Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 119 - 096. Proliferative Metamorphosis

Chapter 119: 096. Proliferative Metamorphosis

"Contact the Rose Army, attack Mingji, announce it to the world."

Li Aozi repeated Neriya’s words, each purpose seeming somewhat ironic.

"Contact the Rose Army, first of all, whether we can get in touch or not, will they send troops here—furthermore, how long will it take for people to arrive?"

"Attacking Mingji Humanity is even more absurd—even I know doing this would certainly stir international public opinion and bring condemnation; would the Rose Army ignore such a reputation?"

"Announce it to the world is pure nonsense, the Rose Army can’t even control their own social media and public opinion; do you expect people to believe the words of the rebels?"

"This is not rebellion, this is reform."

Jian Neriya said lightly:

"This shelter holds extraordinary value and can aid in our resistance against the Four Nations."

"If you merely kill everyone without occupying and managing it, Frost Plated can still support a new Mingji. But if the Rose Army occupies this place, we can turn it into a bridgehead fort towards Frost Plated."

"I understand your concerns—don’t worry about your interests, as the one who severely damaged Frost Plated’s lackeys, Rose won’t be stingy with rewards."

"No, you don’t understand."

Li Aozi waved his hand and snapped:

"Do you think this is a profit-sharing issue? It’s not; I don’t care about any Rose Army. Mingji’s meager assets don’t catch my eye, as for Frost Plated—Frost Plated is destined to be destroyed, but I don’t want to let them off so easily."

"So according to you, the Red Arrow people—"

"It has nothing to do with Red Arrow." Li Aozi didn’t like Jian Neriya’s tone at all, this rational and emotionless self-righteousness was a bad temper unique to the Rose Army, and also the fundamental reason for their resistance’s failure.

"I said, my companions with Qiu Ran are Nomi, not you, and certainly not the Rose Army. Cooperation is possible, but at least there must be some capital of trust."

Dealing with someone like Jian Neriya, you can’t beat around the bush, or you’ll be led astray by her. However—Li Aozi’s high main attribute of "Charm" still played an advantage; no matter how objectively she tried to maintain, she couldn’t ignore his words.

"Capital of trust?"

"I don’t want guarantees, I want something tangible."

Li Aozi hooked his thumb over his shoulder:

"If you need a long-wave radio to notify the Rose Army—it’s in the communications room over there, that’s fine, no problem. But you must come with us, first kill all the Mingji, and what happens afterward, I don’t care, it’s not my benefit, giving it to the Rose Army is fine."

Not only fine, if the Rose Army could truly advance and take down Mingji, Li Aozi would save a lot on infrastructure renovation costs. Just the lousy environment of Frost Plated, the players would have to move to Outer World anyway.

By then, when the players arrive, with the well-equipped facilities, medical equipment, civil defense projects, and a self-contained reactor of Mingji Humanitarian Shelter, it would naturally become the first choice.

At that time, with his publicity and fame, it wouldn’t be too hard to monetize traffic.

Li Aozi was always a realistic person; except for some bottom-line issues, other matters could be discussed calmly and slowly.

Nomi was already dead—but her body was revived by Jian Neriya.

In terms of relationships, Li Aozi saved Nomi, but it ended up reviving Neriya, who naturally inherited the favor and life-saving grace owed to Li Aozi and Qiu Ran.

Leverage gratitude for repayment, coercing others, these were common tactics players used.

Showing Nomi respect was because she once shielded him from bullets, fighting together from Mingji Humanity to Outer World, battling the Fourth Rule, and then killing their way back—this was a life-and-death friendship.

Without Nomi, Li Aozi immediately switched back to his player mindset.

"Stop talking about those empty revolutionary goals, I don’t care. Even if all Frost Plated people died and the planet exploded, I’d probably be watching from the sidelines— frankly, I’m very double-standard. As long as it’s not dying in front of me, blood not splattering on me, what does it have to do with me."

Li Aozi never denied his double standards, or rather, not being double-standard would just upset both sides, so why not enjoy himself a bit.

Nomi’s death weighed heavily on his mind, but when he started moving, he felt even more liberated.

—Now, the task was to concentrate all forces and quickly slaughter the remaining members of Mingji Humanity, dealing with the ensuing problems.

Besides that, Li Aozi also needed 2 million Derby funds to place a bounty (advertisement) on himself.

His goal became clearer, his thoughts smoother, returning to his original player mindset.

Looking at Jian Neriya again, Li Aozi’s gaze returned to indifference.

Jian Neriya stared at him, just about to speak when Li Aozi saw through her thoughts:

"You want to mention my masquerading as a Rose Army member to blackmail me, right?"

"This is not a big deal, the Rose Army has always been unconcerned about origin for those with aspirations..."

He chuckled:

"Isn’t it? Bard Rumon, Chu Haosheng, Rom Costa—these three moderate members of the Rose Army, when Orwen and Mr. Wang Goliang purged them, you specifically mentioned their origins as big merchants and lawyers."

Jian’s expression changed: "I don’t know what you’re talk—"

"Let me tell you a fact, the internal struggles of the Rose Army are meaningless, the times are like this, people tied down by gravity on the ground will never look up to the sky."

Li Aozi sneered.

In the previous life, players had no good impressions of the Rose Army, even less than the Metro Brotherhood.

