The final, agonizing shriek of an Elder Council bloodline faded away, as dozens of fine, thorny vines slowly retracted from his desiccated veins.

The bloodline, withered like a mummy aged by a millennium, collapsed heavily to the ground, his physical form instantly crumbling into a mound of dust. The light vines gracefully lifted, fine glints sparking at their tips. Gradually, a transparent bead of blood, the size of a mung bean, secreted forth. A strange power emanated from this tiny drop, faintly coiled by tendrils of black flame.

Ducat, seated nearby, extended a hand. His nail deftly scraped the blood-bead loose from the vine. With a flip of his wrist, the bead, hard as iron and metal, was pressed firmly onto his brow. A thread of thin, black smoke jetted out, tightly enveloping the bead. A hairline crack split the skin on his brow, slowly drawing the bead inward.

A searing current swept through his body. Ducat, naked, felt his muscles ripple like disturbed water. As they shifted and flowed, they began to emit a dull, metallic clanging sound. Tiny, sesame-seed-sized scales erupted from beneath his skin, rapidly covering his entire body. The scales were primarily purplish-black but overlaid with a faint, silvery sheen. The bone-chilling, metallic luster made them appear utterly impregnable.

Gasping heavily, Ducat suddenly roared in a low voice: "Xiao, just a little more energy!"

A robot several meters high, bristling with mechanical arms, hurtled forward. Dozens of thick syringes plunged fiercely into Ducat’s vital points. Highly concentrated wood-attribute spiritual liquid, refined by Lily, was continuously pumped into Ducat’s body, transforming into surging energy that circulated throughout him at his will.

“No need for mana, no need for divine arts. Only body and spirit—that is the strongest force in the universe!”

“The perfect harmony of flesh and spirit—that is the ultimate form of evolution for all beings in the Great Cosmos!”

“Employing external forces to manifest divine arts is a diversion! Only one’s own strength holds meaning!”

“Heaven and Earth form one Great Cosmos; the self is a small universe. The three thousand motes of dust constitute their own realm. The physical body can achieve sainthood, the physical body can become a god, the physical body can evolve all things.”

“This is the ultimate principle governing this lineage’s evolution.”

Immense energy churned within him. Ducat endured wave after wave of excruciating pain, focusing all his mental power inward, ceaselessly adjusting the energy as it battered his body, constantly strengthening his frame. All the internal force, the formidable energy, and the true essence magic he had once cultivated were absorbed by his flesh. His once unimpeded meridians were gradually replaced by solid conduits, crystalline and transparent, sculpted as if from crystal. Every muscle was as unyielding as alloyed steel; every part of his being achieved ultimate reinforcement.

The moment the last wisp of true essence was devoured by his flesh, incandescent black flames, violent black lightning, and sharp black tempests erupted from Ducat. He casually swung a fist forward; the resulting shockwave tore through all the surrounding armor and bulkheads, pulverizing the facilities within the White Wing-class battleship he occupied.

Standing up abruptly, the six dense, scaled wings on Ducat’s back snapped open. Sharp, black barbs sprouted from the skeletal joints of the wings, and the tips were keen as knives. He clenched his fist tightly; a mass of air in his palm compressed into an almost tangible liquid bead. With a gentle flick of his finger, the bead shot out with a piercing whistle, tearing the air, striking straight through the warship’s hull and blasting into the void of space. About five seconds later, a faint tremor registered outside as the bead detonated.

“This is power! True power! The pure strength attained when body and spirit are completely fused.”

Flexing his fist with buoyant pleasure, Ducat threw his head back and laughed uproariously. He suddenly glared forward, sending a vicious surge of mental pressure towards the massive black hole not far ahead.

“Old man, when I get the chance, I will kill you and seize your bloodline to augment my strength! Wait for it, I will kill you with my own hands!”

Green light flickered within the black hole. Mo’tang Long Gen, trapped by the confinement field, stared fixedly at Ducat with his six massive eyes. After a long pause, Mo’tang Long Gen nodded coldly: “You are finished! When my children return to this sector of the stars, I will send them to kill you! Or, when I break free from this accursed place, I will devour you!”

