While everyone is busy focusing on their hometown world and when the ancestral relics can be solved, there is one person who is also focusing on other matters at the same time - Tavel, this bespectacled sister who has so many threads that it is unscientific, she is running
The day after we returned to the Ancestral Ark (this is the name we gave the wreckage, Shandora thought it should be an immigrant ark), she suddenly reported that traces of the fallen emperor Harlan were found.
Of course, as a scientist, she did not discover Harlan's fleet that mysteriously disappeared into the depths of the void. In fact, the traces she found came from a broken metal plate: the one the little crow Medivh picked up on our way here.
That piece of armor.
Shandora and others hurried to the analysis room where the armor fragments were stored. We saw three Tavels busy here, and more than a dozen assistant technicians helping. The tattered armor plate was placed in an empty room.
The sky above the gravity platform has been divided into dozens of regular small pieces, floating around in circles in the platform's light beam.
One of the tavels came to greet us, while the other two tavels went to start the equipment and direct her army of assistants.
"Is this thing left behind by Harlan's fleet?" Sandora frowned, staring at the fragmented armor fragments.
It has been some time since Harlan and his remaining troops mysteriously disappeared into the depths of the void. The spy team sent to the border of the Fallen Apostles to spy on intelligence has never seen a trace of that fleet. We also used the void scanning function of the Garden of the Dead to conduct a search for Harlan.
The direction where the remnants disappeared was illuminated for seventy-two hours, but that unit moved very quickly when evacuating, and was very good at hiding itself. It can be said that after the last border defense battle, we completely lost this powerful enemy.
traces of.
Now they appeared in the most unlikely place: far away, the distance from the battlefield at that time was almost across the entire empire!
"It's still unclear how this fleet got here, but the sample fragments do have the mark of Harlan's fleet." Tavel opened the data terminal in her hand, forming a clear holographic image in front of our eyes.
The image shows the fine structure of the armor fragment. And in this fine structure, I saw the mark of Harlan's fleet. This mark must have been processed, perhaps Tavel used information reconstruction and other techniques to restore it.
And strengthened it, because Sandora also checked it when Xiaoniao first brought it back, and she didn't see the mark. With Sandora's scanning accuracy, this important information would not have been missed.
"So small?" Qian Qian lay in front of the holographic image and studied it for a while, then said in surprise. "Who is it for to look at? It's so small. Even Ding Dong is bigger than it."
"It's not for anyone to see," Sandora explained. "Leaving small marks on the armor of the Royal Fleet's spaceships is a customary practice. That was in the ancient times, when imperial spaceships still needed to be built with secular materials.
Because the Royal Fleet's spaceships have basically been designed and modified by experts. Their materials and specifications are often different from those of the fielded spacecraft. In order to prevent assembly errors, the technicians at the time considered leaving these marks and giving them to the assembly robots.
Later, as time went by, this clumsy identification method was eliminated. Coupled with the application of information materialization technology, the production process of 'mining-smelting-prefabricated-assembly' was replaced by field filling technology in one step.
, these marks become a souvenir, which has no practical use, but keeping it will not cause any trouble: for the builder's special work flow, a few more patterns on the material will not affect the work efficiency at all, so we
Just keep these things.”
She said a little, then continued to climb in front of the gravity-free platform to study whether the sizes of the broken pieces were the same: she was suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder.
"If this is what Harlan's fleet left behind, it can also explain the reason for the disintegration of this spaceship." I nodded to show that I figured it out, "His fleet at that time was basically destroyed by our Doomsday.
If you run around in the void for so long without supplies or repairs, there will definitely be those who can’t stand it and fall behind.”
Shandora thought thoughtfully: "I'm wondering why he ran here. From the battlefield that day to here, it almost spanned the entire empire. The Harlan fleet must have made a considerable circle outside the far reaches of the empire.
Here. This fragment of armor shows that there were stragglers in his spaceship after this long voyage, and it also shows that he didn't find a world to rest for a while along the way: I don't believe he even has the equipment to repair the spacecraft on hand.
None. He has to rush here non-stop at the risk of such a big loss. What does he want to do?"
There are many possibilities. Perhaps Harlan was just escaping aimlessly. There was no reason for him to flee in this direction. The place where we found the armor fragments was just a way station on his escape journey - but in many cases things are different.
It's not that simple. Over the years I've become accustomed to facing the most fucked-up of possibilities, which occur much more often than normal:
The most likely scenario is this: the remnants of Haran are still evil and they are going to cause trouble again.
"Could they be here for the relics of the ancestors?" Tavel suddenly guessed, "There are no valuable worlds nearby, only the relics of the ancestors in this universe have special significance to the Xiling Apostle."
"If that is the case, we must prepare early," Sandora nodded immediately and said, "This possibility is very high."
I also agree with Tavel's guess: the fallen apostles are always ahead of the New Empire in terms of intelligence, and Harlan was the first to know about the relics of his ancestors. Although he did not capture the Fialis, he may have known about it through other channels.
The approximate location of the universe. Now that Harlan's remnants appear near here, they are probably looking for the specific coordinates of their ancestors' relics.
