[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-after-becoming-a-god-among-humans-i-just-want-to":3,"chapter-after-becoming-a-god-among-humans-i-just-want-to-after-becoming-a-god-among-humans-i-just-want-to-chapter-36":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","After Becoming a God Among Humans, I Just Want to Lie Flat",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2302175,4502,"Chapter 36: Suffocation","after-becoming-a-god-among-humans-i-just-want-to-chapter-36",36,"\u003Cp>In the afternoon, Yang Yi went to the Institute for Alien Biological Control.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The institute was located far from Jingcheng, inside an extremely secure building; before going, she had informed Director Ceng Guosheng.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Siyuan drove Yang Yi there, and they were checked through three consecutive checkpoints before reaching the reception desk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As soon as she stepped out of the car, before Yang Yi could speak, Deputy Director Wang Xinmin rushed forward, apologizing repeatedly: “Captain Yang, I’m truly sorry—these checks are mandatory; we go through them every day when we come to work… It’s just that what’s studied inside is far too important.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Yi saw no issue with the strict checks; instead, Wang’s anxiousness to avoid offending her made her uncomfortable. She waved her hand, her expression calm: “Standard procedure. I understand.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without further preamble, she got straight to the point: “Director Ceng said the fire demon’s corpse and that great sword are being studied here? What are the findings?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After defeating the fire demon, following “negotiations” with Ark Country, the right to first study the giant blade was granted to Xia Country—largely due to Yang Yi’s contributions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To trace the connection between the voice inside her and the demon Videl spoke of, she could only seek out Videl or the fire demon. Videl had vanished without a trace; she had no choice but to start with the fire demon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With questions and urgency weighing on her, Yang Yi finally met Director Ceng.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This blade is less a sword than a field amplifier,” they stood beside the black giant blade, their bodies shorter than its hilt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Director Ceng was an academician, holding multiple positions and one of the lead researchers on several projects at the Institute for Alien Biological Control; he personally led the study of the fire demon’s corpse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Other experts in humanities, social sciences, and linguistics were jointly analyzing the inscriptions and engravings on the fire demon’s armor, attempting to uncover patterns and meanings, and from them infer the civilization level and environment of the fire demon’s world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Due to the scarcity of samples and reference data, the work progressed with extreme difficulty, relying almost entirely on speculation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Field amplifier?” Yang Yi’s mind stirred. “So this blade also amplifies the control field of Awakened Ones?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes,” Director Ceng looked up at her, his eyes filled with inquiry. “According to our analysis of your battle footage with the fire demon, when pushed to its limit, it activated its latent potential and used this blade’s amplification effect.” He paused. “Though in the end, it was useless.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Yi maintained a polite smile, expressionless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Moreover, it can purify dark matter energy and accelerate an Awakened One’s absorption and conversion of dark matter. If we could locate the source of this substance and obtain more of it, our applications of dark matter—weapons, power sources, military and civilian uses—could leap forward dramatically… Even, humanity’s entire technological civilization might advance by a giant step; space colonization would no longer be a dream…” As he spoke, Director Ceng grew excited. Yang Yi noticed the surrounding researchers paid no attention, as if they’d heard it all before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Dark matter’s arrival may be a disaster for ordinary people, but for us—for all of humanity—it’s an opportunity! Do you understand? It could spark the Fourth Scientific Revolution!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Think: the First Scientific Revolution was the invention and use of the steam engine, making Britain a world power;\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>the Second was the discovery and use of electricity, propelling the West into capitalism while leaving Xia Country far behind, nearly leading to our annihilation;\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>the Third was emerging technologies—computers, energy, new materials, space, biology—we caught up, but only to match the West. And the Fourth?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Director Ceng’s eyes glowed unnervingly. “It’s dark matter! Whoever seizes this opportunity will become the new Earth hegemon!