They all call me an Outer God.

This may be the beginning of everything, the source of everything.

"2348... More than three hundred years have passed since the time I lived before. Great changes have occurred in these three hundred years, and humanity has also found intelligent extraterrestrial life."

However, these alien creatures were different from ordinary plants and animals on Earth; they looked exactly like the indescribable extraordinary beings that Lia knew.

They dare to bring anything back, and the consequences of bringing this back are far more serious than those of invasive alien species.

However, judging from the astronauts' condition, it's not hard to guess why they did this.

Humans often become complacent, thinking they have discovered something among the stars, unaware that they are being watched by millions of eyes, and are gradually being devoured by their own greed.

"Wait a minute, according to what Shub said before... there shouldn't be any Great Old Ones at this point in time."

Ria turned her gaze away from the screen and looked to the side, where there was a completely transparent jar containing specimens of alien creatures brought back from the news.

It lay quietly in the solution, as peaceful as if it were having a sweet dream.

Ria took a step closer to it, and the next second, it suddenly opened its eyes, and jet-black ink gushed out from inside the shell, staining the entire jar black.

Lia saw his current appearance on the smooth black container. He was the same as the one he had seen in the dream last time, but this time he could touch real objects, which meant he had come to life in a physical form.

"But I need to be careful to use my supernatural abilities sparingly, as the people here cannot withstand even a fraction of my corruption."

Ria carefully examined the container and saw through the murky solution that the creature inside was eyeing her menacingly.

"If it doesn't reach the level of meme nine, it can't be considered high-risk."

"Its shape is similar to that of a Thousand-Handed Snail, with eyes located at the tips of numerous tentacles extending from inside, which it uses to observe the enemy... It has excellent eyesight, and two hook-like structures extend from the inside of the snail's flesh for hunting."

Moreover—the way it stared at him was strange, as if it had known him for a long time, unable to vent its excited and frantic emotions upon seeing Ria.

Just as Ria was about to test the creature's abilities further, it suddenly extended its two hidden hooks, which swung across the surface of the container along with its tentacles, making a loud "clanging" sound.

It was this sound that triggered the laboratory's alarm, and the entire laboratory was enveloped in a crimson, flashing light. Approaching footsteps reminded Ria that someone was about to find her.

If he can't explain it clearly when the time comes, it will be troublesome.

"Tsk."

Ria approached the door and pressed the button next to it, but the button did not respond at all, no matter how he pressed it.

The button even beeped when he stood in front of it—

"Age detection successful: 347 years old."

"?"

Lia was very puzzled, but before he could react, the door in front of him was opened from the outside, and a large group of scientists, including Muven, appeared in Lia's view.

They swarmed in and began to observe the thousand-whiskered snails, whose internal solutions were murky with ink.

This is the provisional scientific name given to this exotic snail by scientists. It also has its own code: Ame-CO-50369, which means that this is snail number 50369 discovered in the Americas.

Currently, the Thousand-Wheeled Snail is quietly staying inside the container, exactly as it was in a dormant state before, showing no sign of the ferocity it displayed when facing Ria not long ago.

But the researchers involved frowned deeply, and Mu Wen pursed his lips, staring intently at the container of the thousand-whiskered snail.

He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he thought he saw a fleeting shadow in the reflection above, heading towards the door.

Furthermore, the alarm wouldn't have sounded if no one wearing a badge had broken in; otherwise, the thing wouldn't have moved at all.

It's even less likely that the alarm was triggered by a centipede.

"Someone has been here."

Mu Wen looked at his companion: "Open the container, we need to check this thing."

"Now? Didn't you say before that this thing might carry alien germs and radiation, and that we should never open it?"

"I know, but it has to be opened now."

Mu Wen's face turned cold: "I suspect it was switched."

Without waiting for anyone's reaction, he smashed the jar containing the shrews on the ground. With a loud bang, the shrews inside bounced a few times on the ground like rubber toys.

Then, as if some switch had been triggered, a cheerful melody began to emanate from within its body: "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you~ happy birthday to you!"

People were all taken aback.

Now everyone believed Mu Wen's words. Someone had sneaked into the lab, switched the Thousand-Whiskered Snail, and somehow managed to slip out.

Everyone hurriedly left the laboratory to notify the guards to search for the person's whereabouts. Mu Wen was the last to leave. As he left, he pressed the disinfection and cleaning button on the wall, and immediately white, harmless smoke covered the entire laboratory from all directions.

Just as Mu Wen was about to turn around, he suddenly caught a glimpse of some text information on the screen from close up.

"Age detection successful: 347 years old."

Professor Mu's eyes widened slightly. The relentless "Happy Birthday" song only made him more agitated, as if something was about to burst forth from his mind.

As if possessed, Mu Wen shouted in the direction of "Thousand-Bearded Snail": "Can't you change the song?!"

The "Happy Birthday" song abruptly stopped, and then the voices resumed, but the lyrics had changed drastically: "May your birthday be unlucky, may your cake go moldy, may you lose an arm or a leg, may you become more and more useless as you live..."

"Happy birthday to you, nobody likes you, you look like an animal, go back to the zoo."

"..."

"no quality."

Mu Wen left in anger. He had heard that there was once a lotus-shaped birthday candle in history that could burn for at least a year once lit.

While this claim may be exaggerated, Muwen certainly doesn't want to hear a toy that will play for a year sing him a year's worth of unlucky birthday songs.

Currently, Mu Wen has labeled the thief who dared to steal alien biological samples from the research institute as: uncivilized, ill-tempered, rule-ignoring, and morally questionable.

He had studied psychology and worked as a psychology lecturer for a period of time, so he was naturally good at reasoning about how people with this kind of personality would react.

