Chapter 5: The New World and Genesis
*Bang!*
The next morning, atop the roof of the Augustus Hotel.
The moment Tang Ping pushed the door open, he saw Tanoxi standing by the railing, her right hand raised as if she had just launched something. In the distance, a faint, glowing object seemed to be streaking through the sky. It vanished past the horizon so quickly that even when Tang Ping stood on tiptoe and squinted, he couldn't catch even a glimpse of its trail.
"Are you ready?"
Hearing the metal door creak against its frame, Tanoxi turned around to face the young man. Tang Ping walked to the center of the rooftop and set down two oversized suitcases.
"More or less. I've made some preparations."
To face the hardships ahead, Tang Ping had performed a comprehensive "gear upgrade." Inside his hiking backpack, besides the latest laptop available on the market, were survival essentials like pots, kitchen knives, utensils, toilet paper, and lighters. The two suitcases held five sets of brand-new clothes, daily necessities, and a stash of food including canned goods, instant noodles, and mineral water. He had scavenged all of this from local shops; since the entire city was now effectively ownerless, taking them didn't feel like a crime.
"I told you I had things handled! Why are you adding to the burden?" The silver-haired girl huffed, hands on her hips in a pout.
"Since we're heading to an uninhabited island, the more prepared we are, the better. Someone who sits in an 'office' probably can't understand the anxieties of frontline personnel," Tang Ping replied.
"?"
"Anyway! Having a backup for your backup is always better than having just one plan," he added with a wry smile.
He knew his hoarding looked petty and cowardly, like someone terrified of death. But he was now an enemy of humanity. He might die tomorrow under the gun of some law enforcement officer. If that was his fate, he at least wanted to go out with a full stomach and looking sharp.
Tanoxi's critique was blunt: "Bumpkin!"
Tang Ping offered a pained smile and gazed at her. Bathed in the morning sun, her long silver hair reflected a dazzling brilliance, like a flowing galaxy. She looked profoundly holy and beautiful. No one would ever guess that this woman, who looked every bit the saint, was actually a Cthulhu-esque Evil God.
*Let's go, then,* Tang Ping thought, sighing at the view. *To the New World!*
---
"By the way, what were you doing on the roof earlier?"
Somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, 7,000 meters above sea level.
A green orb of light the size of an SUV streaked through the air at breakneck speed. An ear-splitting roar of cloven air echoed across the vast ocean; in the blink of an eye, they had vanished past the horizon. It was so fast that Tang Ping wouldn't have been surprised if a sonic boom triggered at any moment. At this rate, crossing half the Pacific might not take much time at all.
"That? Don't worry, it wasn't anything dangerous. I was just... sending a warm Christmas gift to my lovely little followers!" Tanoxi smiled cryptically. Like a blooming poppy, she was beautiful yet lethal.
"...I see." Tang Ping didn't press further. He sensed she was keeping something from him. Was it because his behavior yesterday was too pro-human? Or had she figured out his hidden intentions? His thoughts were a mess, but he suppressed them; he knew he wouldn't get an answer just by overthinking. Whatever she was hiding, it probably wasn't good news.
"Alright, keep practicing! Your hands have stopped!"
"Oh... right!" Snapping out of it at her scolding, Tang Ping refocused on controlling the energy in his hands. Moments later, a cluster of energy finally condensed—specifically, a swirl of black mist.
"You're talented. You learned it after seeing it just once." Tanoxi nodded with satisfaction.
Tang Ping scratched the back of his head, looking a bit bashful at the divine praise. "No, it's only because you're such a good teacher!"
"Try putting something inside."
"Okay!" Tang Ping took a bottle of water from a suitcase and carefully nudged it into the black mist. He watched as the mist swallowed the bottle, then his hand, and part of his forearm. Only then did he let go and pull his arm back.
"Close it," Tanoxi's voice commanded from his side.
Tang Ping nodded and raised his right hand. He felt the massive energy surging from the Water God Seal—the Cthulhu tattoo on the back of his hand. With a thought, he compressed the energy, and the backpack-sized mist vanished instantly, leaving no trace in this world.
"Open it again."
With his prior experience, Tang Ping was significantly faster this time. He swallowed hard, reached into the mist, and after fumbling for a moment, pulled out the exact bottle of mineral water he had just put in.
"Amazing... it's like a 4D pocket!"
"That is the power of the Water God Seal," Tanoxi stated proudly. "By using divine power to carve out a pocket dimension, you can store many things. With your current mana capacity... you could probably fit an entire SUV in there."
