Umbrella Headquarters, Outer Gate 90000, South Gate.
"Hey, you two, stop laughing!"
Aishelia glared at the two shameless people in front of her, clutching a newspaper and laughing at her, her expression utterly mortified. The strong, lion-like girl from before was gone, leaving only a humiliated and embarrassed Aishelia.
Finally, when Aishelia grabbed her weapon, no longer planning to hold back and ready to strike the two still laughing, Aslan and Merlin stopped their laughter.
Of course, Aslan had come to see the other protagonist of this commotion who wasn't present. Naturally, he was mostly here to enjoy the spectacle. Why should he be the only one suffering through such a miserable ordeal?
"Alright, alright, we'll stop laughing." Aslan said, waving his hand.
After seeing Aishelia's embarrassment, Aslan's mood improved significantly. After all, he couldn't be the only one suffering.
Merlin also ceased her laughter. She raised her hand to tidy her hair, which had become disheveled from laughing too hard. She returned to her majestic fairy sorceress persona.
"Fine, no more laughing."
"But, Aishelia, is there a reason you suddenly called us here?"
"Lately, a clueless little girl came to the community, and I've been busy teaching her." Merlin said with a hint of exhaustion, yawning.
Yes, she was talking about Artoria. Since Artoria was his shadow, Aslan had asked Scathach to take her to Avalon first to help her adapt.
As for himself, he was still a legend in Avalon, as he hadn't graduated from Scathach's training, so he couldn't take over Avalon yet. Besides, Avalon had been running for so long without Arthur, and he was usually busy, so what was the point of going there?
Meanwhile, Umbrella was currently developing quite well, having captured a significant portion of the market. However, the best-selling products were various healing medicines and healing-type Gifts. As for Aslan's flagship product, the bloodline purification potion, it had no market except for a few Phantasmal Beasts who purchased it.
Perhaps because the price was too high?
"Teaching? I'd say it's more like 'managing,' right?"
Aishelia didn't want to comment on Merlin. But she could guess that someone who could make the lazy Merlin so excited, even looking exhausted, must have made Merlin very satisfied.
"Of course. I called you here for a mission. The higher-ups have assigned a new task."
"We need to go welcome and protect a new member joining the organization."
After Aishelia explained the mission, the atmosphere at the scene fell silent. Neither Aslan nor Merlin knew what to say.
Did the higher-ups really have no one else to send? Why assign this task to the three of them? To go welcome and protect a new Little Garden member?
Are you sure you want the three of us, who practically have "suspicious" written all over us, to handle a welcoming?
"Aishelia, are you sure you didn't get the mission wrong?" Aslan asked again to confirm the details.
Aishelia nodded with absolute certainty.
"I've confirmed it several times, and I'm sure the higher-ups didn't make a mistake."
"Then we need to discuss this mission carefully. Is this a suicide mission? Or are we the only ones who can do it?" Aslan tapped the armrest of his chair, sinking into thought.
After all, a lineup of four Four-Digit-level individuals was excessively luxurious, especially since they were among the best at the Four-Digit level.
Merlin, the temporary leader of Avalon, Floor Master of the Southern District, holder of Merlin's Spirit Status, and even hailed as a hero on par with Merlin in the Avalon era.
Aishelia, an elite Four-Digit-level fighter with martial arts reaching godlike levels. She had brought the nearly fallen Perseus to its peak and even earned the title of Near-Divine.
As for Aslan, or rather, Angra Mainyu, there was no need to elaborate. How could someone using that name be weak? Not to mention, he was now the Last Trial of Mankind, the Beast of Progress.
Then there was Nyarlathotep, a Pure-Blood Dragon at the Four-Digit level, who was so troublesome that Aslan had created an anime world to confine her.
This lineup, even among Little Garden's Pantheons, was something only a handful could muster in terms of combat power.
While Four-Digit-level beings weren't rare in Little Garden, most were past their prime. They weren't modern heroes. According to Little Garden's rules, only current heroes could compete in the Lower Layer, with their impact and achievements best tied to human history.
So, a team like theirs was quite rare to assemble, especially for Ouroboros.
Of course, there was another factor: their own people might slack off, but spies would work hard for information. Spies were sometimes far more useful than subordinates.
After all, spies only needed to hide their identities well, do their job, and gather information. Subordinates, on the other hand, had to consider things like food and payment.
