Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 278 - 098. The Eve of the Gathering

Chapter 278: 098. The Eve of the Gathering

The Nine Dragons Gathering was about to open, and as one of Sky Ring’s grandest festival events, even the fiercely battling gang members began to rein themselves in, white paper lanterns were hung on street corners, and with the sporadic sound of gunfire, the streets seemed much more peaceful.

In the capital of Sky Ring Country, Qiong’anjing, the scene was quite different. Within the elegant city walls, armored vehicles and police forces were stationed nearly every ten steps, with extremely strict security. Drones and helicopters circled and patrolled the skies.

The Nine Dragons Gathering was a grand event marking the end of the year, where the major Clan Groups and the traditional royal powers exchanged pleasantries, prayed for blessings, and celebrated. The guests in attendance ranged from political figures to wealthy tycoons to academic leaders. To maintain order within the inner city of the capital, the Qiong’anjing Police Department mobilized 20,000 officers and called upon 100,000 volunteers to take care of environmental sanitation and provide services at the venues.

Li Aozi, holding an invitation, had already moved into the VIP room of his hotel two days ago, delightfully enjoying the hot springs and alcohol. Meanwhile, his team members from the Fishmen Guild had also infiltrated the venue under the guise of volunteers.

For Li Aozi, Sky Ring was exceptionally attentive in their service, not daring to neglect him in the slightest—this was partly because Li Aozi’s assistance in Grante’s independence aligned with Sky Ring’s interests, and on the other hand, the incident where Li Aozi single-handedly broke through the airspace, nearly causing a mutiny in the Frost Plated Air Force, also fully demonstrated his strength.

For someone who wasn’t of Gamma Rank, yet whose destructive power was no weaker than that of Gamma Rank individuals, the attitude of the Sky Ring elite was to engage and draw him in more, rather than to alienate or anger him.

After all, maintaining the combat power of a Gamma Rank individual is an extremely costly affair, and Li Aozi’s emergence was akin to telling them, ’I don’t need your support, and I have more uses than your Gamma Ranks.’

However, Li Aozi had already entered and exited the Red Arrow Embassy more than once, displaying his ID and passport frequently, leaving the Sky Ring elite quite regretful—they could neither acquire nor dare to eliminate him.

As for the scheming of the Sky Ring people, Li Aozi was all too familiar. In his previous life, players were frequently tricked by Sky Ring politicians. If it weren’t for the fact that the monster leveling environment here was so good, there truly would not be so many people willing to stay in Sky Ring.

After dinner, he stood with a glass of red wine in hand, gazing down upon the entire nighttime cityscape from the 63rd floor by the vast floor-to-ceiling window.

One might say that this was the second Four Nations capital he had reached since his transmigration.

The neon lights exchanged glances uninterruptedly, with the grandeur of fireworks soaring into the dome of sky, their brilliance illuminating the night like trees of fire and showers of silver blossoms. Guests came and went amid this spectacle, with nothing but luxurious splendor in sight.

Li Aozi sipped his glass of sake and said mildly,

"The show is about to begin."

On the other side of Qiong’anjing, players from the Fishmen Guild, dressed in volunteer uniforms, had smoothly arrived at the main site of the banquet: the Houjo Group Building.

As the tram arrived at the station, the players of the Fishmen Guild were shocked by the sight of the majestic building before them—the Houjo Tower stood at 678 meters tall, covering an area of 1.2 hectares, a massive complex of buildings that formed a crown towering into the sky. The various buildings and office areas were connected through tunnels and hover cars, capable of accommodating 130,000 people working and living there, with 2,200 drones participating in daily maintenance and cleaning.

And that was only the above-ground portion. Beneath it, reaching depths of up to 2.8 kilometers, operated seven internal subways, not only containing Houjo Group’s most cutting-edge technology laboratories but also simulation towns for training professional security forces. They had practically excavated an entire Underground City, tapped into geothermal resources, and possessed self-sustaining agricultural greenhouses and mechanical factories.