"Are you serious?! Then my time spent packing and sorting supplies was just—"
"That's why I told you not to do unnecessary things! I said I was prepared; I have plenty of food and supplies on my end. What on earth were you worried about?"
"...My apologies."
"Hmph!"
After stuffing all the luggage into the storage dimension, Tang Ping turned and drew Tanoxi into a hug. Surprisingly, she didn't resist, allowing him to stroke her back.
"It's all my fault, okay?"
"It was *always* your fault! Moron!"
"Yeah..."
Tanoxi was his master, yet she rarely acted like a typical boss. Though she was capricious, arrogant, and viewed killing as a casual habit, Tang Ping felt that was merely a product of her upbringing. If even human "elites" looked down on their own kind, one couldn't expect a young lady from a family of Evil Gods to have a heart for the people.
To Tang Ping, she seemed more like a mature-looking little girl. Her noble birth and wealthy upbringing had bred an overflowing confidence and a reckless courage to break boundaries. Unlike the Cthulhu myths he had read, Tanoxi was clearly more moderate and capable of communication. Her slaughter of humans might truly be for cultivation or hunger, but he saw no sign that she did it out of mere boredom.
If possible, Tang Ping wanted to steer her toward the side of "good," even if just a little. That way, the deaths of those people wouldn't be entirely in vain...
"Loyal servant, I have an idea..."
"Hmm?"
"Actually, we don't need to sneak off to some remote place. I checked the internet! Across the ocean, in the direction we're flying, there's a world superpower, right? I think it's called the GCP. If we wipe them out first, then we—"
"Don't talk nonsense, Lady Tanoxi!" Tang Ping interrupted. "You've never had a job, so you don't understand. The ultimate taboo in the workplace is jumping to a new project before finishing the current one. You end up busy as hell, and in the end, both projects fail."
"I've met plenty of those idiotic bosses—the ones with no real skill who just use their big mouths to make their subordinates run in circles! Believe me, we maximize efficiency by finishing what's on our plate before moving to the next thing!"
Though his words were laced with personal bias, they were also his sincere beliefs. In his previous three jobs—and in every other work environment or government official he'd seen on TV—there were these incompetent fools everywhere. People occupying positions without doing the work, holding back their subordinates while thinking they were brilliant. Even if it weren't for saving lives, Tang Ping didn't want his new boss to turn into one of *those* people.
"Ah, what a shame! I wanted to see how long it would take to eliminate the strongest nation on the planet~"
Tanoxi was actually a bit taken-surprised by Tang Ping's rapid-fire complaining. It was her first time seeing her servant this angry. He hadn't shown much dissatisfaction even when she killed so many people, yet he had a total meltdown over *this*? She found it fascinating.
"....If it were you, it would probably take three months," Tang Ping lied. "That country has a massive territory and the most advanced weapons—aircraft carriers, nukes, stealth fighters, you name it. Plus, they're the leader of the United Nations. If you fight them, you're fighting half the world. It would drag on forever."
"Ah! That much trouble? I guess we'll put it aside for now. How disappointing~"
"Haha... yeah. Such a disappointment..."
While Tang Ping made it sound grave, he didn't believe a word of it. He suspected Tanoxi could destroy the GCP in a day and conquer the world in seven. He was, after all, the only spectator who had watched her massacre from the front row. Having seen that "cheating" level of power, it was hard to imagine conventional weapons scratching her. She was a God! A genuine deity! No one could beat her; this wasn't some mindless hero movie.
The gap between them was too wide. Even the three strongest nations—the GCP, Canghai, and Snowball—combined wouldn't be enough to stop her. He lied purely to give her the illusion that it would be "too much trouble." As long as she found it tedious, she wouldn't do it, and she wouldn't leave.
No matter the method, he had to keep her on that island. It would be a "Happy Farm" where she would want for nothing, but it would also be a "Blessed Prison" to keep her contained.
"Ah! We're roughly in the middle of the Pacific. Lady Tanoxi, stop for a moment."
With a casual wave of Tanoxi's hand, the flying orb slowed to a halt, floating miraculously high in the sky. Tang Ping checked the map on his phone; the GPS confirmed they were in the central Pacific, in the waters near the International Date Line.
Looking down from inside the orb, all he could see was a small, smoking volcanic peak and its adjacent sandbar. According to the map, this island was far from any other nation. Aside from the horizon, there was nothing in sight—perfect for a cult base.
