Xyrin Empire-Chapter 727: The Most Brutal Meeting with the Parents in History

Chapter 727: Chapter 727: The Most Brutal Meeting with the Parents in History

The lively family dinner became even more animated with the addition of Flandre, who constantly stirred up situations. More than a dozen family members gathered around an enormous dining table, and even the housemaids and nannies joined in the bustling meal. This scene left Shi Liu Ye feeling quite astonished, but soon, under our strong insistence, she took a seat at the table and adapted to this novel atmosphere, showing keen interest as she watched Dingdang run about the table, searching for food with a toothpick in hand.

Glancing in Flandre’s direction, I saw the little vampire girl with crystal wings sitting side by side with Little Baobao. Identical dishes were placed before them, and now they had as much food on their faces and the table as they had eaten. Jil and Shi Liu Ye had to occasionally get up from their meal to clean their little masters’ faces or help them with picking food, looking rather busy.

If I remember correctly, Flandre is a child controlled by vampire instincts, and her usual diet should be human blood; ordinary food is not something she would eat. But looking at her now, it seems that someone has solved this problem?

"It’s Monina’s power. With my suggestion, she gave two drops of her blood to the vampire sisters," Bingdisi explained softly, noticing my curiosity. "The blood of the Dark Divine Race possesses terrifying power and is highly poisonous, capable of sealing the throat upon contact for conventional beings, but it’s a miraculous panacea for shadow creatures like vampires and demons after proper treatment. The sisters’ dependency on fresh blood stems from their race’s immaturity. They have the talent to draw energy from fresh blood but are also bound by a scarlet thirst. Monina’s blood modified their racial imprint. Although it doesn’t eliminate their thirst for fresh blood and certain vampire racial traits, it at least allows them to sustain themselves on normal food. Otherwise, in a place like Avalon, where even passing rabbits can angrily transform into Pikachus, wouldn’t the two vampires starve to death?"

I nodded and sent an appreciative glance across the table to Monina, who was busy threading grapes onto a toothpick for her team leader. She also looked up and blinked: Donating blood is good for your health.

"However, I remember you are also from the Dark Divine Race. Knowing all this, why didn’t you do it yourself and spare Monina the effort and the blood?"

At this, Bingdisi shrugged her shoulders, "That’s a bit complicated to explain. Our Divine Race’s blood is just a metaphorical expression and is fundamentally different from the ’blood’ you understand. It’s the manifestation of our own power, not even material or energy, but a visible ’concept’. Monina’s powers are all dark, so her blood can be used. I chose the wrong major back in the day—get it?"

I suddenly felt a sense of kinship: "Got it—graduate exams impoverish three generations; changing majors ruins one’s life."

This dinner was just another ordinary occasion for the Leader and his family but left Shi Liu Ye with a deep impression. Moreover, since Flandre had become Little Baobao’s new friend, she would probably be surprised several more times. Dingdang running with a toothpick across the grand dining table, plucking food from others’ plates, and sipping water from their cups was only fascinating. The sight of Mercury Lamp, who needed a stack of books to reach the table and, despite being a doll, had a surprisingly good appetite and could drink a large bottle of yogurt, was even more astonishing. The impromptu Yong Chun Fist performance between Lilina and Little Light was breathtaking, and Pandora and Visca pulling out two anti-armor cannons to fight over the last red braised jumbo shrimp was shocking. The most incredible part was Qianqian creatively mixing coffee with sour plum soup to soak her bread—and after one bite, she pushed the rest onto Sandora.

Yet, what amazed Shi Liu Ye the most was our dining table’s eternal monarch, Sandora. When the Maid Chief, who had decided beforehand to help wash the dishes after the meal, realized there were no dishes left to be washed, she was deeply stunned.

Forget about washing dishes; we just switched to a new tablecloth. The legend of a Sandora feeding two porcelain factories is no joke.

"Thank you for the hospitality. I really intruded a lot today."

After lunch, Shi Liu Ye pulled an unwilling Flandre to bid farewell and leave. In front of the household’s Teleportation Gate, Little Baobao was waving goodbye to her new friend: despite being little girls, their friendship was indeed strong.

"Won’t you stay a bit longer? It’s only noon, and it looks like Flandre really likes Little Baobao," I said with a smile, bending down to pinch Flandre’s cheek, which felt as soft as Little Baobao’s. To be honest, I’ve wanted to do this for a day or two now—eat your heart out, kid’s mom!

