Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'
Chapter 87 - 070. The weak back down

Chapter 87: 070. The weak back down

Although in the eyes of the world, possessing some Qi Energy or mastering a superpower is considered stepping into the ranks of the Transcendents.

But in reality, according to the rules researched by players, the true sign of entering Transcendence lies in the breakthrough to the Beta Rank (β, the second Greek letter), which is reaching 40 points or more.

This is a qualitative change in individual might, more akin to a leap in biological hierarchy.

Especially with the appearance of the Specialty "Extraordinary Physique," mundane martial force seems somewhat laughable to those at the Beta Rank.

Without a sufficient population and technological advantage, mortals are almost incapable of causing the slightest harm to a Beta Rank powerhouse.

Li Aozi’s situation was somewhat awkward; he had not truly entered the Beta Rank, nor even approached the threshold of the Alpha Stage.

However, his specialized allocation of Attribute Points, combined with the benefits of the growth-type Specialty "Perpetual Love Hunting," propelled his Main Attribute into the Transcendence Realm.

Powerful Charm, naturally, greatly amplified his Arcane Energy, to the point where the consumption rate of his Arcane Energy couldn’t keep up with the recovery rate.

Boom!

The Infant Eater’s body unsurprisingly fell to her knees under forty times gravity, her imposing stature combined with her Composite Armor already weighed over a ton.

Under forty times gravity, it meant that every inch of her body was bearing the weight of 40 tons.

Spurt—

The lungs of the Infant Eater were instantly compressed out, vomiting from her mouth onto the ground, where the cold wind coated them with a thin layer of ghastly white frost.

The sudden change in gravity also caused a significant increase in air pressure. Under forty times gravity, just the difference in internal and external air pressures was enough to burst many of her blood vessels, and her bones nearly instantly shattered and broke.

Her armor lost its structural integrity under the terrifying force of gravity. Meant to withstand cannons and explosions, it wasn’t equipped to handle such extreme tensile forces, and the overwhelming weight caused it to collapse upon itself.

But before the metal could deform, the carbon fiber materials at the joints were the first to collapse. Pieces of heavy composite armor fell from the Infant Eater’s body like the molting of a lobster, cleanly and neatly.

The Infant Eater’s cervical spine snapped all at once, hanging limp in front of her chest like a deflated ball. The tenacious skin didn’t burst; instead, it made her appearance even more mysterious.

[-489!]

At this moment, the Biochemist’s camouflaged Health Points went down in an instant, and even the real Health Points suffered extensive damage.

Li Aozi’s body also plummeted instantly; he timely adjusted the gravity to land smoothly.

His entire body was shaking. The sudden gravity compression instantly drained all his Arcane Energy. Although it quickly started to recover, that moment of intense void pain from the cellular level of his genes nearly made him pass out,

"Huff huff... Haah..."

Li Aozi clenched his teeth, his body drenched in cold sweat. He always forgot that he was no longer a player; this kind of pain could not be blocked, but when it came to action, he subconsciously liked to use such desperate tactics.

Because the effect was just too good.

"Hoo— Uh ah!"

As Li Aozi gasped with low moans, the Infant Eater’s battered body already seemed like a flickering candle in the wind. It seemed, with just one breath, he could dispatch a noble Beta Rank powerhouse.

Being crushed by your own body is not a pleasant sensation.

The advantage of Gravitational Arcane Energy lies exactly here; regardless of level differences, as long as the target is sufficiently heavy and large, a few times the gravity could crush them.

But this is undoubtedly a double-edged sword, just like connecting a toy car to high voltage,

Li Aozi’s eyes were red and black while constantly bleeding.

His body couldn’t withstand such a powerful genetic burden. Fortunately, an attribute like "Charm" only leads to excessively strong Arcane Energy. If it were any other attribute that was too high, even moving could be a problem.

