Capítulo 1257: Chapter 1257: Xyrin
At a small dessert shop by the window, a young girl with pale blonde straight hair was lying there, appearing to have fallen asleep from waiting too long. My attention was imdiately drawn to her attire: an Imperial military uniform, the light-duty uniform worn by regular soldiers when not in combat, commonly seen around the base. Judging by its style, it was likely the uniform of a combat unit directly under Pandora’s command, but of course, her identity couldn’t possibly be that. I focused on this unfamiliar girl and accessed the data network, and unsurprisingly: no record found. She wasn’t registered in the Empire’s identification database.
However, when I ignored the error of her absence of an identification code and requested the data network to continue searching for her information, the system returned a startling piece of intelligence: this stranger without an identification code had unrestricted access to any region within the Empire. Note, any place, including the Command Center and the Leaving World Garden control center! In these places, her access authorization was directly displayed as perpetual!
I was quite relieved that Sandora had made the decision to enforce a total military lockdown across the capital; otherwise, rely increasing access restrictions in response to typical events would have had no effect on this stranger. Her perpetual access rights couldn’t be limited by any gate access system!
However, by the ti I cald down from the information-feedback of the data network and refocused my gaze on this blonde woman who was still sound asleep, I was bewildered: no information, perpetual access, vanishing without a trace, suspected intruder, possibly even an extraordinary mimicry ability (like transforming into a soldier within the Imperial Base), all these jaw-dropping conditions applied to a completely unsuspecting woman who had been left alone in a dessert shop for the entire afternoon and ended up brazenly snoozing… What on earth was all our hustle about for the entire day?
“Ah Jun, what should we do? Wake her up?” Qianqian gently nudged my arm. This girl usually possesses indestructible nerves, but even at this mont, she was a bit perplexed; turns out there are also abrupt turns in reality that even Qianqian can’t handle.
“Whatever the case… First, make the surrounding space-ti stagnant,” I smirked and decisively abandoned the futile attempt to straighten out my thoughts. Once Qianqian’s ability was activated, I stepped forward and knocked on the table, “Hey, wake up, the community warmth express is here!”
The golden-haired woman on the table lightly shook her head and smacked her lips, “Boss, cake, whatever. So hungry… Where’s my ho exactly…”
: “… I suddenly feel like our city’s blockade is about to beco a piece of black history…”
Qianqian silently nodded, her voice cold, her expression stiff, “I have the sa feeling, but it’s too late to lift the lockdown now.”
“Wake up, wake up,” I knocked the table hard, then patted her shoulder twice, “Community warmth express!”
With such commotion, the other person finally slowly raised her head, and a face not particularly beautiful but delicate enough finally appeared in full high definition for Qianqian and . The golden-haired girl erged from her daze, seeing two strangers in front of her, and the first thing she said to us was: “Boss? Did you split?”
What an incredible line of thought!
I was choked by her words and couldn’t speak for half a day; the mont she opened her mouth, I knew that the entire city lockdown must indeed beco a new empire’s black history. Is this the invader? Just such a person, who played with the Empire’s access system?
“We…” Qianqian opened her mouth, seemingly accepting information a bit more weakly under her current persona. Despite her usual eloquence, she delayed this ti, “Whatever, not about us, do you know where this is? How did you appear here?”
The golden-haired woman stretched lazily with a candid deanor, showing no sense of urgency of being caught red-handed: She hardly carried an invader’s mindset at all. Then she calmly spoke: “Not too sure where this is—I should be at my own ho. However, after a trip afar earlier, I found myself unable to find the way back. But this truly should be my ho because all the access rights remain… Mmm, I’ve tried many places over the past few days, indeed able to roam freely.”
Her answer was worse than no answer at all; it left Qianqian and I even more confused, but at least it confird one thing: From the perspective of the person before us, she didn’t consider herself to be intruding at all, but instead believed she was moving around her own ho. Viewing the Imperial Capital as her ho, who on earth is this divine being? Moreover, she ntioned having gone afar before; I don’t recall any Xyrin Apostle having…
Wait!
Like a bolt of lightning, a flash crossed my mind, illuminating a neglected corner. Instantly my thoughts halted. Then I swiftly traced back, attempting to capture the scene that flashed across my mind when that lightning struck. Taking the Imperial Capital as her ho, with the authority to move freely, considering herself a native but currently unregistered in the database, and also claid to have gone on a journey before…
That crystal! The one that fell from the Fifteenth Day Zone, floated for seventy thousand years in the Void, and only recently returned! Only that item fits these characteristics—aside from the part where the stone suddenly turned into a blonde girl.
“Did you co back together with that big rock?”
Although this hypothesis wasn’t very logical, considering that there weren’t many logical events happening around , it just popped into my mind like that: Besides, there’d been a precedent of things sprouting from stones, though back then it was Sun Monkey and Xia Qi that erged. The rock I brought back sprouted a girl… I reckon the quality of the boulder at my place is way higher than the previous two.
