Li Aoz's Itchy Hands, Eager for a Fight

Chapter 32: Li Aoz's Itchy Hands, Eager for a Fight

"I don't care."

The golden rings in Li Aoz's eyes faded. Manipulating the safety of a handgun with gravity was hardly a difficult task for him.

If he were facing a professional warrior, this move would be largely ineffective. Were professional soldiers' shooting skills ingrained through muscle memory?

It was just that in the Outland, most people didn't have the habit of engaging the safety on their guns. Even if it accidentally fired, it was better than not being able to shoot at a critical moment and losing the initiative.

Ze Xi quickly put her gun down and raised her hands. "Don't get excited, don't get excited. Let's talk. Uh, handsome, are you here for my money or my body—... Although, you probably wouldn't do that, right? If you were to make a move on me, I'd be the one taking advantage."

"Tsk tsk," Nomi said, shouldering her wrench. "Is that all you've got? Don't you know the quality of us Outlanders: we're unyielding in the face of power."

"Nomi, shut up."

Li Aoz punched Nomi on the head, pushing her aside, and asked Ze Xi, "You're Ze Xi? I heard you have a batch of good merchandise."

"Uh, I don't deal in human trafficking..."

"What are you thinking?" Li Aoz said disdainfully. "I know about your trade with Mo Ao, Bankro, and Lei Zhiqiang. You've given them plenty of canned goods and medicine privately, haven't you?"

"Ah? You know all that."

Ze Xi's face flushed slightly, and she muttered, "Who sold me out... It must have been Xiao Ze! That shifty-eyed guy, he doesn't look like a good person at all."

"Let's not talk about that for now."

Li Aoz threw the backpack he had prepared in front of her. "There's 120,000 Derby in here. I want to buy something from you."

"...My heavens!"

Ze Xi pulled her round glasses down, knelt down in disbelief, and opened the backpack. Facing stacks of neat, brand-new banknotes, she swallowed.

"Such new and organized Derby cash—did you rob a bank? Oh my god, there are Amaryllis patterns on it—this is much sturdier than the currency printed by the Rose Army!"

Nomi clicked her tongue.

"What fake money... That's printed with real machines, it's genuine fake money!"

Ze Xi quickly looked up at Li Aoz and patted her chest, promising, "Big Brother! You're my Big Brother from now on. What do you want? I can even get you an armored vehicle, no problem!"

"Really?" Nomi's eyes lit up. "Then I want the 'Wolfgang' amphibious 88mm anti-infantry armored vehicle under GTB!"

"That's already a Mobile Armor, okay!"

Ze Xi pulled her glasses down, stared at Nomi, and said righteously, "That'll cost extra. 1 million Derby."

"Damn it! That thing only cost 600,000 to produce, how did it become 1 million in your hands, you greedy merchant? The Rose Army has them too, I'll just get it from them!"

"Stop arguing," Li Aoz said. "I want the latest type of potion developed by Nethermark Humanity."

"That... I can do," Ze Xi pondered for a moment and nodded. "I have that in the Freezer. I can get it for you right away. However, I can't guarantee it will work after use. I've only heard that it can help others awaken their Aura... whether it has any real effect is still uncertain."

"Then don't worry about it."

"Okay, you're my Big Brother—oh, by the way, may I ask your name, Big Brother?"

"Me? You don't know me?"

Li Aoz was surprised. Wasn't he the talk of the entire shelter when he first arrived?

"Heh heh," Ze Xi scratched her cheek, realizing she was out of the loop. "I just got back, I went to restock, hehe... I'm not really sure."

"Is that so."

Li Aoz shrugged. "I am Captain Gatling Maxim Lewis of the Special Operations Department under the 153rd Field Army of the Rose Army. Regarding today's matter, I'll give you a piece of advice: don't spread it around. This is a secret between us. I know where you work, and I know your background very clearly. Understand?"

"R-Rose Army?!"

Ze Xi's face instantly turned paler than Li Aoz's. She nodded rapidly like a pecking chicken. "I understand! Big Brother from the Rose Army, I won't say anything. The power switch for the cold storage was damaged by White Fang Gang thugs. I didn't see you, I was just here to perform repairs."

"Smart."

Li Aoz was quite satisfied. He found that the Rose Army's deterrence to ordinary people nowadays was no less than Law Enforcement Division Four.

It was a shame he wasn't a girl; otherwise, he could have impersonated an agent from Law Enforcement Division Four, and the effect would have been even more impactful.

"Speaking of which, I need to inquire about something. The money is all in the backpack, so deduct it from there."

As Li Aoz spoke, Ze Xi quickly said obsequiously, "Please, tell me."

"ZX-102 Isolation Ward."

Li Aoz said, "What exactly happened here? It's an empty ward, so why is it locked?"

"This..."

Ze Xi thought for a moment, "It's not a big deal, really. From what I heard, it was just a medical accident that caused some unrest. Then, the Professor and Head Nurse Nordly had a disagreement—in the end, Head Nurse Nordly was stubborn and insisted on sealing off the ward, preventing anyone from entering and activating it."

