Xyrin Empire
Chapter 469: Growing Up, and Trouble Comes

Chapter 469: Chapter 469: Growing Up, and Trouble Comes

Before, I’d been pondering what kind of surprise Visca and Pandora had prepared for me that could provoke such unusual behavior from the two girls today. I conjured up thoughts of a new world-domination plan, a genocidal weapon that could turn all of humanity into lolis in one second, a generator capable of firing Ultraman Beams at an average rate of three hundred times per minute... Okay, I admit that the bizarre scene before me had stimulated me into a bit of a verbal frenzy.

Visca and Pandora, they were... fusing...

Those with dirty minds, go commit seppuku to apologize to the world!

Although, initially, I didn’t think straight either...

The two sisters were now nearly one-third merged into each other’s bodies. The point of contact between their skins seemed to transform into something energy-like, blurring into a fuzzy orb of light amidst mysterious ripples. As Visca and Pandora continued to draw closer to each other, their physical forms gradually diminished, while that vaguely humanoid orb of light was growing rapidly.

The whole process lasted for about a minute. It might not seem long, but it felt like hours to me.

Even though, judging by Visca and Pandora’s prior experiments, this fusion was already successfully tested and carried no danger, I couldn’t dispel the worry in my heart. No matter what, the spectacle before me was incredibly eerie. I had never heard of any Xyrin Apostle unit chanting something as cringeworthy as "I’ll form the head!" in battle... Okay, I just went off-track again, decidedly.

A minute later, the fusion was complete. Visca and Pandora had completely disappeared from my sight. In their stead, an approximately two-meter tall humanoid form made of light, constantly twisting and stretching, stood in their place. It looked like a poorly made doll, with facial features and limbs indistinguishable.

"Big brother, big brother, you better watch closely, okay!"

Visca’s voice resonated directly in my mind, and then that humanoid light form began to tremble.

It started to shrink slowly. The ethereal figure solidified during the compression, its once indistinct white surface developed. Colors emerged, which then reconstructed into soft, fair skin and facial features. "Its" limbs became defined, slender and graceful, clearly those of a girl’s. And following the completion of the limbs’ materialization was the face, sporting a slight pride mixed with a joyful innocence. That face was incredibly familiar—Pandora... no, wait, it seemed more like Visca judging by the vivid expression, but... it also didn’t quite look like Visca.

This phase was much quicker than the sisters merging into a light orb, taking less than ten seconds. The vague shadows vanished, and in their place stood a tall girl, leaning toward me with a bright, cheerful smile.

"Brother~~~"

She had the exact same appearance as Pandora Visca but possessed a mature charm that the two girls could never muster. The happy girl approached with a giggle, sweetly calling out in a voice that sounded a bit strange. It was as if two voices overlapped almost simultaneously, but if you tried to discern them, you’d simply think it was her voice being magnetic.

This miraculous scene left me somewhat dazed, but her voice served as the perfect jolt to my jumbled thoughts. However, as I regained my bearings, my first action wasn’t to respond to the girl’s open arms seeking a hug. Instead, I vehemently delivered a head knock: "...Put on some clothes first..."

The tall (using this word on the Shorty sisters is no easy feat, worth repeating twice) girl seemed to wake from a dream, glanced down at herself, and exclaimed, "Whoa!"

Didn’t you two notice during your experiments that you were clothesless after fusing?! You’re lucky you found a secluded spot; otherwise, you would’ve been super embarrassed in that half minute, you know?!

"Anyway, it’s no big deal if brother sees——right, stupid sister?"

The girl puffed her cheeks, saying this very earnestly. This time, it was genuinely Visca’s voice. Although she talked big, a stream of green data soon swept over her body, and she slipped into a snug, silver-white battle suit.

Phew... that was close. The shock just now was too sudden; I almost lost it in front of my younger sister——and it wasn’t like Pandora and Visca’s flat-chested looks at all. It was a girl who had genuinely matured physically, even warranting the description of a mature lady! The real killer was not just that she had a more voluptuous figure than Big Sister but also wore Pandora’s face, a mature physique combined with an eternal childlike smile... Ah, can’t think anymore about this.

"Alright, now tell me, what’s going on here?"

Composing my thoughts and pushing all jumbled ideas back, I put on a seemingly serious face and looked at the charmingly smiling girl in front of me. But the curiosity in my tone was something I just couldn’t hide—what exactly had Pandora and Visca been researching?

"We merged into one," the girl said in a very calm tone, still with that voice that sounded like a composite tone. And from the intonation, I couldn’t distinguish whether this was Pandora’s way of speaking or Visca’s wording habits, "Monina and Yelsen’s twin contract inspired us. Both from different Divine Systems of the Divine Race, they used a twin contract to fuse parts of their souls together, creating a bond firmer than that of kin. We’ve also been studying similar abilities because we are fundamentally identical entities, from our bodily structures to our soul compositions, even closer to each other than Asida and Asidora..."

