Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 729 - 340. Zhi Xiang (Part 2)

Chapter 729: 340. Zhi Xiang (Part 2)

"Puro Retalya?"

Li Aozi curiously took the business card from the person opposite him. The synthetic human receptionist immediately introduced with a smile:

"As a Hunter from Layer Abyss, you naturally wouldn’t know the situation. Our leader, Puro Retalya, comes from the third level of Starry Abyss—Zhou Yuan."

Under the dark mist, Li Aozi’s face changed:

"Void?"

"Yes and no."

The synthetic human receptionist smiled:

"Although there is only one Narrative-level, and it belongs exclusively to Void species, many Diver forces have gathered within the Void. We are one such force. The Void, while hostile to other Narratives, holds the same attitude towards the ’Society.’

"Destroy." Li Aozi said.

"Exactly, to deal with the ’Society,’ all Narratives will spare no effort."

The synthetic human receptionist nodded slightly, raised her hand, and pointed to the subspace passage:

"Silver Hunter Leoz Dominet, this is not the place to talk—please follow me."

Li Aozi’s eyes lit up with silver runes as he scanned the surroundings, ensuring there were no issues with the passage or the business card. Only then did he put away the card and step into the subspace passage.

Whoosh—————

As soon as Li Aozi stepped into the passage, he found himself in a deep, dim universe the next moment. Subspace transmission did not require structural decomposition, making the process as comfortable as molecular teleportation, but more efficient and swift.

The downside was the high cost. Tearing open subspace in the Layer Abyss, a space so solid, was very difficult.

Li Aozi hovered in the vacuum. Feeling something, he looked up. A silver-gray, intricate megastructure descended slowly from the boundless deep space, its structure unfolding gradually. The outer shield armor expanded outward like human muscles, rotating around the giant structure’s planetary body. Even without doing anything, the self-generated magnetic field alone was enough to deflect the beams of ship cannons.

In diameter, it was ten times that of Azure Star and five times that of Baizhu Star, not counting the millions of kilometers of mechanical satellite arrays extending outward like a hive. Just the core body had a diameter of at least 800,000 kilometers. The pure white structure reflected brilliant white light in the universe. Li Aozi could even glimpse the densely packed factory grids beneath the thin atmosphere, continuously producing various resources, synthetic human soldiers, and autonomous mechas.

Even in the Layer Abyss, this megastructure’s size was terrifying. The immense computational power required to handle heat dissipation alone necessitated massive outward radiation of light.

Separated by a distance of four million kilometers, Li Aozi felt his body temperature rising to 461℃. For mortals, this temperature would have cooked them alive. But for a Zeta Rank (6) deity, it wasn’t even considered a hot bath.

Li Aozi narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing the entity on the other side.

The undulating armored surface pulsated rhythmically, with densely packed networks on the planet forming neural pathways, rapidly transmitting signals. It fully scanned Li Aozi’s information, disseminating it throughout the ubiquitous Void network in the cosmic space, exchanging data seamlessly.

Despite being a mechanical megastructure in form, it behaved vividly like a living entity.

Then, it released gravity, linking with him.

"Welcome, Leoz Dominet, to my domain."

The gravitational waves carried the message directly into Li Aozi’s mind. Though it was well-concealed, Li Aozi still sensed the pathway aura emanating from the entity.

——Sigma (18)

This planet was alive.

No, Li Aozi thought, that’s not accurate. Rather, it was as if a living person’s soul was embedded into this planet.

A "Mechanic" could perform such feats, excelling in them. Once consciousness upload was complete and one submerged into the Starry Abyss, obtaining the ’Independent Will’ blessing from the abyss, longevity ceased to be an issue. They could copy and transfer their soul at will, instantly transitioning to another mechanical body upon death.

Steel bones immortalized, soul migrated.

To put it in perspective, a Sigma Rank represented at least level 360. Although its body was entirely mechanical, lacking divine power unless willing to take on a vitalized mechanical biological form.

Being a popular profession, Li Aozi knew quite a bit about "Mechanics."

"Pleased to meet you, Sir Puro Retalya."

Li Aozi spoke humbly. The Sigma Rank (18) exceeded his previous life’s game level, but this didn’t mean he hadn’t encountered it before.

In Narrative-level civilizations, Sigma Rank (18) personnel held high status, typically tasked with key responsibilities. Puro Retalya was likely one of the top officials in the Hunter organization.

Given that the other party had specifically requested to meet him, Li Aozi knew it was likely that Mr. Disweil had already forwarded his materials.

In fact, the upper level cap for version 14.0 of the Qiqiao Network was Sigma Rank. If he hadn’t crossed over, he would have reached this level by now.

Although the Layer Abyss supposedly accumulated billions of Omega Tiers (24), when distributed across major civilizations, the numbers dwindled considerably.

However, as everyone knew, data was always inflated, especially when prefixed with "reportedly."

