Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 676 - 289. The Truly King

Chapter 676: 289. The Truly King

However, as soon as he closed his eyes, those scenes flashed through his mind.

.........

"In the ocean called the starry sky, no one is an island. Even the deities must closely connect under the call of the Starry Abyss, and even the complex [society] is made up of countless atomized citizens. Every narrative cannot be described without the strength of individual forces on a microscopic level."

"If I have someone to rely on, I hope it’s you."

"You don’t need to think about anything, protect me, pay attention to me, look at me, and accompany me on this journey."

"No matter what I do, remain silent. Even if there’s an abyss ahead, just keep following me, believe in me — if you do all these, I will explain everything."

On the night of the descent, Li Aozi especially instructed all of this.

Until the end, he did explain everything.

But the result was this... brutal.

.........

"Think about it, the Church doesn’t let us look up at the starry sky or explore the universe for a reason. The Church is surely doing this to protect us."

"The Church protected us, guided us to transform our living environment, and taught us to be servants of the Chief God. Since those ancient times, the Spiritual Warriors who tried to harm us were indeed Demon Gods."

Players descended from the sky, trampling on civilization, destroying cities, and massacring lives.

How is this any different from Demon Gods?

.........

"Li Aozi... why is it that no matter how I look at it, I feel like none of these things are wrong?"

"Isn’t the Church clearly protecting people?"

"Why, even though they are protecting people, does it make everyone more miserable instead?"

"You should actually know this in your heart."

"This world isn’t one where people can live."

The head of the Redemption Army was cut off and placed on a stake.

Heretics of other pathways slaughtered civilians like beasts.

Only the Church was always protecting people.

The Church, which has always been resisted, wasn’t just against the invasion of [society], but also guarded against other civilizations from the starry sky.

They opposed rock music to protect more people.

Even if their actions were imperfect, they strictly guarded, they were corrupt, they were backward, but they still upheld their initial intent to protect.

—— It was us.

Cold rain beat down on Caramel Snail’s eyes, flowing down the tear grooves.

—— It turns out, we from the Starry Abyss are the invaders.

After a while, Caramel Snail opened his mouth, rainwater poured in, making a hoarse sound:

"Li... Leoz."

His pronunciation was a bit distorted, his whole being radiating an unsettling aura:

"If you hadn’t set foot on this planet, what would have happened?"

The parasitic [society] wouldn’t necessarily have completely devoured the civilization, [Melodic Society] included. It would continuously try to integrate into the local civilization, making rock memes mainstream culture, and eventually puppeteer the entire civilization to turn it into its mining field from which it could select many citizens at any time."

Li Aozi placed one hand on his waist and said indifferently.

"In the end, they would end up in a symbiotic relationship until the civilization of Ziluo Star completely lost its life force and headed for destruction."

"... So."

Caramel Snail raised his head and murmured:

"If we hadn’t come, ’Xia Beiluo’ would be passed down generation after generation, and the Church would gradually liberate its thoughts... though that would be erosion, people’s lives would get better and better, until they reached extinction..."

"Yes." Li Aozi nodded.

"It was our arrival that destroyed this civilization, destroyed this precious future..."

"That was the future under the parasitic [Melodic Society], not the civilization’s."

"——To those ordinary bottom-layer people, society or civilization! Is there really a difference!"

Caramel Snail shouted:

"What you have shown me along the way, apart from tourist attractions and places of interest, isn’t it more about those countless beings struggling to survive in this world!?"

[Warning, your worldview is leaning towards the [society] faction, current corruption level: 11.7%.]

He gripped the sword tightly:

"Because of your purpose, these people could have lived a peaceful life... they could secularize, freely marry, listen to rock music, and maybe even one day explore the starry sky."

[Corruption level: 15.9%]

"For a guitar, for your purpose, you destroyed their future... and even now, it’s been annihilated."

[Corruption level: 20.3%]

"Leoz, you tyrant who acts unilaterally..."

[’Caramel Snail’ has reached an excessively high corruption level, and has automatically left your team.]

Li Aozi sighed.

"... I originally wanted to use this matter to properly educate you on the difference between us and [society]. From the beginning, we have been irreconcilable with [societies]."

He initially thought his [Charm] should have been foolproof.

Unexpectedly, the person who trusted him the most, Caramel Snail, turned out like this.

