Chapter 376: Li Ang: Thank You, Empire, for the All-You-Can-Eat Buffet (Combined)

The visit from 【Aio Group】 and 【Void Communications】 was merely a minor footnote in Li Ang's tree-planting career, but Seth's intelligence did raise his guard slightly.

'The Empire.'

Having been in this world for so long, Li Ang had never interacted with anyone from the Empire, so he had no idea what kind of style this massive power, rivaling the Federation, truly had.

'I just don't know how they'll test me.'

On Fesa Star, aside from members of certain large corporations, star bandits, bounty hunters, and similar personnel had completely vanished.

In fact, it wasn't just Fesa Star—surrounding planets were the same.

Until they figured out what Li Ang intended to do, these dangerous elements would never dare approach Fesa Star.

For Li Ang, this was undoubtedly good news.

After all, under these circumstances, the Empire's room for testing him was severely limited.

'But I still can't let my guard down—I must always be ready to flee.'

Even though Seth said the Empire wouldn't send high-tier operatives, and the Federation was secretly observing, better safe than sorry.

If the Empire was dead set on targeting him, he had no real counter, only to prepare in advance.

Li Ang wasn't afraid at all—given his current strength, as long as no senior fifth-tier operative showed up, he believed escaping would be no major problem.

Thinking of this, Li Ang exhaled slowly as he gazed at the Divine Tree before him.

After a period of exploitation, the fourth-tier star bandits he had captured were now mostly dead.

But since Li Ang had placed no restrictions on the Divine Tree, the corpses of these fourth-tier bandits had all turned into White Pacts, making it impossible to create 【Simulated Servants】.

Of course, this wasn't bad news either, because Li Ang discovered that the artificial humans made from these White Pacts were far stronger than ordinary ones, and their learning ability was significantly superior.

'So my intuition was right—【Life Creator】's transformation truly connects with tree planting.'

Classic left foot stepping on right foot—he was already used to it.

Besides, he truly needed a race to assist with tree planting; after all, emulating that Great Tsumugi God alone was beyond his capacity.

As Li Ang pondered his next plans, Bei Xiu stood alone in the desolate city, lost in thought.

He stared at the closed club before him, sighed regretfully, then turned and returned to his temporary lodging.

The plain-faced Lianbangdiaocha Bureau agent still had some self-awareness—he knew his previous success had merely been due to the favor of that planetary Viceroy.

Thinking of Li Ang, Bei Xiu's expression grew gradually serious.

Technically, he should have bid farewell to the man several days ago.

The reason was simple: all star bandits on Fesa Star were dead; his mission could no longer proceed.

Yet Bei Xiu had not done so.

Hearing the faint, murmuring whispers in his ears, he couldn't help scratching his head: 'Is the most correct choice really to stay on Fesa Star?'

To be honest, if his talent had ever failed him since childhood, he'd suspect he'd been set up.

But it was useless to dwell on it now—he had no means of transportation even if he wanted to run.

With a complex mood, Bei Xiu sighed silently.

Ever since encountering that planetary Viceroy, he'd felt events had spiraled wildly out of control.

'Just take it one step at a time.'

The Lianbangdiaocha Bureau agent began silently praying for smooth sailing ahead—otherwise, he'd have no choice but to report mission failure to his superiors.

……

In the cold void of space, a solemn and orderly fleet glided silently between the stars.

At the center of the fleet, aboard the flagship, a gray-haired man in a crisp black uniform stood with his hands behind his back, watching information flash across the screen before him.

When the final image settled on a dark-haired youth with a cold expression, the gray-haired man murmured softly: 'A fourth-tier dragon? Why isn't it with 【Aio Logistics】? Did these dragons ally with the Federation?'

'And this level of power—have they discovered some rare path?'

'Or did this dragon forge it on its own?'

Recalling the intelligence glimpsed moments ago, he fell into deep thought.

After a long silence, the gray-haired man exhaled, his eyes flashing with coldness: 'No wonder the Empire assigned me this task—it seems the Federation's scum can't resist meddling again.'

After brief reflection, he had already formed his own judgment: such a freak should not exist in the Kails Star Cluster under normal circumstances.

Creatures capable of completely suppressing peers of the same tier—whether Empire or Federation—would have been assigned far better roles.

If not for when I…

The gray-haired man cut off the thought and did not continue.

Though he'd grown somewhat lax in the Kails Star Cluster over the years, his strength had not declined—that was one reason the Empire had chosen him.

'Once this matter is settled, my debt to the Empire is cleared.'

As this thought crossed his mind, the gray-haired man relaxed his furrowed brow slightly.

Though both were fourth-tier, he never considered the possibility of failure.

