Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 116 - 093. The lives of the poor are only fit to serve as an edging for the rich.

Chapter 116: 093. The lives of the poor are only fit to serve as an edging for the rich.

Qiu Ran clenched her fists tightly, trembling all over.

She tightened her arms around the broken body of Nomi, her bright eyes tinged with red and black that vanished in an instant.

"So, we deserve to become your experimental subjects?"

"Before I came here, I was just a repairman working away from home... because of the status of an ’Infected’, I spent a whole three years in Mingji Humanity."

"Three years."

Qiu Ran clenched her fists tighter, her whole body shaking, the temperature around her noticeably rising, the heated air slightly distorted; her eyes ablaze with fury, but her tone as cold as iron:

"My younger brothers and sisters, my family, the people I was supposed to protect—just because you say ’you are an Infected’, I left them without a word."

Qiu Ran’s eyes glistened, then the tears evaporated quickly due to the high temperature:

"No news, no contact, this year was their college entrance exam, but I couldn’t cheer them on, couldn’t cook them a lucky breakfast. Other students had their parents and family with them, while their sister—who should’ve been there—was stuck in the ’treatment isolation’ of the Mingji Humanitarian Organization!"

She reached out and grabbed Head Nurse Nodley’s hand, who gave a muffled groan, and soon there was the smell of burnt flesh.

"I was terrified of passing my virus to them, turning them into those deformed and ugly monsters, ruining their future—and now, you tell me that the virus doesn’t even exist?"

Nodley opened her mouth, unable to endure the pain of the burn, but when faced with Qiu Ran’s gaze, she found it impossible to cry out in agony.

More than anger... what filled Qiu Ran’s eyes was sorrow.

She certainly hated Nodley and the whole Mingji Humanity for their deception, but that really wasn’t everything.

For a woman from the lower echelons of Frost Plated, the pressure of life and the tricky exploitation by capitalism had already worn her down.

Qiu Ran could face reality with a smile, and even encourage others to live optimistically; the end of her own life had long arrived, her own existence no longer mattered.

So what if she hated? What good would more hatred do?

This paled in comparison to the sadness and pain of leaving her family without a word, without being by their side.

How was Mingji the one to blame? Her pain was finite, but how could she ever make up for the debt to her younger siblings?

She had been living for her family, but Mingji ruthlessly separated her from them, manipulating her love for her family to make her leave willingly.

After separating them for two years, they now told her: there was never any Ersha, maybe it was just a lie concocted by an internal power struggle.

Three years.

Their most important college entrance exams of the brothers’ lives, the time that demanded family comfort and company the most, three years that decided their fate.

"Then what... did I do wrong?"

Nodley hung her head in shame, but after mumbling for a long time, could only utter a feeble word:

"Sorry."

The word was so heavy, taking all her strength to say.

The word was so light, because even if it was filled with regret, it held no significance for the facts.

——*Pfft*.

Qiu Ran laughed.

"Heh... heh heh... AHAHAHAHA!"

Smoke and flames slowly rose, Qiu Ran’s rage and burning sent Nodley crumbling to the ground:

"Go to hell!"

Crying and roaring with rage, she said:

"What a load of bullshit Mingji Humanity—you’re just a bunch of cowards that bully the weak and fear the strong!"

"You have the nerve to go after those capitalists, bankers, and high officials, so why come at us?"

"I’ve never complained about hard work, never expected my salary on time, never saw a doctor, though as a rural Frost Plated resident I never had land, didn’t take urban healthcare resources, and never spoke ill of the President for fear of affecting my siblings’ future—yeah, I’ve done nothing wrong, so why me? Why is it always me! Tell me why!"

"I’ve already become a completely compliant, motionless, straw man to be manipulated at will; why do you still need to strip me of everything?"

"You’ve imprisoned me for three years, after I finally made a friend, you killed Nomi... but what did I do wrong?"

"Tell me! Why are you silent now, physicians of Mingji, aren’t you supposed to serve Frost Plated?"

"Nomi... I finally understand, a country like Frost Plated shouldn’t exist at all."

The flames spread slowly along the surgical gown to Nodley’s half body, Leo let her go, and she collapsed on the ground, struggling to shake her head:

"...I’m sorry, I have nothing else to offer you but death."

The absence of medicine meant Nomi was just waiting for the depletion of Arcane Energy and then total death.

It was over.

Leo suddenly found it all a bit ridiculous.

Nomi, despite being found out, still used a nickname that nobody could remember.

"The old world will be burned to ashes by the flames of rebirth, and Roses will bloom in the ruins of the Four Nations."

In the isolation ward, she heard this phrase and the arcane glow in her purple one-eyed gaze lit up immediately.

