You know, sometimes it’s really hard for me to understand what’s going on in Lilina’s head. Clearly, she’s different from Qianqian, so she definitely doesn’t have a thought process that’s absent-minded. Yet, this girl can randomly pop out countless ideas that leave you gaping and are utterly terrible. Every time this happens, as I look at Lilina’s earnest expression and her hopeful little eyes, I’m not sure if the crazy thing she just spouted was serious. Like now, she’s seriously considering making me the Xyrin God...

Since the decision by City Second Middle School to build a central theme restroom, I haven’t come across such a terrible idea...

Fortunately, Lilina revealed her sudden brainstorm this time early on, allowing me to decisively shoot down this unreliable notion. Otherwise, given time, the words "dad god" would undoubtedly become a lifelong stain on me—second only to the term "Holy Dad" that’s already widely spread in the Macro World and printed on all religious pamphlets.

After breakfast, Shajina and her group of three bid us farewell. Although the family was keen on them staying longer, it seemed like there were still many things to do on the Mother Continent. Little Crow reluctantly clung to Vanilla and pulled out a few colorful stones she collected, hoping Vanilla would pass them to the kids in the Holy Capital. When in the Holy Capital, Little Crow often played with a few local children, and she genuinely cared for her buddies. Lilina reminded Vanilla to keep those stones safe to prevent them from being taken by heretics and slightly modified to make world-annihilating demon cores. I listened on the side, nervously realizing I must quickly deepen Little Crow’s understanding of her powers. Otherwise, I’d have to follow this young goddess 24/7 just to collect her discarded odds and ends.

"I know about the situation with the Ancient Spirits. I’m afraid you all will have to endure quite a tough time keeping up with the Imperial Soldiers," I said to Shajina. She smiled at me brightly: "Actually, I don’t feel it’s tough at all. Though it’s a bit busy, I’m very happy every day... It’s better than wasting away in a daze like before."

"Our people have found a place about two hundred kilometers south of the Holy Capital with a water source and suitable geology," Sona said happily. "We’ve set up a few camps there, planning to start building our new home, the first city belonging to Half-Dragon People, once the last batch of our folks arrives from the north. With a new homeland and new life, no one dares to bully us anymore, everyone has goals... This is the kind of life many generations of Half-Dragons have longed for. Who would complain about the workload?" 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

The two Half-Dragon girls couldn’t help but cast their gaze upon Lin, who was standing behind the crowd. The Dragon God Girl gave them a shy smile and raised her small fist in an encouraging gesture: "Keep trying hard, my power will always be with you."

"Ah, right, I’ve prepared gifts for you~!~!" Qianqian suddenly seemed to remember something significant and jumped out, pulling out three pink bows amidst the curious stares of the crowd. "Girls need to learn to dress up— and you are public figures now." Saying this, she tied a bow on Vanilla’s head and bent down to grab Shajina’s tail: "I saw yesterday that you Half-Dragon People like to tie this on your tail..."

The crowd: "..."

Sona was embarrassed: "... This... actually, it’s just that Shajina found it fun..."

Her words were of no use. If Qianqian’s actions could be interfered with externally, she wouldn’t be Qianqian. By the time Sona finished speaking, a pretty little bow was already on her tail’s tip—and there were two on Shajina’s. Qianqian clapped her hands contentedly, speaking to herself: "No worries. At worst, you guys lead and make this a fashion trend among Half-Dragon girls. The Half-Dragons aren’t a second-class race anymore, and you all are the Racial Leaders, you have to learn to dress more stylishly."

By tying bows to the tips of your tails?

After seeing the three off, everyone went back to their own tasks. The Tiaozi Five seemed unusually inactive today. Normally at this time, they’d be crowded in front of the TV studying Earthlings’ entertainment spirit, or heading out to gang up and smash street vendors’ sliced cake stands. But today, somewhat surprisingly, they were very quiet. The five sat in a circle by the window, each holding a shiny crystal tablet, poking them occasionally, and exchanging mysterious whispers before poking the tablet again. Looking at them, you’d think this was a group of dropouts in a café skimping on WiFi tablets. Curiously, I peeked over to see symbols I couldn’t understand on their crystal tablets, only discerning them as Divine Race text.

"What’s that?" I finally asked.

"Remote system logs," Sister Bing replied without looking up. "The worlds we manage aren’t here, and their terminals aren’t here either, so we use these for remote desktops. System logs are summarized and reported once a week..."

"But I’ve never seen you reading these before, this is a first."

"So we’ve accumulated half a year’s worth of reports without looking at them," Bingdisi finally looked up. "Don’t give me that look, I know everything. On the night before your midterms, you were definitely like us... so busy. Don’t mind us."

I shrugged helplessly and walked away from the suddenly cramming-for-exams style of the Tiaozi Five. Their current state is too familiar, and I’m worried if I stand by them for too long with unutterable complaints, I’ll end up with bronchitis from holding it all in.

