“What an amazing work of art.”
Gazing at the black slate floating before her in midair, Erin praised in admiration and her eyes glinted in curiosity and amusement. Even though she wasn’t a historian researching ancient artifacts, her accomplishment in this field was still outstanding. The patterns of the black slate gave her endless joy and surprise because she realized that although the patterns weren’t beautiful, each side of them had a specific meaning.
“Is that thing so interesting, Your Highness Erin?”
Mini Bubble Gum laid on the table, resting her cheeks on her hands and staring at the slate. Upon hearing her question, Erin chuckled, extended her finger, and slid across the slate’s sleek surface. After this motion from her, the black slate flickered in a series of bright patterns that paused on the surface, before quickly vanishing without a trace like the afterimages of some flashes.
“Of course, Miss Bubble. These patterns may seem ordinary, but the meaning they represent isn’t normal at all. If my interpretation is right, this slate records the history of Dragon Soul Continent ever since its existence. It describes how the five Creator Dragons opened up a world amongst Chaos and led the remaining creatures of Order in avoiding the infiltration of Chaos… Yes, this slate conceals the strength that created this world. I sense the motion echoing between Chaos and Order from it. But how strange, logically speaking, Chaos and Order can never coexist. But this slate is able to unify them perfectly. This is really odd…”
“In other words, this is something from the Dragon Soul Continent? Why is it here? What does it say?”
Mini Bubble Gum’s curiosity piqued, blinking curiously at the slate. However, Canary knitted her brows in uncertainty. Logically, if the Dragon Soul Continent truly existed, it shouldn’t have anything to do with earth. If what Erin said was true that the slate came from the Dragon Soul Continent, perhaps the situation was more intricate than she imagined.
“This is part of a bigger slate, so I’m only able to read a few paragraphs. The grammatical composition is neither similar to the common language used in the Dragon Soul Continent nor same as the Guyamla language. Fortunately, I’ve once checked the historical records about the writings at the beginning of the world in the Country of Darkness’s library… yes… the content of this slate was changing constantly, but they are roughly within the same range. If I’m not wrong, the content on this slate is describing how the Creator Dragons used the dragon soul powers to isolate Chaos… between heaven and earth… hmm?”
As Erin soliloquized, she cocked her head and knitted her brows curiously. Then, she shook her head and gave up reading.
“No, I can’t read it. The texts are changing too quickly. Perhaps only after assembling all the slates will I be able to read the full content.”
“In that case, Your Highness Erin, your next job is to look for the other slates? Oh-oh-oh, this suddenly feels like a plot in Indiana Jones! I love watching Raiders of the Lost Ark!”
Mini Bubble Gum jumped up, rejoicing in excitement. It seemed like she had decided to cause a huge ruckus. Perhaps Mini Bubble Gum had no choice but to follow Erin as she was powerless before, for some unknown reason, she immediately revealed her ‘true colors’ after gaining the strength that should have belonged to the game. Upon realizing this, Canary held her forehead, sighed, and shook her head helplessly. But after pondering in silence for a few moments, she asked.
“Your Highness Erin, are you able to confirm the remaining number of slates and their location?”
“There should be a total of five slates because I can already sense the presence of the other four…” Erin said, waving her hand. Shortly after, a holographic 3D projection map appeared in front of the trio. Looking at it, Canary and Mini Bubble Gum couldn’t help but put up strange expressions. They knew clearly that not anyone had access to such a base hologram. And now, this princess who didn’t know what a computer was actually knew how to control it smoothly…
“Please display the locations I’ve marked earlier.”
“Yes, Commander.”
An electronic voice which should be an artificial-intelligence responded. It seemed like it was completely under Erin’s control through her spell because it subconsciously treated her as the highest commanding officer. Come to think of it, an artificial-intelligence consisting of data could actually be influenced by spells. This wasn’t great news in any way, right!
Cough, cough. We will talk about the problem of the progress of human science and technology in the future.
