Chapter 511: The Impact of Public Opinion and the Jade Void Palace

"His attitude is very forceful, not like someone without backing. There's no need to pay too high a price to fight over things without much value."

The leader of the Black Net Organization shook his head and said.

"Mm, let's retreat then. We won't lose anything anyway."

"It's just that Li Yu solved the problem alone again this time. We originally wanted to test that organization."

"He is strong enough and has enough methods, so naturally he can solve the problem. Let's retreat, let's retreat. Watching a show is also good. Let's go back and carefully analyze the recording..."

"That's right, we weren't the ones who got scolded anyway. We'll just leave." This sentence suddenly popped up in the channel, instantly making the atmosphere quite delicate.

"Who said that!?"

The leader of the Black Net Organization immediately questioned aggressively.

Unfortunately, the organization that issued this sentence had long since left. After tracing the signal, they found it was a peripheral fleet of the Spirit User civilization.

The leader of the Black Net Organization cursed angrily, while the leaders of the other factions couldn't help but chuckle.

"Didn't he tell you his Black Hole Bank account number? Just ban it, teach him a lesson," someone suggested.

"No way!" He spoke righteously: "The Black Hole Bank is service-oriented. Even if Li Yu insults us further, we cannot ban his account."

The Black Hole Bank was currently one of the main businesses of the Black Net Organization, and an important pillar they relied on to maintain themselves.

Because applications were anonymous, even the Black Net Organization couldn't know who the true owner behind each account was.

It's just that when Li Yu was communicating with him earlier, he had personally spoken the account numbers.

"Good... truly worthy of the Black Net..." The other organizations praised a few times, unsure if genuinely or not, and left respectively.

"...A down-and-out old dog..."

The channel fell into silence. Li Yu's curses seemed to echo in the ears of the Black Net Organization's leader, making him somewhat displeased.

"Hmph, no matter how down-and-out we are, you can't just casually look down on us." Cold gleams flickered in his eyes as he ordered:

"Check his Black Hole Network account for me, and zero out the balance inside!"

His current appearance completely lacked his earlier righteous demeanor.

His subordinates acted quickly. Based on the numbers provided by Li Yu, they soon found this account. However, the amount displayed on it left him dumbfounded—25,041.

"My Lord, this account was applied for 78 years ago, and hasn't been touched for over 46 years." His subordinate found the specific information.

Obviously, what Li Yu told him at the time was inherently a random account, not his personal account at all.

"Liar!" He cursed, boiling with rage.

...

Although the decisive retreat of those factions was somewhat beyond Li Yu's expectations, thinking it over, it made sense.

Without sufficient benefits, they wouldn't take risks. They also didn't have Li Yu's method of directly converting faith into combat power.

Even if they snatched the Artificial Gods, it wouldn't be of much use.

It took about three days for the Black Pupil Fleet to completely clean up the entire Meditation Organization's stronghold on the planet.

Not only did they collect classified intelligence, but also a large number of experimental personnel and cutting-edge instruments, enough to support the operation of two or three large experimental bases. This was perfect to send to Peyton.

...

"Commander Zeth, the primary mission has been completed. Do we need to perform a complete purge of this planet?"

A subordinate officer came over to inquire. Hunter, who was handling some other matters, hesitated slightly upon hearing this.

The so-called "complete purge" meant eradicating everything capable of moving on the planet's surface.

"Forget it..." Hunter pondered for a moment and said: "The entire interstellar space knows that the Black Pupil Fleet belongs to Li Yu. Conducting a large-scale massacre, if spread by those with ulterior motives, might cause some adverse effects."

"Moreover, this planet is already on the verge of collapse. Just wait for it to self-destruct."

"Yes..." The subordinate took the order and left.

...

And during these three days, the footage of Li Yu's battle on Sack Star blossomed across the network, spreading rapidly.

For some time now, Return Star had inherently been a major point of discussion in interstellar public opinion.

And Li Yu, as a warmonger possessing a series of titles, as well as Empress Klein's rumored love interest, inherently maintained a certain level of discussion.

And this battle recording elevated the discussion even further.

