Xyrin Empire
Chapter 565: Lilina by the Santu River and Mercury Lamp on the Sickbed

Chapter 565: Chapter 565: Lilina by the Santu River and Mercury Lamp on the Sickbed

The current intelligence head of the Imperial Army is Lin Xue, which is only natural given she’s a master at snooping around and ideating ways to wreak havoc with those piercing eyes of hers. Not utilizing her would be a massive waste of talent, and trust me, if I didn’t put her in charge, she’d still be peeping around. So, to prevent a bored Lin Xue from causing trouble, I made her the Director of the Intelligence Bureau. Besides, since she does our weather forecasts for free whenever she’s bored, she also holds the position of Director of the Meteorological Bureau, though the second role is just for kicks.

Our Director of the Intelligence Bureau has finally managed to be somewhat useful in her position, bringing me some news—I’m not sure if it’s good or not—the naturally dark-hearted Fake Lolita has been located.

This also means that the previously greatly chaotic space-time system has now completely calmed down, and the halted ultra-long-range fuzzy world transmission can now be restarted.

Upon arriving at Shadow City, I could distinctly notice some changes. The most obvious was the canopy of the World Tree covering the majority of the sky, emitting a very dim, colorful halo. A massive flood of information was rapidly leaving this world on a secret communication frequency. Dingdang told me that this was the World Management Terminal sending a summary of the event to its superior nodes. It was a planar shock affecting thousands of worlds. Even in the eyes of the Divine Race, it was a major event. Being responsible, Dingdang naturally had to write a report even though we still can’t figure out the cause of this space-time chaos. But presumably, those powerful gods can uncover the truth. After this incident, this extremely remote world in the Void will probably be firmly remembered by the gods.

And Dingdang, who went through this major event, will probably soon make a name for herself. The bumbling Goddess of the millennium successfully turned the tide amid illegal immigrants sneaking and staying across the Void, maintaining the order and harmony of the universe, restoring local law and order in just over a month. This will surely allow Little Thing to keep her year-end bonus. Then Dingdang will have the chance to swap her World Management Terminal for a proper operating system—now Little Thing is just waiting on further instructions from her superiors. According to her own confident declaration, there will likely be an improvement in her benefits, which Little Thing is eagerly looking forward to.

It’s said that normally such major events take at least half a month to produce preliminary investigation results. However, with Dingdang’s report, this might be delayed by another month or so. And if Little Thing performs exceptionally while writing the report, it’s feared that the gods will still be perplexed even after two or three months. I can’t understand what Father God was thinking by sending such a god here, but one thing for sure, he definitely didn’t send her with the intention of making the world a better place—using such a god as a Doomsday Artifact would even seem excessively potent.

But luckily, since it will take over two months for Dingdang’s superiors to send further work instructions, Dingdang has the time to accompany us to retrieve a lost priestess.

Dimension Hub Square is still swamped with people. The Imperial Transportation Department is experiencing its first golden week of tourism since its establishment. The peak of transmigrator’s return journey likely won’t lessen for another three days. Passing through the square, I noticed that the order had greatly improved since Sicaro was imprisoned—mainly because there were fewer disk traders and ticket scalpers. The leaderless Sicaro pirate gang was brutally wiped out by the merciless Imperial City Management, and though comrades on the battlefield, the latter shows no courtesy in everyday life. What worries me, though, is that while the number of disk and ticket scalpers has drastically decreased, those selling tea eggs and pancake fruit have greatly increased. The small vendors, which included Tauren and Goblins, were bordering on plague proportions. Only then did I learn that the fall of the Sicaro Group caused transmigrators to focus more on these actual stalls. Prophet Lin calls this an economic form under the state of industry crossover. Anyway, after passing through the square, I felt almost like a walking monument, completely unable to imagine just how far the Space-Time Management Center can go or what it might eventually become.

It wasn’t until I entered the Space-Time Management Center that I managed to put the chaos of Tangfeng Bus Station behind me...

"This is the world we’ve located," Ville, continuously stationed at the Management Center, was oblivious to how filthy the nearby Dimension Hub had become, or perhaps she just didn’t care given her dedication to work. As soon as she saw the leaders hurrying over, she jumped into action, displaying a universe model in the "Beacon Hall" of the Management Center, "The fuzzy scanning results aren’t very precise, but there’s still plenty of information. It preliminarily appears to be a world similar to ours but has a very strange overall structure and some different physical constants. Plus, it’s much smaller than our universe and its formation time is also very short—here are its characteristic codes."

I toyed around with the projector’s characteristic codes, scanning them like Dingdang with a barcode scanner, and said, "Little Thing, is this one of your Divine Realm’s products?"

Dingdang tried hard to recognize it for a while before suddenly pulling out a large book from her personal space. "Ah Jun, wait a moment, let me check."

So, you still have to flip through it now, huh? I thought, don’t you Divine Realm products come with a ’made in heaven’ label?

The Lord God, more of a master of disaster than a miracle, flipped through that unnamed but likely very troublesome book and finally concluded, "It’s not made by us! The book says that worlds produced by the Divine Race have ’made in heaven’ stamped at the end of their basic laws to protect copyright. This world seems to be naturally generated, and it doesn’t have an admin login window. It seems unmanaged."

