Chapter 756: Chapter 756: Lilina’s Ghost Story
Analyzing and applying the ancient Xyrin Technology obtained from Atlantis City was an inevitability, and the uses of biotechnological enhancents were bound for the Empire’s vassal civilizations. Despite the Empire’s myriad of vassal races, which included silicon-based life and even energy life, not all carbon-based life could be enhanced using genetic technology. Nevertheless, the technological heritage of Atlantis still held vast potential for application.
But bioengineering had its peculiarities; for regular carbon-based beings, the question of whether to accept their bodies being transford into sothing else, thereby no longer being a complete human, was sothing that had to be contemplated. Sandora and I could pass Sivis’s proposal, but we also had to consider the perspectives of other races.
After all, they were not tools.
“Send these bioenhancent materials to all racial leaders and have them and their Assistant Ministers take a stand,” I pondered, then said to Sivis, “I agree with this plan, but bioenhancent must follow the principle of voluntariness. Explain the implications of this technology to the soldiers, let them choose for themselves. Enhanced Persons who undergo the transformation can receive additional allowances and specialized equipnt, but soldiers who do not undergo enhancent should not be punished. After all, in so worlds, biotechnology is equated with cris against humanity. Their cultural traditions must be considered.”
“Your will.”
Sivis saluted and said, “Additionally, there is another piece of news that was just uploaded today: The chaos storm in the universe where the Pan-Galactic Civilization Community resides has partially subsided.”
“Oh? So soon?” I raised an eyebrow, pleasantly surprised by the news, though it seed too good to be true.
The universe in which the Civilization Community resided had left a profound impression. It was originally a grave created by the Old Empire on the eve of its collapse to serve as the resting place for the Literature Hall and the coffins of thirty Emperors. However, during the Big Nebula battle, we were forced to destroy them. The destruction of the Big Nebula Core—the control center of that entire universe—triggered the onset of chaotic destruction. The physical laws followed by all celestial bodies fell into disarray, plunging into the cosmic storm that perated the universe. To preserve the citizens of the Community, the newly-ford Celestial Fleet of the Empire took on the temporary role of a Colonized Star System. To this day, the Community’s hundreds of billions of citizens still live on those Planet Warships covered with a layer of artificial ecological environnt, slowly rebuilding their hos under the blue light of the Ghost Energy Death Star.
In our original expectations, the chaos storm in the “Grave Universe” would last for at least a hundred centuries. Only after ten thousand years would the crazily racing celestial bodies gradually arrive at their normal positions—then young Constant Stars would be ford by new Space Air Groups, marking the mont when the “Grave Universe” would beco a normal world. And now, just a few months have passed, and the storm there has already subsided?
Sivis explained, “The result is due to Lord Bingdisi’s assistance. She rewrote so of the gravitational rules of that world, allowing a part of the universe to directly enter a state of calm. However, this calm is only on a small scale, barely sufficient for the Civilization Community to rebuild their space hos near their own Constant Star System. The ‘Grave Universe’ was created jointly by several dozen Emperors of the Old Empire. Even the power of Senior Gods cannot influence it too much.”
I imdiately slapped my forehead, finally recalling the matter.
I had ntioned the troubles of the universe where the Civilization Community was situated to Bingdisi not so long ago. At the ti, Sister Bing had boldly patted her chest, promising to solve the problem for , though I thought the main reason she made that promise was because of the cake roll stuffed in her mouth, which had been in my hands. I never expected her to actually help so quietly.
Although her power was not enough to restore such a special world to order imdiately, the localized calm was still very gratifying. One of the embarrassing issues faced by the Civilization Community was the cosmic storm—they would confront unprecedented gravitational tearing once they left the protective systems of the Celestial Body Fleet Constant Star Circle, making it a cage preventing the Community from developing space technology beyond the Constant Star Systems. Indeed, they possessed such technologies, but they had been obstructed from using them by the raging gravitational storms throughout the universe, which would be extrely detrintal to the developnt of a space civilization in the long term.
