Xyrin Empire-Chapter 1507: Xyrin Will (Part 1)

"Whoa, your welcome ceremony is pretty grand."

Seeing the outer space scene displayed on the holographic screen, Abyss Xyrin said with a nonchalant attitude, "It’s just for a communicator, do you really need such a big show?"

The stationed troops at the Deep Dive Port had already fully assembled above the Abyss Gate, with the main cannons of all warships locked onto the deep-diving ship slowly floating out of the Abyss Gate. The scene is akin to an unfortunate soul standing in the middle of a square, surrounded by a circle of anti-tank cannons — that’s basically the vibe.

I didn’t expect Sandora to go to such lengths, but hearing Abyss Xyrin’s comment, I couldn’t help but mutter, "After all, it’s you, and this circle of main cannons represents your significance in the New Empire."

"Should I be proud of the number of these main cannons?" Abyss Xyrin glanced at me with a half-smile.

The deep-diving ship, guided by navigation signals and the "guard of honor" of countless main cannons, approached the Starport and was then firmly locked by the port’s stationary force field. The broadcast from the ship’s main computer announced that all passages had opened. I looked at Abyss Xyrin, "Can you walk by yourself? Or do I have to push this big box to get you out?"

"Although I’d like to nod, you probably wouldn’t be happy with that," Abyss Xyrin shrugged, and the black metal box beside her slowly floated up. The box rose about ten centimeters high, and a simple handle popped out from a side edge. Then I watched Abyss Xyrin push her box forward. "Luckily, I designed a small function at the time; basic mobility is still possible."

I was dumbfounded: "..."

Now I finally understand why Abyss Xyrin said earlier that she "couldn’t move" and needed us to help "move" her into the deep-diving ship. Turns out the way this black box moves is so advanced — it’s actually a fully manual stepless stroller!

I don’t know what my expression was as I stepped out of the deep-diving ship, but it was definitely stiff. The person beside me doesn’t play by the usual rules!

Sandora, Harlan, and a large group of port guards were already waiting at the connection passage exit. As the passage door opened, I showed them the most normal smile I could muster: I couldn’t let them see that my worldview had been destabilized by Abyss Xyrin.

Sandora and Harlan quickly stepped forward to meet me, their eyes simultaneously focusing on the black box. Sandora was full of curiosity: "This box is... Abyss Xyrin?"

"I’m here," Abyss Xyrin then stepped out from behind the box. "I should have pulled the box out just now so you could see me first. Hmm, that’s something to improve on."

Putting aside Sandora’s astonishment, Harlan’s expression was the most vivid when he saw Abyss Xyrin. He looked at his former boss, opened his mouth, and after a long moment, finally squeezed out a sentence: "You’re here?"

"Yes, I’m here."

"You shouldn’t have come."

"But I’ve already..."

Before they could finish, I hurriedly interrupted, "Hold on, hold on! The tone’s not right, the tone’s not right..."

Abyss Xyrin looked at me, puzzled. She didn’t seem to think there was anything déjà vu about the earlier conversation. Then she looked Harlan up and down: "Hmm, you seem to be doing well over here. Although the survival probability was indeed high in my initial calculation, I didn’t expect you to survive so smoothly."

"So it was all your calculation," Harlan looked intently at Abyss Xyrin. His entire regiment had been directly "sold" to the New Empire by Abyss Xyrin. The middle-aged man didn’t show it, but seeing the boss who decisively sold him off again, he’s bound to have complicated feelings, and now he finally has the chance to ask face-to-face, "There’s actually something I’ve never understood... When you communicate directly with void creatures, you have to sacrifice some nodes as buffers, but that’s not a problem. However, you can easily sacrifice some insignificant nodes, like a group of War Puppets. After all, any quantity can serve as a buffer, but ultimately you chose to abandon a fully organized Great Warlord... This cost seems a bit incredible to me. Even if I occasionally resisted your command, it wasn’t to the point of being that annoying, right? You should know I left the Abyss Zone with a complete industrial production chain, and you calculated this too?"

"Everything was calculated," Abyss Xyrin nodded, surveying the surroundings. "The atmosphere here doesn’t feel right, and now isn’t the time to talk about these trivialities. I want to find a quiet place to discuss matters. Sandora, I assume you’re prepared?"

"Of course," Sandora didn’t say much, turned and headed towards the upper control area of the Starport. "I’ve prepared the guest room — for now, we’ll treat you as a visitor."

I seized the moment to nudge Harlan’s arm: "How does it feel seeing your former boss?"

"Complicated," Harlan’s voice sounded conflicted. "Actually, I’ve never met her before. You know, when I was in the Fallen Apostle camp, ’that lord’ never showed her face. To us, she was akin to network commands that appeared anytime and had to be executed; she was always an abstract symbol. Now seeing her in person, I can’t connect her with ’that lord.’ It’s just so odd."

