Master of the Stars

Chapter 7: Damned by a Failure

The flying car Phantom alarmed with a sharp cry. Not only this did not deter the behavior of the person outside the car, instead she became even more intense and continued kicking a few heavy blows in succession:

“SON OF A BITCH. WHAT WAS THE MEANING OF TOSSING ME TO THE CURB!?”

Luo Nan looked out of the car, and his eyebrows jumped.

He saw a snow white thigh raised up in the air and the tail of skirt on the verge of tearing wrapping a pair of buttocks. His vision twitched up to sweep over to the person’s face. A short recollection caused him to remember this person right on the number.

It was Juicy-Long-Legs…… Fine, this woman’s name was Lian Yu. She also participated in the society promotion and advice convention on the 24th. She was the society representative of the Student Council.

She was none other than the person who had embraced Xie Junping, practically being dragged on to the car, in the earliest hours of the morning. But when she caused Xie Junping to have a contrast with his political life, she was then tossed away like a pair of worn out shoes.

Luo Nan did not judge other’s virtues and ethics. He was disinclined to go around judging people, and moreso he didn’t want to get in a bind with her. He directly lowered the car windows and gave a simple response:

“Senior Xie’s not here. Is there a problem Senior Lian?”

Lian Yu stared blankly at the completely empty cockpit. Then she was awoken by the sound “Senior Lian”. She swept her gaze over Luo Nan twice with eyes that still contained bewilderness. Her figure suddenly left from the car window.

Several seconds later, the window on Luo Nan’s side of the car also began alarming due to a large force.

Luo Nan shook his head and lowered the car window. Then two hands with long manicured finger nails unexpectedly reached probingly inside to grab his neck with a death grip. She hauled vigorously from outside of the car window:

“THIEF! CATCH THIS THIEF!” Lian Yu shrieking voice sounded far down the road.

The group of vehicle owners in the surrounding had minds filled with buzzing about this long-legged beauty kicking a luxurious car in fury. But since now they encountered such a lively opportunity, their hearts grew more like a preying cat; they followed their desires and leapt to action.

However, a group of drunk youngsters that had yet to sober up were more direct than the vehicle owners. They ignored the warning given by the police officer. They exited from luxury cars a row back and swarmed over like a cluster of bees. Lian Yu also had come over from there. They likely were those who had just finished partying at the nightclub and were stuck here on their route back home.

This group of out-of-control youngsters had seized the opportunity, causing the surrounding vehicle owners to unexpectedly not dare get close.

After all, what kind of people were they!

The youngsters first crowded and gathered towards the side of the car window while roaring with sharp laughter. But then they discovered that the space was narrow over there, that they weren’t able to squeeze any more people. They howled and punched at the flying car worth 500 million in hopes of leaving behind some marks or damage on the car’s body. They did not care at all about the ear-piercing alarm.

Some people even used the hood of the car as a drum to produce the wild beat of a nightclub.

“Noise noise, make some noise! Thief Thief, catch the thief!”

“Old Xie’s magic tricks quite good. He’s turned into a pretty boy to shock me!”

“Lian Yu would kidnap a person, but won’t steal a car. Old Xie tossed away a car and even tossed away a person!”

“Look look look. Peek peek peek. In the back trunk is there some……”

Someone seriously went to go lift open the back trunk amidst the chaos. But how could he possibly open it? Instead he was kicked in the buttocks by a companion, causing him to roll beneath the car.

The chaotic, crazed, and violent scene caused the surrounding vehicle owners to stare gapingly.

At this moment in the car, although Luo Nan had been caught off guard and grabbed by the neck by Lian Yu, his reactions were extremely quick. He pulled up from the back of the chair just then and gripped onto Lian Yu’s radial artery, directly sapping her strength.

Lian Yu ate pain and wasn’t able to hold onto equilibrium. She fell head-first into the car, and the two people’s faces were pressed together in an instant.

Lian Yu was still currently wearing heavy makeup from clubbing. Her facial features were all the more deeply solid; they were charming and alluring.

