Xyrin Empire
Chapter 328 - Chapter 328 Chapter 328 Delving Deeply

Chapter 328: Chapter 328: Delving Deeply Chapter 328: Chapter 328: Delving Deeply The downward-winding passage grew deeper as we walked, and after at least six turns, I concluded that the chief engineer responsible for designing the Olympus base must have been either a termite or a mouse in his past life–just look at this hole!

Of course, this path was not peaceful either. We came across countless Olympus members lying in sundry positions on the ground. These people were clearly the elite members who were stationed in the main base, a fact evident from the dense scars on the walls around them. Without the strength of a little monster, who could practice their carving skills on this high-strength alloy?

Among these bodies of those who had killed each other, there would occasionally be one or two survivors. Having survived such a chaotic battle, their strength was naturally extraordinary. When an invader approached, these thoroughly brainwashed fanatics immediately spent their last bit of physical strength to launch an attack. We encountered six or seven such feigned death incidents, but, of course, each attack proved ineffective. Pandora and Visca didn’t even get the chance to make a move before the attackers committed suicide under Sandora’s mind control. Eventually, Sandora, who had grown impatient, even activated her fear field, amplifying the fear in the heart of each enemy by a hundredfold, attempting to dispel those harmless but annoying flies in this way. However, it hardly worked; the Olympus elite members, who were left with just a sliver of HP, didn’t back down in immense fear; instead, they launched even more irrational attacks on us. Even Sandora found this situation utterly incomprehensible. In her view, as the elite troops of an organization, if it came to such a pass and there was no way to change the situation no matter what resistance was attempted, the smartest choice would, of course, be to do everything possible to stay alive because only this way was it possible to preserve the collective strength to the greatest extent and then have the opportunity to turn defeat into victory.

This line of thinking was, of course, correct, and as the Queen Xyrin, who has to consider the interests of her race foremost and ultimate victory as the only goal, Sandora must have such thoughts and awareness. It’s just that she clearly lacked the necessary understanding of human “religion” power.

The so-called religious fanaticism, especially the fanaticism of a cult, is a strange thing that can completely make a person’s heart enter the most absurd state. It can turn the smartest person into a fool, the calmest person into a madman, turn Socrates into Mussolini, Hegel into Adolf Hitler, and Pandora into… Ah, Pandora is already in her final form…

Olympus’s brainwashing was even more successful than the average cult because it not only gave its followers an exciting goal, but more importantly–the goal seemed genuinely achievable!

Dealing with those half-dead mixed soldiers was quite an annoying task, and in the end, Sandora simply embedded the “suicide” command into her spiritual field. Thus, as we delved deeper, the pile of Olympus members’ bodies we continuously encountered would suddenly stand up as an NPC, bow to us, and then turn around and kill themselves in a bizarre scene, as if their only purpose in lying here clinging to life was to wait for us to come by and perform suicide…

No wonder Sandora’s method of combat is the most chilling–you are her puppet right up to your death.

Just when we were starting to suspect that everything in the entire Olympus base that could breathe had become organic fertilizer on the ground, including those leaders who might have been killed by their subordinates’ uprisings, a sudden round of applause came from ahead of us, accompanied by an abnormally disgusting, androgynous voice: “Very powerful, very strong. Among human superpower organizations, you indeed qualify to be called peak figures…”

Looking at the empty corridor in front of her, Sandora said in a bland tone, “Stop hiding, insects, we have a way to drag you out.”

“It seems that eliminating a few ants that failed to receive the blessing has inflated you mortals’ confidence,” that voice continued to speak pretentiously, “Up to now, you have only been battling with the chess pieces arranged by the great Olympus. Those lowly mortals, oh, and the weak ones lying here, it doesn’t matter how many of them die…including Poseidon, that idiot who always likes to make a showy entrance…”

Oh, it seemed that Poseidon, who was accidentally killed by Pandora just a moment ago, really did suffer misfortune due to his showboating. Thinking of this, even the usually icy Pandora couldn’t help but show a dumbfounded expression–it was probably the first time she encountered an enemy of that type in her life.

“I am Hades,” the invisible entity declared, mistaking our dumbfounded expressions for fear, boastfully continued, “The hidden King, the everlasting night and the Death God. Mortals, to die by my hand…”

I waved my hand impatiently: “Pandora, polarization force field.”

With a screech akin to some rotating machinery coming abruptly to a halt, the abnormal spatial distortions around us were immediately neutralized by Pandora’s polarization force field, and about ten meters in front of us appeared a figure in a black priest robe, wearing a mask as embarrassingly ridiculous as Poseidon’s. The figure was stretching out his arms, giving a sermon-like performance with gusto. However, with his ability suddenly nullified, the act froze into a comically absurd charade.

