Chapter 184: Chaos
Just as Nan Yu was still in shock, the Mental Power User—whose face was twisted with madness yet somehow still showed traces of restraint—suddenly charged straight toward him.
Nan Yu's expression hardened.
Fortunately, although he had been caught off guard mentally, he had already prepared his Mental Power.
Since the man was rushing right at him, Nan Yu might as well teach him a lesson and make him calm down a little.
When the distance between them shrank to only three or four meters, Nan Yu's released Mental Power pierced directly into the man's Mental Sea.
In that instant, the man froze in place and let out a miserable scream.
But the scream had only just begun—
Before it abruptly stopped.
Nan Yu watched as the man's eyes rolled back, his body collapsed to the ground, and he lost consciousness.
Only then did Nan Yu notice Yu Lanfeng standing behind him.
"Brother? Why are you here?"
"I've got plenty of ways to deal with Mental Power Users. You don't need to worry."
Nan Yu had always been extremely confident in his own Mental Power.
Yu Lanfeng, however, hadn't thought so before.
But after witnessing the man's agonized scream while clutching his head, he finally realized just how terrifying Nan Yu's methods really were.
Still...
That didn't mean he couldn't worry about him.
"Are you alright?" Yu Lanfeng asked.
Nan Yu smiled.
"I'm fine."
"You arrived at exactly the right moment. As soon as you appeared, you knocked him unconscious. I didn't even get the chance to show off my incredibly powerful Mental Power."
He deliberately spoke in an exaggeratedly strange tone, leaving Yu Lanfeng rather speechless.
"Enough."
"Have someone come in and deal with him."
"He used drugs, which caused his Mental Power to spiral out of control."
"It's obvious this has something to do with that organization."
Nan Yu glanced at the unconscious man before moving closer to Yu Lanfeng and lowering his voice.
"Actually... I noticed something just now. Listen."
After hearing everything, Yu Lanfeng's eyes widened ever so slightly before immediately returning to normal.
"You're certain?"
Nan Yu nodded.
"Absolutely."
"I'm completely sure."
"I'd noticed it before, but for some reason I forgot about it."
"It wasn't until I saw him just now that I remembered."
"This person definitely has some connection to the Bai family."
"I just don't know exactly what that connection is..."
Yu Lanfeng nodded.
"I'll investigate."
"I'll have him transferred to Military Base One and imprisoned there."
"We'll deal with it after we return."
Nan Yu immediately shook his head.
"No."
"If his Mental Power were stable, he'd probably just be a somewhat above-average Mid-Tier Mental Power User."
"But right now, his Mental Power is completely out of control. He's lost all reason."
"If he has another Mental Power rampage in Military Base One—or even during transport—and nobody can suppress him..."
"The consequences would be unimaginable."
Yu Lanfeng considered it for a moment.
"You're right."
"Then we'll keep him where we can watch him."
Nan Yu nodded again.
"Besides..."
"In his current condition, it's impossible for him to be connected to what's happening at this military base."
"So the Mental Power User who controlled Yao Anyang probably isn't him."
If anything...
The opposite might be true.
This Mental Power User could very well be another victim.
Still...
Nothing could be concluded so quickly.
Nan Yu had no evidence yet.
There were still too many things he didn't know.
Everything would have to be investigated step by step.
As for why everyone at the military base seemed so hostile toward him...
He still hadn't figured it out.
Even after asking both Shuang Qingyue and Yao Anyang, the answers were always identical.
Neither of them knew.
Over the next several days, while continuing to monitor the Mental Power Users, Nan Yu and Yu Lanfeng also kept processing the imprisoned spies.
By now, Nan Yu had become strangely accustomed to sensing their hostility.
As soon as someone entered the room, if he felt malicious intent, he already knew the outcome.
Strictly speaking, he didn't even need to ask any questions before sentencing them to death.
Still, for the sake of procedure, he always asked three simple questions.
Their final destination remained the same.
Death.
Just as Nan Yu had expected, people like Shuang Qingyue and Jiang Youjian were incredibly rare.
In fact, having two such exceptions in a single military base was already unusually high.
Normally...
There wouldn't even be one.
At most, perhaps a single rare exception would occasionally appear.
Perhaps Border Region Six's unique circumstances were what had produced those two cases.
As Nan Yu became increasingly efficient, the pace accelerated dramatically.
Originally, he had questioned two people per minute.
Now he sometimes managed three...
Or four...
Even five.
Eventually, to save time, he simply brought in two or three people simultaneously and asked them identical questions.
He wasn't worried they might coordinate their answers.
Whatever was fastest was fine.
He wasn't going to make a mistake anyway.
Besides...
Even after realizing they'd been exposed and were about to die, none of them dared attack Nan Yu with Yu Lanfeng standing nearby.
