Following the forest path, Duanmu Huai and Olgis arrived at a lake. The area was lush with greenery, scattered with broken stone pillars and crumbling ruins. Judging by its structure, it had likely been a temple long ago. At the center of the lake was a small island, upon which stood a statue of a woman holding a golden Holy Grail.
That must be the Lady of the Lake. Duanmu Huai frowned as he looked at the statue ahead. But before he could take another step, a system prompt suddenly flashed before him:
[Holy Relic Signal Detected — Coordinates Locked]
"Pfft—!" Duanmu Huai nearly spat out a mouthful of blood. Where did a holy relic come from all of a sudden? Wait, could it be... that Holy Grail? Is the system telling me to take that thing?
His gaze landed on the golden grail in the statue's hand. Duanmu Huai fell into thought. If I take the Bretonnians' Holy Grail, will they come after me? ...Well, even if they do, they can't beat me anyway.
With that reassuring thought, Duanmu Huai's confidence returned. He had already flattened the Green Knight—what else was there to fear? Feeling bolder, Duanmu Huai steadied himself and turned his eyes to the statue of the goddess. He prepared to activate his jetpack and fly directly to the island to retrieve the grail. With that holy relic, he could finally construct the [Inquisition Library], analyze the [Antimatter Energy Core], and build a reactor!
However, just as Duanmu Huai cracked his knuckles and prepared to act, the statue suddenly glowed with a brilliant golden light. Then, right before his eyes, it transformed—its stone surface shifting into the form of a living woman!
??? Is this some kind of real-time transformation stunt?!
Duanmu Huai was caught completely off guard. The woman leaned down, scooped a cup of water from the lake, and gracefully floated across the surface toward him. Once in front of him, she gently extended the cup to Duanmu Huai.
"Uh…" Duanmu Huai stared at the offered cup with a complicated expression. Don't think I didn't notice you floating over here barefoot. And this lake water—it's untreated. Not exactly hygienic. What if you have athlete's foot or something? One sip and I'll be down with a stomach bug.
Still, it would be rude to refuse. So Duanmu Huai braced himself, accepted the cup, and glanced inside. System info promptly popped up:
[Holy Water of the Lake]
Upon drinking, grants special traits:
(Goddess's Favor)(Goddess's Blessing)(Psychological Immunity)
[Title Unlocked: Grail Knight — Charisma +2]
Holy crap? It gives Charisma?!
Duanmu Huai's eyes lit up at once. If it boosts Charisma, I'm wide awake now! Nothing gets me more hyped than Charisma buffs!
Suddenly, the idea of drinking it didn't seem so bad anymore. Sure, it had its issues... but upon closer inspection, the water was surprisingly clear. Definitely better than that green aloe vera juice sold on Indian street corners.
Clean and safe—probably.
Even so, Duanmu Huai didn't drink it right away. He knew full well that once he did, he'd officially become a Grail Knight of the Lady of the Lake. And... he wasn't too keen on selling himself to her.
Are you kidding? He was a dignified Inquisitor. Luckily, he wasn't from the Inquisition of Heresy—otherwise, the Lady of the Lake would already be his loyal subject. How could he, in turn, work for her?
But… he really couldn't bear to part with the Holy Grail. After all, it was a holy relic right within his grasp…
"...…?"
Seeing Duanmu Huai holding the Holy Grail for a long while without moving, the golden-haired woman before him revealed a puzzled expression.
"This is a blessing from the Lady of the Lake. As long as you drink it, you will possess enough power to protect this world…"
I know that. But if the price is selling myself, then no thank you.
He wondered if the Green Knight had also fallen for this back in the day. With that thought, Duanmu Huai hesitated, then finally looked at the woman and asked, "Can I have it?"
"Of course." The golden-haired woman smiled and nodded. "This cup of Holy Water is bestowed upon you."
"No, I mean the cup… can I have it?"
"......"
Hearing that, the woman fell silent, staring at Duanmu Huai in complete surprise—as if unable to comprehend what was happening before her. A Grail Knight asking to take the Holy Grail itself? Probably a first in history.
"Then thank you."
Since she didn't object, Duanmu Huai took that as tacit consent. He nodded, then quickly activated the teleportation coordinates. The next moment, a beam of light rose beneath Duanmu Huai and Olgis, and in the blink of an eye, the two of them disappeared entirely.
"...…"
Only the golden-haired woman remained, floating silently above the lake, gazing at the now-empty wilderness, unsure how to react.
Duanmu Huai didn't care in the slightest what the Lady of the Lake thought. After returning to the core cabin, he immediately placed the Holy Grail on the terminal, acquired points, and unlocked the [Inquisition Library]. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.
He had been genuinely worried that she might try to take the Holy Grail back.
But now that the relic had been converted—too bad. Even if she wanted to reclaim it, she couldn't.
With that settled, Duanmu Huai took out the [Antimatter Energy Core] he had obtained earlier, walked out of the core cabin, passed through the corridor, and arrived at the newly unlocked Inquisition Library on the other side.
Its design was identical to the [Strategic Command Room]. The entire space resembled a church, with empty bookshelves lining the walls. In the center of the room stood a raised circular platform resembling an altar.
Duanmu Huai stepped forward and placed the [Antimatter Energy Core] at the center of the platform. Almost immediately, four metal servo skulls located at the corners slowly rose up, beams of light projecting from their eyes to scan the core placed before them.
At the same time, a system prompt appeared before Duanmu Huai.
[Antimatter Energy Core (Analyzing)]
[Progress: 1%]
[Time required: 186 days]
This will take a long time... Looking at the progress bar, Duanmu Huai frowned slightly, though he wasn't surprised. After all, this was Old One technology—it was incredibly difficult to analyze, so taking time was only natural.
