Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
For the first time in thousands of years, the guardians were standing outside their lines.
The black starship was crisscrossing the space, sweeping away remnants of deadly corrosion and harmful debris as fast as it could. Makeshift outposts and defensive platforms were set up to reinforce the less secure positions, and the caster kept a watchful eye on the edge of the field, ready for any sudden counterattack by the corrupted—everything was in order.
Elsewhere on the battlefield, the alarmingly large army of UAVs was regrouping and retreating in an orderly fashion. They were setting up bunkers and UAV stores farther away from their hubs. Such a gesture effectively reduced the guardians’ fear of the terrifying machinery.
Naqdal was floating gently to the point where the guardians and UAV regiments met, and it anchored itself there. The new fortress was not able to display its skills during the whole process, but in the last ten minutes, it intercepted the corrupted legion with anti-aircraft gunfire. It was more or less war-hardened. Over the Naqdal, the Petrachelys and the Aiur were slowly closing in and establishing a passageway link.
Considering that the guardian giant’s height of more than ten meters made it inconvenient for Salaman to be in the Petrachelys, Hao Ren and Vivian accepted his invitation and boarded the gigantic ship. The commander personally welcomed them enthusiastically.
That was not Hao Ren’s first time boarding the guardians’ ship, but it was his first time boarding the guardian warship while it was in good condition. Hao Ren and Vivian were deeply impressed by all the facilities inside the huge warship, which matched the size of the giant. Everything looked amazingly huge. They had been dealing with Muru for a long time, and they were now able to adapt.
It allowed Hao Ren to draw his attention back from the surrounding giant stuff more quickly and talk to Salaman.
Apparently, taking into account the huge difference in body size between the two sides, the commander had prepared a suspended platform for Hao Ren and Vivian in advance so that they could talk at the same height—a polite and thoughtful gesture that Vivian was quite satisfied with.
The giants’ starship bridge was much busier than the Petrachelys’. The huge starship obviously needed a lot of controllers to get it going. Hao Ren looked curiously at the scene on the bridge, and the guardian giants who worked as operators looked curiously back at him. It was an equally novel moment for both sides.
For the first time, the giant guardians came into contact with forces (or individuals) who called themselves “observers”. They were interested in the seemingly human but powerful man. Hao Ren’s curiosity, however, was even simpler.
He had never seen so many living guardian giants before!
There were at least two rows of giants standing on the bridge! All alive! If you were to take those giants back to the three gardeners in Tannagost, they might have heart attacks on the spot!
“Ahem, Hao Ren, please behave. You are staring at them. Salaman is saying hello to you,” Vivian reminded.
“Ahem.” Hao Ren hurriedly looked at the huge head in front of him.
Salaman was a guardian giant of obvious old age. Although guardians had an almost infinite life span, some of them still showed signs of aging over time. He had a bushy beard and thick hair. His white beard and hair almost covered most of his face, while his exposed skin was visibly flabby and wrinkled. Nonetheless, his eyes were still bright and full of wisdom.
“Commander Salaman, first of all, it’s a pleasure to talk to you face to face here,” Hao Ren said and smiled. “Regarding Amantir, which got away… I have a lot of questions that I don’t quite understand.”
“It’s my responsibility. I had no idea that your army of UAVs would be so powerful that it would defeat the freaks directly on the battlefield.” Salaman’s voice rumbled like thunder. “All I was thinking about was moving the front forward, meeting the guardians and UAVs, then talking about our next move.”
He first explained why he had not told them the story about Amantir in advance, but in fact, he was referring to the battle process that had been discussed before. The actual results of the UAVs were beyond Hao Ren’s expectation, and it was there that the communication between the two sides went awry.
The commander then explained in detail, “Amantir is indeed a den of the corrupted, but it was… once a great asset to the guardians. There’s something vital on that planetary battleship, and it cannot be destroyed at all costs.”
Hao Ren immediately thought of something that was the most special item on the entire planetary ship. “A crystal that acts as the ‘navigation computer’?”
“How did you…” Salaman was a little surprised for a moment, but then he understood something. “Yes. Naqdal is in your hands, and I can see that its control center is still standing on the ground, so you must have already seen the Naqdal Crystal under the control center.”