In short...
Nan Yu became completely fearless.
A workload that should have taken more than ten additional days was finished in only seven or eight.
Exactly as he'd predicted—
Those two exceptions really had been the only ones.
After that, no more appeared.
Among the executed spies, some had undoubtedly committed terrible crimes.
Some had only recently infiltrated the base and hadn't yet done anything.
Some perhaps hadn't even had the chance to act at all.
Nan Yu spared none of them.
Regardless of what they had or hadn't done...
Every single one had to die.
After all...
They were enemy spies.
Just because they hadn't committed crimes yet...
Did that mean they never would?
Nan Yu didn't consider himself cold-hearted in the slightest.
Imagine discovering foreign spies inside your own nation's military base.
After capturing them, they simply said,
"I haven't had the chance to do anything yet."
And then...
You let them go?
What a joke.
Of course they should all be executed.
After Yu Lanfeng dealt with the final batch of spies, Nan Yu suddenly sighed.
"Is it really alright not to interrogate them about what they know?"
Yu Lanfeng shook his head.
"It's fine."
"You won't get anything useful from them."
"If the people behind them dared send them here, they already accounted for the possibility of capture."
Nan Yu blinked.
"Accounted for it?"
Yu Lanfeng nodded.
"They know these people won't reveal any valuable intelligence, even if they're caught."
"So interrogating them is nothing but a waste of time and energy."
"There won't be any gains."
Nan Yu chuckled.
"So... these people look impressive."
"But in the eyes of those behind them..."
"They're nothing more than expendable chess pieces."
"If one is destroyed, they simply replace it with another."
Yu Lanfeng remained silent.
His silence was answer enough.
Nan Yu sighed softly.
So obtaining intelligence from these spies had never really been possible.
He'd never dealt with this sort of thing before, so he hadn't understood.
For Yu Lanfeng, however...
This was nothing unusual.
If Yu Lanfeng said so...
Then it was almost certainly true.
When Nan Yu walked out of the interrogation room that day, he felt as though even the air around the military base had become fresher.
Every single spy there had been executed.
Not one remained.
As for the two survivors...
Shuang Qingyue and Jiang Youjian...
Both still felt lingering fear.
Had they lied instead of telling the truth...
They would probably have ended up in that small room as well.
Finally burned together with the last hundred people...
Reduced to ashes...
Then burned until not even ash remained.
Shuang Qingyue recovered fairly quickly.
Jiang Youjian, however, seemed genuinely traumatized.
Every day his complexion remained terrible.
After hearing about it, Nan Yu said,
"Maybe he's just too idle."
"That's why he keeps overthinking."
"Give him something to do."
"If possible, put him through intensive special training."
"Keep him so exhausted that he has neither the time nor the energy to dwell on things."
"In a few months he'll be going to the Capital Star."
"He can't stay in this condition."
After reminding Yao Anyang, Nan Yu once again shifted his full attention to investigating the mysterious Mental Power User.
Logically...
He shouldn't have missed anyone.
The fragment of Mental Power extracted from Yao Anyang's Mental Sea remained stored inside the special device Nan Yu carried.
He had repeatedly familiarized himself with its fluctuations.
If its owner appeared before him now...
Nan Yu was confident that even if the person never released their Mental Power...
He could still recognize their "scent."
Every Mental Power User possessed a unique signature.
Not a physical smell...
But a distinct "scent" belonging to their Mental Power.
Only fellow Mental Power Users could perceive it.
Even then...
Not every Mental Power User possessed that sensitivity.
One's Mental Power had to reach a very high level.
And there was another requirement.
One needed absolute, microscopic control over one's own Mental Power.
It could even be said...
Many High-Tier Mental Power Users still couldn't match the precision Nan Yu currently possessed.
Nan Yu's suggestion regarding Jiang Youjian proved correct.
After beginning intensive training, Jiang Youjian finally slept soundly that very night.
The strange nightmares also disappeared.
Unfortunately...
Nan Yu himself was now troubled.
He set the device down before returning to the office.
"What do we do now?"
"We still can't find that Mental Power User."
"Logically, anyone capable of controlling an Ability User like Yao Anyang would have to remain nearby."
"So why can't we find them?"
Nan Yu had already checked once.
Nothing.
Unwilling to give up, he inspected every single Mental Power User in the military base again.
Still nothing.
Not a single match.
More than once, he questioned Yao Anyang.
Had any Mental Power User left the base before they arrived?
Had anyone disappeared afterward?
Every single time...
Yao Anyang gave the same answer.
Not one Mental Power User was missing.
Yu Lanfeng's official records also confirmed that every registered Mental Power User was accounted for.
No disappearances.
None whatsoever.
Nan Yu couldn't understand it.
