At the crack of dawn, while Artoria was still in a deep slumber, she was suddenly attacked with a wake-up call.
"Get up, quick!"
"What's going on... I stayed up late last night working on the assembly line factory. I'm exhausted... I just got to sleep... Can I have another hour?"
By the time she was dragged out of bed by Bavanxi, Artoria was still half-asleep, her eyes barely open and struggling to fully wake up.
It wasn't until Bavanxi whispered in her ear that Artoria suddenly snapped awake. She immediately sprang to her feet, feeling fully energized:
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
"Good, good!" Bavanxi, pleased with Artoria's quick response, nodded eagerly, "In that case, hurry up and grab the Palu spheres, let's go capture Guinevere!"
However, upon hearing this, Artoria's expression suddenly froze.
"? What's wrong?" Bavanxi noticed something was off and asked.
"Our assembly line factory isn't finished yet," Artoria said. "It's incomplete. How am I supposed to make Palu spheres for you? Through imagination?"
"Wait, what? Why isn't it done yet?" Bavanxi asked, panicking. "You said it would be done today!"
"That's assuming you helped me!" Artoria protested, feeling wronged. "You were nowhere to be found last night, so how was I supposed to finish it?"
"So you're blaming me?" Bavanxi said angrily. "If I hadn't been running around all of Edinburgh gathering intel, would you have known Guinevere was going hunting today with Nocknalay?"
"No, but we agreed earlier that you'd assist me so I could finish it sooner!" Artoria sighed. Before Bavanxi could react, she quickly added,
"Alright! We've argued enough. Let's not fight today, alright? Time's tight, we'll go with Plan B if we have to!"
"Plan B?" Bavanxi blinked. "When did we have a Plan B?"
"Stop interrupting, I just thought of it. Is that okay?" Artoria put her hands on her hips and spoke confidently. "Remember, Mewrion gave Nocknalay an assembly line factory? Why go through all the trouble to make one ourselves?"
"We'll sneak over to where that assembly line factory is, and just use it to make some Palu spheres!"
.............................
Meanwhile, unaware of Artoria and Bavanxi's Plan B, Guinevere and Nocknalay had already left Edinburgh early that morning and headed to the eastern hills to find suitable prey.
"By the way, Guinevere, you're from the Pan-Human History, right?"
While riding on a fairy horse, Nocknalay lightly tapped it to slow down and approached Guinevere, asking,
"Uh... how did you know that?"
Guinevere responded, surprised.
Although he knew Nocknalay had gathered this information from multiple simulations, he still decided to play along, maintaining his professional demeanor.
"That's something you don't need to know. I am the Queen of Edinburgh, so I naturally know many secrets you don't."
Nocknalay offered a vague excuse and suddenly pulled out a blue crystal ball, holding it up to Guinevere.
"I heard from Mewrion that you recognized the Palu sphere at a glance, and you know how to use and what it's for. Is that correct?"
"Yes, that's correct." Guinevere nodded. "What's the issue?"
"The problem lies here," Nocknalay said seriously. "I've never heard any rumors about Palu spheres in the Fairy Kingdom... Could this so-called Palu sphere be a technological product from your Pan-Human History?"
"Well... that's a bit hard to explain," Guinevere frowned and said. "In Pan-Human History, I don't think there was such a thing as Palu spheres, nor any technology for them... But if you ask where the Palu spheres came from, I can say they definitely originate from Pan-Human History."
"What do you mean?" Nocknalay asked, confused.
"How do I put this?" Guinevere rubbed his head, trying to find the right words. "Palu spheres are actually a fictional technology from Pan-Human History, kind of like those unverifiable legends or stories that spread around taverns. You must have some similar legends in Edinburgh, right?"
"Indeed," Nocknalay nodded. "One famous legend I know is about a wolf-headed immortal demon that roamed nearby, feeding on fairies. It was said to have died after mistakenly drinking holy water, but its ghost still haunts the northern parts of Britain."
