Chapter 1 The Arrangements

Hao Ren had been thinking about asking Raven 12345 if anyone else on Earth had been unaffected by the recent upheaval besides himself, but he hadn't expected the goddess to have already taken care of it before he could even open his mouth. The few people brought by the arcane servants were all familiar faces to Hao Ren, including the demon hunters Hasse and Bai Huo, as well as the unusual creatures Hesperides and Hyaseline. Judging by their expressions, they had clearly been brought here in a state of confusion.

However, Hao Ren felt that there should be more than just these few people who had been unaffected by this upheaval.

"Don't worry, everyone else has been taken care of," Raven 12345 said proactively before Hao Ren could even speak. This goddess seemed to have the ability to foresee the future or read people's minds. "In fact, quite a few people have noticed this upheaval. Besides those who have been affected by my power and can sense the anomaly in space-time, those with particularly keen senses or highly developed minds can also realize that something is wrong with the state of the world. Because the sovereign hub's security system is activated automatically and doesn't scan with person-by-person precision, these people are stuck between the real Earth and the mirrored Earth. Aside from a few guys who can come in handy, I've temporarily 'frozen' these people, and I'll let them return to normal once things have calmed down."

The "guys who can come in handy" she mentioned were obviously the ones walking onto the platform.

Although he usually bickered with his boss, Hao Ren couldn't help but thank her for her proper arrangements and offer a bit of praise: "You really have a knack for cleaning up messes like this..."

Raven 12345 puffed out her chest with pride: "Of course. My ability to create messes is world-renowned throughout the multiverse. If I didn't have the accompanying ability to clean them up, I would've been beaten to death by the leadership long ago."

Hao Ren: "..."

That was hardly something to be proud of!

At this moment, Hyaseline and the others saw Hao Ren's group on the platform. These confused individuals, who had opened their eyes to find the world changed and then been brought to this place without understanding what was happening, immediately grabbed onto them as if they were life-saving straws, rushing over to ask about the situation. Hyaseline was the most active of them all: "Hao Ren! What the hell is going on?! I ran into a German infantry regiment from World War II as soon as I stepped outside today, and it almost scared the crap out of me! I thought the ghosts were coming to collect for all the stuff I robbed from Hitler back then!"

When Hao Ren heard this, he thought that the Allied victory in World War II was inseparable from Vivian and her alts' contribution. Thinking of Vivian, his heart sank, so he interrupted the little bat's words: "Quiet down first, listen to me..."

Omitting the technical details, Hao Ren explained the situation to the people in front of him as clearly as possible. These four were not fools, and even though the upheaval caused by Vivian sounded bizarre, it wasn't too difficult to understand.

"Lady Vivian... dragged the entire Earth into her memory?" Hyaseline's understanding of the whole process wasn't quite right, but it wasn't far off either. "And you're going to find her back?"

"That's basically the process, but I don't know the specifics yet. I'm waiting for the goddess to explain it to me," Hao Ren pointed his chin at Raven 12345, who was standing far away. "She says you guys can help."

Hyaseline stared at Hao Ren: "How could such a big thing happen with Lady Vivian by your side! You... weren't watching her closely enough?!"

Hao Ren himself was unhappy, but he couldn't bring himself to defend himself after hearing the little bat's words. He knew what kind of status Vivian held in Hyaseline's heart. Now that the former was in trouble and missing, it was understandable that the little bat would say anything in her anxiety.

However, Hyaseline's rationality was a bit beyond imagination. After venting like this, she forced herself to calm down: "Forget it... you probably couldn't have prevented something like this even if you tried... I want to ask you something, and I want you to answer me seriously."

Hao Ren didn't know what this girl was thinking and looked at her curiously: "What is it?"

"This matter... is it very serious?" Hyaseline asked, carefully peeking at Raven 12345, who was standing in the center of the platform fiddling with the pile of magic runes. The latter didn't seem to notice the movement here. "I saw that even the goddess has been frowning..."

"She's just distressed about her year-end bonus—although she doesn't seem to have received one since she started the job."

Hyaseline felt a little lost and simply stopped trying to keep up: "... Then will Vivian be blamed? After you find her, will she have to take responsibility? Such a big thing... someone has to take responsibility, right?"

This was a sharp question, but Hao Ren had already made up his mind: "In any case, bringing Vivian back is a must. As for taking responsibility... I personally don't think this responsibility can be attributed to anyone. Vivian didn't even know what was happening during the whole process. It's not like she actively released her power. If we have to find someone to blame, then it can only be attributed to the Lord of Pandemonium from the Dream Plane or some dark overlord. Of course, if Vivian really has to take the blame, I will do my best to argue for her, and I believe that with the temperament of our God, she won't let anyone be a scapegoat."

"Didn't you just say that the goddess is worried about her year-end bonus? Won't she fly into a rage out of humiliation?"

