Chapter 597: Don't you think human skulls are quite beautiful?

A golden spark suddenly erupted from Xie Mohe's not-yet-fully-repaired body.

Xie Mohe's logic engine stuttered for an instant, and then he realized with a jolt that this spark looked somewhat like the one used by that human woman named Leina.

How could she have tracked him here?

Before the Viceroy could react, the golden flame suddenly grew fierce and rapid, engulfing Xie Mohe's legs—which had not yet been fully condensed by the living metal—and in the blink of an eye, it swallowed half of his body.

"Spawn of the Deceiver!"

Xie Mohe cursed. Before he could even begin to struggle, the golden inferno surged into a tide, instantly drowning his not-yet-fully-repaired new body and burning it into a pile of ash.

A flash of dark green light flickered, and Xie Mohe's memories and consciousness were once again uploaded into the Necron memory crystal.

The resurrection protocol began to reconstruct him at high speed, and the living metal in the tomb complex, under the control of the Canoptek constructs, began to assemble into Xie Mohe's new body.

Under the instructions left behind by Xie Mohe, his logic brain, thought engine, and memory storage devices were built first, allowing him to temporarily recover his basic cognitive abilities.

A metal head hung there in the Necron tomb complex, suspended in mid-air by various conduits.

"*Necron profanity* *Necrontyr noble profanity* *Necrontyr slave profanity* *Necrontyr courtly profanity* *Aeldari profanity* *Old One profanity*"

Currently possessing only a head and relying entirely on external conduits to pump in coolant and energy, Xie Mohe exhausted his entire knowledge base, hurling every variety of profanity at the humans and that golden spark that had suddenly appeared.

From so far away, how were these damned humans able to attack him?

Was the location of his tomb ship exposed? That was impossible!

If he were any other creature, Xie Mohe might have suspected that the flame had latched onto his body, soul, consciousness, memories, or something else to follow him here.

But he was a Necron!

As a Viceroy of the Nihilakh Dynasty with extensive knowledge of history, treasures, and technology, Xie Mohe's knowledge base was not inferior to Trazyn, who was theoretically his overlord.

He understood the essence of the so-called resurrection protocol.

The resurrection protocol essentially copied all the memories from the moment the Necron died, uploaded them into the Necron memory crystal, reconstructed a new consciousness, and injected it into a new body.

It was like a ship that was constantly being repaired; if all the parts constituting the ship were replaced with brand-new ones, and even the crew were merely clones of the original crew, was this ship still the original ship?

Many Viceroys and Overlords couldn't be bothered to ponder these questions, but Xie Mohe's Nihilakh Dynasty had always pursued isolationism, rarely intervening in Necron wars over the long ages, so the bored Xie Mohe often pondered these issues.

His conclusion was:

Just as Necrons were never the Necrontyr of the past, Necrons resurrected through the resurrection protocol were not the same Necrons they once were, but rather new existences that simply possessed past memories.

The current Xie Mohe, the Xie Mohe who had just been burned to death, and the Xie Mohe who died earlier beneath the Blackstone Spire were all distinct individuals.

How could different individuals be targeted by that golden flame??

Xie Mohe's logic engine produced a series of error reports; reality and his logic were clearly deviating.

Just then, in the tomb complex not far from Xie Mohe, a sharp, chaotic metallic roar erupted.

The sound was so terrifying, like the agonizing wail of a dying man.

The last time Xie Mohe heard such a horrific sound was when he, as a Necrontyr, stepped into the furnace of biological transformation.

Heavy footsteps sounded, and a tall Necron Overlord stepped into the tomb complex.

His gaze swept rapidly over the body Xie Mohe had just had burned to ash, and several streaks of dark green fire flickered in his hollow eye sockets, appearing shocked and at a loss, yet also seemingly feeling a hint of joy.

You are rejoicing too early, Karipute.

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

The Necron known as Karipute's body shuddered, and he turned his head to look at Xie Mohe.

"Father!" Karipute noticed that Xie Mohe had already resurrected in another body, and the fire in his eye sockets flickered, seemingly a bit disappointed.

Karipute was a prince of the Nihilakh Dynasty, the son of Viceroy Xie Mohe... or rather, the two Necrontyr who had been smelted into Xie Mohe and Karipute were father and son.

If not for the biological transformation, or if the transformation had happened later, the outcome would likely have been Xie Mohe dying young and Karipute ascending to the throne as Viceroy.

But fate was always so cruel; the biological transformation granted the Necrons endless lifespans, allowing Xie Mohe to sit on the Viceroy's throne eternally, while Karipute could only remain a prince.

Karipute was generally loyal to Xie Mohe, but the ages were long, and Karipute inevitably grew weary of his position, harboring some thoughts of moving up.

After all, in the galaxy, where could one find a crown prince of sixty million years?

How could Karipute not harbor resentment in his heart?

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

It wasn't that he had no way to launch a coup to eliminate Xie Mohe.

He could have completely destroyed the Necron memory crystal, destroyed the resurrection protocol, and engaged in a life-or-death struggle between father and son with Xie Mohe.

Xie Mohe certainly could have been overthrown, and Karipute could have failed, but at least it would have added some excitement and fun to these boring sixty million years.

"Father, several Lords and Overlords have been engulfed by inexplicably appearing golden flames and have died completely," Karipute said, bowing slightly.

Died completely? Xie Mohe was stunned for a moment, slowly digesting the term.