Translator: AnubisTL
"This immortal bastard is really a pain in the ass," Chen Mang muttered, sitting in the locomotive cabin and glaring at Satan, who hovered before them, wreathed in dark energy and flapping his massive, pitch-black wings.
Moments later, the Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon's patterns on the carriage roof began to glow faintly white, charging up once more.
But this time, Satan gave him no time to charge.
In his Future State, Satan's power and speed far surpassed his previous limits, approaching the speed of light. Moving at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye, he lunged at the Stellaris and unleashed a devastating punch.
The force sent the Stellaris hurtling skyward.
The train's defenses were utterly overwhelmed, unable to maintain its stability as it was blasted into the air.
Yet, moments later, Satan's incredulous voice rang out:
"H-how is this possible?!"
"Even my Future State can't break through your defenses! What Armor Tier is this train?!"
"..."
Chen Mang naturally had no intention of answering. He merely glanced at the control panel screen, noting the energy range of the punch: Tier 1300.
Fucking strong!
Is this really the power a normal Fourth-Tier Civilization should possess?
As a Third-Tier Civilization, the Mechanical Civilization's most powerful attacks only reached an energy range of 300.
Yet Satan, in his Future State, could casually unleash a punch with a Tier 1300 energy range?
Truly monstrously powerful.
The energy charging was complete, but Satan's speed made him nearly impossible to lock onto. No matter—the Tier 500 Light Cannon had an immense area of effect, requiring no precise targeting.
The next moment—
Five Tier 500 Arcanon Light Pillars erupted in different directions!
No matter how fast Satan moved, he couldn't evade all the blasts.
But then—
As if mocking the attack, Satan stopped mid-air the instant the cannons fired, effortlessly enduring the full force of one Tier 500 Arcanon Main Cannon blast.
Utterly unfazed.
He even grinned.
"Is that all you've got?"
"Then it's my turn to perform!"
"Heavenly Cage!"
Countless tendrils of black energy erupted from Satan's body, forming chains that sealed off the entire space.
Suspended in mid-air, Satan stared intently at Chen Mang, his grin widening with each word.
"Last time you came, your armor was only Tier 500. In just a few dozen days, its Armor Tier has reached a level even my Future State form can't breach. I suspect..."
"This can't be your true Armor Tier, can it?"
"Your current Armor Tier is at least 1500."
"To raise your Armor Tier to this level in such a short time would require resources and murphy stone that even your entire galaxy couldn't scrape together, even if you sold everything. Within my Heavenly Cage, no one can escape. When your temporary boost ends, I'm eager to see how you'll deal with me."
"Satan—"
"Defiance will not be tolerated!"
"Only your blood can wash away this humiliation!"
Immediately afterward, Satan surged forward, his hands gripping the rear of the Stellaris train. With a whip-like motion, he hurled the train against the ground with all his might, creating several deep, compacted craters in rapid succession.
Spatial fragments shattered in his wake, briefly revealing glimpses of the void beyond.
Had this Holy Land not been so exceptionally durable, an ordinary planet would have been pulverized by such relentless battering.
The power Satan unleashed in his Future State was truly terrifying.
Chen Mang remained motionless in the locomotive cabin. Despite the violent shaking, the Spatial Stabilizer maintained perfect equilibrium inside. He frowned slightly as he glanced at the train control panel screen.
Wormhole creation failed.
He couldn't contact the refrigerator outside this zone.
He couldn't send Civilization Broadcasts.
He couldn't use the train radio.
Every means of leaving this place or communicating with the outside world had been severed. Countless iron chains formed from pitch-black mist completely sealed off the space. His armor's operational duration was only 24 hours.
If Satan's lockdown lasted longer than that...
His only path was to await death.
Now there was only one way forward.
Kill Satan!
The Tier 500 Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon wasn't enough. He still had the Tier 1000 version!
Immediately, he checked the accessory information for the Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon and the train's iron ore resource balance.
The train currently held 1.989 quadrillion units of iron ore.
Upgrading the Seven-Colored Accessory to Tier 1000 would consume 1 quadrillion units of iron ore.
An exorbitant price.
