Capítulo 1262: Chapter 1262: Guest
Since the parting at the Battle of lowa, this was the first ti I contacted Anu Lili. Although I had said back then that I would greet her as soon as I returned to the Empire, I had been busy ever since, and only until today did I have the chance.
Now, the thirteen universes once occupied by lowa have been “dragged” into the Empire’s territory. Those worlds are now in the Imperial Dominions, previously shrouded by the mysterious Void White Area outside the Imperial Frontier, but now within the Empire, among which two even have direct World Gate passages to Shadow City. One can’t help but marvel at the Xyrin Apostles’ void technology reaching an unprecedented height; the Empire’s “dragging worlds” technology should be considered our second epic colonial weapon next to the massive military invasion. Conquest wars usually have two thods: one is dispatching millions of large and small gray ships to flatten the opponent’s ho, and the other is to move the opponent’s people and houses directly into your yard, then cutting their water and power, forcing a surrender in three days. I personally believe that while the first thod is flashy and aids in complete occupation, the second one feels more exhilarating and is just as effective. Many Emperors of the Old Empire favored this thod for expanding their territories. When facing civilizations with a much lower technological level, unable to master Void Anchoring Technology, they would directly drag the opponent’s universe into their yard, blocking all entry and exit, filling those universes dragged around with unlucky beings who could only decide, under the watchful eyes of millions of the Imperial Army, whether to sign their surrender letter in regular script or cursive at the terminus—which is truly exhilarating.
Hmm, as soon as I have free ti, I tend to let my imagination run wild—waiting for a ringtone is long enough for to conjure over a hundred words in my mind…
The slave races that had just gained freedom on the other side are likely busy with reconstruction, and probably haven’t made much progress yet. At least sothing as advanced as a communication network hasn’t even taken shape. Though the Imperial Army left them with communication bases when they departed, the number of these bases is very limited. Those thirteen universes are worlds in a state of recovery from ruin, and they have a long way to go before establishing a complete communication network and production system. For now, even the newly established temporary governnts have to use their old equipnt and connect several tis just to reach those space communication bases left by the Imperial Army.
I waited a full two minutes before the communicator showed the line was connected, and then, accompanied by so noise and screen jitter that should not appear on an Imperial communicator, Anu Lili’s slightly tea-colored face appeared on the screen, “This is the Human Temporary Governnt, now speaking with you is…ah, it’s you?!”
On the communicator, Anu Lili’s face appeared sowhat thin; she was already a bit slender, but she looked even thinner now. This young girl, seasoned beyond her years, had a weariness in her eyes that couldn’t be hidden, possibly from many days without real rest. Her hair was tied, holding a small piece of equipnt possibly similar to a data terminal in her hand, and she still wore that Resistance uniform, seemingly now the temporary governnt mbers’ attire over there. After all, in a recovery period like this, expending public resources on fancy new uniforms is really wasteful; probably for a long ti, the temporary governnt Anu Lili is part of will just make do with the scarce resources in the Resistance’s inventory.
The Imperial Army once wanted to provide them with more aid, but aside from unavoidable food and energy crises, almost all the slave races refused the “barely enough to do the job” material aid. Sandora and I did not insist. We could only silently cheer for these resilient people.
“Long ti no see… hmm, from my perspective, it hasn’t been that long,” I recovered from a brief lapse of attention and smiled at Anu Lili, “You seem busy. How’s the reconstruction going?”
“You can’t really call it reconstruction, and probably never will,” Although Anu Lili looked tired, seeing brought out a genuinely happy smile from her, because, after all, she was seeing an old friend, “The foundation from before has completely disappeared, we’re building everything from scratch, there’s no talk of reconstruction… As you can see, it’s kind of chaotic here…”
As Anu Lili spoke, she stepped aside to let see the scene behind her. I noticed she was in a place that seed to have been through fire, and it looked like a hall, bustling with many “staff mbers” in various outfits busy sorting packages and large boxes, like preparations were being made for distributing supplies. On the distant hall walls were unhealed bullet holes that no one seed keen on repairing, and large cracks from explosions. The hall had no intact furnishings, even the light on the column next to Anu Lili was just a temporary lighting stick stuck in a bullet hole. All around were peeling walls and other marks left by battle.
