Xyrin Empire-Chapter 724: Lin’s Mishap, Development of the Administration Bureau

Chapter 724: Chapter 724: Lin’s Mishap, Development of the Administration Bureau

When two awe-inspiring duelers were knocked off the stage by a shoehorn thrown from the judges’ seats and dragged away, their spirited voices still echoed in the arena, "In the name of the Empire! The battle has just begun!" "The duel is sacred, let us continue!" "Boss, give me another chance!" "Monina, it’s not nice for a girl to throw shoes at people, have you forgotten when your brother used to steal fruit from the Dragon God’s house for you... smack!" "Remember, in the Outer World take Erli Bridge, and in the Inner World take the Third Ring road, exclusively Sicaro, one-stop service for permits and discs, contact number: 150315... ah!"

The two warriors were hauled off the platform for repairs as the enthusiastic audience waved them off. The amount of weapons and ammunition spent during their send-off could have armed two covered vegetable, poultry, and egg markets with three large tiled houses. Ling Meng saw a new business opportunity in this arena event; she swapped her small cart selling sunflower seeds, soda, and candy for a tractor, loudly peddling outside: "Eggs! Tomatoes! Cans! Bricks! Shoehorns for sale!"

Bingdisi’s eyes lit up as she stood up and called out, "Ling Meng! Give me thirty bucks worth of bricks!"

Aren’t you supposed to use a bow and arrow?

"Ladies and gentlemen, the thrilling third match has also ended, just like the second one, no champion was decided DAZE," Moriya, shaking off the cans and cabbage leaves that had accumulated on her, "But today’s match is primarily for fun, friendship second, and exchange third, incidentally, it would be great to have a champion, so—does anyone else wish to come up and show their skills DAZE?"

Yakumo Lan, holding a giant brush, brushed the cabbage leaves out of her tail fur while distressingly announcing, "There’s new news, according to an SSS-level notification from the Imperial Command, the huge brawl arena event held in Demon Town will become an official meeting activity of Avalon, from now on, it can be regularly held without application, welcome Imperial Heroic Spirits, demons, Superpower Users, aliens, future people, Iron Man, Ultraman, Xyrin Apostles, and Magic Girls to freely sign up and participate, the recent slogan of the Imperial Announcement Department is: Long live entertainment."

I stared blankly at Bingdisi, who pointed behind me: "Don’t look at me, I still don’t have authority to command your territory, it’s your wife’s idea."

Qianqian’s voice then followed from behind, "Ah Jun, Ah Jun, it was me who said it!"

I turned my head, and Qianqian and Sandora, already seated in a couple of chairs on the other side looking like judges, the former peeling an orange that had been thrown up from under the stage, handed me a segment, "It’s so much fun, even after the carnival ends there are good times!"

"Always thinking about playing," I ruffled the girl’s neatly soft short hair, this little missy truly didn’t look the part of a newlywed at all, "Did Zhenhong and the others leave?"

"Ah, just saw them off," Qianqian fed the orange peel to Sandora and sucked on the fruit herself, "Cui Xingshi nagged at me for a while; you didn’t see them off, so she kept saying you’re a heartless and unfaithful guy."

I shrugged, "That gal is all talk, I got them monthly tickets, they can come to play in the morning and go home in the evening, do I need to send them off every day?"

"So Ah Jun is a dummy—," Sandora sighed and leaned on the table, "You, always pampering Mercury Lamp, never noticed Cui Xingshi has always complained you’re biased?"

Then the fourth performer finally came up to the stage amidst cheers, but it was a little girl no taller than a lolita, and with a bang, as soon as she jumped onto the platform, I smelled a strong scent of alcohol. This didn’t need any thinking at all: Ibuki Suika!

Of course, since she initiated the competition, how could she not participate? Members of the Ghost Clan always loved challenging others.

"Ghost Clan, ready for anything! Strength, alcohol tolerance, fighting, I’m up for it all." Big Horned Lolita challenged the audience as soon as she took the stage; then she grabbed her precious gourd and guzzled a few mouthfuls of liquor, drunkenly scanning her surroundings. She aimed to appear haughty and intimidating, but her demeanor turned out to be more openly honest and endearing, especially seeing a little loli drunk, it wasn’t threatening but rather amusing.

