Chapter 5: Format Theory

The intensity of the sound was incredible; the sound waves clumped together like a boxer’s heavy punch, slamming violently into his eardrums, or like a fierce beast pressing its gaping maw against his cheek, roaring furiously.

Xie Junping swore he had never heard such a terrifying sound in his life.

The shockwave permeated his entire body, forcing his eyes to bulge out, his internal organs churning and leaping; in a daze, his skin and flesh shell felt like a torn water bag, ready to burst apart at any moment.

An unprecedented sense of fear, like a storm, swept through his heart, presenting to him, with incredible clarity, the details of his body’s complete collapse from inside out.

Xie Junping didn’t know where this feeling came from, but his psychological defenses had already crumbled, and he couldn’t help but shriek again, but this time, no one stopped him.

He didn’t know how long he screamed, but when Xie Junping had exhausted all his emotions and physical strength, he found that he was still suspended in mid-air, neither better nor worse.

The impact and tremor came suddenly and left just as suddenly; now, a cool breeze was blowing, but Xie Junping was already enervated.

His fingers barely rested on Luo Nan’s wrist, the sensation blurring in the tremor, his entire being feeling as if he was living in a nightmare.

The most critical thing was that Luo Nan, who held his fate in his hands, was sprawled there, his face very pale, his usually calm and firm eyes unable to focus, and his palms were damp, seemingly trembling as well.

Xie Junping truly wanted to cry: “Hey, hey, are you alright!”

Luo Nan didn’t answer; instead, he closed his eyes, sweat sliding and dripping from deep within his hairline.

Xie Junping finally confirmed that Luo Nan’s current condition was very, very bad, making it difficult for him to move.

If he fell like this, he wouldn’t die in peace!

It was all that damned… uh, what was it, an explosion? Xie Junping wasn’t sure what the powerful impact earlier was, nor did he have time to think much; he struggled to raise his voice:

“Hold steady, hold steady, I’ll call the Police right away…”

Luo Nan’s eyelids twitched, then he opened them with difficulty, sweeping his gaze across Xie Junping’s face, squeezing out a few words from between his teeth: “Look at your car!”

“Uh, don’t worry about that first…”

“Look down!”

Xie Junping hesitated for a moment, then finally suppressed the dizziness and fear, moving his gaze downwards.

Then he saw the Phantom’s incredibly cool outline, less than ten meters directly below him.

The Phantom hovercar, valued at five hundred million, certainly had its extraordinary qualities.

Besides being able to speed along magnetic tracks and superconductive roads like ordinary hovercars, it also had an aerial braking function for emergencies.

Therefore, after falling from the elevated bridge, this hovercar didn’t directly hit the ground and shatter; instead, its levitation function automatically activated, slowly rising to seek a magnetic track to dock with, suffering no damage other than a few dents from falling debris.

This was a lifesaver!

Xie Junping was completely jolted awake and quickly issued commands for the hovercar to move over and provide him with a foothold.

A minute later, the danger was averted.

After escaping death, Xie Junping had no strength left to speak; he simply treated his wounds and sat in the driver’s seat, his entire body limp.

Luo Nan, however, took a while longer to return to the car.

Earlier, to save Xie Junping and free his hands, he had thrown his loose-leaf notebook to the ground, so he naturally had to retrieve it.

As soon as he returned to his seat, Luo Nan closed his eyes, sweating profusely.

He had consumed too much physical and mental energy earlier, and only after finding his notebook and relaxing his mind and body did the exhaustion truly set in.

Xie Junping zoned out for a moment, then finally remembered what he should be doing.

The situation seemed to start with a bang and end with a whimper, but if Luo Nan hadn’t remained calm and pulled him at the most critical moment, Xie Junping might have become the most aggrieved member of the Honor Society to die at Zhixing College.

Without a doubt, this was a life-saving kindness.

Xie Junping turned his head, about to express his gratitude, when a “zzzzzt-crackle” sound preemptively rang in his ear; the miniature earphone embedded in his ear began working again, and Yingying was calling:

“Hello, hello, Yang Gu, are you alright.”

Xie Junping’s mouth twitched; driven by some intense emotion, and not caring what Luo Nan might think, he roared out:

“Yang your sister, Gu your mother!”

The Other Side was silent for a moment, then the voice returned, no longer flamboyant, but also without anger: “Alright, Young Master Xie, I don’t care what your situation is right now, you must leave that location immediately.

According to observations, two minutes ago, a strong impact occurred approximately 2 kilometers northwest of you, 1 kilometer underground, with energy equivalent to a low-yield nuclear bomb explosion, forming an electromagnetic storm.

