Xyrin Empire
Chapter 534: The Work of Heroic Spirits

Chapter 534: Chapter 534: The Work of Heroic Spirits

Having the Heroic Spirits head out to search for transmigrators and world rift points wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment idea, but... rather a whimsical one.

I admit I’m not the kind of guy with elaborate and far-sighted plans, disappointing everyone. I take myself seriously.

Of course, speaking of whims, there’s a fundamental difference between Qianqian and me. Getting these guys who bum around Avalon and freeload to stretch their muscles isn’t just for training’s sake. The situation has really become somewhat troublesome.

Since the number of discovered transmigrators explosively increased a few days ago, the number of Aliens entering Shadow City has dwindled. This doesn’t mean we’ve apprehended every transmigrator, quite the opposite—it suggests they’re going into hiding.

Groups of black-suited individuals chasing down performance artists on the streets might be ignored by aunts and uncles accustomed to modern society’s oddities, but they’re bound to catch the eye of the more astute. And these transmigrators from Otherworlds are undoubtedly the most careful ones. Suddenly thrown from their familiar hometowns into this strange and eerie space, anyone with an IQ above twenty—aside from the clueless Qianqian—would ratchet their vigilance to its limit. More transmigrators are sensing this world’s "unfriendliness," and they may even have a hunch that there’s an organization here dealing explicitly with transmigrating humans. After brainstorming, they’ve expanded the men in black into various uncensored harmonious versions. To preserve their wealth and lives, they’re going to great lengths to conceal themselves, and indeed, our deployed agents have noticed this trend. Many transmigrators attempting to hide among ordinary people are being strenuously rooted out, often pitiable fellows. Look, if you resemble an Avatar, don’t expect to blend into human society, and then claim in front of Imperial Soldiers that you’re just a cosplaying enthusiast. Don’t you realize you’re the color of shit?

By the way, Lin Xue has gone to significant lengths to quash the rumors among the public caused by these kinds of transmigrators.

But capturing these hidden transmigrators is a trivial accomplishment; it just makes me worry—just how many from Earth-like worlds might be perfectly hidden among us?

So far, our only way to identify a transmigrator, besides their distinct appearance, is still that potion developed by Dingdang. It works for fifteen minutes and can ruin your appetite for half a day. Overuse can cause blurred vision—even the eyes of an elite Xyrin Soldier can’t withstand the World Tree’s eye drops. They treat Krypton Gold dog eyes and Salon Evil Iron dog eyes without discrimination. There are already plenty of Soldiers who’ve had to have their visual components adjusted at the medical center because of decreased functionality. It’s even worse in the New Eden Federation. Reynolds, from overusing the potion, has mistaken a female subordinate for Kerrigan three times and had to kneel before the mainboard. He says the Federation now needs not only a Colonization Star to house transmigrators, but also a group of good ophthalmologists to restore vision for all high-level members, including himself and Zeratul. Therefore, hoping to rely on those auxiliary potions to differentiate every transmigrator in the world has proven impossible.

Even merely clearing Earth of its transmigrators is impossible—if they’re determined to hide among the masses, you’re helpless. Thanks to the surging hormones of humanity, our modest planet is crammed with seven billion people. Just thinking about the number makes our makeshift "Men in Black" organization collectively sift through chaff.

Then there’s the spatial imbalance of the world itself, which caused Lilina to get tragically lost—a problem that’s giving us a massive headache. Using radars to scan every nook and cranny of the universe is like a spendthrift with money to burn. Not to mention, it may not even yield any results. This was originally the job of Dingdang and her World Temple, but unfortunately, the former is now too busy correcting the world’s erroneous data to assist us, and has to manage Du Dao and their "change of nationality" matters. As for the latter...

That damn knock-off system has serious bugs. Dingdang, to save money for candy, got a secondhand World Tree seed from the used market and the bootleg operating system that came with it just killed every "dad" in the world. The severe incompatibility of software and hardware, plus Lilina occasionally plucking tender shoots from the branches of the World Tree for snacks, means our temple needs at least a hundred and twenty-seven years for one system self-check. By that time, this world will be in the late stages with cancer spread everywhere.

