Chapter 2399

2399 - The Two Steps

"...But you consumed it, and that's what matters." Robin showed a wide smile. "I still don't know where you stand on the stage of the multiverse—whether you appear only to us or to everyone, and whether your existence is natural or by the design of one of those Transcendents. Your existence is a mystery and your purpose is a mystery, but at least I've begun to understand how your bodies work, little by little."

Robin looked Sakaar up and down. "It's clear that the reason for your existence is to act as predators of humans, for at a certain point, animals and beasts cease to pose any threat, so you appeared. Whether this is due to a reaction from the Heavenly Laws or the work of a Transcendent, I'll find that out later."

"The good thing I've noticed about you is that your bodies digest any living blood and extract what's in it. Since your main target is humans, that's what makes you stronger. But you can survive on eating beasts alone, as you were doing on Jura, and you can be satiated and gain strong momentum from Space Beasts—or more precisely, from the very light matter found in their blood."

Then he pointed at him. "And look at yourself now—you're digesting the matter from the Executioner's blood, and digesting the Executioner's blood itself since her origin is human. So your body's toughness increased, and your level itself increased as well."

“…?!” Sakaar turned to examine himself again in shock, “Amazing…”

Sakaar noticed a slight rise in his level as a Law Dominator Demon, which is truly astonishing given the level of his power that is difficult to increase. Even better, he noticed a strange strength and unnatural hardness in his body.

A body made of pure blood—even the bones and internal organs are all blood solidified to varying degrees—yet Sakaar felt that if a planet were hurled at him right now, he wouldn’t be harmed!

Then he turned to Robin, “Ordinary Space Beasts—do they have the same substance in their bodies?”

“Yes.” Robin nodded, “But you’d have to eat 10 Young Space Beasts to extract the same amount of substance as in that single drop of blood. And I mean eating, not drinking blood, because the substance permeates every detail of their bodies, as you noticed in the arm.”

“…..” Sakaar fell silent immediately.

A young beast among them could be compared to the size of a small planet—how many years would he have to open his mouth and chew just to finish one of their fingers?

“Don’t let that discourage you.” Robin chuckled, “Those beasts are injected with a minuscule amount of the substance, and it circulates through their bodies for an unknown number of years. We don’t know the composition of that substance, or whether we can extract it… at least not yet.”

“Not yet?” Sakaar was puzzled.

"In the coming period, I want to start a project to extract the black material from space beasts. Clearly we have plenty of them, so why not put them to good use?" Robin winked, "But since I told you not to be discouraged, don't get too optimistic either... A material made by the Transcendents won't be easy to handle, even if it's just extraction. I only realized hope existed when I saw you dealing with a large quantity of it... Most likely, I'll use Demon Blood itself as a reference for how to separate that material."

"This would be...!!" Sakaar hesitated to hide his excitement.

"You love Space Beast Blood just like all beasts because of the feeling of satisfaction that material gives you, but you still want human blood to become stronger." Robin explained, "With a considerable amount of the material, you'll become physically stronger, and I'll also have the Shadow Swords provide you with the corpses of the dead from the wars of the First and Third Armies. What do you think?"

"....." Sakaar knew they had reached the decisive point, "Command me."

"Hmm, as usual, dealing with you is easy." Robin turned his back to him and opened his arms, "Here, Sakaar, outside the Shell of the Universe." Then he lowered them slowly, "From what I've heard, you can imagine this place as a vast ocean, with a number of small spheres cast into it, each sphere representing an independent universe."

Then he slowed the pace of his words, "That number could be tens, hundreds, thousands... even hundreds of thousands." Robin narrowed his eyes, "...It would still be a small number relative to the size of the ocean."

"...." Sakaar listened attentively.

"And of course, this vast ocean is not without inhabitants—there are certainly fish." Robin smiled, "And the fish here are the Space Beasts of all sizes, while the sharks, the top of the food chain and the pillars of power here, are the Executioners."

Then he continued, "Among those stubborn fish and the sharks, there are small seahorses clinging to the sphere, trying to escape from its side and explore the ocean, but the fish and sharks devour them... And that represents the likes of Athena and the Cosmic Elder who tried to venture out, and myself as well. And according to what the All-seeing God said to her, there are many others like them."

Then he shrugged afterward, "That's all there is—nothing else exists in this ocean of darkness and death."

"....." Sakaar nodded, "It seems this won't remain the case for long."

"Heh~" Robin flashed a wide grin, "I've been threatened that a *Legion of Executioners* will arrive in a few thousand years, and if a single Executioner controls a million Reapers, I don't want to imagine the size of the army that comes on that day."

He then turned toward Sakaar, "Am I supposed to sit inside the Shell and wait for it to crack over my head?"

"Of course not." Sakaar showed a terrifying smile, "If the Master's orders are to hunt Space Beasts to reduce their numbers, then we're up for it."

Anyone who heard these words would tremble in fear—there are entire academies that mobilize just to drive a single Space Beast into the region between Sectors!!

"Hunting? No." Robin shook his head, "As long as I don't know the numbers of the Reapers and their distribution, that won't help. Maybe we kill ten million and they have a trillion—what would I have gained? No, the goal won't be targeting the Space Beasts themselves."

"....?" Sakaar was deeply puzzled, "Then the goal would be...?"

Robin spread his arms, "The first phase will be advanced defense." Then he smiled, "I want you to wipe out Space Beasts in all directions, and whenever you secure a spherical area, push further and double that distance... Your fellow Mutants can live outside the Shell now; all they'll need is artificial ground to eat on and reproduce—just a few ships."

"...Understood." Sakaar nodded, "And the phase after that?"

"Hehe." Robin chuckled, "Finding other universes and subjugating them, of course."