike the water to incite waves. These waves wererge enough to startle the fish, causing the external neuron to affect changes.


    As for why the external neuron could urately assess Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts, it might be because the external neuron was capable of making intelligent judgments, or there were even subtler mechanisms at work. Luo Nan was subjectively inclined toward thetter.


    "So from this perspective, I will need to use the interference power that resides between the mental and material nes in order to drive the external neuron.... Then I have no other option. I¡¯ll need to reverse the flow of energy?"


    Luo Nan practically broke outughing.


    The most effective method Luo Nan had in achieving interference power was coupling the God Gear with the Body Gear formed from the heartntern of the eyes orifice. The overwhelming dominance of the God Gear versus the Body Gear was the cause of his current problem. It was a problem of direction. Before, Luo Nan always exerted power from the mental ne toward the material ne. Now, he had to do something unmaintainable. He had to do the reverse.


    Theoretically, there was nothing stopping Luo Nan from adjusting the direction of application of the order frame formed from coupling the God Gear and the Body Gear. The initial work had to be carried out within his own head, and for the sake of caution, Luo Nan had to exercise strict control over the intensity of interference.


    The glow of the heartntern of the eyes orifice flickered, no longer illuminating above and outside heaven and earth. The glow no longer illuminated through the inner organs. Instead, the heartntern of the eyes orifice and the lightning serpent of the external neuron shone upon each other, gradually infusing a wisp of warmth.


    The external neuron rumbled in vibration, crackling as it red with lightning. It appeared to be a bit ufortable. It would asionally coil up. It would asionally pierce around. It would asionally stretch out. It was like a transforming heavenly dragon, magical beyondpare.


    If he were to disregard the consequences, what he was doing was truly akin to ying with a novel toy. It was utterly fascinating.


    Luo Nan saw that the form of the external neuron constantly changed, but he noticed that its nature didn¡¯t change. It remained the core frame for the God Gear, the vast ocean iceberg structure¡¯s power running deep, but it was stable in its heaviness.


    One question: As the core of the God Gear, was the God Gear of the material or of the mental?


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t have a clear answer, but he did have an unexinable understanding. The distinction between the material and the mental wasn¡¯t that clear, at least in this very moment.


    Luo Nan carefully experienced this feeling. The flow of intensification of interference between the mental ne and the material ne, the ring of the heartntern of the eyes orifice¡¯s ze. It had gradually be a furnace to smelt and refine the true gold that was the external neuron.


    Without heat, one wouldn¡¯t know the temperature of the fire. Without heat, one wouldn¡¯t know the metal¡¯s nature.


    Simr feelings stirred within Luo Nan when he followed Gym Master Xiu¡¯s teachings in refining life essence. Only when one truly put his hands to the task could he receive certain information, could he brand certain impressions.


    Perhaps this principle could be used upon the external neuron?


    In any case, Luo Nan immersed himself in this process of refining true gold. He waspletely oblivious to the passage of time. Thissted until the HexaEar began to push information to him, vibrating against his eardrum. It sent a clear notification to him.


    A new day had begun.


    Right now it was 4:55 in the early morning. ording to Luo Nan¡¯s daily routine, it was already his morning exercise time.


    "Oh shoot!" Luo Nan was startled awake. He smacked his head with his notebook in shock at the time.


    Or maybe I should spend some more time refining?


    The thought barely formed, just to be suppressed by Luo Nan. It was already time for his morning sessions. Gym Master Xiu always had been strict about matters of impulse making a mess of his tempo. He warned Luo Nan, expressively prohibiting it.


    He couldn¡¯t push the schedule back. Recently, he strictly followed his schedule in work and rest. The security measures set up by the Society were done in ordance to his schedule. Sudden changes would cause a lot of people trouble.


    Needless to say, he aborted his n on exploring the two gears.


    Luo Nan couldn¡¯t help feeling depressed. He could only suppress his impulse and adjust his mind, using the tao yin he learned early on to sort through these tiny weed-like emotions.


    A few bumpy minutester, the powerful force of inertia pushed him back on the right track. His morning session was forty minutes long, and his morning run took around twice the time. Luo Nan returned home at seven, and his uncle had finished making breakfast as usual, waiting for Luo Nan so that they could start eating.


    His aunt was in the living room. Her head was lowered as she fiddled with her wristband. Her face had slight makeup, and she didn¡¯t have the dispirited feeling one might expect out of someone who had a hard time sleeping. She saw that Luo Nan hade home and nodded at him with her jaw. "Today, there¡¯s something your uncle needs to do a bit early. Today¡¯s morning rhythm is faster because of this."


    "Oh," Luo Nan responded. He couldn¡¯t help pondering things in his mind. How could he make his aunt and uncle feel at ease? He would have to trouble Secretary He for this.


    Luo Nan headed upstairs to wash up. He reached the stairs, where he saw Mo Penge over yawning. Mo Peng gave Luo Nan a bleary-eyed, "Morning," as he headed down the stairs.


    They merely brushed past each other, and Mo Peng remembered something. He went, "Hey!" and reached out to grab onto Luo Nan¡¯s shoulder. But his fingers weren¡¯t even able to touch Luo Nan¡¯s clothes when his palm cut across. Mo Peng very nearly sprained his shoulder.


    "Why are you running!" Mo Pengined loudly.


    "You¡¯re just too fat." Luo Nan turned to look at Mo Peng. Currently, the level of his body¡¯s movements was as different as heaven and earth whenpared to Xue Lei¡¯s and Crag Burst¡¯s with their physically enhanced bodies. But he was strengthened by the heartntern of the eyes orifice. Little fatties like Mo Peng, whocked tempered bodies, could only dream of stopping Luo Nan.


    Mo Peng pointed at Luo Nan with a fat finger. "Oh, okay. So it¡¯s in with the new and out with the old. You¡¯re just living off one person but helping others in secret. Something good just happened, and to think, I wanted to tell you."


    Luo Nan rolled his eyes and headed to his room.


    "The hell, man! You¡¯ve just been hanging out with that Leister all day and everyday. Haven¡¯t you ever thought about when was thest time us brothers have gone out for some fun?"


    Luo Nan already entered his bedroom, so he said in passing, "I¡¯m in Acumen College. You¡¯re in Sixth Middle. If you want to hang out, just skip ss ande over!"


    Mo Peng gave him a big thumbs up. "My bro is psychic!"


    Luo Nan finally looked him in the eyes. "You¡¯ve... been skipping ss?"


    "Quiet, quiet!" Mo Peng jumped in fright. It must be known that his mother was in the living room. He pushed Luo Nan inside. He was about to say something, but when he saw just how clean Luo Nan¡¯s room was, he couldn¡¯t help mocking him.


    "Perfectionist. OCD. Neat freak."


    Luo Nan prepared to kick this guy out.


    Mo Peng shrunk back. "All right, all right. I¡¯ll talk about proper matters. Have you received thepensation from Frost River Reality yet?"


    "Uh, what?"


    "It¡¯s because of that time at the city center. With all the chaos. They¡¯re giving every customer on site higher membership status aspensation. Those who aren¡¯t members gain membership. Those who are members go uppletely to the next level. Other than that, they¡¯re giving out luxurious gift bags or something. Have you gotten yours yet?"


    From Luo Nan¡¯s perspective, there weren¡¯t any good memories of Frost River Reality. He entered the bathroom and adjusted the water temperature, asking in passing, "Then so what?"


    "So what? After an increase in membership status, the cost is at least twenty percent off, okay? And there¡¯s the coupon they¡¯ve sent us. It¡¯s practically eighty percent off. Stacking these two together means that it¡¯s practically free. It¡¯s the best time to go out and have some fun...."


    Luo Nan sneered, "Y¡¯all can go if you have the guts. Just don¡¯t go looking for me the next time you enter the police station."


    "We certainly won¡¯t have the mood to go to the Frost River Reality in the city center, but haven¡¯t they opened a branch near your school, in other words, Cloud City Water Vige? Their equipment is supposed to be the best out of the whole city. Bro, the time to show off hase¡ªhey, hey, what are you doing!?"


    "Showering. Out of my way." Luo Nan gave Mo Peng a push. Right now he could easily crush this chunky littler brother with his current strength. He simply pushed him out the door.


    Mo Peng didn¡¯t give up trying to convince Luo Nan, "Running and training like this everyday, even if you get some muscle, what use is it? It¡¯s better to take the social route, so you have the chance to show off. Still don¡¯t understand? This is a group date. I promise that I will bring the highest quality girls from Sixth Middle. You can¡¯t abandon the people of the Mo Family, of the Luo Family. At the very least, you must¡ª"


    "Let me know when you can truly make it happen. I¡¯m pressed for time."


    "Listen to me, bro. With the few friends you have, Mom will certainly be worried about you forever. You¡¯ll be a mama¡¯s boy forever. Oh, I mean aunty¡¯s boy.... Hey, what about that apartment in Blue Bay? Are you going to let it collect dust?"


    Luo Nan had always wanted to go out and live by himself. This wasn¡¯t a secret in his home. However, the earthquake in September and his repeated trips to the hospitalst month had ruined his hopes.


    But Mo Peng didn¡¯t know the reason why Luo Nan wanted to live by himself. It was mainly for the sake of synthesizing drugs in secret. At this time, he had no motivation to do so. Plus, Luo Nan went through a series of incidences where he offended major powers. Luo Nan really didn¡¯t know if it was better to move out and thereby draw firepower, or to stay near family to better assist them in case something happened.


    It was really annoying to think of these matters. Luo Nan simply closed the door, ignoring Mo Peng¡¯s shouts outside. He entered the bathroom to go shower.


    The HexaEar suddenly transmitted information to him the moment he stood under the showerhead. It was none other than Zhang Yingying.


    The message was very short. It consisted of two sentences.


    "Be more active! Don¡¯t let people look down on you!"


    This message came out of nowhere, and Luo Nan replied with a question mark. Zhang Yingying didn¡¯t respond. It seemed that she was still brooding over the message he sent yesterday.


    Fortunately, there was a document attached to the message.


    Luo Nan browsed through the document as he showered with warm water.


    This was an internal report Peony made to the firm. There was no doubt that it was rted to the search task of the Mutant. Luo Nan could see that Peony had a better grasp over theprehensive situation after brewing in thought over the course of the night. She already proposed a program of action of the greatest feasibility.


    Luo Nan was certain that he would be incapable of producing such a n if it was required of him.


    But the document was different from the one shared yesterday in the cloud space. This report was presented to the high-level members of the firm to read. It contained more sensitive details.


    For example, an evaluation of the partner.

 Chapter 352: Paying Tuition

    Chapter 352: Paying Tuition


    Trantor: Strivon


    It was 7:15 a.m. Luo Nan hurriedly dug into his meal with several bites. He grabbed his aunt¡¯s super-stuffed meat pie and a cup of milk, and he sat inside his uncle¡¯s SUV. He disyed the extraordinary power of the Appetite King as he ate and drank the rest of his breakfastpletely clean before the car could even leave themunity. He opened the window and threw the empty paper cup quite urately into a roadside trash can. The level of his moving target shooting skills blew the minds of the majority of people on the street.


    Uncle Mo Haihang shot Luo Nan a nce as he closed the window. "That¡¯s not a magic trick, right?"


    "How can it be? See, it hasn¡¯t been a waste for me to learn martial arts." Luo Nan still remembered clearly the scene of his guardians racking their brains atop their bed. Luo Nan felt ashamed. He subconsciously spoke in jest, "Look at my skills, my aim, Uncle. You should take me to shooting one of these days. It¡¯s been a few years. I don¡¯t even remember which way the door opens in the shooting center."


    "Sure, it¡¯s rare for you to ask something," Mo Haihang readily agreed. Then he casually asked, "How¡¯s school been treating you these days? I mean, has your social circle gotten any bigger?"


    Luo Nan could feel that his uncle¡¯s words had a deeper meaning behind them. He grunted a few times and said some vague things in worry. It was not very convincing, but then Luo Nan recalled a matter he was dealing with. He changed his speech superficially, asking for guidance.


    "Uncle, how do you work together with people? There was a school society activity that I participated in. We formed temporary teams to do stuff together, but I don¡¯t understand how to do things better."


    Mo Haihang responded while driving the car, "So it¡¯s a team, eh? Then you need to understand your role in the team. Whether it¡¯s the leader or the nner, the technical staff or logistics, make sure everyone is satisfied with their role."


    This answer was tooprehensive. Luo Nan was dissatisfied. He said, "These are team positions...."


    "Yes. Since we¡¯re talking about working together, naturally we need to talk about the team."


    Luo Nan rolled his eyes. "I want to know how to get the respect of others in the team from the point of view of an individual."


    Mo Haihang¡¯s eyes remained on the road, not looking at Luo Nan. Heughed in reply, "The concept of respect is too vague. There isn¡¯t a universal standard. Everyone¡¯s role is set in a different way, so the way they express their respect is different. A fellow who believes himself to be the leader may express his respect to his subordinates as praise. But would the target of that praise believe he is being respected if he doesn¡¯t believe that he is a subordinate?"


    "...Makes sense."


    "So, don¡¯t talk about the rtionships within the environment if the environment hasn¡¯t taken form yet. The environment can change as it pleases. For example, respect can be a reward or a price. Your temporary team needs to first be a qualified team before further discussion."


    Luo Nan withdrew from this topic; listening to his uncle, an intellectual, speak was very brain cell-burning. He closed his eyes and looked at Peony¡¯s evaluation in the internal report.


    "The person known as Crow has an unknown level of profession. The initial judgment for Crow¡¯s temperament is introverted. Crow¡¯s not good atmunication, and Crowcks initiative. It may be more suitable for Crow to be considered an ¡¯aid.¡¯ There may be room for bargaining for future coboration."


    This was his partner. The operation hadn¡¯t even started and she¡¯s seizing power in the team dynamic. How unduly! And she wants to bargain!


    Luo Nan admired Peony¡¯s acuity and judgment, but this sort of behavior made him feel unwell. It also made him doubt Peony¡¯s n.


    It must be known that this outsourcing of work was a form ofpensation given to him by Her Majesty Empress Wu. Whatever the case, he wouldn¡¯t be given less than the anticipated value. The way Peony expressed herself clearly showed that she was in a rtively normal position within the firm. She didn¡¯t have a feel for her boss¡¯s intent.


    Hm, hold on a sec. This didn¡¯t seem like Peony¡¯s style!


    Luo Nan read the words, being fastidious about the phrasing, and he suddenly understood. The so-called ¡¯bargaining¡¯ was perhaps not a shot at reducing funds for the outsourced worker, but instead a solicitation in recruitment for future work.


    This was quite a brilliant move if this was the case. At the very least, she was able to understand some of Her Majesty Empress Wu¡¯s intentions. But Luo Nan decided that it would be better to first consult with He Yueyin before arriving at conclusions.


    Luo Nan felt very tired with this sort of person on the team who wanted to seize the upper hand.


    Then Mo Haihang spontaneously spoke to Luo Nan, "I have a general idea of what you¡¯re thinking about. You feel that there needs to be a target or a paradigm in order to do stuff. If you really don¡¯t know what to do, then learn from me. I feel that us two are quite alike. See if what I say suits you."


    Luo Nan immediately went teary-eyed. This is just what I wanted!


    "I have a personal motto. Take a look." Mo Haihang sent him a message. It was very short, consisting of only two sentences.


    He who stands on his tiptoes does not stand firm. He who stretches his legs does not walk easily.


    Luo Nan was lost in thought for a time. He had read this ssic script when he was a kid, and recently he followed Gym Master Xiu in studying ssical martial arts. Gym Master Xiu crammed him full of this kind of knowledge. He recognized that this was a saying from "The Book of the Dao" by Laozi.


    The first sentence meant that when one looks afar by standing on their tiptoes, they stand unsteadily. The second sentence meant that when one stretches their gait to makerge strides for faster movement, they won¡¯t be able to get far.


    These two sentences were followed by, "So, he who disys himself does not shine; he who asserts his own views is not distinguished; he who vaunts himself does not find his merit acknowledged; he who is self-conceited has no superiority allowed to him..." and so on in a long series. There was a general idea: Actions that were made carelessly and impatiently, selfishly and boastfully, were unreliable. There were also deeper meanings: Sometimes one must retreat to make progress; one must let things take their own course, and things will naturally resolve, and so on.


    Fine, this was, indeed, a style of doing things. It matched his uncle, whose words and actions were low-key in daily life, quite well. However... However, the current circumstances weren¡¯t like this!


    Mo Haihang didn¡¯t know the knot in Luo Nan¡¯s heart. He even asked, "Do you understand?"


    "I understand. Oh, Uncle. Do you have anything else?"


    "I do. For instance, ¡¯A good traveler has no fixed ns, and is not intent on arriving¡¯...."


    "I know."


    "Then there¡¯s also, ¡¯Know the masculine. Hold the feminine. Be the fountain of the world¡¯...."


    "¡¯Know the white. Hold the ck. Be an example for the world. Be an example for the world, forever virtuous and unchanging. Return to the infinite.... The carving of wood forms tools. The sage uses the tools to be the ruler, thus keeping the great whole undivided.¡¯"


    Luo Nan was scared. He simply recited out the entire passage. There could be a hundred sentences or eighty sentences within "The Book of the Dao" by Laozi. It made no difference to him. This really wasn¡¯t what he needed.


    Mo Haihangughed heartily, "Look, you¡¯ve already thought about what to do. Your mind is obviously very clear. Why do you need to ask me?"


    "...."


    Luo Nan knew that he had been yed with and was left speechless for a time. Actually, he wasn¡¯t interested in any possible methods. It wasn¡¯t absolutely necessary to keep Peony down. If it were up to him, he would rather stay idly in his corner in peace and refine the external neuron. He wanted to carefully experience this process of refinement and see what sort of results he would ultimately obtain.


    However, matters had to be attended to before he could obtain this peace and quiet.


    There was no use telling others of this bind he was in.


    Mo Haihang twirled his fingers around his temples. "Let me guess what you¡¯re thinking. You want to do something, but you don¡¯t know whether or not you can do it. So you want to find a paradigm of sess. Like a form. You want to input all sorts of parameters and get theplete answer."


    Luo Nan gulped. "...I just want a reference."


    Mo Haihang nodded, but then he shook his head and sighed, "Nanan, how old are you again?"


    "Sixteen."


    "What a great age. Back when I was sixteen, I knocked a ssmate up. My dad found out and kicked me down the stairs, leaving me with a bloody mouth."


    Holy cow, what gossip!


    Luo Nan¡¯s jaw dropped to his chest, not closing for quite some time.


    Mo Haihang¡¯s eyes were glued ahead. He was smiling quite delightedly as he recalled memories of his irretrievable youth. But Luo Nan ultimately was the final topic of the day. "I haven¡¯t given you a smacking since you turned ten, am I right?"


    "Uh, I think so."


    "A kid in his teens. Second time developing. The stage of puberty. The rebellious period. What a wonderful stage in life, and it passed just like that?"


    Is Uncle very disappointed that he never had the chance to beat me up?


    As Luo Nan cursed under his breath, new words poured into Luo Nan¡¯s ear, "Do you think I should be happy that you¡¯re mature for your age? Or should I be worried that there are problems with your physical development and mental growth?"


    Luo Nan raised his head in astonishment, meeting Mo Haihang¡¯s cold and clear gaze. He understood the seriousness within them.


    "Humans have never been perfect creatures. The evolution of this species is one filled with trial and error. At most, we get by with some good-enough luck. So, society is very cruel, but it always gives people a bit of room for trial and error. This is true especially so for young people. Your father¡¯s Societal Format Diagram has a separate box for students. Those that are in it are people who ¡¯pay tuition.¡¯"


    His uncle¡¯s words had the certain earnestness of a schr. Luo Nan was a bit confused. He didn¡¯t know what sort of attitude he should respond with. In the end, he just mumbled in agreement.


    Mo Haihang continued with what seemed like an interrogation, "Then Nanan, tell me. Why are you so stingy with ¡¯tuition¡¯? Are you prepared to repress all ws and wait till a more brutal stage to lose everything?"


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t even have the energy to grunt. He felt that today¡¯s uncle waspletely different from his normal uncle. Perhaps the matter fromst night made his uncle make some cognitive associations, and right now his uncle was probing his behavior.


    Luo Nan really wanted to say that it was a misunderstanding. There wasn¡¯t any odd organization that found him. But he thought a bit deeper. The nature of the situation he was facing was quite simr. Wasn¡¯t this an issue that Her Majesty Empress Wu and her people created?


    His brain churned for a while before he barely thought of something to say. "So you¡¯re saying I should wade the river by groping for stones, feel my way around, and fall down a few times, right? You uncle and aunt are like a wolf and a hawk, okay? That¡¯s enough, I know that Uncle, you don¡¯t like my student life."


    Luo Nan did his best to disrupt the atmosphere. He grumbled, "¡¯Know the masculine and hold the feminine. Know the white and hold the ck. No honor and hold disgrace. Suffering is fortune.¡¯ I can handle it. Isn¡¯t that enough?"


    Mo Haihang quietly looked at him; the serious, cold, and clear intent ultimately washing away from his gaze. Warmth returned to him as his smiled and said, "If only. Right, the thing I just mentioned to you about when I was young. You need to seal your mouth shut. Unless you really want me to beat you."


    Luo Nan blinked his eyes. "Didn¡¯t you say that I should have the courage to pay ¡¯tuition¡¯¡ªoh god!"


    Luo Nan felt a breeze by his ear. Mo Haihang had grabbed onto it. Of course, he didn¡¯t use force. Even if he did, it would be useless against Luo Nan who was strengthened by the heartntern of the eyes orifice.


    The car became quite lively, and the automatic driving system of the car disyed its function properly.


    Within the noisyughter, Luo Nan knew that certain matters had changed into something different, and he had to get used to these changes.


    The car had yet to arrive at Acumen College, but far away in a certain park in the River Wu District, an enormous crow pped its wings as it flew off into the sky. It followed the river of the city and the green vegetation surrounding it as it flew in low altitudes. A rubberband tied to its leg faintly vibrated, immediately sending information to the crow.


    About ten minutester, Luo Nan entered the school campus forty kilometers away in the Pingjiang District. As for Ink, it already found its target, and it plunged into an ordinary SUV parked by the roadside.

 Chapter 353: Inhabited Area

    Chapter 353: Inhabited Area


    Trantor: Strivon


    Within the car, Old Jin¡¯s gluttonous nature didn¡¯t change. His hand held a bag of food. This time it was a popr snack; roasted donkey meat with four long slices of t bread stacked atop each other, alternating meat and bread. It was very thick.


    The greasy red meat bread went inside Old Jin¡¯s mouth the moment Ink flew inside. He bit it in half with one bite, the roasted chunks of meat dribbling with oil, seeping into his beard. He ate quite energetically.


    Seeing these things, Luo Nan¡¯s sensory organs felt conflicted. He didn¡¯t know whether to feel full or hungry.


    Sitting in the back seat, Peony¡¯s behavior was opposite of Old Jin¡¯s. She sat in absolute silence. She held a book in her hands, reading it. The book was a paperback, something rarely seen these days. The thin pages and the print were extremely delicate, but the book appeared to be quite well-used. The pages were warped and old.


    Luo Nan easily used his senses. The words "The Lotus Sutra" could be read on the warped cover of the book. Luo Nan recalled that this was a Buddhist text.


    This was something very rarely seen.


    When reading, Peonycked her usual easygoing charm. She sat ramrod straight, her long slender fingers resting on the pages, seemingly moving yet not. Ink made quite the noise when it came crashing inside, but she lifted not even her head. This wasn¡¯t arrogance. This was genuine concentration.


    Luo Nan felt that the world was aware and was full of irony. First was "The Book of the Dao,¡± then it was "The Lotus Sutra.¡± What was going on today? Would someone bring out the "Holy Bible"ter today?


    Nobody turned superfluous after Ink squeezed its way in. The ordinary SUV started up and entered the high-speed maic rails, following the signs toward Man City. They were leaving Xia City.


    ording to the schedule, today¡¯s main item was still a meeting; an on-site meeting. Trigate Security arranged the entire team to do an on-site investigation of the situation regarding the Mutants that infiltrated. They also arranged it to introduce more detailed information.


    Peony only closed her book after the car started. She put in a bookmark and looked at the book with quite a cherishing expression. Perhaps this book held some significant meaning to her.


    Luo Nan made this conjecture based on his own point of view.


    In any case, Peony clearly didn¡¯t intend to chat with him about sutras or private matters. Her gaze shifted to Ink, and her eyes curved into charming arcs once more.


    "Crow, you nearly caused Mr. Ink to bete."


    The odd names and the beings they were attached to would make those who weren¡¯t familiar with this team have their scalp go numb. Luo Nan recalled the small dialoguest night that had to do with these names. That conversation was the longest they chattedst night.


    Perhaps Peony¡¯s preliminary judgment of his character wasrgely derived from this?


    Luo Nan was not an expert on such analysis. He simply disregarded her and maintained his silence.


    Peony expressed herself quite actively, "For the sake of improving efficiency, we can change the way the team moves. For instance, Mr. Ink can be together with me from beginning to end. This is to avoid all sorts of sudden urrences from causing awkward circumstances."


    She didn¡¯t describe what the awkward circumstances were in detail, but Luo Nan could roughly imagine it.


    Peony asked, "Does Mr. Ink need to recharge?"


    Recharge? Luo Nan was stunned for a moment before understanding. Peony was asking about how things worked between him and Ink. Luo Nan didn¡¯t respond directly. Instead, he gave a small lie.


    "If you don¡¯t mind, then I¡¯ll have Ink apany you for a few days. I can connect at any time."


    Ink was able to tell that the two were talking about it. It cast pitch-ck pupils to the slender figure in the backseat, not blinking an eye.


    "That¡¯s great." It seemed that Peony didn¡¯t hear the tiny bit of ill intent in Luo Nan¡¯s words. She just reached out a hand and patted Ink on its ash-white beak. She teased the enormous rook as she said, "From the intelligence gainedst night, the area of importance where the targets have infiltrated ranges from the west side of the River Wu District all the way to outside the main city district. The situation with the recycling stratum is slightly moreplicated. I n to find a temporary ce to live in within the River Wu District to engage in all-day reconnaissance."


    Luo Nan thought of his little nest within Blue Bay.... All right, he obviously wouldn¡¯t offer it.


    He didn¡¯t possess Peony¡¯s outstanding intelligence analysis ability. He didn¡¯t speak, doing his utmost to keep his mouth shut. He would talk after they had reached the site to go investigate.


    The ordinary SUV weaved in and out of the early morning traffic. It took about half an hour for the SUV to enter the River Wu District and the bordering Forestwall District. They were outside the main area of Xia City by now, and they set off toward Trigate District to the west. ording to the normal driving route, they would be able to reach the surrounding wilderness in an hour if they went along satellite towns at high speeds. There wasn¡¯t anything to say about the route to the Trigate District located several dozen kilometers away.


    But reality proved itself to beplicated. It was impossible for the Mutants who had infiltrated Xia City to stick close to the high-speed route for their advancement. On the contrary, they followed their instinct to seek luck and avoid cmity. They avoided ces where there were many people, such as the main traffic roads guarded under martialw. They acted quite rationally.


    The ordinary SUV left the main road soon after it left the main city district. Four gears touched the earth, and thus began the bumpy journey. The roads here were extremely bad, a first that Luo Nan had ever seen in his life. It was as if an air raid had rained down on this ce. There were craters everywhere.


    Old Jin, who sat in the driver¡¯s seat, grasped the steering wheel. He had switched from automatic driving mode to manual mode. He just yawned, giving the riders in the carplex emotions.


    Old Jin was silent most of the time after the few words he spoke in the very beginning. He just expressed himself by stuffing his stomach full of food. He wasn¡¯t cold or friendly. He gave off an aura of a guy who just cared about clocking in and clocking out of work.


    He said it himself¡ªhe was just a driver.


    Luo Nan sought nothing else from a driver. He was just baffled. What the heck was the government of Xia City doing? There were people living here. It was a standing living area. Even the roads at the recycling stratum were much better than the ones here.


    Actually, there were several things quite in line with the recycling stratum on the two sides of the road. There were short buildings strewn at random, many of them being temporary buildings. However, they looked quite new based on their paint job. He could even vaguely see kids ying by the side of the road, giggling in fun.


    Luo Nan recalled the data and was certain that they were at the edge of the Trigate District. Trigate District was once the station for Xia City¡¯s garrison camp, having been dmissioned not too long ago. Military had guarded this ce year-round, causing clear differences with the modern metropolis. Traces of things having been moved could be seen everywhere as well.


    Then someone came calling through the wristband, "Miss Peony, hello. I am Axel Thue of Trigate Security. Please report your location."


    This Axel Thue fellow was the intelligence officer on the Trigate Security¡¯s action team. He was in charge of contact work, and he was in charge of exining the data during yesterday¡¯s meeting. He was an astute man.


    Peony started up the position sharing function on her wristband, and Axel Thue soon responded, "I see you guys."


    Arge transport vehicle was parked to the side of the road just ahead. It turned on its lights as his voice fell. The body of the vehicle was pitch-ck, and it started up, signalling Luo Nan¡¯s party to follow it.


    The ordinary SUV was quite suited for the surrounding environment, but the dual-purpose military-police transport vehicle of Trigate Security was more eye-catching, though the equipment and people it was transporting had it easy. The transport had attracted the gazes of quite a few people when it was parked by the road. When the transport began to move, kids riding skateboards, go-karts, and so on tailed behind the transport. They yed quite exuberantly, producing a ratherical scene.


    The party of people went through this inhabited area under this odd atmosphere until they arrived at a rtively spacious zone. The two vehicles,rge and small, parked. There was a high point not too far away on the right-hand side. A reservoir was built there, and vegetation was dense. There was dark green in the distance, even though it was autumn, and it was rather pleasing to the eyes.


    The door to the transport cart opened up, and the personnel of Trigate Security jumped out with cries. Most of the people were carrying equipment that had to be set up once they hit the ground. And within the transport was aplete, modernmand center. All sorts of equipment wereid out perfectly, and there were at least thirty people working inside.


    Intelligence Officer Axel Thue appeared from the stream of people. He worked toward the ordinary SUV. Peony got off the car as well, extending a hand for a light shake. "Mr. Axel Thue, Director Wu isn¡¯ting today?"


    Axel Thue was just about to report on this matter when Peony had seized it first. His aura unconsciously grew a bit diffident, and his report turned into an exnation, "Director Wu is participating in ast minute meeting. He is unable toe here. I represent him in apologizing to Miss Peony and Mr. Long Seven."


    "Is Long Seven here already?"


    "Mr. Long Seven came here a little earlier. He said that he¡¯s going to check out the reservoir."


    "Oh, really."


    Peony gazed off into the distance with a subtle smile. She was dressed more or less the same as yesterday, wearing slim-fitting hunting clothes, most suitable for her tall figure. But this time, she didn¡¯t wear a ponytail. Her long hair was tied up in a bun, gathered in ce by her wide-brimmed hat. The brim of her hat obstructed much of her charming eyes, but the shadow it cast entuated the contours of her face all the more. She was explosively beautiful.


    Ink had just flown out of the car to undoubtedly serve as a prop.


    "We have detected the reservoir to be a ce of importance."


    Intelligence Officer Axel Thue had lectured far too much yesterday. He subconsciously sought to exin, "Trigate District used to be a river channel. Thergest freshwater river around Xia City came through here to enter the ocean. But then the military implemented a destruction project during the Third War for the sake of defending against Mutants breaking through from the river channel. The river bank was changed, and the river dried up. Today, this ce is a low-lying area, but the groundwater system is still veryplex. It needs to be observed with care."


    As he spoke, a child around six or seven suddenly ran in front of them. The child opened his mouth and asked, "Are you here to fight gangs?"


    The kids from the inhabited area had followed them, and they finally arrived. They might be young, but they were quite interested to know what was going on. Plus, there was an enormous crow here. It was very eye-catching, so they naturally gathered over.


    "Gangs?" It looked like Peony was far more interested in this topic than the history of the Trigate District.


    Unfortunately, the reckless kid was dragged away by hispanions, who ordered the kid to stop talking nonsense. Then the group of kids just faced the beauty, therge vehicle, and the crow with great interest. They stood in a circle and watched, and some even sought a chance to get something for cheap.


    They mored over the body of the vehicle, the first ones having it easy and thetter ones having it hard. They wanted to touch Ink who was on top of the vehicle, but they chased Ink to fly into the sky. Thus, Ink avoided the clutches of evil.


    "It¡¯s very rare for kids inside the city to be this wild."


    There was a deeper meaning behind Peony¡¯s words. Axel Thue understood tacitly. "Yes, they should be inhabitants who moved out from the recycling stratum. Rumor has it that there are some naturalized vagrants mixed inside. The social rtion is extremelyplicated. The military withdrew from this ce quite poorly, suddenly turning it to an unregted zone. Many people want to seize the opportunity for some conveniences."


    "Are gangs very rampant here?" The person who asked this wasn¡¯t Peony, but a man who had returned who knows when. It was Long Seven, or in other words, Snake Seven.

 Chapter 354: Mistake in Direction

    Chapter 354: Mistake in Direction


    Trantor: Strivon


    Today, Long Seven wore clothes well-suited for the outdoors. He wore a leather jacket and a pair of short leather boots. A id scarf was even wrapped around his neck. He looked like a male model on the runway, giving off an extremely casual air. He and Peony were the most attractive people in the action team.


    But he intrinsically possessed quite the work ethic. His body was covered with dust, and there were cobwebs stuck to his leather jacket. He had clearly gone to the reservoir, and he had done more than just take a look.


    Long Seven patted the dust off his jacket before asking, "Are the influence of gangs spreading faster than the government¡¯s right now?"


    Axel Thue didn¡¯t want to talk about this, but Long Seven and Peony both had their eyes fixed upon him. They appeared to be very interested in this subject, so Axel Thue could only chat and exin, "See that road over there? The one that¡¯s half-fixed."


    Everybody noticed the road in question to various degrees when leaving the city. An old highway extended out to this area from the main city district. It was a two-way road with twelvenes in total. It was quite wide, but it should have been constructed quite far back for there weren¡¯t any high-speed maic rails installed. No follow-up construction urred as well. There was even some shape to it where it extended out from the city. It was unknown where it started exactly, but the road disappeared amongst the buildings of the city.


    "There are already thirty years of history to this road. It was initially designed to be the main road to the east and west of Xia City, and it joins up with the war transport roads to the wilderness. But when super-conductive technology became practical, main roads began to turn to the direction of maic rails. So, this road was scrapped."


    Axel Thue projected a digital map and drew a line on it. "But this geographical location is still quite good. Through this road, one can go straight to the recycling stratum of the River Wu District. So it¡¯s natural for criminal channels and rted activity to be lively around here."


    Luo Nan recalled something when Axel Thue talked about this. He fought upon this road in the past. It was the time with Jack.


    ¡¯Gangs¡¯ were just a small episode. Today¡¯s primary objective was the discussion over the next move regarding the Mutant infiltration.


    Actually, looking at Trigate Security¡¯s attitude, Luo Nan believed that an official reconnaissance search would start immediately. But whether it was Trigate Security, Peony, or Long Seven, everyone was much more patient than he imagined.


    They continued to hold the meeting, and the meeting went on and on. The subject started from the river channel, went to the riverbank, then to the inhabited area. They went through these areas one after another without taking any breaks all.


    They just barely finished talking about the inhabited area before following the most probable route for the targets¡¯ advancement. They gradually pushed closer toward the main city district, stopping at the roadside at any time for information collection and discussion among the meeting members.


    Perhaps this was a sort of reconnaissance and search from their perspective?


    Frankly speaking, Luo Nan had been full of interest for the meeting yesterday afternoon. During yesterday morning, he could be considered cautious and conscientious. But by lunch today, his patience began to plummet. Ultimately speaking, he was already used to using extraordinary powers as an efficient and direct manner to resolve problems. He kept a respectful distance from so-called modeling, probabilities, and other mathematical problems.


    Yes, He Yueyin had mentioned this tendency in her course before. She called it ¡¯Extraordinary Logic.¡¯ This tendency was quite widespread in the inner world. Luo Nan never thought that he would subconsciously assimte this as a neer who had just entered the inner world.


    He was forced to admire Peony and Long Seven as he watched them. These two people, one an elite of the Hidden Indigo Firm, the other a Burner, were both part of the circle of the inner world. He really didn¡¯t know how they were able to put up with its challenges.


    Luo Nan finally retreated in defeat. His mindpletely withdrew to the school campus, just in time for lunch.


    Luo Nan and Xue Lei¡¯s morning sses were different. They only got together after morning ss was over to get and eat lunch together. Acumen College¡¯s lunch break was extremely short. They would have to eat fast in order to squeeze out some free time. Luo Nan and Xue Lei both had noon sses; this made the timing tighter.


    The two had their heads buried in their food all the way until they sat on the campus shuttle. Only then did they have the time to chat.


    With noon sses about to start, Luo Nan mentionedst night¡¯s matter with the eyes orifice. Xue Lei naturally was generous with praise. "Nanster, you really are god-like. You¡¯ve reached this stage in the internal refinement technique. You¡¯ve already gone to the next level."


    Xue Lei even spoke emotionally, "Back then I was just giving medicine to a dead horse, trying everything in a desperate situation. I wanted you to learn some breathing techniques to help alleviate your symptoms. I never thought that you would advance by leaps and bounds in this cultivation! Even the gym master said that you are the number one in forging ahead in his many years of teaching disciples."


    Luo Nanughed, "I¡¯m even thinking about the next steps."


    "Gym Master Xiu said it before. Since you¡¯ve already started with the eyes orifice, there¡¯s no harm in walking this road until the end. Recall this, ¡¯Seven orifices, six roots, the gates of life and death. Perception and the profound shine upon each other to confirm life and nature.¡¯ The profound has seven orifices. Perception has six roots. One is heavy on life. The other is the cultivation of nature. The two mix and validate each other. This is the dual cultivation of life and nature."


    Xue Lei¡¯s words were half-literary and half-vernacr. Luo Nan had been working hard recently, taking extra lessons and doing his homework. He was able to get a general understanding of what Xue Lei was saying. Xue Lei wanted him to cultivate the rest of his sensory organs, from the eyes orifice to the ears orifice, the tongue orifice, the mouth orifice, the nose orifice, and so on. Cultivating in the nine orifices and six roots would drive the inner organs, cultivating the entire body and polishing one¡¯s nature.


    "The gym master said it before, but I¡¯ll mention it again. The concrete steps in reasoning will require direct contact with the gym master. Do you want to head over tonight?"


    "Of course, let¡¯s go. I can have the gym master assess me, so I can avoid pursuing the wrong path."


    In other words, Luo Nan had to push the time to probe the mysteries of Gear even further back. This wasn¡¯t the first time Luo Nan felt that there wasn¡¯t enough time, but simr emotions of sorrow were likely to appear more frequently in the future.


    Xue Lei also asked about the outsourced work. He was curious about its situation.


    Luo Nan picked a few interesting things to tell him, and was unable to refrain from mentioning just how long and painful the meeting was going.


    Xue Lei grit his teeth just by listening. "We don¡¯t understand the world of professionals. If it were me, I¡¯d probably go crazy. Your work is a bit different than what I imagined. When can you actually do stuff?"


    "God knows.¡±


    Luo Nan¡¯s heart was very conflicted. In fact, he really hoped to obtain some knowledge and reap some ie. But when things really went deeper, he wasn¡¯t able to keep up. He was able to understand eighty percent of what they said yesterday afternoon, while he was only able to understand sixty percent of this morning. He was afraid that this afternoon would be even more miserable for him. He was forced to admit,


    "The difference between myposition of knowledge and these professionals¡¯ is far toorge. And Zhang Yingying wants me to seize the initiative and be active. How the heck do I do this!?"


    "Nanster, I think you¡¯re going about this wrong." Xue Lei shook his head. "The gym master said once: The greatest taboo in cultivation is to know one and understand half, to have bits and pieces of knowledge. Assembling such knowledge together, believing it to be logical, is the path to death. If you can¡¯t keep up in lessons, you might as well not learn at all. Therefore, when the gym master teaches his students, the first thing he does is divide people in sses and grades, so that he could teach in line with the student¡¯s ability. Your circumstance right now may not be as dangerous, but it also sounds like it doesn¡¯t really matter. I feel that Senior Sister Yingying is quite right. You should seize the initiative."


    "How do I seize it?"


    "Heck if I know! In any case, I think that since Her Majesty Empress Wu has outsourced this work to you, no matter how much Sister Yingying exerts herself in her firm, Her Majesty Empress Wu¡¯s ultimately believes in you. Her Majesty Empress Wu feels that you can do it, which means there has to be a way to do it. Otherwise, isn¡¯t she purposefully making things difficult for you?"


    Xue Lei¡¯s words weren¡¯t emotional, but Luo Nan could hear the meaning within. His heart immediately stirred. Her Majesty Empress Wu selected this work to be outsourced to him, originally aspensation for him. There was no reason to deliberately make things difficult for him. She had Peony be his partner for the purpose of filling his ws, now that he thought about it. Otherwise, if that old woman really put her mind to it, Luo Nan wouldn¡¯t even have a scrap of pride left.


    All right, Luo Nan could admit that the level of professionalism that Peony disyed had really scared him. He had been dealing in someone else¡¯s expertise with no expertise of his own, so naturally, he fell downwind in every aspect.


    Xue Lei added, "Actually, I feel that you¡¯ve done things quite well in the past. The time at Frost River Reality. Red Fox and Papercut were both screwing with you, but in the end, they all epted you. Then, of course, there¡¯sst week. We weren¡¯t able to help you at all, and you were able to settle everything by yourself."


    Luo Nan coughed, ¡°Oh, please...."


    "Don¡¯t be modest. I chatted with Crag Burst a couple of days ago. He said that you can be totally considered a powerful B-rank ability user with that devil ray by your side. And don¡¯t forget your heaven-defying pure sensing ability. Your current position in the Xia City branch is right behind Old Man You from back in the day. He he, Old Man You didn¡¯t have two Extraordinaries looking out for him back then like you."


    "Really? I¡¯ve done things quite well?"


    Xue Lei rolled his eyes. "How about we stop acting cute! Or do you want me to praise you from the very beginning. Fine, I¡¯ll speak the truth. I especially agree with Crag Burst¡¯s words. Your pure sensing ability is absolutely heaven-defying. I hear that Cat Eyes simply changed the direction of her ability just because of you. She ns on focusing on long-range perception. She¡¯s giving up on all-epassing perception."


    "There¡¯s even this?"


    This was the first time Luo Nan heard of these things. He blushed with great embarrassment for a time. Cat Eyes was one of his believers, in a certain sense, but this had been an ident from start to finish. She wasn¡¯t even willing, and her heart was unreconciled. Luo Nan wasn¡¯t Tyrant Nan. He wouldn¡¯t force himself upon her. Instead, he deliberately kept some distance from her. But now it looked like the distance was pulled a bit too close.


    Fine, Luo Nan kept some distance from practically everybody. He had the HexaEar, andmunicating on the Psychic Wave Network was awfully convenient. Xue Lei entered the Society a monthter than him, yet he was able to chat and gossip about all sorts of stuff. Inparison, Luo Nan practically lived under a rock, so no information reached him.


    It¡¯s all about the temperament. The temperament!


    Xue Lei didn¡¯t know of Luo Nan¡¯s current emotional regrets. He continued, "When we chat, I find myself suspecting that your ability is still in an explosive growth period. Your numbers are different for every operation. Sister Yingying said that your soul-attached state had an upper limit of five hundred meters during the time at Frost River Reality. When your body and soul are merged, the radius of your sensing limits is eighty meters. Butst time at Ocean Sky Cloud City, I was on the 88th floor and you were on the viewing tform, the 142nd floor. There were around sixty-two floors between us; that¡¯s nearly three hundred meters. Your body and soul should have been merged at that time too...."


    Luo Nanughed, "The benefits of following the gym master in cultivation is shown here."


    Xue Lei was delighted to hear these words. His smile was sorge that his eyes disappeared. "So, Luo Nan, there¡¯s nothing to worry about. There¡¯s no need to be anxious. In the entirety of Xia City, aside from the two Extraordinaries, when ites to individual people with all-epassing sensing, there is no one who canpare to you."


    These words were quite familiar to his ears.


    Luo Nan suddenly asked, "Did Yingying seek you out to be a solicitor?"


    Xue Lei¡¯s grinning mouth froze in ce before gathering into a fawningugh, "I just feel that Sister Yingying¡¯s words make a lot of sense."


    "...I think so too."


    Xue Lei gave Luo Nan a thumbs up, only to turn it upside down to give Luo Nan two fierce stabs.

 Chapter 355: Little Monkey

    Chapter 355: Little Monkey


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan chatted quite happily. Most of their words were said in jest, after all.


    His consciousness hung upon Ink¡¯s body. They were still in a meeting over yonder, which was not surprising. There was merely the addition of a meal. Peony and Long Seven behaved very professionally, and Ink took the opportunity to show off an important element to his enormous body.


    This crow ate nearly the same amount of food as a man.


    After the meal, the party of people had another meeting on the roadside. Ink stood very steadily atop the roof of the ordinary SUV, its roof rack perfectly matching with Ink¡¯s thick ws. It was just that Ink¡¯s head hung down. It had already entered a half-sleepy, yet awake state.


    The bird had been quiet and calm for a long period of time, and it was affected by digestion. This used up a considerable amount of the bird¡¯s physical and mental energy. Acting like this was against its nature as well. So Ink shivered and made two loud caws the moment Luo Nan¡¯s telepathic mind cut through. It pped its wings to fly without the slightest hesitation. In the blink of an eye, it soared under the lofty skies lit by the glow of the sun.


    Ink¡¯s pitch-ck feathers felt refreshed under the rays of the sun. Trembling in the wind, they were suffused with a luster of dark indigo. It looked quite dazzling. The exceptional contrast of shadow and light fused together, causing Intelligence Officer Axel Thue to click his tongue in wonder. He couldn¡¯t hold back from voicing his suspicions with a tone of teasing.


    "This crow is mighty and imposing, and it understands human nature. It can be considered an excellent beast."


    Ink pped its wings after Axel Thue¡¯s voice fell, turning directions. It flew far away, soon vanishing into the distance.


    Axel Thue blurted out, "Uh." He put a hand to his forehead as he looked into the skies. "What happened?"


    Peony didn¡¯t even raise her head. "You can ignore it."


    Ink spiraled in the skies for a while and found its target. It changed its direction slightly, and soon arrived above the old road that went through and out the city. It followed the road as it flew ahead.


    Seizing the initiative did not necessarily require him to immediately go boss around the members of the action team. Such heavy actions were shameful, and Luo Nan was unable to do it.


    His many years of experimenting on his body had forced him to develop a cautious personality. As long as his head didn¡¯t run feverish, he didn¡¯t mind collecting extra information and material to be used for making decisions.


    The action team was doing such matters, but unfortunately, the field was far too different from Luo Nan¡¯s expertise. He couldn¡¯t be useful. Luckily, Zhang Yingying had urged him on from many different sides, letting him see the truth in time. Otherwise, he would have continued to follow behind the behinds of the action team, only to waste his time in the end.


    Of course, before he could begin with anything, Luo Nan first had to test for the upper and lower bounds of Ink¡¯s abilities, especially Ink¡¯s range of perception. This gluttonous fellow must not fail to meet his expectations.


    Luo Nan had experienced three different circumstances that affected his mental senses: the out-of-body state, the merged body and soul, and using his believers as fulcrums. The discrepancy between the range of his senses during these states were distinguished by orders of magnitude.


    Using as basis his out-of-body state, where his senses could reach a range of twenty kilometers, the normal merged body and soul state would have a limit of two kilometers. Following this, using Ink, one of his believers, as a fulcrum should yield a limit of around two hundred kilometers. If Luo Nan deliberately augmented Ink, then this limit could be increased even further.


    However, Luo Nan already learned from his prior experiences that Ink, with its brain capacity, was unable to handle information that was tooplicated. ¡¯Packet loss¡¯ and ¡¯dropped frames¡¯ weremon urrences. A period of time was needed to adapt as well.


    Honestly speaking, Luo Nan should have done this work a couple of days ago. But Luo Nan had far too many things to attend to that hepletely forgot. He pushed this back until today.


    "Then let¡¯s measure the lower limit.... Huh?"


    When things came to pass in reality, the situation that urred was a bit unexpected. Where was the packet loss?


    Something like high-speed maic rails had opened up between Luo Nan¡¯s main body and Ink. No switching was required to transmit the information. The information just went straight to the destination. No, actually, there didn¡¯t even seem to be the process of transmission. The distance of space was warped for some bizarre reason.


    This feeling was odd, yet familiar.


    Luo Nan spent a bit of time in recollection and barely remembered that something simr had happened back at Frost River Reality. He had formed the star river from the Life Sketches, and he had used this method to pull the Wraith Sign to him. The Wraith Sign had evolved into a colosseum, to ughter the Human-Faced Arachnid raised by the Order of Justice.


    The Wraith Sign was a Darksider life form; after all, it was an existence belonging to the mental ne. It made sense that he was able to summon it. But Ink possessed a material body. The circumstances were very different, yet the effects were reflected in the transmission of information.


    In any case, with the existence of this connection, the only element left that could restrict Ink¡¯s sensing ability was the limits to what its body could endure.


    This made things a lot easier.


    Ink had been the test subject Luo Nan mostmonly experimented with during the period of time when he was doing experiments over and over. There was naturally quite some magic to Ink for it to be able to live smoothly and steadily until now. And it had already stepped to the next level in Luo Nan¡¯s Formatting Theory System. It was on the office worker level. The connection between Ink and Luo Nan was even more inseparably close. This further catalyzed its underlying abilities.


    Luo Nan was eager to start testing.


    Ink turned into a streak of shadow as it flitted past the buildings on the sides of the old road. Luo Nan felt like Ink was as a scout in a strategy game. The fog of war was peeled away everywhere Ink passed, revealing a path that was a couple hundred meters wide.


    But the scene revealed in reality was deste. There was something more luminous to the eyes. It was the drifting and changing star river.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t have any definite thoughts of doing anything. He was just disying his personal strength. After all, his personal strength had pushed Cat Eyes into changing her development path from long-range perception to all-epassing perception. Just based off this, Luo Nan felt that using the Life Sketches to build the starry sky was the best thing to do right now.


    Luo Nan opened up a small piece of the starry sky, using Ink as the core. This piece resonated with the vast and hazy star river of his main body¡¯s senses, covering the existence of all living beings within.


    For fear of ipleteness of his irvoyance, Luo Nan sincerely scanned every set of stars, not wishing to overlook any detail. Peony didn¡¯t contact him during this time, and since things remained as such, Luo Nan continued to scan down the road at a speed of around eighty kilometers per hour.


    Luo Nan scanned for half the afternoon. The school societies activity time was about to begin. Luo Nan reckoned that Ink had nearly flown all the way back to the main city district, yet he was unable to reap any gains.


    Luo Nan began to be aware of the difficulty of this work. He didn¡¯t have a clear direction, so he could only continue scanning until the end. A scan radius of three hundred meters was already at the peak of Xia City. But with how big Xia City was with its city center and its outskirts districts, this method of his was far too stupid.


    Ink¡¯s sensing radius is too small. Should I switch bodies ande?


    It happened right when he was mulling over this matter. A special response flickered within his senses,ing out of nowhere.


    Luo Nan was ted. He didn¡¯t care whether it was the target or not. His attention instantly focused over. Under the starry sky formed from Life Sketches, a dot of light fell down, marking a spot on the star as. The surrounding scenery reified inyers, revealing the concrete setting.


    Luo Nan sighed when he saw the view. He felt very disappointed.


    This should be the recycling stratum of the Forestwall District, and a stream of people was gathered in this area. The target that Luo Nan had found was not a Mutant. It was a middle-aged man. He wore quite a particr set of robes, looking a bit like Fairchild. The pale gray color gave off a in appearance.


    The middle-aged man was located in an enclosed house. It wasn¡¯t arge house, but its arrangements gave off a brimming feeling of ceremonies. The man stood at the front of the stage, reading text to others in the room, acting like a priest.


    Luo Nan had acted far too hastily with his ¡¯gaze.¡¯ He was too close to the material ne, and the motion triggered was a bitrge. The middle-aged man seemed to detect it, his head leaning slightly in a bit of confusion.


    Such a scene immediately caused Luo Nan to think of secret orders. This ce truly appeared to be a religious location.


    Yes, it turned out that the middle-aged man was an ability user.


    The number of ability users in Xia City, with its Explorers Society, orders, government, military, as well as various financial groups, didn¡¯t even add up to two thousand people. Their numbers weren¡¯trge nor small. Luo Nan¡¯s luck must be good to just randomly bump into one. Or was his luck bad?


    Also, the difference between ability users and normal people was great when it came to the levels of their Life Sketches.


    Ah man, I¡¯m really such an idiot.


    Back at school, Luo Nan smacked his forehead. Ink, who was flying in the air, had its wings nearly cramp up. Luckily it recovered amidst a fall, fiercely pping its wings to restore altitude.


    Nothing hade to mind for a whole afternoon. The Life Sketches of ability users were special, and those of Mutants were naturally far different. This was an obvious fact. He had obtained simr verdicts in the past, but today, he actually wasted a whole afternoon!


    Luo Nan was sick of his own head.


    It was Luo Nan¡¯s own fault for stumbling across someone else¡¯s sermon, and Luo Nan was unwilling to cause side issues to arise. But he subconsciously performed another scan the moment he sought to cancel his focus, and he felt a sense of familiarity for some unknown reason. He concentrated his mind once more, and he saw someone familiar.


    Yes, this one was a bit familiar-looking. He saw him today. It was the kid who jumped out in front of the action team members back at the reservoir in the morning. The kid wanted them to go after the gangs in the region.


    This kid appeared to be six years old at most. He was mixed with the adults in the room, appearing rather conspicuous.


    He can¡¯t actually be here... to take lessons?


    Xia City¡¯s traditional political power was quite strong. When it came to religious faith, minors had to step back while adults had the freedom of choice. A little kid running over from far away to listen to a priest¡¯s sermon was very unconventional, even if his parents were apanying him.


    The thought just churned, and Luo Nan didn¡¯t think deeper. It had nothing to do with him, after all.


    But Luo Nan had a sudden realization when he saw the kid. It seemed that he had flown a bit too far, a route of an hour or so. He wouldn¡¯t be able to coordinate with Peony if something were to happen.


    He decided to go back the way he came.


    At the same time, this priest of an unknown sect called an end to today¡¯s session, perhaps because his mind was uneasy. The group of people left the room in an orderly fashion.


    The kid made his way outside, wrapped within the crowd of people. He rightened an electric scooter on the roadside, and rode it down the old road to the west.


    Huh? He¡¯s by himself!


    Luo Nan discovered this irrationality. Plus, it was obvious that the electric scooter the kid rode had been modified. Using Ink¡¯s speed as a reference, the scooter¡¯s speed was absolutely going over fifty kilometers per hour. This speed, on a simple structure that waspletely open, was simply as fast as lightning.


    Watching, Luo Nan broke out in a cold sweat for him.


    There weren¡¯t many cars on this abandoned old road, but that was because not many dared to. Those who often went on this road had connections to gangs. They charged and shoved through, seeking stimtion.


    What the heck are the kid¡¯s parents doing!?


    Luo Nan thought for a while. They were going on the same route, in any case. He might as well follow the kid. It was better to be safe than sorry. His mind wouldn¡¯t be at peace if something truly did happen.


    Ink flew in the skies above, the kidpletely unaware of it. He stood on the scooter, holding onto the handlebars. He looked quite free soaring at high speeds. He did some fancy zigzags when he met slopes, moving around as agilely as a monkey. His sense of bnce was truly formidable, enough to engender admiration in Luo Nan.


    Well, I¡¯ll just call you ¡¯little monkey¡¯ then.

 Chapter 356: Receptacle, Nature, and Trigger (Part 1/3)

    Chapter 356: Receptacle, Nature, and Trigger (Part 1/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    The little monkey was quite young, yet he was already a super enthusiast of this old road. He simply drove this in and crude electric scooter to the same effect of driving arge horsepower motorbike.


    Luo Nan followed the kid closely for some time and made sure that this fellow didn¡¯t encounter any problems. He finally pulled his eyes off the kid to go research his own matters. He switched irvoyance modes. The deep, starry sky unfurled with starlight, but all he did was check for special structures within it.


    Of course, a dark cloudrge enough to cover the starry sky would certainly be a big fish.


    Currently, the enormous poption of Xia City exhibited its astonishing effects to Luo Nan. There were two thousand ability users and two hundred million people in the city. The ratio was a hundred thousand to one. To pick an ability user or a Mutant out of all these people was certainly not an easy task.


    Especially using Ink with his irvoyance radius of two hundred meters. Even though Luo Nan was able to shame Cat Eyes, a professional, this range was not enough in the face of this modern metropolis. Plus, the stars, be they many or few, roamed around the spread, left and right, top to bottom. Their structures were ordinary and normal, containing universal simrities. Normal people were the overwhelming majority.


    No matter how splendid the stars, one would be dizzy when looking at them for too long. The vast and hazy star as, theplicated structures, were like abyrinth. Prolonged contact would cause fear.


    Luo Nan really wanted to shut his eyes and look away, but he thought about how the targets were alive, how the targets could move at will, and how the star as was constantly changing. He could only grit his teeth in perseverance.


    But he felt something after an unknown amount of time passed. Perhaps it was because of how long he looked at the star as, but there existed a different power within the star as, existing as a faint glimmer.


    It might be a misconception on his part.... At the very least, there were some special characters that showed up below when he watched the little monkey, but theycked a clear distinction from other people.


    Ink took half an hour to fly back to the origin point, due to having to follow the little monkey¡¯s speed. The exploration on Peony¡¯s side had alreadye to an end. They had returned to the inhabited area from before. They were staggered apart, and Luo Nan could only go looking for them. He continued along the same route as the little monkey.


    Luckily, nothing bad happened as the kid returned to the inhabited area. The little monkey soon met up with hispanions at some empty area, and he immediately joined them in ying children battles.


    Ink spiraled in the skies above, taking in the entire scene below. In the background, Luo Nan felt a little suspicious. It was hard to tell the ages of these kids, but they should be five years and older. Luo Nan was in educational institutions at this age, and he never had the chance to be this wild.


    It was very popr for kids to be enrolled in early education nowadays. This was of universal importance to the parents. Practically no kid could avoid it. However, the inhabited area was a ce existing outside of the conventional world. This wildness and freedom were not at all the style of the citizens of the metropolis. Talk of vagrants naturalizing into society wasn¡¯t a baseless im.


    Luo Nan looked at it from a different perspective. After the little monkey had joined hispanions, the subtle feeling of discrepancy grewrger upon the star as. However, it still wasn¡¯t clear enough.


    Luo Nan simply let Ink find a ce with vegetation, and Ink stopped atop the branch of a tree, allowing Luo Nan to observe at close range. He looked down below, casting a as far as the eye could see. Luo Nan was scared of missing something, so he locked onto a limited number of targets. He watched, searching for any patterns or clues. He prepared to draw meticulous Life Sketches of the little kid and hispanions to further search for discrepancies.


    He had just rified his direction of action when Ink was discovered by these kids. They sure possessed great eyes.


    "It¡¯s thatrge bird from this morning!"


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t know who blurted the words out, but the words caused the group to surround and stare intensely at Ink. There were even little devils throwing rocks, wishing to hit Ink.


    This action immediately drew the reprimand from the others, "Don¡¯t be hasty! There¡¯s a gun that can shoots in my dad¡¯s car. We can capture the bird alive and sell it the gangter. We can get a high price!"


    That little f***ing pipsqueak!


    The little monkey was quietpared to hispanions. He didn¡¯t utter a sound, and this somewhatforted Luo Nan. At least this kid isn¡¯t an ingrate. I didn¡¯t watch after you in vain.


    But in any case, a little monkey could never prevail against a dozen of brats. Luo Nan wasn¡¯t willing to be someone¡¯s target practice, so he immediately had Ink p its wings and fly away.


    The group of kids grew anxious upon seeing this. They already took Ink to be food upon a te. They saw this broiled duck fly, and they found its departure hard to ept. They shouted and screamed as they threw stones like hail. It was all absolutely useless, however.


    The kid who offered to grab the-shooting gun moved quickly. His dad¡¯s car was by the road. The kid opened the trunk and took out the gun. He took aim and was about to pull the trigger, but for some unknown reason, his mind suddenly went nk, and he lost control of his legs. The earth became like the waves of the sea. It rippled back and forth. The trigger was pulled, but the muzzle was aimed at god knows where.


    "Earthquake! It¡¯s an earthquake!"


    The frequency of earthquakes in Xia City had somewhat dropped in the recent month, but people were still very familiar with this sensation. The people staying in the inhabited area were extremely sensitive, because their housing structures had issues with their durability. The sensation right now was quite intense.


    Some kids¡¯ legs went weak, causing them to fall to the ground.


    There were some adults at the side of the road watching the bustling kids. They were confused by their shouts, but they were even more baffled.


    Earthquake? I don¡¯t feel an earthquake!


    Of course they didn¡¯t feel it. This was because Luo Nan had unleashed an attack on the mental ne through Ink. The target was none other than the group of kids. The intensity was very subtle. It wouldn¡¯t hurt anybody. It just caused one¡¯s reactions to be sluggish for a while, causing their minds to be dazed.


    Ink flew high into the sky. A feather dropped to the ground, and the curtain to today¡¯s search operation had dropped as well. But the n he had in his mind of seizing the initiative and amazing the world with a brilliant feat had ultimately failed to fall into reality.


    It was hard to do work that was valued at millions and millions.


    Even if it was in the form ofpensation.


    Luo Nan had gone from passiveness to activeness over the course of an entire fruitless day, his experience that of an ebbing tide. In the end, he realized that there were many matters in this world that could not be resolved in a single spurt of energy. His mood subconsciously became much calmer.


    From his perspective, the search for the Mutants wasn¡¯t a particrly pressing matter. It was the entire day he squandered with the vast and hazy starry sky. It was clear yet not clear, and he had no sense of where to begin. Luo Nan had things quite difficult.


    Thus, Luo Nan came to realize that he ced more importance on Formatting Theory, on his cultivations.


    When night fell, Luo Nan simply tossed Ink over to Peony. He also didn¡¯t have the mood to go peeping on secrets and the like. Instead, he and Xue Lei went to the Divine Yu Gym in the Boshan Building.


    Gym Master Xiu was reportedly moving his gym these days. Luo Nan believed that the gym waspletely deste, but he never expected to see the entrance to the front courtyard to be brightly lit and there to be a bunch of people present. Those were the parents of the students. They were waiting outside the practice grounds of the front courtyard.


    Luo Nan was baffled. "I thought he stopped sses?"


    "This is thest ss. The gym master feels that ss 5¡¯s progress in their fundamentals just so happened get stuck at a node. He wants to teach them for a few more days. It can be considered destiny if at least one could be enlightened.... The courses have all been free over the past few days."


    "Oh." This was what the Gym Master Xiu could achieve.


    The course was pretty much over when Xue Lei and Luo Nan had arrived. Luo Nan followed Xue Lei¡¯s intentions and simply entered the training ground, where they saw Gym Master Xiu.


    Luo Nan was simply stupefied by the entrance to the grounds.

 Chapter 357: Receptacle, Nature, and Trigger (Part 2/3)

    Chapter 357: Receptacle, Nature, and Trigger (Part 2/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Xiu Shenyu was quite different than how he normally was when he was instructing children. He waspletely different.


    The cold and gloomy expression that Luo Nan was oh so familiar with had flown off to god knows where. What Luo Nan saw was a middle-aged elementary school teacher with a gentle and smiling face. His four limbs were touching the ground, his body bent into a crawl. With his figure extended out and his spine swaying, he looked like a giantzy cat.


    The group of seven and eight year olds were copying him. They meowed and purred in delight, and they even spontaneously discovered new skills. They flipped, rolled, pounced, and turned. They were very lively.


    Luo Nan really was stupefied.


    Xue Lei felt that he had to exin things. He coughed, ¡°This is the cat form that the gym master uses specifically to establish the children¡¯s foundations. You may be able to see the dog form in the future as well. This is the path of Beast Form Mimicry. You know, there are two animals that kids are quite familiar with in the city. It¡¯s easier for them to refer to these animals."


    "Oh, really?" Luo Nan was still a little dazed.


    Xue Lei understood what Luo Nan was thinking. He said, "The gym master has always been very nice to children. Thinking back to the days when I attended the basic sses, it was a solid education with a long-term influence. But when I switched to the specialty sses and was taught personally by the gym master.... Man, oh man."


    He cherished the memory, yet he also grimaced in pain, his emotionsplex.


    Xiu Shenyu saw them and acted very calmly. They couldn¡¯t tell if Xiu Shenyu was anxious at all about his form copsing. Xiu Shenyu remained on the ground, guiding the children to crawl around in a circle. He had the children spread their limbs and move their joints. He even reminded them to control their breathing. The scene could be described as order within chaos. Control was present from beginning to end.


    They practiced all the way around the grounds before Xiu Shenyu stood up, beckoning Luo Nan and Xue Lei toe over.


    The children still had reign over the grounds as they wildly yed... er, practiced. Luo Nan and Xue Lei carefully made their way around the group of overly energetic little fellows and stood by Xiu Shenyu¡¯s side. They looked at Xiu Shenyu, and this time, Gym Master Xiu had donned on his usual dull expression. It was as if hisnguid, rxed, and casual expression was just a dream.


    Luo Nan wasn¡¯t stupid enough to ask about this change. He just obediently reported his recent cultivation progress.


    Xiu Shenyu asked a few details, confirming that Luo Nan really did make progress in his cultivation. He didn¡¯t appear surprised by it, just nodding his head. In the end, he asked, "You have finished cultivating in the eyes orifice. Your pace is fast, and your foundation is strong. You can be considered talented. Continue cultivating down the path of nine orifices, six roots. You don¡¯t have to rigidly adhere to the order. You should try all of them."


    "Try all of them?"


    "You will only know the reason when you try them yourself." Xiu Shenyu didn¡¯t believe there was much to say about this matter. He spoke a single sentence and changed to an item that he felt was far more important. "Begin from the six roots and nine orifices. Perceive all around. Worldly thoughts are like the tide¡ªvery dangerous toward cultivators. Therefore, true knowledge and clear experiences are of the utmost importance. Know yourself and call the truth. Know people and call the light. Knowing people and knowing yourself must be done equally."


    Luo Nan could only understand half of it, but hearing Xiu Shenyu talking about knowing people, he was reminded of today¡¯s squandered afternoon. He couldn¡¯t help asking, "There seems to be thousands upon thousands of different types of people in this world, but when ites to the level of life, they are like a myriad of streams converging in a single channel. The differences are extremely small. There are many ces that are specious. How does one distinguish between them all?"


    Xiu Shenyu nced at him and gave a gentle nod. There was praise contained within his actions, simr to when Luo Nan narrated his extraordinary progress in cultivation. He said, "We, as cultivators, start from three ces when ites to knowing the self and knowing people. The root receptacle, the root nature, and the root trigger. These three, whether they be in teaching others or in self-cultivation, must all be seen clearly."


    "The root receptacle, root nature, and root trigger?" Luo Nan was stupefied.


    "These are Buddhist terms. I¡¯ve borrowed them, but in doing so I¡¯ve slightly alienated the words. It¡¯s more of a metaphor. In your terms, the so-called root and its development is a person¡¯s basic order frame."


    Xiu Shenyu¡¯s exnation of things thus far was understandable to Luo Nan.


    "As for the differences between the three.... Something material can be the receptacle, therefore possessing a volume of storage. Let good and evil be the nature, distinguishing direction. And the appropriate action can be the trigger, the reception of the power of fate. Simply speaking, when looking at their cultivation prospects, one must look at their natural endowments, which can divided into talent, nature, and chance. These key factors must be totally clear before a person can choose the best path, and the best person be chosen for a path."


    Luo Nan believed that not only was Xiu Shenyu teaching him how to cultivate, he was also elucidating on the teachings themselves. As a teacher, these words were undoubtedly plucked from his heart. In any case, Luo Nan and Xue Lei both perked their ears to listen in careful detail.


    "As the ssic literatures sayeth, ¡¯Taoism requires one to be affluent, while Buddhism requires only the self to achieve enlightenment.¡¯ I won¡¯t mention the controversies within. The schools of thought are different, and the disciples they take in have differences as well. This is clear and easy to see. Most of these differencese from the root receptacle, the root nature, and the root trigger. The principles can easily be understood, but to distinguish them in practice, this is the important point.... Xue Lei, don¡¯t listen to what I¡¯m about to say. Your root receptacle is thick, your root nature is simple, but your root trigger is far from starting. What you need are pure ideas. You won¡¯t obtain any benefits from learning the techniques to distinguish between these powers."


    Xue Lei cowered, and he obediently walked into the distance to go act as a temporary instructor for the children.


    Luo Nan believed he understood. Xiu Shenyu was actually using Xue Lei as a living example, disying how to subdivide between the root receptacle, root nature, and root trigger.


    The effects were excellent. Luo Nan already constructed a bit of a spectrum in mind.


    "Listen carefully."


    Xiu Shenyu reminded Luo Nan once more before teaching him how to discern between the different paths of receptacle, nature, and trigger.


    Luo Nan was merely learning some guiding principles right now. It was still very early for him to get started.


    But just these few principles were superb enough in themselves, especially the level of enlightenment needed to distinguish them. They pointed directly at the most mysterious and profound level of the human body and mind. It was likely that these principles could deal with some of the issues Luo Nan had with Formatting Theory.


    Especially... Especially with what happened this afternoon....


    Luo Nan felt his soul strength stirring. He tweaked his ears and scratched his cheeks for a time, wishing to immediately return to the inhabited area of Trigate District. He wanted to keep a close eye on the little monkey and those wild little devils, and carefully examine them again.


    Unfortunately, this was something impossible to do tonight.


    It was rare for Xiu Shenyu to give advice with such earnestness. He needed to have Luo Nan understand the mysteries within. "With this discussion of this power, tonight I¡¯ve imparted on you the path. First, know your mind and nature. Think it over a lot, and delve into studying. Know that your foundation for tolerance is thick and heavy. You can bear it. Since you¡¯ve asked on your own ord, it seems that you have a direction. You should have encountered corresponding problems at a very appropriate time. Receptacle, nature, and trigger. Combining these three will be akin to spring returning to earth and the awakening of countless living beings. Growth will naturally ur, and though its character is soft, its nature is firm. The results should be decent."


    Luo Nan nodded in earnest. Right now, he understood a little about the true meaning of the phrase, "If a man in the morning hears the right way, he may die in the evening without regret." Of course, death was a huge exaggeration. It would be best if he could immediately do some testing for verification.


    Xiu Shenyu was certainly able to infer some things by looking at Luo Nan, but he had to crush Luo Nan¡¯s urges and impulses. He continued speaking, "I¡¯ll reiterate your memories when ites to the orifices, and I¡¯ll rify the six roots once more. This is a technique where you must know yourself with absolute rity. You need tobine this technique with the technique of subdivision I just mentioned. You must contemte time and time again. You must polish yourself everyday. And you must continue to cultivate. You need to quell yourself to tranquility, for you must not advance prematurely.¡±

 Chapter 358: Receptacle, Nature, and Trigger (Part 3/3)

    Chapter 358: Receptacle, Nature, and Trigger (Part 3/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Xue Lei acted like arge cat for a while beforeing over. He just so happened to catch some of Xiu Shenyu¡¯s words, and was very surprised by them. "Gym Master, Luo Nan just opened an orifice, and you¡¯re teaching him this much stuff. He may not be able to digest it all."


    "This may have been the case in the past, but there aren¡¯t any problems now. The cultivation of the nine orifices and six roots is the sole truth when ites to the dual cultivation of life and nature. He has made further progress in cultivating nature, so that trend of imbnce still exists. It isn¡¯t a mistake to forge forward bravely in cultivating life."


    Inyman¡¯s terms, nature was the cultivation of the mind, while life was the efforts of the fleshly body. Luo Nan was able to understand the gym master¡¯s words, but what did he mean about him making further progress in cultivating nature? It seemed to have nothing to do with his progress in the eyes orifice.


    With the technique of subdivision between the receptacle, nature, and trigger toy the foundation, Luo Nan had absolute certainty in Gym Master Xiu¡¯s insight. Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts turned to a different path as he subconsciously recalled the special experience at Gear in the early morning. He became lost in thought.


    Then suddenly, his mind went on alert. Someone¡¯s hand came probing over, and Luo Nan tried to slip away... but it was ultimately useless. Gym Master Xiu had his hand on his shoulder, exerting subtle force, indicating that he should change his stance.


    "Crouching tiger."


    Luo Nan hesitated for a moment, before obediently kneeling to the ground. He extended his back forward and over his elbows, and his legs naturally curled up. He turned to a different sort ofrge cat¡ªa sleepingrge cat.


    This movement belonged to the tao yin techniques he learned before. He could do it without any difficulty.


    And the many days of practice had imprinted this movement into his consciousness. He naturally did the true breathing corresponding to this stance. He was like a fierce tiger in itsir, seemingly tense, yet not, seeminglyx, yet not. Within thenguidness seeped the tension of the kind of beasts. Within a marvelous equilibrium, looseness and tightness cycled back and forth everywhere in the body and mind.


    Xiu Shenyu squatted down and gently pressed against Luo Nan¡¯s forehead. He opened his mouth and spoke.


    Frankly speaking, Luo Nan was unable to hear what he was saying at first. He just felt something strange. The sound waves didn¡¯t seem to be transmitting through the air. Instead, they followed Xiu Shenyu¡¯s palm and seeped into his skull, rumbling like thunder.


    The sound of thunder entered Luo Nan¡¯s brain, stimting thetent orifice on the forehead into vibrating. This feeling then spread to the rest of his body. The thunder and vibration pressed forwardyer byyer, causing the Body Gear to shake as its internal links were subdivided. Nine orifices, the internal organs, and twelve nodes all resonated in earnest. The six roots of the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and thought suddenly knew their ces.


    Only now was Luo Nan able to distinguish Xiu Shenyu¡¯s words clearly. And thanks to the experience brought about by the sound of thunder, the new knowledge had be a validated experience. It was tantamount to a synchronized memory between the body and the mind.


    And so, his Body Gear constantly turned, and his God Gear answered. Coupling made these two gears move evenly, endless amending the details. Luo Nan gradually disregarded Xiu Shenyu¡¯s voice, as he cast his full mind to the delicate adjustments of the frame of body and soul. He looked at how blood, energy, and other fluids circted and transformed among the inner organs,yer byyer. It was akin to water flowing within the mountains. The water flowed above ground and below ground, circting between and within mud, dirt and stone.


    Luo Nan watched until a certain degree, and his intent stirred. He felt the vital energy boil in his heart, chest, and spleen. The blood and energy circted upward to reach the face of the head. Then it took a slight turn, and suddenly Luo Nan had a mouth full of saliva. It was sweet and moist, like drinking nectar.


    With further rification from Xiu Shenyu, Luo Nan was clear on the direction of his next step.


    The orifice of the heart opens from the tongue, and the spleen has an orifice via the mouth. Though the mouth and the tongue are distinguished, they are in fact one orifice. And in ssical theory, there are talks of the heart and spleen being two sides of the same coin. Luo Nan had simultaneously opened up two systems of inner organs: the heart and the spleen.


    It looked like there was some truth to this. Before Formatting Theory had truly formed within Luo Nan, he had developed the Appetite King skill first. His digestion was like a great valley of water, providing his body with sufficient energy. The spleen and the stomach gained this ability.


    And ever since he started practicing martial arts from Xiu Shenyu, his body became robust with blood and energy. His heart truly was the master of his blood, and it worked quite nicely with the drainage of the energy of his liver. There was a saying, "Fire is born from wood, and earth is born from fire."


    So, the liver, heart and spleen were three sets of systems that were connected to each other. Whether it be the cirction of blood and energy or the inter-promotion and inter-restraint between the five elements, all of it made sense. Luo Nan didn¡¯t delve any deeper into this.


    He paid more attention to the experience of the Body Gear¡¯s operation. But he also felt as if a pool of nectar had been opened up with the root of the mouth and the tongue. The liquid constantly spilled over, sweet and juicy. There was also the heart and the spleen, which utilized the mechanism of the inner organs to transform breath into internal energy. Life essence became abundant and solid, and vital energy went into a boil with just an instant of heat and refinement. The vital energy spread everywhere to the tendons and muscles, causing Luo Nan to break out with ayer of sweat in the blink of an eye. His blood and energy flowed smoothly. This method should be quite decent.


    Luo Nan maintained crouching tiger for quite some time. Some of the children on the training grounds looked at Luo Nan with interest. They believed that he was like them, crawling over with meows and purrs.


    Xue Lei was given a scare. He wanted to stop the children, but he was stopped by Xiu Shenyu instead.


    One of the children didn¡¯t understand the seriousness of the situation, simply bumping into Luo Nan. Luo Nan remained in that state of subtle experience. He did not move an inch, but his body was soft and flexible, as if it possessed no bones at all. He didn¡¯t feel even an ounce of pain when the child bumped into him.


    The child rubbed and pressed against Luo Nan in fun and delight, and quite a few other children followed suit. Theyughed as they gathered over, taking Luo Nan to be arge pillow. They pressed and bumped against him, not slowing at all.


    If Luo Nan could truly maintain his experience, then he would have been divine. He made a low growl as he extended his body. He was like a sleeping tiger who was startled awake. With this stretch, the skin and flesh naturally rippled with force. Latent energy bubbled forth, and the surrounding children fell to the ground, yet not a single one was injured.


    Luo Nan saw that the ground was full ofughing children. His childish heart reverberated, and he rolled like a cat or tiger, spreading his four limbs out and stretching his muscles and tendons, appearing very lively.


    The group of children were excited that someone hade to y. They jumped over screaming.


    Xiu Shenyu finally called out for them to stop.


    Under the impulse of the appropriate trigger, Luo Nan had a sh of insight. However, since his foundation was not firm, there was a chance of an idental danger urring if he were to continue ying around.


    As Xiu Shenyu waited for Luo Nan to stand up, he turned to Xue Lei and said, "His tendons and muscles have been nourished. From today forth, he can train in punching techniques. From tomorrow forth, you two will spar."


    "Sparring so soon?"


    "Does he have time to go learn punching techniques at his leisure?" Xiu Shenyu¡¯s lips were angled with a hint of sarcasm. "In any case, it¡¯s for him to adapt to his new physique, and to practice his reactions. It¡¯s fine to just teach him a few random moves.... His ambitions lie elsewhere, after all."


    Xue Lei watched Luo Nan, who scratched his head and said, "The gym master is amazing."


    From Luo Nan¡¯s perspective, his cultivation progress was reflected upon his fleshly body, upon the operation of the Body Gear. But for him to describe it inpletion was not an easy task. After all, there were far too many specious things within the ssical theories. He only had a smattering of knowledge. There were many concepts that he seemed to understand but really didn¡¯t. Most of it was given to him by instinct, the memory of his body.


    Tonight, what truly touched upon his soul was a different set of knowledge that Gym Master Xiu imparted. It was his words on the root receptacle, root nature, and root trigger.


    This set of knowledge was like a clear border and outline beingid down. It made his mind feel a lot clearer. It was little bit like....


    Right, it was like the feeling he got when he drew.


    When Luo Nan first learned how to draw, how to make quick sketches, he instantly knew how to utilizeposition, lines, light and shadow, and other methods to draw figures that were true to life. He felt like he could draw the entire world.


    Of course, the factster taught him how to be a man.


    But this whole new realm that he just essed, this clear feeling of a realization of talent, was the most beautiful illusion of this world.


    If this could touch upon reality, this feeling would be much more alive.


    Reality.... Perhaps it was there.

 Chapter 359: Sibling Seizure (Part 1/3)

    Chapter 359: Sibling Seizure (Part 1/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Gym Master Xiu¡¯s lessons weren¡¯t long. He stated that he had already taught the things that should be taught in the near future. All that was left was for Luo Nan to experience things for himself.


    Luo Nan wasn¡¯t in a hurry to leave. He and Xue Lei sent off the students of basic ss 5 before heading to the back courtyard. They helped Gym Master Xiu clean up and pack boxes, only leaving the daoguan at around nine.


    Luo Nan and Xue Lei parted ways at the underground parking lot in Boshan Building. Luo Nan got into a security car dispatched by the Society, and he saw that the driver of the car was the same asst night¡¯s. He recalled that the driver¡¯sst name was Qin, but he wasn¡¯t too certain.


    Neither of them were very talkative people. They just nodded as greeting when they saw each other. Luo Nan sat shotgun, leaning back against the seat. As the car sped along the highway, Luo Nan minded his own business, closing his eyes in thought.


    Right now, three systems of inner organs, the heart, liver and spleen, were driving the rise and fall of the blood and energy in Luo Nan¡¯s entire body. Blood and energy soaked everything in his body. They soaked his muscles, bones, tendons, and so on. The blood and energy traversed up to the face, where the eyes orifice was like antern, and the orifice of the mouth and tongue was like a pond of nectar. Blood and energy naturally spun. It was marvelous and outstanding.


    However, Luo Nan had few stirrings when it came to the mysterious changes urring in his body. As of now, his mind waspletely focused on the knowledge of the root receptacle, root nature, and root trigger. His thoughts flickered unstably, urring again and again.


    Then came a sh of insight. It seemed to mix with the dazzling starry sky of this afternoon. It drew out a whole newposition, but it shattered in the blink of an eye, causing Luo Nan to be excited yet frustrated.


    Stop stop stop stop!


    Gym Master Xiu had said it already. This sort of subdivision technique of insight absolutely could not be done in a fantasizing, guessing way. He needed to start from a realistic point. The best thing to do was to mix the internal and the external; that is, to see clearly the self and know others. Gradually be familiar with them and find an assessing principle of logic most suitable for himself.


    These ideas faintly fit into the concepts of Formatting Theory that only belonged to Luo Nan. Theyy well within Luo Nan¡¯s liking, and they made him not dare approach things recklessly.


    So Luo Nan made a decision. He would dedicate the entire weekend to practice what he obtained this night in earnest. For this sake, he needed to push back all the ns he had for these two days.