As for whether the ionizing radiation is currently exceeding safe levels, it’s really hard to say.”

“Nuclear bomb?” Xie Junping’s emotions were instantly suppressed; he finally understood why all his personal electronic devices had malfunctioned earlier.

He fumbled to confirm if the car doors and windows were sealed shut, then activated the detection device, but after a few seconds, nothing happened.

“No, nothing is showing here.”

“Then you still need to leave quickly; do you want to stay there and help the Police take statements?” Saying this, Yingying provided a new coordinate.

Xie Junping cursed under his breath as he started the hovercar: “Isn’t it an earthquake, isn’t it an earthquake?”

“Unfortunately, we cannot find any ‘earthquake’ examples that only affect a 12-square-kilometer area but have an intensity exceeding 9.

Therefore, I’d rather believe this was an accidental incident… and a catastrophic one.”

While analyzing the situation, Yingying also offered advice: “Additionally, you’d best return to Mangzhong immediately, because a minute ago, another earthquake, a genuine 4.5 magnitude one, occurred there.

Your colleagues are probably looking for people everywhere.”

“…”

Xie Junping even lost the strength to curse.

Yingying continued: “I’ve already taken the liberty of requesting a high-altitude shuttle from your father’s company; it will arrive in 90 seconds, which should ensure you return to Mangzhong within twenty minutes.”

Facts proved Yingying’s calculations were very precise; their conversation had just ended when the Phantom hovercar arrived at the coordinates Yingying provided.

This was a mid-level landing platform of a connected high-rise building; since it was outside the “twelve-square-kilometer” range, it was relatively calm here, with only some glass shattered, and cleaning robots were tidying up.

A “Hummingbird” shuttle had just arrived, landing on the platform with a roar.

Xie Junping stared at the shuttle, somewhat dazed; he patted his face, forced himself to cheer up, and stepped out of the car.

After walking a few steps, he suddenly turned back:

“Great kindness needs no words, junior; I will remember this favor.

Your situation isn’t too good right now, so I’ll leave this car for you to use for transport; go to the Hospital to get checked out.

I’ll contact you later.”

Saying this, he transferred control permissions of the Phantom hovercar to Luo Nan, so Luo Nan could perform basic operations with his own wristband.

Luo Nan knew that Xie Junping had just walked through the gates of Hell and was in a state of confusion, so it was already commendable that he thought of this; he said no more, nodded, and accepted.

Xie Junping bowed again, then jogged to board the shuttle, which quickly ascended into the depths of the clouds.

The landing platform returned to calm. Luo Nan took a few deep breaths, straightened his back, extended his arm, and grabbed the functional drink from the central console. Yet, this single movement exhausted almost all his strength, and he leaned heavily back.

He took a deep breath and said softly, “Close the door.”

The Phantom’s beautiful butterfly doors closed, forming an enclosed space inside the vehicle.

Without even needing 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 deliver him to his destination.

However, the command Luo Nan issued had nothing to do with the school:

“Return!”

The flying car turned around and merged into the automated track. Luo Nan still used voice control to open the in-car vanity mirror.

The smart computer humanely sprayed a fine mist of water. The slightly warm vapor on his face should have been a comfortable sensation, but it felt like countless tiny blades scraping across him, causing Luo Nan’s entire body to twitch.

Looking at the vanity mirror again, his face was ashen and dull, like a terminally ill patient on the verge of death.

Luo Nan grimaced, trying to twist open the drink bottle cap. However, his fingers had no strength, aching and painful, and he failed five or six times before succeeding.

He pulled out a military energy bar from his pocket, tore open the packaging, and swallowed it whole with the drink. His entire body shivered several times, but a warm sensation spread from his abdomen to all his limbs and bones.

As external nutrients entered, the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous Systems interacted, and the digestive and circulatory Systems antagonized and harmonized each other, rapidly delivering energy to all organs and muscle tissues throughout the body.

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

However, compared to others, Luo Nan’s operational mechanism was similar, but his absorption and digestion efficiency were five to ten times greater. In the vanity mirror, the color of his face rapidly improved, and in just a few seconds, it was no different from normal.

Such efficiency was the result of his arduous research over five years, referencing his grandfather’s notes and related theories.

The core concept in his grandfather’s theory was called “Format.”

This theoretical System, in an almost primitive philosophical way, broadly divided the Heaven, Earth, and Universe, and all things in the world into three levels:

Self, Social, and Heaven and Earth.

