Xyrin Empire-Chapter 714: You Did Your Duty

"I have completed the mission."

The radiant giant stood in front of the outpost he had guarded for 760,000 years, standing straight like a soldier awaiting inspection. Although fatigue covered his face, the fire-like glow still radiated from Zeus’ eyes.

This was perhaps the longest mission in history. 760,000 years ago, a warrior had been created and received the command. Since then, he had faithfully guarded his post, never abandoning his mission even though his masters had long since turned to dust. Today, 760,000 years later, he could finally declare with pride and glory that he had completed the ancient mission and returned the position to his master.

"You have done well, soldier, truly, as well as an Imperial Soldier," Sandora said with a dignified yet emotional expression, "You held your line, you guarded this temple—open the control room door, let us meet the ancient Xyrin Apostle."

"By your command, the great god Moragus is inside."

Zeus responded with a voice as loud as thunder, lifting his hand toward the temple’s gate, which immediately opened in response. He then curiously glanced at his brother Hades, wondering why he always looked up at the sky at a thirty-degree angle and shivered from time to time, unable to comprehend Hades’ current state without experiencing the multiple times more intense purification "treatment."

We allowed no one else to follow; all the soldiers and Divine Servants stayed outside. Even Bingdisi held back Yelsen and Lin who wanted to follow inside. Although this female hooligan was often careless and even seemed foolish at times, in certain situations, the Goddess truly knew how to strategize and see the bigger picture. She stopped the rash actions of the two lesser-experienced followers, then pulled out a deck of playing cards from her pocket: "Don’t go in there, how about a game of Landlord? Monina, did you bring your military chess with you and Kenser?"

"Very well, very well," Kenser nodded, "Who wants shrimp sticks?"

I could clearly feel that as Sandora and I walked into the temple, the atmosphere behind us was very heavy, intensely focused on the heads of the Divine Clan Five.

The Zeus Temple had a magnificent exterior, with its thick columns and embossed walls patterned like those in religious murals of a heavenly communication room, but its interior was not as complex as I had imagined—the height of twelve meters of Zeus meant that this twenty-meter-tall building did not even have a split-level. Thus, once past the main door, it was direct to a grand hall.

It was a square hall, each side one hundred and fifty meters long, without a single pillar supporting it, appearing exceptionally bright and transparent. A significant portion of the floor displayed an aerial view of Atlantis City, precisely showing the current state of the city. Suspended irregularly in mid-air throughout the hall were many holographic projections showing complex curves and data reports, and a familiar sight reminiscent of a starship control panel—of course, the main function buttons were now grayed out. Around the walls of the hall stood countless complex and advanced machines, looking somewhat like the command hall of an interstellar warship, yet seemingly missing many elements. The subtle flow of energy and the low humming of machines resonated deeply within the hall, creating the illusion of walking onto a bridge.

This is the Zeus Temple—a place bearing the name and appearance of a temple, but in reality, it is the control room of an ancient colonization ship. Zeus is the guardian here, as well as the operator of these devices. Although he is an ancient person, the Xyrin Apostle endowed him with knowledge far beyond ordinary civilizations, making him one of the few Atlantians capable of controlling some functionalities of the Sunburn Obelisk, though this explanation is subtly complicated.

I briefly surveyed the surroundings, then my gaze, along with Sandora’s, focused ahead: in the center of the hall there was a crystal, irregular in shape, looking as if it was a chunk of crystal that had shattered and fallen there, its surface shimmering with the glow of Ghost Energy, abundant and clean. The radius of this crystal fragment was approximately four to five meters, with a height of about six meters, overall forming a conical shape, like a fierce flame that had been suddenly frozen.

I noticed that at the base of this crystal there was not the usual connecting platform found in Xyrin equipment; it extended directly from the floor of the hall.

"The control room below is the top of the Sunburn Obelisk," Zeus’s voice came from above us, "The energy of the control room is directly provided by the Obelisk. The Yang Flame Crystal is an extension of the Obelisk, containing the purest Divine Power, which has never extinguished even in the darkest times. After leading us in fleeing our homeland and suffering serious injuries, the Great God Moragus said he could no longer heal himself, but someone must control the Obelisk. The Atlantians didn’t possess enough talent, so the Great God came to the control room, fused himself with the obelisk, and then commanded me to stay by his side forever, contributing my loyalty to the Empire for every remaining moment of life. For seven hundred and sixty-eight thousand two hundred forty-five years, I have faithfully carried out my mission and guarded here."

Sandora and I walked forward, silently observing the blue-white crystalline body Zeus referred to as the Yang Flame Crystal. Only upon approaching did I realize that within this translucent crystalline, a tall Xyrin Apostle was encased.

