Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 470 - 108. Can you do it?

Chapter 470: 108. Can you do it?

Although the Arcane Energy was difficult to master, for ordinary people with little common sense, the firearm system in "Starry Abyss" was even more complex.

Many people couldn’t distinguish between a magazine and a clip, and would be puzzled when the items they bought wouldn’t fit into the magazine well.

They didn’t know they had to cock the gun after reloading, getting shot by the enemy as a result.

They couldn’t tell apart 0.45CAP, 7.62*39, and 5.56*45 bullets, loading them incorrectly and finding they couldn’t shoot.

They had no clue about the prices of various types of PS, PB, BT, BS bullets, not realizing how much Derby they were spending per magazine.

Some even didn’t know what accessories to mount on a Picatinny rail, ending up installing five tactical flashlights on one gun.

In contrast, the entry time for Arcane Energy was generally only four to five hours.

"Gravity," being an Omega-tier Arcane Energy, was easy to start but hard to master.

Even a middle schooler knew that 5x gravity could crush a person to death—what kind of difficulty was this? It just took a flick of a finger.

While "Mutants" did indeed have a higher entry threshold, the problem lay in the low growth of the "Charm" attribute, the unstable acquisition of rare Arcane Energies, and the randomness of mutation projects.

These were objective issues and were characteristic problems of the "Sovereign" class.

However, after Li Aozi arrived, these problems ceased to be problems.

Whether it was Triangle Town or Mingji Heavy Industries, or even the Grante Republic, he had handed over blueprints for jewelry and potion formulas. So far, he had left Azure Star for four months already, and logically, these items should have been circulating on the market by now.

As for the issue of mutation direction and Li Aozi escaping to outer space—this indeed existed, but it had no effect.

Once the fame of Erga City spread, the landmark pathways would naturally attract a lot of players.

By then, everyone would realize what "pathway" really meant.

Other allegations, such as fleeing or fraud, didn’t matter to Li Aozi at all; he even found them somewhat inexplicable.

What’s the deal? Is it my fault that I was born good-looking?

Not to mention, just look at the Baizhu Star players under his command. At this moment, they were battling Goblins in harsh landscapes, enacting real-life Goblin Slayer scenes.

Li Aozi could confidently state that those who couldn’t figure out the "Sovereign" class themselves were making up a bunch of reasons to criticize him. Due to his sharp and provocative remarks, he attracted many disgruntled players to rally around him.

Some "Sovereign" class players did come out to refute the rumors in the post, but their comments were quickly drowned out by statements like "a loser, a total loser," or "haha, sycophant Li is upset," or "typical, just typical."

Li Aozi shook his head, not bothering to engage.

It wouldn’t be long before they realized their mistakes. Those who now laughed at "Sovereign" players as clowns would one day find: the clown was actually themselves.

But beyond the overwhelming negativity against the "Sovereign" class and Li Aozi, he had gleaned plenty of interesting information.

"David Lyn’s reforms have been quite successful this time, and he has essentially eradicated the influence of former President Madeleine."

Under the guise of counter-terrorism, he purged the former party, closed off the nation’s borders, and collected the capital of tycoons under the pretext of anti-monopoly measures. He supported the division of markets among new loyalist companies. David Lyn’s approach was crisp and decisive, akin to a grand whale fall. By eliminating the convoluted plutocratic system from the Madeleine era, he replaced it with true industrialists and emerging capitalists.

David Lyn’s slogan was cold but realistic:

Capitalism has no gender.

In essence, in the face of the nation’s and the people’s fate, all gender issues were laughable.

The youth got opportunities to fully demonstrate their abilities. The abolition of marriage allowed the concept of gender to gradually blur and disappear. Frost Plating gave the people the chance to pursue happiness and wealth through a rapidly developing economy and upward mobility.

Even Li Aozi, as a reborn person, couldn’t help but admire: David Lyn, he truly understood Frost Plating.

He initially thought lifting technological restrictions would lead to a wave of unemployment. However, by gathering information from the forum’s storyline enthusiasts, Li Aozi discovered that David Lyn’s approach to solving unemployment was simple, crude, and effective.

Upon taking office, David Lyn changed the previous "forward cities" strategy. On the one hand, he eased relations with Sky Ring. On the other hand, he signed a non-aggression pact with Red Arrow, declaring the abandonment of claims to the Erga Coast.

Subsequently, Frost Plated made a decisive strategic adjustment: abandoning the surface and moving underground.

Numerous shield machines were manufactured and sent beneath the continental shelf to excavate rock layers. Frost Plated began focusing on developing underground cities and geothermal energy. Should Ersha’s influence expand further, they could at least outlast the other three nations by fifteen years.

Ordinary people, displaced by new technologies, were directly recruited by the Frost Plated Army to help build the underground cities.

Li Aozi couldn’t help but wonder—where did David Lyn get so much money for infrastructure? Developing underground cities wasn’t just about digging a hole; without solving waste heat issues, it would be like digging their own graves.

But soon, he understood.

"The war in Grante ended, with various colonies joining Frost Plating Federation under the Republic’s name, marking the official end of the Republic Era."

David Lyn used an iron-fisted approach to ensure that all republics enjoyed the same treatment as Frost Plating’s main provinces. Due to long-term cultural indoctrination in the colonies, these countries quickly developed a cultural identity towards Frost Plating.

