243: Secret Visitor
You have lost your connection with Star Abyss
"Phew... I've finally finished dealing with the things I was working on."
Jiao Ziniu rubbed his head, stood up from the Game Pod, and habitually clenched his fist, trying to adjust his strength and physical condition.
Of course, there's no such thing as 'strength' in reality. All that was left for him was a period of mental exhaustion and dizziness from intense concentration.
"Your visit lasted 27 hours, which is excessive and not good for your health."
He could only shrug, take the nutrient solution handed to him by the synthetic human VT, wipe his mouth, and say, "There's no way around it, this mission was really intense. We fought a battle with [Society], and damn, the whole process was incredibly thrilling. You have no idea how powerful we were, controlling Delta-rank Implant Equipment Vanguard and going on a rampage through the mechanical swarm. It felt better than any action blockbuster I've ever seen!"
"That must have been wonderful. I can already picture your imposing figure, full of vigor. I'm sure you had a great time." VT read the text aloud, then reminded him, "Now that your sightseeing time is over, shouldn't you be getting ready to leave?"
"... Travel?"
"You have an appointment with Miss Xia Yubing..."
"Oh! I almost forgot!"
Jiao Ziniu slapped his forehead. "I have an appointment with Xia Yubing today, oh no, I'm going to be late! I have to leave right away, VT, call me a car, I'm going to change my clothes right away."
VT stated rigidly, "Honest advice: When meeting a girl, you should at least take a shower and keep yourself clean."
Jiao Ziniu grabbed a piece of bread, put on his coat, and hurried out the door.
"It's too late! Let's just go!"
VT said in a very formal and methodical manner:
"Mr. Jiao Ziniu, if you can find a partner, it has nothing to do with emotional intelligence; it must be because the other person is deaf..."
"Huh? What did you say? The elevator's about to close. Never mind, just tell Cumin Powder I'm not going to the knife-making workshop this afternoon, don't wait for me, bye!"
Sitting in the capsule train, Jiao Ziniu took a deep breath to calm himself down. Looking at the handbag in his hand, he muttered, "VT is really something. I only consider Xia Yubing a friend, and besides, I didn't even pick out a suitable gift..."
In reality, he is not good at interacting with people.
In the game, he can fool NPCs by using the Disguise Mode, and he can get along well with top professional players like Cumin Powder and Ye Zhangjian by exchanging lewd pictures and his gaming skills.
In reality, he's just a slightly well-off guy from a science and engineering background who's often shy and socially awkward.
Xia Yubing, Wen Long, the Guild Leader —and the deceased Li Si, those were some of the few friends he frequently interacted with.
As a result, after joining "Star Abyss", he was on White Candle Star while his friends were still on Azure Planet, and because they were separated by distance, they didn't have many opportunities to contact each other.
'I wish the next version would allow us to establish connections with Azure Planet. It's been so long since I played with my club members.'
With that in mind, he plugged in his headphones and started browsing the forum:
"Breaking News! The first super event on Azure Planet has occurred! Gretvor has successfully seized power in the Sky Ring and liberated Qiongan Capital!"
"The great battle between the Red and White factions in Sky Ring is imminent. All forces are recruiting soldiers and horses. Sky Ring is undergoing drastic changes. What is the way out for the Eastern countries?"
"Our guild is recruiting. Players with Royalists tendencies are welcome to join us in Bingze North City. Success in doing so would be a great contribution to the cause!"
"What era are we living in? There are still monarchs? Kill the royalists! Serve the Heavenly Ring People's Army! Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang!!!"
Jiao Ziniu slid for a long time and couldn't help but sigh.
Today's post is as complicated as ever.
beep beep—
"Huh? What did the forum send me?"
Jiao Ziniu clicked on the pop-up notification, and a line of large text caught his eye: [Version Update Announcement]: * Whispers of Contempt * 1.56. ver [Level Cap Lifted]: Alpha Rank lv.30 – Gamma-rank lv.80 [Initial Level]: Increased to Alpha Rank lv.30 (Starting level for newly registered accounts) [As time flows, many changes have occurred on the Azure Planet.]
Sniper Empire: The shadow of evil is spreading rampantly within Red Arrow Empire. Citizens of the Empire, act swiftly—the second faction of the Red Arrow Empire, the ' Entropy Annihilation Apostle ', has appeared! *White Plum Frost and Snow *: Dai Weilin's deep reforms continue, but this has also completely exposed the contradictions within Frostplate —the second faction of Frostplate, the ' White Plum Army ', has appeared! Red and White Civil War: Prime Minister Gretvor vows to build a republican government where everyone is equal. However, the former prime minister's younger brother, Park Jung-tae, is secretly accumulating his own power—revolution is coming! Sky Ring will split into: the Republicans (Gretvor's side) and the Royalists (Park Jung-tae's side). Choose your faction and serve Sky Ring! Undercurrents: The Righteous Dawn Democratic Republic now has tens of thousands of Electronic Immigrants. This is our new home. However, some malicious people have already set their sights on this place. Find and eliminate them—the number of Imitation Human, [Social] citizens, and Entropy Annihilation Apostle within Zhengxu Empire is increasing.
[Headhunting Company Advertisement]: Due to the expansion of business in new regions, Nethermark Heavy Industries needs more talent to join us. We have opened up many positions and special agents for players to choose from. Welcome to join Nethermark Heavy Industries.
