Chapter 567 — Alpha’s Overwrite

Liora didn’t react to being suddenly interrupted.

She simply relaxed her grip, drawing the opponent closer before shifting her attention inward.

More precisely, toward Alpha.

She wanted to know why Alpha had stopped her from killing them.

Alpha seemed to sense her confusion and didn’t keep her waiting.

Azure light flashed as her figure emerged from Liora’s body and landed right beside her.

"My Lord.", she spoke up with a bow before her gaze turned toward the Mechanical Race member.

"There is no need to kill them. I can sense that there’s something inside them that is extremely beneficial to me."

She paused briefly before continuing, a hint of hesitation in her voice.

"I can sense that if I devour them, my fundamental structure will change. It is similar to what happened when I faced the AI Chip in the past."

Liora raised an eyebrow.

These words had come seemingly out of nowhere, but they were not entirely baseless.

Alpha had been an ordinary puppet at first, merely imbued with the soul of a Devil to grant her some extraordinary characteristics.

However, following their journey to this world, that was no longer the case.

By replacing the AI Assistant gifted to Liora by her aunt, she had directly changed species.

In a certain sense, she was no longer a mere puppet.

If one had to describe her, she was a hodgepodge of several races.

One-third Devil, one-third puppet, and one-third a member of the Mechanical Race.

As such, although surprised, Liora didn’t doubt Alpha’s intuition.

It made sense that she would have undergone some changes following all of this.

Thinking of this, Liora didn’t hesitate.

Looking into Alpha’s expectant eyes, she nodded her head before tossing the captive at her.

"Be careful. Although I’ve drained most of their strength, they were still once equivalent to a Rank 7 Awakener."

"I don’t know whether their race has any special means of fighting back. You should be cautious no matter what you do.", she specially reminded her.

Alpha nodded solemnly, taking the warning to heart.

Walking up to the Mechanical Race member, she observed it for several seconds before deciding to trust her instincts and activate the ability that seemed to be ingrained into her very being.

The next moment, her silhouette shattered.

It transformed into countless azure fragments that scattered everywhere before shooting toward the opponent.

As though they existed in a different dimension and their structures could not overlap, the fragments encountered no resistance whatsoever.

They passed straight through the outer metallic shell, merging seamlessly with the mechanical body before disappearing.

Nothing happened at first.

Despite Alpha herself having vanished, the Mechanical Race member remained completely unchanged.

It was as though her attempt had failed.

Liora, however, made no move.

She continued watching the Mechanical Race member, demonic energy quietly surging through her body. She was ready to intervene at a moment’s notice once she detected anything wrong.

Several seconds passed.

Just as Liora began wondering whether she should interfere, the change she had been waiting for finally occurred.

The red screen serving as the Mechanical Race member’s head began to flicker.

Several azure pixels appeared across it.

Then, like drops of ink spreading through clear water, they rapidly expanded.

Ten pixels. A thousand pixels. A million.

Within moments, billions of azure pixels had spread across the screen, dyeing it in their color and replacing the previous one.

The crimson rapidly retreated.

Yet at the same time, the remaining patches of it became even deeper, as though they had been soaked in blood.

A cold, emotionless voice rang out.

"An external virus has been detected. It is currently attempting to seize control of the core system..."

"Attempting to exterminate the virus... Process failed!"

"Attempting to expel the virus... Process failed!"

"Analyzing remaining options... Self-destruction selected!"

The instant those words fell, the remaining crimson pixels shook.

One warning symbol after another flooded the screen, as though bracing for the incoming impact.

A terrifying aura erupted from the mechanical body, and it started to swell.

"Self-destruction in three... two... one..."

Yet just as the countdown reached its end and the aura reached its peak, everything suddenly stopped.

The alarms ceased, while the warning messages disappeared.

Even the surging aura vanished without a trace.

Gradually, the remaining crimson faded away as azure completely engulfed the screen.

Following this, the pixels gathered together, gradually outlining a familiar human silhouette.

It was Alpha.

Compared to her usual calm expression, a faint smile now rested on her face.

Looking toward Liora, she nodded repeatedly, her eyes flashing with excitement.

"My Lord, I succeeded! I’ve managed to take control of this machine."

As she spoke, the silhouette displayed on the screen raised its right hand.

The mechanical body in the outside world mirrored the movement perfectly, though its motions were slightly sluggish and off-beat.

"Unfortunately, this body is not very suitable for me.", Alpha muttered under her breath.

Soon afterward, however, her expression brightened again.

"Thankfully, it doesn’t matter."

"Invading this body has already elevated my nature. I’ve discovered that after devouring its core, my strength has noticeably improved."

"Moreover, I was able to directly plunder this person’s memories."

The smile on Alpha’s lips widened, clearly delighted by the discovery.

This didn’t last for long, though. Soon, her face turned serious.

She glanced at the shattered remains of the fortress drifting through space and the endless sea of blood before turning back toward Liora.

"My Lord, I’ve made a discovery. I’m afraid that the situation is relatively serious."

"A lot of things have happened while we were gone..."

Seeing Alpha react this way, Liora was slightly surprised.

Alpha had accompanied her for a long time and experienced countless extraordinary events in many different worlds, ranging from ordinary like the World of Knights to apex planes like the Demon World.

Whatever had made her so serious was obviously no trivial matter.

Fortunately, Liora had already anticipated that something significant had occurred ever since she first saw the fortress’s shattered remains.

She showed no surprise, merely motioning for Alpha to continue.

Alpha immediately complied.

She began recounting what she had learned from the Mechanical Race member’s memories, informing Liora of everything that had taken place while they were busy completing the Trial.