Chapter 1 The End

Actually, the moment the door to the abnormal space suddenly closed, Hao Ren knew his good luck had run out—and subsequent events proved this point: when he returned to the Kuiper Station and restarted the powerful scanning equipment, the solar system was silent.

The resonance signal of Gungnir was like a stone thrown into the sea, and its induction feedback waves could no longer be observed anywhere in the solar system.

In the laboratory of the Kuiper Station, Hao Ren watched the Gungnir fragment slowly descend from the platform, the surrounding equipment ceasing operation with a gradually decreasing hum. After checking all the data, the data terminal announced that the abnormal space had left the solar system.

"Slight spatial folds were detected at the edge of the Oort cloud, probably remnants left by Yggdrasil when it left, but this trace disappeared after leaving the solar system. Its transfer speed was too fast, and the Kuiper Station's monitoring system lacked corresponding tracking methods. We lost it."

"The entire 'Nine Realms'... just ran off like that?" Even now, Hao Ren felt like the whole thing lacked a sense of reality. Such a vast, abnormal spatial structure had actually fled the solar system in a matter of seconds. The power required for that was unimaginable. "Any other tracking results?"

"Some unimportant, scattered data, but nothing helpful," the data terminal's voice was also regretful. "Currently, the only thing we can be sure of is that this 'transfer process' was conscious. When leaving the solar system, it deliberately avoided interference from massive celestial bodies and erased all traces beyond the Oort cloud. Combining the scenes observed inside the abnormal space earlier, we can assume this was Yggdrasil's active behavior. And Yggdrasil is very likely a mature First Born individual... or perhaps a mutated version."

Nolan's holographic image appeared in the laboratory. She was checking her energy system at the port, and her spare computing power was focused on Hao Ren's situation. After hearing the data terminal's statement, she chimed in: "Looks like those abnormal spaces weren't trapped in the solar system because of Jupiter's gravity field, but rather the controller of the abnormal space never intended to leave. Our series of actions just now probably stimulated that... Yggdrasil."

Hao Ren nodded slightly and stepped forward to put the Gungnir fragment back into his dimensional space: now that the Kuiper Station's antenna array couldn't find the resonance signal, there was no use keeping the fragment here. After putting the fragment away, he muttered thoughtfully, "I think Yggdrasil was 'scared away' by us."

Vivian agreed with this view: "I think so too. A First Born in a crazed state is very aggressive. Even at a disadvantage, it would attack recklessly. But Yggdrasil chose to run, which clearly shows it hasn't gone mad, and... uh, it's very timid."

Using "very timid" to describe a First Born was quite strange, and Vivian herself wore a wry smile when she said those words. Hao Ren looked at Vivian and remembered something: "Hey, by the way, weren't you very familiar with the Norse pantheon back then? Logically, you should have seen Yggdrasil. When we first saw the First Born, didn't you notice the similarity between the two?"

"Do you know how big Yggdrasil is?" Vivian spread her hands. "Back then, I didn't have the ability to go into space. I could only observe it up close. Odin and his family called that thing the 'World Tree' because no matter how they looked at it, they could only see a part of it—a sky-piercing tree trunk and vines. Nobody knew what its full appearance was. Plus, I haven't seen it in over two thousand years, and it doesn't look much like a normal First Born... so I didn't recognize it."

Actually, Hao Ren could understand even without Vivian explaining in such detail. After all, the First Born were too unique. Aside from the Goddess herself, it was practically the ultimate lifeform of the Plane of Dreams. Who would normally think that such a colossal behemoth would be blasted to Earth? Before meeting Mimir, Hao Ren hadn't even believed that a Guardian Giant could fall to Earth...

"What do we do now?" Izaaks asked Hao Ren about his next plan. "We've already lost it, and we don't know how far Yggdrasil's power can take the Nine Realms. The universe is so big. It'll be hard to find it by just renting antennas everywhere."

