From the Abyss of Stars

098. Watchdog

 

"Eh? Is it ending here?"

 

The video paused before Li Aozi detailed the abilities of the 【Mutant】, abruptly cutting off the anticipation that had been building up, making Lu Run's heart itch:

 

"No way, I still want to continue watching the plot. Why stop here? At least explain the abilities of the 【Mutant】. Once I edit it, I can directly use it as material."

 

Though he said this, it was the first time Lu Run had seen such a powerful and impactful game plot.

 

In less than two hours of the Abyss Humanitarian surveillance footage, the characters of Li Aozi, Nomi, and Qiu Ran were vividly brought to life.

 

"This 【Mutant】 named Li Aozi is simply born to promote the 【Domination】 system. Look at his smooth use of Omega Energy, freely switching abilities, and he even has the power to extract others' Omega Energy—this would be the protagonist in other games, right?"

 

After watching the footage, Lu Run was ecstatic, his mind full of Li Aozi's movement and combat stance, whether it was his mid-air directional changes or the stunning flurry of his long blade, even the wild brutality of extracting enemies' life force—all of these showcased the characteristics of the 【Domination】 system.

 

What do players want?

 

Cool, strong, exhilarating!

 

Think about it, among the six systems, only the 【Domination】 system has the initial profession of a 【Mutant】. Previously, it was thought to lack popularity and potential.

 

But now, seeing Li Aozi freely switching combat Omega Energy, his versatile stance, the playability of this profession has suddenly increased.

 

"Have you finished watching?" Xue Nian and Luo Le didn't watch the footage closely. Seeing Lu Run so excited, they were curious:

 

"What's the deal with that Li Aozi? Have you found out the reasons behind the massacre of the Abyss Humanitarian?"

 

"Yeah, I roughly understand."

 

Lu Run organized his thoughts and said:

 

"The Abyss Humanitarian is actually a research institution supported by the Frost-Plated Republic, under the guise of humanitarianism, but secretly researching various biochemical weapons."

 

"Especially by intimidating people from the Outer Regions and the edge cities of Frost-Plated with the term 'Calamity Infected,' making them willingly leave their homes to enter the Abyss Humanitarian for treatment—essentially biochemical experiments."

 

"This footage involves multiple forces. There are also some internal power struggles that I don't fully understand, but I get some of it."

 

"The force behind the Abyss Humanitarian—the Frost-Plated's Law III institution, has been supporting the activities of the Abyss Humanitarian. The ultimate goal is to awaken Omega Energy in all Frost-Plated women, solidifying women's political status."

 

"Currently, the Abyss Humanitarian has developed a terrifying Calamity Armament—each Calamity Armament is modified from young children, at least Alpha tier, with combat power above level 20."

 

"Nomi, Qiu Ran, Xue Nuo, and many other infected, from young adults to babies, are all victims of the Abyss Humanitarian experiments."

 

Luo Le couldn't help but curse under his breath upon hearing this:

 

"Such bastards, to target children."

 

"Even if the Abyss Humanitarian really did these things, Frost-Plated wouldn't admit it... By the way, what's Li Aozi's role? Didn't Nelia say Li Aozi isn't from the Rose Army?" Xue Nian was concerned about this.

 

After all, their task was to help Li Aozi reveal the truth.

 

"I watched several times. Li Aozi should be from the Red Arrow Empire, became a scavenger in the Outer Regions, probably a chaotic neutral type."

 

Lu Run wasn't sure either.

 

Although Li Aozi seemed to have many scenes and plotlines, from their perspective, they still didn't know who he really was.

 

"I speculate he might be a main storyline character of the 【Domination】 system, possibly even the profession mentor of the 【Domination】 system."

 

Xue Nian thought for a moment and opened the task panel.

 

【Settlement Conditions】: A. 《Lawful Good》—Wrong is wrong, apprehend/hunt down Li Aozi (Warning: The target is extremely dangerous, you lack the prerequisites)

 

Reward: 1 million experience, +15 main attributes.

 

"Based on this, Settlement Condition A clearly stands on Frost-Plated's side, so the reward is extremely generous."

 

B. 《Lawful Neutral》—Right and wrong have nothing to do with me, justice is in the heart of the people, find out the truth about the Abyss Humanitarian and Li Aozi (You can complete it at your level and avoid fighting the target)

 

Reward: 150,000 experience, +1 main attribute, Li Aozi favorability +30;

 

"Looking at B, it seems like a very neutral option, not offending Frost-Plated, nor fully siding with the notorious Li Aozi, just revealing the truth—in my opinion, this is the most rational approach, not completely severing ties with Frost-Plated and still being able to operate within Frost-Plated."

 

C. 《Lawful Evil》—Even though you're wrong, I'm no good either, join forces with Li Aozi to eliminate all bounty hunters and Frost-Plated mercenaries, with a contribution rate of 10%. (You can easily complete it and avoid fighting the target)

 

Reward: 80,000 experience, Li Aozi favorability +50, if the main profession is not obtained, unlock 【Mutant】 profession inheritance.

