While Richard didn't know how to build an organization like the Nova Corps, understanding the Nova Force field's principles had inspired him to create an energy field exclusively his own.
He named his creation the "Divine Realm" for a simple reason—Sephiroth's name meant "the emanation of divine nature." Rather than spend time devising something entirely original, Richard chose this straightforward designation.
Like the Nova Force field generated by the Worldmind, Richard's Divine Realm could continuously produce new energy. However, the energy generated in his realm possessed unique properties—it resembled magic but wasn't quite the same.
Richard had designated this magic-like energy as "divine energy."
While not pure magical power, Richard felt satisfied with the results. Creating an exclusive energy field similar to Nova Force in just one week represented remarkable achievement.
After listening to Richard's explanation, Kaguya frowned thoughtfully. "Can you show me this Divine Realm you've created?"
"Of course," Richard replied.
He activated his spiritual power and magic, opening a portal to the Divine Realm from thin air. Under Kaguya's watchful gaze, a half-meter-long spatial fissure appeared in their living room.
Through the crack, she could observe a strange space resembling a starlit cosmos.
This otherworldly dimension was Richard's newly born Divine Realm.
After observing for several seconds, Kaguya mobilized her chakra and sent a portion into the Divine Realm. Just as she prepared to use chakra to specifically analyze the realm's properties, the energy that entered immediately escaped her control.
Then it vanished without a trace, as if consumed entirely.
What? Surprise flashed across Kaguya's features.
Before she could voice her confusion, Richard spoke.
"You guessed correctly—your chakra was indeed absorbed by the Divine Realm and converted into so-called 'divine energy,'" Richard explained calmly.
The Divine Realm's ability to consume other energies hadn't been part of his original design. When the realm achieved complete formation, he'd discovered this unexpected capability to devour foreign energies and transform them into divine power.
Despite creating the Divine Realm himself, Richard didn't fully understand all its properties. After confirming the realm posed no dangers and only passively absorbed energies that entered it, he'd accepted this unforeseen benefit without excessive analysis.
"Release some divine energy," Kaguya requested.
"Sure." Richard nodded, closing the spatial crack connecting to his realm. He raised his right hand and manifested divine energy that appeared like blue-white flames.
Kaguya observed the divine energy wrapping around Richard's hand like ethereal fire and unconsciously extended her own right hand toward it. Before making contact, she coated her hand with chakra, curious whether divine energy would consume the chakra directly.
Contrary to her expectations, the divine energy didn't absorb her chakra but instead began decomposing it at the molecular level.
After several seconds, she frowned. "I feel like I've encountered this divine energy somewhere before."
"That's perfectly normal," Richard explained. "When creating the Divine Realm, I incorporated certain chakra principles into its foundation. In other words, you can think of divine energy as specialized chakra with unusual properties."
During the Divine Realm's generation, he'd drawn not only from Nova Force principles but also from magical and chakra theories. This explained Kaguya's sense of familiarity with divine energy.
After hearing his explanation, Kaguya withdrew her hand. "Will you distribute divine energy to Tsunade and Hinata in the future?"
"Certainly. That was a major reason for studying the Divine Realm in the first place," Richard confirmed.
"I want access too!" Kaguya declared immediately.
What? Richard stared at Kaguya in surprise.
"If they can receive divine energy allocation, then I want it as well—and it cannot be less than what they receive!" she continued emphatically.
"What do you need divine energy for?" Richard asked slowly. "You're already much stronger than them. Even without divine energy, very few beings can harm you."
"I don't care. If they have it, I must have it too," Kaguya replied with complete seriousness.
Seeing the determined expression on Kaguya's face, Richard remained silent for several seconds before responding. "Since you want it, I'll grant you access."
He raised his right hand and gently touched Kaguya's smooth forehead with his index finger. Kaguya didn't resist the contact.
The next second, a blue rune-like pattern materialized on Kaguya's forehead. The mystical marking existed for only a second or two before disappearing entirely.
As the pattern vanished, Kaguya gained authority to connect with the Divine Realm at any time and draw divine energy from it.
"It's done," Richard announced.
Kaguya nodded. Though she hadn't seen the blue pattern that briefly appeared on her forehead, she quickly discovered her new connection to the Divine Realm and her ability to absorb divine energy whenever needed.
"I'm granting you authority second only to mine. You can decide how much divine energy to absorb," Richard continued. "A word of warning—don't draw more divine energy than your body can handle. I won't be responsible if you're 'overwhelmed' to death by excessive power."
"I'm not stupid enough to let energy consumption kill me," Kaguya replied with an eye roll.
"Good. If there's nothing else, I'm going to rest." Richard teleported away, disappearing from Kaguya's sight and materializing in the master bedroom's bathroom.
Despite possessing physical attributes far exceeding normal humans and not requiring sleep to restore strength and energy under typical circumstances, excessive consumption still demanded recovery time.
Generating the Divine Realm had required six days of intensive work, consuming enormous amounts of magical power. Furthermore, successfully manifesting the realm had required actions similar to "world creation."
