Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 154 - 126. ’Go Home.’ (Part 2)

Chapter 154: 126. ’Go Home.’ (Part 2)

"It was the two of them, they saved us..."

Bayo Kong and the Professor’s successive defeats had the people around cheering and leaping for joy. Someone immediately noticed Li Aozi and Du Zexin’s figures and began discussing them as they approached.

"I recognize him—that’s Mr. Li Aozi, the Level 5 Infected the Professor just mentioned."

Someone recognized him and said with admiration:

"Li Aozi, he turned out to be such an elderly man—I remember he had rescued us from the clutches of the White Fang before."

"You saved us! Mr. Li Aozi! You defeated Mingji Humanity!"

"He is a hero from the Outer World!" The infected from the Outer World cheered: "Now it’s our turn to help you!"

Li Aozi couldn’t speak anymore. He let the infected clumsily lift him up and dragged Du Zexin out of the armored suit, then under Du Zexin’s direction, they began to move towards the outside.

The genetic burden was too heavy; he didn’t even have the strength to understand how far the Nomi Arcane Energy had evolved, his eyelids drooping, feeling drowsy and dull.

No, there was one more thing!

"Xeno..." Li Aozi clenched his teeth, shook his head, and said, "The baby... don’t forget the baby..."

"The baby?"

"Is it 626? It seems she isn’t here."

People quickly called out to each other to check, and finally, a girl with yellow hair shouted, "Over here! I have a baby here!"

The people surrounding Li Aozi quickly made way for the girl wrapped in doctors’ and nurses’ clothing to come over.

The girl carefully handed the baby in her arms to Li Aozi. It was a girl with a gaunt face and a head with a ring of sutures, wrinkly, unpleasant-looking skin, and a yellowish complexion that made her look like an old man, not cute at all.

But those large eyes sat atop the haggard and frail face, bright and shiny, flickering with an uncertain blue glow like a ghostly light.

Upon seeing Li Aozi, the infant girl immediately smiled.

’Thank you, Leoz.’

Spiritual power resonance—the voice directly rang out in his mind.

Li Aozi managed a weak smile:

"You’ve got it wrong, Xeno. It’s not Leoz, it’s Li Aozi."

’No mistake, I thank you both.’

Xeno blinked:

’Thank you, Li Aozi.’

[Your actions have made the other party enormously grateful. ’Xeno’ favorability +301]

[Current Favorability]: 501 (Respect)

"You all, hurry to the third floor, to the Krasnya platform, there’s a subway there."

"The subway?" The girl and the surrounding infected were momentarily puzzled: "What do you mean by subway?"

"It means, the Metro Brotherhood is willing to take you along for the ride, at least to the central station, where they will at least arrange jobs, food, and clothing for you."

Li Aozi forced a smile and said:

"It’s time for you to go home."

To go home.

That word exploded like a bomb sunk to the bottom of a lake, following a brief silence which immediately burst into tumultuous noise and ripples.

"Home..."

Someone murmured:

"I actually have the chance to leave Mingji."

"I miss my mom, I shouldn’t have run away from home... does she still remember me? It would be better if she didn’t!"

"My family has long since frozen to death in the Outer World. It would be good to seek refuge with the Metro Brotherhood too."

The infected of the Outer World and the Frost Plated People, while displaying many differences, were strikingly unified on one point: freedom.

Li Aozi was overwhelmed with exhaustion in his limbs and senses, his pupils dilated, managing his strength with great effort just to open the system panel:

[The Giant God has fallen, Bayo Kong has perished, Mingji will no longer be remembered.]

[Main Quest: "Imprint" preliminary settlement conditions completed]

[Reward Settlement]:

A. "Evil Must Not Go Unpunished" - Slaughter all remaining members of the Mingji Humanitarian Rescue Organization; the more brutal the method, the richer the reward.

Current Progress: 109/109

Reward: Title "Catastrophe"

Title Effect: 10% chance of scoring a fatal strike against humanoid enemies (triple damage increase, critical hit, high probability of lethality)

Outer World reputation +500 (Respect).

Note: The Frost Plated Republic will issue a perpetual warrant for your arrest and revoke your citizenship.

B. "Bestowing Demise" - Completely kill the "Mingji Professor." For every Biochemical Avatar destroyed, receive one perfect reset of the mutation option.

Current Progress:

’Thriving Ones’: 1/1

’Decayers’: 1/1

Bayo Kong: 1/1

Mingji Professor’s true body: 1/1

Reward: Four perfect resets of the mutation option (guaranteed to refresh rare grade or higher mutation projects)

Two million experience points;

Please choose two of the following specializations as your reward:

[Perpetual·Willful]—You possess a powerful personal charm and terrible ambition. When you serve as the team leader, the favorability of others will be bound and synchronized with your own. Your team members cannot question your decisions, even the wrong ones, and will believe in them without any hesitation.

Perpetual Effect: When your main attribute is "Charm," all your attribute judgments will rely solely on "Charm."

[Absolute Rationality]——Even machines seem sentimental compared to you, immune to all mind reading and charm effects, and your [Intelligence] attribute gains a +20% bonus.

[Flesh Affinity]——To carbon-based and silicon-based life forms, you are like an angel, very easy to charm. This unique talent allows you to use implant gear and genetic weapons more easily.

——————————————

[I should choose [Willful] and [Absolute Rationality].]

