Chapter 316: Remember? (Part 2/2) (1/2)
Chapter 316: Remember? (Part 2/2)
Translator: Strivon
Papercut's gaze spun around in the central control room. ”Nanster's not here?”
He made to go into the room as he spoke, but Red Fox stood in his way.
”Wait.” Red Fox wore a cold and clear expression. He moved without a sound, bringing not even a wisp of a breeze, as he entered the central control room. His nose would tremble from time to time, distinguishing the scents inside the room. He even went to examine the elevator and other entrances or exits.
The odor of blood upon Luo Nan's body hung quite heavy due to his damaged eyes. Red Fox was able to distinguish the whereabouts of the odor thanks to his nose, which he had strictly trained. However, after turning in a circle inside and outside, Red Fox's expression grew uglier and uglier.
He was incapable of understanding the information revealed by the scent.
”There are no traces of him going outside.”
”What?”
“There's no residue of scent in the elevator or safety doors. He didn't leave through those.”
Papercut blinked his eyes as he looked back in the direction they came from. ”Scents don't clearly show directions. Last time, Nanster came in from here. Did he not go back out the same way?”
”I’m able to distinguish the direction.” Red Fox didn't raise his head. He walked toward the control console. This should be the core for the entire building, but today it turned into a massive garbage heap. It had been completely destroyed by Tank.
Red Fox tried to reconstruct the original scene. He sized up the piece of scrap that was the control console, and he quickly discovered an anomaly. An enormous amount of electricity had surged through a certain area of the garbage heap. Since the control console was destroyed, the electrical resistance had become extremely large, causing scorch marks. But there weren't any electrical wires or the like in the area.
While Red Fox pondered this, Papercut muttered, ”Disappearing into thin air? It doesn't seem like something like that happened....”
He controlled paper men to bounce and skip outside the building as he spoke, extending his sensory range. He confirmed that the devil ray was still very obediently acting as a firefighting helicopter. There was no change with it whatsoever.
”Should we contact the Secretary?”
Red Fox's expression turned even worse, but he didn't refuse.
Papercut had just lifted his wrist when he heard an electronic beep in his ear. The corresponding telepathic thought had a destination, and soon, a kaleidoscope of information docked with his consciousness. He felt the lively sensation instantly.
After a great deal of effort and trouble, the Psychic Wave Network was finally rebooted successfully.
Papercut was long since accustomed to having the HexaEar by his side, having been in Xia City for these years. He easily entered the lively Psychic Wave Network, and his mind relaxed on the spot. He felt it was a curious coincidence, so he searched his friends list in the first instant. Shockingly, he saw...
That Luo Nan was online!
His avatar, the tetrahedron, was very eye-catching.
”Hey, Nanster. Where are you?” Papercut called out.
Red Fox suddenly turned around to look at Papercut.
As for Luo Nan's side, there was a moment of silence. One second passed, followed by another two. Then came a strange noise. It formed interference, making Papercut nearly believe that the Psychic Wave Network was going out again.
Luckily, the noise soon faded away, and Luo Nan's voice sounded out, ”I'm…. Mm, wait a moment.”
His voice sounded a bit hoarse, and also a bit elusive. Papercut was stunned upon hearing him. He quickly asked, ”You're okay, right?”
”I'm okay.” Luo Nan's voice was still hoarse. Papercut could feel that there was a bit of a problem with his mood.
Red Fox couldn't stand this meaningless dialogue any longer. He logged onto the Psychic Wave Network and bluntly asked, ”Where's that Snake Tongue?”
”Killed herself.”
Red Fox and Papercut looked at each other in dismay.
Luo Nan didn't go into further explanations. Instead, he asked back, ”You guys are in the central control room. Everything's fine there, right?”
”Things are alright—”
Before the words could be finished, someone requested to enter the chat. It wasn't just one person, though. There were several. He Yueyin, Zhang Yingying, Crag Burst, Bamboo Pole, Octopus... and even Bai Xinyan came to join in on the fun.
Every one of them were ability users that Luo Nan was familiar with. They came contacting him like a swarm of bees.
Luo Nan had no idea that he was this popular. He wasn't good in these situations. He rather wished for a more peaceful environment, especially now.
Luckily, everyone was aware of the situation. He Yueyin immediately took the initiative and established an internal channel. She took all relevant members and pulled them inside. Then, she changed the channel mode to message mode. Only her, the maker of the channel, retained voice privileges. She represented everyone in asking,
”Mr. Luo. How's your body? How are your eyes?”
Letters of various colors were rapidly scrolling down on the internal channel's interface as He Yueyin spoke. The channel felt more lively than a usual voice mode channel.
Luo Nan only responded with his low and hoarse voice, ”I'm all right. I can still see.”
”Mr. Luo. I don't recommend you staying at Gear for too long. Currently there have already been people taking pictures and video of the devil ray flying in the sky, and it's been uploaded to the Internet. The activity that has occurred in the jungle of the north bank is too great. We will need professionals to handle the follow-up work.”
He Yueyin maintained a calm and rational bearing from beginning to end. She was able to guess Luo Nan's thoughts, adding, ”I've already notified firefighters to rush over there ten minutes ago. They should be there soon.”
”I know.” Luo Nan was in a subtle mood, but his response was direct. ”I'll leave immediately.”
”It's better for Mr. Luo to head back to Cloud City Water Village. The Sacred Heart Hospital there is quite a complete facility….”
”Okay.” Luo Nan's responses were getting shorter and shorter, to the point that he just logged out after responding. Clearly, he didn't want to talk.
His attitude was very baffling to the people in the internal channel.
”What happened? Did he get mad?”
”Anyone who's been tormented by those people from Headquarters will get angry.”
”Are you sure it's not because of our reinforcements being useless idiots?”
”Hey! Hey! What about you?!”
”Is it post-traumatic stress? He was frightened, and he was mad. Plus, he killed people. Look. Black Beetle. Puppeteer. Tank. Snake Tongue. A total of four lives. Oh, has he killed before?”
”Seems like... he hasn't, right?” Zhang Yingying wasn't quite sure.
At this time, Papercut spoke not a word as he uploaded a few pictures. They showed Tank's corpse from various angles.
Red Fox commented, ”Boss Luo's masterpiece.”
Zhang Yingying sent out a dumbstruck emoji, starting a flood of comments and emojis that trailed from right to left. Other people followed her one after another. The series of stupefied and confused emojis streaked across the pictures of the corpse.
Luo Nan didn't care what the others were saying about him. After ending communications, he just maintained his original posture. His eyes were wide open as he disregarded the pain that was soon turning numb. He gazed around.
The ring-shaped space. The ring-shaped chair. And the wall-lights, bookcase, stool, and other fixtures. They were in this narrow little space, building a cozy and leisurely atmosphere. This was none other than the small tree-hole cabin above the Withered Tree Sandbar.
Luo Nan looked idly at the furnishings in the room, and he also looked at his two hands. He suddenly stood up several seconds later, leaning against the slightly damp tree wall. He staggered up the stone steps to reach the upper floor of the tree house.
He stood in front of the viewing window, and the scroll-like window opened from two sides. The darkness inside rapidly converged with the darkness outside, trying to drown out all of existence.