Chapter 918: Chapter 918: Daily Life or Curiosities
(I’m so tired… really)
Today’s weather is great, and now it’s mid-summer. The brilliant sunlight gives a lazy feeling. Although the heat is unavoidable, no one in the First Family really minds the temperature. For a group of folks who can stroll on the surface of a star, sunny weather is irrelevant to temperature. In such fine weather, going out to sunbathe becomes a good choice.
It seems even ghosts are no exception.
“Eh? Isn’t that Anwina? What is she doing over there?”
Bingdisi suddenly pointed at a big tree in the yard and exclaimed in surprise. I curiously followed her gaze and indeed saw a certain fluffy ghost hanging on the tree. Her slightly translucent body emitted a gentle white glow in the sunlight, like a fluttering white flame.
In all respects, this ghost sunbathing in the midsummer sun is incredible.
“When did a crow’s nest appear in the yard?”
I took a closer look and suddenly realized that Anwina wasn’t just hanging on the tree sunbathing. She seemed to be lying on the branches, observing something in front of her: in front of her was a roughly constructed nest of twigs, inside which two large shiny black crows were staring back at her.
Bingdisi also noticed the crow’s nest. After pondering for a while, she suddenly said leisurely, “I think she might actually be learning to lay eggs…”
I sadly realized that this might really be true because Anwina seemed to be quite interested in laying eggs recently. So, with a twitching corner of my mouth, I said, “I say, was it a mistake to fuse her with a crow back then? Now it seems like the fusion went too far.”
“No worries, she won’t really turn into a bird,” Bingdisi leaned on the balcony railing, watching the little ghost maid focused intently in front of the crow’s nest. Her blood-red eyes were shining brightly. “But maybe she really can lay an egg. After all, structurally speaking, her crow form is authentic.”
Me: “…”
“Ah Jun, Ah Jun, so you are here!”
Just as I was discussing with Bingdisi whether Anwina could lay eggs, Qianqian’s cheerful voice suddenly came from behind. Before I could turn my head, I felt a soft, warm body cling to my back. Qianqian hugged my neck from behind, nuzzling like a little cat, just like our childhood innocent days. To this day, this girl hasn’t changed her little sister next door habits, “What are you guys looking at?”
“Anwina seems to really be learning to lay eggs from crows.”
Before I could speak, Bingdisi pointed at the little ghost observing the crows in the yard and said, “She even brought her teacher home.”
“Wow, really?” Qianqian was shocked, then excitedly leaned side by side with Bingdisi on the railing, watching with great interest for a few seconds before suddenly turning her head, “It really seems so! There are eggs in the crow’s nest!”
I found that I might be speechless many times today: “…”
But Qianqian obviously had more to say: “Ah Jun, Ah Jun, what do you think crow eggs taste like?”
This time, both Bingdisi and I were speechless: “…”
“I think it might actually be a good thing if Anwina learns to lay eggs,” Qianqian enthusiastically gestured to us, “I can make tomato and egg stir-fry! Then we won’t need to buy eggs at home anymore!”
“Hold up, hold up!” I felt cold sweat dripping down as I listened, “This topic is too heavy; we already have enough self-sufficient stuff at home.”
As soon as I finished speaking, the balcony door opened again. Yakumo Lan, a bit groggy from sunbathing, rubbed her eyes and walked over: “Has anyone seen Little Baobao? Just now she took away the scarf I just knit while I was napping. It was for Lord Zi…”
Suddenly, I felt that sooner or later, this big house would become a closed ecosystem, where the Leader’s whole family would reach an unprecedented level of self-sufficiency: in every sense of the word.
After helping the fox find Little Baobao and retrieving that big, golden, fluffy scarf, I sighed at how such peaceful everyday life is truly one of life’s greatest enjoyments. I leaned on the living room sofa, studying a sample taken from the Ruins World. It was an inconspicuous piece of metal debris, collected from ubiquitous warship wreckage before the Ruins Planet’s collapse. Originally a fragment of the spaceship’s armor, it was plain and unassuming, with only a gold ring mark drawing any attention.
The Imperial Army that fought with Visca back then had the gold ring mark, but to whom this mark belonged remained unknown. We searched all databases and nearly every Apostle’s memory core, yet there was no record of this mark. Apparently, the Emperor and Pandora Heavy Equipment Corps or Sandora’s Revenge Army, to whom that army once belonged, had no intersection.
So whose was it?
I had previously engaged with Fallen Apostles multiple times and even seen their fleet. There seemed to be a faint memory of this mark, but recalling now, it might be a mistake.
“Stupid human! I want ice cream!”
My shoulder suddenly felt slightly heavy as a small, soft body took advantage of the moment to decisively land. Mercury Lamp was messing with my hair while shouting, and on the other side, Little Baobao came over too, babbling nonsense no one could understand, except for one word: “Ice cream.”
It’s not easy; my Little Baobao learned a new word again!
“Kids shouldn’t eat so many cold drinks, be careful of stomachaches.”
Engrossed in my memories, I replied casually before raising my head to look at the two little girls, only to suddenly realize that these two probably didn’t have the physiological condition to get stomachaches—let’s not even mention Little Baobao’s constitution, and could this doll Mercury Lamp even have a stomachache?
