Xyrin Empire
Chapter 567 Lilina, I’m Here to Put a Collar on You

Chapter 567: Chapter 567 Lilina, I’m Here to Put a Collar on You

Restoring Mercury Lamp’s body was a matter of urgent, and a series of orders issued directly from the top echelons of the Empire made all the rulers under our power sense something unusual. The strongest and most excellent alchemists were almost kicking them anxiously into the teleportation gates commanded by their King. Meanwhile, under the operation of the Time-Space Administration, experts and scholars from other worlds (most of them were transmigrators who had just returned, with a few being recent recruits to our organization... uh, why does that sound so odd?) had assembled within two days, forming formidable medical teams. Many enthusiastic individuals who couldn’t make it to the scene or whose expertise didn’t match up formed remote support groups, cheering squads like "Mercury Lamp Cheer Up - Biyang Academy Support Group," "Mafa Continent Enthusiasts," "Heavenly Gate Sect’s 128 Braves Support Group," and other suspicious and nonsensical civilian groups. The newly established "Macro World" network turned topsy-turvy in forty-eight hours, as the gossip-loving masses exploded with enthusiasm when getting involved in such activities. Sandora repeatedly sighed, lamenting that if they’d put as much passion into sacrificing for their country, the All Realms would have been unified long ago...

80% of the people were creating chaos, and the remaining 20% were being subjected to it. That is the situation as summarized by Lin Xue.

Anyway, I hadn’t expected Mercury Lamp to be so popular among the transmigrators that she virtually became a spirit idol. It was only after Big Sister prompted me that I understood: always sitting on the shoulders of the Imperial Leader, appearing together with him at various public events, Mercury Lamp looked like an entertainment doll, a mascot in the eyes of those time-traveling parties. Bored masses always have something in common: they easily sprinkle their excess love on such inexplicably existent objects, like the Leader’s doll.

A bunch of people deceived by false appearances. You never felt Mercury Lamp’s metallic storm turn you into a feather duster. Just wait till that little guy finds out you’ve been treating her like a mascot, and brace yourselves to drown in a sea of down pillows!

But with all the commotion outside and overenthusiastic support teams, they couldn’t interfere with Mercury Lamp’s rest. The little doll, who couldn’t move physically but remained mentally alert, has been lying in the temple for almost over two days. Bored out of her mind, all she could do each day was eat and sleep. Even Rider expressed sympathy—this poor kid couldn’t even play Contra.

With the alchemy experts from outside stationed here, I was no longer worried about Mercury Lamp’s "illness". In fact, it was probably just her sudden collapse that caused excessive panic. Now, to think about it, even having the Life Goddess at my command, what was there for me to be nervous about...

"How long do I have to lie here still..."

With half an orange in her mouth, Mercury Lamp mumbled unclearly, leaning on my leg. Her slightly pale face was filled with boredom and indignant. To train the generally icy Chairman Shui to this state, I had to give myself some props.

"Just a couple more days, they’ve already started researching Luo Zhen’s alchemy methods," I offered Mercury Lamp another slice of orange, then quickly withdrew my hand before she could bite me, "Your dad might be an alchemy genius, but most of the ones I’ve summoned here surpass him. When the time comes, you just pick out the parts you like. You could change your waistline every day until the end of the world..."

"Crunch—Crack!"

"Ah crap! You’ve still got the strength to bite with severe muscle weakness?"

"When are you leaving?" Mercury Lamp bit me hard, then lay back down weakly, mumbling away.

"Tomorrow morning—or Lilina might just bring about the apocalypse."

Mercury Lamp’s body would take two or three days to repair, and Lilina had been lost for over a month. Logically, a month had passed, and a delay of two or three more days wouldn’t matter much, but I probably couldn’t wait. That natural-born EVA was like a runaway horse, capable of turning the whole world into tomato sauce at any moment. I had to go and collar that girl quickly.

