Xyrin Empire-Chapter 648 Azeroth’s Leaders...

"Playing hooky, eh!"

Looking at the Undead Queen before me, whose face was as serious and earnest as ever, and utterly consistent with her usual icy queenly demeanor, I felt a bright, embarrassed red sun slowly rising in the sky as she spoke words that absolutely did not fit her character.

"Um, is that phrasing really so odd?"

Sylvanas noticed my strange expression and hesitated for a moment before frowning and asking in a low voice, "In fact, I’ve been studying the way ordinary people speak in your world. I learned some of these expressions from your envoy."

"Like Lilina, right?"

I immediately understood: The one who frequents Azeroth most often is Lilina, who’s familiar with the environment there. Furthermore, she’s the only one who could use all sorts of abnormal common sense to trick others without any psychological pressure, no less than the most revered archbishop.

"It’s not exactly wrong..." I looked with mixed feelings at the Queen of the Forgotten, who still wore a serious and solemn face, as if nothing could affect her thoughts, "But in the future, try not to pick up random things from this little miss next to me."

Lilina immediately pounced at me, baring her teeth and claws, but I casually tossed her aside.

"Although I don’t quite understand, perhaps you are right," Sylvanas nodded, and then she took out some scrolls, "Although the Salvation Army considers unity as the highest doctrine, if it’s such a grand celebration, competing seems like an attractive choice."

I understood her point. The Festival of All Realms’ Craziness is merely a holiday for the general public, a stage for unrestrained delight, but for these racial leaders, it’s also an opportunity for competition: How to showcase one’s world culture more to Otherworldly People, how to make one’s racial offerings stand out in the home world’s teams, how to shine in various celebratory activities. These were the issues they had to consider. Don’t think these matters of face are unimportant; for Clans from various worlds who all accept Imperial rule or protection, a better showing means more attention from the Empire and consequently more support—an immense benefit indeed.

Even without describing it as profit-first, isn’t there also the situation where even close brothers strive to perform well to earn more favor from their parents?

Don’t think that as part of the Imperial Family, even the united Azeroth Salvation Army, there isn’t any competition among them; it’s just that this kind of healthy competition build on a foundation of peace not only does not affect their unity but can actually enhance the bonds between the races. For specifics, please see ’One World, One Dream’.

Sandora and I foresaw this situation from the beginning and, considering the bigger picture, delighted in such competition that could promote bonds between races. We even specifically established an open reward system, one of which states: The Race that personally submits its detailed festival plans to either Sandora or me before the deadline will gain the privilege of freely choosing their venue. This means the earlier you register, the more options you have—though, because we designed the entire festival meeting area as an equidistant circular array, this priority doesn’t hold much substantive value... cough cough, anyway, for the racial leaders who view their Race’s honor as exceptionally significant, this honor is something they’d fight tooth and nail for.

Of course, I also firmly believe nobody would rush to submit a hastily put together proposal as a detailed plan, occupy the best venue, and embarrass themselves, right? Anyone with a higher-than-average IQ wouldn’t do that.

"Okay, so the Forgotten are the first to submit their detailed arrangements for the festival period, I’ve got it noted," I took the scrolls from Sylvanas, "The fastest of other races have just started reporting their draft plans. It seems like your showing this time..."

"Oh! By Holy Light’s name!" Just as I had put away the scrolls submitted by Sylvanas, suddenly, from behind me, there came a thunderous groan. The loud voice startled all the Heroic Spirits present, "Magni! Your ale ruined everything! Sylvanas got a jump on us!"

I turned around and saw the tall, sturdy figure of Varian, alongside that of the short, barrel-shaped Magni, who had just teleported in. Clearly, these two had just arrived.

"Oh, looks like I shouldn’t have had those two drinks," Magni grumbled with a breathy voice, his thick beard flapping upwards like a broom, "but I don’t think the situation is that serious. The top hundred spots are all the same to us Dwarves. We don’t fuss over such trifles."

"But I do care!" Varian said gloomily, glancing at Sylvanas, "Alright, Undead Queen, you’ve won."

Varian was the ruler of the Azeroth Human Kingdom and had always harbored hostility toward the Undead, a feeling that only began to change after the Salvation War. But clearly, even though the antagonism had been transformed and he was a fellow leader of the Salvation Army, he wasn’t too fond of Sylvanas.

"I didn’t expect you to act so quickly." Sylvanas shrugged her shoulders, and just as she finished speaking, another voice came from afar, "What?! We didn’t even make it into the top three?!"

I turned again, this time to a big green face—Sal, you’re playing hooky too?

Sylvanas’s arrival seemed to be just a signal, in these few short minutes, four leaders from the Azeroth had shown up in front of me. None of them had brought along any retinue, evidently operating in stealth mode, and they had one thing in common: they were all playing hooky.

