The Record of Unusual Creatures

Chapter 78: A Colorful Universe

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The chamber’s door opened without as much as a whisper and the sudden burst of light dazed Hao Ren. It took him a good while to get up. He gave his head a good shake and realized that there were no major changes on his body. It was very similar to the first time he underwent a reconfiguration or enhancement. It only took a few moments to complete.

However, the living nightmare was so harrowing that just thinking about it sent chills down Hao Ren's spine.

Raven 12345 mucked around a crystalline interface which floated mid air. It looked like the central command console of the Bioenhacement and Reconfiguration Chambers. She had a thick manual laying by her side. Looking at the usually unreliable goddess who was pretty much operating the device on a trial and error basis, Hao Ren shuddered. He glanced at the other three chambers and asked curiously, "What's taking them so long?"

"Oh, I'm doing some physical checks," Raven 12345 answered without looking up. "The lil’ wolf pup is still growing, Y'zaks just came from a different world and Vivian has some issues controlling her strength... Problem children, all of them. This is a good chance for me to give them a good check. No worries, their signatures look normal. And oh, how are you feeling?"

Raven 12345 only looked up after finishing her sentence and she measured Hao Ren carefully. "Hmm... you look pretty good."

"I had a nightmare." Hao Ren could not even get mad at Raven 12345’s demeanor anymore and simply recounted his dream to her. "At the end, I saw something coming up to the surface and got violently woken up after that."

Raven 12345's hand suddenly stopped. She stared at Hao Ren silently. "I believe you should take every chance you have to train your mental fortitude in The Plane of Dreams. Your current mental strength is just too low and your psyche is problematic. You won't survive future encounters if you are to stay like this."

"What was that nightmare all about?" Hao Ren felt that Raven 12345 had this habit of not fully conveying what she actually meant. He had to press on with his questions, "I can see from your expression... that there's more to it."

"It's the effect of The Plane of Dreams." Raven 12345 casually looked at Hao Ren. "It will remember you after the first encounter and it will keep reappearing inside your head. It can be a dream or a mere illusion. What you see is the silhouette of the dream plane and reality reflecting off each other. Many who have entered The Plane of Dreams and survived, eventually succumb to the constant mental assault. Hence, you best work on training your mental fortitude while I'm still around. At least I can pull the breaks if anything goes wrong. Wait till you have a certain level of fortitude and The Plane of Dreams will be nothing but child's play."

Hao Ren violently slapped his forehead. Why did this Goddess have to go and ruin the nicety of what she had said earlier...

Raven 12345 continued to bury her face in the manual and she slowly manipulated the control panels of the Reconfiguration Chambers. Hao Ren was quite literally bored to death and went to sit in a corner of the room. He stared at the advanced thingamajigs which looked like they came out of a sci-fi flick. Seeing the rate at which Raven 12345 was working at, Hao Ren felt that he was probably going to be stuck there for a while. He then pulled out the MDT from his pocket to surf the net.

As lazy as Hao Ren was, he did not spend his past few days doing nothing. He still took improving himself rather seriously and realized that the MDT was one of his survival tools for future missions. Despite the system being way beyond his league, the data vault a mess, the abundance of bloatware, and an AI which saw him as a nuisance, the MDT was still a valuable tool. Hao Ren was still learning how to properly utilize the high tech toy fromXi Ling Empire. There was some progress after a few days; Hao Ren finally found that the device had access to around a dozen different internet networks.

Hao Ren felt like he should have known; the MDT's most important function was to connect to the aetherweb. It was a given that an item of such an advanced civilization would not come with just a single setting. The only issue was the liberty Raven 12345 took in filling the MDT up with a boatload of apps. This really cluttered up it's browser and made it hard to navigate. The MDT's AI had to reboot and recalibrate itself for the web module to function in tip-top shape. The list of networks that appeared on the screen stunned Hao Ren:

Local Settings Chain – Local Web Network – Local Galaxy Network – Local Celestial Group Network – Local Universe Network – Macroworld Civilian Network, Macroworld Military Channel – Specialized Channel Network – Centralized Military Channel Network....