Yesterday afternoon at 2:30, Sivis intercepted a signal that seemed to be related to the Holy Temple Army—other than a throat-ripping curse, it included three continuous minutes of cannon fire. Our sole reason to believe it was related to the Holy Temple Army was that it had clearly been encrypted with the Imperial Army’s algorithms... This signal greatly reinforced my resolve to tie that little madwoman up and drag her back.

Moreover, there’s something else worth noting. Although we found the world where Lilina got lost, the information barrier surrounding that world still staunchly protects its secrets from the inside. Apart from occasionally intercepting some fragments, the Shadow Fortress and Holy Temple Army could not make contact at all. Such a strange, naturally formed world, of course, piqued our immense curiosity, with Taville being the most excited. After over twenty super-space probes were sent without return, this female researcher even considered the idea of personally visiting that world. And Lin Xue often frowned in contemplation when talking about that world, clearly our Half-Immortal Lord "saw" some mumbo jumbo but couldn’t clearly tell everyone. These reasons ultimately led me to decide, no matter what was happening there, to go and see for myself.

At least to bring back the Doomsday Messenger Lilina first...

"Go on, go on. Who asked you to be such a big shot? You’ve got your own Empire to worry about."

While I was thinking about all those messy matters, Mercury Lamp seemed to think of something and suddenly started acting up, causing me to pinch her slightly stiff face gently, "Don’t worry, I won’t leave and never come back... uh, I didn’t mean anything by that."

Tsk, I’m talking about Luo Zhen. If you’re so tough, bite me! Now all you’ve got left is a single canine tooth.

Then I immediately regretted it, she really does bite!

And since she’s a patient right now, I didn’t have the heart to resist.

The Broken Tooth Attack lasted less than three seconds. After all, the Mercury Lamp was low on energy and she flopped back down with a whoosh, while I intermittently stroked that tiny head: "Don’t worry, I won’t abandon you. This is your home, forever and always..."

My promise was resolute, ringing with conviction. The Mercury Lamp had been abandoned once before. She’d made up her mind to come back, and just after a few days of reunion, I was about to set off on a campaign. I couldn’t be sure she wouldn’t feel some unnecessary anxiety—for instance, the fear of being abandoned again. Although such anxiety was somewhat illogical, I needed to reassure her. Besides, such a sentimental promise should surely increase her fondness for me a bit, right?

With that thought, I looked down and suddenly my eyes filled with tears:

After receiving my promise, the girl settled down and fell asleep.

You really live to eat and sleep to eat, huh!

Anyway, in the end, we temporarily settled the Mercury Lamp in the temple to wait; she had some minor complaints about this arrangement but obediently complied. For now, the little doll had no choice but to honestly cooperate with the treatment. Once her body was fully healed and if that world posed no real danger, maybe I would agree for her to join us and stir things up a bit.

Shadow Space upper level, the Imperial Starport preparation area.

A starport farewell—at first, this seemed to me a matter of great sentimentality, warriors departing, with loving wives seeing them off. Add some background music and I could feel like William Wallace. But now, leading an army from the starport had become as common as stepping out to buy soy sauce for our entire family. It might even surpass the mundane routine of buying soy sauce in the future; the household condiments, which we now need in amounts greater than ordinary households’ dry rations, are being purchased by Du Dao Kazuko, who has recently taken up the full-time job as a maid.

By the way, that’s quite the manual labor—Sandora consumes more seasoning in a day than what a normal household would with their dry rations...

"Sandora, you’re not going to join in the excitement?"

I casually pressed on Sandora’s head beside me and asked.

"The ’Macro World’ network and the Time-Space Administration are just beginning to operate. I need to personally oversee things," Sandora replied with a wise and astute demeanor, fitting for a queen, simply smiling at my affectionate gesture in front of all the soldiers. "Be extra careful on this trip. Even though it’s just a lower plane that even Lilina could easily sweep across, we should still heed Lin Xue’s warning."

