Chapter 191: An Accident
Nan Yu's gaze kept circling back to the small device. He couldn't shake the feeling that it should be fine if he just gave it a try, but he quickly forced himself to look elsewhere again.
However, after staring blankly at the hole Yu Lanfeng had burned into the floor for another ten minutes, his eyes involuntarily returned to the small device.
After going back and forth like this for nearly another twenty minutes, he finally became so unbearably bored that he picked it up and held it in his hand, cautiously probing it with his Mental Power.
But Nan Yu could never have imagined that this tiny touch alone would shatter the balance that was already close to its limit.
His Mental Power had touched the device several times before, and it had already begun showing signs of breaking open. He simply hadn't noticed it at the time.
The instant his Mental Power touched it again, the barrier restraining the enormous amount of Mental Power inside suddenly vanished.
Nan Yu froze for a fraction of a second and immediately tried to withdraw his Mental Power as quickly as possible.
But it was already too late.
Everything happened in an instant. Before Nan Yu could fully react, the tremendous surge of Mental Power struck him head-on and knocked him unconscious.
After that, he knew nothing.
His hand went slack, and the small device he had been holding fell to the floor.
The device, which had originally been extremely sturdy, shattered into tiny fragments the instant it struck the ground. Scattered across the floor, the pieces looked almost like a small pile of dust and debris that had accidentally fallen there.
And in the very next second after Nan Yu lost consciousness, Yu Lanfeng emerged from the hole he had burned into the floor.
The first thing he saw upon climbing out was Nan Yu lying unconscious on the ground.
His pupils contracted.
He rushed to Nan Yu's side as quickly as possible, reached down, and pulled him into his arms.
"Xiaoyu...? Xiaoyu!!"
Once he realized that something really had happened to Nan Yu, he hurriedly carried him out of the laboratory.
Of course, before leaving, he didn't forget to seal the place with his flames.
No matter what had happened, the culprit responsible for Nan Yu's unconsciousness was definitely somewhere in here. He couldn't allow even the slightest clue to be destroyed!
After Yu Lanfeng brought Nan Yu back to the military base, every doctor came over to examine him, but none of them could find anything wrong.
It wasn't until a Mental Power User came to examine him that the man exclaimed, "His Mental Power is extremely abnormal. It's strange... terrifying! It's too terrifying!"
And it wasn't just one person who said this.
Yu Lanfeng was worried, so he summoned every Mental Power User capable of examining Nan Yu and had them try one after another.
But every single one of them reacted the same way.
The moment they placed their hands on either side of Nan Yu's head, they abruptly jerked their hands back, looking utterly terrified.
Their explanations were all essentially identical.
The pressure radiating from Nan Yu's Mental Sea was horrifying.
They felt as though they were nothing more than a single drop of water, while Nan Yu's Mental Sea was a vast, raging ocean.
And right now, that ocean was caught in the middle of a violent storm, with enormous waves constantly surging and crashing.
It felt as though Nan Yu's Mental Sea could burst apart at any moment.
However, none of them dared to say that aloud.
They were all frightened by Yu Lanfeng's grim expression, so they deliberately tried to phrase everything as positively as possible. Either they avoided mentioning just how dangerous Nan Yu's condition was, or they simply said that they were terrified and that his Mental Power was frighteningly powerful.
Yu Lanfeng gradually calmed down.
Knowing that he currently couldn't control his emotions properly, he had Yuan Qiyi take the Mental Power Users away and question them about anything else they knew.
If they stayed here, Yu Lanfeng might frighten them to death before they managed to say anything more.
Yuan Qiyi had plenty of ways to calm people down.
About half an hour after taking the Mental Power Users away, he returned with additional information.
Yuan Qiyi said, "Marshal, their explanations are basically the same. They believe Nan Yu's Mental Sea currently contains several times more Mental Power than he originally possessed. His Mental Sea has exceeded the limit of what it can withstand, which is why he lost consciousness."
