Chapter 5

The intensity of the sound was simply unbelievable. The sound waves clustered together, like a heavyweight boxer's heavy punch, slamming into his ears, and it was as if a fierce beast had its blood-red mouth pressed against his cheek, roaring in anger.

Xia Junping swore that he had never heard such a terrifying sound in his life. The shock wave penetrated his entire body, squeezing his eyes out of their sockets, and his internal organs churned and leaped. In a daze, his skin felt like a broken water bag, ready to shatter at any moment.

An unprecedented sense of fear swept over his heart like a storm, presenting in an incredibly clear way the details of his body's complete collapse from the inside out.

Xia Junping didn't know where this feeling came from, but his mental defenses had already crumbled, and he couldn't help but scream again. This time, no one stopped him.

After screaming for what seemed like an eternity, when Xia Junping had exhausted all his emotions and energy, he realized he was still hanging in mid-air, neither better nor worse.

The shock wave came and went suddenly, and now a cool breeze was blowing, but Xia Junping was already drained. His fingers barely clung to Luo Nan's wrist, and the sensation was blurred in the trembling, as if he were living in a nightmare.

The most critical thing was that Luo Nan, who controlled his fate, was lying there with a terrible expression. His usually extremely calm and resolute eyes were out of focus, and his palms were wet and trembling.

Xia Junping was about to cry: "Hey, hey, are you okay?"

Luo Nan didn't answer but closed his eyes, sweat sliding down from his hairline and dripping.

Xia Junping finally confirmed that Luo Nan's condition was very, very bad, and he could hardly move.

If they fell like this, he would die with regret!

It was all that damned... uh, what was it, an explosion? Xia Junping couldn't figure out what the previous strong shock was, and he had no time to think about it. He barely raised his voice:

"Stay steady, stay steady, I'll call the police..."

Luo Nan's eyelids flickered, then he opened them with difficulty, glanced at Xia Junping's face, and squeezed out a few words through his teeth: "Look at your car!"

"Uh, let's not worry about that for now..."

"Look down!"

Xia Junping hesitated for a moment, then finally forced himself to endure the dizziness and fear, and his eyes moved downward. Then he saw the outline of the Phantom, which was just below him, less than ten meters away.

The Phantom, worth 500 million, had its unique features. Besides being able to fly on magnetic tracks and superconducting roads like ordinary flying cars, it had a suspension braking function in emergencies.

So, after falling from the elevated bridge, the car didn't crash to the ground and shatter but automatically activated its suspension function, slowly rising to find a magnetic track to dock. Apart from a few dents from falling debris, there was no other damage.

This was a lifesaver!

Xia Junping was thoroughly awakened and quickly issued commands to move the car closer, giving him a place to land.

A minute later, the danger was over.

After narrowly escaping death, Xia Junping had no strength left to speak. He simply treated his wounds and sat in the driver's seat, completely limp.

Luo Nan took a while to get back into the car. To save Xia Junping, he had to free his hands and had thrown the loose-leaf notebook on the ground, so he had to pick it up.

Once back in his seat, Luo Nan closed his eyes and was sweating profusely. He had expended too much physical and mental energy, and it only became apparent after he retrieved the notebook and relaxed.

Xia Junping was in a daze for a moment, then finally remembered what he should do. The situation seemed to have a dramatic beginning but a disappointing end, but if it weren't for Luo Nan's calm mind and timely help, Xia Junping might have become the most aggrieved member of the Honor Association at Zhi Xing College.

There was no doubt that this was a life-saving favor.

Xia Junping turned his head, about to express his gratitude, but the "buzzing" sound in his ear preempted him. The miniature earpiece, which had been silent, started working again, and Ying called:

"Hey, Yanggu, are you okay?"

Xia Junping's lips twitched, and driven by intense emotion, he didn't care what Luo Nan would think and roared:

"Your sister, your mother!"

There was a moment of silence on the other end, then the voice continued, no longer loud but without anger: "Alright, Mr. Xie, I don't care what your situation is now, but you must leave that position immediately. According to observations, two minutes ago, a strong shock occurred about 2 kilometers northwest of you and 1 kilometer underground. The energy was equivalent to a small nuclear explosion and created an electromagnetic storm. Whether the ionizing radiation has exceeded the standard is really hard to say."