I glanced at Prophet Lin, who was filing her nails. She grinned at me and said, "If I can’t tell, I can’t tell. But believe me, you won’t go wrong." Then she handed me three small packets, "Open these three days later and have a look."

"What’s this?" I weighed the crudely made cloth packets in my hand, clearly the handiwork of a certain miss, "Some kind of trick?"

"I’m much better than that Zhuge guy!" Lin Xue declared proudly, patting her chest. I maliciously wondered if she might end up flattening it, "It’s something instructive."

"Fine, fine," I flicked Lin Xue’s forehead, "First you have me bring along half the New Eden Federation Servant Army, and now you’re spouting this kind of brilliant plan. Can’t you stop being so goddamn mystical all the time?"

And next to me, Sandora voiced her confusion, "Wasn’t the one famous for his brilliant plans surnamed Zhuge?"

...I genuinely had no idea who here could have possibly originated from Earth.

"Ah Jun! Ah Jun! Let’s go, let’s go!"

While I was discussing whether Mr. Kongming’s ancestors had the surname Zhuge or just Zhuge, an excited call suddenly came from behind. I turned around to find our Mistress, dressed robustly in hiking gear, dragging an enormous suitcase. And next to her, strutting in an elegant gown like some rich heiress, was our Big Sister. Well, actually, Sister was just wearing a simple dress, but the rich heiress elegance was all due to the silly girl beside her.

Following them were two maids, Anwina and Du Dao Kazuko, who had come to see us off.

Getting Anwina to leave home was no easy feat, though stepping from the mansion into Shadow City didn’t technically mean she had left home...

Watching Qianqian drag her suitcase while waving and walking toward the boarding area, I couldn’t help but think of that distant relative again.

"What are you doing?" I hurriedly took a couple of steps forward to help Qianqian with her suitcase, then took the opportunity to knock on her head, "If you’ve got Personal Space, why insist on dragging this huge trunk around?"

"It feels more like a holiday trip this way! It’s been so long since I’ve traveled with Ah Jun!" Qianqian replied cheerily, "Plus, Big Sister brought a lot too, although it’s all in her Personal Space. But her change of clothes, kitchenware, snacks, beverages, camera batteries... it’s even more extreme than mine, a whole half-ton!"

I shuddered at the weight, and Big Sister laughed awkwardly, "I forgot Sandora isn’t coming with us, most of that is food."

No, for Sandora, that’s all food.

And what’s this about a long time since we traveled together? Should I first criticize you for seeing an expedition as a holiday or for so quickly forgetting last month’s thousand-mile dash to the Academy Apocalypse?

"Where are Pandora and Visca?"

Looking around and not spotting the two little troublemakers, I couldn’t help but ask. Their absence was weird, especially since I saw the sisters frantically zipping back and forth in the starport sky like crazy only an hour ago.

"They’re tidying up the fleet and personally overseeing the Legion’s departure," Qianqian said, and gave me a disdainful glance, "Did you think everyone is as idle as you, wandering around aimlessly? They are Generals!"

Everyone in the world could criticize me except for you, you brat!

"Boss, we’re all set!"

Who’s that? So impolite. Don’t they see your boss is here bonding with his little sister?

I turned at the sound and was immediately confronted by a figure radiantly blue. Instantly, I lost all urge to scold the newcomer.

The Child of Light from Ireland, Cu Chulainn, a Heroic Spirit under Dingdang’s wing.

The first rule of the Chen Family: treat an unlucky fellow with kindness, for they’ve been through enough misfortune already. Showing a bit of mercy might restore some of their hp, so they can continue to be unlucky and entertain you.

Cu Chulainn, the man with the astonishlingly low Luck Value of E—I wonder if he once offended Big Sister in his past life and got cursed with an EX negative Luck Value. The misfortunes he faces daily are many, from thunder strikes and tripping over nothing to the absolute worst scenarios like fishing and encountering a Nine-Headed Snake, or stumbling upon a Chimera during a walk, even managing to get stepped on by a giant elephant while asleep—all creatures of Avalon, each a standard Divine Creation. Although he usually gets out of these predicaments given his role as a guard for the World God, this poor lad has become quite infamous in Avalon...

