Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'

He stabbed and sliced himself several times, drenching himself in blood.

"Health Points are down to half, hmm, that should do."

Li Aozi stashed away the suitcase. The money inside it would be crucial later, but not now. The task within the shelter would take at least five weeks given his current novice level, and could take several months if there were any mishaps or if the leveling up were slower.

However, Li Aozi was not worried. As a Meteor Fall Master player, in some way, he fell into the same category as the die-hard players—they never believed their cherished pursuits were weak; they only thought about thinking and patiently striving silently.

"My Charm is at 13 points, my main profession as a Civilian... holds no significance. I don't want to waste my Experience on such things. If I could secure the Mutant profession, each level up would increase my Charm, coupled with the effect of 'Perpetual Perk: Love Hunting,' my value growth would be quite significant. There's really no need to add some meaningless professional levels early on."

Players could afford countless trial and error opportunities in the early stages, but Li Aozi couldn't. He didn't yet know if, as an ordinary NPC, he could repeatedly run instances like players.

After all, the number of NPCs that could enter instances was already few and usually only appeared for narrative necessity, which at least required an Elite or Expert template.

Li Aozi rubbed his forehead and smeared his face all over with blood. Mixed with sand and frost snow, it made his pale skin stand out starkly; the high bonus in Charm made it easier for him to draw attention, instantly revealing his tragic and pitiful state.

Li Aozi controlled his breathing, letting his heart rate increase and, with stiff and frail steps, slowly walked deeper into the shelter. His origins weren't great to start with. His clothes were old and ragged, weather-beaten, and after struggling in the snow for half the day, they were already filthy. Paired with a camping knife and covered in scars, he looked as though he had just come out of a fierce battle, deliriously muttering madness.

"Save... save... save me..."

He choked his voice, using all his strength to emit the weakest, hoarsest sound, his gray eyes blank as he stumbled through the dark corridors, occasionally deliberately crashing into corners, stairwells, and other places where security cameras were positioned.

"Hehehe, save me—why, leave me here—save me, someone!"

Li Aozi, seemingly wandering aimlessly for a few minutes, his movements sometimes halting, sometimes frantic, occasionally, without warning, striking the surrounding walls wildly.

As he covered his face with his hands and wailed, a glint flickered in his gray pupils:

"I've played it up this much, crying and causing a scene, those 'doctors', even if they are blind, should have spotted me by now, right?"

Sure enough, after he knelt and cried for a while, his ears twitched slightly.

From deep within the shelter, the sound of mechanical movement approached.

Clack, clack, clack.

[Someone is coming.]

He continued to cry on his knees inconspicuously, silently counting in his mind:

[3, 6... 12? Is it 12 or 13? If it's 13, I don't need to act brutally anymore, I'd be directly treated as a top-risk patient and confined.]

Unperturbed by the approaching footsteps, Li Aozi continued to kneel and weep, propping open his eye sockets with his fingertips, stimulating his eyes with the blood from his wounds to produce tears.

This act of self-harm immediately had an effect — the previously silent corridor of the shelter suddenly echoed with a low, hoarse female voice:

"Don't get close. The patient has a tendency for self-harm and lacks logical behavior, likely a Level Five Esha Infected Individual. If he erupts suddenly, you could easily get injured."

With his fingers covering his face, Li Aozi peered through the gaps, barely seeing a Frost Plated woman in the dim shelter lighting, wearing a white lab coat marked with a slanted red cross on her chest, her pretty left half of the face contrasted against a chrome-plated mask covering the right half.

"But Anna, Assistant Doctor Anna, he has a knife..." another female voice hesitated.

"Don't worry—Head Nurse Nodley, I'm entrusting this to you, he could be a very rare Level Five Esha Infected, we need to capture him alive." Assistant Doctor Annalie turned her head, looking towards a tall, muscular Head Nurse beside her.

"Leave it to me."

Head Nurse Nodley's muscles bulged slightly, she nodded gravely, her voice deep like a bull's, put on a mask and latex gloves, then stepped towards Li Aozi.

Sensing the intent to attack, the system immediately entered battle mode, reading the information of the opponent.

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[Entering combat mode, assessing…]

[Based on your Level, you will see the following information about the enemy:]

[Name]: 'Mingji Humanitarian Aid Organization' Head Nurse—Nodley Krau

[Level]: Destruction Type—lv.20 [Martial Artist]

[Health Points]: 260/260 (Healthy)

[Attributes]:

Strength—18

Dexterity—11

Constitution—20

Charm—4

Will—5

[Hierarchy]: Alpha Level (Advanced Transcendent)

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"An Alpha Level Transcendent."

And a Destruction Type Martial Artist at that.

Li Aozi was not surprised. No matter the planet, Destruction Type professionals were always the most numerous, with low entry barriers and quick results, and the military encouraged advancement in this direction.

However, Li Aozi did not care; although his setup inevitably involved a fight, his ultimate goal was not to kill the opponent.

Head Nurse Nodley Krau slowly raised her fists; her strength was far beyond ordinary, and with Health Points several times that of Li Aozi, handling him was extremely easy.

"Don't resist, patient." she said, "I'm here to treat you."

Upon hearing this, Li Aozi immediately trembled, lowered his head as if stimulated, his tone becoming bewildered.