The curious vampire loli looked at me and suddenly cheered up, "Do you want to play with us?"

"We must go back," Shi Liu Ye said, pulling Flandre and gently shaking her head to refuse. "She needs the power of the Fairy Forest to suppress her... urges. If she leaves that environment for too long, the previous treatment will be wasted."

Before I could speak, Mercury Lamp immediately started clamoring, "Then we must hurry, can’t delay, biting is too dangerous..."

The little doll said, clearly recalling how horrifying it was to bite someone as he gingerly touched the half of his little tiger tooth in his mouth. It was a stroke of luck that Flandre had bitten Little Baobao and, presumably, hadn’t used much force, otherwise the dental clinic in Shadow City might have had its grand opening today.

Having seen off the duo from the Red Demon Mansion, I shook my head, planning to head back upstairs for an afternoon nap. Last night, while telling stories to Mercury Lamp, I had accidentally drawn a twisted fairy tale compiled by Lilina. Little Red Riding Hood turning into a red caped witch was one thing, but the ending where the Big Bad Wolf and Hunter Uncle lived shamelessly ever after really was too much to handle, keeping me awake for half the night.

Just as I reached the stairwell, I found Bingdisi standing there with a frown, her expression as if she were trying to hear something. I had never seen this female hooligan look so solemn before, and my curiosity was immediately piqued. "What’s up, Bingdisi?"

The female hooligan maintained her listening pose for a few more seconds before finally exhaling, "Huff—Chen, I have two things to tell you."

Not just me, but even Sandora and Big Sister were all ears, quietly waiting to hear what important declaration the Goddess might make.

"First: I want red-braised pork for dinner, the kind Anwina makes!"

"Anwina, make a note of that—but, seriously, that’s not all there is to it, right?"

After Bingdisi conveyed the critical news, her expression returned to her usual carefree demeanor, and she casually waved her hands, "Of course not, there’s another small matter to tell you: Father God wants to invite you and Sandora over to play for a couple of days."

"Oh, Father God is looking for us," I nodded and then, two seconds later, it hit me, "What?! You should have led with that!"

Seems like in your esteemed mind, Father God doesn’t even weigh as much as a piece of red-braised pork. Father God up in Heaven must be weeping buckets.

"Well, it’s not really a big deal anyway," Bingdisi scratched her ear, not understanding my reaction, "It’s just an invitation to visit, you know. I’ve been hanging out at your place for so long, it’s only normal for Father God to want to chat with you two."

I honestly didn’t know whether this female hooligan’s way of thinking was normal or not. What she said sounded reasonable, but the more I thought about it, the more I felt set up. Could you please remember what kind of place your home is before speaking so nonchalantly?

At that moment, Bingdisi snapped her fingers, "If you listen for yourselves, you’ll understand why I’m not taking this too seriously."

We immediately quieted down, ready to hear the voice of Father God. Two seconds after Bingdisi finished speaking, a man’s voice did indeed echo in the air—the message from the Divine Realm that had just arrived:

"Hey, hey, Bingdisi, can you hear me—uh, yes, it’s me. Everything good in the Mortal World? No troubles lately, right? Not being naughty, right? A couple of days ago I heard you led a group through a toll booth (at this moment, the din of sudden children’s bickering filled the background, and Father God raised his voice)—Feier, come here for a sec, Jia Di is fighting with Cynthia over toys, I’m talking to someone here—where was I, oh, could you tell those two Kings of Mankind to come visit the Divine Realm in a few days? I’d like to meet them—Sovare! Throw that Sui Cui out for me—Bingdisi, your dad dropped by the temple yesterday morning, he’s back in the Divine Realm. He mentioned you while he was here, wanted you to come home and see. I’m just passing the message, and have you seen that big box in my room? Just yesterday, I noticed it was gone. Also, a while back Karini found something called red-braised pork from a nearby world, I tried it, tasted pretty good, Soraphiel can already make it. You should try the red-braised pork when you get back (a ruckus of sounds ensued)—Feier! Don’t let Jia Di touch the trees in Balance Tower Garden, I almost finished setting it up after a whole morning..."

The message ended amid a flurry of chaotic sounds.

Bingdisi shook her head, "Frankly, other than the red-braised pork, I really don’t know what else in that message was of any importance." fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

I thought for a moment, then with a clap to my palm, I said to Big Sister, "Doesn’t that sound just like home to you?"

"The Old Man Alliance meetings are even noisier than your household," Bingdisi commented, smacking her lips with a tone that was neither salty nor bland.

