Chapter 203: The Planet
Nan Yu said somewhat indignantly, “You have that little faith in me? Even back when I was still a Mid-Tier Mental Power User, I could already control my Mental Power to some extent so those instruments couldn't detect its maximum value. Much less now.”
Yu Lanfeng knew he was a little angry, so he did not say anything more.
“All right. Get some rest first.”
Only then did Nan Yu lie down and nestle into his arms.
“Brother, how much longer until we reach the auction? Is that planet the one you mentioned before, where all the gray and black industries are?”
Yu Lanfeng said, “It is the planet I mentioned before, but they're not gray and black industries. They're entirely black. They're all concentrated there. It's close to the border regions, and there isn't even a military force stationed there. They're also forbidden from privately maintaining armed forces. If they're discovered raising troops, the Empire will directly transfer units from several surrounding military bases and publicly wipe out all their soldiers along with the organization responsible.”
Nan Yu said, “Hmm... Then at the auction, will I be able to see lots of things that are prohibited from being sold? For example, some of the drugs developed by that organization?”
“Oh, right. Is there human trafficking?”
Yu Lanfeng shook his head.
“The drugs have always been there. This time, they've added that device as well. As for human trafficking, we haven't discovered any so far, but... not discovering it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.”
After all, these people were best at conducting their business in the shadows. Over so many years, very few cases had actually been discovered, and even when they were, they had all been small-scale operations, with people secretly buying and selling one individual at a time. It was extremely difficult to uncover.
Furthermore, anyone in the Empire bold enough to buy or sell people was bound to possess either power or influence, as well as enormous wealth. They would certainly arrange secure locations for their transactions themselves.
That was why they still had not obtained any useful evidence or clues. It also meant that such underground transactions very likely still existed.
This time in particular, the auction had been prepared on an enormous scale.
Among the items were the various drugs routinely produced by that mysterious organization. They wanted more people to use them and serve as test subjects, providing them with even more experimental samples. Only then could their data become increasingly complete.
Nan Yu asked, “Is the auction held outdoors, indoors, or underground?”
Yu Lanfeng said, “The auction venue is underground.”
Nan Yu was somewhat puzzled.
“Why underground? Isn't the entire planet their territory? Why would they still need to do that?”
Yu Lanfeng said, “Maybe they're used to it. Another possibility is that some of the things being auctioned can't be exposed to the light, so it's a guilty conscience. Do you want to see it?”
Nan Yu said, “We're going to attend the auction anyway, aren't we? I'll definitely see it then. Speaking of which, this will be my first time attending an auction like this. I might as well broaden my horizons.”
This was not Yu Lanfeng's first time bringing his spacecraft here.
Every time Yu Lanfeng came to this planet, he concealed his identity, and naturally, this time was no exception.
Every outsider who came here needed to wear a mask. That way, when various organizations had internal conflicts, outsiders would be protected from becoming involved.
Of course, they were not afraid of such trouble, but the moment Yu Lanfeng used his ability, his identity would definitely be exposed. The color of his flame ability was simply far too distinctive once he used it.
Ten out of ten people would recognize it.
If they were somewhere isolated from the outside world, they might still be able to conceal it, but the more gray or black an area was, the faster news and intelligence circulated.
So Nan Yu was certain that on the planet they were about to visit, virtually everyone capable of independent thought knew what Yu Lanfeng's ability looked like.
“Then how are we going to hide our identities? Wear masks? Or cloaks that cover our faces? Or directly use drugs to temporarily change part of our appearance?”
Basically every country had its own drugs capable of altering a person's appearance, but those drugs had time limits and produced side effects if taken too often. Therefore, they were generally not used and were only brought out in emergencies.
Yu Lanfeng said, “On this planet, everyone is allowed to wear the same kind of standard mask. We can prepare the masks ourselves, or buy one after arriving on the planet. They're all the most ordinary masks.”
Nan Yu said, “Of course they have to be. After all, the people buying masks come from every direction, from all kinds of places. If they tampered with all the masks, then fine if nobody discovered it, but the moment someone did, the entire planet would face an extremely serious problem. The Empire's upper echelons might jointly decide to abolish the planet's special status entirely.”
That was something neither side wanted to see.
Therefore, behavior like this, which would provoke every outsider visiting the planet, was opposed by everyone on the entire planet.
The manufacturing of masks, as well as shops that gave them away or sold them, were all subjected to rigorous inspections and screening.
The moment there was a problem, your entire shop would be torn apart!
When Nan Yu imagined a shop being demolished without another word after a problem was discovered, he found the scene inexplicably amusing.
He really wanted to see something like that.
“Brother, how much longer?”
Yu Lanfeng checked the time.
“About another two days. We'll enter the jump point soon. The jump itself will take about a day and a half, and after we leave the jump point, it'll only be another few hours before we arrive.”
