Chapter 371

Chapter 371: How Should Mechanical Ascension Reproduce?

“Goodbye.”

“I hope you can follow these resilient deities, carrying the Giant God’s expectations and blessings, to launch our resolute revenge against chaos!”

A “Gravekeeper” stood atop the “Giant Tower,” watching the Star-Eater Plutonium Dragons move away with a booming sound.

With the Giant God witnessing, the Saraph people and the Star-Eater Plutonium Dragons made a deal.

The Saraph people would enter the bodies of the Star-Eater Plutonium Dragons, lending them power and giving weapons to destroy the “Fantasy Tree of Subspace.”

At the same time, the Star-Eater Plutonium Dragons would protect the Saraph people with their divine bodies.

Also, the Saraph people found that by using the Giant God’s power to break down the Fantasy Tree of Subspace, they could get energy non-stop to grow stronger. As per the agreement, besides sacrificing part of the energy to the Giant God, they shared some with the Star-Eater Plutonium Dragons to thank them for protection.

This made more Star-Eater Plutonium Dragons see that the war against chaos wasn’t useless.

At first, the fight began because the partner of “Ye’s Foolish Act” was killed by the Chaos Demon God. Then chaos got out of hand, making things worse until it turned into a pointless big war.

Though the Star-Eater Plutonium Dragons used the chance to unite and train their clan in the war, the war’s strange start and guerrilla fights annoyed most of them.

Worse, the war gave little gain.

While the rotting Fantasy Tree of Subspace slowly decayed its branches into edible “Golden Fungi” energy, this barely covered the resources and risks the Star-Eater Plutonium Dragons took.

Many grew tired of this losing war.

They were completely weary!

But now, things changed.

By working with the Saraph people, they could get big profits from the chaos war!

So, many Star-Eater Plutonium Dragons decided to use the Saraph people’s power to attach that scary “Disintegration Power” to their sharp jaws, break the law substance of the Fantasy Tree, and swallow the pieces to be turned into energy by the “Saraph people” for nourishment.

Greed drove these ancient dragon clan members, starting new war fires.

This time, chaos’s base would shake in these mortals’ hands!

Still, not all Saraph people chose to leave.

The colossal will of the Giant God had reached every Saraph person.

He needed some to stay, guarding this world that became ruins three thousand years ago.

So, the Saraph people split into two groups.

Those who went with the Star-Eater Plutonium Dragons were called the “Resurrector”; those who stayed were the “Gravekeepers.”

But what they guarded was no longer a dead tomb.

It was no longer just a perished Bubble World!

“Great is the Giant God!”

As the Star-Eater Plutonium Dragons vanished into the “Ether Fog,” the “Gravekeepers” knelt on the “Giant Tower,” praying to the Giant God.

They did this not only to start a group prayer.

Instead, it was…

“Boom—Boom—Boom—!”

The Giant Tower beneath the Gravekeepers swayed rhythmically.

She was climbing ever higher.

Her trunk was growing thicker and sturdier.

“Craaaack—sizzle—!”

Enormous branches slowly pushed out new buds, each swelling into fresh limbs.

A colossal tree pierced the heavens, growing rapidly amidst violent tremors.

Around this branching Giant Tower, countless smaller towers broke through the Primal Mud.

In the ruined world, a Giant Tower erupted from the earth nearly every few kilometers.

Their rise wasn’t sudden; long ago, when the Giant God planted Her, roots had greedily spread through every corner of ruined Saraph’s world.

Now, as the Giant God channeled power into Her again, new buds sprouted wherever roots reached!

Roots shattered ruins and tombs, waking all sleepers, feeding on Saraph’s sorrow to fuel vibrant new life.

“Praise the Giant God!”

“We guard no tombs.”

“Nor the corpses and headstones of the dead world.”

“We guard the buds springing from those corpses! The living blooms upon those gravestones!”

“This is our duty as Gravekeepers!”

Yet the Saraph people didn’t know that reviving their world wasn’t the Giant God’s only gift.

At the edge of New World Saraph, a battle had just ended.

This was once a factory crafting metal constructs. Survival lines remained intact, warehouses still holding long-dormant constructs.

Now, demons infested it.

Fortunately, a Gravekeeper patrol found them.

“Hisss…”

“Urgh…”

Demons dissolved into green particles, scattering on the wind.

But their thick, magma-like blood bubbled free with wet gulps, absorbed by the hunters—the Gravekeepers.

“Seems more scouts came sniffing lately.”

“Slaughter them all!”

“Let us feast!”

Whether Gravekeepers or Resurrectors, they bore metal bodies. Normal food couldn’t sustain them.

Only by burning energy from "Primal Mud" or drawing magic from the wind from the void could they drive their metal caskets.

Yet Primal Mud’s energy barely met Saraph people’s basic needs.

Their souls, their vengeful hunger, their thirst for strength—no basic fuel could satisfy these.

They could obtain special energy either by splitting the Fantasy Tree of Subspace or by slaughtering demons to extract energy from their bodies.

Half of this energy was offered to the Giant God as sacrifices, while the remaining portion was absorbed by the Saraph people to satisfy their souls’ emptiness and strengthen themselves.

However, this magical energy had another use for the Saraph people.

“Creak… creak…”

The sound of mechanical joints echoed.

The Gravekeeper patrol wandered through the factory, looking at the long-sealed production lines and constructs, their metallic eyes shining with sadness.

“What a pity.”

“Three thousand years ago, many did not have the chance to undergo soul dehydration and compression before they perished in battle.”

“The shells prepared for them were now useless.”

“And our population….”

The biggest weakness of the Saraph people was their insufficient population.

Once encased in metal shells, they could no longer reproduce like humans or give birth to newborns.

But as this group of Gravekeepers worried about the future of their clan…

“Buzz—!”

Their souls suddenly vibrated.

The souls that absorbed “demon energy” swelled, and the Saraph people felt a small “protrusion” suddenly appear at the edges of their souls.

This protrusion gradually expanded, eventually forming a new soul!

It came from the original soul, yet was slightly different.

Then…

“Pop…”

The new soul split off.

They rushed out of their bodies and dove into the nearby metal shells!

Soon…

“Buzz—!”

One after another, the metallic eyes of those constructs suddenly flickered with the light of “life,” and awoke one after another.

They curiously looked around the world, ultimately rested their astonished gazes on the Gravekeepers.

“Daddy!”

“Mommy?”

The newly born Saraph people said uncertainly, their eyes shining with curiosity.

—-

【Spore Reproduction: Upgrade Version】

Trilobite looked at the vitality DLC he bought for his “hairy worm” spawn and nodded in satisfaction.

Hairy worms reproduced in a way like “budding reproduction”—first forming a spore that would then grow into a new hairy worm.

Trilobite purchased a better “spore reproduction” system for them, which enabled quicker “self-reproduction” and gave continuous profits for Trilobite.

Since this upgrade project was common, including the “promotion costs,” it wasn’t too expensive, costing Trilobite only 10,000 points of Chaos Energy.

“With this, my business could grow even bigger.”

“Excellent!”

“But now, I should focus on…”

Trilobite’s eyes landed on the edge of the swamp.

The water here was much shallower, and large areas of dry land were clearly visible.

The types of plants seemed to have changed too.

And brand new species came into Trilobite’s sight.

“Finally, I saw a proper herbivorous animal; it wasn’t easy!”