Thus, we have tentatively determined the course of action against the Fallen Apostles for this period, but the specifics of implementation still need to be studied by the expert team at the Command Center—such a significant operation cannot be decided on a whim, though Sandora and I no longer need to personally participate in those minute details.

However, everyone knows that such a strategy of creating confusion has very limited effects: you cannot treat your enemies as fools.

All the illusions we create are to make the Fallen Apostles believe that the mysterious knowledge they suddenly acquired is a "mistake" of the New Empire rather than an intentional act, so that they think they can surpass us as usual by developing their technology at home. But if any cautious and meticulous individual among them discovers their faction has the tendency of being "guided" by the Imperial Army, they will immediately become suspicious, and by then, they will not sit idly by.

Therefore, we must spare no effort to speed up the conversion of those mysterious data, striving to transform them from knowledge in the database into soldiers armed down to their toenails in the shortest possible time.

Firstly, there is the consensus among everyone: quickly restore all the production capabilities of the Heavenly Realm City—this should be another advantage for us aside from being "prepared." We have a set of Old Empire production bases that, while not wholly intact, are at least still usable. Although the Fifteenth Day Zone Capital was left with just a fragment over a light year long after the calamity, fortunately, it retained a lot of Imperial facilities. For the New Empire, which now needs to rebuild everything from scratch, the remaining production bases there are still a significant asset. Isn’t there a saying, a dead camel is still larger than a horse, the production potential of the Heavenly Realm City almost equates to the total production capacity of the Shadow Space built over four years to date.

Once the Heavenly Realm City is fundamentally operational again, we should consider constructing replicas of the Heavenly Realm City—mystical production bases—across the various dominions of the Capital Universe. These production bases can be constructed alongside existing Imperial space bases, or even mixed directly! In Big Sister’s words, we must swiftly change our perspectives and habits to adapt immediately to the fact that the Imperial Technology Side is about to dominate half the sky. I am very confident about this: the powerful talent abilities of the Xyrin Apostles allow them to adapt to new environments with unmatched efficiency, not to mention, just look at that bastard Sicaro...

Actually, when it comes to adapting to the rising Imperial spellcasters, those Imperial veterans have nothing to worry about—I mean the 300 commanders who originally came with Pandora and their old subordinates. These veterans hail from the old Fifteen Day Zones and have been in stasis since Gaia’s recovery. Long ago, they had fought together with the Empire’s spellcasters; it’s only due to the fragmentation of concepts that this part of their memories and experiences were sealed. Now, as the two mother stars merge, they have recovered these memories and are very familiar with everything about the Mysterious Side, requiring no training to work seamlessly with the latter. The ones who truly need to strive to adapt are those newly created Xyrin Apostles since the beginning of the Recovery Year; their memory banks have been entirely recompiled since the establishment of the new Imperial Central Database, with no trace of "sealed memories." To them, apart from the Ravens and Alaya, all Xyrin spellcasters are unfamiliar, and even if related information is directly input into their memory cores, it takes time to transform this into combat experience and instincts.

Of course, there are also magic system units in the Empire’s Servant Army now, such as the somewhat peculiar Azeroth Shaman Corps, but these units cannot be compared to the situation mentioned above. On high-level battlefields, their strength still cannot be considered "fighting side by side" with the Xyrin Corps; they can only be regarded as a batch of foreign aid, and the experience accumulated in fighting with them is entirely useless when applied to Xyrin spellcasters.

Several senior officers in the report hall are discussing operational deployment issues. Although their topic is due to Sandora and me, I am still listening sleepily, so I turned around and waved to Sivis, intending to ask some questions I still do not quite understand.

"Your Majesty, what would you like to command?" Sivis bent down and asked in a low voice, and I caught a whiff of an almost indistinguishable fragrance, which immediately stunned me: "Huh? Are you wearing perfume?"

Although asking this question in such a serious place seems inappropriate, I was really curious. If it were someone else, that would be understandable, but considering Sivis’ character... She is the most serious and meticulous person in the Command Center, and it’s even said that everything in her dormitory is arranged like a logarithmic function. Could it be that someone like her, built like she was made from special materials, also uses cosmetics?

Sivis certainly didn’t expect me to ask this question and was momentarily stunned. Two seconds later, he awkwardly said, "In my spare time, I go to help Asida and Asidora with their flower shop — it’s almost turned into a ghost house under their management. Maybe that’s where I picked up the scent."

Me: "...Those two sisters, huh... Never mind, let me ask you something about constructing the Mysterious system base. The Storm Commander is a hybrid Apostle, so you should know about these things. With the Empire’s existing resources, can we build such bases in large numbers?"

