Xyrin Empire
Chapter 738: Encounter with an External Citizen

Chapter 738: Chapter 738: Encounter with an External Citizen

(Gentlemen, just a heads up, I’ll need to head home on the 13th, which means a day spent in transit. Therefore, updates cannot be guaranteed—it depends on domestic travel conditions. This is a precautionary note. Also: seeking monthly tickets, seeking monthly tickets! This is the essence!)

Sandora’s bite remained as soul-stirring as ever; when her charming fang approached, I had no choice but to abandon any plans to continue loafing around. But, to be honest, there’s not much that we can arrange on our end right now.

"It’s about time for the Time-Space Administration to take action," I massaged the teeth marks on my arm, "so the division of labor will be as follows: you Divine Race manage your world, and we’ll handle the rest. The intelligence network of the Time-Space Administration also covers many worlds, although it may not be as extensive as yours—we can at least monitor tens of thousands of self-sustaining Void worlds without Divine Race guardians. Whenever Fallen Apostles steal the Heart of the World, they won’t likely escape notice. Our early warning systems will be effective."

In simple terms, it means each should manage their own responsibilities. While the Divine Race should safeguard their worlds and the Empire has its own territories, other worlds within the Void are beyond help.

"There are too many worlds in the Void, but at least we can maintain surveillance over a significant portion," Father God nodded at me. "If the Fallen’s goals are truly that expansive, the ’materials’ they need to gather will undoubtedly be indispensable. Based on the intelligence we have, the activities of the Fallen have been expanding into orderly worlds. By protecting most of these worlds, we’ll greatly obstruct our enemy’s actions."

She then broached the topic of direct confrontation—"Sandora took up the conversation, "I must admit, the Empire’s strength is still recovering. We might lack the manpower, but the war against the Fallen Apostles is a responsibility we must bear. We will appear on any frontal battlefield, eliminating all the Fallen, to hasten the arrival of that day. I hope we can share information just like in the old days—I hope... there can be a direct connection to the Divine Realm within the Imperial Capital."

I must admit I am still much of a novice compared to Sandora, this lover Queen who always seems to perceive issues from a higher strategic perspective. While I only considered the tug-of-war with the Fallen Apostles, she had already begun paving the way for the Empire’s restoration to its former glory.

A direct connection to the Divine Realm means that from now on, the Imperial Capital would permanently host a Teleportation Gate directly linked to the Divine Realm. Our top forces wouldn’t have to travel through the Void but could teleport directly. We could even use this portal to dispatch small-scale military forces to each other. This requires not just strength but absolute mutual trust and transparency between two powers—the Empire naturally won’t have any defenses against the Divine Race, as given the current power status of Shadow City, there’s not much we can do to guard against the Divine Race. Now, it’s up Father God to consider this issue.

To my surprise, Father God didn’t even take a second to think before cleanly agreeing to Sandora’s request: "Of course, just like before. Now that you have reinstated your territories across the Void and established several world cores as your capital, and in your capital, there is a world management system from the Divine Realm. I believe you have enough power to protect this crucial passageway. Let’s set the teleportation gate near Little Dingdang’s temple; that place usually isn’t of much use anyway."

Father God, you really understand some unreliable Lady Goddess.

I couldn’t help but smile ruefully as I patted a little head peeking curiously from my chest pocket. Dingdang immediately clung to the descending finger, murmuring in protest.

"So, this matter should be considered settled now," Father God clapped his hands, "Finally, one major issue is resolved. The Fallen will need a long time to achieve their plans; they can’t reveal themselves so blatantly, which gives us preparation time. However, I must say, the Xyrin Apostles are an exceedingly resilient and tough Race, especially when viewed from the opposing side—they will never cease their scheming, so stay on your guard, as significant events could happen at any moment."

An expressions of apology appeared on Sandora’s face: "From my position, I really don’t know how to express my apologies—we mistakenly overlooked your initial warning, embarked on this path, and now... The Fallen Apostles who have strayed are almost as great a danger as the Abyss."

