On the vast, endless snowy wasteland, two figures rode hover motorbikes, racing one after the other. The biting cold wind mixed with freezing rain fell, adding another layer of ice to the already buried mechanical ruins.

[Distance to marked location: 89km--88km--87km...]

The figure in front took off his windproof mask, revealing the typical face of a Red Arrow man, his purple eyes gazing ahead, the vertical pupils seemingly penetrating the vast snowstorm to fix upon his target.

"Almost there."

Leoz murmured.

Boling Star.

It was less than 147 light-years directly from Valkyrie Fortress. If you take the Interstellar Express, it's just a 9-hour journey.

However, an ordinary person could never reach here in a lifetime.

This planet, cold from its Stellar Core to its surface, cannot truly be called a planet. It is essentially a product of the expansion era, a result of the three major narratives' conflict.

At that time, the fifth Philosopher King of the Empire and the then chairman of the Corporation fought here for twenty-nine years.

The result was a pyrrhic victory for the Empire, forcing the Corporation to relinquish this barren starry sky. But both sides also signed a non-aggression treaty, declaring they would never again interfere with this Starfield.

In effect, both sides simultaneously abandoned their claims here, each taking a step back, suggesting no one should think about this place again in the future.

Of course, if they really didn't think about this Starfield, the later Valkyrie Fortress wouldn't have appeared, nor would Leoz's rise, and even players' activities would be significantly impacted.

Narrative Civilization's hegemonism would never retreat easily.

In order to establish a Bridgehead Fort here and be wary of the Corporation's ambitions, the Philosopher King solidified a drop of his own blood here, creating this planet.

For this reason, Boling Star strictly speaking, is not a planet; it is not recognized by the Starry Abyss, nor can it be scanned on the Star Map. Moreover, it hosts the powers of Omega Tier (24) beings, and those who are not citizens of the Empire are immediately repelled and isolated.

"Aren't we moving a bit too fast, True General?"

The temporary team channel received a message from Night Fighting Sword. As a professional player, Night Fighting Sword's typing speed was fast, often choosing to type in one go rather than voice chat.

And Leoz was quite unfamiliar with the keyboard, using 'hunt and peck' method, typing one letter at a time.

Since he typed too slowly, he didn't explain much. The two of them reached a mountain top, Leoz took off his thermal gloves, amplified the Qi Energy in his eyes, and gazed at the distant border checkpoint, taking a photo and posting it in the chat group.

"We've reached the Boling Star checkpoint," Leoz typed slowly. "The defense here is very weak, and it's currently the time of shift change. I'll immediately send the transmitted coordinates, I suggest you come quickly."

"You guys are moving way too fast..."

Caramel Snail replied:

"We've just finished introducing ourselves here, haven't even done the ice-breaking ritual, how come you guys are almost at the Narrative Civilization?"

"From my understanding of Layer Abyss, border shift changes occur every three months. If you don't plan to travel from the Empire, then the Temple or Corporation entry, I also have access."

Leoz was unfazed:

"Now is the time when the defenses of the three giants of Layer Abyss are at their weakest. Wanting to sneak in legally is impossible, you must charge through in one go. Otherwise, there are God Embracers and Demigods of the Narrative Civilization in the Inherent Time Domain. We are simply not their match."

"I agree."

Long Yuqiong's voice sounded from behind. Leoz turned his head, just as light and shadow fragments slowly descended from the newly set teleportation coordinates, a large number of particles conglomerating into a humanoid figure, forming a young man with several strands of red-tinted black hair.

Long Yuqiong walked up to Leoz with long strides, extended his hand and said:

"[Qiongyu] Long Yuqiong, level 120, [Dragon Vein Swordsman], pleased to meet you."

Leoz slightly tilted his head, observing the cold, stern face of the tinted youth, curiously asking:

"Your facial modeling is so exquisite, was it scanned from a real-life photo?"

"Yes." Long Yuqiong said: "I am currently an Athlete, as a public figure, it's more appropriate to show my real face, more importantly——"

"It's more efficient."

They both said in unison.

Long Yuqiong looked at Leoz in surprise, and said somewhat unexpectedly:

"I didn't expect someone to understand my thoughts... Looks like you'll be a great collaborator."

"Hmm, I think I get it too——Long Yuqiong, real name Ou Shen, S1 season's individual match champion. Any solo match video you randomly choose can make it to the highlights, on Blablabla video site, videos explaining your operations start at millions of views."

Leoz glanced at the information searched online, then gave a kind smile, firmly shaking Long Yuqiong's extended hand:

"It's such Luck to cooperate with you."

[Well, isn't this Oshen? Severston said you were pardoned, didn't expect you to abandon Morphederia so soon, and become a lackey for Starry Abyss?]

However, upon reflection, it makes sense. Oshen was always loyal to the Starry Abyss Side, and even being degraded as an Evil God was merely due to differing political views and irreconcilable ideologies.

In terms of resisting foreign invaders, Oshen remained the most active in fighting, even after being condemned as an Evil God.

It's just that, Oshen, or rather Long Yuqiong, now appears to have also abandoned the long-cycle, unstable growth [Sovereign] system, choosing the [Destroyer] Pathway like him.

It must be said, apart from differing ideologies, Oshen and he match astonishingly well in other areas, especially in efficiency concepts, it's not just learning by modeling, at least it's a complete adoption.

Although it was known that Caramel Snail had pretty good connections in the professional circle, pulling in veterans like Oshen and Severston was indeed surprising for Leoz.

Back when the Resistance Front was in its prime, only 27 Spiritual Warriors had a record of solo killing the [Society] entity.

Just after shaking hands with Long Yuqiong, the teleport nodes began to light up one after another, as players crossed the starry sky, using the system's non-war zone teleportation feature, quickly taking their positions.

"Ah, True General, your moves are way too fast." Caramel Snail scratched his head, complaining, "We're still discussing the matter of the High Court Chairman, the Xia Yubing story was only halfway told and you're already starting..."

"The story can be told anytime, but the High Court is a very ancient civilization, currently we can't gather much information about them in Layer Abyss."

Xia Yubing didn't mind, she was just a non-combatant, serving as a knowledge consultant and narrative explainer in the team, only starting to transition after encouragement and recommendation from Long Yuqiong, now she is an analyst in the team.

She glanced at the True General, slightly paused, then said:

"You... are the one who gave me Arcane Energy back then?"

"Oh, Miss Qiu Yun, so you weren't an NPC."

Leoz shrugged, just remembering.

The character Xia Yubing recruited was the holder of [Spontaneous Combustion] Arcane Energy—Qiu Ran's sister. Since Qiu Ran's siblings were essentially out of contact, only Qiu Yun remained. Leoz returned the Arcane Energy to her sister.

Unexpectedly, Qiu Yun also passed away, but fortunately, she was recruited by Xia Yubing, who, as she's mostly not involved in battles, wasn't put in danger.

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