CHAPTER 466: CHAPTER 463 [GIVE IT A TRY]

Chapter 463 [Give it a Try]

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

After a few rings, the call connected.

"Hello? Old Guo, how’s the situation over there?" Chen Nuo asked, casually steering the wheel with one hand.

Who would have thought Old Guo would get furious!

"Chen Nuo, you little brat! If you want me dead, just say it outright! If I help you with this kind of thing again, I might as well be your pet!"

Huh?

Chen Nuo was stunned.

Just as he was about to ask what the issue was, Old Guo threw a word at him, "Enough!"

And then hung up.

What was going on?

Chen Nuo wore a confused expression, then he got a bit annoyed.

Has Ramen Guo taken the wrong medicine? Or was he abused by Miss Four? No, that’s not it! Could it be that something happened at the hospital?

Fortunately, the answer came quickly!

A text message came through on his phone.

Lu Xixi: I’m at the hospital. Where are you?

Chen Nuo: ...

Alright, I get it! Did Old Guo run into Lu Xixi at the hospital? No wonder he was so angry. He must have been scared!

Chen Nuo drove to the hospital in the car that belonged to the cold young man.

After parking in the hospital lot, he rushed inside.

In the family waiting area outside the ICU, Lu Xixi was sitting quietly on a chair, her expression calm and tranquil. Luo Qing, beside her, seemed unsure what to say. As soon as Chen Nuo stepped out of the elevator and walked over, Luo Qing immediately sprang up and hurried towards him.

"Chen Nuo! You... that one, she..." Luo Qing whispered as he walked, constantly throwing pointed glances at Chen Nuo.

Chen Nuo sighed.

Whispering is useless. With Lu Xixi’s sensing power as one of the top human Controllers, it doesn’t matter if you lower your voice or throw secretive glances behind her back. If she wanted, she could detect any movement in the entire hospital.

Chen Nuo patted Luo Qing’s shoulder, said nothing, and walked straight up to Lu Xixi.

Lu Xixi sat there quietly, only lifting her gaze when Chen Nuo stood before her, a serene smile on her face.

"Honey~"

Chen Nuo chuckled twice.

"Luo Qing said you weren’t at the hospital all day," Lu Xixi said, narrowing her eyes.

"Yeah, I went to handle some matters."

"What matters? You didn’t even have a proper meal, and you lied to me." Lu Xixi’s face still held a smile.

Umm... I went to kidnap someone, Chen Nuo answered in his mind.

Lu Xixi picked up the thermal container beside her. "I prepared dinner for you."

Chen Nuo took it with both hands, glanced inside, and without a word, sat down beside Lu Xixi.

He just started eating!

Seaweed, gone!

Winter melon, swallowed!

Ribs? Even chewed the bones to bits and gulped them down!

What? Is this a proper way to eat? It’s for calcium!!!

Watching Chen Nuo wolf down his food, a smile finally touched the corner of Lu Xixi’s eyes. She took out a tissue from her pocket and gently wiped his mouth, and even...

The beads of sweat on his forehead.

"Actually, there’s no need to hide whatever you’re doing from me," Lu Xixi said softly. "It’s normal for you to help your friend with his family problems. But I don’t like it when you lie to me! If you always lie to me, and too much at that, it’s not good. I... just don’t like you lying to me. Whenever you lie to me, I feel like hitting someone."

Chen Nuo straightened his neck, swallowed the last chewed-up remnants of bone, and exhaled. "I won’t do it again."

He paused, then added, "It’s not that I meant to hide it from you intentionally; I was afraid you’d blame me for not eating properly."

Lu Xixi laughed. "Then, how did the matter go? Any trouble?"

Chen Nuo pondered. "The issue itself isn’t complicated, quite easy to handle, but... I encountered another problem."

Lu Xixi was about to ask, but Chen Nuo smiled. "Let’s talk about it when we get back."

Lu Xixi looked around and closed her mouth.

