The Ultimate Evolution

Snake was a little surprised at the bottle tossed by Sheyan, but he still drank a few large gulps of the strong liquor.

Perhaps because he drank too hastily, some of the amber liquor slipped from his mouth and dripped onto the artificial muscle fiber suit below his neck.

After a while, he muttered, “Did you come here to investigate the abnormalities of the temple, sir?”

“The abnormalities…of the temple?” Sheyan was surprised. “No, that’s not the reason.”

He continued, “Snake, I know that you Ghosts have all kinds of mysterious abilities. They exist thanks to your psionic powers, but ultimately, they’re only made possible because of various high-tech equipment you’re wearing. For example, you have superhuman strength because of the strength enhancement provided by your artificial muscle fiber suit. You have stealth ability thanks to your cloaking device. Your lockdown ability comes from your lockdown gun. Am I right?”

Snake nodded while coughing a few times. He was obviously not used to drinking such a hard liquor. He usually just quenched his thirst with water.

“Yes, we mainly train our psionic powers.”

“Have you ever thought of something? Wouldn’t it be great if there are ways to make the human body itself more powerful?” asked Sheyan with a serious expression.

“Didn’t the Empire try to perform these experiments before, and failed? The only successful products the research team could come up with were some stimulants. I heard they’ve even made fire-spewing soldiers. The research team was forcibly disbanded for violating human ethics.”

Sheyan looked straight at Snake and derided mockingly, “Do you really believe that ethical reasons could stop the researchers’ ambitions?”

Snake was stunned. His voice turned hoarse.

“You mean…”

“The experiments have never stopped. They’ve just moved below the surface. And the research has already reached a very high level – my existence is proof!” replied Sheyan with a smile.

Snake’s eyes were initially full of shock and suspicion, but he froze when he heard the last words. After that, he put a cigarette to his mouth with much difficulties, but he could not lit it even after a few tries because his hands were trembling. The light put a shadow on his face, making him look solemn and depressed.

Sheyan continued, “There were initially 137 people who underwent the genetic enhancing experiment with me, but only seven of us survived. Three turned out disabled, mentally retarded, or insane. Only four of us were normal.”

“Of the four, I’m the weakest. We found out through secret means that…the Protoss has begun the trial to inherit the Dark Templar legacy, and one of us, after going through the evaluations, has been recognised as having the strength to receive the legacy, so he set out a month ago to do that. We lost all contact with him afterwards.”

Snake stared at Sheyan like a child who saw a UFO. After a long time, he exhaled and smiled bitterly.

“Brigadier General, if I hadn’t witnessed your power for myself today – how you remained safe and sound under the bombardment of antimatter bolts, how you killed Zealots with your bare hands – I would’ve scoffed at your words.”

“But even so, I still find it really hard to believe! The Dark Templar’s legacy…. It’s a terrible trial that can only be completed in a Dark Shrine. It’s hard to imagine that a human can survive such a trial!”

( https://starcraft.fandom.com/wiki/Nerazim ; https://starcraft.fandom.com/wiki/Dark_shrine )

Sheyan’s eyes brightened. “You know something about it, don’t you?”

Snake nodded with a sigh. “Do you know why this planet is called the Lost Temple, sir?”

“I don’t,” answered Sheyan.

Snake hesitated for a moment, then suddenly sent Sheyan a message with his mind. “What I’m about to say next is a top secret from the intelligence department. You must not tell others. But of course, I know that a legendary figure like you definitely won’t leak it, so let me tell you this – there was once an internal strife within the seemingly united Protoss race. They called that period the Kalath Intercession!”

( https://starcraft.fandom.com/wiki/Kalath_Intercession )

“In that internal strife, there were two major political parties with obvious ideological differences, and a bloody conflict broke out. During the conflict, many powerful technologies were lost to the annals of history, but now that the Protoss have been forced into a corner, they’ve lifted those bans and restrictions! According to our intel, the Protoss Conclave have acquired the permission to reproduce many of the previously banned technologies of destruction. Those that we’ve confirmed included a new type of advanced Dragoon unit called the Immortal, and a new type of warship: the Phoenix!”

