Chapter 2308: Higher-Order Life "Every human is made of matter. The same goes for many animals and aliens." Grand Protector Roshaw voiced as he picked up another immobilized Xona Stalker. His strong armored form quickly ripped his next victim's armor apart. "Each of us are made of atoms and molecules, the building blocks of the material dimensions." What the hell was this madman talking about? Over a hundred frightened Xona Stalkers tried their best to fight against the bonds that held them captive. None of their efforts yielded any results! It was one thing if they were locked into place after being bound by alloy collars or gravitic manipulation. However, the only reason why they weren't able to move was because of the strange dark transparent tentacles extending from the statue of the 'The Unending One'! Ketis had no idea how the Hallowed Abyss Temple managed to get this alien statue to come to life and use it as a crowd control tool. All she wanted was to shake herself loose from this unnatural restriction so she could fight for her life! "I will not be bound!" She roared in her mind! Yet no matter how much she willed herself to be free, the mechanism which stopped her from moving was considerably stronger. The dark tentacle that stabbed her through the stomach looked like a projection, something that was fake and insubstantial. Yet this tentacle was more than a clever technological manipulation of light. This seemingly-fake appendage extended from the tentacled whale statue exerted real influence that left them completely at the mercy of the Grand Protector! As Roshaw became accustomed to peeling off the armor of the immobilized Xona Stalkers, he accelerated his pace. It only took a dozen seconds for him to peel off all of the armor of a victim. After that, it only took moments to pull out the heart to empower the ritual and let the statue of the Unending One drain the rest of the body! This was an awful way to die. It was one thing to die in an honorable battle. It was another thing to allow your death to further the enemy's scheme! If that wasn't enough, the Grand Protector tossed every drained body through the hole in the floor. The nutrient processing plant made no distinctions in biological matter. No matter whether they came from plants, animals, humans or through artificial synthesis, as long as they were nutritious, the automated plant wasted none of it and stuffed them all into the next batch of nutrient packs! More and more helpless Xona Stalkers fell victim to the Grand Protector's cruel handling of their bodies. It was as if the pirate lord solely regarded them as cattle to be butchered. "Have you ever wondered what makes us living beings different from lifeless objects such as rocks?" A terrified immobilized defector quickly lost consciousness as the massive hole in his chest leaked out huge spurts of blood. The pirate lord's gauntlet gripped a beating heart, its torn veins still dripping some scarlet liquid. "Why can't rocks live like organic life?" Roshaw asked. "What does this heart possess that a synthetically-grown organ lacks? Have you ever asked yourselves this question?" Who the hell would wonder about the meaning of life at this dangerous junction?! Ketis was more than glad to debate the meaning of life in a calmer setting. In fact, she occasionally discussed this very topic with Ves, who possessed very strong opinions on this subject! "Did you know that the typical baseline human body consists almost entirely of six elements? From most to least abundant, 99 percent of our bodies consists of oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus. Doesn't that list sound awfully short? Even though nature has shaped these elements in many wondrous combinations to produce functional molecules and cells, at the heart of our existence, we are not so different from ordinary rocks." As Roshaw continued to sacrifice Xona Stalker after Xona Stalker, every captive experienced more and more despair at their eventual fate. They were unwilling to have their hopes and dropes end in such a cruel and horrifying manner. Yet as the sacrifices grew, the darkness grew a little bit stronger. It became even more difficult to shake themselves loose over time! As Roshaw came to his twentieth body, he still continued to talk about something that no one ever expected to hear from a pirate lord.. "There is something different about organisms like us that makes us more than animated objects." He rambled on. "In my younger years, I was ignorant to this fact. I thought that reality worked exactly as I perceive it with my senses. If something can't be seen, felt or heard, it wasn't worth thinking about. How wrong I was. This universe is so much greater than what we are able to perceive with our shallow senses. After becoming exposed to just an inkling to the mysteries of life, I understood how small and limited we are. Our flesh and bodies are weak, unimaginably so! Even in the hierarchy of alien races in our galaxy, the human physique ranks at the bottom!" Though his mechanical butchery fed large amounts of lifeblood to the ritual circle and the idol of the Unending One, his green-and-yellow snake-patterned armor became more and more dyed with red. Some of the remaining captives had the mistaken impression that Roshaw was actually a monster who fed off the fright and suffered his words and actions induced! In truth, this guess wasn't far off the truth. Those who were more distressed tended to make for greater sacrifices than those whose hearts were numbed. The degree of life they exhibited differed as much as an order of magnitude! The Grand Protector became more enthused as he processed a third of the captures! "My benefactors enlightened me to several important truths that have changed my life. The first truth is that life is special, immaterial and incomparably precious! Possessing this single quality separates us from objects that have no life. Not even artificially-cultivated clones of ourselves can come close to matching our potential due to lacking this essential quality." Just like Ketis, Lucky struggled vigorously against the tentacle