Master of the Stars

Chapter 136: Time Bomb (Part 2/2)

Translator: Strivon

From a capitalistic point of view, benefits could be extracted from everything the world had to offer. Although Luo Nan’s actions in Frost River Reality displayed youth, inexperience, and clumsiness, even an idiot could see that he possessed abilities with super powerful plasticity.

From the perspective of the large conglomerate Quantum Corporation, even if they did not make any long-term investments, they could extract short-term ’tools’ of explosive power from Formatting Theory. They could display uses that exceeded the imagination in crucial moments.

In the recent years, Quantum Corporation showed no interest in pursuing the trail that was Luo Nan. If Yan Yongbo had not entered the scene, if Zhang Yingying did not have such acute perception of Luo Nan’s potential, Luo Nan would have likely been forever buried within the boundless sea of people. He would have been buried until he became a time bomb; until he exploded to bits and pieces.

He Yueyin had absolute confidence that there were some shenanigans going on. So, just what was it that made Quantum Corporation give up on excavating this wealth that was Luo Nan?

Bai Xinyan removed her hands from her head and stretched. "What depth of information do you expect me to know with just me and my laboratory’s research pool? This is everything that I know. It’s up to you to believe it or not."

Bai Xinyan took this stance, setting firm that there was nothing He Yueyin could do about it. The exchange and transmission of this information depended on Bai Xinyan’s mood all this time. She was willing to say this much because she wanted to see He Yueyin’s reaction.

To be able to extract some juice from an already squeezed sugar cane was quite a surprise.

Sure enough, He Yueyin did not continue to pressure Bai Xinyan. She just sank into deep thought. It was something that was able to make capitalists of boundless greed withdraw their hands, so it was probably a threat so terrifying that it was unstoppable. Or there could be something else that was enticing. Something that could be harvested for boundless and enormous benefits. Or perhaps Quantum Corporation was trying to have its cake and eat it too.

He Yueyin followed this train of thought. She took the information of Quantum Corporation and Formatting Theory that she had gathered over the years and rearranged them. She was trying to seek out a trail, but it would be hard to find a solution within a short period of time.

At this time, Bai Xinyan stared at her with beaming eyes. "I’ve spent so many words on you. Shouldn’t you answer my question?"

He Yueyin’s eyes remained half closed. She ignored Bai Xinyan completely. However, she did not directly refuse her.

Bai Xinyan was no longer polite after she saw this. "Let’s talk about the matter with Frost River Reality. Ouyang Chen may have stolen the show, but I find the deep participation of the government and military, as well as the ability users who were contained in the Logic World cage, to be of greater interest... An all-around coverage of social awareness. A major unification of political structure. The intervention between the inner world and the outer world reaching a balance that is ultimately mixed as one. It seems that this is the manifestation of a certain someone’s Authoritarian Governance Theory?"

This line of questioning was indeed related to the question back in Luo Nan’s ward. The question of whether or not He Yueyin’s father was going to run for office. Bai Xinyan just pushed it a step deeper and showed her high attention toward the political situation with Xia City. She was extremely straightforward.

He Yueyin maintained her silence against Bai Xinyan’s questions. However, as long as He Yueyin did not outright refute Bai Xinyan, Bai Xinyan would more or less have a basic answer in her mind. Bai Xinyan wanted to display a few comments on the matter, but He Yueyin visibly frowned. Soon, Bai Xinyan also received the same information through special channels.

She swiped through her wristband and let the short message repeat itself in her pupils. The way the message was displayed was similar to its content. "Well, they sure do things consistently."

Just ten minutes ago in Bay City, on the opposite bank across the ocean, a Mindseer First Oblatum of the Order of Justice killed the vice president of the ability user society’s Wan City branch. They did this without warning, which led to a fierce clash between the Order of Justice and the Society.

"Similar matters will likely occur more and more in the upcoming future."

