The Record of Unusual Creatures

“A missing link?” everyone said in unison.

“The Ultimate Absolution is only to maintain the status quo—the balance between the races and the power the goddess created—to ensure that the highest divine law runs in its original trajectory. But the status quo did not last long, and could not solve the problem fundamentally,” Whitey patiently explained. “The kingdom of the goddess is collapsing, and the throne is vacant. The evil forces may still break through the seal. So, there is a follow-up plan to the plan; when the time is ripe, we will return to the original world, using the key in the core of the Ark of Origins to awaken the power of the goddess from her sleep. The goddess is dead, but she can be resurrected as long as the laws of the universe are still working. Our mother could wake up again. By then, the throne will be re-established, and all the forces that are trying to destroy the order of the universe will be crushed.”

Hao Ren’s heart missed a beat.

“So what is the missing link?” Lily asked impatiently.

“The Ultimate Absolution is composed of three parts, of which Yggdrasil is a ‘ferryman.’ I… he opened the Wall of Reality and sent the chosen ‘tinder’ to this world. The massive nine kingdoms is actually an otherworldly dimensional system used for mass transit. It is a ‘dimensional migration fortress,’ through which all the otherworldlings, whether it is werewolf or vampire or others, rode on Yggdrasil to come to this world. Mimir is the ‘library guard,’ responsible for steering the Ark of Origins, monitoring the operation of the Ultimate Absolution, and managing all the archives; we also have a ‘guide’ who is the most important part but missing from the very beginning.”

“Guide?” Hao Ren suddenly thought of Vivian, but he said nothing and curiously asked for more details. “What this guide does?”

“The guide is the substitute that Mother made with her own blood. She records all kinds of secrets that only known to Mother, and holds a series of secret instructions. These secret instructions are the action plans after crossing the Wall of Reality. This important guide has been missing from the beginning. Without the information in her memory, we couldn’t know the next step of the Ultimate Absolution, and when and how to return to the kingdom of the goddess. In fact, we don’t even know how to re-enter the kingdom of the goddess. These secrets are only found in the memory of the guide.”

Suddenly, except Lily and Lil Pea, everyone’s eyes landed on Vivian. The reason why Lily and Lil Pea showed no reaction was because one was in a daze while the other looked on.

“I think,” Hao Ren sized up the vampire maiden, “we have found the truth.”

“What?” Whitey had no idea what was in their minds and asked curiously.

“If I’m not wrong, she is your guide,” Nangong Wuyue said, pushing Vivian forward with her tail. “Made of the divine blood with a great mission; the only problem is that she doesn’t know who she is.”

Put on the spot, Vivian froze. After a moment, she pointed to herself flusteredly. “Oh yeah, I am a divine blood-reincarnation. But I don’t remember the instructions you are talking about.”

Whitey flew up to Vivian like a ghost. Hao Ren even felt that the ground under his feet was shaking: Yggdrasil was twitching; obviously, Blackie was listening to their conversation.

“The guide?” The formless bright light shook violently; even the First Born could not help himself. The bright light circled Vivian a few times before stopping and feeling confused. “No, not right. You don’t look like a guide.”

“How is that?” Vivian was not very happy. “Let me tell you, my blood is pure, and I am not lying.”

“Your power, your soul, and your blood contain too many impurities, and it is feeble. You don’t look like a guide whichever way I look. The guide should be the closest to the goddess and most powerful among the three of us. You don’t look like one. To be honest, if the guide has really appeared here, I would have sensed him long ago.”

Hao Ren and Vivian looked at each other. They had no idea how Whitey determined whether one was the guide, but they could roughly guess how. Hao Ren tested him, saying, “Perhaps I could explain her condition. Just like you and Ymir have your own troubles, Vivian also has her problem. She has a condition known as an impulsive hibernation-schizophrenic disorder.”

