The Record of Unusual Creatures

The kingship of the Nine Worlds had returned as the Garden of Asgard ushered in a new master.

The einherjar sleeping in Valhalla were awakened and joined in the effort of fixing the various ancient systems. The lost-control einherjar wandering in the Garden of Asgard were captured and sent to Valhalla, getting their logic reset. The ancient artifacts and the resources buried deep inside the Garden of Asgard were retrieved and transported by the Einherjar and autonomous robots to places where they were needed. This kingdom, fallen for more than two thousand years, was rising again. It was just that the ruler was no longer the former gods of Asgard.

With the map of the Nine Worlds in hand, and after successfully restoring the Rainbow Bridge, Hao Ren was able to free up his autonomous robots, sending one-third of them to different otherworldly dimensions to excavate and study. With the help of Yggdrasil, he planned to mark the locations of the ruins of Asgard and Vanir buried under the rubbles. Another one-third of the autonomous robots would go to Midgard to assist in resettling the people of Twilight Capital. The remaining one-third would remain in Asgard, helping the einherjar to clean up the ruins and restore the functions of the Garden of Asgard.

The Garden of Asgard was not merely a city where the Norse gods lived. Hao Ren learned from the information recorded in the keystone that the city was also a large control center and an archive.

The Norse gods, as the last otherworldling race in the Mythological era, were naturally different from those of them who had died early. During the turbulent days of the Mythological period, the Norse otherworldlings could no longer roam freely in the world but only keep ‘digging’ in their own lair, which they had almost explored every inch of the Nine Worlds. Even though they were unable to uncover the secrets of Yggdrasil and the origin of the Ark, they still found countless intelligence in this vast dimensional immigration fortress, most of which were related to the settings of the goddess of creation.

The archives that preserved these things were buried deep in the ruins of the Garden of Asgard.

Besides that, the Norse otherworldlings, to survive in the closed otherworldly dimensions, had built a massive number of fortresses and factories in the Nine Worlds. Some of these facilities were still in operation while the control center was the Garden of Asgard.

For this reason, the reconstruction of the Garden of Asgard must go ahead.

Standing on a platform at the top of Golden Palace and overlooking the splendid city ruins below, Hao Ren was watching the einherjar and autonomous robots carrying out his orders. But their number was still too small relative to the size of the ruins. Over one-eighth of the city was still quiet.

Hao Ren decided to leave a construction unit in every corner of the city, just like he did on the planet Inferno. He wanted to build a production recovery system here as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Galazur walked up to him from the platform behind. Glancing down at the city below, the dragon queen asked, “You thinking of something?”

“Inspector is not allowed to intervene in the internal affair of any civilizations,” Hao Ren said, scratching his chin. “So I’m thinking—am I intervening the Twilight Civilization?”

“You’re worried about this?” Galazur’s eyebrows arched, her pupils contracted slightly with a playful expression on her face. “Are you not the Sun King, Lord of the Aerymian together with a dozen other titles? You are the head of a handful of civilizations already.”

“It’s different,” Hao Ren said, spreading out his hand. “Those are just honorific without real substance. They’re just useless titles on a business card. But here, Odin has handed over his ‘seal.’ He has even sent his decree to the survivors of Twilight Capital and let them swear allegiance to me. I feel that something is not quite right.”

“I am also the head of a draconian kingdom,” Galazur said, laughing. “What’s wrong with that? We inspectors only have to remember that we are not to distort the normal development of any civilizations. In layman term, it means we should not let primitive people come into contact with a nuke. Getting too cautious would only become a ball and chain. But you have a valid concern though: with your level of capability, you should not become their king and lead their reconstruction other than commanding your bunch of robots.”

“I am aware of it but could you please not be so direct?”

Galazur waved her hand carelessly. “Don’t’ be bothered. I just want to know your thoughts on this.”

“I’m not interested in ruling this place,” Hao Ren said, “My heart is in the ancient secrets buried here. I am going to let the Steam Assembly be the government of their own people and the Twilight Civilization develop naturally. I’m not going to intervene unless it is absolutely necessary. But I will oversee the reconstruction of the Garden of Asgard and take over the army of Einherjar.”

“Including that one?” Galazur pointed her chin at a direction not far away from Hao Ren.

Turning his head around, Hao Ren saw the Valkyrie in uniform, poker-faced, standing only two meters from him. The Valkyrie had noticed her ‘master’ was looking at her. Letting out a silly smile, the Valkyrie said, “Master, I’m awaiting your order.”

The Valkyrie had finally recovered from her insanity after recognizing Odin. Perhaps the long-term madness had damaged her brain so much that she now appeared not so intelligent. She was not retarded, though. Just that she was not completely normal.

“Including that one,” Hao Ren said, returning the same smirk to the Valkyrie. He turned his head around and said to Galazur, helplessly, “She is the only one who could control the einherjar army. Just hope that she would recover eventually as Odin said.”

The enthusiastic voice of Lily was heard coming from under the platform, interrupting their conversation. “Mr. Landlord! Are you up there? I sense your smell!”

Hao Ren poked his head down the platform. He could see Lily was crouching on the roof of the second floor of the Golden Palace, stretching her neck and wagging her tail. He waved his hand at her. “I’m here. What’s up?”

“Whitey says the World Tree has regained its strength.” With the yank of her legs, Lily bounced up nearly twenty meters in the air and landed right in front of Hao Ren, scaring the Valkyrie. “Can we depart to the Scarred nebula now?”

“Now?” Hao Ren was a little surprised. “Let’s go. I also can’t wait to see how the people of the steppe going on Inferno.”

Before leaving, he saw the Valkyrie in his peripheral vision. The clueless valkyrie looked at them, her dumbness rivaled that of Lily. He should talk to her first, Hao Ren thought.

“Stay here and finish the task that has been assigned to you,” Hao Ren said. “After that, patrol the place and secure the Garden of Asgard. If humans from Midgard come, don’t hurt them. Just don’t let them get close to the control center and the archives.”

“Are you not coming back?” The Valkyrie asked, tilting her head.

“Surely, I will. I’m just going to meet the World Tree, and then there is another trip coming up. But I will surely come back.”

“Okay.”

After leaving the Golden Palace, Lily could not help mumbling, “Mr. Landlord, you sounded like pacifying a kid just now.”

Hao Ren thought for a while but stopping short of pointing out that everyone had been talking to her in the same way.

Obviously, the husky maiden lacked the self-awareness.

Hopping onboard Anthony Alfonso’s spherical flying craft, they returned to Niebelungen, the lair of Nidhogg.

As the ultimate place of coexistence of the two souls of Yggdrasil, the lair of Nidhogg had a special significance. After deliberation, Whitey and Blackie unanimously decided to turn this nervous center into a communication channel with the outside world. Of course, they were mainly to communicate with Hao Ren.

To facilitate the communication, and let Hao Ren understand and participate in the operation of Yggdrasil, they had completely revamped the lair of Nidhogg.

When Hao Ren disembarked from the flying craft, he froze for a long while before muttering to himself, “Wow! The changes in this place look more than just superficial.”

Galazur also froze. She then mumbled, “Well, at least it looks much better than the scene of dancing tentacles previously.”

A temple of life stood before them.