Xyrin Empire
Chapter 394 - Chapter 394 Chapter 394 Sudden Crisis

Chapter 394: Chapter 394 Sudden Crisis Chapter 394: Chapter 394 Sudden Crisis By evening that day, we still had no solution for Silvia’s condition.

Before knowing the fundamental reason for her rejection of herself, even the arcane master Arya could only slow the dissolution of her body temporarily. The root cause lay within Silvia, but at the moment, she showed no signs of awakening.

“Ah Jun… Are we just going to watch her fade away bit by bit?” Big Sister’s face was etched with sadness as she watched the bundle of light and shadow through the transparent observation corridor outside the research lab. Arya had transformed himself into an energy form and overlapped with Silvia, using this method to delay her death. However, according to the instrument readings, the energy inside Silvia was still being continuously released.

And next to Silvia, a petite girl sat immobile, like a guardian sculpture over her. That was Visca, who, even knowing that the person in front of her was no longer her “Bellavilla Big Sister,” had poured much of her affection onto the other.

“I don’t like to think pessimistically,” I shook my head, “but the current situation really isn’t optimistic…”

“If it comes down to the last moment, I’ll use Time Freeze on her,” Qianqian hesitantly said, “At least that way, we can buy some time.”

“But her sporadic energy vacuums could likely cause a backlash for you.” I decisively shook my head, rejecting Qianqian’s risky attempt. Although it was unclear how Silvia would react to an ability like Time Freeze, I couldn’t dare let Qianqian take that risk.

However, as I watched Silvia gradually disperse into light particles in the air, an increasingly somber expression clouded my face.

Despite having just met her not long ago, despite the once Bellavilla being our mortal enemy, the current Silvia had been accepted by all of us as a friend. This innocent and somewhat naive girl had even won over Pandora’s favor. Thus, witnessing her slowly step towards death put us all in an especially oppressive mood.

Damn it! What the hell is going on? Can’t there be some clearer clue?!

With my heart in turmoil, I punched the window sill in the observation corridor, causing ripples to spread across the protective barrier.

At that moment, Pandora’s spiritual connection suddenly came through.

“Brother, I’ve found the missing Shielding Ships!”

Pandora’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts, reminding me of another dire issue: we still had several Gravity Shielding Ships lost within the atmosphere!

It seemed Pandora had not only intercepted possible meteorites entering the atmosphere, but she was also searching for those missing warships.

“How are those ships?”

“They have all sunk in the nearby sea, but the warships themselves are intact, and the crew has restored communication with us. Soldiers have reported that the warships fell due to a sudden loss of energy.”

“Sudden loss of energy?”

Something flashed in my mind, and I immediately asked.

Pandora shared a report with me: “This is the record from that time. The main energy source inside the warships dissipated for an unknown reason, including Ghost Energy. After using the engines’ last reserve energy to land safely on the sea surface, all warships, including the Mother Ship, sank to the bottom of the sea… Brother?”

“Uh, it’s nothing. Since those warships are undamaged, get them back to their original cruising positions as quickly as possible, and be careful yourself. Report immediately if there’re any more accidents.”

I ended the connection, my expression shifting uncertainly.

Energy suddenly disappearing–this wasn’t the first time it had happed.

I diligently… let’s just say I looked carefully at the beginning of the data sent by Pandora. As for why I didn’t read the descriptive content that followed… you know, I won’t explain.

The occurrence of the energy vacuum was exactly when Silvia fell into a coma, and the time when communications were restored inside the crashed warship coincided precisely with when Alaya used her energy to suppress Silvia. I don’t think all this is a coincidence.

I shared the intelligence I had with Big Sister; compared to us, her caution and analytical ability are much stronger.

“Did Silvia’s coma cause her ability to burst out, or did her ability outburst cause her current coma?”

After listening to my account, Big Sister’s face also became serious.

“Or an even worse scenario: Silvia is about to transform into an Abyss, Alaya has considered this possibility, right? If the ghost energy and spiritual energy that mark Silvia as a Xyrin Apostle completely dissipate, the parts of her that have been transformed by the Abyss will erupt suddenly, and at that point, she might even become an Abyss Channel!”

“No wonder all of this has been outside of Lin Xue’s predictions.” I said, recalling the scene where Lin Xue complained that the future she saw was filled with many blank fragments.

Qianqian had been quietly listening all along, and suddenly she broke the silence, “Even so, I don’t believe this is what Silvia wanted.”

“Of course,” I gently stroked Qianqian’s hair, “Bellavilla has already died, Silvia is our friend, and moreover–even if she were a Fallen Apostle, to destroy a few of our spaceships at the risk of completely dissipating herself, such behavior is too idiotic. I now suspect, all of this is a conspiracy.”

“A conspiracy, yes, a conspiracy,” Big Sister tapped on the windowsill, her lips curling slightly, “Ah Jun, the Bubbles found something interesting in the ‘Library’ network of Academy City…”

Aresta? Was that old fox up to mischief?

