Xyrin Empire

The sun was shining brightly, with not a cloud in the sky. This year's warm spring sunshine arrived fashionably late, only now beginning to dispel the stubborn chill of winter. Today was a perfect day that left people feeling so comfortable they just wanted to roll around on the carpet, while the world continued to operate in an orderly manner.

People went to work, went shopping, chatted, drank tea, scolded their children at the door, slurped noodles at the five-yuan-a-bowl Lanzhou noodle stalls, even though people from Lanzhou themselves couldn't taste any connection of the noodles to Lanzhou. The world was peaceful, and the biggest commotion was no more than a quarrel between a couple at the building entrance over what to have for dinner. This was the life and stability of ordinary people: without a position higher than a departmental head, ordinary people have no way to know what is truly happening in the world.

The full-spectrum interference from several days ago—or, to use the official explanation, the solar flare—has almost completely settled. The initially panic-inducing communication disruptions that scared common folk have now miraculously recovered about seventy or eighty percent. Mobile signals are still not very clear, but at least phones with decent quality can now have normal conversations within weakened signals. There are still a few TV channels with severe interference. A spokesperson from the relevant department explained that some crucial satellite circuit boards were burned, and there are no spare channels to rebroadcast these few channels. People began to get used to phone calls suddenly cutting off halfway, which was at least better than the first day when even landlines were unusable. The events from a few days ago have become a topic of conversation, often seen with small groups sitting at roadside stalls discussing when they could watch Hunan Satellite TV again during the few minutes while waiting for Lanzhou noodles to be served.

Some experts analyze that this communication disaster, sudden and massive as it was in human history, actually had a beneficial aspect. It successfully promoted the development of China's knockoff mobile phone industry. People were surprised to find that the power consumption of the iPhone 4, under weak signals, was astonishingly rapid, turning it into a semi-offline gaming device in extreme circumstances. In contrast, many knockoff phones had unexpectedly robust bodies. Although their call quality under weak signals might not match branded ones, they could at least loudly play "Above the Moon" for four to five hours after an hour-long phone call marathon.

No one had expected this.

In comparison to the ordinary people's uneventful lives, governments worldwide were thrown into disarray during this event. They had to deal with something that humanity had never encountered before: the Moon, which had quietly hung over humanity's heads for billions of years, suddenly experienced an energy storm. A shockwave, not present in any known energy samples, swept across the world in an instant. It wasn't an electromagnetic field, nor high-energy rays, and not even a stream of material particles. What could be confirmed was only the presence of this shockwave's energy. Satellites returned distress signals of their components overloading just before being incinerated, causing unprecedented panic among scientists on Earth. Humans had never thought there could exist a "pure energy" without any form of manifestation, any describable physical characteristics, and without any carriers in the world. This energy, fleeting as it was, displayed countless features that challenged the norms of physics, causing experts to feel unnerved: some people took note of the post-lunar energy explosion schedule recorded by every surviving energy detection device worldwide, discovering all clocks had halted at the same time.

The shockwave was superluminal, its speed infinite—or rather, it propagated in a manner transcending the concept of space-time of this universe. The trail of the shockwave that people could perceive was merely its shadow left in the three-dimensional world after existing in a higher dimension.

The human scientists could not possibly comprehend the nature of energy predating the Big Bang by a second, so this information, which could potentially destroy humanity's existing scientific system, was thoroughly sealed by an official order within an hour after sorting out, strictly forbidding any leaks or research.

They didn't even dare take another look at this data. At least not before humans grasp more universal truths, researching this energy is strictly prohibited. The most outstanding scientists could smell a scent of extreme danger from this energy. Their intuition told them that with humanity's current understanding of the universe, rashly beginning research on this energy would be catastrophic.

It must be admitted that the decision made by these scientists and government leaders was exceptionally wise. Their performance was impressive enough to satisfy Sandora. It's important to know that our esteemed Queen is quite frugal with her evaluations of another civilization's development capability. She'd rather assess the pros and cons of the Lanzhou Noodle House five hundred meters away than rate a civilization…

Actually, Sandora had initially prepared for direct third-type contact with various governments, just to warn humans not to research the energy explosion on the Moon impulsively due to greed. Ordinary people might not understand what consequences such research could lead to, but with a little explanation, you'd understand:

With humankind's current technological prowess, starting to research Ghost Energy wouldn't bring about anything substantial!

Yet the astonishing superiority displayed by Ghost Energy and the seemingly plausible "theoretical basis" shown during the lunar energy explosion were tempting enough to make many overly eager scientists believe they could actually master such energy, ultimately stimulating the entire humanity to commit their lifetime GDP into researching this nothingness.

Then humanity might end up spending the resources and time that could have been used for space exploration on a field that yields no results, potentially leading to doomsday due to experimental accidents. As long as the Xyrin Apostles don't intervene, the Earth civilization has a ninety percent chance of heading toward this conclusion.