He then spent the next ten minutes explaining Vivian’s condition to Whitey while secretly observing his expression. After a while, he felt so silly because Whitey did not even have a face.”

There was no way to know what was in Whitey’s mind, but they knew he was listening attentively.

“She is forced to go into hibernation every few centuries, splitting during her sleep, and producing a wicked avatar called the Malevolence. She would also lose some power and memory. She becomes a vampire under these inexplicable conditions,” Hao Ren said. When he finished, Whitey became interested. He came up to Vivian and hovered from side to side before her. “Well, assuming everything is true, then no doubt, what you, me and Ymir encountered are essentially the same. Someone is trying to sabotage our mission.”

It was almost sure that there was a hidden hand behind all this.

As if something came to mind, Vivian suddenly gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. “So someone is responsible for my bad luck for the last one hundred centuries! I will make him pay!”

Lily standing next to her, said, “Battie, don’t make an excuse for yourself. The hidden hand has only caused you losing your strength and memory. But being poor is your destiny.”

“Can’t you say something good, Doggie?” Vivian snapped.

At last, Vivian’s identity was confirmed. Though there was no physical evidence so far, Hao Ren was as sure as hell that Vivian was the “guide” Whitey was talking about, and the chief commander the Goddess of Creation had appointed.

Now they had only one problem left.

This guide had been dumb for 10,000 years and still was. She would probably continue to be dumb for a long time in the foreseeable future.

“How do I know what I should do?” Vivian looked depressed and in a dilemma. “I have been fighting with my pauper life for a thousand years, and losing my memory every now and then. How am I going to come out with a set of secret instructions now?”

Somehow, the Malevolence of Vivian came to Hao Ren’s mind.

Obviously, the others had also thought of the same thing.

“The secret is probably on the energy incarnation,” Whitey said using a more neutral term without referring them as the Malevolence. “That is currently the only thing known to have been lost by the guide. But judging from your words, those incarnations have been severely corrupted, and it would be dangerous to recover them hastily. Is this corruption similar to what Yggdrasil has experienced?”

A thought came to mind. Hao Ren immediately took out Godslayer from his dimensional pocket and brandished it in front of Vivian. “Would you like me to poke you with it?”

Her first response was a flash of lightning.

“It’s best not to try this,” Godslayer said. “I haven’t sensed anything like the Echo Wall in her mind. Her problem is probably not something I could solve.”

“Well, we can study this question when we’re back home.” Hao Ren waved his hand, signaling not to delve on this issue after giving it some thoughts. “I will report back to my boss later and ask for her opinion. As for now, let’s discuss the next arrangement of the Nine Kingdoms.”

Lily, Y’zaks, and others became quiet. Galazur and Anthony Alfonso were looking serious. It was now the time for the inspectors to hold a discussion.

“First of all, this is your jurisdiction, and we are merely giving our opinions.” Galazur made her stance.

“The main race of Twilight Capital is human beings,” Anthony Alfonso said. “They are the earthlings. So by convention, their homeworld is Earth.”

“But I’m afraid they are no longer be able to reintegrate back into the society on Earth,” Galazur said, shaking her head.

“You are right.” Hao Ren agreed with the dragon queen. “The premise for reintegration is that there must be the right condition. But now the civilization on Earth and the one here in Twilight Capital are as different as day and night. They could be deemed two separate civilizations. In this case, can we ignore the ethnic lineage and handle it in the way as handling an alien civilization?”

Galazur and Anthony Alfonso exchanged a look. They then began to rummage through their mind for relevant provisions in this aspect.

“Yes, you can. But it is necessary to rewrite the record of Twilight civilization. Also, do you have a plan where to relocate them? The Nine Kingdoms are still a series of otherworldly dimensions floating around in the main material universe. This environment is not suitable for any civilization to thrive in the long run,” Anthony Alfonso said, nodding his head.

“Do not worry, I have just thought of a special place where I’m currently having construction projects going on.” Hao Ren grinned.