It would deplete half of the train's reserves.
But this was no time to hoard resources. The vast reserves had been accumulated precisely for such emergencies. If they won this battle, the resources seized from the Extreme Evil Galaxy would more than replenish their losses.
War.
Victory always brings profit.
Defeat means utter ruin, with almost no chance of recovery.
Without hesitation, Chen Mang immediately spent 1 quadrillion units of iron ore to upgrade the Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon accessory to Tier 1000, unlocking a new Overpowered effect.
[Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon Tier 1000 Overpowered Effect: Targets killed by this weapon are completely and permanently erased from the timeline, suffering eternal death. Resurrection by any means is impossible. Their Past State, Present State, and Future State are all annihilated.]
"Excellent effect," Chen Mang's eyes lit up. With this, killing Satan again would truly mean his end.
The only regret was that if he had upgraded the Arcanon Main Cannon to Tier 1000 from the start, he might have avoided all this trouble. Satan would have been utterly destroyed the first time he killed him.
His Future State would have remained unseen, unknown.
But no matter.
What he had now was sufficient.
At Tier 500, each shot from the Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon consumed 100 billion units of iron ore.
At Tier 1000, however, the cost skyrocketed to a staggering 10 trillion units of iron ore!
A hundredfold increase in price.
The power must be unimaginable.
Without hesitation, even as the train was being flung around by Satan, the patterns on the Tier 1000 Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon began to glow softly, and an utterly terrifying energy gradually coalesced within it.
Clearly,
At that moment, Satan was overconfident. Knowing his main cannon was charging, he made no attempt to evade, continuing to slam the train relentlessly against the ground.
One minute later.
The fully charged Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon roared to life.
Within the Train Stellar Chamber, the artificial star began to spin rapidly, visibly shrinking as scorching flames erupted, engulfing the entire Holy Land in an instant.
If any survivors had remained in the Holy Land before, this attack wiped them out completely.
At such close range, no targeting was necessary. The blast covered the entire area, leaving no escape.
Space itself tore apart, revealing countless pitch-black rifts.
A deafening roar shook the heavens and earth.
Countless searing white beams, like divine punishment, washed over Satan. The power of this strike was terrifying. Had all the planets in the Niya Star System been aligned in a straight line, touching end to end, this single blast could have pierced through and shattered billions of worlds.
The power of a Tier 1000 Arcanon Light Energy Main Cannon exceeded that of a Tier 500 cannon by more than a hundredfold!
This was a force no mortal should wield.
Such a cataclysmic display, rivaling a supernova explosion, seemed impossible to originate from human hands.
Yet—
Perhaps mortals can never truly overcome the heavens.
Chen Mang heard Satan's maniacal laughter. Blinding white light filled the space outside the train windows. He lowered his head, shielding his eyes with sunglasses, unable to bear the sight of his own attack. He could only see Satan's position on the Doppler radar, showing no signs of diminished Vitality.
The laughter was deafening, so piercing that it forced him into silence.
Satan hadn't even attempted to dodge.
Instead, he had endured the full force of the attack, emerging not only unscathed but completely unharmed.
For the first time, Chen Mang felt the crushing despair of an insurmountable power gap.
This despair was deeper than any he had experienced before.
This time, he had unleashed every ounce of his foundation, yet none of it had any effect on his opponent. Even his escape routes were blocked. He couldn't win this fight; it was time to start planning his retreat.
Chen Mang murmured, "Xiao Ai, based on the train's foundation, think of any possible escape methods."
He glanced at the "Spacetime Reversion" option on the control panel screen, but it was grayed out. Even if he could revert to a past timeline, he would only have ten minutes before being forced back to this exact moment.
Utterly useless.
Yet even this useless option was temporarily unavailable.
The cage formed by countless iron chains had completely sealed off the space, making escape impossible.
"Can't we use the refrigerator on Aquablue Star either?"
"Biaozi already tried. It's not working. The refrigerator's interdimensional connection has been severed."
"I see."
Chen Mang nodded slightly and continued to contemplate his foundation, considering whether to reveal the existence of the Niya Star System. Perhaps it could draw the attention of the cosmos and drag Satan into the fray.