 

"Settlement Condition C is very interesting."

 

Xue Nian analyzed, pointing to the last reward:

 

"Look, the task reward includes unlocking the 【Mutant】 profession. This fully shows the close relationship between Li Aozi and the 【Mutant】. He is likely the guide for players born in Frost-Plated to join the 【Domination】 system."

 

"That makes a lot of sense—no wonder the AI has arranged everything so well."

 

Thinking about this, Lu Run got excited again:

 

"Hey, I suddenly remembered, the other five systems haven't found a similar profession mentor role—according to this idea, doesn't that mean as long as we follow Li Aozi, the players of the 【Domination】 system will have much less pressure at the start?"

 

He took a moment to glance at the internal company chat group: sure enough, everyone was working overtime, looking for the main profession mentors of each system. Only the Tianhuan District had found a 【Warrior】 NPC of the 【Destruction】 system to act as the promotional image, and they were filming.

 

"We need to speed up."

 

Luo Le projected a map, glancing at the tired and weary GTB bounty hunters on the bus—these desperados were blinded by the dream of class leap and had no idea what kind of enemy they were about to face.

 

"We need to meet Li Aozi first. Otherwise, considering his efficiency in killing in the video, if we really fight, it will be hard to communicate with him."

 

Xue Nian nodded.

 

As game testers, they had company requirements.

 

They couldn't join a faction, their level had to be higher than the players, they couldn't attack players, they couldn't reveal information to outsiders... and so on.

 

If they could complete this task earlier, they could get off work earlier. Their levels would also increase significantly, making it easier to hit the end-of-month target without working overtime every day.

 

"What should we do?" Lu Run was worried: "If we don't get close to Li Aozi, how can I shoot the footage?"

 

"That's easy to say."

 

"Hmm?" Lu Run was puzzled.

 

"The video footage you have is intercepted from the Abyss Humanitarian. If it's just for shooting footage, we can change our approach—go directly to the P-205 shelter of the Abyss Humanitarian, which is only 30 kilometers away, search, download, edit the video, and it takes less than forty minutes."

 

"Oh! But, where do we get a vehicle..."

 

Xue Nian glanced at the GTB vehicle.

 

This transport vehicle was modified from an ordinary Frost-Plated unmanned bus, without a real driver, controlled by a pre-written program—after all, a bunch of bounty hunters couldn't expect good treatment, like armored car pickups, tank and mechanized armor escorts? That's a bit of a pipe dream.

 

He glanced at Luo Le, his old comrade immediately understood his purpose.

 

Luo Le raised his hand, releasing a data cable, connecting it to the vehicle's air conditioning chip. His pupils split open, revealing internal electronic cameras, and a series of data codes flowed through his vision.

 

"The firewall level is low, but my RAM is not enough to completely hack the control of this vehicle—here's a plan: brake pads consume 15% memory, air conditioning consumes 17%, camera and position signal can be blocked, totaling 57% memory. How about that?"

 

Xue Nian nodded: "Don't hold back, use the virus program we got from working overtime last time."

 

"That's a [Masterpiece] level. I haven't figured out the underlying logic yet!" Luo Le grumbled: "If the company didn't ban trading of game items by prisoners, it

 

could sell for at least 30,000 Derbies in the player market when it launches."

 

"Trust me, it's worth it."

 

Xue Nian slowly stood up, pretending to stretch, walking around the bus aisle, glancing at the lazy bounty hunters, and communicated through the out-of-game voice channel:

 

"There are 21 people in total on this vehicle, all below level 10, two of them with military-grade rifles—I will control the door in a moment, you lower the protection outside the window to prevent anyone from jumping out."

 

"Okay, but be careful." Luo Le nodded, then selected a virus package named 【Accident Expert】 from the program bar, dragged and uploaded it to the vehicle.

 

"Hey, hey, hey? What are you guys doing?" Lu Run was confused. Why were they suddenly discussing something strange?

 

"Hold on tight, cameraman."

 

Luo Le grinned, grabbing a nearby handrail. The upload progress bar quickly moved to 100%.

 

【Hacked Target】

 

Squeak—

 

The bus suddenly braked, stopping abruptly, throwing the unprepared bounty hunters from their seats, tumbling around the bus.

 

"Damn it, what's going on? AI malfunction?"

 

A skilled warrior had been drinking beer, nearly fell in front of the door. Beer spilled all over him, he cursed, about to wipe off the stains, when suddenly, a bear paw bigger than a human head appeared in his vision.

 

"...Huh?"

 

He looked up in shock, immediately seeing Xue Nian's eyes—the latter's eyes were fierce, irises glowing green, like a possessed demon, his exposed muscles covered with thick brown bear skin.

 

"Shaman—you are a 【Shaman】—"

 

Thud!

 

Xue Nian raised his claw, swiftly and cleanly snapping the warrior's head off his neck.