Xyrin Empire
Chapter 338 - Chapter 338 338

Chapter 338: 338 Chapter 338: 338 I was pulling Sicaro out of the wall into which Pandora had kicked him as I asked, “How did things go?”

Uncle Hei Chao adjusted his sunglasses and coolly gave me a thumbs up, a gleam of light flashing across his teeth and glasses, “Boss, you can count on me! I found out nothing at all!”

I hesitated for a moment, then decided to kick this idiot back into the wall anyway.

The poor Twin Sisters looked at the tragedy of the pirated goods dealer getting kicked into the wall for the second time with mournful expressions and said in unison after exchanging glances, “Umm… there goes our budget again…”

No worries, let Sicaro and his band of subordinate commanders, who had almost all thrown themselves into the piracy business, do the grunt work. Even if you two wanted to transform the flower shop into the Louvre, I’d fully support you.

The task I had assigned to Sicaro originated from some intelligence that Lin Xue had mentioned a few days ago when she came over for her routine meal-sponging.

I’ve said it long ago, Lin Xue is like an aggregation of troubles that defies the laws of existence, a miraculous creature with the eerie ability to turn everything into a huge mess and then pass it on to others. And what’s worse, I’ve never managed to escape the troubles brought by Lin Xue.

Now I’m even starting to suspect that girl might have been cursed eternally by some great power from the Dark Plane!

At first, the information Lin Xue brought seemed quite ordinary, something that wouldn’t capture our interest if it were associated with anyone else, let alone warrant sending an elite-level Imperial Officer to gather intelligence. However, since the information was about Lin Xue herself, everything was heading in a serious direction…

Lin Xue has been having nightmares lately…

I know it sounds ridiculous, that Miss Lin’s nightmares hardly require the Imperial Army to investigate in the real world. I thought the same when Lin Xue told me about it with a serious face, but the next sentence she said made me suddenly vigilant, “Wood, don’t forget, what I see is the future.”

For an entire week straight, Lin Xue had the same nightmare every night. According to her description, in the dream, rivers of blood flowed, and the city was littered with fallen, mutilated corpses everywhere, discarded weapons, and shattered remains, as if an unprecedented riot or war had swept through all of human society. She ran through the dream’s world but couldn’t find a single living person…

If such a dream had occurred only once or twice, I wouldn’t be so tense. After all, although being known as a Prophet, Lin Xue isn’t strong enough to interpret the future through dreams. And if our own dreams were the reality of the next day, I’m afraid we’d only find Prophet Lin at the nearest mental hospital. So, even though Lin Xue usually had nightmares too, she didn’t get over-anxious about them. But this time, she was truly nervous because the same dream kept occurring, getting more vivid each time, to the extent that sometimes she needed half an hour upon waking to confirm that she had returned to reality, which left our demi-immortal classmate Lin exhausted in both body and spirit.

At first, I just took Lin Xue’s dream as a premonition of some war. Despite the peaceful baseline of modern Earth, humans are best at civil war. It was quite plausible that some country on Earth was on the verge of war, as perceived by Lin Xue, and in such a case, the Xyrin Army would have no reason to intervene. However, the recent details Lin Xue revealed made us suspect: the fallen corpses included not only common civilians but mostly mutilated, with gruesome wounds that didn’t seem like the mere result of gunfire. The scattered weapons were variety, not resembling regular army issue. Rather than armed conflict, it seemed more like a disaster had struck the city, one that humans couldn’t contend with, leading ultimately to all citizens’ death.

If it was such a disaster, we couldn’t just sit by idly.

These past few days, Sicaro and a few other commanders had been busy collecting related intelligence. Based on Lin Xue’s description of the buildings in her dream, we had roughly located the area where the disaster might occur. We then dispatched professional intelligence agents to search for the disaster’s potential source. Even Bubbles was busy–she launched hundreds of micro-detectors, scanning the globe’s energy fluctuations and ecological status non-stop for 24 hours. According to Lin Xue’s description, the wounds on those corpses appeared to have been caused by some powerful, savage beasts, which sounded absurd, and I didn’t believe there could be beasts on Earth now that humanity couldn’t resist. But remember, carbon-based life does have a certain characteristic known as genetic mutation…

Over the past few days, Sicaro and his subordinate commanders had been incessantly scouring through more than a dozen cities, gathering data so meticulously that they seemed not to have overlooked even a single manhole cover. Although I have every reason to suspect that this idiot was merely expanding his piracy market, at least as a qualified Xyrin soldier, he wouldn’t deceive his superiors with fake reports. If he says there is nothing abnormal, then there truly isn’t anything odd.

Lilina and her sister finally recognized each other successfully. Despite the rather disappointing performance of a bunch of floundering extras, at least the family reconciliation went relatively smoothly. Now, Xiao Ling is back at school attending classes, and she stays with us on regular days. Given that her family lives out of town, and she normally resides at the school, Lilina has not yet shared the news of her “resurrection” with the family. However, the sisters have planned to go home together and explain everything during the New Year. As for Liu Fan… do you really think Lilina would tolerate this little omega remaining at home to be an eyesore?

