Xyrin Empire
Chapter 399 - Chapter 399 Chapter 399 An Unexpected Visitor

Chapter 399: Chapter 399: An Unexpected Visitor Chapter 399: Chapter 399: An Unexpected Visitor When the asteroid cluster’s collision was about to come to an end, the Star Ring Fragment that had been playing hide-and-seek for a whole three and a half days finally appeared.

Hiding behind an asteroid in a rather sneaky manner, it attempted to break through our Energy Shield with the power of a double continuous impact and the burst of Abyss Energy, and directly contaminate Earth’s atmosphere. I don’t know if the Star Ring Fragment is capable of such intelligence, but in the end, it was undeniably met head-on by our Recovery Fleet with a blast, and then obediently lay in the isolation chamber of the “Imperial Admiral.”

Sandora’s spirit enveloped the entire star system, and a Star Ring Fragment engulfed in black flames could certainly not escape our surveillance.

As this Star Ring Fragment was rather special, with Abyss Energy attached to it several times stronger than that of the fragment recovered from the world of biohazard, and an astonishingly active space jumping ability, we did not rashly place it into an Avalon Cargo Ship’s spatial Gnaku like the previous one. Instead, we designated a special physical isolation chamber for it in the middle section of “Imperial Admiral,” the fleet’s flagship. To construct this chamber, we nearly exhausted all the high-purity Ao Tie Ore collected recently from rent collection in Otherworlds, even having Dingdang personally cover a layer of Life Energy over the isolation chamber’s outer walls to counter the danger of the Ao Tie alloy layer being breached, and dispatched the impoverished sisters Asida and Asidora to lock down all spatial activities near the chamber. To this, the sisters expressed their happiness to be back in the military and enjoying free meals…

Just like Silvia, they probably can find a lot in common, such as freeloading, freeloading, and more freeloading…

It turned out our series of precautionary measures were quite wise.

The fragment recovered from the asteroid belt was significantly unstable, and right up to the second it was confined to its “prison,” it kept trying to perform space jumps toward Earth’s atmosphere. We couldn’t explain this phenomenon: it was clearly completely damaged, with 99% of its various devices utterly destroyed by the Abyss Energy and the initial explosion. As Taville put it, theoretically, that thing should not be able to move an inch, let alone perform a Super Space-Time Jump.

But it kept thrashing in our Binding Force Field for over an hour, only to be finally sealed in the isolation chamber under the personal suppression of Asida and Asidora.

We hope Taville will like this new toy–as long as she and her team of mad scientists have the patience to wait until the Abyss Energy on it is completely purified before beginning their research.

“Receiving self-docking request, submitting to the starship mainframe–request approved, ‘Imperial Admiral’ Shipyard will open shortly, special operations team on standby.”

The unemotional female mechanical voice echoed in the flagship’s first dock zone, where Sandora and I stood in the control room next to the shipyard, looking through the energy barriers on the portholes at a convoy of Escort Ships slowly escorting three Traction Ships into the dock. Inside the force field locks emitted from the sides of those crescent-shaped traction ships, an irregular black mechanical structure was shaking violently, and the floating black halo on it, like angry lightning, kept striking against the sturdy locking force field. Even the mechanical structure itself was trembling, rapidly switching its material state between tangible and intangible, a unique phenomenon that occurs when a space jump is abruptly interrupted.

As the small fleet slowly entered the port, several isolation gratings arranged both inside and outside the dock also descended in succession, and a large number of Photon Floating Cannons and Guard Towers floated out from the alloy gates on both sides, aiming their barrels at the Recovery Fleet that had gradually stopped in the center of the Gravity Trap.

“Scanning for anomalous energy,” the mechanical female voice rang out again, “Scan complete, no irregularities detected, please open your thought circuits to the arriving personnel.”

About three minutes later, after a series of complex logic inspections and technical checks, the fleet, having confirmed not to have been infected by the Abyss during recovery, was granted access. The isolation gratings slowly opened, and the sentries retreated back into their nests.

“Phew… We can finally breathe a sigh of relief; they have a cautious squad commander.”

I let out a long breath and turned to speak to Sandora.

The fleet that had just returned was the one previously dispatched to recover Star Ring Fragments outside the Solar System. Catching that space-jumping object made them exert a great deal of effort. Furthermore, they had to maintain spatial locks on the Star Ring Fragment all along the way, traveling at a slow pace with secondary space jumps, a method that was safe but tedious. Hence, it took them quite a long time, and only now did this team manage to return successfully, even later than the second fragment’s recovery by about half a day.

Having been in close quarters with a Star Ring Fragment filled with Abyss Energy for such a long time, it’s no surprise we were so cautious. If the commander of this team had been reckless, they might have been controlled by the Abyss by now, and what they would have brought back would not have been a trophy but a bomb. In the battle against the Abyss, one cannot be too careful.