( https://starcraft.fandom.com/wiki/Immortal ; https://starcraft.fandom.com/wiki/Phoenix )

“Your information was right. The reason this place is called the Lost Temple is because there really is an ancient Protoss temple here. Moreover, the people in this temple are elders who survived the bloody strife of that year. Therefore, their inheritance ritual is different from the current Protoss race. The Dark Templar they trained are also more powerful. More importantly, they’re also guarding a secret, a huge secret! That’s the real reason why my son and I have made five trips to this planet! Even our superiors don’t believe us anymore! ”

(TL: Okay, maybe he’s not THAT Snake.)

“The Dark Shrine on this planet is only a cover. The temple itself is already a very secretive existence, so those who come here to investigate would be confused by it, thinking that this is the real secret. That’s how the manufacturing base that has lost power for thousands of years can remain untouched all this time, up to this very moment.”

“The base is the production base of a mighty and mysterious unit that has been sealed up. Legend has it that it can cross any mountains and rivers, and once represented the peak of Protoss technology together with the Carrier! Legend has it that even thousands of Zealots will be reduced to dust in front of it!”

“Are you serious!” Sheyan gasped sharply. The mighty Carrier was undoubtedly the symbol of the whole Protoss race, the glory of the whole Protoss race! The strong pressure it gave its enemies when it creeped out of the darkness was beyond comparison.

But according to Snake, the Protoss actually had another kind of weapon that had the same level of lethality and intimidation factor! That was as crazy a news as the U.S. in Sheyan’s world secretly having possession of a weapon that was comparable to nuclear weapons!

Snake realised Sheyan’s shock. He continued slowly, word by word, “The name of that weapon is Colossus! (https://starcraft.fandom.com/wiki/Colossus) I’ve come here to wait for the moment the Dark Shrine let down their guard so that I can sneak into the ancient Colossus factory and completely destroy the technology! My son died seven years ago because of this. That’s why I’m so familiar with the situation in this place. This mission is my calling; I will not give it up!”

Sheyan looked back at Snake and said slowly, “My friend said he’s taking a great risk trying to inherit the Dark Templar’s legacy. Dying is one of the better outcomes. What he feared most was that he would be made into a monster like the Queen of Blades. My mission is to find my friend and take him home, or….end his life. I think it’s in our best interest to cooperate.”

Snake nodded satisfactorily. He then closed his eyes and fell asleep. He seemed really tired.

Sheyan did not feel like sleeping.

He leaned against the wall for a while, then stood up, opened the door of the supply depot, and went out.

Although they were underground, the penetrating chill still made him shiver!

Sheyan spread open his palm. A blue crystal the size of a rice grain sat there, glowing. He acquired this object after he killed one of the Dragoons; it had appeared directly in his personal storage space. Sheyan was curious what this thing was used for. After a careful inspection, he finally obtained the description:

[ Ordinary Protoss Spirit ]

[ Because a small amount of Noah Realm C’s power still remained in your body, the soul of the Protoss troops you killed will be forcibly intercepted. The stronger the soul is, the higher the probability of obtaining a spirit like this, and the higher the purity. ]

[ The quality of this spirit is: 1.4 units. ]

[ This item can only be used on friendly storyline characters. Each unit of Protoss Spirit will enhance the strength of the target by one attack level, one defence level and 33% of HP. But if the target is judged as an elite creature, the effect will drop sharply. ]

[ This item cannot be taken out of the current world. ]

***

After gazing at the Protoss Spirit for a while, Sheyan put it back.

He had yet to decide how to use it because there were too many possible candidates he could use it on. He must weigh the pros and cons carefully.

“But it’s strange,” Sheyan muttered to himself, having suddenly recalled something, “When Snake told me the hidden secret, I thought I would receive a relevant mission, but there hasn’t been any mission notifications. Why is that?”

Sheyan’s fingers tapped on the rock. His thoughts were moving quickly.

“Maybe the Realm feels that this mission is too easy – something that I can accomplish if I simply reach out my hands – so it doesn’t think this matter is worth issuing a mission for? Or is the mission so hard that I have no chance of accomplishing it? Hmm, that’s very possible.”

“But there’s also a third possibility. And I think this third possibility….is the truth!”