Chapter 57: Chapter 44 Lake Goddess (Old group inexplicably exploded, start new group) _1


    Following the path through the woods, Duanmu Huai and Ogis arrived at ake. The area was lush with greenery, with remnants of broken stone pirs and ruins all around. Apparently, this used to be some kind of temple in the past. At the center of theke was a small ind, on which stood a statue of a woman holding a golden holy grail.


    That must be the Lake Goddess.


    Duanmu Huai frowned at the sight of the statue. Just then, a system notification appeared before him.


    [Detected Holy Artifact signal, Locked Holy Artifact position]


    “Whoosh!”


    Seeing this, Duanmu Huai nearly spat out old blood. Where did this Holy Artifacte from? Wait, could it be that holy grail?


    Should he take it away?


    Looking at the holy grail in the Lake Goddess’s hand, Duanmu Huai pondered for a moment.


    Oh dear, if I take away the Bartoni people’s holy grail, they won’te to hit me, will they?


    Anyway, they can’t beat me.


    With this thought, Duanmu Huai felt more confident. The Green Knight had been defeated by him, what was there to fear?


    Thus, Duanmu Huai eased his mind and aimed for the goddess statue in theke. He nned to activate his jetpack and just fly over to snatch the grail. With this artifact, he could construct the Tribunal Library to analyze the Antimatter Energy Core, then build the reactor!


    However, just as Duanmu Huai was preparing to take action, the goddess statue suddenly released a dazzling golden light. Following that, the statue transformed, turning from a stone sculpture into a living woman!


    ???


    What’s this? A living statue?


    Staring at the woman before him, Duanmu Huai was dumbfounded. He then saw the woman bend over, scoop a cup of water from theke, and then float across theke towards him, extending the cup out.


    “Um…”


    Looking at the cup the woman offered, Duanmu Huai was disgusted. He had seen her fly over barefoot. Moreover, theke’s water was unfiltered, making it unhygienic. What if she had foot odor or something? Drinking it could cause problems, right?


    But it would be impolite not to take the cup offered, so Duanmu Huai begrudgingly took it. He nced at the liquid inside and a system message quickly popped up.


    [Lake’s Holy Water: Drinking it can grant special expertise (Goddess’s Favor) (Goddess Blessing) (Psychological Immunity)]


    [Obtainable title: Holy Grail Knight (Charm +2)]


    Whoa, it increases Charm?


    Upon seeing this, Duanmu Huai’s eyes lit up.


    If it increases Charm, then that’s great!


    This is exactly what I need!


    With these thoughts, Duanmu Huai didn’t feel as disgusted by the holy water anymore. Although it had some issues here and there, upon closer inspection, it was quite clear, much better than the aloe vera juice sold on the streets of India.


    It’s clean and sanitary, right?


    However, Duanmu Huai didn’t immediately drink it.


    He knew that after drinking the holy water, he would be the Lake Goddess’s Holy Grail Knight. However… Duanmu Huai had no intention of selling himself to the Lake Goddess.


    Just kidding, as a Judge, he was thankful he didn’t belong to the Heretic Tribunal. Otherwise, the Lake Goddess would be his object of loyalty. How could he offer his service to her instead?


    But giving up this holy grail was hard… It was a Holy Artifact right before his eyes…


    “…”


    Seeing Duanmu Huai holding the cup without making a move, the blonde woman before him wore a puzzled expression.


    “This is a blessing from the Lake Goddess. Drink it, and you will have enough power to protect this world…”


    I know that, but if the price is selling myself, then no thanks.


    Maybe the Green Knight fell for it too, who knows?


    With that thought, Duanmu Huai hesitated for a moment and finally looked at the woman.


    “Can I have it?”


    “Of course.”


    The blonde woman smiled and nodded her head.


    “This cup of holy water is bestowed upon you.”


    “No, I mean the cup… Can I have it?”


    “…”


    Upon hearing Duanmu Huai’s words, the blonde woman was rendered speechless. She looked at Duanmu Huai in surprise, seemingly unable to understand the situation. A Holy Grail Knight asking for the grail in person, this might be a first.


    “Thank you.”


    Since the woman did not refuse, Duanmu Huai took this as her agreement. He nodded and quickly activated the teleportation coordinates. The next moment, the teleportation light beam emerged from under Duanmu Huai and Ogis’ feet, and in the blink of an eye, the two of them disappeared without a trace.


    “…………..”


    Only the blonde woman remained, floating aimlessly on the surface of theke, staring in disbelief at the uninhabited wilderness before her.


    She did not know how to react.


    Duanmu Huai didn’t care about the Lake Goddess’ thoughts. After teleporting back to the Core Cabin, he immediately put the Holy Grail on the terminal, acquired points, and unlocked the [Tribunal Library]. At this point, Duanmu Huai finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had been worried that the goddess might take the grail back. But now that the holy artifact had beenpletely transformed, even if she wanted to take it back…she couldn’t.


