MTLNOVEL Chapter 38: Chapter 038 - The Fourth Natural Disaster
The four women—Alice, Jill, Claire, and Ada Wong—who had slept with him the night before were still sound asleep beside the bed. Their faces looked peaceful, calm in the stillness of morning. Without waking anyone, Reuel quietly got dressed and walked calmly toward his study.
The world of Resident Evil was now undergoing total reconstruction, radically overhauled to serve as the foundation for the new capital of the Imperium of Man. The development of core infrastructure and the palace complex was centered around the region of Istanbul and parts of Europe—areas now redesigned as the administrative hub and spiritual heart of the Imperium; a place where power and faith were fused into one entity.
The children who had survived the biological catastrophe caused by the Umbrella Corporation had been sent to various Imperial institutions: the Schola Progenium, Black Ships, and other facilities. They were being prepared to become the next generation of humankind—the pillars of the Imperium's future.
Meanwhile, the adults faced a different fate. Most underwent reeducation or strict religious indoctrination under the Ecclesiarchy's supervision. The rest were directly conscripted into the Astra Militarum, the Imperium's frontline military force responsible for maintaining stability across various sectors.
Portions of the population were also sent to planets near Terra to establish human colonies—the early seeds of what would one day become Hive Cities. Though still limited in scale, these colonies were expected to grow rapidly into new centers of civilization that would spread the Imperium's influence across the stars.
Various types of functional worlds had begun to take shape: Agri-Worlds for food production, mining colonies for resource extraction, and other worlds customized to the Imperium's strategic needs in this sector.
In his study, Reuel stared at a logistical projection screen with a serious expression. The current food reserves would last only six more months. Despite the launch of a large-scale agricultural initiative, reality couldn't be ignored: more than 4.1 billion people needed to eat—and there wasn't enough time, land, or manpower to meet that need yet.
Worse, nearly the entire population had already been mobilized for infrastructure development, reeducation, and the process of adapting to technology and hardware from the Warhammer universe. Civil productivity was at its lowest point.
Reuel let out a long sigh. He had to find a solution—fast. Without enough food, no matter how mighty the Imperium became, hunger would destroy everything from within. No army, doctrine, or dogma could stand against the empty stomachs of 4.1 billion people.
Then he suddenly remembered: he hadn't fully claimed the world of Resident Evil yet.
Reuel spoke silently to his system.
"System, use the World Compaction Card to solidify the Resident Evil world."
"Command received, Host."
"Ding. By using the World Compaction Card, does Host confirm the compaction of the Resident Evil world?"
"Compaction," Reuel answered firmly.
"Ding. Compaction complete. The Resident Evil world is now Host's personal world. Host may come and go at will, and freely bring people or items in and out of this world."
"To facilitate transportation routes, Host will receive the blueprint for a dimensional portal that automatically connects to personal worlds, without requiring manual construction by Host."
"Host has also received two billion souls from the population previously killed during Abaddon the Despoiler's attack and the destruction of planet Cadia. The system only reconstructed their bodies; the identities of those Host wishes to summon are not known by the system."
Reuel drew a deep breath. A new calm settled in his chest—it felt better to own a world now fully in his grasp.
"I understand the blueprint," he thought. "Let the Tech-Priests build it later."
As for the two billion newly revived people, Reuel already had an idea. Fortunately, the system had explained their origins. Still, this would clearly worsen the already looming food crisis.
"System, when can I travel to the next world?"
"Ding. Host may travel at any time."
"What? Anytime? Why didn't you tell me this from the start? How do I do it?"
"Host did not ask."
"Fuck… I'd never have known if I hadn't asked first. If there's anything else important you haven't told me yet, say it now. Right now," Reuel said, his voice rising with restrained anger.
But the system stayed silent.
No voice. No response. As if that part—whatever it was—was deliberately hidden, sealed away by something even he, the Host, could not yet access.
Reuel clenched his fists, then slowly exhaled, pushing down his emotion.
"Alright then… System, open the next world. I want to see it."
"Ding. Does Host wish to open the next world?"
"Open," Reuel answered firmly.
"Since Host has designated this world as the center of the Imperium of Man's civilization, the system will now initiate the Fourth Natural Disaster."
"Initial Mission Activated."
"Mission Objective: Establish the foundation of an interdimensional civilization. Recruit at least thirty renowned figures from the target world through diplomatic means."
"Reward: Random Technology Tree ×1."
"Thirty famous people?" Reuel muttered. "And what do you mean by a random technology tree?"