Could someone actually alter the "scent" of their Mental Power?
Even over the next two days, he refused to give up.
He continued wandering in and around the treatment center.
Perhaps because Nan Yu wasn't merely wandering around...
He often helped treat newly admitted patients whose Mental Contamination had just reached S-rank.
He remained energetic every day.
His enthusiasm seemed to inspire everyone else as well.
Still...
Nan Yu made no progress.
Even a tiny clue would have been enough.
But several days had already passed since nearly twenty thousand spies had been eliminated.
If they delayed much longer...
This single case would hold them here for far too long.
After all...
They still had more than twenty military bases left to inspect.
Fortunately...
Most of the remaining bases wouldn't present problems on this scale.
At worst...
There might be around ten thousand spies.
Some bases had fewer than one thousand.
That at least offered Nan Yu some comfort.
He sighed.
"If we don't find this person, I won't be able to relax."
"Brother..."
"The comparison with the central database is finished?"
"This military base is completely clean now?"
Yu Lanfeng nodded.
"Aside from Shuang Qingyue and Jiang Youjian..."
"There are no more abnormalities."
"How about we leave first?"
"General Yao is here."
"There won't be any problems."
"And even if something does happen, we'll return immediately."
Immediately...
That was true.
But Nan Yu feared that by the time they received the news and came back...
It would already be too late.
Even Yu Lanfeng had begun developing a headache.
Still...
He stayed and waited alongside Nan Yu.
Then Nan Yu suddenly remembered something.
"Brother..."
"The Mental Power User imprisoned on the lowest level of the underground dungeon..."
"He wasn't in the official records either, was he?"
"That's right."
Yu Lanfeng looked at him.
"What?"
"You want to investigate from that angle?"
Nan Yu nodded.
"I don't know..."
"I just have this feeling that he's still somewhere inside the military base."
"Waiting for us to leave."
"And once we're gone..."
"He'll make another move against Yao Anyang."
"Although I repaired General Yao's Mental Sea..."
"That only restored his body and mental condition."
"His Mental Sea itself remains vulnerable."
"If someone controls him again..."
"It might be much easier this time."
"Without us realizing it..."
"Half of this military base's authority could once again fall into the hands of that unknown Mental Power User."
Yu Lanfeng frowned slightly.
"What do you think we should do?"
Nan Yu folded his arms.
His expression became unusually serious.
"Brother."
"We can't wait anymore."
"I'm going out for a walk today."
"If you want to accompany me..."
"Come with me."
Naturally, Yu Lanfeng agreed.
"What are you planning?"
Nan Yu smiled faintly.
"I'm not certain it'll work."
"But we have to try."
"If it doesn't..."
"We'll leave first."
"Later we'll come back and check on Yao Anyang."
"If he's fine..."
"We'll temporarily set this matter aside."
Yu Lanfeng nodded.
"Alright."
"Shall we go now?"
Nan Yu glanced at the time.
"Let's go."
"This military base is fairly large."
"Walking all the way around will probably take several hours."
"If we leave now, we'll finish just in time for dinner."
"When we get back..."
"We'll definitely have to eat something good."
Yu Lanfeng walked beside him.
The two strolled shoulder to shoulder.
Their pace was leisurely.
To anyone watching...
They simply looked like two people taking a walk.
Halfway through their stroll...
Nan Yu suddenly remembered Yu Lanfeng's proposal.
Back then, he'd been so embarrassed that everything afterward had become a blur.
Even so...
He could still recall the scene.
The more he thought about it...
The more he smiled.
Eventually he turned toward Yu Lanfeng with an obvious grin.
Yu Lanfeng kept noticing those repeated glances.
They actually made him feel rather uneasy.
"What?"
"Is something wrong?"
Nan Yu shook his head.
"Nothing."
"I just wanted to look at you."
"I could never get tired of looking."
"There are so many Mental Power Users in the Empire."
"How did you end up choosing me?"
"Was I incredibly lucky..."
"Or do you simply have exceptionally good taste?"
Yu Lanfeng answered without hesitation.
"My taste has always been excellent."
"I'm very good at choosing."
Nan Yu was momentarily speechless.
Still...
He didn't mind.
The important thing wasn't any of that.
They were together now.
And judging by everything so far...
They got along extremely well.
Even this legion had already begun carrying Nan Yu's influence.
One day...
He would undoubtedly become its other leader.
Together...
The two of them would build the legion into something even greater.
Nan Yu took a deep breath.
He had been about to say something...
When he suddenly sensed something.
His head snapped toward one direction.
His eyes widened.
Invisible Mental Power spread rapidly in that direction.
Unfortunately...
He detected nothing.
The reason was simple.
He still wasn't a High-Tier Mental Power User.