"Hey! Anyone up for a challenge?"

After waiting a few minutes, no one below responded, and Cui Xiang began to complain audibly, her chain rattling as she shook her gourd of alcohol. Many knew that competing with a member of the Ghost Clan was troublesome, though a few faces showed eagerness, ultimately no one came up to the platform.

"We have a challenger here!"

Just when I thought Cui Xiang’s defense of the platform would end uneventfully, Monina suddenly shouted loudly, and then the confused face of the Dragon God Girl was thrown onto the platform by her ruthless teammates.

"Lin! It’s up to you now, win and I’ll make you braised pork!"

"But dueling stuff..." the Dragon God Girl weakly protested, seemingly finding the idea of challenging others too difficult, but she didn’t have a chance to back out as Cui Xiang immediately hopped in front of the finally appeared challenger, "Ha, finally got a challenger, I know, you’re from the Divine Clan, right, seems tough to beat you, but if it’s just a challenge, fighting is fine too!"

Later, we concluded that the alcohol Cui Xiang had consumed played a decisive role in her foolhardy acceptance of the fight.

"I have a feeling that drunken fool’s going to be knocked out instantly," I anxiously watched the two not-so-bright individuals on the stage, recalling the last time Lin in her mindless state (no mistake) had charged and shattered the Sighing Wall, and knocked over thousands of Biochemical Beasts with Yelsen in a stunning victory that still alarmed us.

"No worries, Lin knows her limits; it’s just a challenge, she won’t go all out," Monina said with a giggling smile.

In the open arena, before the two began competing, they naturally had to declare their specialties. Ibuki Suika had already arrogantly announced she was up for any challenge, leaving Lin hesitatingly admitting her own prowess, "I’m not good at anything else, but I am quite strong."

It was clearly a bit embarrassing for the Dragon God Girl to have just brute strength, but Cui Xiang felt completely satisfied with this response, "Huh? Strength? Great, I love competing in strength! Bring all your power, I’ve even competed with the Imperial Soldiers before, so don’t hold back at all."

"Really, all my strength?" Rin asked softly, twisting her wrist anxiously.

Oblivious to her apprehension, Cui Xiang fervently nodded, "Yes, all your strength!"

"Oh no!" I exclaimed from the sidelines, but it was already too late. The straightforward and earnest Dragon God Girl transformed cleanly; amidst a burst of golden light, the petite and delicate girl quickly morphed into a massive double-headed golden dragon that majestically occupied the entire arena.

Now, with her massive size, Rin dared not move recklessly after transforming into the Dragon God, fearing she might hurt the unsuspecting crowd around her. She kept her gigantic wings tightly along her sides, wrapping herself up like a zongzi. The enormous Dragon God tucked her tail under her body, instantly sweeping away a third of the arena. The commentators, Moriya and Yakumo Lan, had already jumped off the stage, with the former still remembering her duties, "May I ask my partner, what do you think about the current situation?"

Yakumo Lan stared agape at the gold double-headed dragon, more exaggerated than the "Divine Dragon" of Fantasy Country. Trying to compare the situation in front of her to conservation of mass, she could only swallow hard, her tail hair bristling, "This... this isn’t scientific!"

"Um," Rin lowered her left head and finally spotted the big-horned Lolita hugging a gourd, completely stupefied at her feet. She then extended a claw as large as a house and gently poked Cui Xiang’s head with the tip of a nail, "Shall we arm wrestle?"

"Bang!"

The foolish Dragon God Girl applied too much force again. Before Cui Xiang could react, she was launched into the ground like a cannonball, leaving behind a crater-like half-meter hole.

It seemed that Bingdisi’s divine protection only reinforced the barriers surrounding the arena; its effects on strengthening the ground were limited.

"So, I’ve heard," I conversed with Monina across from Bingdisi’s enormous barrier, "that your captain always tries to arm wrestle a Dragon God?"

