From the Abyss of Stars

093. The Lives of the Poor Are Only Fit to Edge the Rich

 

Qiu Ran clenched her fists, trembling all over.

 

She tightened her hold on Nomi's remains, her bright eyes momentarily darkened by a red-black hue that quickly faded.

 

"So, we deserve to be your experimental subjects?"

 

"Before I came here, I was just a repair worker… but because of the label 'infected,' I stayed in Abyss Humanitarian for three years."

 

"Three years."

 

Qiu Ran's fists tightened, her body trembling, the temperature around her visibly rising, and the air distorting with heat. Her eyes blazed with anger, yet her tone was cold as iron:

 

"My siblings, my family, those I should have protected—just because you said 'you're infected,' I left them without a word."

 

Tears glistened in Qiu Ran's eyes, evaporating quickly from the heat:

 

"No contact, no news. This year is their college entrance exam, but I can't be there to cheer them on, to make them a good luck breakfast. Other students have their parents and family accompanying them, while their sister is in 'treatment isolation' at Abyss Humanitarian!"

 

She grabbed Nordley's hand, who groaned as the smell of burning flesh filled the air.

 

"I was terrified of passing on my 'virus' to them, turning them into those deformed monsters, ruining their future—now you tell me the virus doesn't exist?"

 

Nordley opened her mouth, unable to bear the pain of the burns, but under Qiu Ran's gaze, she couldn't scream.

 

More than anger... Qiu Ran's eyes showed deep sadness.

 

She hated Nordley and the entire Abyss Humanitarian's deception, but that wasn't the worst of it.

 

For a woman at the bottom of Frost-Plated society, the pressures of life and capitalist exploitation had long worn her down.

 

Qiu Ran could face reality with a smile, even encouraging others to live optimistically. Her own life had reached its end, and her existence's significance was no longer important.

 

What use was hate? What good could it do?

 

It couldn't compare to the sorrow and pain of leaving her family without a word, not being there for them.

 

What did Abyss Humanitarian owe her? Her suffering was limited, but how could she make up for the loss to her siblings?

 

She was living for her family, but Abyss Humanitarian had cruelly separated her from them, using her love for them to make her leave voluntarily.

 

After two years of separation, they told her: there was no Calamity Virus. This might be a lie fabricated from their internal power struggle.

 

Three years.

 

The three most crucial years of her siblings' lives, their college entrance exams, when they most needed family support.

 

"What did I do wrong?"

 

Nordley lowered her head in shame, stammering for a long time before finally saying a single word:

 

"Sorry."

 

This word was heavy, taking all her strength to say.

 

This word was light, for even filled with remorse, it meant nothing to the facts.

 

—Pfft.

 

Qiu Ran laughed.

 

"Heh... heh heh... ha ha ha ha ha!"

 

Smoke and flames slowly rose, Qiu Ran's anger and burning bringing Nordley to the ground:

 

"Screw you!"

 

She cried and screamed:

 

"What kind of crap Abyss Humanitarian, you're just a bunch of cowardly dogs who bully the weak!"

 

"Why don't you go after those capitalists, bankers, and high-ranking officials, why come after us?"

 

"I never complained about hard work, never expected to be paid on time, never saw a doctor. Though I have a rural household registration, I never had land, didn't use city medical insurance, didn't even speak ill of the president, fearing it would affect my siblings' future—yes, I did nothing wrong, so why me? Why me? Tell me!"

 

"I became an obedient, motionless puppet, and you still wanted to strip me clean?"

 

"You imprisoned me for three years, I finally made a friend, and you killed Nomi... what did I do wrong?"

 

"Tell me! Why are you silent, doctors of Abyss Humanitarian, aren't you supposed to serve Frost-Plated?"

 

"Nomi... I finally understand, a country like Frost-Plated shouldn't exist."

 

The flames spread from her surgical gown to half of Nordley's body, and Li Aozi let her go, leaving her collapsed on the ground, shaking her head painfully:

 

"...I'm sorry, I have nothing to offer but death."

 

No medicine meant Nomi would die from Omega energy depletion.

 

It was over.

 

Li Aozi suddenly found it laughable.

 

Nomi, who he had figured out, even had a nickname no one remembered.

 

"The old world will be burned by the flames of rebirth, and the Rose will bloom on the ruins of the four nations."