"So, this is what you see now, our new form."

The girl in front of me briefly explained the origin of this fused form and then smiled, showing an expression as if expecting praise.

"Uh... Ah..." I nodded confusedly. Pandora and Visca had secretly concocted such an incredible thing, even keeping it from Taville, the super-research freak. I had no idea what these two little ones wanted to do, but now it seemed more pressing to understand something else, "I get that you’ve merged, but how should I address this... this fused form of yours? It seems like a distinct personality. Pandora? Visca? Or some other name?"

"We are one now," the girl blinked, her expression a blend of tranquil and lively, a mix that didn’t belong to either Pandora or Visca but rather seemed like a merged manifestation of their dynamic and static personalities, "Pandora took the lead in the fusion, responsible for the bodily composition, whereas Visca provided support, ensuring unity in spirit. Pandora or Visca, both are us, but if brother needs a specific name, then please brother..."

"The name should include parts of both your names," I immediately engaged my talent for naming, ready to give the girls’ fused state a name that was easy on the ears and memorable, "And since Pandora is the older sister and the lead in the merger, the name should probably focus on Pandora...Hmm, how about Pandogosla?"

With a crack of thunder, as my words ended, the Pandogosla in front of me was thunderstruck, and crisply toasted.

"Brother... maybe just use any name to call us."

"Uh, alright," I scratched my head, it seemed my just-thought-up name wasn’t very popular. Huh, and I thought it was such a good name, "Then what’s the purpose of researching this... fusion ability? It seems like most Xyrin Apostles can’t use it? Is this a unique skill to you sisters?"

"This..." The girl in front of me immediately looked down shyly, showing an embarrassed expression, "Brother, didn’t you notice, we..."

"What?" I heard a few words faintly but wasn’t sure because the voice was too soft, so I asked again. Immediately, the grown-up version of Pandora or Visca showed an even shyer expression.

"Brother, didn’t you notice, we..." she said softly, "we’ve grown taller, right?"

Crack—Boom!

Instant karma! I just got the fused girl in front of me all thunder-roasted with a name, and now it’s my turn to get blasted by Five Thunders!

So, you mean to tell me, these two silly girls went through all that trouble, researched for a long time, even discussed the principles of twin contracts with gods, all to show me in this "secret base" that they had... grown taller!

Just how obsessed are you with your height, damn it!

"Great, you’ve finally grown taller."

With a complicated expression and glittering tears in the corners of my eyes, I reached out and gently patted the head of the "grown-up" Pandora x Visca.

"Besides that, is there nothing else?"

"Yeah, the individual conventional combat ability should have also seen a significant improvement, mainly reflected in the enhancement of Floating Cannons, because in battle one person can now fully unleash their spirit to control firepower... But for high-level combat, like fleet battles in space, the enhancement is not very obvious."

The girl said with an indifferent tone, clearly, in her view, "combat power enhancement" and "growth spurts" were comparable, and the latter was what truly mattered.

If it were the strictly disciplined Pandora, she certainly wouldn’t have shown such an attitude. Unfortunately, half of the personality of the young girl before me came from Visca, who, compared to her sister, was definitely a carefree young lady.

No sooner had I sighed in my heart than a flash of white light shone before my eyes, and as the light gradually faded, the two one-meter-two twins stood in front of me just as before—yes, that’s right, including their hair and the soles of their shoes, they were one meter two!

It turns out that the Fusion Form indeed has a time limit—the whole process only lasted five minutes, you two little dummies!

Visca and Pandora simultaneously looked down at the familiar, and to their chagrin, very close ground, and then both puffed up their cheeks.

"It seems we still need to improve."

Visca clenched her small fists and made a determined gesture in front of her chest. Pandora didn’t speak but bit her lip firmly, and from her fierce gaze, I seemed to read "I will not stop until I achieve my goal" in eight blood-red characters.

"Don’t let Sister Qianqian and the others know, okay?" Just as we were about to go back, Visca suddenly remembered something very important and quickly grabbed my sleeve to call out, "Especially Sister Lin Xue, she’d definitely make fun of us!"

"I got it, I got it." I smiled helplessly. If they went through the trouble to find a "secret base" to research fusion height-increasing skills, that fear of being found out... Well, I guess I still want to make fun of them!

Pandora and Visca had developed the ability to fuse, and although, for the two of them, the greatest significance was to partly realize their ambition to grow taller, it’s undeniable that this also greatly enhanced their combat abilities.

It’s difficult for Leader Level Xyrin Apostles to improve in combat power, whether from their physical structure or soul composition, there isn’t much room for evolution left. Pandora’s power reached General Level millions of years ago, and it remains the same today, according to Taville’s calculations, Pandora’s combat power likely won’t reach Emperor Level—a gap of just one level, but the difference in combat power is like heaven and earth.

And this "super cute? Ultra Yuri Fusion Skill!" seems to offer us a shortcut to super-rank combat... Uh, just ignore that weird thing that slipped in there.

