Free Web NovelChapter 169: Chapter 169: Inherited Powers_1
"This feels somewhat like the power of ’Wisdom’, just with the exact opposite effect," Aiden nodded.
A certain power of "Wisdom" allowed one to usurp and inherit another’s knowledge and memories—he really understood this better than anyone, as he had experienced it himself.
But the power of "Reproduction" was precisely the opposite, passing on everything to one’s offspring—sounding quite selfless when put that way.
The sensation was akin to a beehive, where the queen bee could dominate the worker bees with pheromones. Once the queen died, the workers would pick a new larva to nurture into the next queen. And in some bumblebee species, a worker could even turn into a reproductive queen bee after the original queen’s death.
However, Melissa shook her head, "No, in terms of the objective outcome... to some extent, they are actually the same."
"Why do you say that?" Aiden was somewhat surprised.
"Didn’t I mention earlier? The individuals created by the ’Reproduction’ power are influenced or even directly controlled by the will of the mother. With this effect in place, if the offspring then inherit everything from the mother... what do you think would happen?" Melissa asked persuasively.
Aiden thought for a moment, "The thinking and consciousness of the inherited offspring... would become the same as the mother’s?"
"Exactly," Melissa nodded approvingly at Aiden—a gesture that for some reason reminded him of Melifilia, "Due to the ’Reproduction’ power’s presence, the mother’s consciousness has a great advantage over the produced offspring, the closer to authority, the stronger this effect becomes. Under such premise, if the offspring inherit the mother’s memories, their consciousness will be completely overwritten by the mother’s, and upon inheritance, the offspring in terms of self-awareness will regard themselves as the mother. Moreover, after inheriting the mother’s divinity, the inherited offspring could manipulate the other offspring just like the mother."
Now Aiden fully understood; this ability actually resembled something he had seen in a certain comic where the villain, whenever he died, could pull out an alternate version of himself from a parallel universe to inherit his powers and memories, thereby achieving a type of immortality.
And the power of the "Reproduction" authority could not only achieve immortality but could also attain eternal life...
"Doesn’t that mean, unless you kill all the progeny of this saint, there’s no way to deal with him?" Aiden couldn’t help frowning.
"That’s not necessarily the case. After all, there are limits when mortals use this power. First, to ensure inheritance takes effect immediately upon death, an heir must be designated beforehand while still alive. Secondly, even saints cannot use the inheritance power consecutively in a short time."
"So you mean, right after the use of the inheritance power, if we find and deal with the inheriting individual quickly, he would still be doomed?" Aiden pondered.
"Yes, and inheritance does not change the physical condition of the offspring," Melissa smiled, "Do you understand what I mean now?"
"Normally, the most excellent offspring would be chosen to inherit... especially those born naturally, right?"
Aiden still remembered that Melifilia had told him before, offspring produced at an accelerated rate using the "Reproduction" power, similar to Alchemy’s homunculi, would have various defects.
The more rushed the breeding process, the greater the defects in the offspring. And if they continued to "reproduce" down from the offspring, defects would continue to magnify, and eventually, the life span of the offspring would become absurdly short—something that probably could not be changed even with the "Evolution" power.
Therefore, choosing a defective offspring as the heir would undoubtedly be a significant weakening. The possessor of the "Reproduction" divine word would likely choose naturally born heirs as the individuals to inherit.
So in fact, just by swiftly finding and eliminating the best of the opponent’s progeny after they used the "Inheritance" power, one could successfully deal with the saint.
"The current leader of the Harvest Mother Cult is..." Aiden looked towards Melissa.
"Father Benedict Barres, who is indeed a descendant of the Old Lese Kingdom’s royal lineage," Melissa replied.
"He couldn’t possibly be... the heir to that queen, could he?"
"That is uncertain, my divination isn’t omnipotent." ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
"How many children does he have... I mean, naturally born ones."
"It seems there’s only one." Melissa thought for a moment, "A nun named Neve Barres, active in the religious order as the left and right hand of a priest. There are many nuns in the Harvest Mother Cult, basically all expendable, the Grey Robed Nuns used for battle, the White Robed Nuns used for pleasure and collecting money through preaching, they are all bred from the nun Neve."
"Then the target is quite clear and straightforward." Aiden nodded.
"But for you, defeating them all at once will be very difficult." Melissa shrugged her shoulders, "According to my divination, without joining forces with the Witch Gathering, your chances of winning are only about twenty percent."
"And with the Witch Gathering?"
"Around seventy percent, I suppose." Melissa answered.
"Still a thirty percent chance of getting wiped out, huh." Aiden sighed.
"You’re being too pessimistic. With a seventy percent chance of victory, it’s the other side who should be sighing, right?" Melissa looked at him with some resignation.
"Alright, I’ll gratefully accept the information and advice you’ve given." Aiden felt he had asked enough and stood up to take his leave.
Watching him for a while, Melissa suddenly said, "It seems you still don’t plan to take the initiative to attack."
Aiden was taken aback for a moment, then he realized she had read his mind.
His recent thought was actually to stay in the prison for a while to observe whether the Harvest Mother Cult truly had any moves like Melissa said, before deciding whether to follow her advice and join forces with the Witch Gathering.
"You still don’t fully trust me, but that’s alright, you’ll soon find out that what I’ve said is true." Melissa smiled, "Additionally, I advise you that becoming a ruler isn’t an easy task, if you keep acting passively, you’ll be outpaced by others taking the initiative."
"Good, I’ll bear that in mind." Aiden nodded.
Passive... Indeed, it was so. After all, Aiden had pursued proximity to power for passive reasons in the first place. If he hadn’t known that his life was being targeted by a saint who "detested" power, he would have been content to just dutifully manage his prison.
"It seems you didn’t really take it in." Melissa smiled resignedly, having read his thoughts, "I’ll see you out."
Melissa stood up and escorted Aiden from the inner room to the storefront, opening the door for him.
"As a pawn valued by my master, you need to live a bit longer, don’t disappoint her." She stood by the door, looking up at Aiden as she spoke.
"I’m not living for her." Aiden felt somewhat uncomfortable with that statement, glanced at Melissa, and stepped over the threshold to leave.
