Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 249 - 070. Mutually Gaslighting

Chapter 249: 070. Mutually Gaslighting

N4 narrowed her eyes slightly.

It was apparent that she seemed to recognize the tone and the speech pattern as familiar, yet Li Aozi’s vivid facial expression and slightly sad eyes instantly touched the softest chords of the human heart.

Which man or woman could withstand his stubborn yet sorrowful gaze for more than three seconds without being moved?

Li Aozi knew all too well what the women of Frost Plated were feeling.

He remembered that David Lyn once pointed out, "The women of Frost Plated do not see themselves as real women but imitate the despicable males of past society by smoking, drinking, committing domestic violence, deliberately not hiring men in the workplace, engaging in crime, harassment, possessing a strong desire to control, dumping their children to artificial wombs and nurseries, running out to indulge in extravagance, turning men into household robots and ATMs."

Only a few women realize that when they redo the things that men did in the past, they have not achieved any progress or change themselves, but have simply become the new ’patriarchal figures’.

With technology being quite decent, the female population of Frost Plated could sometimes really take over the main positions of productivity, with men’s only role being to go to war and face death.

Put simply, the perspective of the David Lyn Faction was this, the brave heroes who slew dragons gradually became the evil dragons of yore.

N4 bore the distinct characteristics of Frost Plated women, or rather, Li Aozi was accustomed to viewing the women of Frost Plated as men, which made it easier to understand.

Li Aozi walked up to N4, slowly knelt on one knee, and said with a slightly displeased and teasing tone,

"Ms. N4, it is with a heart full of admiration and joy that I sincerely extend this offer to you. If you still do not trust me, then this kind of conversation, no matter how long it continues, will be fruitless. Please go back, no matter how sweet the coffee tastes, the aftertaste is bitter."

"Oh wow, Mr. Leoz, you’re quite agitated because of me; sorry about that, it’s my oversight, I apologize for making you feel uncomfortable because of me."

N4 was a person with great social graces; she was not in a hurry at all. Communicating with her was much more difficult than dealing with the Professor at the time.

The Professor was a rational person, but people who are too rational often fall into the trap of theoretical and academic dogmatism.

N4 was different; this woman knew how to talk, knew how to manipulate emotions, was deeply calculating, and just so happened to be good-looking as well. With just a few words, it seemed like she took all the responsibility upon herself, yet not a single piece of information slipped out.

Instead, she kept showing off her strong traits, her sharp features exuded penetrating force, and her words were filled with ’understanding’ and ’forgiveness.’ Even though she kept admitting her mistakes, it was as if she was merely placating a child.

—— A parent.

The word flickered through Li Aozi’s mind, and he immediately realized.

Yes, N4 gave off a strong impression of being a head of the family.

Powerful, intelligent, composed, charming, dominating.

This was the first time Li Aozi encountered a hexagonal warrior of this sort, catching him, who was accustomed to playing with the wind, off guard,

Even though he repeatedly mentioned the taboo topic of the Mingji Humanity’s dance with destruction, N4 just smiled knowingly, unconcerned as if ’what’s past is past’.

As time passed, the advantageous effect of high intelligence grew more dominant. If charm could not enhance favorability, it would become increasingly limited.

"The death of the Professor and the destruction of Mingji Humanity truly upset me, for anyone else, I would have already turned them into a specimen by now—but you’re different, do you understand? What you can achieve is far greater than what the Professor ever created."

N4 took Li Aozi’s hand, chastising him while also praising him:

"You are the greatest arcane user on this planet; the potential of your genes is fully displayed in you. If you could support us, countless people would benefit from it, and science would make great advances. Humanity might even fend off the misfortunes brought by Ersha, combat nature’s punishment with biotechnology, and we could even set foot into outer space—but all this depends on you."

The situation had turned unfavorable.

Li Aozi took a deep breath.

He had to admit that both the charm and intelligence attributes had their merits; charm made everything likeable, but those with the intelligence trait spoke with noticeably more depth.

Li Aozi gradually found it harder to withstand the verbal assault.

