Xyrin Empire
Chapter 509: Charger

Chapter 509: Chapter 509: Charger

"Brother Xin Chun might not grant eternal life, but carrying Little Dingdang definitely revives you full health right on the spot; there’s no doubt about it."

"Although her average combat strength lingers below five, and even in a rage state where her attack power increases by twenty percent, her combat strength is still a pitiful six, Little Dingdang still possesses strengths far beyond ours."

"The Life Goddess is immortal."

"Because in the attribute list of a Life Goddess, there is no such state as ’death’!"

"You can only cause a shift in a Life Goddess’s Life Force; ’killing’ her merely leads to her resurrection. She can resurrect in any temple, in the Divine Realm, next to any believer, or even resurrect at full health right on the spot. This rule is as unbreakable as the conservation of energy law in a universe not open to modifications, it is said that only the Main God of the Star Domain Divine Realm and the Father God of even higher rank have the power to bestow death upon a Life Goddess. However, it seems the Father God is an unprecedented lover of his daughters, and, considering all Life Goddesses as his own, would absolutely not allow his daughters to be harmed, hence the casualty rate of Life Goddesses has always been zero."

"Perhaps, to express fairness, the combat strength of each Life Goddess has never exceeded five to six..."

"With such an immortal Little Goddess in my possession, completely sheltered by her Divine Power, even if I can’t achieve the same absolute immortality, dealing with a quirky giant moon should be no problem at all. My own energy resistance combined with Dingdang’s Divine Shield should be sufficient to counter any potential energy storms from the moon’s core. Even in the worst-case scenario, should the giant moon explode suddenly and terminate me, Little One could resurrect me in an instant. Although this process seems bizarre, at least I can be assured that I most likely won’t actually perish inside it."

"Why did I suddenly think of dragging a corpse into this bizarre situation?"

"If that’s really the case... dammit, wouldn’t I die too gloriously?!"

"Admittedly, this plan isn’t all that great, and Sandora would absolutely not accept me really going through ’nine deaths without extinction.’ The current situation is urgent to the extreme; I can’t think of another plan, unless we’re prepared to just watch this world get destroyed - and moreover, destroyed by the discarded creations of the Xyrin Empire."

"Even the usually reliable creations of Xyrin can fail. The original function of the giant moon was to control the nexus of Shadow Space and its energy components (Heaven knows what needs such a degree of energy!). But after losing control of that space, it has steadily deteriorated and now it may have reached the limits of its structural integrity. Medea once saw a Blue Moon while summoning Sasaki, but then it merely changed color and leaked a small amount of Ghost Energy into the magic power of the summoning ritual, causing Sasaki’s ’mutation’ and had a trivial energy shift. But this time, the Blue Moon melted a quarter of the Earth’s crust, and the whole giant moon expanded, its destruction now seems imminent."

"Based on data observed by Avalon and the last information sent back by the sensors we left on the ground, Taville has built a rudimentary mathematical model, indicating that the internal collapse of the giant moon has reached a critical point. At most, after two more transitions between Blue Moon and Red Moon, its core’s energy intensity will surpass the tolerable limit of any Xyrin creation, possibly even forming a Void Channel, exposing this world completely to the Void Plane, rendering everything beyond remedy. Therefore, we must seize the opportunity during the next transformation to Red Moon to shut it down."

"That means entering inside it."

"No matter what purpose this artificial celestial body was originally designed for, its control center can only be at the core. My task is to break in during the brief calm of the Red Moon, use my Special Ability to locate the moon’s Energy Furnace and shut it down from inside, or maybe it’s a Super-Space Ghost Energy Abyss whose essence is on the Void Plane, but the output connects to the Main Material Plane. The second possibility seems more likely, though honestly, I’d rather that the reactor is placed inside the giant moon; that would make operation much simpler."

"Sandora has urgently gathered a fleet of Special Type Warships from Shadow City and the Kuiper Belt invisible bases into the Inner World. These spaceships vary in tonnage, from the smallest of countless Expedition Class Raid Ships to the three largest Eternal Level Flagships, truly a mixed compilation fleet. They are here not to provide their firepower but because these modified Special Type Warships are all equipped with the same device: Energy Raiders."

"Ever since Energy Raiders demonstrated their formidable defensive and counterattack abilities against energy attacks in the Kepulu Star Zone, Taville has never ceased improving them. Currently, Energy Raiders are still experimental, but they have already begun to demonstrate their practical value on small spaceships, even Expedition Class Raid Ships can be equipped."

"These spaceships have formed a closely calculated array outside the giant moon, absorbing Ghost Energy scattered about the Blue Moon, doing everything possible to lower the accumulated energy pressure on its surface. This process must be handled carefully; the stability of the giant moon is decreasing every second, and if the pace of energy absorption by the Energy Raiders is mismanaged, it could disrupt the fragile balance of energy on the surface of the giant moon, turning it into a balloon that bursts with a ’pop,’ and the Imperial Fleet would be dust."

