Chapter 931: Chapter 931: Rumors of the Ghost Ship
"Father God might want to invite you to the Divine Realm again, saying there’s something important to discuss, but he didn’t specify what."
Bingdisi said this while she was diligently braiding Sandora’s hair, so much so that I didn’t react at first; a few seconds later, I froze abruptly, realizing that what she casually mentioned was actually of greatest significance.
"Father God called me to the Divine Realm?" If it weren’t for Sandora lying on my chest and not wanting to disturb her, I would have stood up at that moment, "When?"
"He invites you to the Divine Realm, not calls you," Bingdisi seriously corrected this point in the topic, "You are the King of Mankind, so please have some self-awareness. As for when to go, Father God hasn’t specifically said, it should just be a heads-up for you to prepare. I saw his expression was quite serious, it must be something very important, just not able to decide right now. Well, don’t be too nervous, Father God often speaks with half sentences, maybe he just wants to exchange fatherly experiences with you."
I can’t even imagine whether this guy’s head holds the concept of "respect", she even dares to joke about Father God!
"Did Father God invite only Ah Jun?"
Just as Bingdisi and I were discussing via Spiritual Connection the extent of Father God’s paternal halo, suddenly, Sandora’s voice sounded beside our ears, then the golden-haired girl who had been lightly dozing in my arms propped herself up and lightly but firmly hammered my chest: "This guy was messing with my hair and you did nothing about it."
"Whoa, how did you eavesdrop!" Bingdisi scooted half a meter back as if she’d seen a ghost, pointing at Sandora, exclaiming.
"Don’t forget I’m a Soul Taker," Sandora flicked her hair, originally Bingdisi intended to prank her by weaving her hair together with grass on the ground, but it had been undone somehow, "Speaking of soul and Spirit strength, you can’t beat me. I knew the moment you arrived, just too lazy to get up."
"Wow, you’ve truly fallen," Bingdisi exaggeratedly patted her chest, a ripple formed, "Lazily basking in the Sun in a man’s arms, you’ve evolved into a herbivore! Are you going to embrace laziness completely?"
"It’s much better than being deemed unattractive for marriage eight million seven hundred thousand years ago," Sandora grinned at Bingdisi, speaking with no restraint, "Coming home to be interrogated by your parents over the matter of illegitimate offspring, seems the two of them have been troubled by this for quite some time, huh."
Bingdisi stared at Sandora, seemingly recognizing the golden-haired girl for the first time in front of her, and only after a long while did she kick me lightly, "Hey, Chen, how did you train a Queen into a master of trash talk?"
I was momentarily stunned, then looked up at the sky speechlessly.
Sandora and Bingdisi have been inseparable friends for millions of years, with a bond so close, yet outside this closeness, sometimes they act like arguing friends, quarreling over minor issues, which in truth are of no real consequence. The main reason they occasionally bicker is due to Bingdisi’s destructiveness; you can hardly stop her from causing unrest among local natives and collecting protection fees, and inciting fights in your backyard, practically everywhere she goes during the Old Empire Era. Each time she visited Sandora, she caused a bundle of trouble, turning Sandora’s Imperial City and nation into a mess, then getting chased to a Void Node by the Royal Fleet. Although surely the troubles she caused were within limits, it didn’t stop Sandora from being furious.
With time, this pair of inseparable friends developed a habit of bickering.
But I think that back then, during their quarrels, Sandora was definitely the one who suffered losses, showing her one-track mind characteristic as a Xyrin Apostle, making it hard to imagine Sandora, before meeting me, winning a war of words against the experienced Bingdisi. Even rogues have advanced combat prowess, Bingdisi’s strengths aren’t limited to her hitting with Bricks and Wolf Fang Clubs, her penchant for free speech is also a notable highlight. Sandora’s only chance of winning against Bingdisi in verbal exchanges would be to fail at arguing and bombard her with warships...
