Secret World: I Became a God Through Lies

Chapter 557 The Prayer of the Stars

When God needs a greater God, it's not prayer, it's signing a petition.

—From the *Taotie Jing* (The Scripture of Gluttony), Appendix on Disasters and Calamities

Night fell over the temporary base of the protective umbrella.

Outside, a storm whipped up red sand, crashing against the translucent dome.

The lights in the operations room were a stark white, and everything was so quiet it was as if the air had been sucked out.

The image of the flower sea remained on the central control screen.

That was Miyoko's disaster zone.

Red waves surged, roses bloomed, and then the image abruptly collapsed and distorted, like a torn blood membrane.

The screen flickered for a moment, then finally settled on a few lines of text:

[Director of the Plant Aberration Research Laboratory, Bloodthirsty Rose, Miyoko Harano—Signal cut off.]

Dead silence.

The researcher kept his head down, and the report in his hand was trembling slightly.

He spoke with difficulty, his voice as dry as gravel:

"Report... After the disaster area collapsed, the energy fluctuations disappeared, and the dungeon rules returned to stability... Confirmed—Harano Miyoko has died in battle."

Miranda stood in front of the control panel.

That perpetually elegant and dignified face was devoid of any emotion.

She merely raised her eyelids slightly, her silver-gray pupils reflecting the gradually fading red light on the screen.

"Confirm the data." Her tone was calm to the point of being cold.

"Yes, we confirmed it three times, and the results were consistent."

She nodded slightly, her voice remaining calm: "Who is it?"

The researcher swallowed hard: "Currently...not yet determined. The data waveform indicates that the death was caused by an over-limit attack, suspected to be an external sniper attack...not a duplicate product."

Miranda tapped her finger lightly on the console.

*Slap.* *Slap.* *Slap.*

Each sound was like striking some kind of invisible timer.

The air got colder.

She spoke, her voice almost a whisper:

"Extreme Strike...?"

The researcher almost stopped breathing. He carefully added, "Yes, sir. The planetary disaster monitoring feedback shows that the value has far exceeded the maximum value of the disaster area under Lady Midori."

For a fleeting moment, her pupils contracted slightly.

A 0.5-second moment of fear.

It is so minute that it is imperceptible, yet it certainly exists.

She realized—someone was breaking the rules.

“Exceeding limits…” she murmured softly, her voice carrying a chilling undertone.

Then, she regained her composure.

She straightened her back, and her tone became indifferent and orderly again.

"Since this is an attack beyond the limits, expand the instance's surveillance range and lock onto the energy source. I need to find the coordinates of this 'gunner'."

"Yes, obey!"

The researcher bent over with a sigh of relief and took two steps back as if fleeing.

Miranda, however, did not look at them again.

Her thoughts were lost in the sound of the storm.

She knew that Midoriko was not an ordinary mutant beast king; she was her most perfect creation, the Rose Calamity Lord.

Besides her, there were three others.

Two are still at the upper levels, carrying out "long-term dungeon raids";
The last one was kept by her side.

She didn't want to touch that guy.

That was the most dangerous existence she controlled.

A monster that can make the world fade simply by looking up.

But now, Miyoko is dead.

The instance was targeted.

The rules she set for the game started to crack.

She had no way out.

The wind swept in from the outer dome, lifting her white hair.

She looked up at the high-hanging monitor screen, the gray-red world there resembling a torn canvas.

Her voice was so soft it was almost inaudible, yet it carried an undeniable chill.

"Open the containment chamber."

"Prepare the access key."

"I want to see it."

The researchers' expressions froze instantly.

The air seemed frozen.

"You mean 'it'?" someone asked in a low voice.

Miranda's gaze swept over him.

"Yes."

Her lips twitched slightly, but it wasn't a smile.

"A constellation of stars."

The light flickered.

No one dared to utter another sound.

The entire operations room fell into a deathly silence.

Outside, the storm roared.

It was as if the whole world was trembling at that name.

The underground area of the Umbrella Corporation's base resembles a metal spine driven into the earth's core.

Miranda walked through the main corridor, her footsteps echoing through the narrow space.

The air was eerily dry, devoid of any odor, even the metallic smell had been filtered out.

The wall is inlaid with cool light bulbs, emitting a single white light.

That light had neither temperature nor shadow.

Its sole purpose is to prevent any color from seeping in.

The first security door is at the end of the corridor.

The researcher responsible for opening the door inserted the card with trembling hands. Fingerprint verification, iris scanning, and voice confirmation were all accompanied by mechanical sounds.