Li Aozi thought:

[Willful] was his specialty of choice, and it was the most important part of the "Not to be Remembered" task reward.

There is no weak perpetual specialization, only what suits or does not suit oneself, and having more is always better.

This specialty is indispensable for any team leader, dominator, or overlord.

But it fits best with professions from the [Sovereign] line because [Charm] is their main attribute, allowing the perpetual effect to trigger continuously.

The perpetual effect of [Willful] is so well-aligned with his own style and profession system that he doesn’t need to enhance his [Intelligence] to cultivate the secondary profession of a biochemist.

As for [Absolute Rationality]—this specialty, which provides immunity to all mind reading and charm effects, is very useful, even cost-effective, against spiritual detection by [Missionaries] in the mid-game.

Of course, this specialty has a negative effect that’s not exactly negative—it results in the loss of humanity.

Just like a Mingji Professor.

No bottom line, no empathy, perhaps eventually even devoid of basic desires.

Without desire, what a terrifying thing that would be.

Not caring about one’s own gender or species, having no beliefs, no pleasure, not even goals to strive for, being indifferent to ugliness, and naturally incapable of discerning beauty—what then would there be to care about?

Players, of course, don’t care about such negative effects. Losing humanity, is that all? Are players even human?

From the player perspective, all they face is a batch of data. When in a bad mood, they just drive recklessly on the sidewalk, then pick up their weapons, and open fire on workers just off work, office staff, and pedestrians picking up their children from school.

No stress.

Li Aozi himself has done this before, and most players probably have too, releasing stress accumulated in reality into the game.

He’s not one who hasn’t blown up planets, even witnessed the destruction of entire worlds—yet with no guilt.

But now...

Li Aozi closed his eyes, feeling his wounds slowly healing, cells proliferating, and blood flowing through his heart.

Warmth, and a somewhat itchy sensation.

Even with his eyes closed, he felt someone lift their hand and place it on the back of his hand, soothing him.

"If I had no humanity, with my performance, Nomi would probably not be willing to save me."

Li Aozi’s eyes remained shut, yet the world still came to him.

Infected people from the Outer World and the Frost Plated People were crowding around him, calling his name, calling him a hero.

Xeno sincerely thanked him.

Du Meibi, this guy, even gave him a thumbs up as they passed by.

—This guy was so indifferent in his previous life.

Although they had nothing to offer but their Arcane Energy, Li Aozi, leaning on the support structure made by people, seemed to have obtained something immeasurable by money or value.

Li Aozi took a deep breath.

[You have chosen [Willful] and [Flesh Affinity]]

He didn’t want to turn into the disgusting kind of person like the professor, Nomi definitely wouldn’t like that.

More importantly, Li Aozi felt that he would very much dislike that kind of boundary-less existence.

After all this, Li Aozi collapsed completely.

People were shouting, "We’re going home! We’re going home!" Strangers hugged and kissed each other, their pale skin contrasting with healthy complexions, showing no signs of their origins from two different worlds.

"It’s hard to imagine..."

Du Zexin, after boarding the train and taking the special medicine, could finally speak normally, but his body would still take a while to move.

He looked sentimentally at the harmonious atmosphere in the carriage. Under Selya and Zhou Liefeng’s guidance, a total of 121 surviving Infected were orderly settled in the cargo carriages at the back.

They were quiet, sitting on boxes, planks, and the ground. Young men voluntarily laid comfortable straw and clothes on the ground for the weak patients. Selya, who was somewhat medically savvy, bustled back and forth, took out food, and distributed it to everyone.

Although these Infected had lost their Arcane Energy, their eyes were filled with hope.

Selya and Zhou Liefeng were discussing in low voices from time to time, apparently considering how to proceed with so many people. Jian Neriya from the Rose Army glanced thoughtfully at the carriages in the rear.

Unable to help himself, Du Zexin said:

"People from the Outer World, those from the Four Nations, are now communicating and cooperating together."

"Just like capital, people at the bottom of society have no homeland."

Li Aozi’s hospital bed was adjacent to Du Zexin’s, both converted from train seats.

His hand was hooked to an IV drip, and due to sheer exhaustion, Li Aozi didn’t even have the strength to open the system panel to check his status. One eyelid drooped, barely holding on, and from the dense array of data, he found his status bar:

[Gene Overload]—In a weakened state, all attributes decreased by 50%, unable to move, unable to use Arcane Energy.

"You’re right, Li Aozi."

Du Zexin, upon hearing this, smiled knowingly:

"Mr. David Lyn thinks the same, that if he could come out to lead the Frost Plated People, sooner or later, we could allow the people from the Outer World and the Frost Plated People to coexist equally under the light of the artificial sun..."

"Not artificial—"

Li Aozi wanted to look up and say something, but as soon as he moved his face muscles and neck, he twitched and passed out.

Exhaustion flooded over him like a tide. He had not fallen in battle against Bayo Kong, but due to a silly move, he finally collapsed.

"Let him rest."

Qiu Ran sat down in front of Li Aozi’s bed, her hand smoothing out his wrinkles, her gaze slightly heavy, softly saying:

"He has already paid too much; he deserves a break."

The electric motors started, and the "Youth Number" armored train retracted its platform and left the subway station. The fierce steel war machine burst out of the underground, braving the icy winds and snowstorm, tearing through the dark horizon, unstoppable.