Master of the Stars

There was laughter in Octopus’ words; you could tell that the task was almost done. “Our luck isn’t bad, Doctor Clay is fairly interested in a case like yours and has already decided to take over. I have already prepaid...”

“Brother Octopus?”

“Well, can’t let me take advantage of you, huh? Your nerve medication needs to be set aside, a considerable portion of the neurons it targets include the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nerves. If these nerves are already damaged and continue to be stimulated, it is hard to say how things will turn out. With me saving these costs, wouldn’t it be the same as me getting your Grandpa’s molecular formula for free?"1

“That’s not how it works...”

“It is exactly how it works! Right, there’s another problem. At the moment, Doctor Clay has a project and can’t leave, so he sent the students under him to do the preliminary data collection and test around next week. As for Doctor Clay, he may need until the end of the month before he can come.”

“End of the month?” Luo Nan was shocked and immediately felt his scalp go numb. Does this mean that he would have to bathe in this kind of nutritional bath for another month?

He hesitated for a moment and finally voiced out, “Wouldn’t that be too long?”

Octopus laughed and said, “One month is not long; it’s not even one full course of treatment. It’s not like you’ll continue to stay at the hospital. I asked Mr. Bai already. As long as the symptoms of lethargy and the cough are suppressed, then you can be discharged at any time. You’ll only need to report once every alternate evening and do the specialized treatment. In terms of the fees, the Society will reimburse it. After all, this does classify as a work injury.”

Having heard that, Luo Nan realized that Octopus and Mr. Bai had kept in contact......

At this moment, the light blue liquid in the health pod had completely covered Luo Nan’s head. Although he wore filters, earplugs and other protective equipment, the strange sticky slippery feeling still became more and more prominent.

Luo Nan was not new to this type of feeling due to his experiences when he was young. With the current accuracy of his senses, he could vaguely make out the ingredients in the nutritional liquid. As small amounts seeped into his body, it caused an impact on the internal secretion of chemical substances in his body.

Luo Nan could not help but carefully analyze these minute changes habitually. In the past, he was only able to get an approximate feel but now his senses had become much more fine-tuned. The operational efficiency of the energy and information had also increased without him realizing it.

“Oh no!”

Luo Nan was startled awake, quickly halting his urge to observe. Even then, his whole body ached and he had even broken out into a cold sweat.

Were they trying to treat him or to harm him?

If Luo Nan had to experience this for another month, he would want to die.

He tossed and turned, lingered for a bit, and spaced out. Octopus could only call him again, “Hey, Bro, what happened? Are you feeling alright?”

“I’m fine.”

Luo Nan couldn’t say that he had brought upon himself, but he couldn’t help but whine, “It feels really bad in here.”

He suspected that his long-held indifference towards health pods would be totally subverted after this month-long treatment period.

“Ha, you’ll get used to it. I’m actually quite envious of you.”

“Brother Octopus...”

“It’s true, I’m not kidding.”

Octopus could not sympathize with Luo Nan at this moment as his attention was elsewhere, “Did you know the student that Doctor sent is Bai Xinyan? She is deemed the magic flower of the pharmaceutical world and is an absolute beauty – she does not lose out to your secretary.”

Luo Nan decided to not comment.

However Octopus just became more excited, “Tsk tsk, she sure was hot! Back when I was at Xia City, I would definitely have wooed her if not for Mr. Bai watching so closely. Think about it, to be able to spend a month with such a beauty. No, even if it was only three weeks – what I wouldn’t trade for such a chance!”

Luo Nan blanked out. “Mr. Bai?”

“Yeah, she’s Mr. Bai’s daughter and is also a mentally enhanced ability user. However, she is also talented in the pharmaceutical field. She’s Doctor Clay’s best student and is even better than him in some aspects.”

“Right, you have to remember that the father-daughter relationship between her and Mr. Bai is not very good. It seems like the reason why she went to America and had not returned all these years was also because of this. So make sure you don’t use your relationship with Mr. Bai as an excuse to get close to her. If trouble arises, don’t say that I didn’t warn you!”

“...Sure.” Luo Nan was utterly defeated by Octopus.

“Well, that’s it? Right, if staying in the health pod feels bad and you want someone to talk to. I’ll do it free of charge just for tonight.”

“......”

There had been a few showers and the weather was gradually getting chiller. The skies of Xia City had grown dark progressively earlier today. The weather was cloudy with no rain; the crisp weather of autumn was nowhere to be found.

In the VIP resting lounge of the Xia City air harbor, Yan Yongbo sat quietly on the sofa. He sported schooled features and great posture. He had an air of a successful businessman and his poise was even greater than the Director of Quantum Corporation’s Xia City Branch, Hu Yuli.

However, Hu Yuli didn’t mind this. He casually rested whilst sipping tea and occasionally glancing at the huge projector screen.

At this moment, a special program made by the Star Associated Press was playing. A host who spoke very fast asked the experts:

“Why are the Deep Blue Walkers appearing in Xia City? It seems like the military has never put this force in any metropolitan area, let alone fight in it. This would be the first time in history!”

“Expert A,” The man was expressionless as he told it blandly stated the facts, “There had actually been cases in the past. From memory, it occurs once every 90 years but it’s not because the military is undergoing missions. There should be other instances of this occurring but they keep quiet about it and so it is often looked over by the public.”

The host immediately skipped this boring response and turned to ‘Expert B’. “Most of us are under the impression that the Deep Blue Walkers always appeared in places like the wilderness and the ocean and that they always engaged in combat with mutants. This reinforces to us the stereotype that any place where the Deep Blue Walkers appear must be extremely dangerous.”

The knowing smile that stretched across Expert B’s face showed that he knew the host was digging for a scoop. He complied, “Not only do we need to take note of the Deep Blue Walkers’ appearance but we also need to pay attention to the response speed of the government and the military. The numbers of the Deep Blue Walkers are limited. There are only four divisions in the world, which is suboptimal. They usually operate in groups.”

“As a summary from various sources, the number of Deep Blue Walkers that appeared at dawn on the first was very great and there is even a very small possibility of a temporary transfer. This means they were always nearby and could even be on standby in Xia City. As for why, we can only see how it progresses and continue to salvage information from various sources...”

Expert B did not supply any solid evidence but instead left room for imagination.

The host was satisfied, “Now we will cut in with a short clip, which will help us understand more about Deep Blue Walkers.”

At this moment, a melodious bell sound rang through the resting lounge, indicating that the airship that they awaited had arrived at the airspace. Hu Yuli and all the other passengers stood up; only Yan Yongbo watched on while seated.

When Luo Nan meets Octopus the second time, Luo Nan makes a deal with Octopus to have Octopus produce the mind-sculpting drugs in exchange for the molecular formula.