Master of the Stars

Luo Nan’s mind suddenly jerked. This information had come out of nowhere. It did not come from anyone in the team and it did not seem to be directed to anyone at the time. It filled the air and resounded in his mind just like that.

He froze in a state of stupefaction but then realized that this was the result of the progress made by the Human-Faced Arachnid. He used his clairvoyance on the dark cloud connected to the spiral arm of the star river. He could clearly feel the dark cloud decrease in density. More and more fuzzy starlight radiated out along with some energy and information. The energy and information were converted and analyzed through the Human-Faced Arachnid.

Those words did not seem to be a part of a real-time dialog exchange. Instead, it was more like the intense thoughts of someone’s mind. These thoughts produced and spurred a continuous stream of information for a time.

It looked like the person within the dark cloud was in quite a bad mood.

Luo Nan tilted his head and looked up. Through the metal frames and the transparent glass ceiling, he was able to see the outline of the high rise covered in pitch-black darkness; no light was able to escape. It was vaguely like the dark cloud within his senses.

In fact, their party of people was charging toward one of the dark clouds and it was the one containing endlessly changing rays of emotion that Luo Nan was focused on. The target who he dubbed the poisonous mushroom.

What a coincidence... Luo Nan’s gaze locked onto a corner of the rooftop. His naked eye could not see where the edges began but he was able to see it on the mental plane. The malicious intent concealed deep within the atmosphere grew clearer and clearer as they drew closer and closer.

Though He Yueyin had warned him not to get distracted, what if the First Oblatum was trying to interfere with them?

Luo Nan sent a message within the encrypted channel. "It seems like someone has his eyes on us. It’s that egotistical fellow."

He Yueyin’s response brimmed with the taste of this being a matter of course. "As long as we’re inside one of the three buildings, we will catch the eye of at least one First Oblatum. Don’t bother with them. Don’t get distracted."

This was the second time that He Yueyin warned him.

Luo Nan feet practically did not touch the ground anymore. He was being carried by Xue Lei and Cat Eyes. As they rushed down the connecting passageway, Xue Lei whispered into his ear, "She didn’t mention me at all!"

"You’re certainly going to follow your dad..."

Before Luo Nan could finish talking, He Yueyin suddenly opened her mouth and asked, "Xue Lei has already ’obtained his sign’, right?"

"I achieved something small over the past two days... Huh?" Xue Lei was suddenly shocked. He turned and said, "How did you know?"

He Yueyin did not respond. She issued further orders in the encrypted channel. "Xue Lei group with Mr. Luo. Follow the time requirements. Whether or not the mission is completed successfully, we must all leave the range of the buildings at godspeed."

Before Xue Lei could even react and just as Xue Weilun was about to talk after recovering from the sudden shock, a new message scrolled through the encrypted channel. "Hello Sister, it looks likes your standard for distributing people is based on being an Awakened. Does the Society have a particular purpose for this deployment?"

Bai Xinyan was the one who sent the message but He Yueyin did not respond whatsoever.

Xue Weilun’s words were blocked by the lines of Bai Xinyan’s message.

In the face of this totally unknown context, the worst thing he could do as a special police officer and as a father was to guess around wildly in speculation.

Their party of people entered the floor of building B at this time. The special forces’ formation dispersed automatically and Cat Eyes and He Yueyin separated out from the team to stand together.

Zhang Yingying pulled Bai Xinyan toward her and grabbed onto Luo Nan and Xue Lei as well. "Do you know why you need to concentrate?"

The two high school students shook their heads.

"The following moments are certain to be extremely intensive."

Zhang Yingying winked and was about to add more but then she saw Xue Weilun walk over. She shut her mouth and walked with Bai Xinyan to the side. Luo Nan hurriedly made room and gave the father and son some time to talk.

Only, the exchange between the Xue father and son was far more straightforward than they could possibly imagine. The two were both magnificent men. They gave each other a hearty hug. The thick exoskeleton armors between did nothing to block their feelings.

"Do your best."

"Be careful."

The time was continuing its countdown, so they did not have much time to talk. Their words lingered in the air as the glass wall next to the exit was smashed into pieces. Glass shards flew and fell before a whistling gale entered through the hole.

Zhang Yingying cast a glance downward. "The gradient is fine. It’s not the straight vertical type."

In this very instant, Xue Lei was able to feel the tension in his father’s embrace. He split his mouth into a smile and broke free. "Rest easy, things will be fine."

Zhang Yingying turned to look. "Has Xue Lei rapidly descended from high buildings before?"

