I should have thought of it earlier...
Pandora told me about her identity right at our first meeting—Xyrin General.
What is the most important quality of a general? Obviously, it isn't the general's belly—besides, a loli who's just tall enough to reach the dining table at home surely doesn't have that build, so the most important quality of a general should be soldiers...
So, in fact, the so-called Gaia's Immortal Sister didn't just send me a Xyrin Apostle named Pandora; she sent a whole regiment, including this general herself!
Although this was quite an obvious fact, Pandora's appearance still made me involuntarily overlook that she was really an Imperial General, and she didn't think it necessary to explain to me something she assumed I knew.
It seemed I underestimated the trouble those mysterious beings could cause me... an army! Never mind supporting them; just finding accommodation for so many people would be a nightmare! Where should I put them?!
Sending them to Shanxi to dig coal seems like a good idea; I'm only worried they might dig their way to Brazil. Judging by Pandora's capacity for action, I suspected all Xyrin Soldiers might have this spirit...
The old lady on the podium started speaking at the speed of a fast-talking rapper in her impeccable London accent, while I conversed with Pandora in my mental world at a speed not slower than the English teacher.
"Pandora, can you ask your army not to come? It feels... a bit too much..."
"Space Transition cannot be stopped."
"Then can they turn back immediately once they arrive? Uh—it's not that I have a problem with them, it's just that there's really nowhere to house them. How about we organize a three-day Earth tour for them once they get here, and then everyone goes home? It wouldn't be a wasted trip, would it?"
"This planet has no outpost base, and the mother star's equipment is not yet fully repaired. Therefore, the Imperial Expeditionary Army's transition this time is one-way. If you want them to return quickly, please establish a Xyrin outpost base first. Once the base is established, you can initiate war at any time to turn this world into a new frontier of the Empire."
…Why did I feel like we had discussed this topic before?
In an era where everyone pursued peace, friendship, societal harmony, and development, having a mysterious being around you who always thought about establishing bases and initiating wars to expand territory was very stressful.
"So, no matter what, your... army has to come here?"
"Yes."
"Then... how many of them are there?" I began seriously calculating how much it would cost to support an army and concluded that selling myself wouldn't be enough to feed them a meal; to support them, my first step should be securing the right to issue currency...
Unlike usual, Pandora remained silent for a long time without answering. Suddenly, cold sweat began forming on my forehead: Are you still counting? Haven't your calculations finished yet?
"Three hundred."
The number caught me so off guard that I couldn't react for a moment.
"How many?"
"Three hundred."
"...Thousand?"
"Three hundred, just three hundred people," Pandora said calmly, showing no sign of impatience.
"Three hundred! You must be joking! The so-called Imperial Expeditionary Army of the Xyrin Empire has only three hundred people?"
I felt like a condemned man who had been sentenced to death, watching the executioner about to swing the blade, only for a gasping eunuch to rush over at the last second, holding the Emperor's draft paper: "Stay the execution!"
"Three hundred refers to our number before expansion."
"Expansion?" I asked in confusion. In the two days since I met Pandora, though I hadn't made much progress otherwise, I had certainly picked up several bizarre new terms, enlarging my vocabulary significantly.
"Large-scale legion transmission consumes massive amounts of energy, which is an unnecessary drain during a war. Therefore, we utilize legion compression. Our basic soldiers are all lifeless Mechanical Puppets. During legion transmission, they are stored within Space Rifts created by their Commanders. Since they lack independent consciousness, there's no concern that psychological issues might reduce their combat effectiveness during prolonged transmission. Once at the destination, Commanders can quickly establish an outpost base via Space Transmission, releasing the stored soldiers. This process is called expansion."
"So, the ones coming over this time are just three hundred Commanders, with the actual soldiers stored in Space Rifts?"
"Yes."
"Great! Wonderful! Listen, Pandora, under no circumstances, let that army expand without my command. If it's just three hundred, accommodating them might be manageable..."
************************************* Line *****************************************
Even though the number had shrunk from the anticipated thousands to just three hundred, the pressure was still immense.