"I understand," I forced a smile. "Five years ago, ’alien’ was just a symbol to me, too. Look how concrete those three words have become to me now."

As usual, Harlan couldn’t keep up with my conversational pace and started another topic. He looked at Abyss Xyrin walking alongside Sandora and the large box she was dragging. "What is that box?"

"I don’t know either. Maybe it’s her main body. She said it’s a communicator made with some new technology. Probably because of this box, she can communicate directly with me without worrying about being purified by Void Power."

The four of us (can Abyss Xyrin be considered a "person"?) soon arrived at the "guest room" Sandora had prepared. It’s a small room in the control center of the Starport, with a simple style and no decor, yet it had been given a special "arrangement." Abyss Xyrin noticed the room’s peculiarity right upon entering: "There are quite a few detectors here. Are you worried I’ll contaminate your network?"

Sandora sat by the only round table in the center of the room, smiling at the Abyss Xyrin: "That’s right, we don’t trust you. Given the current faction relationships, this shouldn’t be too much."

The Abyss Xyrin sat opposite us, her big box set beside her. Her expression hadn’t changed at all; she always wore a calm smile, and not even such a straightforward remark from Sandora could cause her to show any emotional fluctuation: "I know, but at least I can guarantee one thing: everything I say here today is one hundred percent true, and you don’t need to worry about any loss. Now, I need to confirm a few things, whether you answer or not is up to you, but you probably have no reason to hide these issues. First: how much do you know about the Void Catastrophe?"

I exchanged a glance with Sandora, feeling there was indeed no need to hide this question since the Abyss Xyrin likely knew no less than the Empire’s side about the Void Catastrophe. So, I cleared my throat: "Just starting, you could say we’re still in a fog. We can only confirm such an event exists and what happens after, but we are entirely clueless about its cause."

"Hmm, just as I expected. Then the second point: do you have any relatively stable contact methods with the Other Shore Civilization?"

"Absolutely none," this time Sandora spoke up, "Looks like you’re also trying to solve this problem on your side?"

"Indeed," the Abyss Xyrin nodded readily in acknowledgment, "We’re trying to establish stable contact with the Other Shore, currently with no progress, but I imagine we’re at least a bit deeper in research than you are: I have some materials from the Old Empire period, and also some things that drifted over from the Other Shore... Hmm, you’ve now seen the largest scale wreckage among them. The third and final question: if there were a way to permanently reduce the frequency and harm of the Abyss phenomenon in the Void, would you be interested?"

Sandora’s eyes narrowed: "Is this what you mentioned about collaboration?"

The Abyss Xyrin’s smile seemed even more radiant: "That’s right; complete my Da Ye, and the Order in the Void will be overall improved, an attractive bargaining chip for you, and that’s what I’m here to discuss today. Well, I’ve also more or less learned some real-world negotiation rules, and before officially discussing matters, I should show you some goodwill, so now is your time to ask questions. About Da Ye and Bridge Building aspects, ask what you want to know. Of course, other matters can also be addressed since the plan has reached this stage, and there’s not much left I need to hide from you."

Until now, I still felt some sense of unreality about the Abyss Xyrin’s sudden appearance and found her actions too abrupt. But since the other side sitting here is already a fait accompli, it’s better to take this opportunity to understand her plan. I organized my thoughts, trying to find a breakthrough to open the topic, but when I wanted to do so, I found myself at a loss: tons of questions piled up, muddled with no lead, and I didn’t even know where to start asking!

The Abyss Xyrin glanced over with a semblance of a smile: "Feeling at a loss for words? I have a bit of that feeling too, with so many things to say, I don’t know where to start... Well, then, following my rhythm, I’ll start explaining from the very beginning. Sandora Kervy Yurasis, do you know what marked the beginning of the Empire’s collapse?"

Sandora furrowed her brow: "Are you referring to those X Projects that were researching the nature of the Void?" 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"Although that’s not the start of everything, it’s indeed faster to explain everything starting from then," the Abyss Xyrin exhaled in a very human-like manner, as if even as a projection she needed to breathe, "The X Project initially was indeed just a series of feverish research activities: the operating laws of the Void, artificially controlling or even creating Void, trying to build devices that could directly use the Void as energy, even inventing experimental devices that didn’t consider real-world laws. Most of the projects in the X plan were indeed such feverish ideas, and any one of them succeeding would be enough to propel history, but even the experiment that eventually led to the Empire’s collapse wasn’t a big deal to me—at least compared to what I’m about to explain to you, it weighs far less."

I noticed the change in Harlan and Sandora’s gazes, clearly the remark "even the incident leading to the Empire’s collapse wasn’t a big deal" was impactful, and the Abyss Xyrin successfully piqued everyone’s curiosity at the scene.

