131. Sniping Tianhuan
Bang!
Yuhle stumbled and tumbled down the slope. His expression was grim; the Black Knight's shield strike had hit his kidney, causing internal bleeding since there was no armor to protect him.
Although… that bit of armor wouldn't have offered much protection anyway, but being humiliated by the still-human Black Whale like this, how could he calm down easily?
"Black Whale, just you wait! I'll slaughter you sooner or later…"
He propped himself up with a cane made from Zonia's spine, trembling as he stood, staring blankly at the snowstorm.
—Lost his way.
Yuhle didn't want to admit it, but there was no choice.
After losing track of Black Whale, it took him hours to reposition, giving Black Whale plenty of time to escape.
Damn it, if you've got guts, keep fighting me head-on!
That guy drove him off only to turn and flee… what was the reason behind it?
Thinking this, Yuhle suddenly calmed down.
'That guy isn't someone who clings to life selfishly. He must have ventured alone into the outside world because something important happened to someone.'
Black Whale, who was kind-hearted, stood up without hesitation against Tianhuan's suppression, blocking the artillery shells. With his physique, Yuhle even suspected he was on the verge of entering the Gamma tier.
If that were true, a Gamma-tier body combined with the power of the Hidden Society—Yuhle suddenly became alert.
He would lose.
He couldn't let that guy advance to the Gamma tier, or he would surely lose to him.
Horst often spoke in riddles, but Yuhle knew he never lied.
He had almost been killed dealing with Beta-tier Li Aozi… if not for the Ether Blood stabilizing the situation, that drill would have torn his chest apart.
At that time, the intense battle had dulled his senses, but now, in hindsight, all he felt was fear.
Without the Ether Blood… he would have been easily slaughtered by Li Aozi, right?
Similarly, Gretorvo Nightsong, with his powerful physique, would also unleash terrifying power if he advanced to Gamma tier and obtained the Hidden Society's Ether Blood.
'No more waiting, must act quickly!'
Think carefully, what else is important recently?
—Li Aozi causing chaos at the Kowloon Gathering.
As he thought of this, Yuhle's mind immediately opened up.
Yes… Li Aozi, Li Aozi, everything that happened recently, isn't it all because of this guy?
Even the Tianhuan people sent their forces to eliminate Li Aozi.
And when Gretorvo was broken out of prison, Li Aozi was causing havoc at the gathering.
Doesn't it all seem too obvious, too coincidental?
The Akaban Squad chose to break the prison neither earlier nor later, but right when Li Aozi started causing trouble and killing people, and when Li Aozi ran to the outside world, Gretorvo also ran there…
"Li Aozi, that guy is definitely familiar with Gretorvo, at least they have a relationship of acquaintance and cooperation."
Yuhle sneered.
How ridiculous, such a crude setup, isn't it just a diversion?
All the talk of nukes and provocation is nonsense; Li Aozi's goal from the start was Black Whale.
"Don't even think about it, Li Aozi, your brain doesn't work well, but you sure have plenty of tricks."
Yuhle's eyes were sharp; he bared his shark-like teeth, locking onto the direction in which the Tianhuan forces were moving.
"Just wait, Li Aozi, you and Black Whale are both mine!"
Buzz—
The roar of a motorcycle disrupted Li Aozi's thoughts. He shook his head; Yavanna's sudden confession hadn't affected his judgment. He neither accepted nor rejected it, only saying, "Is that so? I look forward to the next meeting." Keeping his distance as much as possible.
Yavanna must be going through something, mentally in bad shape, so he called her over to have a face-to-face talk.
"Sorry, I ran into a lunatic on the way, kept you waiting."
A tall man, shrouded in black exoskeleton armor, slowly walked up to Li Aozi, removed his helmet, revealing a mature and steady face:
"Gretorvo Nightsong. Nice to meet you."
"Thank you for coming. I'm Li Aozi."
Gretorvo extended his hand, and Li Aozi shook it. They wasted no time; Li Aozi immediately briefed him on the situation:
"The situation isn't optimistic. An entire regiment of Tianhuan warriors is advancing towards us. We've observed a dozen armored units, a fully mechanized force, with air units in support."
