068 Look, He Has to Thank Me for Giving Me Money!
Li Aoz, but to the three military players, it was all just a fleeting moment. The excessively handsome man in front of them stroked his chin and said with slight hesitation:
"Hmm... I understand your feelings. You want to protect your homeland and resist the Frostplate invaders, but in principle, I dare not give you this power. It's too dangerous, and I don't want you to get hurt."
With the opening of the Path System, Li Aoz decided to optimize some of the investments made in players so that more people would choose the Path of the Starcaller in the future. With each additional person, he would have a better chance of ascending to godhood.
As NPCs, players can gain experience and money from other players by imparting knowledge and skills. However, Li Aoz is not interested in ordinary players, as they are already tired of living normal lives. The real big spenders in this regard are the players from corporate factions.
The smartest approach is to harvest the topmost layer of chives.
Material things alone are not enough; we must make them love themselves, like themselves, be inseparable from themselves, and have them constantly on their minds.
Compared to exploiting others, Li Aoz feels more like he's manipulating players, treating them as his 'believers'.
The three military players were initially quite suspicious, but seeing Li Aoz's active resistance and strong abilities, coupled with his excellent affability, they quickly put their minds at ease.
Li Aoz used the same rhetoric that Nethermark Professor had used before, first explaining how serious the harm of his power was—genetic disorder, greatly shortened lifespan, deformed offspring, and irreversible damage if used improperly.
In his words, he showed no intention of refusing them, but rather considered their needs in every way, saying, "I'm worried about your safety"—which touched the hearts of the three soldier players.
"He wasn't trying to refuse us, but he was worried that something might happen to us."
Although nothing seems to have changed on the surface, who wouldn't feel a warmth in their heart upon hearing this? "What a kind person."
The three players hurriedly said:
"It doesn't matter. For the sake of our motherland, we are willing to sacrifice our lives. As long as we can drive out the Frostplate Devils, we don't care about me."
"I see. I can feel your determination."
Li Aoz showed a moved expression and used the Dao Path System to edit a task for the three of them: [Career Quest Triggered - Dao Path: The Overlord's Authority]
[Type]: Inheritance [Duration]: None
[Task Difficulty]: D [Introduction]: "Welcome to Star Abyss, where every mortal can change their destiny and achieve self-transcendence by embarking on different paths."
You are a passerby in an ordinary life, one of the majority of mortals in this Star Abyss, but you are indignant and ambitious, yearning to change your mediocre and short-lived fate through your own efforts. On this Azure Planet, a brand new path opens up for you. Your ambition cannot be suppressed by this sky, and you decide to follow the powerful [Mutant] Li Aoz.
Now, embark on this path of domination and rule!
[Settlement Conditions]: A. Genetic Potential - Purchase the [DM-101 Mutation Inducing Agent] (Price: 13,888 Derby) from Li Aoz to undergo your first Aoneng mutation awakening and officially embark on the path of the [Mutant].
Reward: Unlocks the Main Class - [Mutant]; B. "High Compensation" - Your financial resources are far from enough to buy the Aura Awakening Potion, but fortunately, Li Aoz is willing to accept the debt settlement method of working to pay off the debt.
You can now pay off your Awakening Potion debt by completing various daily tasks assigned by Li Aoz.
Reward: Li Aoz's Favorability +50 ————————
Because Li Aoz cracked the formula for the Aura Awakening Potion of the Nethermark Humanity, and because he didn't care about the patent fees of Frostplate, the cost of manufacturing the Mutation Inducing Agent was greatly reduced.
Even so, 13,888 Derby is a huge sum of money for a newbie soldier player. As soldiers, they have their own training and combat missions and don't have time to work and earn money.
The three soldiers thought it over and decided that if they didn't want to pawn their weapons, the only way to make a living was to work as Li Aoz and do manual labor.
Moreover, the mission reward is Li Aoz's Favorability, and the soldiers are aware of the uses of Favorability.
Without sufficient Favorability, NPCs won't give you quests or bother talking to you, and you won't even be able to trade with them.
"Judging from the mission description, there are probably still a lot of those Aura Awakening Potion."
"Once we increase the Favorability, can we start wholesaling?"
"More than that, we might even be able to hire Li Aoz to help us strike targets in the future."
As the first high-level NPC they encountered, Li Aoz's strength was unanimously acknowledged, and no one doubted the authenticity of the pile of flying Jingguan.
A superhuman Ability Users of flying at Mach 5 or 6 has already helped them eliminate the greatest air pressure, preventing them from relying on gunships, bomb drones, and bombers for various forms of air support.
Military players were able to see Li Aoz's power and recognize the potential of the [Mutant] class.
Now, the mentor of the entire [Mutant] community is right in front of them, and the [DM-101 Mutation Inducing Agent], which is crucial to their career, can only be sold by Li Aoz.
It seems like a win-win situation to curry favor with Li Aoz.
Li Aoz has set the price very well, neither incurring losses nor making it prohibitively expensive for consumers.
He doesn't intend to exploit newcomers too much, which would discourage customers. Instead, he prefers a gradual, long-term approach, maintaining a positive persona and image to ensure sustainable growth.
The three military players didn't hesitate much.