This stemmed purely from confidence in his own strength—nothing else.

As for the intelligence stating the target had subdued eleven fourth-tier star bandits in a short time—

'A bunch of lowlife trash.'

The gray-haired man sneered—he could do the same.

Ordinary peers of the same tier meant nothing to monsters like them—they were no different from low-tier operatives.

Unfortunately, he didn't realize that "short time" had distinctions.

Half an hour, an hour—even if both were "short," they meant something entirely different from two minutes.

He gave it no further thought and ordered his subordinates without turning: 'Full speed ahead.'

'Yes, Commander.'

At this moment, if any member of the Empire's upper echelon were present, they would recognize the gray-haired man as the Baron once personally ennobled by the Emperor: 【Invincible Knight】 Otavio.

Of course, for Otavio, that was already a thing of the distant past.

Now his identity was the star bandit who struck terror into the hearts of men throughout the Kells Star Cluster—

【Star-Reaping Rider】Otavio.

As this 【Star-Reaping Rider】's order went out, crimson tail flames began to flicker among the stars, and in the next moment the massive fleet vanished without a trace.

……

Five days later, Fesa Star.

Just as Li Ang was researching how to give an artificial human the traits of the Ōtsutsuki clan, a sudden, inexplicable sense of threat washed over his entire body.

'The Empire?'

In an instant, Li Ang realized where this sense of threat was coming from.

He immediately stopped what he was doing, then lightly tapped his fingers to shield the Divine Tree.

Just as he had anticipated, the Empire's available means were extremely limited, so it was only natural that they would choose to make a direct move to probe him.

'It's just that this level of strength—'

Feeling the aura descending from the heavens, a flash of surprise crossed Li Ang's eyes.

Without a doubt, the other party was also Fourth Energy Level, and the strongest Fourth Energy Level he had encountered so far.

Compared to this opponent, Christine was nothing at all.

Although, in Li Ang's view, Christine was also pretty trash.

Of course, the above judgment was Li Ang's assessment based on ordinary Professionals.

And if you asked him to say it—

'If that's all you've got, one seat at the Divine Tree, please!'

With this thought, Li Ang instantly entered Six Paths Mode.

Just as Seth had said, after obtaining his intelligence, the Empire would not continue to send small fry to probe him.

After all, no matter how many of that sort came, they would just be delivering themselves to him on a platter; the Empire wasn't stupid enough for that.

Unfortunately—

The Empire had still miscalculated. Even against that Professional exuding a terrifying aura in the heavens, Li Ang did not feel he would lose.

Will he win? He will!

It was also time to give this world a little taste of the shock of plural Professions.

At that very moment, a fiery-red beam descended from the sky, as if to swallow the entire world.

Facing the sudden attack, Li Ang stood his ground without dodging or evading, and his already uncanny eyes instantly blazed with a golden light like that of the sun.

The next instant, layer upon layer of glazed crystal walls enveloped him and the Divine Tree.

Elemental Simulation · Word Spirit · Glazed Fancheng.

After successfully taking the position of 【Bronze and Fire King】, Li Ang could finally use Word Spirit without restraint, and Glazed Fancheng was precisely the powerful Word Spirit originating from the King of Sky and Wind.

Even though the might of a Word Spirit employed through Elemental Simulation would be diminished, with Li Ang's current Spirit exceeding three thousand points bolstering it, this Word Spirit still displayed an extremely terrifying defensive power.

The power of numbers, kid!

At this moment, no matter how the fiery-red beam battered against it, it could not shake the defense of the glazed crystal walls in the slightest.

A moment later, the fiery-red beam gradually dissipated, revealing a patch of scorched earth—and that pristine, untouched pure land.

Li Ang silently gazed at the now-still sky, then raised his right hand.

It would be impolite not to reciprocate; now it was his turn to act.

It was also a beam of light, except this time the beam radiated a dazzling golden glow.

The golden beam pierced through the clouds like a sharp sword and vanished into the void of space in the blink of an eye.

Boom—!

The terrifying explosion instantly blew away the surrounding clouds, and enormous metal fragments, wrapped in scorching flames, plummeted toward the earth like meteors.

In just a single exchange, the unknown enemy had lost a starship.

Seeing this, Li Ang's expression did not change in the slightest. He merely signaled the artificial-human maid to guard the Divine Tree well, then flew up into the void of space.

Before long, Li Ang saw the massive fleet docked in Fesa Star's low orbit.

But when he got a clear look at the appearance of these starships, he could not help but slightly furrow his brow.

'Not people from the Empire?'

In Li Ang's eyes, those distant starships did not match his impression of the Empire; instead, they somewhat resembled the starships of the star bandits he had seen before.