Chapter 1 Have Gods or No Gods—That Is the Question

Whether it's better to have gods or not—this was an almost unanswerable question, especially when the question was posed by a true god, which made it even more baffling. From Hao Ren's perspective, for the first twenty-odd years of his life, "god" had always been an invisible and intangible pseudo-proposition. He had been indoctrinated in an atheistic environment for twenty-five years and believed in it wholeheartedly. But in the twenty-fifth year of his life, he experienced a worldview-shattering reconstruction, and "god" became an objective, existing fact. So, for Hao Ren, the existence of gods was neither good nor bad, because she simply existed, tangibly. Not only tangibly, but she also gave her pope a lot of trouble every now and then. Not only did she make trouble for her pope, but she also cooked noodles in heaven every day, and they were always too salty...

Hao Ren's thoughts were getting a little out of control. He finally snapped out of it when he saw the solemn looks on the faces of those around him, managing to banish the image of Raven 12345 squatting in the Garden of the Gods, cooking noodles, from his mind. He coughed a couple of times to cover up his momentary distraction. "Ahem, I don't think the question of whether it's better to have gods or not is meaningful in itself. What do you guys think?"

Hao Ren was just asking casually to defuse the awkwardness, but as soon as he finished speaking, Lily jumped up excitedly. "Of course it's better to have gods!"

Vivian glanced sideways at the husky girl. "So, you're a staunch believer in gods?"

Lily nodded, hugging her arms. "Gods give out stuff for the New Year! Speaking of which, shouldn't the landlord's year-end bonus be coming up?"

Hao Ren and Vivian said at the same time, "..."

Muru and Lemendusa looked down at these people, suddenly feeling that it was difficult to communicate with these guys in some areas...

The only significance of a dignified goddess in Lily's mind was that she could give out stuff for the New Year. God knows if Raven 12345 would hear this and give this scatterbrained husky a Buff from the sky. But Hao Ren didn't have time to think about that now. He pondered again the summons from the Creation Goddess that Lemendusa had mentioned, and then his gaze fell on the network of divine power oscillations in mid-air.

"At that time, the Creation Goddess was probably already preparing for her 'fall.' Everything returns to zero, and everything in the universe is pushed back to the beginning... Judging from her tone, she seemed to have even foreseen the chain of disasters after her death? This is getting more and more confusing... But one thing is certain, this network of divine power oscillations hidden in the universe should be what the Creation Goddess prepared to deal with her own death. This thing must be related to what she was most concerned about and couldn't let go of—the question you mentioned, Lemendusa, is a standard deathbed lament. I can't think of any other explanation. What do you think the Creation Goddess couldn't let go of the most?"

Vivian frowned. "Her created children? The enduring order of this universe? The prison that holds the Lord of Madness?"

Hao Ren sighed. "All are possible."

Everyone fell silent for a moment. They couldn't help but look at the network of divine power oscillations on the holographic image, surging and undulating like an ocean. Stimulated by one information source after another, it surged, spread, gradually merging with the starlight, endlessly filling the entire universe...

Three days later, the newly relaunched Petrified Tortoise Rock Terrace gathered a hundred "chosen ones" who had reassembled from all over the universe. Compared to when they had just set out, these descendants of the Earth exiles seemed much more silent and quiet on the ship.

One completely destroyed ecosystem after another, one scarred and ruined planet after another, even star remains torn apart by the tentacles of the First Born, floating fragmented in planetary orbits, and ruins and relics standing quietly on those remains, as if eternally silent—in the past three days, they had personally witnessed countless countries destroyed in the doomsday calamity. Those dead and desolate worlds had once been prosperous and strong, full of life. But in the face of the sweeping disaster, everything had turned to ashes, and countless heroes and countless legends had been buried under thick ruins, silently in the cold and silent space.

For the "chosen ones" on the ship, the three-day journey to Holletta and the subsequent three-day journey were completely opposite experiences. In the first three days, they witnessed the prosperity and vitality of civilization, while in the next three days, they saw the death and funeral of civilization. The shock brought by this huge contrast would be unforgettable for them.

In fact, it wasn't that Hao Ren had deliberately arranged for the second half of the journey to be shrouded in a low and depressing atmosphere, but that he had no choice—Dream Plane was really not a suitable place for tourism. After the First Born disaster, there were really no good places left in the entire universe. If you took a spaceship here and stepped on the accelerator, you would find piles of ruins everywhere. Even if you brought two guys from the national tourism administration to organize it, it would probably be like this...

