Planet Master

Year Two Hundred and Forty-Nine of the Father God Calendar.

The Hinon Federation had received some sort of important decision in its existence. That was, whether to spread further into the other planet.

Meaning, space colonization.

But of course, it was imperative that humans had to become the first to be able to reach and live on those planets.

The production of the spaceship had increased but the ones produced were still only a dozen. It was because the resources needed to make them were quite large.

The manufacturing methods of the spaceship had undergone some changes that could be called opening one’s eyes, as it could help spaceship production greatly.

Furthermore, the Federation had also managed to map the entire Virya Star System from the Violet Sun to the outer wall of the star system.

But this was actually a long-term plan. They also realized that the Father God wanted them to develop further and even expand to the other planets before starting a Star Battle.

This information was kept only in the highest position in the Federation since the implications were big.

That was why the Federation now pushed for the policies that supported the manufacture of spaceships, even giving them some subsidies to help them.

As for the other races, they felt that the Hinon Federation was preparing something big but they did not know exactly what that thing was. But the leader of the races knew that it involved going to another planet.

Unfortunately, they could not do the same thing since their technology was still slightly behind the Federation.

While this was happening, the plan for going to another planet was created. From the probes the Federation had sent to all the other planets, they found out that all of them were unsuitable for the living beings, meaning that the environment itself was hostile toward any living being above the singular cell level.

There was a planet that was mostly created out of gas with its core formed by heavy metals. There was a planet that was hot enough due to the greenhouse effect, there was a planet that was too far and thus the temperature was low enough to be unsuitable for living.

Other than the Cerulean Planet, the others were unsuitable for living beings to inhabit. This was already common knowledge but creating colonies there required more funding and resources.

This was the current challenge that the civilization faced.

Once more, the thing they needed was time. Fortunately, the entire human race had gained a great insight and was now trying to make the theoretical into a reality.

For the transcendents, their ability to adapt became greater and some negative effects were nulled if not disappeared.

The two aspects, insight and body, became enhanced, and only Tatsumi knew the exact reason.

“So you are saying that the two are the enhancements you have for us.” Tatsumi said.

Currently, he was in the Library of Consciousness to confirm some things.

“Yes. To prepare for what’s ahead, this is one of the preparations.” Dian said as he visited the Library of Consciousness.

“Other than that, there is the entrance to the Afterlife Arena. Do you know that it has appeared during the previous Star Battle?” Dian added.

“Afterlife Arena? This should be interesting. What exactly do we need to do to enter?” Tatsumi asked.

Just as Dian wanted to reply, the three forefathers arrived and were fully prepared with the Cloud Legion.

“Father God, we have successfully affected the subconscious of the entire race.” Kudungga spoke.

“They will prioritize the development of the spaceships as well as the creation of the space colonies.” Goto added.

“That is quick. Are you doing this because you wanted to see what lies beyond that, right?” Dian said with certainty in his tone.

“As expected from the Father God, we cannot hide anything from you. That was right.” Chi You replied.

“Alright, call everyone available. We will go to the Afterlife Arena.” Dian said.

With that, they had gathered some who could attend. Tatsumi could only follow since he also wanted to know what the Afterlife Arena was.

‘I wonder what kind of place the Afterlife Arena is.’ Tatsumi thought.

At the corner of the Library of Consciousness, there was a distorted point. It was the entrance of the Afterlife Arena.

“So, who wants to enter first?” Goto asked.

“Me!” Chi You said quickly before he stepped forward and entered. Then the others followed suit and Dian and Tatsumi went last.

The moment they entered, they were met with cheers from the circular buildings in the distance. There were so many of the deceased that the group had to rally behind Dian.

Then one of the staff members of the arena came to them.

“Esteemed Planet Master, welcome to the Afterlife Arena. This is a place for your deceased to fight for honor and resources to develop your Afterlife Model. Only those with Afterlife Models can enter this place. You have managed to open the entrance at the Second Rank which makes you a VIP.” The staff was actually a half-beast with the tiger ears, whiskers, and tail. He was there to welcome the new Planet Master which was something necessary since the number of new arrivals was in the billions.

“What does a VIP mean for me? Can you explain?” Dian said as he was in front of the Cloud Legion.

“It means that you can get a discount when purchasing the materials needed for your Afterlife Model as well as preferential treatment when undergoing the battle in the arena.” The half-beast said.

Seeing that the Planet Master who came was actually similar to him, the half-beast knew that Dian was probably the Planet Master whose Core Race was that of humans.

Currently, there were talks about this new race, so of course, he knew the significance of the Planet Master above the Human Race.

“Is that so? Well, isn’t this interesting?” Dian said as he looked at Tatsumi.

