Xyrin Empire
Chapter 537

Chapter 537: 537

Ilya had stayed in Shadow City for two days but ultimately had to return to her world. Believe it or not, Miss Tohsaka was now looking after this young girl. She had arranged a school for Ilya in Britain and they were going to live together. Ilya was staying put because she was waiting for a new body, which was why she hadn’t left with Tohsaka until now. Now, she needed to return to attend school.

It was evident that the little girl had quite a grudge about having to attend elementary school obediently.

Anyway, I was certainly taken aback when I heard the news. Tohsaka Rin? The penny-pinching miss who would buy almost-expired instant noodles, who would scrape off the gold plating from her dad’s old mirrors to sell it and replace it with copper, who would note down even a single borrowed dollar in her memo—she was taking care of Ilya and arranging her education and living situation?

Had that girl recently thrown herself into the Somali business or something?

I was not really worried about Tohsaka’s ability to take care of Ilya. Despite bearing the title of a ’Miss,’ Tohsaka was absolutely not a delicate princess type. She had faced poverty from a young age and was quite adept at life; she knew how to sustain herself on the lowest cost or pull out all stops to support her family business. A girl ’seasoned’ by such experiences surely wouldn’t falter in daily life, but rather, I doubted the idea that Tohsaka, who would occasionally be excessively stingy, had suddenly come into a fortune. Where had she found such money to become so generous?

"Big brother, do you remember that the night before you left, Sister Tohsaka stopped Pandora and said she needed help?"

That was the question I posed to the other party before Ilya’s departure.

"I kind of remember, but Pandora later mentioned it was just a trivial matter, and I didn’t probe further... uh, I think I can guess what Tohsaka was up to."

"That’s right," Ilya, standing at the World Gate and waving her little hand, looked nonchalant, "Now, Sister Tohsaka is wealthy! She said she wasn’t comfortable leaving me with brother Shirou and, having recently come into some money, decided to take me along... Well, Ilya does wish she could stay in Japan so she could visit big brother often."

I was momentarily stunned, eventually letting out a sigh: a penniless miss truly knew no bounds!

Also, let’s not forget, Ilya, aren’t you actually older than Emiya Kiritsugu and Tohsaka Rin? Calling them ’big brother’ and ’big sister’ at your age, isn’t that an issue? We only need one Lili doing the false loli act without morals!

Although, from all aspects, Ilya did belong to the ’Loli’ category in her Race column...

"Alright, alright, it’s not like we’ll never meet again. Why make a big fuss about it like Tohsaka did," I ruffled Ilya’s silvery hair, "Take good care of yourself outside. I don’t know why that guy Tohsaka is so adamant about studying in Britain and taking you along, but she’ll probably manage the role of a big sister... I’ll visit you when I have the time."

"Mm! Big brother, you must come to see Ilya... just don’t use the landing pod anymore!"

Could you not bring that up?

"And Berserker, you take good care of yourself too," even though she was only half his height, Ilya patted Hercules, acting like a little adult, on his... calf, as if he was still that unthinking berserker, "You have to work hard and help big brother out because he always gets into a lot of trouble..."

Hey! You didn’t have to say that last part! Especially not with the tone of a disappointed mom trusting her unreliable son to a neighbor!

"Yes, Ilya, take good care of yourself," Hercules stooped slightly, his face wearing an indulgent smile, and he gently pressed on Ilya’s head, his voice deep and powerful, "Actually, if possible, I wish you could forget about your memories with us... but this outcome is also good. Embrace your new life and don’t let the Emperor’s good intentions go to waste."

"Of course! This body belongs to Emperor Big Brother! Ilya will definitely protect it!"

Everyone: "..."

Sorry, Uncle B, I stole your Loli. Please restrain your grief.

After Ilya left, Berserker’s face clearly showed disappointment. He remained silent the whole way, which was normal for this taciturn giant.

"Hercules," I suddenly spoke up, diverting his attention, "has the collection of transmigrators been going smoothly?"