"As for anything beyond that, they aren't sure. His unconscious state may be a form of self-protection. And because his Mental Sea has already reached its limit, he absolutely cannot undergo any further examinations or treatment from other Mental Power Users. If he is going to recover... there is only one way."
The corner of Yu Lanfeng's mouth curved upward slightly.
"So you're saying that if Nan Yu is going to recover, he can only rely on his own subconscious mind to repair the damage?"
Yuan Qiyi said, "Yes, Marshal. That's what all of them said. As for whether that's truly the case, I can't be certain. Perhaps you could find another Ability User to take a look, but..."
But no one knew what would happen if another Ability User tried to force the issue and directly invaded Nan Yu's Mental Sea with their own Mental Power.
It was entirely possible that two people would die instead of one.
Under normal circumstances, Nan Yu's Mental Sea was naturally extremely well protected.
But the situation was different now.
Because the amount of Mental Power inside his Mental Sea had exceeded its normal capacity several times over, the entire Mental Sea had expanded to several times its original size.
Although the protective barrier surrounding it remained extremely powerful and could still withstand most attacks, if Yu Lanfeng—or anyone else with sufficiently powerful mental abilities—interfered and destroyed the current balance, Nan Yu's Mental Sea might not be able to hold together for long.
The people who had gathered outside to watch soon realized that Nan Yu's condition would probably remain like this for some time, so they stopped waiting around and gradually dispersed.
Besides, this was a military base, and everyone had important duties.
With nearly twenty thousand soldiers suddenly gone, the remaining troops were under considerably more pressure.
Fortunately, military merit was awarded according to their contributions. Although there were fewer people now, which meant everyone had to deploy more often and work harder, it was worth it.
Some of the more ruthless soldiers were even earning military merit at twice their previous rate, while the rest were killing Ability Beasts with increasing enthusiasm.
As a result, not a single person in the entire military base complained.
Everyone simply worked in silence.
The more military merit they earned, the more rewards they received. And with enough military merit, opportunities for promotion would eventually come.
Thus, after the Marshal issued this temporary order, everyone gradually entered an almost frenzied state.
Yu Lanfeng didn't notice anything wrong at all.
But Yuan Qiyi did.
He noticed that whenever the soldiers returned from battle, those who had survived seemed increasingly listless afterward.
"Have you confirmed that everyone who failed to return is dead?"
Yuan Qiyi looked somewhat sorrowful, but his tone remained strictly businesslike.
"Yes, General. We've confirmed the deaths of everyone who failed to return, and we've brought all of them back as well. We couldn't just leave them out there to become wandering ghosts."
Yuan Qiyi nodded. "In that case, once the examinations are finished, keep them yourselves for now. When there's time later, send them back home."
Yuan Qiyi wanted to slowly pull everyone out of this state through his own efforts.
But he soon discovered that it was extremely difficult.
He didn't know whether everyone had already sunk too deeply into the frenzy, but some soldiers looked as though they had completely lost their minds whenever they fought Ability Beasts.
Yet only after the current wave of Ability Beasts had been completely slaughtered would they belatedly notice the companions who had spoken to them earlier.
"You called my name just now. Did you need something?"
The person being stopped would also look confused. Only after a moment would he remember that he really had spoken to him earlier.
"Yeah, I did. I was telling you not to get too worked up."
Nan Yu was currently unconscious.
That meant if anyone's Mental Contamination rose beyond A-rank and reached S-rank, there would be no one on the treatment side capable of helping them.
Of course, this privilege had only ever been available while the Marshal was here, and it would disappear once he left anyway.
Still, no one knew how long it would take Nan Yu to wake up.
Yu Lanfeng remained seated beside Nan Yu's hospital bed.
From time to time, he would glance at him, but he would quickly withdraw his gaze and return to his work.
All of the matters he was handling were extremely important and required his personal approval, so he had no choice but to work here.
He was waiting for Nan Yu to wake up while taking care of his duties at the same time.