“According to Lin Xue’s prediction, the last asteroid will appear in three hours, and with that, this wave of attacks will be over,” I said, looking at the Star Ring Fragment being escorted deep into the passage and slightly tilting my head to Sandora, “How is our Sniper Star Cannon doing now?”

“Taville sent a message, the Sniper Star Cannon ran into some trouble during its final stage of assembly, but it’s now solved. Since a considerable amount of energy has already accumulated between the two neutron stars, the first shot won’t require charging. Tomorrow afternoon, as soon as that heavy metal planet shows up, we can take care of it.”

“Trouble?” I frowned. “What kind of trouble?”

“It’s unclear. A small special forces team is currently in the control core of the Sniper Star Cannon searching for clues. However, the malfunction has indeed disappeared–those complex things inevitably suffer from occasional inexplicable glitches.”

“If Taville heard you say that, she would definitely go mad.”

I shrugged, succinctly pointing out the difference between scientists and military types.

“By the way, about the Aresta situation, have you thought of how to handle it?”

After a brief silence, I suddenly remembered something, a certain dead old fox, whose affairs were still a problem.

Based on my… well, based on my experience accumulated from all sorts of fantastical literature, now would be the best time to prop up a puppet in Academy City who obeys me, filling the void left by Aresta’s death. Not only would this solve a series of troublesome issues following the old fox’s demise, it would also keep Academy City under our control. That way, at the very least, we wouldn’t have to worry about plans such as the “Absolute Ability Project” ever happening.

But the problem is, where do we find such a puppet?

Embarrassingly speaking, we’ve been in Academy City for so long, doing nothing but blending in, never intending to engage in any power struggles. Now, apart from Aresta, the necessary old fox we had to deal with, we have no connection with the various intricate powers of Academy City–and Aresta definitely wouldn’t have wanted us, a group of dangerous individuals, getting involved with the powers there. Now that the old fox is gone, where do I find another fox…

“Aresta’s death isn’t yet known to anyone, right?”

Sandora tilted her head slightly, a hint of mischief on her face.

I nodded. The old fox himself was the kind of person who pulled strings from behind the scenes. Apart from a very few individuals who could converse with him directly, most people in Academy City didn’t even have a concept of Aresta’s existence. Now, with a complete information blackout, his death was utterly concealed.

But it was only a matter of time before the truth would out.

“That’s good,” said Sandora mischievously, waiting for the look of consternation on my face to deepen before she suddenly laughed. Clearly, she had a plan in mind, “Just let Aresta continue to control Academy City!”

“Huh?”

I couldn’t help wanting to reach out and check if Sandora’s head was feverish, but seeing the inscrutable expression on her face, I knew my queen must have come up with some bizarre idea.

“You’re not planning on having Dingdang resurrect Aresta, are you?” I thought for a moment and voiced a plausible idea, as reviving someone with the Life Goddess’s power was too simple.

“Even more interesting than that… Let me introduce you to someone!” Sandora said, suddenly grabbing my arm, and then I was lifted off my feet…

Just like that, Sandora, who had suddenly switched to a playful mode, dragged me by the arm at a speed of 300 miles per hour down the flagship’s spacious corridors, while the Empire’s troops along the way watched their Emperor flutter by, horrified.

This girl must have learned this trick while chatting with Pandora! Other than that perpetual shorty, no one else plays this way!

“Ha ha! Ah Jun, you look so funny~~”

“You don’t say…” I gasped for air, then suddenly reached out and gave a certain queen a karate chop, “At least slow down when we’re turning, you idiot!”

After taking a few deep breaths to calm my racing heart and to allow my facial features–which had gone berserk from slamming into the super alloy wall–to return to their posts, I realized we had already arrived at the flagship’s ecological sector. In the lush jungle not far ahead, a small house shimmering with a faint metallic luster must be the place “someone” Sandora mentioned.

Being assigned to this exclusive area for high-level commanders, the person must be a big shot.

Seeing as Sandora was dead set on surprising me and refused to reveal anything, I was left scratching my head in confusion and went up to knock on the door.

The door wasn’t locked, and it automatically slid open as I approached.

“Anyone here?”

Sandora and I walked into the house, looking around.

A faint sound of metal sliding, and next to the living room, a small door opened in response. A woman dressed entirely in black walked out; it seemed she was fiddling with something in her hands, her face full of curiosity. Upon seeing Sandora and me, surprise flashed across her face, and then “bang”–the small silver-gray machine she’d been tinkering with for so long finally broke down completely.

I stared blankly at her and finally exclaimed in amazement, “Sylvanas?”

“Divine Messenger, it is a pleasure to see you again.”

The Queen of the Forgotten awkwardly tossed the now-broken small machine aside and quickly straightened up her appearance, then gave us a perfect Elven bow.

“What… What’s going on?”

I blinked, finally casting my inquisitive gaze on Sandora. Could it be that she sent a super space-time warship to Azeroth recently and brought back Sylvanas?