["(Leoz) A purely god-like being, like those cannon fodder deities that were manufactured, without selfish desires, without enjoyment, without self, without emotion, lacking love, not empathizing with anything, not partial to anything."]

Li Aozi clenched his fist.

[Is it because I didn’t take my medication while controlling the Implant Gear this time, leading to Leoz’s personality continually affecting me?]

[Indeed, Leoz is a guy with absolutely no human touch.]

"Thanks for your education, Leoz, I no longer dislike [societies]."

Caramel Snail raised the blade, musical notes appearing on its surface:

"To the people here, they need [society] more — the ones who should leave, are you!"

"You want to betray your own faction? Caramel Snail. Your sword, your achievements, everything you have is given by me."

[Corruption level: 45%]

Caramel Snail slowly raised his hand, surrounded by songs in the valley’s depth.

In a haze, he seemed to see scenes of past memories.

A girl struggling to ride a bike in the rain, hard-earned savings gone in an instant, picking up a guitar to start a new life, setting grand goals, embarking on a pilgrimage path...

"As a believer, I will follow the path and uphold virtue."

"As a singer, I will be utterly unrestrained."

"As a mortal, I want everyone to see how far effort alone can take you."

A short-haired girl strummed her guitar, a lonely man in sunglasses stood behind her. Sensing Caramel Snail’s gaze, he took off his glasses and looked at Caramel Snail:

"Do what you think is right."

[Cognition Filter shattered]

Caramel Snail slowly lifted his head and tore off the military tag from his neck:

"Who wants your stuff, tyrant!"

He said, throwing the tag on the ground.

["Lai Anding Medical Protocol" has expired.]

Caramel Snail slightly nodded, his angry eyes completely filled with green.

「—— Truly troublesome.」

Gio Zieou tilted his head, looking at his hands, then at Leoz, with a derisive sound:

「You’re just like before, Lord Leoz. Lacking human touch, resorting to any means for efficiency, that’s why you lost the war.」

"Leoz? Why would you — uh."

Blue light glowed in Li Aozi’s eyes, his willpower struggling to resist, but this time, he could barely endure the intense consciousness.

"You — you are also — I made no error."

Drip... drip... drip...

The rain fell heavily.

After a few blinks, his eyes turned completely into a ghostly blue.

Leoz calmly looked ahead, gazing at Gio Zieou:

「God of Vanquishing Delusion Gio Zieou, known for supporting other worlds beyond the Abyss in resisting invaders, I once fought alongside you. Now that you are corrupted, I will kill you, liberating you.」

Gio Zieou retorted:

「You know, Leoz, the way you speak is genuinely terrifying, no emotion at all. Just declaring orders. Is your desire to dominate so strong?」

Leoz

「I don’t need desire as motivation.」

「You’re still that realistic, so realistic that it frightens me... I’ve been controlled by [society], but strangely, I can still maintain my own consciousness — though time is running short. You better act quickly, or when time’s up, both I and this body are done for.」

「Gio Zieou is useful, can’t die.」

「Thank you so much, Leoz, but could you stop talking like that?」

「Useless.」

Leoz’s speech remained the same.

「My time is limited, information exchange complete — begin action.」

「If you could be more human-like, you’d never have ended up like this.」

Gio Zieou helplessly spread his hands, spinning his blade:

「I never thought we’d meet this way, and you, so weakly — by the way, why are you different from us?」

「Sufficient.」

Leoz looked at him calmly, as if staring at a corpse:

「Sufficient.」

「—— Wait, Leoz, you’re using just an Implant Gear now, are you sure you can fight me?」

Gio Zieou felt a chill down his spine, sensing something was off.

Though Leoz’s reborn body had reached Zeta Rank, it was just an Implant Gear without even a Super Gene, mixed with some inferior genes.

How could he dare to fight him, whose body had been meticulously nurtured and enhanced by [society]?

Moreover, why hadn’t Leoz appeared as a ’player’ like him?

To this —

Leoz simply raised his hand:

「Sequence 2—」

The area he stood in instantly cleared, all particles repelled.

In an instant, a scorching, surging high-energy shockwave radiated outwards, half of Ziluo Star was swallowed like a cake being bitten, its northern hemisphere hollowed out in a moment.

In its place, countless particles expelled at high speed sliced through stardust, shining in the cosmos with unbelievable brilliance.

「—— Void.」