"How long?" Anur asked.
"How long have you been possessed?"
Blaze raised an eyebrow, unable to comprehend the meaning behind her words. Sensing his confusion, Anur looked into his eyes, saying something in an unknown language, one that even the alien translator couldn’t convert.
Yet, Blaze knew exactly what she said.
"We are one... how do you know about it?" Blaze asked, trying to maintain his calmness, but his voice was shaken.
That’s something he heard and admitted during his grade-5 evolution, when he faced the strange creature. He had chalked it up to his brain spewing nonsense in his comatose state, but he knew that wasn’t the case.
Because he still had the scars from when the tentacle-like monster had grabbed him. Strangely enough, only he could see it. Not any human, or even zombie, could.
But Anur was an exception.
She could clearly see the marks all over Blaze’s body, and even traced them with her finger.
"Do you know what grade the higher-ups among the collective are?" Anur replied with a question of her own. "Nine. That’s the limit the universe has placed upon all those living within its boundary."
She continued, "It took seven hundred cycles, or almost six million Earth years, for the first Grade-6 being to emerge naturally within the Collective. Back then, it was considered a miracle."
Blaze listened on, confused about where she was headed with it, and curious to learn more about the alien civilizations.
"Ever since then, the number of cycles required to evolve to the next grade has been halved. 350-cycles to reach Grade-7, 175 for Grade-8, and finally 88-cycles to achieve grade-9."
"Taking this sequence into consideration, the next evolution should have happened in 44 cycles. However, it had been 52 cycles since the last evolution, and not a single being had evolved beyond grade 9." ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by novelFirｅ.net
"Hence it was said to be the limit," Blaze said, completing Anur’s words.
She nodded. "Apart from the Collective, only Grade-6 beings naturally exist in nature. That’s why there’s a rule within the organization. The moment someone nears that limit, their entire world either has to be assimilated or destroyed."
Blaze understood why it was like that. It took the Collective so long to evolve, but if someone quickly reached their grade, they could also somehow surpass them.
It wasn’t acceptable to them. The natural occurrence of such a being threatened their position as the self-proclaimed gods of the galaxy.
Hence, they were assimilated into the Collective under the guise of being saved from the virus.
Instead, the high-grade individuals would be suppressed and experimented on, all in pursuit of a way to forcefully push the Collective’s evolution to Grade-10.
"I thought it was about finding a cure, or playing with the lower civilization?"
"That is what all but the seventy-eight heads are made to believe," Anur scoffed. "The truth is, there’s something much dangerous than this virus waiting for us. The trial is merely to check our preparation before the true exam."
"Alright, that’s enough unnecessary talk," Blaze said, waving his hand. "Why’s the collective attacking us now? I’ve only reached Grade 5 till now—"
"Who said they’re here for you?"
"What do you mean? I’m the only grade-5 being on this planet."
"That’s true," Anur replied. "You were indeed the first to reach Grade 5. However, someone surpassed you weeks ago."
Blaze couldn’t believe his ears. He was the first to reach Grade 5, and yet someone had already reached Grade 6? It couldn’t be anyone among his forces, but does it mean some other human has already surpassed him?
No, it’s probably a mutant. Humans aren’t strong enough—
"Oh, but they are. Much like the collective, you too have the habit of underestimating others. Forget about the galaxy, even your own planet doesn’t revolve around you, Blaze."
Blaze just refused to believe it. Ever since turning into a zombie, he had worked tirelessly to evolve. He had fought and won against enemies no human could have. He refused to believe that someone could have surpassed him.
"Yes, you took on difficult enemies. Killed a lot of them, even. But think about it, you didn’t grow alone."
Reality dawned on him, and it was cruel.
Unlike him, the humans didn’t have a desire to rule. They merely wanted to survive. Hence, while he had to cultivate an army and lead it, a lone human possibly had all those resources for themselves.
That’s why, while Blaze was evolving faster at first, somewhere in the middle of it, he had been surpassed.
The future from Neha’s past had changed a lot, but even so, he couldn’t think about how it affected the others on the planet. How could the butterfly effect be so... overbearing?
However, it could be an opportunity.
"...who is it? If I can find them and consume them—"
"Don’t even bother with that," Anur said, rejecting the idea. "The blade she possesses can cut your entire army in half in one swing."
"Evolved version of it, but yes."
Blaze had a strange urge to laugh upon learning the truth. The world truly didn’t evolve around him. Who could have thought someone else was psychotic enough to face impossible odds and come out victorious?
"Ok... so, you brought me down a peg or two, still, what does any of this have to do with me being possessed and... these scars?"
"You’re not the highest grade being. However, you have the potential to surpass everyone. If it hadn’t been for your strange ambitions, you would have reached Grade 6 a month ago."
Anur continued, "It is a good thing that you didn’t, or the Collective would be on its way to capture you instead of killing you."
"Gee, you talk as if they are worse than death."
Anur chuckled and closed her eyes before reciting something in the strange language she had used before.
One can cheat death, but not the collective.
"However, with my help, you can cheat on both. But before that, we need to deal with something else—the ones who’re trying to possess you."
"Possess me? Like a ghost?"
"Something similar. Don’t worry, I will take care of them. You won’t lose control of your body anymore. After all, to cheat on the Collective, you have to be at your best."
Several hours later...
After an intense discussion and planning, Anur and Blaze walked out of her ship. The undead, Lo Da and Neha, stood there, eagerly waiting to learn what happened inside.
"I’ll take my leave then," Anur announced, walking back into the ship.
"Farewell," Blaze replied, giving her a curt nod.
Just like that, Anur disappeared. It came as a shock to Neha as she rushed up to Blaze.
"What was that? Where is she going?" She asked, pointing at the ship as it disappeared beyond the rain.
"Did you think she’d stay and help us fight?" Blaze scoffed, walking away to address the crowd of undead and humans. "The alien was here to deliver some crucial information. That’s the extent of her help."
Murmurs broke out among the humans. Annoyed, Blaze glared at them until silence was restored.
"I’ve been informed about the date of reckoning, as well as the few weaknesses the other party has," he continued. "As expected, there’s not much that we can do against them. Sacrifices would be needed. A lot of it."
"However, we have a chance. The chance for a few of us to survive. We’ll have to give it our all. Ramp up the preparations. We only have three weeks before the aliens invade."
"Lo Da, help them disassemble your ship and hide it. We’ll need to research more about them after the war."
"On it, sir," Lo Da said, saluting him, and disappeared with his crew.
After saying so, Blaze jumped off the observer ship and headed straight into his room, refusing to speak to anyone.
Despite his words, the grim expression on his face betrayed the confidence others had shown. Something was off, and he didn’t want to talk about it with anyone.
Three weeks passed in the blink of an eye. Throughout the week, Blaze had been a rare presence around the lair. He was barely seen outside, and even the food left outside his room remained untouched.
The zombies were worried about him and his mental state, as they couldn’t converse with him like before. To make things weirder, Fester had disappeared. The rat had gone completely M.I.A.
[Welcome to the day of reckoning!]
The first message in over a month flashed before humans and undead alike.
Undead, mutants, and humans. Everyone stood side by side, staring into the sky. It was at that moment that Blaze came out of seclusion.
"My apologies for taking so long," he said, but everyone was looking at his body.
He looked a lot stronger than he had before going into his room. Whatever he had been doing there had clearly worked as he had... evolved again!
Before anyone could ask him about his sudden, unprompted evolution, a whistling sound distracted them. They looked back up, and their faces fell.
A dozen spaceships, much bigger than the one they had assembled, just pierced through the spire’s rain.
The Collective had arrived.