I admit I was flustered at that moment. Could it be that besides having a keen insight, I also had a hidden prophet-type role? Isn’t that just stepping on Lin Banxian’s toes?

"Looks like it’s not your territory," I sighed in relief. Lilina, that dangerous species, leading her smash-and-grab gang causing havoc in Otherworlds, my biggest fear was her causing trouble on Divine Race territory. We’re allies, after all, sending a crazy girl to smash someone else’s place doesn’t look good— I’m not a ruffian like Bingdisi...

"How long will it take us to get the army ready?" I held down Little Baobao, who had somehow slipped into the Beacon Hall and started running around, as I asked.

Sandora responded, "The main force of the Empire has already returned from various parts of the Universe. The only issue right now is the high pressure on the space transport system at the Space-Time Management Center. We need to wait for the transmigrator rush to subside, but it should only take two to three days. Lilina is obviously caught up in a war in that world, and we need to be fully prepared for an all-out conflict."

"We really should prepare," my sister nodded in agreement, "I need to bring more clothes."

Qianqian hugged my arm and muttered, "Ah Jun, can I come along this time too?"

Lin Xue waved her hand at me dismissively, "I can’t be bothered to move. I’m not interested in fighting, but bring back some local specialties. I’m quite interested in the machines from that world and would like to dismantle a couple for fun."

My gaze finally landed on the Pandora Sisters, and I didn’t need to guess—Visca was almost jumping out of his skin with joy, and Pandora was there grinding her eight-foot spear... err, checking her cannon.

We were originally planning to rescue the people of Otherworld from dire straits, but now it seems they might live longer if we don’t go.

"Hey," Mercury Lamp, who had been silently watching the drama from my shoulder, suddenly tapped my head and asked in a puzzled tone, "Why doesn’t it sound like you are gearing up for war?"

I quickly explained to her, "Actually, this is already quite serious for us."

Normally, Miss Big Sister not only brings a change of clothes but also brings a mobile kitchen each time she sets out.

"Phew—I’m already used to you guys," Mercury Lamp continued to lay lazily on my shoulder, swinging her legs back and forth aimlessly, disinterested in all these matters. "Whoa!"

She swung too hard and almost fell off.

"Hold on tighter." I steadied Mercury Lamp, but as soon as I let go, she began to slide down again—I sensed something was wrong.

"Mercury Lamp? What’s wrong?"

"I... I don’t know!" The doll, usually fearless, now spoke with a slight tremble. She couldn’t sit up straight anymore and had to cling to my head barely to keep from sliding. "Suddenly, I have no strength!"

I quickly lifted Mercury Lamp, intending to carry her princess-style, but the size wasn’t right, so I switched to carrying her like a child (vertically!). Due to the nature of her doll physique, her complexion showed no change, but I noticed her eyes were somewhat vacant, and just like someone deprived of sleep, her usually wide eyes were now barely open. The always dominant doll girl now seemed like a helpless little animal nestled in my arms, so light it was almost as if she had no weight.

"I’m a bit... sleepy..."

Mercury Lamp mumbled a few words, and immediately, all the spherical joints on her body began to squeak and creak, sounding just like they had never been oiled.

"Medic!" I immediately called out loudly, but then thought better of it and quickly corrected myself, "Repairman... no, that’s not right either, logistics... still not right. Is anyone here specialized in material science?"

"Just stop adding to the confusion," Lin Xue unceremoniously glared at me. Miss Prophet’s eyes flashed with a white light, "Just take her to the World Tree Temple, nothing perishes there."

We were all over the place, reminiscent of when a Black Sun almost blew up the Kepulu Star Zone, and none of us had been this flustered then. But now, just the cooling off of Mercury Lamp had us all panic-stricken. Fortunately, Lin Xue saw something, and her timely reminder provided Mercury Lamp with precious time to be saved.

The World Tree Temple, named a temple but actually an independent space within the World Tree itself. Passing through those densely packed branches and entering the base of the tree canopy, maintained by Dingdang’s power, there’s always an open teleportation gate. Behind the gate is an Other Space with no visible boundaries, and the only buildings are the temples of the Life Goddess. I’ve always thought that a three-inch-tall Little One living in such a large house is the biggest waste in history. With how expensive housing is now, Dingdang, it would be more economical and environmentally friendly to plant yourself in a flower pot rather than flaunt these temple complexes as if to show off how well the Divine Race regulates the housing market.

My complaints aren’t unfounded. Until three years ago, the biggest wish for my sister and me was a three-room apartment, and Qianqian still hasn’t given up on that dream...

Passing through the long hallway and various oddly named rooms, which supposedly have symbolic meanings powerful enough to change the entire structure of the world, we directly placed Mercury Lamp in the "Throne of Kings," which is actually the Goddess’s office. It was difficult to find a place to land amidst candy, toys, garbage, and bizarre experimental materials. The pompous "Throne of Kings," similar to beneath Little Baobao’s bed, forced us to throw those items, possibly invaluable, into Other Space to make room for Mercury Lamp to lie down. Surrounded by the greatest minds ranging from medical scientists to mechanical engineers to material scientists to electronic engineers...all leading Xyrin Technicians whose single thoughts contained enough knowledge to propel human society out of the Galaxy. Their current task was to get Mercury Lamp back on her feet.

