Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 114 - 091. Pseudo-Human

Chapter 114: 091. Pseudo-Human

Forged Society—Philoris, was a cruel and lawless monster.

It often wandered the boundary universe of Narrative 11 "Union Group" and Narrative 12 "Obliteration Sanctum."

The so-called narrative was originally a cosmic space occupied by an Overlord-level civilization. The spacetime in this area was completely mastered by an Overlord-level civilization, operating under its own rules; any narrative extended across hundreds of billions of star systems.

Li Aozi—or Azure Star—was merely a tiny planet in such a grand narrative.

Monsters like Society, on the other hand, were understood by mortals only as "Civilization Devourers." Nothing more was known.

Regarding Philoris, Li Aozi’s knowledge was limited.

Li Aozi only knew: Its strength and mobility far exceeded mortal comprehension; its mysterious, transcendent existence was of an extremely exalted order. As a cosmic entity that fed on civilizations, it gave narratives a headache.

There was no way to destroy it, nor to stop its predation; the best they could do was persuade it to leave.

But compared to its god-like status within civilizations, people did not respect it; they feared its infiltration methods more.

As its name implies, "Forgery," when it infiltrated a narrative region, it would dispatch its "citizens"—cells in its body—into various civilizations to adapt, select, consume some of the bioentities of that civilization, then replace their identities and continue operating, slowly consuming the entire civilization.

The most basic citizens of Forged Society were called "Pseudo-Humans."

Pseudo-Humans were exceptionally terrifying creatures; they approached humans, consumed them, and replaced their identities, disguising themselves as humans to continue living, interacting with others, and consuming them as well.

"Mingji went crazy... These newborns were originally just anti-human; now they’re anti-civilization of the entire cosmos!"

Li Aozi looked at the Pseudo-Human corpse on the ground. Apart from the drastically different face, the rest of it was nearly identical, sending a chill down his spine.

Initially, no one paid attention to these Pseudo-Humans, thinking they were just a kind of urban legend, akin to "Double Identity." The majority of early encountered Pseudo-Humans were mediocre in strength, posing no significant threat.

But in reality, they were not difficult opponents for NPCs, yet far more terrifying for players.

Because Pseudo-Humans could replace players.

As long as they killed a player once, they could deceive the system’s panel information, disguise themselves as players, and infiltrate crowds.

Pseudo-Humans had an exceptionally terrifying level of intelligence, their deep-learning ability rivaling that of artificial intelligence. Some could mimic emotional fluctuations, blending into any circle without drawing attention.

Players would often be chatting about what to eat after logging off, only to have the person they were talking to suddenly grin and say,

"Eat you."

Players had to maintain external communication at all times, avoiding any possible Pseudo-Human infiltration. By later stages, players horrifyingly discovered that Pseudo-Humans could completely master their jargon, strategic thinking, action paths, and even mimic the tones and habits of the replaced players.

Except for not being able to resurrect, they were almost indistinguishable from players.

Due to the overly realistic immersion of Starry Abyss, internal communication and friends were only accessible through gaming mobile devices—things that Pseudo-Humans could confiscate.

Players had to rely on out-of-game voice channels to communicate with teammates, but over seventy percent of players played with random teams of strangers.

This led to a situation where players were almost always clustering together; anyone leaving the team for any reason faced suspicion of being replaced by a Pseudo-Human.

Once a chain of suspicion formed, trust could never be restored.

Players broke down faster than NPCs in this aspect. Normal tasks became unmanageable, and many who left the game experienced deep psychological trauma.

By version 2.5, the pressure on players grew—by then, Pseudo-Humans could completely copy players’ skills and tactics,

and since NPC templates ignored version level restrictions, Pseudo-Humans were generally higher in level than the players.

Once a Pseudo-Human infiltrated a team, most of the time, players would start by accusing and suspecting each other, descending into infighting and mutual slaughter, only to watch helplessly as a far stronger Pseudo-Human killed them, replacing them.

By this point, players could no longer progress in the game; the entire Azure Star collapsed due to Pseudo-Human invasion, with no one trusting each other anymore, and the most basic teamwork and cooperation necessary for civilization shattered.

Speaking of which—the solo advantage of the Sovereign series was only evident from that point onward.

Only after version 2.5 did Starry Abyss urgently add exclusive guild and team voice functions to prevent further Pseudo-Human victimization.

"Pseudo-Humans..."

Li Aozi tightened his grip on the knife handle.

The cosmic treaty and all major narratives strictly prohibited the research of Society’s "citizens" because it could potentially lead to the annihilation of entire civilizations.

