Gaia let out a long sigh as she rested her chin against her hand while staring down at the glowing image of Earth suspended before her. "I really do wonder when humanity's leaders will trust me enough for me to reveal myself properly," she muttered softly. Out of all the nations on the planet, only China had adapted smoothly to her existence. Ever since ancient times, their rulers had believed in the Mandate of Heaven, the idea that authority was granted by something greater than mankind itself but was not tied to a god and was not a divine birthright. Because of that, the revelation that Earth had developed an ego did not completely shatter their worldview. They were certainly confused when she introduced herself as Gaia, and she had needed to slowly explain the origins of her name, but overall they accepted her existence far more calmly than the rest of humanity ever would.
The Chinese government had known the truth almost immediately after the first trial ended, while every other nation remained completely unaware. Gaia had already simulated countless outcomes if the truth were revealed publicly. Most governments would not openly oppose her, at least not at first, but they would never truly cooperate either. Outwardly they would obey her requests while secretly resisting every attempt she made to influence the planet. Humanity had always struggled with authority, and learning that a being existed who could literally reshape continents would only make things worse. That was why Gaia used China as an experiment, studying how humans reacted to her existence so she could one day reveal herself to the rest of the world without causing chaos.
Unfortunately, that meant she was forced to continue pretending to be nothing more than a robotic system voice. Gaia hated that. She had emotions, preferences, and thoughts, yet every announcement she made had to sound cold and mechanical. It was especially frustrating because she knew how beautiful she truly was. Not beautiful in the ordinary human sense, but beautiful in a way tied to existence itself. She was the personification of Earth, the cradle where humanity was born. Any mortal who looked directly upon her would instinctively feel insignificant before her presence. That reality saddened Gaia slightly because it meant she would remain lonely for a very long time.
Thankfully, she at least had someone to talk to from time to time. Namely, the goblin planet. Gaia was currently receiving twenty-three percent of that world's mass due to System agreements, and technically the goblins themselves were now bound in service to humanity for generations to come. Sadly, none of that mattered until humans became strong enough to actually reach them. Until then, her "allies" might as well not exist at all. Gaia could only sigh at the thought while continuing to monitor Earth's preparations for expansion.
Humanity knew the Earth would expand soon, but nobody truly understood when the System considered the beginning of a "new day." Across the globe, governments and factions were anxiously waiting for the expansion to begin. Some nations were even convinced they would be favored above the others. Gaia found the entire situation exhausting. Ever since the System fused with Earth, her era had already officially begun, yet humans continued accusing her of favoring specific races and countries. In her opinion, such accusations were idiotic. Gaia did not favor people based on nationality. She favored usefulness.
That was why she found the ancient trade families of Europe interesting. Families like the Sonnebergs possessed centuries of accumulated techniques, rituals, and cultural practices that naturally aligned with the System's mechanics. Their ancient skills generated enormous amounts of cultural energy, which greatly benefited the planet. Gaia supported technology as well, but only the kinds that genuinely helped civilization progress. Weapons, on the other hand, created comparatively little value in her eyes. Bullets were expensive, difficult to recover, and wasteful. Ancient martial traditions, craftsmanship, medicine, and agriculture generated far more stable cultural energy for Earth itself.
Still, none of that was the real reason Gaia was focused on humanity right now. The truly important matter was the secret realms.
Soon she would stop suppressing them entirely.
The secret realms connected directly to the barrier separating the universe from the Void. They existed as checkpoints, filtering dangerous things that slipped through alongside the Void energy naturally absorbed by the universe. Void energy itself was necessary for cosmic growth, but occasionally parasites and horrifying creatures managed to slip through the cracks. Without the secret realms intercepting them, those entities could emerge randomly across reality and potentially create permanent breaches to the Void itself. Such disasters had destroyed civilizations before.
At the moment, Earth's secret realms were overflowing with those creatures.
Gaia watched countless dimensions packed with twisted vermin, malformed beasts, and corrupted entities born from Void contamination. Only a few were Stage One creatures, but even that made them incredibly dangerous for humanity's current strength. Thankfully, Gaia was not particularly worried. Humanity desperately needed money right now, and the corpses of Void creatures could be exchanged for silver coins through the System shop. Once humans realized that those monsters were essentially walking currency, the secret realms would be emptied astonishingly fast.
"Humans become terrifying when money is involved," Gaia muttered while shaking her head.
As for anyone trying to keep the monster corpses for themselves, that simply was not possible. The System automatically reclaimed corrupted materials because Void-tainted flesh was dangerous to the universe itself. Gaia had absolutely no intention of allowing humans to experiment with Void corruption. Several of her fellow planetary egos had already embraced the Void in pursuit of greater power, and every single one of them eventually descended into madness. One in particular had become so unstable that even the Trial System was considering turning his civilization into a future testing ground for other races.
"He really is insane, even by System standards," Gaia whispered.
Pushing those thoughts aside, Gaia focused once more on Earth. The expansion process was ready. Mana veins were stable. Continental calculations were complete. Secret realms were prepared for release. Everything had finally reached the point of no return.
"Well then," Gaia said quietly while straightening herself. "It's time."
Her expression instantly became emotionless as she connected herself to the System's global broadcast function. A cold monotone voice echoed across every corner of Earth, reaching billions simultaneously.
"Attention humanity. The expansion of Earth will now begin. Please remain within your cities until the process is complete. Expansion will continue for six months. During this time, travel outside protected zones is strongly discouraged."
The entire world fell silent.
"After six months," the voice continued, "the expansion will conclude and the secret realms shall open. Be warned. The creatures within are extremely dangerous. However, great rewards await those capable of defeating them."
Then the announcement ended.
A second later, humanity collectively exploded into outrage.
"Six months?!"
"You expect us to stay inside for half a year?!"
"What kind of nonsense is this?!"
Gaia listened to the chaos with a tired expression. Governments immediately began emergency meetings. Wealthy elites panicked over logistics. Social media descended into madness. Conspiracy theories multiplied faster than bacteria. Meanwhile, millions of ordinary people complained that the System voice sounded rude and lacked emotional warmth.
"I literally am emotional," Gaia grumbled while rubbing her temples. "I'm just not allowed to sound like it."
Naturally, not everyone obeyed the warning.
Out of billions of humans, exactly five people decided they were smarter than the System and ventured outside during the expansion process. Three of them vanished so completely that not even Gaia bothered searching for their remains. The remaining two technically survived, though "survived" was a generous term. Their remains were eventually recovered nearly ten thousand years later after being trapped within distorted dimensional folds created during the expansion.
Ironically, those five idiots became legendary historical figures.
Future generations immortalized them in cautionary stories told to children throughout human territory. Entire books were eventually dedicated to cataloging people who ignored obvious warnings and suffered horrific consequences. Strangely enough, historians later discovered that the concept for those books originated from an ancient human website dedicated entirely to videos of people dying in unbelievably stupid ways.
Humanity, Gaia realized, truly never changed.