Early the next morning, in the wooden cabins on the outskirts of the Aphelia.
"Sir, good morning."
A polite woman from the Empyrean realm knocked on Fang Mo's door and asked gently, "Although it might be presumptuous, are you Mr. Fang Mo, the one who saved Arad Continent?"
"?"
Fang Mo looked at the familiar Empyrean being at the door: "...and you are?"
"I am Marlene Kitzk, a member of the Empyrean royal court."
Marlene bowed sincerely and said, "I am here to seek your help. Due to the Kartels organization, the Empyrean realm has fallen into turmoil and war. We need the help of a great adventurer like you."
"...Marlene?"
Hearing this, Fang Mo seemed to recall something.
If he remembered correctly, this person triggered the Empyrean quest. In the old version of the game, she appeared on the West Coast after players reached level 55 to lead them to the Empyrean realm.
According to the storyline.
In the chaotic area of the Empyrean realm, an organization called Kartels seized the opportunity of the apostle Anton devouring the Empyrean energy to start a war. The Empyrean government couldn't withstand it, and even the princess was captured. In desperation, they sent someone to the lower realm to seek help.
The person responsible for seeking help was the chief maid of the royal court, code-named White Rose, Marlene Kitzk.
"I have learned about your deeds through our intelligence network."
Marlene Kitzk adjusted her red-framed glasses politely and said, "Some may think you are secretly plotting something... but I don't think so. You and your partner saved North Myre and the entire Dark Elf Kingdom. In my eyes, you are a true hero."
"Ah... I'm a bit embarrassed by your praise."
Fang Mo instinctively scratched his head, then suddenly said, "How about... you praise me a bit more, I enjoy hearing it."
"Eh?"
Marlene was stunned for a moment.
"Hey, idiot." A lazy voice came from inside the room: "Who's knocking?"
"Nothing, it's just old Marlene."
Fang Mo shouted back: "Nothing to do with you, go back to sleep with Ah Xue."
"Oh..."
A sleepy response came from inside. Then Fang Mo turned back to Marlene: "Alright, just kidding. So you want me to deal with Anton, right? I was planning to go to Eaton Industrial District anyway."
"Mr. Fang Mo... Have you been to the Empyrean realm before?"
Hearing this, Marlene Kitzk seemed surprised.
"Oh, I often went there when I was alive."
Fang Mo nodded, and he wasn't lying. He had grinded bricks with more than twenty characters in the Western line of the 70-level version and the power station of the 86-level version.
"Uh... alive?"
"I mean before my last birthday." Fang Mo made up casually.
"Is that so?"
Marlene Kitzk was a bit confused but didn't dwell on it. Instead, she breathed a sigh of relief: "Great, if you've been to the Empyrean realm, I won't need to explain many rumors to you..."
"Indeed."
Fang Mo nodded: "I know more about the Empyrean realm than you do."
"That puts my mind at ease."
Seeing Fang Mo being easy to talk to, Marlene Kitzk's face lit up with joy: "If a powerful hero like you is willing to help us, the Empyrean realm will be saved."
"Ah, it's a small matter."
Fang Mo waved his hand: "I was just passing by Eaton Industrial District anyway, dealing with Anton is a piece of cake."
"Uh..."
But Marlene Kitzk seemed hesitant and then couldn't help but remind: "Mr. Fang Mo, although Anton is also our enemy, the more important threat right now is the Kartels organization. Their destruction is far greater than Anton's."
"What? Kartels?"
Fang Mo raised an eyebrow: "Not interested, the questline in Ghent is long and tedious..."
"What? How?"
Marlene Kitzk was stunned: "But our capital has suffered countless casualties because of Kartels, and the people are in dire straits."
"What's that got to do with me..."
"And even our revered princess has been captured by Kartels."
Before Fang Mo could finish, Marlene Kitzk continued to plead: "Mr. Fang Mo, you are the mightiest hero of Arad Continent. Please help us. If you can rescue the princess, we will reward you handsomely."
At this point, Marlene Kitzk hurriedly pulled out a picture from her bosom, showing a dignified loli.