Didn't the grapevine say that Li Yu had recently been staying over frequently at the Empress's bedchamber?

Why did he suddenly run off to the Silver Ring Arm star region?

And even came to blows on a planet!?

However, after a brief incubation period, what was triggered this time was not admiration or teasing, but terror!

The circulated video footage recorded the entire process without any omissions.

It also recorded those fanatical believers who died in the aftermath of the war. The footage edited out their ferocious and twisted sides, retaining only their sense of powerlessness when facing the battle of powerful lifeforms.

This instantly caused an uproar among the masses.

The oppression of ordinary lifeforms by Advanced Lifeforms had long been a topic in interstellar space, but it was always consciously suppressed within a controllable range by various civilizations.

Privileged classes had existed since ancient times. As long as the specific differences weren't exposed, everyone just muddled along.

But this battle recording completely displayed the helplessness and panic of ordinary lifeforms, triggering intense discussion and condemnation.

Li Yu's emergence made him the focus of interstellar attention in just a few short years.

And precisely because of his uniqueness, the impact of his deeds this time continued to expand.

Bang!

A wine glass was smashed down hard, the yellow liquid inside splashing out and spilling onto the table. Gust looked at the news playing on the wall TV, which showed several commentators discussing this matter.

"...Judging solely from the performance in the video, the casualties caused by the battle this time are preliminarily estimated to be in the hundreds of millions..."

"...And according to the scenes of the battle, that planet has been thoroughly destroyed, and the ensuing deaths will continue..."

He gulped down some alcohol, the liquid flowing from the corner of his mouth as he said hatefully:

"Hmph, these damn Advanced Lifeforms don't see us ordinary people as the same species at all!"

"Exactly, these Advanced Lifeforms should be restrained! They can casually murder millions upon millions of people!" someone echoed.

It was obvious that someone was fanning the flames behind this incident, attempting to push Li Yu to the opposite side of ordinary citizens.

Although ordinary citizens seemed to have little influence, the establishment of the entire interstellar society relied on these ordinary citizens.

With only Advanced Lifeforms, it would be fundamentally difficult to establish a complete social system.

Return Star's response speed to this was extremely fast. An announcement, along with videos and a large amount of data, was released.

Return Star claimed that the planet was inherently controlled by Evil Gods. All lifeforms on it had been altered, their minds turned into puppets.

And Li Yu had precisely accepted the request of a certain civilization in the Silver Ring Arm to go and deal with these Evil Gods.

Furthermore, they provided video evidence and information data, which were precisely videos of the Meditation Organization cultivating believers, gathered from their headquarters.

The secrets of the Meditation Organization were completely exposed. Those creatures with ferocious faces, chanting the names of unknown deities, had clearly lost their sanity and could not be called lifeforms with self-awareness.

At the same time, leaders of civilizations in the Silver Ring Arm star region also issued statements, declaring that they had requested assistance from Return Star.

For a time, interstellar public opinion was polarized. One side believed that even Evil God Cultists shouldn't be dealt with using such simple and brutal methods.

They should be restored to normal and carefully looked after.

While other citizens who had personally been harmed by Evil Gods expressed extreme agreement.

Their own relatives and friends had become Evil God Cultists. Those Evil God Cultists couldn't be called "human" at all; they didn't recognize their own families, were tyrannical and terrifying, and fundamentally couldn't be awakened.

Adding in the chaos enjoyers watching the show, they broke into extreme arguments across interstellar space, making it quite lively.

...

"Fortunately, I didn't order a complete purge of that planet at the time, otherwise the current storm of public opinion would probably be even more exaggerated." Hunter felt somewhat fortunate, glad that he had thought one step further back then.

Li Yu didn't really care much. He lay on the soft sofa, watching a stern-faced guy being interviewed on the holographic screen.

There was a line next to this guy, annotating his origin—Gosling, Grand President of the Morton Civilization.

"...This crisis event has allowed me to truly see who the real friends are, and who the important figures holding weight in interstellar space are..."

"...Although I have never met Empress Klein, I have now developed a sublime reverence for her..."

"...I believe she is a great ruler. Under her leadership, Return Star will reach its pinnacle..."