However, Luo Nan’s vision pierced through the mask of highlighter, blush, and fake eyelashes. He saw the swollen figure of the woman and the thickly crossed bloodshot heterochromic eyes. From the additional response of the body beneath his fingertips, he could conclude that...

Lian Yu and her group of wild companions not only had yet to recover from their hangover, they also had taken some drugs when they were partying.

This was nothing for those with rich families. But they never thought of the trouble that would come from exhibiting such unbridled behavior in the crowded public. Most of all there was an experienced police officer in the vicinity!

Forget it…… He could only hope that this group of people would use their heads, otherwise they would lose all respect.

Luo Nan absolutely didn’t expect to get involved with this group of retards. He pushed away Lian Yu, but before he could figure out a way to handle things, the middle-aged police officer came walking over again while calling people over the phone. The gaze that was casted over was increasing in guard, to the extent that the officer even placed his hand on the weapon’s firing position.

And also at this moment, the car’s AI sounded out with a warning that was completely different than: “Attention. The vehicle has been subjected to several various types of scans. There are risks of breaches of privacy. I suggest to start the…..”

A vibrating buzzing cry sounded forth before the warning could finish. A number of ten small sentinel drones spanned through the congested cars. They scuttled back and forth in the airspace of this area and communicated with the cold sound of machinery:

“All those who aren’t police personnel on the road must put their hands behind their heads and get down. You have violated the Emergency State Law and Order’s Section 16 Paragraph 5’s provision and will be subjected to an investigation; I repeat……”

A crowd of youngsters stared blankly at the small drones fluttering around like bats. Most of the noisy hysterical mood immediately dissipated in a flash.

However, not everyone was able to maintain a basic level of soberness. The “fighters” then stuck their middle fingers towards the “bats” in the sky:

“GET LOST POLICE DOGS!”

A pulse of blazing electricity was given to him in response.

The “fighters” weren’t able to make a single snort. Their large faces slanted downwards as they lay on the ground. They let out a muffled sound that caused one’s heart to shiver.

The area surrounding the flying car Phantom became vacated on the spot. As long as one possessed a brain, one would immediately put their hands behind their head and get down on the ground. Even if there was occasionally someone who was frozen, they were dragged forcefully to the ground by their companions.

It was impossible to reason with unmanned sentinel drones right?

Society had always somewhat dismissed these intelligent law enforcement machines. They were spoken as lacking severity, and that they easily cause mishaps. But the best publicly recognized method to face situations of chaos was still to use unmanned machines for purging. They could maximize the elimination of the human element to provide proper communication between all parties.

This group of “well-trained” children of rich families understood early on that their privileges were only effective towards living people. A wise man knows better than to fight when the odds are against him. At most they would be taken to the police station, otherwise how would their lawyers make a living?

Lian Yu also lay down on the ground outside of the car window. Luo Nan received peace at last, but this kind of peace wasn’t what he wanted at all.

The middle-aged police came over to the side of the vehicle once again. The youngsters on the ground were quite obedient. At most they would slightly nudge their position with extreme caution. They feared to have the heavy exoskeleton armour stomp on their heads, or something like that.

Still there were some people who firmly committed the police officer’s face to memory, vowing to humiliate him later on.

The middle-aged police officer paid no heed to the careful intentions of the youngsters on the ground. He stood next to the car window and watched Luo Nan closely, he also ran his eyes over inside to see the interior state of the vehicle.

The car’s AI was still emitting the “Privacy Breach” warning. Luo Nan resented noise so he simply shut it off. He understood the so-called “several various types of scans” clearly. He was 80% certain that it was caused by a database retriever tool used by this police officer.

Luo Nan was calm from the bottom of his heart. He took the initiative by asking: “Is there a problem officer?”

Since Luo Nan was cooperative, the middle-aged police officer also moved according to procedure. He saluted towards Luo Nan and showed his credentials. His name, Xue Weiran, was shown on there. Unexpectedly, he was already fifty or so years old. It was impossible to tell his age from his appearance.

The negotiations between these two were quite peaceful up until this moment. But this atmosphere immediately collapsed to pieces as soon as Officer Xue asked Luo Nan to open the back trunk.

