Xyrin Empire
Chapter 391 - Chapter 391 Chapter 391 Hello Sun Goodbye Sun

Chapter 391: Chapter 391 Hello Sun, Goodbye Sun Chapter 391: Chapter 391 Hello Sun, Goodbye Sun The silvery alloy isolation door slid open silently, and I briskly walked into the officer’s lounge, which was filled with floating holographic projections. Lin Xue and the others gathered around an image glowing with an orange light, pointing and gesturing as if they had found something very interesting.

“What’s going on? And why has this lounge been turned into something resembling an internet cafe with so many projectors everywhere?”

I weaved through several holographic projectors floating in midair and called out from a distance.

“We’re analyzing the battle report! Ah Jun, come over and have a look~~”

Qianqian, with a knowing look, had lifted her head the moment the door opened and waved me over.

“What’s this?”

I joined the girls and focused on the item they were studying, a holographic image rotating in the air, radiating an orange glow that looked like…

A squished orange?

Okay, that comparison was nonsensical. The object seemed to be a weird-looking meteorite with a slightly elongated shape, and about ten to fifteen irregular notches on it, almost like someone had gouged pieces out of it–I mean, they appeared to be traces of deliberate tampering.

What caught my attention more were the shadows beneath those notches, possibly indicating some kind of mechanical structure. However, they could also just be sharp lines left by rock collisions. But after observing it closely for a while, I still thought it resembled machinery, because from a sociological perspective, a rock collision won’t result in the creation of an engine exhaust…

“It appears to be the wreckage of some kind of space vessel, the propulsor part,” Sandora, far more experienced than us semi-illiterates, might have already discerned the nature of the object. “The decay indicates it’s quite old, weathered on the surface, and for some still unclear reason, it’s completely encased within a small asteroid, making it look as if the asteroid had grown a set of mechanical innards. However, the damage is too severe and the exposed parts too small for us to trace its possible origins. But it certainly isn’t something Earth technology could produce, nor is it a product of Xyrin Technology–its design style is very different from ours, and the all-metal energy pipes are clearly unsuited for using Ghost Energy.”

“Hmm…” I examined the orange asteroid wreckage with interest. As it slowly spun, the machinery structures wrapped in rock occasionally reflected a cold metallic sheen. “Found within those asteroids?”

Sandora nodded, “Of course, it could be a coincidence, as Star Ring Fragments don’t possess the intelligence to choose cannon fodder. But I’m also curious if these mechanisms mixed within asteroids might hold some secrets–perhaps the remains of another civilization destroyed by Abyss Power?”

I clapped my hands, “Well that’s easy, why not just haul it to the research ship behind us? Let’s take it apart and see–Girl Lin would definitely love to do that.”

Then Lin Xue elbowed me from behind.

“Pandora found it,” said Sandora with a wry smile and a shrug, imitating a large explosion with her hands amid our collectively stunned expressions. “That girl just blew it up without a second thought and now she’s thinking it over in her room.”

Me: “…”

“Then why are we still studying it?” Qianqian, who always lost interest quickly, seemed to have cooled down already, “It’s been blown to pieces.”

“Perhaps there are more such wrecks,” Sandora tapped the projector, and its lens immediately zoomed out to reveal the distant view of the entire fleet. The grand Energy Shield, like a lake surface in a storm, was bursting with dense sparks. “The Energy Shield is now bearing nearly ten thousand asteroid impacts a day, not to mention countless smaller meteorites. Among such vast numbers, the mechanical wreckage of an alien civilization can’t be a unique case. We need to urgently manufacture a batch of micro-scanning robots to scan every celestial body that approaches us as thoroughly as possible. Ah Jun, you have three Xyrin Hosts put away in the research institute, right? Let’s get them moving.”

I nodded, then suddenly a Guard Soldier came into the lounge and reported to us, “Reporting, Commander! We have a communication from Earth!”

I was surprised for a moment, “Earth? Patch it through.”

