Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 657 - 270. Emergency braking

Chapter 657: 270. Emergency braking

Li Aozi fell silent.

Even in the Sixth Narrative homeland, encountering a Void Overlord was less likely than seeing a men’s restroom in Frost Plated University.

How did he run into one?

"But it was discovered early enough, and evasive maneuvers were initiated promptly. The star system where the Void Overlord resided was designated a no-fly zone, and some personnel were left behind to establish an outpost."

Though slightly frustrated, Li Aozi had his own approach to dealing with such matters:

"I’ll report this to the Interstellar Alliance later; they might be interested in the Void Overlord."

That was the advantage of being a member nation of the Interstellar Alliance.

Li Aozi, who had paid fifty years’ worth of membership dues in one breath and was well-liked in the Interstellar Alliance due to his beauty and eloquence, knew that once reported, three Narrative-Level Civilizations might take notice of this matter.

The benefit of having a high "Charm" was a favorable diplomatic environment.

"There are also some other issues."

Before Li Aozi could catch his breath, Chief Engineer Edison continued to report:

"On the way through the Phantom Sun System, they observed a swarm of crystalline creatures on some planets. Although they have not formed a civilization, their numbers and strength are immense. Should we establish an observation station to study them?"

"Crystalline creatures? They are valuable Phantom Beast Species. Studying them will definitely benefit our magic industry and biotechnology. Of course, we should deploy scientific researchers to observe."

Li Aozi’s eyes lit up. At last, some good news.

"Okay, then, this is our preliminary budget..."

Edison sent the budget proposal over, and Li Aozi’s smile immediately solidified.

"This is no small sum..."

Li Aozi was torn.

To support the expedition, he had spent a lot of funds, now even less than the number of men’s restrooms at Frost Plated University.

But this discovery was still very significant. Li Aozi gritted his teeth, made a sweeping gesture with the pen, and approved the signature.

"Thank you, Your Excellency the President. Next, there are some other projects for your consideration."

Edison, with a serious expression, enunciated his report clearly:

"Unidentified mechanical bee swarms have appeared on route L-589. Observations show they attack carbon-based lifeforms indiscriminately. Should we intervene..."

"A planet has launched an exploration satellite into outer space and broadcast music. Surprisingly, their music possesses a magical power comparable to magic..."

"Ten days ago, Fleet X marked a Dome planet. They sealed their mother star with nanomaterial and a translucent membrane, thoroughly isolating themselves to prevent detection from outer space civilizations. We speculate it might once have been an observation point for an advanced civilization. Should we initiate contact..."

More and more problems and incidents piled up made Li Aozi’s head ache.

But the headache was secondary; the key issue was that he was running out of money.

"...These pieces of news can be released."

After pondering for a moment, Li Aozi said:

"Give our people more confidence and let them know that our cosmic voyages are truly making progress."

"Then, the budget for the research..."

"The problem with money is not a problem."

During the meeting, Li Aozi stood up, letting the officials discuss among themselves, and then turned to leave, returning to his office.

He raised his hand and took down the deep red sword hanging on the wall. Since it needed to be settled and stabilized, Li Aozi hadn’t really used it for the past five years.

This sword, given to him by Li Deweidens, had never been truly used by him.

Li Aozi held the scabbard, his gaze deep.

As a Zeta Rank (6), he would’ve preferred to continue farming quietly, developing for a while longer, and it would have been best to stay low until reaching Kappa Rank.

But now, the gap in funding was too large. The profits from the expedition wouldn’t be recouped for at least a year. Being in office for just one year and already running a deficit would strike a severe blow to the citizens’ confidence and loyalty.

It seemed he had to take matters into his own hands.

Just as Li Aozi was about to contact Valkyrie Fortress to look for some commission work, his communicator suddenly rang. Upon opening it, he saw that it was from Nikita, and promptly pressed to answer:

"Hey, President. Weren’t you unable to find a suitable assistant before? We’ve found a suitable one for you to come over."

"How are things going?"

Li Aozi perked up. He had been extremely busy lately, and having an assistant to hold down the fort at the center couldn’t come at a better time.

"Graduated from the top school of Crystal Tower, excellent academic record, strength has reached Zeta Rank (6), and has internship experience in a high-level workshop. Plus, she just retired from the front lines. In terms of appearance, she’s also top-notch, very suitable for the role of a secretary assistant."

