The Record of Unusual Creatures

No one could have thought that at the end of the dark and gloomy passageway had such a magnificent altar nor did Hao Ren expect he would find the divine artifact of the Goddess of Creation here. The Solar Roulette was the Gilded Disc, which was a vital component of the Creation Engine.

The Gilded Disc on the altar depended on the mysterious magic force to float and rotate slowly in the air. The floor from the edge of the altar to the end of the hall was laid with beautiful and intricate patterns and reliefs, which depicted the scenes of the ancient times, including the images of Tannaeans and some old gods such as the Greek and Egyptian gods. The hall was built with a white jade and gold-like material inlaid. The luxurious surface had a brilliant glow to it, and the runes and golden patterns were pulsing like breathing with reach rotation of the Gilded Disc. Undoubtedly, there was some system running here.

The bright and splendid space almost had people forgetting the dark shadowy passageway, but the powerful negative energy that came out of the Gilded Disc was reminding the intruder of the danger of this place. Yes, it was negative energy. Despite there was a splendid suppression measure in place, the air was still filled with the same destructive atmosphere just like in the passageway. With just a glance, Hao Ren had noticed something was wrong with the Gilded Disc. Something had tainted it. A dirty dark substance was dripping down from the lower part of the disc into a groove at the bottom of the altar, and spreading through the Letta rune and magic circuit into all directions.

The black substance flowed down the altar and eroded the reliefs and runes in the hall, bit by bit. The pollutants seemed to be struggling with an opposing force but having the upper hand. The altar hall was filled with a fierce and turbulent atmosphere with two opposing forces clashing violently, which was invisible by the naked eye. Everyone could sense it except Vivian.

“What is this stuff?” Looking at the sewage-like substance that continually dripped from the disc onto the rune circle below, Hasse the veteran demon hunter had got goosebumps. “Is this material or something else?”

Hao Ren looked down at his arm, Raven 12345’s Motherf*cker Shield was still intact. This protective spell of the will of the true goddess was protecting them from the negative atmosphere. He was relieved. Plucking up his courage, he went up to the altar at the center of the hall.

“Be careful!” Vivian immediately warned him from behind.

Hao Ren took note and waved his hand. Stopping at half a meter in front of the altar, he took out the MDT and connected his mind to it. “Scan the energy flow of the disc.”

The MDT emitted a beam of blue light over the Gilded Disc, a visual from another perspective that came to his vision. He saw the Gilded Disc was shining like the sun, but there were obvious energy clashes on the lower part of the disc. Numerous tentacle-like tiny lines grew out of the sewage-like substance and crept onto the energy system of the Gilded Disc. The pollutants, which were incompatible with the disc, clung on the disc and competed with the energy system.

Perhaps both forces had tangled together for too long a time, they had almost fused and looked like a bunch of entangled roots at first glance.

“The black stuff is a foreign substance that taints the disc,” Hao Ren said of his discovery. “Maybe it has mutated over time; we had no way to know what it was originally.”

Hasse observed the runes and circles around the altar. Though those were magic alien to the demon hunters, as a senior demon hunter, Hasse had learned a thing or two about all the magic and mysteries of the world. “There’s a Letta magic, as well as some variants of the Egyptian gods. The entire hall is a three-dimensional magic circle that constantly purifies the black substance flowing out of the disc,” he said.

Vivian asked casually, “Does it work?”

“If it worked, the corruption wouldn’t be so bad,” Hasse said, pointing to the fluid on the altar. “The moment this substance overflew from the altar, the magic in the hall had failed. Now the runes are just barely maintaining themselves. The parts that cannot be purified flow out of the door and become the kind of destructive atmosphere we had felt before.”

“At the same time, it should have also turned into the Shades of Chaos,” Y’zaks said, scratching his jaw. “It seems that the Shades of Chaos and the atmosphere of destruction are only sub-variants. The thing flown down from the disc is the original pollutant.”

Hao Ren got to his feet, moving farther away from the altar. He looked at Vivian. “Can you sense the atmosphere leaking from the disc now?” he asked.

Vivian frowned and then shook her head apologetically. “I still feel nothing,” she said.