"It’s easy to find them," the giant responded in a deep voice, "Heroic Spirits can detect beings that don’t belong to this world from tens of thousands of kilometers away, but... to be honest, I don’t think I’m well-suited for this job."

"Eh?" I turned my head curiously. Hercules, who had completed the legendary twelve labors and was theoretically capable of handling any job from attending a PTA meeting to expanding territories, was actually admitting that there was a job he couldn’t handle?

Faced with my skeptical look, Hercules wore a troubled expression, then let out a long sigh, "Indeed, I’m just not cut out for modern society..."

It turns out, it was all because of Uncle B’s appearance.

At 2.5 meters tall, with muscles bulging like a tower, a face dark as iron, a mane of hair fierce as a lion’s, and fists bigger than claypots, this image would have been called the descent of the War God in ancient Greece and a monstrous demon in ancient China. In the modern world...

Although we all know there’s something called genetic mutations, when we actually encounter a mutant, we can’t help but gawk. Uncle B, with his terrifying size and fierce physique, caught the public’s gaze for two days, during which he was eyed by various people trying to pull him to "embrace the glory he truly deserved." If it weren’t for Uncle B’s firm attitude – and even more so, his firm fists – we might already be watching him on Central TV by now – perhaps on a basketball court, maybe in a sanda match, but most likely on "Exploring Science"...

These disturbances from the "ignorant populace" were the least of it. What left Uncle B speechless was nearly being subdued by a group of Temple Knights from the British Puritan Servant Army, just because he went out to work. It was a case of ’the temple washing away in floods and hail injuring the fool’; but those folks had their reasons: walking down the street as a giant monster in broad daylight, how would anyone know if he wasn’t from Resident Evil?

In the end, had it not been for a few Imperial soldiers arriving just in time to explain the "demon’s" identity to those knights and teach those tech-illiterate folks how to use the identity verification devices they carried, dispelling the gathered crowd, Uncle B might have ended up featured on "Legal Process in Progress".

What can I say? After listening to Hercules’s amusing work report, I felt no dissonance. Although it might sound offensive, I think if Uncle B stood with Elder Tang, the former would likely be the first to be subdued as a transmigrator.

"With such great work pressure, it’s indeed tough on you," I said understandingly, patting Uncle B’s... belly, experiencing a glimpse of the world through Pandora’s eyes. "Let’s transfer you to the Kuiper Belt area in a couple of days. Although the environment is harsher, at least the meteorites won’t gawk at you."

"That’s not certain," Sandora chimed in, who had been silent by our side, "Just yesterday morning, Cu Chulainn was suddenly transported to the core of Avalon, reportedly because he was gawked at by meteorites."

Uh, directly obliterated by meteorites, smashed back to the Heroic Spirit Hall? What should I say about such an unlucky kid? Or should I feel proud of my once meteorite-smacked but still lively physique? The point of this banter is just too subtle.

"Brother, brother!"

While I was still pondering whether the tragic fate of Cu Chulainn was related to Big Sister, two cheerful calls from behind interrupted my thoughts. I turned around to find Visca, wearing a black princess dress, running towards me from the far end of the street, shouting joyfully all the way.

Next to Visca was the silent Pandora. Although she looked calm, her speed was no less than Visca’s. Finally, when she was less than ten meters away from me, Pandora’s figure suddenly disappeared, then she teleported directly into my arms.

As if I had anticipated this scene, I opened my arms just as Pandora was about to look this way and then steadied and warmly embraced the emotionless Loli who was snuggling in my arms.

"Wow! You cheater! That spot was supposed to be mine!"

Visca cried out in surprise, teleported right in front of me, and then started jumping trying to pull her sister down. However, Pandora kept a straight face, silently swung her supersonic hand blade back, talking about sisters being connected in spirit—despite the fact that the one-meter-tall general wasn’t aiming, there was still an instant clattering between Visca’s little head and the supersonic hand blade. However, in a blink of an eye, Visca ended up tearfully, um, freaking out.

