GRMFBS CH180

Nie Yu thought for a long time, but just couldn’t recall it.

She felt this should be deducible through logic, and that word should be right on the tip of her tongue. Her mind spun around, yet she could only think of the network.

She tried to seek help from Approaching Science.

Administrator Lingyu: [What do you think the power we use to move should be called?]

Zhan Yan was stumped by Nie Yu’s question.

Approaching Science: [Shouldn’t the power utilized in the network just be the network?]

Administrator Lingyu: [No, the network is data. If there is an action we perform in the network that doesn’t rely on data, then it should be utilizing another power.]

Approaching Science: [Ah…]

Approaching Science: [Network data is composed of electrical signals, so perhaps the power of network-types isn’t data, but electrical signals?]

Zhan Yan pondered bitterly.

He didn’t really understand this. Zhan Yan had never felt he could be considered a complete transcendent; he defined himself more as an ordinary person. After all, he couldn’t even open Yin-Yang Eyes, only using the system functions to eat melons like this. It was only after he could enter the network that he vaguely felt he seemed to possess some power outside of the system, but his entry into the network still relied on the system.

So he had absolutely no research or experience regarding supernatural powers, let alone having studied any supernatural power theories. Shouldn’t supernatural powers just be called supernatural powers because they’re very magical?

Nie Yu was convinced by him. But she still felt something was a little bit off.

Are network-types the power of electrical signals? Why did that feel weird?

Unable to figure it out, Nie Yu couldn’t help but zone out, looking absent-minded for several days straight. Seeing his sister’s troubled appearance, Nie Ling took the initiative to ask her what was wrong.

Nie Yu: “You’re not a network-type, even if I tell you, you wouldn’t understand.”

Nie Ling: …

Receiving her brother’s death stare, Nie Yu began to explain, and after explaining, she looked at her brother with an expectant gaze.

Nie Ling: …

Crap, he really didn’t understand.

As Nie Yu’s blood brother, he could understand Nie Yu’s feelings, but he had absolutely no concept regarding some of the more professional aspects of their network-types.

But it didn’t matter, he could find outside help.

Nie Ling dragged his sister to find Deputy Bureau Chief Ning Xi.

Although the Deputy Bureau Chief was very busy, this matter involved both Approaching Science and Red Crystal, all important figures who had made a name for themselves with the Deputy Bureau Chief, so going to ask him was completely fine.

The two went to find Ning Xi together, and Ji Yueming happened to be there too.

The Tianshi big shot’s combat desire was rising steadily with time, and the occasional small tasks assigned to her couldn’t even be considered a warm-up. How long had it been since she cleared out the Infinite Research Institute? Almost half a year, right? This observation period was way too long!

She wanted to fight! Any more idling and she’d start growing mold!

“Captain, didn’t you just complete a B-rank anomaly task?” Upon seeing Ji Yueming, Nie Yu automatically entered earnest persuasion mode.

“Weren’t those B-rank anomalies just arranged by you guys to humor me?” Ji Yueming didn’t buy it.

That B-rank anomaly had been thoroughly investigated, and clearing it was extremely safe. This kind of task was usually completed by assigning it to the subordinate squads; it simply wouldn’t fall into her hands.

Nie Yu: “Uh…”

Nie Ling stepped up: “There was also an A-rank anomaly task last month.”

Ji Yueming: “That A-rank anomaly was too fragile.”

Ning Xi: “You just want to go fight Black Nests, don’t you?”

Ji Yueming: “Yes.”

Ning Xi: “No.”

Ji Yueming: “Old Ning, let me tell you, this won’t do. Do you know how much harm a Black Nest can cause? You can’t just hold me back and not let me resolve it because you’re worried about my practically non-existent life safety issues.”

Ning Xi didn’t buy it: “Those Black Nests only appear near Ghost King Lin Yuan and Deep Shadow. They were specifically sent over there by Infinite. Whether you go to those Black Nests or not won’t affect other places. If you go, it might even cause Infinite to change their plans and set up an ambush.”

Ji Yueming still didn’t know that the situation over there might be specifically designed by Infinite, having only heard up to the part about Black Nests appearing.

“OK, we’ll talk about this later.” Ji Yueming turned to Nie Ling and Nie Yu, “What’s the matter with you two?”

Nie Yu recounted her conversation with Approaching Science and expressed her confusion.

Ji Yueming also didn’t understand the specialized terminology of network-types, but she caught onto something.

The network was composed of electrical signals.

A power belonging to oneself…

Lightning flickered in Ji Yueming’s pupils.

“Captain!” Nie Yu exclaimed.

Ji Yueming snapped back to her senses: “What’s wrong?”

“Did you… lose control of your power just now?” Nie Ling asked cautiously.

Ning Xi was also looking at her.

“No, I was just lost in thought.” Ji Yueming smiled at them reassuringly, “I am very sure I’m fine.”

“It wasn’t losing control,” Ning Xi said slowly.

