[Lord of the Pure White Holy Throne: Alright, wedding's done — I'm heading out now.]
Aboard the Underworld Vessel, Anthony opened the group chat and sent that message.
By now, the festive energy the wedding had brought to the Underworld Vessel had gradually faded away. David and Lucy had already headed back to work, and the rest of the chat members had more or less returned to their respective worlds.
Truth be told, the moment Himmel said his "I do," everyone had essentially dispersed.
Everything that needed handling had been handled. Time to get moving.
The eating and drinking that remained wouldn't take long. Roughly an hour or so more, and the wedding wrapped up entirely.
After seeing off Saria — that proud, prickly old tsundere — Anthony tidied up the Underworld Vessel and began preparing to depart from Frieren's world.
[Hero of Himmel, Requiem to Frieren: Hm? Heading out already? Safe travels then — don't think I'll be seeing you off…]
[Lord of the Pure White Holy Throne: Yeah, spare me the send-off.]
Rolling his eyes, Anthony paid his adopted son no further mind.
[Lord of the Pure White Holy Throne: Not that I even need to ask — I already know exactly what you're getting up to tonight… You just stay put and work on deepening that bond with Frieren.]
[Lord of the Pure White Holy Throne: When the day comes and you have a kid, let me know — I'm covering the gift.]
[AAA City Ghost: ?]
[AAA City Ghost: You ought to be strung up on a lamppost, you know that?! Wasn't binding my daughter to you enough?!]
[Lord of the Pure White Holy Throne: Just tell me whether I'm covering the gift or not.]
[Hero of Himmel, Requiem to Frieren: I'll leave you all to it — going offline now.]
Watching Himmel's avatar go dark at lightning speed, Anthony exhaled softly, then activated the Underworld Vessel's phase-transit drive.
What happened next was the sort of thing a newlywed couple gets up to behind closed doors in the dead of night — nothing to do with Anthony, and absolutely not the kind of fun one crashes.
He had even gone out of his way to suggest to Fern that she'd be better off not disturbing the newlyweds tonight, and that if she didn't mind, she was welcome to come hang around on Uncle Prometheus's Underworld Vessel for a while and get a taste of the working life…
Of course, Himmel had declined on her behalf with perfect, righteous conviction. Tch.
Anthony gave a quiet mental tch, and then the view before him abruptly shifted — and within a mere few dozen seconds, the shimmering, iridescent waters of the Primordial River appeared before his eyes.
Without another word, Anthony manifested the Angler, cast the fishing rod in his hand out into the Primordial River, and activated the newly acquired ability.
[Sever the Tributary].
In that instant, the waters of the Primordial River surged and boiled.
Kaleidoscopic colors swirled across the surface of the Primordial River. Anthony's gaze was calm as he looked down at the waters below, opening the group chat to chat and banter with the others while he waited for Sever the Tributary to run its course.
For his conceptual selection, he had chosen "Death."
On one hand, it fit naturally with his own nature and that of the Underworld Vessel; on the other, he naturally hoped that through the concept of "Death," he might be able to search for any possible leads on resurrection.
And then, once Sever the Tributary formally began, Anthony finally grasped the true meaning behind those words.
His gaze was suddenly flung outward to an infinitely vast and distant horizon, and in the next instant, the boundless tributaries of the Primordial River seemed to manifest before him all at once — each and every one of them a world that met Anthony's conditions.
What the hell — this could take until the Year of the Monkey to sort through.
For a moment, staring at a number of tributaries that rivaled the sands of the Ganges, the corners of Anthony's mouth twitched, and a wave of helplessness washed over him.
But after a brief pause in thought, Anthony closed his eyes.
And then — he felt something like a guiding pull.
It seemed to come from the Underworld Vessel, and yet it also seemed to come from somewhere within himself.
In that instant, Anthony's heart shook.
Without a doubt — this was exactly what he needed.
And so he opened his eyes, gazing out in the direction of that pull. The Underworld Vessel set sail of its own accord, heading toward one specific tributary of the Primordial River, while in Anthony's hand, the Angler began to radiate a faint, subdued brilliance.
Amid the rumbling of the Origin Furnace, the Underworld Vessel slowly glided into that tributary, and the dazzling, multicolored surface of the Primordial River transformed abruptly — into an endless expanse of mottled violet.
Where would this lead?
As the Underworld Vessel fully entered the tributary, a flicker of uncertainty crossed Anthony's mind. But then he waved a hand, sensing a strange, insistent pull.
It was almost impatient — as though something from the world within that tributary were calling out to him.
For a moment, a question flashed through Anthony's mind, but the next second, he saw a notification pop up in the group chat:
[Special World Discovered · The Underworld]
[This world has an extremely high affinity with you.]