Me: "..."

The planned midday nap was abruptly canceled, and the family started preparing for the journey to the Divine Realm that Sandora and I were to embark on. The invitation had come out of the blue, and to be honest, none of us were mentally ready. The more I thought about it, the more I felt it was a burden: mainly because I wasn’t mentally prepared to deal with a large-scale, no-morals group that’s even more nonsensical, chaotic, and rowdy than my own family. As a law-abiding citizen, the thought alone was extremely stressful.

I didn’t know if the entire Divine Realm was like that, but the message from Lord Father God certainly made one wonder if Dingdang’s silly antics and the Tiaozi Five’s rowdy behavior truly represented the two main social phenomena of the Divine Realm...

"Sandora, have you ever been to the Divine Realm?"

After some thought, I suddenly remembered something. The Queen beside me was, after all, a living fossil whose wealth of experience came from fighting both in the south and the north millions of years ago. If she had been to the Divine Realm, maybe she could offer some useful advice.

"The Divine Realm? I’ve been there a few times," fortunately, Sandora indeed had experience, "After getting to know Bingdisi, I went to her home to collect a debt — she had been collecting protection money on my territory."

I wiped the sweat from my brow, "Let’s not bring up those old debts right now. What’s the Divine Realm like?"

Sandora had a look of reminiscence, clearly struggling to recall details of something that happened so long ago. Her expression kept changing, which naturally made me feel unsettled.

"The Divine Realm, huh... it has many aspects unlike those in the typical worlds you might think of. At first glance, it’s a picturesque paradise, but the more you familiarize yourself with it, the more you realize there are countless things that can’t be measured by common sense. The world there is abstract; lots of things fall between certainty and uncertainty. There are countless magical natural phenomena. Information from all mortal worlds converge in the Divine Realm, forming many abstract... shadows. For those invaders who are not familiar and have hostile intentions, everything in the Divine Realm is deadly. Even the patches of light splayed through the trees could slice you and the space you’re in to pieces in an instant. It’s a lot like the ultimate mode of Leaving World Garden, but even more unpredictable and advanced. Anyway, I can’t explain it very well; you’ll understand once we get there. But don’t worry, for friends, everything in the Divine Realm tends to be friendly. Those messy natural phenomena won’t cause any trouble."

I listened intently to every word Sandora said, realizing I understood every single word, but when put together, I didn’t recognize a thing.

"And what about Father God? Bingdisi, what kind of... um, God is he?"

Curiosity filled my question, but honestly, that voicemail had already formed a picture in my mind of Father God as being like Uncle Wang from next door (Uncle Wang took a metaphorical bullet), and I had no high hopes.

Bingdisi thought for a moment, "That message earlier might indeed give the wrong impression. Father God is actually quite dignified most of the time; he’s a very kind and wise God — usually awe-inspiring and reliable. You can treat him as a friend — Father God himself is quite fond of making new friends. As for the rest... you’ll have to see for yourself. Father God has the eyes to see through everything, and if he’s willing to talk to you, it means he wants you to open your heart to him. Just one thing to watch out for: there is a Supreme Dragon God by Father God’s side named Salon Qian Yuhao, also known as ’Sui Cui’ mentioned in that message; you must absolutely avoid talking to that Dragon God."

I was startled, "Why? Does that Dragon God have a terrible temper?"

Immediately, an image of a fierce, roaring Giant with red hair and brows, eight feet tall with an equal waist measurement, carrying a length-changing, thickness-changing giant iron rod on his back, muscles that could armor a warship, flashed through my mind.

"No, just as I said earlier, he’s a ’Sui Cui’," Sandora took over the conversation, her face twisted as she commented, "Sui Cui, that’s the only reason not to talk to a Dragon God."

Me: "...I think I get it."

"Father God’s invitation says we should come over in two days, but I stopped taking the Divine Race’s concept of time seriously a long time ago. Their ’in two days’ can span from a few seconds to a hundred thousand years later, and you’d still not be considered late for a visit. Out of curiosity about the Divine Realm, Big Sister and Qianqian began to pack that very afternoon, preparing to leave early the next morning, but to be honest, I think there wasn’t much to prepare. Due to various subtle mentalities, our family’s Personal Spaces were always stuffed with random things enough to fend off disaster for decades. Big Sister’s Personal Space even contained a complete house and a small vegetable garden. I reckon even if we were to settle on the surface of Mars, we could survive stubbornly with just the stuff in our pockets—perhaps we should just think about bringing some gifts?"