"There's such a story?" Guinevere raised an eyebrow. "Sounds pretty scary."
"Yes, it was a story the old fairies made up to scare young ones from wandering into the wilderness," Nocknalay explained.
"Well, although the purpose was different, it's the same idea, just made-up stories for a reason... Palu spheres are like that."
Guinevere scratched his head and continued,
"Even though they don't exist, they were indeed invented by humans from Pan-Human History. In other words, while there's no Palu sphere in Pan-Human History, its origin definitely comes from there."
"So, Guinevere, do you think it's possible that Palu spheres were once something both the Pan-Human History and the Fairy Kingdom shared, and that long ago, someone might have actually seen one? However, after passing it down, it was eventually dismissed as a myth?"
Nocknalay pondered for a moment before asking Guinevere.
"Well... if it's another kind of object, then yes, that's possible... but Palu spheres definitely don't fall into that category."
Guinevere was certain.
"I'm sure Palu spheres are purely a human invention, but in the real world, they don't exist."
Guinevere knew this for sure, considering the Palu spheres were a creation from a game in his Earth, and obviously didn't exist in reality. The system that controls multiple universes likely made them up.
Of course, he couldn't reveal this to Nocknalay.
He thought for a moment before saying,
"However, considering that many times, things born from fantasy can be elevated to divine spirits, it's understandable for something fictional to manifest with some external influence... But the origin, I'm sure, still lies in Pan-Human History."
"If that's the case... that's strange."
Nocknalay touched her chin, seemingly deep in thought.
"What's strange about it?" Guinevere asked, puzzled.
"Before I answer that, I have another question," Nocknalay said, taking another green Palu sphere out of her pocket. She placed both the blue and green spheres in front of Guinevere and asked,
"Do you know, when the workers use the Palu sphere factory, they've found that if they add more materials into the same Palu sphere, sometimes it will result in a new Palu sphere with a completely different color than the previous ones? Is that something you're aware of?"
"Yes," Guinevere nodded. "In our... uh, fantasy world, if you add more materials, you can indeed create Palu spheres of different levels, and their colors change according to the level."
"I see," Nocknalay said, nodding in understanding. "I saw that the instructions on the assembly line factory mention it can make 'Normal', 'Advanced', 'Superior', and 'Special' level Palu spheres. Among these, is there a purple Palu sphere?"
"No, there isn't," Guinevere shook his head. "If I'm not mistaken, the four levels of Palu spheres are blue, green, yellow, and red."
"Really?" Nocknalay blinked in surprise. "No purple Palu sphere?"
"There is one, but the regular Palu sphere factory can't make it," Guinevere replied. "There are six levels of Palu spheres in total. To make higher-level ones, you need a more advanced Palu sphere factory II, which can make pink Master-level Palu spheres and purple Legendary-level Palu spheres."
"Ah, I see," Nocknalay nodded thoughtfully.
"So, what's all this about?"
Guinevere was slightly curious about her reaction and asked.
"...Look at this."
After thinking for a moment, Nocknalay reached into her pocket again, pulled out another spherical object, and placed it in front of Guinevere.
As soon as Guinevere saw it, his eyes widened.
The sphere's appearance, especially the metal patterns wrapped around the crystal, was identical to the Palu sphere in Nocknalay's other hand. The only difference was the color.
It was a purple Legendary Palu sphere!
"This object was left behind by the former Queen Mab," Nocknalay said, admiring the sphere in her hand. "It's said to be something given to Mab by Yuser, the greatest human knight of Britain, who almost became the King of Britain. I was puzzled about this strange sphere until I saw the actual Palu sphere."
She poked the purple Palu sphere again and said,
"If what you say is true, Guinevere, and Palu spheres come from Pan-Human History... does this mean that the legendary knight Yuser, who was the strongest human, was also a visitor from Pan-Human History?"