Chapter 1 The Beginning

Lili squatted on the ground, curiously poking at the white walls of Poseidon's temple with her massive, gigantic, gigantic alloy sword, muttering to herself, "Boss, do you think the people inside know you're tearing down their walls?"

Hao Ren pressed his hand against the magical barrier and said, "We've torn it down sixty or seventy times and there hasn't been any movement inside, so they probably don't know."

Hesperia folded her arms and watched coldly from the side. "I have a feeling you two have forgotten what we came here to do..."

The three troublemakers were enthusiastically tearing down someone else's walls—okay, Hesperia wasn't enthusiastic, but never mind the details—finally, Hao Ren felt an unnatural pause in the barrier's regeneration process. After he broke the barrier again, the speed at which this magical shield reappeared was noticeably slower than the last time by half a second.

"Looks like this thing's reserve energy is finally running out," Hao Ren said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Two or three more times at most and we'll be done."

Lili jumped up happily. "Boss is super awesome, woof!"

The husky girl was so excited that she even blurted out her dialect.

But at that moment, Hao Ren suddenly sensed a group of rapidly approaching energy signatures—several of which were quite powerful!

Before he could warn them, Lili and Hesperia had already taken up fighting positions on either side of him, while Hao Ren quickly took out a sign he had prepared earlier from his dimensional storage and stuck it in the ground. On the sign, in ancient Greek, was written a line of large characters: "Don't get excited, we're on your side!"

...

Before long, the news was passed to the upper hall, and the astonishing report made even Athena stand up from her chair. "What did you say?! There are only three people outside? And they say they're here to help?"

Three people? Three people had broken that powerful magic barrier seventy-two times in a row? And each time it was broken instantly!

And these people who had been tearing down the walls outside Poseidon's temple for so long claimed to be reinforcements coming to help Olympus?

Even the knowledgeable Athena felt a little dazed at this point.

The messenger kneeling on the ground lowered his head deeply. "Yes, they claim to be friends of Ms. Ansu, here to respond to an appointment with Ms. Ansu, and...one of them does look very similar to Ms. Ansu."

Athena subconsciously looked at Vivian Ansu not far away, but the latter seemed to be a little confused again at the moment, deaf to what was happening in the hall, just muttering to herself while counting on her fingers. If you got closer, you could hear that she seemed to be calculating the next month's food expenses.

Helpless, she could only turn her head towards Poseidon. "What do you think?"

Poseidon's face was as pale as paper, sweating profusely, and shaking like a sieve. Although he was still holding the trident symbolizing the sea god's majesty in his hand, his exhausted appearance made people very suspicious of whether he could still lift this heavy weapon. Hearing Athena's question, the ocean god, who was almost fainting, could only squeeze out a few very weak words from his lips: "...Let them...in, anyway...can't stop them..."

The implication was that regardless of whether the three people outside were real reinforcements, they could only let them in, because the palace wall barrier was completely like a decoration to those three people. If they were allowed to continue making trouble, his life would be in danger here. And speaking of which, since the other party was willing to negotiate peacefully with them, there was a high probability that they were here to help—after all, there was a "curse" phenomenon called innate hostility in this world, and the relationship between enemy and friend between various races was quite clear. If they were really enemies, there would be no way for this negotiation to happen.

Receiving the order, the soldiers had no choice but to respectfully invite the three troublemakers outside the back door.

Hao Ren and the other two didn't expect the negotiation to go so smoothly. Not long after the messenger ran back, they received permission for their group to enter the temple. In fact, Hao Ren was quite apprehensive at first, because this time he had used the identity of "friends invited by Vivian," and at this moment Vivian should be sitting in Poseidon's temple, which meant this was an excuse that could be easily exposed by Vivian herself—but he still used it.

Just because Hesperia was among the three of them.

The messenger would definitely report this "mysterious guest" who was completely a miniature version of Vivian in appearance, and then Vivian would definitely be curious about Hesperia even if she didn't know when she had invited a few friends over. She might even guess that her daughter who had stayed in Rome had run over without knowing it (which was also true). In either case, she should let the three of them go in and meet her.

As long as that happened, their goal would be achieved.

That's why Hao Ren used the identity of "Vivian's friend" even though he knew he could easily be exposed. What he relied on was his understanding of Vivian. Based on the smooth progress so far, he believed he had bet correctly this time.

The three of them had no idea what the real situation was inside the temple, and they didn't know that the reason they were allowed in wasn't Vivian's intention at all... Her Ladyship was currently immersed in mental problems and unable to extricate herself, earnestly calculating the next month's food expenses.