Leading the two little Lolis, who were in high spirits after successfully showing off their growth to their big brother, I returned to the core area of Avalon—the Leaving World Garden, a name Taville chose based on the Avalon weapon system. It must be said, if we disregard its weapon characteristics, the name really is quite apt for this Immortal Realm-like place.

Artemis was sitting on a stone bench next to a path outside of the Garden, waiting for us, while Tsuruya, who seemed to have played herself out, lay sprawled on the grass behind in the shape of a "big character." From afar, as she saw us coming, she couldn’t even stand up, and just waved one hand in our direction to greet us.

Didn’t that girl just exhaust herself trying to save the world?

"Whew... Unicorns really are difficult creatures to handle..."

When I got closer, Tsuruya muttered, squinting her eyes.

Artemis helplessly leaned in and whispered, "She wouldn’t give the unicorn its wages—that is, cookies. Those stubborn gluttons certainly dissented, and so the two of them started butting heads."

"Uh, and what happened?" Knowing the mischievous nature of the fantasy species here, I was truly curious about what exasperating things Tsuruya had done to that uncooperative unicorn.

"Tsuruya has collapsed from exhaustion," Artemis said in all seriousness, "and two unicorns have worked themselves to the point of vomiting blood. Now your dear little sister has been unanimously elected as the new Unicorn Queen by the unicorns in the vicinity."

Should I cry, or should I cry, or should I still cry?

"Ah, by the way, Director Bro," Tsuruya, who was just now listlessly wriggling on the ground, suddenly remembered something, rolled over, and jumped up, with her vitality recovering at a rate that was in no way inferior to Qianqian’s, "Sister Lin Xue has sent a message saying she’s looking for you. She’s waiting for you at the Shadow Base!"

Please be careful of Lin Xue when walking ahead; in case of unfortunate encounters, do not pat or feed her.

For quite some time now, a certain Miss with no morals who was always loitering around for free food and drinks and wrecking ships and canons had become the biggest source of trouble in Shadow City.

Lin Xue has the ability to foresee everything. Conversely, all her actions seem utterly unpredictable to me, like I just don’t get why she suddenly took an interest in the structure of the World Gate, then one day scrambled the world coordinates into an utter mess, or why she suddenly fancied Blood Elf alchemy, then on some day managed to blow the roof off an Alchemy Laboratory in Silver Moon City District to the green belt of the neighboring Dark City. Even though each time, she would declare it was to steer future events in our favor, I still felt that girl was purely adding chaos...

Being a Prophet, she couldn’t possibly be unaware of the consequences her actions might have, right?

So hearing that Lin Xue was stirring up trouble again, and moreover within Shadow City, my first reaction wasn’t joy at the prospect of a beautiful woman asking to meet, but severe headaches.

"Spill it, girl, what trouble is it this time?"

In the office of Shadow City Headquarters, watching Lin Xue shamelessly stuffing the plate of snacks Anwina had prepared for me into her mouth with rapid speed, I struggled to resist the urge to give her a karate chop and asked in a muffled voice.

"Hmmmmm... why did you use ’again’?"

How dare this girl! It wasn’t you who made a total mess in the kitchen by fighting over food with Sandora the day before yesterday, when coming over to play with Qianqian, was it?

Under my piercing, judgmental gaze, Miss Lin finally halted her shameless food snatching, shyly let go of the innocent plate, and moved closer to stuff the remaining half-piece of the snack into my mouth: "Hehe... Anwina’s cooking skills are just too good..."

Then, this scene was caught by Qianqian as she pushed the door and entered.

Once again, I reiterate, Lin Xue, this girl, truly is a troublemaker!

After expending Herculean effort to clear up to Qianqian the reason behind Lin Xue’s "gentle feeding," and after getting the troublemaker Lin Xue to calm down, I felt like I could spit out my three souls and seven spirits from my mouth—it was too horrible. Lin Xue, the trouble aggregator, was too horrible; Qianqian in a jealous state was too terrible; this world, filled with traps designed by a Prophet, was too terrible.

"All right, all right, let’s talk serious business," still savoring the last of her snacks, Lin Xue finally got to the main point of today’s visit, "Based on my observations and confirmed by Dingdang, Saviors, you should get ready to transform and set off..."

"Life, oh life—what unfortunate world has got into trouble this time?" I suddenly realized, the trouble that Lin Xue brought seemed even bigger than I had anticipated. When will this firefighter’s fate ever end? Dingdang, couldn’t you apply to your superiors for a few more assistants?

"I have some good news for you," Lin Xue said, waving her finger, "this time it’s not ’some’ unlucky world that has troubles."

Anyone familiar with this girl’s bad traits should know what’s coming next is the bad news.

Indeed, before I could even crack a smile, Lin Xue hummed, "Hmm, but the bad news is—this time, a bunch of worlds are having problems..." (To be continued...)