Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 113: Cognitive Trap

Chapter 113: Cognitive Trap

Blood slid down the tip of the blade, its path continuous and unbroken, resembling red agates rolling over lambskin.

Red.

It was a vibrant and vivid hue, starkly contrasting with the cold, merciless gray of the blade—this opposition of red and white shimmered together, generating an instant visual impact, like a fist striking the eye, causing pain and a stinging sensation, yet impossible to ignore.

Hiss——

Li Aozi slowly pulled the long sword from the skull of the eleventh Ersha Armament girl, the cold blade emerging bathed from the warm blood, having drunk its fill yet emitting a fine, low whimper.

Gugugeaaaa...

The sword’s cry, bizarre as a monstrous bird and evil ghost, resonated through the bones of his palm, penetrating his brain, yearning towards Li Aozi.

"Want more..."

Click.

Li Aozi flipped his wrist, bent his left arm, and wedged the back of the blade into the crook of his elbow, slowly pulling the long sword, lightly wiping the blood off the blade with his sleeve.

It was said that the sword techniques of the Sky Ring Warriors included a so-called "Blood Quiver" method that could flick off blood with a gentle shake, but Li Aozi found wiping with his sleeve cleaner, since fashion was never dirtied anyway.

Few swords were imported into Sky Ring, and ordinary mercenaries and Bounty Hunters who got one probably wouldn’t keep it; they’d either sell it for money or treasure it as a collectible.

Li Aozi remembered that Frost Plated essentially had no famous cold weapons; men in Frost Plated generally had a lower level of education, so they particularly favored firearms and prosthetic modifications, as well as bare-handed martial arts—these required almost no entry barrier, anyone could learn and get the hang of it.

Sky Ring was different; the national conditions of Sky Ring Country made them worship soldiers and admire personal martial force, unconcerned with one’s background or origin, with each hierarchy exceedingly martial, and a strong culture of dueling persisted—one could commit murder in Sky Ring, and if they joined the military and went to battle, neither courts nor police would dare arrest them.

For this reason, all the best cold weapon equipment in Azure Star was found there.

Li Aozi followed the "Sovereign" path, unable to undergo modifications and prosthetic implants, hence the rare prostheses and firearms of Frost Plated held no Attraction for him.

He wasn’t in a rush to venture into Red Arrow; Red Arrow had been calm these last two years, not suitable for his entrance.

Li Aozi had already planned his next destination to be Sky Ring, the perfect place to train in combat, upgrade, and acquire quality weapons.

He indeed knew of two Heirloom Masterpiece weapons hidden quests—exactly right, having completed his task in Frost Plated, he figured he now had the necessary level and power to claim them.

As for now...

"One left."

He looked toward the last Biochemical Pod, slowly stepping over the fallen bodies of boys and girls, closing in.

The Arcane Level of these individuals was very low, Li Aozi directly extracted and crushed them, storing the Arcane Sequence for future enhancements to the Arcane he favored.

Currently, among the stored Arcane in the Power Pod, there were none that truly suited his needs; he could only use whatever was useful.

As for Growth Abilities—aside from "Iterative Movement" and "Midday Splendor" having promising futures, he had also saved "Directed Blast" and "Electric Shock" to enhance his ranged Damage.

Click clack... click clack...

The enhancement Effect from Xeno slightly affected Li Aozi as well—in his view, the expressionless death faces of these mind-wiped children seemed particularly ironic.

Compared to Zonia before, the third generation of Ersha Armament were even more cold-hearted and ruthless, entirely losing human traits.

They were made into products, stripped of their names, emotions, merely a number replacing their personality, the label of Ersha Armament annihilating their existence.

Li Aozi recalled the Ersha Armament boy whom he had drained of Arcane Energy, who seemed to have a moment of clarity just before death, yet merely begged for death through tear-filled eyes.

What had they undergone?

Where did they come from?

What kind of modifications and experiments turned death into a luxury?

Li Aozi didn’t care about these things—in fact, for these children, there was no longer any need for them to be remembered.

The only thing a living person could do was to exterminate that group of Mingji Physicians and provide them a burial.

The last Biochemical Pod stood there, lonely yet peaceful, very well-behaved, like the good child in a crowd who never annoys anyone, though always well-behaved, it went unnoticed by all.

Li Aozi dared not be careless.

The third generation of Ersha Armament possessed various kinds of Arcane Energy. During the recent slaughter, even two of the Alpha Stage Ersha Armament were able to injure him.