"Look, this is our princess."
Marlene Kitzk said.
"Mm?"
Hearing this, Fang Mo instinctively glanced at the picture.
The princess was indeed very cute, although she looked young, her attire, makeup, and demeanor were very regal. Her light chestnut hair was neatly tied behind her, she wore a luxurious classical robe, and her orange eyes exuded wisdom and calmness, rather than the innocence typical of a child.
"I've decided to annihilate the Kartels organization."
Fang Mo looked up seriously at Marlene Kitzk, who was about to continue persuading him.
"...Eh?"
Marlene Kitzk was stunned.
Just then, footsteps sounded from behind Fang Mo.
"The world!"
Marlene Kitzk glanced behind Fang Mo, but then felt her hand empty. Turning back, she saw the princess's picture had vanished.
"Eh?" She stood there dumbfounded: "Where's the picture?"
At the same time, a sleepy little demon walked over in slippers.
"No." Xiao Yao rubbed her eyes and tugged at Fang Mo's sleeve: "Which old Marlene did you mention?"
"Marlene."
Fang Mo spread his hands: "This one at the door."
"Mm?"
Hearing this, Xiao Yao looked up at her, her memory much sharper than Fang Mo's, and instantly recognized: "A Empyrean being? Are you Marlene from the royal court?"
"You know me?"
Marlene Kitzk was surprised.
"Did you call her here?"
Xiao Yao looked up at Fang Mo.
"No, it wasn't." Fang Mo shook his head and said, "She clearly came to us on her own. Didn't you hear the knocking just now?"
"So you're planning to go directly to the Empyrean Realm?"
Xiao Yao yawned lazily, "Didn't you say last night that you'd first accompany Ah Xue and me to the Soton Snowfield?"
"Well…"
Hearing this, Fang Mo pondered slightly.
Yes, he did say that last night, but you couldn't really blame Fang Mo. Given the atmosphere at the time, he definitely couldn't hold back…
…
Actually, it happened like this.
After dealing with the mess at Nosmal yesterday, Fang Mo came to the Aphelia. Originally, he planned to join Xiao Yao and head to the Empyrean Realm together.
But somehow… maybe it was the camaraderie between partners.
This guy also wanted to mess with this little demon world person.
Then she imitated him, summoning a few creatures for this little demon world person, including the armored giant and five knights of different colors mentioned earlier.
Of course, these weren't ordinary armored warriors.
Whether in the plot or the game, this armored giant was ridiculously strong, capable of crushing Sky City without much effort.
Yes, the summoned creatures Xiao Yao got for the Summon were elite monsters and bosses from one of the six ancient dungeons in the game, King's Relics.
Back in the day, the reputation of this dungeon was quite high.
In the oldest version, the NPCs described it as the 'Polodin Kingdom, which unified the Arad continent a thousand years ago.' The king himself was named Polodin, not only extremely powerful but also commanding millions of strong knights. There were even rumors that he once rode the ice dragon Scasa, earning the title of Cold Dragon Knight.
Unfortunately, King Polodin excelled only in conquest, not in governance.
The feudal system led to power dispersal, causing a lot of chaos, such as feudal lords seizing territories and internal royal conflicts.
Facing internal and external troubles, King Polodin decided to do something drastic.
He ordered the royal magicians to sink the entire kingdom underground. "If I can't save my country, then let's all perish together…"
Later, due to a plague, many mutations appeared in the Afalia Mountain area, including the awakening of King Polodin.
Fortunately, only King Polodin and his close knights awakened, so the NPCs issued a quest for adventurers to find a way to make them sleep again.
Sadly, over several updates, the official lore kept changing.
To enhance the value of the Perus Empire, they kept altering the records, turning the once prestigious King's Relics into a joke.
This might be a bit off-topic.
In short, nobody knows how exactly Xiao Yao's partner did it, but the Summon's summoning list now had a powerful new addition.
The Summon himself seemed a bit troubled by this.
But that didn't matter.
At least both blockheads were quite happy.