    Luo Nan¡¯s current position in the Society was not the same as it was before. There was an entire security team following him, so he had to set out early if he wanted to makest minute changes to his schedule. This was to avoid inconvenient mishaps.


    He immediately contacted He Yueyin. There wasn¡¯t much to hide with this matter. He simply told her that he needed to finish up and sort through what he newly obtained.


    He Yueyin naturally supported him.


    Luo Nan chatted with her for a bit before hanging up the call. His mind was a little more tranquil now, and he began making simple arrangements to his schedule for tomorrow and the day after.


    For Saturday, he could hide in his room. He could continue familiarizing himself with lessons of the nine orifices and six roots. He could also ponder over the applications of the root receptacle, root nature, and root trigger. He could think them over and try things out. With the remaining time, he would continue refining the external neuron and see if he could make progress. During this period, he would allocate part of his consciousness over to Ink for experimental verification.


    Sunday would be adjusted ording to the progress made on Saturday. Such a schedule over the course of two days waspletely packed. It was iparably full.


    If everything went smoothly, he could use this to stir up rumors. He could delve into the mysteries of Gear without anyone batting an eye.... That would be awesome!


    Luo Nan was quite satisfied with his n. He opened the loose-leaf notebook, turning to the simple schedule, and made adjustments. Once everything was ready, he took a deep breath, and with a good mood, he gave the bodyguard driver next to him a smile.


    "It¡¯s been tiring these past few days. I¡¯ll be good and stay at home for tomorrow and the day after. I hope everyone can rx for a bit.¡±


    Driver Qin wasn¡¯t good with words. He was a very steady person. Luo Nan¡¯s time at the daoguan was unfixed, leading Driver Qin to spend nearly an hour in the underground parking lot. However, Driver Qin remained tranquil and calm. He gave off a much more reliable feeling than Old Jin of the Hidden Indigo Firm.


    He just smiled toward Luo Nan, making no other responses.


    Right when the car was about to resume a state of silence, Luo Nan¡¯s wristband vibrated. Someone was calling him.


    He saw the caller ID and thought, Now this is very odd. Mo Ya¡¯s name was clearly shown on his wristband.


    This older female cousin had gone to Man City for a full month, going wild at a music festival and angering her mother into exploding with fury. Aside from Luo Nan being hospitalized twice giving quite the scare, causing Mo Ya toe back once, no news came from her most of the time.


    Why was she calling him now?


    The moment the call was connected, Mo Ya smacked him with a question, "Do you remember the favor you owe me?"


    Don¡¯t you know that I blocked a bullet for you!?


    Luo Nan nearly blurted this out, but in the end, he merely asked, "What favor?"


    "Look at your call history. September 26th, 7:18 p.m. Remember now?"


    "...."


    "Forget it. In any case, you owe me a lot of favors. I won¡¯t care about this one. You just need to remember that you promised to pay me back; I want to use your apartment for a party!"


    Luo Nan finally broke free from his insightful thoughts on the root receptacle, root nature, and root trigger. He obediently swept his gaze to his call history and did his best to remember for a few seconds, before finally recalling the matter.


    It was the night before he had trulye to understand Formatting Theory. Mo Ya really did provide him with some cover... but it wasn¡¯t that useful. He was brought home the day after by his aunt.


    Luo Nan was disinclined to bicker about with Mo Ya. "Right, I remember now. I think you asked for a day in the middle of October. What¡¯s today¡¯s date? Oh, you didn¡¯t show up because of the music festival."


    Yep, for the sake of attending the music festival in Man City, Mo Ya had set aside everything else. She was gone for the entire month, so naturally she missed all the appointments she had in Xia City.


    Mo Ya snorted coldly. "Aren¡¯t I arranging things now? Let me tell you. I will be back around the fifth, and there will be a celebration party on that day.... Don¡¯t be nervous. This has nothing to do with you. I have a very good friend who can put things in order. You just clear out your apartment."


    "It¡¯s been about a month since I¡¯ve been there."


    Luo Nan grumbled a few words. This was the truth. Since October began, he was always running around between the hospital and his aunt¡¯s house. His drug synthesis equipment might have all turned to ash. He no longer needed to do drug experiments now, but his grandfather¡¯s notebook, the relevant equipment, raw materials, and so on, all needed to be properly arranged.


    Right, Octopus had already made some initial results on his end. He was anxiously awaiting the contents of Luo Nan¡¯s grandfather¡¯s notebook. Luo Nan should give Octopus the notebook.


    Luo Nan went with the flow. "All right, I¡¯ll find the time to clean up. I¡¯ll talk to youter."


    "Don¡¯t dillydally. Tomorrow is the weekend. Get to it. Hurry up and do it."


    Luo Nan nearly spat out a mouthful of blood. "No way!"


    "Wow, so blunt."


    "Monday, I¡¯ll get it done on Monday."


    "Monday is the 5th. The 5th is Monday. Are you getting a clean-up party ready for us?"


    "I have something very important to do during the weekend!" Luo Nan crushed and spat out the words ¡¯very important,¡¯ trying to make Mo Ya realize the severity of the situation.


    Realistically speaking, this was indeed very serious. He had given He Yueyin a call, seeking to cancel all of his scheduled ns for tomorrow. With how efficient Secretary He was, this matter was surely already arranged by now. If he were to turn his head and retract it, He Yueyin¡¯s authority could not be maintained, let alone his reputation.


    If he didn¡¯t follow the n and went to go out by himself, then things would be even more serious. It was the same as taking He Yueyin¡¯s customs and crushing them beneath his feet.


    But it was impossible to let Mo Ya know of this matter, let alone have her understand it. Luo Nan just felt stifled and broken.


    Mo Ya went silent for a while. She spoke a few secondster, "Is it very important? An appointment?"


    Luo Nan moaned, "Sis, I¡¯m not lying...."


    It was right in this instant that Driver Qin gestured something to Luo Nan with his hand.

 Chapter 360: Sibling Seizure (Part 2/3)

    Chapter 360: Sibling Seizure (Part 2/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan was slightly startled. His attention deviated as he went to look, and it turned out that he didn¡¯t take themonmands course for nothing. He was immediately able to discern the meaning of the series of gestures.


    "You can use the time from tonight until tomorrow¡¯s B time slot, before handover urs."


    The B time slot spanned from 5:00 to 7:00 in the morning. It was the period of time between when Luo Nan woke up and when Luo Nan started ss. During this time, he would perform his morning exercises and eat breakfast.


    Driver Qin¡¯s intentions were very clear. He was suggesting that Luo Nan use this time period to handle the matter. In any case, from night until morning, it was their team on shift. It was easy for them to do ast-minute change in tasking.


    Luo Nan¡¯s mind stirred. Tomorrow morning was uneptable. His aunt¡¯s house was located on the eastern side of the Nade District. He would have to go through half of Xia City to get to the River Wu District from there. There wasn¡¯t enough time.


    As for where they were currently, they haven¡¯t even left the River Wu District. They could make it to Luo Nan¡¯s apartment in ten minutes if they changed directions right now. The drug equipment was of most importance over at the Blue Bay Community. He would dump the raw materials into a portable cooler, take the cooler and his grandfather¡¯s notebook, then leave.


    As for cleaning up.... Well, screw her!


    Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts arrived at this point, and he switched his tone. "How about this, sis? We can pick up the pace. I just so happen to be in the River Wu District. We don¡¯t need to wait until tomorrow. Right now I will go there as fast as possible. I¡¯ll take whatever needs taking. Then you have your good friend take over from there. I¡¯ll give her an hour."


    "Yeah, this is fine. I¡¯ll ask her."


    As soon as Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts started running, his mind became quite agile. He continued amending the n, "It¡¯s okay if she doesn¡¯te over tonight. I¡¯ll change the security door to take in a secret key, which I¡¯ll give to youter. You can be the middleman, and everything will be okay."


    "Excellent," said Mo Ya in rarely heard praise. "Though you¡¯ve been to the hospital more than Acumen College, your brain capacity has seen growth. Do you know what this means?"


    "...GTFO!"


    Luo Nan hung up the call without a trace of politeness, but it was unavoidable for him to be a bit embarrassed. He gave Driver Qin a nod and expressed his thanks, "Brother Win, I owe you for today."


    Driver Qinughed, speaking for the first time tonight, "Then where to next?"


    "The Blue Bay Community."


    It only took them ten minutes, in line with Luo Nan¡¯s estimation. The security car sped into the parking lot of Blue Bay Community, and Driver Qin was scrupulous in his bodyguard duties. He got off the car to walk together with Luo Nan.


    idents didn¡¯t ur too much in this world. At least, tonight was very normal. Two minutes passed, and Luo Nan returned to his small nest that he had left over a month ago. This was the only real estate property that was under his name. He had inherited it from his father, whose trail was unknown.


    Mo Ya¡¯s so-called cleaning party was an exaggeration. There was an AI housekeeper keeping watch. A month had passed, and although Luo Nan didn¡¯t dare say that the apartment was untainted by even a speck of dust, he considered the ce to be quite clean and tidy. There wasn¡¯t even the smell of a human.


    Mo Ya called him again as he went up the stairs. Her good friend unfortunately couldn¡¯t make it, so it was fine for Luo Nan to use the secret key method he talked about before.


    Since things were like this, Luo Nan wasn¡¯t going to stay too long in this ce. He simply walked straight to the study as soon as he entered the door. He took out the crucial items.


    The ck suitcase atop the desk, the portable cooler in the bookcase, as well as the leather notebook hidden in the secret drawer.


    The drug synthesis equipment and raw materials were destined to be dealt with sooner orter. Luo Nan didn¡¯t really care, but when he saw the raw materials, he suddenly recalled that of these two items, at least half belonged to Mo Ya.


    It was very difficult for Luo Nan to engage in drug research, even if his grandfather had left behind educational funds as a foundation. Luo Nan had been young at the time, merely hitting ten years old. Over the course of five years, Mo Ya had provided him with financial aid. This was the number one reason why was he ultimately able to persevere down this path.


    Mo Ya was right. He really owed her far too many favors.


    But he thought of today¡¯s matter. It didn¡¯t even count as a favor. When was thest time a favor was asked between this brother and sister? Luo Nan felt unbearable with the most essential problem; he was growing further and further away from his normal family life.


    Luo Nan chuckled. He wanted to lift up the suitcase and the cooler, but Driver Qin had rushed to do it for him. His physique was healthy and heroic. He carried the two boxes like he was pinching two rice straws.


    "Thank you, Brother Qin." Luo Nan felt slightly embarrassed. He had tried to take the two items back to no avail, leaving him to rely on Brother Qin.


    He took the most important item of all, the leather notebook, into his hands, cing it with his loose-leaf notebook. He looked around the room, then easily covered the space with his mental senses. He confirmed that he didn¡¯t miss anything, and the two exited the apartment and went down the stairs. He didn¡¯t forget to set up the secret key to the door, sending Mo Ya the digital key upon generation.


    Sending the secret key was easy. It was done in a few minutes. They entered the elevator by the time it was done, and Luo Nan let out a breath of relief. Finally, a matter was resolved. As for what Mo Ya and her good friend would do next, it had nothing to do with him.


    Driver Qin maintained his silence as the elevator went down. He didn¡¯t do anything and the space was narrow, making the atmosphere a bit awkward. Luo Nan simply thumbed through his grandfather¡¯s notebook, looking at the familiar andplex molecr forms, as well as the handwriting that was either neatly or slovenly done.


    He had already gotten started with Formatting Theory, and he had a foundation with internal refinement. The Body Gear and the God Gear coupled in interaction, while his soul strength continued its violent and uncontroble growth. His awareness toward his mind and body far exceeded that from before. He would look at the contents of this notebookter, with all these things as a foundation. Even if he would find things hard toprehend, his level, angle, and way of thought were greatly richer than before.


    He could probably get a general understanding of his grandfather¡¯s thought process. It seemed like these notes were talking about how to use molecr targeting drugs to realize an activation with specific neurons. This realized self-growth and differentiation, reconstructing or strengthening neural circuits, thereby affecting the development of the body¡¯s organs and ultimately forming the Self-Format.


    But this notebook¡¯s contents were merely the records of experiments in the end. The pertinent theory was scattered and messy throughout the notebook. It was impossible to form a whole system no matter how many times he tidied the information up. The most intact depiction of the theory was the figure and words atop the title page.


    Luo Nan flipped to the title page. He saw the properly hand-drawn figure and the messy handwriting.


    A tetrahedron, an inscribed sphere, and an outer-scribed sphere formed the visualization diagram. This diagram had already fused into his soul. There was also the twenty-word mantra, "My heart¡¯s a prison. My heart¡¯s a furnace. My heart calls for a lens. My heart calls for the nation." This mantra existed alongside his breathing from beginning to end.


    Luo Nan had reached this step, but he was still far away from reaching a true understanding of Formatting Theory. He was incapable of ascertaining the image and significance that Formatting Theory, as well as this figure and these words, that his grandfather, his mother, and that person had in their eyes.


    However, a thought suddenly formed in his mind: The way I currently view the world with irvoyance is far different than how normal people view the world. It is reasonable to say that my grandfather and them should have been the same as well. It should be close, at the very least. I didn¡¯t possess this skill before. Maybe, I should start from this angle and follow the contents of the notebook once more?


    Luo Nan squeezed the pages as he thought deeply to himself. A cough came from the person next to him, and he suddenly snapped back to reality. Only then did he discover that the elevator had stopped moving. The floor indicator light showed that they were on the underground 2nd floor, the parking lot. The metal doors were closing straight ahead.... Most importantly, there was a couple standing outside the elevator. They should have just finished with shopping, for they were carryingrge and small bags of stuff. They were looking at him dazedly.

 Chapter 361: Sibling Seizure (Part 3/3)

    Chapter 361: Sibling Seizure (Part 3/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    "Apologies."


    Luo Nan scrambled out. The metal doors detected the human body, opening back up again. Driver Qin followed him out, still remaining silent, as if nothing had happened just then.


    The two cautiously avoided the person who they suspected to be mentally unwell. They rode the elevator up. In the end, Luo Nan¡¯s skin was tender. It was hard for him to avoid feeling embarrassed. He repeated his previous words, "I¡¯m sorry, Brother Qin. I was lost in thought just now."


    Driver Qin responded with a smile as usual, "No worries, Mr. Luo. Are we heading back now?"


    "Yes, let¡¯s head back," Luo Nan said as he closed his notebook. He didn¡¯t dare to continue looking. He had all sorts of matters squeezed into a single mass: his cultivation, Gear, outsourced work, security threats. Just adding researching the notebook into this was tantamount to tearing him apart into three pieces. He might not be able to endure it.


    But when he sat in the car, the silent atmosphere caused his thoughts to brew. Luo Nan was unable to stop himself. Thoughts and ideas came thick and fast, some being particrly meticulous.


    The words imparted to me by the gym master about the root receptacle, root nature, and root trigger¡ªthe subdivision of talent and nature¡ªcan conform with the Life Sketches. The internal refinement of the nine orifices and six roots is a way to polish the body. It is a way to form a more true ¡¯self-portrait.¡¯ The recordings within my grandfather¡¯s notebook mostly consist of targeting drugs that influence the nervous system of the human body.... Maybe I should stop thinking of a unified theory, and instead just make a reference. Then perhaps I will make some progress?


    Oh man, I can¡¯t take it any longer. What to do?


    Luo Nan smacked his forehead with his closed notebook. He felt both vexed and excited. Emotions surged from the bottom of his heart, each wave higher than the previous. It made him restless in his seat, as he wished to verify his own thoughts. But he didn¡¯t know where to start.... This time, it wasn¡¯t because he was at a loss. Instead, it was because there were far too many ces he could begin at.


    Yes. In this moment, the radiating insight within Luo Nan¡¯s brain was like the lightning of a thunderstorm. It shed and red intensely within the sea of his mind, branching with hundreds of thousands of streaks. It was like the crazed dance of a golden serpent, every streak whipping out within his heart.


    The more he thought, the more tormented he felt. Luo Nan sat shotgun as he pressed his notebook against his head. In the end, he caved in, giving in to the impulse of his insight. He drew in a breath of cold air, flipping open the leather notebook. He was about to write something on it, but a shred of reason still remained in him. He flipped open his own notebook and found an empty page. Then, he began to write at tremendous speed.


    The technique of subdivision. The internal refinement technique. Psychotropic drugs. Life Sketches.... Some of this crucial knowledge were familiar and came fluidly. Others only existed as concepts. However, they referred to each other in an overall system, and Luo Nan unconsciously formed a fuzzy, yet grandwork. Everything was covered. Everything was exined.


    The insights came like lightning, while his writing speed was far too slow.


    Luo Nan¡¯s legs shook with anticipation. The writing beneath his pen was done meticulously and neatly in the beginning, but in the end, it became slovenly and without form. Many thoughts simply became simple symbols in substitution. Some were even the sketches of emotions at will.


    In this way, Luo Nan soon filled up threeplete pages with his pen. He wrote until his brain was suddenly empty, and the tip of the pen could no longer drop to the page. This burst of inspiration came to a grinding halt.


    Perhaps, he could only remember half of it... no, a third!


    Sweat seeped from Luo Nan¡¯s palms, back, and forehead. He didn¡¯t care. He just flipped through the few pages within his notebook from front to back while reading. Some of the writings were far too illegible, but he tried to recall and decipher some of the abstractions, and he attempted to supplement them anew.


    It was a race between himself and time, himself and his memories. It was also apetition between himself and his most mysterious and unfathomable inspiration. He flipped through page after page like this, annotating, supplementing. Soon, he filled up seven more pages. This was more than what he had written down during his inspiration.


    Then he flipped through the pages a third time. This time, the pressure was much less. He looked over the ten pages that werepletely packed with words, feeling more rxed as he got closer to the end.


    Excellent, thepensation was much more timely. Over half of his thoughts still remained as traces. Some were even quite full and urate.


    Luo Nan¡¯s wristband vibrated, and Luo Nanpletely ignored it at first. But then Driver Qin coughed to alert him, and only then did Luo Nan nce at the caller ID. Luo Nan¡¯s scalp went tense.


    ¡°Aunt?" gasped Luo Nan.


    "Where are you? Do you know what time is it? Why aren¡¯t you home!" Mrs. Luo Shuqing¡¯s tone was filled with repressed emotions, the pressure underlying everything. She was probably very angry.


    "I¡¯m...." Luo Nan¡¯s mind went nk. Right, where was he?


    He turned his head to look at Driver Qin. Driver Qin turned on the headlights of the car, indicating to Luo Nan to watch the signs up ahead. Luo Nan saw a road sign and immediately recited its words, "I¡¯m at Rongxing Road. Cough, it¡¯s outside themunity. I¡¯ll be there soon."


    Luo Nan was only able to confirm the time at this moment. He had been fine without knowing it, but his cheeks spasmed when he saw the time. 23:47. It was practically midnight.


    And at the same time, Luo Nan confirmed that the security vehicle he was riding had already stopped outside themunity. He didn¡¯t know how long it had been since they stopped. In the driver seat, Driver Qin sat upright quietly, maintaining his silence until now. This was his usual style.


    Luo Nan had to express his thanks. Otherwise, his recollection of his insights would have been interrupted, making it impossible for him to fill ten pages with inspired writings.


    "Much thanks, Brother Qin." Luo Nan revealed his awkward and clumsy tongue once more. He came to a screeching halt, not knowing what else to say.


    Driver Qin chuckled and did something rare for him. He spoke, "Cultivating. I never had the time for it, especially when I first learn a new move.... When I started learning martial arts, when I just learned some skills from my teacher, I would tweak my ears and scratch my cheeks in impatience, itching to master the skills the next day. And when I discovered my special ability... well, that¡¯s something that doesn¡¯t need saying."


    Driver Qin was good at understanding others, and Luo Nan¡¯s emotions of awkwardness were substantially alleviated. Luo Nan was in no rush to go back home, now that they were right at the entrance to themunity. There was his current mental state, and he also held the boxes of drugs. There was an eighty percent chance that these items would be confiscated on the spot if he were to take them home.


    Luo Nan slowly adjusted his breathing, calming his mood. He easily asked about Driver Qin¡¯s circumstances in what could be considered idle chatter, "Brother Qin is a martial artist as well. Are you dual cultivating in martial arts and in your special ability?"


    Driver Qin gave a subtle nod. "I was learning martial arts at the Luhe Gym when I inexplicably awakened to my ability. Then my martial arts became less and less pure. This made my master very angry."


    He had spoken modestly, but Luo Nan felt veneration for him. "The Luhe Gym. So Brother Qin is under Mr. Giant Arm."


    Mr. Giant Arm was an exceptional man with a pair of thick muscr arms. Luo Nan had an utterly deep impression of the man. The power of Giant Arm¡¯s pure fleshy body could prate steel, the strength of his fists absolute. It was quite inconceivable. Luo Nan only came to find outter that Mr. Giant Arm was a powerful man ranked in the top ten of Xia City in terms of strength with the fleshly body. He was outstanding with the level of B-rank.


    Driver Qin quite revered Giant Arm as well. "Mister has purely tempered the fleshly body. His arts are the purest of the pure. I not only have been distracted by my special ability, my temperament is also a bit too gentle. I¡¯m not quite suited for Mister¡¯s punching techniques. I have only learned some superficial knowledge.¡±


    "Your special ability and your martial arts can¡¯t push each other to higher heights?"


    Driver Qin chuckled, "My special ability is far too nted for defense. Mister¡¯s punching techniques pay particr attention to explosiveness. There are upromisable aspects for both sides in the end...."


    Luo Nan gave a grunt in response and subconsciously studied Driver Qin. But he forgot that his mind today was quite stimted. His soul strength was also quite lively. He subconsciously observed him with irvoyance.


    In an instant, Driver Qin¡¯s body seemed to dematerialize, while a simple set of stars were arranged within. The stars were connected to each, forming a special image.


    This was a Life Sketch.... Oh, there was more!

 Chapter 362: New Picture (Part 1/3)

    Chapter 362: New Picture (Part 1/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Within and outside the simple and abstract Life Sketch of Driver Qin were countless grains of stars. They appeared intermittently, radiating rays of subtle warmth.


    Luo Nan couldn¡¯t hold back from taking out previous Life Sketches he drew to makeparisons. The most particr were that of Cat Eyes and Zhang Yingying, people who he had observed in great detail. Every single star that appeared for their Life Sketch shone bright and radiant, contrasting intensely with the deep darkness of the void.


    Upon paper with the same background of darkness, were silver-white dots akin to the drops of candle wax. Between themy connecting lines that were hard to distinguish between being present or nonexistent. Such a scene was undoubtedly affected by the visualization diagram. When looked at independently, it appeared like an abstract symbol.


    Only when these sketches of terrifying scales were pieced together did they cause one¡¯s senses to no longer be entwined with the details. Only then did the sketches form the grand and magnificent view of the vast and hazy starry sky.


    This was why Luo Nan called them sketches. They were outlines of just-finishedpositions. They were sketches and draftscking the details sculpted within.


    As for the star as before his eyes, the greatest difference from before was embodied within the details. Hundreds and thousands of stars were scattered within a fixed scope. Their luminosities differed, and their magnitudes varied. Some owned a radiance that dazzled the eyes, while some could barely be seen. The limited yet clear star as had beplicated due to this. At the same time, it changed into something much more lively. Even the tiniest of areas were drawn with exquisite and trustworthy details.


    It was like being on a high teau where the atmosphere was crystal clear, far away from the light pollution of the metropolis, allowing one to see the splendid night sky. It was enough to make Luo Nan forget that this was merely the frame of a body and soul for a single ability user, and nothing more.


    The current Luo Nan was far different from how he was back when he first drew the Life Sketches. He extended his hand and gestured across the stars like a deity, but he had spent a bit too long staring at Driver Qin in this spellbound state.


    Even Driver Qin with his steady nature couldn¡¯t refrain from coughing to alert Luo Nan.


    "Oh, I¡¯m sorry." Luo Nan had said such words at least three times this night. Luckily, Driver Qin didn¡¯t mind, resuming his usual quiet state. He just responded with a smile.


    Luo Nan couldn¡¯t understand it. Why did his irvoyance suddenly appear with much more detail when it came to Life Sketches? In any case, he knew that he should be getting off the car and going home.


    He gracefully declined Driver Qin¡¯s good intentions to help once more as he got off the car. Luo Nan lifted the two boxes out from the trunk, the notebooks sped under his left arm. It was a bit awkward, but he could still walk.


    He bid Driver Qin farewell, then he headed straight home. He walked to the road of themunity, and there was no other person in sight under the streetlights. This sort of scenepelled one¡¯s thoughts to go wild. Luo Nan¡¯s mind subconsciously began to surge.


    Why did he be interested in Driver Qin? It was because of his words. It vaguely conformed with Gym Master Xiu¡¯s words dealing with the root receptacle, root nature, and root trigger technique of subdivision.


    Those awakened with supernatural powers couldprehend the root receptacle. On the other hand, temperament fell under the root nature. He walked a different path than Mr. Giant Arm. This was the problem with the selection of the root trigger.


    This was the principle. ording to Gym Master Xiu¡¯s teachings, Luo Nan needed to find a suitable ce to begin. Luo Nan¡¯s direction had been very fuzzy during the lecture, but after experiencing his burst of insight, as well as the irvoyance he used on Driver Qin, the situation subtly changed.


    Luo Nan suppressed the impulse to go looking for people and adjusted his breathing. He let his feverish mind cool for a second.


    He first walked to the detached garage outside of his aunt¡¯s master bedroom. This was a three-dimensional garage that was quite amon sight among the properties of the middle ss of the city. It was divided into two levels, and each of the two cars of the household were ced on each level. It used a converter to adjust the level, taking the required car out. The space was a bit small, and its functions were simple. It couldn¡¯t hold a lot of stuff.


    However, there was a wooden door installed atop thewn in the back of the garage and at the edge of the yard. Opening this door revealed a flight of stairs that led to an underground space.


    This was an underground storeroom. Rumor had it that Mo Ya had hidden it from the rest of the family back when she was in her second year of middle school. She spent a year¡¯s worth of time digging out the space by herself. Unfortunately, she was found out, and she had to pay a considerable fine to themunity.


    The sophomore Mo Ya of middle school was a standard young girl. She treated this secret space like a tree house. Sheter grew out of it, no longer ying here. She gave this ce to Luo Nan, letting him store some sensitive materials inside.


    This storeroom was the greatest reason why he was able to conceal his independent drug synthesis from his aunt and uncle for the past five years.


    There were favors all around... so he especially had to lower his head toward Mo Ya.


    Luo Nan took the boxes and ced them in a secretpartment within the storeroom. He turned around and was about to leave when a thought suddenly stirred within his mind. He ced the two notebooks he had sped under his arm in the secretpartment as well.


    Luo Nan ced both books, not just one, because he was worried. He was worried that if he really did take the notebook with the recorded insights back into his room, he wouldn¡¯t be able to sleep this night. He needed to continue with his good tempo of work and rest; he wanted to avoid destroying it with exhaustion.


    Making this resolution was not easy. Luo Nan practically looked back every three steps. Thissted until he reached ground level and closed the trapdoor. Only then did he let out a long breath of relief. He walked back to the house, weing his aunt¡¯s reprimanding.


    Though there were many variables, he still endured a lecture when he got home. But this night, Luo Nan had experienced many things. It was a fruitful night.


    Callously cing the notebook in the underground storeroom was an effective action. It helped Luo Nan strictly follow the needs that Gym Master Xiu hadid down when it came to the meridians. Blood and energy had to be raised and lowered before sleeping, refining the life essence of the body. This was to be done to ensure that the inner organs, the four limbs, and the hundreds of bones proceeded in parallel from inside to out. The energies circted inyers, conforming with the nine orifices and six roots. Only then did it conclude.


    Therefore, tonight required several times more work whenpared to purely cultivating the eyes orifice. Arge chunk of time was set aside for it. By the time he woke up from his meditative state that teetered on the edge of clear and unclear, it was already a bit past four in the early morning. It was just about time for him to start on his morning exercises.


    If future nights were all like this, then he probably wouldn¡¯t need to sleep anymore.


    Luo Nan smacked his lips, savoring the fresh feeling of the newly opened orifice. The orifice of his mouth and tongue was producing liquid, which tasted sweet and refreshing. It waspletely different from the nasty breath he used to have in his daily life upon waking up.


    Luo Nan naturally swallowed the liquid, and the liquid steadily flowed. He moved his tongue, feeling quite nimble. Unfortunately, the clumsy actions he made with his mouth when talking was ultimately caused by his wisdom and temperament. This newly developed skill was wasted on him.


    He had experienced this small change with his mouth and tongue yesterday. Currently, the most he could say that this did was save him a bit of mouthwash. It wasn¡¯t really something to get excited about.


    Luo Nan was still expecting its true marvels to reveal themselves.


    Today was November 3, 2096. It was a Saturday, the day Luo Nan had nned to do his closed door cultivation.


    Perhaps it waspensation. His guardians were very busy these days. It was the start of the month routine statistics period for the SCA. Luo Nan¡¯s uncle was a high-level member and a technological expert. He had to be present to supervise. His aunt was a senior member of HR in argepany, and a new department was recruiting. She had to work overtime for this, so she didn¡¯t have time to be at home. This gave Luo Nan a stress-free, distraction-free environment....


    Luo Nan came back home from his morning run, his mood turning great once he found out all this information. His appetite rose quite a bit.


    But he was far too naive.


    Mo Peng, who should still be sleeping in as was his usual custom on weekends, had shuffled down the stairs at seven o¡¯clock. His round, plump body brought with it a different vibe to him. He saw that his dad and mother weren¡¯t paying attention to the home for now, so he smacked Luo Nan with a question,


    "Have you arranged things on your end yet?"

 Chapter 363: New Picture (Part 2/3)

    Chapter 363: New Picture (Part 2/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Without a doubt, Mo Peng was talking about the recreation n at the Frost River Reality of Cloud City Water Vige.


    This shameful gamer. He endlessly nagged Luo Nan, having heard that gaming in virtual reality promised no headway. Not to mention the idea of beautiful women joining them.


    Luo Nan really didn¡¯t have the energy to argue with him. He could only stall. "All the students have gone home for the weekend. Who would specifically run to therge activity area for a meetup?"


    "That¡¯s true, then Monday.... Oh, are you trying to get me to skip ss?" Mo Peng¡¯s expression gave off the heroic feeling of a squire risking his life for his lord, but underneath it was the wretched action of passing the buck.


    Luo Nan simply headed to the living room. He used his uncle and aunt as an excuse to escape from Mo Peng¡¯s nagging.


    Mo Peng followed him, "Monday, next Monday! It¡¯s a n!"


    Luo Nan responded harshly without ill intent, but he was unable to stifle the bad thoughts in his mind. Any more nonsense and I¡¯ll call over Zhang Yingying and have her fix you up proper.


    Breakfast barely passed, and Mo Peng wasn¡¯t one to stay idle. Aside from normally sleeping in, Mo Peng¡¯s weekends were rich with activity. He was the first to head out the door.


    Soon his aunt and uncle left. Of course, his aunt just had to lecture him. She even setup the AI housekeeper¡¯s operation mode. This made Luo Nan feel that he was infinitesimally close to being a mama¡¯s boy.


    Who was the one who said I¡¯m a mama¡¯s boy? Oh, it was that useless Mo Peng!


    This sister and brother pair. Did God send them down just to torment me?


    Luo Nan rolled his eyes as he tidied up his bowl and chopsticks. He restrained his temper as he cleaned up the kitchen and dining room. At this time, the "native species gic and ecological preservation" job had begun a new day. Peony led Ink to meet with the Trigate Security¡¯s action team for the start of another meeting. Their n for today was to study the Forestwall District. Tomorrow¡¯s n was to study the River Wu District.


    If everything went smoothly, Luo Nan would be able to ck off at this job for the next two days, spending this time and energy to mull over and experiment with the newest gains he had obtained.


    "I¡¯m finally back on the right track!" Luo Nan let out a long breath of relief as he retrieved the two notebooks from the underground storeroom near the garage. He went straight back to his bedroom, determined not to leave for the rest of the day.


    In his bedroom, Luo Nan sat cross-legged on his bed. He flipped through the pages filled with countless insights within his notebook, the mere nce causing blood-boiling emotions. It was akin to fire being lit within a well filled with oil, causing the explosive sound ofbustion to ring over and over.


    Luo Nan took in a deep breath, knowing that if he didn¡¯t control his emotions, it would be very hard to truly sink deep in thought. However, he had repressed his emotions for an entire night. He hated that he was unable to tackle these ideas while dreaming. It was easier said than done for him to suppress his emotions.


    "Might as well let it flow instead of stifling it..." Luo Nan muttered to himself. He drew back his lips into a smile, and his impassioned and surging soul strength was like a flood bursting a dam. It flowed every which way.


    The sky was sunny and cloudless outside the room, but gloom cast into theke of his mind. The vast and hazy starry sky unfurled within Luo Nan¡¯s mind, covering a range of several dozen square kilometers. There were a thousand households in themunity, and the Life Sketches of thousands of living beings were reflected within.


    As the living starry sky manifested, the suppressed impulsive mes of his heart diffused throughout the starry sky. Soon, all heat had dispersed, leaving behind merely traces of the fluctuations of life, resonating with the stars that filled the entire sky.


    Luo Nan was unaware, but his heart and mind had be crystal clear. He was in a most limpid state. This wasn¡¯t his meditative state; it surpassed it. He felt the interference and resonance between himself and other living beings, and he automatically had a direction to begin with.


    He didn¡¯t get tangled up in anything. He simply stirred his thoughts, and the core vast star river, the visualization diagram, naturally appeared. This was the Format Pyramid structure, consisting of a tetrahedron, an inscribed sphere, and an outer-scribed sphere. It matched with the thousands upon thousands of Life Sketches in the distance, converging together.


    The long river of starlight spread past the Format Pyramid, seemingly drowningpletely. Clear levels were revealed within the Format Pyramid. They were regr and thorough, without a hint of disorder.


    Starting from the night at Frost River Reality, Luo Nan¡¯s Format Pyramid had converged and fused with the Life Sketches into a star river. However, they were still independent. They moved ording to their respective rules. Only where their domains shed did the Format Pyramid clearly disy its dominance.


    Yet this time, under the radiance of the long snaking river and myriad of stars, there seemed to be some subtle changes with the motionless yet majestic Format Pyramid.


    "There has been a change," Luo Nan talked to himself.


    Under the countless lightning strikes of insight, Luo Nan¡¯s thought process had changed substantially. The foundation of his body and soul, the Format Pyramid, had to have corresponding changes as well. Only then could it prove its realness.


    The intent of his mind illuminated down from above, probing inside and outside the visualization diagrampletely. What had once been a vague feeling transformed into a clear understanding. The previous Format Pyramid was apositionprising geometric figures. It could be considered a conceptual expression. The current Format Pyramid was a set of figures with a lot more details, dots, lines, and faces joined together, revealing a conformation of light and shadow, and giving off an even more marvelous sense of realism.


    Simr details continued to increase to the extent that it was a bit inappropriate to call the Format Pyramid a concise conceptual figure. After all, concepts were concepts. The corresponding idealized figure was far too rigid.


    The thought barely stirred, and the visualization diagram, which was already jam-packed with rich details, was like a sandcastle built upon the ocean shore. It copsed just like that, scattering countless flowing silver-white rays into the void.


    Holy cow!


    Luo Nan¡¯s mind instinctively went tense, but before anxious emotions were able to boil up, the irvoyance of his mind was crammed with thousands upon thousands of stars of varying luminosities.


    That¡¯s right. The conceptualposition of dots, lines and faces had suddenly transformed into thousands upon thousands of stars. They unfurled, turning into a splendid constetion. The space between them formed a matching structure, and looking at the whole, Luo Nan could vaguely see the traces of rules outlining the tetrahedron, inscribed sphere, and outer-scribed sphere.


    Luo Nan stared, stupefied for a while. His visualization diagram had transformed from conceptual geometric figures into a more realposition of stars and constetion structure. Wasn¡¯t this none other than a Life Sketch?


    This situation was very simr to the situationst night when he used his irvoyance on Driver Qin!


    Luo Nan wanted to bite his fingers. Emotions of bewilderment, stupefaction, and excitement entwined together.


    The self-constructed Life Sketchpletely sted apart the barrier of rules between the Format Pyramid and the living starry sky. It was like an exquisite mathematical conversion. It took two independent domains and drew them under the same rules, further expanding the richness of the content within, and increasing countless details that could be researched.


    Looking from this point, his attempts had truly started only recently. This was a breakthrough, and it invigorated his spirits.


    But from another perspective, the dissimtion and dposition of the visualization diagram that apanied him for many years had real impacts, forcing him to perform some mental constructions.


    All right. For instance, the constetions in the skies above never had rays of light connecting dots to form figures. It was the will of the people to imagine their outlines, reflecting the special cultures of humanity. It was the result of imagination turned concrete.


    Perhaps this principle could be used upon the Format Pyramid?


    Luo Nan suddenly became lost in thought as a certain question spawned out of nowhere. This question invaded his thought process. Grandfather¡¯s research in Formatting Theory back in the day.... Was his objective an abstract concept? Or was it a concrete phenomenon?


    Luo Nan chose thetter.


    It was impossible for a pure abstraction and its general symbol to develop with rich and meaningful content, if itcked a concrete, detailed, and urate phenomenon as a support. Even if such an abstraction was able to develop, it would be that of sheer fantasy and daydreams.


    In other words....


    Luo Nan picked up the leather notebook and flipped to the title page. He looked straight at the concise lines of the figure, but what appeared before his eyes was clearly a profound and magnificent starry sky.

 Chapter 364: New Picture (Part 3/3)

    Chapter 364: New Picture (Part 3/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Of course, the starry sky atop the title page was merely an illusion, but the changes within the Format Pyramid were real.


    Luo Nan felt restless sitting on his bed. He got up and walked around in a circle. An intense premonition came upon him. He studied Formatting Theory for over five years. Perhaps it was only now that he was able to truly touch upon the doorstep to the core research of his grandfather¡¯s work.


    "What do I need to do next? What do I need to do next?"


    Luo Nan¡¯s mind remained clear, for he had done arduous and crucial preparations to tackle today¡¯s juncture. However, he never expected to start up this smoothly. It was so smooth that it was out of control. After the star as transformation of the Format Pyramid, all his previous ns werepletely invalidated. He needed to follow the new structure and sort out another rough train of thought.


    But the true problem didn¡¯t lie with the fact that his trains of thought were too few. Instead, there were far too many!


    He flung himself onto the bed, picking up his own loose-leaf notebook. He wrote and wrote, venting out his thoughts. Soon, seven nk pages were crammed full of words, figures, and symbols. Yet this was still not enough. Impulses of attempts jumped endlessly from his mind.


    Luo Nan never expected to have such a day bursting with insights.


    It was already 11 o¡¯clock by the time he snapped back to reality from recording his insights. The AI housekeeper followed its programmed schedule and made lunch, inviting the only member of the household at home to eat at the dining table.


    Luo Nan spent an entire morning burning his mental energy. His energy consumption was out of the ordinary. An rm went off within his instincts, and he simply brought the notebook downstairs as he prepared to use lunchtime to further mull over his thoughts and write. He wouldn¡¯t tarry at all.


    He shoveled a few spoonfuls of food in his mouth as his mind wandered, drawing and writing another half a page of words and symbols. Luo Nan felt all right with things. He could continue like this at the dining table.


    But a notification message reminded him of something at this moment.


    "The lunch session has arrived. Shed some sweat, young man!" the HexaEar vibrated, and Xue Lei¡¯s thick timbreced with stifledughter was exceptionally amused. This was a notification that they recorded a few days ago when they had the leisure. This was to ensure that Luo Nan exercised control over his daily schedule.


    Gym Master Xiu¡¯s teachings were inherently very strict. Luo Nan had to pay the most attention to habit and tempo. He had to know good cultivation habits and and efficient tempo. This was the foundation to realizing results in martial arts. The requirements were high, particrly after Luo Nan seeded with the heartntern of the eyes orifice. This was unavoidable, perhaps due to his extremely special circumstances. Every day, he had to do morning sessions, night sessions, and lunch sessions by the dot, not shaken even by thunder. He couldn¡¯t bezy. Xue Lei was a good friend, and he acted as a serious and rigid supervisor.


    Having strictly controlled himself for over ten years, supervising externally and pressing internally, Luo Nan had already formed an initial tempo for cultivation. However, his tempo became a bit messy because of hismitment to internal refinement, which yielded real results. He had yet topletely adapt to these changes.


    Luo Nan looked at the time and struggled mentally for a little while. In the end, he still closed his eyes, pushed his notebook aside, and ate faster.


    The benefits he just essed with the mouth and tongue orifice disyed themselves at this moment. The digestive acids of the stomach disyed a clear increase in its energy conversion function. Luo Nan vaguely felt essence energy trickling down his throat along with the tasteless and calorie-heavy nutritious meal. As Luo Nan ate, the essence endlessly circted throughout his entire body, replenishing his own energy.


    "The pace is extremely good, and the vital energy of the inner organs is stable. There isn¡¯t any clear imbnces. ording to Gym Master Xiu, a thick root receptacle means a sturdy foundation, sufficient to bear.... Huh?"


    Luo Nan suddenly became aware of something. As he subconsciously ate his food, he had nearly jabbed his chopsticks into his nose. But he was also unable to deal with this sorry situation, as his thoughts continued to churn. "Gym Master Xiu has helped control the progress of the Body Gear. Though it is weaker than the God Gear, every step is solid. nting thick roots into the soil of the body that is akin to a mountain is an absolutely decent process. Inparison, the God Gear driven by Formatting Theory has been a road of wild and violent progress. The growth is uncontroble, giving me a great deal of troubles. If a second explosive outbreak were to ur from the drive of insights, this little life of mine may no longer exist."


    His thoughts were clear. Luo Nan¡¯s back was drenched in sweat. He flipped through his notebook once more,pletely crossing out some extreme and bold ns of his. He looked for some conservative and gradual ns, carefully mulling over them.


    "That¡¯s right. When ites to researching Formatting Theory, my current root receptacle isn¡¯t thick, my root nature isn¡¯t clear, and my root trigger is super early. I need to carefully sculpt and solidify my foundation before making any more ns. The way I express my thoughts when quick sketching is actually very suitable for this."


    Luo Nan smacked the table, making a firm resolution in his heart. He stuffed a few mouthfuls of food into his mouth, tidied up a bit, and went up the stairs to perform his noon session.


    He did a set of exercises. While his vital energy circted within his inner organs, while his muscles, skin, and flesh trembled as he fixed himself in the proper stance, Luo Nan naturally seized a bit of calm. He easily shifted his attention to the living starry sky of his irvoyance, beginning his afternoon research.


    Compared to the lightning strikes of insight in the morning with its series of bursting intensities, his mind was steady in the afternoon. His mental state was much more moderate, and he merely quietly observed the marvelous and splendid starry sky.


    Instead of viewing at the starry sky with the logic of Formatting Theory, he used the acuity of an artist.


    Luo Nan had been in the middle of a vicious battle fraught with dangers when he first mulled over the drawing method of the Life Sketches. He had been pressed, and time was of the essence, exhausting all the things he learned and experienced then. At the time, he had the experience of the out-of-body state, the pattern and tempo of soul breathing, and an understanding of a configuration for the operating structure of energy and information. With his many years of speed sketching as a foundation, having drawn thousands upon thousands of sketches, Luo Nan was able to utilize the keen ability to grasp the characteristics of people quickly and easily.


    He was quite proud to be able to integrate superplicated elements into such a grand and gigantic work of art.


    But from the harshest perspective, a rushed drawing and a meticulous work were far different at thepetition level.


    In the end, the Life Sketch was merely a sketch. It was drawn through the method of speed sketching. It imitated the form and appearance, grasping a general impression. It was far from perfect in many details, such as inposition, scale, and structure.


    Needless to say, the current Luo Nancked in quite a bit. He didn¡¯t have the ability to endure, nor did he have the acuity, knowledge, and experience.


    But now, by learning arts from Gym Master Xiu, by continuing to cram the fundamental knowledge pertaining to the world, by putting coupling between the God Gear and Body Gear into practice, Luo Nan had repaired one w after another. He was like a young artist with a modicum of sess in art. He looked back on his own initial training drafts and was appalled by the sight. He knew where he wascking, and he knew how to go about fixing them.


    There existed an overall order to the living starry sky, but the figures themselves werecking in precision. The image wasrge, but of no real use. A basic mold was already formed with the starry sky, but there was practically no room to add detail.


    If Luo Nan wanted to amend the star as-transformed Format Pyramid, Luo Nan would have to reify the star as. This was his direction.


    Luo Nan slowly adjusted his breathing, and the starry sky formed from the joining of Life Sketches was like a justpletedposition. It was the draft of a structure recently drawn. It simply waited for Luo Nan to use his pen, go line the work with more exquisiteyers of light and darkness, and make key details appear.


    Thousands upon thousands of amendments had to be made to the star as. It was an enormous undertaking withoutpare. Yet, it was the steadiest and most solid step Luo Nan could take. Of course, the first thing that had to be molded and revised was still Luo Nan himself.

 Chapter 365: Hidden Rules (1/3)

    Chapter 365: Hidden Rules (1/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan wasn¡¯t in a hurry to start on the initial formtion of the direction, just as a standard artist was never pressed to put his pen to paper. This was especially true in his case, where he wasn¡¯t facing a nk sheet of paper, but rather a deep andplex starry sky.


    Luo Nan flipped through the loose-leaf notebook in his hands and found a nk page. He wrote solemnly with his pen:


    The first item starts with me. Push myself, and others shall be pushed as well.


    Looking at his current circumstances, the simplest and smoothest option he had avable when it came to truly revising the Life Sketches shouldy with external irvoyance. Driver Qin was an excellent example. With the degree of detail in Driver Qin¡¯s Life Sketch, the answer was simply ced before his eyes.


    But Luo Nan was fully aware that this wasn¡¯t enough. Hecked the link of a self-reference. It was extremely hard for him to see the ws within his own work. The initial version of the Life Sketch had been affected by Luo Nan¡¯s level of understanding at the time. He nearly lost the space to add a further step in detail. There was a lesson to be learned from this.


    But something must be known. Observing the self through irvoyance was what made cultivating difficult. That was what it meant to know one¡¯s own limitations. Gym Master Xiu had emphasized this to himst night using simr words, and Luo Nan had mentioned very early on that he was no expert in making ¡¯self-portraits.¡¯ He wasn¡¯t being modest.


    Of course, looking at the situation from a different perspective, high consumption often represented high gains. Though such a method of doing things promised great difficulty, it was a process with set standards and principles. Only when one polished themselves to be clear could they shine clearer upon others. This was the essence of the root receptacle, root nature, and root trigger technique of subdivision.


    Luo Nan chose a road where the beginning was rough but thetter was easy. To get on this road, he would need to climb the steepest peaks. Only in this way could he solidify his foundation and avoid the fatal danger of the uncontroble growth caused by Formatting Theory to the greatest degree.


    Luo Nan paused his pen for a moment, before writing down more words.


    Second item: Observe first, then replicate in multiple dimensions.


    Luo Nan was using drawing techniques to take a picture of the living starry sky. It didn¡¯t matter whether it was speed-sketching or drawing; they both used techniques that weren¡¯t baseless or imaginary. They needed one to truly observe the subject.


    There was nothing much to say. Luo Nan¡¯s target of observation was none other than himself. This wasn¡¯t a simple tracing of his own reflection. Instead, it required him to study his body and soul frame in lucidity. Luo Nan needed to grasp its form, its soul, and match it with its star as-transformed form.


    There existed all sorts of elements, many of which involved the mental ne. The number of ideas were numerous and chaotic. To urately chase them down was no easy task. The only way to advance might be to look at the many different perspectives, the many different levels of the Body Gear and God Gear, the visualization diagram, and the root receptacle, root nature, and root trigger. And then find the highestmon factor among them.


    This undoubtedly would increase the amount of work Luo Nan had to do, but he already resigned himself to doing things the hard way, not the easy way. He had chosen the steepest path, so he didn¡¯t mind carrying a bit more burden.


    Luo Nan¡¯s mind remained slightly active with thoughts upon writing these two lines. The thoughts seemed clear, but they weren¡¯t. It was hard for them to fully form. Luo Nan just subconsciously spun his pen and used his other hand to lift yellow page after yellow page doused with sweat.


    His gaze streaked across his loose-leaf notebook, and he ran his eyes over the dozen or so pages of information filled with his insights. A momentter, he casually thumbed through his previous writing. This included a limited number of drawings.


    If he hadn¡¯t recorded his insights, the amount of meaningful content in his loose-leaf notebook would be small, though the notebook itself was thick. The most valuable thing within should be the two psychic drawings he made.


    One drawing was a bit small. It was the outline of the Wraith Sign he had drawn back at school a while back. It was quite abstract.


    The other drawing was now a tangled mess thanks to a highlighter, but the overallposition contained crucial details. It was much more concrete, containing rich symbolic meaning within.


    Yes, it was the prison sketch. Luo Nan had been confined to a detainment room on Ship Lanshan. He had drawn this diagram under the catalysis of insight. From this, he was able toprehend the mysteries behind the phrase ¡¯my heart¡¯s a prison¡¯ and truly obtain supernatural powers.


    My heart¡¯s a prison?


    A jolt suddenly went through Luo Nan¡¯s mind. The obscure thoughts suddenly shone bright. Since I have to make revisions, how can I let these points escape me?


    He moved his pen on the spot, forming words on the same sheet of paper as before.


    Third item: Scale the key links down.


    The three principles were arranged in order on paper, an expression of the scope shrinking in session. After a substantial level was touched upon by the third principle, Luo Nan could start doing work.


    ¡¯My heart¡¯s a prison¡¯ yed the special role of a nexus within the course of Luo Nan¡¯s research in Formatting Theory. If Luo Nan truly wanted to get started, it was quite appropriate for him to choose this node.


    Having gone through many impacts and experiences that honed him, the current Luo Nan bore a crystal clear idea rising from the bottom of his heart: In essence, ¡¯my heart¡¯s a prison¡¯ and Formatting Theory itself might be the manifestation of some kind of enforcing rule. As with the incident back at Frost River Reality, Luo Nan had sensed such things from the depths of the mental ne. It was an inconceivable order frame, internalized within the structure of his body and soul, ultimately achieving results.


    Following this recent period of time when he learned techniques from Gym Master Xiu, Luo Nan found a suitable exnation in oriental metaphysics.


    Unity of heaven and man.


    There were also simr words within ssical scriptures of the Dao. For instance, "Man follows the earth, the earth follows the heavens, the heavens follow the Dao, and the Dao follows nature."


    All right. He had to admit that there were far too many meanings from the words of oriental metaphysics. There were often many different sorts of interpretations, requiring one to bite the words and chew the characters, nailing them down one by one. It was quite easy to be pulled down into the gutter by them.


    He just used this sort of image to casually draw the typical visualization diagram in his notebook. It was none other than theposition formed from a tetrahedron, an inscribed sphere, and an outer-scribed sphere.


    Here, the inscribed sphere symbolized the Self-Format, the outer-scribed sphere symbolized the Heaven and Earth Format, and the tetrahedron in the center represented the Societal Format.


    Looking from a perspective of a pure cultivator, Luo Nan could put a temporary hold on the Societal Format. He needed to put more of his attention on the rtionship between the Self-Format and the Heaven and Earth Format.


    Of course, this topic itself was far toorge. It was ipatible with his principle of scaling down.


    Luo Nan simply gave up this avenue, no longer sparing any additional thought to the overall frame. He just sculpted over the details. In other words, he gave up the logic topic of how to form the Heaven and Earth Format and chose the next diverging path. That is:


    "How can the Self-Format be used to reflect Heaven and Earth¡¯s creation?


    ...It seemed like this scale was still toorge. Then Luo Nan could only continue downward in his selection. Luo Nan¡¯s mind grew clearer and clearer as he went down in level, and the basis of his selection grew more and more definite as well.


    He shouldn¡¯t even be thinking about fundamental theories and such matters. Right now, he had yet to reach the level of forming a theory to exin phenomena.


    Discovering the problem. Observing the phenomenon. Gathering data. Then summarizing it all into a basic logic. This was everything he could do from now to the near future.


    If Luo Nan wanted to start from the basic phenomenon, there was one fact that was extremely clear: What was the most substantial benefit Luo Nan gained afterprehending ¡¯My heart¡¯s a prison¡¯?


    A low rattling cry rang out within the quiet bedroom.


    The answer was the dark chains.


    The inconceivable instantiation of this form had aided Luo Nan in going into the out-of-body state, and had subdued a clone of the Human-Faced Arachnid. It umted gains from every instance, seizing Luo Nan and cing him onto the fastne for uncontroble growth.


    Then, why was there... Oh, Luo Nan gave up on the ¡¯why.¡¯ Right now, he simply wanted to know just what sort of form, just what sort of changes, did the dark chains have after the star as transformation. Just what would be different if he pulled it out from the middle of the Format Pyramid!


    This was none other than his first work in observation.

 Chapter 366: Hidden Rules (2/3)

    Chapter 366: Hidden Rules (2/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    The vibrating cry of the chains diffused throughout the mental ne, continuing endlessly.


    But as Luo Nan waited, the familiar dark chains faded away within the core of the living starry sky. A section shed out of sight, giving Luo Nan no chance to view a concrete form.


    "Tsk, has my previous efforts all gone to waste after the star as transformation?"


    It was hard for Luo Nan to stop his imagination from running when facing an unexpected situation. He tried to use irvoyance deep inside of the Format Pyramid Star As, but the thought barely stirred when he seemed to see some sort of dissolved structure in the surroundings of the Format Pyramid.


    "It¡¯s the outer-scribed circle."


    This fuzzy outline of a sphere represented the Heaven and Earth Format. It was akin to an inted bubble, one that had expanded rapidly to its limits, only to pop and shatter. Stars flickered and died within to be part of the depths of the wider starry sky.


    Luo Nan wasn¡¯t clear on what this phenomenon represented. At the very least, his frame of body and soul¡ªthe God Gear and the Soul Gear¡ªhad yet to have any bad reactions.


    Before the thought could even settle, another structuralyer dissolved as well. It represented the tetrahedron. Its situation was quite simr to that of the outer-scribed sphere. Its stars scattered and spread, noiselessly merging into the living starry sky.


    The two outer structures cast away and dissolved, bing two dazzling waves of smoke. They branded the eyes for a moment before disappearing nearly without a trace in the blink of an eye.


    Luo Nan¡¯s scalp went numb. If this were to happen to the structure representative to the Self-Format, his mental defenses would crumble before anything would happen to the frame of body and soul.


    He feared what mighte!


    While Luo Nan was dealing with an upheaval of emotions, thest remaining structure in the core region, the spherical star as silhouette, became like a morphed heart. It suddenly expanded and contracted along with his breathing and heartbeat. Again it expanded, and again it contracted....


    The expansion and contraction urred six times in a row, nearly taking all of Luo Nan¡¯s attention and shifting it to this unusual motion. But it was merely almost.


    Luo Nan finally paid attention to the outline of the Self-Format. He looked at its expansion and contraction with wide eyes. It swelled greatly, but shrunk only slightly. It began to increase in size in this inconceivable manner.


    With a mere few cycles of this expansion and contraction, the spherical star as had already expanded to four times its original size. Yet its density didn¡¯t shrink because of this expansion. On the contrary, more and more stars could be seen at the core region, gradually forming a silver spherical cluster of stars.


    The form of the tetrahedron, the inscribed sphere and the outer-scribed sphere was history by now. The only thing left was the splendid and brilliant cluster of stars. It was akin to being within the real universe, the core of a gxy formed from thousands of stars.


    "It hasn¡¯t copsed. That¡¯s good."


    Luo Nan was able to find joy within suffering. He was just about to observe the change in greater detail when sounds of the chains rang again from within the splendid and brilliant cluster of stars. He had nearly forgotten about the chains, but it carried a special rhythm to its vibrations. It covered every corner of the scope of his perception.


    At the same time, an incorporeal yet boundless power apanied the sound in its progression. It dispersed everywhere in the starry sky, warping the deep darkness in all directions. It caused the entire sky of stars, the thousands upon thousands of Life Sketches, to spiral around.


    Luo Nan was able to sense it clearly; there was a veiled set of rules carried by this incorporeal yet boundless power. The rules came outyer byyer, intruding into practically every single Life Sketch.


    A headache and vertigo was Luo Nan¡¯s first response.


    It was because the first to be impacted by these rules was the general order in all directions of basic space. The living starry sky distorted. What was far became near. What was near became far. What resided up above suddenly plummeted down below.... Luo Nan¡¯s understanding was shattered to practically nothing.


    This could not continue on.


    If an artist were to have the concept of space, one of the most basic concepts in art, blurred, then his drawing would fundamentally no longer contain meaning.


    Luo Nan wished to restore the awareness of order. He sensed deep inside the living starry sky, using his interference ability and borrowing the material ne to anchor his position once more.


    The Body Gear and God Gear were meshed and rotating for this end. The light of the eyes orifice formed a heartntern, driving the flow of energy of the inner organs, while also casting its light toward the boundless starry sky of the mental ne.


    The subtleties were magnified as a result of his irvoyance.


    The boundless river of space, the thousands upon thousands of constetions¡ªthey naturally conformed with the heartntern of the eyes orifice. Yet each had their differences. Some were dark without light. Some transformed to be especially eye-catching. But their darkness or brightness had nothing to do with the material space when it came to above and below, far and near.


    Things were even messier now!


    Like riding a tiger, it was already impossible for Luo Nan to get off this ride. He could only continue to use his irvoyance. The heartntern gave off a beam of sensing light, touching these glittering targets one after another.


    In an instant, the warped physical space no longer had any meaning when it came to distance. The heartntern of the eyes orifice was like a beam of light descending from outside of space. It came from the mental ne and pierced into the solid world of reality.


    Darkness assaulted Luo Nan¡¯s senses, but they were pierced though in the blink of an eye. The barrier between the material ne and the mental ne appeared before Luo Nan in this moment, weak and powerless.


    The light and shadow of reality interweaved andbined under the illumination of the heartntern, projecting a fuzzy shadow of a human. The image gradually grew clearer.


    Luo Nan was able to see a muscr and powerful ck man. He was half-naked, his upper body bare for all to see. The man sat cross-legged in a hidden room in stillness. The clear contours of his muscles trembled subtly, revealing that he wasn¡¯t as tranquil as he appeared on the surface.


    Luo Nan recognized this man. ck Tiger Baze. Deputy Head of the Knights of Equity in Xia City¡¯s Order of Justice. This man was a power ability user with the gift of a super strong fleshly body.


    Back during the incident at Frost River Reality, this fellow had been An Weng¡¯s dauntless subordinate. He had been an enemy to Luo Nan¡¯s party, fighting a dazzling battle against the Ears of Truth Fairchild. But in the end, he became one of An Weng¡¯s offerings of sacrifice in order to release the might of the Scales of Truth.


    During the sacrifice, the exchange of the chaos element in Baze¡¯s body had caused a nearplete copse of Baze¡¯s previous foundation. In the end, he was saved by the merciful Fairchild. Fairchild asked Luo Nan to grant a helping hand, and Luo Nan implemented an order frame, preserving Baze¡¯s life.


    Baze relied on Luo Nan¡¯s order frame in order to live. From this sense, Baze was the same as one of Luo Nan¡¯s ¡¯believers.¡¯


    But Luo Nan reached the conclusion that hecked the power to dominate this wild and untamable beast of a man. Luo Nan alsocked the interest tomand Baze. There were many times when Luo Nan simply forgot about him.


    Luo Nan never thought his subconscious irvoyance would settle upon this man.


    Based on Luo Nan¡¯s current acuity, knowledge, and experience, as well as the close rtionship between the two, the heartntern of the eyes orifice fell upon the quintessence of Baze.


    The bones and muscles were powerful, yet the internal body was weak. The inner organs were strong, yet the vital energy was scattered. Baze¡¯s original frame had copsed to nothing. It was only by relying on the order bestowed upon him that Baze was able to live to this day.


    Baze was still in convalescence nowadays. Even though he had the support of the order frame bestowed upon him by Luo Nan, Luo Nan knew only a smattering of knowledge back then. There were many vague spots in his information. The relevant amendments and adaptations wererge undertakings.


    Luo Nan could feel Baze¡¯s hardships and impatience, but Baze was still as tenacious and callous as ever.


    Perhaps the focus of the heartntern of the eyes orifice had fallen on Baze for too long, for Baze seemed to sense something. His eyelids trembled slightly, before he soon opened his eyes. Luo Nan could see that Baze¡¯s thick lips were tilted up a little, carrying a bit of a sneer. It was unknown whom or what this was directed at.


    Baze lifted his arms in the next moment, raising his head toward the sky. He sat in this bizarre posture of devoutness, seemingly seeking to embrace a divinity within the empty air.


    He opened his mouth to reveal a rough voice, "Come then! Bestow onto me rules! Point me toward the path ahead! And I will repay you with valor and strength!"

 Chapter 367: Hidden Rules (3/3)

    Chapter 367: Hidden Rules (3/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Oh, this untamable and wild fellow!


    Luo Nan would never go so far as to consider himself a god, let alone would he be bewildered to the point of being lost from a few words of offering from Baze. The radiance of the heartntern of the eyes orifice pointed straight at Baze¡¯s essence, naturally applying the technique of subdivision Luo Nan just learned from Gym Master Xiu. Oh yeah, Fairchild had told him a few key circumstancesst time they met.


    Luo Nan had formed a general judgment of Baze¡¯s character.


    This fellow would forever chase power, stopping at nothing. He only had his sights on power. He didn¡¯t care about being bound to any conditions, especially those from so-called gods, doctrines, and other illusory things.


    The root receptacle could be remolded, the root nature could be controlled, and the root trigger was appropriate.... Huh, it looked like this was possible to do.


    Right now, Luo Nancked the most in his observation and verification. His thoughts churned once more, and the beam of light from the heartntern of the eyes orifice fell downward, piercing the space between Baze¡¯s eyebrows.


    Luo Nan was startled in this instant, bing terrified. Under the living starry sky, the cry of the chains grew clearer. The incorporeal yet boundless power fused with the beam of lighting from the heartntern of the eyes orifice. It ignored spatial distance, and was nondiscriminatory, as it pierced inside Baze¡¯s body.


    The interference ability of the heartntern was not worth mentioning in the face of a power B-rank ability user. But it carried that fantastical and warped power, and this power instantly disyed its effects upon Baze¡¯s body.


    Baze¡¯s reaction was great. His cheeks contorted as the muscles of his body spasmed violently. Yet throughout all this, Baze¡¯s lips remained spread open, revealing an ugly and unbridled smile.


    Bang! The hard bed beneath Baze split apart inexplicably, sending particles flying into the air. Baze stood up, his feet touching the ground. He staggered a bit, but he still maintained his posture with extended arms and a head held high. He was more like a mad believer than any other.


    Actually, this fellow was merely excited. The only thing he believed in was power... power that was his own.


    Baze¡¯s foundation had been eroded by the chaos element, and he was tormented over and over by the half-baked rules Luo Nan bestowed upon him. His life force was at its weakest. His inner organs, muscles, tendons, skin, and flesh possessed only form; their functions were in disorder.


    But in this moment, the fantastical and warped power of the living starry sky came pouring in under the illumination of the heartntern of the eyes orifice. The warped power of enforcement represented some sort of hidden yet powerful rules of order.


    Baze didn¡¯t reallyck anything, save for a force of order that could conform the chaotic functions of the human body. So, he rejoiced in the internalization of these rules, even when these rules were chains and fences that were hard to break free from.


    Anything was fine, as long as he possessed power.


    For others, these rules of order represented a prison. But for Baze, it was the hardest backbone, the strongest framework. This was the foundation and insurance he chased after all this time.


    Baze staggered a few steps before standing steadily in ce. His gaze was sinister, glowing with a faint green aura. He had been held back for over twenty days, and was akin to a hungry and vicious beast that wished to hunt in the wild jungle... with his hunting ground none other than the metropolis outside.


    In the next moment, Baze gave the metal door to the sealed room a hard kick. The door frame and the door were smashed out of the wall, flying outside.


    There were members of the Order of Justice who were responsible for taking care of him. They conveniently monitored him. But one by one they became as dumbstruck as a wooden chicken. They saw Baze walk out withrge strides and hands raised up high toward the ceiling. Perhaps it was toward a realm on an even higher level, but Baze yelled devoutly and madly,


    "I praise you!"


    Baze was clearly very pleased with the incorporeal yet powerful rules of order. The power he was reacquainted with in this moment made him feel that the price he paid was well worth it.


    The Xia City Order of Justice was undoubtedly the weakest it had ever been these days. Baze regained much of his peak power after having his frame of body and soul remolded. Even First Otum Zheng Xiao, who was temporarily in charge of administering education, didn¡¯t have the courage to stop Baze. He just allowed Baze to swagger away.


    Luo Nan felt that he did a bad thing.... He watched Bazeugh heartily out the door, and inexplicably felt a bit of a guilty conscience. Luo Nan shook his head, leaving a little telepathic intent to act in vignce. Then, he continued his journey of irvoyance within the heartntern.


    A weirdo such as Baze was merely an exception in the end.


    The light of day gradually dimmed. Xia City¡¯s world of night was rapidly restoring with vigor. In a dimly lit alley, a drunk woman was grumbling iprehensible words. She even tore off her denim shorts to cover her forehead in an attempt to block the beam of light invisible to the naked eye. This action was also an attempt to block the terrifying fetters that came with this light.


    Of course, her actions were useless.


    The drunk woman cursed loudly, and she dumped the contents of a bottle of alcohol she hid on her body upon her head. The alcohol ran down her hair, dripping onto her tender and soft shoulders. The liquid soaked her provocative tight-fitting shirt.


    Such actions were unable to sober the woman, and the drunk woman stumbled out the alleyway. She bumped into a few smiling hoodlums, and the empty bottle of alcohol exploded to pieces upon the heads of this group of blind morons.


    Luo Nan smiled wryly, and the heartnterned changed focus once more.


    This time, the focus pivoted to a point over a hundred kilometers away. It fell outside the main city district of Xia City. The beam of light from the heartntern fell, and a wraith traveling through empty space suddenly stopped at precisely this time. Upon its body were dark chains pulling out from the greatest depths of the mental in. The chains shattered, but incorporeal fetters and powerful pressure followed closely, making it instinctively shudder all the more. It didn¡¯t move for a time, no matter how much its handler spurred it.


    The heartntern illuminated with its irvoyance in waves. Luo Nan heard a hoarse cawing from Ink, and Ink flew up into the night sky, ignoring the curses of its agitated crow friends. Luo Nan even saw Xie Junping in some sort of religious venue. Xie Junping raised his head, looking all around, at a loss.


    There was more. There was one more person. The slender figurey silently upon a hospital bed. His eyelids moved slightly, but they didn¡¯t open in the end. Corresponding to this, a lone star, hidden for a long time, streaked across the living starry sky. It wound around half an orbit before fading away once more, and everything returned to tranquility.


    Luo Nan observed for a full cycle, the glow of the heartntern growing all the brighter. The light reflected into his heart, causing Luo Nan to suddenly wake up with a realization.


    The living starry sky was being warped, but the order that appeared within this deformation was actually something he was very familiar with. He was even more familiar with this than the multiple interpretations of spatial order in modern physics.


    Luo Nan lowered his head to look at the loose-leaf notebook he held in his hands. Upon the page was a typical drawing of the visualization diagram he had just drawn. There was also the title page of his grandfather¡¯s notebook and its general outline of Formatting Theory.


    The structure consisting of a tetrahedron, an inscribed sphere, and an outer-scribed sphere.


    If Luo Nan didn¡¯t have this intuitive and concise figure and its corresponding theories ced ahead, Luo Nan would have probably been lost within the bizarre rules of the living starry sky.


    Yet right now his mind was very clear. The distortion of the living starry sky wasn¡¯t something new. Instead, he was the core. He drove the starry sky, and the starry sky was warped and divided into levels by him.


    The distance of the thousands upon thousands of Life Sketch weren¡¯t based on spatial distance, but on a foundation of usefulness toward him. They formed many levels, which could be named the following: Student, Office Worker, Clergy, Politician....


    Yes, after transforming into a star as, the Format Pyramid intuitive structure had dissolved, but it seamlessly merged into the framework of the living starry sky.


    Its rules were no longer that of geometric shapes, appearing simple and intuitive through a high level of generalization. Instead, it was now hidden in the depths of the living starry sky, appearing in an objective and subtle form.


    The vast and grand living starry sky was on a mental level that stretched limitless. Though he was a young and clumsy student, Luo Nan was already able to obtain an answer when faced with this.


    Wait, hold up, let¡¯s not get in over our heads. Let¡¯s just keep observing!

 Chapter 368: Disposing Milk (Part 1/3)

    Chapter 368: Disposing Milk (Part 1/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan discovered once more that his train of thought had ran way too far. There was only one thing he must do in the very initial stages: observe the dark chains and nothing more.


    But then, something totally unexpected happened. A phaseless transformation urred with this thing the moment Luo Nan made contact. It transformed into an incorporeal power and covered the living starry sky. It naturally extradited to the level of ¡¯My heart¡¯s a prison,¡¯ where its range expandedrgely in an instant. The connections were veryplicated. A typical person would find it hard to partition and discover their applications.


    Look at the influence of the Self-Format on the living starry sky. How was it possible to distinguish them clearly from inside and out?


    At present, the core of the dense cluster of stars continued to maintain an outline of the Self-Format. It could match with the typical visualization diagram.


    As for the Societal Format, its tetrahedron form had be ancient history. This thing could be said to consist of the entire living starry sky. In any case, from the perspective of Formatting Theory, the Societal Format used the self as the core to form a societal structure that one could utilize for himself.... There were no faults with this judgment with the current state of the living, striving starry sky, having suffered from a distorting strength.


    These two items consisted of everything Luo Nan had observed thus far. As such, there was no ce for the Heaven and Earth Format in his observations!


    It would be unavoidable for Luo Nan to harbor suspicions where he stubbornly insisted with his own ideas, with these circumstances before him, and with observing the dark chains. Luo Nan simply pondered things over. He could widen the focus of his observation target a bit.


    Luo Nan still remembered the teachings Gym Master Xiu had imparted upon him half a month ago at the daoguan. In a deep meditative state, he had seen the internal structure of the Self-Format. He just remembered the weaved chains, dense like a spider¡¯s web, mysterious and enigmatic. Wouldn¡¯t such an environment change with the dematerialization of the dark chains?


    With this thought just formed, Luo Nan feared furtherplications from arising. He hesitated no longer, the radiance of the heartntern changing focus. This time, his telepathic intent smoothly prated within the dense cluster of stars, meeting thousands upon thousands of stars head on. They radiated with an intensive brilliance.


    Luckily, such ring light only radiated on the mental ne.


    The heartntern of the eyes orifice flickered slightly, spontaneously adjusting the strength of its interference and changing the mode of coupling. The heartntern took the impact of this wave of ring light and reduced it to nothingness.


    Luo Nan once heard Gym Master Xiu say, during inner observation, that the heartntern of the eyes orifice acts as the head of the nine orifices and six roots. After all, everyone was used to using the eyes for observation. People use the eyes to see images. This was what the mind was most ustomed to.


    This was especially true for Luo Nan, who grasped the marvels of the effects of coupling. Coupling produced an interference between the mental and material nes, akin to a glimmering wind. No matter how dark, remote and indistinct thend was, all could be seen. Its information was also much richer than before when Luo Nan made contact. He felt the immersion when the information passed through and integrated with his consciousness.


    In this moment, Luo Nan felt as if he had collided with the center of a gxy. It was as if he were enveloped by the dense cluster of radiating stars. They surrounded him in all directions, near and far. At the forefront of his telepathic intent, Luo Nan felt as if he had encountered an enormous ck hole. It was deste and dark, simply seeking to engulf his mindpletely.


    This experience was different from that of hisst deep meditative state.


    Luo Nan¡¯s mind sped straight into the depths of the ck hole. The heartntern of the eyes orifice pierced through the deep darkness, illuminating the deep space below.


    "Oh man, this can¡¯t be a coincidence." Luo Nan was a bit surprised. The scene illuminated belowrgely matched up with the scene from his memories.


    The star as transformation of Formatting Theory had been a violent transformation, but the core area of the Self-Format actually had its basic structure maintained and unchanged. The core area manifested itself as a bottomless pit of deep space. The dark chains stretched endless here. They crossed and weaved, spiraled and entwined, forming aplicated and dense structure.


    Of course, the changes in detail were still veryrge.


    Thest time Luo Nan¡¯s mind pressed into this area, the space seemed deep and dark. It was indistinctly silent, as if this ce was a ck prison built by a demonic god. All hope was bound and locked, for this ce possessed a deste and unwavering might. Back then, he had just barely gathered up the vital energy of his entire body for the purpose of feeding the me of his soul located in this deep prison. But the energy had been consumed nearpletely by the giant of chains. Only pitiful scraps remained, trickling down.


    So Gym Master Xiu had assessed that ¡°the art cannot be used upon his own body,¡± and Gym Master Xiu even said that he ¡°took in external powers.¡± This was what Gym Master Xiu meant by his words.


    However, the situation turned different after the passing of several days. Luo Nan had refined a foundation. He achieved sess with the eyes orifice. He evenprehended the technique of coupling, the God Gear and Body Gear meshed and rotating. The application of interference between the mental and material nes had deepened inyers. Luo Nan made progress with one item after another. His progress was clear and true.


    His progress was reflected here. He could see that the stability of this deep space seemed to be a little shaken. From time to time, subtle knockings were introduced within, leading the thousands upon thousands of chains to rattle. He examined carefully, noticing that there were some restructuring changes as well.


    If Luo Nan had to describe these changes, he would say that the star as transformation had affected this ce. The deep ck prison¡¯s luminosity and temperature had increased. It was difficult to describe the changes using different words.


    The heartntern of the eyes orifice viewed internally, obtaining images. Luo Nan¡¯s mind didn¡¯t need to sink too deep. Separated by severalyers of chains, Luo Nan could clearly see the aure below. It carried a slight heat, which rose up like vapor. The heat closely entwined with the vital energy that woulde passing in from time to time.


    A step further down, Luo Nan could see the me of his soul radiate brightly within the of chains. It was extremely lively, especially when the heartntern¡¯s beam of light that was cast upon it. Their two energies merged, and the me of his soul seemed to get excited. It exploded in detonation, the me ring high. It simply broke through the bottommostyer of the chain, nearly burning through to the middle section.


    Luo Nan could vaguely see that half of the of chains hung down from its rigorous and closely woven whole. Perhaps this was due to a chain being severed. It pressed low against the edge of the soul-me, subjected to an intense heat. Its form was warping.


    All right, this is great!


    Luo Nan already confirmed something. The star as transformation of the Format Pyramid was a reflection of the influence and application that Formatting Theory had toward the external. This meant that the ck prison was a reflection of Luo Nan¡¯s level of control and maniption over Formatting Theory.


    The previous him could only be described as a user of Formatting Theory. He was like a driver or a jailer. He had to strictly follow the set rules of Formatting Theory in order to use Formatting Theory.


    But his current circumstances were reflected clearly. No matter what changes were brought from the star as transformation of the Format Pyramid, the external power that was Formatting Theory was swaying in terms of its repression toward Luo Nan¡¯s core power. Luo Nan was gaining more and more autonomy, fixing the rules and actions.


    His progress was definite and unquestionable.


    Luo Nan couldn¡¯t help his mind from going wild in imagination. If the soul-me could cover the entire ck prison andpletely burn the thousands upon thousands of dark chains to ash, now what sort of situation would that be!


    Luo Nan let out a long breath, feeling like he had obtained great gains today. He put a halt to the internal irvoyance for now, giving a sessful conclusion to today¡¯s daytime closed door cultivation.


    The time of day was alreadyte. His uncle and aunt should being back home. It would be bad for Luo Nan to continue hanging out inside his room.


    He leaned back to lie on his bed. He stretched his body, warming up his muscles and bones, and relieving the strain from sitting still for a long time. But just as his arm unfolded, a certain sensation collided into his mind. It made his body freeze on the spot.


    His soul strength seemed to have grown again... explosively!


    Above the God Gear, the water level of the vast ocean iceberg had been raised by arge section at an unknown time. The water was abundant and overflowing, its pressure heading outside. The external neuron, which acted as the core to bear this pressure, was trembling slightly.

 Chapter 369: Disposing Milk (Part 2/3)

    Chapter 369: Disposing Milk (Part 2/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    "What the hell!"


    Luo Nan really jumped out of his bed, his head expanding by a factor in an instant. This didn¡¯t make any sense. He wasn¡¯t in an out-of-body state, he didn¡¯t sense the Wraith Sign make a hunt, nor had he done anything else.... Fine, he had done quite a bit today.


    But how was what he had done rted to the surge in soul strength?


    He immediately retrieved his mind and returned to a more tangible ne. He observed the coupled situation of the God Gear and the Body Gear. The water level of the vast ocean iceberg continued to rise with no intention of stopping.


    Luo Nan had already jumped out of the mental ne, yet it wasn¡¯t the end? Could the ¡¯My heart¡¯s a prison¡¯ form be creating a vampire?


    Why.... There it was, yet another ¡¯why¡¯!


    Luo Nanposed his mind, putting aside these side problems. However, he grudgingly returned to the mental ne. He focused his mind, seeking the crux of the problem.


    The entire Formatting Theory system had already fused into the living starry sky. Luo Nan already knew the answer in advance. He understood how these powers worked. There were many things that came intuitive to him.


    The chains were no longer tangible, so the Formatting Theory system that covered the starry sky had be an incorporeal prison. Luo Nan had gotten rid of a single link in the chains, but the prison was simply one solid whole.


    Under the constraints of the invisible rules, the various life under the starry sky more or less affected Luo Nan. Most of their effective forces were subtle and minute, but as many little drops make an ocean, these forces naturally formed quite the scale.


    Luo Nan looked from this perspective, and he suddenly had a hypothesis. He conjectured an idea.


    Using the out-of-controlled growth of soul strength as the basis, and looking from the current status of the living starry sky, Luo Nan believed that a whole Formatting Theory system didn¡¯t merely consist of Luo Nan as a single person model. Instead, the system was a vast structure that covered all living beings within the range of his senses.


    It resembled aary system. Luo Nan was the sun within the center of this celestial system, possessing an enormous mass and forming an attractive force. The sun attracted the other celestial bodies in the vast starry sky, and these bodies revolved around the sun in orbit.


    The few believers interacted with him on a deeper level. They were thes, asteroids, andets in theary system. The vast majority of the other people, however, held shallow roles. They were located far in the distance, enough that they couldn¡¯t be considered to be a part of thisary system. Yet there existed an iota of a rtionship to an extent.


    There wouldn¡¯t be much to say if this was merely aary system. However, there existed more links in how people affected each other.


    Using Coupling Theory to exin, the Formatting Theory systemprised several gears pieced together. These gears ranged all sizes, and they were located everywhere. Under the power of a strict system, the gears were undivided, as if one whole, forming an exquisite structure internally. Every level, and every step. Every set and every difference. They meshed together to form an exquisite transmission. These rivers of forces ultimately converged, gathering at the core of the Formatting Theory system. In other words, they collected upon Luo Nan¡¯s body.


    Luo Nan thought deeper. With more gears, with more sets of gears jointly operating, wouldn¡¯t it be like an enormous space-warping machine? A production line, established to be the core, collected energy and materials from various levels. This could be treated as the foundation; the production line was producing more and more soul strength.


    The function of this production line was far too powerful. It waspletely uncontrolled, and it continued to boundlessly produce. This would continue until a surplus in production capacity arose, causing an economic crisis.


    What Luo Nan was facing was none other than the dangers of a surplus.


    Was it good to have more soul strength? Of course it was good, but please first grant him a supernatural fleshly body, so that he couldpletely digest and utilize this soul strength.


    A supernatural fleshly body was, of course, wishful thinking. Luo Nan didn¡¯t possess one, and this was equivalent to having insufficient purchasing power. He couldn¡¯t afford this soul strength even if he really needed it. Even if Luo Nan gritted his teeth and took out a loan, the pressure from long-term interest would overwhelm him.


    There was an imbnce between production and consumption, so dangers naturally emerged.


    Having thought to this point, Luo Nan¡¯s brain began to go crazy. He couldn¡¯t prevent his imagination from running wild. He felt like a factory owner who was unable to find a market to sell his product to. He felt like a clumsy capitalist.


    Luo Nan had to get rid of these excess goods. If he could dump it away like pouring milk into a river or tossing it into a incinerator, he would dly do it.


    The problem was, Luo Nan wasn¡¯t even able to find a channel capable of carrying this product. The external neuron¡¯s Hollow Depository had once been a deepke. Today, it becamepletely filled.


    As for a furnace that could incinerate soul strength.... He was forced to admit that such thoughts would be quite fanciful in imagination.


    Luo Nan began pacing around his bed, but he was unable topletely cast himself free from a wild imagination. Of course, he wasn¡¯t truly seeking to find an incinerator. Instead, he was following down the line of thought regarding the economic crisis.


    With his recently obtained knowledge of the basic concepts of mechanical design, Luo Nan was barely able to support an odd thought:


    He should intervene. In a situation with sufficient capital, an intelligent factory owner could totally change the function of the production line and produce new products. He could open new outlets, open new markets. A little more consumption was nothing to fear!


    Tsk, he had said that all he would do was observe. It looked like he was going to vite this once more.


    But this idea that popped out of nowhere was truly beautiful. Luo Nan couldn¡¯t help himself from expending the mental energy. He pondered some more. Actually, he didn¡¯t need to remodel the entire production line. He just needed to add one more link, and that link would take the product and continue the endless consumption...


    ...in refining life essence!


    This was Luo Nan¡¯s first thought. Gym Master Xiu had said that this sort of technique in refining essence to energy needed the participation of the mind. In turn, the technique tempered and refined the mind, raising its level. It was a sort of extraction and refinement process for soul strength.


    However, this task was arge one. This was particrly because of the maturity that was akin to jade forming purple smoke. The maturity was not quite there yet. If he were to endlessly refine from morning till night, Luo Nan¡¯s life essence would be burned dry quite early on, and he would descend into the mes of madness.


