Xyrin Empire-Chapter 1473: Chaos

The destruction of our Hometown World might be related to a mysterious Super Civilization. This is a bold conjecture made by Father God and me after considering much evidence. However, it remains just that—a conjecture. There’s no direct evidence proving that the traces left by this Super Civilization led to the downfall of our Hometown World. Sandora naturally could think of this point too, so when she heard this news, she remained as calm as ever.

Of course, uncovering the truth about the Hometown World is important, but we must prioritize. We are currently facing a more urgent situation: the Fallen Apostles are still acting erratically. If we don’t deal with this near and present danger, even if we know the coordinates of our Hometown World, we probably wouldn’t dare to divert our attention there carelessly.

"It’s good to know that things are progressing smoothly on the Divine Race’s side," Sandora absentmindedly drew circles on the table with her fingers. "As for the joint action, let’s see how things play out first. If the Fallen Apostles haven’t really come charging at us, then let’s follow Father God’s suggestion and lay low for a while to let the enemy drop their guard, allowing the Divine Race to strike first. We can follow up with a delayed attack. Anyway, the Divine Race has strong reserves, so they’re the most suitable for taking the lead."

Bingdisi grumbled from the side: "It sounds like we’re being sent to clear the landmines first..."

Sandora and I exchanged a glance and then nodded vigorously at Bingdisi: "Yes, that’s exactly what we mean!"

The Female hooligan was taken aback: "Damn, you two actually admitted it... Do Father God know you’re screwing your allies like this?"

"It was originally discussed with him," I gave Bingdisi a sidelong glance, "The Divine Race has strong reserves and was the first to be attacked in this assault, so naturally, they’ll take the lead. The Imperial Army is quick to respond and skilled in surprise attacks, hence the delayed assault. This is just tactics. Clearing landmines is just layman’s terms..."

With that, I ignored if Bingdisi had anything else to say and turned my head to Sandora: "There’s one more thing, concerning the Base of the Divine Realm..."

I then told Sandora about the state of the Abyss Gate I saw at the Base of the Divine Realm and Father God’s conclusions about it. I especially explained the "stasis" state of that bizarre space. Until now, I had told no one about this, not even the Female hooligan who had been with me for two days in the Divine Realm. As a result, everyone present, including Bingdisi, was instantly captivated. The Female hooligan was so shocked by this major revelation that she forgot about the squabble she was having.

Sandora furrowed her brow in thought throughout my account of the ancient Abyss Gate. Once I finished, she lifted her gaze: "So you’re saying, the area beneath that Abyss Gate doesn’t resemble a normal Abyss environment at all?"

"If you think of the Abyss as magma, then the area beneath the oldest Abyss Gate is like a tunnel of already-cooled and solidified magma," I nodded. "Moreover, we didn’t observe any ’Discontinuous Belt’ phenomena in that space. It initially seems to be independent of a normal Abyss Domain."

"Wait, wait," Sandora raised her hand, signaling she needed a moment to think. "Something doesn’t quite add up... Oh, right, I remember. Didn’t the Divine Realm previously recover a beacon from the ’Other Shore Civilization’? That beacon floated up from the Base of the Divine Realm. If beneath that oldest Abyss Gate is an independent space, how could a beacon from the Other Shore Civilization have emerged from it? And how could it have entered there in the first place?"

Sandora indeed also considered this problem, which is one of the most inexplicable situations concerning that Abyss Gate. I scratched my chin and slowly voiced my thoughts: "I’ve been pondering this for quite some time too. Since that space is closed, theoretically, it should also be isolated from the Other Shore Civilization. The origin of the beacon the Divine Race retrieved is indeed questionable. However, I remember discussing this with Father God before: the closure of that space isn’t complete. Its entrance, that is the Abyss Gate, is the only open point. Moreover, the Abyss Gate itself is a two-dimensional plane, and it is entirely unrestricted by the spatial rules of the real world. Perhaps for this reason, when the Abyss Gate opens, it pulls in things that were supposed to emerge from other gates."

"This is possible too, considering the spatial nature of the Abyss Gate is unknown, but I still feel something is off," Sandora shook her head. "In that case, the oldest Abyss Gate would connect with the other Abyss Gates, and it should theoretically ’pull’ the pollution from the others as well, yet in reality, that Abyss Gate remains unprecedentedly stable. Placed at the base of the Divine Realm, it is almost completely harmless."

"Well, let me interject," Bingdisi lazily sprawled across the table, only turning her face towards me and Sandora "Before that Beacon ’popped’ up, there was a disturbance in the Abyss Gate at the base of the Divine Realm. It was Father God who discovered that the gate suddenly became active and showed signs of opening, which is why he sent people down to investigate and retrieve that Beacon. So, although the space below that gate is now closed, it may have opened during the ’disturbance,’ or perhaps it is closed in one direction: from our side, it seems closed, but from the other side it might be open."

"The other side?" Sandora raised a brow. "Which side?"

