Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 798 - 404.Not Found

Chapter 798: 404.Not Found

Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak—

The chains pulled the gate, gradually tugging it open, and the void-filled air transformed into tangible particles. The more one breathed the air, the more anxiety and disappointment filled them, instilling fear towards everything in the present world.

"Finally, the disrespectful person has arrived."

A whisper echoed throughout the hall:

"Your defiance and violence are meaningless. This planet is about to be integrated into the Grand Narrative; things have reached this point, yet you still wish to proceed?"

Li Aozi wasted no words, placing N4 aside, then slowly turned and stepped forward.

"You might die." N4 put one hand on its hip, speaking irritably, "The Fermi Research Institute has divided all your abilities cleanly; these people carry your traits and Arcane Energy. What will you use to fight them?"

Li Aozi didn’t respond, just continued forward.

Tap, tap...

Footsteps reverberated continuously throughout the hall. The towering five-and-a-half-meter figure entered the magnificent hall but felt no sense of being cramped; instead, it was as if an ant had fallen into the ocean, small and boundless.

This hall, infinite in size but visually minuscule, caused a sensory disarray that strengthened Li Aozi’s belief that he had reached the boundary of the Void.

With just one more step forward, he might directly enter Zhou Yuan.

"Oh well, since you insist, let’s proceed according to protocol."

From the shadows, eight deformed knights slowly emerged. Among them, several wore masks of various designs, like the Magic Eye, the stingray, and the merchant—what caught Li Aozi’s attention was one knight without a mask, covered in green vines and thorns.

"’Garden’ Gaden...it seems what was eradicated outside was merely your projection."

Li Aozi glanced at the vacant seat of the leader:

"’Maggot’ is not here, it seems the Knights of the High Table outside were merely your incarnations, used to manipulate and rule the kingdom of mortals. The true Void Avatar has always been here, relying on masks to empower their incarnations—thus it appears you’ve long surrendered to the Void? A group of middlemen indeed."

"Heh heh heh...how ridiculous, don’t be mistaken."

The knight entwined with thorns jeered:

"Middlemen?"

"The ones standing before you are each from the very bottom of Dragon Satellite’s society."

He raised his hand over his skull-like visage, revealing a dark, honest human face, speaking with a rural accent:

"’Garden’ Gaden, the gardener of the Slave Master, laboring all day under the scorching sun and whips, and watching helplessly as his daughter is taken into the master’s room."

The faceless female knight, draped in a thin veil, stepped forward, her face revealing a deeply sorrowful visage:

"’Dancing Girl’ Kristin, sold to a brothel as a slave by traffickers. Having no parents or family, no salary or freedom, allowing guests to touch me whenever they fancy."

Squawk squawk—

The knight with white wings gently unfurled, whose mouth brimmed with tendrils, limping as he circled:

"’White Crow’ Aiwens, a bird trainer raising crows to deliver messages and speak. A flu epidemic struck, the entire bird population perished, I lost everything and sold myself into servitude."

"’Warrior’ Voriel."

The one-eyed knight with a lion’s head slowly rose from the ground, pulling from his back a giant sword of equal height:

"I have no parents and was sent to the battlefield at age three. Life holds no meaning. Living means fighting, fighting means living, a cycle without end."

"’The Poet’ Chen Wenjing—ah ha, surely you are no stranger to my legend."

A gentlemanly dressed man strolled leisurely into the bright section, tipping his hat courteously:

"I have not faced any tragic circumstances, merely being constantly imprisoned as a test subject for research, even post-knightly induction, that’s all, haha, am I not lucky?"

"’Sea Maiden’ Melissa. Just a sea maiden."

The stingray-headed woman knight, her graceful figure placed her hands on her abdomen, spoke softly:

"I once spent twelve hours underwater daily, sometimes to harvest pearls, sometimes to dismantle sea urchins and fish crabs, with the slightest misstep risking being swept away by undercurrents. Few survived past thirty-five, when unable to fish due to menstrual cycles, hunger was the only recourse."

"’Peddler’ Mashnat."

The knight covered in pockets shook his head:

"I risked everything crossing oceans and deserts, transporting merchandise, doing business, delivering precious rarities, all for a meager meal, yet am branded a swindler and targeted by thieves."

Li Aozi looked at the final knight wearing the Magic Eye mask:

"You must be ’Magic Eye’ Reyes, right? What sorrow have you faced?"

"I am of noble origin, lacking any tragic past."

The knight with the Magic Eye was upright in stature, showing little sign of deformity, but when he spoke, a mingling of sonorous voices from differing ages and genders erupted, even Li Aozi was slightly surprised.

"Merely cursed from birth, possessing eyes that foresee the death of living beings and empathetically resonate, leading to the madness that killed my family, and that hardly qualifies as suffering. Only the weak are trampled."

