Levi took a single glance at his dead eyes and kept walking... Not because he didn’t care, but because stopping would shatter him.
He understood it logically.
Just as he was here to purchase Nightcrawlers from the Conquerors Faction to harvest their souls and feast on them without guilt, Nightcrawlers were here to buy humans and other hollow races... to feast on their light or bind them through Sleepwalker contracts.
According to the universe, there was no right or wrong.
Only strength... Only survival.
Yet, understanding that truth was one thing, and accepting it in his heart was another... at that moment, Levi felt the void corruption within his heart attempting to morph him into a merciless and heartless entity.
It was telling him to think about the big picture... reminding him that if he were to free any of them, whatever happened next would be his responsibility. He had neither the time nor the energy to care for them.
After all, they might be humans, but still... strangers, and worse, strangers from different planets.
It wasn’t his business, and the most rational option was to keep walking and forget their existence.
But Levi was done with being guided by anything that went against his own personal beliefs, feelings, and reason.
With no more hesitation, he spent close to three hundred thousand credits anonymously and purchased as many women, children, and young men as he could afford.
The elderly? He left them behind, for he simply couldn’t afford to spend any more credits without affecting his goals.
Although he had done it quietly and without drawing attention, he felt like the elderly understood his intentions... whether it was something he told himself to appease his guilt for leaving them behind or he was right, most of the elders had relieved expressions as they sat alone in their cages.
They knew... no one would bother buying so many humans in bulk and waste this much money on them for the sake of doing something horrible.
That thought alone was enough for them. It was... enough.
Then, Levi submitted the delivery destinations to his home region... knowing that his government accepted refugees from anywhere as long as they were vetted.
Whether they came from Earth or a shattered world he’d never heard of didn’t matter... they were human.
And Levi couldn’t walk past them knowing they would be eaten, possessed, or dissected. In this universe, becoming a maid or servant was considered a blessing for slaves.
As the last group was freed from the cages and escorted away, the same young woman from before bowed deeply in his direction despite her shackles.
She knew that he was their new master after their contract shifted to his name, establishing a spiritual connection with him... It might have been brief since he had released them from the contract, but it still gave him away.
"Thank you, mister... from the bottom of my heart."
Levi spared her a single nod and then walked away... He knew what he had done was insignificant, and at the time, Ash’Kral had cursed him and scolded him heavily for wasting so much money on such a useless gesture.
In his eyes, he was right... What Levi had done was the same as taking a single drop from an endless ocean of suffering.
But to Levi... even a drop mattered. Because that drop meant a few lives would continue tomorrow. That was enough to justify the weight in his chest after witnessing the horrors of what it meant to be at the rock bottom of this universe.
Only then did Levi visit the enslaved Nightcrawlers district and spend close to two hundred thousand credits on purchasing about fifty Tier 3 Nightcrawlers.
If it weren’t for the time frame, he would have gone out and hunted them himself... but he needed them now.
This time, he didn’t send them to Earth... he took them to the back room of the shop and devoured their souls, one by one, placing them in the Lantern.
After he finished, he sold their crystallized seeds and corpses back to the owner, who was on cloud nine after making such a large sale in a single day.
And now... Levi stood in his Spiritual Leywell with the Lost Keeper Lantern raised to his face. It had dozens of green soul flames roaming nonstop without a single thought.
Then, he opened the misty, glass-like window and used his aetheric energy to contain a single wisp and pull it outside.
Keee!! Keee!!
The Soulleech Maw made excited, high-pitched noises after sensing its nearby meal.
"Open wide," Levi ordered.
He had no way of knowing whether the Soulleech Maw truly understood him, but it responded all the same. Its flesh peeled open as the maw spread wide, blossoming like a Venus flytrap. Levi guided the wisp closer, and in the next instant, the Soulleech Maw pulled it in with sudden force... vanishing in a single, soundless draw, as if swallowed by a living vacuum.
The Soulleech Maw licked its mouth in delight, but soon... it started crying again for more, still not satisfied.
"I will feed you more if you become obedient."
Levi smiled slightly while keeping the Lantern nearby to keep the Soulleech Maw’s attention on food.
He knew that if he wanted to gain full control, he needed to treat it as a pet at the start... and food was the best method to train pets to do one’s bidding.
"Now... let’s test this revolting ability."
Levi’s brow twitched after recalling the ability’s description... the notion of infesting others with parasites through licking them was just so... upsetting.
"How can you even create such a technique? Worse... you said that the abilities of this row are so outstanding that they can change my fighting style."
Levi gave Ash’Kral a questioning look. He was incapable of imagining him licking others to infest them with parasites that would connect their senses and feelings. What was the point of going through so much trouble when abilities from other senses led to the same results, if not better?
"Well... was I lying?" Ash’Kral chuckled. "Fighting others with your tongue as a weapon is considered a drastic change of fighting style."
The Titan chuckled as well after noticing Levi’s annoyed expression.
"If it wasn’t for unlocking the Parasite Aspect, which clearly offers immense possibilities, I honestly would have felt scammed." Levi sighed.
"A joke is a joke, but I won’t have you tarnish my arsenal of abilities." Ash’Kral’s expression turned solemn. "You are underestimating the Palate Parasitic Takeover a bit too much... sure, using a tongue as the means of transmission seems revolting and useless, but you haven’t read the full details and immense utilizations of the ability."
Hearing this, Levi raised a brow in surprise... He still kept the leaf on him to avoid getting kicked out of the Ancestral Rooted Plane right away. He felt like nothing written in the details would be enough to put the ability in a new light.
Without further ado, Levi touched the leaf to his forehead... when he returned to his senses, he was back in his studio apartment, wearing a stunned expression.
"Is this for real?" he asked.
"Most definitely," Ash’Kral smirked. "The Nine Senses Powers can synchronize to perfection... sure, you still haven’t unlocked the unique sense that could bring this ability to its full potential, but it should give you an idea of the possibilities."
Levi remained dazed for a moment, feeling like he had judged the Palate Parasitic Takeover a bit too harshly.
As a standalone ability, it was decent... but when combined with abilities from a hidden unique sense, it turned into an interdimensional instant-kill weapon.
Literally.
"Holy... I might not be able to unlock that unique sense right away, but I might not need it. I already have a different weapon that could mimic it."
Levi grinned widely as he glanced at the pouting Soulleech Maw, which was still throwing a tantrum for more food.
"If I manage to make the Soulleech Maw cooperate with me in the remaining five Boundless Days, the Conquerors Faction in the upcoming game will be... massacred."