Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 267 - 088. Children of Ether (Part 1)

Chapter 267: 088. Children of Ether (Part 1)

The cell was dark and damp, and because this area was rarely reached by the artificial sun, the temperature inside the prison often dropped below zero. In such conditions, the Sky Ring prison guards had a special method of disciplining the prisoners.

Each cell was equipped with a bed, but every night before sleep, the guards would remove the blankets and sheets, leaving behind only the cold, hard bed board. They would then order you to endure the night as the chill spread from the ground, seeping through the bed’s porous and loosely fitted slats to grasp at the inmates. You would huddle your shoulders, shivering uncontrollably, as the cold slowly extinguished your reason. Just when you were about to lose it, the guard would shout at you, "Hey, get up, time to work."

At that moment, you were incredibly grateful to the guards; at least while you were working, you could step on the sewing machine, lean against the lathe, and benefit from the heat produced by the machinery. It was far better than gradually freezing to death in the cold.

After enduring more than ten days of this torture, when the guards called you to work again, you would naturally stop resisting and, instead, breathe a sigh of relief.

Cold, far more terrifying than heavy labor, was ingrained in the very genes of life, a fear of death. In reality, when hypothermia first set in, you wouldn’t feel uncomfortable but rather hot, and you’d begin to unconsciously strip off your clothes. Then you’d experience dizziness, stiffening from the cold, weakening of the heart, and finally cardiac arrest – slowly losing perception until you were completely dead.

Throughout the process, your blood would seem to solidify, stuck within your veins. Initially, you would shiver and roll around, trying to warm up, but eventually, your brain would overheat, and you’d no longer have the strength to think. As warmth dissipated bit by bit, you almost heard someone shouting loudly at you, but you couldn’t make out a single word.

After long-term labor in the prison, the cold accelerated your body’s metabolism; the fat in your thighs and buttocks would gradually shrink away until you became nothing but a gaunt skeleton. The gloomy confines of the narrow, enclosed cells would destroy a person’s emotions, and combined with the long-term intensive labor, they wreaked severe havoc on both mental and physical health, causing countless prisoners to completely break down and go mad after receiving the punishment of the Sky Ring guards.

In a sense, this was indeed a form of release from prison.

Only, what awaited them wasn’t an asylum but a surgery table instead – corneas sold for three million zhu, a pair of kidneys for a million zhu, torsos sold to the Houjo Clan’s security group to fill mechanical circuits and be transformed into Mech Soldiers. Because of the long-term exposure to the cold environment and the carefully tailored diet in prison, their organs remained very healthy with minimal pollution. The prisoners’ organs were often sent to corporate executives’ freezers, available on demand.

The Sky Ring guards were confident in their measures and techniques. In twenty years, no one had been able to withstand such dual torment, both psychological and physiological. They even organized singing and dancing events for the prisoners, gradually increasing their trust in the jail, to the point where the prisoners would even manage themselves, saving the guards a great deal of trouble.

However, the arrival of a new inmate in cell K-202 marked the first time this tried-and-tested system of management and education failed.

Drip, drip...

Two prison guards stood outside the door, listening to the sound of water leaking from a broken pipe, hands behind their backs, waiting for the inmate to no longer withstand the cold and plead to be let out to work.

"It’s been four hours," one of the guards whispered, "He hasn’t frozen to death, has he?"

"No, those of the Beta Rank may be more resistant to cold," the guard said unconvincingly.

That was as good as saying nothing—after all, if you were human and stayed long enough in such a cold, damp environment, it would become unbearable. There was once a proud Samurai imprisoned who withstood the severe torture with his strong physique, but he couldn’t bear the cold for more than four days.

The torment of damp and biting cold would seep right into your joints, a pain unbearable for anyone, compounded by the icy hard bed. Soon enough, you would be howling in agony. Even those with strong constitutions were not machines, especially since before entering the prison, they’d already been injected with muscle relaxants. Their extraordinary senses should have made the pain even more intense than what ordinary people could feel.

In response to their silent waiting, there was only silence.

"He’s not really dead, is he?"

The prison guard felt a surge of panic inside and immediately turned on the surveillance, In the black and white footage, a tall man sat quietly on the bed plank, his face calm and composed, covered with a layer of white frost, but seemingly unaffected by it. The man’s eyes were tightly shut, it was unclear what he was pondering, but what was certain was that he was not only alive but all the signals indicated that he was still maintaining the robust life force of the Beta Rank.

"...It seems we were overly concerned," one of the prison guards remarked.

"This guy seems extraordinary," another added, "He might not be far from the Gamma Phase. Look at these signals, they’re like a furnace."

"Gretto Yegg... Quasi-Gamma Rank." The prison guard curled his lip, "The Gamma Phase seems to be increasing lately, don’t you think?"

"How so?"

"Mingji Humanity developed some kind of Gamma Phase bio-beast, the usually reclusive Duke of Grante suddenly revealed his true form, easily destroying half a city. Gretto and his cohorts managed to directly confront an army, not to mention that we’ve seen him block the main cannon of the Mobile Armor... Frost Plated’s Li Aozi is even more incredible. It’s said that he alone broke through Frost Plated’s Air Force."

