Xyrin Empire
Chapter 533 Take Action

Chapter 533: Chapter 533 Take Action

Avalon should indeed be a world unto itself, and the King of Dai Mao should naturally come with a built-in enemy-seeking antenna; both these facts should be etched onto the World Tree as fundamental truths, as I’ve always advocated.

No matter how bustling and lively it gets outside, I’ve never opened Avalon, which is just a "wall" away from Shadow City, to transmigrators. Even when the market outside is jam-packed with smugglers like a farmer’s market, the ultimate sanctuary of the Empire remains as serene as Alaya’s silly, dozing face.

That girl’s naturally dopey look has become an adjective in its own right.

"Ugh, Lord Brother is being mean."

It looks like a certain dopey Angel Sister by my side is still feeling wronged. Is it because she got hit by a stray shot while lying down?

"Alright, alright, it was just a joke. Alaya’s feathers are my treasure; I absolutely won’t let you pluck them, okay?"

Even though this Dull Cat Angel can be a little sulky when aggrieved, comforting her is incredibly easy; you could even use the same approach as with Little Baobao—just don’t expect her IQ to be in double digits.

"Really?" Angel Sister immediately showed a happy expression. This silly girl’s mood is like a switch; anyone with a verbal Skill LEVEL1 or above can flick that switch to "cloudy turning sunny" in a second.

This silly girl has always cherished her feathers, a fact evident from her treating feather-grooming as the next most important thing after sleeping. Sadly, as the Natural 9 with intelligence only slightly above Silvia and Little Baobao in our family, Angel Sister has never succeeded in protecting her feathers. Even Little Baobao has managed to forcibly collect some spoils from her wings repeatedly. It’s fortunate that Alaya is a pure Energy Life; otherwise, with Little Baobao constantly forcing a feather molting on her, this girl would now be a wingless roast wing from New Orleans.

Strolling along a path in the Fairy Forest of Avalon with Alaya (strictly speaking, I was strolling while Alaya floated beside me, two meters off the ground, looking like I was taking an angel for a walk), we made idle chit-chat with occasional gaps in the conversation. The topics were very simple, perhaps even pointlessly discussing whether Pandora or Visca is more likely to grow taller next year—quite impossible questions. I thoroughly enjoyed it, not for anything else, but simply for the enjoyment of watching Alaya’s perpetually dopey reaction when answering—so-called moe points, mere existence that could save the world. Alaya’s natural ditziness has always been my second biggest source of daily entertainment. To be honest, should this girl’s intelligence suddenly increase by a percentage point or two, I fear I’d have to grab a flat pan and knock it back down: She’d be ruining the plot otherwise.

On that note, my top entertainment is to tie a lollipop with a nylon rope and fish for Dingdang off the edge of a table. However, the latter has become smart lately, always biting through the rope before running off with the lollipop. Of course, given that Little Thing still hasn’t realized how annoying it is to cooperate with my "fishing for Goddess" game, we can see that being smart is only a relative term.

"Hmm, according to Artemis, this should be the usual gathering place for that bunch."

We stopped in a clearing in the forest, with the twinkling light of Fairy Lake just visible not far away. Within my nearest Perception Zone, an Energy reaction was rapidly approaching.

"Hey, Medusa, what are you up to lately, cosplaying Cai Baoguan?"

With a curious expression on my face, I watched a certain refreshing big sister who had just leaped from the distant trees and more than once used her chains as a transportation tool, and felt a deep sense of egg-aching. Then I called out from a distance.

I know you’re quite agile. I know you’re skilled at acrobatics. I know your figure is very suitable for this kind of benefit show. But please, can you travel in a normal way when it’s not showtime?

With a "plop," the purple-haired Heroic Spirit who had just leaped from a tree, attempting a difficulty 10.0 free-body forward-leaning aerial turn ninety-nine and a half spins, arrived at my feet magnificently and enthusiastically kissed my shoes in a prostrate greeting. Clearly, this Heroic Spirit Girl, who had been successfully corrupted by Bubbles, knew what Cai Baoguan was—under the guise of a triple jump boundary.