Despite still being alive, Tatsumi could enter the Afterlife Arena. This was actually a strange point that he did not dare to discuss. But seeing that the staff did not react to it, Dian assumed that there was no problem bringing Tatsumi here.

Then the staff brought Dian and the Cloud Legion to the special box where they could watch the entire arena. The arena was circular, with the spectators’ seats surrounding the arena in an elevated position. Dian could see that the structure was similar to what was known as a Battle Colosseum in his civilization.

“This is one privilege of the VIP. Other than that, the Esteemed Planet Master can register the one who wants to fight in the arena.” The half-beast staff reminded.

“That’s right. Who wants to fight in the arena?” Dian asked.

At this, everyone raised their hands since they wanted to try themselves in this new environment.

“How about we start with you?” Dian then pointed at Chi You.

As far as Dian knew, Chi You was a very capable fighter. With his axes, he could stand two against one when fighting Goto and Kudungga. That was why, for probing, Dian wanted Chi You to participate in the Afterlife Arena.

“That would be an honor!” Chi You put his clenched hand on his chest. He truly felt that way since his specialty was actually battle.

“He is the one who wants to try battling in the arena. What kind of things should we take note of?” Dian asked while starting to sit down.

“Your fighter will start from the Bronze Tier 0. As your fighter keeps winning, their number increases to 1 until 9 before changing into the Silver Tier. There are four tiers: Bronze, Silver, Platinum and Gold.

“But remember this. You can challenge anyone, but it is mandatory to accept the challenge. Those who challenge you can be weaker or equal to you, but definitely not the stronger ones. You can challenge those who are higher in number than you.”

The half-beast staff explained.

Dian understood that his people could challenge those with a higher number which potentially stronger than his people but when challenged by those weaker and equal, they needed to accept it.

“What happens when we are challenged but unable to respond?” Dian asked just in case.

“They will be given a penalty. They need to reset their achievement even if they are at the Gold Tier.” The staff said.

“That’s ruthless.” Tatsumi said with a shock on his face. The others were also wearing a serious look.

What’s the lowest strength of the participant?” Dian asked.

“Rank 2 Transcendent for the lowest Tier and number.” The staff said.

The Cloud Legion breathed a sigh of relief. But when they thought about it, it made sense. Dian felt that Rank 3 Transcendents were the pinnacle and hard to come by for the Third Rank Planet Masters. That was why the standard was lowered.

“Good. Then I can participate.” Chi You grinned as Dian let the staff led them to the registration area.

After that, Chi You was sent to the arena, since this time the arena was at its lowest number of spectators. As for the rest, they were watching in the spectators’ box.

The first opponent Chi You had was actually the small goblin.

Chi You’s strength was increasing far from when he was alive. The development of the Transcendent Tree in the civilization caused ideas to flow into him, changing him and his existence power. Now, he was at early Rank 2, meaning that his prowess was at the early Rank 3.

Chi You only knew that the power came from the Nine Psyche-Locks; the second lock which was usually closed, was now slightly opened.

And with that, his power increased slightly. Confidence surged within him as the goblin then used an ability known to hide one’s presence.

‘Look at this race, they are quite cunning.’ Chi You thought as he gripped his axes on his hands tightly. Despite being only Nafs, he could at least unleash his power here, unlike in the Library of Consciousness.

Dian, who saw this realized that the Library of Consciousness lacked the capability to let the Nafs inside to unleash their power during their life and after their death.

Indeed, this is my oversight. I assume that the Afterlife Model cannot do it. It turns out that the Afterlife Model I created actually hinders their growth in this aspect. This is truly my failure as a Planet Master. Let’s see what I can do to fix this.

Dian then used the Planet Master System to check things. As expected, there was a new section called Afterlife Arena on his homepage. He tapped on that and then some information appeared that caused him to ponder.

[Resource Shop]

This was what Dian wanted to see since he needed his Afterlife Model to be able to grow in strength. Perhaps in the future, the Afterlife Model would be able to help the living in part of their matter.

He checked and as expected, there were numerous resources that he could only see when assimilating others’ Afterlife Model. Dian was convinced that the Afterlife Arena had what he needed.

While Dian swept through the Afterlife Arena’s menu, Chi You’s battle against the goblin had started.

Chi You walked step by step forward without even flinching. His eyes focused on the front as he gripped his axes. Then all of a sudden, he swung both axes to the upper left of his direction and a large amount of red blood splattered.

Some of it hit Chi You but he did not mind at all. In fact, he felt that this was familiar, something that touched him from the deepest part of himself at his core.

‘So we can still bleed here?’ Chi You thought but could not come up with a plausible theory as to why. IT did not matter and honestly, let someone smarter think about it instead.

Then the announcement came that Chi You was the winner. As for the corpses of the goblin, it suddenly lit up brilliantly and then the goblin was restored to its previous state.

