Chapter 2110: Chapter 52: The Tree of Endless Shattering
"The carapace of the material world has long been neglected, even rusted and decayed. If it werenât for the need to welcome us âvisitors,â perhaps our Duke would still be lingering within the circuits of the Apocalypse Armament!"
[Thatâs right]
The Duke of Steep Ridge applauded, praising: [You have seen through my essence at a glance, even more clearly than I understand myselfâAina, do you now comprehend?]
He slowly stood up, and it was only then that Aina noticed the countless pipelines behind the Duke of Steep Ridge.
The pipelines, hundreds of them, were inserted directly into nerves and the brain, shaking as thunderous light flickered within them, transmitting consciousness: [Back then, your ancestor Inega II also saw through my essence at a glance, hence forming a contract with me to share technology]
[Regrettably, luck wasnât on his side, and he fell just before dawn. I too, faltered and lost myself, unable to advance further, only to be surpassed by Inegaâs successor nearly a century later]
The Sunbird was bewildered.
Did he understand? Of course, he did.
Just like his grandfather Axel intended to brainwash everyone on the Whole Terra into another âInega II,â what the Duke of Steep Ridge did was simpler and targeted only himself.
He used the Apocalypse Armament and the True Aether Furnace, fragmenting his soul time and again, then seeking âbetter componentsâ from parallel space-times, reassembling himself into a more âexcellentâ self from numerous superior fragments!
In the ratings of Pioneer Space, the original Duke of Steep Ridge was merely a Silver SR Level figure, yet possessed Apocalypse Armament that exceeded Gold SSR, near Rainbow UR.
With the Apocalypse Armament, the essence of the Duke of Steep Ridge was akin to a new card, an SSR Level new card. As such, the Duke of Steep Ridge could not abandon the Apocalypse Armament but rather strove to become one with it.
Flesh and Blood are short-lived, mechanical Ascension might indeed be so.
Yet the Apocalypse Armament and the True Aether Furnace are somewhat stronger... They can connect to Infinite Parallel Universes, enabling the Duke of Steep Ridge to find certain space-times where some part of himself possess SSR quality and draw some âSSRâ fragments.
If given enough time, the Duke of Steep Ridge could surely gather a wholly SSR-quality âself,â thus achieving Ascension in essence, fully merging with the Apocalypse Armament.
In this way, achieving the fusion of Body (Apocalypse Armament), Soul (Infinite Parallel Space-Time optimal choice), Will (optimal choice), Technology (collection of Duke of Steep Ridge through generations), and Infinite Energy (True Aether Furnace), becoming a âDuke of Steep Ridge - Apocalypse Armament Fusion Body,â reaching for Star Godhood is not impossible!
But the time required is too long and relies too much on luck... So, the impatient next generation of Duke of Steep Ridge, perhaps from Bokaangâs era, made a decision against his ancestors.
ââHe shattered his soul, turning it into many âSR fragments.â
Then, he replaced his inferior, fragile essence with the occasionally drawn âSSR fragments,â transforming himself into a Parallel Universe Chimeric Body!
Although the raw materials were âhimself,â the newly borne entity was more superior than his previous âself,â thus it wasnât the âoriginal self.â
Transcend Time and Space, select structure, reorganize oneself.
The combination with the Aether Furnace made his descendants into a recombination of random numbers of himself, even better numbers!
Broadly speaking, this too is a form of birthing offspring!
Also, from this meaning, the companions of the Duke of Steep Ridge through generations were indeed the Apocalypse Armament!
Initially, the first few generations spoke of optimization programs, but in later generations, namely Bokaangâs era, the Apocalypse Armament had already completely become the âmother bodyâ for Duke of Steep Ridgeâs lineage to birth new selves!
The Apocalypse Armament really is the âmotherâ of all Dukes of Steep Ridge!
But it is insane...
"Is this the path of Ascension for Steep Ridge?"
Aina murmured: "This is fundamentally not human, but another form of life..."
[This is not insanity]
Turning his head, the Duke looked at Aina, seemingly able to read the thoughts of the Sunbird, calmly stating: [After all, what I do and think, how is it different from ordinary humans?]
[Donât you hope for an heir more perfect and as similar to you as possible? Isnât this the essence of reproduction?]
[Humans need purpose to continue living, purpose exists due to motive, and motive acts due to desire; without desire and motive, any human actions are meaningless.]
[When I needed to consume other lives to sustain my own life, I never thought about âwhy do I eat.â Itâs because I wish to live and accomplish something, consuming and absorbing energy becomes necessary]
[Hence I follow the bodyâs instincts, I consume and swallow.]
[When the Elster Family needs to breed descendants through male-female union, creating progeny with only part of their genes, we never think âwhy do we reproduceâ about this question.]
[Because we will die and canât live forever, to accomplish feats that one generation couldnât, we must create offspring, and as humans, we must seek superior fathers or mothers to unite and nurture inheritors,]
[Thus, we follow human instinct, we unite and breed]