Ducat threw his head back and roared with laughter, sneering, “Devour me? Heh, heh. A coward who couldn’t even protect his own innate symbiotic partner—and you think you can devour me?”

Slowly bringing his thumb up, he drew a line across the space beneath his feet, and Ducat stated coldly, “I await your children. I will kill them one by one and plunder their bloodlines to enhance my power. When I possess sufficient strength, I will return here and kill you, seizing everything you have.”

Mo’tang Long Gen chuckled strangely a few times, gnashing his teeth slowly, shaking his head. Ducat’s words were like daggers piercing his heart, conjuring endless killing intent within him. He murmured softly to himself, “If it weren’t for the scent of my beloved on you, why would I share my story with you? Hmph, hmph, hmph…”

Ducat gave Mo’tang Long Gen a deep look, then turned and summoned a disc-shaped vessel. He signaled Lily and Xiao to quickly board, rushing toward the exit at maximum speed.

Mo’tang Long Gen watched the streak of light left by the departing vessel and shook his head mockingly. He said faintly, “Foolish creature, continue merging with my bloodline. What use is merely merging the bloodline? When your bloodline awakens, many things will surprise you, idiot.”

Suddenly, hundreds of streams of light sped towards this location from the distance. A ragged, demoralized pack of werewolves, vampires, and other dark creatures stumbled into this star sector. Faintly visible behind them was a giant figure clad in bronze armor, standing over ten meters tall, radiating no aura of life or death, relentlessly pursuing the miserable group of dark beings. Upon entering this sector, the giant seemed to sense a terrifying presence; he roared toward the heavens a few times, then turned and departed.

Mo’tang Long Gen smiled with keen interest. He glanced at the winged vampires behind him and suddenly projected his mental fluctuations toward them.

“Pitiful little ones, are you interested in a bargain? Or perhaps, we could become friends, couldn’t we?”

The dark beings who had just escaped their doom paused, looked back curiously at the black hole, and then flew towards Mo’tang Long Gen in astonishment.

In the vastness of space, Ducat’s vessel was traversing one star gate after another, rapidly heading toward the Spiral Sector. Ducat sat powerfully in the command cabin, gazing thoughtfully at the fleeting starlight outside the viewport. “Xiao, you said the Star Alliance fleet began concentrating towards the Spiral Sector several days ago? Do you think it has anything to do with them?”

Xiao shrugged, shaking his head hesitantly. “Judgment Day destroyed all my monitors in the Paradise Sector, so I cannot confirm if it’s related to them.”

Ducat gave a cold laugh and said dismissively, “Then it doesn’t matter. We’ll go see for ourselves.”

Lily approached Ducat from behind, gently massaging his temples with both hands. Ducat leaned back slightly, closing his eyes in comfort.

The vessel sliced through space at immense velocity. After days and nights of travel, Ducat reached the Spiral Sector. Xiao suddenly managed to connect with the probes he had previously deployed there. Due to the large number of spatial oscillation generators deployed by the Star Alliance Coalition, communication signals were somewhat affected. Only upon reaching the entrance to the Spiral Sector did Xiao receive feedback from the probes. He cried out, astonished and delighted: “Ducat! The Alliance has discovered the Romanians! They are besieging the Romanians hiding in the Barren Star Sea!”

Ducat froze for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter, throwing his head back. The vessel immediately accelerated, quickly plunging into the Barren Star Sea.

When Ducat’s ship arrived, they witnessed the sight of the Romanians brutally breaking through the encirclement with their devastatingly powerful colossal cannons, fleeing in disarray. Ducat laughed scornfully and urgently instructed Xiao to maneuver the ship to follow. A silver ray flashed through the void. The vessel, summoned by Ducat and commanded by Xiao, far surpassed the speed and control precision of the Alliance warships. It swiftly pulled away from the entire fleet, tightly shadowing the Romanian vessel forged from Divine Crystal.