[New Origin]: Netherworld Employee (Limited to [Biochemist]) [Holy Monument Religion]: The Holy Monument Religion, a religious organization specializing in training Aoneng, is spreading widely in the Red Arrow region. If you are confused about the use of Aoneng, this might be a good choice. However, the god they worship is different from others, and seems to be named... Lioz?
[New Origin]: Holy Monument Religion (Limited to [Mutant]) [Mechanical Apprentice]: In Outland far from the Four Nations, a signal has been sent: a mysterious mechanical mentor extends an invitation to you. He hopes you will accept his guidance and use your skills to serve more people.
[New Origin]: Wandering Geek (Limited to [Mechanic])...
After finishing his work, Li Aoz declined Gretvor's offer to stay. After tidying up a bit, he set off for the nearby area to search for information about Zonia, the Esha Armed trained by the former Nethermark Humanity.
The process did not go smoothly, so Li Aoz switched back to his main account and used Gravity Wave to issue a mission to gather information from the Azure Planet.
He now has a wealth of experience; he could easily spend ten million to motivate hundreds of thousands of players to accept missions. Add a discount on the Aoneng rental, and he could attract players to the White Obelisk.
While the players were gathering information, Li Aoz started his own simulation management game again.
Most players would consider joining the Holy Monument Religion, since the bonuses provided by the two divine attributes of [Suffering] and [Death] are quite tempting for players.
"Smiling Through Suffering" - When you and your followers suffer pain/defeat, you accumulate 'Suffering' points, which can be used in conjunction with experience.
Death Prison - You and your followers will have the opportunity to revive in battle (once per calendar day). Your followers can devour the souls of the dead, gaining their memories, feats, or skills. This ability also applies to Soul Crystals.
These two buffs don't directly increase Combat Power, but they do help accelerate the player's growth and improve the margin for error.
If a regular player dies in battle, they can only revive at a temporary respawn point or a save point.
The followers of Lioz not only gained an extra chance to be resurrected, but could also rise from the spot.
The two buff talents even work together, giving players more confidence to challenge high-difficulty enemies. After all, even if you lose, there will be hardships, so exchanging them for experience is not a loss. The extra resurrection opportunity also gives players a higher probability of completing the kill.
Most importantly, it's because Li Aoz has a monopoly on this aspect. The religions of other Azure Planet are nothing but lewd worship and false gods, and the buffs they provide are just minor things like increasing attack power, improving poison resistance, and avoiding being entangled by spirits.
The Holy Monument Religion has directly improved your game experience. Players who previously thought the [Mutant] system was a liability have suddenly become the darlings of this version.
Even if some players don't convert to the Holy Monument Religion and become Lioz followers, the sheer volume of people moving around will bring considerable economic benefits to the Holy Monument Religion.
[Mutant] When players arrive near the White Obelisk, they will immediately realize its benefits and be eager to join it.
For ordinary players, buying a house near the Holy Monument Religion is a worthwhile investment. It's a safe place with the nourishment of Path Building, making it suitable even as an investment product.
Li Aoz is very good at managing traffic. He seizes every opportunity to promote the Holy Monument Religion everywhere, sometimes by promoting tourism, sometimes by promoting local cuisine, and sometimes by promoting charity events, doing everything he can to help the Holy Monument Religion expand its traffic.
The result was obvious: in Eerga City, which was originally located on the very edge of the empire, housing prices increased twelvefold, and the permanent population increased by 300,000. Natives, players, and immigrants from Outland flocked to the Holy Monument Religion.
After several days of activity, the Holy Monument Religion Cult's cash reserves exceeded three years' GDP of Eerga City. The burgeoning population activity also led to numerous criminal cases, including several serious terrorist attacks, all of which were thwarted by the Holy Monument Religion's own Beta-rank high priests.
However, the overall situation is still very good.
Under Li Aoz's meticulous planning, the assets of the Holy Monument Religion grew increasingly large, and its membership began to increase. They even started considering setting up a real estate company or a bank to manage it.
It wasn't that his technique was particularly advanced; it was mainly because a year ago, after a large number of people settled down, newborns had already arrived.
At least 30% of the second-generation immigrants tested Aura Gene, mostly the two Aoneng: Gravity and Eye of Truth.
These are the highest quality innate Aoneng. If they can grow up smoothly to the age of eight, they can receive systematic education as [Mutant].
Other newborns, under the continued influence of the White Obelisk, will be more likely to become Mutant in the future.
Therefore, Li Aoz quickly set about building a special training and education institution for extraordinary individuals in the territory of the Holy Monument Religion.
With these benefits, parents of immigrant families can work, spend, and live here with greater peace of mind. Coupled with the increasing flow of people, various industries are not only thriving, but also booming.
In other words, the mayor of Eerga City didn't know that Li Aoz was the controller of the Holy Monument Religion; otherwise, he would have kowtowed to him.
This situation has already formed; even if you throw some rice on the keyboard and let a chicken run the game, it will still be a complete disaster.
Just as Li Aoz was running his religious business and revitalizing the city, a piece of news came into his view.
"Zonia has been found, but..."
Li Aoz looked at the information reported by the players with a strange expression:
"... Is the target currently with the [White Knight]?"
The White Knight —weren't they all killed by themselves? If he wasn't resurrected by a special professional, then it means the other side has the entire council here.
The latter is unlikely—after all, without [Tailor] Ya Wen, the Secret Council cannot be assembled.
"That must be the former."
Li Aoz touched his chin:
"It seems the Hidden Society has quite a few henchmen on Azure Planet..."
However, his influence on Azure Planet extends far beyond secrecy.
Happy May Day holiday!