But if the Xyrin Apostles do intervene, Earth, this rare primal civilization, inevitably becomes a so-called "domesticated civilization." This might allow Earthlings to sprint toward the universe stage at a hundred-meter dash speed, but it's at the expense of sacrificing its own development potential. Sandora and I are both reluctant to waste such a promising "childhood." Of course, I am reluctant because I consider myself an Earthling, while Sandora is worried it might affect humanity's improvements to Lanzhou noodles and Goubuli steamed buns…

The above are just my idle daydreams. You have to admit, a person like me is also a character who worries about the world even when daydreaming. However, what I can't understand is why someone like me, a national leader who worries about the world, must be thrown into such a cold and windy temporary office just to accompany my girlfriend, whose mindset is always on a different plane from reality, to personally sit in for consultations…

The location we're currently in is not the living room at home serving as the temporary headquarters, but a remote abandoned factory in the suburbs. This place might have once been a bone china factory, but now it only has the factory yard, two warehouses, and a two-story steel structure building as the factory. Below the factory is a rather large basement; the second floor is the office area, while the first floor is a workshop. The workshop has been transformed into a treatment center filled with advanced equipment. Of course, the equipment placed on the first floor has been disguised or modified as much as possible to make it look like it was made by Earthlings. Otherwise, I truly can't imagine the awkwardness when Lin Xue's grandfather visits here for treatment and suddenly discovers a holographic projection device marked with a world domination plan.

As for why we can easily find an abandoned factory in the suburbs that seems to respond to plot calls worldwide and not managed by demolition offices, it's actually very simple. During those years of industrialization and developing new local pillar economies in City K, a large number of similar makeshift industrial parks sprouted in the suburbs like bamboo shoots after rain. At the time, ambitious city dwellers believed the only difference between them and Silicon Valley was latitude and longitude and thought they would eventually use locally produced rough porcelain bowls to overshadow Jingde Town. Of course, hot-bloodedness always cools down at some point. With economic restructuring, the industrial center shifted to another nearby city, and the local environment was really unsuitable for these forced-mature industrial parks; these factories eventually cooled down one by one, turning into dilapidated courtyards that even demolition offices wouldn't manage, in the secluded countryside, amid growing grass and flying warblers.

We all know how magical Miss Lin's Superpower Team is. Their bases seem to be everywhere, including under the Sahara and some snack stalls in Shaxian. So, this abandoned factory being requisitioned by them is just right.

Following the principle of "local handling," Lin Xue turned here into a "Minority Race Emergency Medical Aid Comprehensive Service Station" in the region—which literally means a place for treating collected aliens nearby.

The guardian at this rescue station initially consisted of three mid-tier members of the Superpower Team. But just like others who are unable to withstand prolonged exposure to radiation, they too have succumbed, and currently, these three are lying in the medical cabin in the factory basement, all blue-skinned like an Avatar.

The ones Lin Xue and Qianqian pulled over to switch shifts are me—oh, and Qianqian herself, along with some other little ones purely here to cause trouble.

Of course, we don't need to mention those Boundless Love employees busy in the basement and factory's second floor. Although from the outside, this abandoned factory looks worn by time, inside, it's bustling like a research center.

To facilitate the work, we prioritized treating many Superpower Team members. Then, these restored-to-health members (said to outsiders, but actually quite the opposite as we've suppressed their cell vitality) would bring the contacted aliens to this factory: using either forced or non-forced methods.

Right now, in front of us sits an "alien" in need of help. She looks like a young woman, lightly made-up, wearing a short trench coat suitable for this season, with her long hair bound into a high chignon. Her appearance is pretty, but that's about it; her attire seems typical of an average urban white-collar worker, just with a worried face.

We've already received several similar "clients" today, and I've found that those mysterious people with strange abilities, as imagined by ordinary people, actually have their own daily lives. Take the young woman in front of us, for example; she's commonly referred to as an "elf," from Eastern mythology, an animal turned into a spirit. But, in fact, besides having a long life, she also lives just like an ordinary person—buying groceries, cooking, working, shopping, and getting her monthly "visitor," though the last part was something Qianqian inquired about. My Qianqian always has bizarre ideas and is quite good at using her little mystic leverage to turn her ideas into reality, such as asking a female elf about her monthly cycle under the guise of a physical check…

It turns out that merely speaking of Earth, the descriptions of the Great Demon King in novels and on TV as being otherworldly are fundamentally incorrect. A real female fairy couldn't possibly live every day thinking about how to conquer the world and oppose all humanity while conquering all the world's men. A real demon hunter also couldn't just focus on saving the world's people while fighting against female fairies. They need to eat and sleep as well. Female fairies have their periods, and before demon hunters are brought up, they remember to lock their electric bikes—the electric bike parked outside the courtyard was left by the demon hunter who came before the fairy currently in front of me. Its owner is now on the first floor receiving electrotherapy, while Cheng Miao is squatting next to the electric bike trying to yank off its wheels.

