Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 542 - 176. Slay the Spire (Part 1)

Chapter 542: 176. Slay the Spire (Part 1)

The people in the city were all zombies.

Not everyone was satisfied with college life; for example, Luther, a country boy from Blue Chrysanthemum Village, didn’t quite adapt to the dorm life of sharing a room with three others. Using the money he had earned from part-time jobs over the past two months, he moved out of the dorm and rented a house in the industrial park of Trevela City.

As an engineering student, this choice was not bad, although he didn’t enter a top university. The college he attended was at least in the capital, definitely better than local ones, and his studies were not particularly busy. Earning some pocket money through part-time jobs gave him a certain freedom in life, which was definitely not bad, even if it became more boring day by day.

Adults always said that people who go to big cities would turn into parts of a machine. Luther didn’t see it that way; he felt he was different. After all, he had stood out from the many candidates and problem-solvers through multiple trials—how could he not be unique?

Until he was rushing around the city streets, his life a constant cycle between his residence, school, and workplace. This repetitive daily routine completely shattered his initial confidence.

The mundane routines and high living costs made him sell his dreams for money. Dina was always short of funds, no matter how much he earned. It never alleviated the anxiety in his heart; the material competition among those around him made him increasingly insecure and then numb. Conversations among classmates always revolved around academic qualifications and studying for Master’s or PhD degrees, bombarding Luther, a country boy, with case studies, exposing him for the first time to the concept of "degree devaluation."

Internal strife and pressure devoured Luther’s soul spirit. His once-prideful uniqueness seemed utterly insignificant and ridiculous under the conveyor belt of this interstellar metropolis.

The people in the city were all zombies.

One early morning, when Luther pushed open the door of his apartment, a headless corpse rolled down the stairs, and he didn’t notice it at all.

Walking through the streets with his head down, he was like a zombie, his gaze empty, numbed by staying up late the previous night working on a report, to the extent that he didn’t even notice when a Growth-armored Vanguard brutally tore a security guard in half right in front of him, spilling intestines and vertebrae.

None of the four people in his project group was doing their assigned part, and today he had to present.

As Luther walked, he opened his Magic Projection, checking repeatedly under dark circles around his eyes to ensure that his models and spreadsheets were correct. The cold numbers and magic radiation made his eyes sting, but he had no choice but to continue working.

A round head fell at Luther’s feet. Without a second thought, he kicked it away and called out without looking up, "Little Jack, this is the forty-seventh time. Don’t play ball on the street!"

Maybe it was due to his exhaustion, but he didn’t notice that Little Jack’s body was hanging from the streetlamp, charred to crisp.

’It’s the white light now, please proceed.’

The blood-stained traffic light began to flash. Luther carried his projection across the road, passing streets piled with burnt-out cars and the corpses of mounts. Crows circled persistently overhead while mosquitoes and ghouls competed over a woman’s skirt—although it could hardly be considered harassment, since the woman was missing her upper half.

Luther walked along the street, adeptly entering a cheap convenience store, pulling open the fridge at the entrance, and taking out a fried egg sandwich and a Lemon soda.

He temporarily switched his Information Rune to the payment screen, completed self-checkout, picked up his items with his head lowered, and didn’t forget to politely say to the open-hearted store owner at the door:

"Good morning, Aunt Anna."

He dashed into the deserted subway station, running down the escalator littered with corpses, paused for a dozen seconds with the tips of his toes on the ground, just as a Growth-armored Vanguard tore out a civilian’s heart right in front of him, turned its head and quickly focused all three of its eyes, locking onto Luther’s figure.

Hum—

The train arrived at the station and the doors opened. Luther stepped onto the train in a daze, skillfully found a seat, and sat down. He knew this train too well, as he took it daily, especially the seats on the far right next to the handrail, where a stylish, young Female Mage in black stockings always sat.

After all these encounters, Luther had gotten to know the Female Mage quite well. His gaze slightly lowered, admiring her shapely legs wrapped in black stockings, perched properly in high heels, he immediately felt a bit consoled.

"It’s really nice to see you again, Miss Rose. You must be busy today as well," he said.

Luther, while revising his report, chatted with the lady next to him:

"I have to go on stage later too. I checked and only have these clothes to wear—ah, I really wish I could graduate earlier and buy some decent clothes to meet people."

He ripped open the sandwich and devoured it in three bites, guzzling his drink with one hand while typing rapidly with the other.

The Female Mage beside him seemed to be in a bad mood today and didn’t join the conversation, sitting quietly next to him, like a corpse. Luther glanced at her: her hand rested on her thigh, her gaze calmly fixed forward, seemingly in contemplation of her losses.

But that was normal; in the city, everyone had their own troubling problems.

