He Ao let out a slight breath of relief. The task this time was to ’resolve the temptations coming from the Abyss.’ These temptations essentially emanate from the Abyssal Prisoner. However, resolving the temptations doesn’t necessarily mean dealing with the Abyssal Prisoner directly. For instance, Levi’s initial suggestion was to seal the Abyssal Prisoner back before it fully emerged, which could temporarily resolve the temptations. Or, after severely injuring the Abyssal Prisoner, leaving the Mysterious Shadow to control him and Levi, while He Ao made his own getaway. The Mysterious Shadow would certainly be preoccupied with further controlling the Abyss, and most likely unable to tend to the Copy World for a while, which would also partly fulfill the task. These two options, if executed, might yield a three-star or four-star evaluation, both being relatively easy to accomplish. But they don’t really change anything at their core; they only postpone the impending disaster. Therefore, He Ao made the hardest choice—to kill the Abyssal Prisoner. Choosing this meant facing challenges far greater than those he encountered in previous copy tasks. Because he would not only have to face a real Angel but also kill their intended quarry right in front of a Divine Being trying to capture this Angel. And yet, He Ao’s available resources were quite limited. Linen’s initial state was just a critically injured C-tier Elderly, non-combatant at that. Of course, Linen had his advantages; he held the title of Mayor. Although as a Mayor he had mostly traitors in his Cabinet, his deputy was the leader of the opposition, the legislature was controlled by the Consortium Alliance, the South City Defense Army was disloyal and dispirited, and the North City Defense Army was dead set on rebellion. And both the north and south were under imminent threat by powerful Consortium’s Mercenary Corps. All these chaotic elements were closely linked to the Abyssal Prisoner. If he couldn’t resolve these issues swiftly and unite Yilan City under his authority, he might wake to find the Abyssal Prisoner feasting within the city with the Mysterious Shadow at his back, even if the Consortiums didn’t take him down. Besides the predicaments Linen himself faced, He Ao had few resources he could use; he only had seven and a half Exchange Stars, which would’ve been quite affluent in a previous copy. But in this one, aiming for the highest difficulty, it was slightly insufficient. After all, exchanging for a [Saint] would cost him seven Exchange Stars. Even if he used all resources available, he could only summon a nearly Angel Tier War God Projection, receive a single Angel Tier strike from the Life Goddess, and use ’Ease Thought’ once on the angel with Super Memory. Of course, he did have a ’natural ally’ in this world—Levi, though badly injured and trapped in the Abyss. With such limited resources, he had not only to allocate them efficiently, but also to exploit every weakness of his enemies and amplify them. For instance, he had to drag the Abyssal Prisoner into the deserted wilderness where no humans were to be Swallowed, or use the Mysterious Shadow’s corruption of Levi in reverse, letting Levi influence the power of the Mysterious Shadow, to buy himself time to launch an attack. Above all, he had to thank his gallant friend’s forceful assistance, stalling the Mysterious Shadow and creating an opportunity for He Ao to solo the Abyssal Prisoner. Without his friend’s divinely descended supply of violence, He Ao reckoned he might as well have surrendered. In the end, the Abyssal Prisoner was slain, the Mysterious Shadow’s plot was thwarted, Yilan City was saved, and Levi took the chance to break free from the Mysterious Shadow’s control. Five-star evaluation. Watching the subtitles in his field of view, He Ao took another slight breath of relief. Could this be considered a perfect ending for this dungeon in a certain sense? He withdrew his thoughts and looked downward. [Calculating your Side Quest Evaluation...] [Side Quest Evaluation: ★★★★★] He Ao was slightly surprised, but not much. He almost had a grasp on the system’s scoring rules—Side Quest Evaluation was about the impact on the opposing forces. What surprised him was the definition of ’opposing forces’ in the dungeon. Different definitions led to different scores. This time, the opposing forces in the dungeon seemed to be only the two big Consortiums. Together, these two Consortiums were stronger than Locke Rockville Energy Group from the last Yiluo dungeon, but essentially, they were still only regional powers. The impact on these two Consortiums wouldn’t exceed that of regional powers. According to the system’s scoring rules, considering just the two Consortiums, the