Chapter 195 Anka-Tello Family

Nan Gong Sanba's words reminded Hao Ren, and he immediately turned to Vivian: "That's right, do you know anyone else who might know about this kind of shadow?"

"It would have to be someone who survived from the age of myths at least…" Vivian thought for a moment, "Should I ask Hesperides?"

Hao Ren immediately nodded: "Ask quickly, ask quickly—you should have her number, right?"

"Another international call." Vivian sighed with heartache, took out her phone and dialed Hesperides' number. Since everyone left the Athens Sanctuary last time, Vivian hadn't contacted the "Twilight Goddess" for a long time, but she had kept her modern contact information for emergencies, and she didn't expect it to come in handy in this situation.

However, no one answered the phone for a long time after it was dialed. Vivian raised her head in confusion: "It seems like she doesn't have her phone with her."

Lily: "Do you know any other ancient ones?"

"I only have her phone number…" Vivian swiped through the contacts on her phone, "The rest are Hesperia and a few juniors. There weren't many ancient ones in the Athens Sanctuary to begin with, and I'm not familiar with the others."

"Then let's call again later," Hao Ren said. "Or maybe Hesperia can pass on a message for you."

As soon as he finished speaking, Vivian's phone suddenly rang, and the caller ID was Hesperides.

"Hello?" Vivian quickly answered and switched to speakerphone so everyone could hear. "Hesperides?"

"Vivian? I didn't expect you to call me," Hesperides' voice sounded a little tired, but she was still happy to receive a call from an old friend. "I was in a meeting just now and didn't have the ringer on—I don't know where those guys learned it from, but they demand everyone silence their phones during meetings like humans."

Hao Ren thought that the old monsters in the Athens Sanctuary were quite modernized, while Vivian was a little curious: "A meeting? Oh right, you are one of the elders of the Sanctuary. But that's not important right now. I want to ask you about something. Do you know of a monster that looks like a shadow?"

"Shadow?" Hesperides' voice suddenly rose, and Hao Ren thought he detected a hint of nervousness in her tone.

"To be precise, it's something that parasitizes shadows. Two people on our side have been attacked, and that thing…" Vivian told her about the situation here and described the form of the shadow in detail. "That's the thing. It should be from our era. Do you have any memory of it?"

"You're talking about the Chaos Shadows!" Hesperides' tone was indeed not right. "I didn't expect them to run over to your side. Who was attacked? How are they doing now? Is it under control?"

"The shadow has been dealt with, but it took some effort," Vivian heard a hint of something in Hesperides' tone. "You said they 'ran over to my side'? Does that mean you've discovered something on your side as well?"

Hesperides lowered her voice, as if she was in a public place and wanted to prevent unrelated people from hearing this information: "The ancient ones were just discussing this matter in a meeting. The Anka-Tello family in South America seems to be in trouble… Are you interested in this matter? If so, you'd better come to the Athens Sanctuary in person. This matter isn't simple. Many ancient families have sent representatives."

Vivian originally wanted to mention that she might have some connection with those shadows, but after hearing Hesperides' last words, she swallowed her words and agreed readily: "Okay, we'll go over immediately."

After hanging up the phone, she muttered to herself thoughtfully: "So it's the Anka-Tello family… I knew I remembered that their name had 'tello' in it."

"Alright, alright, you can only remember one word, so don't keep emphasizing it," Hao Ren waved his hand to let Vivian skip the topic. "Then let's set off for Athens immediately. Old Wang, you and your daughter should come with us. You've had contact with that kind of shadow, so you have some experience. The rest of you stay at home… Lily, you don't need to raise your hand. I know to bring you along."

The Data Terminal had recorded the coordinates of Athens, so it didn't take much effort for the group to go to Hesperides' side. After a simple preparation, Hao Ren, Vivian, Lily, and Izaak and his daughter stepped into the portal to Athens.

The group arrived at Hesperides' antique shop near the entrance of the Sanctuary. As expected, there were no outsiders around. Hao Ren noticed that the entire street on both sides of the shop was shrouded in a strange fog, and the buildings beside the road looked hazy and swaying in the fog. It seemed that Hesperides had activated some kind of setting to drive away idlers, and the Sanctuary gate was already closed.

"You came so fast?" Hesperides' voice drew Hao Ren's attention back. The "Twilight Goddess" seemed to have sensed someone appearing in her magical detection area. Accompanied by an orange light, she suddenly emerged from the fog, looking at Vivian and the others with surprise. "I thought you wouldn't be here until tomorrow at least."

Vivian stepped forward to greet her old friend and explained slightly: "We teleported directly here. But that's not important right now, is the Sanctuary already under martial law? Is the situation that serious?"

Hesperides frowned and nodded slightly: "The situation is complicated. Let's go in and talk. Two old guys just arrived, and the people inside are starting the second round of discussion."

As she spoke, she opened the special path leading to the Shadow Interlayer, but before Hao Ren and his group were about to enter, she stopped them: "Wait a moment, I need to check everyone… your shadows."

As Hesperides spoke, she carefully observed the shadows behind Hao Ren and his group. Her attitude was reminiscent of the quarantine personnel responsible for guarding the quarantine area after the outbreak of a viral crisis. Seeing her cautious attitude, Vivian couldn't help but ask: "Has a shadow already infiltrated the Sanctuary?"

"It was destroyed in the Shadow Interlayer, but it almost ran in," Hesperides said casually. "Alright, let's go in."

The group was finally released, and under Hesperides' guidance, they crossed the heavily guarded Shadow Interlayer and finally arrived at the familiar Athens Sanctuary after walking for a long time.

This mysterious city located in another dimension was severely damaged by the Demon Hunter attack a year ago, and the traces of that battle could still be seen today. The Behemoth Shadow Demon Castle on one side of the city was still in ruins. Hesperia's maddened troops completely destroyed the place with high-altitude bombing that day. Since the Shadow Demons had been jointly expelled from this Sanctuary, no one bothered to rebuild the castle. And in the half-destroyed area around the former Behemoth family territory, some new flags could be seen fluttering high. Hao Ren didn't recognize those flags, but he could still imagine what they meant:

The small forces in the Shadow Sanctuary should have completed their reorganization and division of territories.

However, the group didn't have much of a chance to take a good look at the Sanctuary's reconstruction. Hesperides seemed to be in a hurry, and she quickly led everyone to a large council hall in the center of the city.

"This council hall was rebuilt after the Demon Hunter attack," Hesperides briefly introduced the meeting place. "Behemoth's betrayal made several families realize the serious problem of internal divisions in the Sanctuary, so they rebuilt this council hall and re-established contact between the various family forces, at least in form. Today, the heads of several major families are here, as well as representatives from other Sanctuaries, Vivian. Some of them are your old friends."

Vivian scratched her head: "Is that so… Uh, I probably won't remember many of them."

Hesperides knew about Vivian's forgetful nature, so she didn't say much, but directly opened the door of the council hall.

As soon as the door opened, Hao Ren heard a loud voice inside: "… We must check the situation. The Anka-Tello family's incident must be related to the Demon Hunters!"

Hao Ren and Vivian exchanged a subconscious glance and immediately stepped inside.

The semi-circular council hall was brightly lit, looking grand and spacious, but only a dozen people were seated around the central round table. When Vivian and the others suddenly barged in, these dozen people were discussing something. They looked up in surprise at the commotion, and then a joyful voice rang out first: "Vivian-sama, you've come to see me!?"

Vivian shuddered and subconsciously took two steps back: "Crap… I forgot this brat is also the head of a major family."