“What the hell is going on?” Hasse vaguely felt that Hao Ren might know something. “Why can’t she feel it?”

“Because she and the disc have a long historical connection,” Hao Ren said, but he could not reveal too much. “The key now is how to get rid of the black stuff.”

Y’zaks and Hasse stared spontaneously at Vivian; she could be the key to solving all the problems. At least she had demonstrated her immunity to the atmosphere of the Gilded Disc. Perhaps the ancient gods were only able to contain the shadows with the help of this ability of Vivian.

“What do you say if I touch it?” Vivian suggested. She was a bit shaky as all eyes were on her. “I can’t feel the danger of this thing, except that it looks disgusting.”

Hasse was stunned, his eyes swept back and forth between Hao Ren and Vivian. “Wait a second. Is this your plan?”

“We plan to think on our feet,” Hao Ren said, spreading his hand. “We were not able to foresee the situation; it was complicated inside here. But I’d not agree with Vivian’s plan. It’s too dangerous. It’s better for me to perform another Divine Blessing—”

Before Hao Ren finished, the MDT came out and poured cold water on his suggestion. “You’d better not. The power of the true Goddess is not funny. This space is not a real universe but an artificial dimension. It can’t stand a second Divine Blessing.”

Hao Ren had to abandon his idea, which he thought was simple and handy, and was struggling to come out with an alternative.

At this time, Vivian suddenly mumbled, “Must we seal it with the old method? How about thinking about something else?”

“Something else?” A thought came to his mind. Hao Ren looked around, and he had a plan. “I don’t know if it works if I put the Gilded Disc in the safe.”

“And then put it in your dimensional pocket?” Vivian was shocked by Hao Ren’s suggestion. “Really? Putting a bomb in your pocket? With the timer running some more?”

“That’s exactly why I have to keep it inside the safe,” Hao Ren said. He poked the MDT. “Please check what kind of safe could isolate the disc’s contaminant.”

Without nonsense, the MDT flew up to the side of the Gilded Disc and began to scan it carefully. At the same time, it used several energy fields to test the black contaminant that flew out of the disc. Hao Ren watched the MDT working, still wary that the pollutant was too potent, and he might not be able to contain it even with his inspector standard issue equipment.

As it turned out, the MDT came out with a piece of bad news. “Scan is completed. The existing storage containers are not guaranteed to work. The subject is divine; the contaminant also possesses the same level of strength, we need the security conditions at the CARS to safely contain it,” the MDT reported.

Hao Ren was stunned. “Well, I couldn’t bring the entire research station here, could I?”

“This thing is highly polluting and uncontrollable,” The MDT said helplessly. “Not to mention that it has a divinity, which is simply a malicious will of the great universe.”

“Can we simply suppress its divinity temporarily?” Y’zaks suggested. “Do you have any other highly divine stuff with you? The goddess must have given you a lot of things, I reckon.”

Hao Ren immediately rummaged in his dimensional pocket. First, he found his precious apple box, but it was not very useful. He looked for something else: a noodle plastic bowl he took from Raven 12345; a pair of disposable chopsticks that came with the plastic bowl; two bricks, which Lily had forgotten that she stole from the garden in the goddess’ mansion and Hao Ren’s custody; a pen, which Hao Ren had even forgotten when he got this, but this pen did possess the power of Raven 12345, of which the most divine part was the bite marks on the cap.

Hao Ren looked at the stuff he took out, baffled. “Do all these even help?”

“Though these things are divine artifacts, I wonder if you were a scavenger before becoming an inspector.” The MDT was nothing but amazed. “But these things are not suitable.”

Hao Ren thought for a while; if he were to hang those plastic bowls, disposable chopsticks, pen, bricks and the like on the Gilded Disc and it worked, it would be too painfully embarrassed and awkward.

He had been painfully embarrassed enough for the past two weeks carrying the ‘Motherf***ker Divine Shield’ with him.

When it looked like all hope was lost, the last item coming out of the dimensional pocket was surprisingly useful.

It was none other than the thing that opened him to the life of living on the edge: the labor contract!