Xyrin Empire-Chapter 1487: The Truth of Da Ye?

The voice of the Abyss Xyrin came from all directions: "I am here to remind you to retreat."

There was a few seconds of silence at the scene, then I spoke with a wry smile: "You think just because you say retreat, we will? You speak without any context."

"Do you really think you can take down the entire Abyss Zone this time?" the Abyss Xyrin casually raised a question, "The Divine Race’s advance has already slowed down, and how much further can you move forward?"

The words of the Abyss Xyrin made Sandora and I fall into silence: we had already discussed this issue before.

Can this expedition annihilate the entire Abyss Zone?

Initially, when negotiating the joint advance with the Divine Race, I was very optimistic, feeling that this unprecedented military operation might indeed wipe out the entire Abyss Zone. However, once the war actually began, things didn’t go as smoothly as initially expected: the scale of the Divine Race’s deployable army was less than anticipated, and the resistance within the Abyss Zone was unexpectedly strong. More importantly, the internal division among the Fallen Apostles was not quite as anticipated: they did indeed enter into a civil war as we had predicted, but the civil war did not consume much of their strength. The Fallen Apostles split into the New Army and Old Army, seemingly completely opposed, but according to logs, this division appeared to be completed in an organized manner. The military friction between the two factions was limited to determining the leadership within the Abyss Zone, far from exhausting themselves. Now, the presence of the Abyss Xyrin before us further proves one thing: the Old Army has not been obliterated; they are simply lying in wait.

The foundation of the Fallen Apostles remains intact; thus, the Divine Race quickly encountered fierce resistance from the enemy. It can be said that they successfully pinned down the main force of the Fallen Apostles, but conversely, it’s the same: the Fallen Apostles pinned down the Divine Race’s army—and the Abyss Zone still has the power to continuously deploy reinforcements on the Imperial Army’s front line.

Under such circumstances, it seems increasingly unlikely that this war could take down the entire Abyss Zone. After some discussions, we confirmed this point, so the objective shifted from directly capturing the entire zone to simply taking what we could. It seems the Abyss Xyrin sees through this clearly too.

"It’s a very delicate situation, isn’t it?" the Abyss Xyrin smiled, seemingly completely unfazed by the tension between us and her, "The Divine Race is at its weakest, and the size of your army is also a concern. Although my empire has fragmented, it retains about ninety percent of its strength—of course, half of them no longer obey my commands, but that’s not important. Facing the pressures from you and the Divine Race, even those disobedient ones will step up to the front lines... You can’t take down the whole Abyss Zone, continuing the advance will only quickly increase the war damage. I know you’ve managed to block the fleets of the New Army within the territory by quickly destroying the Sovereignty Hubs, but you should be smart, this means that when you advance inland, you’ll face a massive number of enemies... All amassed there."

"This sounds like a negotiation, and it almost seems like you’re really thinking for us," Sandora crossed her arms, looking at the holographic image before her, "What benefit do you have from this? Even if you let the Imperial Army and the Divine Race continue their offensive, we won’t reach the interior of the Abyss Zone, so you could survive by doing nothing; and as soon as the Divine Race retreats, the Fallen Apostles might even make a comeback, so you must not be acting out of self-preservation..."

"Who would plead for the enemy to retreat for the mundane reason of survival," the Abyss Xyrin calmly interrupted Sandora, "I simply don’t want to waste time and energy on valueless things—I have much more important matters to attend to."

"Do you take us for fools?" Bingdisi shouted loudly, "If we retreat, won’t you have peace and quiet to execute your little schemes? Who would idly watch their opponent sharpening their knives at home?"

The Abyss Xyrin shrugged indifferently: "Indeed, once you retreat, I can focus on my tasks, but if you don’t, you’re just wasting time here, at best distracting me. If you’re truly wise, you should choose the path of maximizing benefits, so right now the most important thing is to quickly end this charade—you’ve already gained the war outcomes you wanted, four border worlds, and using them as nodes, you can bring dozens of universes into your sphere of influence. Believe me, continuing makes little sense now, you won’t get better outcomes than this."

