Chapter 13: The Darksider Species (Part 1/2)

Luo Nan flew through a couple of rooms before discovering that the situation here was approaching that of the corridor. The rooms had little opened holes with faint white smoke pouring out in an unending stream. The concentration here was even higher since the space was smaller.

Many soldiers were entrenched within the smoke, all of whom were fully armed. Their facial expressions did not change; it was clear that they were extremely familiar with situations such as these.

Of course the smoke was certainly not poisonous.

Due to the feeling of crisis from before, Luo Nan paid special attention to the effects of the smoke on his soul form. However he was unable to detect any anomalies from observing his current state.

He pushed his suspicions to the bottom of his heart. Then he concentrated on the sensation he would feel when passing through walls.

So this was what it’s like to have an out-of-body experience?

He used various methods to pass through seven or eight walls, one after another, in order to further verify his state.

His grandfather’s Formatting Theory largely incorporated the study of Metaphysics. During ordinary times Luo Nan would study metaphysics, and he would study a bit of philosophy, ideology, and mystic arts from books. Turns out it wasn’t a waste of time now that he was in his current state.

Anyway, Luo Nan had researched and discovered this before in ancient records. From the perspective of his mystical arts knowledge, he was far from reaching the level of perfection with his current abilities. The death-from-a-thousand-cuts experience he had from the coldness of the external world when he left his body gave him lingering fears lasting even now. He absolutely needed to rely on the “external gas-tank”, the burning wraith, in order to maintain his cruising flight.

Needless to say, the feeling between being pulled by a sled dog and riding a flying nimbus was completely different. There was a large distinction between being passive and taking control.

Upon leaving his body, Luo Nan continued to purely rely on his willpower in order to conduct movement. He wasn’t used to it of course. He made quite a few redundant thoughts and actions several times.

The most important thing was that he had yet to truly adapt to this Soul Form and observe this world.

Since Luo Nan had deeply researched the nervous system in the past, he quickly discovered that the traditional five senses, sight-hearing-smell-taste-feeling, had underwent a substantial change in their operational mechanisms on the soul plane. Audio and visual processes in this plane were really inefficient.

Luo Nan was like a radar system under his soul form. He received various frequency bands at all times from the external world. The quantity of arriving information and signals were plentiful, already exceeding that of what the nervous system of a normal human body could receive and process.

If Luo Nan were to cling to the body’s usual process, the majority of these signals would automatically be washed away; only a few signals would be inputted into his nervous system and processed, and the resulting format would be derived from the five senses after processing by his main body.

Not even mentioning the issue with the majority of the frequency signals being swept away and wasted, there would exist a large distortion phenomena upon processing the signals due to his nervous system lacking “real” stimulation.

He had already lost his sense of touch to say the least.

“It seems that it would be better to process these signals directly.”

But if he were to compile and interpret the signals directly, a bigger problem would be formed.

Luo Nan painstakingly collected what he sensed. He was immediately sent into a crashing tumble from the quantity of chaotic information in the surroundings. It appeared that adapting to “life” in the soul plane was quite the endless process.

He had to change his thought process. The levels and range of his soul senses had broadened and increased…… It was like he was a typical radio. It would be possible to hear a few interesting things amidst the static and noise.

This was an extremely new experience for Luo Nan. He didn’t mind expending a bit of energy in order to refine the process.

Then a few intermittent keywords caught his attention at this very moment.

Luo Nan had discovered a tiny deflection happening ahead of him from being stirred telepathically. In this circumstance with his senses released, Luo Nan was assaulted by the sound of noisy clamor that had reflected off of several metal walls.

Luo Nan unexpectedly felt a certain and bizarre familiarity upon receiving this noise. This was because the source of the noise was none other than the location of the detained Lian Yu, Li Xuecheng, and the other rich kids.

Luo Nan never expected that he would be able to observe the place he was once at using this sort of marvelous method. He was truly there, but the other people were completely clueless of it. It was a fantastic and genuine feeling.

Lian Yu and the other rich kids did not know that a “Soul” had been added to the mix. They argued and quarrelled without end.

This truly confirmed that all beings must search within themselves to find reason. Upon this change into being detained, the atmosphere of this group of rich kids had no good direction to turn to.

The group of people lamented and complained from being prohibited drugs, from being detained, and from the series of events with Li Xuecheng. The atmosphere had turned unknowingly tense when they began to shout and argue.

The circumstances were strange now that the mutant alarms rang and the smoke pervaded the air. It caused them to calm down for a bit. However, someone unknown threw out an opinion, starting a dispute once again.

However this time, the dispute contained some reason behind them.

The focal point of the dispute was “Mutant”.

“The Ocean Diffusion Theory of Mutants is undeniably proven. Don’t waste your breath arguing with me.”

“Your ears have been stuffed full of shit. How am I refuting the Ocean Diffusion Theory? I’m just saying that there’s been a lot of clear evidence that show a new source of the infection!”

“The source is spewing from your mouth then!”

“I’ll f*ck……..”

All “Mutant Species” began to emerge after the Third War. A large-scale infectious mutation phenomenon occurred on the world’s original underlying living species. It was simply the most destructive terrifying illustration within the discipline of biology.

The most popular origin is said to be as follows: An opening to the depths of the earth's crust occurred somewhere in the depths of the Pacific Ocean trenches. Or perhaps it was an inconceivable gate.

And so the fatal infection came from the ocean through the ocean’s biosphere to enter the fresh water system and terrestrial ecosphere.

All vegetation, fungus, insects, animals, and even a small portion of the human population underwent various degrees of “infection” within a short few year time frame. Living beings grew into forms of brutal, ruthless, and monstrous life forms under the catalyst of genetic mutation. Once they were…….. Right now they were the apex predator of the food chain.

Before the emergence of Quantum Corporation’s Deep Blue Platform, humanity was in dire straits facing these populations of terrifying species. They could only confine themselves in giant metropolises in defense, unable to return.

Due to the topic having to do with survival, the topic of Mutants was undoubtedly the most popular after the Third War. Nothing was hotter.

“Then explain to me. What is a Darksider life form? The Great Encyclopedia of Mutant Species was published in 2091 AD. I, you see, have the entire set. There are 17 overarching major species. With over 2000 mutated types. Can you find the Darksider life form with those eyes of yours?”

“Alright then. If you believe your Great Encyclopedia is the bible, I’m convinced…… That you’re retarded!”

“Wait wait wait wait!”

Finally there was someone who came in to stop the fight: “There’s no need to get angry over this matter. A new species can pop out at any time with regards to mutants and the like. We’re all just laymen here. We can’t possibly make sense of this…… Hey Taoster. Your old man is a major funder of a laboratory in the countryside. Have you heard of this thing before?”

Liu Tao wore classical gold glasses and had a refined appearance. He could be considered a bit unique among this crowd. Normally he didn't talk much, but he had a certain humble and passionate charm.

He had held himself back from speaking early on when he had heard the words “Darksider life form”. Now that he was given the chance to finally talk, he naturally laughed darkly:

“Darksider life form…… A good entry point would be to consider it a ‘specter’.”