"Nuclear explosion?" Xia Junping's emotions were instantly suppressed, and he finally understood why his personal electronic devices had all malfunctioned.

He frantically checked if the car doors and windows were closed and activated the detection device, but nothing happened after a few seconds.

"Nothing, I don't see anything here."

"Even so, you should leave quickly. Do you want to stay there and help the police take statements?" As she spoke, Ying gave a new coordinate.

Xia Junping cursed as he started the flying car: "Wasn't it an earthquake? Wasn't it an earthquake?"

"Unfortunately, we can't find an earthquake that only affected a 12 square kilometer area but had a magnitude over 9. So, I'd rather believe it was an accidental disaster... and a catastrophic one at that."

Ying analyzed the situation and made a suggestion: "Also, you should return to Mangzhong immediately because a real earthquake, 4.5 on the Richter scale, occurred there a minute ago. Your colleagues are probably looking for people everywhere."

"..."

Xia Junping had no strength left to curse.

Ying continued: "I've taken the initiative and asked your father's company for a high-altitude shuttle. It will arrive in 90 seconds and can ensure you return to Mangzhong in 20 minutes."

It turned out that Ying's calculations were very precise. As their conversation ended, the Phantom flying car had already arrived at the coordinates Ying gave, which was a mid-rise platform of a high-rise building. Since it was outside the "12 square kilometer" area, it was relatively calm, with only some broken glass being cleaned by cleaning robots.

A "Hummingbird" shuttle just arrived, landing on the platform with a roar.

Xia Junping stared at the shuttle, somewhat dazed. He slapped his face, tried to muster his spirit, and got out of the car. After taking a few steps, he suddenly turned back:

"Great kindness needs no thanks, junior. I'll remember this favor. You're not in good shape either, so I'll leave this car for you to use. Go to the hospital and check up. I'll contact you later."

As he spoke, he transferred the control of the Phantom flying car to Luo Nan, so Luo Nan could operate it with his own wristband.

Luo Nan knew that Xia Junping had just narrowly escaped death and was in a state of confusion. It was already remarkable that he could think of this, so he didn't say more and nodded in acceptance.

Xia Junping bowed again, ran to the shuttle, and soon the shuttle took off, soaring into the sky.

The platform returned to calm, and Luo Nan took several deep breaths, sat up straight, and extended his arm to grab a functional drink from the console. However, this simple action exhausted almost all his strength, and he leaned back heavily.

He took a deep breath and said softly: "Close the door."

The Phantom's beautiful butterfly doors closed, forming a sealed interior space.

There was no need to sit in the driver's seat; as long as Luo Nan set the route to the school, the highly intelligent Phantom flying car would naturally take him there.

However, the command Luo Nan issued was not related to the school:

"Return!"

The car turned around and merged into the self-driving track. Luo Nan still used voice control to open the car's makeup mirror.

The AI brain humanely sprayed fine mist, and the warm steam hit his face, which should have been a comfortable sensation, but it felt like countless tiny knives scraping over him, causing Luo Nan's entire body to shudder.

Looking in the makeup mirror, his face was gray and lifeless, like a terminally ill patient.

Luo Nan grimaced and tried to unscrew the cap of the drink, but his fingers were weak and painful, and it took him several failed attempts to succeed.

He took out a military energy bar from his pocket, tore open the packaging, and swallowed it with the drink, shivering several times, but a warm sensation spread from his abdomen to his limbs.

As external nutrients entered, the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems interacted, and the digestive and circulatory systems adjusted and harmonized, rapidly transmitting energy to all organs and muscle tissues.

This was the basic mechanism of the human body, built on the physical foundation and inherited and evolved over countless generations to form the current appearance.

However, compared to others, Luo Nan's mechanism was similar, but his absorption and digestion efficiency was five to ten times better. In the makeup mirror, the color of his face quickly improved, and in just a few seconds, it was back to normal.

This efficiency was the result of his five years of hard research, comparing his grandfather's notes and relevant theories.

The core concept of his grandfather's theory was called "Format."

This theoretical system, in a way almost like primitive philosophy, roughly divided the universe and all things into three levels:

Self, Society, and Universe.

Each level had its special "Format" to express its existence, operation, and life and death; and the levels constantly influenced and connected with each other.