The only good thing now is that the fleet of fallen apostles has not yet appeared, which means that they have not found this place, and are still doing useless work far away (if they are really looking for the relics of their ancestors), leaving it to the emperor
The reaction time is very ample - we are facing the huge threat of the fallen apostles, and it has been a long time since we encountered such a good thing with ample time.
Sandora immediately connected to the Shadow City and ordered Sivis to prepare a fleet to support large-scale conflicts that may break out in the far frontier at any time - we believe that Harlan's remaining troops are still quite effective, because he originally sent more than a dozen
All the King's Lander battleships were successfully evacuated, and his entire royal fleet was successfully taken away. Later, Tavel ordered the entire engineering team to speed up the collection of ancestors' relics: once a war really breaks out, no one can guarantee that this little
The star system here can be safe and sound, and the relics of our ancestors here are one less. The loss destroyed by the war is a pity for us.
After all aspects of work were assigned, Sandora was bored in her room for a long time, and then suddenly came to me: "We can't start a war in this universe, and we can't even let Haran know the existence of this world!"
I was discussing with Phyllis the route of her fleet that day in the rest area of the Fiyali people, hoping to find out more about the movement patterns of Haran's army and the way they sensed the relics of their ancestors, when I saw Sandora running in a hurry.
When I came over and said something like this, I was a little surprised: "What's wrong?"
"There is a hidden danger," Sandora said sitting next to me. She picked up my water cup - she ate the cup after finding that there was no water in it. "High-dimensional war will destroy the information balance of the universe and affect the world barrier."
The battle will destroy the weak response left by the sudden space flash. In either case, once we and Harlan start a war in this universe, it is possible to destroy the information left by our home world. Until then, we will look for the last bit of our home world.
The clues will no longer exist. Therefore, the war must be kept away from this world. If possible, it is best for Harlan not to know the existence of this universe before he is eliminated - what the mad dog will do is unpredictable, I
We can’t guarantee that the fallen apostle also has feelings for his home world. If Haran is forced by us, he would rather destroy this universe than cause trouble for the new empire..."
I thought about the group of fallen apostles who destroyed the world as easily as swatting flies. I felt that it was really possible for Harlan to do such a crazy thing: the entire group of fallen apostles were born in the professional class of crazy people.
"Then what..." Phyllis watched Sandora and I communicate so seriously for a long time, and finally said something rather belatedly and retardedly, "Is it possible that you are going to fight again? Or are you going to fight with those crazy people?
"
I glanced at Phyllis and nodded heavily: "Start a war at any time. A few days ago we found traces of the fleet of the fallen apostles. They seem to be looking for this world too - well, just like you were worried about at the time..."
Phyllis suddenly jumped up to a height of more than one meter, stepped on the sofa and made a defensive gesture towards me: "Actually, you are joking, right? From now on, you have been asking me about the time when you were attacked by that group of lunatics.
Isn’t the tracking process just because of another war?”
I continued to nod her heavily. I thought that one of the reasons why Phyllis was reluctant to follow her out was because she was afraid of meeting those crazy people again. But now she is really afraid of whatever comes, and Phyllis is keeping it with me.
After half a minute of anti-wolf posture, I jumped down and went to pack my things. I looked at her curiously: "What are you doing?"
"Run away," Felice said without raising her head. "The risk factor of being with you guys is too high."
I knew she was joking, because after packing for a long time she still had the same thing in her hand. But she still smiled and said: "How do you plan to go back? There is nothing between here and the capital of the empire. You can go back by using the drum washing machine in the house.
What?"
Sandora opened her hands to Felice a little helplessly. It was difficult for Sandora to look directly at the guy in front of her who also had the name of a queen but did not act like a queen at all: "Face the fallen apostle, you should fight bravely, escape is the best.
…”
"Fiyali people are not afraid of fighting." Before Shandora could finish her words, Felice suddenly looked serious and said very seriously. Her sudden change made Shandora and I stunned, "In our case
In our home world, the Fiyali people have been through wars. We have faced enemies ten times our number and have never flinched. Even when we decided to jump out of the world, none of us have flinched. There is no need to worry about the Fiyali people being afraid of fighting.
.”
Felice's sudden change of attitude surprised Shandora and I, and at the same time we were a little awe-struck. I guess that as long as Felice can maintain her expression for more than ten seconds, I and Shandora will not be happy with this hawker queen.
She could change her opinion, but she didn't last for a few seconds before she let out her whole body and looked at Sandora and me with a bitter look on her face: "But you think we are facing off against the fallen apostles, then what?
Is it still a fight? Besides, I go out to do business, so I’m not mentally prepared yet..."
I:"……"
I know that this Phyllis is in a state of escape most of the time. The adjutant lady once vowed that her Majesty the Queen is a dutiful and responsible ruler who is worthy of following - then maybe she really has these qualities.
On the plus side, I decided to believe that she just wanted to adjust the atmosphere now.
Sandora turned to me after Phyllis calmed down: "What Phyllis said makes sense. We really need to move as soon as possible, even for safety reasons. There are only a group of people here with almost no combat effectiveness.