But today, our Queen is no longer the same; as the saying goes, "Walking along the riverbank, where can one not be a poet," living for three years with a bunch of idle blokes constantly engaging in idle banter and witty repartees, even Kong Fu Zi’s Apricot Altar would be renamed "Artistic Life." So when Sandora spoke up, Bingdisi was astonished and rendered speechless for quite a while.
Of course, I was also stunned — this girl usually hides her true self, only revealing her fierce side when exchanging quips with Bingdisi?
"You haven’t answered my question," Sandora looked at Bingdisi, "Did Father God invite only Ah Jun?"
"He didn’t say," Bingdisi shrugged, "Anyway, the gate to the Divine Realm is always open for your family without restrictions, but it seems that matter Father God mentioned is only related to Chen."
"Exchanges between Void Creatures, is it," Sandora seemed to grasp the true meaning of this meeting whose date remains unknown, and hummed slightly, "Well, there’s no need to worry beforehand, anyhow, in terms of your Divine Race’s sense of time... it’s just like that."
Sandora didn’t clarify, but I secretly added: Given the Divine Race’s sense of time, if they say a matter should wait a while, when they bring it up again, it’s practically time for the next generation of humanoids to learn to walk upright.
Bingdisi knew this well, and didn’t refute, but simply laughed awkwardly, then pointed toward the distant sky: "Speaking of which, earlier when I was coming over, I found Mount Olympus quite lively, many demons from Demon Town flew over, interested in watching?"
Atlantis City, while called a city, its scale is incredibly vast, far exceeding any giant metropolis known in human history, ancient or modern. This is evident from the fact that it even carries on its side a grand Mount Olympus. Despite being ancient and steeped in the mystifying style of the Ancient Mythological Era, at its core, this city is an exceedingly advanced interstellar fortress, redesigned from large colonization ships, Atlantis is the only entirely Empire technology-driven architectural complex in the God-cared land of Avalon, it operates along a fixed orbit in Avalon’s space, rising in the east and setting in the west. During the day, it moves across Avalon’s blue sky, while at night, it sinks into the cloud sea at the world’s edge, moving forward in the dark World’s Shadow Zone. This has now become a fixed timetable, Avalon’s residents have even habitually taken this glorious airborne metropolis as the Sun of this sacred land, aligning their watches to Atlantis City flying over the Central Temple and entering the Goddess Temple to begin their daily prayers the moment Atlantis appears on the horizon...
I suppose this might have been Red A’s idea — that fellow is the most whimsical among all Heroic Spirits, it was his suggestion to host the first Heroic Spirit Fishing Contest by Fairy Lake, leading to being pummeled by the Mermaid Princess Isana living in Fairy Lake into a state of enlightenment akin to Shakyamuni.
Atlantis is generally not open to the public, the Atlantis Artificial Gods guarding the city consider it a Holy Land, viewing the entry of Outsiders into the God’s land as quite a distinctive matter. Even Heroic Spirits cannot easily tread on this Holy Land, because they belong to another God’s faction, even if both groups of Gods are allies, the stubborn Atlantians believe it necessary to treat this matter differently. However, their exclusivity does extend an exception to a special group, namely the demons from Fantasy Country.
Back when reclaiming this city, the demons from Fantasy Country were at the forefront alongside the Imperial Army, although in the end, they achieved remarkable results only in the realm of adorableness, it didn’t stop the Atlantians, who uphold the martial spirit of the Old Empire, from considering the demons as their closest friends and generously allowing them to visit the Holy City.
Of course, the principal reason for this generosity is that the demons do not belong to any Foreign Gods faction, making the Atlantians feel comfortable accepting them. For the Atlantians, who are all Fanatics, the word "God" is incredibly sensitive, Foreign God Believers are considered more alarming in this city compared to atheists, hence, even as friends, Heroic Spirits can’t casually enter the Holy Land, but the demons can: though some demon folks might be referred to as Gods or Clergy (such as certain Red and White individuals), such Deities are clearly not recognized by the Atlantians, they reckon Fake Gods don’t count as Gods, thus no harm in accepting them.
