90: Valenkov's Winter

Back then, it drove away countless players with its pure violence, terrifying stats, continuous bleeding mechanics, and despair-inducing healing. In particular, during the first phase, she had a Verrazzi armor that made her immune to beam weapon fire, leaving many players with deep psychological trauma.

Even the ' Bloodfiend Style ' couldn't withstand this guy's attacks; his 280 points in [Agility] gave him the initiative in every move. His seemingly weak [Intelligence] was actually the real trap—the lower his [Intelligence], the more outrageous his [Savage Gladiator] attributes became.

She even has the talent to intentionally lower her intelligence.

With such a numerical and mechanic-based monster, let alone the ' Bloodfiend Style ', even the most popular boss at the time, the [White Wolf Commander], couldn't be killed by sheer numbers. It even angered players to the point that they stopped logging in to protest that the boss was too difficult.

Can we win?

We can't beat them.

Even if they were of the same level, Li Aoz wouldn't have the confidence to fight this guy one-on-one.

But who says you have to fight the BOSS?

This is not a problem for Li Aoz at all.

Li Aoz activates stealth.

Nefes hovered silently in the air, its jagged vertical pupils constantly scanning the surrounding environment, trying to find Li Aoz's figure.

Li Aoz landed on the ground openly, put his hands in his pockets, and swaggered out of the battlefield.

For a full fifteen minutes, Nefes took off and landed repeatedly, searching everywhere, but he just couldn't find Li Aoz's figure.

She kept throwing things at the ground and overturning buildings, almost creating a 7.0 magnitude earthquake on the spot, but no matter how hard they searched, the little guy was nowhere to be found.

Yes, the Final BOSS, ' Silver Armor ', is the only one without any means of countering stealth, and can be toyed with and humiliated repeatedly by the [Assassin] and [Mysterious] classes.

As she wreaked havoc on the ground, Valenkov's defense forces finally lost patience and dispatched fighter jets and armored units to surround the Verrazzi Building.

"You are suspected of violating our country's territory. Surrender immediately."

Several tens of minutes later, Li Aoz stood on a mountaintop two hundred kilometers away, accompanied by a half-elf alien with a shocked expression.

As he gazed at the ground, he saw Nefes, looking bewildered and confused, being arrested by Valenkov's army and put on a prison van.

Meanwhile, the Verrazzi Security in the distance could only watch helplessly as the Valenkov military police legally took their people away, unable to make any statement.

Because they had broken the law first, and with the crowds surging around them, news of the leader's assassination spread like wildfire. Many people directed their anger directly at Verrazzi. At that moment, the civilians of Valenkov were incredibly united. They marched forward, shouting "The company should get out of Valenkov!" Their patriotic fervor was at an all-time high. Verrazzi's employees dared not leave the company group even for a moment.

Andrew crawled awkwardly out of the building's ruins and darted through the crowd, looking utterly ridiculous.

Li Aoz didn't kill him, not out of mercy, but because he didn't want to break ties with [Plunder Soul] Red King. This god who betrayed Star Abyss was actually quite easy to get along with at times.

In contrast, those pure Star Abyss Faction main gods are all incredibly old-fashioned, with rigid and unchanging ideas, and they deserve to be crushed by [Society] and the Destroyers.

"Um, sir," the half-elf asked hesitantly, "Why did you suddenly appear, pull me out of the production workshop, and bring me here?"

"Julian Nikita," Li Aoz said casually.

"Yes—hey, how do you know my name?" the half-elf exclaimed in surprise.

"Your cousin Jacob said you were captured by the company to be used as a test subject, but in reality, you deliberately defected to serve as a guerrilla for the company."

Li Aoz bluntly exposed Julian's secret, leaving Julian stunned. Li Aoz, unfazed, continued, "But that's normal. After all, your wife is afflicted by a curse, and without money, there's no way to cure her. I can understand. It's all too common to betray one's country for one's family."

"I didn't want to do this... I love my wife, but I didn't want to point a gun at my fellow countrymen."

Julian closed his eyes:

"If you want to try me, then try me, but please forgive my family. I have accumulated 200 Ammonium Gold in my account, which is a considerable sum. Please transfer this money to my father-in-law, Nikita— "

"Julian, you don't want your betrayal of your country to be exposed, do you?"

