My Dream Connects to 3000 Years in the Future

「On the moon, in the Old Guanghan Palace Industrial District.」

“You’ve finally arrived.” The Big Orange Cat gazed at Chu Bamboo, let out a sigh of relief, and licked her paws. She was dressed in her signature anime-themed outfit, just as always.

“You know me?” Chu Bamboo’s voice was tinged with surprised uncertainty. It was the first time he had ever seen the Big Orange Cat treat him with such respect. ‘To be honest, after dealing with a cat in its rebellious phase, suddenly meeting one this obedient… I’m not quite used to it!’

“Yes! Lin Xia told me about you,” the Big Orange Cat said softly. The memory of nearly being executed by the Emperor while escaping with Chu Bamboo made her heart pound with lingering fear.

A look of understanding finally appeared in Chu Bamboo’s eyes. ‘So that’s how it is… Has this Big Orange Cat already been disciplined?’

‘Now I get it,’ Chu Bamboo thought. ‘The Big Orange Cat from the Daqian World Line was so out of control probably because God died too early… or maybe God just spoiled his pets and had no clue how to raise a cat! That’s how he ended up with a completely lawless Big Orange.’

‘But clearly, Lin Xia, who got some intel from his good brother, wasn’t so indulgent with this damn cat… He probably came down on her hard!’

But soon, the Big Orange Cat’s words pulled Chu Bamboo back from his thoughts. “First, let me explain Lin Xia’s current situation to you!”

“Go on.” Chu Bamboo indicated that he was listening intently.

“First, around two or three hundred years ago, the Master of Omniscience on Mars erupted!” the Big Orange Cat said softly. “Great Goddess Nuwa took action, protecting Earth from the encroaching corruption… Ever since then, her condition has deteriorated rapidly!”

After a slight pause, the Big Orange Cat’s voice became tinged with worry. “Not long after that was the last time I saw them—Lin Xia sealed himself and Great Goddess Nuwa within the Grand Ancestral Temple…”

“Is that so.” A thousand thoughts swirled in Chu Bamboo’s mind, but all that came out was a sigh. ‘That would explain it! But… is Lin Xia… really still alive?’

The Big Orange Cat pulled herself together, looked Chu Bamboo straight in the eye, and continued, “But before that, Lin Xia made many preparations! I am one of them.”

“…Is Lin Xia a Divine Being?” Chu Bamboo asked.

“No!” The Big Orange Cat shot Chu Bamboo a look and shook her head with a wry smile. “Do you have some kind of misunderstanding about… Divine Beings? The Forging of every Divine Position… it requires the perfect alignment of time, place, and people…”

“It’s impossible to gain a Divine Position unless you’re a person of great wisdom and courage who has reached the pinnacle of a certain path, found a special catalyst, and carries the Celestial Mandate…” As she spoke, the Big Orange Cat’s voice became a little uncertain. “Of course, you could also choose to directly snatch or inherit the Divine Position of another god?”

“…So,” Chu Bamboo’s eyes flickered, “the Emperor is…”

“Yes,” The Big Orange Cat breathed a sigh of relief when Chu Bamboo asked this; it was a question she knew the answer to. “The current Heavenly Monarch inherited his Divine Position… Strictly speaking, that Divine Position… is actually highly bound to the title of ruler of the Human Empire!”

The Big Orange Cat lay on the floor, her voice filled with emotion, envy, a trace of wary fear, and an indescribable complexity. “That is a Divine Position that the Poop Scooper specifically carved out for that role!”

‘?!’ A storm raged in Chu Bamboo’s heart. ‘The original owner of this Divine Position was God?’

‘So that’s how it is… Come to think of it, from the looks of it… the first Emperor of the Human Empire was God himself!’

“Then, could I…” Chu Bamboo began to ponder a very serious question. If he obtained this Divine Position of the God of Nations and Conquest and then jumped to another world line… could he just manifest a Divine Position out of thin air?

‘Speaking of which, does the Daqian World Line even have this Divine Position? At its core… this Divine Position is tied to the Human Empire! But in the Daqian World Line, God established the Celestial Court…’

Chu Bamboo sank into thought. ‘If it doesn’t exist there, and I fleece this Divine Position from the Human Empire timeline and then jump over, wouldn’t that be—from the world’s perspective, is that creating something from nothing, or…?’

“What are you talking about, meow?” the Big Orange Cat asked, utterly shocked.

Just as Chu Bamboo began to wonder if trying to swindle a Divine Position for free was going too far, he heard the Big Orange Cat say, “As the Crown Prince, aren’t you already the first in line to inherit both the throne and the Divine Position?”

“As long as that one can’t take it anymore… and abdicates! You will naturally be able to ascend to that position… However! Taking that seat isn’t necessarily a good thing.”

The Big Orange Cat was deeply worried.

Chu Bamboo: “…”

‘Alright, so the key isn’t that I have to snatch it! I just need to… send the Heavenly Monarch on his way to the heavens…’

‘Oh, well, that’s fine then.’

Chu Bamboo frowned, and then saw the Big Orange Cat slap her forehead. “I almost forgot…”

The Big Orange Cat glanced apprehensively toward the sky, then shot a look in the direction of Mars. Taking a deep breath, she started walking in a certain direction with cat-like steps. “Your Excellency, please follow me!”

Chu Bamboo followed the Big Orange Cat into an abandoned factory building.

With a serious expression, the Big Orange Cat patted the floor.

The floor actually split open out of thin air! The Big Orange Cat continued her catwalk, maneuvering her plump feline body into the opening.

‘…Another underground base?’ Chu Bamboo mused. ‘Is it something like the Nuwa Base? From what the Big Orange Cat said earlier… it seems Lin Xia prepared this specifically for me?’

Though a thousand jumbled thoughts raced through his mind, Chu Bamboo didn’t hesitate for a moment, following right behind her!

Along the way, the Big Orange Cat passed through four security checks.

Finally, the Big Orange Cat arrived before a fantastical gate.

The gate was ten meters high and five meters wide, shimmering all over with an eerie blue light. At the entrance, the blue light churned like ocean waves.

“…What the hell is this thing? Don’t tell me this is a spatial portal!” Chu Bamboo’s heart hammered in his chest. He had a feeling that entering it would teleport him somewhere incredible. He suddenly had a flash of insight. “Huh? Does it connect directly to Mars?”

Silence stretched for a few moments…

“…Um, all I can say is, you have a great imagination!” the Big Orange Cat tactfully shot down Chu Bamboo’s guess. Without offering any explanation, she slipped right through.

Chu Bamboo’s brows furrowed. After a few moments of thought, he slipped through as well.

‘Although this portal gives me a feeling that’s both familiar and unsettling… whatever. If it’s really lethal, the worst that can happen is I die once…’

Then, everything went black.

When he came to, he looked around, a bewildered expression appearing on his face.

It was beyond his imagination!

This place wasn’t an Ecological Garden like the Nuwa Base… but it wasn’t some metal base either!

This base, or rather, the inside of this strange building, looked a bit like a bar?

Warm-colored lights failed to illuminate the entire hall.

There were sofas and chairs scattered about… and in a nearby wall, a series of wooden doors were shut tight.

In the center of the hall, there was a huge counter!

No…

After looking it over several times, Chu Bamboo was finally certain. This was a bar! Just a very large one…

A tall man in armor was drinking at the counter, even mixing the drinks himself.

His ears twitched as if he’d heard something. He turned his head lazily. “What’s come now… huh?”