Because she was flawlessly correct, and even alluded to the relationship between Ersha and Lord Entropy.

"Leoz, you might not believe me, but this is for the advancement of science. Your arcane energy and the power of your genes may still have further possibilities."

N4 said warmly:

"Don’t you want to go out and see that part of the cosmos?"

"Join Mingji Heavy Industries."

"We can create an organization that’s even larger than the Four Nations, more significant than GTB’s meaning, and that could even change the entire Azure Star."

She began to consciously guide the conversation towards herself, even trying to persuade Li Aozi to join her side.

In comparison, Li Aozi found that coquettish tactics might have even more impact than verbal sparring.

[Stay calm, Li Aozi, you must stay calm.]

Li Aozi kept reminding himself.

The more critical the moment, the more he couldn’t afford to be careless.

He kept recalling the character image and deeds of N4, deducing the person’s character from them.

Strictly speaking, N4 was even more outrageous than professors who are neutral evil, closer to an absolute neutral consciousness, with a typical INTP (Logician) personality type.

The professor might still be aware of his deep sins, but was resigned to them, whereas N4 had never had a concept of good and evil.

The most typical case was that under the leadership of N4, Mingji Heavy Industries created the best fertilizers, targeted drugs, and artificial organ cultivation techniques. Once these technologies appeared, the population of Azure Star, which had dropped to fewer than 300 million after the Ersha disaster, exploded to over 2.6 billion in just 150 years, with about 2 billion being sustained by the Four Nations alone, and the number of people from the Outer World who benefited was even more incalculable.

——However, at the same time, the various laboratories set up by Mingji Heavy Industries were responsible for the cumulative deaths of no fewer than 2 million test subjects, and the number of people who died due to the careless discharge of biochemical waste and the planned release of toxins was countless.

The number of people killed by Mingji Humanity and the number sustained by their technology is probably the highest since the Galactic Era.

At first, it sounds ridiculous, but when one thinks about how many lives are sustained in a farm and how many are taken away, it’s far more than the sum of creatures released by advocates of life release over thousands of years.

Thus, Li Aozi considered N4 to be a pure Science Believer, a robot pursuing science.

Nothing more.

Such a powerful opponent, almost without weaknesses, was quite a tricky challenge for Li Aozi.

What was more pressing was that he might actually need to collaborate with N4.

The third Settlement Condition for "Imprint" was the need to Uproot the sponsors of Mingji Humanity. If not Mingji Heavy Industries, then it would be Frost Plated, or more likely, both were involved.

At the very least, he needed to shut down all of Mingji Humanity’s laboratories.

Is N4 a beast? Li Aozi wasn’t sure, because you call people beasts, not a machine.

So how should he deal with N4? Li Aozi didn’t know how to proceed.

He had never considered that N4 would notice him, given that the entity would sell out Azure Star and its players just to further its research.

Just as he was about to be coaxed by N4, on the verge of being convinced to ’join Mingji Heavy Industries’, the door to the meeting room was suddenly pushed open.

"Mr. Leoz, is Li Sang here?"

A Werewolf dressed as a Sky Ring person leaned languidly against the doorframe, raising his hand to display a document:

"I am a retainer of the Houjo Group, Lu Cangma—our lord has sent a message, hoping to invite you to the Nine Dragons Gathering."

"This gathering will showcase the heirloom blade: Death Shadow Blade."

"I’m sure you’d be interested, right?"

Li Aozi’s heart leaped, this was exactly what he was waiting for.

Heirloom Masterpiece — Death Shadow Blade

There are only twelve Heirloom Masterpiece weapons on Azure Star, and Li Aozi was willing to take on Grante’s commission mainly to get a ticket to the Nine Dragons Gathering.

And Li Aozi was fully aware that not only would the Death Shadow Blade be on display at the Nine Dragons Gathering, but another Heirloom Masterpiece sword would make an understated appearance, and he knew exactly how to acquire the latter.

In other words, he could get his hands on two Heirloom Masterpiece weapons in one fell swoop!