Chapter 109: Destruction (Part 1/2)
Translator: Strivon
Cat Eyes' pupils shrank as she sensed that Luo Nan was utilizing his soul strength. To be able to display 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 imbalance 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 Village Pub last 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 become 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 become 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 glared 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 plane interfering with the material plane.
According to theories in soul studies, the effectiveness of the mutual interference between the mental and material planes 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 plane 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 planes.
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 explain fields he did not understand. But for the professionals of the Society, the hardest part was explaining things in layman'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 incomparable.
In the end, how did Luo Nan accomplish 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 related 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 was last 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 replayed 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 into laughter.
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?"