143. A Worldview Provided as a Friendly Sponsorship

“Of course, it has all vanished into smoke and clouds,” Kusunai said, the tentacle-like appendages on his head swaying continuously. A trace of nostalgia flickered in his eyes. “Although humanity on Earth was the fastest civilization to perish, I must say that battle was incredibly fierce—conceptual-level doomsday weapons were even deployed.”

“Could you tell me about it in detail?”

“I’m sorry, but I really can’t go into details with you, the great rebel of the century’s end,” Kusunai waved his hand, and the armor on his body emitted a series of sounds.

“Is there some taboo? So you can’t explain?”

“It’s not that. The main reason is that humanity on Earth perished too quickly. If I were to explain in detail, it simply couldn’t be done. In an instant, the entire Earth, and even the whole Milky Way, disappeared without a trace—as if the Milky Way and that civilized planet Earth never existed in the universe.”

Chen Sheng was speechless.

Gone in an instant? And you say the battle was fierce?

That was nothing short of a one-sided massacre!

“Why?” Chen Sheng couldn’t help but ask. “Did Earth offend some powerful civilization in the universe back then?”

According to Kusunai, Earth’s humanity was a civilization of the third chain in the cosmic civilization hierarchy. Usually, the third rank means there are weaker civilizations below and stronger civilizations above. To destroy the entire Earth, even the whole Milky Way, it had to be a fourth or fifth chain civilization.

Kusunai shook his head, then nodded, his tentacles moving dramatically. “To be precise, the civilization on Earth offended the entire universe at that time.”

Chen Sheng was dumbfounded. Were all Earthlings transformed into contrarians? They offended the entire universe?

Kusunai then explained: “At that time, Earth’s technological civilization was already highly advanced. Although only a small portion of humans benefited from this technology, they qualified to join the cosmic civilization chain. Consequently, the Great Cosmic Will relayed a message to the Ancient Civilization City, which sent envoys to Earth for a final test.”

“When the envoys from the Ancient Civilization City arrived, humanity welcomed them warmly and immediately agreed to join the cosmic civilization chain. The envoys insisted that all humans must consent, but the leaders of Earth unanimously claimed they could represent everyone.”

“Seeing their firm stance, the envoys accepted their claim and returned to report.”

“You emphasize this because Earth’s later destruction is related to this, aren’t you?” Chen Sheng asked, unable to hide the obvious hint.

“Exactly.”

“And then?” Chen Sheng pressed on, suddenly sensing that his own resurrection might be connected to this.

“Let me first explain what the cosmic civilization chain is.”

“Please.”

“The cosmic civilization chain is a lineage formed to cultivate demigods. The term ‘demigod’ actually originates from your Earth civilization. Initially, there were many names for such beings—Ancient Gods, Outer Gods, Cosmic Phantoms, Ultimate Lifeforms, and so on. When the envoys from the Ancient Civilization City arrived on Earth, they found ‘demigod’ to be the most fitting term, widely used in Earth’s networks. Thus, under the Ancient Civilization City’s advocacy, the term ‘demigod’ was universally adopted.”

Chen Sheng was silent. Although the explanation was serious, he couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of absurdity.

The term ‘demigod’ came from the destroyed Earth’s networks.

And the main purpose of the cosmic civilization chain was to cultivate demigods. It all sounded somewhat theatrical.

He quickly shook off these strange thoughts and looked at Kusunai. “You’re also a demigod, right?”

“I’m a demigod of the seventh chain,” Kusunai admitted his identity.

Even inside the sealed tube, Chen Sheng couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

Seventh chain!

If this referred not to the demigod’s rank but the civilization chain, then it meant the seventh cosmic civilization chain...

Kusunai continued to explain to Chen Sheng, as it was his task.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone through so much trouble to remove irrelevant impurities from a dormant human heart and gradually restore it.

Using a biological part to clone a similar creature is easy, but recovering the original consciousness of that being is extremely difficult!

Kusunai said, “Demigods also need nourishment, but unlike ordinary creatures, they require more intelligent beings. For example, demigods of the third civilization chain feed on intelligent beings of the second chain. Demigods of the fourth chain feed on those of the third.”

By now, Chen Sheng understood the essence of the cosmic civilization chain and why humanity was struck by the entire universe after joining it.

“Did Earth then discover this and declare war on the Ancient Civilization City’s envoys?” Chen Sheng asked directly.

“Yes. The envoys tried to persuade humanity not to backtrack because once joining the civilization chain, the order becomes part of the Great Cosmic Will. To go back on it is to defy the Great Cosmic Will, which displeases it.”

“However, the leaders of Earth insisted firmly that they would rather die than become food for alien beings!”

“So the envoys returned with this message to the Ancient Civilization City.”

“When the demigod emperor of the Ancient Civilization City, Morank, heard this, he was furious. He immediately deployed a conceptual doomsday weapon that erased the entire Earth and Milky Way from existence conceptually.”

Chen Sheng fell silent after hearing this. It sounded like a fairy tale, but his subconscious accepted it. He nodded and asked, “Then why was I resurrected? Were you conducting private experiments? Or is there something on Earth still worth studying?”

