Translator: Strivon

  Tian Si couldn’t understand what Luo Nan was saying at all. She just saw the mad security guard fall face first to the ground. The police baton fell from the man’s hand, and it rolled to their feet.

  She instinctively wanted to pick up the baton and use it to protect herself. She bent over, but Luo Nan kicked the baton away.

  "Don’t waste time. You take this elevator and go first."

  Luo Nan urged Tian Si to move faster. Tian Si hesitated slightly, but came out from behind Luo Nan. She was heading right toward the elevator when another ding! rang out. A second elevator arrived, and its position was right next to the previous one.

  Tian Si walked a step forward, leading Luo Nan by half a body. She then raised her head and saw the previous scene…… but with twice the amount of people. Two security officers wore the same expressions as they came out of the elevator. One of them even wielded a riot gun.

  Tian Si stared into the pitch-black muzzle of the gun. Her vermilion lips spread open, but she was unable to utter a sound. Fear was strangling her throat, and this time she didn’t have the chance to hide. But because of this, the scene was projected clearly into her pupils which were dilated from fear. The two mad security officers’ eyes rolled white, and they fell to the ground.

  She made not a sound over the entire course of events. It was as if she turned mute. The people atop the viewing platform had yet to be aware of what happened, but the more things transpired like this, the more the elements of strangeness and mystery seeped into the bottom of her heart.

  Tian Si unconsciously covered her mouth with her hand. Her ice-cold palm felt a bit of warmth from her breath. This allowed her to confirm that she still lived in the world of reality. But why? Why was she suddenly thrust into this level of conflict?

  Luo Nan didn’t have the leisure to ponder the thoughts of a woman. At that point in time, Tian Si became still, unable to move. Luo Nan gave her a light push and said, "Go!"

  Tian Si chewed on her lip as she nervously strode two steps forth. But something happened at this moment. She heard the faint sound of the elevator suddenly stopping, and the entire row of elevators’ display screens lost their lights.

  The power had been cut off. The metal doors automatically closed, blocking Tian Si outside.

  Whether it was Tian Si or Luo Nan, both were instantly shocked. Then Luo Nan smiled a mere half a second later. It can’t be discerned whether or not he was laughing. "The enemy is certainly prepared."

  His voice hung in the air, and a heavy vibration came passing over. The ground beneath their feet shook slightly. They clearly felt a tremor.

  "Earthquake?" This was the first thought that came to Tian Si’s mind. Xia City had already endured over a month of earthquakes. But then a second wave of vibration followed closely after. With it came the roaring sound of water, which was clearly coming from the direction of the Heavenly Ocean Lake.

  The few tourists on the viewing platform were completely astonished. Some people stuck their heads toward the Heavenly Ocean Lake. Some even walked over.

  Tian Si looked that way as well, but she was pulled away by Luo Nan. "Let’s go to the fire escape passageway."

  Luo Nan no longer placed concern upon the failed elevators. He quickly decided a direction, walked briskly a few steps, and grabbed the confused Tian Si behind him. He wanted her to follow him.

  In a daze, Tian Si followed him for a few steps and stepped over one of the collapsed bodies of the mad security officers. This time she didn’t stumble, but she was stimulated instead. After all, when things reach an extreme, they could only move in the opposite direction. Her mind became much clearer. She thought of something, stopped moving, and bent over to pick up the riot gun on the ground.

  Clang clang.

  A foot came streaking across. It brushed against Tian Si’s fingertips and kicked the riot gun several meters away.

  Tian Si’s heart instantly throbbed. All her complicated and chaotic emotions were stuffed in there to the point of exploding. She suddenly stood up and faced Luo Nan with a courage that came out of who knew where. She shouted, but she still subconsciously suppressed her voice. "I need a weapon to defend myself, okay!?"

  Luo Nan simply said, "I’m not using it, and you can’t use it either."

  "Based on what!?"

  "I recently took a course that covered situations similar to the one we’re in now. Non-combatants shouldn’t wield deadly weapons. If they do, the first to be harmed would likely be me."