    Then what should Luo Nan burn...? Luo Nan was affected by his wild imagination with incinerators. His thoughts concentrated on burning and refining.


    Then there was suddenly a bang. Luo Nan had kicked the bottom of the bed frame. He ignored the pain, taking his strength and venting it on the bed.


    Let¡¯s burn and refine the external neuron!


    The so-called reverse flow of energy urred with the Body Gear leading and driving the Soul Gear, increasing the applications of interference. Luo Nan could totally maintain a consumption of soul strength this way. And looking at things from this perspective, the Body Gear was like fire, and the external neuron, with its Hollow Depository, could store ake of crude oil rather than ake of soul strength!


    If the me were to be ced below, wouldn¡¯t everything be burned away?


    Wait....


    Only now did Luo Nan have the time to suck in a breath of pain and massage his toes. The pain gave him a sense of danger, and he was forced to admit that this idea was too ambitious. There was no actual phenomenon of this urring. There was no data to support his idea. One bad move and he wouldnd in an irremediable situation.


    Let¡¯s talk about alternatives. First, he needed to do a few experiments and collect some data before making ns. After all, the external neuron wasn¡¯t a part of his body. Who knows just what sort of consequences would be produced after a long period of refinement.


    And so, a while passed, and the idea of remodeling the production line didn¡¯t fall into reality. It was more practical to go with disposing of milk.


    Now, how to waste it... er, consume it?


    Luo Nan scratched his head. His toes still ached a bit from pain. He sat back on his bed and subconsciously flipped through his notebook, seeking to find an insight that could resolve this problem.


    It was very unfortunate. Insight was a tricky thing. It never appeared in limited situations with far too many restrictions. In the end, it was hard for the power of his imagination to solve practical problems.


    Luo Nan flipped through the two notebooks and was unable to find a reasonable way to do it. Until... he saw something from the corner of his eyes. He swept his gaze to something yellowish-green between the pages.

 Chapter 370: Disposing Milk (Part 3/3)

    Chapter 370: Disposing Milk (Part 3/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan¡¯s fingers paused to reveal two yellowish-green pieces of paper pressed between the pages of the loose-leaf notebook. The paper appeared rough, but was surprisingly shiny.


    These were the paper talismans that Papercut had given him. They were of high quality, personally created by the rather famous psychic, Mr. Gao, of the branch. Luo Nan used it to train in soul strength activation techniques and strengthen the applications of his interference ability.


    He had crafted small paper menst week at Ocean Sky Cloud City. It was a sessful application of soul strength activation.


    This was originally a good method to ¡¯dispose of milk.¡¯ Back then, Luo Nan had relied on it to consume his excess soul strength and reduce the pressure upon his body.


    But after Luo Nanprehended the technique of coupling, forming the frame of the God Gear and Body Gear, his interference ability was no longer bottlenecked. He could reach ten times the effect, consumption, and the like whenpared to before from using just a bit of force. He could rest.


    But he had yet to abandon soul strength activation. He would always take the time to practice. Right now, just two paper talismans remained, but he had saved around two dozen small paper men. These paper men were pressed between the two paper talismans.


    With a single breath of air, the tiny paper men fluttered into the sky, only to be scattered onto the bed and the floor. They turned alive like little monkeys the moment they touched solid ground. They seized Luo Nan¡¯s clothes and cuffs, striving to be the first to jump back onto him. Some simply crawled onto Luo Nan¡¯s shoulder, treating Luo Nan like monkey mountain.


    These were no paper men. These were clearly paper monkeys!


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. He shook his shoulders, flinging the group of paper monkeys off.


    This was the Heart of the Ape Technique Papercut had taught him, but it was far too lively. Luo Nan wanted to seek Papercut outter to learn the Intent of the Horse Technique. This technique could do the same things as the paper horse talismans of fiction. They could carry heavy loads and travel with haste. They could soar across thends. They were quite magical.


    Luo Nan¡¯s anxiety had eased a lot when he saw how lively the paper men were.


    He had been depressed by the urrence of his symptoms over and over, and had lost his calm. He thought once more. He had the coupling technique as a foundation. His situation wasn¡¯t as difficult and bad as it was in the beginning. What did it matter even if his soul strength had another explosive increase in growth? If opening the eyes orifice wasn¡¯t enough, then he would open the second orifice, the mouth and tongue orifice. If this still wasn¡¯t enough, then he would open the ears orifice, life orifice, and the death orifice. Wouldn¡¯t he reach equilibrium after achieving sess in the six roots of eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind?


    Luo Nan patted his cheeks and collected the paper monkeys. He stuffed them one by one between the pages of his notebook, taking the time to organize his thoughts. Finally, he contacted Papercut through the HexaEar.


    "Brother Papercut, is there arge move in soul strength activation?"


    "Arge move?" Papercut was outside chatting with people in a tea house. He didn¡¯t immediately respond when he received this message.


    "A move that¡¯s very powerful and consumes a lot of energy. Can we use soul strength activation to bestow power in a charm or amulet, preparing for a big move in advance without worry?"


    Papercut heard Luo Nan¡¯s words and nearly choked. He apologized to the female friend opposite of him, stood up, and walked to an empty corner. He chuckled, "My Boss Luo. If I possessed such a big move, then don¡¯t you believe that I would have broken through to B-rank by now?"


    Luo Nan was a bit disappointed. "Then that means that you don¡¯t have one."


    "Let¡¯s disregard whether or not I know of such a move for now. The problem lies in the limit to how much the paper talismans can sustain. Old Gao¡¯s paper talismans are of the best quality in all of Xia City. However, when the interference power reaches a certain degree, there is naturally nothing more to discuss. Therefore, activation sses on my level live a life in a supportive role. We rely on flexibility to live our day to day. Boss Luo, you have the strength to be more than this. You can transform yourself to the control ss. You have this gift."


    Papercut had a very good temperament and personality. Even though Luo Nan had interrupted his date, Papercut was very patient. Not only did he exin to Luo Nan, he even offered a suggestion, "I spoke of this with you before. The Society has dedicatedbat machinery. Though they may notpare to the Deep Blue Walkers as a whole, their might is still considerable. With your realization and level in interference ability, and with you learning the subtle operations and mechanical theory from Old Zhai, you can certainly create great stuff!"


    Luo Nan went, "Oh, oh." Papercut believed him to be emotionally stirred. Papercut also felt it was a bit unfortunate for Luo Nan to continue learning activation techniques. After all, Luo Nan was a talent, able to learn the psychic Heart of the Ape Technique in such a short period of time. There was no one like Luo Nan in the entire Xia City.


    Very few people showed interest in bing an activation ss. The activation ss would find themselves weaker losing another up-anding youngster.


    However, Papercut maintained a bright and open mood from beginning to end. He smiled. "Excellent. I picked up a Flywheel Arm a while ago. Though I haven¡¯t began sharpening it, it is still the most fundamental ofbat machinery. If you want to get started, you can use it to experiment. I¡¯ll bring it to you when you have a free day."


    "Okay. If you¡¯re not busy, Brother Papercut, we can meet next week on Monday."


    Although Luo Nan had spoken this way, he really didn¡¯t have much interest in shifting over to the control ss. It was because this ss would often cause him to think of Deep Blue Walkers. But the way Papercut talked made it quite awkward for Luo Nan to refuse.


    Moreover, he didn¡¯t really want to possess arge move. He just wanted to find a channel to dispose of milk; that was all.


    Luo Nan was disappointed, and he prepared a few polite words to end the call. However, Papercut still listened to his circumstances with care. "Headquarters has been quite honest recently. It seems like Deputy Secretary-General Gong ate a big loss. He shut himself behind closed doors upon returning."


    "Things have been fine. The branch is taking good care of me."


    "Then you suddenly wishing to possess arge move.... Oh! Mrs. Yuan, you¡¯re...?"


    "Sorry, something suddenly came up. I need to go handle it. Let¡¯s chatter."


    "Uh, okay. Later...."


    Though she said they would chatter, the beautiful Mrs. Yuan didn¡¯t have the patience to hear his words. She didn¡¯t have the least bit of intent for ter.¡¯ She strutted out of the teahouse, and soon faded into the crowd of people.


    "Can you believe the nerve of that woman! She specifically came over to have thest word!" Papercut sighed, loosening his cor. He walked back to his original seat and leaned back, looking rxed. A smile could be seen on his chubby face.


    "Brother Papercut?" Luo Nan was unable to see the circumstances on Papercut¡¯s end, but he was able to surmise that something unpeaceful had happened. And it wasrgely rted to his call with Papercut.


    "Am I disturbing you?"


    "It¡¯s nothing, it¡¯s nothing. The more good-looking the girl, the harder it is to coax her. Plus, I was harboring evil intentions because I think she¡¯s beautiful.... Anyway, what were we talking about?"


    "Brother Papercut, since you¡¯re busy, we can talk on Monday in person."


    "It¡¯s nothing.... Waiter, give me another dessert." Papercut sounded quite rxed, and he continued to chat with Luo Nan with all smiles. "If you really feel guilty, thenter you can introduce me to a female student from Acumen College. Has to be at least twenty years old. I fear bing a beast if she¡¯s too young."


    Luo Nan stammered a few vague words. Even he was unclear on how to approach this.


    Papercut chewed on his dessert, his words muffled, "Oh, right. We were talking aboutrge moves. If you really want to possess arge move, then you don¡¯t need to seek it within the activation ss. Open up your train of thought. There are many things that suit you in this world. For instance, you can focus on an honor point mission over at Headquarters. Its number is RT8313. Perhaps it will be a pleasant surprise for you."


    "Headquarters?" Luo Nan instinctively felt on edge.


    Papercut understood, so he continued talking to assure Luo Nan, "The mission is posted at Headquarters, but fundamentally it¡¯s located in Xia City. You¡¯ll know once you see."


    The operation of the HexaEar was aplete realization of telepathic control. As Luo Nan and Papercut talked, an intent shed, and the interface switched to the official mission announcement board of the Wilderness Explorers Society. Luo Nan locked onto the relevant information.


    "RT8313.... Information gathering. Wu Zhao?"

 Chapter 371: Dripping Sword (Part 1/3)

    Chapter 371: Dripping Sword (Part 1/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan scratched his head within his bedroom. The post felt inexplicably familiar.


    Papercut chuckled mischievously in the teahouse. "Do you see it yet? Empress Wu posted it three years ago. Its details are to collect samples of soul strength and analyze its basic nature and principle of generation."


    "Dang, that¡¯s a big topic," Luo Nan sighed. With the power of his imagination unleashed, he could only stay a respectful distance away from the essential questions of basic research.


    From this, he could see the foresight and spirit of an Extraordinary. Oh, right, Her Majesty Empress Wu wasn¡¯t an Extraordinary three years ago.


    However, Luo Nan was unable to understand how this was rted to a rge move.¡¯


    "He he, this is where the awesomeness of Her Majesty Empress Wu lies. She wants to collect data on the soul strength of all the ability users in the world. It¡¯s like gathering fingerprints, DNA, that sort of information. It¡¯s more or less a bit taboo. Though the reward in honor points is quite generous, there haven¡¯t been many people willing to take on the task since the beginning. Progress has been quite sluggish. Later, she thought of a method.... Look at attachment 2, it has information on the reward agreement for the data collection."


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t act in ordance to Papercut¡¯s intentions. The feeling of familiarity was growing stronger and stronger within him. He couldn¡¯t help thinking, Where have I heard this before?


    His social circle was very small, after all. He had very few choices. He soon smacked his thigh hard. "Empress Wu¡¯s Secret Techniques. Spreading the name of Wu throughout thend under the heavens!"


    Papercutughed, "Aha! You know it too. Bamboo Pole must have taught you it."


    "Yes, yes. I have a rough understanding."


    Luo Nan had heard of this important event of the past from the "Notes on the Major Characters of the World" course. It hadn¡¯te to mind for a moment because Her Majesty Empress Wu had far too many brilliant achievements. And Bamboo Pole was more biased toward describing people¡¯s personalities and temperaments. Although the impacts of the event wererge, Bamboo Pole only spent a few minutes to exin them. The context and details were left as an extended school assignment. He let Luo Nan go do his own homework.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t really touch upon this subject due to time constraints. He allowed the subject to pass by.


    He only knew the following about this world-shaking event. Her Majesty Empress Wu had disyed her incredible spirit. On the mission announcement board, she publicly taught a stunning attack technique, causing the entire world to instantly explode with shock.


    The study of contemporary supernatural powers was still in its early stages. Advanced research results had yet to be disseminated to the public then. Most of the world¡¯s ability users were still in an instinctive and ignorant state when it came to utilizing their abilities.


    Her Majesty Empress Wu seized these people¡¯s mentality and publicly released a master level technique very suited for those on the Awakened level. The temptation instantly smashed apart most people¡¯s mental defenses.


    For a time, cultivating the Empress Wu¡¯s Secret Techniques becamemon practice. Besides the Awakened, the higher level Architects and even the Extraordinaries practiced and studied it.


    From that moment on, Empress Wu¡¯s fame truly caught on in this world.


    Papercut helped fill Luo Nan in on the details, "Before Her Majesty Empress Wu released the Dripping Sword secret technique, she paid arge price in building a special data collectionwork. She borrowed the wind of revolution and spent two years to gather valid samples from forty thousand ability users of various levels.... She waited a year, then released a technique that is suited for those of the Architect level, B-rank ability users, at the beginning of this year. The current number of valid samples haven¡¯t been counted up yet, but there should be a decent number. I¡¯m guessing that there will be a couple hundred."


    The number was less, but looking at the number of B-rank ability users, the proportion was quite high.


    "Today marks the third year. Her Majesty Empress Wu has already advanced to be an Extraordinary. We¡¯re all just guessing here. This year, or maybe next year, it is very likely that she will bring out an even higher level technique... on the Extraordinary level!"


    "How imposing!" Luo Nan was forced to admire Empress Wu.


    "Yeah! These techniques have be staple goods since they were released on thework. However, it¡¯s always good to have some skills by one¡¯s side."


    The more Papercut thought, the more reasonable he felt. He pushed forward this suggestion even harder, "Her Majesty Empress Wu¡¯s techniques are famous for being dependent on one¡¯s proficiency. The same Dripping Sword may allow one person to ughter a ruffian like a dog, while another person may find it hard to kill a chicken. I have confidence in your control ability."


    "Dripping Sword...." Luo Nan finally opened attachment 2. He looked at the name of the technique disyed and was lost in thought for a moment.


    "How about you first learn and see? Her Majesty Empress Wu¡¯s techniques are more nted toward the mental side. They don¡¯t require too much from the fleshly body. It¡¯s really suited for you. I¡¯ve already learned the Dripping Sword. It is indeed out of the ordinary. At the very least, I¡¯ve encountered some surprising results."


    Papercut sent over a document through the HexaEar upon speaking.


    "Her Majesty Empress Wu personally created the teaching materials forst year¡¯s intermediate level training course. It has something to do with the Dripping Sword. It¡¯s described in great detail. There are even firsthand disys and demonstrations during the lecture. Only us of the Xia City branch can enjoy this treatment. Even a yearter, the course material could be sold for nearly ten thousand. It even contains some of my notes. It¡¯s fine if you take a look; after all, there are limits to my talent in this field."


    "Thank you, Brother Papercut." Luo Nan knew these sorts of notes were kept in secret. Papercut was expressing his faith in Luo Nan by giving this to him.


    Papercut didn¡¯t mind. He said, "This is nothing. I¡¯ve seen your recent progress. Secretary He will rearrange your course schedule, and this will be touched upon. This is just some special treatment arranged a bit earlier. Anyway, I also owe you for the matter with Old Zhai."


    "Worker Zhai?"


    "Old Zhai is a skilled person, but he¡¯scking in his gift for cultivation. He has always been just a step away from awakening, so some resources have always been unavable to him. He is able to earn honor points by acting as your teacher. If he exchanges them for resources, his chances of sess will increase sharply. It doesn¡¯t matter whether or not he seeds. At least this gives him a bit offort."


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t agree with Papercut¡¯s words. "You¡¯ve described it wrong. Worker Zhai is tutoring me. He has taught me much.... I still need to thank you, Brother Papercut, for finding me such a great teacher."


    "Dang, I¡¯m touched. Let¡¯s not be formal, bro. One of these days I¡¯ll call up OId Zhai and we¡¯ll all have a good meal together."


    "Of course."


    Luo Nanmitted this to memory. And so, Luo Nan would have two appointments with Papercut. This didn¡¯t really matter, except that he had to introduce him to a student.... How annoying!


    Right when he was about to end the call, Luo Nan¡¯s mind became clear. He had very nearly forgotten his idea of disposing milk. He pondered over Papercut¡¯s description of the Dripping Sword. It didn¡¯t seem to consume a lot of energy, so he rushed to ask,


    "Are there any teaching materials for the B-rank technique?"


    "The technique is to be used by Architects. It¡¯s called the Heart Searing de. It¡¯s supposed to be very sharp, but I do not rmend that you touch upon it now."


    Papercut drank his cold cup of tea in a single gulp as he began to give Luo Nan an earnest lesson, "Nanster. Though it¡¯s true that quite a few people view you as a powerful B-rank ability user, aren¡¯t there some minute differences in the end? How about you first look at the Dripping Sword. This technique is quite amazing. It highlights the defining characteristics of Her Majesty Empress Wu¡¯s techniques. Let¡¯s talk the next step when you feel like you can freely use it, okay?"


    "I know, I just want to collect some material in advance." Although Luo Nan spoke this way, he felt guilty in his mind.


    Papercut hesitated, but in the end responded, "There is a demonstration video of Her Majesty Empress Wu in attachment 3. However, it¡¯s a lecture targeted for those of the Architect level. People like us won¡¯t understand even if we listen. As for the teaching materials, the high level discussion ss this year really does contain these details. You can ask Secretary He for the relevant materials. The branch¡¯s database might even have video archives of this year."

 Chapter 372: Dripping Sword (Part 2/3)

    Chapter 372: Dripping Sword (Part 2/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    "Sister Yueyin?" Luo Nan felt even more diffident now. He felt like he was biting off more than he could chew. He Yueyin probably wouldn¡¯t support this.


    Papercut added, "However, if it involves an individual¡¯s understanding, then it is best to find someone who attended the ss at the time. Those who have been taught face-to-face are better. There are very few B-rank ability users from the branch, and even fewer of them are mentally nted. Old You, Horned Demon, Old Gao, Mr. Bai...."


    He stated a list of names. They sounded quite familiar to Luo Nan. Weren¡¯t these the few psychics of Xia City?


    Old Man You was one of the members of Xia City¡¯s Iron Triangle. The other two members were Ouyang Chen and Her Majesty Empress Wu.


    Horned Demon was said to be an adventurous madman. He had self-destructive tendencies. He spent day after day sloshing about in the Wilderness looking for stimtion.


    Old Gao was the manufacturer of the paper talismans Luo Nan possessed. He was the sessor of a line of Daoist priests. He was a half-disciple of Old Man You.


    As for Mr. Bai, Luo Nan was quite familiar with this man. He once fought side by side with Mr. Bai, and Mr. Bai had even examined and treated Luo Nan. Mr. Bai¡¯s daughter was Bai Xinyan, a mysterious doctor of medicine who held a strange position.


    Luo Nan suddenly realized that the psychics of Xia City were quite odd. There were four in total, not including Luo Nan, who could be considered half a fake copy of one. They might not rank high among the thousands of ability users, but they were all of the Architect stage, powerful B-rank ability users.


    Were there only a few ability users above B-rank in the entirety of Xia City?


    Fourteen of these people were recorded within the eighty-eight branches in the entire world. These fourteen people were at the top of the list. Within this list, psychics upied nearly a third. This was quite amazing.


    Luo Nan got a little lost in thought, but Papercut pulled him back to reality. "I can help you ask Old Gao. It¡¯s just that this fellow¡¯s a bit of a profiteer. It is very likely that he¡¯ll try to make a killing off you."


    Oh god, how much did you have to pay for that huge wad of paper talismans? Luo Nan suddenly felt that he should really find the chance to express his thanks to all his teachers who taught him his skills. Perhaps some alcohol would be good.


    Back to the topic. Luo Nan really didn¡¯t want to owe Papercut more favors. Luo Nan thought for a moment, before saying, "Maybe I can seek out Mr. Bai."


    This old mister seemed to have a good temperament. He should be better to talk to than Profiteer Mr. Gao, at least by a little.


    "Right, you let yourself be treated by White Salt for so long. It can be considered fate. He certainly cares for you. Just don¡¯t mention...."


    "I know." Luo Nan understood tacitly. This family of father and daughter didn¡¯t get along well. This was not new.


    Wait, why does it sound like I¡¯m the one who has to go asking around?


    Luo Nan gaped with his mouth, but he was speechless. This was his matter, so naturally he had to do it himself. But with his homebody personality, the pressure was enormous in actively contacting someone, let alone asking someone for help.


    Mr. Bai was his senior, after all, and he was one that he wasn¡¯t particrly familiar with.


    In any case, Luo Nan couldn¡¯t have Papercut act as his substitute for this matter. He had to grit his teeth and do it himself.


    At the same time, he suddenly thought of something. He only gained progress when he underwent his closed-door cultivation. His soul strength always went out of control every time he made progess, and each time he had to spend a lot of mental energy to wipe his own butt. Was this worth it in the end?


    ***


    The next morning, at breakfast, Mrs. Luo Shuqing acted a bit odd. She felt that there was something a little off with Luo Nan. She couldn¡¯t but ask, "What are you tangled up in?"


    "Oh?" Luo Nan stuffed arge piece of meat into his mouth before raising his head. He donned an expression of innocence.


    "Your eyebrows are knotted up, and you¡¯re saying you¡¯re not in a tangle?"


    Luo Nan just barely swallowed the piece of meat before continuing to y the fool. "Tangle? Oh, my frontal lobe and limbic lobe are really battling it out."


    At the end of the day, Mrs. Luo Shuqing had quite the academic achievements in psychology. She circled around mentally and understood. In psychology, the frontal lobe of the cerebral cortex represented rationality and self-control. The limbic lobe represented impulsive emotions. Together, the two lobes could represent the struggle between long-term benefits and short-term benefits.


    Luo Nan spoke these words smoothly, using his quick wit. However, there were some real emotions contained within them.


    He didn¡¯t seek out Mr. Baist night because he wasn¡¯t too familiar with him. It was toote at night. Luo Nan was scared that he would bother Mr. Bai¡¯s rest. Frankly speaking, his introverted homebody self had red with anxiety, appearing as fear of interpersonal rtionships and dragging him down.


    Instead, Luo Nan asked for a big favor from Secretary He. He learned that there was a recording of the high-level discussion course in the branch¡¯s database. However, he was unable to obtain it.


    He Yueyin told him quite honestly that he shouldn¡¯t bite off more than he could chew. The Heart Searing de was a B-rank technique, involving far too many elements. Many of these elements were unique to an Architect¡¯s knowledge. It was bad to forcefully train without a firm foundation.


    In essence, Luo Nan couldn¡¯t even reach the criteria of an Awakened due to the imbnce between his body and soul. This was a matter regarding criteria; it didn¡¯t change even though he possessed a superbbat ability.


    A missile that could explode at any moment was indeed more intimidating and deadlier than a refined rifle. But their degrees of control where one could just aim and hitypletely opposite.


    Luo Nan even asked He Yueyinst night about disposal of milk. Oh, he didn¡¯t ask directly. He asked how to obtain arge move. However, the worsened state of the imbnce between his body and soul was seen through by He Yueyin in an instant. They went back and forth for a long while, and Luo Nan just barely avoided getting examined. That night, he wasn¡¯t able to cultivate and obtain any more progress.


    With things going this roughly, Luo Nan couldn¡¯t help being emotional. However, he had forgotten that his aunt was quite suspicious of everyone these days. She was worried that Luo Nan had gotten involved in some certain things.


    The vague words full of underlying meanings left Luo Nan¡¯s mouth, and Luo Shuqing suddenly grew tense. "That firm. Did theye and try to recruit you again?"


    Luo Nan mentally pped himself in the face, cursing, "Me and my big fat mouth!" to himself. He rushed to assure Luo Shuqing, "They haven¡¯t. They haven¡¯t contacted me at all these past two days. They were just making small talk back then."


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t exin it well. The more he exined, the more suspicious Luo Shuqing became. Luo Shuqing put down her bowl and chopsticks, seeking to gain a deeper understanding of the situation.


    Mo Haihang had been swiping through the disy on the table at this time, reading the news. He suddenly spoke up, "Actually, you can give it a try if there aren¡¯t any dangers to it. Youngsters should try and make mistakes. Only when one makes mistakes can they gather good information...."


    He brought out his theory on trial and error once more, and this time he went a step further, "You can totally go to someone¡¯s firm and give it a try. See if it suits your heart. Draft a contract if you want to do it, and bring it back to have your aunt help examine it. You¡¯re in high school right now. We can put financial affairs and independence on the agenda."


    Luo Shuqing turned to glower at her husband, but she suddenly understood something and frowned. She didn¡¯t say anything. The number of people in a tangle had increased by one.


    Clearly his aunt wanted to get to the bottom of this!


    Luo Nan long knew what his aunt and uncle were worried about. He saw through the so-called trial and error with a single nce, and he couldn¡¯t avoid bing depressed. He began to ponder as he mentally groaned about how this was all a misunderstanding. To put these two guardians¡¯ minds at ease, should he go seek Zhang Yingying for help? Have her arrange a setting and perform a double act?


    Breakfast abruptly ended amidst this tangle and probing.


    Today was November 4 of the year 2096. It was a Sunday. The mistake of this early morning seemed to cause the schedule of the entire day to open up with a bad start.


    After breakfast, his uncle, aunt, and even his cousin all went out the door to do their own things. Luo Nan continued to park himself at home. He quickly observed the star as-transformed Format Pyramid, and was terrified by the continuous growth of the vast ocean iceberg¡¯s water level. Luo Nan gloomily left his meditative state, hugging his head in distress.


    All work pertaining to Formatting Theory could not be delved deeper into until he found a suitable channel for disposing milk. The subdivision technique of the root receptacle, root nature, and root trigger could not be considered as well, since they were too closely linked together.


    As for the internal refinement technique of the nine orifices and six roots, Luo Nan had already reached maturity during his morning session. There was no need to overdo it like drawing legs on a snake.


    He was going to spend an entire day at home. He had to do a bit of something, right?


    Luo Nan rolled on his bed for two circles. In the end, he had no other choice. He could only follow Papercut¡¯s suggestion. He opened up the mission announcement page for "Soul Strength Information Gathering," and he flipped to the teaching materials of the Dripping Sword that Papercut had sent. He wanted to see if he could discover any pleasant surprises within.

 Chapter 373: Dripping Sword (Part 3/3)

    Chapter 373: Dripping Sword (Part 3/3)


    Trantor: Strivon


    There were no two ways about it. Today, Luo Nan possessed ample ambition.


    Last night, most of his thoughts circled around the Heart Searing de, this legendary secret technique that would allow him to dispose of milk. As for the C-rank technique Dripping Sword, Luo Nan merely skimmed over it a few times. He didn¡¯t delve too deeply into it.


    Luo Nan only knew that this technique mainly involved condensing water vapor out of thin air to attack the enemy¡¯s weak point. It was a bit like a wizard¡¯s technique from a fantasy novel, just that the sound and light effects were less impressive.


    At the moment, Luo Nan wanted to get deep into it. He first looked at the original video recording of attachment 2 within the RT8313 mission of Headquarters.


    Last night, he actually wanted to look at attachment 3, but he unexpectedly didn¡¯t have read permissions. He could only see a summary and so on. Only ability users at the Architect stage and beyond had the ability to see the whole thing. It was really annoying!


    Licking his lips, Luo Nan waited for the video to buffer.


    The video demonstration in the attachment used the high-fidelity standard of reality-level. The file size was enormous. Even with the specialwork form of the HexaEar, a period of time was needed to ensure a smooth yback.


    The file size was in direct proportion to its value. After all, this was a teaching demonstration targeted for the ability users of the entire world, and it was personally demonstrated by Her Majesty Empress Wu herself.


    Luo Nan chose the highest quality mode, reality mode, thanks to the suggestion of the HexaEar¡¯s AI assistant. This was the fourthyer function of the Psychic Wave Network, the Simtor. The current Luo Nan had already resolved his issue with interference ability. He could now use this functionpletely stress-free.


    Luo Nan closed his eyes, naturally sinking into darkness. Soon, gentle rays of light slowly pervaded through the dark. The light gradually deepened and changed, ultimately forming a scene of entwined obsidian gray and dark crimson. A confluence of noise and the pressure of a head-on wind arrived. Luo Nan choked on the earthy acrid air, and he felt the sensation of his skin being dry and rough at the same time. Luo Nan was instantly brought into the empty and vast wilderness.


    Such simtor guide sequences were not a strange sight for Luo Nan. Luo Nan just felt that the Psychic Wave Network¡¯s simtor was on a more meticulous level than the Burner version at Frost River Reality.


    Luo Nan had already set on the path of the nine orifices and six roots technique. The stimtion of these nerve cells instinctively stimted the response of the inner organs, muscles, tendons, skin, and flesh. Luo Nan needed to nt a reminder in himself. This was to make up the disparity between the perception of his mind and fleshly body. This was to avoid getting booted out.


    Luo Nan raised his head to look far into the distance. Right now, he was located at the peak of a hill. This was the highest point rtive to his surroundings. The dark red earth was crackedyers uponyers, extending limitlessly into the horizon. This was, without a doubt, the Wilderness.


    In the next second, Luo Nan¡¯s attention was forcefully captured by the clean and sharp slender figure ahead. Luo Nan was alerted as to who was the leading actor in this world.


    Her Majesty Empress Wu!


    Empress Wu was just ahead, only leaving a silhouette for others to see. She was wore hunting clothes that fit her body well. The design was narrow at the waist, and the color was of a dark red. She paired it with brown boots, highlighting her aggressively long legs. Her outfit matched her gorgeous beauty quite well.


    She carried something fairly eye-catching. She hefted a light gauss rifle on her shoulder. A simple and low-key ponytail covered the body of the gun, but the gun still reminded Luo Nan that they were in a dangerous wastnd.


    The color of her outfit was quite simr to the color of this wastnd. It could act as camouge, it appeared quite professional, yet it also gave off a wonderful fashionable feel. This formed quite the marvelous bnce.... Fine. Any guy who would find themselves faced with a stunning beauty would find simr reasoning.


    The rifle was not so different from a fashionable woman¡¯s purse from Her Majesty Empress Wu¡¯s perspective. They both fulfilled the visual arts....


    Luo Nan¡¯s mind went wild as he tried to move about in this reality. There should be enough space left behind to interact in this enormous recorded reality, but Her Majesty Empress Wu showed no reaction at all the entire time Luo Nan walked up to her side.


    Interactive resources haven¡¯t been saved?


    As Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts spun, Her Majesty Empress Wu suddenly turned around. Her bright and beautiful face appeared without reservation, right in his breathing range.


    Luo Nan actually took a step back.


    Luo Nan obviously recognized Her Majesty Empress Wu. Although he never officially met her before, he had seen photos, videos, and other materials in Bamboo Pole¡¯s "Notes on the Major Characters of the World" course. There existed materials of every kind.


    Especially on a woman as stunningly beautiful as Her Majesty Empress Wu. The various materials were moreplete for someone like her.


    Of course, Her Majesty Empress Wu was extremely beautiful in Luo Nan¡¯s opinion, especially the way sheughed. In various video recordings, he always saw her reveal a smile. The smile could be reserved, bold and unrestrained, intimate, teasing, or fierce. It infused those recordings of someone who was already quite beautiful, bright, and dazzling with vivid life.


    During the course, Luo Nan believed that Bamboo Pole had specifically chose such materials. Her Majesty Empress Wu remained famous for all these years. Luo Nan came to find out that of all the recorded materials, whether they be photos or videos, Her Majesty Empress Wu had never left behind any expressionless moments in any of them.


    I just felt it was all fun at first, but after careful thought, my hair stood on end.


    Ahem, these were Bamboo Pole¡¯s original words. The words came from a footnote about Her Majesty Empress Wu¡¯s temperamental nature. These words left an iparably deep impression on Luo Nan.


    Her Majesty Empress Wu in the reality recording was smiling as well, of course. It was a professional smile, like that of a well-qualified host¡ªoh, no, it was more like the smile of a tour guide.


    In fact, this was a reality experience of travel and adventure.


    With the aid of reality technology, those with aspirations could totally say hello, shake hands, and even exchange a few flowery words with Her Majesty Empress Wu ahead. It was no problem at all, not that Luo Nan thought about it.


    But Luo Nan withdrew. He withdrew quite shamefully.


    Being within reach of such a beautiful face gave him pressure asrge as a mountain.


    Was this a re-up of his incurable homebody anxiety? Luo Nan would like to believe that this was due to the remnants left behind from Bamboo Pole¡¯s lecture on that day.


    Needless to say, Her Majesty Empress Wu was famous for her beauty in her early years. Her face could be said to be openly beautiful. Her facial features and contours were without w. But the space between her eyebrows gave off an exceeding air.


    Bamboo Pole was a man who had perused through countless beauties. In this respect, he had the following to say:


    The so-called ¡¯exceeding air¡¯ was a sort of oppressive force. People are often shown a smile from Her Majesty Empress Wu, but they could feel a sort of unquestionable domineering force. When she acted charmingly, you had to indulge. When she acted gracefully, you had to be satisfied. When she acted fiercely, you had to tremble. When she acted callously, you had to fear.


    Any highly intelligent life form possessed rtively clear self-awareness. Thoughts of instinct were centered on the self. No one wanted to be someone else¡¯s prey.


    But Her Majesty Empress Wu¡¯s exceedingly good looks was turned into a sharp weapon by being strengthened from her spirit. And this weapon pointed to the weakest spot in people¡¯s hearts.


    Perhaps Luo Nan had scared himself. Right now, he shivered as if he was facing a sharp de. Only when he pulled some distance did he rx a bit.


    Such a reaction hurt Luo Nan¡¯s self-esteem more or less.


    Damn it. If I¡¯m like this when I see a virtual image, would I not immediately kneel when I see the real person in the future?


    Luo Nan pped himself in the cheek. A wave of reverse psychology,monly seen in those of his age, stirred restlessly within him. It was so much that he wanted to use the interactive function to do something. He wanted to retaliate.


    But then subtle vibrations transmitted through the ground at this time. Strange hululu noises were mixed within the wind, blowing past the ears.

 Chapter 374: Condensation Ring

    Chapter 374: Condensation Ring


    Trantor: Strivon


    "Our target has arrived."


    Luo Nan faced Her Majesty Empress Wu¡¯s side. He saw how well her parted bangs paired with her fluffy ponytail. It gave off a vor filled with grace, but the impact was reduced.


    Her Majesty Empress Wu¡¯s voice was a little t whenpared to her stunning appearance. Her voice was rather deep, and she spoke a bit slowly. She enunciated her words extremely clearly, her tone fluctuating up and down. When paired with her smile, it made one wonder whether or not there were hidden meanings behind her words.


    Luo Nan felt like he was going to have a mental breakdown.


    Luo Nan drew in a breath and turned to look down from the hill. An ugly hairless beast had turned up down there. Its shoulder height was definitely over two meters, its body was fat andrge, and long tusks protruded from its mouth. It uttered no sound with its closed mouth as it charged over, itsyers of fatty flesh jiggling around. It was only fifty meters away.


    The scene suddenly turned tense, but Her Majesty Empress Wu exined in neither a leisurely nor urgent manner, "This is a pleated boar. A low-level Mutantmon in the Wilderness. There¡¯s practically no research value to it, but its skin is thick and its blood is ample. Its charging power is decent. They are quite a headache inrge numbers."


    As she spoke, Her Majesty Empress Wu unloaded the light gauss rifle off her shoulder. She didn¡¯t aim. She fired with a single hand in a free and easy-going manner.


    The metal bulletsnded urately on the head of the pleated boar, the ce where its flesh was the thinnest. They burrowed deep inside, but with a ripple of flesh, the bullets soon fell to the ground. Blood flowed like a waterfall, covering its face with blood.


    The pleated boar was a bit dazed, but it shook its head and charged straight over without regard. Its state sufficiently proved that it was thick-skinned and full of blood.


    Her Majesty Empress Wu didn¡¯t move at all. She just smiled and continued saying, "The effect of simple physical attacks isn¡¯t great. Military firearms need a certain degree of focused fire in order to be effective. But as ability users, we can do this...."


    The moment her voice fell, blood burst forth from the eye sockets of the raging pleated boar. This enormous Mutant let loose a sharp shriek inharmonious with its size. Its body stopped, and it nearly tripped over.


    Luo Nan looked at the left eye socket once more. A hole had burst open from there in mangled flesh. One of its eyes had gone blind.


    Luo Nan was baffled. What just happened? He didn¡¯t see Her Majesty Empress Wu do anything special.


    Having lost one eye, the boar became extremely wild. Even if it had problems with its sense of distance, it charged over at an even faster speed than before.


    At this very moment, a virtual screen opened up next to Luo Nan¡¯s body, the product of excellent video editing in the form of AR. It zoomed in on the instant the boar was injured, aiding the newbie that was Luo Nan. It restored the original sequence of events as Her Majesty Empress Wu exined.


    The virtual screen clearly showed translucent drops of water coalescing out of thin air the moment the pleated boar charged. The water prated the pupil, causing the fragile eyeball to burst... but that was all that happened.


    Her Majesty Empress Wu said, "I just executed a strike of the Dripping Sword. The effects aren¡¯t considered great. The reason I did this was to show everyone an important matter. In practical application, you shouldn¡¯t overestimate its lethality. After all, this is merely a skill on the Awakened level. Improper use would cause a situation to worsen."


    It sounded quite reasonable, but weren¡¯t her true intentions to dissuade people from making mistakes?


    Luo Nan had yet to emerge from the shadow of shame, so he couldn¡¯t help harboring some subtle thoughts, a negative guess.


    But in the next second, the pleated boar had its other eyeball explode a good twenty meters away.


    The situation looked the same as thest time. The pleated boar gave another roar, but the sound was cut off halfway. Its stout body lost bnce, and it simple fell to the ground, sliding forward. It was now around five meters away from Her Majesty Empress Wu, its limb twitching with its remaining instinct having lost all its kic energy.


    Luo Nan gaped. This time he really didn¡¯t understand what the boar¡¯s problem was.


    Her Majesty Empress Wu took two steps forward at this time. She was like a field researcher. She bent on her knee by the pleated boar¡¯s side. She let the dry red dirt touch the head of the pleated boar.


    Then, her long fingers streaked across, and the firm iron skull of the pleated boar was sliced apart.


    It was only when Luo Nan witnessed such an inhuman action that he recalled her identity as an Extraordinary. Oh, wait, she hadn¡¯t been one three years ago.... Luo Nan really didn¡¯t know just how many times he had been pinned down by this train of thought.


    This dissection scene was quite bloody, but it also helped restore the truth of what happened. Luo Nan was like an observer of the scene, and he walked two steps forward as well. He saw that the brain tissue of the pleated boar hadpletely turned into a mass of paste.


    The way the boar was killed, even an enormous elephant would simply die. But why were the effects so different between the first and the second attack? Was Empress Wu cheating?


    Luo Nan was trapped in malicious spection. It was hard for him to escape these thoughts, but Her Majesty Empress Wu already said the answer, "In terms of destructive power, this is sharpening. The dripping attack¡¯s effect was augmented with dual bursting. And for the sake of controlling it to prate the eye and enter the brain, there was also another augmentation of guidance."


    Her Majesty Empress Wu exined the essentials of this attack with a smile. As once stated before, the ¡¯Sword¡¯ of the Dripping Sword was actually a sort of attack where the mental ne interfered with the material ne.


    In principle, the attack was a special circuit formed through soul strength. It utilized ample soul strength to absorb the moisture in the atmosphere. A series of augmentations of sharpening, exploding, distancing, elerating, and guiding were realized through this. This was a technique that could instantly kill.


    The core circuit structure of the Dripping Sword technique was called the Condensation Ring. Only through this structure could moisture be rapidly gathered. Sharpening, distancing, exploding, and all sorts of effects could only be realized upon this foundation.


    To achieve this, soul strength needed to upy a position close to the material ne. One had to sculpt the shape, but its roughness didn¡¯t matter, nor its durability. The important thing was to instantly form abrupt and explosive power.


    "It¡¯s not easy to absorb moisture out of thin air; wasted opportunities are highly likely. Therefore, the most ideal application is via the enemy¡¯s eyes, mouth, and other ces with some moisture. Using the enemy as fuel allows for an explosive result whenpressing and gathering moisture to the extreme.¡±


    Her Majesty Empress Wu held an honest attitude. She spoke of the shorings of her technique in battle without concealing anything. "I¡¯ll repeat once more. Pure droplets of water don¡¯t possess killing power. One needs to prepare sharpening, distancing, elerating, exploding, and guiding¡ªfive augmentation effects in order for the attack to be useful. There are also six structures, each independent. Aside from the core step of the Condensation Ring, other effects are added or removed based on the concrete situation. Because of this, one must maintain a high degree of calmness and clear-headedness when using this technique in battle. However, it is very unfortunate that a considerable proportion of people is unable to do this. It has nothing to do with talent. The problem lies with one¡¯s nature."


    Isn¡¯t nature part of talent? Luo Nan really wanted to use the subdivision technique of root receptacle, root nature, and root trigger that he just learned to debate with Her Majesty Empress Wu. Unfortunately, doing so was meaningless in this virtual world.


    Her Majesty Empress Wu exined the structures of the six circuitsprised within the Condensation Ring. The virtual screen zoomed in on the model in sync with her exnation. It even showed demonstrations, exining the matter in simple terms. It was very clear and understandable.


    The rity of the reality-level recording created astonishing results when paired with the powerful broadcast function of the HexaEar. Aside from theory, Her Majesty Empress Wu casually coalesced the circuit structure. Though this was for the sake of demonstration, it was a meticulous manifestation. One could perceive just how extraordinarily difficult it was to do from the fluctuations and changes of soul strength.


    No wonder the file size of this recording was so enormous. Just how many resources was needed to recreate details on this level!? Special techniques of the inner world had to have been applied to it.


    In this reality, Her Majesty Empress Wu even took the chance to do some marketing. "This is an attack that is nted for mental use at the present stage. It is a structure of art. Ability users can fully use the sticity of soul strength in order to form a functional structure through the power of interference. From here, ability users can control theposition of many more types of matter, realizing the supernatural effect of warping reality with the mind."


    Luo Nan nodded over and over as he listened. He recalled the attack method of the Wraith Sign, the Human-Faced Arachnid. Its attacks were often realized throughplicated yet special structures. However, that fellowpletelycked a material foundation. It could only cast shadows upon the mental ne.


    There was also the so-called ¡¯configuration¡¯ that Jack had mentioned. Configuration was namely the operational structure of energy and information. It was disyed extremely clearly upon the body of a Burner.


    Then Her Majesty Empress Wu mentioned high-end applications of the Dripping Sword, continuing the topic of structural arts. From what she said, it wasn¡¯t that difficult to make water droplets rupture. The hard part was to coalesce the pellet, sharpen it like a de, and attack the enemy without harming one¡¯s self. In order to realize this, the shape of the Water Ring had to be sculpted extremely meticulously. The structure had to be stable, making efforts to do so very taxing on the mind. Many peoplecked the resources, making it so that they were unable to reach perfection.


    The consumption was far too great. Lack of resources was the problem?


    Luo Nan was sensitive to the topic of consumption. His ears instantly perked up. Could it be that this small droplet of water, that appeared and struck instantly, could consumerge quantities of soul strength?


    Luo Nan¡¯s interest soared by severalfold in an instant.


    It was very unfortunate that Her Majesty Empress Wu didn¡¯t demonstrate the so-called high-end applications. This made Luo Nan¡¯s negative thinking explode once more: Were you unable to achieve such results at the time?


    The recording ended with Luo Nan wishing for more. He had yet to look at the notes of teaching materials that Papercut had sent over, and he already obtained his own understanding just from starting with Her Majesty Empress Wu¡¯s exnation.


    The core of the Dripping Swordy with the precision of control and improvisation just before the fight, but the most fundamental part stilly with precision. The most fundamental requirement was to sculpt the relevant sculpture on the millimeter scale. Arge mold would be ineffective.


    Precision was necessary! Luo Nan was a precision-nted mentally enhanced ability user. His mental senses were first-ss in terms of sharpness. He naturally had the cognitive foundation for configurations. Luo Nan possessed enormous superiority in this field.


    Papercut was right. It seemed that this technique was specifically created for him.


    Oh yeah, he could also be considered an artist. Structural arts could be a type of visual arts in a certain sense!


    The thirst Luo Nan had toward the Heart Searing de was tossed beyond the highmost clouds for now. Luo Nan couldn¡¯t help wanting to practice this C-rank technique. His ambitions were high. He wanted to start at a high ce.


    Luo Nan disdained this sort of short-term, unstable structure. He wanted to make a most sophisticated structure if possible!


    Luo Nan immediately followed Empress Wu¡¯s advice and turned on the humidifier in his room, increasing the moisture content in the air. He followed the exnation step by step, trying to carve the structure with soul strength.


    Though Luo Nan¡¯s ambitions were high, he naturally possessed a cautious temperament. He wasn¡¯t a fatty; he didn¡¯t seek to eat the entireplicated structure of the Dripping Sword in a single bite. Instead, he disregarded the five types of augmentation structures for now, putting his full focus on the Condensation Ring.


    The origin and foundation of this circuit structurey in mentally interfering with the material ne. There was nothing to be discussed if one could not open a channel.


    Looking at the zoomed-in microscopic model, the Condensation Ring¡¯s structure appeared like a t and smooth donut. There was nothing in the center. Its rules as a whole were notplicated. But to urately portray the three-dimensional curvature inside and outside the ring with soul strength was enough to make many people kneel in defeat.


    This was the difficulty Her Majesty Empress Wu stressed.


    The atmosphere in Luo Nan¡¯s bedroom was gradually bing more moist. Luo Nan tried and failed a mere two times before seeding in manifesting the relevant structure in the void.


    This Condensation Ring¡¯s diameter was only 0.02 millimeters. Just achieving this feat would crush the overwhelming majority of Awakened.


    Of course, the effort required for sculpting was more than usual since this was Luo Nan¡¯s first time. The HexaEar timed him; it took Luo Nan 4.7 seconds. Adding the time it took for water molecules to umte, the time already rushed past ten seconds.


    As for the structure of the Condensation Ring itself, it was hard for Luo Nan to smoothen it out. The amount of time the dropletstedpared to the amount of time it took to coalesce was pitiful. Itsted only 0.4 seconds. It was useless inbat.


    But what was the saying again? Practice makes perfect!


    Aside from the scale being smaller, doing this sort of work was the same as drawing aplex circle whenpared to the Human-Faced Arachnid¡¯s operational structure of energy and information. It was not hard at all if Luo Nan disregarded precision and detail.


    Luo Nan was unsatisfied with this. Who said that its soul strength consumption was great?


    But this was really convenient in allowing for a lot of practice. Once an instance was made, one didn¡¯t need to pay further mind to it. It gathered moisture by itself, then it would break apart. Luo Nan just paid attention to making the next one, continuing to adjust.


    It took three to five seconds for each one, meaning that Luo Nan made twenty per minute. Soon he grew familiar with the structure of the Condensation Ring. He quickly was able to reduce the amount of time it took to shape most instances of the Condensation Ring into two to three seconds. In one minute, he could now do it thirty times.


    Thirty repetitions within a minute with most instances being defective. It was difficult for Luo Nan to achieve results.


    Was it dry as dust? Was it frustrating? Perhaps some people would feel that it was dry as dust, that it was frustrating, but Luo Nan didn¡¯t believe it was so.


    Everything depended on the details.


    When Luo Nan relied on a huge amount of practice when he learned speed drawing and sketching, he slowly ground it out. When practicing outlines, he pulled out lines of simr lengths. It required tedious repetition. But in actuality, whether the lines were stiff or soft, whether the lines were rough or meticulous, the hand was able to perceive their differences clearly. People had a sense of aesthetics, allowing them to urately grasp these things. The sense of aplishment soon followed.


    Yes, only with exquisite thinking could one touch upon a level of greater subtleties, grasp the bits of changes, and get the sense of aplishment from gradual progress.


    Her Majesty Empress Wu had said that the Dripping Sword technique was a sort of structural art. Its subtle deformed shape was a type of visual art. Luo Nan¡¯s perception, Luo Nan¡¯s sense of aesthetics, was able to appraise this. So Luo Nan was able to borrow upon his experiences of sess from the past to know what sort of level he achieved. Luo Nan possessed the mental preparation for the dry and dull practice in the early stages of training.


    The distance wasn¡¯t that far. Progress could be seen. Why not justplete it in a single go?


    Luo Nan really did take the action of forming the Condensation Ring to be like drawing. He followed his routine from back in the day, doing a short period of training with an empty mind. Then he no longer shaped the Condensation Ring in haste. Instead, he used more of his mental power in contrasting his work with Her Majesty Empress Wu¡¯s example. He carefully copied it, amending his work.


    He was slow at first, but he began to increase in speed the moment he gained some understanding. Then he slowed again. Then he sped up again. In the end he was like a hurricane. Luo Nan forgot about the number of times he practiced. He had recorded it in the HexaEar at first, butter he didn¡¯t have the mind to do so.


    Around two hours passed, soon reaching lunch time. Luo Nan¡¯s mind suddenly had a burst of insight. His soul strength was his brush. It was his carving de. He moved it in an exceptionally fluid and quick manner. The sculpting process was practically nonexistent to him. A strand of psychic thought was like a stamp pressing steadily down, and the Condensation Ring was engraved on the boundary between the nes of the mental and the material.


    This feeling was like a swiftlet taking flight from the water. It shed out shallow streaks on the surface, instantly forming a beautiful scene that was captured by camera, forever retained.

 Chapter 375: Old Posts

    Chapter 375: Old Posts


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan¡¯s mind went nk. It was in this moment that a small drop of water, the size of a fingernail, came out from nothing, forming from thin air. It hovered quietly before his eyes, moving slightly and refracting the sunlight that came shining through the window. Colors of every variety could be seen. It was beautiful.


    Luo Nan¡¯s mind was flooded with a sense of satisfaction. He grinned, rxing his psychic intent, and only then did he feel weary....


    Weary?


    Oh, I see. The technique requires little soul strength, but forming the Condensation Ring involves mental energy, focus, and even the physical foundation of the nervous system. It was impossible to use all of these indefinitely.


    Luo Nan fell back, his arms spread out on his bed. Cool water vapor hit his face directly. A few drops of water fell on his cheeks, forehead, and some even sprinkled on his arm and cor. It was very refreshing. He moaned infort.


    Huh? Luo Nan suddenly opened his eyes. He saw a mist of water drift down before his eyes, instantly wetting his body and everything in his surroundings.


    F***K!


    Luo Nan leapt to his feet, but he was toote. The spray of mist had ended with the sheets of the bed meeting cmity. It was damp, dripping wet. It felt utterly ufortable. The two notebooks were on the bed. They were coveredpletely in droplets of water. Fortunately, the covers were made of leather. They were fine after some wiping.


    As for the sheets, Luo Nan would have to move them to the balcony to dry.


    What the heck happened? Was there a resource crisis with the humidifier as well?


    Luo Nan touched the wet parts of his face. His first reaction was to turn the humidifier off. He looked at the device, be it seemed to be operating normally. Luo Nan then released his mental senses. He observed the air humidity as well as the changes on the mental ne.


    From this, Luo Nan was able to discover clues.


    The residual fluctuations of interference between the mental and material nes were surprisingly intense. The sources were different, and the numbers were plenty. But the degree of fluctuations stayedrgely the same. They clearly affected the moisture in the air. Luo Nan formed a ballpark guess from all of this.


    The sculpted structures of the Condensation Ring had be quite reliable during thetter half of his training. The Condensation Ring¡¯s capability continued to increase, and after a certain quantity of water had umted, the water bead state naturally appeared.


    Luo Nan put his full focus on pondering the Condensation Ring structure. He wholeheartedly immersed himself in training. Only the very initial parts of his training remained as an impression. The beads of watersted longer and longer, while the speed at which they dissipated grew slower and slower, gradually increasing the scale. In the end, several hundred water beads hovered in the room. Thissted until Luo Nan¡¯s mind rxed, releasing his control all of a sudden. The structures descended into disorder, practically exploding all at the same time, turning into a dense mist of water.


    This was probably what happened. Luo Nan shook his head and sighed. He tidied up a bit and moved his bed sheets to the balcony. He walked two steps before he saw water glimmering from the corners of his eyes. It was a recently manifested water bead.


    Oh, this one was interesting.


    Luo Nan stared at the water bead as he held the bed sheets. He was able to confirm that all of the water drops had exploded into nothing. This was certainly true. However, ording to his mental senses, this bead of water had just recently coalesced. Its source was none other than the result of Luo Nan¡¯sst instance of training.


    Luo Nan could perceive it. Thisst Condensation Ring structure that Luo Nan sculpted was the most perfect one in terms of shape. Its precision had reached a certain level. A wave of turbulence had caused all the gathered moisture to scatter, but the fundamental structure of this Condensation Ring was unlike the others. It didn¡¯t burst. Instead, it tenaciously remained there. As time passed, it gathered moisture once more to form a water bead.


    This gave off the sense of endless growth.


    Luo Nan¡¯s attention waspletely focused on the water bead. His perception grew all the sharper, and he discovered that the Condensation Ring in the core of the water bead maintained an exceptionally close connection with him. It constantly consumed his soul strength.


    The consumption wasn¡¯trge. It was mainly a trickle, but it was endless.


    Perhaps other mentally enhanced ability users would feel some pressure as they maintained the Condensation Ring for long periods of time, but Luo Nan¡¯s soul strength was affected by the high output of the Format Pyramid¡¯s production line. The ie every second was severalfold greater than the quantity consumed by this single Condensation Ring. It didn¡¯t hurt. It didn¡¯t even tickle.


    Large amounts of soul strength was produced, yet only small amounts were removed. If this was called ¡¯consumption,¡¯ then Luo Nan¡¯s entire world was in an economic crisis.


    Luo Nan¡¯s lips pulled into a wry smile. Since such a situation was involved, Luo Nan instinctively observed himself internally with irvoyance to look at the state of the God Gear. His thoughts instantly froze the moment his psychic intent cut through.


    ...It dropped?


    The scene waspletely different from what he expected. What had once been an overflowing vast ocean iceberg actually dropped a bit. It was lower than yesterday¡¯s normal position. This drop was astonishing. No wonder Luo Nan had felt exhausted.


    Luo Nan was a little stupefied. It didn¡¯t make sense. The consumption of the Condensation Ring had to be multiplied by a thousand, by ten thousand times in order to reach this result.... Huh?


    Luo Nan subconsciously hugged his bed sheets even tighter to his chest. The moistness of his sheets made him recall the mist of water sprayed in the room.


    Well, just think about it. A simple Condensation Ring didn¡¯t require a lot of energy consumption, but if there were several hundred of them existing simultaneously, several thousand being produced one after another, the amount of consumption was not something that one could stare idly at as this process continued.


    Multi-tasking was particrly resource-intensive. This was very normal. It was possible for this amount of consumption to be able to exceed the output of the Format Pyramid within a certain period of time.


    In other words, as the several hundred beads of water exploded apart, Luo Nan¡¯srge volume of training truly turned into a method of disposal of milk. He had dumped his surplus of soul strength, stock and barrel, into the river.


    No, there were consequences for disposing milk. But what did any of it matter? Forming mist? Evaporation? Sublimation?


    Luo Nan started from a wry smile, but itter turned into a bellow ofughter. He even tossed his wet bed sheets up into the air in celebration.


    Even if the input and output were not entirely proportional, and the effects could not be said to be a radical cure, it was a pleasant delight to be able to resolve this threat. During times when symptoms often recurred, Luo Nan had never imagined that this matter would be resolved this easily. This was a rather effective contingency method he had reaped.


    Luo Nan¡¯s stress was immediately dispelled to nothing. The sense of freedom he now had was far too refreshing!


    Luo Nan¡¯s mood became great. He cast his gaze at the water bead. At this moment, it was as if he was staring at a pearl.


    The Condensation Ring gathered water vapor. There should be a limit as to how much it could gather. The volume for the growth of the water bead had already stagnated, ultimately stopping at the size of the tip of a pinky finger. It was around a centimeter in diameter. It couldn¡¯t be described as conspicuous, but it was rather eye-catching when it refracted light.


    Luo Nan thought for a while. He decided not to disperse the water bead for now. He wanted to see how long it couldst. He wanted to see how much soul strength it could consume in total. Later, he would certainly test out the five auxiliary structures, with the core of the Condensation Ring acting as the foundation.


    With the bed sheets already hanging over the balcony, Luo Nan headed downstairs to eat.


    The water bead orbited around his body in a rather lively manner. This was done without him needing to apply the reinforcement of the Heart of the Ape Technique. Luo Nan¡¯s soul strength was inseparably close with the water bead. The water bead was an extension of his body, and it was disying more and more astonishing functions with the passage of time, with the power of habit.


    Once something became habit, one would subconsciously forget about it.


    Luo Nan forgot about the water bead next to his body as he engaged in a battle of human nutrition with the AI housekeeper. There was nothing else on the table. His ability to stuff his stomach full was as sound as usual. Luo Nan kept himself upied as he gulped down his food inrge bites. He wanted to flip through the teaching materials and notes that Papercut had sent him. But he thought about it, and he continued to flip through the mission announcement page.


    There was nothing else on Her Majesty Empress Wu¡¯s mission announcement page, but there was a forum below. It was in the form of a traditional message board. There were twenty messages filling a page, and there was already a terrifying number of over 1800 pages.


    There were only a few Awakened in the entire world though!


    He recalled that Zhang Yingying had mentioned this before. The number of recorded Awakened in the entire world numbered less than 70,000. By performing some mathematics, this meant that each person had to have posted at least five times in the discussion area.


    Though this amount was umted in the span of three years, though there were certainly quite a few disputes going on, though several messages might be of low-value, the sheer quantity of posts truly indicated that Empress Wu¡¯s announcement was a worldly event in the inner world.


    The effects of ¡¯Spreading the name of Wu throughout thend under the heavens¡¯ could be seen here.


    The reply area was configured in the reverse order by default. Thetest message was at the top. It was posted ten minutes ago. Its content was that of a ¡¯daily kneeling.¡¯ There were two more messages an hour earlier, showing that the discussion was still a hot topic.


    Luo Nan wanted to understand the atmosphere at the time. He configured the reply order to be in chronological order. He started from the beginning. The first several pages he skimmed through mainly had posts of "Is it real or not?", "What a beauty,¡± ¡°This is my cup of tea,¡± and other useless information. asionally, there werements of "Careful, it¡¯s a trap to collect your soul print,¡± "These are first time measurements,¡± and other young information. Of cours,e there were also "A modern Wu Zetian? Wow!" and other troll information.


    It was very clear. Three years ago, Her Majesty Empress Wu wasn¡¯t considered a particrly exceptional character within the scope of the inner world. She had yet to possess global fame. However, it was none other than this matter which had caused her to soar past the heavens, painting this matter of ¡¯Spreading the name of Wu throughout thend under the heavens¡¯ in a legendary light.


    Luo Nan more or less felt admiration for Empress Wu. Though Empress Wu¡¯s Mystic Techniques didn¡¯t live up to being as godlike as they were described, the sort of influence they caused was real, and Her Majesty Empress Wu was able to shoulder it.


    Luo Nan skimmed through a few pages before changing his methods. He would go crazy going through 360,000 posts. To truly look at them one by one would fill up his time for the next dozen days.


    Luo Nan used the AI filter function of the HexaEar to eliminate the useless chatter of information. He just looked at the best replies. Although he did this, there were still over two hundred pages of posts.


    Many of them were tests of the Dripping Sword. Some had a single line of data. Some were experimental demonstrations. There were even brutal recordings of inbat use. These were the reactions to this skill from the entire world of several dozens of thousands of ability users.


    But these dry goods weren¡¯t the most popr of the best posts.


    In the era of mass entertainment, messages that were funny and silly were bound to absorb the most attention. Luo Nan watched a series of exercises, applications of the Dripping Sword in aedic manner, all sorts of absurd idents, and all sorts of stupid disasters. The high difficulty of the Dripping Sword made it so that such videos were brimming with vitality.


    Luo Nan saw a weirdo use his own mouth to rapidly coalesce a water bead. The result was an exploded mouth. Luo Nan couldn¡¯t hold back fromughing stupidly at the dining table. He watched several videos, nearly missing the time for his noon session.


    Luo Nan returned to his bedroom for his noon session. He nced at the balcony and saw his bedsheets sway slightly. His mind suddenly stirred, leading him to walk straight over.


    Today¡¯s weather was cloudy. Sometimes there was sunlight, sometimes there was not. The drying effects were quite typical on this day. His bed sheets were light in color. They didn¡¯t have any decorative patterns. But there were shallow traces of halos on it. They just so happened to form a half-blurred silhouette of a person.


    Luo Nan used the visual photography function of the HexaEar to take a picture of his bed sheets in this moment. Of course, he let the water bead hovering in midair enter the camera view. He put in the title, "A morning¡¯s training in exchange of rain." And he posted it on the message area.


    This was sharing, right?


    The subtle thoughts of the teenager weren¡¯t clear to the teenager himself. But in the end, his brain was clear. He posted in anonymous mode, only showing his ce of registration, which was none other than the Xia City branch. Of course, there was also his registration time. Just one look would reveal that he was a budding neer.


    This newest message soon appeared at the very top of the page. Luo Nan looked it through twice; no response yet. So he happily headed to do his noon session.


    It was already one o¡¯clock in the afternoon by the time Luo Nan cycled and filtered vital energy through the three inner organs of liver, heart, and spleen. Luo Nan always heldplete focus when it came to cultivating. His mind was filled with such elements. He pretty much forgot about the picture he uploaded and other minor matters.


    Luo Nan shifted his attention to the water bead that continued to remain. Through his mental senses, Luo Nan came to find out that its core, the Condensation Ring, remained stable. Perhaps this little thing could continue to exist as long as Luo Nan¡¯s soul strength was endlessly supplying it.


    This Condensation Ring was undoubtedly an excellent carrier. And Luo Nan tried to further grasp the five auxiliary structures of sharpening, distancing, elerating, and so on.


    Luo Nan was just about to rey the reality recording and study the relevant information when he suddenly remembered an excellent post he had skimmed through during lunch.


    The poster started with stating his dissatisfaction toward his firing speed in practicalbat. He was skeptical of Her Majesty Empress Wu, believing her to be a fraud. He started off with finding faults like looking for bones in an egg. He began with the recording, analyzing the authenticity of the recording frame by frame.


    Though he had major doubts of the authenticity of the video, he began from a practical angle, using a variety of analysis techniques. He captured and analyzed the soul strength fluctuations that Her Majesty Empress Wu had produced twice in practical demonstration. The data was very detailed.


    This was an excellent starting point for Luo Nan to rey from.


    The reply was extremely long, requiring the use of several posts. Actually, this thread was a series of posts linking to one another. The responses themselves were of quite the size.


    These replies followed a cascading mode. They were scattered among posts of various hot spots. If a lurker found interest in a post, he just needed to make contact telepathically and he would be able to see a string of postse out. Of course, he could choose to view them in bulletmenting mode, but that was too chaotic. Luo Nan didn¡¯t like it.


    However, normal people would find themselves affected by the hot spots when looking at the posts. Luo Nan paid more attention to the reply chains that wererger in size. He wanted to lock onto thetter half of the lesson, but he unexpectedly stopped halfway.


    He saw a hot spot that was made up of a chain of over a dozen thousand replies.


    There was a video that left him a deep impression. It attracted his attention. It was not long after the start of the original recording. Her Majesty Empress Wu had her back to the viewer. It was the moment when she suddenly turned around.


    The original poster had spat out a few words. "I unexpectedly took a step back when I saw the beauty. This is unscientific, so I got suspicious...."


    The connected replies instantly went off-track. "Oh man. Seeing the original poster take a step back makes me feel relieved. There was quite the regret at the time."


    "Step back +1, Regret +1."


    "Step back +1, Regret +10086."


    "I can¡¯t be the only one who pounced at her, right?


    "Raise your hand if you pounced over."


    "Does it count if I knelt and licked her boots?"


    "The new posters tooting their horns, haven¡¯t you read the whole thing? The original poster shared his analysis below. Everyone here took a step back. There are fixed procedures in the recording. Its purpose is to keep you perverts a distance away."


    So it was like this all along! A sudden realization dawned on Luo Nan upon reading this. He wasn¡¯t the only one to have been humiliated in taking a step back. This had been themon experience of every participant.


    The irresistible elements within this understanding patched up the teenager¡¯s injured heart.


    But Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts took another turn, and he was confused once more. Were the pressure that pierced his heart in weakness and the terror formed within him caused by programmed procedures?

 Chapter 376: Centennial Skill

    Chapter 376: Centennial Skill


    Trantor: Strivon


    Emotional memories were often deep memories, yet recollection of them often appeared warped. In Luo Nan¡¯s impression, his step back was a true and willful reaction. But this hot post¡¯s analysis was reasonable and convincing. This presented a contradiction.


    "Should I believe in the data? Or should I believe in the feeling?"


    Luo Nan chose to believe in the former for the time being, but he still held onto some doubts. He continued to read on ahead, hoping to obtain reasons that were more decisive and persuasive.


    By this point in the replies, the group of horn tooters were all exposed. The replies barely made its way back on topic, but it didn¡¯t take long for thetter messages to head strongly off-track. Someone with the ID "Won¡¯t Exchange Gold" posted an emoji with a fierce expression and clenched fingers along with three simple words:


    "Well I¡¯ll say!"


    This Won¡¯t Exchange Gold was certainly a famous person. There followed a long series of replies chained to his reply. They all quoted the content of his words, neatly forming a new core topic.


    "Head Gold has finally revealed himself!"


    "Queen Wu, Queen Wu. Careful of the hoodlum!"


    "So it was Won¡¯t Exchange Gold!"


    "It was Won¡¯t Exchange Gold all along!"


    "Head Gold! This must mean that he¡¯ll head to Xia City!"


    Most of thesements were made three years ago. Some people called Her Majesty Empress Wu by her nickname back in the day. The atmosphere was very lively.


    But this wasn¡¯t the most explosive point. After several dozen cascaded messagester, a certain ID quoted Won¡¯t Exchange Gold¡¯s statement as well. The contents were simple. It was a string of ellipses.


    But the simple dots encouraged a group of people with too much time on their hands toe crying and shouting over. The cascaded replies served as amemoration. It was not surprising that they were lively. It was the following person who was truly the source of all evil, the originator of corruption.


    Wu Zhao.


    The situation in the past was unknown to Luo Nan, but today, Her Majesty Empress Wu¡¯s ID was dyed in a purple-gold color. This represented that she held a most distinguished identity. It was a symbol of the Society¡¯s veterans, powerful members, and people with true authority.


    From her personal reply on, thements had truly exploded. The dense ovep of posting time allowed Luo Nan to vaguely feel the fiery atmosphere at the time.


    However, there was something very strange. There were still people who came to pay respects at this temporary hotspot even until today.


    Luo Nan finally swiped to the very end. He saw that thetter replies were mostly, "Head Gold is dead. I burn offerings to him,¡± "Ambition isn¡¯t far. The soul has returned,¡± ¡°I don¡¯t believe that Head Gold is gone. I will sit and wait,¡± and simr words.


    Missing? This famous figure had been missing for three years. The scope of possibilities had shrunk to be extremely small.


    Luo Nan subconsciously opened Won¡¯t Exchange Gold¡¯s personal page. The overall color was gray. But there were lines and lines of information describing ranks, positions, aplishments, and honors. All this still remained. Looking at this, Luo Nan understood. Back then, Head Gold was also a purple-gold-level authority. He had been a Branch President and the Deputy Secretary-General of Headquarters. He was an elder, a veteran, of the first ss. A B-rank strength assessment was low for him. He was truly in the B+ ranks. As for A-rank, that was left for the level of Extraordinary.


    It was just that he had gone missing for several years. He must have missed the qualification certification procedure that urred once every decade. The relevant status was temporarily frozen. The ID disy also became average and mediocre. Only this locked page and the old posts back in the day still remained as vestiges of his existence.


    Though Head Gold was described this way, Luo Nan seemed to have heard his name from somewhere before. It was probably from Bamboo Pole¡¯s course, "Notes on the Major Characters of the World." Luo Nan shouldn¡¯t have heard about Head Gold from anywhere else, but... thinking about it, there was a case of an extremely famous Extraordinary going missing in recent years.


    The Maple Pavilion Case.


    Luo Nan thumbed through Bamboo Pole¡¯s materials, and his memories of Bamboo Pole¡¯s lecture became clear.


    This Mr. Won¡¯t Exchange Gold was actually a legendary person. Rumor had it that he was a capitalistic tycoon and was the number one wholesaler after the war. His worth was in the trillions. But by random chance, he awakened with supernatural powers. He became obsessed from this moment on, to the point of exhausting his entire fortune for the sake of further progressing in his cultivation.


    Perhaps God was stirred by his resolution to throw away his money for the sake of cultivation, or perhaps the supernatural gift he awakened to was just that astonishing. Around the 80s, he stepped into the realm of Extraordinary, bing the number one, the topmost existence on the.


    He returned to his old business after this, entering the ocean ofmerce and opening a chain of hotels called the Maple Pavilion. With his status being boosted by having brains and by being an Extraordinary, the hotel chain spanned the entire world in just a few years, rushing into the top one hundred. Compared to his fortune from his earliest days, his worth at the time surpassed it.


    There were no two ways about it. Mr. Won¡¯t Exchange Gold was the real deal. He was a true life winner. He experienced sesses and wonders.


    But normal people didn¡¯t know of the world of experts. Though Won¡¯t Exchange Gold had opened his hotel chain in the eighty-eight major metropolises of the entire world, he felt that this wasn¡¯t enough. He began to operate and open his hotel chain into the Wilderness, to do business with the vagrants.


    In the beginning, he really did manage to seed in operating a few hotels. He gained quite a bit of reputation among the vagrants. But he rushed to the Wilderness yet another time to inspect the new hotels, and this time he suddenly encountered an ident and went missing.


    ording to the results of the investigation at the time, Won¡¯t Exchange Gold¡¯s disappearance location spanned a mountainous area of nearly two thousand kilometers. Nothing remained in this area. A powerful force had pierced the earth¡¯s crust, detonating a dormant volcano and changing the the terrain.


    Though the power of Extraordinaries was oh so terrifying, it was no f***ing use at all in this situation. Those who were missing remained missing. During the lecture, Bamboo Pole had mentioned this person. He wanted Luo Nan to understand that Extraordinaries weren¡¯t some omnipotent gods.


    It was really quite the coincidence. The specific time that Won¡¯t Exchange Gold went missing was within twenty-four hours of his posted message in the reply chain. It was thest trace of him in a public setting, right before he left the metropolis and entered the Wilderness.


    The message could be considered hisst words, in a sense.


    Luo Nan finally understood why there was an extraordinary amount of chained replies in such a boring topic. It was actually due to such a reason. The end of a twisted legendary tale was clearly hidden within.


    Luo Nan sighed. He couldn¡¯t but be emotionally affected. He sighed again and closed this meaningless analysis post, not wishing to look at it for the time being.


    If a youth, whose greatest goal in his life was to be an Extraordinary, were to encounter such a situation, he would be depressed for a day and a half. Fortunately, Luo Nan¡¯s goal was a bit distanced from this realm. Luo Nan adapted a bit, no longer looking at the posts. There were other references avable to him.


    Luo Nan had yet to go over the teaching materials and notes that Papercut had sent. He prepared to spend half the afternoon to learn. But he discovered something unexpected after opening the materials. The teaching materials actually centered on the reality recording, and it was integrated much more closely.


    There was nothing to say. Luo Nan could only boot the reality recording while linking reading mode. He began to work hard.


    The teaching materials naturally did just a passing mention of the beginning ¡¯cutscene.¡¯ It mainly started after the discovery of the pleated boar, when practicalbat began.


    Sure enough, things were as Papercut said. They were both materials, but Her Majesty Empress Wu¡¯s personal exnation of teaching materials was much more detailed. It also went much more in depth than even the best replies and posts on thework.


    In the morning, Luo Nan was able to train the Condensation Ring to a certain level in a mere two hours of time. Because of this, Luo Nan held some fixed suspicions toward the difficulty, practicalbat power, and so on of the entire set of the Dripping Sword technique.


    However, Luo Nan was forced to reassess his own superficial understanding when he saw the teaching materials that Her Majesty Empress Wu had personally created.


    Her Majesty Empress Wu performed a decisive analysis toward the foundation of the Condensation Ring as well as the five auxiliary structures. She even described her thoughts when making the video, supplementing it with many applications of the technique, involving a variety of realbat environments, unexpected circumstances, changes in techniques, and so on.


    Luo Nan could feel that Her Majesty Empress Wu used the Condensation Ring as a foundation, and atop this foundation she easily added or subtracted auxiliary structures. She even increased or decreased the Condensation Ring itself. She focused on the enemy¡¯s eyes and mouth, the two parts where one could do the most damage. From here, one could create over a dozen main categories and hundreds of types of killing techniques.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t really understand some of the other categories, but his forehead sweated after a short few words involving the nervous system. A tiny little water bead, through various forms of nerve stimtion, could realize deadly, delusional, paralyzing, torturous effects, among others.


    Every single move all possessed strong maneuverability... as long as your control ability could reach a certain standard. As such, there were countless permutations and boundless limits. It was simply inconceivable.


    It was a pity. It was really a pity. Papercut, this fellow, didn¡¯t have a gift in this area, and his interests weren¡¯t high as well. His recorded notes were a bit superficial. It looked like he didn¡¯t really enjoy it.


    Luo Nan just hated himself for feeling diffidentst night. He had just wanted to stay out of hot water when faced with He Yueyin¡¯s admonishment. He wasn¡¯t able to obtain the video file of the Heart Searing de into his hands. He even skipped the Dripping Sword.


    He looked through the teaching materials and notes from beginning to end once more. He wished to continue, feeling unsatisfied. He needed to go through all the materials once more.


    He didn¡¯t expect to discover something at the end of the notes, however. A video material. It wasn¡¯t long, around three minutes in length. It was a summary speech made by President Ouyang. Papercut had recorded it on a whim at the time.


    There were a hundred or so people sitting in the ring-shaped conference room at the time. The backbone force of the branch had converged here. Luo Nan raised his eyes to look, and he found a few familiar faces.


    Ouyang Chen and Her Majesty Empress Wu were standing in the center of the conference room. A little to the side, Old Man You was sitting in his wheelchair, taking his own corner of space. The three big shots of Xia City neatly presented themselves. This mid-level training course was already top-notch in standard.


    This made Luo Nan harbor greater expectations toward next year¡¯s training course in the spring.


    Generally speaking, the concluding speech of a presenter was often quite vapid. They were mainly for adtion, possessing no real meaningful content. At first nce, Ouyang Chen¡¯s path of speech was like this as well, but the method and gravity of his assessment was to Luo Nan¡¯s liking.


    President Ouyang said, "In the modern research of supernatural powers, fifty years have been spent starting from nothing to create the division of categories we have now. Within this period of time, over seventy thousand different types have been counted when ites merely to the application of skills. Good and bad mingle, like bud and sand flowing together. Crooks are mixed in with honest folk, like fish and dragons being mixed in together. I believe that the overwhelming majority of them don¡¯t possess any practical value that can be passed on for the far future.


    "These skills are either so simple and crude, so many andplex, or so profound and difficult. There are no exceptions to this. In the future, we will probably only be able to view them in museums. Through these museums, people would sense just how barbaric growth has been for our era.


    "Butst year, I saw Lady Wu release the Dripping Sword. Its requirements for use aren¡¯t high. Its energy consumption isn¡¯trge. The overwhelming majority of mentally nted Awakened can use it. However, to use it well, to use it sufficiently, and to use it at the desired level, isn¡¯t a simple matter.


    "Upon witnessing today¡¯s ss, I am more confident than ever that this simple technique can squeeze out an Awakened¡¯s potentialpletely dry and exhaust an Architect¡¯s imagination. Even those at the level of Extraordinary can unearth things of value from here."


    The conference room in the recording went into a bit of an uproar, clearly showing that the Society members were quite unwilling to ept President Ouyang¡¯s high evaluation.


    Ouyang Chen soon exined himself, "It may appear that the Dripping Sword doesn¡¯t touch upon anything essential, but by relying on six simple structures for the interference of the mental to the material ne, an exceptional amount of variations can be realized. It is like a fundamental element of matter. An entire world can be created.


    "We should be paying attention to the core of this technique, the Condensation Ring. It possesses inconceivable possibilities. Through an extremely concise structure on the micro level, it can realize a highly efficient gathering of water molecules. It canpletely take the ce of the Extraordinary ability ¡¯Enter the Micro.¡¯


    "How can it act this way? I don¡¯t have the answer for now, but this technique, which turns the simple into theplex, theplex into the simple, a shifting between the simple and theplex that is done at will, is extremely mature,plete, and high-level. It is so much that I believe it to be an aplishment a hundred years ahead of its time. Even at its present stage, there is nothing to add or remove. There is nothing to be picky about.


    "As a user, I know that it is so, but not why it is so. But as a researcher, I am forced to bow and pay respects to this genius and marvelous design."


    The President Ouyang truly did turn toward Her Majesty Empress Wu, who held a faint smile, and bowed.


    The recording ended here.


    "...Truly kickass." This crude expression of admiration was delivered to both Her Majesty Empress Wu and President Ouyang.


    The following was an inurate description: A water molecule¡¯s diameter was approximately 0.4 nanometers. Even with Luo Nan¡¯s stormlike increase in soul strength, in terms of precision, he could barely ess the micron level. There was quite the distance to the nanometer scale.


    Who knows how long it would take to effectively gather water molecules in normal circumstances with Luo Nan relying solely on soul strength.


    But nowadays, there was this small basic structure that could do this. Luo Nan was unable to rify the marvels within it at all with his current level of systematic understanding.


    His puzzlement was hard to dispel, yet he was full of admiration. A certain thought had even pass Luo Nan¡¯s mind: It seemed eptable to bend one¡¯s head toward this legendary woman.


    Half the afternoon passed by the time Luo Nan finished going over the training materials and notes. The tiny bead of water, gathered by the Condensation Ring, still remained by Luo Nan¡¯s side. It was still the size of a fingernail, the maximum limit of its volume.


    ording to Her Majesty Empress Wu¡¯s thoughts, Luo Nan¡¯s method was that of an arduous and thankless type. But even that legendarydy would never expect Luo Nan to have a production line producing a steady, uninterrupted flow of soul strength.


    In the case of spending one¡¯s ie, Luo Nan didn¡¯t need to budget his money in his situation where ie and spending werepletely out of proportion. He just needed to have the will to spend, and things were fine.


    He stirred telepathically, controlling the bead of water himself. It was like a sword-ball from novels. It jumped and flew, moving freely as Luo Nan pleased to and fro in the room.


    This manifestation of supernatural power gave off a greater sense of aplishment than the silent and stealthy Siege Hammer technique.


    Only half the day remained for Luo Nan¡¯s closed door cultivation. The n couldn¡¯t keep up with the changes. Luo Nan¡¯s cultivation n fell far from expectations, since Luo Nan had dedicated much time to wiping his own butt.


    Now that the Dripping Sword had be the greatest unexpected gain, it should be firmly grasped. What about the star as transformation of the Format Pyramid? Wasn¡¯t that a big bother?


    In any case, Luo Nan already developed a keen interest, and even some feelings, for the Dripping Sword.


    One always treated the savior of one¡¯s life quite well.

 Chapter 377: Seizing a Divine Rebirth

    Chapter 377: Seizing a Divine Rebirth


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan made the resolve to grasp the five auxiliary structures of the Dripping Sword in a single spurt of energy. Luo Nan believed it to be possible. The five structures of distancing, elerating, sharpening, exploding, and guiding all revolved around the Condensation Ring. They were built upon the Condensation Ring. The structures weren¡¯t thatplex. The precision required was measurable.


    This was especially true of distancing, elerating, and guiding. These three structures increased the quality of control, and were merely extensions of the Condensation Ring. It only took Luo Nan an hour to obtain a pretty good mastery of them. Of course, credit had to be given to a certain busy training tform of his: the Condensation Ring and its stable nature. Luo Nan was able to continue training with it over and over again. He didn¡¯t need to worry about the crude auxiliary structure exploding. He could easily start over each time.


    Luo Nan could already make the bead of water, which was the size of a fingernail, fly and dance in the room. If he spurred it with all his strength, the water bead could sh across the air in a streak of water, its light visible but not its shadow... before sttering against the wall.


    It was truly a tragic car ident. The three auxiliary structures exploded on the spot. All the water gathered by the Condensation Ring remained on the wall, trickling downward.


    Only the Condensation Ring itself stood the test.


    Luo Nan knew that training indoors wasn¡¯t appropriate. He cast his gaze toward the courtyard covered by the sun.


    The Condensation Ring continued to umte water as it was spurred by Luo Nan to crash through the mesh screen of the window. The window allowed air to go through, and the Condensation Ring was already on the micron level. The fine mesh had no effect upon the Condensation Ring.


    Upon flying out the window, it took two seconds for the auxiliary structures and water to be replenished to normal.


    Luo Nan observed the water vapor gather and condense around the Condensation Ring, and felt quite the sensation. He controlled the water bead to fly back and forth, feeling refreshed.


    Without the restrictions imposed by ceiling and walls, the water bead began to fly randomly in the courtyard. It flew in circles, expanding its distance bit by bit. In the end, it passed the eaves of themunity, piercing between the branches to simply fly out over two kilometers away.


    There were many peopleing and going in themunity on this weekend, but none of them noticed the water bead that flew above their heads. Even if one could sense it, the most they would perceive was a mere sh of light. It was impossible for them to understand the truth behind the scenes.


    The water bead could naturally reach wherever Luo Nan¡¯s soul strength could cover, for it was controlled by soul strength. In any case, Luo Nan was able toprehend Her Majesty Empress Wu¡¯s ideas while he worked the water bead.


