Xyrin Empire-Chapter 1396: Deceiving Heaven to Cross the Sea
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Due to the unique nature of the Void, there is no precise concept of "territory" or "border" here. These two words are used only for convenience to describe the area at the junction of the New Empire and the Abyss Empire. In fact, this area does not belong to either the New Empire or the Abyss Empire; it’s a "watershed" composed of a series of unsovereign worlds. These worlds and the Empire, as well as the Fallen Apostles, are all just a step apart. Even the super large starships, which are the hardest to transfer in the Void, only need to run their engines for one cycle to jump from these neutral worlds into the Imperial District or Abyss Zone. Therefore, these universes sandwiched between the warring sides are regarded by both as borderlines.
I don’t know if I should sympathize with these worlds; they are like a small village caught between two warring superpowers on the border. No, it’s worse than that; they’re not only the small village caught in the middle, they’re the kind that has no sovereignty, a village that anyone can pinch. They’re not protected by the Empire, nor can they be protected by the Fallen Apostles. If one of those colossal entities on either side suddenly wants to fight, such worlds could be extinguished almost instantly, just like the universe we blew up on the Empire’s border back then; Doomsday comes in a blink of an eye.
According to the plan, we first head to the Empire’s most peripheral fortress world. This is a pure military universe with no name and only a number. Almost all celestial bodies in this small universe have been transformed into weapon bases and legion teleportation gates to ensure that in the event of full-scale conflict, it can withstand the full assault of the Fallen Apostles and quickly mobilize main forces from within its borders. Each major legion has a detachment here for border support missions. Plus, with the long-term posted reserve echelon and the Imperial Defense Army, this whole world can almost be seen as a war machine with a radius of tens of billions of light years. Most of the outposts set around the "conflict point" are provided with rotation and logistical support from this fortress world. Sentry units dispatched from here would instantly fall into the sight of the Fallen Apostles, of course, all patrols and sentry units from the Fallen Apostles are also monitored by here. Both sides are operating under their arch-enemy’s nose, maintaining a temporary "peace" under a safety shackle weak to the point of nonexistence. Even such suffocating "peace" was hard-won by the Abyss Special Team’s intelligence-gathering risking their lives deep in the enemy’s rear and through countless fierce battles and partial victories of the Imperial Defense Army on the border.
After a brief stop in this fortress world, our group of several people boarded a border transport ship with the sentry unit preparing for shift change. After leaving the World Barrier, it’s essentially equivalent to leaving the last inch of Imperial territory: those outposts drift in the depths of the Void, almost with one foot in the Abyss Empire’s sphere of influence.
However, we won’t actually follow the sentry unit to the outpost. According to the plan, everyone will leave the transport ship before it reaches its destination, then infiltrate into one of the main material worlds along the way; this world is marked by Father God as the "treasure location." Fortunately, this universe is considered "less watched" by the enemy because it’s relatively more inclined towards the Empire, so our actions will generally remain undetected.
"I don’t know how long this situation can last," Bingdisi sat in her seat, bored with nothing to see in the Void, grumbling while grooming her feathers, "The Fallen Apostles have been quiet for a long time, and from their activity pattern, the longer the quiet period, the more mischief they’re brewing; their next move won’t be small."
I glanced at Bingdisi but didn’t respond. I don’t know if she was really influenced by the "Xyrin household registration," but her tone just sounded exactly like a Xyrin Apostle. She probably didn’t even realize she’s almost taking the Empire as her home.
The sentry unit commander was sitting not far in front of us, a veteran seasoned in many battles. He glanced at the holographic images beside him and suddenly reported, "Your Majesty, enemy interception is imminent."
Enemy interception—this is also one of the plan’s segments. I stood up, preparing to join others aboard the assault ship to "welcome" those interception units. We were now nearing a major outpost at the front line, right at the brick-throwing distance between the two sides. I pressed Pandora and Visca’s heads next to me and casually asked, "What’s the usual scale and types of interception fire?"
"Self-destructing probes and self-destructing drones; conventional artillery isn’t usable in the Void. These order field-carrying things that blow up on impact are the only effective weapons aside from Special Combat Ships," the old sentry captain answered in a strangely familiar tone. "Whenever we reach this location, the enemy usually sends three waves of harassment, sometimes four, but that’s rare. The outpost will also launch an equal amount of self-destructing drones back; it’s a three-day cycle."
"How effective is this kind of interception?" Bingdisi asked curiously with a strange tone.
"Some sentries will die in battle, but it can’t break our ship’s defenses. The fallen soldiers are directly resurrected at the outpost’s resurrection facilities, so the actual loss is only the single soldier fighter jets and assault ships; the same is true for the opposing side—since the scale of engagement is so small, it’s hard for either side to completely kill off the other."
Ordinary people would certainly find it hard to understand what such a life-risking fire line daily experience feels like, but just listening to it makes my scalp tingle. Then Bingdisi curiously asked, "How come the interception you talked about hasn’t arrived yet?"