It didn’t seem entirely unimaginable, yet I still felt quite disjointed.

Putting aside how he managed to meddle with a Xyrin Apostle, after all, Silvia did not have much self-defense ability now, save for her unique bodily structure. What I was curious about was, did that old fox really think he could threaten the entire massive space fleet with such petty tricks?

Moreover, there was another point that was even more puzzling, our arrival was definitely sudden, Aresta could not possibly have predictive abilities like Lin Xue, even if traversed by Chu Xuan back and forth ten times, could he have devised a conspiracy against us in such a short time? He could not possibly understand the existence form of super life like a “Xyrin Apostle,” let alone that he had repeatedly tried to take Silvia back before, if she was really the weapon the old fox designed to confront us, he should have been eager for us to leave Silvia behind.

And using an “Incomplete Apostle” to create a special weapon capable of confronting the Imperial Fleet, I don’t think Earthlings could achieve that.

But despite all these doubts, all arrows pointed to one thing: Aresta’s connection to Silvia’s coma and our warship’s crash were undeniable.

“Get me in contact with Aresta.”

I took a deep breath and instructed Vega, who was standing by not far away.

“Also, dispatch the special operations team to quickly take control of the top echelons of Academy City, bring the space battleships above Tokyo down to attack range, and start attempting to infiltrate and take control of ‘Library’ of Academy City, but all this must be done covertly, understood?”

Vega immediately returned a standard military salute, “Long live the Great Empire! Commander!”

Still displaying the image of the man hanging upside-down in the tubes, Aresta appeared unoriginally on the holographic projection; this time, I couldn’t be bothered to flip the image back around.

“What instructions do you have for me, boss?”

Aresta still had that bizarre, androgynous voice, and by the tone of it… it seemed he didn’t feel the slightest bit guilty.

“Do you really not know why I’m looking for you?”

Although I found it strange, I still put on a stern face and asked with a gloomy expression.

Aresta’s voice still sounded unhurried, “Your mood doesn’t seem very good, could it be that you’re dissatisfied with my work?”

Is this guy playing dumb, or does he genuinely not know?

At this moment, I kind of understood the advantages of having a poker face–it’s like chatting on QQ, the other person can never see any traces of lying on your face.

“Your work has been done well, the situation along the coast of Japan is quite stable, and those cities destroyed by the tsunami have indeed been completely evacuated… But, you know that’s not what I’m talking about.”

Faced with my hint once again, Aresta still made an expression of confusion, “Perhaps it’s a difference in cultural forms, but I seem unable to understand what you’re referring to.”

I was puzzled, was this guy in front of me really clueless? Or was he still faking ignorance? If it was the latter, it didn’t quite seem like it.

“Regarding Silvia–” I paused, tapping my fingers on the desk, “I want to know just how many secrets you’ve been hiding–don’t try to deceive me with your orphan teachings.”

This time, Aresta was silent and only after nearly ten seconds did he slowly begin to speak, “I thought the power of Aliens was enough to see through everything. It’s surprising that even after technological development has reached its peak, there are still things that can’t be accomplished… Yes, Silvia is indeed not an orphan adopted by Academy City. In fact, her appearance in this city is just as abrupt as yours, and even I can’t find any trace of her past. So, could she be one of your lost kinfolk?”

“One could say that–don’t change the subject, continue.”

“Very well, as you wish–” Aresta said, “The girl’s arrival piqued my curiosity and so I conducted some research on her–rest assured, she hasn’t been harmed in the process because her existence is too special… I must admit, the girl was once a very important part of one of my plans, her special abilities and the astonishing energy contained within her body are very valuable to me. That is also the reason I have been trying to retrieve her from you. But aside from that, I can swear that my plan has not yet begun.”

I looked sternly, motionlessly gazing into his eyes, trying to find a sign of dishonesty, but unfortunately, this poker-faced individual remained calm.

And what he confessed sounded quite candid–in truth, I never believed that an Earthling could concoct conspiracies after facing an overwhelming Space Fleet, even if that person was a crafty fox like Aresta.

Seeing the changeable expressions on my face, Aresta finally asked out of curiosity, “May I ask what’s happened that has even mighty Aliens so agitated?”

I lowered my eyelids, glancing with my peripheral vision at the image before me, and without responding, I cut off the connection.

“Vega, have you found anything?”

I asked through a Spiritual Connection.

“Reporting, Commander! No abnormal data has been found in Aresta’s and his affiliated information channels, he hasn’t made any extra moves.”

“Keep the mainframes monitoring him, perhaps he just hasn’t made his move yet…”

Before I could finish, another Spiritual Connection suddenly came through, it was Qianqian’s voice, “Ah Jun, Ah Jun! Silvia has started to lose control!”

I rushed to the Third Research Room at breakneck speed, only to see that a huge white light sphere filled nearly a third of the entire research room, Alaya’s presence mixed within it, yet was gradually being pushed out. The various barrier systems, originally used to contain Silvia’s dissipating energy, were sounding alarms crazily, indicating that the entire Energy Suppression Field was on the verge of its limit.