Shortly after Erin’s command, the markings on four bases were shown clearly on the map. After looking at their location, Canary’s and Mini Bubble Gum’s expressions changed slightly. Even though they were only passing travelers, they knew exactly where they were. Even worldly civilians knew that forbidden areas of the military shouldn’t be trespassed, not to mention one of the bases was in the core area of the Americas Region!
“Woah… this is getting troublesome.”
Even Mini Bubble Gum couldn’t help but click her tongue. It was apparent that even though this little fella was reckless, she was aware of the limits. These places were in the core areas of the Americas Region. If they were to follow Erin in wreaking havoc, the entire Americas Region would perish! Would everything be fine?
“… Are these places difficult?”
“Hmm… in terms of importance, they should be around the same level as the Wisdom Tower in the Country of Darkness, I suppose.”
Mini Bubble Gum answered, pulling a long face. The so-called Wisdom Tower was the building for the Magic Association. It gathered several great lichs and necromancers to research various mage equipment and undead spells. It could also be treated as the ‘science and research department’ of the Country of Darkness. Of course, such a venue was heavily guarded. Upon hearing Mini Bubble Gum’s words, Erin understood what she was trying to express and couldn’t help but pucker her brows and ponder in silence. After a few moments, she suddenly blinked and the corners of her lips perked up into a strange smile.
“In that case, I have a solution.”
She responded proudly.
***
Americas Region, GPX-03 Cooperative Moon Defense Base.
The pure, dazzling white lights shone on the surface of the moon. Gazing at the screen displayed by the surveillance cameras, the guard let out a lazy yawn. He shook his head, before reaching out for a bag of warm coffee and sucking the straw. Apart from the pale moon surface and starry sky on the surveillance screen, there was nothing else. The guard curled his lips and turned to his colleague.
“Damn it, the other bases have already evacuated, so why are we waiting here like idiots? All for the sake of those stupid scientists? God dang, I just can’t understand what is more important than their lives. I heard the entire fifth branch has perished and even the reinforcements are doomed! I can’t understand just what sort of monster is capable of doing such a thing… Damn it. That’s why I said those buggers at the top will surely get into trouble for dealing with this sort of messy stuff. You’ve watched Alien, right? Sigh… I really do wonder if we’ve sunken into similar trouble…”
“You’ve watched too many movies, idiot. Pull yourself together. It isn’t only us who haven’t evacuated. We just have to do what the top tells us to. Hmm…?”
“What’s wrong?”
“I thought I saw someone.”
“Oh, is that so?”
After hearing his colleague’s remark, the guard turned to the surveillance screen immediately and clicked on a few keys on the keyboard. The surveillance screen switched to the outdoor cameras, but there wasn’t anything strange. The entrance was sealed tightly and no one had entered.
“You’re being over sensitive… really, don’t tell me you’re hallucinating too? This reminds me of Dead Space…”
“Can’t you cut the crap and think about something else other than movies?!”
The entrance opened gradually.
The steel gate made from tough alloy used to seal and block off enemies opened gradually. Shortly after, three slender and petite figures entered through the gate. The loud siren trumpeted as the gate continued to close itself, followed by red, warning lights that flickered constantly. The air pressure was being rebalanced and after ensuring that every step was completed, the next door on the inside opened. There was no one along the empty, spacious path ahead, only surveillance cameras aiming at them quietly. Even though this was a military base and three unknown visitors had shown up, there were no signs of soldiers at all.
“Woah, it worked.”
Mini Bubble Gum, who led the group, gasped at their success. She took off the helmet and tossed it aside, before entering this spacious, transportation aisle located at the back of the base. Logically, without accurate passwords and legal identification, one definitely couldn’t enter this premise. Moreover, the base was equipped with countless surveillance cameras and scanning devices, so it was even harder than ascending to heaven. But to the trio, it wasn’t difficult at all.
