Chapter 113: Dumb Teammate (Part 2/2)
Translator: Strivon
In this very moment, it was as if Luo Nan had been smacked head on by an enormous wave. The space between his ears rumbled and stars dazzled his eyes. Even his skin was a bit numb. However, his current level of endurance was different from before. His mental plane was stable from the beginning to the end and it ebbed along with the impact of the flow of information. The stimulations of light, color, sound, cold, heat, and pain were split and filtered, causing the scene of the external world to gradually grow clear and bright.
In the next few seconds, Luo Nan took a deep breath with his abundance of energy. He divided a strand of his mind to compare the flow of information with the elevation structural diagram that Bamboo Pole provided. He performed a second filtering and categorization with his own sensing area.
Doing this amongst the assaulting flow of chaotic information was not easy. Within his spellbound state, Luo Nan could hear Xue Lei curse, "The f**k is this guy?" He also heard Red Fox's sneer within the encrypted channel.
"I'm overdoing it? Secretary, do you dare to vow and declare that the true intentions of this laughable big rescue mission isn't to wipe the butt of your boss?"
Luo Nan's eyes remained closed. Whether or not He Yueyin had a response, Luo Nan would not pay further attention to the encrypted channel. He just concentrated on his fixed train of thought to filter the information he sensed. Practically by the time Red Fox had finished speaking, several spurred emotions and their corresponding information continued to refresh on Luo Nan’s mental plane.
He used the private message function of the encrypted channel to send some information to Bamboo Pole, who was in charge of intelligence work. Bamboo Pole did not respond immediately. It took a full five seconds for him to respond with a stupefied emoticon.
Luo Nan let out a drawn out breath upon doing all this. He suddenly felt some pain on his back. It was Zhang Yingying. She had smacked him and shouted, "Pump yourself up!" Then she faced Red Fox and scolded him right back.
"By your logic, you’re grumbling around because you’re doing cleanup work for the Order of Justice? That the people they dispatched, their take over of the site, and the shots they fired are all because Luo Nan forced them to? Ha! These words sound very familiar to me. Back in the day, you ran out of Hu City like a dying dog. It looks like you're using the same excuse right now... Back then you didn't even dare fart a word. This time you have a chance. Are you taking the time to crap out this stinky performance to toss to others?"
Over at the reinforcement point, Red Fox exploded with anger upon being uncovered by Zhang Yingying. He made a most basic mistake by opening his mouth and directly howling into the channel, "Isn't your back hurting from standing so much and being a hypocrite!? Do you want to make a bet!? What kind of face do you think headquarters will make after this is over!? Wait, you don't need to wait long. Just check the news tomorrow! Let's see what kind of attitude Xia City's government and military will have!"
"Well I bet you'll pucker up your butt and run just like before!"
Zhang Yingying spat in contempt. "If you have the guts, just go howl at headquarters, go howl at Xia City's government! A blade drawn in anger will be strong if drawn by the brave. A blade drawn in anger will be weak if drawn by a coward... Didn't you learn this in elementary school? I can teach you for free, you know!"
"Yingying."
It was probably because she could feel that the team's atmosphere was on the verge of collapse that He Yueyin opened her mouth at last to stop Zhang Yingying from speaking further.
However, by now Zhang Yingying was exploding with anger. She was unable to control herself as she stabbed back. "I'm sorry, I don't really know you. Don't talk to me so intimately. I don't want to repeat myself a third time... Oh right, someone wanted you to make a vow, Secretary He. Don't shrink away just because you lack the means. Weren't you so critical and strict last week? What happened to your incomparably imposing aura of never being wrong?"
These two did not need to use the encrypted channel to engage in their dialog. They were engaging in a battle of words right in each other's faces. This was much more direct than using the encrypted channel. The others cast a sidelong glances at them.
Under the collective gazes of the crowd, He Yueyin's expression possessed neither happiness nor anger. She answered in an undisturbed tone, "I need to correct one of your misunderstandings. Mr. Luo isn't weak. What he can do, the things he can do, are much more than what you all are disputing about... Right now, an adjustment is being made due to new information and intelligence. I ask everyone to receive it attentively."
"Hello!?"