"Treatment... save... save me?"

Nodley exchanged glances with the distant assistant doctor, noting that the infected seemed to still have some lucidity, possibly indicating that the danger level wasn't as high as the 'Professor' had assessed.

"Yes, you need not be afraid." Nodley approached Li Aozi, her qi energy circulating within her, releasing a pressure that felt like a wall crashing down towards him.

Ordinary people faced with such innate deterrence from deep within their genes would inevitably feel an unavoidable sense of despair.

However, the man before her had no reaction; he remained silent.

Nodley dared not take any chances; she spread her hand that could rip apart a northern giant bear, extending it amicably toward him. Should he dare to suddenly lash out, Nodley was confident in her strength to instantly retaliate by smashing his jaw with the base of her palm.

"If he is a rare Level V Infected, it's better not to harm his consciousness..."

Nodley thought to herself.

Seeing her gesture, Li Aozi lifted his head and followed her scattered black hair downward, faintly making out a tiny red mark on the right side of Head Nurse Nodley's neck.

The strength of a martial artist is high, certainly not given by a gust of wind. Those who quickly increased their power without adequately advancing their martial way, would develop vulnerabilities called 'gateways.'

Typically, breaking these 'gateways' could inflict substantial damage, even turning the tides in a fight against an opponent of the same level by concentrating fire on the gateway.

Although by the later stages, players would generally overcome such weaknesses, on the nascent Azure Star of the Extraordinary System, only a few were aware of the gateway issue, and many naturally assumed it to be a result of cosmic balance.

Facing the hand extended by Head Nurse Nodley, Li Aozi appeared indecisive but eventually placed his hand cautiously in her open palm.

"Alright, the containment went smoothly."

Nodley felt the feeble strength in her palm and the battered body of the other, deducing that he had no capacity to resist, and through her own overwhelming power and presence, conveyed this understanding to him.

Ersha Infected Individuals, with mutations in their genes, typically possess an intense sense of danger. Faced with overpoweringly strong opponents, they wouldn't resist with force, but— the precondition was not to stimulate them.

The moment Nodley grasped Li Aozi's palm, she immediately launched an attack. She swiftly pulled him to the ground, kicked away the camping knife in his hand, and then promptly kneeled on his back. Pulling out a composite material handcuff from her waist, she locked his wrists together.

Nodley quickly roared:

"The target has been controlled! Repeat, the target has been controlled!"

The medical team behind her immediately readied their firearms, forming a circle around her. Li Aozi did not resist; still with his head down, he silently let these people bind him completely and then put on a yellow restraint suit before a group of female medics pulled him off the ground.

Nodley dusted off her hands, looking towards the impassive Assistant Doctor Anna, and offhandedly said:

"It looks like the Professor misjudged. His infection level isn't that high; he just seemed more aggressive."

"He has severe injuries, his full strength wasn't manifested, don't question the Professor's judgment." Anna replied indifferently, "Besides, it's odd that he managed to bypass so many guards and reach the abandoned logistics station."

"So, you think he awakened his Arcane Energy prematurely?"

"We can't dismiss that possibility; the Professor's judgments have never been wrong, nor can they be."

"Anna, the Professor is not a god." Nodley shook her head, looking at Li Aozi, she muttered, "Where does he even look like a high-risk infected? I can't see it at all. The Professor must have his brain fogged up—"

"Head Nurse Nodley!"

Anna's gaze turned stern, even her half-mask seemed to project a form of dissatisfaction as she spoke in a low voice:

"If you doubt the Professor, you might as well take a closer look. I firmly believe, from the bottom of my heart, that the Professor is never wrong."

"Really?"

Nodley, extremely dissatisfied with Anna's blind devotion to the Professor, immediately turned and approached Li Aozi, holding his neck with one hand to prevent him from moving, and pinching his chin with the other, turning his head left and right and finally gazing fiercely into his dull gray eyes. Then, she scoffed:

"Such a feeble person, not at all similar to a Level Five Ersha Infected—"

Before she could finish, Li Aozi suddenly opened his mouth, a segment of white light shooting from his tongue, at such close range, even an Alpha Level warrior couldn't dodge.

Whoosh!

Nodley froze in her place; releasing her grip on Li Aozi, she reached towards the right side of her neck, blood gushing out, a fresh wound slit open along her vessels.

A cold blade precisely pierced the previously unnoticed dark red spot on her neck.

For some reason, Nodley felt unstable on her feet, her normally smooth and proficiently flowing qi energy seemed like a burst balloon, rapidly leaking out.

"Head Nurse!"

"Are you all right, Head Nurse Nodley?"

With a pale face, Nodley was about to say something when her vision suddenly darkened.

Thump!

A crisp sound, Nodley was on her knees, despite not losing much blood, she had collapsed into a state of shock.

Anna glanced at Nodley on the ground and said flatly:

"I'll take the Head Nurse back. Jamie, Ashley, you and the security team escort the patient back."

The 'infected' did not make eye contact with her and was escorted away by armed personnel. Anna, however, looked down at the ground.

In a corner, lay a camping knife missing its tip.

Anna paused momentarily, pressing the button on her headset.

"Anna, how are things?"

A gentle inquiry came from the other end.

"Professor." she said, "Your diagnosis was as precise as ever."