“It’s Taville’s credit,” Sandora finally cleared up my confusion, “She actually managed to replicate the basic technology to stabilize the World Gate using the fragments of data extracted from Visca’s memory core. Now, our Space-Time Management Center has successfully activated the node function of the world, and has established long-term stable channels between several worlds where coordinates have already been recorded. Azeroth is the first world that has successfully connected with Shadow Base. Now through the Great Temple of Azeroth–which is a Xyrin Nest we left in Serramo–one can easily travel between the Otherworld and Shadow City, of course, with our prior approval. Sylvanas came through that channel.”

“Taville is a genius…”

I murmured after a while.

The World Gate, that kind of eternal passage built using the world’s own structure, which operates at low or even no cost and consumes not a bit of external energy even after billions of years, is known as one of the three greatest achievements of Xyrin space technology. And she really managed to pull it off?

Despite Sandora’s explanation that it was just a knockoff…

“So, as long as we submit an application to Shadow City, we can waltz back and forth between all the worlds we’ve recorded coordinates for, just like visiting neighbors,” Sandora said, pressing her index finger to her lips, “Having solved the cost and technical issues, our Space-Time Management Center can finally become a true inter-world hub. At least from now on, transporting Ao Tie ore from the Otherworld can be sped up countless times without having to open a separate plane channel for each shipment of Ao Tie, which is astonishingly consumptive.”

By then, I had already started to envision the entire Shadow City transforming into a huge local produce market, brimming with vendors selling this world’s special Magic Crystal Flying Sword Cards and T-virus.

After fantasizing a while about the wonderful prospect of collecting business taxes from the plane merchants at the inter-world expo, I finally pulled my thoughts back to reality and, pointing at Sylvanas who was waiting for commands, I asked, “Sandora… you’re not planning to turn Aresta into…”

“How about the undead creature Aresta for this role?”

Babe, you’re a genius, truly.

A few minutes later, I also finally learned why the esteemed Dark Queen had just now looked as timid and embarrassed as a little girl who accidentally broke a vase; despite being a high-ranking, well-experienced Undead Magic Master, she was no better than a curious little girl when faced with high-tech alien spaceships–by Dingdang above, she’d nearly destroyed everything breakable in the room.

“I am terribly sorry, Divine Messenger…”

Sylvanas apologized, bowing her head awkwardly and dejectedly, feeling extremely remorseful for causing such trouble on her first visit to the residence of God.

It’s all right, I understand. The first day Lin Xue got on the spaceship, she obliterated no less than three curve engines of mine…

“Don’t call me Divine Envoy,” I waved my hand, refusing the title Sylvanas had already gotten used to in Azeroth, “You should realize that we are just beings with more powerful strength. The title of ‘God,’ once it loses its mystery, also loses its meaning.”

“But I’m already used to it.”

Sylvanas spread her hands to indicate that she was quite comfortable with the title.

“Your mood seems pretty good now,” I raised an eyebrow, discerning from Sylvanas’s current demeanor, which was starkly different from before, that things must be going well in the world of Azeroth, “Are they still fighting over there?”

Sylvanas immediately adopted a solemn and earnest expression befitting a report to a superior: “Azeroth is now enjoying a hard-won peace, Divine Messenger. The Salvation Army has not disbanded but has become a very special peacekeeping organization on Azeroth. Upholding the doctrines you taught about race equality and amity, and after the war, a certain level of consensus has been reached among the races. Even the most hostile races are prohibited from resolving disputes through war. Under these two influences, Azeroth is now free from war.”

A peace formed by the dual chains of military suppression and peaceful treaties? That’s quite a favorable outcome indeed, and for Azeroth, which has been mired in countless years of war, any form of peace is hard-earned.

Seeing I didn’t respond, Sylvanas continued, “Having a tangible God as the core of their faith, the Salvation Army has become the most stable and formidable military force in Azeroth. We don’t belong to any race or power but solely to the guidance of God. Senior positions in the Salvation Army must be held by heroes who participated in the Salvation War or their designated successors, and we have established a series of strict conduct codes. Every commander and soldier of the Salvation Army must absolutely adhere to them, which has almost become a new religion in Azeroth. The Salvation Army will always exist until all races in Azeroth usher in a truly everlasting peace.”

“Very good,” I nodded satisfactorily. The news Sylvanas brought was far beyond my expectations. It seemed that the great goal of building a harmonious Azeroth, free from the disputes of Warcraft, was largely achieved through the efforts of Sylvanas and other heroes, “But you suddenly leaving, that shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

Sylvanas shook her head: “Not only am I the leader of the Forgotten, but I am also a commander in the Salvation Army. Responding to the call of command is a soldier’s duty.”

I was stunned for a moment and touched my nose, not having expected that the Salvation Army I had almost whimsically established had now truly become a powerful force capable of dominating the world of Azeroth, with someone like Sylvanas serving as my officer… Should I say that life is indeed like a fan-fiction novel? (To be continued. To find out what happens next, please visit www.NovelFire.net. There are more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)

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