Chapter 319: Mind Controller (Part 1/2)
Translator: Strivon
White Rainbow's state was very interesting.
Luo Nan's mind stirred when he saw how special Zhang Yingying's body and soul structure was. But before he could understand it completely, another person entered the sofa corner. This person panted slightly as he said, "Boss Luo, your rhythm is too quick! Us bros can't keep up!"
As he spoke, Papercut's plump body plopped down to jiggle on the sofa.
As for Red Fox, he uttered not a word. He sat next to Papercut on the sofa's armrest. His gaze wandered upon Luo Nan's body as he carefully sized him up.
Back at Gear, Luo Nan had focused 99% of his efforts on firefighting. However, he was absolutely sure that these two, whom he once held a discourse with, were the first to make it to the scene. Their attitude was impeccable.
Luo Nan received these feelings and immediately gave the two a nod, easily turning his gaze away from Zhang Yingying. He placed the matter of Zhang Yingying's White Rainbow to the side for now and put on his sunglasses.
Zhang Yingying was a bit confused. She wasn't sure what happened just then. She simply heard Papercut talking and laughed by instinct. "So you're saying that we made him wait so long that we're left dealing with the corpses?"
She tapped his wristband as she spoke, letting Papercut take note of the time.
Papercut pointed at Zhang Yingying, and then he pointed at himself. He was left speechless at this suicidal evaluation.
Zhang Yingying didn't believe that it was suicidal, as she was there providing information and intelligence for half the time Luo Nan and the group of people from Headquarters were in combat. Anyhow, she did a little better than Papercut.
This group was quite familiar with one another. No one took bashing each other personally. With most of tonight being intense, it was necessary to relax after confirming that Luo Nan was in good health.
But on the other hand, being the only normal person of the group, Tian Si felt extremely uncomfortable with the sudden appearance of these people.
The ring-shaped sofa was mostly closed up. There was only one way to get in. It formed a relatively private space, and Tian Si was sitting at one end of the entrance. Then Papercut and Red Fox had sat on the other. The two sides were very close to each other, but they didn't talk to each other at all. Not even a glance was exchanged between them.
Tian Si’s head was a bit downcast. Her pair of legs were together to the side. Her bearing was a dignified one, but half her body was outside, like her current situation.
With the passing of time, the most remarkable self-defense mechanism of the human race—forgetting—began to display its effects. The nightmare-like experience gradually blurred, and Tian Si stepped back a bit from her dazed and fear-trembling state. Her thoughts began forming once more.
The 88th floor was the venue for the friendship party between Pingjiang District's first-rate educational establishments. Though the members of the party could be said to have a few years of experience, fundamentally speaking, they were all still students.
Ignoring Luo Nan and Xue Lei, of the people who arrived one after another in the sofa area, only the long-legged beautiful woman shining with youth was a bit like a student. The other three people had the dense air that indicated being members of society upon their bodies. And the previously acquainted Zhou Hu was the oldest level figure, being in his forties.
These people surrounded Luo Nan, and they were discordant with the surrounding environment. They were all on good terms with each other, and they naturally formed a circle. When they came here and sat down, the few students who sat at the sofa corner in idle conversation felt a bit uneasy for some reason. These students soon got up and left.
Only Luo Nan's group of people remained in the sofa corner. At most, there was the bartender at the small bar in the back.
Are these people all like Luo Nan, Puppeteer, and so on? Are they powerful people who possess inconceivable abilities?
Tian Si couldn't help guessing. The circle she was in contact with now was very far apart from her original school, and the light political circles she was familiar with. They were so far apart that she was incapable of understanding it. She felt overwhelmed.
However, it was very dream-like to be able to form a relationship with this circle…. Of course, it was mostly of the nightmare variety.
Tian Si was in the middle of adjusting her thoughts when a topic suddenly dropped down on her. The long-legged beautiful woman, who appeared to be younger than her by a few years, had turned her gaze over. "Is she the female lead in the first-half? She's really not bad. You really like the older women, eh? I've never seen you with someone younger."
Hearing this load of crap, Luo Nan was ready to roll his eyes even though he was super tired.
Tian Si was rather embarrassed by Zhang Yingying's words. Her emotions stimulated some memories, and she suddenly remembered that it was this voice who told Luo Nan to abandon her and throw her away for being a burden.
Tian Si knew that she shouldn't get vent out her anger on these powerful people. On the contrary, being targeted time and time again stimulated the pride that existed in the bottom of her heart. Of course, she wouldn't use intense methods to express herself. She just lowered her eyes and sat upright at the end of the sofa. She was more calm and reserved than before.
This lovely bearing of hers displayed vulnerability the most clearly. It was really capable of evoking the protective nature of the opposite sex. Luo Nan didn't forget the friendship he had with Tian Si from her mentioning Coupling Theory. He naturally helped her out with a few words, "Don't joke around. Senior Sister Tian is an excellent student of our school's design institute. She will be undertaking advanced studies next year. It's highly likely she will be the apprentice to continue my mother's research."
"Oh, little miss scholar. I see. From the outside, it looked like you two were going to enjoy blessings and endure misfortune together."
Zhang Yingying spoke with a smile. The ripple that ran through her eyes contained a hidden meaning. Do you know what I mean?
Of course, how can I not. If you hadn't changed the subject, I would have asked her to leave already, okay?
Regardless of their individual attitudes, Luo Nan and Zhang Yingying already reached an agreement. The matters they were going to discuss next were far too sensitive. It would do nobody good to have Tian Si stay here.
Luo Nan intensely resonated his mind as he cast his gaze over at Tian Si. "Tian Si, you've endured much torment recently. You must be very tired. It's okay not to participate in this sort of party. Go back and rest, okay?"
