This day.
Vast shadows enveloped the entire globe. High-tech spacecraft, beyond even the wildest imaginations of humanity, densely filled the sky. Layer upon layer of unanalyzable light screens, like a giant beast’s woven net, sealed off the entire planet. The sky transformed into a curtain of light, flashing with a line of strange yet somehow universally comprehensible shimmering golden runes.
—God-Forsaken Land Cleansing
The entire planet had already descended into chaos, filled with panic and despair everywhere. The cries, curses, and screams of countless people nearly drowned out the intermittent voice from the broadcast.
[Warning, warning… Aerial countermeasures have failed…]
[All countermeasures on Blue Star have failed… Unable to prevent extraterrestrial civilization invasion…]
[Satellite Moon has been destroyed, global magnetic field in chaos… All residents, please take shelter immediately…]
[Enemy attack arriving in 30 seconds… zzzzt…]
[Aliens… destruction… zzzzt…]
The broadcast grew fainter, but each word carried powerlessness and despair. The constantly flashing numbers seemed like a countdown to the annihilation of Blue Star’s entire civilization.
Finally, the countdown reached its last second. A purple beam of light descended from the heavens, instantly piercing through the entire planet. Before their eyes, the familiar blue planet began to crack, disintegrate, and fall apart…
Su Xi couldn’t help but reach out and poke the pause button on the screen. The scene before her instantly froze at the moment just before Blue Star’s complete collapse. Only then did she turn to look at the white-haired, weathered old man in front of her, who looked like he might fish a bottle out of the nearby trash can at any moment. The corner of her mouth twitched uncontrollably. She took a deep breath before speaking.
“You mean to say… the scene in this video is the future two hours from now?”
“Exactly!” The old man nodded with utmost seriousness.
“And I am the only one who can save Blue Star?”
“Yes.”
“And the method to save Blue Star is to inherit your Divine Seat?”
“Mhm, mhm, mhm.”
“So… you’re a god?”
“Yes, yes!” The old man nodded repeatedly, pleased she understood his meaning. “This old one is the sole deity of this Blue Star world. You may also call me Lan Shen!”
“…” Male god? This wrinkled old man is quite confident. “May I ask, what kind of god are you in charge of?”
“I am the Land God of Blue Star,” he declared proudly.
“Land? The National Land Planning Bureau?”
“Of course not.” The old man shook his head. “I told you I’m a god. All land falls within the jurisdiction of my Divine Office.”
“Oh, so you manage one-third of Blue Star’s area.” Is your colleague called the Sea God?
“Not so, not so.” He hurriedly explained. “All boundaries of earth are considered land, including beneath the oceans. The planet itself is also land.”
“…” So you’re basically the planetary governor.
“Little one, time is short. I am about to fall imminently.” The confident old man suddenly grew urgent. “What you see now is merely a wisp of remnant soul I’ve manifested using my last divine power. Once I dissipate, Blue Star, without divine protection, will become a God-Forsaken Land. The entire solar system will also be completely exposed to the eyes of followers from other Divine Realms. Then Blue Star will be finished.”
“…” Seriously, do I look that easy to fool?
Su Xi was covered in metaphorical black lines. Her heart held no panic about an impending apocalypse, only indignation at having her intelligence mocked.
“Fortunately, heaven never seals off all exits—it led me to you, the only one who has inherited my bloodline and can succeed the Divine Seat.” The old man clearly hadn’t noticed her mood and grew even more anxious. “While there’s still time, come with me to find a quiet place. I’ll pass the Divine Seat to you.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he reached out to grab her, but Su Xi abruptly stepped back to avoid him. “Wait a minute!”
“Wait for what?”
Su Xi immediately tapped out three numbers on her phone. “Wait for me to call the police.”
The old man, “…”
Sure enough, within five minutes, two police officers walked in and pinned the still-babbling old man to the ground.
“No, I really am the Earth God. Little girl, I’m not lying to you. I truly want to pass the Divine Seat to you. Believe me…” Even as he was being led to the police car, the old man struggled and shouted his explanation.
Unfortunately, his explanation not only failed to convince Su Xi but also didn’t sway the impartial police. After routinely checking the surveillance footage from the area, they swiftly escorted him away, leaving only the desperate cries of the white-haired old man hanging in the air.
“I really have a Divine Seat to give you, I really do…”
“…”
Su Xi silently took a few steps back. Are scammers these days so up-to-date? Even their tricks combine superstition with technology, and they even prepare videos in advance.
She glanced again at the video the old man had sent to her phone. With skills like this, why not do something productive instead of resorting to fraud?
She casually deleted the video, checked the time, and decided to ignore this little interruption on her way to work. Hopping back on her electric scooter, she continued toward her destination.
Her name was Su Xi, a recent college graduate. In this era where everyone is a corporate drone, living a good life isn’t easy. You either start a business and live like a dog, or work a job and exhaust yourself like a dog. But Su Xi was different—she walked dogs.
That’s right, Su Xi’s job was as a dog walker, helping busy office workers solve the problem of taking their furry friends out for a stroll.
Truth be told, she hadn’t found a proper job yet and was just taking on odd jobs to get by.
Today’s task was to pick up eight dogs from designated locations, walk them for two hours, and then safely return them.
Following the addresses one by one, Su Xi successfully collected her walking charges. She rode her electric scooter around the nearby streets, and just as she was about to head back, the originally clear sky suddenly darkened. A fierce wind swept through the streets, whipping up fallen leaves and dust all over the city.
What was going on? Was it about to rain? She stopped her scooter and was about to find shelter when sudden exclamations erupted nearby.
“Look at the sky! What is that?!”
“It’s terrifying—it’s all over the sky!”
Su Xi instinctively looked up and saw layers of strange red runes suddenly appear in the city’s sky. These runes enveloped the entire sky like a massive net, and above them, colossal space battleships hovered, their immense forms stretching across the horizon. Their cold, gleaming black hulls blocked all light, plunging the daytime city into twilight. Even more alarming were the red energy beams flickering intermittently around the battleships.
“Look online, it’s not just our City C; many cities around the world have these warships appearing in the sky.” someone exclaimed in shock, and passersby quickly opened their phones.
“It’s true, City A has them too!”
“City F, City X… and City W as well!”
“They’re all over the planet’s skies. Has Blue Star… been surrounded?”
“What exactly is this? Aliens?”
These warships were clearly not something Blue Star could manufacture, and their appearance was bizarre and unfamiliar—no one had ever seen anything like them, except for a certain person walking their dog…
Su Xi: “…”
Seriously, old man, you’re actually going through with this?