Although his Mental Power could now extend much farther than during his first kidnapping...
Its maximum range still remained under one hundred meters.
That was tiny.
In his previous life...
After reaching High-Tier...
He could sense targets several thousand meters away.
Just how much longer would it take before he reached High-Tier again?
He really didn't want to wait anymore.
Although Nan Yu hadn't discovered anything...
The instant he looked in that direction...
Yu Lanfeng had already rushed off.
Whether he'd found anything...
Nan Yu didn't know.
He withdrew his Mental Power and ran after him.
About five minutes later...
He finally spotted Yu Lanfeng.
And beneath Yu Lanfeng's foot...
A person lay face-down in the dirt after being pinned to the ground.
Nan Yu blinked.
What was going on?
Who was this?
Although confused...
He quickly realized...
This had to be the person who had secretly been watching them earlier.
Frowning, he walked over.
To prevent any accidents, he wrapped both himself and Yu Lanfeng in his Mental Power, guarding against a sudden Mental Power attack.
Squatting down, he looked at the dusty face before him.
"Who are you?"
"Why were you secretly watching us?"
As he questioned the man, Nan Yu searched his body for a personal terminal.
There wasn't one.
Which meant...
This person probably had no official identity at all.
Yu Lanfeng's expression darkened slightly.
"We'll ask Yao Anyang later."
Two Mental Power Users with no identity records had appeared inside his own military base.
What exactly had Yao Anyang been doing?
Even if he'd been under mind control before...
What about now?
Now that Nan Yu had repaired his Mental Sea...
He shouldn't still be making such basic mistakes.
Yet here they were.
Someone with no identity was living freely inside the military base.
If Yao Anyang claimed he knew nothing about it...
Neither Nan Yu nor Yu Lanfeng would believe him.
Yao Anyang arrived quickly after receiving the report.
The moment he saw the person pinned beneath Yu Lanfeng's foot...
He froze.
He genuinely seemed confused as to why the person was here.
Still...
Judging from his expression alone...
It wasn't difficult to tell that he recognized this Mental Power User.
Yu Lanfeng asked coldly,
"Explain."
"You know him?"
Yao Anyang didn't deny it.
"Yes."
"He's the child of a soldier who died after rescue efforts failed at the rear hospital."
"He looked pitiful, so I took care of him."
"I did try leaving him in the city near the hospital."
"But after his father died, his mental state became unstable."
"He was constantly bullied and easily led astray."
"It also happened to be a relatively peaceful period without major beast tides."
"I had some free time, so I brought him to the military base to raise him."
"I planned to send him back to the city behind the hospital once he had matured."
Yu Lanfeng asked,
"So you sent him back?"
"Yes."
"I personally took him back."
Nan Yu frowned.
"If that's true..."
"Why is he still here?"
"You didn't bring him back yourself?"
Yao Anyang answered calmly.
"No."
"I truly did take him back."
"I personally arranged a place for him to live near the hospital."
Nan Yu and Yu Lanfeng exchanged a glance.
Both understood immediately.
Yao Anyang genuinely believed that was what had happened.
He had no reason to lie.
But given the current situation...
Something had clearly happened behind the scenes.
Exactly what...
Still needed investigation.
Nan Yu thought for a moment before asking,
"Could it be that you simply forgot?"
"Or perhaps..."
"You were in a state where you had absolutely no memory of your actions?"
His implication couldn't have been clearer.
The hidden Mental Power User had controlled Yao Anyang.
Used him to secretly bring the child back to the military base.
Then hid him somewhere safe.
Since Yao Anyang knew he had once been controlled...
He probably believed he retained memories of everything that happened during that period.
In reality...
Those memories had likely been selectively altered.
He remembered only what the controller wanted him to remember.
Which was why he firmly denied having any missing memories.
Nan Yu nodded.
"Alright."
"No matter what..."
"The first thing we need to do is confirm whether this person's Mental Power matches the fragment I removed from your Mental Sea."
"If it does..."
"Then he's the one who controlled you."
"If it doesn't..."
"Then he's simply another unfortunate victim."
He paused.
"But..."
"Even if he is a victim..."
"Someone who never passed the required examinations has absolutely no right to live freely inside a military base."
"That's completely against military regulations."
"As a general..."
"I'm sure you understand that better than anyone."
Nan Yu hesitated.
He almost couldn't continue.
Yu Lanfeng took over instead.
"Yao Anyang."
"You've already violated numerous regulations."
His face remained expressionless.
His gaze was ice-cold.
"First."
"You knew Shuang Qingyue wasn't an Imperial citizen."
"Yet you deliberately gave him special treatment."
"You concealed his identity."
"You even helped falsify his records during this inspection."
"And regardless of right or wrong..."
"You brought him directly under your protection."