Chapter 63: Escape
After all, he had at least been a High-Tier Mental Power User. To them, he still had some value, but his existence couldn't be exposed.
So in his previous life, perhaps they really hadn't intended to kill him in the end. It was simply because he had been determined to die, and in the end, he truly died.
But death was death.
Thanks to that death, the current him had obtained a new life!
That's right.
Being reborn was the best thing that could have happened.
Nan Yu didn't linger there for long and quickly headed toward the exit.
He still remembered how he had run in here back then.
As he walked along the path, Nan Yu wasn't thinking about nothing. Instead, he was considering what he should do if there were guards outside.
He was only a Mental Power User.
No matter how strong a Mental Power User was, when facing an Ability User, even a Low-Tier Ability User, he had very little ability to fight back.
Therefore, rashly going out now wasn't a wise choice.
Not only would it expose the fact that he had escaped that place, but they would discover him, capture him again, and lock him up.
And next time, he definitely wouldn't be so lucky.
After taking only a few more steps, Nan Yu discovered what looked like surveillance equipment ahead.
He immediately retreated several steps and cautiously backed away.
Only after retreating for two minutes and confirming that nothing had followed him did he finally let out a sigh of relief.
"That was close..."
Nan Yu's expression wasn't pleasant.
Sure enough.
If he had accidentally exposed himself just now, then...
But what should he do now?
Just wait here for rescue?
Nan Yu didn't even know where he was.
And would anyone really come to save him?
He had died here in his previous life.
Maybe...
He was only saying maybe...
Perhaps in this life...
This would once again become the place where his bones were buried?
Had Heaven not truly given him a second chance, but merely sent him here to die once again?
In his previous life, he had died alone here.
Would no one come to save him in this life either?
Would he also...
For some reason, Nan Yu thought of the person he had seen when the communication connected.
Yu Lanfeng.
He knew.
He knew Nan Yu was in danger.
So perhaps...
Perhaps he could hope for something.
Would Marshal Yu come and save him?
Nan Yu felt pathetic.
Why was it that whenever danger came, he always thought about someone coming to save him instead of saving himself?
His strength...
His strength...
Actually...
Maybe he wasn't that weak?
Fine.
He admitted that he was weak.
But perhaps mental power had other uses?
He had already researched this in his previous life.
Unfortunately, because of everything that happened afterward, until his death, he had never had the extra time to put his ideas into practice.
He had once come up with a very bold theory.
Mental power wasn't only useful for helping Ability Users remove mental contamination.
It had other uses as well.
For example, he had just used his mental power to search for an escape route and had successfully escaped that prison.
That alone was proof.
Nan Yu had also wondered why such a simple discovery had waited until him.
But after thinking carefully, the answer was actually simple.
First, only High-Tier Mental Power Users could project their mental power.
But all High-Tier Mental Power Users were protected too well.
They would never encounter situations where they needed to rescue themselves.
As for those who weren't High-Tier Mental Power Users, no matter how talented they were, they couldn't project their mental power.
Naturally, they had no chance of discovering these things.
Nan Yu's situation was special.
In his previous life, he had been a High-Tier Mental Power User and was already very familiar with projecting mental power.
He had even begun researching it.
Although that research ended without results, he still had some experience.
And in this life, he had obtained the Nianshen Grass and raised his mental power to a level approaching the threshold of a High-Tier Mental Power User in a short amount of time.
So being able to project his mental power wasn't actually that shocking.
The facts were already before him.
He could do it.
But the most important issue now wasn't that.
It was how to contact the outside world or escape from here.
He didn't know how many surveillance devices were floating around outside.
His mental power projection range was too short to investigate the surroundings without being noticed.
So all he could do was turn on his optical computer and repeatedly refresh the signal.
Even though every attempt ended in failure, it was all he could do.
He remembered that Fu Yu'ang had once installed a special communication program in his optical computer.
Even if the magnetic field around him was chaotic and normal signals couldn't be received, it could still establish contact.
However, according to Fu Yu'ang, the method was difficult and required a long time.
Nan Yu calculated how long he had been trapped here and sighed.
First, he didn't know how long he had been unconscious.
Second, the day and night cycles in that place had been fake.
So he had no idea how much time had actually passed.
But one thing was certain.
He had been missing for several days.
His eldest and second brothers must be blaming themselves.
And Fu Yu'ang...
After thinking about it, Nan Yu decided to explore the other paths inside the cave and see if he could find another exit.
He returned to the place where he had emerged earlier.
Standing still, he stared at the opened door.
This was where he had died in his previous life.
At that time, he had always thought he was on some remote planet.