This was something that Sandora was quite distressed about and reluctant to mention, but now she had to openly admit the Empire’s mistake. The gods had issued a cautious warning about dealing with the Void long before the Xyrin Apostles went astray. The obstinacy of the Xyrin Apostles ultimately led to a major catastrophe and has continued to evolve to this day, making the Fallen Apostles a formidable danger lurking across the Multi-universe—a near betrayal to the once steadfast allies, the Divine Race. Despite not being involved in the initial experiments, as a ruler of the Empire, she still felt accountable.

"It’s okay, it’s okay," Father God smiled warmly, his voice deep and calm, "We have time, in the long span of time we might make any kind of mistake, and we also have the time to correct them. Everyone has their moments of deviation—Star Domains and Huron have also engaged in totally meaningless wars, but everything can be remedied..."

Father God’s words were only halfway complete when suddenly a burst of noisy disturbance from outside interrupted him.

Judging by the sound, it seemed to come from somewhere nearby; I thought I heard the bustling noise of Visca, and everyone instinctively turned towards the direction of the sound, Big Sister became anxious, "What’s going on?"

"I knew it was risky to have Lilina watch over those kids," I slapped my thigh and got up to run to the door, "you guys wait here, I’ll be right back!"

Apart from Father God, everyone else sat back down, but Big Sister, worried, also followed us. The three of us rushed down the corridor outside the reception room. Along the way, I was muttering to myself: It sounds like someone started a fight, but Visca wouldn’t be that reckless, would she?

Since I knew both Pandora and Visca thought outside the box, those two little girls wouldn’t be able to make any constructive suggestions on the spot. They might even rashly introduce the entire Void conquest plan to Father God. To prevent them from causing chaos, I had them join the other kids for a tour around the temple. I never imagined that within just an hour, they would start a fight inside the temple.

"Who are you fighting with?"

The parent trio finally found the corner of the corridor where the noise was coming from, and saw three little lolis tussling on the floor, with several Divine Servants standing by—wanting to break up the fight but clearly they had failed, as evidenced by the footprints all over them. They watched the young guests on the ground with a mix of laughter and tears. Seeing their master and two visitors arrive, they quickly came over, but Lilina and the others who should have been with them were nowhere to be seen.

And the ones fighting the Pandora sisters was a girl I didn’t recognize.

She had long blue and white hair and looked about the same age as Pandora, delicate-looking but seemingly lacking in expression. Even while fighting, she kept her lips tightly sealed. She appeared frail, but anyone who could box with Visca was undoubtedly more physically capable than she appeared. This strange girl wore a black dress styled like Divine Realm clothing but didn’t resemble the work attire I had seen on the temple clergy—that is, she wasn’t one of the local Divine Servants.

Looking at this strange girl, I felt something was off but couldn’t quite place what it was exactly.

These observations happened in a moment. Seeing the Pandora sisters causing trouble with someone (why did I say ’again’?), the first thing to do was of course to separate them—I stepped forward and hoisted the pair by their 1.2-meter-tall belts, lifting them up while Big Sister prepared to lecture them; it was a tried and true procedure.

"Brother, Brother! Put me down! This is an enemy we must defeat! It’s a battle of dignity—ouch—"

Visca was silenced by a chop of my hand that released the Big Silence Technique, and she stopped speaking, clutching her head. Pandora remained expressionlessly by the side, as if nothing had happened.

Big Sister went forward and helped the strange girl who had been bullied by Pandora and Visca, only to find not a single scratch on her. It seemed that neither Pandora nor Visca had gotten serious—after all, there wasn’t even a blast crater on the scene. What kind of fight was this, right?

"Who’s this child?"

Big Sister asked curiously, while the strange girl unabashedly sized us up. She didn’t seem hostile but was full of curiosity. Her gaze finally rested on Pandora and Visca, and then she cheekily stuck out her tongue.