At least Liu Fan can breathe a sigh of relief. With his persistent efforts, it seems that Lilina has tacitly acknowledged his presence as her sister’s husband.

Speaking of which, seeing high school student Xiao Ling bowing his head to a little girl barely over a meter tall and calling her “big sister” still strikes us as utterly comedic…

The time is now half past seven in the evening. Lin Xue, as usual, after mooching a meal, shamelessly stuck around to participate in the tea ceremony. Honestly, in my opinion, a “tea ceremony,” which sounds like something out of a decadent lifestyle for the upper class, is no different from a few broke friends stuffing themselves with dinner and then leisurely sipping on soda and beer while shooting the breeze…

Of course, if I dared to actually bring a bottle of beer to the seating, even the normally docile Anwina would probably lose her temper, right?

Preparing after-dinner tea for the host is a habit Anwina has maintained from before she was a ghost. According to the stubborn little maid’s words, being the “Leader of the Empire,” “a General of Glory,” and “a true Noble,” if one didn’t have an interest in a post-dinner tea ceremony, it would be quite a status-diminishing matter. It seems that all Azeroth nobility are this troublesome, even needing a glamorous title for something as simple as chatting.

“Anwina’s black tea can truly only be described as an art form.”

Lin Xue, who swaggered in for a free meal and unconsciously stayed for tea, was now sitting peacefully across from us, tasting the ghost maid’s pride with a gesture so close to perfection it was near flawless. I can’t argue with her assessment. After all, you wouldn’t be able to find a full-time maid on Earth who had been schooled in home economics from the age of ten and took brewing tea as seriously as a profession.

“So, you still have no clues about that disaster?”

Sitting next to me, Sandora’s poise and demeanor were even more impeccable than Lin Xue’s, exuding an aura of regal elegance and aristocratic nonchalance. This kind of queenly grace can’t even be compared to Lin Xue’s young lady etiquette. From this, I can tell my queen definitely has a solid one-up on that cocky miss.

“I give up,” sighed Miss Lin, admitting defeat in the contest of grace, collapsing on the table revealing her true self, “You are the real deal, a bona fide noble, and so is your entire family; I’m nothing but a nouveau riche, alright…?”

I nodded, “You’ve lost, so you’re treating us tomorrow.”

“Seriously, you guys have too much time on your hands, turning a perfectly good tea ceremony into this… sigh, as a noble of the Elf Clan, I truly am… Ouch!”

I habitually gave Lilina a karate chop to express my blatant scorn for her pseudo-lolita act, always ready to abandon her human identity for personal gain.

Having won the contest of elegance, Sandora now shed her usual external queenly facade, devouring the small pastries in front of her at a rate of one per second, mumbling through mouthfuls, “Aren’t you a prophet? And now all the Olympus interference devices have been destroyed. You should easily be able to see the dream’s disaster, right?”

Lin Xue looked utterly dejected at this moment, “You think I don’t want to? But the prerequisite for triggering the prediction ability is to have a specific target to make predictions about. Right now, I don’t even know where that city is, how am I supposed to make a prediction? You want me to scan every city in the world one by one? Doing that would kill me…”

“Why not just use the Great Prophecy Technique on the entire world?” Lilina suggested casually.

“…You think I’ve become the God of Prophecy or what!? How could such an ability possibly exist!!”

After a while, when the second pot of black tea brewed by Anwina was also gone, Lin Xue finally stood up, stretched herself out, and yawned, “Alright, alright, it’s getting late; I’m heading back. You, the blockhead, better hurry up and gather information. Miss me hasn’t had a good night’s sleep in days!”

Without her saying it, I could already tell from the exhaustion that seemed to emanate from her whole body, which our eyes couldn’t be fooled by. Even Lin Xue, who had survived real life-and-death missions, couldn’t possibly have good rest with the nightmares she faced every night–the ones where entire cities were drowning in blood, filled with severed limbs and dismembered bodies. And with her prediction abilities, those dreams felt so real as if she were actually there, no doubt Lin Xue must have been waking up from nightmares every night.

Moreover, according to her, the nightmares happened not only at night but whenever she fell asleep, the visions would appear. Recently, this situation had worsened to the point where she would see fleeting illusions even when she was awake–indeed, her abilities had started to go haywire. Although rare, such cases were not without precedent among superpower users, but the severity of Lin Xue’s case was unprecedented.

Even though she spoke as if it didn’t bother her, the fatigue and slight panic at the bottom of Lin Xue’s eyes were spotted by… well, actually, it was Lilina who noticed them.

Even though they normally didn’t get along, she was still an important friend, and I had to help her out.

“You shouldn’t go back today, stay over.”

I pondered for a moment, then decided so.