"With this level of countermeasures, even several Gamma tiers won't make much difference." Gretorvo also became serious. "For small countries, this is doomsday-level military force."
"Yes, that's why I'm looking everywhere for help." Li Aozi glanced at the distant storm. "Tianhuan warriors are using natural disasters as cover, making it impossible for reconnaissance drones to gather detailed intelligence. We can only engage in a direct intercept battle here, or we'll all be consumed by the disasters."
"What's your plan?" Gretorvo wanted to hear the young man's thoughts.
Frankly, from what he had observed, the endless natural disasters stretching for thousands of kilometers completely ruled out any chance of an ambush. A slight mistake could bury the ambush team in the disaster.
Guerrilla warfare was even less feasible; the outside world had no cover or terrain to exploit, and with the limited mobility of bipedal general-purpose carriers, they wouldn't get far before being blown apart by armored units.
In comparison, the most reliable option was to rely on the old-era ruins here, entrenched within these half-buried permanent structures, and fight a defensive battle to buy time until everything above was ready.
But Gretorvo didn't think Li Aozi would see it that simply.
After all, he was the one who had saved him; he must have his own unique ideas.
"A defensive battle is definitely on the table." Li Aozi admitted. "There's no better way to buy time than that, but before that, we must organize a few intercept battles."
He called over Meibi and projected a tactical map, explaining:
"The Tianhuan troops are advancing fast, and the dunes in the outside world don't pose much of an obstacle to their progress. If we want to strike, we can only flank from this location."
He pointed at a structure that resembled an abandoned factory.
"What's that?" Du Zexin was puzzled. "There's no information about this in the computer."
"Sunny Garden."
Li Aozi explained:
"It's the headquarters of the Green Base underground. We can travel back and forth through the 1012 track controlled by the Metro Brotherhood, avoiding the disasters that way."
Gretorvo's eyelid twitched.
"But by doing so, you're effectively diverting the trouble eastward, and the Green Base organization will end up hating you…"
"Of course, but I'm about to head into space, so they can hate all they want; hatred can't travel faster than light."
Li Aozi's remark left Gretorvo speechless.
"This plan is certainly bold." Du Zexin's synthetic voice system had a glitch, switching to a cute girl's voice, but he didn't bother correcting it given the current situation. "Launching from the Green Base's underground and returning via the railway—where are you going to find an armored train from the Metro Brotherhood under these circumstances?"
"Why do I have to find the Metro Brotherhood?"
Li Aozi glanced blankly at Du Zexin, or more precisely, he looked past Du Zexin's mechanical body at the Triangle Town pickups shuttling back and forth in the distance.
"Who said train tracks have to be for trains?"
With the plan settled, Li Aozi immediately started recruiting daredevils to join him. The players eagerly signed up, and even some who were only level five or six joined in with guns. Before long, Li Aozi had 800 players, 190 pickups and jeeps, each armed with homemade RPGs from Triangle Town.
The players could only set their respawn points to Triangle Town, but no one wanted to miss out on the storyline due to death. Everyone knew the longer they stayed with Li Aozi, the more they could leech his kill experience.
Caramel Snail enthusiastically approached Li Aozi, leveraging his slightly higher favorability score to sneakily ask:
"Boss, do you have any powerful Omega Energy I can rent?"
Li Aozi glanced at Caramel Snail, who had already reached level 10 as a [Martial Artist]. As a newcomer, he was performing quite well, nearly catching up to the pros.
To curry favor, Caramel Snail gritted his teeth and took out a necklace he earned from grinding tasks and humbly presented it.
"This is very expensive and valuable; I hope you like it."
Caramel Snail's efforts to boost his favorability were a bit like those of a stubborn sheep, but in fact, Li Aozi had always intended to give him that Omega Energy.
In the previous life, Caramel Snail, the [Dusk Blade Master], had PK'd Li Aozi five times, and as time went on, Li Aozi's advantage grew. It couldn't be helped; the [Dusk Blade Master] wasn't a very potential-rich path.
Caramel Snail, finding himself losing his edge, had once sighed:
'If I could start over, I'd definitely take the path of [Futile Creation]. That's the one best suited for me… but I missed the chance.'