"Of course, we can. We just need to upgrade the existing Xyrin Hosts," Sivis blinked, "Xyrin Hosts have evolved and been modified over years to become general-purpose Builders. They were born to undertake all construction and maintenance work for Empire facilities, and that certainly includes building various foundational units for the Mysterious system."

"Uh... building Mysterious system stuff?" I looked into Sivis’s eyes with an unclear expression on my face, "For example, those Rune Towers, Magic Energy Crystals, Arcane Focusing Rings, and such things? Can the mass-produced Bubbles make those?" 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"Looks like you have a lot to learn again," Sandora glanced at me with a smile at the corner of her eyes, "Let me explain some basics to you — although this knowledge is something I’ve just recently recalled."

Sandora then explained some urgent Mysterious system basics she needed me to understand. Only then did I realize something: I was already quite familiar with the technological side of the Xyrin Empire, but I knew almost nothing about its Mysterious side. Worse yet, I had already developed a preconceived mindset that separated the two, like thinking that Xyrin Hosts were purely high-tech and hard to associate with the Mysterious system, but in reality... Xyrin Hosts are a hybrid unit.

Even though those mass-produced Bubbles always presented themselves as purely high-tech products, in fact, they should possess both kinds of knowledge. All Xyrin Hosts can handle information using mathematical models based on precise science, as well as utilizing theories from fuzzy logic and information mapping science (supposedly the most commonly used theoretical tools by Mysterious system Xyrin Apostles to handle everything), to calculate Runes and secret techniques. From a higher perspective, these two functionalities are essentially the same thing — this involves a fundamental worldview, Information Theory. Presumably, everyone is familiar with this theory. In the eyes of the Xyrin Researchers and various gods, everything derived from the Void, including tangible matter, hard-to-observe energy, and abstract concepts, are all collections of information; the only difference is in their forms of expression. So-called "truths of the world" are simply the complete understanding and manipulation of all this information. The technological side manipulates the world’s information with precise mathematical models and gradually developed ’gradual methods’ for linear development. The Mysterious side works almost the opposite way, finding simplified control methods first and then researching why they work, eventually elevating crude control techniques to true secret knowledge, then attempting to find another ’simple method’ inspired by that, similar to nonlinear research. It’s like if two sides both try lighting a fire (assuming you know how to start a fire beforehand): the technological side first understands the three elements of combustion, then precisely adjusts fuels and ignition devices, and familiarizes themselves with thermodynamics and chemistry knowledge to successfully ignite it, learning all fire-related techniques as a matter of course; the Mysterious side just sets the fire, wonders about combustion, gradually learns related knowledge, and then uses the insight gained from the fire to ’ignite’ another ’flame’, pondering next problems. Of course, this analogy is imperfect, merely illustrating different thought processes and worldviews of Mysterious and Technological Apostles. Fundamentally, both are processes of controlling the basic information of the world.

As for Xyrin Hosts, they are essentially powerful computing devices. Under the assumption that everything, whether technological or mystical, can be reduced to different expressions of information, they can process anything from either side.

I should have realized this earlier—when I first saw a Xyrin Nest, it was so unique. Its pyramid-like structure is something between scientific and mystical architecture, quite different from those large Arsenals and War Factories in style. Internally composed almost entirely of Crystal, it’s vastly unlike my impression of factory or starship interiors filled with pipes and advanced equipment. These features indicate that Xyrin Hosts possess both technological and mystical characteristics.

"Initially, researchers used mystical system’s Crystal amplification technology as a substance basis, used technological system’s precise information reconstruction technology to compile and manufacture Xyrin Host’s operational programs and related modules, and combined both to generate Xyrin Host’s incredibly capable Souls, ultimately creating this special hybrid Apostle. Soon, this unit became the main builder for all Empire fundamental facilities," Sandora said, "so there’s no need to worry about constructing those Mysterious system facilities—just leave it to the Hosts. By the way, Ah Jun, did you think that the Heavenly Realm City’s buildings were constructed in completely isolated ways? Did you think that Orelia’s construction team perished in the catastrophe, causing the Heavenly Realm City’s production line building technology to be lost?"

I thought for a moment, embarrassingly nodded: "Actually... I did think like that initially. But now, I’m not worried."

Because there were so many things to arrange after the Mother Star’s fusion, when we left the Command Center, the sun was almost setting, and I had a bit of a headache — mainly because Sandora had crammed knowledge into me for half a day. Stepping out of the main door and feeling the cool breeze, I felt slightly better.

Sivis walked with us, looking in good spirits: it’s not easy to see because most of the time, Sivis’s face doesn’t show any obvious emotions. But having known her for a while, I can sense a bit of emotion from this deputy sister.

"You look quite happy," I remarked casually, "Well, the restoration of the Mother Star is indeed one of the few good news recently."