"Oh, we gain a little territory, retreat satisfied, and then you continue quietly with your ’grand enterprise’; maybe one day you’ll turn the entire Void upside down, quite beneficial for you," Sandora squinted at the other party, "You’re really not good at negotiation, treating us all like fools."

"Perhaps you’re right, I don’t quite understand the thought habits of you tangible beings, I will only lay out all the pros and cons on the table, and then calculate their value precisely with you, finally choosing an option beneficial to both sides. It seems you don’t quite accept this way of thinking...Alright then, I’ll add another chip: if you continue to advance, the New Army and Old Army will reconcile, and regardless of who controls the Abyss Zone then, the troubles you’ll face will be no small matter, but if you retreat now, the friction between the New Army and Old Army will persist, so at least for a considerable period, you won’t have to worry about the Abyss Zone’s threat. How is this for a chip?"

"Ahaha, it’s like you’re collaborating with us, weakening the Fallen Apostles from inside out," Sandora couldn’t help but laugh at the seemingly absurd words of the Abyss Xyrin, "This chip indeed carries weight, but the question is... don’t you find this too unbelievable? Aren’t we supposed to be mortal enemies?"

"I have mentioned, I bear no malice towards you," the Abyss Xyrin looked at me and Bingdisi as she said, "I act based on logical judgment and calculation, and this series of actions just happen to conflict with you, that’s all. Now, logical judgment and calculation results allow me to reduce confrontation with you, it’s unrelated to any personal feelings."

Sandora quietly waited for the Abyss Xyrin to finish, then discussed with us via the spiritual connection: "Ah Jun, how credible do you think this guy’s words are?"

"It’s hard to tell, we haven’t even thoroughly studied that Xyrin in Shadow City, who knows what the cognitive process of this network phantom is," I replied with some frustration, "Theoretically, what she says should be true, the Abyss Xyrin is a network consciousness, operating based on logic libraries and protocols, so she theoretically has no concepts of good or evil and no awareness of foes or allies, but this one has mutated for tens of thousands of years, who knows if she still follows logic..."

"No matter how she mutated, her life form hasn’t changed," Sandora pondered, "The Abyss Xyrin might indeed bear no ’malice’, she acts on her own logic and calculations, whether as our foe or ally is just one outcome of her calculations... I’m considering another aspect now: are her propositions reliable at all?"

It seems Sandora has decided to believe that the Abyss Xyrin harbors no "malice", an astonishing claim, yet upon reflection, not incomprehensible. Think of yourselves encountering a system crash, malicious players during gaming, or never drawing good cards—is the software hostile towards the user?

Of course not, it’s merely bad luck...

The Abyss Xyrin resembles program-like entities, naturally possessing a complete personality and self-awareness, not constrained by rigid logic, differing entirely from conventional "artificial intelligence". Here, referring to her resembling a program indicates her "behavioral guidelines". With clear end goals, she undertakes necessary actions, which may oppose or collaborate with the Imperial Army, but regardless of actions, one thing remains unchanged: they’re unrelated to her personal feelings.

Her emotions and actions are completely separated, entirely dictated by logic—this is the Abyss Xyrin’s programmatic side—in theory, this is how it is.

"Listening purely to her words, it seems there’s not much advantage to continuing the fight," the Big Sister finally voiced her opinion, "The Divine Race side has stalled, and even if we conquer a few more border worlds, it’s uncertain we can hold them; stretched frontlines strain our manpower."

"And the Fallen Apostles might consolidate anytime... Oh, I see why the Abyss Xyrin is so eager for our retreat, she has her own ideas," Bingdisi suddenly realized something as she spoke, slapped her forehead, then gazed at the holographic image at the hall center, "You over there, phantom, are you worried that if we continue fighting, the New Army and Old Army will involuntarily reorganize, and you may entirely lose control of the situation?"

