From the Abyss of Stars Part 1

090. Cognitive Trap

090. Cognitive Trap

Blood slid down the tip of the blade, the continuous and unbroken trail resembling red agate rolling over lambskin.

Red.

It was a bright, vivid, lively color, contrasting sharply with the cold, merciless gray blade. This red-white opposition, intertwined, created a visual impact like a punch to the eyes, stinging, aching, yet more compelling than anything else.

Shh—

Li Aozi slowly withdrew the long blade from the skull of the eleventh Calamity Armament girl. The cold blade emerged from the warm blood, emitting a sharp, thin whistling sound despite being soaked.

Gugugeaaaa...

Like a strange bird or a malevolent ghost, the sword's cry resonated through the bones of his hand, penetrating his brain, craving more.

"Want more..."

Snap.

Li Aozi flipped his wrist, bent his left arm, and clamped the blade's back in his elbow joint, slowly drawing the long blade and using his sleeve to gently wipe off the blood.

It was said that in Tianhuan samurai swordsmanship, there was a "blood shake" technique that could flick off blood with a light shake of the blade, but Li Aozi felt that wiping it with his sleeve was cleaner, as the costume wouldn't get dirty anyway.

There weren't many imported swords from Tianhuan, and ordinary mercenaries and bounty hunters who got one wouldn't keep it, either selling it or keeping it as a treasure.

Li Aozi remembered that there were no famous cold weapons in Frost-Plated. Men there, generally less educated, especially liked firearms and cybernetic modifications, as well as hand-to-hand martial arts, which had almost no barriers to learning.

Tianhuan was different. Their national characteristics made them worship soldiers and personal martial prowess, regardless of background or origin. All classes revered martial arts and had a strong dueling culture. A Tianhuan citizen committing murder would not be arrested if they joined the military and served in battle.

Hence, the best cold weapons in the entire Azure Star were there.

Li Aozi, following the 【Dominion】 path, couldn't undergo modifications or implants, so Frost-Plated's rare implants and firearms held no allure for him.

He wasn't in a hurry to head to Red Arrow. The place had been peaceful in recent years, unsuitable for him.

Li Aozi had long planned; his next destination was Tianhuan, the best place to hone combat skills and acquire quality weapons.

He knew of two hidden quests for [Masterpiece] weapons there— completing Frost-Plated's quest, he estimated he'd have the level and strength to obtain them.

As for now...

"One left."

He looked at the last bio-pod, slowly stepping over the fallen bodies of the boys and girls, moving forward.

These people's Omega energy levels were low, so Li Aozi directly extracted and crushed them, storing the Omega energy sequences for future enhancement.

Currently, none of the Omega energies stored in his ability pods truly suited his needs; he used whichever was useful.

As for growth potential— apart from 【Iterative Movement】 and 【Polar Day Radiance】 having future prospects, he kept 【Directed Explosion】 and 【Ionic Shock】 for supplementing long-range damage.

Plop... plop...

Snow's buff effect slightly influenced Li Aozi— in his view, the emotionless death of these mind-wiped children seemed particularly ironic.