"Yeah, this is the place!"
Being in the dead center of the Pacific meant no other islands were nearby, and fishing boats wouldn't venture this far out. He probably didn't need to worry about anyone wandering by out of boredom. However, the only downside was... the island seemed a bit too small. He estimated it could only hold a thousand or two people. With such a small population, he wouldn't be able to achieve any economies of scale.
"Lady Tanoxi, this island seems a bit small. Can you find a way to make it... bigger?" Tang Ping asked casually. He didn't know if she had a solution, but given the miracles she had performed, he figured she must have something up her sleeve.
"Of course."
With a cold, haughty expression, Tanoxi flicked her right hand. Outside their protective shield, directly in front of them, a massive, pale-green orb materialized out of thin air. It was at least ten stories high, wobbling like a giant jelly, its structure looking incredibly unstable.
"Now... compress!"
Tanoxi slammed her right hand shut into a fist, as if crushing a heart made of air. The orb began to contract inward at a frequency of once per second, emitting a series of bone-chilling *thumps*. It sounded as if some ancient colossus was stirring from its slumber.
*Thump!*
*Thump!*...
Finally, the sound ceased on the ninth pulse. The giant jelly had been condensed into a tight, solid "bowling ball," radiating a sickly green light more blinding than the sun. Even inside the shield, Tang Ping took three steps back from the terrifying sight, despite knowing he was safe.
Tanoxi remained unmoved. She straightened her arm, adjusted her angle, and mimicked a firing stance.
*Bang!*
A sound as loud as a mortar blast echoed across the ocean. The orb shot into the volcano's crater with the force of a thunderbolt, vanishing instantly and leaving only a thin veil of gray smoke.
"....."
"....."
Ten long seconds passed. Tang Ping had mentally prepared himself for the worst. But strangely, there was no explosion, no mushroom cloud, no lava—nothing happened.
"Is it not powerful enough? Tanoxi—" Tang Ping turned to her, about to suggest she fire a stronger one.
At that exact moment...
**BOOM—!**
A violent explosion erupted. The entire volcano began to shudder violently, cracks spider-webbing across its surface. Like a shattering eggshell, the fissures spread outward from the base in every direction, accompanied by a terrifying snapping sound.
Then... the sound... stopped.
"Is... is it over?" Tang Ping swallowed hard.
**BOOOOOOM—!**
An even more ferocious explosion followed, and before their eyes appeared a super-eruption unlike anything seen before! A pillar of fire shot into the sky, glowing with a horrifying orange-red light. Massive plumes of black smoke surged upward, violating the pristine white clouds. Molten lava vaulted into the high atmosphere before crashing back down, obliterating everything in its path.
A scene reminiscent of the extinction of the dinosaurs was replaying itself 66 million years later. In a heartbeat, the searing lava swallowed the original island whole and began its relentless march into the sea. The moment the lava touched the frigid seawater, a cacophony of hissing steam filled the air.
The island's surface area grew at a visible rate. Twice its size... four times... sixteen times...
Finally, after six long hours, the island that had once been as tiny as a soy bean had grown into a vast, borderless landmass. But on this island, not a single plant remained—only flowing lava and scorched earth. Ash drifted through the air; an aura of death and despair shrouded the land. It looked like the end of the world.
And the culprit was the silver-haired beauty beside him... no, wait! He was the one who told her to do it, so it was his responsibility.
"No! The journey has just begun. I can't shrink back over something like this!" Tang Ping shook his head vigorously, trying to shed the guilt. There must be destruction before there can be rebirth. As long as this scorched earth can bloom with life again, today's sacrifices can be forgiven.
Having recovered his composure slightly, Tang Ping pointed to the still-erupting crater. "Lady Tanoxi, I'm terribly sorry! But could you make it stop? If it keeps erupting like this, forget about rebuilding—not even a seagull will be able to survive."
"..........I can."
*Hey, hey, hey! What's with that terrifying silence?!*
*My lady, can you actually stop a volcano from erupting?* Tang Ping shot Tanoxi a look that clearly said: *I suspect you're bluffing.*
*Slap!*
A tentacle appeared with perfect timing, swatting Tang Ping onto the floor of the orb. Tanoxi stood like a high judge, bringing down the hammer of justice upon the insolent man before her.
"Do not doubt the Great Evil God, human!"
"...."
*When I was a kid and I asked my mom about the red envelope money my relatives gave me, questioning if she'd actually put it in the bank for me... she used the exact same look to shut me up.*