“So even being killed doesn’t mean you will disappear.” Dian looked at Chi You’s status.

[Chi You: Bronze Tier 1]

For Dian, this was a good start. Furthermore, from Chi You’s battle, Dian got some points which would be needed to buy resources in the shop.

[Medals gained+10]

After seeing this, Dian felt that he needed to win more but for now, he summoned Chi You back and let the others participate. One by one, they managed to get to Bronze Tier 1 like Chi You. Everyone, including Tatsumi.

What’s happening here? Is this some kind of bug that the Planet Master System has not recognized?

Dian thought. Tatsumi was technically a living being. The fact that he could participate in something meant for the deceased was surprising enough but the fact that he could be registered meant that this was legit. Dian became confused due to this but then paid little attention since it would be futile to overthink.

As long as it works, it means that it is fine.

He did not think the issue was big and let the matter rest for now.

Every time an individual won, they raised one rank from 0 to 1 in the Bronze Tier. That also meant that he got 10 Medals. The entire number was enough to buy some needed resources, but Dian planned to stock up first before deciding to buy something.

“To increase the rank further, we need to battle two opponents before advancing.” Goto took notice of this fact.

“Ah, the higher the rank, the more individuals we have to challenge.” Chi You nodded in agreement. To him, this place was a good place to gauge the power of other races.

“Father God, will it be a problem if I am here?” Tatsumi suddenly asked.

He had noticed that Dian’s gaze at him was kind of strange and he realized that this place was heavily tied to the Afterlife. That was why he needed to make some things clear.

Dian looked at Tatsumi warmly and said, “No problem. If there is, then it is not your fault at all.”

“Alright, I’ll listen to you for now.” Tatsumi sighed but he had to let the matter go since the Father God was not keen on explaining.

Then the Cloud Legion tried to challenge the higher rank, meaning that they needed to battle two opponent of the stronger than their first.

When their opponents appeared, they realized that they were indeed stronger but not much, just a heavenstage higher. With their technique, they managed to defeat two opponents consecutively.

[Medals +15]

[Medals +15]

Dian got so many Medals that he started to look into the Resource Shop, looking for the materials that could enhance his Library of Consciousness.

“Buy! I must buy this!” Dian pressed his index finger into the system panel.

[Name: Expander

Price: 150 Medals

Function: This item allows the Afterlife Model to increase in size. Effective for Rank 3 and below. The increase is small]

Dian wanted to try first before gauging the other items in the Resource Shop. As the transaction was successful, the item in question was added to inventory, which could be used to store important items.

Then it was time for them to leave. Dian and the Cloud Legion then left with the half-beast staff escorting them out.

After that, they got themselves back at the Library of Consciousness. The experiences at the Afterlife Arena were a novel experience for them.

“It is a pity that our strength is still insufficient. Exposing our strength is something that should not be done lightly.” Chi You said.

With their strength, reaching Bronze Tier 9 was a guarantee but reaching Silver Tier was an uncertainty. That was why Chi You said that their strength was insufficient.

“You aim too high.” Kudungga retorted. Chi You could only laugh at that statement since it was true.

“Thank you for letting me participate in this.” Tatsumi said.

The three forefathers and the others were the warriors of their time and that was why they were brought to the Afterlife Arena by Dian.

“No need for that, young man. We just want to see our own capability and it turned out to be great. Please learn and discover more things for us here.” Goto said with a serious expression to Tatsumi.

Tatsumi nodded solemnly.

“Alright, return to your post. Tatsumi, it is time for you to wake up. Don’t worry, the time flow is faster in the Afterlife Arena.” Dian said as he comforted Tatsumi.

He knew what Tatsumi was worried about since the time spent in the Afterlife Arena was quite a bit for Tatsumi.

“Thank you!” Tatsumi said before he slowly disappeared from the Library of Consciousness.

Dian then let the Expander out of inventory. He wanted to try an item from the Resource Shop first before determining the others.

[Are you sure you want to use “Expander” on your Afterlife Model?]

Dian got a notification as he willed the item to be used. He was sure and sent his will to the system.

[“Expander” has been used. Please beware that the expansion will affect the deceased so proceed with caution.]

Dian was prepared for that and the entire Library of Consciousness trembled. The space it occupied now surpassed the entire Cerulean Planet, even surpassing its outermost exosphere.

After all the commotion and the tremble, Dian stabilized the Library of Consciousness and pacified the deceased.

“The space has expanded!” Goto exclaimed.

“Now, the entire dimension of the Library of Consciousness covered the entire Cerulean Planet.” Chi You said calmly.

Although it was good that the Library of Consciousness had covered the entire planet, but what about the other planet?

That was the next on the agenda that Dian had to do and fortunately, he had seen some items in the Resource Shop of the Afterlife Arena that could be of use.