score might exceed four and a half stars, but it wouldn’t reach five stars. At most, it could be like the last main task, rated four and a half stars, with some additional compensation. So the system’s evaluation wasn’t just considering the two Consortiums. He Ao pondered while watching the Side Quest evaluation. At the same time, his gaze continued downward. [Calculating your Hidden Task Evaluation...] [Hidden Task Evaluation: ★★★★★] [Generating an integrated evaluation interface for you, please wait.] A light purple evaluation box appeared in He Ao’s view. [Main Quest Evaluation: With unique personal charisma, extraordinary oratory skills, daring strategies that face death head-on, and meticulous and flawless tactical wisdom, you have completed a task that was nearly impossible. You have filled the vast expanse of the stars with fog, leading an arrogant Angel to their doom. As a mortal, you set traps for the divine, and with humble life, you ensnared greatness. Ancient immortals revere your strategies, and distant Divine Beings marvel at your chess game. You weave the hearts of men and move them as well. You have unified divided city-states, rejuvenated the lost people’s hope, fortified heroes’ beliefs, and have the treacherous ministers trapped in their own Cocoons. Your elder years have achieved staggering feats. You held the reins of fate, steering the chariot of destiny in the direction you guide. Wandering bards sing praises of Epics, ancient and modern Kings prepare a feast in your honor. A fierce bonfire you lit up in the dark night provides lost travelers with a direction and climbing warriors a glimpse of the peak. The blazing flames burn wildly in the wilderness, and the sparks that scatter shimmer like Stars. With pen in hand, you prefaced a Miracle, an eternal poem that echoes throughout history.] [Main Quest Evaluation: ★★★★★] [Main Quest Exchange Star Reward: ★★★★] Miracle, destiny, history. Keywords are stacking up; it seems this time a favorable evaluation was indeed produced. He Ao’s gaze quickly moved past the flowery words from the system, focusing on the Exchange Stars below. The weight of the main quest truly is significant. He Ao originally thought that scoring four and a half stars would give him two and a half Exchange Stars at most, so this main quest would at most yield three Exchange Stars. He didn’t expect the normally stingy system to be so generous this time. Perhaps this is the benefit of a full star rating on the main quest. The subtitles in He Ao’s field of view continued to change. [Side Quest Evaluation: The Yilan people often listen to the voice of Consortiums. That was the thudding sound of banknotes through the cash validator and the ding-ding of system transfers arriving. It was also the echo of the pickaxe striking in the pitch-black mine tunnels and the creaking and grinding of flesh and bone getting caught in the massive machinery. When signing their name on the contract for the first loan, signatories often cannot discern the exact nature of the covenant within the voluminous documents. The exorbitant interest rates are enough to surpass the principal, turning the debt into perpetual shackles. They always devour the richest marrow, but even the leftover bone scraps are ground to dust and mixed with gold to mold their statues. When people question them, they face death. When the Mayor questions them, he too faces death. There are no Kings in the cities of the Federation, but they can decide who the King is. Their methods are incessant, their allies inexhaustible. As long as it benefits them, they don’t mind if their allies are bloodthirsty Thugs or twisted monsters. Greed worshippers, ambitious aspirants, Believers of the Evil God. They have many followers, and these followers together have torn the city apart. But nobody would have thought that amidst the drifting White Jasmine Flowers, the city’s true Leader stepped out of his palace. With your unique personal charisma, and your domineering blend of kindness and authority, you united this city under your hand. Valiant warriors are willing to go into battle for you, wise strategists are willing to exhaust their minds for you, even your enemies bend the knee before you, offering you kindling. You showed those seeking light the light, and those pursuing profit met their demise because of it. You stand atop the mountain, igniting a fierce fire, and then the flames rise high, lighting the entire city into a magnificent bonfire. Consequently, countless others ignited their flames as well. The dark earth twinkles with innumerable points of light, an own starry sky of humanity. Fate and history become a brush in your hands, and then you open the annals of time, writing the first sentence