Read Novel Full Chapter 1168: Evolution Candidate [1]
Chapter 1168: Evolution Candidate [1]
At that moment, Michael had never been more certain of anything in his life. His old life on Earth had been lonely, spent mostly inside hospitals and empty rooms where he possessed almost nothing, whereas after arriving in this world, the original Michael's memories had gradually merged with his own until there was scarcely any difference between them.
The original Michael had truly lived while the Michael from Earth had barely been given the chance, and somewhere along the way the distinction between the two had disappeared, leaving only Michael Norman who knew he owed Aunt Mia immensely.
No matter what happened, he would protect that family at any cost.
Then Michael suddenly frowned as he felt something wrong, picking up an unusually faint fluctuation hidden within the atmosphere that Aunt Mia noticed nothing of.
Had his soul not become extraordinarily sensitive after everything that had happened, even he might have overlooked it.
Slowly turning around, Michael spotted Lily and Jester standing near the kitchen entrance, having apparently arrived some time ago.
Lily looked slightly embarrassed after realizing she had been discovered, while Jester stood perfectly still with wisps of transparent dark clouds dispersing around his body from a concealment technique.
"…"
Michael stared at him, his eyelids twitching.
"…You."
Jester remained perfectly motionless.
"…"
"What's the matter?"
Michael narrowed his eyes.
1168 Evolution Candidate [1]
At that moment, Michael had never been more certain of anything in his life. His old life on Earth had been lonely, spent mostly inside hospitals and empty rooms where he possessed almost nothing, whereas after arriving in this world, the original Michael's memories had gradually merged with his own until there was scarcely any difference between them.
The original Michael had truly lived while the Michael from Earth had barely been given the chance, and somewhere along the way the distinction between the two had disappeared, leaving only Michael Norman who knew he owed Aunt Mia immensely.
No matter what happened, he would protect that family at any cost.
Then Michael suddenly frowned as he felt something wrong, picking up an unusually faint fluctuation hidden within the atmosphere that Aunt Mia noticed nothing of.
Had his soul not become extraordinarily sensitive after everything that had happened, even he might have overlooked it.
Slowly turning around, Michael spotted Lily and Jester standing near the kitchen entrance, having apparently arrived some time ago.
Lily looked slightly embarrassed after realizing she had been discovered, while Jester stood perfectly still with wisps of transparent dark clouds dispersing around his body from a concealment technique.
"…"
Michael stared at him, his eyelids twitching.
"…You."
Jester remained perfectly motionless.
"…"
"What's the matter?"
Michael narrowed his eyes.
"So you're the culprit."
No wonder Aunt Mia had suddenly begun voicing feelings she had buried for years. Jester's recent evolution to Rank Four as a Three-Star Epic undead had advanced his Law of Heavenly Revelation, allowing him to subtly orchestrate this entire emotional conversation.
Michael clicked his tongue.
"Tsk."
He sighed mentally, realizing Jester was becoming increasingly troublesome—a terrifyingly intelligent subordinate capable of solving problems or creating entirely new ones.
Yet compared to the past, Michael found he wasn't particularly annoyed, acknowledging that perhaps this conversation had simply needed to happen.
He turned back toward Aunt Mia with his voice returning to its usual calmness.
"I need to take care of something."
"But I won't be gone long."
Aunt Mia nodded, and Michael smiled before looking toward Lily.
"We still need to talk before the origin battlefield opens again."
"…Okay."
Michael then slowly walked over to Jester, who politely inclined his head as though he hadn't just manipulated fate. Michael raised his hand and knocked his knuckles squarely on Jester's forehead.
"…"
Jester blinked in 'surprise'.
"I shall interpret that as mild dissatisfaction."
Michael snorted.
"You should."
Without saying another word, he left the manor as the door quietly closed behind him.
The next moment, his consciousness resonated with the Mausoleum of Endless Dominion, folding space and instantly transporting him to a broad stretch of rocky ground where dark elemental energy was concentrated at its highest.
Michael slowly raised a hand, sending a ripple through space that brought forth the corpse of the blood-robed Demigod, which still radiated an oppressive presence even in death.
Extending his connection to the Mausoleum, he directed an overwhelming suppressive force onto the corpse from every direction before finally stepping closer after confirming the suppression remained stable.
"…Nothing."
He quietly exhaled, relieved that nothing unusual happened, though he remained vigilant knowing Demigods were notorious for their immense vitality and persistent survival traits.
Despite his caution, excitement surfaced in his eyes as he recognized this as his greatest harvest yet, eager to extract her memories before attempting a full resurrection.
Michael slowly extended his hand, letting his soul power gently reach toward the corpse.
The moment the connection formed, an invisible force erupted with a loud boom, causing his soul to tremble violently and forcing his consciousness away under a harsh backlash.
Severing the connection, he stepped backward and steadied himself, his brows knitting together.
"…As expected."
His soul had barely escaped injury as the attempt failed completely due to two distinct layers of astonishing defenses protecting her memories: a natural remnant defense from her powerful soul, and an artificial lock far stronger than the first designed specifically to block memory extraction.
Even if Jester handled the task personally, it would take an enormous amount of time to dismantle those protections, and Michael couldn't afford to wait when he desperately needed power to protect his family.
He crouched beside the corpse, hovering his fingers above the blackened flesh before a deep frown appeared on his face.
"…So that's how it is."
His earlier excitement faded as he confirmed that reviving this Demigod would require a specialized ritual using massive quantities of dark-element materials because the corpse was simply too powerful for ordinary resurrection methods.
Checking the resources stored throughout the Mausoleum, Michael's expression grew increasingly helpless as he realized he lacked the necessary dark-element materials, leaving him with no choice but to head to the Netherworld—a realm saturated with death where such resources were abundant.
Before entering the Netherworld, Michael turned his thoughts toward his alternative path to gaining Demigod-level power: advancing one of his existing undead through Evolution.
Although controlling a Rank Five undead at his current stage carried risks and flaws, he was now confident enough to attempt it.
Michael slowly folded his arms.
"But the issue now is Which one?"
Reviewing his candidates, he immediately ruled out Beginning due to the giant's overwhelming destructive instincts, and dismissed Lily for being just as reckless and prone to causing trouble.
Thinking of Jester, Michael instinctively rubbed his forehead.
"…Definitely not."
Advancing Jester another entire realm made him uncertain of who would end up as whose subordinate, so he quickly set the idea aside.
Moving down the list, he passed on the Bone Dragon and High Drake, deciding it was better to keep their proven combat power intact.
As he ran out of options, a familiar figure quietly surfaced in his mind. His very first undead and oldest companion who had been with him from the start.
Lucky.
Michael slowly smiled.
"…It's been a while."
Compared to the others, Lucky had gradually faded into the background as enemies grew stronger, but his foundation had been carefully tempered through selective evolutions to yield a massive potential ceiling.
There couldn't be a better candidate for attempting this new road.