Soon, a message arrived from the Capital Star.
Yu Lanfeng opened it and saw that it concerned Nan Yun and Nan Zhen.
The person acting as Nan Yu's double had already arrived on the Capital Star and had even appeared publicly.
In other words, if the people responsible for the kidnapping still had operatives on the Capital Star, then the "Nan Yu" who had just returned would become their target.
They must have already heard that Nan Yu intended to return directly to the Capital Star to handle the matter, so they had been waiting all this time.
Now, at last, their target had appeared.
So... when exactly would they make their move?
If they acted and successfully captured "Nan Yu," what would happen to Nan Yun and Nan Zhen, whom they had already abducted?
Would the two brothers be discarded as useless burdens?
Or would they simply be killed?
Yu Lanfeng thought carefully about it.
They probably wouldn't kill the two of them.
After all, they wanted something useful from Nan Yu—for example, the Nianshen Grass in his possession.
The Nianshen Grass was stored inside a spatial button, and Nan Yu himself had to personally open it. If someone forcibly opened the spatial button, there was an extremely high probability that the contents would be destroyed.
Therefore, even if they truly captured Nan Yu, they most likely wouldn't release Nan Yun and Nan Zhen.
Instead, they would probably take all three of them away together.
The only question was whether their people could withstand the coming confrontation.
"Nan Yu" returned to the Nan residence and immediately saw the butler waiting at the entrance.
"Butler Nan, you've worked hard. Let's go inside first. There are people watching outside, so there shouldn't be any problems."
The old butler was no longer young. His hair was already somewhat gray, but he normally looked quite energetic.
This time, however, he seemed noticeably dispirited.
After entering the living room, "Nan Yu" began inspecting the entire Nan residence, inside and out.
He had already investigated the academy earlier, but they hadn't discovered anything there.
It was impossible for two people to simply disappear into thin air.
Even if it looked that way, there had to have been some kind of diversion.
But that would mean Song Xiaoyu needed an accomplice.
Yet at the time, Song Xiaoyu appeared to have been acting entirely alone. Song Xiaomei definitely hadn't been his accomplice.
That much had already been thoroughly investigated and confirmed.
Which made the situation extremely strange.
If that was really the case, then how had Song Xiaoyu single-handedly and silently removed two Ability Users from the Royal Military Academy?
The simplest method would have been to move the two of them onto an aircraft and then leave openly.
But that was exactly where the problem lay.
How had he gotten both unconscious men onto his aircraft without anyone noticing?
All of the surveillance footage from the medical ward had been destroyed at the time. Neither the police nor the military had managed to recover the data, which was why the investigation had remained stalled.
But "Nan Yu" felt that this wasn't what he should be thinking about right now.
What they needed to determine was the kidnappers' objective.
Was it extortion?
Or did they want something else?
"Nan Yu" didn't know the organization's true objective.
He could only speculate, because the Marshal didn't seem particularly willing to let him know about these matters.
Therefore, all he could do was rescue the kidnapped brothers as quickly as possible!
"Nan Yu" continued investigating intensively with the main team, while the people secretly watching him became increasingly anxious.
They simply couldn't find an opportunity to approach him.
"Are we sure this person really is Nan Yu? Look at the video I took. Compare it with older footage and make sure."
"It definitely is him. But the footage we got this time is pretty blurry. What's going on?"
"Someone following Nan Yu must be carrying a jammer. That thing makes every photo and video taken nearby several times blurrier. It's specifically meant to stop people from getting clearer pictures of him."
"As long as we've confirmed it's him, that's enough. Then we'll wait for now and hurry up figuring out his routine. We'll wait for an opportunity. Remember, someone from above contacted me yesterday and told us to finish the mission and leave as quickly as possible."
"And now that Nan Yu has already arrived on the Capital Star, we want to try and see whether we really can capture him directly. In exchange, we were given another half a month to remain on the Capital Star. Do you think we can pull it off?"