Li Aozi watched the Infant Eater cautiously, as the chains of the long spear pierced through its chest. He held a flying dagger in his hand, but such a weapon was not enough to take its life.

Agent Yawen next to him had run out of bullets, and Nimotin had lost the ability to move.

These two were unreliable.

Even so, the Infant Eater’s body was quickly regenerating. Numerous flesh buds and tentacles were extending from its dismembered flesh and blood, the wounds on its body were healing rapidly, and even at the site of the dismemberment, bright red and fierce new bone sprouts were emerging.

In fact, without calling in a Cloud Bomb or other high-temperature weapons of that level, it was impossible to kill the Infant Eater with its terrifying health regeneration ability.

He didn’t dare to go for the finishing blow—the opponent was a "Biochemist." Any genetic-level attack could end Li Aozi completely.

In the early stages, a "Biochemist" with the "Mutated Virology" skill could cause irreversible damage to a "Mutant."

As for players, they could just commit suicide to reset, but Li Aozi didn’t have that option.

All he could do was watch helplessly as the opponent slowly removed the armor from its body, revealing muscles solid as a fortress that filled one with despair, and skin of an iron-blue color full of metallic luster.

She raised her clawed hands, and people noticed that these scythe-like, sharp, and ferocious exaggerated claws were not any equipment, but grew out of her wrists, covered with a thick layer of chitinous exoskeleton. Upon closer inspection, one could even make out the patterns of electrical organs.

At her chest was a depressed red and black protrusion, which seemed like an egg-like structure with a dark gel-like texture. The blood vessels connecting to this core organ were coiled like serpents, pulsating rhythmically with the body’s breaths.

It seemed to be a heart-like organ, and just less than half a centimeter below it, the chains thrown by Li Aozi had deeply pierced her chest, barely missing the red and black protrusion.

As her body healed and regenerated, the Infant Eater unceremoniously pulled the chains out from her chest and tossed them on the ground.

"Mmm, Li Aozi... you truly haven’t disappointed me,"

the Infant Eater, or rather, the Professor said.

She couldn’t be bothered to disguise her voice as neutral anymore and laughed outright:

"Your ability, granted to you by the Ersha Virus, bestows Arcane Energy, a force that can even harm an entity of the Beta Rank. Fantastic, it’s simply fantastic! This is not some miraculous superpower, it’s a victory for great science!"

Her newly formed body had become noticeably thinner. The muscles on her abdomen and chest had completely collapsed, making her three-meter-tall frame appear like a thin and elongated shadow, all the more horrifying.

Li Aozi glanced at her health bar: 605/605.

All her camouflage health points had been blown away, her resilience had sharply decreased, but her regeneration speed was too terrifying. Moreover, this body seemed to have no concept of near-death whatsoever.

Even if her health points hit rock bottom, she wouldn’t die instantly; instead, she would forcefully recover her health to full.

But a mere 605 Health Points.

At the same time, Li Aozi’s Health Points were as high as 77 points.

Before his Arcane Energy was fully restored, Li Aozi didn’t plan to make a move, he wanted to wait a little longer, to drag out the time.

"One more challenge and the side task will be completed... and in 12 minutes, I’ll be able to get another Main Attribute Point."

Li Aozi wanted to narrow the gap between them as much as possible... but even so, he didn’t have the ability to kill the opponent.

No one could, not with a difference of two Hierarchy levels and still manage a counter-kill.

From the beginning, the emergency task was to "repel" the opponent.

So, Li Aozi planned to switch to a different tactic.

Delay.

Dragging on for another 12 minutes would add another point to his [Charm] attribute, ultimately bringing his [Charm] gains to 55.9, maybe then, he’d have a chance to repel his opponent.

If his own attributes were a bit lower, the task would probably be "Escape from the pursuit of the Infant Eater."

But now, even the condition of repulsion seemed extremely difficult.