"What an interesting development," Father God stepped forward and gently patted the strange girl’s head, a gentle smile on his face, "I was planning to introduce this little troublemaker to you later, but she came out on her own... She’s a mischievous girl some troublemaker brought back from the Mortal World, her name is Xi Yan—perhaps you have already noticed, she’s quite unique."

I took a closer look and finally confirmed, "For example, she’s ten centimeters taller than Pandora and Visca?"

The two shorties, who had just calmed down, immediately started jumping up again but were pressed back down by Big Sister.

Father God stared at me, dumbfounded, and after a long moment, he burst out: "You have a novel perspective on observing issues!"

Me: "...Thank you, thank you."

"Cough cough, I mean, haven’t you noticed the traces of Ghost Energy on this child?"

I immediately took another careful look at the girl named Xi Yan, analyzing the energy fluctuations she emitted, which were well hidden but still discernible. I grew serious. "Ghost Energy... and it’s the frequency commonly used by the Empire... I hadn’t noticed earlier, but her energy pattern, how... is she human?"

At first, I thought the girl named Xi Yan before me was a child from the Divine Realm who had come to play at the Father God Temple, so I didn’t pay much attention. Now, prompted by Father God, I looked again at her energy fluctuations and discovered that her body contained an energy structure very similar to that of the Xyrin Apostle. However, it was only similar, and besides that incomplete energy distribution map, she also seemed to possess Holy Light Power, which I had seen in Bingdisi.

I tried to verify the identity of the girl in front of me using all the databases of the Empire, but the information feedback in the data link indicated that there was no such person, clearly she was not a registered Xyrin Apostle.

Maybe it was because I observed her for too long and my gaze was a bit too unrestrained, the girl named Xi Yan finally couldn’t help but roll her eyes at me: "Dude, who are you?"

I hadn’t had the chance to answer when Visca, who was over there apologizing to Big Sister, jumped over and pointed at Xi Yan’s forehead, shouting, "He’s my brother! You little gremlin of one meter three! If you dare, stop scratching and come fight us fair and square!"

"You don’t have the right to talk about a fair duel, you nose-biter! And there were two of you ganging up on one!" Xi Yan retorted, pointing at Visca’s forehead, "And who are you, anyway?"

So, you three have been fighting this whole time and don’t even know each other’s names?

"Alright, listen to me first," I pressed down on Visca’s little head, which kept trying to dart forward, "First, tell me how you all started fighting?"

In the description mixed with Visca’s exaggeration, Pandora’s sparing words, and Xi Yan’s righteous indignation, the three young girls teamed up to paint a picture of a history-making encounter full of war flames and smoky battlefields, moved by Heaven and Earth. This historic meeting began with the Pandora Sisters parting ways with other Loli, and then they encountered an unfamiliar Loli-like creature. It went like this:

Pandora & Visca faced the one meter three stranger girl head-on.

Xi Yan looked at the two sisters who were one meter two, cracked a grin, and declared, "I win!"

And then it was "hehe haha" real Mortal Kombat time.

A few accompanying Divine Servants and hall Guards immediately carried out their responsibilities by stepping forward to break up the fight. Their achievement was glorious: each bore at least four footprints on them, and one unlucky guy’s knee turned blue because, for the Pandora Sisters, kicking the knee was obviously easier to target.

"We don’t even know why, but those three suddenly teamed up to launch a swift and fierce attack on us, while declaring the duel of honor is sacred and inviolable—Zha Han’s second cousin was kicked in the knee and couldn’t get up, and my weapon chain was bitten through by them. It is proven that, even after thousands of years of declination, our Xyrin friends have not decreased in combat effectiveness, and they have even developed more astonishing biting skills."—Extracted from a Guard Captain’s memoirs at Father God Temple, XXXX year deluxe frustrating edition.

I silently watched the little girl named Xi Yan, focusing especially on her height: one meter three, just a bit taller than the Pandora Sisters. This height is really in a dangerously competitive range.