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He grabbed Yang Yi’s shoulder. “Yang Yi, do you understand? We must be the first to find the fire demon’s homeworld! The first to obtain these new materials! It’s vital to us! If you truly grasp what this material means to us…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His face flushed red, his hand trembling as he gripped her, desperate to pour his thoughts directly into her mind so she would comprehend the stakes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Yi slowly removed his hand. She spoke with solemn seriousness: “I understand. I will do my best.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why had Director Ceng spoken so seriously to her? Perhaps because she had defeated the fire demon, and had reached the other world through Mist Town—and currently, she was the only one with the capability to reach the fire demon’s world and return safely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unseen, another mountain settled on her shoulders; her small wish grew ever more distant, her back nearly bent beneath its weight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Next, she listened to a barrage of experts’ research on the fire demon and its world—though “speculation” was more accurate. The fire demon’s civilization level appeared low, perhaps only at the stage of primitive tribal society; they possessed unique languages and cultures, and worshipped a deity akin to ancestral spirits, believing it to be the embodiment of their spirit and source of power…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Asathde, the Fire Demon’s God.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Yi whispered silently.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The experts’ findings shocked her: merely from the patterns on the fire demon’s armor and the battle footage, they had deduced so much—more than she had gained from her inexplicable understanding of the fire demon’s language.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though their conclusions contained errors and wild conjectures, overall they aligned closely with her own.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once again, she felt the power of scientific civilization, the advantage of collective intellect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even with the strongest Awakening power on Earth, before these learned scientists, professors, and researchers, she felt her own insignificance and shallowness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had come seeking clues; she left burdened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Outside the car window, traffic flowed endlessly. Once again, a thought rose in her: Should she reveal the existence of “Him” inside her? Perhaps so many experts, scholars, professors could solve this problem? And she suspected His existence was closely tied to the arrival of dark matter…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Hah!’ it sneered. ‘Why are you always so naive? If you truly believed in them, why didn’t you speak up just now? What are you hesitating for?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Because you know: if you reveal it, you cease to be a person, a free person—you become an anomaly. Like those alien creatures lying on operating tables, dissected, carved up, turned into material for their studies, their papers!’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Do you really think you have status and prestige? They respect you? Grateful to you? So they’ll help you? No! The moment they detect your abnormality, your weakness, your strangeness—think: you once ate four thousand people, ha ha! They’ll fear you, dread you, then think only of how to eliminate you, destroy you, how to tear you apart! Even if you once saved them!’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Yi said nothing. She remained silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Its arrogance grew bolder: ‘Why do you work for them? Is this truly what you want? Why shoulder responsibilities that don’t belong to you? You know—you hate all this. Oh~ What’s your dream? Be a lazy fish? Do nothing, think of nothing? How laughable, this self-deception! Why do you want to live among wild boars in the mountains? Why do you always stay alone in secret bases? Why do you always hide in the sea?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Admit it: you don’t like people at all! Only when surrounded by mindless animals do you feel at ease! Why not admit you hate them? You want to leave them forever—to live alone, a wild man, a vagrant, a beast cowering in a cave!’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Yi remained silent, but her breathing had grown heavier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘You go to great lengths to prove you’re human—attend school, hold a job like an ordinary person—but you never form deeper bonds. You even date like an ordinary girl, yet always prepare to walk away. You’ve been pushed to the top of Awakened Ones, enjoying their respect, bearing unprecedented responsibility—do you truly feel fulfilled? Do these things give you any damn sense of mission, or merely feed your vanity? Have you ever valued anything? Loved anything? Is there anyone around you who makes this world feel worth staying for? No! You only feel disgust. Admit it. Why lie to yourself? When self-deception becomes habit, do you even believe you’re human?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Shut up!’ Yang Yi said. ‘I am human. I took on these responsibilities willingly because I am part of humanity, part of Xia Country. If I can make my homeland more…’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Stop spouting empty platitudes—it’s utterly hypocritical! A hypocrite! A coward too afraid to admit your true thoughts!’