"Regarding this point, we still have a rough search range," the data terminal interjected. As it spoke, it opened a holographic projection, and the image showed a partial star chart of the Milky Way. "Although we couldn't track the exact drift path of the abnormal space, by analyzing the trace left at the edge of the Oort cloud, this unit initially determined that it will not leave... this area. This is the theoretical limit distance of its single jump. Of course, if it can jump continuously, that would be another story, but that possibility is very low. It requires unprecedentedly enormous energy, and this unit did not sense such strong energy fluctuations when Yggdrasil transferred. It can probably only jump once, which will consume the power it has accumulated over two thousand years."

"So, we need to search these areas..." Hao Ren observed the star chart while comparing it with the various pieces of information he had in mind. He was no longer the noob who would be baffled by the sight of the stars. Even when faced with such a complex star chart, he could analyze something. "Hmm, they're all within the management areas of other Inspectors. The few 'three-no-care zones' can be handled by requisitioning civilian equipment."

Vivian knew immediately that Hao Ren wanted to solve this problem himself. She was a little surprised: "You're not planning to discuss it with the Goddess?"

If it had been Hao Ren when he had just taken office, he would have definitely asked the Goddess for help with this kind of problem, but at this time, he nodded confidently: "I'm not without options. I've read a lot of cases and know what to do when we encounter similar situations—cross-regional cooperation and peer assistance. The Inspectors are an organization. I don't have to trouble the Goddess all the time."

"Handling your own projects yourself is the right thing to do," the data terminal rarely affirmed Hao Ren's idea in a serious and proper manner. "Do you need to issue assistance requests now?"

Hao Ren waved his hand: "Let's wait until we get back and discuss it. First, sort out the list of Inspectors in the area for me."

Staying at the Kuiper Station was meaningless. Hao Ren packed up briefly, returned the space station laboratory to its usual standby state, and then led everyone back to his home on Earth.

The Nangong family should all be busy at the small restaurant at this time, and Lily was staying at home to watch the house. Hao Ren teleported directly back to the living room, and as soon as he looked up, he saw the husky spirit squatting at the door playing with her phone with great concentration, listening to the movements outside the door with her ears perked up, looking like a dedicated watchdog.

It seemed that every time Hao Ren went out, this girl would wait for him at home like this.

Hearing Hao Ren's movements, Lily immediately raised her head and rushed over excitedly: "Yay! Landlord, you're back? So fast? Did you find anything?"

"Don't mention it, Yggdrasil grew legs and ran away," Hao Ren said helplessly while pushing away Lily's constantly lunging paws, then looked curiously at the empty living room, "Where are the three bear kids?"

"Elizabeth is watching cartoons in the room, and Gun is boiling beans," Lily replied casually, "What do you mean by grew legs and ran away?"

One sentence from Hao Ren made Lily shrink back: "Yggdrasil is a mature First Born! And it's still alive!"

The husky spirit stared: "What?!"

Then she became disappointed: "Oh, I missed such a big excitement again..."

Vivian glanced at Lily. She was truly impressed by this weirdo who chickened out of everything but insisted on joining in on everything.

After the Nangong family returned, Hao Ren told everyone what had happened today. Apart from Gun, who only knew how to arch around on the sofa to scratch his itch, and Dou Dou, who was focused on gnawing on chopsticks, everyone's opinions were worth listening to.

"I've already copied the resonance signal between the Gungnir fragments. If I give this set of signals to other Inspectors and ask them to help search, there's still a high probability of finding Yggdrasil, but the key now is whether it will run away again," Hao Ren spread his hands. "And even if it doesn't run, I don't know if that First Born will cooperate with us."

Nangong Sanba wore an expert's expression: "Based on your description, it most likely won't cooperate. After all, it doesn't even give you a chance to talk, and since you've already stimulated it once, it might run away as soon as it senses someone approaching next time."

Nangong Wuyue thought for a moment: "So I think we need to find a 'negotiation expert' who can make Yggdrasil lower its guard."

Hao Ren looked at the siren girl: "Do you have any ideas?"

Nangong Wuyue wagged the tip of her tail: "Have you forgotten what the Norse myths say? Mimir lived next to Yggdrasil all year round."