Xyrin Empire-Chapter 674: The Show Ends and People Disperse, and the Prime Minister with a Cold

Chapter 674: Chapter 674: The Show Ends and People Disperse, and the Prime Minister with a Cold

A rendition of "The Disappearance of Hatsune Miku" that shook the earth and changed the color of the sky; in just a few minutes, the auditorium was in complete disarray, looking as though it had just endured a tsunami of considerable magnitude—and indeed, it was a tsunami, a sonic tsunami with over nine thousand nine hundred sound sources, amplified countless times by the well-designed acoustics of the school’s grand auditorium.

"Bubbles, are you... still alive?"

I came to from my dazed state and quickly pinched the little loli that had gone limp in my arms, which gave me a start: her pupils dilated, her expression vacant, her eyes lifeless, with half a piece of a snack stuck to her face and shiny saliva dribbling from the corner of her mouth. The usually cute and lovely little girl now appeared broken, as if, to the unknowing, I had taken the opportunity to commit some outrageous act.

The little girl in my arms swirled her eyes and immediately adopted a sorrowful look, extending her small hand to tug at my neck, "My dear, I never thought we could meet again in Heaven. Come, let’s have a passionate kiss of reunion; do not be shy..."

With a casual thump on the child’s head, I finally confirmed that her mother was still alive.

"Ah She, I suddenly feel that this is what a true Hell’s Band would be like."

Charmy maintained her posture of looking up at the sky, with bangs concealing her view so we couldn’t see her eyes, but from the ethereal tone of her voice, I assume she was as deranged as Bubbles by now.

"If a group of humans like this had existed back in ’97, would there have been any need for the likes of Kusanagi to make an appearance?"

A few seats away, Qijia She covered his face, consumed by anguish. At the terrifying rush of sound waves that swept over us a moment ago, his body had stiffened, remaining rigid for several minutes in a complete knockout.

"Damnit, you deceitful old man!" Black also slowly regained consciousness, and the first thing she did upon reviving was to bite my arm, then cover her mouth to mumble unclearly, "You must have known all along! You knew, didn’t you! And we trusted you so much!"

Could the impact just now have destroyed your memories, making you forget who was the one who, despite my repeated discouragement, insisted on coming to this concert?

"Miku, how are you?"

I suddenly remembered, aside from a bunch of superhumans, there was also an ordinary human here. While this world is filled with a myriad of vicious secondary creations like Gundam Miku, Terminator Miku, Horror Miku, Dark Miku, and so on, there is only one true Miku—that is, the plain Scallion Warrior who enjoys singing, dancing, and cooking braised scallions for her brothers and sisters in the evening...

Despite the many points of criticism in the above statement, please, in consideration of my current grogginess, decisively ignore them.

"Um..." The girl with round eyes turned her head blankly, suddenly her eyes shimmered with tears, "My worldview, shattered..."

I’m sorry you had to hear your own song being performed in such a barbaric manner; I’m guessing this poor girl would be too scared to sing her hit song for the rest of her life—does that count as some sort of sin?

"Shall we... go?"

I wobbled, still slightly dizzy, ready to signal to Misaka and the others to get out of here. She vigorously dug at her ears and shouted at me, "What? Louder!"

I pointed to the attendees around us, sprawling in every direction, and yelled into Mikoto’s ear, "Shall we bolt?"

She finally got it and nodded hastily. But before we could even make a move, someone else had already beaten us to it, standing up from the seats.

Right in front of us, a couple of rows away, a man shakily stood up. While everyone else was swept away by the BPM 245×9969 sonic tide, he had managed to recover his mobility so quickly; his physical condition wasn’t too shabby... My goodness! What’s the deal with that Yang Flame Battle Armor he’s wearing?

Nearby, Qijia She had also gotten up, ready to lead his "wife and kids" (they looked so much like a family!) to make a quick exit, but then he caught sight of the fighter who had just risen in front and stopped in their tracks, halting their movement to leave.

As if sensing something, the man who had just stood up in the front two or three rows also stopped in his tracks. In an instant, a certain eerie atmosphere began to permeate the air.

The source of this atmosphere was none other than the trio from Qijia She and their opposite—Kyo Kusanagi.

A mood akin to the calm before the storm had enveloped the small section of spectator seats, as fighters who could be called archenemies maintained the same motion, slowly turning their heads, crossing gazes.

Although they had begrudgingly greeted each other in a peaceful manner upon entering due to various reasons, now, they seemed to have inexplicably found a focal point for contention.

"Do you wish to evade, Kyo Kusanagi?" Qijia She’s lips curved into a mocking arc, his eyes blazing with an overwhelming fighting spirit.

"I simply wanted to see if you all had already fled," replied the man known as Kyo Kusanagi, standing opposite the "Heavenly Divine Race" across two rows of seats. Although outnumbered, his composed demeanor suggested victory was already in his grasp.

"Is that so," Qijia She coolly smirked, his gaze suddenly shifting to another direction, "You two, are you also competing today!"