Monina nodded helplessly, "Every time, we have to travel hundreds of miles to bring our captain back."

"How have you survived up till today?"

"Must be lucky to survive," Yelsen said heavily, his expression as mournful as a weeping Xiang Lin. Kenser also wiped the corner of his eye, "Good, at least that’s good."

Seeing Little Sesame, whom she had been "comparing strength" with, vanish in the blink of an eye, Lin realized that she had unequivocally caused trouble again and couldn’t help but wail sorrowfully. Her tail swept unconsciously on the ground, instantly flattening a third of the already swept arena, continuing vigorously to transform it into a giant pit. The debris from the stones and tiles she swept flew like raindrops, striking the audience members who hadn’t escaped far enough, making them cry and scream for mercy. Ling Meng, wearing a wide-brimmed steel helmet, weaved through the barrage of flying debris pushing a creaky medical cart she had snagged from somewhere, loudly hawking, "Bandages! Potions! Life insurance! Painkillers, buy one get one free for three and a half!"

The competition, because of the destruction of the venue, had to wrap up early, but fortunately, there were no casualties. No champions were crowned in this competition, but we did see the birth of several preposterous performance artists. The century battle between the Golden Bell Shield and the Iron Cloth was hailed as classic, and Lin’s final move, the Divine Dragon Tail which completely flattened the arena, was absolutely astonishing. Bingdisi frankly admitted that from the perspective of being annoying, the Holy Light Street Breaking Team she once led couldn’t hold a candle to today’s performers on stage. Qianqian was quite pleased with today’s sideshow. The only headache? The aftermath. The scene revealed a large group of demons bruised and battered by Lin’s "little gesture," a vast area of green vegetation gone, and the curious small animals that had ventured from the Fairy Forest to spectate were trampled, many injured or dead—though this last bit was good news, as that night, all Heroic Spirits and demons improved their meals significantly.

A drilling team descended underground and successfully recovered a woozy Cui Xiang from a three-kilometer-deep hole. Big Horned Lolita had been concussed for over two hours, made worse by a third of her horn being broken off. I got a cone from Silvia, meant for making ice cream, and while Cui Xiang was still dazed, I stuck it onto the broken stub of her big horn with some glue as a temporary fix. However, this kind gesture didn’t seem to win Cui Xiang’s favor. When she woke up, she chased me for over twenty kilometers, her head pushing through my clothes and creating several holes before she finally stopped. Hopefully, the regeneration of a ghost clan’s horns is quick because now Cui Xiang declares she is too embarrassed to show her face.

This incident seems to presage something: following the disaster-bringing Divine Clan’s Tiaozi Five, another group of possibly just as troublesome characters have arrived at the Imperial Capital and promptly formed a close alliance with the local No Morals Organization. While their nuisance quality may not match the Divine Clan’s Tiaozi Five, their numbers are vast: Artemis, get ready to be busy.

After the Carnival, visitors from All Realms left one after another. Transmigrators are often regarded as extraordinary beings by the general public, believed to be capable of anything and successful in all worlds—nonsense. Now we know, in reality, ninety-nine percent of transmigrators are basically low-level civil servants hidden behind the breathtaking aura of "Dark World Forces," living a busy life of endless duty. Of course, this job is not considered tiresome.

What do the Time-Space Administration’s ground-level staffers do on a daily basis? What kind of work do they have in a world with no wars and not governed by the Empire? I’m quite curious about this, especially after seeing Wugeng Liu Li and C.C. reporting back to the headquarters. This curiosity grows especially after briefly reviewing the routine work of a ordinary reviewer, giving me a whole new understanding of this massive organization, originating from Qianqian’s whimsical thoughts.

