This is really not mechanical ascension

Walking out of the spaceship, a blue and white energy shield automatically surged on the surface of his body, isolating the surrounding high-temperature radiation.

In front of him, a luxurious spaceship, two-thirds of which was already wrecked, floated on the crimson crystal.

Some materials that couldn't withstand high temperatures had melted into liquid, with only the basic framework barely holding on under the high-temperature radiation, but even it had turned crimson.

His subordinates, dressed in high-temperature-resistant combat uniforms, had cleared out several dried and charred corpses.

Among them, one was particularly conspicuous, singled out and shrunk to almost only one-fifth of its original size.

"Bertrand..." Clarkson's figure descended, his eyes filled with sorrow.

"According to the data, the eruption interval of the Takanbaya Interstellar Volcano should be 136 years. Lord Portland likely came to observe the eruption..." his subordinate manipulated a specially-made smart terminal,

"However, this eruption occurred about six months earlier than estimated, so..."

"So, an unexpected early eruption has buried my grandson?" Clarkson's tone was calm.

The subordinate's face slightly changed, replying bravely, "Currently, that's how it appears."

"But I refuse to believe it..." Clarkson's expression was dark and unreadable, yet he made no further moves, only instructed his men to carry the corpse to the deepest part of the spaceship.

After he ordered all his men out, only he and a charred corpse remained in the room.

Accompanied by the locking of the cabin door, Clarkson circled the corpse, his hand caressing the rough carbonized skin.

Then, unbelievably, his body began to melt like some sort of liquid, merging gradually into the corpse.

A mercurial ripple spread across the surface of the charred shell, and the scorched skin rolled up as thick as tar.

The originally carbonized joints suddenly cracked with popcorn-like sounds, countless semi-transparent bionic cells crazily expanding along the corpse's shrunken blood vessels.

Deep in the eye sockets gathered a black vortex, the final restructured facial skin glowed with a pale pink hue like frozen pork, and pores were continuously seeping crimson energy threads.

This was a secret Clarkson had never shared with others; it was his unique and innate ability, possibly called a superpower but also somewhat different.

He could extract some information from the deceased's body, even briefly disguise himself as the person.

With this ability, he earned his first bucket of gold, growing step by step to this stage.

He tried to develop it, but this special ability couldn't be enhanced.

This was his trump card, and even at this level, he accomplished many things using this ability,

and all who knew about it were already dead.

"Let me see what really happened..." Clarkson's vision suddenly blurred as if he fell into a bizarre and colorful tunnel, everything appeared vague and indistinct.

Bertrand seemed to be in a crisis, but not at this volcano, surrounded by many powerful life forms...

"...Stop...who are you?"

"...My father will kill you..."

The scene was blurry and brief, Bertrand's corpse suddenly shattered.

The corpse was too incomplete; too little information could be extracted.

Clarkson's body reappeared, his face looked awful, "Daring to kill my men..."

He opened the smart terminal and issued orders, "Check Bertrand's flight trajectory; I want to know everything unusual along the path."

Soon, there was a response; Bertrand's continuous communication aboard the spaceship had a total of four interruptions.

And the replies after communication was restored all indicated encountering a void turbulence or such.

The trouble must have occurred between these four coordinates.

Clarkson's eyes flickered coldly, "I must see who has the audacity to do this."

......

The highly anticipated council seat duel did not disappoint, seven battles, fourteen high-level life forms, each with their own characteristics providing a feast for the eyes.

However, it caused significant losses for many people.

Due to previous estimates and various insider information circulating, people from the Three Civilizations seemed certain to win.

Thus, the odds were terrifying, typically at 1.1:5, 1.2:6, etc.

Many people invested quite a bit with the intent to earn some living expenses, betting on the people from the Three Civilizations, but it resulted in a massive upset.

Of course, those with such thoughts usually didn't bet much, but still lost it all, angrily cursing the Three Civilizations for being unworthy on the interstellar web.

"Damn, boasting so shamelessly, what nonsense about the King of Frost."

"No, the Three Civilizations are doing this interstellar livestream; I really thought they had some skills. And those so-called experts providing statistics and data, nothing matched what they said."

"Hey, truly amazing, I bet on the upset entirely, now I'm financially free."

"Where did this gambling maniac come from... so insane? Bound for destruction sooner or later."

Many people enjoyed watching the Three Civilizations' mishap, enthusiastically discussing it.

And quickly, the High-level United Organization released related announcements--

"[Preliminary Resolution on Expanding Ordinary Member Voting Rights]"

The first item did not attract much attention, being an internal matter.

But the second item was entirely different--

[Regarding the Decision to Refuse X Level Life Form from the Three Great Civilizations Joining the High-level Life Form Union]

The afterglow of the duel livestream hadn't yet faded, quickly igniting a greater discussion fervor on the interstellar network.

"Wow, banning X-level life forms from the Three Great Civilizations from joining, so fierce, is this a direct declaration of war?"