Chapter 1 The Culprit

Hao Ren tossed the armor plate covered in runes back onto the wreckage of the “Lobster Fighter.” He planned to take the entire wreck back with him later to analyze its structure. He climbed to the edge of the large hole Lily had dug earlier and peered inside. He saw a flash of a silvery-white tail amidst the twisted and broken metal. Lily was still busy inside. “Need any help? Find anything?”

“Yeah! I’m trying to drag this guy out,” Lily shouted from within. “Landlord, don’t come in. It’s too narrow here, not enough room to move—stand back, I’m coming out!”

Lily seemed to have found the pilot’s location. Hao Ren quickly moved away from the hole so the husky girl could crawl out. A moment later, he first saw a body in a sky-blue uniform being pushed out of the hole, followed by Lily’s head appearing below the corpse. “Give me a hand. I can’t get a good footing in here.”

Before Hao Ren could move, a huge hand descended from the sky. Muru picked up the body like a small insect and casually tossed it to the ground. His thunderous voice was filled with gritted teeth. “Good riddance!”

Hao Ren walked toward the corpse while waving vigorously at Muru. “I understand how you feel, but please resist the urge to spit on this guy. I still need to perform an autopsy.”

Lily stepped forward and straightened the corpse, joining Hao Ren in curiously examining the pilot’s appearance. This was the first time they had seen a “Rebel” in person.

Hao Ren never imagined he would see a Rebel in this situation, the culprit behind the disaster in the Dream Plane, the arrogant race that dared to slay gods. The wondrous effects of time distortion had granted him this incredible opportunity to see a Rebel soldier who had just died, perhaps only a few minutes ago.

He had imagined what this race would look like. He thought they might be as tall and strong as the Guardian Giants, with the demonic aura of Izhaks, or perhaps even possess a hint of transcendent divine pressure due to stealing the power of the gods. But all these guesses were wrong. Before him was a being who looked similar to a human in size and appearance, with slightly pale golden skin and slender limbs, but not particularly tall.

However, this soldier still had some unusual characteristics: his physique was extremely symmetrical, his limbs were slender and strong, and there was nothing uncoordinated about him. His appearance was as if it had been custom-made in a factory, without any flaws. Every line on his face was almost perfectly symmetrical and soft, and his pale golden skin and slightly curly golden hair seemed to exist to complement this. Despite being just an ordinary soldier, this “Rebel” was as handsome as a war god from a painting. In terms of appearance alone, he was almost “perfect,” at least according to human aesthetics.

Hao Ren couldn’t help but murmur to himself, “If you’re this handsome, why even fight? You could swipe your face on the card and travel the universe.”

Lily poked the corpse’s face with her paw. “He’s alright… but too skinny. Doesn’t look like he has much meat on him. I like ‘em meaty.”

This husky’s preferences were truly simple and crude—Hao Ren couldn’t imagine whether the word “meaty” was based on aesthetics or appetite…

“They wanted to become gods. This idea was so strong that it distorted their words and actions,” Muru said, squatting down, his voice filled with mockery. “They modified their bodies, adjusted their genes, and established all sorts of strange rituals and standards, all to better match the image of a ‘perfect being’ in their culture. This made them feel closer to the gods. But initially, these pretentious actions didn’t alert the Guardians. At that time, we just thought these guys were a bit stupid… The Guardians’ worldview differed from that of most Secondborn, causing us not to realize the deeper meaning behind these rebellious actions.”

“You guys were indeed slow to notice,” Hao Ren shook his head and sighed. “On Earth, a few hundred years ago, ordinary people painting their house yellow was considered rebellious, let alone these guys who were clearly trying to get plastic surgery to look like gods.”

Lily tilted her head and glanced at Hao Ren. “Are these two things related?”

“When an ambitious guy starts imitating the life of someone above him, he’s preparing to rebel,” Hao Ren chuckled and placed the data terminal on the Rebel’s chest. “Check his physiological structure.”

The data terminal emitted a faint blue light and scanned the target. “It’s a branch of the standard human template. High degree of evolution, with multiple genetic modification traces. Multiple implants and reinforced structures within the body, resulting in extremely high physical strength, almost on par with a werewolf. Also, based on the residual energy traces in the muscles, this being should have had strong energy manipulation abilities during its lifetime, and should have been skilled in the use of supernatural powers.”

“What about divinity?”

“Of course not. They only stole the knowledge of the gods, but didn’t find the right way to become gods at all,” the data terminal floated back to Hao Ren’s shoulder. “They only have power, but haven’t touched the essence. In the end, they’re just powerful barbaric creatures.”

“It’s a pity that these barbaric creatures almost destroyed the order of this universe,” Izhaks lamented as a spark fell beside Hao Ren.

Hao Ren collected the corpse and the wreckage of the “Lobster Fighter” into his personal space. “Detailed analysis will have to wait until we transport these things back to the space station. Then we’ll go to… Hmm? Muru, what’s wrong?”

He looked curiously at the giant beside him, who was now looking up at the direction of the Holy Temple, his face filled with thought and confusion.

“I sense the aura of my kin over there,” Muru said, suddenly taking off towards the back door of the Holy Temple. “And they’re still alive!”

Seeing this situation, Hao Ren didn’t have time to ask for details. He quickly led the others to follow behind. However, Muru was a giant tens of meters tall. The speed at which he ran was unbelievable. Izhaks, at his current size, didn’t have much trouble keeping up, but Lily and Hao Ren’s short legs were struggling. So Lily howled after running a few steps, followed by a surge of wind and turbulent air. The girl transformed into her husky form in the blink of an eye, and tore off, shaking the ground with her four paws.

At the last moment, Hao Ren quickly grabbed a tuft of fur on Lily’s tail. After being flung around, he finally managed to climb onto her back. “Damn it… can you give me a warning when you transform? One paw almost killed me!”

Lily: “Awoo? Woof woof!”

Let’s just assume she understood.

The magnificent Holy Temple was incredibly huge, with one side spanning kilometers, a size befitting the creations of the “Giant” race. Hao Ren and his group went around the Holy Temple from the front to the back, rushing along the way. As they were traveling, a thunderous roar suddenly came from behind the Holy Temple, and at the same time, a blinding white light shone from that direction.

After that, there were several continuous flashes and explosions. The back of the Holy Temple seemed to be a lightning storm. Izhaks shouted, “Someone is fighting!”

They rushed past the last corner and finally saw the situation at the back door of the temple.

A powerful storm was brewing in the sky. Countless lightning bolts and white ball lightning collided and annihilated in the air. A dozen “humans” wearing golden-red armor were flying in the air, attacking the gate of the Holy Temple. These attackers had bright armor, were full of vigor, and looked imposing. Their armor was red with golden patterns, and it was covered with endless radiance, making the armor's wearers appear as magnificent as gods in Greek sculptures.

Accompanied by shouts and the sound of thunder exploding, these people flying in the air were constantly bombarding the Holy Temple with powerful magic or lances that could unleash lightning.

And the only guardian of the Holy Temple was a giant with a furious expression.

The Guardian's robe was tattered, and the black armor underneath was covered in scorch marks. He wielded a staff filled with lightning, which, like the weapon Muru once used, was both a spear and could unleash powerful plasma pulses. The guardian was very brave. He didn't retreat half a step in the face of the enemy's barrage of magic and artillery fire, but he was still at a disadvantage.

A single Rebel could not defeat a Guardian Giant, but the number of combatants at the scene differed by more than ten times.