Chapter 1 An Enduring Peace

No matter how tragic and terrifying the disaster that occurred here ten thousand years ago, no matter what chaotic power once enveloped this planet, it had now become a place of eternal tranquility—at least for the native life of this planet.

After resetting the entire ecosystem, the Progenitor seemed to wither away as if fulfilling its mission. Hao Ren didn't know if this "withering" was a pre-programmed process, which would require finding a third planet that had been corrupted by the Progenitor to confirm. But at least on Tanagoth, the Progenitor had transformed into ruins that stretched across the entire planet, nourishing the Third Age ecosystem with its nutrient-rich and primal-energy-filled body. Its powerful soul energy dissipated as its physical body withered. Hao Ren used his newly acquired soul vision to observe the sky, finding no residual spiritual power of the Progenitor.

On this scarred and slowly recovering planet, only the electromagnetic waves of the Wrathful Spirits drifted aimlessly. The ancient, self-less wandering souls would only occasionally recall the once-glorious Tanagoth civilization in their sleep-talking. These Wrathful Spirits only became violent when outsiders invaded the planet, or when they themselves were transported to the real world through ancient space-time fissures. However, here, as long as no one disturbed them, they were unbelievably calm.

"The Wrathful Spirits are a kind of scrambled code, a chaotic electromagnetic wave that contains a massive amount of data. If we build enough 'broadcasting' towers on this planet, it might be possible to re-channel these chaotic energies," Hao Ren said, leading the group away from the ruins of the city hall, standing on a small rise nearby, looking at the distant mountains. "This would solve the problem of the Wrathful Spirits at its root. Terminal, do we have similar equipment?"

"Looks like you've been doing a good job with the basic work lately. You can even proactively think of these measures," the data terminal rarely praised Hao Ren directly. "There's no directly usable equipment, but the Giant Tortoise Rock Terrace's research and development mainframe should be able to design this kind of energy tower. It only needs a few ultra-high-power filter coils and a suitable calculation device. The ship's synthesis factory and autonomous machinery can handle the production and installation work."

Lili wagged her tail: "Then will these Wrathful Spirits turn back into Tanagoth people?"

"No, the Tanagoth people are extinct. We can only let those Wrathful Spirits turn back into harmless energy, returning to nature," Hao Ren shook his head, then turned to instruct the terminal, "You go arrange the manufacture and installation of the related equipment. You command the ship's factory for this period."

The data terminal smacked against Hao Ren's shoulder: "As if you ever commanded it."

Hao Ren: "... I finally get to be serious for once, can't you let me quietly show off?"

"We still haven't figured out how the space-time fissure connects to Earth," Vivian suddenly recalled something. "Based on the Tanagoth's technological capabilities, they shouldn't be able to break through the Wall of Reality, right?"

"That kind of space-time gate was originally a short-distance portal used on the surface of the planet, so in theory the power would be small," Hao Ren nodded. "It's possible that the Progenitor's activities caused these portals to mutate, but in any case, the mutated portals are still controlled by the Resonance Stone. Anyway, when we encounter a problem that can't be explained, we just blame it on the Progenitor."

Becky looked at Hao Ren and then at Vivian, confirming that they had finished discussing serious matters before weakly raising her hand: "Um, can I interrupt?"

Hao Ren and Vivian said in unison: "Speak!"

"We've already done the things that the protagonist team should do, like grave robbing and saving the world. Now can we discuss the issue of sending me home?" Becky rubbed her hands, her eyes gradually gleaming with golden light. "Hehe... you promised to send me home once you found a stable portal! Aren't we in the Dream Plane now? We don't have to worry about the temporary residence permit only being valid for half a month! You guys hurry up and find a way to send me home—I still have a large estate that I haven't had time to claim!"

Only then did Hao Ren remember that there was still the matter of Becky that hadn't been resolved. He patted his forehead in realization, then looked at the mercenary girl with a strange expression: "I really didn't expect it... to be able to send you back so soon. It feels so unreal."