"I know where you ran off to."

Mu Wen sneered and turned to leave, while the door gradually closed behind him.

However, just as the two doors made of special metal were about to close completely, Mu Wen suddenly raised his hand and placed his right hand across the middle of the door with a "thud".

"Woo—" At that moment, the human body sensor sensed his body temperature and opened the door again, and Mu Wen also raised the corners of his mouth at this time.

He stepped back into the laboratory, where he met a figure leaning against the lab bench with a playful gaze through layers of misty white fog.

You found me!

The young man mouthed these words to the person who had successfully discovered him, and Mu Wen's eyes showed no fear whatsoever, as if the living person who appeared out of nowhere was nothing to him.

"Professor Mu, it's a pleasure to meet you... I'm curious how you discovered me? And why didn't you tell other scientists?"

Lia clapped softly for him, while Mu Wen blocked the doorway, as if afraid that the other party would run away again.

"Would you believe me if I said I didn't get along well with them?"

"what do you think?"

"Okay, okay, you're more difficult than I thought."

Muwen stepped into the white mist, staring at Ria's face.

“This gentleman who is over three hundred years old, I don’t know how you hacked into our research institute, nor do I know how you replaced the Thousand-Whiskered Snail, but I advise you to hand it over immediately, or you will be going to jail right away.”

“I don’t want to go to jail,” Ria shook her head.

He realized that the other party mistook him for a skilled hacker, and Ria didn't want to explain further for the time being.

"Then hand it over. Do you know how dangerous it is to take that thing out rashly? Its surface has germs from outer space. Once you get infected, no one can save you!"

"You care about me so much."

Ria narrowed her eyes, then opened her mouth and pointed to her throat: "But I can't give you what you want, because I've already eaten it."

"What did you say... you ate!?"

"Yes, like this."

Lia picked up the toy snail that was still playing the Happy Birthday song from the ground, flattened it with a "crack" in front of Muwen, and then started munching on it like a snack.

This was the only way he could think of to deal with the alien species in the gentlest way possible. Rather than letting them spread pollution, he decided to treat them in an environmentally friendly manner himself.

The thing on the ground was moved there by Ria using magician techniques. Compared to some unconventional abilities, the contamination potential of spatial abilities is close to zero.

Fortunately, there is a general store not far from here.

Since the Thousand-Wheeled Snail was reported in the news, its image has been quickly registered as an IP trademark by major companies. The news was broadcast yesterday, and the next day people were selling its toys. This speed is truly frightening.

And it sells quite well; perhaps young people just like things that look messy and disorganized...

So in a short time, Ria did only a few things. First, he took the real Thousand-Wheeled Snail out of the container and ate it. Then he took out its toy from his space as a substitute. After doing all this, he let himself turn into a speck of dust.

After Professor Mu realizes that he has not actually escaped, this is the scene that Lia deliberately created for a private conversation with Professor Mu.

"Professor, you are a smart person and should understand the dangers of astronauts bringing extraterrestrial life back to Earth—such things should never have been brought back in the first place, and should have been destroyed immediately upon being brought back."

But you researchers seem reluctant to give up this achievement. That's alright, though; what you can't do, I'll do.

Ria narrowed her eyes slightly, stuck out her tongue and licked the corner of her mouth, as if issuing a proclamation: "I will devour these viruses as thoroughly as the most loyal antivirus program."

"Are you crazy? Even if you are the world's top hacker, it is impossible for you to break into so many research institutes."

"But I'm not a hacker, I'm just a prophet."

Ria tapped her fingers lightly on the lab table beneath her: "I foresaw the destruction of the world, I foresaw the transition between old and new civilizations..."

At this point, Ria paused, looking at Muven with a complicated expression: "I foresaw your death."

Upon hearing this, Mu Wen also showed an expression of disbelief.

“Before anything begins, someone has to do something. Even if we can’t change much, we can have more backup plans.”

"Professor, do you believe that someone can travel through time?"

Ria raised his hand and pointed to the screen that displayed his age: 347 years old, exactly the time since his birth.

However, because this body did not die naturally, it also did not age normally. At the moment Ria traveled through time, it was sealed into a void, waiting to be activated again.

"I come from a place on the verge of destruction, and the only revelation I can offer is—"

"Do not explore the stars."

This was his final admonition.

After saying this, the young man's figure was immediately swallowed by the white mist until he completely disappeared in front of Mu Wen.

Although the greatest lesson humanity learns from history is that they learn nothing at all, Ria still left this statement as is customary.

He had to go to various research institutes to eat... to destroy those factors that might lead to destruction.

Lia had never tried eating supernatural creatures before; they looked so unappetizing that it was hard to imagine that they would taste so amazing.

Even the most luxurious seafood in the world can't compare to that bite just now.

"Why didn't anyone tell me about this before..."

Just thinking about it made Liya's mouth water. He really needed to try another thousand-whisker snail to see if it tasted as good as ever.

"The astronaut was right, their taste is indeed impressive."

While pondering, Ria used her spatial abilities to locate the next Thousand-Bearded Snail.

Muven was still staring blankly at the empty laboratory. He rubbed his eyes, but Ria didn't appear. He rubbed his eyes again, but Ria still didn't appear.

"This isn't right... are they really gone?"

After a long period of investigation, the exceptionally meticulous Professor Mu finally had no choice but to accept the fact that Ria had vanished into thin air. He began to think about what Ria had said, and then, without realizing it, he walked out of the laboratory.

Upon reaching the door, his instinct was to find his colleagues and tell them that they no longer needed to look for him. However, the next second, he saw the person who had just disappeared reappear in front of him, with a gloomy expression.

"Why are you back again?"

(End of this chapter)