"Boom! Boom!"
Massive footsteps rang out on this Uninhabited Island, terrifying the creatures on the island. Artoria stood quietly on a huge tree. Soon, a ten-meter-tall orange-red fox ran quickly through the woods. The dense forest was currently being ravaged by this large fox, with large swaths being knocked down. Looking closely, one could see an orange pig... cough~! Orange cat on the fox's head. With her superior eyesight, Artoria could see the silver-white figure in front of the large fox; it was Touka, leading the way and making Kurama act like a frolicking Husky.
"Alright, everyone come back!"
They had been running for over an hour; why did these guys have so much energy? Although Second Fatty had been lying on Kurama's head, keeping itself from being blown away by Kurama's speed required a considerable amount of stamina. Artoria checked the time, felt it was about right, and called the three back. Hearing Artoria's words, Touka and Kurama both ran toward her. Touka, the fastest, soon arrived in front of Artoria and affectionately rubbed its head against her. Kurama, covered in dirt and leaves, also arrived in front of Artoria.
"Stop~! You're not allowed to lick me with your tongue."
Kurama, who had run up to Artoria, opened his mouth and extended his two-meter-long tongue to give Artoria a lick. Artoria quickly called for a stop. If this slimy saliva really got on her, it would look like a scene from an adult video. Artoria didn't want such a scene to happen to her. Plus, saliva was hard to clean and had a bad smell; Artoria wouldn't let Kurama lick her.
"Whine whine!"
"Pretending to be pitiful won't work either."
Hearing Artoria's words, Kurama looked at Artoria with an aggrieved expression. The 'natural disaster' that could once shake the entire Ninja world was now being raised by Artoria like a little puppy. If the Ninjas from the Ninja world saw this, their jaws would surely drop in shock. Although Kurama was acting very pitiful, Artoria didn't like this kind of intimate 'activity' at all. No matter how much she liked this large canine, Artoria didn't like the feeling of saliva sticking to her body.
Suddenly, a fur ball fell from Kurama's head and flew toward Artoria. Knowing what it was, Artoria didn't intend to let it hit the ground. She reached out her hands and caught the soft fur ball. This fur ball, which could crush an ordinary person to death, was Second Fatty. Only after Artoria held it in her arms did she realize she didn't know where its head was. After adjusting its position, Artoria saw those large, watery eyes.
"Meow—?"
While stroking Kurama's black nose, Artoria rubbed the fur ball in her arms. Artoria felt as if she had entered a fluffy heaven; her happiness index rose by three stars. Beside her, Touka also stepped forward to rub its head against Artoria's face, increasing her sense of happiness several times over.
"Alright, stop playing with your little pets."
At that moment, Gaea suddenly appeared. She looked at the three of them with envy. She hadn't expected that a Phantom Beast like the Unicorn Pegasus would still exist in this era. Unicorns and Pegasi were already very rare, let alone their hybrids, which were even scarcer. Gaea couldn't help but be surprised to see one now. The Unicorn Pegasus gathered the excellent bloodlines of two types of Phantom Beasts; its endurance was twice that of either race, and its speed went without saying. Furthermore, it was even more demanding when it came to choosing a Master. Not only did they have to be a virgin, but they also had to have high looks. If those weren't enough, it would be impossible to even see such a rare Phantom Beast.
In all her years as a goddess, she had never seen a fox with nine Tails, especially one so large. She knew a bit about Yuan-consuming Beasts, though. Gaea was very envious that these Little guys could play so intimately with Artoria. Really, should she transform herself one day to see if she could win Artoria's affection?
"Why did you suddenly move here to live?"
After the three creatures were settled, Gaea asked Artoria. They were living perfectly fine in New York, so why move to this deserted island? Although they had used Saturday's robots to build a very nice residence over the past two days, it wasn't as convenient as a populated area. Gaea was curious why Artoria suddenly wanted to do this.
"Since the people who left the coordinates already know the location, they are bound to come. If the fighting takes place at sea, it's much better than in a densely populated area."
Artoria answered Gaea's question with a smile. While she didn't mind the location of the battle, involving innocent people wasn't particularly good, and she wouldn't be able to fight freely. Just like the battle on Xandar, she couldn't let loose at all; otherwise, dealing with Ronan wouldn't have been such a big deal. Artoria specifically chose this place this time because, first, it was remote, and second, she could go all out. On this deserted island at sea, no matter how they fought, no one could interfere. Especially with the Dark Elves' technology—Artoria could recover all those spoils of war without being targeted by that black-hearted Nick.
"These people are so lucky that you consider them like this."
Artoria's words moved Gaea deeply. To think that Artoria would consider this just to avoid involving innocent lives made Gaea like the child more and more. Gaea couldn't help but reach out to pat Artoria's head, but the cowlick on Artoria's head resisted Gaea's hand, blocking her movement. It always felt like this woman had ulterior motives toward its Master, though it didn't know why. There was no malice, yet it still resisted the woman getting close to its Master.
"What's wrong?"
Feeling something on her head, Artoria looked at Gaea, who had withdrawn her hand with a slightly unsettled expression. She curiously asked Gaea what was wrong. Facing Artoria's inquiry, Gaea glanced at the cowlick on Artoria's head and shook her head to indicate nothing was wrong, while secretly wondering how to bypass this miraculous thing—or if she should just pluck it.
"I'm back, Artoria."
Next, the person who made Gaea even more upset appeared. Galacta suddenly appeared in mid-air and flew toward Artoria. This method of teleportation made Gaea frown, but what was even more annoying was that as soon as this wretched girl appeared, she went over to hug Artoria and took two'sips.' Even though she was only doing it to feed, Gaea found it awkward no matter how she looked at it.
"I've checked. My autistic old man hasn't shown any signs of coming this way, and I haven't seen his heralds either."
After giving Artoria's soft red lips two quick pecks and absorbing a third of Artoria's magic power, Galacta began to report on Artoria's instructions. Her words made Artoria breathe a sigh of relief. There were no signs of Galactus coming, which meant they could focus on dealing with the Dark Elves for now. If there were signs, they would have to prepare for two battles or one massive war. Now, they only needed to deal with one for the time being.
"Saturday, put all efforts into building the weapon systems. Modify most of the island's mechanisms according to the blueprints. Speed up the progress if necessary; we can't wait too long."
"Yes, Master."
Setting Galacta's matter aside, Artoria turned on her headset and contacted Saturday, who was renovating the island. At this moment, the center of the massive island had been completely prepared. The massive Hyperion was stationed at the center of the island. Countless tiny robotic spiders worked tirelessly, transforming the entire island's structure into steel. A steel island was slowly taking shape. Meanwhile, a warship in a transparent state had already entered the solar system; their speed was lightning-fast, and their target was Earth.
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