Chapter 676: Chapter 676: Bringing Up the Past
When the lid was lifted, what appeared before everyone was a golden cake that had been gnawed to a pitiful state and a Little Douding who had eaten his belly round and was still trying to stuff more into his mouth.
“…Co on, spill the beans, what’s your relationship with Jerry? Where’s Tom?!”
Because the space around suddenly beca bright, the Little Thing eating raised its head and looked around blankly, then suddenly saw all of us spectators. Just as I was about to say sothing, Dingdang took the initiative and speaking, holding up a small lump of cake, the Little One bounced up to , “Ah Jun~~ want to eat? This is really yummy~~”
I patted the shoulder of the tearful Yelsen beside , “Don’t be sad, this just proves that Dingdang is still very spirited today.”
“The cake, it turned out like this.”
It was only then that Silvia finally reacted, looking troubled at the plate with Dingdang and the cake that Little Douding had turned into honeycomb coal, “Can’t let everyone eat it now.”
I grabbed Dingdang, who was bouncing around with a small piece of dessert, preparing to give her a lesson, and at the sa ti, shoved the cake plate towards Sandora, “It’s okay, we have soone here who’s not picky.”
“Ah Jun, Ah Jun, don’t squeeze too hard!” A tiny voice rose from within my hands, “I’ve eaten too much! If you push too hard, it’s going to squeeze out!”
I took out a large cup from my Personal Space and threw Dingdang into it, “You clean off that cream on you first!”
“Father God above!” Yelsen looked at with an adoring face, “Is this how you usually give the captain a bath?”
I nodded, “Sotis I even add so detergent.”
Anyway, the Divine Race has self-cleaning Ability—err, thinking about it, I guess there was no need to throw Dingdang in there, right?
Watching Little Douding blowing bubbles and gesticulating wildly at from the cup, I suddenly felt—sotis ignorance is bliss.
Fina, who had joined us for the first ti, maintained her perpetually unchanged expressionless face throughout. Under such an immoral environnt, her ability to remain unfazed is comndable. Even Gaia beside us had been Loading several tis.
“Speaking of which, Gaia, how is the reconstruction of the Kepulu Star Zone going?”
I suddenly rembered the reconstruction of the Kepulu Star Zone that Gaia had been personally supervising. The space there had undergone a Hot Restart by the Arbitration Institution, completely erasing all matter, Energy, and even space and history. Gaia had to rely on previously recorded “world snapshot restore points” to restore those star systems. This project was massive, and despite the fact that the three Arbitration Institutions had kicked off the world’s self-repair chanism, it continued to this day, unfinished.
“The Celestial System within the Star Zone has been rebuilt,” Gaia, realizing that soone was finally discussing serious matters, nearly showed a touch of emotion, “Using the last full information snapshot before the Hot Restart and the repair commands left by the Arbitration Institution, the original celestial bodies of the Kepulu Star Zone have reappeared. However, the reconstruction of civilization traces attached to those bodies will likely take much longer, due to the fragility and precision of life. Any deviation in the restoration process could render them unusable.”
I get that, a few kiloters of Antarctic ice lt doesn’t seem like anyone’s concern, but try it if soone’s new ho toilet is missing two square ters? They’d dare to take it up with the city construction bureau… I haven’t gone off-topic, have I?
“Due to the complexity of the latter stages of the project, the governnt of the New Eden Federation has contacted and expressed their new demands,” added Gaia, “They hope that we only restore the traces of civilization on major planets with historical and cultural value like Tan Sangni, El, Char, etc. For the other planets, just restoring the basic ecological environnt is sufficient, and they can go back and rebuild their hos. Although it will take longer, it would free up substantial production capacity for the Empire, and Jas Raynor, the Human Leader, believes that the Kepulu Nation, which has lost their hos more than once, should calmly accept the fact that their hos need to be rebuilt. If everything waits for the Empire to provide a nursery, it will gradually erode the enterprising spirit of the valiant Kepulu people.”
“If I’m not mistaken, this speech by Raynor was probably told to you in the last couple of days, right?”