Luo Qing, seeing the two of them sitting there talking, felt kind of weird. He did want to show some goodwill to Lu Xixi, but it always felt awkward.

Lu Xixi didn’t press any further, but Chen Nuo pulled Luo Qing aside.

"Today, at the hospital..."

"Nothing much," Luo Qing shook his head. "Everything’s normal. The doctor said my dad’s vitals are very good during the evening rounds, better than expected."

How could they not be good? The Self-Healing Serum had already been administered. It’s just that I didn’t want to cause trouble. If I’d injected the full dose, Old Luo could be bouncing out of the ICU right now! He would have no problem doing push-ups on the spot!

"Weirdly, a friend of my dad’s came to visit earlier," Luo Qing shook his head. "Not many people know my dad is staying at this hospital. But... it was nothing. The visitor didn’t say much, just greeted politely and left."

Chen Nuo nodded. "You should ask Uncle Lu about this later. Since your dad is in the hospital, isn’t he the one keeping an eye on the company’s matters?"

"Yeah." Luo Qing smiled and patted Chen Nuo’s shoulder. "If there’s nothing else, you should go back first. You’ve been busy with my situation for quite a while now... and she came looking for you. You go on back; actually, there’s not much for me to be busy with here."

Downstairs at the hospital, they reached the lobby before Lu Xixi finally spoke. "A while ago, the visitors who came to see Luo’s House seemed a bit off."

"Hmm?" Chen Nuo looked at Lu Xixi.

"There was an Ability User, Destroyer Level—and he recognized me."

Chen Nuo stopped in his tracks.

"Seems like I scared him off," Lu Xixi shook her head with an innocent expression. "Am I that scary? He seemed really afraid of me."

How should I answer this... Pfft! Only an idiot would answer that! Chen Nuo thought.

"Let’s go, let’s go home," Chen Nuo laughed.

Since the other party had sent an Ability User and he had encountered Lu Xixi, then... they were actually safer. At this moment, to recognize Lu Xixi and still attack Luo’s House... unless they had truly lost their minds.

When they got to the parking lot, Lu Xixi looked at the car in front of her. "Where did you get this car?"

"Stole it."

"Oh." Lu Xixi nodded casually and took a closer look at the car. "Good steal. It’s a nice car."

...Just listen to this conversation! This couple is hopeless!

Opening the car door, they saw a young man lying on the backseat. Lu Xixi then looked up at Chen Nuo.

Chen Nuo pondered for a moment. "Kidnapped. Sent by the ones who attacked Luo’s House."

"He’s not dead?" Lu Xixi could feel the person’s heartbeat and pulse.

Chen Nuo nodded. "Didn’t kill him."

Lu Xixi smiled, suddenly invigorated, with a hint of excitement. "So, what do we do next? Bury him? Or... interrogate him fiercely?" In her big eyes, there was a sparkle.

Well, Empress Lu had indeed been stifled over the past year. Before, she was playing the fool at home every day. Now, she was a stay-at-home mom. Where was there even a hint of the former Star Sky Empress?

"Can’t get anything out of him; I’ve searched his mind with my spiritual power. I’ve searched him as well. There’s only one contact number in his phone. I called it, but it was turned off." Chen Nuo then took out a mobile phone and switched to the messaging interface, which showed only one text message.

Timing it, it was sent just a while ago. The content of the message was simple: Cease all activity, withdraw immediately!

Well, considering the time it was received, it was probably right around the time I was fighting with the young man.

They didn’t drive the car home but instead went directly to the house that Lu Xixi had checked out a few days ago.

Although the transfer of ownership and other formalities hadn’t been completed yet, the process was already underway. The developer’s sales center was very straightforward, handing over the Key to Lu Xixi first, to facilitate the homeowners in making advanced renovation plans and such.

The two houses were adjacent, with joined yards, in a rather secluded area. Lu Xixi didn’t ask Chen Nuo why he drove here; she knew Chen Nuo must have his reasons.

