4:00 PM, seated beside Heima, Jyorta immersed himself in his thoughts, pondering about his previous experience, altering his plans.

'I barely scratched the surface and suffered a decrease in my Sync Rate. Now, the amount of energy I can house in my Brain Crystal has also decreased, not to mention the decreased rate of Nurturing.' Jyorta closed his eyes, taking a moment to consider his actions.

If he were to proceed with the same plan as before, then other than suffering a decrease in his Esper abilities each time, he wouldn't make any progress. Moreover, every time he suffered a decrease, it implied in reduced efficiency, creating a vicious cycle.

Using his prior experience, he had to up his game. If he didn't improve his plans and just charged forth blindly, then he wouldn't accomplish anything. His sister wouldn't be saved and his cultivation journey would be destroyed when his Sync Rate falls below 50 percent.

'Corrosion is powerful but, if I just corrode everything in sight, it would prove to be a waste of the memory fragments. Moreover, going about the process with such a brute-forced method consumes too much energy. I need to clear a path before striking towards the goal.'

Jyorta sat in silence, taking more than 30 minutes to carefully consider his plans. He opened his eyes, inching his hand forward, taking Heima's in his own, feeling the warmth radiating through it. He lifted her hand, placing her palm on his cheek, feeling the contact.

He wasn't a mechanical robot; he was a human, one that required familial love. Heima was his only family left, in this world that he had been forcefully brought in. He dared not imagine what would happen to his mental state in her absence.

Maybe his humanity would no longer be shackled, creating a monster thanks to the inborn abilities of his soul. He sought for a shackle to ground himself to the world, to be a human. He took in the experiences of the previous Jyorta as his own, imbuing in him the feeling of attachment towards his family.

'My emotional anchors were annihilated but, using my memories as a wager, I shall retain my humanity.'

He didn't possess any attachment to his past life, thanks to the creepy-haired man. In this life, he had lost his parents before he could forge a relationship with them, only retaining the memories of the previous Jyorta as reference.

The past year and a half, the time he had spent with Heima, and her acceptance towards his existence; they were the factors that anchored him to this world, and grounded him to reality, giving him the drive to strive forward.

Otherwise, without a reason to fuel his desires, and ambition, forging a goal, he wouldn't have been able to live in this world that had a warped society.

Externally, it looked quite similar to his past life but, on closer inspection—after he had become a Line Controller—he could gain some insight into the undercurrents. Their society was based on the parasites; as a result, it brought about many negative impacts.

If given a choice, he wouldn't want to live in such a world, despite the possibility of gaining superhuman powers, something he fantasised about in his previous life. He knew the price one paid to gain such powers, having to deal with a parasite living inside their body, and the mental state they were subjected to 24x7 as a result.

'I will save my sister!' Jyorta opened his eyes, looking determined, having formulated a concise plan. He swerved his head, making eye contact with Atika Light.

"Ma'am, can I get some Tier 1 Frenzy Beasts? I want the ones that are alive." Jyorta made his request, his tone firm. His mind whirred in thought, having overlaid the false persona—one of calm, optimism, and filled with focus—on the blue face in his soul.

He considered the situation from Atika Light's point of view. After listening in on the conversations between members of the Grapple Force, thanks to his Soul Cornea, he had gained many insights.

Atika Light headed the Grapple Force; it was equivalent to a private force under her, comprising of the elites from Marble City. As someone who had taken part in the creation of numerous Unranked Skills, Traits, Artifacts, Relics, etc. her influence in Marble City was tremendous, almost equivalent to the Ancestors.

Moreover, her influence was significant even in other cities. There were many occasions where she had been invited to Dawn City and Reef City, her services requested to further their research and development in the respective places.

The Unranked Skills that had gone through her hands numbered in the two digits, showcasing her achievements, outclassed by none. Moreover, her battle strength was quite significant, at the top tier below the Ancestors.

Even though she had consumed a Cleansement Fruit long ago, putting a stop to her cultivation journey, she had recovered her peak strength thanks to two Traits: the Trait of Growth, and the Trait of Severability.

Moreover, the two Traits she possessed were upgraded versions, with their effects equivalent to Tier 5 Skills. If not for the fact that their production cost was many times that of normal, she would have disclosed the formula for the production method of the upgraded version to the Ancestors.

Even then, she had discussed the pros and cons with her son, Rhachis Ancestor Strongest before making a decision.

Grapple Force had two reasons for existence: one, to nurture Warriors capable of inheriting her Tier 4 and 5 Skills; two, to accomplish certain tasks that would help Rhachis Ancestor Strongest in his cultivation journey.

