The whole nation: You're put to survive on a desolate planet, you'll be running an alien b

When the convoy returned to Donghai City, it was already bright daylight, but the rain hadn't stopped, as if deliberately pressing the blood and mud of the previous night back into the ground, so that no one could see it.

The cordon outside the villa area was thicker than before they set off, and there were new people at the checkpoints at the intersections. They let people through as soon as they scanned their license plates, but during that brief pause, Li Haotian could feel that the other person's gaze lingered on the isolated car for half a second longer.

They were afraid.

They feared that anything not completely dead in the imperial tomb might come back, and they also feared that the hand behind the "cooperation invitation" might suddenly change its tune and take them all in.

The garage door slammed shut, the heavy metallic sound cutting off the sound of the rain outside. Liu Hu and his men unloaded the crates; the ghost lamps and talisman materials were put into storage according to the inventory list, and the wounded were carried to the underground medical room. Their movements were perfectly coordinated, as if everyone was using their busyness to suppress their own heartbeats.

When Li Haotian entered the living room, the news screen was already lit up.

It wasn't official news, but a bunch of rapidly scrolling short video feeds. The titles all looked like they'd been sharpened with the same knife—

"Shadow Devours God at Yunding Mountain! On-Site Video Exposed!"

Is someone performing a sacrifice? No, a god has been eaten!

Another "god" has appeared in Donghai City? A black cat has descended!

He stopped by the sofa, didn't sit down, and his eyes gradually turned cold.

The image on the screen was shaking violently, as if it had been filmed at night behind a tree. The outline of Yunding Mountain was briefly illuminated by lightning, followed by a dark shadow plunging down from a great height. Around it, blurry figures knelt down, shouting something. The audio was torn apart by the wind, leaving only a few jarring words: "God," "Save," and "Descend."

Then—the black image opened an invisible mouth and swallowed the light that should have belonged to "God".

The image ends with an extremely close-up: two reflective pupils, as if looking back from a phone screen.

"A secretly filmed video?" Qin Yue walked down the stairs, her face even more tired than the night before, but her eyes were clearer. "This wasn't filmed by our people."

Su Wan had already moved her computer to the coffee table, her fingers flying across the screen: "The upload source isn't just one account, it's a group of anonymous accounts. They seem scattered, but their registration times, activity cycles, and forwarding paths are almost identical, like they're being mass-produced using the same template."

She looked up: "Professional public opinion management."

Liu Hu cursed, "This is fucking ridiculous... We just came out of the imperial tombs, and they're already blaming Yunding Mountain? 'Black Cat Devouring God'? Who made up that story for them?"

Qin Yue glanced at the news screen, where those eyes flickered again, like a frame deliberately edited in. Her voice was cold: "They're not shifting the blame, they're creating momentum."

Su Wan opened another set of data and turned the screen to show Li Haotian. The trending search curve was like a taut bowstring, starting to climb at 2 a.m., suddenly reaching its maximum at 3 a.m., and at 4 a.m. the first wave of comments such as "May God protect us" and "May the Black Cat God bless us" appeared, as if someone had written the copy in advance and targeted it.

"Panic and worship are pushing forward simultaneously," Su Wan said. "On one hand, they say you are a disaster, and on the other hand, they say you are a god. Emotions are split in two, but in the end, they all point to the same result—more people are actively moving closer to 'God'."

Qin Yue's fingertips paused on the rim of the glass: "This will drag Dragon Shield into this too. Once you respond, the authorities can't stay silent. Especially now—"

She didn't say aloud, "You brought back something more dangerous from the imperial tombs," but everyone in the living room understood.

Behind the door leading underground, Xiao Hei's aura was like a tamed black tide, quiet, yet ever-present.

Li Haotian shifted his gaze from the news screen to the list of accounts on Su Wan's computer. Each ID looked like randomly typed gibberish, the profile pictures were all a uniform gray, and even the signatures were blank—too clean, as clean as a brand new knife.

"Where can we catch up?" he asked.

"We can trace it back to the 'interface'," Su Wan said confidently. "The login nodes of these accounts overlap, but they've been bypassed by multiple layers of VPNs, ultimately landing on a few overseas cloud service providers. What's interesting is that they're not using ordinary social media marketing tools, but a public opinion matrix system that can automatically push trending comments, control the pace, and guide keywords."

She paused for a moment: "These systems are very expensive, and they are generally used by only two types of people: capital public relations teams, or... organized 'publicity departments'."

Liu Hu gritted his teeth: "The Nameless Cult?"

“The cult may not understand these things.” Su Wan shook her head. “They are more like suppliers. The real operators are the ‘god-makers’—responsible for packaging fear as faith and turning faith into a door.”

There was a moment of silence in the living room. The sound of rain filtering through the glass was like white noise, making the words sound even colder.

Qin Yue looked at Li Haotian: "What do you want to do?"

Li Haotian didn't answer immediately. He walked to the window. The city outside was washed gray by the rain, and the buildings looked like a row of silent monuments. The auspicious light of the imperial tomb last night, the "mouth" of the crack, and the muffled sound of the coffin being driven in all seemed to still be ringing in his ears.

They wanted to force him and Xiao Hei to become monsters.

Now, they want to elevate the monster to godhood.

