I really didn't expect Father to come over by himself. That morning, I was in the courtyard with a teapot of popcorn and was sprinkling it on the ground to feed the crows and wild Jingle. (Does this scene look familiar? Yes, it was like feeding the pigeons in the square. I had raised those mini Medivh and wild Jingle as pigeons for a few days.) Then, I heard the courtyard door clank. I ran over to take a look. Father was standing outside, dressed like an overseas Chinese who had returned home to visit his family. He chuckled and said, "I'm here to visit. Can you help me pay the fare?"
I didn't have time to be surprised. I leaned against the courtyard door and looked outside. I saw a yellow and white striped taxi parked by the side of the road. There was a person who looked like a driver looking around in confusion. Our house was surrounded by a permanent mind interference field that Sandora had set up. Anyone who came within a certain range of the house would lose their 'focus of consciousness.' The driver would probably forget why he drove here in the first place.
I asked around and found out that Father had taken a taxi from the bus terminal. I quickly ran over and stuffed the fare into the driver's hand. The driver was already preparing to drive away. He was shocked when he saw a stranger coming out of nowhere and stuffing money into his hand. He waved his hand at me and said, "Pay the fare when we get there. Our company has a rule that we are not allowed to rent a car for the next two days."
The driver was really an honest person. I quickly threw the money into the car and ran back. Otherwise, I would have been dragged around for twenty kilometers. After I ran back to my house, the taxi driver was confused for a few seconds. Then, he turned on the engine and left. I grabbed Father's arm and said, "Why did you suddenly come? You should have told me earlier so that I could buy some chives."
Father was speechless.
"Of course, I also prepared something else for you."
"There's no need for that. Why would there be so many rules for a visit?" Father smiled warmly. "The main thing is that the data vault has finished calculating everything. The situation is … a little complicated. I have to explain it to you personally. Oh, don't worry, it's not bad news. There are clues, but I'm afraid it will take some effort to find your hometown. "
I knew that he definitely had something he needed to do personally, so I pulled him into the house. However, we had only taken two steps when a dozen black and green fairies flew out from the bushes. They were split into two groups based on their color and clung onto Father God's and my trousers. Among the palm-sized little girls, the green ones were wild Jingle. Naturally, they pounced onto Father God. The black ones were tiny Medivh. Naturally, they all clung onto me. I deduced that the wild Jingle's must have seen God Father first and pounced on him excitedly, while the mini Jingle's followed suit. The two groups of little ones clung onto the trousers of what looked like giants in their eyes and climbed up happily. The atmosphere was so enthusiastic that it was like a carnival. Did all creatures that were around three inches tall have a silly and optimistic aura?
Father God looked at the little goddesses hanging on his trousers and said thoughtfully, "Oh, right. I heard that many Life Goddesses have been taking turns to come over to play. These little ones said that there's a big gathering, and a few groups have come. They must have given you a lot of trouble, right?"
I bent down and let the black-haired, black-dressed Medivh's splintered bodies hang on my sleeve. Then, I put them on my shoulder and shook my head. "No, no. These little ones are quite interesting. Look, they have already become friends with my Crow Gods. My Medivh is happy too."
After saying that, I realized that the palm-sized Life Goddesses and the palm-sized Crow Gods were about the same in terms of temperament and intelligence. These two groups of little ones were really a match made in heaven. No wonder Medivh had been excited from morning to night. It turned out that her "children" had found playmates, and that silly bird was also happy.
Father God finally noticed that I was holding a teapot filled with popcorn in my hand. He looked very surprised. "… Is this how you usually feed your Goddesses?"
Before I could open my mouth, a few of the little wheat Divines scampered up to the edge of the teapot and grabbed popcorn from it. They had waited for a long time, but no one was feeding them, so they had to forage for their own food. There were also some little crows who were thinking about their new friends. They grabbed something in the air and created their own eggshells. Then, they filled the eggshells with popcorn and flew to the Life Goddesses who had landed on Father God's shoulder. After a while, the group of little ones were all chewing on the popcorn. Father God and I could only hear the sound of crunching.
I opened my mouth and raised the teapot in my hand. "I can't help it. They don't eat properly when they play. I can only feed them like this. Otherwise, they will eat all the grass in the yard in a few days …"
Father God said, "… I can imagine."
I led Father God into the house and loudly called out to my family that there were important guests. The five Protoss cops had already sensed the arrival of the big boss. At this time, they quickly ran out to greet him. Then, Sandora and Big Sister also came out to greet Father God. The last one who ran out was Liliana. The little girl bowed to Father God. "Greetings, Chairman …"
Father God maintained a cheerful smile the whole time as he greeted them one by one. In the end, he couldn't help but sigh. "After coming here a few times, it's quite impressive. It's really lively here, especially when everyone is here."
Father God said as he looked around, especially the five Protoss cops. Other than Icetis who was still in her carefree state, the others were all nervous, especially the timid Lin. At this time, she was almost burying her head in her chest. It was really hard for her to bury her head in her chest. So, he waved his hand at the few clowns. "Go do what you need to do. It's not like you're having a meeting in the temple. Why are you still standing guard? Just treat me as a guest in your house."