Hao Ren suddenly realized that he was sitting on a treasure trove without knowing it. The array of networks and channels available on the MDT made him understand the true meaning of the phrase, 'You're not alone.' Thus, he eagerly fiddled with the listed networks.

Most of the networks were not available to him as he had expected. He was just a newbie; fresh of the boat with only a single mission under his belt. Such encrypted channels were clearly off limits to him. He could only access the Local Universe Network at will. That was the only channel he had full clearance to. The next one was the Macroworld Civilian Network. Civilians probably used it but it was directly monitored by the Space Administration. With smatterings of sensitive military information floating about in that channel, an agent with Hao Ren's level could only access a limited amount of information.

The ones he could read were open information from the top brass. He could not connect to the network directly.

Despite that, what he had was more that sufficient. He found that trying to comprehend things in the Local Galaxy Network was enough of a struggle. Plus, he was so bedazzled by the amount of stuff that was going on there to even bother with the other networks or channels.

As the MDT connected to the web, Hao Ren first saw an "Activity Report" window and he could see what was going on in the far corners of this galaxy.

"Unencrypted Report – Local Galaxy Network. Starting Point: Kerdula III. Repeating Broadcast towards Dan-Dwyn. The invasion of the Kerdulan main planet by the Kaer-Roms has ended. The Kerdulans won with their own martial might. The war did not exceed the observer's cordon as deemed by the local agent. No intervention required. PS: Please retract the application for intervention. Report Over."

"Unencrypted Report – Local Galaxy Network. Starting Point: Chattar. Non-specific Broadcast. The Chattarian Star is dying. Estimated date of destruction is 326 Imperial days from whence this report was sent. Medium alert event with the potential extinction of a civilization. Local agent gauged that intervention is required. Sending aid signal. The first available team to receive this report, please respond. Report Over."

"Unencrypted Report – Local Galaxy Network. Starting Point: Dan-Dwyn. From Satelite Base: Suharr to Chattar. Local Agent has idle shipping resources. Please advise if mass migration is required. The local system has no habitable colonies. Please apply for the creation of a new planet. The local Administrative area is able to provide verification and also the documents required for the creation of a new planet. If needed, please use the dedicated channel. Report Over."

"Unencrypted Report – Local Galaxy Network. Starting Point: Saint Sur IV. Non-specific Broadcast. Report Over."

"Unencrypted Report – Local Galaxy Network. Starting Point: Suharr Satelite Base. Direct broadcast towards Saint Sur IV. Did you forget the body of the report? Report Over."

"Unencrypted Report – Local Galaxy Network. Starting Point: Saint Sur IV. Non-specific Broadcast. That was my cat. Report Over."

A flood of messages like these poured through the activity window as Hao Ren turned on the MDT. The volume of messages really did wonders in pulling Hao Ren out of his myopic world view. Even though the messages were shortened bulletins, they still smacked Hao Ren right in the face. They showed the true scale of hustle and bustle that occurred throughout the entire universe.

It was only days ago when they appeared before him and Hao Ren's surprise was simply natural.

"I don't even understand smack...but, it does feel awesome." Hao Ren muttered as he swiped through the messages in the channel. He did not know how he could interject. Frankly speaking, at his level, he did not even need to go to the upper channels. Just being able to access it at all gave him a sense of accomplishment. "I may not be able to chat but, I still have a presence in this channel."

"Looks awesome right?"

"Yeah."

"Wanna join in?"

"Yeah."

"But you're not even sure if what you did is worth mentioning, right?"

"Er...eh? Are you done?"

Hao Ren slowly realized that the voice belonged yo Raven 12345. He quickly turned off the MDT and stood up to greet her. Raven 12345 just waved him off. "Oh, don't be so tense. Just treat it like you're chatting through the instant messenger at work. I'm not too bothered about it. Sides, it's good if you expose yourself to these things, broaden your perspective. It would be negligent of you to still remain a country bumpkin while being an agent. Just make sure you stay grounded and don’t let these toys fool you into believing that you’ll be godlike in a day. Oh, the wolf girl is the first to wake. Go have a look at her."

Hao Ren turned to look at one of the chamber pods and saw the doors opening with Lily clumsily climbing out of it.

She had reverted to her humanoid form.