Chapter 629: Chapter 629: The Grave
In the spacious Crystal Hall, several Imperial Leaders stood opposite a middle-aged villain cloaked in black.
To be fair, the guy in front of them was hardly cut out to play the villain role. Literary works have told us that to be a proper villain, one needs more than a sleazy mind and a rotten heart. A powerful presence is also essential. Either you embody the beastly type, a towering and burly figure with a face so intimidating it could block cell phone signals, capable of terrorizing people as the penultimate boss, if not the ultimate boss; or you possess an effeminate beauty so enchanting that from the first episode, you’re mistaken for the male lead, radiating an aura so strong audiences might think you’ve fled a princess’s wedding without subtitles explaining otherwise. Add a shockingly cunning mind, and such a person becos an absolute scourge upon the populace when they turn bad… not even suitable as the final boss would be an understatent. Anyway, I consider anyone better-looking than myself as a potential villain.
In short, to be a rogue, you either go for the beastly look or the idol look. A people-friendly type of villain just doesn’t have a good success rate—I am a living proof that I can’t play the villain.
And this Ocam, no offense to him, but where on that ordinary face is there a hint of villainy? As plain as Uncle Wang next door. Wander to the vegetable market for five minutes, and you’d bump into six or seven people with the sa vibe as him. Of course, perhaps it’s because he has such an unremarkable face that people forget upon a glance, that he channels all his villainous tendencies into that foul mind of his.
He really screwed over last ti.
Regardless, no matter how forgettable his face may be, I have a vivid mory of him—always grinning, seemingly friendly in his manner of speech, a combination that’s quite distinctive.
“It’s indeed been a while, choose one yourself.”
In response to Ocam’s smile, as if greeting an old friend, I also flashed him a brilliant smile. Putting other things aside, there was indeed a montary flicker of surprise in his eyes. This suggests that our appearance here might not be sothing he anticipated, and no matter what other plans he may have had in the Literature Hall, on this distance, he couldn’t flee in ti.
“Choose what?”
Caught off guard by my abrupt question, Ocam hesitated, but still put on a slightly guarded expression, “‘Emperor,’ have you brought a gift?”
That slight wariness was proof enough that he was far from confident right now!
Though we’ve t only briefly before, I’ve seen enough to know this guy won’t take action without complete certainty. When he showed a look of surprise, it ant the situation was in our favor. I just didn’t know what his abilities were. Even Visca had never ntioned his fighting style. I wasn’t about to make a move carelessly, because most Leader-level Xyrin Apostles have one or two ultimate skills stashed away—techniques that could let them turn the tables even when they’re at a severe disadvantage. Look, we might seem to have the upper hand in terms of fighting power, but if Ocam had sothing like an instant self-destruct ability, that would really screw us over.
“There are so many delightful options to choose from, flaying, tendon pulling, the Iron Maiden, dismbernt, cutting in half, breaking on the wheel, or maybe just transforming your mom and tossing her into the Red Blood,” I said with a smile, subtly taking a step forward, “today, I’ve planned to kill you, but I haven’t decided how, so I’d appreciate it if you ca up with the thod yourself.”
Using my words to test his guard, I was secretly accumulating energy. The guy was sly to the extre, and his sudden appearance here was also quite unexpected. Based on experience, my own ‘tragedy halo’ hadn’t taken a single day off since the beginning, so I could totally dismiss the idea of running into a lone Fallen Apostle by sheer luck. Thus, facing a Fallen Apostle who was also at Leader level and hadn’t yet shown his true intentions, being cautious was absolutely necessary.
Sandora and the others seed to share my thoughts; they were all on alert, yet none dared to take action rashly. Even soone as bold as Pandora knew better than to be overconfident against a Leader-level Xyrin, despite our nurical advantage.
“Ah ha, such a dangerous atmosphere,” said the middle-aged man with an air of feigned cordiality. He even had the leisure to lant his situation while surrounded by vigilant Leader-level Apostles. Then, suddenly, he turned to us with an air of utter confidence, “But would you really strike down a loyal old servant who’s attempting to revive our glorious Empire? My Em-per-or!”
I was stunned for a mont.
“Here, perhaps you are unaware of what this place is,” Ocam said, not daring to make any careless moves because the threat was too close, his stiff deanor seed sowhat comical but did not affect the calm on his face, “let the honest Ocam enlighten you, my leaders—this place is the graveyard of the Empire’s great collapse! It’s the Ancient Holy Hall that holds the sealed secrets of over thirty fallen Imperial Emperors!”
His voice wasn’t loud, but when it fell, it bood through the vast Crystal Hall like thunder.
I could feel the stiffness of the golden-haired girl beside in an instant.