The Abyss Xyrin’s expression remained unchanged: "Correct, if external pressure hits a threshold, network division will cease, and I only have a fifty percent certainty to maintain control of the empire post-reintegration. I don’t wish for things to slip beyond control—it’s a worse outcome for you as well, the New Army’s ruler is an even bigger headache than I am."

"You’re suggesting that it’s less harmful for the Fallen Apostles to be under your rule rather than under the New Army’s, right?" Sandora nodded, "Perhaps that’s true... Seems we indeed have no better path now."

The Abyss Xyrin smiled: "Indeed, a strategic view is crucial, there’s no need to forsake greater benefits due to stubbornness. So, are we concluding this negotiation?"

"Not yet," I suddenly interrupted, "We agree to retreat now, but there are several questions first, of course, you may choose not to answer, I’m just asking: what exactly is the grand enterprise, is there nothing you can divulge? What about the Abyss Zone’s division? And lastly—what happened to this universe, where did all the people go?"

"Three questions, two of which are the hardest to answer," the Abyss Xyrin sighed, "Regarding Da Ye... well, I did think this had nothing to do with you before, but since you are so persistent, perhaps there’s no harm in telling you now... Do you know about ’Bridge Building’?"

The moment the two words "Bridge Building" were uttered, the scene fell into unprecedented silence.

I was no stranger to those two words—the mysterious civilization on the "other side" of the Abyss had mentioned "Bridge Building" multiple times!

"Da Ye is Bridge Building?" Even Bingdisi, the blunt female hooligan, was dumbfounded, "You’ve been making such a big fuss, with doomsday and attacking the Divine Realm, just for Bridge Building?! The bridge building I have in mind should be the same thing you’re talking about, right..."

The Abyss Xyrin nodded naturally: "It’s the same thing—opening a passage from this side of the Abyss, straight to the other side. It’s essentially such a simple process."

"Does this require you to destroy so many worlds?!" My sister widened her eyes, even she, who usually doesn’t like to speak, couldn’t help but interject, "And you’re also collecting Hearts of the World everywhere..."

"Do you know how to build a bridge?" The Abyss Xyrin didn’t wait for my sister to finish before bluntly throwing out this question.

Seeing us all shaking our heads, the Abyss Xyrin’s lips slightly turned up: "At least we know one way—the fastest one. There might be a gentle bridge building method that doesn’t require destroying so many Order Universes or a massive amount of Hearts of the World, but I have no choice but to build the bridge before the Void Cataclysm, it’s as simple as that."

"This is related to the Void Cataclysm too?!" I felt overwhelmed by the information coming at me like a mountain, "Your Da Ye is to build a bridge leading to the ’other side’ before the Void Cataclysm? Why? To avoid the Cataclysm?"

"Bridge building is just the first step, my ultimate goal is to restore the Empire to its apex, and with no possibility of falling again," the Abyss Xyrin looked at us with a half smile, "Don’t show that look, what I said is true, it’s just that the Empire I want to rebuild deviates slightly from the great nation in your mind, I’m fighting for my own camp, it’s not strange. As for avoiding the Void Cataclysm... this was never a valid proposition from the start, New Emperor, since that moment tens of thousands of years ago when you accidentally came in contact with the Abyssalized Xyrin Network, we no longer have to worry about the Void Cataclysm... Don’t forget, the Fallen Apostle was indirectly created by you."

I was rendered speechless, and beside me, Sandora and Bingdisi, and others were looking at us with peculiar expressions.

What the Abyss Xyrin said was true, the Fallen Apostle was indirectly created by me, this fact was known when Bingdisi and I went deep into the Spiritual Network to inspect the "Rift" and had an encounter with the Abyss Xyrin last time.

