Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 685 - 298. Leoz Hostage Plan

Chapter 685: 298. Leoz Hostage Plan

"Zhi Xiang?" Olavir was puzzled, "Since when did you become interested in Primordial Species? Only a handful of physicists are curious enough to research it, and even after thousands or tens of thousands of years, our understanding of it remains limited."

"It’s a personal need," Li Aozi glossed over.

Olavir scratched his head. As a silicon-based being, he had no hair, only green glass plates on his head. Every scratch produced a grating sound like glass being scraped:

"I’ll ask around for you, but don’t get your hopes up. Zhi Xiang is even rarer among the Primordial Species than Lord Entropy, second only to the Primordial Beast ’Aurijin’ and the Law Ghost ’Leru’."

"Thanks."

After some casual small talk, Li Aozi slapped his face; he lost his appetite for food.

The Underwater Abyss Team had been ambushed...

This was no small matter. Li Aozi recalled that it seemed to be part of the main quest storyline from version 3.5.

About 60 years or so from now? Maybe 70?

It wasn’t Li Aozi’s fault for not remembering clearly.

The storyline in version 3.0 had been chaotic, as players had just gained a foothold in the cosmos. Information was poorly documented, and players lacked the capability to submerge into the Starry Abyss. Many stories were merely mentioned briefly in the background.

However, this event had a significant impact, directly leading to the rise of a legendary figure.

The general story was that because the Underwater Abyss Team was killed, a family member of one of the team members felt extreme anger and disappointment with the vague official responses. The family belonged to a small civilization with few strong individuals, and the loss was colossal. The neighboring nation took the opportunity to invade, causing the civilization’s annihilation.

Subsequently, the child from that fallen civilization was enslaved for over forty years, enduring and accumulating strength. Finally, he rallied for the revival of his nation. Due to his immense strength and intense desire for revenge, his actions in the process were slightly extreme.

Yes, just slightly extreme, and didn’t harm many civilians.

But the problem arose—the revival faction hadn’t caused much harm, yet the attacked civilization used diplomatic means to complain everywhere within the Interstellar Alliance, claiming unprecedented massacres and accusing the revival faction of collusion with the "Society," being anti-civilization and anti-Starry Abyss.

This caused an uproar. Surrounding interstellar civilizations grew restless, dragging several star systems into war for nearly a century. The revivalist was eventually arrested, faced an unjust trial, and finally committed suicide in prison.

Years later, the truth was revealed.

The whole affair was a typical dark and twisted tale, reminding people that good deeds go unrewarded, but villains can always get away with it.

However, the identity of the revivalist was somewhat special.

Simply put, he was the God Chosen One of the Starry Abyss Evil God, the "Woman of Depravity," and even more—they had fallen in love.

Originally, the "Woman of Depravity" was relatively mild among the Evil Gods. However, witnessing her groomed little boy and Chosen One being wronged and killed, she turned dark instantly, rising from the lower Starry Abyss, bearing the curse of three layers of the Starry Abyss, and initiated an indiscriminate massacre of civilizations in the Layer Abyss.

Of course, the final result was that the heroes killed the evil goddess, saved the Starry Abyss, and everything went back to normal.

What a wonderful ending.

Although it was uncertain if these two events were related... Li Aozi felt the similarity was too high and thought it was worth paying some attention.

If he could prevent the tragedy, it could make the people of the Layer Abyss more united, making them realize that the true enemy was the "Society." This would be beneficial for the future resistance against the Earthlings’ invasion.

Coincidentally, the Hunter’s Gathering this time was close to the starfield of a Narrative-Level Civilization. He could ask around then. If it did involve the "Society," he believed the hunters would take it seriously.

Just as Li Aozi was finally able to continue eating, his stock trading software popped up with another message:

"The A10910 you purchased, StarSpeed IoT, has hit the daily limit..."

Not only that, a flurry of messages followed.

"His Excellency the President, a massive magic crystal mine has been discovered in Babur City."

"His Excellency the President, Mesville Company wishes to discuss filming a documentary with you. They are willing to spend a large sum for your appearance..."

"Lord Leoz, our neighboring Verewo Kingdom hopes to discuss a marital alliance. They are willing to offer two resource-rich planets as dowry in hopes you will marry the princess Christina Verewo..."

Li Aozi became overwhelmed with the avalanche of messages, having no chance to eat his now-cold steak.

Once he finished handling most of the matters and looked at his assets, they had skyrocketed to 1.45 billion ammonium gold.

"Is this what tenfold wealth luck is... My net worth has more than tenfold increased—perhaps it’s because I originally held substantial assets," he thought.

Li Aozi hadn’t even caught his breath before he quickly deployed this sum of money, assigning it to various industry professionals under his command, urging them to mobilize and convert the funds into tangible industries and military power.

As Li Aozi’s income continued rising rapidly, a luxurious private spaceship slowly approached and docked at Star Harbor on Baizhu Star.

"Is everything ready?"

One of Velazquez Corporation’s heiresses, Nariya, put down her tablet and looked at the armed personnel within the spaceship:

"According to intelligence, Leoz Dominet will be departing Baizhu Star on a spaceship at ten tomorrow morning. He has no private jet, so he will definitely come to the starport. At that moment, you will need to take action."

"The explosives are in place. Most of Leoz’s forces are out exploring the starfield, and he would never expect us to target him directly."

"Exiting Valenkov affected Velazquez Corporation’s interests, but compared to that, Leoz himself holds greater value. We must bring him back."

"Understood."

A cold, emotionless female voice responded.

Nariya looked ahead.

A proportionally near-perfect female body was encased in silver armor. Thin, black serpents wriggled and wrapped around her, and the triangular, sharp helmet opened its face armor, revealing a cold yet beautiful visage.

She was none other than "Silver Scion," Nephis Cleopatra.

Compared to five years ago, Nephis’s strength had advanced, her aura had become more restrained, and her equipment significantly upgraded, now incorporating the Anti-Arcane Higgs Field system.

For this hunt for Leoz, Nephis was unquestionably the main force.

Seeing Nephis, Nariya couldn’t help but feel a bit gloomy.

Even her most prized ace paled in comparison to the company’s war weapon.

"As ’Gabros,’ the company’s war weapon, your power theoretically surpasses Leoz’s—but these five years, Leoz has nearly no combat records. Stay vigilant."

Nariya spoke sternly with a cold tone:

"Currently, Leoz is trying to develop his own independent force. This is against the company’s interests. You must not kill Leoz. Instead, capture him alive and bring him back to our Inherent Time Domain. The Light Gold Priest will preach and baptize him, making him adhere to our Grand Narrative, ultimately assimilating him. This ensures maximum efficiency—understand?"

"Understood."

Nephis replied emotionlessly:

"Capital above all."

Nariya nodded:

"In the name of Redd Gold, I bless you: Capital above all, may exploitation last forever, and may our wealth never devalue."