Surprised, I followed his gaze, only to see Bashen An stuffing popcorn into his nostrils and Shenle Qianhe, a few seats away, incessantly slurping an empty soda can. These two had slipped into the venue unnoticed, but clearly, under the previous sonic resonance’s dual assault on body and mind, they weren’t faring any better.

Upon hearing Qijia She’s voice, Bashen An merely snorted coldly, put down his popcorn, and gave Kyo Kusanagi a provocative look from a distance. Being in the same auditorium as his lifelong rival and not yet fighting, it seemed this was another child plagued with the torture of deciding whether to step forward or to settle down...

Bashen An said nothing, but his eyes conveyed a clear message: "Leaving now would be fleeing without a fight!"

"Hmph!"

Kyo Kusanagi issued a soft snort of his own before firmly taking his seat. Perhaps he could ignore the provocation from Qijia She, but that scornful look from Bashen An... Just to listen to a mass choir sing? A certified Fighter couldn’t possibly retreat from mental shock here.

Kyo Kusanagi’s action also triggered a reaction from Qijia She; the trio from Hell’s Band took their seats once again.

To flee from a concert, how would they ever lift their heads amongst their kin afterward?

Though I found this value system completely incomprehensible, for these obstinate individuals, honor and victory were so paramount that they could spark battle at any moment, in any form.

Unexpectedly, Shenle Qianhe, whom I had thought would stay, stood up. She tossed her almost void can into the auditorium’s trash can, and the master of Kagura Palace swayed out of the audience area, muttering, "Such boring men... I don’t want to die here..."

Hey! No matter how you put it, isn’t that a bit exaggerated?

"Forget it, forget it!" Black stumbled to her feet, dragging Mikoto with her as she made her way out, "Big Sister, we absolutely can’t stay any longer! The second song is about to start!"

Right in front of me, wasn’t it? Sister Misakas had taken a short break, and now the conductor was signaling for silence as the concert was about to continue!

I glanced at Qijia She next to me, who was determined not to leave, and thought it best to try to persuade them: "So, we’ve all come this far, we work in the same place, does it have to be so stiff?"

"Apologies, Emperor, but this concerns honor." Qijia She and Charmy said in unison, Chris could only shrug at me helplessly, with a resigned smile.

"We have to at least endure until the second song," Charmy added, "If it turns out to be something as terrifying, retreating after the second song won’t be too shameful."

"She had just finished speaking, and the announcer on stage had already begun the sound check, ’Hey, hey, hey, sound check—okay, everyone please keep quiet. Coming up is the second song of today, also from Hatsune Miku—’10000 Digits of Pi’! Please everyone...’"

I didn’t dare to listen to the end, grabbing Bubbles and running like hell, "Take care, brave warriors! Yours truly is leaving first!"

Qijia She even had the leisure to wave goodbye to me—You’ll regret it later!

Escaping from the auditorium felt like fleeing from danger, and I immediately felt that the whole world was so beautiful. I really was a fool; after all, having once been subjected to such a brutal chorus, I should have decisively bailed the moment Black clinged to me. In the end, I was just too soft-hearted playing the benevolent big brother.

"Those who stayed inside, they won’t get hurt, right?"

Tsuruya, having caught her breath, looked worriedly at the firmly shut doors of the auditorium. Although it was their first meeting, the kind-hearted girl still didn’t want anyone to get hurt.

Misaka Mikoto was awkwardly mopping her sweat, realizing that her sisters’ might exceeded her initial expectations. With such a terrifying noise, probably only someone like One-Way Street could resist—And that’s if he reacted immediately; if he were a step slow, the demonically enchanting music would flood his mind, and even a LEVEL 5 might not manage to compute anything, as evidenced by a certain Leader who didn’t get to activate a soundproof Barrier in time.

"No worries, they’re all supernatural beings." I looked at the auditorium door with sympathetic eyes, as if to say what goes around comes around. Qijia She, you and the likes of Kyo Kusanagi must be bored out of your wits to invite such bad luck. Even if you’re not dead, you’re surely going to shed a layer of skin.

But are those thousands of Sister Misaka’s sure this kind of performance is okay? Though I know your bodies have been modified, please tone it down a bit when it comes to challenging human physiological limits!

"Why... why did I never think my song could be so terrifying..."

Hatsune Miku, holding her wilting leek, was troubled.

I nearly forgot, Miku, who can sing the digits of pi with a mortal body, is even more of a superhuman, right? Could this be due to some mysterious setting resulting from different human constitutions across worlds?

Due to the devastating impact of the concert, Misaka and the other three human girls had fallen into a severe debuff state and naturally couldn’t continue with the tour. I had no choice but to send them back to the Magic Prohibition World pavilion first, leaving them in the care of Lola who was bored with handling official affairs. Since Hatsune also needed to rush home to repair her world view after a series of issues, she bid farewell to everyone after leaving the Military Academy. Now, it was just me and Bubbles leading a Crow Maid in our party of three.

Well, not a Crow Maid anymore: having experienced the devastation of the concert, Anwina had deeply realized the pain of being unable to cover her ears at the critical moment. She barely kept her soul together and now, after I forcibly hid her cage, she had no choice but to maintain her human form and followed us trembling as we walked on the street.