Perhaps it’s that, after finally relaxing for several days since returning from New Xiang, my inherent trouble-magnet constitution and Miss Lin’s aggregate trouble constitution are getting restless. Just as I thought today would pass serenely in harmony, with perhaps only an afternoon excursion with Sandora to inspect Shadow City or Heavenly Realm City, something suddenly happened.

A sudden emergency communication came through the Spiritual Connection from the Space-Time Management Center: "Your Majesty, the Tree Elf Ambassador just returned, bringing urgent news, they need to report to you directly."

Sandora and I couldn’t help but exchange a glance upon receiving this communication: the Tree Elf Ambassador is a envoy of the New Empire designated for communication with ordinary civilizations. Everyone must still remember this group who just joined the Imperial family, so different from typical vassals in their uniqueness. Due to their racial peculiarities, they virtually never engage in Imperial military actions—at least, Tree Elves haven’t participated in any military missions until now. Therefore, what the Tree Elf Ambassador brought back could only be news of the Macro World, so...

What kind of situation could possibly arise in the Macro World, severe enough for the Tree Elf Ambassador to report it to the Imperial Emperor in person?

While I pondered this question, I also approved the transmission request through the communication link. A teleportation gate appeared in the center of the living room, and a girl in a green dress happily ran out, followed by several fully armed Imperial Soldiers. I hadn’t asked which Tree Elf Ambassador had news to report, but then I realized: "Oh, Lu E, it’s been a while!"

The visitor was none other than one of the first Tree Elves we met back on Green Star, Lu E, who was knocked into a yuri girl by Lilina’s head. Because when Lilina hit her, her soul experienced a slight malfunction, giving her a wide array of "adoration" tendencies toward Lilina, which was quite a headache. It made Lilina, who prided herself on having incredibly normal sexual orientation and worldview (I personally only vouch for the former) subdued for the first time in her life. Later, to escape this entanglement, Lilina took the opportunity of the Tree Elves rejoining as a subordinate of the Empire to persuade Lu E to become a Tree Elf Ambassador, responsible for communicating with lower-level ordinary civilizations within the Empire. Therefore, we hadn’t seen this lively girl for quite some time.

"Good afternoon, Your Majesty. Lu E has something to report..." The tiny elf girl with green hair down to her shoulders said as her eyes began to wander around the living room. From the corner of my eye, I saw Lilina jerk as if struck by electricity, her hair slightly standing on end. The next second, she zipped into the adjacent room. Lu E saw this too, showing a regretful look on her face, but since she was now slightly more mature, she knew the urgency of the situation and continued reporting, "A special piece of intelligence just came from the Exiles. They said they’ve received a distress signal from the Fifth Fleet."

"Exiles... Fifth Fleet..." Perhaps due to the multitude of recent events, I didn’t react immediately. After a few seconds, I matched the pieces: "Exiles" referred to the joint fleet from various worlds that fled the border regions after the collapse of the Old Empire. They accidentally entered the Macro World passage some time ago, which is how we discovered them. Now, as part of the Macro World, they are within the Empire’s territory. Because of the exiles’ aversion and fear of the Imperial Soldiers, we have recently appointed the Tree Elves to handle all communications with the exiles. The "Fifth Fleet" is a term used by the exiles. Towards the end of their escape, they gathered their remaining warships and divided them into five fleets, each heading toward different Void Quadrants. The first to third fleets were soon discovered and massacred by the Fallen Apostles, while the fourth became the "exiles." As for the Fifth Fleet, they lost contact long ago, their current status unknown. According to the exiled rulers, the "Council," it’s assumed they’ve ventured into the unexplored depths of the Void.

Theoretically, it’s impossible to reestablish contact with the Fourth Fleet on this end of the Void.

"Are they sure it’s a distress signal from the Fifth Fleet? When? What was the content? Did it reveal their location?"

Matters concerning the exiles are considered a major stain and burden in the Empire’s history, which is why Sandora pays special attention to the survivors. Upon hearing this news, Her Majesty, the Queen, immediately bombarded us with questions.

"The ’Council’ claims there’s at least a ninety percent probability of authenticity," Lu E nodded quickly. "The exiles have a unique identification method said to be second only to the Empire’s authority determination system. The distress signal began to be received three days ago. Initially mistaken for communication noise, some clear signals emerged by early yesterday. The general content was that the Fifth Fleet was under attack by... something. They did not disclose their location — the ’Council’ thinks the Fifth Fleet is unaware of their own whereabouts, lacking the Empire’s comprehensive Void Territory Map system."

"This situation is quite concerning... If the distress signal is genuine, there might be hope for the Fifth Fleet..." I rubbed my hands and paced a couple of steps, then looked up at Sandora, "Should we check on the exiles?"

