Chapter 354: Asexual Reproduction—When One Is Born, the Parent Dies

The late king's younger brother: 【"If someone draws the Zu'an intern, let the Zu'an intern go. The mission will take place in ten days; make sure to look after the Zu'an intern then. That's all—I've got things to attend to."】

Upon the group owner's message, members expressed mild regret.

Da Huang Tian Zun: 【"If the group owner says so, then forget it."】

Mi Tian Da Sheng Jun: 【"Alright, we'll skip this one. Let's auction it next time—pre-auction it."】

Jiuzhou Di Yi Xian Zun: 【"If the group owner won't let you bid, you're still bidding? Seems like Da Sheng Jun is headed for disaster."】

Instantly, other members all posted 【+1】.

"Going on the mission in ten days?" Gao Xiang Hong felt excited.

It was his first mission, his first trip to another world—anyone would feel the same, unable to contain their excitement.

"Ten days—maybe I can still improve my strength a bit!"

Without hesitation, Gao Xiang Hong decided to train harder, aiming to boost his strength further by the mission's start, so he wouldn't hold back the seniors or bring shame to the Initial Realm.

……

Higashikawa Ward, Tokyo, Japan, apartment.

Having assigned the mission to Gao Xiang Hong and others under the identity of the late king's younger brother, Kamikawa Mitsu exited the chat group.

He stepped out of the room.

"Chie, what are you doing?"

Kamikawa Mitsu saw Takee Sashiko sitting in front of the TV, holding a small notebook, taking notes while watching.

"I'm taking notes—I think what these theologians and scientists say is really good. Nii-san, they just introduced the lifeforms from Ye Linyan's world."

Takee Sashiko pointed at the TV.

The TV was broadcasting a program called "Lifeform Spectrum Analysis."

Ever since the Lifeform Spectrum was taken out by Mayerke, every country had launched programs about it; daily, TV stations invited scientists, biologists, and other experts to analyze the Lifeform Spectrum.

This program's popularity across nations far surpassed all others, directly displacing prime-time shows and securing a prime-time slot.

Takee Sashiko loved this program, watching it almost every day, taking notes—even when she had no time, she recorded it to watch later, never missing a single episode of "Lifeform Spectrum Analysis."

"Nii-san, you've seen the full Lifeform Spectrum, right?"

"Yeah," Kamikawa Mitsu replied offhandedly.

Takee Sashiko picked up the upper volume of the Lifeform Spectrum that Kamikawa Mitsu had given her earlier, sitting on the sofa beside her, and asked curiously:

"Lately I've been reading the Lifeform Spectrum and noticed how many lifeforms there are—so diverse. There's the Merfolk, almost like the legendary mermaids, and the Oxheads, with bull heads and human bodies. Are these the same races recorded in myths—the Oxheads and mermaids?"

Kamikawa Mitsu sat down on the sofa and made up an answer:

"Maybe. I'm not sure—I've seen the Lifeform Spectrum, but I've never seen the Western mythological mermaids, so I can't confirm."

"I see. Then, Nii-san, since the Lifeform Spectrum has so many lifeform types, do you think there's a race with extremely few members—so few they're practically fixed? One dies, one less remains."

Takee Sashiko handed Kamikawa Mitsu an orange she'd peeled, continuing:

"Not only that—this race reproduces asexually. When one is born, the parent dies. So their numbers can't grow, yet they're incredibly strong—born already powerful, ensuring the race won't perish easily and can endure."

"Nii-san, you've seen the full Lifeform Spectrum—has there ever been a race like that?"

Kamikawa Mitsu was surprised, not understanding why Sashiko asked this.

He noticed she'd written these questions in her Lifeform Spectrum analysis notebook.

"Why are you suddenly asking this?"

"Oh, nothing. Today I was discussing the Lifeform Spectrum with Iori and Li Gui-jie, and we were imagining weird, fantastical races, seeing who could come up with the most fun one. I thought of the one I just described."

Takee Sashiko blinked her big, dark eyes, brimming with curiosity:

"Nii-san, you've seen the full Lifeform Spectrum—has there been a similar race? Oh, I also wrote down the races Iori and the others imagined. Can you check if any match ones in the Lifeform Spectrum?"

So that's it.

Kamikawa Mitsu understood.

It was just like when we were kids drawing monsters, or watching anime like Ultraman—always imagining our own monsters.

We'd fantasize what they looked like, what powers they had, wildly enjoying our own invented races.

Sashiko and her friends were the same—enjoying their imagined races, comparing them, a playful game among friends.

Then.

Kamikawa Mitsu picked up Takee Sashiko's notebook.

It recorded the races they'd imagined—even Iori's, drawn with crude sketches, though the drawings were abstract.

The Lifeform Spectrum was compiled by Kamikawa Mitsu using script points, allowing the system to record lifeform races from all worlds.

But since lifeforms were countless and Kamikawa Mitsu had few script points then, he hadn't recorded them all—only a portion, which is why the Lifeform Spectrum still bore the words "Upper Volume."

Now, after countless scripts, his script points numbered tens of millions—he no longer had to worry.

Since Sashiko was curious about races, he'd help her look them up.

"System, consume script points. Check whether any of these five imagined races written by Sashiko exist in the world. List any similar ones."

In Kamikawa Mitsu's view, the races Sashiko and the others imagined couldn't possibly exist.

Yes, there were many races in the world—but this wasn't an online game or a character creation tool; imagination alone couldn't make something real. Every race that existed had its own reasons, shaped by countless environmental and evolutionary factors.

So how could a race you imagined possibly exist exactly as you pictured? Your imagined race was pure fantasy, with no basis—almost certainly impossible.

But a similar race? That had some possibility.

Ding! Consuming script points…

The system's cold alert tone rang out; Kamikawa Mitsu's mind filled with new information.

"Huh?"

Upon receiving the information, Kamikawa Mitsu froze, his pupils contracting sharply.

The system's search for the races Sashiko imagined yielded many similar ones.

Iori imagined a race, and the system provided three similar races; Muroto Meijiang imagined a race, and the system provided four similar races.

These races were provided because some of their traits partially resembled the traits Iori and the others had imagined.

Thus, many similar races were listed, each matching one or two of the imagined race's traits.

However.

Kamikawa Chiye's imagined race yielded only one similar race.

Yes, only one.

Because the race provided matched Chiye's imagined race… exactly!!!

…