Chapter 129: Consciousness Crystal
The Dark Matter Pirates had roamed the vast starry sea for a long time. Although they lacked both warp technology and wormhole technology, it had taken them twenty years just to travel from the so-called center of the universe to this remote place called Earth.
Given Boros' energy reserves, he shouldn't have lacked the power to make a warp jump. This meant they had likely traveled at sub-light speed instead.
Their usual method of planetary conquest followed a set pattern. In past battles, they would first destroy the planet's observation devices. If none were present, they would target its communication systems. Then, Melzargard—who possessed limitless stamina, regeneration abilities, and combat adaptability, making him nearly immortal—would clear the battlefield.
In other words, he would exterminate all living creatures within the immediate landing zone. Following this, the ship would bombard areas where life signs were densely concentrated, wiping out massive numbers of organisms.
Once information gathering was complete, the main ship would deploy all combatants to eliminate the remaining life forms and strike any designated targets.
The higher-ranked combatants and elite combatants were responsible for dealing with the planet's most advanced life forms—its strongest fighters.
If even they failed to secure victory, then their ultimate weapon, the all-conquering super lifeform, Lord Boros, would personally take action.
At that point, the decision would be made—would the powerful individual be killed, subdued, or sold?
This was how the three elite combatants and even the high-ranking combatants had been recruited into Boros' forces.
However, despite conquering countless planets, this was the first time they had encountered a planet of such high quality.
At this moment, all the superheroes from the Hero League had mobilized, launching attacks on the invading Dark Matter aliens, showcasing terrifying strength.
The heroes from the Hero Association coordinated in support.
—
"You must be one of the invading aliens. Why do you speak our language?"
Chang Wei appeared in front of Melzargard, asking curiously.
"Who are you? It's just a language. Something this simple can be learned in no time," Melzargard sneered.
"Well, that's… actually a pretty reasonable explanation…" Chang Wei muttered, slightly amused.
The next moment, an invisible pressure engulfed Melzargard.
"This… is telekinesis?"
Melzargard's pupils shrank in terror. Was it just his imagination, or did this psychic force feel even stronger than Geryuganshoop's?
Before he could react, he was compressed into a tight sphere, utterly powerless to resist. Chang Wei opened his mouth wide—
"Ah!"
Gulp!
With a single bite, he swallowed Melzargard whole.
Instantly, the Divine Light Virus completed its digestion and analysis, extracting useful genes and structures from Melzargard, incorporating them into Chang Wei's evolution.
From Melzargard, Chang Wei found the most valuable trait to be the ability to maintain his body without degradation. As for regeneration and splitting, those were secondary.
"Looks like I can split off multiple personalities now…"
With his new evolution, Chang Wei's body reconstruction ability had further strengthened.
Additionally, he had gained a new power—the ability to create Consciousness Crystals.
For Melzargard, these crystals were extremely rare, requiring a hundred years to form just one, allowing him to grow an additional head.
But for Chang Wei—enhanced by the T-Virus, a master of telekinesis, telepathy, and mind control—he didn't need a hundred years to form one. He could seemingly generate them in a second.
These Consciousness Crystals not only served as extra lives but also functioned similarly to a lich's phylactery—or perhaps something even more profound.
Chang Wei had always worried about whether he would truly die if he were obliterated down to his fundamental particles. Even if his soul remained, souls didn't naturally carry viruses. Though the Divine Light Virus could already affect and devour souls, it couldn't be created from nothing.
However, the emergence of these Consciousness Crystals provided him with a potential solution. If his original body were completely annihilated, he could use these crystals to resurrect himself.
The only question was whether this method was reliable.
To test it, he condensed a Consciousness Crystal and then separated large amounts of Divine Light Virus, T-Virus, and G-Virus to form a body for it.
The result was an identical copy of himself—after all, it was a split-off consciousness crystal.
"From now on, you'll be called Zero."
Chang Wei could sense his connection to the clone.
"Okay."
Zero responded emotionlessly, merely nodding.
A reserved personality?
"Take care of the monsters here. Extract any special genes for me," Chang Wei instructed, impatient to face the other two elite combatants.
To him, Boros had essentially delivered a treasure trove.
"Understood," Zero replied blankly.
Once Chang Wei left, however, Zero immediately shoved his hands into his pockets.
"Heh heh heh… Finally, I can cut loose! Now, how should I make my grand entrance?"
—
Inside the spaceship, Chang Wei unleashed the Divine Light Virus, absorbing parts of the vessel.
The Blacklight Virus had always been able to break down both organic and inorganic matter for energy, including plastic. After multiple evolutions, the Divine Light Virus was even more potent.
Chang Wei was particularly curious about the ship's materials. After devouring so many scientists' memories, he had developed a strong interest in materials science and energy research—two pillars of technological advancement.
"As expected of an interstellar warship… This alloy is far superior to anything on Earth."
After analyzing the structure, he integrated the ship's material properties into his own body.
Then, locking onto a powerful lifeform within the ship, he dashed toward it.
"Damn it! What kind of lifeform is this? Not only can it move in a straight line through the ship, but it's also insanely fast!"
Geryuganshoop sensed Chang Wei's presence via telekinesis and was stunned. However, seeing that Chang Wei was heading toward Groribas, he relaxed and even notified Groribas to handle the intruder.
Brimming with confidence, Groribas assured Geryuganshoop that there would be no problem.
Thus, Geryuganshoop ignored the issue and instead tried to contact Melzargard to reprimand him for allowing a planetary lifeform inside the ship.
But for some reason, Melzargard's signal had vanished.
"What? Could it be… Has Melzargard already been eliminated by this planet's inhabitants?"
Geryuganshoop was in utter disbelief.
Could that prophecy… be true?
If this planet truly harbored a super lifeform rivaling Lord Boros, then it made sense that Melzargard would disappear so quickly.
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