Chapter 200: Heading to Troll Star

"I sensed his change as well. I remember him casually mentioning last time that the Star Glory Empire was contacting him," Mangu said thoughtfully.

Li Yu had called Mangu to ask for his opinion, only to learn of this piece of news.

"The Star Glory Empire is contacting him?" Li Yu was somewhat surprised. How did Kansa catch the eye of the Star Glory Empire? Was it because of him?

"It seems to be because of the Anti-Discrimination Movement. The Star Glory Empire apparently wants to sponsor him," Mangu explained.

"Later, when I asked him about it again, he acted rather evasive and refused to go into details."

Li Yu wore a strange expression, finally understanding what was going on. The Star Glory Empire's purpose in supporting Saster was to divide the Amethyst Civilization.

However, looking at it now, despite all the resources they had spent, their efforts were not as effective as Kansa's sudden Anti-Discrimination Movement. Naturally, they shifted their attention to him.

"He hasn't slipped out of my control yet. He just has some minor hidden agendas, nothing to worry about," Mangu said. The Thought Seal was still entirely under his command.

Li Yu nodded, deciding not to dwell on the matter too much.

"I might as well use this time to take a trip to Troll Star and see if Tu Rui's son is dead yet," Li Yu pondered as he and Hunter returned to the spaceship.

"Oh my, no way!" Keller skipped around the cabin while an anime produced by some unknown civilization played in the background.

The main plot revolved around a former powerhouse who was injected with a mysterious genetic serum, turning him into a young child. An ancient and ferocious star beast was sealed within his body as he searched for the truth, eventually becoming the Star Pirate King.

Keller was watching with sheer delight, bouncing up and down from time to time. Li Yu glanced at the screen, feeling an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

"Keller, do not disturb the others," Sinai scolded softly. She was sitting nearby, and her mood had improved significantly ever since she learned that Peyton would not be drawing her blood.

Changing back into her own clothes, she felt the familiar, heavy weight press against her chest.

"It is fine," Li Yu shook his head, instructing Claptrap to set off for Troll Star.

Executing a Stargate Jump through the Tasuri Hub to the stargate closest to Troll Star, followed by a short-distance flight, would not take too much time.

After paying the Stargate Jump fee and setting their destination, the Blazing Light Starship vanished into the stargate.

At the exact moment the Blazing Light Starship disappeared into the stargate, an endless distance away within the Amethyst Civilization...

Kansa was facing a Holographic Screen that was divided into many sections, all displaying elderly faces. The largest screen in the center showed his father, the Amethyst Emperor.

"He did not agree. He is asking for one hundred twenty million Star Coins." Kansa was no longer the prodigal son of the past. Facing numerous powerful figures now, he felt no nervousness whatsoever.

"What an exorbitant demand!" someone angrily rebuked. "This is already the Black Market Purchase Price! To think a wanted criminal dares to despise our Amethyst Civilization like this!"

"If you do not agree, then you can only wait," Kansa responded calmly.

"He even dares to threaten us! Hand his information over to the Star Glory Empire!" the old man in the top-left corner scolded, his face flushed red.

"Do you still want the Amethyst Core or not?" Kansa sneered. These old geezers were truly becoming more useless the longer they lived.

"Kansa, is this the result of your hard work? You disappoint me," the Amethyst Emperor spoke slowly.

Kansa's face darkened slightly. "I said I would try my best. I cannot control his thoughts. Furthermore, I already warned you that the price was too low!"

"One hundred twenty million is simply too high. We are not easy marks," the Amethyst Emperor replied coldly.

Kansa shook his head. "Then there is nothing I can do."

"Has the Star Glory Empire been contacting you recently?" The Amethyst Emperor's topic shifted abruptly. Kansa's heart skipped a beat, but he remained silent.

"You are ultimately an Amethyst citizen. Do not overthink things." After saying this, the Amethyst Emperor logged off. The others also remained silent and disconnected the call.

Kansa stood rooted to the spot, his expression moody and unpredictable, lost in his own thoughts.

...

"We have arrived at the Qiushan Hub. Respected Sir Li, we wish you a pleasant journey."

The Blazing Light Starship sailed out of the stargate. Not far away was the Qiushan Hub, brightly lit and not much different from the Tasuri Hub.

Troll Star was not a planet under strict military control, so Li Yu did not need to rack his brains looking for smuggling organizations. He could just head straight there.

However, although the Qiushan Hub was relatively close to Troll Star, it was not right next to the planetary system like the Tasuri Hub was to the Blazing Eye Star System.

It still required some flight time to reach. According to Claptrap's calculations, the journey would take about three days.

...

