Chapter 1.1: Safe City Binding
The earth cracked open, the sky changed drastically, and skyscrapers collapsed. People panicked as they tried to flee, only to realize there was nowhere to escape—no matter where they looked, there was no safe place.
Civilians collapsed to their knees, crying out in desperation toward the heavens.
“My God, please save Your people.”
——At the Federal Presidential Palace, guards rushed in.
“Madam President, the helicopter has arrived. You must leave now.”
The president knelt by the window, holding a ring engraved with a sun, and shook her head.
“Satellite images have already come through. We cannot escape. You all should go. Don’t worry about me—go back to your families. Stay with your loved ones.”
The captain of the guard gritted his teeth. “And you, Madam President?”
The president tightened her grip on the ring.
“I will pray to our God. I pray that our God will protect the people of Blue Sea.”
She bowed toward the giant stone statue standing outside the presidential palace. Her forehead struck the cold floor again and again. Even as blood began to flow, she did not stop.
“My God, President Qin Zhi of Blue Sea begs You—please help Your people, please save Blue Sea, save Your children!”
——At the Marshal’s residence, Marshal Alice Reina also did not flee. The satellite images were already very clear: their planet was heading irreversibly toward destruction. No matter where they ran, death was unavoidable.
The military had already been deployed for rescue operations, but only the upper ranks knew it was all in vain.
She looked at her partner, whose hair had turned completely white, and gave a faint smile, tears in her eyes.
“So… this is the end for us.”
Her partner wept as well. “I’m not afraid to die. But… but our children are still so young…”
The marshal let out a bitter laugh. “Our God favors the young. Perhaps… perhaps our two grandchildren will be spared.”
She and her partner stepped outside and looked up at the crimson sky. She touched the moon-shaped necklace around her neck and murmured:
“My God… over all these years, have I done well? Have I failed Your expectations?”
——In the temple, the Pope never stopped praying, even as buildings outside collapsed one after another and cracks in the earth had already spread beneath his feet.
“Most holy, most exalted, most glorious—”
“Like light, like wind, like clouds—”
“Great Lord of the Star Sea—”
“Supreme Creator God—”
“Your majesty overturns Blue Sea—”
“Your mercy saves all things—”
“Your compassion illuminates eternity—”
Someone ran past the collapsing doorway, saw the Pope and the others, then turned back to warn them:
“Your Holiness, the temple is collapsing! You must leave!”
The Pope’s young, pale, and delicate face remained utterly calm. He lowered his gaze, still maintaining his prayer posture, his long black hair trailing to the ground.
“All things in the world are born and perish, all within the will of our God.”
“If our God wishes Blue Sea to be destroyed today, we should die with gratitude.”
He closed his eyes and continued praying with the others behind him.
The voices of thousands merged into one—loud, orderly, solemn, and fanatical. They even drew many fleeing civilians to join them in prayer.
“Most holy, most exalted, most glorious—”
“Like light, like wind, like clouds—”
“Great Lord of the Star Sea—”
“Supreme Creator God—”
——Cheng Qisheng watched this scene.
“Even if I really am the Creator God, I still think these people are a bit too extreme.”
“Hmm… but if these fanatical believers knew their Creator God was going to die with them, would they feel better?”
All of this was what Cheng Qisheng thought in her mind, because she could not speak at all.
Cheng Qisheng, 25 years old, had already been suffering from ALS for three years.
As everyone knows, ALS is an incurable disease, often called “a conscious vegetable.” The brain remains aware, but the body can no longer be controlled, and there is always the risk of sudden death.
Three years earlier, Cheng Qisheng had just been diagnosed. In the depths of her despair, a miniature planet suddenly appeared in her home.
At that time, there was not a single living being on that planet. Only Cheng Qisheng could see it. It contained a ruined city and an extremely accelerated flow of time.
Cheng Qisheng quickly realized that she was like a god to this planet—able to observe and interact with anything on it.
An idea struck her: she could use the planet’s accelerated time flow to create life and develop a human civilization there.
In that case, only a few months would pass in the real world, while on the miniature planet, humanity—thanks to the extreme time acceleration—could advance into a spacefaring civilization.
A high-tech interstellar civilization… surely it would have a cure for ALS, right?
Once the civilization on this planet discovered a treatment for her disease, she could simply use it herself. A perfect plan.