Now, this problem was resolved, providing so leeway. The space technology of the Community could be preserved. Under the aegis of the Empire, they would one day have the capability to resist the lethal gravitational storms in outer space with their own technology. A civilization that grew from such adversity might even beco more robust than their “big brother,” the New Eden Federation.
“Seems that Bingdisi occasionally does so real work.” I grinned, deciding not to pursue the issue of her competing with for the last serving of the best dishes every night.
Spending at least two hours every day loitering in Shadow City was not for leisure, but to observe the city’s developnt, understand the progress of several important tasks, and accept the fervent invitations of those research fanatics to hear about their latest discoveries—although the latter often left so sleepy I wished I could pass out on the spot. This had almost beco a habit now. At first, I was quite peeved about this routine; given the choice, I would have preferred to hunker down in my room and spend ti with Dingdang jumping through hoops or watch Little Baobao roll around on the keyboard. But now, it seed that I truly had changed quite a bit.
Having completed my daily “inspection,” I returned to that big house in the Outer World which Lin Xue jokingly called “the poorest palace in history,” and was suddenly startled by the atmosphere before .
In the living room, the doors and windows were tightly closed, the thick curtains blocking out all sunlight, making it seem as dark as night despite it being dayti; the fabric of the curtain edges was black and red velvet, and the light faintly penetrating through it tinged everything with a blood-like dark red. A heavy and oppressive atmosphere perated the living room, its source being several patches of candlelight flickering in and out of brightness.
A large round table was set in the middle of the living room, with candles burning on top almost snuffed out—a circle of little faces appeared and disappeared in the candle’s glow, their appearance sinister and distorted due to the changing light. In the center was the expression of the biggest bishop, smiling wickedly.
“You guys…,” I was about to speak out when a shadow rushed towards with the speed of lightning, catching off guard. I was one hundred percent sure that the shadow used Ti Acceleration to move that swiftly. She clasped her hand over my mouth, and then a soft, muffled female voice whispered in my ear, “Ah Jun, be quiet!”
Qianqian murmured this while gently leading to an empty seat at the round table. Lilina looked over approvingly and leaned her chin over a candle, saying in a sinister voice, “Good, the last person has arrived, let us begin the next story… a liquid of blood-red color…”
“Eh? It’s not over yet?” The voice of the rcury Lamp ca from the side, followed by the soft rustling of wings flapping as a soft, tender body landed accurately on my shoulder, “Stupid human, we’re out of yogurt at ho!”
“Oh, I’ll go buy so this afternoon.”
“Hey! Be serious!” Lilina threatened with a snarl and wagged her teeth, “I refuse to believe we can’t have at least one successful story today!”
Seeing everyone quiet down under her terrifying influence, the deviously fake Lolita smiled contentedly and continued in a low, scary voice, “This is about sothing that truly happened nearby recently. In the sixteenth century in London, there was a famous craftsman who made mirrors…”
The crowd imdiately booed.
“The mirror he made eventually ca to China, and half a year ago, it was purchased by an antique collector in this city—Tch, you booed too soon! I, the Priestess, wouldn’t stoop to using such a clichéd plot point!” Lilina proudly looked down at us, revealing dumbfounded expressions in the flickering candlelight and wagged a finger in front of her eyes, “Anyway, it was an ancient mirror that had withstood hundreds of years, already becoming an antique, and it was carefully placed in the attic by the collector…”
A noisy voice imdiately rose from not too far off the wall, “Tch tch tch!! Hundreds of years! Antique mirrors! Human life is indeed fleeting, I have witnessed the changes of eons, I know the truths of the world. Hey, stop with that boring story, co chat with the Magic Mirror about the nature of the universe, it would be better than that!”
It turned out it was the Magic Mirror that Lilina had brought from the Divine Realm, which had been hung up on the living room wall at so unknown ti, now seizing its opportunity to disrupt the mood. Lilina imdiately threatened the blabbermouth mirror with the candle in front of her to silence it, then continued with her story. One had to admit, the fake Lolita did have a knack for it. Despite the disturbance, she managed to bring the atmosphere back to a ghost story mood in just a few sentences.