They dared not look at Miranda, and mechanically carried out the operations.

"Identity verification successful. First layer of lock unlocked."

The iron gate slid open.

The air surged out, carrying an indescribable sense of oppression.

The temperature dropped sharply by three degrees.

The second door leads to the leak-proof area.

The inside of the door is covered with a silver protective film to reflect light and prevent "light pollution".

A chilly aura, carrying a pungent metallic smell, wafted from the crack in the door.

On either side of the corridor at the third-floor entrance stand two rows of biological protection cabins.

Those hulls looked like transparent coffins.

Inside were some distorted, flat human faces pasted on them.

It lacks a sense of three-dimensionality, like someone's smile has been pressed into a piece of paper.

Every face trembled beneath the glass, its lips twitching as if screaming silently.

The researchers who walked through this area had stiff steps.

I dared not look at it for more than a second.

They already knew what it was.
He was once an "observer".

They glanced at the dazzling stars a few more times while watching the surveillance footage in the containment chamber.
The result was converted to two dimensions.

Miranda's gaze was calm.

She didn't look back, nor did she slow down.

She walked on in silence.

At the end of the corridor, a heavy stone door blocked the way.

That door was older than any of the metal doors that had been there before.
The surface is covered with crisscrossing engravings and inscriptions.

A faint, sealed light flickered within it.

The control panel in front of the door was flashing red.

The researcher looked at her hesitantly: "Lady Miranda, are you sure you want to activate the core containment chamber?"

Its stability index is declining; what if no special measures are taken?

"Open."

She interrupted him, her tone as flat as if she were stating the weather.

The researcher swallowed hard and whispered, "Yes, sir."

His hands flew across the keyboard as he typed the code.
A string of passwords scrolled across the screen.

The robotic arm rotates, and all four locks simultaneously disengage from the slots.

Miranda raised her hand and placed it on the optical recognition panel on the door.

Palmprint scanning initiated.

A blue light swept across her palm, and the inscriptions on the door lit up one by one.

"Permissions granted, confirm."

A mechanical female voice sounded.

The stone door slowly pushed open inwards.

Accompanied by a dull, metallic breath.

She murmured to herself.
“He doesn’t like to pray, he only likes to promise.” Behind the door is a pure white space with almost no shadows.

The lighting was so uniform it was almost pathological.
The walls, floor, and ceiling are all cast from the same smooth material.
It was like stepping into a three-dimensional mirror.

A circular mirror stand is suspended in the center.

Its surface is as smooth as water, yet occasionally it ripples slightly.

Miranda approached, and the reflection of her cloak fell onto the mirror at the same time as her.

But that reflection... seemed to be laughing.

She stood in front of the mirror, her voice so soft it was almost inaudible.

"A constellation of stars—obey my command."

A faint echo resounded in the space.

That wasn't an echo, but another kind of sound.
It was as if someone was repeating her words from another dimension.

The mirror surface began to reflect light.

The white light was tinged with an eerie hue.
It's not red, not blue, not green.
It is a color that cannot be named.

The surface of the mirror has ripples.

The first projection appeared.

A comical cartoon cat head peeks out from the mirror.
He blinked exaggeratedly and laughed, revealing a row of jagged teeth.

"Meow? Is today's guest a beautiful lady?"

Miranda frowned slightly.

The ripples spread again.

A second projection appeared—

A hot-blooded anime character, blond hair, wearing a martial arts uniform, clenching his fist towards the sky.

"Haha, a new scenario? Shall we fight?!"

Before he could finish speaking,

A third projection appeared.

It's a round, chubby blue cat.
While reaching into his pocket, he chuckled in an electronic voice: "Need any props, Nobita?"

The three styles are illogically layered together.
It's like three different animations forcibly spliced together in one frame.

Color began to seep from the edges of the mirror.
Cracks appeared in the pure white walls.
A strange-colored liquid slowly flowed from those cracks.

They extend along the ground,

It's like depicting the outline of some new world.

Miranda watched silently as this absurd "welcoming ceremony" unfolded.
His expression was indifferent, but his gaze was exceptionally focused.

she knows.

The true brilliance of the stars has yet to appear.

The mirror trembled, and the light refracted.

The cartoon cat's shadow stretched long on the wall, its exaggerated four-fingered arm extending out in a comical salute to Miranda.

"Beep beep beep—The Mother Goddess is here? Should I fill this paper world with color?"

The sound was like an old cassette tape playing in reverse.

Then the cat's head exploded with a "pop," transforming into a blond, burning-haired boy with comic book-style flame lines trailing behind him.

