Stars, Players and Immortals

Chapter 30: Bloodstained Items

After completing the contract, Zhang Qiming sincerely said to the old man:

"Thanks, Doraemon."

Mechanical Cole just snorted. Although the other party was only a mechanical clone, Zhang Qiming knew that the more indifferent the old man pretended to be on the surface, the stronger his sense of pride was inside.

Zhang Qiming smiled and didn't continue the small talk. He gave the old man a brief report on the Skyward Movement's recent situation, including the cooperation with St. Sophia, the progress of the Truth Investigation Committee, and the three lists he had just obtained.

After listening, Mechanical Kaul slowly rotated the lens on his chest twice, then looked down at the list again, his voice very calm.

"So now you need me and the South China Sea to get moving."

Zhang Qiming nodded: "Yes."

"You are the most famous mechanical sage. There are countless people on Mars who have risen to power with your support over the years. Now the time is right, and the Skywards no longer need to hide."

As he said this, he projected the infiltration list onto the terminal and tapped on it with his finger.

"I need to replace the positions on the list with our own people as soon as possible."

Mechanical Cole looked at the list and remained silent for a few seconds—silence was not a refusal, but rather a reflection on how much time it would take to complete the goal.

Zhang Qiming: "How quickly can it be done?"

Mechanical Kaul replied:

"When Nan Hai first joined the SA unit, I actually started helping him build his own circle, just as you had suggested years ago."

"Over the years, Nan Hai has also built up a considerable network of connections within the SA forces. Moreover, he has collected a great deal of dirt on the officers. This stuff is so extensive that it would weigh a thousand pounds if weighed out."

Mechanical Cole continued:

"Now, thanks to the Truth Committee, we can move forward with many of our actions without having to be as slow as before."

"We can just throw out all this dirt on us now. All we need is to replace our people in a short time."

"As for the pressure from the College of Cardinals, let Saint Sophia handle it herself."

When he got to this point, he finally gave a clear judgment.

"Give me and Nanhai a month. With the network we've built up and the dirt we've prepared, we can replace most of the targets on the list with our people."

A month... not fast, but definitely not slow either.

Zhang Qiming nodded. This was about what he expected, and a month was just enough time for the Fourth Calamity to level up and familiarize himself with the new Legion mode gameplay.

For him, this month was not a downtime either; he could take advantage of this time to win over several key targets on his list one by one.

Saint Sophia's intelligence network is quite effective; the targets on her list of those she wanted to win over were indeed not aligned with the Church.

In his previous life, Zhang Qiming had been a player and had even participated in their respective daily quests, so he knew that there was an irreconcilable and intense conflict between these people and the church.

And the person he was going to meet next was the most important one on the list—Lev Saviev, commander of the SA Aerospace Armed Forces Test Squadron.

In the previous world timeline, after the failed Saint Sophia Revolution, the anti-church movement on Mars did not completely subside.

At first, there were only some scattered undercurrents, but later these undercurrents accumulated and gradually developed into a series of revolutionary waves against the church.

Saveyev was one of the key figures in the later resistance movement, and players can later receive a long-running questline from him.

This mission was the reason he ultimately embarked on the path of rebellion, and this mission was—[Bloodstained Item].

The entire mission is divided into several parts. The player's first task is to find a black box of the SA accident that was hidden by the church for Saviev, and then go to the near-orbit training wreckage to find a lost neural plate. There are also some miscellaneous stealth missions along the way.

After these tasks are completed, the investigation will truly delve deeper, eventually uncovering the truth hidden behind the [Bloodstained Item].

Furthermore, the [Blood-Soaked Item] also has a certain causal connection with Saint Sophia.

The initial goal of [Bloodstained Items] was to investigate the cause of death of a man named Ilya Voronov.

He was Saviev's partner in the SA Aerospace Forces Test Squadron in the homeland, and also his best friend.

Ilya is one of the top pilots in the SA force, and has long been responsible for high-mobility and near-orbit environment patrols. He has accumulated more than 4,300 hours of SA practical experience. Such a person would definitely be an ace pilot in the entire Mars native SA force.

But this very person died in a plane crash during a near-orbit training exercise.

That training exercise was just a routine drill for the test squadron. The flight path, airspace, and procedures were nothing special, and nobody took it seriously.

As a result, when it flew to the outer edge of near-orbit, Ilya's machine suddenly went out of control and crashed.

The church's investigation report stated that the pilot was struck by high-speed debris during training, resulting in damage to the aircraft and the pilot's inability to eject in time, which was considered an accident.

But Saviev didn't believe it at all, because he knew Ilya's driving skills all too well.

Ilya wasn't a novice who had just started handling the machine; he was the true ace of the test squadron, with his piloting experience, training time, and on-the-spot reaction all standing up to him.

How could someone like that make such a basic mistake, let alone not even have a chance to be ejected?

Therefore, Saviev has been investigating the matter ever since that accident.

Zhang Qiming knew that what was truly hidden behind the [Bloodstained Item] was far more complex than just a plane crash.

In his previous life, he was one of the many players who had personally participated in this quest chain, and because of this, in this life he can completely skip many meaningless detours.

However, there are some things that need to be obtained first, such as the black box of Ilya's crashed SA and several key pieces of evidence that can truly break Saviev's defenses. He needs to find these things himself.

These thoughts only passed through Zhang Qiming's mind for a few seconds.

After finishing his thoughts, he stood up from his chair, briefly explained the progress of the list to Caul, and then prepared to leave the underground construction base under the polar ice.

Before leaving, Kaul's mechanical clone simply told him not to die outside without looking up. Zhang Qiming waved his hand, turned around, and walked into the cold white passage leading to the surface.

……

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