The Record of Unusual Creatures

On the bridge of the Petrachelys, Hao Ren and the goddess of creation were staring at each other in front of a box of books. Although they had reached a consensus that knowledge was power, for a wild goddess who had never been to school, it was hard to see how knowledge could be converted into power.

Hao Ren felt obligated to guide the goddess. He pointed at the box of books and said, “These are all textbooks compiled according to your specific situation. The Dark Valkyrie, your ‘mother’ I mean, left some reading notes inside. I suggest you start with ‘The Creatology’ because this is the foundation. And then ‘Spells of Destruction’ because what we need most now is combat ability. I have a study plan for you, here’s the schedule. Follow it. Of course, practice is as important as theory, so here are ten sets of experimental instructions. You can practice in the lab at the Crapple Research Station. If it’s something destructive, then find yourself a testing ground…”

When Hao Ren finally finished talking about her learning tasks, the goddess of creation straightened up, waved her fist and said, “I’m going to kill the Mad Lord now!”

“Avoiding education isn’t right,” Hao Ren said while he looked at the goddess without any expression. “Your mother’s known in the divine world as an excellent student and high achiever. You have her blood so you sure have a lot of potential. Have confidence in yourself…”

“I’ve never been through such a thing! Isn’t learning a step-by-step process?”

Hao Ren sighed. “Learning should be gradual, but the Mad Lord doesn’t care, and you know that better than I do. Plus, considering you would have a hard time dealing with all this academic pressure, my boss has allowed me to help you.”

“How can you help? Can I copy your homework?”

Hao Ren took out the “Meteor Hammer Bible” from his Dimensional Pocket and said, “This is a replica of the Dark Valkyrie’s weapon. My main task is to urge you to study—”

“Keep that thing away! Okay, okay, I’ll study hard!”

“You should have cooperated from the beginning.” Hao Ren smiled and put the Meteor Hammer away.

Rheia looked at Hao Ren with suspicion in her eyes. “So this thing was actually prepared for me at first, right? But due to the emergency, you used it to deal with the goddess of annihilation…”

“Ahem.” Hao Ren admitted in silence

After that, Rheia decided to devote herself to learning…

She knew very well that she had to improve her strength as soon as possible to deal with the Mad Lord, and those books of precious knowledge were her best aid.

After confirming that the goddess of creation had decided to devote herself to learning, Hao Ren changed the subject. “Actually, there’s another thing I want to tell you.”

“Huh? Is there anything else I need to do?”

“It’s about the Creation’s Engine.”

“The Creation’s Engine?” Rheia was relieved to hear that it was not about homework. “What happened to it?”

“In short, I need it.”

Rheia was even more confused by this. “Didn’t you say that my plan was so flawed that it was terminated? Why do you need the Creation’s Engine?”

“It’s useless in the way you initially set it up, but as a powerful artifact, it’s valuable.” Hao Ren waved his hand and explained, “We need to squeeze every ounce of strength to prepare for the coming battle. I know it was dragged into the Umbral Realm during the big explosion, but we can’t find it. Where did you hide it?”

Rheia then nodded. She smiled and said, “Of course you can’t find it because the Creation’s Engine isn’t in the Umbral Realm at all.”

“…What did you say?”

However, Rheia mentioned something else, “I heard that the Solenne Galaxy has appeared in the material world?”

Hao Ren nodded, although he had no idea why she suddenly mentioned this. “Well, it came out of nowhere two years ago, and it was at the Gate of Solenne that we found Lemendusa and Heve. We do suspect that the Creation’s Engine pulled the galaxy out of the Umbral Realm, but the process—”

“The Creation’s Engine is in Solenne,” Rheia interrupted.

“That’s impossible! We searched the entire Solenne Galaxy, including the core of every star! With thousands of probes still scanning that area day and night, how can we not detect the Creation’s Engine?”

“Conventional detection methods are useless because the Creation’s Engine is not ‘somewhere’ in the Solenne Galaxy, but in ‘itself’.” Rheia blinked. “Well, I’m afraid it’ll be difficult to explain it in detail because I haven’t been to school, and I don’t know how to put it in technical terms…”

“There’s no need to explain, just get that engine out,” Hao Ren said. Then, he ordered, “Nolan, get ready, target the foundry at the Gate of Solenne. We—”

“We don’t need to go there,” Rheia interrupted. “Didn’t you say there were lots of probes in the Solenne Galaxy? So you should be able to transmit images of the entire galaxy, correct? Detailed and precise.”

