Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 148 - 122. Maggot

Chapter 148: 122. Maggot

Shedding the player’s mindset and identity wasn’t such a disgraceful thing. Instead, it opened up Li Aozi’s thoughts.

Li Aozi knew very well, Azure Star didn’t have the soil or environment to birth anyone above Gamma Level, just as dinosaurs couldn’t grow too large in a low-oxygen environment, only reaching the size of poultry.

Creatures weren’t stupid; growing too tall and heavy would only crush them under the planet’s gravity.

The birth of the Transcendent was also limited by the environment.

Ordinary civilizations wouldn’t have such Transcendent beings if faced with severe adverse conditions, and genetic inheritance would be cut off.

But the upper limit of a Transcendent was locked by the environment from the beginning.

Civilizations that couldn’t evolve a natural understanding of magic couldn’t birth a "Magician," and Elemental Creatures without a basis for genetic mutation couldn’t produce "Mutants."

Similarly, Azure Star’s oxygen levels, knowledge, and energy reserves weren’t sufficient to need or produce someone beyond the Gamma Level.

However, just because the long night was dark did not mean there would never be a sudden flash of brilliance at a higher energy level.

Bayo Kong was undoubtedly that flash.

Professor relied on stacking Arcane Energy, paid a huge price, and even abandoned future progress to obtain Bayo Kong’s imposing form.

Conversely—if all that Arcane Energy was extracted, its hierarchy would inevitably fall.

This was the only way to defeat it.

"You miscalculated,"

Bayo Kong spoke with godly arrogance and disdain. It opened its arms, its whole body flashing with golden light. At the same time, countless viral mists spread from its body.

"I’ve long known you can absorb Arcane Energy. But your body is merely mortal, unable to contain much Arcane Energy—7, 3+4, just 7 Arcane Energy at most. That’s your limit."

"Nodley died of weakness, Anna of greed, and you have both. You will surely die."

Like a golden Buddha, the shining light, combined with the viral mist, completely trapped Li Aozi within Bayo Kong’s body.

Neural Tentacles rapidly shuttled through Bayo Kong’s flesh, siphoning life energy and Arcane Energy.

[Arcane Energy extracted from target]: [Charm Sachet]

Shatter.

[Arcane Energy extracted from target]: [Blood Manipulation]

Shatter.

[Arcane Energy extracted from target]: [Mind Interference]

Shatter.

[Arcane Energy extracted from target]: [Hormone Control]

Shatter, shatter, shatter!

[Your Power Pod is full of Arcane Energy.]

[You can repeatedly contain the same Arcane Energy to promote its evolution or choose to shatter its gene sequence to feed other Arcane Energy.]

Shatter—Absorb!

"Ugh—Aaahhh—"

Li Aozi convulsed all over, his body collapsing under the genetic impact. His internal base pairs shattered by the overwhelming genetic sequence.

His pupils quickly dilated, flashing with myriad gazes and colors from others.

The Power Pod was a lower-order mutation, inevitably bringing countless traits while extracting Arcane Energy. Compared to the Arcane Energy load, this could lead to severe rejection reactions from others.

The Arcane Energy in the Power Pod wouldn’t cause genetic overload, but the traits and gene fragments brought immense pain.

The gene sequence flooded like a torrent, breaking through his genetic defenses, raising body temperature as his immune system sounded an alarm, mistaking invading genes for viruses, and prepared to kill everything.

[Mutant] could endure a body temperature limit of 110°C, which other Transcendent beings in the early stages rarely managed.

This could be endured—these could be tolerated.

The real danger was the string of rejection reactions quickly stopping his white blood cells, leading to nose and mouth bleeding, and hearing mixed whispers and fearful cries from different people.

Arcane Energy was a manifestation of soul traits in genes, reflecting the host’s personality, memory, and soul fragments. Especially as they merged with Bayo Kong, everyone was under severe physiological torment.

Each Arcane Energy brought some pain. With 948 individuals, it accumulated, making Li Aozi convulse all over.

[You have gained a negative effect: Internal Bleeding. Lose 1% of current maximum Health Points per second, accompanied by extreme pain.]

"Ha... Hiss, haha, hoo... Even if I wanted to retreat now, it’s too late. So—"

Li Aozi bared his fangs, biting into Bayo Kong’s internal flesh. In the Overseer Form, his fangs were as sharp as daggers, tearing through flesh, devouring it.

"Ugh—disgusting, tougher than smoked beef jerky!"

Previously, he opted for the Iron Stomach mutation, now proving useful.

[Severing Life] continuously consumed Arcane Energy, siphoning blood from Bayo Kong. Iron Stomach devoured the flesh to restore Arcane Energy!