of a new prologue on a fresh page.] [Side Quest Evaluation: ★★★★★] [Side Quest Star Rewards: ★★★] Unlike last time, the quest evaluation does not specifically mention the name of any consortium. This side quest’s resolution looks at the entire Consortium Alliance that governs the Federation. In a strict sense, the activity in Yilan City wasn’t just from the Kopes Mining and Evis Spatial System; He Ao also encountered a ’speaker’ from the Noel financial consortium. His ’Legislator’ promotion materials were obtained from that warm and generous speaker. This incident in Yilan City wasn’t merely cooperation between the two major consortia, but a warning to others by some intangible Consortium Alliance, with both consortia acting as the vanguard. But evidently, they failed. Thus, they themselves became the chickens to be slaughtered, showing the entire Federation their ’boundaries’. It seems that this is what the system has determined to be the true impact of the incident. An impact covering the entire Federation. Of course, through the system’s evaluation, He Ao could also be sure that the measures he left behind had indeed been successfully carried on. He didn’t misjudge people; there was no covert scenario where the policies died with the individual. Gathering his thoughts, He Ao finally glanced at the last evaluation. Three Exchange Stars. The previous four-and-a-half-star mission gave two stars, and a five-star gave three. Not as much of a rise as a main quest, but still not bad. The side quest indeed doesn’t carry the same weight as the main one. [Hidden Quest Evaluation: When the first Elderly died before him, the question flashed through the young man’s Super Memory. This question accompanied him from youth into middle age, and then into his Elderly years. He did many things in an attempt to find the answer to this question. He was born into a prestigious family, possessing exceptional talent and abilities. He had so many titles that he couldn’t recite them all at once. He knew his life had been fulfilling enough that even if he did nothing, he could still live out the rest of his days happily. In the process of seeking answers, he made many friends and then watched them die one by one before his eyes. He was cowardly; he spent the first half of his life sheltered within his own shell, struggling only to retract at first sight of hardship. He attempted to solve problems in his own way - practicing medicine, diagnosing, improving laws. He kept trying, but it was merely patching things up; he dared not touch the real darkness nor had the strength to do so. He wasn’t a heroic figure; he feared death, feared for his wife and daughter to be affected by him, feared that after doing much, he would still change nothing. He wasn’t endowed with immense power either; he knew he wasn’t a genius, that his many titles were only because of his superior family background. Many times, he thought to close his eyes, cover his ears, and life would still go on. But he couldn’t close his eyes, nor could he cover his ears. As life progressed into the latter half, he realized that he had to do something, no matter how powerless he was, no matter that he couldn’t change anything. He ran for Mayor, became the Mayor, he thought he could make a difference. Then, he realized, he was no different from the Elderly man who passed away in bed all those years ago. Fireflies can illuminate a bit of light, but it would swiftly be swallowed by the night. But he was not willing to accept that his life could only have this little bit of light. He hoped to ignite the darkness, to let more people see the brilliance, even if it could only shine upon a very few, even if his life could only have this one moment of brightness. A man, cowardly and indecisive, burned all his courage, just to light the final glow. But the flame, it was lit in the end.] [Hidden Quest Evaluation: ★★★★★] [Hidden Quest Star Rewards: ★★] Feeling the replenishment and solidification of his Soul, He Ao was silent for a moment. He had all of Linen’s memories, and could actually understand Linen’s despair and helplessness. Like a man who fancied himself a Knight, charging at the giant in his fantasy, only after defeating the giant did he realize that his true enemy was the entire night. All his actions, under the vast expanse of night, were but the mad dance of a lunatic. That’s what led to the ensuing tale. He Ao’s gaze swept over the final evaluation page. [Your Comprehensive Quest Evaluation: ★★★★★] [Your Comprehensive Quest Star Rewards: ★★★★★★★★★] A full five-star evaluation. Four, three, two, nine Exchange Stars. He Ao let out a long breath. Next would be the achievements and rewards. Hopefully the system would remain as generous this time.