No one knew where these monsters came from; the universally accepted protocol was "discover and destroy," akin to isolating virus carriers immediately.

Mingji Humanity wasn’t just antagonizing the Outer World inhabitants or the whole Azure Star, but the entire Starry Abyss!

"They hadn’t even figured out what Arcane Energy was yet turned Pseudo-Humans into weapons, Xeno too, clearly a Mysterious Series Psychicer, they mistook her for an Arcane User..."

Li Aozi now understood why Assistant Doctor Anna concluded that Ersha Theory was baseless.

Though he knew the essence of Ersha, others perceived that the Professor had no understanding of Arcane Energy; she couldn’t even differentiate between Arcane Energy and Spiritual Power, mistaking non-humans like Pseudo-Humans for Arcane Users.

This was the result of Azure Star lacking a Supernatural Knowledge System, something considered ’metaphysical superstition’ in the cosmos.

Humans analyzed and explained phenomena outside their scientific system using their shallow, inherent knowledge, leading to such strange occurrences.

This wasn’t wrong, just a symptom of an era’s backwardness and an insufficiently advanced or comprehensive technology.

After killing the Pseudo-Human, Li Aozi felt a wave of dizziness.

He quickly realized that such metaphysical superstition was not uncommon on Azure Star.

How many more Pseudo-Humans were mistakenly regarded as normal Transcendents and brazenly entered the human world?

They could act seamlessly, be moved to tears, be cold-hearted, exhibit racial prejudice, and tell hell jokes, even be valiant in battle, saving you from the chaos.

Then, at the moment you felt most moved and considered them a good friend, they would tear your chest open, take your identity, and become you.

He couldn’t help but look at Qiu Ran.

The village girl sitting on the ground, visibly terrified but relieved he had taken down the enemy safely.

Could she be a Pseudo-Human?

"Thank goodness..."

Qiu Ran lowered her shoulders, then picked up the clothes wrapping Nomi’s head:

"What to do? Li Aozi, we—I... What should we do with Nomi? I’m going to go mad; I can’t do anything... What should I do?"

Li Aozi shook his head.

No, Pseudo-Humans weren’t that rampant yet...

Li Aozi scanned the surroundings without finding another path.

In truth, the players’ guides had no detailed information on the third floor.

In the original plot, the player only needed to talk to Assistant Doctor Anna, learn that she intended to run Mingji Humanity for profit before engaging in humanitarian aid, and gain access to the second floor.

But now... where was Assistant Doctor Anna?

Nomi was in terrible shape, always in a near-death state with health points not recovering. Perhaps some medication was needed.

Li Aozi, without thinking, said:

"Back to the first floor."

The first floor had medical storerooms and emergency rooms; their only option was to see if they could save Nomi there.

Head Nurse Nodley was still alive. He hadn’t killed her immediately, fearing unforeseen events; she might provide some information.

He hadn’t found room ZX-626 yet; it was the right time to ask her where it was.

Qiu Ran quickly nodded and followed Li Aozi into the elevator, pressing the button for the first floor.

"Nomi... hang in there... Nomi..."

Her incessant praying made her uncomfortable, and she looked up to find Li Aozi’s gaze fixed on her.

"...Li Aozi?"

Qiu Ran was puzzled.

Li Aozi didn’t respond.

From now on, he set a new goal: besides obtaining the Arcane Energy essential for the Blood Demon Style, he also needed an Arcane Energy of the Eye of Truth.

Only that Arcane Energy could see through real Pseudo-Humans.

"I overlooked... In the previous life, Frost Plated and Sky Ring’s harsh environments had no Pseudo-Human invasion, making me think they didn’t exist."

In reality, this threat had always been there.

Only by blowing up the entire Azure Star could the Pseudo-Human crisis be resolved completely.

But just the Pseudo-Humans weren’t enough to mobilize the Galaxy Civilization.

"Mingji Humanity must be exterminated. Frost Plated had no Pseudo-Human sighting reports in the previous life, possibly just this one case... but I can’t be careless. One Pseudo-Human usually means another supervising one."

Before the elevator closed, Li Aozi glanced at the fissile reactor.

If push came to shove... prepare to blow up the entire Mingji Humanity.

Right from the start, Li Aozi didn’t want to do so; Mingji Humanity’s engineering facilities could sustain many lives: mature greenhouse ecosystems, assembly lines—this Shelter could be a frontline outpost, a military base, or even a prosperous town. Blowing it up would be too costly.

But if another Pseudo-Human was found, Li Aozi would destroy it without hesitation, obliterating the entire Shelter along with the lurking Pseudo-Humans.

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