This was a foundation-tier weapon he had once believed might be effective.
However, he now doubted its impact. After all, when he killed that divine race member, the Cosmic Rules had already taken notice of him and rewarded him. By then, the Cosmic Rules should have known all his secrets. If that event had truly been significant, the Cosmic Rules would have eliminated him then and there.
This suggested that the matter might not have been as critical as he initially thought.
Wait!
He suddenly remembered the Civilization Wonder he had obtained after killing that divine race member:
Divine Silence!
A Weapon Wonder with the following effect:
[Weapon Wonder. When activated with energy, it unleashes a full-power strike from a god, with a range equal to the radar's detection radius.]
[The god's attack possesses properties such as "absolute hit" and "absolute defense penetration," making it unstoppable.]
The weapon's power wasn't specified with a concrete energy range, only described as a full-force strike from a god. If "god" referred to the divine race, it was essentially a useless wonder. Chen Mang didn't find the divine race particularly strong, aside from their resilience to being killed.
He hadn't tested it himself.
The cost was too exorbitant.
Activating it once required a staggering 1 quadrillion units of iron ore.
Its sole advantage was near-instantaneous activation within radar range. Chen Mang's Doppler Radar currently covered a million light-years, meaning activating this wonder would trigger Divine Silence, even if it was hundreds of thousands of light-years away, and launch an attack on Satan.
Just then—
The searing light gradually dissipated, leaving the entire plain in ruins. The ground was littered with carbon particles formed under extreme heat, as if the air itself carried the acrid scent of gunpowder.
Satan's laughter echoed through the air.
Satan ceased his attack and stood before the locomotive's window, arms crossed, staring directly into Chen Mang's eyes through the glass. "Feeling powerless now, are you?" he taunted.
"The energy range of this attack is immense, far surpassing what a Fourth-Tier Civilization should possess."
"It's truly unimaginable."
"A civilization that just advanced to the Fourth Tier in a remote galaxy, yet wields such power? The rapid bursts of development your kind exhibits produce techniques even more terrifying than those of established Fourth-Tier Civilizations."
"But alas..."
"You've encountered me."
"Let me tell you this: my Future State Defense Rating is 'Future State'."
"Do you understand what that means?"
"It means..."
"The version of me you see now is my Future State self, while your attack originates from the Present State. How can a Present State attack possibly harm my Future State form?"
"This is a unique ability of Demons!"
"One that can only be used once in a lifetime!"
"You've pushed me to this point. Even in death, you can take pride in that. Not everyone has the privilege of witnessing a Demon's Future State. In this form, I am invincible."
"Even if the galaxy perishes, I will endure!"
"Unless..."
Satan spread his arms wide, grinning as he crouched down to peer through the glass at Chen Mang, who was seated in the driver's seat. "Unless you can find my future self, that's the only way to kill me. After all, my current power is borrowed from the future."
"But alas..."
"The future is completely unpredictable. No one can travel there, not even God-Tier Civilizations. So how do you plan to achieve the impossible?"
"..."
Chen Mang stared at Satan, who was squatting arrogantly on the locomotive's hood, and suddenly burst into laughter. "Can you maintain this Future State for long? The moment it fades, your death is assured."
"I have all the time in the world to waste on you."
"Let's see who dies first."
"You'll be the first to go."
Satan's laughter grew even more manic, clutching his stomach as he rolled around on the locomotive's hood. "How amusing! Don't you know that Demons of the Demon Race, once they enter their Future State, can sustain it for an incredibly long time?"
"I can maintain it for hundreds of days."
"Can you?"
"The only drawback is that I'll be permanently bound to this body, and my power will never grow again."
Immediately afterward...
Satan's expression gradually turned cold. He climbed to the front of the train, his eyes fixed on Chen Mang as he spoke, each word dripping with venom: "My power has been permanently fixed. Once it's fixed, my strength will revert to its current state. If I could have entered the Future State later, my power would have been fixed at a much higher level."
"All of this is your fault."
"But..."
"It all ends here. Once you're dead, even with my power fixed, my current strength will be more than enough to dominate this zone."
"..."