"Each world possesses a unique technological framework. Once the mission is complete, Host will receive a set of that world's technology tree as an additional asset for the Imperium's civilization."
The answer was a bit roundabout, but clear enough to understand.
Each world in the multiverse possessed its own structure of power and technological advancement.
Currently, Reuel had built his Imperium's foundation based on the world of Warhammer 40K—a fusion of ancient technology, psionic power drawn from the Warp, and extreme religious dogma.
But the other worlds?
The Fate Series emphasized Magecraft and an aristocratic magic system based on Command Spells.
Honkai Impact offered destructive science used to battle entropic forces known as the Honkai.
Teyvat, from Genshin Impact, used elemental powers bestowed by the Archons.
Meanwhile, in Chinese xuanhuan worlds, power developed through soul cultivation, spiritual energy, and the journey toward immortality.
Each world was a window of potential—a new path that could shape the future of his Imperium.
Then, the system voice returned.
"Initial Task Detected."
"Host has obtained Initial Ability: Dimensional Diplomacy."
Dimensional Diplomacy:
Grants the ability to observe other civilizations within foreign worlds, engage in diplomatic communication, and traverse reality boundaries freely.
"...What kind of ability is this?" Reuel muttered, frowning. "Why does all of this feel like a procedural trap wrapped in grandiose words?"
Yet he fell silent, thinking.
The ability to observe foreign civilizations, in theory, unlocked access to cross-reality understanding. Strategic intelligence. Not just power. But perspective and influence.
"Each world, on a higher-dimensional level, is an independent civilization."
"This power grants Host the privilege to establish relationships, negotiate cooperation, or even seize technologies from other universes."
"Opening Hyperdimensional Map…"
Suddenly, his vision blurred. For a moment, he lost balance.
Then, light ignited.
Before him unfolded a translucent star map, like an interface from a strategy game like Stellaris. The backdrop was a black sky filled with glowing stars, while hundreds of transparent bubbles floated in the middle—each one reflecting starlight like soap under the sun.
Each bubble was a world.
A universe.
And five of them were clearly marked near his current position:
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (Steam Age Era)
Avatar (Early Space Age I)
Azur Lane (Pre-Space Age)
High School of the Dead (Pre-Space Age)
Lin Cage (Pre-Space Age)
????? (Unknown, too chaotic to classify)
Each bubble was labeled with its world name and technological development level.
Reuel raised an eyebrow. "…A multiverse map?"
He gazed at the bubbles, one by one, then glanced at the central point where he now stood.
"Are these… my neighbors?"
Reuel stared at the map, feeling both a strange sense of awe and fascination.
Different worlds were laid out before him, so close to each other on the multiversal star map—as if they were merely countries on an ordinary world map.
Why does this feel like I'm playing Stellaris? he thought.
There were animation-based worlds, and others originating from video games. Though they seemed adjacent, each of those world-bubbles was in truth a complete, vast, and complex universe.
This system had granted him the ability to observe the multiverse from the perspective of a high-level civilization—a vantage point normally reserved for cosmic entities or superdimensional beings.
Reuel recalled a forum discussion from his past life—a theory that every universe was shaped like a sphere, each encased in a layer like a soap bubble.
It was intriguing how the system classified each world by its technological advancement. Each world was labeled by an era: pre-space, steam age, early space, and so on.
So this is what it feels like to be the Fourth Natural Disaster… Reuel mused. An existence capable of influencing the trajectory of entire civilizations.
No matter how many parallel universes existed within a single world, the system would categorize it as a single entity on the superdimensional map.
In another part of the map, Reuel could vaguely make out the names of familiar worlds: Warhammer, StarCraft, Honkai Impact, Genshin Impact, Naruto, One Piece, Transformers, Super Seminary, and more. But because his psionic power wasn't yet high enough, he couldn't access further details.
"Damn… this map is insane. Luxurious as hell."
But then his eyes landed on something that made him frown.
Why is there a Warhammer 40k universe here? Doesn't that mean I could… meet myself? The Emperor of Mankind? That guy sitting on the golden toilet?
And on the other side… there's Warhammer Fantasy too?
According to a theory he'd once read on a forum, the Warhammer Fantasy world might be the creation of one of the Chaos Gods from Warhammer 40k. It made sense—the Chaos creatures in both universes had striking similarities. Whether it was Nurgle, Khorne, or the other demons, all shared the same aesthetic and power structures—nearly identical.
In Warhammer 40k, the Chaos Gods loved to seduce and corrupt humanity slowly, like an endless psychological game. But they also had pure legions, original armies from the realm of chaos, much like what was depicted in Warhammer Fantasy.