[Due to the effect of Sever the Tributary, you may designate this world as your Home World without affecting your status as the Primordial River's bound spirit.]
[Condition for Forge-Core · Underworld Vessel Upgrade to Lv.4 has been unlocked.]
[Condition: Absorb the fully restored Underworld into the Underworld Vessel and complete the reforging of the Forge-Core.]
[Resurrection Condition #1 Revealed: Become the complete and sovereign Lord of the Underworld.]
In that moment, watching the notifications chime one after another without pause, Anthony's eyes sharpened instantly.
There was nothing left to say.
Even if what lay ahead was a dragon's lair or a tiger's den, he'd have to charge straight in!
It's not like I'm going up against Sukuna here — what's there to be afraid of?
And besides — even if it did come to fighting Sukuna… Anthony would still have to hold his nose and leap in anyway.
Just seeing that Underworld Vessel upgrade condition, Anthony already knew without question that he had to go in and take a look no matter what. After all, getting the Forge-Core up to level five was one of his conditions for a Perfect Resurrection.
And beyond that — this so-called Underworld was itself directly tied to his resurrection conditions.
No matter how great the difficulty, he'd have to find a way through it.
And besides…
Anthony looked at the first message, rubbing his chin.
"Can become my Home World?"
"So that means… everything really is connected, doesn't it?"
He sighed, turned his gaze toward the Underworld world hidden deep within the tributary, and felt the picture in his mind growing clearer and clearer.
So now there was only one last question left —
— Which Underworld is this, exactly?
The Hakugyokurou of Gensokyo? Probably not — the name's different for a start…
Bleach? Doesn't sound likely either.
So then what other Underworld could it be?
For a moment, Anthony turned it over in his mind — but his hands were already moving without hesitation, activating the Underworld Vessel's phase-transit drive, tearing through the barrier between worlds.
And so, the Underworld Vessel descended.
As the pressure wave brought by the Underworld Vessel's arrival swept across the realm, clouds of dust rose from both banks of the river — and Anthony looked up.
Before him stood enormous towers, ancient in style and classical in form.
At that moment, Anthony began to feel that something was just a little bit off.
This Underworld… had a distinctly classical Chinese feel to it?
The vast complex of buildings — palatial in scale — looked for all the world like a place devoid of inhabitants, long since emptied of all life, with a thick layer of dust settled even across the ground.
And in the moment of his arrival here, Anthony felt that faint sense of calling from before grow unmistakably stronger.
It was as though it were summoning Anthony to become the master of this place — Anthony even felt as if all he had to do was give a gentle wave of his hand, and this entire world would open its arms to receive him.
And then, while he was still standing there in a slight daze, Anthony saw another string of notifications flash across the group chat:
[Select this world as your Home World?]
[Due to the Underworld's unique current state and its special circumstances, after you designate this world as your Home World, you may take up residence as the Lord of the Underworld directly.]
[Note: The Underworld is currently in a damaged state. Numerous core functions are entirely absent and must be restored before the resurrection conditions and the Underworld Vessel's advancement conditions can be fulfilled.]
[Currently Missing Functions: The Eighteen Levels of Hell, the River Styx, the Bridge of Helplessness, Meng Po's Soup, the node connecting to the mortal realm…]
What on earth is this?
Free Underworld, just click to claim?
And these missing functions… hiss, hold on — wait just a moment — so it really is that kind of old-fashioned classical Underworld?
And "the node connecting to the mortal realm" — does that mean this world has other regions as well? The Underworld is just one part of it… Though, come to think of it, that's actually quite reasonable.
Staring at this message, Anthony was briefly dumbstruck — but after only a short moment of hesitation, he immediately reached out and pressed the accept button.
There was nothing to hesitate over. As far as Anthony was concerned, from beginning to end, accepting was the only path available to him.
And so, in the instant Anthony chose to accept, the Underworld's call fell silent.
Afterward, an endless stream of things opened themselves to him. Not power — or rather, the damaged Underworld was no longer capable of granting Anthony any power.
What opened to Anthony, therefore, was one thing and one thing only: a near-inexhaustible set of permissions.
But the problem was — what the hell was the difference between having these permissions and not having them?!
Anthony swept his gaze across every single permission available, and all he could see were two words, over and over.
Damaged. Damaged. Damaged. Damaged. Damaged…
Staring at it long enough made Anthony feel numb.
So what you're telling me is — after grinding away at comeback runs for the group chat for this long, after finally unlocking all the functions that were supposed to be there — now I have to grind a comeback run for the Underworld too?
Great. Comeback run roster just got one more slot.
The one silver lining seemed to be that as long as he repaired these facilities of the Underworld, his Soul Strength could also see a corresponding increase — which could at least be considered an opportunity for him to grow stronger.
