457: Chapter 457 The Spirits of the Past

"We..."

Hilofy said with a serious expression, "Should we... give it a try?"

Upon hearing this, Locke was stunned for a moment.

But he quickly understood what Hilofy meant.

Both of them were beings of SS-rank Bloodline. If they followed their theory, and each only contracted with one person...

The child born would absolutely have endless Soul Power!

It might even be possible to give birth to a child with an SSS-rank Bloodline with one hundred percent certainty!

"Hilofy, are you sure? You want to form a contract with me? Given your Spirit Beast Bloodline, you could probably find an SSS-Rank Beast Tamer to contract with!"

"That's what I should be asking you. After all, to carry out this theory, you might not be able to contract with any other Spirit Beasts!"

"I don't care about that!"

"Then why would I care about that?"

The atmosphere gradually became intimate.

That very night, the two established a contract, though they didn't have a child immediately.

After all, according to their theory...

The Rank of the Beast Tamer and the Spirit Beast would also affect the level of Soul Power.

Right now, they were only at Rank 1; it was too weak!

But the Rank couldn't be too high either, otherwise it might be difficult to conceive!

Just like that, after three years of conditioning and leveling up, both reached Rank 4, Stage 1, which was the most suitable Rank for pregnancy!

Three months later, Hilofy confirmed she was pregnant.

In the ten months that followed, the couple poured almost all their energy into this pregnancy.

Locke continued to strengthen his own Soul Power, while Hilofy strictly followed the optimal regimen derived from their research to condition her body.

They turned down all social activities and even suspended most of their research work, just to ensure this child could be born in the most perfect state.

On a spring night twenty-seven years ago, Lilian Kevin came into the world.

When the baby girl was born, the Spirit Power detector in the laboratory emitted an unprecedented high-pitched sound.

On the instrument screen, the index representing Bloodline potential soared, eventually settling on a value that had never been recorded before.

Locke held his daughter, tears blurring his vision: "We... succeeded!"

Hilofy lay on the delivery bed, revealing a faint smile: "Our theory... was correct!"

Over the next month, the couple conducted a comprehensive examination of Lilian.

Lilian indeed possessed an incomparable power within her body, almost certainly an SSS-rank Bloodline!

Although this power was currently in a dormant state and required special guidance to fully Awakening, the potential was enough to shock anyone who knew about it.

However, this research data must absolutely not be made public!

Once this research was revealed to the world, the existing global system would completely collapse!

Those large Families and major powers would never allow such a theory to spread."

Furthermore, Lilian would be in danger.

The method to create offspring with an SSS-rank Bloodline... it was too shocking!

If the outside world found out, she would become the target of every power!

The couple reached a consensus: keep it a secret for now, and wait until Lilian grew up a bit and could protect herself before considering whether to make the research public!

However, they didn't know that danger was already lurking in the shadows.

A spy from a hostile country had infiltrated their research institute two years prior, disguised as a cleaner.

That spy had installed micro-surveillance devices in key locations in the laboratory, and all of Locke and Hilofy's research data and experimental processes were being transmitted abroad in real-time.

When Lilian's test results came out, the power behind the spy could no longer hold back.

The research theory for an SSS-rank Bloodline, as well as a living SSS-rank Bloodline baby—the value of these two things was enough to drive any country crazy.

On a rainy night half a month later, the attack occurred.

Twelve Spirit Beast agents raided the research institute.

Although Locke and Hilofy possessed an SS-rank Bloodline, they had spent years focusing on research, lacked practical combat experience, and were only at Rank 4. They were no match for these specially trained Spirit Beast agents.

"Hand over the research data and the child!"

Locke shielded his wife and daughter, a flash of determination in his eyes.

He had long anticipated that this day might come, so he had set up a final defense program in the laboratory.

"Hilofy, take Lilian to the teleportation array!"

Locke growled, pressing the emergency button hidden in his pocket.

The laboratory lights instantly turned a piercing red, and alarms blared.

The agents realized something was wrong and immediately launched an attack.

"Go!"

Locke used his body to block the first wave of attacks, unleashing the full power of his SS-Rank talent to temporarily push back the enemy.

Hilofy, holding three-month-old Lilian, rushed toward the secret teleportation array deep within the laboratory.

It was an escape device they had set up for special situations, capable of teleporting to a random location.

"Don't let them get away!"

More attacks came, and Locke's wounds multiplied.

But he didn't take a single step back, blocking the passage to the teleportation array firmly.

"Locke!"

"Go!"

Locke looked back at his wife and daughter for the last time, his eyes full of reluctance, "Protect our daughter!"

Hilofy was streaming with tears, but she placed Lilian into the teleportation array.

The light of the teleportation array reached its peak.

The next second, Lilian vanished from the laboratory.

Only Hilofy remained, kneeling on the ground, looking relieved.

"Damn it!"

The lead agent was furious and pierced Locke's chest with an ice blade.

Locke fell to the ground, blood gushing from the corner of his mouth, but a smile appeared on his face.

His daughter was safe... that was enough.

He used his last bit of strength to press the final confirmation key for the self-destruct program.

"Let's go to Hell... together!"

"Boom—"

The entire research institute turned into a towering inferno.

All the invaders, along with the research equipment and data, were swallowed by the explosion.

But Locke and Hilofy did not completely die.

At the last moment of their lives, they initiated a crazy plan—uploading their digitized consciousness.

This was another project they had been researching in secret—converting human consciousness into data and uploading it to cyberspace, achieving another form of immortality!

Theoretically, as long as the network existed, their consciousness could live forever.

Although they would lose their physical bodies and most human emotions and perceptions, at least... they could still exist!

And they could find their daughter one day in the future.

However, this plan was too advanced twenty-six years ago.

The network infrastructure of Eagle Country was simply incapable of carrying such complex data-based consciousness entities.

Although Locke and Hilofy's consciousness data were successfully uploaded, they fell into a long state of dormancy.

Until twenty years later.

Eagle Country deployed a new generation of supercomputers, and there was a qualitative leap in network bandwidth and data processing capabilities.

Their consciousness gradually awakened, and they began to perceive this world...