Xyrin Empire
Chapter 576: News of Lilina

Chapter 576: Chapter 576: News of Lilina

The administrative center of Jetas Planet is located near the equator of this Earth-like planet, and the most eye-catching thing in the city center is a towering structure, slanting into the sky like a beast’s horn. At the top of the structure hangs a disc-shaped structure that protrudes one-third beyond the main body of the tower, which is exactly where we are right now.

While General Jie En went to explain to his superiors why the entire Colony Star had been occupied by others while he was out annihilating two small groups of pirates—though I suspect he was more eager to showcase how he recaptured the lost territory in just six short hours—we were temporarily placed in this place that obviously had a very high administrative level. Well, I can’t be certain about the administrative level, but this place is definitely high up.

This should be called something like the President’s Mansion, right? This design is truly a headache. They skipped using a solid structure and instead used such an innovative architectural shape to build an unstable tower. It’s entirely just showing off their Material Science technology. After seeing this high tower that looks as if it’s waiting to fall over, the first thing I do is marvel at how the people living beneath it must have some serious psychological resilience.

The Empire’s architecture, on the other hand, is sturdy and reliable, designed to last. For buildings three stories and up, we install an anti-gravity generator on every floor...

"This city looks like a junkyard—I mean, that’s the impression it gives," Uncle Reynolds stood in the middle of a large semi-circular set of outward-leaning windows, staring down at the cityscape for a long while before he felt a bit dizzy and took two steps back, shrugging at us.

"Couldn’t agree more," it seems the chairs here weren’t designed for humans or at least humans in this universe might have different physical structures than Earthlings. I feel incredibly uncomfortable sitting in what seems to be a luxurious chair, so I had to stand up and walk around. "The architectural styles are varied, each zone has different color schemes, and it seems like this mishmash was intentional by the planners. I wonder if it’s a difference in aesthetic views between the two universes, but everything I see in this world just looks off to me."

"But I think it’s pretty interesting here!" Qianqian had been scurrying around the room since a while back, embarking on an indoor adventure with the overly curious Visca, and at this moment, she felt it was time to voice her opinion.

"Our Shadow City is similar, isn’t it? Dwarf architecture next to Beastman dens, Troll treehouses right behind Elf dwellings, skyscrapers opposite Mage Floating Towers, separated only by Goblin commercial streets..."

I suddenly choked: "Cough, cough... our place is still way more organized than this..."

But I really should take Qianqian’s occasional insights seriously. With her reminder, I really started to see the similarities between this so-called "Jetas Capital" and Shadow City, with large amounts of residential areas in different styles intermingled intricately, urban facilities from different cultures and even technological systems standing shoulder to shoulder. If there were to be any difference from Shadow City, it would be as I mentioned before—this place is several times more chaotic, with almost no trace of orderly planning.

"Ah Jun, do you know, I always have this feeling," Big Sister leaned in and whispered, "everything in this world seems to be pieced together—not just those spaceships, but also this city, the residents we saw earlier with their varied attire, and even the furnishings in this room... Although I don’t quite understand some things Taville mentioned, one thing we’ve all noticed is that the technology in the hands of these natives is layered to an unimaginable degree, and even, a dozen completely unrelated technological products have been forcefully combined together."

Just after admiring Qianqian’s occasional perceptiveness, I also have to respect Big Sister’s thoroughness and attention to detail. Do you think it’s easy for me being a mere mortal of average intelligence?

"It’s so high up here—Mr. Chen, are we on an overseas trip—eh? What’s this..."

Silvia’s slow and dazed voice came from behind. All of a sudden, I felt confident again.

So what if they’re mere mortals? Could there be a lack of common sense like Silvia’s?