Sandora asked with a knowing look.
Surprised on her face, Gaia still nodded in confirmation.
“It’s because of the recent exchanges,” said Sandora with a smile, turning her gaze toward Fina, “who says you have nothing besides weapons and equipnt?”
At Sandora’s reminder, I imdiately understood.
It was the ergence of the Pan-Galactic Civilization Community that gave the New Eden Federation a sense of urgency.
A mixed civilization that has survived for countless years under high pressure and panic reveals a resilience and bravery that civilizations grown in greenhouses can’t compare with. Although the two major races of the New Eden Federation had similarly experienced the flas of war and the rebuilding of their hos, when compared to the Pan-Galactic Civilization Community’s history of thousands of years overshadowed by death, with races being exterminated at any mont, it was still insignificant. The forr saw in the latter a fighting spirit and hardship they couldn’t match—a warning:
Don’t indulge in the dangerous idea that “anyway, the Empire will protect us, and if our hos are destroyed, the Empire will eventually co to help us rebuild.” The multi-universe is fraught with crises, and any civilization will inevitably encounter endless challenges in its progress. This is the spiritual guidance that the Pan-Galactic Civilization Community brings to other brother worlds after becoming the most ferocious Servant Army of the Empire.
“Ding Ling Ling~~”
The crisp and pleasant sound of wind chis interrupted our conversation. Following that, the voice of Miss Prophet, who we hadn’t seen in two days, ca from the doorway: “Ah, you’re all here?”
“Do you need to speak in such a surprised tone?”
I gave Lin Xue a sidelong glance, then turned my face and signaled to Sandora with my eyes: Eat quickly, this person definitely ca to mooch food!
Sandora, oh Sandora, who else could she be, protecting food as if her life depended on it—not just saying it for fun. My glance had barely passed when the gluttonous girl had already begun licking her plate clean.
I shrugged apologetically at Lin Xue, who looked conflicted: “You’re a step too late, we’ve finished eating.”
“Hey! Do I look like I ca just to mooch a al?!” The Miss put her hands on her hips with an air of swallowing mountains and rivers, “Besides, Miss here has been on a diet recently, and as for desserts… I don’t feel the slightest regret!”
Could you be any more tsundere?
“Did your brother go back?”
I looked behind Lin Xue, not seeing Lin Feng following, and asked out of curiosity.
With two “family mbers” in tow, Lin Xue hadn’t been running around chaotically with as usual for the past two days. Instead, she played the role of a tour guide, seriously leading Lin Feng and Ding Ling all over Shadow City, wandering around—well, it was really just a variety of showing off. Like dragging her childhood friend, whom she played with and fought with since they were little, and pointing proudly at the patrolling shadows in the sky: “See that five-hundred-ter cruiser? Mine! The kiloter-long battlecruiser? Mine! The ten-kiloter-long battleship? Mine! The several tens of kiloters-long space mother ship? Mine! The several hundred thousand kiloters-long planet battleship? Oh, you can’t see that one…”
And so on.
“I ca to tell you about this.”
Lin Xue plopped down beside , after shoving Little Baobao, who was licking cream off her hands, aside and giving her a good couple of strokes. This caused the little girl to giggle nonstop.
“Co in, they don’t bite!”
I turned my head questioningly toward the door, where a tall, beautiful girl with brown curly hair entered. Accompanying her were none other than Lin Feng and Ding Ling.
Hmm, maybe it’s because of those two…
Lin Feng was dressed in shining silver light cavalry armor, with a handmade longbow traded from who knows where slung on his back, a Soul Cutting Blade on his left hip, and a Gauss Pistol hanging on his right waist. Energy bands and a big iron chain were crossed over his chest, and atop his head was a knight helt, the origin of which was anyone’s guess. He also wore a pair of wilderness boots, standing there like an English longbowman who had signed a contract with Rukia Kuchiki to beco a Death God, then traveled through ti to Galaxy 2513 and spent half a year wandering around.
