Chapter 293: Illusion
Translator: Insignia Editor: Svjohn
The tattered suit had been ripped off by Luo Yuan to reveal the turtle-egg synthetic bulletproof vest underneath it. He went to the door and pressed the button of the iron gate. When the iron gate slowly rose, his face began to look intense and his hand slowly gravitated to the hilt of his Zhanmadao. No matter how perfect the camouflage was, there were still slight differences in skin color, eyes, facial expressions, as well as some of the common habits and gestures. Any familiar person would be able to differentiate it very easily.
Fortunately, Luo Yuan worries were unjustified as the soldiers guarding the door glanced at him, offered a salute, and then looked down again. Luo Yuan nodded slightly, then walked away with an expressionless face. When he passed by the mayor's office, he looked inside and noticed that Mayor Song had gone out. However, there was a beautiful and sexy woman sitting in front of the mayor's desk! Her perfectly shaped brows kept frowning as she flipped through the files in the office.
"Is this his new secretary?" He was a bit puzzled as he continued to stare at her flawless beauty. Suddenly, the lady looked up! Luo Yuan hurriedly paced away from the place to avoid being noticed.
Luo Yuan knew that these group of wanderers still had accomplices with them. There must be at least one mind controller among them. Nonetheless, Luo Yuan’s condition was very bad at this point and his body was unable to support him to continue fighting.
Moreover, the worst thing was not his body but his brain. His brain was in all kinds of pain and he has yet to see a single sign of recovery. He even started seeing illusions. For example, he could see colorful scales in front of his eyes!
The scales were very strange and he could not describe them. A large amount of information flooded through his brain till his mind almost crashed. If a battle happened now, the consequence would undoubtedly be bad for him. Fortunately, these illusions appeared and disappeared in quick intervals of less than 0.1 seconds.
Oddly enough, Luo Yuan could not seem to remember any of it. He only remembers having illusions but could not tell what they were about specifically. What color, what shape or what size.
Before this, he had a premonition that the use of spiritual attacks would have its fair share of consequences but he never knew that it would be so serious. Luo Yuan's heart was racing rapidly just thinking about the situation while he continued walking.
Along the way, people gave him a respectful nod and moved to the side to let him pass. Some of them secretly looked at Luo Yuan curiously but no issues surfaced. Once he could get outside, the chances of being recognized was low. He hid his identity by wearing Su Yu’s clothing so the journey was unimpeded.
When he came near to the sewer’s maintenance room, Luo Yuan quickly morphed back to his original look. He quickly did this when the soldiers on guard were not looking. Surprisingly, the door was left unlocked. He pushed the door open, walked inside and closed it. The whole process was done in 0.5 seconds. There were hardly any other movements aside from some dust being scattered around.
…
"How is the situation outside? Have you found out who it is?" Xu Zhiqiang asked immediately when he saw Luo Yuan.
"Mr. Luo, are they searching for us?" Xiao Baihong also asked.
Wen Yujie was relatively cautious and noticed Luo Yuan had taken off his jacket. She asked worriedly, "Were you involved in a fight? Are you injured?"
"The problem is half solved," Luo Yuan said while enduring the pain he felt. "I killed their leader but did not meet the mind controller. We can only wait for the next opportunity!"
Xu Zhiqiang was left with his jaws opened as he gave Luo Yuan a stunned look and thought in his heart, "Before this, you said you’d try to scout for some information … but now you have already solved more than half of the problem. Don't tell us that everything was just easy, ok!?"
But this was only in his mind. Instead of saying this, he dryly said, "So, the mastermind has been take care of. Now we are left with the mind controller and a few unimportant people."
Luo Yuan rubbed his eyebrows and said, "That’s almost right."
"Mr. Luo..." Xu Zhiqiang wanted to ask further but was interrupted angrily by Wen Yujie, "Don’t ask anymore. Have you all not noticed that Luo Yuan is not feeling well?"
Only now did everyone realize that Luo Yuan’s face was pale as a sheet and his forehead was covered with cold sweat. They quickly kept quiet without saying a word.
Luo Yuan closed his eyes and leaned against the wall for a while to rest. He then opened his eyes and spoke, "Zhang Wu, I have a question to ask you."
"What’s up, Mr. Luo? You can just ask!" Zhang Wu said quickly. The hierarchy of evolutionary beings was now strictly guarded. It was a must to maintain the necessary respect when talking to a stronger person.
"With all due respect, I would like to know about your third eye. What exactly are its capabilities?" Luo Yuan asked. He saw Zhang Wu glance around covertly. He waved his hand to signal Luo Yuan and said, "Can all of you go out for a while?"
The abilities of the third eye on Zhang Wu’s forehead was his most private secret. It was a hidden killer and he would not let anyone know about it even if they are his closest friends. If it was not asked by Luo Yuan, who was the only level five evolutionary human in Desert City, he would never want to tell his secret.