    As the distance grew in length, more and more soul strength had to be expended in order to the maintain the connection between him and the Dripping Sword. The multiple auxiliary structures had to be calibrated as well.


    While utilizing them, Luo Nan also had to pay attention to the problem of wear. After all, this involved the interference from the mental to the material ne. The rules between them weren¡¯t straightforward, leading to meaningless consumption and interference.


    There was only one way to maintain the most efficient coordination between them, and that was to practice! It was impossible to understand the exquisite andplex rtionships stored within without experiencing hundreds and thousands of mistakes.


    Needless to say, the consumption was enormous in a training filled with mistakes. ording to what general knowledge Luo Nan currently grasped, the limits of a mentally enhanced Awakened would be drawn outpletely in half an hour merely by calibrating the three auxiliary structures. This was the case even when the Condensation Ring¡¯s fundamental structure was undamaged like it was now.


    However, Luo Nan absolutely didn¡¯t even need to spare a thought to the issue of consumption. He just felt quite refreshed by the sensation of pointing anywhere and having the water bead shoot there in this range of a dozen square kilometers.


    Luo Nan continued to think, deducing down from this logic. He thought that if he went in his out-of-body state, he could possibly bring the Dripping Sword out for a run on the streets. Plus, the sensing range of his soul body was extraordinary. If he was at Nade District, he could cover the entirety of Nade District. If he was in the River Wu District, then he could also cover the entirety of the River Wu District.


    How did this sort of Dripping Swordpare to the flying swords of ancient legends? Those swords could simply slice off someone¡¯s head.


    The thoughts coursed through Luo Nan¡¯s mind, but in the end, Luo Nan simply shook his head in self-mockery. Controlling changes was very difficult, let alone the fact that the Dripping Sword was very limited when it came to lethality. The most basic juncture had determined his train of thought to be merely that of a delusion.


    The out-of-body state was just like the shadow-soul of ancient metaphysics. It had no material carrier. Though it could travel a kilometer in a single night, it was absolutely powerless toward the material world. Itcked all interference power whatsoever.


    So, the moment he would enter the out-of-body state, the Condensation Ring would naturally, would naturally....


    Luo Nan¡¯s brain suddenly became stupefied. His mind went nk for a while, and all his previous thoughts werepletely wiped clean. Then his following thoughts were like grasnds after heavy autumn rain. They flourished with endless rampant growth.


    What would happen? After going into the out-of-body state, what would happen to the Condensation Ring?


    True, a material carrier was required for soul strength to affect the material world. If he tried to form the Condensation Ring after his soul had left his body, it would forever be impossible for him to sculpt and shape it, for the interference power was not enough.


    But he currently had a Condensation Ring already created. It was embedded in the boundary zone between the mental and the material nes. Although its nature was quite subtle, its existence could be considered real in the material ne.


    He had pretty much already created the machine.


    This machine could automatically collect raw materials, which were the water molecules. It could advance in production. All that was left for Luo Nan to do was to supply it with fuel, which was his soul strength. That was all.


    In this way, wouldn¡¯t the Condensation Ring be a medium for when his soul leaves his body? It was a carrier. Though the path was a bit windy, it seemed that through it Luo Nan could realize interference.


    Wasn¡¯t this so?


    Luo Nany on his bed, cutting off all his thoughts. He might as well just try it out instead of wasting time thinking. Even if he failed, he would just lose a precision-level Condensation Ring. In his current stage, this would be nothing more than losing a blue grade item!


    Luo Nan performed mental preparations as he decisively entered the out-of-body state. His soul body, plucked out of his body, floated outside the window in the next second. He floated side by side with the water bead the size of a centimeter. They floated under the warm afternoon soon.


    It was already past midday, but the sunlight that came shining in at an angle, and the dense yang energy in the air, turned into invisible astral winds as before. It endlessly disturbed the soul body, sharply increasing the consumption of soul strength.


    This was the reason why very few of the B-rank ability users would astral travel in day time when they first attained the realm of the out-of-body state. It was apetition against nature.


    Luo Nan was a student. He was only able to be this willful by relying on the production line of the Format Pyramid, the unending production of soul strength, to replenish his energy.


    Luo Nan continued to disregard the issue of consumption. Currently, he was only focused on the Condensation Ring. So far, the water bead had yet to copse in the material ne. It had no evident wear and tear as well.


    As for the Condensation Ring, it was very stable, situated at the core. It steadily consumed soul strength.


    Everything was calm, like still breeze and quiet waves. Everything was natural.


    This feeling was akin to the scene of the instant a swiftlet shes the water before flight, captured by a camera lens and preserved on a photographic te. Though the streak of water was shallow, it was engraved for near eternity.


    And when Luo Nan infused it with soul strength, it was like painting a simple photograph with fresh colors, obtaining vitality through a different form.


    Perhaps the analogical image he chose had some issues. Right now, Luo Nan¡¯s heart was filled with swiftlets, leading him to a close yet vain realization; a realization that involved the rtionship of mutual interference of the mental and material worlds.


    Luo Nan felt as if an operator had distorted time and space in an extremely small manner the moment Luo Nan¡¯s interference took ce. This operator cut off an extremely minute section from Luo Nan¡¯s experiences in the endless river of time. The operator then used soul strength to bestow it with new meaning.


    A ghastly encounter. This subject was far too profound. Luo Nan¡¯s brainy at risk of explosion from overcapacity were he to think just ayer deeper. Additionally, Luo Nan¡¯s train of thought had clearly ran off-track, and so Luo Nan decided to give up on this subject.


    In any case, the facts before Luo Nan¡¯s eyes proved his original idea: There were absolutely no problems with continuing to operate the Condensation Ring after entering the out-of-body state.


    The two naturally exchanged and crossed. A rtionship between karma and time continued to thrive. Who was contributing to whom? Who was attached to whom? It formed a very interesting circle.


    Luo Nan came up with a faint conjecture. Perhaps other mentally enhanced ability users used simr methods in order to interfere with the material world via a soul body. They must first make a stable tool that they could attach to. It could be the Condensation Ring. It could also be the so-called ¡¯hot air balloon,¡¯ ¡¯glider,¡¯ and so on. A small object embedded between the mental and material nes was all that was needed. It was just like something out of this philosophy:


    Humans created tools to use. This distinguished them from all the other animals. Then they changed the world.


    Of course, not just any Condensation Ring could realize this function. The Condensation Ring created by Luo Nan was still a blue grade item. However, it was possible for it to upgrade into a purple grade item.


    The precision of this Condensation Ring certainly breached a certain threshold, meeting strict standards. Only in this way could it maintain long-term stability in the boundary zone between the mental and the material nes.


    Only in this way could the Condensation Ring be a tool, a machine, and not some vain attempt.


    Luo Nan¡¯s soul flew to the skies. His soul strength continued to act upon the Condensation Ring, forming a definite and solid interference force. The water bead¡¯s intrinsic carrying capacity was still quite weak. Luo Nan had tried to exert a bit more force, and the water bead had dispersed into mist. However, the structure of the Condensation Ring still remained firm. It continued to gather water.


    If Luo Nan wanted to go a step further in building this structure, he would certainly need to perform adjustments.


    Luo Nan tried pondering the techniques involved, but the current state of his brain was really overexcited. His train of thought drifted unsteadily, remaining very hard to control. He possessed insight over the subtle operations. It burst in a string of luster. But Luo Nan was unable to retrieve the shattered thoughts that led to this, and his mind was turned into soup.


    All right, let¡¯s act like an Awakened. He mustn¡¯t forget anything due to his excitement. Perhaps he overlooked something. He should think further once more. Which factors were relevant? What were the ones he had yet to consider?


    After pondering ineffectively for a period of time, Luo Nan changed his approach: What issues have yet to be resolved over the past two days?


    The economic crisis of the Format Pyramid. Its star as transformation and reconstruction. The subdivision of the root receptacle, root nature, and root trigger. Her Majesty Empress Wu¡¯s outsourced work. The suspicions of his aunt and uncle. The setback with exploring the mysteries of Gear....


    Only after sorting through these items did Luo Nan discover that there were still many unanswered questions regarding his body. He was still in a peaceful phase. If the threats of Headquarters, Orders, and Quantum Corporation were to be added up, wouldn¡¯t his life be pretty much over?


    Luo Nan wanted to rub his head by reflex. He wanted to see just what sort of person took all these threads and disturbed them into one mass. However, what moved was a soul. The body lying down on the bed in the room didn¡¯t move an inch.


    This was the inconvenience of astral travel.... Oh!


    The insight of light moved like a de, instantly severing all his chaotic thoughts. It coursed like lightning, its powerful radiance rending the sea of his mind. The hazy and dim world shone bright and clear for a time.


    Something was stimted by the insight of light. It existed within the housing of his brain, yet this object was not part of his flesh and blood. It emerged, endlessly trembling from the soul strengthing in and going out of it.


    The external neuron!


    Luo Nan had finally realized it. His mind was filled with the thoughts of the out-of-body state. In this state, wasn¡¯t the source of material ne interference none other than the external neuron?


    On that night, his soul astral traveled to explore the mysteries of Gear. But it was difficult to pass through its doors. Luo Nan spected that it was because he didn¡¯t bring the external neuron.


    Then he had tried to use purely soul strength, and he had failed. After that, there followed the situation with the reverse flow of energy. He tried to have the material interfere with the mental by increasing the refinement, yet it proved ineffective.


    But today, the Condensation Ring fell down from the heavens. It brought him to wind in a bend, unexpectedly taking his soul body and easily having it cross the major juncture of interfering with the material world.


    With the support of the Condensation Ring, the out-of-body soul possessed the initial step for interference ability without needing a fleshly body. Wasn¡¯t it logical that this sort of method could be used upon the external neuron?


    Right, right, right?


    The thoughts once formed could not be stopped. It was impossible for Luo Nan to continue thinking. The soul body immediately pounced back into the bedroom, restoring the not close yet not distant connection with the fleshly body. The psychic intent was created, and it stimted the external neuron to produce a response.


    This was no surprise. The lightning serpent that existed in his head radiated with lustrous light. It bore its fangs and brandished its ws as it roamed toward the outside.


    Lightning prated through the space between his brows in the next moment. Luo Nan instantly severed the direct connection between his soul and fleshly body. The external neuron lost its guidance upon leaping out of Luo Nan¡¯s body. It automatically began to retract. But at this time, Luo Nan¡¯s soul strength drove the Condensation Ring to meet the external neuron head on.


    On the mental ne, lightning collided with the Condensation Ring structure.


    There was a way! If there wasn¡¯t any interference, how could there be a collision?


    Luo Nan¡¯s delightsted only for a millisecond. The enormous force of impact from the external neuron crushed the Condensation Ring. The gathered water bead simply shattered into mist. Not even a trickle remained. The three auxiliary structures augmenting the water bead were wiped out in an instant as well. As for the Condensation Ring itself, it shook violently.


    Luo Nan¡¯s mind sank into thought. Was the resilience of the Condensation Ring not enough?


    Before his rising and falling emotions could find a foundation, the lightning of the external neuron instantly split apart. It actually followed the structure of the Condensation Ring, twisting and changing, rolling and flowing. Like a special ink following traces in the void, it infused within the structure once again.


    Luo Nan¡¯s soul strength was, conversely, subjected to a pulling effect. It followed the traces remaining in the void, walking the paths once more. Luo Nan experienced this process quite clearly.


    Oh, that wasn¡¯t it! This wasn¡¯t padding. This was simply using the Condensation Ring as a mold. The lightning was the guide, which meant the external neuron¡¯s main body would arrive soon after¡ªholy sh*t!


    Luo Nan watched his proud work, the Condensation Ring, with wide eyes, as it simply exploded from the external neuron. Luo Nan didn¡¯t have any luck at all.


    Though Luo Nan had talked about how the Condensation Ring was on the level of a blue grade item a gazillion times, when things came to a head, Luo Nan¡¯s heart spasmed. He barely managed to avoid shrieking. There was a period of time when he hated not being able to beat his chest and stamp his feet. In this gap, a certain stimtion shed within his mental senses. It was like a red-hot iron, and it pressed upon him.


    Luo Nan was unable to hold it back. Even though he was in the soul-body state, he still cried, "Holy!¡±


    A structure appeared in the void, coursing with lightning.


    Its diameter was 0.02 millimeters, and its thickness about a quarter. The shape was smooth and round, without edges or corners at all. It was like a donut ring, but its volume couldn¡¯t bepared to it.


    This hollow structure floated in the void, steadily plundering and absorbing Luo Nan¡¯s soul strength. At the same time, it absorbed water molecules from the atmosphere, rapidly forming quite the scale. It gathered into a first-ss bead of water. The refraction of the sun¡¯s rays created seven colors, rich and diverse, as if it were a concentrated rainbow.


    This was the external neuron, yet at the same time, it was the Condensation Ring.


    Was this a dove upying a magpie¡¯s nest? Or was this a divine rebirth!?


    The external neuron, a damnable and iprehensible thing, had reced the micro-structure sculpted by interference power, forming apletely new Condensation Ring.

 Chapter 378: Dark Cloak

    Chapter 378: Dark Cloak


    Trantor: Strivon


    A long metal thread, approximately eight centimeters long and appearing like spider¡¯s silk, radiated lightning on the mental ne. It had turned into a donut ring with a thickness of 0.005 millimeters and a diameter of 0.02 millimeters before Luo Nan¡¯s eyes. It just weaved and knit this way, and perhaps it coalesced and shrank, to ultimately form a miniature structure on the micron scale. It revealed marvelous characteristics between the material and mental nes.


    Fine. In any case, Luo Nan had never once truly grasped the volume, mass, and material of the external neuron.


    Luo Nan was very cautious of the new type of Condensation Ring floating before his eyes. He carefully made contact with his soul strength, and the Condensation Ring matched him in an impable manner. Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts spun and he found controlling it to be effortless. He felt that there wasn¡¯t much difference between this version and the previous version of the Condensation Ring.


    Luo Nan was careful and cautious at first but when everything went so smoothly and naturally, he was unable to clearly distinguish the differences between the two versions of Condensation Rings. He just controlled it subconsciously, letting the water bead dance around in the bedroom.


    Luo Nan¡¯s remaining brain capacity was inplete upied in thought. He was thinking, what was the concept? What was the principle? What was the pattern... So many goddamn questions!


    Luo Nan was stupefied by the magical transformation of the external neuron. After a series of useless thoughts, he finally recovered the drive he ought to possess. The emotion boiled, knocking down all of his thoughts.


    Though this divine rebirth was a marvelous fortune as it possessed a profound theory within that pointed to the essence of the cosmos, it was not enough to surpass the ecstatic emotions that were bubbling in Luo Nan¡¯s heart.


    No matter how great profound theories were, it was impossible for them to surpass reality. Wasn¡¯t this true?


    Luo Nan was already clear on the practical significance brought about by the changes. From now on, he could carry the external neuron to any ce his soul body could reach.


    Of course, this also included Gear.


    People¡¯s minds were quite strange. No matter how intense the thirst is in people¡¯s hearts, they are still able to maintain calmness even when their goal is out of reach. But as soon as one confirms that the goal is within reach, all previous practice instantly breaks apart.


    The pleasant surprise brought by the external neuron had yet to fade. Luo Nan¡¯s mind was upied by thoughts of Gear.


    Luo Nan already confirmed that Gear harbored a great secret. It was simply a giant hidden treasure for him. And the key to unlocking this treasure was most likely the external neuron and its own great hidden secret. Perhaps their secrets could only be revealed when the two make contact.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t know if this conjecture was correct. After all, how could he know if he doesn¡¯t try?


    Luo Nan was unable to control his emotions. He was simply impatient and itching to go. His soul body flew threeps around the room before he thought of three reasons:


    The first. Today was Sunday. The construction team wouldn¡¯t be working. There weren¡¯t any idle employees there.


    The second. The external neuron was a structure on the micron level. It was tantamount to the cross-section of a strand of spider silk. It was tiny¡ªmicroscopic. No one would notice iting and going with his soul carrying it in the out-of-body state.


    The third. It was still quite early in the day. He could make a round trip in five minutes. There was plenty of time for exploration. If everything went smoothly, he could return in time for dinner. If things do not go smoothly, he could go back to Gear after dinner.


    All these reasons supported going. Every condition was fulfilled. What was he waiting for?


    Before he finished his thoughts, his soul body simply went straight out of the room. The window screen and the like were nothing to him. He arrived at the courtyard, only to flicker once more and leave themunity. He flickered again and broke into the high skies.


    sping the external neuron in the form of the Condensation Ring, Luo Nan¡¯s soul body flew at zing speeds. Practically nothing affected them. Light traces of water could still be seen in the courtyard, but there weren¡¯t any traces in the air.


    The afternoon four o¡¯clock sun seemed to be part of the dense forest of skyscrapers. All that remained were the boundless rays dying the clouds as before. The time was approaching rush hour. Small and medium-sized flying vehicles traveled back and forth upon the high altitude trafficyers.


    Thete autumn sun was warm but the high altitude winds were cold. The two weaved, melting a bit of Luo Nan¡¯s impulsive emotions. He came to a sudden realization. The external neuron possessed a material body. God knows what would happen if it were to collide with something else in this high-speed travel.


    There weren¡¯t any problems in hastily unearthing the hidden treasure, but what if he were to identally lose the external neuron? He was carrying it on him right now. If that happened, he might as well bang his head against the wall and die in a ball!


    Luo Nan had nearly flown out of Nade District by then. He immediately stirred with psychic intent and his soul body¡¯s flying speed slowed a little. He also kept some distance away from the highest trafficyers. As for the external neuron in the form of the Condensation Ring, it floated in front of Luo Nan¡¯s soul body from beginning to end. The bead of water it gathered suffered from too much wear and tear due to the high speed travel. It was unable topletely form. Though it was continuously being replenished, it was still several times smaller than its peak phase.


    An odd thought formed in Luo Nan¡¯s mind as he saw this situation. In the next moment, Luo Nan used his soul strength as a guide, absorbing the external neuron directly into his soul body. In this manner, two merged to be one, moving in tandem. As long as Luo Nan doesn¡¯t get into a car ident, the external neuron would remain in good health.


    The taste from swallowing the external neuron was very subtle for the soul body. This was because a rtionship of the transmission of soul strength constantly existed between them. As soon as the external neuron was absorbed, the transmission rtionship waspletely integrated into the soul body as well.


    The process went approximately as follows: Firstly, the soul body infused soul strength into the external neuron, which was reshaped into the Condensation Ring. The power didn¡¯t do anything before, but it suddenly possessed the characteristics of interference ability, and it began to gather the water molecules in the void.


    The water bead was constantly suffering damage from the high-speed flight, yet it was also being continuously replenished. The early process of the umtion of water molecules existed on the nanometer scale. Luo Nan couldn¡¯t do anything with it. But then, with time, the water vapor umted to a scale that allowed Luo Nan to observe it.


    The taste was akin to having the soul body swallow in and spit out water vapor. It was a peculiar sort of breathing, naturally causing a connection to form with the external world.


    Traditionally, the soul body merely possessed the standard of a shadow. It was certainly impossible to realize this kind of connection. In fact, the source of this phenomenon had its origins in the new version of the Condensation Ring. The Condensation Ring radiated out interference power. Using the gathered water molecules as a medium, it affected the soul body itself, permeating its every inch.


    And then...


    Luo Nan suddenly stopped his high-speed flight. He floated in the skies above as light streaks of flying vehicles whistled past below him. It seemed that the entire metropolis was operating at high speeds. Only he was independent of it, distanced from the world below.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t have the leisure to be emotional. He merely found an interesting processing machine for soul strength quite unexpectedly.


    This machine swallowed ¡¯nothing¡¯ and spat out ¡¯something¡¯. It absorbed ¡¯0¡¯ and its output was ¡¯1¡¯. It burned ¡¯nothingness¡¯ and it coalesced ¡¯substance¡¯.


    This was none other than the Condensation Ring. This was none other than the external neuron.


    As interference power gradually diffused through his soul, there seemed to be a set of incorporeal yet qualitative framework of energy channels being stuffed inside his soul body. It was like putting on flesh and fascia of the same nature.


    Fine, this description was far too exaggerated. More realistically speaking, under ample interference power, there seemed to be ayer of firm, incorporeal yet fantastical, gradually folding and ting Luo Nan¡¯s soul body.


    Figuratively speaking, the soul body seemed to have turned into a cloak. Luo Nan¡¯s core consciousness resided in the center. Through this cloak, his consciousness made contact with both, the mental and the material, worlds simultaneously.


    The cloak became the cross section of the mental and the material. It intersected with the two nes. It was thin to the point of nothingness but it had marvelous effects.


    Luo Nan¡¯s consciousness was bound in the cloak. There was a sense of independence. There seemed to be an indescribable distance between him and both, the mental and material, nes. The sensation was quite subtle.


    At the moment, Luo Nan no longer resided on any one of the nes. Instead, he existed in the interval between the two nes of mental and material. Wherever his mind¡¯s intent faced, that was the direction it fell.


    Of course, his soul body in its current state was naturally more inclined to the mental ne. The resistance there was the smallest for him, verging on the brink of nothing. To forcefully interfere with the material ne certainly required a great deal more consumption. More links would be involved as well... But no matter how great the consumption, the fact remained that Luo Nan had made a breakthrough!


    Luo Nan¡¯s consciousness suddenly shed and the incorporeal cloak moved. It fluttered within the storm-like soul strength, smacking and heaving against the void.


    A wind was born out of nothing under the rays of the sun. It turned into a fine strand of current, creating a vortex. It swept far, several dozen meters away, along the high-altitude trafficyers. And only then did it dissipate.


    As the air current went far away, Luo Nan¡¯s mood whirled in a simr manner in endless unrest. But when the air current dissipated, his mood had expanded to its limits.


    Just look. Such a crude attack was able to cause such unrest visible in the material world. What did this prove? This proved that Luo Nan had stepped out of the stage of a shadow-soul, for now he could truly interfere with material world. Through the minute Condensation Ring, he could channel interference power to the entire world.


    This sort of progress was akin to jumping from the ground and into the cloud-filled skies. But this was only logical under the catalysis of the external neuron. It was natural.


    Because this was a jump from nothing to something. It was a qualitative change from zero to one. One gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, and three gives birth to all things, evolving into unlimited possibilities.


    From this perspective, there was no overstating how hugely significant it was. Frankly speaking, everything was brought about by the external neuron.


    How did it do it?


    What in the world is this item?


    What else can it do?


    It could serve as the frame of Luo Nan¡¯s God Gear. It could be the manifestation of a structure of nothingness. It could be the backbone upon which to transform soul strength. Everything it revealed of itself seemed to be merely unearthing the tip of the iceberg. It could certainly do much more. For instance:


    Gear, Gear, Gear, Gear, Gear....


    Whatever doubts Luo Nan had in his mind, he also had the same amount of expectations toward Gear. He knew that this attitude wasn¡¯t healthy, but he couldn¡¯t hold it back anyway.


    The soul suddenly resumed its flying state, elerating in speed. His current connection with the external world became more and more real, and his perception of thete autumn sun as it set and the high-altitude cold winds grew clearer and clearer. So much so that he forgot that he was in the form of a soul. He pumped himself up, yelling to his heart¡¯s content.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t deliberately strike out in the material world, nor did he possess the substantial power to disturb the void, but the incorporeal attack rapidly spread in all directions on the material ne. Luckily, Luo Nan was concealed deep enough on the material ne. He had done something major at a depth unreachable by the overwhelming majority of ability users.


    Even if he had caused a major mishap, Luo Nan was unable to change it.


    He cut into the Pingjiang District of Acumen College in the blink of an eye. Within his mental senses, which had a range of two dozen kilometers in radius, Gear was in distant sight.


    There was nothing else that could attract Luo Nan¡¯s attention beside Gear in this very moment. But the areas within Gear did possess different magnitudes of attraction.


    The moment Luo Nan¡¯s mental senses covered Gear, he locked onto the westernmost area of the building. It was fifty meter deep with a diameter of twenty meters. It was the atrium.


    With a sudden jump, Luo Nan¡¯s soul body cut into Gear and arrived within the atrium. He floated in the center.


    Emotions of urgency and expectation suddenly changed upon his arrival. Luo Nan began to feel nervous. No matter how much he had looked forward to it, no matter how impatient he was, these emotions hadpletely transformed into nervousness. Not a single wisp escaped.


    But the fluctuations of his shifting emotions didn¡¯t affect his perception.


    Within the atrium, the entire structure of Gear guided and developed the chilly flowing energy. It was just like what Luo Nan had experienced that night. Wave after wave umted here. Upon being transferred here in an orderly manner, the flowing energy lost all direction. It turned chaotic.


    A diditata sound cried out here on the mental ne. The sound appeared to possess a clear rhythm, but itcked any direction. It was like abination lock that had been deliberately spun into a mess. It had waited for a sessor who knows the secret toe crack it open. Of course, the sessor also needed to bring a special key.


    Luo Nan¡¯s soul floated above as he suppressed the turbulent emotions in his heart. He earnestly used his senses for a moment, confirming the present circumstances. There weren¡¯t any changes between now and that night, so he would follow the same n asst time. He gave himself a reinforcement and stirred the chaotic flow of energy once more.


    Last time, Luo Nan¡¯s reinforcement appeared as the typical visualization diagram¡ªthe geometric figure consisting of a tetrahedron, inscribed sphere, and outer-scribed sphere. But following the star as transformation of the Format Pyramid, the symbol disyed this time had turned into a whirling neb. Its appearance was substantially different.


    But the effect was the same. They bestowed this space with the impetus of order. The process of cycling eleration began, akin to a particle elerator.


    Once this process started, it was no longer an option to decelerate or stop.


    Luo Nan¡¯s soul floated by itself in the atrium, calmly embracing the crazed scene ofyers uponyers of constraint, rotation, and eleration. He experienced the myriad of curtains of the mental ne flutter, intersectingyers andyers of bizarre information.


    Luo Nan had long known that the mental ne held in his eyes was different from the mental ne held in the vast majority of ability users. Mainstream theory on the structure of the mental ne divided it into three zones, one region, and one realm. It was a simple definition. However, from Luo Nan¡¯s perspective, the mental ne was a deep structure consisting of manyyers of curtains. There were hundreds. Thousands. Tens of thousands. Endless.


    The vast majority of phenomena on the mental ne could be easily exined by the universal theory of the inner world. Inparison, Luo Nan¡¯s perspective was far tooplex. However, Luo Nan had never encountered an exnation capable of describing President Ouyang¡¯s Logic World, capable of being more urate and close-fitting than his ¡¯many curtains¡¯ perspective.


    Yes. Logic World.


    Luo Nan had never stopped thinking about the strange phenomena in the atrium these past two days. He could already feel it. The atrium cyclotron he perceived now was actually a bit simr to the Logic World. At the very least, they were both methods of warping the mental ne. Of course, there were many differences between them.

 Chapter 379: In the Cloud

    Chapter 379: In the Cloud


    Trantor: Strivon


    From Luo Nan¡¯s perspective, President Ouyang¡¯s Logic World was aplex structure channeled through the mental ne. It pulled the distant ne over, forcefully linking it with the material world. It was like casting a fishing line. It appeared to be a very casual action, but its aim and logical nature were extremely powerful. It was just that outsiders had no way of knowing.


    And under the form of the atrium cyclotron, Luo Nan¡¯s bestowed order was the core. Luo Nan stirred hard with his order, causing the surrounding region to warp and weave, pushing outwardyer byyer. It was like holding one end of a bedsheet then twisting and moving it with force. This allowed the other end to whirl along, pushing distances close and far.


    On the other hand, the Logic World had already finalized its blueprints. It was only a matter of building upon them. The atrium cyclotron had to first transform itself from the inside out before ascertaining distance. One was the construction of a house; the other...


    A telescope.


    However, the soul strength was applied differently between the two. The structures and algorithms were different. It was highly likely that the difference in results would be the difference between heaven and earth. Luo Nan had suspected, all this time, that his extraordinary increase in his mental sensing range after that night was due to the telescope structure.


    At the time, as the telescope was gathering information, gradually bing plentiful, the gray-white light spread and weaved on the mental ne. The scene gradually grew concrete, revealing a wonderfulndscape of high clouds.


    But as the perspective of the telescope drew nearer, Luo Nan was still separated from the real environment by ayer. He was stuck herest time.


    It was impossible for Luo Nan to truly touch the cloud world, which he yearned for day and night, just by relying on the telescope structure.


    But now, he had the external neuron.


    The external neuron didn¡¯t have any clear reactions during the initial stages of the telescope¡¯s formation. But the process was influenced by the external neuron along the way. An odd cloak had just formed, already revealing special characteristics.


    Within the high speed revolution of the atrium vortex, the cloak rippled and warped. But it also maintained its inconceivable flexibility and independence from beginning to end, while continuing to disy interference effects toward the mental and material nes. Precisely because of this, the myriad of curtains pping on the mental ne realized a connection with the surrounding material environment through the cloak.


    It was just a little smaller, but it was just like what had happened with the formation of the cloak. A breakthrough was realized. It allowed Luo Nan the ability to achieve a small result simr to the Logic World, a warped independent region existing next to his soul body.


    The problem was that the most powerful attribute of the Logic World still resided in logic, the decisive element in its construction. Luo Nan didn¡¯t possess this sort of logic. Upon realizing interference between the mental and material nes, the relevant region could no longer be considered that of the telescope structure. It didn¡¯t possess order; it was something that was purely superfluous and increased the burden to the soul.


    The cloak turned a bit sluggish in a few seconds. The superfluous structure directly influenced the efficiency of the soul strength conversion rate. As the situation turned serious, the external neuron, which acted as the transformation center, was finally stimted.


    Signs of instability appeared, for the first time, upon the Condensation Ring structure constructed from the external neuron. A line whipped out from the Condensation Ring. It reached out from the core of the Condensation Ring, engaging into a new fabric on the microscopic level.


    This action was donepletely independently by the external neuron. Luo Nan was not consciously involved at all. In fact, the scale of this fabric delved below the micron level, outside the precision of his senses. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that the external neuron and his consciousness were tightly linked together, Luo Nan wouldn¡¯t have even been able to sense the finest details.


    Even so, Luo Nan¡¯s heart gradually turned from pounding emotions to high-spirited ones. Though the fabric of the external neuron was unclear to him, the chilly flowing energy and the changes in the curtains were clear and easy to see.


    As the rotation elerated, the chaotic order from the distortion and interference between the mental and material world began to reveal sections with rules. The corresponding interference power no longer shed and fused against itself. Instead, it umtedyer byyer, revolving and cycling, realizing a certain projection with the telescope structure.


    If the angr velocity of the telescope was considered to be a ¡¯ten¡¯, then the region where Luo Nan could interfere and warp would have an angr velocity of ¡¯one¡¯. For every ten revolutions of the telescope, the interference area would have one revolution. They urately followed a rhythm, but the tempo was gradually increasing.


    10:1, 10:2, 10:3....


    The angr velocity of the telescope was rtively stable, but the angr velocity of the interference region continued to increase. Clear signs were already forming on the material ne.


    Within the center of the atrium, rays of light clearly distorted the void. They cried like the plucking of strings, vibrating without end. If Luo Nan hadn¡¯t angrily destroyed the majority of the lighting monitoring system two days ago, these rays of light would not be hidden from anyone.


    How would Luo Nan have the leisure to attend to this?


    Luo Nan¡¯s soul resided in the core of the distorted void. He experienced the scope and speed of the distortion first hand. The cloak was no longer sluggish, instead it umted astonishing quantities of potential energy with increasing speed. Luo Nan¡¯s emotions were pushed to greater heights as well. He was trembling inside and out, in both body and mind.


    Luo Nan had guessed right. No matter the state of the external neuron, its existence had an extremely important significance toward Gear.


    It was like a key. It was inserted into the keyhole and twisted in ordance with the corresponding rules. The heavy door was slowly opening toward him.


    10:4, 10:5!


    In other words, when the telescope structure, which was driven by his soul strength, made two revolutions, the interference region then made one revolution. Their angr velocities were perfectly rhythmically connected in this moment, and Luo Nan¡¯s consciousness instantly went white.


    Because in this very moment, the piles of gray clouds that had always been in his mind copsed downward without any warning. It was as if the entire sky was falling heavily down upon him!


    Luo Nan only realized it in the next second; the heavens hadn¡¯t turned over. Instead, he had pierced through the cloud-filled skies.


    Heaven and earth had swapped ces.


    Luo Nan crashed in the depths of a few unbounded cloudyers of gray. With the existence of the cloak, Luo Nan still had some real experiences in his perception of the external world.


    Under the backdrop of dull lighting, clouds piled inyers uponyers, mist flew around, and cracks were ground upon in the clouds, revealing a coloration akin to blood. At the same time, a chill was let out, as well as the ear-piercing scream of winds.


    This ce was like a high-altitude region. It was probably the upper troposphere. The air currents were intense and violent, bringing about an endless tsunami of mist. They carried mist, water drops, and ice crystals that rumbled across fiercely and wildly.


    The astral winds split apart the cloudyer at their gaps with their gale. Luo Nan could see a vaster space below the thickyer of clouds. It was like the fields below were covered by a congration. Blood-red light shone through the gaps between the clouds. This was the light that shone upon here.


    "Yes, this is it! This is the ce!"


    Luo Nan looked all around with his eyes. He saw the cloud world that appeared in his dreams time and time again and he was taking in this incredible yet real scene. Even if he didn¡¯t know his bearing, finding it hard to distinguish between east and west, the pressing and wavering emotions that had built up over the course of ten days were finally knocked dead. Like hammering in the final nail, they were mmed to the ground.


    Luo Nan yelled once more, spurred by passion and excitement. This time the cloak lifted mist and ice crystals that rumbled into a gray-white wave of air. But soon, the wave was leveled by the whistling astral winds of the high skies. The wave was destroyed amongst the flowing clouds, disappearing without a trace.


    A portion of the vileness of the environment was seen here.


    Well, it didn¡¯t matter how terrible the environment was. Luo Nan had entered this ce with his soul body. The impact he received was tantamount to nothing. It wasn¡¯t likest time, when he came here confused yet effortlessly in his fleshly body. The fleshly body didn¡¯t have the ability to fly, so he just plummeted straight down from the dusky sky to the ground. He couldn¡¯t help but feel panicked. He braced himself for several dozen seconds as he feared crashing into the ground and being pulverized down to his bones. He could only eject himself out from this world.


    Back then he never thought that it would be this hard toe back inside.


    In any case, it was hard for his imagination not to go wild when faced with this vast expanse ofnd and as he experienced such a strange situation.


    In the final stages, Gear¡¯s atrium transformed from a telescope to aunching silo under the magical effects of the external neuron. Luo Nan had been transported directly to this unknown base, somewhere in the middle of the clouds. God knows how far away he was from Xia City, from Gear.


    A few hundred kilometers? Luo Nan had never heard of such an environment near Xia City. Over ten-thousand kilometers? Well, this was quite a fantasy. This was an arrogance on the level of extraordinary powers.


    It was useless to indulge in flights of fancy. Though this time it was quite difficult to enter, after entering, things became easier thanst time by a thousand-fold. Luo Nan decided to carefully observe everything and collect as much information as possible, so as to provide a basis for subsequent judgments.


    Observation and reconnaissance had always been Luo Nan¡¯s forte. Pure observationbined with the living starry sky allowed for an effective observation radius of over twenty kilometers. Aside from Extraordinaries, whose powers were impossible to grasp urately, Luo Nan¡¯s sensing range was considered to be of the most top-notch category in today¡¯s world. Plus, Luo Nan now understood himself quite well. The moment Luo Nanprehended the principles and applications of the telescope structure, there was a clear target for the channeling of Luo Nan¡¯s soul strength. Luo Nan made conscious calibrations for optimizations as well. There was also a great deal of potential still waiting to be unearthed.


    "Continuing like this, it wouldn¡¯t take too long to observe an area with a radius of twenty-five kilometers... But can anyone tell me where in the world are theyers of clouds in the skies over fifty kilometers in thickness? There¡¯s no end in sight."


    Luo Nan¡¯s faculty of memory was at the peak stage of a youngster¡¯s; his knowledge of geography was passable. He remembered from a previous course that it was impossible for the thickness of a cloudyer to surpass the height of the troposphere. The troposphere was the highest along the equator of the earth at around eighteen kilometers. The troposphere at the poles was around eight kilometers in height. What the hell was up with this fifty kilometers of cloudyer?


    Yes, he had been too cowardlyst time. He onlysted a dozen seconds before he was pushed out. From looking with his irvoyance, he realized that he could have been falling for a full five minutes and still not be out of the thick cloudyer.


    His soul body floated in the middle of the cloudyer, stupefied. At this time, the cloak interfered on two sides, coalescing mist for him. The mist formed a fuzzy outline of a humanoid figure. It was highly likely for this figure to be more lifelike with the passage of time.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t care about this. He felt that something was off.


    The thickness of the clouds needn¡¯t be mentioned. The blood-red color shone for ages, never retreating, within the warped split gaps among the clouds. He had believed that this color was due to a great me burning below, or perhaps the effects of a volcanic eruption. He was prepared to use this to further rify his specific coordinates.


    But right now his mental senses, which he was oh so proud of, weren¡¯t able to sense anything other than the cloudyer, let alone being able to verify the presence of some volcano... In other words, was there really a volcano?


    Luo Nan sank deep into puzzlement.


    He continued observing. The living stars unfurled before him revealing the ecology of this misty area within his sensing range in the form of a simple picture. Several believers, around the core star cluster of the Self-Format, began to disy their effects. But the living beings further away were different from those in the past...


    This was quite an embarrassing batch of living beings. The vastness of the cloud area was inconceivable, but the density of living beings was truly worrisome. Luo Nan was only able to discover a couple of kittens within his sensing range of two dozen kilometers in radius. There were just very few.


    Right, what were they just now? Kittens?


    Before Luo Nan¡¯s thought became clear, a thick sheet of mist exploded silently around a dozen meters away, the smoke dispersing in all directions. A shadowy streak of dark-crimson red out of thin air. Its haste was like lightning as it struck the cloudyer and threw itself toward Luo Nan in the blink of an eye. The thick and solid arm came over like a storm, its sharp ws warping Luo Nan¡¯s perception.


    Boiling killing intent only now exploded in manifestation. A terrifying attack, akin to a volcanic eruption, wasunched not on the material ne but on the mental ne.


    Cmity was on Luo Nan¡¯s doorstep, leaving no room for the workings of thought. Luo Nan could only perform the most instinctive reaction of all. He used the cloak to interfere with the mental ne to the maximum, caring for nothing else, and his soul body simply escaped to the deepest essible depths on the mental ne.


    The fuzzy figure formed from the coalescence of mist shattered to pieces with a rumble, bing water and smoke once more. The attack on the material ne had struck thin air.


    However, the most fatal of attacks stilly within the mental ne.


    Luo Nan had been thinking of volcanoes just now, and right now there truly was a volcanic eruption on the mental ne. It was as if Luo Nan had returned to the very beginning when he had experienced the terrifying might of the Human-Faced Arachnid. He watched the enormous wraith burn and expand in the void as it roared toward the skies. The enormous wraith¡¯s ws came shing over, creating a smoking and ming column, akin to a real volcanic eruption, as it mmed through the cloudy skies.


    The mental ne jolted and shook. The burning demonic ws, full of desire to destroy, chased the tail of Luo Nan¡¯s soul body. The wraith crushed several hundredyers of the mental world¡¯s curtain structure in its wake, moving like a shadow behind Luo Nan.


    Luo Nan could feel the breath of the grim reaper.


    However, the grim reaper¡¯s scythe was unable to hook onto its target. Luo Nan didn¡¯t know just how deep he had dived into the mental ne. He just knew that the burning ws had finally reached their limit after crushing through nearly a thousand curtains.


    No matter how explosive its killer action was, burning and warping most of the mental ne, it was ultimately unable to m its way into theyer where Luo Nan¡¯s soul body was located. It had just missed him by a tiny margin, but this made all the difference.


    And in reality, the powerful attack struck nothing but air. The dark-crimson shadow ignored thews of physicspletely, the figure stopping at will. It was like a steel nail hammered within the clouds. It seized the space where Luo Nan¡¯s mist figure once resided, ring at it with fierce and sinister eyes.


    What was that?


    Luo Nan was both startled and furious. He was stressed way past normal by now. He had relied on the luck of his soul body to escape. If he hade here with his fleshly body, wouldn¡¯t he have been smashed into meat just now?


    No, based on the speed and power of the attack just now, Luo Nan would have simply beenpletely destroyed. Not even a corpse would remain. It was very fortunate thatst time he had not encountered these circumstances. Otherwise, there wouldn¡¯t have been a today to speak of...


    Right now, it was like Luo Nan had entered a wildlife sanctuary. He had sat in a fully-armed tourist bus and had close contact with a dangerous beast, separated only by transparent ss.


    As for the beast, it crouched among the cloudyer, revealing its sinister body. It was probably between five to seven meters in height. This huge discrepancy was due to the beast¡¯s stooped body. Its body was akin to an ape¡¯s; its forelimbs hung down, making it hard to determine its height.


    In any case, it was a giant monster.

 Chapter 380: Forgotten One

    Chapter 380: Forgotten One


    Trantor: Strivon


    The beast¡¯s skin shone with a dark-crimson luster. It had muscles upon muscles, and the very top of them was paved with ayer of fine scales. Its bare skull was wrapped by a thickyer of wrinkled skin. One of its demonic traits was the center of its forehead, which was heavily sunken in. It had two protruding eyes with sangria-red pupils. The base color was a dark yellow, and there was practically no distinction between its mouth and nose. All this formed an over-ripe dark purple area. At that moment, it was drooling. It was ugly and fiendish.


    Just looking at this image, one would certainly believe it to be a Mutant. It was a bit like a gibbon in form, but it was a hundred-fold uglier.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t know if this fellow was part of a discovered Mutant species. In any case, he had no impression at all. He just temporarily named it Mushed Mouth Ape.


    In that moment, the Mushed Mouth Ape locked gazes with Luo Nan with its sangria-red pupils. They were fixed upon him. Though the enemy couldn¡¯t attack him, it was clearly and easily able to lock onto his concrete position on the mental ne. This mere action surpassed the ability of the overwhelming majority that Luo Nan had encountered in his life.


    About a minute passed and the Mushed Mouth Ape probably got bored of the meaningless staring contest. It slowly sunk down with its muscr body, vanishing within the cloudyer. It¡¯s gaze never left Luo Nan¡¯s position until the very end. Its eyes were turbid, but possessed a cruelty and greed only possessed by hunters.


    This made Luo Nan understand that the Mushed Mouth Ape took him to be prey. It had no intention of giving him up, at least within a short time frame. Just give the beast a chance and it would break through the distance of the mental ne and kill Luo Nan without the slightest hesitation. It would tear Luo Nan into pieces, swallow, and digest him.


    A moment of time passed, and Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts were proven true.


    The Mushed Mouth Ape never left. It maintained a high degree of patience and intense desire, constantly roaming in Luo Nan¡¯s perimeter. It began to stir. Once in a while it would make a move,unching tyrannical and overbearing attacks. Although these attacks were unsessful, they were able to apply a good deal of pressure onto Luo Nan.


    Just looking from this perspective, the Mushed Mouth Ape couldn¡¯t be considered an apex predator. After trying and failing at a surprise attack, it turned to a contest of endurance and fixed force. It was a deadly marathon.


    Luo Nan controlled his soul body in the depths of the mental ne, avoiding the range of the Mushed Mouth Ape¡¯s attacks. This was indeed extremely exhausting for Luo Nan. He had to use the cloak to engage in fixed interference at all times. The soul strength consumption was considerable.


    But there was something that needed to be emphasized once more: Luo Nan wasn¡¯t scared of the consumption. He wasn¡¯t scared of the consumption. He wasn¡¯t scared of the consumption!


    Important matters have to be spoken three times.


    It wasn¡¯t easy to move in the depths of the mental ne. The current speed of the soul strength consumption already exceeded the output of the production line, but only by a little. It was like the evaporation of seawater from the sun. The amount was considerable just by looking at its quantity, butpared to the overall volume of the ocean, this little consumption could be neglected for the short term.


    If Luo Nan really wanted to, he could definitely engage in this marathon with the Mushed Mouth Ape for the course of several days and several nights to see who would be the first to fall.


    But Luo Nan wasn¡¯t a masochist. He wasn¡¯t willing to waste precious time on this meaningless cat and mouse game. He observed for half an hour before using all of his energy to elerate, causing his soul body to fly at astonishing speeds and forcefully throwing off the Mushed Mouth Ape¡¯s pursuit. He finally retrieved peace and quiet.


    Though Luo Nan was able to break away from the threat, the cloud area that he was brought to by the external neuron Gear far exceeded his expectations. There was such a terrifying beast residing here.


    During the first half hour of the chase, Luo Nan didn¡¯t merely observe the Mutant. He also used scouting techniques that he had recently learned. He orbited around a core area, weaving in his flight and doing the utmost to expand the range of his senses.


    He was unable to obtain definite data for the moment, but he was able to roughly estimate that the area covered by his soul body¡¯s high speed travel exceeded a dozen thousand square kilometers. This was vast empty space with a diameter reaching a hundred kilometers¡ªthe size of Xia City¡¯s core district.


    Not only was he unable to discover the limits of the cloudyer, his sense of up, down, left, and right became blurry. Only one thing was very clear. There were tracks left behind in this empty region by the Mushed Mouth Ape he had encountered, and the size of this region was equivalent to the Xia City¡¯s core district.


    Luo Nan stopped thinking about how there were a few kittens. Though there were only a few in this hundred kilometer area, these burly, vicious, and tyrannical ¡°kittens¡± were apex predators. Just these few made this space crowded.


    They moved about like lightning, their range of activity was terrifying. Luo Nan tried taking the initiative to lock onto two of them, but was only able to follow them for a few minutes before they leapt out of the limits of his senses. Then a new Mushed Mouth Ape came charging in at the same time.


    Last time Luo Nan was here, he had been free-falling in his fleshly body. He was only here for a dozen minutes. He was able to escape meeting them head on. This was simply great luck.


    Oh, he seemed to have overlooked something... Something that needed to be smoothed out.


    First of all, the encounter at Gear¡¯s atrium with the marvelous external neuron proved that his mother, and of course ¡¯that¡¯ person, hade here in the past.


    Secondly, regardless of how his mother¡¯s future would turn out, they really did escape from this ce unscathed.


    Luo Nan had a rough estimation of the Mushed Mouth Ape¡¯s strength. Just from looking at its attack power, he thought it should be above B rank but not quite A rank. And it seemed that they lived in groups. One might say they were quite terrifying. There were a limited number of simr ces in this world where even Extraordinaries had to make their way around, lest they fall into dire straits.


    Did his mother already possess this sort of power back then?


    Luo Nan was unable to form judgment from the words and writing in his memories pertaining to his mother. He was unable to deny this possibility, yet he was able toe up with other exnations. For instance, the cloud world wasn¡¯t this dangerous back then.


    This thought had popped up in Luo Nan¡¯s mind because he noticed that the only living being flying within the cloudyer were the Mushed Mouth Apes. It was extremelycking in variety. It didn¡¯t really make sense to him, even with his limited knowledge of ecology.


    Even Mutants were a sort of living being. Every living thing needed certain things to survive. Food was the most basic requirement. The Mushed Mouth Ape really did possess an extremely strong hunting desire, but the cloud environment was far toocking in variety. Luo Nan had only discovered this sole species of organism from the beginning until now. There weren¡¯t any other species, and there weren¡¯t any minerals or vegetations highly dense in energy for these mutants to absorb. This ce didn¡¯t possess the basic necessities for life.


    There was more. Even though they kept their distance from each other and maintained vignce, Luo Nan was unable to see any desire in them to ughter one another. Cannibalism couldn¡¯t possibly bemon practice among them.


    Of course, this assessment assumed that the Mushed Mouth Ape was a Mutant¡ªa living being. If these things were merely phantasmal species found only in the most deste of journeys, if these things were could be considered apparitions, than he had no clue on the matter.


    Was this the case?


    The possibility was extremely low. Luo Nan was unable to draw Life Sketches of the Mushed Mouth Ape due to a powerful maic interference. However, the Mushed Mouth Ape¡¯s searing and berserk life energy could not be faked, let alone its true desire to hunt.


    Luo Nan summed it all up and arrived at a conclusion. It was very likely that these Mushed Mouth Apes were affected by special elements, which caused them to recently enter this area.


    For instance, they might havee here chasing prey.


    Aside from its brilliance and skills in its hunting techniques, the Mushed Mouth Ape that tried to kill him had chosen its actions very appropriately. It hunted with prudence and patience. It seemed that it had had much practice. From this, Luo Nan made a simple conclusion. The Mushed Mouth Apes must have a target possessing the following characteristics, at least recently.


    The target was good at moving around the mental ne. It was very likely to possess the ability to interfere with the material world.


    The target possessed a means to counterattack, enough to have these Mutants that were B rank in power suffer a defeat.


    The target primarily moved within the cloud area, but it was very likely to have gone to other ces and thus provoked all of these troubles.


    All right. All of this was definitely true... Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts, which had been somewhat messy this whole time, finally became clear. But once they did, Luo Nan¡¯s first thought was to smack his own face.


    If he had guessed correctly, then the target was none other than someone he had personally thrown in here. It was none other than Snake Tongue!


    Yes. He had quickly entered and left the cloud world on that day via Gear. Luo Nan held Snake Tongue, who suffered from whish after her magical spell, at the time. He had acted in a flurry at the time. He didn¡¯t remember how he had tossed Snake Tongue away. He thought carefully. Yes, it was very likely that he had tossed her away here.


    This seemed to be the case. Snake Tongue was in an astral travel state. The whish of her Nightmare Vine Spell shouldn¡¯t be enough to kill her, meaning that she should have been here for ten days by now.


    Luo Nan was ayman when it came to magical spells, but he did form an understanding of Snake Tongue on that day. He knew that this woman was one of the world¡¯s few experts in spellcasting. Her mind was extremely formidable. No matter how fierce the whish from her spell was, it was unlikely that she was held back for long.


    Following this line of thought, the current situation could be exined quite well.


    Of course, this was pure spection. Maybe there was something hindering his mind, causing a mistake in thinking. Luo Nan¡¯s mind may be acting in a way that defeats its purpose.


    In any case, Luo Nan¡¯s current mood had the first signs of slippage.


    Luo Nan had resolved countless difficulties and finally entered the cloud world. The joyful feelings of aplishment had been utterly destroyed early on by the volcanic attack of the Mushed Mouth Ape.


    But before tidying up his emotions, he thought about the wretched Snake Tongue.


    Just think about it. The cloud world, a mysterious and marvelous ce, was a great secret that his mother had hid for many years. Luo Nan didn¡¯t even have an outline, and he had tossed this wandering soul in here for ten days of torment.


    What if Snake Tongue destroyed an extremely valuable clue? Or what if the clue was deliberately hidden or spread by Snake Tongue? Then what would Luo Nan do?


    The more Luo Nan thought about it, the more anxious he became. Luo Nan resolved himself. He would find Snake Tongue. If she was alive, he wanted to see her personally. If she was dead, he wanted to see... If she was dead, he would need to see some convincing proof.


    Luo Nan thought things over. He chose to follow a Mushed Mouth Ape and spend some time observing it before making a decision.


    However, the shadowing didn¡¯t go smoothly. Luo Nan¡¯s chosen target wasn¡¯t the same one that had acted against him before. He had chosen randomly. The fellow was a bit smaller but as tough as nails. Luo Nan was out of range of the Mushed Mouth Ape¡¯s attack since he resided in the depths of the mental ne. However, the Mushed Mouth Ape was still able to detect him.


    The long period of shadowing made the target react greatly. The Mushed Mouth Ape turned around to chase Luo Nan several times, but every time it failed to touch his true body. This caused it to turn extremely rash. It constantly circled around, refusing to cooperate.


    Luo Nan was annoyed as well, but at the same time he couldn¡¯t help but let out a breath of admiration. It had such keen senses and possessed attacks that oppressed both the material and mental nes simultaneously. The realm essible by the Mushed Mouth Ape was simply that of perfection.


    From the intelligence obtained by the Society, every ability user would always be slightlynted because the natures of their abilities were different. Extraordinaries were an exception to this.


    For instance, the Burners. The Format of Fire was able to strike the Human-Faced Arachnid, a Darksider life form, but it was somewhatcking in destructive power on the material ne. Burners weren¡¯t like the Mushed Mouth Ape. The destructive power was astonishing no matter the ne. There was no clear loss in the conversion of energy.


    As for how the Mushed Mouth Ape was able to do this, how much valuable experience was Luo Nan able to obtain with just a few moments of observation? Luo Nan did have the intention to study the Mushed Mouth Ape deeply, but it was hard to do. He could only drool at the Mushed Mouth Ape¡¯s technique.


    Time passed like this, minutes and seconds ticking away. Luo Nan knew that it would be hard to discover clues pertaining to Snake Tongue if this were to continue on. He was about to change his train of thought, when a bizarre sensation spread over to him from the other side of the void.


    It seemed to be a physical sensation of the fleshly body.

 Chapter 381: Drawing to a Full Stop

    Chapter 381: Drawing to a Full Stop


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan confirmed that the connection between the soul and fleshly body still existed even though it passed through the void. It was just that the distortion was very intense. The connection was weaker than ever before. It waspletely impossible to estimate the distance. Perception details also became problematic.


    Luo Nan was somewhat panicked about the sensationing from over there. Nothing else mattered. He worried the most about his aunt and uncleing home and discovering a corpse on the bed. He would be sent straight to the hospital.


    Even though Luo Nan had a thousand hopes to do a deep search in the cloud world and quickly ascertain traces of Snake Tongue being alive or not, his current life awaited at home. He had to kneel and give up right then.


    The psychic intent stirred, and within the core of the Condensation Ring, the new form of the external neuron broadcasted the corresponding signal. The soul cloak changed its manner of interference and the world changed in an instant.


    In the depths of the cloudyer, the Mushed Mouth Ape, that Luo Nan had been toying with for a long time, was hopping with fury. But the threat that was disturbing it for a while suddenly disappeared without a trace. It was as if the threat was never there in the first ce.


    This Mushed Mouth Ape was stupefied. It circled around in ce for quite a while before angrily leaving.


    Luo Nan returned to the normal world¡ªback to a familiar ce. It was exactly the same asst time. He was in the tree hole of the Withered Tree Sandbar a thousand meters away from the main building of Gear.


    Sure enough, there was a clear and deliberately set method of entering and exiting the cloud world. Luo Nan felt both astonishment and respect to his mother¡¯s design from back in the day. Unfortunately, this son was unfilial, having casually thrown trash into the cloud world and causing an incident.


    The sensation with his soul and fleshly body was much clearer now, and Luo Nan knew that it was just a false rm. His aunt and uncle hadn¡¯te home. Instead, his wristband was vibrating. Someone was trying to contact him.


    However, if it were his aunt and uncle calling him, it would be quite the headache.


    The wristband couldn¡¯tpare to the HexaEar. It didn¡¯t possess the telepathic function to answer a call from eighty kilometers away. Luo Nan knew that he had to go home. He made a circle around the tree hole, reluctant to part, and flew straight into the air. He felt Gear in the distance using his senses once more before soaring away.


    Luo Nan set a new record in astral travel speed on his way back. It took him only four minutes to travel eighty kilometers. This meant that he had maintained a speed of 1200 kilometers per hour. He was infinitesimally close to the speed of sound.


    Actually, it wasn¡¯t impossible for him to reach the speed of sound. It was just that Luo Nan didn¡¯t know what would happen to the external neuron if he were to break the sound barrier. So he acted with caution. He would experiment when he had the leisure.


    Luo Nan returned home and hurriedly checked the iing call. His soul easily returned back to his body, merging with it as one. Only then did he realize...


    The external neuron!


    The thought barely stirred but only then did he discover that the external neuron had returned to the depths of his head. It had even transformed back to its original form of a long thread of lightning. It spiraled and wound, forming the vehicle for the God Gear structure. It supported the vast ocean of soul strength.


    How very automatic! If the Condensation Ring structure hade in instead...


    Luo Nan shook his head in a fluster, getting rid of the thought of water entering his brain. He stood up and shook his neck then looked at the caller ID on the wristband.


    It was impossible for Luo Nan to have picked up the first call. The caller had called two times before stopping. Luckily, it wasn¡¯t the people he was most worried about, his aunt and uncle. Instead it was someone familiar but unexpected.


    Luo Nan blinked his eyes. It was actually Mo Han, also known as Sister Pomegranate, ranked 16th among the younger generation of his aunt and uncle¡¯s family. Luo Nan dialed back, his heart full of suspicion. Mo Han picked up the phone quickly, saying, "Hello, hello." She was in a very noisy environment.


    "Pom... Sister Han, I was taking a shower just now, so I didn¡¯t have my wristband on me. Were you looking for me?" Luo Nan forcefully swallowed some dangerous words and smoothly uttered out some lies. He adopted the persona of a good boy.


    Mo Han changed the environmental mode on her wristband and her voice became clear shortly after. Her mood seemed decent; she didn¡¯t bicker about whether Luo Nan telling the truth or not. She giggled and said, "I just confirmed with Peng 17. I will be there tomorrow night at seven on the dot. Little Nan, be prepared to receive me."


    "Tomorrow?"


    "Isn¡¯t it tomorrow?"


    Fuck, I forgot about this tormenting matter!


    Luo Nan gaped with his mouth, but the words of refusal never came out. Mo Han was a lively and swift girl. She was the middle child in the Mo Family, and she took Luo Nan to be a little brother to a certain degree. She even visited him in the hospital after the matter at Frost River Reality...


    Speaking of thest time at Frost River Reality, why wasn¡¯t this sister even the least bit scared?


    Ah, that¡¯s right. Their group of people were brought to the police station early on. Their impression of that night was merely that of a group brawl. There was a degree of separation when it came to finding out what happened through the news.


    And so, was Luo Nan the only one with a mental shadow?


    With feelings of absurdness, Luo Nan ended the call with Mo Han and gave Mo Peng a call. He hit Mo Peng with a question as soon as the call went through. "What the hell is with your endlessly expanding gaming team?"


    Mo Peng shrieked from the other end, "You think I want her toe? We¡¯re clearly trying to get a group date going! Pomegranateing along is the same as giving the rest of our family a pair of eyes to watch us! So you need to quickly find someone. Find a hot handsome man to distract her! You can¡¯t let her get in the way of our brotherly n!"


    "n your little sister!"


    "I don¡¯t have a little sister. Find my older sister."


    Luo Nan thought about Mo Ya, who was just about to head away again, and he immediately shivered. He spoke without a hint of politeness, "How many people are you bringing over? Which idiot spilled the beans?"


    "Uh, you totally got me."


    "..."


    Luo Nan was so stupefied by the current situation that he wanted to cry. He simply hung up the phone and looked at the time. His aunt and uncle would be back home any minute. It was a bad time to go astral traveling again. He had to wait until night before making any further decisions.


    He had drawn his soul body back, but Luo Nan¡¯s mind was still on the cloud area. He diligently pondered over how to quickly survey the geography and sky-shape to find Snake Tongue. He didn¡¯t have a clue for a time.


    Luo Nan thought for a long while before changing angles. He remembered that there was a very important problem.


    Where in the world was the cloud area?


    Boundless thick clouds beyondmon sense. A burning red glow that circted between the cracks of the clouds. Powerful Mushed Mouth Ape flying back and forth... Every element was extremely distinct, but they were like a randomly drawn mask when gathered together. They were hard to distinguish.


    These elements, which constituted a mask, went against the logic of reality. So much so that Luo Nan was even considering that the cloud area might be a ce not of earth but of a fantasy world.


    Luo Nan decided not to think about this idea of a fantasy world; he had to ponder the question from a realistic and observable perspective. He wouldn¡¯t mull over the thickness of the clouds, nor would he focus on the source of the bloody glow. He started from the Mushed Mouth Ape as he had observed it the most.


    The Mushed Mouth Ape was undoubtedly a Mutant species. They had the tendency to gather, and they possessed powerful strength. ording to Luo Nan¡¯s knowledge, high level Mutants¡¯ territorial instincts were quite powerful. Only a few of them were this powerful and formedmunities, and the area where they resided was rtively fixed.


    If Luo Nan could discover the real name of this species, there was a very high chance that he could determine where the cloud area was in this world.


    Luo Nan gave it a shot. He took the image of the monster, turned it into a telepathic signal, and searched for it on the Psychic Wave Network. But he wasn¡¯t sessful. There clearly wasn¡¯t any publicly avable information.


    Luo Nan had the idea of looking up ssified information, but this would be much more troublesome. Right now the Xia City branch was gradually putting into practice a ssified system. One must apply for permission to ess ssified material and use relevant resources.


    Aside from an extremely small number of special material, the requirements weren¡¯t that high, but there would be ess records left behind for future recourse.


    It was said that this ssification of the database was done after the branch exchangedrge amounts of intelligence with the military. This was certainly done in ordance with He Yueyin¡¯s style. No matter what other people thought, He Yueyin was slowly but surely changing the way ability users of Xia City did things.


    Luo Nan passively applied for the smart search service, but he suddenly came to his senses and canceled the application.


    He was being somewhat selfish. He wasn¡¯t willing to divulge too much information about the cloud world... After all, he himself had yet to figure out his mother¡¯s legacy. Was it any good to make it known to everyone?


    The more Luo Nan thought about protecting his mother¡¯s legacy, the more Snake Tongue¡¯s existence became a thorn in his mind. In any case, Luo Nan had to find that witch as quickly as possible!


    Luo Nan nearly headed back to Gear filled with killing content, but reason ultimately prevailed. He couldn¡¯t go and resolve these issues before eating dinner, and so he forced these thoughts back down.


    Luo Nan needed to adjust his mood. He thought for a bit, and applied for the privileges to ess the database. He borrowed material, such as "The Great Encyclopedia of Mutants: Inner World Edition" and a few other resources in the form of images and writings pertaining to Mutants. He even fetched the video material of the mid-level training sses fromst year. These were supplements to the teaching materials and notes that Papercut had sent him.


    Until dinner was over, Luo Nan had to stay at home and act like a good boy. Using the precise and flexible Dripping Sword was actually a great way to pass the time.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t deny it. He now had very special feelings toward the Dripping Sword. The Condensation Ring was truly a great achievement, let alone the Dripping Sword itself and its efficiency.


    It drew from the external neuron to form a backbone structure in converting soul strength to interference power, thereby forming the Soul Cloak. The Soul Cloak gave him the choice of applying the interference direction toward either the mental or material ne. It liberated Luo Nan from his frail fleshly body. Needless to say, Luo Nan had quite the feelings after entering the cloud world.


    Once a person develops an intimate attachment to a certain technique, they also develop an amble drive. At first, Luo Nan only practiced the technique as a way to pass time, but then he started really studying it, and his level was subconsciously rising.


    It was just that working on the core of the Condensation Ring¡¯s structure was the same as perfecting something that was already outstanding. The few auxiliary structures also had to be carefully pondered. Speaking of which, Luo Nan was very curious. After the external neuron has a ¡¯divine rebirth¡¯ into the Condensation Ring, is it possible to add on auxiliary structures? If it is, then what sort of state and effects would ur?


    As soon as these thoughts formed, Luo Nan simply entered the out-of-body state, and the Condensation Ring structure manifested from the void of his consciousness with a slight stir of intent. The structure was carved into the void, while the external neuron leaped out to follow the structure and wind itself into the form, seeming to possess intelligence.


    Because the process was extremely short, Luo Nan found it hard to distinguish whether or not his consciousness was directly controlling the external neuron as it formed the Condensation Ring.


    There was more. Luo Nan was able to faintly sense a subtle feeling from the center of the hollow structure of the Condensation Ring. It was from the cyclotron eleration back within the atrium of Gear. It was the structure of the key that opened the door to the cloud world.


    Holy cow! It had a memory function!


    Luo Nan was truly convinced.


    The structure in the center of the Condensation Ring was already below the nanometer scale. It was impossible for Luo Nan to study it with his current ability. Waves heaved in his mind twice before he returned to practicing the Dripping Sword.


    Luo Nan first experimented. He took the three auxiliary structures of guiding, distancing, and elerating and probed their characteristics. He pieced these characteristics together to discover more about the structural design of the Dripping Sword.


    The distancing structure could be considered a regtor. It ensured that soul strength maintained continuity and stability in long-distance applications.


    The elerating structure was like the nitrogen oxygen eleration system of a modified vehicle. It was responsible for explosive eleration in bursts.


    The guiding structure affected micro-operations. It increased the degree of sensitivity for operating the main structure.


    The three structuresplemented the basic Condensation Ring. Every time a structure was oveid, the Condensation Ring would find an increase in both controbility and explosive power. As for the sharpening and exploding structures, these could be considered attack modules. They mainly acted upon the coalesced water bead. Luo Nan had yet to experiment with them.


    Luo Nan was really worried that the Condensation Ring would reject these auxiliary structures after seizing a ¡¯divine rebirth¡¯. So he cautiously made room to try it out.


    The early stages went well. The new version of the Condensation Ring easily epted the few auxiliary structures. Although there were differences between the new and the old, control went rather smoothly.


    But then right before he could feel delight, Luo Nan saw the Condensation Ring branch out with lightning. The lightning gushed into the three auxiliary structures and could only circte for half a cycle before the auxiliary structure totally copsed. It was hard for the structures to endure the lightning.


    "Huh?" Luo Nan actually didn¡¯t feel any frustration when faced with this scene. He only felt a sense of familiarity.


    Wasn¡¯t this situation exactly the same as when the external neuron first joined with the Condensation Ring? Luo Nan thought about the minute structure in the core of the Condensation Ring. Could it be? The new version of the Condensation Ring still had extra energy to also give the auxiliary structures a ¡¯divine rebirth¡¯?


    Luo Nan carefully sensed the entire process of the auxiliary structures¡¯ annihtion. He knew the scene well, and he couldn¡¯t let the external neuron take all the me. Actually, these few auxiliary structures were quickly made in practice. They weren¡¯t formed in careful polish like the Condensation Ring. The structures were far too rough, and their stability was insufficient. There was leakage everywhere as soon as the lightning channeled through them. There was no value to using these structures as models of reference.


    In other words, to let the external neuron be a pampering uncle, Luo Nan would need to take these auxiliary structures and carve them with the utmost care. He had to make them beautiful and bright in order for it to work.


    What defects these were!


    Cursing was cursing. Luo Nan more or less expected this. This sort of precise and delicate painting style was really in line with his aesthetics. If he could really do it, wouldn¡¯t the end result be a Dripping Sword structurepletely built from the external neuron?


    Metal... Oh, actually Luo Nan didn¡¯t know what strange material the external neuron was made of. It wasn¡¯t really metal, but its pliable, tough, solid, and mable constitution was like the sword-balls of novels.


    It would be great fun to bring it out against an enemy. The enemy would believe it to be merely a bead of water, when actually it was a solid kernel. Its prative and destructive power would be increased by tenfold, no a hundredfold.


    Uh, Luo Nan still needed to ponder over it some more. The external neuron was a very precious item. What if some almighty person takes it after he throws it out as a hidden weapon. Luo Nan would really find death to be preferable if that were to happen.


    Luo Nan began a new round of practice with his mind tangled in these emotions. The five auxiliary structures far couldn¡¯tpare with the Condensation Ring in terms of theirplexity. But to reach the required level of exquisiteness and precision was something that requires arge amount of hard practice.


    Luo Nan¡¯s greater brilliance and fortune whenpared to othersy here. His first step was to create the ¡¯blue-grade¡¯ or ¡¯purple-grade¡¯ Condensation Ring and use them as reference temtes and as standards. The external neuron after a divine rebirth was the same as having a carrier and a test instrument that would never suffer from wear and tear.


    The few auxiliary structures were allcking in terms of precision. None of them could pass Luo Nan¡¯s subconscious standards. Even if one could fool past Luo Nan, the uncle that was the external neuron would feel that the quality of the housing was not enough. Lightning would burst forth from the structure, and the defective product would immediately disintegrate.


    This was a grindy process. Luo Nan original intent was to pass the time until dinner, but he never thought he would waste so much time on these structures. Except for dinner time, Luo Nan spent four or five hours all the way until his evening session trying.


    There was no other way. When one¡¯s brain was excited, one¡¯s focus was heightened. It wasn¡¯t easy to reverse direction.


    And so, in this devil-like period of concentration, Luo Nan¡¯s two days of closed-door cultivation drew to a full stop.


    End of Book 7

 Chapter 382: A Large Tonic (Part 1/2)

    Book 8: The Hunt


    Chapter 382: A Large Tonic (Part 1/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan wasn¡¯t doing very well mentally the next day. He sat in the ssroom, dispirited. It was as if his brain had dozed off during ss. Half of whatever the teacher said didn¡¯t even enter his ears.


    Xue Lei was only able to meet up with Luo Nan before the third ss that day. He was very surprised by Luo Nan¡¯s state. "You broke your routine?"


    "I was up all night," Luo Nan answered tly.


    He practiced the Dripping Sword all the way until midnight. Then, after his night session, he couldn¡¯t control himself and re-entered the out-of-body state. He walked through half the district, entered the cloud world from Gear, and continued the search for Snake Tongue. He was bing more and more familiar with the environment there.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t obtain anything useful from his search. He didn¡¯t sleep the whole night. Instead, he tormented himself going back and forth. He could have became a lot more than just dispirited.


    Xue Lei was a clever person. His first response was, "Did you push back your morning and night sessions?"


    "I didn¡¯t," Luo Nan rolled his eyes and yawned.


    Xue Lei spoke very seriously, "It doesn¡¯t matter that you did your sessions on time. Energy, blood, temperature, and consumption are veryplex in their cirction. It¡¯s very demanding on your body for you to be ying around like this. At least half the efficiency is lost."


    "Then what should I do? Maybe I should just sleep during ss. Can you keep a look out for me?"


    "...All right."


    Luo Nan tapped him, "You¡¯re a bad friend!"


    Luo Nan¡¯s head was already buried into his arms before Xue Lei could retort. A few breaths passed, and Luo Nan was asleep.


    Honestly, Luo Nan had experienced far too many unexpected changes even though he never stepped a foot out of his home thest two days. He had taken in far too much information and learned far too many things. His brain was already at its limits. He really couldn¡¯t take much more. In any case, this was a general ss - such a huge auditorium gave him the best cover.


    Before falling asleep, possibilities of being awakened during his sleep shed within his mind. For instance, Xue Lei calling him, Peony calling out to begin a search mission, a call from the Society, and so on...


    But it was hard to predict the future in this world. What woke him from his sleep wasn¡¯t any of the above elements, but rather a stimtioning from the mental ne. It came from a ce that was seemingly close, yet ungraspable.


    "The Wraith Sign?" Luo Nan¡¯s mind grasped the most crucial element, but before he could really understand this thread, a searing sensation suddenly exploded. The sensation followed the invisible connection on the mental ne, rumbling as it struck the God Gear.


    The situation was akin to a meteorite plummeting through the sky and mming atop a vast ocean cier. The God Gear shook greatly, upheaving massive waves of soul strength. Several tidal surges were instantly formed, and they came pouring down.


    "Whoa!"


    Luo Nan was truly caught off guard, but the frame of the God Gear, constructed from the external neuron, remained quite stable. However, the feeling of pain and danger brought upon by the impact was true and real. Luo Nan screamed, and every single one of his muscles tensed, then exploded forward. His entire body jumped into the air.


    Luo Nan¡¯s knee mmed against the bottom of his desk. The desk and chairs of the auditorium were fixed against the ground. Luo Nan¡¯s entire body crumpled into the shape of a shrimp after therge bang. He hugged his knee, sitting back down.


    This gave Xue Lei, who was beside him, a scare. Xue Lei¡¯s first reaction was to jump over and act as a shield - he believed that Luo Nan had suffered from an assassination attempt from Headquarters or another organization of simr power. He had to prevent a second attack fromnding.


    The auditorium went quiet, and the lecturer on stage spoke coldly, "What are you two doing?"


    The low murmurs that had filled the auditorium rapidly grew into an uproar ofughter in the next three seconds. The ssroom discipline copsed in an instant.


    As one of the best schools in Xia City, Acumen College was never a ce where one could spend their days in leisure, but the ssroom discipline didn¡¯t go as far as to be like the military. Acumen College¡¯s method when dealing with rambunctious students was to penalize them with point deductions on exams for conduct and stringency.


    For students like Luo Nan, who disrupted the auditorium or Xue Lei, who had jumped up in a manner as oppressive as a mountain. Not simply letting the de fall and kill the chicken to warn the monkey was simply unfair to the ss at hand.


    The lecturer on stage was a middle-aged woman in her forties. Her facial features spelled good-nature, but her expression turned callous when taking in Luo Nan and Xue Lei¡¯s unruly behavior.


    "Get off. I¡¯m fine!"


    Luo Nan struggled free from Xue Lei¡¯s grip, enduring the pain in his knee. This was none other than the scene he saw when he stood up. Luo Nan was more weary than ever. His reactions were quiteckingpared to how he was usually, leading him to be slow at speech. Luo Nan could only remain in his dumbfounded stance. He could do nothing else.


    Xue Lei was more or less the same as before. He had yet to switch out of his bodyguard role!


    At this moment, the young female teacher¡¯s assistant walked over to the lecturer¡¯s side. She whispered a few words, and the middle-aged female lecturer¡¯s anger was seemingly mollified. The lecturer said coldly,


    "Can the two students please stand up."


    Luo Nan and Xue Lei nced at each other before standing up obediently.


    "Your names."


    Both Luo Nan and Xue Lei had epted their fate. The spoke their names with their heads lowered, their voices a bit muffled.


    The female lecturer didn¡¯t care. She merely said, "You two students. If one of you isn¡¯t feeling well, you can go to the infirmary. Get treated as soon as possible. There is no need to affect the other students during ss."


    "Yes, yes, he¡¯s gone a bit hysterical. I¡¯ll take him right away..." Xue Lei finally came to. He simply ad-libbed a story of Luo Nan being a mental patient with him as his assistant. He helped Luo Nan step down the stairs as the group of studentsughed.


    Luo Nan¡¯s knee really was injured. He limped as the two left the auditorium in a sorry manner, neither of them daring to raise their heads.


    Right as they left, Luo Nan¡¯s dazed mind recovered. He noticed something. The young teacher¡¯s assistant who talked to the lecturer, was actually someone familiar.


    Tian Si.


    Luo Nan and Tian Si never made contact after the incident at Ocean Sky Cloud City. Luo Nan assumed that Tian Si needed some time to sort out her emotions, but he never thought that they would meet again in such circumstances...


    It was an inappropriate time to say hello. Luo Nan and Xue Lei hurried away, but the end-of-ss bell rang before the elevator could reach them. Luo Nan only realized it after Xue Lei - this was the final ss for the morning.


    This fact really hurt Luo Nan. It wasn¡¯t worth causing this much trouble for the sake of a few minutes.


    Luo Nan¡¯s wristband vibrated at this time, revealing the caller ID.


    Luo Nan answered the call in a hurry, "Senior Sister Tian, thank you for just now."


    The caller was none other than Tian Si. Her tone was graceful and calm, like a friend who one often had contact with, "It¡¯s nothing. Professor Wu has a good character. She asked for your names, but didn¡¯t scan through the ss system. She just wanted to give a warning. Otherwise, you would get points deducted due to conduct."


    "That was thanks to Senior Sister¡¯s help. Let me treat you to a mealter."


    Luo Nan had spoken without thinking, suddenly feeling that his words sounded very familiar. It seemed that he had said such things more than once in recent days. Actually, this was quite normal. His interpersonal rtionships became moreplicated as his social circle increased in size. It was inevitable for there to be social niceties. What else could he say besides words like these?


    The moment that these thoughts formed in Luo Nan¡¯s mind, Tian Si sighed quietly and said, "It¡¯s just a small matter. If you¡¯re thanking me like this, how can I thank you?"

 Chapter 383: A Large Tonic (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 383: A Large Tonic (Part 2/2)


    Trantor: Strivon


    Oh right, this was in line with the perspective of a victim from Ocean Sky Cloud City...


    Though these were Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts, Luo Nan felt quite affectionate when he heard Tian Si¡¯s sigh. His mind became much more lively and quick-witted than usual. He immediatelyughed and said, "Then Senior Sister can take me out for a meal as well."


    Tian Si responded extremely quickly, "Tonight?"


    "Tonight?" Luo Nan started, "Tonight I have an event..."


    "Really?"


    Suspicion could clearly be read in Tian Si¡¯s tone and perhaps even a bit of disappointment as well. This made Luo Nan feel quite embarrassed.


    The gears churned in Luo Nan¡¯s brain, and he suddenly came up an idea, "Oh, that¡¯s right, why don¡¯t youe tonight as well, Senior Sister?¡±


    Tian Si was surprised, "You¡¯re inviting me?"


    "Yes, actually you know everyone who¡¯s going. It¡¯s Mo Peng, Mo Peng...Remember them?"


    "They¡¯re your cousins, right? Last time at Frost River Reality..."


    Her voice suddenly dropped, while Luo Nan¡¯s brain was bing more and more perceptive. He knew that Tian Si was afraid that things would be awkward. After all, thest outing was actually meant as an chance to establish rtions between Luo Nan¡¯s third older cousin, Mo Qiu, and Tian Si. It seemed that such an oue did not ur and would certainly not happen in a second attempt.


    Well, such a slip was inevitable with Luo Nan¡¯s level of socialmunication ability. He really didn¡¯t know how to remedy the situation, but Tian Si chuckled and said,


    "All right then. I¡¯ll just bring along Tian Qi - he¡¯s closer in age with you all. Last time he had a decent time. I heard that he still keeps in contact with your family."


    "Oh, so such a thing was happening." It didn¡¯t matter whether Tian Si was telling the truth or not, as long as she didn¡¯t mind going. Luo Nan let out a breath of relief. Such ns, from his perspective, could be considered as killing two birds with one stone.


    Mo Han and Mo Peng were both devil incarnates. There should be some older people around to give them pressure. From their experience of the get-together with Tian Si and Mo Qiu, the inclusion of Tian Si would create an awkward atmosphere. Let¡¯s see how those two fellows will deal with this!


    Uh, weren¡¯t these thoughts of Luo Nan a bit despicable?


    Luo Nan ended the call with Tian Si and shook his head. His thoughts took another turn, his expression darkening. Tonight¡¯s event was a small matter. The exceptional power and its information that the Wraith Sign just transmitted over was the crucial problem that needed to be understood.


    It stood to reason that the Wraith Sign still resided within the Bloodme Order. People let it ¡¯graze¡¯ everyday; they let it consume other Human-Faced Arachnid clones to strengthen itself. In the objective of city safety, the Wraith Sign was simply a top notch street cleaner.


    Such actions by the Wraith Sign had brought on quite a bit of trouble to Luo Nan in the past. It imbnced the road of between his body and soul, making it a longer walk.


    However, ever since Luo Nan built a clear-cut frame of body and soul¡ªthe coupled rotation of the God Gear and Bloodme Order¡ªthe negative effects brought upon by the sudden hunt and consumption of the Wraith Sign grew smaller and smaller. Luo Nan was more than happy to let it reside in the Bloodme Order, so it could collect bits of secret information.


    But in that very moment, it could be said that the explosion on the mental ne was the most intense impact that Luo Nan had ever received from the Wraith Sign.


    ording to Luo Nan¡¯s estimate, the fluctuations from the turmoil in that very instant spelled the Wraith Sign encountering a powerful foe. The Wraith Sign had unleashed its full power and had emerged victorious. It ate its fallen foe, causing an impact that was akin to a meteor striking the earth.


    The true intensity of the linksted only an instant. Luo Nan didn¡¯t have the time to see it; he missed it just like that. Then there was the awkward event in the auditorium, which distracted him. By the time Luo Nan had the leisure to pay attention to what was happening with the Wraith Sign, the Wraith Sign had already calmed down.


    Luo Nan was only able to see the Bloodme Order¡¯s herder from the Wraith Sign¡¯s perspective. It was none other than Elder Mo Lun. He was in the form of a soul, appearing as a body of ck smoke. He flew with haste, and Luo Nan could see that his smokey body, which was hard to pick out, was unstable. He was in a sorry state, having likely been injured.


    Luo Nan had looked up information on this Elder Mo Lun recently. He knew that Elder Mo Lun was a backbone force of the Bloodme Order. He dual-cultivated in the very rarebination of spellcasting and martial arts. At his peak, he was an existence that made even Extraordinaries raise their eyebrows.


    It must be stated that Elder Mo Lun wasn¡¯t even sixty; he was in his robust years. He should be at his peak. Unfortunately, he had received a critical internal injury during the division of his Order. Things were no longer smooth for him. It became even harder for him to break through the boundary to be an Extraordinary. His bodily functions rapidly declined, causing him to rely on spellcasting techniques to support the organization.


    Though these were Elder Mo Lun¡¯s circumstances, Elder Mo Lun was able to suppress an elite of the Society, Mr. Bai. He was quite amazing, really pushing Mr. Bai into a sense of urgency. The martial power from the ignition of life force and the summoning of the Bloodme Will was extremely terrifying.


    So therein lies the problem: who was able to injure this experienced B-rank ability user? Back then during their encounter, He Yueyin had relied on the Psychic Wave Network to summon a long-ranged attack from President Ouyang - even that attack didn¡¯t result in this much damage.


    If the enemy Elder Mo Lun encountered really was on President Ouyang¡¯s level, then it would be impossible for the Wraith Sign to prevail inbat, let alone consume the enemy.


    Right, so then what did it eat?


    Luo Nan¡¯s God Gear structure was gradually stabilizing, but it was still affected by the impact. The vast ocean iceberg¡¯s water level continued to sharply increase, along with a wonderful sensation of a sudden rise in temperature. Luo Nan observed this for a moment, and he discovered that there were two different sources of force shing in conflict. They affected each other.


    "Clearly the Wraith Sign hadn¡¯t swallowed another clone of the Human-Faced Arachnid. It had swallowed something else, and the difference in nature was quiterge. Much effort was required to digest it after the forceful consumption..."


    Luo Nan made a series of reasoned assumptions, but he wasn¡¯t able toe to a conclusion.


