Himiko’s Tomb!

Lake went straight ahead, his figure flashing like a startled swan as he darted through the passageways of Himiko’s ancient tomb. The space was absurdly vast, and the layout was more than a little unscientific.

But once he remembered that the tomb’s owner was the Spirit of Destiny, one of the Four Elements of Creation born after the world shattered, he felt relieved. If this tomb could be dug out with one or two swings of a shovel, that would be what was truly unscientific.

Now?

This was perfectly reasonable.

Boom!

Lake stopped and lowered his head, staring at the floor tile beneath his right foot.

Whoosh!

A poisoned arrow instantly shot from behind him, howling toward his back at a forty-five-degree angle.

The corners of Lake’s mouth lifted. His figure blurred, instantly shifting from complete stillness back into full motion. With astonishing agility, he wove through the rain of poisoned arrows that shot toward him from all directions, nearly filling the entire passage in an instant.

A while later.

By the time Lake landed, the passage floor was densely covered with poisoned arrows. If one did not look closely, one might have thought this passage contained some enormous hedgehog.

Was that all?

Lake swept his gaze across the empty mechanism boxes on the surrounding walls and thought, Is that all? Then he turned his attention to the doorway at the end of the passage.

It needed the correct combination to open?

The Dragon Seeking Plate appeared in his hand.

A combination?

That did not exist. As long as it was an ancient tomb on Earth, none could escape the Dragon Seeking Plate’s insight.

Rumble!

Lake ignored the ground beneath his feet as it began to collapse. Just as the disintegration was about to reach him, the great door opened as well. Without the slightest trace of panic, he strolled out of the passage as calmly as if he were taking a leisurely walk through a courtyard.

What met his eyes—

was an extremely spacious cavern. Far ahead of him, a dilapidated six-story wooden building appeared in Lake’s line of sight.

The place where Himiko slept.

In New York, the Force Seed in his true body was cheering. Under that distant connection, its cheers suddenly became more urgent and joyful.

At that moment.

Lake’s figure suddenly stopped. The next second, his eyes returned to normal.

Body Replacement.

The true body descended!

Lake had previously projected his consciousness into this clone. His true body had already accompanied Hermione back to New York from London.

Just now.

Lake had received a very interesting phone call.

The caller was a friend from the military, but that was not the important part. The important thing was that his friend told him Barney Ross had an urgent matter to discuss with him, and said Lake knew what it was about.

After Lake called him back, he learned a huge secret.

The Richard Crawford they had rescued earlier was not the real Richard Crawford. Just now, Barney Ross and Laura had used the Dragon Seeking Ruler once more. After digging through a full two meters of wall inside the cave, they had found the real Richard Crawford, who had been dead for many years.

Well, well.

Another clone?

No.

Lake had initially wondered if it might be a clone, but after thinking it over, the timing did not seem to match. Yin Yang’s simple examination showed that Richard Crawford had been dead for at least six years.

Although Hydra had possessed cloning technology for quite some time, one could not forget that Richard Crawford had disappeared in 1998. Moreover, even a clone needed memories implanted into it.

It could not be that Hydra had set its sights on Richard Crawford the moment cloning technology was developed, could it?

In a word—

there was no reason for it.

If Hydra had targeted Richard Crawford and created a clone, then Richard Crawford should have been in London testifying against the Croft Group at this moment, not playing some wild-man game on this island.

Most importantly—

when Laura had first seen Richard Crawford and they had poured out their feelings to each other, she had not sensed anything suspicious.

Lake then asked Laura how she had seen through him.

Laura’s explanation was quite intriguing.

Richard Crawford had called Laura by her name instead of addressing her as he had in the past: "my love" or "my most precious darling," ever since her mother died.

The matter could be explained by saying Richard had been trapped for nine years. But that explanation only worked on the premise that the real Richard Crawford had not been found.

Laura also told Lake that although they did not know whether he could contact his friend Professor X, that impostor Richard Crawford and the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had already gone down there.

Interesting.

But Lake’s primary target at the moment was Himiko—in other words, the Creation Spirit!

The instant Lake’s true body switched over, the Creation Spirit inside the six-story building sensed that powerful supernatural energy. It began to stir, clearly preparing to flee.

But—

could it escape?

With a flash, the power of Lake’s Cosmo erupted from within him. He vanished from where he stood like lightning, then appeared just as swiftly before the coffin that had begun rumbling as it prepared to conceal itself.

"Come to my world."

"Gemini! Maze!!"

Boom!

Lake threw a punch. A Gemini star map and nebula image burst forth before him. After flashing once, his Cosmo, fueled by the twin forces of Cosmo power and the burning Force Seed, directly replaced this entire space.

Rumble!