“We’re preparing to distribute food to the hungry, it’s enough for now, if not we can allocate from a few nearby points,” Anu Lili wore a genuine smile, “It’s the beginning after all, agriculture surely takes ti to recover. This was once a lowa people’s outpost and is underground. They had marked the areas around these outposts as ‘God’s Forbidden Zone’, with few knowing about such a high-tech place near them… It suits us perfectly, despite so destruction when we seized this outpost, its structure remains solid, almost the sturdiest building on this planet. Plus, it has warehouses to store food. Many civilians are gathered outside now, and we’re planning to build a village on the surface here and slowly develop it into a city. Many of the original settlents on this planet need to be relocated; the lowa people deliberately confined the slaves in barren areas to prevent our rapid reproduction, now… we must move in a planned way.”
Just like before, when talking about her dreams and work, she becos quite talkative.
Seemingly not noticing the odd smile on my face, Anu Lili continued enthusiastically discussing her work: “We must first restore agriculture and protect the communication devices left from the war, ensuring planet-wide organization with nothing lost. Basic supplies are adequate, so it’s not a big issue to get through this winter safely. There are also organizations from other civilizations assisting us now, and the species who once joined the Resistance are sharing their surplus resources with those in urgent need, although we really have little to offer, with only two small patrol ships, we’re just an aided party… Oh, really, thanks to your Life God Sect followers, without them many would not have made it through. There’s presently a High Order Priest here at this outpost, assisting with eliminating nerve poison aftereffects and genetic defect syndro… Uh, sorry, I got carried away talking… Did you need sothing from ?”
I waved my hand, “It’s nothing, just glad everything with you is well; if needed, contact directly through this channel. Currently, lowa’s remaining issues are dealt with directly by the Royal Family. Hmm, additionally, I hope you can co over.”
“Co… over?” Anu Lili was montarily uncomprehending, “Uh, to your side? I would be thrilled, I’m interested in the legendary Shadow City too, a High Order Priest here said it’s like Heaven… But with my work here…”
“Your work can be temporarily handed to a reliable person, right,” I noticed she seed to think it was just a casual invitation, so I prompted lightly, “There’s a surprise for you all, initially thought to send it over, but… seems having you take them back personally has more significance. Your ancestors, they should return ho.”
Anu Lili’s eyes widened instantly; she wasn’t really understanding what I was referring to, likely unable to connect to their kin taken away over the past thousand years—but the ntion of their ancestors was weighty enough.
I decided not to reveal more, keeping an elent of mystery, and Anu Lili didn’t hesitate further, agreeing readily to visit in two days. Two days; just right for us to prepare—I an by our household’s custom, buy so good main dishes, who thinks we in the First Family can organize so grand luxurious welcoming ceremony?
Two days doesn’t seem long, roughly just a blink, though this could be due to my constant busyness. I realize my life is very hectic now, almost imdiately after opening my eyes I’m addressing construction or troop increase issues in Shadow City or Heavenly Realm City, now with the added task of daily inspections of “Xyrin”, and at ho—minus looking through reports and being handled by reports—I rarely have ti to even play with those kids, often joking I’ve a bunch of naughty kids. But really, maybe my kids are already the most obedient ones. My ti with them perhaps doesn’t even fulfill a third of a normal father’s ti, yet these girls have never nagged because of this, even the most immature Little Baobao understands that their dad has many great works to do, what more can I ask? Their occasional mischief, possibly, is just to catch a family mber’s attention, to see if soone could play with them.
Oh, Lilina is an exception, she’s unique—I’ve always considered her part of the adults, though she’s one of those adults who’s easy to tease and feed.
A stable World Gate has already been established from the Thirteen Worlds to Shadow City. Because the forr is located in the Imperial Inland and considering the need to address many historical issues, we permitted two of these thirteen worlds to connect directly with the Imperial Capital. The universe where Anu Lili resides is one of them. My sister and I were waiting early in the morning at the Ti-Space Hub Square because this was Anu Lili’s first ti using the World Gate, and if no one was there to et her, she’d surely get lost as soon as she erged.
A gentle and soothing female voice suddenly ca over the targeted broadcast in the waiting area by the teleportation gate. The voice was restricted to the waiting area corresponding to each gate, so it wouldn’t affect the order elsewhere: “Passengers from the New Eden Federation have arrived. Please be ready to receive them. Attention, do not use high-speed vehicles within the restricted line of the Dinsion Hub Square. Do not use high-speed vehicles, do not use… Hey, you three elves, I an you! Would you dare get off the motorcycles! Guides, stop those three racing maniacs on the Hub Square. The next activation of Gate Seven will be in five minutes. Passengers traveling to… Shaba Continent… please have your identification card and carry-on luggage ready for inspection to cross…”
My sister sighed, “Ah, Bubbles is pretending to be the logic host of the Ti-Space Administration again.”