"Symptoms are quite mild, looks like your ancient genes aren't very rich," Qianqian scribbled her name crookedly on the form on the table while speaking professionally to the female fairy, "From an expert's perspective, I think seventy thousand years ago you would have been a harpy…"

"A harpy?" The young woman dressed like an ordinary city white-collar worker was quite surprised, "I don't know, but we do have an ancestral plaque in our family, said to be bestowed by the Emperor, but it has a sparrow drawn on it… Am I really a demon?"

"From an expert's perspective, indeed you are." Qianqian replied very professionally, having played all morning, and still being very enthusiastic, "Haven't you ever felt there's something special about your family?"

"We all live to be a hundred on average, and when I was little, I always dreamed of flying." The female fairy answered honestly.

"Have you noticed any changes after looking at the moon a few days ago?"

I know the few questions Qianqian is asking have nothing to do with treatment; she's purely curious. No matter how many new things from the Macro World this girl comes into contact with, her vitality always remains high, developing an exploratory spirit towards anything she hasn't seen before.

The female fairy wore a rather troubled expression, seemingly recalling something unpleasant. She frowned, "Suddenly my eyesight is no longer nearsighted. I can see chewing gum on the building's windows across five hundred meters. My back itches as if something is about to grow out. Seeing the moon makes me angry, grinding my teeth, and then… seeing insects makes me hungry."

"Hungry!!"

As soon as the female fairy finished speaking, a dazed little girl's voice came from beneath the large office desk. Then, a little girl wearing an oversized nightgown crawled out from one of the compartments underneath, with a fluffy white lace nightcap on her head, long golden hair peeking underneath, her blood-red eyes blinking with curiosity at the female fairy, "Wanna play together?"

I jumped up and hurriedly pushed the female fairy, whose ancient bug-eating genes had now been activated, towards the door: "Go downstairs, walk twenty meters to the left entrance of the treatment center, turn right at the third door, and find Director Li to apply for the fourth treatment plan. Get the form, follow the staff's instructions just like when you arrived, have the treatment today, and you'll be back at work tomorrow. Faster than any surgery. Don't ask anything else. Welcome next time!"

The female fairy looked dazed as I rattled off dozens of characters in one breath, nodding blankly before turning towards the stairs. She even bent down to pick something up and stuffed it into her mouth along the way. Hopefully, she can still eat breakfast after her treatment later; as for dinner today, forget it. Nobody in this world has such a good appetite, except for Elder Bei and Sandora.

After sending off the female fairy, I sighed, pulling a plasma bag and a straw from my Personal Space and handing them to the little girl crawling around on the floor looking for ants: "Flandre, stop messing around, we're working here."

"Boring, where's Little Baobao? Flandre wants to go play outside with Little Baobao… this is delicious!"

I sighed deeply while covering my face again.

Flandre's presence here was entirely unplanned, but I couldn't leave her unattended. Her sister, that five-hundred-year-old vampire loli, had irresponsibly run off to another corner of the world, deeply immersed in a local large blood bank. However, Flandre, being an unstable force of destruction, clearly wasn't suited for long trips. She still relied on the vine amulet around her neck to suppress her spirit, yet this amulet was often carelessly tossed around by little Flandre. Therefore, the utterly irresponsible Remilia had dumped her naive little sister onto me: at least, there was no need to worry about the little girl losing control with no one to restrain her.

The vine amulet around Flandre's neck was a second-generation improved version by Lilina, which had a better suppressive effect than the original. It might even have the potential to repair Flandre's spirit at the soul level after extended wearing. However, it also had a rather significant flaw—its suppression was astonishingly powerful, affecting the user's intelligence as well…

Flandre finally found her dream ant, gleefully bringing it over to show me, then put it in her mouth.

I hurriedly pulled this clueless little girl aside to rinse her mouth, while Qianqian rocked her chair behind, grumbling, "What's the deal? I thought it was more serious, but only five or six people came today, and none caused trouble. It's so peaceful."

While stopping Flandre from eating toothpaste, I laughed, "Nonsense, with a million victims worldwide, how many could there be in one place on average? Besides, disturbances… the troublemakers have all lost their ability to cause trouble. Lin Xue is truly efficient."

"Ah Jun, when do you think this whole situation will completely settle down?" Qianqian floated over, hugging my neck from behind, sniffing around my neck like a little dog, "We secretly helped fix the satellites, connected the fiber optics where we could—all these patients don't seem too severe. Just a spiritual interference agent or an energy suppression ring at the correct frequency ought to do, so boring."

I turned my head to suddenly give her earlobe a peck: "Always dreaming of chaos, isn't it good for things to be resolved peacefully?"

Qianqian unwillingly mumbled "hmm," beginning to rub against me like a kitten, announcing the herald of her boredom. Seeing her selling cute so malevolently, I knew: Lin Xue should find someone else to take over here.

Just as I was thinking about this, Sandora's call suddenly came through our spiritual connection.

"Ah Jun! Impact! It's happening again!" (To be continued. If you like this work, please head over to qidian.com to vote for recommendations, monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)