At first, I thought it might be Big Sister or Aresta contacting me for something urgent, but when the communication was connected, it was a lively schoolgirl with cherry blossom ornaments in her hair who jumped into the frame.

“Yahoo–Storm Commander Zuotian Tsuruya reporting to the Imperial Command Headquarters! The situation on the ground is good! The soldiers are all working hard~~”

I almost fell over in surprise: “Tsuruya?! How did you… Hey, where did you find a communicator? And why are you wearing a war robe and standing in the middle of the street?”

That’s right, the girl on the screen was just like Qianqian, an energetic type–Zuotian Tsuruya, my classmate. And this girl was wearing the fancy Commander Battle Robe, standing somewhere near the first district of Academy City. And did she just pass a group of… heavily armed Xyrin Soldiers?

Does this mean the troublesome girl has finally awakened the Pandora Virus within her and has decided to conquer the world?

The girl on screen seemed to be in a very good mood, radiating an almost tangible aura of combative flames: “Of course Tsuruya is fulfilling her imperial duty as a soldier to help maintain order… Hehe, in fact, there was just a Power User crime event here; the perpetrator seems to be a firm believer in the ‘Alien Threat Theory’ or something. Since the Disciplinary Committee and the security guard teachers couldn’t make it in time, so… hehe…”

Okay, Spiderman’s granddad once said, ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ I knew with Tsuruya’s character, ever the one who couldn’t stand still even as a regular person and would stand up to gun-wielding thugs, she would be even less likely to stay quiet with power. But using the military to suppress Power Users–Isn’t that a bit over the top?

I can already picture it: within two hours, the news stories about “Ordinary Girl’s True Identity is an Alien Vanguard Officer,” “Female Middle School Student Leads Alien Army to Quell Riot,” “Iron Blade Beneath a Sweet Smile–What Is Her True Identity?” would be all over the world. Did something really strange slip in there?

Ah, Tsuruya, you do give us headaches. It seems I have to improve the goodwill between the Imperial Army and Earthlings swiftly, to spare my little sister from future troubles.

This time she has completely stepped out of the realm of the ordinary – join Aresta and Lola in the hall of VIPs, if you’re not afraid of being annoyed to death.

As I was feeling such emotions, the view on the communicator suddenly shook, and then several familiar figures rushed into the frame, unequivocally pushing Tsuruya out. The first to lean in was a certain over-the-top yuri fanatic, Bai Jing Heizi, who made a wild fuss: “Let me talk, let me talk… Why do you spoil Tsuruya alone! Such a majestic outfit and Commander’s Sword… Black also wants one! Right, Chichun? What about you, Big Sister…”

The chaos abruptly subsided in a dazzling flash of electricity–Mikoto with a lightning bolt finished Black’s solo performance, and then, with a vein throbbing on her forehead, she quickly bowed to me: “I’m so sorry, Director Brother, this crazy one has embarrassed you…”

No worries, I rarely encounter normal people here.

The disruptive trio of girls, led by Mikoto, finally exited the scene, and Tsuruya, who had been squeezed out of view earlier, reclaimed the spotlight. But by now, I could see more and more students gathering in the area, probably attracted by the Xyrin Soldiers. Even the normally unperturbed Zuotian Tsuruya was quick to become embarrassed under the strong attentions of the crowd, hastily bade farewell, and cut the connection.

“What a mess,” I said as I rubbed my forehead, one woman equals five hundred ducks, a loli equals five hundred ducklings, just now I was dealing with two thousand … cough cough, let’s leave it at that, “A power user going berserk? Could it be Aresta pulling some sneaky moves?”

Lin Xue immediately shook her head: “Impossible, that guy’s not an idiot; does he really think he can shake an Imperial Fleet that already envelops the entire Earth-Moon System with this little trouble?”

“Anyway, I don’t like that guy,” I said in unison with Qianqian, then shrugged, “Increase surveillance on the upper echelons of Academy City. Have the idle Xyrin Hosts tap into all information ports related to the ‘Virtual Mathematics Zone’ and ‘Five Elements Mechanism’. If that pipe guy harbors any malicious intent, just take him out right away. After all, we can replace him with another agent any time, as those governments on Earth are nearly breaking their necks for a chance to communicate with the alien fleet.”

