Surviving the Maze of National Destiny: Hints from the Chinese Characters I Understand

After the battle in the endless void, Lin Mo returned to the Dragon Kingdom with Kabu, Kali, and Xiao Hua. No, Xiao Hua followed Lin Mo back to the Blue Star Dragon Kingdom on her own; he couldn't shake her off.

Lin Mo's original intention was to ignore the Gate of the End and Final Fantasy, and just go in and chop it down.

However, Kabu told Lin Mo that it wasn't that simple, because it was the only mythical beast from the mountains and seas that had ever fought against Final Fantasy, and it was the most qualified to speak on this matter.

During his return to the Dragon Kingdom through the endless void passage, Lin Mo was completely shocked. Looking at Blue Star from the void was a pleasure. Lin Mo had never seen such a blue planet before. After being purified, Blue Star had become completely different.

"Master, Earth is so beautiful right now!" Kali blinked repeatedly, afraid of missing the beautiful scenery.

"This is the first time I've ever seen such a beautiful planet." Xiao Hua was right next to Lin Mo, still basking in the joy of finding him.

"Kakigu! (So, what's the price?)" Kabu, standing to the side, made a different sound.

"What do you mean?" Lin Mo and the others didn't understand what Kabu meant.

Kabu didn't explain anything, but instead gestured for everyone to return to the Dragon Kingdom first.

…………

Lin Mo received a warm welcome from his fellow countrymen upon returning to the Dragon Kingdom, but his popularity was completely overshadowed by Kabu.

In the square of the capital city of China, a square that can hold millions of people was surprisingly congested.

So the mythical beasts of the mountains and seas temporarily took on the task of receiving guests during the festival. Since there wasn't enough room on the ground, they could watch from the sky.

A single mythical beast from the mountains and seas can carry hundreds of thousands of people through the sky to participate in welcoming ceremonies, thus reducing the pressure on ground-based reception.

Xuanwu is the most popular because its shell is so flat that many people even bring strollers to climb onto its back.

Xuanwu glanced at the dragon turtle beside him, who was receiving the same treatment, and laughed, "Brother, have you ever thought we'd be doing this kind of work one day?"

The dragon turtle grinned and said, "This is much more comfortable than fighting. I'm quite happy, it's so much fun! Hey, hey, who peed on my back? Mind your manners!"

Xuanwu nodded: "If only things could stay this peaceful forever. I wonder what that being is thinking..."

"You mean 'Final Fantasy'?" The dragon turtle asked, its voice trembling with worry. "It... isn't easy to deal with, even though Lin Mo is now incredibly powerful."

They all remembered how powerful Devourer of Heaven was back then. In fact... back then, when the primordial will was still present, Devourer of Heaven was even more powerful than it is now, yet it still managed to fight to a draw.

"It's unlikely that Devouring Heaven will fight Final Fantasy again. It always believes that the mythical beasts of the mountains and seas owe it something, and that humans owe it something," Xuanwu said worriedly.

"Let Lin Mo decide for himself." The dragon turtle carefully carried hundreds of thousands of its fellow countrymen into the sky, the festive revelry masking its inner worries.

The entire Kyoto square was a scene of celebration, with everyone singing the same song to welcome Kabu back:

Say goodbye to all your troubles, and hello to all your happiness...

Lin Mo was a little envious of the sight of millions of people singing in unison.

"It...it's so popular in China?" Little Flower, standing to the side, asked in surprise, her cherry-like mouth agape.

"It's an eye-catching bag!" Lin Mo gave a precise conclusion.

Kabu didn't care about any of that. With a flap of his little wings, his chubby body glided down from the void, his round belly gleaming golden in the sunlight, like a giant flying dumpling.

As it swept across the sky above Kyoto Square, it lightly waved its claws in the air, its posture exactly like that of an award-winning actor who had just received a lifetime achievement award walking the red carpet.

"Thank you, Dragon Kingdom; thank you, Mountains and Seas; thank you, Amo, for helping me build this empire!"

It flew over the square, retracted its sacred claws, and simply reached down with its chubby paws to clap hands with those reaching out from the crowd.

With each tap, it calls out, "Click! Good job! Click! (Next!) Click! (Hey beautiful, your hands are so cold, drink some hot water!)"

A child was holding up a homemade light sign that read, "Kabu, fly bravely, we'll chase after you."

Kabu's beady eyes lit up when he saw this. He swooped down and smeared his tongue all over the child's face. "Kaji-gu! (There are even fans cheering? That's impressive!)"

The most outrageous thing is that almost everyone in China brought roasted potatoes and wanted to treat Kabu to a big meal.

"Kaji-gu! (Master, mistress, hurry up, I'm too busy, help me harvest potatoes! What are you doing? Stop standing still!)" Kabu was so excited that he was incoherent.

Lin Mo wouldn't tolerate it and refused to go.

But when Xiaohua heard the word "Mistress," her heart immediately lit up with joy. "Kabu, you're so good, Mistress will help you."

Lin Mo laughed in exasperation: "Fine, fine, fine, it seems I've triggered some mysterious passive effect called 'Isolated and Helpless'?"

In addition to the citizens of the Dragon Kingdom, 10 appraisers and leaders from various sectors of the Dragon Kingdom also participated in the welcoming ceremony.

The entire welcoming ceremony was extended from the expected 2 hours to 5 hours, mainly because Kabu was so popular.

It wasn't until evening that Lin Mo, along with Kabu and a group of mythical beasts from the mountains and seas, attended a meeting organized by the appraiser. The meeting's theme was: Final Fantasy.

Kabu was already round and plump from eating, its face full of happiness. Everyone looked at it, and after a long while, the appraiser finally spoke: "As far as I know, only Kabu has been to the Gate of the End, and is the only one who has fought against Final Fantasy. Now, let's invite Kabu to tell us about its experiences."

"Clap clap clap clap..." Loud applause rang out. The Chinese people were incredibly enthusiastic and unrestrained towards Kabu, including the high-ranking officials present.

Kabu composed himself, slowly stood up, and said with a grave expression, "Then we must begin with the causes of the Cataclysmic War."

Everyone held their breath and began to listen to the secrets of this universe.

"Based on my current understanding, within the scope of the universe I know, there is a primordial world, which is the world Lin Mo used to live in, called Earth (I won't mention the name directly here)."

"Mr. Lin isn't from this world?" the appraiser exclaimed.

"That's not true." Lin Mo nodded.

"That's not the point, and it doesn't matter. Just like how the Mistress isn't from Earth, it doesn't affect her becoming my Mistress. The key is that the power of our Mountain and Sea Divine Beasts comes from the environment of the primordial world—Earth. This environment has existed since the Mountain and Sea era, and it's the most abundant. We call it: Qi. The Qi of the Primordial Qi!"

"Qi???" No one, including Lin Mo, had ever heard of this term before.