    Next, Duanmu Huai took out the [Antimatter Energy Core] he obtained earlier, left the Core Cabin, walked down the corridor, and entered the Tribunal Library on the other side.


    The interior mirrored the design of the [Strategic Command Room], with the whole room virtually resembling a church. The room was bare, with nothing on the bookshelves that lined the four walls. A semicircr tform was positioned in the center of the room, showcasing a tform simr to a church altar. Duanmu Huai walked up and ced the [Antimatter Energy Core] in the center of the tform. Soon after, the metal servo skulls at the four corners of the tform slowly rose, radiating beams of light from their eye sockets, scanning the core in front of them.


    At the same time, a system prompt also appeared in front of Duanmu Huai.


    [Antimatter Energy Core (Analyzing)]


    [Progress: 1%]


    [Time Required: 186 days]


    “This is going to take a long time…”


    Seeing the progress bar in front of him, Duanmu Huai slightly furrowed his brows. However, it was not surprising – it was, after all, Ancient Saint technology, and it was only natural that theplex analysis would take some time.


    As for the holy water in the grail, Duanmu Huai did not waste it. He found a bottle to load it in, intending to analyze it after the [Energy Core] analysis was done and see what happens. After all, it was something that increased charm. If he could determine itsposition and manufacture it himselfter, then he could generate his own holy water. He could even use it for baths, let alone drinking it…


    After all this, Duanmu Huai teleported back to thekeside with Ogis. The poor blonde woman was still floating in the air, looking pitifully at him. She looked like a little girl who had her candy stolen.


    “I’m sorry, but that cup is very useful to me. I have to take it.”


    Seeing the blonde woman in front of him, Duanmu Huai had to be frank – her cup was already disintegrated anyway, so she can’t retrieve it!


    “But I won’t take it for nothing. If there’s anything you need me to do, I’ll certainly not shirk as long as it’s within my ability.”


    Although it was a bit wrong to use hard sell tactics, for Duanmu Huai at the moment, obtaining the holy artifact was of utmost importance…


    “………..”


    Hearing this, the blonde woman sighed and looked at Duanmu Huai again.


    “Then, Sir Knight, soon this continent will face an unprecedented catastrophe. I hope you can guard this world and eliminate the impending threat.”


    As the blonde woman spoke, a mission prompt also popped up in front of Duanmu Huai.


    [Mission ‘Apocalypse’ Activated]


    [Mission Objective: Prevent World Destruction]


    [This world is about to face a ruthless catastrophe. Find the clues and prevent all this]


    Goodness, this mission is a real handful.


    Seeing this, Duanmu Huai was surprised. He originally thought it would be something as simple as protecting Bartoni, but it escted to a world-level mission…Wait, could this ‘end of the world’ mean the ‘Moment of Ending’?


    The ‘Moment of Ending’ could be considered as the first major event in Star Ocean Online.


    In one sentence…the yers’ beginner’s vige got blown up.


    As more and more yers entered Star Ocean Online, various forces on this began to fight due to all sorts of reasons, including the forces of Chaos. The yers were more than happy because there were more tasks. However, they found the difficulty of these tasks a bit unusual. Following the plot development, yers felt something was not right.


    Therefore, they began to ask for help from the Judge yers who had sessfully left the Novice—a universe of stars.


    The yers at that time were immersed in the joy of exploring the infinite starry sky. Apart from a few yers who went back to check the situation, most yers did not pay much attention to it, thinking it was part of the game’s plot. Their reasoning was that nothing wrong would happen in the end; they had CG puter graphics] killing enemies anyway, didn’t they?


    Surprisingly…the yers lost in the end. A mysterious being opened the third Chaos portal hidden within the, tearing apart the world and swallowing it into the Chaos realm of subspace. The whole was utterly destroyed.


    This oue greatly surprised all yers. Many yers had joined forces on that, raising their reputation, buying houses, and recruiting people. And then…all of it got wiped out in an explosion at the original ce?


    Could they bear that?


    So, the yers protested at the game’s productionpany, demanding an exnation and asking forpensation.


    However, the productionpany’s response was very shrewd—this was the yers’ fault for not putting in effort. If they’d worked hard to prevent the conspiracy and protect the, none of this would’ve happened.


    So, in the end, it’s all on the yers’ck of earnest effort. Why would that be thepany’s issue?


    Faced with thepany shifting the me, the yers were dumbfounded. They had never seen such shamelessness…


    After that, many people quit the game. However, the remaining yers began to treat each task and event on every seriously. Clearly, the destruction of the beginner’s vige served as a lesson, reminding them that if they kept cking off, it could indeed lead to the real destruction of the world.


    If this is the case…this mission is going to be quite problematic!