Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 138 - 112. Thriving Ones

Chapter 138: 112. Thriving Ones

Gravity deflection forward — 60 times acceleration!

[Soul Engraving Swordsman - War Spectre]

The Plain Slash Long Blade emitted a sharp shriek as it instantly tore through the air.

With 60 times gravitational acceleration, Li Aozi burst into a sonic boom where he stood. His speed instantly broke through 588 meters per second, and bullets, in his eyes, seemed to move as slowly as spiraling snails.

He simply held the blade with both hands horizontally, relying on terrifying speed to slice through their metal armor.

Sparks flew, but the cuts in the flesh were eerily smooth.

Because the force acted reciprocally, after experiencing such intense speed, Li Aozi’s movements were minimal and cautious. He deftly adjusted his Arcane Energy in time to keep himself in a state of weightlessness and acceleration to prevent being killed by his own Arcane Energy.

Suddenly—

Li Aozi halted and turned to sheathe his sword.

Click.

The row of Biochemical Soldiers behind him continued to fire their guns, but their heads were thrown up high, their brains in the jars deactivating swiftly, as cheerful and light as embroidered balls.

Ratatatatata—

Compared to Li Aozi’s smooth and effortless combat, Du Zexin’s fight seemed complex and splendid, pushing micro-manipulations to their limits.

He first threw out two EMP grenades. The instantaneous electromagnetic pulse burst caused the approaching Biochemical Soldiers to collapse and crash, crushed by their own exoskeletons.

The [Beautiful Wish] armor’s mechanical backpack deployed transform into a tracked vehicle and popped out a shield, forming a mobile barricade to block incoming heavy fire.

Since the anti-gravity system had been disabled by Li Aozi, Du Zexin couldn’t continue to fly and had to rely on this method to steadily advance.

He raised his hand to fire a breaching grenade, sending a row of Biochemical Soldiers and their cover flying, then immediately turned and shot close-range with his Magnum Burst Energy Gun. With a mobile barricade and armor to protect him, he was not afraid of heavy artillery and smoothly broke through the defenses.

"Warning! High-energy target intrusion! Warning! High-energy target intrusion!"

The alarm went off in the factory, and the slaughter by Li Aozi and Du Zexin continued.

"Save some ammo!"

Li Aozi increased gravity by 10 times. With the Battle Ghost’s aura almost tangible, he gripped with both hands and with one slash, bisected the upper body of a Biochemical Soldier. He flipped his hand for a blade flower and thrust it into another Biochemical Soldier attempting a sneak attack from behind. [Iterative Movement] activated, and he instantly teleported behind a sniper, grabbing his head.

[Directed Blast]

Crack—

The sniper’s brain in the jar burst instantly, and before his blood could splatter onto Li Aozi, he activated [Iterative Movement] again, returning to his original position.

He pulled the long blade out from the corpse and, with his right arm, shot out chains, sweeping a circle to bisect all approaching Biochemical Soldiers.

"How many of them are there—was the White Fang Guild failing to invade here initially really the Professor’s intention?"

Li Aozi dropped the chains as another group of bullets from Biochemical Soldiers swept toward him. Some even risked hitting their own by firing rocket launchers and grenade launchers at him.

These attacks were of little significance to him. A gravitational field deflection could bounce all bullets and explosive fragments away, but this prevented him from using other Arcane Energies, significantly affecting his advancement speed.

"These Biochemical Soldiers don’t count as part of the Mingji Humanity, and their actions are quite uniform—are they clones? Or intentionally adjusted? Never mind, it doesn’t matter."

Compared to these Biochemical Soldiers, Li Aozi was more concerned about the Professor’s previous feigned death.

Was it to eliminate dissenters?

Or to escape the surveillance of Frost Plated?

Or perhaps, was it to better conduct secret experiments?

Li Aozi parried a blow from a Biochemical Soldier’s bayonet, raising his left hand to release [Midday Splendor], a fierce, bright white light burning the bodies of a group of Biochemical Soldiers.

He clenched his fist fiercely, and the burning Biochemical Soldiers were thrown up by an invisible force, following his moving palm in the air and instantly rolling down the stairs.

"—Or perhaps, all of these reasons are valid."

After all, avoiding Frost Plated was for conducting secret experiments, and using the White Fang Guild to eliminate dissenters was also part of the plan. With Mingji Humanity being plundered, the White Fang Guild could be nurtured from it. The rise of White Fang Guild would further assist the Infant Eaters in collecting babies.

Even if Mingji Humanity was indeed devastated, the Professor likely guessed that Anna would contact Frost Plated for protection.

Frost Plated, of course, wouldn’t stand idly by, as these days, every research institution thinks about defrauding funds, with only Mingji Humanity genuinely providing results.

And with Anna inheriting the Professor’s mantle, once the situation stabilized, she would definitely come to the second underground layer, where everything she coveted existed—military, martial power, biochemical factories, and secret experiment data.

—And, the Professor.

Whoosh!

Li Aozi ran his blade through the last Biochemical Soldier’s armor gap, pinning him to the wall. He dismantled the opponent’s face mask and placed his palm over the brain in the jar, [Severing Life] activated, and neural tentacles burst from his palm, sucking the remaining life from his opponent.

"Phew... These guys, what a pressure they are."