It seemed the Professor had also realized the gap between them, she chuckled and raised her hands in a gentle voice, saying:

"My Level 5 Infected, how did you recognize me?"

"I guessed."

Li Aozi, holding a Flying Dagger, feigned calm, his [Charm] attribute making his performance significantly notable. To outsiders, he still appeared mysteriously powerful.

"Guessed? Hmm, hehe..."

The Professor tapped her chin, laughing:

"You don’t seem like you’re guessing—this Scavenger garb and your performance in defeating Nodley—when you entered Mingji Humanity, it was with premeditation and investigation, wasn’t it?"

Li Aozi neither confirmed nor denied, the opponent’s [Intelligence] attribute was high, lying was meaningless; no matter what he said, it would be seen through by someone with such high Intelligence.

"Let me guess, you’re a person from the Four Nations, who for some reason, ended up exiled in the Outer World, becoming a Scavenger. But you’re not completely clueless about Ersha. On the contrary, after being infected with the Ersha Virus, you conducted a careful investigation into Mingji Humanity, wanting to join them to treat your illness."

The Professor tapped her shoulder, saying intriguingly:

"Only, you didn’t expect to lose control and go mad during infiltration—on the day you entered Mingji Humanity, you, as a Level 5 Infected, awakened your Arcane Energy."

"I saw it with my own eyes, Li Aozi, your body’s indicators don’t lie. Initially, we thought that the genetic flaws in you were caused by the medicine we delivered to you—but now it seems, this is entirely due to you mastering this highly dangerous Arcane Energy."

"That’s Omega Level Arcane Energy—isn’t it? Unfortunately, this is not a power humans can bear. Omega Level Arcane Energy, known as the Force of Divine Punishment, can cause serious damage to genes, much like being directly exposed to the chain reaction of enriched uranium."

"You wanted to use the scientific technology of Mingji Humanity to treat your genetic issues. That’s why you agreed to mine and Anna’s request, to stay here."

The Professor paced slowly, freely speculating, Li Aozi’s face showed neither joy nor grief, which in turn confirmed her thoughts.

Yawen and Nimotin exchanged glances, they had no clue what was happening, why Li Aozi and Infant Eater started fighting, then suddenly began talking.

"Captain, what’s Mingji Humanity..." Yawen whispered.

"It’s the future!"

However, even though her voice was low, the Professor still heard her and declared:

"Mingji Humanity was established from the very beginning to continue the legacy of humanity. I am the past, the present, and even more so, the future!"

Nimotin opened his mouth, saying helplessly to Yawen:

"A bunch of madmen."

"Scientists, those who attempt to peek at the truth from a human perspective, are all madmen."

The Professor was unbothered, looking at Li Aozi:

"Relative to reputation—Li Aozi, how much do you know about me?"

"I don’t know."

Li Aozi knew what her plan was.

Like him, delay.

The Professor didn’t know that Zhu Baiya had been seriously injured, she wanted to buy time for him, waiting for the baby to finish loading and to move out.

The Professor didn’t want to tangle with him any longer; she knew Li Aozi’s capacity, the recent attacks were not enough to exterminate her completely.

And as long as she wasn’t killed, with the Biochemist’s self-healing ability, Li Aozi would never be able to defeat her.

Li Aozi’s possession of special Arcane Energy, if the fight truly continued, it seemed she would be at too great a disadvantage.

Not to mention the recent series of mid-air changes in direction, as a scientist not skilled in combat, she might not be able to touch him, and under that terrifying Gravity Compression, she would have to kneel if she was not careful.

Instead, it would be better to openly reveal her identity, delay time, shift attention.

Li Aozi could recognize her identity and even deliberately pointed it out—her plans were probably exposed quite a bit.

She didn’t know that Li Aozi had an information panel and subconsciously thought of such a result.

But this was not unacceptable.

"As you see, I am the Professor."

Infant Eater said indifferently:

"No Name, no code name, I am the Will of Mingji Humanity."