A specially modified Royal Void Shuttle was quickly dispatched to Kerudak. However, what I didn’t expect was that along with this shuttle came a batch of Royal Guards. Dozens of "small" imperial ships were a massive scale even within the atmosphere. These neatly lined-up Imperial battleships were grandly marching over the sky of Kerudak city, which naturally immediately drew the gaze of many civilians. The balconies above every Tower Ball Building were almost filled with citizens of various races, driven by restless curiosity, recording an occurrence that shouldn’t have appeared above their homeland—though I wonder if they had developed Twitter yet.

"I say... why such a big public spectacle?" I arrived at the observation platform of the Parliament Building with everyone, prepared to board the shuttle from there. Watching the imposing Imperial battleships high above, I muttered to Sandora, "Shouldn’t we try not to provoke the public of the Fourth Fleet too much? They are extremely sensitive to Imperial battleships."

"Ordinary civilians are not as sensitive as the military and these high-ranking officials, and these Royal Guards were dispatched only after discussions with the ’Council’ and most senior officials of the Fourth Fleet—at that time, you were researching technical issues with Sandora, you might not have noticed." Big Sister smiled and explained to me, and I glanced at the ’Council,’ receiving an affirmative reply from them.

"After establishing a stable connection with the Fifth Fleet, the matter was made public to the citizens, including the situation of being unable to effectively assist the Fifth Fleet, and the various crises we encountered, which caused significant ripples among the ordinary citizens," the ’Council’ smiled at me, "Then this Imperial Empress gave me a suggestion, she hoped to continue making the events transparent, and especially emphasize the actions of the two Imperial Leaders personally entering the depths of the Void for a solo rescue of the Fifth Fleet, and ultimately... it’s what you see now. We believed that allowing the citizens to witness the moment of your boarding and departure would be more impactful than a simple information announcement."

I blinked, looking at Big Sister, and thinking, indeed, this is the foresight and intelligence of Big Sister. These considerations were just incidental in the entire operation, but it truly was a ’small move’ that shouldn’t be underestimated. The rescue of the Fifth Fleet will be a historic turning point in the thawing relationships between the New Empire and the Exiled, and what Big Sister is doing is amplifying this turning point as much as possible while leaving room for maneuvering—even if our rescue ultimately fails, the scene of boarding today has already laid down a narrative foundation that’s hard to reverse: you see, the two Xyrin Emperors have risked their lives, what more could you ask of them?

But only we know that this task isn’t really dangerous... the Void is my home, and both Xyrin Emperors can survive unconditionally in a Void environment, and I’m in an invincible state within the Void...

"The Void is a deadly danger, except for our family, everyone believes so." Sister indeed thought the same as I guessed, she said in the spiritual link.

I looked at the Imperial Battleship Group standing by in the sky, understanding that this might be the legendary actor array, only our starring roles are going all out—I see myself about to be launched into the depths of the Void.

This mode of action would be hard to conceive in the logic of the Xyrin Apostle, as they only focus on tangible direct effects and rarely study these ’tricks’ such as public opinion, social guidance, and public support rate. However, it must be admitted that in exchanges with ordinary races outside the Xyrin Apostles, it’s precisely these often-overlooked small details that affect the latter’s fundamental attitude towards the Empire. Thus, even though the Empire’s military and industrial aspects are predominantly constructed by Sandora and a group of Imperial Soldiers, areas like public opinion, media, and culture are almost exclusively tinkered with by the Earthlings in our family (led by Lilina). Sandora even expresses surprise at the various achievements we’ve accomplished: back in the day, she couldn’t have imagined handling things like this.

"So, should we play some background music to set the mood when boarding later?" I rubbed my hands and grinned at Big Sister, who didn’t answer, but Bingdisi ghostly commented, "Those who play music before boarding usually end up dying by the time the real actor credits roll..."

Me: "Uh, never mind, but what do you think, should I say something to the cameras later? A passionate look towards the future, boosting people’s confidence or something?"

Bingdisi ghostly spoke again: "Those who are passionate before departure usually die fifteen minutes before the end credits..."

"Stop it..."

Bingdisi’s mood-killing remarks finally made me realize I’m indeed not cut out for facing the broad public and spouting balabala in front of the cameras, so I pulled Sandora to prepare for departure. Before leaving, Big Sister still uneasily asked me, "Really don’t need to bring a guard unit over? What if you encounter an attack?"

"You must understand, my Void Domain has limits, the more people I bring, the more chaos there is—and I might not be able to handle it, very likely I’ll wear out already before even bringing them back," I shrugged helplessly, "Don’t forget, even such a powerful old Void Creature like Hila gets exhausted like a dead dog transmitting once from Huron to the Star Domain..."

