"They stole the Heart of the World." Icetis looked at Sandora, then turned to look at me. "They did it before."
Sandora immediately furrowed her brows. The Fallen Apostles stole the Heart of the World. Of course, we're not unfamiliar with their actions, because they've been doing it ever since the day we came into contact with them!
Sandora looked at Icetis with an especially serious expression. "Are you sure that they were aiming for the Heart of the World? Or was it because they couldn't forcefully attack, so they could only steal the Heart of the World as a spoil of war? "
"Who knows? The situation is still unclear. The War Gods are still investigating. You don't know how chaotic the battlefield is over there." Icetis covered her eyes with her hand, looking extremely tired. "That is a borderline world, originally located in the most peaceful region of the void. It has nothing to do with the Fallen Apostles, so there weren't many troops stationed there to begin with. Fortunately, the guards there reacted quickly, so the Divine Kingdom wasn't taken down. However, other than the Divine Kingdom, all the surrounding galaxies were swept through by those lunatics. By the time the Protoss army rushed over to provide support, the Heart of the World was already gone. It was chaos everywhere. I couldn't tell if the Fallen Apostles were aiming for the Heart of the World from the start, or if they stole it along the way … But to be honest, I have a bad premonition. Although those fellows are a little crazy, they aren't stupid when it comes to war. There must be a reason for everything they do. "
I looked at Bryndis, who was half dead. "Why do you look so tired? Did you go to war too? "
"Of course not. By the time I arrived in the God Realm, I had already finished fighting." Icetis mumbled as she turned over. "The moment I returned home, my parents would only ask me three things: When are we getting married? When are we getting married? What about our granddaughter? I had a nervous breakdown and couldn't sleep well for three days."
The little doll who was watching television on the sofa heard the word 'granddaughter' and immediately slipped into the cracks of the sofa …
I looked at Icetis with a conflicted expression. I thought to myself, Who would have thought that the Goddess would say these three sentences to her parents when she returned home? From the looks of it, the Kouwain couple was about to have a mental illness from holding it in.
Icetis whimpered, pretending to be seriously ill. She looked like she was about to pass away. Sandora ignored her, thinking about what the Fallen Apostle was up to this time. "They haven't made a move on the Heart of the World for a long time. I almost thought that this kind of operation was over. Now it seems that they are still collecting the Heart of the World."
I thought of something else. "Speaking of which, if the Heart of the Realm is stolen, will that universe be okay?"
"If it's an unmanaged world, it will collapse very quickly due to the disorder of order and the surge of entropy." Sandora shook her head. "But the Protoss can rearrange its information entanglement points and refocus the world on an artificial World Core. It's not a big problem."
My elder sister sat across from us. She seemed to have some thoughts. "Didn't the Fallen Apostle collect the Heart of the World for some great cause? There was a period of pause before, so we thought that it was because their great cause was nearing its end, so they didn't need to collect any more materials. Now that they are collecting the Heart of the World, could it be because their 'great cause' encountered some problem? "
"That's what it is." Sandora spread her hands. "However, I'm used to thinking about the negative. Perhaps this is a sign that their great cause has begun. In any case, I don't feel reassured even if those fellows make any movements."
Sandora and my elder sister were thinking about whether the Fallen Apostle's' great cause 'had already entered a critical point. However, I was thinking about something else.
Why did the Fallen Apostle, who had always been cautious, suddenly become so high-profile? Why did their style of operation suddenly change?
The Abyss Empire's territory didn't directly border the God Realm, and the few worlds closest to the Chaos Abyss Empire were also heavily fortified. Neither side could take down the other, which was why the Chaos Abyss Empire and the Chaos Abyss Empire had never had a direct confrontation with each other. Although the Fallen Apostle was powerful, they were still weaker than the Star Domain in the end. It was just that the Star Domain was restrained by the enormous territory and the expedition that was about to begin, so they could only maintain this stalemate with the Fallen Apostle. No matter how you looked at it, as the weaker side of the two, the Fallen Apostle shouldn't have taken the initiative to break this stalemate. This was simply too irrational.
