Chapter 1 This Is Hao Ren

This was the first time Hao Ren appeared in such a form before Bai Huo, Hesperides, and the others who knew him. They were used to Hao Ren leading a large group of tenants like he was visiting relatives, showing up to freeload and solve petty squabbles. In their minds, his most impressive moments were when he was wielding long weapons to crack skulls or tossing bombs around. So, seeing him appear with a group of elven guards left them momentarily bewildered. However, Bai Huo and Hesperides were in a better position than most. Bai Huo had witnessed Hao Ren summoning a legion of 100,000 demons at Corpus, and Hesperides knew a little about Hao Ren’s background. They were somewhat immune to the scene before them…

Hesperides even muttered under her breath, "Tch, show off. Keep showing off. Who doesn’t know what you’re usually like…"

But for those who were meeting Hao Ren for the first time and had only heard descriptions from others, the man before them was worth careful observation and speculation. He had the ability to open numerous portals around the world simultaneously to summon the Chosen, he possessed such an incredible “base” in this unknown place, and he clearly had an “army”… Even for the members of the Shadow Council, the beginning of this journey was a bit beyond their expectations. Their understanding wasn’t quite suited to deal with the situation before them.

Things were a bit out of control—most of those present thought to themselves—all previous plans and methods discussed by the clan’s wise men were useless.

And that was exactly the result Hao Ren wanted. He wasn’t here just to enjoy the grand spectacle, because he had no shortage of grand spectacles. He simply needed to make sure that the pace of this journey exceeded the understanding of everyone in this hundred-person group from the very beginning, because only when things were beyond their control could they be better controlled. These were a hundred humanoid nukes who had previously fought each other to the point of bloodshed. If they weren’t firmly suppressed from the start, who knew how many medical pods and restraint locks would be needed during the upcoming journey?

Relying solely on Bai Huo, Hesperides, and the others in the team to help coordinate wouldn’t be enough to maintain order.

The alloy gates of the transfer hall silently slid open, revealing a wide walkway behind them. The Irim Royal Guards turned in unison, stepped forward, and stood in two rows on either side of the walkway, their silver-white plasma spears angled slightly to form a passageway.

This team, with its peculiar composition and historical background, embarked on the first step of their "return home" under such a strange atmosphere.

"I don’t know if you’ve all carefully read the project proposal that was given to you—it has a relatively detailed explanation of this trip, but due to some basic concepts being difficult to present directly in written form, I’ll slowly explain the situation to you along the way," Hao Ren said, walking in front of the group. At this point, he stopped trying to put on a show and patiently introduced some things about the journey to the slightly bewildered Chosen. "I believe everyone standing here has experienced the so-called 'Day of Return' prophecy event that has been brewing for two years—or rather, has been simmering for two hundred years, and only truly calmed down two years ago. In that prophecy, the Others would return to their homeland, find lost power and civilization, and rediscover glory and prosperity—that prophecy was ultimately just a farce, but it at least got one thing right. The supernatural races on Earth, whether Others or demon hunters, do have a homeland. And this homeland contains your origins and civilization. It’s not on Earth, not even in this star system, this universe. Its distance from this world is farther than you can imagine. If you believed that prophecy from back then, I’m afraid you would never be able to reach that 'homeland.' Fortunately, it’s not too far for me."

The corridor was wide and bright, but there were hardly any people walking around. The most common sights were various kinds of technological or mysterious machines traversing back and forth. They sped along the bright white lines above the corridor, completely ignoring the earthbound Others who were parading through. Only a few station workers wearing space station uniforms were seen. They had already been informed, so they didn’t scrutinize this group of "weirdos" who had suddenly appeared in the empire’s frontier outpost. They simply paused slightly as they passed Hao Ren, offering respectful greetings—some wished Inspector Hao Ren good day, some wished Lord Hao Ren well, and some wished Supreme Pontiff of the Bombers eternal life…

Fortunately, they weren’t speaking Earth languages, and Hao Ren hadn’t opened the public translation channel for the hundred-person group behind him yet, otherwise it would really be hard to explain whether this was a matter of cultural differences in the sea of stars…

The "Chosen" moved forward along the long corridor, listening to Hao Ren’s explanation while curiously observing this place that was "strange and bizarre" in their eyes. Apart from some progressive types who kept up with the times, going to the cinema to watch a couple of Hollywood blockbusters every now and then, or those who added games to their library during game sales (yes, like Bai Huo), and enlightened types like Gene Lucas and Hesperides who ran businesses in human society, most ordinary Others rarely had a clear understanding of things like space stations, artificial intelligence, and alien life. So, they were currently absorbing this massive information overload in a daze. The only good news was that these people weren’t chosen solely based on the clan elders throwing dice. Most of them had sharp minds and the ability to adapt. They weren’t losing their bearings in this place and even slowly adapted after accepting the style of this place.

