095. Has Brother Li ever deceived you?
When we returned to Faithful Village, it was already packed with people.
There were only 25 closed beta players on White Candle Star, and now they were all gathered, filling up the entire hall of the ruins. People like Caramel Snail couldn't squeeze in and had to ask the players outside what was happening.
As an old hand, Yu Tianxiao went out to ask around and brought back one bad news and one good news:
"The bad news is: the guide Weaver is nowhere to be found, so we can't complete the mission we took earlier."
Everyone clicked their tongues. Caramel Snail, however, breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't know why, but whenever he saw that NPC named Yavanna, he felt uneasy.
"The good news is," Yu Tianxiao said excitedly, "Li Aozi is back, with brand new skills and knowledge!"
"Hooray!"
Caramel Snail jumped up, raising his arms and shouting:
"My 265 favor points are finally useful! Brother Aozi, I'm on my way!"
"Come to think of it, it's been a while since we've seen Li Aozi. Just the thought of such a handsome guy imparting his knowledge to us, tsk tsk tsk, is this really a game I get to play for free?" Cumin Powder was also quite excited.
Among Li Aozi's fans were not only players but also quite a number of appearance fans attracted even before the official release. It was understandable—three basic human fascinations: violence, allure, and good food. These three were often the most direct and pure, with no entry barriers for appreciation.
"Let's go, follow me to see Li Aozi!"
Cumin Powder pulled Caramel Snail into the crowd, looking eagerly at that tall and well-built figure:
"Ah, Mr. Li Aozi, the one I've thought about day and night, the one I deeply love—"
Then, in Cumin Powder's eyes, a headless body was reflected.
Cumin Powder: "...…?"
"Yo! Boss!" Caramel Snail rubbed his hands, asking excitedly, "Long time no see, why is your head gone?"
"My head was hurting a bit earlier, so I cut it off. Now it doesn't hurt at all."
Li Aozi saw the Piggies—the players—coming closer and immediately put on a friendly and kind demeanor.
These selected players were of high quality. They were Li Aozi's premium piglets. In just a few days, their levels were already approaching level twenty. Some were leveling up even faster than Li Aozi, the reborn one. It seemed he had still overestimated the gap between himself and top-tier players.
However, the players' shortcomings were also apparent. Their current strength and equipment were too poor, making even dealing with ordinary creatures in the woods a struggle.
Azure Star was a typical technological civilization. Just in terms of materials science, it was at least two thousand years behind, making them powerless against the creatures here.
Fortunately, Li Aozi had a way to solve their urgent problems.
Li Aozi opened the shop and put up a new batch of Omega Energy.
[Sever Life], [Death Link], [Sequence Seventy-Seven • Calamity]—All the Omega Energies Li Aozi possessed were put up without reservation, available for rent as long as players had enough favor points.
[Mutants]Players were lucky. As long as they maxed out favor points with Li Aozi, they could directly get a complete set of the 'Blood Demon Flow' combination.
Not all players had ability capsules, and the maximum Omega Energy they could hold wouldn't exceed four, but they had the advantage of quantity.
Players borrowed Omega Energy from Li Aozi to kill monsters and gain experience, which in turn helped build up Faithkeep Village.
If NPCs could give loans, Li Aozi would have wanted to lend players experience and skills, letting them pay back over time.
"I'll stay here for a day, and then return once a month."
Li Aozi stroked his nonexistent chin, seeing how players were struggling in battle.
So he opened the home system, fixed his biochemical pool in place, and expanded it to level two.
Currently, Li Aozi only had "Genetic Engineering" in hand. After learning some basic gene modification techniques, he could use it to offer players gene adjustment services.
The [Biochemist]subclass had one advantage, which was that on most planets, it could provide a tech tree ranging from fertilizer to biochemical soldiers, catering to both civilian and military needs effectively.
Compared to the [Mechanic]'s cold mechanical fortress, the [Biochemist]'s gene center could help players from Azure Star adapt better to the magical civilization, even allowing for caster bloodline modifications.
Li Aozi looked towards Yu Tianxiao in the crowd. He remembered that this old fox was a well-known PVE mage, but limited by the environment of Azure Star, he had to choose the [Mechanic]profession.
Caramel Snail approached Li Aozi. There wasn't much offered by Li Aozi that was useful for his class. The available skills were limited, mostly "Law of Energy Conservation", "Genetic Engineering", "Theory of Omega Energy Refinement", which were more [Domination]and [Craft]-oriented knowledge.
But as a [Warrior], Caramel Snail had his own ideas. His style leaned towards specialized weapon combat. Now he truly understood how good [Soul Engraving Sword Saint]was, and none of the other Omega Energies were as suitable.
Glancing at his favor points with Li Aozi, Caramel Snail thought for a moment and said:
"Li Aozi, I want to truly possess [Inscribed Soul Sword Saint]."