For the first time, I realized that the girl who was always like a solitary gourd, playing games alone or occasionally sticking with Sakura who came to Avalon to test the "Crystal Saint Mother" components, had her moments of being cute.

Rider made a stunning landing and lay sprawled on the ground for two or three seconds, seemingly considering playing dead, but eventually, she got up stiffly, standing before me with embarrassment written all over her face.

"Yo, Medusa."

"Hi... boss."

"That was a nice move just now."

I thought about it and finally managed to squeeze out that comment.

Medusa almost cried out, "Boss, please spare me..."

"Alright, alright, I didn’t see anything just now, including that ’wild goose falling onto the flat sand’ move—Are those guys who just hang around all day there?"

"Um," the purple-haired Heroic Spirit blinked anxiously, troubled over whether to ignore my recent "wild goose falling onto the flat sand" remark, then she pointed towards Fairy Lake, "They’re over there, but only some of them, do you want to gather everyone?"

"No need, I’m just heading over to see what a day in the life of a Heroic Spirit is like."

I waved my hand and led Alaya forward; Medusa blinked helplessly and followed suit. But she’d only taken two steps when she let out a low exclamation, "Ah! My game console!"

Who told you to hang that thing on your chest? When you tumbled down like a wild goose, facing the dual impact of 88B and 57kg, what chance does a game console stand?

Well, it met a fitting end.

Thinking this, I couldn’t help but sneak a glance at Rider, looking depressed behind me, and maliciously wondered when this well-endowed lady would realize it wasn’t just her game console that had taken a hit in the fall, but also her 88B. Surely it hadn’t flattened, had it?

Uh... cough cough, I need to behave.

I had no choice, after returning home and living with Qianqian and Big Sister, I naturally couldn’t get too involved with Sandora; otherwise, it would be too unfair to Qianqian, who had tolerated me and Sandora with great generosity (or maybe just because she was soft-hearted?), but my honeymoon with Sandora wasn’t over yet... Not being a scumbag like Cheng was making me a bit hot under the collar these days.

Rider, who was exceptionally skilled in perception, noticed my attention immediately and lifted her head, "Is there a problem, boss?"

"Uh, no," I said, putting on a serious facade, "just asking how you’re adapting to living here? How’s your new life?"

"Ah, speaking of that, I really should thank you," Rider immediately showed a happy smile, "As a Heroic Spirit, countless years have passed, and I thought that’s just how things were going to be, but I never imagined that Heroic Spirits could live in this way. This place reminds me of the legends of Eternal Paradise. If possible, I’d really like to persuade Sakura to come live here too since she has the qualifications to enter... Ah, sorry, that kind of talk is pretty lacking in fighting spirit, huh?"

I chuckled nonchalantly, feeling indifferent to her self-deprecating remark about lacking ambition. In my mind, Heroic Spirits were a bunch of rather tragic creatures. Though they had illustrious titles, in reality, they were just a group of poor souls bound by unfair labor agreements that forbade them from resigning and forced them to obey unconditionally. The World Suppression Force might sound gloriously radiant, but from an ethical standpoint, it couldn’t even compare with Dingdang’s proper department level (honestly, I couldn’t imagine how the frustrated gods would categorize their levels). Anyone working under Suppression Force was basically a grunt; as long as the Earth didn’t crumble, there would be no rest. Missions were either to save the world or destroy humanity, with personal life reduced to sitting in the Heroic Spirit Hall waiting to grow hair or amusing oneself with memories of past glories. Not even visiting each other was allowed—who would fancy such a work environment? And how could it compare with my Avalon?

Ever since my very first day on the job, I’d been nothing but on vacation. One look at this bunch, as giddy as if on a picnic, would tell you just how degenerate Dingdang’s side of the Heroic Spirits had become.