After that, Fang Mo originally planned to take Xiao Yao directly to the Empyrean Realm. But considering he had been busy all day, fighting from Lotus to Kasijas and even recruiting Delezie… he could handle it, but the Summon seemed to be struggling.
So he discussed with Xiao Yao and decided to rest for a night at the Aphelia.
As for the two snowmen, Fang Mo arranged them in another nearby cabin.
Since they decided to rest well, Fang Mo called out Ah Xue and Xiao Momo, planning a family dinner. He really enjoyed this cozy atmosphere.
However, to his surprise, Xiao Yao brought out two strange bottles of wine and some cheese during dinner, claiming they were specialties from Dark City, black tequila she found on her way to Noire Ferra.
She had been curious about the taste of this drink in the game and had to try it now.
And so… she inevitably drank too much.
From the previous experience, Fang Mo roughly understood that his partner subconsciously thought her alcohol tolerance was poor and would get drunk.
This time, she didn't bring out any nukes.
She just kept talking about how much fun she had blowing up Lava Caverns.
But as she talked, she became a bit restless. Her soft little hand started to roam around like a little loach.
"Hey, can you stop moving your little hand?"
Fang Mo tried to dissuade her.
"Hehe, what do you know?" This little thing clung to him like a koala and whispered in his ear, "Because my hands are small… touching other things makes them seem bigger."
Her warm breath on Fang Mo's ear made him at a loss for words.
"Six."
After holding back for a long time, he managed to say one word.
"It's already late, Master," Ah Xue understandingly said, "How about… I take Momo back first?"
"No, Xiaoxue must stay too."
Just then, Xiao Yao turned her head and called out, "What's that saying again? Oh right… you've come at the perfect time! Quick, lie on the other side."
"…"
Ah Xue helplessly rubbed her forehead, "Master, what do we do now?"
"The enemy is pressing in, and you're asking me what to do?" Fang Mo raised his hand and teleported Xiao Momo back to the main world, or rather, the Land of White, then wiped his face hard and said, "Given the situation… let's charge!"
As for the ensuing events, they could easily write tens of thousands of words about it.
But considering some readers might go bankrupt and can't afford subscriptions, we'll gloss over it here.
That's the gist of it.
As for Fang Mo's promise to take them to the Soton Snowfield… that's because a certain little rascal licked her lips and said she wanted to try Soton Snowfield's horse milk wine next time.
Of course, whether she really wanted to taste the wine or use it as an excuse to do something else is unknown.
After this experience, Fang Mo was genuinely a bit scared. Not because of anything else, but because, despite his infinite stamina, this little one was always plotting to turn the tables… Last night, during their contest, they even used dimensional powers.
Luckily, Xiao Yao only had one imaginary space.
When Fang Mo opened the main world, he pinned this little rascal down; otherwise, who knows what trouble might have ensued.
Just thinking about it made Fang Mo feel terrible.
Yes, in the literal sense.
"Ahem, wasn't I worried that Hilder might cause trouble?"
So Fang Mo found an excuse, "It's not that I don't want to accompany you, but that woman is really unscrupulous. I was sucked into the interdimensional rift for a short while, but several days passed when I came out. It's really annoying."
"Oh, I see."
Xiao Yao stretched lazily, looking quite content, not thinking much: "Then I'll go with Xiaoxue. I'm not interested in Anton anyway."
"That's fine too."
Fang Mo nodded, "I'll take care of Landilus within three days, even scattering his ashes."
"?"
Xiao Yao tilted her head curiously, "You're dealing with Anton, what does that have to do with Landilus from the Kartels?"
"Uh… I've long disliked that guy!"
Fang Mo hesitated, then quickly put on an indignant expression, "He's turned the Empyrean Realm into a mess, causing people to live in misery and even created an annoying ancient map. I wanted to tear him apart back then!"
"Like how I hate the Lava Caverns?"
Xiao Yao yawned again, not thinking much, "Hmm… okay, whatever makes you happy. I'll go back and rest a bit more."
"Oh, then I'll pack up and get going."
Fang Mo nodded, then glanced at Marlene Kishka outside the door, "Um, I'm going to freshen up a bit, you stay here and don't move…"