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 and laid 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 to laugh 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 become 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 music companies 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 plagiarizer Yan Hong, to let everyone know it, to have it become 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, a company valued to be within the top 3 in the world. They used his results as a basis to launch the Deep Blue Platform, 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 become the world's best scholar, 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 succeed in? He was, at most, solitary evidence that was large 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 traffic coming 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 desolate 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 become automatic to him. He practically didn't need to exert any meticulous effort. The abilities had completely assimilated 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 were comments left by Zhang Yingying and He Yueyin and there were two emails sent by the Society.
Of these, it appeared that Zhang Yingying's comments 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 accept 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 Village 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 welcome 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 welcome 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 too lazy to pay attention to the other items, but he stared fixed at the “Ability Classification” item. Right now it was clearly displayed as:
Systematic Class!
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 that compared 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 placed 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 (容器, 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 (修行, literally Religious Practice). The 修 is the word used for cultivating, especially in all these traditional wuxia/xianxia/xianhuan novels. The 行 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.