So I could only helplessly get up to prepare cold drinks for the little ancestors.
The refrigerator at home had been replaced again, and I had lost count of how many it was. The previous one had accidentally gotten a hole from Lin while she was sweeping, and the one before that met a similar fate, with one even getting embedded into a wall. A certain stupid Dragon God was simply a natural Destruction God. With her clumsy nature combined with infinite strength, her actions spelled doom for any household item. Luckily, she usually stayed with the specs-exceeding ones so she wouldn’t hurt normal, fragile people. Otherwise, just the daily medical expenses would be enough to bankrupt her into selling herself to repay debts.
However, this time the new fridge should be more durable. After all, this large double-door cabinet came equipped with a very powerful cooling system and theoretically should withstand any damage inflicted on it.
“Chiruno, two ice creams, yogurt and strawberry flavors.”
I opened the fridge door and spoke to the inside as the cold air wafted out.
After a series of clangs and clatters, two small hands reached out from the fridge, one holding an ice cream tray and the other making a money gesture, followed by a clear voice saying, “Nine yen!”
“You only know this one number, huh? The ice fruit platter is also nine yuan, the iced mineral water is nine yuan, how are two ice creams still nine yuan!” My eyebrows twitched slightly as I looked at the petite girl standing in the fridge asking me for money, feeling somewhat exasperated.
“Nine yen!” Chiruno insisted, stretching her hand, for she recognized only one person as reasonable in this terrifying family. If Bingdisi were getting the cold drinks, you think this guy would dare not… Well, maybe this fool would actually dare charge Bingdisi, because, well, she’s a fool.
That’s right, this is the new refrigerator we got at home three days ago, a revolutionary invention, with groundbreaking working principles. It has a heavy, atmospheric double-door structure, a spacious integrated freezing/refrigeration dual-function workspace, and an unbelievably “zero” power consumption. It also features incredible ease of transport, assembly, and maintenance, so basically, a carpenter could make one in half a day. Moreover, this new concept refrigerator boasts highly intelligent… um, definitely intelligent automated processing capabilities. As long as you provide sufficient raw materials, it can automatically prepare all kinds of cold drinks or quick-frozen platters for you. Additionally, this fridge type also has a Chiruno ⑨-type supercooling core that won’t affect the refrigeration environment inside even when the door is wide open, and when you’re bored, you can have fun playing with the refrigeration unit inside or chat with it to pass the time — after all, the refrigeration unit used in this refrigerator looks pretty cute, and although a bit low in intelligence, it perfectly suits an activity that doesn’t require any intelligence for chit-chat…
Chiruno sleeping inside the refrigerator isn’t a rare occurrence anymore, in fact, she’s currently living there. This double-door chest freezer was specially modified to make this silly fairy feel comfortable; the compressor, condenser, and all shelves were removed to provide enough living space. Chiruno sleeps here every day, and the family has become somewhat accustomed to opening the fridge door to find a fairy nestled inside.
As for why Chan’er Jiu, also known as Chiruno, lives here, well, that’s a long story.
Because there’s a group of little ones at home, from Little Baobao to Mercury Lamp, even including Visca and Pandora, the young girls have an incredible preference for cold drinks and desserts (including Ji Shanshan, that hopeless case). Lilina even openly claims that her life is made up of two parts, one with a crispy coating and one without — anyway, that girl’s life is always composed of oddities, so we’ll pretend we didn’t hear it.
Raising a bunch of little ones who like to eat desserts and cold drinks naturally requires a steady source of snacks for them. Thus, Chan’er Jiu, who runs a store in Shadow City, became the perfect patsy. Firstly, this guy is quite foolish. After I told her that by making ice cream on-site for our family, she could earn enough to cover her monthly shop rent, this silly ice fairy couldn’t figure out the math anymore and was wholeheartedly thinking she had struck a good deal, providing us with unlimited cold drinks supplies, essentially becoming the household refrigerator, charging nine units for everything regardless of the type. Secondly…
At least the first point is enough, this person is quite the fool.
Anyway, I see that Chiruno seems quite comfortable being the refrigerator at home. Apart from having poor arithmetic skills, she’s absolutely adept at making all sorts of cold drinks, and we haven’t intended to bully her. Her total work time each day comprises only eight hours, and after work, she can run off and play. Plus, the work content is freezing stuff, which is her favorite, though she can’t freeze frogs, freezing fruits seems quite amusing to Chiruno.
“Ah, it’s break time now.” I glanced at the clock in the living room and found it was already Chiruno’s break time. Fairies are restless; having her stay in one place for eight consecutive hours was very challenging, so we allowed Chiruno to stay in the refrigerator for a while each day before letting her out to play, which was reasonable care to ensure sustainable development for fools. Upon hearing it was time off, Chiruno instantly showed a liberated look and hastily jumped out from the refrigerator. However, before she could run away, I caught her just in time.
The fairy girl was dazed for a moment before reacting, then she removed the six ice wings from her back, put them in the refrigerator, and cheerfully said to me, “Just freeze whatever you want! I’m going off to find someone to spar with!”