Once everyone left, Zhang Wu still hesitated for a while. After he gathered some courage, he said, "My third eye is a special eye … its abilities can be split into three aspects: breaker, psychic and time dilation. Breaker, refers to the ability to see through everything - including darkness, fogs, and bright light. Nothing can block my sight. For example, Xiao Wen's light refraction will not work on me! My psychic ability is more straightforward - I can see the soul during the death of a human being."
Luo Yuan then quickly interrupted him, "Soul? Do people really have souls?" Luo Yuan asked curiously. In fact, he had seen souls before. At the very start of the apocalypse, Luo Yuan had migrated to the east of the city and there was a tree nearby his house that was cursed with many souls. He had never seen any souls after that so until now he could not confirm whether souls really existed or not.
"I'm not sure, maybe it’s just temporary fluctuations in spirit after the death. Their existence is very short and they disappear very quickly whether it is day or night."
"What about ‘time dilation’?" Luo Yuan asked.
Zhang Wu hesitated again before he continued, "This is the most powerful one among my three capabilities. It can accelerate my time to the point that every action in the world is moving so slowly in my eyes. For example, although I am always exhausted dealing with level three mutated beast, under this state it would not be a problem for me to fight with a level four mutated beast." He explained his abilities in detail which was very clear to Luo Yuan.
Luo Yuan noted one weakness to his special powers though. This phenomenon was just like what adding points to agility without increasing combat power. In fact, his combat power would only go one level up when he used this ability.
Adding a point to dexterity was necessary to improve his neural response rate. If he wanted to use a combat power, it would also depend on strength, composure, and wisdom. Without power, speed is useless; without composure, he could not garner the continued explosive strength; without wisdom, he would be unresponsive at times of battle. Based on Luo Yuan’s experience, small enhancements towards agility without improvements on other capabilities would mean that his response rate would also be slower.
He asked for clarification from Zhang Wu, "In this case, are you able to react promptly?"
"Why not?" Zhang Wu looked confused, "My time is accelerated but my actions are still the same!"
Luo Yuan was a bit surprised by the response. Perhaps this phenomenon was very different from adding a point to dexterity. Was it because of the time aspect? Luo Yuan found that the more he interacted with evolutionary beings, the more mysterious everything seemed. He was already shocked by the abilities of Xu Zhiqiang, and now there is one more mysterious man in front of him. Compared to these powers, he felt quite embarrassed with his earth stomping ability that he used to be proud of.
Luo Yuan quickly snapped out of his personal comparisons and refocused on the original intention for asking about his powers. He asked, "Other than powers, do you see anything else? Like hallucinations or illusions?"
"No, no hallucinations at all!" Zhang Wu said.
Luo Yuan then thought to himself, "How could this be? Do I really have brain damage?"
According to early biological studies, the brain is complex and sophisticated. There are still many aspects that are in unfamiliar territory. There was also no cure for most mental illnesses including brains that hallucinate.
He touched his eyebrows and there was still some pain. He could not help but feel annoyed.
He took a deep breath to control his emotions and continued, "I understand that abilities are a very private matter to every evolutionary human. I know I owe you something after asking so many questions. Just tell me what your request is."
"I do not want anything, I just want to follow you!" Zhang Wu said quickly. His face was somehow apprehensive.
"Follow me? I have no political power or potential, why should you follow me?" Luo Yuan asked and continued "… and the condition in the refuge will soon return to normal so you do not need to hide anymore."
"Desert City is done for. Even after so many days, there is still no direction from the top management. Apparently, they have already given up." Zhang Wu looked tense as he replied. It was the first time he felt helpless since his first job interview after graduation.
"There are only two options if I continue to stay here - one is to migrate to the mainland redevelopment areas and the other is to stay here. If I am fortunate, I can survive with these resources until the development area is ready to counterattack. Otherwise, I can only wait to die. Either options are very dangerous. My abilities are very limited so if I want to stay alive, the best way is to follow you."
"You are so honest." Luo Yuan did not think it was a big issue and said, "Since you want to, you can just follow me."
Zhang Wu was extremely excited by his response. Over the past two days, he had learned that this legendary level five evolutionary human had a warm personality. He spoke calmly and was not arrogant thus he dared to share information about his abilities. Through this, he also managed to grab the opportunity to ask Luo Yuan if he could follow him. In his mind, there was no shame attaching himself to powerful or wealthy people. Following the right people was the most important thing to do, not to mention that Luo Yuan was undoubtedly a very strong leader to follow.
Zhang Wu had little ambition and status during the end of the world and felt that everything was like castles on the beach as it would eventually disappear. Striving to survive was the most realistic thing to do.