"It’s not just that," Sivis said, her usually meticulous face showing a serene smile, "Orelia was once a comrade in arms with me, like sisters. She was General Alaya’s deputy and chief assistant researcher, while I was General Pandora’s deputy and..."

"External thinking circuit..." I chimed in before Sandora discreetly pinched me, prompting me to change my words quickly, "Ahem, I know, you’re also Pandora’s advisor, that’s your kind of position. So, you and Orelia must know each other well."

Sivis squinted her eyes slightly, looking at the sun gradually approaching the horizon: "Your Majesty, although this is very sudden... but..." She spoke, suddenly turning around, giving a textbook-standard military salute, then bowing deeply: "Thank you for bringing them back, otherwise we might not even remember we had such comrades. This happiness of regaining something is a gift from you. The moment the memories were restored, half the people almost overloaded with emotion..."

"Uh, ahem, alright, alright, this really isn’t like you," I was a bit stunned but quickly reacted, and with Sandora, we straightened Sivis’s shoulders, "Frankly, your sudden action startled me a bit."

Sivis laughed awkwardly, seeming to realize she acted out of sync with her usual "efficient, calm, and silent" persona, but she showed no signs of regret, just took a deep breath: "Then, Your Majesty, I will now carry out the tasks you just assigned."

After saying this, Sivis saluted Sandora and me again, then turned and walked back to the Shadow Fortress.

"Four years ago, I always thought Xyrin Apostles were emotionally indifferent." Watching the graceful back of Sivis walking away, I muttered, and Sandora looked over with a smile: "Now what?"

I shrugged: "Don’t even mention now, this impression shattered since I met you, just now I messed up again for no reason."

Sandora smiled without speaking, just walked slowly beside me, together down the street where the sunset was slowly setting. The streets in the military district are always quieter than those in the civilian areas, so many times, after finishing work in the Shadow Fortress, Sandora and I habitually stroll through these nearby streets. This is our rare time alone together, and Sandora really enjoys it — she often says, luckily Qianqian doesn’t understand military affairs, and Lin Xue is too lazy to listen to officers’ reports, otherwise, this exclusive alone time would definitely be lost.

"I heard Bubbles is planning to create a star, to replace the current simulated sun up there," Sandora watched the sun, only a third remaining on the horizon, her lips slightly curving upwards, "Her daily life is quite eventful."

"Her? Messing around, after hearing the story of Hou Yi shooting the sun, she even wanted to hang ten suns over Shadow City once, got her head knocked for a long time by Big Sister." I remarked casually, then suddenly saw the sun, already under the horizon, suddenly bounce back up a few times, then pop up again — only to shift down a bit more, as if someone were pushing it around.

Sandora: "...Bubbles is probably aligning the clocks."

"...I understand why she wants to create a real star to replace this simulated sun. She knows her own troublesome habits."

Unknowingly, Sandora and I found ourselves at the end of the street, right in front of a small shop filled with a lazy, leisurely atmosphere. Not very large but brightly displayed pastries in the window, a fragrant and sweet scent drifting out from some unseen gap, you could tell as soon as you smelled it... Sylvia spilled something again.

The mysterious dessert shop located in the Shadow Fortress military district is the small world of a certain silver-furred mole. Who would have thought, on our casual stroll this time, we unconsciously ended up here.

"Shall we go in and sit for a while?" Sandora gave me a smiling glance, but she had already pushed open the glass door of the dessert shop, giving me no room to choose. The wind chime at the door emitted a string of pleasant gentle sounds, followed by a lively female voice in our ears: "Welcome!"

A silver-haired girl dressed in a server uniform stood neatly before us, carrying a tray and wearing a happy smile on her face. I glanced at her and directly asked, "Raven 001? Here to help Sylvia again?"

"Wow! I’ve been recognized!" This lively and quirky Raven exclaimed softly, seemingly wanting to salute, but remembered what I had said before about not having too many formalities in informal settings without missions, so she simply bowed to Sandora and me, "Good afternoon, Your Majesties! How did you recognize me?"

"Ah, it’s Chen—welcome—" Before I could respond, a slow voice came from behind the nearby counter, Sylvia’s leisurely tone, prompting me to gesture at Sylvia, who was just waking up from a dream and slowly coming over from that side, and say to Raven 001: "See, the real Sylvia only reacts at this point, and then I still have to wait three minutes before she remembers to prepare drinks for guests. Your brain works too fast."

Raven 001 stuck out her tongue and darted to the counter: "Please wait a moment, I’ll prepare drinks for both Your Majesties!"

Sandora and I sat down at our accustomed spot by the window, calling Sylvia over as well. Since we were here, might as well chat for a bit. (To be continued. If you like this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for it, your support is my greatest motivation.)