Chen Mang stared at Satan through the glass for a long moment, then suddenly chuckled. "You're certainly confident."
He slowly pressed a button on the control panel.
Immediately—
The 1 quadrillion units of iron ore, hastily gathered from across the train, rapidly turned to ash. Simultaneously, hundreds of thousands of light-years away, the Divine Silence was activated.
Divine Silence initiated.
Satan was currently in Absolute Defense mode. Even a Tier 2000 light energy main cannon might not be able to breach his defenses, let alone a Tier 1000.
A Tier 5000 light energy main cannon, however, was another matter entirely.
Such a weapon could instantly tear through space, creating a massive black hole. Even if it couldn't break through Satan's defenses, he would be unable to escape the black hole's terrifying gravitational pull, forever imprisoned within its depths.
Of course, he didn't have such means at the moment.
All he could do was place his hopes on "Divine Silence," to see which was more absolute: absolute defense or absolute offense. Which was truly superior?
Hundreds of thousands of light-years away, within the Cosmic Void, "Divine Silence" suddenly manifested a wormhole-like void gate. Countless tons of molten iron ore, now a green, seawater-like liquid, poured through the gate, irrigating the Civilization Wonder.
The previously desolate Divine Silence gradually began to glow with a soft pink light.
From the pink radiance, a Spirit Body slowly materialized in the air. Naked and wielding a long spear, it appeared fragile, yet its gaze seemed to span the vast distance to the Extreme Evil Galaxy.
Leaning back slightly, every muscle in its body tensed. After a short run-up, the energy-formed Pink Spear shattered the space before it, launching itself deep into the cosmos!
In the next instant—
The pitch-black sky within the Cosmic Void, dark for countless years, blazed with light.
An blinding white radiance instantly engulfed the region surrounding the Cosmic Void.
But the light was as fleeting as it was intense.
Where it passed—
Utterly serene, without spatial fragments or heat, all its power was concentrated within the spear, leaving no trace of leakage. Only a faint glow emanated from it.
In mere seconds, it had traversed five to six hundred thousand light-years—a speed rarely seen in the entire cosmos. Compared to this velocity, the so-called speed of Cosmic Behemoths transformed into Cosmic Landmines was utterly insignificant.
What terrifying power this was.
This was the full-force strike of a god.
And at that moment—
Within the Holy Land, Satan seemed to sense something. He swiftly looked up into the distance, hesitated briefly, then turned back to Chen Mang, delivering a venomous parting shot.
"I'll spare you for now. But when my armies descend upon human civilization, your death will be assured!"
With a wave of his hand, he dispelled the Heavenly Prison and prepared to depart, clearly the prison had also been confining him.
But it was already too late.
In the very next instant—
Satan froze in place, blood gushing from his throat. He glanced down at the pink spear that had materialized in his chest, his eyes widening with terror and horror as the searing pain finally erupted.
He hadn't even seen the spear appear.
He hadn't seen its trajectory.
His Divine Sense hadn't detected it either. All he'd felt was a vague sense of unease, urging him to flee immediately.
Logically, he should have been invincible at that moment. No one in the entire universe could harm him. Even if the Extreme Evil Galaxy were to perish, he would survive. Yet, he felt his Vitality draining away rapidly!
His Absolute Defense seemed to be failing.
Satan's legs buckled, and he collapsed to his knees, pitching forward uncontrollably until he lay sprawled on the ground. The terror of his life force rapidly draining away drove him to desperately tear open space and escape, but even this normally effortless feat proved impossible despite his desperate efforts.
He couldn't even self-destruct to destroy this space, obliterating all his reserves to deny them to Chen Mang.
He tried to turn his head for one last look at Chen Mang, but even that was beyond him.
He could only lie there, feeling his life force rapidly draining away.
An unprecedented terror and despair surged through his heart.
Seconds later.
Satan's pupils gradually dilated, and his corpse withered as if dehydrated.
"He should be completely dead now."
Fifteen minutes later.
Chen Mang, having left the train, stood beside Satan's corpse and nudged it with his toe. He then pulled the Pink Spear from Satan's back, examined it in his hand. This spear had cost him 1,000 trillion units of iron ore.