    It must be known that the thing understood as the Wraith Sign possessed a nature of chaos. It moved purely based on instinct. It only lives in the present, possessing zero concept of past or future, let alone relevant memories. Plus, Luo Nan didn¡¯t know how to examine the memories of his believers. Even if he did know, he wouldn¡¯t be able to begin. He could only stare nkly at the stealthy escape of Mo Lun and the Wraith Sign.


    There wasn¡¯t anything he could do. He just set a reminder with the Wraith Sign. He would immediately shift his consciousness over whenever a significant change urred with it. He wanted to rify the situation.


    Lunch time was extremely tight yet precious for Luo Nan and Xue Lei. Naturally, they would politely decline going to the school hospital. After Luo Nan¡¯s knee clotted up, the two ate lunch and went to their midday sses.


    Luo Nan was currently cultivating in the eyes¡¯ orifice. Now there was the addition of the mouth and tongue orifice, the inner organs needed to be attended to as well. His cultivations required more time. After everything was done, he had only a moment to nap. He closed his eyes for what felt like a blink and it was now time for ss. It was hard for him not to feel emotional. Yes, it could be said that he had someints.


    "Three sessions. One in the morning, one midday, and one in the evening. It¡¯s not easy to stick with this schedule. The time in a day is split into three sections by the three sessions. It¡¯d be great if I can concentrate fully on cultivation, but a minor change can make it hard toplete just two sessions..."


    "So do you know why many martial artists like to go into seclusion upon reaching a certain level? It is to avoid being disturbed by the external world to the greatest degree. In any case, since you¡¯re cultivating in this world, you will be influenced by the turbidity of it. How can you expect to keep the working routine and have everything be smooth sailing? However, you must not use these words as an excuse."


    "I know already discipline, brother!" Luo Nan groaned. He stretched on the electric shuttle, the bone, flesh, and tendons of his entire body crackled as they tightened.


    The restlessness didn¡¯t go away, and the vast ocean iceberg was a bitcking in stability due to the rising temperature. However, when it coupled with the Body Gear, the interference power formed was much more livelier than before.


    Luo Nan proceeded with his midday session of cultivation. He felt the heartntern burn luminously, his spiritual pond overflowing along with the rise and fall of his vital energy. It was as if a stream was formed from the spring sun thawing snow. It seemed warm yet cold, and the stream would wrap around the inner organs. The refinement process became three times more effective, having been nourished by the stream.


    This was the sign of that the mouth, tongue, and eyes orifice working together in harmony. Luo Nan originally felt that he needed ten days to achieve this -- he never thought he would have results so soon. Not even three days had passed.


    Luo Nan couldn¡¯t avoid thinking about the rge tonic¡¯ that the Wraith Sign had consumed, and wondering if it was corrted.


    From the signs that were present over Luo Nan¡¯s body, Xue Lei nodded over and over as he heard them, "Tempering the fleshly body is indeed the entry way. We will practice sanshou, Chinese boxing, this afternoon and exchange some blows."


    Luo Nan shot a nce at Xue Lei¡¯s arm, which could be a match for his thigh in size, and didn¡¯t continue with this topic. He just asked, "Tonight at therge activity area. Frost River Reality. You¡¯reing, right?"


    Xue Lei obviously wouldn¡¯t refuse. He even reminded Luo Nan, "Don¡¯t cause trouble. Make sure you go home early."


    "Make what trouble!" Luo Nan shrugged, "All right, then let¡¯s first meet at Gear."


    "First practice sanshou," Xue Lei emphasized again.


    "I have ss today."


    "Isn¡¯t ¡¯Notes on the Major Characters of the World¡¯ the only one left?"


    "It¡¯s a new ss," Luo Nan blinked. He reached a hand to grasp the air. A small bead of water was in his hand when he opened it again. It appeared to be stuck to his palm, but it was actually floating. It whirled and spun.


    There were only two more courses for school in the afternoon. They involved writing, and Luo Nan wasn¡¯t really interested in them. He didn¡¯t pay much attention to the specific details during ss. He just made subtle movements with his fingers, causing the small water bead to revolve between them.


    This water bead wasn¡¯t the external neuron in the form of a divine rebirth. It was coalescedter. The total set of the Condensation Ring and the five auxiliary structures roamed around his fingers. It was like a dull de shing against his skin, yet it looked like it could crumble at any time.


    This was not a misconception. If Luo Nan were to brush the water bead with force from his fingers, then the result would simply be akin to detonating a bomb at his fingertips. He would suffer some.


    Luo Nan¡¯s physical control was quitecking. He would certainly suffer a setback if he exceeded the time limit. The better method of training was to rely solely on using the mind to control. It was one of the small skills for daily cultivation that Her Majesty Empress Wu had taught in Xia City branch¡¯s mid-level training course. However, Luo Nan¡¯s mind wasn¡¯tpletely focused on it right now.


    After the Wraith Sign sent the signal to Luo Nan, the unlucky Elder Mo Lun experienced an hour or so of torment in his escape before finally returning to a secret rest point. He began tomunicate with others.


    He was at arge fitness center of a senior member¡¯s suite. The interior decoration of the room was mostly in a mauve color, and the lighting was a bit dim, bringing a bit of an exotic atmosphere.


    Aside from the two wooden chairs in the corner, most of the space in this decently sized room was filled with exercise equipment. There were yoga mats, treadmills, bicycles, ellipticals, and so on. There was even a small swimming pool in the corner. Elder Mo Lun¡¯s fleshly body was already there. He sat naked and cross-legged in the swimming pool.


    But Mo Lun¡¯s soul didn¡¯t return back to its body. Though returning back to his body would aid in the recovery of his injured soul, it would also make his fleshly body worse with its hidden injuries. Mo Lun could only endure it for now.


    Mo Lun¡¯s soul just floated in the center of the room with the Wraith Sign at his side. Of the two wooden chairs in the room, one of them was left unused. It was left for Mo Lun. It was a disy of respect even though he wasn¡¯t sitting in it.


    There were six people gathered here, core members of the Order who had received the information. Having seen each one of these people on and off over the past month through the Wraith Sign, Luo Nan was able to recognize and identify all of them.


    The person who sat in the other wooden chair was the current First Otum of the Bloodme Order¡ªLady Halder.

 Chapter 384: Bloodflame Order

    Chapter 384: Bloodme Order


    Trantor: Strivon


    Lady Halder was a woman who gave off a deep impression. Luo Nan wasn¡¯t the sort to be good at recognizing people -- being a homebody and all -- but he was never able to forget her from when he first saw her.


    Yes, Luo Nan was forced to admit that Lady Halder had an excellent figure. She was in her forties, and right now she wore a wool-knitted dress of deep violet. The stockings of the same color was the perfect match for her ck suede high heels. She donned an easy-going hair bun atop her head with a few locks of hair falling down the sides of her forehead. She was graceful yet decisive, like a dame who has been of eminent status for a long while.


    She possessed facial features that were a bit western, as well as a still and secluded gazeing from deep eye sockets. A strange and slender blood mark could be seen on her right cheek, giving her a callous and unyielding aura. She appeared to be more like a long practiced and sessful career woman upon deeper inspection.


    Indeed, she was a business queen in the normal world. The high-grade fitness center where everyone was at was one of her businesses. She inherited the Citadel Financial Group from herte husband, rapidly expanding the business over the past ten years. The Citadel Financial Group owned the shares of several well-known fashion and exercise brands. In the domain of entertainment and fitness, she held a shocking influence that grewrger time and time again.


    Luo Nan had looked up her information before. Lady Halder was a legendary person in Xia City. During the dark era of the Bloodme Order with their internal divide, the First Otum at the time retreated during the chaos that stemmed from a sh of doctrines. This lead to the Order¡¯s sacrificial vessel to be destroyed, causing irreparable damage to the Order.


    During this matter of life or death, it was none other than thisdy who cut down the skull of this First Otum, her predecessor and her husband. She was able to resist the fierce whish from the Bloodme Will thanks to her absolute conviction. Within the raging blood-me, she seeded the throne to be the First Otum. She relied on her rapidly expanding financial resources in the normal world to stabilize the Order during its weakest period, forcing this branch of the Bloodme Order to continue on.


    The bizarre mark of blood on her right cheek was the remnant of the Bloodme Will¡¯s ultimate ordeal. It was evidence of her hair-raising achievement from the past.


    She was famously known as the ck Widow in the inner world, having decapitated her husband. She was infamous, but her prestige was unparalleled within this branch of the Bloodme Order. Practically everyone was overawed by her unyielding nature and her iron blood. Mo Lun, an elder, was extremely respectful to her.


    Right now only Lady Halder was sitting down in the room; everyone else was standing. Second Otum Yin Le, who Luo Nan had once crossed paths with before, was leaning against a treadmill down the corridor in the neighboring room. Her bodynguage expressed that she was at great ease..


    She started out as Lady Halder¡¯s crucial secretary. Though she no longer held a position in the financial group, she was the person in charge of the Frost River Reality project, as assigned by the financial group. The position was humble yet important in the normal world, and within the Bloodme Order, she was one of the sessors who Lady Halder paid great attention to.


    In addition to Yin Le, there was a muscr man standing respectfully by Lady Halder¡¯s right side. He too was a critical character in the Order. His name was Meng Chong, and he was a trusted agent who had followed Lady Halder since the beginning of her career. He once served as captain of security.


    There was unreliable intelligence that he was Lady Halder¡¯s lover, but above all, none could deny that Meng Chong was powerful. He was the only person to survive the ultimate ordeal of the Bloodme Will in this branch of the Bloodme Order, aside from Lady Halder and Elder Mo Lun. It was reasonable to say that his body contained monstrous power, but he was extremely low-key. He never participated in any rankings. It was hard to determine an urate assessment of him.


    There were three other people. One was an old man with a rather pedant air. He was another elder of the Order, Elder Jiang Yuanzhen, and he was proficient in the original doctrines. He was around a dozen years older than Mo Lun, but he was more of an expert in theoretical work. His qualifications in the order were slightly worse than that of Mo Lun.


    Jiang Yuanzhen used to be y the schrly-grandpa role, but his status in the Order waster raised by Lady Halder. Though he was useless in terms ofbat power, his and Mo Lun¡¯s existence made this branch of the Order give off some ¡¯orthodox¡¯ ambiance during the present era of destroyed sacrificial vessels and shes of powerful ideals.


    This old gentlemen was currently the most worried out of all them. What he worried wasn¡¯t the injured Mo Lun, but the candidate for bing the sacrificial vessel, the Wraith Sign. Of course, they called it the ¡¯mold¡¯ in the Bloodme Order.


    "How is the mold? Mo Lun, do you have any confirmed news? What the hell did you do?"


    Jiang Yuanzhen expressed himself in a very impatient yet lost manner. He was a standard theorist, while his innate supernatural power ced him on the level of C- rank.


    The Order had performed observational experiments on the Human-Faced Arachnid. Under normal circumstances, a clone of the Human-Faced Arachnid resided on the boundary zone between the abyssal region and the absolute realm of the mental ne. This was a domain that only Extraordinaries or a B-rank ability user specialized in mental sensing was privileged to. It was absolutely impossible for the typical ability user to even perceive it. The Human-Faced Arachnid only approached the material ne when it sought to capture its prey.


    Actually, in the strict sense, there wasn¡¯t anyone currently in the Bloodme Order who fulfilled either one of those criterion. Lady Halder had used a special channel to obtain the herding technique. It was this technique that allowed them to capture a Human-Faced Arachnid clone and create the mold for a sacrificial vessel from it.


    Within the core characters of the Order, only Lady Halder, Elder Mo Lun, Second Otum Yin Le, and Ren Hong were able to utilize this powerful technique. None other than these four people could see the Wraith Sign under normal conditions.


    Mo Lun couldn¡¯t stand the old fellow. He was unwilling to respond. Lady Halder didn¡¯t volunteer to respond either, as she was deep in thought. Yin Le, on the other hand, was just about to respond, but Ren Hong, who stood close to Jiang Yuanzhen, opened his mouth a step earlier.


    "Old Jiang, the mold is very normal right now. It is digesting its food, and the structure of the Bloodsoul Temple is bing moreplete. The sound of the Bloodme is extremely clear."


    Ren Hong was very close to Lady Halder in age. He was in his forties, and he had a very ordinary appearance, but his words and actions were mature and proper. Normally he hid the key facts, like not showing the mountain nor revealing the water. But when he preached, he possessed quite an inciting power. He was a backbone of the Order, purely relying on the business of the Order to rise up. He often discussed theories and preaching methods with Jiang Yuanzhen, so they had quite a close rtionship.


    Jiang Yuanzhen didn¡¯t have any apprehension with Ren Hong. At his age, he treated Ren Hong like a little kid. He grabbed Ren Hong, like how one would snatch a toy, and said agitatedly, "Let me hear! Let me hear!"


    Ren Hong gave Lady Halder a helpless nce. Lady Halder¡¯s eyes were slightly closed, a sign of approval.


    "Don¡¯t take too long!"


    Ren Hong gave him a warning before grabbing Jiang Yuanzhen by the wrist. He adjusted the frequency of the soul strength fluctuations and drew Jiang Yuanzhen¡¯s soul strength within. He acted as an amplifier, allowing Jiang Yuanzhen to be able to hear the sounding from the depths of the mental ne.


    "Blood! Blood! Blood!"


    "me! me! me!"


    The impetus and monotonous sound continued on without end. It was like a gradually rising tform. It pressed from the mental ne, pilingyers uponyers with no signs of stopping at all. Yet, because ite from nothingness, there was always the risk of copse. Hearing this sound for too long would cause the inner organs to spasm and contract.


    But Jiang Yuanzhen listened to this sound with great ease, as if he was listening to nature. His eyebrows were raised high fromughing so hard. "Oh man, oh man. It¡¯s like the mold ate arge tonic pill. The Bloodsoul Temple¡¯s two thousand one hundred and twenty steps, the Bloodme Dao. Right now there¡¯s..."


    "One thousand seven hundred and fifty-five steps," Ren Hong confirmed the number instantly. Then he said, "Time¡¯s up."


    "What, so fast?" Jiang Yuanzhen wanted to act dumb, but Ren Hong gently yet firmly rejected Jiang Yuanzhen¡¯s request. Ren Hong even pulled some distance from Jiang Yuanzhen. Jiang Yuanzhen wanted to continue to pester him for a moment, but Ren Hong used his eyes to remind Jiang Yuanzhen that the First Otum was present.


    Jiang Yuanzhen was hand-picked by Lady Halder. He was scared of her. His cheeks twitched, and in the end, he didn¡¯t drag the issue. He turned to give Lady Halder a smile, then he raised a finger as he did some calctions. "Last time Mo Lun notified the number of steps to be one thousand five hundred and sixty-nine. Oh man, one hundred and eighty-six steps in an instant?"


    Yin Le added, "Old Jiang, there was another sessful huntst week that wasn¡¯t announced. There were already one thousand six hundred and five steps at the time."


    "One hundred and fifty steps is far too much. Especially since the final part of the Bloodme Dao urs after the one thousand six hundredth step. Though these steps can¡¯tpare to the veryst one hundred and twentieth steps, the Blood Altar...it isn¡¯t easy to build these steps... What in the world did the mold consume to possess this much energy?"


    If Luo Nan hadn¡¯t been spying on the high-levelmunications within the Bloodme Order through the Wraith Sign recently, then he would have certainly been confused about the whole ordeal going on right now.


    Actually, the so-called Bloodme Dao was the Bloodme Order¡¯s quantitative measure of the Bloodsoul Temple imnted within the body of the Human-Faced Arachnid. It was divided into six levels with every four hundredth step forming a section for the first five stages. The final stage of ascension consisted of thest one hundred and twenty steps.


    Though this was a quantization, there were visual associations to these steps.


    The hell-like structure ofva that was internalized within the Wraith Sign had its center built uponyer byyer. They looked like mountain peaks formed from the piling of cooledva. The mountain peaks rolled and turned and consisted of many pores from the mountain rocks. Magma trickled in and out from within; a molten river that constantly changed the terrain of the mountain.


    But no matter the changes, there were majestic and marvelous structures separated by the varying heights of the mountain. Some were pces, some were caves. They were structures of the mountain,bined together into one whole.


    This was the embryonic form of the Bloodsoul Temple. There were buildings formed everywhere, representing thepletion of the fourth stage. The following fifth stage was the formation of an altar at the summit.


    The sixth and final stage was none other than thest hundred and twenty steps -- the Blood Altar. Through the Blood Altar, the Bloodme Will would be internalized into the entire mountain, forming theplete Bloodsoul Temple.


    Luo Nancked a deep understanding of secret orders, but just by


    looking through his senses, the whole process seem to be quite ordinary with its gradual advancement. Aside from grazing, the endless sacrificial offerings, refinement, and both mysterious and intrinsic magics embodied the Bloodme Order¡¯s umtion of power.


    Jiang Yuanzhen was an internal member of the Bloodme Order. He didn¡¯t look at things as simply as someone like Luo Nan might. Jiang Yuanzhen was constantly worried about the Bloodsoul Temple. "The first two-thousand steps are fine. It¡¯s thest hundred and twenty that are the hardest. Just based on the size of our Order right now, giving sacrificial offerings day in and day out is still somewhat a strain. If only we could have more offerings like this..."


    Ren Hong concurred, "That is so true. The Order of Justice started earlier than us. It is said that they¡¯ve sent a Human-Faced Arachnid clone to their headquarters even before the incident with An Weng. In other words, it is very hard to gatherplete Human-Faced Arachnids no matter how much one herds in Xia City. It is hard to avoid asking others in order to allow the mold to grow. Currently, it appears that the mold¡¯s ability to devour has some considerable room to grow, which is good."


    Yin Le was a bit more pessimistic, "It is still difficult to judge on a case-by-case basis."


    Jiang Yuanzhen¡¯s hands pped together, "We need to ask Mo Lun. This time was dangerous, but to truly seek a road to aid the blood sacrifice requires endless beneficence."


    As his voice fell, a mass of light and shadow unfurled out from the center of the room. Mo Lun hadn¡¯t been part of the conversation, but he was able to have the core members of the Order understand his current situation through an image. This image was formed by first transforming memory into energy and information that could be read by special equipment. The special equipment then transformed it into an image.


    Mo Lun¡¯s act of recreating memory appeared to be a simple action. In fact, it was nothing for someone like him: a profound researcher of the mind and soul. Mo Lun¡¯s powerful and efficient skills made Luo Nan feel rather inferior.


    The changes of light and shadow were the re-creation of Mo Lun¡¯s experience at the time. It was hard to avoid the processing distortions caused by the subconscious thanks to human beings¡¯ thought characteristics, but this re-creation was still good enough to be used as a reference.


    The scene of the incident was very familiar to Luo Nan. He thought carefully for a bit, then he was able to recognize that it was the recycling stratum of the Dual River District. Gangs were rampant here, and negative emotions were aplenty. This was the most optimal ce to be for a Human-Faced Arachnid.


    Mo Lun briefly introduced the background. He transmitted his voice directly via thought using the mental ne. Due to the mental connection between Mo Lun and the Wraith Sign, Luo Nan was able to hear Mo Lun clearly.


    "Back then I was just doing the routine hunting rounds when the mold suddenly became very excited. I thought it had found prey, so I immediately approached. But all I saw was a bird..."


    "It can¡¯t be a bird, right?" Jiang Yuanzhen wielded his age to speak quite casually to Mo Lun.


    Mo Lun didn¡¯t bicker with him. He just responded normally, "Actually, I discovered it wasn¡¯t a bird when I got closer. It was a Winghand Bloodbat."


    Winghand Bloodbat!


    Actually, Luo Nan was already stupefied when he saw the image. Mo Lun¡¯smentary just confirmed it for him.


    It truly was a Winghand Bloodbat. Luo Nan had participated in the Trigate Security meetingst week, and this Mutant was the first thing they introduced. Luo Nan¡¯s impression still ran quite deep. He knew that this thing possessed a highly infectious virus of the mutation type. With the virus, it can even control living beings and Mutants. The Winghand Bloodbat was an extremelyrge threat. The premium for this thing out of Trigate Security¡¯s offered rewards was ranked among the best.


    This can¡¯t be a coincidence, right?


    Luo Nan found such an amazing coincidence hard to ept. However, he found it even harder to imagine that this sort of dangerous Mutant still had different channels to enter and leave Xia City so easily. If so, then the world would truly have a crisis on its hands...


    If the Wraith Sign had truly devoured one of the targets mentioned by Trigate Security, would there be anything left over of the Winghand Bloodbat? Trigate Security¡¯s had said to capture them alive or to see proof of its death. They emphasized this as the utmost importance!


    Well, whether it be the Wraith Sign or Mo Lun in his out-of-body state, they both hung about on the mental ne. Even if they killed a Winghand Bloodbat, they wouldn¡¯t be able to take the dead body with them.


    Luo Nan immediately became excited. He stared at the scene of the light and shadow, trying to find surroundingndmarks to confirm the location.


    However, as Luo Nan carefully observed the continuous re-creation of the scene through light and shadow, he felt that something was off. Yet, he couldn¡¯t pinpoint exactly what it was.


    Jiang Yuanzhen was quite astonished, "Was it really a Winghand Bloodbat? How did it enter the city? The city defense forces must have gone blind... Oh, it seems that there¡¯s something different with this one?"


    Mo Lun responded, "Actually, there are some differences between that one and the variety in the Wilderness. I¡¯ve been suspecting that this thing isn¡¯t really a Winghand Bloodbat."


    The image of light and shadow gave them all a close-up view. Immediately, whether it was the core members of the Bloodme Order or Luo Nan located a couple districts away, everyone was able to see the problem.

 Chapter 385: New Species

    Chapter 385: New Species


    Trantor: Strivon


    "It¡¯s way too thin!" Jiang Yuanzhen was the one who spoke again, and his words were spot on.


    This Winghand Bloodbat was thinner than the ones Luo Nan had seen in video by a factor. Though it had been a few days, Luo Nan still remembered the material provided by Trigate Security. There was a scene where countless Winghand Bloodbats were flying around under the setting sun. They weren¡¯trge in size, but each one of them were savage and burly canine beasts. Their ws were sharp, their muscles bulged and their skin was smooth, for theycked hair. They were darker in color from normal bats, but one could tell their strength from how hard they could p their wings. Just one nce would tell anyone that the Winghand Bloodbat wasn¡¯t a beast to be trifled with.


    However, this Winghand Bloodbat encountered by Mo Lun appeared to have had development problems. Its wingspan was twenty centimeters at most, and it was withered and thin. There was only its eyes, blood-red, giving off an air of extreme madness.


    It wasn¡¯t even eleven-thirty in the morning when it happened at the recycling stratum. The sun was pretty much at its peak, the time when its light covered the most area. This Winghand Bloodbat fluttered between the light and shadows formed by the sun. It made a bizarre sound, ¡°bb¡±, as it pped its webbed wings.


    It was in breeding season ording to Trigate Security¡¯s data. It obviously wouldn¡¯t be able to find the same species of the opposite sex within the scope of Xia City. This made it all the more impatient. Perhaps it was none other than these emotions that attracted the Human-Faced Arachnid into considering it a target. The Wraith Sign immediately pounced over in the same impatient manner.


    Unfortunately, these two vicious creatures weren¡¯t dealing with the topic of breeding, but rather in a battle between life and death.


    A normal person would at most see the shadow of a bat spiraling in the sky. They were unable to see the deeper mysteries, but with the light and shadow, Mo Lun¡¯s memories at that time were recreated. The level of detail was quite rich.


    This was also Luo Nan¡¯s first time seeing the memories of an ability user on the mental ne. He was unable to take his eyes off of them.


    The sh between the two sides exploded in an extremely direct manner.


    The Wraith Sign revealed its Human-Faced Arachnid body, a treacherous form with six eyes and eight legs, and it unleashed a chaotic and berserk mental attack. The Winghand Bloodbat reactions were a bitte, but its counter attack was also quite fierce. It didn¡¯t use its ws or any material weapons. Its pair of blood-colored eyes just darkened, and a bloody mist surrounded its body. A thousand human faces could be seen within this storm of mist, as well as aberrant specters woven within. The scene was treacherous and savage.


    Such a scene was far beyond everyone¡¯s expectations. Though Jiang Yuanzhen knew that this was a mere recreation of the scene, he still let out a gasp over in the gym.


    The perspective drew close, making it apparent that Mo Lun was extremely startled at the time. He had subconsciously drew closer for observation.


    The Wraith Sign revealed inconceivable battle instincts. When faced with the bloody mist, it instantly withdrew its explosive mental attack, and the void around its body warped. Perhaps it was due to how much the Bloodsoul Temple had formed within it; this was a sign of interfering with the material world.


    Its momentum appeared to have weaken, but its mysteries were boundless, and it sought a distant victory. It was simply like a miniature ck hole.


    The sh between the two sides proved this: the bloody mist collided along the edge of the warped space and warped involuntarily, losing the imposing me-like vigor. Instead, the bloody mist became trapped. It was being consumed. Not much remained after a breath¡¯s time.


    As for the Wraith Sign, its demonic body expanded by a factor. Luo Nan believed this to be the exact moment when the Wraith Sign sent over the ¡¯meteor¡¯.


    By this point in the situation, it was practically the Wraith Sign¡¯s overwhelming victory. However, no one ever expected the Winghand Bloodbat to counterattack when it had already lost most of its bloody mist. It invoked its savage nature, and its thin-as-bones body suddenly expanded. It bulged into a sphere, and it exploded without giving the Wraith Sign a chance to react, bloody fog spraying everywhere.


    A shiver ran through the hearts of all witnessing the scene, and including Luo Nan. In his eyes, what had exploded wasn¡¯t a single Winghand Bloodbat, but a million of them.


    This bloody fog made even the frontal Wraith Sign retreat. It simply fled to the depths of the mental ne, hiding for now.


    But Mo Lun was too close. The bloody fog sprayed him head on, instantly causing his perspective to shake. His internal energy became chaotic, and the image ended here.


    "So it turned out to be trouble not of one¡¯s own making," Jiang Yuanzhen sighed, waving away his nervous emotions. There was a bit of self-ridicule in his actions, but soon he said, vexed, "I even thought about going to the Wilderness if the Winghand Bloodbat was useful and just kill a bunch of them. They¡¯re just as effective as blood sacrifices, but I think I¡¯m wrong after looking at that scene for so long."


    He was indeed wrong. Everyone present was a veteran ability user, having gone to the Wilderness several times -- at least a dozen times each. The Winghand Bloodbat wasn¡¯t a rare species. Everyone had encountered them before. However, they never expected Mo Lun¡¯s memories to be like this. Just based on the bloody mist attack, they were able to see that something was wrong. As for the direct suicide bombing attack, not even a veteran B-rank ability user would walk out unscathed.


    "Is there anything left of it?" Lady Halder cut into the conversation, causing the gym to instantly enter a serious state.


    Mo Lun understood Lady Halder¡¯s intentions. She was saying whether or not there were any samples remaining of the attack that injured him. In general, this was a very difficult thing to capture, but Mo Lun said,


    "Yes."


    An extremely fine silk-like bloody line seemed to manifest out of thin air as he spoke. It was sent from Mo Lun¡¯s soul, and it was disyed before everyone¡¯s eyes.


    The bloody thread was only a millimeter in length, but it was incredibly thin. It resembled a severed spider silk, were it not for its bright and bloody nature. Someone like Jiang Yuanzhen, who had old eyes, might¡¯ve not be able to see it clearly.


    The characteristics of the bloody line were very strange. In the few seconds it was revealed before everyone¡¯s eyes, it seemed to expand a bit, elongated a bit, and even wiggle its tail end. It was like a living insect.


    Mo Lun spoke of what he observed of the bloody thread recently, "I am unable to define how this thing exists for now. It appeared within the Winghand Bloodbat¡¯s body, but right now it also exists on the mental ne. It is endlessly consuming and paralyzing my soul body, and it is rapidly growing stronger..."


    As he continued to search for words to describe it, Lady Halder already had a few words that said it all, "It¡¯s biological fission reproduction. It¡¯s a type of mental microorganism or perhaps, a virus."


    Jiang Yuanzhen smacked his chin, "Human-Faced Arachnid!"


    Everyone understood what he meant. Yin Le subconsciously straightened and said, "It sure is alike. Could it be a Darksider life form? A species we haven¡¯t discovered yet?"


    Darksider life form?


    Luo Nan, who could be said to be an excellent listener, became interested in an instant. This thing is a Darksider life form? If that¡¯s true, then its the second type he¡¯s seen with his own eyes.


    Luo Nan had researched the Human-Faced Arachnid quite a bit these past times. He looked up the Society¡¯s internal archives in detail, but he didn¡¯t find many results. Darksider life forms, or Darksider species, were new concepts. They haven¡¯t even been known for two years yet. There wasn¡¯t aplete system formed, so the avable data was pitifully small.


    Luo Nan suspected that he could write a few papers based on his understanding of the Honor Society, listing out several phenomena. He could totally submit them to top journals within the Society and make honor points until his fingers bled from typing.


    So in the end, he still had to rely on himself.


    Luo Nan observed the blood virus and discovered that it was quite different from the Human-Faced Arachnid. It was just as Mo Lun said. This thing¡¯s had quite an ambiguous position. It shifted back and forth between the mental and material nes. In essence, because of its living environment, in the border between the mental and the material, it could be considered as an ¡¯amphibian¡¯.


    From what Luo Nan observed so far, the root of its developmental growth was all in the mental ne. It didn¡¯t have the function to draw nutrients from the material world.


    But it was incapable of submerging into the depths of the mental ne. Following the customary division of the mental ne -- Three Zones, One Region, One Realm -- this thing only had activity on the upper-most part of the shallow zone. It was like a mosquitorva on the water¡¯s surface, but Luo Nan was uncertain what would happen as it split and reproduced. After all, it was able to harm Mo Lun, but it was not done solely based on skill.


    Luo Nan was able to detect that as the mental ne released the blood virus, the Wraith Sign, which was recuperating in the depths of the mental ne, suddenly stirred, its attention alerted by instinct. However, perhaps it saw how weak this thing was, how it wasn¡¯t evenrge enough to get stuck between its teeth, and it lost interest.


    Perhaps it still needed to be cultivated?


    Luo Nan studied the blood virus, and the others weren¡¯t idle as well.


    "Is it a parasitic species as well?" Ren Hong tried to determine, "If so, then that Winghand Bloodbat was an injured host? Was this sort of parasitic rtionship chosen at will or assigned?"


    He probably just wanted to express his thoughts, but the meaning behind his words was like a gust of wind that blew through the room, causing the atmosphere to be ice-cold.


    With theplexity of Mutants and the pitiful level of research that humanity uncovered, it wasn¡¯t an odd thing to discover a new species out of nowhere -- especially a Darksider life form that leaves neither trace nor shadow.


    However, the fact that it was parasitic made people quite unhappy.


    Within the study of Mutants, parasitic and symbiotic rtionships were actually quitemon. In the most crazy era of mutation, arge number of insects and microorganisms on this suffered from the warped mutation, evolving simr abilities. They brought about terrifying chaos for a time.


    People often said that the emergence of ability users in the new era was the product of a parasitic or symbiotic rtionship. They said that special viruses had entered host cells, causing mutations. However, this sort of theory was hard to ept. Human beings, as a species who possessed higher intelligence, were instinctively disgusted by this threat to their self-awareness.


    "Nine out of ten Darksider life forms are parasitic. There is nothing to be said."


    Lady Halder ignored her instincts through her powerful will. She paid heed to the moving blood virus before her eyes, carefully observing it for a period of time. Then she softly said, "The blood essence of the fleshly blood drives the viral replication on the mental ne. This sort of interference method appears to be berserk, but in fact it is precise and mysterious...is it hard to get rid of?"


    "It shouldn¡¯t be hard for me as long as I¡¯m careful. It will take a few days, but if we want to increase the number of specimens, then we will need to continue observing it."


    "How¡¯s the situation now?"


    "I¡¯ve already arranged for people to handle the scene, but given its nature, I have yet to begin collecting samples.¡±


    "You will apany me for the trip back to the scene of the incident."


    "Yes."


    There was no room for anyone else to interject within this conversation between two core members of the Order. Lady Halder only changed topics when the n was made, "Based on Mo Lun¡¯s state, he will not be doing any herding for the short-term future. We need to choose a candidate. Let¡¯s discuss, people."


    Everyone¡¯s expression turned solemn.


    This was a very realistic matter Lady Halder spoke of. The founding ceremony of the Bloodme Order was on December twenty-first. There were only forty days left and the mold of the Bloodme Order had entered its fifth stage. Things were going smoothly, but progress could not be interrupted.


    Actually, with the ebb of the incident with the Human-Faced Arachnid, as well as the continual hunting operation, it became harder and harder to find a clone of the Human-Faced Arachnid in Xia City. Just a moment of ease would likely cause irreparable consequences to the sacrificial vessel.


    Why was Lady Halder interested in the parasitic life form in the Winghand Bloodbat? It was because she saw a possible alternative in it.


    But before she could confirm the feasibility of this n, there was very basic work that had to bepleted.


    Jiang Yuanzhen coughed. He took advantage of his age to take those somewhat significant yet had-to-be-considered matters and spoke out, "Four herders have been designated with the herding technique that we possess. Aside from Mo Lun, there is our First Otum and our two Second Otums. We have three options to choose from, but the First Otum needs to make preparations for the ceremony. She has to harmonize frequencies with the Bloodme Will every day. It¡¯s hard for her to attend more than this task. That leaves our choices to be two, Yin Le and Ren Hong."


    "Who do you choose?" Lady Halder asked directly.


    "Ren Hong." Jiang Yuanzhen responded in a very decisive manner, casually ncing at Yin Le as well. "Yin Le is running around handling external matters everyday. She¡¯s very busy. How can she have the time to herd?"


    Yin Le smile wryly and bowed. She didn¡¯t disagree with this old man.


    Jiang Yuanzhen¡¯s thought process was as followed; Second Otums should put their full focus in doing their tasks for the Order. The business battlegrounds were something only a professional could handle. The old gentlemen gave Yin Le quite some face in this regard.


    "Ren Hong?" asked Lady Halder. She seemed to have muttered these words to herself, but yet she seemed to be asking.


    Ren Hong was a bit uncertain of her intentions, but he still spoke with a lowered head, "I am willing to take up this duty for now. I will follow whatever the First Otum arranges."


    Lady Halder didn¡¯t express an opinion towards this. She continued to name, "Meng Chong."


    Meng Chong replied honestly, "I¡¯m not an expert. I don¡¯t have an opinion on this."


    "Yin Le?"


    Yin Le was a person involved. She could only say, "I¡¯ll follow the boss¡¯s orders."


    She acted in ordance to her habits formed from serving as a secretary. She didn¡¯t call Lady Halder ¡°First Otum¡±, but rather, ¡°Boss.¡±


    Lady Halder swept her gaze across everyone in the room. In the end, she rested her gaze on the one who had yet to speak. She asked, "Wu Kui?"


    Wu Kui was a normal man who could disappear into a crowd at anytime. He had a short and stout figure, and he gave off zero sense of presence. Luo Nan¡¯s long period of observation yielded no information on what the heck this person did. Luo Nan had no idea why he was a core member of the Bloodme Order.


    He spoke in a manner that was uncharacteristic as usual, "First Otum, you decide."


    Luo Nan had seen such a scene many times before. The Bloodme Order¡¯s decisions were decided by Lady Halder¡¯s words alone. Aside from Jiang Yuanzhen, who purely did research and theory, no one had any thoughts of their own. In the end, these were just words for show. The others typically didn¡¯t have their own opinion.


    Except for Mo Lun...


    Mo Lun suddenly interjected, "I feel that there¡¯s something off. The matter with harmonizing the Bloodme Will doesn¡¯t involve only the First Otum but Ren Hong as well! Right now he is the main force in sermonizing. The forty year ceremony of founding is at hand. He needs to participate in the series of advance ceremonies. This cannot be avoided."


    Jiang Yuanzhen retorted, "In the end, he isn¡¯t the First Otum. He should be able to squeeze out a bit of time."


    "The problem lies with the Bloodsoul Temple upon entering the fifth stage. It has already established a connection with the external world. It is more susceptible to interference from psychic waves. The ceremonies at hand will involve powerful psychic waves and the harmonization of the Bloodme Will. These things will likely affect the growth of the Bloodme Will¡¯s structure. Even if the direct consequences are hard to determine at this time, do we need to brave this danger for the sake of blood sacrifices?"


    Jiang Yuanzhen¡¯s expression changed slightly as he listened. He immediately changed his stance, "We have to prevent this!"


    Lady Halder gave a slight nod, "Then it¡¯s Yin Le."


    A bunch of words had been spoken, but in the end it was Lady Halder who made the final decision. And Mo Lun was always the one to provide her with the best justifications.


    These were the rules when the Bloodme Order discussed official business.


    Lady Halder turned her eyes to Yin Le, "The founding ceremony is on December twenty-first. Nothing must be lost. You can have someone take over the work you have on hand for these few days. Hand them all over. Have less things on your mind. I will assign Meng Chong to follow you. You must do things in a foolproof manner."


    There was no one who offered any further opinions. Yin Le walked forward, nodded in agreement, and said, "Yes, Boss."

 Chapter 386: Super Accurate

    Chapter 386: Super urate


    Trantor: Strivon


    With matters over the Bloodme Ordering to an end, Luo Nan couldn¡¯t help feeling vexed. Right now he was on a wild ride that was bing increasingly impossible to get off.


    Luo Nan could see the exceedingly strong determination of the core members of the Bloodme Order; they rushed to reconstruct their sacrificial vessel for the founding ceremony. From a freakbination of factors, the Wraith Sign reced their original mold. This was an irreversible process.


    If Luo Nan were to retrieve the Wraith Sign at this time, the Bloodme Order would be a giant enemy. Only death would be able to reconcile the animosity between them, but the situation would only stay stable for fixed period of time if he allowed things to continue on like this. He would have to retrieve the Wraith Sign sooner orter, and the longer he dragged it on, the bigger the headache.


    Or the Bloodme Order could let the Wraith Sign go free, but how was that a possibility?


    Luo Nan threw these annoying problems to the back of his head for now, and he recalled that Lady Halder wanted to go back to the scene for re-investigation...Luo Nan wanted to go as well!


    Even if the Winghand Bloodbat had been blown to smithereens, the tiniest of clues could serve as a great aid for his reconnaissance work with Trigate Securities.


    Luo Nan strove to recall the video data, searching for the corresponding area. With the luck of having the Inte search function from the information age, as well as the support of the HexaEar¡¯s consciousness search function, this mere impression of his memories soon returned results.


    Luo Nan felt the results weren¡¯t enough. He utilized all hiswork privileges, using the real-time street view mode of the Psychic Wave Network. He mobilized public cameras for further confirmation.


    The social order of the recycling stratum was an utter disaster. Many of the cameras were destroyed there, but Luo Nan was able to stitch together images after spending a bit of time. He found the area where the incident most likely took ce, and he discovered a harsh stain of blood over there.


    There was a person around there taking pictures at this time, acting very carefully.


    This was the ce! ording to what Mo Lun¡¯s on words, Mo Lun had already arranged for people to handle the scene...yes, this old man was quite annoying. He did things meticulously.


    Luo Nan wanted to be the first the savor the meal, but his luck was terrible.


    He looked at the time. His first round of sses were ending soon. After ss, he would find a quiet ce to enter the out-of-body state and astral travel. It would only take him two minutes to get to the River Wu District...


    Luo Nan¡¯s n was an excellent one, and the preliminary work was in ce as well. However, the biggest ¡¯boss¡¯ at the moment wasn¡¯t being cooperative. Atop the stage, the schrly instructor for the writing ss said, "Let¡¯s not end ss yet. Let¡¯s do an in-ss exercise for the following time. Basic character analysis."


    ...Teacher, just let me astral travel!


    When faced with the writing session ss continuing, especially when it was for a pop-quiz, Luo Nan wanted to kneel in defeat. He couldn¡¯t even ¡¯sleep¡¯ on his desk if he wanted to.


    What should he do?


    With how seriously shrewd Lady Halder was, there wouldn¡¯t even be scraps left over when she was done with the scene.


    Luo Nan¡¯s mind was a mess, but the teacher didn¡¯t care at all. The teacher simply tossed out the requirements for the writing exercise. The goal of the exercise was character analysis. There was a series of requirements that the student had to follow with their own words. The very first requirement was quite simple.


    Describe someone who gave you a deep impression, and make sure you know enough about this person. Loved ones, friends, and students are all fine. Began by describing their appearance.


    Of course, this involved a series of details such as the facial structure, mouth, nose, eyes, eyebrows, and so on. All of these were required for this exercise.


    The amount of options Luo Nan would have had two months ago were far fewer than today. It was much easier for him today. He brought out someone who he interacted with the most and stuck fairly close to normal convention. Xue Lei was his writing subject.


    The writing teacher must have had a voyeuristic desire. Next he wanted a series of information that included the address, health status, family, education, love (marriage) history, religious orientation, actions, and mindsets.


    In the end, interactions and rtionships with the subject had to be listed out as well. For instance, specific examples of moments of assistance or sabotage between the subject and the writer.


    The ssroom protested with mutters. Wouldn¡¯t some people find friendships ended because of this?


    Luo Nan wrote quite easily. This was like a sketch that was pieced together by words. This was his expertise. He just needed to pay particr attention to those details that exceeded normal logical thought.


    Perhaps it was due to the rxed and smooth state that Luo Nan was in currently, but the floodgates of his mind burst open. He wrote and wrote, his thoughts flying away about Xue Lei.


    It was like just what the teacher had tried to formte to the students. One person¡¯s ability is limited in the gathering of people¡¯s social rtionships, while the help of friends and social coboration was highly efficient. Why did he even think of the super inefficient method of ditching ss?


    Luo Nan¡¯s train of thought linked together. Though his pen hadn¡¯t been one of divine inspiration, he knew what he had to do next.


    He cast out a strand of intent, and Ink answered several dozen kilometers away.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t have the time thesest two days to pay much attention to the action progress of Trigate Security. He just separated a very basic strand of psychic intent. It was fine to just ensure that Ink was obedient.


    Actually, the search mission had official started on Sunday. The professionals could freely operate now. Peony and Long Seven had brought separate teams to gather clues. They convened daily for reporting and analysis, but they had yet to make any progress thus far.


    That is to say, luck yed a very important role.


    Luo Nan activated the psychic intent he left with Ink, and his consciousness descended. Ink was already ustomed to this. It just pped its wings twice, expressing a wee.


    The instant Luo Nan¡¯s consciousness arrived, he felt that something was a bit odd.


    Since Ink¡¯s intelligence level was lowpared to a human, there was no pressure when Luo Nan descended with his consciousness. There was nothing to be worried about. They had made contact in this manner many times in the past, so Luo Nan was very familiar with the associated sensations.


    Because of this, Luo Nan immediately felt that something was different when he shifted his consciousness this time. It was like listening to a familiar song with the same singer, but there were clear differences between the live version and the recorded version.


    It seemed like the effects of his closed door cultivations over the weekend were muchrger than he anticipated...well, this was normal. Luo Nan hade from a basic Format Pyramid to a living starry sky viewed through irvoyance. Outstanding changes had urred with the state of his inner organs, nine orifices, six roots, and soul.


    These changes wereprehensive, affecting all aspects of Luo Nan¡¯s body and soul structure and their internal/external rtionship. However, because the aspects involved were so vast, there were many things that could only be experienced when they were put into practice.


    Like the case here with Ink. After the Format Pyramid had transformed into the star as, Luo Nan hadn¡¯t seen any links to the rtionship with his believers. In essence, they had turned clear in this moment.


    He now discovered the effects from entering the atrium cyclotron. His act of observing from the mental ne had naturally manifested a ¡¯telescope¡¯ mode. Through warped and entwined mental curtains nearby, he was able to obtain high-fidelity information from afar in a special form. This was the most crucial reason for his recentrge increase in mental sensing ability.


    Before, Luo Nan had only considered the changes the telescope mode brought solely to himself. Right now he was able to see that Ink had be an important fulcrum and reference within this mode. It was like the Cepheid variable stars of the universe. Astronomers relied on the cycles of their varying luminosities to revise parameters and urately measure interster distances.


    But this was Luo Nan¡¯s perspective. Every detail that came through Ink seemed to exceed his requirements for precision. It was so much that he had a faint feeling -- a feeling that was impossible to urately describe.


    What was the reasoning behind this?


    Ink grew excited from the presence of Luo Nan¡¯s consciousness. However, his emotions wasn¡¯t understood by others.


    Right now Peony¡¯s group was on the rooftop of a high-rise in the Forestwall District. They used viewing binocrs to scan the district. Ink stood atop a binocr, its wstched onto the outer shell. Things were fine as long as it didn¡¯t move. On the other hand, a single movement made the lens wildly shake, making it hard to observe through the binocrs.


    Peony didn¡¯t even raise her head. Though she viewed from afar with the binocrs, her fine fingers were able to urately pick the target. She tapped Ink straight on its beak, "Mr. Ink. Do you have an opinion?"


    There was a bit of naivety to the question, but also a hint of teasing.


    Luo Nan unconsciously rubbed his chin back in the ssroom. He finally snapped back to reality from the changes with the super precision developments. He made contact with Peony through the ¡¯rubber-band¡¯ on Ink¡¯s leg. He really didn¡¯t know how to deal with this woman, so he simply called out some coordinates.


    "Go here."


    "Oh?"


    Peony stopped adjusting where the telescope was point at. She stood up straight and stared at Ink with slightly raised eyebrows. There was the rarely seen expression of surprise on her face. She immediatelymunicated via soul strength. "You¡¯ve discovered one? Are you sure? What¡¯s your source of information?"


    How could Luo Nan tell her? He was unable to find an excuse, so he simply closed his mouth and didn¡¯t answer. He wanted to say, "Just y it by ear", but he was scared that Peony would get angry, so he simply had Ink close his eyes and act confused.


    Luo Nan only realized it after he had done all this. Peony knew that there was someone behind Ink. Closing Ink¡¯s eyes was pointless!


    Luo Nan was so embarrassed that he was inconsble.


    However, Peony didn¡¯t get angry. She snapped her fingers, faced the Trigate Security assistants around her, and said, "We need to change locations."


    Oh, oh, oh! This was an excellent result! Was this the legendary version of pretending to be awesome by ying by ear?


    Ink still maintained the appearance of dozing off, but it was actually taking in all the changes around it, and sending the information back to Luo Nan. Luo Nan saw how Peony, an elite character who was very difficult to handle, had to follow his thoughts and actions, and he felt super great inside!


    Then a thought suddenly came to mind. The Bloodme Order still had people there, and soon, Lady Halder and Mo Lun would arrive as well. Luo Nan had the mind to warn Peony, but the cockiness he held earlier would immediately crumble if he did.


    After a moment¡¯s hesitation, Luo Nan found himself an excuse. Perhaps he could pull some extra information if Trigate Security and the Bloodme Order were to make contact.


    Oh, this was an excellent idea!


    Trigate Security¡¯s work efficiency was quite high. After hearing Peony say there were clues, they simply had a low-altitude flying vehicle sent to them. It took only twenty minutes toplete the transfer.


    Peony and the group of support personnel arrived at the target location mentioned by Luo Nan. They were a step faster than Lady Halder¡¯s group, who were further away.


    Lady Halder didn¡¯t step forward when she saw Peony and the others arrive. She just had the on-site personnel of the Order negotiate with Trigate Security.


    As far as Luo Nan knew... The Wraith Sign wasn¡¯t a factor. That fellow had switched zookeepers. Right now it was being nursed at the Bloodme Order¡¯s headquarters.


    Luo Nan relied on none other than Ink.


    Ink pped its wings, soaring into the air. It spiraled within the shadows of tall buildings. Many pairs of eyes pointed at the enormous bird, sheltered by the surrounding doors and windows. Some were excited. Some were frightened.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t know that this crow was actually a celebrity within the River Wu District of the recycling stratum.


    News ofst month¡¯s battle against Jack had spread through this ce by the gang channels that were everywhere. The residents who lived here knew, more or less, that strong mysterious power had crushed Jack¡¯s gang, the original owner of this territory.


    The main force of the strong mysterious power was a big burly man -- someone whocked characteristics. Therefore, the people automatically chose a more exciting symbol.


    Arge crow.


    Mysterious power had outputted to use the special ability of the crow. Cmity would fall when one heard the cry of the crow, causing the person to go insane and lose consciousness. As such, the well-armed sniper squad of Jack¡¯s gang had been easily smashed through.


    In the end, the mysterious power didn¡¯t take over. Jack¡¯s domain was ultimately divided between powers of various sizes, but not taking over was considered a free and casual action by the mysterious power. This made it so that the residents, who had been tormented by the gangsters for a long while, possess some feelings of hope toward the mysterious power.


    Perhaps if the mysterious power were to take over the recycling stratum, a new and entirely different life would be brought about?


    Driven by such emotions, the re-emergence of the giant grow caused the hearts of quite a few of the residents to rise and fall like the tide. It also made the gang members, who had gathered in the area due to the unknown value of the scene of the unknown incident, to be scared witless.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t understand the cause and effects within, but he could feel the real mental influences upon the surrounding that had been brought upon by people witnessing Ink¡¯s appearance.


    Their psychological state of the past could be described as the random scattering of maic sand. But Ink, who weaved between the shadows of the tall buildings, turned into a powerful ma. No matter where the grains of maic sand fell, they all stood up straight, orienting to Ink¡¯s position through opposite maic poles.


    From the perspective of the living starry sky, the hundreds of stars were subjected to the gravitational pull of Ink¡¯s star. They possessed vectors that were iparably uniform.


    At the same time, the stars that weren¡¯t affected by the maic force became especially conspicuous.


    There was a considerable portion of them with vectors, but these vectors had no rtionship with Luo Nan¡¯s constructed system.


    The sources for some of these vectors could be seen with a single nce. For instance, the people of Trigate Security. They obeyed Peony¡¯smands, and they obeyed the ns of their superiors. Their system possessed two stars, and they revolved around them.


    There were some sources that could not be seen. For instance, the on-site handlers of the Bloodme Order. Even they didn¡¯t know where their big boss of the Order was. But in the end, they were members of the Bloodme Order. They had experienced many of the Order¡¯s activities throughout the years, causing their energy and Bloodme Will to have a minute connection with their First Otum.


    The center of the living starry sky was orderly and clear. This was where Luo Nan¡¯s Self-Format was the ruler. Here, these connections of the Bloodme Order were like pedestrians that vited traffic rules, randomly entering traffic. They brought chaos, both big and small, that were clearly identifiable.


    The length of these connections exceeded the limits of Ink¡¯s perception and crossed the scope of the living starry sky, but the jaywalkers all walked in the same direction. All these connections converged at fixed intervals, and Luo Nan was able to guess that...


    There was a ¡¯dark star¡¯ difficult to see with the naked eye, and it unleashed an invisible yet powerful gravitational pull.


    Ink spiraled for two circles before expanding its flying orbit without batting an eye. It slowly brought the possible position of the dark star within sensing range.


    The hard-to-see dark neb emerged within the living starry sky a dozen secondster.


    Using the crow, Luo Nan cast his gaze at the target through shared vision. He saw that there was an excellent viewing angle on the northwest side of a skyscraper. In the middle of the skyscraper, Lady Halder¡¯s cold gaze pierced through the ss wall and cut into the scene of the incident.

 Chapter 387: Impulsiveness

    Chapter 387: Impulsiveness


    Trantor: Strivon


    So, it turned out that one could fiddle around with their mental senses to do something like this. Thoughts ermerged in Luo Nan¡¯s mind.


    The telescope mode of irvoyance was clearly a system. Each one of his believers, including Ink, was a node, providing aspects and perception details that could be cross-referenced and supplemented.


    With only certain details, it isn¡¯t enough to paint a perfect picture; these details were mapped on to one another. This caused the closed-off system formed from the framework of Formatting Theory to cover more and more aspects. As a result, existences thatcked a system became especially prominent. It didn¡¯t matter how minute these existences were, they were all erged, allowing Luo Nan¡¯s senses to turn exceptionally sharp.


    Such effects were iparable when used for advanced vignce, and there were more ways of applications as well!


    Lady Halder certainly saw Ink as well. Perhaps she knew that this crow was out of the norm, but she absolutely wouldn¡¯t expect that there was another person who was using the crow to directly observe her from dozens of kilometers away.


    There was another person who was very sensitive¡ªPeony. She probably sensed how abnormal Ink¡¯s flight path was, so she raised her head and looked. It was impossible to guess her thought process, but her gaze quickly pointed at the skyscraper where Lady Halder was located, as well as the relevant floor.


    From Luo Nan¡¯s perspective, it seemed that Lady Halder and Peony crossed des with their gazes.


    Luo Nan wasn¡¯t certain whether or not Peony had seen Lady Halder, but Lady Halder¡¯s gaze was certainly locked onto Peony.


    Well, the one that¡¯s going to take the hit is you...


    Luo Nan felt secretly delighted after sessfully shifting the me after getting into trouble. He felt a sense of aplishment.


    This was the first time he had done this sessfully, and he was already a teenager!


    He wasn¡¯t worried about Peony¡¯s safety. He knew that the most powerful woman in Xia City stood behind her. Though Lady Halder¡¯s Bloodme Order and Citadel Financial Group were one of Xia City¡¯s powers, they were quitecking whenpared to Her Majesty Empress Wu.


    Peony, as a person involved, appeared to not really mind. Perhaps she didn¡¯t feel a sense of danger.


    She answered a call at this time, the smile on her face turning all the more radiant. Her eyes crinkled, and whether it was the members of Trigate Security or members of the Bloodme Order, all couldn¡¯t help but steal some nces at her. It was hard for their hearts not to get excited....but there was a reaction in the living starry sky!


    "Darling, are you here yet? How¡¯s my arrangement?"


    A fatal de!


    The atmosphere became very bizarre, but Peony ignored itpletely. Her mind hadpletely separated from the mission, and her mood could be seen in her smile. She spoke smoothly, "It¡¯s no problem as long as you¡¯re happy. We¡¯ll all be in the skies tonight in celebration for you!"


    It should be her boyfriend... but what the hell was this love-spoiled expression?


    After writing ss, it was time for school society activities. Luo Nan was now free to mull over the confrontation at the Dual River District in the recycling stratum.


    At that time, a lot of information weren¡¯t revealed, or perhaps some did appear, but Luo Nan wasn¡¯t able to see. In any case, Luo Nan was certain that there would be meetings held about the situation, be it on the Bloodme Order¡¯s side or on Trigate Security¡¯s side. Everything was going smoothly for him. It shouldn¡¯t be hard to piece together information.


    Luo Nan had wrung out all the benefits he possibly could, and now he was staying out of it. He felt a bit like a viin, but it made him feel really good. In this situation, it didn¡¯t matter what other people felt. It had nothing to do with him.


    Luo Nan waited at a parking spot, his mind still pondering over the perception system. It was just as he previously thought. He had discovered an excellent method to anticipate danger. Though there were many shorings, it didn¡¯t seem difficult to make up for them.


    He just needed to expand his number of believers and spread them into the various districts. They could be seamlesslybined to form a closed system. For targets outside of his system, especially ability users that possessed their own self-logic, Luo Nan would be able to mark them down one by one.


    He wouldn¡¯t need to have bodyguards or deal with personal security. Even the Sk system that covers the entire city wouldn¡¯t be as keen as him. If powerful ability users like the First Otum of the Order of Justice or Deputy Secretary-General Gong Qi were toe and try to kill him, the instant they step foot into Xia City, Luo Nan would know their exact position and location from hundreds of kilometers away. He would then notify President Ouyang and Her Majesty Empress Wu to intercept.


    Oh man, he was getting emotional just thinking about it!


    As for expanding the number of his believers...Luo Nan scratched his head. The electric shuttle just so happened to arrive, and he boarded, still scratching his head. He had a subtle feeling creeping up on him.


    Luo Nan was convinced that he had never truly regarded himself as a ¡¯god¡¯. He just saw Bamboo Pole¡¯s paper, and borrowed the rtionship between believers and gods to describe the various mysteries of Formatting Theory. That was all.


    So, he didn¡¯t act like those modern day secret orders. He didn¡¯t meticulously mull out doctrines, ceremonies, and so on,nor did he use these methods to expand the number of his believers. Luo Nan had Ink and the Wraith Sign as non-human believers. Rui Wen, on the other hand, was a special case. The true number of human believers he possessed was only three.


    Baze, Xie Junping, and Cat Eyes.


    Baze was someone who lived life resolutely. His nature was shaped by the many years he spent in the Order of Justice. He could be said to be a plug-and-y device. He didn¡¯t need any time to adjust into bing Luo Nan¡¯s believer.


    Xie Junping wasn¡¯t part of the circle of the inner world. He was ignorant andpletely unaware. Luo Nan also deliberately watered down the rtionship to a point where he nearly forgetting about it. He just set it aside, waiting for him to pick it up.


    Cat Eyes, on the other hand, was probably the only one he truly received. She was the only one of his believers who was consciously aware, and the process with her could not be described as smooth at all.


    Cat Eyes certainly was the one responsible for this matter. But even so, her suicidal actions and the series of developments had left a bad taste in Luo Nan, the beneficiary¡¯s, mouth. This was especially true of mental torture.


    More essential connections were highlighted after the star as transformation of the Format Pyramid and the dematerialization of the chains. Luo Nan inspected his believers one by one, and he discovered that Cat Eyes was extremely dispirited. Her mental state was worrying.


    This was absolutely not a state that Luo Nan wished to see.


    Luo Nan ran his fingers through his hair as he sat in thest row of the electric shuttle. In his moment of pondering, his mind unconsciously shifted through the living starry sky to look at Cat Eyes once more.


    It was early afternoon. Normal people were working or studying. Ability users were cultivating orpleting missions. Now what about Cat Eyes?


    She was sitting cross-legged on the floor of a room,her messy hair sprayed out over her camisole. She was in her panties, revealingrge sections of smooth light-brown skin. She appeared to be hungover, and she subconsciously yed with the alcohol bottle hooked between her fingers.


    There at least a dozen bottles of alcohol around her. Most of them werepletely empty. They were randomly toppled over. The room was a giant mess.


    Holy cow...she would truly be trash if this were to go on!


    Luo Nan felt this was not okay, and a sudden impulse popped into his head. He simply said, "Why don¡¯t we talk?"


    The psychic thought was born, and Cat Eyes froze, her monotonous actionsing to an end. The bottle of alcohol by her foot rolled away.


    Only when Luo Nan saw her statue-like figure did he realize that he hadn¡¯t used the HexaEar to speak to her. Instead, he had directly channeled his thoughts to her.


    Needless to say, this method was the biggest taboo among ability users, especially among mentally-nted ability users. This was the same as being stabbed once more in a bloody wound from Cat Eyes¡¯ perspective.


    Things became awkward for Luo Nan, but before he could even think of apologizing, Cat Eyes exposed a bizarre smile. She pressed her hand to her forehead and went up her hairline, tidying up her hair a bit. Her appearance was a bit simr to Luo Nan¡¯s now, save for the serious air of depression she gave off, as well as a hint of self-mockery.


    "Sure, but I¡¯m going to teach danceter. Boss, do you want me to skip ss?"


    "Uh, it¡¯s okay."


    "ss ends at eight in the evening."


    "No problem." Luo Nan only realized that he had a social gathering to attend at night after saying these words. He could go seek out Cat Eyes tomorrow instead, but the words had already came out of his mouth. It would be too passive of him to change his words. He might as well kill two birds with one stone, "Juste the the Frost River Reality at Cloud City Water Vige. I¡¯ll wait for you there."


    "I¡¯ll be there at eight thirty."


    The talk ended here without the use of any electronics during the entire conversation. The pure exchange of thought had flowed naturally, as if it had been done countless times.


    Cat Eyes held an apathetic expression, as if she had finished an ordinary phone call. She picked up a full bottle of alcohol, skillfully opened the cap with her fingers, and started chugging. Her actions were too violent -- the yellowish alcohol spilled out from the corners of her lips. The alcohol flowed down her chin, neck, and cor. It flowed all the way down to her bulging stomach, absorbing into her clothes. It was so bad that every guys in the world would stare nkly at how far down the liquid flowed.


    The wet camisole pressed against her body, revealing every detail and curve of her body. Nothing was spared. Such a scene...


    Luo Nan blushed and quickly severed his mind. He unconsciously exerted a bit more force with the fingers that ran through his hair, scratching his scalp to the point of pain.


    Only when he felt pain did he truly snap back to reality. I really called that sister over. Why did I do that? To talk about what?


    Is it to apologize for taking her in as a believer? But I haven¡¯t researched how to "unfollow", so why don¡¯t you first wait a bit?


    Or maybe since you, little girl, are already in this situation, why don¡¯t you properly listen to Uncle¡¯s words. Warm my bed. Dance for me. Serve Uncle to his delights. Let me enjoy the benefits of your future splendor?


    Fuck, my impulses!


    Luo Nan hugged his head, dispersing the senseless and foolish thoughts. He then looked up to the ceiling of the electric shuttle, grinning without a sound. He really didn¡¯t know what to think of himself.


    The HexaEar vibrated during this tangle. Someone from the Society was calling.


    Could it be that Cat Eyes wanted to back out? She won¡¯t being tonight?


    Luo Nan, this wimp, already had such expectations. However, Cat Eyes wasn¡¯t the one calling. It was Papercut.


    "I¡¯m here, Nanster. This ce ispletely empty. You¡¯re still not done fooling around?"


    "Huh? Brother Papercut, you¡¯re...ohhhh, I¡¯ll be there soon." Luo Nan just remembered the appointment he made with Papercutst night. What was it again? Papercut wanted to bring him something?


    Luo Nan just remembered that Papercut wanted to bring himbat machinery that could be used by the control ss. This came to happen because he asked Papercut to teach him a big move. He was misunderstood; Papercut assumed Luo Nan wanted a way to defend himself, and he was so nice as to deliver the goods directly to Luo Nan.


    Honestly speaking, Luo Nan wasn¡¯t very interested inbat machinery from the past. Right now he had the Dripping Sword; nothing else needed mentioning. However, Papercut had came over, giving Luo Nan a chance to express his thanks, as well as a chance to discuss insights about the Dripping Sword and the activation ss.


    Luo Nan and Papercut had only started chatting when another call started toe through. It was Xue Lei. "Nanster, you¡¯re done with ss, right? I¡¯ll be at Gear soon. I¡¯ll warm up my muscles for now."


    Oh man, thank-you Brother Papercut!


    Luo Nan could tell that Xue Lei wanted to start the sanshou boxing training, and he praised Papercut in secret. He hurriedly interrupted Xue Lei, "Brother Papercut just got there. He even brought along abat machinery. Apparently, it¡¯s very interesting. Let¡¯s check it out and try out its power together."


    Xue Lei was a bit stunned by this, "Brother Papercut is teaching you something new?"


    He had taken Luo Nan¡¯s excuse seriously.


    Luo Nan chuckled, glossing over the situation. Honestly speaking, he was uninterested in hand-to-handbat.


    Part of it was because he felt like he was not meant for this sort of stuff. Another part was because he was too strained by the amount of work he had to do. From the internal to the external, From the fleshly body to the soul, from the self to his believers, from Gear to the cloud world...he really couldn¡¯t spare half a minute. He didn¡¯t have the energy to start another project.


    He could only apologize to Xue Lei for his enthusiasm for now.


    Luo Nan arrived at Gear earlier than Xue Lei and saw Papercut walking in and out of the reception hall with hands sped behind his back. He was looking at the construction team doing work.


    He looked like a supervisor at first nce, but his jolly and plump face wasn¡¯t threatening at all.


    "Brother Papercut." Luo Nan came up and greeted him, "Let us go to the bar in the passageway at the bottom of theke. Construction¡¯s not done yet on the surface, so it¡¯s a bit messier. It should be much cleaner underground."


    "It¡¯s okay. Try working with itter. It¡¯s better to have some open space." Papercut waved his hand, deliberately shing his left wrist and attracting Luo Nan¡¯s gaze.


    Luo Nan saw that a ck wrist guard was wrapped around Papercut¡¯s white plump wrist. It was rather eye-catching. Papercut even deliberately bent his wrist twice; the material of the wrist guard appeared to be quite tough and flexible, but Luo Nan was unable to tell anything else.


    "What¡¯s this?"


    "The Flywheel Arm, man."


    "Oh, so this is it..." Luo Nan finally recalled what Papercut saidst night. He was going to bringbat machinery, and this was the name of thebat machinery. The name gave off a feeling like that of an artificial limb, but Luo Nan never expected it to look like a wrist guard. He never expected it to bend so easily.


    "Is it made out of some flexible metal material?"


    "Itsposition of metal isn¡¯t high. After all, the majority of known metal materials aren¡¯t suitable to be controlled via the interference from soul strength. Particr attention is required for the pairing."


    Papercut took off the Flywheel Arm and gave it to Luo Nan, "You¡¯ll know once you try. This thing is quite light. Here, I¡¯ve sent you the manual."


    "There¡¯s even a manual?"


    "Of course, there¡¯s even after-sales support," Papercut chuckled. He helped Luo Nan put it own and taught him the basic methods of use.


    Luo Nan put on this toy, and he felt some differences between it and normal sports wrist guards. It was a bit thicker, aside from the different material. The sensation of it on his wrist was very distinct. Luckily, it utilized memory material. Luo Nan only needed to bend his wrist a few times to feelfortable wearing it.


    Comfort wasn¡¯t something that was key forbat machinery. Even Papercut said, "Though it is very light, it is very easy to use. You don¡¯t even need a teacher. You¡¯ll know what to do with a nce. As for the speed, destructive power, and so on. It¡¯s mediocre in all of these qualities. But it¡¯s quite fun for a toy. It¡¯s just for you to experience the techniques of the control ss and see if it spurs some interest for you to research deeper into the control ss. Have you understood the manual yet?"


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t utter a sound. He turned his wrist, looking at theplicated structure of the Flywheel Arm. With careful observation and looking at the manual, Luo Nan discovered that this toy was weaved into several differentyers, and eachyer was independent. They were like warped scales, cascadedyer uponyer. There appeared to be ten pieces in total; not as fragmentary as one would expect.


    They seemed to be very tightly interlocked. Only when Luo Nan deliberately pried them apart did they reveal a tiny crack. These armor tes were integral parts of the Flywheel Arm and served as attacking weapons as well. The structure was quite ingenious.

 Chapter 388: Flywheel Arm

    Chapter 388: Flywheel Arm


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan examined both the exterior and interior of the gadget and got a general understanding. Only then did he nod and follow the exnation in the manual. He reached with his arm and pointed at the jungle before Gear, but Papercut promptly stopped Luo Nan, indicating that he should pay attention to the construction workers inside and outside of Gear. "Be a bit more low-key. Go deeper inside."


    Luo Nan smirked, revealing a wry expression, "It¡¯s nothing. Everyone knows quite a bit already..."


    Papercut knew what Luo Nan meant, but he couldn¡¯t say it out loud. He just chuckled and pulled Luo Nan into the depths of the jungle.


    Before they could even walk two steps, Xue Lei appeared from the corner of a small pathway in the jungle. He saw the two pulling each other and was a bit stupefied, "Where are you guys going?"


    "Yo, Leister, you¡¯re here,"ughed Papercut in greeting. Papercut and Xue Lei were quite familiar with each other.


    "Brother Papercut," Xue Lei returned a greeting. In the end, he finally figured it out. "You¡¯vee for lessons."


    Luo Nan, who was in the middle, started sweating a bit when he heard Xue Lei¡¯s words. Luckily, Papercut¡¯s response was quite vague as well, "I¡¯vee to check the goods. Let¡¯s check it out together."


    "What goods?" Xue Lei wasn¡¯t quite on the same page.


    Luo Nan¡¯s gaze was sharp. He could tell that these goods were of sinister design with a single nce. Xue Lei wanted to seize him to do sanshou training together. There were even training cloths in his hands!


    How could he let Xue Lei prevail? Luo Nan immediately made up his mind. Today, he would rely on Brother Papercut for protection. He would certainly hug this thick leg even in death. He would have Xue Lei feel awkward enough to not be too forceful.


    The thoughts shed in his mind, and Luo Nan used ¡¯trying out the control ss" as an excuse. He pulled Xue Lei into the jungle, then turned his head and said, "Brother Papercut. Everyone¡¯s here today. If you¡¯re free tonight, let¡¯s all go together."


    Papercut went, "Ha," expressing his surprise. He knew Luo Nan¡¯s nature quite well. Luo Nan was quite pure, but how could he understand the ways of the world? He had taught Luo Nan lessons for over a dozen days in the past, but he had never seen this kind of treatment then.


    In general, fatties knew themselves quite well. Papercut asked, "Where did this ideae from? You¡¯re not just inviting me, right? Who else is there?"


    Luo Nan knew that his invitation was given too abruptly, and he didn¡¯t dare let Papercut have much time to think. He justughed, giving better reasons and bargaining chips, "Juste,e! Let¡¯s have fun together. I invited Leister. Yes, and also... Also, Cat Eyes...."


    "Huh?" Endlessly new tones of voice were heard from Papercut throughout this day. There was no other way to express his confused thoughts. He just barely tidied up the overall context and couldn¡¯t refrain from being skeptical, "Who did you just say? Cat Eyes?"


    "Cat Eyes?" Xue Lei was stupefied as well. Could it be that Luo Nan¡¯s get-together was not the same as the one he mentioned today at noon?


    Luo Nan gaped, wishing that he had a smooth mouth. Today was a typical case of not thinking over the details and wanting to bezy, but instead, he had piled all his troubles atop each other.


    Hey! Don¡¯t rush to conclusions!


    Luo Nan was suddenly blessed with inspiration. He blinked his eyes. There was an excuse he could use, and he didn¡¯t need to fake it. He swallowed and began speaking the heavenly-fallen masterpiece, "Isn¡¯t this because she changed her specialty...?"


    Papercut believed to have understood upon seeing Luo Nan¡¯s subtly embarrassed expression. He nodded andughed, "You really think that Cat Eyes gave up pursuing all-epassing perception because of you? Who told you?"


    "This one," Luo Nan turned his gaze.


    "It was me." Xue Lei half raised his arm, confessing obediently. His source of information was the gossip circting on the Psychic Wave Network, which possessed a lot of inferences in nature. He couldn¡¯t avoid feeling a bit embarrassed right now.


    Papercut looked at these two sixteen, seventeen year-old teenagers and felt that the matter of education was a long road. He felt a great sense of responsibility, and he exined patiently, "This isn¡¯t called changing one¡¯s specialty. It is just focusing on choosing a more appropriate route of development. In the past, people looked forward to Cat Eyes¡¯s long-range perception the most, okay? You don¡¯t need to be embarrassed because of this, but you also can¡¯t blindly gossip about it. After all, spreading these rumors is the same as spitting on one¡¯s reputation. One bad move and both sides will be ndered!"


    Luo Nan and Xue Lei obediently listened to the lecture with lowered heads.


    Papercut thought about the get together tonight and didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry, "Cat Eyes actually agreed? She doesn¡¯t feel awkward at all...?"


    She really doesn¡¯t feel awkward. She¡¯s depressed.


    Luo Nan was discovering more and more that inviting Papercut to be an overseer was quite a decent choice. He could act as a buffer, at the very least, and help Luo Nan get through the most awkward early stages of meeting. As for eliminating misunderstandings in deep conversations, Luo Nan could only y it by ear.


    With the conversation reaching this point, it became awkward for Papercut to refuse. He was also worried about these two teenagers who weren¡¯t good at social conversation. They might cause something bad to happen even with good intentions and rip cat eyes a new one.


    Cat Eyes was very well known in the Society for her strange temperament.


    Having decided to participate, Papercut didn¡¯t waste his breath, conserving his strength for the get-together at night. He sighed and brought the conversation back to the main topic, "Come on. Let¡¯s first operate the Flywheel Arm."


    Though Luo Nan didn¡¯t have much interest in this sort ofbat machinery, he would still choose this one over sanshou boxing training if he had to choose one or the other. He pumped himself up, preparing to follow the requirements of the manual, and he mobilized his interference power.


    Papercut wanted to teach him how to aim instead, "This toy¡¯s safety factor is quite high; it¡¯s not easy to hurt yourself, so you can stand in all sorts of stances without issue. However, you need to know that this isn¡¯t like those energy beams that shoot out from the palm of your hand; that would be far too stupid. wing your fingers, extending your arm, it¡¯s all wasteful."


    Luo Nan was a bit bewildered by what Papercut said, "Then what sort of stance should I use?"


    "There are many! This most effective technique is the throw! Just imagine throwing a dart, or throwing a fist, or cleaving with a chop of the hand... and so on. It¡¯s all okay."


    Luo Nan swung his arms stiffly, "Like this?"


    Xue Lei smirked at the side, "Zero foundation."


    Clearly, Xue Lei already made some judgments from the many times Luo Nan avoided sanshou boxing training. He gave Luo Nan this jab.


    Luo Nan pretended not to hear him. He tried the Flywheel Arm twice, beginning by mobilizing his interference power and pouring it into the wrist guard to start it up.


    As the God Gear and Body Gear meshed and turned, the heartntern of the eyes orifice lit up, illuminating Luo Nan¡¯s skull. Just as before, this was the sign of the formation of interference power.


    Though Luo Nan hadn¡¯t focused too much on cultivating the internal refinement over the past two days, his foundation was truly thick and sturdy. Under the drive of many factors, such as the aid of the Wraith Sign¡¯s meteor-like boost, the eyes orifice was not the only things that was a sess. There was also the mouth and tongue orifice. It had turned into a spiritual pond of nectar, and it resonated with the heartntern of the eyes orifice from afar.


    In the internal refinement technique, the heartntern and the spiritual pond were like the spring sun melting snow. The cold and warmth stimted each other. When it came to the interference of the mental and the material nes, the spiritual pond became overflowing with nectar upon the lighting of the heartntern. This nectar became the most excellentntern oil, as it connected with the heartntern and aided its me.


    And so, three orifices were integrated to one. The strength of the interference power surely wouldn¡¯t stop at a three-times increase, right?


    Luo Nan originally wanted to follow the manual and engage in control, but he had instantly went into full gear.


    His arm trembled slightly, and a long hissing sound was heard soon after. A standard circr slice was ejected out from the center of the wrist guard. It was first flung into the air in a spiral, but suddenly, it increased in speed. It went forward in the air in a perfectly straight path. With a thunk, it prated the tree ahead. The slice could barely be seen.


    Luo Nan noticed that the overall process was not like that of throwing a dart, but of releasing a guided missile. The Flywheel Arm was aunch tube. It just tossed the projectile out. The true purpose of the interference power was to drive the slice to kill the target.


    Otherwise, with the sharpness, speed, and trajectory of the slice, the first thing prated would be Luo Nan¡¯s palm.


    The safety features were set up quite well. The power was indeed very mediocre. It wascking whenpared to ordinary firearms. Of course, it was fatal toward normal people, but for ability users, the question was up for consideration.


    As Luo Nan thought about this, Papercutughed and said, "This is the emergency slice-shot. It¡¯s for when you¡¯re faced with a sudden attack. Its purpose is to scare people. You¡¯ve just exhausted your energy, right"


    Luo Nan still needed to get used to the changes in interference power after integrating three orifices to one. He justughed, appearing to agree tacitly.


    Papercut continued to teach him the knick knacks, "Have you noticed it yet? The emergency slice-shot was shot out from between the manyyers of armor tes. They are all like this. Nothing can be fired from the upperyer. This is because the active force between theyers is utilized. There is ample ¡¯friction for fire¡¯. Can you feel it? That this is the mechanism?"


    Luo Nan still didn¡¯t talk. He had his mind sink into the inneryers of the Flywheel Arm. He applied his interference power once more, and felt an irregr slice in the middle. It reverberated between twoyers, and it revolved at low speeds under the same pressure. It moved slightly as it endlessly umted energy.


    "Excellent. You¡¯re ready and waiting for action, like pulling a bow without shooting, increasing the poweryer byyer. Nanster, you sure are gifted in the control ss..." Papercut let out a sigh of admiration, then he let out yet another subconscious sigh. Could there be another up-anding change of specialties from the activation ss before his eyes?


    Luo Nan followed Papercut¡¯s exnation and controlled the slices that were bing all the more lively within the wrist guard. The inneryer of the wrist guard that stuck to the skin increased in temperature, but there weren¡¯t any clear changes in temperature with the outeryer. The shielding effect was first ss.


    Xue Lei¡¯s senses were quite sharp. At the side, he was able to perceive a few subtleties, and he gathered closer in curiosity. He even reached out to touch with his hand, but Papercut swatted his hand away. "What if Luo Nan can¡¯t control it and it explodes?"


    Luo Nan rolled his eyes, "I feel like I can still hold it."


    "Then continue. This toy will certainly be more powerful the more it umtes energy."


    This was true.


    Luo Nan was able to feel the slice umte physical energy, as well as rely on its overall structure. It relied on a special material to endlessly absorb interference power. Clearly, this was where the uniqueness of this single structurey.


    The technology that the Flywheel Arm possessed was much higher than what appeared on the surface.


    Papercut spoke faster, introducing Luo Nan to the firing mode, "There¡¯s aputer chip built into the Flywheel Arm if you want to attack with it. It can link up with smart devices, and you can preset the flight path beforehand. You can also choose from special shapes for the slice and calcte obstacles, air resistance, and so on. You can use it to snipe underplicated environments. It has a lot to offer. Plus, we all have HexaEars, so we¡¯re saved quite a bit of effort."


    Luo Nan followed Papercut¡¯s words and engaged in wireless connection. Sure enough, an exquisite interface popped up on his retina. Numbers that changed in real time in ordance to the immediate environment appeared before him.


    Through the HexaEar, all operations could be controlled telepathically. Luo Nan randomly chose a target, and the interface used dotted lines to represent the avable paths and so on. At the same time, the interface also indicated the percentage of umted energy for the most optimal effect.


    Wasn¡¯t this like ying a video game?


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t have any specific feelings, good or bad, toward this stupid method of operation. He was a rookie. The moreplete the aiding functions, the better for him. But a true master would certainly dislike these programmed settings.


    Before the thought could finish, Papercut already added, "There¡¯s more. If you feel super kick-ass, then you can choose mental control. It tests how long someone can maintain continuous operation. Really kick-ass people can have a dozen slices orbit around their body, like controlling a dozen flying swords. Closebat. Long-range attacks. You be someone unkible, a terrifying foe..."


    "So this is the true way to use it!" Luo Nan shook his arm slightly. The Flywheel Arm was used by the control ss, so micro-control should be of big importance.


    Papercut spread open his hands, "That¡¯s what it¡¯s described as, but it¡¯s different in practice. Just look. To maintain the structural function, the shape of everyposite slice is different, so the flight trajectory is different as well. Plus, there are all sorts of joiningbinations. If you don¡¯t use a smart device to perform calctions, a typical person wouldn¡¯t be able to keep it together. Perhaps those on the Architect, Extraordinary level could do it, but what¡¯s the point on counting on this thing when you reach that level?"


    "That¡¯s true." Luo Nan raised his hand, firing it in smart mode. The irregr slice was dark in color but sharp, instantly opening a path through the jungle barrier. The thick branch, Luo Nan¡¯s target, was sliced away, and the slice soared into the air before turning around. The slice buzzed as it spun, sounding like a miniature chainsaw. Branches broke wherever it passed, demonstrating a rather terrifying might.


    Luo Nan had unleashed a boomerang weapon. The irregr slice came back in a loop, its speed gradually decreasing. It fell back to Luo Nan¡¯s wrist like a tired bird returning to its nest. It joined together with the wrist guard as Luo Nan continued to infuse his interference power within.


    Papercut smacked his chin, "All right, this marks the beginning. Your operation of the Flywheel arm is too rigid. Whether it¡¯s in smart mode and free mode, you can switch the modes in the middle of a mode. You can change the direction, increase the power...in realbat, you choose to use the smart control mode and install a flight path, you can suddenly switch to mental control mode. Save your worries and energy. The adaptability and flexibility is quite sufficient, but there will still be surprises."


    "That¡¯s true."


    Luo Nan continued to practice within the jungle. He didn¡¯t forget to let Xue Lei have a taste in the middle. This was to cate Xue Lei and distract him, so as to prevent Xue Lei from jumping to the topic of sanshou boxing practice.


    Time passed very quickly. The sky already turned dark, and the three people had already tortured the nearby trees quite enough. They were ready to go back.


    Luo Nan¡¯s wristband vibrated at this time. Tian Si was calling. Her tone was a bit tense, "Junior Nan, I¡¯m really sorry. There¡¯s a little matter I need to handle with my school society. Tian Qi is doing some experiments, so it will probably be a bitte before we can go."


    "Gotcha, Senior Sister Tian." Luo Nan didn¡¯t want to give Tian Si stress. He was still counting on this senior sister to hold down that worthless Mo Peng.


    Next to Luo Nan, Papercut was baffled, "Who is that? Is she also going to the get-together?"


    Luo Nan spoke in passing, "She¡¯s one of my senior sisters. There¡¯s also going to be her little brother. They¡¯reing with us tonight."


    "People from outside of the circle?" Papercut was shocked.


    Luo Nan became diffident from Papercut¡¯s reaction. He could only avoid the important facts and dwell on the trivial ones, "It¡¯s Tian Si. The one who became a hostage at Ocean Sky Cloud City. You¡¯ve met her before, right?"


    He knew he couldn¡¯t continue hiding it after seeing Papercut¡¯s expression. He could only add, "There are also two rtives of my family and maybe their friends. It is supposed to be a get together at Frost River Reality. I¡¯ll just say hi to them in person, andter we can talk about our stuff."


    "You, oh you!" Papercut really didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. He just reached out and tapped him. He opened his mouth, not to vent but to say, "You have much to learn. It appears that there are quite a few people attending. Have you reserved a private room?"


    "Private room?" Luo Nan went into a state of shock.


    "I knew it!" Papercut sucked in cold air between his teeth. Luo Nan had really sunk way too far into his homebody nature.

 Chapter 389: Discussing Talent

    Chapter 389: Discussing Talent


    Trantor: Strivon


    "You¡¯ve invited many people, all who are close to you. Of course you need to reserve a private room! And you have to keep in mind that the two circles don¡¯t really fit well together. You can reserve two rooms. You can just run between the two." Papercut was basically holding his hand throughout the entire dinner. He was an instructor for elementary courses, but he never thought that he would be responsible for teaching the most basic of social knowledge.