"However, Bingdisi also said that although this is nominally a summit between the Imperial Leaders and the Divine Race Leaders, in reality, there’s no need to be formal. To the gods, the trivialities of the Mortal World are just something to glance at during their leisure time, and no one truly cares about superficial respect. Not to mention, when she led the Dingdang Team as the Divine Realm Ambassadors to the Imperial Capital, they didn’t bring anything but themselves, their heads on their shoulders, and the clothes on their backs—what gifts to bring..."

"The line above is Bingdisi’s exact words, and I suppose anyone with a normal sense of decency might find it awkward to outright state that visiting someone merely requires showing up with a head to carry and a mouth to talk..."

"But Bingdisi’s statement is not wrong— the Tiaozi Five of the Divine Clan claim to be Divine Realm Ambassadors but all they do is freeload and swindle. I’ve given up on the idea of bringing some local pickles as gifts—they might not be interested anyway since they created everything in the world. Sandora was more extreme than me; she even skipped dinner that night, determined to starve until the next morning, swearing to recoup the Divine Clan’s expenses of the past few days by feasting at Bingdisi’s place. Poor Bingdisi, she’s not even part of the same system as the Dingdang Team. Just because she often joins in their schemes, Sandora has now lumped her as the ringleader of the group."

"Bright and early the next day, on the highlands near the Avalon Leaving World Garden."

"Uh, Father God invited only Ah Jun and Sandora, is it okay for all of us to tag along?" asked Qianqian unsurely, the girl not fully aware of her own status and feeling immense pressure about the imminent Divine Realm trip. She was still a little dizzy.

"No problem, no problem. My mom likes lively atmospheres, and my dad is not very good with numbers—everyone can just stay at my place when we get there. I’ve already sent a message back to have our family’s temple combined with mine. As for Father God, you don’t need to worry about him—he’s probably already forgotten how many people he invited. Ahem, don’t get me wrong. I mean Father God has a lot on his plate..."

"Actually, we’ve already misunderstood at this point. Despite your continuous efforts to paint your Father God as a dignified and wise elder, the more I hear, the more I feel like he’s pretty chill..."

I looked around to make sure everyone who was supposed to come was ready; Big Sister, Qianqian, Sandora, Lin Xue, the Pandora Sisters, Lilina, Mercury Lamp, Little Baobao, Bubbles... I broke out in a cold sweat as I counted—the difference was just a few luggage carriers and we could make up a travel group.

"Is it really okay with this many people? And considering almost all the core members are leaving, wouldn’t Shadow City be in chaos? What if something happens in the nearby worlds?"

"Relax, relax. You’ve never really managed anything anyway, just lived off free meals," Bingdisi retorted nonchalantly, hitting the nail on the head with my concerns.

The head of the intelligence system is Lin Xue, but the Time-Space Administration and special forces handle the specifics. Internal affairs, construction, and world scheduling are all Bubbles’ domain, but if she’s away for a short period, a few dozen Mass-produced Bubbles can take her place. As for military affairs, it’s always been Sivis’s responsibility—Pandora and Visca can’t be relied on for decision-making, Qianqian holds positions in every department but her main job when there are no missions is to act cute, Big Sister is the internal affairs chief of the leadership layer, and if you translate that into Chinese, it’s called a housewife. Lilina, the Pope of the Goddess Sect, only does two things: coax the believers and act coy and cute. The rest are just kids at home who were usually free. And after counting, I realized something even more heartbreaking: even Qianqian had a role in every department, and only I was the irrelevant person in every sense of the word..."

"Ah Jun, don’t overthink it. There’s a famous saying: ’Those who govern widely do not wear themselves out with trivial tasks,’" Sandora empathetically sensed my thoughts and reassured me gently, wrapping her arm around mine, adding after, "I said that on the 300th anniversary of my coronation."

I sighed and nodded, "Great leaders should ensure the team progresses steadily even when doing nothing. January 28, New Era 0003, I said that."

After making sure everything was well-arranged for our departure and that we could return at any time in case of an emergency, I looked up at the giant golden figure not far ahead for a long time, feeling a well of emotions:

"Hey, do we really have to ride Lin to the Divine Realm?"

"Nonsense," Bingdisi walked forward first, "The day before yesterday, I just loaded up Lin with a real-name monthly pass, no need to waste more!"

I heaved a deep sigh, "Real-name system, you’re the death of me—wait a minute! I’ll sit in the back!"

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