Engineering troops, scientists, and escort troops are also in short supply of combat power. Once discovered by Harlan in advance and blocked in this universe, not to mention protecting the heritage of our ancestors, even we may be damaged here. And since we must avoid starting a war in this universe
, it is also necessary to transfer the engineering team as soon as possible."
I think so. Although the eldest lady told me that my trip was safe when I set out, she only said that it was safe on the way here, but she didn't say that it would always be safe here - as long as it has anything to do with the fallen apostles, you can do whatever you want.
Maybe just think of it in a fatal direction, it's certainly not an exaggeration...
"Originally, I planned to drag this universe into the empire," Sandora suddenly frowned and muttered, "but now we can't do that, and we can't do any bigger moves. If Haran is really looking for
This world, then he must be very alert. We can't risk exposing this place."
"In short, during this period, pack up and take away all the ancestral relics that can be found," I connected to the communication with Tavel, "Tavel, ask your engineering team to speed up the progress, we have to take everything here.
Pack it up and take it away. If there is no time for on-site analysis, we will transport it back to Shadow City."
Sandora then ordered the staff who were on the world barrier to withdraw. And dismantled the various scanning equipment they deployed at the critical point of order - these equipment were originally used to find clues about their home world, but now they are obviously not
When doing this, any activity of the emperor in this universe will increase the chance of Harlan discovering this place. Before we solve this hidden danger, Sandora will not allow the relics of her hometown to have the slightest risk of being destroyed.
Now the emperor's army and the remnants of Haran are actually two groups of people looking for the night pearl in the dark. The emperor's army has already found the target, and Haran is still leading his people in circles in the corners: for the time being, they stay far away.
We can't see the light here clearly, so we have to quickly turn off the lights and hide our figures. Then we sneakily look for opportunities to kill the people on the opposite side. In order to increase the success rate, I think it's not enough to just turn off the lights - we have to find a way to hide the night pearl.
.
"Hide this world?" Sandora nodded sympathetically, "The Garden of Death can make a world impossible to locate for a period of time, just like 'hiding' in the void, but it is too far away from the interior of the empire. The power of the Garden of Death will also weaken in the void, so relay base stations are needed to enhance the power of the system, and these relay base stations cannot be discovered... This is too troublesome, we should find a simpler solution."
While we were thinking anxiously, I suddenly heard a lazy and mischievous female voice coming from the direction of the door: "Isn't what you are thinking a bit too complicated?"
I looked up and saw Bingtis leaning against the door with her arms folded. What was strange was that there was a small doll sitting on her shoulders... The little Goth girl who was more than 90 centimeters tall was holding Bingtis's head. , with a bored look on his face, he put his silver hair and Bingtis's hair together, and then picked them out one by one: I can't understand this child's interests at all.
My first thought at the time was that this female gangster had finally been subtly brainwashed by her father, and she really thought she was the godmother of the little doll... But I didn't dare to say this, because it might cause Sandora I ate it on the spot without any sauce.
But having said that, when Bingtis and this little doll are put together like this, they really look like a mother and daughter! If you want to say that the former is the adult version of the latter, there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. Bingtis’s father has a burning gaze. .
"Oh, I saw this little girl wandering around when I came over, so I brought it to you." Bingtis noticed that both Sandora and I's eyes fell on the little doll. She didn't think much about it, but I lifted the little girl off my shoulders and put her in my arms, as if I had picked up a lost animal on the road. The little doll climbed on me twice and found her "throne", safe and sound. He sat down and hugged my head and fell asleep, while Bingtis sat down next to Sandora: "Squeeze, squeeze - I heard, did you find anything about Harlan? Is he nearby?" "
"The probability is more than ninety-eight percent. He must have a purpose for coming here." Shandora has become accustomed to Bingtis's careless style, with an indifferent look on her face, "We are about to withdraw everyone now. , pack up all the relics of our ancestors and take them away, so that even if a war breaks out, the losses can be minimized. And... we also want to protect this world as much as possible. There may be residual information about our home world here, before the entire universe is turned upside down. , I will not allow any fallen apostle to get involved here."
"Let me think about it, let me think about it - I always think you are thinking too much," Bingtis shook his head and suddenly clapped his hands, "Hey, hiding this universe is just a negative way, you might as well come up with ideas. Isn't it enough to seduce Haran to another world and throw a trap or something to make him think that is the Xiling ancestral tomb? Then you move quickly and clean up his remaining defeated soldiers. Don't follow the same example as last time. If everyone is left alive, the world will naturally be safer."
Shandora thought for a while: "This is a good idea, but where does the bait come from? If we use ancestral relics - not to mention whether it is appropriate or not, simple ancestral relics are dead objects after all, and may not be eye-catching enough. If the emperor wants to do something, I'm worried that Haran will see it - he knows the Xiling Apostles too well, and the traps and truth are obvious to such enemies at a glance."
"Eye-catching? Isn't there a super eye-catching one here?" Bingtis said, turning to look at Phyllis.
"Apart from the ancestral graves of your ancestors, the Jialiya people are the most eye-catching..."
(The comic version of Xiling Empire has begun to be serialized in Man King Magazine. The magazine in front of you has been distributed nationwide and will be available at major newsstands in about two or three days.