On the way, Chen Nuo even received a phone call from Lu Xiaojun.

Lu Xiaojun had someone look into it and found that at the site of Luo Dachanzi’s car accident, the damage to the guardrail—the broken area—wasn’t due to rescue workers cutting through it.

"The rescue team has records showing that when they arrived, the metal pipe from the barrier had broken on its own, impaling Old Luo. They only cut open the car; they didn’t cut the pipe."

Chen Nuo nodded but didn’t say much to Lu Xiaojun. In fact, the clues Lu Xiaojun had uncovered were merely further circumstantial evidence and were no longer that important.

At night, this villa area, still on sale, was actually very quiet. Most of the houses hadn’t been sold yet. Even those that had been sold were still undergoing renovations, so there was hardly anyone around at midnight.

The car stopped next to Chen Nuo’s own building. He let Lu Xixi open the door while he carried the young man into the house.

The house was still in its rough state, and Chen Nuo casually tossed the person onto the floor.

From beginning to end, Lu Xixi just squinted her eyes and watched from the side.

"There are two things I need to discuss with you now, both discoveries I made today," Chen Nuo said as he and Lu Xixi sat down on the steps inside the house.

"Are they related to Luo Qing’s family’s issues?" Lu Xixi wasn’t particularly interested.

For the Star Sky Empress, the grudges of Luo’s House, even if they provoked some adversaries, were too trivial in nature. There was also not much to invest thought into. Facing an adversary, how strong could an opponent be? Apart from a few Seeds, there was no one else in this world who posed a threat to the two of them.

"The issues with Luo Qing’s family aren’t hard to resolve. I’ve figured out who the adversary is. When I’m free, I’ll just take care of it," Chen Nuo waved his hand and continued, "Now, listen to what I discovered tonight."

"All right, go ahead." Lu Xixi gently closed her mouth, propped her hands on her knees, rested her chin on top, and looked attentively at her man.

"Originally, when we went to the South America Tropical Rainforest and fought Seed, I came back with severe injuries, and there was a problem with my Consciousness Space. To put it simply... it collapsed. It fractured and created seventeen cracks. Afterward, I thought of many solutions and found a way to resolve it. I gained the special ability to interact spiritually with other Ability Users, and each time I interacted spiritually with one, I could heal one of my cracks. To say ’heal’ is not exactly accurate; more precisely, it’s like forming a membrane over a crack, blocking the leakage of spiritual power, allowing the Consciousness Space to resume its functions, then slowly merging and healing on its own. This process had to be repeated seventeen times because there were seventeen cracks.

"Gray Cat, Old Jiang, Captain, Son of the Sun, Electric General, Diamond Lillian, Old Guo, Miss Four, the middle-aged woman from Qingyun Sect, Wu Daodao from Qingyun Sect, Iron Pillar, Iris, Three Fatty, Xicheng Xun, Sun Keke, and Cha Wang the Rat from Thailand.

"In total, I performed sixteen spiritual interactions and repaired sixteen cracks! But as of now, I am still at 16/17!

"It’s not that I don’t want to perfect myself. It’s because... After a previous conversation with Seed, I was very worried that 17/17 might lead to unpredictable and uncontrollable terrible outcomes. According to Seed, he had been waiting for my ’maturation,’ after which I could be harvested. What if 17/17 represents that maturity? Then I would have to face Seed’s terror. Therefore, I always kept the progress of repairing the cracks in my Consciousness Space at 16/17.

"Tonight, to get information from that young assassin, I used my spiritual power to search the other’s Consciousness Space. It was similar to an ’interaction,’ but not entirely the same. Interaction allows me to enter another’s dreamscape, or deep into their Consciousness Space, and then blend with their spiritual power. Prying was merely an incidental side effect. I had only engaged in prying and had not truly completed the exchange of spiritual power.

