I Can Assimilate Everything-Chapter 624: Experimentation!

In a small Star Sea swimming inside an endless void, there was a creature called the Sheltered Bloom.

It grows only in regions where other plants have already done the work of breaking stone into soil, where roots of ancient trees have carved channels for water to flow, where generations of decay have enriched the earth with nutrients that the Bloom itself could never produce. It sprouts in perfect conditions, thrives without struggle, and produces flowers of extraordinary beauty that draw admiration from all who observe them.

And when drought comes, the Sheltered Bloom is the first to wither.

It has never learned to send roots deep. It has never developed the resilience that comes from fighting for survival. It has only ever received, and so when the time comes to endure hardship, it has nothing within itself to draw upon.

There are entities who lived similar existences.

They are those who were given everything, who received power and protection and advancement without ever needing to struggle for it themselves. Who believed that their fortune was deserved rather than gifted, that their position was earned rather than granted.

They never had reason to question the foundations upon which their lives were built.

But... even those who are given everything should still do all they can.

They should still do their part, even if they don’t need to.

Because if the person who gives them everything ever needed help or stumbled, they need to have the capability to help in return. Because gifts freely accepted create debts that cannot be measured in currency. Because the one who only receives will eventually find themselves hollow when circumstances finally demand they give.

A flower that has never known struggle will wilt at the first sign of drought, while the one that fought for every drop of water will endure storms that flatten gardens.

---

In the First Sea, Abzu.

Rose looked out across this far distant Sea as she could still sense Achilles in the far distance, his presence a constant anchor that she had grown accustomed to tracking regardless of how much space separated them. He was speaking with someone, she could tell, engaged in conversation that his relaxed posture suggested was going well.

She was not sitting still merely purifying the Corrupted Growths that rose from the golden waters at this moment.

She had the privilege to be Rose, the one who was always taken care of by Achilles. The one who received THE Surface Depth as a gift rather than earning it through desperate struggle. The one whose Civilization of Alchemy had been handed to her through his consumption rather than claimed through her own impossible efforts.

But she did not only want to be this.

For her to only follow along and watch him do all the hard work while she benefited from his victories felt... wrong. She loved him, and love meant wanting to contribute rather than simply receive. It meant building herself into someone who could stand beside him as equal rather than behind him as dependent.

She wanted to get her hands dirty so that in the future, she could continue to help him too.

So right now, she was studying the Corrupted Growths that appeared with intensity.

Her mind churned with possibilities as she observed the geometric wrongness rising from the golden waters. Alchemy at its core was about transformation, about understanding the fundamental nature of things and changing them into something else. And she possessed the capability to see the genomes and codes of Existence in all things, to perceive the underlying structures that most entities could never observe directly.

These two capabilities could complement each other in ways that others might never consider.

If she could understand the fundamental composition of Corrupted Growths, if she could decode what made them what they were at the most basic level, then perhaps she could do more than simply purify them. Perhaps she could replicate them. Perhaps she could transmute other materials into similar forms. Perhaps she could create rather than merely destroy.

She did not purify one Corrupted Growth that rose near her position.

Instead, she formed a small barrier of Alchemical authority around it, containing its geometric wrongness within boundaries that prevented it from spreading or escaping. The corruption writhed against her containment but could not break free, and she studied it with eyes that saw deeper than surface appearance.

Could she replicate it?

Could she fuse or transmute anything with it?

Because if she could replicate or produce corrupted things en masse, and if purifying them gave one elevated Depth and power as The Groundskeeper had explained, then she could potentially be generating immensity and Depth that she could then give to Achilles.

He gave so much to her. Perhaps she could find a way to give back.

While she was doing this, the figure of THE Endless Dream near her looked toward Rose with eyes of curiosity that held concern beneath their jeweled surface. Eyyanah had been content to purify Corrupted Growths in the traditional manner, enjoying the peaceful cultivation that her restored Civilization finally permitted after eons of desperate survival.

"What exactly are you doing?"

Her silver-gold voice carried gentle inquiry.

Rose smiled.

"I am trying to do as much as I can to be of help."

Her copper-green eyes sparkled with the same dangerous light that had made THE Corpse Hierophant and his allies flee from a single word. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"I’m not doing anything too crazy, at least I hope not. I am just playing with Corrupted Growth and seeing how I can multiply the growth if possible."

She tilted her head as she continued examining the contained corruption with intensity that bordered on obsession.

"Surely nothing too crazy or obscene will come out of this."

She smiled dangerously as she said such words!

THE Endless Dream blinked at this response, feeling a sense of foreboding settle into her restored Existence.

But she shook her head right after, choosing not to interfere with whatever Rose was attempting.

She sensed other Corrupted Growths coming closer to their position and she purified them with casual application of her authority, feeling the slight increase in her Depth as the corruption dissolved into golden light that rejoined the waters of Abzu.

She smiled happily at the sensation.

For her, not having a Collapsed Civilization was miracle enough. Even being capable of feeling a live and thriving Civilization advancing was more than she had dared hope for across eons of desperate survival. The simple act of cultivation without constant threat of further collapse felt like luxury beyond measure.

For her, this was her dream.

Her endless and glorious dream, finally realized through alliance with someone who could give what she could never have obtained alone.

In this region of this radiant Sea, two figures could be seen floating above golden waters that stretched toward impossible horizons.

One was content in what she had achieved, following her dream of restoration with patience that came from finally having everything she had ever wanted.

The other had her mind poking and prodding at boundaries that others accepted without question, seeking unfathomably more because contentment had never been in her nature.

Rose continued studying her contained Corrupted Growth with smile that promised either breakthrough or catastrophe!