"Hahaha! Let me go! I'll flatten them all into posters with one punch!"

He raised his fist, and the background wall instantly transformed into an exaggerated Japanese anime panel: BOOM!! KABOOM!!
Miranda stood there, her gaze unwavering.

“A galaxy of stars,” she interrupted his childish roar.

"I came to see you, not to watch cartoons."

As soon as he finished speaking, the boy's form suddenly shattered into countless pixel blocks, transforming into a semi-transparent mecha.

The mech's head split open, revealing a huge electronic eye that emitted a mechanical male voice:

"Dimensional Engine, warm-up complete. Mother Goddess, would you like to execute the dimensional reduction protocol?"

"Cancel it," Miranda said coldly.

The entire space trembled slightly.

The mecha froze in place, its colors flashed twice, and its body once again flowed into fluid colored light, coalescing into a blurry human figure.

The glittering stars have finally stabilized in some kind of three-dimensional projection form.

His face was a mix of cartoonish lines, and he still wore an exaggerated smile.

"You've arrived very early, Mother Goddess."

He drew out the syllables, as if he were singing.
“You said last time that as long as I obeyed, I would get a new canvas… I’ve been waiting.”

Miranda's lips pursed slightly, her tone as calm as ever.

"Complete the hunt in this instance, and I will allow you to assimilate into a Gate World test field under the protection of the company."

The dazzling array of movements suddenly stopped.

The colors froze for a second.

Then, the light exploded.

His entire body exploded like fireworks, breaking into countless comic strips, each one a different version of him:
Some cheered, some danced, and some drew in the air with crayons.

"Really?"

He laughed wildly.
"Hahaha—Mother Goddess has finally deigned to give me a new world! I'll be very good then, I promise I won't bite anyone."

The two accompanying researchers exchanged a glance, their faces pale.

They were originally mutated beast king-level combatants, but they subconsciously took a step back.

The glittering shadows of the stars stretched long on the ground.

The smile lines at the corners of his mouth gradually widened.

Like tearing a hole in a piece of paper.

"I am so hungry."

He tilted his head, but his tone was frighteningly innocent.

"You!" A researcher had just raised his hand to activate a defensive secret technique.
That torn mouth had already stretched out.

"Click."

The world stood still for a moment.

His body was "flattened" starting from his feet.
Skin, bones, and internal organs simultaneously collapsed into a thin layer of color.
Blood turns into pigment in the air.

The second researcher roared, and bestial features instantly appeared on his body.

The skin hardened, the eyeballs darkened, and bone spurs protruded from the body.

"Star Beast Transformation - Second Form - Cracked Claw!"

He roared and charged forward.
The fist slammed into the projection of the glittering stars.

The punch missed.

It only hit a "paper wall".

The next moment, his arm was caught in the paper, and his entire body was sucked into the plane.

His scream was short and sharp, like the sound of tearing paper.

"Snapped--"

Two brightly colored "posters" were pasted on the wall.

That's them.

His facial features were still twitching, his expression was pained, and his eyes were fixed on the moment of fear.

The stars, shining brightly, watched them and clapped their hands in satisfaction.

"Huh? A new color. It's been a long time since I've painted blood."

Miranda's eyelashes fluttered slightly.

The voice remained calm, as if the scene was not worth mentioning at all.

"I don't seem to have given you permission to touch my people."

The stars shone brightly, laughing like children who had just pulled off a prank.

"But they are no longer human."

He blinked.

The entire projection switched to the image of a gentleman dressed in a colorful tailcoat.

He gracefully pulled down the brim of his hat and bowed in greeting.

"Then, Mother Goddess, may I begin to move freely?"

Miranda paused for a second.

"can."

She turned and left, her cloak leaving a silver arc in the air.

Before she left, her voice echoed in the air.

"Go out and hunt, King of Stars."

Bring me back the colors of fate.

The light on the mirror fluctuated violently.

The radiant smiles reflected in the mirror spread into countless layers.
The corridor outside the mirrored wall began to change color.
The white light was tinged with strange, colorful hues.

It's like someone spilled a bucket of paint into reality.

"Alright, alright—Mother Goddess, wait for my triumphant return."

The stars shone brightly, stretching out their limbs, and the entire body once again flattened out.

Stick into that patch of colorful light.

A soft rustling sound filled the air.

The mirror surface returned to calm.

In the corner, the two "colored pieces of paper" were still trembling slightly.

There seemed to be a faint breath still lingering.

Lights flicker.

The color difference began to spread.

The hunt for lower dimensions has officially begun.

"When color is not light, but rules, the world becomes paper."