"Before setting off, I never thought I would see those things," an old vampire noble shook his head in the lounge, sighing slightly. "The most ridiculous thing is that until I boarded the ship, I never seriously paid attention to this 'journey' itself. I didn't take it seriously at all, and I didn't think there was anything that could touch me, a blood clan who had experienced the age of mythology. I once thought that the 'information' sent down by the Shadow Council was all exaggerated, using sensational words to scare people..."

Hesperides was sitting opposite this old vampire. The "Goddess of Twilight" raised her head and glanced at this "younger generation" with a smile that wasn't quite a smile. "And now?"

"The shallowness and conservatism of those materials are surprising, because what I actually saw was far beyond what those words and pictures could describe," the old blood clan raised his glass of red wine. "Before setting off, I thought all night, thinking about many schemes to compete with others along the way, considering countless issues of gains and losses, and even thinking about finding an opportunity to crack the secret of crossing worlds, so as to take advantage of it—but this journey was completely different from what I imagined. Sigh, looking back, I think I'm just as naive as a child."

Perhaps it was because the various experiences these days had been too touching, or perhaps it was because he was facing Hesperides, an ancient being with great prestige in the alien circle, the vampire noble's feelings were particularly candid, making Hesperides unable to help but laugh. "I'm afraid you're not the only one who has these ideas, and I guess at least a third of the people have had the idea of 'cracking the secret of crossing.' These guys probably freaked out the moment they boarded the ship."

"I will never boast about my knowledge and experience again, because I know nothing about the real mysteries and knowledge." Jean Lucas, another vampire noble sitting nearby, shook his head with a wry smile.

"Contrary to you, I think I'll have enough to brag about for at least half a year when I get back," Hesperiana interjected casually. "How much knowledge did I gain on this trip? My phone's memory is full—ah, although I don't want to admit it, that Hao Ren guy seems to be pretty awesome. I have to discuss it with him when I get the chance and ask him to give me a spaceship or something to play with... I wonder if it'll work if I try to be cute with him... Forget it, just thinking about it gives me goosebumps. It's more reliable to discuss it with Lady Vivian."

The family leaders who were seriously reflecting on life coughed at Hesperiana's open-minded attitude, and even Hesperides couldn't help but roll her eyes. She pointed to the siren ladies coiling at the other end of the hall. "Someone like you should sit with them. Those sirens have been taking pictures and buying souvenirs all the way. They're just out here to have fun from the bottom of their hearts. That siren queen even borrowed my power bank."

Jean Lucas had also seen the sirens' cheerful performance along the way. Even a gentleman as calm and steady as him couldn't help but want to sigh at this time. However, when he looked in the direction Hesperides was pointing, he opened his eyes in surprise: the saltwater fish, who had been happily exchanging photos since they boarded the ship, were all quiet at this time!

Not only were they quiet, but the atmosphere between them was even a little solemn. The siren queen, Katrina, sat silently at the table, her snake tail tapping the ground next to her from time to time, while the subordinates she had brought sat around her, occasionally whispering a few words, but it was obviously not in jest.

"I don't know, they've been like this just now," Hesperiana had noticed the sirens' unusual behavior before. "It seems like they suddenly became serious when the ship entered that warp space or hyperspace mode..."

"These guys also have times when they get serious?" Jean Lucas muttered as if he had discovered a new continent.

At this moment, a voice sounded next to him, interrupting the conversation of several people. "Because they're almost home."

Hesperiana raised her head and found a girl with white hair in a single ponytail standing in front of her, and she was dressed as a demon hunter!

The people at the table seemed nervous and wary when they saw a demon hunter suddenly approaching. Bai Huo didn't care at all when she saw this. She waved her hand. "Don't be so exaggerated. We're already at a truce, aren't we?"

"I know you, Bai Huo," Hesperiana was naturally the first to calm down. She glanced at Bai Huo. "You're the first demon hunter to take the initiative to say hello to us."

"I'm tired of hearing the old man talk," Bai Huo said casually. "Then I wanted to try what would happen if I said hello to you guys—ha, your reactions are quite interesting!"

Hesperides frowned imperceptibly. "You mean, the next stop is the sirens' hometown?"

"Yeah, it's also the last stop on our journey," Bai Huo breathed a sigh of relief. "The next stop is called Aioi."

Outside the ship, the dark space cavity caused by warp navigation was slowly opening.

The distorted red and blue transfer route appeared around the ship, and between the curved stars, a blue planet was rapidly magnified.