But Big Sister’s and Qianqian’s keen observations are quite valid—the cultural system of this world is their own affair, and we’ll set that aside for now. But what’s with their haphazard technology system? Fuel engines paired with Jump Engines, gunpowder weapons along with Laser Turrets—the range of armor on their warships varies from steel to Interstellar Alloy. It feels just like Uncle Wang from next door wearing a vest, a tie, and a straw hat, with one foot in a slipper and the other in a crocodile shoe, clutching a wad of Vietnamese Dong and heading to KFC to order a bowl of Old London-style fried sauce noodles—it’s totally mismatched. If after hearing this description you don’t find it chaotic, just wait until you see the technological state of this world, which spans tens of thousands of years of civilization history, and you’ll definitely find it chaotic.

From what I recall, only those subpar Chinese-style sci-fi would take such liberties with technology. Like piloting a thirty-meter-tall Mecha while diligently practicing Ancient Martial Arts, believing that squatting in horse stance would enhance the machine’s balance without realizing the consequences of metal fatigue and obstinately refusing to replace the gyroscope; or ignoring an array of shortcut keys, believing in the superiority of hand speed to frantically type over two hundred lines of code in one minute, only to nearly pass out before realizing there’s a Divine Skill known as Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V—and there’s plenty more where that came from.

Of course, the tech-related annoyance just mentioned is not the same concept of annoyance as the previously mentioned. Ancient Martial Mechas and hand speed overcoming macros belong to the category of things that are enjoyable to watch, whereas Jetas’ technological chaos is filled with frustrating logic speculation.

While waiting for Jie En to return, we discussed no fewer than ten speculative theories about this Universe’s technological situation, with participants including Sandora and Taville from faraway Shadow City. Theories such as the Technological Discontinuity Theory, the Great Tech Collapse Theory, the High Civilization Inheritance Theory, the Technology God Sect’s Paranoia Theory, and Qianqian’s creatively proposed Imperial Soy Sauce Group Ancient War Perennial Disaster Theory (unfortunately, the last one convinced at least ten percent of us). During the whole discussion, Lin the Immortal sat in a corner of the communication window, always with a smile, while Miss lazily lounged on a sofa, waving a chicken feather duster made of Mercury Lamp’s feathers in between us, acting like she knew everything and wouldn’t tell us. At first, I thought she had just finished cleaning the house, but I later realized that girl was planning to COSPLAY Kongming. Unfortunately, since Mercury Lamp was receiving rehabilitation treatment and Anwina’s raven feathers were inappropriate, she had to make do with a chicken feather duster instead...

Do you think we’re all not frustrated enough?

"I’m terribly sorry, friends from the Federation, for making you wait!"

Suddenly, a booming voice from the door brought our idle conversation to a brief halt. Major General Jie En, who had gone to report on his work, was finally back. Actually, I was about to say that if you hadn’t shown up, we were going to start discussing the evolutionary history of life in this Universe...

I had only seen Jie En through the communicator before, and even then, it was just a portrait. My clearest memory of him was that perpetually raised left arm—holding the camera steady. Now, seeing a breathing version of him, I couldn’t help but remark: He’s truly like an old General who has led battles on the front lines, his nearly 1.489 Pandora tall stature and the hint of strong muscles beneath his uniform were not for show. A middle-aged handsome guy materialized before my eyes, and I couldn’t help but tease: Uncle, don’t tell me you’ve been living under a cliff all this time, waiting for a talented young man to fall down, and only recently, after a long wait in vain, switched jobs to become a space warship captain?

"It wasn’t that long."

Uncle Reynolds stood up to greet him, extending his arms in a ceremonial gesture of an embrace invitation. Regardless of whether they were truly close enough for two grown men to entangle each other in public, such a hug was unavoidable for political figures. True to his military nature, Jie En went straight in for the hug with a series of loud crackles.

It was just a display of the old soldier’s temperament, but then Uncle Reynolds also got sentimental, and now it was Jie En’s turn to creak.

I thought to myself, Beardy Uncle, that’s enough isn’t it? The man’s got a third of his hair white already. If you really injure him in a hug, you won’t be getting any reimbursement for your multitude of bruises and strains.

