82 Waiting for Tomorrow
Shortly after, Nikita sent a message: he had succeeded and would be at the top soon.
Lord of Metal and Iron
The longsword generated electromagnetic energy, instantly revealing Li Aoz's figure. Kalmetz abruptly raised his head, but being old and exhausted, he had no time to react.
Sequence 77: Bane
Li Aoz made a grasping motion in the air, and the dilapidated ceiling above Kalmetz's head suddenly cracked. He quickly dodged to avoid being caught off guard by the assassin, and bent down to grab the Laser Pistol beside him.
Whoosh! Just as his palm was about to touch his beloved gun, the weapon that had been with him for many years suddenly went off, instantly piercing through Kalmetz's palm.
"Oh no! Why did it have to happen at this time—"
Is it because the weapon hasn't been maintained in a long time? Or is it just bad luck that it happened to be there?
His original movement was to avoid being caught off guard by Li Aoz, but he was unlucky and was accidentally injured, which slowed his movements down.
[Gravity & Perception] - Superposition
[Natural Ignition] - Stacking
[Soul-Inscribed Sword Saint — Wargod]--Dieja
"Trinity."
Li Aoz calmly swung his sword, and the phantom of the war ghost behind him instantly unleashed a sword strike. The highly concentrated energy instantly engulfed Kalmetz. The surging red sword light, combined with the True Damage of [Lord of Metal and Iron], made it impossible for Gamma-rank to withstand his burst of power.
Before Kalmetz could retaliate, he was engulfed by flames and knocked to the ground. Li Aoz teleported instantly, raised a foot, and stomped on Karmeltz's chest, slamming him against the wall.
[Savage Trample]
—You can execute a target with less than 10% health by stomping. If the execution is successful, the surrounding targets will be affected by the 'Shock' effect (sense and movement speed are reduced by 90%, ignoring super armor effect) for 3 seconds. Li Aoz has never had the chance to use this execution skill, but now, considering the other party's conscience, he feels that he needs to end the other party's suffering as soon as possible.
Kalmetz was executed, vaporized on the spot, leaving a deep, charred silhouette on the cracked wall behind him.
Settlement conditions have been met.
B. Yesterday's Spring - You have successfully assassinated ' Kalmetz Shield Emblem '.
Reward: [Stratum Advancement Ticket] *1 [Rewards being distributed...]
[You have obtained 1 [Stratum Advancement Ticket] – This ticket forces you to advance one rank in your cultivation path, regardless of your level or Promotion Task. However, if your Main Class level does not meet the advancement requirements, you will not receive the rank advancement effect.]
The Echo Power spread everywhere, and the high temperature continued to spread, triggering a fire alarm. Water was sprayed in time to cool down the area. Li Aoz turned around and left, jumping back and forth through Space-time Ripple, avoiding the guards while directly entering the residential area of the building.
The Space-time Ripple of the Echoer had a great advantage in these high-rise buildings. Li Aoz quickly found the apartment of his eldest daughter Flova Kalmetz Shield Emblem. The young lady was still lying in her crib, hugging her doll, fast asleep.
Li Aoz released a spherical babysitter robot, had it pick up Flora, and then returned it to the spacetime rift before turning to search for Frey Kalmetz Shield Emblem, who possessed innate psychic abilities.
After several leaps, Li Aoz found the nursery. He had already put a mental barrier on himself, and he stealthily bypassed the heavily guarded area, pushed open the door, and slowly walked inside.
A cradle was gently rocking. If you went closer and peeked inside, you would find a baby sleeping inside who was not much different from a human. This was his target, Frey Kalmetz Shield Emblem.
Li Aoz stepped forward, skillfully deactivated the alarm, then opened the incubator and gently cradled the pink-skinned baby inside.
Perhaps due to the protection of a psychological barrier, the other person neither cried nor made a fuss, but slept peacefully in Li Aoz's arms. There was even a hint of intimacy.
"Really..."
He was unaware that he was being held in the arms of his father's killer—or perhaps he knew, but as a young boy, he did not understand what it meant.
Li Aoz picked up a baby toy, placed it next to him, and turned to leave.
He felt little guilt about killing Kalmetz.
If Kalmetz hadn't died, Valenkov would have been plunged into civil war, disintegrated, and ultimately reduced to a slave laborer under Verrazzi.
If Kalmetz were to leave illegally, as Gollert predicted, Valenkov would completely lose trust in the government, descend into an even more chaotic and barbaric state, and social order would collapse entirely, leading to its demise.
If Li Aoz hadn't killed him and taken the children, it wouldn't have been long before rebels seized power, first placing Kalmetz under house arrest, and then purging the Kalmetz family.
As for why things turned out this way, the reasons are too complicated, involving various aspects, and even related to their ancestors, including the problems of this race, the Star Abyss's Curse, historical legacies, and so on.
Players have discussed how to save Valenkov, such as through Daoism aid or by forming a unified armed group to drive Verrazzi away.
In the end, the players realized there was no solution; the problem was unsolvable.
They even discovered that Valenkov himself wasn't very clean.
Valenkov's main occupation was military service; the entire population was essentially a soldier, with 60 percent of adults serving as executioners and butchers, and committing numerous war crimes.
The most plausible solution they could think of was to find a society that would devour the Valenkov civilization.
The Valenkov People, thus assimilated, at least no longer had to starve or continue to suffer the pain of losing their freedom—without Free Will, how could they lose it? There was no other way.
However, Li Aoz felt that this statement was still too idealistic.
Assimilation of civilizations in this geographical location is somewhat reckless—this place is directly opposite the gateway to the "United Company," and not far away is the enclave of the "Heroes Empire." Behind King Gorlett's neighbor is a member civilization of the "Temple of Annihilation."
If a "society" were to openly devour civilization in this position—that would be wonderful. Valenkov People, who had just become a citizen of a "society," would directly face the combat power of Narrative-level Civilization.
No matter how much discussion there is, Valenkov will ultimately go to war.
It's simply a matter of who you fight and what happens.
Of the six endings that appear as part of the main storyline, none of them are truly happy endings. Even in the 'Angel' ending, the player merely saves 300,000 Valenkov People, leads them through trials and tribulations to escape their country, and then receives praise and medals from the Interstellar Alliance for doing so.
Yesterday's Yesterday, is Spring, but what about tomorrow?
Li Aoz to the top of the building and informed Flana via communicator that he had quietly piloted his Private Plane into the atmosphere and would arrive in less than two minutes.
He handed the children and the nanny to Nikita, then turned to look at the desolate city.
There is no tomorrow for Valenkov; even the harsh winter that is coming to an end no longer exists.
They will forever remain in the twilight of autumn and winter, lingering under the purple dome, playing this mournful melody with rifles and lasers, an melody that will never cease.