238. When You Don't Know What to Do, Go Exploit the Abyss Professor!
It's the same with Isaac, who was conscripted by Li Aozi. As a "retired soldier," Isaac is much more interested in firearms, shooting, combat, and martial arts. Besides spending time with his family, his usual pastime is going around challenging strong opponents and sparring in martial skills. Hence, Li Aozi often sees records of his duels, accumulating experience and leveling up skills.
Of course, there are plenty of everyday life bits as well.
For example, at the start of the month, he opened an "Old Soldier Barbecue" joint with some comrades. But since Isaac was bad at communication, they lost forty or fifty thousand Garon and had to shut it down.
At the end of the month, he went with a blind date to a rapper's concert she liked. He offhandedly criticized one of the lyrics as being awful, and the blind date ended up beating him up.
Another time, he rescued a wild lynx that refused to leave his side—until Huru chased it away.
He also rescued pigeons, crows, Yangtze alligators… and so on.
Isaac doesn't interact well with humans—he never knows what to say and often wrecks his personal relationships—but animals adore him.
In Li Aozi's absence, Isaac himself accumulated quite a bit of experience. Now, Li Aozi casually boosted his skills, then glanced at the forum posts.
True General the Invincible still holds the 100-win record in the arena, so big guilds and pro clubs keep looking for him.
Li Aozi has a simple line to fend them off:
"I'm a digital immigrant, I don't have an ID—sorry."
As soon as they hear that, pro clubs and leagues give up on contacting him. But the streaming platform, on the other hand, is pressing him to hurry up and start broadcasting; this month he's only streamed 20 hours, and the tips aren't great either.
Li Aozi can only sigh at that.
His main account needs money spent on it, but there's no voucher income. Now he has a means of earning, but it means facing enemies like the [Society]—which is dangerous.
His alt account comes with OP mentors like the [White Obelisk] Guardian, the [Domination] lineage instructor Li Aozi, and the interstellar millionaire Leoz, so it doesn't need cash at all. Yet voucher income there remains steady.
"Looks like I need to open a route from Azure Star to White Candle Star soon, to attract a mass of players to immigrate to White Candle Star."
Right now White Candle Star is in shambles, having lost 70% of its population during the [Society] invasion. Many industries have collapsed outright, and capital flight was only part of it. The most critical point is that, for a scholar-type civilization like the [Crystal Tower], talent matters more than assets for stimulating the economy.
On White Candle Star, a huge number of basic academic personnel (magicians) died. The government's solution isn't introducing new inhabitants but directly dissolving everything on the spot: management talent relocates with their workshops, leaving the planet to revert to an industrial-age level and fend for itself. That's in the best interests of the civilization as a whole.
Players are ideally suited to heading to White Candle Star. Its resources are enough to carry them all the way to Zeta rank, making them a top-tier source of troops for Li Aozi.
Unlike the Agincourt players he's planning to bring in, Azure Star is his base of operations. As for setting up a dedicated server on White Candle Star, that'll take at least a dozen or twenty years (in Star Abyss time), and players have to be willing to go there in the first place.
"I just advanced to Zeta rank, so once I go back, I can connect with a narrative-level civilization to discuss Entropy-kun's plan."
After handling a pile of things, Li Aozi also did some streaming on the side, to fill his broadcast quota.
Unlike his main body, using Isaac's body—far inferior by mortal standards (Alpha rank)—he has to eat, sleep, and use the toilet. All sorts of trivial matters accumulate, leaving him worn out in no time.
He flopped back onto the sofa, propping his feet on the coffee table for a brief rest.
"Thinking about it, the way I transmigrated into this 'Li Aozi' body also matches some features in the 'Laian-Ding Medical Agreement.' Same idea: a body that's already dead, needing 'an understanding of its social role' to be activated."
As he clipped his nails, Li Aozi mused on this.
Which means his reincarnation probably has some link to the Laian-Ding Medical Agreement as well.
The 'Laian-Ding' mentioned in the Agreement… is in fact one of the main gods in the [Redemption] lineage. And the content of the Agreement itself is the underlying reason players can descend into the Star Abyss, summon bodies, and keep resurrecting.
As the game goes on, the Laian-Ding Medical Agreement will only grow stronger in its effects.
