God of Calamity and Terror

The secluded great hall was grand and elegant.

Upon the ten Divine Seats, faint fluorescent light scattered. The bizarre patterns on the walls seemed to contain unfathomable, endless rules—gaze upon them once, and they would seize one's mind.

Tang Chuan had a realization: if he could grasp even one of the rules contained in any object within the Main God Hall, it would seem to surpass everything he had ever understood before.

Yet another clear intuition told him that, with his current mortal body, it was best not to meddle with any of these items.

Otherwise, he might encounter unimaginable terror.

Chiliu, chiliu...

Throughout the entire hall, only the twisting sound of the little tentacle in his hand could be heard, the emptiness stirring a feeling akin to claustrophobia.

Fortunately, a deep passage stretched from some unknown distance into the Main God Hall. Subconsciously, Tang Chuan knew this should be the way out.

Steeling himself, Tang Chuan walked into the passage.

The moment he stepped inside, his consciousness spun wildly. The next instant, he abruptly appeared on a wide road.

Looking back, at the edge of his vision high above, the majestic and elegant Main God Hall floated, submerged in an ocean of countless Powers of Rules.

On the road, ten statues stood on either side, each with a different appearance, all beyond reason, eerily strange. They exuded a vast, ancient aura, as if these stone figures had endured endless ages without decay—or perhaps, they were time itself.

Tang Chuan reached the center of the road, his mind still hazy and unclear, making it hard for him to "remember" what these statues truly were.

But then...

As the thought of discerning what the statues were arose in him, an indescribable feeling stirred in his heart.

Tang Chuan spread his arms, forcing himself to remain calm, and made his voice as dignified and steady as possible: "Imperial We, in the name of the God of Calamity and Terror, grant you all the honor of beholding Imperial We!"

The God of Calamity and Terror was Tang Chuan's full title; the earlier address of "Calamity" was merely the other main gods' shorthand for him.

Governing calamity, misfortune, astonishment, and terror—these four natures, along with the events and sensations they spawned—was Tang Chuan's main divine authority, the supreme power across the infinite universe, which even other main gods could not interfere with.

Thus, it did not mean that the God of Calamity and Terror brought only disaster and fear.

Whether it was an illusion or not, after Tang Chuan spoke these words, the ten statues seemed to tremble for an instant.

Then, a sensation of "being watched" arose out of nowhere.

Tang Chuan's scalp went numb, but he still pointed with authority at a statue that looked relatively "benevolent" and said, "You, come before Imperial We and await Imperial We's command."

Crack, crack, crack...

That Demon God-like statue, barely resembling a human form, began to quake, emitting a dull rumble. In an instant, it climbed down from its pedestal.

Then, it shifted shape, transforming into a form matching Tang Chuan's understanding of human anatomy—bones and flesh perfectly replicated.

Yet, to display its weakness and humility before the main god, the statue-turned-human took the shape of a child about ten years old, barely 1.4 meters tall.

The child, seemingly knowing human etiquette from somewhere, immediately knelt on one knee, placed his right hand over his chest, and said:

"My Lord, God of Calamity and Terror above all things in the boundless and endless universe, your servant, Arya, awaits your command!"

Tang Chuan, dignified and composed, said, "Imperial We's current body is mortal. Take Imperial We outside."

Arya nodded slightly. "As you wish."

His vision blurred again.

Tang Chuan and Arya, still half-kneeling, suddenly appeared in a plaza. Looking back, he could tell this was the edge of the entire Main God Hall complex.

Yet even after all the astonishing events before, Tang Chuan was still stunned by what he saw.

Before him lay a faint membrane enveloping the Main God Hall.

Below, time and space were visibly but indescribably twisted. A boundless silver river stretched from an unknown source to an endless distance beyond sight.

In every direction, countless tiny, dazzling lights—more numerous than grains of sand in a desert—swarmed densely, orbiting the silver river.

Information in his mind told Tang Chuan that those endless tiny lights were each a true universe!

And the universe he had once inhabited was merely an insignificant speck among these infinite lights.

From time to time, strange "substances," like tributes, would detach from those sand-grain-like lights and merge into the silver river.

Some were essences nurtured by entire universes, given back to the silver river to maintain cosmic order and operation.

Others were ultimate beings from a universe, having transcended its original rules, earning the right to break free from their native universe and enter the Main Universe—the silver river.

Only the most outstanding among them were deemed worthy of being noticed and crowned by the lower or even mid-tier deities of the main gods, receiving supreme honor.

At this moment, the Main God Hall, under some force's pull, was gradually drifting toward the silver river, as if that was its original resting place.

Tang Chuan deeply suppressed his shock, silently reciting to himself: I am the God of Terror; nothing is worthy of terrifying me. I must stay calm.

He looked at Arya, still kneeling and afraid to move, and said, "Rise. Imperial We grants you the right to stand at Imperial We's side and speak with Imperial We."

"Deeply honored."

Arya stood up. At 1.4 meters tall, his face still bore a childish innocence, yet it was filled with solemn ritual.

Tang Chuan clasped his hands behind his back and said, "Imperial We's main body is engaged in a process of thought and analysis that cannot be interrupted. This mortal body cannot cross the starry river. Present a vessel to Imperial We."

In the Main Universe, not every being had the power to traverse the starry river; there were also the weak.

Thus, many things could be called "vessels" to help beings cross the stars.

But upon hearing this, Arya hesitated, as if wanting to speak yet holding back.

Tang Chuan's heart stirred, though his face remained expressionless. "Why the hesitation?"

With your power, simply stealing a spaceship would be easy enough, wouldn't it?

Even if rules restrict you, just creating one shouldn't be too hard, right?

This is the Main God Hall, after all.

Anything capable of guarding this place year after year must be no small force.

On that point, Tang Chuan was confident.

Arya spoke up. "But we have guarded the Main God Hall for ages, and spaceships hold no meaning for us. None of the existing ships are worthy of Your Lordship's status and power."

Tang Chuan breathed a sigh of relief.

So it's that he thinks spaceships are too low-class to be worthy of my command.

Tang Chuan steadied his mind. "Any one will do. I will not hold you accountable. But it must be something a mortal body can easily control."

Don't give me one that takes hundreds of people to operate.

Even if you did, I couldn't use it.

Better if it has an artificial intelligence—something I can point and it goes.

Only then did Arya nod, exhaling in relief. "Your Lordship, please wait a moment."

With that, his form vanished.

The next instant, he was back, holding a silver orb in his hand. He presented it with both hands. "Offered to Your Lordship!"

Tang Chuan was a bit bewildered, but he forced calm and took the orb.

Even if it were a solid sphere of the same size, Tang Chuan wouldn't have been able to lift it easily.

But the moment it touched his hands, it seemed weightless—as if Arya had considered the Calamity Supreme God's current mortal body and applied a "weightlessness" property to the orb.

But...

How the hell do I use this thing?

Why does everything have to be so bizarre around here?

The phone was a living, slime-secreting tentacle.

The spaceship is a bowl-sized silver orb.

Even if you brought Hawking here, he wouldn't know how to use it!