Chapter 44: Extraordinaries (Part ½)
Luo Nan saw that people’s expressions were either astonished or grave, so he didn’t ask any further. He simply used the HexaEar to seek the answer.
The solution soon leaped out in front of him upon using his consciousness to search:
The Order of Justice. One of the three world-class Secret Orders, and one that is known in modern times. This Secret Order was the only Order that didn’t have an explicit personification of deities and gods as its holy object of worship.
The highest leader of this Order was called the First Oblatum1. Their holy object of worship was “The Scales of Truth”, and their fundamental doctrine was extremely unclear, containing only the following nine words: “The fairness of the world. The justice of truth.”
Within the Order was a strong obsession towards Sacrificial Rituals, which were known as “Displacing Equality”, and were used to realize equilibrium in the world.
Frankly speaking, Luo Nan didn’t completely understand everything after seeing the overview for this information. He still needed to study some concepts further on his own.
He Yueyin issued down the official order to retreat as of this moment.
The ad hoc team was pretty much disbanded upon leaving the room.
He Yueyin remained extremely strict for she informed everybody not to remain idle near Cloud City Water Village before returning back to the Society to receive their next order. She also informed everybody that it was best not to act solo.
Although the Human-Faced Arachnid had been heavily injured by her Format of Fire and couldn’t possibly perform another offensive, the lone ability user was obviously the best tonic for the Arachnid.
“Arggg. What a sorry situation.”
Bamboo Pole let out a lamented sigh and added, “Good night everyone.” Then he simply went offline. Everyone else also faded away one by one in the encrypted communications channel.
Luo Nan took the initiative to call out to Octopus, adding this drug composition expert as a friend so he could contact him at any time. At the same time, he sent friend requests to Crag Burst and Cat Eyes.
Crag Burst was quite straightforward, responding rather quickly. But Cat Eyes gave him a cold snort and just left.
Luo Nan shrugged his shoulders. He could feel Cat Eyes’s attitude towards him had become worse after their finished “cooperation” with the psychic drawing.
“Hey, be careful. Cat Eyes really keeps a grudge.” Octopus had a decent impression towards Luo Nan. He patted Luo Nan on the shoulder and then left with Crag Burst.
Luo Nan felt that he was very innocent. What did he do to Cat Eyes? The recoil at the beginning was due to Cat Eyes using her own ability to spy on Luo Nan during his divination, provoking the heavily chained crow into counter attacking.
Or perhaps, the mental senses of being an Awakened allowed her to feel her a piece of her information being scooped?
“Obviously, you were too rough.” Zhang Yingying laughed delightedly as she slapped his back. “Ignore Cat Eyes’s flirtatious appearance. In reality, I’ve never seen her with a boyfriend since she entered the society. She may be a reserved old spinster?”
Should this woman start joking about his?
Luo Nan was disinclined to acknowledge her.
Then He Yueyin spun her face towards him to unexpectedly enter into the conversation: “Mr. Luo. In regards to the matter with Cat Eyes, your previous etiquette was somewhat inappropriate.”
“Huh?”
“Mr. Luo should have probed and utilized Cat Eyes’s memories and subconscious during the course of creating the psychic drawing. In a certain sense, you violated her free will. Of course, this was certainly an accident by Mr. Luo, but it would be better to say some apologies after the matter……”
Luo Nan went “Hic”, being a bit embarrassed.
He Yueyin continued supplementing him with this sort of common sense: “As a mental enhancement type ability user, as a psychic, Mr. Luo will certainly encounter similar issues in the days to come. But all you need to do is remember this: Ability users are extremely sensitive about ‘free will’. Communication prior and explanations after are all extremely necessary.”
Luo Nan naturally received this lecture with an open mind.
And at this time, he recalled the topic that was interrupted by Zhang Yingying. He saw that he would have no further opportunities for today if he didn’t ask for a clear explanation now, so he opened his mouth in a hurry asking:
“Sis He, you said I’m seriously over-specialized2……”
He Yueyin recalled this matter and muttered to herself before speaking:
“If I were to evaluate Mr. Luo’s ability on the mental plane based off of the results I’ve seen from facing the Human-Faced Arachnid, I would give you a C+ Ranking, maybe even a B-. But for the physical plane, I can only give you an F Ranking. I can’t rate you any higher.”