Along the way, Hao Ren saw countless dejected Olympus "gods." In the corridors, in the resting halls, in the open-air courtyards, the entire temple was shrouded in an atmosphere of frustration and despair. Even the soldiers who were standing at various checkpoints with the last bit of courage, ready to fight the demon hunters to the end, were surrounded by a tragic atmosphere of knowing that they were doomed.

On the other hand, the human servants who had undergone biochemical modifications showed incredible courage and fighting spirit. The biochemically modified humans with tubes inserted into the backs of their heads were preparing for battle with high morale, as if they were completely unaware of this cataclysmic disaster. Even though amputees and cripples could be seen everywhere around them, these people showed no signs of retreat or fear.

This fighting spirit and courage did not come from any loyalty or lofty beliefs, but purely from the effects of the alchemical devices and potions in their heads. Biochemical modification had completely destroyed these people's self-will and erased their cowardice and hesitation. In the minds of these slaves, sacrificing their lives for Olympus was already a matter of course.

The result was that a group of desperate Olympus "gods" were surrounded by more fearless and high-spirited human slaves. It had to be said that this was truly an extreme irony.

Hao Ren and his group met Poseidon and Zeus, the surviving Olympus gods, in the upper hall.

However, they had no interest in these seemingly majestic and handsome ancient Greek "gods." After politely greeting them and getting to know each other, Hao Ren's first thing was to look around for Vivian's figure. As a result, he found her very easily—Vivian was standing in a very conspicuous place in the hall. Her attire and the atmosphere around her were very different from the others in the hall, so she stood out like a crane among chickens and could be distinguished at a glance.

She was lowering her head, seemingly not paying attention to what was happening here at all.

"She has been maintaining this state for some time," a female "god" wearing light golden armor and looking majestic and heroic said. During the self-introduction just now, Hao Ren learned that she was the famous Athena. "She was still very sober when she first came, but she became confused not long after. She had a head-on conflict with the demon hunters last time, and this situation has become more serious... She only knows what she is doing for three or four hours a day. To be honest, we are very worried about her..."

"Suddenly losing control, right?" Hao Ren waved his hand. "We know, after all, we are her friends."

While saying this, a trace of understanding flashed in Hao Ren's mind.

No wonder Vivian forgot about little Hesperia in Rome after going to Mount Olympus. No wonder she rescued Hesperia but didn't remember fighting Hasso on Mount Olympus. No wonder she was awake and experienced the fall of Olympus, but her memory of many things during this period was particularly chaotic...

It turned out that she had been schizophrenic throughout this epic event?

Hao Ren was not an expert, and he couldn't explain the pattern of Vivian's deteriorating mental state, but he was sure that the head-on battle with the Crusaders on Mount Olympus was definitely a catalyst. Vivian's mental problems were related to various negative thoughts, and there was no place more negative than the current Mount Olympus.

Vivian's current mental state was somewhat beyond Hao Ren's expectations. They had to restrain themselves and decide how to contact her after observing. Even Hesperia, who couldn't help but want to pounce on her at first sight, had to calm down at this moment. On the other hand, little Hesperia in Hao Ren's pocket was arching around restlessly. The little one had already sensed that her "mother" was nearby, and she couldn't wait to come out.

Hao Ren gently pressed his pocket to calm the little bat down.

At the same time, Zeus, Athena, and Poseidon, who had just recovered a bit of spirit, were also observing the three strangers in front of them.

They sensed auras from Hesperia and Lili that did not belong to their race and produced an instinctive reaction similar to innate hostility, which made them a little nervous at one point. But they soon realized that this innate hostility was relatively mild and could be completely controlled with willpower, so they calmed down and thought it was natural: Vivian herself was a strange among strangers. She could get along with anyone, and her friends included all kinds of alien races. The three people in front of them could be judged to be from three different races just from their auras, which indirectly confirmed that their identities were more reliable.

Besides Vivian Ansu's friends, where else in the world could there be such a strange combination?

After a brief observation, Athena suddenly asked, "The demon hunters are everywhere in the divine realm now. How did you sneak in all the way?"

She asked this not only because she suspected Hao Ren and his group, but more importantly to find a safe route to break through. Since these three people could come and go freely in the demon hunter-infested battlefield, wouldn't that mean there was a safe route that could be used to evacuate?

No one on the scene was a fool. As soon as Athena asked the question, every Olympus god reacted and then looked at the three mysterious guests standing in the center with expectant eyes.