Chapter 151: Eye of Heaven and Earth (Part 1/2)
Translator: Strivon
Tian Si pointed at the crystal pillar before them. She spoke gently, "The core design concept of Ocean Sky Cloud City comes from the facilitation of a close integration between an ocean system and a building system. Power, data, ecology, and various other elements all link up. This is an important portion of Senior Sister Qingwen's Coupling Design."
Luo Nan's gaze cut across the crystal pillar. His mental senses were able to observe the complicated multi-story structure concretely, but what he could see confused him. He didn't know what to say. He just wanted to ask:
What is Coupling Design?
Tian Si didn't understand Luo Nan's currently troubled mind. Her smile grew increasingly more intimate the more she spoke. She drew her hands together and adopted a praying posture. "Junior Nan, let me take the liberty to ask you something. Does your family have any material left behind by these two seniors? I want to copy them for reference. Of course, I will pay extreme attention to intellectual property rights and the like."
Luo Nan gaped. Right now his little bit of pride was completely insignificant in the face of his intense desire and craving for more information. He leaned over and stared at Tian Si. "Senior Sister Tian. My mother passed away early, and... my father left early as well. Practically none of their things were left at home."
Tian Si gasped and said, "So it was like this. My apologies. I thought—"
Luo Nan interrupted her before she could finish speaking. He hurriedly said, "Senior Sister. Can you give me a copy of the information you collected? I really need it. Really!"
Tian Si was enveloped by Luo Nan's gaze, and she suddenly understood how Ju Maoxun felt before.
Under the deep blue light, Luo Nan's eyes were mottled with colors, but they possessed an indescribable pressure that penetrated her being. She felt as if her eyes and mind were being burned by raging flames, and it made her want to hastily close her eyes. Her heart rate shot up rapidly.
"I…."
As an officer of the Mutual Assistance Gathering, Tian Si had always been an expert in language and expression. But in this moment, as she faced Luo Nan's eyes, her verbal ability for logic and reason instantly perished to ash. Instead, the emotions that she successfully suppressed all this time tangled and weaved in her mind. She was stupefied for a time.
It wasn't easy, but a single thought spawned in her mind. He's really like…. Yes, they're the same type of person!
Luo Nan overlapped with that person's figure. Then, the image burst into flames. Tian Si's mind intensely shuddered, and she subconsciously took a step back.
"Senior Sister Tian?" Luo Nan didn't quite understand Tian Si's reaction.
"Hold on a bit!"
Tian Si finally recomposed herself a little, but nervousness could be heard in her voice. Her throat was dry. She lowered her head; she didn't dare look into Luo Nan's eyes. She was afraid that she would lose her soul if she were to gaze too long.
She fiddled with her wristband with her head lowered. She closed her eyes, adjusted her breathing, and tidied her emotions. Three seconds passed before she started working with her wristband. She brought out the series of information she had saved.
"This was originally your parents' information. If Junior wants it, all you had to do was ask."
Her speech passed through a logical frame and a sorted train of thought. Only after she spoke did Tian Si raise her head. She forced a smile and said, "I'll directly share what I've saved in the cloud with you. Most of the information comes from the school's electronic library. Some information needs a certain level of privileges. You probably don't have the privileges right now, but you should be granted them earlier than usual if you ask Head Xie."
Luo Nan put his hands together and expressed his thanks over and over. "Thank you, Senior Sister Tian. Thank you."
From this, Tian Si knew that Luo Nan wasn't able to see through to the deeper things dwelling in her mind. She let out a breath of relief and her mind became a bit livelier again. She brought up a diagram that Luo Nan was unable to access right now and projected it.
But the interference of deep blue light was too great since the crystal pillar was too near. She used her drawing board as a shield to let Luo Nan be able to see the diagram clearly.
And so, the area that became clearer was also limited. Luo Nan unconsciously came closer to stand shoulder to shoulder with Tian Si. Their heads butted together as he watched with earnest.
"This is the design proposal of Cloud City Water Village submitted eighty-two years ago. Look here. The company's technical advisor is Pan Wen, Professor Pan. According to her, the purpose of the proposal was to lead a team in verifying Senior Sister Qingwen's theory. Unfortunately, it wasn't considered especially successful. It was even considered a mistake."
Tian Si swiped the AR image, causing the 3D perspective drawing of Ocean Sky Cloud City's initial design to display various complicated structures.
"Professor Pan says that Ocean Sky Cloud City has too much of a craftsman’s influence. Though it integrated an ocean system, it is just a show of the original theory. It’s not a success in construction theory. It’s far from Gear, which seems to be made by heaven and has no trace of anything unnatural."
Luo Nan listened with pride and sadness. He looked at the perspective drawing of Ocean Sky Cloud City, and felt the same feeling as when he saw Gear.
Tian Si was able to read his emotions. She thought for a bit and began to act more gossipy. "I heard that Professor Pan specifically implemented a design because of this. One can see the wetlands of the school with a naked eye from the high level viewing platform in Ocean Sky Cloud City. And this included Gear on the north bank. The two structures mutually shine upon each other, one high and one low...."
"Really?" Luo Nan impatiently interrupted Tian Si before she could finish speaking.
Tian Si didn't mind. She just said, "Cloud City Water Village is a group of buildings ascending in height in a ring. Aside from the main building, only Ocean Sky Cloud City faces the school. None of the other tall buildings block its line of sight, and the height and angle are just right. There should be some basis to her words."
Luo Nan immediately asked, "What floor is the high level viewing platform at?"
"The hundred forty-second floor. Does Junior want to go see?"
Luo Nan nodded his head and spoke no more. He walked straight toward the closest elevator.
