Arknights, But Caging Terra Chapter 24

"Alright, sleep now, sleep now."

Because Amiya was so small, Chen Ran could only use a fingertip to rub her little head, treating it as a head pat.

"Do you want me to sing a lullaby for you, little rabbit?"

"You mean a lullaby, right… What's 'peaceful' mean… ? Hmm… That… No, thank you…"

"That's fine too, then."

Whether it was because the misunderstanding was cleared up, or because being patted on the head to sleep made Amiya feel paternal love, In short, Amiya, who had been tossing and turning, unable to sleep in her little castle, Under the background noise of Chen Ran gently whispering to Heart of the Corrupted Skadi while rubbing her little head with his fingertip, Amiya slowly closed her eyes and drifted off to dreamland.

"Come, come, Red T, tell me, you said you just wanted to wash the ingredients, but why did you jump into my teacup to take a bath?"

"That glowing little box said some people like to drink bathwater."

"Yes, some people have that fetish, but the key is, Red T, you drank all the water in the teacup yourself! Where did you get any bathwater?"

"That glowing little box also said some people like to drink holy—"

"Ah, alright, alright, stop talking. Red T, you won't be allowed to play with your phone anymore."

"Huh?"

… … …

… …

"Mmm… Good morning… Lord God…"

Perhaps it was because this was the most comfortable sleep Amiya had since becoming the Demon King Rabbit, That when she woke up the next day, her eyes opened, and Amiya, rarely shedding her usual aloof and indifferent demeanor as the Demon King Rabbit, appeared somewhat dazed and incredibly cute.

Although, once Amiya rubbed her eyes and fully woke up, that cold aura returned.

"Oh, good morning."

Hearing the greeting from behind him, Chen Ran, who was fiddling with a planetary model, replied, "Did you sleep well last night? If you're hungry, breakfast is already set out. If you want to wash up, I've also specially ordered some things, they're over there too."

"Thank you for your kindness, Lord God." Amiya lifted the covers, stretched, and then gently floated up, looking around. "Lord God, what are you doing? And where is Miss Skadi? I don't see her."

"I'm harvesting crops." Chen Ran glanced at his faith points and new abilities, replying casually, "As for Red T, she seems to be feeling down. Go look in that fish tank; she should be at the bottom, pretending to be a whale fall."

Amiya: "Uh…"

So, what exactly happened last night after I fell asleep…

036. When did a laser pointer become a treasure for planets?

Amiya floated over to the fish tank and peered down from the edge.

Fortunately, the water was crystal clear, and Amiya could immediately see Heart of the Corrupted Skadi lying motionless at the bottom of the tank, face down.

Amiya turned to look around and took out some snacks from the breakfast Chen Ran had prepared for them.

She broke them into pieces and, as if feeding fish, sprinkled the food scraps into the tank.

Watching the food scraps land next to Heart of the Corrupted Skadi's little head at the bottom of the tank—

Heart of the Corrupted Skadi suddenly opened her small mouth and ate the food.

"Ah… she's still alive, then that's fine."

After confirming this, Amiya floated back over to Chen Ran.

"This is my home planet… It really looks so small like this."

Although Amiya didn't know what Chen Ran was doing, she obediently didn't disturb his work.

Instead, she curiously looked around.

Without Chen Ran's intervention to zoom in and out of the planetary model, Amiya was 10cm tall, and the planetary model was a 1cm diameter glass marble.

At this scale, her home planet was only as big as her little head in Amiya's eyes.

"Is this the perspective of a god…?"

Amiya extended her small hand and looked at the planetary model, which seemed like it could be held in her arms, and couldn't help but murmur, "No wonder…"

At this scale, people inside the planetary model were completely invisible to the naked eye.

If they couldn't be seen, why bother caring?

As Amiya was thinking this, she heard a click.

Subconsciously turning her head, Amiya saw the Lord God casually flick his wrist, and an image, like a recording of history, appeared in his hand.

"Lord God…?"

"Oh, don't mind me," Chen Ran said with a smile. "It's just that your recent pose, little rabbit, the composition, it really reminded me of that meme from Tom and Jerry, where Jerry is holding a ball... or was it candy?"

"Uh..."

To be honest, Amiya didn't get the reference.

But Chen Ran didn't seem to intend to explain it. He handed the photo paper in his hand to Amiya and then said:

"If you, little rabbit, haven't decided what to do about the lives of those Terra people on your home planet, then I have a way."

"Eh?"

Amiya had been looking down at her beautiful reflection on the photo paper.

Upon hearing this, Amiya quickly looked up and said, "Please, tell me."

"Two choices."

