Chapter 78.1: Test
Nan Yu was already certain that Blue Sky Above was indeed Yu Lanfeng, but he still found it rather strange.
From South to North: "Marshal, do you need something from me?"
Blue Sky Above: "It's about the test we discussed before. We finally have something to show for it. Come with me."
From South to North: "The prototype is already finished?"
Blue Sky Above: "That's right. But just like you said before, it's only a prototype. I want you to come and test it. Of course, many parts still aren't complete. If you feel anything is wrong, you can stop immediately. This is only a test, so there's no need to take it too seriously."
Nan Yu didn't believe that "not taking it too seriously" meant he could actually be careless.
This was a game overhaul personally led by Yu Lanfeng. If he didn't take it seriously, he wouldn't even deserve the five percent share of the profits the Marshal had given him.
Although he could only receive the money and wasn't allowed to participate in management decisions, he still felt he had made an enormous profit.
"Leave it to me. No problem."
Aside from High-Tier Mental Power Users, if anyone claimed to be stronger than him now, they would definitely be lying. He could confidently say that he was the strongest Mental Power User below the High-Tier level.
As for the person Yang Zhou had kept talking about—the one who wanted to challenge him...
Sorry, Nan Yu hadn't even bothered to take them seriously.
Following Yu Lanfeng, Nan Yu quickly arrived at the main city. Hidden beneath the City Lord's Mansion was a secret teleportation array. After they stepped into it, Yu Lanfeng activated the formation himself.
Only then did Nan Yu clearly see where they had arrived.
They were standing in what looked like a completely ordinary spaceport.
Massive warships, military cruisers, and various spacecraft were docked nearby. At first glance, it looked just like a military base...
No, it really was a military base.
The atmosphere felt somewhat similar to the one he had visited before, which was why he recognized it so quickly.
Nan Yu asked, "This is...?"
Yu Lanfeng gave a brief explanation.
"The new expansion is centered around fighting Ability Beasts. Players can freely choose which legion to join. Every legion will have a spaceport like this, complete with warships, spacecraft, weapons, resources, and everything else. Which legion they join depends entirely on their own choice."
Nan Yu nodded.
"So what exactly are we testing today?"
Yu Lanfeng replied, "What I want to create is combat that's as close to the real world as possible. That means both Ability Users and Mental Power Users are indispensable. We have no shortage of Ability Users, but Mental Power Users are extremely scarce."
"Especially since Mental Power Users are generally very busy."
And even when they did have free time, they were usually exhausted, collapsing into bed to sleep or resting properly instead of coming here to consume even more mental power.
On top of that, most of them weren't even as capable as Nan Yu.
So he truly was the best possible candidate.
Nan Yu asked, "So today's test is simply to see whether the most basic combat process can be successfully simulated?"
"Exactly."
Yu Lanfeng beckoned him forward.
He led Nan Yu to one corner of the spaceport, where there was a small teleportation array that was obviously a temporary construction.
Passing through it, they arrived on a barren planet.
All around them were Ability Beasts that looked almost one hundred percent identical to their real-world counterparts.
Fortunately, these creatures were merely data simulations, so walking among them posed absolutely no danger.
Yu Lanfeng continued leading the way.
About two minutes later, they saw people ahead.
Or rather...
A squad.
As they approached, Nan Yu realized it was a military squad, most likely selected from Yu Lanfeng's own legion specifically for this experiment.
Yu Lanfeng introduced him.
"This is Nan Yu. He'll be the Mental Power User assisting with today's test."
"Yes, sir!"
Afterward, Yu Lanfeng turned to Nan Yu.
"From this point onward, follow the squad leader's orders. I want to see just how practical this style of combat really is."
If it proved successful, then whenever Ability Beast activity was low and the military had spare time, soldiers could train here regularly without letting their combat skills deteriorate.
It would also force soldiers with poor memories to thoroughly memorize every Ability Beast's appearance, abilities, combat style, intelligence level, and other characteristics.
Nan Yu nodded.
"Yes, Marshal. Understood."
Yu Lanfeng nodded before walking some distance away, quietly observing everything from afar.
Standing where he was, Nan Yu looked at the squad leader.
If the task involved removing Mental Contamination, he was completely confident.
But coordinating with others during actual combat...
He knew absolutely nothing.
The captain immediately issued his orders.
"Go behind that rock over there. You have ten seconds to reach your position. Once you're there, stay put and don't move. The rest of the squad will protect you."
Nan Yu nodded and immediately ran toward the designated location.
Fortunately, it wasn't very far away.
Reaching it within ten seconds was easy.
The moment he arrived...
The atmosphere changed instantly.
Suddenly—
Yet naturally.
Because the battle had begun.
"As planned, everyone move to your assigned positions! The remaining members stay in the center and protect the Mental Power User! Whenever someone gets injured, replace them immediately!"
Nan Yu glanced at the person standing beside him.
"You are...?"
"I'm the medic. The two of us will be working together."
Nan Yu was responsible for removing Mental Contamination.
The medic was responsible for treating physical injuries.
Nan Yu asked, "So during this test, the Ability Beasts inflict more severe Mental Contamination than usual?"
"That's right."
"So a Mental Power User has to stay with the team at all times. Otherwise it's very easy for the entire squad to be wiped out. Of course, this is also the highest difficulty legion instance that the Marshal has designed so far."
Nan Yu smiled.
"It sounds pretty impressive."
Very soon, the first wounded soldier was brought over.
However, just as Nan Yu was about to begin...
He suddenly froze.