Each level has its special “Format” to express its core essence of existence, operation, and creation/destruction; complex influences and connections also constantly occur between the various levels.

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

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

In his grandfather’s theory, the “Self Format” is the core of everything, a cornerstone that must “permanently evolve” to bear the immense pressure of the Heaven and Earth and Social Formats.

Achieving the Awakening of human potential and possessing “extraordinary power” is the basic prerequisite for evolution.

To this end, over the past five years, Luo Nan, following the experimental records in his grandfather’s notes, gradually transformed his nervous System using drug stimulation. With this as the central axis, he influenced various organs throughout his body, adjusting their operational mechanisms, hoping to achieve a qualitative change.

Currently, Luo Nan’s Self Format is still in its early stages, referred to as a “Container” in his grandfather’s notes. Its main function is to coordinate all organs and Systems in the body, digest food nutrients, contain and store energy, and even nourish the mind—allowing a person’s instincts to gradually adapt to new environments and make appropriate responses.

As the “Container” structure basically took shape, Luo Nan gradually acquired some abilities, such as the “Big Eater” which enhanced his digestion, absorption, and recovery abilities; and also the “Hypnotist,” similar to mental communication, which he previously used to control crows and today used on Xie Junping with good effect.

Of course, abilities are just a bonus; the real value lies in the transformation of the Self Format itself.

Accordingly, any factor that affects the Self Format and damages the existing “Container” structure cannot be taken lightly.

Luo Nan watched the rapidly passing buildings and pedestrians outside the car window, his brows constantly furrowed. Finally, the in-car smart computer displayed a prompt: “Front magnetic track damaged, switching route.”

At this point, the flying car had reached the broken elevated bridgehead, still some distance from where Luo Nan and Xie Junping encountered danger, but the area ahead was already blocked, crowded with a throng of rushing media reporters, making it difficult to get closer.

The scope of the “earthquake’s” impact was roughly bounded by the elevated bridge.

Looking west from the bridge, whether by direct sight or the scanning images from the car’s smart computer, the scene was one of heart-wrenching devastation. Near the “epicenter,” two hundred-story buildings had collapsed, forming mounds of ruins with dust flying. In the pervasive turbid mist, flames flickered, almost a re-enactment of a missile strike from Three Wars documentaries.

And looking east of the elevated bridge, the metropolis fully displayed its prosperous appearance.

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

He straightened his upper body, his gaze piercing through the car window towards the distant ruins, and combining with the current environment, the scenes from the incident flashed back one after another.

He then issued another command, calling up the images automatically recorded by the car’s smart computer. One had to commend the Phantom flying car’s high-end features; its omni-directional high-definition recording method preserved details to the maximum extent.

Luo Nan selected the period when he and Xie Junping were suspended at the broken bridgehead. At that time, they had just caught their breath from the crisis of the broken bridge when the sonic impact roared, almost dooming them.

To grasp the situation more truly, Luo Nan activated the virtual function. The car windows immediately blocked external light, and the projection equipment cast layers of light and shadow, filling the car cabin.

As the angle adjustment was completed, Luo Nan felt as if he had returned to the moment the crisis arrived.

At that time, he was pulling Xie Junping, facing the direction of the “epicenter,” at a perfect angle. When the sonic impact sounded, flames erupted among the buildings, and the air vibrated like water waves… And then, it was like this.

Luo Nan’s eyelid twitched. He wanted to issue a command but held back, letting the image continue to play forward. It could be seen that every frame of the image was richly colored and interconnected, forming a complete and flawless chain, with no imperfections found.

At the Node where Xie Junping stood on the car hood, Luo Nan played the image from the beginning, but the result was no different.

He no longer wasted time, opened his notebook, thought for a moment, and then the electronic pen tip landed on the paper-like soft screen, outlining delicate lines of varying shades.

The lines built up layer by layer, and soon a silhouette emerged.

It was a blurred shadow, vaguely human-shaped, yet with many non-human features, and its limbs extended and contracted without restraint. Combined with the shadowy background, even though the head was still only a dozen intersecting thin lines with no discernible face, it exuded a violent and evil aura.

Luo Nan paused his pen, thought for a moment, and then made slight modifications. Under the slightly exaggerated strokes, the outer area of the shadow twisted more severely, as if burning.

This made it look like a demon from Hell, wrapped in dark fire and poisonous flames, returning to the world.

Under the faint glow of the screen, Luo Nan himself looked at it, and even he felt a slight tremor in his heart, as if in the next moment, the burning demonic shadow would leap out from the paper-like soft screen.