The black-robed mask man, proclaiming himself Hades, stood with arms wide, still posed as if giving an impromptu speech, completely bewildered for a few seconds, unable to process what had happened.

“Mortal! What have you done!?” Despite being stripped of his invisibility, “Hades” still didn’t forget his bombastic stature, “How dare you offend the great Death God…”

I couldn’t be bothered listening to this madman in front of me rant about his delusions, so I slapped the head of a certain eager beaver beside me: “Visca, beat him up!”

As soon as my words dropped, the battle-ready cat-eyed loli let out a roar like a wild… Visca charging forward.

“Ha! Such foolish mortals!”

The man in the black mask gave a weird yell, then both hands were raised high, and a vast expanse of gel-like transparent phantoms emerged from behind him, rapidly taking the shape of swords and swiftly stabbing towards the little girl in their charge.

A series of clanking metal collision sounds erupted as Visca and those transparent phantoms made contact–well, to be precise, it was the Ghost Energy Shield around Visca and those phantoms clashing together, with two energies fiercely colliding in midair, constantly sparking bright silver fireworks, and the scattered Ghost Energy and the mutated energy released by Hades splattered around the confined corridor like bullets, soon turning this section into a beehive-like postmodern structure, which I heard is most suitable to be installed in a grand theater…

It seemed the leader-level figures from Olympus did have something to show for themselves, after all, the technology they used was a product of Xyrin Civilization. Visca, who had hoped to end the battle with one charge, was gradually slowing down under the barrage of transparent blades, but she wasn’t hurt at all.

This scene, however, dealt a huge blow to Hades.

“What kind of ability is that!?” The man in the mask continued his attack, but his voice carried an incredulous tone, “How can you be unscathed under the assault of the Blade of Death!?”

Seeing Visca calmly walking forward despite the so-called “Blade of Death” bombing, I couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity, “Visca, why aren’t you using a weapon?”

I remembered that Visca’s favorite way to fight was supposed to be the turret flow like Pandora, right?

Upon hearing my question, Visca immediately stopped in her tracks, turned her head and scratched her little head, and said in a puzzled voice, “But Brother told me to go up and hit him!”

Uh… should I say it’s just like sisters? Why are they like Pandora, not knowing how to take a roundabout way?

I shrugged and said, “Whatever you like, just do what’s convenient for you.”

Upon hearing this, Hades immediately flew into a rage, “Prideful mortals! Today you shall die by the wrath of the gods!”

As soon as he finished speaking, I could feel a strange change in the energy fluctuations of this human superpower user. It wasn’t a change in the intensity of the power, but some sort of fundamental, huge change–behind him, a large array of vague, transparent phantoms suddenly took on a physical form in midair, as if they had been injected with mercury into transparent molds!

He’s actually materialized energy entities?!

“Die! Storm of Death!”

Hades’ angry shout unleashed a barrage of bright silver swords that surged towards the tiny girl like a tempest, containing an energy intensity that even I faintly felt was a threat–was this the power brought by what Olympus calls a “Blessing”?

The silver flood ruthlessly tore apart the high-strength alloy walls on both sides of the corridor, instantly doubling the space, turning those metals stouter than a nuclear shelter’s walls as fragile as tofu–well, about as robust as frozen tofu.

But faced with such a lethal onslaught, Visca showed no intention of dodging, she merely lifted her right hand slightly, and then a red halo began to wander around her. This scene seemed vaguely familiar to me…

“Aooisasi-Duukios…” Visca uttered a string of unintelligible syllables, and at the same time, those silver-white energy blades barely touched her fingertips, and with a crystalline shattering sound, Hades’ attack turned into scattered fragments, gradually fading into the air.

I remembered, this was the same power that girl used when I first met her while inspecting the main server room with Qianqian in the world of Azeroth!

Alright, I admit, what I wanted to say was about Kamijou Touma’s ability to charm girls… But considering that Visca is herself a girl, perhaps I’d better swallow that thought…

An energy interference capable of nullifying superpowers, which Visca once mentioned during a chat, is a skill specifically targeted at superpowers or other similar forces between magic and natural science. Even Qianqian’s time control, which could be described as a divine skill, once suffered a setback under Visca’s interfering ability.

“Pandora, do you have that ability?”

Watching Visca effortlessly crush Hades’ attack, I casually asked the little girl beside me, though I didn’t really harbor any doubt: since they’re completely identical clones and originals, if Visca knew it, there’s no reason why Pandora wouldn’t, right?

But unexpectedly, Pandora shook her head, “That’s Visca’s own ability.”

I asked in surprise, “You don’t have it?”

“Pandora doesn’t possess this skill that’s specifically targeted at superpowers,” Sandora answered for Pandora, “It seems to be an ability Visca researched herself, and who knows how the girl came up with such an odd skill, but it seems to be working quite well right now.”

