And there it is, an amalgamation of the bat and the drop of blood. It cannot even be said as a bat anymore, as it stands on both legs—no wings, no fur, and most of all, it has a human face.
The amalgamation does not have the mind of a bat, but as its main ingredient of creating it, the amalgamation is still being influenced by the bat's thoughts, such as: "Where is the Delicious Food that I want earlier," "Dangerous, need to find a safe place," etc. Well, most of the bat's thoughts are about survival, food, or even reproduction.
But on this amalgamation, the only thought right now that suppresses every other thought is: "How am I Still Alive?" As it still remembers its head being crushed by its own will toward the tube—that was where its last memory recorded. After that point, the bat is DEAD.
As the amalgamation tries to think, nothing comes out, as its intelligence is still at least only as a newborn baby—almost the same. An evolution nonetheless, from a primal bat with animalistic intellect to now a newborn baby that knows how to learn. The amalgamation tried to crawl like it used to as a bat before, but it doesn't feel right. Its body rejects it, its legs refuse to bend, its body refuses to crawl. It was a new sensation being felt by the amalgamation, so it tried to resist it and crawl, but to no avail. So it tried to follow the body and walk. The first time, it fell down, but there was like a voice near its ear shouting: "Again... Again!" So it tried and tried like it used to do before as a bat—as before it tried to climb the wall of the cave, now it tried to walk.
If other intelligent beings see it, it will be funny, like seeing a teenager copying a baby walk. But slowly but surely, it walked step by step. It even felt that this is the natural way the body should move from place to place. As it slowly walked, then a new problem arose. Before, it was a bat, so it could use the small hole to enter the room. Now, it was a huge humanoid being, and the whole room was covered by metal, so no escape... But the amalgamation didn't know, as it was fascinated by its ability to walk.
As its walking started getting faster and faster, it hit a metal wall. Not hurting it, but the very sudden jolt sobered it again from euphoria. It just saw the wall and tried to get out of the same hole it was coming from. Now its body was too big for the hole, so only the amalgamation's hand could reach outside, but its body was still inside the room. It kept trying, but to no avail. It could only find another way out.
It tried to use its newborn fang to bite the metal wall, but it only broke. The next second, a brand-new fang popped out of the old one's place, replacing it. Seeing it not working, the amalgamation tried to claw it with its hand, and as it tried to do that, unconsciously the fingernails started to get sharp like claws. The first time, the fingernail claws broke instantly after hitting the metal wall. The amalgamation finally felt pain, jolting it back instantly. But as it looked at its hand, suddenly the fingernail claws grew again—to the naked eye, in only one second, brand-new fingernail claws appeared again. It was confused at first, but shrugged it off and tried to claw the metal wall again.
This time, the fingernail claw attacked twice before breaking off, then the next second, a new fingernail claw appeared. The amalgamation felt so happy for this. A new emotion it gained just now: happiness. So it kept attacking more and more, and the fingernail claws kept getting sharper and more durable. It was progress. Slowly and surely, the metal wall started to get torn and dented, even just a bit. But that bit was key. Seeing this, the amalgamation kept attacking at the same place over and over again until finally the metal wall sliced off by its fingernail claws.
The outside of that wall was so much different from what the amalgamation remembered. Before, it was so focused on getting to the blood that it wasn't distracted by other things, but it still remembered that all around it before was just metal. But now, it was a combination of both plants, moss, and metal. It was like being abandoned for many years; stacks of dust particles could be seen. (P.S. Turns out bats have good long-term memory—that was a fact I just now know.)
Then the amalgamation started to walk along the corridor to the exit it used before to get in. But as it approached the big hole exit, it heard it... As a bat, it already had extraordinary hearing, but being now an amalgamation, it was enhanced even more. It heard footsteps—not heavy footsteps like animals, but more like bipedal footsteps, like its own. And it heard many footsteps coming from that big hole.
Then suddenly, the footsteps stopped. And there they were—at least 10 bipedal humanoids like the amalgamation. But the bipedal humanoids were wearing metal contraptions the same color-coded as the ship. As the amalgamation tried to get near these 10 bipedal humanoids, suddenly they all raised a long stick they were holding, and then bursts of high explosives and bright flashes started appearing. And the amalgamation felt it.
It felt pain. Pain so harsh that it could only wail. It was like being a sieve, full of holes, and the amalgamation's body fell down in pain. The last thing it saw was the 10 bipedal humanoid beings slowly approaching its body.
??? P.O.V
??? : Listen up, people, we have been paid big bucks today by the Humanity Federation to recover their fallen ship on the unknown planet located a bit north in Sector 7 in Ashura Galaxy. Based on the last confirmed emergency broadcast, our target is sailing in Sector 2 on Warson Star Cluster to get into the Way Gate to the Multiway Galaxy. So this is a long-time mission, as we need to search the whole star cluster for that unknown planet. Of course, this mission is not only for us. I heard the Federation almost used all of its reserve troops to search for this. Isn't it right, Jansson?
