138. Blending into Players
—Fate is always unpredictable.
Bang!
A fierce punch landed on the face identical to his own. Li Aozi felt no phantom pain; he was neither angry nor surprised.
—But fortunately, there is one thing: people don't always lose to fate.
Thud—Smack!
The counterfeit's face instantly twisted rapidly, turning black. For a moment, its true form as a fake was revealed before quickly resuming its disguise. It trembled and staggered back two steps. Just as it tried to speak, Li Aozi darted forward and unleashed a flurry of precise, lethal punches like bullets to its face.
Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!
Grabbing the fake's hair with one hand, Li Aozi raised his knee. Qi surged through his body, and even with a mortal frame, he pulled up a blur in the swaying train car, slamming it into the fake's chest!
Boom!!!
—Any disaster that doesn't kill can be trampled underfoot.
The fake's body was smashed into the ceiling before crashing heavily to the floor. Its chest bore a sunken imprint. When it looked up at Li Aozi, there was no sound of breaking bones.
"Mortal!"
The fake abandoned its disguise, transforming its entire body into a pitch-black appearance resembling asphalt or oil, full of malleability. Raising its arms, its liquid forelimbs instantly turned into sharp blades slashing toward Li Aozi.
Smack!
"Mortal? A citizen of society like you? And you dare call me mortal?"
Li Aozi stood his ground, raising his hand to block the blade. Qi flowed and circulated through his body, his eyes glowing with a demonic red hue.
He glanced at the fake before him. The system identified it as merely a citizen of the [Counterfeit Society]. Killing it wasn't even enough to promote him to a novice hunter.
Its level was only 15.
Too weak—only capable of bullying [Mutants] with weak base attributes.
Was it such a being that once caused him such disgrace, nearly leading to his capture by Law IV?
With a flick of his wrist, Li Aozi drew abundant Qi from his cells. It coursed through his veins, making his muscles tighten and harden as though electrified. Empowered by Qi, his body unleashed formidable strength, effortlessly pushing the fake into a stumbling retreat.
Crash!
The fake was flung against the train's window. Its disproportionately large eye stared straight at Li Aozi:
"You, you're not a native?! How do you know about the [Society]? How could you know?!"
Bang!
Li Aozi pushed off with his feet, his body shooting forward like a rocket. His punch drilled into the fake's massive eye. The Qi-infused blow sank deep into the socket. The fake had no blood; Li Aozi simply continued to exert brute force. The muscles on his hand tensed to their limits, veins bulging. Dark red Qi radiated from his eyes. Perhaps finding the process too exhilarating, Li Aozi unconsciously grinned. While smiling gently, he hollowed out the fake's entire head.
Splat.
Pulling out his hand, the fake's head was now empty, like a deflated ball, collapsing to the ground.
[You killed 'Counterfeit Citizen•Ziawa•Lie' (Newborn).]
[By defeating a new society citizen, you have unlocked a new society hunting list.]
[Counterfeit Society•Philolith (Small Stealth Society)—Level: 270]
[For the Infinite Star Abyss, slaughter them to extinction.]
[Overlevel kill bonus, total damage share: 100%...]
[You gained 2,895 experience points.]
"Hah—ptooey."
Li Aozi spat and dragged the corpse to the restroom. Opening the train window, he tossed the body into the snowy wilderness of the Outside World.
"What kind of thing are you? I can see right through you."
Li Aozi meticulously cleaned up the traces of battle. Fortunately, it was late at night, and the swift resolution hadn't caused much commotion.
Switching back to his main body, Li Aozi rented a free [Eye of Truth] to patrol the train cars. After circling the area and finding no other traces of fakes, he finally relaxed.
"It seems the fakes haven't infiltrated civilized territories yet. I'm lucky to have encountered one so quickly."
This fake was unlucky. Out of all disguises, it chose him—probably because he was acting alone, making him an easy target for replacement.
After the battle, Li Aozi made progress in Qi utilization.
A retired soldier combined with the [Martial Artist] path was the best pairing on Azure Star, bar none.