 

In the isolation room, she heard this and her purple eye lit up.

 

"Comrade, the organization sent me to get you."

 

She was rude, swearing, and unrefined, but her favorability would drop if he destroyed a relic of a poor outsider.

 

"...We outsiders, struggling to survive, are humans too, just like those in the four nations who have heating, eat buns, can watch TV and read books."

 

She knew he wasn't with the Rose Army, but her attitude changed because of one sentence he said.

 

"...A future with sunlight and warmth, where everyone can rise, men and women enjoy equal rights. There will be no scavenging for leftovers, no begging, no prostitutes and slaves, children and the elderly will be respected and protected, criminals will be punished by law, labor will be rewarded fairly—that's the future."

 

For that dream, and for experimental victims she never met, she was willing to risk her life to help him infiltrate the lowest level of Abyss Humanitarian.

 

—And she died just like that?

 

"Where is Anna?"

 

Li Aozi looked up, impatiently saying:

 

"Where are the 50 survivors of Abyss Humanitarian... where are they?"

 

"The second floor, there are always survivors there."

 

Nordley's skin burned through, her face like a skull:

 

"Anna... Anna is smart, she wants to continue Abyss Humanitarian. We are all the professor's students, Li Aozi... please forgive the professor and Anna, the professor is dead, Anna... she did nothing wrong, let me bear all the sins, stop the killing."

 

"Forgive my ass."

 

Li Aozi stabbed Nordley in the chest, her lung bleeding, blocking her breath. Even then, she didn't die immediately. Li Aozi slowly twisted the hilt, speaking with disgust:

 

"I've always thought bombing planets was scummy—you're worse, a bunch of scum, each one more scummy than the last, even scummier than I am."

 

Nordley's body fell, her eyes dimming, flames consuming her, life ebbing away.

 

Life...

 

Suddenly, Li Aozi had a flash of insight.

 

Nomi was a 【Raider】, right?

 

She had followed him for so long, but hadn’t really killed many people; he always got the final blow.

 

……………………

 

【Raider】

 

Class Talent • Surviving Catastrophe— Raiders are like sewer rats, with low attributes and weak combat power, but if they survive harsh battles, they have a high chance of gaining some of the enemy's 'traits.'

 

Sometimes it's equipment, sometimes it's attributes, even appearance... (Cooldown: 10 natural days)

 

……………………

 

【Raider】, can it take life?

 

Hard to say, because that's not a trait.

 

Even professional players couldn't guarantee it, but if true, it would add many variables to competitions, giving Raiders an extra life.

 

But the point is, did Nomi need an extra life?

 

Li Aozi quickly regained his clarity.

 

Although the Raider's talent is to randomly plunder, it essentially absorbs the opponent's traits.

 

A 【Warrior】's traits are 【Strength】 and 【Constitution】, right?

 

In the game, severely injured characters suddenly increasing their 【Constitution】 or health limit could escape a near-death state.

 

This was true for both NPCs and players.

 

If Nomi could passively take Nordley's 【Constitution】 or health limit, even a bit of health, she could escape the near-death state.

 

Once out of near-death, her Omega energy would activate, rapidly healing.

 

Li Aozi hurriedly checked Nomi's team panel.

 

Sure enough— the Raider’s passive had never activated.

 

"Qiu Ran, give her to me."

 

Qiu Ran, still lost in grief and anger, didn’t respond. Li Aozi grabbed the coat wrapped around Nomi from her arms.

 

He unwrapped it, revealing Nomi's half skull and incomplete jaw.

 

He unwrapped the coat, revealing Nomi's head, which was half a skull and an incomplete jaw.

 

Her face was unrecognizable, with only faint signs of wriggling flesh trying to grow, even though her brain was nearly shattered.

 

She was still alive.

 

Nomi didn't want to die; even shattered, she wanted to keep living.

 

Did she still have her consciousness?

 

If she did, how much pain was she in at this moment?

 

If not, what was driving her to persist in staying alive?

 

"Nordley, you were wrong. Besides death, you have something else to offer as atonement—your life."

 

He opened Nomi's jaws, placed the long knife between her teeth, and aimed it at Nordley, who was quietly burning on the ground:

 

"Good luck, Nomi."

 

In the next moment, he gripped Nomi's chin and forehead, and together they plunged the long knife into Nurse Nordley's skull!