The reason was simple: the Rose Army, at its peak, supported by the six warlords of Outer World, still fell into internal conflicts.

The contention stemmed from the radical faction led by Orwen Dooly and Wang Goliang accusing the moderate faction of being too weak, insisting on strictly economically blocking those civilians in contact with Frost Plated, as every trade with Frost Plated inflicted severe blows on the frontline soldiers.

The moderates thought this was societal regression; Frost Plated was already extreme on ethical and legal grounds. As reformers, they shouldn’t adopt the enemy’s style; otherwise, the original supporters of the Rose Army would lose heart.

Eventually, the moderate leaders were secretly handled and assassinated by radicals during their vacation, causing an uproar within the Rose Army. Some young officers couldn’t accept this internal strife, so they led warriors to the mountains to fight as guerrillas.

What players hated most was this kind of boring conflict scenario.

At that time, players were still unaware of the intricacies of "Starry Abyss"; according to their stereotypical view of games, what conspiracies or calculations existed?

It’s just that their levels weren’t high enough!

No matter how strong you are, still useless? Then you’re not strong enough!

Already reached this universe’s limit? No problem, then explore the next layer of the cosmos, searching for the ultimate limit of individual strength!

Most who had these thoughts would keep quiet after their next journey in Starry Abyss.

Li Aozi valued the Rose Army for attracting players to his place to empty their wallets to buy accessories and for the "Mutant" pathway.

But he wouldn’t invest too much since, historically, the fighting power of the Rose Army, without the international brigade’s tough men and women, confronting Frost Plated somewhat lacked foresight; being annihilated by Frost Plated was just a matter of time.

According to Li Aozi’s memory, His Excellency the President of Frost Plated was currently busy with a territorial dispute with Sky Ring, while his forces internally faced threats from David Lyn’s group—thinking back, Agent Yawen probably died early in the presidential purges of Frost Plated.

When the President finally had time, the Rose Army was easily dealt with.

Overall, the Rose Army was not much better than Frost Plated.

Especially with the shadow and disturbance of the Pseudo-Humans, the entire Rose Army was turned into a chaotic mess.

Li Aozi’s series of punches made Jian Neriya feel pressured.

Leverage gratitude might be somewhat morally demanding, but for the Rose Army, which valued reputation, it was very effective.

Having a justifiable cause was very important, especially when Mingji Humanity was internationally known as a humanitarian rescue organization; even if Outer World people cursed them—who internationally cared about Outer World people?

The Four Nations would only feel self-righteous, get passionately angry, and find reason enough to launch large-scale reprisals against the Rose Army.

While taking the opportunity to expand control over Outer World further, establishing a few transit cities to transport military supplies, and providing support services for the soldiers fighting terrorists—this also seemed normal. After all, soldiers were people too, needing food, drinks, and pleasures.

While relocating those socially idle unemployed populations was a win-win. Unemployment resolved, society stabilized, people probably satisfied, international community satisfied, political risk minimized.

As for the discontented Outer World people, let them be discontent.

Li Aozi stared at Neriya.

Although she kept a poker face, her eyes had grown solemn.

Li Aozi threw out internal scandal news of the Rose Army, which was hard for a guerrilla like Neriya to accept.

Secondly, anyone with a bit of a brain should understand the Rose Army’s situation.

After attacking Mingji Humanity, Li Aozi could easily flee to Outer World, spend some money, and get a false identity to swagger into Sky Ring.

The Rose Army couldn’t do that; they were too big to run.

They could fight Mingji Humanity but couldn’t like Li Aozi, who wanted to bloodily purge a humanitarian organization—that also explained why Jian Neriya stepped back, wanting to wait for the Rose Army’s main force.

Even if Frost Plated’s troops arrived, fighting regular army action would still be justifiable.

But Li Aozi wanted to massacre the Mingji, which contradicted Neriya’s stance; she wanted to win gracefully and take over the humanitarian shelter facilities.

But if she didn’t cooperate with Li Aozi... the ethical dilemma was secondary, she knew Li Aozi’s strength in defeating the Infant Eater, slaughtering Mingji Humanity, and wiping out the White Fang Guild.

If she wanted to leave lightly, Li Aozi probably wouldn’t let her go easily.

This way, it would be better for both sides to compromise, forming a solution.

Thus, after some negotiation, they reached an agreement.

"I cannot participate in this unjust combat."

Jian admitted, extending her hand:

"However, I am willing to use this Arcane Energy to trade for my departure and send Mingji Humanitarian Shelter’s location."

"Deal."

Profitable.

Having a fool help in developing and renovating Mingji Humanitarian facilities was no small project.

And if there were signs of other Pseudo-Humans, he would immediately blow up Mingji Humanity’s reactor.

Most crucially, retrieving Nomi’s Arcane Energy, Li Aozi only needed to learn two pieces of "Sovereign" knowledge to search for her corpse and wandering soul.

There weren’t many means to revive people, especially those long dead. Months could be enough to decay a corpse substantially... but Li Aozi felt it was worth a try.

Li Aozi grasped her hand, his palm secreting neural tentacles, piercing into her hand. Jian Neriya frowned, groaning slightly, her pupils flashing red-black, and the blood vessels in her arm suddenly bulged, intertwining like tree roots.