Yes, the effect was indeed substantial. After Visca shattered Hades’ attack, he seemed to be stunned by the drastic shift, just standing there dumbfounded, while Visca, having been influenced for so long by a bunch of Empire leaders who advocated for shameless… cough cough, pragmatic tactics, naturally understood what to do next. In the meantime, the little girl casually drew from the void a weapon over three meters long… Oh, that’s a bit too powerful, it would blow up the corridor, so she switched to a nearly two-meter-long sniper rifle and aimed at Hades’ head and pulled the trigger.

The moment the gun fired, Hades finally realized what was happening. He reached out with a panicked hand and instantly a bright silver energy shield materialized in the air. Perhaps due to the lack of time to dodge, or maybe out of habitual confidence that ordinary firearms could no longer harm a “god of the New World,” Hades didn’t seem to have the intention to dodge the oncoming shot.

The high-powered Ghost Energy warhead, carrying enormous kinetic energy, easily tore through the beautiful, mirror-like silver shield that could reflect a person’s figure and vaporized the “god” behind it, along with several dozens of kilograms of the floor beneath his feet, into a mist of multicolored gases.

Bullshit in life, suffocating in death, fare thee well on your journey, NPC number two from Olympus, and I hope you can console Lord Poseidon, who didn’t even get to finish his lines…

“Let’s go,” I lamented the death of yet another leader from Olympus and then took the lead, moving forward.

After crossing the corridor that Hades had been guarding, we finally arrived in a vast and bright hall. The meeting place, which seemed once to have been quite grand, now had not a trace of life. Various ornate and exquisite sculptures were reduced to rubble scattered across the floor, the columns styled in ancient Roman fashion were covered in alarming cracks, and the floor was laid with thick, high-end carpets. No matter what their original color might have been, they were now a bright crimson with the blood of countless individuals congealed within the grand meeting hall.

The ground was covered with bodies strewn about in every direction.

They were all dressed in black robes similar to those of priests but did not wear the strange white masks, presumably the higher-ups of Olympus or something like Church Guards. Yet, these beings who once stood at the pinnacle of human power now lay as lifeless corpses, their blood still warm inside them.

“All killed instantaneously by the same method, their bodies riddled with dense holes as if struck by a barrage of crossbow bolts for several minutes,” Sandora concluded after glancing at the bodies, “The one who did this must be that Hades guy, by the looks of it, he ‘settled’ the entire base’s ‘rebellion’ by himself.”

It was at that moment that an aged voice suddenly echoed in the desolate hall, “Rebellion? Haha… indeed, it was a rebellion…”

The sudden appearance of the voice startled all of us. Were there really humans capable of hiding their presence from our perception… well, from Sandora’s perception?

“Human, I truly admire your courage,” Sandora turned toward the direction of the voice, her tone dripping with an emotionless indifference, “If you had continued to play dead, I might have spared your life.”

Ugh, it seems that only I had failed to notice there were still survivors in this hall…

It was only then that I spotted a very tall man slouched upon a fragmented column not far from where we stood. The man appeared to be around forty-five years old with a dignified beard, and he exuded a certain high-ranking temperament. But now, I couldn’t see a shred of fighting spirit on his face, and beneath his feet lay a white mask, split in two.

Uh… Was this dejected uncle also a leader from Olympus? I mean, even if Sandora had already caused some devastation, shouldn’t the leader of what’s claimed to be the biggest criminal organization in human history not be meeting us for the first time like this?

Sandora’s words caused a flash of confusion and surprise on the face of the dejected man. But soon, he revealed an expression of understanding and let out a bitter laugh, tinged with an indescribable feeling, “Human? Are you suggesting you aren’t human? Haha… I always thought the renowned Boundless Love consisted of some kind of great saviors, but now it seems… the ones harboring delusions aren’t just us… so, you’re also after the Ancient Gods’ legacy, huh? Haha…”

Sandora frowned impatiently, then with a whoosh, her right hand burst into roaring black flames. Within the flames, a fearsome black claw slowly took shape–this girl was intent on intimidating again. Ever since I told her I didn’t care about her appearance in that form, Sandora stopped caring whether her Abyssal form was presentable or not. To put it in a somewhat self-aggrandizing way, in the whole world, Sandora cared only about my opinion of her.

“Human, I don’t have time to play with you…” Sandora, in her Abyss form, performed a Space Jump to appear in front of the dumbfounded, dejected man and pressed the massive claw against his chest, “Now tell me, where are your accomplices hiding, and… where have you hidden our relics…” (To be continued. For further developments, please visit www.NovelFire.net. More chapters are available, support the author, support genuine reading!)

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