Moragus wore the standard silver-white robe of Imperial technicians, the crest on chest indicating he was a special scholar with a military rank, his face bearing the stern expression common among Old Empire’s Apostles, looking ahead like a strict instructor. He sat upright on the alloy seat commonly found on warships, maintaining perfect posture even in grave injury, right up until the moment he was sealed.

As Sandora and I stepped into the crystal, it emitted a faint resonance, its blue aura brightening visibly. Both Sandora and I received a subtle sensation in our minds, and although this anomaly lasted only a moment, we instantly interpreted a lot of information.

"It seems that’s your seat." I had earlier noticed a massive chair at the other end of the hall, undoubtedly Zeus’s usual seating area, required by his duty. Zeus could not lie down to rest, and his powerful modified body had no need for rest, so this chair was the only place in the hall where he could somewhat relax. "Tell me about this Xyrin... Great God. I’m somewhat concerned."

"Yes, I often sit there, gazing at Great God Moragus from a distance. The Great God is now asleep, but I occasionally still hear his voice, along with his soliloquy while controlling the Obelisk," Zeus answered my questions without reserve. "He spoke of honor and goals, and the Empire he could no longer contact. He has always been waiting for the Gods to arrive because he said he still had important matters to present to his Emperor. But after a while, the Great God suddenly said that everything was wrong, it was the first time he seemed to give up hope on something, then he rarely spoke. I know he couldn’t contact the Gods anymore, but intuition somehow made him feel... something terrible, please forgive me, that’s all I can say."

"No, don’t worry," Sandora said softly, "because that indeed is a dreadful matter, one that every Xyrin Apostle should tremble for."

After saying this, she returned her gaze to the crystal encapsulating Moragus, which hadn’t shown more reactions besides the momentary burst of light.

I gently touched Sandora’s arm, and she turned her face towards me, shaking her head slightly. Our connected minds had already begun pondering the same thing, so words were now unnecessary.

I sighed, and along with Sandora, paid the most respectful tribute from the Supreme Leader to an ordinary officer to the ancient Xyrin Apostle within the crystal, "You have fulfilled your duty, soldier."

The seemingly indestructible Ghost Energy Crystal suddenly erupted in an unprecedented bright blue light after those words and then silently transformed into a sky full of floating Ghost Energy particles, which slowly dissipated in the air after several seconds.

The crystal tomb, along with the ancient Apostle named Moragus, merged into an overflowing energy in space.

"He held on for too long, he overdrawed everything that could be overdrawn," Sandora said softly, "even his soul was spent. But in the end... he still waited for us. The control room’s database contains all the research data left by the scientific expedition team; the original purpose of building Atlantis was just to preserve knowledge... never mind, it’s nothing."

"It’s a pity," I breathed in and then slowly exhaled, turning to look at the giant over ten meters tall behind me. Due to the huge difference in height, I couldn’t see his expression clearly. But when a forty-plus kilogram blob of liquid crashed to the ground less than two meters away from me, nearly drenching me and Sandora, I knew Zeus had shed a tear—or rather, spilled a tear, "He lost the hope of resurrection by waiting for us."

"The Great God spoke of his departure," Zeus’s voice was somber, "He declared his death was imminent more than ten days ago, but that piece of Demon Metal reignited his fighting spirit. The Great God said this was his last battle in life, win or lose, he would see it through to the end... Regardless, my other mission is also completed."

Sandora and I exchanged looks, knowing it was time to leave.

"Buck up quickly, this city needs to be rebuilt. We’ve come to take you home, the days of suffering are over."

Sandora and I walked out of the gates. Outside the temple, the commanders of the Armored Scorpions, Ravens, and Leader Bees were organizing their troops, the ground forces that had stormed the Holy Mountain cleaning up the last enemies on this floating island. Valkyrie and Anubis, now in control, were catching up from another mountain path, perhaps I saw some familiar faces among them. The girls from Fantasy Country nervously gathered in one corner, finding themselves quite out of place in this solemn atmosphere, with Boli Lingmeng and Yukari Yakumo being the only two who seemed adapted to it. The Divine Clan’s five members solemnly congregated in an open space, their minimal number still creating an aura that made the surrounding warriors voluntarily stay away. Kenser was intently staring at the head of the army, while Bingdisi sneaked peeks at Lin’s hand—I think I know why everyone steers clear of this troublemaking bunch.

The thick clouds in the sky had dispersed, and the moon that blocked the sun had moved aside. The brilliant sunlight gradually filled the entire city, turning the ancient Atlantis into a golden hue. The smoke from the gunfire below the mountain was yet to disperse, and the city’s collapsed buildings and towers were in ruins, but on the faces of the Atlantians, there was only the joy of victory.

"That Xyrin Apostle is already dead, soul dissipated," I told Ola who approached silently, "Send a batch of technicians over, there are his leftover research data in the control room, all about the technological transformations of the Atlantians."

