Arknights, but Raising Terra in Captivity

I wasn't some god—Chen Ran had become quite adept at muttering that to himself.

But Chen Ran did not voice that complaint, because the translucent pop-up window had already started spamming messages above Amiya's head.

"Lord God."

After softly repeating it three times, Amiya's tone became as though she had made up her mind. "You are so kind-hearted. Even someone like me was given two chances by you... Yet only now did I understand your painstaking intentions."

Amiya stepped onto Chen Ran's palm with her tiny feet.

Then she dropped to one knee and clasped her hands together.

Lowering her little head gently, Amiya softly said at the same time, "I will offer you my loyalty."

"You are a renowned collector, and you have always felt that your collection room was far too empty."

"Since they are collectibles, how could there possibly be just one?"

"Thus, after already acquiring 'Ornamental Fish: Skadi (Red Version),' you turned your poisonous claws toward another poor, helpless Little Rabbit."

"You have captured Amiya and imprisoned her in a rabbit cage shaped like a castle, determined to make her one of your collectibles."

"You still have no morals, so this part will be skipped."

"You have obtained Pet Rabbit: Amiya (Adult Version)."

Chen Ran: "... ..."

Watching the translucent window flash, Chen Ran inexplicably got the feeling of, Ah... so it's this part again.

But weren't you slandering me again? How did I not have morals?

And why was it Amiya (Adult Version)?

Still, Chen Ran only muttered a few complaints in his heart.

Because if he remembered correctly, that translucent pop-up should still flash a few more times.

And sure enough:

"Drawing upon the experience you gained from tricking Skadi (Red Version), you successfully abducted Amiya and made her offer you her loyalty. Amiya's favorability +1."

"Amiya (Adult Version) has shared a stance with you."

"You have obtained: 'Originium: From Beginner to Eating It Raw.'"

"Through 'Originium: From Beginner to Eating It Raw,' you have obtained a new ability:"

"Privilege Hound."

Chen Ran: "?"

Was this Privilege Hound... the name of the new ability, or was it taking the opportunity to insult him?

But Chen Ran lowered his head and looked at Amiya, who was still kneeling on one knee in his palm, then at the black crown above her head...

Chen Ran spread open his other palm and watched as an identical black crown was slowly formed.

But Chen Ran had no intention of placing that black crown on his own head. Instead, he continued looking into the palm of his other hand.

Then a second, third, and fourth black crown were formed in succession.

"Ha, just as I thought."

Chen Ran's guess had been confirmed.

Although Chen Ran had always denied being some so-called god, he also understood that these planet models and the natives upon them... were essentially low-dimensional games to him.

After obtaining the abilities of some low-dimensional thing, was he supposed to put it on his own head?

It sounded a little unpleasant, but... was it worthy?

So, after this simple experiment, Chen Ran had more or less figured things out. He turned his head and looked again at Amiya, who was still lowering her head and swearing loyalty.

"Alright, alright, get up. I told you, I'm not a god. What are you doing, Little Rabbit?"

Amiya heard him, but said nothing.

Chen Ran had only said it casually, but Amiya could not truly take it so casually.

Still, since her god had spoken, Amiya naturally obeyed.

But when Amiya raised her little head, she saw that Chen Ran had already extended his second hand toward her.

Then he opened his palm, and black crowns spilled out before her as if they cost nothing at all.

One... two... three...

After counting them, Amiya discovered that there were eight black crowns piled before her...

Amiya was completely dumbfounded.

What?

Huh?

From the very moment Amiya had obtained the black crown above her head, she had understood both its origin and importance.

If this black crown were cast onto Terra, it would undoubtedly bring bloodshed and conflict like some peerless divine sword.

So why did it seem, with Lord God... as though they were wholesale goods being handed out for free?

"Oh, I made them casually." Chen Ran was telling the truth. "The black crown on your head looks nice, Little Rabbit, but it's too plain. So I made you some new ones."

Chen Ran reached out and lightly tapped the eight black crowns before Amiya...

Oh, no, they were no longer black crowns now. They had become red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet crowns, along with a white crown corresponding to the black one.

Amiya: "... ..."

Amiya opened her mouth, but ultimately closed it again.

Forget it. As long as Lord God was happy.

After Amiya gathered up the pile of black... rainbow crowns and hugged them to her chest, she floated up lightly like Little Rabbit, who had no idea what to do, landing on Chen Ran's shoulder—

"Um... Lord God?" After hesitating again and again, Amiya finally spoke. "Regarding my home planet... what should be done afterward..."

"Didn't I say so? Leave it to you to handle, Little Rabbit." Chen Ran replied casually.

"That's wonderful... Thank you, Lord God."

Amiya finally let out a complete sigh of relief.