    Luo Nan couldn¡¯t help being embarrassed. After all, he hadn¡¯t been concerned about tonight¡¯s event at Frost River Reality at all. He had felt that they were just going to a gaming center, and that bringing people along was fine. How was he supposed know that there would be so many details to take care of when being the host?


    It was true now that he thought about it. A special room had been reserved for the meet up with Mo Qiu and Tian Si.


    "I will reserve one immediately." Luo Nan was a bit flustered as he rushed to contact Frost River Reality. Normally, their business was so good that he wouldn¡¯t even have half a chance, but his luck was good. Someone just so happened to cancel, and he also had special privileges given to him aspensation for being a victim at the Frost River Reality incident. This allowed him to seize a medium sized room.


    However, the idea of booking two rooms was something impossible to achieve.


    "If we can¡¯t split, then we can¡¯t. This fatty doesn¡¯t look old. With my appearance, it should be enough for me to pretend to be young." Papercut gave himself a few words offort before sighing, "Let¡¯s go then. Let¡¯s go wait first. I¡¯ll teach you a trick. Since you¡¯re the inviter, the minimum courtesy you have to extend is to be earlier than the guests."


    The new gship store of Frost River Reality still maintained its usual high-end image. Its venue was located above Aurora Cloud City. This was the sixth building in the Cloud City Water Vigeplex. This was the sixth step in the stair-likeplex form. Aside from the main building, it was the highest building.


    Monday wasn¡¯t the liveliest time of the week. Luo Nan¡¯s party arrivedte in the day, but they made it there before the evening peak caused from all the office workers getting off work. Though this Frost River Reality hadn¡¯t been open for long, it still managed to attract quite a number of yers. A tide of students came from the surroundingrge activity area, bing the main consumers for this time period.


    The main theme of the gship store of Frost River Reality this week was the Wastnd. Under technological reality, which could be easily mistaken for the real thing, streams of people from the glorious metropolis of modern day society stepped into small viges of decay. The feeling was quite bad.


    Frost River Reality was adorned with reality technology. It was like a hungry beast swallowing in streams of people inrge bites, and practically no one was spat back out.


    "Their business is really exploding!" Papercut clicked his tongue in astonishment.


    Luo Nan and the others had yet to enter. They sat in a beverage shop that was standard to every Frost River Reality, the Frozen Star. They ordered three drinks as they waited for Mo Han and Mo Peng toe.


    The Frozen Star was also decorated in Frost River Reality¡¯s Wastnd theme. It was covered in this theme. All the cups were exchanged for dpidated wooden and metal products. The furniture was changed as well. Sitting here was like sitting in some vagrant tavern in the Wilderness, if one were to ignore the clothes that people wore. Oh, if one ordered a beverage worth more than a hundred credits, one can get a cup with a vagrant cloak wrapped around it.


    "There¡¯s just one word for this. Burn! Burn, money, burn!¡± Papercut sipped his drink as he judged this ce, "The activity nner had probably gone to the Wilderness before. The background is quite like the real deal. It¡¯s limited to this beverage shop though. What the hell is up with that small town? No one dares to do construction in the Wilderness. They would all get ttened by the Mutants."


    One could tell that Papercut was just this sort of sincere person from this yful conversation. He couldn¡¯t hold back from showing off, but this was all he said. Soon they got more personal and started talking about the Flywheel Arm.


    Papercut was still teaching Luo Nan a few things to take note of. "This toy¡¯sponents are joined together in an exquisite andplicated manner. It is not robust at all. Think back to that emergency slice-shot. Wasn¡¯t it strenuous to dig it out from the tree trunk? In a typical medium-high intensity fight, the ability to recycleponents isn¡¯t high. As a conventional weapon, it possesses considerable logistics pressure."


    Luo Nan wasn¡¯t ready to use the Flywheel Arm as a conventional weapon. He just used it to practice control over his interference power after merging three orifices into one. It was better for him to increase his number of contingency methods.


    In any case, logistics was quite a realistic issue. Right, didn¡¯t Papercut say that there was after-sales support?


    Luo Nan asked about this, and Papercutughed heartily, "I was waiting for you to ask that. Of course there is after-sales support. You even know him. It¡¯s Old Zhai, man!"


    Luo Nan was shocked, "This is Worker Zhai¡¯s work?"


    Papercut shook his head, "He wasn¡¯t the chief creator, but he created one of the auxiliary designs. He was also in charge of theponents in the beginning."


    He looked all around him and whispered, "Actually, the Flywheel Arm was a joint project between the Society and the government. Its main purpose was to research materials that could be easily interfered with, as well as the matching and structural design. Unfortunately, the project was scrapped halfway. Most of the research was unpublished. The Flywheel Arm was the only concrete result, but it¡¯s quitecking in power. It¡¯s impossible for follow-up research to ur."


    "You all know that Old Zhai is very enthusiastic about this sort of thing. And, this is the first time he participated in research with the Society. He can¡¯t give it up. He took the opportunity created from the scrapping of this project and bought the intellectual property rights to this toy with his own money. He even changed it to be handmade. Unfortunately, he has yet to be sessful. Right now he is only maintaining after-sales support. He has put quite a bit of money into it."


    Luo Nan shook his head, "It¡¯s far too hard if it¡¯s just Worker Zhai doing it all by himself."


    Papercut shrugged, "So this counts as me marketing the item for him. If the goods are free, then the after-sales support is no go."


    "That¡¯s for sure." Luo Nan answered decisively.


    Papercut spoke emotionally, "Old Zhai is certainly on the expert level when ites to mechanical design, but his ability and talent is mediocre. He didn¡¯t have the strength to support it. It really is impossible for others to believe that he could sessfully build an ability user weapon. He also lost his drive in the past two years, but something changed thest time you visited him. I don¡¯t know what happened, but you gave him motivation. He has been very excited these days."


    It¡¯s good to be excited, but Luo Nan didn¡¯t forget that Gym Master Xiu¡¯s dynamo core was still in Worker Zhai¡¯s possession. Worker Zhai was doing deep research on it. Naturally, making progress was the best thing that could happen.


    Xue Lei had an understanding of Worker Zhai, just not as deep as Luo Nan. An image came to mind, and he faced Luo Nan and whispered, "Is it that Worker Zhai doesn¡¯t have enough soul strength...?"


    Luo Nanughed when he heard Xue Lei¡¯s words. These were typical amateur words. "All right. Let¡¯s say I¡¯m assessing your strength. If I say you have a certain amount of pounds for your punching force, then you have a certain amount of strength. Understand?"


    A light bulb instantly went off in Xue Lei¡¯s head, "Understood."


    The measurement of soul strength must be doneprehensively. The Society has an all-around measurement standard. There were four basic measures: depth, intensity, sensitivity, and affinity. But it was quitecking to say that these were precise quantifications.


    Therefore, it was hard for Luo Nan to say what was the crucial element in inhibiting the growth of Worker Zhai¡¯s strength. Soul strength was too mysterious andplex, after all.


    Papercut gulped down his drink, ice-cubes and all, "Talent, talent, talent! I can state its importance three hundred times and it wouldn¡¯t be enough. This is especially true in our field. If you start off as a nk te and you¡¯re unable to reach a certain level, then you won¡¯t be able to reach it for a lifetime! Though Old Zhai has some skills, he¡¯s justcking that little bit. He won¡¯t be able to make it in his life. As long as he can¡¯t, then the many tempering methods to increase one¡¯s power bepletely meaningless."


    Luo Nan and Xue Lei nced at each other. They both couldn¡¯t quite ept it.


    Xue Lei felt that, on one hand, some of his own skills were thanks to having the guidance of a famous teacher. On another hand, his skills were the product of his hard work and training. Talent wasn¡¯t the decisive factor.


    Luo Nan thought to his grandfather¡¯s Formatting Theory. If he had talent, the talent¡¯s foundation was his grandfather¡¯s theory. He had used drugs to build and shape every step along the way.


    Papercut was probably able to guess what these two teenagers were thinking, but he didn¡¯t care. Of the sixty-thousand ability users in the world, nearly ny percentcked the aptitude. It was impossible for them to truly awaken. They could only be whittled away in torment under a state of being neither high enough nor low enough.


    Seeing the light yet having one¡¯s hopes obliterated was truly one of the most painful experiences in the world. Without long and vast experience, the two little fellows were incapable of truly understanding thismunity.


    This had to be learned through experience...


    The two sides locked gazes. The energetic youngsters and the negative unclemunicated without words, and the crackling of static noise rang through the air. A gap to talk just so happened to appear. Xue Lei couldn¡¯t hold back from asking, "How is it possible for there to be zero tempering methods to increase one¡¯s power? The gym master once said, ¡¯All people possess the three treasures of essence, energy, and spirit. Essence overflows and energy flourishes. Energy flourishes as spirit is ample.¡¯ They¡¯re linked down like this. If there isn¡¯t enough soul strength, then it¡¯s impossible to strengthen and exercise the body!"


    Papercutughed, "The physically enhanced and the mentally enhanced are different. The former is based in the material world. As long as one cultivates in the right way, they can buildyer byyer and temper inside and out. There will be a day for when the y hut breaks through to be a pce."


    "But the mental ne is illusory and drifting. The birth of an ability often forms out of nothing. There¡¯s no flesh involved, and it can¡¯t be increased throughrge volume of exercise. The main thing still lies in the fact that the differences in nature between the material world and the mental ne are far toorge. It is impossible to find a connecting point. Even if one can find it, every situation is different, like a chicken speaking with a duck."


    Luo Nan was actually quite thoughtful, "So you¡¯re saying that interference power is very important."


    Papercut put down his empty cup, "That¡¯s right! Interference power is extremely important! President Ouyang once said that the modern theory of supernatural powers isn¡¯tplete. Only when interference is applied can soul strength be infused into a systematic experience that could be understood, realizing the most crucial task of observation and understanding. Only then could effective growth be realized by relying on the material world as a foundation. The more powerful the interference ability, the faster the growth..."


    Papercut then saw Luo Nan¡¯s pure and innocent gaze and had to immediately retreat in defeat, "I know that you are an exception. Your interference ability was so trash in the beginning, but your soul strength was able to rapidly soar. You¡¯re the only one. Formatting Theory is really out of the norm!"


    Luo Nan loved hearing words such as these. His eyes beamed as he smiled. However, he didn¡¯t believe that this small point couldpletely reflect the special characteristics of Formatting Theory.


    "No, my Self-Format is also constructed atop the material world. It is constructed on a special structure of the nervous system. It¡¯s not that it doesn¡¯t have interference power, it¡¯s just that a one-way channel is very likely to form. It can only interfere the mental via the material. The other way doesn¡¯t work. This drives the rapid increase of soul strength, causing a critical imbnce between body and soul."


    Papercut blinked, as he was surprised that he actually understood, "What you said makes a lot of sense. If you could be seriously studied and analyzed..."


    Luo Nan rolled his eyes, "No cutting! I don¡¯t want to be ab rat."


    Having spoken to this point, Luo Nan thought of Octopus. Octopus borrowed Luo Nan¡¯s grandfather¡¯s notes and forms and had already made some progress. Hopefully, Octopus could produce some brilliant results.


    Perhaps, Formatting Theory was truly wed, but Luo Nan had shown that these ws could be ovee through self-practice upon his own body. With aid from Gym Master Xiu¡¯s guidance, as well asprehending Coupling Theory, Luo Nan was able to turn this one-way street to a two-way street that ran in parallel without hindering each other. Such an experience could bepletely integrated into Formatting Theory, making it more convincing of its validity and possibly be a hot topic within the inner world and perhaps even the entire world.


    The momentum was excellent right now.


    Luo Nanughed involuntarily.


    "Hello, penny for your thoughts?" Xue Lei saw Luo Nanugh foolishly for some strange reason after talking aboutb rats. He was a bit worried about problems uring with Luo Nan¡¯s mental circuits.


    Only now did Luo Nan realize that he had forgotten his manners. He waved his hand quickly and said, "It¡¯s nothing. I just feel that President Ouyang¡¯s description is quite perfect. Last time at Frost River Reality...I¡¯m talking about the one in the city center...Fairchild had said simr words, like ¡¯observation is order¡¯ and so on. But he didn¡¯t mention the words ¡¯system of experience¡¯. This premise of President Ouyang¡¯s is quite an excellent one."


    From Luo Nan¡¯s understanding, the so-called ¡¯system of experience¡¯ should be the resulting set of observations and understandings from the deduction and development of practice and validation.


    Those ability users who found it hard to be Awakened lived their entire lives in the material world. Though they have a bit of talent in supernatural powers, it was insufficient whenpared to the experiences of everyday life. Instead, these ability users found it easy to be lost within the illusory mental ne. They were unable to tell what was supernatural and what was fabricated.


    Only when one realized interference and had it enter one¡¯s normal realm of experience could soul strength be a real and non-virtual existence. Only in this way could one discard the chaotic barriers to awareness and have one¡¯s innate potential transform bit by bit into supernatural powers.


    Therefore, it was so very important to possess a stable, effective, and longsting interference method...huh?


    A light bulb suddenly shed in Luo Nan¡¯s head as an idea suddenly popped out. A little deduction gave off aplex feeling. Luo Nan might as well try his idea in practice. With a stir of a thought, a precise structure was engraved on the border between the mental and material nes.


    The Condensation Ring.


    This was a cold beverage shop. Water vapor was most abundant here. In the blink of an eye, a water bead coalesced out of thin air. It floated in the air above the table in the middle of the three people.


    Whether it was Xue Lei or Papercut, everyone around them was sharp. They immediately sensed the water bead and locked their gazes upon it.


    Papercut was quite shocked, "The Dripping Sword? My good man, you¡¯re this good at it already?"


    Luo Nan gave a wave of his hand and said, "Let¡¯s first not talk about the Dripping Sword and focus on the Condensation Ring. So, I believe that this little thing may be more suitable for Worker Zhai. It doesn¡¯t require that much interference power to form this thing, and Worker Zhai possesses an amplification device as well. Even if some of the precision is lost, Worker Zhai¡¯s level should be able to make up for it. Once one is sessfully produced, he would have a fulcrum forever and ever..."


    Luo Nan spoke everything in a single breath, following his own train of thought. Then he saw Papercut with a nk expression of ¡¯not this again¡¯. Clearly, Luo Nan had said these words in vain.


    Luo Nan also felt that he didn¡¯t describe things clearly. He prepared to rify, "I¡¯m saying that..."


    "Nanster, where are you? We¡¯re here."


    Mo Pengmunicated perfectly, his voice cutting into the space and hanging in the air. He was at the entrance to the cold beverage shop, and he was taking the lead. He led a grand squad of people inside.


    Luo Nan subconsciously counted, one, two, three...seven, eight, nine.


    Nine people!


    The cold beverage shop was densely packed with peopleing and going. It had also been decorated in ordance with the reality-theme, creating the atmosphere of a dark pub. The shop¡¯s space became quite crowded with the sudden burst of peopleing in.


    Luo Nan was confused; why the hell are there so many people?

 Chapter 390: Reserved Room

    Chapter 390: Reserved Room


    Trantor: Strivon


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t even need to mention it. Even Papercut, who was the teacher of etiquette as well as a professional in saving the day, was a bit dizzy when he saw this group of kidse barging in. He said, "This many people?"


    He began to consider whether or not to escape from the front lines when his body suddenly moved. Xue Lei was dragging him, "Brother Papercut. You have to do something. Just look at Nanster¡¯s expression."


    This is why nerds hate meatheads so much!


    Papercut tried to struggle free to no avail. He could only resign himself to his fate, shake his head, and say, "Then first, let¡¯s entertain them. Don¡¯t be too serious about it. Hey, it¡¯s time to say hello!"


    Actually, Luo Nan understood that he needed to greet Mo Peng with a wave without needing Papercut¡¯s advice. The group of people bustled over, practically moring over each other, and the leader, Mo Peng, was super excited. "Don¡¯t waste any more time! Let¡¯s start now! Go to Frost River Reality! The wastnd¡¯s winter!"


    Luo Nan had mulled over how to greet these people, but he immediately shut his mouth upon hearing Mo Peng¡¯s words. However, Mo Peng wouldn¡¯t let him go that easily. He grabbed Luo Nan by the shoulder and said, "Those who haven¡¯t met should get to know each other. This is my pal and brother Luo Nan. He¡¯s one who has turned to the dark side, a traitor of Sixth Middle, going to Acumen College instead. He¡¯s atoning for his sins today; all expenses incurred are his to bear!"


    Well, this saved Luo Nan from introducing himself...


    Luo Nan drew in a breath and faced the gazes of nearly ten pairs of eyes. He actually wasn¡¯t nervous at all. He just didn¡¯t know how to cover everything. Until now, he had yet to see everyone¡¯s face clearly.


    He just noticed that Mo Han was behind Mo Peng. His train of thought deviated.


    The Condensation Ring was still in effect above the table. No one had noticed the floating water bead for now, but it would be better to not leave it there for too long. Luo Nan was worried about revealing his hidden side, so with some interference power, he had the water bead and Condensation Ring copse to nothing. However, this made the insight that had popped up earlier in his mind go away as well.


    Seeing how Luo Nan was half a beat slow in reacting, Mo Han gave Mo Peng a jab, shaming him for speaking such nonsense.


    Papercut was also unwilling to pass his responsibility onto others. He came out to help, "We have a lot of people, so let¡¯s not block the entrance. Let¡¯s first go inside. We can take our time talking then."


    Luo Nan finally revealed a smile, "Yes, let¡¯s go to the room."


    The more people, the livelier the venue and the greater the details. No one cared about the few ws as parties after parties of people battled it out in Frost River Reality. The AR-guide, an image of a burly tavern owner, weed them.


    "Come then, adventurers. Change your equipment before you brave danger. Do you have a set equipment room?"


    Luo Nan cried, "Lucky!" in his mind, and thanked Papercut for his reminder. He turned to lock gazes with Papercut and said, "Number one-fifty-six."


    "All right, Mr. Luo. I wish you and yourpanions a good harvest."


    Right now there were twelve people in total, nine from Mo Peng¡¯s side and three from Luo Nan¡¯s side. The followed the guide through the passageway and entered the reserved room. Everyone was a frequent visitor. After pouring through the box, one by one they stepped into the scanning area for measurements and the synchronization of data.


    As a girl, Mo Han did things quite carefully. She took the opportunity to pull Luo Nan over andughed, "Let me take this chance to introduce them."


    A pair -- a boy and a girl -- just so happened to walk shoulder-to-shoulder into the scanning area. They weren¡¯t that tall, and Mo Han pointed at the rather cute girl with a round face, "This is my best friend, Ruan Zihui. That¡¯s her partner, Tong Hui. Together they form the Hui-Hui Combo or Gray-Gray Combo."


    "You¡¯re finished, you stinky pomegranate!" The round-faced girl Ruan Zihui gestured with her fingers in the shape of a gun, firing shots at Mo Han.


    Her boyfriend, Tong Hui, was also a master of energy. He immediately turned to be back-to-back with Ruan Zihui. He made a gun with his fingers and shot a pose under the lighting of the scanning area.


    At least half the people in the room yelled at him, and his girlfriend jabbed him with her elbow. The two came out giggling, the atmosphere of the room bing more rxed.


    Luo Nan rxed a bit as well. If the people who had came were all such happy characters, then things would be easy to handle for him.


    The thought was just processed when he saw a tall girl walk into the scanning area. She wore a ck and white striped cashmere sweater. Below that were tight-fitting jeans. Her figure was excellent, especially the straight contours of her legs. Her physical appearance was first-ss. She had a beautiful face as well, donning a faint smile, appearing slightly reserved.


    Luo Nan did a double take, and Mo Han whispered, "Don¡¯t get the wrong idea. She already has someone."


    "I know."


    Luo Nan felt quite wronged. He wasn¡¯t blind. When the girl had entered the scanning area, she had handed the coat on her arm over to a blond man next to her. It was clear that this man possessed Western blood, and anyone would be able to tell that the two weren¡¯t rted with a single nce. That could only mean that they were girlfriend and boyfriend.


    Mo Han raised her voice,ughing as she said, "Yue Qin has taken it upon herself to be the attractive one in our group. Right now she¡¯s already epted Mr. Turner¡¯s pursuit and they¡¯re in the getting-familiar-with-each-other stage."


    "I will seize the moment to pursue her!"


    Someone had shouted this loudly. Yue Qin didn¡¯t hear him as she had alraedy left the scanning area. As for the very gentlemanly Turner, he returned Yue Qin¡¯s coat and faced the one who just yelled with augh and a shaking fist.


    "Whoa, Luo Biyao?" Luo Nan saw the person who had shouted just now. It was actually someone familiar to him.


    The short yet well proportioned and lively Luo Biyao was an entric brown-haired teenager. He was Luo Nan¡¯s ssmate back at Sixth Middle, and they had a friendly rtionship. He was also Mo Peng¡¯s best friend.


    Aside from him, it seemed that they were all part of Mo Han¡¯s circle.


    Luo Nan found it interesting. This get-together was Mo Peng¡¯s suggestion, but what was going on with this situation? Luo Nan turned to ask, "Have you been overpowered today? There¡¯s none of your people!"


    "Though the gathering is in the name of friendship, how could I share resources with other people?"


    Mo Peng talked himself up to the heavens, but he fell back down in a blink of an eye, "Fine. Little Pomegranate¡¯s mouth is far too quick. I¡¯m afraid of going crazy; the entire Mo Family knew by the second day. However, I never thought that you would truly dare to bring out a Tall-Fat Combo to deal with me!"


    Mo Peng was practically gritting his teeth by the end of his words.


    He then changed the topic, chuckling mischievously, "But tonight, I¡¯m also keeping an eye on Little Pomegranate. I¡¯ll see what thisss is up to!"


    Mo Peng¡¯s meaning was very clear, and Luo Nan was a bit shocked, "She has a boyfriend!?"


    Out of Mo Peng¡¯s party of nine, there were only two other people, a boy and a girl, that Luo Nan didn¡¯t recognize. The others he either knew very well, or they were paired off with others. This left...


    "Yue Zheng. He¡¯s Yue Qin¡¯s older brother. He¡¯s two heads taller than us. I heard that he¡¯s interested in Pomegranate, but Pomegranate¡¯s interest is still unclear."


    Luo Nan¡¯s gaze shifted over, and he saw the medium-sized Yue Zheng. Their genes were probably amazing, for he was a lot like his little sister Yue Qin. One was handsome, and one was beautiful. They were both eye candy, and they were clearly more mature than their age.


    Luo Nan really found it hard to imagine him paired up with the lively and brisk Mo Han.


    He put this matter to rest for now and asked Mo Peng, "There¡¯s still one left..."


    "She¡¯s prepared for you."


    Luo Nan started up a sweat, "Prepared for me? For what?"


    "Thest remaining single girl. She¡¯s gentle and quiet, quite decent, right? Qiu Peipei is her name. She matches you quite well."


    Thest remaining girl was truly as Mo Peng described. She was quiet and graceful, with an appearance rather pleasing to the eye...wasn¡¯t this called an unwanted matchmaking?


    Mo Peng smirked as he red at Mo Han. Mo Han didn¡¯t know what the brothers were saying, but she didn¡¯t hesitate in giving them the middle finger.


    "You can just ask Mo Han. I was quite interested in her, but Sister Pomegranate said something about ¡®not having devious thoughts¡¯ and ¡¯you¡¯ll never get a turn!¡¯ Luo Biyao and I are on the same boat, but things are even worse for me. Isn¡¯t it very clear who she was prepared for?"


    Luo Nan was speechless. He was discovering so many things that he couldn¡¯t keep up with Mo Han and Mo Peng¡¯s train of thought. He could only retreat in defeat. Then a call just so happened toe through. It was Tian Si.


    "Senior Sister, you¡¯re here?"


    "Sorry, Tian Qi and I just got here..."


    "You¡¯re just in time. We just entered. Senior Sister, you shoulde to room one-fifty-six."


    Mo Peng¡¯s ears perked up when he heard the words ¡¯Senior Sister.¡¯ He even came closer to Luo Nan, and Luo Nan pushed him away by the head. This person was truly thirsty. He forced himself close. "Senior Sister? Nanster, I knew it! You¡¯re not that far gone. You don¡¯t just have the Tall-Fat Combo, you actually have some moves..."


    Then do you know who has the most sensitive ears and could be considered to be part of the Tall-Fat Combo out of everyone in this room?


    Luo Nan shot a nce towards Xue Lei and Papercut¡¯s direction. Papercut was pinching his ratherrge stomach; his face was at a loss.


    After augh, Luo Nan felt that something was off. He looked around the room but was unable to pinpoint the problem.


    Mo Peng asked, "So a few more people areing. Are they all little sisters? Big sisters?¡±


    "Two...oh man!" Luo Nan finally figured out the problem.


    A medium-sized room of Frost River Reality was actually a standard locker room. Everyone was allocated their own locker, which were arranged in a ring-shaped order. Aside from storing clothes, the most important thing was that the appropriate reality equipment, in ordance to individual scans, was delivered via the Frost River Reality system. It was a one-to-one match.


    There were lockers for twelve people in a medium-sized room. The number was perfect just before Tian Si and her little brother joined. Now there wasn¡¯t enough lockers. This was Luo Nan¡¯s mistake. He didn¡¯t pay attention to the allocations of the medium-sized rooms.


    Right as he was thinking about how to remedy the situation, a knock came from the door. Someone believed that it was a server, so they shouted, "Come in."


    The door opened, and the room became silent in an instant.


    Tian Si walked in with a faint smile. When she saw how many people were in the room, she became a little shocked, but there were more people who were dumbstruck by her arrival.


    Today, Tian Si dressed quite simply. Her thick coat hung down to her elbows, and her casual white turtleneck sweater paired well with her ck treasures. She also wore short high heels of the same color.


    She had tied her hair into a fluffy ponytail, and locks of hair hung over her forehead. She had on some light makeup,bining the typical colors of ck and white. It gave off a bit of experience, but it didn¡¯t give off a deep materialistic air. Instead, there was a refined charm.


    Tian Si was a beautiful woman, presenting a fabulous early model to the little sisters in the room of what the passing of many years could do.


    Tian Si found Luo Nan in the group of people. She gave him a gentle smile before delivering the perfect tone of surprise, "I never thought that there would be this many people. I camete; please don¡¯t be offended, everyone."


    She was humble and her smile was the most kind. Even if her words were an empty conventional greeting, it caused everyone to have a good impression of her.


    Luo Nan, Xue Lei, and Papercut was all decently familiar with her, but the other guys in the room all had their eyes light up. They paid no heed to Tian Qi who had entered behind Tian Si.


    Mo Peng was shocked from the moment Tian Si entered the room, "Hot damn! Nanster, you¡¯ve truly put in the effort this time. But why do I feel that she looks familiar? Uh, is that Tian...Tian..."


    "Senior Sister Tian Si."


    "The one with us at the Frost River Realityst time..." Before Mo Peng could shamelessly finish his words, Luo Nan had already begun nodding his head.


    Mo Peng gaped as Mo Han came up to them, "Nanster, you invited her? She and Third Brother Qiu weren¡¯t sessful. How do we exin thister?"


    There were too many whispers going on here. Luo Nan was afraid of giving people the cold shoulder. He raised his voice and said, "Well, Senior Sister has taken good care of me at school. This chance just so happen to arise, so I invited her to have some fun. Tian Qi also camest time. No one is a stranger to one another."


    Tian Si took Luo Nan¡¯s introduction as a chance to bring her little brother in another regard, "This is our first time meeting most of you. Please take care of us."


    Her gaze flew back to Luo Nan after she finished her words.


    "I think I know why Third Brother Qiu wasn¡¯t sessful."


    Mo Peng no longer kept his mouth in check, so Luo Nan gave him a shove.


    At this time, Tian Si headed over to Luo Nan, and Tian Qi followed with a strange expression on his face.


    Everyone in the room was affected by the atmosphere. Everyone could see the difference. Tian Qi wore his heart on his sleeve, his expression like that of a bulldog fighter. On the other hand, Tian Si was able to conceal all her negative emotions when it truly came to it, even though she felt awkward that she had been invited by Luo Nan. She put everyone¡¯s mind at ease.


    She faced Luo Nan with another apology, "I¡¯m sorry, I was unable to escape some duties from the school society."


    "It¡¯s nothing, it¡¯s nothing. Didn¡¯t I just say? We just switched for equipment..." Luo Nan responded without thinking, but then he recalled the trouble he just discovered. He didn¡¯t know how to proceed. The one who was put into awkward circumstances was now him.


    In any case, Luo Nan had an open mind. He would admit to his mistakes. There wasn¡¯t anything worth hiding. He scratched his head and said, "Senior Sister Tian, can you and Senior Tian Qi wait a moment? I miscalcted the number of people when I reserved the room..."


    Papercut was simply stupefied. Yes, observing the room wrong could be excused, and honestly acknowledging one¡¯s mistake wasn¡¯t a problem. However, what the hell was with this awkward and blunt reply? It was like Luo Nan was trying to tell everyone about his severity in homebody-sickness.


    He pressed the call-service button on the wall before nimbly rushing over with his plump body. He gave Luo Nan a jab and interrupted Luo Nan¡¯s words, "Nanster, you¡¯re with me. Xue Lei, you¡¯re with him...Mo Peng. We can share lockers and make space for two. As for the equipment, I¡¯ve already called the manual server. We can get scanned directly. It will be fast."


    Tian Si had met Papercut before at Ocean Sky Cloud City, plus his build was quite recognizable. She knew that Papercut was Luo Nan¡¯s friend and was highly likely to be someone with supernatural powers. Naturally, she wouldn¡¯t neglect him. She immediately spread her lips into a smile, "This sort of thing happens a lot. There¡¯s no need to trouble you..."


    Papercut bowed and said, "It is natural to serve a beauty."


    Upon finishing his words, Papercut gave Luo Nan a re. The meaning was, ¡¯Kid, learn a little, okay!?¡¯


    It was just as Papercut said, there were always people willing to serve a beauty. Subsidizing Tian Qi was no problem as well.


    Mo Peng greeted Tian Qi in a very familiar manner.


    Tian Qi cooperated as well, "There¡¯s no need to be troubled. Big Peng and I can share a locker."


    Actually, these two were very familiar with each other. The seventh sibling of the Mo Family, Mo Cheng,peted often with Tian Qi in electronic tournaments. They were quite equally matched, and Mo Cheng would often bring Mo Peng along, so Mo Peng and Tian Qi met quite a few times. They weren¡¯t strangers. But the more things were like this, the more they didn¡¯t understand. Tian Qi and Luo Nan didn¡¯t have their lives intersect with each others¡¯ much. How did their rtionship mature to this degree? Why did Tian Qie despite the awkwardness?


    This subtle rtionship was like a tiny bug. It bore into their hearts, tickling them.


    Then, Luo Nan went to introduce the others to Tian Si. Oh, it seemed that he didn¡¯t really mention Papercut or Xue Lei. The situation was far too messy.


    Then someone suddenly spoke, spinning the conversation back to the previous topic, "Let¡¯s just switch rooms."


    The moment the words were spoken, most of the people spun around looking nkly for who had spoken. Its source:


    Yue Zheng.


    While in the line of fire of everyone¡¯s gazes, this person held an expression akin to soft clouds and gentle winds, "I bumped into a mate on the way here. He¡¯s a mid-level here. He specifically told me that if we wanted more space, we can upgrade. A room opened up in the luxury rooms in area A."


    As he spoke, he revealed a radiant smile. His gaze cut across Luo Nan and stopped upon Tian Si¡¯s face, "When meeting new friends, I feel that it¡¯s better to have a bright and spacious environment. Everyone can have a better time ying."


    At the same time, Luo Nan heard Mo Peng squeezed out a sound from his throat, "Fucker!"

 Chapter 391: Zero Fluctuation

    Chapter 391: Zero Fluctuation


    Trantor: Strivon


    The atmosphere in the room turned quite odd.


    Yue Zheng¡¯s smile, as well as the meaning behind his words were quite vague, but the direction in which he faced was quite clear. It was enough to let most people fill in the various details in their minds.


    He was pretending that what he said was a coincidence. Was he intending on trampling on Luo Nan and the other¡¯s faces?


    Was he trampling on Luo Nan and the other¡¯s faces to show off to Tian Si?


    Huh? It seemed that all the ideas were pretty much the same....they all involved trampling on Luo Nan¡¯s face.


    Ruan Zihui shot Mo Han a nce, and she saw her best friend frown. She then giggled and said, "What¡¯s the point of switching? In the end, we have to go to area ABC. The size of the room isn¡¯t worth a damn."


    "Wow, you said some dirty words." Tong Hui made a fuss over nothing.


    "I was made dirty by you long ago!" Ruan Zihui unexpectedly let out some shots, causing everyone present to be greatly shocked. Unfortunately, she was not an old hand at banter. She stopped after a single sentence and couldn¡¯t hold back fromughing as she squatted down with hands covering her face.


    She had made her own bed and had to lie in it, having even Tong Hui stupefied on the spot. The focus of the entire room was drawn askew by her.


    Mo Han watched her with shock. She thought,


    All you had to do was take a side. There¡¯s no need to go this far!


    In any case, Ruan Zihui really did sacrifice her in the Hui-Hui Gray-Gray way, changing the atmosphere. Though there was no teasing or joking, the boys and girls were trying to hold back theirughter. They took the matter of upgrading the room and threw it to the back of their minds.


    Yue Zheng gaped, unable to speak the words he wanted to say. It was very clear to him; it was too difficult to force the atmosphere back to the way it was, and one bad move would be very damaging to him. In the end, he wanted a certain someone to have a good impression of him. He didn¡¯t want to crash into the wall instead.


    Yep, from the moment Tian Si first entered, Yue Zheng was certain that she was her most favorite type of prey. She knew appropriate behavior, and she knew when to advance or retreat. She possessed grace, and she wasn¡¯t that much older. The gentle and mature bearing she revealed was what he was infatuated with the most in recent years.


    Though Mo Han was youthful and beautiful, inparison, her temperament was quite thorny. One bad move and he would wish he was dead from the torment.


    Yue Zheng¡¯s gaze remained neither close nor distant upon Tian Si¡¯s body. The more he looked, the more he felt that she was his taste.


    He was still unclear on why this outstanding beauty would be friends with Luo Nan, a typical homebody brat. However, he dared to gamble on his two eyes that these two people weren¡¯t that close. Luo Nan¡¯s polite performance rified that quite well.


    Oh, he had been a bit hasty in the beginning. After all, this was Mo Han and Mo Peng¡¯s social circle. Being too forceful would likely be counterproductive. He could wait until they entered the gaming grounds, then things would be different.


    A smile appeared on Yue Zheng¡¯s face. He shrugged and pretended that what had just happened never happened. He didn¡¯t mention upgrading rooms anymore, and he took his time in taking off his outer garments to prepare to swap for his equipment.


    Bright lights shed in the room suddenly, then came upbeat music and a background voice, "Adventurers! I admire your valor! Now, advance towards the region of greater danger!"


    "What the heck?"


    "The equipment¡¯s locked."


    "We¡¯re upgrading rooms!?"


    "Yue Zheng, what the hell did you do?" Ruan Zihui shouted once more.


    Everyone¡¯s using gaze shifted toward Yue Zheng. No matter what you want to do, this sort of ¡®act-first-and-reportter¡¯ attitude was far too bing!


    But Yue Zheng donned an innocent appearance. He was halfway through taking off his coat, so one sleeve still hung from his upper arm. He just froze in ce like this, facing a dozen gazes with a nk expression.


    It was right in this awkward and tense moment that someone knocked on the door. The door then opened, and a young man in a crisp suit came walking in. "Zhengster, why are you hesitating about upgrading a mere room. It¡¯s just a bit more on my tab. I can act first and reportter, man...whoa, there really is quite a few new friends."


    How wonderful!


    Yue Zheng¡¯s entire face lit up in an instant. He never thought that his mate would put on such a show. Perhaps it was acting, or perhaps there was some other cause. In any case, Yue Zheng was now freed from a passive situation. It was truly an ted turnaround!


    He tore off the clothes that hung on his arm and drew in a breath. Then heughed as he walked over, "Brother Fan, you¡¯re too fast."


    The young Mr. Fan who just came in was clearly a clever character polished by society. He bumped his fist against Yue Zheng¡¯s chest, expressing an intimate attitude. Then he turned to the room and revealed a flourishing smile, "Myst name is Fan. I¡¯m Fan Qu. I¡¯m in charge of a few things in this branch, and it¡¯s been almost two years since I started. This is my first time meeting most of you, little brothers and sisters, but you¡¯re all Zhengster¡¯s ssmates. Zhengster¡¯s my little brother¡¯s childhood friend. Let¡¯s not be strangers everyone."


    Fan Qu spoke quickly, but he enunciated each word clearly, "There are many guests today. Please do not mind if there are some aspects neglected. I have provided some fruit tes and refreshments in the luxurious room, apensation for the little brothers and sisters. You can always contact me directly for booking a room when youe here in the future. If you¡¯re unable to get a hold of me, you can drop my name. I will also do my best to make satisfactory arrangements."


    The more Yue Zheng heard him speak, the more his heart felt at ease. He had looked down on Brother Fan, one whose social bearing was thick and dense in the past, but his opinion of Brother Fan changed greatly today.


    Brother Fan was indeed a very busy person. He answered his phone after the moment it took for him to speak. He waved goodbye to everyone with a smile, leaving withrge and quick strides.


    Though Brother Fan had came and went in a hurry, his visit was akin to taking a crappy hand and recycling it anew, from Yue Zheng¡¯s perspective. He was going for the royal flush, and he held all the cards he needed. It was hard to lose.


    The more things felt under control, the more smoothly Yue Zheng behaved. He didn¡¯t need to show off any more. He just needed to show his hand. He faced the crowd and adopted a most magnanimous gesture, "All right, I didn¡¯t know that he would y this hand. I¡¯m afraid all the data has been transferred already. Let¡¯s go then. It¡¯s not far at all."


    Having said this, he rushed a smile at Luo Nan, "Junior Nan. I didn¡¯t mean for this matter to happen, and I know that it¡¯s quite frustrating. How about we have a discussion? Give me this chance. Tonight¡¯s my treat, even if its as an apology to everyone. This also gives the senior sisters and junior brothers of Acumen College a show of face."


    Yue Zheng¡¯s words were said beautifully, especially after being ¡¯wronged¡¯. He acted so humbly that his words flowed cleverly, so clever that it was like words of Ruan Wenhui, a Chinese master of the literature arts. People were speechless.


    Yue Zheng gazed around the room upon speaking, making a mental estimate. Right now he should have taken over Luo Nan¡¯s role as host. Then he continue with deep plowing and careful cultivation. Just look, wasn¡¯t that Senior Sister Tian looking quite amazed?


    Tian Si was truly quite amazed. She was able to guess Yue Zheng¡¯s intentions, but her amazementy in the fact that Yue Zheng was toying with his own life. Though she had yet to truly understand Luo Nan¡¯s supernatural abilities, it was not enough to hinder a basic understanding.


    For people like Yue Zheng, Luo Nan would probably be able to kill them without a sound, with just a stir of a thought!


    With such thoughts formed, it was hard for Tian Si to not feel terror deep within. This fear was formed from the reverence she had toward Luo Nan for breaking away from thews of society. And right now Luo Nan¡¯s wooden expression was a sort of mask or disguise from her perspective. Perhaps that mask would be torn in the next moment, revealing the face of the grim reaper.


    She nced at Yue Zheng in the blink of an eye. Yue Zheng just so happened to lock gazes with her. He gave a slight bow and a smile from a distance. He was feeling confident and outstanding, but from Tian Si¡¯s perspective, his appearance was akin to nothing other than rotting flesh and bones.


    She shivered, subconsciously shifting a bit in Luo Nan¡¯s direction. Then, under the eyes of the crowd, she reached her hand out to touch Luo Nan¡¯s upper arm. With a slight hesitation, her hand slipped down to hold Luo Nan gently by the arm.


    "Junior..."


    Just how many bulging eyes were there in the room at this moment? Chaotic thoughts spun and flew. Of course, Yue Zheng¡¯s expression instantly darkened.


    Luo Nan was weird. He turned to look at Tian Si. He was a bit ufortable with how Tian Si had suddenly closed the distance. He opened his mouth to ask why.


    But at this time, Papercut suddenly popped out. He chuckled, "Let¡¯s not be in a bind. Let¡¯s not be unreasonable. The data has already been transferred, and its impossible to get it back. We can just go experience the luxury room for a moment. I have yet to be in one in my life!"


    He waved his hand to shoo everyone out, "Go, go, go. Everyone go. Don¡¯t forget your clothes and personal items. Hey, Nanster. When you and Tian Si finish talking, hurry up ande over."


    Though most of the people in the room wanted to see what would happen, Papercut¡¯s little method was able to make these boys and girls, whocked the strength to even truss a chicken, leave. Even Yue Zheng, whose mind was quite frozen, involuntarily left.


    In a few breaths time, the room becamepletely empty.


    "Senior Sister, is something the matter?"


    Luo Nan¡¯s reactions were just a bitcking, that¡¯s all. He wasn¡¯t truly retarded. Though he didn¡¯tpletely understand the ways of the world, he could see that Tian Si¡¯s heartbeat was erratic and fear was breeding in her heart. The hand that pulled his arm was quite stiff, like she had encountered a scare. Her mind also seemed to be in quite the bind.


    And it seemed that he was the reason why for all of this?


    Luo Nan had to be a lot more open with someone like Tian Si, a character who knew half the facts. He had gradually gotten used to the new distance he had with Tian Si, so heughed and said, "What are you afraid of?"


    "I-I¡¯m worried about you getting angry." Tian Si¡¯s voice was a bit hoarse, She had trouble controlling her breathing. She was nervous, when all was said and done.


    "Me?" Luo Nan was baffled.


    "I¡¯m a bit surprised as well."


    Papercut spoke out of nowhere as he stood by the door, startling Tian Si once more. But she saw this plump young man chuckle simple-mindedly, creasing the skin of his face, and felt that it was rather pleasing. She calmed down quite a bit.


    Xue Lei stuck his head in from outside the door and grinned, "That Mr. Yue needs a spanking. He¡¯s sick for wanting to trample on people."


    Papercut chuckled again, "Nanster is normally well-tempered. I know this, but I didn¡¯t think that he would be able to be so calm when that happened. How remarkable."


    "Who?" Luo Nan was a bit uncertain, "Are you talking about me?"


    "Who else is there? That bro trampled on your face today. He wasn¡¯t even willing to overlook or spare you. I was really scared that you would mentally snap and clean him up just like you did with Tank. Motherfucker, speaking of that guy, do you know how hard it was to clean up the scene back then? That bro wasplete paste, Just the slightest force would cause his skin to slip from his flesh. It¡¯s as if he had been pressure cooked."


    Luo Nan¡¯s expression was that ofplete innocence. He had been so busy recently that he didn¡¯t have the time to consider dead people.


    Tian Si finally came back to reality. It seemed that Luo Nan had no intent to kill, but she asked carefully in confirmation, "You¡¯re really not mad?"


    Luo Nan became depressed, feeling like he had been wronged, "You thought that just because he thered away and talked big that I would want to kill him? Wasn¡¯t everything he did absolutely meaningless? He was never able to persuade anyone from beginning to end, and that included his sister, and you expected me to be angry? Brother Papercut, the few lives I have taken with my own hands all began with them seeking to kill me first. They also destroyed my mother¡¯s work. I¡¯m not the type to go killing indiscriminately, okay?"


    "Of course, of course you¡¯re not. Nanster, you¡¯re so impressive!" Papercut gave a big thumbs up.


    Tian Si couldn¡¯t help feeling that their conversation was strange. The talk of taking a few lives was seriously contrary to the logic of normal society, but such talk was so casual and natural when it came out of Luo Nan¡¯s and Papercut¡¯s mouths.


    And, on the side, Xue Lei¡¯s expression didn¡¯t really change as well.


    In the end, they were different from normal people. It was hard for Tian Si to calm her heart-rate. She had no choice but to breathe deep and slow and try to calm down.


    Luo Nan felt her actions clearly and was uncertain of himself when seeing them. He turned to ask, "Was there a problem with how I handled things?"


    How was Tian Si to answer? Though she was a cunning and eloquent person who could fit into many situations, she waspletely unable to disy her skills during this time. She really admired herself for thinking of creating a situation to converse with Luo Nan in private.


    In the end, it was Papercut who helped her out of trouble once more, "That¡¯s not what we all meant. We weren¡¯t praising you...I just want to know. How were you so sure that this Yue kid didn¡¯t win anyone to his side? He yed his moves out quite well, especially when that Fan kid came over. I really didn¡¯t know that boys and girls these days had these sort of ideas. Tian Si has experienced them before, but the others might not have.¡±


    Luo Nan especially liked this topic. He immediatelyughed and pointed at his own head, "Sensed it."


    Papercut had been teasing him. He never expected there to be truly an answer. He was stupefied for a time, "You can sense this too?"


    "Of course, it¡¯s very clear."


    It must be stated that Luo Nan truly didn¡¯t understand some of the ways of the world, but when it came to sensing the hearts, minds, and energies of people, there were few people who could beat him in the entirety of Xia City, let alone this room.


    It was just as he said. Yue Zheng was just like arge ant endlessly ramming into a tree when it came to this matter. The living starry sky illustrated him as a bleak star. This bro¡¯s ¡¯gravitational force¡¯ didn¡¯t form any effective fluctuations at all. There was little effect on the people present during the time.


    Yue Zheng¡¯s influence, no matter how high its wave crest or low its wave trough, didn¡¯t have a single moment that touched upon a level that required Luo Nan¡¯s attention. It just quietly dissolved into the abyss of the vast sea of stars.


    So, there were really no fluctuations within Luo Nan¡¯s heart.


    He was prepared to exin it to Papercut, but Papercut had already given up, "All right. I still need to help you out in a little bit with Cat Eyes. Spare me the brain power. Let us go to the luxury room to experience it thoroughly. Oh, you went to a luxury roomst time at the other, destroyed, Frost River Reality at Fudong, right?"


    Luo Nan gave a grunt. His mood was a bit bad, since Papercut wouldn¡¯t let him exin himself. His stomach was stuffed with words.


    They hurried to the luxury room in area A and saw Mo Peng¡¯s spittle fly through the air. He was describing the ¡¯heroic feat¡¯ of a certain someone back at the Fudong Frost River Reality.


    "I¡¯ve never been to this ce before, but Nanster should have."


    "Oh, he doesn¡¯t like this sort of ce?" Luo Biyao acted as Mo Peng¡¯s support in a very familiar way. The two matched perfectly.


    Mo Peng chuckled, "He doesn¡¯t like it, but he¡¯s no match for bad luck! Last time the Fudong Main Street¡¯s Frost River Reality was attacked by terrorists. The luxury room was smashed to bits and pieces. I looked at the police report after the matter. Nanster and the other¡¯s evacuation route included the rooms of area A...it seemed that one of the rooms was the starting point?"


    "Whoa, Nanster was a victim?" Tong Hui had heard Mo Han mention this before, but he didn¡¯t have much of understanding back then. He was really curious.


    "Of course! Not to mention, a third of our current party were victims. There was Sister Pomegranate and I, and Senior Sister Third Brother, Brother Qi. We were all victims. But none of us fooled around as big as Nanster. He was of thest group toe out. Oh right, there was also Xue Lei. He was one of thest ones too. His father was the captain of the special police who was in charge of the protect and defend mission!"


    Mo Peng¡¯s arms were waving and feet were stomping as he spoke. Luo Nan and Xue Lei nced at each other. Both of them had their mouths shut, wishing to maintain low profiles. Luo Nan wanted to be done with this group, so that he could converse with Papercut, Cat Eyes, and the others. He didn¡¯t care about Mo Peng¡¯s show at all.


    However, Yue Zheng, who stood within the center of therge room with its bright flowing lights and first ss sound effects, had an ugly expression when he heard the words ¡¯attack¡¯, ¡¯destroyed to bits and pieces¡¯, and so on.


    At this time, a call came through to his wristband.

 Chapter 392: Taking Sides

    Chapter 392: Taking Sides


    Trantor: Strivon


    Fan Qu was the one calling. Yue Zheng just epted a favor from him, upgrading their venue. In any case, he had to demonstrate an attitude that was out of the norm, "Hello, Brother Fan. Looking for me?"


    "Do you have time to talk?"


    Having heard him, Yue Zheng walked deeper into the suite. In any case, right now there wasn¡¯t anyone paying attention to him. He closed the door upon entering the suite and found a sofa to sit. Only then did he discover how tense his muscles had been.


    Motherfucker. How did such a small scene be like this!?


    Yue Zheng couldn¡¯t hold back a sigh before saying, "Brother Fan, you can talk."


    Fan Qu said, "I suddenly recalled something when I left. Is there anybody of your group from Acumen College?"


    "Yeah, what¡¯s the matter?"


    Yue Zheng turned his head as he spoke. It was quite a coincidence. Through the crack of the suite¡¯s door, he just so happened to see Tian Si, the peaceful beauty, standing next to Luo Nan. She had a faint smile as she listened to Mo Peng brag. Her bearing and manners were truly iparable!


    "There¡¯s a girl. Is her name Tian Si?"


    He gasped.


    For a second, Yue Zheng almost believed that he had his mind read by Fan Qu. After a panic, he realized that this was probably a coincidence. He gave two grunts and said, "Yes, there is."


    Fan Qu¡¯s tone was rxed, "How do you know her?"


    Yue Zheng also tried probing as well, "A younger alumni of Sixth Middle brought her. He transferred over to Acumen College when he entered the next grade. What¡¯s the matter? Do you have a grudge with Tian Si?"


    Fan Quughed in a very exaggerated manner, "If I have formed grudges with a beauty, then I have failed in life. It¡¯s nothing. I¡¯m just asking. You know, I¡¯ve taken two years of advanced studies at Acumen College before. This Tian Si is an officer of their Alumni Society. I¡¯ve crossed paths with her before, and I just recalled her. She probably forgot mepletely by now."


    "So it was like this." Yue Zheng thought to himself that this Tian Si was often recognized as a good resource at school. It¡¯s got to have been at least three years since Fan Qu came out of advanced studies, and he still remembered her.


    The more the resource was like this, the more effort Yue Zheng was able to muster...but he needed the chance to make a move!


    There was something Yue Zheng couldn¡¯t figure out at all. Tian Si was such a beauty. She had the figure, and she had the way with words. She was a refined and graceful character at Acumen College. Why was she acting all docile toward Luo Nan, such a stiff. wooden kid?


    Even if a girl wanted a fallback guy, normally she wouldn¡¯t choose someone like him, right?


    Fan Quughed at this time, telling him, "Zhengster, you came at just the right time today. I just so happen to have a few friends from nearby colleges; Acumen College, Cloud City School of Business. People from all over, and all sorts of people. Come and y when you have the time. I¡¯ll introduce you to one another."


    Arrogance was baked deep in Yue Zheng¡¯s bone. He wasn¡¯t the sort to agree easily. He just asked, "Who are they?"


    Fan Qu said a few names, and Yue Zheng¡¯s eyes lit up. Yup, they were famous characters in the circle of the second generation rich.


    Though his family was considered part of the upper-ss in Xia City, his family was stillcking whenpared to the names Fan Qu mentioned. During normal encounters, it was hard to avoid fawning over them and ttering them. He didn¡¯t like that. To meet them in this sort of gaming center was a more ideal situation.


    "Okay, I will go for sure. Brother Fan, help me...introduce." Actually, Yue Zheng wanted to say ¡¯refer¡¯, but he was affected by his pride, so he switched words.


    "No problem, no problem." Fan Quughed heartily on his end, feeling great. Then he said, "Wait a moment," out of nowhere. It seemed like he had some work he had to do.


    Yue Zheng replied, "You¡¯re busy Brother Fan. We can get in contactter."


    Fan Qu said, "It¡¯s nothing," butter he still bid goodbye for the moment. Yet at the very end, he suddenly said, "Zhengster, I see that you¡¯re quite troubled with the people you¡¯re with. How about I bring over the two from my end and link up with you over there. This will give you support, andter you can return the favor."


    Yue Zheng¡¯s heart started beating faster, and he said, "That¡¯s inappropriate. It¡¯s inappropriate. I should be the one going over first to say hello."


    "It¡¯s nothing. Your Yue Family¡¯s pharmaceutical business is so big. Everyone is equal. Everyone there is familiar with it. You all have some rtions with each other. Giving friends support is what should be done."


    With Fan Qu speaking in such a way, Yue Zheng had no strength to refuse.


    He thought about that group¡¯s history and level. If two people really dide over bringing drinks, delivering a fruit te or something, his reputation within this circle would bepletely supported.


    "Okay, Brother Fan. Then I will thank you first."


    "It¡¯s nothing. It¡¯s nothing. We¡¯re bros for life after all!"


    Yue Zheng chuckled as he ended the call. Fan Qu, on the other hand, drew in a deep breath. His heart-rate had elerated, and he felt that this was his chance to show great face.


    His thoughts took another turn, and he suddenly felt a bit unfortunate.


    It was unfortunate that the people in this luxury room were poor students. Though their attractiveness rating was high, they weren¡¯t people in normal circles. It would be best to greet a few friends that he normally mingled with in the following situation, then he would properly depart. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t be able to show off, like wearing fancy clothes at night.


    The thought was formed, and Yue Zheng could no longer control himself. He used the search function of his wristband as heid on the sofa. He searched to see if there were any friends nearby doing activities.


    He just wanted to give it a try is all. How was he to know that he would be so lucky. There truly was a batch of people nearby. They were here at Cloud City Water Vige. Though they weren¡¯t in the same building, they were only a few steps away.


    Yue Zheng hesitated slightly before waving his hand and snapping his fingers. He used his usual manners to make contact from someone in that group. "Hello, Old Su. I¡¯m pretty close to you. Just see where I am...Aurora Cloud City. The gship store of Frost River Reality, yes. The one that just opened. I¡¯m with a bunch of kids here, my little sister¡¯s friends. It¡¯s quite annoying babysitting them."


    He kicked his heels against the ground, pretending to create small talk. Then he began to press, "Come over to y. We can chat at the very least. You¡¯re talking about the attractiveness level? You know my little sister has good taste....hahaha, yep. You also know my taste."


    "Sure,e shake them up. Shake them in the car, or shake them in bed, if you have the skills that is. Oh right, just drop dead if you ruin my little sister¡¯s n. And drop dead if you steal my prey!"


    Yue Zhengughed as he ended the call and suddenly pped. His restless legs stomped the ground, propping his body up. It was as if warmth channeled through his body from head to toe, making him full of strength for the time being.


    He walked out the suite withrge strides, and he began to ponder over what sort of activities to do next. He mulled over the atmosphere for now. For instance, he could be a bit more low-key, conceal his ws and teeth, and let these people squander around while he waited for the two groups of peoplee in one after another. Then he would enter the stage brilliantly, instantly being reborn with a body of gold.


    His thoughts led him to be quite pleased with himself, his mouth in a wide smile. At this time, he just so happened to hear Mo Peng, the jabbering dude, speak once more, "Nanster, I saw that you no longer have doctor¡¯s orders when you scanned. Is your bodypletely recovered?"


    "My state¡¯s fine." Luo Nan grunted in response.


    "Since your body is fine, let¡¯s all go to area A. The more people, the livelier the game!"


    "Me? I¡¯ll just..."


    Luo Nan was just about to refuse when Mo Peng came up to him and whispered, "You, me, plus Pomegranate -- us three have preference status from the incident at the other Frost River Reality. It should be able to cover for one reality battlefield without issues, and it should be able to cover the expenses of this luxury room. This kid Yue Zheng is quite fake. We can¡¯t lose face."


    Luo Nan blinked. There was face to be lost from this?


    The two didn¡¯t instantly reach an agreement, causing Mo Peng to be a bit worried, "So it turned out that all the saliva I used just now was wasted, poured into the desert. Not even a de of grass, a de of emotion, grew in your heart, kid?"


    "What grew?"


    Grass, emotion, did not grow in Luo Nan¡¯s heart. Yue Zheng, who just walked over, was the one with grass in his heart! If this group of people were to be urged on by Mo Peng and all ran out to y, then how would Yue Zheng show up all shy? Would he just kneel and cry alone in the room?


    With a startled heart, Yue Zheng did not care for anything else. He rushed up with a few steps to try to seize the initiative back. Of course, he had to wrap everything with dignified reasons, "Since we¡¯re in the luxury room, let¡¯s make good use of it. There are many things here that canpletely substitute for the facilities of area A. Like simting the n hall..."


    As he spoke, Yue Zheng utilized the highest privileges of the room to configure and setup. He heard the lockers on the four walls in the ring-shaped space ring with a sound. Within this static sound, high-end back massage chairs slid out from beneath the lockers. They gathered together in the center, forming two sets of half-moon structures.


    "All these chairs are connected to the central AI server and equipment specifically allocated for the room. They canpletely realize the highest level of reality experience. There¡¯s no need to line up at area A. We can setup the battlefield here. We can enter the Wilderness, Ocean Soul, and other groups of war."


    Yue Zheng borrowed some of the vocabry used in advertisements in a great effort to sell to the others. It was effective. Some people couldn¡¯t hold back from going, ¡°Wow.¡±


    Needless of anything else, the visual effects alone were first ss.


    Luo Nan turned to look at Papercut, giving the meaning, Are you interested?


    How could he be interested? Without professional boot-up guide equipment, whatever reality effect was simply a joke for someone like Papercut, a mentally nted ability user. There wouldn¡¯t be any true feeling of realness.


    Papercut shrugged. He knew that Luo Nan didn¡¯t have the patience to stay here, so he took the initiative to say, "You guys go ahead and y first. Nanster, Leister, and I will take a walk outside. See if there¡¯s some drinks or something..."


    He was just being polite, but he never expected Yue Zheng to have taut nerves. Yue Zheng quicklyughed and said, "There¡¯s no need to go to such trouble. There¡¯s a drink fridge in the room. It¡¯s over there. Drink as much as you want. The cost is included with the room. Oh yeah, we have fourteen people. Perfect for a seven versus seven, right?"


    Papercut chuckled.


    Mo Peng stepped back at this time, jabbing Mo Han within the crowd. Mo Han tried pping him back, but Mo Peng smirked and avoided the attack. He whispered as soft as he could, "Hey, we doing it?"


    "Doing it!" Mo Han responded coldly. In the beginning, she didn¡¯t really feel anything toward Yue Zheng, but a girl¡¯s vanity was always satisfied when someone was chasing and flirting with her. However, reality told her that he wasn¡¯t a pursuer, but a hunter with too many male hormones. She was just prey at best.


    He certainly had no face. Plus, Yue Zheng, this scoundrel, wanted to stomp on Luo Nan¡¯s, her¡¯s, and Mo Peng¡¯s faces.


    Mo Han was never one to be bullied. Her eyes swiveled as she raised her voice, "Let¡¯s first consider everyone¡¯s opinion. I want to go to the Uncanny Valley. Last time I didn¡¯t have my fill of fun due to the incident. Today, I want to grab it back no matter what. Then there¡¯s Frost River Reality especially. It left me with quite some fear...who¡¯sing with me? Peipei? Gray-Gray?"


    Mo Qiu¡¯s temperament was not one to refuse people, surrendering to Mo Han after a few ¡¯ah¡¯s¡¯, and Ruan Zihui was her best friend. She knew how to coordinate as a team during crucial moments. She raised her hand innocently, "Okay, okay."


    She instantly turned to Tong Hui and spoke in a spoiled manner, "You¡¯reing with me!"


    Tong Hui wasn¡¯t stupid. He knew that this was the start of big drama. Of course, he had to follow his girlfriend¡¯s steps. Of course, he also used this chance to disy his affection, "No problem. I¡¯ll go wherever you go!"


    "Whoa!" Mo Han got goosebumps when dragging over this pair of love-dogs to her side. She took away four people this way and wiggled her eyebrows in a provoking manner toward Mo Peng.


    As for Yue Zheng, who was he again?


    Mo Peng chuckled. He was not to be outdone, "I feel like it¡¯s better to get some sweat going. I want to go to the Warzone."


    Luo Biyao¡¯s position was clear. He grinned and said, "I think so too. In such a big gaming center, exercise is number one."


    Mo Peng asked, "Brother Qi, what about you?"


    Tian Qi was in a pickle. He wasn¡¯t really looking forward to the luxury room¡¯s equipment. He was just confused about the excessively vague attitude of his sister.


    He really wanted to say that he would follow his sister, to drive off wolves.


    But his skin wasn¡¯t thick enough in the end. Plus, he didn¡¯t think that Luo Nan, this wooden kid, would be able to do much. He gave Mo Peng¡¯s warm invitation a bit of consideration before reluctantly nodding.


    And so, even Mo Peng was able to drag three people away.


    Luo Nan¡¯s side, the ability user team and Tian Si, need not to be mentioned.


    With just a few exchanges of words, only three remained of those who stood by Yue Zheng¡¯s side, including himself. The other two were his little sister Yue Qin and Turner, who considered their faces.


    Yue Zheng felt his scalp go numb when seeing the situation in front of him. His mind was simply nk. How could such a good hand be on the verge of copse once more? How would he deal with the situation when the two groups of people came in the very near future?


    Yue Qin was Mo Han¡¯s good friend, but right now she was in a very awkward situation. Yue Zheng had been isted step by step. She never had the option to take a side. She was angry at Mo Han for deliberately disregarding her brother¡¯s face, and she was angry at her brother Yue Zheng as well for his inappropriate actions.


    That moron! Would it kill him to maintain a low-profile for a dozen seconds? Hepletely destroyed that excellent hand of his early on! What a waste of a royal flush!


    The most painful thing was that Yue Qin still had to find a way out for her moronic brother; it¡¯s like a bug had infested his brain or something. Her brain spun a few circles before she suggested, "How about this? Let¡¯s all go outside to y first, and we can y Fighting Dance here when wee back. We should make use of this venue for maximum benefit..."


    She turned as she spoke to hug Mo Han by the shoulder, embracing the petite Mo Han into her bosom. She appeared to be reserved and cold, but she smiled and said, "Wifey, we¡¯ll be on the same teamter. We¡¯ll make them shed blood!"


    Mo Han knew that Yue Qin was doing all this for her brother, but she saw how Yue Qin easily said their old intimate nicknames for each other. She knew that this was quite rare from Yue Qin, a prideful girl. Mo Han¡¯s heart was about to grow soft, but she still spoke some hard words.


    "You¡¯ve been having an affair for so long. Don¡¯te looking for me."


    Yue Qin just leaned against Mo Han¡¯s shoulder, turning her head to Ruan Zihui, "If I¡¯m having an affair, I want to find Yuanyuan too..."


    Ruan Zihui sneered, "I¡¯ll make you go Gray-Gray from the Hui-Hui!"


    ¡°What about Peipei?"


    "You, you all decide." The simple Qiu Peipei had long since knelt in defeat when faced with this clear yet hidden cat-fight. She hurriedly withdrew.


    "Then save some time toe back, okay!" Yue Qin gently shook Mo Han¡¯s shoulder, practically acting like a spoiled child.

 Chapter 393: Errant

    Chapter 393: Errant


    Trantor: Strivon


    Yue Qin was famous for being a cold-beauty in the circle, but this didn¡¯t mean she was super serious all the time. Her family just had high standards, and her foresight was strong. She normally held a more reserved bearing.


    But the more this was so, the deadlier it was for her to physically stick to someone like a spoiled child.


    Mo Han¡¯s n became a bit shaky. She kept sneaking nces at Mo Peng, whose mouth had opened slightly and drifted his gaze away. His expression spelled, "I understand, but I can¡¯t do anything about it."


    Fighting Dance was very popr among their age group. It was abination of exercise and y. The lighting effects were cool and well-liked, and the action design was very beautiful as well. It was very popr among young women. The superb sounds and lighting effects of the luxury room made it hard for the girls to resist.


    As for boys, how would they refuse such eye-candy activities?


    After all, everyone hade out to y. Grudges had their limits. The embarrassment they gave Yue Zheng just now was enough. As Mo Han¡¯s and Mo Han¡¯s attitudes softened, the tense atmosphere was dispelled.


    Luo Biyao gave Mo Peng a jab, and Mo Peng knew that he would end up carrying the burden if he couldn¡¯t free Mo Han from this situation. He immediately adopted a different manner and said, "Okay, okay. We will first let loose beforeing back. Everyone will have to go up on stage then. Especially you girls..."


    How was this stepping on stage? This was clearly stepping down. Within the angry and oddughter, all parties were finally given a way out, tidying up the atmosphere that was at near-copse.


    For Yue Zheng, the situation was the same as turning in full circle from the edge of a cliff. He was a bit dizzy. How did thingse to this?


    Once a group of people left the room, there was certainly no stopping the others. That meant he could only get in contact with Fan Qu quickly and tell him not to bring people over.


    Yue Zheng felt agitated. Nothing was going his way; it was as if he was being sued. He had barely reasoned out what was important and what wasn¡¯t when he felt something was off. He turned and saw the wooden kid named Luo Nan staring straight at him. His eyes shone, as if they were glowing.


    Fucker, just one look and I can tell your contact-wearing eyes are looking at me making a fool out of myself!


    Yue Zheng was angry at first, wishing to re back, but then he felt an inexplicably diffident moment when he locked gazes with Luo Nan. He actually couldn¡¯t bear it and shifted his eyes away.


    Papercut was baffled, "What the heck are you looking at him for?"


    "He is the worst example when ites to destroying a system." Luo Nan said it in a single sentence before turning his gaze to Yue Qin, "This girl¡¯s not bad."


    He sized up Yue Qin, this tall and beautiful girl, as he spook. Perhaps his gaze was too direct, for Yue Qin had noticed within the chaos. She looked over, revealing a faint frown, before turning back again.


    Papercut really regretted it over on this end. He had heard some stupid words that made his brain go crazy. However, this time he really was curious. He couldn¡¯t help asking, "Destroying a system? You¡¯re saying that..."


    "Nanster, let¡¯s go, go, go!" Mo Peng, who could be considered to be the overwhelming victor, was extremely excited. He wanted to drag Luo Nan and run to the reality battlefield, but it was extremely rare for Luo Nan to see Papercut take the initiative in talking about theory and research. How could he let go of this chance so easily?


    He waved his hand at Mo Peng, "Don¡¯t mind me. I have some things I need to talk about with Brother Papercut."


    Before Mo Peng could respond, Papercut timidly said first , "Actually, it¡¯s not..."


    His words were cut off by Luo Nan¡¯s bright re. He was utterly defeated.


    Mo Peng did his best to drag Luo Nan away but to no avail. He then thought about how hard it was to make the reality battlefield n and could only grumble as he switched equipment. He pulled Luo Biyao and Tian Qi out the door.


    Tian Qi looked back every step, worried about his own little sister¡¯s behavior. Tian Qi¡¯s mind waspletely on Luo Nan. She waspletely ignorant of her little brother¡¯s worries.


    All right. This was quite more torturous already.


    As everyone split into groups and left, the luxury room became practically empty. Yue Zheng¡¯s ears echoed with Fan Qu¡¯sints. The difference in treatment from back then and now was like the difference between heaven and earth. He had to endure it as he put his mind to wondering whether or not he should give those scoundrel friends of his a call as well.


    It was in this moment that he saw Luo Nan lead the fatty over to the couch with the fatty whimpering all the way. As for Tian Si, she ran back and forth, providing drinks and refreshments.


    FUCK!


    Yue Zheng¡¯s brain nearly exploded from the sudden rush of hot blood, but soon Yue Qin dragged him away.


    Thest bit of disturbances made Luo Nan face the brother and sister pair with his gaze. His eyes never left them until they were out of the room.


    "I want to explode as well." Papercut couldn¡¯t quite stand Luo Nan¡¯s blunt gaze. He could only pull Luo Nan and let him continue, "You said something about them being an example or something?"


    "Destroying an already formed system."


    Luo Nan epted a cup of juice from Tian Si, rubbing the cup a few times in his hand. He used this to organize his words, "The brother used the most straightforward method. He strongly manifested his own existence by using money and contacts. He forcefully cut inside, hoping to use his own gravitational force to make all the stars orbit around him."


    Papercut finally understood. Heughed and said, "He thought that he was a star, but in the end, he wasn¡¯t even an asteroid?"


    "Indeed." Luo Nan didn¡¯tugh; he held quite a serious attitude, "The people who came to this party tonight can be considered as part of a two-star system. There were two main proposers to this event. Me, and Mo Han and Mo Peng. We are the two stars. Brother Papercut, you, Xue Lei, and Senior Sister Tian are affected primarily by my pull. The others are primarily affected by Mo Han and Mo Peng¡¯s pull. There is also a mutual family pull between Mo Han and Mo Peng and I.


    "This sort of structural system isn¡¯t stable, but Yue Zheng used the stupidest and most inappropriate method of all. His money and contacts are absolutely meaningless to people like you and I. From Mo Han and Mo Peng¡¯s friends¡¯ perspective, theyck sufficient force. Yep, Mo Han and Mo Peng have decent friends. Yue Zheng was taught a lesson by our system."


    "But his little sister understood that she needed to begin from within the system. She used her friendship, the attractive force that is fixed with Mo Han, within the system to help her brother escape from his bind."


    "Yes, the easiest way to break through a fortress is to attack from the inside." Papercutughed as he leaned against the sofa, his head looking at the ceiling, "From this perspective, it seems that you understand things quite well. So you just pretended to be naive all this time...Leister, and even Little Tian, were all able to tell as well. Be careful!"


    Xue Lei chuckled, and Tian Si smiled. The atmosphere was quite rxed.


    Luo Nan merely shrugged, "Well, we had nothing to demand. If conflict urs between our demands and Mo Han and Mo Peng¡¯s demands, then the resulting shing force could possibly overwhelm or bypass the form of gravitational force of the two-star system -- family affection. In this case, the two-star system would most likely copse and have an unbnced split at the very least."


    Papercut¡¯s smile suddenly stiffened on his face. The fuck are youngsters these days thinking?


    He suddenly realized something. Everything that Luo Nan said was actually not particrly esoteric. He just used different vocabry to make his ideas more suitable for universal situations. Strictly speaking, the result was still not particrlyprehensive.


    But the fact that it was ¡¯universal¡¯ made Papercut a bit uneasy.


    Was this something that teenagers thought about?


    Was this something a normal person should ponder over?


    The core of Luo Nan¡¯s thinking was not brought into discussion due to today¡¯s matter. Instead, it formed into a universal and feasible truth from Luo Nan¡¯s perspective.


    Looking at things from this angle, perhaps Luo Nan had already formed a sort of abstract system between his surrounding environment and human connections.


    What the hell! It was fine to deal with theory, but Luo Nan was just a fifteen, sixteen year-old kid. Was it good to ponder over this sort of abstruse and abstract topic of life and society?


    It was certainly not good! Papercut believed it to be so.


    If one were to ponder such topics from youth to adulthood, theplicated and ever-changing interpersonal rtionships would turn into rigid gravitational lines. Vivid and lively characters would turn into ice-cold symbols. This was arge step toward bing inhuman.


    Papercut hadn¡¯t witnessed such matters personally in the past, but he had heard quite a few instances of them. Those who opened up to first ss supernatural powers early on, the gifted ability users that simply became Extraordinaries, and especially those leaders of secret orders, would merely leave behind a few legendary words. Most of those words involved topics like this.


    Right now Luo Nan really had this sort of trend going on.


    Luo Nan continued to talk, but Papercut was unable to hear even half of his words. He stared, fixated on Luo Nan from the side, observing this delicate fifteen, sixteen year-old kid. With a calm and detached attitude, Luo Nan stated his findings one by one, doing his best to filter his ideas to give them universal significance. A scene that would normally fill one with admiration made Papercut¡¯s back burst into a cold sweat.


    Papercut suddenly opened his mouth to interrupt Luo Nan, "The brother and sister you¡¯re talking about, what are their names?"


    "Huh?"


    "The brother and sister. Their names?"


    "They¡¯re..." Luo Nan gaped, unable to think of the answer for a time.


    Screwed!


    Papercut closed his eyes, he was now somewhat confident that Luo Nan was advancing on an enviable yet terrifying road. Maybe a new Extraordinary would emerge in Xia City in a few years, but this Extraordinary would bergely different from Ouyang Chen and Her Majesty Empress Wu who both had many years of tough experience...


    Papercut had this premonition!


    Papercut really didn¡¯t know what he should do. After all, he was way too far from the level of Extraordinary. Everything he knew was only on the surface level. He didn¡¯t have the ability nor qualifications to have a say on this matter, let alone have the qualifications to criticize Luo Nan about his choices.


    He would have to ask the Secretary when he gets back. No...maybe President Ouyang would be better.


    Papercut¡¯s silence didn¡¯t affect Luo Nan¡¯s excitement. All Luo Nan needed right now was merely a listener.


    Actually, Papercut had somewhat misunderstood. Luo Nan¡¯s thoughts on whole systems only emerged today. The source was none other than the sensing ability system he learned from Ink.


    This ability allowed him to see the active effects of apletely closed system. His train of thought naturally shifted to this topic when he encountered simr situations.


    Of course, Luo Nan pondered it quite deeply. From this matter, he was able to tell that the system should possess centripetal force, otherwise the dual core system wouldn¡¯t work. When ites to the acting rtionship, the more hidden it was, the better; the stronger it was, the better; the higher the level, the better.


    Yue Qin¡¯s method was an excellent example. It was able to deal with Mo Han, but it was meaningless against Luo Nan¡¯s side, a system built upon the ability user society, friendship,rade-in-arms, and other elements.


    But when these elements werepared with religious rtions, then there seemed to be some difference. It made Luo Nan think of secret orders.


    Luo Nan talked nonstop for quite some time, but he still held back thoughts that involved with the deeper secrets of Formatting Theory. The rest he talked about, not caring whether or not Papercut or Xue Lei would understand him or praise his ideas. Everything came spilling out of his brain. By framing his thoughts innguage, Luo Nan was able to sort through the logic and re-examine his self-understanding.


    Thissted until he finished the cup of juicepletely, but Tian Si smoothly handed him another cup of juice, "Do you want another cup of juice?"


    "Yes, thank-you."


    Papercut mentally groaned to himself. He finally found a chance to interrupt, and he no longer cared about Luo Nan¡¯s happiness. He waved his hand and said, "Let¡¯s take a break, okay? Did youe to the gaming center just to chat? You might as well have gone to a coffee shop!"


    "Didn¡¯t this happen by chance? Otherwise, I would have certainly found a coffee shop instead. Plus, we need to wait for Cat Eyes..." Luo Nan looked at the time. It was just past seven. "Let¡¯s chat a bit longer. There¡¯s still an hour."


    Papercut would undoubtedly prefer dialogue that was lively and fun. He immediately shook his head and said, "Don¡¯t tell me anything about systems anymore. I¡¯m dizzy."


    "Then let¡¯s switch topics and continue the one we left off at the cold beverage shop."


    ¡°The cold beverage shop?"


    "The matter about Worker Zhai. The matter about the Condensation Ring." Though Luo Nancked the insight back then, he still wanted to discuss with Papercut. From his perspective, there were far too many things that needed to be discussed and researched right now. Any one of them would make him exhrated.


    At the time, Tian Si delivered a hot drink into Papercut¡¯s hands.


    Upon seeing this, Papercut had a good excuse to change the topic. "Properly learn etiquette, okay!? You called Little Tian over, then you had her serve tea and drinks to you?"


    Luo Nan went, "Oh." Indeed, he had made a mistake. He had taken Tian Siing over here for granted. It was a bit hard to let this senior sister go, but it was also hard for her to integrate within this circle.


    But Tian Si had a flowery way with words. She saw the situation and frowned slightly, "Don¡¯t mind me. I like hearing you all talk. Well, if it¡¯s not convenient, I can go outside and walk around."


    "No way, there¡¯s nothing inconvenient at all." Luo Nan felt that after the incident at Ocean Sky Cloud City, Tian Si could be more than half considered to be someone in the know. It really didn¡¯t matter for her to know about the matters of a few ability users.


    Papercut could tell that Tian Si had the idea of ¡¯advancing through retreating¡¯. She was doing her best to integrate into Luo Nan¡¯s core circle and making every effort to get Luo Nan to have a good impression of her. Papercut didn¡¯t bother thinking about her intentions. He just liked that her actions gave him a chance to manipte the situation.


    "Exactly, there¡¯s nothing inconvenient. The main thing is that there¡¯s something wrong with the kid, Luo Nan¡¯s, brain. He came to a gaming center to talk theory...I¡¯m annoyed listening to him. Little Tian, do you have any ce you want to go? I¡¯ll keep youpany!"


    Papercut stood up upon speaking.


    Tian Si first looked at Luo Nan, who finally realized that his etiquette wascking. He was an obedient student in this regard, so he also stood up. "Then let¡¯s go have some fun. Last time senior sister went to area C?"


    Tian Si looked at the three males in the room and shook her head, "Area A is quite nice too."


    "Then area A it is!" Papercut reimed the authority of being an etiquette teacher. He pped his hands upon reaching a verdict and turned to face Luo Nan, "Let me teach you one more thing. If you feel that youck experience in this, you can use the HexaEar to execute the guide function. Check the homepage of the branch¡¯s gaming area for the concrete instructions..."


    The group of people left the room.


    Area A was just outside. Their minds weren¡¯t on this ce at all. They just hung out and walked around.


    Rtively speaking, Xue Lei was more engrossed than the others. He followed Papercut¡¯s pointers and learned a few setup methods from the branch¡¯s gaming area. He set it into his helmet and saw the effects.


    "Wow, this is really useful!"


    Papercut smirked, "So you came to get your muscles moving."


    "The sensation I¡¯m feeling isn¡¯t bad. Normally, ying this sort of thing is quite boring..."


    Having solved the ¡¯disease¡¯ that gued him for many years, Xue Lei grew all the more interested in reality technology. He looked around him and a "whoa" slipped out of him as he found a certain ce of interest. He grabbed Luo Nan and said, "Wait a moment. We¡¯re all here now. You¡¯re not going to y a round?"


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t quite understand, "y what?"


    Xue Lei¡¯s mouth cracked into a smile, revealing white teeth under the helmet that covered half his face. "Ten Days in the Wilderness."

 Chapter 394: Hero Seats

    Chapter 394: Hero Seats


    Trantor: Strivon


    Area A of Frost River Reality was forever a ce bustling with excitement. Though it might not have the most amount of peoplepared to other areas, thousands of figures rushed and mored within the space. There were alsorge amounts of cheering, shrieking, and screaminging from the onlooking personnel. The noises never ceased, not even for a moment..


    This was the ce where reality technology was the most unbridled. Guided by immersion equipment, yers instantly arrived to an ocean region or the Wilderness from the bustling metropolis filled with skyscrapers. Danger lurked around every corner as they struggled to escape under the giant jaws of Mutants. They disyed their capabilities to the fullest, achieving sess, winning respect, venting their emotions, and searching for challenges in this interactive hypnosis. However, the ultimate gain was the true thrill.


    Indeed, the thrill was something that could be produced by the mere secretion of dopamine. It didn¡¯t matter whether or not the experience was real, people were just that easy to trick!


    Besides, who doesn¡¯t like ying games?


    Luo Nan stood within the buzzing atmosphere of area A. He looked around at all the yerspletely lost in their games and was unable to say words of refusal.


    Well, actually, there was an itch in Luo Nan¡¯s heart. Though virtual achievements, respect, and the like were meaningless to him, an ability user who tread the line between life and death countless times, being able to interact closely with his friends was quite thepelling force.


    Luo Nan opened his mouth and was just about to respond when Xue Lei went, "Oh my god." He pped Luo Nan¡¯s shoulder with ample force, but the force wasn¡¯t enough to represent anger. He said, "What are you hesitating for?!"


    "Oh?" Luo Nan had an expression of innocence.


    "He¡¯s not wearing a helmet, and besides, what are you expecting from a rookie?"


    Papercut didn¡¯t know if he was helping Luo Nan talk or harming him. Then, he exined to Xue Lei, "There are two empty simtors avable at the hero seats. Leister wanted to snatch the spots, but by the time you finished talking you two missed your chance. Actually, there are a thousand eyes keeping watch over there. It isn¡¯t that easy."


    Xue Lei retorted, "I heard the probability of snatching one with a luxury room is several times higher than having a normal room. You never know, we might have gotten it?"


    Hero seats? Snatching probability?


    Luo Nan believed he had heard of these terms before, but there wasn¡¯t a precise memory. He once more felt the deep malice of the normal human world.


    In the end it was Tian Si who was able to read his bodynguage. She walked up to him and exined. Tian Si¡¯s voice was quiet, so she naturally leaned closely to Luo Nan¡¯s ear in this noisy environment. Her actions were very intimate.


    Luo Nan felt the soft hair lightly brush across his cheek and corbone. A faint aroma entered his nose as well. Everything was soft and fine if one were to not deliberately take in the sensations, as if there was nothing at all. This was in line with his taste.


    Therefore, the sensation made Luo Nan feel quitefortable. At the same time, Tian Si rified the ins and outs of the matter quite clearly.


    The so-called hero seats referred to the center of area A. One hundred simtors wereid out there, each with six degrees of freedom. These simtors seamlessly connected to the interface of the equipment worn by yers. While giving a true sensation of reality, the simtors were able to allow the yers to do more audacious actions without worrying about being overly immersed and injured in reality technology.


    In addition, there were series of control indicators, such as uracy and sensitivity. These simtors were fully upgraded as well, giving yers the upper hand in battle. It was because of this that yers called them Hero Temtes. They naturally rushed like ducks toward them.


    But the circumstances of area A were quite peculiar. There were a thousand yers seeking to snatch the one-hundred seats every day. The supply and demand was seriously out of bnce. It was because of this that Frost River Reality made the cost for using these seats to be on the highest level. On the other hand, they didn¡¯t ept reservations or bids. They just had random sh sales through their system, being nominally fair and open at the very least.


    As for the probability for those who possessed luxury rooms versus normal rooms, these were just rumors passed down between yers. The business never once confirmed this.


    Luo Nan stated his own understanding, "So you might not be able to y even if you wanted to?"


    Xue Lei sighed, "It doesn¡¯t matter if you aren¡¯t able to snatch a hero seat. In any case, do you want to y or not?"


