Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 61 - 048. I, Li Aozi, have not betrayed any motherland.

Chapter 61: 048. I, Li Aozi, have not betrayed any motherland.

"Hmm," Yawen smiled, "your statement doesn’t quite sound like something a person with only a technical secondary school education would say."

"So what?"

"Li Aozi, Frost Plated male, 21 years old, technical secondary school education, bank security guard, not on good terms with his family. When the police came to visit, they even complained that you hadn’t sent them any money."

Yawen said,

"To be honest, whether we look at the genetic comparison or your work history, we can’t find any evidence of your dealings with the Red Arrow Empire. But the moment you left your old home in Fertile Village and came to the border city, you immediately showed a completely different side."

"Playing with Spirit Monsters, setting the bank on fire, intimidating smuggling snakeheads under the name of the Rose Army—this series of actions was executed cleanly and swiftly. In less than 5 hours, you smuggled yourself out of the country and headed to the Outer World. According to your own words, if Mingji Humanity hadn’t taken you in, maybe you would have already made contact with the Red Arrow Empire, right?"

Qiu Ran’s eyes widened with awe as he looked at Li Aozi.

"So what?" Li Aozi opened one eye and closed the other, locking gazes with Nomi for a moment. She rolled her eyes at him, not wanting to interact, obviously sulking.

"From a biological information standpoint, you should still be Li Aozi."

Yawen paused, then said,

"However, this is the age of the internet. Sometimes, netizens are unwittingly infiltrated and bought off by foreign forces, which is quite common. You are young and easily corrupted by the glitz and the blueprints they sketch out for you."

"I want to remind you that the Red Arrow Empire is not as great as the spy organizations you were trained by say it is. Many people at the bottom of society are still living in desperate straits, and Frost Plated is your ances—"

"If you’re trying to convert me, you can save it. Your charm is really no use to me."

Li Aozi glanced at Yawen’s delicate face. She indeed looked good, with well-defined features and none of the wear of those who braved the elements or wore heavy makeup like a typical Fourth Rule Agent. Instead, she seemed like a well-read and sensible lady, like one who hardly ventured out of the house.

Thinking this, Li Aozi suddenly had an idea.

[My Charm attribute isn’t low. I could totally swindle her into becoming my enforcer.]

Why do I need to rob?

Why is my first instinct to spend my own money to draw cards?

Li Aozi realized the problem.

Could it be that he had become too used to being an overbearing player?

Li Aozi glanced at his attribute panel: Strength 6, Dexterity 5, Constitution 7, Charm 21, Will 8.

Taking into account the benefits of the [Perpetual Love Hunting] specialty, his [Charm] was effectively 27.3 points, close to the upper limit of the Alpha Stage.

With that level of [Charm], raising favorability would be much faster than for an average player. Others might take three to four months to reach 500 points of favorability, or even two versions for some particularly difficult, haughty NPCs.

Li Aozi only needed roughly ten days.

He recalled the formula for favorability and charm. Having been a lone Meteor Fall Master for too long, he had almost forgotten how lethal this attribute could be to NPCs.

After doing some calculations, Li Aozi estimated that if he didn’t say anything wrong or do anything that fundamentally offended her, and interacted with her for two hours every day, it wouldn’t be hard to win over Agent Yawen. He’d need only about 16 days.

If he advanced to the Alpha Stage and received the hierarchy bonus, it might take fewer than ten days.

The more Li Aozi thought about it, the more it made sense.

What is [Charm] for?

To boost Arcane Energy!

Nope! Of course, it’s for swindling people!

Those cosmic civilization leaders and higher-ups, even if they’re not Transcendents from the Dominator System, none of them have a [Charm] attribute below 300 points.

[With my charm attribute, raising favorability won’t be slow, and using the White Wax Fantasy Crystal, it will only cost 168 point tickets—damn, that’s a bargain!]

My team currently lacks someone dealing soul damage, and the Spirit Medium occupation would fill that gap perfectly.

Besides, according to Li Aozi’s reasoning, humanity’s talent is the shared experience gain of a team—it would be wasteful not to use it.

He definitely needed to form an elite team during the early and mid-game. The best teammates were usually either in Sky Ring or with Red Arrow.

For instance, the big brother from Sky Ring that he was eager to recruit had enormous growth potential, the kind that could surprise the aliens in the cosmos.

The sense of security that other NPC teammates provided didn’t even come close to one percent of that given by the big brother.