Initially, players could only revive three times a day at fixed points. Later, it's any main city or temporary revival point, and the number of revives also increases—to four times a day, ten times a day, unlimited… In the end, it might well evolve to the horrifying point of unlimited resurrection and no character wipes.
Even the citizens of the [Society] aren't much different from that…
Having recently dealt with Marshgegon's subordinates—those Mechanical citizens who never give up—Li Aozi knows all too well how terrifying even seemingly feeble foes can become if they can "keep on reviving."
It grows at an exponential rate.
"It's getting harder and harder to figure out what exactly "Star Abyss" is. Leozi, Laian-Ding—the main gods in the Star Abyss—and the Qiqiao Network—no, and the real world—how are they connected? Or is the game itself just a shell, and the real key lies in the players' actions of descending here?"
After pondering for a moment, Li Aozi's lips curved upward.
"…Interesting."
He opened his eyes, looking at his palm.
"Either way, I'm not letting this opportunity slip."
He clenched his fist confidently:
"Whether it's Leozi or Laian-Ding, in the end this universe is mine!"
"If it's some kind of conspiracy, or if it's just reincarnation, either way, I don't care. I've enjoyed so many benefits here and seen so much life and death. I've long since regarded this world as my new home."
"And since this is my new home—then everything, from an unclaimed planet to the entire Star Abyss, should be my property, subject to my absolute control."
Li Aozi never considered himself a benevolent, selfless saint, nor did he plan to become one.
From the beginning, he arrived in this world "toying with life" in a game sense. Then Numi and Qiu Ran died one after the other, and he integrated into this realm.
His life at White Candle Interstellar University drew him further into the everyday world of the Star Abyss.
Reviving Numi, returning Qiu Ran's inheritance, searching for Du Zexin, reuniting with Yavanna, finding old classmates…
Step by step, the being called "Li Aozi" became part of this universe.
And now, he's officially stepped into the Star Abyss as a Zeta rank, a god on Earth, beloved by the planet, respected by civilization.
—Who would still want to go back?
No wonder he's always kept up with his streaming career.
"Ah…"
Li Aozi sighed:
"I really am a greedy sort. As soon as someone loves me, I can't help wanting even more love—wanting everyone to love me."
"It seems what I crave is really simple—just love."
"Love from people's admiration, from friends and family, from the entire universe, from the Star Abyss—that's what makes me more real and more powerful."
His form of love is closer to domination and exclusivity, yet he won't ignore human bonds. After all, it's the interactions between people that distinguish love from pure greed.
Greed only demands endless acquisition, while love always demands sacrifice.
These kinds of 'love' are his sole motivation going forward.
Feeling a weight lift, Li Aozi's mood improved drastically.
So-called "clarity of mind" might just describe his current state.
With each lingering issue resolved one by one, the troubles on his shoulders diminished. Being in a good mood also gave him much clearer thinking.
He headed out by day for a live broadcast, and at night he concentrated on studying authority spells—highly efficient.
Only, the frequent dance parties and banquets that the Red Arrow folks had been throwing lately made Li Aozi uncomfortable.
"I've got it…"
Ten days after his return to Azure Star, Li Aozi finally deciphered the path to the Sequence Omega Energy contained in that authority spell—and its combination formula.
"I just need to tidy this up… Done."
Satisfied, Li Aozi looked at the synthesis formula on his scratch paper:
[Sequence Thirteen•Dark Light]
Projected effect: the ability to wield the two domains of "darkness" and "radiance."
Composition:
[Brilliance of the Polar Day] + [Shadow Assault] + [White Phosphorus Flame] + [Shadow Sprint] + [Blessing of Goodness] + [Twisting Curse] + [Optical Distortion] + [Sequence Ninety•Extreme Dark Matter]
"Never expected it to be such a relatively high-level Sequence."
Li Aozi was very pleased.
Judging by the description and components, this Omega Energy has serious potential. He might keep using it all the way through his time as a [Starfall Master]—it could remain a trump card.
"Come to think of it, these Omega Energies look rather familiar…"
Except for Sequence Ninety, it seems all the others have been gathered by some 'Abyss Professor' in a certain Celestial Kingdom.
"Mhm, looks like I'll have to swing by the Abyss Humanitarian Relief Organization again."