"I’ll go along too," my Big Sister suddenly stepped up, "I’ve been idle at home for days, I’m going to mold if I don’t move around — it’s just a pity Lin Xue isn’t here; her ability would be really useful in such situations."

I thought about it and called up to the second floor, "Xiao Xue! Quit playing around! We have a task today!"

Xiao Xue’s voice immediately came down through the ceiling, "Got it, Dad, I’m changing clothes!"

"Xiao Xue has the same ability as Lin Xue, it’s just that she behaves so erratically that people almost forget it." I remarked to my Big Sister, while Bubbles muttered nearby, "Lin Xue’s secret technique, Daughter Clone Technique! Her dad, I’m better, I have the Multiple Daughter Clone Technique..."

At that moment, I didn’t know what expression to show. This girl wasn’t just joking; she had actually done it: In the bustling streets of Shadow City, she had shouted out, "Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!" and produced over a hundred mass-produced Bubbles in the same pose as her, creating a spectacular scene. Once she catches the Chuunibyou syndrome, there’s basically no cure, and every time I pretend not to know her...

We didn’t need much preparation to visit the exiles’ world. After coordinating with the "Council," we used the Macro World channel at the Dimension Hub Square to teleport to the exiles’ new home. We brought no accompanying spaceships, not even guards — fully considering our earlier agreements with the exiles.

The portal’s exit was located within a Space Dock Station, an orbital station circling a yellow-green terrestrial planet. Its low orbital position acts as a transit from the surface to the Deep Space Starport. This was among the first structures the exiles’ fleet established after settling in this universe. The dock’s design distinctly bears the Tobelu Insect Clan’s style, with dark, smooth alloys lining the station’s interior, forming round chambers reminiscent of "nests," yet this arrangement doesn’t evoke oppressive or eerie feelings. Six symmetrically distributed cylindrical passages extend from the central dimension gate platform in the dock, each leading to an observation station/dock port. At the observation station, I saw the dock’s name written both in Xyrin Language and a squiggly, peculiar script: Morning Star Station.

The observation station itself is an oval chamber, with the front quarter being a transparent static barrier. The dock was currently aligned to offer a direct view of the surface from the observation station, and we gathered in front of the large window with a fair bit of curiosity to gaze down at the surface.

The yellow-green planet’s surface showed obvious signs of artificial alteration, like straight landscape boundaries and symmetrically distributed vividly colored patches — these should be substantial planetary surface structures with special functions. Meanwhile, outside these artificial marks, the planet’s surface remained in its most primitive vegetation distribution.

"Speaking of which, ever since they took over this world, I don’t think we’ve ever been here, right?"

Looking at the planetary surface below the observation station, already hinting at the genesis of colonies, my Big Sister suddenly remarked.

"There’s nothing we can do about it; they’re not accustomed to seeing Imperial People," Sandora said in a calm tone. She’s not happy about the situation, of course, but also has no complaints, "It looks like their new home construction is going well. I thought at least two years would be needed to move from their planetary battleships to these Colonization Stars."

I recalled those uniquely insectoid Tobelu who developed Zenith Star technology, "Don’t forget, Tobelu Insect Clan’s tech level isn’t low."

While we were chatting, the gate behind us at the observation station emitted a soft hum, then slid open with a "whoosh." A young boy in a pale brown uniform and an insectoid with a triangular head, adorned with various strange instruments, appeared at the door and quickly approached us: "Ah, welcome, welcome! You’re finally here!"

The mantis-like insectoid also raised its slightly thinner left forelimb in greeting: "Express happiness, Tuolulu raises hand, long time since meeting."

... Once again, the peculiar speaking style of the Tobelu High-level Insect Race. Initially, it felt so unsettling to listen to; now, after such a long time, hearing it again, it feels...

Still unsettling, like reading a prose poem.

Standing before us were two friends, from the day everyone first encountered the Exile Fleet — well, it might still be a bit early to call them friends, but they’re certainly acquaintances — Jin, and Tuolulu. I still remember the scene where the young soldier Jin stood with weapons as if facing a massive enemy, and Tuolulu getting smacked away by Miss with a frying pan. However, compared to before, their attitude toward us has undergone a complete shift of 180 degrees. Perhaps they are among the exiles’ fleet who first showed optimism towards the Empire, which is why they were sent to meet us?

"Well, in fact, your visit this time is a secret operation. The Council hasn’t publicly disclosed the Imperial Emperor’s arrival in this universe to everyone, so there won’t be any welcome ceremony. We will directly teleport to the capital to meet the Council members..." Jin’s face bore a slightly apprehensive look, much like the young soldier trying to maintain a composed demeanor yet unable to hide his young age. I smiled at him, "We are aware and don’t mind such matters. Let’s get going — the situation doesn’t allow for any delay." (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, feel free to visit qidian.com to vote for recommendations or monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)