"I'm just saying, if we fail after half a month, will we even survive?"
"Who the hell knows? All I know is that I'm a damn outlaw. Who cares!"
Every time they went out on a mission, they would receive a large payment, spend it all within a short period, and then go out to take another job.
The cycle repeated endlessly.
That was the standard lifestyle of an outlaw.
Almost all of them lived like this.
After all, no one knew whether they would die on their very next mission. If they painstakingly saved up their money only to die, who would end up benefiting from all those savings?
Without a doubt, it would either go to the people around them or simply be reclaimed by the organization.
Wouldn't all their hard work have been for nothing?
So none of them saved money.
There was no point!
"Boss, when are we making our move? He comes to the academy pretty much every day, but his destination is never fixed."
Sometimes he went here, sometimes there. Sometimes he stayed for a long time, while other times he left after only a few minutes.
This time, "Nan Yu" had already been here for half an hour.
He could leave at any moment.
"There aren't many people in the library right now. This is exactly the right time to make our move. If we keep delaying, we're going to run out of time!"
Their superiors had only given them half a month, and half that time had already passed.
If they still didn't act, this additional mission might end in failure.
Besides, capturing Nan Yu was the real mission.
Kidnapping Nan Zhen and Nan Yun had merely been their fallback plan.
"Wait a little longer. He looks like he's alone over there, but do you really think Nan Yu would still wander around alone after being kidnapped twice?"
"There must be a lot of people secretly following him. If we make a move right now, don't get us all arrested before we even manage to get close!"
"Then what do you think we should do, Boss? When's the best time to act?"
At that moment, while watching the library, they saw Nan Yu leaving the reading area and apparently heading toward the restroom.
Wouldn't the restroom be a perfect place to make their move?
They slowly headed toward it.
Naturally, they made sure to walk ahead of Nan Yu. If they followed right behind him into the restroom, wouldn't that look incredibly suspicious?
Besides, they had just finished cleaning that area, so everything was spotless. Returning to the restroom to wash their mops would be perfectly reasonable.
They leisurely cleaned their tools inside the restroom.
When they heard footsteps approaching from outside, however, they discovered that the person entering wasn't Nan Yu.
It was a female student.
Just as she was about to scream, one of them immediately covered her mouth.
The girl was so terrified that she fainted on the spot.
They stared at one another for a moment before taking advantage of the situation. They tied her up and dumped her inside the innermost restroom stall, which was currently under repair.
Before leaving, they also injected her with a deep-sleep drug.
It would keep her asleep for two or three days. Even if she vaguely remembered a few fragments of what had happened afterward, she wouldn't be able to explain them clearly.
Of course, they also made sure to properly position the "Under Repair" sign outside the stall.
"Boss, we've dealt with her. Can we go catch our target now? We really don't have much time left. These next two days are basically our last chance. We definitely can't wait until the final day."
"We're already preparing to make our move, but what if the vehicle suddenly goes crazy again and stops responding? Boss..."
The boss said, "I'll go take a look. You guys stay here and keep an eye on everything. Don't miss anything!"
"Yes, Boss."
The boss quickly headed over to check the situation.
When he reached their aircraft, he found two people attempting to repair it.
The old aircraft had been given to them by Song Xiaoyu.
There hadn't been any problems when they used it before, but now something was seriously wrong with it.
After inspecting it himself, the boss also concluded that it couldn't be used.
But if they couldn't use it, what else could they do?
They quickly split into two groups. One group went back to continue watching "Nan Yu," while the other went to find another vehicle.
Without an aircraft, it wouldn't matter whether they managed to capture Nan Yu or not.
Escaping would become a problem either way.
In short, after this series of complications, the already cautious group became even more careful. They thoroughly checked every single thing they would need later and didn't stop until they were certain there were no problems.
Even when they went to keep watch on Nan Yu, they still left one or two people behind to guard the aircraft!
