Chapter 1 Dinner Table

It was noon when Hao Ren got home, and the whole family was starving. As everyone should know, the goddess never really took care of meals unless you happened to catch her eating or she was cooking noodles and accidentally put half a jar of salt in again, desperately looking for someone to share her fate. Therefore, Hao Ren, Lily, and Vivian were kicked out of the house by the goddess before mealtime. It was clearly too late for Vivian to cook, so they simply detoured to the Nangong family’s small restaurant on the street and picked up lunch for the whole family. It so happened that the Nangong family's restaurant had been closed for two months and just reopened, and the customer flow hadn't warmed up yet. Nangong Wudi and his wife were worried about what to do with the ingredients they had prepared that morning, so they packed up everything they had left and gave it to them…

Lily carried a large box of food back home, cheerful, her whole *wang* (dog) aura radiating happiness.

Opening the door, Hao Ren saw Gung, the cat girl, sprawled on the sofa in a half-dead state. She lay limply beside the armrest, randomly pressing the TV remote with her tail, while Doudou frolicked on her back. Izhaks and Elizabeth were huddled together, studying a practical radio technology book, muttering to each other. The Nangong siblings were idly cracking sunflower seeds, discussing whether there would be any lunch at all – Hao Ren and his companions returning with lunch was a lifesaver for this group, and they immediately perked up.

Nangong Sanba threw down the sunflower seeds in his hand and teleported over immediately: “Oh, landlord, you're finally back. We were starving… What's for lunch? Hmm, this smell is a little familiar.”

“Of course, it's your mom's cooking,” Hao Ren handed a large pile of various stir-fries to Nangong Sanba, while signaling Lily to put the box of rice on the dining table. “I got too caught up chatting with the goddess and didn't have time to cook lunch, so let's just eat this. Gung! Wash your hands before eating!”

The cat girl had just tiptoed to the bottom of the dining table when Hao Ren stopped her with a shout. She had no choice but to get up listlessly, reluctantly coming to May and holding out her hand, letting the siren sister conjure a water ball for her to wash with: cats were creatures that could be lazy anytime, anywhere; she was too lazy to go to the bathroom…

Nangong Sanba scratched his head, “You scared me, I thought you were scolding me.”

“Seriously, if this cat wasn't so stubborn about not changing it, I'd really want to change her name,” Hao Ren sighed, “Because of her unlucky name, I can't even take her out. I can't find anyone who dares to take the job of getting her an ID card.”

And even if someone took the job, probably no one would believe someone was really named "Gung"…

“It's your fault for giving her such a terrible name,” Vivian glared at Hao Ren as she served rice to everyone, “Now she's used to hearing it.”

Hao Ren spread his hands: “There was nothing I could do, how was I supposed to know she'd turn into a human? You didn't say anything when she couldn't even walk upright.”

“Big cat! I'm done washing my hands!” The cat girl shouted as she ran over, waving her hands in front of Hao Ren for him to check. Then, without waiting for Hao Ren to see clearly, she climbed onto her chair, her eyes gleaming as she stared at the table full of food. “Ah, there's fish! Big cat, give me fish!”

Today's lunch included braised fish slices. Doudou couldn't recognize these fish products that completely lacked their original shape, so they could still be served on the table, but if it were braised fish or something similar, it would be chaos.

“Get it yourself!” Hao Ren glared at Gung. “It's right in front of you, and you still want someone to help… Use chopsticks! Don't use your hands! Other people are eating too!”

The cat girl had just excitedly reached out her hand when Hao Ren shouted her back, and she immediately looked aggrieved. She had no choice but to clumsily pick up chopsticks and poke at the fish dish, muttering to herself as she poked: "Big cat, you're so mean to me, big cat, do you have other cats outside, big cat, are you planning to get a Persian, big cat, do you not want to keep me anymore, big cat, you…"

"Cough, cough… Where did you learn all this nonsense!" Hao Ren was made to cough by the silly cat's incessant chatter, and then watched as Gung used her chopsticks to make a mess of the once-orderly plate of braised fish slices. His eyes began to twitch. "How long has it been? Can't you learn to use chopsticks properly? Two months ago, you could even pick things up with chopsticks, how did you regress again?"

"No one disciplined her for two months, so she regressed. You should thank God she can still walk upright," Vivian shook her head. "Forget it, let her use her hands, anyway you probably wouldn't want to eat anything she's poked with chopsticks…"

Hao Ren helplessly shook his head, wanting to ask how Gung had been eating for the past two months, but then he remembered that Vivian hadn't been cooking for those two months, and the whole family had barely survived on instant noodles. Asking more would only add to everyone's painful memories, so he didn't say anything, but brought up his upcoming plans: "I'm planning to go to the Arctic in a couple of days."