I admit, among the aforementioned experts, very few had anything to do with healing but...

Who the hell knows how to treat a sick doll? Mercury Lamp doesn’t even have various organs. If she can’t lift her arm, should I consult an orthopedic doctor, a scholar in mechanics, or an expert in material science?

A group of white-robed researchers, standing at the pinnacle of knowledge, formed concentric circles around the platform, surrounding Mercury Lamp in the center—what kind of analogy is this?

The little doll was now nearly completely immobilized, her body as stiff as an ordinary puppet, moving only her eyes slightly and still able to speak, but otherwise, Mercury Lamp was no different from a sculpture.

It reminded me of Chu Mei from the original storyline of "Rose Maiden," who, after losing the Rose Mother, also the artificial soul of the Rose Maiden (presumably a fragment of the Wise Man’s Stone), had gone through a similar situation as Mercury Lamp is now—gradually becoming rigid, losing mobility, and ultimately turning into an ordinary puppet. However, Mercury Lamp was deteriorating even faster and, through testing, we had also ruled out the hypothesis of damage to the Rose Mother: the Rose Mother is at most a fragment of the Wise Man’s Stone, which, though miraculous to ordinary people, was nothing special in the Life Temple. The stone slabs used as flooring in the "Throne of Kings" held higher mystic significance than the Wise Man’s Stone, yet none of the items that could act as artificial souls in the temple could help Mercury Lamp recover. Even Dingdang couldn’t detect any anomalies!

The soul was intact, the body showed no abnormalities (aside from the missing part in her abdomen), but Mercury Lamp continued to weaken.

It’s not that with Dingdang’s power, healing a small doll girl was impossible, but without identifying the exact cause of the illness, any treatment would only serve as a temporary fix. It’s like plugging a leaky roof by having Caster hold up a magic shield on top; it works for now, but ultimately you need to repair the roof. I can’t exactly tie Dingdang around Mercury Lamp’s neck as a permanent battery...

I wonder if Suzuki can fix roofs...

"How is it? Can anyone tell what’s wrong?"

A group of expert scholars consulted for an hour, and with the support of the Life Temple’s power, the Mercury Lamp did not deteriorate further but also showed no improvement. I couldn’t help but feel a bit frantic.

"Your Majesty, theoretically speaking, this little girl’s current physical condition shows no difference from her healthy state..."

The chief physician responded, essentially meaning that all her vital signs were good, yet she was nearing her end.

"All of you are the Empire’s finest researchers and engineers, and now you can’t even fix a doll made in the Middle Ages?!" I was about to lose my temper on the spot. The scholars and experts immediately looked down with shame, but I knew that this situation was not in their area of expertise. Asking a group who handles warship dynamics to analyze why a doll can’t move is like getting ducks to perch.

"Ravens, can you discern anything?"

"The soul is intact, and her spiritual power is sufficient," Raven 001 said, puzzled. "Logically, she should be more lively than anyone."

My gaze then returned to Dingdang, who was hopping around the Mercury Lamp. Noticing my gaze, she promptly replied, "Dingdang can restore Mercury Lamp’s movement, but if we don’t find the reason for her loss of power, once Dingdang’s divine power supply is cut off, she will revert to this state."

Well then, a group of the most top-notch scholars and magic masters from the multi-universe, even including a Life Goddess, now can’t fix a doll—word getting out about this... But there’s nothing to be done. Theoretically speaking, all indicators of the Mercury Lamp are normal, and even the best scholars can’t handle it. Even Hua Tuo could not cure someone who isn’t ill—a comparison that makes Hua Tuo pale next to Dingdang.

"Mercury Lamp, how do you feel now?"

I whispered into Mercury Lamp’s ear; her constitution had deteriorated alarmingly fast when she was brought to the temple, and her hearing had already significantly weakened.

"So tired... can’t feel... my body..."

Mercury Lamp was in a very poor state of mind, mumbling only a few words before slipping back into a dazed state. Nevertheless, she subconsciously tried to move her arm to grab mine—of course, the attempt failed.

"It’s okay, just relax. The most powerful beings in the universe are gathered here, and you will be fixed soon..."

I felt that my comforting words ended suspiciously with a very doubtful verb.

I gently brushed a lock of hair from Mercury Lamp’s forehead and noticed a worrisome condition: The little doll’s skin, which was originally soft and elastic, had become somewhat stiff, the texture... nearing that of lifeless paint.

"Ah Jun." My sister’s voice suddenly sounded behind me. I turned around and saw her with an expression indicating she had something to say.

"What is it, sis?" I asked, moving a bit away from where Mercury Lamp lay.

"Ah Jun," she anxiously glanced in the direction of Mercury Lamp, "Do you still remember how that child initially came to life?" (To be continued. For further updates, please visit www.qidian.com. With more Chapters, support the author and support genuine reading!)

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