After Icetis and Monina left, Father God felt that something was wrong. He rubbed his chin and said, "Eh, that's not right. They seem to be guests here too. Why do I feel like they are already your people?"
As soon as Father God said that, Jingle came out of my shirt pocket. The little one rubbed her eyes and finally saw who was standing in front of her. She immediately waved happily. "Ah! Father God! You are a guest in Jingle's house? "
Everyone was speechless.
I turned my face away awkwardly. "Erm, Anveena, go and prepare some snacks. I will talk to Xingchen for a while."
Very soon, the group of people who had come to visit Father God dispersed. Only Sandora and I stayed in the living room. Oh, and Jingle, who was considered as a bound equipment. I used a fork to comb Jingle's hair. I looked up at Brother Protoss, who was smiling harmlessly across the coffee table. "You said that there is a result in the huge data vault? The whereabouts of your homeworld … "
"We didn't find any direct information about your homeworld." As soon as Father God spoke, I saw Sandora's face darken. But very quickly, Father God changed the topic. "We found indirect information. Now, we can confirm that a soldier from the Protoss expeditionary force did go to your ancestor's homeworld. That should be the era before Schilling's people started exploring the universe. Because of the urgency of the war, the soldier didn't come into contact with the local civilization. Hence, Schilling's ancestors didn't know what the Protoss were. Due to some reasons, the data only recorded the visit, but not the detailed coordinates … "
"How could that be?" Sandora frowned. "Don't you record all the worlds that you find?"
"But the original reporting system is different from the current reporting system. The current reporting system is that as soon as a new world is discovered, it will be immediately synchronized with the God Realm's huge data vault. But a long time ago, the Protoss's world management and void communication technology weren't perfect. If it was an expeditionary force that traveled very far, their communication resources with the God Realm were very precious. The newly discovered world coordinates could only be kept by the Protoss who discovered the new world. Then, when they were preparing to retreat, they would report it to their team commander. Finally, when they returned to the star field, the team commander would then report the coordinates and world information to the Pantheon. The Pantheon would then organize and record it together. "
I opened my mouth and couldn't help but say, "Erm, so you guys developed bit by bit … Why do I always feel that you guys seemed to be omnipotent the moment you appeared … Then, according to what you're saying, something happened to the Protoss soldiers who were responsible for keeping the world coordinates?"
"The Protoss only had a high starting point. If they didn't develop, wouldn't they be a pool of stagnant water?" God Father said unhurriedly. Then, he sighed softly. "Do you still remember that day in the library tower, you and I found a strange record left behind by a scout? That soldier discovered a few universes that had been visited by advanced civilizations, but in the subsequent data, we couldn't find any records of the expeditionary force's exploration of those universes … "
Now that God Father mentioned it, I vaguely had some impression of it. At that time, I seemed to have seen some similar documents. Those documents were quite old, and they seemed to have been left behind by a scout of the Star Field Expeditionary Force's 12th Army. The information seemed to be unfinished, which also piqued God Father's curiosity. However, at that time, God Father and I both felt that those documents were outdated and useless. In addition, both of us were focused on finding things in our homeworld, so we didn't pay much attention to them.
"It was that scout," God Father sighed. "Later on, I found the files of the 12th Army. Only then did I know that the documents you and I saw that day were really incomplete. That scout died on the eve of the expeditionary force's return to the God Realm. She didn't have the time to hand over the other investigation reports and the coordinates of the newly discovered worlds to her commanding officer. However, we found the records of her visit in other documents, which confirmed that the scout had come into contact with your homeworld. "
"Died in battle …" Sandora's eyes dimmed. "And she has been dead for so long … What else could be left behind?"
"If there really wasn't anything left behind, do you think Xingchen would make a trip here personally?" I reminded her, and Sandora instantly reacted. Her eyes lit up, and she looked at God Father expectantly.
God Father nodded. "I came to tell you that the scout's relics might still be around. She should have recorded the world coordinates in something. Items created by God are immortal. As long as they aren't destroyed, they will ignore the passage of time."
I widened my eyes. I had been to the Holy Spirit Tower with Icetis, so I had a deep impression of the Protoss's "death." Gods wouldn't leave behind their souls or corpses after their deaths. Furthermore, an accident that could turn even Gods into ashes would definitely destroy everything around the Gods. They wouldn't leave behind any relics after their deaths. However, looking at what God Father was saying now, what did that scout leave behind?
"When the scout spoke to her commanding officer for the last time, she realized that she might not be able to return. She mentioned that she had already sealed all the reports that she hadn't been able to send out in time in something that she had created." God Father took out a scroll from his bosom. After activating it, the scroll formed an image in the air. The image showed a female Protoss wearing tight-fitting golden soft armor with blonde hair. She looked like the scout who had died in battle. So, she was a female.