Jansson : Yup, absolutely, Cap. My friend in the army even said that the logistic team that is not on important duty joined in this expedition. We are even the 111th expedition that was sent by our guild.
??? : Yeah, I heard it. Even the Vice-President is also searching for this vessel. I mean, the bounty is fucking huge.
Captain : You heard them, boys. This star cluster is huge—I mean omega-size huge—with tens of millions of planets. So yeah, this mission can be considered a long-term one.
??? : Cap, what does the Federation want anyway? I mean, just a fucking single vessel—even the military and the reserve troops have been dispatched. I mean, the cost of the entire mission is already huge. What possible item does the Federation want so much that this huge expense is worth it to get that cargo?
Captain : Don't ask me, Dan, even I don't know. But I hear a rumor that the cargo inside the vessel holds a key to us human evolution.
Dan : Evolution, Captain? Reed, you know something about this? I mean, no offense, but you and your conspiracy theory is the fucking talk in the entire guild.
Reed : Fuck off, Dan... but well, I think I know.
Captain : Hmm... you know, Reed, well, tell us.
Reed : Well, first of all, do you remember why, even though we humans have technology so advanced, we cannot conquer the universe?
??? : Here we go again, the usual conquering the universe.
Reed : Fuck off, Lag. Do you want to hear it or not?
Lag : Yeah, yeah... sure, continue.
Reed : Huh... oh yeah, continuing. Well, it's because our high-end power is nonexistent.
Dan : Yeah, we know. As humans haven't gone near extinction yet, we don't have supernatural ability like other races. But I call that bullshit. I mean, we have gone near extinction, remember the history class—the near-cataclysm event meteor of year 3834?
??? : That doesn't count, Dan.
Dan : Why the fuck doesn't that count, Alex? It's still a near disaster, isn't it?
Alex : When that happened, we already colonized Mars, you stupid dingus.
Captain : Looks like someone never listened to history class. Laughing hysterically while the others also laugh.
Dan : Fuck off, Cap.
Captain : Yeah, yeah, but it was the truth. Humanity's journey since the 21st century has been smooth sailing. So when other races in the universe were dying and awakening their own power, we just... well, researching. And when we want to conquer the universe, there will always be resistance by those other races. Even right now you could see news about our battleship destroyed by a Void Devourer Whale because it was in its way.
Dan : Wait, Cap, isn't the Federation Super Weapon—the Angel Class Destroyer—could fucking pierce through several planets at once?
Captain : Yeah, that's true. In sheer raw power, with our technology we could match those high-end races. But you know how high the number of casualties are. Such as this Ashura Galaxy—the home galaxy of the Ashura Clan. Do you know how many battleships are needed to kill a single Space-Level Ashura?
Dan : Uhhh... 1 Raptor Class Light Battleship?
Alex : Dan, you are a fucking idiot... it's 5 Medusa Class Heavy Battleships, or at least 500 Raptor Class Light Battleships. Isn't it right, Captain?
Captain : Well, almost correct. If we need to run it down, then based on the public knowledge of the Federation, a single Adult Ashura that could already walk on void and venture space like it was ground is:
1 Angel Class Super Weapon Battleship (will destroy the Ashura with moderate, minor, or less damage)
1 Planet Class Strategic Battlecruiser (will destroy the Ashura with moderate, minor, or less damage)
1 Dreadnought Heavy Artillery Ship (50% will be destroyed or take heavy to moderate damage, or instantly kill the Ashura)
1 Atlas Class Battleship (need more than 1 to kill an Adult Ashura)
Well, for the rest, I think I don't need to tell you. It's impossible to kill an Adult Ashura alone.
Dan : Wait, Cap, isn't a battlecruiser a tier below dreadnought? Why does a Planet Class Strategic Battlecruiser kill an Adult Ashura, but a dreadnought has a 50% chance to be destroyed instead?
Alex : Dan, I fucking wonder how you passed your Technology Ship Class. The fucking battlecruiser is a Strategic Class, you dumbo.
Dan : And?
Alex : And? What the fuck are you talking about? A Strategic Class is a fucking high-end tier weapon of the Federation. As per its class, a Strategic Class—that fucking class level of battlecruiser or battleship—needs the approval of the Federation Council even for a fucking takeoff.
Dan : Ohhhh... it's like that. Then how about the dreadnought?
??? : Dan, the dreadnought is a Heavy Artillery Ship. Of course, it will have thick armor and huge guns, but it's mobile as shit... A single Adult Ashura could fucking destroy it with ease if it hit the right place. But as well, it could kill the Adult Ashura instantly.