Hao Ren summed up the number and quality of the probes he left behind. He found nothing wrong and nodded. “Nolan, connect to the real-time monitoring data stream over there.”

“Then, find a place where we can look out into space,” Rheia continued.

Hao Ren thought for a moment and said, “Well, there’s an observation deck on the top floor. We can open it up and look out into space. Is that enough?”

“That’s great!” Rheia smiled and said.

They left the bridge and headed for the observation deck. When they arrived, they saw that the area was already occupied. Lily, Nangong Wuyue, and Rollie were each holding a soft drink, looking at the stars.

Hao Ren thought that the three girls had gone there to watch the stars and discuss poems, but as he got closer, he realized that was not the case. Lily was there, biting her straw and boasting about her powers. “Right then, we were equal in strength. To overcome one’s self is the most difficult thing in the world. You know, I don’t necessarily win fights, but I’ve never lost a fight…”

“Yes.”

“Right.” Nangong Wuyue and Rollie listened to her and nodded.

They all instantly jumped up with embarrassed smiles on their faces once they noticed Hao Ren standing behind them. Hao Ren just waved and said, “I didn’t hear anything.”

“Ahem…” Lily smiled awkwardly and noticed the goddess of creation standing next to Hao Ren. “What are you two doing here?”

“I don’t know,” said Hao Ren, pointing at Rheia. “I’m waiting for her to demonstrate.”

“Transmit the real-time image of the Solenne Galaxy and project it to… this position. I need the angle to be at xxx-xxx-xxx,” Rheia said directly.

Holographic projections could be generated anywhere inside the Petrachelys, so the real-time image of the Solenne Galaxy immediately appeared in front of them. At Rheia’s request, behind the projection was a vast expanse of space.

Rheia was looking at the projection. Suddenly, something changed in one of her eyes. Her eye gradually turned a cloudy gray, and golden light twinkled in her eyes. “Maintain this projection and transmit another real-time image. I need the angle to be at xxx…

“Keep the two projections and switch the angle to…

“Switch the angle to…

“Superimpose all the images, then work out how the galaxy will change over the next 200 years based on the current time, highlighting the orbits of all the stars.

“Now, highlight the orbits of all the planets and continue to move 200 years back…”

The golden light in Rheia’s eyes began to disperse, and they were projected onto the holographic projections in the air. Hao Ren felt the space outside the Petrachelys distorting, and something that did not exist gradually emerged.

“Good, all the images are in place. Now invert all the images.”

The holographic projections of the Solenne Galaxy were superimposed, interfered and deformed in a series of complex changes. At first, it seemed to become a mess of lines, but gradually, a sphere with a complicated structure but subtle sense of regularity appeared at the center of the picture. When the goddess of creation ordered all images to be reversed, everybody gasped.

All the images were put together into something completely new. That was the blueprint of the Creation’s Engine! And that was the missing part of the core blueprint Hao Ren needed!

Rheia blinked, and her eyes returned to normal. Soon after, the holographic projection floating in the air slowly dispersed. Outside the spaceship, however, in the area previously covered by the holographic projection, a huge pale-gold complex structure appeared and was slowly moving under the power of the divine.

“How can something so important be seen by anyone?” Rheia turned around with a sly smile on her face. “I keep it in one line of sight, which can only be discovered from a particular angle and order.”

Hao Ren gulped. “You made the code so complicated… If you were really dead, who would find the engine?”

“That’s one of Vivian’s tasks,” Rheia said, shaking her head. “Why do you think the Gate of Solenne suddenly broke away from the Umbral Realm and appeared in the real world? That was a signal for Vivian to pick up the goods… Nobody expected her to lose her memory.”

Hao Ren finally saw the light.

Rheia looked at the Creation’s Engine in the universe (which was technically the core of the engine) and said, “Years of hard work… It’s yours now.”

Hao Ren was about to say thanks but Rheia went on, “I knew it. You’re here for my inheritance!”

“Hey…”