Nikita said eagerly,

"Candidates like her are hard to find these days: understands magic, highly educated, looks good, and has battlefield experience. Key is, her ancestral home is from Baizhu Star, so emotionally she might be more inclined towards us."

"Okay, but I need to interview her myself."

Li Aozi nodded.

"No problem, she’s currently waiting on the first floor of the government building. I had a preliminary talk with her, and she seems to be a good person."

"Then bring her to my office."

Li Aozi put away his weapon, sat down, and prepared to thoroughly assess the new interviewee.

For him, loyalty wasn’t a concern. With the existence of Specialty: Decisive Action and his own powerful "Charm," anyone he hired wouldn’t harbor thoughts of betrayal.

As for if the assistant was too outstanding and someone tried to poach her, Li Aozi didn’t mind. If someone tried to poach her, it only meant he had chosen the right person.

He dealt with official duties while waiting for her arrival.

A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door, followed by Nikita’s voice.

"Come in." Li Aozi set down his pen and looked up at the person pushing the door open.

............

"Cease fire."

In the Qijuzi Starfield, a stellar system codenamed ’Red-Eye.’

As Fleet X entered the area, it suddenly encountered a mysterious signal detection. Before they could carry out counter-surveillance measures, a large number of oddly shaped fighters launched an air raid from behind the planet toward them.

Fleet Commander Dalian Leonine promptly detected the surprise attack and organized anti-aircraft fire coverage.

Although the flagship model was old, its firepower was still sufficient to easily destroy these fighters.

However, just as he dispatched the Descender units to salvage the wreckage of the fighters, those butterfly-like craft disappeared right before their eyes.

"This is truly bizarre."

First Officer and Helmsman Shien Yang grumbled,

"Our Mana Brain confirms that we hit the targets, indeed causing destruction, but watching the recordings, it’s as if the wrecks vanished the moment our salvage team touched them. This whole business is strange."

"Maybe it’s because of a special material. Anyway, it at least proves that there is life in this star system, so we’ve come to the right place."

Commander Dalian nodded,

"Since we can’t pin down what it is, we should proceed with caution. Let’s first regroup near the system’s main star, deploy the Energy Gathering Array to convert some materials, and then explore slowly."

"Yes, sir."

In the time that followed, Fleet X smoothly carried out its navigation task, capturing asteroids to gather resources. Near the orbit of the star, they constructed a small observation post. The mages converted water, organic matter, and fats using solar energy, and with the help of collected resources combined with the warships’ own greenhouses, they produced enough materials to survive.

At this time, the ship’s officers and crew immediately missed the old days at the Crystal Tower. As a part of a magic civilization, they had never cooked for themselves; whatever food they wanted, they simply summoned or converted it through magic.

Now, however, their culinary standards had regressed by two centuries. For ease of storage, a large quantity of synthetic food was thoroughly pulverized and mixed, turning into a monotonous tasting paste resembling toothpaste. Due to their own adequate production of sugar, various kinds of carbonated drinks at least were in plentiful supply.

Vegetables were strictly rationed, and for fruits, only citrus and apples were on offer. They used to have bananas too, but because the agricultural department brought the wrong variety, the bananas were now reserved as a staple food.

But in the name of strict fire prevention, alcohol was tightly controlled, causing much grief among the officers and crew accustomed to shore life.

Space travel time was tedious and boring. At first, the never-ending starry sky was shocking, but gradually one became accustomed to it. However, due to the military’s confidentiality pact, entertainment options were severely limited—they could only use the internal network to browse news.

Even if they chose to hibernate, they had to be woken up after a while to carry out rehabilitation training to maintain their combat readiness.

One might say that among the various military branches, the Cosmic Army is best at spending a lot of money to displease everyone.

Officials from the defense department and superiors above were always worried about various issues, fearing the entire crew would perish, thus continuously increasing their safety protocols, causing many procedures to become dull.

You can’t do this, you can’t do that—the life in the Cosmic Army is exceedingly boring. Stabilizing the emotions of the subordinates is a big headache for a fleet commander.

But for Fleet X, this wasn’t a concern at all.

Because the majority of their crew were Descenders.