Ding Ling was wearing a gorgeous yet seductive Mage Robe with an obvious Blood Elf style, carrying on her back a harp that she definitely wouldn’t be able to play, crowned with a Triple Crown, wearing Rocket Boots, her neck draped with at least twenty pounds of multicolored gemstones, Heart of the Sunrise in her left hand, and clutching a Jedi Lightsaber in her right, playing around with the switch as if it were a flashlight.
When these two first walked in, I didn’t look at their faces and actually thought two demons had entered.
At first sight of the brown-haired girl, I felt a bit of unfamiliarity, but as soon as Lin Feng followed her in, it all ca back to : wasn’t this Lin Feng’s little girlfriend?
“Big Sister,” Lin Feng was the first to see Qianqian sitting on the outside and imdiately bowed politely in greeting, his Iron Leaves jingling away, before he noticed there was a whole bunch of people in the room. He was montarily stunned, and after a long thought, this guy who grew up with Lin Xue reacted just as wildly as his sister did, bowing in a circle along the door’s axis to everyone in the room: “Second Sister, Third Sister, Fourth Sister…”
“Bang!”
A loud crash, and Lin Xue ended her brother’s silly behavior with a punch to his helt. Big Sister’s forehead was throbbing with veins, and it took Lin Feng a mont to regain his composure from that unprecedented blow, then he looked at and added, “Ah, and Brother-in-law…”
I was instantly dizzy: if you really can’t get your thoughts straight, why not go ho and puzzle it out with a formula?
“Bang!”
Lin Xue delivered another big thump, even more ferocious than the one before, to the point where I could hear the helt echo.
Glancing at Sandora and Qianqian beside , the forr was crunching on a plate while the latter was crunching on my arm. Well, alright, at least I should be thankful that they were just a little jealous and not actually engaging in a real Mortal Kombat…
“Was your brother stimulated today?” I awkwardly pulled Qianqian off my arm and gave Lin Xue a aningful look: sothing’s off with this kid; we need to find a chance to toss him out later.
“This dumb little brother, and this dumb girl companion, they wandered around like country bumpkins for two days!” Lin Xue didn’t hold back in her criticism of her brother and best friend. Her comnts were unnecessary; just looking at the stuff those two were wearing was enough for to imagine the kind of Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden capers they must have committed in Shadow City in the past couple of days, contributing at least one percent to the city’s GDP this year.
“Who wouldn’t take advantage of such a great deal~~” Ding Ling was pressing on that Lightsaber, her face flushed with excitent, “Gemstones! Huge diamonds that are half a pound each! They’re sold by weight! And this! A genuine Lightsaber, only 998, really just 998! And look at this outfit, a genuine won’s Mage Robe bought from the Blood Elves, on sale for an off-season clearance! You couldn’t buy these things outside even if you were filthy rich! I also ran into two guys selling Jade…”
“Don’t be fooled, everyone selling Jade in Shadow City is from the Imperial Army,” I hurriedly warned her, “they’re all goods from the Plastic Factory No.3!”
“…then take a look at these gemstones…”
“Glass Factory No.5.”
“This Lightsaber…”
“Yue Ming Small Appliances.”
“This Magic Wand…”
“Bubbles’s cosplay club. Plus, let add, at least half of Lin Feng’s flashy gear over there is made by the aluminum product company…”
Ding Ling was close to tears: “What about this Mage Robe?”
“The Mage Robe is genuine,” I said evasively, waiting until Ding Ling was about to breathe a sigh of relief before hitting with a counter punch, “but didn’t you notice the neckline is coming undone?”
“…” Ding Ling wore a look of impending tears, “You’re tricking , aren’t you? You must be tricking , right? These things are clearly real…”
“The Imperial People’s counterfeiting techniques have a long history; even the recomndation letter Pandora used for school, that girl printed it herself. Anything they bring in from the outside, they just process it a little, and you won’t be able to tell it apart. Would you believe it if I told you they could take a cucumber and fabricate a ‘Heart of the Ocean’ out of it?”
Ding Ling and Lin Feng were both deeply moved.
I said earnestly, “Also, when you were buying these things, did you happen to et a strange uncle in a black suit selling CDs?”
