Chapter 1

In the vast universe, a brilliant nebula shone with splendor. High-energy clouds left behind after the collapse of primordial celestial bodies formed a vortex-like structure, creating a huge eye in the dark void. At the center of this "eye," an unnatural rift had opened.

The shape of this rift resembled an irregular membrane, with numerous sharp edges and a totally reflective, mirror-like surface. The surface reflected the surrounding nebula as well as the strange starry sky of another universe. Near the rift, numerous monitoring towers and control stations used to maintain spatial stability were suspended, and countless pinpoints of light shuttled between these space facilities – the patrol drone forces and autonomous turrets.

This was a cosmic gate, a cosmic gate capable of simultaneously accommodating information from both the Dream Realm and the Surface World!

Near this "cosmic gate," only a single solar system revolved. A vibrant blue-green planet quietly orbited its star, and a series of illusory demiplane spaces floated above the planet, like vines entwining a giant tree around the planet's near-Earth orbit. A stable route could be seen between the "cosmic gate" and this planet, with a large number of spacecraft shuttling back and forth along it.

Suddenly, the core of the cosmic gate flashed with a faint light. The light converged into a stable fluctuation, and then a dark mass was "spit" out by the totally reflective mirror surface shimmering with starlight.

Lockmarton had successfully traversed the cosmic barrier, successfully crossed the fire blockade, and successfully escaped from that terrifying hell of explosions!

It vaguely felt that it had rushed out of a swirling nebula rift, and the disorientation brought about by the shift in space-time made it a little confused for a moment, but one thing was certain: it had left that dangerous place, which made it feel a sense of joy.

Ah, joy, an emotion so long forgotten!

Soon, it sensed something that made it even more joyful: not far away, there was a vibrant planet, inhabited by a large number of mortals who looked delicious and were completely defenseless!

The glimmering core immediately moved in that direction, but as soon as it made a move, several beams of light suddenly pierced the universe, blocking its path. When these beams of light came to a halt, they revealed themselves to be silvery-white spaceships.

Dozens of silver-white spaceships formed a cordon, blocking all routes for the glimmering core. These spaceships had a consistent appearance, but they had all kinds of personalized paint jobs. Three of the spaceships were clearly located in special positions in the array, with huge husky heads, golden dragons, and star-filled skies and eyes seemingly containing countless mysteries painted on their decks.

Holographic projections lit up on the bow of each ship, and huge figures appeared in space. These huge figures stood in a circle, quietly overlooking the Lockmarton core surrounded in the center. Although most of these figures were humanoid, it was clear that they came from various different races, and there were even strange and terrifying cosmic creatures. They stood here, like a cosmic court of justice, causing Lockmarton to feel enormous pressure – although it didn't know who these suddenly appearing guys were, it knew that it had fallen into great danger.

Natural Master, Vandal, his image was that of a strong centaur wearing a verdant robe, holding a scepter of nature.

Mo’dier, the Chanter of Stars, was a refined middle-aged man with black hair, wearing a robe of twinkling stars and holding a pale golden planetary model in his hand.

Star Maiden - Avina, her image was that of a beautiful girl in a white gauze dress, with pale purple hair coiled behind her head and a crystal crown on her head.

The Great Sage Anthony, a majestic old man in a mage's robe, his eyes flashing with powerful arcane lightning, as if he had already glimpsed the truth of the magic world.

Dragon Queen - Gala卓尔, a noble woman in a pale golden robe, full of majesty, with the golden vertical pupils typical of dragons.

Singer - Tu’nala, she was like a combination of a human and an insect. The upper half of her body showed the slender figure of a woman, but the lower half of her body was a huge white spider, its insect-like body covered with mysterious magical runes.

Measurer Doniel, like an ordinary small town merchant, wearing an ordinary short robe, holding a silver-white balance in his hand, always with a kind and humble smile, but his eyes were full of shrewdness.

Goes-Everywhere-and-Blows-Up - Bomber Ren, there's no need to describe this one, everyone knows him anyway, he doesn't look special but his reputation is more widespread than anyone else's...

