For Li Aozi, the box was barely larger than his foot. With a light push, he effortlessly shattered the lock, revealing the contents inside:
A book.
A key shaped like a human hand bone.
And a pale, maggot-covered mask.
The other two items were the knowledge and wealth accumulated by the blacksmith during his ti as the ’Chief of the High Table.’ He intended to pass these on to soone fated to receive them.
Wealth was aningless to Li Aozi, and knowledge of the Void was best left untouched. These two items were unimportant.
The important thing was—the mask.
"In this way, I now have two masks."
Li Aozi lifted his palm, and the two masks of the Knights of the High Table were imdiately drawn to it, converging here:
"To open the path to the ’King,’ nine masks are needed. Seven remain."
Li Aozi glanced at the book in the suitcase. Gravity lifted it, quickly flipping through the pages:
"Gold storage locations, crystal contracts... High Table selections—found."
The pages stopped, spreading a list before Li Aozi:
Chief ’Maggot’— (sared)
Second ’Magic Eye’—Reyes
Third ’Peddler’—Mashnat
Fourth ’Sea Maiden’—lissa
Fifth ’The Poet’—Chen Wenjing
Sixth ’Warrior’—Walter (deceased, mask in ’The Poet’s’ possession)
Seventh ’White Crow’—Aiwens
Eighth ’Dancing Maiden’—Kristin
Ninth ’Garden’—Gaden
"Aside from their rankings... territories are also recorded."
Li Aozi studied it. The blacksmith had ticulously recorded the High Table knights’ movent routes. Most of the ti, these Iota Rank (9) powerhouses stayed in their territories, but every four months, they had to return to The Capital for the Kingdom Parliant’s etings.
"Just as I thought..."
Li Aozi’s guess was correct. The essence of the Kingdom Parliant was an alliance of warlord oligarchs, and the ’King’ was truly the kingdom’s core and soul.
And the next eting was next week.
The blacksmith pointed out that the sixth High Table knight, the ’Warrior,’ had died in battle. The council secretly concealed his death, locking the news within The Capital.
Garden, Maggot, Warrior, all dead.
This Chen Wenjing, Li Aozi had heard rumors about him at the Fermi Research Institute. This guy had already been consud by the Void, and the two masks in his possession were likely at the Fermi Research Institute.
"This is a bit troubleso..."
In other words, there were still five knights he had to face.
"Fighting five at once is a bit much, but taking them down one by one will drag things on too long. Plus, there’s the institute’s power—I don’t want to waste too much ti on this planet. I need to dive into the Starry Abyss as soon as possible..."
Li Aozi stroked his chin, analyzing his battle plan with the dragon satellite map attached to the blacksmith’s notes.
Even without considering that Zhi Xiang had entrusted him with this strength, the blacksmith and Polina’s successive deaths, solely the hazards brought by the Void ant Li Aozi had to drive out the Void Overlord from this place.
And the problem was, to deal with at least a Kappa (10) Void Overlord, he needed to unite with the ’King,’ the strongest force on the Dragon Satellite. Only by convincing this mysterious power to join his side could he combat the Void.
As for these Iota Rank (9) knights of the High Table... Li Aozi might need their strength to fight the Void in the future.
But if they insisted on stopping him from eting the ’King,’ Li Aozi would have no choice but to take them out.
Having promised Zhi Xiang not to let the forces of the Starry Abyss corrupt this planet, Li Aozi had no ti or patience to call for reinforcents.
"The problem now is how to quickly seize the masks from these five remaining High Table knights without harming them... Five people, plus the institute."
As Li Aozi pondered, a voice suddenly sounded nearby:
"Not five knights, Lord Leoz."
The voice seed to co from a young man, not transmitted through air vibrations but directly appearing in Li Aozi’s mind.
"Hmm?—This is, divine power resonance?"
He froze slightly, suddenly understanding the principle, and imdiately turned his head toward the source of the sound.
Not far away, a green figure, barely three ters tall, slowly erged from the forest. Its entire being clad in erald armor, porcelain-like skin, the gladiator’s heart-protecting mirror on its chest, two pairs of asymtrical horns on its head, and the slanted cross pattern on its chest—the resemblance to Li Aozi was stark, yet a sense of similarity inexplicably rose within him.
Moreover... the figure evoked a familiarity he couldn’t place.
Though he had never seen such a form before, Li Aozi felt as if he knew this individual.
He silently scrutinized the figure. The porcelain-skinned entity approached, greeting him amicably:
"Lord Leoz, what kind of attitude is that? Not even a greeting for an old friend—oh, don’t tell you can’t recognize ?"
Li Aozi’s cold eyes scrutinized the figure, racking his brain to determine their identity.
"I don’t know this NPC; there’s no record of such an image."
"Despite the unfamiliar exterior, the tone reminds of an annoying lad..."
"Who is this?"
The green-armored figure spread its hands:
"Co on, you really don’t rember your old friend? We just t a few months ago."
A few months ago?
Li Aozi began to ponder.
He ntioned a few months ago. A few months ago, he was just a bunch of scattered parts.
"No, sothing’s off!"
Li Aozi suddenly realized:
"He’s been calling ’Lord Leoz,’ and also ntioned a few months ago..."
"Wait, if it’s not a few months ago on the Dragon Satellite—no way."
"Could he an ga ti in ’Starry Abyss’?"
If calculated by ga ti, a month between updates for players... if we go back a bit further.
—That would be the ti he and Caral Snail went to Ziluo Star?
"Ziluo Star..."
"What happened on Ziluo Star... Caral Snail was corrupted by ’Society,’ Leoz intervened..."
"But at that ti—uh?!"
At this point, a sudden arcane glow sparked in Li Aozi’s mind.
He connected it all!
Everything connected.
He raised his head, looking at the green armored figure before him, and spoke:
"Caral Snail?"
"Ah, we’re so familiar now, why use that false ga na."
The green armored figure shrugged, the ripples on its face undulating continuously, laughing:
"Jiaozi Niu, Gio Zieou, any na is fine. After all, it’s all the sa person."
It approached Li Aozi, elbowing him playfully below the waist, joking:
"Oh no, the reality filter’s been on too long; I’ve almost forgotten my species."
Gio Zieou said lightly:
"It’s... the sa ’god.’"
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