He sheathed his long sword, yet constantly maintained a posture ready to draw it. The so-called "Coexist technique" was really just a sneaky drawing technique. However, with the enhancement from "Soul Engraving Swordsman - War Spectre," he could simply communicate with the consciousness of the sword.

In this way, even if the Ersha Armament inside the Biochemical Pod possessed a strong mental type Arcane Energy, he still could rely on the interaction with the sword, allowing him to execute the drawing technique.

Li Aozi thought through everything meticulously. The enhancements on Xeno and the near-fatal attack on Nomi had made him become exceedingly cautious about his life safety.

The gravitational field silently activated, surrounding his body. Should any gunfire and physical attacks come from the Ersha Armament in the biochemical pod, the gravity would deflect them. Even if they weren’t completely diverted, he could still use "Iterative Movement" to shift to a safe area or counterattack directly.

Or he could directly detonate "Midday Splendor," relying on the blinding brilliance of this strong control ability to possibly defeat the opponent.

He envisioned many potential scenarios as he approached the last biochemical pod.

He gave Qiu Ran a look from a distance, signaling him to immediately shut down the elevator doors and ascend to the first floor if any problem arose inside the pod. They would then move together once he had handled the situation.

’Stay safe.’

Qiu Ran reminded him from a few tens of meters away.

Clang—

Li Aozi prepared his sword stance, his eyes lighting up with purple rings.

His gaze was intense, he held his breath, and his Soul Engraving Swordsman ability activated, exuding a fierce and ghastly aura similar to an evil ghost.

Having reached the Contact Level in development, he could initially communicate with the consciousness of the sword.

For some reason, he was particularly concerned about the last biochemical pod, as if there was a thorn in his palm that he couldn’t ignore.

The long sword named "Simple Slash" was getting impatient. This little killing was not enough for it to awaken its true ’self’; it just continued to stir up malevolent energy, urging Li Aozi from within.

Li Aozi held the sword handle.

The biochemical pod remained silent.

It seemed as if the Ersha Armament inside hadn’t been completed and had prematurely died due to some accidental factor.

Could that be true?

Gugeaaa...

Even the weapon, Simple Slash, began to doubt, emitting a soft hum, but Li Aozi still trusted his own judgment.

Time passed by every second, and though Qiu Ran was clueless from afar, the atmosphere seemed to solidify further, as though someone hidden in the shadows was watching them.

"...Forget it."

Just then, Li Aozi suddenly deflated, his shoulders sagged, and, with a wave of his hand, he gave up the confrontation and turned to leave.

"It’s just my nerves. It’s nothing, Qiu—"

The moment he turned around, however, Qiu Ran saw the biochemical pod behind him silently open, and a humanoid figure with a drooping head slowly stood up.

Its body rapidly changed, donning a yellow and black Scavenger coat, and as it slowly raised its head, it bore a Mysterious face—its eyes unnaturally wide apart, its features divided yet symmetrically formed, with a set of thick lips, yet expressionless, its vacant eyes staring at Li Aozi ahead as its muscular outline and form gradually merged and unified with him.

It extended its arms and slowly approached from behind, reaching for Li Aozi’s neck.

"Behind—"

Before Qiu Ran could speak, Li Aozi swiftly ducked and stepped back half a step, dodging the neck grip while flicking open the knife crossguard, unsheathing his long sword.

Gravitational enhancement—thirty times acceleration!

Soul Engraving - War Ghost!

The fierce malevolent energy wrapped around the sword blade, stirring up a tangible flame, and the blade edge arrived in an instant, neatly slicing a masterful bloodline from his waist to his shoulder.

Just like a monk donning a kasaya.

"Damn..."

As Li Aozi slashed out with his sword, he noticed the corpse’s similarly looking appearance to his own, and shivered profoundly:

"Mingji Humanity dares to accept this—even this isn’t an Arcane Awakener, but a pseudo-human from Forged Society!"

This was no mere Mimic; Li Aozi was profoundly shocked by Mingji Humanity’s greed and folly when he saw the startling face of the other.

Forged Society—Philoris. Civilization predators that exist between narratives, with pseudo-humans being the "citizens" and followers dependent on this society.

This introduction might even be a bit difficult for players to understand.

Simply put:

Philoris is one of the main reasons why Azure Star was bombarded by Galaxy Civilization.