Topics resource

api.php

Route::get('/topics', function() {
    return new TopicCollection(Topic::paginate());
})->name('topics');

Resources_Topic.php

<?php

namespace App\Http\Resources;

use Illuminate\Http\Resources\Json\Resource;

class Topic extends Resource
{
    /**
     * Transform the resource into an array.
     *
     * @param  \Illuminate\Http\Request
     * @return array
     */
    public function toArray($request)
    {
        $mime = getimagesizefromstring($this->picture)['mime'];
        
        return [
            'id' => $this->id,
            'name' => $this->name,
            'picture' => "data:{$mime};base64," . base64_encode($this->picture),
            'created_at' => $this->created_at,
            'updated_at' => $this->updated_at,
        ];
    }
}

Topic.php

<?php

namespace App;

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;

class Topic extends Model
{
    /**
     * Get the sentences for the topic.
     */
    public function sentences() {
        $this->hasMany('App\Sentences');
    }
}

TopicCollection.php

<?php

namespace App\Http\Resources;

use Illuminate\Http\Resources\Json\ResourceCollection;

class TopicCollection extends ResourceCollection
{
    /**
     * Transform the resource collection into an array.
     *
     * @param  \Illuminate\Http\Request
     * @return array
     */
    public function toArray($request)
    {
        return parent::toArray($request);
    }
}