049. The Secret of Omega Energy (Part 1)
Although Flanna wasn't particularly smart, her professional skills were solid. She marked several common pirate-active zones, manually navigating the ship to avoid unnecessary battles.
A few hours after departure, the private jet arrived in the target planet's—Kalanze's—uplink orbit.
"I'll handle the docking with the space station. Please gather your things and prepare to disembark."
Flanna reminded him,
"Remember to bring your signal transmitter and stay alert. If anything feels off, I'll dive straight from outer orbit into the atmosphere—it'll save time."
"Thanks."
Although he could directly land on the surface himself, Li Aozi preferred not to attract attention. He chose to wait for Flanna to dock properly, enter the space station for registration, and then descend via the space elevator.
Kalanze was a typical agricultural planet without grand structures, mostly lined with restaurants and food processing factories. At first glance, it felt no different from Azure Star's Grant, and honestly, there wasn't much difference.
Yet, like the hidden powerhouses in the Valkyrie Fortress's no-man's land, Kalanze also had some unique individuals.
Li Aozi found the contact arranged by Orlaville. After they exchanged credentials, the contact led him to a vehicle, and on the way, they briefly discussed their target.
"Here's all the information on Liuer."
The contact transmitted a file to Li Aozi's communicator and explained,
"Alde Midkash Liuer, a Level 4 researcher with the 'Life Collective,' originally from the Purple Glaze Star Alliance, an affiliated civilization of the 'Alliance Empire.' She hasn't entered Star Abyss, so her power level shouldn't exceed Kappa rank. Given her pure academic background, she's likely at Delta or Zeta rank."
Li Aozi glanced over the file, finding it mostly in line with his previous knowledge, except for one additional note:
"After the Life Collective disbanded, President Lester Yvonne specifically assigned a guard to Liuer. Strangely, not even Level 5 researchers received such treatment."
Li Aozi looked at the contact. "Do you know anything about that guard?"
"No details. Currently, Liuer lives on her own hydroponic farm. Her neighbors and the local primary school teacher mentioned that Liuer still seems to be conducting research, which makes the locals uneasy."
The contact's statement made Li Aozi chuckle.
"Uneasy?"
"After all, the Life Collective is a commune-style research institute focused on studying the relationship between life, omega energy, and entropy. For the sake of research, they often disregard moral boundaries..."
"That's overthinking it. I can responsibly tell you that the Life Collective never did anything against Star Abyss."
Li Aozi declared confidently,
"Those were the greatest figures in the universe back then: Tumensovsky, Angelillo, Su Jieming, Zhu Youzhen, Hobstra... Though some were academic tyrants, they were the pinnacle of civilized ethics—unlikely to do such things."
"Alright, even if you say so, the locals probably won't believe it."
The contact shrugged.
"But, Mr. Leoz, you have to understand: any conspiracy theory's emergence and spread must have some basis and material as its soil."
"Really? I've heard a saying: 'Judging a noble by the heart of a villain.' When someone wants to smear another, they often project their own actions onto others."
As Li Aozi spoke, he suddenly received a message in his system inbox. It was a new message from 'Glinna Whirlpool,' the high-ranking dragon who had previously tricked him.
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To my dear buyer:
Darling, it's been so long since you last visited.
—I mean, my shop.
You wouldn't think otherwise, would you? Even if you did, I wouldn't mind.
Recently, I've stocked up on some new treasures, and I'm sure you'll love them.
Speaking of which, I know you're already eager to do that kind of thing to me…
That's right!
Just shower me with a glorious ocean of gold coins, giving it all to Glinna!
Naughty, aren't you? Well, you're always welcome at this year's Traki Exhibition.
Spend enough, and you'll get a ticket for the Traki Exhibition this year.
Unlike before, when it was just a projection, I'll be there in person this time.
Click the link below to join my 'Only Fans' for a chance to get a handshake ticket.
ZGM.0238/1/13
—Attachment: Friend Card 'Glinna Whirlpool'
(Click here to go to the company account: "Mikhail's Little Nest")
——————————————
"Tsk, vulgar, always hinting around the edges, utterly shameless."
Li Aozi criticized harshly, then opened the mall and browsed for a bit.
"She even took down the photo album, damn it. I should have bought it last time."
Damn capitalist!
Still, Glinna, as a high-ranking dragon, did provide solid goods—high quality and high price—but at least it wasn't like 'Hunter' Jotun's absurdly inflated prices that Li Aozi didn't even want to glance at.
As for Mr. Orlaville's premium liquors—those were the real treasures.
For instance, one fine vintage labeled 'Snow Brew' was priced at an intimidating 25,000 points but granted a powerful effect: immunity to all cold-based effects for 300 seconds.
Complete immunity to any cold effect.