The most conspicuous among them was a giant sitting on the lakeside lawn, equal in height to two standard Pandoras (friendly reminder: the universal length unit of the Empire). Having regained his senses, Berserker was a somewhat silent but naturally hearty fellow, still in his shirtless muscular hunk look. At this moment, he was lost in reverie, staring at a huge chunk of meat on the grill in front of him. On the opposite side of the grilling rack sat a stern girl in a sky blue dress, her ahoge whimsically drifting with the wind. Our Lord of the Knights’ entire attention was focused on the food before her; she had simply divided the whole world into two categories: edible and inedible.

In this aspect, she was no match for Sandora who, with a unified world view that even philosophers couldn’t grasp, saw everything as one: edible.

Setting aside these two, who differed greatly in height but supposedly had inversely proportional appetites (...), and were completely absorbed by the upcoming meal, the other Heroic Spirits who had been lured here seemed utterly unable to pull themselves out of a life of dalliance.

Cu Chulainn, aloof from worldly concerns, was sitting on a prominent boulder by Fairy Lake, his silhouette reminiscent of an old man who fished alone in the cold river snow. And he was indeed fishing—tying a fishing line to his Magic Spear and contentedly waiting for a bite. Not far from him, Sasaki and Red A sat together. It’s said that Japanese people have a special affection for ancient music, tea ceremonies, and board games—these two were deeply immersed in them. Like a pair of hermits detached from the world, the two gentlemen used a boulder as their table, with a sword-carved board and an MP3 player playing free-downloaded Japanese Gagaku music, accompanied by two bottles of Master Kong iced black tea. They were having a whale of a time with military chess, each of them playing the role of a commander or laying landmines.

And that’s what these two were playing.

Ten meters away from these treasures was a pair that everyone envied: Teacher Kagari Ge Mu and Teacher Medea, who were now completely living a life akin to that of divine bliss—true to the templates of Prince & Princess, Hero & Princess, Knight & Princess, Adventurer & Princess, Demon King & Princess (from this, you can infer that the creature known as the "princess" had already unified the world in the Middle Ages, creating an enormous reverse harem. But you could also think that there were so many princesses that men from all walks of society could each have one). In the Divine Garden of Avalon, they owned a cozy two-story house, had a bunch of demigod neighbors, and stable jobs. At this moment, the "Witch of Betrayal" and the iron-faced man were leaning against each other under a Shaluo Tree, listening to the babbling stream, feeling the breeze on their faces, with... two substantial stacks of middle school test papers spread in front of them.

Don’t think that divine couples wouldn’t need to partake in mortals’ fare. I refuse to believe that Yang Guo could support Little Dragon Girl without earning a penny for honey. I say these two are teachers, and that’s no joke. Big Sister had arranged a fine job for them at the Imperial Military Academy, teaching Misaka Sisters and super-talented youngsters from various worlds. Kagari Ge Mu specialized in history, literature, and assassination, while Medea taught chemistry, magic, alchemy, and poisoning. Together, they vowed to make Pandora’s militarism and Qianqian’s mischief flourish everywhere.

But they were still much better than that scoundrel who taught the Misakas how to make cactus bombs right in the school before.

Apart from these familiar faces, the rest of the Heroic Spirits who had been coaxed here were scattered at a farther distance, most of whom I still couldn’t name by now, but I recognized what they held in their hands: mahjong, poker, tennis, even PS3... The once tranquil Fairy Lake had now become a leisure club for Heroic Spirits.

When Alaya and I appeared in the glade amongst the trees, this was the scene that greeted us.

"Cough, cough," I felt it was time to assert my dignity as the national Leader. I coughed loudly twice before proclaiming, "I say..."

"Ah! The boss is here!"

Cu Chulainn set down his fishing rod, jumped to his feet, and then, pretending to be regretful, slapped his thigh, "Ah man, the fish got away again!"

Sasaki, messing with an iced black tea lid to see if it had a "get one more bottle" underneath, had a toothpick hanging from his mouth and casually remarked from the side, "Tsch, just admit you didn’t get any—do we even have an actual lunch plan? Saber’s barbecue is almost ready!"

At those words, the Lion King immediately stood his ahoge on end, entering a protective stance over the food.