I thought of sothing else: “Sis, wasn’t there a mistake in the broadcast just now? Why did it say from the New Eden Federation?”
But my doubt didn’t last long, because the isolation fence in front of the teleportation gate had already lowered, and a large crowd erged from the exit. Among them were many New Eden Federation citizens carrying parcels and dragging small suitcases, probably here for tourism in Shadow City, as well as a few young people wearing Military Academy uniforms, likely new students coming early to familiarize themselves with the environnt. In the midst of this crowd, a slender figure flashed into our view. She wore a sowhat worn dress, standing out from the well-dressed tourists and students around her. It was none other than Anu Lili, whom we had been waiting for all morning. She looked a bit flustered, unsure if she had safely arrived at her destination, and was led with the flow of the crowd until she found the exit of the isolation fence. All the way, she curiously gazed around, filled with curiosity about this strange and bustling world: so much so that until she was almost out of the waiting area, she didn’t notice my sister and .
“Anu Lili!” I felt that if I didn’t call out, the girl would get lost in the station, so I called out to her from behind. As a result, when Anu Lili looked over with a puzzled expression, the surrounding Federation tourists also noticed the Emperor sitting in the corner, perhaps because no one expected the Imperial Leader to be nestled in such a place. The crowd paused slightly but soon noticed from the customs identification card the “tribute” prompt, and I was imdiately surrounded:
“Greetings, Your Majesty!”
“Wishing you health, Your Majesty!”
“Glory to your campaign, Your Majesty!”
“Care for a ga, Your Majesty?”
… Has his business already expanded to Eden?!
“Sa interest, sa interest, disperse, disperse,” I quickly waved my hand and decisively extracted myself from the overly enthusiastic Federation citizens. Fortunately, everyone knew not to disrupt order, and the crowd soon dispersed—although it might also have been due to the black smoke billowing from behind my sister. The slender Anu Lili finally had the opportunity to co through the crowd to us, looking over here with wonder.
“How did you co from the New Eden Federation?” The oppressive black smoke surrounding my sister instantly dissipated, and she looked at Anu Lili with a sunny face. It was Anu Lili’s first ti eting my elder sister, and she seed a bit dazed. I helped introduce her, “Oh, this is my sister, Chen Qian. You can call her Sister Chen Qian.”
“Oh, Sister Chen Qian,” Anu Lili greeted politely and then explained, “When I ca, I didn’t quite understand what teleportation jump ant and ended up in a strange but bustling place. I said I wanted to go to the capital, but they told I had missed my stop… Oh right, I should thank that uncle earlier; he helped …”
Anu Lili said, turning to look at the square’s exit, but the Federation tour group had already vanished into the bustling crowd outside the square. It seed that this girl, who had missed her stop, had only made it to Shadow City with the help of others.
Well, perhaps I should have sent soone to pick her up earlier… Getting lost on the cross-world traffic network is quite troubleso. But even if one really gets lost, it’s not a big deal, because this network is indeed a bit high-tech. Even though its civilian use is foolproof, people who miss their station on their first cross-realm transfer are never scarce, and the staff at the Ti-Space Administration are long practiced in rescue operations in this regard.
“Is this Shadow City?”
Anu Lili followed us toward the square’s exit. Under Sivis’s planning, the Dinsion Hub Square is no longer an open-air structure, but it’s covered by a layer of transparent shield with incredible transparency, so it still appears as an open-air venue. Anu Lili looked around with a shocking and stunning expression as she gazed at the grand and naless tallic buildings outside the square, the Ghost Energy Obelisks dancing with blue lightning, and the Military Integration Departnt’s circular Sky Island above the city. In the distance, one can see those giant structures extending toward the sky, seemingly disappearing behind the clouds, woven into an artful sh in the midair. These sights, unseen by her before, left her in awe of the splendor and magnificence of the Capital of All Realms. She finally noticed sothing even more enigmatic behind the clouds in the sky: in the crevices of those clouds, the clear and shining Do faintly revealed another piece of land hanging upside down. On this land, the rivers and mountains laid clearly visible as if looking down from low orbit in outer space. Upon realizing the entire sky was shrouded by this mysterious inverted mainland, Anu Lili’s breath caught for a mont, “What is… that?”
“That’s the Imperial Mother Star. We’ll take you there, where the things we want to show you are temporarily placed.” I smiled, looking at the girl, curious and amazed upon seeing the majestic scene for the first ti, “As for now… Well, let’s get you so rest, and then have a tour of the Capital of All Realms. An Emperor personally as your guide—you can brag about it to everyone when you go back.” (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to visit Qidian (qidian) to vote for recomndations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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