"Don't think that just because this lady is naturally beautiful, you don't want to send me back," Becky quickly put on a stern face when she saw Hao Ren's expression. "You promised to cover the round-trip expenses..."

Hao Ren immediately glared: "Am I a person who goes back on his word?! Terminal, check how far Holleta is from here."

It wasn't that he suddenly decided to send Becky back quickly, but rather that he realized that the source of all Progenitors—the secret of the Creation Goddess—had to be uncovered as soon as possible, and without a doubt, the Radiant Church of Holleta should have some clues. In addition, there were still two slumbering Progenitors there that needed to be dealt with. He had to make a trip there anyway, and it would be best to take this opportunity to get everything done.

"Alright," the data terminal shone brightly. "But wait a moment, when this unit left coordinates in Holleta, it was still affected by the information interference of the Surface World, which is different from the current state of being completely in the Dream Plane. This unit needs to convert the two mapping relationships. You guys wait a moment."

Becky was so excited at the thought that her estate and noble title were already within reach, that she seemed to have been injected with twenty pounds of chicken blood. But after having experienced the impact of the Golden Capital, she didn't jump around in circles. Instead, she mumbled to herself about making a fortune, becoming famous, being on the headlines, not having to worry about temporary residence permits, and so on...

Anyway, Hao Ren watched from the side with amazement. He wondered if Becky would need a few days to adapt when she really went home—did this girl still have a trace of her original country bumpkin aura? She was using words like "temporary residence permit", "headlines", and "charter ticket" without thinking. If she went back to Holleta, people might think she had injured her brain while exploring the ruins and send her to a mental hospital...

The data terminal quickly finished converting the real relative position between Becky's hometown and the planet Tanagoth. It whistled and flew to the top of Hao Ren's head: "Are we teleporting or taking the spaceship? If we take the spaceship, we can see the scenery along the way and discover other planets by the way. Teleporting saves time."

Hao Ren pursed his lips, gesturing towards the Becky who was already going crazy not far away: "In this situation, if we take the spaceship, I'm worried she'll chop up the control panel."

"Alright, then let's tele..."

"Wait," Hao Ren suddenly remembered something, and quickly stopped the data terminal, "I still have to prepare for the future."

Hao Ren led a group of confused companions and quickly ran to the entrance where they had entered this world, which was next to the space-time fissure leading to the basement of the Andre Grand Castle. He looked at the bare plaza around him, and then took out a set of teleportation devices from his personal space: the same model used in his own basement. He summoned a few autonomous machines to install the device next to the space-time fissure, and then set up a simple protective layer with a beam barrier around it, so that the entire space-time fissure and teleporter would be covered, and wild animals wouldn't run in—if there were any.

"This is a simple little stronghold," Hao Ren clapped his hands in satisfaction, looking around the grand plaza. "If I have the chance in the future, I'll renovate the plaza and turn this into a base... at least turn it into a small station. This is the key gate from the Real World into the Dream Plane, and it should be properly constructed."

"You're addicted to civil engineering. You were planning to build an Icefrost Town on the Great Snow Plains before," Vivian clicked her tongue. "But that sounds pretty cool. Where is this teleporter going to connect to? Directly to home?"

"No, it's still a bit dangerous to use the teleporter to travel directly between the Surface World and the Dream Plane. This teleporter is for running around in the Dream Plane," Hao Ren said about his plan. "I plan to put the first corresponding end in Holleta. In the foreseeable future, we will be running back and forth in the Dream Plane frequently. In the future, every time we discover a new place, we will leave a teleporter, so that it will be much more convenient to move around. After all, the data terminal's teleportation efficiency is limited, and each teleportation isn't very comfortable."

Vivian seemed to hear something very long-term in Hao Ren's plan, and she looked at Hao Ren curiously: "Are you planning for the future?"

"I have a feeling," Hao Ren smiled, "Let's prepare more, it will be useful in the future... Many things can't be satisfied with the current makeshift situation. And to be honest, building houses is quite interesting..."

After leaving the teleportation device, Hao Ren patted the data terminal: "Let's go, let's give Marshal Ofra a surprise."