In the dark and cold outer space, shattered warships, occasionally a flash of light would streak across the darkness, marking the last skirmishing battle zone. Beneath us, the dark planet has completely disintegrated, even its dark red core has vanished. The Glory Starship, originally an ethereal creation, left not a trace after its collapse. It dissipated like a nightmare in the cold reality, making it hard to imagine that just a few minutes ago, there was a space entity that had a diater of thousands of kiloters, composed of wrecked star fragnts.
Harlan, dressed in tattered military uniform, with wounds yet to heal, stood calmly in the air, watching the sights in space. His gaze crossed hundreds of thousands of kiloters of battlefield, witnessing his once glorious and powerful army now eighty percent reduced to debris and fragnts. The broken starship debris and flashes of distant battle zones reflected in his dark eyes, and the old Emperor shrugged: "So, this is how it ends."
"Sorry, we had to destroy most of them," Sandora replied in the spiritual connection. She rarely apologized to anyone, but facing a forr colleague who had been nearly wiped out by the New Empire, she had no choice but to apologize. "It’s almost impossible for Xyrin Soldiers to be captured. Each ti, the number of soldiers we can successfully capture and reverse transformation is extrely limited. Personally, I hoped to regain more of my brethren’s consciousness, but it’s not realistic."
"It’s alright. Being purified by Ghost Energy is a kind of relief for them," Harlan said calmly. "I have many questions—what exactly did you do, why did I suddenly ’recover,’ how did you manage to avoid that disaster years ago... and just now, what was with that beating I took? Looks like I have quite a lot to figure out."
When Harlan ntioned "how did you manage to avoid that disaster years ago," a hint of disappointnt appeared on Sandora’s face. She had hoped to glean more information about the Great Catastrophe and the truth of the Revenge Army being sealed in the Otherworld by the Barrier from Harlan. But now it seed Harlan’s understanding of these matters was also limited. After a mont, Sandora relaxed and smiled: "The Fallen Apostle viewed by the New Empire has always been shrouded in mystery, with many unknown secrets. It seems that the New Empire looks similar from your perspective. We will explain things clearly to you, and I suggest that you transfer your mory sowhere else now. Based on past experiences, the Fallen Apostles undergo partial mory erasure so ti after being reverse transford. The reason is unknown, but it appears that a certain soone behind all of you has interfered."
Harlan was montarily stunned, then a flicker of light flashed in his eyes; it seed he had begun checking his mory bank. However, no matter how much that mory bank is backed up, it’s only a drop in the bucket. We’ve tried many tis, and we’re quite clear on the pattern. After "recovery," the Fallen Apostles quickly lose the detailed mories of serving under "that person." Initially, this process is very fast, completing in re fractions of a second, then the speed sharply decreases, concluding a few days later. The core issues: the roster of Fallen Apostles, military strength, information like the Abyss Empire’s territorial map, are erased in those initial fractions of a second. Bellavilla and Carter Carlow, among others, haven’t been able to recover this data, indicating that this deletion happens at the system’s bottom layer, leaving no chance for retrieval.
I looked at Harlan a bit apologetically, as I had just given him quite a beating: although there was a reason for it, I couldn’t help feeling a bit guilty. To be honest, by the end, I felt like I was the villain: "Well, got a bit carried away with the fight, didn’t notice you had already woken up..."
"So my recovery is indeed related to your actions just now?" Harlan asked while backing up his mory bank and casting his gaze at . Today was the first ti we t face to face, but we had already clashed several tis without contact. Each encounter was thrilling, with rivers of blood. I don’t consider myself a hero, but there’s a certain sense of mutual understanding between and Harlan, and I suspect he feels the sa, "It’s strange, I can’t understand why that was necessary to awaken polluted envoys. You say it was combat, but there was hardly any lethality. You didn’t seem to intend to harm anyone; it was more like... disruption."
I thought to myself how great it would have been if, back then, during a duel with a female hooligan, the two had competed in ditation instead. Then the Void’s third person’s fad ultimate skill wouldn’t have been solidified into a set of Wang Ba Fists. But I guessed that Harlan wouldn’t understand the reference, so I could only smile apologetically: "The reason is complicated. Anyway, like you, severely polluted with strong spiritual power, this is my only move. But next ti, I’ll pay attention to the patient’s expression—I honestly didn’t realize you were already awake..."
Harlan remained silent, as the earlier psychologically impactful scene lingered in his mind. I felt like I shouldn’t have brought it up, so I quickly changed the subject: "Additionally, there’s a bit of good news—Zhadom has been captured."
Zhadom, the First General of Harlan’s army—probably equivalent to Pandora’s value to the Imperial Army. The difference is that Zhadom apparently doesn’t fall into the category of people who leave their thinking circuits outside, as they’re both intelligent and brave. I believe Harlan must value Zhadom highly. Without exception, the most trusted individual beside every Xyrin Emperor in Imperial history is their general.
For Harlan now, the fact that his Great General is still alive is undoubtedly the most encouraging news.
