Genetic Ascension novel Chapter 1119

The purpose of Legacy was almost a mirror to the Petals of the Seeing Thorn. The latter was obsessed with gathering information about people, politics—the sort of information that could bring the patriarch of a powerful family or organization to their knees.

The former, however, only cared for improvement.

When Legacy saw that the Petals of the Seeing Thorn had such a trump card, they obviously wanted to study it. How had this rare plant been culled and controlled, even turned into a weapon in the defense of the organization?

Once Legacy was interested in something, they would definitely take action. But Legacy was also not a confrontational organization. They chose their spots and only acted when it wouldn't offend or step on toes they couldn't afford to step on.

Of course, the depths of Legacy ran far deeper than most could fathom. But soft power was far more useful when dealing with so many powers than hard power was. Legacy often rode a line that pissed off many. If they had to deal with all of their potential enemies at once, even they would suffer.

This was seen quite recently. Though it was the system that bit back this time, it was because Legacy took the risk in the first place.

That said… Legacy was one thing.

The Professors were a different matter entirely.

They, a faction of Legacy, didn't ride a line at all. They were far more aggressive, and far more willing to take risks. They were madmen that only danced between the line of life and death. The only thing they were interested in was improvement no matter what the cost was—even if they had to turn themselves into a science project.

This was exactly why the Seeing Thorn was so enticing to them. So they found their own methods of infiltrating the Petals of the Seeing Thorn.

Originally, the Seeing Thorn was a sacred being to the organization, an idol to be worshipped and respected for its help, and never taken advantage of. This was a rule that was set by the very first Seeing Thorn's Matriarch.

However, after the fallout of the Professors' efforts, leading to a complete wipe of not just one galaxy, but an entire Sector of its life, the Petals of the Seeing Thorn had to spend many generations recovering their reputation.

What led to such a result?

The Professors figured out something quite shocking. Using the Unique Gene of the Seeing Thorn, they were able to borrow its abilities, making use of the Seeing Thorn to absorb Genes, Blood Essence, and even deeper-layer talents in ways they had never imagined possible in the past.

It was an intoxicating method of improvement. But what the Professors and their collaborators didn't notice quickly enough was that this mode of improvement came with its own drawbacks.

Evolution had its own checks and balances. The Seeing Thorn was an incredibly powerful Race, but they lacked intelligence. There were plant Races out there that were no less intelligent than Humanoid Races, but the Seeing Thorn was not one of them.

When one began to rely on the Seeing Thorn for this method of improvement, it would crush you. Not physically, but mentally.

What made you you… it would slowly be whittled away. The more you relied on it, the less of you would remain until you were a mindless zombie after much the same things as the Seeing Thorn.

In fact, this was precisely why when one entered the maze, they lost consciousness.