Hao Ren cursed inwardly, lamenting that the issue of his own God's integrity had penetrated so deeply into people's hearts that even Hyaseline, who had barely come into contact with the "God Realm," could say such a perceptive thing. But thinking about it carefully, the negative image of Raven 12345 seemed to have been spread through his own mouth, so he had no choice but to wipe the non-existent cold sweat: "Ahem, don't worry, she still has some integrity in this regard. Probably..."

While the two were secretly exchanging such disrespectful content, Raven 12345's voice suddenly woke them up: "Hey, are you guys done murmuring? Come over here when you're done, and I'll tell you about the mission."

Hao Ren and Hyaseline immediately rushed over to listen to the sacred instructions with guilty consciences and extremely serious expressions.

"First of all, I want to emphasize that the key to bringing Vivian out is to let her 'regain herself'," Raven 12345 glanced at the people present. "Her current state is actually 'self-collapse'. The increasingly strong resonance of the evil thoughts and the imbalance of divinity and corrupting power have led her to completely lose control of herself, which is why the information she carries has overflowed and polluted the real world. Therefore, as long as she can regain control of herself, the problem will be solved by more than half. Thanks to the resonance between the evil thoughts, each fragment of the 'divine clone' has been connected, so Vivian is now tending towards a 'complete body', but her own consciousness is asleep deep inside, which has made her a 'source of pollution' that constantly releases energy without a control system."

Speaking of this, her gaze fell on Hao Ren: "Hao Ren, I will send you to the severely polluted Mirror Earth Number Two. The erosion suffered by Mirror Earth Number Two is countless times more severe than what you saw in Mirror Earth Number One. The space-time there has been completely cut off, and 99% of the 21st century real world you know has disappeared. You must rewind through the fragmented historical trajectory towards the coordinates of ten thousand years ago, until you find Vivian, who first descended on Earth—in theory, that is your goal."

"In theory?" Hao Ren didn't expect Raven 12345 to give such an uncertain word and couldn't help but repeat it.

"That's right, in theory," Raven 12345 nodded. "Because Vivian's real first 'landing point' wasn't on Earth, but on Purgatory Star, where she completed her first split. However, the scope of your rewinding can only be limited to the timeline on Earth, so you can't do anything about that small section of history in Purgatory. But according to my calculations, even without this section of history, finding Vivian, who first descended on Earth, should be enough to reorganize her self-awareness."

"Okay, I understand," Hao Ren nodded. "But how exactly should I 'awaken' her? Do I just go up and say hello after I see her? Also, how should I 'rewind'? It sounds a bit vague..."

"The space-time fractures and distortions are based on Vivian's 'memory breakpoints', and memory breakpoints are usually when she wakes up from each sleep, so the first step after you go there is to find Vivian's sleeping place. She usually won't run too far after she wakes up. However, 'memory breakpoints' are not necessarily exact coordinates. Sometimes the space-time continuity will suddenly break before Vivian goes to sleep, and sometimes she'll just break off while she's sleeping, so you may encounter a conscious Vivian, or a crazy one, or even one who is sleeping soundly. As for how you should awaken them after you find them... I'm not sure yet."

Hao Ren was listening seriously, but his eyes widened: "Not sure?! You're letting me in when you're not sure?"

"I can only say that you should naturally make progress after you see her," Raven 12345 spread her hands. "After all, this is the first time I've encountered something like this. If I'm not mistaken, as long as she sees you, she will regain her memories of the real space-time, because in the severely distorted Mirror Earth Number Two, you are the only 'foreign object'. Your appearance should be a big shock to Vivian, who is the source of the distortion, and this shock should be enough to wake her up."

"What if she doesn't wake up?"

"... Then fight her. Maybe that'll work too."

"..."

"In short, you have to find her one node at a time, as if you're traveling through history and meeting different versions of Vivian. You have to make them regain consciousness and break away from that historical dream. Each time they break away, a part of the chaotic space-time will return to its original position, and this 'reset' power will push you to the vicinity of the next node. Considering that the historical Vivian will be very different from the one you know, you need someone familiar with her to explain the key points of dealing with 'Vivian of the past'..."

Before Raven 12345 could finish speaking, Hesperides and Hyaseline had already reacted. The two nodded thoughtfully, and Hesperides said: "So that's why you called us over, right?"

"That's right, you two know Vivian best, including what she used to be like," Raven 12345 glanced at the two. "In order to maintain the stability of the 'sandbox environment', Hao Ren must go alone to those distorted historical space-times. Even the data terminal can't go with him, so he will be isolated and helpless there. The information and guidance you provide are his most important reliance."

So that's what these guys were here for.

Hao Ren thought to himself, looking at Hyaseline and the others with great anticipation. After thinking for a few seconds, the latter told Hao Ren the first important point very seriously:

"If you encounter a conscious Lady Vivian, then the first step to building a good relationship with her is to treat her to a meal. If possible, use money to砸 her (smash her with money)..."

Hao Ren: "..."