Nash said that he knew the way to the nearest settlement.

Initially, when Rex heard the word settlement, he was expecting it to be a normal, well-developed town with houses, markets, and everything in between. A city of brick and stone isn’t really suitable for this damp and evergreen meadow.

And he was correct to assume that.

But he wasn’t expecting the settlement to be exactly what he was looking at right now.

Rex and the sisters stood near the downslope with a hilly flowery plain with colorful flowers glowing against the darkness. The flowery plain stretched as far as the eye can see, and it should be encircled by the meadow where they came from.

A town built on and around a massive lake could be seen about five miles away.

It teemed with life. Rex observed the people crowding the streets—trading, laughing, losing themselves in entertainments that spilled from every corner. But on the far side of the lake, the town’s left wing told a different story.

A complete opposite.

He saw armored people, barracks, and blacksmiths.

A military section that was also lively.

Beyond the town are snowy peaks that stabbed to the ceiling with clouds surrounding their tips.

“Such a beautiful and peaceful place,” Lilliana knelt down and plucked a beautiful, pink, double-petaled flower among other colorful ones around it. “I heard that in the past, the Spirit Realm was once like this. A shame that I never saw it with my own two eyes.”

“There are still patches like this,” Davina crossed her arms defensively.

“Yes. But none as big as this.”

“Let’s not talk about it.”

Rex wasn’t awe-struck by the scenery. Instead, he was pulled to the gigantic hole right above the town, which was the only light source that reached the area. They arrived in the God Realm—at the Southern Cavity of the Primordial Meadow.

He thought nothing about it earlier.

Now, he realized they were literally inside a cavity underground.

Is the main Primordial Meadow above ground? I hope I don’t need to go up there to meet a custodian.

Even from where he stood, he could feel that crossing the gigantic hole to reach above ground would be extremely taxing. He couldn’t sense the prominent energy in this realm, but the cloudy mist hovering right at its entrance should indicate an incredibly dense energy.

One that would suffocate or even crush Rex if he tried to cross over.

And worse, the moon’s presence was slightly blocked by it.

“What’s our plan?” Davina turned towards him. “Find a Cluster Custodian, first?”

“I don’t think that’s feasible,” Rex shook his head as he continued walking, seeing that Nash was already waiting for them—near the town. The sisters followed. “As much as I want to find a Cluster Custodian quickly, we need to get our foothold first.”

“Money, information, and connections,” Lilliana whispered. “Just the basics.”

Rex nodded.

Locating a Cluster Custodian is the top priority, and he was certain that meeting such an important figure would not be easy. Since it’s a town, there should be a mayor. I hope the Cluster Custodians also oversee the towns across the Primordial Meadow.

If that were the case, Rex could find a Cluster Custodian easily by talking with the mayor.

But that’s if things worked the same way as they did in the lower planes.

Upon arriving at the town, Rex realized that it didn’t have any walls or even any guards.

He saw some of the armored Godlings, but none of them were working as guards for the town. Seems like their main task was focused on the left wing, which doesn’t involve protecting the people of the town.

It’s quite odd since the Godlings in the meadow were living in citadels.

Rex assumed there was a threat nearby, so he thought the town would be fortified. But it’s not.

System, scan these people.

As soon as he gave the command, Rex immediately realized the people in this town were all Demigods.

Only some have the same divinity as him, an Awakened Demigod.

Even though he was still, in a way, a powerhouse in this town, the level of strength was a lot higher than in the Spirit Realm. Back there, the people who could take him down held power within the society, but here they were only ordinary people.

Normal people who don’t look like much have a power rivalling him.

Just twenty or even ten of these people might be able to take him down if they ganged up on him.

Moreover, these people seemed to originate from varying places.

Some of them even have a race that Rex didn’t know, like Ashborn, Stoneborn, or even Living Memory.

It was the same for their appearances. Some wore rough leather and iron armor straight from the age of stone, some wore tailored suits, and a few wore something that made them look like they’d come straight out of a mall with their baggy pants and shirts.

Hmm, so these people are the ones stranded in the God Realm, I assumed.

None of them resembled the Godlings he encountered in the meadow.

Rex was quite certain that this town should be some sort of safe haven for those who stumbled into this realm accidentally. It was how Nash could survive while he was in this realm. All people from the lower planes gathered here.

“Should we split up?” Davina suggested.

“It looked safe enough,” Lilliana nodded in agreement. “I’ll gather information.”

“I’ll be making connections.” Davina’s gaze settled on a cluster of highborn near the market—her kind of people. The kind who could open doors. Provide resources. Offer help when it mattered most. “Three hours. Meet back here.” A confident smile crossed her face. “That’s more than enough.”

She turned to face Rex and placed a hand on his chest.

