Chapter 89.2: Solved
Nan Yu blinked. "Huh? There's no need. Isn't the Marshal always busy? You can just leave these little errands to your people."
Or honestly, they could just let the hovercraft's autopilot handle it. It wasn't a big deal.
But...
"I'll take you there," Yu Lanfeng said.
Nan Yu fell silent for a moment before nodding.
"...All right. Thank you, Marshal."
Yu Lanfeng looked at him deeply.
He stared until Nan Yu's skin began to crawl before finally speaking.
"Don't call me that anymore."
Nan Yu tilted his head, a question mark practically written across his face.
"Then what should I call you?"
"Whatever you want."
What?
He wouldn't let him call him Marshal, yet told him to call him whatever he wanted?
What kind of answer was that?
Nan Yu hesitated.
"Marshal Yu? Marshal Yu Lanfeng? Commander?"
Yu Lanfeng remained silent for a long time before finally saying,
"Call me 'Brother.'"
Nan Yu looked surprised.
"Marshal... y-you want to be my older brother too? Like Brother Fu?"
But the age difference between them was pretty big.
Then again, considering the average lifespan in the interstellar era, they were both still considered young.
"Call me 'Brother,'" Yu Lanfeng repeated.
The corner of Nan Yu's mouth twitched.
"Brother Yu?"
Once again Yu Lanfeng repeated,
"Call me 'Brother.'"
All right then.
Only now did Nan Yu finally understand what Yu Lanfeng meant.
He wanted him to simply call him Brother.
"...Brother?"
Nan Yu admitted that he was a coward.
Only then did Yu Lanfeng finally look satisfied.
"Mm."
Nan Yu felt that Yu Lanfeng was acting very strangely today.
What had gotten into him?
Or was it because he had saved Qin Wenxing that Yu Lanfeng now considered him even more valuable and wanted to become closer to him?
Nan Yu's lips twitched.
Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that Yu Lanfeng was planning something.
With Yu Lanfeng personally escorting him to Zhou Huayin's residence, there naturally weren't any problems along the way.
No matter how powerful those united Mental Power Users were, they couldn't possibly compare to Yu Lanfeng's Legion.
Yu Lanfeng remained inside the hovercraft instead of getting out.
As a result, Zhou Huayin and the others had no idea there was another person inside. They assumed only Nan Yu had come, or perhaps that members of the Legion assigned to protect him were hidden nearby.
They failed to notice even one of them.
As expected of elites.
As soon as Nan Yu entered the living room, he saw the Lan brothers sitting on the sofa.
Lan Feng's mental state looked quite good.
Very good, in fact.
Lan Yu looked even better.
Previously, his face had been full of gloom, as though his entire world had collapsed.
Now he was constantly sticking close to Lan Feng, looking much more childish.
How long had it been?
Had Lan Feng already spoiled him into developing a childish temperament?
The moment they saw Nan Yu, both of them stood up.
"Nan Yu."
Nan Yu raised a hand.
"Sit down first."
"I have something I need to tell you."
"I hope you won't get too emotional after hearing it."
"After all... you could say there were unavoidable reasons behind it."
"But how you judge it is entirely up to you."
Lan Yu and Lan Feng exchanged puzzled glances.
For Nan Yu to be this serious...
It seemed the matter was truly grave.
Over the next half hour, Nan Yu slowly explained everything Lan Feng had experienced.
Lan Yu became so agitated several times that he almost stood up, only to be firmly held in place by Lan Feng.
Was it because Lan Yu couldn't break free?
Not really.
It was because he didn't want to.
Nan Yu took a deep breath and sipped some tea to moisten his throat.
"That's basically what happened."
"If you say they're bad people, then yes, that would be fair."
"But if you analyze it carefully, they did have their own reasons."
"In my opinion, since they're all Mental Power Users, whenever they encounter an Ability User who needs treatment, the first thing they naturally do is use their mental power to examine the other person's Mental Sea in order to determine the condition and decide how to proceed."
"I believe they genuinely didn't know that such a routine procedure could lead to these consequences."
"But after causing the damage, they chose to conceal it."
"They also concealed what the previous Mental Power User had done."
"That wasn't right."
"If even one of them had revealed this secret somewhere along the way, Lan Feng's Mental Sea could never have deteriorated into such a wreck."
"But if you say they're unforgivably evil... I don't think that's entirely accurate either."
"It's just..."
"After coming into contact with Lan Feng, they gradually got in touch with one another."
"They've quietly formed a small organization behind the scenes."
"The first time I came here, I vaguely felt someone secretly watching me."
"But I'm used to being watched, so I didn't think much of it."
"It wasn't until I discovered the secret of Lan Feng's Mental Sea that I finally understood."
Nan Yu stopped there.
He had already said everything he needed to say.
What they chose to do next was entirely up to them.
After thinking it over and discussing it with each other, the two brothers finally reached a conclusion.
Both of them stood up and bowed deeply toward him.
Nan Yu was momentarily stunned.
At first he didn't understand what they were doing, but he quickly realized.
These two really were people worth befriending.
"All right."
"I understand what you mean."
"Sit down."
Both brothers looked conflicted.
Lan Feng sighed.
"Actually, this matter doesn't involve us that much."