After leaving these words, Chiruno vanished. In fact, I really wanted to remind her that looking for fights in Shadow City without her ice wings, where experts abound, was basically courting death. Yet, now, it seemed too late… never mind, she can start working directly in the fridge once she revives there afterward. Anyway, it has become her fixed revival point.
“Did that fool leave?”
Lilina swaggered in front of me, opening the fridge door, and after finding no one inside, muttered to herself, taking out one of Chiruno’s left-behind ice wings to make shaved ice.
Though I’ve said it once, it seems the household has evolved into a strangely self-sufficient state…
“Let me taste it!”
Despite my earlier complaint, I was actually quite curious about what Chiruno’s ice wings tasted like. Seeing Lilina so enthusiastically using the stupid nine’s wings left for cooling to make shaved ice made me want to try it too.
After just one taste, I was greatly disappointed: what, my previous high expectations, after all, just regular ice?
“What did you think, you thought Chiruno could taste like strawberries?” Lilina rolled her eyes at me, gnawing on the crushed ice, “But boss, what happens if Chiruno returns to find one of her ice wings missing?”
I pondered a bit, “A fairy’s body can regenerate, at worst, let her grow a new one, we can trick her by saying one was missing from the start. With that fool’s intelligence, she’ll probably believe it.”
“…then I’ll eat another one.”
Just as we were dividing up and feasting on the poor fairy’s wings, Sandora’s voice suddenly came through the spiritual connection, interrupting our sinful, barbaric action.
“Ah Jun, I’m in Shadow City, come over here.”
“What’s wrong?” Noticing the urgency in Sandora’s voice, I immediately became serious.
“Remember the abandoned warship we salvaged from the Ruins World? Taville has discovered something.”
“I’ll be right over!” I promptly replied, jumping up and almost knocking Lilina into the refrigerator, “Lilina, eat a bit less, leave some for cooling, there’s still a frozen watermelon in the fridge… I’m heading to Shadow City for a bit!”
A moment later, I had already teleported to the Shadow Fortress. According to the coordinates Sandora left for me, I arrived directly at the research center’s fourth test base.
Like all large wrecks, the two pieces of warship wreckage salvaged from the Ruins World were placed on a disassembly platform in Other Space for analysis. When I arrived, they hovered silently in the darkened midair, but to my surprise, they seemed completely unchanged, with the outer armor still intact and no apparent traces of disassembly. They remained there, unaltered, the two enormous wreckages of the warship floating silently, just as they were when I first saw them.
The disassembly space was void of any staff, not even a single autonomous machine expected to be busy on the wreckage was seen. In this expansive black Different Space-Time, only two people awaited me, one was Sandora, and the other was Taville’s mass projection: the bespectacled lady busy with her tasks herself. It seemed I hadn’t seen her in person for quite a while, as she always used her mass projection to run around outside recently.
“What’s going on? Didn’t you say there was an analysis yield?”
Looking at the shipwreck that seemed untouched, I asked in confusion.
Sandora pointed to Taville, “It’s not exactly a yield, but rather some secrets regarding the wreckage.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Taville’s mass projection nodded slightly, accompanied by a slight flickering, she unfolded a holographic projection over two meters high, showing the scan images of the wreckage. Clearly, although the ship hadn’t been fully scanned yet, Taville already grasped its basic structure.
“This is a research vessel, theoretically.”
The bespectacled lady stated with certainty.
“Research vessel?” I was taken aback, never expecting that the battle-ready warship the Imperial Army and the Fallen Apostles fought fiercely over turned out not to be a superweapon from the Old Empire Era, but actually just a scientific research ship.
“Subordinates have never seen a research vessel structured like this,” Taville said, slightly bowing her head, while thinking aloud, “It took some time to recognize its structure. This starship has no weapons but possesses an extraordinarily powerful shield system and armor layers. Moreover, the armor layers have evenly distributed Void effect generators, which ensure the starship can temporarily envelop itself with the Void. These design elements suggest that the former owner prioritized the defensive capabilities of the starship: it was specifically designed for missions in extremely dangerous regions.”
“Extremely dangerous regions?” My eyebrows twitched a bit, seemingly thinking of something, “What extremely dangerous regions?”
Extreme danger, extreme danger—what kind of environment merits such a description, prompting an Empire-manufactured starship to forsake all weapons just to guarantee survival? As I posed this question to Taville, I was quickly pondering as well. Space Rift? Dimensional Storms? A broken World Barrier? Or the Void?
No, these places don’t count as extremely dangerous… Even the Void, an extreme domain for conventional civilizations that spells instant doom, shouldn’t be described as extremely dangerous. Though it has unmatched power, Xyrin Apostles long ago mastered the secrets of surviving safely in the Void, thus the Void isn’t considered an extremely dangerous place for them.
Then… that place might not be as powerful as the Void but harbors a more purely lethal environment…
“Abyss,” Sandora said these words in a lowered tone, then looked up at my eyes, “This starship once navigated through the Abyss and might even have returned from the Abyss Gate.” (To be continued. If you like this work, please feel free to visit to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)