The two awkward sisters, under my dumbstruck gaze, immediately switched to combat mode and, regardless of the Imperial Soldiers around them, started brawling right in front of the World Gate—one with a Heavenly Pegasus Meteor Fist and the other with a Lu Mountain Ascending Dragon Dominator.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Uncle B, who had been standing next to me, shiver all over, then quickly back away about four or five meters and squat down decisively.

"For some reason, I suddenly feel this is the safest option."

Uncle B grimaced, also perplexed by his inexplicable actions.

It seems this was what Ilya referred to as the Berserker’s incomplete memory of his own time as a berserker, but this instinctual reaction proves to be quite reliable. Truly worthy of being the ultimate laborer who completed twelve arduous tasks.

"I say, can’t you two get along like normal sisters for just one day?"

Seeing that the two squeaky-clean little princesses were about to turn into little scrappers today again, I bent down and scooped up the two scrapping kids, one in each hand. The two one-meter-tall kids were still kicking and flailing in mid-air, but they eventually quieted down.

"That’s better!"

Holding a twin in each arm, I happily enjoyed the soft feeling of them rubbing against my face. This settled it peacefully—indeed, compared to the clingy Ilya, the cynical and sharp-tongued Lilina, the hikkikomori Bubbles, and Little Baobao who would sneak into a reactor every now and then to cause a collective panic, these two well-behaved (confirmed?) Lolitas are truly wonderful!

Hmm, I didn’t see Visca and Pandora secretly comparing Photon Military Daggers behind my back at all. I absolutely did not see that—it must have been an illusion!

A few minutes later, the two kiddos finally finished their sulking. The more serious Pandora hopped down first, then stared unblinkingly at her younger sister. After a stalemate for a minute, Visca also pouted and jumped down, muttering discontentedly, "What’s wrong with acting cute with Brother?"

I think so too!

After pinching the soft cheeks of Pandora and Visca, I smiled and asked, "So, what happened?"

As a qualified brother-obsessive, I could easily tell that the two little ones had something important to tell me, and it wasn’t an ordinary matter; otherwise, they would have directly reported it through a spiritual connection.

"See, can’t hide it from Big Brother, can you!" Visca arrogantly snorted at her sister, "Big brother, big brother, we received the signal from Lilina’s Lost Fleet!"

************

In the largest command hall of the Shadow Fortress, a gathering of the Imperial High Level was intently watching a series of signals from Other Space accidentally captured by Sivis. Those signals had gone through as much restoration as possible, removing the background noise, leaving behind some image fragments and sounds.

The imagery was extremely chaotic and blurry, filled with interference and static, making it nearly impossible to imagine that such information was transmitted by advanced Xyrin Equipment. The nearly shattered visuals barely revealed mottled rock layers and an atmosphere shimmering with auroras. These scenes lasted for just a few seconds before being replaced with a flurry of chaotic snow and noise. Once the signals gradually cleared up, the view had switched to another location, revealing a massive sight of mechanized troops—two entirely irregular armies.

The perspective of the imagery seemed to be from midair or a cliff, providing a clear overlook of the vast battlefield below, where the two armies employed bizarrely assorted equipment. Part of those chaotic armored vehicles appeared to have human features, while others were strangely shaped alien vehicles, and some were even obvious assemblages of mismatched "scrap metal", raising doubts whether such monsters could maintain their formidable firepower without simply disintegrating on their own. These chaotic irregular armies were split into two distinct camps, desperately sprinkling intense artillery fire at each other. The battlefield was shrouded in flashes from explosions and dense smoke. Despite it being an era of hot weapons clashing, it felt as grim as a fight with cold weapons, showing just how fierce the melee was. Meanwhile, from the thick aurora-draped clouds in the sky, a dozen warplanes suddenly burst out. These warplanes did not seem to belong to any party involved in the battle, for a simple reason: they were indiscriminately bombing everyone below, who, while fiercely battling, also collectively engaged their anti-aircraft fire. The three sides fought chaotically; everyone was an enemy, and such a chaotic battlefield resembled an indiscriminate mincer. Those assembled vehicles, earlier doubted for their capacity in further battles, now proved the superiority of their design philosophy: as disposable commodities, their quality was, after all, inconsequential.

