Master of the Stars

Jack shrugged: “I’m just saying that you’re living much more comfortably than that old man. Thirty years have passed with Dr. Yan Hong facing contention. Is he still in that sorry state?”

Yan Yongbo couldn’t care less about Jack’s mockery. Instead, he laughed in a low voice: “Nope, he’s in an even worse state now. So much so that he’s being marginalized. Well, nothing can be done about that, his research ability is just on that level. Getting more data will just make him squander away a few more days, then his state will become even more terrible. Besides......”

Yan Yongbo tapped his temples after a slight pause: “I can’t imagine doing business with a dead man.”

Jack stared at the hologram for a good while before laughing hoarsely: “I thought a sniper was going to cause my skull to explode just now.”

“How is that possible? I called you with the intention of making friends. But Jack, your opinion is putting me in a very difficult position. You suddenly told me that you don’t want to return back to the Deep Blue World?”

“Perhaps if you had never called me, I would have already boarded the transport airship by now? Assistant Yan, you were the source of this inspiration.”

“Oh, ha!”

Yan Yongbo was amused by Jack’s deflection. He confirmed once more that this hoodlum’s mental state was truly abnormal. His hints were already extremely clear okay?

“Jack, Jack. I just contacted you with thoughts of goodwill. Are you sure there aren’t any problems with your cerebral nucleus?

Yan Yongbo cut to the chase. His intention was very simple:

Jack was an Altered Human. It didn’t matter whether it was the Apocalypse Laboratory or Quantum Corporation, to ensure loyalty from disposable items, they would need to use a few technological means.

For instance, the “cerebral nucleus”, which was installed in Jack’s brain, provided the template for several high-level thought processes as well as monitoring and recording capabilities. If Jack was confirmed to be revolting, the laboratory possessed specialized equipment designed to destroy the functionality of the cerebral nucleus. Jack wouldn’t be dead with the destruction of the cerebral nucleus, but he would turn mentally disabled with a serious impediment to his cognition.

It was impossible for Yan Yongbo to do any sort of collaboration with Jack as long as the issue with Jack’s cerebral nucleus wasn’t settled; he would be tossing himself into trouble otherwise.

Of course, if Jack really did have some method to..... Oh! Holy hell!

Yan Yongbo’s eyes bulged wide in the next moment.

Jack subtly shook his head and his lips split into a laugh. Upon his pale skin, wrapped around his clothes, was a layer of dark red glowing flames.

The surrounding air became warped by the high temperature of the roasting flames. The wooden floor beneath his feet charred black from the flames as well and had even ignited on fire.

The problem was that there wasn’t any damage at all to Jack’s skin and clothing. It was as if the flames were just an illusion.

The dark red flames shined through the hologram, burning Yan Yongbo’s eyes. Yan Yongbo’s body leaned forward unconsciously to carefully observe the degree of warping in the surrounding air, regardless of how piercing the glow of flames were to his eyes. He finally arrived at a conclusion several seconds later:

“The Format of Fire!”

“It is as you see.”

Jack’s body continued to emit the flames as he subtly squinted his eyes. The flames were clearly wrapped around his body, yet he was enjoying it incomparably.

Yan Yongbo was stunned for a long while before speaking: “The alteration you’ve had was the third generation technology of Burners? No, that’s not right. I’ve seen your profile before. The ratio of artificial organs to regular organs you possess reaches 55%. That is far from the upper limit of 14% required by the Archetype Format......”

Jack extended his thumb and forefinger to perform an action of lengthening a line: “Dynamo Core Technology.”

“Are you making fun of me?”

Yan Yongbo was no longer reserved. He stood up and slammed his two hands against his table: “Even though I am of the first generation of Burners......”

“The world’s very first.”

“...... Fine. Thanks.”

After thanking through gritted teeth, Yan Yongbo said: “It’s true that I am a first generation Burner. But I’ve practically always been at the Apocolypse Laboratory for six years ever since the year 90. I’ve never missed a time when a new technology was developed, from the very beginning with the simple burning of life force to the integration with exoskeleton armors of the second generation to the internal structural enhancement of the third generation. Of course, this also includes the fourth generation of the Dynamo Core technology. Do you remember Jack? I gave you the Deep Sea Type 4 Dynamo Core just now!”

Jack moved his fingers around as he looked at the burning flames coiling around his body. He was like a child who had just received a precious toy, loving it too much to part with it.

“When you’re talking about the fourth generation Dynamo Core technology, are you referring to the laughable results of your old man? The results that were completely led by the nose by others? The castrative technology that made Quantum Corporation complacent?”

Jack raised his eyes and met Yan Yongbo’s cold gaze directly: “My Dynamo Core technology isn’t as complicated. It’s merely a correct application of the Dynamo Core. It gives an Altered Human, no, any human, the key method of becoming a Burner.”

A silence was both inside and outside the hologram for a time.

Luo Nan was already stupefied from watching. He looked down from high above and had seen the entire course of events. The great quantity of contextual information made him overwhelmed.

Luo Nan had encountered the Dynamo Core before and he had heard Jack mention the Deep Blue World, but something about an Apocalypse Laboratory, tapping into some Stellar Gate, and Yan Hong’s current whereabouts were all included. Unfortunately, it was all fragmented. To piece all the information together would certainly be an extremely arduous task.

And the most surprising thing of all was Yan Yongbo’s current reaction.

Luo Nan had experienced Jack’s Format of Fire. He had believed that this was a new technology proliferated in secret by Quantum Corporation and backing powers. But Luo Nan understood when he saw Yan Yongbo’s reaction. So it turned out that Jack’s situation was a special case.

Now, this was interesting.

According to Jack’s words, Jack was just a chief miner in the Deep Blue World. Why would he know of these things?

Luo Nan was in the middle of racking his mind when he suddenly felt Rui Wen’s breathing tempo change to be a bit chaotic. The calm and deep waters had been disturbed by some outside force to form layers and layers of ripples.

Luo Nan looked into the cause. It wasn’t the disturbing device within her body. Instead, it came from Jack. It came from Jack’s Format of Fire.

The blazing wind attacked, causing ripples in the calm waters. The degree of the ripples wasn’t on the level of a surging tide and the change wasn’t particularly strong, but Rui Wen still had to make adjustments after a moment of disorder.

This sort of adjustment wasn’t to return to tranquility. Instead, she adjusted to harmonize with the current situation. Her tempo increased slightly by half a beat.

This increase in speed was of no consequence. The disturbing pulse from the device in her brain was brought in disorder instead. It had to increase its power output to continue its control over Rui Wen. But the speed in which it made its change was clearly a bit lacking.

Luo Nan’s mind suddenly had a flash of inspiration:

The state of the body and mind between sleeping and being awake should have extremely large differences; there was no reason why the tempo would be fixed between both situations. The same melody possesses differences via allegro and adagio.

It was obvious that Rui Wen had another tempo for breathing when she was awake, for when she was moving about normally, when she was in an intense fight, and so on. It was reasonable that there would be variations of her breathing.

Even more key was the source of disturbance in Rui Wen’s brain. It seemed to always lag behind and was unable to catch up with the speed of variations in tempo. And Jack in his inexplicable madness was in a tangle with Yan Yongbo; he absolutely did not take Rui Wen into consideration.

An opportunity granted by heaven!

Luo Nan focused his gaze on Jack. This inexplicably crazed fellow was still showing off his Format of Fire. Luo Nan knew fully well that this so-called flame was just an external shape. The true power and disturbing source was the Archetype Format. It was this thing that went completely against Rui Wen’s own tempo of melody.

So it’s a Format eh? I am not lacking in Format at all!