"I know of one such world." Renduldu nodded, "It's a Transcendent World that has barely begun to form. Some weak creatures without powers have already appeared in that world. I can bring them there, but not their bodies. That's too risky."
"Sumatra would reject them during the return trip." Renduldu said, "For safety reasons, I'll bring their souls with me."
He then stared at Resha and changed his mind, "But I'd like to use my ability on him first. I'm curious about what the future holds in store. His future is the clearest."
After collecting the souls of the six babies, Renduldu touched Resha and activated his power. In an instant, he experienced Resha's entire future, until the moment he was killed by the Boar King.
"I see, so that's what happens." Renduldu sighed.
[What happened?]
"Brangara basically steals all your accumulation in the end, grows even more terrifying, and annihilates your herd. It wasn't available in Resha's future, but I can guess what happens next since I can feel it." Renduldu spoke, "He kills the other herd and fills his Astral Chart with Internal Inertial Gravity. He then heads into the nearby continent to kill the Empyrean Tusk herd there. And by the end, he reaches the peak of cultivation and becomes a Transcendent."
"Even in the Transcendent World, he continues to hunt the Mammoth Clan."
[As I thought, he's too dangerous!]
"Well, it hasn't happened yet, so don't worry. Besides, a good enemy only makes you stronger, if you can survive, that is." Renduldu said in seriousness, "Trust me, you will require all that experience before becoming a Transcendent. Because once you reach my stage, your growth halts entirely."
Since he had used his power, his body began to disperse. Now that he had seen Resha's future, he made some changes to his plans and extracted the souls of the parents of all seven children.
Renduldu patted Gannala gently and disappeared, "I'll return soon."
Travelling through space and time, he arrived at Earth, inserting the souls of everyone into the bodies of people there. By making the native souls dormant, he made the souls he brought remain active, hence controlling the body and living through that life.
This way, the souls also inherited all skills, talents, and memories of the native bodies.
Renduldu could only do so on bodies compatible with the souls he carried. Hence, he couldn't simply plant them in the bodies of the best that humanity on Earth could offer.
He made a family with Resha's parents and lived there as a native. And once he grew up, he began to write a book titled, "Sumatra Chronicles."
It was a decent hit with a sizeable following. And through a bit of targeted ads, Renduldu ensured the eyes of everyone—from Sumatra—fell on Sumatra Chronicles.
Even though the parents couldn't recall their past lives, they were still drawn to Sumatra Chronicles. Of course, they weren't the target of Renduldu's power. They were simply brought as guardians to ensure the six kids were safe.
He monitored the comments from the accounts used by Inala and the rest. And eventually, the day for the ending arrived. The comments from many readers were full of anger and hate at the abrupt ending.
But the ones from Inala and the five others took the cake. They didn't understand the reason they were so enamoured by Sumatra Chronicles to the extent it became a distinct part of their lives.
In truth, it was merely their souls longing for their home world. No matter how treacherous it might be, that was the world these souls belonged to. Hence, Sumatra Chronicles resonated with them intensely.
The consequence of that was the horrible negative reviews they left.
Even though Renduldu tried his best to maintain his composure, he was currently occupying a human body. As a result, he was pissed.
He left his human body and barged into Inala's room to pummel the latter. By making it seem like a challenge, he brought everyone to Sumatra Continent, the six reincarnates and the 14 parents.
It had barely been an hour at Sumatra Continent. Upon arrival, Renduldu dumped the souls back in their original bodies.
He used his power to shed his experience living on Earth and inserted it into Resha, only to the extent he attained the qualification of living in two realities. Of course, his ability suppressed and erased all that over time, ensuring Resha only retained the qualification.
This was to prevent his soul from being corrupted.
"It's done, Gannala." He said, sensing Gannala read through the memories of the seven babies and their respective parents. He asked once she was done going through them all, "How is it?"
[I'll try my best!]
"Good," Renduldu patted her once before disappearing, "I'll be waiting for you in the Transcendent World. It'll take me another two millennia to return here like this, but I won't bother."
[I understand! Thank you very much, uncle! It was fun to see you again!]
Gannala lifted her trunk and coiled it around Renduldu, slowly pulling his tentacle like she did when young.
"Hahaha!" Renduldu's voice echoed and subsided gradually. He had already returned to the Transcendent World.
He had paid a sharp price to descend down to Sumatra Continent and make that trip to another world. So, it was unlikely he would do something like that ever again, especially since he had no incentive to do so.
Gannala was the sole familiar individual here. And after another two millennia, she too would be no more. Sumatra Continent would be no different to a foreign world for Renduldu by then.
Gannala observed Bora Tusk approach the parents of Resha and others, speaking to them in private about Gannala reaching the end of her lifespan.
He gave them his Eight-Storey Storage Lantern, teaching them a bunch of Skills and knowledge necessary for their mission. A month of preparations later, the parents of the seven babies left the Settlement in search of a baby Empyrean Tusk.
Bora Tusk labelled the group of 14 parents as missing-in-action. The Mammoth Clan at the 44th Settlement then raised Resha and the group as orphans.
As the babies grew and reached the age of 10, they joined the Academy of Refinement and became Death Row students. The side effects of the soul transfer caused them to feel a disconnect from the world the moment their memories on Earth resurfaced. But in truth, they were true Mammoth Clansmen.
And they possessed the bloodline of Gannala—Fragment Disease—to the utmost concentration, not to mention the paths to Mystic Grade that she gave her everything over a period of two millennia to create with detailed hope and care.
On the day Resha recalled his past life and the remaining six reincarnates remembered their life on Earth, the story began in the truest sense.
Drip! Drip!
Tears streamed out of Inala's eyes as he woke up from his long slumber, having finished comprehending the knowledge and memories he gained from Gannala. "That means…"
"My parents are dead."