Tian Si thought for a bit and followed him. Compared to Luo Nan's focused mind, her gaze flitted back and forth among the stream of people on this floor, searching for the target she had in mind.
She didn't expect to not only be unable to find her target, but to clash with an enemy on a narrow road. She saw Ju Maoxun, who had left in a sorry state not long ago, walk over with large strides and a dark expression. By his side were a few characters with expressions of ill intent.
He can't be thinking of starting a brawl at the party!?
It was hard for Tian Si to imagine such a scene, but it was also hard for her mind to escape fear. Just as she was looking for security, she had the misfortune of bumping gazes with Ju Maoxun from afar. Her mind went into a panic.
The flesh of Ju Maoxun's cheeks pulsated as he gave a few words to the people beside him. Then he sped up his pace.
Ding, rang the bell, and the elevator door before Luo Nan opened up. Luo Nan walked in while Tian Si whispered, "Wait for me." She caught up in a few steps, and the drawing board she hung from her shoulder slid to her elbow. It swung, hitting the edge of the elevator.
She said, gasping, "Hurry, Ju Maoxun—"
She had just begun speaking when an explosion blasted out on the floor.
Tian Si shuddered as the lighting at the corner of her eyes changed. She instinctively turned her head, and she saw the portion of the crystal pillar that faced the elevator. A pitch-black shadow led an enormous current of water, and it smashed heavily toward the inner wall of the pillar.
The sharp impact caused the crystal pillar to crack with a layer of fine white veins. The sound waves that rippled out shook people's hearts. It made people believe that this enormous crystal pillar had shattered from the impact.
It was undoubtedly the mutated devil ray that had caused all of this.
The attendees, who were observing the shoals of fish, cried out in alarm nearly in chorus. Such a scene was much more terrifying than the one before. The display of the devil ray was much wilder and more violent in that moment.
It swam around the edges of the wall, and it slammed repeatedly against the inner crystal wall with its flat head. It was filled with restless emotions. With a body that large and an ample attack power, there was no one who dared to be near, even though there were clearly two layers of protection between them. They feared that this monster would break through the protective layer and eat people whole.
Tian Si covered her mouth by instinct, cramming her scream back down her throat.
The doors of the elevators immediately closed while Luo Nan just glanced at the crystal pillar before looking downcast at his toes. It seemed that there was nothing else in this world that could arouse his interest.
Ju Maoxun and his buddies had been aggressively walking over when the devil ray started its attack. They just so happened to be nearby, and thus they were given quite a scare. They followed the herd mentality and stopped to watch.
It was Ju Maoxun who saw the elevator doors close in the distance. He shouted a few pressing words, and the group of people rushed in pursuit. However, the high-speed elevator was already making its way up by this time.
"Keep an eye on the floor it stops at."
Ju Maoxun made up his mind; he was going to give a lesson to the dog-sh*t boy and girl in this building. He smacked the elevator's call button and summoned an elevator that ran parallel to the one Luo Nan and Tian Si were on. He cursed under his breath to vent some of his emotions, which were on the verge of exploding.
Luckily, another high-speed elevator soon arrived. Ju Maoxun glanced at the floor number and took the lead in entering the elevator. The others came flooding in after him.
"It stopped on the 133th floor and the 142nd floor."
"What's on the 133th floor?"
"I think it's an office area?"
"142nd?"
"The high level viewing platform."
"It's that one!"
Ju Maoxun quickly locked onto his target and ground his teeth. The elevator door closed, blocking off the cries and clamor of this floor.
Only two seconds passed before a different bizarre sound came reverberating within this quiet space. The sound diffused into their ears. Ka chunk. Ka chunk. Ka chunk. Ka chunk….
The tempo was monotonous, with no change to it whatsoever. It sounded like someone was moving a pair of old scissors back and forth. It didn't stop at all, and it made everyone fidgety.
"Whose ringtone is this?" This was the first thing Ju Maoxun thought of.
His companions all had expressions of bewilderment.
Ju Maoxun finally discovered that there was a fresh new face among them. This fellow had come into the same elevator as them... or maybe the fellow was already inside the elevator. His mind was focused on the dog-sh*t boy and girl, so he didn't notice the stranger until now.
This was a public location, after all. Such a thing was very normal.
The person was dressed purely in black. He was wearing a suit and sunglasses; he dressed quite sharply. He looked like a bodyguard or a security agent in a TV show. He stood out in this party.
But the most eye-catching thing of all about the sunglasses man was his tie. It was super gaudy, and under careful examination, all sorts of beetles dotted it. Perhaps it was because of the chrome color of his tie, but there existed a faint metal sheen to it under the lighting of the elevator. The compound eyes of the beetles flickered with the light, giving off a feeling of aberrance.
The sunglasses man felt Ju Maoxun's attentive gaze and slightly tilted his head. His eyes should be looking right at him now.
Ju Maoxun watched with stupefaction. He locked eyes with this eccentric fellow. The sunglasses man split his lips to let out a chuckle, revealing a mouth full of pitch-black teeth. There were even garish designs branded upon them.
"...."
Ding!
The elevator door opened, and Ju Maoxun and his group of people walked out. The elevator door then closed.
The group of people stared around the entrance of the elevator, looking lost. "Where are those two at?"
"We’re at 124th floor. We're on the wrong floor."
"Then why did we get off?"
"Because…."
Ju Maoxun felt dazed. His mind was filled with the lustrous designs branded on those black teeth, the gaudy beetle tie, and the ka chunk sound that rang by his ear for a time. If these various elements weaved together, it seemed that it was quite natural for them to occur?