The bustling flow of people around her subjected Anwina to unprecedented pressure. Extremely shy, she was like a startled rabbit, jittery about everything; yet, paradoxically, she was also full of curiosity about the outside world. Thus, the conflicted Anwina could only look at the pedestrians with fearful eyes and at the scenery with curious ones, her facial expressions refreshing as if she were on the verge of exploding.

I smiled helplessly and reached out to hold Anwina’s chilly hand.

"Wow!" the Ghost Maid exclaimed in a soft voice. After realizing what had happened, she instinctively clung to my arm but then quickly let go, "Master... If the master is so concerned, then Anwina is truly failing her duties!"

"Alright, you’re off duty today, so don’t hold yourself to the standard of the world’s number one Maid," I said as I ruffled Anwina’s head, continuing to firmly hold her hand. She looked over in a daze, then slowly lowered her head, "But Mistress Bubbles is about to bite through your arm."

Bubbles, biting my arm and hanging in the air swinging back and forth, managed to speak without any hindrance, "Flirting with a Maid in front of your wedded wife, you truly break my heart, hubby!"

I lifted my arm to look at Bubbles swinging below, contemplating whether to toss this mischievous girl out, when suddenly a rumbling sound of something heavy rolling echoed from a nearby corner, drawing our attention.

"Rumble, rumble," as if a metallic sphere was rolling on the concrete. The noise came closer from around the corner, and within a few seconds, a huge silver metal sphere rolled into view. To our amazement, the sphere was being pushed forward by someone from behind—Fina, our former Mechanical Queen, was pushing a gigantic metal sphere, straining as she emerged from another alley.

We were all dumbfounded, clueless about what kind of training Fina was doing. But before I could call out to her, Fina’s natural attraction to Xyrin Apostle’s soul alerted her to our "superiors". The Queen quickly turned her head, and though her face was emotionless, a hint of light flashed through her eyes. She then continued to roll the massive sphere toward us with grunts and efforts.

"Fina, what training are you doing?"

I hurriedly ran over with Bubbles and Anwina to assist, that gigantic silver-white sphere probably weighed tons just from the sounds of it. Although the body of a Xyrin Apostle like Fina could easily handle that kind of weight, seeing such a ball-pushing girl heave-hoing away, I couldn’t just stand by and watch.

"I’m so happy to see you, friend." After catching her breath, Fina looked at me and said, then greeted Bubbles and Anwina in turn. Although her words were cheerful, her expression remained impassive: this girl still has a long way to go before she can relearn how to express emotions.

"It is an honor to meet you, great Emperor, and both of you, distinguished Sirs."

After Fina finished her greetings, the giant iron ball that we had always assumed to be some new toy of a Mechanical Queen suddenly spoke up faintly.

I fell silent for a moment, my face crumbling as I looked at the big iron ball: "Bieberu?"

"As you see—our kind’s appearance doesn’t really vary much, and it’s hard for outsiders to tell us apart."

"No, I think the key issue isn’t about distinguishing..."

I looked at Bieberu, troubled, as Fina pushed him along, "What’s happened to you?"

The metallic sphere replied in a deep, hollow voice: "Might be not quite used to the environment, caught a bit of a cold recently..."

Me & Bubbles & Anwina: "...?"

"A cold prevents Bieberu from floating," Fina explained while diligently shoving the ton-heavy spherical Prime Minister. "It’s a unique ailment of their kind. Additionally, when they are inflamed, they’re magnetically attracted to each other and clump up, they turn grey-blue when malnourished, endocrine imbalances make their whole bodies soft and squishy like jelly, and when they fall into certain mental illnesses, Bieberu’s race would exhibit a distinct tendency toward an elliptical shape."

I was disheveled by the wind for a while: "So you took him out for a stroll by pushing him around?"

"Rolling effectively treats Bieberu’s cold." Fina answered matter-of-factly. In her eyes, pushing her former Prime Minister around the streets in a ball wasn’t a big deal: although a ball-pushing girl certainly attracted a lot of attention, in Shadow City where visitors from all over were welcomed today, people were no longer surprised by any cultural practices.

Eventually, I could only attribute everything to the wonders of the Great Thousand World. Since there were gods quirky enough to shape Bieberu’s kind into an egg-like form, it stood to reason they were also bestowed with a bunch of quirky physical ailments.

But still...

"Fina, what are you doing?"

I just couldn’t help but speak up, as Fina had been continuously toying with Bieberu, the ton-heavy metal sphere being rotated around like a toy by the powerful Mechanical Queen. Although it seemed that Bieberu himself had no complaints, wasn’t this kind of disrespectful?

"Ah, found it." Fina suddenly exclaimed with a sense of relief, turning the body of Bieberu—who couldn’t float because of his cold—and I saw her pointing to a red spot on his surface, which looked like some mark left after something got rubbed off, probably from the friction of the concrete on the way here.

Fina took out a marker and wrote a big character on that red spot: "正".

"Friend, this is the front side," Fina seriously informed us.

"Just now, you’ve all been talking to Bieberu’s XX..."

Me: "..." (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation votes and monthly tickets, your support is my greatest motivation.)

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