After speaking, she shook her head, "I don't know the specifics, but I can tell you this for sure: Ward ZX-102 experienced a very serious casualty incident. It even almost led Head Nurse Nordly to attack the Professor... I suppose the rift between them started back then."

"Oh?" Li Aoz raised an eyebrow. "Is that what they say?"

"You didn't know? Head Nurse Nordly and Assistant Physician Anna were both students of the Professor. They left Frostplate National Medical College because they were dissatisfied with Frostplate's bureaucracy and came to Nethermark."

"However, now that the Professor is dead and Head Nurse Nordly is seriously injured... it's hard not to suspect Assistant Physician Anna, who stands to benefit."

Li Aoz listened, filing the information away.

The plot progression increased by 1.71%, indicating this information was quite useful, involving a specific event.

It also indirectly proved that the secret of Ward ZX-102 might be related to a series of anomalies within Nethermark Humanity.

Ze Xi was a middleman who sold Nethermark Products to the Outland and bought rare metals and rare earth materials from the people of the Outland at low prices. This kind of business only involved dealing with other shelter organizations.

From Ze Xi, he could basically get no intelligence about the Four Nations. Li Aoz didn't waste his effort. While thinking and organizing clues, he began to consider how to investigate the secret of Ward ZX-102 Isolation Ward.

The Professor was dead, Nordly's condition was unknown, and Doctor Anna had deliberately expelled him.

Nomi was curious:

"So mysterious? What exactly did that old hag and that big woman do next to me? Why don't I know anything?"

"That, I wouldn't know. It happened two years ago."

Ze Xi shook her head. "Before that incident, Head Nurse Nordly was a more gentle person. She was the youngest and her emotions fluctuated easily."

"However," she paused and said, "there is one person who knows the situation completely, but she is not in Nethermark Humanity. You'll have to find a way to leave the shelter and go to the Sikkim Settlement to find her."

"Sikkim Settlement?" Li Aoz was taken aback.

What a coincidence. Anna had just told him that the White Fang Gang might be heading to the Sikkim Settlement to sort things out.

And this was exactly his destination.

"Could it be... this is the true intention of the game designers of 'Star Abyss'?!"

Li Aoz suddenly connected the dots:

"You can unlock the [Mutant] class—you can farm Aura Awakening Potions—advance the plot, and go to new scenes to do quests most suitable for [Mutant]. This is plot content that players in previous lives never uncovered!"

"Could this be the reason why 'Unremembered' can serve as the main quest for [Mutant]?"

Li Aoz was a little surprised, then suddenly enlightened.

In his previous life, due to major bug issues, people hadn't delved deep into the plot, and the "prison experience" of [Mutant] had deterred many players from choosing the class.

All quests had to be personally created by the design team and then generated by the game's AI. Before setting up scenes and quest levels, the plot had to be written.

It was just that Frostplate didn't have a large player base, and even fewer chose the [Mutant] path. If it were in another nation, like Heavenly Ring, it would have been thoroughly researched by now.

"Timing and fate," Li Aoz shook his head.

He guessed that the designers hadn't figured out how to coordinate the small number of [Mutant] players in Frostplate at the beginning.

After all, isn't Frostplate already a prison? Frostplate is already a hellish nation, why would you choose to be a [Mutant] instead of a Mage or a Martial Artist? While others progress through the plot in "Perpetual Maze," your progression here is essentially a life sentence.

Li Aoz shivered, and he suddenly realized something: "Perhaps the designers never expected anyone to start as a male character in Frostplate and choose [Mutant]?"

This stack of negative buffs was comparable to the status bar in a toxic milk powder.

Of course, this might also be intentional, to concentrate [Mutant] players in the Red Arrow Empire, so that the version 2.0 story could unfold.

That was the true excitement. Even Li Aoz, who had witnessed the Sun extinguish and walked on the surface of a Black Hole, could not forget those days.

"Regardless, I have now stepped into a realm never before trodden by anyone, truly uncovering the exclusive plot for the Overlord Class—speaking of which, I feel like I'm the class mentor for the Overlord Class."

Li Aoz felt a surge of excitement. Ever since he became a streamer, he had been pursuing various streaming effects. For traffic and popularity, he didn't hesitate to label himself with various tags and perform actions like someone with Down syndrome, all for a laugh and to bring joy to people, then using that amusement to earn a living.

How long had it been since he felt this excited? This feeling, like playing a single-player game, of exploring game plots and uncovering hidden information, even without online companions, he was immersed in it.

"This is the original fun of the game!"

Li Aoz's hands itched with anticipation.

"I've been playing the clown for too long, I've forgotten that a streamer is a technical streamer, not an entertainment streamer!"

The thought of the unknown plot and challenges ahead, the joy of pioneering a new frontier, ignited Li Aoz's fighting spirit.

It was virgin territory, untouched by anyone, everything fresh and new, waiting for his favor.

He started to crave a fight.

Today, in Apex Kings Canyon, I used Mirage with an R301 and an Alternator, and in the open field, I went 1v3, accumulating 12 kills and 8 assists, dealing 2346 damage, achieving a solo win, and becoming the kill leader. Please take note.