Chapter 633 — Assimilating an Apex Civilization

"It’s no longer as simple as devouring. It has evolved into a form of assimilation."

"I can ’fuse’ with other Mechanical beings, incorporating their strength into mine. Then if I wish to, I can separate them again."

"Nothing will change about them as a result. They are still their true selves, with their own memories and emotions."

Liora quickly grasped Alpha’s meaning.

In simple terms, Alpha’s devouring was no longer permanent.

Instead, she could assimilate other Mechanical beings to improve her own strength.

Then, if she wanted, she could let them return to their original state.

Such an ability appeared unimpressive at first glance.

After all, doing so would decrease Alpha’s own strength. But in reality, it was extremely valuable.

It allowed Alpha to freely alternate between two different states.

One all-powerful, with individual strength far surpassing ordinary Emperors, and one of an army, composed of many different individuals, similar to an ant colony.

When the assimilated beings were few in number, the latter state didn’t seem to have much of a role to play.

But if Alpha managed to assimilate enough creatures, and if they were individually powerful too, it could play a major role.

The more Liora thought about it, the more satisfied she became. Both with the increase of her force’s power and Alpha’s changes overall.

She had truly grown up. Both mentally and, perhaps more importantly, in terms of strength.

"You can assimilate these beings for now. Then, in the outside world, you can find more suitable prey.", Liora pointed to the Mechanical beings beside her and advised.

"You’re quite fortunate. There are many powerful creatures currently gathered in the ancient city."

"Even if you can only assimilate members of the Mechanical Race, it will be enough for your strength to undergo one more transformation. Perhaps we can even do something big."

Hearing these words, Alpha nodded with a smile.

Then, several explosion sounds echoed.

Kings, Venerables, and even Emperors. Their bodies collapsed into streams of mechanical essence that flowed into Alpha.

--

In the outside world, Liora slowly opened her eyes.

Although she had spent several hours inside the Cosmic Sea, most of them beside the River of Time, not much time had passed in reality.

Barely a few minutes.

Similarly, her position had not changed.

She was still on the outskirts of the ancient city, surrounded by pavilions and courtyards.

Yet although such a short amount of time had passed, Liora’s plans had been altered.

She originally intended to venture deeper into the city and gather more Immortal Tokens until she was able to fuse them into their complete weapon form.

Now, even though that remained her long-term goal, she had decided to use a different method to achieve this.

Alpha’s transformation had given her ideas.

For example...

"Controlling an entire Apex Race...", Liora muttered.

If anyone heard these words, they would be shocked. Most would ridicule her for overestimating herself.

No matter how powerful Liora was, it didn’t matter. Even if she was able to contend against Rank 11 beings, she was far away from being able to fight against an entire civilization.

After all, each Apex Civilization had multiple such creatures. Even Rank 12 Awakeners were bound to exist among them.

Yet Liora knew that such an idea was not impossible to achieve given the current circumstances.

"Only Rank 10 beings and below are allowed entry in the extraterrestrial battlefield. "

"As long as I help Alpha assimilate all the Mechanical beings in the city, I’ll have an entire race supporting me in the fight for the final inheritance."

Upon that thought, Liora could no longer stay still.

Pushing the matter of the Immortal Tokens to the back of her mind for the time being, she turned around, her mind in constant communication with Alpha.

Having already heard of her plan, Alpha knew what she should do.

"My Lord, I can sense the aura of a mechanical being a few light-years to the left...", her voice echoed directly in Liora’s mind before the latter turned into a stream of light and vanished.

--

Something strange occurred in the ancient city.

Initially, the chaos on the outskirts had alarmed most Emperors, including those who had chosen to venture deep into the city.

As the news gradually spread, everyone believed that the chaos would only intensify and the deaths would grow in number.

Yet, everything abruptly ended.

Emperors no longer went missing. Calls for help ceased.

It was as if everyone had suddenly woken up from the previous bloodlust they were immersed in.

The Emperors were surprised, but they quickly accepted it.

It seemed that as the news spread, the culprits behind everything had chosen to lay low for now.

This suited everyone’s plans, with the leading Emperors feeling relieved as a result.

However, what no one knew was that an even greater undercurrent was surging unbeknownst to everyone.

...

Liora’s figure landed beside an Emperor of the Mechanical Race.

Before the latter could react to her presence, Alpha had emerged from her body, urging her new status.

Faced with the overwhelming force oppressing it, the Emperor’s pupils shrank.

It tried to struggle.

Unfortunately, it discovered that it couldn’t.

Let alone resist Alpha’s influence, even sending a message to alert its companions was impossible.

Within seconds, its struggle ceased, and its personality was rewritten.

With a newfound respect in its eyes, it bowed to Alpha respectfully.

It didn’t merge with her to enhance her strength.

Rather, it turned around and left, continuing its journey as though nothing had happened. Even its closest companions would notice nothing unusual about it.

"My Lord, this is the last one.", Alpha looked at Liora and reported. Through her connection with them, she could sense that dozens of controlled Emperors were touring the city’s outskirts.

This was the result of their recent hunt.

Hearing these words, Liora was not surprised. She had expected this.

She was already satisfied with the number of creatures they had succeeded in controlling.

Her hunch told her that these people would prove useful in the near future.

"Moreover, it’s indeed time to go.", she muttered, her eyes narrowing.

The message she had received over the past few hours had revealed that something unexpected was happening at the depths of the city.

She, as the Emperor of the human race, ought to also participate in it.

---

Author’s Note:

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