Chapter 153: Advantages and Disadvantages (Part 1/2)
Translator: Strivon
Luo Nan's attitude in his response was not what Zhang Yingying wanted out of him at all. She smacked her steering wheel once more. "You're playing things down too d*mn much. Haven't you been taking classes this whole time!? You don't even understand how to analyze the factors in victory or defeat. What are you playing at!? What did the Secretary teach you when all is said and done?"
"I learned a bit. The most basic principle is to analyze the advantages and disadvantages for the enemy and myself. The idea is to play to one's strengths while grasping the enemy's weak points to pressure them into desperation and death. Also…."
"Also?"
"Also, one must have absolute confidence in one's advantages. One absolutely cannot lose their imposing aura."
"That’s just a placebo that bastard Crag Burst poured into you, okay!?"
"It's amazing!"
Luo Nan expressed his admiration very sincerely, but this made Zhang Yingying look upward in anger. She really wanted to lift this kid by the ear and give him a lesson, but now was not the time for nonsense. She could only grit her teeth, suppress her temper, and explain things layer by layer.
"Let me tell you. Your advantages lie completely in long range techniques. And mostly on the mental plane. The Black Beetle you are facing right now knows you in and out. Plus, his strength far exceeds yours. Mental senses and similar foresights are half-useless. You have mental attack techniques, right? They look quite decent, but if the enemy is prepared, it wouldn't be hard for them to execute responsive measures.... They've already gone to this degree, so they won't be scared to put in a bit more effort."
Luo Nan seriously listened to Zhang Yingying's analysis, but he did not express an opinion. In the end, he just hung his head slightly down, closed his eyes, and breathed to adjust his mental state. When he opened his eyes, he simply said,
"I'll do my best not to confront them head on."
"You…."
“I’ve reached the 125th floor," Xue Lei spontaneously interrupted them, reminding them that action was better than talk. Further time wasted on this squabble would allow Black Beetle to come killing over.
"Roger."
Luo Nan gave him a short response. From beginning to end, regardless of Xue Lei or the two dangerous targets, they were all within the range of his senses. Luo Nan grasped each of their actions, and he was even able to estimate specific numbers.
"Puppeteer led the devil ray to ram against the wall. Black Beetle just got out of the elevator. The straight line distance is fifty-five meters and they’re advancing at a uniform velocity. There aren't any routes that are better. Move straight ahead!"
The first part of his speech was directed toward Zhang Yingying. The last three words were an order for Tian Si to dash inside the fire escape passageway. He even gave her a push.
"But, the bugs…." Tian Si's hairs stood on end when she looked at the dozen of ugly beetles piled atop each other. But she was quite strong-willed; her legs didn't go weak.
"Better than dealing with people."
Although he said this, Luo Nan shook his notebook and its pages spread apart, allowing another small paper man to jump out. It traveled outside the pile of beetles to help its companion break down the pressure and caused the battle to become livelier.
Tian Si couldn't laugh at all when seeing this miniature, comical battle. The series of strange events, starting from the mad security officers, gripped her heart from beginning to end. Luo Nan would occasionally cast her a glance, and this made her heart beat faster…. This was mostly because of fear.
But she remembered everything that Luo Nan had said through his wristband. This young man, who was around six years younger than her, didn't hide anything. All his apprehensions and thoughts were open and level. Luo Nan's calmness as he pondered the situation gave off a sense of tolerance and kindness. These attributes showed clearly.
Luo Nan didn't want her to be taken hostage, but this didn't mean that feelings existed between the two. He just wanted to avoid trouble. However, a truly ruthless person wouldn't have considered this at all.
Tian Si thought of 'that person', the person she tried to contact in secret. After the situation escalated, Tian Si had tried countless times to contact that person. The call was unable to go through. She was completely offline. Compared to Luo Nan, that person was more likely to manifest a callous, deep core behind those exquisite features.
It was quite odd for Tian Si to be able to think of all this in such dire circumstances. Perhaps this was a woman's gift?
Several thoughts and emotions churned in her mind before Tian Si let out a self-mocking laugh. A bit of calmness had reappeared in this constantly hazy and confusing situation. She stopped doing meaningless things, like hesitating, doubting, holding her breath, and so on. She cautiously headed straight forward toward the fire escape passageway.
The two small paper men were tangled in a clump with the beetles, but this meant that the path to the fire escape passageway was clear. Luo Nan and Tian Si walked a few paces. A bit of restlessness appeared when they passed the mass of beetles.
Tian Si instinctively shivered, and Luo Nan promptly reminded her. "Don't pay attention to them!"
Tian Si saw that she was only a few steps away from the door to the fire escape passageway. She simply closed her eyes and reached out with her arms. The speed of her legs didn't slow but instead quickened. Her hand touched the door in the span of a breath. The beetles she was so concerned about didn't turn around and come after her. The staircase was dusky, and there weren't more than a few of the beetles.
Luo Nan held the door open behind her, but he didn't go inside. He just faced Tian Si and said, "Head straight down. Don't think about the matter regarding the elevator."
"We're not going together?" Tian Si's words didn't receive a response from Luo Nan at all. The teenager before her eyes had long since turned around to intensely watch the situation atop the viewing platform. His body leaned against the half-opened door. His back was slightly bent so that he could spring into action at any time.
Tian Si hesitated a bit once again, but before Luo Nan could speak, a muffled explosion sounded at the viewing platform. The noise was enough to shake one's heart. Screams weaved within the deep and heavy sound.
A powerful jet of water sprayed from the middle of Heavenly Ocean Lake. The water rushed to the dome above, sweeping all the hanging decorations down to the ground.