    "I¡¯ll y. You just lead the way." Luo Nan shrugged as he put on the semi-enclosed helmet he had in his hands on top of his head and followed Papercut¡¯s pointers. He went to the branch¡¯s gaming homepage and learned the adhoc guidance mode.


    After some fiddling around, Luo Nan¡¯s mental senses smoothly retracted, no longer spilling out far and wide. This caused the immersion effect to increase substantially, and Luo Nan naturally ced his attention on the translucent face-te before his eyes. He saw all sorts of real-time information of area A streaming down the screen.


    And at the same time, the various AR effects in the surroundings were strengthened as well. The image of the gaming center gradually faded away, and it was as if Luo Nan had arrived at a dusty old town. Streets went left and right here, and there were all sorts of buildings located row after row. There were bars, stores, and training fields surrounding each other. There was also a rusty metal gate in the distance, leading out of the town. All this emerged in his field of vision.


    Behind the metal gate was the real battlefield. Right now Luo Nan¡¯s current location was merely a service area.


    Xue Lei turned his head to look all around. He found quite the suitable ce within theplex and realistic AR images. "If we can¡¯t snatch a hero seat, then it doesn¡¯t really matter. We will go...hey!"


    As Xue Lei lost his voice from screaming, Luo Nan saw an eye catching red message sh across the translucent panel. It said, "yers, take notice. Seats seventy-seven and ny-nine are vacant in the hero area..."


    "Snatch them!" Papercut shouted from the side.


    Luo Nan subconsciously used his mind to make telepathic contact, but he soon realized that this wasn¡¯t the HexaEar and the Psychic Wave Network. Telepathic control wasn¡¯t worth a dime.


    But then an image appeared on his translucent panel the next instant and the sound of alloy daggers shing with ferocious beasts rang out in thest moment. Sparks sprayed everywhere, and blood-pumping background music entered his ears. There was also a vigorous male voice that spoke in a wild and dramatic manner, "The brutal battlefield wees a new hero. Look, the door to glory has opened!"


    Luo Nan was stupefied on the spot, "T-This means I snatched one?"


    "YES!" Xue Lei waved his arm fiercely before facing Luo Nan with delight, "Nanster, you did it! Today¡¯s luck...huh?"


    The two were surrounded by special AR lighting effects. They knew each other¡¯s identity at first nce. It was in this way that the inexplicable happened. They had both obtained qualifications for hero seats. Achievement ¡¯Double Hero Snatch¡¯ Get!


    Papercutughed and gave Luo Nan a push from behind, "How many olddies have you helped cross the road these past few days? You with your god damn luck. Haul ass over there. There¡¯s a time limit for the qualifications."


    "Luck?" The topic of probability was a mathematical problem. It was too reckless to exin using luck. Luo Nan was one who liked to be serious, his brain crashing for a time, entering into deadlock, but Papercut pushed him forward and Xue Lei led the way in front. The party of people headed quickly toward the hero area. They entered the closed area under the sighs and gazes of the envious.


    Papercut and Tian Si were unable to enter this ce. They were blocked by a beautiful projection wall.


    "We¡¯ve gotten rid of the people with fucking luck. Let¡¯s find a ce to kill the time." Papercut chuckled as he adjusted his helmet slightly. Then he asked for Ten Days in the Wilderness, "Does Little Tian often y Ten Days in the Wilderness?"


    Tian Si wore soft sensing equipment around her body. Her helmet was sped beneath her elbow, and she gave off a bit of a heroic air under the dim lighting of the gaming area. She drew her lips into augh, "I y it, but I y the mobile version a bit more."


    Papercut then invited her, "I also like to y mobile games. There¡¯s a strategy room here. Let¡¯s go y two rounds?"


    Light shed in Tian Si¡¯s eyes. She didn¡¯t refuse but nor did she agree. Instead, she raised a new topic. She copied the way Luo Nan addressed Papercut and said, "Brother Papercut. It wasn¡¯t luck that the junior brothers were able to snatch seats, right?"


    Papercut beamed as he said, "How could this be luck? They¡¯ve temporarily bound their HexaEars and made telepathic contact. Then there¡¯s also the Psychic Wave Network transmitting and converting the signal. It¡¯s the same as installing a sh sale plugin. Who can be faster than them? This is where the superiority of ability users lies."


    There was many words in his sentences that were outside of Tian Si¡¯s scope of awareness, but this did not prevent her from being able to deduce the general meaning. And it was because she didn¡¯t understand that she couldn¡¯t help imagine the mysteries within. She was lost in thought for a time.


    But soon she snapped back in reality. She found it a bit strange, "Then why didn¡¯t you tell them?"


    "Pleasant surprises are hard toe by. Would they find delight in the truth? Especially that fellow Nanster. If he were to continue to develop like this, not only would he be precocious, he would one-hundred percent be a machine of theory. Don¡¯t you think so?"


    This time, Tian Si could only smile.


    Papercut invited her once more, "I just looked it up. The strategy room is over there. Do you want to go?"


    "I..." Tian Si just started her sentence, but she found it a bit hard to continue. This was because the stuff she wanted to say had nothing to do with the so-called strategy room.


    Papercut turned to look at her. Though there was a semi-closed helmet in the way, Tian Si inexplicably felt pressure in her heart.


    At the same time, the light and shadow projected on the wall revealed the inconceivable martial might of fantasy. The gorgeous effects and the fierce shes drew yers to stop and watch and caused the yers to cheer as well.


    The scene drove her imagination, and it gave her impetus, "Brother Papercut, am I able to..."


    Papercut probably didn¡¯t hear her because he was wearing a helmet. He turned around and waved his hand, leading her toward the strategy room.


    Tian Si wanted to speak louder, but the thing known as courage came in spurts. She had run out of it, and ultimately the words never left her mouth. She nced back at the projection screen, a little dispirited. In the end, she put on her helmet and followed Papercut.


    She didn¡¯t know that Papercut was muttering to himself ahead. He sighed, "When seeing the sky outside the well, no one would want to return back to the mud...but you don¡¯t have the talent to jump out of the well. Thinking more about this matter would just harm yourself."


    As for Tian Si¡¯s age and foundation, walking the path of physical enhancement and wishing to achieve results was almost impossible, even with a famous teaching guiding her.


    As for mental enhancement...just one nce and Papercut could tell she didn¡¯t have the talent. Obviously, there was no point mentioning it.


    Talent. Talent.


    With these thoughts in mind, Papercut felt quite listless. So in this world, no one was able to find a cultivation method that was upright and frank; a method that started from scratch to be something; something that started from small torge, that was akin to a gradual umtion of steps to reach a thousand miles?


    What in the world was the foundation that they, as ability users, relied on? Who was able to give them a clear-cut answer?


    An image of Luo Nan suddenly shed in his mind. Perhaps only someone like him could do it. Only someone with super strong talent and was a freak that focused fully on studying theory could hope to break through this fog and point to the truth.


    However, this sort of existence was absolutely not lovable. Inparison, even the vain and stupid Yue Zheng was more like a living person.


    This was bad. Very bad!


    Though Papercut probably wasn¡¯t qualified enough to make judgments on this matter, Papercut really didn¡¯t like this change in Luo Nan from the bottom of his heart.


    "Curse my girly temperament!" Papercut walked a few steps with self-deprecating before using the HexaEar to make contact with someone.


    At first he wanted to call He Yueyin; she was the Secretary, after all. However, his thoughts took another turn. Secretary He didn¡¯t really give off a strong sense of being human as well. Plus, Luo Nan, who could easily cause people to get lost five kilometers deep inside fog, might be on a higher level than his own secretary.


    Papercut switched to a different contact when his thoughts reached this point, but the result was outside his expectations. He was left hearing, "Please leave a message."


    "Back behind closed-doors." Papercut shook his head. He sincerely converted his thoughts to words and transmitted them over, "President. I want to ask something of you. It has to do with the kid Luo Nan¡¯s temperament...."


    After entering the hero seats region, Luo Nan soon discovered that the cement area of the simtors formed abyrinth. He soon parted ways with Xue Lei under the guidance of the AR guide.


    But soon a dialogue window lit up to the side of the translucent facete, and Xue Lei¡¯s avatar appeared in a call. This was a team privilege gained after getting the luxury package. People without the luxury rooms could only send messages the old way.


    "Nanster, let¡¯s not enter the battlefield just yet. Let¡¯s first make a room to y."


    "Sure." Luo Nan was a typical rookie. He really was diffident when it came to immediately entering the exciting yet chaotic reality battlefield. Xue Lei¡¯s n was in line with his intentions.


    Right after they finished talking, Xue Lei and Luo Nan¡¯s luck began to rapidly grow. Avatar after avatar spawned on their screens. Some were instant messages. Some were notifications.


    Mo Peng: This is dogshit. I tried snatching one a hundred of times starting fromst month, and I was...


    Luo Biyao: Let¡¯s go y rainbow bow in a bit. We might be able to earn back all the expenses tonight.


    Mo Han: Don¡¯t you think that it¡¯s a waste?


    Tian Si: Oh, I just saw this feature. Do your best.


    This was an experienceparable to winning the lottery. News of it spread quite quickly within their small circle. Ruan Zihui, Tong Hui, Qiu Peipei, and others sent messages of congrattions a momentter. Even Yue Qin and Turner, who were in rather awkward positions, sent them a few words to express congrattions.


    Of course, they never counted on anything from Yue Zheng.


    Luo Nan was a bit disappointed when he arrived at hero seat ny-one, the one that he snatched. Though Xue Lei and the others had hyped this thing up to the heavens, there wasn¡¯t that much of a difference between this and the fully-enclosed maglev cabin of the VIP room, at least from looking at its surface.


    Fine. Perhaps taking the VIP room¡¯s experience out to the public area might be considered a good move.


    Luo Nan started under the assistance of the guide to engage in the data link. It was a walk in the park, and he received Xue Lei¡¯s invitation thirty secondster. The scene before his eyes immediately departed from Frost River Reality to a square tform akin to a dueling arena.


    "We¡¯re not doing the Wilderness?" Luo Nan was quite baffled. It was toozy of them to make this sort of battlefield.


    "Who says it isn¡¯t? There are several fighting arena settings in the Wilderness. This ce is part of the ming Hills, the Ring of Life and Death. It¡¯s quite famous, okay?"


    Xue Lei appeared within the ring. There were four types of sses to choose from: Standby, Deep Blue, Mutant, and Fantasy. He chose what fit most with reality, a human hero of the Standby ss. Under reality effects, he was bound in exoskeleton armor, but he was taking it off piece by piece.


    Luo Nan had a very ominous feeling when he saw this. He shivered in his moment of stupefaction and blurted out, "Let¡¯s switch stages..."


    "Why go through that much trouble? Juste at me bro! Let¡¯s both choose Standby Human Heroes and fight meleebat without armor. We can practice sanshou boxing this way." Xue Lei squeezed his hands into fists, filled with impatience as he chuckled, "It¡¯s been happily decided!"

 Chapter 395: Stirring Anger

    Chapter 395: Stirring Anger


    Trantor: Strivon


    He had been set up!


    Only now did Luo Nan understand that Xue Lei¡¯s thoughts on sanshou boxing training never faded away. This bro endured half an afternoon and half a night to finally use the battle invitation of the Ten Days in the Wilderness game and throw Luo Nan into the ditch.


    Of course, Luo Nan could act as if he didn¡¯t hear Xue Lei. He could switch to a Fantasy type or Mutant type to avoid directbat, but even though Xue Lei had pushed him into this ditch, there were good intentions behind his actions. It wouldn¡¯t be good of Luo Nan to waste his time..


    Luo Nan¡¯s following moments were filled with pain.


    Thisbat training in the ring was quite simple. Both people had chosen human heroes. They possessed systems containing built-in actions, and everything was supported and restricted by reality technology, but Luo Nan was tortured quite badly when facing off against Xue Lei, a true monster of physical enhancement.


    Luo Nan lost what was most effective for him, long-range sensing. His soul strength was absolutely useless, leaving him to rely purely on the reactions of his body. He had nearly no experience in this, so Xue Lei was able to toy with Luo Nan as he saw fit....


    Luo Nan was easily defeated ten times in five minutes. The losses were so much that he wanted to vomit.


    None of their friends in the circle expected the two to y this sort of game mode. Each one of them had eyes bulging wide like dogs. Especially when Luo Nan died in the tenth battle through strangtion. Messages of the group began streaming down screens.


    Mo Han: Nanster, I have a whole new level of respect for you. And Xue Lei, I can¡¯t even look straight at him!


    Mo Peng: Don¡¯t cry Nanster. Stand up and rub it! I mean rub your neck.


    Tian Si: Is this safe?


    Ruan Zihui: I¡¯m already in the Uncanny Valley. The two handsome fellows don¡¯t need to show me a horror movie, thank-you very much.


    Tong Hui: You¡¯re clearly very excited.... I¡¯m talking about my wife.


    Luo Biyao: A love so pure that they kill each other!


    The others left messages as well, including Yue Qin and Turner. They just took the tenth showdown to be tonight¡¯s special show.


    Xue Lei secretly rolled his eyes, but he still did his best to avoid being affected as he taught Luo Nan seriously. He was a sincere person. He was trying to teach Luo Nan, not just showing off a variety of killing techniques. He was using livebat to break through Luo Nan¡¯s shorings and heighten his experience.


    He felt that things were sufficient after ten matches. A lot of time was wasted whenever a match ended, time spent on entering and leaving the match. It was simply better to set the room into an unlimited practice mode. He used the established movements of the system to apany Luo Nan in practicing moves.


    "This system of movement is quite reliable. The rhythm of traction is good as well. We can first follow these movements. Actually, whether it¡¯s sanshou boxing or the sequence of movements, its very important to grasp opportunity in battle. In other words, one must first have a good eye. It¡¯s okay to have strong eyes but weak hands for now. These words I can only say to you."


    "It¡¯s - it¡¯s the gym master¡¯s words, right?" Luo Nan gasped.


    Mo Peng and the others¡¯ disturbance affected Luo Nan, who was far more disadvantaged than Xue Lei. However, his current state of concentration was definitely worthy of praise.


    Though he had intentions of half-assing it in the beginning, his emotions changed after being easily defeated ten times and suffering from the pain over and over again. He normally wasn¡¯t even able to touch the edge of Xue Lei¡¯s clothes. The exception was when Xue Lei deliberately gave him opening to strike back for the sake of demonstration. This sort of result, no matter how natural and trivial, would make one angry when umted over and over again.


    It was under this drive of emotion that, though Luo Nan¡¯s body grew more and more tired, his attention grew more and more focused. Not only was he was effective in blocking off external disturbances, his perception was clearer toward his surrounding environment...


    "Fucker!" Luo Nan had been knocked down by a leg-sweep. He fell down in the ring, confused. He was confirming more and more the differences between the maglev cabin of the VIP room with this six-degrees-of-freedom simtor.


    The maglev cabin he used in the past should be focused for Burners, ability users -- these special characters. The cabin was meticulously made for the sensations of the human body, reaching deep into the level of the nervous system. It was able to create observational influences down to the finest detail toward the operation of million upon millions of nerves.


    Once started, the maglev cabain could truly form a corresponding temte within the virtual world, approaching the functionality of the HexaEar. Activity in the virtual world was primarily consciousness-driven, but the stimtions and effects were still plenty. They were all fed back to the body.


    The six-degrees-of-freedom simtor he was using was far toocking when it came to precision. There was one exception. The traction applied to the body was quite outstanding. It was probably like themon saying, "The precision wasn¡¯t enough, but the power was abundant." Like the so-called iron-instructor who didn¡¯t recognize weak things such as emotions.


    This was especially true because of what Xue Lei requested. He had raised the ¡¯guide¡¯ to the maximum. Thanks to the traction and control of the simtor, one had to punch out in the reality battlefield to have their hero punch out. One had to kick to have their hero kick. And the scope of movement required was quite high. One mistake and the game character¡¯s entire body would freeze. One would leave themselves open to be a punching bag.


    The simtor also applied a ¡¯penalty stimtion¡¯. The simted sensation of being struck was unrestrained. Heavy strikes, falls, tears, chokes, and so on. They were all differentiated quite well.


    Luo Nan focused on these properties, constantly adjusting his own movements. Xue Lei constantly adjusted his teaching techniques as well. From universal pointers to taking great pains at focusing on a set of movements, he drilled it in.


    "Foresight. You need to have foresight. You must understand the movement, judge the movement, and grasp the rhythm between the forces of you and your opponent. The rhythm of the two sides contend with each other, but they must also fuse together. A perfect situation is when your crest meets my trough... good!"


    Luo Nan¡¯s frontal kick was blocked by Xue Lei. The system judged that the attack was effective. The power forced Xue Lei¡¯s hero to take a step back, and Luo Nan seized the opportunity. He was just about tounch another attack when a yellow light lit up in the simtor. This was a warning given by the system; the operator had used up too much of their body¡¯s energy.


    "Let¡¯s stop for now." Xue Lei raised his hand to stop. He had been constantly watching the state of Luo Nan¡¯s body. It wasn¡¯t worth squeezing Luo Nanpletely dry for the sake of practice.


    Then came a system notification, asking Luo Nan if he wanted to get out the simtor or not.


    This was a soft warning. After all, Luo Nan had only caused a yellow indication. If it was a red indication, then the system would simply shut down the machine due to the risk of excessive stimtion.


    Xue Lei be more and more in the habit of being a teacher. He was really bing one. "Don¡¯t worry. Take a breather. Let¡¯s strike the iron while it¡¯s hot ande back to basic practice."


    "Wouldn¡¯t the order be messed up if we practice the basics now?"


    "It¡¯s fine. You¡¯ve done your internal refinement technique quite well. Your nine orifices and six roots will certainly be sharp in the future, and you won¡¯t need to worry about your body control. You just need to keep a close eye on them and not be scared of falling into bad oues. Learning from setbacks is one of the best things you can do...in any case, this was what the gym master says."


    "So no matter what, I¡¯m going to be beaten bad!"


    Luo Nan made a wry grunt, but he was still quite obedient. He would follow Xue Lei¡¯s idea to request practice mode from the system and get a virtual instructor to begin solidifying his foundation.


    A message suddenly popped up during Luo Nan¡¯s casual behavior. "Hello, since you¡¯re a rookie you should be going to area B or C to y basic training. Doing basic training here is a joke!"


    This message was only the beginning. Soon there was another message, "My god, some people really do try to pretend to be awesome!"


    "You are all rookies, no doubt about it, but it¡¯s quite embarrassing to be acting like this in front of everyone else."


    "The audience wants to change channels. If the channel can¡¯t be changed, then change the people!"


    These messages werepletely different from the messages of kind teasing from Mo Peng and the others. With this flood of messages, Luo Nan and Xue Lei felt a bit guilty. Those in their circle felt the same.


    In the end it was Mo Peng who responded quickly, "You¡¯re set in public mode...that¡¯s not right. Who is bored enough to look up your small battlefield?"


    Luo Biyao sent a message, "Hehe!"


    The messages came in like a waterfall, and the matter soon grew clear. It wasn¡¯t really thatplicated.


    It was partially Xue Lei and Luo Nan¡¯s mistake. Neither of them were reality veteran. They hadn¡¯t set up the battlefield to be in secret mode, so their battle was broadcasted to the public. All one needed was to request to watch and they would see.


    On the other hand, Luo Biyao had helped court disaster. It was this dude who edited videos of Xue Lei dominating Luo Nan and sent them to the internal forum of Frost River Reality. The title, "Mutual Love. Mutual Murder."


    The video content was quite good. It was quite moving when viewed through Xue Lei¡¯s perspective, but since the interfaces shown in the video wasn¡¯t properly cleaned up, the technological whizes were able to find out where the video came from quite quickly. They called upon many people to observe.


    But the following scene made all the excited observers be greatly disappointed.


    Thebat training Luo Nan and Xue Lei were engaged in was boring. The entire process wasn¡¯t worth holding it in to avoid going to the bathroom, and right now they were going to go do basic training. It was too much of a taunt toward the yers who tried snatching those spots in the hero seats hundreds of times to no avail. No wonder some people had popped out.


    "Damn this group of people."


    Xue Lei just barely got Luo Nan into a routine and was about to reach an enjoyable stage in teaching. He wouldn¡¯t give up teaching that easily. He heard the words about going to area B or C and disregarded them. The degree of realism in the simtors over there were far toocking from area A¡¯s. It would ruin their training. He would never agree based on this alone.


    But this was the inte; when crowds surged, there were quite a few people who had no clue in what they were talking about. Xue Lei got angry looking at these messages and simply returned a reply to those in the public channel, "We managed to snatch seats. Why would we listen to you guys about how to y?"


    Based on pure physical power, Xue Lei could annihte a hundred enemies by himself, but he was far toocking when it came to a battle of words. The opposition simply criticized, "Cheating trash. Let¡¯s do a spot-battle!"


    The so-called spot-battle was simr to arcade battle. Winner stays on and the loser was kicked off, but the problem was, this mode had to be supported by the system. Otherwise, it was a stupid action that only served to harm one¡¯s self.


    Xue Lei chuckled, "You also need a machine for this to work."


    His voice fell, and words of bloody war already blotted the sky, shaking the ring back and forth. In the hero area, where war ran in turmoil and chaos, it was hard for there to be good people.


    Luo Nan shook his head, "Don¡¯t think about it."


    Sure enough, they were soon bombarded by messages. More importantly, a blood red war challenge smashed down. It¡¯s shaking effect was simply explosively annoying.


    Luo Nan wanted to set their room to private mode, but then Papercut, who had been silently watching all this time, popped out. "What are you hiding for? Attack back."


    "Can¡¯t win."


    Luo Nan had a clear understanding of his own level. Just based on his exchanges with Xue Lei, he knew that he would be beaten bloody by his opponent


    He really wasn¡¯t a masochist, so why should he try?


    Papercut was happy to talk level with him. Luo Nan¡¯s current state of distress and torment was really in line with his taste. Luo Nan was acting like a normal sixteen-year-old boy.


    Right now Papercut just wanted to watch the world burn. He donned the persona of a senior and able person. "I¡¯m not talking about engaging purely in a battle of words. You guys are youngsters. You don¡¯t have enough experience; doing this training; rushing to get started without a clear goal in mind. It¡¯s hard to avoid putting in twice the effort for half the result."


    It was very rare to hear Papercut talk in a way that showed his pride in his age and experience. In any case, Xue Lei and Luo Nan were happy to listen to the advice of a veteran ability user.


    "Leister just said that he wanted Nanster to practice his strength of vision, and that it¡¯s fine to have strong eyes and weak hands for a time. Am I right?"


    Luo Nan acted as witness, "He did say this."


    Xue Lei did not object.


    "All right. If you take strength of vision to be the number one priority, then you¡¯ll be distracted in doing these movement exercises and basic exercises. He¡¯s probably exhausted from this."


    "Dual cultivation is what should be done." Xue Lei tried to maintain his authority as instructor.


    "Don¡¯t you need to pay attention to efficiency? In terms of efficiency, it¡¯s better to let Nanster learn long-range heroes. Nothing else matters. What¡¯s next should be aiming at moving targets and interrupting the opponent¡¯s rhythm. Adjust long-range and close-range step by step and setup a few different situations to try. This makes sure that the eyes are trained strong but the hands are weak...no wait, you¡¯ll have superb strength of vision. Trybining it with live practice when that happens and see if there are results."


    Xue Lei was a bit shaken, "Know yourself and know your enemy. Seems reasonable."


    But Luo Nan saw through everything, "Brother Papercut! You clearly want our team to fight with them!"


    Papercut didn¡¯t hide it at all, "Nonsense! Toward a bunch of babies who don¡¯t know depth, there¡¯s nothing to talk about. We shouldn¡¯t just take it, we should ughter them....am I right!?"


    This was a blunt and clumsy provocation, but it was able to let the youngsters within their circle mor in response.


    "Attack them! Crush them!"


    "Attack, attack, attack! Crush, crush, crush!"


    These bad friends. Whether its attacking, crushing, or being crushed, they just want to watch a lively show. Soonrge amounts of messages flooded the screen.


    Xue Lei let out a long sigh. He knew that regardless of the effects of Papercut¡¯s proposal, he could expect that his sanshou boxing training would no longer have the possibility of continuing. Since the situation was so, what was there to get in a bind about? In any case, he had already been angry long ago!


    "Fuck! Attack!"


    Xue Lei moved swiftly the moment he let out these words. He simply chose a public battlefield and selected spot-battle mode.


    The storm they set off had grown too big. There were at least thirty people who responded. The system sensed the information and automatically matched them with an ¡¯infinite ughter environment¡¯ and sent requests for every party to confirm.


    "Fuck, the system¡¯s been promoted to super admin?"


    "Greed over two peaches may result in three people killed...no, thirty killed!"


    "Exploding, it¡¯s exploding!"


    In the ¡¯infinite ughter environment¡¯, allbatants must kill their opponents or survive for the next half an hour for the match to finish.


    Looking at simr cases, Xue Lei and Luo Nan would need to get rid of at least twenty or so people. The onlookers would then be the fisherman that catches both the sandpiper and m when the sandpiper and m wages war. The probability of snatching a spot was explosively high!


    The shamelessness of the system exceeded the expectations of most of the parties, but this matter was soon bing a public event. Under full public view, there were very few people who would cower.


    In the end, only three people chose to run away with their tails between their legs. The remaining thirty-two people were swept into the battlefield, taking up a third of the space in the hero area.


    The onlookers around the hero area, and even in the entirety of area A, were about to explode. They cursed the system in righteous indignation as they stuck close to the buttons that would allow them to snatch seats. They stared fixed at the live stream. They would start snatching like mad once someone fell in battle.


    "Come. Fight! Getpletely destroyed!"

 Chapter 396: VIP Lounge

    Chapter 396: VIP Lounge


    As area A turned into an uproar, Yue Zheng blindly offered another bottle of alcohol. He had given quite a bit of alcohol to the guests here.


    Right now he was in the VIP room of Frost River Reality, a favor for him made by someone else that wasn¡¯t being put to good use at all.


    Human rtionships were like so: when lips touch and contact is made through the phone, favors, big and small, are being done. The n of the luxury room had shattered, causing him to lose his chance to act awesome. He had received his fair share of regret from this and was forced to send his apologies. This was because the people of this circle all had families that weren¡¯t inferior to his. They were targets that he needed to seriously curry favor with.


    Because of this, he specifically had Fan Qu prepare high-end fruit tes, alcohol, and the like as he humbly paid a visit to the VIP floor. The time he wasted going back and forth tonight had already ground down his arrogance enough.


    Here, this circle of people contained both warm people and cold people, and the host was quite close.


    Yue Zheng had heard of rumors that spread from people before about the host, Ju Maoxun. He was the president of the Cloud City School of Business¡¯ Elite Society. His external appearance was decent, but his temperament was explosive. He had a nickname: the Butcher.


    Perhaps because this was his first time meeting Ju Maoxun, Yue Zheng couldn¡¯t see how Ju Maoxun could have a temper at all.


    Yue Zheng was also able tell that today¡¯s lead wasn¡¯t Ju Maoxun. Instead, it was a young man with the samest name. He was introduced as Ju Ling, and he was Ju Maoxun¡¯s older cousin.


    Ju Ling was around thirty years old. He wore a crew cut hairstyle and had a neat appearance. He wasn¡¯t talkative and didn¡¯t even touch a single drop of alcohol in this venue. The asional gaze from him revealed no ripples of excitement. Not a hint of emotion could be read from him.


    Yue Zheng didn¡¯t engage in further conversation with him. He couldn¡¯t stay here for long, and he just offered another round of alcohol. He didn¡¯t immediately leave, though. He waited outside the door for Fan Qu, wishing to ask him for specific information and rify the focus of themunication that would follow.


    During this time, someone made their way past the corridor, bumping shoulders with Yue Zheng.


    Yue Zheng felt that this person was familiar the moment he saw him. He sized the person up, fearful of being uncertain of the person¡¯s identity. The person must have felt it, for he turned around to reveal a frown. He appeared a bit unhappy.


    Yue Zheng was scared that he had offended this person, so he rushed to bow. Heughed and said, "Young Master Hu San. You¡¯re Young Master Hu San of the border herders, right? Last month at the Sky Crystal Biology Cocktail Party..."


    This young man interrupted Yue Zheng, "Who are you?"


    Yue Zheng took in a deep breath and revealed a smile, "Hello Young Master San. My name is Yue Zheng. My father is Yue Qi of Wuyue Pharmaceuticals."


    "Oh, Wuyue Pharmaceuticals. Last year your business had gone quite well." Hu Huayingughed. He was clearly young, but he brought out a rigid social attitude. He politely shook hands with Yue Zheng. This obviously meant that he didn¡¯t want to engage in deeper conversation.


    Yue Zheng had just offered a round of alcohol. His arrogance had been grounded away, and he was intoxicated by alcohol. His courage was considerable. He took the initiative to strike up a conversation, "Young Master San must havee here with friends for some fun. I don¡¯t know which room, but I¡¯ll pay you a visit in the future."


    "There¡¯s a chance. I¡¯m picking up a friend. I can¡¯t stay for long."


    The VIP room at the side opened up at this time, and Fan Qu bursted out suddenly and saw the two people outside the door. This gave him a fright, but he grew even more startled when he saw the faces of these two clearly.


    "Young Master Hu?"


    Hu Huaying saw that Fan Qu was working, so he just gave a grunt. He had no intentions of talking. He simply left.


    It was at this moment that Fan Qu noticed Yue Zheng¡¯s expression changed slightly. When Hu Huaying turned the corner, he asked, "You and Young Master Hu...."


    "We chatted a bit at a cocktail party before." No one would care if this sort of cheap big talk was found out. Yue Zheng naturally embellished his words.


    Fan Qu nodded before pointing at the room behind him. He whispered, "If you¡¯re going to talk with those guys again, I wouldn¡¯t mention Young Master Hu¡¯s name."


    Yue Zheng was shocked, "There¡¯s bad blood between--"


    "It¡¯s nothing. Just don¡¯t cause another problem to sprout." Fan Qu¡¯s words were clearly not theplete truth.


    Yue Zheng was a bit disappointed about this. Actually, he would have liked to engage in further conversation with Hu Huaying. The Hu Family was an upper manufacturer. Their primary business was to fulfill custom-orders of raw biological materials for the major pharmaceutical manufacturers. Not only that, they had a close rtionship with one of the few A-level suppliers of Sky Crystal Biology--The Xie Family. This rtionship had to be calcted within as well.


    If only he could have used the opportunity to get to know him today, that would have been truly ideal....what a pity!


    Fan Qu could read most of his thoughts, so he took the initiative to pull him some distance away. He whispered, "Actually, these two circles are not affiliated. Young Master Hu is in the business circle while Young Master Ju is in the military/government circle. There may not be many people with notable families in that room, but each one of them has authority and power. Did you see Ju Ling, or Lieutenant Colonel Ju? He just transferred from the City Defense Force to the Coastal Defense Force. He was even promoted a military rank. He could be said to have boundless prospects!"


    "Lieutenant colonel!" Yue Zheng started. Ju Ling had merely reported his name when they were introduced to each other, but he never said his post. But to be at this rank in his early thirties, didn¡¯t this mean that he was on a straight path to be General?


    "He¡¯s a lieutenant colonel, but in any case he didn¡¯t arrive here until a bitter. I heard he was attending Chief Liu Ge¡¯s banquet. Apparently he heard that Young Master Xun was here, so he came over to check...."


    Fan Qu¡¯s wristband suddenly vibrated, and his mind went nk when he saw who the contact was. He turned to push the door open, "Young Master Xun. You were looking for me, sir?"


    Amidst the puzzlement, Yue Zheng heard the man inside say, "Little Fan, call Yue Zheng back over...."


    The tone was firm, and Fan Qu started as he rushed to say, "Zhengster was just chatting with someone outside. He didn¡¯t go far."


    There was a moment¡¯s pause before the man said, "Okay, call him back in."


    Yue Zheng had long since heard Ju Maoxun¡¯s voice. Towards this sort of behavior, it would be a lie for Yue Zheng to say that he wasn¡¯t hesitant. There was also Ju Maoxun¡¯s tone. If Yue Zheng hadn¡¯t been caught up talking with Hu Huaying outside, he would already be downstairs by now. Ju Maoxun wanted to drag him all the way back. What was he up to?


    But this was just the way the world was. People say things differently in front of others versus behind their backs. Plus there was also a difference in status. Thoughtless words and actions were far too normal.


    Yue Zheng had encountered simr situations often enough. He soon adjusted his mood, tidied up the equipment and clothing he wore a little, and entered, "Brother Xun, you were looking for me?"


    Ju Maoxun stood upughing. He didn¡¯t speak. Instead, the room full of intoxicated drunkards shouted, "Fuck, let¡¯s take their challenge. It¡¯s those two bastards!"


    "Fuck them to death! Crush them to death!"


    An aura of enthusiasm had actually gushed up in here in the time he was gone.


    What happened? Yue Zheng was a bit stunned.


    Ju Maoxun wrapped his arm around Yue Zheng¡¯s shoulder in a very intimate manner as they walked just outside a lively area. This was the core zone of the VIP room. There was a 3D projector in the middle, and this ce could be used as a strategy room. Surrounding the 3D projector was a circle of maglev cabins. Some had people inside. Some were empty. Though it couldn¡¯tpare to area A¡¯s hero seats in terms of total scale, the technology here was top of the line. Each ce had their own merits.


    The bustling of the hero area was being streamed here in real time. Ju Maoxun¡¯s exnation wasn¡¯t needed at all. Yue Zheng was able to understand the process of events with a few more nces. Even if he wasn¡¯t clear on some of the specifics, he was able to understand most of it from looking at the team-chat log.


    This was when he felt how truly fucked his luck was.


    Xue Lei and Luo Nan were both able to snatch hero seats at the same time? The probability of this happening meant that the luxury room certainly helped aid them in their sess. This fucking luck. This fucking luck.... Why the fuck was my luck given to them!?


    Yue Zheng immediately had the impulse to flee the room. Unfortunately, he was unable to express such unreasonable actions. He didn¡¯t know what his expression was like at the moment, but he knew that it wouldn¡¯t be anything good to look at. After all, he got fucked in the ass.


    Plus, he still didn¡¯t understand why Ju Maoxun called him back. He could only try asking, "Brother Xun?"


    Ju Maoxun still had an arm around Yue Zheng¡¯s shoulder as he tilted his head over. This overly-intimate physical content made Yue Zheng rather ufortable, causing Yue Zheng¡¯s boldness to weaken.


    ¡°I heard Fan Qu say that the two who snatched those seats are friends of yours?"


    "Uh."


    Yue Zheng instinctively felt that things weren¡¯t good when he saw Ju Maoxun¡¯s expression. He wasn¡¯t willing to take the hit for Luo Nan and Xue Lei at all, so he responded very honestly, "I just met them today. They are rtives of my little sister¡¯s ssmate. They¡¯re both from Acumen College."


    "Oh, from the same school as Tian Si."


    Tian Si? He also knows Tian Si!?


    A certain string thrummed in Yue Zheng¡¯s heart. He turned to look at Fan Qu, but because of Ju Maoxun¡¯s pressuring touch, he was unable to move an inch. Soon that feeling was destroyed before Ju Maoxun¡¯s mask-like smile.


    "Yes, they invited Tian Si over....they should be quite close."


    The moment he added thest few words, Yue Zheng felt as if he heard a demon snicker from the bottom of his heart. The many grievances umted in his chest suddenly vented out, reced with a different kind of breeding thrill, like the sparks underneath ashes of grass.


    Ju Maoxun patted him on the shoulder once more and a light shed in his eyes, "Well I say. These two fellows are blind. They have no skin. The anger they¡¯ve provoked in this crowd won¡¯t be appeased with their deaths. Acumen College is finished if every one of their people is like this."


    The true color of the legendary Butcher had begun to appear, and it came without being concealed at all.


    Yue Zheng felt emotionally ufortable, but he had already loosened his mouth. He wasn¡¯t qualified to speak further and could only stare nkly on in silence.


    But Ju Maoxun wanted him to continue to express his stance. He acted more intimately because of this, "Zhengster. Give these two little fellows a small lesson. You don¡¯t mind, right?"


    Yue Zheng almost blurted, "I don¡¯t mind," but in the end, he still had a bit of basic self-esteem. His shoulders stiffly shrugged when the words reached his lips. He pretended to casually respond, "Doesn¡¯t matter to me, as long as my sister doesn¡¯t get too humiliated."


    Ju Maoxunughed heartily as he patted Yue Zheng on the shoulder with great force. Then someone shouted, "Fuck! The system¡¯s gone into a cheap state. It¡¯s loaded the infinite ughter environment. This is simply a giant reshuffle!"


    Ju Maoxun turned to chide him, "The fuck you scared for? Just have the VIP room running idle for half an hour. We can join in time. Hurry up and drive them away. Let¡¯s go to their room and have some fun."


    Yue Zheng stood to the side, feeling more and more awkward. Ju Maoxun finally took his hands off of him as he turned to ask Ju Ling, who had been quiet all this time. "Brother, won¡¯t youe along for some fun?"


    Yue Zheng didn¡¯t hear anything. Ju Ling probably just gestured with his hands. Probably in refusal.


    Only then did Ju Maoxun face Yue Zheng and say, "It¡¯s a lively time. Don¡¯t go. There aren¡¯t that many people who y Ten Days in the Wilderness here. There are still open maglev cabins. Come and have some good fun."


    It wasn¡¯t as if Yue Zheng had never yed with the maglev cabins in the VIP room before. It wasn¡¯t a rare urrence for him, but it was hard for him to refuse an invitation offered by Ju Maoxun. He hesitated before saying, "My equipment isn¡¯tpatible."


    "It¡¯s fine. Just rescan. Oh, hold on. Little Fan, there¡¯s apatibility mode, right?"


    "Yes, yes." Fan Qu didn¡¯t go searching for technical staff. He personally came over to calibrate.


    By now, Yue Zheng was left in a position where he was unable to say any words of refusal. He said a nasally thanks and entered the maglev cabin under Ju Maoxun¡¯s eyes. He sat in the thick and broad seat. It was quitefortable, but his heart was filled with uncertainty.


    What in the world is Ju Maoxun up to?


    No matter how much of a bind Yue Zheng was in, there was no shortage of hot topics for area A tonight. Over a thousand people watched and cursed at the scene. Some people even started gambling. All of this took the spot-battle of infinite massacre into a fiery bonfire.


    With this many people watching, there was bound to be a considerable sum of people with sharp eyes. In the final loading phase of the environment, many people saw the anomaly out of the list of names.


    "Oh fuck. Some people from the VIP area are in the mix."


    "I was saying how the hell there could be over thirty of them. So it turns out a bunch of local tyrants make up the number. These means that five, six....seven spots will be squeezed out?"


    "Twenty or so is enough too. Come on. Come and all get annihted!"


    "The VIPs can pilot fantasy types. Those are boss versions!"


    "Sweep away the trash. Kill the boss!"


    By now, who still cared about what the final result would be? Just giving them a good show was fine!


    Who had once been the lucky fellows that were the targets of envy had be targets of amusement in the focal gazes of many. No matter the positives and negatives, it was all as sweet as syrup. This was the era of attention. The era of entertainment.


    As one of the focal points, Luo Nan surprisingly felt the wonderful sensation of vanity. Perhaps his heart resonated with the emotions of the masses in this subtle mob mentality.


    As Luo Nan explored the subtleties of his emotions, heughed and simply changed hero characters.


    He didn¡¯t spend much time at a loss for who to choose. He chose the same hero he used against Zhang Yingying when he first met her back at Ship Lanshan. He chose the trump card of the earth¡¯s military, the firepower hero Heiya. In their current environment, choosing a heavily armed hero was certainly not the best choice, but this was one of the only characters that Luo Nan could be described as being proficient with.


    A few seconds passed, and the muscr high-ranking officer was already transferred. He arrived the cracked red earth of the Wilderness carrying the robotic dog Nubi.


    This ce had already be a public battlefield.


    Xue Lei had been transferred to an area seven kilometers away. He was rushing over to convene.


    They were enemies of the world on this day and were certainly everyone¡¯s target of fire. If they were to separate even further, it was high likelihood that they would get crushed to the ground by the other yers.


    Xue Lei¡¯s reactions couldn¡¯t be described as slow, but it wasn¡¯t enough to prevail over the magic power of luck. The distance between the two was extremely far. To convene quickly was a task of paramount difficulty.


    The scanning results of the Fire-Eye tform drew the image of someone piercing across the ins for interception. The murderous intent was strong, and the yer even broadcasted some words in the public channel:


    "Purify the environment! Clean up the trash!"


    "First finish cleaning up the trash before you talk."


    Uh, this was the naive group.


    There was a portion of people who spoke not a word. They lurked, cautious and vignt. This was the economic group. They didn¡¯t want to trade at a loss.


    But most yers just fired shots after shots upon entering the battlefield, going on killing sprees. This was the casual group. If someone were to question them of their objective in joining the game, they would most certainly troll back.


    "I¡¯m having a great time fucking around!"


    Yeah, things were quiteplicated. Tired yet?


    Luo Nan never had a fixed n in mind nor had he thought of winning or losing. Ever since they were matched with the game environment and the battlefield of ughter began, sanshou boxing training had ended. He just came to pass the time.


    His consciousness merged into the character of Heiya, and he walked forward carrying Nubi along. However, he was a bit far from the center of the battlefield. The speed of the heavily-armed firepower expert was extremelycking. It was unknown how long it would take for him to bring an enemy into the range of his fire coverage, especially with every character moving around at fast speed.


    Within their circle of friends, Mo Peng and the others hated not being able to personally participate. They expressed themselves with ten times more vigor than Luo Nan, their group shouting loudly.


    "Taunt! Taunt!"


    "Huh?"


    "Give Nubi instructions using voice control...."


    Luo Nan did as was told, and he saw the tall and massive robotic dog, which carried two cases of ammunition, growl as it ran ahead. It turned, stuck up one of its robotic legs, and then.... sprayed piss everywhere.


    Of course, the liquid that came gushing out was certainly a special chemical reagent. ording to the preset system, a reaction urred with the red earth, causing a bright yellow smoke to spawn and rush into the sky to be a twisted and sloppy dog face.


    Heiya, this hero character, also followed established procedures. He swiveled over the thick barrel of his gun to point at the sky, and he loudly proimed,


    "Targets! Go back home to the trash can where you belong!"

 Chapter 397: Real Set of Moves

    Chapter 397: Real Set of Moves


    "Fuck!"


    How embarrassing....Luo Nan never realized that the result would be like this. He couldn¡¯t refrain from cursing under his breath while Mo Peng and the others in their circleughed as a group.


    Then someone went, "Hey!" and said, "Did another person just log on?"


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t pay attention to what this topic led to. The entire battlefield of people had all taken notice of his existence, thanks to the taunt. Whether it were the naive, the economic, or the casual yers, most of them had started heading over.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t just stand there like an idiot and wait for them toe over. He searched for the most suitable area to unleash heavy fire. He disregarded all other elements: a hill was enough.


    He chose a nice spot at the top of the hills and he followed his familiar ways. He simply setup a tform to maximize his firepower, then he waited for people of every variety toe.


    "A noob." When seeing this scene, the thousands of onlookers thoughts all synchronized: "He¡¯s totally a noob."


    To choose this sort of heavily armed fire power expert in this environment was already noobie enough. Luo Nan chose a ce without any cover at all. He was out in the open. Setting up a frame with a huge grin on his face....he was simply making himself a giant target!


    The effects of the smoke taunt was good. In a short thirty seconds, some targets had entered the range of the Fire-Eye tform and were captured by its search radar.


    The electromaic radiation alerted the enemy as well, causing the enemy to timely react and perform evasive maneuvers. Luo Nan silently pulled the trigger without any hesitation in manual mode.


    "Too early!" Mo Peng, Tian Qi, and Luo Biyao shrieked.


    A low hill could be seen far in the distance. It was shaved t by the projectile and smoke and me erupt everywhere. The visual effects were nice, but the actual effect on the battle was near zero even after a wave of bullets were sent over.


    Since Luo Nan didn¡¯t hit, he just continued shooting.


    Mo Peng couldn¡¯t refrain from screaming, "Can you take your finger off the trigger for one second?"


    Before he could finish speaking, the enemy panicked amidst the streaks of bullets that blotted the sky. The enemy made an idental sidestep and was hit by the torrent of bullets dead on. He froze, then was simply carried away by the fire.


    Luo Nan randomly got his first kill this way. There was also the backgroundmentator who groaned in a weak, "First Blood."


    But area A went into an uproar because of this. The unexpected elimination brought about an unexpected opportunity. It was impossible to guess how many people pressed the grab button, wishing to be one of the lucky ones.


    Mo Peng choked in shock from the result. Then he determined, "You drowned him to death! Just look at your ammo reserves...."


    The hero Heiya had the Fire-Eye tform as his core ability. It was built upon arge weight-bearing exoskeleton armor. Though hecked in movement speed, he was the hero that carried the most ammunition out of all the Standby types. He was fully equipped with three reserves for each ammunition type. Plus there was one more reserve that Nubi carried, for a total of four. The total weight exceeded a ton.


    However, Luo Nan¡¯s heroic y had consumed one-fourth of a base ammunition reserve. This was the same as depleting one-sixteenth of his total ammunition reserves. This was truly a stupid newbie action.


    He would have to face nearly thirty enemies. His methods would certainly leave him out of ammunition and in desperate straits near the end. Forget it, he was truly a stupid noob.


    "Giant noob! Remember to leave a bullet for yourself. Otherwise you¡¯ll be jumping into a ring of fire!"


    The so-called ¡¯ring of fire¡¯ was a term used in the game. It meant that the yer had lost the power to fight back, like they had be a circus animal, putting on a humiliating show for the public. There were all sort of marvels and oddities in the game, so Mo Peng was really scared about misfortune befalling upon his brother.


    Because of this, he simply screamed at the top of his lungs, "Use burst fire! Burst fire!"


    Enemies were approaching really close this time. There were five, six people who entered the range of the Fire-Eye tform one by one. These people weren¡¯t stupid. They spread out in their approach,ing from different directions. The search radar rm was going off endlessly. Luo Nan turned his head all around, making a general assessment of the situation. Then....


    He didn¡¯t say shit! He simply opened fire!


    The Fire-Eye tform radiated a circle of beautiful curve shaped trajectories. Even if the battlefield environment was set to be day time, the trajectory was extremely dazzling to the eyes.


    Raining fire down on all sides... Well, Luo Nan actually did listen to Mo Peng¡¯s suggestion. He used burst fire. It was just that when the speed was so fast, what was the difference between burst fire and automatic fire?


    For the sake of keeping up with the paces of the six targets, Luo Nan even put Heiya¡¯s most powerfully equipped individual weapon, an electromaic sniper cannon, to use. It shed out, and amidst the crackling sound of electrical currents, Luo Nan used up over half of its precious special ammunition.


    Area A¡¯s onlookers allughed, "He didn¡¯t run. What a super duper noob!"


    In just a few breaths of time, two base reserves of ammunitions werepleted depleted. Everyone watching let out breaths of amazement, "He¡¯s truly bold!"


    But Luo Nan was not the only yer in this game. Within the trajectories of bullets that came cutting in from all directions, Luo Nan reaped a double kill. The enormous might of the electromaic sniper cannon had smashed a Mutant yer character into pieces.


    At this time, some people were able to tell that there were some good points within Luo Nan¡¯s crappy gaming skills. His recoil control was decent, and his calibration ability was sufficient. He didn¡¯t really need to go great lengths to get a kill. Otherwise, even with the support of the Fire-Eye tform, it would be that easy to get a double kill.


    The problem was that there truly wasn¡¯t enough space.


    More and more people still continued to amass around Luo Nan because of the taunt skill he disyed earlier. Attacking peopleing from all sides was very inefficient. There were too many chances lost to control the pace. There were at least five enemies entering the five-hundred meter range near simultaneously.


    This was the effective attack area of the Fire-Eye tform, but with enemiesing from many sides, Luo Nan became someone with his hands and feet tied together.


    Though none of the enemies were heavily armed firepower expert characters, there were still characters of the long-range specialty. Luo Nan¡¯s Fire-Eye tform waspletely stationary. It was the perfect target. Bullet trajectories began to streak by him, some of them smashing against the defensive armor of the Fire-Eye tform. Sparks and smoke came flying out, and damage was caused to parts of the equipment.


    Whether it was Mo Peng, Tian Qi, or Luo Biyao, all were listless. It took a while before a sentence was squeezed out in a half-dead manner, "First get the long-range...."


    Luo Nan continued to follow the adviceing from his friends. Hepletely ignored the fireing from all directions and concentrated his own fire. He depleted through half of his third base reserve of ammunition to finally submerge his target in bullets.


    Third kill! And it was a kill chain achievement!


    The system announcer¡¯s voice turned thick and powerful, "Heiya has activated killing mode!"


    All right. This fighting style was not bad, at the very least.


    Mo Peng and the other ¡¯staff¡¯ didn¡¯t know whether they should be relieved or sullen.


    Then Luo Nan asked them for help for the first time, "How does Heiya deal with close-range attacks?"


    This terrible question, akin to sharpening a de just before a battle, made Mo Peng angry to the point of falling over, "Close my ass! When an opponent gets close, they can do whatever the hell they want with you. Switch targets. Quick! Switch!"


    The closest enemy had already pressed into a distance of a hundred meters.


    It was a Deep Blue Walker character, an exoskeleton armor possessing both power and beauty. The mechanical rigidity couldn¡¯t be seen at all as it unleashed a weaving movement in its approach. It danced like a butterfly, which meant the yer must be an expert. It was impossible for the Fire-Eye tform¡¯s search radar to lock onto this yer.


    In situations like this, one could only rely on manual control, but Luo Nan was left with only half a base of ammunition reserves thanks to his ammo consumption rate. He might not even be able to touch the opponent at all.


    Luo Biyao sighed, "You can say ¡¯gg¡¯ now."


    "Heiya doesn¡¯t have close-range attacks?" Luo Nan stopped using his absolute technique of drowning his enemies in bullets and instead dug into his equipment search for a way to attack at close range.


    Mo Peng watched with burning eyes. He hated not being able to simply reach out and take control of the Fire-Eye tform.


    In the end, it was Tian Qi who said, "There¡¯s a handgun in the right-leg holster. The default fire mode is burst fire, but it should be changed to single shot. Otherwise, the recoil would be too strong...."


    Luo Nan simply discarded the electromaic sniper cannon; it was in the way. And he reached for the outer-side of his right side. The corresponding equipment was triggered and a sinister looking handgun appeared in the palm of his hand. By the time he took it, the Deep Blue Walker had already entered a range of thirty meters. The Deep Blue Walker was pushing faster and faster, breaking through the sound barrier.


    "Fuck. Not even enough time to lift the barrel!"


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t even try raising the gun barrel. It pointed diagonally to the ground as a series of gunshots rang forth. The barrel, which wasrge enough to fit an infant¡¯s fist inside, jiggled slightly as a cloud of dust exploded from the ground. me and fluids burst amidst a scream.


    The chaotic red earth suddenly swelled up, and a contorted and fragmented arthropod insect came screaming and struggling out. This action exhausted thest of its blood. It fell down, never to get up again.


    "Heiya is killing people like the reaper! Who can stop him?!" The system announcer powerfully emphasized.


    Area A¡¯s onlookers went into an uproar. Like the winds of the prairies, the grass-like emotions were pressed into a form shaped by momentum.


    "Monstrous Mole Cricket! So there was an assassin yer like this in this game!"


    "Then he died."


    "Did you see it? The radar didn¡¯t go off!"


    Regardless of what character this yer used, the yer was able to conceal himself from the onlookers who had God View. This made the onlookers admire the yer. But in the end, he was sted into paste by Luo Nan¡¯s handgun. He died bitterly and miserably.


    But, how was he discovered?


    The intense progression of the battle situation didn¡¯t wait for the audience to clear up their doubts. The Deep Blue Walker was moving at supersonic speeds, pouncing before Luo Nan.


    Its alloy de pointed forward with the Format of Fire circting upon it--cyclode! This was already near the realm of fantasy. In reality, no one had seen such a thing used before.


    The power of this de could cut through anything like a hot knife through butter. The de-light shed, and the Fire-Eye tform¡¯s defensive armor was simply cut in two, like it was softer than a block of tofu. As for Luo Nan, he fell backward as his exoskeleton helmet split open to reveal a sorry state.


    But the instant he fell, the powerful recoil of his handgun naturally pushed him back up, and the special ammunition burst forth with me. He fired endlessly, simply emptying the remaining half of his base ammunition reserves.


    In such close range, bullets would always achieve something as long as the trigger was pulled. The Deep Blue Walker let out a pained scream, and the impacts on the supersonic level gave quite the painful sensation even with the exoskeleton armor the reduce the impact.


    Luo Nan used the recoil to create more distance between them. When his feet touched the ground again, he picked up the electromaic sniper cannon he had just discarded before, raised it, and aimed.


    The Deep Blue Walker endured the intense pain in his chest and performed a ssic evasive maneuver. At the same time, the muzzle of Luo Nan¡¯s gun ejected the metal projectile that was fully-charged with electricity.


    The heavy projectile prated the neck-joint of the Deep Blue Walker¡¯s exoskeleton armor. The trajectory faced slightly upward, causing the head that was connected to the upper half of the chest to explode into smithereens.


    One hit to hell!


    The system announcer exploded, "Penta-Kill! Heiya is unstoppable! He¡¯s filling the garbage dump with the corpses of his enemies."


    Luo Nan let out a breath of relief, lowered the barrel of his gun, andughed.


    The movement patterns of other characters might be hard to grasp for Luo Nan, but Luo Nan had taken Quantum Corporation to be one of his enemies. How could he not have studied their exoskeleton armors over the course of a month?


    Plus, he had observed the Deep Blue Walker in frontalbat before. He really understood their typical movement patterns.


    Grasp the rhythm and seize the timing!


    Area A practical explode while Luo Nan smiled.


    Luo Nan¡¯s series of movements, on-the-spot shooting, shifting his position using the power of recoil, dropping his gun and reiming his gun, and killing with a single strike was done over the course of a five or six seconds. He had killed two people, one after another, like a falcon swooping down the moment a hare is flushed out.


    The entirety of area A¡¯s onlookers, let alone Mo Peng and the others, had a moment of silence before exploding into mor.


    "Holy shit. What the heck happened!?"


    "Motherfucker. Completely read."


    "He¡¯s a noob my ass!"


    "Five empty spots, and I wasn¡¯t able to snatch a single one!"


    The chaos of area A didn¡¯t affect the progress of the battlefield¡¯s ughter. Luo Nan¡¯s actions, no matter how pretty, only resulted in two people killed. The remaining enemies didn¡¯t see the beautiful scene. They only knew that the targets weren¡¯t moving and that a barrage of bullets wasn¡¯t starting up again. This encouraged them, making them press on, moving closer to attack.


    Having taken a blow from the Deep Blue Walker¡¯s cyclode, the Fire-Eye tform had lost most of its functionality. It was difficult to self-diagnose and self-repair. Luo Nan was carrying an unwieldy electromaic sniper cannon in his hands as well as a handgun with empty magazines. His prospects were not looking good.


    Another yer rushed over in a mere five seconds. He had chosen a Mutant character. Fortunately, Luo Nan was familiar with it. It looked like an enormous wasp. Its name was Feng Huang. This was the hero character that Zhang Yingying had chosen way back on Ship Lanshan.


    Luo Nan was really out of options now, but he ignored the imminent threatpletely. Instead, he whistled. This was the signal for Nubi to load ammunition, as part of the system functions.


    "Load your ass. Shut down!"


    The yer, who felt that victory was in his grasp, proimed this loudly. He would take Luo Nan¡¯s ce.


    de-light dazzled in the next second, severing the yer¡¯s lower half as well as his poisonous needle in two. It was a fatal blow.


    The de-light banished, and a majestic figure equipped in simple exoskeleton armor appeared in the light¡¯s ce, standing there like a guardian angel.


    Xue Lei had arrived.


    No one had seen exactly how he had arrived. In the short few minutes, Xue Lei had broken through the people surrounding and chasing him and crossed a distance of seven kilometers to make it to Luo Nan, killing all that were in his way.


    Though he was striking while on the run, Xue Lei had noiselessly umted three kills. He had already started a killing spree.


    Of the thirty-four people who first joined, ten had already been eliminated with eight by Luo Nan¡¯s and Xue Lei¡¯s hands. Of the thousand of onlookers, some had even forgotten to take the chance to snatch a spot. They stayed idle watching the live broadcast, their minds not epting reality.


    Among all the onlookers, Papercut could be considered to be the most calm. Such a result was quite natural from his perspective.


    Perhaps in this following month, Luo Nan¡¯s basic qualities were still on the level of ordinary people, despite the terrifying umtion of soul strength. However, his progress in cultivation stabilized his soul strength, causing his imbnce between body and soul to slowly find equilibrium. Luo Nan was certainly in a stage of rapid transformation.


    His total strength was limited by his physical body; it couldn¡¯t be said to be exceptional. But his endurance, bnce, coordination, reactions, and other indicators were already beyond the scope of normal people.


    The foundation of a skyscraper, whenpared to simple houses, possessed apletely different essence, even if the height was almost the same.


    Whether it was the random spraying of bullets earlier or the reckless consumption of bullets, all were part of the process where Luo Nan observed and captured the tempo. Otherwise, separated by hundred of meters, it would be hard to attribute three kills, one and another, as luck.


    This single point was made clear in the moment he made his fifth kill. Though his opponent had entered the realm of supersonic, the difference in their reactions were a light year apart. They were two worlds apart.


    However, there was one thing that Papercut wasn¡¯t clear about. He simply asked, "That giant cockroach, how did you discover it?"


    "Sensed it." Luo Nan was taking things leisurely. He slowly loaded himself with ammunition from the robotic dog Nubi while he answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.


    "Hehe, the sixth sense of a homebody. Do you want topare with us sisters?" Mo Han mocked without mercy. Papercut would never have an understanding that superficial.


    Sense? Luo Nan was in the virtual world, affected by the guiding software. His soul strength was withdrawn. What the hell could he sense under theyers of transformations of electrical signals?


    Motherfucker. Confused yet again.

 Chapter 398: Utter Annihilation

    Chapter 398: Utter Annihtion


    "Even if you did sense something, what was it that you even sensed?"


    Luo Nan had answered very simply, but he wasn¡¯t lying or showing off. It was true that he had withdrawn his mental senses temporarily, but the sensations on the living starry sky level still existed.


    For him, the gushing emotions of the people surrounding him were faint yet warm. They were akin to the floating dust between star systems, and they were affected by Luo Nan¡¯s Self-Format. They fluctuated around him, their details subdivisible. Luo Nan didn¡¯t have the time to study this at the moment, but there were clear targets, especially here. What posed a threat to him was naturally filtered out due the clear directivity.


    There wasn¡¯t any loss in the level of the sensation from the conversion of electrical signals. In other words, the early warning response formed from the closed system had applicable areas that were far more extensive and profound than expected.


    Such a discovery would never have been made were it not for rapid creation.


    Luo Nan had this thought form in his mind while he was slowly loading his ammunition. By the time he finished, the battlefield situation hadpletely reversed.


    Luo Nan and Xue Lei fought as one. Close-range defense and long range attacks: each had their own domain. The targets in close distance were cleaved down by Xue Lei, like he was chopping vegetables. Those a bit further in the distance became more and more familiar with Luo Nan¡¯s name.


    Most of the Fire-Eye tform was damaged; its search radar was working intermittently. But there were two weapons that could always be used. Pure manual operationbined with clear directive senses that were supplemented by higher and higher levels of prediction and super reactions. All this formed a shooting uracy that caused despair in Luo Nan¡¯s enemies.


    Luo Nan had used three base reserves of ammunition for his penta-kill. Then he eliminated four more yers, and he had yet to go through even half his fourth base ammunition reserves. The cold reaping left most of thebatants in despair.


    The system announcer eximed, "A godlike man! Heiya has turned the Wilderness into a trash dump of corpses!"


    "You¡¯re the one who¡¯s trash!" A certain piece of ¡¯trash¡¯, who found it difficult to maneuver, couldn¡¯t hold back from letting out a series of curses before a metal bullet pierced his chest, sending him up in an explosion high in the sky.


    Deca-kill!


    Luo Nan got the ten-kill achievement after this kill. The system simply had the entire battlefield glow with a red light, making the ce appear like a bloody sea with waves that churned endlessly. "Super God! Super God! All mortals are trembling before the feet of the unparalleled Heiya!"


    No special effects were needed for the entirety of area A to be shaken up. Curses, exmations, and cheering converged into a surge of uproars that swept through this space.


    It must be stated that Luo Nan¡¯s sequences of movements to make kills against all odds were truly super beautiful. Even though each sequence happened in the blink of an eye, his body reaction and coordination, which far exceeded that of normal humans, caused him have his limbs¡¯ usage be maximized. He appeared very rxed, and all of this was fed through the hero seat via electrical signals to be cast into the reality battlefield. The game effects reinforced this in the background, causing Luo Nan to give off a feeling of overflowing calmness and confidence.


    Luo Nan took his time reloading his ammo thanks to Xue Lei¡¯s protection. He reaped heads, one after another, in a rhythmic beat. He appeared calm and callous, hitting the g-spots of a group of young girls. Carefree shrieks never stopped. Ruan Zihui, Qiu Peipei, and Tian Si yelled and cheered again and again in the team channel. Everyone was extremely excited.


    "Ohhhhh mannnn. Why didn¡¯t I see it before? What a schemer!" Mo Peng¡¯s heart was on fire once more. Before, they were the mes of worry. Right now, they were the mes of envy.


    Luo Biyao was puzzled as well, "I remembered that he was a super noobie. It didn¡¯t seem like he was pretending before. Fine, I¡¯m forced to respect his acting skills!"


    Tian Qi also wanted to express himself, but then his sister asked,


    "Tian Qi, is there anyone else in the battlefield from our room?"


    "How can there be? There¡¯s only so many spots....fuck, I forgot to look. I totally forgot to grab the empty spot.¡± Tian Qi had yet to be on the same page. He just continued to be annoyed.


    Tian Si dug deeper, "Really? Didn¡¯t someone say someone had ¡¯logged on¡¯?"


    It was probably because the minds of women were more detailed, because Mo Han echoed, "Yeah, yeah. I remember someone saying this before."


    "Oh yeah, I did say that." Tian Qi finally remembered though his mind waspletely focused on the intense battle. He was too busy to care. He only felt odd once Tian Si reminded him. He skimmed through his memories and soon found the clue, "There really was someone in the battlefield, but he¡¯s being anonymous in the team channel. He set his status to offline...hello, who is it that goes so far as to bury your head in the sand? Who are you? Come out with it!"


    "Pretty much everyone has talked in the team channel. Who does that leave?"


    Mo Peng purposely spoke in a solemn manner, but soon he couldn¡¯t hold it back anymore. He burst intoughter, "Well, no matter who it is, let¡¯s see if he can take down the Super God Heiya! The one wielding a de. I¡¯m talking about you Xue Lei. You can only watch. You can¡¯t go help him out!"


    There weren¡¯t any fools among youngsters nowadays. Even if the meaning was hidden by ayer of paper, anyone would be able to tell his intentions by just a little inference.


    Yue Zheng was the one who had logged on. He had truly ran inside the reality battlefield. There were certainly some details in his thoughts, looking at how he maintained his silence until now.


    Luo Biyao was still a bit suspicious, "It could be a VIP....maybe it¡¯s someone from another room?"


    Yue Zheng had already steeled himself to be very thick skinned. Even if he was burned and ridiculed by others, he didn¡¯t show it at all. He maintained his silence from beginning to end. It was because of this attitude that his asional interactions with Turner and Yue Qin had entered an awkward state of silence.


    On the reality battlefield, Luo Nan suddenly put away his gun and said, "Withdraw."


    As he spoke, Luo Nan left behind the Fire-Eye tform, which was already repaired and loaded full of ammo. He just carried his handgun, the electromaic sniper cannon, and some ammunition as he turned around and left.


    Xue Lei covered his side without speaking a word.


    By giving up this Fire-Eye tform, Heiya no longer lived up to the name of being a heavy firepower expert, but his movement speed increased quite a bit. He made a mad dash and soon left the hill behind.


    They had just stepped forth when a bright light shed in the distant sky. It was as if a shard of the sun had been cast down upon mortals. With this sh, the shard smashed down at Luo Nan and Xue Lei¡¯s previous locations.


    The earth shook, and a pir of me surged to the skies from the hill. The abandoned Fire-Eye tform, as well as the surrounding corpses and the traces of battle that had yet to be removed by the system, all melted within the glowing mes.


    "Oh my god. A mid-range particle cannon strike?"


    Area A went into an uproar. As spectators, they were able to enjoy God View as a minimum treatment. After the stream switched perspectives, everyone was able to see an awesome looking bird-type robot five kilometers away. It had already spread and supported its wing-frame. Large pieces of metal wings reflected the sun, increasing the brightness endlessly. It was bright and dazzling.


    The particle cannon came from this. Right now it was charging up for another one.


    Such a weapon obviously didn¡¯t exist in the real world. This was a fantasy weapon. It was the least realist option avable in the Ten Days in the Wilderness game, created through the pursuit of ultimate game-y and cool-factor. The bird-type exoskeleton was officially called Phoenix. It was quite the model fantasy type.


    Though it was called Phoenix, it was incapable of flying freely in the sky. However, the attack range of the particle cannon strike was extremely far, and its power was enormous. The game system needed to bnce it, therefore its attack frequency was reduced and its ability to make close-range attacks was erased. Even after all this, it could barely be considered bnced. However, there was quite a few people still obsessed with the power of mass killing, feeding their addiction through using Phoenix.


    It wasn¡¯t a surprise for one or two of them to appear in a match.


    However, there was a problem. This Phoenix that was clearly still charging up while another cannon strike chased after Luo Nan and Xue Lei as it bombarded down. Thend behind the two turned into a sea of me, and they came breaking through that me.


    "How can it attack so frequently?" The onlookers in area A were bewildered at first, but soon the perspective of the camera shifted, and then the area turned into an uproar.


    There was another...no, there were a total of four Phoenixes. They were all three to five kilometers apart from Luo Nan and Xue Lei, far enough that the search radar couldn¡¯t reach them. Fantasy types like the Phoenix shouldn¡¯t be able to perceive Luo Nan and Xue Lei either.


    But these were the facts: a series of two cannon strikes were performed with remarkable uracy and with clear direction.


    It didn¡¯t make sense. In this sort of hilly terrain, a few of the armor frames might have been able to find the right angle, but the others would bepletely blind. How could they ensure uracy?


    Luo Nan and Xue Lei could be seen wildly dashing through the reality battlefield with the four Phoenixes greeting them with particle cannon strikes one after another. Though their cannon strikes came from different directions, they were all able to maintain incredible uracy. Though Luo Nan and Xue Lei escaped death time and time again, their armor were on the verge of copse.


    "Have godlike gunners teamed up?"


    "Looking at the list, they¡¯re all from the VIP room. Maybe they possess a special function or something?"


    Most of the onlookers were puzzled. Something didn¡¯t quite add up. However, those within the team channel already reached an answer through the awkward silence.


    In the end, it was Mo Peng who sneered out loud, "Godlike gunners? It¡¯s more like an omniscient observer!"


    Before he could finish speaking, Luo Nan, who had been dashing endlessly, suddenly stopped. He grasped a gap between the charging time of the four Phoenix armors and lifted his handgun.


    The God View showed that the nearest Phoenix to Luo Nany a thousand and five hundred meters away.


    A series of gunshots rumbled out, and a small mound of dirt burst into me seventy meters away. It was plowed through in an instant by the powerful handgun ammunition.


    "The heck is he doing?" Before a group of people¡¯s thoughts became clear, a figure could be seen leaping out, avoiding bing the mound. It was a Deep Blue Walker. Its speed was extraordinary fast, and it performed an evasive maneuver rather adeptly. It skipped and jumped, sometimes tumbling in between. It moved very smoothly.


    But in face of the Super God Luo Nan, the Deep Blue Walker possessed the worst luck. The final bullet of Luo Nan¡¯s handgun struck through the armor dead on, striking a fatal blow.


    Instant death!


    Since much time had passed between thest kill and this one, this kill wasn¡¯t part of thest killing spree. The system merely rewarded him with a weak ¡¯first blood¡¯. However, the onlookers in area A were already subconsciously drawn toward the most dazzling star on the battlefield. Some of them even orgasmed.


    "So smooth, not even forgetting to reap some kills when running away."


    "That bro hid himself quite well. He must have been prepared to hide it out until the end."


    "A cmity descended from the skies. No, that¡¯s wrong. A Super God descended from heaven!"


    "....Huh? What happened to the particle cannon strikes?"


    Finally there was someone who had discovered the problem. Henceforth, quite the deviation was formed with the second wave of particle cannon strikes. It was a difference sorge that it spanned across the entire Pacific Ocean.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t feel like moving any more. He summited another tall hill and utilized his electromaic sniper cannon to strike targets one after another. The four Phoenixes, which were charging up, were the best targets.


    Three of them were blown to pieces by giant explosions. Luo Nan began another major killing spree.


    The final Phoenix armor was outside of Luo Nan¡¯s firing range. The Phoenix armor just barely calcted the coordinates and was just about to finish charging and fire when Luo Nan suddenly disappeared from atop the hill.


    "Your target has left the game."


    "Huh?"


    de-light shed the instant this yer was stupefied. Xue Lei, who had moved with swift haste and in secret, struck a delightful killing blow. All turned to ash.


    "FUCK!" Loud mming sounds could be heard in the maglev cabins. Four participants of the battlefield, the second generation rich, left their cabins one after another, each of them gnashing their teeth.


    Ju Maoxun hadn¡¯t joined the game, but his expression was extremely ugly.


    Then someone blurted, "Brother Yue is trashy enough. He can¡¯t even hide well? If he just held on for five more seconds, then we would have surely eliminated those two....oh, where is he?"


    With a shift of a gaze, a red light could be seen to have lit up outside the Yue Zheng¡¯s maglev cabin. The cabin then opened, and Yue Zheng practically tumbled out of it.


    He had been forced to perform a series of evasive maneuvers by the bombardment from Luo Nan¡¯s handgun. The bullets brushed past his body time and time again, controlling his tempopletely and forcing him to make maneuvers that were growing exceedingly past his limits. He did them in a haze, and he was finished off while he was in a haze. The consequences of going past his limits hade to bite him.


    He strove to keep his mouth shut, but he couldn¡¯t resist. The alcohol and snacks in his stomach came spraying out between his fingers. There was also quite a bit that came bouncing back onto his face.


    The smell of the entire VIP room was truly unbelievable.

 Chapter 399: Losing Data

    Chapter 399: Losing Data


    The Super God Heiya had seized the battle-winning advantage, but he suddenly logged out. After his partner, who was unparalleled in close-rangebat, beheaded the final Phoenix, he did the same. Their behaviors weren¡¯t in line with normal human logic, drawing the onlookers in area A to discuss spiritedly. Some even argued about whether or not there was shady business going on. The ce was aplete mess.


    The VIP room was aplete mess as well.


    Yue Zheng struggled, with vomit, nasal fluids and tears gushing out of him. He was dreadfully affected by physiological and psychological effects at the same time.


    The room¡¯s self-cleaning system activated, and a multi-function robot came to clean up. The rich second generation group avoided it like they were avoiding a viper or a scorpion. There was practically no one idle in the room.


    Ju Ling, who had been sitting on the sofa this entire time, stood up and headed out.


    "Brother!" Ju Maoxun yelled, rushing to chase after him. He also gave Fan Qu instructions just before he left the room, "Bring this unsightly bro....no, we¡¯re going to switch rooms first. You watch him ande over once things are swiftly tidied up."


    Ju Maoxun disregarded Fan Qu¡¯s responsepletely after uttering these words. He went straight out and saw that Ju Ling was talking to someone through his wristband. Ju Maoxun didn¡¯t need to go far.


    Though Ju Maoxun let out a breath of relief, he also had quite the headache.


    The disastrous failure in him trying to pick up Tian Si at Ocean Sky Cloud City led him to hate both Tian Si and Luo Nan. He was constantly looking for a chance to vent his malice. Tonight he had found out about Tian Si and Luo Nan¡¯s presence from Fan Qu. He wanted to embarrass them, to see unsightly expressions on the dog boy and girl.


    It wasn¡¯t that he was physically incapable of simply intruding on on them directly, but this sort of method held no face at all. His cousin, a high ranking officer, just so happened to attending a feast on the floors above. The people attending had special identities, and he wanted to use the opportunity to y a few tricks and do things more sophisticatedly.


    He never thought that his choice of using Yue Zheng to break through from behind enemy lines would go so badly. Yue Zheng had let his group leave their room super early, and then there was the disturbance with the hero seats. Ju Maoxun had the intention to y around in the game before making a move in reality: this was to warm up the venue. However, he never expected to be pped in the face; there was always the risk of failure in anticipated ns.


    Ju Maoxun was fully aware of the fact that his cousin thought very highly of himself. Today, his cousin had transferred from the City Defense Force to the Wilderness Combat Force; it was supposed to be a time to celebrate his aplishments. Normally, it was nothing for his cousin to help Ju Maoxun set up a venue, but the matter had turned into such a vile state. It was unlikely for Ju Maoxun to receive the aid of his cousin now.


    His mind spun like a windmill, thinking about how to persuade his cousin. He never expected Ju Ling to shoot a nce at him and speak normally rather than with guttural deepness ustomed by those in the military.


    "Brother Weican. Yes, I¡¯m still down at Frost River Reality."


    Ju Maoxun¡¯s ears perked up the instant he heard "Brother Weican". The most ideal form of his n for tonight included not only Ju Ling but also Brother Weicaning down.


    He was not bold enough to believe the gossip and rumors he just heard. In any case, this information could only form a contingency n.


    Ju Ling gave him another nce as he said his name, "Yes, it¡¯s Maoxun. There¡¯s no need. I¡¯m pretty much done here. I¡¯m heading back soon."


    Ju Maoxun went into a state of shock when he heard this, but he also didn¡¯t want to get on Ju Ling¡¯s bad side. He gestured over and over with his hands. Ju Ling ignored him, continuing to exchange pleasantries over the call. The words then took a sharp turn when Ju Maoxun was near despair.


    "That¡¯s fine, then I¡¯ll wait a bit for you."


    Ju Maoxun nearly choked on his breath, forgetting to be delighted.


    Ju Ling ended the call and turned to look at him, "Weren¡¯t you waiting for him?"


    Ju Maoxun knew that he couldn¡¯t feign ignorance with Ju Maoxun. He didn¡¯t cover it up any longer. Delight flushed his face as he cupped his hands in thanks, "Many thanks to you, Brother Ling."


    Ju Ling had an indifferent expression, but his gaze was quite sharp, "The arrogance of the Chen family runs deep in their bones. They never do favors for nothing. It appears that there are some big ns this time."


    Ju Maoxun thought to himself. Rubbish. He is the Vice President of his school¡¯s student council. Though his dad is the Vice Chief of Staff of the City Defense Force, this connection was a two-degree separation. Everyone knows that he has some other schemes in mind to search for you, someone of the Wilderness Combat Force, to go drinking with.


    Thinking about it, wasn¡¯t Chen Weican about to graduate soon? Maybe he was starting to pave his road for the future. Was he not going to pursue further studies, and instead grow his career in the military?


    The thought shed and faded away. Ju Maoxun didn¡¯t care about what Chen Weican was up to. He just cared about his n to trample on certain people tonight¡ªwhether or not he could execute the n smoothly. He chuckled, "Inviting him for some drinks, meeting some subordinates, how is this a favor?"


    Ju Ling stare fixed upon him, "What about going one step further?"


    Ju Maoxun gave a sly smile, "That¡¯s what I owe Brother Ju Ling for."


    Ju Ling suddenly smiled when he saw his cousin like this, "All right. There just so happens to be something you can help me with."


    Ju Maoxun grew diffident, but he soon smacked his chest, "Brother Ling, just tell me what to do. I will certainly live up to your expectations."


    The door to the VIP room behind them suddenly opened just as he finished speaking, and Fan Qu came rushing out. He saw the cousins of the Ju Family chatting outside and forced an awkwardugh before ducking down the corridor.


    Ju Maoxun grew angry upon seeing this, "The fuck are you going? Aren¡¯t you switching rooms for us?"


    Fan Qu hurriedly said, "Young Master Xun, I was just going to go handle this matter. Please wait a moment, sir."


    "What about that Yue Zheng in the room?"


    "I¡¯ve already called for someone, yes, toe over. They¡¯ll ensure that he¡¯ll quickly sober up and they¡¯ll make sure that things are neat and clean."


    Ju Maoxun saw that a service personnel had indeede over. He grunted in approval, raised his chin, and let Fan Qu beat it.


    While Ju Maoxun reproached Fan Qu, Ju Ling was in a state of thought, uttering not a word. Thissted until the service personnel walked past him and into the VIP room. Only then did he say, "In a moment before Chen Weican arrives, you will go to that room."


    "Huh, you¡¯re noting with?"


    "No, you go first. You and Yue Zheng go together." Ju Ling nced at his cousin onest time and spoke in a tone that did not allow refusal, "It has to be you two!"


    Ju Maoxun was stunned. There was something fishy about this!


    During Ju Maoxun¡¯s confusion, Fan Qu was extremely neurotic as well. It was super annoying.


    From his perspective, Ju Maoxun¡¯s request to switch rooms was absurd. Everyone knew that resources like the VIP rooms had to be reserved in advance. Frost River Reality was booked to full capacity nowadays. It was easier said than done to switch rooms.


    Fortunately, his luck was decent tonight. After a two minute dy, there were people about to check out from a VIP room. He used god-like control to stick himself onto the booking queue, reserving the room. He had just told the rich second generation group this when the VIP floor guide sent a message.


    The people checking out refuse to leave. They want to request a renewal!


    If it was only this, then Fan Qu couldpletely use reasons like ¡¯store rules¡¯ to fob it off, but he heard two names from the guide.


    "Young Master Xie and Young Master Hu are both there...."


    Fan Qu¡¯s heart was about to explode. He had just barely managed to handle Ju Maoxun¡¯s questions when he walked a few steps around the corridor and arrived at Frost Room seven. The VIP room here had its door open, and the beautiful guide was at the entrance, dealing with the questions of the guests inside. She was in a dire situation.


    "Why didn¡¯t you wait until we left before you started procedures?"


    "Isn¡¯t Frost River Reality known for keeping data on all the VIP customers?"


    "It is very normal to cancel a renewal. I admit that it¡¯s normal for reserved customers to have priority, but we haven¡¯t even taken off our equipment. We haven¡¯t even left the door. Why don¡¯t you give us this out?"


    "We¡¯re not trying to make things hard on you. Where¡¯s Yin Le? Have here over and talk with us."


    Fan Qu¡¯s heart turned even more bitter when he heard the name Yin Le. If this person really dide, his position as store manager would pretty much be demolished.


    He was a quick-witted person. He was able to gain a general understanding of the situation from these scattered words without even entering the room. In the end, this was misfortune he, himself, had provoked by forcefully sticking himself on top of the wait-list. He performed a small vition of the rules for the sake of beating the other customers¡¯ reservations. He had started the initialization procedures ahead of time for Frost seven before the checkout process could be automaticallypleted.


    This wouldn¡¯t had been a problem as long as the guests had sincerely left. However, these guests had changed their tunes, seeking to renew their time. The two procedures were at an impasse, causing this mistake to be leaked.


    But what was the matter with the data?


    Fan Qu pondered for a moment before mustering the courage to walk inside the room. He saw that there weren¡¯t that many people in the room. Aside from Young Master Xie and Young Master Hu¡ªalso known as Xie Junping and Hu Huaying¡ªthere was someone unfamiliar. This person had the appearance of a pale-faced schr, and his voice was quite sharp. Most of the questions came out of his mouth.


    "Oh my, apologies to Young Master Xie and Young Master Hu. I¡¯m the manager of this store, Fan Qu. Terribly sorry for just now. There¡¯s probably some problems with the system connection; it is a newly opened store, after all. It isn¡¯t just this room. Frost two also has a simr problem. We are working on it right now."


    Fan Qu bolstered his courage as he secretly used a trick. He prepared to kill two birds with one stone when it came to these two headache inducing matters. "It¡¯s certainly not a problem for you to renew your time, but it¡¯s hard for you to keep your room. If you three don¡¯t mind, can we change rooms?"


    If Xie Junping agreed, Fan Qu would dare to let them go to Frost two, the room where Ju Maoxun and the others were at. It would be a giant swap, and it would eliminate this crisis once and for all.


    He had nned this very well, but unfortunately the fundamental crux of the matter didn¡¯t lie here.


    "Your name is Fan Qu, right? Let¡¯s not talk about the matter of renewing time for now. I want to ask you something first. Can you retrieve the data that was wiped by you initializing procedures?" Xie Junping was the one who talked. He dressed quite bizarrely. He wore the training clothes of the ancient style. Robes with buttons going down. The fit was loose, and he gave off the feel of an immortal Daoist at first nce. It was just that his expression was super dark. He was in a terrible mood.


    "That¡¯s right. Who gives a fuck about this bullshit room!? We want the data! DATA!" The brother with the sharp voice was certainly a bit neurotic at the moment. He pped loudly as he yelled in an extremely manic manner. It felt like he could lose it at any moment.


    Fan Qu felt that things were odd. He asked curiously, "Young Master Xie, are you talking about the game data? I certainly have it saved on my end. You can seamlessly ess it when you switch to any room...."


    "Fuck your game data!" The neurotic brother jumped up, and it was a real jump. He jumped again, waving both fists in anger. "That was a magical spell structure that I derived through pain and effort. I just barely had a bit of insight when it was fucking ruined. RUINED!"


    "It wasn¡¯t sessful at all...." Hu Huaying could be said to be the most indifferent of the three. He had always disapproved of Xie Junping working on this stuff. He muttered this in a low breath.


    The neurotic young man--oh, actually it was the former president of the Mystic Arts Research Society, Du Yong--had extremely sharp ears. He red when he heard Hu Huaying, and simply let out a series of curses, "Fuck you retard. Amateurs shouldn¡¯t interrupt!"