In ancient wars, armies were often said to be tens of thousands strong, when in reality, only a few thousand might engage in frontline combat, and a battle resulting in hundreds of casualties could result in a collapse.

The same applied to the Layer Abyss.

After eliminating those too cursed to move, too old to fight, corrupted and fallen by the "Society," or those giving up political and godhood aspirations to enjoy a free life, the truly battle-ready Omega Tiers in the Layer Abyss numbered around... three hundred?

Due to the distance, the communication between Li Aozi and the entity had a slight delay, taking a second for the entity’s words to reach him after his response:

"We have received your intelligence. The existence of the ’Secret Society’ has alarmed us. After questioning several Hunters from lower Starry Abysses, the information was verified. Some Hunters reported encountering citizens with ’Poison Blood,’ highly adept at manipulating rules, calling themselves ’Lawyers’ and easily inciting chaos and overturning regulations."

"Lower Starry Abyss?" Li Aozi mused, "Perhaps this indicates ’Secret Society’ Gaia is hunting in the lower Starry Abyss, bearing many curses. Maybe it’s time to find an opportunity to eliminate it."

"Negative. We need more data and information before making a decision. An imprudent assault will only expose our strength and alert the enemy."

Puro Retalya meticulously stated:

"Compared to the harm caused by the ’Secret Society,’ its existence poses an even more dreadful influence—whether there are still latent citizens in previously invaded civilizations."

"Perhaps they’ve been lurking all along, indistinguishable unless they bleed. Even if they do, their poisonous blood would immediately kill nearby innocents, and survivors would become Secret’s cell slaves, turning into resources aiding the enemy."

"Regrettably, we cannot issue a bounty hunt for ’Secret Society’ Gaia as of now. We know nothing about it—but rest assured, we have established a dedicated hunting dossier. In the future, countless Hunters will bring information about it and its poisonous blood lackeys, laying the groundwork for our ultimate hunt."

Li Aozi nodded:

"That’s exactly what I hoped for. These details should prevent many companion Hunters’ deaths and expand our hunting grounds. One day, we will drive those Earthlings back to Earth, soaking their land with their poisonous blood."

"An excellent aspiration. I appreciate your tone and skill, Leoz Dominick—the Hunter organization has always been clear about rewards and punishments. After discussion, you may make three requests of me, but they must be made now."

Puro Retalya’s voice echoed in Li Aozi’s mind. Li Aozi smiled subtly. This was great, no need to bother hunting for treasures at the gathering now.

However, he still needed to do some market dumping, or he’d be letting down the money swindled by old Hunters in his past life.

"I have three wishes."

Li Aozi didn’t hesitate and immediately said:

"First: I wish to provide political asylum for my Mother Star—Azure Star. I need a Kappa Rank (10) Hunter to intervene when necessary, not to take action, just to prevent Azure Star from falling into war."

This was for the future independent status of Azure Star. Li Aozi knew that the Maxwell Consortium had deliberately introduced advanced knowledge to Azure Star to provoke Lord Entropy, as a way to strike at the Fenesis Federation.

After dealing with Lord Entropy, the conflict between the two interstellar civilizations, Fenesis and Maxwell, would come to the forefront.

Azure Star would undoubtedly become the battleground for these two giants—or, to put it bluntly—they would be the chessboard where the two big players placed their pieces, wreaking havoc.

"Agreed." Puro Retalya said immediately: "However, the Hunters are not a political organization. We only hunt the ’Society.’ The representative we send can mediate negotiations on your behalf, but does not represent our political stance."

"No problem."

Li Aozi continued:

"Second: Recent silent disappearance incidents have become frequent. I wish to find another way to submerge into the Starry Abyss. I can do it alone, bringing my partners and subordinates of the same pathway with me."

"Agreed."

Puro Retalya calmly said:

"Our Underwater Abyss Team in the Layer Abyss, the next batch is after 19 months. I will send coordinates to you. Including you, the estimated population is 202."

"Composition: ’Destroyer’ System 157, ’Mysterious’ System 20, ’Fine Artistry’ System 13, ’Redemption System’ 7, ’Raiding’ System 4, ’Sovereign’ System 1."

"Remember the time."

Everything went smoothly. Li Aozi nodded and made the last request:

"Third: I want information about one of the Primordial Species, ’Enrique’—Zhi Xiang. Preferably detailed coordinates."

"Agreed."

Puro Retalya said calmly:

"Coincidentally, I have news from the Void. I will tell you the location now: Constant Haze System—Dragon Satellite. There is only one Zhi Xiang in the Layer Abyss, and it’s on that planet now."

Li Aozi frowned. That planet wasn’t far from him; the X Fleet could make a turn to reach it.

But the name sounded familiar. He asked:

"You said you got this information from the Void. Is there anything special about Dragon Satellite?"

"Dragon Satellite is not particularly special."

Puro Retalya said casually:

"Except that the system contains a projection of the Void Overlord."