Nan Yu said, “Okay.”
For the next two days, Nan Yu continuously communicated and cultivated with the Nianshen Grass, wanting to completely assimilate the Mental Power inside his Mental Sea as quickly as possible.
Originally, he had thought it would take several days.
But once he truly began cultivating, he discovered that he was already a High-Tier Mental Power User. His current cultivation speed could no longer be compared to when he had been at the peak of the Mid-Tier.
The Mental Power he had estimated would require more than a week to fully assimilate was already almost completely assimilated after only a day or two.
Nan Yu said, “Brother, give me another two hours. I'll be able to completely consume all this Mental Power very soon. Oh, right, how long until we enter the jump point?”
“Half an hour.”
Nan Yu said, “Hmm... That's fine too. I can contact Zhou Yuwen after we come out of the jump point.”
Yu Lanfeng said, “There's no hurry. You can do it whenever you want. I don't intend to make a move against that organization yet anyway. The time isn't right.”
Nan Yu said, “I understand, Brother. Then I'll cultivate first?”
Yu Lanfeng said, “Cultivate properly and get some good rest. Don't think about this matter.”
Nan Yu said, “All right, I know. I... Hmm?”
Halfway through speaking, his optical computer received a communication request.
Nan Yu checked it.
It was his father!
He accepted the communication request and saw Nan Ming on the screen.
“Dad?”
Nan Ming visibly relaxed when he saw him. Nan Yu's complexion also looked very good, nothing like someone who had suffered an accident.
Nan Ming calmly asked, “How have you been lately?”
Nan Yu said, “Dad, I've been doing very well. But are there a lot of Ability Beasts over there? Don't spend every day and night fighting without stopping. You need to rest too.”
Nan Ming said, “Mm. By the way... I think I heard something before... Forget it. As long as you're fine.”
Nan Yu blinked.
“Heard what?”
Nan Ming said, “Nothing.”
Nan Yu moved his entire face closer to the screen. From Nan Ming's perspective, he could now see only one of Nan Yu's eyes pressed close to the display.
“Dad, you definitely have something you want to ask. Hurry up and ask! Did you hear someone gossiping?”
“Things between the Marshal and me haven't been made public yet. Could it be that some people noticed something from the way we interacted before and started spreading rumors everywhere while the Marshal and I weren't around to deal with them?”
Yu Lanfeng said, “I'll deal with them when I get back.”
The corner of Nan Ming's mouth twitched.
“It's nothing!”
“All right, you two aren't even married yet and you're already singing the same tune. Looks like once you're married, there won't be any room left for this old man...”
Nan Yu said, “Hmm... I can smell the jealousy from here. Dad, you're even jealous over something like this?”
And was changing the subject this way really going to work?
However, as a considerate youngest son, Nan Yu naturally would not keep pressing him.
The two chatted for a little longer before ending the communication.
Nan Yu patted his chest with lingering apprehension.
“I think Dad probably heard about what happened from somewhere, but what he heard wasn't complete. He only heard a little bit. Since he didn't know much, he started overthinking it. And the last time Dad contacted you, all he saw was me sleeping, so he probably thought you'd deceived him. That's why he seemed so anxious this time.”
Yu Lanfeng said, “Fortunately, we didn't give anything away.”
Nan Yu said, “Mm. So Dad probably thinks he was a little too hasty now, right?”
A little too hasty?
It was far more than a little!
The moment the communication ended, Nan Ming covered his face with both hands.
He felt that he had thoroughly embarrassed himself in front of his youngest son.
And he had done it right in front of that brat!
How humiliating!
Fortunately, nobody here had seen it.
His son was considerate and would never tell anyone. That brat certainly would not say anything either. After all, he was already calling him Dad. If he dared spread stories about his embarrassing moments on top of that, then he must truly want his father-in-law to personally teach him how a son-in-law ought to behave.
Less than ten minutes after the communication ended, another request arrived on Nan Yu's optical computer.
This time, it was from Nan Yun.
After Nan Yu accepted it, he saw both his elder brothers.
“Big Brother, Second Brother?!”
“Little Brother!”
Nan Yu spoke first.
“Huh? You two don't look very well. What's wrong? Did something bad happen?”
Nan Yun and Nan Zhen both fell silent.
“...”
So Little Brother had already suspected something at first glance?
Nan Yun said, “Nothing. We probably trained too hard these past few days, so we're resting at home today. We'll continue tomorrow.”
Nan Yu did not expose them.
“All right. But you can't push yourselves this hard in the future. Remember to rest properly. I'll probably be back in a few months. I miss you both so much!”
Sure enough, Nan Yun and Nan Zhen were immediately soothed.
No matter how agitated they were, a few comforting words from their little brother were enough to lift their spirits again.
