The Record of Unusual Creatures

The Goddess of Creation’s secret vault was finally opened without a hitch, activated by Vivian’s blood. There was no rampage of divine words like what happened to Zhao Xi, but this thing further muddied the waters.

It was a huge metal ball.

At 500 m across and floating above the Netherrealm Clock Tower, the metal ball looked intimidating even from a distance. Glistening in a pale gold metallic luster and covered in red as well as bright blue patterns, it was incredibly complicated. It seemed to be made up of numerous metal components, which were not fixed in position but continually moving. Sometimes the movements completely defied the law of Physics. It was only possible when those components had infinite deformability. As the surface of the metal ball revolved, Hao Ren was able to peek through the gaps and see many golden gears and strange mechanical devices inside. It appeared that the interior of the giant ball was more complicated than its exterior.

It looked like a high-tech magic device, but it did not produce any sound. There was only the pleasing sound of crystals colliding, which added an air of sacredness and mystery to the metal ball.

“Check its divine reaction,” Hao Ren said, coming out of his daze.

The MDT chanced its arm by beaming a blue light at the golden giant ball, and this time it was not attacked. “There is a divine reaction. It’s of the Goddess of Creation.”

“So this stuff is the relic that the Goddess of Creation has taken great trouble to create,” Hao Ren said, looking at Vivian with a strange expression. “It is meant for you. But I guess you don’t know what it is, do you?”

“Of course I don’t,” Vivian said, shaking her head and forcing a smile. “I didn’t even know who the Goddess of Creation was until I met you.”

Hao Ren sighed. “I thought you would recover some of your memory and half a ton of ancient secrets when you saw this thing. Doesn’t that usually happen in novels?”

Vivian rolled her eyes.

Soon after, those who left the platform earlier had come back. They saw the giant ball floating above the Netherrealm Clock Tower and were nervous. Rollie stayed at Hao Ren’s feet, arching her body and her tail puffed up while making a menacing growl at the giant ball.

“What the hell is this?” White Flame asked. “This thing has been lurking in our sacred land all this while?”

“This place was originally the home of the Goddess of Creation before it became your sacred land,” Hao Ren said, shooting her a glance. “We don’t know what it is. I have decided to go up there and take a look.”

Lily jumped to her feet. “Whoa! I think I had better go now; I haven’t had my lunch yet.”

Before Lily could leave the platform, Hao Ren grabbed her tail and dragged her back. “Come back here. You have a good sense of smell, you may be of help.”

Lily thought for a moment. “Would you believe me if I say I am sick?”

Full of curiosity, strong spirit and usually unflinching; she was the kind of person that would charge forward first and then only back out at the last minute. But what happened last night had scared the hell out of her. She was like having a mental trauma now. This time she did not even dare to look up at the giant ball. Hao Ren realized this, but he still dragged Lily along with him because he was sure that there was not going to be anything rampageous in the ball.

The giant ball had divine characteristics, but it indeed was not driven by divinity.

Hao Ren brought Lily, Vivian and White Flame with him to investigate the giant ball. Rollie had to stay back on the platform as she had a job to do: she needed to look after Lil Pea, who would be too eager to put herself in danger.

Vivian and White Flame were equipped with their magic power, Hao Ren with his coordinate-propulsion technique, and Lily with the propulsion gadget that Hao Ren loaned her; they flew up to the Netherrealm Clock Tower and came before the metal ball. The ball looked more massive than viewing from afar. The continually moving metal parts were as if a living steel wall; it was sophisticated, exquisite, magnificent and dazzling. Lily, whose tail was already between her legs, held on to Hao Ren’s sleeve nervously. “This thing looks spectacular. It is even a size bigger than your spaceship,” Lily said.

“I’m not sure if it is really bigger, but I definitely know it is a lot fatter.” Hao Ren joked. And he wondered what the giant ball was for. “Why did Goddess of Creation create this thing? Is it a spaceship?”

“A fully-grown First Born is a ball, and it is said that the Creation’s Engine is a ball too. Now the legacy she has left for Battie is still a ball. Looks like the Goddess of Creation has a penchant for balls,” Lily mumble, unable to shut her mouth no matter how scared she was. “Goddess of Creation the ball lover has come to the end of her ball game.”

Vivian’s brow pulled together. “The goddess must have a reason to leave me this thing. But she should have at least told me what to do with it.”

“She has done everything, taken all the trouble blowing up the temples, made a space-time vault, and created her descendant, but she forgot to leave behind a manual?” Hao Ren said.

Vivian looked around the ball, trying to find clues in the ever-changing complex structure.

The complex surface of the metal ball was still changing its face silently while the overall shape of the ball was maintained. The irregular-shaped pale gold sliders moved across the surface as if they were living things. Beneath the surface, however, were giant gears. Sometimes Vivian could see bright light flashed through the gaps on the surface. She had no idea if the inside was an energy core or something else. Or could it be some ancient spirit that kept this mysterious device running?

She reached out her hand to touch the ball and tried to imagine that this thing would respond. She dripped a drop of her divine blood onto the ball, but there was no reaction this time.

There must be some other way, she thought.

“Looks like Battie is still a lost ball in high weeds.” Lily poked Hao Ren’s arm and whispered.

Hao Ren shrugged. “What nonsense are you talking about? She has never seen this thing before.”

“Do you know what I am thinking?” Lily sounded mysterious.

“What?”

“Maybe she knew,” Lily pointed to her head, “but her brain, you know, she has forgotten.”

Hao Ren was startled for a second; Lily’s sarcastic remark did make sense!

“Holy moly! That would be funny if it’s really the case,” Hao Ren said. “The Goddess of Creation has left something vital in Vivian’s mind, but Vivian has lost her memory!”

“You see, the Goddess of Creation couldn’t have just left a ball for her for no reason. Since there’s nothing in the vault, then the only possibility is in Vivian’s head,” Lily said.

While Hao Ren and Lily mumbled, Vivian circled the huge ball once.

But she found nothing too.

Hao Ren and the others also circled the giant ball but still came out with nothing.

Hao Ren dragged Lily with him, using her as a K-9. He hoped that she would be able to sniff out something, but there was nothing.

After scanning the ball, the MDT concluded that the ball was a complex and sophisticated device for information processing or assuming the control center of a larger system. But due to its incomplete structure and not fully operational, it could not explain the exact use of this thing.

They studied it for an hour. Fearing that they might damage the ball or trigger some unexpected settings, Hao Ren gave up the idea of opening the device up by force to access its internal. At this time, Rollie had almost fallen asleep on the Netherrealm Clock Tower while Lily had dozed off completely.

Then, something happened at this time.

Hao Ren observed the ball for a moment, and suddenly something caught his attention. It was a series of recesses evenly distributed along the waistline of the ball. Though the components on the surface were running, these recesses always stayed in the same position, as if they were interfaces for other devices. At first, Hao Ren thought so, probably for some pipes and cable interfaces as the MDT had once said the ball could be a part of a more massive system. But soon he found that the shape of these recesses made them look like they were meant for some components to snap on.

At 10 m across, the recesses were perfectly round with a cylindrical structure at the center.

“Do you think the Gilded Disc would fit in here nicely?” Hao Ren asked.