The Fourth Rule Agency was reactivated, but with a different purpose. It was now transforming into an institution safeguarding human rights and promoting cultural assimilation in former colonial countries.

Ethnic and racial concepts were being erased, while cultural centripetal force towards Frost Plating grew day by day.

It was imaginable that Frost Plating was becoming a massive civilization.

This was David Lyn, the lion of Frost Plating. In just six months, he brought about earth-shaking changes to Frost Plating.

Li Aozi was not surprised by this outcome.

"A man who could push the ’President’ secondary profession to Level 60—nothing he did could surprise me."

On Azure Star, only three characters’ "identity occupations" were maxed out.

Crown Prince Rudolf of the Red Arrow Empire

Prime Minister Galacia Juan Pedro of Zhengxu Democratic Republic

President David Lyn of Frost Plating Federation

Among them, David Lyn’s interest group was the "Army," while the other two were "Civilians" and "Intellectuals," respectively.

Thus, Li Aozi could imagine how quickly the Frost Plating Army’s combat power would improve in the future.

Unless an internal war breaks out in Frost Plating...

Li Aozi didn’t hold too high hopes for Frost Plating. Although David Lyn took office early and the reforms were smooth, potential risks still existed.

The forum was a valuable resource, allowing Li Aozi to gather intelligence about Azure Star from tens of thousands of light-years away.

If not for the forum, his only way to understand the situation would be through the White Obelisk.

Li Aozi glanced at the development of Newbie Village. Under the players’ highly efficient 007-style operations, the village’s GDP finally broke through 0 Dina.

It reached -25 Dina.

The reason was that a player, who had learned the Tanas language, was fooled while communicating with the villagers downhill, losing the team’s entire savings of 25 Dina.

"Anyone who says the city’s tricks are deep, I want to go back to the countryside, should come to Baizhu Star! The villagers here are really cunning! I’ll never believe in the simple and honest villagers ever again!"

Li Aozi laughed out loud when he saw that player’s lesson written on the message board in Newbie Village.

The average rank of Baizhu Star people was Gamma, while these Azure Star upright apes dropped to the ecological level of scattered rats upon arrival.

However, the problem of Newbie Village’s low GDP did need attention. As it stood, the lack of any profits would make their Azure Star compatriots shake their heads.

The campaign against the Goblins was extremely unfavorable. Although players could die three times a day, they now faced total annihilation as soon as they ventured deeper.

This was a misjudgment on Li Aozi’s part.

Although the average level of Goblins was only Level 20, they were large, numerous, and each Goblin usually stood two meters tall. Every five Goblins had a Spellcaster capable of using spell-like abilities.

The key issue was that Goblins could reproduce quickly.

According to player reconnaissance reports, Goblins managed to produce a batch of lesser Goblins, known as "Butt Sprites," every five days. These creatures were small in size, weak in power, and served purely as cannon fodder.

But if a Butt Sprite survived a battle, it would quickly grow—a process that took only two days—to become a well-built Goblin, becoming the main force resisting the players.

While players could barely fight the Goblins using rented Arcane Energy, the casualties were still high.

Rather than accepting defeat and retiring their accounts, players opted for a trench warfare-like slow advancement—building bunkers.

More accurately, they were constructing rest camps, retreating to sleep after dying twice and resuming the push the next day after resetting their resurrection count.

It was a stalemate between an army of the Undead and a massive Goblin horde. The players’ stubbornness kicked in.

Alright then, you use a war of attrition, and I’ll use a war of attrition too!

They advanced one stronghold at a time, progressing at a pace of about one meter per day.

Li Aozi thought it over and set up a "Building a Village School" task. Once the building was complete, he would deposit the "Interstellar Assault Trooper Training" materials he got from the Valenkov Autonomy inside.

In the "School" facility, settlers could learn skills and knowledge without any cost.

Originally, he had planned to have it under his name, charging players Experience points for learning, but with the ongoing unfavorable war, he had to give a helping hand.

He had to give players some benefits; otherwise, Little Piggies wouldn’t be able to push forward.

Before going to sleep, Li Aozi checked the interstellar news. Velazquez Corporation had completely withdrawn from Valenkov and had ransomed back "Silver Scion" Nephis Cleopatra.

He contacted Nikita, who informed him that their paperwork would be finished soon, and they would leave Valenkov in about a week.

Nikita also revealed that the mercenary corps dispatched by the autonomy was also returning soon, and currently, there were no wars in Valenkov.

As for the future, that was uncertain.

Li Aozi remembered the "55-Pandora ’Calamity God Incident’ Record Report" he’d acquired and opened it, only to find it encrypted by Liue.

He then consulted Mr. Liue, intending to learn more about the event back then, hoping it might lead to some side quests.

"Mr. Liue, are you online? I want to ask for the password to the ’55-Pandora ’Calamity God Incident’ Record Report.’"

A moment later, Liue replied with a line:

"Not here, go away."

Li Aozi immediately entered the password for the file: Not here, go away.

"Password correct"

"Thank you, Mr. Liue," Li Aozi rubbed his hands eagerly. "Let’s see what kind of accident the Life Commune experienced back then!"

He opened the file, and a pitch-black screen greeted him. Then, a line of striking yellow text popped up:

"Oppose narrative hegemony, long live Free Ascension!"