343 Succubus (Two-in-One, 5.4k)

The convoy drove along the road ahead, the Blue Iris emblems on the armored vehicles indicating that the convoy came from Parliament.

No one would dare to defy the Kingdom Council's will and choose to ram a vehicle for the sake of Sealed Object whose effects are unknown—even if the Sealed Object being transported in the vehicle was itself stolen from the Fermi Institute.

Kingdom Council Knight Miread Fenny leaned back in the back seat with her legs crossed, one hand on her musket blade and the other holding the logbook she had retrieved from the corpse of Fermi researcher.

"Could this operation be a decision made by higher-ups to officially break ties between us and the research institute?"

Sitting opposite her was the Armed Mobile Team Captain responsible for assisting her, Wonska. He had a bad face, a gloomy expression, a scar on his lip, and a face full of fierce features, which was a stark contrast to the beautiful and dignified Knight Miread Fenny.

"Do not question Parliament."

Mirrid raised her slender index finger, encased in a blue-purple glove, to her pink lips. A mischievous glint flickered in her purple eyes, but her tone remained serious. "The Fermi Institute, after all, is an institution that prioritizes 'human welfare above all else.' It enjoys immense prestige among the public, especially ordinary citizens. Many people rely on the Erije they extract from the Sealed Object to make a living. Although some of their research violates human ethics—whether or not to thoroughly investigate and eliminate them requires discussion and deliberation by the council before a decision can be made."

"In other words, does that mean Parliament also values Alejandro Gould's economic benefits?"

"Since 80 years ago, our world has been transformed. Technology has developed rapidly, and we have access to trains, freighters, airplanes, and the Internet—all thanks to the clean, efficient, and versatile resources like Allergy."

Mirrid glanced out the window. On both sides of the road, people were struggling to walk, their families in tow. They were dressed in rags and covered in disgusting purple patches; it was clear they were refugees forced to leave their homes.

"The Void Fallen Zone is expanding again, it's so pitiful... their homeland is being eroded away like that."

Captain Wonska sighed:

"Unfortunately, no one can save them. The railway is blocked, and they can't afford airships, so they have to leave on foot. Fortunately, it's only 400 kilometers to the kingdom's safe zone. But how will they survive after that? The number of refugees is increasing, and even brothels are full. How will they feed themselves...?"

Mirrid didn't speak. She reached out, opened the ceramic breastplate, unfastened her armor, and took out a pocket watch from the soft lining. She flicked it open gently—but inside were not normal hour, minute, and second hands, but three strange, long, curved snakes that intertwined like gears, their colors vibrant and bright.

"Enrique is approaching."

She gazed silently out the window. The once clear sky suddenly turned as if a drop of ink had been spilled, spreading and spreading in a gray-black hue. Thick gray clouds raced across the sky, soon obscuring the sunlight and darkening the sky.

"... The Qualia Rain has arrived."

She murmured softly.

The next moment, clear rainwater suddenly began to fall, drip-drip-drip...

The ragged refugees were quickly soaked, and rainwater slid down their exposed skin, carrying chunks of flesh and mud. Their bodies slowly melted like candles.

Clatter, clatter, clatter...

The vehicle's radiation counter kept beeping, but the passengers inside remained unmoved. They were used to these things and believed that as long as they weren't exposed to rain, there wouldn't be any problems.

The refugees, heads down, struggled to straighten their bent spines and move forward, only to fall one after another as the rain washed over them.

First, the outer skin peels off little by little, then, like peeling an eggshell, the fat and flesh are ripped off. The tender yellow fat is washed away by the rain, degrading like butter. Next, the flesh is gradually ground into powder, and the blackish-gray carbon powder mixes with the rainwater, becoming murky and rolling down, leaving trails of bloody, mangled flesh.

One by one, skeletons collapsed into the waterlogged pits, and were eventually submerged and disappeared by the torrential rain.

Those inside the car watched this scene unfold silently, without uttering a sound. In fact, all they needed was an umbrella or a raincoat to avoid such harm.

But they would never give it to these people.

All property belongs to the Kingdom Council, and only the Council has the power to decide who receives the resources.

Knight Mirrid put away his pocket watch, turned to Wonska, and asked:

"Have you been to Grey Mist Forest? That's the last Void Resistance Front."