If Icetis's information wasn't wrong, the Fallen Apostle's surprise attack on the Star Domain this time was an 'expedition'. They didn't build a fortress, nor did they have a springboard. They directly sent an expeditionary force to launch a surprise attack on the Protoss's territory. Even a dabbler like me could see that this operation was extremely risky. If they weren't careful, they could be completely wiped out on the frontlines. The only thing they could rely on was the advantage of a surprise attack and the speed of their movements: to evacuate before they were surrounded by the Protoss's reinforcements.
"It feels like a blitzkrieg or a nomad. They just rob and run, not caring about the consequences. In any case, it's fine as long as they feel good for the time being." I summarized my thoughts. "I always feel that it's a little different from their steady and steady style."
Ever since I came into contact with them several years ago, the impression that the Fallen Apostles gave me was that they were steady and steady. Even though they had a lot of tricks up their sleeves, often surprising people, and their movements were erratic, the Fallen Apostles had always followed the principle of being careful and prudent. It took us several years to roughly figure out how big their territory was. Even now, we still don't know how much military strength they have. This was enough to show how cautious they were.
Not to mention anything else, they had never looked for trouble with the Protoss before this. This was undoubtedly a way to reduce the risk.
Sandora suddenly stood up. Her swift and decisive personality was immediately displayed. "I'll make a trip to the headquarters first. Regardless of the internal situation of the Fallen Apostles, the Empire's side should first raise the alert level before anything else. Who knows, that bunch of lunatics might come here to take advantage of us."
As soon as she finished speaking, Sandora had already disappeared into a distorted teleportation screen. Icetis was still lying on Sandora's lap. Now, she was climbing up the sofa's armrest. "Damn it! Why didn't you say anything when you got up? You scared me!"
I grabbed Sis Bing's arm and helped her to the sofa. "Apart from the Fallen Apostles' attack, did anything else happen in the God Realm?"
Icetis looked at me with a strange expression. "Why do you sound like you're hoping for something big to happen in the God Realm?"
I was momentarily at a loss for words. "… Isn't this just expressing my concern?"
"It seems like nothing happened. When I returned, I saw that they were busy tracking the whereabouts of the invading army. After the Fallen Apostles were chased away, they disappeared without a trace. I don't know if they have already returned to their lair. If they haven't returned yet, we can intercept and kill them halfway … However, I don't think that the chances are high. You also know that the Fallen Apostles have the ability to appear and disappear unpredictably."
"What plans does the God Realm have?" I asked. "Is there anything we can help with?"
No matter what, the reason the Fallen Apostles had appeared was because they were remnants left behind by the hot-headedness of the old Empire. Back then, the hot-blooded Plan X had not only destroyed the foundation of the Empire, but it had also left behind a disaster that had been continuously expanding for tens of thousands of years. Even the Protoss had been badly battered. Now that the Fallen Apostles had become a calamity in the Void, I felt a little awkward in my heart.
Icetis patted my shoulder and laughed like a man. "Aha! That's enough. The Protoss can handle it himself. It would be too embarrassing to ask for reinforcements for such a small matter. Father God is currently gathering experienced guards to prepare for an 'activity' at the border of the Abyss Empire. In short, the expedition cannot be delayed. Let's try our best to pick the elites from the soldiers that we can mobilize. "
Shallow Shallow had been listening to our discussion from the side, but she hadn't said a word. When she saw that we were done talking, she raised her hand and said, "Ah Jun, I have an immature …"
I noticed that even Icetis shuddered. Shallow Shallow's immature thoughts were too oppressive.
"Go ahead. We can discuss whether it's mature or not later." I waved my hand at Qian Qian, signaling her to continue speaking. Although this girl's thoughts were illogical most of the time, it was undeniable that her mind would occasionally have a flash of inspiration that would cause her to stumble into the truth.