Little Thing has sworn that as soon as she gets her year-end bonus, she will get a legit operating system for the World Tree. (This poor girl, with no budgeting sense in the Divine Realm, can’t afford a new World Tree seed—it’s ridiculously expensive up there, enough for "Eternal Fruit Bucket" ten-plus times). But I’m really worried whether she can keep her year-end bonus.

Since neither the World Tree nor God can be relied on, those newly-signed Heroic Spirits that haven’t yet been troubled by us should be dependable, right? Despite some of them being problematic fellows, they should theoretically be more efficient in such tasks linked with the essence of the world.

After an urgent consultation, the one finally decided to be sent for investigating the world’s deviation around the Kuiper Belt is Cu Chulainn, along with a whole bunch of randomly ticket-voted Heroic Spirits—I know each is a big shot and many might even be more impressive than Cu Chulainn, but sadly, my memory is limited. I can’t remember all their full names, only Alaya and Gaia can, and to me, they’re all just extras in the crowd.

"Why do I have to go?"

Not yet recovered from his state of loner fishing in the snowy river, the tragic Gunman was bewilderingly pushed onto a never-envisioned, ultra-long-distance business trip. His face was a mix of perplexity, vexation, and a bit of pathos.

"Just be glad," Red A shrugged his shoulders, then empathetically patted Cu Chulainn on the back, "I’ve got to take a trip to Kepulu, countless times farther than your Kuiper Belt, and there’s also a planet consciousness called Gaia waiting to boss me around over there. You’ve no idea the pressure I’m under..."

"Chen, I have a question!" spoke Altoria, Her Majesty the Knight King, who still preferred to address me with that simple surname, "What exactly are we supposed to do?"

This indeed was a question. Although all the Heroic Spirits were heroes and braves from their respective eras, none of them below average intelligence, it seemed none of them had studied cosmic knowledge, had they?

"Go with your intuition," I scratched my head, "Dingdang said, you’ve now become extensions of the World Tree, and with regard to abnormalities appearing in this world, you can detect them through your intuition. For example, you, Altoria, pay attention to your ahoge. The direction it points to will definitely have something like lost Broken Faces or bewildered Death Gods, yes, that’s what I believe!"

With an unprecedentedly determined look in my eyes, it was as if I had suddenly found the truth of the world. Pointing at Saber’s ahoge with one hand and akimbo with the other, I announced loudly, and visibly, the little lioness’s face accumulated a flush of red.

And I dare to swear on the pitch-black conscience of Lilina, that it definitely was not out of shyness.

"Chen!" Sure enough, the Knight King exploded, the petite and beautiful girl overflowing with boundless majesty at this moment, as if possessed by Kratos, "Although I have great respect for you, what you’ve said this time is going too far! Please do not use such a manner to mock someone else’s physiological characteristics! And since it’s a matter involving the safety of the world, under no circumstances should one say something as irresponsible as ’go with your intuition,’ as for the ahoge... the ahoge... it’s not like I wanted it to grow! I’ve tried several times to flatten it down but it didn’t work, even cutting it off, it would still grow back, um... it’s not my fault... it keeps growing back on its own..."

Uh, talking and talking, had the Knight King, who was just now sternly lecturing me, entered a state of petulant self-pity? And she said earlier that the tuft of ahoge, even if cut off, would grow back? Should I just pluck it out now and see?

"So that’s it, Saber’s greatest secret lies in her antenna, huh..."

Ever since I mentioned the word "ahoge," Cu Chulainn had been contemplating something, and only now did he nod thoughtfully, as if he had discovered a truth, then spoke it out, unfortunately not just speaking but also acting: he casually picked up a piece of grilled meat from who knows where and shook it slightly in the air.

Saber’s ahoge moved before she did, to the shock of everyone watching. The Female Knight King’s antenna visibly pivoted ninety degrees, then swiftly swayed following the movements of Cu Chulainn’s grilled meat in his hand, as precise as a compass, while Altoria herself only reacted after two seconds, focusing her gaze on the food.