Li Aoz immediately interrupted the other party and then said, "200 Ammonium Gold is not enough to live on in the universe. Even a minor illness or crisis will cost a lot of money. But if you are willing to cooperate with me, I can guarantee to take your family to a better place. Although I cannot remove the curse, at least I can prolong your wife's life."

Li Aoz didn't bother with words and directly crushed them with his [Aura of Goodwill] and powerful [Charm].

Julian hesitated for a moment, then said, "... If what you say is true, I'll do anything for you."

Ping! Li Aoz snapped his fingers, took out paper and pen from the spacetime rift, and quickly drafted a contract. "Simply put, I am willing to pay for the living expenses of you and your wife, including your father-in-law Nikita's family, for the next 40 years, and provide the opportunity to live on White Candle Star, where you can find work and use magic to suppress the Star Abyss's Curse."

Julian examined the contract carefully and said, "Is the price my future child with Rosa?"

"I can assure you that I will provide him/her with complete and high-quality educational resources and put him/her on a strong path."

"No, this is enough." Julian stared blankly at the terms and conditions. "My God, 40,000 Ammonium Gold a year for living expenses? Am I dreaming?"

"Whether it's a dream or not, you can judge for yourself," Li Aoz said with amusement. "But now, you need to be prepared. I'm taking you back to meet your family right away. We'll set off in two days."

"Are we setting off already?" Julian wasn't surprised, but he glanced at the chaotic city and couldn't hide his worry. "Tell me the truth, what will happen to our homeland? I know the company is searching for the Nakis Blood. Will they give up so easily?"

"Winter is here."

Li Aoz said without a doubt:

"Valenkov has already broken ties with Verrazzi, and his high-ranking personnel have been almost entirely killed or wounded. Verrazzi will not stand idly by. If Verrazzi cannot obtain the information, he will send smaller, more neutral groups to search for it. For a long time to come, the issue of the Nakis Blood will attract mercenaries and interest groups from all walks of life. Although a large-scale war is unlikely to break out, small-scale skirmishes will be frequent."

"Sigh..." Julian sighed, "Is it truly impossible to avoid war on our homeland?"

"However, winter is not the end."

Li Aoz crossed his arms and watched the Verrazzi fleet depart, his nonexistent head smiling slightly, "Isn't Valenkov itself a mercenary city-state?"

Julian was taken aback, then immediately understood.

"The civilians of Valenkov can evacuate the fortified planet, but the soldiers can stay. They will have new jobs, and the civilians can also make a living by providing services to mercenaries from all sides on the outer border, or by recording reality shows and broadcasting these 'battle royale' games to the outside world. Be flexible."

Li Aoz tapped Xu Wu's head and teased, "Winter has come, can spring be far behind?"

While it wasn't the best possible outcome, it undoubtedly brought about a new turning point in Valenkov's fate.

The immense value of the Nakis Blood means that Valenkov cannot monopolize it; even being a raw material exporter is not enough. However, there are too many profitable industries in the universe.

In the past, the Vanlenkov Alien made a living by selling their war service, but there are too many powerful beings in the universe, and they do not have their own industry and military logistics to support such a nation.

Afterwards, Valenkov temporarily stabilized the employment rate by driving out Verrazzi and conducting low-intensity but sustained military operations, and at least saw hope for a shift towards the service and entertainment industries.

Julian seemed to understand, but not quite; he was actually a bit bewildered by this ending.

But upon closer examination, this seems to be somewhat acceptable to all parties involved.

Li Aoz never went to university and doesn't understand sociology, but when it comes to understanding the Narrative-level Civilization of the various factions in the Abyss, few people know more than him.

The Vanlenkov Autonomous State will face a harsh winter, but afterwards, people will gradually adapt to and understand it all, voluntarily surrendering their planetary fortresses to outsiders to fight to the death. Valenkov will simply collect appearance fees, provide services, and broadcast live programs, thus becoming the entity with the fewest casualties in this event.

Narrative-level Civilization are unlikely to lose the supply of Nakis Blood, and can at least accept this outcome. They can also keep the relatively low-intensity battles under control and prevent them from spiraling out of control.

A strange and delicate balance will continue like this until the Nakis Blood is exhausted—that may be tens of thousands of years from now.

It's a short time for Narrative-level Civilization, but for the Valenkov people, it was a long time, enough for them to complete their transformation.

Is this a good ending? Julian didn't know.