“The Literature Hall, that’s the na of this place. It is the ultimate database that has preserved every mory of the Empire, our history, culture, technology, life forms, racial patterns, even the characteristics of every hair on every person’s head, all stored here. After that disaster struck, everything was destroyed, and the Empire began to collapse from the depths of its soul. All Apostles either fell into slumber due to infection or beca extrely weak (I thought of Sandora, stranded on the Edge Planet, unable to initiate the Super Space-Ti Jump, and her troops). And so the Tomb project began, conducted by the last conscious Apostles, to compile all the Empire’s data into archives and seal them in the Literature Hall.”
While Ocam continued speaking with what seed like sincerity, he observed our reactions. “Your Highness Sandora, please do not doubt my words. You can find the complete records from any Crystal Obelisk. The loyal Ocam assures you, today marks the day of the Empire’s revival. That foolish woman cannot stop it. The core area of the Literature Hall still has a backup operating system, which I am about to decrypt. Now, with just one confirmation command, the Holy Hall will re-erge, everything in the Literature Hall will be uploaded to the Creator’s Platform, and this compressed world will unfold anew. The Imperial Heritage we preserved at the last mont will return to the world, nothing has been destroyed, it’s rely been paused…”
“You’re the one who should take a pause,” I suddenly interjected, cutting off Ocam’s stirring speech. Regardless of whether his words were true, his rhetoric sounded too provocative, particularly for Sandora. Perhaps they couldn’t cloud the judgnt of a Queen Xyrin, but they were enough to cause Sandora pain and conflict, and that was unacceptable. “Ocam, you certainly switch roles without hesitation! It seems you’re a Fallen Apostle, right? Now you stand in front of two Imperial Emperors, talking about your loyalty to the Empire. Do you think that’s credible?”
“Emperor,” perhaps I should still address you as such, but in my personal view, you hardly deserve the title. You’re rely a human, at least you were originally, incapable of understanding the thoughts of a Xyrin Apostle, just as I’ve said. This is the Literature Hall, the place where all the archives of the Empire are stored, and this is undeniable. We have no reason to lie about such trivial matters. If you can understand the text on the obelisk behind , you’ll know I speak nothing but the truth…”
…You’re mocking for being illiterate, aren’t you?
“It’s true what you say,” Sandora suddenly spoke quietly, no hint of turmoil discernible in her voice, “but as you know, anyone who can read would understand what is written on that obelisk. It’s absurd for a Fallen Apostle like you to talk about resurrecting the Empire. If you’re trying to use the secrets you’ve just learned to buy ti, you’ve reached your limit.”
Ocam managed a bitter smile, evidently not expecting Sandora to straighten out her thoughts so swiftly; his shocking bluff had lasted less than thirty seconds. “Alright, you don’t trust , which is understandable given that I’ve been tainted by the Abyss Energy, but aren’t you in the sa position? Diving into the Abyss doesn’t an we’ve forgotten our holand…
You see, this is the Literature Hall, and you’re already aware of its purpose. But what about the Holy Hall? The folded worlds? No doubt you’re still clueless, yet I know their secrets. The so-called Holy Hall, which you’ve seen earlier, is the Big Nebula! Don’t look so surprised. I know it appears now as a random assembly of material nebulae, but that’s only because the Holy Hall is currently dormant!
After the Literature Hall was completed, the last thirty emperors of the Empire destroyed their own bodies, using their souls and flesh to create this tomb, the Holy Hall. During its dormant phase, it appears as a nebula with a radius of three light years, but upon awakening, the nebula will rapidly solidify, forming thirty Ultimate Glory Starships at the core of the Big Nebula. The remaining material of the nebula will beco the Creator’s Platform. The contents recorded in the Literature Hall will be unleashed by the incredibly powerful World Law and materialize through the Creator’s Platform in reverse, ultimately activating this folded world. You may not have noticed, but this world conceals countless layers, presenting a highly abnormal density distribution, with all cause and effect concentrated at the center and all information at the shell (that reminds of the information barrier). This is the result of world-folding; hidden within this conceptually folded universe lies the Empire’s most expansive colony. Once the Holy Hall resurrects the contents of the Literature Hall, this world will beco the Empire’s initial territory. What a perfect design! Do you still doubt the motives of the loyal Ocam? I am here to resurrect the Empire!”
Having spoken as though he was confessing or reaffirming his loyalty, Ocam wisely shut his mouth, waiting for us to make a judgnt. I couldn’t fathom why this man, who had caused us so much trouble, now seed so vulnerable, but I decided to give him a chance to bounce back a bit. Sandora’s expression fluctuated, and perhaps, as Ocam ntioned, since I’m not a full Xyrin Apostle, I should defer to her will on matters concerning the Empire. If she chooses to believe Ocam…
I’ll just have to kill him when she’s not looking. He seems rather dangerous, after all, and it appears that Silvia also knows the secrets of the Literature Hall, so killing him shouldn’t be too difficult, right?