"Cough, cough, everyone be serious for a moment!" Thankfully, Red A gave me some face. He immediately threw his military chess piece onto the board, standing up to summon the leisurely Heroic Spirits to order. Across him, Sasaki slammed his hand down at once, "Hey! You messed up the board!"

I was wrong about Red A, he played a game of military chess and had the nerve to cheat?

"Boss! Wait up, Sasaki and I are almost done grading these papers... Sasaki, do you recognize this Misaka 10086? She stuck a hundred bucks on her paper again."

Kagari shook his head: "Don’t know her, just charge her $50... oh, $45."

The giant Hercules was still daydreaming, perhaps reminiscing about a loli who had drifted far away from him.

In the end, it was better to rely on Altoria; the military discipline of the Knight King couldn’t be matched by this bunch who were almost turned into rowdy soldiers. With a spike of his iconic hair, the little lion left the barbecue grill with a tragic expression, looking back three times with every step as he vigilantly monitored Berserker’s movements, and then stood in front of me.

Forget it, just go back, I’m starving on your behalf.

"Everybody gather up! Gather up!" shouted the Leader, his voice resounding in the sky above the Heroic Spirit Hall, "Stop messing around! There’s a mission! We have a mission today! Dingdang that dummy ate the World Tree along with the data stack area of the Heroic Spirit Hall, so you haven’t received your orders—Alaya, throw the Cloud Piercing Arrow!"

Angel Sister: "?"

"Dumbass, just send a text to call them over!"

After a flurry of commotion, the Heroic Spirits who were freely lingering around Avalon made direct transfers to Fairy Lake using the energy nodes scattered throughout the space. The area, which was quite spacious, quickly became jam-packed with people, and Rider even had to hang herself from a tree to find a spot to land (Sis, can’t you play a game that has nothing to do with jumping around?), and at the same time, more Heroic Spirits continued to teleport from various directions, turning what was a heavenly sanctuary into a bustling marketplace.

"Um... my Fairy Lake..."

Next to me, Saber muttered in disappointment, her lips glistening with shiny grease.

As the Knight King who held special feelings for the name "Avalon," Altoria had come to see this place as a substitute for her long-lost Ideal Country—and Fairy Lake was the place the King of Dai Mao felt most attached to. Sadly, in this "Final Eden Garden," no one dared to claim territory, and even with regret, that was all she could lament.

"Cough cough, everyone quiet down a bit," facing these heroes from various eras, countries, and ethnicities of humanity, I was filled with emotion, "The party country... cough cough, the Empire needs you..."

"I’m sure everyone knows, some troublesome things are happening on the outside, a transmigration wave is surging, and this world is facing a huge challenge... Sasaki, spit out that toothpick... Hmm, as the latest recruited Order Maintainer of this world, don’t you think it’s time for you to show off your skills?"

A multitude of Heroic Spirits were thrilled and shouted their agreement—yeah, right!

Not one among these heroic figures moved; they were accustomed to receiving direct commands from Alaya or Gaia and were not used to my freestyle gatherings.

"Cough cough," blushing with embarrassment, I coughed awkwardly, "Alright, I’ll just say it, you and the World Tree have a direct affiliation. Considering that you all have passed the observation period of this company, I have decided to send you out. Remember, this is not about fighting! It’s about registering Outsiders! Find every guy who appears shit-yellow in front of you, and then bring them to Shadow City. You can use tricks, but make sure not to affect the company image. Now, for anyone who’s adept at such tasks, go sign up with Artemis... Altoria, stop eating! Furthermore, there’s an issue we’ve recently observed—the World Tree’s immune functions might have partially halted, causing spatial imbalances in certain areas on the outer edges of the Solar System. I know you were previously Earth-level Will Order Maintainers and there is definitely pressure to complete such tasks, but this is also when the organization tests you. As energy extensions of the World Tree, you’re more sensitive than any radar. Now, I want to send some Observers to the Kuiper Belt. Who’s willing to go?"

(To be continued. For further developments, please visit www.qidian.com, where the Chapters are more extensive, to support the author and their legitimate reading!)