475. No, Let's Just Blow Up Azure Planet?
"The universe changes, and numerical theorems change too—but the study of manipulating relationships between people never loses its value."
Two hundred thousand in the first wave, four hundred thousand in the second, two million in the third—cough, cough—these people would be Li Aoz's true supporters after he descended into the Realm Abyss.
In other words, with these players around, Li Aoz was a man of real power in the Layer Abyss. After descending, he would still be a rentier. Put less harshly, as a member of the ruling class, he could keep the players serving him. No matter where he went, he would remain among the ruling class.
He would not be reduced to working illegal jobs for donuts, living in a used car, unable to afford even a single doctor's visit.
"But then again, Azure Planet's Descenders are far too numerous. They are an important force in the military, society, and production."
Once he left with his people, White Candle Star would lose the labor force it had gained from its vast number of Azure Planet immigrants. The wealth index and sense of happiness that the locals had worked so hard to raise would immediately collapse.
Therefore, if he wanted to descend into the Star Abyss, he first had to liberate the workforce, liberate the players, and liberate Azure Planet!
Li Aoz opened the game's official website.
According to official Layer Abyss statistics, after excluding alternate accounts and Internet Water Army accounts, the actual number of active Star Abyss players had peaked at 1.66 billion. In the next several versions, Azure Planet—the server containing the Yanxia Zone alone—would have 410 million active players.
Of those people, roughly eighty to ninety percent had already reached the previous version's Level Cap, Gamma-rank (3).