Arknights, but Terra Is Being Raised in Captivity

Kal'tsit: "..."

Kal'tsit had the feeling that it was no longer just humanity that was doomed—even the Sea Creatures were doomed.

Draw the Holy Sword, and You May Meet God

The Sea Creatures were creations of the Pre-Civilization. So was Kal'tsit.

So, in a sense, they could be considered sisters—or colleagues.

During the ten thousand years before the Sea Creatures brought about the end of the world, Kal'tsit had focused only on matters on land and ignored the sea.

That was because Kal'tsit knew that although the Sea Creatures had no brains, they should have been quiet, obedient, sensible, neither crying nor making a fuss. They absolutely should not have been—

"Sister."

Seeing that the fanatic had already been assimilated, the Divine Messenger turned and looked at Kal'tsit.

It reached out and tore open its chest again, where fresh flesh had only just begun to grow.

It ripped apart blood vessels and pulled out chunks of flesh. Blood seeped from its fingertips, as though it had painted its nails bright red.

The Divine Messenger pinched its newly formed, still-throbbing heart and said, "Sister, want some? It's fresh."

Kal'tsit: "..."

They absolutely should not have been like this...

So what exactly had happened to these Sea Creatures after their ascension to make them so... bizarre?

"I refuse." Kal'tsit decisively shook her head. "I have no intention of becoming a Sea Creature."

"Why?"

The Divine Messenger tilted its head. The confusion in its eyes did not seem fake.

As long as one evolved into something like them, one could obtain inexhaustible food and never have to worry about survival again.

Why refuse?

The Divine Messenger did not understand, but it did not dwell on it either. It had no brain, so it would not have been able to think it through anyway.

It merely raised its little head, opened its mouth, and swallowed the beating heart back into its stomach.

Sea Creatures did not have the bad habit of wasting food, even if the meat was their own.

Still, that method of eating made Kal'tsit frown continuously.

After licking around its lips with its little tongue... though Kal'tsit had no idea how long a tongue the Divine Messenger would need to lick all the way around its mouth when it could expand its jaw several times over.

Satisfied, the Divine Messenger turned to look at the new kin, who had only just become a Sea Creature and was still tremblingly learning to walk, yet was already endlessly muttering, "Food, food, hungry, hungry"—

The Divine Messenger stepped forward, grabbed the other by the back of the neck, and prepared to take him away from Terra to their paradise for a hearty meal.

"Wait."

Seeing this, Kal'tsit naturally spoke up at once. "I want to... no, I hope to meet your god. Is that possible?"

"Lord God?"

The Divine Messenger turned back, looking confused as it pointed at the sky. "Isn't Lord God always right there?"

Kal'tsit: "..."

She raised her head and looked toward the sky. The sphere she had always regarded as the moon looked back at her, as if granting her wish.

At that moment, a chill spread from her spine to her tailbone, making even the cat ears atop Kal'tsit's head shrink back.

She had been observed like some small animal all along, yet she had believed that this tiny ecological bottle was the entire world she lived in.

That sense of absurdity was enough to destroy a person's psychological defenses, but Kal'tsit forcibly held herself together.

She drew a deep breath, forced herself to calm down, and only then spoke softly. "God... I wish to make a deal with you. Would you... be willing to hear me out?"

Kal'tsit was not stupid. She lowered her stance.

It was still unknown whether this god was good or evil, but it was certainly wicked beyond measure. The Sea Creature beside her was living proof.

Thus, after receiving no response from that god even after a long silence, Kal'tsit actually breathed a sigh of relief.

She was even more worried that the moment she spoke, that god would reply in an interested tone, "Oh? Let's hear it."

Because if that happened, anything you asked for could be granted—but as for the way it would be granted, that was none of your concern.

If you wanted world peace and no war, then simply wipe out all humanity.

If you wanted someone's heart, if you wanted them to look only at you, then gouge out their eyes and sew them onto your scalp, tear out their heart, and place it on your dinner plate.

Never mind the process. Was your wish fulfilled or not?

In the end, amid the deathly silence, the Divine Messenger beside her spoke first. "Lord God says you only need to pull out this sword. Once you pull it out, He will naturally meet you."

After saying that, the Divine Messenger grabbed the fanatic by the back of the neck and ascended into the sky. "I'll take it home for dinner first."

However, when the Divine Messenger was halfway through ascending, Kal'tsit, who remained on the ground, reached up to touch her face and looked toward the sky.

"Is it raining?"

"Ah... I accidentally tore your skin off." Yet what she heard was the Divine Messenger apologizing to the fanatic. "It's okay, it's okay. I'll glue it back on for you. But this piece of skin I tore off smells pretty good... can I eat it?"

Kal'tsit: "..."

Kal'tsit lowered her hand and looked down, only to discover that the so-called rain was red.

So Kal'tsit said nothing more. She turned around and walked toward the Holy Sword.