To ensure that the Giant Moon could maintain its red state for a longer and more stable duration, it was proven that the energy sea on the Red Moon’s surface was a product of the reverse Ghost Energy Wave form. If we could halve the energy intensity of the Blue Moon, the energy of the Red Moon would also be reduced by half, and its duration and stability would double. This was the most optimistic estimate, but it was certain that new energy was still being generated inside the Giant Moon. The actual effectiveness of this was something even Taville wouldn’t dare confirm.

Still, it was better than doing nothing.

Along with the mixed fleet that had been transferred here, there was also the Imperial Admiral’s Interstellar Coalition Flagship, which had played a significant role in the Kepulu campaign. The enormous energy absorbed from the surface of the Giant Moon needed an outlet. Even the fleet of the Xyrin Empire, facing a celestial body of energy created with the highest Xyrin technology and clearly a level higher, would find it overwhelming to dissipate its energy. The role of the Imperial Admiral now was that of an energy release antenna. As an advanced command ship, its hundreds of kilometers long hull acted as a matrix that could coordinate the energy fields of all friendly forces in the entire war zone. With a slight adjustment, it could remotely control the energy absorbed by the mixed fleet and distribute it outwards. Some of this free energy was transported via super-space to Shadow City, Kuiper Belt Stealth Bases, Avalon, and Visca Barrier Star, but still, a small part could only be discarded into the Void, a massive waste that caused Qianqian, commanding (or adding chaos?) energy reception in Shadow City, to jump anxiously up and down – my Qianqian was usually very thrifty!

Composed of an entire fleet, a huge energy release array formed around the Giant Moon shimmered faintly in the dim space of the Inner World, looking like a swarm of fireflies bunched into a spherical shape. Infinite Ghost Energy was collected from the surface of Blue Moon and released in an extremely precise manner. If viewed from afar, most people’s first impression would not be of the fleet suppressing the moon, but rather, the fleet gathering next to the moon, lining up to charge.

This also gradually became our thought: Could this amazingly energetic artificial celestial body’s original function be as a similar type of energy socket?

This suspicion was not unfounded. Ever since it came into our view, the Red Moon had always played the role of an energy source. It could provide energy for Medea’s summoning ritual, as well as for the entire Roman Spirit Army, and now, it temporarily served as the Imperial Fleet’s charging station. Researchers’ analyses indicated that the Giant Moon could supply energy to any unit in the entire Inner World, and this flux limit was almost incalculable. Perhaps this was the original purpose of the Empire in creating this celestial body?

On the bridge within the core area of the Imperial Admiral, Imperial leaders were also very seriously discussing this issue—although Sandora kept eating chips and bags, although Little Baobao endlessly chattered with her new pet Little Jin, who was constantly grimacing and sighing, although Pandora and Visca were secretly poking each other’s ticklish flesh, although Tsuruya, using Bailey’s premium handheld computer, chatted about interstellar expeditions with her classmates far away in Academy City, although...

But I really want to say, we did start off discussing the issue seriously.

"Who would have thought, the Empire of old could create such an awe-inspiring creation," looking at the holographic projection of the Giant Moon below the bridge, which was continually expanding and contracting, Taville spoke with much emotion, "Just the energy leaked is already enough to power the entire Empire fleet, and even cross time and space to supply energy to three Imperial bases and one Planet Battleship, and still, there is surplus. If it were controllable, what a terrifying output of energy this artificial celestial body could offer us!"

"But it isn’t controllable—Taville, is it safe for our fleet to collect energy at this distance?" Looking at the holographic projection, where the distant cosmic background had spaceships’ engines emitting light, forming twinkling blue-white points, I remembered the terrifying moment when Blue Moon suddenly erupted, a survey ship’s shields almost depleted within just a few minutes under the moonlight from 380,000 kilometers away, and now we were charging at less than 200,000 kilometers from Blue Moon. Scientists are truly mad.

"Scientific balance seems fragile, but precise calculations can make everything indestructible," Taville said proudly. "My liege, please trust my calculations."

I nodded, "Okay, how long till Red Moon appears?"

"Theoretically, half an hour later, the Giant Moon will enter the next hibernation period. You needn’t rush to leave, as this hibernation will last at least four days. We have ample time."

"That’s not what I meant," I shook my head, then turned my head towards a direction behind the bridge and bellowed with great force, "Ilya! Rin! Saber, Emiya, Red A, Sasaki Lancer, Sakura Medea, Ge Mu Medusa, Berserker... Mother of all—I’m suffocating... all of you come out! I know you’re eavesdropping!"

"Director brother, you have such great lung capacity!"

As Tsuruya lifted her head from the fun of Weibo and heaped praises on me before lowering her head to continue giggling foolishly.

Is that really something you need to compliment?

"Ah, Big Brother found me!" Ilya exclaimed dramatically, emerging from her hiding spot and immediately darting over like a cheerful little bird. Then, two dark shadows swooshed from the side, perfectly coordinated, and blocked the silver-haired loli mid-pounce, letting out a feisty cry together. Ilya yelped as she was thrown back.

