Fragnts from earlier flashed through his mind:
...............
"Well Lord Leoz, don’t you have a slogan for this rebellion?"
"I’m not good at naming things."
"How can you not be—oh, since you’re the planner, it has to be you."
"... I know the slogan of the Void and the Kingdom Parliant is ’Return to the Great Void,’ implying an embrace of nothingness. In that case, our rebellion slogan shall be—"
"Break the illusion."
...............
"Is Leoz not good at naming things?"
Gio Zieou sneered:
"While Morphederia slept for long periods, all power was delegated to the executer, from civil and military dignitaries. But every mandate, including the na of this planet, Haines, and even the ’Pantheon’—all these classic nas were personally chosen by Leoz."
From their first encounter, Gio Zieou felt deep suspicion toward this familiar yet unfamiliar individual.
"Lord Leoz simply dislikes wasting ti; that doesn’t an he lacks literary talent."
Li Aozi carried Leoz’s aura, which was very pure, but his character and abilities were sowhat different.
Especially his character.
Leoz, as a cannon fodder deity, had no remnants of emotional function. When they first t, Li Aozi had used his mandate’s power to ticulously carve a flower to give to the deceased.
This was unlike Leoz.
On the contrary, it resembled the ’Seed’ a bit.
"Is this guy the ’Seed,’ or did he gain sothing from the ’Seed’?"
During this ti, he deliberately pretended to be simple and honest, with no distractions, just to confirm this.
"However, this guy indeed seems to have a link with Leoz. Unfortunately, the last ti I saw Leoz, I was being corrupted by Society, and Leoz struck too hard, making my consciousness a bit fuzzy... I can’t rember who Leoz descended onto."
It’s not that he doubted his close friend—when it ca to matters involving the Starry Abyss, Gio Zieou, despite cherishing their friendship, couldn’t afford to be negligent.
The command from the Starry Abyss was: ’If the Seed isn’t in our hands, then destroy it.’
And Lai Anding’s attitude also made Gio Zieou find Leoz’s status unusual.
Lai Anding repeatedly asked about ’Li Zi’ and ’Leoz.’ Thinking back, perhaps Lai Anding also suspected that Leoz was ’Li Zi.’
It just so happened that Li Zi committed suicide, and the Starry Abyss’s ’Seed’ disappeared.
How could there be so many coincidences?
By this point, anyone could deduce the intricate connection between ’Li Zi’ and the ’Seed.’
Gio Zieou could even say with certainty: Lai Anding sent him here to find Li Zi.
Unfortunately, he didn’t know what kind of person ’Li Zi’ was.
Since Jiaozi Niu was socially anxious and barely interacted with anyone in reality, Gio Zieou couldn’t get any useful information. If it was confird that Li Zi was Leoz, Gio Zieou would save a lot of effort.
But now, Gio Zieou was almost certain.
Despite lingering doubts, Li Aozi’s decisive actions within this period, sacrificing countless civilians for efficiency, had confird to Gio Zieou: this was indeed Leoz himself.
"It seems I was overthinking, Leoz."
At this thought, Gio Zieou sighed in relief.
Leoz was certainly not the Seed from the Starry Abyss, but he feared that the Seed might have seen through his intentions and deliberately disguised itself as Leoz to deceive him.
After all, as soon as he arrived on this planet, he encountered an old friend.
However.
This fellow warrior, who once served the Starry Abyss together, wasn’t in a rush to eliminate Society but was busy seizing territories and mingling with the local Void Narrative.
Although Gio Zieou didn’t understand the plot background in his previous life, the narrative was nominally still part of the Starry Abyss’s forces.
Who wouldn’t be suspicious under these circumstances?
The worst outco would be the Seed being corrupted and betraying the Starry Abyss.
That guy, after all, had a system that led the players by 14 versions and had conducted a tiline rehearsal, probably already well-versed in the genealogical entanglents among the Starry Abyssal Spirits. It’s hard to say if he wouldn’t try to impersonate one...
Gio Zieou’s real concern was ’Li Zi’ and the Seed.
————————————
"Have you noticed that Li Zi possesses so extraordinary qualities?"
"This, for example—having never contacted a field of knowledge but instantly reaching a level of mastery, being exceptionally skilled at military command, coldly and ruthlessly pursuing profits to the extre, even hurting himself for efficiency, or submitting a perfect test paper without needing to write anything..."
"Li Zi is definitely not a smart person; he only excels at learning through practice, he didn’t continue studying after high school. Also, he’s never been known to enjoy playing military strategy gas, nor is he likely to be profit-driven. As for efficiency, Li Zi was always late to every training session, a terminal procrastinator. And tests—he hardly ever took any societal exams."