This seemed to be the last communication. This Goddess seemed to have fallen into a world distorted by the abyss. She was worried that if she uploaded a large amount of information, it would spread along with the pollution. Thus, she only sent out a very short report. She mentioned that she had sealed everything in a "core" and that she was preparing to perish together with the universe. At the end of the video, which was only a few minutes long, she mentioned how to retrieve the core from the vast void …
"At that time, the expeditionary army tried to find the core, but to no avail. The impact caused by the end of the world might have destroyed the divine arts that the soldier had left behind. The core was lost in the void," God Father said regretfully as he put away the scroll.
"So, you have found a clue now?"
I asked in surprise. A Divine Artifact that had gone missing billions of years ago, a Divine Artifact that had been searched for by the Protoss Expeditionary Army, but no one had been able to find it, had actually been found when we needed it. Regardless of whether it was for the Empire or the Protoss, this luck was a little too good. Ever since the day Qianqian gave me a stone wrapped in candy wrapper for the first time when I was young, I didn't believe that such good luck would fall from the sky.
As expected, God Father shook his head slightly. It seemed that things were not that straightforward. "We did not find a clue now. There was a clue a long time ago, but no one went to retrieve it."
Sandora and I looked puzzled at the same time. God Father smiled and explained, "There are many things that have been left outside but have been temporarily left outside for various reasons. You all know how far the Protoss Expeditionary Army would go every time, and any random item that we leave behind could easily reshape the world and stir up karma. To be honest, the number of strange items that we have left outside is no less than yours. Otherwise, why would there be so many stories of divine items and relics in human legends?"
I was ashamed. It seemed that God Father had long heard about the non-flammable trash that the Empire had left all over the world. What was even more amazing was that this habit of leaving non-flammable trash everywhere seemed to be even worse in the Protoss Expeditionary Army.
"About 230 billion years after the Twelfth Expeditionary Army, another Expeditionary Army accidentally scanned that item," God Father said slowly. "However, it had already drifted very, very far away, to any world that had deviated from the Protoss Expeditionary Army's route. At that time, hundreds of billions of years had passed, and the report left behind by that soldier had long lost its value. In order to retrieve that item in the dangerous Expeditionary Army's territory, they would have to send a relatively large team from the Expeditionary Army to retrieve it, or send a high-ranking commander of the Expeditionary Army. Both were not very realistic. So, we left a mark on that item so that we would know its location at any time. If a new Expeditionary Army were to pass by in the future, we could retrieve it along the way. In the end, it was delayed until today. "
Sandora and I nodded in understanding. This was indeed something that could not be helped.
Personally, no one would be willing to let the belongings of a fallen soldier wander in the depths of the Void. But think about it this way: You lead a group of people to explore the Savage Land through thousands of mountains and rivers, and along the way, there are enemy-occupied areas where you could lose your life if you were not careful (the Protoss Expeditionary Army's route was all in the area of the Abyss Cataclysmic Eruption). After you lead the survivors back with great difficulty, someone suddenly runs to you and says, "Hey, I just bought a newspaper and left it in the enemy's base camp. Boss, can you help me get it …"
Even if the newspaper belonged to someone, even if you knew that the newspaper was placed on the enemy's doorstep, I reckon that as long as you are sane, you would not agree to go and get it. Not to mention that the newspaper was from last year.
So, after the Protoss found out about the whereabouts of the relic, they did not take any action and let it stay in the distant frontier for so many years. And according to Father's words, I reckon that there are still a lot of similar things that are under surveillance but unable to retrieve. They are already a race with too long of a history. Based on the rate of losing a grain of sand every 100 million years, it is enough to fill up the four oceans several times. Not to mention the Protoss, is there any shortage of such things in the Empire? After four to five years of statistics and inquiries, we have confirmed from historical documents that there are currently countless ancient facilities that have fallen within the territory of the Fallen Apostles or the distant frontier of the Empire. However, most of them are worthless things like small sentry towers, detectors, and drones. They are all considered relics of our predecessors, but the significance of retrieving them is not even enough to pay for a single flight …
"It seems that we must retrieve that thing now." Sandora sat up straight with a serious expression. "Since you have come personally, it seems that this thing is no longer within the sphere of influence of the Protoss. Where is it now?"
"This is the troublesome part. After drifting for so many years, it landed in a very delicate place tens of thousands of years ago." Father stretched out his hand and drew two circles of light in midair. He then pointed to the extremely narrow point in the middle of the circle of light. "On one side is the Abyss Empire, and on the other side is you. That thing is now at the dividing line between you and the Fallen Apostles, and it is the furthest point from the Divine Realm. You should be very familiar with this point. Eighty percent of the border conflicts between you and the other side occur around this point. "
The relic of the Protoss that recorded the coordinates of their homeworld was actually right under the noses of the New Empire and the Fallen Apostles!
Sandora's brain worked quickly. At this moment, she had already analyzed quite a few things. She curled her lips and said, "This place … We have at least a hundred monitoring stations, manned and unmanned, keeping an eye on this area …"
I shifted my body and said, "The bad news is that the Fallen Apostles have more monitoring stations than us …"
Father shrugged and said, "That thing is in one of the native worlds. The situation is just that troublesome."
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