"Rest assured, the Salvation Army will keep turning without any of us," Magni Bronzebeard’s voice was louder than Varian’s, the hearty Dwarf King admitted without any embarrassment the fact that he was leaving work behind, then he turned his head and saw a gathering of Heroic Spirits dining, "Ah ha, heroic ale! Mind if old Muradin joins in the fun?"

"Dwarf, your brain is soaked in alcohol!" Sal yelled from a distance, only to be met with Muradin’s hearty laughter, "Ha ha, if you lived again like I did, you would definitely join me for a few strong drinks!"

"Lived again? What’s that about?"

I asked curiously.

"It’s said that in the latest expansion, this Dwarf turns into stone."

Sal blinked, his face twisted into a strange, teasing expression, "Ever since CTM released, the Dwarves have been drinking twice as much ale every day. They announced it’s to celebrate their leader’s rebirth—thanks to the Empire’s rescue, the Cataclysm was nipped in the bud by the Core Stabilizer and two squads of special forces. So, the Dwarf thinks he’s lived a second life."

"But it’s just an excuse to drink," Varian’s scars twitched on his face, "Thankfully Bolvar is still normal."

At this moment, I was already disheveled, a tangle of pale lines: Could you guys stop discussing such nonsense with such serious faces?

Has the ’No Morals’ force field of the Empire already spread to a thousand worlds?

The WOW plot on Earth originates from the Azeroth’s information projection onto our Plane, but due to our interference, the historical direction of Azeroth has been completely reversed. Bolvar didn’t die in Northrend, the Cataclysm didn’t happen, and Deathwing was captured in a Phase Cage before he even woke up. Now he is undergoing a thorough brain rehabilitation, while those Ancient Gods, infuriated but unable to destroy directly, are nailed near the Earth’s Core by numerous deep crust stabilizers. They need to receive mega-voltage electric shocks every two days until their world-destroying addiction is cured.

After these changes, the information projection between the Azeroth world and Earth naturally became misaligned. Now WOW is still releasing new expansions, but these are completely at odds with the true Azeroth. They are nothing more than "inertial ripples" produced by data completion in the flow of information, showing what Azeroth would have been like "if history had not changed". They can only persist for an exceptionally short time. As time passes, the orderly information projection between the two worlds will soon break down, concretely seen in: certain storyline creators on Earth can no longer produce reliable inspiration (...).

The situation sounds complicated, but it’s not uncommon. As a form of almost random information flow, information projections are not stable entities; they usually get interrupted after a while due to world shifts. Thus, in any world, there’s no such thing as a "story" that goes on forever. All works of imagination can only capture a short history of another world before coming to an end—except those rudely axed by No Morals TJ.

Well, grumbling aside, I’m still quite heartened to see those once eternally at-odds leaders of the Alliance and Horde from Azeroth now getting along so harmoniously. Racial hatred is the hardest to eradicate. The world-ending crisis and unprecedented brutality of the Salvation War had brought these former adversaries together against all odds, and now, these racial leaders are striving through their own actions to sustain this positive start. It’s truly no small feat.

The banquet by Fairy Lake was bolstered by a group of heroic emperors and the uninvited attendance of four race leaders, elevating a rather ordinary family gathering to the status of a state banquet. Anyone you picked from the crowd could be a ground-shaking, mountain-quaking figure, not to mention several members of the Divine Race who just knew how to eat and lacked any godly dignity. As extravagant as the meal’s quality sounded, in reality, it had the air of a factory canteen, especially with the booming voices of Magni and Varian.

"Hey, human, who exactly are those folks?" asked Cui Xingshi as I just settled down at the table.

She had suddenly hopped over, her little doll’s face brimming with amazement. Despite maintaining an air of grandeur, I caught a glimpse of her unease.

I bent down to lift her onto my lap and started pointing out a few individuals: "Let me introduce a couple to you: Britain’s greatest King Arthur, with demigod bloodlines, the ancient hero Hercules from Sparta, the Spartan King Leonidas, the one grilling fish over there is Ireland’s Cu Chulainn, and the newcomers are leaders from another world—Dark Queen Sylvanas, Human King Varian, Dwarf King Magni, and the Beastman Chieftain Sal. Like you, they’re guests of the carnival. Oh, and one more thing, don’t tease that little thing rolling a bottle cap around on the table; she’s the Life Goddess."

The little one on the table immediately put down her bottle cap and looked up to greet me cheerfully, "Whatcha sayin’? Talkin’ about Dingdang?"

I felt a profound sadness wash over me as I saw Yelsen and others across the table bow their heads to eat, their eyes shimmering with tears.

Cui Xingshi listened dumbfounded to my introductions, then finally lifted her head with effort, her green and red eyes fixated on me: "You’re kidding me, right?"

"What do you think?"

"...Then what are you?"

I promptly threw back my head: "Parent!"

Cui Xingshi froze, shivering suddenly as she finally grasped what the term meant.

