Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 441 - 80. The Phantasmagoric World

Chapter 441: 80. The Phantasmagoric World

Based on his experience, this was the most correct approach.

This task had a very strange aspect.

No matter how you chose, one of the two children would trigger the alarm, thus missing the chance to assassinate Kalmetz. But completing the assassination of Kalmetz first would at least buy half an hour of time.

And once that opportunity was missed, some bad changes would occur with Kalmetz later on. The children would be kidnapped, causing him to lose all reason, becoming insane and paranoid, and under immense pressure, he would proactively incite a direct conflict with Velazquez.

Velazquez, on the other hand, would, due to overconfidence and narrative-level pressure, rashly initiate an attack early on, carrying out a decapitation operation against Kalmetz, leading to the player’s mission failure.

Not only that, but Kalmetz’s decapitation would become the fuse, instead igniting the anger of the Valenkov race. The previous encroachment and squeezing of the local market by Velazquez, coupled with the malicious conduct of Velazquez’s staff, would completely erupt after this incident.

At such a critical moment, for some reason, the news of the "Blood of Nakis" spread rapidly and got circulated among the narrative-level civilizations.

It turned out that the Blood of Nakis was not an item at all but rather a mysterious substance, similar to minerals, widely produced in the Valenkov Autonomy.

The ancestors of the Valenkov race were believed to be some kind of creature from beneath the Starry Abyss. The Omega-tier powerhouse Nakis van Lunkev was the leader of this race, once having a glorious period, but then declining. One of its offshoots split off to form an autonomous city-state.

At the beginning of the fortress’ establishment in the city-state, a section of Nakis van Lunkev’s spine was buried as an energy amplifier. Somehow, the information within Nakis formed a peculiar substance within the Valenkov Autonomy.

As for the purpose of the Blood of Nakis, it wasn’t actually that rare.

— It merely improved individual genes’ adaptability to the Pathway, in simple terms, increasing potential.

Similar substances and genetic agents were actually openly sold by all major narrative-level civilizations, making them not rare at all.

However, there were a few small differences with the Blood of Nakis.

Li Aozi infiltrated near the office, scouting the environment while picking up the materials Nikita had given him, planning the route in his mind.

Besides these, he also reviewed the plot of Yesterday’s Yesterday was Spring.

First, the Blood of Nakis ignored species limitations. It didn’t require complex genetic testing and pairing in advance for directional drug configuration. Even if you were an elemental creature, you could use it, which made its market become incredibly huge.

Second, the Blood of Nakis had an excellent effect. After a player used it, they would gain a Fate-Given Talent, a simple and crude effect that directly increased the growth value of the main attribute.

Third, the Blood of Nakis could not be extracted by machines or equipment. It could only be carried out with the human body and then extracted outside through surgery. It seemed a bit complex, but how high was the actual return rate?

The data given by the Interstellar Alliance showed that the ROE (Return on Equity) of the Blood of Nakis could reach up to about 17,900%.

This number was quite terrifying, enough for most lower-class people to risk their lives for it.

As long as they got a portion of the Blood of Nakis, they could immediately achieve financial freedom and social mobility. Whether used personally or sold to others, it could result in overnight wealth.

Its crucial role shocked the entire Layer Abyss, and the narrative-level civilizations immediately realized its significance. But due to the pact made by the Interstellar Alliance, they couldn’t intervene directly. The three narrative-level civilizations had no choice but to support Valenkov or strengthen Velazquez through the aid of weapons and resources.

But the main goal was still to seize the Blood of Nakis.

Everyone realized how terrifying this substance was. The Interstellar Alliance feared that the war would escalate into a cosmic battle, so they quickly established thresholds to prohibit interstellar civilizations from entering the Valenkov combat zone and forbidding individuals of Zeta Rank or above from entering.

However, this didn’t stop the continuous influx of mercenaries and common people from lower civilizations driven by the terrifying profits.

Instead, since those of Zeta Rank or above often had stable incomes and held assets as elites with high status, they were not willing to risk their lives for a little money. Even Delta Rank individuals with stable jobs had no desire to enter the zone.

The eventual development was completely contrary to what the Interstellar Alliance had envisioned.

Only civilians of Gamma Rank, or even those below Gamma Rank, ordinary people from primitive civilizations, mortals of Alpha and Beta Ranks, crazily flooded into the war zone. Around ten thousand people would die every four hours, the carnage so severe that even society didn’t dare to infiltrate, as citizens might be killed as soon as they landed.

A massive influx of desperados flowed in, and initially rational humanitarian volunteer groups could maintain their composure, striving to carry out rescue operations and help civilians evacuate. Yet later, it seemed impossible to evacuate all the civilians.

The equipment of interstellar volunteers became progressively better. A large number of mercenaries even entered under the guise of humanitarian aid to gather the Blood of Nakis, exploiting both missions for massive profits.

Some even switched industries, specializing in smuggling arms and supplies to these "Blood Scavengers," or brazenly developing support industries near the war zone—since neither the alliance nor the narrative-level civilizations cared.

Various gray industries blossomed everywhere, turning the Valenkov Autonomy into a doomsday-like meat grinder, with only a very few of the few managing to become massively wealthy and achieve life’s fulfillment.

Most people either died within an hour of entering the war zone, having run a few steps, or never managed to extract the Blood of Nakis in a lifetime.

Even without obtaining the Blood of Nakis, for underdeveloped and backward civilizations, taking some electronic equipment, magical artifacts, alchemical potions, advanced weapons, or even the corpses of powerful beings from the battlefield could be sold for money.

In the end, people simply regarded this place as a dumping ground for societal disruptors. Occasionally releasing some social malcontents to either seek their fortunes or perish on their own did no harm to themselves.

Such an outcome was unacceptable to the people of Valenkov.

Initially, they only fought against Velazquez’s "Sweeper" units and even enjoyed some temporary comfort due to weapons support.

But as time went on, the identities of the entrants became more complicated, drawing in criminals from various industries. The Blood Scavenger profession was fully empowered, and through continuous brutal selection, the surviving criminals turned into elite fighters and butchers.

Even the people of Valenkov themselves were assimilated by outsiders, with many splitting off to smuggle the Blood of Nakis and collaborating with outsiders. Their goal was no longer to resist Velazquez but to gain massive profits for themselves.

Compared to them, Velazquez seemed almost civilized.