They chatted enthusiastically for a long time, until Yu Lanfeng reminded Nan Yu that they were about to enter the jump point.
“Big Brother, Second Brother, I have something to do here, so I'll end the call first. I'll be back in a few months, and then we can have a proper talk.”
Nan Yun said, “All right. It's fine. Go take care of your business. Just make sure you're careful.”
Nan Yu said, “Big Brother, I'm only treating Mental Contamination for Ability Users. It's always been very safe. Don't worry!”
One of the reasons they had originally let Nan Yu leave early with Yu Lanfeng was precisely to prevent Nan Yu from coming into contact with dangers related to other organizations.
If they found out that Yu Lanfeng was currently taking Nan Yu to that black-market planet, there was no telling how Yu Lanfeng would be killed.
Just imagining that scene sent a shiver through Yu Lanfeng.
They absolutely could not find out.
This trip had to remain concealed.
Nan Ming, in particular, absolutely could not learn about it.
Nan Yun and Nan Zhen were not members of a legion yet and were still studying at the academy, so they had no channel through which they could discover this.
Nan Ming, however, was different!
Nan Ming was a Major General in a legion. If he truly wanted to investigate, he could still find out.
Yu Lanfeng thought for a moment, then summoned every person currently aboard the spacecraft one by one and warned them individually that they absolutely could not reveal that they were heading to that planet.
Otherwise, Yu Lanfeng himself would personally serve as that person's instructor for half a year and properly teach them what real special training was.
Very soon, the spacecraft entered the jump point.
The starry sky outside vanished completely. Nothing could be seen except absolute darkness, occasionally interrupted by a tiny flash of light that disappeared in an instant.
This was jump mode.
Its speed was extraordinarily fast!
Only then did Nan Yu settle onto the bed, holding the Nianshen Grass, which had clearly grown considerably larger, and begin cultivating.
He opened his eyes and looked at the Nianshen Grass several times.
Perhaps the increase in his cultivation speed was also significantly related to the Nianshen Grass growing larger?
With that thought, Nan Yu quickly immersed himself in cultivation.
Yu Lanfeng remained beside him while handling some official documents of his own.
He was also making preparations for their stop on that planet.
Their objective was to purchase one of those so-called devices capable of storing living creatures for several hours.
If possible, they hoped to thoroughly study the technology. It would naturally be best if they could improve it and manufacture something even better themselves. Of course, if they could not improve it, producing a replica would still be acceptable.
By the time Nan Yu finished cultivating, he had completely transformed all the remaining Mental Power into his own.
His entire body felt extraordinarily comfortable, as though the very last trace of concern inside him had finally disappeared.
Moreover, when he checked the time, he discovered that his cultivation had taken even less time than expected.
In other words, his estimate of his own strength had been wrong yet again.
And once again, he had underestimated himself.
Nan Yu felt that his abilities after becoming a High-Tier Mental Power User in this life seemed even stronger than they had been in his previous life.
Otherwise, his estimates could not have been this inaccurate.
“Brother?”
Nan Yu did not know when Yu Lanfeng had appeared behind him.
“Finished cultivating?”
Nan Yu said, “Mm, I'm done. It was even faster than I expected. Maybe I'm really much stronger than I imagined. Brother, do you think I'm qualified to stand shoulder to shoulder with you now?”
Yu Lanfeng said, “You've always been qualified to stand beside me. Don't belittle yourself. Even when you were still a Mid-Tier Mental Power User, you were qualified.”
Nan Yu was delighted inside, although he did not actually agree.
“All right.”
Still, Yu Lanfeng deserved praise for knowing exactly what to say.
“How much work do you have left?”
Recently, Ability Beast outbreaks had been occurring frequently, so there was certainly no end to the work. New matters appeared every moment.
Nan Yu immediately offered to help!
Yu Lanfeng did not refuse.
“Having two people handle this work together really will make it much faster. Whenever you don't have anything else to do, come find me. I can have these things ready for you to handle as well.”
Nan Yu said, “No problem.”
They dealt with some official business together and then lay down to rest for a while.
By the time they checked again, the spacecraft's jump had already ended.
Nan Yu looked at the unfamiliar star region with some nervousness.
He wondered what that planet would actually be like.
But when he truly saw the planet, he realized that what he had imagined before had been far too simple.
And he remembered someone mentioning a planet like this before.
It seemed to be a garbage planet!
Only certain areas had been occupied by cities and protected with defensive shields. Therefore, there was no foul smell inside them. There were only enormous buildings, advanced technology, wealth, beautiful people, power, and everything else.
From space, Nan Yu stared at the planet shrouded in a hazy gray atmosphere, with several cities barely visible beneath it, and felt somewhat melancholy.
Sure enough, he really had been born into a good family.
Their spacecraft docked at the spaceport here. It was not permitted to descend directly onto the planet.