As the shriveled corpse fell to the ground, Li Aozi exhaled a breath and tossed two compressed biscuits into his mouth.

—Speaking of which, was it too much at the time to steal Agent Yawen’s biscuits? Ever since the fight started, the consumption has been intense, yet there’s still some left.

Li Aozi looked towards Du Zexin, who had just smashed a biochemical soldier’s head with his fist, splattering brain matter in a radial spray, a sight not much less gruesome than what Li Aozi had been dealing with.

"How does it feel?"

"These biochemical soldiers react much faster than humans. If it hadn’t been for the AI’s warning, I might not have been able to shoot accurately."

Du Zexin pulled out his fist, simultaneously retrieving a chip and frowned. He said to Li Aozi,

"This is a military chip from Laifu Light Industries..."

"The weapon is still a VK-74, these military weapons are plentiful in Mingji."

Li Aozi was unimpressed.

"It’s hard to imagine how Mingji Humanity could transform ordinary people into career soldiers nearly at the Alpha Stage. Plus, they even overcame the issues of mechanical inflexibility and poor barrier-breaking capabilities."

Du Zexin lifted his face armor, his gaze on the chip complicated.

On one hand, as a human, he was disgusted by the practice of using compatriots as weapons. On the other hand, as a "Mechanic," he truly admired the Professor’s experimental products.

He had to admit, the Professor truly deserved support from Frost Plated. If one disregarded ethics and boundaries, he, as President, would also support the research of Mingji Humanity.

Du Zexin shook his head, putting away the chip.

They had slaughtered their way through the biochemical factory. How many biochemical soldiers had Li Aozi and he killed? 400? Or was it 500?

Du Zexin couldn’t count—such a force, if equipped with specialized mechanical transport and weaponry, could completely replace conventional armies.

But then, could one truly trust an army entirely composed of brains in jars?

Li Aozi didn’t think so much; he never chose "Intelligence" ("Will"). People with high intelligence often lived in great pain.

"Focus on the upcoming battle. Your style and realm clearly haven’t adapted to the power of the Beta Rank."

"You can tell I just advanced?" Du Zexin was quite surprised. "Is it that obvious? I thought my firepower had already reached the level of a company."

"Clearly, at Beta Rank, your life has already been thoroughly transcended once. You should consider changing your thinking, thinking from the perspective of a Transcendent rather than with a mortal’s ideology—mortals are still caught up in disputes over the supremacy of firepower and the uselessness of armored suits. Can you think like that?"

Li Aozi briefly mentioned this, and Du Zexin pondered deeply, leaving whatever thoughts he came up with to himself.

Everyone has different ideas, and Du Zexin, a famous problem-solver, didn’t need teaching; suggest a direction, and he would think through to a solution on his own.

Starting from the Beta Rank, one must consider personal style and school affiliation.

It wasn’t as obvious in the Alpha Stage; for instance, the fighting style of "Martial Artists" was usually defined by faster guns at a distance and fists in close combat.

But at the Beta Rank, near or supersonic actions were common, and bullets, being only at the speed of sound, might not even keep up with the faster runners; at this point, it was time to consider a change of style.

"Mechanics’" schools were plentiful, ranging from Du Meibi’s Masked Rider types to those piloting Gundams, multiple turret sects, and so on.

Compared to this, the "Mutant" schools, affected by the "Mutation" factor, became very uncertain. Despite high playability, developing an appropriate Arcane System was challenging.

Li Aozi could think of the Blood Demon Style also because countless players’ lessons were there before him; Blood Demon Style might not be the strongest in combat, but it was definitely the most survivable and had the highest error tolerance.

The two made a brief rest, took a moment to breathe, and walked towards the exit door of the biochemical factory.

Du Zexin glanced at the tightly shut door, immediately stepped forward, and a projection screen popped from his wrist:

"The door’s locked, let me hack into the system—"

He hadn’t finished speaking when Li Aozi felt a chill run down his spine.

"Move!" he shouted urgently, his body moving faster than his words, redirecting gravity, pulling Du Zexin towards a safe corner.

Whirrrr—!

A dark blade tore through the door, the sharp sound of tearing mixed with sparks was bone-chilling, and with a clang of explosion, Li Aozi felt like he’d been hit head-on by a locomotive, instantly thrown backwards.

Damn, what is this thing!

Li Aozi didn’t even have time to activate "Iterative Movement" before he was abruptly grabbed by the collar and thrown towards the Biochemical Dissolution Pool.

His reaction speed was far behind that of his opponent’s attributes. Only when he regained control of his limbs and activated gravity to stabilize his form did a strong sense of oppression belatedly surge upon his spine.

"Beta Rank—this is not Du Meibi’s recently advanced flimsy type. This is an old-brand Beta Rank aura, stronger than the Infant Eater!"

Li Aozi dared not linger in the air, immediately activated gravity, and returned to the corridor of the biochemical factory, but as soon as he landed, a familiar female voice rang in his ear:

"Miss me, my Level 5 Infected?"

A sharp claw rested on his shoulder, its icy chill piercing through flesh, immediately triggering battle mode.

"Entering battle mode, calculating..."

"Main attribute evaluation passed"

"Based on your attributes, you will see the following information about your enemy:"

[Name]: ’Thriving Ones’ ???