"Comrade, the organization has sent me to pick you up."

The girl who outwardly didn’t care, cursed and swore, with terrible manners, would lower her Favorability because he crushed a keepsake of a pitiable person from the Outer World.

"...We wretched creatures barely surviving in the Outer World, are just as human as those in the Four Nations who bask in warm heating, eat steamed buns, and can watch TV and read. We are all people, all lives."

She knew he was not from the Rose Army, yet she naively changed her attitude based on his words.

"...A future where there is sunlight and warmth, where everyone can make something of themselves, where men and women enjoy equal rights. A time when no one rummages through trash bins for leftovers or begs and performs on the streets, when there are no prostitutes or slaves, where children and the elderly are respected and protected, criminals are punished by law, and labor is compensated with matching rewards - that is the future."

For that world, which existed only in honeyed words, and a pile of experimental victims she had never met, she was willing to risk her life and accompany him to fight the Rose Army at the lowest level of Mingji Humanity.

-- So this is how it ends?

"What about Anna?"

Li Aozi looked up, speaking impatiently:

"There are still 50 survivors in Mingji... where are they?"

"On the second floor, there are always living people there."

Head Nurse Nodley’s skin was burnt through by flames, her face resembling a skull:

"Anna... Anna is smart; she wanted to prolong the existence of Mingji Humanity. We were all Professor’s students, Li Aozi... please forgive the Professor and Anna. The Professor is dead, Anna... she made no mistakes, let me take on all the sins, stop the killing."

"Screw your mother."

Li Aozi drove his sword into Nodley’s chest, her lungs filling with blood, choking her breath. Even so, she did not die immediately, Li Aozi twisted the handle of the sword slowly, saying with disgust:

"I always thought that blowing up planets was already low enough--but you lot, a bunch of animals, each and every one of you is despicable, even a scumbag like me thinks you’re despicable."

Nodley’s body fell to the ground, her eyes dulling gradually as flames consumed her whole body, her life slowly ebbing away.

Life...

Suddenly, an idea flashed through Li Aozi’s mind, realizing something.

Nomi, she’s a "Plunderer," right?

Fighting alongside me all this time, she hardly ever really killed anyone, it was always me who landed the final blow.

......

"Plunderer"

Occupational Talent: Post-Raid Survival⁠—Plundering System practitioners are like sewer rats, with low attributes, weak combat capabilities upfront, but if they survive a dire battle, there’s a high chance they’ll acquire some of their enemy’s ’specialties.’

Sometimes it’s equipment, sometimes it’s attributes, it could even be appearance... (Cooldown time: 10 natural days)

......

"Plunderer," can life be seized?

Hard to say, since that’s not exactly a specialty.

In the realm of professional players, there are a few who can guarantee it. If it were true, it would add a lot of unpredictability to competitive arenas; the Plundering class might gain an extra life.

But on second thought, is an extra life what Nomi truly needs?

Li Aozi immediately came to his senses.

Although the Plunderer’s occupational talent is random looting, it fundamentally absorbs the opponent’s characteristics.

What’s the "Martial Artist’s" strong suit, if not "Strength" and "Constitution"?

In games, a critically injured person can escape a Near-Death State if their "Constitution" attribute suddenly increases or if their Health Points’ cap goes up.

This applies to both NPCs and Players alike.

If, if Nomi could plunder Head Nurse Nodley’s "Constitution" attribute or Health Points cap, even a little bit of Health Points would do, she could escape the Near-Death State.

Once out of Near-Death, her Arcane Energy would take effect continuously, healing quickly.

Li Aozi quickly checked Nomi’s team panel.

Sure enough—the passive of a "Plunderer" had never been activated.

"Qiu Ran, give her to me."

Still mired in grief and anger, Qiu Ran ignored his calls; so Li Aozi had to snatch the coat that was wrapping Nomi from her arms.

He unfolded the coat, revealing Nomi, with only half a skull left and an incomplete set of teeth.

Her face was too distorted to make out clearly, though one could vaguely see flesh writhing and growing back, while even her brain was nearly shattered.

She was still alive.

Nomi didn’t want to die, even if she was shattered to pieces, she wanted to continue living.

Did she still have her own consciousness?

If she did, how excruciating must her pain be right now?

If not, what was it that upheld her resolve to keep living?

"Nodley, you were wrong, other than death, there is one thing you can offer to atone -- your life."

He pried open Nomi’s upper and lower jaws, placed the long sword between her teeth, aiming at the quietly burning Head Nurse Nodley on the ground:

"Good luck, Nomi."

The next moment, he gripped Nomi’s chin and forehead, driving the long sword alongside her into Head Nurse Nodley’s skull!