The Record of Unusual Creatures

Since he was little, Hao Ren had received gifts of various kinds. From greeting cards and snacks when he was young to friend-zone cards after he grew up. As he joined his current line of work, reaching the pinnacle of his life, the gifts he received would only become more expensive. Now, an old man of sitting in the highest position of in the history of human religion was grasping his hand and told him, “I know you are a sincere and trustworthy man. Now, take the throne of the Nine Worlds, and you become the new master of the Norse gods. What do you say?”

Of course, Odin did not really grasp his hand when he said this, and the Norse gods were no longer in existence. But this did not affect Hao Ren to exaggerate the whole process in his mind and became snobbish.

It was very Nordic and very Odin.

But he still had to say a few more words. “Grandpa, please calm down. I can understand why you want to retire, but not when you are so eager to give away the Nine Worlds to a strange. Do you think this is a good idea? Shouldn’t you think it over? In fact, not every Norse gods are dead. Here, we can rule out the Valkyrie, considering her state of mind. But over in the Athens Sanctuary on Earth, there’s an heir.”

“Other survivors? Who is it?” Odin asked after freezing for a while.

“The daughter of Loki, Hela.”

“We can find someone else if you don’t accept the throne. But forget about Loki family,” Odin said, grabbing Hao Ren’s hand for real this time.

“You’re prejudiced against Hela? She may have done something wrong and been rebellious, but the Twilight of the Gods is over, and she is a different person now. I have seen her; she is a taciturn person. Other than that, she makes a good impression,” Hao Ren was a little reluctant.

“Odin is right. Hela is not suitable,” Vivian said as she shrugged. She did not agree with Hao Ren this time. “Her character makes her unsuitable for the job. The survivors of Midgard and the Valkyrie here would not accept her. To be honest, the Norse gods are really gone. No matter whether they accept it or not, even though there are still survivors, finding an heir from the Norse gods to revive the kingdom is impossible.”

Hao Ren grinned and looked at Odin: “Okay, I’m not going to pretend. But think carefully. You have only known me for a few days, and we are only slightly better than strangers. I might have a bunch of titles, but letting me lead the Nine Worlds to return them to their former glory is a little preposterous. It’s better to wait for the survivors of Twilight Capital to take their own course, which I think would be much faster.”

Odin just smiled carelessly. “I know. I make the decision after much careful deliberation. As Vivian said, the Norse gods are finished. For a race that is no longer exist, it does not matter who is at the helm. I really don’t know about you, and judging from the incredible power that you has shown for far, I think it is quite difficult for me to fully understand you. But since you can make Vivian Ancestor becoming your strong supporter, it is enough to prove a lot of things. Not to mention…”

Odin suddenly paused as if he was thinking again. “You said that you have a planet, and judging from your tone of voice, you have more than just one planet. It is something I couldn’t imagine. But I know that when a person as powerful as you are willing to help a world that has been destroyed once, entrusting the Nine Worlds to this person is the best solution.”

What Odin said was very elegant and profound, but it was Lily the literati dog deciphering it in a more layman term. “If you must cling to a thigh, choose the bigger one. A hair from the thigh as big as Mr. Landlord is enough for the Nine Worlds to survive till the interstellar age.”

This simple and straightforward explanation embarrassed Hao Ren. Nearby, Galazur and Anthony Alfonso awkwardly turned their heads away. But Odin just stroke his beard and nodded. Hmm, this pretty sums up what I have said.”

“I somehow feel that the grandpa is off-topic.” Hao Ren could not help but whisper to Vivian. “He is sometimes terribly honest.”

“Sitting on the Iron Throne for two thousand years must have distorted his interpersonal skill,” Vivian mumbled.

Hao Ren did not decline Odin’s offer though.

He felt that it would be pretentious to continue to stand his ground on the matter. Others may have needed to think it over carefully, but in Hao Ren’s case, aside from the practical reasons, there should be no reluctance. After all, he was an inspector and not a hick anymore. Having a long list of titles under his belt, there was no need for him to act humble.

But Hao Ren knew that what he was going to inherit from Odin was more special than any of his previous titles.

All of his current titles were honorary in nature. He even did not use his Sun King title to interfere with the governance of Aerymian Civilization. But now Odin was giving him his real authority of the Nine Worlds.

It would take the inspector to figure out how he should deal with the ‘hot seat’ of the Nine Worlds. But for now, Hao Ren had to accept the responsibility.

After Hao Ren nodding his head, Odin only breathed a sigh of relief and took off his eye mask.

Under the mask hid a pair of shrinking eyes and a colorful gemstone inlaid in one of his eyes.

The gemstone, crystal clear, was glowing from the inside out with the surface floating with a very obvious magical halo. Upon closer observation, Hao Ren realized that the material of this gemstone was the same material as that of the Rainbow Bridge.

“This is the keystone,” Odin said as he handed the gemstone to Hao Ren. “It reflects the true path of the Nine Worlds and reorganizes the mapping relationship between the Rainbow Bridges. It is also the authentication device for all Asgardian ancient artifacts and systems. With this in hand, you are now the new master of the Nine Worlds.”

Hao Ren took the gemstone solemnly from Odin’s hand. The keystone felt slight warm in his hand. When he tried to connect his mind with the keystone, he immediately felt a submissive and gentle response.

Under Odin’s order, the keystone was ready to welcome its new master.

Holding the keystone in his hand, the knowledge of the Rainbow Bridge and various Asgardian artifacts began to appear in his mind. Though this installation was somewhat blunt, it was good enough for the new master to quickly master the operation of the complex system. Obviously, this keystone was an artifact passed down from generation to generation of Asgardian leaders.

In just a few minutes, Hao Ren had mastered the way to re-stabilize the Rainbow Bridge.

“Isn’t the Rainbow Bridge damaged?” Hao Ren’s brows knit together. “This keystone also mentions the various factories and warehouses buried in the underground of the Nine Kingdoms. How many of these things remain intact after the devastation of the Twilight of the Gods?”

“You don’t need to worry about the Rainbow Bridge,” Odin said, laughing with a proud expression on his face. “It is one of the few technologies we brought over from our home world that remains intact techniques. We built it tough. Currently, the only damage to the Rainbow Bridge is the extension ducts and crystallization-resonant ring. There are enough spare parts in the Garden of Asgard, and the einherjar can quickly repair the system. As for the factories buried deep underground, find as many as you can, but I’m not going to have much hope.”

“The situation is not as bad as you think,” Whitey said, suddenly emerging out of the ground. “Yggdrasil had subconsciously retracted his tentacles during the Twilight of the Gods. Though some underground factories were damaged, most facilities were saved. Apart from the shattered Svartalfheim, there are many factories below the mainland survived.”

Hao Ren clenched the keystone, carefully examining the distribution of the Asgardian underground facilities in the Nine Worlds. There were many magical remains of the gods of Vanir. He figured out the categories of these facilities and gradually construct a plan in his mind.

The Nine Worlds might have been devastated, but it was the ark the goddess of the Plane of Dreams used to move the ‘tinder’ to this world. This otherworldly dimensional system was complex and sturdy, a near-perfect fortress, which the Asgardians had developed for thousands of years. Their technology might not be comparable to those monster-like super civilizations, but the basic infrastructure they left behind was still pretty decent.

It was time to accelerate the construction of the Gate of the New World in the Scarred Nebula.