Gazing in awe at the crystalline warship, which shimmered faintly with black light and appeared semi-transparent, Ducat said joyfully, “A warship made of Divine Crystal? What a brilliant concept! This means they possess a large-scale method for manufacturing massive Divine Crystal blocks? These crystals should be used to forge my mechanical empire!”

Xiao hopped with delight, shouting, “Divine Crystal is the hardest substance I have ever analyzed, and the one that stores the greatest energy per unit. If possible, I wish to build my body from Divine Crystal, to create the ultimate fortress that can never be destroyed, yet can destroy everything!”

A blinding red electronic light flashed in the eyes of both Ducat and Xiao. They exchanged a look and laughed simultaneously.

Amidst the laughter, dozens of silver beams extended from Ducat’s head, rapidly linking with Xiao’s. Their consciousnesses merged swiftly. Through the signal amplifier specially designed on the vessel, their combined consciousness traversed the vast expanse of space, making contact with the pursuing Alliance warships. Without any difficulty, their consciousnesses bypassed the ships’ autopilot and evasive systems, penetrating the comprehensive command systems. In less than one ten-thousandth of a second, they breached the control system firewalls and seized command of the entire fleet.

One ship, two ships, three ships—like an epidemic, the number of warships controlled by Ducat and Xiao grew, until the entire pursuing Coalition fleet was held in their grasp. Only the warships of the Yafic Empire remained inaccessible; the Yafic vessels were shrouded in a peculiar psychic barrier that completely blocked the entry of their consciousnesses. Forcing an entry would inevitably alert the commanders of the Yafic fleet.

Sighing with mild annoyance, Ducat shook his head. “This must be Old Guy’s idea. He’s guarding against this move of ours. Xiao, forget it. The Yafic Empire and us, we aren’t exactly enemies.”

Xiao hesitated, withdrawing the effort he was pouring into finding a weak point in the psychic shielding.

Taking a deep breath, Ducat slowly raised his right hand.

The image of Ducat simultaneously appeared on the view screens of every compartment aboard every Star Alliance Coalition warship, except those commanded by Gu Xiechen of the Yafic Empire.

Ducat looked down coldly at all the officers and soldiers of the Coalition and sneered: “Weaklings and trash. Remember my name. I am Ducat, the powerhouse you can only look up to, the master of all mechanics in the universe.”

“One day, you will all kneel before me, begging me to become your master. To give you a chance to become my slaves, I shall graciously spare your lives today.”

He gave a strange laugh, then added with cold reflection, “Those ordinary soldiers are one thing; they are merely insects you command, ignorant of everything. But you, the controllers of these civilizations, you bloodline inheritors of the Elder Council—you will understand later why I spared you today!”

Amidst the roaring laughter, the engine cores of all the trailing warships simultaneously overloaded. The energy within the core intensified, and the entire ship vibrated violently. At almost the exact same moment, the engine cores of all Star Alliance Coalition warships exploded. Nearly half of each vessel was blown into fragments, rendering every ship powerless, turning them into debris drifting solely by inertia in subspace. The more than ten thousand warships and transports of the Yafic Empire, unable to slow down, slammed violently into the forward Alliance vessels that were rapidly decelerating, crushing the Alliance ships—whose energy shields had already dissipated into faint streaks of light—into jagged wreckage. Thousands of warships exploded simultaneously.

Gu Xiechen, caught completely by surprise, gasped sharply. He stared out into the forward void and roared in fury, “Ducat! What are you trying to do?”

Gu Xiechen wanted to rush out of his ship and pursue, but he worried about the Yafic warriors left behind. In his view, the Yafic citizens were no different from the citizens of the Earth Federation; he could not leave these warriors alone in the perilous subspace. Since Ducat had appeared here, who knew what his intentions were?

Stomping his foot in frustration, Gu Xiechen could only watch as the Romanian vessel sailed away. He swept his divine sense across the Romanian ship, leaving behind a mental brand.

