For humanity, burn the stars.

Inside the spaceship, Li Lin hadn't experienced such cleanliness and tranquility in a long time.

The silver-gray interior walls shimmered with a soft glow, and the air was filled with a strange, ozone-like odor.

In District 51, which is nothing short of hell, not only is the environment polluted, but there have also been people who have come to rob his dilapidated house.

Of course, they were all turned into corpses later.

Li Lin's body was gently placed on the medical platform. The platform, which was made of metal, quickly deformed to conform to the curves of his body.

Luke and Varian did not approach; they hovered a few steps away from the platform, their tentacles dancing lightly on the control panel beside them.

A series of pale blue scanning beams descended from the ceiling, silently gliding over Li Lin's body.

From head to toe, repeatedly, three-dimensional models belonging to Li Lin appeared next to their panels.

Soon, lines of Vera's text and complex biological structural diagrams appeared like a waterfall on the screen.

Next to it are densely packed data points, including bone density, neural cluster activity, and brainwave patterns.

Li Lin lay calmly, his huge frog-like eyes gazing at the unfamiliar dome above.

He knew there was nothing he could do, so he simply gazed silently at the top of the spaceship.

An unfamiliar ceiling…

It must be said that he has a very strong inner strength.

In a situation that would drive any normal person crazy, he even had the leisure to amuse himself.

Varian announced the results with great surprise, its fiber optic organ slightly tilted towards Luke.

"In the comparison of thought spectrum... the matching degree with the standard human cognitive module sample library is 97.3%."

"Clear cognition...no blankness or chaos following mental castration was detected."

"Rook! This is indeed... extremely rare!"

Luke's fiber optic organ vibrated excitedly at a high frequency, drawing several arcs in the air.

"See, Varian! I knew he was special!"

"He insists that he is human, not because he's insane, but because he truly is!"

"A 'shell person' possessing complete, truly human thinking!"

Li Lin coughed lightly and reiterated his correction:

"I'm not a shell-man, I'm human!"

Hearing his insistence made Luke even happier.

"Oh, yes! Of course!"

"Don't worry, you'll soon be able to shed this body."

"At that time, you will be a completely human being."

Li Lin didn't speak, but waited quietly.

After completing the basic scans and confirmations, the spacecraft began its steady ascent, passing through the murky clouds of Sector 51.

The spaceship flew towards the checkpoint leading to the upper city, but stopped ahead.

Just as Li Lin was wondering why they had stopped, one of Luke's whiskers gently tapped a button.

"Permissions confirmed. Remove the 'upper-level environment lethal gene lock' from the target individual."

A smooth, synthesized sound rang out, and a deep purple light suddenly appeared above the medical platform, sweeping over Li Lin's entire body.

Li Lin suddenly felt an extremely slight yet incredibly clear strange sensation within his body.

A kind of invisible and intangible constraint that had been lurking deep within our genes quietly loosened.

Upon realizing what had happened, his enormous frog-like pupils contracted slightly.

Genetic lock... and it's lethal...

Li Lin pondered the implications behind this silently, feeling a chill run down his spine.

He was genuinely unaware of this modification to the shell-like creature.

He had thought about this before when playing games and reading the official chronicles of the [Vera] race:

Why have the lowest-ranking "shell people" never rebelled?

In all these years, has not even a single shell person ever had such a thought?

After all, the content of that garbage wasn't hidden at all, and the Shell People definitely knew about the existence of the Vera in the upper levels.

Hundreds of years is more than enough time for a rebellious consciousness to be reborn from nothing.

And this design, hidden in a corner of the game that has never been shown, is the reason behind it.

The triggering principle is roughly that contact with a certain substance causes genetic mutations.

In other words, once a shell-like being comes into contact with this substance, it will trigger this gene, resulting in immediate death.

The triggering substance could even be some element in the air, which is present in the upper layers but was deliberately removed in Sector 51.

As for how the gene triggers and causes death, Li Lin was unclear.

However, once triggered, whether it causes a rapid rise in potassium levels leading to cardiac arrest or induces hypocalcemia, convulsions, or suffocation, these are all very easy to achieve through physical means.

In this situation, there is absolutely no way any shell-like being could put up an effective resistance.

After figuring all this out, Li Lin felt a chill run down his spine.

Vera's control over the "Shell People" is far more precise and cruel than what appears to be a free-range approach.

They not only stripped humans of their physical appearance and civilization, but also programmed the code of a prison into the very foundation of their biological genes.

Even if he hadn't torn off his shell to commit suicide, but instead tried other ways to save himself, he would probably have died without any surprise the moment he tried to reach the upper level.

This realization made him even more wary of Vera's technology and ruthlessness.

But because of this, Li Lin felt even more strongly that the current opportunity was once in a lifetime and he had to seize it firmly.

-----------------

Having broken free from genetic limitations, Luke and Varian successfully brought Li Lin out of District 51.

The spacecraft rapidly ascended along the vertical passage, and Li Lin turned his head to look at the scene outside the observation window.

This was also the first time he had ever seen the entire layered city with his naked eyes.

The scenery changed rapidly on the eighth, seventh, and sixth floors.

The area gradually transitions from the filth and chaos of District 51 to a dimly lit, yet orderly industrial zone.

Following that was a brightly lit, well-organized mid-rise residential area.

And the high-rise buildings, shrouded in the soft glow of an artificial canopy, covered with strange purple vegetation and elegant architecture.

Each level is like a completely different world, with some levels even simulating different landforms and celestial phenomena, strictly separated by the layered urban areas above and below.

He saw enormous pipes connecting the different levels like blood vessels, with a constant stream of suspended vehicles flying along fixed light tracks.

Occasionally, robots of various shapes and sizes can be seen moving between buildings, assisting in the operation of the city.

These buildings, which inherited human culture, looked very familiar to Li Lin, but he also felt sad about them.

However, Li Lin had more important things to do at the moment and didn't have time to be swayed by these emotions.

At this moment, Li Lin was silently assessing the situation in his mind.

According to the background of Starry Night, Earth has already entered a Type I civilization, and may even be on the verge of becoming a Type II civilization.

However, even under these circumstances, they were still completely defeated when facing [Vera], without any chance to fight back.

Because while humanity was still using the solar system as a base to colonize other surrounding star systems, [Vera] had already taken control of tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions, of stars in the Milky Way.

While it may not reach the level of a third-tier civilization, it is by no means a simple second-tier civilization either.

It may not be apparent on this Earth, but it is just a remote colony in their vast territory.

The real home planet, the core fleet, the ultimate technology... these are all things that Li Lin has actually encountered before.

As a player, he could easily crush her, completely disregarding [Vera].

However, given his current situation, the road to revenge is far longer and more arduous than he imagined.