Capítulo 1027: Chapter 1027: Better Not Let Qianqian Name Things in the Future Speaking of the Fallen Apostles, they seem to have quieted down again for now. Yes, “seem to.” Even though there’s been no activity from them in recent months, and the monitoring outposts in the Void have rarely spotted any sign of the Fallen Apostle Fleet, I can only use the words “seem to.” No one would believe that the Fallen Apostles have truly gone into hibernation. Although they’ve achieved some battle successes in recent actions, they’ve suffered significant strategic losses. Based on my understanding of them, such losses won’t make the enemy stay quiet; instead, they’ll try every possible means to regain their position. Yet the Fallen Apostles are rather cunning. They rarely make moves without definitive assurance, so no one knows what’s happening within their territory. On the surface, it seems that the enemy is temporarily staying put in their domain. The Third Intelligence Core has formed a dozen special operations units, whose identities are ones we never imagined before: Fallen Apostles, or rather, “former” Fallen Apostles. I’m sure you still remember what Xiao Xue, the naughty kid, did when she came over: she induced an entire Group Army of Harlan to defect! And that Group Army suffered significant losses while following Xiao Xue to break through the enemy blockade. The remaining warships were no longer at full strength, so we reorganized and supplemented Visca’s force with this unit. Visca, the Abyss General, finally had an official legion again. However, both Sandora and I believe it’s not a good idea to put this special unit on the battlefield for direct combat with the enemy. Therefore, they are more often used for special operations. Carter Carlow seconded several hundred experienced officers, former Fallen Apostle Commanders who once held high military positions, to form special operations units. These units have now infiltrated near the enemy’s border, where they are lying in wait. Should the enemy make any move, the Empire will receive the news immediately. This is far more reliable than long-range observation from Void outposts. Actually, I’d prefer these special forces to infiltrate deeper into enemy territory, ambushing on their homeland, allowing the Imperial Army to launch a pincer attack and perhaps eliminate Harlan’s remaining forces completely, or even seize a few universes from the Fallen Apostles. But this is just wishful thinking. The Xyrin Apostles possess an extraordinarily effective spiritual network that defends against espionage, and Harlan surely knows which of his soldiers have defected to the New Empire. That’s why the commanders of the special operations units can’t find opportunities to hide within enemy teams. For now, they can only rely on their knowledge of the Fallen Apostles’ defense systems to get as close as possible to the enemy border, any further, and they’re doomed. The Fallen Apostles are scheming in their domain, and naturally, the Empire won’t sit idly by. Besides the round-the-clock arsenal and starport, the most hectic task currently falls on Taville’s research team. Their most crucial research focuses on two main projects. One is the full-scale analysis of the Conqueror’s fragments, with attempts to reverse engineer useful technology. So far, this project hasn’t made much progress. After all, Conquerors were strategic-level weapons in the Old Empire Era, with complex and profound technology. Moreover, Father God and King Huron smashed that thing into quite a mess, making it a long journey to restore the Conqueror’s principles. Currently, Taville’s most significant progress is designing retrofits that allow medium and small-sized starships to experience a secondary overload with four times the power after one overload—followed by repairs at a factory. We know that overload technology is a crucial component of the Xyrin Empire’s insane tech series, a technology that allows already fearsome Imperial Weapons to operate with increased prowess. Now, the overload has been enhanced, enabling a warship to burst with four to five times its comprehensive strength, to the point of burning out its main cannons and shield generators. Bubbles has already decided to name this retrofit effect “Bloodthirsty Frenzy”… by the time I noticed, that girl had already entered the name into the database. The second major project being conducted by the research teams is the study of the Deep-diving ship, and this project has made significant progress: I truly didn’t expect this—they’re about to build a prototype ship! Of course, this is an unmanned experimental ship with a “depth” of deep-diving that cannot match that of the deep-diving ship’s original prototype. It can only carry limited test equipment, which transmits the measurement data back in the simplest way: by “floating” near the Abyss Gate after the deep-diving ship succumbs to pressure and self-destruction, to be retrieved by units stationed near the gate. This was initially suggested by Qianqian, and Sandora commented: when confronting the unknown, the simplest method is often the most effective. It goes without saying that the information gathered from this “drift bottle” retrieval method is quite limited. A prototype ship carries hundreds of escape units, each utilizing different protective measures, and it’s likely less than five will escape intact. This is also a form of testing: Taville is eager to discover if there are other ways to further enhance the resistance of deep-diving equipment to the Abyss. Therefore, he summoned his top assistants to set up hundreds of escape units. The first deep dive’s timing for the prototype ship hasn’t been decided. Sandora believes deep diving can begin immediately once the first ship is completed. Since it’s unmanned, and the test area will certainly be in an uninhabited universe (the lessons from the Old Empire have made us feel that conducting any significant experiments in protected areas is not as safe as placing the test site in an uninhabited universe, even if it means investing two or three