“Stone?” The blonde female frowned in confusion, then realized, nodding, “Oh, you an the mory Crystal? Mm, I rember diving into the crystal upon departure… Seems like it’s this reason, the crystal’s inability to maintain led to the confusion of mories… I feel much weaker now than I was when I left, as if half of my body is missing. So, when I sensed soone carrying back in the crystal at the ti, it was you?”
“Um, that’s about it.” I felt the mystery seed resolved, although her identity wasn’t fully explained, it excluded her from being a “dangerous individual” if she ca back together with the crystal, then she was likely a Xyrin Apostle from the Fifteenth Day Zone. She appeared to be a virtual creature, stored as data or in spiritual form inside the crystal, and for so unknown reason was released now—this probably also clarifies why she could shape-shift, I’m now almost certain, that the Demon Girl appearing in Demon Town, and the Atlantian appearing on Sky Island, were all this blonde girl in front of us.
If she is a spiritual body and happens to have related talents, such mimicry would be very straightforward.
“Thanks,” nodded the golden-haired lady, “Though I can’t recall why I had set off, it’s always a good thing to be brought back ho. But just now, your expressions were odd… Have I caused you any trouble?”
Qianqian and I suddenly sealed our lips: Has she ever realized the massive panic her wandering here and there has caused in these two days?
“Are you really a Xyrin Apostle?” This ti, even Qianqian couldn’t resist expressing a normal outcry, “Hasn’t Silvia frequently reported to the Military Departnt, letting everyone know she is alive! You haven’t even reported yourself yet!”
“Xyrin Apostle? What is that? Report? To whom?” The golden-haired woman appeared genuinely puzzled, “I don’t understand what you an. I’m just living in my ho, why do I need to notify others?”
…She has forgotten not only the Xyrin Apostle designation and the Imperial military regulations completely! Just what kind of eccentric individual have I t! How much is left in her mory bank!
Instantly, I felt that this was unequivocally the most astonishing Imperial Soldier I had encountered, perhaps only matched by Sylvia who had once lost all her mories—but Sylvia had forgotten everything at that ti, while this individual rembers bits of the Imperial Capital, knows how to use her access to open the military area gates, retains her abilities, yet she has forgotten her self-awareness as an Imperial Soldier. Over the past millennia, what had she gone through?
“Uh…” Even Qianqian was stunned, ultimately pushed to ask one question, “Do you still rember who you are?”
“Are you referring to my na?” The blonde lady furrowed her brow, pondering for a bit, “Hmm, back in those days, I was always alone, nobody gave a na, but I did have a na for myself… My na is Xyrin.”
The scene fell into a montary silence. Qianqian and I were both speechless.
“You… say that again?” Qianqian was the first to react, looking curiously at the golden-haired woman who called herself Xyrin. “What’s your na?”
“Xyrin, my na is Xyrin,” the other party said matter-of-factly. “This has been my na since birth. Since I gained consciousness, I have known I am called Xyrin. Is there a problem with this na?”
Just as I snapped back to my senses, filled with curiosity about this woman known as Xyrin, I suddenly heard the voice of Big Sister in my mind: “Ah Jun, what’s going on in there? Why haven’t you guys co out yet?”
“Forget it, no need to be on alert… the lockdown of the city was a mistake,” I said helplessly through the Spiritual Connection. “The Invader is right here. Not to ntion escaping, she doesn’t even know we’re here to catch her. There’s a girl here who calls herself Xyrin. I’ll call Sandora over to see her…”
Soon, everyone ca into the room, including Sandora, who teleported over from Avalon through the Space Gate. The small dessert shop was suddenly packed. As soon as Sandora entered, she grabbed my shoulder: “Where is she, where is she, have you caught the Invader?”
“Not caught, sitting right there,” I found this really hard to explain, pointing to the seat by the window. “Xyrin” still sat there calmly, curiously watching the crowd that suddenly rushed in, as if the whole world had nothing to do with her. “Oh, by the way, just to inform you, Qianqian and I have already asked her so questions. She says her na is Xyrin, lives in the Empire, doesn’t know what a military district is, and has never heard of the term Xyrin Apostle. She’s running around because she can’t find a place to sleep, and she ca here because she’s hungry…”
Sandora was about to walk towards the Invader when she froze midway, turned around, and said to dumbfoundedly: “Huh?”
Everyone gathered around the mysterious golden-haired girl of unknown origin, asking questions. The latter answered every question: if she could. This girl who claims to be Xyrin was quite patient and seed unnaturally calm no matter what happened. She didn’t find this surrounded “interrogation” state unpleasant at all, only ntioned midway that she was very hungry. After Big Sister handed her a piece of cake, even that protest disappeared. However, after a long ti of questioning, we gathered almost no more information. What this girl knows can be sumd up in a few points:
“I’m Xyrin, born at ho, live at ho, I should be ho now.”
That’s it…
“She’s not lying,” Sandora shook her head lightly. She had been monitoring this “Xyrin’s” ntal state. “What’s strange is, I can’t tell which sub-clan she belongs to. I can confirm she has the standard Xyrin Apostle permissions and identification code, but her life form doesn’t belong to any sub-clan. I just queried the Mysterious Side and Technology Side databases of the Fifteenth Day Zone, both show no such person.”