Captain : Now you know, Dan.
Dan : Uhhh... yes, Captain. Please continue.
Captain : As I was saying before, well, we humans have quantity and guns—many guns and ships. But those other races... they have power: skin as thick as a planet, breath as hot as the surface of the sun, and fucking immortality. While we humans have guns... and bigger guns.
Dan : Uhh... so?
Captain : Facepalm SOOOOOOooooo... while in low-end tiers like us mercenaries and our guild we humans dominate, on high-end—even with all Strategic Class, Angel Class, Phoenix Class, etc.—we are still insufficient. The last high-end tier person our Human Federation killed was several decades ago—the Servant of the King of Dragons. It took 150 Heavy Armored Titan Class Strategic Battleships, 100 Angel Class Super Weapon Ships, 50 Zeus Class Battlecarriers, and 12 Dark Matter Class Strategic Superweapon Flagships, and countless other small and medium ships. And after that battle, the King of Dragons immediately destroyed the rest of the survivor ships that escaped. So yeah, we have many guns, many personnel, many ships—even some unknown ones. But without a high-end individual like that King of Dragons, we cannot unify the universe.
Dan : But Captain, isn't it if we kill a high-end tier creature, then the enemy power will be reduced significantly? Isn't it?
Captain : No. That servant of the dragon is one of many. A single dragon, such as the King of Dragons, could create a servant like that once every 1000 years or more, maybe. But for us to cover up all the losses from the battle, we need at least several centuries to refill the ships. But the problem is the personnel it needs. How many more years to reproduce the entire fleet? That year, it was said the entire Human Federation citizen count decreased by 0.0619%—which is not significant—but that was just a servant, not the King of Dragons. A researcher once gave an opinion; he said that to kill a higher level of life such as the King of Dragons, humanity would need to at least sacrifice 20% to 60% of their entire Human Federation. And that will not happen.
Dan : So like that, Captain. Then is the rumor true, this cargo could help humanity evolve?
Reed : Absolutely... my conspiracy sense is already tingling.
Dan : Yeah... yeah... scoffs at what Reed just said. Wait, if those races are so powerful, why are we humans the current overlords in the universe?
Captain : Well, Dan, I truly don't know. But according to some sources, I know that the relationship among the top clans is fragile and all based on interest. And for them, we are merely overlords in name. But they still hold the high-end firepower. And lastly, we humans have now changed to more diplomatic ways, so no more total war—only skirmish or small guerilla warfare.
Dan : So humans are basically a named-only overlord, huh? Then why don't they just destroy the human race? As you said just now, Captain, the Dragon King even destroyed almost all ships in that battle. Why doesn't he just, well, kill humanity as a whole?
Captain : Dan, are you really so idiot that you don't know anything? It's because of enemies, Dan. We humans now have several allies ourselves, such as the Elves, the Dwarves, and other neutral factions. And our enemies also need to think twice before having an all-out war with us. They also have their enemies, Dan. If they use their whole firepower on us, then those enemies will strike them at the back.
Dan : Ohh... so like that. Then Cap, we human races searching the whole galaxy like this—does the Ashura Clan allow it?
Captain : That is something I don't know. But Jansson should—he has some connection to the army after all. So Jans, could you kindly enlighten us?
Jansson : Well, for your question, Dan, it's no. Actually, I just got some info from my friend. The reason those reserves and logistics joined in this search is the main army is now tightly locked in the battle with the Ashura Clan. Even some unknown Class Battleship and Superweapon is seen on the battlefield to hold those Elders of the Ashura Clan.
Dan : So you are saying we have a tiny amount of time to search this whole galaxy?
Captain : Correction—this star cluster, actually.
Dan : Yes, this star cluster. Then approximately how much time do we have?
Jansson : Well, just don't push your luck. But if the Federation published this as a long-term mission, then I think they have some confidence to hold the Ashura Clan at bay.
Dan : So Cap, we still do this? I mean, are we certain this thing is even real?
Captain : Well, I don't know the truth, and I don't care. But I know one thing.
Dan : And that was?
Captain : We got the assignment, and we need to do it. And lastly, if we could find the vessel first, we will get rich beyond our need and could live in luxury... isn't that what we want, boys?
Everyone : YEAHHHHH!
Captain : I don't know the rumor or what's true or not, but we mercenaries only need to do our job and get paid in riches... For Riches!
Everyone : For RICHES!
.....................
Word Count = 2844
Thank you for reading Chapter 2.
Well, in the next chapter I will finally introduce the official name of our protagonist. But for fun, anyone reading could recommend a name for our protagonist here. Maybe if your name is better than mine, I will change it.
Well, thanks for reading once more and see you all in Chapter 3.