Chapter 596: Don

A golden spark suddenly erupted from Xie Mohe's still-incompletely repaired body.

Xie Mohe's logic engine stuttered for an instant, then he suddenly realized this spark resembled the one used by that human woman named Jeanne.

How could it have followed him here?

Before the Law Emperor could react, the golden flame surged violently, intensified rapidly, and in an instant engulfed Xie Mohe's legs—still not fully solidified into living metal—and in the blink of an eye, consumed half his body.

"Son of a liar!"

Xie Mohe cursed, but before he could struggle, the golden fire exploded into a tidal wave, instantly consuming his newly reformed body and reducing it to ash.

A dim green light flickered, and Xie Mohe's memories and will were once again uploaded into the Necron Memory Crystal.

The Rebirth Protocol began rapidly reconstructing; the living metal within the necropolis assembled into a new body for Xie Mohe under the control of the Necron Construct.

Following Xie Mohe's pre-set instructions, his logic brain, thought engine, and memory storage units were constructed first, restoring his basic capacity for thought.

A metallic head hung suspended in the Necron necropolis, dangling from a network of tubes.

"*Necron profanities**Deathless Noble profanities**Deathless Slave profanities**Deathless Courtly profanities**Eldar profanities**Ancient Saint profanities*"

With only his head remaining, entirely dependent on external tubes for coolant and energy, Xie Mohe unleashed his knowledge reserves, hurling every kind of curse imaginable at the humans and that sudden golden flame.

How the hell did these damned humans manage to strike him from so far away?

Had his tomb-ship's location been exposed? Impossible!

If he were another kind of being, Xie Mohe might have suspected the flame had clung to his body, soul, consciousness, memories, or some other essence and followed him.

But he was a Necron.

As a Law Emperor of the Nihilakh Dynasty with deep knowledge of history, treasures, and technology, Xie Mohe's intellectual reserves rivaled those of Tarasin, his theoretical overlord.

He understood the true nature of the Rebirth Protocol.

The Rebirth Protocol essentially copied all memories from the moment of a Necron's death, uploaded them into the Necron Memory Crystal, and reconstructed a new will within a new body.

It was like a ship constantly repaired—every single component replaced with new ones, even its crew merely clones of the original sailors—so is it still the same ship?

Many Law Emperors and Overlords were too lazy to ponder these questions, but Xie Mohe's Nihilakh Dynasty had long adhered to isolationism, rarely intervening in Necron wars; thus, bored and idle, Xie Mohe often contemplated them.

His conclusion was:

Just as Necrons were never the former Deathless, the Necrons resurrected via the Rebirth Protocol were not the same beings as before, but merely new entities possessing past memories.

The Xie Mohe now, the Xie Mohe just burned to ash, the Xie Mohe who died long ago beneath the Black Stone Spire—all were entirely distinct individuals.

How could that golden flame have tracked such different individuals??

Xie Mohe's logic engine generated a cascade of errors; reality and logic now diverged sharply.

At that moment, a shrill, cacophonous metallic shriek erupted from the necropolis near Xie Mohe.

The sound was horrifying—like the agonized cry of a dying being.

The last time Xie Mohe had heard such a terrifying sound was when he, as a Deathless, stepped into the Flesh Transformation furnace.

Heavy footsteps echoed as a towering Necron Overlord stepped into the necropolis.

His gaze swept instantly over the ashes of Xie Mohe's recently destroyed body; hollow eye sockets flickered with dark green flames—shock and confusion, yet perhaps a hint of delight.

You're rejoicing too soon, Kariput.

Xie Mohe thought calmly, then called out: "Kariput, my son, tell me what happened!"

The Necron known as Kariput shuddered, turning his head toward Xie Mohe.

"Father!" Kariput noticed Xie Mohe had reawakened in another body; his eye flames flickered faintly, as if slightly disappointed.

Kariput was the crown prince of the Nihilakh Dynasty, the son of Law Emperor Xie Mohe—or rather, the two Deathless who were melted down to become Xie Mohe and Kariput had been father and son.

Had Flesh Transformation not occurred, or occurred later, the outcome might have been Xie Mohe's early death and Kariput's ascension as Law Emperor.

But fate always mocks: Flesh Transformation granted Necrons infinite life, allowing Xie Mohe to sit eternally upon the Law Emperor's throne, while Kariput remained merely a prince.

Kariput was generally loyal to Xie Mohe, but over the endless eons, he inevitably grew weary of his position and harbored ambitions for more.

After all, has there ever been a crown prince of the galaxy for sixty million years?

How could Kariput not harbor resentment?

Yet this son of Xie Mohe placed excessive value on noble honor.

He was not without means to launch a coup and eliminate Xie Mohe.

He could have destroyed the Necron Memory Crystal, sabotaged the Rebirth Protocol, and challenged Xie Mohe to a duel to the death—father versus son.

Xie Mohe might have been overthrown; Kariput might have failed—but at least it would have added some excitement to this tedious sixty-million-year existence.

"Father, several Lords and Overlords have been consumed by the sudden golden flame and died utterly." Kariput bowed slightly.

"Utterly dead?" Xie Mohe paused, slowly processing the phrase.