017. Gravitational Development
[Side Quest Triggered—"The Roar of Freedom"]
[Type]: Combat
[Duration]: 30 Natural Days
[Quest Difficulty]: B
[Description]:
"Rain falls on the righteous and the wicked alike. The poor are drenched, suffocating, feverish, dying in confusion, while the rich hold umbrellas, praising nature's sweet dew."
The Grand Duchy of Grant has only 47 million people, yet it feeds 630 million Frost-Plated citizens. From the Balgra Volcano to the Agate Basin, this fertile land has always been rich in oil and milk.
But what is the cost?
The cost is watered with the blood of the Grant people, their helpless cries silenced under the iron hooves of Frost-Plated.
Shatter the shackles, break free from colonial control, and roar toward a free future—that is the choice of the Grant people.
You are neither a hero nor a villain; you are merely a cold-hearted beneficiary. But actions speak louder than intentions, and your deeds will win the weak the rights they deserve.
[Completion Criteria]:
A. "Children of the Volcano"—Overthrow the comprador group of Grant and help the Grant people reclaim power, rebuilding the republic.
Reward: 1.2 million experience
B. "Buried in Ultramarine"—The greatest obstacle to the uprising is the old-world ruler. Kill the Grand Duke of Grant, Gamos Luwin Grant (Gamma-tier).
Reward: Random reward (based on quest rating; the higher the rating, the better the final reward)
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After the Tianhuan representatives left, Li Aozi remained in the reception room with Lord Auckland, discussing this difficult-to-judge transaction.
"Mr. Li Aozi, in many people's eyes, you were born in Frost-Plated. Won't acting like this have an impact?"
Auckland rested his chin on his hand, rotating a porcelain teacup, and asked curiously.
Li Aozi, uninterested in the tea, crossed his arms and toyed with the memory unit containing the professional knowledge, responding with a question:
"Why do you think that?"
"Tianhuan knows you're a hero for defeating the anti-human organization, yet they still want you to incite a colonial rebellion. This might provoke Frost-Plated nationalists' anger toward you, right?" Lord Auckland held his chin. "What surprises me is that you actually agreed."
"What nationalism is there in Frost-Plated? If things continue as they are, all they'll have left is male and female extremism." Li Aozi shrugged indifferently. "As for public opinion—don't be fooled by the current online support. Most of them are just paying lip service. If anything, bleeding Frost-Plated might be the only way to wake them up to who their real enemy is."
"The enemy in the Twin Palaces...?" Lord Auckland leaned back, impressed. "Your vision is certainly grand. The people of the Four Nations are on a different level than those from the outer world when it comes to perspective."
"There's no need to sell yourself short. The Auckland family has managed to operate for so many years despite being squeezed by Frost-Plated and Tianhuan. It shows that your capabilities are not inferior to those in power in the Four Nations."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
Li Aozi casually opened a newly established GTB bank account on his terminal; Tianhuan had given him 20 million Zhub, equivalent to 1 million Derbies.
This was just the fee for hiring him; there would be additional funds specifically for inciting the colonial rebellion once he arrived in the Grand Duchy of Grant.
With half a month left before the beta players went online, this timely infusion of funds from Tianhuan allowed him to further expand his biochemical pool.
"Next, I can start producing the Omega Energy awakening serum."
In the following days, the benefits of being on good terms with Lord Auckland quickly became apparent.
Under the banner of Triangle Town, Li Aozi openly imported some biochemical raw materials from Frost-Plated and Tianhuan. Within a week, Li Aozi's laboratory expanded three times.
During this time, Li Aozi also completed his study of "Omega Energy Refinement Theory," using up the remaining experience points to raise this professional knowledge to a professor-level mastery.
As a result, the development level of the [Gravitational] Omega Energy advanced to a new stage:
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Core Omega Energy—[Gravity • Contact]
[Rating]: Omega (Ω, the 24th and final Greek letter)
[Development Level]: Contact Level
[Description]:
[Gravity • Contact]—You have gained a more intuitive understanding of 'gravity,' one of the four fundamental forces of the universe. Before you lies not only a field of driving forces and velocity, but you are also beginning to touch deeper realms.