To put it more bluntly, even if Grante’s GDP for 200 years was combined, it still wouldn’t cover the electricity bill for this building for a month.

"This is truly a marvel..." the players of the Fishmen Guild marveled.

This was the disparity between the Four Nations and smaller countries. Similar structures could be built by Frost Plated, Zhengxu, and Red Arrow—all capable of providing the resources to do so, and just the savings alone could feed millions of people from the Outer World.

The Four Nations wanted not for resources, and Sky Ring, from their long history of external plundering, had amassed great wealth. The essence of the Nine Dragons Gathering was akin to the ancient Ring King who invited nobles and Samurai to share in the spoils of their conquests and pray to the dragon gods for strength and luck.

The players were not too concerned about these old tales. As volunteers, they found it quite easy to enter the building. The real challenge was how to locate the hydrogen bomb referred to as ’Hirosaki Yousha.’

"Houjo Heavy Industries, the pride of Sky Ring, has, for a hundred years, continuously supplied society with a large number of talents. If the nation wants to grow strong, Houjo is there to help; when the country aims to rise, Houjo gives its all... To love Sky Ring is to choose Houjo Group."

Along the way, players were bombarded with claims from the Houjo Clan that they were a patriotic corporation, boasting about their contributions and heroic deeds for Sky Ring. Players were about to forget how to even write ’Houjo’, finding even that the bottled water they wanted to buy was a Houjo brand, the toilets in the restroom were made by Houjo Ceramics, and when security guards became suspicious of them, they pointed Houjo weapons at them, questioning their intentions and identities... considering even the internal ventilation ducts were built by the Houjo Clan’s own company, they had essentially achieved the feat of owning even the air they breathed.

Although the Houjo Clan’s quality was not bad, such a monopoly made the players feel embarrassed.

"President, we’ve been walking around half the day and haven’t found any relevant clues."

Someone complained to President Old Blind:

"We’ve already gone down to the third sub-level, and if we keep wandering like this, I’m afraid the boys could keep at it till next month and still not find the end."

"What’s the hurry? The task progress is still going up, no rush."

Old Blind was relatively calm about the matter:

"We’re here for reconnaissance and tracking, not to steal a hydrogen bomb, get it? Look at the NPCs around us—look at that one, with cherry lips and white teeth, the twin-tailed JK loli, yes, her."

"Wow, her legs are so white."

"White my ass, I’m telling you to look at her level."

"lv.25 [Martial Artist]—I bid farewell!"

Old Blind hugged his arms, pressed down his volunteer cap to cover the silver runes in his eyes. The main reason he maintained a nonchalant attitude was because he clearly recognized just how deep the waters were here.

The Houjo Clan, the oldest and most powerful of the Clans in Sky Ring, was said to have royal family ancestry. During industrialization, they naturally demanded the best resources like mines. Today, the Houjo Clan wasn’t just a single family anymore; a significant number of non-related people of Sky Ring served them, employed for rewards and status.

In a place where the average person was at Alpha Stage, the players, with their pitiful levels of less than 10, were like sheets of paper, easily punctured full of holes by anyone who approached them.

Continuing like this wasn’t a solution, after all, they still needed to inquire and ask for directions. Relying only on their awakened [Eye of Truth], they couldn’t see too far underground. So, they decided to focus on those who looked like research personnel, offering volunteer services on one hand to help visitors with their problems and, on the other hand, covertly observing researchers in white coats rushing through the pedestrian street.

However, the limitations of their volunteer identities soon became apparent. When they reached the fifteenth sub-level, a modified human security guard approached them with a cold face, warning them, "Get out, the area below isn’t for you to approach!"

The scolded players weren’t discouraged and obediently left; however, the team’s numbers had dwindled from the original 24 to 23.

A few moments later, an excited voice came through the guild’s voice channel:

"Hey hey hey! Boss, I’ve stealthily snuck in using my Omega Level Arcane Energy invisibility—this rental is really worth it!"

At the news, Old Blind laughed: "Well done."