Li Aozi wasn't surprised by Caramel Snail's desire because it was exactly what he had intentionally set up.
[Inscribed Soul Sword Saint]had a great allure for classes like [Warriors], but it didn't provide attribute bonuses itself. Generally speaking, the classes specializing in physical development were either on the [Destruction]path of [Warriors] or the [Domination]path of [Conquerors].
The [Conqueror]path specialized in repeated Omega Energy refinement. They were monsters of stats, capable of shattering stars with a punch, but it wasn't suitable for Caramel Snail—Li Aozi knew very well that once the Higgs Field was triggered, regardless of what Omega Energy was held, its effect would be halved, which had a powerful suppression effect on the [Conqueror]path.
With Caramel Snail's combat-focused style, the brute-force, stat-heavy approach of the [Conqueror]path wasn't suitable at all.
But the final path of the [Destruction]line—[Fortuitous Creation]could perfectly avoid these shortcomings, providing powerful Omega Energy boosts along with major attribute advantages.
The only problem was that the [Fortuitous Creation]path often turned into the [Duskblade Saint]if not carefully guided.
With talent as good as Caramel Snail's, he had to be guided and cultivated properly. In the future, Li Aozi needed to lead him to acquire two core Omega Energies truly suitable for [Fortuitous Creation].
Sequence Fifty-One • [Fiend Ruler]
Sequence Eighty-Two • [Bloodline]
[Bloodline]was manageable, Li Aozi could make it himself. But the previous one, [Fiend Ruler], was challenging to obtain. He might need to take Niuniu to Star Abyss for it.
Although Li Aozi had long intended to do so, it still had to follow proper procedures.
"You want to truly possess this Omega Energy, huh?" Li Aozi feigned hesitation, thinking for a moment before saying, "I must admit, your abilities are not bad. But Omega Energy is a dangerous force, and I chose to have you learn martial arts to avoid those risks while guiding you down a righteous path."
Caramel Snail hurriedly said:
"I am ready. I really like this Omega Energy."
"That's just your perspective. Omega Energy is very dangerous, but..."
Li Aozi shifted his tone, looking at everyone:
"Since you're all here, let me tell you something."
"As you can see, we poor folks from Azure Star now bear the task of saving this planet. But the urgent matter at hand is to survive and establish a foundation while continuously making contact with cosmic civilizations. To that end, I've established our new home—Faithkeep Village—as our base."
The players immediately started complaining:
"What a tasteless name..."
"Forgive him, Li Aozi didn't attend college."
"Doesn't feel as good as Nim Gefu and Facility 3826."
"Hey! I'm already soaring high, why am I still in the newbie village?!"
Li Aozi ignored these complaints and continued:
"Currently, our territory is still quite rudimentary. Though it isn't exactly the desolate lands of Bashan Chushui, it's close to being dirt poor."
The players kept complaining:
"You also know we don't even have dorms."
"Even a poverty relief committee would shake their head here."
"Forgive him, Li Aozi didn't attend college."
Li Aozi still ignored their whining, continuing:
"But that doesn't matter. Our home requires our joint effort to build. Now, there's an urgent mission before us: Near our home lies an underground goblin lair. As fierce creatures, goblins could pose a constant threat to our home's safety. They must be eradicated."
The players started discussing:
"To be honest, aren't goblins supposed to be beginner monsters?"
"But we really are in Faithkeep Village!"
"Running out of things to do on Qiqiao Network? Might wanna get a job."
"Forgive him, Li Aozi didn't attend college."
Li Aozi, ever patient, casually waved his hand, and gravitational force immediately pinned the player who mentioned college into the ground, then he continued calmly:
"If you can prove yourselves powerful enough, I will grant you the opportunity to obtain Omega Energy permanently. Of course, that would require you to display your bravery."
—————————
[You have triggered a side quest—"Preventive Strike"]
[Type]: Exploration/Elimination
[Duration]: 7 natural days
[Difficulty]: B
[Description]:
"Stop lazing around, our home needs you!"
A group of goblins has appeared near our home, clearly up to no good—though, if we're being honest, aren't you the real intruders here?
Forget about that, though. These fierce creatures are highly aggressive, and the lord commands you to strike first and eliminate them.
[Completion Criteria]:
A. "Goblin Slayer"—Find and eliminate the goblin lair;
Reward: Li Aozi favor +50
Unlock new type of Omega Energy Awakening Potion
Open up underground space.
B. "Unexpected Fortune"—There seems to be something secret deep in the lair. Gather information and find out the truth.
Reward: Unlock next stage of the quest.
—————————
"The rewards don't seem particularly generous."
Gary Don stroked his chin:
"Could it be a scam to get us to do hard labor?"
"What are you talking about," Li Aozi chuckled, "This is all for the good of our home. Has Brother Aozi ever deceived you?"