Gung perked up again: "Oh, oh, there's cod in the Arctic!"

"Eat your food!" Hao Ren glanced at her, then turned to explain, "I'm going to find the Demon Hunters, to ask them to cooperate with a clan screening. Also, Vivian and I are planning to find some pureblood 'Ancient Ones' from Holletta, that is, native Demon Hunters. If possible, we'll also organize a homecoming tour for the Demon Hunter organizations in Colberus, to let them see what their homeland looks like."

"Homecoming tour?" Nangong Sanba immediately looked interested. "Are you finally planning to arrange this? Isn't it a little early?"

"Actually, since the gate of the Rift Nebula was established, the time has been ripe," Hao Ren smiled. "Before, the small rifts in Siberia could only allow a few people to enter and exit, and they had to be carefully selected. But now, the universe gate of the Rift Nebula is a more stable, permanently open gate, which can accommodate group crossings of less than a hundred people and a large amount of supplies. Actually, when I built that gate, I planned for this, but later there were many twists and turns, and some plans were temporarily put on hold. Now I'm just restarting them."

"Big cat! I want to go to the Arctic too!" Gung stuffed a mouthful of fish, but still tried to wave her paws and shout. She didn't quite hear what Hao Ren said later, but she tried hard to recall the taste of cod in her mind, and then got excited.

"Why are you everywhere?" Hao Ren patted Gung's head. "I'm going to take care of business, not to play! You stay at home obediently - didn't you agree not to run around these next few days?"

Gung lowered her head and muttered again, "Big cat, you really do have other cats outside…"

No one paid any attention to the cat's mutterings. Izhaks became interested in the "clan screening" that Hao Ren mentioned. "What did you talk about with the goddess? Why did you suddenly think of checking the situation of the Demon Hunters and the Ancient Ones of Holletta?"

In everyone's mind, the Demon Hunters and the planet Holletta were already a thing of the past, belonging to events that had already been dealt with. They had thought that the next place they would go to would be some more distant and dark planet and secret realm, but they did not expect Hao Ren's target to be the Demon Hunters and their old home.

"We talked about a lot, but checking on the situation of the Demon Hunters is related to Lily," Hao Ren said, glancing at Lily, who was struggling with a bowl of pork ribs across the table. "Strictly speaking, it's related to her dog cannon…"

Then, he told everyone everything he had discussed with Raven 12345, and also mentioned the secrets that might be hidden behind the inconsistent energy samples of the Doomsday Blades. Obviously, the matter behind the Doomsday Blades would not be cleared up in a short time, but the "divine art talent" that the Demon Hunters might possess was a real topic.

The one who showed the greatest interest in this was undoubtedly Nangong Sanba. He wiped his mouth: "So… the Demon Hunters were originally supposed to be a race born with the ability to cast divine arts? Able to borrow power directly from the gods without learning?"

"We're just guessing," Hao Ren nodded, not denying it. "To put it in more cliché terms, the Demon Hunters are a 'chosen race', a race favored by the gods, born with the ability to communicate with the gods. Of course, we all know what's going on with the True Gods, so the Demon Hunters should actually be 'ritual products', 'experimental results' created by the ancient magical emperor and the goddess during their communication. But anyway, according to the abilities shown by Lily, we guess that the Demon Hunters have a certain talent for divine power."

Nangong Sanba nodded, feeling somewhat excited and regretful: "It's a pity that my bloodline isn't pure, and even if it were pure, my power wouldn't be strong. Otherwise, I could cooperate with your inspection…"

"It wouldn't work no matter what, and neither would your dad," Vivian shook her head. "This kind of inspection is very rigorous. You have to find the purest Demon Hunters who haven't been changed by external factors to cooperate, otherwise it will lose its reference value."

Hearing this, Nangong Wuyue couldn't help hugging her arms: "I feel a little creeped out… You're talking like crazy scientists doing human experiments in a horror movie…"

Hao Ren thought about it, and gave a dry laugh: "Eat, eat…"

Two days later, Hao Ren led Lily, Vivian, and the Nangong siblings to the Demon Hunter headquarters in the Arctic - Ice Citadel.

They had already sent a message to Bai Huo, so they saw the lighthouse on Ice Citadel light up in the distance: it was a signal to welcome visitors and indicate that everything was normal inside the fortress.

Beside Hao Ren, the cat girl, wrapped tightly in a cotton coat, was looking around alertly, craning her neck and yelling, "Big cat, when are we going fishing?"

Hao Ren covered his forehead and sighed deeply:

In the end, he still brought this silly cat… Because he couldn't resist her persistent nagging, and even more so, he couldn't resist her saying "big cat has other cats outside" three times at every meal, so this time visiting Colberus, there was an extra burden in the team…