Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 122 - 099. Ruins Investigation

Chapter 122: 099. Ruins Investigation

"What’s going on?"

The emergency brake caught the other Bounty Hunters off guard, leaving some of them dazed, unable to discern the situation.

"That Shaman has betrayed us! He killed Aux—"

A companion of the Martial Artist had only just spoken when Xue Nian raised his bear paw, claws piercing through the ears, and immediately crushed his head.

Bang bang bang bang bang!

Someone reacted, firing their rifle repeatedly. Xue Nian simply crouched behind a seat, the long weapons of the opponents blocked by the seats and the narrow interior of the bus, preventing aim.

"It’s the Bear Shaman! Damn it, focus fire on him, don’t let him get close, he can tear apart a car with his bare hands!"

Just then, Luo Le hacked into the vehicle’s lighting system again.

Pop pop pop!

An electrical overload, every light bulb burst, shards flying. The Bounty Hunters close by were injured by the glass pieces, and just as they were about to retaliate, they were plunged into darkness.

[Hacked into the air conditioning system—[Heating Mode] Temperature: 38.9°C]

"I can’t see anyone!"

"Use thermal imaging sights—damn, why did the air conditioning suddenly get so hot!"

Xue Nian remained silent, activated his Spiritual Power, his ghostly green eyes like wisps of flame. Through spiritual vision, he saw the Bounty Hunters engulfed in darkness, defenseless like lambs, ready for him to slaughter.

"Jump out of the vehicle—" Someone realized something was wrong and groped in the dark for a window, immediately lifting a weapon and a window breaker trying to smash the glass to escape.

[Protective panels raised]

Luo Le sat leisurely in the back, his electronic eyes glowing red, watching as those NPCs smashed the glass only for their hammers to hit the bus’s steel protective panels, resonating strong, clanging sounds.

Clang clang clang...

Lu Run was stunned by the scene. In just an instant, those fierce desperados were hunted and slaughtered by Xue Nian and Luo Le, decimating most of them.

Although he couldn’t see clearly in the dark, the intermittent screams and experience points from the team bonus deeply shocked him, a pure newbie.

"Here."

Suddenly, Luo Le handed him a handgun:

"Harvest some experience, boost your attributes. In face of danger, you can only truly rely on yourself."

Lu Run, realizing, quickly took the handgun, asked Luo Le how to use it, and began to put down enemies, harvesting lives one by one.

The battle was completely one-sided. Not to mention Xue Nian as the "Mysterious" Shaman, his robust physique and erosive Spiritual Power left the Bounty Hunters no room to fight back. Luo Le’s Secondary Profession as a "Hacker" played a critical role in this battle.

Power systems were restored, some lights activated, and light returned. Only the three of them were left alive on the bus.

"We still have seventy minutes of jamming time left. I need to hack into the vehicle’s systems and then rewrite the destination."

Luo Le took over the next tasks, while Xue Nian and Lu Run began sifting through the spoils of war.

"These guys’ gear is of such low quality." Lu Run, watching Xue Nian dismantle a spinal implant from a corpse, couldn’t help but complain.

Xue Nian seemed used to it: "Normal, what good implants can poor people afford—these third or fourth-hand goods, scattered together, don’t even total up to 20,000 Derby."

"I’ll help you too." Lu Run stepped forward to help dismantle implants from the corpses, then suddenly realized something: "Hey, if a player dies, do the implants disappear too?"

"Depends," Xue Nian said. "You’re probably not aware of the player’s resurrection mechanism, are you?"

"Yeah. That’s right," Lu Run nodded. "All I know is, our bodies seem to have co-opted NPC bodies, but what happens after a player dies?"

"Simply put, you’ve descended into an NPC body, and you also carry some special abilities," Xue Nian said.

"If you’ve checked your own NPC information, you’d find that there’s a life-long service agreement signed with ’Leian Institution for Membership-based Medical Care.’

"Leian Institution for Membership-based Medical Care? What is that?" Lu Run caught on to the term.

"Don’t know, but it’s there, probably arranged by the cyberbrain — in any case, this medical institution has implanted special nanomachines in the body you’ve descended into—here, hand me the gun."

"Oh." Lu Run quickly handed back the gun.

"That’s basically it."

Xue Nian took the handgun, switched it to burst-fire mode, and casually shot himself in the head.

Bang!

Before Lu Run’s eyes, Xue Nian’s brain matter and blood splattered across a row of seats.

"Shit!"

Lu Run exclaimed.

Xue Nian was shot in the head, dropped to one knee on the spot, struggled briefly, then fell to the ground, his pupils gradually dilating. However, a calm voice came through the audio channel:

"No matter what fatal damage a player receives, they won’t die instantly. When your Health Points drop to zero, you first enter a ’Near-Death State,’ lasting up to a minute. During this period, if you can receive treatment from others, you can come back from ’Near-Death State’—come, take the Healing Agent out of my pocket, and inject me with it."

Xue Nian’s tone was calm and composed, quickly calming Lu Run down. Following his directions, Lu Run took a Healing Potion from his trousers pocket and injected it into his neck.

"As long as the player’s Near-Death State doesn’t exceed one minute, they can come back safely like this."

The next moment, Xue Nian’s head twitched, the wound visibly healing. Apart from looking a bit pale, he stood up as if nothing had happened, then ate and drank some potions, restoring his Health Points to a healthy level.