"Then, something miraculous happened! One of the sixteen already healed cracks within me had been replaced! This change even startled me! What I had feared the most was that while probing the Consciousness Space of the young assassin, I would complete 17/17, leading to unforeseen consequences. Now it seemed that the method to repair the crack hadn’t been completed, but... I had unexpectedly absorbed the other’s source of spiritual power, replacing a segment of the previous membrane. This was... quite baffling."

Chen Nuo quietly finished.

Lu Xixi listened intently, then Empress Lu asked her first question. "If you maintain 16/17, will it greatly affect you?"

"Basically, the problem isn’t significant. I might just be slightly weaker in strength compared to being fully complete, but it won’t have too much of an impact normally. However, the presence of the last crack in the Consciousness Space will cause its operation to be less smooth and perfect. At the same time, every moment, a trace of spiritual power will leak out. I have to mobilize spiritual power constantly to temporarily seal that crack. It’s as if I can’t rest while eating, sleeping, or doing anything else, as I always have to divert a sliver of consciousness to continuously train my spiritual power. After a long time, I actually feel that my control over spiritual power has even improved. It’s still a bit annoying, though, since I have to be preoccupied with another task at all times. But... after so long, I’ve grown accustomed to it."

Lu Xixi nodded thoughtfully, then asked another question, "So... what do you think the result would be at 17/17?"

"It should be some kind of complete form," Chen Nuo frowned. "But... I feel like there may be a contradiction. Because, no matter how powerful, it’s just the state from my past life, a Four-Dimensional Life, right?"

"You are now at 16/17, already among the strongest of humans."

"That’s the part I find strange," Chen Nuo sighed. "I’ve never quite understood this aspect."

"What aspect?"

Chen Nuo looked at Lu Xixi’s puzzled eyes, thought for a moment, and said with a wry smile, "In fact, strictly speaking, there’s a problem with my Controller Realm."

"Ah?"

"Yes!" Chen Nuo nodded earnestly.

In terms of realm, Chen Nuo had fallen from the Controller Realm ever since he had been severely injured. The most direct manifestation was the change in his control power. But the strangeness was precisely here. Throughout the process of going from 1/17 to 16/17, Chen Nuo’s power had been supplemented, repaired, and enhanced time and again. Yet there was a problem with the realm.

"I can feel how powerful I am now. During the time I adventured in Antarctica, I roughly estimated my strength level. I’ve compared myself with the Wizard, and in my 16/17 state, I can essentially hold my own against him. Before my brain got sick in my previous life, this was the state I was in. In terms of strength, I can match up against other Controllers, even outright overpower some mid-tier Controllers in absolute combat power. For instance, the Electric General before being subjected to Body Seizing would not be a match for me if we were to fight seriously. Even against you or the Wizard, the top-notch Controllers, I could hold my own. Everything, seemingly, makes no distinction."

Chen Nuo pointed to his head. "But there is still a crack. This crack, it’s like a hole!"

"A hole?"

"Yes, a hole. I’m very aware that the operation of my Consciousness Space isn’t perfect due to this hole; it has flaws. This imperfection and flaw might be undetectable and unusable at the Controller level. But... I’m very clear that if I were to face Seed, he could easily capture this weakness of mine, and then... Let me put it this way: I can face you or the Wizard without being any weaker in terms of strength. But if I am up against Seed, then once a fight breaks out, I might crumble even faster than you! Seed might need ten or eight moves to deal with you or the Wizard. But against me, one move would probably be enough. That weakness of mine, while useless to you, is a very obvious weak point to Seed. With this vulnerability, I’ll never be able to withstand Seed."

Lu Xixi listened and frowned. "Wait a minute, honey. When you refer to Seed, do you mean all of them, or are you specifically talking about Seed himself?"

"I’m talking about Seed!" Chen Nuo explained seriously. "I have fought with Kamisou Ichiro in Antarctica. In the dream’s replicated space, I have fought with The Fourth Seed. Neither of them could exploit that loophole of mine. But Seed... I always feel that with just one move, he could easily crush me with a single finger."

