The Sky Soldiers faithfully carried out humanity's orders, still striving to complete the tasks engraved in their data long after humanity had perished.
They had consumed nearly all the Relics left in the city, yet still had not found a Relic capable of saving humanity.
What were they supposed to do, then?
"Just create new Relics."
Just as humans bred other living creatures, they could breed Relics as well. The Sky Soldier central processor immediately came up with a solution to the shortage of Relics.
The underground hangar preserved the research achievements of an entire civilization. The humans of that civilization had possessed a deep understanding of Relics and had naturally researched how to create them.
However, because the technology was immature, it had been sealed away.
"Relic Hybridization Technology."
"Crossbreed two Relics with different traits to produce a new Relic individual."
"The new individual will display abilities and traits completely different from those of its predecessors."
It was difficult to imagine how the humans of this world had developed such a technology, because it was simply too bizarre.
No normal person would think that Relics could be crossbred, would they?
But after being corrupted by the Abyss, they were capable of anything.
The Relics used for crossbreeding had one requirement: they needed to possess self-awareness.
This was not much of a difficulty for the Sky Soldiers. The problem was that the Relic Descendants produced through hybridization needed a vessel—a vessel capable of growing—so that their ability traits could fully manifest.
The Relics used for crossbreeding already had vessels: a needle, a brush, a stone... These naturally occurring Relics were objects themselves. But newly born Relic individuals were different. They were created from nothing and needed something to carry their newborn Relic abilities.
Unlike their predecessors, the vessels of newborn