The sentry commander also showed a puzzled look. He kept looking at the holographic screen beside him and muttered, "Logically, it should have appeared... the Fallen Apostle’s sense of timing is a mess... Bridge, have you detected any enemy interception fire?"
A voice soon responded in the cabin, "No, it’s clear ahead."
The sentry commander thought for a moment: "Notify the outpost; this time we should release the self-destructing ships first, the Fallen Apostles might have forgotten."
Me: "..."
I don’t know about you, but I instantly thought of the following dialogue: 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎
"Enemy commander, enemy commander! This is the Imperial Army Headquarters! We have reached your defense line, where are the landmines?"
"Enemy commander, enemy commander! This is the Abyss Empire Headquarters! We’re on a break today, no landmines placed!"
"Enemy commander! Please correct your attitude! You are soldiers, laying mines is your sacred duty!"
"Enemy commander! Please correct your attitude first! Who told you not to clear mines the day before yesterday? Our minelaying boat is still not repaired; how do you expect us to lay mines!!"
——That’s basically the rhythm...
I don’t know if the Empire’s "reminder" worked, but a few seconds later, a sharp alarm sounded inside the transport ship. A group of order fields marked as hostile targets was rapidly approaching our fleet’s order field: the Fallen Apostles’ self-destructing interception had arrived.
We quickly teleported to the already prepared assault ship, taking on the stance of an attacking unit to rush towards those enemy self-destructing units intruding into our fleet’s order field. Then... while letting the ship automatically counterattack, we "tried hard" to get sunk.
Detaching directly from the transport ship into the Main Material World would have been easier, but it might alert the enemy and lead them to mistakenly believe we intended to establish a base in those sensitive areas. After all, this place is crammed with hundreds of enemy outposts, and it’s unimaginable how stringent their surveillance could be, so our plan included an extra step—pretending to be a sentry ship destroyed by the Fallen Apostles. Here, every day, sentry ships from both sides are being destroyed, so it wouldn’t arouse any suspicion. A destroyed ship will lose its order field, then fall out of formation and eventually appear as debris in the Main Material World; we just pretend to be debris...
Anyway, everything from start to finish must match the local daily situation to maximize the disguise. Given the special nature of this mission, such caution is necessary.
Once we’re in the World Barrier, everything will be easier. With this layer of interference, as long as our small group’s actions don’t cause too much ripple, we won’t be detected. After all, the standoff points between the Imperial Army and Fallen Apostles are in the Void, while these local universes... are innocently lying there, and unless necessary, no one wants to waste firepower to give them a shot.
According to the sentry commander’s statement, the interception power from the Fallen Apostles often has limited effects, so even getting sunk requires some skill. Luckily, we have a Prophet, and under Lin Xue’s guidance, we can always precisely get hit by those randomly crashing self-destructing drones. This is the first time the Miss has used her power specifically to crash into the enemy’s muzzle. After the assault ship’s shield was completely marked red, she wiped the fine sweat from her forehead and said to me, "...Too exciting!"
Then the spaceship crashed.
At that moment, we detached from the spaceship and leaped into the material world.
Everything seemed to go smoothly, the Fallen Apostles wouldn’t know that a group of remarkable individuals had infiltrated their universe right under their noses. I took a deep breath; it felt great to have my feet on the ground.
"Oh, looks like we need to start looking from here," Bingdisi stretched her body while retracting her conspicuous wings, "The scenery is quite nice though."
We surveyed the surroundings and found ourselves in a vibrant place.
We landed in a sprawling open area overgrown with weeds, surrounded by tall coniferous trees. Within the forest, shadows flickered endlessly, which suggested it was a considerable dense forest. Between the tree shadows, we could see low bushes growing wildly. Bushes, weeds, and the aerial roots of giant trees almost blocked all paths within the forest. The forest floor was covered with a thick layer of fallen leaves and decayed soil. This was clearly a place rarely trodden by humans. We seemed to be in a clearing within a coniferous forest.
I looked up at the sky, it was deep blue and cloudless, a clear sky, and the air here was exceptionally clean. Although breathing felt a bit strange, it’s probably due to the atmospheric composition differing from Earth, which didn’t affect us—for breathing has long been just a habit for me.
"The teleportation drop point was chosen with the scroll’s help," Bingdisi pulled out the scroll Father God gave us, which was now glowing with a faint golden hue and gradually dimming, "The clue should be on this planet, but I haven’t sensed the presence of the Star Domain Artifact yet. Looks like we’ll need to explore carefully."
"Feels weird," Lin Xue shaded her eyes and looked around, muttering, "In a place where the Imperial Army and the Fallen Apostles are facing off tensely, there’s a planet that looks like a national park. Tsk tsk—why does it feel so incongruous?"
I smiled but said nothing. In fact, everyone could sense the incongruity Lin Xue referred to: just outside this world, in what is almost a paper-thin separation for us, the Fallen Apostles and Imperial Army’s outposts are at loggerheads, with two of the most terrifying beings in the Void constantly ready to launch a full-scale conflict here. Compared to that Void Fire Line outside, any so-called "unprecedented danger zones" are like kindergartens. Yet, separated by a World Barrier, in this universe where neither side dares to take the first step, everything looks ordinary. There’s even such a vibrant planet here, and even...