Bingdisi stretched, "The Other Shore Civilization, the Beacon was launched from their side. Perhaps to them, all our Abyss Gates seem the same, with no distinction between inert cooling, stable, and active. They might have just thrown the Beacon through any gate—of course, these are just my wild guesses, I take no responsibility."

Although Bingdisi claimed to be guessing blindly, Sandora had evidently taken it seriously: "I think this guess is very plausible; after all, many rules fail in the Abyss environment, and nobody knows exactly what kind of existence the ’Other Shore Civilization’ is, what the world’s form is in their eyes, and what the Abyss looks like... I will have Taville organize another batch of scientists to investigate, Father God happens to have plans to invite the Empire to join the research in his family’s basement, let’s strive to figure out the peculiarities of that strange space."

Thus, the last matter was decided in this way, and now all we can do is quietly wait for results. Continuing to burn brain cells here seems meaningless, not to mention Bingdisi always laying half-dead... Sandora and I decided it’s better to return home for now.

We waited at home for half a day. Aside from the headstrong doll and the Little Ghost focused on taking care of chores, everyone was awaiting the latest news from the front lines, waiting for the Fallen Apostles to act up again, waiting for their next move either to attack or retreat—for even full-blown war would be preferable to this constant dangling, wouldn’t it? Yet after waiting until the afternoon, the Abyss Zone remained calm and quiet.

The troops of the Fallen Apostles had retreated inland, neither the Leaving World Garden nor the reconnaissance units on the front detected signs of the enemy regrouping using high-powered remote sensing. Those three successive grand army mobilizations and dispersals seemed like nothing more than a farce, even the closing was peculiarly ambiguous—the Imperial Army’s several corps and an even larger number of Defense Army units were left awkwardly stationed at the border, without even a peep from the Fallen Apostles...

The wars of the Xyrin Apostle have always been fast-paced, often concluding within hours from war declaration to army assembly to engagement, yet here half a day had gone by without any movement from the Fallen Apostles, which was contrary to normal expectations. However, no one in the Imperial Army dared to relax. Under Sandora’s strict commands, the forces on the front remained highly vigilant and guarded, the Defense Army and all levels of spatial control departments sealing the border areas of the Universe tightly, with the Macro World Network still on Second Level alert, and the Leaving World Courtyard System even canceling the next planned shutdown for self-inspection—per Sandora’s orders, this state must persist for several days, at least until further progress from the intelligence units of the Abyss Independent Group.

Bingdisi spent half her day idling at home, although appearing carefree, she surely maintained a heightened state of vigilance like everyone else: she’s the kind who springs into action when her friends are in trouble, and I have no doubt about that. But simultaneously, Bingdisi is severely lacking in patience, and sure enough, after the Fallen Apostles remained silent for half a day, she couldn’t sit still anymore, wandering around the living room like a Ghost, wailing: "Oh Father God above, why hasn’t there been any further development, what kind of people are those Fallen Apostles, do they intend to leave the war unfinished!"

I was playing chess at the small low table in the corner of the living room with Uncle Kenser, surrounded by the calming aroma of incense and tea, a stark contrast to Bingdisi’s rampaging hooligan act. As Uncle Kenser placed a chess piece with a gentle smile, I raised my eyes to glance at Bingdisi: "Alright, calm down, are you seriously hoping for the Fallen Apostles to attack... My, the move you just made was truly brilliant, it looks like I’ve lost this game again, yet I’ve lost utterly convinced..."

Uncle Kenser smiled faintly, the five Black pieces on the chessboard already forming an unstoppable alliance. Bingdisi came up and grabbed the tea beside me, gulping down half of it, then squinted at the two of us: "Playing Gomoku, and look at you two gloat."

"The focus of chess isn’t about what pieces you’re using, it’s about the aesthetic," I said sternly looking at Bingdisi, "Father God said something similar. Additionally, leave me some, those tea leaves were picked from the World Tree..."

"Father God is infamous across the Three Realms for his lousy chess skills, and you’re learning from him," Bingdisi casually placed the teapot on the table, "Do you think the Fallen Apostles will make a move or not?"

As I tidied up the chessboard, I spoke leisurely, "I’m increasingly inclined to think that what the other side is doing might not be a conspiracy, but just a whim—if it’s premeditated, then this conspiracy seems rather absurd. The Leaving World Garden has scanned all border worlds without detecting any infection traces. We’re just waiting for the reports from more reconnaissance soldiers sent by Harlan. Sister, can you stop moving around so much? I’m starting to see double when I look at you..."

Bingdisi shrugged indifferently but obediently moved elsewhere: she went to circle around Sandora...

Despite my relaxed tone, none of us were truly at ease. The kids at home seemed to sense something big was happening; they were unusually well-behaved and quiet today: Little Baobao and the little doll threw a couple of anti-infantry trick mines at each other before ceasing their antics.

Thus, a day passed in a semi-repressive atmosphere, followed by a sleepless night.

The next morning, the Sun rose as usual, with no alarm messages in the data link, and the news from the border reported all was peaceful.

