070. Mutual PUA

  N4 narrowed her eyes slightly.

  It was clear that she found this tone and rhetoriewhat familiar, but Li Aozi's expressive fad subtly sorrowful gaze immediately tugged at the most terings of the huma.

  Who, man or woman, could withstand his stubbor mencholic gaze for more than three seds without being moved?

  Li Aozi kly the mi of Frost-Pted women.

  He remembered how David Lin had once pointed out: (Frost-Pted women) didn’t see themselves as true women but imitated the despicable behaviors of men from past societies—smoking, drinking, domestic violence, deliberately discriminating against men in the workpce, itting crimes, and engaging in harassment. They had a strong desire for trol, leaving children to artificial wombs and nurseries while they went out to indulge, turning men into household maes and ATMs.

  Few women realized that by repeating the as of men from the past, they hadn’t achieved any real progress or ge but had instead bee the new "patriarchal figure."

  Due to advaeology, Frost-Pted women often domihe main productive roles, leaving men with only one fun—to fight and die in wars.

  Simply put, the viewpoint of David Lin’s fa was: the hero who once slew the dragoually became the very dragon they fought against.

  N4 exhibited many typical Frost-Pted female traits, or rather, Li Aozi had gotteo thinking of Frost-Pted women as men, which made them easier to uand.

  Li Aozi stepped in front of N4, slowly kneeling on one knee. With a tohat was slightly annoyed yet mischievous, he said:

  "Ms. N4, I make this sincere offer to you with affe and joy. If you still don’t trust me, then there’s no point in tinuing this versation. Please, leave. No matter how sweet the coffee tastes, the aftertaste will still be bitter."

  "Oh my, Mr. Li Aozi, look how anxious you’ve bee. It’s my ht, I’m sorry for making you feel uneasy."

  N4 was a master of diplomad didn’t rush. Talking with her was far more challenging than dealing with the Professor.

  The Professor was a rational person, but someooo rational often fell into the trap of theoretical and academiatism.

  N4 was different. She was eloquent, knew how to stir emotions, and was deeply shrewd. To top it off, she was beautiful. She appeared to take full responsibility for the misunicatio she revealed no useful information.

  Instead, she stantly demonstrated her strong personal traits. Her sharp features exuded power, and her words brimmed with "tolerance" and "uanding." Though she seemed to be apologizing, it felt like she acifying a child.

  —Parental figure.

  This term fshed through Li Aozi’s mind, and everything suddenly clicked.

  Yes, N4 gave off a strong parental aura.

  Strong, intelligent, posed, charismatiinant.

  For the first time, Li Aozi faced an oppo who was a six-dimensional fighter, catg him off guard, even though he was used to winning easily.

  Even as he repeatedly brought up the ndmine-filled matter of the Abyss Humanitarian anization, N4 merely smiled knowingly, as if to say, "What’s past is past."

  Over time, the rationality of high 【Intelligence】 became more advantageous. If 【Charisma】 couldn’t deepen favorability, it became increasingly limited.

  "The Professor’s death and the destru of the Abyss Humanitarian anization deeply upset me. If it were anyone else, I would have turhem into a spe long ago—but you’re different, you know? What you achieve is far greater than anything the Professor created."

  N4 took Li Aozi’s hand, critig him while also praising him:

  "You are the greatest Omega Energy user on this phe potential of yenes is dispyed perfectly in you. If you support us, tless people will be from it, and sce will advaremendously. Humanity may eve the camities of the Camity Armament and use bioteology to ter nature’s wrath. We could even step into the os—and all of this depends on you."

  Things were taking a turn for the worse.

  Li Aozi took a deep breath.

  He had to admit that both 【Charisma】 and 【Intelligence】 had their merits. 【Charisma】 made everything you said likable, but someoh high 【Intelligence】 spoke with far more depth.

  Uhe weight of her verbal assault, Li Aozi was gradually losing ground.

