The Record of Unusual Creatures

Hao Ren knew that Raven 12345 was a serious and responsible superior although she appeared cranky at times.

He was not bluffing; he had noticed the dedication of the neurotic Goddess more than once. As unmethodical as Raven 12345 was in trivial matters, she had always been thoughtful when it came to serious business.

After seeing dozens split bodies of Vivian, Hao Ren realized that Raven 12345 had been on the trail of Vivian. The goddess wanted to find out the reason of the leakage of the Wall of Reality and the mass-crossing of otherworldlings, and at the same time, trying not to affect Vivian’s normal life as much as possible. She let Hao Ren and Vivian see the splits now probably because since Vivian had absorbed the ‘original split,’ she thought that the time was ripe.

Though Raven 12345 did not mention it, Hao Ren and Vivian had guessed that perhaps the absorption of the ‘original split’ was the ‘right time’ Raven 12345 said. The changes related to the split bodies had begun to happen, and this was probably the opportunity to unravel the mysteries of narcolepsy and life of Vivian permanently. That was why the Goddess had arranged for them to come and understand the secrets of the splits.

Before leaving, Hao Ren had Vivian waiting outside the mansion while he needed to talk to Raven 12345 alone. “Is there a change in Vivian’s situation?”

“It’s not a bad thing.” Raven 12345 did not give him a direct answer, but it confirmed Hao Ren’s suspicion. “Your report on the Plane of Dreams is precious, especially the readings you collected in Inferno have confirmed some of the measurements I made before. I’m afraid Vivian is probably an emergency system that the Goddess of Creation created for her kingdom. She probably messed up something when she created the system and caused Vivian to divide pieces of negative forces. I have been studying the connection between these split pieces, and have found that they are not completely chaotic and incorrigible.”

“You mean those ‘evil spirits’ could regain rationality?” Hao Ren wondered.

“That would be very unlikely. Some memories, maybe yes, but these memories must be readable,” Raven 12345 explained. “Every evil spirit is not completely crazy at the beginning of splitting, just like the original split you found in Inferno, they had a short sane period and a crucial memory. Do you know what memories are they?”

Hao Ren thought for a moment and suddenly realized the circumstances under which Vivian produced the splits. “The memories before and after Vivian slept. Are they the memories that Vivian has lost?”

“I am still not so sure what the relationship between these splits and Vivian’s memory is—shared senses or third-party perspective—but one thing is certain, they were active when Vivian lost her memory. They fill the memory gaps of Vivian and these memory gaps may reveal some secrets.” Raven 12345 said slowly. “Know why I suddenly let you come here to see the splits today?”

“Is it because something has happened after our exploration in the planet Inferno?”

Raven 12345 nodded gently. “Yes, I have been studying how to extract the memory of those split bodies, but their spiritual world is too chaotic and fragmented, I have made little progress. However, after Vivian ate the original split, the other splits began to change; their spiritual world seemed to have some signs of integration.”

Hao Ren began to make sense of it. “So you let Vivian meet the splits here.”

“It’s to observe their relationship,” said Raven frankly as she nodded. “There are indeed some changes. The mental synchronization and stability of the split bodies have improved; the same is true to Vivian’s soul. That’s what I mean it’s not a bad thing.”

Hao Ren’s brows knit together. “Those splits are things that represent the negative forces. Even if they could mend Vivian’s soul, I don’t think it’s a good idea to have close contact with these dangerous things.”

“That’s why I gave her the amulet before that.” Raven 12345 arced the corner of her mouth slightly. “I didn’t mean to let her absorb the splits directly; it’s too gross and raw. Instead, I will use a safer way to study the pieces. Meanwhile, you guys keep an eye on any new splits you may find out there. If the incident in the planet Inferno is anything to go by, the splits have not just fallen on the Earth, but also in somewhere out of our sights. Vivian is destined to have some connection with these things, they would be attracted to each other and coming together.”

Hao Ren acknowledged with an ‘Okay’ and then peered at Raven 12345 with suspicion. He felt that the Goddess was entirely different from the past; she was so patient and able to explain things to him meticulously though she still sounded offbeat occasionally.

Raven 12345 arced her eyebrows. “Why are you staring at me?”

“Aren’t managing the whole universe too much like hard work?” Hao Ren scratched his hair. “Still got time for this, eh?”

Raven 12345 spread out her hand. “This is called the right working attitude!”

After Hao Ren left, she pursed her lips and whispered to herself, “Probably you still don’t know; the matter has already become a top priority in this universe.”

Vivian waited outside the door for ages. She went up to Hao Ren immediately when he came out. “What did the Goddess told you?”

“Nothing unusual, just saying be careful with what you eat.” Hao Ren waved his hand. “The evil spirits are not safe. I’m worried the negative forces would harm you if you absorb too many of them although those things were used to be part of you.”

“This is not hers but your suggestion, isn’t it?” Vivian could sense the difference, but she could not care less. “I feel there is no change after absorbing the power of the evil spirits. Maybe the negative forces dissipated when I absorbed them. Since you say they’re not safe, then I won’t do it again.”

Hao Ren nodded. Suddenly, he felt a slippery little thing squirming on his chest, before seeing Lil Pea poking out from inside his cloak. The baby fish waved her small arm and greeted Vivian spiritedly and then showing off her new pendant hanging on her neck.

The interruption from the little mermaid had lightened the atmosphere. Hao Ren and Vivian smiled at each other. “Let’s go home and let them know about Lil Pea’s situation.”

The MDT opened the portal, and the two of them arrived home in just a split second. The Nangong family of four was trimming vegetables in the living hall when Hao Ren arrived. Nangong Wuyue got to her feet, came up and asked, “You’re back! How is Lil Pea?”

Hao Ren put the little mermaid on the coffee table. The little guy jumped into her pot and held up her new pendant showing off.

“Raven said it’s a normal physiological phenomenon.” Hao Ren recounted the words of Raven 12345. “There is nothing to worry about, and she will not lay an egg again before she reaches adulthood.”

“That’s good. That’s good.” Nangong Wuyue nodded embarrassedly. “The subject feels a little strange though.”

Hao Ren nodded in agreement. Meanwhile, Nangong Wudi watched Lily Pea for a while before turning around to ask his wife, “Should we give Lil Pea some supplement? After she has given… gosh, I don’t know what to say.”

“Oh, come on. Hens lay eggs now and then, should we also give it supplement?” Not waiting for Ayesha to speak, Nangong Wuyue chimed in to offer her piece of advice to her father with her arm akimbo. “What could Lil Pea eat even if she were to take a supplement? At most you would eat newspaper.”

Y’zaks was still reading the paper. He flipped to the last page and said, “Give me a while, I’m about to finish.”

Lil Pea stretched out her hands and said to Y’zaks, “Give it to me! Give it to me! I want to taste the sports section!”

The little guy had made quite an improvement in her language and logical thinking ability. She knew about the sports section!

The days went by peacefully. Hessiana and her sidekicks had already stayed like ten days though they said they would only stay for a couple of days. If it were not for the patriarch in the Athens sanctuary threatened to kill himself if Hessiana delayed coming back again, she would have remained here for another five hundred years. She was after all having businesses to take care. Therefore, she had to bid farewell for Vivian reluctantly, and after getting the assurance that she could still come again, she left with her two sidekicks. On the same day Hessiana left, Hao Ren received a message from an AI in Inferno.

The necessary infrastructure had been completed, and it was about time to call in the miners from Fairy Mining Conglomerate.