Bai Xinyan revealed a mysterious smile. "Even though not all future matters will be this serious, the tone has been set. In a few days, every branch will be in a state of emergency. Ultimately, the Society will be under great pressure. They will certainly make a few moves... Your troubles always involve the Society."

He Yueyin only knocked on the car window in response to Bai Xinyan’s commentary. "Stop the car."

"I’ll drive you there. It’ll save time."

"No need." He Yueyin pushed the door open and got off the car at the temporary stop. She stood and turned her gaze toward the shadow of Renai Hospital, which was already left far in the distance.

There, Luo Nan was still living a comfortable life, as he worked hard. There was nothing wrong about this for a fifteen-to-sixteen-year-old teenager, but just how long could these peaceful and calm days be maintained?

Luo Nan did not know that He Yueyin’s mind was troubled several kilometers away. Right now, Luo Nan’s freedom plan was being carried out smoothly. With Bai Xinyan’s cooperation and Xue Lei speaking on behalf of him, convincing his aunt was a reasonable matter.

The visitation time ended; Xue Lei and Luo Nan’s aunt left together. Then, Luo Nan made an appointment for a ’trial exercise’ with Xue Lei’s gym. The matter was basically set.

Luo Nan let out a long breath of relief, and his mind relaxed. His mind deviated in a different direction. He had never thought to tell others of the secrets that was his external neuron. He had never thought about this before. He was vigilant against Bai Xinyan, and he had always exercised a bit of caution.

However, he never thought that concealing the external neuron would lead to He Yueyin, Bai Xinyan, and several other people making extremely pessimistic judgments toward the state of his body.

The most notable factor was He Yueyin’s attitude. She had supported him enough to make him embarrassed. There was a moment when he wanted to confess his secrets.

But then he recalled the words that He Yueyin had spoken not too long ago. "Everyone has their secrets, secrets only they would know."

Luo Nan did not quite understand the deeper meaning behind those words, but rationally speaking, those words were more trustworthy than his emotional impulsions.

It was the dead of the night. There was no one who would disturb him at this time. Luo Nan took a deep breath, and he fought against the itching urge to cough that floated up his throat. His mind turned inward, as he sunk into the depths of his brain.

A glowing streak of electricity roamed between regions of light and darkness within his internal vision.

This was none other than the external neuron. Jack and the others knew it as the Dynamo Core. Under the interactions between the mental plane and the material plane, it manifested itself in this unusual representation.

His senses delved a step deeper, and he received some kind of marvelous and real feedback. There was truly a real and enormous vehicle that he could feel. It was an enormous hole. It was like the void. This was what was displayed within.

His soul strength had risen endlessly. Most of it was channeled into the external neuron. This was a separation. This was a buffer. It allowed the turbulent surging flood to turn into a vast and deep lake, which allowed Luo Nan to avoid the direct impacts of his soul strength.

This was the most life-saving function of the external neuron.

Luo Nan named this function the ’Hollow Depository’. He relied on it to persevere against his rapidly soaring soul strength to this day.

However, another week had gone by as Luo Nan underwent Bai Xinyan’s ’cage treatment’. No matter how much he tried to exhaust his soul strength, this was just treating the symptoms and not the root cause. It was still incapable of controlling the growth momentum of his soul strength to a stable state.

Even the ’Hollow Depository’ could not store any more of his soul strength. More and more of his soul strength was spilling out of it like overflowing water. It caused a clashing pressure against Luo Nan’s fleshly body.

Whether it was Bai Xinyan or He Yueyin, both had pessimistic judgments towards the unbalanced state of Luo Nan’s body and soul. Their judgments stemmed from this.

But Luo Nan himself felt differently about it.

The out-of-control growth of his soul strength was like a flood of water overflowing in all directions. It was hard to control. But after filling the deep hollow, it turned from rapids into a slow flow. It transformed from the incorporeal into the material. Was this not sort of a transformation; a type of control? Could he not act one step further with it?

Moreover, a more obvious change occurred with the external neuron. It required his attention.