"Rest assured, if there’s danger, I won’t let Ah Jun go," Sandora said solemnly, "We will always remain in the Void Domain, and once we depart, Ah Jun’s Void Domain will no longer close. In such a circumstance, even if we encounter danger, at least escape wouldn’t be an issue."

With Sandora’s assurance, Big Sister no longer raised objections, simply urged us to be careful, and then watched us entering the shuttle.

Once the Order Field of the flying device was activated, a layer of pure black gradually spread from the cockpit position, quickly forming a black sphere that completely enveloped the shuttle. This black sphere absorbed all light shining on its surface, making it appear as if a chunk of space was gouged out to reveal a black hole, then in an instant, this black sphere and the shuttle within disappeared from everyone’s sight.

A moment later, a signal from the shuttle came from the Imperial border—the first attempt to jump had succeeded.

At the distant Imperial border, a small shuttle was re-entering the material world from the Void, its smooth alloy shell shining brilliantly under the light of a nearby star, as a faint black shadow gradually faded and disappeared from the shuttle’s exterior.

Sandora was checking the parameters of the shuttle with utmost caution before finally letting out a breath: "Matching with theoretical values, performing such an ultra-limit jump did not damage the body structure; we successfully bypassed the technological barriers of Void Jumping—although only under specific conditions."

"So next, we’ll jump directly near to the Fifth Fleet?" I watched Sandora manipulate those complex parameters, feeling dizzy and confused. "Honestly, it doesn’t feel like it consumed much."

"Wait till you expand the Void Field to a tens of thousands kilometer jump, you’ll know," Sandora pouted and then sighed, "To be frank, if it were possible, I’d prefer not to ask you to do so, the consumption truly is substantial, although compared to the distance between Huron and Star Domain, the Fifth Fleet is much closer, you still can’t be compared to a seasoned Void Creature like King Huron... during the jump later, pay attention to your consumption, it’s fine to do it halfway—as long as the Fifth Fleet enters the safe zone, our mission is considered accomplished, don’t overextend yourself, alright?"

I chuckled, knowing that this plan was proposed by Sandora, yet in the end, she still had worries, but facing her dilemma, I simply patted her on the head: "Alright, I’m not the one protected by you; this small matter is lightweight—actually, thanks to you, I came up with a pretty good idea."

Sandora showed a curious expression, while she adjusted the engine to prepare for the jump to the Fifth Fleet, she signaled me to continue talking.

"Look, if my Void Domain can allow an entire fleet to instantly traverse theoretically infinite void distances, doesn’t that mean... we can directly air-drop our main force right at the Fallen Apostle’s doorstep? Even bypassing their warnings?"

Sandora showed a slight hint of surprise, as if it was incredible that I could actively think of this, but she still shook her head: "Perhaps in local battles, this approach has some feasibility, but it can only be a small trick. You know, both the New Empire and the Fallen Apostles are colossal entities. Once we officially go to war, the scale of engagements will definitely not be as simple as a single fleet. And how many people can your power air-drop onto the enemy’s territory at one time? Moreover, you must jump together with the fleet during this air-drop, and you’ll be in a weakened state upon arrival. Delivering a solitary fleet to the enemy’s stronghold, while you yourself have almost no combat power — have you thought about what a terrible tactic that is? Therefore, it can only be used as a surprise attack, and even then a small-scale one. And don’t consider this kind of jump as a huge advantage. In fact, the probability of a legion advancing in the void being intercepted is extremely low. The Fifth Fleet fell into such a predicament because it was tracked from the start. Under normal circumstances, a ship advancing in the Void Domain will hardly be detected by anything unless it is already close to an Order World. Using your Void Domain to air-drop a unit onto the battlefield offers no advantage in ’anti-interception’; at most, it saves some time for a part of the soldiers. But in my view, it is far more meaningful for you, as a Void Creature and the Imperial Leader, to remain in optimal condition throughout the war than to act as a one-time troop transporter at the cost of your combat power."

I felt a bit embarrassed, thinking that after I finally came up with a strategic idea in a flash of inspiration, Sandora’s analysis made it apparent that it was a tactic with no practical combat value—she’s right, I subconsciously undervalued my role. In a true large-scale battle, treating the Imperial Emperor as a one-time troop transporter is certainly a terribly ill-conceived idea. But seeing my somewhat disappointed expression, Sandora instead laughed: "Actually, Ah Jun’s idea is useful too, specifically when we really need to sneak attack the enemy. This time, let’s also gather some experimental data, to see how much such a large-scale over-limit jump affects your small form. Speaking of which, Ah Jun has really changed a lot now; before, you would definitely not have proactively considered these things."

I scratched my head, thinking that this was something forced upon me...