What was more shocking was the enormous shadow within the jet of water. It seemed to push off the dome in a flip to heavily land. The pool of water fiercely rushed forth, spraying the surrounding displays. The tourists who were spurred by curiosity to surround the swimming pool and watch the commotion were knocked unsteadily. Some of them even fell into the water. They cried one after another.
The viewing platform was now a chaotic mess.
"He has considerable strength…. You're still not leaving?"
Tian Si watched, stupefied when faced with this scene. Only when Luo Nan reminded her did she finally understand that she was a meaningless character in this scene of crisis. She gritted her teeth, turned around, and hurriedly went down the stairs. Her heels clacked against the ground, and soon she disappeared without a trace.
Puppeteer's methods turned the viewing platform into a complete mess, but the beetles in front of the fire escape passageway became restless as well.
It was as if their intelligence instantly soared up by two levels. Most of the beetles flew up, and this allowed the paper men, who couldn't fly, to dispose of the rest.
The highly intelligent beetles of the bunch broke free from the stupid situation. They seized the opportunity to locate their true target. A dozen pairs of compound eyes locked on Luo Nan standing in front of the door to the fire escape passageway. They made a slight adjustment, buzzed, and swarmed over. The oppressive darkness gave off the vibe of a horror film.
Luo Nan didn't respond immediately. His gaze didn't even rest upon the mass of beetles. His gaze pierced through them to fall onto a certain someone on the viewing platform.
The imposing aura of the devil ray made the viewing platform a complete mess. Of the crowd of tourists, some held their heads in their hands. Some ran away. There were a few unfortunate people who were struggling in the water.
Only Luo Nan had his gaze rested on that person. The man wore black clothes that gave off the air of an investigator. He paired them with a gaudy tie, and he had one hand in his pocket. He sauntered over and was on a completely different wavelength than the other people on the viewing platform.
Although his pace was leisurely, his speed was actually extremely fast. It was as if he possessed a technique that shrank distance. He displayed outstanding body control and coordination.
This man was none other than Black Beetle.
Currently, Black Beetle and Luo Nan were merely forty meters apart from each other. A trained and experienced ability user could easily identify the target at this distance.
Black Beetle blasted Luo Nan with a laugh. The rainbow stripes engraved on his black teeth sent an aberrant and sinister force through the air.
The assaulting swarm of beetles had their speed increased by several dozen percent.
Luo Nan’s eyes closed halfway, and the imminent crisis seemed to blur with a layer of mist. His vision wasn't clear, but his heart lantern shimmered within the shrine that was his brain, revealing the flying trajectory of every beetle and even predicting their movements.
The trajectories crossed and extended, as an invisible spider web was laid out.
Luo Nan was situated in the center of this spider web. Any movement made by any beetle was reflected in his mind. They crawled on this spider web.
The beetles slowed down when they hit the spider web.
It wasn't that the beetles' speed had reduced; the beetles' extent of movement was lowered by a level thanks to the predictive nature of Luo Nan's judgment and awareness.
This was a newly learned skill. This was an application of the heart lantern of the eyes orifice.
At the same time, this skill had fused into his innate mental senses and was displaying its utility.
The flying beetles were just as Luo Nan had judged. Realistically speaking, they were no different than his paper men on the ground. They were all merely mediums of the activation of soul strength. They were core vehicles. They were operational structures of energy and information.
Under the clairvoyance of Luo Nan's mental senses, the special configurations of each and every beetle's body were revealed. There existed a slight difference with the pyramid shape he was most familiar with, but Papercut's lectures had touched upon several of those fundamental morphing patterns.
Therefore, on the plane visible to the naked eye, the changing core structure of the numerous beetles was tied to a certain rhythm. All this entered Luo Nan's clairvoyance. Not a hair was missing as they were projected into his mind.
And so, Luo Nan's mental senses blended together with the illumination of his heart lantern. The spider web originally involved only the movement of material bodies, but several more facets were incorporated all of a sudden. They were numerous and close together, and they piled layer upon layer.
The beetles' flying assault immediately slowed by a factor once more.
In the realm of reaction, being slower by a beat was tantamount to being slower by a world of difference. Luo Nan's situation was far more extreme.
Various changes caused synchronized reactions to form in the control center of Luo Nan's body, and Luo Nan performed responses in accordance to the level of danger. Luo Nan stepped to the side, let go of the door to the fire escape, and added a bit more force to the automatic spring of the door.
This was a series of simple actions. The rarest thing about them was how clear it was. It wasn't messy at all, and it had a leisurely air to it. It was the embodiment of full body coordination.
Half of the results of Luo Nan's ten days of cultivation in the heart lantern of the eyes orifice lay in here.
The door heavily closed, and the beetles’ inability to dodge in time through the glass of the door could be witnessed. They collided into the door, sounding like the pelting of hail. The sound was quite crisp.
Of course, this wasn't enough to stop them.
Although these beetles weren't made of steel, a few impacts like these weren't enough to hurt them. Luo Nan wasn't hoping for this blow to be successful; he just wanted to use the door to block them as he ran down the stairs.
He still had his eyes half-closed as he ran. The invisible spider web revolved around him in the void.
There it was right above him on the mental plane he was oh so familiar with. A vicious and ugly shadow heeded his call and emerged by his side. It was in the center of the spider web as well. Its six eyes circulated with light as it absorbed information in all directions. It was the executioner that took out the three mad security officers a moment ago.
Human-Faced Arachnid.
It unleashed its siege hammer attack in the next instant.