There were so many destructive paths, offering ample choice, but once set on a path, there was no turning back. Caramel Snail had repeatedly said that the skills and potential of [Futile Creation] were much stronger than those of [Dusk Blade Master]. However, with his main account fully developed, starting over with a new one would take an unimaginable amount of time and he would have to endure the curse of Star Abyss—a tough ordeal for someone with Caramel Snail's personal power.
Now… Li Aozi had planned from the start to cultivate Caramel Snail along the path of [Futile Creation].
Not only to unleash Snail's potential but more importantly, if Caramel Snail followed [Futile Creation], then every time he advanced from [Martial Artist] onward, the materials needed for each job change would overlap with those produced by the [Starfall Master] path.
In other words, he would have to buy almost everything from Li Aozi.
Once he got used to buying materials from Li Aozi, whenever he thought of NPCs in the future, his first reaction would be, 'I need to catch up with Li Aozi'—this was path dependence.
So, Li Aozi opened the trading interface, and a window immediately popped up in front of Caramel Snail:
[Soul Engraved Blade Master]: When using sword-type weapons to kill enemies, you gain power and skill enhancements. The more enemies killed, the weapon gradually awakens its self-awareness.
Rental fee: 5,000 experience/month (Once the Omega Energy rental period ends, the awakened weapon will cease communication with you.)
"Hey, how did you know I bought a nice katana recently?"
Caramel Snail scratched his head. This Omega Energy was quite suitable for someone like him, a [Martial Artist], so he promptly paid the experience. A mass of fleshy tumor immediately emerged from Li Aozi's palm and slapped directly onto Caramel Snail's hand.
After a slight stinging sensation, a faint purple-black pattern emerged on Caramel Snail's arm. He ran back to his vehicle, drew his weapon, and immediately felt a difference.
A few swings later, without aiming deliberately, the blade naturally aligned; no matter how he swung, the edge felt light, effortless, and precise.
He calmed down and could even faintly hear a weak, vague consciousness emanating from the weapon.
Slaughter… Bloodthirst…
"This is some good Omega Energy. I feel like with this, I could even take on Alpha tiers."
Caramel Snail joyfully hugged his weapon and got into the pickup truck, waiting for Li Aozi's command. As soon as he gave the order, the 800 players would charge like mad dogs, tearing the enemy to shreds… or being torn to shreds themselves.
"Do you need my assistance?"
Du Zexin piloted his robot over to Li Aozi and asked with concern:
"I could potentially hack into their computer terminals…"
Li Aozi rejected Du Zexin's offer. "Don't even think about it. Just stay here and fortify our defenses. The sooner we get into space, the fewer people will die."
"…I understand." Du Zexin, being a rational person, immediately turned back to repair his equipment.
Seeing Du Zexin return to his duties, Li Aozi also turned and opened the biopod. Liquid nitrogen sprayed out instantly as he reached out to touch the Pioneer's warming skin. His fingertips split into tendrils, merging into it.
His cells gradually fused with the Pioneer's body, with information continuously exchanged between them.
[Cell Invasion Completed]
[Contamination in Progress…]
[The bio-armor has been contaminated by your genes. You can now transfer your consciousness into it or equip the entire bio-armor.]
His body shuddered slightly, and Li Aozi felt his soul being pulled entirely out of his body. His mind rose to a high vantage point, viewing his two bio-armor bodies from a third-person perspective.
[Bio-Armor Body I – 'Li Aozi']
[Bio-Armor Body II – 'Pioneer']
Li Aozi casually renamed the second bio-armor body to the ID he used while gaming—Zhen.
Nothing fancy, just a single character, 'Zhen'. This was his former ID, and he was lucky enough that such a short ID wasn't already taken.
It was precisely because of this single character that the name was memorable, and as a streamer, Li Aozi gained significant recognition.
As for why he made the change… to him, piloting bio-armor was the same as a player controlling a game character.
[Bio-Armor Name Modified]
[Detected Bio-Armor Activity Activated. Connect to Bio-Armor?]
"Next, it's time to send the Tianhuan people a little greeting."