In fact, when Sandora and I ca to capture Harlan, another group was specifically tasked to handle Zhadom. We weren’t worried about the latter escaping, as no Xyrin General would abandon their Emperor to flee alone. Those responsible for capturing Zhadom were the Tiaozi Five and Xiao Xue. The first five are 1T, 2T, 3T, 4T, and DPS (Bingdisi—although she’s really good at taunting, she’s still a DPS), the last one is the mini map. This team was extrely powerful, especially Bingdisi, whose firepower was more than enough to capture Zhadom, so their capture was very smooth. Additionally, since Xiao Xue has inherited my mantle, Zhadom’s reverse transformation was also relatively smooth.
——What I an is Xiao Xue didn’t et much resistance when punching the sandbag. According to the information from Bingdisi, they hung Zhadom up and beat him, which was even less humane than how Sandora and I handled it.
Harlan’s face lit up with surprise and delight, seemingly not expecting that a Leader Level general other than himself would get captured: capturing a Leader-level Apostle is evidently not an easy task. "You must have worked so hard. Zhadom is incredibly powerful."
"We ambushed, played tricks, set traps, backstabbed, clubbed, and deployed a female hooligan from our side disguised as a stray Abyss creature to distract Zhadom," I recalled the "battle report" Bingdisi just sent . "Overall, it went quite smoothly."
Harlan: "..."
The last few scattered skirmishes finally ended, and the cleanup team began handling the battlefield. So might think such a space war doesn’t need a battlefield cleanup, as the universe is vast and space debris isn’t orbiting our own planet—but that approach is unacceptable. Battlefields where the Empire Army and Fallen Apostles clashed must be cleaned up afterward. The debris floating here is either charged with Ghost Energy or harbors Abyss reactions, both of which possess destructive qualities, the latter more so. Suppose so clueless Alien race accidentally ventures into this world and picks up a piece of debris with residual Abyss reactions; the consequences would be unthinkable. We’ve witnessed enough trouble caused by the Old Empire’s careless dumping of non-biodegradable junk; naturally, we’ll avoid similar "historical legacy issues" as much as possible now. Cleaning up the battlefield doesn’t necessarily an recycling every piece of debris, but at least neutralizing the attached Ghost Energy or Abyss reactions so that only tal fragnts are left, which isn’t much of a problem if left alone.
The sight of the debris-strewn scene made my heart ache a bit. How I wish Harlan could execute a grand reset, restoring the warring sides to their previous states—but alas, that’s unlikely. Things are never perfect; not to ntion Harlan’s Glory Form has already been annihilated. Even if he could pull it off, the outco would likely be another round of battle, and the result wouldn’t be much better than now.
"Ready to et your new friends?" After commorating the heroic spirits lost in the war with Harlan in space for a while, I extended the invitation to him, but soon my gaze fell on his severely wounded body, "Uh... shouldn’t you tend to those injuries first?"
Harlan chuckled nonchalantly, "I won’t die from it, let’s leave it for now. It’s normal to bring so injuries off the battlefield."
Through the large hole in Harlan’s chest, I gazed at the space opposite, feeling cold sweat trickle down my forehead. God knows what kind of injury Harlan considers serious, but since his injuries resulted from Sandora’s Abyssal Claw and my Void Power, recovery is indeed troubleso. Seeing that he genuinely seed fine (Harlan’s standard: not dying for now ans no big deal), I let it go, planning to send him to the repair chamber once we returned.
We waited a bit to ensure Harlan’s ntal state was completely stable—everyone should rember that Fallen Apostles experience a period of ntal instability after Reverse Transformation. Although Harlan appeared normal, that was because his normal persona was extraordinarily firm; the instability persisted nonetheless—then returned to the Imperial Admiral’s bridge.
The command hall remained bustling, with commanders of all levels compiling the battle reports and assigning post-battle damage control tasks. Breathing in the warm brightness after leaving the dark, lifeless space, I couldn’t help but take a deep breath: though breathing isn’t necessary, having been human for over twenty years, I naturally developed the habit.
Harlan seed to find his experiences in the past hour or so surreal, blinking as he looked around the command center of the Imperial Army, "Unimaginable; not long ago, we were enemies, and now I’m standing in your command post."
Sandora spoke calmly, "After the Empire’s fall, many developnts strayed from the norm, with many things we never would have imagined, such as facing each other with guns on the battlefield. Oh, and I recall what you said just now..."
Harlan’s expression instantly beca particularly subtle. I still rember what he said: "Look at your ghostly appearance now! You are just like all of us!" That was definitely a strong taunt for Sandora.
"Sandora is quite concerned about her Abyss side," I sent a sympathetic look to Harlan, "don’t hit soone’s face with your words and don’t expose their shortcomings, what you said just now was really unnecessary..."
"Enough," Sandora suddenly waved her hand, "Actually, it’s not ’particularly’ important—considering that you’ll have to lie in the repair chamber for at least a week, let’s just pretend nothing happened. Like everyone else, the things during your period of corruption will end with that battle just now, and you can start anew. So mbers of the New Empire were forr Fallen Apostles who were reversed; I’ll explain more after you recover from your injuries. You’ll et many old friends, look forward to your new life."
