Master of the Stars

Crag Burst was stupefied upon being caught in Luo Nan’s gaze. He soon came back to reality, and he immediately withdrew back. "Don’t you say that you want to do things all by yourself. And don’t you say you want everyone to help each other. This is the work you mental dogs should be doing. I am a physical class.... You should just ask me to go kill the folks at Headquarters."

Luo Nan wasn’t counting on him. He laughed, and his gaze deviated. "Worker Zhai, I need to request this of you."

Worker Zhai gaped with his mouth. In the end, he could only shake his head with a bitter smile. He expressed himself many times that he was powerless in this situation. He wasn’t being humble. This was the final conclusion he obtained after evaluating the resources and technology. This ’request’ was impossible to resolve.

He merely listened to Luo Nan say, "I know it’s useless to be anxious about this, and I don’t expect to see success after a mere one or two months. I just want to take this chance and ask you to help me establish a foundation."

Luo Nan wasn’t someone who had a way with words. He stopped once he spoke to this point. He saw that Worker Zhai didn’t immediately refuse, and he followed his train of thought in continuing, "I am also a mentally enhanced ability user. And I am precision-focused as well. Brother Papercut also mentioned that I naturally should step into the repair technician business. I learn, and you teach. We can even have social exchanges...."

Crag Burst saw how much effort Luo Nan was putting in formulating his words, and he couldn’t resist from helping, "In your case, both teacher and student will benefit!"

The words reminded Worker Zhai of something. His eyes lit up as he comprehended that this sixteen-year-old high school student was already an official member of the Society. Luo Nan certainly far surpassed him in mental cultivation. He thought about how Luo Nan could obtain such achievements at such a young age. Aside from having outstanding talent, Luo Nan must be quite skilled in cultivating techniques. At the very least, Luo Nan’s methods should be better than his rogue cultivation.

As such, not only would both teacher and student benefit, a mutual exchange of assistance was possible.

Many years had slipped away with him outside the gate to the Society. His goal was in sight, but unattainable. Even though he was optimistic, there was always some worry in his mind. At this moment, there suddenly was a turn for the better, and Worker Zhai’s heart stirred.

But then he saw the complicated structure of the shadow web, and he saw the myriad of diagrams flashing through the hologram. His brain felt a faint ache. It was easy to accept Luo Nan as a student, but no matter which ways they go about it, Luo Nan’s ultimate target still lay with the dynamo core. In regard to this, Worker Zhai didn’t even have a direction to start with.

It wasn’t his style to deceive others and deceive himself. It wasn’t his style to fail to carry things through.

Worker Zhai subconsciously let out a sigh.

Luo Nan knew that Worker Zhai’s attitude had somewhat changed. But there was an unwillingness to let go in the bottom of his heart. He thought for a while, and he walked up to the workbench. "You mentioned just now that you lack parameters?"

Worker Zhai’s emotions were a complete mess. He removed his portable microscope and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Actually, the problem lies with the research direction. Kinetic energy transformation is only the simplest step. How does it store it? How does it perform work with that energy? How does it appear within this precise structure? It involves far too many things."

"I don’t quite understand the engineering side of things, but for the direction, I can propose a starting point. Do you have a pen?"

Luo Nan asked for a digital drafting pen. He drew a figure on the three-dimensional projection, on the shadow web.

His many years of quick sketching had increased his basic skills. The digital pen’s lustrous lines of light streaked and flowed easily. An iota of arcs formed circles in front of the roughest ends of tentacles.

Then the tip of the pen cut around the surface of the sphere to draw a tetrahedron. Afterwards, at the perimeter of the tetrahedron, at the end points of the tetrahedron, the pen drew out a larger circle.

Worker Zhai saw clearly the entire process of Luo Nan’s work. He also saw clearly the figure that was drawn. He was dumbfounded on the spot.