“…The collector found weird red stains appearing on his ceiling; each morning when he opened his eyes, those red marks were there, seeping out and even dripping onto his bed. By afternoon, they would slowly fade away, only to reappear the next day, in a ceaseless cycle…”
I felt goosebumps rising on my skin, while Qianqian swallowed nervously and carefully asked, “So he had to wash the sheets every day?”
Lilina almost fell forward onto the candle, “Sister Qianqian, can we finish the story first? You’ve ruined five of my stories already!”
“Cough cough, continue. The Collector had gathered a vast number of antiques, among which were many bizarre items, so it wasn’t the first ti that strange phenona had occurred in his house. He wasn’t scared but decided to uncover the truth behind it. He set his alarm clock for three in the morning because he was certain that the red stains only appeared after 3 a.m., and he wanted to see for himself where the red liquid on the ceiling ca from. So that night, the alarm woke him up. He imdiately switched on the lights in his room and stared intently at the ceiling—however, the Collector failed to notice that the clock on his bedside had been stuck at twelve o’clock midnight… It wasn’t the alarm that woke him.”
Qianqian clutched my arm nervously, looking very scared, “His house’s clock is broken, won’t he be late for work the next day?”
I looked conflicted at Lilina and Qianqian, then pulled out a magic cube and handed it to the latter, sending the girl off to play with it.
“The Collector heard the sound of dripping water coming from upstairs, and then a blood-red liquid quickly began to appear on his bedroom ceiling, dripping one drop after another onto his bed and floor, growing faster and more voluminous. Realizing sothing was wrong, he imdiately tried to hit the alarm to summon the guards outside but found the alarm system had lost power…”
“But, but, didn’t he turn on the lights?” Visca raised her little hand, “There’s electricity in the room, right?”
Pandora spat out four words: “Multiple power supplies.”
rcury Lamp twisted her body on my shoulder, “Or maybe soone specifically cut the alarm’s power supply—funny to think that mirrors from hundreds of years ago would know about modern circuitry.”
Lilina was speechless for a mont and then, through gritted teeth, said, “Alright, anyhow, the alarm didn’t go off you baddies! The Collector realized the gravity of the situation and imdiately rushed outside to the foyer, but where the front door was supposed to be was now a solid wall. The door, the windows, even the vents—anything that should connect to the outside had disappeared, replaced with walls: the entire house had been completely sealed off. By then, the red liquid wasn’t just seeping from the bedroom ceiling, it was spreading from every corner of the roof, dripping and streaming down the walls. The roof seed like a sponge saturated with water, being pressed down from above, swiftly staining everything in the house with thick red liquid. The Collector ran to every possible exit in desperation, but all he found were unbreakable walls. His body was covered with the stench of bloody water, and the liquid pouring from the ceiling was now like torrential rain. The first floor’s living room swiftly filled with waist-deep blood water. The Collector panickedly ran to the second floor, but the torrent of blood made it difficult for him to walk. When he slipped and fell on the stairs of the second floor, he caught a glimpse of sothing out of the corner of his eye—
It was an ordinary decorative mirror.
The Collector imdiately rembered the ancient mirror he had placed in the attic, the only addition to his collection recently. He broke into a run, heading for the attic…”
“With the floor so slippery, wasn’t he afraid of falling again?” Qianqian leaned over to join the conversation and imdiately beca the focus of many resigned glances. The girl whose thoughts were exceptionally active stuck out her tongue, “Ah Jun, I’ve solved the magic cube.”
At that mont, I honestly felt that among our family, Lilina was a disaster when it ca to telling ghost stories.
The Priestess, telling ghost stories, scratched her ears and cheeks in frustration, and after half a minute, finally cald down enough to squeeze the rest of her words through clenched teeth, “Alright, by popular demand, the Collector fell and ended up bruised and swollen on his way up, struggling imnsely before finally climbing to the attic. The attic, which he had just cleaned yesterday, was now covered with a thick layer of dust and long-standing spider webs, as if it had suddenly aged hundreds of years, and in the middle of the attic, the ancient mirror stood alone. Red liquid continuously seeped from the bottom edge of the fra, flowing into the floor as if absorbed by a sponge, disappearing without a trace. The Collector bravely approached the ancient mirror, but to his shock, the scene inside the mirror was different—a dim oil lamp, and a hand holding it. The Collector moved closer to the mirror and finally saw the person holding the oil lamp clearly.