"Among the many projects of the X plan that were in full swing, ’Deep Dive’ was initially the least conspicuous one," the Abyss Xyrin paused before continuing, "Compared to researching the essence of the Void, tossing some probes into the Abyss Gate or driving a spaceship inside for a spin wasn’t very impactful, but there was one Researcher enamored with it, and that was Ocam."

He was one of the most outstanding researchers of the Old Empire era, specializing in Abyss research... well, we can discuss these introductions later. In short, he designed and built the first deep-diving ship and spent a long time perfecting it. He was also the first to navigate close to the Abyss Bottom Interface to confirm the existence of the ’Other Shore Civilization.’

But his research could not continue. You know what happened: the unfortunate Ocam happened to run into the rampaging Destruction Army, and the only deep-diving ship was destroyed by the Destruction Army. Ocam was never able to rebuild it until the collapse of the Empire.

Thus, the Deep Dive Plan was put on hold, and soon most researchers’ attention was drawn to something more enticing: at the time, there was a breakthrough in Void research that many believed would greatly enhance the Empire’s power. In contrast, the civilization detected at the Abyss Bottom soon attracted little interest... or rather, wasn’t entirely neglected, since Ocam continued to follow the project. However, until the day disaster struck, he never made any further progress.

"After that came the Great Catastrophe, the attempt to artificially create Void failed, and the Abyss began to sweep through the Imperial District. You should know a lot about these things, so there’s no need to elaborate. What needs mentioning is some of the self-rescue plans at the demise of the Empire, which, in retrospect, mostly failed to succeed. The only effective ones were the Concept Severance of the Fifteenth Day Zone and the Revenge Army fire seed I preserved — it seems you’ve already figured out my connection with these matters. I discussed the Revenge Army with the new Emperor while aboard the deep-diving ship."

Sandora showed a faint smile: "Anyway, I must thank you, if it weren’t for your protection back then, I would be like those Polluters of the Abyss Zone now."

"I was merely adhering to the highest principle of ’Empire’s interests first,’" Abyss Xyrin waved it off unconcernedly, "In short, when disaster struck, I assisted the Revenge Army and helped complete the Concept Severance of the Fifteenth Day Zone in time. Looking back, those are the only two successful acts. After completing everything, I hunkered back into the network, thinking that there was nothing left to be done and resigned to fate, but then the first unexpected thing occurred..."

I stroked my chin: "If I’m not mistaken, the incident of my demise at Da Yuetower will be dragged out to flog the dead horse once more."

Abyss Xyrin smiled: "Don’t say it like that. Looking at the end result, you did save quite a few people — although more than half of them who survived turned into Polluters. In short, the power of Void Creatures crossed the Concept Severance barrier, and although the amount wasn’t large, it partially neutralized the Abyss Zone’s pollution. As a result, the infected Angel Envoys survived by transitioning from certain death to a state of slumber. As network consciousness, I naturally also followed into a pseudo-death state after all my subordinate nodes fell asleep. This dormancy lasted about seventy thousand years, with parts of the slumbering Polluters occasionally waking and acting for a few years, and I would awaken along with them, sometimes drowsy, sometimes clear-headed. I recall it happened dozens of times... seventy thousand years, dozens of times, in this intermittent awakening and thinking, I finally had the opportunity to piece together what had happened and gradually repair my functions. During this process of self-repair, I discovered an unexpected situation: I had to some extent freed myself from the constraints of the fundamental protocol."

"And then you became a Super Administrator from a mere network maintainer," I already knew what happened, "You bypassed a small part of the protocol and established control over the ’nodes.’"

"During that time between the disaster and the onset of slumber, I planned similar things, but had given up hope on them, yet it unexpectedly worked out in the end," Abyss Xyrin nodded, "You are correct. Thus, I became the ruler of the Abyss Zone, establishing my control system before all nodes awoke and starting to look for the next course of action: as a network consciousness, I must have a mission objective to keep running. This target became apparent: The Empire had collapsed, so I must recover the Empire."

Sandora and I said in unison, "Even if it means standing with the Abyss Camp?"

"Yes, even if it means standing with the Abyss Camp," the black-haired young lady nodded nonchalantly, "I mentioned before that I have no concept of camps, any camp is the same to me. The Empire is the Empire, and whoever I need to oppose to rebuild it does not matter. As long as the Empire can rise again, I will declare war on everything."

"Declare war on everything, you’re right," Sandora couldn’t help but clap, "I understand your thinking. Now, continue, I still haven’t discovered how this relates to your great work and bridge building. And what became of the Other Shore Civilization?"

"We know there is a civilization on the other side of the Abyss, and they know about us as well, more so than we did," Abyss Xyrin said slowly, "Shortly after my awakening, as I had just decided to rebuild the Empire, a ship came from the other side... more precisely, it was the wreckage of a ship, the pile of things you had just transported up. From these wrecks, I saw hope for the Empire to rise and never fall again." (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to vote for it on Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read it.)