For Luo Nan, his grandfather's profound theory was far beyond what he could understand and comprehend at his age with just an experimental notebook.

Currently, he could only focus on the basics, focusing on the adjustment and shaping of the "Self Format."

In his grandfather's theory, the "Self Format" was the core, a foundation that must "permanently evolve" to bear the weight of the "Society Format" and "Universe Format."

Awakening human potential and possessing "extraordinary power" was the basic premise of evolution.

For this, over the past five years, Luo Nan had followed the experimental records in his grandfather's notebook, using drugs to stimulate and gradually transform his nervous system, which served as the axis to influence all organs and adjust the operating mechanism, aiming to achieve a qualitative change.

Currently, Luo Nan's "Self Format" was still in the early stage, referred to as a "Container" in his grandfather's notebook. Its main function was to coordinate all organs and systems, digest food nutrients, store energy, and even nourish the mind—gradually adapting human instincts to the new environment and making appropriate responses.

As the "Container" structure was basically formed, Luo Nan gradually gained some abilities, such as the "Big Eater" that enhanced digestion, absorption, and recovery; and the "Hypnotist" similar to mental communication, which he used to control crows and had good effects on Xia Junping.

Of course, the abilities were just bonuses; the real value lay in the transformation of the "Self Format" itself.

Correspondingly, any factor that affected the "Self Format" and destroyed the existing "Container" structure could not be taken lightly.

Luo Nan watched the buildings and pedestrians passing by outside the car window, his brows always furrowed. Finally, the car's AI brain prompted: "The magnetic track ahead is damaged, switching route."

At this point, the flying car had reached the broken elevated bridge, still some distance from where Luo Nan and Xia Junping had encountered danger, but the area ahead was already sealed off, with a crowd of hastily arriving media reporters, making it difficult to get closer.

The area affected by the "earthquake" was roughly bounded by the elevated bridge.

Looking west from the bridge, whether with the naked eye or the car's AI brain's scan, the scene was heart-wrenching. Near the "epicenter," two 100-story buildings had collapsed, forming a pile of rubble, with dust flying and smoke and flames flickering, reminiscent of a scene from a World War III documentary.

Looking east from the elevated bridge, the metropolis displayed its bustling appearance.

Super strong shock, limited distance... If this was an earthquake, Luo Nan could only sneer.

He sat up straight, his gaze piercing through the car window, focusing on the distant ruins. Combining the scene with the events, the images of the incident flashed back in his mind.

He issued another command to retrieve the footage automatically recorded by the car's AI brain. It was necessary to praise the high-end features of the Phantom flying car, as its all-angle high-definition recording maximized the preservation of details.

Luo Nan chose the time when he and Xia Junping were hanging from the broken bridge. At that moment, they had just escaped the danger of the broken bridge, and the explosive sound wave hit them, almost leading to their destruction.

To better understand the situation, Luo Nan activated the virtual function, and the car windows immediately blocked external light, while the projection equipment filled the cabin with layers of light.

As the angle was adjusted, Luo Nan felt as if he had returned to the moment of the crisis.

At that time, he was holding Xia Junping, facing the "epicenter," and when the explosive sound wave hit, the buildings burst into flames, and the air rippled like water... and that was it.

Luo Nan's eyes twitched, wanting to issue a command but held back, letting the footage continue. Each frame was vivid and interconnected, forming a complete and flawless chain, with no flaws to be found.

At the point where Xia Junping stood on the car hood, Luo Nan made the footage play again, but the result was the same.

He didn't waste more time, opened his notebook, thought for a moment, and the electronic pen tip landed on the paper-like screen, drawing delicate lines of varying thickness.

The lines built up layer by layer, quickly forming an outline.

It was a blurry shadow, vaguely human but with many non-human features, and its limbs lacked restraint. Combined with the shadowy background, even though the head was just a few intersecting lines, it revealed a sense of brutality and evil.

Luo Nan paused, thought for a moment, and made some adjustments. With somewhat exaggerated strokes, the outer region of the shadow twisted more severely, as if burning.

This made it look like a demon from hell, wrapped in dark fire, reappearing in the world.

Under the soft glow of the screen, Luo Nan stared at it, feeling a slight tremor in his heart, as if the burning demon was about to jump out of the paper-like screen.