Chapter 1 A Rare Peaceful Day

Since the settlement of the Ark civilization, several days had passed, a period of rare stability.

After returning, Hao Ren first went to Raven 12345 to make a routine report, but she had not yet returned from the realm of the gods. The Raven with the mobile phone number who was filling in for her received him. Hao Ren was happy to have some leisure due to his boss's long-term absence. At least he didn't have to worry about that female lunatic suddenly throwing a bunch of extra tasks at him.

The sky was clear, and the warm sun shone brightly. After several days of continuous overcast weather, the southern suburbs finally ushered in a rare sunny day. A heavy snow the night before covered the streets with snow, and looking out the window, the entire old street was covered in silver. However, in this chilly weather, Hao Ren just wanted to stay in the warm house, content to watch the snowy scenery outside. So he moved the small coffee table to the window in the living room, made a pot of hot tea, and set up a chessboard, leisurely playing chess with Izhaks to relieve boredom.

Everyone in the family was busy with their own things, and the living room was quiet, with only the sound of chess pieces being placed. The curling steam of the hot tea formed a hazy mist on the nearby window. Hao Ren looked up and out, seeing a pure white old city lane through the blurred water vapor. He thought of his magnificent experiences, of the floating city being rebuilt on the Sea of Aion and the ecological sowing of Tanagoth, and of the purgatory planets in the Rift Nebula. All these magnificent and wonderful scenes gradually melted into the hazy snow scene before him, fading away from his heart bit by bit. It was hard to imagine that at the same time, in different universes, countless joys and sorrows, life and death, and earth-shattering changes were taking place in countless places, while the person who had experienced all this was now nestled under a warm windowsill, guarding a pot of hot tea and playing chess with a retired old demon. This wonderful sense of separation made him want to sigh with emotion, but he didn't know how to express it, so he finally let out a light sigh of unknown meaning, "Sigh..."

"Thinking about something?" Izhaks looked up, his blood basin mouth grinning frighteningly, "You don't sound like you're sighing about the chess game."

Hao Ren smiled, picked up a piece, and dropped it casually, "What if the whole universe was as peaceful as this?"

"That's the most terrifying thing I can imagine," Izhaks shook his head, "That would mean the entire universe would become a stagnant pool, with everything withering away."

Hao Ren opened his mouth, smiled helplessly, "...Typical of you."

The data terminal quietly lay on the windowsill beside him, boredly watching an inspector and a demon lord kill time in this way. Suddenly, its body shook, and it perked up a little, "Inspector forum, there's a new comment on your latest mission report."

Hao Ren didn't even look up, "What's the comment?"

"Basically, they're just sighing that the jinx who blows up everything he goes near didn't blow anything up this time, and expressing their great surprise as colleagues."

Hao Ren's hand holding the chess piece froze in mid-air, "...Are they ever going to stop? Is this topic interesting?"

"There's no way, who told you to get involved in a large-scale project like the Dream Plane," the data terminal saw through everything, "Think about it, basically the entire universe is full of the ruins of ecological disasters. If you dig three holes in this kind of place, at least two of them will be people's ancestral graves..."

Hao Ren glanced at the terminal, unhurriedly placing a black piece on the chessboard, "We're studying high art, don't be so rude..."

The data terminal suddenly floated up, slapping Hao Ren on the forehead, "High art my ass! Two grown men sitting by the window playing Go, from eight thirty to ten thirty, you call that high art?! The only thing high art in the whole living room is the pot of tea by your hand, and you're just using it to warm your hands!"

Hao Ren awkwardly brushed the data terminal aside, pointed to Izhaks, "The problem is that Old Wang hasn't learned anything other than Go..."

"Stop making excuses for yourself, you're the kind of guy who regrets three moves even when playing chess with Elizabeth," the data terminal was unforgiving in exposing Hao Ren's shortcomings, "Now the only ones in the family who are willing to play chess with you are Izhaks and Doudou, right?"

Hao Ren: "..."

Izhaks smiled as he watched Hao Ren and the data terminal's daily routine, casually threw the chess piece on the table, and got up to stretch his shoulders, "I'm not playing with you anymore. I'm going out for a walk while it's still early."