’Magic Eye’ Reyes spoke, looking at Li Aozi:

"And you, the ’Maggot’ of the former chief, you have already met the ’King’ once before, and ended up fleeing in fear, debasing your status, and spending five years as an ugly and poor Blacksmith—are you going to repeat that mistake again this time?"

"Repeat that mistake?" Li Aozi asked.

"You should know, ’Chief.’

Reyes crossed his arms, speaking indifferently:

"Though I don’t know your origin, without the Void, we, the existence of the High Table, would only be the lowest and most wretched, bearing the most Suffering. It is the arrival of the Void that has given us these Strengths. No matter what, this Pathway of Void has achieved our Sovereign position."

"Feel the Void, embrace the power of the Void, let the Void’s ideology spread on the earth. Only when more people bear the Suffering of the Void, further desiring the power of the Void from us, can they resist the Void—but the more they do, the more they can’t break away from the Void. Those civilians are like unlucky ones who bought an unfinished building but still have to pay the loan, unable to leave us for a lifetime."

"Alige, Power of the Void, Void Energy Technology, even the ’King’—all these things are based on our collaboration with the Void."

Reyes spread his arms, the Iota Rank aura on the eight Knights of the High Table was released sternly.

"...Don’t you intend to resist?"

Li Aozi suddenly asked:

"I came here to talk to the ’King’ and to unite all your strengths to combat the grand narrative of Nihilism. For this, I have been very restrained along the way, not wanting to harm any Knight of the High Table. Yet, you tell me, you don’t intend to resist the Void?"

"Recognize reality. The Void is unbeatable. Only the order under the dominance of the Void is worth acknowledging. There is no independent choice in this world. What you call ’comprador’ is nothing but naive wishful thinking."

Garden mocked.

"Without the technology and strength brought by the Void, the Dragon Satellite would forever be a Slave Kingdom, forever a moral civility backwater. Only by aligning with the Void is there a sole choice." The Dancing Girl spoke righteously.

White Crow folded its wings, speaking loftily: "You have never endured our Suffering, and up to now, we have merely welcomed a more civilized narrative. You have no right to question us."

"Sovereignty is useless, battle is useless. War is just sending a Farmer’s son thousands of miles away to kill another Farmer’s son."

The warrior lowered his head, speaking painfully:

"The expansion of the Void surely has its reasons. We were invaded by the Void only because the Dragon Satellite bears original sin, and we must reflect on ourselves."

"Hahaha!"

The Poet said calmly:

"Before the Void, I was researched by the Slave Master; after the Void came, I was sternly researched by the Fermi Research Institute. The Void devours everything, and then no one studies me. Do I need to say more?"

"The Dragon Satellite is full of corrupt officials and nobles who occupy most of society’s wealth yet refuse to give us at the bottom any share. What can I do? I can only unite with external forces to eliminate them!"

The Sea Maiden said sadly:

"Even if it’s not the Void that’s coming, I’d still lead the way for other external invaders!"

"What does it matter if a planet that hates others for working to get rich yet excessively pursues unearned wealth is destroyed?"

The Peddler was shaking with anger, copper coins dripping from his pockets:

"On this planet, you’re just the most insignificant part, still bullied by fellow countrymen, but in the Void—they are willing to treat us equally, even if seen as nothing but Void!"

"Resistance is an action of the weak."

Striking purple light shone on the mask of Magic Eye, as he slowly drew out a crystalline gun from the Void, speaking in a dark tone:

"The only correct thing in this world is Strength! The Void is strong, so I joined the Void. If there’s something stronger than the Void, then betray the Void. Why involve so many ideologies and morals?"

"If you plan to awaken the ’King’ to make demands—ha, you should also know, the ’King’ is merely a puppet of power. Even if you wish to do so, he cannot fight the Void as per your demand—because his power comes from the Void."

Magic Eye flung the long gun, questioning from above:

"Alright, make your choice."

He lifted the gun’s tip, aiming at Li Aozi:

"If you want to continue taking risks, insisting on turning the ’King’ into your fighting force, then hand over your mask. But as long as we’re here, don’t even think of controlling the ’King.’"

The other Knights agreed deeply, with Garden stepping forward, mocking:

"Or, you can try killing us all—"

Click!

Li Aozi swayed, slowly advancing at the crossroads of the timeline, step by step, reaching Gaden.

The next moment, he raised his hand, grabbing Gaden’s head on this timeline.

[Sequence 7: Weak Force]

The air in front of Li Aozi’s palm rapidly disintegrated, splitting from the structure into several fundamental particles, with massive energy instantly radiating and convecting outwards!

Atomic Decay!