Lin Xue nodded, then gave me a sideways glance: “So you finally have moments of decisive action, huh?”

I pursed my lips: “I don’t like trouble, but I dislike that pipe even more.”

Having finished this little interlude, we refocused on the interception of the Asteroid Belt. The combined Shield of the Fleet had withstood tens of thousands of violent collisions, powerful enough to shoot the entire Earth into the Sun several times over, but now these numerous asteroids had all been transported through super-space-time transmission to the depths of space, and the vast cosmic treasures we’d recuperated had somewhat eased my sense of loss–each flash of light on that planetary Shield was costly energy!

After watching the space fireworks for a while, Qianqian grabbed me on a whim to experience the thrill of piloting an Assault Ship to intercept asteroids. However, it was clear that piloting such a sophisticated machine as a warship was not quite suited for Qianqian’s utterly random reflexes; of the five meteorites originally targeted for interception, three were hit by the Assault Ship…

It’s a real challenge for an assault ship with light armor to have such sturdy shields… could it be the legendary captain’s ship?

Because Qianqian wanted to play with space piloting, the firepower system naturally fell into my hands, but after emptying two ammo bays, I finally realized: I really wasn’t cut out for this, so a certain veteran DPS chose a more efficient method.

Superpower at full throttle, a large-scale material explosion was triggered, and within thousands of kilometers around the small assault ship, it became a moving minefield. With Qianqian’s gusto in ramming the spaceship through, we actually broke through the dense meteor shower and created a large vacuum zone with just a single support-type warship. That’s why Qianqian and I aren’t fit for the word ‘romantic.’ While other couples busy themselves making wishes upon seeing a meteor shower, we’re probably the only pair who’d go and destroy the meteors without a second thought.

“Yahoo!!! Space battleship incoming! Make way for the uninvolved!!”

Qianqian danced with joy on the main pilot seat, shouting excitedly, making more noise than the two curve engines behind us that were already straining to their limits. The streamlined assault ship’s rear grid spewed blinding blue-white flames, drawing concentric circles in space. What was left behind were shattered meteorite fragments and large patches of ionized halos.

And finally, an exasperated call from Sandora: “You two idiots, get back here! Do you want to take out your own mother ship as well?!”

That’s the situation…

“Huff… Ah Jun, Ah Jun, space combat is so much fun. It’s way more interesting than PS3!”

After being personally escorted back to the mother ship by Sandora, Qianqian was still not over it, smacking her lips and swinging my neck back and forth, only to be met by the Queen who was on the verge of going insane giving her a hurtful wallop on the head: “Still dare to speak! Do you know how dangerous it is to hit meteors with a light armor ship? Could you have made it back from the asteroid belt by yourself without Ah Jun’s ability?”

As I was about to open my mouth, Sandora gave me a chop with her hand: “And you! Ah Jun! Why did you go crazy along with Qianqian?! When you were charging towards that giant asteroid just now, you almost scared me to death!”

After a lecture from Sandora, I naturally knew that we were at fault, but how should I put it… Qianqian’s persuasive nature was just too strong. A whim of hers often got everyone around her excited. Wasn’t that how Boundless Love came about?

It seemed that Sandora was really scared just now. The golden-haired girl, who was always composed and calm, now had a trace of unsettled fear on her face, a look of just having caught her breath. Even knowing our capabilities, she still worried about seeing two novices, who had never piloted a battle spaceship before, ramming into an asteroid belt.

Feeling a bit of warmth from being cared for in my heart, I gently embraced Sandora, feeling the girl in my arms gradually calm down, and whispered softly, “It’s okay, baby, it won’t happen again…”

“Hey hey hey, you two, have you had enough with the mushy stuff? If you’re done, come over here quick!”

Lin Xue’s voice suddenly rang out from not too far ahead. This guy’s level as a third wheel was really on the rise.

“What’s going on?”

