The thought of doing any harm to a phase whale was anathema to a fish-whale. Ves suspected that the Flesh Conqueror may have programmed this intense resistance towards killing and devouring a phase whale in the genes of the fish-whale race. It was a logical move to make. From what Ves had been able to figure out during the Purgatory Campaign, the mythical clean whale that had dominated an entire era of the Red Ocean in the past had sought to create a derivative of his own race that addressed many shortcomings. By creating a hybrid between the phase whale race and a mixture of lesser aquatic races, the Flesh Conqueror managed to bring a budget version of his original species to life! If not for the fact that something happened to the gigantic clean whale that caused him to abandon this ambitious creation project, the fish-whale race might have helped the phase whales become the hegemons of the dwarf galaxy! Of course, there was always a possibility that the fish-whale race might become too powerful for their own good. What if the members of the servant race decided that they deserved a promotion? What if the fish-whales were no longer content with acting as the slaves of the phase whales? What if the fish-whales saw an opportunity to replace their masters? A rebellion would be extremely costly to the phase whales who originally lorded over the inferior aquatic race. The Flesh Conqueror obviously wasn't an idiot so he had made sure to program strong rules that discouraged the thought of harming a phase whale right into the genes of the fish-whale race! As such, the Phase King emotionally recoiled each time Ves mentioned the intention to devour the salvaged spirit of the unclean whale. "Oh, come on! You're no longer just a fish-whale king anymore!" Ves complained. "You have shed your mortal coil. Your gene programming shouldn't affect your thinking anymore. There is nothing wrong with thinking about how a phase whale tastes. Granted, the unclean whale probably isn't as palatable as a proper phase whale, but he should at least be packed with all of the nutrients a growing design spirit needs!" The Phase King continued to express his rejection of this proposal. It was as if the thought of eating the unclean whale was the greatest form of blasphemy that he could ever commit in his long and extensive life! "You stubborn idiot!" Ves cursed at his design spirit. "What the hell is your problem? Your race is made up of natural cannibals! Back in the Purgatory pocket space, I have witnessed the members of your race eat each other's bodies as soon as they leak a single drop of alien blood. Why have you grown squeamish all of a sudden? The unclean whale is a cannibal as well, you know! He has preyed on at least a dozen phase whales given the variety of phasewater organs we found inside his corpse. Since this fellow has never hesitated to eat a phase whale, there is no reason why you should be any different!" The Phase King began to experience more and more doubts, but he was still unable to bring himself to agree with the proposal. Ves sighed again. "The unclean whale is a reflection of the dark side of the phase whale race. Not only does his existence prove that your progenitor race isn't as powerful or perfect as you have always imagined in your dreams, but he is also a representation of the whale eat whale reality we all live in. An individual can fall into two categories. He can either be the prey that gets exploited all of the time or become the predator that has taken his own destiny in his hands." The design spirit he was arguing with had become more thoughtful and subdued. "What kind of spirit do you wish to be, my friend?" Ves pressed as he sensed he was getting close. "Do you want to be ruled by your instructions from birth and early childhood, or would you rather break out of your genetic cocoon and transform into a greater existence? The power of evolution is within your reach. There is nothing good about sticking to your original form. You are nothing but an overseer of a slave race at your current stage. If you don't want a phase whale to come and browbeat you into submission, then you should take this opportunity to absorb the strength of one of their kind and make sure you can stand up for yourself!" It took a bit more coaxing, but the Phase King finally managed to overcome his strong rejection towards this action. The mental shift was significant. From the moment the design spirit stopped looking up to the phase whales as a magnificent god race, the Phase King seemed to double his inherent authority and confidence! This was the first time that Ves truly thought that the Phase King had the air of a sovereign. For all of his age and wisdom, his sheltered life and his lack of mental growth had caused him to be severely stunted in many ways. It was only now that the Phase King started to resemble a proper powerhouse. Now that the design spirit had made the most essential switch, he started to wonder how he should devour the spirituality of the unclean whale. Ves grinned. "Let me help you with that. Eating the unclean whale as whole as possible will probably allow you to obtain the greatest yield, but this damned bastard is too strong and possesses numerous advantages on account of his race. I'll have to do what everyone does when they want to turn a big bastard into their next meal. We chop him up into bite-sized pieces!" This was a far-reaching decision that would have massive implications. Not only would Ves be giving up another potential design spirit, the amount of spiritual energy and other bits that got lost during the butchering process was also painful. However, Ves deemed that this course of action was the best way to take advantage of the spirituality