Retired soldiers generally offered near-Alpha-tier attributes. When paired with Qi, the early stages were incredibly smooth.
With the players'"Liane's Stabilization Medical Protocol", soloing ordinary [Society] citizens posed no challenge.
"My core technique's quality is high. It'll take three to four days to level this small account to Alpha-tier."
Li Aozi pondered for a moment and checked the current player rankings on the forum.
Since the professional league hadn't started yet, the Yanxia region's player leaderboard ranked by tier + level + gear composite score. As a result, the top players in Yanxia were all professionals from White Candle Star.
Nightblade Sword, an experienced pro and a [Martial Artist] who went to space with Li Aozi, had reached a staggering level of 27 at 73%. Not only was he first in Yanxia, but he was also third globally.
Next was Yu Tianxiao, a level 26 at 89% [Mechanist] ranked sixth globally.
Even Caramel Snail had reached level 24 at 97% [Martial Artist], ranking 28th globally, close to other foreign players.
"As expected, once the leaderboard came out, the trend of bashing Li Aozi reversed. Now some players want to buy White Candle Star accounts, with prices reaching hundreds of thousands of credits."
Li Aozi nodded.
As a former streamer, Li Aozi valued traffic and public opinion. Previously, he remained silent and refrained from speaking, allowing trends to develop unchecked. If this continued, discussions about Li Aozi on the forum would inevitably decline.
In modern communication studies, there is a theory called the Strong Effect Hypothesis, which emphasizes the significant impact of mass communication. However, this influence is not immediate or instantaneous. It subtly and gradually shapes people's perceptions over time.
In the interstellar era, communication studies advanced further. Due to the difficulty of interstellar communication, distance became a barrier to cultural exchange, causing regions to develop into isolated entities more easily.
For example, colonists' descendants would lose cultural identification with their home planet within two generations. By this stage, the Strong Effect Hypothesis no longer applied to interstellar colonies. Cultural fragmentation due to regional separation would inevitably lead to disintegration.
Narrative-level civilizations fostered identification by providing "ascension pathways." Based on paths, even if different nations, races, and planetary inhabitants had varied understandings and languages, their demand for pathways was fixed. The Star Abyss's existence ensured that anyone aspiring to eternal life and godhood had to unite and work to protect their paths.
Even if they failed to achieve godhood, being a god's follower granted near-immortality. The stronger a path, the more people recognized it. The more it was recognized, the more people entered that path, driving its leaders' development further, thus propelling the path forward...
This virtuous cycle became the foundation transcending faith, region, and culture. Within the Star Abyss, a unique "path identity" emerged: the more people in the same path, the more they shared the benefits of a developed nation rather than being a tribal leader in the Third World.
Under this "path effect theory," grand narratives became people's sole pursuit.
The enduring success of narrative-level civilizations was rooted in this simplicity. Often, the simpler the concept, the harder it was to take shortcuts.
Li Aozi's goal was to build a pseudo-narrative-level civilization centered around the [Domination] system, particularly the [Starfall Master] path. He understood this theory and knew the roots of narrative-level civilizations. Since he already had an ascension platform, why not try?
Li Aozi acquired interstellar communication study materials and cross-referenced them with the rise of narrative-level civilizations. On the train, he studied for four hours, identifying key issues.
To establish a grand narrative for the [Domination] system, the following three conditions had to be met:
1. The [Domination] system needed at least 100,000 followers, including players and NPCs, with a focus on cultivating true fans among players. Players could engage in secondary creation within their community, effectively purifying and increasing fan loyalty.
2. Li Aozi had already leveraged the star effect once. Repeating this would yield diminishing returns. The [Domination] system needed a more intense stimulus to maximize attention.
3. From spiritual to material aspects, the [Domination] system's advantages had to be constantly showcased, earning high recognition from Azure Star's NPCs and players.
After deliberation, Li Aozi proposed three plans, rejecting two unfeasible models before settling on the most reliable approach.
"Hype."