An exorbitant price.
Holding it felt like grasping a piece of warm jade, radiating gentle warmth.
It wasn't rough to the touch.
Moreover,
Chen Mang had watched the Unknown Naked God hurl this spear on the control panel screen. He knew that all its power had been perfectly contained within the spear, without a single leak.
An utterly inconceivable technique.
And now—
The Pink Spear's full power hadn't been unleashed yet. Its true destructive force would erupt upon detonation, meaning it could be used again, and next time, its power would be even greater.
The Stellaris train's new foundation-tier weapon of mass destruction!
"This quadrillion units of iron ore was worth every penny."
Chen Mang stood in place, hefting the Pink Spear in his hand, and suddenly chuckled. It seemed Satan was truly dead. Previously, the Doppler Radar couldn't detect much information here, as Satan had blocked it all. But now, all sorts of data were flooding the radar.
This place was like a small world, carved out by Satan himself.
Over the years, Satan had amassed all his resources here—an astronomical sum originally intended to fuel his planned assault on human civilization. But now, it seemed he wouldn't need them.
Which meant Chen Mang would reluctantly accept them. After all, waste was never a good habit.
Even a cursory glance confirmed that he had more than recouped his investment—he had struck gold!
The cleanup work was always tedious yet satisfying.
The Holy Land was now deserted.
Under Xiao Ai's control, swarms of Mining Robots were transporting vast quantities of resources from the Holy Land's storage bases to the train, like worker ants carrying their bounty. These were his spoils of war.
In addition to these, there were various miscellaneous items, some understandable, others not. Among them were objects that clearly resembled special sacrificial offerings.
But none of that mattered.
First, he'd bring everything back to the train.
Satan was dead.
This enemy, the strongest he had ever faced, whose most powerful attack had an energy range of a staggering Tier 1300—an utterly terrifying level—had ultimately fallen by his hand.
His greatest asset had been the Civilization Wonder, Divine Silence.
He hadn't truly anticipated the full destructive power of this wonder's all-out strike. Initially, he had only hoped it would shatter Satan's Absolute Defense, allowing him to deliver the finishing blow.
The actual result far exceeded his expectations.
Even before unleashing its full potential, the attack had effortlessly killed Satan.
Without the slightest effort.
Within Satan's Palace, he had also discovered numerous ancient texts and scrolls, all of which were brought back to the train to aid in his complete understanding of the Demon Race. This was a newly encountered race; he had never heard of a Demon alien race before.
Inside the locomotive cabin, Chen Mang sat reviewing information he had retrieved from Satan's Palace.
The Demon Race was a remarkably unique species in the universe.
Every member of this race possessed three lives, a fundamental characteristic of their species.
These lives manifested as three states: Past State, Present State, and Future State. The Past State was the weakest, while the Future State was the strongest.
Demons typically presented themselves in their Past State, except during cultivation. After all, their three lives had to be progressed through sequentially. If they immediately revealed their Future State and were killed, they would lose two lives, leaving them with only one.
The Future State could only be activated once, lasting for a maximum of 24 hours.
Satan's claims of maintaining it for hundreds of days were pure fabrication.
Moreover, activating the Future State permanently fixed the Demon's power at the level of their Present State before transformation, effectively eliminating any further potential for growth.
Chen Mang also learned that Satan was a runaway prince, though his departure had been forced. Satan was a name he had chosen for himself. As the Third Prince of the Demon Race, he held considerable power and influence.
To increase their power, this race required not only vast resources but also pure and untainted Faith Power.
They didn't need murphy stones.
Breaking through realms relied primarily on Faith Power.
Every ambitious Demon needed to cultivate a massive following of believers. The more adept a Demon was at manipulation, the larger their following grew, and the faster their power increased.
Satan possessed exceptional talent in this regard.
He amassed a vast number of loyal followers.
The confidence gained from his soaring power led him to act recklessly. He violated the Queen, resulting in his expulsion from the Demon Race. The Demon Emperor randomly banished him through a "One-Way Wormhole," sending him to the Extreme Evil Galaxy, where he began building his own following anew.
