Meteor Fall Master in the 'Starry Abyss'

Chapter 36: 027. Tendon Severing Bone Splintering (Mid-Low)



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[You have killed 7 lv15 White Fang Bandits—With a damage output share higher than 60%, you perform an overleveled kill, team reward, and additional rewards, calculating…]

[You have cumulatively gained 17,427 experience points.]

Nomi was on a killing spree on the side, but Li Aozi couldn't be bothered anymore; he didn't have harvesting ability and didn't need to snatch kills for experience.

Moreover, Nomi's output capability was limited. After randomly killing a few bandits, she still let some escape—which fit right into Li Aozi's plan.

If the White Fang Bandits were truly injured badly by them, then they would understand that the shelter was not to be provoked and wouldn't attack again, depriving Li Aozi of the chance to continue farming experience packs.

On the other hand, if these desperadoes didn't suffer heavy casualties, given the harsh environment of the Outer World, and with no one willing to abandon a safe and warm shelter, they would inevitably attack the shelter again.

And perhaps, next time they would gather even more manpower.

Therefore, Li Aozi did not try to eradicate them but intentionally allowed enough time for the bandits to rob and steal. Bandits who had tasted the sweetness of their raid would probably not stop coveting the shelter.

Robbery, just like spending gold on random card draws, is a game of zero or countless times; you will always think about the "what if I win" stroke of luck—hence Li Aozi wasn't worried at all. The White Fang Bandits would not give up. In the context of the Outer World, a little stimulus was enough to make them jump into a fire pit even if they knew what lay ahead.

"This is scientific pig raising."

After leveling up, Li Aozi and the level 17 Nomi now had a reduced team penalty, which significantly increased the experience gained from their kills.

However, the issue with Gravitational Arcane Energy also emerged—this indirectly damaging ability could not be measured by the system panel for damage information; one could only rely on visual observation and feeling.

Luckily, in the early stages, hardly anyone could withstand the effects of gravity deflection and smashing impacts, unless they were Transcendents.

Li Aozi wasn't particularly excited. It was only natural for an Omega-level Arcane Energy wielder like him, an Ace Bro of the Meteor Fall Master profession, to kill beyond his level, just like giving Simple a small handgun, and he could still 1v5 in a low-rank match.

"I must quickly gain access to professional knowledge, and my Specialty needs to be leveled up too. Otherwise, with such low attributes, I'm definitely going to be stuck in prison."

Li Aozi dumped all the experience into the [Mutant] and leveled it up to 10.

[Your Main Profession [Mutant] has been upgraded to lv.10]

[Based on your Specialty, you gain the following benefits: Charm +3.]

Before Li Aozi could react, the system panel suddenly transformed into a red and black color, with double helix-like cracks spreading everywhere.

"Uh—why now?!"

An excruciating pain that seemed to drill into the heart and scrape the bones instantly spread throughout his body, and Li Aozi kneeled on one knee. An electric shock-like numbness quickly spread from the surface of his skin, penetrating deep into his marrow.

Here it came, the most imprisoning experience for a [Mutant], genetic mutation.

Drenched in cold sweat, Li Aozi was instantly overwhelmed by acute pain but still managed to focus on the system notifications popping up in front of him:

[Warning: Genetic sequence unstable!]

[You have experienced a mutation, integrating gene fragments...]

[Some of your genetic Traits have manifested, please choose one mutation direction from the following groups:]

A—[Gene Editing · Hardened Skin]: Re-edit genes, keratinize the skin, and gain a 5% resistance to high temperatures.

To retain this Trait, [Charm] -5

B—[Gene Integration, Adaptation Force]: Integrate disordered gene sequences to unlock potential strength, [Strength] and [Constitution] +2.

To retain this Trait, results in a decrease in gene fragments, cumulative mutation failure rate +5%.

C—[Gene Screening, Optimization Adjustment]: Screen all genes, removing those unsuitable for the current environment, all Attributes +5, and gain the Specialty [Supercomputing Brain], [Limit Burst].

To retain this Trait, will lead to a massive loss of gene fragments, an increased susceptibility to mutant diseases, a drop in virus resistance by 70%, and a permanent loss of reproductive capability.