“Lighten up, fiancée,” She whispered. “It’s not the time to be masquerading as a painting, okay?”

A chuckle slipped out of her lips as she patted his chest before turning to leave.

“Please don’t destroy this town,” Lilliana added before walking away. “Hold back a little.”

Both sisters didn’t even wait for Rex to answer as they separated, blending into the crowd.

Rex looked at their fading backs and scratched the back of his head, “I guess I’ll get us money.”

He and Nash walked the street together, side by side, ducking into stores as they went to look around in order to gain a better understanding of the town. Every single item that Rex scanned was at least divine-grade. All of it.

It was quite surprising to see divine-grade items being the common goods here.

Even the decorative items are all divine-grade.

Of course, though they were divine-grade, it’s not because of the boosts they provided.

It was the materials. Everything here was forged from substances no mortal of the lower realms could even scratch—let alone destroy. And beyond durability, each piece offered a bit more: an extra energy reserve. A battery woven into every thread.

For anyone from the Spirit Realm or below, wearing just one of these would mean power without end.

A river that never ran dry.

And since the town was surrounded by a flowery plain, herbs were the most common things traded.

Or each item contains a mixture of flowers in it.

“What’s the currency in this realm?” Rex asked as he looked at the trinkets on the stall.

“Divine strands,” Nash answered. “I believe the currency remained the same since I’m here.”

“Hmm? Divine strands?” He turned to look at Nash and raised a brow, confused at the answer since Nash is not a Demigod, so he has no divine strands. It should be impossible for him to survive in this realm in that case. “You don’t have divine strands. How do you survive?’

“Oh, no—not like that,” Nash shook his head and hands. “You don’t give away the divine strands inside you. I’m talking about natural ones. Like those flowers on the plain you crossed—or other things that contained divine strands, which could then be compressed into immortal coins.”

“So, all I need is to pluck the flowers to get money?”

“You’re not allowed to take the flowers directly. There are areas that you can take, but those areas are also owned by some people. The best way to get immortal coins is simply to work for it, like most of the people here.”

Rex rubbed the bridge of his nose.

He knew that he could work to get money; everyone knew that, but he didn’t have the time for that.

Best way is probably to steal some.

Just then, Rex recalled that the Godlings he killed should all have citadels he could raid. He decided to make a mental note to do that as soon as possible. Even though he doubted that he could bribe the mayor with immortal coins, it’s never wrong to have more money to spare.

As soon as he got his foot down, he’d keep checking on Zev.

Finishing the sudden quest is one of his priorities right now.

For the next hour, Rex and Nash continued looking around, making sure not to cross other rowdy people.

Since he now understood how money worked here and how to get it, he decided to keep his eyes open for anyone with abnormal strength. The mayor should be the strongest, so he was hoping that he could locate the mayor so that he would know where to go after everything was set.

However, along a less-crowded street, Rex frowned when his intuition was triggered.

A warning from deep within.

People were stealing glances at him. Some looked at him a second too long. And from the windows of the buildings around him, there are many who poked their heads out to look. None of them stood out in terms of their status window, so they should be normal people of the town.

Exactly like those he passes across the street.

None of the people near the market gave him a weird look, but suddenly, that changed.

“Am I doing something out of the norm?” Rex asked.

“No,” Nash shook his head as he, too, sensed the gazes. “You’re not acting odd, Your Majesty.”

Then why are these people glancing at me?

Just as he thought of that, his peripheral vision caught it—movement in every glass surface around him.

Store windows. Door panels, A passing cart’s polished frame. Reflections upon reflections, all showing the same odd movements. The people he passed weren’t glancing at him because he was odd, but they were glancing because they noticed someone was following him.

And from the looks of it, the people knew the entities who were following him.

“Shall I eliminate them, Your Majesty?” Nash asked, already baring his elongated fangs.

“No, that’s okay,” Rex patted his shoulder nonchalantly. “I should restrain a bit, remember? That’s what Lilliana told me. Besides, I don’t think these people mean any harm,” His crimson eyes trailed to the reflections as his lips curled into a smile. “Am I right?”

“Threatening us is not a good look for you,” A voice replied, echoing like an astral being.

From the store window to his right, a figure crawled out of the reflection. First came the hood—bright crimson, stark against the glass. Then the rest of her followed: armored body draped in a loose red robe, and on her chest, the unmistakable crest of a double cross.

She stepped into the street as she’d always been there.

More of them appeared, surrounding Rex and Nash from all sides.

Each one of them exuded power unlike anyone inside the town, and since they came out from the reflections, it became apparent who they were. They must be the enforcers Zev was talking about. Rex could tell that he would be having a hard time dealing with the others, but this woman in particular is the most dangerous among them.

But then again, he has no intention of fighting them.

I doubt they noticed the missing Godlings already. So, why are they here?