Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 280 - 100. Stage Ready

Chapter 280: 100. Stage Ready

Breaking into Abandon Mist was no longer possible, but luckily for Li Aozi, this part of the intelligence was enough, with the Fishmen Guild task progress at 100%. He hurriedly called everyone to withdraw.

The Houjo Clan’s security had already detected abnormal biological signals and immediately sealed off the building, beginning an internal investigation.

However, no matter how strict Ren Tianhuan’s security checks were, they couldn’t prevent players from simply committing suicide and escaping, to then revive directly at Triangle Town.

"Awesome! Guys, our operation this time was really badass! We’ve got the livestream and forums buzzing, totally worth it!"

The reward this time was very substantial, igniting lively discussions among the Fishmen Guild’s players about its uses. Now, they clung even tighter to Li Aozi’s coattails.

Unfortunately, Li Aozi had already gone to Qiong’anjing, and players couldn’t find him to buy Skills and learn knowledge, so they simply started taking quests and leveling up in Triangle Town while waiting for Li Aozi’s return.

This turned out to be a boon for the Lord of Oakland. This young lord had gained much recently. The players, who worked tirelessly and vied for the dirtiest tasks without moral constraints, stole from bandit gangs, even conducted black-on-black crimes. Suddenly, his territory burst into vigorous life, in full bloom, and the people got used to making use of these players, no longer finding their quirks strange.

The discoveries of the Fishmen Guild also caused quite a stir among the players. Many People of Sky Ring, after seeing Houjo Group’s cruel experiments, saw their favorability towards Sky Ring plummet instantly.

Especially since many bystanders, influenced by Li Aozi, regarded the Mutants positively and had already envisioned a future as Mutants. However, many of Houjo Group’s human experiments targeted Arcane Awakeners, which understandably chilled and displeased the players.

Li Aozi downloaded these photos and videos from the forums. These items were quite useful to him; he could use them to coerce the Houjo Clan into giving him some benefits, or at the least, use them for his protection.

With his current combat abilities, "Charm," and reputation, he could expose some matters that Sky Ring could in no way prevent.

Personally, Li Aozi saw himself as quite the schemer. He was adept at using accidents and public opinion to extort benefits from organizations and communities. For Li Aozi, the notion of bearing a moral burden was absolutely out of the question. In the universe, discussing morality was downright absurd—only interests are eternal.

Li Aozi, having obtained the intelligence and experimental photos, suddenly got a new idea.

"I’ve caused Frost Plated so much damage before, they probably won’t let me go. Maybe they will play dirty at the Nine Dragons Gathering."

Third Rule never played fair when it came to underhanded tactics. Framing, slandering, fake ballots, supporting coups, kidnapping hostages, bomb attacks—Li Aozi felt that if the President of Frost Plated did nothing, it would be an insult to their power and status.

So, Li Aozi made a call to Narrow Space Mirror.

"Give me a reason you woke me up from my dream so late."

Narrow Space Mirror said this, but she answered the call instantly. These past days, probably waiting desperately for news from Li Aozi, she couldn’t afford to miss out.

Li Aozi didn’t hesitate and promptly informed Red Team about the "Black Knight" being detained in prison, as well as information about the hydrogen bomb.

"I’ll attend the gathering tomorrow and seize the chance to steal the hydrogen bomb. I’ll leave Gretto to you."

"You? Alone? There will be at least four Gamma Rank powerhouses attending. You better keep a low profile. The Nine Dragons Gathering is of great significance. If you dare cause any major disturbances, Sky Ring won’t let you off."

Narrow Space Mirror found Li Aozi’s audacity somewhat unbelievable, having sparred with him before and being certain that this youngster wasn’t at the Gamma Rank.

"Where do you get your confidence? You’re facing one of the Four Nations!"

"I just beat up one of the Four Nations, I don’t mind beating up another."

Li Aozi’s tone was calm:

"Trust me."

Narrow Space Mirror squinted its eyes, pondered for a moment, and then slowly nodded, saying:

"...Understood, we’ll take action tomorrow."

Even with arrangements made by the Red Squad, Li Aozi felt it was not enough. He pondered for a moment and figured that given his situation, Third Rule would probably not dare to assassinate him directly; most likely, they would still use someone else to dirty his name.

Li Aozi was never worried about plots and schemes, so he decided to prepare for flipping the table.

Once this was over, he was definitely heading to space—a golden opportunity to issue as many empty promises as necessary.

"It seems, it’s time to use her."

Thinking this, Li Aozi made a phone call:

"Miss N4, let’s talk about the conditions for joining Mingji Heavy Industries..."

.........

The cold wind of the Outer World harshly swept across her cheeks as if trying to rip off a piece of her flesh. Her boots sank into the white sand while the remaining warmth was continuously stripped from her body.

Yawen had not heard Desca’s voice in a long time. Drifting in the harsh cold of the Outer World for two months had turned her originally teal hair into dry straw. Her face, once quite delicate and pretty, now looked as ugly and disgusting as a corpse’s due to frostbite and dehydration.

The food had completely run out, and days spent eating snow and ice had also passed. Yawen aimlessly wandered in the endless long night, the cold and pain continuously torturing her into sobering agony.

The prolonged hardship had completely drained her spiritual power; she could no longer communicate with Desca. In the vast snowy night, only the howling of the fierce wind kept her company.

But for Yawen, this was nothing. Although her father’s status was prominent, she was very hardworking and enduring. Yet, the deficit of food and the burning hunger in her stomach momentarily clouded her senses—there was an instant, whether she had gone mad or overthought it, she felt as if she had returned to the past.

Back to the afternoon when Desca had starved to death in front of her.

Before David Lyn rose to prominence, he was just an ordinary squad officer with a low income, barely enough to support his family.

In Frost Plated, male officers’ salaries were typically issued a week later than female officers. Her brother managed to study in the city by working part-time, supporting himself. As for Yawen and her sister Desca, living in the countryside, starvation was not usually connected due to their family’s farming.

However, that was under normal circumstances.

That year, the Samurais of Sky Ring fiercely attacked Frost Plated, and within two weeks, all twelve front-line cities had fallen and become war trophies of Sky Ring. Due to the destruction of transport infrastructure, Yawen and Desca were stranded at their aunt’s home within the war zone, unable to receive food supplies from Grante.

They had evaded air raids and avoided bombings by mobile armors, but they couldn’t keep away from the disintegrating front-line troops of Sky Ring people. Those beasts, scared off by the soldiers of Frost Plated on the front lines, turned towards the countryside to pillage and replenish their strength.