times the costs in logistics and equipment), this approach can save many steps. As for deep dive locations, they should meet several conditions: the universe either has no life, or only a few low-level creatures. Universes with intelligent beings and advanced civilizations must be ruled out; there must be at least one Abyss Gate, and the stability of this Abyss Gate must reach a certain level. The entry of deep-diving ships and subsequent salvage operations would disrupt the stable state of the Abyss Gate, and if the initial stability is insufficient, it could easily lead to disaster; the scale of the Abyss Gate cannot be too large, or the power of existing suppression equipment may not be sufficient. Bubbles has started a large-scale screening of the data in the database to find the optimal experimental environment: it’s always good to prepare early. The Empire’s current sphere of influence is not small, but finding an experiment-worthy universe is easier said than done. We cannot compare to the Old Empire—those early deep dive experiments were undoubtedly much easier for them. With such vast territories, what kind of universe couldn’t they find? There’s another matter related to the ‘civilian domain,’ which concerns the Empire’s new members. The tree elves have almost adapted to the New Empire’s environment. The billions of elves scheduled for immigration have now all moved into their new home and built temporary cities. The rudimentary ecological domes on New Oasis Star already satisfy them immensely, a noticeable improvement over the scorching, barren ecosystem of their mantle environment. More tree elves have joined the Time-Space Administration, becoming liaison officers in the New Empire’s dedicated “Ambassador Race.” Perhaps it won’t be long before these gentle yet resilient elves become a unique symbol of the Empire. However, right now, they still need to learn, to follow Imperial Soldiers in studying the Empire’s lawbook and learning the rules of the clans among the New Empire’s citizens. This is somewhat vexing: tree elves are rather a romantic race, with a touch of liberalism, as evidenced by their tendency to travel for half their lifetimes. It’s impossible to change this nature; they never experienced the iron rule of the Xyrin Apostles in the Old Empire era, and I don’t intend to forcibly twist the will of these free elves in the New Empire era, as long as they can learn to complete their tasks precisely. Regarding the tree elves, there’s another surprisingly good piece of news: somehow, they’ve become good friends with the Exile Fleet. The latter is the only group within the Empire’s sphere that remains cold and cautious towards the Empire, and the tree elves might just be the breakthrough to improve this situation! The Exile Fleet consists of refugees who escaped when the Old Empire collapsed. Their state was destroyed, their homes lost, and they’ve been hunted for tens of thousands of years. The crimes committed against them by Fallen Apostles are almost unspeakable. Although the New Empire and Fallen Apostles are completely opposed, it’s very difficult for third parties to distinguish between them. In the eyes of most civilians in the Exile Fleet, New Empire soldiers are still seen as cold and dangerous, merely not bothering them for the moment. The appearance of the tree elves confused the refugees for a while, softening their attitude. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹✶𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲✶𝗻𝗲𝘁 When we contacted the Exile Fleet, we never sent Imperial Soldiers but usually had representatives from the Servant Army go. Now that the tree elves are part of the Empire’s diplomatic corps, I naturally included them in the delegation. Thus, the various races of the Exile Fleet saw an unprecedented Imperial representative: gentle, humble, always smiling, and carrying toys and candy in their pockets to distribute to children… I firmly believe this last element had the greatest impact on them. In any case, the appearance of the tree elves significantly eased the Exile Fleet’s tension towards the Empire’s representatives. Optimistically, it might not be long before they also change their impression of the New Empire. I must admit this time, Lilina’s suggestion quickly achieved immediate results. I look forward to the day when the people of the Exile Fleet, who have endured so much hardship, can set aside their worries and stand in the same camp as the Xyrin Apostles. Of course, they are already considered part of the Imperial Camp, but the state of non-cooperation between the two sides is something Sandora remains very unhappy about. “It feels so good… after handing off that troublesome tail to the diplomatic corps, the whole world seems much quieter.” Lilina lay barefoot on the carpet, her head wiggling as she searched for Dingdang, displaying none of an archbishop’s grace while contentedly muttering. She referred to Lu E, the tree elf girl she had put into the liaison officer team dispatched to the Exile Fleet, thus affording herself a rare few days of leisure time. She had fallen into complete idleness—you see what she’s doing now? Playing hide and seek with Dingdang! Does she not know how innately advantaged Dingdang is in this game? “She seems to be coming back in two days,” I glanced at Lilina, feeling it necessary to make this overly proud girl nervous at this critical moment, “Have you ever heard that absence makes the heart grow fonder?” Lilina was rummaging through the small drawer of the water dispenser looking for Dingdang, and then she shuddered upon hearing my words, and with a mournful face, wriggled like a big caterpillar behind the sofa… Dingdang emerged from a vase two meters away, cheering exuberantly. This was her 176th victory in playing hide and seek with Lilina… You see, this is actually the only thing Dingdang excels at. In games of hide and seek where special abilities are not allowed, she has already won over the people in our house more than 1,400 times. I have to give you a reminder: never play hide-and-seek with a