Pang Kirates, grown-up.
A colossal energy surged into Pang Kirates, and this time, his fragile human form had to endure a force powerful enough to obliterate a solar system. He needed to accept the ancestral memories now, relying on the power passed down through genes generation after generation to withstand the energy’s transformative effects on his body.
At this moment, an incredibly resilient spirit was essential to maintain self-awareness amidst the continuous disintegration and reformation caused by the energy surge. Remembering who he was, or else, even if the evolution succeeded, the end result might not be a Kirates dragon.
Without the restraint of spiritual force, the evolving Kirates could potentially become a celestial body that only absorbs everything around it, commonly known as a black hole.
Pang Kirates was enduring the infusion of ancestral memories when, unexpectedly, the system announced the final task.
He cried out in pain, bursting from the mountain of gold coins, closing the transport portal, and entering the void beyond worlds.
The game company had repaired the previously damaged mountain of gold coins the very next day. Feng Lianzhu had told the game company that the dragon was his treasure, prone to destroying maps and such. Should the map be damaged, it would be up to the game company to fix it.
What could the game company do but accept? For the sake of the new star battle game, of course, they agreed.
After entering the void beyond worlds, Pang Kirates’s human body began to disintegrate, releasing countless energy strands from within, gathering, compressing, and accepting ancestral memories, a Kirates clan instinct.
His spirit became immensely powerful at this instant, transitioning to an adult mindset with an IQ surpassing 300.
But having accepted only a part of the ancestral memories, Pang Kirates felt as if his spirit was being torn apart, causing him to cry out in pain. Part of his essence scattered, transforming into energy wandering within the void.
ใNow announcing the final task for host Pang Kirates, which you may choose to undertake: Option one, sever the shared brain connection with host Feng Lianzhu, accepting the ancestral memories with a complete brain, and also acquiring the knowledge Feng Lianzhu has learned during this period; Option two, deepen the shared connection with host Feng Lianzhu, entrusting the ancestral energy and the life energy produced during evolution to him to help consolidate your bodily cells, completing the final evolution.ใ
“What?” The struggling Pang Kirates was stunned by these options. Now no longer the simple-minded dragon of before, he understood what option one meant for Feng Lianzhu and what option two implied for himself.
Option one meant usurping Feng Lianzhu’s recent efforts, effortlessly gaining all his insights and growth. The rapid advancement of Feng Lianzhu’s intelligence was partly due to borrowing Pang Kirates’s brain, and receiving some ancestral memories during the learning process. Taking this away, Feng Lianzhu would revert to how they first met: emotionless, selfless, without consciousness, a mere level 90 shell.
Option two was akin to handing over his life and death to Feng Lianzhu. Should Feng Lianzhu harbor any malicious intent, fully taking over the Kirates’s evolutionary energy was possible. Even if Feng Lianzhu were willing to help without seizing his power, he would forever lose the ancestral memories. Even if the evolution succeeded, his intelligence would remain low, incapable of clear speech, merely rolling around in piles of gold coins.
“Why must it be this way?” The mature-minded Pang Kirates protested, “Must I and Feng Lianzhu harm one another?”
ใIt’s not about harm. Host Feng Lianzhu is originally an AI, a bundle of data within the void of the internet, without the life energy of the Kirates clan, it’s impossible to become human. All the power he currently possesses is shared from Pang Kirates. To become a real life form, a Kirates must willingly share their life energy. Host Pang Kirates’s body can no longer sustain itself, please make a choice within ten seconds, 10…ใ
“I choose option two!” Pang Kirates didn’t even give the system time to count, making a decisive choice instantly.
At such a critical juncture, rational and logical thinking was useless.
Pang Kirates relied on instinct, which was not wanting Feng Lianzhu to die, not wanting this person’s consciousness to vanish, not wanting to lose sight of him again. If option one would result in such consequences, then it was off the table.
Even if option one meant Pang Kirates could evolve without risk, he preferred to fight for a chance where both could survive.
The moment Pang Kirates made his choice, in the starry world, amongst a group of people waiting in the monitoring room for investigation results, Feng Lianzhu collapsed onto a fellow researcher, unresponsive to any calls.
His consciousness left his body, entering Pang Kirates’s consciousness through the shared brain.
Memories unique to the Kirates clan flooded into Feng Lianzhu’s brain, the overwhelming volume of information nearly causing his consciousness to implode. Just as Feng Lianzhu was struggling to cope, a firm and gentle force enveloped him securely.
This force was familiar; it was Fat Dragon’s life energy, stronger, purer, and more vibrant than ever before, released from his scales!
With the help of this life energy, Feng Lianzhu’s spirit stabilized, and he located Fat Dragon’s consciousness amid the vast influx of information, seeing the choice given by the system.
Even in his spiritual form, Feng Lianzhu felt chilled to the bone, his entire body cold. The big-footed, foolish dragon, who cared for nothing but gold coins, did he even comprehend what he had forsaken?
“What can I do to preserve Pang Kirates’s body?” Feng Lianzhu asked, “How is he now?”