"Ignorant, laughable, naive."

Even through the flesh, Bayo Kong’s voice boomed:

"Bayo Kong holds infinite energy. You don’t know what this is; it’s the Mandate of the gods!"

[Arcane Energy extracted from target]: [Water Vapor Distillation]

Shatter.

Li Aozi’s retinas bleed. His vision was crimson.

He had shattered 48 mid to low-tier Arcane Energy, with 900 more awaiting extraction.

Indeed... the Professor was right.

Shattering all this Arcane Energy would lead to death from rejection reactions, not from the Professor, but from his fragile immune system.

[Biochemist] had always been a natural enemy of [Mutant].

Even without deliberate targeting, the former could apply severe damage to the latter in the early stages.

A natural enemy meant that even at their best, you could only be on par with the weakest of the other.

This made it more compelling—a weakling against the odds was far more interesting than strong contenders clashing.

In fact, Li Aozi fighting to this point was already impressive. Even professional players would choose higher fault-tolerance options when facing clear counters.

[Mutant] battling [Biochemist] to this extent would be questioned if spread around.

Moreover— the Mingji Professor was the top [Biochemist] on the entire Azure Star.

Her knowledge had reached the planet’s limit, objectively limited by the environment.

However.

"—It’s not over yet!"

Li Aozi clenched his teeth, tearing off a piece of Bayo Kong’s flesh, turning to invest 48 gene fragments into Nomi’s [Enhanced Mutation].

Omega Level Arcane Energy could only be upgraded with Omega Level gene fragments.

The same Arcane Energy could promote quality evolution and development level.

These benefits were from the 14.0 version final patch, giving Li Aozi the confidence to continue absorbing Arcane Energy.

Nomi’s Arcane Energy was the lowest in quality and the only one for physical strengthening.

She least minded gene fragment quality, upgraded fast, and since stored in the gene pod, wouldn’t suffer genetic contamination. No matter the evolution, it wouldn’t affect Nomi’s soul purity.

Strengthening the body and recovery meant lasting longer.

[Your Subordinate Arcane Energy [Enhanced Mutation] evolved]: [Cell Activation]

[Rating]: Eta (η, the seventh Greek letter)

[Active Activation]: Ignore all control/restriction/inhibition recovery effects, activate all cell activity, quickly heal, instantly restore 80% Health Points, and regen dismembered limbs and internal injuries.

Overuse would exhaust cells, needing 30 minutes to regenerate for reuse.

[Passive State]: All cells seen as omnipotent stem cells, restoration would heal all damage.

"She wants to live with you, to walk with you."

Nomi, you saved me again.

Crack—

Li Aozi shuddered as Nomi’s Arcane Energy took effect. His organs, damaged from excessive hormone use, were repaired by [Severing Life] draining sufficient life force, even improving his aging body.

Continue the extraction.

"Still don’t know when to stop? Your actions are just a drop in the ocean for Bayo Kong. I’ve seen through the Ersha, using it freely, while you—"

"Shut up, you Arcane dwarf, did you not notice? Your eyes have turned red-black—you, who claim to be an Ersha researcher, have already become an Ersha Infected Individual!"

Li Aozi’s ridicule startled Bayo Kong. He ignored the psychological blow, whispering:

"Hey, Nomi, have you seen the cosmos?"

His tentacles kept siphoning Arcane Energy and life. Li Aozi’s body bled profusely from rejection reactions, like a broken faucet, unable to stop.

Li Aozi feared passing out, so he kept talking:

"I’ll tell you a secret, there’s no such thing as the Ersha Virus. People are just trapped by the red-black clouds on the ground."

He smiled, not knowing who he was speaking to. The Professor, or Nomi, or Xeno, or all the Ersha Infected Individuals.

"If you break through this sky, you can see the endless Starry Abyss."

"Nonsense, I’ve studied Ersha all my life—"

"You studied shit! Satisfying your curiosity blindly, heading in the opposite direction! If you just looked up, you’d know what Ersha is!"

Li Aozi cursed:

"You have been trapped on this frozen land for so long, forgetting the sun’s warmth, the seasons, grasslands, and valleys, green hills."

"The Professor, the Four Nations, all cowards, trash, frogs in a well! People prefer infighting, enduring exploitation, killing each other, never daring to look up at the sky, let alone explore it, unable to imagine the dark blue Unknown Space Realm."

"You brat, what nonsense—"

"Nomi, if you want to live, to keep up with me—then evolve with me!"

Li Aozi lifted his head.

His left eye rotted from rejection, then sprouted new, gray tissue, cloaked in red-black, blossoming a brilliant golden halo.

"For I, am from the Starry Abyss."