Master of the Stars

Cat Eyes felt an incoming headache. Complicated theory was involved and Guo Ju had been in a muddled state of mind; some aspects were spoken quite vaguely. There were many parts of it that were incomprehensible. She could only simply say.

"Apparently this was the most successful experiment that the secular side has made in regards to the Human-Faced Arachnid. If they continued their research, their ultimate target would be mass-production? Is this right?"

"..."

"Hellooo, I’m asking you." Cat Eyes gave Luo Nan a prod.

Luo Nan was a bit surprised. "You’re asking me?"

"Who else can I ask? This is the matter that Fairchild seeks to resolve. You and he were chatting so delightfully. Did you clarify the matter?"

"This matter was of no value to our discussion."

Luo Nan shook his head with sincerity. The conversation he and Fairchild had was mainly in the field of the mutual interference between the mental and material planes. The Human-Faced Arachnid Exoskeleton Armor was a construct that purely existed on the mental plane and it was a simple model at that. It could not even be considered to be a soul configuration. What was there worth discussing?

Cat Eyes could not refrain from rolling her eyes. So it turned out that this guy was still in his nut-job mode.

Red Fox was highly anxious all this time and had long since had grievances. He could not hold back from letting out several dozen tsks within the encrypted channel before sneering bitterly. "Mr. Luo. Master Luo. Our group of people is braving the great danger of a vicious conflict with the Order of Justice to give you support. Are you saying that we’re doing this for the sake of something that is ’not worth discussing’? Alright then! You sir are really something! It’s fine for me to not be at your beck and call then!"

Red Fox walked away with his hands swinging upon speaking these words. Next to him, Bamboo Pole saw that things were going down a bad direction and grabbed Red Fox. "Wait! Calm down! Luo Nan didn’t speak clearly. The topics that he and Fairchild discussed were more abstract; they didn’t necessarily touch upon this matter..."

"And you understand the abstract topics they talked about? Is it for this that we followed him, hand and foot? I said early on that today’s mission never had a clear objective from the very start. Our duties aren’t clear. Our group of people came here in a fluster based on the directions of a nutjob. I haven’t seen a Human-Faced Arachnid in this operation yet. Instead, we got ourselves stuck in the middle of the Order of Justice’s internal strife. And the result? Their main leaders didn’t even make a move yet and we’ve gathered our people brazenly to wipe the area with great toil and effort. He he, he’s the henchman of the Order of Justice, the Vanguard of Civil War. Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?"

Red Fox anger exploded. If he was not involved in this incident, he would have laugh away instead, taking Luo Nan’s and Fairchild’s exchange as a joke.

However, Red Fox and Bamboo Pole were in the control room of Yulan Hotel right now and they had left a bit of a trail. The Knights of Equity were here to seize a sniping position. Sooner or later, they would come slaughtering inside. It would be hard to avoid conflict. Red Fox would have been fine if Luo Nan had truly explained the course of events clearly, said words of apologies, and added a word of thanks. However, Luo Nan only said that these things ‘weren’t worth discussing’. How insensible could this kid be!?

Moreover, Red Fox had a deeper concern. "The Society has yet to issue a clear statement as of yet. Expert reinforcements have not arrived. There’s no trace of coordination. If we really do discuss this matter with the Order of Justice, what value do we have? Are we the first wave of cannon fodder? Or are we being set up to be the fall guys?"

Bamboo Pole continued to try and persuade Red Fox. "You’re overthinking it. President Ouyang is not that kind of person..."

"Everyone has a dark side, you just haven’t seen his! Or, do you think that this situation can be contained within the scope of Xia City? Everyone, brother and sisters, y’all still haven’t figured it out? The situation is already catastrophically enormous! These secret orders are experts in these topics of faith. They make a big fuss over minor issues. They will always believe themselves to be politically correct. Right now, we don’t even have proof that we’re not aiding Fairchild. Or don’t tell me that we’re going to send them our conversation log to prove our own innocence?"

It was now He Yueyin’s turn to try and persuade him. "Red Fox..."

"I’m talking with Boss Nan right now. You can go shut up, secretary!" Red Fox grew angrier the more he thought about things. He did not give face to anyone. He scolded whoever dared to speak.