Tactical flashlight, aiming base, under-barrel Grenade Launcher or 5mW laser, tactical grip, a side-mounted Holographic Sight, an ACOG (Advanced Combat Optical Sight), lightweight trigger, carbon folding stock, and grained grip.
—From this perspective, 14,000 derbies is far from enough to fully upgrade the performance of an assault rifle with all its accessories. It wouldn't hurt to try Aoneng instead.
According to their assessment, a Frostplate full-fledged soldier, including weapons and accessories, wears a uniform containing a positioning system, life indicators, wilderness survival equipment, IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) signals, a helmet and body armor made of Super Kevlar fiber, and alloy plates—not even counting the implanted prosthetics—costs each soldier as much as 170,000 Derby dollars.
In comparison, buying an Aoneng for 13,888 Derby dollars, which doesn't require maintenance, is really nothing.
Seeing that the three players agreed readily, Li Aoz knew that he had set the right price.
There is no better business strategy than price reduction. If there is, then offer it for free. And what is offered for free is always the most expensive.
The three soldiers didn't have enough money to buy even a single capful of medicine, so Li Aoz casually assigned them the task of helping the villagers move parts of the wrecked plane.
In effect, this also implies that they could exchange some electronic instrument parts or optoelectronic equipment with Bermudes's military for money to pay off their debts and, incidentally, raise some funds to improve the army's armed capabilities.
After all, there will be Electronic Immigrants in the future who need the protection of the military. Doing them a favor is good for doing business in the long run.
After completing a series of routine tasks, Li Aoz took to the skies, flying directly over the airspace of Grand and Frostplate, and heading towards Triangle Town.
He wanted to move his Biochemical Pool over there, where at least several thousand bottles of DM-101 Mutation Inducing Agent had already been produced and stored. During the war, he also used the Biochemical Pool to produce some biochemical war beasts to alleviate the pressure on the Grantian as much as possible.
He has now dealt with Frostplate's Military Department, and within a few months, Frostplate will be completely too afraid to commit its precious Air Force to this area again.
On the ground battlefield, military players are now entering the arena for testing. Li Aoz plans to use the mission system to guide these soldiers in training and developing the fighting forces of the Grantian.
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
When the three soldiers saw that the subsequent series of work-for-debt tasks included phrases like "teaching the Grantian how to use weapons," they reported the matter and then rolled up their sleeves and got to work.
When their own interests were at stake, they were full of energy and quickly helped the farmers of Guland move the aircraft parts. During this time, they also felt the simple and pitiful side of the Grantian, which increased their dislike for Frostplate.
However, that's not within the scope of Li Aoz's consideration.
When Li Aoz returned to Triangle Town, compressed the Biochemical Pool, and prepared to leave, Auckland Lord suddenly approached him and said seriously, "Someone is looking for you. It's Frostplate's woman."
"Who?" Li Aoz a little puzzled. He didn't know many women with Frostplate, probably only Ya Wen and Nimoting.
"Judging from the equipment of her entourage, it should be from the Nethermark Heavy Industries."
The Auckland Lord said earnestly:
"The woman in charge called herself N4, but her subordinates called her..."
"--pioneer."
Li Aoz said, his expression slightly darkening.
'Pioneer' N4, a woman far more dangerous than Nethermark Professor.
Nethermark Heavy Industries Industry is a behemoth that emerged in the Old Era days of Frostplate. After several bankruptcies, reorganizations and mergers, it now presents itself as a low-profile 'pharmaceutical and medical device company'.
In fact, according to Li Aoz's understanding, Nethermark Heavy Industries secretly funded a large number of laboratories to conduct inhumane human experiments under various pretexts.
Nethermark Humanity, Mingji Elementary School, Mingji Electronics Factory, Mingji Town, Mingji Film Company—these seemingly similar projects are actually 80% the work of Nethermark Heavy Industries.
Outsiders might wonder, how could no one have noticed such an obvious conspiracy?
In fact, Mingji itself is an extremely common male name in Shuangping, equivalent to 'Jack', 'Zhang Wei', 'Hans', 'Ivan' and the like.
The most common name for a woman with Frostplate is Si Jia.
Li Aoz remembered that his great-great-grandfather was named Mingji Juste, a planner from the Outland. Du Zexin's grandfather was named Du Mingji. In his previous life, Dai Weilin was assassinated, and his successor was named Chu Mingji.
If you throw a brick down the street in Frostplate, you'll most likely hit a man named Mingji, but you'll also be more likely to get chased and beaten up by a woman named Si Jia.
Compared to biochemists from other countries, the Nethermark Heavy Industries has an extremely terrifying advantage—they preserve knowledge from Cosmic Civilization.
The professor came from this system, and Pioneer N4 was one of the actual controllers of Nethermark Heavy Industries, as well as the most powerful [Biochemist] in the world.
Li Aoz's level of vigilance was raised to the highest.
In its previous life, N4 was no good. Not to mention those horrifying biochemical laboratories and the deliberate release of various deformed mutated monsters, allowing them to merge and reproduce with creatures from the Outland.
While the people of the Outland suffer from the natural environment, they also have to face hybrid monsters that have evolved for several generations.
Putting all that aside, Li Aoz's deepest impression of N4 is only one: she is the only professional mentor who betrayed both the players and the Azure Planet People.