Master of the Stars

Chapter 54: Metal Bug (Part ½)

It’s said that the intelligence of crows exceeded that of a seven-year-old child.

It was unknown whether it was due to being gifted or due to the result of being subjected to the frequent hypnotism, but Ink’s intelligence clearly exceeded that of its species. Its intuition and reactions were also excellent.

It spiraled for several rotations without seeing a trace of any person, then it descended down to a protrusion from a large skyscraper to look in all directions and caw over and over. Clearly, it was using its usual methods to get Luo Nan’s attention.

Luo Nan’s soul body was about 700 meters away at this moment. He saw how Ink was acting, so he stirred telepathically. The heavily chained crow crackled with its call and psychic waves clustered together to be launched towards Ink.

This was originally just an experiment, but Ink was clearly quivering. The feathers of its body raised straight up and then it immediately twisted its head.

It couldn’t see anything in the darkness, but it still flew up after a moment's hesitation. It flew over to the location of Luo Nan’s soul body. When it came here, it began to spiral in a glide. It really did seem to be able to feel Luo Nan’s existence.

“Good boy!”

Luo Nan was quite happy and he tried to use this completely new method to communicating with Ink. And sure enough, the results were several times better than just using pure hypnotism. Most especially was the feedback he received from Ink; it was more direct and clear. There was a great psychic connection.

The six otherworldly eyes of the Human Faced Arachnid adjusted their views. It seemed to be paying attention to the newly arrived companion. Of course, the Human Faced Arachnid intrinsically didn’t have self-awareness. This was only an effect from the bidirectional relationship with Luo Nan.

Luo Nan felt that he was just like a sorcerer from ancient times. The heavily chained crow was his artifact. It coiled around his soul body like a giant python.

The Human-Faced Arachnid was his summoned demon and Ink was his spirit animal that he had tamed. His strength really did manifest itself through this sort of method.

Time was of the essence. Luo Nan shouldn’t be spending too much time tarrying with Ink. But then a subtle stimulation was sent to him right when he was about to let Ink go home.

Luo Nan was stunned for a moment, but soon he was able to differentiate that the stimulation came from the HexaEar.

The utility of this micro device was inconceivable. It had detected a lack of response from Luo Nan’s main body, then it captured the subtle senses of the out-of-body soul and transformed information into psychic waves that were even purer. The information crossed several tens of kilometers of distance through the frequency of Luo Nan’s senses to accurately enter Luo Nan’s mental plane.

The information that came was a chat request, and along with it came a default notification from the Psychic Wave Network:

Do you want to start the “Long Distance Remote Sensing” function?

If this function didn’t activate due to skipping the dialog, the HexaEar would assume that the owner was in a deep sleep state.

This was truly an inconceivable invention!

Luo Nan was forced to pay his respects to the legendary President Ouyang. The inventor had certainly given ample consideration towards souls in out-of-body states and had implemented this function.

Octopus Bro had described President Ouyang’s excellent achievements in the realm of the mentally enhanced. From the HexaEar, Luo Nan could see that there was quite the basis behind Octopus Bro’s words.

Luo Nan pondered only a moment before choosing to start the function. This was because he had seen who had requested the call. It was Crag Burst.

Crag Burst, a fellow member of the Wilderness Explorers Society, and Luo Nan were at the same restaurant just then. They didn’t meet face to face during that time though.

Luo Nan guessed that Crag Burst wanted to meet up or something. But right now he really wasn’t in the mood. Anyway, he wanted to confirm the current situation within the restaurant.

The remote sensing function was activated and the information coming from Crag Burst was driven via psychic waves to collide with Luo Nan in the air.

Luo Nan, who was in soul form, was inexplicably dazzled. This was a totally different experience than when he was in his normal state.

In the instant he was absent-minded, Crag Burst’s rough and somewhat lispy voice sounded forth. It looked like he commonly used the HexaEar as a telephone:

“Mr. Luo, did you leave?”

Luo Nan was baffled about Crag Burst’s certainty of this. Could it be that Crag Burst had gone to the hall in search of him? Luo Nan paused, then he replied with an answer that wasn’t really a lie:

“Yes. I’m with my family.”