In the end, two militarily majestic senior commanders completed a historic embrace and then, each nursing their ribs, took a seat. I felt secretly grateful that I had pushed Reynolds toward the role of a spokesman. I’m really not keen on hugging an old man like that; I’d prefer a gentle girl—if Qianqian doesn’t bite afterwards, that is.

Besides, I really wonder what goes on in the heads of these military guys...

"I think you should be hailed as heroes of Jetas and receive cheers from the people," Jie En said eagerly as soon as he sat down. "We should celebrate. Aside from the day we established the Colonies, this is the most memorable day for Jetas. We have driven away the ferociously evil invaders..."

"In fact, they only managed to illegally stay on your planet for six hours, and when they left, they didn’t even have time to abduct any local girls," said Reynolds playfully, glancing at my face and shaking his head apologetically to Jie En, "We’re not interested in such exaggerated stuff, and I don’t think holding some flashy celebration right now would make your superiors happy."

"Alright, I think so too," Jie En, the middle-aged heartthrob, agreed with Reynolds’ statement with a surprisingly bachelor-like attitude, "Those eggheads who only discuss political atmosphere and opinion manipulation are all idiots indeed. Forget the ceremony, but maybe we could have a drink?"

Now I’m truly curious. How on Earth did this virile grandsire clinch the position of Major General—did all his colleagues kick the bucket?

Reynolds’ face flushed visibly at the mention of "having a drink." Poor man, these days, he had absolutely no resistance to those three words. Anyone who knew a smidgeon of gossip about the upper echelons of the New Eden Federation was aware of how their beloved Governor James Raynor usually let his wife rule. After Kerrigan learned how Reynolds drowned his sorrows in booze to the point of losing himself during that period, out of a mix of pity and anger, she, having shifted from Queen to dutiful wife, nearly implemented a concentration camp regimen to help Reynolds kick the habit. It’s said behind every successful man is a dominant woman, and paired with her is a submissive man. Reynolds let his lady love rule him and seemed to relish it, only now he was struggling due to not touching alcohol for several months.

"Tell me, how many times have you tried to quit drinking to no avail?"

I nudged Reynolds’ shoulder and teased the visibly embarrassed uncle.

"And who might you be?"

Jie En was a bit perplexed when he saw me slapping the "Federation head" on the shoulder nonchalantly. I didn’t blame him; from the start, we had only introduced Reynolds and Zeratul as the spokesperson and military head, so of course he didn’t know who I was—but his "who’s this Passerby A" look really ticked me off!

"He’s my boss," Reynolds said nonchalantly, pointing at me and using the terminology we were accustomed to, "Even though I’m the head of the Federation, here, I have to listen to him."

"Ahem, we can talk about my stuff later, and the bizarre battles from earlier as well," I quickly interrupted, seeing Jie En was keen on probing. Otherwise, we wouldn’t get to the end of it, "You know, we’re lost travelers here and quite unfamiliar with this place, like the rampant pirates and your enigmatic multiple alliances—so, if you don’t mind, could you explain this to me?"

"You haven’t received that message yet?" This time, Jie En looked at us, surprisingly, "Could it be... even Shepherds could be late?"

"Shepherds?" I took notice of this term, which I had heard more than once, but refrained from showing too much confusion. Jie En’s reaction earlier was a bit off, as if it was normal for us to have received that so-called "Shepherd" notification by now. If I seemed too bewildered, it could lead him to bad conclusions, "Ah, who knows, I’m still confused at the moment."

"...Well, maybe even Shepherds can slack off," Jie En didn’t dwell on this question, "Just remember one thing. When you’re in this place, sooner or later you’ll encounter the Shepherds, or their commands. I’m not being alarmist—if you fight alone, you’ll inevitably die here. The Shepherds have no mercy; their only desire is to stir the entire universe into self-destructive warfare. I should tell you more, but... since the Shepherds haven’t contacted you yet, I don’t know what they’re planning, so perhaps it’s wise to speak less..."

