From the Abyss of Stars

107. Jian's Value

107. Jian's Value

"White Frost-Plated Bones"

Li Aozi had never heard of anyone triggering this quest before.

Clearly, it was a 'world quest' that appeared naturally because his enmity with Frost-Plated Republic had become irreconcilable.

All three rewards were generous, but the difficulty was evident.

"White Frost-Plated Bones..."

Such a cold phrase, but it seemed accurate.

Even though the system warned that once this quest was chosen, it was irreversible—Li Aozi still accepted it without hesitation.

Whether it was the discrimination and persecution he faced, Nomi's tragic death, Xue Nuo and the youths becoming test subjects, or the countless women like Qiu Ran at the bottom, even aspiring individuals like David Lin and Du Zexin who couldn't truly change their fate—the source of all these tragedies was Frost-Plated Republic.

Frost-Plated Republic was rotten to the core; only a complete overhaul from top to bottom could end the tragedies.

This would be challenging, as a Splendid Story quest abbreviated to SS-grade was above S-grade and not meant to be completed by one person.

Especially considering Settlement Condition C: "End the Evil"—which required permanently eradicating Frost-Plated Republic and the Outlands' issues and ensuring the people didn't overcorrect.

This involved many issues, the first headache being the pseudo-society Philoris and its pseudo-citizens.

Philoris was an external threat, but narrative-level civilizations wouldn't sit idly by, so that wasn't his immediate concern.

But the pseudo-citizens?

Honestly, the biggest threat from pseudo-citizens wasn't them directly but the panic their existence caused among people.

The most obvious victim case was Qiu Ran—she wasn't an Abyss infection, but after being told she was, she believed it, voluntarily leaving her family. Many other Abyss infections were similar.

Humans were inherently social animals; once the group had a mistaken belief, even knowing it was wrong, one would be influenced by the collective, either reflecting on their mistakes or quietly complying.

Frost-Plated Republic was the same: men knew women were physically inferior, but with policies, judicial decisions, and employment favoring women, public opinion naturally shifted towards women, even proposing theories like "female superiority," "women are the superior gender," "men are inherently sinful and only breed violence."

The result was men and employers being influenced, men facing discrimination, and bottom-tier women like Qiu Ran being at the lowest end of the discrimination chain.

This was the most direct issue to address to fulfill Settlement Condition B.

There were still many aspiring individuals in the David Lin faction, and Li Aozi believed in the political and military capabilities of "Frost-Plated Republic's last man"—after all, he had commanded Frost-Plated Republic's ragtag army to defeat the war-crazed Tianhuan twice, which was impressive.

The issue was whether David Lin could lead Frost-Plated Republic onto the right path or defend the nation's safety—but could he completely reverse public thinking in this environment?

Even if he could, would the female beneficiaries agree?

Li Aozi deeply understood this.

His previous life's mother was already very open-minded, but when it came to education, she still chose to let Li Aozi give up his studies for his sister to go to college—this was the helplessness of a bottom-tier family.