And there were many other figures floating in space, one investigator after another, one civilization observer after another, one name after another that was enough to make many interstellar civilizations tremble. Any one of them appearing in the capital of any interstellar civilization circle would be enough to shock the supreme ruler of that civilization circle, enough to make all the hidden interstellar forces there walk on thin ice, fearing a catastrophe. In the legends of many civilizations, these observers called "investigators" were given titles and status similar to gods, and there were all kinds of bizarre stories circulating among the people. Many civilizations gave these investigators collective names based on their own understanding, calling them the Observer Alliance, the Star Council, the Demigod Council, etc., and called the phenomenon of them gathering together the "Cosmic Court."

However, the investigators themselves had never given this kind of offline gathering a name. In fact, since they were each responsible for their own areas, most information exchanges could be completed online, and besides, they were constantly being messed with by a crazy goddess with mental problems, so they rarely had the chance to get together. The scale of the joint missions they occasionally gathered to carry out was only two or three people – so when Hao Ren said in the public channel that he had "something important to ask everyone to participate in" and received authorization from the crazy goddess, these guys instantly flocked together in a crowd.

This was the truth behind the convening of this "Cosmic Court."

Lockmarton's glimmering core sensed a growing crisis, and it began to rampage in an attempt to break through the encirclement formed by the investigators, but all its efforts were in vain.

Dozens of investigators, plus their spaceships, plus the radiation of the true god of this universe, these combinations formed an unprecedentedly powerful divine force blockade – far more indestructible, more pure and powerful than the divine force barrier of the Coro World back then!

Under the irradiation of the power of the true god, the glimmering core was emitting increasingly turbulent energy fluctuations.

But the investigators had no nervous reaction to this, because they knew very well that this glimmering core, which exuded an aura similar to that of a god, could not escape the blockade here at all.

Although Wa’ter 12345 was not usually keen on spreading doctrines, and her "popes" rarely used her divine arts for various reasons (mainly shame and morality), this did not mean that the investigators would have any problems when using divine power. The true god is eternal, and so is divine power. As long as they were willing, these dozens of investigators, just by standing together, could form a divine power barrier sufficient to imprison any creature below the level of a true god – including Lockmarton.

Faced with a "god-like creature" from the Dream Realm, the investigators, who had heard about what had happened in advance, seemed very curious. While observing Lockmarton's glimmering core, they exchanged opinions:

"It looks round and chubby."

"Not very bright, feels hazy."

"Doesn't that thing look a bit like the ball in Mo’dier’s hand?"

"Ms. Avina, what I have in my hand is an astrolabe, not a ball."

"Speaking of which, what would happen if we poked it?"

"Hao Ren said that this thing is quite powerful, and seems to be immune to most attacks below the level of divine power, and can even resist divine power a bit."

"Oh, oh, then we have to raise the threat level to four..."

"What is a level four threat? Is that in the work manual?"

"I just made it up, doesn't it sound cooler this way?"

"Get lost."

"Gala卓尔, mind your manners, have you forgotten that the work manual says 'God is not allowed to swear before cursing'?"

"Anyway, she's not here..."

A group of investigators floated expressionlessly in outer space, solemn and dignified, but the discussion in the mental connection was in full swing.

"Ahem." Hao Ren coughed twice, interrupting the discussion of a group of colleagues. As the person in charge of this event, he began to announce the final disposal plan:

"Lockmarton, demigod creature or god-like creature, source: Dream Realm, life form - Chaos species, creation of the Creation Goddess, main crimes: serious disruption of normal civilization development, threatening the survival of civilizations, slaughtering innocents, genocide, rebellion, stealing the power of the true god and using it for evil deeds... countless crimes cannot be listed, found guilty, I propose to destroy it."

"Seconded." "Seconded." "Seconded."...

There was a moment of silence in the mental connection, and then Star Maiden - Avina cautiously looked at her colleagues around her: "Well... can we start whittling it down?"

"Whittle it down."

The next moment, the cosmic gate was enveloped in a blaze of light.

Within the strong light, Lockmarton's brief struggle did not last long.

Ten minutes later, on the Behemoth, "Singer" Tu’nala entered Hao Ren's bridge via space teleportation. This white spider demon general, who was known as the "Abyss Spider Queen" in her homeland, delivered something to Hao Ren, accompanied by the Great Sage Anthony - the latter was good at various binding magics, and he and Tu’nala had cooperated to capture the fragments of Lockmarton that had not had time to dissipate after its demise.

"We found this in space," Tu’nala's voice was as melodious as her name, completely different from her slightly terrifying spider demon appearance, "This is Lockmarton's wreckage, there may still be something left inside."