"...Regarding this controversy surrounding Duke Li Yu, I believe that in the situation at the time, he couldn't consider too much. If the Evil Gods weren't killed on the spot, their spread to other planets would trigger even more slaughter..."

"...Although I haven't met him, I believe he is a righteous person who would not kill indiscriminately..."

Clack, the light and shadow lines merged in the middle, and the holographic screen went out. Li Yu found it somewhat amusing. With such flattering words, this Grand President was dead set on hugging Return Star's thigh tightly.

"...This storm of public opinion definitely has someone fanning the flames behind the scenes. No one else has the specific battle recordings except those few factions," Hunter added.

"Don't worry, public opinion has already polarized. Once the Returning Star Government pushes out a few more Evil God victims to cry a wave, it should basically calm down slowly..."

Li Yu shook his head. The moment the storm of public opinion emerged, he had contacted the Returning Star Government, providing some of the video data of the Meditation Organization's experiments.

As a top-tier civilization, Return Star naturally had contingency plans for adverse public opinion. Coupled with Li Yu's proposal,

After a few moves, the direction of the adverse public opinion targeting him had already shifted.

By the time he returned, it should have mostly subsided.

"I'm going to take a trip to the Jade Void Palace. Once I return, we can head back." Li Yu stood up, tossed out a mechanical device, and opened a spatial channel on the ground.

He had changed Gensokyo's name, calling it the Jade Void Palace, to satisfy his wicked sense of humor.

"I'll go take a look with you too..." Hunter hesitated for a moment and said.

Li Yu glanced at this guy. He didn't know if it was an illusion, but Hunter seemed to be weighed down by anxiety these past few days.

"Then let's go..."

"You go first. I still have some tasks that haven't been assigned yet."

Li Yu shrugged, stepped into the spatial channel, and arrived at the Jade Void Palace. Compared to the previous utopia, it now had somewhat of a steel jungle feel.

Tall metal bases dotted the landscape, engineering robots were continuously working, tracks left by treads were everywhere on the ground, and various precision instruments packaged in metal boxes were being transported to where they belonged.

Parts of the experimental bases were already operational, primarily used for modulating the Celestial God Gene Chain, and had gotten on track.

Li Yu found Peyton, who was researching the Copy Man's flesh and blood, pulling out large amounts of data while explaining in layman's terms:

"This flesh and blood is quite peculiar. Although it is aberrant flesh, it contains certain special particle cells. However, the special method of copying physical states should have been granted by those chains."

Then, pointing at the black chains in the observation room, he said:

"This is not a Titan Creation. It looks more like an object born in a special environment. It should come from another dimension and possesses a certain degree of self-awareness."

"You can call it a—Dimension Construct."

"Another dimension? Dimension Construct?" Li Yu's mind stirred. This directly made him associate it with the Abyss Institute.

Did this Copy Man come from the Abyss Institute?

"Your armor has almost finished devouring that armor." Peyton brought Li Yu to another room, and the [Symbiotic Colonization Armor] quickly covered Li Yu.

Recently, it had been devouring the newly obtained Phantom Dragon Armor to increase its own strength.

"Can my armor devour those two chains?" Li Yu inquired.

"It should be able to. Your armor is very peculiar, but my suggestion is not to for now. The self-awareness inside the chains complements its inherent power." Peyton casually pulled up a large amount of data that Li Yu couldn't understand:

"If your armor devours them, it will likely obliterate the self-awareness within, thereby causing them to lose their power."

"Alright then..." Li Yu nodded, not forcing it. It seemed the newly obtained chains could only be shelved for now.

"How long will it take to modulate the gene chain?" Li Yu asked the question he cared about most.

"With the current manpower and assuming abundant resources, it will take at least another three months." Peyton made an estimate.

"That's acceptable..." Li Yu breathed a sigh of relief. Peyton was still reliable, not giving him a timeframe spanning years.

Just at this moment, the belated Hunter arrived hurriedly, his expression somewhat grave. The very first sentence upon seeing Li Yu was: "Something happened!"

"Horus is dead!"

(End of Chapter)