Click-Clack-Clickety-Clack-Clack—

The virtual keyboard was rapidly tapped as the train raced above ground, traversing a city enveloped in blood, with explosions and smoke rising everywhere. Growth-armored Vanguards, like spiders or cockroaches, freely climbed the walls of buildings, broke through glass, and suctioned living beings out with their tentacles.

[The train will soon arrive at the next station: Bigred Gate Station]

"Done! Finally sorted it out, no more problems now!" Luther exclaimed, closing his projection and sighing with relief. He glanced at the beautiful mage beside him, still so serene and attractive, sitting quietly, her gaze fixed forward, her face flawlessly beautiful, like a statue.

"Miss Rose, you must be really busy today, I won’t disturb you anymore..."

Miss Rose sat quietly there, her gaze clear, her makeup exquisite, alive like a city beauty, a societal elite.

Luther blushed, pretending to drink the empty soda, avoiding eye contact, fearful that his awkward peeks would be noticed.

"People from my hometown say that people in the city are zombies."

He whispered, afraid that she might hear him, yet also afraid that she might not:

"But you are not, Miss Rose. You are very special—"

Crack, crack, crack!

The sudden, piercing noises erupted from the broadcast:

"Emergency announcement! Emergency announcement: A group of terrorists, carrying Growth-armored Vanguard troops, have launched a terrorist attack on our city! All citizens, please stay at home immediately, do not go out, and wait for military police forces to rescue!"

In the train cockpit, a Growth-armored Vanguard slowly lifted its head from the dry corpse of the train driver.

"Terrorist identity confirmed as Layer Abyss criminal—Canyue!"

The Growth-armored Vanguard lifted its hand, tearing open its chest to reveal a blue crescent moon mark on its heart.

"I emphasize again: All citizens, please stay at home immediately, do not go out, and wait for military police forces to rescue!"

[Dimensional Bomb confirmed activated]

"Do not go out! Do not go out! Do not—"

Screech!

The front half of the train instantly vanished, and the train suddenly braked hard, throwing Luther’s body forward. Miss Rose also immediately fell onto him, landing in his arms.

"...Damn! What the hell is this!"

After a moment, Luther regained his senses. He stood up from the shattered train compartment and helped Miss Rose to stand:

"Did you hear the news just now? There might be terrorists nearby, Miss Rose, we must leave quickly... "

Suddenly, he felt something was off. Although it wasn’t the first time he had held a girl by the waist, the touch felt unusually sticky and wet. Upon closer examination, he could feel a slimy, soft, tubular object slipping through his fingers.

Drip, drip...

Luther stiffly turned his head to look at Miss Rose’s face: she still looked serene and beautiful, as elegantly noble as a marble statue of a goddess.

Unfortunately, the statue was only half there, split symmetrically down the middle from her forehead.

People always say, do not fall in love with a girl’s appearance, but with what’s inside.

Luther clearly saw what was inside Miss Rose beneath her beautiful exterior: a mass of tangled, torn intestines, only half a lung left, and steaming kidneys; his fingers were not just around her waist but directly on her kidneys.

At that moment, Luther realized that liking a girl was indeed not easy.

He put down Miss Rose—or rather, ’Rose|Silk’.

Luther turned around. The city was filled with the sounds of magic and destruction; the ’gurgling’ noise of the flesh of the Growth-armored Vanguards sounded somewhat comical and cute, paired with their dull, innocent gazes. From a distance, they even looked somewhat naturally dumb.

But when they walked into the streets, using blood-pressure guns to slowly tear living people into mincemeat, their innocent gazes didn’t seem cute anymore.

Especially when their gazes fell on Luther.

..................

The Night Butterfly Federation’s "Light" class warship activated its stealth mode, gliding through the clouds to hover in the sky.

Canyue, like a monarch, was seated in the shadows. He was relaxed and content, sitting above the clouds. He had Trevela beneath his feet, and his Growth-armored Vanguards were rampaging in the streets of the city, the ’gurgling’ sound of their muscles and the screams of the crowd forming a choir.

Human pleasure is nothing more than watching chaos grow, observing slaughter swell, enjoying blood turning into seas, and seeing corpses pile into mountains.

"Now, Trevela is completely dominated by us, Dad!"

Mo Zilan said excitedly:

"An interstellar civilization, invaded by a band of scattered bandits like us, ha, it’s unbelievable."

"What do you mean by scattered bandits?" Canyue sneered, "The days of interstellar pirates are over. From now on, we are warlords."

It took a lot of effort and many years of lurking, investing a total of 30,000 Growth-armored Vanguards in Trevela. The sunk cost was immeasurable.

But as long as they obtained the Fragment of the Eye of Discernment, that forbidden knowledge would definitely let them recoup their investment.