After Izhaks left, Hao Ren was completely bored. He looked around the living room listlessly, and as a result, he really found that, as the data terminal said, no one in the family was willing to play chess with a lousy player like him. So in the end, he still looked at the fish tank not far away, and picked Doudou out of the water, "Doudou, be a good girl, play chess with Daddy, okay?"

That was the extent of his ambition.

After Izhaks left, Doudou was replaced, and Hao Ren continued to fight three hundred rounds with his daughter in front of the chessboard. No matter how the data terminal muttered beside him, the little merman was very enthusiastic. She happily bounced around the chessboard, holding a chess piece that was huge for her, pondering her next move, while Hao Ren across from her had a face full of cold sweat: he felt that he might not even be able to beat this fish...

When Lily and Vivian returned from buying groceries, they saw such a scene: Hao Ren and a fish were sitting opposite each other playing chess by the window. He was holding a chess piece with a face full of cold sweat, while the little merman on the chessboard was holding a chess piece with an innocent face. Hao Ren was even discussing with Doudou, "Can Daddy take back one more move? Just one, I'll buy you chopsticks to eat...made of sandalwood!"

"Look at your ambition..." Vivian's voice interrupted Hao Ren from his negotiation, "Are you even embarrassed to bully a fish?"

Hao Ren turned his head and saw Vivian standing behind him with a grocery basket, bringing in the cold air of winter from outside. Lily, who had returned with Vivian, rushed to the TV as soon as she entered the house, "Change the channel quickly, change the channel quickly, ah, too late, too late..."

The two of them had just returned from buying groceries. Looking at them now, Hao Ren really couldn't imagine that two years ago, these two were enemies who would fight to the death when they met. He poked his head to see what good things were in Vivian's grocery basket, while casually muttering, "You two have a good relationship now."

As soon as these words came out, Vivian and Lily said in unison, "Who has a good relationship with her!"

"You stole my line!" Lily bounced up from the sofa as if to strengthen her momentum, standing on the armrest of the sofa, "I only went out to buy groceries with this bat out of necessity. If I wasn't worried about the cost of groceries, would I be with her..."

"You just wanted to frolic in the snow," Vivian squinted at Lily, "What's so hard to admit? You even admitted that you're a husky..."

It was true that it would have been better if Hao Ren hadn't interrupted. As soon as he interrupted, the bat and the big dog started their daily bickering again, but now they couldn't fight at all. The two of them only argued verbally, and Hao Ren watched the fun from the side, "Do you have such a big feud? Have you two forgotten that you even formed a girl group on the Ark..."

Vivian was stunned, and only then did she remember that she and Lily had been mistaken by the Ark civilization as the "Twin Goddesses of Ice and Fire." She immediately had a strange expression on her face, "Don't mention this, Landlord...I actually formed a twin with a husky..."

Hao Ren curled his lips, thinking that Vivian's reaction was quite mysterious even now. Then he rummaged through the grocery basket, looking for something he liked. Vivian slapped Hao Ren's paw away, "Don't mess around. Big dog, come and help me pick vegetables..."

Before she could finish speaking, a melodious ringtone suddenly came from her pocket.

Vivian was stunned for a moment before realizing that her phone was ringing. When she took it out and saw the name of the caller, she frowned, "Sure enough, it's Hesperiana again...I shouldn't have given her my number. Hello? What is it this time?"

Vivian answered the phone with some impatience, wanting to hear what excuse Hesperiana had found to harass her this time. But as she listened, her expression gradually became serious.

"What's wrong?" Hao Ren asked curiously.

Vivian hung up the phone, her expression a little confused, "All the demon hunters on the entire Greek peninsula have disappeared."

"Uh..." Hao Ren was stunned, not understanding what she meant, "Disappeared?"

"Just disappeared, all the strongholds are empty, and the sentries who are usually responsible for monitoring the movements of the Inhumans are nowhere to be found," Vivian's voice was a little fluttery, as if she still couldn't believe the news she had just heard, "And it is said that similar situations have been discovered around several other sanctuaries. Hesperiana asked if there have been any changes in the demon hunters here."