Chapter 208: Chapter 208: Bustling
Today is a day worth commemorating—the first Azeroth World Expo sponsored exclusively by the Xyrin Empire, hosted by the Serramo Human Alliance, and taking place on Serramo Island, Kalimdor, will be grandly opened today! Here, on behalf of all employees of the Xyrin Empire, I would like to express…
Suddenly, Lin Xue, who popped up in front of me, grabbed the speech from my hand and tore it to shreds, then gave me a chop on the head:
“What kind of mess is that description you’re giving!”
Miss Lin’s chop was solidly planted on my head, of course, I had tried to dodge it…
We are now on the newly completed “Divine Island,” awaiting the arrival of representatives from various clans on the top floor of the highest structure: Bubble Tower. Since our every move might already be under the enemy’s control, I was constantly worried that the sacred enemy Commander would take this opportunity to annihilate the clan representatives coming to attend the meeting one by one. This would indeed be the simplest and most effective way to disrupt the Salvation Army, but it seems my worries were unnecessary. The Fallen Apostles’ Space Transmitters are already damaged, and the last ambush they launched with the Abysses likely pushed them to their limits. Additionally, the representatives of the various clans brought with them the strongest guards of their own races, so the attack I feared did not come to pass. Just now, we received news that the Dragon Clan’s representative has already reached the seas near Serramo, which is some good news at last.
This is when you realize how inconvenient it is when Lin Xue’s superpower is interrupted. In the past, we could let Lin Xue peek into the future to know whether the enemy would launch an ambush and where it would be. But now, this girl has turned into a human-shaped radio that can only forecast the weather. Suddenly deprived of her usual Golden Finger, we all find it too uncomfortable to adapt to.
Waiting times are always boring, just like now, with those Holy Knights standing guard outside, radiating excitement and pride alongside the Xyrin Soldiers. They couldn’t imagine the gods they revered were behind the doors looking incredibly lazy.
Qianqian is earnestly telling Bubbles a story, though the latter has somehow already fallen asleep—or perhaps she’s become so immersed in the worlds of Magic X, Dragon X, Crossing X Line that she can’t extricate herself. Sis is seriously reading a Cooking Encyclopedia in the corner of the room, making me spontaneously fill with numerous expectations; Sandora is squatting next to her, drooling over the images in the book, looking like she wants to snatch the book and devour it.
On another side, Lin Xue, still in a downtrodden state, exudes a tangible air of resentment while squatting on the ground, wielding a pair of pliers and a hammer, treating a peculiar black box with rather inhumane methods. Speaking of which, this little black box was captured from a Broken Horned Demon we encountered the last time we clashed with Variant Demons. Lin Xue specifically requested this object, but even she couldn’t explain what it was actually for. At that time, she just felt that this little black box would become something very important to her in the near future, but right now, our Miss Lin clearly doesn’t care whether the box is important or not; she treats it merely as a durable object perfect for venting her frustration…
As for me, Alaya is, as usual, sitting on the carpet beside me, docile like a cat lying at her master’s feet, and drapes one of her huge wings gently over my legs, enjoying the comfort of having her feathers groomed. Helping Alaya with her feathers has almost become a daily routine for me. Strangely enough, those wings, the Little Angel cherishes the most and are otherwise untouchable to anybody else, especially Little Baobao, who always wants to play with two shiny Angel Feathers and is considered enemy number one by Alaya. But there’s not a bit of wariness in the Angel Sister towards me—she even considers “letting Lord Brother groom her feathers” the happiest moment of her day. Honestly, I can’t figure out where Alaya’s dependency on me comes from; no wonder Dingdang always says angels are the purest creatures in the world. Often, you can’t even comprehend their senses of likes and dislikes—those pure to an extreme extent, stemming from the heart, and utterly disconnected from any worldly views, are hard for us, who are easily influenced by the external world, to understand.
