Garion continued following the direction Atlas pointed at, and before long, he finally saw something appear in the distance.

At first, it looked like a gigantic floating city, but as he got closer, Garion realized it was way bigger than he originally thought. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

It was an absolutely enormous steel structure with glowing pathways connecting everything together.

Massive cosmic ships that looked straight out of sci-fi movies moved in every direction.

Some were so huge he couldn’t even see the end of them, while even the smaller ships were still bigger than his entire island.

It looked less like a station and more like an entire civilization drifting through space.

Garion was currently too shocked to even speak and just stared blankly while Atlas smirked proudly.

[Welcome to the Cosmic Terminal.]

Garion crossed his arms while carefully observing everything around him. "So this is the airport of the universe."

Atlas nodded casually.

[Pretty much, but calling it an airport is kind of disrespectful... it’s officially called the Cosmic Terminal.]

Garion snorted softly. "No kidding."

As they got closer, Garion suddenly remembered something important.

"Wait... can people even see you? I don’t wanna get arrested on my first day in this cosmic hellscape because I’m walking around with a floating gremlin beside me."

Atlas blinked in disbelief.

[Excuse me, what exactly do you mean by that?]

Garion pointed directly at him.

"You’re literally floating beside me. If everyone sees some tiny fairy following me around, they’re gonna start asking questions... and probably try to capture both of us."

Atlas instantly looked offended.

[First of all, I am not a fairy. I am a system.]

Garion stared at him silently.

Atlas coughed awkwardly.

[...Anyway, no. They can’t see me.]

Garion raised an eyebrow.

[Don’t forget that I was created by a being far above most gods. They can’t perceive me that easily.]

Garion visibly relaxed a little. "Good."

He glanced at Atlas again. "Honestly, explaining your existence sounds annoying as hell."

Atlas laughed softly.

[Of course it is but now just shut up and continue.]

Soon, Garion finally landed near one of the giant entrances.

The moment his feet touched the metallic platform, he immediately noticed the countless beings moving around him.

And honestly... they looked surprisingly normal, which somehow made it even weirder.

Atlas floated invisibly beside him.

[What?]

Garion turned to Atlas, confused. "They don’t really look that different from humans."

He carefully observed the crowd.

Most of them had extra arms, additional legs, horns, tails, strange skin colors, unusual eyes, and other bizarre features... but despite all that, they still looked strangely human.

Garion scratched his cheek slightly. "I expected way stranger stuff, honestly."

Atlas laughed softly.

[You spoke too soon.]

The next second, something massive walked past them.

Garion instantly turned his head. "...Never mind."

A gigantic creature with six insect-like legs and dozens of glowing eyes moved through the terminal while dragging enormous cargo behind it.

Then another floating lifeform drifted nearby, looking like a giant jellyfish made entirely out of energy.

Garion’s mouth twitched slightly. "Okay, there’s the weird alien stuff."

Atlas grinned.

[The universe is very diverse.]

Garion continued looking around curiously.

Some beings looked almost identical to humans aside from slightly different features.

Others looked completely insane.

Yet despite their appearances, everyone moved around each other naturally without any issues at all.

Garion frowned slightly. "So why are humanoid races so common?"

Atlas answered immediately.

[Because humanoid forms are naturally superior for cultivation.]

Garion blinked. "Seriously?"

[Yep.]

Atlas floated lazily beside him.

[Most intelligent races eventually evolve toward humanoid forms one way or another.]

Garion crossed his arms while listening carefully.

[The balance between body structure, energy circulation, soul synchronization, and other comprehension functions best in humanoid forms.]

Garion looked genuinely surprised. "So even the weird races eventually become more human-shaped?"

[Usually.]

Atlas nodded.

[Some races intentionally maintain monstrous forms because they offer better combat advantages.]

[But for higher cultivation realms, humanoid structures are generally far more efficient.]

Garion nodded as he kept staring around the terminal while people walked past him.

But then, suddenly, he noticed several figures stop and start walking toward him from the side of the terminal.

Well... "people" was probably stretching it a little.

They were humanoid, sure, but every single one of them had obvious differences.

One had silver skin with glowing blue eyes.

Another had black horns curving backward from his head.

And lastly, one woman had long white hair and pointed ears.

All of them were staring directly at Garion.

Garion’s expression immediately stiffened. "...Uh."

He slowly leaned toward Atlas. "Did I accidentally commit some kind of space crime already?"

Atlas glanced at the approaching group and sighed.

[No. You’re not in trouble. Just listen to them first.]

Garion narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "You said that way too casually."

The group finally stopped in front of him.

For a moment, nobody spoke. They just observed him carefully from head to toe.

Garion awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. "...Hi?"

One of the men stepped forward slightly. "You’re a newly awakened one, aren’t you?"

Garion blinked. "A... what?"

The group exchanged looks.

Then Garion suddenly realized something.

Everyone around him wore long coats, armor-like outfits, robes, or strange futuristic clothing covered in glowing patterns.

Meanwhile, he still looked like some random dude who got lost halfway through modern-day Earth.

Compared to everyone else here, his outfit practically screamed "newbie."

Garion mentally sighed.

Right. They probably think I just awakened and left my planet for the first time.

Honestly... they weren’t exactly wrong.

Garion rubbed his cheek awkwardly before nodding. "Yeah... I am."

Several of them immediately smiled.

One of the women crossed her arms with a nostalgic expression. "Knew it."

Another guy laughed softly. "You’ve been looking around like your soul left your body for the last ten minutes."

Garion coughed. "Was it really that obvious?"

The horned man chuckled. "Very. You’re basically the living definition of a newbie."

Garion could only laugh a little. "Heh... damn."