005. Abyss Humanitarian 2.0
As for whether possessing a body would cause guilt, be despised by others, or violate humanitarian principles— in fact, these unrecognized interstellar civilizations don't care about such concerns at all.
First, they haven't signed any interstellar treaties, and even their own laws don't regulate such things.
Second, let alone body possession, if Li Aozi were to deceive a group of magic apprentices and sell them as slaves, even the most benevolent civilization like the Hymn of Saints wouldn't bat an eye.
This is because unrecognized civilizations are not protected. They aren't acknowledged as civilized beings by the universe, much like Azure Star. The universe doesn't consider them to be on the same level as civilized entities.
That's just how the universe works— there are too many upright-walking monkeys. If having a small group and some tech qualifies as civilization, then ants and bees might be closer to the "cosmic life" definition than some bipedal apes.
The universe is vast— if you care too much about humanitarian principles, you'll go mad. In the universe, it's best to stick to your own rules.
Li Aozi's approach of blowing up his home planet to save the majority of his people is considered common practice in the universe. With trillions of people in interstellar civilizations, who would care about the lives of a fraction of them?
Some might find it cruel, but most people would ensure that those who 'sacrificed' did so 'willingly'. It's not a philosophical question, it's a matter of method.
However, this doesn't prevent Li Aozi from adhering to his own principles: protecting babies and children from suffering.
In grand narratives, he never questions the decisions of the collective, because he can't represent the majority, but he can represent himself.
Leo's identity is crucial, and this is the most convenient and fastest way. The biggest issue isn't possession, but that possession doesn't allow the full inheritance of memories.
This is one of the flaws of the [Domination] class— thought and memory largely fall under the domain of the [Eerie] class.
Li Aozi wasn't particularly skilled in this area, as he only inherited Leo's memories from the past few months and a few significant matters, like who bought his family's land and who he had bad relationships with.
Fortunately, Leo had never taken the magic aptitude test. Li Aozi recalled that White Candle Star gave these labor descendants five full opportunities, and the benefit of the magic academy is that it recruits for ordinary magic classes year-round. For those opting for the magic workshop, you can enroll and start working anytime.
"The immediate priority is figuring out how to get a main profession."
Most players deal with this by turning a primary profession into a secondary one, either through creating new characters or personality reenactment. Compared to the luck-based approach of the latter, Li Aozi preferred the more reliable method.
He stepped out of the biochemical pool, throwing his main body into it, setting it into hibernation mode to slowly repair genetic damage.
The biochemical pool alone wouldn't be enough for full recovery, but in a hub of advanced academies like White Candle Star, there was no shortage of special-effect potions.
As a veteran player, Li Aozi fully trusted the medical capabilities of the magic side. After all, the goal of potion-making was to elevate mages to godhood, while technological medicine often struggled to even understand a drug's full effects.
Take nitroglycerin, for example— it was originally used as an explosive, but later discovered to treat angina. Or metformin, initially for diabetes, but later found to have potential anti-cancer effects. Doctors didn't even fully understand all the effects of a single drug before using it with confidence.
But magic is different. Mature potions are specialized and won't cause unexpected effects due to your constitution.
Any potion that could produce special effects would have already exploded in the alchemy workshop.
The predicament Li Aozi now faced was almost like a joke.
He needed a magic qualification to enter the academy and study.
—— Then go take the test!
But to pass the magic qualification test, he needed to study the extraordinary knowledge published by the academy.
—— Then go study!
But to study that extraordinary knowledge, he needed sufficient [Intelligence].
—— Then go raise your attributes!
The problem is that raising [Intelligence] requires becoming a [Mage].
—— Then go become one!
Becoming a mage requires passing the exam.
So the problem looped back in on itself, forming a complete contradiction spiral.
Fortunately, Leo's intelligence level provided a bit of help. With his current 19 points of [Intelligence], Li Aozi managed to find a way to break the cycle.
"I need to increase my intelligence attribute— with high [Charisma], I can take on a few secondary professions, focusing on leveling them up to gain attribute boosts."
Unlike the main profession, which required complex exams and difficult extraordinary knowledge, Li Aozi was cautious— the Crystal Tower Civilization hadn't signed any interstellar treaties. Who knew if these wizards controlled advanced knowledge? Most likely, they didn't.
He didn't want to risk learning only to be corrupted and assimilated by society, eventually becoming a mere citizen.
Li Aozi cleaned up the remnants of the recent battle, not in a hurry to return to Blue Chrysanthemum Village. He stood on the hillside, the moonlight illuminating the path ahead.
White Candle Star wasn't just full of academies and educational institutions— the planet itself held many ruins from lost civilizations. As a magic civilization, they highly valued these relics, often maintaining and excavating them, sometimes unearthing ancient artifacts.
Li Aozi happened to know of a few ancient ruins on White Candle Star, and one of them could provide him with a decent magic-related secondary profession— [Elemental Sorcerer].
This was a rare profession that boosted both [Charisma] and [Intelligence], fitting perfectly with Li Aozi's current situation and attribute panel.
However, this profession had a low ceiling, and few had ever seen it in the late game.
Still, as a way to level up and gain attribute bonuses, it was quite worthwhile. Once done with it, he could simply dissolve the profession, losing only 50% of the experience, which Li Aozi wouldn't mind at all.
"This is the one. The other professions are too far away, and none seem more suitable than [Elemental Sorcerer]."
It was far better than the current secondary profession of [Civilian], which provided no bonuses at all. With [Elemental Sorcerer] granting attribute boosts, passing the magic aptitude exam wouldn't be a problem.
However, the ruins housing this profession did come with a bit of danger.
Its name was [Hero of Felicia], with a challenge level of lv.95, recommended for at least 15 people, with each person having at least three combat specialties.
"A minor level difference— no big deal. After all, I'm an 80-level, no-main-profession [Civilian], with no Omega Energy or spell slots— facing dozens of 95-level giants, the advantage is clearly mine."
This was nothing to Li Aozi, as he had previously succeeded in a 78-hour, level 0 speedrun challenge of Alpha-tier Abyss Humanitarian.
Even the professor didn't object.