Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 123 - 099. Ruins Investigation_2

Chapter 123: 099. Ruins Investigation_2

"This is so magical..."

Lu Run, quite tempted, picked up the pistol and was about to test it on himself.

"Even if you die, it’s no big deal," Luo Le, who was hacking into the transport vehicle’s computer system, interrupted, "If more than a minute passes, the player’s character is considered dead, and Lai Anding will immediately activate the nanomachines, resurrecting you."

"Doesn’t that mean players can resurrect indefinitely!"

"It’s not all that great—although even if only one molecule of you is left, as long as it’s within a minute, they can bring you back... hmm, it does sound pretty impressive."

Xue Nian explained:

"But this doesn’t mean you can die without limits—according to our calculations, the nanomachines can only perform a full-body repair three times, and after each death, it’s not like you resurrect right where you died. You have to be at least close to a player gathering zone or the main city."

Lu Run’s tempted heart immediately calmed down, and he hesitated to ask:

"So, what happens after three deaths? Is your account permanently deleted?"

"No, it’s just the NPC body conscripted by signs that’s dying," Xue Nian said, "Once you’ve died more than three times, that body is completely scrapped and can no longer sustain your summons. Your account needs to cool down for 24 hours—in the game, that’s about 30 days."

"That’s a huge loss... are there any other consequences after that?"

"Yes, after the 24-hour cool down and when you log back into the game, your interface will no longer be for ’Descend.’"

Xue Nian said:

"You’ll need to redeploy, bringing your knowledge, experience, levels, and hierarchy, and summon a similar NPC character to descend upon."

"Wait, so my previous identity, accumulated tasks, held equipment, and things like favorability—are all gone?"

"Correct, your identity will change; usually, factions will remain the same, task progress is reset to zero, current level experience progress is cleared, and as for favorability..."

Xue Nian said meaningfully:

"As far as I know, NPCs with favorability below 500 (Respect) will no longer remember you. Those with more than 500 points won’t care how you returned."

He wanted to ask more but all of a sudden, Luo Le spoke up:

"Position adjustments complete, we should arrive at Mingji Humanity in about 15 minutes."

"Get ready." Xue Nian nodded, "The difficulty of Mingji Humanity seems high, even if Li Aozi destroyed it, before the Rose Army arrives, there should be bandit gangs nearby eyeing this place."

"These rotten fish and shrimp are not enough for me to level up," Luo Le snorted, "We better find Li Aozi’s recordings quickly, complete the company’s promotional task, and then go do our tasks—I don’t want to work overtime for four or five hours every day. I really don’t understand, penal laborers have to work eight hours a day, isn’t this slavery? It’s worse than going to the colonies to watch meteorites."

"Quit complaining, at least the company doesn’t hold back on paying wages."

"No kidding, penal laborers’ wages are so little, spend it on a few cases of soda and a meal, and it’s gone. If even that was withheld, Qiqiao Network must be on the brink of a financial breakdown."

As Xue Nian and Luo Le bickered and chatted, Lu Run found it hard to jump into the conversation. With nothing better to do, he began to watch Li Aozi’s recordings and information again, thinking about how to edit the footage.

Suddenly, he noticed his own reflection on the display screen—compared to his previous frail image, his contours and edges were becoming more and more like his real self.

"What a magical game..."

Before long, they arrived at Shelter P-205. The three of them snuck in cautiously through the main entrance. Along the way, scattered limbs and decomposing stench were everywhere, causing them to put on breathing masks involuntarily— even in the game, they didn’t want to risk any infections.

However, their caution seemed to be in vain.

The place was empty, not a soul in sight.

"The space below was scorched by flames, essentially cleared out, not even a mouse left."

Luo Le found the server room of Mingji Humanity and the servers, while Xue Nian noticed some not-so-recent military boot prints and spent bullet casings from Frost Plated.

"It seems that Frost Plated has already been here ahead of us," Xue Nian said regretfully, "They probably already took the most valuable intelligence."

"Not necessarily."

Once the power was activated, Luo Le hacked into Mingji Humanity’s servers, searched for a while, and immediately laughed:

"The hacker expert from Frost Plated must have gotten the job through connections, the hacking method is quite low-level. Look at this database, they actually tried to use a virus to break in—if it were me, I would extract the main computer’s authentication pact, bypass the firewall directly, and unlock it like this."

As soon as he finished speaking, he unlocked Mingji Humanity’s confidential database.

"Let’s see what we have here... Wow, what is all this? Bayo Kong, Anti-gravity System, Bio-mechanical Body, Virus Pod, Camouflage Form, Theseus’s Brain, Bio High-voltage Current, Living Battery, Cell Computer, Chitin Bio Gun Barrel, Brainwave Telepathy, Psychic Communication—"

The plethora of information shocked Luo Le.

"These records... at the very least involve the basic knowledge of 40 Fine Artistry disciplines, 3 advanced subjects and are enough to fast-track a Biochemist to Beta Rank (β, the second Greek letter)!"

"There are also 75 human trial records here: ’The Physiological Mutations Caused by Arcane Energy on Adolescents of Both Genders: Detailed Dissection Diagrams—’ My God, how many people were sacrificed to obtain this information."

As Luo Le browsed through, he quickly found a special video, its name a string of numbers and letters, different from the orderly arrangement of the others.

Out of curiosity, he immediately clicked to play it:

The screen initially turned black and then brightened up, the roaring sound of the subway followed, and the light illuminated the name of the platform: Krasnya Yagre Station.

"Is this surveillance footage of a subway station?"

The fierce armored train entered the station, braked, and docked. The doors opened, and out stepped a group of tall, imposing soldiers with a cool demeanor, wearing black and white uniforms, bringing with them crates of ammunition, supplies, and equipment.

Not long after, a woman’s voice rose slowly:

"You’ve finally arrived, agents of the Third Rule, you’ve had a long journey."

"No trouble, Professor Anna."

The camera slowly zoomed in on a young intelligence officer with a wide-brimmed hat and a gaze as cold as his half-black, half-white hair. He saluted Professor Anna with his hand but did not shake hers. His blue eyes remained indifferent as he said plainly:

"Third Rule, Level Two Investigating Officer, Du Zexin, on orders to deliver these supplies."

"Du? That surname is quite rare in Frost Plated..." Doctor Anna said with slight surprise, "Forgive my bluntness, but what is your relationship with Ms. Du Jiali?"

"Merely the same surname."

Du Zexin spoke with a cold tone:

"If you are questioning the congruence of my gender and position, there’s no need. I’ve achieved my rank through my own abilities."

As soon as Du Zexin finished speaking in the video, Luo Le had already retrieved relevant information:

Du Jiali: Deputy Director of the Education Bureau of the Frost Plated Republic

Family Relationship: Du Zexin—cousin once removed.

"Damn, this one’s a big shot."