Little Ghost Anwina stands quietly behind us, her hands naturally crossed over the apron of her maid outfit, looking well-trained. Although she occasionally glances enviously at Alaya, for the most part, she still appears as though she’s just a “tea-serving little sister, a background piece by the road,” attempting to keep her presence at its lowest among a bunch of “big shots.” Unfortunately, as the only one among us who can glow continuously for 24 hours, her presence is always as conspicuous as Alaya’s pair of large wings, ever since she depleted her Holy Power in an ambush at Tirisfal Forest. Anwina seems to have broken through her own bottleneck and made significant advancements in using Holy Power. She can even maintain her angel state for a full half an hour—previously, her best record was just seven minutes. A ghost possessing such immense talent in Holy Light Power is truly a bewildering affair.
As for Little Baobao and Pandora, these two Little Lolis, who inexplicably bicker all the time from the start, have now entered their regular duel timing. The two little girls sit decorously two meters in front of me, eyes wide open staring at each other, and between them, a lollipop of paramount importance to their world domination sits cherished on a small coffee table, making this confrontation between the Empire’s Supreme Military Commander and the next Imperial Chief Architect full of… childish innocence…
In most cases, the duels between the two little ones end in Pandora’s victory. Little Baobao is still a child at heart, as lively and active as a kid her age. How could she ever compete in patience with the one across from her who bears the title of Loli but has the character of a Great General who’s been fighting battles for tens of thousands of years?
However, it seemed that their duel had gained an additional participant, who was already drooling on the small coffee table with the lollipops.
This little thing had completely bid farewell to her goddess image.
Looking at the three earnestly dueling little ones before me and the crowd of idle people around who were just waiting to eat, I suddenly felt that it was nothing short of miraculous that our motley crew was currently the only hope for all of Azeroth.
Just as we were preparing to bed down for the night and Sandora and sister had gathered kindling on the ground to start grilling, three precise knocks sounded outside the lounge door, nearly identical in their intervals. Then the voice of Uncle Knight Anthony, whom I had successfully brainwashed into a fervent supporter of The Forgotten, rang out, “Honorable Divine Messenger, a representative from the Dragon Clan has arrived.”
Holy Knights sure love these kinds of boring face-saving projects. Just an hour ago, some uncle outside the door was feasting and drinking merrily with us.
Speaking of which, it was just an hour after we had eaten…
I leapt up with lightning speed and charged to Sandora’s side, snatching away a large pile of items that looked incredibly sinister and had no possible connection to food from her mouth.
Sandora, are you really so hungry that you’re ready to eat the grill with the charcoal?!
While I struggled to wrestle from Sandora’s mouth what she saw as delicacies and I saw as horrifying objects, a world-shaking cry suddenly filled the lounge. It turned out that during the duel, the three little ones had started a commotion. Dingdang had finally lost control of her cravings and taken the chance, while everyone was distracted by the knocking at the door, to cheat and snatch away the lollipop trophy. Little Baobao immediately let out a ghostly, earth-shattering wail, while Pandora swiftly grabbed a large glass vase from the coffee table, slammed it over the fleeing, lollipop-hugging Dingdang, pinning her to the table, then coolly drew a huge tactical pistol, pressing it against the vase and commanded the wretched thief inside to hand over the spoils. Anwina promptly moved forward to console her little master, Qianqian and her sister were flustered as they tried to grab the pistol from Pandora’s hand. Bubbles, snapped out of the game, glanced at her wailing daughter and finally remembered her responsibility as a mother. She trotted clumsily towards Little Baobao, who in height, appearance, and dress, was the spitting image of her, and began awkwardly consoling her. Miss Lin, who was squatting on the ground studying a black box, looked up at the tumultuous crowd then dropped her gaze back down, continuing to mutter to herself. Alaya, confused by the sudden chaos, turned and walked towards me — and three seconds later, fell flat on the ground…
Instantly, the entire lounge erupted into utter chaos.
Outside the door, the respectfully waiting Anthony listened to the constant commotion from the hall, resembling a demolition site in scale, and his square-jawed face registered shock. Sicaro, who was beside him and in charge of the security for this gathering, glanced at Anthony with sympathy, then patted his shoulder.
“At this time, all you need to do is smile… Oh, and look, I’ve still got some plates here…”