Sometimes, the aircraft was even more important than Nan Yu himself.
If they captured Nan Yu but had no aircraft, they wouldn't be able to escape.
And if they failed to capture Nan Yu but their aircraft couldn't move, they would still be caught.
Although this divided their fighting strength, they had no other choice.
Meanwhile, as the group discussed how they were going to capture their target...
"Nan Yu" was still sitting in the library, absorbed in reading material useful for his studies.
There really was a gap between him and the real Nan Yu, but that didn't mean he knew absolutely nothing.
In fact, "Nan Yu" had already received reports that this group had been wandering around nearby, then left, and then returned again.
What he needed to do now was create an opportunity for them, cooperate with the chaos, and see whether they could ultimately capture him.
After all, his mission this time was specifically to let himself be captured, then cooperate from the inside and rescue the kidnapped Nan Yun and Nan Zhen.
He had deliberately stayed in the library for a long time and had finally managed to wait until this group appeared.
This time, no matter what, he had to make it work.
He discreetly gave a hand signal to the people hidden nearby, telling them not to act.
Then he continued pretending to be completely unaware, sitting with his back toward the people gradually approaching him and concentrating intently on his book.
Very soon, someone covered "Nan Yu's" mouth and nose.
Naturally, within a few seconds, he could already tell that he was about to fall asleep.
Good.
He had timed it perfectly.
A few seconds later, he lost consciousness.
Once they succeeded, they immediately stuffed Nan Yu into the large box they had prepared beforehand and placed it together with the garbage.
Only after finishing their cleaning did they casually pack up all the trash at their usual pace and take everything downstairs, placing it into a garbage vehicle.
Their aircraft was parked nearby.
"Nan Yu" was carried aboard and placed on a recliner off to one side.
"That thing really does look comfortable. I barely ever get a chance to sit in it myself. I can't believe some prey we just caught gets to lie in the boss's chair. I'm seriously jealous."
"It's just a chair. What the hell is there to be jealous about? Hurry up. We need to get out of here as quickly as possible. Song Xiaoyu came back earlier and delivered that device to us. We have to leave the Capital Star immediately and go meet up with them."
"Nan Yu" thought to himself, Finally, I've been discovered. These people refused to capture me for so long. Looks like there wasn't enough time before, and the places I positioned myself weren't right either.
But everything was fine now.
They had finally captured him.
And instead of splitting into two groups and leaving separately from the others, they were going to meet up with them.
If they were going to rendezvous, then the mission of catching all of them in one sweep and rescuing Nan Yun and Nan Zhen would soon be completed.
"Nan Yu" felt the aircraft travel onward and then begin heading toward...
Taking advantage of the opportunity, he dropped a tiny tracking device inside the aircraft.
If they later placed him somewhere that blocked all signals, this tracker could at least help the others locate him more quickly.
"Nan Yu" thought about their movements with some surprise.
Then he heard them begin talking again.
But they had barely started speaking when suddenly he couldn't hear anything at all.
Everything around him became completely silent.
Forget the sounds from the cockpit—he couldn't hear voices, breathing, heartbeats, or even footsteps.
He didn't know what had happened.
He still didn't dare open his eyes. What if they discovered that he was awake?
But he quickly remembered the special device someone had mentioned earlier.
Had they placed him inside some kind of special device?
Still, it didn't matter.
He had already dropped a tracker inside their aircraft.
Hopefully, they wouldn't switch aircraft midway through the journey.
Perhaps his luck was good, because they really didn't switch aircraft along the way.
Of course, it was also possible that they were simply too anxious.
After finally capturing Nan Yu, they wanted to leave as quickly as possible, and switching aircraft would obviously waste a great deal of time.
Besides, the people back there had probably already discovered Nan Yu's disappearance.
They had to move quickly.
If they weren't fast enough, the Empire would soon trace everything back to them.
What they didn't know was that precisely because of this careless decision, their entire route had been completely exposed to the Imperial military!