It was now 11:30 PM. Considering that the sudden appearance of three hundred people would undoubtedly shock the general public, I asked Pandora to slightly adjust the time of the legion transition and chose a remote, uninhabited location far from any city for receiving them.
Pandora stood quietly, her originally jet-black hair turned ice blue, as transparently crystalline as ice. Under the night sky, she looked as beautiful as an angel who had accidentally wandered into the mortal world—even though this angel spent twenty hours daily plotting how to wipe out the U.N.
Waves of faint energy fluctuations radiated from her as the center, spreading outwards. Sharing information with Pandora, I felt the impact of these waves extending for a dozen kilometers.
"Information interference activated. For the next two hours, all intelligent targets entering the warning zone will be disrupted—Brother, are you feeling better?"
I continued lying on the ground, motionless.
"Sorry..."
"It's fine..." I replied weakly. "Just, never again measure me by Xyrin Apostle standards—someone could die, really, someone could die..."
The past 20 minutes had been a hellish journey.
Being carried on Pandora's shoulder as she dashed through walls and rooftops at 210 kilometers per hour had me feeling like my internal organs had all shifted: Hopefully, they could still perform their original functions in their new locations.
Lying still on the ground, after a while I finally started to feel the pain in my body ease a bit, but I had no desire to get up, simply staring at the starry sky.
"So quiet..." I whispered.
Away from the bustling city, shedding troublesome thoughts, lying quietly beneath this serene dark blue sky, I suddenly felt an unprecedented peace.
If it weren't for Pandora, I might never have had the chance to experience such tranquility, quietly lying in the suburbs on a night like this.
The past few days had been so bizarre that I hadn't had a single moment to unwind, but now, I suddenly felt much lighter.
"Brother, it's very cold outside now, it might harm your body," Pandora's slightly mechanical voice came through. Though it was as emotionless as always, I sensed a faint hint of concern—perhaps just psychological comfort? After all, the girl had just carried her Emperor over 200 kilometers from the city to the suburbs...
"It's fine, this is a rare chance to relax. You don't need to stand; there are still 20 minutes left, come lie here with me."
Pandora responded obediently and lay down beside me.
Though I knew she wasn't human, I still felt a little flutter when she lay down beside me.
Calm down, she's not human; besides, even if she were human, she's still just a loli!
A sudden thought flashed through my mind, bringing an epiphany: If even race isn't an issue, then why should age matter?
I realized my thoughts were rushing towards an uncontrollable direction...
"Hmm? Pandora, what's that smell?" I noticed the faint sweet scent emanating from Pandora.
"It's a residual scent from some compound Sister used while bathing me. Personally, I don't understand its purpose. In combat, such extraneous information would just expose oneself faster."
"Hehe, Pandora, you don't always have to think about combat. There aren't that many conflicts in this world; you could live a little more freely."
The girl beside me, unusually, did not respond this time but remained silent. I figured, with the gap in our worldviews, she found it hard to understand this sentiment.
"Pandora, I've always wanted to ask, what was daily life like for you Xyrin Apostles—before you inadvertently fell into slumber?" I was curious about the Xyrin Empire, with which I had now formed myriad intricate ties, and about the world that was completely shrouded in mystery to me.
Pandora remained silent for a long time before finally uttering four words: "Temporarily... unknown."
"Basic data loss is severe, nearly all records before our slumber are lost. Perhaps once we contact other awakened Xyrin Mother Stars, we'll get relevant data, or maybe over time, the database will partially recover."
"I see..."
After a while, Pandora's voice sounded again, still flat and emotionless: "Maybe it was just constant fighting. I only remember fighting, continuous fighting. We were a race born for combat."
"Not necessarily," I suddenly recalled the colorful world I saw in my dreams, a vibrant world I refused to believe was created by a combat race.
Afterwards, we both fell silent until a rhythmic wave suddenly rippled through my mental world.
The freeloading forces from the distant Xyrin Mother Star had finally arrived.
"Pandora, prepare yourself."
