Chapter Fifty-Nine: The Dark Sovereign

In Adonsa’s sixth sense, the waves crackling across the horizon carried an astonishing force and will that struck the Undertaker. As the Undertaker plummeted, its body suddenly bloomed with molten, lava-like crimson patterns; the temperature soared. The entwined tentacles were instantly scorched and snapped apart. Freed, the Undertaker’s body was now veined with scarlet, spewing searing flames as it climbed higher and higher, its form ever-shifting, until— It pounced upon another Undertaker that had been wreaking havoc across the battlefield. The Undertaker beneath seemed startled, but its feeble resistance was swiftly consumed by the red glow.

Metal components between the two Undertakers fused, reassembled, forming a vast skeleton, though something still seemed absent. Nearby, the flock of birds swarmed in, but their sharp teeth and beaks had no chance to attack—all were quickly burned to cinders.

Then, a roar thundered from the sky—a fighter jet approached, seemingly to assist the Undertaker. Immediately, the Undertaker generated a makeshift exhaust, jetting a fierce tail flame and hurtling toward the plane. It was not retreating; instead, it engulfed the jet in its crimson brilliance.

Bathed in the red light, the fighter jet writhed as if alive. Its wings curled, fuselage folded, ordinary metal structures split and reassembled with vibrant energy, automatically forming intricate mechanical systems. Like a Transformer, gears, bearings, and levers folded and meshed between the Undertaker and the jet, electric sparks and blazing red light rivaling the sun as sources of brilliance in the sky. Even the flesh-and-blood pilot was impaled by metal and wires, his body dismantled by churning parts, becoming a component in the mechanical monster soon to be born.

Thump, thump, thump—

That was the heartbeat of metal, cold machinery transformed into the mighty pulse of life.

With a clear, resounding cry, at last emerged a mighty, one-legged mechanical bird. Its dark red eyes smoldered like embers, five-meter wings of metal moved with uncanny agility, the shifting heat sinks, tail fins, canards, vector nozzles opening and closing at will, supporting its massive frame. In its chest glowed a ruby-like energy core, radiating brilliant red light.

The incarnation of Bifang was much smaller than the original fighter jet, yet far more intricate and precise, possessing a certain metallic ferocity and beauty unique to mechanical beasts—like a monster stepped from a sacred mural.

"Just barely, I suppose this counts as my incarnation." Bifang’s sharp beak emitted a metallic sound, piercing and majestic.

A wave of searing heat radiated outward. Through an evolved spectrum organ, Adonsa could measure that the mechanical bird’s temperature had surpassed five hundred degrees Celsius. At such heat, no protein in nature could remain intact.

Bifang let out a shrill cry: "Aberrant unit, I am coming!"

A long tail flame erupted from the mechanical bird’s back, scarlet fire flickering between its wings as it dove toward the flock. Adonsa quickly ordered the birds to scatter, but was a step too slow.

As Bifang dived, flames fanned out like a colossal arrowhead piercing the mutated flock; the high temperature instantly incinerated masses of birds—at least a third lost signs of life in a heartbeat.

When Bifang wheeled back after its dive, a wide gap had been erased from the dense flock, as if a rubber eraser had wiped away part of a sketch.

The remaining mutated birds scattered in all directions, now ill-suited for further battle—there was no need for them to perish pointlessly.

Bifang cried out with pride, wings carving arc after arc of crimson, harvesting Adonsa’s minions.

Adonsa silently gathered information.

Linear velocity, acceleration, angular speed, flame temperature, attack frequency... One by one, the data was recorded and analyzed.

Adonsa quickly relocated Lin Jicang, descending rapidly through the building.

After dispersing the flock, Bifang seemed to recall Lin Jicang’s presence, circling the building and unleashing pillars of fire that swept through every floor.

Glass melted under the intense heat, building materials ignited with ease, fire alarms blared throughout.

From top to bottom, Bifang ignited each floor in turn, setting the entire building ablaze like a torch.

Swathed in flame, the mechanical bird soared freely through the sky, proclaiming itself the true lord of the heavens.

Adonsa’s split form carried Lin Jicang downstairs, with Bifang’s fire in relentless pursuit.

No time remained.

Adonsa made a swift decision, immediately dividing off three split forms that burrowed into the unconscious Lin Jicang’s body.

For ancient super-creatures, every cell was a complete entity; cell holography granted unimaginable vitality, making rash contact extremely dangerous—one could easily be overtaken and resurrected.

Adonsa had intended to proceed slowly, to study the peculiar changes in Lin Jicang, but Bifang’s relentless assault forced it to seize every moment to strengthen itself, racing to unlock the genetic vault within Lin Jicang.

Adonsa’s genealogy now catalogued over four hundred thousand gene sequences, yet still lacked the robust traits for combat.

Against ordinary armies, it could overwhelm by endless disguise, infiltration, venom, parasitism, and control. But against a foe like Bifang, so powerful and omnidirectional, it fell short; Bifang’s fighter-jet mobility alone was out of reach.

Thus, it urgently needed the gene bank of this ancient superlife to augment its fighting strength.

The mutated core formed from the struggle and fusion between the parasite and split forms was located atop Lin Jicang’s heart. The three split forms carefully isolated it from the rest of the thoracic organs, secreting copious targeted anesthetics according to Lin Jicang’s elemental profile to sedate him.

Tentacles wrapped Lin Jicang’s brain, spinal cord, and nerves completely—if anything went wrong, all would be destroyed without a trace.

When all was ready, Adonsa extended a tendril, piercing the muscular heart like a tumor; capillaries and nerves stretched out, merging with it.

And then, everything halted.

In the shadowed world, countless torrents of black scales emerged from the darkness, climbing over every person, object, and split form, until the entire world became one immense black-scaled beast.

A chilling wail echoed: “A-Green, A-Green, A-Green…”

“Begone!” Adonsa shouted sharply.

The sound waves rippled outward, finally surging into a tempest, sweeping away every scale and revealing the world’s true face once more.