Hao Ren smiled inwardly as he saw this scene: Adapt all you want, because you’ll have to adapt again later. No two “scenic spots” along this way have the same style!

“So, we can go to that ‘homeland’ you mentioned from this place?” A werewolf in the group suddenly spoke up.

"That place is called the 'Dream Plane,' and it’s currently the 'official name' designated by God," Hao Ren glanced back. "For you, going to the Dream Plane isn’t so easy. You must pass through a gate. That gate is located deep in the universe, in a collapsing star system that guards that place. And this is just the first stop, the starting point for you to take a spaceship to that star sector—in fact, this place isn’t too far from Earth yet. It’s in the Kuiper Belt. If you look at Earth from here, you can even see that little blue ball with the naked eye.”

Universe, spaceship, space station, and Kuiper Belt – a bunch of words just popped up like that. The Others present might have heard of these "human-created terms," but they obviously hadn’t connected these words with their journey before. In their original imagination, this should have been a more sacred process, more in line with their "Other identity" and more full of the mysticism left over from the mythological era: a grand magical ritual, some dazzling ancient artifacts, and perhaps even sacrificing something – life or soul or something – and then opening a door… That would have matched their expectations.

But thinking about it carefully, it seemed that the journey Hao Ren described was actually much more realistic and believable than what they had previously imagined. After all, they had searched for countless ancient artifacts under the influence of the "Day of Return" prophecy and opened countless ancient portals, but all had failed without exception. Only the cosmic starry sky… it seemed that no one had ever tried it.

Because who the hell can build spaceships! Only the Tannas still have an old antique spaceship hidden away, and their home was raided by someone…

The werewolf who had asked the question earlier was also stunned for a moment after hearing Hao Ren’s words. Then, before he could say anything, the corridor came to an end, and the scene in front of them made everyone hold their breath in astonishment.

They were walking along a transparent crystal suspension bridge through the upper level of the space station, which was a position overlooking most of the station’s transit areas, special spacecraft landing platforms, and the starry sky above. Through the light blue energy shield, they could see a grand arc-shaped translucent dome covering the entire space. Large and small gray-white space floatstones floated outside the dome, and various metal pipes and energy grids connected those asteroids together, forming a complex but orderly structure. And the bright stars shone behind that structure. Below the suspension bridge was the interior of the incredibly wide space station. The space that was almost dizzying to look at at a glance had metal platforms floating in mid-air, crisscrossing bridges, complex lighting combinations, and strange flying objects flying around.

In the area closest to the suspension bridge, a metal platform was slowly flying under the traction of twelve white beams. On that platform, an eye-popping phalanx was neatly assembled. It was an army, an army composed of alien warriors who were three meters tall and covered in super-strong alloy armor. Those warriors, who seemed to be amalgams of machine and life, were covered in dark paint, and both pairs of arms were equipped with huge, strange weapons. And their direction of advance was a huge warship painted entirely black – all of this was filled with an unsettling, low, oppressive atmosphere, and it made everyone crossing the suspension bridge stop in surprise and uncertainty.

Hao Ren didn’t know what had happened, so he stopped a space station worker who was passing by and asked briefly. After understanding the situation, he explained to everyone: “Those are ‘Horker Mercenaries’ leased by the Fiyaeli Void Consortium. The Cansala-Ikan Nebula has erupted in war, and a warlord has rented these mercenaries at a high price to fight. Horker Mercenaries are ‘biochemical commodities’ specially manufactured by a warlike race. They are very popular in the market between warlords. But you don’t need to worry about them. The circulation and use of these mercenaries must comply with strict imperial laws. The areas where they operate are far away from your ‘world.’”

The Others looked at each other. Almost a moment ago, they were still immersed in thinking about the family feuds, territory disputes, and sanctuary benefits that they were familiar with. But at this time, they were suddenly stunned in place by the waves in the sea of stars.

It was like looking up at the starry sky and suddenly seeing the sky, being startled by that incomparably vast and deep world.

The sirens at the back of the group took out their mobile phones and SLR cameras from their arms one after another and started taking pictures.

…It's pretty awkward when a group of tourists sneaks into a cultural journey and inspection team.