"Is it not him? If it’s not, how can this be explained..."
————————————
In hindsight, it seed Lai Anding was describing Leoz’s character.
While the ’Li Zi’ Jiaozi Niu recognized was a lazy, practical, and anti-formalistic youth disliking rote learning and the examination system.
Maybe, Lai Anding had suspected from the start that Leoz ca into contact with the ’Seed’?
Or possibly even exchanged identities.
But now there was no need to worry.
"Leoz is still the Leoz, it now appears he indeed just coincidentally happened to be on this planet."
"As for ’Li Zi,’ which is the Seed, he must also be sowhere on this planet, maybe over the Void side, or within the Kingdom Parliant, perhaps even among the high tables..."
The scope of this was hardly difficult to guess.
Given the Seed’s talent and its preemption into the Starry Abyss, its strength wouldn’t be low.
But with the Dragon Satellite isolated from the cosmos, the Seed had no chance to subrge into the Starry Abyss.
So the Seed’s strength was only possible between Iota (9) and Kappa (10).
Gio Zieou felt relaxed.
Leoz was Leoz, having nothing to do with the ’Seed.’ He might even not know anything about the ’Seed’ before Gio Zieou disclosed it.
What he feared most was that the ’Seed’ had been seized by Leoz, taken for himself. That situation he couldn’t explain.
This way, at least the last possible deadly confrontation was avoided.
As for mortals?
Gio Zieou didn’t care.
It didn’t matter how many mortals died; the Starry Abyss had an endless supply of them. Fewer of these mortals would, if anything, prevent Society from being overly nourished and thriving.
Leoz proved his innocence, which mattered more than anything else.
"Only, there’s still one thing that’s sowhat puzzling..."
He caressed his chin, staring at the surrounding black-green flags, pondering:
"He didn’t blow up the planet this ti—was his efficiency too low?"
"Thinking in this light, suspicions can’t be entirely ruled out."
"Let see how you will perform next, Lord Leoz."
...............
Li Aozi stepped out of the tiline and entered a marshy area. He walked calmly across the water’s surface.
Hours earlier, he had launched an Arcane Missile of Calamity here, cursing this land.
Unlike previous direct manipulations of Arcane Energy, this missile’s usage emphasized destructive effect, triggering a severe flood disaster.
Hundreds of thousands of people were displaced, and tens of thousands died.
A young girl clutching a rag doll floated by, her body turning pale and swollen.
A woman held an infant aloft, half-leaning on driftwood, floating with her body rotting and reeking, yet still not letting go.
Her child, rocked by the wind in her sturdy arms, continued to cry loudly on the water’s surface.
A car, once part of a happy family road trip, struggled briefly before being swallowed by floodwater and silt, its air depleting slowly, drowning its occupants within.
Staring at the bodies floating on the water, being nibbled by fish, Li Aozi rely raised his hand.
[Select Arcane Missile Type—"Eye of Truth"]
Li Aozi raised his hand, and behind him, his Moonlight Disciples did the sa.
[True Sight Missile—Launch]
Five silver streaks of light shot into the marsh, capturing every body’s information location and physiological status.
Their souls still wandered this world.
Li Aozi silently, his hands moving slowly through the air as if conducting intricate surgery on an operating table.
[Professional Talent - Bishop’s Military Soul]: Effect C, "Civilizing Mission."
Li Aozi quietly opened dinsional rifts, using gravity to pull bodies and souls, weak force bosons to locate them, sending those who died because of him into different dinsional worlds securely.
A wandering soul took notice of Li Aozi, promptly charging at him with accusations and questioning.
Its emotions were intense, unable to comprehend such extre actions after seeing through Li Aozi’s atrocities.
To this, Li Aozi simply nodded.
"This was a consideration for efficiency; no need to forgive my unilateral actions—feel free to hate ."
Li Aozi showed no guilt or remorse, which infuriated the souls.
’What do you take us for?!’
’We are not tools! We are dignified people!’
’Ambitious tyrant! Monster! Bastard! You’re a thousand tis more evil than the Void!’
Li Aozi didn’t care and continued:
"These passages lead to peaceful, undisturbed, other-dinsional worlds, chosen with care. You might beco weaker there, but it’s very safe."
"By the way, in those worlds, although you’ll reincarnate, you’ll retain mories, talents, and skills from this life, most of which are applicable. With so effort, you should achieve prosperity."
"From now on, live your lives as transmigrators, hating all your lives."
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