The state of the encrypted channel turned very awkward when these words were spoken. Red Fox clearly demonstrated that the only person he wanted to talk to was Luo Nan. Anyone else who opened their mouths would just be pouring oil onto the fire.

Luo Nan had been lost in thought for a few moments before discovering that he had turned into Red Fox’s target. He really was not that insensible. He just did not really think things over too much. He had spoken too bluntly—that was all.

The Faith Product, which he had dubbed the Human-Faced Arachnid Exoskeleton Armor, was essentially a simplified model of a soul configuration. Having seen the on-site demonstration with Huang Bingzhen and having his Wraith Sign as a true reference, Luo Nan could very well create his own Human-Faced Arachnid Exoskeleton Armor. All he needed to do was to collect enough negative emotions. This was not hard to do. It was not that big of a deal.

On the other hand, this was not Fairchild’s realm of expertise. If they really discussed this topic, Fairchild would not have as clear of an understanding as Luo Nan. Luo Nan felt that he was quite wronged for a time.

But on the other-other hand, the report warning about the Human-Faced Arachnid was made recklessly. Additionally, he had ignored He Yueyin’s instructions by directly entering the site of the incident. This led to the continuous change and escalation of the situation. Indeed, he had made mistakes prior.

Though Red Fox had complained constantly about the many changes in the mission objective, he still followed along from beginning to end. Right now, he was about to be involved in a frontal clash with the Order of Justice. Things were extremely dangerous for him. He really did have a basis for his anger.

Luo Nan did not mind making apologies nor did he mind saying a few buttery words. However, the current context was quite complicated. He really did not know what response would be the most appropriate.

He looked at the person closest to him, Cat Eyes. Cat Eyes was holding her arms to her chest and had a callous and reproaching appearance that said, "Looking at your awkwardness makes me feel great." However, Cat Eyes had her right arm sticking out to the side. Two fingers stuck up from them and then hooked downwards a few times. Her meaning was to have Luo Nan lower his head and admit his mistakes.

She was constantly sharing her perspective, so she used a method that was covert to make it hard for others to discover what she was doing. However, this sort of signal was far too vague.

At this time, two friends transmitted messages through the HexaEar’s personal interface to Luo Nan simultaneously. One friend was He Yueyin. The other was actually Zhang Yingying.

"Apologize to Red Fox. Try communicating with Fairchild and clear up the matter with the Human-Faced Arachnid."

"Speak a few words to Fairchild. Do some formalities. Red Fox has made many complaints. Just give him a way out and things will be fine."

The content of the two messages was different but the meaning was the same. Both sought to teach Luo Nan ways to alleviate the situation. He Yueyin’s method followed her style. However, Zhang Yingying’s words came as a bit of a surprise to Luo Nan.

What Luo Nan wanted was none other than these concrete instructions. He let out a breath of relief and responded obediently within the encrypted channel. "I’m sorry, Red Fox. I didn’t really think things over just now. Let me talk with Fairchild once more..."

Luo Nan was also mulling things over as he spoke. Though Red Fox had spat out a pile of angry words and some of its content was quite understandable. The biggest problem that their group of society members faced right now was their unclear status with the Order of Justice’s internal strife. They were subject to critique, and they did not have any substantial proof to their own innocence.

Luo Nan even went to a level deeper in thought. He already understood the Human-Faced Arachnid’s configuration but he had nothing to support his words. There was not enough proof if the Society wanted to negotiate with the Order of Justice behind the scenes. The only true conclusive proof was naturally that metal box within Fairchild’s hand.

Luo Nan more or less had an understanding of Fairchild’s nature. At most, Fairchild would do a verification of the storage unit. After that, it was highly probable for Fairchild to simply destroy the unit. That would be really quite the waste.

Luo Nan’s mind was clear. He spoke to Fairchild. "Mr. Fairchild, if you’re not going to use that storage unit... Why don’t you leave it with us for verification and safekeeping?"

Cat Eyes: "?"

He Yueyin: "..."

Zhang Yingying: "!"

Red Fox: "F**K! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?"