  Tian Si knew that she shouldn’t get angry, but she couldn’t stand having her dignity trampled on. She raised her voice. "I’ve taken military training before. I won’t hurt you by accident…… Or are you saying, that you’re worried that I’ll shoot you in the back when you’re not looking?"

  "With the enemy possessing some kind of control ability, there is always the chance."

  Having said this, Luo Nan slightly raised his wrist. He asked through the wristband opened in communications, "The enemy can control normal people, and the controller can have his victims move however he wants. The victims possess strange emotions. What sort of ability is this?"

  Zhang Yingying instantly responded with the user of this ability, "It’s Puppeteer! He’s a member of the investigation team. He’s a master in advanced hypnosis. He has the ability to control living beings with complicated minds. Aside from people, he can control higher intelligent beasts or Mutants, as long as he doesn’t get eaten by them."

  "He’s the one in the crystal pillar. I can confirm it."

  Zhang Yingying snorted coldly. "Stay away from that stupid woman if you want to live. You should have split from her from the beginning……"

  Luo Nan prompted Tian Si to follow him. Then he laughed. "The enemy has made ample preparations. I may have to deal with a hostage threat situation. It is better for her to be by my side. It gives me peace of mind."

  "Are you fond of her?"

  "Who knows~? In any case, we should try to avoid risks."

  Zhang Yingying choked on her words before angrily saying, "I’m just afraid that you can’t protect her, and she becomes a hostage threat like you said."

  "That’s just a problem of ability."

  Luo Nan locked onto two threat targets via his mental senses as he cautiously observed the surrounding situation. At the same time, he talked with Zhang Yingying and devoted a bit of mental energy in watching Tian Si.

  Many lines of operation. Many sides to pay attention to. This was a bitter task for anyone, but Luo Nan could handle it. He was able to do all these neatly in a completely non-chaotic manner.

  In fact, Luo Nan’s brain had truly become much clearer through the last ten days of cultivation. He went through lessons and exchanges with Yueyin, Bamboo Pole, Papercut, and the others. They tacitly wanted him to understand explicitly several matters of common sense and norms. This was to prepare him for times when decisions needed to be made. Which essential elements that needed to be considered. What could be ignored. Luo Nan gained a fixed set of rules regarding this.

  There was also his cultivation with the heart lantern of the eyes orifice. Even if he had yet to reach steady progression in it, his accomplishments were already enough to advance his reaction and coordination ability by leaps and bounds. No matter what situation he faced, he would find it much easier than before. He had a fixed set of rules he could follow.

  He even devoted a bit of mental effort to Xue Lei. "Leister, steady yourself a bit. Don’t charge too fiercely."

  "No problem. I’m around the 110th floor. I’ll be there soon." Xue Lei’s breathing remained relatively steady, but he was clearly in a nervous mood.

  Luo Nan calmed him. "No need to be so tense. I’ve already dealt with three of them. This move of Puppeteer’s is useless against me."

  He arrived at the fire escape passageway as he spoke. Just as he was about to push the door open, he sensed that something was wrong. His heart lantern of the eyes orifice faintly flashed, and he withdrew his arm immediately. There was a dark green beetle atop the handle of the door. It lashed out with its blade-pincers, seeking to stab Luo Nan’s fingers, but missing by a hair.

  The blade-pincers had a sharp point, serrated inner edges, and glowed with a lush green. Luo Nan suspected that the result of being stabbed by it wouldn’t be pretty.

  The strike had missed. The beetle, which was the size of a fist, buzzed, spread its wings, and cleaved down toward his face.

  Amid Tian Si’s startled cry, Luo Nan swung the loose-leaf folder in his other hand like a fly swatter. It whistled in the air, and the dark green beetle jumped up and avoided it. Then the beetle pounced down, displaying intelligence inconceivable for an insect.

  It seemed as if Luo Nan could not block the beetle, having swung with full force and missed. But a thin piece of paper drifted out of Luo Nan’s loose-leaf notebook. The paper was within the beetle’s attack trajectory, and it transformed in the air. It contracted like a spring and exploded open to reveal a small figure. It flew down from up high with a flying kick to knock the beetle far away.