"As long as we pretend nothing happened, give you a large sum of money, and publicly express our immense gratitude toward you, everyone involved before will naturally assume we never learned the truth."
"But they..."
"They'll know that you, Nan Yu... learned the truth, yet didn't reveal it..."
Nan Yu smiled.
"That's exactly my plan."
"You'll pretend nothing happened and leave the Capital Star."
"As for me..."
"I'll pretend I know everything but haven't told anyone."
"That way, the matter ends here."
Lan Feng still looked hesitant.
"But if that's the case..."
"They'll definitely come after you."
Nan Yu replied calmly,
"Everyone already knows that I've been reserved by Yu Lanfeng's Legion."
"After the previous kidnapping incident, members of the Legion are protecting me wherever I go."
"Do you really think anyone would dare challenge Yu Lanfeng's Legion?"
"Even if they come looking for me, they'll do it openly."
"They won't use underhanded methods to kidnap me."
"If you ask me, they don't have the courage."
"Originally, I wasn't planning to tell you any of this."
"But after thinking it over carefully, you also have the right to know."
"And if they decide to eliminate future trouble by secretly targeting you because you don't know the truth..."
"You wouldn't have any guard against it."
Lan Feng frowned.
"Target us?"
"Of course."
"Did you really think..."
"Every Mental Power User is as easy to get along with as I am?"
"The longer many Mental Power Users remain in their position, the more likely they are to develop certain obsessive tendencies."
"Some already have terrible tempers or dark personalities to begin with."
"Everyone in this world is different."
"You can't assume everyone is kind."
"I'm absolutely certain someone will secretly make a move against you."
The purpose didn't even need to be stated.
To eliminate future trouble.
Lan Feng and Lan Yu immediately understood.
Especially Lan Yu.
The one who had dealt with the greatest number of Mental Power Users in the past had been him.
He had desperately begged them to examine his brother.
Most of them hadn't been a problem.
But among them were a tiny handful with horrible tempers and disgusting personalities.
Not only had they concealed the damage they had caused to his brother's already fragile Mental Sea...
After failing to heal it, they even claimed he had wasted their time and demanded double compensation.
At the time, Lan Yu had been heartbroken and furious.
Even so, he hadn't wanted to offend those Mental Power Users.
After all, he still needed to continue searching for others to treat his brother.
Who could have imagined...
That it was precisely his desperate efforts to seek out Mental Power Users that had slowly pushed his own brother toward the abyss?
Although Lan Feng had already comforted him...
There was still a hurdle in his heart that he simply couldn't overcome.
After a long silence, Lan Feng finally spoke.
"As for this matter..."
"We don't have a concrete plan yet."
"We'll have to deal with it gradually."
"I don't think there'll be many people trying to target us."
"And if they do, it'll probably be behind the scenes."
"As long as we remain vigilant..."
"I don't think there'll be much of a problem."
Nan Yu shook his head.
"Not necessarily."
"Many Mental Power Users have powerful Ability Users around them."
"Others have enormous wealth."
"Or significant backgrounds."
"So even if you're careful..."
"You still might not be able to defend against everything."
"Fortunately, your corporation has always had an excellent reputation."
"Everyone knows tax evasion or similar issues are impossible for you."
"So they won't attack from that angle."
"As for what methods they'll actually use..."
"That's something only you can speculate about."
Lan Feng pondered for a while.
"Nan Yu..."
"Since you're telling us all this..."
"Do you already have a solution?"
Nan Yu smiled.
"Consider it a bonus."
"Recently, the Marshal invested in a game called..."
In truth, he and Yu Lanfeng had just discussed this on the way over.
Their corporation would inject capital into the game and assist with its development.
That would ease the financial pressure on the developers while allowing them to proceed without worries.
Although very few outsiders knew Yu Lanfeng had invested in a game...
People of influence on the Capital Star already knew.
Many had secretly purchased game pods and helmets, hoping to use them later as an excuse to get closer to him.
After Nan Yu explained everything, the brothers agreed without the slightest hesitation.
They didn't ask how Nan Yu knew about it.
They didn't ask how he had discussed the matter with Marshal Yu Lanfeng.
Nor did they ask why he had the authority to make such arrangements.
They simply agreed.
Once everyone learned that they had invested in this game...
They would naturally assume their corporation had established ties with Yu Lanfeng's Legion.
Whatever the exact nature of that relationship might be...
The fact that they were connected to the Legion would be undeniable.
And after that, very few people would dare make a move against them.
Nan Yu smiled.
"If the Legion ever runs short of funding in the future..."
"We'll be counting on you."
"So make sure you work hard."
Out of respect, Nan Yu didn't ask whether the two brothers truly intended to let the actions of those Mental Power Users go.
Nor did he ask whether they planned to take action in the future.
He only knew one thing.
In the future, this corporation would become one of the richest conglomerates in the entire Empire.
This was called preparing for a rainy day.
When he had discussed the matter with Yu Lanfeng earlier, the man had worn an expression that practically said, Although this is a bit of a loss for me, since it's what you want, we'll do it your way.
Just thinking about that annoyed Nan Yu.
Just wait and see!
Once Lan Yu and Lan Feng became even richer than that guy, Yu Lanfeng would finally understand how good Nan Yu's judgment was.
...Although that judgment was only possible because he possessed memories of his previous life.