Yuan Tong

Chapter 946: Almost Didn’t Recognize Her

Chapter 946: Chapter 946: Almost Didn’t Recognize Her


The ghost ship that Lan encountered was just a wedge; it seems that starting from this point, the ghost fleet began to frequently appear near the Macro World Network. In recent extreme instances, they have even directly disrupted our civilian transportation routes, gradually threatening the stability of the Macro World.


Although this threat is currently very subtle, as long as the warning level and protection strength of the transmission devices are slightly enhanced, those "Void Floating Stones" can be ignored. Nonetheless, it undoubtedly has begun to cause the Imperial Military Department to be on extremely high alert.


Today marks the fifth day since we encountered the first ghost ship that could counterattack. Over the past five days, we’ve received reports of "alien object infiltration into the transmission channel" about three times daily. Some of the alien objects discovered in these reports are massive starships, while others are astonishingly habitable structures. This peculiar term is used because these enormous objects are not starships. They have propulsion and jump devices, but their structure is entirely different from any known starship. They lack thick shields and armor but have layers of protective structures, like a sponge filled with variously sized separate spaces. Inside these irregularly shaped objects are strong life residue reactions, indicating that they once housed a large number of residents—of course, they are now utterly silent. These structures are generally damaged, with the internal compartments reduced to dust from the decomposition of organic matter. Without the substantial surrounding solidified force fields maintaining cohesion, these enormous objects would likely have shattered into pieces in the void long ago.


Due to the increasingly frequent ghost ship phenomenon, the Macro World Network has recently raised its alert level. All civilian transmission applications are being processed collectively, and some civilian routes closer to the outer borders have been temporarily closed. Personnel requiring transmission from All Realms need to transit from nearby worlds, placing some small pressure on those transit worlds. Local reviewers and special envoys have to find ways to handle travel issues for Otherworld colleagues who shouldn’t originally have passed through their jurisdictions, without affecting the normal order of their own worlds. It’s said that Wugeng Liu Li has submitted no fewer than ten reports to the Time-Space Administration over this issue: more than two hundred Cybertrons intend to travel in reverse from her world to the Mafa Continent, and Liu Li truly doesn’t know how to explain to her sisters why there are suddenly over a hundred luxury sports cars and more than a hundred heavy bombers at home—assuming she even has a place to accommodate those Cybertrons...


As a result, we’re compelled to implement many response measures, including increasing auxiliary staff at all boundary outposts of the Macro World Network and sending some special super space support to local reviewers. These tasks have kept the Time-Space Administration’s Magic Girls—Ravens extremely busy. I wonder if we should urgently dispatch some personnel to the Xizhimen Overpass to observe and learn about traffic guidance expertise.


We’re certainly not ignoring the ghost ships frequently invading the Macro World Network. The Military Integration Department has gathered a large number of Servant Army soldiers into the Macro World Network, cleaning out those unruly ghost ships like clearing viruses from a blood vessel. The advantage of the Servant Army’s vast numbers and widespread distribution has been well utilized this time. Moreover, over the past year, under Sandora’s instructions, the Command Center has been expanding barracks throughout the Macro World Network. These barracks provide strong mobilization capabilities for the Servant Army, and every ghost ship incident that has occurred has been properly handled immediately.


However, all these measures are just treating the symptoms. To cure the root cause, we must quickly figure out what these ghost ships are all about.


Unfortunately, since Lan’s last accidental encounter with one, the ghost ships with detectable signs have not appeared again. The ones encountered by the patrol teams remain as silent shipwrecks. We’ve found no biological traces on these wrecks, nor any usable voyage logs. The ships appear abandoned for who knows how many years, with everything except the engines—those most durable components—completely scrapped. It’s tremendously difficult to determine their origins solely from the ghost ships themselves.


The only thing we can ascertain is that our previous speculation was correct: all the ghost ships originate from an extraordinarily massive main fleet.


And this main fleet is currently gradually approaching the Macro World Network.


In a typical void system, all worlds are randomly distributed like bubbles, separated by void and independent without intersecting. However, since the establishment of the Macro World, these worlds have interlinked, altering the situation. The Macro World Network has gradually formed a massive information entanglement, so vast that it astounds the Divine Race. These Macro Worlds, connected like villages by a myriad of highways, form a continuous expanse in the void. Though there’s no physical or conceptual "approaching," they indeed have become an "integrated whole" in another sense. The ghost fleet is quite similar; it might be comprised of thousands of starships that, losing control, should have immediately scattered, becoming numerous unrelated fragments in the void—like sand thrown into a rushing stream being dispersed. However, the sheer size of the ghost fleet has caused these starships, even when out of control, to remain gathered and able to form small teams drifting around. Now, these two enormous entities, alike yet distinct in organizational form, are drifting closer; their edges have begun to touch, and no one knows when a larger-scale collision might occur.