  She wasn’t wrong about anything, and she even subtly hi the e between the Camity Armament and Lord of Entropy.

  "Li Aozi, perhaps you don’t believe me, but this is for the progress of sce. Your Omega Energy aic power may still have further potential to unlock."

  N4 spoke with warmth:

  "Don’t you want to see that vast universe out there?"

  "Join Abyss Heavy Industries."

  "We create an anization far bigger than the Four Nations, oh greater significe thaB, ohat could ge all of Azure Star."

  She began to deliberately guide the versation, attempting to persuade Li Aozi to join her side.

  By parison, Li Aozi found that using pyful tricks might actually have more impact than this verbal feng.

  【Stay calm, Li Aozi, you o stay calm.】

  Li Aozi kept reminding himself.

  The more intehe situation became, the more he couldn’t afford to let his guard down.

  He stantly recalled N4’s role, her as, and reverse-engineered her character.

  Strictly speaking, N4 was far more eous than the ral evil Professor. She leaoward absolute rality, with a personality typical of an INTP (Logi).

  The Professor may have been aware of her heavy sins but accepted them willingly, whereas N4 never had a cept of good or evil.

  The most typical example was how, under N4’s leadership, Abyss Heavy Industries produced the fi fertilizers, targeted drugs, and artificial an cultivation teologies. After these teologies appeared, the popution of Azure Star grew explosively from under 300 million after the Camity disaster to over 2.6 billion in just 150 years. The Four Nations alone supported 2 billion of these people, and the number of those being outside the outer nds couldn’t even be ted.

  —However, at the same time, Abyss Heavy Industries’ various bs cimed over 2 million lives from human experimentation. The death toll from their deliberate release of biochemical waste and toxins was even more staggering.

  Abyss Heavy Industries had likely killed more people than any anization sihe start of the Gactic Era, even more than the lives their teology had sustained.

  It sounded absurd at first, but when you sidered that factory farming both saved and took far more lives than wildlife servationists could ever manage in millennia, it made sense.

  For this reason, Li Aozi saw N4 as a pure stific zealot, a mae pursuing sce.

  Nothing more.

  Such a powerful oppo, almost devoid of weaknesses, made Li Aozi feel quite helpless.

  The more pressing issue was—he might actually o work with N4.

  The third pletion dition for "Remember Them" required uprooting the Abyss Humanitarian anization’s sponsors. If it wasn’t Abyss Heavy Industries behind them, it had to be Frost-Pted—or more likely, both.

  At the very least, he had to shut down all reted boratories ected to the Abyss Humanitarian anization.

  Was N4 a monster? Li Aozi couldn’t say. A monster was an insult for people, not something you called a mae.

  So how should he handle his retionship with N4? Li Aozi didn’t know how to proceed.

  He had never expected N4 to take notice of him in the first pce. After all, this person was the type who would sell out Azure Star and its pyers in an instant just to further her research.

  Just as Li Aozi was about to get tangled in N4’s web, nearly being roped into "joining Abyss Heavy Industries," the meeting room door suddenly swung open.

  "Li Aozi, is Mr. Li in?"

  A man dressed like a wanderer from Tianhuan leaned casually against the doorframe, raising a dot:

  "I am Ruzoma of the Hojo Group—a retainer. My lord extends an invitation for you to attend the uping Kowloon Gathering."

  "At this gathering, a legendary sword known as the 'Cuiying Edge' will be revealed."

  "Surely, you would be ied?"

  Li Aozi's heart skipped a beat—this was exactly what he had been waiting for.

  "Masterwork"—Cuiying Edge.

  There were only twelve "masterwork" ons on Azure Star. Li Aozi had accepted Granat’s ission mainly to obtain an invitation to the Kowloon Gathering.

  And Li Aozi khat at this gathering, not only would the Cuiying Edge be dispyed, but another masterwork sword would also be present, hidden in pin sight. Li Aozi kly how to obtain it.

  In other words, he had the opportunity to get two masterwork ons at once!

  FAL