It’s not accurate to say that Atlantians are unfriendly or shun outsiders, in truth, aside from their extreme stubbornness on religious matters, Atlantians are highly cheerful and amicable; their honesty and loyalty to friends rank first among all the Empire’s vassals. It’s merely in certain aspects they stick to their religious beliefs, but this isn’t necessarily a negative trait. Each Race has its cultural characteristics, Atlantis’ cultural trait is the special religious devotion centered around the Xyrin Apostle, and among all Empire vassals, there’s a consensus to respect each other’s religious customs. Hence, their sealing of the Holy City is understood and supported by all.
It’s now approaching dusk, and the floating continent of Atlantis is nearing the world’s edge, gradually making contact with the sea of clouds. It’s expected to descend into the world’s dark zone in an hour. At this moment, the sudden gathering of demons at Mount Olympus is quite puzzling, so the three of us went over out of curiosity and soon reached the area above the floating continent.
Although the sky hasn’t completely darkened, the city of Atlantis has already begun to light up. Floating photon light sources for illumination and religiously symbolic bonfires and altars are scattered across the ancient stone city, illuminating its ancient streets with a history of ten thousand years. Under the twilight sky, it feels as if the worlds of future and past have converged at a point. The sacred steps of Mount Olympus, like a winding fiery serpent, stretch from the mountain’s base to the Zeus Temple at its summit, where many demons are gathering — I must say, these Fantasy Country folks gathering on a Greek-style Mount Olympus feels utterly incongruous.
Intentionally hiding our auras, none of the demons noticed the arrival of the three of us. When we landed in front of the Giant Stone Square of the Zeus Temple, a large group of demons were chirping about something. At the temple entrance, the giants Zeus and his brother Hades stood side by side, towering like ancient stone sculptures.
Luckily, Visca and her sister didn’t come along, or they’d throw a tantrum on the way back.
"Quiet down, don’t panic."
As the noise from the demons grew incessant, with no sign of stopping, two voices suddenly spoke in unison. One was Zeus, whose voice was like a bell, blowing away Shime Maru Wen, who attempted to take a close-up of him. The other was a certain long-absent sleep-loving demon, Yukari Yakumo, who sat on a gap in mid-air, playing with a folding fan.
"Yukari Yakumo, you were the first to encounter them, tell us about the situation."
Seeing the surroundings quiet down, Zeus nodded at Yukari Yakumo, blowing Shime Maru Wen away again as he spoke — doesn’t this Tengu have a brain?
"The situation is basically known to everyone, it was only a brief encounter, hardly had time to see clearly," Yukari Yakumo nodded unhurriedly, "while returning to the Fantasy Country to handle some matters, I encountered them, it indeed looked like warships or something, definitely different from the Empire’s spaceships, and extremely dilapidated. I examined them closely and felt they didn’t seem to be under anyone’s control."
"Hmm, ghost ships, and they seem capable of cross-world travel, dilapidated in appearance, seemingly uncontrollable. Hades encountered something similar," Zeus said, glancing at his giant brother beside him, "you had a close encounter with those ships, did they have any specific characteristics or something?"
"Very hard." Hades shrugged with a pained expression, tossing his hair to reveal a huge gash on his forehead, with the alloy skeleton inside glistening, "and indeed they look like ghost ships. If there were people inside, I think they should’ve reacted in some way when I collided with them, but in fact, they didn’t even release a probe. Those ships are powered; their engines appear operational, not entirely scrapped. I tried boarding them to see the situation, but they quickly exited the space channel, possibly falling into the Void. By the way, my brother, I still think I should first take care of this wound..."
"Scars are the best trophies for a warrior, cough," Zeus patted Hades’ shoulder, coughing twice as Shime Maru Wen struggled to advance against the storm, "of course, now you can find a band-aid or something for emergency use."
This is truly difficult. I don’t think Hades can find a 42-inch band-aid, but Zeus seems to believe the situation is urgent enough to place his twin brother’s health issues aside.
"Apart from the two of you, no other ghost ship encounters have occurred yet, correct?" Zeus pushed Shime Maru Wen aside, weary of her, and looked at Yukari Yakumo, "but we absolutely must not take this matter lightly."