Chen Ran took out two laser pointers from his pocket. "Let those Terra people choose for themselves. If they want peace, coexistence, and no more war, they can press this laser pointer that shoots white light. Then, just like with the planet model of the Savior Cat, I will provide food and water for those Terra people."

Amiya: "... ..."

Impossible.

Amiya knew very well that if those Terra people had any true goodness, she wouldn't have traveled through so many timelines that she'd become numb.

But even so, Amiya still asked, "Then... what about the other one?"

"The other laser pointer, naturally, represents power, wealth, and never-ending war. If they press this laser pointer that shoots red light—"

Chen Ran didn't finish his sentence. He just held the laser pointer and pressed it towards the gourmet planet.

As a red light shot out—

"You had a sudden impulse to give the small animals on the gourmet planet a little Orbital Bombardment shock."

The semi-transparent pop-up window suddenly appeared:

"Then, from beyond the starry sky, a red light flashed."

"Mountains were cleaved, oceans evaporated."

"Your kill points +1 +1 +1..."

Chen Ran: "?"

It's just a laser pointer... it shouldn't have that much power, right?

Although he said that, Chen Ran still released the button.

But the kill points didn't stop. Before long, a large mass of white creatures flew out from within the gourmet planet.

Chen Ran knew they were Sea Creatures, but he didn't know why they were flying out now... Well, Chen Ran thought he probably did.

After thinking for a moment, Chen Ran opened the Hive Cluster Mind (Sea Creature Edition) to see what those Sea Creatures were chatting about:

"Sea Creature 1: Family! Who understands! My breakfast suddenly turned to ash today!"

"Sea Creature 2: My reserves of food, ahhhhh!!!"

"Sea Creature 3: Who's smashing my rice bowl!"

"Sea Creature 4: Family! I found the culprit! I've already followed that red light and found... ah... it's Lord God, never mind then."

"Sea Creature 5: Never mind then."

"Sea Creature 6: Never mind then."

"Sea Creature 7: Hey, wait, Lord God seems to be waving at us?"

Chen Ran was indeed waving at those Sea Creatures.

This was because the Hive Cluster Mind (Sea Creature Edition) wasn't just a text chatroom; it could send voice messages.

With just a slight touch, the messages were filled with tears and wails, as if the sky had fallen.

So, after those white Sea Creatures flew over, Chen Ran took out a bag of small biscuits from his pocket.

These small biscuits were originally intended for Heart of the Corrupted Skadi, but Heart of the Corrupted Skadi was... feeling down.

So Chen Ran handed the bag of small biscuits to the Sea Creatures.

After the Sea Creatures took them:

"Sea Creature 1: Family! Come quickly! Lord God is distributing relief food!"

"Sea Creature 2: We're getting food again, family!"

"Sea Creature 3: God is good, red light is bad!"

Chen Ran: "... ..."

Because Chen Ran had deliberately controlled the proportions, it would take hundreds or thousands of Sea Creatures to lift that bag of small biscuits.

These should be enough for them to eat for a while.

Watching the Sea Creatures cheer "We're getting food again! We're getting food again!" while lifting the bag of small biscuits and returning the way they came to the gourmet planet—

"Wait, that bag of small biscuits is plastic-wrapped. If I throw it onto that planet model, will it decompose?"

"By the way, can Sea Creatures eat plastic?"

Thinking this, Chen Ran turned back to look at Amiya, who had a look of slight panic on her face. He said, "Well, it's pretty much like this. When the red laser pointer is activated, it attracts a swarm of Sea Creatures."

Amiya: "... ..."

Amiya looked at the group of Sea Creatures, then at the laser pointer in Chen Ran's hand, and fell into an eerie silence.

She had a feeling that even without attracting any Sea Creatures, just pressing that laser pointer and emitting red light would be enough to gun down all those Terrans.

Was this some kind of planet-destroying artifact?

And yet, this terrifying thing was just a laser pointer in the mouth of Lord God?

Was her understanding flawed, or did she just not get Lord God's sense of humor?

037. A Divine Messenger Descends from the Heavens, Offering Terrans Two Choices

Chen Ran ignored the bewildered Amiya. He went to the side and fiddled with the laser pointer in his hand.

"Strange..."

"That Savior Cat always shoots a beam of light from inside the planet model, which is how I know when it needs me.

"I thought that method was quite good, so I decided to use a laser pointer to replace the function of that flashlight—"

"How did it turn into a star destroyer cannon?"

Chen Ran was confused.

He recalled the principle of lasers: electrons in atoms absorb energy and transition from a lower to a higher energy level. When they fall back from the higher to the lower energy level, the released energy is emitted in the form of photons—

"Simply put, it's a process of high-density energy release."

"Lasers can indeed be used for cutting, rapidly melting or vaporizing materials..."