“Uh, there was such a weird uncle, but as soon as he appeared, a girl dressed as a witch chased him away with so people,” Ding Ling nodded, puzzled.
“Ling ng is quite enthusiastic about her job—let give you a heads-up, that guy’s na is Sicaro, and where he shows up, there’s absolutely nothing genuine within a two-hundred-ter radius. The multi-universe’s number one counterfeiting leader and pirate trader is no joke; even the God of City Managent has clashed with him countless tis and still hasn’t determined the winner.”
Both Ding Ling and Lin Feng were so shocked that they were figuratively brought to their knees.
“Alright, let these unfortunate kids learn a lesson. It’s good for them to know how deep the waters of Shadow City are,” Lin Xue watched the drama unfold with a face devoid of any good conscience and showed no sympathy for the major blow her best friend and brother had suffered, “Now let’s talk business. Sally, co over here, it’s all right.”
Lin Feng’s girlfriend, Sally, a gentle and average-looking girl of mixed Chinese and Western descent, has been in a state of trepidation ever since she entered the room, as if a fragile lamb had been sent into a den of wolves. It was only now, with Lin Xue’s reminder, that our attention shifted to her.
“Who scared her this ti?”
Sandora frowned as she looked at the ordinary girl who remained silent and bowed her head. Her behavior reminded us of their awkward first eting: the first ti we t Sally, she was so frightened by Pandora that she nearly fainted. And although in the few encounters since then, she had managed to control her fear, she was still extrely wary of Pandora—a problem that had always been very embarrassing for Lin Feng, and as such, he rarely brought his girlfriend before us.
Of course, even with such a reason, we didn’t dislike Sally. Although we couldn’t say we were very familiar with her, through Lin Xue and Lin Feng’s descriptions, we could at least be sure she was a decent girl—it was just… sothing was off.
“My younger brother brought her here this morning. Everything was normal at first, and besides being a bit confused, Sally seed happy, until she saw this.”
As Lin Xue spoke, she drew a square in the air, and Shadow City’s ubiquitous public information system imdiately displayed a series of images in response to her ntal command.
Warships covered the sky, iron floods of ground forces, beams crossing through the air, and the Imperial Army emblem projected against the backdrop of the sky, accompanied by spirited enlistnt speeches—I recognized at a glance that this was the damn enlistnt advertisent overseen by Pandora. That thing my two beloved little sisters insisted on playing several tis in public places, no matter the circumstances. It had taken a heap of lollipops to persuade Pandora to agree to play it only once in the morning and once in the evening.
The mont these images began to play, Sally’s face turned deathly pale, but perhaps because she had already been buffered once before, she didn’t scream; instead, she quickly closed her eyes and rushed into Lin Feng’s arms.
“What is certain is that she has a phobia of certain things about the Xyrin Empire,” Lin Xue turned off the projection, “The objects of her fear are the Imperial warships, the ground army formations, the Imperial Army emblem, and of course, Pandora, and perhaps Visca as well. It’s worth noting that when these things appear in a civilian context, like the Imperial Soldiers who go around streets selling souvenirs, they don’t frighten Sally. But as you’ve seen, when they show their combat state, she’s terrified.”
I didn’t know whether I should comnt sarcastically: couldn’t Pandora and Visca be seen without their warlike stances?
“What did you see?”
I looked at Lin Xue curiously; I knew her personality well. When she showed this sly, mischievous smile, it definitely ant that she had discovered sothing big.
“Just a little,” Lin Xue poked Little Baobao, who was wriggling in her arms, and continued, “Since Sally herself couldn’t figure out what she was afraid of, I used my own ability to find the source of her fear. It wasn’t easy, very different from regular predictions, but I saw sothing… Her fear does not belong to her, it’s another mory that is much older, dating back… probably at least hundreds of thousands of years. It’s not easy to explain, but you get the idea.”
“mories from hundreds of thousands of years ago?” Big Sister and I echoed simultaneously, looking at each other in bafflent.
“The era when the Atlantis civilization was destroyed.” (
Reviews
All reviews (0)