“Though this may be disappointing to you, a mere third chain civilization species that perished has no right to compel me, Kusunai, to resurrect you, especially by recovering the consciousness of a dead being.”

This answer was as expected. Since Kusunai claimed to be a seventh chain demigod, Chen Sheng said nothing and just looked at him.

Though staring directly at Kusunai made his eyes sting painfully, as if rotting, the flowing liquid gently healed his injuries instantly.

“You were resurrected because Morank later learned from the Great Cosmic Will that not all humans were willing to join the cosmic civilization chain. It was just those leaders who forcibly represented everyone. Many humans were unaware until the outbreak of war.”

Chen Sheng was speechless.

Was he overusing ellipses today? But there was so much to criticize here.

After thinking, Chen Sheng made a reasonable guess: “So, Morank wanted you to resurrect me, right? But I don’t know Morank! It’s my first time hearing that name. Also, judging from these memories, I should have died long before Earth’s destruction?”

“You’re right; you weren’t resurrected intentionally.”

“Then what’s the story?”

“At that time, Earth was completely gone. Against the conceptual doomsday weapon, there was no chance to restore Earth. The harm caused by such weapons is eternal. But one human, from the lower strata of that small group on Earth, relatively middle-class among all humans, learned about the impending war and found a signal tower left by the Ancient Civilization City, offering to pledge allegiance to their envoys.”

“The envoys were careless and allowed this person to survive, making him the last human. Though he escaped Earth early due to the weapon, he only had half a life remaining.”

“Originally, they wanted to revive this person, but Morank, who despised Earth’s ruling class, was reluctant. Later, it was found that the person’s heart was not his own but transplanted from another human!”

Kusunai looked at Chen Sheng, his tentacles waving, implying something clear.

That heart belonged to Chen Sheng!

“You call me the great rebel of the century’s end because I led the resistance against Earth’s ruling class but failed. Since my body matched that person’s, and his heart was sick, they used my heart?”

Chen Sheng suddenly understood Kusunai’s meaning.

“According to the brain memories we extracted, that’s correct. Oh, and those memories also showed that besides your heart, some of your organs are in others. Your body seems quite popular among your kind!”

Kusunai gave Chen Sheng a look of praise.

Chen Sheng was speechless. He didn’t want that kind of popularity at all!

“What about what I experienced before? Those two worlds, the Realm of Passing and the Spirits and Phantoms—were those your fabrications?”

“You only had a heart remaining; your consciousness had long vanished. So resurrecting your body was easy, but fully restoring you was very difficult.”

Chen Sheng understood Kusunai’s meaning in one word: summoning.

“As for what you encountered, some worldviews originated from envoys who had been to Earth. After consulting them, I deliberately constructed them with divine power. The Realm of Passing was borrowed from a seventh chain civilization, and the Spirits and Phantoms were a friendly contribution from a demigod, as it was her private domain.”

Chen Sheng was speechless.

Borrowed a worldview? And a friendly donation of a worldview?

Is this what being a demigod is like?

Feeling somewhat overwhelmed, Chen Sheng tried to sigh but ended up swallowing water. Luckily, the water was special and disappeared instantly without choking him.

But that dampened his emotional outburst.

He thought he was a psychiatrist.

But he was just a fragment of consciousness.

He thought he had been playing a healing game in the past.

But it was a bizarre world.

He thought he had become “It,” the seventh god, invincible.

But it was fake divine power, only to reunite his consciousness.

“What about the six gods inside? What’s that about?”

Hearing this, Kusunai suddenly turned away from Chen Sheng and spoke: “I divided your heart into seven parts, trying repeatedly to restore you. Each time you failed to become a god. If you hadn’t succeeded this time and awakened your consciousness, I wouldn’t know what to do.”

But just as Kusunai finished speaking, a familiar soft voice rang out: “Don’t listen to this tentacle freak; he’s lying. Because of the conceptual weapon’s activation and your special status compared to Earth’s destroyed ruling class, many civilizations wanted to know you.”

“Because of that, this tentacle freak created that virtual game-like illusory world. Your six failures to become god in that world were all his doing—to get more civilizations to buy tickets!”

“Your past was this tentacle freak’s cash cow. The losses in his experimental accounts were filled and even profited from it.”

The soft voice completely undermined Kusunai, who dared only to seethe in silence.

Kusunai nervously said, “Stone Demigod, you’re here? You seemed to be having fun this time. Why undermine me? Also, when Stone Emperor was in office, I helped your father’s affairs quite a bit!”

His tentacle-covered head showed an incongruous look of grievance.

Chen Sheng looked toward the voice’s source and was not surprised to see a familiar figure. Just like before, she looked like white jade, covered with cracks, pale golden blood oozing from wounds. But there was a subtle difference: Yu Youxin now radiated an indescribable aura.

Just one glance made Chen Sheng feel as if he was being assimilated by her.

No, this was no illusion!

Chen Sheng was horrified to find his body turning into white jade-like stone.