You have fallen into the trap it weaves for you—but you do so willingly. Yes, may you continue to remain this way.
Gravity, such a wondrous and enigmatic power, its strength is limitless, and so is your ever-growing ambition.
The power of gods has granted you the ability to warp reality, yet you seek to covet the gods themselves.
Stop now; merely touching it is enough.
"Newton lied to you; gravity exists only by my side."
Range: Spherical space with a 50-meter radius centered on yourself.
[Active Effects]:
Mode 1 • Monarch
Consumes Omega Energy to freely control the magnitude and direction of gravity within range, altering gravitational acceleration. (Up to 150G)
Gravity target selection ignores attribute checks but is affected by anti-gravity effects.
Mode 2 • Warp
You can bend the gravitational field around your body to achieve light deflection, rendering yourself optically invisible. (Optical weapons have a 70% chance of being deflected when targeting you.)
[Passive Effects]:
①: Your body is favored by the forces of the universe—Gain 18% damage reduction.
②: You have comprehended deeper gravitational laws, and your body is permanently shrouded by a gravitational field—Immune to all time-related skill effects except your own (including: time stop, stasis, accelerated aging, and time slow effects no longer affect you).
③: It's unheard of for a child of gravity to die from a fall—Immune to fall damage from heights.
[Current Development Level]: Contact Level; Omega Energy consumption rate at this development level is—100%.
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The gravitational effects further advanced, and the application of Omega-tier Omega Energy became even more versatile.
With the "Professor-Level • Omega Energy Refinement Theory" in hand, the speed of developing Omega Energy would increase significantly. Li Aozi planned to advance the gravitational Omega Energy to the next level, Control Level, before heading into space.
However, this also meant Li Aozi was once again troubled by the need for experience.
On one hand, even though his [Biochemist] profession was a secondary profession, it still leveled up according to the standards of a primary profession.
Adding to that, each upgrade of professional knowledge consumed a massive amount of experience, and the [Craft] specialization required dozens of professional knowledge fields to become fully developed.
Each level of mastery in a field, from Basic, Intermediate, Advanced, Bachelor, Master, Professor, Pioneer, to Scholar, had eight levels.
With each level increase, the experience required doubled.
To upgrade a piece of professional knowledge to Scholar-level, Li Aozi estimated that he would need to kill every living thing on Azure Star to gather enough experience.
The [Craft] specialization burned through money even more than the [Domination] specialization. As the saying goes, "Poor scholars, rich warriors." In Star Abyss, forging a bloody path as a [Martial Artist] and earning a living was actually more viable.
Even so, from an NPC's perspective, Li Aozi's learning speed was terrifyingly fast. The "Pioneer-Level • Biochemical Materials Science" he previously mastered already allowed him to create top-tier materials on Azure Star. With the addition of "Implant Technology," he could soon produce bio-implants and, like the Professor, beat [Mechanists] like Du Zexin to the point of doubting their existence.
Fortunately, the quest triggered by the Tianhuan visitors temporarily alleviated his urgent need for experience.
Speaking of which, I should have mentioned earlier that natural Gamma-tier does not exist on Azure Star.
One reason is the lack of an environment conducive to the emergence of Gamma-tier beings, so professions like [Martial Artist] and [Mutant] that rely on physical bodies max out at Beta-tier; the environment doesn't support further evolution.
In such a case, those who manage to reach Gamma-tier are as rare as astronauts—one in a few billion. Those who succeed rely on time and chance and cannot replicate the path. Even if such a person advances, their strength will decline with age.
Even if you send Gagarin back to space in his old age, he wouldn't be able to handle the strain.
On the other hand, professions like [Biochemist] and [Mechanist] that rely on knowledge have a better chance of advancing (such as Abyss professors who could stack enough Bio-Colossuses to reach Gamma-tier).
But in practice... everyone saw what happened to the Bio-Colossus.