But a short, sharp pain is worse than a long, drawn-out one. Civilization has its own way out, and all of this is no longer his concern. He, who had been struggling between betraying his country and missing his family, is now free of worries. His feelings are now pure and simple: he just wants to return to his family as soon as possible and reunite with them.

Before long, Li Aoz took Julian back to the Nikita family home. Watching the family embrace each other, weeping, Li Aoz felt a subtle feeling rising in his heart.

—Li Aoz, the former security guard at Frostplate Bank, had always dreamed of such a harmonious family situation, never daring to even think about it.

Nikita was incredibly grateful for Li Aoz's actions, but he couldn't think of a gift to give. After much thought, he finally met with Li Aoz secretly in private.

"Take this."

Li Aoz accepted the gift and immediately completed the check with [Eye of Truth]. It was a single-soldier combat notebook for interstellar warfare, which could grant him the combat skill ""Star Trooper Training"".

As a [Astral Echoer], Li Aoz naturally doesn't need this, but he can teach it to the players later, which can significantly improve their tactical skills.

"I'll arrange for you to go to White Candle Star first. If there are any problems, you can go to Ruins No. 10-98-1 and find a woman named Ya Wen. She will provide temporary accommodation. You can stay there first. Don't worry about the household registration issue."

Two days later, Flana finished her delivery and came back to pick her up. Li Aoz generously transferred 7,000 Ammonium Gold to her as a hiring fee. This Dark Elf elf may not be very bright, but she's really good at speeding.

This deal made a lot of money, Flana, contrary to her usual self, was triumphant. Her goodwill towards Li Aoz soared, and now she spoke to Li Aoz with utmost deference, "Boss, are you going back to Valkyrie Fortress? I'll take you all the way there."

"No, let's take a detour first."

Having completed Valenkov's task, Li Aoz's profession, "Craftsman," was finally promoted, and he became a "Forging Master."

This profession, when used by players, means crafting high-level weapons and powerful equipment. However, when used by NPCs, it has a very interesting effect: creating dungeon crystals.

Flana naturally had nothing to say; she thoroughly enjoyed driving for Li Aoz, although the Private Plane jet was a bit expensive. After Li Aoz rented it for a few days to collect materials, he had spent all his Ammonium Gold.

Fortunately, he had gathered enough materials before returning to White Candle Star, enough to create only two copies. In a few days, once Priest Constan's finances are back on track, he should pay him the interest and principal together.

"Now, it's time to go back and continue my college life."

Li Aoz touched his non-existent chin.

Although his actual purpose was to hunt down these citizens who appeared out of nowhere.

White Candle Star was his backyard treasury, where he still kept his two weapons. The players were about to return, and his strength had reached a bottleneck.

His current situation is that missions he can complete offer little reward, while missions he can't complete are simply impossible for him.

For example, there's still a long storyline ahead for Verrazzi Company —but Li Aoz really can't keep fighting like this. If things continue like this, the 11th narrative, "United Company," will have to blacklist him.

Li Aoz wasn't that stupid to anger a Narrative-level Civilization, or even a middleman-type "United Company," just for the meager reward from Verrazzi.

This move was perfectly timed; it avoided killing Andrew, the most crucial figure, while also teaching them a lesson. Coupled with the immense power of the Astral Echoer, it propelled Li Aoz's personal reputation to new heights.

There are now rumors circulating throughout a large part of the Abyss that "a native of the Crystal Tower, in his Gamma-rank form, brutally beat up Zeta-rank and escaped unscathed."

—Actually, Li Aoz's brutal beating was somewhat exaggerated. He didn't defeat a single Zeta-rank enemy throughout the entire battle. Even so, destroying a Verrazzi warship and fighting multiple enemies of a higher class made many people take notice.

At this point, Li Aoz decided to lay low for a while and see if the Crystal Tower would still be willing to take him in.

Before school even started, he beat up someone who was even more powerful than the teacher... Whether the teacher loses face is secondary; what's really upsetting is discovering that a student is missing a head after so many days.

However, even if the other party intends to expel him, Li Aoz has many backup plans. The worst-case scenario is that he will go to the Heroes Empire.

The best-case scenario, of course, is to maintain a friendly relationship with the Crystal Tower and continue one's student life.

With these thoughts in mind, Li Aoz embarked on his journey back to White Candle Star.