A nameless emerald green little bird fluttered across the sky above us, showering a burst of chirpy calls.
There’s even a bird, such an excited, oblivious bird.
Bingdisi pondered something, suddenly smiled, and shook her head: "So sometimes ignorance is bliss—should we get going?"
"First, let’s understand this place a bit," I said, casually pulling Dingdang out from my pocket. Little Douding had been lively when we set off, but now was curled up sleeping: a lifestyle truly fitting her, unable to adjust to the time difference upon arriving in the Otherworld. I prodded the Little One’s belly and used the Awakening Technique on the still-dazed Dou Ding, "Dingdang, check if there are people here."
Since we were in a sensitive area, and uncertain how sharp the Fallen Apostles’ vigilance was, we hadn’t scanned the destination as we crossed the World Barrier. Currently, it’s unknown whether the planet has intelligent natives. Dingdang’s biological radar could prove useful: in life detection, Little Douding is much more adept than the probes.
"Hiya—" Dingdang turned over, sat up, and only then realized we had arrived. The Little Thing understood what she was supposed to do and, nodding happily, flew to the trunk of the nearest tree. Instantly, I heard a rustling resonance throughout the forest: all the plants and animals were startled, responding to the Life Dominator’s inquiry.
"There are people," Dingdang lightly flew back, swirling around me, "There’s a village outside the forest, a few dozen kilometers further, a big city. Hundreds of kilometers further lies the capital; on the planet’s opposite side, there’s a huge lake inhabited by a two-hundred-year-old Three-headed Snake, which says it has a toothache. Next to the planet’s Antarctic Circle are a small group of Snow Apes..."
I: "..."
Although Little One’s summaries are always chaotic, I at least know she managed to survey the entire planet’s life forms in a few seconds, though uncertain if it includes single-celled organisms...
Knowing there are natives on this planet is great. Firstly, we were teleported here with the scroll Father God provided, which contained vague information about the artifact, so the item we’re seeking is probably on this planet. Secondly, it’s an artifact, an extremely prominent artifact. If there are residents on this planet, they are highly likely to have evolved around the power of this artifact, or at least they might have traces of it in their culture or legends. This kind of event is frequent; a research team once discovered that natives had established cities across an entire planet centered around a Ghost Energy Reactor while retrieving Old Empire relics.
Thus, we set off happily towards the edge of the forest. Of course, I first asked Dingdang about the general situation of that village outside the forest to at least confirm that this world’s natives are humanoid. This is quite important, as this world is already at the Star Domain’s "Far Border," and the Divine Race’s Information Disturbance Power is relatively weak here. Consequently, the planet’s inhabitants may not necessarily be human-like. It’s highly probable that the primates of this world were wiped out by scaly reptilian relatives before they could walk upright—such a circumstance would undoubtedly complicate our communication. The further "away" from the Divine Realm a world is, the more likely it is to have bizarre life forms, though this isn’t absolute; the overall tendency is indeed such.
Fortunately, the Star Domain’s Information Disturbance Power is effective enough. Dingdang described this world’s natives to us, and they look similar to Earthlings—that is, similar to the "standard human form" defined by the Star Domain, which means we don’t need to worry about interspecies communication.
The forest here seemed rarely visited, and the path was difficult due to soft decayed leaves and strange plants growing everywhere. I suggested perhaps flying over, but Miss opposed—
"Look at this clear sky, at this primitive landscape, at these trees, grass, moss, and even the clean air in Shadow City. Why don’t you appreciate this, you wooden head? Walking with your girlfriend through a leaf-covered pine forest is so romantic; you need to learn to enjoy life..."
Lin Xue’s words made sense, but I thought she should first get off my back before saying these: Miss does know how to enjoy!
"Walking has its benefits," Bingdisi led the way, looking quite eager, "Once you form the habit of taking shortcuts, you’ll eventually become too lazy to walk. Just let out the Angel in your head and let her take a few steps."
As I observed the rough road ahead, I figured if Alaya were to take a few steps, she’d probably have to crawl all the way, wriggling to reach the destination...
Pandora followed along silently, behaving especially well throughout, while Visca and Qianqian rambled around wildly. These two endlessly energetic little children kept running around, collecting a bunch of things they found interesting to show me. Starting with wild grass and flowers, they moved on to fruits and stones, then various struggling birds and beasts, finally, when they exuberantly dragged a two-ton saber-toothed tiger (seemingly) and shouted, "Brother (Ah Jun), I’ve caught something fun!" I couldn’t stand it anymore and ordered these two girls not to run around and to stay with the main group. If Sandora were here too, it’d be alright, as the things Visca and Qianqian collected could at least fill Queen’s belly, but now they just carry a saber-toothed tiger following us, and what use is that...
Just as we were releasing that tearful saber-toothed tiger, Dingdang suddenly popped out from my chest pocket: "Ah Jun, there are people." (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to vote for it on Qidian.com with recommendation votes or monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivator. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
