Chapter 126: Colosseum (Part 2/2)
Translator: 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 plane.
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 penetrating nature of the waves was incomparable. 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 onward layer by layer and soon An Weng reaped some results.
On the material plane, within the metropolis. The flames 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 relatively clear awareness in people. Though the information was lacking 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—like Luo Nan—would 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 was coming 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-black over yonder, while the silhouette of the buildings looked murky.
The cleanup work of the surrounding area was more or less complete. Yulan Hotel's sniper point was confirmed to be cleared of hostile forces. The members of the Society were all on Yulan Block. This area now served as the command center of the government and the military. It was also the place 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-black 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 explain things. He flashed a glance 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 gaze landed 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 Nan come to, like waking from a dream. He glanced around. Right now, He Yueyin was acting as the full representative of the Society. She engaged in communications 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 place 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 occurred between Red Fox and Luo Nan not too long ago, so it was hard for them to avoid awkwardness when meeting again. Luo Nan lacked 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 planes. 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 a laugh 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 clairvoyance had yielded him; it was far too complicated to be described by words. In addition, the results of his clairvoyance was a sort of amendment to his past knowledge.
According to his past understandings, the mental plane was a sort of deep and multi-layered structure. It was like countless curtains stacked atop one another. Each layer was distinct, and the closer the layer was to the material plane, the thicker the curtain. The bottom most portion was merged with the material plane. Here, the mental plane and the material plane 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 planes occurred 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 planes.
As for Rui Wen, the merging of the fleshly body and the spiritual soul as one was a different sort of state. It was like comparing 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 clairvoyance, the many layers of curtains that formed the mental plane unfurled. There was no longer the sense of layers. Instead, the layers overlapped, distorted, and even tore. Some layers that were at a considerable distance from the material plane were forcefully coalesced together. It was to the point that even the lower layer of the curtain also had an interference effect come about. They all tangled together into one mass.
This was the third state of the relationship between the mental plane and the material plane that Luo Nan had ever seen. It was also the most complicated state.