"So, this flaw, it’s not something an ordinary person would have when facing a Seed. Rather, it’s a Chosen One’s weak point when facing ’their own exclusive Seed’?" Lu Xixi asked. "Is that what you mean?"

"Yes." Chen Nuo sighed. "I also thought that maybe when I reached 17/17, I could withstand Seed. But I’m also very clear that I can’t. Even if I became a fully complete 17/17, I still wouldn’t be a match for Seed. Even Seed seems to be looking forward to me becoming 17/17. But for some reason, he has not forced me."

"If you were complete, how strong do you think you’d become?" Lu Xixi asked curiously.

Chen Nuo thought seriously and then answered, "Based on the strength enhancement with each repair of the cracks from 1/17 to 16/17, as 17/17, I would be somewhat stronger than I am currently. My power level should be above yours or the Wizard’s. But I would still be below the other Seeds. That was my previous estimate. Now, however, the situation has changed. I’ve discovered that once one of my membranes gets replaced with a better one, my strength also gets enhanced."

Chen Nuo pointed at the young man lying on the floor inside the house. "Tonight, I accidentally replaced one of the membranes with his spiritual power, and my strength increased a bit."

"How much of an increase?"

"How much?" Chen Nuo thought for a while. "In terms of the magnitude of spiritual power, the efficiency of its circulation and generation improved due to the degree of integration with the Consciousness Space. My spiritual power has roughly increased by about one percent. As for the sensitivity and control of spiritual power, there’s no way to quantify it. I can only say that my sensitivity has improved somewhat, but I can’t explain the specifics."

Lu Xixi nodded, indicating she understood. The strength of spiritual power manifests in its magnitude and the ability to control and sense it. And the latter is more important than the former! While the magnitude of spiritual power is important, the ability to sense and control it is the key to victory. Only when sensing and control are on par do two opponents primarily compete in terms of magnitude. Once there are differences in sensing and control, magnitude often becomes less significant. For example, if Lu Xixi and the Wizard were previously on the same level in both the magnitude of spiritual power and control, an increase in Lu Xixi’s spiritual power magnitude would give her an advantage. However, if she were stronger in sensing and control, even slightly, Lu Xixi could make the Wizard run for cover!

"The 1/17 that was replaced came from when I went to Thailand and interacted with a Thai Ability User, which helped to repair me. That guy was named Cha Wang, and his nickname was Rat."

Lu Xixi nodded. "I think I’ve heard of this guy, but it seems his strength is quite ordinary."

"Indeed ordinary, but he is a rare spiritual power Ability User," Chen Nuo nodded. "And in this matter, what caught my attention the most was that the replaced spiritual power essence... belonged to Cha Wang, and it was the weakest among the sixteen cracks!"

The weakest one? Lu Xixi raised an eyebrow.

Chen Nuo quickly listed the names of the sixteen individuals he had interacted with during his repair process. The strongest, without a doubt, was Gray Cat! That mysterious lazy cat, though it never truly fought seriously, was nevertheless a Seed! So, ranking it as the strongest was undoubted. After that were Son of the Sun and Diamond Lillian, and Electric General before his Body Seizing. These three are Controllers. The next one was that middle-aged woman—the wife of Master Brother Wu Daodao, the charlatan. Then it was Boss Guo and Captain. Following them were Boss Guo’s wife, Miss Four; Xicheng Xun; and Qingyun Sect’s Wu Daodao, the big disciple Tiezhu, and the second disciple Situ Beixuan (Iris). The weakest were three people. One was Cha Wang, the Rat; one was Qingyun Sect’s third disciple, nicknamed Fatty (a little boy); and... Sun Keke.