Cheng Qisheng immediately found hope and devoted herself entirely to managing this planet.
If it lacked light, she bought a lighting system. If it lacked a moon, she broke off a fragment of planetary debris and used it as one. If it lacked water, she watered it with a spray bottle.
The planet, which she named Dark Star, did not disappoint—it developed at astonishing speed.
Bacteria and cyanobacteria. Multicellular organisms. Trilobites. Arthropods. Plants. Insects. Fish. Amphibians. Reptiles. Small mammals…
Finally, the first ape that looked up at the sky and began to think appeared.
At that time, Cheng Qisheng was overwhelmed with excitement, believing hope was right before her eyes.
The apes slowly evolved into primitive humans, then into tribal societies, then the Stone Age.
For the first time, just as they were about to step into an agricultural society—she went to the living room to get some water.
In that brief moment, a foreign planetary body struck Dark Star.
The entire planet instantly turned into a sea of fire. Not even a single strand of primitive human hair was left for her.
Cheng Qisheng, returning with her glass of water: “……”
Coincidentally, nothing had happened through all those days—but the moment she took a sip of water, everything was gone.
She finished drinking, gritted her teeth, and started all over again.
Second time, Cheng Qisheng became extremely careful.
She only ate takeout, drank bottled mineral water, and even timed her bathroom breaks precisely. Whenever a planet approached Dark Star, she would quickly push it away.
Under her careful management, humanity on the miniature planet successfully advanced into the modern era.
Just as victory seemed within reach—and modern civilization was no longer afraid of natural or man-made disasters, even capable of early warning against approaching celestial bodies—she finally relaxed a little.
She went to sleep.
When she woke up, humanity had started destroying itself in her absence.
Countries fought over territory and launched nuclear missiles at each other. By the time Cheng Qisheng opened her eyes again, Dark Star was left with almost no survivors.
Cheng Qisheng: Heh.
Again!
The third time, bacteria went out of control. Nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide were excessively consumed, the atmosphere disappeared, and all life suffocated.
The fourth time, humanity died due to internal conflict.
The fifth time, humanity died due to internal conflict.
The sixth time, humanity destroyed the environment, the ozone layer vanished, and although they struggled on for a while, they still failed to survive.
The seventh time, Cheng Qisheng used the remnants of previous human civilizations to create “miracles,” taking on the title of Creator God. Under her guidance and protection, humanity engaged in minor conflicts that did not damage the planet or its environment. They steadily developed technology, with genius after genius emerging. Their technological tree climbed all the way into the interstellar age, and they were already researching a cure for ALS.
Finally, hope was in sight, and Cheng Qisheng was overjoyed.
But her worsening illness gradually weakened her, making it impossible for her to continuously monitor the interstellar civilization. Meanwhile, the civilization itself—like a child growing up and wanting to leave its parents—no longer wished to be ruled by a Creator God who stood above all.
They decided to search for a new home far beyond their own star system, to move toward a brand-new planet without a Creator God, and from then on, let humanity control its own destiny.
The cure for ALS still hadn’t been developed after more than a hundred years. The interstellar civilization’s secretly dispatched exploration team for a new home encountered a deadly virus outside—and that virus was brought back to their home planet.
Humanity was wiped out again.
Cheng Qisheng no longer had anything to say.
This time, she deeply reflected on herself.
Humans were exactly the kind of species that could destroy themselves.
She could not give them full control!
Gritting her teeth, she activated the gene bank left behind by the interstellar civilization. Without eating, drinking, or sleeping, she forced herself to endure and cultivated generation after generation of humans, successfully imprinting absolute loyalty to her as a “mental seal” into their genes.
From then on, that loyalty imprint was passed down through generations.
—The new humans, the Blue Sea civilization, were born.
For this completely loyal new humanity, Cheng Qisheng invested far more effort than in all seven previous civilizations combined.
The Blue Sea civilization developed rapidly. Whenever disasters occurred and she was awake, she would intervene as a Creator God to save people from afar, sometimes even deliberately responding to the prayers of her believers.
For example, if a believer wished to become rich, she would casually dig up some gold for them.
If a believer was sick and wished for health, she would find corresponding medicine or injections from the remnants of the interstellar civilization and cure them.