On Troll Star, inside a house built of stacked stones, Little Tu Rui lay on a stone bed, shivering all over. A chain was fastened around his neck, with the other end locked to the bedpost.

He clenched his small fists, a deeply hidden hatred burning in his eyes.

Outside the stone house, an old man leaning on a spiked club wore a gloomy expression. Beside him was a Troll toddler about the same size as Little Tu Rui.

"Grandpa, when can I transplant his heart and become a Five-Blood Troll?" the boy looked up and asked, appearing innocent and naive.

"Soon... soon..." the old man replied in a trembling voice. "You can only perform the transplant once he completely stops showing any rejection reactions."

"Grand Elder, it's time for today's treatment. We should take Tu Ying to the Sacred Temple," a Troll who had approached the stone house whispered.

"Mhm... go ahead," the Grand Elder said, glancing at him before leaving with the toddler by his side.

The Troll opened the stone house and looked at Tu Ying lying on the stone bed. With a complex expression, he let out a sigh.

Startled awake, Tu Ying looked at the door in terror before sighing in relief. "Uncle Juan, is it time for treatment again?"

Juan nodded. He took out a key and unlocked the chain around Tu Ying's neck, only to notice the dark, bruised marks on his arm.

"Who hit you?" Juan immediately frowned. He traced a few strokes on Tu Ying's small hand, then pursed his lips and continued writing, "Was it Noel?"

Tu Ying remained silent, keeping his head down. His lack of an answer was an answer in itself.

Juan let out a melancholic sigh. Noel was the Grand Elder's grandson.

"Is he here?" Tu Ying looked at Juan expectantly, tracing words into his palm. He remembered his father saying that he would find someone to save him. He believed in his father, he always did!

Juan shook his head, unable to bear seeing the look of disappointment on Tu Ying's face.

'Tu Rui, oh Tu Rui, what were you thinking?' Juan thought. 'You asked your enemy to save your son and even paid the reward in advance. Why would the other party ever be willing to take such a risk!?'

Juan took Tu Ying's hand and led him out in silence. As they walked in a certain direction, faint rustling sounds echoed from the dark corners around them.

...

Two days later...

"Viral Crisis Continues to Spread! Biological Ships Suspected to Have Evolved!" Below the exaggerated video headline was footage of a biological ship writhing in the starry sky, its entire body covered in dark, bruised-looking tentacles.

It was clearly shot from an extreme distance, so the footage was quite blurry.

Li Yu had been having Claptrap monitor the spread of the biological virus in the Returning Star Civilization, and this was the latest intelligence.

"Just how much stuff did the Star Glory Empire add to this?" Li Yu's mouth twitched. No matter how strong the T-Virus's evolutionary capability was, it shouldn't have reached this level.

The Star Glory Empire had definitely spiked it. According to the news, the biological virus had already spread to other life-sustaining planets in the star system.

The Returning Star Civilization was debating whether to use planet-destroying level weapons to prevent the virus from spreading further.

However, the Star Glory Empire heavily criticized this, arguing that there were still a massive number of Returning Star citizens on those life planets and that they should only resort to planet-destroying measures after rescuing them.

Otherwise, it would be an injustice to their citizens. Fueled by the Star Glory Empire's instigation, this viral crisis in a remote star system of the Returning Star Civilization had attracted the attention of the entire interstellar society.

"The Star Glory Empire — His Excellency The Emperor calls the Returning Star Civilization — His Excellency William, to express deep concern and condolences."

"The Chanter Civilization extends its condolences to the Returning Star Civilization."

"..."

As a veteran civilization, the Returning Star Civilization's comprehensive strength was not to be underestimated. Furthermore, they held the status of one of the four founding members of the Civilization Alliance, giving them considerable influence.

Even gods from The Council expressed their concern, suggesting that faith-based methods could perhaps resolve the viral crisis, an offer which the Returning Star Civilization naturally declined politely.

Li Yu believed that it was impossible for the Returning Star Civilization to fail in researching a way to stop the virus's spread.

But the problem was that the T-Virus evolved far too quickly. Coming from the system, this T-Virus inherently carried a certain "concept."

Just like Compound V—the raw materials required for it in this world could never achieve the effect of awakening superpowers without side effects.

But because it possessed that very effect in its original world, it was endowed with that "concept."

The T-Virus was the same. Moreover, it had been tampered with by the Star Glory Empire. It might look one way today, and evolve into something completely unrecognizable by tomorrow.

Unless they developed a more fundamental solution, there was no stopping it. The crux of the issue was that no matter how they handled it, the Returning Star Civilization needed time.

"I heard from Zeth that you were the one who released this virus?" Peyton walked over and asked.