"This kind of spiritual power exchange, drawing from the other’s spiritual essence to repair the cracks in my Consciousness Space, achieves a mutually enhancing effect every time. That is to say, my strength is enhanced, and the passively involved individual’s strength is also bolstered. For instance, Boss Guo and Captain were originally mid-tier Destroyer Level. But after interacting with me, their strength has now reached the pinnacle of the Destroyer Level, touching the ceiling of this rank. If they continue to enhance, the next step would be breaking through to the Controller Realm. That’s the benefit it brings to the passive party."

As Chen Nuo spoke, Lu Xixi frowned and asked, "Is there anything else? Any other connections between you and the passive participants?"

"As of now, no. All that’s known is the enhancement in strength," Chen Nuo shook his head. "This kind of relationship established between the two and the concurrent strength enhancement..."

Lu Xixi’s eyes lit up. "It sounds a lot like the relationship between Seed and the Chosen Ones!"

Chen Nuo nodded, then shook his head again. "It’s similar but not completely. The relationship between Seed and the Chosen Ones only allows for one-way benefits; meaning, as the Chosen Ones’ strength increases, it reflects back to Seed. However, the strengthening of Seed does not provide any enhancement to the Chosen Ones. But the relationship I have with these sixteen individuals is one of mutual enhancement, so... It’s more like..."

Lu Xixi took a deep breath, her expression turned very serious, and then she slowly spoke the answer. "It’s very much like... Mother."

The couple fell silent at this point, their eyes revealing a complexity that was indescribable.

After a while, Lu Xixi forced a smile. "Actually... it’s not incomprehensible. After all, you succeeded in evolving in your previous life; you’ve transcended the third dimension and entered the fourth dimension. Theoretically, you are even higher in level than Mother, so... it’s not strange that you could achieve this."

Chen Nuo sighed.

"So, it’s really an opportunity when you think about it, isn’t it?" Lu Xixi looked into Chen Nuo’s eyes. "I know what you’re thinking, Chen Nuo! You’ve found a way to enhance your strength, and you want... to use it to fight Seed?"

"Yes." Chen Nuo nodded in acknowledgment.

The problem I had always been unable to solve was that I could not contend with Seed. I just couldn’t beat him. Because I couldn’t beat Seed, Seed would kill other Seeds—which meant killing Lu Xixi. And I had calculated that even at 17/17, I was no match for Seed. But now... at 16/17, I could still improve my strength, so... there was something to work with!

I had replaced Cha Wang, the Rat, with that young assassin. The young assassin was a bit stronger than Cha Wang, but only a bit. Not much stronger. So... what if I replaced one of them with a Controller? For example, if I replaced one with Lu Xixi! How much would my strength improve?

Theoretically, the sixteen ’fillers’ currently repairing the fractures vary in strength. The weakest, like Cha Wang the Rat, Sun Keke, or the few brats from Qingyun Sect, had just barely crossed the threshold of Ability Users. They were basically synonymous with ’weakness’ in the Underground World. What if they were all replaced with Controllers? If all sixteen ’fillers’ were Controllers, how powerful would I be, even at 16/17? Then, taking it further, if all the ’fillers’ were Controllers and even included a few Seeds... how formidable would a fully actualized 17/17 I be?! By then, would it be possible to contend against Seed?

"After you replaced a fracture tonight... have you felt anything wrong, any harm to yourself?" Lu Xixi cautiously asked.

"...So far, there seems to be none. The only change is that my strength has increased somewhat," Chen Nuo honestly answered.

Lu Xixi’s eyes lit up. "Then what are we waiting for! Let’s give it a try! You interact with me first!"

My train of thought is clear. I am one of the strongest humans, second only to the four Seeds! If I replace the weakest filler in Chen Nuo’s fractures, the boost to his strength will definitely be the most cost-effective and the largest! With no downside, why not do it? Let’s try!

Lu Xixi asked with a touch of curiosity, "Out of the remaining sixteen fractures, who is the weakest one from?"

Chen Nuo’s face turned slightly embarrassed. "Sun Keke."