Ares walked over, and Sandora nodded gently at him, "Go tell your people, prepare to go home."

Intense joy spilled from the typically stern face of the "War God" as he turned around and wildly waved his arms at his gathered kin. He didn’t utter a word, yet soon after, cheers burst from the crowd, followed by even louder surges of cheers that flowed down Mount Olympus to the foot of the mountain where tens of thousands of civilians gathered, merging into a sound wave whose meaning was completely indistinguishable.

Little Baobao, who was playing with Ling Meng at that moment, burst into tears...

The cheering lasted a full half-hour; the Atlantians nearly lost control of their emotions. The folks of Fantasy Country suffered from severe tinnitus and insomnia for the next 48 hours. When we teleported back to the transport mother ship from the mountaintop, Yakumo Lan was so dizzy that she tumbled off the teleportation platform.

We all suspected her sensitive fox ears were the culprit for this severe reaction. Not long after, Miss Fox developed a miraculous ultimate skill: she learned to fold her ears without lifting a hand when there wasn’t enough time, but that’s a story for later.

Gilgamesh, who had been dragged away earlier by Dingdang and Chiruno, was also brought back from who knows where by the scorpions. The poor girl seemed to have been severely tormented; although her appearance had been magically restored, her emotions were incredibly unstable. She repeatedly tried to fight Chiruno furiously but was knocked back by my hand chop. At the same time, Sandora and I were seriously concerned about her three strands of foolish-looking hair and even determined based on their smell that she had undergone at least two to three transformations from raw to cooked and back. At first, I didn’t understand why, if Chiruno had frozen Dingdang, the one who ended up struck by lightning the most was this golden shining girl. But the truth finally came out when she sighed in a Xiang Lin-like tone, "I really should have changed my clothes before that idiot ice spirit made her move." It turned out her sparkling golden outfit was too much of a lightning rod.

This might explain why she never finished even middle school physics.

Star Ring Fragments had been collected, and this item could be said to be the most dangerous Abyssal infection we’ve collected thus far: we’ve already amassed many Star Ring Fragments, and Sandora and I personally handled three or four, while the other expeditionary armies collected a dozen more during their missions across various worlds. However, none of those fragments were as grave as the one that had crashed into Mount Olympus, and there was a reason.

Before this, every fragment we collected from other worlds had crashed into massive planets and caused extremely severe disasters like biological crises. Although these global catastrophes were dreadful, they effectively released and alleviated the Abyss Energy contained in the fragments. Although the Abyss wouldn’t dissipate merely by being diluted and could even grow stronger as it spread, at least in the short term, the Abyss reaction in a fragment distributed across an entire planet considerably reduced the threat level of the fragment itself, making our collection work much easier. However, the Atlantian Star Ring Fragment was different. When it was in its prime, it crashed into a site rich in Ghost Energy. Even if all the energy it contained had burst forth, at most, it could only contaminate a city the size of a massive metropolis. Additionally, with the Atlantians’ brave resistance and the city’s Ghost Energy pipeline’s powerful initial suppression capabilities, a significant portion of the Abyss reaction in the fragment was contained, preventing it from erupting.

The Abyss could affect anything, including matter, energy, and even many universal rules. However, its spread through different "media" was still affected. In high-density energy fluids (excluding Ghost Energy), the Abyss spread most rapidly, most efficiently, and most insanely. Solid matter was next, with many solids only infecting through contact. Sparse energy clouds and material clouds or vacuum environments greatly hindered the spread of the Abyss (relatively speaking). This caused the Star Ring Fragment, when it initially crashed into Atlantis, to penetrate the floating island’s shield without causing much leakage, and the quickly-reacting Atlantian Barrier acted as a "reactor containment wall," subsequently imprisoning the Abyss inside—Sandora, with her ravenous appetite, likened it to a steamer, which explained why she was so eager.

All these factors combined to create an unprecedented and authentic Abyssal infection body.

This left Sandora and me exhausted for a while, yet an unexpectedly excited coffin fan, Taville, believed she had finally found the world’s most elusive research material: an Abyssal aggregation with almost no significant decay. She could witness how such a dangerous entity was bound and purified by Ghost Energy and also create more accurate graphs showing the gradual decay curve of the Abyss reaction under the influence of purification power. This was once one of the Empire’s most important scientific achievements, registered as the highest intellectual property in the Imperial Central Database and had helped the Empire eliminate at least four figures of Abyss Gates. However, as the Empire crumbled, this artifact, like the old Empire’s cross-plane transportation center’s real-name online ticketing system, turned into a regrettable legend. Now, Taville believed she had a chance to reshape history—-theoretically.

However, according to usual patterns, she’s more likely to "reshape" her research lab in a blaze of glory due to some scientific "side effects" before she reshapes history.aybe this time, I should consider having this research fanatic work in a place where not even birds would poop...(To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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