Officer Xue grabbed a translucent box from the back of the trunk. He ceased talking with Luo Nan and directly tore open the case. The finger enveloped in armor revealed an agileness that was astonishing. Soon he saw separate small sealed bottles within the box.

He twisted open a bottle and took out a pill in the shape of a capsule from within. White specks of fine powder scattered with a slight twist.

A scanner that hung at the waist of Officer Xue flickered with a red light. He turned and stared fixed at Luo Nan with a bad expression.

Luo Nan’s eyes slightly jumped from the corner. His many years of experience with experiments made him particularly sensitive to certain drugs, it also woke him to the troubling state he was presently in:

It was the failure Xie Junping’s entertainment!

Another ridiculous thought leapt forth immediately: Maybe he could get a channel of resources from Xie Junping in the future?

Xie Junping sneezed, his nostrils glowing red.

He knew that most people would blame a virus as the cause. To catch a cold, to be stressed, it was all brought onto himself.

He had barely settled the situation here in Mangzhong for the time being. The misfortune in Xia City nearly caused him to piss his pants in fright: There was a “Pot of Destiny” still in the car. How could he have overlooked it?

The one who told Xie Junping this piece of news was precisely Miss Zhang Yingying of the Hidden Indigo’s business office.

The two sides no longer needed to be surreptitious at the present; it was fine to engage directly in virtual communication. With the powers of AR technology, the two people seemed to be sitting across each other for discussion in a reception room.

Xie Junping had always criticized Zhang Yingying silently for being a “Phone Operator”. She just handled answering the phone and related work in Hidden Indigo’s office. But Xie Junping had to admit that this sharp-tongued phone operator was indeed an extremely eye catching beauty.

Zhao Yingying appeared to be only 18~19 years old at first glance. Her medium-short hair was free and loose. Her facial features gave a bright impression with a hint of a boyish flavor, but her figure was not the least bit that of a boys.

It was already autumn. She wore a camisole, revealing snowy white shoulders and neck. Two slender straps crisscrossed above her bulging and steamy bossom. It was sufficient to attract the gaze of every male.

From the waist down was a short denim skirt. Multiple layers of decorative belt loops made it look completely cool.

At this moment, her long snowy white legs were raised high on the boss's table. Roman flat sandals rocked left and right, to and fro in a very casual manner. The denim skirt slid all the way up to the base of her legs, but there wasn’t a way to take advantage of this due to the issue with the angle.

Xie Junping did not have any thoughts of taking advantage of her at the moment. He was pacing back and forth in the room, restless and fretful.

Everyone knew that low addictive psychotropic drugs were spread unchecked in popularity in the modern world. It was simply inconceivable for this entertainment to not appear in the private parties of rich folk. But public political opinion didn’t care about this. As long as you stupidly expose possession of the drug, you’re certain to have a hammer come down and kill you. You won’t get the chance to defend yourself.

In a certain sense, this was even more severe than him sneaking off to party. In addition, there was the issue with the fatal fuse composed of his group of good for nothing friends. Every linking thread was connected together. The consequences wouldn’t be a simple as 1+1.

“Lian Yu, you slut. Li Xuecheng, I’ve committed you to memory. Liu Tao you bastard, you surely…..”

Xie Junping was like a cornered beast. He wailed in this virtual iron prison. Obviously he urgently wanted to know what were the circumstances in Xia City…… Had he been implicated already?

“What do you have hungry lawyers for? Let them handle things!”

Zhang Yingying had a get-some-distance-from-me-you-trouble-maker expression of resentment. She showed signs of slacking off.

Xie Junping’s heart became clear as a mirror. This shameless girl clearly treated him as a sucker. The problem was that his mind had panicked. He could only bring a obsequious smile on his face:

“In these unusual times I still ask of you experts to be more at ease. It’s only natural that my remuneration will be sufficient.”

Zhang Yingying spread her fingers: “Then how do you want it done? Should I go bust people from a military transport ship?”

“Military transport ship? Why would it be military?”

Xie Junping’s voice changed in tone.

