Chapter 58: The True Seed (Part ½)
“The wall in front of us is the isolated area, and in there is the underground fighting arena.”
Right now all Crag Burst could see was the white wall, but things were different for Luo Nan. His soul body already went through the wall and he entered in and out quite a few times. His understanding of the arrangement inside might have been even greater than the designer’s.
He combined what he discovered with the information he had received before and explained to Crag Burst: “Originally no installations were permitted in the isolated area beside monitoring and defensive systems. But the building’s administration still made some modifications for the sake of ensuring viewing quality for the site. And so, the surrounding area is occupied for this.”
“Therefore, a fuzzy zone has been formed here. The gangsters of the recycling stratum can interact with gamblers from the surface. They can pay funds and they can hire manpower. Jack is none other than the sole controller of this fuzzy zone. This is his nest. This is where his golden goose lies.”
Crag Burst did not ask for further details. He was a man who often entered underground fighting arenas, so he had a much clearer understanding of the gateways inside these places than Luo Nan.
He didn’t care about this point at all actually. He was only interested in capturing Jack: “So Jack’s in the fighting arena? How do we get inside? Do we smash our way through?”
Crag Burst really did have some thoughts of giving this a shot.
“This is a passageway in the first place, but for emergency use. It’s designed so that only those inside can open it up.” Luo Nan let Ink flap its wings to wake this older brother whose brains was filled with violence. The problem was that this was not effective at all.
“Grrr. Grrr! So we need to be direct. Watch me.”
“No. Wait up. Wait a few more seconds.”
The white wall in front slid open in one direction before Luo Nan finished speaking. The inner layers of steel plates slid in the opposite direction. Then the ice-cold metal wall was exposed, but this wall opened as well from the middle and a passageway was lightly illuminated.
Crag Burst was mute for a time looking at the three layers of defenses, especially the last layer with its 10-centimeter thick super-reinforced alloy wall. He no longer mentioned using violence to pave a path.
The passageway before their eyes wasn’t too long for they were able to see the end with their eyes. A door was half open over there and more intense light permeated through it along with the noisy clamor of people. Clearly, outside that door was some location within the underground fighting arena.
Then Crag Burst saw a man sitting collapsed in the middle of the passageway; he was already unconscious. Crag Burst turned his head, looking in all directions. Soon he discovered that above this man’s head was a pin code lock. The corresponding screen clearly displayed a successful opening.
“Your…… planted agent?”
Crag Burst soon corrected this absurd thought, but the following conjecture was far more preposterous to him: “No need to talk. You were separated by the wall, yet you controlled this fellow and had him open the door?”
Right on the mark!
So it turned out that his hypnosis ability matched quite well with the Human-Faced Arachnid’s “fishing skill”. The results were really decent.
Luo Nan just chuckled through the HexaEar, maintaining a bit of mystery. He indicated to Crag Burst to close this passageway. The place was definitely connected to the network of the control room. Even if they couldn’t hide it for long, any bit of time would be valuable.
“Hell. This isn’t just possession. You’re able to maintain some abilities. So you can have the crow wield a portion of your abilities right? Do you have a sorcerer’s bloodline? Or what Secret Order do you come from?”
Crag Burst’s thoughts became more and more excessive. Luo Nan was really worried that the words “out-of-body state” might come out of Crag Burst’s mouth. He could only interrupt him once more: “Let’s pick up the pace then. It’s very likely that Jack just used this place to go elsewhere. Though it’s impossible to enter DeShang Building and the business district from the isolated area, there are direct passages to the upper-level urban districts.”
Crag Burst immediately shut his mouth and simply cleaned up the scene before leaving the passageway.
The outside was a ring-shaped corridor with an extremely distinct arc. It made one feel that the space was really limited. The operators here had utilized the space to the maximum. The concave walls. Every few sections had a scene projected on the curved wall, the brilliant scene of the fighting arena.
“So it’s all kids.”
Crag Burst’s eyebrows furrowed. He was a professional, so he had a rotten mood looking at the each video image: “The people here do have fighting skills. But they’re more negative and fierce. These are life threatening fights!”
Close-up scenes of fallen fighters appeared on the screen. Many had broken hands and feet, or maybe they suffered from a vital injury. Crag Burst wouldn’t have blinked an eye towards these matters if this was the world of adult fighting. But the people fighting on the screen looked to be no more than fifteen years old, the same age group as Luo Nan.
The group of half-grown children did not hold back their fierce fists at all. Did they really know what their fierce fists would do?
The savage glint in their eyes demonstrated that they knew. And the feeling that these warped thoughts brought made one feel even more unwell.
The sound of footsteps echoed from both sides of the corridor and Crag Burst’s thoughts just disappeared from his head. Anyway, Luo Nan indicated to go to a different side and enter a room covered with thick curtains.
Crag Burst thought that he was entering a passageway to the fighting arena, but when he entered he discovered that this seemed to be a waiting room. The arrangements were very simple and crude. There were just a wardrobe and a bench. Further inside was the passageway to the fighting arena.
There was already someone else in the waiting room at this time. He was wearing fighting shorts and wore nothing on top. He was barefooted and a towel covered his head. His head was drooping down; it seemed that he was preparing his energy.
He was probably the combatant for the next fight. He didn’t have anyone besides him, not a coach nor a friend. He was all by his lonesome and he projected a feeling of desolation and gloom. He actually didn’t react at all to the big and heavy Crag Burst bursting in all of a sudden.
Crag Burst nearly gaped on the spot, but then he discovered that the room was actually quite noisy. Display screens, which were a bit smaller than the ones outside, were also in the waiting area. The audio through the speakers was quite noisy. It made one suspicious just what function this waiting room had.
Then the display screen just so happened to jump to a new scene right at this time.
“Look! It’s Jack!”
Luo Nan got Crag Burst’s attention. The two people’s minds came at attention, but soon they discovered that this was just a pre-recorded segment.
Jack was wearing the uniform of a referee. He had a bow tie and he was standing perfectly straight. He moved back and forth with rhythm. If it weren’t for the offensive scars on his face, he would be more like a butler of a nobility than a referee. No wonder his hosting and refereeing segments were so well received.
“This stage isn’t bad.”
Crag Burst used his expert eyes to comment: “The tall and thin guy has very solid fundamentals. His actions are very appropriate. He’s an excellent control-type combatant…… Wait. There’s something off with this video.”
The editor had chosen shots involving the relaxed punches, dodging, and flanking of the tall and skinny teen that Crag Burst had been praising. It was completely different than the intense life-or-death scene from before.
Such a scene had to be suggesting something else.
Luo Nan discovered that the combatant in the room had just raised his head after having it lowered all this time. The combatant stared at the screen. Pale and slim cheeks were revealed under the towel. He was unusually peaceful and he continued to pay no mind to Crag Burst as before.
Strangely enough, the Human-Faced Arachnid, which had always been well-behaved under Luo Nan’s control, became a bit restless.
