Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 547 - 181. Even the tiny ones are cute

Chapter 547: 181. Even the tiny ones are cute

"...Has she shrunk?"

Li Aozi was somewhat surprised and for a moment forgot about going out to collect supplies and survivors.

He lifted the quilt and took a careful look. Dialan’s stature had indeed reduced significantly; she now wouldn’t be over one meter sixty, her complexion and breathing both far from smooth.

As time passed, Li Aozi observed that Dialan’s body was continually ’melting’. Her flesh, like gold in a blast furnace, shrank and dissolved little by little. Colorless blood and tissue fluid seeped out, swiftly soaking the quilt on her body, drip-dropping like raindrops onto the ground.

She was still shrinking. Her features were also becoming more childlike, resembling those of a 12 or 13-year-old. Her hair, however, hadn’t shortened and remained long, draping over her body, rising and falling with her breathing.

"Whimper..."

With no other choice, Li Aozi had to wipe her body with a towel. Dialan moved restlessly, but without any strength.

Her body temperature was still very high; simply using a damp towel seemed unable to bring it down.

Li Aozi searched around and found something suitable in a corner:

A dry ice fire extinguisher.

Pssssht——————

The pale spray of dry ice enveloped Dialan’s body, with a layer of frost forming on her delicate eyebrows. Only then did her brow relax.

"It seems to be effective."

Li Aozi continued pressing, and after the extinguisher had sprayed for several seconds, Dialan’s complexion finally stabilized.

As a Dragon Blood Titan, she seemed entirely unbothered by the chill.

Li Aozi put down the fire extinguisher and resumed his watch by the bedside for a while, ready to act immediately should any problems arise.

After ten minutes or so, Dialan’s eyelids twitched.

She opened her delicate lashes, the blood in her irises gradually cleared, and she began to regain her vision. A few breaths later, Dialan slowly sat up.

"You finally woke up."

Li Aozi exhaled beside her.

Dialan turned her gaze to Li Aozi, her eyes shimmering like molten gold. After being unconscious for a few hours and now awakening, the first thing she said was:

"What’s the score?"

Li Aozi hadn’t expected such a strong desire to win in this girl and bluntly said, "529 to 529, it’s a tie."

"...No." Dialan pursed her lips, turned her head, her pretty face devoid of emotion:

"I lost."

Li Aozi consoled her, "The score is the same, though."

"Is the score useful?"

Dialan threw off the quilt, not minding her body being seen, glanced over it and then raised her hand, observing her noticeably smaller palms, she said gravely:

"After the battle, I was lying on the ground, severely wounded and unconscious—while you’re standing here perfectly fine."

Li Aozi blinked.

Dialan clenched her fist, seemingly with reluctance:

"I used all my tricks, yet I couldn’t even scratch you. And I had to trouble you to come and take care of me... to take care of a defeated foe."

"It’s no big deal."

Li Aozi said nonchalantly:

"We are classmates after all. I can’t just leave you there, can I? Otherwise, someone might hang me up on the school wall saying, ’Ah, ladies, today I met a real jerk who didn’t give a damn’—that would damage my reputation much more than being your partner, wouldn’t it?"

Dialan fell silent, seemingly unsure of what to say.

After a long while, she finally spoke:

"Leoz, you seem prettier than before."

"Thank you."

Dialan choked up, caught in awkwardness.

She didn’t know how to continue the conversation.

Li Aozi glanced at her, knowing she obviously wasn’t the type who was good at interacting with people.

At this moment, Dialan rested a hand on her knee, her gaze drifting, cheeks flushing—and it was impossible to tell whether that was due to ill health or embarrassment-induced scarlet.

Li Aozi didn’t mind at all and instead covered Dialan with the quilt again.

"I’m not cold." Dialan reminded.

She also breathed a sigh of relief in her heart.

—At least the conversation was back on track.

"I’d be worried if you evaporated right before my eyes, that should be okay, right?"

Li Aozi said, slightly annoyed:

"Though no one says that girls have to be prim and proper, preserving their chastity, you do have the freedom to dress as you like, but I think it’s probably better to be a bit cautious in front of others—what separates civilized beings from animals is that they wear clothes. After all, in other respects, we’re all pretty much the same."

"You are not an outsider."

Dialan said:

"You’re my workshop partner."

That statement...

Li Aozi turned his head, meeting Dialan’s gaze.

He could distinctly feel a certain closeness in her eyes.

Dialan had acknowledged the Leoz before her, both his Strength and character passed her muster.

"Partner... haha, let’s not talk about that right now."

Li Aozi pointed at Dialan’s petite figure:

"Explain how you went from a tall girl of five feet nine inches to a little brat?"

"Talent. The talent that my bloodline has given me."

Dialan glanced at her flat chest and said:

"You may have wondered before... why, as a Dragon Blood Titan, I only ever used the powers of the Dragon Race’s bloodline?"

"I’ve definitely been curious," Li Aozi nodded. "It looks like it’s related to your situation?"