Zhang Yingying extended three fingers: “The Government. The Military. Quantum Corporation. These three bases of research and development are working together in production, at least in name. Now they’ve inexplicably set off a nuclear warhead……”

“Nuclear warhead!?” Xie Junping’s face went completely black.

“Don’t misunderstand; it was just an example. In any case it’s really about the same. Anyway no one would accept this outcome. But what exactly is going on then? A natural disaster? A terrorist attack?”

Zhang Yingying’s feet rocked back and forth quite freely: “Right now all sides must provide an explanation, most notably the government and the military. These two do nothing but delegate work to others. Before they would consume kickbacks from Quantum Corporation, enjoying the benefits even though they shouldn’t. Now that something has happened, I’ve discovered that no one has any clue about the state of their laboratory. Was it an accident? Or were they getting rid of something? How would one who’s not deeply involved be able to report the situation to the people up top?”

Xie Junping still was unable to understand: “But it can’t be so bad that they’ll be tossed onto military ships right?”

“That’s because you don’t understand the severity of the situation.”

This one sentence from Zhang Yingying tore Xie Junping’s soul in half. She then extended five fingers: “This is how much that piece of information costs.”

Xie Junping’s face changed colors: “You’re ripping me off!”

Zhang Yingying laughed with a ha!: “This number was adjusted to a degree due to our long collaborative relationship. Otherwise if you were to leave us, I will……”

Her delicate white palm flipped over and over in a very genuine manner.”

“I…...concede!”

Xie Junping’s face was ash, but he still swallowed his tone. If he was going to spend money, might as well spend it to the end. It would be the stupidest way to die if he were to leave things unfinished.

Zhang Yingying blew him a kiss: “Relax. It’s worth this much. Any information involving ‘Burners’ is simply worth this much!”

“Burners?”

“Yep. I got this from a reliable channel of information. The high-end laboratory was specialized in handling the research of the mechanism behind ‘Burning’. Their focus was towards nerve anatomy……”

“Live experimentation? With the human body?” Xie Junping could not be blamed for having his mind run wild. He had heard the information pertinent to Luo Nan before; the impression from then ran far deeply. Naturally he would now have associative thoughts.

Zhang Yingying also didn’t make a conclusion: “The project was launched as an experiment performed on the Mutants on the books. As for what else they researched, who knows?”

She paused slightly before speaking again: “Anyway, this is all of little importance. What’s important is that the laboratory must have been engaging in their first large experiment. Their power system was forcefully shut down by someone, causing their experiment to go out of control, and leading to a major accident. There is a disastrous number of casualties. And, the culprit took the opportunity to steal away some important experimental prototype……”

Xie Junping blurted out: “Deep Blue Walkers?”

Zhang Yingying gave him a blank eye: “Ridiculous! Rumor has it that the prototype is a newly developed product from Quantum Corporation, the structure of a chemical drug. Martial law for search and seizure has been imposed in the surrounding area right now. If this isn’t effective, the whole city of Xia will become a chaotic mess.

“Oh, hold on…… What does this have to do with those who’ve been lifted onto the transport ships?”

Zhang Yingying responded effortlessly: “Right now the culprit is at large. Who would dare cause trouble? Who wouldn’t be peaceful? In addition that group of good-for-nothings are poking around over there and are a hindrance. Who would have the time to screen them one by one. It would be better to use the name of the military to collect them all up, then process them when there’s time. This way the government can save themselves a lot of trouble.”

“So it was like this all along…...F*CK!” Xie Junping suddenly realized that he was destined to be a sucker!

Zhang Yingying had moved in a large circle. In the end she was saying that Luo Nan and the others had run into the government and were caught in the crossfire by the crazy surge of implications by the military. Things absolutely weren’t as dire as he had imagined!

The five pieces of information were used in this way to form this conclusion?

Xie Junping was on the verge of standing up and slamming his hands on the table. Finally he remembered that this was a virtual reception room, but his expression was ugly to the extreme.

Zhang Yingying understood his thoughts clearly. She immediately shook her head sighing: “You’re quite the hopeless type. If it was your father it would already be too late to give thanks. The key point is the drugs. The drugs! Do you still need me to explain this clearly for you?”