142. The Grass Beside the House
"By the way, I want to show you something."
Alexia said, taking out a thick book from her bag and handing it to Li Aozi:
"President Sithron said that while organizing the Grand Duke's estate in the Palace of Surut, workers found this in an office. It might be useful to you."
"What is this?"
Li Aozi curiously took the book. The cover had faded due to time, losing its color and design, but the gilded title was still faintly recognizable, written in Yamiriyoko:
"Genetic Engineering"
"Looks like the Grand Duke put a lot of effort into saving his life back then." Li Aozi joked, "Too bad this planet isn't worthy of Gamma-tier."
"According to his diary, at first, Grand Duke Gulant was an independent, a war hero of the nation, who brought a great era to his people. But as his life became increasingly painful, nearing death, he turned to the Frost-Plated Republic." Alexia said with some emotion: "We never expected something like this would happen. A hero who once fought against oppressors became an oppressor himself. Where did his faith go?"
"It doesn't matter. In this era, he's just a comprador who sold out his country."
Li Aozi was about to put the book away. To him, it didn't hold much value. Yamiriyoko's technology was far from reaching the level of understanding supernatural systems.
But just then, a system message popped up.
[Hint: You have encountered 'cutting-edge' knowledge—"Genetic Engineering"]
[Learnable by: [Biochemist], [Mutant], [Architect], [Mage]]
[To learn this knowledge, you need to consume 12,000 experience points]
[Do you accept?]
—What the hell?
Alexia's gift gave Li Aozi a huge shock.
He rubbed his eyes, confirming that he hadn't seen wrong—it was indeed cutting-edge knowledge.
In a 10-tier knowledge system, any knowledge above the professional level was forbidden to be taught to non-supernatural beings.
There were two main reasons for this:
First, professional-level knowledge and above was brought into existence by one of the three Extinguishers, [God of Insight]—'Eye of Discernment'. Every piece of cutting-edge knowledge was essentially part of the Eye of Discernment's body. Learning it meant accepting and reinforcing the existence of the Eye.
In the ancient cosmic era, cutting-edge knowledge and above was strictly regulated. Only gods blessed by the Star Abyss were qualified to learn it.
However, since the defeat of the Eye of Discernment, the three Extinguishers had disappeared. Now, no one cared about these things. The top enemy of civilizations was the troublesome society, not a failed invader. Unless a civilization was particularly rigid, it wouldn't bother regulating this.
Second, professional-level and above knowledge was too much for the average person's brain to handle. Once they started reading, the sheer volume of strange and complex information would overwhelm them. Going mad while reading was extremely common.
Even mature, physically fit supernatural beings could easily become obsessive and paranoid after studying such knowledge, turning into twisted individuals who sought to use their newfound understanding to change the world.
Starting from cutting-edge knowledge, all knowledge above it was classified as strategic resources. Ultimate knowledge, in particular—Li Aozi knew—was essential for becoming a god.
Li Aozi's goal was to ascend to godhood along the path of the [Starfall Master], preferably as the chief god of the [Domination] system.
At least those two positions were vacant.
[The Yamiriyoko Federation has cutting-edge knowledge… Extraterrestrial contacts, Entropy Lord, forged societies, secret societies… doesn't this all seem too coincidental?]
Li Aozi frowned. After the initial surprise wore off, he immediately sensed something strange about the situation.
Flipping through a few pages, Li Aozi realized that the writing style didn't match Yamiriyoko Federation's grammar.
With a quick skim, Li Aozi was sure this book was not of native Azure Star origin.
Some other civilization had deliberately planted cutting-edge knowledge in Yamiriyoko.
But what was the purpose of doing that?
Li Aozi glanced at the publication date: shortly before the Calamity crisis. But the Yamiriyoko Federation had already accepted knowledge aid from the Feness Federation.
Based on Li Aozi's understanding of the Feness Federation, they controlled 210 civilized planets and had strict knowledge control systems to prevent civilizations from learning recklessly and destroying themselves—a common occurrence. But unlike Feness, most civilizations didn't care as much about their people's survival.
So this book definitely couldn't have come from the Feness Federation's knowledge aid.
[Calamity is the will of Entropy Lord. Yamiriyoko had just obtained cutting-edge knowledge, and then a thought storm broke out, sealing the world in Calamity—doesn't that seem too coincidental?]
Li Aozi narrowed his eyes.
Many people, even professionals, might not fully grasp the strategic significance of cutting-edge knowledge, as the learning threshold for players was too low. Even after learning it, they wouldn't feel how challenging the knowledge truly was.
But as a level 300 [Starfall Master] expert, Li Aozi knew something interesting.
The [Starfall Master] had a school of thought called the Black Hole School, and each skill in it required at least cutting-edge or higher knowledge to unlock.
One signature skill of the Black Hole School, [Apocalyptic Singularity], could generate multiple micro-black holes with the mass of 400 suns and launch them like missiles, automatically homing in on enemies.
With that move alone, in his past life, Li Aozi had once taken down a juvenile Entropy Lord—though it couldn't be killed, it was more like being banished.
Therefore, cutting-edge knowledge indeed had the potential to threaten Entropy Lords.
He vaguely sensed something and began to consider a possibility:
[Azure Star may have been deliberately sabotaged.]
This wasn't just an unsettling thought. Proper use of cutting-edge knowledge could easily destroy a planet. For a juvenile Entropy Lord, it was a real threat.
[Maybe the Entropy Lord wouldn't have awakened, but some cutting-edge knowledge mixed in made it feel threatened.]
Li Aozi grew wary. Perhaps the destruction of Azure Star wasn't just caused by a single factor.
Alexia's unintentional gift had revealed a hidden questline, and the future might become even more complicated.
Are all cosmic beings benevolent?
Absolutely not.
In this world, there's no such thing as love or hate without reason. Many civilizations followed this principle: if you're not my enemy, it doesn't necessarily mean you're my friend. If you're not my friend, that doesn't mean you're my enemy. Even if we were enemies before, that doesn't mean we can't be friends now.
The universe was too vast, and time too long, giving civilizations the chance to reshuffle. Conflict and growth were the main themes of the universe.
Who would target a civilization supported by the Feness Federation?
You had to understand, the Feness Federation wasn't just a galaxy-level civilization isolated in the universe; its backer was the Gallexi civilization, a member of Narrative Civilization No. 13, [Heroic Empire]. Who would dare to provoke them?
Narrative-level civilizations had only two enemies: other narrative-level civilizations and [society].
But that was a vast category. There were countless enemies of the Heroic Empire, many of whom hated them one day, sought aid the next, and pretended nothing happened the day after.
In his past life, despite the destruction of Azure Star, players from the planet weren't targeted by dark forces in the universe. They were merely discriminated against as a wandering civilization, and most eventually found refuge in galaxy-level civilizations.
The collapse of a civilization was like a whale falling, giving rise to countless beneficiaries, making it hard to identify the culprit.
Li Aozi didn't want to think too much about the intricacies; it wasn't something within his current scope. But it did sound an alarm.
Going into space ahead of time was both an opportunity and a challenge. Many individuals hiding behind the banner of justice might be watching Azure Star's every move with sharpened claws.