Lin Xue immediately shot me a horrified look, her face flushed with a feigned innocence as she took a step back, hand covering her chest, “What are you trying to do, you pervert? Miss me is pure and chaste!”

“Can you get some sunnier thoughts in that head of yours?” I grabbed my hair in frustration, and with a karate chop, I silenced Lilina who was about to make a snarky comment, “I’m just trying to let you get some sleep!”

Lin Xue: “?”

“Don’t pretend I don’t know why you’ve been coming over for meals and then overstaying your welcome these past few days,” I sighed, “This place’s energy field can shield those illusions for you, can’t it?”

I had just thought of this–although she had come over to shamelessly mooch meals now and then, it was only occasionally. But recently Lin Xue had been coming over punctually every day, and if not for surprises, she would stay for almost half the day. Several times she simply fell asleep on the living room sofa. Such abnormal behavior naturally arose my suspicion, and now it seemed, my suspicions were confirmed.

Without any exaggeration, this house contained some of the most powerful lifeforms in the universe. The low-profile living didn’t hide the fact that each person here could destroy a city in an instant. Although conventional means might not sense it, the intensity of the energy field lingering nearby was astounding. It seems that such an energy field was blocking Lin Xue’s runaway ability from making predictions on a certain target, thus relieving her from the torment of incessant illusions. Therefore, our Miss Lin would try every means to come and mooch meals here.

But this stubborn guy simply refused to spill the beans.

Knowing her secret had been seen through, Lin Xue’s face rarely flushed with red, and then she turned her head and said, “Tch, I don’t need a worrywart like you who can’t even take care of himself…”

Then we all watched with amused smiles as Lin Banxian tried to act tough.

Three seconds later, Lin Xue surrendered, “But considering it’s already this late, it really isn’t safe for a girl to travel home at night, so I guess I have no choice but to stay…”

“Alright, alright, you’re more convincing without the explanation,” Big Sister said with a cheerful laugh, waving her hand dismissively, which left Lin Xue utterly embarrassed.

After sending off the yawning Lin Xue, we too put away our jokes and seriously discussed the current situation.

A city-extinction-level disastrous event that could happen at any time, as well as Miss Lin’s power outburst–though it couldn’t compare in scale to Olympus’s attempt at divinity, it was even more troublesome–Olympus made all the noise they wanted, but they were merely causing a stir within the Dark World. But if the disaster Lin Xue predicted actually happened, it could mean the deaths of millions of civilians, and that was the most optimistic scenario–Lin Xue only saw what happened in one city, who could guarantee that the disaster would be confined to just one city?

Moreover, Lin Xue’s power outburst was particularly concerning to me; her ability was strengthened to this extent through prolonged exposure in the Xyrin Nest, and at the time, we had wondered if this enhancement might have side effects. Yet, after such a long period without incident, we had almost forgotten our initial worries. Now that Lin Xue’s powers had suddenly lost control, I had to worry anew: could the Nest Crystal’s radiation be causing such aftereffects?

Could Qianqian and Big Sister’s powers also have the danger of running amok?

Lin Xue had purely supportive Prediction Abilities, and even her outburst had caused such a mess. Qianqian’s Time Control and Big Sister’s Curse of Misfortune possessed alarming destructive power–if such abilities lost control… I didn’t even want to imagine the consequences.

“The cities close to what Lin Xue dreamt of have all been thoroughly investigated. The possibility of a city-destroying disaster happening is less than 0.001 percent. Little Baobao has extrapolated the entire Earth’s ecological environment, and the likelihood of humans encountering an unresistant mutation in wild animals is about the same as a meteor destroying Earth, and that’s only if Visca Barrier Star’s interception of the meteor fails. Internal human conflicts don’t fit with Lin Xue’s dream scenario, so we have excluded that possibility. We also considered the possibility of Abyss Energy leakage, but honestly, the odds are even less than Mars colliding with Earth.”

Sandora analyzed the information collected by Sicaro and Bubbles with a headache, revealing a situation that was both a relief but also made us shake our heads in wry amusement: Earth was all normal, and any talk of a major disaster was purely scaremongering.

But even Sandora didn’t dare to treat the scenes Lin Xue saw as just a false alarm–the Prophet’s abilities… were really accurate.

“Hey hey, what’s everyone doing? Why so tense? Did Dingdang come at a bad time?”

Just as we were frowning over not being able to find any basis for the prediction, a fine and always energetic voice suddenly came from above–it was Dingdang, the little thing had finally come out of “seclusion”!

Because she had been busy with a large-scale experiment that was said to score well on the Junior Creation Certificate exam, Dingdang, who hadn’t floated around us for days, saw that everyone’s attention was finally on her, she happily looped an eight in the air, then fluttered her wings and landed on my shoulder, rubbing her little face against my ear.

In that moment, inspiration struck me, and exchanging a glance with Sandora, we said in unison, “Let’s ask for Dingdang’s help!” (To be continued, if you wish to know what happens next, please visit www.NovelFire.net. There are more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)