A complex smile finally appeared on Harlan’s sharply defined and stern face. He knew the weight behind the so-called "wiping the slate clean" and "starting anew," so he couldn’t say much, just nodded to and Sandora. At that mont, the gate behind the officer platform suddenly opened, and a small group of people bustled in. At the front was Bingdisi with her loud voice; she finally put away her charred wings and was boasting to Yelsen beside her: "I told you, I’m a drama queen, just now Zhadom almost fought side by side with ..."
Behind Bingdisi followed a tall and strong middle-aged man in a Fallen Apostle’s black military uniform, his expression sowhat weary. His face changed unpredictably upon hearing Bingdisi’s boasting and couldn’t help but interject: "Then you knocked out with sothing—what did you use?"
Bingdisi casually pulled out a brick of Star Gold Stone, with a large dent in the middle: "My brick never misses, even the old monsters of the Pantheon can’t dodge within five ters, you’re still a bit green—oh, Chen, we’re back. Let introduce, this is Zhadom, and this is the brick I just used on him."
It was the first ti I saw soone introduce themselves along with a brick in their hand; if this female hooligan takes it any further, she’d develop a fetish for bricks, wouldn’t she?
"Your Majesty?!" A sowhat disheartened Zhadom suddenly looked up and saw Harlan standing not far in front of him. He imdiately straightened up, saluted, and his aura instantly returned to that of a strong and valiant general, "Zhadom reporting to you!"
"Glad to see you’re still alive—dismissed, General."
Xiao Xue, sporting a peculiar expression on her face, casually approached and greeted Harlan: "Ahem, long ti no see, Uncle Harlan, in every sense of the word long ti no see..."
Those of us who knew Xiao Xue’s background were stunned, then realized a whole lot. Harlan was slightly perplexed but quickly recognized Xiao Xue: "You... you’re the one we cloned back then..."
"I took one of your fleets," Xiao Xue’s eyes darted around, "I should thank you, really. If you hadn’t tried to clone my dad, I wouldn’t have found a better entry point in ti and space."
"Your father?" Harlan turned around, totally confused, "What’s going on here? I rember this girl..."
"She’s my daughter, my biological one," I felt my head slowly swell; this question genuinely challenges one’s logical abilities to explain, "You tried cloning at the ti, but what you actually created was my biological daughter."
"I know about that clone plan, this cunning girl—" The expression on Harlan’s face was torn between laughter and tears. Pointing at Xiao Xue, he said, "She broke out of the clone experint chamber with residual Void Power reactions on her and expressed cooperation. We always thought the clone plan succeeded, but she fooled everyone and took off with a fleet of mine. To this day, I can’t figure out how you managed it! The plan to clone a Void Creature was perfectly sealed off, and you sohow arranged for your daughter to sit at the heart of the most tightly guarded laboratory?"
"She wasn’t arranged by ," I explained Fang Xiao Xue’s identity with mixed feelings, "she arranged herself— you can call her Xiao Xue, on a regular tiline, she hasn’t been born yet. She’s a projection from the future."
"Ti reversal?" Harlan looked at Xiao Xue in disbelief, "That’s impossible; the continuity of ti only has aning in a closed universe. In terms of the Void, each world has its own tiline; cross-Void ti reversal simply doesn’t exist... To void layers, there’s no such thing as a ’tiline’; how did she..."
Xiao Xue suddenly pouted and began muttering: "Uncle Harlan, you’re left-handed. You have OCD; you must walk an equal number of steps with both feet every day. Furthermore, you like eating Aunt Silvia’s waterless mini sponge cakes."
Everyone on site gaped in surprise, and Harlan was dumbfounded: "The first two are true, but what are waterless mini sponge cakes? Who is Silvia?"
"Oh, that’s a future thing," Xiao Xue scratched her head, "Anyway, I’m indeed a projection from the future, regarding the tiline issue—because I didn’t involve a tiline at all. The Void Catastrophe was my springboard. Of course, don’t fixate on this issue; you’ll find out in the future. By the way, thanks in advance for the pocket money you’ll give , though you always instantly report back to my dad after handing the money over..."
Harlan: "...Seems like there are quite a few things I need to understand, all of this is... incredible..."
Leaving Harlan’s surprise aside, even I hadn’t considered the scenario where Xiao Xue would know him in the future, and thinking about it, this damn situation was absolutely inevitable. If Harlan were captured by us, he’d definitely beco a part of Shadow City in the future, and quite possibly soone with a very close relationship with our family—just like Silvia. This inference leads to the conclusion that Xiao Xue basically grew up under Harlan’s watch...
Xiao Xue could keep this secret bottled up all this ti, likely from a desire not to negatively impact the event line. I suddenly found myself re-evaluating this naughty kid’s secrecy skills, and began wondering what other secrets she might be keeping. Halfway through, I dared not think any further!
At least one thing is certain: when Xiao Xue tricked an entire fleet out of Harlan’s hands, it seed she wasn’t the least bit reluctant. This child...
Calm, clever, ticulous, and able to be thoroughly ruthless while Harlan was still an enemy, she isn’t just a naughty kid, far from it. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please head to Qidian (qidian) to vote for recomndations and monthly tickets; your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.)
Reviews
All reviews (0)