"…Fate?"
Looking at the few English letters on the golden book, Fang Mo couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
Typically, the word *fate* refers to destiny, but based on the description and images on the *Book of Ages*, it was clear that this was related to the *Fate* series.
For those unfamiliar, if you mention *Fate*, many might not understand, but if you bring up the name *Holy Grail War*, it's immediately recognizable.
This is a massive series, although it focuses on the Holy Grail War, it's actually part of the much larger *Type-Moon* universe.
*Type-Moon* was one of Japan's "Big Three Doujin Miracles," alongside *Higurashi When They Cry* and *Touhou*.
In fact, among these three, Fang Mo was most familiar with *Touhou* because he was an old fan of that series. As for *Type-Moon*, he wasn't as familiar.
It couldn't be helped; the *Type-Moon* universe was just too vast.
It spanned multiple works, including games, anime, movies, and novels. Fang Mo had only encountered a few anime and played a bit of the mobile game. In reality, his knowledge of the *Type-Moon* system was limited to hearing about a few of the Servants and some of the lore.
But truthfully…
He really wanted to get his hands on that Holy Grail.
Even though its power might not be on par with something like the Infinity Gauntlet, the mechanisms behind it could provide some valuable insights.
Though he now had a capable partner, Fang Mo hadn't forgotten about his quest to find a way back home.
Previously, with Nyarlathotep's help, he had communicated with that world through the Dream Door, but it was far from enough. He needed a method to truly descend to Earth.
If he could collect all the wish-granting artifacts from different worlds…
Perhaps that could make it possible.
Of course, right now, Fang Mo was already more powerful than any wish-granting device.
With the current level of the Holy Grail, Fang Mo, with his dimensional authority, could easily hold the cup and ask it, "What wish do *you* want to fulfill?"
"The Holy Grail…"
Fang Mo squinted his eyes and began to think.
If he remembered correctly, the Holy Grail wasn't strictly a wish-granting device. It was more of a medium.
In the *Type-Moon* universe, the Holy Grail was related to the Einzbern family's magic, the Third Magic: Heaven's Feel. This magic allowed for the materialization of souls, granting immortality and eternal life. With some manipulation, it could also allow someone to reach the Root.
And *that* was what truly mattered.
In the *Type-Moon* universe, the Root was akin to the Akashic Records or the First Cause, the source of all time and space. It was the ultimate throne, where all order and law were inscribed.
From the perspective of those in the *Type-Moon* universe, reaching the Root would mean knowing and controlling everything in existence.
And wouldn't that be the same as being able to fulfill any wish?
Fang Mo thought so too. If the Root was really that incredible, it could at least help him find a way to return to Earth. Although his powers were already immense, even to the point of being able to kill a creator god, his control over those powers was still quite rudimentary. He had yet to reach true mastery.
After all, his awakening of Steve's Stand had only happened recently.
While his life rank was high, his technical prowess couldn't compare to beings like Nyarlathotep or Yog-Sothoth.
These Lovecraftian Outer Gods had existed for who knows how many eons, accumulating knowledge, techniques, and skills far beyond Fang Mo's current level.
In short, he was still growing.
And that's why Fang Mo wanted to collect wish-granting devices from various worlds.
He wasn't yet capable of creating a perfect wish-granting machine that could help him descend to Earth. That's why he needed to gather the Holy Grail, Dragon Balls, the Hogyoku, the Infinity Gauntlet, and other external tools.
Fang Mo planned to dismantle these wish-granting devices, study their mechanisms, and eventually combine their best features. Using his own power system as the foundation, he would create a truly perfect wish-granting device to help him find a way to return to Earth.
And even if he couldn't figure it out on his own…
He still had allies like Nyarlathotep and Yog-Sothoth. Worst case scenario, he could offer them a few fun universe coordinates in exchange for their help.
"Looks like I need to go, after all."
Staring at the golden book in Steve's hands, Fang Mo was clearly tempted.