With the little doll on my shoulder and Little Baobao hanging from my neck, I descended from the second floor with a grand aura, following the scent of food to the dining room for breakfast. It was only after feeding my daughter a few bites in a dazed state that I realized, "Is there really no movement from the Fallen Apostles now?"

"For now, it seems there’s truly no movement," Sandora had finished breakfast and was standing by the window nearby, holding a data terminal and studying something. The morning sunlight slanted through the glass, enveloping her golden hair in a soft halo, "I’m looking over the tracking reports from the Abyss Zone over the past month to find anything we might have missed."

Curiously, I craned my neck to see what she was doing: of course, I couldn’t see anything, "Have you found anything?"

"There were quite a few internal deployments among the Fallen Apostles for some time, with telemetry records showing large fleets shuttling between their worlds... But all of this hardly counts as ’suspicious activity,’ merely customary military maneuvers, and not frequent enough to raise any alarms. One small discovery: in roughly the seven days before the Fallen Apostles attacked the Divine Race border, their activity frequency oddly dipped to a low, with fewer signs of activity within their borders and fewer rotations at border outposts than usual."

With a large steamed bun in my mouth, I ambled to Sandora’s side, "What do you think this means? Were the Fallen Apostles saving up a big move to attack the Divine Race during those days?"

Drawn by the aroma of the steamed bun, Sandora quickly turned her head, and in an instant, snatched my breakfast as swiftly as if she was ringing a bell. After devouring two bites and returning what was left, the fist-sized bun was a mere crescent moon. She then explained while swallowing hard (which was impressive, considering she was eating), "It doesn’t prove anything. I merely wanted to point out that many seemingly insignificant anomalies occurred in the Abyss Zone over the past month. None of these minor anomalies alone would be worth fussing over; even collectively, they don’t pose a threat. But now with the Fallen Apostles’ erratic behavior, I couldn’t resist compiling all those low-alert reports, thinking perhaps they aren’t isolated incidents. Behind these small anomalies might lie a drastic change in the Abyss Zone—since we can’t directly detect detailed conditions there, we must deduce what we can from these clues."

I nodded, about to say more, when suddenly Bingdisi’s loud voice came from the second floor, "Hey! Holy Realm sent a message! They’ve made big news!"

"What’s that female hooligan babbling about now?" I looked up towards the second floor, grumbling to myself, while Sandora stood up with a serious expression, "That’s not babbling—she’s much worse when she does that."

Bingdisi’s figure had already appeared at the top of the stairs, then rushed down like a whirlwind. The Fox Fairy Lord, who was lying on the last step yawning, sensed the approaching danger and immediately puffed up all over—but ultimately failed to dodge in time, and I watched as the poor Demon Fox Girl turned into a streak of yellow light, flying out the open window...

A moment later, a splash came from the courtyard: the Fox Fairy Lord flew accurately and directly into the fountain she had dug years back.

"Did I just hit something?" Bingdisi paused in front of the stairs, then indifferently shook her head, "Well, everyone here is tough enough to take a hit, nothing major will happen... Chen, Sandora, there’s been a major intelligence update from the Divine Realm!"

I mourned for the unfortunate Demon Fox Girl for a moment, then focused on Bingdisi, "The Fallen Apostles charged towards the Divine Realm again? Better warn them; the Fallen Apostles might be acting on impulse..."

"No," Bingdisi plopped down beside Sandora, "The Divine Race’s reconnaissance squads are already near the Abyss Zone. They found the Fallen Apostles engaged in battle—it’s getting really intense!"

"In battle?" Sandora and I couldn’t help but glance at each other in surprise, speaking in unison, "With whom?!"

"We don’t know yet," Bingdisi waved her hand, "After all, like you, we rely on remote sensing for the Abyss Zone. The place is heavily guarded, with checkpoints every few steps, so the reconnaissance soldiers managing remote monitoring is no small feat. All we know is that the Fallen Apostles gathered a substantial fleet in a barren area, fighting fiercely. The energy reaction confirms it’s a battle; they wouldn’t use doomsday-level energy just to launch fireworks."

"Why haven’t we discovered this?" I glanced at Sandora, "Given such an obvious commotion, we should have noticed something."

Sandora hadn’t spoken yet when Bingdisi shot me a disdainful look, "Are you daft? That’s a Divine Realm monitored segment, not overlapping with your borders, quite far from your area. Regardless, this is a great opportunity. Father God is planning a surprise attack. Even if not directly storming the Abyss Zone, at least damaging a few of their border corps will make a difference. We’ll also send people to find out who the Fallen Apostles are fighting. If they’re bullying mortals again, we must rescue them promptly."

"So, the Fallen Apostles were held back elsewhere, hence no further disturbances on our border?" I cheerfully glanced at Sandora, "That’s good news... er, Sandora, what are you thinking about?"

I noticed Sandora furrowing her brow deep in thought, which piqued my curiosity.

"I suddenly think..." Sandora looked up at Bingdisi and me, "Are the Fallen Apostles having an internal conflict?"(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation votes and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)