"I saw it once from afar... The gray fog, like waves, covered the border for thousands of kilometers. The Fermi Institute has been stationed there for a long time, collecting and capturing the Sealed Object that crawl out of it."

Wonska said in a rudimentary way.

"It is generally believed that dangerous Sealed Object originate from the corruption of the Void. All safe Sealed Object, on the other hand, come from beyond the Grey Mist Forest, or from a place different from the Void. Those are considered safe creations that are not subject to any Void corruption."

Mirrid said:

"But the Sealed Object we've obtained this time is different. It fell from the sky without any void corruption, which is an amazing discovery. I think that's why the Council chose to intervene in this containment."

"The council certainly has its wisdom," Wonska said convincingly. "Think about it this way: if the council's goal is to find a new source of the Sealed Object, it can break the Fermi Institute's monopoly on 'Aliger'."

"... Perhaps so."

Mirrid watched the little snakes entangle, their tails slowly unfurling as if to end the knot.

Forty minutes later, the rain stopped.

Removing the armor and freeing the heavy thing on her chest, she looked out the window at the empty roadside. They had already exited the highway and were passing through a rural area.

In a few hours, they will reach the transfer station, unload the goods, and hand them over to another team of vehicles for transport, in order to confuse the investigation and avoid pursuit by the Fermi Institute.

Having escalated to this point, the Fermi Institute is bound to catch up.

Mirrid said calmly, "Captain Wonska, what are your thoughts on the future?"

"The future? We should have done a great job this time and will receive a lot of rewards."

Wonska said easily:

"I didn't think that much about it... My child is studying in the Royal Capital. The bonus I'm getting now should be enough for him to graduate. Then I plan to buy a new car and a beehive, so he can get married in the Royal Capital instead of having to marry a mud-covered woman who's been through the Qualia Rain."

"A very simple wish."

Mirrid said, "But that's not the kind of 'future' I'm asking about—what are your thoughts on humanity, and on Dragon Satellite?"

"We have nowhere to retreat; we have no choice but to continue fighting."

Wonska said calmly, "Although the Fermi Institute has malicious intentions and disregards human ethics, that's probably what they're thinking. Faced with the Void, all we can do is continue fighting—as for the future, I don't know. We might be strong enough to repel the Void, but that depends on 'The King's' plans."

Mirrid's purple eyes flickered as he spoke softly:

"Yes, the power to decide everything in the future rests with the 'King'."

"It seems the situation isn't looking too good."

Li Aoz, bound in chains and sealed in a special container, sighed.

He originally thought he would be facing Void Overlord invading his homeland and endless Void armies, but he could also win over the local natives with Li Aoz's high Charisma.

To this end, he specially assembled the player army and made all preparations for a protracted and arduous battle.

But when he entered the inner atmosphere of the Dragon Satellite, the system immediately alerted him that he had been blocked by a powerful dimensional storm, his [Constitution] attribute dropped drastically, and he was subsequently contained by an organization Fermi Institute.

However, this blockade is useless against him. Li Aoz's core tankiness comes from the damage sharing provided by Bloodfiend Style and the health provided by Bloodline.

The real problem isn't the harsh environment here...

Instead, Li Aoz discovered that the natives of this place were somewhat formidable.

Although they haven't developed space technology, and their humanities and social sciences are stuck in the era of constitutional monarchy, and people still use skirmish tactics that are only slightly better than line infantry's 'line-up shooting,' and dress like urban citizens in the early Industrial Revolution, their medical care and technology are comparable to those of the Azure Planet.

The land area of Dragon Satellite is not large, less than half that of Azure Planet, and its population is only four or five hundred million.

But their base stats are exceptionally high.

They start at the Zeta-rank (6), and with a little training, they can enter the Ita rank (7) and become professional soldiers.

The legionary lords from noble families are often the Sita (8). Through the information revealed by the researchers, Li Aoz a vague feeling that the knights of the ' King's Council ' they mentioned could reach the level of Yota (9).

Fortunately and unfortunately, Capa was not among this group (10).

It's considered lucky because, in the eyes of these people, Li Aoz is just an ordinary person, except that he is extremely beautiful and suitable to be a mascot. Some people even studied where his charm comes from.