"It's probably something only we can do?"
Merlin looked at her slender fingers, like green onions, and her starry-sky-like nails with boredom. She was getting tired of these nails and would change them when she returned.
"They probably wouldn't dare send us to our deaths." Merlin said casually, straightening her slightly wrinkled clothes and patting her somewhat lacking chest.
There were people backing them. If something happened, they wouldn't be the ones panicking the most. They were just snakes hiding in the dark.
Catching criminals required evidence, but fighting terrorists only needed coordinates.
"So, this mission?"
Aishelia smiled. She looked at Aslan and Merlin, who seemed curious, and nodded at them.
"We'll take this mission."
Aslan licked his lips. He had been extremely bored these past few days. He hoped this mission would bring him enough excitement.
"So, let's cause chaos together!"
Merlin nearly burst into laughter as she said this. She was the type who loved watching chaos unfold.
Unfortunately, Little Garden was currently too stable. Only the collapse of the Arcadia Grand Alliance had given her a slight surprise and coincidence.
Now, she would personally add fuel to the boiling Little Garden. How could she not be excited?
As for Aslan, his desire to stir up trouble was already simmering.
The virus had already spread. In fact, the bloodline purification potion didn't contain the virus. The virus was in the connected medical Gifts.
After all, to spread effectively, the price had to be low and discreet. As long as the price was low enough, slowly enveloping all of Little Garden wasn't difficult.
However, since it was still hidden, Aslan hadn't gained much merit. Only when it erupted and its impact spread would his Spirit Status grow rapidly.
But for now, only parts of the Southern District's Outer Gates had been affected. It was still far from a true Little Garden zombie crisis.
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Meanwhile, in the world created by Kurma.
Kalki looked at his frail mother lying in bed, biting his lip without speaking. Only Rin held her mother's hand, head bowed, crying softly.
A few days ago, their mother had been fine, so why had her body suddenly collapsed today? Rin didn't understand, but she would take care of her little brother as her mother wished.
Though Kalki said their mother died because her body was drained after giving birth to him, Rin didn't blame him. After all, their mother loved him so much and never said anything, so why should she hate him?
She only knew that Kalki wasn't a savior but her little brother.
Unfortunately, the man in strange clothes calling himself Jester beside her rejected her.
He used the cruelest reality to tell her that Rin didn't have a little brother; he was just a savior born by borrowing a womb.
"Your Highness, let's go. Little Garden and the humans in many worlds are waiting for you to save them." Jester said with a laugh, speaking respectfully to Kalki.
He had to show respect. His Spirit Status and merits had been taken by a Christian saint. He was now just a No-Former with a faint existence.
In other words, he couldn't belong to anyone. He was also the poet who had once persuaded Leticia to fall into becoming a Demon Lord.
In terms of combat power, he wasn't even comparable to Rin, a nine-year-old girl. At least Rin had a Six-Digit-level Spirit Status, now Five-Digit because she was the savior's blood relative.
As for Kalki, born as a savior, even after descending to earth as a human, he still had Four-Digit-level power from birth.
If either of them moved even slightly, Jester would be dead.
But it didn't matter. Jester believed in Kalki and Rin's virtue; they wouldn't attack him without reason. After all, they were the savior and the savior's blood relative.
Kalki nodded silently.
Save the world? Besides this world, which other worlds needed saving?
Since his birth, the apocalyptic aura in this world had completely vanished. The world had entered a new golden age, so did he need to save it?
Should he have been born? No, his birth had meaning, but after saving this world, his task was complete. He couldn't find a direction to move forward.
For some reason, Kalki suddenly recalled a familiar voice.
Senior…
And beside Kalki, Aslan quietly picked up a Bio-card.
"Hm? You haven't left yet?"
Aslan was surprised. He was a bit shocked. Three or four hours had passed, and their mother's body had already stiffened.
Yet Kalki and the others were still waiting here.
"Yes, we wanted to spend more time with Mother." Kalki sent telepathically.
Though this was Kurma's world, which Two-Digit god would activate omniscience every day?
In other words, would you install a camera in a safe you spent a fortune to build?
Aslan had only come to collect this mother's soul to resurrect her in another world and for further operations.
He had come to retrieve the Bio-card he left behind earlier. To his surprise, the Bio-card had actually been successfully created.
Were the gods and buddhas really that careless?