Proliferation Aberration

"Contact the Rose Army, attack the Underworld, and announce it to the world."

Li Aoz repeated Nelia's words, each purpose seeming somewhat ironic.

"Contacting the Rose Army? Let's not even talk about whether we can get in touch, or whether they'll send troops—besides, how long would it take for people to get here?"

"Attack on the Nethermark Humanity? That's utter nonsense—even I know that doing so would stir up international controversy and draw condemnation. Would the Rose Army disregard such a reputation?"

"The announcement to the world is pure nonsense. The Rose Army can't even control its own social media and public opinion. How can you expect people to believe the rebels' words?"

"This is not a rebellion, this is a revolution."

Jane Nelia said calmly, "This refuge has extraordinary value and can help our cause of resisting the Four Nations."

"If you simply kill everyone without occupying and guarding it, then Frostplate can still foster new ruins. But if the Rose Army occupies this place, we can turn it into a bridgehead to Frostplate."

"I understand your concerns—don't worry about your interests. As a hero who dealt a heavy blow to Frostplate's lackeys, Rose will not be stingy with rewards."

No, you don't understand.

Li Aoz waved his hand and shouted:

"Do you think this is a matter of dividing the spoils? No, I don't care about the Rose Army, and I don't even care about the Netherworld's meager assets. As for Frostplate — Frostplate will be destroyed sooner or later, but I don't want to let them get away with it so easily."

"Then, according to your logic, the Red Arrow People— "

"It has nothing to do with Red Arrow." Li Aoz disliked Jane Nelia's tone. This rational ruthlessness and self-righteousness were the Rose Army's unique bad temper, and the root cause of their failure to resist.

"I said, Qiu Ran and I are partnered with Nomi, not you, and certainly not the Rose Army. Cooperation is not impossible, but at least we need to have something to back it up with trust."

Jane Nelia's personality means you can't beat around the bush with her, or you'll be led astray. However— Li Aoz's high Primary Attribute [Charm] still gives him an advantage; no matter how objective the other party tries to be, you can't ignore his words.

"The capital of trust?"

"I don't want promises, I want concrete results."

Li Aoz a thumbs-up behind his back. "If you need Longwave Radio to notify the Rose Army —it's in the communications room over there, no problem. But you have to come with us and wipe out the Netherworld first. What happens after that, I don't care. It's not my interest. You can give it to the Rose Army if you want."

It's not just a matter of not being a problem. If the Rose Army can really advance all the way and take down the Netherworld, Li Aoz will save a lot of money on infrastructure renovation. With this terrible environment of Frostplate, players would have to moisten the Outland as soon as they arrive.

When players arrive, the Nethermark Humanity Shelter, with its complete facilities, medical equipment, civil defense works, and built-in reactor, will naturally become the first choice.

With his publicity and fame, monetizing traffic will be incredibly easy.

Li Aoz has always been a realistic person. Except for certain bottom-line issues, everything else can be discussed calmly and slowly.

Nomi is dead—but her body has been resurrected as Jane Nelia.

In terms of relationships, Li Aoz was trying to save Nomi, but he ended up saving Nelia, who naturally inherited Li Aoz and Qiu Ran's kindness and life-saving grace.

Using favors to seek repayment or engaging in forced buying and selling are common tactics used by players.

The reason he was being polite to Nomi was because Nomi had taken a bullet for him, fought alongside him from the Nethermark Humanity to the Outland, fought against the Law Enforcement Division Four, and fought his way back—it was a life-or-death bond.

Without Nomi, Li Aoz immediately switched back to his previous player mindset.

"Stop talking about those pointless revolutionary goals, I don't care. Even if Frostplate Citizen were to die, or the planet were to explode, I might still be watching from the sidelines. To be honest, I'm a hypocrite. As long as it's not someone who dies in front of me, and their blood doesn't splatter on me, what does it have to do with me?"

Li Aoz never denied having double standards; rather, he said that not having double standards would only make both sides unhappy, so he might as well make himself happy.

Nomi's death weighed heavily on his heart—but when he moved, he felt even more unrestrained.

—What we need to do now is to concentrate all our efforts to quickly eliminate the remaining members of the Nethermark Humanity and deal with the problems ahead.

In addition, Li Aoz needs 2 million derby dollars to issue a warrant for his arrest (publicity).

His goals became clearer, his thinking became smoother, and he returned to the mindset he had when he was a player.

When he looked at Jane Nelia again, Li Aoz's gaze returned to its indifferent state.

Jane Nelia stared at her, about to speak, when Li Aoz saw through her thoughts. "You want to talk about me impersonating the Rose Army? Are you trying to blackmail me with that?"

"This is no big deal. The Rose Army has never cared about background when it comes to those with ambition..."

He smiled:

"Isn't that right? When Bard Rumon, Chu Haosheng, and Rom Costa—these three moderates of the Rose Army —were purged by Mr. Alvin and Mr. Wang Geliang, you specifically mentioned their backgrounds as big businessmen and lawyers."

Jane's expression changed. "I don't know what you're talking about—"

"Let me tell you a fact— the Rose Army's line of thought is meaningless. The times have changed, and those who are bound to the earth by gravity will never look up at the sky."

Li Aoz sneered.

In the previous life, players didn't have much affection for the Rose Army, and their Subway Brotherhood was far less.

The reason is simple: when the Rose Army was at its largest in the middle period, with the support of six Outland warlord forces, it actually started fighting among itself.