"Eh, it really works, heh!" Cu Chulainn, completely unaware of what he was doing, cheerfully said. Beside him, Sasaki and Red A, who originally formed the Three Lucky Treasures with him, first gave a thumbs up to the unfortunate gunman as a "good job" commendation, then silently stepped back in unison.

Saber took a deep breath—

"Ex...calibur!!!"

Wow! That unfortunate kid just got shooting starred!

After the fact, Medusa admitted that everyone had grown accustomed to such incidents; Cu Chulainn’s tragic attribute had always been an oddity of Avalon, with the number of times his mouth had brought heavenly punishment upon himself alone enough for us to write a serialized book titled "A Hundred Thousand Whys of Cu Chulainn’s Deaths."

"Medusa, you’re relatively steady. Keep an eye on that bunch of guys for me when you can."

As I was about to leave Avalon, I spoke to the purple-haired woman who had been following behind me silently.

Although not exactly a commander or leader type, Medusa’s biggest characteristic was to carry out tasks given to her as meticulously as a machine, and apart from her recent slight addiction to action games, her personality was still honest and reliable—at least, she was the one among these Heroic Spirits who listened to me the most: because of Sakura.

"Yes," Medusa whispered in agreement, then added, "But I think King Arthur would be more suitable; after all, she has been a sovereign and is better at commanding than I am."

I shrugged, "Cu Chulainn was also once a hero in Ireland. Heroes don’t concern themselves with origins, and ruffians don’t worry about age. Besides, I’m not too confident in Altoria’s disposition, the Knight King who can be lured away with just two cookies..."

"You really are a... very approachable master," Miss Rider hesitated for a moment before finally offering "approachable" as her description.

Just say I lack the aura of a leader.

"However, unexpectedly, you have this reliable vibe, like you’ll never let anyone down," perhaps sensing my discomfort, Medusa hurriedly added, "Well, at least we spirits, who had nothing left but our obsessions, now have the chance to ’live’ again. For that, each one of us is thankful to you."

"Alright, alright, that Aunt Lola has already praised me to the skies today," I waved my hand to cut Medusa off, "It’s already a huge relief that the spirits can get along with each other. If you want to thank me, just don’t cause trouble normally. Say hi to Artemis for me, I’m heading back now."

Time leisurely rolled into the next day...

The spirits were incredibly efficient in their actions, and with the Order Maintainers of this world personally taking to the field, the hiding transmigrators were rooted out one by one, significantly reducing the pressure on the Xyrin Agents: for them, accustomed to fight and kill, the task of checking registers was really too challenging.

It’s just a pity that the number of spirits is limited, and they could only operate within Earth’s range, providing minor support to the New Eden Federation. After all, the spirits were originally just planet-level Suppression Forces, and I only had a fraction of them on hand, but regardless, their work efficiency was pretty high.

"So now, I’ve got nothing to do."

Lying on the balcony in the lounge chair usually reserved for Lilina, I thus rationalized my reason for indulging in photosynthesis under the half-afternoon sun, unconcerned with the Transcendent Army wreaking havoc across the world.

The search outside was being handled by the Imperial Agents and spirits. The stability within Shadow City was overseen by Big Sister, Sivis, and the recently appointed Lola Stewart, who was planning to move Alien hearts with the glory of her master. There had been no news from Lilina, but Taville had almost pinpointed the last beacon of the Lost Fleet, so finding that girl was just a matter of time. Thinking of that, it seemed I really had nothing to do.

"So you’re just here slacking off and waiting to die?"

The voice came from the opposite balcony railing, to be exact, from someone sitting on the railing—except with a height of 92.3cm, they were often instinctively taken for a doll.

"You know, I’ve had a dream for a long time, that my future life should be like this: a lounge chair that can bask in the sun all day, a house full of games and anime, without any disturbances, napping at home until sunset—look, how harmonious. Fulfilling life’s goals doesn’t need to involve fighting and killing."

"No hope for you," Mercury Lamp hopped down from the railing with a click, walked over beside me with a look of disdain, "Such a fool and yet you’re the Emperor, hmph, what a waste."