Pandora and Visca’s big brother protection operation was a success once again!

"You guys have been playing on my warship all day. If you’re done with the tour, hurry and go back." I put on a stern face but couldn’t help patting the sulking Ilya on her head, then flicked a loitering Tohsaka back as I spoke seriously.

"Don’t be like that~~~" Ilya protested, "Does Big Brother find us annoying? But the ship is so big, we can find a place that won’t disturb you guys, and this place is so amazing, Ilya hasn’t had enough fun yet~~~"

"An Imperial Warship is not a playground," I said with utter seriousness, my expression underlined by the crunchy sounds of Sandora eating chips and Tsuruya’s silly laughter in the background, "Ahem, theoretically, it’s not a playground!"

Ilya pouted, clearly wanting to say more, but thankfully Emiya understood the bigger picture and nodded, "It seems you guys have some action planned, alright then, we’ll wait outside for your good news."

"Hmph, Emiya is such a big dummy!" With a thump, Ilya kicked Emiya unapologetically on the shin.

Emiya rolled on the floor, clutching his leg.

"Ilya, stop being petulant," Saber held the little girl’s head, then turned her turquoise eyes to me, "Chen, I know you’re trying to save the world we live in. As merely a king of a human nation, I may not be able to participate, but as a friend, please accept my respect and blessings—I will wait for your triumphant return!"

Ilya threw a disgruntled look at the serious and earnest Altoria, but when she was about to lift her foot again, she noticed the iron boots on the other’s calves and soon lost her spirit.

Minutes later, I watched as a group of magicians and heroic spirits who had spent the whole day touring the flagship disappeared into the transporter’s glow, then my expression turned solemn.

"Notify Avalon to lock down this shadow space. No travels from the outer world to the inner world are allowed for the next forty-eight hours. The energy suppression fleet will begin synchronized withdrawal, energy raiders prepare to reduce output, Taville, you temporarily take control of all energy raiders, let the Xyrin Hosts direct spare computing power to analyze the structure of the Giant Moon. As much as it’s a magnificent historical relic, let’s gather as much data on it as we can before it’s ruined."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Taville responded loudly.

"Prepare my shuttle, and then command the flagship to withdraw. There’s no use in you guys staying here," I instructed while ruffling Tsuruya’s head who was drawing close, "Don’t worry, it’s just a small adventure."

Tsuruya blinked, "Then you must come back quickly!"

"Don’t worry, Dingdang is here!" a tiny head poked out of my shirt pocket and confidently exclaimed.

The Imperial Fleet had gradually receded, leaving only a patch of large and small light spots in the visual range. Even the Imperial Admiral from this position looked no more than a blurry glowing cross. The inside of the single-person shuttle darkened, the only light was the blue-white glow from the moon’s surface, making it feel like I was flying toward a blue sun.

This blue light no longer held terrifying power. Taville’s calculations were flawless, the energy readings from the Giant Moon had decreased, the ghost energy glows at this distance were merely harmless light.

"How beautiful..." Dingdang marveled softly from my collar.

This little thing’s sense of beauty was truly peculiar.

To me, the surface of the Giant Moon might be described as majestic, but definitely not beautiful. Despite the nearly ten-thousand-kilometer distance, the energy whirlwinds, due to their sheer scale and my enhanced vision, still appeared startlingly clear before my eyes.

It really looked like a storm at sea, with high-density ghost energy with plasma properties stirring up waves tens of kilometers high in violent reactions. Giant vortexes stretched for hundreds of kilometers, and powerful winds formed by the energy on the surface of the Giant Moon gouged out vast valleys while large-scale ghost energy lightning raced throughout these dramatic reactions, each bolt powerful enough to pierce through the energy shields of small warships.

The most terrifying energy device ever created by the Empire was flaunting its boundless power. But as per Taville’s calculations, it was now starting to settle down.

Orange patches began to emerge from the deep blue sea, the earth-shattering waves getting weaker each time, and the surface of the Giant Moon was gradually becoming calmer, while the remote sensing readings from the shuttle pushed the theoretical safety distances further forward.

"Sandora, this is the last contact, it has entered a calm period, I’m about to land."

"Mm, Ah Jun, be careful."

After cutting off communication with the mother ship and tapping Little One at my chest who signaled readiness, I pressed forcefully on the crystal plate of the console.

...

The spaceship didn’t move...

Really? At such a historically significant moment, you’re giving me this blooper?

"Ah Jun, the spaceship hasn’t moved," said Dingdang puzzled, "Instruction manual, instruction manual~~~"

Ahem, anyhow, after finding the instruction manual and discussing it with Little One for a while, we eventually resolved this awkward issue: open the hatch, and just jump down.

Such shame, a lifetime of shame!

As I hurtled towards the orange world of the moon’s surface, I let out a long scream, a mix of frustration and exclamation.

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