"Ha!"
It need not matter whether it was Zhang Yingying or Red Fox who responded in colorful, emotional tones to He Yueyin forcefully changing the topic, they had one thing in common. They were resentful.
Just by saying, ‘Mr. Luo’, He Yueyin took the focus and shifted it onto Luo Nan. Bamboo Pole had to cough a few times to try to capture all their attention. However, this yielded no results. Feeling helpless, he could only release a map.
"Alright, I think it's better for you guys to look at these on your own. I'll just mention one thing. The data just now was for reference only. From now on, all intelligence regarding the inside of Frost River Reality will be refreshed constantly. Always refer to the newest map!"
As he spoke, two dynamic maps emerged in the encrypted channel. They were largely the same but they had some minor differences. One was labeled ‘old’ and the other was labeled ‘new’.
These two images were both concise and clear. Red dots represented the enemy. Green dots represented the trapped civilians that were scattered around. The two images looked mostly similar but careful inspection would reveal differences between the old and new maps in the number of red and green dots. There were at least ten percent more dots on the new one, a scale of about a dozen people.
The additional ten percent was largely made up of red dots, the enemy.
"You changed the monitoring style?" Cat Eyes' unique, sharp and bright voice sounded out. "The new people who have shown up, they're all Oblatum Knights?"
Over at the reinforcement point, Bamboo Pole saw that a sneer still remained on Red Fox. He sighed. "Don't ask me. This has nothing to do with me."
His words were unclear but this vague response was the clearest indication of his thoughts. After all, He Yueyin had long since mentioned the matter about Luo Nan and his all-encompassing perception. And she also just mentioned it indirectly when she corrected Zhang Yingying for her ‘misunderstanding’...
"You're a funny guy!" Red Fox still wanted to maintain that cold and reproaching attitude but Bamboo Pole just shrugged with unfolded hands. Not a sound came from Cat Eyes. It seemed like she had fallen into deep thought.
The sneer on Red Fox's face gradually stiffened. Then it was as if he woke up a bit. His skin started to twitch and convulse.
Before he could speak, Zhang Yingying went "Ah ha!". Her mouth split into a grin and she gave another good smack to Luo Nan’s back: "Excellent. This hard worker has a decisive victory over a certain someone shooting his mouth. Talking sh*t with thousands of words can never compare to actually doing something calmly... However, Kitty will really lose her job at this rate! Haha!"
By speaking these words, Zhang Yingying felt a slip of the tongue herself. She rushed to shut her self up but Cat Eyes had woken up from her deep thoughts. She was next to Luo Nan. Her eyes slightly tilted over, revealing squinting eyes. The intent coming out from them was like a blade just tempered by fire and it sought to slash Luo Nan's face.
She might have considered this fellow to be a hidden boss early on. However, Luo Nan revealed his ability in the field she was best at. This caused her heart to be directly provoked with great intensity.
Complete dominance? This is not funny at all!
Cat Eyes glared at Luo Nan like she wanted to kill him. She tried to see through his true nature but she was unable to obtain anything substantial, just like in her previous failed experience. She could only resort to words.
"I won't talk about the other places but here... Are you sure there are people? How did you do this?"
Cat Eyes was pointing at some location in the surroundings of Area A's arena block. The red dots were displayed quite clearly on the new map but there were no traces of them on the old map.
Cat Eyes should be able to sense this region for it was at the edge of the range of her long-range perception. However, in truth, she was not able to perceive the existences of the enemies here.
There were not many chances for Red Fox to vent. Red Fox practically chased Cat Eyes' tail as he hoarsely spoke, "Kitty is absolutely correct. Are you sure there are people? Can you guarantee that you are accurate, that you aren't improvising....?"
"You shut the hell up!"
"Did you shoot away your brain? Daring to shoot your mouth off like that?"
Cat Eyes and Zhang Yingying spoke at practically the same time. The length of their speech and their moods were different but they left Red Fox choked on the spot. At this very moment, from Red Fox's perspective, it did not matter whether it was at Frost River Reality, at the reinforcement point, or in the virtual encrypted channel. They had all sunk into a silence that made it hard for him to take, it was till the point of suffocating.