“Aphrodite?”
The sudden unfamiliar name startled Fang Li on the spot.
Looking at Fang Li’s bewildered expression, Amamiya Rindou shrugged and said, “I knew youngsters like you wouldn’t be familiar with these things. How about Venus? Do you know her?”
“I do know about Venus,” Fang Li replied without hesitation. “She represents the female beauty, the Greek Goddess with severed arms, right?”
“Not bad,” Amamiya Rindou said, somewhat surprised. “I didn’t expect that even after fifty years, people still know about it.”
Hearing this, Fang Li closed his mouth, realizing that he almost forgot this was the future, and indeed, loose lips sink ships.
“Aphrodite is indeed Venus,” Amamiya Rindou said, looking at Fang Li who fell into silence. “She is the Goddess of love and beauty in ancient Greek mythology, and in Roman mythology, she is known as Venus. She is revered as the Goddess who controls all aspects of love and is quite famous in mythology.”
“And then?” Fang Li asked directly. “What does this have to do with me?”
Amamiya Rindou didn’t answer but took out a touch panel from his pocket and operated it a few times before handing it to Fang Li.
Fang Li received it with some suspicion, his gaze falling on the screen of the touch panel.
On the screen was an image.
It was an image of an Aragami. Its entire body had a porcelain-like white color and was covered in armor-like lotus leaves. It looked like a plant had given birth to life, with the lower body being plant-like and the upper body resembling a human.
The plant part was like a lotus flower and the human part looked like a young girl.
Such a half-human, half-plant Aragami floated on the surface of the sea, with no arms on the upper body but numerous vine-like tentacles stirring in the sea.
And the size of this Aragami was extraordinarily huge, perhaps much larger than an average building.
“This is one of the most terrifying Aragami currently known on Earth,” Amamiya Rindou spoke up. “The Fenrir Organization classifies it as a Deusphage Species, categorized as a super-large-scale Aragami. It used to prey on nearly half of the marine organisms, and it possesses not only tremendous power but also the ability to release a peculiar hormone that attracts and manipulates other Aragami of the same kind.”
Hearing this, Fang Li suddenly understood the given name.
“So that’s how it is,” Fang Li turned his gaze back to the screen, looking at the gigantic Aragami, and spoke softly.
“That’s why it’s named Aphrodite, then?”
Aphrodite, also known as Venus, was considered the embodiment of the perfect female figure and appearance, symbolizing love and beauty. She was regarded as the highest symbol of female physical beauty, a blend of elegance and charm.
Such an existence undoubtedly possessed the essence to attract any other species.
Since this Aragami could release a hormone that manipulates other Aragami of the same kind, achieving the same effect and possesses a beautiful upper body resembling a young girl, without arms, and various other physical characteristics, it was fittingly given the same name as that ancient Greek and Roman Goddess of Beauty.
Fang Li also guessed the reason why Amamiya Rindou brought up this Aragami.
“It’s this one, right?” Fang Li said firmly. “The Aragami leader who led the Aragami army to attack the Russian Branch, it’s this Aphrodite, isn’t it?”
And it also made sense upon careful consideration. Although groups of Aragami were not uncommon, launching such a well-organized attack on a stronghold, with even a vanguard force present, and such a large-scale gathering, with a clear target destination, was indeed suspicious.
However, if it was Aphrodite, this Aragami, manipulating the Aragami army, then it wouldn’t be surprising at all.
After all, it wasn’t surprising that this Aragami could release hormones that attract its own kind and manipulate them to a certain extent, gathering a large number of Aragami and organizing such coordinated actions.
While Fang Li was thinking along these lines, Amamiya Rindou nodded in agreement with Fang Li’s speculation.
“Hibari has already reported the situation here to the Far East Branch, and they sent back this speculation, suggesting a significant connection between this incident and Aphrodite,” Amamiya Rindou said.
Saying so, Amamiya Rindou extended his hand and slid his fingers on the touch panel, causing the image on the screen to slightly change to another picture.
In this image, Aphrodite’s entry from the sea was clearly depicted.
“This is a recently confirmed footage that clearly shows Aphrodite’s entry from the sea,” Amamiya Rindou said. “And the location where this super-large Deusphage Species Aragami entered the land is in Russia.”
If that’s the case, the truth isn’t hard to guess.
Of course, it was merely the surface-level truth.
Fang Li played with the touch panel in his hand and looked thoughtfully at the image of the gigantic Aragami displayed on the screen. After a while, he tossed it back to Amamiya Rindou and spoke candidly.
“What do you want me to do?”
Fang Li didn’t believe that Amamiya Rindou would casually share such an important piece of information with him. Since Amamiya Rindou came here specifically to inform him of this crucial information, he must have a purpose in mind.
Amamiya Rindou didn’t deny it either and spoke, “Deusphage Species Aragami like this one exist in various regions around the world, such as Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, and Susanoo in the Far East, Zeus, Hera, and Ouroboros in Western Europe. Although Aphrodite’s existence was confirmed long ago, it has always been active in the oceans and has never set foot on land. But this time, it suddenly entered Russia and gathered so many Aragami to attack the Russian Branch. Don’t you find it suspicious?”
“Perhaps there is something fishy, but I don’t think that’s my problem to solve, right?” Fang Li spread out his hands and said to Amamiya Rindou, “So, why don’t you stop beating around the bush and tell me exactly what you want me to do?”
“Just a Mission.” Amamiya Rindou tossed the touch panel back to Fang Li once again and said, uttering a single line. “Investigate why Aphrodite entered Russia and launched a massive attack here of all places. This is a mission directly issued by the Far East Branch, and I recommended you to complete it. If you want to rise in rank and make a fortune, this is your chance.”
Just as Amamiya Rindou’s words fell, the notification sound from the system suddenly rang out in Fang Li’s mind.
“Serial Number 11273 triggers A-Rank Side Quest: Investigate the Russian Branch.”
“Quest Details: Investigate the reasons behind the entry of the Deusphage Species Aragami Aphrodite into Russia and report it to Amamiya Rindou.”
“Quest Reward: 10,000 Exchange Points.”
……