    Hu Huaying was disinclined to bicker with someone neurotic. He just silently gave Du Yong the middle finger.


    Xie Junping¡¯s expression was dark as he fixed upon Fan Qu with his gaze, "We were using the projector of the VIP room to make design changes. It took almost an entire day of struggling for us to nearly seed when you guys started your initialization procedures. Everything was wiped clean. And this stuff, I had huge ns for this stuff. Tell me right now, openly and clearly, does your system automatically save the projector data? Can my data be retrieved?"


    Sweat beaded on Fan Qu¡¯s forehead. He knew that this matter couldn¡¯t be easily resolved. He didn¡¯t dare to respond directly. He said, "Young Master Xie. I will get in contact with the technical staff immediately. We will do our utmost to give you, sir, a satisfactory answer."


    Xie Junping¡¯s foot moved. His previous temperament would have led him to stomp the ground. However, he had been studiously following the practices of cultivation in recent times, and such practices were effective. The nameless mes stirred in his heart, but he pressed them down. He mouthed to himself, "Adhere to forward progress. Control is paramount." And he no longer regarded Fan Qu. He turned to face Du Yong and said,


    "Sissy, do you think someone else can produce it using the previous basic draft as a reference?"


    Du Yong walked in circles, his heart filled with impatience. Quite a while passed before he said, "Of those versed in the mystic arts, I-I rather respect Tang Yi."


    "Then contact her! Ask her to help!"


    Du Yong gaped, whatever nerves and rashness he had were gone. All that was left was awkwardness and embarrassment.


    Xie Junping grew angry when he saw this, walking forward and grabbing Du Yong by the cor, "You led me into this world, and now you¡¯re hesitating over something like this?"


    Du Yongcked the slightest bit of temper in this moment. He even spoke with a stutter, "B-But it¡¯s Tang Yi. She¡¯s not likely to regard...."


    "How will you know if you don¡¯t ask?"


    "Then, I¡¯ll ask?"


    Xie Junping drew in a deep breath and released Du Yong¡¯s cor. He took two steps back and pinched his forehead in thought for a moment. Then he dialed a number through his wristband, and the call was answered a few secondster.


    He coughed and subconsciously took on a humble attitude, "Nanster, there¡¯s something I want to get your advice on. It has to do with....how do I say this? It¡¯s a problem that has to do with the mystic arts. Aren¡¯t you quite good, or, uh, quite interested, in this sort of thing? So, I want to ask something concerning magical spells...."


    Xie Junping¡¯s current stammering appearance was far too different than his previous appearance. Even Du Yong, who was in a bind over whether or not to call Tang Yi, couldn¡¯t help but turn to look at him.


    Xie Junping was in no position to handle this. He walked a few steps deeper into the room, grunting in answer. Then he suddenly raised his voice, "Huh? You¡¯re at Frost River Reality? Which store? Aurora Cloud City....holy shit!"


    Xie Junping immediately became excited, "Hurry up ande up! Come up! I¡¯m in the VIP area, Frost seven. Hu San¡¯er and Sissy Du are here as well! You can¡¯t leave? Entertaining friends? Is it those....is it alright if I go to you? Which room? Area A¡¯s luxury rooms, Lu Frost. All right, we¡¯ll be there soon."


    He ended the call and pped, "Let¡¯s disregard this ce for now. Oh, Sissy Du, were you able to get a hold of her?"


    Du Yong responded bitterly, "Tang Yi is at a party tonight. Tomorrow she has an appointment. The day after tomorrow she has to catch up with some tasks. She¡¯s not epting any work."


    Xie Junping rolled his eyes, "Then forget her! Luckily, Nanster and his friends are all here. Let¡¯s go meet up with them. Yep, let¡¯s see if things might take a turn for the better."


    His gaze shifted to Fan Qu as he spoke, "You. Prepare four elite-grade fruit tters and a sufficient amount of alcohol. No wait, forget the alcohol. Send the goods down to Lu Frost. Do it ASAP. You cannot be slow about this. Hello, hello, snap out of it. Did you catch what I said?"


    "Lu Frost! Lu Frost!" How could Fan Qu forget about this room? He had personally given this room for Yue Zheng an hour ago for the sake of his face. There was indeed a youngster there called Nanster, and this youngster was also Ju Maoxun¡¯s target for tonight.


    This youngster was deeply involved in several of tonight¡¯s matters.


    Fan Qu¡¯s brain buzzed. Every word that entered his ear seemed to carry a tone of ridicule. He didn¡¯t utter a word. He barely agreed through a nod of the head, a habit built from many years. Then he turned around in a flurry, forgetting that the guide was behind him. A foot of his stepped on the guide¡¯s high heels, and his instantly lost his bnce and fell forward.


    "AHHH!" The guide shrieked.


    Fan Qu¡¯s reactions were swift enough. He used his hand to support himself, avoiding aplete fall. However, his four limbs still touched the ground, and he staggered out of the room like a dog fleeing in a panic.

 Chapter 400: Heated Heart

    Chapter 400: Heated Heart


    "Magical spells?"


    Luo Nan ended the call, unable to make any sense of the matter at this time. He didn¡¯t find Xie Junping¡¯s appearance at Frost River Reality odd, but the discussion here was on the topic of the mystic arts. Luo Nan didn¡¯t really get this logic.


    When it came to mystic arts and magical spells, it certainly wasn¡¯t a problem for Luo Nan to pass the buck to a few people and have them teach Xie Junping; Luo Nan¡¯s currentwork of contacts could certainly allow this. However, it would be best to prevent trouble from happening due to the discrepancy in knowledge between the inner world and the normal world.


    What if Xie Junping encountered a fraud or something....Luo Nan felt that he should go help Xie Junping by acting as a gatekeeper first.


    However, Luo Nan¡¯s main focus wasn¡¯t here. The reason why he had logged out and abandoned his hero seat during his irreversible momentum towards victory was because Cat Eyes, an important character he invited, had arrived. She had contacted him via the HexaEar.


    He left the room after he spoke with Xie Junping and stood at the entrance to wait for her. By the time the call ended, he had already perceived Cat Eyes¡¯ arrival but he was unexpectedly unable to recognize her instantly with a sweeping nce.


    It was only until the woman stood before his eyes and stared quietly at him did Luo Nan lock onto the target.


    Tonight¡¯s Cat Eyes moved quietly. She wore a light blue high-waisted skirt, a knitted white shirt for her top, and beige high-heels. She dressed inly today, her clothing not bearing any patterns.


    This was the first time Luo Nan had ever seen her wear a skirt. That¡¯s why he wasn¡¯t able to recognize her at first sight.


    In any case, it must be stated that old habits die hard. Even though she was obviously dressed inly, Cat Eyes covered herself up with a ck motorcycle jacket. It was embellished with rivets, and it matched her hairstyle that covered half her eyes and arge earring on only one ear. She also had on ming-red lipstick. All this gave off a dispirited aura that spoke, "I¡¯m extremely beautiful, but I can engage in self-destruction at anytime."


    Cat Eyes certainly must have drank alcohol before she came here. The faint smell of alcohol lingered around her as she stood before Luo Nan, but the faintness actually wasn¡¯t unpleasant.


    Speaking honestly, Luo Nan felt that Cat Eyes dressed beautifully today. At the very least, it tailored to his taste more than the nightclub or hip-hop styles that he had seen before.


    Cat Eyes tilted her head slightly, sizing him up as well. Luo Nan didn¡¯t know what was going on in her head, but under Cat Eyes¡¯ squinting eyes, he felt a hint of disdain as well as provocation. In truth, she was not giving off a feeling of good intentions.


    Then, a smile blossomed from Cat Eyes¡¯ eyes, eyebrows, and lips. It was a powerful disy with her makeup, fashion, and modesty as a foundation. She extended a hand to hook under the crook of the young man¡¯s arm. It was just that the high-heel wearing Cat Eyes was taller than Luo Nan by four or five centimeters. This movement was like a morphed embrace of an old friend. In short, it was very intimate, especially when her soft red lips drew close to Luo Nan¡¯s ear and she gently breathed, "I have heeded your call, my master."


    The alcohol and perfume fused together to create a warm and intoxicating maic force that seeped into one¡¯s heart.


    Luo Nan¡¯s body instantly froze. It must be stated that he was certainly tense; this was the first time in his life that someone called him ¡¯master¡¯, and from a beautiful woman within hand¡¯s reach, no less. The sensation of a soft, warm body could be felt on his arm.


    In this moment, Luo Nan faintly felt the abnormal secretions of two or three different hormones. This led to an increase in his heart rate, blood pressure, and so on. The sensation of hunger also appeared.


    However, more subtle psychological elements flourished after the instinctual reaction of the fleshly body. He was unable to discern further details, but all this led to the rise of stimting elements that he was extremely sensitive to. His body didn¡¯t even move, and his eyes looked straight ahead and past Cat Eyes¡¯ shoulder as he whispered,


    "What did you call me?"


    "My master. The man who dominates me." Cat Eyes giggled softly, bringing upon an intimate breath that lingered around Luo Nan¡¯s ear and nape.


    Luo Nan¡¯s eyebrows jumped up. Cat Eyes¡¯ voice was sharp, but there was quite a metallic texture to it when she deliberately lowered her voice and whispered. It was like a light razor that scrapes against the skin. There was a hint of electricity within thefort.


    Cat Eyes¡¯ actions and behavior were like so. She gave off a feeling of intimacy with her body, but there was an ice-cold warning and defiance at the deepest level. An even more intense destructive tendency was hidden deeper within.


    "Tsk!" Luo Nan was a bit annoyed. Was this like the saying, ¡¯No good deed goes unpunished?¡¯ He originally called her over to have a proper chat. All right, you can maintain your cold and indifferent attitude like before, but who are you trying to mock by donning this mistress persona?


    Could it be that I truly need to destroy you?


    This thought shed through his mind, suddenly pressing the button ofplex physiology and mental mechanisms in his body. He suddenly froze as an advanced line of thought broke through its shell. It was like a gorgeous yet sinister viper letting out a low hiss.


    It would be easy to destroy her!


    The thought was formed, and the first thing that reacted was his body¡¯s instincts. In an instant, all sorts of hormones exploded in their levels of secretion within Luo Nan¡¯s body. His heart rate, blood pressure, and hunger sensation all increased once more, forming a feeling of excitement and stimtion that he had never experienced before in his life.


    The excitement and stimtion was so sudden and intense that an astonishing heat exploded from Luo Nan¡¯s inner organs. His body practically seemed to expand by a factor.


    This sudden burst of energy acted upon his nervous system. Luo Nan subconsciously raised his arm and touched Cat Eyes¡¯ elbow, and he subconsciously sped down with his fingers, holding a firm grip.


    There were rivets embedded in the motorcycle jacket at this location. The metal kernel pressed into his palm, creating a bit of pain.


    It was in this moment that Cat Eyes¡¯ teasing title came for a three-hitbo, "Master, is there something you need?"


    "Ah!"


    Luo Nan looked straight ahead, not looking at Cat Eyes at all. He only allowed Cat Eyes see the side of his face. The corners of his lips hooked up after he spat out a warm and dry breath. He put a bit of effort into the muscles of his cheeks, butpared to the restlessness of the living starry sky, his efforts weren¡¯t really worth mentioning.


    The stimtion of the faint pain in his palm pushed out the rash yet tough emotions. It was akin to a ball of fireworks piercing through the clouds. It burned the living starry sky, shining with a brightness that caused the stars to appear faint.


    The others were fine. It was just his closely connected believers who had minute deformations in the ster orbits of their Life Sketches. There was the possibility of chaotic imbnces in the next moment.


    Those who were influenced were certainly not limited to Cat Eyes.


    Luo Nan finally felt that something was wrong. His thoughts churned again, and his impulsive emotions were buried. Only then were the ripples and the turmoil eliminated from the living starry sky. Luckily, a crisis hadn¡¯t formed. There were just faint undtion with his believers on a level that was hard to detect, and Cat Eyes, who was standing before him, was obviously unaware of it.


    Therefore, in essence, Cat Eyes was merely speaking superficially. She was powerless to her own fate.


    She was truly pitiful!


    After suppressing the restless emotions, Luo Nan was restored his usual way of thinking. He focused on Cat Eyes and even felt a hint of pity for her....uh, such a description was too hypocritical.


    In any case, Luo Nan was able to wipe away those extreme thoughts for now, but the differences in level, which had its origins in the living starry sky, naturally pushed his state of mind to higher heights. This wiped away most of his worries, allowing him to speak more easily and casually.


    "Call me something else. This title is tooughable."


    Cat Eyes was unaware that a fatal crisis had been unleashed in a breath¡¯s instant just now, only to silently scatter away. The negative emotions that filled her heart pushed their way to the surface, turning into endless mockery and provocation.


    "How about, ¡¯my boss¡¯?"


    "...up to you." Luo Nan had some awareness of being a ¡¯boss¡¯. Perhaps Cat Eyes held a simr image of him in her eyes. There was no point in forcefully changing her mind.


    He was still holding on to Cat Eyes¡¯ elbow at this time. The two were joined together in a more dynamic fashion than before. It was all right when Luo Nan was affected by restless emotions, but there was something not quite right about it now.


    Luo Nan was the first to let go. He softly said, "Brother Papercut will arrive in a bit. I¡¯m here waiting for him. You can go inside first. Leister¡¯s there."


    Cat Eyes was clearly shocked when she heard the names Papercut and Xue Lei. The situation was a bit different than what she expected; enough to make things a bit awkward....well, maybe.


    "As you order, Boss." Cat Eyes finally released Luo Nan¡¯s arm. Her lips drew into a slightly intoxicating smile that seemed to be mocking him as she walked inside the room.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t budge a single inch for a moment. After she let go of his hand, the arm that was slightly flung away by Cat Eyes was still a bit stiff.


    His words were simply an excuse. He had long since got in contact with Papercut; Papercut and Tian Si were in the strategy room right now. They would arrive soon. he knew where Papercut was at, what was the point of waiting to greet him?


    The reason for this was to create a moment¡¯s cushion.


    Tonight¡¯s asion had already far exceeded what he had originally imagined. Without Papercut present, not only did he not know what to say, the current mood was also quite bad.


    Yes, the restless emotions that Luo Nan just suppressed had resurfaced for trouble the moment Cat Eyes had left.


    Gorgeous and bewildering light effects, the interweaving two-dimensions and three-dimensions in area A, were erected at the entrance of the luxury room. It made him even more agitated than how he normally would be.


    It was natural for there to be advertising in dense areas with high people traffic. Eight out of ten of them were supported by handsome men and beautiful women. The Luo Nan of the past would have disregarded these advertisements, but today he had a different sensation when he saw the beautiful female stars sh past the screens.


    It really was different.


    Before, when facing Cat Eyes, the alluring fragrance, the attractive forces, and the mistress-like behavior were merely simple concepts and descriptions. They were concepts and descriptions that were used when thought appropriate. However, under the bewildering light and shadow, these rigid concepts were like the sensations that still remained in most of his body. They were faintly discernible, and they became alive one after another.


    The structured world operated in established principles, principles that were turning more and moreplex and chaotic.


    Luo Nan subconsciously licked his lips. He waited a minute or so; he had yet to see Papercut arrive. Even Xie Junping, who wanted toe and ask for some advice, couldn¡¯t be seen at all.


    Things were different in the room. Although only Cat Eyes and Xue Lei were in there, the atmosphere was actually quite good. They chatted delightedly. All of this was mapped on Luo Nan¡¯s sensingwork. It was as if he was there in person.


    Xue Lei was asking Cat Eyes about her profession. He was very curious about the life state of such an experienced ability user.


    Cat Eyes raised a slice of fruit as she casually said, "I¡¯m just an ordinary dance teacher. I partnered up with some people to form a dance studio. Primarily, we provide short term training in the entertainment circle, and asionally we do some choreography."


    "Wow, do you meet a lot of celebrities?"


    "Not really. We mainly train neers, as well as stupid young women or two-faced women who stupidly dream of bing celebrities. But there¡¯s quite a few of them who may go sell theirpany and sing for clients. It¡¯s very interesting."


    Cat Eyes gave Xue Lei a smile as she continued to say, "If you have the time, you cane to my ce, earn a bit of extra money, and get to know some beautiful girls."


    She gestured in the air for Xue Lei, "Those girls would hate not being able to eat a young strong man with a nice physique such as yourself."


    Xue Lei¡¯s face immediately flushed red. He waved his hand, "Well, I don¡¯t know how to dance."


    "Traditional martial art can be considered a type of dance. Although the live-action movie market is down at the moment, there¡¯s always a market for superhero films, kung-fu films and the like. Many managementpanies are seeking people for this field."


    "I-I¡¯m still helping out with my gym master." Xue Lei couldn¡¯t quite get rid of the topic. He just barely found himself an excuse, but God knew that the Divine Yu Gym was closing for good. What can Xue Lei go help out with?


    Cat Eyes went, "Oh," and said, "I had the impression that the daoguan is your life. Are you thinking of opening your own daoguan in the future and taking in disciples?"


    "Yeah, that is my dream. To be like the gym master or Mr. Giant Arm of the Society...."


    The discussion reached that of dreams and ideals. It should be fine to go inside, right?


    Luo Nan drew in a deep breath and donned a mask of indifference before walking into the room.


    Cat Eyes saw Luo Nan enter the room. She just pretended she didn¡¯t, holding an expression that was totally different from the intimate one she had outside. In the end, it was Xue Lei who let out a long breath. His burly body withdrew into the sofa, showing that he was unable to fight against this big sister, that Nanster had bettere.


    The luxury room was quiterge. There were seats beneath the lockers for chatting and conversation, and there was also a sofa in the corner. Cat Eyes and Xue Lei sat on the two sides of the corner sofa. Cat Eyes was sitting in the middle of her side, while Xue Lei was sitting in the corner. They maintained a respectful distance for socializing.


    Luo Nan looked at them and walked over. As he walked, he thought about sitting over by Xue Lei¡¯s side, but he soon walked past the coffee table in apse of concentration. He walked to the middle position, where Cat Eyes was sitting.


    Xue Lei didn¡¯t think too much of the matter. He picked up a canned drink on the table, tossed it over to him, and said, "You haven¡¯t tried any of the fruits. The taste will be off if they sit out for too long."


    Luo Nan took the drink and casually sat next to Cat Eyes. The sofa must have been too soft, for his body sunk down the moment he sat down. What had once been a respectful distance had shortened quite a bit in an instant.


    He drew close to Cat Eyes¡¯ body once more when he reached out to grab some fruit. He didn¡¯t know what part of her body he touched; he just felt a shock go through his elbow. Plus, his mouth secreted a lot of saliva, perhaps due to the stimtion from his gastric liquid. His cheeks tingled, and his breathing changed.


    Was he nervous? Or was he feeling pleasure?


    Luo Nan wanted to do some self-analysis, but the thoughts in his mind were far too chaotic. They exceeded his previous thought of "destroying someone¡¯ a moment before.


    Cat Eyes uttered not a single word.


    Luo Nan took a sliced apple and took a bite out of it. He didn¡¯t feel anything from it, but his mouth secreted a lot of saliva once more.


    Yes, it was sour.


    Cat Eyes swayed her canned drink at this time, "This stuff is boring. Is there alcohol?"


    "I think there¡¯s some in the fridge." Xue Lei immediately got up to go check. He looked inside and said, "There¡¯s one bottle of whiskey left."


    "Is there ice?"


    "There¡¯s a jar of it."


    "Then bring them all over. Also bring some cups. Three of them."


    "Huh?"


    "Y¡¯all will drink too. What¡¯s the point of a person drinking by herself?"


    "We¡¯re not of legal age." Xue Lei expressed himself as a good kid.


    Cat Eyesughed freely, "The reason why minors shouldn¡¯t drink alcohol is because their organs haven¡¯t finished developing. The stimtion from alcohol will bury hidden damage. However, you are all already ability users. What are you afraid of?!"


    Xue Lei was in a bind, but he still rummaged through the fridge.


    Taking advantage of the moment when Xue Lei had his back to them, Cat Eyes leaned toward Luo Nan and leaned her red lips close to Luo Nan¡¯s ear, "Boss, if you want to take advantage of someone, alcohol is a good excuse....this is my suggestion."


    Sheughed as she said this, unleashing what seemed to be endless teasing... not only to Luo Nan but to herself as well. Her slender neck stretched forward once more, and her medium-length hair fell to her cheeks, like a light curtain that became the only thing that sheltered her face.


    A sweet fragrance and the faint odor of alcohol drifted from between her hair and entered Luo Nan¡¯s nose in the most direct manner. His mind buzzed in an instant, distorting his internal and external senses. He just remembered turning as well, his lips brushing against her smooth and slightly damp hair and touching the side of her delicate and smooth forehead. His lips stopped there, finding it difficult to continue yet not willing to move away.


    "You¡¯re here, Nanster!"


    Xie Junping pushed open the door and entered in a rush, bringing in the bewildering lights of area A to shine upon the close pair sitting on the sofa.


    His feet slowed in an instant, and Hu Huaying bumped into his back from behind. Further behind them was Mo Han¡¯s clear voice sounding out, "Hey, who are you guys?"


    Xue Lei, who was the furthest inside, turned his head. A jolt ran through his hand and some alcohol was poured into a cup of ice while some alcohol was spilled on the carpet.


    The luxury room became lively in an instant.

 Chapter 401: A Ripple of Imagination

    Chapter 401: A Ripple of Imagination


    Luo Nan had screwed the pooch!


    People from Xie Junping¡¯s group didn¡¯t appear when one needed them to appear. Not one of them came. It was only during the most embarrassing time did these peoplee delightfully popping out one after another.


    Well, forget about Xie Junping¡¯s group. What about Mo Han and Mo Peng? Weren¡¯t they having a good time at the reality battlefield, at the Uncanny Valley? Why the fuck did theye back?


    Actually, Mo Han and Mo Peng came back because they were a bit worried. They didn¡¯t understand why Luo Nan gave up his hero seat when he was ying so well and had a great situation going on. He had told everyone that nothing was wrong through his wristband, but how could anyone believe him?


    With Mo Han and Mo Penging back, the others came back as well like pping geese. The only ones who didn¡¯te back were Yue Qin and Turner. Those two should be purposely hiding due to the embarrassing actions of Yue Zheng.


    But when it came to embarrassment, who couldpare to Luo Nan in this moment?


    The intimate actions between him and Cat Eyes werepletely seen by Xie Junping, that idiot, with his own two eyes. Oh, and then there was Xie Junping. His angle might have been more nted, but he probably was able to piece it together with Xie Junping¡¯s reaction.


    Yep, it was Xie Junping¡¯s reaction.


    That bro¡¯s reaction was far too exaggerated. He gaped, stunned, not saying a word. The first thought that came into his mind was to turn around and leave.


    The fuck you want to walk away for!?


    Even if Luo Nan and Cat Eyes were acting quite vaguely in a intimate way, what are you acting as an innocent boy for, you old yer? Doesn¡¯t this encourage the others to have their imaginations go wild?


    Luo Nan drew in a deep breath. Cat Eyes¡¯ sweet fragrance of alcohol still remained between his mouth and nose, and the fine sensation of her hair still remained on his lips. This suddenly woke him up and made him feel a bit grateful to this old yer.


    Since the matter was so sudden, Luo Nan had frozen on the spot. He didn¡¯t even think about moving out of the way. He still gave off an intimate feeling with Cat Eyes, when in reality, all he had were his lips on Cat Eyes¡¯ forehead.


    If Xie Junping hadn¡¯t overreacted like this, then the situation would have turned even more chaotic. Instead of the current formation, Mo Han, Mo Peng and the others would havee charging in like bees. They would certainly have seen the whole thing head on. Now that would have been an explosive disaster!


    Luckily, the current situation could be saved.


    Luo Nan immediately straightened his back and stood up. He did this in such a rushed manner that his knee bumped into the coffee table. The bang rang out quite clearly in the room.


    At the entrance to the room, Xie Junping was soon pushed inside as Mo Han, Mo Peng, and the others came in like a swarm. What had once been an empty room waspletely packed in an instant. There was no fear of there being leftovers out of the fruit tters and beverages that Xie Junping brought.


    Luo Nan took advantage of the chaos to drag his stiff and aching legs outward in the form of two steps. He nearly bumped into Xue Lei, who carried a te with alcohol, in the process. His best friend shifted to the side, maintaining bnce with the te with alcohol. His dedication to his work was just like that of a real bartender. He had a pure expression that said, "I don¡¯t know jack about what just happened." However, his twinkling eyes long since betrayed himself deeply.


    Inparison, the Old yer Xie Junping, after forgetting his manners at the very beginning, took it upon himself to form the model example of no-good friends with Hu Huaying. He chatted andughed casually, saying, "Is Nanster getting to know a beauty?" After delivering the fruit tter and beverages, he quickly reversed the chaotic and suspicious atmosphere in the room, causing the room to be quite lively.


    Cat Eyes acted quite steadily throughout all this. Her behavior didn¡¯t really change. It was as if everything that just happened was an illusion. She even gestured with a curl of her finger towards Xue Lei, taking a cup of whiskey from the te he was holding. She swayed the cup slightly once it was in her hand, letting the ice and alcohol make a slow and monotonous clinking sound. Her actions gave off the feeling of casualness and at ease.


    Luo Nan wanted to make way for Xue Lei when he felt that he too had also sunk down to the role of a server. Wasn¡¯t this like being a special service personnel? He couldn¡¯t refrain from gritting his teeth. He felt quite embarrassed, but then anger surged into his head:


    If Cat Eyes wasn¡¯t scared at all, what was he scared of!?


    The gazes of most people rested upon the sofa at this time. They were unable to see the situation. Cat Eyes was now sitting alone in the master spot of the sofa, while Luo Nan and Xue Lei stood together. There was a fixed distance between the two sides. If there was something that had to be said, then it would be the fact that Cat Eyes¡¯ makeup, dress-style, and bearing gave off an extremely mature and charming feeling. It made these few young boys and girls stupefied just by looking.


    Then, most of the people¡¯s eyes were drawn to the alcohol Xue Lei was carrying. Tong Hui of the HuiHui-GrayGray Combo struck the nail on the head, "Ardberg, a ssic! Wow! You guys actually popped open some whiskey!"


    The alcohol content of this whiskey was over sixty percent. The vor was intense. It was certainly not suitable for youngsters to consume. Xue Lei had discovered this when he opened the bottle. He hurriedly said, "I¡¯m not the one drinking. Whoever wants a drink cane over."


    Luo Nan felt his mouth and tongue suddenly go dry in this moment. Perhaps it was because he was feeling diffident, but he felt that Cat Eyes¡¯ lingering scent refused to leave his lips. He saw the ice cubes soaking in the amber liquid and felt that it could quench his thirst quite well. The scent was strong as well. He picked up a cup and easily chugged it down.


    "Holy shit!" Tong Hui was immediately stunned.


    Luo Nan suddenly realized the problem. As soon as the alcohol entered his throat, a painful burning sensation surged through his nose and throat, even though the ice-cubes already diluted the drink. There was also an intense taste that was akin to smoke and baking fire. The surge was so strong that he nearly spat the alcohol out.


    Luckily, the mouth and tongue orifice naturally circted the spiritual pond of nectar upon being stimtor. The liquid moistened the area between the mouth and nose, lingering there and transforming into a burst of intellectual energy. The bottom level was rich in vor as the liquid flowed down. Luo Nan had truly gulped down the entire cup of alcohol, all the while unaware.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t understand how to appreciate alcohol. He was satisfied with not making a fool out of himself. He was truly surprised by this effect of the two orifices of mouth and tongue.


    Though this was the case, he absolutely wouldn¡¯t drink a second cup.


    From the moment he was born, the only time Luo Nan had close contact with alcohol in his sixteen years of life was when he operated alcohol stoves. It was as if a fire burned through his entire body after the alcohol entered his stomach. It scorched his body, and the restlessness he just suppressed seemed to explode forth once more.


    He didn¡¯t have anything he wanted to do in particr. He just felt that there were many ideas that were meaningless. He watched Cat Eyes turn her head to look above the sofa, getting a sense that she was a calm andposed beauty. He chuckled as he felt this to be more and more the case.


    Mo Peng shouted, "Nanster, you sneak! You drank alcohol!"


    Luo Nan rolled his eyes, "You¡¯re so god damn loud. I¡¯m thirsty!"


    He dumped the ice cubes still remaining in the cup into his mouth to prove it. It was all swallowed after some chewing. This was seriously an aggressive method. Mo Peng and the others felt a shiver through their hearts just from watching.


    Tong Hui said in admiration, "I can tell you¡¯re experienced at this with a single look. I also chugged it down in a single gulp back then, but I simply sprayed it out on my dad¡¯s face. Could it be that eating ice cubes can keep the alcohol down?"


    It appeared that he had the idea of trying it out at home.


    Luo Nan gave him a moment of silence as respect. This brother certainly didn¡¯t possess the mouth and tongue orifice and its circting ability of the spiritual pond of nectar. In any case, the two simtions created by the mix of alcohol and ice shouldn¡¯t be life threatening.


    With such an interruption, the topic¡¯s direction wentpletely askew. The previous awkward atmosphere was pretty much dispelled. Luo Nan¡¯s state of mind became more natural as he took on the responsibility of the host once more and introduced people to one another.


    Xie Junping and Hu Huaying were all older students of Acumen College. They were older than Mo Peng and the others by about five years. It would be easy for them to blend into the friend group if they could act humbly.


    The third wheel was none other than Du Yong, or Sissy Du. Luo Nan had only met him once in the past by chance and could only give him a simply introduction. Well in any case, Tian Qi was here. Even though Du Yong had resigned as the president of the Mystic Arts Research Society in a sorry manner, it was easy for Tian Qi, a basic member, to give everyone a detailed introduction of Du Yong.


    But Cat Eyes¡¯ identity made things hard. She just sat on the sofa, donning a smile that wasn¡¯t really a smile. She couldn¡¯t be described as close or distant. There was also the issue with her name. It was quite awkward introducing her.


    "Dance teacher?" The group of boys and girls were quite confused. This didn¡¯t line up with Luo Nan¡¯s usual social circle.


    Papercut and Tian Si had returned not too long ago by now. Papercut didn¡¯t even have time to greet Cat Eyes and be Luo Nan¡¯s teacher of etiquette, but he was a man of action, ready to shoulder responsibility. He pulled Tian Si to him and said, "Didn¡¯t you say that you¡¯ve also garnered some interest in the mystic arts recently? Aside from the school society that your little brother is a part of, the Society actually has a few interest and enthusiast gatherings in the school as well. For instance, we are like-minded people who have gathered together. Cat Eyes is a veteran member of the Society. You two get closer to each other in the future."


    Tian Si had yet to talk upon returning to the room. However, her gaze mostly fell over to the sofa, spending half the time on Luo Nan and half the time on Cat Eyes.


    Tian Si¡¯s heart went into a panic from suddenly being seen through by Papercut, but, after all, she possessed a clever mind. She immediately understood the pretext, walked forward, leaned over, extended a hand over the coffee table, and said, "Hi Sister Cat Eyes. I am Tian Si. Please give me lots of advice in the future."


    Cat Eyes remained sitting on the sofa. She merely extended a hand to touch Tian Si lightly. She appeared a bit cold as she said, "Advice is out of the question, but since you¡¯ve entered this circle, there will be opportunities to exchange experiences."


    Tian Si gave a gentleugh, "I haven¡¯t officially entered."


    "You¡¯re involved with a certain someone. Do you think the date is far off?"


    Tian Si stared, her gaze locking with Cat Eyes¡¯. Her eyes appeared to be hazy, but beneath the surface was a sharpness and coldness. There was also a hint of "I understand everything" contained within.


    Her heart ached a bit, and she was stupefied for a time.


    The two highly attractive women were separated by a coffee table. It was an exceptionally gorgeous picture, but under the dim lighting, the dark hues quietly shifted to the lead character.


    There was an instant when the moring room suddenly went quiet, but this silence was soon drowned by Papercut¡¯s fakeughter.


    Papercut had done things quite well, but he underestimated the power of the youngsters¡¯ brains.


    "Something¡¯s a bit strange." Mo Han and Mo Peng whispered to each other, "Have you realized it? All the people Nanster know seems to be older sisters."


    "Oh, or maybe aunties?"


    Pierced through the heart!


    Luo Nan held back a smile and shot a sidelong nce. Cat Eyes was very dispirited nowadays. Her lips were zing red, and her half concealed cheeks were rather pretty and flirtatious. Their age difference was quite clear under the dim lighting when matched with Luo Nan, a fifteen, sixteen year old student. Perhaps she really was twice his age. It was normal to call her an auntie.


    But once the power of the imaginations of young people were unleashed, not even standard weapons of mass destruction could stop it. Mo Peng said, "Could it be an improper love? A zing fight within the harem?"


    "Stop talking shit! Maybe they¡¯re just friends! Friends despite the difference in age!"


    "But right now the problem is that all of the girls that Luo Nan hangs out with are all older than him. There¡¯s something odd about this trend. Why is it like this?"


    "I heard Nanster¡¯s family circumstances is like this."


    "What about my family?"


    "I¡¯m talking about his biological parents. His mom and dad aren¡¯t with him. He might be longing them or something. Perhaps he is more inclined toward an Oedipusplex?"


    "You¡¯re seeking death!"


    Luo Nan nearly shattered the empty ss in his hand through a strong grip.


    Can you two be any fucking louder? Don¡¯t you know that a good portion of the people in this room are ability users? This is nder!


    Two people in the room spat before the thought ended.


    Papercut had just taken a ss of wine from Xue Lei and sipped a mouthful. He hade back a bitter, but hecked resistance since he avoided the most awkward time period. He simply couldn¡¯t take it, choking on the peat-vored whiskey.


    The other one who spat was Xie Junping. In his case, he spat out mineral water. It was a bit odd.


    Luo Nan saw that Xie Junping actually didn¡¯t touch a drop of alcohol. He didn¡¯t even drink any vored beverages. He just held a ss of mineral water. Plus, did Mo Han and Mo Peng whisper that loudly? How was Xie Junping, who was almost five meters away, able to hear him? When did his eyes and ears turn this sharp?


    Luo Nan studied Xie Junping seriously. The two hadn¡¯t met each other face-to-face that much in recent times. Xie Junping appeared a bit thinner than before, and his mind was running quite decently. It was quite funny that he was wearing very old-fashioned Chinese robes. Such outfits were worn by old uncles and grandpas for morning training. It was inharmonious with the gaming center no matter how one looked at it.


    Yet, Xie Junping behaved quite professionally. It didn¡¯t seem to be cosy. Luo Nan recalled that Xie Junping had mentioned something about magical spells and other factors. The situation was certainly quite odd. However, right now was not a good time to ask about this.


    Luo Nan was able to see Papercut¡¯s prating insight of future at this time. For instance, Mo Han and Mo Peng were peers of the normal world. They shouldn¡¯t be put together with Cat Eyes and them. There were many subjects that could not be talked about.


    Papercut narrowly avoided the danger of having alcohol burst out of his nostrils. He felt that he needed to increase his brainwashing intensity and faced Mo Peng and the other young boys and girls to infuse them with his words, "Us people really like those mystical and mysterious stuff. We get together quite often to exchange what we¡¯ve learned. Cat Eyes and I just so happened to be in the area, so we took this chance toe over and have some fun. Please ignore whatever things that may ruin the fun."


    "Oh, no wonder. Nanster wanted to enter the Mystic Arts Research Society before." Mo Peng knew of this matter, visualizing the situation perfectly in an instant. However, his gaze still remained shifting around the sofa area.


    Harems and the like should have nothing to do with hobbies, right!?


    Mo Han¡¯s ability to ept mystical and mysterious things was a bitcking inparison. He turned to ask her few best friends, "Mystic arts....like tarot cards?"


    "Tarot cards are super effective!" Qiu Peipei, who had been quiet all this time, was actually a fanatic of this field. She was excited. This caused a new topic to ripple among these girls. Though it was quite distant from the cover up that Papercut made, this was truly the most ideal situation.


    Luo Nan gave Papercut a ¡¯like¡¯ in his mind. He remembered that he had said the same thing back at Ocean Sky Cloud City. Back then he fooled Xie Junping and Hu Huaying. Right now it was Mo Han and Mo Peng¡¯s turn. But it conformed well together. There were no ws.


    "Look, the Mystic Arts Society can certainly help." Xie Junping whispered to Du Yong with an expression of "I¡¯m right."


    Du Yong had a hybrid expression of restlessness of skepticism, "There are many branches in the mystic arts. Magical spells are a very specialized field."


    Papercut¡¯s ears were sharp. He turned to look at him, "What did you say just now? Magical spells?"


    Du Yong¡¯s patience had long since been eliminated by the many andplicated introductions earlier. All that was left was impatience. Papercut¡¯s words were equivalent to opening up a dam. He didn¡¯t care about the current asion. He simply raised his voice.


    "I¡¯ve been in a club with Old Xie recently. We bumped into a fellow practitioner who said that they can draw us into this field. But there is a test of spiritual initiation that requires the assistance of magical spells."


    His voice was sharp, and his words were quick. The field touched upon was mysterious. The few words surprised the group of young boys and girls.


    Was everyone living in a different dimension?

 Chapter 402: Creation Teaching (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 402: Creation Teaching (Part 1/2)


    Papercut read the situation and gave Du Yong a meaningful look. The intent he meant to convey was to slow down a bit. However, Papercut didn¡¯t understand Du Yong. This neurotic guy was going through a meltdown from having a day¡¯s worth of bitter effort go down the drain. Du Yong would absolutely continue shooting his mouth off.


    He began by mentioning how he made adaptive corrections to the magical spell arrays, shooting out a pile of jargon like a machine gun. Then he suddenly began toin about Frost River Reality¡¯s management. He thered until hepletely finished venting his emotions and had the entire room staring at him. Half were stupefied; half were frustrated.


    Hu Huaying saw the issue and wanted to stop Du Yong, but he was unable to stop him in the end. This brother had already sunk knee deep into this. He just spoke in front of everyone in the room to those involved in the mystic arts and said,


    "Let me use the projector for a moment."


    He fiddled with his wristband and connected the data to the projector. Aplicatedpositional diagram appeared in the gaming area in the center of the room, dazzling people¡¯s eyes. It was none other than apositional magical spell array. It appeared ratherplete.


    The spell array could be divided into fouryers. The lines of the overallposition was of a faint blue color, while the symbols at crucial nodes appeared in a dark red and dark gold color. The colors were of the reserved side, yet theposition was quite gorgeous.


    "Wow!"


    Mo Peng and the others all gasped in amazement. It was a well-pieced and perfectly-orderly array diagram. It gave off quite the artistic feeling. The special symbols, structural forms, and lines were full of the mystical feeling of beauty that said, "It seems pretty awesome even though I don¡¯t understand it." They didn¡¯t understand the theory Du Yong was talking about, but from the image, they were able to feel that what he was talking about was quite shocking. Of course, imagination helped fill in the nk.


    Du Yong grew more restless when he saw the diagram. He waved his arm twice, causing the light and shadows of the spell array to distort. It took a moment for the projector to restore it.


    "It¡¯s this god damn format. Fuck it!"


    Luo Nan was always quite sensitive. He cast a sideways nce over to him after hearing the word ¡¯format¡¯.


    "It¡¯s not that format. He¡¯s talking about the file format."


    Xie Junping knew what gnawed on Luo Nan¡¯s mind. He saw that his friend was incapable of normal conversation, so he took the initiative to exin, "Our wristbands don¡¯t support the file format of this design diagram. We can only enter read-only mode and look at the results through projection, but the room¡¯s projector is allocated with aputer, so we can make alterations to the file. But we never thought that they would suddenly re-initialize the room; we didn¡¯t have the time to save our changes. The day¡¯s painful efforts arepletely gone. Not only that, we also failed to test our changes."


    His mood in the VIP room was quite bad, but he had settled down now that he was by Luo Nan¡¯s side. He was acting a bit self-deprecatingly.


    "We were so close, okay!?" Du Yong yelled at Xie Junping, his emotions getting the best of him. But his sharp voicecked force despite its sharpness. "It¡¯s all because of you. Giving up early, canceling."


    Xie Junping spoke to him calmly and nicely, "You¡¯ve already tried it over ten times in the past. Don¡¯t you remember? The teacher said that making the exact same mistake over three times in a row is called insanity. You¡¯re just feeling vindictive. I feel that it¡¯s best for you to calm down."


    Oh man. It was rare to see Xie Junping reasoning with people.


    Luo Nan chuckled to himself while Papercut came over from the side and whispered, "Does anythinge to mind when looking at this thing?"


    "Well, it¡¯s something that¡¯s not very good."


    Luo Nan knew what Papercut was talking about. There was also the same type of spell arrays back at Fudong Main Street¡¯s Frost River Reality. And a member of Acumen College¡¯s Mystic Arts Research Society was involved as well. Wasn¡¯t his name Huang something? They made a fake Human-Faced Arachnid this way, which became the experimental product of the Order of Justice.


    Luo Nan was still quite sensitive to such matters.


    His gaze stopped upon the projection of the spell array. There wasn¡¯t much Luo Nan could say about it from the perspective of the mystic arts; he had a few basic concepts at most. However, from the perspective of the operational structure of energy and information, he had a bit to say.


    He tried to straighten out thews of order within, and he started from the three level structure of Formatting Theory as a habit. He observed the projection in a trance.


    Papercut, on the other hand, simply asked the person involved, "Can this magical spell be used right away? I mean, you don¡¯t need to put this out on paper, right? You can you use the lines created by the projector."


    "Yes, yes, yes. That¡¯s what the teacher meant." Du Yong nodded his head like he was pounding garlic. Papercut was actually able to tell with a single nce! His confidence toward Papercut and those of that Society instantly rose.


    "Heard it yet? Hello?"


    Papercut intended to privately talk to Luo Nan, but he saw that this brother was spellbound. He could only give him a light reminder; other people might not be able to understand this field, so don¡¯t rush. "First ascertain the surrounding information. Talk about things professionally once you have a direction. This should save some troubles."


    This was a reminder from a senior, and Luo Nan was quite obedient. However, he really did have some vague concepts after skimming over the image a few times. And these concepts weren¡¯t rare when it came to discussing Formatting Theory.


    Luo Nan reluctantly shot ast few nces at the image before bringing his mind back to the ne of reality. He nced to the side inexplicably, and he saw Cat Eyes continue to drink alcohol over by the sofa. It was unknown how many cups she had downed.


    "About Cat Eyes."


    "I see that she¡¯s in a bad mood. Don¡¯t disturb her for now." Papercut indicated to Luo Nan that they should do things first amongst themselves. He also felt that he didn¡¯t quite pay attention to Du Yong a moment ago. He asked Du Yong to repeat himself once more. Only then did he smile and say, "It¡¯s quite a familiar situation, wouldn¡¯t you say?"


    Luo Nan nodded. Papercut wasn¡¯t at the scene back at the incident at the other Frost River Reality. He certainly obtained the details from the post-operation briefing. And the main provider of information for this brief was none other than Luo Nan. Luo Nan obviously wouldn¡¯t forget, "It¡¯s exactly the same as the one back then. Are you talking about the Order of Justice?"


    "It shouldn¡¯t be. If it was the Order of Justice, then the inner circle of the spell array would certainly show equilibrium or disequilibrium. It should be quite recognizable. I obtained an understanding after the fact. It seemed like in the past two years, the technology to form magical spell arrays through projection had already spread far and wide. Many orders have used them."


    "Is that so." Luo Nan felt that the direction had turned quite muddled.


    "This is my current direction; the spell array¡¯s main structure is quiteplete. There aren¡¯t any ridiculous mistakes nor does it have the rigidity of a copy. It isn¡¯t a forgery intent to fool people. The drafting difficulty is also not high. Anyone can do it as long as they¡¯re patient enough. But the so-called adaptability and adjust-ability of it is quite interesting. It really tests the spiritual and creative aspects. It looks just like a written examination for school."


    "Recruitment by an order?"


    "It¡¯s spiritual initiation. It¡¯s exactly what it sounds like. However, there has never been an Order who has dared to do this in the past. They still focus on devout faith of their believers."


    Luo Nan grasped the key information, "Never in the past?"


    "Certainly not!"


    "It doesn¡¯t have to be an Order, you know. It could be the Society or a firm like that of Her Majesty Empress Wu.


    Papercut drew his lips into a grin, "This is the key information garnered from the surrounding information. I just asked Little Xie. Within the spiritual initiation technique imparted to them by their teacher, there are extremely clear-cut rituals and directions."


    Luo Nan rolled his eyes, "Just talk inly, okay?"


    "Creation."


    "Which one?"


    "Creation, as in the Creator of all things."

 Chapter 403: Creation Teaching (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 403: Creation Teaching (Part 2/2)


    "You can really be the Creator?" Luo Nan was shocked. "The magnitude of the situation is alreadyrge enough. Which world-level order is it?"


    "That¡¯s the problem." Papercut shrugged, "I just did some searching; there is no relevant information in the database, whether it is in the Society, Xia City¡¯s military, or Xia City¡¯s government. There aren¡¯t any records of this. In other words, this is very likely a new order. A new power, a new intelligence, that has yet to enter everyone¡¯s eyes. Aren¡¯t you going to consult with the Secretary?"


    Luo Nan blinked. "Sister Yueyin? You want me to trouble her? Is this sort of situation rare?"


    Papercut nodded, "New orders have always been this structured. There are indeed very little of them. In fact, there have been very few new orders in the past few years, even with the inner world expandingrger andrger. You understand this."


    Luo Nan did indeed understand. The inner world was affecting normal society more and more. The skills of freshly trained talents such as him was enough to prove the existence of unrecognized talent.


    Under this sort of circumstances, everyone held a conservative outlook when it came to a mature and high level ¡¯new order¡¯ suddenly popping out of the woodwork.


    Luo Nan was just about to contact He Yueyin when his thoughts took another turn. It was best to take this spell array and bring it to her to take a look. This could be considered a reference. He tried talking to Du Yong, "Can you copy the spell array for me?"


    "No problem." The speed of Du Yong¡¯s response was quite suspicious.


    Xie Junping filled in the gaps in exining, "ording to Teacher¡¯s words, spiritual initiation should involve the gathering of all sorts of talents and the aid of friends. Only then can the best n be obtained. There¡¯s no need to act mysteriously and selfishly about it."


    It seemed to be a very open order!


    Luo Nan and Papercut locked gazes. Papercut asked in what seemed to be a casual manner, "Is it convenient for you to introduce us to the teacher who brought you into all this? Perhaps we know him or her."


    Xie Junping was quite magnanimous. He didn¡¯t hold anything back, "Hisst name is Wan. We all call him Dean Wan. He works for a welfare center in the Forestwall District. He¡¯s the real deal."


    This sort of intelligence acquisition made onepletelyck the feeling of aplishment.


    An insight shed through his mind right as he was shaking his head, and an image popped up in his mind. It was none other than a memory ofst weekend where he controlled Ink in the Forestwall District for the reconnaissance work that was outsourced to him. Luo Nan had discovered an ability user there. That ability user was preaching, and even a little kid from the distant Trigate District hade over to listen.


    Could it be the same person?


    It was a messy mental association, and it was probably wrong, but the several factors¡ªlike preaching and the location being in the Forestwall District¡ª increased the probability by several percentage points. If they were truly the same person, than his business would be farrger than previously imagined.


    This was merely spection; there wasn¡¯t hard evidence, and it was hard to exin from the special perspective of distant perception. Luo Nan didn¡¯t say much else to Papercut. He epted the file that Du Yong sent to him and contacted He Yueyin through the HexaEar.


    But all he got was a busy signal; the call didn¡¯t go through. This wasn¡¯t an odd thing. He Yueyin¡¯s busiest times of the day were at eight or nine o¡¯clock at night. Unless it was a pressing matter, it had to be put on the back burner.


    Luo Nan thought for a bit and nned ast-minute task. He pulled He Yueyin, Papercut, Xue Lei, and Cat Eyes into a group chat before sending He Yueyin a message and the file. This was a sharing between many parties.


    Papercut gave the file a nce, "Oh, it¡¯s a cloud map. This is the most suitable software for drawing the spell array. It seems like this sect isn¡¯t that closed-off. This may be good news."


    Luo Nan noticed that there was a clear icon on the file, "The HexaEar can read it, right?"


    "Of course. Such practical functions have to be integrated into it."


    Luo Nan saw Du Yong gnash his teeth toward the read-only projection, but he was unwilling to copy the file to theputer. He felt that there were some issues with this brother¡¯s brain. Still, he sighed and said, "Forget it. Just use mine."


    He directly connected the HexaEar to the projector. There was no need to switch data streams. He simply opened it in the task window and opened the file in operation-mode. Not only did he remove the read-only limitation, he made it so that anyone could manipte it.


    He casually made a swiping motion, leaving a clear mark on the spell array. The mark stayed there. Then he erased the mark after. He yed around a few times to confirm, "You can make altercations now. You can try to recall what you did before. Search for the feeling, and let us see your train of thought. Rx. This is constantly saved."


    Luo Nan rubbed his fingers against each other half way through his words, looking thoughtful.


    The feeling of light passing was quite interesting. It gave him a more direct feeling about the order and method of the operation of energy and information for the spell array. It made his once-fuzzy insights turn clear once more. He immediately became immersed in thought.


    Du Yong was skeptical at first, but soon he found the instrument window of the cloud map software. His heart immediately swelled with enormous delight. He was right about to do work when he saw Mo Han and the other little sisters try working with it in their curiosity. He didn¡¯t even think before shouting,


    "Don¡¯t break the temte!"


    His voice was admonishing to the maximal limit. Qiu Peipei, who possessed the quietest nature, took a step back in shock, not daring to speak a word.


    Mo Han wasn¡¯t scared of him. She was mad that he frightened her friend, so she spoke disdainfully, "There¡¯s a rollback operation. What are you afraid of?"


    Du Yong really had been shocked by his bad memories. He shook his head over and over. In these sort of times, he greatly rejected anyone who wasn¡¯t a professional.


    It was impossible tomunicate with someone this neurotic. Papercut was very clear on this point. He turned to look at the group of boys and girls, "Why don¡¯t you guys go y? Us professional enthusiasts can just talk things over in this room."


    Mo Han looked at him with bulging eyes, "Hello? Are you trying to get rid of us?"


    Papercut wasn¡¯t the sort of person to go bickering with a little girl. He turned to ask Luo Nan, "How about we switch locations first?"


    He felt that data migration and the like should be easy with the HexaEar. It couldn¡¯t be simpler. Logically, if they were able to separate the people, then they can talk more about on other subjects.


    But he saw Luo Nan focused once more on the spell array when he turned back to look. Luo Nan didn¡¯t look like he was going to break his concentration any time soon, turning a deaf ear to Papercut. Papercut was helpless, he could only give Luo Nan a light tap.


    "Huh? Oh, hold on." It wasn¡¯t easy to get Luo Nan out of his trance this time. Luo Nan spoke a few random words, his gaze still parked upon the spell array structure. He even extended a hand to touch.


    Du Yong¡¯s patience was much higher toward this ¡¯fellow practitioner¡¯. He was especially delighted at Luo Nan¡¯s concentration. He harbored some expectations and couldn¡¯t help asking, "Do you have any insights?"


    "Yes, I have an idea. I feel that this spell array iscking a bit of texture."


    "Which one?"


    "Texture. Matter. A sense of being real." Luo Nan needed to converse with someone. He formted his words as he observed, "If you view the spell array as a building, then the structure and lines could be viewed as rooms and pipelines. This temte of yours is like a blueprint. There¡¯s no material. There¡¯s no filler stuff. It¡¯s just like a hologram."


    Luo Nan omitted something from his words;st time Huang¡¯s spell array had a physical medium, at the very least. His spell array was essentially on a higher level than this one.


    This was the difference in the spell arrays.


    And this difference wasn¡¯t due to a difference in the knowledge of mystic arts. Du Yong was the former president of the Mystic Arts Research Society. He was better than that Huang guy who didn¡¯t really know what he was doing.


    It was likely that this difference existed on the mental ne in the form of thought and desire.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t go further down this train of thought. He wasn¡¯t a believer of this Creation Order. Belief and desire had nothing to do with him. He was more interested in other directions. Could some sort of other method be used in ce of this sort of "texture"? More specifically, could soul strength and interference power be used as a substitute?


    It was harder for Papercut to disturb Luo Nan when seeing his state.


    Luo Nan was a talented character. He viewed the world differently from other people. He saw problems differently in terms of depth and perspective. The insights formed from such perspectives were quite valuable. Who would be responsible if they were destroyed?


    After a moment¡¯s hesitation, Tian Si took the initiative to shoulder the responsibility of managing people, "How about we first go to area A to y? Junior Nan is clearly unable to act as host right now. I can entertain everyone, so as to avoid him from ditching people from Acumen College.¡±


    "Wow! Sister Si is very heroic!" Tian Si¡¯s deliberate self-mockery clearly united the group of boys and girls. It also brought their ability to refuse down to the very minimum. It was very effective psychologically.


    From another perspective, Hu Huaying was not an idiot either. He echoed Tian Si, "I approve of Head Tian¡¯s words. This group of mystic arts researchers have abnormal brains. One bad move and this little brothers and sisters from Sixth Middle might believe that people from Acumen College are mentally ill. Luckily, there¡¯s a VIP room above us. We have yet to check outpletely from it. Let us relocate. Let us leave this ce for them to torture themselves in."


    The temptation of the VIP room was greater than that of the luxury room. It was stronger than the public area of area A. The words when spoken caused quite a few people¡¯s eyes to light up.


    Hu Huaying gave Tian Si a meaningful nce, letting her first take the helm before turning to ask Xie Junping for his privileges. Xie Junping had booked the VIP room. They would need to relevant privileges to enter the VIP floor.


    The group of boys and girls walked out the door, and Luo Biyao whistled, "Normal room, then a luxury room, then a VIP room. So we were here to y upgrade today!"


    Mo Peng nodded as he drooled, "I¡¯ve been looking forward to the beauties y Fighting Dance for quite some time. The lighting effects of the VIP room will certainly be superb. Let me decide the lighting clothing design; dance clothes; sailor outfits; flight attendant outfits and so on. Let us turn up the heat."


    "You pervert!"


    Ruan Zihui kicked him, and Mo Peng giggled as he pulled open the door to jump out. But how was he to know that there was something wrong with the weight. It was heavy one moment and loose in the next. Mo Peng used the wrong amount of strength, and his body staggered backward to collide with Luo Biyao¡¯s body. The door was pulled open, and someone outside fell head first inside to the ground.


    "Huh?"


    "What!? It¡¯s Yue Zheng!"


    Though his figure was sprawled on the floor, he was recognized when he stood up. Right now Yue Zheng was wearing his gaming equipment, which had an anti-collision function. It didn¡¯t hurt physically, but it certainly hurt his pride.


    Things had gone unfavorably in many aspects for Yue Zheng tonight. He had just crawled out of vomit only to face-nt on the ground here. His chin had struck the shiny floor, injuring his lips, teeth, and tongue. A fire swelled in his stomach as he crawled up to push Mo Peng.


    "Fuck your mom! The hell are you doing!?"


    Mo Peng was a bit embarrassed in the beginning, but when he was pelted with curses involving his mom, his expression immediately changed. The push was nothing inparison.


    He want to curse back directly, but his confidence was thick enough in the end. He sneered, "I actually wanted to ask you. How did it feel to contort yourself into all sorts of shapes for a fucking handgun?"


    Yue Zheng¡¯s expression turned ash white, then it turned tense as thest rational thread in his mind suddenly snapped. He cursed once more, waved a fist, and smashed it toward Mo Peng¡¯s face.


    The situation happened so quickly that everyone reacted instinctively. Mo Peng was a little fat, but he was a stout and nimble fatty. He toughened himself up year round at the reality battlefield. This let his reactions exceed that of a normal person¡¯s. At this distance, he didn¡¯t use his arms and legs. His stout body moved like an ox. His round head, which was bound in an angr tactical helmet, came ramming into Yue Zheng¡¯s stomach.


    He exerted force through his legs and back; the resulting impact was considerable. Yue Zheng still had some alcohol in his stomach, and he nearly vomited again when struck by this impact. Even worse, he lost his bnce, falling backward instead of forward as inst time.


    Luckily, there was something to support himself against behind him. His shoulder pressed against someone¡¯s stomach when he stumbled backward, and his head collided with something that was a bit soft. A stifled scream was heard in the next moment.


    Screams of pain formed a mass behind as the support behind him fell backward as well. Then came cold and warm juice. The liquid came showing down, stunning Yue Zheng in ce.


    His ears rang with Ju Maoxun¡¯s hoarse cursing.


    "F***!"


    Ju Maoxun was sprawled on the ground, likewise, a bit stunned.


    It stood to reason that Yue Zheng¡¯s havoc was beneficial to him. Anyway, they were all students of Sixth Middle, and they werepanions who hade to this ce together. Their group would be the one to lose face were a disturbance to happen. He wanted to watch the fire burn from the other side, taunting others at their expense.


    This was the most optimal oue that he could think of. Even if Yue Zheng didn¡¯t cause trouble, he thought that he could do some urging in the back.


    But...but how did thingse to be like this?


    The stupefactionsted only for a short moment as the feeling on his face and body ultimately gave him a realistic exnation.


    Yue Zheng was on top of him, and sticky juice had spilled all over his face. The ss of juice had even smashed into his head. Of course, the most painful part of him was his nose. Yue Zheng had smashed into it. The bitter taste mixed with the juice and poured into his lips. There was clearly some blood.


    Ju Maoxun originally could have avoided it. The Elite Society he was a part of took part in the wrestling club. He had decent skills.


    However, the problem was that there were too many people following behind him. There were two servers carrying alcohol and juice. He also brought two of his no-good friends for the sake of morale. There were four people in the tight space. No matter how skilled he was, there wasn¡¯t enough space.


    Sure enough, something unexpected had happened!


    What should have been a quick and easy trip to p the enemy in the face had turned into him, the boss, taking the brunt of things. Ju Ling had ditched him!


    So he had fallen into these straits.


    It must be stated that this was area A of Frost River Reality. This ce had the highest density of people in the entire poption of Xia City, especially here in Cloud City Water Vige. This was arge activity area. People came and went. The ce was surrounded by yers from several universities and high school students. There was an extreme ovep with his social circle. Falling here with four limbs facing the sky, nostrils overflowing with blood, and juice all over his face, there seemed to be the shes of cameras all around him.


    There didn¡¯t need to be a tomorrow. Just tonight, his reputation would be spread to all the major university forums.


    This was thest rational thought that Ju Maoxun had.


    Whatever face-pping n he had totally shattered in the next moment. Ju Maoxun, as he pushed aside Yue Zheng, who was still in a state of utter disbelief. Ju Maoxun struggled to get up, picking up the ss of juice by his side. He didn¡¯t care. He attacked the densest area of people.


    "I¡¯ll cut you meat entrails to pieces!"


    A heavy thud rang out, then came the scream of a girl.


    The sound wave pierced the ears, and Qiu Peipei fell backward into Mo Han¡¯s bosom. Blood gushed from her forehead as the juice ss fell to the ground. It nged as it spun, still unbroken.

 Chapter 404: True Target (Part 1/2)

    Chapter 404: True Target (Part 1/2)


    The situation had undoubtedly grown big.


    In a short few minutes, the people involved: the service personnel, the police, the medical respondents, and countless onlookers crammed into area A of Frost River Reality. It was so packed that not even a drop of water could get through.


    Qiu Peipei had been sent to the hospital for critical care. Mo Han and Ruan Zihui went along to the hospital to look after her. The remaining people continued to stand in opposition in the luxury room.


    It must be stated that the police had arrived quickly. The government increased the level of control by at least two-fold over public venues like this one after the incident at the other Frost River Reality. Luckily this was the case; if the police had been just a bit slower, then Ju Maoxun would had probably be sent to the hospital as well by the multi-function robots.


    The culprit was confirmed, and Ju Maoxun had yet to be able to stand up straight from the punch that Xue Lei had unleashed. His internal organs were spasming, transmitting negative effects through the nervous system and into the brain. This made it so that Ju Maoxun always felt that he wanted to vomit. His head was dizzy and nauseous. Yet one couldn¡¯t tell that he was injured from looking at the surface.


    There were far too many onlookers and people involved. The dispatched police didn¡¯t clear out the area for now. Instead, they had rushed into the private room to understand the situation.


    The police inquiry was quite simple. They weren¡¯t interested in theplex grievances and hate. This was amonw and order dispute, after all. The recordings and the like were quiteplete. It wasn¡¯t difficult to make judgments.


    The results of the hospital examination had yet to be released, so the dispatched police recorded the social privilege numbers of the people involved as a formality. They informed the parties of the process of mediating disputes and civil prosecutions, then notified the medical examination site and deadlines. This was pretty much the typical police process.


    Then the few who acted¡ªthis included Mo Peng, Xue Lei, Yue Zheng, and Ju Maoxun¡ªhad to go to the police for recording. It didn¡¯t matter for Ju Maoxun, as he was already a legal adult, possessing full behavioral capacity. As for the other three, their guardians had to be notified as part of procedures.


    The expressions of the three turned ugly in this instant.


    Mo Peng and Xue Lei were just worried about being reprimanded by their parents. On the other hand, Yue Zheng¡¯s situation was moreplicated. Actually, upon awakening from his trance of stupefaction, he really wanted to kill himself by mming against the floor when he saw the personnel within the room.


    Did God specifically decide to torture him tonight?


    "We will give up thewsuit and ask for mediation." It was Yue Qin who spoke. She and Turner had rushed inside, immediately expressing their stances. She took out their guardian¡¯s electronic authorization. "I am the sister of a person involved, Yue Zheng. My father already knows that our stances will be taken for this matter."


    Yue Zheng nkly cast his gaze over. He practically didn¡¯t respond.


    She saw how her brother was shocked down to his soul and grew angry and annoyed, but she calmed herself down. She was ten times stronger than her brother. She already saw that Hu Huaying and Xie Junping stood by Luo Nan¡¯s side with dark expressions. In fact, she expressed her stance primarily toward these two young masters to hear.


    Wuyue Pharmaceuticals must not offend the Xie Family and the Hu family. They were even more unwilling to give them a bad impression that could cost them money.


    Yue Qin was able to exin the situation in a short few minutes to their father and obtained authorization from him. She had already done her best.


    Unfortunately, it appeared to have little effect from looking at the current situation.


    Yue Qin did not double down and speak false words. After expressing her stance, she stood together with her brother and helped him tidy himself up a bit. She took this opportunity to observe the situation within the room.


    She had met Xie Junping in the past, and she knew that he was a flowery young master. He was a first grade silk pants. She left aside his strange attire, and focused on the fact that he stood by Luo Nan¡¯s side. His appearance was subconsciously like that of a helper. He didn¡¯t look like the protagonist at all.


    She seemed to have misjudged the direction that this situation was going towards from the very beginning.


    In fact, it didn¡¯t matter whether it was Yue Zheng, Yue Qin, or Wuyue Pharmaceuticals. They weren¡¯t important. Yue Qin¡¯s statement was just a small interlude. There were few people who actually listened to it.


    At most, she was met with Ju Maoxun¡¯s fierce and burning gaze.


    Ju Maoxun was certainly the most restless one in the room. He saw that his no-good friends from the VIP room hade down and that they couldn¡¯t help at all. They could only raise the atmosphere, chattering with the police in ¡¯discussion¡¯. They weren¡¯t scared. They could be considered threatening.


    But there was ack of a certain crucial character in this room.


    Ju Maoxun looked left and right, not seeing what he wanted to see. He could only ask a friend, "Where¡¯s Ju Ling?"


    "Uh, seems like he headed back upstairs."


    Only then did Ju Maoxun realize that Ju Ling had disappeared after Yue Zheng and him had gone down stairs. Ju Maoxun¡¯s mind immediately exploded.


    Right now, the police were still unleashing a torrent of legal education. Ju Mauxun was getting furious listening. He gave a fierce kick to the high-back chair to his side, "Speak this shit to a fuckingwyer. I want to get my injuries checked out now!"


    This movement of Ju Maoxun¡¯s was quite violent. His internal organs were already spasming, and his actions gave him an even more terrible experience than before. He body bent into the shape of a prawn, and the acidic juice in his stomach sprayed out of his mouth, burning his throat in pain as tears and mucus came choking out.


    Xue Lei, who had dealt him the blow to his pain, didn¡¯t even give him a sidelong nce. He obediently epted the police¡¯s inquiry. His attitude was over ten times better than Ju Maoxun¡¯s. He was at most a little bit worried because of his parents.


    Xie Junping and Hu Huaying stood up at this time. They were officers of Acumen College¡¯s Student Council. They had ample contacts. For them, conversing with the police was like how a long illness made a patient into a good doctor. They had ample experience in this. They were the best candidates for handling matters such as these.


    Plus there was Tian Si, amunicative master. She filled in all the gaps. It appeared that everything was going towards an advantageous direction for them.


    As for the few ability users in the room, they exchanged gazes with each other. It was still quite awkward.


    Indeed, they had been gathered inside the room, studying the spell array, drinking alcohol, or something simr. They had some distance from the conflict that happened at the entrance. But to allow a delicate little girl be injured under their watch was a matter that greatly injured their pride.


    Luo Nan wasn¡¯t in the mood to continue studying the spell array. He sized up Ju Maoxun, and recalled the past event back at Ocean Sky Cloud City. He was able to get a general judgment of the reason behind his actions, and he felt ufortable. He really wanted to find a way to fix things.


    It was because of his concern that he heard the name Ju Ling through his mental senses. From reading Ju Maoxun¡¯s intense mood, it seemed that the situation was much moreplicated than it appeared.


    In fact, the current situation set the tone for the circumstances. Luo Nan couldn¡¯t help but ponder. However, he was useless toward what happen before, and it seemed like he wouldn¡¯t be useful for what would follow. The stifling feeling was ufortable.


    His thoughts spun a few times before he grasped an opportunity. He pulled Xie Junping to him and asked, "Who is Ju Ling?"


    "Ju Ling?" Xie Junping shook his head, "Never heard of him. He¡¯s not part of this circle. Maybe he is Ju Maoxun¡¯s rtive?"


    "Go ask." As he spoke, Luo Nan activated his living starry sky senses. He brought the entirety of Aurora Cloud City under his sensing range.


    There were at least ten thousand people moving around in real time in Aurora Cloud City at the moment. To sort through the trajectories of these thousands of people would have been quite the painful process in the past, but today¡¯s Luo Nan, having mastered the first step in the warning senses in a closed system, could differentiate things ording to threat level. This made things much easier.


    His senses revealed much more subtleties in the circumstances.


    The strongest malicious reaction didn¡¯t reside far. It was none other than Ju Maoxun. Luo Nan should have discovered this sooner. It was just that this person didn¡¯t really possess much strength, even though his ill intent was strong. The stimtion in his senses was quite weak. This coupled with the fact that he was immersed in studying the spell array, which made him subconsciously neglect Ju Maoxun.


    The warning senses of the closed system, under a passive situation, was very likely to neglect a considerable portion of information.


    Luo Nan had to pay attention to this point in the future.


    Luo Nan continued to sort through the information and found two targets without spending much effort. They weren¡¯t malicious reactions, however, and they weren¡¯t even in Frost River Reality. They were on a floor higher.


    What attracted Luo Nan to them was undoubtedly the special mapping of these two on the living starry sky.


    Ability users! And one of them was on an impressive level. They caused clear distortions toward the surrounding starry space. Like the air being distorted by an invisible me. If it was just two days ago before Luo Nan had yet to obtain the telescopic reinforcement when observing external forms, Luo Nan would probably only see a dark and fuzzy neb mass.


    Making a judgment from this level, this ability user should probably be at the B rank level.


    There was something even more interesting, however. Though there was clear differences in strength between the two, the second person¡¯s constetion structurergely mirrored the first¡¯s. Plus, Luo Nan was quite familiar with it.


    A regr tetrahedron of a Burner!


    It wasn¡¯t surprising to see two Burners in Xia City. There were about three hundred of them ording to the statistical data of the Society. Of them, more than half were in the military, while there was a small portion affiliated with Quantum Corporation. People had toe out, take a walk, and eat. It was quite normal to bump into some at Cloud City Water Vige.


    These two didn¡¯t seem to be connected with the conflict that happened below. Luo Nan didn¡¯t sense any malicious factors. The living starry sky clearly indicated that there were no substantial connections between those two and him.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t want to be mired by side issues. He just observed the powerful Burner he suspected to be B rank; the power this one could unleash ought to be shocking. Though the Burner¡¯s Format of Fire was contained, the pressure was able to prate the depths of the mental ne. Under the ssical definition of the mental ne being divided into three zones, one region, and one realm, the pressure should be able to ess the edge of the abyssal region.


    If the ability user was mentally enhanced, then that would have been all right, but everyone knew that Burners were all physical enhanced. To achieve this sort of result through their secondary branch was already something on the level of Fairchild, the Ears of Truth.


    So Xia City had a Burner on this level?


    He Yueyin had exined to Luo Nan once before, but Luo Nan didn¡¯t remember it at all. Due to cautious consideration, Luo Nan had controlled his soul strength, maintaining a distance from the material ne and giving up observing things directly in reality. This was to avoid being captured in the opposite direction. That would ce him in an awkward situation.


    Luo Nan memorized the location and shifted his senses away. He didn¡¯t have any other discoveries. There seemed to be only this one exception.


    However, the appearance of a B rank Burner was something he had to notify hispanions about. This was avoid sudden incidents and influences. This was what his experience and his principles told him to do. A period of time ago, He Yueyin and the others had constantly emphasized such requirements when teaching him.


    Luo Nan immediately announced this formation in the ad-hoc task window, "There¡¯s a suspicious B rank Burner and a C rank Burner. The two should be together. They are located above Frost River Reality."


    "That¡¯s a high-end restaurant called Chief Liu Ge." Papercut filled in the details then gasped in shock, "B rank? That doesn¡¯t make sense. That¡¯s already the highest level of a Burner, right?"

 Chapter 405: True Target (Part 2/2)

    Chapter 405: True Target (Part 2/2)


    It wasmon knowledge that all Burners were generally the same in terms of ability. However, through controlling the Deep Blue tform and its equipped weapons, a Burner could achieve higher destructive power. Anyone would run when faced with a Burner allocated with a ten million ton nuclear warhead.


    Luo Nan knew of this, but he didn¡¯t think further in this direction. A new train of thought popped up in his mind from Papercut¡¯s reminder. "I recall that Sister Yueyin said that B rank Burners hold officer ranks?"


    "Yes, some hold considerable power, controlling quite a few special forces within the Wilderness Combat Force. For instance, there¡¯s Secretary He¡¯s father. He holds a post that¡¯s closest to Xia City. There¡¯s also a special forces within the Coastal Defense Force that Crag Burst was a part of. Themander back then was a high-ranking major general, his name Tian Bang. He is a really bullish character."


    "Tian Bang?"


    "Yes. He has the samest name as your senior sister, but they shouldn¡¯t be rted. He¡¯s an orphan, part of the Deep Blue tform project since childhood. He certainly has undergone deep alterations. This is internal information that¡¯s only circted within the inner world."


    Luo Nan nodded, "I understand."


    If orphans and young children were involved in the Burner alteration procedure, than it would be hard not to suspect the lower limits of the government and the military. This was undoubtedly something that those in power wanted themoners to avoid suspecting the most.


    "Is the Burner here Tian Bang? The Coastal Defense Station isn¡¯t located that far from Xia City."


    "It¡¯s hard to say. I haven¡¯t met the person before. I just heard that he¡¯s always floating out at sea all year round, engaging in one battle after another with ocean Mutants. He is a terrifyingbat force. It¡¯s very troubling."


    Papercut¡¯s eyebrows wrinkled as he spoke, "The branch¡¯s intelligence department had no reaction at all with such a powerful person entering Xia City. It looks like the man didn¡¯te in openly."


    "Oh really?" Luo Nan was quite calm. Whether or not it was Tian Bang, the person definitely didn¡¯t possess ill intent.


    "Try contacting the Secretary again. The best thing to do is ask if her father knows of the matter. If it really is Tian Bang, then the situation is very taboo."


    Luo Nan tried to call her, but he could only shrug his shoulders. He was unable to contact her, so he could only leave a message describing thetest situation and assessment.


    At this time, Xie Junping also received details about the presence of Ju Ling through the phone. Ju Maoxun was still hoppity mad over there. He was stimted quite emotionally, as if he was the one being bullied.


    Mo Peng and Luo Biyao cursed at him a few times, for the people here could only watch with cool eyes of a bystander. Whether they wereing to a resolution or pressing charges, only Qiu Peipei¡¯s family was qualified to make the decision. Luo Nan and the others could only provide testimony as a party and witness.


    With people and wordsing and going, the more one became bored and gloomy. Papercut was really worried for Luo Nan not being able to deal with further issues arising. He pulled Luo Nan toward the sofa, talking as they walked.


    "This is the reason why so many people don¡¯t like the normal world. When a conflict arises with authority involved, there¡¯s just a mass of uses and rules. The more people you know, the more restrictions you have. Just look at Leister. He unleashed an awesome punch just then, but now he has to suffer for a very long time. He might even have to go to court."


    Luo Nan became much more focused by the time they sat on the sofa. Papercut sat between him and Cat Eyes. Luo Nan asked him, "How do you normally handle such things, Brother Papercut?"


    "Me? I get a pile of small paper men and send them to his house for a party. Yeah, something like that."


    Luo Nan felt that his expression had to be very strange in this moment.


    Papercut chuckled, "We possess all sorts of powers, how can we strictly follow the logic of the normal world in handling affairs? Unless this world has enough power to counteract us."


    Cat Eyes swayed her ss of alcohol lightly as she sat down on the sofa. She cast a sidelong nce, "Retard!"


    Papercut wasn¡¯t angry, "Aren¡¯t we just talking here? In any case, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. When you deal with others using abnormal logic, others will use abnormal logic to deal with you. We¡¯re in Xia City, so things are a bit better for us. Just look at Red Fox. He was there rooting out evil, but look at what happened to him. Sometimes I really wish that someone would look after me. I would live a regr life and pass my days peacefully. Perhaps this could have been done at Headquarters in the past, but unfortunately, it¡¯s impossible thanks to that son of a bitch."


    Luo Nan handed over a fruit tter as a gesture offort. He asked while passing, "How many ability users are there like you?"


    Papercut picked up a few apples slices, "What do you mean by ¡¯like you¡¯?"


    Luo Nan thought about it and said, "Like those in the Society; they have a legitimate career. They earn money for a living, and they follow the rules of the normal world most of the time."


    Of the few ability users he knew, Cat Eyes was a dance teacher. Papercut owned an arts and crafts store. Octopus and Mr. Bai were doctors. Mr. Giant Arm owned a daoguan. And Her Majesty Empress Wu¡¯s firm kept a close distance with the normal world.


    However, there were also those like President Ouyang, who wholeheartedly spent their time doing research. There was also those like Bamboo Pole, who were quite reclusive and only did service for those of the same ¡¯profession¡¯. Crag Burst and Red Fox didn¡¯t have steady work either, but they lived their lives quitefortably.


    The inner world and the normal world converged and split just like this. There were manyplex intersection, and the corresponding pulses were hard to grasp. It made one quite troubled


    Papercut opened his mouth as he sought to respond, but he suddenly remembered that there was one more task that needed finishing tonight. He turned with a smile, asking Cat Eyes, "How about you exin it?"


    Cat Eyes¡¯s expression remained the same as she poured the peat-vored whiskey down her throat. She gave a leisurely sneer, disinclined to pay heed to Papercut.


    Papercut didn¡¯t push it. He just shrugged and said, "In this world, the barrier between ability users and normal society is truly bing thinner and thinner. Some people are opposed to this trend, while some people approve it. There are also some who just go with the flow. Xia City has fewer regtions and restrictions. While there are many people who go with the flow, there is also a sizable number of people in other cities who feel strongly about assimtion. They want to realize the era of ability users. There¡¯s also a portion of people who are extremely firm on maintaining distance. To maintain lineage."


    It was unknown which of the words he said evoked her interest, but Cat Eyes¡¯ suddenly spoke after taking a drink of her alcohol, "Actually, they are all one group. The group of supremacists."


    Luo Nan understood instantly, "So they believe they¡¯re more advanced than normal people?"


    "Purists or maybe those who want enve others." Cat Eyes said. Sheughed, minding to herself before casting a sidelong nce at Luo Nan, "Like a certain someone, boss. Boss Luo. What do you think?"


    The subject had gone wildly off-mark, plus she didn¡¯t seem to be asking. It was more like mockery.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t want to respond nor did he feel a need to respond. Luckily, Xie Junping had finished his phone calls and walked over, "Nanster, I got some information. Ju Ling is the son of Ju Maoxun¡¯s uncle. He served in the military for many years and just recently transferred from the the City Defense Force to the Wilderness Combat Force and Coastal Defense Force. He already holds the rank of lieutenant colonel. I hear he¡¯s a Burner."


    Burner? Coastal Defense Force?


    Luo Nan and Papercut locked gazes for a moment. They immediately thought of the two upstairs. No matter how many Burners there were in Xia City, No matter how abundant the soldiers there were in the Coastal Defense Force, one just couldn¡¯t pick out a B-rank bigshot at random, right?


    "There¡¯s an eighty percent chance it¡¯s him! This god damn luck!"


    "Who?" Xie Junping wasn¡¯t willing to go on bickering with Ju Maoxun. He sat on the sofa, leaned back, and groaned. This was the first time he gave off the air of a silk pants young master since the day began.


    Luo Nan did some more observing through the living starry sky. He felt that there were truly some subtle changes to Xie Junping¡¯s projected constetion. However, there was something more important to do right now, and that was to observe the suspicious character known as Tian Bang.


    There weren¡¯t really any grievances right now, but what if a situation were to ur due to the rtionship between Ju Maoxun and Ju Ling? Now that would be a headache to handle.


    Right when he was about to go investigate, a person¡¯s voice sounded out by the entrance. Everyone had sharp ears. They heard the words, ¡°Tian Si, are you here too? Great, gather everyone. We will discuss how the handle things."


    Who the heck was this?


    The voice sounded a bit familiar, but the arrogant and bossy attitude given off left a greater impression. It made one believe that it was President Ouyang, Her Majesty Empress Wu, or someone personal on a big boss level at first.


    Luo Nan couldn¡¯t think of who it was at the first instant, but Xie Junping, who had just rxed, suddenly sat up straight, "What the hell did hee here for? It¡¯s bad luck with himing here. It¡¯ll be hard to stop this bro from acting and seizing this chance to talk to Tian Si."


    Xie Junping hurried over as he spoke.


    Luo Nan and Papercut locked gazes. They put their heads together and soon ascertained the person¡¯s identity. It was Chen Weican, the vice president of Acumen College¡¯s Student Council and chair of the Mutual Assistance Gathering. He was an elite face, but also a fellow who gave off bad vibes.


    Chen Weican wore a casual suit not reallypatible with the atmosphere of Frost River Reality, but he stood tall and straight and every movement of his was formal. He really did draw people¡¯s attention as he entered the room.


    It was just that Xue Lei, whose heart might be still harboring troubles, might give him an iron punch if Chen Weican continued to walk into the crowd of people while still maintaining this attitude.


    Chen Weican didn¡¯t notice Xue Lei. It could be said that he didn¡¯t take heed of anybody. He just stood there like a tree. He couldn¡¯t bepared to the quick-witted Tian Si, but he wasn¡¯t superfluous. He just waved his hand, strengthening his bodynguage. He also made a call to someone through his wristband at the same time.


    "I also hope that Frost River Reality will handle things in a timely manner. It isn¡¯t worth it for the existence of a certain trouble maker to affect the good praises from the numerous students. Manager Yin, you¡¯re almost here right? Okay, we will chat again once you arrive."


    A light exhtion, and Chen Weican expression loosened a bit. He turned his eyes and saw that Tian Si was still standing in the same spot. He was a bit surprised, "Everyone¡¯s all summoned?"


    "Everyone¡¯s already here. The police are here. Who else is there to summon?" Xie Junping drew close and chuckled, "Vice President Chen. It¡¯s rare to see you at a ce like Frost River Reality. Which rich family are you entertaining?"


    Chen Weican¡¯s gaze flitted across Xie Junping¡¯s face. He didn¡¯t show any emotion nor did he express hostility. The sense of being ignored was stronger, but it would be incorrect to say he was arrogant. It seemed that he was a bit distracted.


    Luo Nan observed using his senses, a bit baffled, but what drew his attention the most was who Chen Weican talked to on the phone: Sister Yin. So she was still acting as manager at Frost River Reality. How unexpected.


    Before this thought could finish, Luo Nan confirmed that this familiar target had entered the edge of his sensing range; she had drawn closer, and she was rapidly decreasing the distance between them.


    Luo Nan didn¡¯t pay attention to the following exchange between Chen Weican and Xie Junping. He sat on the sofa with a furrowed brow. He was locked onto the target, and he observe her walk ever closer.


    It didn¡¯t take long for him to observe the clear sounds of footsteps through deliberate filtering via his mental senses. She was about thirty meters way, and her footsteps stopped for a moment before soon picking back up again. A knock on the door urred several secondster, and a white cor beauty with an outstanding bearing strode into the room.


    She had a refined appearance and a bearing that was out of the norm. She was the example of perfection amongst her age of light maturity. Her glowing eyes swiveled as she entered, drawing in the situation of the room.


    The cold gaze paused for a slight moment when it rested on Luo Nan¡¯s face, but then it continued to scan Papercut, Cat Eyes, and Xue Lei. She hid it quite well. If Luo Nan wasn¡¯t expecting her, he might have neglected who she was.


    The directive nature of her gaze was due to not only them being of the same profession, but them being enemies. There was no other possibility.


    Sure enough, she was Yin Le!


    Luo Nan was baffled. Shouldn¡¯t this sister be holed up at home, properly nurturing the Human-Faced Arachnid clone? What did shee out for?


    The thought instantly formed and perished. To say that there weren¡¯t any omens lurking deep in his mind was incorrect. There was an omen, and it clearly appeared within the living starry sky.


    In this moment, the B rank Burner separated several hundred meters away at Chief Liu Ge suddenly bubbled forth with an enmity that could not be detected before.


    YIN LE!


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