Chapter 2192 A Platform of Awkwardness

A large group of people on the platform stared at Hao Ren, creating an incredibly awkward scene.

Hao Ren had prepared a whole speech for this reunion with his friends, from sentimental to humorous to mundane and casual, but the scene before him forced it all back down his throat. Although he knew what these guys had been up to outside from Lily's slip of the tongue, he never expected they would be playing mahjong, Dou Dizhu (a popular Chinese card game), eating hotpot, and playing video games the whole time. Even when he finally saved the world, he was greeted with such a depressing scene…

Couldn't these guys do something more productive, more united and lively?

After a few more seconds of awkward silence, the people on the platform finally snapped out of it. Raven 12345 brushed off the slips of paper on her face and was the first to greet Hao Ren, "Oh, you're back safe and sound! Welcome back, welcome back…"

Little Elizabeth immediately yelled, "You're cheating! You're making excuses to get the paper off your face again!"

Lily blinked and casually stuffed the slice of meat on her chopsticks into her mouth, chewing as she mumbled, "Landlord, you're finally back eh (chew chew). You were gone for so long, you know? (chew chew) Several months, several months! Speaking of which, this meat tastes kinda weird…"

Girl, you're eating raw meat!

Hao Ren put his hands on his hips, looked around the room, and raised his eyebrows. "Is this how you welcome me back after I just saved the world?"

The guys playing cards, mahjong, and hotpot looked at each other before finally breaking into genuine smiles.

Then they threw down everything in their hands and cheered as they rushed towards him.

A large group of people surrounded Hao Ren and Vivian, chattering about all sorts of things. Hao Ren could barely hear what anyone was saying, but he could feel the undisguised excitement and joy on their faces. Even Hesperide happily greeted Hao Ren—though she was mainly there for Vivian.

"Welcome back! Well done, I knew you could do it!" Izhaks patted Hao Ren's arm with such force that sparks flew from the latter's rigid shield. Even to this battle-hardened demon king, going back ten thousand years in history to turn the tide was nothing short of an epic feat.

Hass, the expressionless guy, couldn't help but pat Hao Ren on the shoulder as well. "Well done, I'm sorry I couldn't go all the way, but you still completed this incredible challenge."

The data terminal also squeezed through the crowd, as usual headbutting Hao Ren (Hao Ren's head plus the data terminal was a headbutt, so it wasn't wrong), "Not bad, partner, you actually pulled it off? This machine was thinking of writing your will for you…"

Hao Ren casually threw the thing away. It was just another part of their usual greeting.

Then he looked around and realized someone was missing. After racking his brains for a long time, he finally recalled a somewhat unfamiliar name: "Where's Loritha?"

The elf queen replica from the Plane of Dreams, Holletta, the original demon hunter Loritha, had been visiting Hao Ren's house when the incident happened, but now she was nowhere to be seen.

"Goddess-sama sent her back a long time ago," Little Elizabeth replied to Hao Ren. "Did you forget? She can only stay in the mortal world for a few days."

Hao Ren was momentarily stunned, then shook his head with a smile. "I really did forget. It's good enough that I remember she exists… This was truly a long journey."

"I heard from Hesperide about your battles with Tiamat in ancient Babylon and Set in Egypt," Nangong Wuyue chimed in, her face flushed with excitement, her long snake tail swishing in the air (we can ignore the fact that she was unconsciously wrapping up Nangong Sanba), "Sounds so exciting!"

This coward who shrinks at every corner actually likes listening to adventure stories—as if listening would make him braver.

"Vivian-sama! I missed you so much!" Hesperide focused ninety percent of her attention on Vivian, the little bat spirit rubbing against the latter with all her might. "I was worried if this guy could bring you back safe and sound, but I didn't expect him to be so capable…"

Vivian was trying to cope with the little bat spirit rubbing against her, not sure whether to laugh or cry. Having regained her memories from the Roman era, her attitude towards Hesperide had also changed quite a bit, so in the end, she reluctantly tolerated the clingy behavior of this mischievous child.

Hao Ren and Vivian dealt with their friends' enthusiasm together, and the most difficult to deal with was, as expected, Lily: like any qualified husky, she was now in a state of euphoric reunion, not only jumping up and down but also desperately trying to lick Hao Ren's face—she even wanted to lick Vivian a few times to show her friendship, her fluffy tail wagging behind her as if it was about to take off. Gun Mian was accidentally standing behind her, and as a result, got swatted away…

"Calm down, calm down!" Hao Ren reached out and pressed down on Lily's constantly rising head. "I was only gone for a few months… Hey, that's a lot of strength… Is this dog going crazy?"

"Just accept it," Vivian said from the side, gloating. "Her behavior is already good for a husky. Normally, a husky would forget who you are if they haven't seen you for more than three months. The fact that she still recognizes you means she's extraordinary among her kind."

