Looking at the humans inside the mecha, Grandmaster Ruu felt something was off.
Although they weren't under the influence of any spell or controlled by Soul Power, their eyes were hollow and lifeless.
The humans seemed to be bound to their cockpits; tubes were inserted into their heads, pumping some kind of liquid directly into their brains.
"Are they being controlled by that liquid?" Grandmaster Ruu muttered in fascination as he began to study the machines carefully.
Grandmaster Ruu was born in a primitive era when technology didn't exist. However, as civilizations without access to Source Energies emerged, they began exploring the world through intellect and inventing creative ways to use the resources around them.
For the past few eons, civilizations from Broken Core Planets have continued to appear, and whenever such civilizations came across a planet with a Complete Core, they would spread their wings and soar to new heights.
The most recent example of such a civilization was the Humans of Planet Prolance. Since their world had a Broken Core, they had never encountered Source Energies and instead relied entirely on electricity for every aspect of life.
When they landed on their neighboring planet, Krolance—a planet with a Complete Core—they discovered Ki: how abundant it was throughout the Verse, and how it could be used to achieve immortality.
They went mad.
In just a short span of one hundred years, they developed mature interstellar travel, powerful combat forces, and so much more.
However, Ki also brought a sudden shift in their social structure. Out of nowhere, the power of the masses weakened as more and more warriors capable of destroying cities emerged.
For a time, the entire world was engulfed in flames as terrorist groups, gangs, and [freedom fighters] ran rampant.
Amid all the chaos, a leader rose, one who finally brought peace to the world. Under his leadership, civilization flourished. But as time passed, he began to show his true colors.
From a kind leader seeking to save the world, he turned into a ruthless dictator, a tyrant in every sense.
His first act of madness was the genocide of Planet Krolance, slaughtering all its natives and seizing their abundant Ki resources.
Since then, the Prolance Civilization has been moving from one Complete Core Planet to another, plundering resources and enslaving natives wherever they go.
"So this machine pumps chemicals into their brains, giving them an uncontrollable thirst for battle and pleasure in killing. This doesn't seem to be all; there are more chemicals too."
Not moving an inch, Grandmaster Ruu kept studying the device connected to the brains of the Mech pilots.
"Activate Fury Mode!"
Seeing that they weren't able to injure the Star Beast, the General aboard the Command Ship ordered the activation of Fury Mode.
Receiving the command, all Mech pilots deployed Fury Mode, and the composition of Ki used by the Mechas changed into True Ki.
"Even their souls… this device seems to be corrupting them. This one is pretty resilient; even now, her soul is so pure…"
Just as Grandmaster Ruu was about to continue digging deeper into the pilot with the pure soul, a sudden shift in aura caught his attention.
Before him, thousands of Mechas were radiating True Ki, a clear sign of First Transformation Ki Transcendents.
"Using compression and magic to temporarily force a large amount of Ki into True Ki. Clever idea."
Every time Grandmaster Ruu came across a technology-driven civilization, he was always amazed.
In the history of the Verse, there once existed a Were-Beast Tribe whose innate talent allowed them to temporarily elevate their Ki state. However, it came at the cost of their lifespan.
But now, the humans before him were able to achieve the same effect through technology and a touch of magic.
"This is annoying."
The constant attacks infused with True Ki began to sting Grandmaster Ruu slightly, and he decided to deal with them.
[Secret Art: Domain]
After deploying the Domain, Grandmaster Ruu opened his mouth and unleashed a pure Soul Beam toward the ships and Mechas.
Within a minute, space was filled with countless debris and scraps. All the battleships, along with the entire army of Mechas, were destroyed.
But the humans, they were all fine, not a single scratch on them.
Shoving all the humans into a single cargo ship, Grandmaster Ruu left to continue on his path.
Three months later, Grandmaster Ruu spotted a planet-sized island drifting through space.
Seeing the Heavenly Island, Grandmaster Ruu instantly retracted his Soul back into his human body and headed toward it.
"That's weird." Stepping onto the Heavenly Island, Grandmaster Ruu didn't come across any Royal Guards.
The Heavenly Palace was guarded by 100 Royal Guards, each one a mighty Saint far more experienced than him.
So, it wasn't like no one would notice his arrival.
"Maybe they're busy with the Ascension Program." The Ascension Program was the recent grand plan launched by His Majesty, and many new and old Saints had been deployed to carry it out.
From what he'd heard, the plan was extremely labor-intensive, and judging by the situation, it seemed difficult to complete within the time assigned by His Majesty. Perhaps more Saints had been sent to help finish it in time.
Feeling that his reasoning was sound, Grandmaster Ruu continued walking toward the Heavenly Palace.
"Welcome, Saint Ruu." Entering the Throne Room, Grandmaster Ruu was greeted by the Palace Spirit.
"Your Majesty, I have come bearing good news." Not daring to look at the Throne, Grandmaster Ruu knelt on one knee and spoke in a delicate tone.
"Your… Majesty…" After not receiving any response for a while, Grandmaster Ruu slowly lifted his head to look at the Throne, just to make sure His Majesty wasn't sleeping again.
However, the scene before him left his eyes wide open.
On the Throne, there was no sign of His Majesty. Instead, the Throne itself was slowly fading into thin air.
"This… no way… this can't be happening." Looking around, Grandmaster Ruu saw that the entire Throne Room was also beginning to dissipate.
He kept glancing around, making sure there was nothing wrong with his eyes, but with each passing moment, the panic on his face grew.
Abandoning all restraint, Grandmaster Ruu released the full power of his Soul and peered into the future.
"No… no… this can't be." Upon witnessing the future, Grandmaster Ruu's face twisted in terror.
"Which motherfucker messed with time!!!" Grandmaster Ruu screamed at the top of his lungs.
From what he saw, a branch timeline had formed.
If this had happened before the arrival of His Majesty, the Heavenly Lord, Grandmaster Ruu wouldn't have reacted so strongly.
However, the presence of a Heavenly Lord changes everything, as the Universe will never tolerate a branch timeline within a Verse under a Heavenly Lord's control.
It wouldn't be long before this entire timeline was erased from existence.
"I need to figure out a way to return to the main timeline." With a determined look on his face, Grandmaster Ruu left the Throne Room; which continued to fade away at a slow but steady pace.