"Yes," Dialan said. "Titans are recognized as natural-born warriors. No matter how severe their injuries, as long as they don’t die on the spot, they will eventually heal. Anything that doesn’t kill them only makes them stronger."

She lifted her hand to her chest, her gaze downcast, as if recalling something.

"The lineage I inherited doesn’t have much to do with Titan combat skills, but when it comes to regenerative abilities, I fully inherited them."

Dialan went on to explain:

"My Titan bloodline comes from the ’Rongjin Titan’ type, a branch that is not only formidable in combat but also has one of the best healing capabilities among the Titan species—when a Rongjin Titan suffers a fatal injury, it enters a dormant state, then shrinks its body to reduce energy consumption, and in the process, expels the injury."

"Reverse evolution?" Li Aozi touched his Implant Gear chin. "This sounds like the Lighthouse Jellyfish."

The Lighthouse Jellyfish can realign their cells into a juvenile structure after severe damage, and in one breath, replicate hundreds of copies of themselves.

To human macroscopic perspective, the entire process just looks like rejuvenation.

"It’s somewhat similar... The regeneration process of a Rongjin Titan is to revert back to a juvenile state and then grow back."

While Dialan was speaking, she shrank another two centimeters, appearing even closer to a child of elementary school age.

"So your strength..."

"Of course, it would decline as well," she said. "If I were severely injured, for example, facing a lethal condition, it’s not impossible to revert back to toddlerhood. But fortunately, as soon as the wounds heal, I would regain my strength from my prime."

Unspoken was the implication... Did Li Aozi hit too hard, to the point of being fatal?

Li Aozi tugged at the corner of his mouth.

He didn’t mean to, after all, since his arrival in this world, the number of people who sparring with him and walked away alive was scant.

Out of habit, he had delivered a lethal blow, which surely wasn’t his fault, right?

Moreover, at the time, Dialan too had been extremely reckless. The two Delta Rank powerhouses, with their summoned Dragonites and constructs colliding violently, had caused an explosion... that was entirely at the impact of a Zeta Rank.

Li Aozi, with his "Bloodline" ability and a robust construct, had emerged unscathed, with just a drained Mana Bar.

At the time, he even thought if Dialan wasn’t satisfied, he could continue using "Bloodline" to cast "Earthquake Spell".

Now it seems there’s no need.

Dialan had been severely injured by him.

That too was quite something.

After all, this was his full strength in his normal state, without moving the other three types of Sequential Arcane Energy, without the Divine Sword, without entering Dictator Form, without summoning Arcane Energy from the White Obelisk...

It’s almost equivalent to fifty percent.

Dialan was just a little short, such a small margin, from making him exert over fifty percent power. Had it been someone else, they wouldn’t have made it past the Lava Guardian challenge.

Such is the Dragon Titan, truly a top-tier bloodline.

Her strength was considerable, and her potential, promising.

Dialan looked at Li Aozi without any blame, instead, from her tone, she seemed quite appreciative.

"Truly amazing," Li Aozi marveled. "The Dragon Race’s spellcasting talent and Elemental Resonance, coupled with the Titan’s indestructible body, the advantages of the two most powerful species in the cosmos, merged into one person. That’s truly incredible."

’Yeah, all thanks to the "Doctor"...’

Dialan nodded and reminded him:

"Although I’ve temporarily recovered consciousness, I haven’t fully healed from my injuries."

Her cheeks grew round and cute, her delicate little face as tender and adorable as a doll’s, and her golden hair fell like a waterfall onto the bed, covering sensitive areas.

When the name Dialan, grand and handsome, is placed upon a little lass barely four feet seven inches tall, Li Aozi felt a peculiar sensation in his heart.

"It’s as if a tiny sparrow said, ’My name is the Golden Eagle!’"

Dialan was not an adult to begin with, and now that her body had become so small, Li Aozi even less regarded her as a peer.

Her complexion didn’t look good, an unhealthy flush upon her skin. After speaking for a while, Li Aozi explained the current situation to her.

"Canyue attacked our campus. The purpose is still unclear, but for now, it’s beyond our capacity to intervene. I think we need to start by gathering supplies necessary for survival..."

"Mm."

At first, Dialan was biting her lip, listening intently, but her physical and mental energies plummeted, increasingly unable to sustain herself.

"Next, I must go to the library. My usual friends, Hobbs and Lucite, are waiting for me there. Once it’s confirmed safe, I will entrust you to these reliable people; then I’ll set off to find my friend Yawen..."

He was about to discuss his plan further when Dialan no longer had the strength to sit up. She leaned her head against the wall, breathing heavily, her gaze becoming unfocused.

"Dialan? Are you okay?"

Li Aozi raised his hand to touch her forehead, the sensation burning hot, and his gaze hardened:

"Is it starting again?"

"Mm... ah..."

As Dialan’s consciousness faded, Li Aozi gave her forehead a lasting touch, and her body collapsed softly into his arms.

Pouf.

Li Aozi caught Dialan, immediately feeling a handful of colorless blood and tissue fluids, her body shrinking severely, growing incredibly tiny and pitiful.

This time, she had truly reverted to a three or four-year-old child.