For the Pandora Sisters, forever doomed to a height of only 1.2 meters, enemies in terms of height came in two categories. The first was like Zeus, where the disparity in height was so vast that comparison was impossible; even though they’d gnash their teeth, deep down they couldn’t truly consider him an enemy—it would only increase their frustrations. The second category was like Tide, just 10 centimeters taller, enough to be considered class enemies because they were so close, yet so far, and it was all the more depressing: both were Lolis, so why could you reach the doorbell?

The principle was similar to fighting; Zhang San might beat up Li Si, and the next day Li Si might hit back. But replace Zhang San with Tyson?

Then there wouldn’t be a second fight.

No wonder Big Sister was called the bane of Lolis. Under her tutelage, the anxious Pandora and Visca had finally calmed down, just continuously provoking Tide, who kept rolling her eyes back at them. It was hard to understand those two short cucumbers’ way of thinking; normally so fierce and aggressive on the battlefield, yet turning into children over a matter of height—but thankfully, today they restricted their fight to using just their front teeth and claws. If it were like facing Uncle B in the past... this Chapter would definitely have been harmonized.

"Hey, old man, who exactly are you?"

Tide’s voice interrupted my thoughts, for the second time. This darn kid called me uncle again! Uncle, I can tolerate, but "old man", I cannot tolerate, know this!

I immediately frowned and turned my head sharply, frightening the little girl who then shivered and pulled Dingdang out of her pocket, extending the little creature forward with its lower body first. Dingdang cooperated by holding up a candy stick pointing at the opponent’s head and squealed softly, "You should call him brother! Ah Jun, Ah Jun, didn’t Dingdang do well?"

"Not bad for three days of training, this emoticon is awesome."

Father God was dumbfounded on the sidelines, "Do you ever do any real work?"

My seamless coordination with Dingdang left Tide stunned for a while. Then with an increasingly strange look at the ’uncle-pet’ duo, Father God began to explain our identities, and I learned about this strange girl’s past.

An "original" human, but now merged with Xyrin, Divine Race, and human characteristics, becoming a Mixed Element Life.

"A Divine Race who likes to wander, found an abandoned Imperial Base in the border worlds. At that time we hadn’t made contact with you, and the Xyrin Base was in total silence, so that action-oriented guy took it upon himself to modify her, turning her into a combination life form that could use Xyrin Ghost Energy," Father God explained slowly. "After that, a lot of things happened, and this girl underwent quite a bit of training, ultimately earning the opportunity to enter the Divine Realm. Now she’s like a newbie, living near the Garden with her Divine Race Guide. Some in the Divine Realm are mortals who, after passing their trials, are sanctified by a guide and become extra-official members of the Divine Race. This girl’s situation isn’t really unique, but she has Ghost Energy inside her, and half of her power is considered Imperial property—so, what do you think should be done?"

Father God threw the question to me, and the girl named Tide clearly understood his intent. During the previous introduction, she learned of my identity and the connection between half of her power and the Empire, thus her gaze towards me seemed a bit tense.

Was she worried that she would have to obey the commands of a stranger from now on, or worried that her powers might be reclaimed?

After considering, I finally waved my hand, "I don’t intend to interfere with this child’s freedom. She only underwent the Empire’s modification passively; there’s no reason to make her obey me."

"And the armaments? She has integrated an Imperial outpost," Father God asked calmly. "In the logic of the Xyrin people, the Emperor governs the wealth of the Empire, including the air, all owned by the Emperor. Foreigners aren’t allowed to even breathe in your territories without permission."

"Is it really that exaggerated?" I smacked my lips but still shook my head indifferently, "Anyway, the ironclad policies of the Old Empire have been proven to be not so great; I won’t do that."

Having said that, I looked down, intending to pat the little girl’s head, but halfway through, I suddenly remembered she wasn’t my personal Loli, so I switched to patting her shoulder: "Don’t call me old man anymore; I am Chen Jun, your theoretical Emperor—but you can still live your life peacefully, let’s be friends instead." (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to qidian.com to cast your recommendation votes and monthly votes, your support is my greatest motivation.)