At midnight, 12 AM, the Imperial Commanders from the distant mother star finally completed the long space transition and entered the surrounding space of Earth. Next, it became Pandora's task; she would act as a Void Waymarker, guiding those 300 commanders to complete the final spatial positioning to prevent any unlucky Imperial Officer from having to crawl out of a toilet in someone's house.
At this moment, not only had Pandora's hair turned the crystal-like icy blue, but her body also began to emanate a faint blue glow. From a distance, she looked like a blue elf standing still in the night sky. The dream-like beauty of it even made the moon appear dim in comparison. I couldn't resist but move closer to take a look and confirmed that within half a meter of Pandora, the glow was enough to read by.
As the opening time of the transition channel approached, the blue light on Pandora's body grew increasingly bright. Gradually, her entire body transformed into a pale blue luminescent figure, illuminating the surrounding area within dozens of meters with its light.
"This would be so handy for nighttime travel," I sighed with a sense of admiration.
At this time, I noticed a barely perceptible distortion in the air ahead and stared keenly in Pandora's direction, afraid of missing this unprecedented scene. Finally, some vague, black silhouettes began to appear around Pandora.
Were these the 300 commanders?
After a dozen seconds, the shadows became more solid. The few shadows closest to Pandora had started to reveal their indistinct faces.
"They're here!" I whispered excitedly.
"Brother," Pandora's calm voice came over, "Don't stare at the strong light source for too long, it can cause illusions…"
Ahem. I knew it—those shadows were looking more and more like Pandora.
I smiled awkwardly and turned my head away from the glowing figure.
"So, Pandora, it's been almost ten minutes, right? Why haven't they arrived yet?"
Pandora did not respond to my question, concentrating instead on guiding the 300 figures whose shadows were not even visible.
"They're here." Pandora's voice suddenly rang out, snapping me out of my daze.
Following Pandora's voice, numerous aurora-like colored light screens began to appear in the surrounding air. One by one, silhouettes emerged from these screens; this time, they were really here.
The newly emerged figures were merely semi-transparent black shadows, resembling ghosts. They bowed to me from afar and then stood still. Gradually, their forms became more realistic.
A few minutes later, the Imperial Commanders in silver-white alloy light armor and cloaks stood before me—300 people, not too many, nor too few, standing neatly before me. It suddenly gave me a sense of commanding thousands of troops—a feeling mainly due to the fact that, apart from doing morning exercises at school, I rarely saw so many people standing this neatly.
Is this alien technology? Well, the technology of the Xyrin Empire is indeed terrifying. With such technology, sending one person behind enemy lines would be equivalent to directly deploying thousands of troops in the enemy's base. I could only secretly sigh in relief: Fortunately, I wasn't a madman intent on war. If it were Hitler who had awakened this Empire… hmm, humanity probably wouldn't have had much of a storyline post-1940…
Pandora had returned to her usual appearance by now. She quietly walked over to me, and a wave of heat followed. Curious, I turned my head and saw Pandora's clothes were blowing wildly in the hot wind—was she dissipating heat?
After exchanging looks with the Imperial Commanders for about five minutes, I awkwardly said to Pandora, who was dissipating heat next to me, "Uh, Pandora, shouldn't you say something to them first? I have no idea how to start…"
Pandora nodded, took a few calm steps forward, and in an instant, the little girl beside me seemed to transform. A palpable pressure radiated outward from Pandora, a pressure that one would never expect from a little girl, making my heart skip a beat.
It was then I truly realized that Pandora, she was a Xyrin General.
The serene Loli walked forward, raising her right hand high.
The Imperial Officers in front of her tensed their bodies.
"For the Empire!" Pandora suddenly shouted, her sweet but steely voice leaving no room for doubt.
What?
"For the Empire!" The Imperial Officers' roars echoed to the skies!
Hey!
"Freedom is power!" Pandora had completely transformed into a hot-blooded Loli.
"Freedom is power!"
Hey hey hey! That's not what I asked you to say!
"This world will become the Empire's new frontier… um…"
Hundreds of commanders coldly watched their General get dragged back by a man who suddenly emerged and covered her mouth, yet they still uniformly chanted, "This world will become the Empire's new frontier... um..."
