Chapter 1 One of the Most Remote Regions

The universe where Izhaks's hometown was located was one of the most remote regions within the empire. In fact, due to a large-scale expansion ten thousand years ago, these barren "reserved lands" that had basically not been developed accounted for a large portion of the empire's territory. These "reserved lands" only had the most basic sovereign facilities and monitoring outposts, and Izhaks's hometown didn't even have a World Gate.

Hao Ren's planned itinerary was a one-way teleportation, with a return by navigation. That is, they would "launch" from the World Gate of this universe when departing, and then slowly fly back using the void engine of the Petrified Turtle Rock, which was the best solution he found after studying the activation rules of the World Gate. This would save a lot of time when departing.

The spaceship quickly arrived at the magnificent teleportation gate located in the depths of the universe. It was as glorious and magnificent as ever, awe-inspiring, and the fleets of various civilizations shuttling near the World Gate seemed to be as busy as ever. Only here could one realize how incredible vitality and diverse civilizations were hidden in the seemingly empty and silent space. It was Lanina's first time seeing the World Gate, and she was immediately frightened speechless by this incredible building that was larger than a planet. Watching the spaceship slowly approach that hazy curtain of light, the succubus girl's tail subconsciously tied itself into a knot: a sign of nervousness.

"The World Gate didn't have a one-way 'launch' function ten thousand years ago," the data terminal said, stuck on the console, while popularizing knowledge for everyone. "The World Gates at that time had to be built in pairs, serving as the transmitting end and the receiving end. However, the function of one-way throwing was later developed, and the World Gate could be used as a 'dispatch slingshot.' This machine has submitted the coordinates to the management host of the World Gate, and it will directly launch us to the vicinity of the destination. Of course, we have to use ordinary navigation to return."

Hao Ren thought for a while: "Will this cause problems? What if a civilian ship without a void engine accidentally enters the one-way launch window? Wouldn't it be unable to return?"

"What do you think the sovereign hub of each world is for?" The data terminal seemed to think this question was naive. "One function of the sovereign hub is to monitor the data entry and exit of each world, just like the world management terminal used by the Protoss. It's to prevent people from crossing the border. Anyone who crosses the world barrier will be scanned and registered, and illegal entry will be directly teleported back. Of course, there are also very occasional cases of missed inspections, but those are very small-scale data packets, about the data volume of a human being. The 'transcendents' you generally refer to are basically in this situation."

Lanina didn't listen to these strange knowledge that she couldn't understand at all. She just stared at the magnificent light curtain that was getting closer and closer, and was already so huge that she couldn't see the edge. After discovering that the real size of the door in front of her couldn't be measured by sight, she finally believed that Raven 12345 and Hao Ren were reliable. At this time, the succubus girl couldn't help but ask: "Was this door also made by your goddess?!"

Her voice was trembling.

Hao Ren confirmed the state of the spaceship while answering without turning his head: "It wasn't made by her, but she's in charge of it."

Lanina took a deep breath: "Since she's so powerful... why doesn't she renovate her own house?"

Hao Ren couldn't understand it, and turned to look at Izhaks: "Old Wang, is there something wrong with your education method? Why is this girl always fixated on the issue of renovating the house?"

Izhaks covered his face: "Okay, just mind your own business—anyone with a normal brain would have similar thoughts when they see your house and this door."

Hao Ren shrugged and looked at the holographic projection one last time: "Everyone hold on tight, next stop—this is a one-way launch, and it's said that there will be a little vibration!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the Petrified Turtle Rock rushed into the boundless and magnificent light curtain with an indomitable momentum, leaving only ripples in the space that gradually dissipated.

After swaying for an unknown amount of time, everything finally gradually stabilized. Lily crawled out from under the chair and tugged at Hao Ren's pants: "Landlord, you said there would be a little vibration? You call that a little vibration?!"

Hao Ren got up dizzily, and after confirming that the spaceship had arrived safely, he reached out and pulled Lily up. He found that everyone around him was basically getting up from the ground, except for Izhaks: this guy was too big and was almost stuck in the chair, and the vibration didn't shake him out.

Hao Ren slapped the data terminal: "Why was the movement so big! Is that how one-way launches are?"

"Nonsense, did you think one-way launch is a package tour?" The data terminal vibrated on the console. "Only the military or imperial civil servants like you can use the one-way teleportation function, and ordinary races can't use it. And the biggest characteristic of those who can afford imperial standard equipment is that they are durable, who would consider comfort... Come help me, this machine is stuck..."

Hao Ren took out a chopstick and pried the data terminal out of the slot, while looking at the external view from the holographic projection: "Are we there?"

The spaceship was now hovering in a chaotic, dark red cloud of gas. This cloud of gas felt like a cloud of red smoke that never dissipated, filled with dim light, and it was impossible to see where the light source was. Hao Ren asked the external monitor to take pictures of the surroundings of the spaceship, and found no sun or any similar bright celestial bodies, but vaguely found undulating scenery similar to the earth and mountains in the red cloud.

Izhaks looked at the surrounding environment and quickly made a judgment: "We may be inside the Helm's Smoke Column. This is indeed a safe entry point, no one would open a space gate in this place."

Then he pointed to a certain direction in the red smoke: "Fly over there."

Hao Ren confirmed that there were no abnormal reactions around the Petrified Turtle Rock, and asked the data terminal to drive the spaceship out of this smoke area.

The turbid and dense red smoke pressed down layer by layer like substance, and soon became thinner. The spaceship penetrated a large cloud and finally left the area called "Helm's Smoke Column", and the field of vision in front of them suddenly widened.

An ominous dark red land was expanding in front of them, as unsettling as if it had been soaked in blood. No green vegetation could be seen on the dark red land, and strange, alien "plants" grew on the rugged and uneven primitive landforms that made people almost dare not confirm whether they were plants. On the distant horizon, mountains could be seen rising and falling, but whether it was mountains or plains, they all had the same monotonous and unpleasant color.

On the distant mountains, some bright lines could be seen winding and flowing. Hao Ren zoomed in on the lens and was shocked to find that they were actually lava waterfalls!

Above this land, the chaotic sky also had a depressing red color. Dense clouds rolled in the sky, as if endless seas of fire were burning behind the clouds. From time to time, a flash of light would streak across the distant sky, like thunder, or like a falling meteorite igniting the atmosphere.

"What the heck..." Hao Ren looked at the hellish landscape in front of him, which didn't seem suitable for survival no matter how he looked at it. "The living environment in your hometown is challenging the limits."

Izhaks looked at the scene and nodded with nostalgia: "Hey, I finally see the scenery of my hometown again..."

Hao Ren clicked his tongue: "I should have thrown you on Mars for a few days to experience life."

Izhaks retorted seriously: "No, it's too cold on Mars, it's warmer in my hometown..."

Hao Ren asked the spaceship to find a suitable landing spot on the vast plain, and at the same time turned the external monitor to the back of the spaceship to see what the Helm's Smoke Column was. What he saw was a magnificent smoke wall like a cliff hanging from the sky, with boundless dust and fog spreading out, making it impossible to see the full picture of the "smoke column". He had the spaceship run forward for hundreds of kilometers before he finally saw the appearance of the smoke column: it was a column of gas rising from a crater of immeasurable size on the earth, rising straight into the sky in a strange way, with no signs of diffusion at all, really like a smooth pillar supporting the sky.

This spectacular scene stunned everyone!

Hao Ren finally substantively understood one thing: he was standing on the devil's territory, and he had to be careful everywhere next—the creatures that could live and jump around in such extreme environments and still have the leisure to play world wars every day were definitely not vegetarians!