Inside the Gemini Maze, the wooden coffin slammed heavily onto a meteorite and instantly shattered into pieces. Then, after a sharp cry, a woman emerged from within the coffin and appeared before Lake. Her body looked like rotten wood, withered and decrepit.

Lake stared expressionlessly at the awakened Creation Spirit of Destiny. "I want you to help me cultivate!"

…Wait.

That line?

Lake blinked inwardly. What a terrible line. Did I really just say that?

Whatever.

This time, the Creation Spirit of Destiny would either help him cultivate or die!

The Creation Spirit of Destiny hidden within the withered woman’s body surveyed the sun, moon, and stars around them—celestial bodies that did not exist in this universe. The decayed body began to erode, and in the blink of an eye, it completely weathered away.

In an instant.

The withered woman’s body vanished inside the Gemini Maze. In its place appeared three naked women who existed in both illusion and reality.

Lake raised an eyebrow.

How polite.

Lake looked at the beings that had emerged after the withered body disintegrated. "Who am I speaking with?"

The petite woman on the left spoke in a youthful voice. Her delicate face was mysteriously veiled behind a thin veil. "Clotho!"

The woman in the center looked about the same age as Lake. She was in the prime of her youth—fresh, lively, and brave, with her gaze fixed directly ahead. "Lachesis!"

The woman on the right had both the appearance and bearing of a mature beauty. Her voice was alluring yet cold. "Atropos!"

Interesting.

The Creation Spirit of Destiny was not one being but three.

No.

A trinity?

Lake thought about it as he stood with his hands behind his back. He directly displayed the universe in his sea of consciousness behind him. It had already grown a tiny sprout, though it was still a long way from becoming the World Tree. He looked candidly at the three-in-one women with their three names and said, "Help me cultivate, or die!"

The youngest, Clotho, said, "Your universe has not yet been born!"

Lachesis, who looked about the same age as Lake, said, "We cannot endure the shattering of another world."

Atropos, the mature beauty, spoke bluntly. "You are very strong, but you are also very weak!"

Lake nodded.

Very strong.

Looking across Earth, almost no one could match him head-on. Very weak—looking across the universe, among the gods, Lake was nothing but a little brother.

If Mephisto could descend upon Earth at full strength, Lake estimated that Mephisto could crush him into scraps. Although he would not die, being killed over and over was still possible.

But—

Lake’s expression did not change. "What do you want? Say it directly."

If this trinity of Creation Spirits of Destiny truly did not want to deal with him, they could simply have gone to sleep inside the Gemini Maze. Since they had spoken, however, they clearly wanted to negotiate terms.

The fifth of the Four Elements of Creation, the Destiny Spirit Element, was different from the other four elements. The four elements formed the foundation that stabilized the world, while the Spirit of Destiny was the fundamental force that determined whether the world could exist for a long time.

The youngest, Clotho, said, "You cannot enslave us."

Lachesis, who was about the same age as Lake, said, "We are equals."

Atropos, the mature beauty, spoke in an alluring tone. "If you can pass our test, we will be happy to help weave the thread of destiny belonging to your World Tree, whose birth still lies in the distant future."

A test?

Lake nodded. "Sure. What is the test?"

The three women instantly appeared beside Lake. The next second, endless erotic images and sounds suddenly flooded his eyes and ears.

The corners of Lake’s mouth rose.

This test…

Interesting.

Unfortunately, his universe followed the path of plunder and freeloading. It was not a path of tests or exchanges. The fundamental law of his world was freeloading.

Trying to use this method to decide our relationship as master and subordinate in the future?

I’ll show you what it means for a meat bun to go after a dog—never to return.

…Wait.

Something was wrong.

Lake blinked. The three women, completely naked, had already pressed close against his body. One petite, one scorching hot, one cold—as they closed in, Lake instantly experienced three layers of sensation.

The meanings in the three women’s eyes were all different.

They were the Creation Spirits of Destiny, but only the Creation Spirits of Destiny of a shattered world. If their world had not shattered, they would have risen along with it, becoming Goddesses of Destiny whose judgment would encompass even the world itself!

If Lake had not displayed his nascent World Tree, the trinity of Creation Spirits might have chosen silence as their method of resistance. Even if it had been merely an ordinary world, the Creation Spirits of Destiny would not have cared.

But what Lake had displayed was more than just a promising world. It was a World Tree with a promising future—and, upon that World Tree, a universe in which chaos had adorned only a single nebula.

Once Lake’s World Tree unfolded, it would directly bear an entire universe: a vast and boundless universe.

The Goddess of Destiny of a world, and the Goddess of Destiny of a universe.

These were two entirely different concepts.

Once Lake chose to submit before them, even his destiny would be theirs to weave and compose.