The Ultimate Evolution

Sheyan could only shrug off the Protoss leader’s attitude. He knew the world did not revolve around him, and no one had any obligation to show him any goodwill. He had never been that kind of lucky characters. In any case, he had already achieved his objective, which was to obtain the right to freely enter and leave the Protoss base.

For Sheyan, looking for a Dark Temple that had been deliberately concealed on this vast Lost Temple planet was no different from looking for a needle in a haystack. Instead of going around aimlessly trying his luck, he thought that moving together with the Protoss forces and waiting for an opportunity to present itself was the better and safer plan. He could attack or retreat at will by hiding in the Protoss base.

Presently, the sky had darkened. The Nexus sat at the highest part of the entire Protoss base. Sheyan looked around and saw the whole base sparkling with little spots of blue light. Streamlined edges and pale blue colour were the main theme of the Protoss buildings. There really was a kind of mysterious, noble and elegant beauty to the base – if one were to ignore the murderous-looking Zealots and Dragoons on patrol.

At that moment, a group of patrolling Zealots passed by Sheyan. When they saw that a filthy human dared to set foot on the sacred ground of the Protoss, they immediately spread out and surrounded Sheyan in anger while drawing their psi-blades. But soon, the mark left on Sheyan by Uraki stopped them in their tracks. They expressed their apologies while half-kneeling on the ground, a show of obedience and respect to the heroic unit, and left afterwards.

Sheyan waited outside for nearly an hour. He saw that, amidst the bone-chilling cold, the Protoss buildings were not the only things that were sparkling.

Sad weeping sounds rose on the plain that was bathed in blood during the day. At the same time, a large number of fist-sized light globes floated up from the cracks in the plain. Sheyan had seen these things before – they were the so-called Devil’s Eyes. They embellished the plain which appeared so bleak and cold in the daytime, giving it a grand, mysterious, yet desolate vibe.

Sheyan could not help checking his harvest from today’s battle again. It was difficult to find targets that were completely “pure” and had not been polluted, so he only got a few white grade and blue grade equipment, all of which he fed to G-Spot as supplements. But he had also acquired some random spirit crystals from killing the Zerg, which may be of some use.

After waiting a little longer, the temperature plunged to a new low. Even with Sheyan’s Physique, if he stood still, he would feel the chill drilling into his skin like frozen spikes. He was reluctant to wait any longer.

But at that moment, the gate of the Nexus suddenly rippled like a water surface, and Sokada, as robust as ever, walked out from it, his red cape flapping behind him. He first looked around, and when he saw Sheyan, he walked over with an unrestrained laughter.

“You’re definitely no match for me now! The great Lord Uraki just bestowed me with new powers!”

Sheyan had tried to gauge his strength against Sokada before this. In terms of Strength, Sheyan had the slight advantage, but Sokada was very fast, so all in all, the level of basic combat prowess between both sides were similar. Of course, that was only the level of basic combat prowess. When Sheyan heard Sokada’s words, he was immediately intrigued and asked to test out Sokada’s new strength.

Sokada extended his hand, and Sheyan took it. They immediately began to exert power into their grip. This was a pure contest between muscles, a direct confrontation of strength against strength!

Sheyan still had the higher Strength, but Sokada felt like an entirely different person to him. He could feel the muscles of Sokada’s entire body, hidden underneath his armour, bulging and twitching. Even though Sheyan was stronger, his Strength was like a heavy truck charging at high speed down a steep, uneven slope that was full of obstacles. The force he exerted was ingeniously dispersed!

Then, before Sheyan could exert a new bout of strength, Sokada launched a bold counter-attack. He grabbed Sheyan’s shoulder and flung him away!

Sheyan’s back crashed hard into the building behind him. He quickly climbed back up with his palms pressed to the ground. When he did, he saw a large amount of cracks on the originally smooth floor beneath Sokada. That made him come to a sudden understanding.

“You diverted my power to the ground?”

Sokada laughed and clapped Sheyan on the shoulder, saying, “C’mon, I’ll show you our best drink!”

They traveled through the mysterious, sharp and high-tech base. Blue light spots drifted by from time to time. There were so many things that were new to Sheyan that he did not even know where to look.

He saw many Dragoons standing motionless near some Pylons, so he asked Sokada about it in curiosity.