Even the ruined city that had existed on the planet from the very beginning could be used. Previous civilizations had tried to demolish and rebuild it, but even interstellar-level technology could not move it.
Not even a single brick could be shifted, let alone destroyed.
Cheng Qisheng simply declared that the city was a temple—a divine structure that could not be destroyed. It was extremely convincing.
It occasionally blocked incoming celestial impacts, and would also punish those she deemed evil. When technological progress stalled, she would release relics from the interstellar civilization.
Every member of the Blue Sea civilization knew: the Creator God truly existed.
These people were not the smartest or most brilliant among all the humans Cheng Qisheng had ever cultivated. In fact, they especially loved fighting among themselves.
But they were the most devoted to her, the most obedient—and the ones she had poured the most effort into.
Unfortunately, they had been born too late.
Even with the legacy of the interstellar age, and medical teams diligently researching under the will of their god, it was impossible to create a cure for ALS in such a short time when even the interstellar civilization had failed after a hundred years of effort.
Dark Star had gone through cycles of death and rebirth. By rough calculation, hundreds of billions of years had passed there. In Cheng Qisheng’s own time, however, only three years had gone by.
Her ALS had already spread throughout her entire body. Now, even moving even slightly was extremely difficult.
And at that very moment, a wandering black hole passed by Dark Star. Within ten days, it would tear the entire planet apart.
Cheng Qisheng could hear the prayers of the Blue Sea civilization—but she could do nothing.
At her current speed, by the time she managed to even lift a finger, Dark Star would already be gone.
This time, she could not even protect the planet.
—God herself was powerless to save anything.
Unwilling… so unwilling.
Cheng Qisheng closed her eyes. In her ears, she could still hear the Pope leading the believers in synchronized prayer.
“Most holy, most exalted, most glorious—”
“Like light, like wind, like clouds—”
[Detected disaster environment—]
[Detected civilization present on current planet—]
“Great Lord of the Star Sea—”
“Supreme Creator God—”
Huh?
Something strange just got mixed in.
Cheng Qisheng’s eyes, which had just closed, snapped open.
A clear, mechanical voice echoed distinctly:
[Detected population exceeding 1,000—]
[Binding Safe City to host—]
[Safe City binding successful—]
[Safe City system activated. Please, Host, receive survivors for refuge—]
[The Safe City residents reach 50,000, they may leave the dying planet and search for a place where civilization can continue—]
Cheng Qisheng’s brain was working furiously, but that didn’t stop her from quickly sending a message to her fanatic believers.
Whatever this thing was, it didn’t matter. If she did nothing, she would die anyway—so she might as well act first!!
Only after becoming a “god” did she realize that with enough fanatic believers, she really could issue commands to them in her mind.
But aside from this ability, she hadn’t felt any other benefits. At the time, she had even had high expectations—maybe she could actually ascend to godhood on the spot? Wasn’t there something like becoming a god through faith?
In the end, she didn’t feel any so-called “divine power” at all. All she could do was pass messages to her believers. If they were especially devout, she could even transmit images. But even that transmission was often blurry and easily misinterpreted in overly profound ways.
A hundred years ago, she once sent a message to the then Pope, telling him there was a genius child in a certain place who was extremely smart and should be sent to a good school for cultivation.
The Pope translated it as:
“The Saint has descended, blessed by our God. She will surely bring glory to Blue Sea in the future!”
Fortunately, the “saint” still went to school in the end and became a great scientist of that generation.
Cheng Qisheng at the time could only look at this great scientist in a complicated mood as she entered the research institute, where everyone respectfully bowed slightly and called her “Her Holiness the Saint.”
It felt extremely disconnected, okay?!
Although her “message transmission ability” was often embellished by her believers, at a time like this, whether they overinterpreted things didn’t really matter anymore.
Cheng Qisheng closed her eyes and sent a group message to all her believers.
Dark Star—
All those who were either in despair, crying, or completely lost suddenly felt a faint, indistinct message appear in their minds.
“It is our God!!”
“Our God has shown mercy! She is telling us to go to the temple! The temple is safe!”
“Great!! I knew it!! The great Lord of the Star Sea would never abandon Her people!!”
“Thus speaks the divine oracle!! The old world shall be cleansed by flame, but our God will create a new world to shelter us!!”
“Our God! We thank You for Your mercy!”
