The Record of Unusual Creatures

“This is my home!” Little Hessiana said happily, holding a twig in front of a rather shabby-looking home.

It was a typical Roman-style residence with wood as its framework and a mixture of primitive pozzolanic cement as well as masonry. It was square in shape and had tall walls. From the looks of it, the people living there had to have carefully managed the house. It was clean, and there were no weeds around it. Plus, all the damaged parts of the house had been carefully repaired. But due to endless bad luck, the building itself showed a poor and broken temperament. The house was also surrounded by a large uninhabited and dilapidated area. People stayed away from the place as if they were avoiding the plague.

“Vivian’s considered a respected goddess in this era and even Caesar’s afraid of her. Why doesn’t she just ask Caesar for help? She needs a palace or something, at least, to live in…” Lily muttered softly

Hessiana shook her head and explained, “Because Vivian didn’t want to harm people. She knew about her bad luck. If she had asked Caesar for help, there would have been no Roman Empire in history.”

Lily just kept quiet.

Regardless, the little version of Hessiana was obviously very satisfied with her “home”. She was proud to introduce her guests to the place. “This house used to be owned by a human, but the man died. Nobody took care of the house, so Mama brought me here! We’ve been living here for years…”

Hao Ren was stunned. He just realized that even the broken house in front of him was not Vivian’s property. It was only after the original owner had abandoned it that it fell into Vivian’s hands. That was probably the only way Vivian ever got a house to live in.

Lily found it a little strange when she heard what the little girl said. She glanced at Hessiana and asked, “Didn’t you say that Vivian and you wandered a hundred miles around Rome? Why do you still have a permanent residence?”

“It’s over a span of decades. We did wander around, but it’s not contradictory to find a place to settle down for a short time, right? Besides, 2,000 years have passed. How could I remember exactly where I lived at this point in time?” Hessiana answered.

Then, she looked up at the house in front of her, which she once called “home”.

The old gate, the mottled outer wall, and the falling eaves all reminded her of even more memories.

“After Lady Vivian left, I stayed here for a short time. However, the house was soon burned down by a fire. I wandered around the city ever since, until I later found a nearby place to live on my own, but I never dared to venture out too far for fear that Lady Vivian wouldn’t be able to find me if she came back. Now that I think about it, it wasn’t easy at that time: the ancient Greek gods had fallen, and demon hunters had begun to search the human world for survivors who escaped from Mount Olympus. I didn’t know anything at first and I almost got caught several times…”

Hasse heard her and touched his nose in embarrassment. He did not know what to say when they talked about demon hunters.

“Forget it, I don’t want to recall those unhappy things. Lady Vivian’s still waiting for us,” Hessiana smiled and led the way into the house like a host.

“Ahem… Theoretically, you’re now a guest here. The owner of this house is this little girl…” reminded Hao Ren.

Hessiana was dumbfounded.

She wanted to say that the little girl next to her was herself after all, but she did not say anything when she saw the innocent expression on the little girl’s face. Instead, she said, “Why was I so cute?”

Little Hessiana did not understand what had just happened. She was still far from the shrewd and skillful leader who was good at combat. The little girl still had a pure heart. She was delighted to have visitors and she tried to treat “Mama’s friends” in what she imagined was the right way. She ushered them into the hall with no furnishings, except a long table and several chairs. Then she ran around looking for food and drinks. Hao Ren looked at her and said, “What a wonderful child you used to be, but now…”

“Yes?” Hessiana glared at him. “It’s not easy to stay the same after experiencing so many things, okay?”

“Okay, okay, I’m not arguing with you,” said Hao Ren, waving his hand. He was too lazy to debate her. Shortly after, he began to take out all kinds of snacks from his Dimensional Pocket and waved at little Hessiana, who was busy looking for food and water. “Hessiana, it’s all right. We’ve prepared our own snacks. Come, let us eat together…”

Little Hessiana ran up to him and curiously looked at the dazzling food on the table. She pressed her finger on her lips, but she hesitated. “…But, Mama says I can’t accept things from strangers…”

“We’re not strangers,” Hao Ren said, waving his hand, then patting her on the shoulder. “And your sister is here.”

She hesitated for a moment again, but the temptation to eat was too much for a child to resist. The little girl grabbed a packet of cookies to put in her mouth.

Hao Ren quickly taught her how to open the package…

Hessiana looked at the scene and found it odd. “Why do I feel so weird? Watching this guy bribe me with snacks when I was a kid…”

“How is this a bribe? Here, have a candy. This is a rare opportunity.”

Hessiana was speechless.

At the same time, Lily muttered thoughtfully, “It’s a pity that I can’t see another me like this…”

Hao Ren did not hear her clearly and asked, “What did you say?”

“Nothing,” Lily said, waving her hand. “By the way, Mr. Landlord, we’re going to Mount Olympus, right? How are we going to get in?”

Hao Ren nodded. “If we’re going to Mount Olympus, we’ll have to at least finalize the map. I’ll leave that to you, Hasse.”

“Okay.” Hasse used his magic to create a holographic projection of a detailed map. The map showed a series of mountains floating in the sky, connected by steps or corridors. Magnificent halls and temples, as well as glowing barriers, could be seen throughout the mountains. “I’m not going to try to cover anything. After all, everyone here knows what the war was all about. This is the map the demon hunters used before they destroyed Olympus. As you can see, Mount Olympus has twelve peaks, one of which is occupied by each of the twelve gods, including Zeus. The entire mountain range is suspended in an antigravity environment. Apart from the throne of Zeus, which has a master control center that monitors all the peaks, each mountain has its own control system and energy center…”

“Gravity will fail once we get to a certain distance away from Mount Olympus. Farther out is a layer with very strong radiation. It spreads out to the boundary of this space, so the whole of Olympus is covered by this radiation field. Such a structure makes aerial incursions extremely risky, especially now that much of Olympus has collapsed, including its control points. The mountain’s safety zone has been greatly reduced, and radiation fields may have touched the ground in many places…”

“Then we better not challenge that thing.” Hao Ren nodded. “When we go up the mount, turn on radiation detection. Try to avoid anything that looks dangerous.”

“First, let’s talk about our goals. If I’m right, Vivian should be here,” said Hasse, pointing at a peak near Mount Olympus.

Hao Ren frowned. “This is…”

“The temple of Poseidon. After I led a raid on the throne of Zeus, the Olympian gods lost their high command. They were reduced to holding their final resistance in the temple of Poseidon. It was their last resort. It was host to the final and most violent battle. They did have the backbone to hold out in such a small place for a long time when all but the temple of Poseidon was under the demon hunters’ control. The only place they could hide in the entire of Olympus at this time was Poseidon’s territory, so to speak. And I remember the last place I saw Hesperides was near the temple of Poseidon…”

“We have no direct access to the temple of Poseidon, so we need to find an infiltration point from the nearest place. The best place is here…”