"The Fallen Apostles definitely wouldn't be able to defeat the Protoss if they directly went to war." Shallow Shallow counted with her fingers as she explained her reasoning process to us. "They must have cut off their escape route by fighting against the Protoss and the New Empire at the same time … Could it be that they no longer need a path of retreat?"
Icetis shuffled in front of Shallow Shallow and said, "Are you saying that they have no regrets in this life?"
I casually pushed the female rogue aside while Shallow Shallow continued, "Ah Jun, do you still remember the time when we went to the homeroom teacher's office to draw little tortoises together in the first grade?"
When Shallow Shallow mentioned it, I instantly shuddered. Not only do I remember it, I remember it like it was yesterday. It was a passionate July with the sun blazing like fire and the earth like a furnace. I was still a brat who dreamed of becoming a scientist when I grew up. Then, Shallow Shallow, who was also a brat, urged me to go to the homeroom teacher's office to draw little tortoises for the entire afternoon … At that time, our thoughts were like this: Isn't the first grade's final exam over? The two brats thought that it was the day of complete release, and they would no longer be restrained by the old homeroom teacher. So, they both went to draw little tortoises to celebrate. It was only then that the two of us realized that there was something called the second grade in this world …
It was from then on that I became vigilant against any ideas that came out of Shallow Shallow's mouth. However, it was useless no matter how vigilant I was. I was still tricked by her immature ideas for more than twenty years. Even today, I was still being tricked here and there, and it seemed that I would continue to be tricked here and there until the end of time.
I silently placed these painful memories back where they belonged. I finally understood the meaning behind Shallow's words. The current Fallen Apostles were just like those two naughty children who brazenly drew little tortoises in front of their homeroom teacher's door. They suddenly courted death because they no longer had to fear anything in the future.
However, those two brats really succeeded in courting death in the end, but the same could not be said for the Fallen Apostles. Perhaps, they really "no longer have anything to fear."
It was terrifying to think about it!
Very quickly, Sandora raised the warning level of the Empire's mainland by one level. The Defense Army began to increase the intensity of their patrols, and the various major fleets were also in a state of readiness for battle. At the same time, the Abyss Independent Regiment also began to organize more spies to infiltrate the Abyss Empire. In short, we had to find a way to investigate the internal situation of the Fallen Apostles that led to such a drastic change in their movements.
We also sent a group of military experts to the Realm of Gods. Of course, Icetis said that the Protoss did not need reinforcements. Their own army could deal with this kind of threat. I also believed that the Star Field did indeed have the strength to do so. However, this group of military experts were not sent to serve as combat power. They were equivalent to consultants and think tanks. The Star Field Protoss did not have many exchanges with the Fallen Apostles. Combat power was one thing, but experience was another. Even if they were better at fighting than the Fallen Apostles, it was still easy for them to suffer losses due to carelessness. This time, the Fallen Apostles' invasion troops were able to safely withdraw from the Protoss's territory. A large part of the reason was that the local Protoss garrisons did not understand the enemy's movement patterns and fleet performance.
That was why we found roughly thirty experienced military consultants from the Sixth Fleet and the Abyss Independent Regiment and sent them to the Realm of Gods. We had them help the Protoss analyze this border attack. Perhaps they could even find some traces of the enemy's retreat.
Time flew by in the midst of busyness. It seemed like he was indeed someone who could not stay idle. He had only been idle for a few days before he encountered this troublesome matter. In the blink of an eye, a few days had passed. The news from the military consultants who were sent to the Realm of Gods was not good.
They did not find any traces of the Fallen Apostles' retreat. It was as if they had evaporated into thin air and disappeared into the void. It seemed like the other party had already planned their retreat plan long before the attack. Since they could not find the Fallen Apostles' path of movement, there was naturally no way to talk about effective methods like jumping and interfering in the void. The Protoss had no choice but to rely on increasing the number of border guards to prevent the enemy's next surprise attack. Apart from this, there was no way to determine which power the Abyss Empire belonged to. Halland naturally had no way to analyze which "old friend" was behind this based on his memories from back then in the Fallen Apostles' camp.
