Chapter 120: Too Unsightly (Part 1/2)
Translator: 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 glances of shock the moment Luo Nan uttered these words. These words violated He Yueyin's request to use the encrypted channel for all communications. The words came out from his mouth and entered everyone's ears but they were not concerned about this violation.
"Is that true?" Zhang Yingying turned in curiosity.
"Think back to when He Yueyin slayed Ghost Thunder in a single move and affected their plans. If she hadn't killed Ghost Thunder, they might have already made the final step to have their plans come 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 you later 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 flashed 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 blade had sliced against his skin.
"Hey!" Luo Nan could not refrain from glaring 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 she laughed 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 Oblatum that has made their move. It looks like this First Oblatum is on quite the ordinary level. Subsequent changes were completely 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 Oblatum, okay? Clearsworn First Oblatums are calculated 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 flank. "There are three First Oblatums 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 glance just as she wanted to interrupt. She tapped her ears. Clearly, He Yueyin was reminding everyone not to violate 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 flawlessly gone along with him. It seemed that An Chengli was truly the First Oblatum 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 plane had lost its original stability. Right now, it was surging and raging.
Its aura was astonishing but it could not exceed the display 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 accumulating 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 flavors emerged clearly within Luo Nan's clairvoyance.
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 a complete set with a computer and a printer, complicated clear scripts and characters could be formed.
Within the entirety of Xia City, Luo Nan was probably the best person to form a complete 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 clairvoyance system he had just established received additional information from the Wraith Sign's side.
The range of Luo Nan's clairvoyance 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 become 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 template.
Originally, Luo Nan just wanted to look at the Wraith Sign's structure in order to make a slavish 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 glance 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 plane was a structure that was deep and endless, containing many levels. It was like a cascade of dark curtains and it was the best place to conceal one's self from the Human-Faced Arachnid's perspective. It was extremely difficult to access the deep levels of the mental plane, 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 plane with his mental senses from the very beginning. He was completely 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 of last week, back to when he faced Jack. The Wraith Sign had pulled out a deep and impressive trick; this fellow had emulated and transformed into a piece of information and a bit of emotion. It seeped into Jack's thought process and advanced layer by layer all the way until it reached the depths of Jack's soul.
It was obvious that the Human-Faced Arachnid possessed a similar 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.
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Chapter Synopsis:
Luo Nan explains 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 Oblatum 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 plane. 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 Oblatum. He seeks to have this arachnid to transmit information back to him from within the cloud.