“We actually made it in…”
Holding onto the laptop, Canary was amazed. If they were protagonists in a movie, they might have needed some advanced technological tools to attain the password before sneaking in. But it was a pity that be it Canary or Mini Bubble Gum, none of them possessed such skills. On the other hand, Erin’s solution left her completely speechless. Looking at the base ahead, Erin extended her arm and cast a ‘spiritual control’ spell which manipulated the artificial-intelligence of the entire base. The Hollywood protagonists had to risk their lives, pray to the Gods, and still might not be able to succeed in controlling the artificial-intelligence. But here, it became Erin’s most loyal servant in just an instant.
Erin was on a level totally above their’s.
“Let’s see, should we sneak in… or open it directly…?”
After effortlessly passing through the strict defenses, Mini Bubble Gum was apparently excited. Judging from her eagerness, it was apparent that the latter was her preferred choice. But Canary didn’t want to invite more trouble. She thought that sneaking in and out of the bases would be the best choice to not cause any trouble!
“Alright, Bubble, we have to hurry. The screen indicates the location of the second slate. We just have to sneak in, grab it, and leave quickly. If we’re spotted by them, we’ll have a lot of trouble in the future.”
“Okay then…”
Mini Bubble Gum was still obedient to Canary’s advice. Since Canary had said that, the little fella could only nod in agreement helplessly. After all, what Canary said was the truth. The most important task now was to help Erin gather all five slates and see if she could find a way to return to the Dragon Soul Continent. Of course, if it was possible, she wanted to know why these slates had arrived on the moon and landed in the hands of the Americas Region’s people. Didn’t they belong to the Dragon Soul Continent?
As the artificial-intelligence controlling the base had ‘defected’, the trio wasn’t stopped at all. This high-tech facility was full of all sorts of automation equipment, but the security devices that should be blaring didn’t work after its ‘master’ had fallen into enemy’s hands and became Erin’s loyal subject. The surveillance system that should have been monitoring intruders displayed all the soldiers within the base to the trio. The tightly-sealed doors opened for them automatically as though there were no secrets at all.
“—————”
The elevator descended silently. Without anyone being aware of their existence, they arrived at the central and core area of the base, which was their destination. But it was a pity that they had used up their luck.
Ring.
The elevator doors opened. At this moment, two men in white researcher’s uniforms turned the corner and headed to the elevator. Upon seeing the trio, they were taken aback. This reaction was expected since this was a confidential area of the base. For three young ladies to show up in this place, it would be fishier if they didn’t gather any attention. Moreover, unlike Canary and Mini Bubble Gum who were clad in spacesuits, Erin was still donned in her elegant dress that was totally inappropriate to be worn in space. It would be ridiculous if no one noticed that!
“Who are you people?!”
Logically, even though only people with authority to get access to confidential information could be here, the young ladies before them were obviously not one of them. The two men yelled and one of them instinctively reached out to his waist. But it was a pity that even though they were quick, Erin was faster. Facing these two weak, ordinary humans, Erin merely swung her right hand forward and the two pitiful researchers were instantly lifted off the ground and thrown to the wall in the back, crashing heavily. Then, Erin clenched her right hand and they, who were dazed from the impact, were lifted off the wall and pulled toward Erin.
“W-Who are you people?!”
The frantic gaze from the researchers was filled with terror this time. Well, they couldn’t be blamed. They felt a powerful force flinging toward them and before they knew it, they were as though struck by a steel hammer and flew back powerlessly against the wall. Such strength… could humans even possess such powerful strength?
“You don’t need to know who we are!”
Mini Bubble Gum had completely turned into a high-spirited antagonist in some Hollywood movie. Facing the ashen researchers, she let out a mischievous laughter and said, “We came here to look for a black slate! Hand it over now, or you’ll die!”
“Black slate?”
The two researchers questioned, exchanging looks with each other. But before they said anything, Erin extended her hand and placed it before their faces. Then, she emanated a gentle brilliance from her palm. Along with this action, the two men stopped struggling. Their expressions turned perplexed and their eyes lost clarity. Shortly after, they stood quietly and firmly on the ground like statues.
Gazing at them, the corners of Erin’s lips perked up into a proud smile.
“Alright, I’ll need to trouble you two to lead the way,” she said.