[You can spend 5,000 experience to reset this mutation.]

Without any hesitation, Li Aozi said:

"Reset!"

None of the three mutation directions were actually suitable for him.

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Option A was of little significance to him, and since he was not the type to be directly on the front lines, reducing his "Charm" attribute made it trash among trash.

Option B was like draining the pond to catch all the fish, the more he mutated, the greater the chance of failure, and overexploiting the genetic potential made it very easy for him to fail in breaking through to the Alpha Stage.

As for Option C...

Option C represented an extremely rare direction for mutation.

The boost in all attributes and two specialties were very impressive; if Li Aozi planned to operate mecha in the future or become a pure Spellcaster, the two specialties from Option C would be very suitable for him.

But unfortunately, Meteor Fall Master was the occupation he loved most, and he would not give up the path he was pursuing for a rare direction of mutation.

His skin was burning hot as if ablaze, his blood boiling like it was on the verge of eruption. Li Aozi leaned against the wall, his eyes firmly fixed on the double helix on the panel as it started to turn again, tearing the three options to pieces, and moments later, generating new ones.

[Reset Complete]

[After rearranging, some of your genetic traits have emerged. Please choose one of the following groups of mutant traits:]

A——[Gene Splicing · Botulinum Spore]: Two gene fragments are spliced together. Your flesh acquires toxicity and spore effects, and destroyed limbs can fully regenerate.

Choosing to retain this trait will significantly decrease your resistance to high temperatures and radiation (60~80%).

B——[Gene Grafting · Power Pod]: You have obtained some gene fragments from the Outer World that were not yours to begin with and have grafted them onto your original sequence. Your arms will develop pod-like tumors that can store and release others' Arcane Energy.

Choosing to retain this trait will result in an increase in gene fragments, making you more prone to mutation and damaging your telomeres, causing a substantial reduction in lifespan.

C——[Gene Recombination, Self-Devouring]: The original gene sequence is recombined, releasing some ineffective genes to strengthen the existing ones, with all attributes +1. When you are in a near-death state or devoid of Arcane Energy, you can let your cells undergo self-devouring to regain Health Points and Arcane Energy.

Choosing to retain this trait means you can no longer use potion-type items to recover Health Points.

More garbage!

"Not enough experience—damn."

Li Aozi was somewhat regretful.

There is a high chance of drawing rare mutation options the first time a newbie mutates. Mutations are of six types: editing, integration, screening, splicing, grafting, recombination—no saying which is better or worse, just like opening a mystery box, no one knows how many possibilities there could be.

Li Aozi was a bit off in his calculations, he didn't expect the mutation to come so soon—of course, this might also be related to the daily injections, IVs, and oral medications in the Mingji Humanity's Laboratory.

The reset options were all ill-suited to his current environment, and he would have been very happy if they had appeared mid-game.

But now he wished he had just killed a few more White Fang Bandits and earned enough experience for another reset.

"The ability for limb regeneration isn't precious, I can always switch to mechanical prosthetics. But thermal damage is always the most common in battle, I can't give that up. Self-devouring... it's a life-saving ability, but it's also akin to breaking the walls that protect me. Mutants, especially in the early stages, can't do without potions, and I still have three Arcane Energies to awaken, not to mention the Gene Potential Awakener injections."

There was no choice left.

Options A and C were mediocre at best, and their side effects were too severe, posing a serious threat to his current survival.

Li Aozi dared not gamble his future and fate on them.

Trading lifespan was acceptable; Meteor Fall Masters were considered to be legendary groups with eternally distant cosmic connections.

The future could be changed, and there were many ways to do so. The most important thing was the present.

Li Aozi reflected that since he still needed to wander the Outer World, choosing the Power Pod would allow him to collect some Arcane Energies without using up his genetic inventory and could be considered an enhancement to his combat abilities.

Most importantly, the ability of the Power Pod would not reduce his attributes or combat abilities and would not affect his survivability.

If it really didn't work out, he could head back to the Mall and look for Smelting Gold items, which would likely erase this choice.

"Let's go with B."

[Gene Grafting Complete]

[You have acquired the status: Telomere Damage—Lifespan reduced by 20%]

[Notice: Your lifespan is now less than 5 years]


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