A parent is just a parent, but dealing with this bunch of family is a whole other challenge...

The little doll’s eyes spun round and round before she jumped to the ground: "Mercury Lamp! How on Earth did you end up in this terrifying place?"

From behind, I called out distantly, "Remember to call her sister!"

After the lively "family banquet," I nudged Mercury Lamp to take her bunch of overly curious sisters for a tour around. You could tell she was reluctant, but Mercury Lamp was clearly happy to have an opportunity to mend her relationship with her sisters. As for me, after greeting the others, I set off toward the Temple District.

Everyone must still remember how Avalon was established. Its core temple is a super Xyrin Nest, and this huge Pyramid uses Technology Power to decode the data flow of the entire world. Meanwhile, half of the Nest is also entangled and assimilated by the branches of the World Tree. The World Tree Temple ensures its support for the laws of Avalon in this way. Therefore, it can be said that the Avalon Great Temple should be a building that mixes technology with mystic elements, and right now Fina is here receiving her final stage of treatment.

As evening approaches in Avalon, only a dim Radiant Glow remains in the sky. The magnificent Great Temple radiates a faint golden light under the gradually lowering curtain of darkness, with green crystalline particles mixed among these golden rays, radiating outward and filling the surrounding kilometers with a breathtaking aura.

Next to the Great Temple is a small village laid out in the shape of a Hexagram, with buildings scattered in an orderly fashion.

This is a town that blends the elegance of the Elves with the solemnity of religious architecture. All the buildings here have graceful lines and somber decorations that hang low. Green and gold are the primary colors of this place. Lilina has declared this to be the religious heart of the Life Goddess Sect—unbeknownst to us, it seems that the little brat has truly gone and formally established Little Dong’s unreliable religion.

"Although the doctrine is a bit nonsensical, look, we have a Pope City, a temple, and a religious hierarchy," is the kind of thing she says.

Artemis and her former classmates had all undergone Dingdang’s baptism and now are the core followers of the Life Goddess Sect—in a much more serious way than the unreliable Archbishop Lilina. They take on the responsibility of managing and protecting Avalon, having established this church village near the Great Temple, living together with some of the Heroic Spirits who chose to settle here. When I came to the entrance of the village, I noticed that it was much quieter than usual, with only a few Heroic Spirits on the Star Gold Stone-paved village paths, and none of Artemis’ subordinate priests, who make up the village’s priestly class, to be seen.

As I wondered, Medea happened to come toward me carrying a basket. As a good wife in every sense of the word, the "Witch" never attends the banquets held by the other Heroic Spirits at the Fairy Lake. Considering the time now—is the Ge Mu family only cooking dinner at this hour?

Out of curiosity, I casually asked, and Medea covered her cheek with one hand, smiling, "Because the Misaka Army is also participating in the carnival, Suzuki and I, as teachers, of course need to prepare with the children, after all, we’re the hosts of Shadow City."

"Uh, might I ask what exactly that bunch of little brats is up to?" I grew curious, as the Sister Misakas had recently become more active, especially after running wild with the Three-headed Army for a couple of months. Now, their mobility really has grown by the day.

"We haven’t decided yet. The student council has been arguing recently, but right now we’re preparing for a mass choir, a super group gymnastics session, and something like an orbital drop by the Misaka Army..."

Me: "..."

Though the student activities aside from the orbital drop all seem quite ordinary, when you put over ten thousand Sister Misakas together, whatever they do becomes a pretty outrageous affair!

After marveling at the initiative of the Misakas, I remembered how quiet the village was when I first arrived, and upon asking, Medea immediately revealed a joyful smile, "Because today is Miss Fina’s day of baptism. We have another sister following the Lady Goddess, and many people have gone to witness the event. And because of Fina’s special identity, all the village priests have attended the baptism ceremony, so it’s normal for the streets to be less crowded."

I was a little stunned, "Fina? Baptism? What’s going on?"

"You don’t know?" Medea seemed even more surprised, "The Female Pope visited this morning, and then Miss Fina said she wanted to become a follower of the Life Goddess. I thought it was your suggestion."

My suggestion? Heck! Anyone with a double-digit IQ would have guessed this is another of Lilina’s successful schemes, right?

But despite my critique, there’s something quite heartening about Fina adapting so quickly to life here—and to the shameless hustling. Speaking of which, under Lilina’s relentless efforts or meddling, Dingdang, this Goddess with no concept of religion, seems to have acquired quite a few believers. Those four to five hundred versions of the Goddess’ Scripture are blossoming all over in the Imperial Dominions, and indeed, some earnest believers of Dingdang have developed... er, honest folks. Therefore, now I can no longer view the Life Goddess Sect, this "National Sect," as a mere joke. What exactly is their initiation baptism ceremony? Now, I’m truly a little curious. (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote and give me monthly tickets, your support is my greatest motivation.)

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