Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 128 - 103. Throw a punch first, and solve the problem while punching.

Chapter 128: 103. Throw a punch first, and solve the problem while punching.

[Iterative Movement]

Li Aozi’s figure swiftly lengthened, his body became molecularized. The relentless burst energy laser submerged his shadow as he evaded behind the door.

"This guy hasn’t been on the battlefield before, has he? His tactical awareness is actually pretty sharp! And he even has an anti-gravity system on him, tsk, really can’t underestimate such characters."

At this point, there was no room for discussion.

"Nothing to do but completely annihilate the Third Rule Agents and retain Du Zexin."

Just as Li Aozi drew his long sword, the system immediately popped up a prompt:

[You have triggered the emergency event— "Armor Assault"]

[Type]: Event

[Time Limit]: 20 minutes (countdown starts after joining the battle)

[Mission Difficulty]: B

[Introduction]:

People who shouldn’t be fighting are forced into battles that shouldn’t have happened—this sounds a bit ludicrous, but in reality, there are plenty of situations where as the snipe and clam grapple, the fisherman gains. Sometimes that’s just the way the world works, you can’t choose your enemies, and even if they are unwilling to fight, they must take part in the battle.

But the good news is, even if you can’t persuade each other, you at least have the ability to make them listen to your persuasion.

You need to be careful not to let the bunting fill its belly.

[Settlement Conditions]:

A—Subdue Du Zexin without killing him, reward 10,000 experience points;

B—Eliminate all Third Rule agents, each Third Rule agent gives an additional 4,000 experience points, Current progress: 0/25;

C—Capture Professor Anna alive, interrogate her to obtain a pass, and be rewarded with a random [Fine Artistry] basic knowledge item.

————————

The rewards aren’t too generous, it looks like Du Zexin has only been promoted to Beta Rank not long ago; he’s less of a threat than the Infant Eater.

Is it really just a lousy constitution? Normally, Transcendents who have just promoted need several months to adapt and stabilize their realm. It seems Du Zexin was likely conscripted and pulled right into action.

"Quick, hide!"

Li Aozi glanced at the panel and immediately shouted to Qiu Ran and Jian.

Boom!

Before his voice settled, Du Zexin, clad in the fully-covered armor of "Beautiful Wish," burst into the lobby propelled by rockets, his pale armored suit resembled an ancient noble knight, and the blade-shaped antenna on his head unconsciously brought to mind a unicorn.

"Is that..."

Qiu Ran was taken aback by the stunning pinnacle of mechanical engineering.

With no superfluous decorations and sharply defined armor unadorned by any paint, the pure industrial aesthetic was even more prominent, and the contours puffed up by electronic muscles made Du Zexin appear like a steel angel, majestic and sanctified.

Beep beep beep—

The Magnum Burst Energy Gun was again aimed at Li Aozi; Du Zexin without any courtesy pulled the trigger, and the red laser burst energy electrolyzed the inner metal bullet into a metallic stream, then accelerated it to four times the speed of sound, arriving in an instant!

Bang crack!

The alloy wall was instantly dented with a molten mark, and the residual heat from the metal was chilling; Qiu Ran quickly ducked to hide.

Jian Neriya’s gaze flickered subtly, she silently hid in the passageway on the side, quietly observing the changes.

Whiz-crack—whiz-crack—

Du Zexin was an excellent shooter, and he nonchalantly fired his gun at Li Aozi, not minding the reactor nearby.

Li Aozi diverted gravity, and with agile maneuvers, he leapt off the wall and changed direction mid-air, evading the aim of the Magnum Burst Energy Gun; the long sword entwined with malevolent Qi, and he pounced towards the other side in an instant.

Du Zexin’s reactions were exceptionally fast. His waist rocket suddenly extinguished, he dropped quickly while also firing a shock grenade to the ground, the violent airwave exploded out, and Li Aozi had to back off to prevent being harmed by the blast wave.

Taking advantage of the explosion’s airwave, Du Zexin swiftly created distance between himself and Li Aozi; with a dip of his left shoulder, he released a three-shot flashbang. Li Aozi had just landed when he had to bend down and bow his head, while at the same time reaching up to pull down protective goggles.

Ping pong ping ping pong—

The extremely crisp series of flashes mixed with the sonic boom of the shock grenades produced a terrifying audio-visual effect, scaring Qiu Ran, who was hiding nearby, into screaming.

"Ahh—"

As an ordinary person with no combat experience, Qiu Ran was utterly unable to handle such a stunning assault.

"A woman’s voice—is she this guy’s companion or a survivor?"

Du Zexin was slightly taken aback, but his actions were not hindered, his feet hit the ground in rapid succession and he slid backwards; his shoulder rockets fired in full force.

"FOX-3, launch all missiles!"

The active radar warheads immediately locked onto Li Aozi’s form and accelerated towards him.

Li Aozi didn’t need to hesitate to deal with this kind of weapon; he lowered his head, sheathed his sword, and activated Iterative Movement, creating a series of figures in the air as he slid low to the ground and dodged into the biochemical pod that had previously contained the Ersha Armament.

Bang bang bang bang!

The rocket’s detonation spread shrapnel, and smoke filled the air.

"This guy really has guts; even I wouldn’t dare to bomb recklessly."

Li Aozi had to admit, the king of the [Fine Artistry] field really did things confidently.

Players were afraid to blow up the reactor, but this guy was going all out with his firepower!

Hiss—

The Magnum Burst Energy Gun ejected the spent magazine; Du Zexin replaced it cleanly and swiftly, patting the magazine well and switching the operating system.

[Suppression mode]

Humm—dat dat dat dat dat dat!

He held the burst energy gun in one hand and opened fire as he closed in on Li Aozi, while his other hand popped up a virtual screen.