“So that crystal was directly named after a planetary battleship…” Hao Ren muttered and looked up, “Can you tell us more about the crystal?”
Salaman hesitated this time and finally shook his head gently. “I’m sorry. It has to do with the confidentiality of the Holy Land, we can’t…”
Hao Ren did not wait for the giant to finish, pointing at Vivian who was standing beside him. “Not even her?”
The guardian giants standing nearby looked at each other as Salaman asked, “Her? This lady is…”
“If I’m not mistaken, the sprites think I am their queen. And, I was created by the goddess of creation in her own blood… so I’m her daughter, sort of.”
Vivian said those words with a strange expression, feeling a little embarrassed and guilty: that was the first time she had introduced her origin so solemnly. The hustle and bustle of the household had been so hectic that the poor countess (now a queen) felt as if she was living in a dream.
Of course, the more embarrassing part was the fact that she really did not feel proud to be the queen to those messy Sprites…
Those guardian giants looked at her wide-eyed after they heard what she said.
Even Salaman froze. A few seconds later, the old giant suddenly wore a serious look, frowning at the man and woman on the platform. “Do you know what you’re talking about? It is no laughing matter—do you really know what ‘goddess of creation’ means?”
“How could we not know? I’ve had my hands full with this issue for four years,” said Hao Ren, waving his hands. “All these years I’ve been running around this universe looking for relics of the goddess of creation, trying to piece together her creation… Ah, that’s off-topic, let’s talk about Vivian’s identity. I can assure you that what she just said is true and that both of us have witnessed everything together. While you have been isolated in this ancient star region, the outside world has undergone changes beyond your imagination, such as the weakening of the Wall of Reality and the teleportation of a large group of creatures from this universe to other worlds. Also… the goddess of creation once created a divine body, and she is the one standing next to me. But my biggest headache now is how do I prove it to you…”
“The biggest problem with your status as the goddess’ daughter is that you have no proof. Why didn’t the goddess of creation leave you with the function of presenting your identity when she created you?” Hao Ren whispered while he looked at Vivian.
“What’s the use of that setting even if the goddess left me one? I’m only half-divine, and I’ve lost my memory.”
Salaman’s eyes grew more serious as the two of them whispered to each other. His first thought was that they were talking nonsense, but his reason told him that no one would joke about such a thing.
It was a matter regarding gods and the survival of the world.
And, most important of all, it involved the deepest of secrets, which no one could ever find out about. The mortal races of that universe did not know, so how did “observers” from outside the known world know?
The fact that they could talk about it with such a straight face spoke volumes.
“There’s one thing I need to correct,” Salaman said suddenly. “We’re locked in the star zone, but that doesn’t mean we don’t know anything about what you’re saying. In fact, we are the ones who have known all of this, or at least most of it. The large number of creatures you mentioned crossing the world should be the Yggdrasil Ark project, which I have not personally experienced, but I know my mother has. I know the divine split you mentioned, and I even know that this divine split has an identity in the Yggdrasil Ark… It is a guide.”
Now it was Hao Ren’s turn to be wide-eyed.
These guardian giants were the witnesses to the final plans of the goddess of creation?!
So they were there as part of the plan?
Hao Ren was in a trance for a moment, then he realized that it was all logical.
Vivian was the goddess of creation’s split and the Yggdrasil Ark’s guide. Her soul held the star map of Star Cluster X. Deep in Star Cluster X was the home of the crystal planet hub, and Salaman, as well as his legions, were stationed there. So it was no surprise that they knew a lot…
“The sprites can prove her identity,” said Hao Ren seriously. “Vivian activated the Naqdal Crystal. The sprites were there, and they said it was the symbol of the queen.”
There were cries of surprise and discussion on the bridge. The low voices of the guardian giants sounded like thunder, and Salaman had to raise his voice to silence them. “Silence! Did you say she could activate the Naqdal Crystal?”
“That’s right. Is that proof?”
“No, activating the Naqdal Crystal is not enough, but we have other ways to verify the identity of the guide…”