It was a man identical to him, but with long, white hair and a scruffy beard as though he had been locked in a dungeon for twenty years. The collector in the mirror held the oil lamp, suddenly grinned, and then… stepped out of the mirror.
A ghost had walked out of the mirror, reaching out its gaunt arm towards the Collector…”
Anwina’s head suddenly popped up from the table: “And then? What happened next?”
I silently watched my peculiar Maid Chief, “Anwina.”
“Eh? Master?”
“Disappear.”
Whoosh, Little Ghost was gone. But Lilina was already on the verge of tears, our grand Priestess watched as the last ghost story also got mucked up and started to howl in frustration, “Waaah… I’m done playing! What kind of people are you all!”
Big Sister stood up and ca to the window, whooshing the curtains open, and bright sunshine imdiately filled the room. Pandora looked at us blankly, then returned to the couch to sit and stare into space, while Visca leaned in and whispered in detail how Lilina’s few unfortunate stories had ended. Little Baobao rubbed her eyes awake from a deep sleep, finding her dad’s direction even in her groggy state, and began rummaging for candy in my pocket. Eventually, she pulled out Dingdang and instinctively popped it into her mouth, Dingdang scrambling to pull out a lollipop stick to hold off Little Baobao’s teeth, while rcury Lamp rcilessly mocked the grand failure that was Lilina, and Sandora got up stretching lazily, inquiring about my inspection today.
“Ha, this is so boring, oh so boring,” the Magic Mirror on the wall started complaining, “Look at yourselves, with your status, gathering together to tell ghost stories! It’s ridiculously stupid!”
Lilina, having been teased rcilessly by rcury Lamp, now found a target to vent on and shouted at the Magic Mirror furiously, “Jerk! Shut up! Irritating! If you don’t talk, no one will treat you like a mute!”
The Magic Mirror shot back, just as sharply, “You shut up! I’m a mirror; if I don’t talk, anyone would take for a mute!”
Lilina, her face a picture of collapse, lunged forward, “I’m finished, I’ve actually been roasted by a mirror!”
I soothingly ruffled Lilina’s hair as a conciliatory gesture, and before she could get carried away, I picked her up by the collar and tossed her into a nearby basket. Looking around at this circle of superwon who had nothing better to do than tell ghost stories at ho, I found it quite amusing, “Tell , what got you all started on ghost stories all of a sudden?”
“It was because Lin Xue ca by, you didn’t see her,” Qianqian clicked away on the Magic Cube in her hands, “She ntioned that the Superpower Team has recently been busy investigating a few supernatural incidents. Lilina got excited as we talked, but I find it quite interesting too. Back in junior high, a few of us girls would often get together to tell ghost stories…”
“I did too, in high school, I even managed to scare half the dormitory into crying, how co I’m such a flop now?” Lilina spread her hands in confusion, “It’s all Anwina’s fault! Don’t co out and crack jokes when we’re telling ghost stories!”
“Well, although as a maid I shouldn’t speak out of turn,” Anwina’s head popped up again from the table, “but those ghost stories… they seem quite similar to what Sylvanas ntioned about the look and feel of Dark City.”
I pressed that perpetually mory-challenged Little Ghost back down, curious, I asked, “Lin Xue was here? I haven’t seen her these past few days, why did she co in such a hurry today and then leave?”
“She’s busy,” Lilina lifted her eyelids slightly, “Isn’t she still holding a title in the Superpower Team? That’s her grandfather’s business. As one of his heirs, she’s only shown up for duty ten tis in half a year, which got the Old Master to impeach her, now she’s busy earning rits to make ands. Ah, I really do feel sorry for her.”
I deeply agreed, but suddenly beca interested in the thing Qianqian had just ntioned: Supernatural incidents? Are those still a thing on Earth? (To be continued. If you like this work, please co to Qidian (qidian) to vote for recomndation tickets, monthly tickets, your support is my greatest motivation.)
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