Orlaville's products were top-tier items, and unless you were wealthy, most people couldn't afford such pricey life-savers.
Li Aozi set aside a budget. After resolving the task at hand, he'd need some alcohol to help push the mission forward.
Besides, he checked the general effects of "Gene Editing Engineering", one of which was: "My Life is My Own"—immediately gain a racial trait, and each time you change race, the number of awakened traits +1.
His previous fusion implant didn't count as a race change since both bodies were his own, but this time he'd fully changed races, directly awakening two racial traits.
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[Racial Trait: Super-Sensory Thought]—The Elai Ethereal Tribe is one of the oldest and most isolated ethereal races, maintaining an ancient tribal structure unlike any other branch due to their unique thinking patterns.
The Elai possess an extraordinary, hyper-intuition, allowing them to sense impending disaster and doom more keenly. When ambushed, their reaction speed increases by a hundredfold in an instant, as if the world freezes.
The Elai Ethereal Tribe can highly focus their minds, thirsting for knowledge, solving puzzles without gathering clues, using 'intuition' alone, and if possessing high [Intelligence], you have a high chance of finding the correct answer.
Trait Effect: You gain a four-slot focus meter. When ambushed, you can spend one focus slot to perform a forced dodge (ineffective against 'sure-hit' spells).
Or consume a focus slot to perform an [Intelligence] check for a puzzle.
[Racial Trait: Psionic Awakening]—Their physiology and history have endowed the Ethereal with rich emotions and empathetic perception, making them a naturally powerful psychic species.
In modern science and magic, mental power and psionics are often conflated. Magic studies suggest mental power originates from the brain's pineal gland, while modern science views psionics as a manifestation of intelligent beings' independent consciousness, a byproduct of civilization.
Whatever the case, there's one consensus: Ethereals can transmit private information among themselves mentally, bypassing speech. By consuming mana, they can send highly encrypted psionic signals to distant targets.
This trait allows you to use psionic weapons.
Trait Effect: Through mental power, you can exert some effects on the real world.
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Both traits were impressive and practical, bolstering Li Aozi's confidence.
"We're here."
As soon as the contact spoke, the vehicle stopped smoothly. Li Aozi nodded, stepped out of the car, and felt his feet sink into the soft black soil as dew wet his pant legs. The clear sunlight cast a golden glow on him, gentle but not blinding.
[Your extraordinary charisma has attracted the attention of this planet.]
[You have earned the planet's favor.]
[You have gained a buff: Blessing of Life—on Kalanze, you recover 0.4% of your maximum health per second.]
"Safe travels, Mr. Leoz," the contact shouted after him. "Head straight ahead, through the sunflower field; it's right at the end."
Li Aozi raised his hand, checking his signal transmitter: everything was normal, and Flanna showed online.
With everything ready, Li Aozi set out, boots crunching in the dirt as sunflowers gently swayed, reaching toward his shoulders. A warm breeze brought the chirping of birds and the fragrance of soil, filling his eyes with pastoral beauty.
Passing through the sea of sunflowers, he spotted a capsule-shaped farmhouse. An old man in a straw hat sat on a bench, wearing a loose white tank top and blue canvas jacket, holding a bowl of soup and bread. He saw Li Aozi from afar, casually swallowing his food, and then said,
"The sunflowers aren't ripe yet. Come back in a week if you want to buy them."
"I'm not here for sunflower seeds."
"Eggplants? Potatoes? Lettuce? Tomatoes? Or peppers—we've got pretty much everything."
The old man spoke unhurriedly.
"But none are as good as the sunflowers. The seeds are fragrant, 100% organic with no pesticide residue, premium taste, crisp, and buttery."
"Alde Midkash Liuer."
Li Aozi put on a serious expression and said,
"I'm here to find Liuer. There's a problem I must resolve."
The old man put his food aside, stood up, gave Li Aozi a once-over, and asked,
"You're following the [Dominion] path of the [Mutant]?"
"You could say that."
"Come with me."
The old man wasted no words, turning to lead Li Aozi into the capsule farm. As soon as he stepped inside, Li Aozi looked up and saw a generator hovering with purple synthetic crystals, and asked,
"A void energy generator?"
"Battlefield surplus junk," the old man dismissed it. "How much do you know about the Collective?"
"Why ask?"
"I need to be sure. Liuer has a bad temper, and the Collective's work is her life's passion. Best not provoke her."
"I know the basics," Li Aozi replied. "The Life Collective focuses on researching omega energy, genetics, and entropy. Essentially, it's a study of life."
"Immortality, or at least longevity, isn't rare in the universe. People know that reaching a certain level on the path, ascending to godhood, grants near-endless life."
"I get it—it's research on immortality. Even gods can die, which is why the path needs fresh faces constantly. Everyone wants to extend their lives, and you're working on decoding life's secrets."