A day ago, while Li Yu was paying attention to the news regarding the Returning Star Civilization's viral crisis, Hunter had spotted him and casually asked, "Since when were you interested in the news of Returning Star?"

After all, the Returning Star Civilization was extremely far from the Star Glory Empire, so they rarely ever came across news related to it.

Li Yu had then given a rough explanation, leaving Hunter in shock for quite a while before he finally accepted that the virus currently ravaging the Returning Star Civilization was the very same one Li Yu had released in No Man's Land.

"Yeah, I just didn't expect the Star Glory Empire to exploit it." Li Yu had a rather strange look on his face. He still held the [T-Virus Antidote] in his hands, which should be able to perfectly resolve the Returning Star Civilization's viral crisis.

"Let me study it if there's a chance. A biological virus with such high evolutionary capabilities is quite rare," Peyton mentioned.

Li Yu nodded, casually chewing on a [Green Grass] flavored Energy Bar. Over in the training cabin, the Esper Group was working day and night to develop their superpowers in hopes of being able to help Li Yu as soon as possible.

Opening the [System Log], he noticed that Clone One had become much more low-key. Unfortunately, he was still inexplicably getting entangled in trouble. Even just walking down the street, he would run into weirdos carrying bows and arrows, dressed in green like a cuckold.

The man had been chasing a criminal and accidentally dragged Clone One into the mess. However, Clone One had learned his lesson this time. He didn't try to show off, simply lying on the ground obediently pretending to be a regular bystander, yet he still nearly got hit by an arrow.

Afterwards, the man personally apologized to him and gave him a friendly handshake, which also earned him a reward.

[Acquired Special Skill — Perfect Shot: Attacks launched by the host will not deviate from their target.]

This was a rather unique skill. It was not a one-time consumable, but rather permanently bound to Li Yu.

'Interesting. Does this mean the main cannons of any battleship I pilot won't miss either?' Li Yu pondered. All things considered, it was still a pretty good reward.

As for the Second Clone, who was as steady as an old dog, he had absolutely zero presence. Even in the [System Log], there was only a single sentence summarizing his entire day.

[I am a security guard, acting just like a goofball.]

Li Yu had long since made his peace with this and was not angry. Parents always possessed extra tolerance for their favorite children.

"Hehehe... hehehe..." Li Yu felt a weight on his pants. Looking down, he saw Keller hugging his thigh, grinning widely with a creepy, infatuated smile.

"Big brother, let me take a bite, please..." Keller pleaded coquettishly, her large eyes blinking rapidly.

Li Yu's face darkened in exasperation. He picked Keller up and tossed her aside, causing her to fall hard on her bottom. This little loli's physical constitution was increasing every day; this bit of pain was nothing to her.

"Just one bite, just a small bite," Keller, wearing her princess dress, stretched out her fair, chubby little finger and gestured.

Li Yu shot a glare at Peyton. After this little loli's bloodline had awakened, she seemed to have discovered some strange new traits recently. Her personality had even shifted a bit, acting like a little demon.

Peyton shook his head. "It has nothing to do with me. You have the most nutritious blood out of all of us, which has a very strong attraction to her during her growth phase."

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." Sinai hurriedly walked over, her ample chest bouncing slightly as she bent down to pull Keller away.

"Sigh..." The little loli shook her head from side to side, looking quite comical. She glanced up at her mother's impressive figure and sighed, "What a waste growing them so big when they don't have a single drop of nutrition."

Sinai's face instantly flushed crimson. Gritting her teeth, she squatted down and began furiously spanking Keller's bottom. Unfortunately, Keller's current physical constitution was extraordinary.

She was on the verge of stepping into the realm of an E-Class Lifeform. If she had an ample supply of blood, her power would increase even faster. It could truly be said that she was blessed by nature.

Sinai's slaps felt like mere tickles to her.

"Oh, right..." The little loli Keller suddenly jumped up and sprinted over to Li Yu, saying slyly, "Big brother, let's make a deal, okay?"

"What deal?" Li Yu narrowed his eyes.

"You take a bite of that, and I take a bite of your blood, okay?" The little loli pointed at Sinai's chest with wide eyes.

The room instantly fell silent. Peyton maintained a neutral expression, while Hunter suppressed a laugh, contemplating whether he should record this to show Mo Duo later.

Pusan... well... he was still pondering over his own problems.

Sinai looked stunned, before her cheeks turned as red as if they were engorged with blood. Trembling all over, she shrieked, "Keller, you get your butt over here right now!"

Covering her eyes, Keller scurried away on her short little legs, muttering under her breath, "Mommy's mad, Mommy's mad..."

Li Yu coughed dryly. Glancing at the furious Sinai, he maintained a composed expression and said, "Children's innocent words, just children's innocent words."