Crag Burst let out a laugh: “So you really left just like that? How weak. You can’t even make your way back to the field!? Luckily, I drank less alcohol than usual. I’ll come over and find you.”

“......” Luo Nan was speechless for some time.

Indeed, good deeds don’t see the light of day while misdeeds travel a thousand miles.1 Luo Nan’s miserable appearance in the restaurant would soon be widely spread within the Society.

Crag Burst was a clever man. His thought process was very straight forward. He probably felt that Luo Nan had tossed away his honor and wanted to retrieve it later on. Crag Burst was really quite willing to help out. Unfortunately, Luo Nan’s current state would bound to make it difficult for Crag Burst to lend Luo Nan some strength.

Wait. Luo Nan stared fixed at Ink spiraling around in the air. An idea suddenly sprouted in his mind:

“Is your get-together over?”

“I’ve stopped drinking. Of course everyone left…… Hey! What are you thinking?” Crag Burst clearly wanted to watch the world burn.

Luo Nan would have had a headache towards people like this before, but now, he wanted none other than Crag Burst: “I’ll need some time to get there. Did those people leave yet?”

“It seems like they’re moving along rather quickly. If you’re slow for a moment, you’ll lose your chance…… Oh crap. They came out! Even meals during work don’t go that fast!”

Did the negotiations between the Rainbow Fund and the Construction Society go smoothly, or did they part on bad terms?

Luo Nan was disinclined to spend time thinking about this question. He gave a glance to Ink and he spoke to Crag Burst: “Help me keep an eye on them. Share me their location. Maintain contact. I’m making my way over to meet up with you.”

“You want me to tail them? This isn’t a problem, but are you sure you can make it back in time? You don’t need me to stall for time or something?”

“......You don’t need to for now.”

“Alright then. If you need me to, just let me know. My Tiger Burst has yet to be put to use!”

“Much thanks.”

Luo Nan did not say much more to this heavy-hitter who was eager to get in on the action. Luo Nan hung up the phone and put his attention once more onto the airborne Ink.

Ink appeared to have felt Luo Nan’s “gaze” and it let out two coarse caws. Its feathers quivered and it glided even more cheerfully within the blurred fog.

A crackling cry rang forth. The heavily chained crow’s movements increased its speed from upon Luo Nan’s soul body. The Human-Faced Arachnid also experienced this change. Its devilish and ugly head reared up. Its six eyes flickered. And it let out a hiss that only existed on the mental plane.

There wasn’t truly nighttime in Xia City. All sorts of neon lights constructed a spattered sky exclusive to night. The beat of revelry mixed everywhere, permeating into the hearts of every roaming person.

Crag Burst opened his car window and a torrent of heavy metal music came blasting out along with surging lyrics and loud roars. Crag Burst completely ignored the gazes cast at him from the flow of traffic.

“Smash the chest open! Embrace the soft flesh and blood! Rah! Rah! Rah!”

Probably no one would expect that this fellow was doing a shadowing operation. Crag Burst didn’t have a conscientious mind. He just felt that everything was a-okay as long as the target’s vehicle was within his sights!

“Rip apart the throat! Kiss…… Oh d*mn!”

A bold and fierce crow had dangerously swept over to the top of his car, brushing against the top of the cars in front. While it was true that this was quite the thrilling stimulation, the scene had disrupted the tempo of his music.

And so he reached his hand out of the window and pointed towards the sky: “Just go die already! Experience the anger that stems from within me! Rah! Rah! Rah!”

Then right at this time came news of Luo Nan through the HexaEar:

“Maintain speed of the car. I have arrived.”

The voice had yet to finish speaking when a jet-black shadow came ramming in through the back window. Two feathers could be seen drifting down.

1. Crag Burst witnessing the incident between Luo Nan and Yan Yongbo in the restaurant. In Chapter 53.1, there was the following line: For example, there was a two meter tall giant with a red face from being drunk. He leaned against the wall and rashly turned his head over to look. His large size would make it hard not to be noticed.