Lily was acting crazy, but her ears were perked up. Hearing Vivian's words, she immediately howled and pounced over, "Bat, don't think I won't bite you just because you just got back!"

Vivian skillfully conjured a ball of lightning to shock the dog, while Lily bared her teeth, ready to take the high voltage head-on and bite a mouthful of teeth marks on the other's forehead. Seeing this, Hao Ren quickly stepped in, "Alright, alright, alright, can't you two be a little more peaceful at this time? It's been so long since you've seen each other, can't you greet each other properly…"

Lily resentfully retracted her sharp fangs and claws, then suddenly her ears twitched and her eyes lit up, as if a newly discovered discovery had instantly shifted the husky girl's attention. She quickly circled around Hao Ren and Vivian twice, then suddenly exclaimed excitedly, "Wait! There's something wrong with you two! There's something very wrong with the atmosphere between you two now!"

Vivian, being a ten-thousand-year-old demon, didn't have the slightest awkward expression on her face, but crossed her arms and rolled her eyes at Lily, "What's wrong with our atmosphere?"

Lily was surprised. "Wow! You're not denying it anymore!"

Hao Ren scratched the back of his head. He wasn't as calm as Vivian at this time and was still a little embarrassed, but he didn't feel any pressure to admit it. "We're together."

As soon as these words came out, everyone was shocked. Lily's eyes rolled around, her mind racing. "You two are shacking up?"

The lightning ball in Vivian's hand appeared again. "No, I think I still need to shock the dog…"

The sudden news from Hao Ren and Vivian really surprised everyone, but the surprise didn't last as long as Lily's fuss. It seemed that everyone had a vague sense of "expectation" about the news, especially those who knew both Vivian and Hao Ren at the same time.

Perhaps this is what they mean by bystanders see things clearly.

But the strangest reaction among the crowd was Hesperide.

Not exasperation, not strong opposition, not even surprise at the news itself. Strictly speaking, the little bat spirit's reaction was complete confusion. The exclamation that the poor child made after carefully observing and thinking was completely beyond everyone's expectations:

"Holy crap, so you two really didn't have anything going on before?!"

That's right, the little bat spirit had been convinced from the day she saw Hao Ren that he was her stepfather (which she didn't want to admit at all), and the kind of stepfather who had successfully coaxed his way to the top with sweet words. Under this completely wrong first impression and her own stubbornness, the little bat spirit had made up a whole set of plots and firmly believed in it, and refused to believe any explanation anyone made about it…

Yes, Hesperide was the one who had been convinced from the beginning that Hao Ren and Vivian were together—and again, she didn't want to admit it at all.

Now that she knew the truth, Hesperide was in a state of great life turmoil and self-denial. Hao Ren felt it was best not to disturb her…

Throughout this whole process, Raven 12345 stayed outside the circle, simply watching these people vent their pent-up emotions, letting them make a fuss and shout, and quietly waiting for the end.

"Just watching these young lives enjoy their joys and sorrows, there really is a faint sense of happiness," the goddess sister sighed softly. "As a god, it's really nice to be able to watch my children enjoy life like this…"

"Are you sure you're not just trying to figure out how to cheat because you lost too many hands just now? And strictly speaking, every being standing there except for that cat isn't under your jurisdiction. Can you not be so brazen as to treat the lives created by the god next door as your own children?"

Raven 12345 turned her head with a nonchalant look. "With my old and cunning nature, do I need to try hard to think about how to cheat them out of their money? And the god next door is dead, isn't she? I don't have any qualms about adopting the orphans she left behind… Holy crap crap crap crap?!"

The goddess sister turned her head and saw a silver-haired goddess standing next to her, looking exactly like herself, and smiling at her. She had no idea when this person had appeared and was immediately so scared that sparks flew from her body. "10086, when did you get here?!"

Raven 10086 looked at her predecessor with a helpless expression and sighed softly. "Alas, I've been standing here for ten minutes, and I sent you three access requests before coming here, and I confirmed your identification information when I entered this universe… Are you really sure you don't want to go back to the factory for repairs?"

Raven 12345 glared. "No! I'm fine as I am now, I feel very free every day! And look, I haven't delayed our great empire's duties at all, have I? His Majesty the Emperor is watching us…"

"Suit yourself, anyway, I'll always leave a spot for you in the repair bay. When your core completely crashes, I'll weld you to the repair bay even if I have to," Raven 10086 shook her head, her expression serious. "As for why I'm here, it's about something important."

Seeing the serious expression on the other's face, Raven 12345 had to put away her joking mentality and cautiously asked, "What happened? That requires your main body to come all the way here?"

"First of all, a small matter: you won't be getting any advanced and performance awards this year."

"Holy crap, what did you say?!"

"Are you that surprised? You've never gotten either of those anyway…"

"10086, I'm a little sad that you said that—but since what you said is true, I won't pursue it. So what's the other thing?"

"The high-ranking true god corresponding to the Goddess of Creation has been found."