Atika Light gazed at Jyorta, having long activated her Tier 4 Skill to keep track of the situation, "It will take some time; I'll make the arrangements. At most, you will receive them by tomorrow morning."

"Thank you, ma'am." Jyorta bowed, feeling the subtle sensation that he had to bow every time to express his thanks. Having gotten a glimpse of the other party's glamorous achievements, the gaze he directed at her was filled with a sense of worship.

As someone who still wished to dive into the field of research, someone who stood at the apex of this field was his target of admiration, his goal to claim one fine day.

Two tendrils of blood seeped out through his nostrils, coagulating into a sphere before his face, forming a crack in the middle, creating two hemispheres. The two hemispheres spun in opposite directions, unravelling a long cylindrical body, segmented into six.

A pair of antennae grew at the peak of the first segment, gently wriggling in place. A pair of arms formed in the second segment, bereft of the wine glass and cigar this time. The face—similar to athird-rate gangster, sporting a scowl filled with disdain—formed on the first segment, making Jyorta want to unconsciously slap it.

It landed on his right palm, supported on his thigh. It settled its body, taking a position of comfort, sensing for something as it wriggled its antennae. Unlike before, it was more pronounced this time, actuated by Jyorta's actions.

He had dumped the excess memory fragments obtained from the soul of Heima's Wisdom Parasite into his subsoul, watching it instigate numerous chain reactions. It fused with the available memory fragments, conjoining with the forming persona, creating a more pronounced personality, on the verge of fully forming.

The face of the Caterpillar morphed into agony, puffing its cheeks, looking on the verge of throwing up. It glanced at the rectangular box held in his left, expressing its aversion. Looking at the numerous Brain Crystals displayed through the opened lid, its face turned a darker shade of pink, creating a scene of its face becoming pale, forming slight contrast to its crimson body.

The blue soul overlaid the false persona—one of gluttony, focus, and filled with self-control—shaped into the curtain on the subsoul belonging to his Wisdom Parasite, subtly affecting its personality.

The Caterpillar's face reverted to its crimson shade; its puking expression disappeared, leaving behind one of calm, sporting a mild scowl. The Caterpillar gazed at the box filled with Brain Crystals, looking intent to consume them once again, showcasing great self-restraint.

Jyorta created his psychic arm, watching its length having recovered to 20 centimetres. He lifted his hands, bringing them within the range of his psychic arm, noticing two pillows appearing beneath them. Knowing that it was thanks to Atika Light, Jyorta rested his hands on the pillows, feeling the height perfect, the position of his hands situated just a centimetre within his psychic arm's range.

His psychic arm lifted a Brain Crystal from the rectangular box and dropped it in the arms of the Caterpillar. The moment the Caterpillar bit into the Brain Crystal, Jyorta felt a trace amount of energy gush into his body through the two blood tendrils.

The energy circulated through his body, attaching themselves to the blood vessels, finally absorbed into the tissues when they flowed into the brain, eventually finding their way to his Brain Crystal, filling it up.

After a matter of minutes, Jyorta felt his Brain crystal brimming with psychic energy, despite its quantity lower than before. It seemed his lowered Sync Rate also affected the quantity stored in his Brain Crystal.

Jyorta wasn't worried too much about the drop; he knew Atika Light would do something about it. Moreover, he knew about the Frenzy Fruits, ones that could raise his Sync Rate. So, he wasn't flustered; as long as a solution existed, he could think of ways to obtain it.

Also, he came to a preliminary conclusion, based on the conversations he had listened in through his Soul Cornea. Heima was valuable to Marble City, the only existence who could manipulate space.

When she reached Tier 5 in the future, Marble City would be able to make contact with the other cities once again, resuming their trade from when Rhachis Ancestor Space had been alive. Also, based on the memories she had inherited, and the added advantage of possessing an extra Skill, Heima had a shot at the peak, with the possibility greater than zero.

This alone made her a valuable existence; the importance attached to her outweighing most Transformers and Sky Controllers. After all, achieving Tier 6 wasn't an easy feat. Even Atika Light, possessing unrivalled capabilities failed to reach Tier 6.

'So, they wouldn't allow my sister to die. They must have a hidden agenda to summon me and leave my sister's fate in my hands. I only wonder when they will make a move, should they notice my inability.' Jyorta thought, showing no change in his actions.

Even if he could notice their intentions, he didn't have the leeway to plot. After all, the wager was his sister's life, pitting her grand future on the line; he didn't want to risk it for any reason.

'It is like I have a fate with passiveness.' Jyorta let out a deep breath, clearing his thoughts, rehearsing his plans once. Whether they made a move or not, he only had a single objective to achieve. That was all he wanted; that was all he cared.