Zhang Yingying gave a laugh: “You can’t go any lower than that. Going lower means you’re handicapped.”
Luo Nan’s lips pulled into a frown. His body wasn’t bad to that degree. He worked out for many years, tempered himself; his agility should be above normal.
He Yueyin shot a cold glance at Zhang Yingying before speaking seriously: “The mental and the physical are seriously imbalanced. The consequences this brings are a hundred times more serious than being handicapped. Whether it be in the military or in Quantum Corporation, there are countless cases like this that are dripping with blood. I am saying this because I hope Mr. Luo will realize the importance of this.”
Zhang Yingying was unable to keep laughing and Luo Nan went mute as well.
“Since Mr. Luo had previously mentioned Formats, I will explain from the perspective of Formatting. My general understanding of the meaning of Mr. Luo’s alleged Format is that it's different from the Archetype Format that I’m used to. It should be more personalized, focusing on an individual’s characteristics. Is this correct?”
Luo Nan thought about it and nodded his head awkwardly.
He Yueyin’s gaze focused on Luo Nan: “Let’s view the Format to be some sort of building. An artist can use toothpicks to construct an enormous skyscraper. An architect can complete an entire set of design plans in the computer. But this is just a model, just data. The real and genuine building itself needs to be constructed from valid and resilient building materials. After all, the intrinsic nature of a building is its practical functionality.”
“If things are like Mr. Luo says, sir, you possess a valid Format. And so, you will need to select the most suitable building materials to construct this building to completion in a practical and solid manner. This aspect involves a complete transformation of sir’s body structure and mental willpower. It’s absolutely not just visualization on the mental plane.”
“If things were all just data then things would be better. But as one who lives in the world of reality, fine and weak works of art made of toothpicks would collapse from a breath of air. They become pointless.”
“Aha! A toothpick-type boy!” Zhang Yingying clapped her hands in great laughter. She cared not the slightest about rubbing salt in Luo Nan’s wound.
She never expected He Yueyin to switch targets to her in the next moment: “Miss Zhang. I know you bear no ill intentions towards Mr. Luo, but your customary jokes and sarcastic expressions can be easily misleading towards new members like him.”
“For example. In the issue with Orders, although I too disagree with how this Secret Order has handled things, I know that the abilities of the leaders of Secret Orders are all, by the book, A rank. In the three stages of the Society’s Ability System, the Awakened3, the Undertaker4, and the Extraordinary5, they are at the uppermost level. They are the strong that stand at the world’s apex and they possess remarkable intelligence. They’re absolutely not the sort of powerful lunatics you spoke of.”
“Though you know what you’re doing in your head, it’s quite easy to have Luo Nan misunderstand things and have him form the wrong impression. For someone who is a psychic, this kind of false impression is very likely to be fatal!”
Zhang Yingying choked on her words in an instant, her eyebrows leaping straight up. She had previously slipped up in the operation, was criticized by He Yueyin, and had nothing to say. But now her series of behavior was rebuked for being completely wrong…..
He Yueyin, you sure are high and mighty!
Luo Nan could feel that the atmosphere between the two had suddenly gone tense. Unfortunately, he was also involved, so he found things to be awkward for a time. Right when he was thinking of how to mediate the two with words, his wristband started to vibrate.
Luo Nan saw the incoming number and his eyelids trembled. He put the call through in a hurry: “Aunty……”
“I see that the dinner party has already ended. Where are you?”
1. First Oblatum (首祭, literally Head/Chief Sacrifice).
2. Over-specialized (偏科, literally Slanted Field). I mistranslated this as "Overboard" in the last chapter. It has been fixed now.
3. Awakened (觉醒者, literally One Who Has Awakened).
4. Undertaker (工程师, literally Engineer). 工程 could also mean "Undertaking" besides "Engineering". 师 can mean expert, teacher, or professional.
5. Extraordinary (超凡种, literally Extraordinary Species).