Inside the Divine Crystal vessel, the Romanians watched with overwhelming delight as all the pursuing Alliance warships suddenly lost power to their main engines. This meant the Alliance fleet could never catch up. The Romanians would have ample time to find a new safe sector and develop their strength in peace.

Nankte breathed a massive sigh of relief, laughing up at the sky, “This is the Mother God’s protection. Those damned things won’t catch us now.”

Hessokjin nodded happily, “Let’s go, quickly! Let’s get as far away as possible, to the edge of the universe where they can never find us.”

Polkin and Yakjin exchanged pleased glances. They both let out a breath of relief, happily proclaiming it was the Mother God’s blessing that allowed them this escape.

Only Polport and the Ascendant’s faces turned ashen. Polport growled low, “This is deliberate destruction, not a malfunction in the Alliance warships! We Romanians do not possess the power to sabotage Alliance engines from this distance. So, who did it?”

The Ascendant cried out even more directly, “Something is following us! Hurry and see what it is!”

Before the words could fully register, the Divine Crystal vessel shuddered violently. The control system wrenched itself from the operators’ hands, autonomously exiting subspace and jumping into an unfamiliar expanse of stars. All hatches on the vessel sealed tightly. Then, the ship altered its trajectory and sped forward at maximum velocity. In a mere half hour, the vessel miraculously found thirteen tiny jump points, barely large enough for passage, and vanished somewhere far away.

Polport and the others watched with pale faces as the vessel flew wildly through space on its own accord. After three full days and nights, the ship finally crossed the last jump point, arriving in a region of space incredibly distant from the Spiral Sector. As soon as the vessel emerged, a main cannon forged from Divine Crystal unleashed a full-power blast at the jump point, obliterating it completely.

Then, a brilliant light flashed inside the vessel, and Ducat—clad in a flowing purplish-black robe, radiating intense sinister energy, his long hair whipping about like a demon god—appeared before them out of thin air.

Nankte shrieked, staring at Ducat in disbelief as he screamed, “Ducat! It was all your doing?!”

Rage boiling, Nankte lunged forward, raising his palm to strike Ducat across the face. Polport quickly rushed up and restrained Nankte. He was far calmer than his father; he clearly sensed a terrifying power emanating from Ducat—a power so impossibly immense that all the Romanians present combined were no match for it.

“Ducat, my brother, why are you here? What do you want?” Polport smiled with practiced composure. “Or perhaps, you couldn't bear to watch us Romanians suffer calamity again?”

Ducat gently shook his head, looking down upon the group representing the highest authority of the Romanians in the command cabin, and stated coldly, “No. I merely find the weak-bullying, hypocritical, and degenerate Romanians easy to control. You will make the best slaves for me.”

He slapped backward, sending the Ascendant, who had tried to slip away, flying, and Ducat snatched the sacred artifact from his grasp.

Every Romanian in the command cabin turned pale with horror, staring at the artifact in Ducat’s hand.

Ducat smiled, speaking calmly, “I saw the capabilities of this treasure in the battlefield records from the Star Alliance Coalition. All the Romanians are hidden inside? That truly is a marvelous thing. I have decided—I will use this as the core to forge a warship that can never be destroyed! I will establish an empire belonging to mechanics, and then rule the entire world.”

Staring imperiously at the Romanians, whose faces were like ash, Ducat stated calmly, “You may choose submission or resistance, but the outcome will be only one: I will become your Emperor, the Emperor of the Romanians! Rejoice, slaves! After so many years, the Romanian Empire finally has an Emperor, and this time, there will not be one hundred and seventy-two kings beneath him.”

“One Emperor, one Empire, one voice, one will!”

“Those who obey me, allow me to place a small restriction upon you.”

“Those who refuse to obey me, you may take your own lives.”

A vast pressure surged overwhelmingly from Ducat’s body toward the Romanians.

Polport was the first to pull Nankte and kneel down, bowing their heads deeply.

“We submit to your rule, Your Majesty Emperor Ducat!”

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