But after carefully thinking it over, he finally confirmed that this place wasn't on another planet.
It was still on the Capital Star.
Before losing consciousness, he had already connected with Yu Lanfeng.
And with Yu Lanfeng's identity and the strength of his legion, as long as he gave the order, there was no way Nan Yu could have been taken off the Capital Star.
So in his previous life, what he thought had been an escape that ended with nowhere left to run—
In reality, Bai Zhouyun had secretly brought him back to the Capital Star using some method and abandoned him in this wilderness.
Then they deliberately drove him into this place.
Their ultimate goal might have been to imprison him beneath that door.
But perhaps Bai Zhouyun had never expected that Nan Yu's personality would be so fierce.
He had stubbornly fought against the people hunting him and ultimately died without leaving a complete corpse.
But...
Nan Yu muttered to himself.
"Right now Bai Zhouyun is still nothing, so he shouldn't know about this place yet. Then who exactly brought me here?"
Bai Zhouyun...
Bai Zhouyun...
The Bai family?
Nan Yu frowned slightly.
Perhaps Bai Zhouyun had inherited knowledge of this place from an elder of the Bai family.
Meaning he didn't know about it yet.
Then perhaps the people responsible for bringing him here were elders of the Bai family.
But Nan Yu didn't dare say whether his thoughts were correct.
Maybe Bai Zhouyun hadn't inherited it.
Perhaps he had only discovered this place after becoming stronger.
"Could this really have something to do with the Bai family?"
Nan Yu knew that the people who kidnapped him definitely weren't good people.
And there was a high probability that they weren't even citizens of the Empire.
If that was true, then the Bai family would be suspected of treason.
But it was still too early to conclude such things.
Everything so far was merely speculation.
Pulling himself together, Nan Yu began examining the surrounding rock walls to see if there were any other exits.
He hadn't held any hope.
But unexpectedly, he actually found one!
Once again, his projected mental power had made a great contribution.
Excellent!
On what appeared to be an ordinary rock wall, he discovered another exit.
This opening was small.
He pried away one or two stones that looked firmly embedded in the wall but were actually inserted separately.
After moving them aside, a narrow tunnel appeared before him.
It was only large enough for a young boy to crawl through.
Nan Yu wasted no time.
Throwing the rocks aside without caring about dirt, he got down and slowly crawled inside.
As for whether someone would discover the opening later—
That wasn't something he needed to worry about.
After fully entering the tunnel, Nan Yu lay still and used his projected mental power to return the stones to their original positions.
Anyone looking from outside would think nothing had changed.
After arranging the stones, Nan Yu slowly continued crawling deeper.
He had no idea where he was going.
The tunnel was extremely cramped.
His head, shoulders, and waist often scraped against the stone walls.
Every collision made him suck in a breath of pain.
After all, Nan Yu had grown up pampered.
He simply wasn't spoiled in temperament.
"It hurts..."
He muttered softly and continued crawling.
He would crawl for a while and then stop to rest.
Then continue again.
Over and over.
He had no idea how much time had passed.
All he knew was that he was starving.
Fortunately, he remembered secretly storing some pastries made by the robot in his spatial button.
There were also some snacks he had casually placed inside long ago.
In any case, he definitely wouldn't starve to death.
He just couldn't fill himself completely.
Nan Yu ate a little.
Once his stomach stopped protesting, he stopped eating.
If he became too full, he might have to wait until he finished digesting before he could continue crawling.
Like a snail, Nan Yu slowly moved forward.
Even he didn't know how much time had passed.
Whenever he became too exhausted, he simply lay there and slept.
After waking up, he continued crawling.
Heaven did not disappoint those with perseverance.
Just when he had almost exhausted all the food in his spatial button, Nan Yu finally emerged from the narrow tunnel.
Only then did he check his optical computer.
Strangely enough, while inside the narrow tunnel, it had been impossible to turn it on.
But after reaching this cave, where he could finally stand upright, it worked again.
Unfortunately, although it could be turned on, he still couldn't contact the outside world.
Checking the time, Nan Yu discovered that he had spent more than two days inside that narrow passage.
But why did it feel much longer?
Forget it.
The optical computer's time shouldn't be wrong.
What mattered wasn't that.
What mattered was where he was now.
Looking around, he saw two passages leading left and right.
Since he didn't know which direction to take, he simply picked one and cautiously moved forward.
Compared with the previous tunnel, this cave passage was much darker.
But Nan Yu could still feel wind blowing against his face.
He stood quietly for a moment.
Eventually, he determined that the breeze was coming from the direction he had chosen.
Thus, he encouraged himself and continued onward.