Wait.
How exactly was he supposed to remove Mental Contamination inside a game?
Even if he could use mental power here, the person in front of him was nothing more than a piece of virtual data.
How was he supposed to treat that?
The medic apparently realized the issue as well.
"The system has generated simulated mental power data. Give it a try. You should get the hang of it quickly."
After all, Nan Yu was a Mental Power User.
If even he couldn't master it, then the title would hardly be deserved.
Still, Nan Yu silently added another mark to Yu Lanfeng's account.
Before asking him to begin such an important test...
Shouldn't he at least have been given some time to familiarize himself with the basics first?
He secretly glanced toward Yu Lanfeng.
But Yu Lanfeng's entire attention was fixed on the battlefield ahead and he wasn't looking this way at all.
Nan Yu withdrew his gaze gloomily.
"Let's begin."
However, just as Nan Yu lowered his eyes and prepared to start, Yu Lanfeng, standing in the distance, suddenly seemed to realize something and looked over.
Yet when he saw that Nan Yu had already gotten the hang of it...
He was somewhat surprised.
Once again, he became convinced that choosing Nan Yu as the tester had been the correct decision.
As expected.
Every decision he made was right.
Although Nan Yu was indeed still very young...
His mental power was unquestionably second only to High-Tier Mental Power Users.
That was precisely why Yu Lanfeng had wanted to secure such an outstanding seedling early.
For some reason...
Watching Nan Yu seriously remove Mental Contamination from the injured soldiers, his focused expression unexpectedly reminded Yu Lanfeng of what his older sister had been nagging him about whenever she had the chance.
"If you finally meet someone you truly like and who's perfect for you, but you don't take the initiative, then you'll never find someone like that again."
"Look at this child. He's so suitable. Are you really going to stand by and watch him end up with that useless Bai?"
"Doesn't your conscience hurt? Haven't you thought about what kind of life he'll have in the future if he's stuck with that Bai?"
"Are you seriously not tempted at all?"
"You're facing the Mental Power User you've always wanted most. I refuse to believe you don't want him. If you do want him, then go after him! If you're too proud to use underhanded methods, then your sister will help you!"
Yu Lanfeng's mind became filled with nothing but his sister's words.
His gaze rested on Nan Yu.
Was it really true that he felt nothing?
Had no thoughts whatsoever?
That was impossible.
Nan Yu truly seemed like the perfect other half, someone tailor-made specifically for him.
Yu Lanfeng quickly forced all those chaotic thoughts out of his mind.
No matter what...
Work came first.
Besides, this wasn't something that could be settled anytime soon.
Nan Yu's testing continued for roughly half an hour before finally coming to an end.
Yu Lanfeng walked over.
"The test results are satisfactory. If we conduct similar tests in the future, I'll ask you to help again."
Nan Yu smiled.
"No problem. Feel free to call me anytime."
Everyone else tactfully left.
Yu Lanfeng personally escorted Nan Yu back toward the game's main city.
Only after arriving there did he finally speak.
"As thanks, I'd like to treat you to a meal at Zhenxiu Pavilion."
Nan Yu's eyes immediately lit up.
"Really? Really?!"
This was probably the boldest thing Yu Lanfeng had ever done.
"Yes."
"Consider it my thanks. I'll have many more things to ask for your help with in the future."
Nan Yu immediately agreed.
"Sure! I'll go! Will you come pick me up, or should I go by myself?"
"Tomorrow evening."
"I'll have the people assigned to guard you bring you to Zhenxiu Pavilion."
"No problem!"
"I'm definitely going to eat until I'm stuffed. Marshal Yu, don't complain if I eat too much."
Yu Lanfeng looked at his slender figure.
Even though it was only his in-game avatar, he could still imagine what Nan Yu looked like in reality.
Still so thin.
Even if Nan Yu ate twice as much...
It probably wouldn't amount to even half of what Yu Lanfeng himself could eat.
"Eat whatever you want."
"You can even pack food to take home."
Nan Yu beamed.
"Thank you so much! Then I'll pack some of my eldest brother's and second brother's favorite dishes too. That's okay, right?"
"No problem."
After saying goodbye to Yu Lanfeng, Nan Yu happily went to find the Yang Zhou he had neglected for quite a while in the game.
"I'm done over there."
Yang Zhou narrowed his eyes.
"Really? Judging by how excited you look... don't tell me this new game mode is actually that fun? Doesn't seem likely..."
"So..."
"Did the two of you make some substantial progress?"
Nan Yu tilted his head.
"Huh?"
"Substantial progress?"
"What do you mean by substantial progress?"
Nan Yu blinked.
"What are you talking about?"
Yang Zhou covered his forehead.
He suddenly felt a headache coming on.
"Nothing."
Looks like...
He had been overthinking things.
Nan Yu smiled.
"Come on. Let's go meet the two lone experts our guild members found for us."
"I heard they're incredibly strong!"
Yang Zhou stood up.
"Let's check them out first."
"If we can't get along with them, then forget it."
"Of course."
Following the location his eldest brother had sent them, they arrived at the agreed meeting place in the wilderness.
It couldn't be helped.
Apparently those two players had also participated in the bounty hunt against the five targets, killing them dozens of times.
As a result, both of them currently had bright red names and couldn't enter towns or any areas protected by NPC guards.
When Nan Yu and Yang Zhou arrived at the meeting place, they quickly spotted two players with crimson-red names already waiting there.
Nan Yu smiled politely.
"Hello. I'm From South to North, and this is Against the Current."