impaled through his metallic body. His damaged and depleted state had weakened him enormously. If his body and his Misfortune Harness weren't in such an awful state, the gem cat may have been able to resist the bonds! As it was, he fell in a similar predicament as Ketis and the rest. While Lucky didn't know yet whether this insane pirate leader could even sacrifice a mechanical lifeform to a dark god, the injured cat did his utmost to regain his phasing abilities! "The second truth I've learned is that this unique quality of life is not fixed!" Roshaw grinned behind his transparent faceplate as he ran through half of the bodies of the traitorous Xona Stalkers. "Everyone is born unequal. We humans are exceptionally weak in flesh, and cannot bear much life. However, exceptions always exist, and there are a few lucky ones among you who possess the opportunity to bear more of this exceptional quality." Ketis strained herself even more as she continued to try and figure out ways to shake herself loose. "Life is special. Life is exceptional. Do you know the third truth I've learned? Life doesn't have to stay fixed. It can be cultivated!" The pirate lord tossed another drained and mummified body through the hole in the floor. This was the sixtieth body he threw in the nutrient processing plant! "Our flesh is weak, but we can make it stronger. Through manipulating the code of life that is locked within each of our cells, we can upgrade our bodies into something greater than our baseline DNA is capable of producing. Since we have spread to the stars, we have taken evolution in our own hands!" The buffer of Xona Stalker captives grew less and less. Since Ketis and Lucky did not take part in the attempted assault on the shrine, their bodies along with the body of Lieutenant Ineron happened to be dropped in the rear of the pile. Their turns came last, but that was not that much of a consolation as none of the Larkinsons in the pile managed to overcome the restraint imposed by the tentacles! "Many of you ignorant people believe that the latter days of the Age of Conquest was a time of unprecedented disaster. Fools! Don't you realize how great it was to live in that time? The pursuit of greater life is always accompanied with sacrifice! How I sorely wish to be among the enlightened who understood this profound truth. One of my greatest regrets is to be born in the Age of Mechs. Worshipping lifeless machines like mechs is an exercise in futility! Life is the true miracle that we should be chasing after!" The Grand Protector became increasingly more unhinged. His movements became rougher as he always damaged the captive he held as he crudely ripped off their armor. The major downside of Roshaw's growing intensity was that he was working his way through the crowd of captives even faster! "Do you know that life comes in different qualities? Low-order life such as you are inferior to those that have actively taken steps to control their evolution. Yet even I am inferior to the dark gods that reign over the Nyxian Gap! Their order of life is so magnificent that we are but specks of dust to these ancient, immortal deities! They have outlived the extinction of their races!" Less than twenty bodies were left between the pirate captain and Ketis. "And do you know what makes them stronger than us?" The Grand Protector tapped the side of his helmet with his armored finger. "The power of sentient thought. This is the source of life! Life is thought, and thought is life. The mysteries behind these truths are so unfathomable to me that I barely know why this is so. Yet that does not stop me from understanding that to evolve into a higher order, we must develop our minds! We cannot lose our ability to think as we transform ourselves." Ketis, who only paid cursory attention to Roshaw's ramblings, suddenly paused in thought. "This is my ultimate goal. Evolving my flesh is a means to an end. No matter how much I change my body, it is all for the purpose of enhancing the quality of life I bear. My ultimate goal is to transcend the mortal limitations of my body! Only then will I be able to live forever!" Lieutenant Qwasma Ineron died an ignoble death. She had already resigned herself to her fate as the pirate lord used up her life and recycled her dry remains. Roshaw paused a bit as he stepped in front of Ketis and the handful of paralyzed Mirror Raiders. "Ah, so you must be the Larkinsons who thought to sneak into my castle. Foolish." The artificial gravity underneath Ketis switched off, allowing the pirate lord to easily pick up her armored bulk! Her heart beat faster and faster as Ketis' barely controllable eyes stared straight into Roshaw's eyes! "You Larkinsons almost ruined my mission." The Grand Protector hissed. "I shall take great pleasure in sacrificing each and every one of you to the Unending One, starting with you!" The pirate lord tried to rip apart the Rising Red Dragon suit. However, the tough Breyer alloy resisted his efforts! "Oh? You Larkinsons are surely rich, but if you think this will stop me, then think again!" Before Grand Protector Roshaw could grasp a weapon, Ketis finally made her move! 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶 Inspired by Ves' theories on life as well as Roshaw's ramblings on the power of thought, she ignored her fears and every other distraction in order to concentrate her mind! She thought of nothing else than her greatest obsession and poured all of it into her sword intent! Her living mind sword exulted in her efforts. In this intense moment of imminent death, she burst out a greater degree of potential, all of which she used to feed her closest partner! "SHARPIE, CUT!" For the first time in its short existence, Sharpie escaped the confines of her mind! It emerged in her head and flowed down to her stomach. The intangible sword cut the immaterial tentacle that had embedded itself in her body! The tentacle was no match for Sharpie's cutting power! Before Roshaw could react, Sharpie had already exited Ketis' body and quickly cut the tentacles attached to the remaining Mirror Raiders! An instant later, all hell broke loose!