Hey, hey, hey, I'm covering Pandora's mouth, why are you all 'um'–ing too? Are you purposely messing with me?
"Ahem—everyone, attention," I cleared my throat a few times, walking forward, "First, let me introduce myself. My name is Chen Jun, and you should already know my identity—you're now reporting to me as your new leader. First off, I'm happy you all made the long journey here. Comrades, you've all worked hard!"
A cold wind blew past...
It turned out I really wasn't cut out for formal speeches.
"Seems everyone is quite serious… so I'll keep this brief. First, regarding Pandora's declaration and this world!" My voice suddenly rose, "I understand you're accustomed to conquering every inch of land you set foot on, but this place—this is not a battlefield! I'm not interested in war, so I do not want you arriving as conquerors. I don't yet fully understand what the Empire is about, so until I figure it out, no one is to use force arbitrarily. If anyone disobeys, that's a betrayal of my will and a betrayal of the Empire!"
This was something Pandora had told me, the best way to make the Xyrin Apostles listen—use the Empire's laws to suppress them.
Now, I was totally clueless about everything. Any command I gave to the Xyrin Army could potentially cause big trouble. So until I understood more, this was the best way to minimize problems.
Hundreds of eyes flashed blue light simultaneously—this meant they had recorded my words as their highest directive in their cognitive circuits.
To be honest, it felt quite exhilarating to sternly lecture hundreds of Imperial Commanders… should I make them stand at attention and repeat it again…
Just then, Pandora tugged on my sleeve and whispered, "Brother, one is missing."
"What do you mean one is missing?" I didn't immediately understand.
"There are only 299 people here," Pandora said, "One commander of the Mind Assault Unit is missing."
"Missing? Could it be something went wrong during the space transition?"
"No—all units involved in the space transition have arrived at their destination. I will expand the search channel and—" Suddenly, Pandora paused as if discovering something incredible, her expression odd as she said, "Found him…"
I looked on in confusion as Pandora walked to a nearby tree, focused for a moment, then punched the trunk.
A red glow flashed, and the large tree trunk turned to scattered ashes.
A young man in silver-white light armor, with a long, skinny face, fell to the ground.
Pandora lightly kicked the man lying on the ground, ensuring he was completely unconscious, then turned to the other waiting commanders and said, "See, this is the result of forgetting to open public navigation during a transition."
I wiped the sweat off my forehead and asked, "What happened?"
"This idiot forgot to open public navigation near the end of the transition and got transported inside the tree trunk—in his stomach now, there's probably half wood fibers. He's lucky; if there were any more errors in the space interference effect, he could have fused entirely with the tree trunk."
Huh… haha… I never thought there would be such an amusing person among the Xyrin Apostles. It looked like they were not all as cold as Pandora.
Also, the Xyrin Apostles had an incredibly robust life force; to survive something like this…
"So, what should we do now? Will he be alright?"
"No problem, find someone meticulous to pick out the wood, and he'll be fine," Pandora said nonchalantly.
Indeed, it seemed like I couldn't treat these guys as normal people.
Just as I was marveling at the incredible life of the Xyrin Apostles, a tall, bearded man came before me, standing at attention with a "snap," then he struck his left chest heavily with his right fist—apparently, this was the Xyrin Empire's military salute?
"Reporting to the Emperor, the Pandora Heavy Equipment Corps of the Xyrin Empire has completed its assembly. The fourth commander of the Mind Assault Unit, Kaos, is missing. The remaining 299 are awaiting orders. Please issue your command!"
Ah, very good; it was indeed satisfying!
Pandora also turned her gaze toward here. Although those expressionless eyes revealed no emotion, I could still sense she was very interested in how I planned to arrange these 300 people. After all, from her analysis of my financial condition, to support these 300 people, the only options were either robbing a bank or printing counterfeit bills…
I slowly scanned the 300 standing neatly, then suddenly gave a bright smile.
"Starting tomorrow," I waved my hand and said, "you all will work for me!"
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