"I also suspect this is not an isolated incident," Yukari Yakumo covered half her face with a folding fan, seemingly unwilling to watch Shime Maru Wen’s persistent attempts to take Zeus’s close-up, "currently both encounters happened outside the standard route, during personal travels by you and your brother, but those areas are not far from the ’distance’ with standard routes."
"If something intrudes upon the Gods’ paths, we would be sinful," Zeus nodded, "so we should immediately report this to the Lord."
A lazy echo from a gap demon answered, "Ah, that makes sense, though I don’t think it’s as serious as you say, but since I’m now working under him, although with such vague information, reporting it seems..."
"Cough, can someone explain what’s going on?"
The three of us had been listening in, thinking there’s no more need for concealment, so we revealed ourselves in the square and I coughed twice, loudly asking.
The square suddenly fell silent for a moment, and Zeus and Hades, upon seeing Sandora and me appear personally, reflexively knelt on one knee in salute, causing the ground to tremble, knocking the demon girls about. Shime Maru Wen with suicidal resolve dived in and landed a few meters in front, furiously snapping photos. It seems she has a new camera; the previous one, if I remember correctly, was smashed by Ling Meng.
Finally, a large wave of demon girls surged over. These over-energetic beings have not seen the landlord and landlady appear together for a long time. In about three seconds, they completely surrounded us, getting rowdy again. Basically, they were reporting their knowledge to Sandora and me, while some were energetically greeting us. I was getting dizzy. They say a woman equals five hundred ducks; at this moment, I felt like I was almost at Baiyang Lake...
"Silence!!" Finally, it was Zeus who took advantage of his giant stature and roared from above, causing Shime Maru Wen to fall — speaking of which, why has the unfortunate one been this Tengu girl since earlier? Does she have a grudge against Zeus?
"Alright, alright, everyone quiet down, Flandre, stop biting my leg, Cheng Miao, get off Hades’ arm, that’s not a tree! Lianlian, if you keep swinging, you’ll fall off the mountain! Sakuya, please wake up Hong Meiling before she gets trampled to death... oh, she’s already trampled unconscious, then... then she definitely needs urgent rescue, you idiot! Mei Hong, Mei Hong, picnicking with Huiye is no issue, but can you two be mindful of your eerie gourmet reputations? One more prank and I’ll have you finding Sandora for a week, you won’t even get an anesthetic injection!"
I was more or less exasperated, trying to restore order. After much shouting, only the last warning to Huiye got some response. Even the immortal Penglai people seem unable to accept the horrifying threat, but sadly, after Huiye quieted down, Youyouzi immediately tried to capture shots of us again, but this unlucky Tengu girl kept drifting like a mad charge. Maybe she has a grudge against Zeus?
"Alright, everyone calm down, Flandre stop biting my leg, Cheng Miao, get off Hades’ arm, it’s not a tree! Lianlian, if you keep swaying you’ll fall off the mountain! Mei Hong, Huiye, having a picnic together is fine, but when you spoil your curious culinary reputation by fooling around again, I’ll have Sandora eat you both for a snack, anesthetic-free!"
Almost frustrated, I tried to restore order. Finally, the warning to Huiye and Mei Hong worked a little, even the undying Penglai people seemed disturbed by it slightly...but regrettably, as soon as Huiye quieted down, Youyouzi continued her relentless pursuit of snapping close-ups of Zeus.
"Everyone is a bit excited to see you." Yukari Yakumo somehow appeared beside me, half her body peeking out of the gap, merrily covering her face with a fan. "This kind of enthusiasm is a bit hard to handle," I muttered. It’s hard to imagine how Ling Meng managed to protect the world under her reins with these rowdy folks, but a clamor ensued with everyone surrounding us, eager to share information or joyfully greet us in a clamorous mess.
Addressing this question, even the usually playful Sister Zi... Sister Zi put down her folding fan and answered solemnly: "We encountered unknown fleets in the crevices of some world at the Imperial Border, and they were ghost ships."
(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian [start point])
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