Sokada explained that a Dragoon’s body was mechanical, and controlling the body was the soul of a veteran Protoss who could not step foot on the battlefield anymore after sustaining heavy injuries.

When the Dragoons were out of battle, the souls of these veterans would rather enter the Pylons and communicate with each other, savouring their achievements and spoils from the battlefield and enjoying rare times of leisure and happiness. When a fight broke out, these souls would return to their powerful metallic bodies and fight for the Protoss’ glory.

Sokada brought Sheyan to a weird-looking building. To the left was a giant gear that was rotating slowly. The gear was connected to an elliptical part that was about thirty meters long and five meters tall. To the right was a giant ball. A beige, missile-shaped object about five to ten meters long was stuck onto the ball as decoration.

Sokada called this place the Furnace Laboratory. The main function of this building was to provide additional enchantment for the Protoss ground troops, enhancing their attack, defence and plasma shield strength. Although this place was called a laboratory, it was also a recreational and entertainment venue, much like a bar.

After climbing a set of beige, semi-metallic steps, they pushed open the door. Sheyan was instantly greeted by a wave of hot air on his face. He heard a clear, crisp noise in the background which sounded like dripping water. It was rather pleasant to the ears. He checked the place out and found that there were High Templars, Dark Templars and Zealots inside. All of them were shaking their heads to the rhythm of the dripping sound, seemingly enjoying the “music”.

Sokada walked to the wall on one side and said to the screen, “Give me two glasses of Morangan. The undiluted ones.”

Soon, two cups of amber liquid floated out of the hole next to them. Sheyan took a sniff and found that it smelled quite pungent, like the smell of hydrogen peroxide. While his heart was in distress, Sokada already touched his glass to Sheyan’s and gulped down his drink. Sheyan could only steel his heart and take a tentative sip. The drink tasted very unique. When it first entered the mouth, it had a cool taste akin to watermelon and cucumber. After a while, it became a rich creamy taste. Finally, after swallowing the drink, it left a beer-like bitter aftertaste.

Immediately after he drank the liquid, Sheyan felt like he was treading on clouds. His steps became light, like he was walking on cotton.

Sheyan was about to ask Sokada to order something more suited for the human palates for him – even water would do – when suddenly, the music changed. It became the sound of the wind blowing across mountains and rivers. All the Protoss in the establishment immediately raised their glasses and shouted, “Moka!”

Then, they stood up from their seats and started twisting their bodies with their arms held high, like they were dancing in a club.

Sheyan finally understood that the music that the Protoss loved was not the sound made by any instruments, but the sounds of nature. They thought that those were the sounds from heaven itself. Sokada had already went over to a tall woman(?) (Sheyan could not really tell the gender of the Protoss very well) and started dancing with her. It seemed that to the Protoss, the more extremely they could twist their bodies without falling down, the better they could dance….

In this place with a large number of Protoss, the mark that Uraki left on Sheyan’s forehead started to shine brightly. The blue glow covered his entire body, showing that he was a very special ally, so no one came to give him trouble. He saw seats of various shapes in the bar – triangular, round, and oval ones – so he chose one at random and sat down.

Suddenly, someone came up to Sheyan and sat down on the seat opposite his.

“A human?”

Sheyan lifted his head. He still could not tell the gender of the Protoss in front of him. He could only tell from the wrinkles on his(?) neck and face that he was pretty old. Fortunately, the Protoss communicated with the mind, so there was no language barrier.

“Yup,” replied Sheyan with a nod.

“I’ve been here for 130 years, and this is the first time I’ve seen a human customer here. The Morangan’s not to your liking?” The old man asked.

“Yeah,” Sheyan replied truthfully.

“Oh no! I can’t allow a customer – a human customer, no less – to question my hospitality! Tell me then, what do you need?” The old man immediately asked.

“Unfortunately, I don’t have the money to pay for a new drink,” said Sheyan with a smile.

“Damn it, this isn’t a matter of money! Just tell me!”

“I’ll take a glass of water, then,” replied Sheyan.

The old fellow gave Sheyan a strange look – as if Sheyan was someone who ordered a cup of soy sauce or vinegar at the bar – then fulfilled Sheyan’s request. Sheyan slowly sipped the water, but found that he had become the centre of attention without even doing anything… This made Sheyan feel rather uncomfortable.