Xue Lei maintained a confident smile. "My master taught me the Ape Traversal Technique before. I’ve also learned a bit of extreme parkour. I’ve done it before at high floors but not for long distances."

"Excellent!" Zhang Yingying gave him a big thumbs up. "Having Luo Nan be such a burden will cause White Salt and I to squander away quite a bit of our energy for him. You need to look out for yourself. Now is the time for martial artists to crush the mentally enhanced."

A couple of figures flickered next to Zhang Yingying as she was halfway through her words. He Yueyin and Cat Eyes jumped up shoulder to shoulder practically simultaneously. They faced the wild gale and jumped into the dark void. Their figures flipped and they flew vertically up. He Yueyin just left a single message in the encrypted channel.

"Time is of the essence."

They had no chance whatsoever for careful planning and preparation due to the time constraints. The habitual actions from normal times determined one’s effectiveness in this sort of situation. Right now, the building was without power. The elevator was out of operation. Yet they had to complete the entire journey within four and a half minutes. To follow the methods of the Society would be to rely on the skill of the ability users in rapid ascension or descension.

He Yueyin did not choose to have Luo Nan ascend. This fellow’s terrible physical skills were the number one reason for her decision.

Zhang Yingying shrugged. She was not that worried. She knew from the moment He Yueyin planned the mission that the mission intensity was changed to be much easier.

The concrete action plan was naturally issued into the encrypted channel. "Luo Nan’s sensing radius is 80 meters. B building’s width is approximately 150 meters. It’s fine to just circle your way in a spiral route. If things go smoothly, all you need is 100 seconds to get to Fudong Main Street."

Luo Nan was astonished. "I won’t be able to lock onto the gunmen in that amount of time..."

"The viewpoint from the lower floors with their terrain is useless. The likelihood of there being gunmen is far too small. The Secretary just wants us to retreat. Are you ready yet? I’ll go first with the big dude."

Xue Lei suddenly shivered. The confident smile on his face stiffened a bit but regardless of this, he could not let the others, especially his father, see his reaction. He could not let the others get distracted in worry for him.

He muttered to himself a few times a chant personally passed onto him by his master, "Transform the polarities, by the laws of the Way." He started to pump himself up. "I am different from normal people! I really am different!"

Chen Xiaolin’s face oddly flashed in his mind only to disappear like the popping of a soap bubble. The gale of darkness had eroded his physical sensations but now the yin-yang fluctuations within his body were restored once more to a warm state. In addition, his remaining bit of doubt and hesitation were dissolved to nothingness.

Xue Lei grew even more certain that he was born for this kind of situation. He turned slightly to lock eyes with Luo Nan, the friend who had drawn him into this wonderful world and the two bumped fists.

"Let’s go!"

Xue Lei yelled as he jumped into the darkness of the void outside and Zhang Yingying jumped out at practically the same time as him. The last one to come out was Bai Xinyan; she held onto Luo Nan’s waist with a single arm.

Xue Weilun followed two close steps behind them. He reached out with his head to look down and was able to see his son. Xue Lei was keener than any ape or monkey. His long arms just smacked against the glass wall a few times to push off and he slid in an arc. He flew all the way down as if he was riding a skateboard.

Soon, their figures were lost into the night.

Xue Weilun was lost in thought when a large gale suddenly swept over him in a pressing chill. He felt something and he lowered his head to look at the Format Pyramid on his chest. The mark was faintly distorting and rippling. It was unknown if it was due to Luo Nan leaving.

Chapter Synopsis:

The words Luo Nan heard comes from the thoughts of one of the First Oblatums. This First Oblatum is quite dissatisfied. Luo Nan warns the team that the egotistical First Oblatum, An Chengli, has his eyes on them. It is likely that Luo Nan was able to hear the words due to the low-configuration high-imitation human-faced arachnid he tossed into the dark cloud in the previous chapter.

He Yueyin warns him not to get distracted by the First Oblatum and just focus on their mission of eliminating as many gunmen as possible in their limited five-minute time frame and escape from the building.

Xue Lei wonders what his task is, as everyone else on the team was given a task. He Yueyin asks if he has obtained his ’sign’, presumed to have something to do with the martial arts he trains in. Xue Lei confirms and He Yueyin assigns him to be with Luo Nan to move down the building.

Xue Lei says good bye to his father. He Yueyin and Cat Eyes go up the building. Xue Lei pumps himself up as he jumps out to slide on the side of the building to descend down along with Zhang Yingying, Bai Xinyan, and Luo Nan.