The Deputy Bureau Chief’s credibility on this matter was much more reliable than the Captain’s, so both Nie Ling and Nie Yu felt relieved.

Ning Xi began to answer their question: “Alright, it’s not a major issue. The essence of supernatural power is fundamentally different from external things, and should not be equated to data or electrical signals. Supernatural power is inherently a force different from them, different from all external things.”

Nie Yu ran this through her mind a few times, couldn’t find any loopholes, and convinced herself.

Since the Deputy Bureau Chief still had to work, Nie Ling and Nie Yu left.

On the way back, Nie Yu asked: “What do you think the Captain thought of?”

Nie Ling was also pondering: “I don’t know.”

The Captain’s pupils were illuminated by lightning to look like another profound universe. Deep within the pitch-black pupils, electricity flashed, so bright it gave the illusion that lightning was spilling out of her eye sockets.

But it was indeed still under control; they didn’t feel any power of lightning overflowing.

They had never seen the Captain like this before. What kind of matter could make the Captain so lost in thought?

“Do not think about it,” Ning Xi said.

After Nie Ling and Nie Yu left, he immediately took out the Kongming Jade Pendant and placed it in Ji Yueming’s hand.

The Kongming Jade Pendant was his former magical artifact, which could help consciousness enter an ethereal and tranquil state of deep meditation. He still had a use for it even after his Great Dayan Divination was crippled, so he had always kept it by his side.

Ji Yueming did not continue to think further. When she saw Ning Xi’s gaze earlier, she understood his meaning through years of tacit understanding.

She slowly grasped the Kongming Jade Pendant in her palm; a power cool as spring water washed over her. However, even a top-tier magical artifact had limited effect on a body of lightning and thunder. Fortunately, the Tianshi herself was someone who had extremely deep control over her own consciousness. She had already emptied her thoughts, but the things she had already thought of would not be forgotten again.

Ning Xi slowly let out a breath: “There is a reason why we don’t know some things.”

Ji Yueming teased: “That really doesn’t sound like something coming out of your mouth.”

“…You, never mind.” Ning Xi reminded again, “No matter what you thought of earlier, do not speak of it.”

Ji Yueming: “Don’t worry, I know the severity.”

Some things cannot be spoken aloud, cannot be known, and cannot be thought about. Even if known, they should not be put into the “external.” This “external” even included superficial thoughts.

Because in this world, there were still enemies lying hidden.

The human will, the human mind. Electrical signals, electric currents, thunder and lightning.

In the summer twenty-six years ago, the Candle Dragon tied itself into a knot in the world. Before that looping time ended, Ji Yueming invoked lightning she could not withstand herself; within the lightning, her body turned into charred bones, and the charred bones turned to dust and ashes.

Her will could bear the lightning, but her body could not.

She could still feel the lightning she invoked, but they would soon lose control. She could at most guide them to strike where they were supposed to attack, and then, her soul, having lost its physical vessel, would completely plummet into death.

Right at that moment, a tiny push appeared.

Mind = Network.

Human mental energy needs to be able to travel within a network composed of electrical signals.

The minds of living beings can operate within lightning and thunder.

A tiny push opened the door to a sliver of survival for her.

She grabbed it.

It was Bai Ze, right?

“Knowing” also meant “power.”

Infinite desperately desired to obtain Bai Ze; it relied on constantly capturing other worlds to grow, plundering others’ to make its own.

Through this accumulation, it had already become omnipotent, but not yet omniscient; it desired the rules represented by Bai Ze.

After the Candle Dragon’s loop ended, Bai Ze’s whereabouts were unknown. Both his body in life and his soul after death disappeared without a trace.

After a long search, almost everyone thought Bai Ze had completely perished along with his divine ability.

But he hadn’t.

The world hid him away, not allowing anyone to find him.

How wonderful.

Ji Yueming smiled from the bottom of her heart, and suppressed these thoughts to the deepest part of her consciousness.

“My rotational shift partner has been changed to Xiang Liu, but the time hasn’t changed, right?” Ji Yueming calculated the time for her rotational shift, “Since there’s nothing for me to do, I’m going home.”

The Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau had already passed the initial busy period, and the things that required her had already been done. Since they were now starting to use B-rank anomaly tasks to humor her, she might as well go home and take a look.

She hadn’t gone back for over a month. Old Zhan had also been busy filming recently, and the few times he took time to go home, she wasn’t there. She only communicated with her eldest son about his night fishing hobby and her daughter staying at the studio across the airwaves, and Yan Yan had already started his internship. Ji Yueming deeply felt that she hadn’t cared enough about her family recently.

Ning Xi was very happy to let her go home: “Just come back for half a day every week to help debug the formations, that’ll be fine.”

Ji Yueming sent a message in the family group chat.

At the same time, Zhan Yunkai was doing his rotational shift with Da Wule.

Lingzhou Wendi was very interested in the Chongming Demon King.