Cu Chulainn stood in front of me, Long Spear in hand, backed by a team of Heroic Spirits ordered to join this mission: Altoria, Hercules, Heroic Spirit Emiya, Medea, Medusa, Sasaki Kojiro, and a group of other Heroic Spirits ABCD, whose names I couldn’t quite remember. The ABCDs were rotated every mission, but the familiar faces of spirits like Altoria always appeared orderly before me. Cu Chulainn had once mildly protested, feeling that his boss was guilty of mistreating a minority of employees, but there was nothing to be done about it—if you want to blame someone, blame yourselves for getting involved in that cursed Fifth War.

"Mhm, mhm, everyone’s in line!"

Dingdang suddenly leaped out of my shirt pocket and, in an exemplary manner, perched atop my head, inspecting the soldiers like a General. I imagined the solemn but adorable nodding of this little thing—and no matter how hard it was, I definitely couldn’t burst out laughing now.

However, unlike the barely contained grins on our side, the Heroic Spirits behind Cu Chulainn instantly straightened their bodies, their faces each more solemn and tense than the last. Dingdang is a genuine Management God of the world and the current source of the Heroic Spirits’ power, as well as their core of faith. Just the presence of the little thing could evoke reverence and obedience in the spirits, making me all the more curious about what Cu Chulainn had done to anger his own God.

"You all understand your mission, right?"

Knowing the little thing can manage a semblance of inspection but is a complete mess when speaking, I addressed the crowd in front of me as if I were the CEO speaking to a group of new employees who had just completed their probation period.

"Protect the Crystal Saint Mother with all your might!"

Hercules, there’s no need to be so loud; even your God got knocked to the ground by your voice.

Knocked askew by Hercules’ booming voice, Dingdang clumsily clambered back onto my shoulder and began absent-mindedly digging in its ear. Meanwhile, a certain purple-haired and timid young girl protected by the Heroic Spirits raised her hand to speak with a trembling voice, "Um, Brother Chen, can I really do this?"

"There’s actually nothing you need to do," I consoled Sakura, who was a bit insecure about her first time taking part in such a mission. "Once you’ve transformed into the Crystal Saint Mother, just leave everything to the power circuits."

Lilina’s lost world has an information isolation barrier; so far, none of our probes have been able to send back data from behind that shield. However, the entire Imperial Fleet can’t just venture out and lose contact with headquarters, which is why Avalon, with its ability to penetrate all realms, became our special radio station. Sakura, in her Crystal Saint Mother Form, operates as an antenna for Avalon; by leveraging her connection with Avalon, which can burn through planar barriers and maintain contact, we can keep in touch with the Shadow Fortress in that world.

I’m just not sure about Sakura’s upload bandwidth, but with such a powerful wireless router, online movies shouldn’t lag, right?

Just then, a broadcast suddenly filled the starport’s skies, "Fleet charging complete, all units operating normally, beginning roll call for main combat equipment, all commanders, please board the ships. I repeat..."

"It’s time to go, it’s time to go," Qianqian, already excitedly itching and scratching for some time, bounded in front of me with a bang—why a bang? Just look at the giant suitcase she flung aside. "Sandora, let’s head out, Anwina and Du Dao Kazuko, take good care of the house~!~!"

Has this girl finally developed some awareness as the Mistress of the household?

The boarding process goes without saying; once again, the flagship for the Interstellar Coalition is the Imperial Admiral, having been modified by us time and again into a monstrous vessel. Amidst a violent dimensional warp within the Shadow Space, the fleet has arrived in an unfamiliar expanse of stars... (To be continued. For subsequent events, please log in to www.qidian.com. More Chapters await, support the author, support genuine reading!)