The Grey Knights, elite anti-Chaos forces, often faced these entities head-on. And every time they did—what emerged were grotesque beings nearly indistinguishable from the demons in Warhammer Fantasy.
Though there was no official confirmation, the theory that Warhammer Fantasy was a "mirror" or "alternate expression" of Warhammer 40k didn't seem like bullshit.
But Reuel's attention was soon drawn to another equally disturbing detail:
A universe labeled simply: "?????"
"What's that one supposed to mean, System? Why no name?"
"The Host must find out on his own."
"Of course… fucking typical. Always with the half-assed answers…"
Reuel snorted in frustration.
He looked at the system map once more and noticed that several previously locked menus were now active.
With some hesitation, he tapped one of the newly available icons.
[Diplomatic]
[Time Travel]
[Declare War]
"…"
"Can native steam-era people ride on my damn head?!"
Reuel looked around, scanning the multiversal map displayed by the system. The neighboring worlds were still trapped in the pre-spaceflight era. The only exception was the world of Avatar, which had just begun entering the space age.
At the moment, even though he had the authority to establish an Imperial Navy in the style of Warhammer, his troops from that universe—along with other divisions—were still busy constructing the new capital: Terra Aeterna, built atop the ruins of Earth from the Resident Evil world.
Reuel's eyes shifted to the system's three main project features:
Diplomacy
Initiate communication with the target world's leader. If no recognized leader exists, communication cannot proceed.
Time Travel
Open a temporal and spatial channel to directly visit the target world. Landing location is random.
Declare War
Open a temporal and spatial channel to launch a full-scale invasion of the target world.
The interface gave Reuel an oddly familiar sense of déjà vu. He remembered it from a brutal multiversal war game that involved biogeneration, genocide, neutron slaughter, alien grinding, and something referred to as the Fourth Natural Disaster.
Reuel narrowed his eyes.
"I want to know one thing from the start… Is this system also part of that Fourth Natural Disaster?"
He took a deep breath.
"This feels like it's forcing me to become a multiverse war criminal."
---
Forget all that for a moment. It was already midday. Time to eat.
By then, the women in the house were already awake and preparing lunch. The previous night had been truly exhausting; everyone had slept soundly until the sun was high. It was their empty stomachs that finally woke them up.
Reuel descended from his study and joined them. The lunch atmosphere was warm. Jill Valentine, Alice, Claire, and Angie were all gathered. They ate and chatted like a family.
The following days passed in a blur. A full week.
Alice and the others were nearly done tying up their own affairs.
Meanwhile, Reuel, with not much else to do, took Angie out to play in Salt Lake City—now back to normal. The Red Queen had implemented a new currency, replacing the old dollar and gold, which were now nothing more than relics of history.
---
That day, after lunch, Alice and the other two women approached Reuel directly. Their expressions were serious.
Reuel frowned. "What's wrong? Didn't you all already agree to come along?"
Alice looked him straight in the eye.
"We've thought about it. We're not coming—at least not yet."
Reuel glanced from one face to another, confused.
"Why? Is there something I don't know?"
Claire sighed. Jill crossed her arms in front of her chest. Alice finally spoke.
"There's still one big issue we need to deal with. A lot of people from our world aren't ready for the culture and technology from other universes—especially the people you brought from Warhammer."
Shit. Reuel suddenly realized.
People from a modern world like theirs would most likely be branded as heretics by the zealots of the Imperium of Man. Even breathing the wrong way might be considered blasphemy.
My scalp itches just thinking about it…
Reuel asked quietly, "So… do you have any idea how to fix it?"
Jill shrugged. "All we can do is calm them down. Slowly help them adjust to the change."
Reuel nodded slightly, then added hesitantly,
"Maybe… you could ask Saint Celestine for help. She should be able to keep the fanatics from… you know, shooting anyone wearing jeans who doesn't worship the God-Emperor."
Alice nodded. "We'll speak with her."
Reuel gave a small smile. "Then… stay here for now. I'll go check out the other worlds myself. I'll come back to get you later."
Truthfully, he just didn't want them worrying about what he was about to do.
Alice looked at him. "In that case, be careful."
"Don't worry," Reuel replied, patting his chest. "You have no idea how strong I've become."
Ada Wong, who had just entered the room, asked in her usual flat tone,
"When are you leaving?"
"Tomorrow."
They said nothing after that.
That night, Alice, Jill, and Claire stayed with him at the house, wrapped in a silence heavy with meaning.