I quickly walked onto the bridge and asked, standing next to Lin Xue.

“See that,” Lin Xue pointed her finger across the way. Below the bridge was the largest command hall of this flagship, and at the center of the hall was a huge holographic projection system. This system projected images hundreds of meters into the air, allowing officers passing through the bridge to see the current state of the battle. However, what was currently displayed on this enormous projection didn’t seem to be Earth’s defense circle being bombarded by meteors, but rather a dim and chilly outer space, “Pay attention to the stars around.”

I looked and then scratched my head: “Does the projector need degaussing?”

Sandora twisted my waist from behind with force: “That’s gravitational interference!”

“A huge gravity trap has distorted the normal starlight, making it appear abnormally twisted. But right now, there’s nothing there,” Lin Xue said, nodding slightly, her expression as if that of an expert, “That star is about to appear, a second earlier than I predicted. But our God has prepared well. By the way, Wood, didn’t you go to the central cabin section? Did you see Dingdang?”

I shook my head, “Dingdang has used vines to block off the entire isolation zone; I can’t get through.”

“Major gravity disturbance has begun, it is predicted that the target star will appear in one minute. All gravitational balance squadrons activate the gravity isolation engines, all light vessels prepare for impact–”

The sudden mechanical voice on the bridge quieted us down, and we then focused our attention on the still tranquil holographic projection.

“…Gravity isolation field now covers the Earth-Moon system, please be prepared for impact; countdown to target appearance begins–ten seconds… nine… eight…”

“…three… two… one… Target appeared, gravity waves have arrived.”

As the synthesized female voice finished speaking, an immediate reaction occurred on the hologram projection before us. A huge spherical mass appeared, distorting slightly, showing a translucent state like that of a jelly, which was a false image formed by the significant gravitational effects causing light to curve and twist. As the abnormal gravitational force from the super space-time jump gradually dissipated, the star–over three hundred times the size of the Sun–suddenly came into view. In the next moment, the gravitational balance of the entire solar system began to spiral out of control.

Faced with that fierce, huge fireball, we stayed composed, and in unison, said, “Hello, Sun.”

The dazzling red fireball stayed on the projection for less than three seconds before it began to twist violently, flickering like a TV screen with a poor connection or an image signal under severe interference, and then it vanished abruptly.

We continued to keep our cool, speaking in unison again, “Goodbye, Sun…”

At the same time, the recently disrupted gravitational balance within the solar system also returned to normal instantly due to the law’s self-correction, and that massive star was thus deleted–along with its subfolders.

“Phew–” Sandora let out a long breath and then stretched lazily, “The little thing is pretty reliable, huh? What’s left is to send a recovery ship over there to drag back that piece of the star ring fragment. If that thing accidentally infects something else, we’ll have real trouble.”

To be honest, I never imagined that Dingdang, a weakling with a combat power of only 5, could become so powerful after using Divine Power. At this moment, I was truly astonished.

“I’m going to check the central section,” I dropped this line and then turned to run down from the bridge, “Send some candy to that little thing!”

“You blockhead Wood! You’re running the wrong way!”

…

The core section of the flagship, still covered with dense vines despite the erosion of the Life Divine Power, the cold metal directly morphed into a vibrant forest. The intense turmoil of the Life Power around us allowed for a faint recollection of the recent massive outbreak–I imagine that scene must have been spectacular, filled with effects capable of annihilating any Oscar statuettes, but we were too busy witnessing the misfortune of a guest-star Sun at the time. That scene was doomed to be unseen.

“Dingdang!!”

Standing in the midst of a deep green jungle, I called out loudly, the little thing’s favorite pastime was to hide under some leaf tinkering with its toys. If I had to find it… I wouldn’t be going back today.

After about ten seconds, I finally heard a sparse sound from behind the vines and then turned my head.

“Little guy… uh, who are you?!”

The person standing before me was not the familiar little bundle of joy from days past, but rather a tall, slender beautiful girl wearing a grass-green sleeveless dress, with long green hair down to her waist, and even her pupils were a light green.

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