However, as much as he liked the idea, when it came time to actually act, he hesitated for a moment: "This *Fate*… which version is it?"
That was the thing.
The *Type-Moon* series covered an overwhelming amount of content.
Even without counting side stories like *Tsukihime*, *Kara no Kyoukai*, or *Fate/kaleid liner Prisma☆Illya*, there were still tons of novels, anime, movies, and games in the main *Fate* series alone.
He was worried he might not end up in Fuyuki City but instead face a naked orange-haired girl shouting "Gacha! Gacha!"
But on second thought, even going to Chaldea wouldn't be so bad. After all, a fantasy tree was still a tree… and imagine crossbreeding that with other trees?
"Anyway, let's just get ready."
After some thought, Fang Mo decided to go for it.
Soon, he and Steve started preparing.
Steve immediately headed back to the house, switched out his mining gear, and grabbed a bunch of miscellaneous items.
As for Fang Mo…
He shifted into his personal dimension once more.
While exploring a new world was important, Fang Mo hadn't forgotten about his buddies.
Of course, by buddies, he meant the apostles he had brought back from the Arad Continent. He had promised to find them a new home, and he wasn't going to ghost them just because he wanted to have fun.
So, while Steve organized his equipment, Fang Mo set to work.
He had many dimensions at his disposal, aside from the three original worlds, including mechanical space, the antimatter realm, the dimensional prison, and the dimensional labyrinth.
After browsing through them, Fang Mo found a relatively normal dimension.
This was the dimension formed by the *Myst Island* mod, and it felt quite similar to the original overworld, except the ground was dotted with toxic pools, and the sky was a pale green. However, sunlight still streamed down, and the misty atmosphere gave the place a dreamy feel. It was warm and humid.
Fang Mo placed Delezie here and granted him secondary authority.
If Fang Mo didn't interfere…
Delezie would become the ruler of this world.
And Delezie was pleased with this arrangement, even moved. It was, after all, the first time he had ever basked in warm sunlight.
Bathed in the gentle glow, Delezie didn't know what to say for a while. As a being made of lethal pathogens, he had been shunned his entire life… yet Fang Mo had done so much for him. After a long silence, all Delezie could offer was a heartfelt "Thank you."
In response, Fang Mo gave him a big hug and jokingly said, "Brother, you smell great."
Delezie's face instantly stiffened.
"…"
With Delezie settled, Fang Mo turned to communicate with Bakal and Anton.
These two were relatively easy to handle. Bakal was intrigued by Fang Mo's main dimension and declined the offer to rule over another. Instead, he requested to stay in the White Lands.
Of course, he promised to abide by its rules.
Having experienced death once, the former ruler of the heavens had mellowed. Gone was the arrogance of a powerful king. Now, Bakal was more like an elderly mentor. His only remaining concern seemed to be Fang Mo's daughter, Xiao Momo. Bakal wished to personally teach her dragon magic.
Unfortunately, Xiao Momo was still wary of him.
So, for now, Bakal was busy trying to win the trust of the young dragon.
As for Anton, Fang Mo initially planned to place him in the Nether Dimension.
They had discussed it before, and the mighty Matka had said as long as Anton could be kept well-fed, they would lend their strength to Fang Mo.
But just as this plan was about to be implemented, the Flaming Demon Sword Laevateinn intervened.
According to Laevateinn, the fire giant Surtr inside it had started acting up, so it asked Fang Mo to use the dark sword to stab him again, just like he had with Ego, to put Surtr back in his place.
Since Laevateinn was originally forged with Imperial Gold, it had the power to erase a being's consciousness.
However, Fang Mo didn't want to do that. After all, Surtr hadn't done anything wrong, so he decided to try talking things out. To his surprise, the moment Surtr emerged, the fire giant immediately knelt before Fang Mo.
"Please kill me," Surtr begged. "I can't stand the eternal darkness any longer. There's no one to talk to, and being imprisoned in eternal silence is driving me insane. I beg you, end it…"
"Wait, wait."