Yu Lanfeng took out the cloaks and masks he had prepared beforehand.
Only four people would be leaving this time: Yu Lanfeng, Nan Yu, and two soldiers who would follow them to handle miscellaneous matters.
Nan Yu put on his mask and cloak, then stood in front of the mirror.
Sure enough, it was now impossible to tell who he was.
He was also wearing shoes that made him slightly taller. Nan Yu felt that his line of sight was noticeably higher than before. Although it was somewhat unfamiliar, he became accustomed to it after taking a few steps.
There was only one thing he was unhappy about.
He was still shorter than Yu Lanfeng!
Yu Lanfeng seemed completely oblivious to his expression.
“Let's go. We'll find somewhere to stay first.”
“Remember to stay close to me. The criminals here are extremely brazen. Basically everyone in the entire city is a criminal.”
Nan Yu asked, “Will they openly abduct someone and sell them?”
Yu Lanfeng said, “They wouldn't dare go that far. But they have a rather special device used for stealing. Supposedly, it can silently steal certain valuable objects from a targeted person without them noticing anything.”
Nan Yu asked, “Brother, have you ever had something stolen here before?”
Yu Lanfeng fell silent for a moment.
Obviously, that meant yes!
It was extremely rare for Nan Yu to stare at him with such shock.
“Brother, you've actually been robbed before? Who stole from you? They must've been amazing! If that person knew they'd stolen something from Marshal Yu Lanfeng himself and actually succeeded, they could probably brag about it for the rest of their life!”
Yu Lanfeng said, “Of course I noticed.”
He sounded somewhat helpless.
Although he had noticed, he had not caught it at the exact moment the item was stolen.
Instead, after it disappeared, he had suddenly felt as though something was missing from his person and immediately grabbed the man who had just brushed past him.
As it turned out, he really did find a piece of ore he had been carrying on the man's body.
Yu Lanfeng had casually put that ore on his person while inspecting various military bases, intending to bring it back to the Border Region One military base for research. He had apparently forgotten to put it away while aboard the spacecraft, or simply forgotten to place it inside his spatial button, resulting in that incident.
Fortunately, although the ore was extremely valuable, every country could actually mine it. The only difference was how much each country could extract.
Back then, he had even been targeted because of that piece of ore!
The reason was simply that the ore was extremely valuable.
However, after Yu Lanfeng taught a group of people a lesson and crushed two particularly despicable ones to death on the spot, nobody came looking for trouble again.
He did not know whether bringing Nan Yu here to broaden his horizons this time was a good idea or a bad one.
They left their spacecraft and boarded the transport spacecraft provided here to take everyone down to the surface.
But while still aboard this spacecraft, they encountered their first problem.
Nan Yu's eyes involuntarily drifted toward the seats separated from theirs by only a partition because some rather attention-grabbing sounds were coming from that direction.
He had no idea why those people would choose to do something like that here.
Of course, just as he turned and managed to glimpse a little of what was happening, Yu Lanfeng reached over and turned his head back.
Fine.
His Marshal would not let him look around casually.
But the sounds reaching his ears only became louder and bolder.
Even the people in the other seats began looking over there. However, everyone seemed completely accustomed to it. After taking a couple of glances, they withdrew their gazes.
The panting and moaning of the two people beside Nan Yu continued for roughly thirty or forty minutes before gradually dying down.
Even afterward, occasional sounds could still be heard.
So what exactly were they doing?
Couldn't they wait until they reached the planet and get a room?
Why did they have to start doing it right here?
Nan Yu sighed inwardly.
He had only just stepped off his own spacecraft, yet he had already seen the moral bottom line of this planet...
There was none.
And it had only been quiet for a short while when rustling sounds began coming from beside him again.
Then those noises started once more.
The one on the receiving end seemed unable to endure much more and began pleading for mercy. Yet those quiet pleas not only failed to have any effect, but instead resulted in even more intense treatment.
Fortunately, the spacecraft had already reached its destination, and everyone could finally get off.
As Nan Yu stood up to leave, he finally saw the two people opposite them.
However, the pair moved even faster than he did.
One man picked up the other man and stood while still holding him in that position, then quickly walked outside.
In the blink of an eye, they disappeared.
Nan Yu blinked without saying anything and followed Yu Lanfeng outside.
But the moment they stepped out, he saw that the two men who had just left were already leaning against a wall ahead, openly going at it.
Some people glanced at them while passing by, while others walked straight past without looking sideways, as though the pair did not even exist.
Nan Yu took a deep breath.
He felt that he really had underestimated this planet before.
How was this merely a place with no bottom line?
There was simply no limit whatsoever to how low it could go!
It seemed he truly needed to be careful.
On this planet, he absolutely had to stay close to Yu Lanfeng.
Otherwise, he was afraid his eyes would go blind!