Malrick sensed movement far below in the spiral galaxy of his newly formed God Realm. He peered downward.
Below, he saw native beings of this dimension — strange creatures, some with two eyeballs connected to their heads by long, thin tendrils like evolved snails, others made purely of stone, inorganic matter given life.
These were indigenous dimensional creatures, devoid of any trace of cosmic-law energy, yet they radiated a subtle energy signature.
Previously, when he established control over this Realm, he had sensed their presence.
There were only a few hundred million in total, scattered across the vast dimension.
On any continent, sometimes only three to five would appear.
Their strength matched — at most — that of ordinary sorcerers from mystical schools.
The strongest among them had reached a pseudo-Skyfather level, but could not destroy a planet.
Originally there should have been thirteen such beings; a month ago several had been corrupted by dark energy and went insane, now they were dead.
Malrick thought briefly, then spoke inwardly: "Let's meet them."
He erected protective barriers around his God Realm to block outsiders.
Then he descended through space toward the creatures.
Dimensional Lords often keep native beings as dependents.
If these beings were harmless or at least tolerable, they could be kept; otherwise they might be eliminated or exiled.
Since the Realm now had full spatial laws, travel was trivial.
Malrick appeared among the creatures.
Several froze in shock.
Their odd eyes darted nervously; the pseudo-Skyfather level ones began to telepathically shout nonsensical warnings: "Get away! The devil is behind us!"
Malrick frowned but gently reached out, moving them near him.
Before he could speak, a voice rang out from the void.
"Don't run! I told you I won't eat you. Even if your calories reach trillions, I won't eat you, no matter how tempting, slurp!"
Although there should be no sound in space, Malrick's enhanced senses heard that voice clearly.
It belonged to a lively young woman.
The girl was clad in a purple cosmic battle suit, long black hair streaming behind her from under a tall hat, and she flew toward Malrick with great speed.
Even with his super-vision, Malrick could not find any fault in her appearance.
Her skin was flawless, her large purple eyes gleamed, her slender waist, and a disproportionately large white chest gave her a bizarre yet oddly appealing figure.
"Is that Galan? The daughter of Galactus? Why is she here?" Malrick wondered.
The native creatures scattered behind him recognized her and trembled, cowering at Malrick's legs.
As they hid, they telepathically barked accusations: "Liar! You ate Rhinoceros Horn Water and Hemorrhoid Cutter and the others!"
Galan arrived breathlessly.
"I didn't… even if I did eat them, it was because the dark energy made them insane — I was saving you!" She defended herself quickly.
Malrick realized then: those corrupted beings must have been devoured by Galan.
As Galactus's daughter, she carried a cosmic parasite within her, constantly hungry and feeding on energy — but she avoided devouring living planets.
On Earth, even when starving, she would drain only diseased cells or hostile creatures, never innocent humans.
She glared at the trembling creatures.
"I told you before: don't eat me! Don't scare me away! I'm not going to eat you!"
The little snail-like beings quivered.
Their minds seemed to warp under fear.
Galan's presence unnerved them.
Galan shook her head vigorously.
"Eating and absorbing are the same? Huh. Even if you think so, that's fine. But you look delicious — billions, trillions, quintillions calories worth of it."
Her purple eyes glowed as she stared at Malrick.
Drool formed at her lips.
Malrick's face darkened.
"I'm not food."
Galan blinked, apparently embarrassed.
She wiped the drool away and slapped her head with a sheepish grin.
"Right, right… I don't eat people!"
Malrick sighed inwardly.
"Galan, why are you here? The Celestials have been searching everywhere for you."
Galan scratched her head.
"You know my name? Well… I've been so hungry I couldn't stay on Earth. I almost lost control when I felt like eating a certain mutant once, so I fled to find something edible while still conscious."
She gestured wildly, describing the dimension around them.
"There's so much to feed on here! I planned to eat only those bad guys… then I won't be starving anymore!"
Behind Malrick, the dimensional beings trembled.
They pointed accusingly at her, shouting that she was a cannibal and that she had claimed not to eat people.
Malrick shook his head.
"You are not people. You are snails, rocks, energy beings."
The beings withdrew further, terrified at being mistaken for food.
Galan pouted.
"Why don't you believe me, but you believe them?"
They yelled back: "We saw you eating! Why else would those creatures disappear?"
Galan sullenly muttered: "You idiots."
Malrick gently raised a hand.
"I promise I won't eat you."
Some of the snail-like beings relaxed but still clung to him.
Stone-beings and energy-forms trembled and backed away — still fearful.
Galan pouted again.
"Why don't you trust me, but trust him?"
At that moment, Malrick summoned the Rege Duo Clone beside him: the massive form appeared silently, looming over the trembling creatures.
The beings immediately whimpered and clung to Malrick's pant legs in terror.
Galan's eyes widened.
She stared at the massive abstract entity and gasped, "Cream cake!"
Malrick sighed, "It's not dessert. It's an Abstract Entity."
Galan blinked, stunned.
She looked from Malrick to the Clone.
"Are you… perhaps my sibling?" she murmured.
It was not impossible — she was a cosmic being, slightly lower-level than a full Devourer-of-Worlds.
Once sated, her strength reached cosmic levels.
Hunger did not erase her inherent power.
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