Like the past few days, I arrived at the Command Center early this morning to receive the latest updates on the ghost fleet and to work with Sandora on researching the search plan for the ghost fleet’s main body.


Honestly, I feel like I’m really in a tough spot. Everyone at home is a classic military clueless, just like Qianqian or Lin Xue, completely useless in military strategy, so they can relax and do their own thing. But I’m really not much stronger than them; why must I act all high and mighty at military meetings every day?


"Because the role of wood is basically like the feather on an Indian Chief’s head. Although it’s not useful, the chief thinks it’s quite handy... wow!"


These are the words from the sharp-tongued Miss privately ranting to me, and the last sound is because I was twisting her ear.


The high-ranking cadre sent by the Military Integration Department to report is a tall and lean young officer, one of the new generation of Xyrin Apostles. He was originally the deputy officer of Kaos, the commander of the Mind Assault Unit, later recommended by his superior to serve in the Military Integration Department as an Advanced Governor over the Servant Army. He is currently in charge of the ghost ship cleanup within the Macro World Network. Sandora, Big Sister, and I, along with a group of commanders, are sitting in a circle listening to his report.


"So far, ghost ships we’ve encountered are divided into two handling schemes. Smaller ghost ships with no life response are immediately destroyed upon discovery; those with huge size and complete power are equipped with tracking devices before being driven into the void. We hope those ghost ships with tracking probes can lead us to the main body of the fleet. As for the ghost ship with counterattack abilities encountered by the patrol team in the transmission corridor five days ago, it appeared only once and hasn’t shown up again in recent days."


Sandora sat in the Supreme Commander’s position with a focused expression, and I was beside her—dozing off with a serious expression, not because I’m indifferent to the matter mainly because the reports of recent days are primarily repetitive, with the ghost fleet roaming randomly in the void. Whether we can find their main force largely depends on luck, and so I’ve been a bit sleepy listening.


Sandora discreetly pinched my waist from behind; maintaining imperial dignity while lightly nodding: "That ghost ship should just be an exception. Don’t waste too much energy on it. What progress have we made with the tracking probes we released now?"


One intelligence officer in the Command Center stood up: "We’ve made some progress. We can now confirm the ghost fleet indeed has a larger cluster hiding deep in the void but is slowly approaching the Macro World Network. The first batch of probes released has been tracking the ghost ships for five days, and feedback data shows they are approaching a big information disturbance source, which quite possibly is the ghost fleet’s main body. Several earlier batch probes also reported multiple encounters with ghost ships along the way; those ghost ships wander aimlessly within certain void frequencies, but overall tend to approach the Macro World Network."


"If everything goes normally, in a few days, we should be able to make contact with the ghost fleet’s main body." Sandora rubbed her temple, "Such a huge fleet, even facing the Empire is not a force to overlook, how was it destroyed..."


The intelligence officer slightly bowed their head: "Apologies, Your Majesty, we still have no progress regarding this; the ghost ships have evidently floated in the void too long; the energy attacks they endured have been eroded clean by the void, making it impossible to determine."


The intelligence on the ghost ships progresses slowly mainly because they wander from place to place and aren’t from a fixed world; they drift throughout the void. Scanning a world from the void is already quite challenging, sometimes discovering a new world takes one or two months of searching, let alone tracking a group of ghost ships moving constantly. The intelligence center has reviewed all databases but hasn’t found any source information on ghost ships and dare not fully exclude their possible connections to the Old Empire: civilizations capable of crossing the void are extremely rare. Apart from the Xyrin Empire’s colossus, only several much weaker advanced civilizations registered by the Star Domain Divine Race can manage it, and those civilizations have already been ruled out, so Sandora and I suspect ghost ships are likely relics left by some lost civilizations destroyed along with the Old Empire Era.


But that’s just speculation.


The only thing worth celebrating is that previously sent tracking probes are functioning normally and have made significant progress, at least confirming they’re nearing the ghost fleet’s main body; the number of ghost ships encountered en route is increasing. If everything proceeds according to plan, finding them is just a matter of time: in this situation, I can’t think of any other surprises happening, the Fallen Apostle wouldn’t dare recklessly charge the Empire front line, would they?


We are also researching the attributes of the ghost ships themselves. In previous encounters, apart from the ships that were destroyed and sent back into the Void, the patrol team managed to capture some ghost ships. Some of these spaceships are still staying at the research center, and some have already been analyzed and are available at the Command Center for the officers to understand. Surprisingly, cracking the ghost ships is actually quite easy. A considerable number of them appear to be civilian vessels, lacking military-grade encryption equipment. A dismantling platform can fully understand the structural diagram of a ghost ship within two days, and possibly even clone one. Even though the technological system used by these spaceships is quite different from the Empire’s, it is quite simple for those exceptional Imperial Scientists to understand a group of outdated civilian ships’ principles — it’s like running; you can run sideways, run backwards, and even run while using your hands to touch the ground. In Bolt’s eyes, it’s all the same. That’s the qualitative difference...