"Mingji Humanity’s network defense is practically nonexistent, with just a slight adjustment, I can gain access to all the surveillance cameras..."

Li Aozi’s instant movement seriously hindered him, and for the mid-air changing trajectories, he chose to leave it to his assistant AI for deep learning analysis.

After all, he was just a "Mechanic," whose main attributes were "Intelligence" instead of "Strength" and "Dexterity."

No matter how accurate his shooting was, a human without the aid of qi energy couldn’t beat the calculations and predictive aiming of a computer.

With this, he could multitask and start infiltrating Mingji Humanity’s network.

Li Aozi’s performance was entirely within his expectations. As long as he kept up the pressure, he could steadily wear down the opponent’s stamina and secure the victory.

Like Li Aozi, he didn’t want to kill his opponent outright.

As an ordinary boss of the Third Rule agents, not many knew him, and Li Aozi’s attacks had been with the flat of the blade several times, a clear sign of mercy.

This blatant leniency led Du Zexin to speculate:

’Could he be a member of the David Lyn Faction, just like me?’

If that were truly the case, then things would be even more troublesome.

Involving the special research institution of Mingji Humanity, the bigshots of Frost Plated took it very seriously, which made Du Zexin dare not underestimate the situation.

Right after the professor of Mingji Humanity died, it became known in Twin Star City that she was ’accidentally killed’ by Anna; it’s feared that the surveillance system here has long been infiltrated by insiders of the bigshots.

Even he couldn’t be certain how much the bigshots of Frost Plated knew about the situation here, after all, the top hackers under those people’s command were far more than the idle hackers in society.

Surely, the opponent must be thinking the same. Between the two of them, one had to lose, at least for appearances’ sake.

Though it was just a speculation, his mind might waver, but his hands could not show mercy.

"You really are Quasi-Beta."

Du Zexin’s synthesized electronic voice came out, offering faint praise.

Bang!

Li Aozi dodged a grenade. The opponent had an anti-gravity system, making gravity useless against him. He had to take the long way around to wear down the opponent’s ammunition reserves.

He raised his sword to deflect the point-blank metal jets, his body retreated three steps from the immense impact, just in time to avoid the crash of Du Zexin’s rocket on the ground.

[Camera access seized]

Du Zexin knew how to control the distance well, trying to force Li Aozi to dodge with shrapnel and the impact of the explosion.

"In that case..."

Li Aozi decided to turn retreat into advance, instantly activating "Iterative Movement." He moved in a large circle around his opponent, appearing behind Du Zexin.

All of this was captured by the cameras of Mingji Humanity.

Hooked!

Du Zexin was thrilled, he had deliberately exposed a flaw to lure Li Aozi in close.

As Li Aozi charged forward with his raised sword, Du Zexin slapped his belt, electric currents activating the bionic muscles in his legs. The armor split open at the seams to form spikes while radiating intense heat rapidly, stirring up dazzling sparks.

[Blessing Kick]

In an instance, Du Zexin twisted his waist and lifted his leg, smashing it neatly and decisively against the flat of the sword Li Aozi had raised, like counterclockwise motion!

Bang!

The electric current was absorbed by the insulating gloves of the Scavenger, but the tremendous kinetic energy instantly knocked Li Aozi back into the air, where he spun three times before he could adjust his orientation to the gravity and safely land on the ceiling.

"Whoa..."

Li Aozi glanced at the trembling blade; the crossguard was even a bit loose.

That kick had released at least five tons of force, and yet it could still cause such damage.

And that was after he had mitigated most of the impact by adjusting gravity.

"—Not bad yourself."

Even if a bit lousy, the guy was still quite tough, nearly damaging him enough to trigger a fight response.

Du Zexin’s suppression was terrifying; his pinpoint fire coverage greatly restricted Li Aozi’s mobility.

Moreover, the suit he wore, called "Beautiful Wish," was made of components that were all of "Flawless Perfection" quality, and the Magnum burst energy gun was even a "Supernatural Excellence" piece of strong equipment.

With the armor value of the gear he wore, Li Aozi estimated that it was at least 3000 points, making it harder to deal with than an Infant Eater.

"That’s why I hate these swots who are smarter than me..."

Li Aozi muttered to himself.

Fighting Du Zexin was satisfying, though his operation was still a bit behind that of a well-honed professional player of the later stages. But relying on his equipment and combat sensibilities, the two were essentially evenly matched.

This was interesting... Li Aozi estimated that Meibei’s level must have just reached 40. His "Intelligence" should be similar to that of the Professor’s, and his secondary attribute must be "Dexterity," or he wouldn’t be able to compete with him on reaction speed.

HIs knowledge reserve and skills were a bit lacking — but his armor was able to increase his strength to a level not inferior to the Infant Eaters.

However, compared to the especially disgusting self-healing ability of the "Infant Eater," Du Zexin was easier to handle.

The agents of the Third Rule were shrewd, and they never showed themselves, occasionally taking a few potshots like mosquitoes, which annoyed Li Aozi greatly.

"Annoying things— I was thinking of leaving some room for negotiation, but now let’s just complete the settlement condition B first!"

Li Aozi feigned a charge, braving the suppressive fire and suddenly releasing a fierce white light from his palm.

"Midday Splendor"

The dazzling high-luminance white light instantly burned out the camera on Du Zexin’s armor. While he was activating the secondary monitor, Li Aozi was already changing direction in mid-air, rushing towards the passage where he had holed up.

Gegugagagag...

Simple Slash moaned low, thirsting for killing and slaughter. The battle ghost’s fierce aura entwined the long sword, and Li Aozi’s eyes lit up with a purple glow, instantly slashing at the Third Rule agents with a stern resolve!