Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 153 - 125. ’Go Home.’ (Part 1)

Chapter 153: 125. ’Go Home.’ (Part 1)

The professor’s head bore no human resemblance; it was like the legendary Medusa, a mass of nauseating tendrils instead of hair, her left eye—a blend of red and black—pierced by a dark crystal blade, protruding from its socket, exuding a kind of indescribable black humor.

Her life force was tenacious; even with her head severed, her face, filled with hair-like muscular fibers, continued to twitch incessantly. Deep within her eyes was embedded a spirit of defiance, yet devoid of any remorse—this convinced Li Aozi that, even if given another chance, the professor would not choose to abandon creating the Mingji Humanity.

Li Aozi had heard a joke: if a biochemist appears to be aging, it indicates that their technological pathway has reached its end, and both their personal and era’s limits are confined to this.

He vaguely remembered seeing wrinkles at the corners of the professor’s eyes before she shed her mortal coil.

It seems her technology had reached its limit after all.

Clearly, although Azure Star was not devoid of Gamma-level powerhouses, their emergence was exceptionally rare, a super-specimen blessed by time, geography, and harmony—a scenario where not many could emerge from nearly ten billion people on the entire planet.

In such an environment, attempting to artificially create powers beyond Beta rank, was like conceiving a "perpetual motion machine"—purely absurd.

Was the professor wrong?

Standing on an absolute materialist point of view, it seems the professor wasn’t wrong at all.

After all, her contributions to science were indeed significant.

Even though she sacrificed many lives, these people would have died sooner or later anyway—whether from capitalist exploitation working themselves to death under 996 overtime or dying in their sickbeds. It’s better to die for a noble cause, contributing something to science.

Yet conversely, since everyone is bound to die eventually, why not simply take everyone—including presidents, merchants, workers, soldiers, and even scientists—and use them as experimental subjects for science?

Then what is the meaning of life?

Consequently, are humans studying science, or have they become slaves to technology and knowledge?

Li Aozi couldn’t be bothered to ponder these questions.

The higher the intelligence, the greater the pain.

Thus, he withdrew his long sword and pressed his palm against her face.

"Professor, I am going to extract your soul to enchant a toilet bowl," he said.

Severing Life activated, the neural tentacles penetrated the skull of the professor, extracting her remaining life and soul together.

[You have extracted a target’s life; you can choose to refine their abilities and personality]

[Refinement complete]

[You obtained [Human Amber] (Small)—can be used to manufacture equipment of Exquisite Craftsmanship quality or higher.]

[You obtained [Unwilling Soul] (Large)—can be used to heal soul wounds, manufacture equipment of Exquisite Craftsmanship quality or higher, or as a material for Mysterious series spellcasting.]

[Special Note: This soul retains some remnants of consciousness; you can use Mysterious series techniques to interrogate or torture it.]

[Through refinement, you acquired the personality and abilities of ’Mingji Professor—Yelift Huston’; please choose two from the options below]:

A. [Professor Level: Pharmacodynamics]—Any potion you create will have immediate effects.

B. [Personality Deduction: Mingji Professor]—You can transform the ’Mingji Professor’ occupation into your secondary profession.

Special Note: By choosing this, you will permanently replace the existing personality of Mingji Professor, negating any significance of her past existence; you cannot resurrect the Mingji Professor by any means, nor can anyone else conduct a séance for her.

C. "Professor Level·Virology Transmission" — Under the guarantee that the lethality rate does not decrease, the biochemical virus you create can achieve up to 200% transmission efficiency.

Special note: Requires prerequisite skills "Virus Lethality" and "Genetic Coding".

D. "Pioneer-Level Biochemical Materials Science" — You are undoubtedly a pioneer in the industry, and your research results have ushered in a booming period for the entire field. You can now produce and synthesize biochemical materials above the "Exquisite Craftsmanship" level.

E. "Professor Level·Human Engineering" — The equipment you produce is more compatible with the human body structure, allowing more individuals to wear it, and the attribute requirements for the equipment you produce decrease by 50% to 150%.

Li Aozi did not hesitate and chose B and D.

His luck burst forth, as Pioneer Level denotes a higher knowledge mastery level than Professor Level, and his luck was quite good, landing him knowledge related to materials.

"’Pioneer-Level Biochemical Materials Science’, there are four pathways to go from now on—crafting biochemical mechs, bio-implant armor, biological hives, and composite materials."

"Personality Deduction" is an interesting ability option—normally, an ordinary person cannot have two systems as professions, only one main profession, but through Personality Deduction, it’s possible to add a secondary profession of a different series without changing one’s main profession.

"Personality Deduction" can only potentially be obtained from the "Soul Essence" of a BOSS and then refined by a "Spirit Medium", with a certain probability to yield "Personality Deduction", "Personality Reenactment", or "Personality Overlay".

Deduction is the most effective, granting a secondary profession; reenactment enhances attributes; overlay obtains the soul’s pre-death guise.

"I didn’t expect to actually roll this ability... What were the chances of getting it, was it 0.32% or 0.36%?"

Li Aozi pondered for a moment; he was going for "Meteor Fall Master," of which the most compatible secondary professions were first "Architect", then "Biochemist" and "Mage".

Neither "Architect" nor "Mage" legacies were available on Azure Star, making "Biochemist" the most suitable choice.

Although "Personality Deduction" existed, the professions termed as "Fine Artistry", which are typically called ’Mage’, were not usually suitable as secondary professions.

The primary reason is that "Fine Artistry" series usually demands heavy spending.

On the other hand, the "Intelligence" attribute, if not used as the main profession in the "Fine Artistry" series, would be too costly to cultivate.

"Redemption" and "Destroyer" series have the best compatibility, high constitution, rapid health regeneration, and the ability to endure damage while also restoring health points of nearby teammates.

"Biochemist" could address some issues faced before advancing to an "Echoer", such as being too fragile and easily killed instantly.

Rustle rustle...

The dry skull turned to powder, slipping through his fingertips as Li Aozi collapsed exhaustedly to the ground, exiting his Overseer Form.

Du Zexin could no longer hold on and collapsed completely onto the ground.

Li Aozi watched as the professor’s headless corpse fell heavily, an aging face revealing a trace of a mocking smile.

This woman, who studied "Ersha" all her life, who relied on "Ersha" and abandoned humanity in her aspiration to ascend to godhood, even eliminating her own students, and whose life was entangled with "Ersha", was ultimately killed by the arcane energy awakened by "Ersha".

Bayo Kong’s body burned in the fierce flames, as Li Aozi watched indifferently while the flesh scorched yet never fully carbonized.

At this degree, it still wasn’t enough to completely destroy Bayo Kong’s remains.

However—at least after being corroded by the flames, most cells were already dead, and Frost Plated wouldn’t be able to recover any benefits from it.

That was enough, the rest would be left to the disputes between the Rose Army and Frost Plated.

Li Aozi shook his head, his body weakening due to overuse of arcane energy combined with the effects of a potion, making his genes unable to bear the strain. His hair fell out one by one, yet due to Nomi’s arcane energy, quickly grew back.