Finally, after the briefing finished, Sandora organized the enhancement of Macro World Network security. I hurriedly slipped out to breathe the fresh air outside the Command Center. Listening to reports and making strategic deployments in here is incredibly stressful; it easily reminds me of sixth-grade when the teacher dragged me into the office about the test paper. I couldn’t understand what the teacher said, and the teacher couldn’t understand what I said. And the fact is that the peculiarly excellent grade on that paper depended on a die’s miraculous performance...


I’d rather follow Bingdisi’s suggestion and become a hands-free manager. Truly, these highly professional matters are not meant for a person like me who idly sips warm tea at the door for an afternoon.


As I leisurely strolled and swung my arms around the square, a somewhat unfamiliar pretty girl suddenly came walking from the corner ahead.


...Listen, the emphasis on this is ’unfamiliar,’ not ’pretty girl.’ Don’t overthink it.


She appeared to be a girl in her twenties with a tall frame, dressed in an ordinary white shirt and an over-knee skirt. She was also wearing a short light-yellow bolero, and her feet sported simple flats, embodying a shopping-ready look. Due to her casual clothing, her figure was easily noticeable. Although she couldn’t compare to Bingdisi’s exceptional figure, she was indeed of an elegantly curved and excellent stature. This unfamiliar girl had straight, black hair that reached her backside, lightly swaying with her somewhat hurried steps. Somehow, this scene added an inexplicable sense of familiarity. As she approached a little closer, I paid more attention to her profile. Yes, she did look somewhat familiar, but I couldn’t remember who she was. I haven’t seen a makeup-free girl like this before... Is there someone like this in the base?


Wait, no, this is a military base! How can civilians get in!


Thinking that, I was utterly surprised and hastened my steps to inquire about the situation. However, the girl seemed to have sensed me in advance. Before I could speak, she already turned her face around and then snapped to a standard Empire military salute, instantly leaving me utterly confused.


"Uh, who might you be? Family?"


I casually asked, and the unfamiliar girl was instead stunned: "Your Majesty?"


As soon as she spoke, I felt dizzy, and then pointed at her in shock: "Oh wow, Taville!?"


"Yes," said the makeup-free girl, dressed as though returning from a shopping spree, in an odd tone, "it’s me, Your Majesty seems quite surprised?"


I stared blankly at her, finally figuring out her identity. I initially hadn’t recognized that face, and then muttered while smacking my forehead, "Oh, it’s you, I was wondering, where are your glasses?"


"Not wearing them today. They’re auxiliary analysis devices I designed following Earthling style. Because I don’t have work today, I didn’t wear them."


That’s the situation. This somewhat familiar but stubbornly hard-to-recall makeup-free girl was none other than Taville, whom I’d given a week’s vacation. But today, without glasses, I couldn’t recognize her! And she wasn’t wearing her signature white robe either, which made her even more unfamiliar, don’t you think? I’ve always believed Taville’s entity included her glasses and white robe, to the point that I’ve almost forgotten what this glasses-girl looks like...


I even worry that she’ll leave her white robe hanging at the research institute and prop up a pair of glasses. Would I then think she’s come to work...


"Well, kind of surprised," I awkwardly glance at the plainly dressed Taville, feeling that her casual outfit totally clashed with her military demeanor. "Never have seen you wearing normal clothes and a skirt."


"According to your command, I have seven days of vacation. I bought some new clothes I liked and did the personal things I enjoyed." Taville replied formally, her military demeanor starkly contrasted with her light dress, "I even self-taught cooking, which was Sandora Your Majesty’s suggestion."


I suddenly became very curious and asked joyfully: "That girl couldn’t give you any other advice. By the way, how’s your cooking skill?"


Taville’s face immediately reddened, and she turned away: "Sandora Your Majesty says it’s edible, but she doesn’t quite like it..."


I was dumbstruck, feeling this might even be worse than the proverbial "not fit for a dog," for Sandora doesn’t eat it...


As I pondered whether Taville’s cooking could also be tossed into a spaceship reactor as fuel, the plain version of the Chief Researcher suddenly coughed lightly, then looked at me expectantly: "Your Majesty, may I conclude my vacation early?"


I was taken aback: "Is a vacation bad? You’ve rested enough?"


"Actually, just a one-time twelve-hour comprehensive maintenance, and my bodily functions are adjusted to their optimal state," Taville slightly embarrassedly said with her head lowered. Appearing without that robe-like researcher uniform, Taville somehow morphed from a military personnel into a soft girly type — although considering her wild technological creations, I reckon she might be not much softer than Star Gold Stone, "Now I wish to return to the research institute. Regarding the ghost fleet, I probably have some personal discoveries..." (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you’re welcome to visit Qidian () to vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)