The Record of Unusual Creature

He thought that after knowing Raven 23333 and Raven 12580, he would not be surprised anymore to meet another goddess with a serial number in their names. But he was wrong; he was rooted to the spot. He did not expect there were so many goddesses by the name of Raven, whose serial numbers were now as long as telephone numbers. He counted the number of digits in the goddess’ name, his eyes spinning. “How many of you are there?”

“Why do people always ask me this?” Raven 15431516836 buried her face in her hand, sighing. “Maybe I should seriously consider giving myself a more recognizable name.”

Hearing that, Hao Ren knew he was not the first one surprised by the number of the goddesses. He thought for a while, and he was very curious about how the goddesses of the Raven series distinguished from each other, if at all; and how the devotees differentiated them. It was not easy for the popes under these goddesses to identify the faith of the believers. If not being careful, the believers might not be able to remember the serial number of their gods and called the wrong number while they prayed.

Suddenly, Hao Ren was feeling it fortunate that his own goddess’s name was a lot easier to memorize. If he were to be under some goddess with a name longer than his identification card, a number idiot like him would have called the wrong number every time he prayed.

Raven 15431516836 watched as Hao Ren was rooted to the spot. She could not help but ask, “Can you tell me your purpose in coming here?”

“Oh.” Hao Ren pulled his though back, thinking to himself that as he was before another true goddess, he must not humiliate the stature of the chief cleric of the EN35 node of the Space Administration in Bastard Barrio. “It is about the Plane of Dreams and the Goddess of Creation. Have you heard about them?”

“Of course, Senior 12345 has already told me about that.” Raven with the long name nodded. “I know everything about them.”

“That would be easy.” Hao Ren immediately reported on his experience in the Ancattero territory. As this goddess was a stranger to him, he sounded a little bit awkward and formal and did not mention too many details. Raven 15433516836 seemed to be okay with that as she listened very carefully. When Hao Ren finished, she clapped her hands, and the surroundings changed in a flash of light. Before he knew it, he found himself and Vivian standing in a very spacious gray-white space, which had no boundaries and visible form, and the grayish-white ground under their foot seemed to extend infinitely into all directions.

“Let me see the Gilded Disc.” Raven 15431516836 whispered, her voice sounded very pleasant to the ear.

Hao Ren released the Gilded Disc from the dimensional pocket. This thing occupied most of his field of vision, and the feeling of emptiness of the space was significantly reduced. He pointed to the dark-red marks on the edge of the Gilded Disc. “This is the divine blood stain.”

The black contaminant on the Gilded Disc had disappeared completely. What was gone was only the original sin but the divine blood itself remained. What attracted Raven 15433516836, however, was the papers on the Gilded Disc. “What is this?”

Hao Ren awkwardly explained that this was his makeshift seal. He scratched his head and continued. “I didn’t have time to think at that time, so I had to improvise. This thing is pretty good though.”

Raven 15433516836 was stunned a little before she let out a sigh. “How I wish my pope could think on his feet as you did,” she lamented.

Hao Ren forced a smile, thinking to himself that he would not have to do that if his goddess was less dippy.

“Now these seals are no longer needed.” After carefully examining the state of the Gilded Disc, Raven 15433616836 reached out and pulled down the contract papers. There were no more shadows on the Gilded Disc. Then the goddess drew a few runes above the Gilded Disc. The runes entered the Gilded Disc and dispelled the last traces of negative forces on it.

A gentle sound was heard coming off the surface of the disc, and the disc began to emit a pure radiance, with a sense of sacredness, like the disc that Hao Ren brought back from the Gate of Solenne.

Raven 15431516836 exhaled softly. “It’s just a carrier. Removing the contaminants on the carrier is very easy.”

Hao Ren understood she meant, and he nodded. “Yeah, it’s been confirmed that the curse of the original sin on the Gilded Disc has spread to the Wall of Reality and on all the races 10,000 years ago. Now the sin is mainly concentrated in the blood of the otherworldlings. Can these remnant forces be purified?”

“We can use purify non-living things by force,” Raven 15431516836 said while pointing to the disc. “But living things are difficult. The curse of the sin must have changed upon entering the mortal blood veins. Now it is no longer a contaminant but a part of their life. Purifying them would destabilize their order in nature. But worry not as I heard that their innate hostility has begun to weaken, this original sin would disappear over time.”

“Well, at least we’ve got the disk is purified,” Hao Ren said while shrugging. He could not have asked for more. “Thank you.”

“No problem. Purifying the disc itself is not a big deal, and your ‘seal’ has done most of the purification work,” Raven 15431516836 said with a soft smile. “I have collected some dried blood samples. I’ll hand the specimens to Senior 12345 when she comes back. After all, she is the one in charge of this job, and you have to wait for her to wrap things up.”

“That is to say; I can take this disc back?” Hao Ren was startled for a while before he figured out what the goddess said; she only needed the specimens. Hao Ren initially thought that for such an important artifact, he must hand it over to Raven 12345 for safekeeping.

The more experience one has, the more cautious one becomes. Hao Ren used to be a pup, but now he was more observant and able to think on his feet. He felt that divine blood-tainted Gilded Disc was fundamentally different from what he had got in the past, that he should not dispose and study it at will—and he did not think that he could get anything out of it.

After all, he still could not figure out the untainted disc, which he had left in the CARS as a talisman, after all.

Raven 15433616836 smiled. “Of course, you can. You can even touch it and analyze it however you like.”

“I don’t have to hand over this important artifact?” Still, Hao Ren could not help but ask.

“For us, we only need to touch the artifact to extract all the samples we need,” Raven 15431516836 replied. “Senior 12345 has specifically mentioned that she left it to you to handle everything about the Plane of Dreams, including all types of important physical evidence and resources, except for what she had specifically marked. Though I don’t get why she thinks so highly of you, I guess she has her reasons.”

Raven 15433516836 seemed to be a very easygoing goddess, and she could read Hao Ren’s mind and be happy to answer the questions that Hao Ren was too embarrassed to ask. Hao Ren was slightly confused upon hearing what the goddess said, but he did not ask further.

Raven 12345 had made tons of mysterious decisions, and making one more was not too many.

Then, Hao Ren turned his head around and glanced at Vivian. The second important reason why he came here with the vampire maiden today was to ask Raven 12345 for help to examine her if she had also been tainted with the original sin. But his superior was not here, so he was hesitant whether he should bother the goddess with the long name whom he met for the first time.

“Anything else?” Raven 15433616836 asked curiously.

Whatever it might be, Hao Ren had made up his mind. He pushed Vivian forward. After all, Raven 12345 might not necessarily be more sensible than this smiling goddess. “It about her. I don’t know if you’ve heard from Raven 12345. This is Vivian, the creation of the Goddess of Creation in blood. Theoretically, she is identical to the blood on the Gilded Disc.”

He swallowed and continued. “I need you to examine Vivian to see whether she also carries the Sin of the Divine Blood.”

There was one question that he did not say aloud: Had Vivian become the original sin?