Seventy thousand years ago, during the catastrophe that led to the Empire’s collapse, I made an agreement with my sister (in a past life), who was then the ruler of the Fifteenth Day Zone, to resist the Abyss Impact spreading towards the Fifteenth Day Zone, but due to the inability to withstand the data flood of Void Creatures through the conceptual barrier, my power transcended the barrier produced by the concept, having had a brief contact with the already fully polluted old Imperial Data Network.

It was that little bit of force that dissipated and greatly weakened the Abyss Activity within the Old Empire Network, allowing a large number of infected Xyrin Apostles to survive and complete their transformation—they are the present Fallen Apostles.

If I hadn’t been so negligent seventy thousand years ago, the current Fallen Apostles and Abyss Zone wouldn’t have survived at all.

We always thought the Fallen Apostles might take action to avoid the Void Cataclysm and linked their "Da Ye" to a form of self-rescue, but now a single sentence from the Abyss Xyrin has awakened us all: since the Fallen Apostles were indirectly created by the Void Creatures, they were "marked" with the "Pardon Seal" from the beginning, they have no fear of the Void Cataclysm!

"And you..." I looked towards the Abyss Xyrin, but was interrupted just after speaking three words.

"That’s as far as we go today, you must be very interested in more details about Da Ye, but now is not the time to explain," the Abyss Xyrin gave us a polite dismissal, as they began to close the holographic projections in the hall one by one, "We will meet again soon. Regarding the split of the Abyss Zone... don’t delve into it, I don’t plan to tell you."

As the final projection of the Abyss Xyrin was about to disappear, Bingdisi yelled out one last question: "Then at least tell us what’s the deal with this universe! You withdraw all the people here, what does it mean? Give it to us for free?"

"Consider it a gift for you, this Universe was just an experiment, to test new technology that allows me to safely communicate with Void creatures... I’ve collected enough data, and you’ve already taken down a large portion of the border worlds, you can dispose of this universe as you wish..."

With those words, the Abyss Xyrin’s figure finally gradually disappeared before our eyes.

"Feels like I’ve heard a lot of incredible things," Qianqian rolled her eyes, looking innocently upward at a forty-five degree angle to the ceiling, "but it’s as if I couldn’t understand anything..."

"That guy always talks like this, last time in the Rift, they said a lot of baffling stuff too," Bingdisi somewhat frustratedly looked at the now idle holographic devices, clearly, this kind of intangible conversation, where the initiative was completely in the opponent’s hands, displeased Sister Bing very much, "So? Do we just retreat like this?"

"Notify all troops, prepare for withdrawal." Sandora didn’t pay attention to Bingdisi, but directly established contact with the Imperial Fleet on standby in orbit, Sivis asked no more, and began executing the command simply and efficiently, whereas that Er Fengzi was all riled up: "What’s going on? How come we’re retreating? We’ve only captured four universes, is that enough?"

"We just met with the Abyss Xyrin," I casually replied, "There’s a ton of communications below..."

I hadn’t even finished speaking when Er Fengzi was already exploding: "What!? Enemies! Enemies dare ambush General, and ambush General’s brother! That Abyss Xyrin, where are you! Show yourself if you dare! See this ship smash your base! This ship is fully loaded with Main Cannons, aren’t you afraid, come out..."

"Alright, alright, she just showed up in the Communicator," I said with a chuckle, interrupting the already excited Mad AI, "I have tons of new intelligence to process here, and the situation with the Fallen Apostles is better than we expected, now is not the time for a final battle, prepare for withdrawal." 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

The Mad AI held back for a while, finally uttering an unwilling "oh", but Sandora showed a thoughtful look, seemingly having hit on another idea.

"Withdrawal is fine..." Sandora slowly said, "But I think we should leave something behind... the boundary line of the Fallen Apostles, it’s time to change its shape."

(Don’t you think the amount of information is massive!) (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to cast recommendation votes, monthly tickets on Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com to read.)