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Yi fell silent. She let it rage, coax, tempt, scold, insult—she said nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back in her office, her mood hadn’t lightened; traces of it showed on her face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Trouble?’ Feng Boyuan asked. ‘I heard their research findings were quite rich.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘They were.’ Yang Yi replied vaguely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘By the way, we depart tonight. Tomorrow you’ll attend the United Nations meeting. Daniel Dai Weisi and Jane York reported the Mist Town incident to the UN, causing a huge uproar. This may be humanity’s first official contact with an extraterrestrial civilization—hostile, at that. The UN is taking it seriously…’ Feng Boyuan added.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>United Nations? Ark Country?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Feng Boyuan’s voice faded from her ears. Yang Yi’s first thought was Chris—she might meet him again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like a ray of sunlight breaking through heavy, dark weather, she felt a slight relief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That night, as usual, she headed to the cafeteria to fetch a meal to take back and “eat.” Feng Boyuan called out: ‘Come eat with us!’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Look, you’ve been here long enough. Always alone. Don’t be so aloof—occasionally mingle a bit!’ Feng Boyuan smiled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Yi paused, then smiled. ‘Alright.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She filled her tray with white porridge, braised pork, tomato scrambled eggs, and a green vegetable. The cafeteria lady knew her and served her more than anyone else, beaming with enthusiasm. Yang Yi accepted it with a smile and followed Feng Boyuan to find a seat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Yang Yi! Feng! Over here!’ Wei Chang’an waved from afar. Chen Yushu sat beside him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘The UN meeting tomorrow—were you notified?’ Feng Boyuan asked as he sat down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Chang’an and Chen Yushu nodded. ‘We were planning to support our colleagues in Fujian—their alien activity has been rampant lately; they’ve even reported several new alien species…’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘I’ll go too,’ Yang Yi said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She swallowed the sour-sweet-salty-fishy mush of rotten tomatoes and stinking eggs, then shoved in a greasy, putrid piece of braised pork. The entire mouth reeked of decay. She calmly drank a sip of thick, moldy porridge to wash it down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her stomach twisted again, but her expression remained unchanged—unnervingly calm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>How to prove she was normal? By doing normal things.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eat normally. Live normally. Work normally. And more: she must do things beneficial to the public, proving she was conscientious, morally sound, responsible, trustworthy. Only then, even if her flaws surfaced, someone might speak for her, find excuses for her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A person who sits upright, whose actions benefit the public—even if disliked—will never be labeled abnormal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Good. This strategy works, Yang Yi thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It let out a sneer, but Yang Yi ignored it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Perfect! With you, it’s guaranteed!’ Wei Chang’an clapped his hands happily and nudged Chen Yushu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Yushu said nothing, only nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back in her dorm, she went to the bathroom to empty her stomach, brushed her teeth, washed her face, then leaned half-reclined on the sofa, turned on the TV to fill the empty living room with sound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So much had happened lately—back-to-back, relentless, overwhelming. She’d had no time to sit still and think.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She felt lonelier than ever.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before, after daily duties, she could go to her secret seaside base, wander the seabed, to ease her unrelenting loneliness and despair. Since coming to Jingcheng, she was trapped in this two-bedroom apartment, her thoughts trapped too.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She desperately tried to blend into her colleagues’ circle, yet always felt a barrier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That barrier wasn’t erected by others—if she wished, anyone would welcome her. But she couldn’t. Whether due to psychological reasons or the changes forced upon her after absorbing Life Source, she increasingly felt alienated from the people around her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like being sealed inside a glass bottle with a tightly screwed cap—light everywhere, yet she felt only suffocation.\u003C\u002Fp>",2035,"2026-06-20T07:52:47.920Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","e185161e9d9519eca6837f5d19c5d1e71ff881e0b03241418a1c0e866921d8fc","after-becoming-a-god-among-humans-i-just-want-to-chapter-37","after-becoming-a-god-among-humans-i-just-want-to-chapter-35",246,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fafter-becoming-a-god-among-humans-i-just-want-to-cover.jpg"]