He still remembered when Ning Xi asked him to hit on a kid, the reason being that the other party was a fan of the Chongming Demon King, and his style was similar to the Chongming Demon King’s. He didn’t have much contact with the Chongming Demon King in the past; their relationship was the type where they had met and greeted each other, knowing each other but not being close.

If Lingzhou Wendi had any profound impression of the Chongming Demon King, it was twenty-six years ago during the Grand Sacrifice at Mount Tai. Standing on the ground and looking up at the sky, with every beat of the grand drum, the vibrations of heaven and earth spread throughout his body.

At that time, he saw the Chongming Demon King, who had fought until his feathers were exhausted, fall from the sky.

Tragic was tragic, but it also wasn’t very pretty.

Later, when everything ended, the one he saw again was the luxurious and majestic divine bird.

Lingzhou Wendi originally didn’t feel he had any similarities with the Chongming Demon King. Just because he liked wearing flashy clothes and the Chongming Demon King draped himself in colorful feathers, they were considered similar?

But ever since he suffered a loss at Approaching Science’s hands because of blindly teasing the kid, he consequently became interested in the Chongming Demon King as well.

The more interested he was in someone, the more he wanted to be friends with them. But after interacting for two days, he always felt the Chongming Demon King was far too serious and proper, possessing an aloofness that kept people a thousand miles away.

Was this sense of distance born from being an offered divine bird since ancient times? That clever kid Approaching Science who stubbornly refused to take a loss liked this kind of personality?

He couldn’t help but feel something was wrong.

With nothing to do every day during the rotational shift and being unable to leave, Lingzhou Wendi felt bored, so he dedicated himself to making friends with the Chongming Demon King. He was idling anyway, so what if the Chongming Demon King was a bit aloof; he could keep up the awkward chatting.

Their rotational shift locations weren’t in the same place; they were all different nodes deduced from formations created by Ning Xi.

The place for their rotational shift this time was the seabed in shallow waters. Originally, this was arranged for Da Wule and the Nine-Headed Demon King. Lingzhou Wendi’s water skills were excellent, and Xiang Liu was a great demon of the swamps, so this place was very suitable for them to utilize their abilities.

But for some unknown reason, Xiang Liu ran off to swap shifts with the Chongming Demon King. The order and locations of the shifts couldn’t be changed easily, so the Chongming Demon King, a bird, got screwed into the seabed.

When Zhan Yunkai agreed to Xiang Liu, he didn’t know his rotational shift location was the seabed. Right now, he was very annoyed.

Of course he wasn’t afraid of water, but it was his nature to dislike staying in a place like the seabed. Even using the Water-Repelling Incantation, he didn’t like it. The Water-Repelling Incantation only prevented water from wetting his body surface, and Zhan Yunkai was a germaphobe. He always felt the seawater made his feathers sticky.

And there was Da Wule. It was precisely because Da Wule asked Xiang Liu if he knew how to snake-dance that Xiang Liu insisted on swapping shifts with him. Zhan Yunkai felt a person who could ask Xiang Liu, who had nine heads, to snake-dance had an abnormal brain, so he tried his best to avoid communicating with Da Wule to prevent the tragedy of violently beating up his neighboring colleague.

But Da Wule was too enthusiastic. Seeing that he disliked the seabed, he even helped him create a bubble, and now Zhan Yunkai was staying inside the bubble. He felt much more comfortable. Humans just loved creating some strange magical artifacts and spells; sometimes they were quite useful.

Having accepted Da Wule’s goodwill, when Da Wule came to awkwardly chat with him again, Zhan Yunkai felt too embarrassed to ignore him.

But Zhan Yunkai’s mood right now was truly not very good.

His wife sent a message saying she was going home, but he had a rotational shift and couldn’t go back. Unhappy.

If he hadn’t swapped rotational shifts with Xiang Liu, he could have gone home now.

But he agreed to this himself, so he couldn’t blame Xiang Liu either.

Zhan Yunkai could only bottle up his frustration.

At this time, Da Wule, who had played enough with the fish on the seabed, came looking for him again.

Lingzhou Wendi had teased fish for several days, and feeling truly bored, he researched a tune that could control schools of fish. He thought it was very interesting, so he came to share it with the Chongming Demon King.

He pulled out a small, short flute from his person and poked the Chongming Demon King’s bubble: “Chongming, I’ll play a tune for you to hear.”

Zhan Yunkai stared at the small, short flute in his hand: “I don’t dance.”

Lingzhou Wendi: “Huh?”

The two communicated a bit, and Zhan Yunkai tried to tactfully express that Xiang Liu disliked “snake-dancing”, and he didn’t like it either.

Lingzhou Wendi: ???

“He slandered me!!!”

He wasn’t crazy, why would he ask Xiang Liu to snake-dance?!

Zhan Yunkai: “You didn’t say it?”

Lingzhou Wendi was categorical: “Of course not!”

The person and the demon exchanged a glance, and both saw the same thought in each other’s eyes:

Once the rotational shift is over and we get out, we’re going to beat up Xiang Liu!