of the unclean whale in the short term. Every other option was too dangerous or too demanding for his liking. Once Ves made a number of preparations, he looked at Blinky who had been keeping the unclean whale occupied all of this time. "You can stop playing with our food now, Blinky." Mrow? "I'm serious. It's time to finish the job." Mrooooow. "Execute my orders!" Mrow! As soon as Blinky stopped amusing himself by inflicting pain and agony to the captive, the cat began to launch an all-out assault on the trapped and helpless spirituality of the unclean whale! The victim dialed up his curses as soon as he felt that he was being torn apart. DISTRESS! PAIN! DEATH! REVENGE! AFFRONT! UNWORTHY! ANCIENT! DOOM! The unclean whale still didn't change his tune at this time. The creature was so unreasonable that Ves no longer harbored any doubts about this momentous decision. Blinky intensified his attacks. Since the cyborg cat was doing much to suppress the unclean whale, the companion spirit was able to attack to his heart's content. MROW! MROW! MROW! Claws rent out slices of intangible matter. Sharp teeth bit off entire chunks of the unclean whale's spirituality. The air of death grew stronger in the room, so much so that another design spirit chose to manifest herself at this time! "Whoah, little brother. Why didn't you tell me you were about to hold a barbecue?" A gray spiritual entity asked as she floated next to the cyborg cat. "I see you are having whale meat tonight, yum." Ves greeted the new arrival with a wave. "Helena. Did you come to salvage the scraps of this dying spirit?" "Heh, you know me so well, brother. As a matter of fact, that is exactly why I have come. It is not every day that I get to eat a piece of an exotic alien soul. The gods of the Red Ocean are so different from the ones back in the Milky Way, but death is all the same for both groups. I'm more interested in the flavors. Dining on the gods of the Red Ocean is like exploring a new cuisine." The Daughter of Death was practically drooling as she witnessed Blinky go to town on the captured spiritual entity. It got so bad that the Phase King became more guarded against his fellow colleague. All of his lingering revulsion towards the idea of devouring a member of his progenitor race went away when he realized he had a competitor. The remains of the unclean whale belonged to him! There was no way the Phase King was willing to share this precious meal! "Don't worry." Helena said as she crossed her arms. "I won't snatch your food from your jaws. I'm just here to harvest the death qi that the dying is releasing. You can't digest it anyway, so you might as well allow me to suck it up like a cleaning bot." "Just let her do what she wants. You need to learn how to share. There is enough spiritual phase whale meat to go around." Ves told his friend. The Phase King soon became distracted as he began to devour more chunks of the unclean whale. The first pieces already energized the design spirit in a major fashion. It was as if this was the first time the Phase King came into touch with the essence of a superior whale! Such an introduction was already enough to give the Phase King a possible direction to evolve towards. As the Phase King absorbed more and more pieces, he began to show signs that he was about to undergo a comprehensive metamorphosis. The quality of the food was too high! Even though the ages between the Phase King and the unclean whale diverged drastically, there was still a massive difference in the inherent quality of their life states! By assimilating the essence of the unclean whale, the Phase King was slowly moving further and further away from his fish-whale king roots. It was probably a stretch to think that the Phase King would be able to morph into a proper phase whale, but whatever he was turning into should be far superior to his present existence! Ves became pleased when he saw that the Phase King was digesting his meal without any apparent issues. It seemed that the same traits that allowed the fish-whales to devour their own kind with ease also helped with devouring phase whale essence. As the Phase King became more engrossed with trying to digest the highly potent pieces of the unclean whale, Helena grinned and quickly tore a chunk of the dying spirit. Mrow! "Hey, what are you doing, Helena?!" "I can devour life as well as death, Ves. Let me have a taste, okay?" Helena immediately popped the piece into her mouth as if it was sushi. She savored her portion with great pleasure and appreciation. "Nice. Phasewater has marinated this whale for many years. This has produced an interesting mix of flavors." Once she digested her bite, she tore out another chunk from the unclean whale before turning around and offering it towards Ves. "What are you doing, sister?" "You should have a taste as well." "What?! I can't eat that! I'm a human!" "You're a god now, or at least a god in the making." His sister corrected him. "You need to familiarize yourself with your new abilities as a nascent god. Come now. Don't be shy. The first time is always the best." "This… this is disgusting! I don't need to rely on predation to grow my strength! I have my own ways of growing stronger!" Helena snorted. "That's too slow. You can't afford to wait that long." "No thanks. I don't like whale meat anyway." "Fine. If that is how you want to play it, then you leave me with no choice. It just so happens that I have wanted to try out an interesting ritual that I have recently learned." His sister suddenly grinned before she threw the chunk torn from the unclean whale in her mouth. She then dove forward and locked her lips with that of Ves! It turned out that she wanted to reenact a ritual of the Gemini Family!