Fang Mo scratched his head awkwardly. "What if I found you some people to talk to?"
"Really?"
Surtr perked up, visibly excited. "That would be wonderful…"
And so, Fang Mo changed his plan. He threw Surtr into Anton's volcano to keep him company, then resealed Anton into Laevateinn, turning the giant into another part of the sword.
Though Laevateinn was designed to seal only one entity…
If the entity was large enough, it would encompass multiple beings—like when Fang Mo had sealed Ego's entire planet into it, even building a city on its surface.
Anton and Surtr now had a similar relationship.
As for Anton's energy needs…
Surtr, the fire giant, had nearly infinite energy, capable of destroying Asgard with a single blow, so providing for Anton was no problem.
At most, Fang Mo would just need to feed him some Eternal Fire periodically.
In addition, Fang Mo had also discovered another object: the Oil Spring Block. He had received it as a prize during the *One Punch Man* lottery, and it was an item from a construction mod. Its in-game feature was that it could infinitely generate oil from a square meter of space above it.
Fang Mo tried reality-warping it.
It lived up to its name as an "oil spring."
The block was a meter-wide cube of bedrock, capable of generating oil in the space above it. The moment oil was removed, it would immediately regenerate.
In other words, the rate at which it generated oil depended entirely on how fast it was extracted.
Fang Mo installed it into Anton's mouth and tested it. Anton took one gulp, and the oil gushed out like a waterfall, filling his stomach instantly. Since oil was a fuel, and Anton was a fire-eater, it naturally served as food.
So Fang Mo left the oil spring in his mouth.
Anton was thrilled—his infinite food source had left the U.S. military green with envy.
With this setup, Anton had unlimited food, Surtr was free from the darkness, and Laevateinn's power had risen to new heights. Everyone got what they wanted.
Finally, there was Lotus.
Unable to find a purely aquatic dimension, Fang Mo decided to seal it into the Sea Demon Sword Tethys.
The Sea Demon Sword had already sealed the Evil Natural Water, a creature whose characteristic was that it grew infinitely when it absorbed water. Thus, the sword itself was an ever-expanding ocean. Lotus and the evil creatures within it were treated as part of this ocean, allowing them to be sealed inside the Sea Demon Sword.
Lotus seemed content with its new territory.
It had already begun laying eggs and creating octopus-like monsters.
Seeing this, Fang Mo helped by tossing in a bunch of sea creatures, creating a fragile marine ecosystem.
After all the arrangements were complete, Fang Mo made sure to inform Xiao Yao of his plans. Then, he controlled Steve to open the golden book.
Endless black mist poured out of the book, enveloping Fang Mo. The familiar feeling of weightlessness overtook him. When the fog lifted, he found himself in an unfamiliar setting.
"Hm?"
Fang Mo opened his eyes and took a quick look around.
It looked like a modern city with a slight Japanese touch. Soon, he spotted some signs with Japanese writing and immediately realized where he was—Fuyuki City. That meant this was the legitimate Holy Grail War and not some strange singularity.
"So, the question is…"
Having confirmed the location, Fang Mo now needed to ask someone what year it was to determine which Holy Grail War this was: "Which war is this—"
Before he could finish his sentence, a massive explosion sounded in the distance.
"Hm?"
Fang Mo looked up and saw a mansion in the distance that had just exploded. At the same time, he caught a glimpse of a familiar red figure.
In that instant, he knew exactly where in the timeline he had arrived.
With the time confirmed, Fang Mo immediately began planning his next steps.
"The World."
The Divine Tree's time-stopping ability activated.
Everything around him froze in place.
Then, Fang Mo activated Steve's customization feature, rapidly changing his appearance. His hair turned blonde, his eyes shifted to a pale blue, and his skin grew fairer. He adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses and straightened his military coat. In a matter of moments, his entire demeanor transformed.
Finally, he pulled his black hat lower.
"...Perfect, it's World War II."