Chapter 270 - The Rock's Background "HMM, I WILL START FROM HOW I ENDED UP HERE," The rock voiced out. "I AM A VINDRUELLA SPECIES FROM THE NORTHERN STAR GALAXY..." The rock started explaining. Gustav already knew this since the system always notified him of alien lifeforms he came into contact with. "MY PLANET WAS CONQUERED BY EARTHLINGS YEARS BACK, AND I HAPPENED TO BE AMONG THE REBELLION SQUAD THAT WAS FORMED TO FIGHT BACK!" "IT WAS A LOSING WAR BETWEEN THE EARTHLINGS AND THE VINDRUELLA REBELLION FORCE. THE FORCES FROM EARTH WERE POWERFUL BEYOND WHAT WE COULD HANDLE, AND EVENTUALLY, WE WERE ALL CAPTURED AND SENT TO DIFFERENT PRISONS ACROSS THE EARTH BASED ON OUR STRENGTH," "I WAS SENT HERE WITH FOUR OF MY KINSMEN, BUT NOW I AM THE ONLY ONE LEFT," The tone of the rock became a bit low at this point. "DURING OUR YEARS OF REBELLION, WE HAD TRIED INVADING EARTH ALSO AND EVEN SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED ASSAULTS... THE MOMENT WE ARRIVED ON EARTH, WE WERE RECOGNIZED BY OTHER MIXEDBLOOD INMATES, AND COINCIDENTALLY SOME OF THEM HAD LOST FAMILIES IN SOME OF OUR ASSAULTS," "WE WERE OSTRACIZED, BUT THAT WASN’T ALL... DAY IN DAY OUT, THEY WOULD BULLY ME AND MY KINSMEN. ONE DAY THEY DECIDED TO KILL US SINCE THEY WERE GETTING SICK OF BREATHING THE SAME AIR AS WE," The rock looked up as it got to this point. "WE WERE BROUGHT TO THE TOP OF THIS HOLE AND KICKED IN!" "I AND MY KINSMEN WERE LEFT TO ROT WITHIN THIS HOLE, WITHOUT FOOD, WATER, OR LIGHT," "WE TRIED LEAVING HERE THROUGH DIFFERENT METHODS, BUT IT WAS OF NO USE," "ONE BY ONE, MY KINSMEN BEGAN TO DIE OF HUNGER. UNTIL I WAS THE ONLY ONE LEFT!" "I AND MY KINSMEN INITIALLY DUG DIFFERENT SPOTS WITH OUR HANDS OUT OF DESPERATION, ONE OF WHICH HAPPENS TO BE THAT SPOT YOU CURRENTLY STAND ON!" "AFTER ALL MY KINSMEN WERE GONE, I WAS ALSO ON THE VERGE OF DEATH. I CRAWLED TO THE SPOT YOU CURRENTLY STAND ON AND WAS ON MY LAST BREATH WHEN I STARTED HEARING A VOICE INSIDE MY HEAD!" "’AT FIRST, I HAD THOUGHT I WAS HALLUCINATING DUE TO BEING ON THE VERGE OF DEATH. HOWEVER, THE VOICE BECAME CLEARER AND CLEARER... DO YOU WANT POWER? DO YOU WANT POWER? DO YOU WANT POWER? DO YOU WANT TO LIVE?" The rock stared at the spot Gustav was standing on as it spoke. "BEING ON THE VERGE OF DEATH, I SAID YES, ALTHOUGH I EXPECTED NOTHING. SUDDENLY, THE ENTIRE PLACE GLOWED UP, AND I SENSED WAVES OF ENERGY GATHERING AROUND ME," "THOSE WAVES OF ENERGY CREATED A COCOON THAT ENGAGED ME WITHIN WHICH EVENTUALLY TRANSFORMED INTO THE SHELL THAT I CURRENTLY INHABIT," When the rock got to this point, he understood a bit, ’So that isn’t a rock... It’s actually a shell, and the real him is within,’ "ENERGY FLOWED INTO MY BEING AS MY BODY INHABITED THE SHELL, PUTTING ME INTO A STATE OF DEEP SLUMBER FOR YEARS. DURING THOSE YEARS, WHILE I WAS IN A STATE OF SLEEP, MY BODY CHANGED. THE VOICE GAVE ME INFORMATION, AND I FOUND OUT THAT IT WAS THE SENTIENCE OF AN IMMENSELY POWERFUL ENERGY CRYSTAL BURIED UNDERNEATH! IT TOLD ME OF HOW THE EARTHLINGS TRIED HARVESTING IT UPON FIGURING OUT THAT IT WAS VERY POWERFUL. HOWEVER, TO SAVE ITSELF FROM THE GREEDY EARTHLINGS, IT TRAPPED ITSELF FURTHER UNDERGROUND AND BUILT AN IMPENETRABLE SHELL AROUND ITSELF. THE MORE THE EARTHLINGS DUG, THE MORE IT WENT DEEPER TO HIDE ITSELF. IT ONLY REVEALED ITSELF AFTER SEEING I AND MY KINSMEN ON THE BRINK OF DEATH. UNFORTUNATELY, IT COULD ONLY SAVE ME. THE SENTIENCE OF THE ENERGY CRYSTAL I HAVE RETURNED BACK TO BEING A FETUS WITHIN THIS SHELL AND TO BREAK FREE... YOU ARE THE SACRIFICE NEEDED FOR ME TO SURVIVE THE HATCHING PROCESS. IF I HATCH IN THIS STATE, MY LIFE WILL BE LOST." The rock voiced out with a profound tone. "YOU SEE, THE SENTIENCE OF THE ENERGY CRUSTAL HARBORS HATRED FOR THE EARTHLINGS JUST AS MUCH AS I DO. THIS WAS WHY IT LENT ME ITS POWER! THE MOMENT I AM FREE, THE EARTH SHALL KNOW CHAOS," Listening up to this point, a lot of missing pieces had been filled up in Gustav’s mind. He now understood a lot of things. ’There’s a powerful energy crystal beneath me, but the fact that the system hasn’t detected it yet means it’s able to hide from even the senses of the system,’ Gustav was surprised at this fact since he already saw the system as a godly creation. ’Hey, system... You truly can’t sense anything?’ Gustav asked internally with a slightly mocking tone. ("...") Gustav saw this appear in his line of sight and chuckled, ’I guess you’re not as great as I thought,’ "WHAT’S SO FUNNY? HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND FROM THE FEAR OF DEATH?" The rock asked as it floated few inches in front of the barrier holding Gustav back. "Hehe, nothing, I’m just laughing at someone’s incompetence," Gustav said with a burst of light laughter. "HMPH! WHO ARE YOU CALLING INCOMPETENT? DO YOU THINK YOU WILL BE ABLE TO ESCAPE FROM HERE TODAY? WE SHALL SEE," The rock voiced out before floating higher, flying above the platform Gustav was currently standing on. Gustav also tried jumping upwards, but he would slam into the barrier again when he reached a particular height, which proved that he was trapped in a box format. The rock hovered a few inches above the barrier at the top. Gustav looked up and asked the system, ’Still can’t sense it?’ ("The shell covering up the energy crystal is restricting my senses,") The system replied. "THE RITUAL WILL BE STARTING SOON. PREPARE YOURSELF," The rock voiced out. ("I just need to find a kind of opening,") Gustav stared at the ground again and tapped his feet on it repeatedly. ’No matter what attack I throw at this thing, I’m sure it won’t be damaged in the slightest,’ Gustav said after analyzing the composition of the shell-like area with both his leg and God Eyes.