“Resurrecting the Empire, huh?” Sandora closed her eyes slightly, her thoughts inscrutable, “Indeed, those old friends would make such a decision. As long as there is a sliver of hope, they would keep the fire seed going. This is our racial imprint, passed down since the era when the Xyrin grappled with the Abyss and nearly faced extinction. In fact, when I first learned from Ah Jun of the Empire’s collapse, I suspected that sowhere in a corner of a world, there must be seeds left by old friends that could start everything anew. But I never guessed it would be here, in this Literature Hall. Eighty percent of what you’ve said is accurate, but the remaining twenty percent—”
At that mont, Sandora’s eyes snapped open, causing Ocam, who had just relaxed, to tense up: “That’s the most critical part: As Ah Jun said, why would I believe that you, a Fallen Apostle, are the one to execute this resurrection plan?! You’re rely aware of the secret of the Literature Hall! If knowledge alone made one a savior, that savior would co too cheaply!”
“You’ve really beco too close to humans,” the middle-aged man before us showed no expression, though his voice sounded almost lanting, “but the higher the level of the Apostle, the more susceptible they are to human frailties… So, what if I told you, this Literature Hall was designed by , and the operating system for the Holy Hall, I supervised its completion from beginning to end!”
I’ve lost count of how many tis I’ve been shocked today. I’ve grown accustod to living an ordinary life, content with waiting to die, even if I were crowned a king and just waited to die in a palace. Dammit! Could this random dude of an uncle not reveal earth-shattering news all at once?
This ti, not only I, but even Sandora was montarily stunned. Emotionally, none of us wanted to believe this man’s words, yet everything he had said from the start up to now matched the facts. And isn’t a dramatically or shall we say ‘troubleso’ developnt the main the of this book? I shall heed…
“You are free to peruse the materials in the obelisk. These things are the original recorded versions. Sandora, you have the ultimate authority to inspect all their footnotes. You should rember that a crystalline database built on the bottom layer of Ragman’s foundation is conceptually immutable. It only has a single opportunity for input. Please have a look. On the footnotes of each database entry, you will find my na, Ocam Torrdanian! I have also left a ssage: ‘At any cost, even if I must bear hatred and prejudice, I shall vow to revive the Empire!'”
The middle-aged man’s expression was filled with confidence, while Sandora’s face also began to look strange after she quickly used her spiritual power to interface with the database.
“He’s telling the truth—the na is there, and so is that sentence.”
“Please believe , as the final executor of the Tomb project, I remain loyal to the Empire. The revival of the Empire is my ultimate goal,” Ocam said solemnly. “Perhaps my emotions have been corrupted by the Abyss, making my actions biased. For this, I am willing to accept punishnt—but only after the Empire has been revived! Now is not the ti for judgnt!”
“I’m actually a bit curious. How many of your words truly co from the heart? They’re all true, and yet people can’t easily trust you,” I slowly shook my head. The highest realm of lying is to use ninety-nine percent truths to cover up that one percent of lies, and perhaps Ocam is an adept at this. The events of today have been full of bizarre twists, requiring a great deal of effort to sort through, “Your identity as a Fallen Apostle is a big problem. You should be well aware of that.”
“Actually, that’s easy to explain,” the middle-aged man gave a bitter smile and shrugged helplessly. “After the calamity, soone had to be awake to press the reboot button one day in the future. But under those circumstances, to awaken ant to succumb to madness. We were such a group of self-exiled individuals, to survive and to continue the Tomb project, we voluntarily infused ourselves with Abyss Energy, thus becoming the accomplices of evil. But all of this was a temporary asure! It was a personal sacrifice necessary for the revival of the Empire! Once I arrived at this Literature Hall, the ultimate directive in my mories was activated. I understood my mission—to restore the Holy Hall and to bring the mories within the Literature Hall back into the real world!”
Ocam spoke with passion, his expression showing no signs of pretense. At this mont, a gentle broadcast suddenly echoed through the hall:
“Warning, core zone energy is about to shut down. The final auxiliary energy units are being removed; all databases in the Literature Hall will go offline in fifteen minutes and be lost forever. The burial chanism of the Holy Hall will begin its fifteen-minute countdown to activation. Final warning, your operation will permanently lock down the Empire’s revival plan. Please confirm…”
“Damn it… that stupid woman…” Ocam growled in anger, then looked at us urgently. “Please believe ! I am saving the Empire! I am the only hope! That paranoid woman just wants to destroy this place, and she has unspeakable intentions toward you! So…”
“Ocam, no matter what you say, everything is irreversible! You and I both know, the Tomb plan, it had already failed when this Literature Hall was first established!”
Just then, Silvia’s voice suddenly resounded through the hall. (
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