Little Douding less than twelve centimeters tall. She could hide in your pocket and you wouldn’t even know… At this moment, the kitchen door made a soft sound, and Anwina came over carrying a large plate of brightly colored, crystal-clear items. Sandora, who was playing chess with her sister nearby, immediately abandoned the chess pieces and rushed over. That plate of items was prepared especially for her. Unable to withstand Her Majesty’s gentle persistence, I finally allowed Anwina to fry the plate of Crystal Crow Eggs. In the house, only Sandora could consume such a bizarre delicacy with her teeth and stomach… After serving the dish made for the hostess, Anwina quickly wiped her hands, then continued with her recently started daily tasks. She opened the window, and a crow seemingly waiting outside for a long time immediately flew into the living room, nuzzling Anwina’s face affectionately twice before perching on a small table near the window, flapping its wings, nodding to everyone in the living room in turn, while emitting a strange sound similar to a crow’s call with a faint ethereal echo, greeting us. This crow is slightly smaller than an ordinary crow, but almost an adult crow. Its feathers shimmer with a deep blue-purple hue, edged with a metallic texture, and its black eyes harbor deep energy radiance. If you look into its eyes for a while, you might notice tiny electric sparks flickering within. As this magical bird flapped its wings to greet, I noticed that all the metallic objects in the living room were covered with a faint gray glow, as if responding to some call… It seems that the seal I placed on this little bird isn’t complete. Besides energy control, does it also have a talent for influencing metal objects? Yes, this crow that flew in is the future Crow God. It’s only been out of the research institute for five days, yet has grown to such a size, even catching up to its parents. It seems this growth rate won’t stop until it is fully grown—growing to larger than a person. And as it rapidly matures, this bird is increasingly showing an unusual appearance: steel-like feathers, eyes sparking with energy, and a deep ethereal voice—before gaining real divine power, it has already become a being beyond the mundane. Anwina now has to consider in advance whether to have this crow leave its parents’ nest. In another two or three days, the old crow’s nest on the tree in the yard may no longer accommodate this rapidly growing strange bird… “Alright, it can greet everyone now,” Anwina warmly patted the crow’s head, then cast a Holy Light over its head with her hands, “This can temporarily lift the seal the master placed on you, but don’t mess around during training.” Anwina has decided to take care of this mutated crow personally, and one of the tasks she set for herself is to communicate with the crow every morning, helping it learn how to control its powers as quickly as possible. Though she is just a little maid with low combat strength at home, she has her strengths. Anwina was once a ghost, later transformed into a Holy Light being directly by Alaya’s power. Now she is even a Half Angel. Adapting to such a massive change is quite challenging, yet Anwina is now quite adept at using her Holy Light: she has unique experience in adapting to unfamiliar bodies and powers, invaluable for a crow suddenly becoming divine—after all, the crow’s parents can teach it nothing beyond nest building and catching mice. Typically, a human child wouldn’t develop reasoning skills of three steps until about three years old, but this strange bird seems to follow an animal-like development pattern: it developed rapidly during its chick phase, recognizing many people at home within days and establishing a trust relationship with Anwina. Now Anwina can guide the crow to perform two of the simplest skills, “Releasing Shadow Arrow” and “Arcane Gaze.” The Shadow Arrow is naturally that black plasma spat from the crow’s mouth, while Arcane Gaze was accidentally trained by Anwina three days ago: the crow can emit Arcane Energy from its eyes, with crystal-like structure forming the focal points at the base of its eyes, allowing its free energy to be emitted through this focal structure. Another inexplicable mutation phenomenon. Currently, its Arcane Gaze is very unskilled, with the rays emitted from its eyes mostly flying randomly within the cone in front of it. Fortunately, it’s still young, and this micro-scale magic release isn’t really harmful: the crow’s strongest Shadow Arrow only burned a small pit on the table; its plasma’s power is akin to a match flame. While Anwina trained the crow to focus its Arcane Gaze on a point, I suddenly remembered something: “Anwina, have you given it a name?” “Name?” Anwina was stunned for a moment, “Uh, no, I hadn’t thought of that yet.” Qianqian’s eyes lit up upon hearing this, and she excitedly jumped up: “Medivh, Medivh, let’s call it Medivh!” I was taken aback, Anwina earnestly considered: “Not really appropriate, the little crow is a girl.” “Ah? It’s a female bird?” Qianqian was quite surprised, and then opened her info terminal, projecting a subtitle in the air: “Then let’s call it Medivina!” Lilina immediately popped up from behind the sofa: “That’s no different!” “It’s fine, Medivh’s been dead for years, he won’t pursue copyright issues!” Qianqian dismissively waved her hand, “Ah Jun, Ah Jun, is this name okay? Medivina!” I looked at this girl with a frown: “Are you going to show subtitles every time we call its name from now on?” “What’s the matter,” Qianqian is hard to stop, “Soon it will be a Crow God, a God, with influence far greater than Medivh. By then, people will naturally only know the name Medivina. Who’s Medivh? Who knows.” Listening to this made my head swell with confusion: “You… when you say this to me you better show subtitles, readers can see them, what am I supposed to do!” As soon as I finished speaking, Medivina let out a loud cry: “Caw!” Is this poor bird mocking me!? (To be continued. If you work, feel free to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)