At this point, Sandora finally completed recalibration, smiled, and patted my arm: "Alright, equipment ready, we’re set to go, Ah Jun, turn it up!"

I grinned, revealing a Crest-like flash: "Demacia!"

Then I felt a dizzy spell, a strange... dizziness...

This subtle state of dizziness lasted an indeterminate amount of time, as if time in my concept was split into two parts. One part flowing past in just an instant, while in the other part, time seemed nearly stagnant in my perception. I had never experienced anything so strange; although I knew clearly that only a few seconds had passed, those seconds stretched infinitely in my consciousness to almost never-ending lengths... Yet I felt no discomfort, nor irritation.

I attempted to talk with Sandora, to tell her I seemed trapped in some odd situation, but I discovered I couldn’t communicate with her. It wasn’t that I couldn’t speak, but that the messages, actions (if I truly made any moves during those seconds), and language I projected couldn’t reach Sandora. We seemed to suddenly become beings existing on two parallel levels. Had I not known that this condition would soon end, I might have panicked greatly—of course, perhaps I wouldn’t, because I suddenly realized that my sense of time was detaching.

Within those infinitely long seconds in my self-awareness, a normal person would quickly become weary from the endless passage of time and the unchanging state of self. Yet after a "long" time, I found myself surprisingly maintaining a peaceful state, something truly uncharacteristic. Then, at the end of a prolonged thought process, I suddenly recalled one thing:

The Divine Race’s perception of time.

Perhaps this is what the world looks like in their eyes... Perceiving the passage of time yet needing to care about nothing it brings about. But this nonchalance isn’t indifference; it’s merely an eternally peaceful mindset.

After confirming this state wouldn’t cause adverse effects and seemingly wouldn’t last forever, with nothing else to do temporarily, I curiously began to experience another thing: the feeling of merging with the void overall.

This emerged alongside the sensation of time stasis after the shuttle began its jump. I wondered if it was a delusion; it seemed that my Void Domain instantaneously crossed such vast voids that the information exchange between the two exceeded some threshold, giving me a sense of infinite expansion, with my spirit starting to drift in an infinitely vast yet infinitely small ocean. The ocean was shapeless and ever-changing; when you are a drop of water, everything around feels so vastly incomprehensible, yet a droplet cannot be separated from the entire ocean, thus merging the two into one. You start to feel the ocean doesn’t seem as vast as imagined. It is just like you—though it remains infinite, this infinity has become a measurable unit, a unit called ’self.’"

The ocean’s surface had layer upon layer of waves, appearing almost motionless—although in another concept of perception, they were surging wildly and changing moment to moment. Each towering wave was a world; relative to the ancient and invariant entire ocean, these slowly rising and falling waves were quite brief, even vanishing in an instant. Yet in that instant, they parted from the ocean where they once resided, soaring high into the air with their own unique forms and rules—perhaps the void is not an ocean but a plane, a sea level, with the seemingly infinite depth below just an illusion. Depth does exist, but it’s meaningless. To the world, it constitutes merely a surge of the sea level. When this thought suddenly emerged, I felt my perspective truly shift, detaching from the state of being a droplet of water and standing at a novel angle, watching towering waves roll on the sea level. Then I descended beneath the surface, witnessing a new scene: the towering waves on the ocean’s surface appeared here as deep valleys.

Alright, it was rather dull, but I was quite intrigued by my study of it. I might understand why underwater photography is so popular, seeing the world from a place a normal person wouldn’t stand; everything you see is indeed quite fresh. I hopped around like this, waiting for the shuttle to leave the jump state—it didn’t seem like it would take long. I thought that I might just need to blink my eyes, shift my consciousness from the deep to the surface, and instantly leave this state: the passage of time would return to normal, from near stasis to the normal few seconds."

But just as I was about to do so, I suddenly sensed another swimmer in the depths of the ocean.

A swimmer like myself.

Something ordered, conscious, starkly different from the chaotic ocean, was meandering nearby.

I thought for a moment, deciding to head over for a look—though I couldn’t explain how I was moving, I did feel the distance between myself and that swimmer closing, and then heard a clear female voice: "Hey, little brother, out for a stroll?"

Me: "..."

"Didn’t expect you’re also a fan of wandering, coming this far—have you eaten?"

Me: "..."

"By the way, have you seen Xingchen recently? He hasn’t sent me a message for days; I don’t think he should be that busy... Hey, look at that, six worlds born simultaneously! Conjoined! They might become multiples later, no doubt, once they stabilize, I’ll stuff some life in there. The kids will surely love their new world!"

Me: "... Sister Hila?!" (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, feel free to vote for recommendations or monthly tickets on Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation.)