A circle. A tetrahedron. Another circle. These three figures were nested within each other. Their relationships were clear, and the points at which the figures connected, as well as the area they covered, greatly matched up with the three-level tentacle structure of the dynamo core. The matching wasn’t one of a strong beat or a weak beat. It was a harmony that warmed the heart and delighted the eye.

Pure feeling was unreliable in the field of engineering, but feeling was often the guide to success.

"Archetype Format?"

Crag Burst blurted this out. He soon corrected himself, being under Luo Nan’s blazing eyes. "Formatting Theory.... What a coincidence?"

"It’s quite a coincidence. We might as well try."

Luo Nan didn’t understand the mechanical design, but he knew that it involved the dynamo core. He knew that there would be a pleasant surprise if he overlapped it with Formatting Theory. This was proven before by Jack.

He threw the digital pen down and turned around. "Worker Zhai, these are my thoughts. You might as well think it over again. We can get in touch with each other at any time."

Worker Zhai’s gaze was glued to the three-dimensional diagram. He was unable to withdraw his gaze for a time.

Luo Nan and Crag Burst bid their farewells. They didn’t take the hovering target with them, and they left the miniature rhombohedron behind as well. Worker Zhai didn’t object to this.

Basically, they already reached an agreement to work together. The agreement was likely to last quite a while. Even with Formatting Theory as a reference, completely breaking through the mysteries of the dynamo core was absolutely not an easy task.

Xue Lei hung up the phone on his end to go have a headache over how to hide this matter for a longer period of time. As for Luo Nan, he sat in the back of the jeep. His brows were always furrowed during his deep contemplation. The load on his mind was heavy.

Crag Burst couldn’t hold back from asking, "Where to now?"

"The branch’s laboratory."

"Uh, so we’re going to Shanding Towers?"

Luo Nan came back to reality. "I’m saying that I need the research data that the branch’s laboratory has on the dynamo core. I need all of it. I also need their future data on their future progress."

"What’s there to think about regarding this? Just directly access the data."

"Then draw attention to myself and be watched?"

Crag Burst grinned. It wasn’t a problem to access data, but if Luo Nan wanted follow-up updates and in-depth participation, he would draw unwanted attention to himself and cause more issues to arise.

"Then let’s rotate. Let Secretary He help and divide things clearly. We can also use an intermediary. In any case, the intermediaries and representatives have been beat down to quite a tragic situation nowadays. Secretary He is quite skillful in finding incision points."

The so-called intermediaries and representatives were internal members of the Society. They were hired by external powers, and they used their privileges as members of the Society to sell internal resources of the Society. Last time after the operation with Jack as the target, there were a few intermediaries who were commissioned by Quantum Corporation. They paid high prices to buy back relevant equipment. They bought back practically all the seized goods back.

Crag Burst still felt that accessing the data wasn’t something hard. His train of thought diverged, and he said, "In the beginning, a group of intermediaries caused the price of the dynamo core to fiercely soar. They completely stopped now. Apparently, the financial backer behind them changed? I’m saying that Quantum Corporation...."

"They still don’t have a backer." Luo Nan shook his head.

The financial backer that Crag Burst was talking about was none other than Luo Nan’s old ’family friend’, Yan Yongbo. That man’s life wasn’t easy these days. He flew back and forth between Xia City and Los Angeles, becoming a frequent flyer. Though things were this way, Yan Yongbo’s position in Quantum Corporation remained on the verge of collapse.

The enemy was in an unstable situation. This more or less alleviated the pressure that Luo Nan felt.

They chatted for quite a while, but Crag Burst still didn’t know where Luo Nan wanted to go. He was just about to ask again when a call came through on the Psychic Wave Network.

"Yingying? I’m working today. Not bad. I’m Boss Luo’s personal bodyguard.... He’s next to me."

Crag Burst spoke a few words and put the call onto the multimedia system of the jeep. The central control display hologram lit up, revealing the upper half of Zhang Yingying’s figure.

