The Record of Unusual Creatures

2Hao Ren recounted what happened over at Raven 12345's place after arriving back home. He began to check to see who was going, but honestly, that was a moot question as everyone at home wanted a piece of the action. However, there were exceptions, namely Becky and the four ascetics who could not go. Coming over from the Plane of Dreams was already a problem in itself, so it was better if they did not venture anywhere else.     3

"Now I know what it feels like raising a toddler," Hao Ren mumbled as he packed his stuff and looked resignedly at Lil Pea, who was in her aquarium. "But, I just have to bring her along. She's just so worrisome."     

Lil Pea was perched on the side of the aquarium, looking at Hao Ren curiously. As she heard him speak, she happily slapped her tail against the glass. "Wurisum! Wurisum!"     

"Well, this time around you can let her out from time to time," Y'zaks said, suddenly appearing beside Hao Ren. "She won't cause a ruckus there even if she gets discovered."     

"You have mermaids over at your place?" Hao Ren asked quizzically.     

Y'zaks shook his head. "We don't have mermaids, but we dabble in alchemy and chimaeric creations. There are lots of weird homunculi and chimaeric beasts there. Of course, they are far from being actual living beings, but they did not pop out of thin air either. So, explaining the little one's origins will be very simple."     

"Well, one step at a time I guess." Hao Ren pursed his lips. "If things go awry, I'll have to shove her back into the Dimensional Pocket. This little one... is just so worrisome..."     

Lil Pea continued slapping the glass with her tail. "Wurisum! Wurisum!"     

Apparently she remembered the word, and seemingly knew that it referred to her.     

After packing up, Hao Ren ordered the MDT to activate the portal towards the port where the Petrachelys was docked. He had also informed the station before hand, and the navigation path as well as the launch catapult were on standby, so they could depart as soon as they got there. Not to mention, it would spare them from Y'zaks' frenzied reminders.     

Once the flash of white light disappeared, the group arrived in the ever impressive docking bay. The Petrachelys floated silently by the dock, emanating a mysterious silver light as it waited for its master. Lanina still wondered "how reliable these loonies were" and it took her a while to realise that she had been transferred from the house to a very wide space—even wider than the goddess' temple. The suddenness of things had her grappling to find her bearings. Looking about, she asked, "Umm... We're taking a ship right? Where's the ship?"     

Hao Ren pointed at the Petrachelys. "That's the one. We're talking about a spaceship here. Were you thinking about the seaborne one?"     

Only then did Lanina realise that the big monstrosity in front of her was Hao Ren's "personal transport". Not like she had never seen one before; she was knocked over by one after all. It just never occurred to her that Hao Ren would have such a vessel!     

"This is bigger than the one that crashed into me!" Lanina was wide-eyed. "Wait a minu... you're saying this is yours?!"     

"Yep." Hao Ren nodded. "My official vessel, although in reality it's a private one. It's called the Petrachelys. Just knowing the name itself is enough. Don't ask me what it means or who named it."     

Lanina was still too stunned to react. She simply could not believe that the seemingly unreliable person had managed to conjure a ship of such proportions. Her mind still could not place Hao Ren's place, which looked like it was awaiting demolition and his employer's place, which was a wreck against the magnificent dockyard before her. The difference was just too vast a gap. "If you're that capable... why don't you renovate your place?"     

"It serves its purpose, so why do I need to renovate it?" Hao Ren did not know why Lanina popped such a question.     

Lanina tilted her head back. She surmised that this was probably just culture shock, and that it was how the goddess had decreed. It was not something she could ever understand, so she just left it at that.     

Hao Ren led the group into the ship and the Petrachelys was soon outside Kuiper Station's control zone. The ship was fast exiting the Milky Way and the station had turned into a sparkling dot in the blackness of space behind them. After the ship reached the void, the MDT activated the warp drive.     

Once the image from the optical sensors faded to black, Hao Ren could relax and release himself from his captain pose. "Alright, we'll be reaching the World Gate soon. We just have to wait."     

The MDT was in the control console, and leered at him. "What are you getting to relaxed for? You just had to press the auto-pilot button. I was controlling the ship the entire time."     

Hao Ren did not react to the provocation, and turned to look at the group on the bridge. This was not Lily or Vivian's first space voyage and they had already went about doing things that interested them. Vivian was making gloves out of Lily's leftover fur, but there did not seem to be enough. She would glance at Lily's tail from time to time. The husky on the other hand, was in that oversized uniform again, and she was striking a first-mate pose next to Hao Ren. She seemed to be really into the whole first-mate shtick. Nangong Wuyue was studying the scale patterns of mermaids, thus Lil Pea was her subject.     

Y'zaks was seated on the far corner of the bridge with a stony face. Everyone was wise enough to leave him alone. The great demon had finally encountered something that gave him the jitters.     

Lanina was a ball of curiosity the moment she stepped foot on the ship. Everything was new and interesting to her. Most importantly, this was far more advanced that what she saw in Hao Ren's place, and she finally had confidence in Hao Ren as well as the goddess behind him.     

Hao Ren cleared his throat to attract everyone's attention on the bridge. "I've received the report from the Space Administration... and oh, the navigation guide from the World Gate."     

Everyone looked up as they waited for Hao Ren to brief them.     

"Based on these records, the home of good old Y'zaks is at a very far flung place." Hao Ren looked at Y'zaks. "As for how far flung it is... let's just put it this way, remember old Aerym? That place doesn't even have any administration centers; only a World Gate, a few outposts and some automated fortifications. That's almost a village level place, and Y'zaks place is even more far flung than that. Your world doesn't even have a World Gate! It's almost like our place back home..."     

Vivian was surprised. "Not even a World Gate? How do we get there then?"     

The vampire had joined Hao Ren on a voyage before and she took the effort to learn a little about the World Gate. She put in a better than Lily at least.     

"The World Gate is mainly for ease of civilian transport. Many normal races don't have the capability to cross the void and they need the World Gate to reach another world." Hao Ren tapped the command console. "Our ship has a void drive in it and we can go to places that do not have a World Gate. The difference being that one is automated, and the other requires manual navigation. The Empire has laid claim to Y'zaks' place, but they only have a sovereign hub there. Even that's hidden in a different dimension, so we're not heading to the hub itself. I've requested the coordinates from Raven 12345, so we can directly teleport near the spot where Y'zaks was first taken."     

"Serathon's Demonic Foundry?" Lanina immediately knew the place Hao Ren was referring to. "Isn't it dangerous?"     

"Of course, hence we won't land there directly." Hao Ren nodded. "The ship's AI will compute the safest place to send us. But then there's the most important part, how do we disguise ourselves? The first stop is the demonic world, so how do we go about that..."     

"It's not a problem for me." Lanina stroked her long and thin succubus tail as a faint, nostalgic smile appeared on her face. "Succubi are a common sight there and my looks are rather inconspicuous. Just a change of clothes will do. My Lord can just be a normal flame demon, or maintain his current looks..."     

Lanina then peered at Y'zaks. "His current form looks like a human who's undergone changes after demon worship. People like that are common too."     

Hao Ren took a quiet glance at Y'zaks as he demurred. "So, we can just disguise ourselves as demonic followers. We won't raise any alarms this way, right?"     

"No"—Lanina smiled—"there are many humans who fall into the demonic grasp in search of power. As long as there is a high level demon acting as your master, most demons won't even look at you. While the demonic world is chaotic, there are still rules that all will follow. One of it is stealing other's adherents. It is a strict no-no as it's literally pointless."     

The group continued their discussion on how to diguise themselves until the ship arrived at the World Gate.