—Once you sit on that divine throne, you can't get off. You'll either be worshipped or hunted.

Li Haotian turned around, his voice not loud, but it seemed to lower the temperature in the living room: "Since they like to start fires, let's change the fire to orders."

Su Wan was taken aback: "You're going to go public?"

"I'll take jobs openly." Li Haotian raised his hand and pulled an old cell phone from his pocket. The screen was cracked, revealing a dark web port he had kept for a long time. "Haven't the Alien Guild been getting a lot of flak from them? Let's turn that flak into our reputation."

Qin Yue's brows furrowed instantly: "This is a declaration of war. You're issuing a notice in the name of the 'guild,' and Dragon Shield will definitely think you're expanding your influence, even..."

"They even want to become another cult?" Li Haotian picked up where she left off, his tone as indifferent as if he were talking about the weather. "What they think is unimportant. What's important is—we can't keep taking hits."

He looked down and tapped the port, the screen's dim light reflecting off his knuckles like a thin layer of ice. Su Wan leaned closer, quickly confirming the line was secure: "I can add a mirror layer for you. After the announcement is released, the source will be split into multiple segments, at least preventing them from pinpointing the physical location immediately."

"Send it," Li Haotian said.

Liu Hu swallowed hard. "Boss, what should we write?"

Li Haotian thought for two seconds, as if weighing the weight of each word. Then he spoke, his pace steady, like reciting a pre-signed contract:

"Alien Guild Announcement—"

"We undertake 'deity cleansing services,' including but not limited to: cleaning up false gods, evil gods, deities, sources of pollution, and the site of deity-creation rituals."

Price: Based on the assessment of divine power and regional influence, a deposit is required upfront, with the balance due later. No credit is accepted.

"Additional terms: A reward will be offered for information leading to the discovery of core members of the 'Nameless Cult.' An additional reward will be offered for information leading to verifiable locations."

He paused, then added, "Furthermore—the guild reserves the right to pursue legal action and recover any videos of 'Black Cat Devouring God' that are secretly filmed."

Su Wan paused on the keyboard, looked up at him: "The last sentence was too sharp; it's like telling them you'll use the secretly filmed video to retaliate."

"I want them to know," Li Haotian said in an even lower voice, "that if you point the camera at me, don't expect me to just block it and not bite back."

Qin Yue's gaze shifted from his face to the old cell phone, a complex emotion flickering in her eyes: "By doing this, you're bringing a lot of things into the open. Once the words 'Qing Shen' are mentioned, the public will go even crazier. Some will place orders, and others will come to you seeking protection. Can you handle that?"

Li Haotian raised his eyes, his gaze as steady as a nail: "Since they want to create a god—I'll let them know that gods can also be ordered."

No one spoke in the living room anymore.

Su Wan took a deep breath, her fingers fell, and she began typing. The upload bar on the dark web port slowly climbed, like a black tide spreading outwards. She split the announcement into three mirror pushes and simultaneously disseminated it through several sets of "dead mailboxes" to ensure that if the main chain was shut down, the secondary chain would continue to ferment.

"It's been sent." Su Wan said, her shoulders relaxing slightly. "Now we just wait for a response."

Almost simultaneously, the news feed refreshed. New terms began appearing in the trending topics—

Alien Guild Responds: Accepting Cleansing Services

Is the Black Cat Not a God, But a Hunter?

Bounty Offered on the Core List of the Nameless Cult

The comments section exploded like a stone had been thrown in: some were excited, some cursed, some questioned the authenticity, and some started "placing orders"—posting all sorts of strange tales, suspected rituals, and missing persons cases from various places.

The panic intensified, but the direction of worship began to shift—from "kneeling before God" to "seeking the cleansing of God."

Qin Yue looked at the rows of scrolling comments and said in a strained voice, "The wind is about to pick up."

Li Haotian didn't deny it. He turned to look towards the basement, and through the door, he could sense Xiao Hei lying there quietly, like a ball of night with its claws retracted. It was quiet and still, yet more than ever, it resembled a knife hidden in its sheath.

"Let the wind blow." Li Haotian placed his old phone face down on the table, making a soft sound. "They use people's hearts as fuel, so we'll dismantle their furnace."

Liu Hu hesitated: "Then... what's the next step?"

Li Haotian walked back to the sofa, finally sat down, and leaned back in the chair, as if he were fixed to a nail. He looked at Su Wan: "Trace the rental records of that public opinion monitoring system, find the payment path. As long as someone pays, they will definitely leave something behind."

Su Wan nodded: "I need a little time, but I can do it."

Li Haotian then looked at Qin Yue: "You might receive an 'inquiry' from Dragon Shield at any time. You can tell them—we're cleaning up the source of contamination and, incidentally, recovering the source of transmission. Don't say anything more."

Qin Yue sneered: "They would believe that?"

"Whether they believe it or not is not important," Li Haotian said. "They just need to understand: I have no intention of sitting on a divine throne, nor do I intend to be a sacrifice for anyone."

The rain outside the window intensified, as if the entire city was being washed away. A muffled rumble of thunder rolled across the distant horizon, low as if in response.

Li Haotian looked up, his gaze passing through the glass and landing on the gray-white city's edge, as if he saw an even larger net being spread out.

"Next order," he said softly, as if pricing the storm, "go to the 'Godmaker'."