Jie En spoke with a bit of vagueness, his face showing undisguised unease and tension. I had never imagined this tough general to be like this. Just who or what exactly are these "Shepherds"?

The dark forces of this universe? Or possibly...

This is really too much. I actually thought of Lilina... Surely that girl’s threat couldn’t be so exaggerated and immediate, could it?

Despite my persistent questioning, Jie En was unwilling to divulge more, keeping tight-lipped about the Shepherd. Even regarding the state of this world, he repeatedly insisted that we had to wait for explicit instructions from the Shepherd before he could tell us anything. The fact that an organization could instill such fear in a general, and it seemed, in all the nations of the universe, branded "Shepherd" in my mind with a "United States" label.

"Speaking of which, there must have been other fleets that got lost here before us," Big Sister said nonchalantly as she sat down beside me, "From the sound of your voice earlier, it seems like you’re already used to stray fleets."

Thanks to Big Sister’s reminder, we had almost forgotten about Lilina.

"Lost fleets, of course, in this place, almost every day, there are fleets that bumble in and get trapped here. Eh, you’re not really hoping to find a fleet from the same place as yourself, are you? Don’t bother, the chances are incredibly slim..."

"Of course, my sister was just asking casually."

"It’s a natural inquiry. We felt the same when we first arrived here... Speaking of which, there was some trouble in the Eastern Nebula Sky Zone a while back, but that’s just a rumor..."

Jie En hadn’t finished speaking when a thought struck me: he mentioned feeling the same when he first arrived here, which meant that this man before me also came from another universe after getting lost?

Is getting "Ghost Hit Wall" a common experience in this universe?

"Eastern Sky Zone? We know nothing about the star map of this universe, but are those troubles related to the lost fleets?"

"More or less," Jie En began to open up, proving to be quite talkative, "Rumors have it that suddenly a cult organization emerged, extraordinarily powerful in combat, and even rumored to be as formidable as the Shepherd. They started by annihilating the entire region’s pirate forces, then vanished. Now they only show up occasionally to scare people. It’s said their doctrine changes daily, and the organization’s name gets decided by a civilian vote every Monday. They rob everywhere claiming to be robbing the rich to help the poor, but their actions are often illogical, resulting in them not knowing who to give the loot to, so they just dump it on some uninhabited planet..."

Before the handsome old man could mention me, I clapped my hand to my chest: No doubt about it, other than Lilina, no one else would do something so ludicrous.

But Jie En’s knowledge was limited; the Big Nebula was a whole ten light-years away from this place, the center of this star map, and had almost no contact with Jetas. Although the humans of this universe had mastered Super Space-Time Communication Technology, they weren’t yet at the leisurely level of cruising ten light-years for fun. The information Jie En shared was merely gossip, and regarding the suddenly emerged, bizarre, mysterious and identity-unknown church (all these adjectives were provided by Jie En’s friendship), there were no fewer than a hundred interpretations in the universe. Jie En knew fewer versions than two street old ladies...

You could tell how big a sensation Lilina had caused when she first arrived.

However, one piece of information was certain: after causing a scene initially, Lilina immediately went into hiding. This led many people in this universe to be unaware of the true nature of the Holy Temple Army, relying solely on rumors for dissemination. I’m not sure how that girl managed such actions, so contrary to her character, but it at least spared me a tremendous headache.

A distance of ten light-years, a hugely costly voyage for the natives with still imperfect Super Space-Time Jump Technology, wasn’t much for us. Right away, I decided to first explore the Eastern Nebula Sky Zone. However, before I could share this decision with Qianqian and the others, Jie En gave me another piece of information.

The "Queen" of the Gotaque Free Kingdom wished to meet us. (To be continued. For more, please visit www.qidian.com. More Chapters are available there, support the author, support genuine reading!)