As for the Holy Water in the Holy Grail, Duanmu Huai didn't waste it. He found a bottle and carefully stored it away, planning to analyze it after the [Energy Core] was done and see what would happen—after all, it was something that could add Charisma. If he could analyze and reproduce it, then in the future, he could manufacture the Holy Water himself.
At that point, let alone drinking it—he could even use it to bathe and wash his face…
After dealing with all that, Duanmu Huai and Olgis teleported back to the lake. At this moment, the poor golden-haired woman was still floating in mid-air, staring at him pitifully—like a little girl whose lollipop had just been snatched away.
"I'm sorry, but that cup is very useful to me, and I must take it." Looking at her, Duanmu Huai could only speak frankly. Anyway, your cup's already been disassembled, and now you can't get it back even if you wanted to.
"But I won't take it for free. If there's anything you need me to do—as long as it's within my capabilities—I will not refuse."
Although this kind of forced acquisition was a bit… unchivalrous, for the current Duanmu Huai, the holy relic still took priority above all.
"...…"
Hearing this, the golden-haired woman sighed softly, then turned her gaze back to Duanmu Huai.
"Then, Sir Knight… soon, this continent will face an unprecedented catastrophe. I hope you can protect this world and eliminate the coming threat."
As she spoke, a new system prompt appeared before Duanmu Huai.
[Activate Quest: Doomsday Catastrophe]
[Quest Objective: Prevent world destruction]
[This world is about to face a ruthless catastrophe. Find clues and stop it at all costs]
My goodness, this is a big proposition. Seeing the quest description, Duanmu Huai was caught off guard. He originally thought it would be a mission like protecting Bretonnia… but it had immediately escalated to a world-level event.
Wait, could the apocalypse here refer to the End Times?
At the same time, a system prompt appeared before Duanmu Huai.
[Antimatter Energy Core (Analyzing)][Progress: 1%][Time required: 186 days]
This will take a long time… Looking at the progress bar, Duanmu Huai frowned slightly, though he wasn't surprised. After all, this was Old One technology—extremely complex and difficult to analyze. It was only natural that it would take time.
As for the Holy Water from the Holy Grail, Duanmu Huai didn't waste it. He found a bottle and carefully stored it, planning to analyze it after the [Energy Core] was done and see what it could offer. After all, it was something that could increase Charisma. If he could study and replicate it, then in the future, he could produce this Holy Water himself.
At that point, let alone drinking it, he could even bathe in it and wash his face with it...
After settling everything, Duanmu Huai and Olgis teleported back to the lake. At this moment, the poor golden-haired woman was still floating in the air, gazing at him pitifully like a little girl whose lollipop had just been snatched away.
"I'm sorry, but that cup is very useful to me, and I must take it." Looking at the golden-haired woman, Duanmu Huai could only speak honestly—besides, your cup's already been disassembled; even if you want it back, it's too late! "But I won't take it for free. If there's anything you need me to do, as long as it's within my power, I won't refuse."
Although forced buying and selling was a bit against the rules, for the current Duanmu Huai, the holy relic was the highest priority...
"..."
Hearing this, the golden-haired woman sighed softly, then looked at Duanmu Huai again.
"Then, Sir Knight, soon, this continent will face an unprecedented catastrophe. I hope you can protect this world and eliminate the coming threat."
As she spoke, a quest prompt appeared in front of Duanmu Huai.
[Activate Quest: Doomsday Catastrophe][Quest Objective: Prevent world destruction][This world is about to face a ruthless catastrophe. Find clues and stop all of it]
My goodness, this is a big proposition. Seeing this, Duanmu Huai was taken aback. He had originally thought this would be a quest like protecting Bretonnia, but unexpectedly, it had escalated into a world-level event… Wait—could the apocalypse here refer to the End Times?
The so-called End Times could be considered the first major event in Star Sea Online. To sum it up in one sentence… the players newbie village exploded.
Back then, more and more players had poured into Star Sea Online, and on this planet, various factions had begun to battle each other for countless reasons—including the forces of Chaos. At first, new players were thrilled. It meant more quests!
But later on, they started to notice something was off. The difficulty of those quests was way too high. As the story progressed, more players felt that something wasn't right. Eventually, they began calling for help from Inquisitor players—those who had already left the starting planet and ventured into space.
At the time, those players were too immersed in the joy of exploring the infinite starry sky. Aside from a few who returned to check, most didn't take it seriously, assuming it was just part of the game's story development. In their minds, there would be no real consequence. If players couldn't win, wouldn't a cinematic cutscene save the day anyway?
Yeah… well, the unexpected result was: the players lost. A mysterious entity opened the third Chaos portal hidden deep within the planet. The planet was torn apart and completely swallowed into the warp's chaotic realm. Just like that—the entire planet was finished.
This ending shocked the entire player base. Many had invested time and resources into factions on that planet—grinding reputation, buying homes, recruiting followers… and then boom—everything vanished.
How could they tolerate that?
Outraged, players furiously flooded the developers, demanding explanations and compensation. But the development company's reply was… enlightening: "It's the players' fault for not trying hard enough. If you had stopped the conspiracy and protected the planet, none of this would've happened."
So in the end, it was the players' fault for being lazy and slacking off. What did that have to do with us? said the devs.
Faced with that blatant buck-passing, the players were utterly speechless. They'd seen shamelessness before, but never anything on this level…
After that incident, many players quit. But those who stayed behind began to treat every mission, every event on every planet, with deadly seriousness.
Though the explosion of the newbie village had been heartbreaking, it taught the players a painful lesson—if you slack off, the world really will end.
If this was the same thing, then this quest would be far trickier than expected…!
(End of this chapter)