The conflict arose from the radicals, represented by Alvin Duli and Wang Geliang, who accused the moderates of being too weak and argued that a severe economic blockade should be imposed on civilians who traded with Frostplate, because every time they traded with Frostplate, it would cause heavy losses to the soldiers on the front lines.

The moderates believe this is a complete social regression. Frostplate is inherently quite extreme in terms of morality and the rule of law. As Reformist Faction, you cannot adopt the same style as the enemy, otherwise the hearts and minds of those who originally supported the Rose Army will crumble.

Finally, the leader of the moderate faction was secretly dealt with and assassinated by the radical faction while on leave. The entire Rose Army was in uproar. Some young officers could not accept the fratricide and led their soldiers to leave in anger and go to the mountains to fight as guerrillas.

What players hate most is this kind of boring fighting.

Back then, players weren't familiar with the intricacies of relationships in Star Abyss. Based on their preconceived notions about games, what conspiracies or schemes could there be? It was just a matter of not being high enough level! Being strong still didn't help? Then it must be because you weren't strong enough!

Already reached the limit of this universe? No problem, let's go to the next universe and explore the limits of individual power!

Once their equipment and levels are up, there will likely be another bloodbath.

People who hold these kinds of thoughts will basically shut up next time they're in the Star Abyss.

Li Aoz's emphasis on the Rose Army is intended to entice players to empty their wallets to buy jewelry and embark on the path of the "Mutant".

However, he wouldn't invest too much. After all, historically, the Rose Army's Combat Power was such that without the fierce men and women of the International Camp, they would be somewhat incapable of fighting against Frostplate, and being annihilated by Frostplate was only a matter of time.

According to Li Aoz's memory, the current His Excellency the President Frostplate is busy with the territorial dispute with Sky Ring, and Dai Weilin's team is also eyeing him covetously from within his own ranks—thinking about it this way, Agent Ya Wen in history should have died long ago due to the purge by Frostplate President.

Once the president was free to deal with the situation, the Rose Army was easily dealt with.

Overall, Rose Army isn't much better than Frostplate.

Especially with the shadow and disturbance of the Imitation Human, the entire Rose Army was thrown into chaos.

After a series of punches from Li Aoz, Jane Nelia immediately felt the pressure.

While the tactic of demanding repayment for favors might seem like moral blackmail, it works very well for the Rose Army, who value their reputation.

Having a legitimate reason for a war is very important, especially since the Nethermark Humanity is an international Daoism aid organization. Even if there is a lot of criticism from Outland People, who in the international community cares about Outland People? The Four Nations will only feel self-righteous indignation and have a reason to launch a large-scale retaliation against the Rose Army.

As for taking the opportunity to further expand control over the Outland, and to develop a few more transit cities to transport military supplies and provide a range of services for the soldiers fighting terrorists—that's quite normal, isn't it? After all, soldiers are human too, and they also need to eat, drink, and enjoy themselves.

They can also conveniently relocate the unemployed and idle population there. That solves the unemployment problem, stabilizes society, satisfies the people, satisfies the international community, and minimizes political risks.

As for the dissatisfied Outland People, let them be dissatisfied.

Li Aoz stared at Nelia.

Although the other person had a poker face, their eyes had become serious.

The information released by Li Aoz consisted of scandals within the Rose Army, which was difficult for Nelia, a guerrilla fighter, to accept.

Secondly, anyone with a modicum of common sense should understand the Rose Army's predicament.

After attacking the Nethermark Humanity, Li Aoz could simply go to the Outland, spend some money, change his identity, and swagger into the Sky Ring.

The Rose Army won't do; they're a large and powerful family, they can't escape.

They can fight against the Nethermark Humanity, but they can't massacre Daoism organizations like Li Aoz —which is why Jane Nelia demanded to step back and wait for the main force of the Rose Army to arrive.

Even if the Frostplate troops arrive, fighting against the regular army would be a justified military action.

What Li Aoz wanted was to massacre the Netherworlders, which contradicted Nelia's idea: she wanted to win a spectacular victory and also take over the Nethermark Humanity ' refuge facilities.

But if she doesn't cooperate with Li Aoz... the moral issue is secondary; she is well aware of Li Aoz's strength in defeating the Infant Eater and slaughtering the Nethermark Humanity and the White Fang Gang.

She thought she could just leave like that, Li Aoz probably wouldn't let her off easily.

In this case, it would be better for both sides to compromise, which would provide a solution.

After some negotiation, the two reached an agreement.

"I cannot participate in this unfair fight."

Jane confessed and extended her hand. "However, I hope to use this Aoneng in exchange for my departure and to send the location of the Nethermark Humanity Shelter from here."

"Make a deal."

I made a profit.

Having a sucker willing to directly help develop and renovate the Nethermark Humanity is no small project.

Moreover, if there were any signs of other Imitation Human later—he would immediately blow up the reactor of the Nethermark Humanity.

Most importantly, once Nomi's Aoneng is retrieved, Li Aoz only needs to learn two [Dominion] system skills to search for her corpse and Wandering Souls.

There aren't many ways to resurrect a person, especially one who has been dead for a long time; a few months is enough for the body to decompose to almost nothing... but Li Aoz felt that they should still give it a try.

Li Aoz grasped the other's hand, and nerve tendrils seeped from his palm, piercing into the other's hand. Jane Nelia frowned, let out a muffled groan, and a red and black color flashed in her pupils. The veins in her arm suddenly bulged, like intertwined tree roots.