Zhang Yingying was dressed in tight-fitting gym clothes. There was a bit of sweat on her forehead, and a few strands of hair stuck to it. A white towel was wrapped around her neck. She looked like Xue Lei just before. They were both engaging in large volumes of exercise and training. She waved hello to Luo Nan and beamed. "Hello, Boss Luo. Are you interested in coming over to swap pointers? Let me experience your heart lantern of the eyes orifice."

"Next time," Luo Nan responded simply.

Zhang Yingying’s invitation lacked sincerity. She disregarded the matter after waving her hand and switched topics. "So there’s a bit of something. I originally wanted to call you on Monday, but since you’re here right now, I can just tell you. There’s money to be made. Are you in?"

Luo Nan frowned, "What money?"

Zhang Yingying’s eyebrows shot up. "Money to buy the devil ray! Don’t say you already have it."

Luo Nan was very honest. "I haven’t found a way to make money."

"Oh, really?" Zhang Yingying laughed even more delightedly. "I’m giving you a chance to do an odd job. Do you want it?"

An odd job? I can make sixty million from odd jobs? Luo Nan didn’t talk. He just looked coldly at Zhang Yingying pretending to be awesome.

Zhang Yingying was displeased now. "What does that look in your eyes mean? I’m not lying to you. My company has been expanding its business these days. We don’t have enough manpower, and we don’t have any capable newcomers these days. As long as you’re willing to run along out, the rewards will be quite generous. It may not be enough to fill your pockets, but it won’t hurt. Hurry up! Do you agree or not? Talk to me!"

Crag Burst laughed to the side, "Businesses always report what kind of work they offer. What if it requires being a prostitute or an escort? Do we still have to take it?"

Zhang Yingying grinned in delight, revealing her teeth. She wasn’t angry. She turned and shouted, "Boss! Crag Burst is telling you to sell yourself at nightclubs!"

"Oh my god!"

Crag Burst muscular body immediately shrunk by a factor of two. He wished with all his might to stuff himself under the driver’s seat. Even Luo Nan subconsciously looked up in disbelief.

Zhang Yingying laughed heartily. Obviously, her majesty the Martial Empress wasn’t by her side. But the result was still exceptionally good.

Crag Burst recovered and immediately started cursing, "A fox who exploits the tiger’s might. Using powerful connections to intimidate people...."

"Foxes are really beautiful!" Zhang Yingying raised her hands to her head, pointing two fingers up and out. She wriggled them in a very lively manner.

Crag Burst spat out in contempt, "What the f*ck! Those are bunny ears!"

Luo Nan couldn’t hold back from grinning.

Zhang Yingying blinked at Luo Nan. She beamed as she sent some information to Luo Nan. "These are the details of our subcontracted business. Time is tight. Give us a response soon. Oh right, my boss is allowing me to tell you this. Thanks for all you’ve done. She has had quite a few social activities recently, and she’s made a lot of money. And, there are people chasing after her!"

"You’re welcome."

Luo Nan’s smile faded as he spoke. Zhang Yingying was clearly saying that quite a few people were trying to gain her majesty the Martial Empress’s approval from inside the Xia City branch, while looking at Luo Nan unfavorably.

This was within his expectations.

"Hello, you’re not worried?"

"There’s no point to being worried. I never harbored aspirations of being popular."

Crag Burst coughed, "Yingying is saying that you should pay your respects and recognize her as your godmother...."

"Just die!" Zhang Yingying simply extended her middle finger. "If the boss doesn’t speak, you won’t even be able to find the door."

Then she gave Luo Nan a smile. "Relax, relax. Don’t let your imagination run wild. And don’t look so miserable day in and day out. The boss and the President are all watching. Headquarters won’t perform their theatrics a second time. As for making money, that’s much easier. We as ability users just need to find the right method, and we can make money even by sleeping."

Crag Burst blurted, "That’s still selling...."

Zhang Yingying sent Crag Burst the middle finger once more. Two of them.