After walking for two hours, he finally couldn't take it anymore and sat heavily on the ground.
Removing his shoes, he began rubbing his feet.
"It hurts so much... My feet are killing me. Why haven't I reached the exit after walking this long?"
Nan Yu almost felt like crying.
Even during his escape in his previous life, he hadn't been this miserable.
Although he couldn't see himself now, he could imagine his appearance.
His clothes were filthy and torn.
And...
Looking at his hands, barely visible in the darkness, he sighed.
Even if he couldn't see clearly, he knew they were covered in dirt and dust.
As for his hair, one touch told him everything.
It was a complete mess, like wild weeds.
This was definitely the dirtiest he had ever been across both lives.
Then Nan Yu felt his mentality was surprisingly good.
Even now, he still had the mood to worry about his appearance.
After resting, he put his shoes back on and continued.
But this time, he only lasted half an hour before sitting down again.
After removing his shoes, he discovered blisters on his feet.
He sighed.
"Do I have to crawl again?"
Before, it had been unavoidable.
But now the passage was spacious.
Even if no one saw him, he still had some pride.
So after thinking about it, he gave up on the idea.
Nan Yu was still hanging on.
He could endure a little longer.
But Yu Lanfeng's side had completely reached its limit.
The blockade of the Capital Star had finally been lifted.
Although inspections remained strict, traffic had partially resumed.
Actually, they had reached their limit two days earlier.
But with help from Zhou Yunmei, Yu Lanfeng had managed to extend it by another two days.
Those two days were already the absolute limit.
Enough time had passed that even Nan Yun and Nan Zhen, who had been unconscious in the hospital, had awakened.
After waking up, they were individually taken to military interrogation rooms and questioned about what had happened that day.
The answers of all four people were exactly the same.
On the way, a hovercraft had suddenly appeared in front of them.
Then it stopped by the roadside, emitting smoke.
They sensed something was wrong.
Then several people suddenly appeared on the screen.
And after that, they inexplicably lost consciousness and only woke up now.
When asked to describe those people, all of them said they were wearing full combat suits.
Their appearances couldn't be seen at all.
Yu Lanfeng wasn't disappointed.
This was within his expectations.
What surprised him was how cautious the enemy had been.
But if he himself were in their shoes, he would have killed everyone except Nan Yu.
That would have guaranteed success.
Yet the other side hadn't killed a single person.
They had only taken Nan Yu.
It was almost as though they feared something.
Were they wary of the Nan family?
Apparently.
After all, if they wanted Nan Yu to cooperate, killing the Nan family would only make him resist to the death.
Then their goal could never be achieved.
After the questioning ended, Nan Zhen, Nan Yun, and Fu Yu'ang gathered together.
No one knew exactly what they were thinking.
But they had to do something.
"It's already been so many days. I wonder how Little Yu is doing. He must be suffering..."
"Of course he's suffering! And those kidnappers might even..."
Nan Yun's expression immediately became much uglier.
But he couldn't deny it.
Such a thing was entirely possible.
Nan Yun instantly stood up.
"No! I have to do something. I absolutely can't just sit here waiting!"
Nan Zhen and Fu Yu'ang exchanged a glance.
They intended to go together.
But when they reached the door, someone blocked them.
"Dad? Why are you stopping us? Aren't you worried about Little Yu?!"
Nan Ming frowned.
"What are you saying? How could I not be worried?"
"Then why are you stopping us?"
"I've already handed this matter over entirely to Marshal Yu. He's been handling it with all his effort and has remained on the Capital Star this entire time because of this matter."
"You know nothing and understand nothing. Going out now will only cause trouble."
"And this is the Capital Star, not some other place. Everything must be considered carefully. You're too impulsive. You cannot act recklessly."
Nan Yun exploded.
"Dad!"
"At a time like this, you're still worried about this and that? Are these things more important than Little Yu?"
Nan Ming shouted angrily.
"Then tell me, what can the three of you accomplish?!"
Nan Yun, Nan Zhen, and Fu Yu'ang froze.
Because they truly didn't know.
Even if they went out, they would only run around like headless flies.
Perhaps, just as Nan Ming said, they would only make things worse.
Suddenly, Fu Yu'ang thought of something.
"Right, Uncle!"
"I remembered something. I installed a program I personally developed in Xiao Yu's optical computer."
"It's an emergency positioning program. Even without a magnetic field, even if Xiao Yu can't contact the outside world, I can still determine his location through it."
More accurately—
The location of his optical computer.
But that was already extremely valuable.
These words were heard not only by Nan Ming.
They were also heard by Yu Lanfeng, who happened to be passing by.