His speech and his words were of concern, but they might as well be an order.
Tian Si's mind went blank. It was unknown whether he loosened up or felt bad, but just as Tian Si was about to nod, the quiet man wearing a red jacket suddenly broke his silence, "The Secretary has opened a ward in the Sacred Heart Hospital. You should go over there to have your body examined in order to avoid residual effects."
After a moment of stupefaction, Tian Si regained herself. She was being spoken to. She cast her gaze toward Luo Nan very consciously, for she wanted to see what his attitude would be.
Luo Nan was a bit suspicious as he looked at Red Fox. Red Fox’s mouth twitched as he said, "This is going with the flow."
Zhang Yingying immediately changed her stance as she sneered, "If going with the flow is useful, then today's matter wouldn't have escalated to these extremes…. Oh right, where's Secretary He? She's the one who wants us to convene together, and she's late?"
"She should be at the hospital?" Papercut was worried that Red Fox and Zhang Yingying would get into a quarrel. He rushed to butt in, and he asked Luo Nan, "Speaking of which, why the hell did you come here? Did you want to stay here until the party ends?"
"I'm waiting for some news." Luo Nan briefly mentioned the matter with the devil ray. "I'm thinking that having that toy by my side would make things safer."
"I really didn't know that you're actually someone with connections!" Zhang Yingying's eyes were wide open. She looked very surprised.
Of course, she was just mocking him.
Papercut scratched his head. "Nanster, didn't I tell you? Mutants that are of a higher quality are never less than ten million in price on the market. The market probably values the devil ray to be—”
Before Papercut could finish speaking, Xie Junping noisy voice entered his ear from the crowd. "Nanster, you're fine, right?"
Xie Junping and Hu Huaying hastily made their way over. Xie Junping had seen that one of the many figures in the sofa corner appeared vaguely to be Luo Nan. He didn't think much, just directly calling out and asking. Once he spoke out, he suddenly realized that six to seven pairs of eyes were staring at him. They were all new faces to him.
No, there was one who looked familiar.
"Zhang Yingying?"
"Oh, Sucker, hello." Zhang Yingying smiled as she waved. She turned her head to give Luo Nan a second expression of admiration. "So you actually had him go negotiate the price!"
Before Luo Nan could speak, Xie Junping exploded, "What do you mean by 'actually'!?"
Zhang Yingying rubbed her fingers against each other. "How much money?"
Xie Junping's voice immediately dropped an octave. "Six... sixty million."
Zhang Yingying spread her hands, "Ha ha."
Red Fox, who sat in the outermost spot, retracted his legs to make a path into the circle, indicating to Xie and Hu to go in and sit. He even assessed Xie Junping. "The price is fair."
Papercut added, "A devil-face electric eel was caught at Eight Cliffs Reef last year. Its price was about the same, being sold for forty million. However, the devil ray can be used in both the water and the air. This makes the price hard to estimate."
Zhang Yingying shrugged. "You all are talking about this so seriously. In any case, a certain someone is unable to afford it…. Even if he could, he won't be able to raise it."
"That's true."
Papercut turned his head to look at the mighty devil ray swimming around in the central crystal pillar. Ever since Luo Nan rode it here, this Mutant swam in nearby waters, never lessening its distance from Luo Nan. However, this made it so that the shoals of fish sharing its current location suffered a calamity. "A Mutant of the physically strengthened variety. Its power is proportional to its appetite. Several tons of fresh food a day isn't enough for it. It's very difficult to raise."
"I need it."
Luo Nan looked at the devil ray. He spoke in a low and heavy voice, "My order frame can only display its effectiveness on the mental plane. I need an external equipment like the devil ray in order to form some influence on the material plane."
"Some?" Red Fox repeated the word. He didn't understand the stuff about order frames, but his stomach was still feeling really bad from getting hit by the devil ray's attack. It wasn't just Luo Nan who had to go to the hospital and get checked up. He had to go too.
Of all the people there, Zhang Yingying was one of the earliest people to have been introduced to the concepts of order frames, gears, and coupling. She had been pondering them all this time, seemingly understanding them yet not. She heard Luo Nan mention these concepts once more, and it was as if a flashbulb went off in her brain. It lit up.
"From your perspective, the devil ray is an exoskeleton?"
Luo Nan was stunned for a moment, before saying, "It can be described that way."
Zhang Yingying understood clearly with a thought, which then continued to sprout. "From your perspective, the devil ray is just a module or a plug-in, and your order frame acts as a power source and a general control system. How is this done?"
Luo Nan was happy to explain a few relevant theories, especially since Zhang Yingying's description was quite reliable. He immediately said, "The generation of energy and information, its drive and output, are all engendered by the coupling of gears. Of course, gears themselves can also produce energy and information…."
"No, I'm asking how you were able to have the Mutant devil ray work for you when you first encountered it. How did you get it to follow your every whim?" Zhang Yingying looked at him with wide eyes. "Is your true ability similar to Puppet Masters, Beast Tamers, or the like? Or is it more like a Mind Controller?"
In the sofa corner, Red Fox raised his brows once he heard the last two words. Papercut grimaced, while Zhou Hu appeared pensive. The other people wore blank faces.
"What do you mean 'Mind Controller'?"
Luo Nan was completely unfamiliar with this concept, but he realized Zhang Yingying had mentioned Puppeteer, that trash, on equal terms with him. He felt a bit uncomfortable. "Understanding another party's order frame and the coupling relationship formed from it will naturally allow one to exercise concerted control. It has nothing to do with mind control. I'll explain further: President Ouyang's Logic World is a structure that is formed when he uses his order frame to distort and mold a portion of the vast heaven and earth. It is a temporary result. What is President Ouyang controlling here?"