  The sole move exhausted all of its strength, and the small figure fell atop Luo Nan’s shoulder. It was a paper man the size of a palm. Its four limbs were of equal sizes, and its face was indistinct. It was just a thin piece of paper, but it adopted a boxing stance. It appeared quite lively in its oddness.

  The series of changes happened as rapidly as a falcon swooping down the instant a hare rose. Tian Si only cried out in alarm at this moment.

  Things were far from over. The beetle, which was knocked flying, shook a bit before pouncing back over while approximately seven beetles came flying through the slit of the door to the fire escape passageway. They appeared to be cast from the same mold. They buzzed with their wings and zoomed over all at once. They formed an oppressive mass of darkness, and it made one’s scalp go numb from simply looking at them.

  Luo Nan hurriedly retreated, bringing Tian Si along with him.

  A hair earlier, the small paper man atop his shoulder had soared to the skies. It cast the figure of a courageous fighting master as it faced the enemy head on. It possessed no fear as its fists punched and its legs kicked. Its strikes were heavy, for it sent three of the beetles flying one after another, stopping the momentum of the beetle assault.

  But no matter how brave and tenacious the small paper man was, it was at a disadvantage in numbers. Its body was in no way inferior to the pack of beetles, but the few were no match for the many. Plus, it didn’t possess the ability to fly. It had to push off the beetles in order to stay in the air, so it had limited movement. Soon it was in dire circumstances, and one of its arms was torn off to drift to the ground.

  Luckily, the beetles’ reactions weren’t that keen nor shrewd. The small paper man’s aura confused them, and they dropped to the ground to crowd around the arm. The small size of the target made it so that only a few of the beetles could get to it at once. This gave the small paper man time to recover.

  Luo Nan continued to withdraw. His gaze never left the small battlefield as he asked, "Is controlling beetles also one of Puppeteer’s skills?"

  "……" Zhang Yingying didn’t immediately respond.

  "Hello?"

  A sharp honk rang out. Zhang Yingying had smacked down hard, sounding her car’s horn. She was rushing over here and was suddenly startled by Luo Nan’s words. She couldn’t control herself as she furiously said, "It’s Black Beetle. That asshole! He has a conscience even smaller than a beetle’s."

  "Black Beetle?"

  Luo Nan recalled that fellow. It seemed that he, Zhang Yingying, Bamboo Pole, and a few others belonged to the same gaming group. During the operation to stop the Human-Faced Arachnid at Limestone Water Village Pub, Black Beetle had left just because he hated the blunt way He Yueyin talked to him. After that event, he received a bad evaluation for his contribution to the operation. He took it out on Luo Nan, calling him on the phone and threatening him.

  It was really unknown how Zhang Yingying and the others could play with someone with this personality.

  At present, this person had already made his move, and it was made against Luo Nan. Black Beetle’s stance was very clear.

  Zhang Yingying went silent for several seconds after speaking. Her voice lowered to a whisper. She didn’t mention personal matters; she just said, "Don’t look at him as a sorcerer. Pay attention to his close-quarter attacks. His speed isn’t fast, but he makes weird changes. He possesses explosive strength, and he has many malicious techniques."

  Luo Nan’s gaze scanned across the mass of beetles. "That’s really bad. Right, is he an activation class?"

  "What?" Zhang Yingying didn’t understand for a time.

  "Soul strength activation. What Papercut is proficient in. Aren’t people divided into ’control class’ and ’activation class’? He looks quite like an activation class to me."

  Zhang Yingying still didn’t understand what Luo Nan was getting at. She just said, "Correct, he’s an activation class. However, I want you to be wary of his close-quarters attacks. That’s what’s most effective against you."

  "I know."

  Luo Nan gave a casual reply, his gaze never leaving the cloud of beetles. At the same time, Luo Nan made a subtle adjustment in the precision of his mental senses. He locked dead on to the owner of the cloud of beetles. The enemy’s elevator had already arrived at the 142nd floor.