Nomi was a Plunder after all and with some potential for growth, so she could be useful for a while longer before he found a reason to dump her.

Once Qiu Ran got ahold of Arcane Energy, he could be ignored, as there was nothing else useful about him.

Since these goons were going to be replaced sooner or later, Li Aozi felt there was no need to be so meticulous. By coaxing Yawen over, he would gain another "Spirit Medium."

This occupation wasn’t common. Although Li Aozi was half a spellcaster himself, the "Gravity" he cast early on mainly dealt physical damage, so supplementing it with magical damage would be cost-effective.

At worst, he could use her as a meat shield or emergency rations.

Arrogance truly blinds, doesn’t it?

Li Aozi began to feel fortunate he realized this issue in time.

On the one hand, realizing it now rather than during a battle was preferable, as the actual situation is always changing.

You never know when a black luxury car might roll up and a bunch of assassins with guns might jump out and shoot you.

On the other hand, from a realistic point of view, Point Tickets are essentially a nonrenewable resource—the more you use, the fewer you have.

Point Tickets belong to the game’s built-in transaction system, but they are the jewel in Qiqiao Network’s crown for shearing players like sheep. Apart from event tasks and ladder rewards, they are difficult to earn on one’s own efforts.

When it comes to Point Tickets, Li Aozi saves where he can.

Once he gets to space, those Point Tickets could give him the chance to get rich overnight.

Impulsively buying a 20-draw was truly a mistake.

I was wrong. I’ve reflected, and I won’t be smelting gold for cards ever again.

Li Aozi let out a sigh. Times had changed, he had to be more frugal.

But then again, he thought something wasn’t right.

"I never liked to draw cards before. At most, I bought a pass and a battle order. How did I get so carried away this time?"

He purchased a "Tracy Exhibition Hall Entry Ticket" and didn’t rush to use it. Instead, he inspected it closely, turning it over and over, until he caught onto something subtle.

The pattern on this card wasn’t just for decoration, it was written with a special kind of dust—a complex spell. Li Aozi compared it to some runes and characters in his memory for a while.

"Dragon Language."

Li Aozi narrowed his eyes:

"Although I can’t make out the exact meaning, I can be sure that these few letters are only found in the Dragon Language."

The Dragon Race is a mysterious existence in cosmic civilization. Li Aozi, for a moment, couldn’t recall which version they appeared in—although his previous life’s set was primarily made of Void Dragon materials, nobody was clear on what the Dragon Race civilization was like.

"This thing is untouchable. The Dragon Language is always associated with mysterious powers, it could be encouraging consumption... or amplifying people’s desires."

If it were the former, that would be manageable; but if it’s the latter—

Since his transmigration, it was the first time Li Aozi felt such a strong sense of crisis. He despised situations that went beyond his control. People used to say that players of the "Dominator System" would rather give something up than be controlled by others.

It seems they were right.

Li Aozi put away the last "Tracy Exhibition Hall Entry Ticket." He decided to seal this thing off and no longer use it. His mental strength and will were paramount, not to let others infringe upon them.

He glanced at Nomi, whose favorability had dropped to 198 points. She was still an important front-line assistant and helper, so he needed to regain her favor quickly.

Yawen seemed normal enough, possessed a bit of skill, but at her core, she was still a fresh-out-of-college student.

Thinking of persuading and influencing her was a bit naïve, yet typical, for a student newly stepping out into the world, always harboring too many illusions about society.

Especially from an institution of higher learning in Civilization Frost Plating, her thoughts and experiences, in such an environment, were completely different from what the common people went through.

Most of them came out like white lotuses, having too much trust in their country and future, filled with vitality—But if nothing went wrong, they’d soon find out reality was about endless overtime and dealing with difficult customers.

Yawen looked like someone who had never been hardened by reality.

Now this could get interesting.

With that in mind, Li Aozi carefully considered his words and said solemnly:

"Forgive my bluntness, but not one of the Four Nations is good. Not one isn’t living off the blood of the people from the lower countries, and the current state of the Outer World is this way because 70% is natural disasters, and the remaining 30% is definitely—(Civilization Frost Plating)—your—(purifying society)—human-caused disaster."

[Prompt: Nomi likes this—Favorability +7]

[Nomi Favorability: 205]

Yawen tried to convince him earnestly, "Li Aozi, the Emperor is just an evil dictator, preventing people from enjoying fairness—"

"Fairness? The fairness of Frost Plating is all bullshit invented by those who are unfair!"