Looking at the astronomical amounts of points and materials required to restore the Underworld, Anthony sighed, and chose for the time being to stop reading the material lists required to repair each function.
Instead, he turned his gaze toward the great hall not far off.
The core of that calling — it seemed to be emanating from there.
What exactly was in there, calling out to him?
Full of questions and curiosity, Anthony left the Underworld Vessel where it stood and walked toward the great hall.
The hall was not far from where the Underworld Vessel had landed — just a short ten minutes or so, and Anthony stepped inside.
The hall was completely empty. Dust lay everywhere. Nothing sat on the shelves. Even spiders seemed to have found this place beneath their dignity — not a single web had been spun.
Only in the very center stood a tall-backed chair of ashen white, like a throne, and before it, a long case table.
On the long case table, something that appeared to be an official document lay set out.
The calling had stopped — urging him to go look at that document. And this time, Anthony even heard a clear voice rising from that call, as though the Underworld itself were speaking to him:
"Go read that document, and you will understand the situation you face, and how to restore the Underworld to its former glory… I beg of you, please — save what can still be saved. The cycle of reincarnation must not cease…"
Anthony strode forward in long steps, then casually pulled out the document and glanced at it — and in an instant, it was as though his eyes had been swallowed whole.
[Little King of the Underworld, your broke little realm's dried up again — this time Ol' Sun came all the way here and didn't get a thing.]
[Hurry it up, stop goofing around, come back and sort things out already — what are you doing lazing about all day?]
[Ol' Sun will be back in a bit — make sure you've got something ready by then.]
Anthony stared at these words, then turned his somewhat bewildered gaze toward the signature —
— Sun. Wu. Kong.
Right. Sun Wukong. Read it backwards: Kong Wu Sun. Read it sideways, upside-down, from any angle — still the same three characters.
OH HELL NO.
In that instant, Anthony broke out in a cold sweat.
No, no, no.
You told me the Underworld was damaged, sure — but you never mentioned THIS particular little detail!
No wonder it had such an authentic, old-school classical Chinese feel to it — turns out this place is literally from Journey to the West?!
Which raises the question — which version of Journey to the West is this?!
Gazing at the dilapidated, thoroughly ruined Underworld outside, Anthony's scalp prickled.
Best case scenario: the Great Sage had come by to check in, saw the Underworld was a complete wreck, and would probably come back later to hand him a welcome gift for new players…
Worst case scenario: the Great Sage had come by to cause trouble and cross names out of the Book of Life and Death.
But I don't even have a Book of Life and Death right now — that function is still in the damaged state!
Even without the ability to gulp, Anthony was pretty sure he heard his own throat go thunk.
Now there was only one last, biggest question left.
The current Lord of the Underworld… was apparently himself.
[Lord of the Pure White Holy Throne: Is everyone around?]
[Lord of the Pure White Holy Throne: I think I've stumbled into a hell-difficulty dungeon.]
[AAA City Ghost: ? How hell-difficulty are we talking?]
[Lord of the Pure White Holy Throne: The kind of hell-difficulty where one wrong move and I might just get permanently removed from the group chat.]
[AAA City Ghost: ?]
[AAA City Ghost: Rest in peace, forever in our hearts.]
[Founder of the Golden Spirit: Rest in peace, forever in our hearts.]
[The Demon King's Strictest Father: Rest in peace, forever in our hearts.]
[Hero of Himmel, Requiem to Frieren: Rest in peace, forever in our hearts.]
[Grand Flame Wordsmith: Is it urgent?]
[Lord of the Pure White Holy Throne: Urgent might not be quite the word… Timeline's unclear, but in theory there should still be some time. More of a long-term dungeon.]
[Lord of the Pure White Holy Throne: I just unlocked a Home World, and accidentally rolled a boss-tier encounter while I was at it.]
After sharing the current situation with the group, Anthony couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.
He knew far too little about this world. And the critical thing was — the channel connecting to the mortal realm was still broken, which meant he had no way of gathering information.
Looking on the bright side — maybe the Great Sage couldn't get in either?
But given the current state of things, dealing with something at that scale was probably going to be a stretch… Could he get a development-phase dungeon for once? Throwing a pressure dungeon at him out of nowhere — did the universe think he was done developing?
And so Anthony sighed, then looked back at the group chat.
Then he spotted a message that left him genuinely taken aback.
[Due to group member Lord of the Pure White Holy Throne obtaining a Home World, the group is undergoing an upgrade cycle.]
[Selecting new group members…]
[Welcome group member "Ally of Justice" to the chat!]
[Welcome group member "Terran Demon Clan Female Spy" to the chat!]
New members joining the group?
Anthony blinked.
And then, going by those descriptions, that should be…
Kiritsugu Emiya, and Theresa??
____
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