Chapter 98: Failed Goods (2/2)
Translator: Strivon
There seemed to be something wrong with the projectors for the light as they did not cast out any concrete images. It was like a mass of mottled glowing mist and it covered the entirety of the operating area. It wrapped Luo Nan, Cat Eyes, Xue Weilun, five or six special police officers, and the eight unconscious bodies within.
Then the lighting suddenly changed, attracting the gazes of everyone within the room but the one to have the most intense reaction was that stupid Human-Faced Arachnid.
The first instant the lighting interweaved, it charged forward once more. It did not target any specific person but it directly burst into the expanding glowing mist. It hid its body within the mass of colored lights.
This projection mist was certainly a screen meant for the Human-Faced Arachnid!
Cat Eyes muttered, "Crap". She was an ability user whose ability stemmed from perception. Being able to lock onto the target was what gave her the greatest sense of security. She had felt completely suffocated in the last Human-Faced Arachnid hunting operation. Today, she had barely made progress. She never expected for it all to have gone down the drain.
However, Cat Eyes was an experienced Awakened. She changed her train of thought and her gaze fell upon what had created the mottled colored light mist, the projector equipment. To pull the carpet from under the arachnid could be a decent option...
"Everyone withdraw. What's wrong with the system over there?"
Xue Weilun spoke loudly, his former words meant to those further ahead inside the room. He let them leave the projection area first. His later words were aimed towards the technical staff in charge of the room’s monitoring system equipment and operations. He really did not like this kind of change. It made him feel that the situation was yet to be under the police's complete control.
Cat Eyes was originally going to make a move when she heard Xue Weilun's order. She grumbled, "Idiot!"
Luo Nan coughed as he crawled up. He tried explaining for Xue Weilun's sake. "He doesn't know..."
"I'm saying you're the idiot."
Luo Nan found her behavior unfathomable. Did I offend you?
However, it was quite likely thinking about it from another perspective. It must be known that her image had been left in the Format Pyramid. Even if her image was located on the student level, she did not truly count as one of his believers. She was very ignorant of it, like Xie Junping. However, Cat Eyes was an ability user. Perhaps she instinctively sensed it and was rejecting him?
Luo Nan looked at Cat Eyes once more under the five-colored lighting. His impression of her was that she was a pretty and flirtatious dancer. She was dressed in hip-hop fashion, wearing a crooked baseball cap. She looked much younger than the night where she wore that mature dress. She looked cooler as well. If Luo Nan did not have the HexaEar to confirm in advance and had bumped into her on the street, he would have been completely too scared to call out to her.
However, they were in the middle of an operation. Some words were better spoken. "How am I being an idiot?"
Cat Eyes responded with a sneer when facing Luo Nan's blunt attitude. "Mr. Psychic, where's your authority to command in this kind of operation? Where's your right to mobilize? Is it fun to act an innocent bystander? You brought in this group of nuisances and then gave up the leadership role to them? You want them to fight?"
Her words had struck the key point. Luo Nan was left speechless. In the last operation, He Yueyin had pointed out that this situation was what should be avoided the most. He had violated this today and it was a very serious violation. Last time, the members of the operation did not know who the target was. This time, Xue Weilun and his group of special police officers were completely in the dark.
“Don't you even have a shred of self-awareness as an ability user..? At the very least, your sense of superiority is fine." Cat Eyes was not admonishing him. She was just being sarcastic, though the results were pretty much the same.
Luo Nan spread his hands. He did not know how he should respond for a time.
"You two. What are you still doing inside?"
Xue Weilun walked over with large strides. He was quite discontent with how these two were whispering amongst each other in the light mist, staying behind. Of course, he was still bewildered by the illogical situation. He brought out his most straightforward and efficient attitude to face this.
"I don't care what relationship you two have. When facing the police, you need to cooperate... Luo Nan, explain for me. What sort of monkey show were you just playing at?"
This sort of attitude that was like the authority of the establishment and of the older generation was very effective on young people such as Luo Nan.
If Luo Nan had to come up with the words by himself, his brain would have exploded. Luckily, he had Cat Eyes by his side. Luo Nan pushed this woman out without the slightest hesitation. "The time for you to display the superiority of an ability user has come..."
And Cat Eyes didn't refuse. "At least this old man is much smarter than you!"
The two went out of the light mist at the same time. Then Cat Eyes then took the initiative to face Xue Weilun and engage in negotiations.
Luo Nan was not concerned about how the negotiations would go. He believed that Cat Eyes, being a veteran ability user, would certainly be able to resolve things. Right now, he was placing all his energy towards the projected light mist and the covered area. Ultimately, he was more suitable for doing technical work.
Cat Eyes regarded this area covered with the light mist to be the most dangerous area of all. This was because the Human-Faced Arachnid was concealing itself within it. She did not know which direction it would launch an attack from.
However, Luo Nan had a different perspective.
Luo Nan had locked onto the Human-Faced Arachnid's position ever since it had first appeared. It made no difference whether the arachnid was inside or outside the mist.
If there was a difference... It would probably be a stronger clarity.
In the eyes of others, the projected light mist would obstruct their sight. But in Luo Nan's eyes, the light mist was a completely different revealing method. The chaos and the mottled colors could only be said to be the inherent nature of the operational method of energy and information with the lack of cognition.
The projected rays of light possessed a special organized form. They could naturally be classified as a type of energy and information, one that could be directly observed. It was because of this that Luo Nan could see the structural layout within through his mental senses. He could easily see lines as if they were on the palm of his hand. He could see minute details down to the finest hair.
"Another Tower of Babel-esque structure. It is far more refined than the chipset of the tactical helmet. However, there is a huge distance between it and the perfect layout of the Dynamo Core." Luo Nan used a picky attitude to make a judgment towards the quality of the structure within the projected light mist.
Because of this, Luo Nan was entirely relaxed when the projection of light mist covered the area. If things were not so, how would he have the leisure to go chat with Cat Eyes about him being an idiot?
There was a problem for those who had created this projection; they were unable to see Luo Nan's intentions. The structure they had cast only contained a special and key purpose.
Luo Nan could see it very clearly. When the Human-Faced Arachnid had collided inside, it had realized an extremely perfect fit with the structure of energy and information. It was like the teeth of gears biting together, like a train entering a track. The arachnid began to be corrected and amended according to the mold of the projected light mist.
The primal and chaotic information structure of the Human-Faced Arachnid was becoming clearer as it was being affected by the light mist. Luo Nan could see the energy and information's direction in operation. Energy and information were rapidly pulling away from the material plane. The idiotic action of the Human-Faced Arachnid trying to interfere with the material plane was forcefully pulled back...
Why was the word ‘forcefully’ used?
Because there was another component within the extremely well fit whole of this energy and information structure. It radiated incompatible information from beginning to end, like random noise occurring on a smooth operating assembly line. It felt jarring and ear-piercing.
Could it be that the arachnid was a so-called ‘defective good?’
Luo Nan raised the precision of his mental senses by a level and was ultimately able to determine that this ‘flawed component’ laid in the internals of the Human-Faced Arachnid. It looked to lie in a rather vital functioning area...?
In an instant, Luo Nan grasped the core of the situation.
The internals of the Human-Faced Arachnid? Is he having fun?