This last point was especially strange. During the intense battle between the Fallen Apostles and the Protoss, a large number of warships were destroyed. Those warship wreckages were currently in the hands of the Protoss, but no one recognized the emblems on the warship wreckages that represented the power they belonged to. Halland had already seen those strange emblems. He was certain that those emblems did not belong to any of the fallen emperors he knew.
Of course, even though many things were still unclear, those military experts and the Protoss' investigation troops were not to be trifled with. They still confirmed one thing, only, this matter was even worse news.
The Fallen Apostles were indeed targeting the Heart of the World. All signs showed that their goal from the beginning was to seize that thing.
Once this news was confirmed, it immediately made many people restless. The mysterious "great cause" had always been a ticking time bomb hanging above everyone's heads, and the Heart of the World was the most important part of the "great cause." At first, the Fallen Apostles only stole the Heart of the World from the ungoverned world of the void. After encountering the continuous obstruction of the New Empire, they seemed to have temporarily suspended this scourge. In the end, they did not expect that they had been quiet for so long just to wait for their skills to cool down. Now that their big move was ready, they directly upgraded to the point of running into the Protoss' territory to steal things.
This matter brought a lot of pressure to everyone. Even Sandora was a little affected. She had already lost her appetite for three days in a row, so much so that I began to worry whether the city's tableware manufacturing industry would be affected because of this. If this continued, K City's second ceramic factory would become the first enterprise on Earth to be successfully affected by the Fallen Apostles.
In short, the more I thought about it, the more I felt that this matter was fishy. In the end, I decided to make a trip to the Realm of Gods.
After all, I would usually drop by from time to time. Nowadays, the transportation between the Realm of Gods and the capital of the Empire was very convenient.
Originally, Sandora wanted to go with them, but considering that these were troubled times, the Empire needed someone in charge, so she could only stay behind to take care of the overall situation. Speaking of which, this matter was quite unavoidable. In theory, the New Empire now had five emperors. Other than me and Sandora, my elder sister was the former Queen of the Empire, while Belavilla and Halland were active leaders. Logically speaking, there should be a lot more people in charge than before. However, my elder sister was just a "former Queen" and had lost all her memories. Belavilla was still in a semi-brainless state (no mistake about it). Most of the time, it was Silvia who had an independent timeline who was active outside. Finally, Halland was a capable laborer, but in the end, the Abyss Independent Regiment was enough to keep him busy. After looking around, in the end, the people in charge of the New Empire were still me and Sandora …
After all these years of development, why didn't I feel relaxed at all?
In front of the teleportation gate in the Yggdrasill, I put away the luggage that my elder sister had prepared for me into my personal space and said goodbye to my family. Shallow Shallow stood beside me happily. This girl had decided to come along and join in the fun.
I turned to look at the little puppet who was sitting on my shoulder and looking around. "Are you sure you want to come along?"
The puppet girl tugged at my hair. "You don't want to?"
"Not really. The main thing is that we aren't going out to play this time. We need to discuss serious matters."
"I know." The little puppet hugged my head and swayed back and forth. "I'm going to see you to discuss serious matters."
I silently looked at Bindis on the other side and reminded the little girl indirectly, "You still have a 'grandpa' over there …"
The little puppet's body stiffened, but her attitude was firm. "You're in charge of dealing with that weird old man. I'll be in charge of not causing trouble for you!"
I was at my wit's end. I knew that I really didn't have much time to spend with my child. Plus, the little puppet was bored at home all day, so I needed to go out and see the world. So, I didn't say anything else and nodded in tacit agreement.
In the end, I carried the little puppet girl on my shoulder, followed by Shallow Shallow and Icetis. Together with Liliana, who was going to the God Realm to "admire the divine light" (actually, it was a public holiday), I brought my family along and stepped into the teleportation gate leading to the God Realm.
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