First, it was intelligence gathering, which was the most basic task for any reviewer or special envoy. The intelligence they collected attributed only one-third to the reports on significant events in this world, while the remaining two-thirds of their attention was devoted to early warnings of world anomalies such as the Abyss Infection. Bubbles and Sivis had jointly written a textbook detailing the various abnormal phenomena that the world itself exhibited when the Abyss Infection occurred, the severity and destruction speed of different levels of Abyss Infection, and the distinctions between the Abyss Gate, initial infection sources, secondary infectants, and other dangerous stuff. The textbook also included detailed guides to over twenty thousand games, comprehensive introductions to otaku culture’s films, animations, the Imperial military law, shopping guides for Shadow City, poetry collections of Big Eyes, and countless other items. Every world’s reviewer had to memorize and recite useful information from it—MIKU once tearfully described to me her tragic experience of staying up late studying in her first few days on the job. Later, despite vigorous objections from the kids’ mother, I removed two terabytes of crap from that damn textbook. Intelligence gathering was deemed the most crucial work of a baseline employee at the Time-Space Administration, as it directly affected the Imperial Intelligence Agency’s outcome on the Abyss warnings—lately, Yang Guo had even used a data terminal to write reports, his newly replaced arm playing a decisive role.

The second task was somewhat awe-inspiring: saving the masses and maintaining world peace.

Yes, those were the routine duties of all baseline employees of the Time-Space Administration, though not frequent enough to be daily occurrences. When the world they guarded encountered massive upheavals such as global wars or catastrophic disasters, the reviewers and special envoys had to act immediately to restore stability within that world, within the constraints permitted by the Imperial Code. This task sounded noble, but in reality it was simple: according to the thought process of the Xyrin Apostles, any land trodden by Imperial Soldiers was Imperial territory, and anything watched over by an Imperial outpost was Imperial property—even in non-ruled worlds, as long as there were Imperial outposts, they should be included in our defensive perimeter. Guided by this central idea, we produced millions of Saviors who scurried daily across all sorts of events—big and small wars, natural disasters, human calamities, stock market fluctuations, school shootings, pig plague in Wang Village, the Li family getting divorced, Zhao Ergouzi failing to get a wife, Li Xiaohei eating a pancake roll without paying, etc.—constantly maintaining world peace and human prosperity in the Dark World. Many Administration employees became so renowned in many high-risk worlds they were seen as representatives of the outstanding youth of the new century—humanity thanked them, yet few knew the real reason these fourteen-year-old Living Lei Fengs came out to save the world was just to ensure the cleanliness of their surroundings.

It must be said that the employees’ enthusiasm and speed in completing this second task was quite impressive. Everyone had boundless zeal for saving the world—translated into Chinese, ’heroes are often a bit silly.’ If given the opportunity and capability to save the world, these carefully selected excellent individuals were generally more than willing to lend a hand to their homeland. I heard recently that Xunyin led three Imperial Soldiers to quell the terrorist armed forces in her world...

As for the third task of the Administration employees, this one... strictly speaking, isn’t actually a regulation in the employee guidelines, but I’ve noticed that almost all reviewers have recently been following this: establishing and expanding influence in their respective worlds.

Just as it sounds, not only were Administration employees thriving in their worlds, but they were also slowly forming their own small bases—or at least, small circles. This wasn’t about forming factions or private cliques, but rather spontaneously forming small "societies" to more conveniently complete missions handle miscellaneous work. In many places across the Macro World, there were imperial-backdropped dimension stores, urban myth nature’s "Mystic Pawn Shops," "Time-Space Inns" run by Witches, and bizarre "Third New King’s Village" founded by Scientific Monsters. Recently, I heard C.C. even reorganized Pizza Hut in Lulu Xiu’s world. The scope of these small organizations varied, some becoming so large that they nearly unified the entire Dark World, while others being mere enigmatic existences like "Activity Rooms at the Non-existent End of a Hallway," known only among campus’s seven wonders.ieri They all had one thing in common: a handful of Administration personnel served as the core, hoodwinking a large group of oblivious ordinary people into running around and giving their all...

It has to be said, indeed, they were elites handpicked by us. The grassroots employees prowess in taking action was truly formidable...(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, feel free to visit qidian.com to vote and contribute monthly tickets—your support is my greatest motivation.)

Follow curr𝒆nt nov𝒆ls on freew(𝒆)bnov𝒆l.(c)om