The Demon Race's civilization was called the "Demon Civilization," a Sixth-Tier Civilization.
In the cosmos, they were considered one of the most formidable civilizations.
"..."
Chen Mang quickly finished reviewing all the information about this civilization and sighed softly. If only human civilization had three lives too... The Cosmic Will was far too biased. Why was it that humans, alone among all races, lacked any unique racial traits?
Even goblins had racial traits.
Humans, however, did not.
"Hmm?"
Just then—
Chen Mang discovered a crucial piece of information: the so-called "Faith Components" were developed by Demons by combining Faith with accessories. These components could often create miraculous accessories.
For example, reviving train crew members.
He had only ever seen this capability in Faith Components. Though envious, he couldn't use them. Even if countless people worshipped him like a god, he couldn't acquire them.
He couldn't gather Faith Power, let alone extract and concentrate it.
This ability couldn't be learned through training; it could only be obtained through racial traits.
But...
Before leaving, Satan had stolen core information from the Demon Civilization, including extensive research data on accessory development. This data, previously stored in the Satan Train's database, had now been seized by Chen Mang.
With this data, the Stellaris's accessory development would advance to a new level.
Yes.
Satan also possessed his own train, but he had hoarded all resources to strengthen himself, never bothering to build it. He hadn't even deployed it during the battle.
After Satan's death, the train's AI also perished, and its database was automatically transferred to Xiao Ai.
This revealed a wealth of information that interrogation alone could never have uncovered. After all, interrogation requires a specific direction, and Chen Mang had no clear focus. Moreover, Satan might not have remembered everything.
Within the database, one particular entry made Chen Mang frown slightly.
"The Demon Civilization originated from the Second Universe, not the First Universe. They are outsiders."
Second Universe.
It was the first time he had heard this term.
In human terms, this so-called "Second Universe" was Hell, or the Netherworld.
The universe they were currently in was the "First Universe."
When a person died in the First Universe, their soul, if intact, would descend into the Second Universe to continue their existence. Death in the Second Universe, however, meant true annihilation.
The greatest dream of many civilizations in the Second Universe was to escape into the First Universe.
After all,
competition in the Second Universe was incredibly fierce.
In the Second Universe, no one had a natural lifespan limit. As long as they remained there, they were effectively immortal, yet they could not reproduce. This led to a population far exceeding that of the First Universe, naturally intensifying competition.
All competition stemmed from resource scarcity.
And most resource scarcity was caused by overpopulation.
With fewer people, resources would naturally be sufficient.
The First and Second Universes were like yin and yang, eternally separated. Civilizations could still arise in the Second Universe, and they even had trains, though these were called "Hell Trains."
Except under exceptional circumstances, only people from the First Universe could travel to the Second Universe. Those from the Second Universe were absolutely forbidden from escaping to the First Universe.
At the very least, Satan could never return to the Second Universe.
Only those with complete souls could return.
And—
There was another crucial piece of information: burning paper offerings and incense truly worked!
Although the First and Second Universes were forever separated, the Second Universe's inhabitants had all originated from the First Universe. This meant that if you sincerely burned incense and paper offerings for your deceased loved ones in the First Universe, your heartfelt longing would mystically connect with them in the Second Universe, transforming into a resource that granted them a measure of wealth there.
It wasn't much, but at least it was enough to eat.
Of course, your loved ones might not remember you. Everyone who traveled to the Second Universe had their memories of the First Universe erased, with only a rare few retaining their memories.
Perhaps this was a blessing in disguise. After all, without memories of the First Universe, they wouldn't feel the pain of their existence in the Second Universe.
"So, if that's the case," Chen Mang mused, "I've burned incense for quite a few people. Does that mean I've been helping them all?"
"Xiao Ai," he called out.
"Compile a list of all those who died in battle for the train over the years. Have Old Pig prepare a massive incense stick that will burn continuously, twenty-four hours a day."
"Understood. Should we arrange for a group to die first and scout ahead in the Second Universe? It would make invading the Second Universe easier later."
"Sure, why don't you die first?"
"After the Train AI dies, it won't be eligible to enter the Second Universe."
"..."