Without possessing three templates simultaneously—one being Superboy-Prime—he would have been completely drained long ago. The fact that the Worldmind had required centuries to generate the Nova Force field while he'd accomplished similar results in six days spoke to the enormous energy expenditure involved.
Richard filled the bathtub with hot water and soaked for over thirty minutes before wrapping himself in a towel and collapsing into bed.
He slept until noon the following day.
After his restful sleep, Richard retrieved clean clothes from his system space, dressed, and entered the living room. Seeing him emerge from the bedroom, Kaguya—who had been watching variety shows on a tablet while sitting on the sofa—immediately stood up.
"Are you finished resting?" she asked.
"Yes, I'm fully recovered," Richard confirmed.
Hearing his response, Kaguya immediately set her tablet aside, approached him, and continued, "Since you're done resting, come have lunch with me."
Without waiting for his answer, Kaguya pulled him out of the suite toward the hotel restaurant.
In the elevator, Richard studied Kaguya with puzzlement. While her appearance and clothing remained unchanged, something about her seemed different today—overly enthusiastic in a way that felt unusual.
Previously, Kaguya had never cared when he woke up, much less waited to share meals with him.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Kaguya noticed his scrutiny and turned to ask.
"Nothing specific. I just noticed you seem unusually enthusiastic today. It feels a bit strange," Richard replied honestly.
"What's strange about it? Just like you said yesterday, we're companions on this cosmic journey," Kaguya responded quickly. "Since we're companions, it's perfectly normal for me to invite you to lunch."
Despite her explanation, Richard still sensed something wasn't quite right.
In fact, something was indeed wrong with Kaguya today. To be precise, after connecting to the Divine Realm and absorbing divine energy, her behavior had shifted significantly.
This change related to fundamental Otsutsuki clan characteristics. For thousands of years, the Otsutsuki had planted Sacred Trees on planet after planet, sacrificing all life on those worlds to produce Chakra Fruit, all in pursuit of becoming unparalleled and unique "gods."
While Kaguya had consumed only one Chakra Fruit, this didn't mean she'd abandoned the idea of continued evolution. She'd simply lost access to Sacred Trees and departed her original universe, making traditional evolution through Chakra Fruit consumption impossible.
She had originally thought her evolutionary journey had ended permanently. However, after absorbing divine energy, Kaguya discovered a new evolutionary path.
This new approach was simultaneously simple and complex.
Chakra Fruit enabled continuous Otsutsuki evolution for two reasons: the fruit contained enormous energy, and it held genetic information from all planetary life. While she could no longer consume Chakra Fruit, Kaguya had realized that divine energy provided comparable power.
Obviously, a single absorption couldn't match an entire Chakra Fruit's energy content. However, divine energy could be drawn repeatedly. Through continued absorption, she could potentially obtain more energy than any single fruit provided.
Divine energy could replace Chakra Fruit's energy component. As for genetic information...
She had conceived an excellent solution: enlist Richard's help.
While Kaguya didn't know exactly how many superpowers Richard possessed, she was certain he could solve this problem. This confidence didn't stem from blind trust but from careful evaluation of divine energy and the Divine Realm itself.
If Richard could generate a specialized energy field in just six days, he surely possessed methods to address genetic information requirements.
Kaguya's intuition was correct—Richard did have such capabilities. Moreover, solving genetic information problems was simpler than generating the Divine Realm.
Unlike the Naruto universe, Marvel's technology was far more advanced. Taking Xandar's inhabitants as an example, the Worldmind had preserved complete genetic maps of all planetary animals and plants.
While currently existing only as data, Xandarian technology could easily use these genetic maps to "manufacture" corresponding organisms. If the Otsutsuki required genetic information from other worlds to evolve further, the Worldmind could provide such data immediately.
If Xandarian creatures proved insufficient, collecting genetic information from other planets wouldn't be particularly difficult—merely requiring manpower, resources, and time.
Soon, Richard and Kaguya arrived at the hotel restaurant. After choosing a window seat, Kaguya delegated ordering responsibilities to Richard.
After reviewing the menu provided by their waiter, Richard ordered a selection of Xandarian specialties based on the server's recommendations.
Once the waiter departed, Richard addressed Kaguya directly. "You have something you want to tell me, don't you?"
"Yes, I do," Kaguya replied immediately.
"Tell me—what do you want me to do?" Richard continued.
"I... I want to continue evolving!"
Continue evolving? Richard's eyebrows furrowed immediately.
Since Kaguya hadn't explained her specific evolutionary goals, his first thought was that she wanted to plant a Sacred Tree on Xandar. While the Ten-Tails had been converted into an energy crystal through runic sealing, reversing the process would be simple—he need only release the seal.
Additionally, the other nine Tailed Beasts had also been sealed into energy crystals.
"Absolutely not!" Richard replied seriously. "I will not plant Sacred Trees on Xandar!"
"I'm not asking you to plant Sacred Trees on Xandar. I've conceived a new evolutionary method," Kaguya clarified before explaining her alternative approach.
After listening to Kaguya's explanation, Richard finally relaxed. She simply wanted massive energy and extensive genetic information—requirements that weren't particularly problematic to fulfill.