It was unfortunate because Li Aoz overheard some snippets of information from them:

' Void Fallen Zone ', 'The Corrupted', 'More Enemies Observed in the High Tower '...

Numerous phenomena suggest that behind these Void enemies, there may indeed be a Void Overlord the Kappa-rank or higher.

But that's nothing, because the Void Overlord belong to a race within the Void Narrative, and all the creatures within it are called Void Overlord.

No matter how strong the Great Lord's true form is, Li Aoz certain that its projection in the Abyss could not possibly reach the Kappa-rank.

Now it seems that the situation is far from what I expected.

"The Void Overlord did not resort to a direct attack, but instead gradually eroded the territory, breaking it down into smaller parts to infiltrate the only kingdom on the planet. He then linked them together, launching a guerrilla war to slowly devour the kingdom's territory and people."

This tactic is extremely difficult to counter. The best way to restrain them is to mobilize manpower, sever communication, and then launch a continuous sweep. Only in this way can the numerous void nodes be defeated and destroyed one by one.

But with Dragon Satellite, Li Aoz found that this approach was meaningless.

Although the Fermi Institute failed to take him in and bring him to safety, they at least taught Li Aoz the local language and common sense, allowing him to listen to the conversations of the Kingdom Council knights in the front row and learn information even on a bumpy ride in the car.

After listening to the locals, Li Aoz had a basic understanding of Dragon Satellite's situation.

"Dragon Satellite is a small planet with a population of 500 million, which has not been influenced by the culture of Star Abyss. Here, people have no path to climb, and each continent has only one unified government called a 'Kingdom'. The Kingdom's parliament controls all political affairs, while the strongest 'King' lives behind the scenes, serving as the highest fighting force to suppress the entire country and resist foreign invasion. He can be considered a nuclear weapon."

"Originally, Dragon Satellite should have been a primitive kingdom from the era of slavery, lacking any humanities or social science foundation. However, 80 years ago, the Void began to invade Dragon Satellite."

"The people here have discovered that they can extract a magical substance called 'Ailijie' from matter and organisms from the void. This stuff is clean and harmless, with extremely high energy density, and can be used to make weapons and modify tools, directly propelling the kingdom's technology forward at an unprecedented pace."

"But the more resources are extracted from the Void, the more the Void erodes the planet. People become increasingly unable to leave the Void, and everyone tries to gain power from it. Ultimately, this leads to the corruption of many people, turning them into nihilists who then worship the sixth narrative—'The Void Kingdom.'"

Li Aoz pondered and analyzed, "Driven by enormous profits, Dragon Satellite began to expand into three major forces:"

First: The Fermi Institute, which insists on curbing the development of the Void and prioritizes human well-being. They control the technology to extract Void Energy called "Erije" and strictly restrict all Void creations known as "Sealed Object." They operate throughout the Dragon Satellite, either imprisoning or containing them, and destroying them if they cannot be controlled—absolute human supremacy.

Second: The "Hopeless Order," deeply committed to nihilism and apocalypticism. They are comprised of various companies, chambers of commerce, and nihilistic believers. Based on the company's core business, they manufacture and sell various products for profit, operating covertly and acting on orders. These individuals also have some connection to the Fermi Institute.

Third: The Kingdom Council controls all human resources and wields absolute authority. They stand guard around the supreme 'King,' and their attitude towards the Void is ambiguous. They neither want the Void to become dominant nor do they want to lose the technological advantages it offers. However, they do not promote the Grand Narrative of the sixth narrative—the "Void Kingdom"—and prevent nihilists from participating in politics.

But regardless of their faction, they were not interested in the path of Star Abyss.

This is also why Li Aoz sighed.

He originally intended to unite the forces, but it turns out that all three factions are now dependent on the Void Overlord's control.

Adding to the fact that the average person on this planet Zeta-rank (6), Li Aoz felt his scalp tingle.

This is actually nothing special, since it's quite normal for an average Zeta-rank person to Narrative-level Civilization.

However, given that such a thing could happen on a planet in the Abyss, and considering the local circumstances, Li Aoz could only think of one possibility, "the Fixed Time Domain."

For a small planet like Dragon Satellite to have its average strength enhanced to this extent before even receiving enlightenment from the Star Abyss Path, this could only mean that the Void has decided to incorporate Dragon Satellite into its Fixed Time Domain.