"You’re overthinking it. Every era has its Gamma Phase rising stars, but after a decade or so, they realize that this planet simply cannot sustain their form of life."

The prison guards, who had received formal training in the Sky Ring’s Extraordinary System, were very clear about these issues.

"For example, dinosaurs became extinct, not because they were directly hit by meteorites but because the ecology that dinosaurs depended on was destroyed. The extinction of ferns—herbivorous dinosaurs that fed on ferns went extinct—carnivorous dinosaurs that preyed on these herbivores went extinct."

The prison guard lit a cigarette, since Gretto Yegg wasn’t dead, there was no need to pay him any mind. His partner, curious, asked, "What’s a dinosaur?"

"You don’t need to worry about it—anyway, it’s the same with the Gamma Phase; the energy and environment of Azure Star are insufficient to sustain their survival. That’s why those who are truly called into service and can exert the strength of the Gamma Phase are extremely precious and rare. Most are just lucky ones who ascended by a fluke; without a nation, they would just starve to death on the ground."

"How sad—these people are the same, while the benevolent King of the Ring generously allows the outcasts of the Sky Ring to survive, they still shamelessly want more."

"Isn’t that the truth."

He exhaled a ring of smoke and said sarcastically:

"That’s why they’re doomed to fail. The Red Squad thinks that with control over the Gamma Phase power, they can challenge the military? They seriously underestimate the power of 20mm depleted uranium armor-piercing bullets."

"Let’s go, if he’s fine, how about we grab a drink?"

"You rascal, you’ve stashed more liquor, haven’t you? Iron Miege..."

The voices of the two joking and cursing guards gradually faded away, yet the frown on the brow of the tall man in the cell grew tighter.

Cold, damp, darkness.

None of these could break him.

But in the profound mystery, he felt an eerie palpitation.

With closed eyes, the world was so quiet that only the sound of dripping water and the crystallization of frost could be heard, even his own strong heartbeat was gradually swallowed by the silence. However, his consciousness had never been so clear.

"...(whisper)"

Gradually, a faint call came to his heart, seemingly a kind of warm and gentle voice, which at last, in the association of his brain, evolved into a sound akin to music.

It was an indescribable melody, like the light itch of wind brushing against skin, or the body enveloped by a hot spring with steam gently cleansing, his consciousness soared higher and higher, as if flying towards the sky, but humans are not meant to fly, only with feet planted on the ground does one feel truly alive.

"...awake..."

As his consciousness ascended, he seemed to glimpse the red and black Ersha Sky, and above that, the ’blue sky’ that existed only in legends and history books; the intense palpitations ultimately transformed into an eager call, not any language, but directly imprinted meaning in the depths of his heart.

The mysterious echoes finally expressed a complete thought in the charming dark blue canopy:

"Awaken, member of the Jury."

At that moment, his consciousness instantly sank back to the ground, and in front of the dark world before him, suddenly a voice as crisp and sonorous as clashing blades resounded, a low male voice:

"Black Whale, you still don’t understand your ’Quality,’ truly disappointing."

For some reason, whenever he heard that male voice, Gretto Yegg’s mind would involuntarily think of a creature that he had never seen before, and which did not exist on Azure Star: a shark.

"You’re here again."

Gretto Yegg opened his eyes, and reflected in his blue eyes seemed to be a pale, distorted figure.

"I have said it many times—I’m not some Black Whale, would you have me address you as White Shark or what?"

Gretto Yegg spoke without any modulation in tone, but to anyone, he seemed to bear no malice.

"You don’t understand, you know nothing."

The White Shark opened his arms, as if passionately confessing something:

"Your talent, your species, your surname, your fate—you must be killed by me, but not now, only in the moment you fully awaken and comprehend the Quality of being the ’Black Knight,’ will you be worthy to have a final battle with me."

"I’m not interested in guessing riddles." Gretto Yegg spoke to the pale figure: "I also don’t want to kill anyone, unless, you intend to harm someone else."

"Exactly! Just like that!"

The White Shark exclaimed fervently, but then hysterically denied:

"No! Wrong! Not like that! It’s not enough!"

"You need to have a fierce love, a readiness to face death without concern, you need to place your life where it matters most, and then let go of it! That is the greatest sacrifice."

"That’s the necessary sacrifice, to succeed one must pay a certain price—yes, that’s sacrifice, fool, not guardianship, it’s sacrifice!"

The White Shark’s voice alternated between madness and soullessness, like a shark stranded on a beach, struggling against the prayers and then roaring at himself.

Gretto Yegg had no idea what he was.

If the White Shark was a madman, then what was he, who could see the White Shark?

"What are you harping on about?"

Although he had asked this question many times, the White Shark would tirelessly give him the same answer each time:

"For sacrifice, Black Whale, you don’t understand, Quality is sacrifice, sacrifice is Quality! We are all meant to be sacrificed, only through sacrifice can we live, can we continue to live awake!"

Quite a bizarre idea, isn’t it?

Gretto Yegg continued to ask:

"Who are you, really?"

Proudly, the White Shark replied: "The ’White Knight,’ the Jury’s ’White Knight.’"