After all, Amiya had displayed such intense killing intent earlier and had even rushed directly into the planet model.

Though part of the reason was her anger, the more important reason was that Amiya feared her Lord God would decide to completely purge her home planet because of a small number of parasites.

If that happened, the ordinary people at the bottom would be far too innocent.

Heart of the Corrupted Skadi: Search for a Spicy Rabbit Head Recipe

Alright, Amiya now not only had a wardrobe full of little dresses, but also a drawer full of crowns.

Although Amiya also felt that simply tossing those crowns into a drawer so casually... might not be very appropriate.

At the very least, she ought to set up a collection room and enshrine them.

But when her Lord God had tossed those crowns to her, his attitude had been far too casual.

So casual that even Amiya could not help feeling that these crowns might really be no different from roadside trinkets—

But once she accepted that premise, Amiya could not help wanting to hide her little head beneath the blankets again.

Because the entirety of Amiya's strength came from the black crown above her head—or rather, from Originium's authority.

With it, she was the Demon King Rabbit.

And once she no longer had the black crown, no longer had Originium's authority, Amiya would truly be nothing more than the poor, helpless Little Rabbit.

So when Amiya offered her loyalty to her Lord God, she truly had given every bit of strength and ability she possessed to her Lord God without holding anything back.

But what happened?

It was as if she had taken out a family heirloom and said it was a priceless gem, everything she owned.

Then her Lord God took one look and said, "Oh, this is really just a pretty rock. How many do you want? I'll go outside and pick up a handful from the roadside for you."

Amiya: "... ..."

Little Rabbit felt as though the sky had fallen.

Not only was it embarrassing, she also felt quite guilty.

Her Lord God treated her so well, yet all she could offer was a broken rock...

Yet her Lord God not only did not blame her, but returned gifts eight times greater in value, even giving her the power to decide the life and death of her home planet.

Thus, amid that guilt, Amiya closed the drawer with a red face.

Then she floated gently to the window, opened it, and turned her little head to see where her Lord God was now.

... ... ...

... ...

Chen Ran, however, did not see it that way.

"This Little Rabbit is pretty generous, huh?"

"The first ability she gave me after offering her loyalty was to package up all of Originium's authority and send it over?"

"Does that mean this Little Rabbit's banner has already been whaled to the limit?"

"Look at this Little Rabbit, then look at a certain ornamental fish—"

Chen Ran turned his head and looked toward the fish tank on the table.

He had not forgotten the darkness before his eyes when the first ability he gained from Heart of the Corrupted Skadi had been Breathe with Gills.

Of course, that was all a joke.

After all, Originium and Sea Creatures focused on entirely different kinds of abilities.

One only required a ding, while the other had growth potential—you could farm whatever ability you wanted yourself.

But that did not stop Chen Ran from teasing her.

"Titi? Red T? Heart of the Corrupted Skadi?"

Chen Ran walked over to the table and lowered his head toward the fish tank.

When he saw Heart of the Corrupted Skadi still sunk at the bottom, face-down and blowing bubbles, Chen Ran could not help laughing. "You're still emo over there? How long has it been?"

Seeing that Heart of the Corrupted Skadi had no reaction, Chen Ran reached into the fish tank.

He grasped Heart of the Corrupted Skadi in his palm and took her out.

Then he spread open his palm. Seeing that Heart of the Corrupted Skadi was still face-down, he used his other hand to flip her over.

"Is it really necessary just because I won't let you play with my phone?"

Chen Ran poked Heart of the Corrupted Skadi's little belly with a fingertip. "I did wonder whether, after my consciousness connected with The Great Swarm, your divinity would be washed away by my humanity, Red T. But after humanity surpassed divinity, how did you skip straight to becoming an internet-addicted girl? Isn't that a bit too big of a leap?"

His fingertip poked lightly. Heart of the Corrupted Skadi's belly had always been soft, but this time, for some unknown reason, it was as soft as jelly and even wobbled around.

But when Heart of the Corrupted Skadi spat out a stream of water from her little mouth, her little belly rapidly deflated and returned to its smooth, flat appearance—

"Cosplaying a whale spouting water, huh? Your stomach can hold quite a lot."

Chen Ran found it rather amusing. "Fine, I'll let you play with the phone."

"Really?"

Heart of the Corrupted Skadi blinked her innocent little eyes, finally no longer seeming emo as she plopped down on her butt. "Lord God, good."

"Don't call me good just yet." Chen Ran spoke again. "You can only play for three hours a day."

"... ..." Heart of the Corrupted Skadi lay back down. "Lord God, bad."

"So your standard for judging whether someone's good or bad is whether they let you play with a phone?"

Heart of the Corrupted Skadi's thoughts were a little too simple.

But then again, considering that Sea Creatures only knew how to eat, it did not seem strange at all.