"The Void Overlord descended here must be a powerful minister with a high level of authority and an extremely deep understanding of nihilism!"

In a sense, he had actually descended to Zhou Yuan (the Third Floor of the Star Abyss), and could even be said to have stepped into the homeland of the sixth narrative—"The Void Kingdom".

"Tsk... This situation is a bit difficult."

Even Li Aoz was a little troubled.

Although he was prepared to face the void from the beginning, he did not expect that the small Dragon Satellite would involve operations that would be incorporated into the Fixed Time Domain.

However, precisely because of this, Li Aoz remained calm.

As a time traveler, his greatest advantage is that he knows information about several future versions.

The outer reaches of the Galaxy Eye are not part of the main area of the Abyss, and there are few records of them. But non-mainstream areas also have their advantages.

It's like when a student who is considered a poor student in a class suddenly gets a perfect score of 100, everyone will be surprised, but if that student usually gets zero on tests, no one will even remember them. This is a kind of stereotype.

This is why iconic events like the Galaxy Eye Meat Grinder and the Crystal-Night Butterfly Wars become widely circulated as stereotypes.

Working backward from this perspective, we find that the formation of stereotypes shows that other things are insignificant compared to what stereotypes represent.

The expansion of the Fixed Time Domain of the void to the Abyss is an absolutely shocking event, but in my previous life, it was never even mentioned.

[Hidden Society] Has the ability to hide and downplay its historical traces—the Void, as one of the Narrative Civilization, was even invaded by players in version 14.0. How does it have this ability? Could the Void Overlord also be Earthlings? With a simple reverse thinking, Li Aoz is certain: in the past, the Abyss did not have the Void's Fixed Time Domain.

If that's the case, what does it mean?

"The Void was most likely defeated and driven out of the Abyss by the locals."

Li Aoz had grasped the blind spot and thought with satisfaction:

"These planets are mostly like heroes or protagonists, with complete quest lines. As long as I find a chance to escape, then wander around and wait to trigger quests, I'll have found the protagonist! Just follow along and I can easily pass the level. By then, the void will be driven away, and I can finally focus on finding the Qualia-Direction —ah, that's comfortable."

It's no wonder that Lioz gambled away a thousand years of his lifespan for ten times the fortune; his gains are increasing.

Just as Li Aoz was thinking this, the vehicle suddenly braked sharply. The device containing him also shook violently.

"Sir Mirrid! You've betrayed us—uh!"

Faintly, Li Aoz could hear sounds from outside.

"I'm sorry, Captain. I don't believe in that kind of future."

Sizzle! Sizzle—Bang!

A fierce battle ensued, and after a long while, the vehicles slowly came to a stop.

Snap!

The car door opened, Li Aoz heard the sound of an umbrella being opened, followed by the sound of boots pattering in the rain, getting closer and closer.

He was prepared to unleash his power at any moment. The people here were all strongmen of Ita (7), but they lacked the path to enlightenment. Their fighting style was very limited. He could seize the opportunity to make his way out.

Squeak—

The rear compartment was suddenly opened. Li Aoz composed himself, and his Ability Pod popped up, ready to fuse with arcane Aoneng.

Smack

As light and fresh air rushed into his field of vision, Li Aoz was about to explode, but his pupils suddenly contracted, and he forcefully restrained his movements.

You look good.

Miread Fenny, holding an umbrella, her purple hair cascading lightly over her shoulders, the blood of her own kind overflowing from her eyes and sliding down her cheeks, gazed at Li Aoz in the container and said softly:

"Do you want freedom, succubus?"

As she spoke, she extended her hand to Li Aoz:

"If you long to be free from this futile suffering, then follow in my footsteps and walk together."

Li Aoz raised his head.

In my retina, a line of information was reflected: [Main Quest Triggered - "The Flower of Void"]

[Type]: Annihilation/Exploration [Duration]: 300 days

[Mission Difficulty]: Secret "At this difficulty level, everything you face is uncertain. Your abilities may fail, and people won't speak clearly to you. You'll need to use hints to solve various problems. You'll encounter all sorts of unpredictable issues and puzzles. But as long as you possess extraordinary courage and keen insight, you can see through the fog and solve the riddles."