She had a feeling that if she stayed around those Sea Creatures any longer, even her SAN would drop by one.

"So pulling out the Holy Sword will let me meet God?"

"Is this the only way?"

Even if it was not, Kal'tsit had no other choice now.

The so-called Holy Sword had an unknown material, unknown weight, and she could not even tell what it truly looked like.

That was because the Holy Sword radiated dazzling light from its entire body. Forget seeing it clearly—even looking directly at it felt as if her eyes would be burned.

But Kal'tsit had no choice. She stepped forward, reached out, and gripped the hilt of the Holy Sword.

It was not scorching hot to the touch. Instead, it was cool, with spiral-like patterns carved into it.

But she could not... could not pull it out.

So Kal'tsit had no choice but to release it, take a step back, draw a deep breath, and say, "Mon3tr."

With a roar, the massive creature over nine meters long did not appear.

Instead, countless green scales attached themselves to Kal'tsit's right arm like armor.

Only once Kal'tsit had donned a perfect gauntlet did she reach out again and grasp the hilt of the Holy Sword.

Then—

Bzzzz—!

A dazzling pillar of light shot into the sky and tore through the heavens.

Kal'tsit stood upon the earth, holding the Holy Sword.

Within that light, Kal'tsit saw God manifest. An enormous palm reached down from the clouds and into the planet.

As if out of pity, and as if bestowing a reward, that palm was not as vast as before—not large enough to flatten thousands of kilometers of land. Instead, it gradually shrank until it spread open before Kal'tsit, just large enough for her to step into its palm.

If Your palm has shrunk to this size, then how long is Your arm now? Kal'tsit could not help but think of that utterly nonsensical question.

Still, Kal'tsit said nothing. Holding the Holy Sword, she silently stepped into the center of that palm.

Kal'tsit's Attitude Had Clearly Become Respectful

"Hakimi, Hakimi, Hakimi~"

Perhaps because she felt she would soon see a former colleague, Heart of the Corrupted Skadi floated around Chen Ran while hugging her phone, humming a little tune.

It was just that the lyrics...

"Hakimi doesn't actually mean cat." Chen Ran turned his head and could not help correcting her.

Heart of the Corrupted Skadi stopped in midair and blinked her little eyes. "Then why does Kun mean chicken?"

"Uh..."

That question stumped Chen Ran.

"I'm rather curious about what you usually watch on your phone."

After thinking for a while, Chen Ran reached out and took the phone from Heart of the Corrupted Skadi's arms. "Confiscated. I'll give it back after I turn on youth mode and anti-addiction settings."

"Oh."

Heart of the Corrupted Skadi was not disappointed. If Lord God did not want her to play with it, then she simply would not.

So she floated over, obediently sat on Chen Ran's shoulder, swung her little feet, and waited for her former colleague to arrive.

Seeing this, Chen Ran naturally rubbed Heart of the Corrupted Skadi's little head with his fingertips before turning back to the planetary model.

But... it was too small.

A glass marble was already tiny, let alone the humans living inside it.

Even after zooming in and out repeatedly, his eyes were starting to blur from searching.

And Kal'tsit had green hair, green eyes, and green clothes, blending perfectly into nature.

If Kal'tsit had not been the barefoot type, with her fair thighs catching his eye, Chen Ran might have turned his head for a moment and completely lost track of where she was.

Fortunately, the problem was quickly solved.

"The first hero after the apocalyptic wasteland has appeared!"

"She snapped reinforced concrete bars (crossed out)"

"She pulled out the Holy Sword, carrying the hopes of her entire race. She offered a prayer to God."

"She, Savior Kal'tsit!"

"I always feel like you're making a pun."

As that translucent pop-up appeared, a pillar of light shot skyward after it, like a teammate's marker in a party game.

That finally allowed Chen Ran to lock onto Kal'tsit's position. He reached out and grabbed toward the pillar of light.

The moment she stepped onto that palm, Kal'tsit instinctively thought of the long stairway to godhood.

But when that palm lifted her into the sky, she no longer had the leisure to concern herself with such trivialities.

For Lord God, this action might have been nothing more than raising a hand.

Yet sonic booms thundered beside her ears, while the scenery rapidly receded and blurred into afterimages.

The speed at which she escaped the planet Terra almost reminded Kal'tsit of a wormhole.

Yet she felt no wind pressure at all, as though some invisible barrier had blocked everything for her.

Very quickly, the world became completely quiet.

Looking in all directions, she saw an endless sea of stars.

The planet Terra lay beneath her feet, planets revolved around her, and even the Sea Creature that had earlier taken its new kin to the food planet was flying not far away...

Wait?

A food planet...?

Kal'tsit discovered in astonishment that a newly born planet had silently appeared within this star system. No one had even noticed how it had appeared or when it had been born.

How... had that been done?