"What is this?"

I asked, perplexed. There were never any Imperial units appearing in the visuals, just the bizarre three forces clashing in confusion, and the combatants were a mess with no unified equipment or emblem. Such chaos on a force possessing extremely advanced, high-tech equipment—could they all be Bandit Armies?

"From the perspective of a certain probe," Sivis turned off the video, "Probe number ER325ESDF14658-59E, confirmed to belong to a Holy Temple Army Mother Ship. The other information transmitted by the probe suggests that these images were taken on a desolate Earth-like planet. According to our analysis, the technological forms of the three battling factions are very mixed, seemingly a blend of multiple distinct civilizations, making their combined strength hard to assess. However, given their extensive array of atmospheric energy weapons and the space protection structures on all the warplanes, we preliminarily deduce that the basic combat vehicles of these armies are capable of engaging in space warfare."

Undoubtedly scholarly trained, Sivis derived so much from such chaotic visuals, but what I cared about was—

"Where’s Lilina? Where is the information about her?"

"This..." Sivis hesitated a bit, "Actually, there’s only one audio signal, and moreover, it comes from a third-party source, mixed with Lilina’s voice and many other noises."

As he spoke, Sivis played what he referred to as "a segment of audio," and thereafter, a myriad of chaotic noises resounded in the hall.

Firstly, a series of sharp squeals and explosions followed by a somewhat panicked male voice: "(Noise) This is the White Wing frontline base (Noise) The defenses are breached... we observe massive spatial tremors, definitely not caused by the ’Lambs’ ships... (Noise)... something has destroyed our satellites!"

Then, another middle-aged man’s voice, sounding even more panicked than the previous: "It’s a blue energy beam! Our (Noise)... lost contact, Imperial Army! The Imperial Army is here! Good God, it’s their (Noise) charging, someone, save us, anyone will do, even the Roland Gale Consortium supervisors... (Noise) The Imperial Army is attacking our headquarters, help! Help! He—(Noise)"

"Ah ha! Look at that, how bright," was then Lilina’s voice, sounding somewhat distant, as if coming from a broadcast in the sky, "Yes, just like that, just like that! These robbers, thieves, smugglers, criminals! Arson, murder, loot! (Noise) Everyone deserves to die! You are all heretics! Burn, burn every heretic! (Noise) Yes, mortals! I am justice, I am the law! (Noise) Cheer, cheer, cheer! Oh, you saved Lambs, you should rejoice in hell over my mercy! Because I did not annihilate your souls, giving you a chance to engrave the Emperor’s name on your filthy skulls..."

"...Everyone must tremble and kneel! Lick the soil and stones! You must shout my name three times, bowing down to the Emperor on sharp stones, and coat the entire planet with your foul-smelling black blood! Because the Holy Temple Army has arrived! Today is Judgment Day! But I still have to burn you! Burn every heretic amongst you! The Heresy Court will purify all sins! Rejoice, beg for mercy! The great justicer has descended today! That’s me, the protector of the Goddess’s will—Ding? Lilina? Bang! Ah ha, let’s see what else is fun, your big boss once made me understand one thing, what falls from the sky isn’t always Icarus, sometimes it can be a landing pod, how about we smash the entire Sky Slave Base, my Deputy Officer?"

The people in the hall: "..."

Silently for a while, I stood up: "Aside from the latter half being very worth delving into... alright, let’s discuss how to bring back that runaway girl?" (To be continued, if you want to know what happens next, please visit www.qidian.com, more Chapters available, support the author, support genuine reading!)