“Fifteenth Day Zone… Right.” I slapped my forehead, yanking Pandora over, placing her indifferent little face in front of Xyrin. “Do you know her?”
Then I pointed to Big Sister: “And her, do you know her?”
“I don’t know them,” Xyrin shook her head decisively. “I told you, I’ve always been alone. How strange… what’s happened at ho? Why are there many places I can’t find? The current ho seems so narrow…”
It seems she doesn’t yet know the Old Empire has fallen. The current Capital World, although sowhat prosperous, should still not compare to the size of the Fifteenth Day Zone back then. Moreover, the most puzzling thing is the words she keeps emphasizing: always alone—how could there be such a Xyrin Apostle? Forgotten auxiliary individual perhaps?
“In any case, the city-wide lockdown can be lifted. If the so-called Invader is just this odd person…” Sandora breathed a sigh of relief. The “Xyrin” in front of us had countless mysteries yet to be unraveled, including her past identity and perpetual permissions, but at least she has already been confird to be harmless. “The Fifteenth Day Zone database is also incomplete, unable to find her records, possibly due to conceptual fragntation. Indeed, so Xyrin Apostle identities were permanently erased. She was separated from Gaia into the Void in a state of conceptual fragntation, possibly for this reason. As for her mory… it will eventually beco clear what’s going on.”
I smirked: “Bla , huh?”
“Damn, who else to bla but you!” Bingdisi found her chance, the female hooligan who had been wandering outside was now full of fire, giving a bear hug imdiately upon coming up, then yelled while clutching my neck, “I was wandering outside for so long! Turns out she was napping right under your noses all afternoon! What gives?”
As I was struggling against this female hooligan, a Teleportation Gate suddenly appeared in the small shop, and then Bubbles jumped out of it. She had been occupied in the command room earlier. Upon her ergence, she exclaid excitedly: “Kid’s dad, kid’s dad! I found it! I found the anomaly point… huh?”
I watched this tragedy silently, pointed towards Xyrin who was chatting quietly with Big Sister: “We all found it.”
The expression on kid’s mom’s… I an on Bubbles’ face was instantly spectacular, as if she had just played her first legendary item drop in a ga, ready to proudly show off to her buddies, only to find out they were all decked out in epic gear to begin with. I could understand her feelings since… well, to , this Xyrin seed like a trilogy, starting off very mysterious, becoming scary in the middle, and finally quite trollish. No one could accept that after we organized a city-wide lockdown, mobilized the military, even asked for help from the Divine Race, we suddenly discovered the Invader was napping in a small dessert shop less than 500 ters away from us—Bubbles couldn’t accept it either.
“This… this isn’t scientific!” Bubbles was crestfallen. “I and my daughters overclocked for quite a while, only finding a bit of anomaly in the Spiritual Network, and yet…”
“Wait, you said Spiritual Network?” Sandora suddenly realized sothing, interrupting Bubbles’ monologue. “What was in the Spiritual Network?”
“Let start from the beginning,” Bubbles sighed. “Otherwise, it can’t be explained clearly, the situation is quite strange. Initially, I began with the standard procedure, examining reports from various checkpoints, the roster of registered personnel, teleport records between a few spaces, but all this data seed fine. Then I tried to filter any anomalous data in the Spiritual Network, first scan was sectional, resulting in nothing unusual, by the second scan when I had a hunch, took a snapshot of the Spiritual Network of all Xyrin Apostles in the New Empire, additionally counting the entire network’s traffic…”
“That was certainly a huge undertaking.” Sandora couldn’t help but comnt.
“Yeah, the workload was imnse, two hundred out of three hundred of my daughters are still babbling nonsense,” Bubbles grumbled. “But I eventually pinpointed the unusual area: the actual traffic of the Spiritual Network is exactly one individual’s worth more than its theoretical traffic.”
As Bubbles delivered this final sentence, her tone suddenly beca very serious. Even though I didn’t understand, my heart instinctively sensed sothing: and after feeling it, I still didn’t understand.
“This essentially ans there is a ghost entity within the Spiritual Network of the Xyrin Apostles,” Sandora glanced at . “The total installed capacity of the network is exactly one user more than expected, yet we don’t know where this additional user’s connection points to or who provides it, that’s what a ghost entity is.”
“But there’s more,” Bubbles’ gaze fell on Xyrin: at this mont, she was observing the crowd with no idea, her face filled with curiosity. “The network traffic shows an extra individual’s worth of data, but this conclusion only cos when viewing the entire network in summary. When looking segnt by segnt, nothing unusual surfaces. The additional individual’s data isn’t coming from any specific entity, rather it originates from the entire net-work!”
Raising her arm to point at Xyrin, who was utterly perplexed, Bubbles quickly recomposed the intelligence she had on hand, finally grasping the critical point of the puzzle: “It ans her representation within the Spiritual Network isn’t that of a complete entity but is distributed across the entire system, possibly…”
Pointing at her head, Bubbles spoke deliberately: “Possibly, while I was connecting with the network, I inadvertently provided that trillionth part of the resources for this ghost entity…” (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welco to support it by voting for it at Qidian with recomndations or monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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