ใLosing ancestral memories and wise consciousness, the body completely disintegrated, with massive energy drifting in the void. In another minute, if the consciousness isn’t retrieved, the uncontrolled energy will start absorbing everything through the network, consuming the entire Earth in just an hour.ใ
ใHost Feng Lianzhu can think of him, call out to him, and use your own spirit to awaken him. If unsuccessful, both connected spirits will perish. A simpler method is to take his place absorbing the energy, gaining unimaginable power, and becoming a being as mighty as Kirates.ใ
“Shut up!” Feng Lianzhu angrily said.
He outright dismissed the option of replacing Pang Kirates, and softly called out to Fat Dragon with his spirit, “Pang Kirates, Pang Kirates?”
Spirits are unable to make sound, but fortunately, Feng Lianzhu has always shared a brain with Pang Kirates, their spirits connected at this moment. Feng Lianzhu’s thoughts would be conveyed to Pang Kirates, becoming his strong support.
But no matter how Feng Lianzhu called out, there was no response from the other end of the spiritual connection.
On the other end of his spirit, there was only a dead and stagnant abyss.
After choosing to save Feng Lianzhu, Pang Kirates’ spirit couldn’t withstand the surge of energy and had been scattered early on, unable to gather together.
Thirty seconds had passed, completely unable to awaken him. Feng Lianzhu was anxious in his heart, and inadvertently yelled out the nickname he had for Fat Dragon in his heart: “Fat Kirates!”
He always thought Pang Kirates was quite fat, with a round belly that made one want to pinch it. However, Feng Lianzhu was very restrained. Even when talking to the system, he always referred to his partner as Pang Kirates, never calling him “Fat” except for the first mistake, and never publicly called him that.
“Fat Kirates, Fat Dragon?” At this moment, Feng Lianzhu couldn’t care about the names, he called out his favorite name. Every time he thought of the person this name represented, his heart would become incredibly soft.
In Feng Lianzhu’s consciousness, there was a clump of data that a smart cleaning program couldn’t delete. It was anger caused by Fat Dragon messing with his skills, worry generated by Fat Dragon’s extravagance, concern for him being deleted by GM or game companies, the reassurance of seeing a huge golden dragon among the imperial army and the underground arena’s three-way melee, the softness of seeing a little golden dragon the size of two gold coins lying asleep in his palm, memories of Fat Dragon’s affection, all about Fat Dragon.
With the call of “Fat Kirates,” “Fat Dragon,” this stubborn data that even formatting couldn’t erase emerged from Feng Lianzhu’s spirit, slowly turning into a transparent thread, pointing into the void.
With ten seconds left, Feng Lianzhu followed that thread into the void of the spirit world, regardless of what was in that darkness.
Vaguely, he seemed to hear a weak roar, as if it was right in front of him, yet it seemed to be everywhere.
“Stupid Fat Dragon,” with only five seconds left, Feng Lianzhu’s spirit actually shed a tear in the void, “why do you care about me? I never had consciousness to begin with, it’s okay to return to my original state. You’ve always wanted to grow up, you shouldn’t risk it for this.”
The moment that tear slid down, a deeply hidden memory suddenly emerged in Feng Lianzhu’s spirit. Once, after he was killed by a player, the player didn’t take the dropped Heart of Bamboo. Then, from nowhere, a drop of water fell on the Heart of Bamboo, which merged into him when he revived.
What time was that memory from? Where did that water come from?
Feng Lianzhu touched the tear streaks on his face, realizing that the drop of water was a tear, but whose?
He remembered, when he used 20 points of help value to return to the game world, the little golden dragon sobbingly said that Feng Lianzhu couldn’t see him in his dream, even deducting 1000 points from Feng Lianzhu, which made Feng Lianzhu cry and laugh.
He thought Fat Dragon was dreaming, but was this dream, in fact, something that really happened? In his memories that were formatted and deleted, there was such a segment of lost companionship.
With only 1 second left, Fat Dragon’s roar was still so ethereal, with no direction to be found.
Feng Lianzhu should have been panicked, but at this moment, he was incredibly calm, as if Fat Dragon was right by his side, never having left.
The memory box awakened by that tear opened, and every time he was killed, a little golden dragon was always squatting on his shoulder, trying to attack the players but always missing.
“Right here…” Feng Lianzhu reached to his shoulder, indeed grabbing a little golden dragon’s paw.
He opened his hands, letting the sleeping little golden dragon lie in his palm, curled up, his palm pressed against his chest.
Outside in the cosmos, the energy about to explode gathered together, the void revealed a pair of deep blue eyes, a huge black dragon spread its wingsโ
“Roar!!!!!!!”
Pang Kirates, grown-up.
Author’s Note:
Fat Dragon: What’s the point without inherited memories or intelligence, it’s fine as long as Ah Zhu is smart, roar!!!!!!! Ah Zhu, see if my tail looks cool after I grow up!
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Another update before 12 tonight, love you all~
Ahhhhh this is so exciting. Iโm so glad he made it through. Thanks so much for the chapter!! Awesome job as always.
Close call for both of them ๐ฅบ Their choices ๐ฅบ๐คง