"Still better than a tyrant," I showed the grin Lin Xue called the ’idiot’s poker face smile,’ just as firmly and unwaveringly ruffling Mercury Lamp’s head, as I had done many times before, "This world needs harmony..."

"Slap!" There it went again—struck down, but this time, it seemed like Mercury Lamp did it out of habit. There was no sign of real anger on her face. Does this mean she’s finally getting used to it?

"What a naive thought, Your Majesty," Mercury Lamp disdainfully dismissed my good-person theory, "But it seems your subjects hold you in quite high regard, a bunch of idiots... Hey, when can I go home?"

"Missing home?" Even though I knew that wasn’t the reason, I still put on a humorous expression while looking at Mercury Lamp, flicking her forehead gently before she could explode in rage, and then withdrawing my hand, "Is there someone important there?"

The expression on Mercury Lamp’s face was—how should I put it?—seemingly conflicted.

"All I want is to find Father Figure, and besides, there are many grievances..." The tiny doll never showed any signs of confusion or vulnerability, but at that moment, I inexplicably felt a strong sense of conflict within her. Although not knowing where it stemmed from, I felt obligated to enlighten the heart of every beautiful girl, even if she was only 92.3cm tall.

"Hey, Mercury Lamp, we’re friends now, aren’t we?" I started by trying to bridge the gap.

"We’re not." The doll briskly shook her head.

"...Just pretend it’s for the sake of the story then, and give me a little arrow to continue the conversation!"

"Tch... Fine, let’s just say we’re friends, even though you’re a foolish one."

"Then, speaking as a friend, I’d like to discuss something with you regarding Luo Zhen: Does the Doll Master really hold such a supreme position in your hearts?"

Mercury Lamp immediately shot a dangerous look my way, but after confirming that I was serious, she turned her face away again, "Waste of time, so that’s the issue—of course, Father Figure is irreplaceable to me. He is the Rose Maiden’s Father Figure, and as for me..."

"But you will never find him," I bluntly interrupted Mercury Lamp, as there were some things that had to be said. "Luo Zhen, Dingdang and I have already discussed that human. Our conclusion is that he was an alchemist, one who successfully created an Artificial Soul. The creation of artificial life like the Rose Maiden is solid proof. Through alchemy, Luo Zhen may have also achieved a long life, like the legends of someone who lived for several hundred years, but... The World Law is harsh, it does not allow mortals to challenge its authority in this way. Maybe mortals do have a path to eternal life and the power to create life, but it certainly isn’t through alchemy, which requires exact equivalence in exchange. You understand what I’m saying: a mortal who challenged the World Law, who created an Artificial Soul with alchemy, must pay an equal price for his creation—like his own soul. Without a soul, a person can achieve a longer lifespan, which is because the energy that should be used for the soul’s rebirth has been prematurely exhausted, turned into Life Force. But the price is far greater; after those hundreds of years of lifespan come to an end, a soulless being does not even have the chance to be reborn. No matter what, Luo Zhen cannot still be alive..."

"You bastard!" Unsurprisingly, Mercury Lamp chose to blow up before I could finish speaking, flying up into the air, and then—being caught straight out of the sky by my hand, with her feathers not even having time to launch.

"Stop throwing a tantrum. You need to face reality. That’s a conclusion reached by the True God Dingdang."

"Let go of me! You damned jerk!" The little doll struggled fiercely in my grasp, although her strength was trivial. "You all deserve to die! How could Father Figure disappear! Father Figure is still alive; he is waiting for me to become Alice to find him! What do you know about things like this..."

"Yahoo~~~ Big brother! Ilya’s come to play with you!!"

A sudden voice at the balcony door interrupted the standoff between Mercury Lamp and me. Taking the opportunity, I scooped up the still-protesting Mercury Lamp with a princess carry, and given my strength compared to hers, and the fact that she was so small, she had no chance to resist.

"Eh? Big brother plays with dolls too?" (To be continued—for additional Chapters, please visit www.qidian.com. Support the author, support genuine reading!)

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