“What’s going on? How did it suddenly get out of control?”

Qianqian anxiously grabbed my hand, speaking rapidly, “Everything was fine before, but just now, a strange electromagnetic wave suddenly invaded from the outside, the research room had no filters set against such low-level energy, and unexpectedly, following that, Silvia lost control. Now, all the energy in her body is collapsing, she can’t even maintain her own form!”

“Alaya! Can you hear me? What’s your situation like now?”

Feeling the turbulent energy and the intermittent presence of Alaya within that giant orb of light, worry for my Angel Sister began to gnaw at me.

“Lord Brother… I am still okay…,” Alaya’s voice, now transformed into pure energy, resonated with an inorganic trembling, “But I’m losing my ability to suppress Silvia. I just found some very bad hints deep within her subconscious. If she completely loses her rationality… the consequences would be quite grave!”

“Hints?” I shouted in surprise, “What hints?”

“We’re talking about an attack aimed at us–Lord Brother, if Silvia vanishes entirely, all the Xyrin Battleships above the Earth will instantaneously be enveloped by an energy vacuum, and then the protective shields outside our atmosphere will all disappear!”

Alaya’s words were broadcasted over the public channel, so not only did I gasp, but Qianqian and Big Sister also let out uncontrollable cries of shock.

“Causing all the Xyrin Battleships within the entire Earth-Moon System to fall?” Qianqian said in disbelief, “Is that possible? An attack that powerful?”

“Of course, it’s possible, Commander!” Vega, who had appeared out of nowhere, chimed in, “Based on our analysis of Silvia’s energy sample, she was at least at the level of a Great General, and could even possibly be a Xyrin Apostle of the Emperor Level. The reconstruction by Abyss Energy made her even stronger. Although she has now lost the ability to control this power, her body still retains this energy. If she releases it by burning her life as the price, an Emperor Level Fallen Apostle’s self-destruction would definitely have the power to cover the entire planet and even a wider area. And her ability is so special…”

I noticed that Vega had already switched to a combat stance, with a glint of plasma appearing beneath her sturdy armored shell–charging up armor, indicating a state of high alert.

“Vega, what’s going on? Weren’t you supposed to be observing Aresta?”

Scorpion Sister saluted with military formality: “Report, Commander! The current situation is highly suspicious. Aresta is clearly not the manipulator behind everything. Time is running short for us to investigate slowly. To avoid unnecessary losses, I suggest that all Commanders immediately evacuate this planet. The Armored Scorpion Squad will stay behind to continue the investigation after the energy vacuum stops…”

“Investigate my ass!” I couldn’t help but want to knock some sense into this steel-brained scorpion – although, I couldn’t reach her head. “By then, Silvia will be dead, and all mankind gone! Investigate for what?!”

“Apologies, Commander, but this is the best option!”

Vega stood her ground, chin high with defiance.

I knew that the scorpion in front of me truly had our best interest in mind. Silvia’s self-destruction was inevitable. When the time came, 99% of Imperial warships, barring special Xyrin Units, would plummet due to the disappearance of Ghost Energy. Not to mention the bombardment of asteroids that would follow the vanishing of the shields, the massive ships alone were enough to smash the Earth’s crust into space dust.

The Imperial Fleet would suffer grave losses, and humanity would be annihilated instantaneously, including so many friends that I had come to care deeply about–Tsuruya, Mikoto, even the socially withdrawn Stier and Shen Lie… Even if I could save them all, what would their feelings be if their homeland was destroyed because of my incompetence?

“We cannot retreat!” I glared sternly at Vega. “The Empire has never retreated!”

I had heard this phrase when Pandora, snuggled in my arms, told me about “The One Thousand and One Battles.”

But obviously, what had sounded rather silly to me at the time seemed to strike a chord with Scorpion Sister. She snapped to a salute and declared loudly, “Your command is my wish, Commander! Long live the Great Empire! Victory forever!!”

After letting Vega’s fervor evaporate into the wind for a moment, I almost got swept up in the excitement too. But I managed to stay calm, turning my head to speak to Alaya, “Alaya, how much longer can you hold on? Is there any workable solution?”

Angel Sister’s voice sounded tired, yet still spirited: “Lord Brother, if nothing unexpected happens, I can suppress it for about thirty more minutes. As for a solution… although I have one, it’s very risky.”

“What solution?” A surge of hope rose in my heart; a bit of danger was nothing compared to resolving the current crisis.

“Awaken Silvia!” Alaya said firmly, “Revive her spirit, let her reconstruct her sense of self. This way, it might stop her collapsing process.”

“What’s the risk?” I naturally had no profound thoughts about Alaya’s method as a novice to magic, my only concern was what Alaya meant by “very dangerous.”

“It’s possible that not only Silvia will awaken…” Alaya hesitated before adding, “The Soul Fragments of Bellavilla have not disappeared…”

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