Chen Mang rolled his eyes at Xiao Ai. "Stop suggesting such nonsense. That place is just the Netherworld—scarce in resources and far inferior to the First Universe. As for me, I'm immortal; I'll never set foot in the Second Universe in this lifetime."
He didn't know how the Demon Civilization had escaped the Second Universe.
But he was certain of one thing:
Even after death, members of the Demon Civilization could no longer return to the Second Universe. It had severed all ties with them.
As for other methods of reaching the Second Universe besides death, he remained unaware for the time being.
Unless...
He could somehow send a refrigerator to the Second Universe. No, even refrigerators couldn't achieve interdimensional travel yet.
He had once fantasized about building a Hell Train.
He never imagined such a thing actually existed. He wondered how its components differed from his own train's accessories, and whether his Tier 0 Authority would still function if he accidentally ended up in Hell.
Second Universe.
On a desolate planet with reddish-brown soil, a ragged man knelt on the ground, staring blankly at the porcelain bowl in his hands.
He was dead.
He had appeared here after dying.
He didn't know how he had died, nor what he had encountered before his death. He had no memories whatsoever. All he knew was that when he appeared in this place, a man in uniform had pressed a bowl into his arms and told him:
"This is the afterlife. Here, everyone is immortal, possessing infinite lifespans as long as they aren't killed by another. It's akin to eternal youth."
"When your living relatives prepare to burn paper offerings, light incense, or perform other acts of remembrance, this Past Life Bowl will glow. After they complete their ritual, the bowl will convert their thoughts of you into corresponding resources, which you can use to sustain yourself in this world."
At first, he felt anxious.
After all, he didn't know if he had any living relatives or descendants. What if he had been a lonely old man, or if his children were unfilial? Would anyone even care about him?
But his worries soon faded.
Before long, the Porcelain Bowl glowed, indicating that his relatives were preparing to light incense for him. However, the light quickly dissipated without condensing into any resources.
After asking around, he learned that this meant his relatives had thought about lighting incense for him but ultimately hadn't followed through.
Understanding this, he continued to wait with eager anticipation.
The Porcelain Bowl would occasionally glow, filling him with endless hope, only to fade away immediately, leaving him in despair. Gradually, he sank into utter hopelessness, becoming a Hungry Ghost.
In Hell, no one starves to death.
This is a world where starvation is impossible.
But...
Without money for food, though you won't starve, the gnawing hunger will relentlessly torment you, causing unbearable suffering. Once, driven to madness by the pain, he tore open his own abdomen and devoured his internal organs.
He never did that again.
He couldn't afford a doctor.
No one would stitch him up.
He lived for weeks clutching his belly until it gradually healed on its own.
Here, you can earn money by working, but first, you need to register as a resident. This registration requires a fee, typically obtained through offerings from family members. Without this initial sum, securing the resources needed to register is exceedingly difficult.
At least, he never managed it.
Selling his ass?
In Hell, asses are worthless. He'd seen countless Hungry Ghosts chopping off their lower halves at the market to sell them. Since death is impossible here, no one buys single-use asses—it's simply too wasteful.
Everyone bought whole buttocks to take home and enjoy at their leisure.
They were reusable.
They could provide entertainment for a long time.
They offered good value for money.
This was the standard practice. Only those with exceptional beauty could sell single-use buttocks; otherwise, no one would bother.
He had tried selling his buttocks before. Someone had shown interest, and he had chopped it off on the spot.
No one had bought it.
Therefore,
In Hell, Hungry Ghosts formed a significant population. He had lost track of how many days he had been starving. The fields around the city had long been scoured for anything edible, yet he couldn't bear the hunger any longer and ventured out again, hoping to find something to eat in the fields.
Just then—
"Master Kun."
A trembling voice came from behind him, weak from starvation.
He had forgotten his real name.
He only remembered being called Master Kun, so he had adopted those words as his name.
"Don't bother searching here anymore. There's nothing left but this red soil that makes your whole body ache when you eat it. Why don't we try the swamp? I heard there's plenty of food and resources there. If we can dig up some resources, we can go to the households and find work. Then we can finally eat our fill every day."
(End of the Chapter)
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