108: Athena, I'm here to save you
Two hours later.
Joan of Arc's petrified body gradually regained vitality.
She raised a hand to rub her chest and neck; her skin was as smooth as before, without the slightest trace of swelling.
Recalling the rescue process just now, Lin Mo's gentlemanly actions earned her silent admiration.
"Thank you for your timely rescue, Eastern strongman Lin Mo."
Joan's eyes were full of gratitude as she softly asked, "How can I thank you?"
Lin Mo casually waved his hand, his expression calm: "No need, we're all on the same side."
He paused, then continued, "Can't you still summon Athena? Was she also petrified? I'll help unpetrify her too."
Joan shook her head slightly and explained, "No need. As long as I'm alive, the Heroic Spirit Athena can still be summoned."
Lin Mo didn't insist.
He had traveled all this way not for romantic entanglements, but to climb Mount Olympus and seize the opportunities within.
As they spoke, the Ya Zi Chariot slowly started, emitting powerful energy, and ascended Mount Olympus.
After flying for about an hour, they finally reached the summit.
Ji Xiaomin, Joan, and Lin Mo exited the chariot in sequence.
At the summit, a golden longsword was plunged into a dark colossal rock.
The inscriptions carved on the blade seemed alive, subtly twisting, each flicker stirring ripples in the void.
Seeing this, Joan's eyes flashed with excitement, and she blurted out:
"This is caesar's authority! As long as it's pulled out, the luck of the Western human race will be endless."
With that, she eagerly stepped forward.
Ji Xiaomin, quick-witted, instantly blocked her path, unceremoniously snapping:
"This thing naturally belongs to us in the East. If Lin Mo hadn't saved you, you'd be dead already, yet you're still coveting this! Bah! How shameless!"
"You… you're truly a shrew! This was originally a sacred artifact of our West, lost on the Multiverse Battlefield. It's only right and proper for us to reclaim it now."
Joan's face flushed crimson as she retorted, both angry and annoyed.
The two argued back and forth, unable to reach an understanding.
Although Joan argued her point, the thought that she was indeed saved by Lin Mo, and without him, she wouldn't have reached the top of this sacred mountain, made her feel somewhat in the wrong.
So, she quietly approached Lin Mo, lowering her voice to whisper:
"How about this: you be my knight, and caesar's authority will be our shared property as husband and wife."
Lin Mo: "..."
These words were overheard by the sharp-eared Ji Xiaomin.
"Western barbarian! You truly are shameless! How could our Eastern prodigy marry a barbarian woman like you! It would simply pollute our Huaxia bloodline!"
Ji Xiaomin's face was filled with fury. As she spoke, she grabbed Lin Mo's arm, holding on tightly, as if to assert her claim.
Lin Mo looked at the two women bickering jealously and couldn't help but find it amusing.
In his opinion, women were always so petty.
As for bloodlines, it would, of course, be best for Eastern Dragon Country men to spread their seed worldwide; one's mind shouldn't be so narrow.
"Stop arguing for now. Let's pull out the sword first."
Lin Mo spoke to stop them, just about to reach for the sword.
Joan quickly stopped him, her expression tense: "No, there might be a trap."
Then, she chanted incantations, summoning the Heroic Spirit Athena behind her.
In an instant, a brilliant light flashed, and the three-meter-tall phantom of the Goddess of War descended with a roar, radiating a powerful aura.
However, the moment Athena grasped the sword hilt, her body was rapidly enveloped by a layer of grayish-white petrifying substance, instantly turning into a grayish-white stone sculpture.
In just three minutes, the beautiful Goddess of War became a cold statue.
Seeing this, Joan clutched her injured chest with a pained expression, full of remorse:
"Indeed, this Sword in the Stone is not so easy to pull out!"
Lin Mo, not believing in superstition, stepped forward and grasped the sword hilt to try.
In an instant, notifications popped up repeatedly in his mind:
【You have fallen into a petrified state, duration permanent】
【You have released the petrified state...】
【You have fallen into a petrified state, duration permanent】
【You have released the petrified state...】
Although Lin Mo wasn't completely petrified, each second of contact required him to expend tens of thousands of mental power points to dispel the petrified state, making it impossible for him to concentrate on pulling out the treasure sword.
Helpless, Lin Mo could only give up:
"Put Athena in the car for me. I need to slowly unpetrify her."
Athena was tall and broad, much like the legendary Eight-Foot Lady. It was truly difficult for Lin Mo to get her into the war chariot by himself, so he could only do what he could for now.
Joan of Arc: "..."
No.
Wait.
She'll be alive again if I just resummon her, you don't need to go through all this trouble... Before Joan could finish her sentence, the car door was welded shut and could no longer be opened.
At the same time.
Under the starry sky to the southwest, round corpse-orbs slowly rotated around a massive central celestial body, creating a bizarre and mysterious scene.
Blood Wolf Bart arrived here, his Stone Heart vibrating wildly, as if responding to something.
"Yes, this is it. Touch the star in the middle. Only then can you achieve a breakthrough in your realm. Go back and kill Lin Mo afterward; there should be no problem."
Chief Zuma's voice echoed in Blood Wolf's mind.
The central celestial body, resembling a star, suddenly slowly opened a giant eye. The eyeball constantly rotated, emitting an eerie light, staring intently at Blood Wolf.
"Go, absorb its power."
Blood Wolf hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and plunged a claw into the giant eyeball.
The moment Blood Wolf's sharp claw pierced the crimson eyeball, viscous fluid, laden with immense stellar power, exploded!
His bones crackled like popping beans, and the flesh on his skull tore open, revealing a half-meter-diameter dark purple giant eye.
His Stone Heart pounded wildly, and Chief Zuma's consciousness proliferated into hundreds of writhing eyeballs amidst maniacal laughter.
"It's done... The power of the Myriad-Eyed Evil God!"
Blood Wolf spewed blood mist from his seven orifices and let out a long howl heavenward.
A thousand-meter-high crimson blood-light erupted around him, and the stars of the entire cosmos twisted and retreated as if alive.
"Lin Mo! I want you dead!!!"
Chief Zuma's roar echoed through the starry sky, filled with endless hatred.
Meanwhile, in Hades's Temple in the West.
King Hades let out a sigh of relief.
He had finally saved three Western prodigies; at least Joan of Arc, whom he most needed to protect, was safe and sound.
He knew in his heart that this woman was no ordinary human.
She possessed a divine physique; as long as he had her, seizing the power of his brother Zeus would still be possible.
Therefore, Joan of Arc absolutely could not die.
At this moment, King Yama sat by, leisurely taking a puff from his dry pipe, and slowly said:
"Agree to the third condition."
Hearing this, Hades's face instantly turned gloomy. He gritted his teeth, unwilling in his heart.
The item in his hand was extremely precious, and he truly did not want to give it to King Yama.
Once he lost it, the condition for the Western human race to advance to a higher life form would be lost.
This meant that Westerners and Easterners would be split from one race into two distinct races.
One would be a lower race, and the other a higher race.
To change this situation, they would have to send all young Western women to the Eastern Dragon Country to preserve the West from becoming the lowest race through intermarriage.
But now, Joan of Arc also needed to be protected. Of two evils, choose the lesser.
Hades reluctantly extended his palm, drawing out his divine consciousness, which transformed into a token.
Seeing this, King Yama's face lit up with a smile. He snatched the token, carefully verified its authenticity, and after confirming it was real, he smiled even more broadly.
"Oh, thank you, little brother, thank you, little brother. This old brother won't forget you," King Yama said smugly.
Hades snorted coldly.
If not for this token, the West would not have caused the twilight of the gods, leading to its current decline...